By Dave Andrusko
Two weeks from Thursday—that’s when the National Right to Life 2011 Convention begins in Jacksonville, Florida! There is still time to register for the premier pro-life educational event of the year. For full registration information go to www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/Docs/ConvoAd.pdf. For an updated list of speakers and workshops, go to http://stoptheabortionagenda.com/convention/schedule/
From Fred Barnes, the editor of the Weekly Standard who will open the convention Thursday morning June 23, all the way to photojournalist Michael Clancy, who will conclude the convention at the Saturday night banquet, attendees will learn from the best, the brightest, and the most committed pro-lifers. The convention will be three days you will never forget.
And what educational fare to choose from! Six general sessions and 73 workshops that address the most pressing pro-life issues of the day with speakers you won’t want to miss. Here’s just a sampling.
After the convention kicks off Thursday morning with Mr. Barnes, attendees will enjoy a General Session titled, “Planned Parenthood: The Hyper-Political, Under-Regulated, Out-Of-Control Mega-Marketer of Abortion” featuring Abby Johnson Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., and others. Pro-lifers will remember Mrs. Johnson, who once managed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas, who since resigning in 2009 has become an articulate defender of life.
After a full day, convention goers will have a chance to watch a showing of the new pro-life movie, “Doonby” Thursday night.
Friday morning begins with the Prayer Breakfast. Our speaker is abortion survivor Melissa Ohden. Melissa’s miraculous story is not as well known as it should be. In 1977 she survived a saline abortion, a hideous “procedure,” at approximately six months.
Joining Melissa is Jaime Thietten, who will sing both at the Prayer Breakfast and the Saturday evening closing Banquet. Mrs. Thietten was a tremendous success last year in Pittsburgh, so much so that it was inevitable that she would be invited back again. Her song, “My Chance” is unforgettable.
A highlight on Friday, following the Prayer Breakfast, is a Presidential Candidates Forum. You won’t want to miss that. Workshops run the gamut from how adult stem cells are saving lives now through an in-depth expose of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger to how legislation banning the abortion of babies capable of experiencing pain is sending shockwaves through the pro-abortion ranks.
As the convention roars into its third day, the general sessions and workshops keep on coming. Want to be able to understand the oft-times mind-numbingly complex public opinion polls? Come to NRLC Executive Director Dr. David N. O’Steen’s workshop. And be sure to attend one of the most popular workshops—“When They Say…You Say.”
Mr. Clancy’s banquet speech is titled, “In the Blink of an Eye: How One Photo Changed the Abortion Debate.” He is referring to his own historic photo of “Baby Samuel.” Clancy took that photo of Samuel Armas during the time surgeons were performing in utero surgery on the boy. The 1999 photo shows Samuel, who was not delivered for almost four more months, grasping the finger of the surgeon at Vanderbilt University.
And that’s just a sampling of what you and your family will experience at National Right to Life 2011 in Jacksonville, Florida. Please go to www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/Docs/ConvoAd.pdf for information how you can sign up to attend this wonderful convention.
Go now because the cutoff date for early registration is June 10.