By Dave Andrusko
Editor’s note. This editorial appears in the May edition of National Right to Life News . The issue can be read in its entirety here.
True story. Honestly. I received a call last week from someone I’ve known for years who runs a very effective state right to life organization. Her praise for last month’s digital edition of NRL News was so effusive I was embarrassed. But the comment that stuck with me was, “What can I do share this wealth of knowledge?”
Before we talk about just a few of the many stories in a terrific May edition, let me just implore you to use your social media outlets to spread the word. When we went from publishing a newspaper on newsprint to publishing a digital version of the “pro-life newspaper of record,” even an old ink-stained wretch like me understood the change meant we could move every byte in our 41 page edition instantaneously worldwide to anyone with a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smart phone.
Which means you can forward selected stories or the entire issue. And I hope you do because there is a great deal in the issue that is pertinent to our battles on behalf of the unborn, babies born with anomalies, and the medically vulnerable elderly. Back to the May issue…
While we could have printed ten articles, instead we post four about the Democratic Party’s headlong rush into political oblivion Some, like Independent Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders who caucuses with the Democrats, occasionally like to pretend their tent is large enough to include a stray pro-life Democrat or two. When they do, NARAL goes ballistic, Democrats pledge their undying allegiance to abortion on demand, and securely fold the flap.
No doubt the likes of Sanders are saying to themselves, “Doesn’t NARAL understand the only kind of ‘pro-life’ Democrat we’d ever support is someone like Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey, Jr., who rarely, if ever allows, his ‘personal opposition’ to abortion to affect this vote?”
Perhaps my favorite story in an issue that has pretty much everything is a review of “is “Don’t Blink,” written by Brandon and Brittany Buell (See page five). I could hardly put down their book about their son Jaxon; I read it in two sittings.
Jaxon was born with microhydraencephaly, a devastating brain injury. Doctors knew ahead of time he was significantly injured and reminded Brittany and Brandon over and over again they could abort Jaxon. But they were made of sterner stuff-they are devout Christians- and did not. (Brandon Buell will be speaking at the NRL Convention which takes place June 29-July 21in Milwaukee. For information, see nrlconvention.com.)
While too many doctors were too willing to give up on their son, the Buells were not. “Don’t give in, push,” they counsel parents.
Looking ahead to Jaxon’s future, they tell readers, “We are not Pollyannas and we accept our son’s condition. We are realists who choose to be optimistic.”
Which allows them to write such powerful statements as this: “But the truth is, even if he doesn’t have microhydraencephaly, we still wouldn’t have any guarantees. Life is a gift, but it’s an uncertain gift. So all we can do is embrace the beauty in the midst of the uncertainty, know that’s the best groundwork for a miracle.”
Just a couple of other words about the May digital edition of National Right to Life News. We have a bundle of stories about state legislation and (as if often the case) obstreperous judges eager to substitute their policy preferences for those of elected officials.
We have interviews with Joel Brind, Ph.D., about new studies on the link between induced abortion and breast cancer, and David Prentice, Ph.D., with a fascinating overview of the latest developments in stem cell research that do not require killing human embryos.
And, of course, we have multiple other stories built around the same theme as the Buells’ experience: parents who refuse to heed the advice of doctors to abort their unborn children.
Please read the May issue of NRL News cover to cover and pass it along to your prolife family, friends, and contacts. And be sure to go nrlconvention.com/register so you can arrange to be at the 2017 NRL convention.
See you in Milwaukee!