|
|
|
Ruth Rutschilling, President 363 Kremer Rd. Maria Stein, OH 45860 May 2008Meeting Date: Next meeting will be the 4th Thursday of the month, May 22nd, 8:00PM in Meeting Rm. 2 at Mercer Health Hospital in Coldwater. It’s going to be a busy summer. Why not stop by and see what YOU can do to get involved! Everyone is Welcome.2008 STATE ORATORY CONTEST, April 26th – Otterbein College, ColumbusJenna Tumbusch, Mercer County RTL’s Oratory Contest Winner did an excellent job at the State competition. Even though she represented Mercer County well, she did not place. According to Ruth Rutschilling, MCRTL President, who was present to cheer her on, “I thought Jenna did an even better job at the State level than at the County. She appeared to be very relaxed and confident. Jenna touched the hearts of everyone with her speech. She was the 10th speaker out of 11 contestants. She had some really tough competitors. The Judges had a difficult job. The Contest began at 1:00 and ended at 4:00. All of the contestants did an awesome job and will make wonderful pro-life speakers.” The first Place winner was Elizabeth Trisler representing Shelby Co. RTL, 2nd Place winner was Elliot Gaiser, representing North Coast RTL, and the 3rd Place winner was Amanda Labuza, representing Wayne-Holmes RTL. A little side note: Jenna was pleasantly surprised when she realized that the State Oratory Contest was going to take place at the Otterbein College, because this is where she is seriously considering on going to after graduating from St. Henry High School in May.
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE TEE SHIRT DAY – TUESDAY, APRIL 29th, 2008 1,428 tee shirts were ordered and distributed. On April 29th, thousands of young people across the country and right here in Mercer County, participated in American Life League’s National Pro-Life tee shirt day by wearing shirts with a pro-life message to their high school. It looked awesome! This was the 6th year that our local RTL group participated in this activity. Many Thanks to Angie Bertke for Chairing this project again. Most of the teens donated $2.00 each for their shirts and many donations filtered in, some from organizations and churches and some from individuals who just wanted to get involved in some way. As of today, Angie has collected $4,049.50. That SUPER!
WALK FOR LIFE 2008 – May 10th to Benefit Harbor House & Elizabeth Pregnancy ServiceAfter a foggy start, the sun broke through and it was a remarkable day for “Walk for Life 2008”. The Walk was a “fun” two- mile event (non-athletic) so it was easy enough for the entire family. A nice crowd was on hand to participate. If you picked up a Pledge form and did not walk with the group on Saturday, please return it to Harbor House as soon as possible. Harbor House and staff offer young girls a unique environment designed to help them make an informed decision between parenting or adoption and addresses behavior issues that often accompany pregnancy. Any ?????, call Patti at 419-586-5941. MOTHER’S DAY ROSE SALERain – Rain – Rain!! What a mess. According to Phyllis Wenning, Coordinator for this project, despite the unfavorable weather conditions, they were still able to sell most of the 4,750 roses they ordered. The unsold Roses were taken to the local Nursing Homes. Many Thanks to all those that helped in any way with this project: all the Church coordinators, all the wonderful MOM’s that stood out in the rain and sold the roses. Thanks also to those amazing husbands that actually helped pick-up the roses and even help sell. Thanks to Theresa Jutte from Roger’s Flower Shop in Coldwater for all her help. She is always great to work with.
MERCER COUNTY RIGHT TO LIFE HONORSMOTHER’S DAY BABY & FAMILY On Mother’s Day evening, May 11th, Linda and Todd Kunk became the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy, Jack David. He was born at 8:48PM at Mercer Health Hospital in Coldwater. Jack weighed 7 lb, 1 ½ oz. Jack was welcomed home by his older brother, 4 yr. old Riley and older sister, 12 yr. old Courtney at their home in St. Henry. In honor of Mother’s Day, the Mercer County Right to Life presented Linda & Todd with special gifts: a baby afghan, photo album, pro-life coffee mug, a baby bib and a pair of baby booties, and a single red rose, symbolizing “the Precious Gift of Life. TWO MCRTL BILLBOARDS TO BE REPAINTEDRuth (Bensman) Krieg from the Wabash area will begin painting at least two billboards soon. When she is completed, we will need some manpower to HELP hang the newly painted aluminum sheets to the original framework. If this sounds like something you would be willing to help with, give us a call, 678-1348. More info will follow.
NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE CONVENTION, JULY 3/4/5, ARLINGTON, VAWould you like to represent the Mercer County RTL at this year’s convention? A great list of speakers are scheduled to participate, including Fr. Richard Neuhaus; members from National Teens for Life; Wanda Franz, Pres. NRLC; Douglas Johnson, NRL Legislative Dir.; Karen Cross, NRL PAC Dir.; Angela Franks & Gary Cangemi. Early registration ends June 20th. Our organization will assist with expenses. Interested ?? Give Pres. Ruth, 925-5500 a call.
WHERE DO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES STAND?On April 13th, both Senator Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama spoke at the Compassion Forum held at Messiah College. Both were asked when they believed human life begins. The correct answer, supported by medical and scientific research, is human life begins upon conception or fertilization. That is when the ovum and sperm unite. It is at this time, medically speaking, a living being with 46 human chromosomes comes into existence. At this point, nothing but nutrition and maturation is added. Everything that you are today is present at this earliest stage of life. The question of when human life begins is simple to answer. However, these presidential candidates gave a convoluted political response. Hillary Clinton said, “I believe the potential for life begins at conception.” After “searching (her) own mind and heart”, Senator Clinton believes abortion-on-demand throughout pregnancy should continue. She added that protecting unborn babies from abortion “would be very difficult to sustain in our kind of open society.” (Apparently Senator Clinton doesn’t seem to understand basic medical science. Upon conception or fertilization, there isn’t “potential” human life, but human life with potential. We must not base a life or death decision regarding millions of preborn children on Mrs. Clinton’s personal “mind & heart.” Our national policy on abortion must be based on medical fact – a human life begins at conception and it should be protected.) Senator Barrack Obama was even less sure about his position on the most crucial social issue of our day. He said abortion “is something that I have not, I think, come to a firm resolution on.” Mr. Obama further stated, “I think it’s very hard to know what this means, when life begins. (A candidate for the most powerful position in the world, the President of the United States, publicly admits that he doesn’t know when life begins, and even more astounding, says “it’s very hard to know” when human life begins.) Medical experts on both sides of the abortion debate understand the basic medical fact that a unique human individual is present upon conception or fertilization. The debate raging in America is when that human life should be protected. If these presidential candidates are unable to come to terms with when human life begins, can they be depended upon to make sound decisions on abortion policy? Knowing when human life begins is fundamental to the process.
LEGALIZED ABORTION LEADS TO an INCREASE in STD CASES Using the Centers for Disease Control, according to estimates, abortion legalization may account for as much as one-third of the average sexually transmitted disease incidence. Studies predict that abortion legalization has led to an increase in sexual activity, accompanied by an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, especially gonorrhea, up by 35% and syphilis, up by 38%.
Mercer County Commissioner Bob Nuding recently came to our meeting and gave a donation to the Mercer County RTL as a ‘Thank You’ to three boys who helped distribute his campaign literature during the ’07 summer parades. Duncan Homan, Adam & Derek Buening would not accept any pay for their time and efforts, however, said he should donate the money that he was going to pay them to the Right to Life. WOW!! Those are some good kids!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * President: Ruth Rutschilling, 925-5500 Address Changes: Ann Schroyer, 678-4785 Vice President: Judy Forsthoefel, 268-2911 Sorting & Labeling: Deb Huelskamp & Volunteers Secretary: Lisa Homan, 419-375-2515 Mailing: Carol Ranley Treasurer: Sue Moeller, 419-925-5410 Newsletter Editors: Sharon Hibner & Janet Gels Mercer Co. RTL Phone/Fax: 419-678-1348 Catholic Social Services: 800-521-6419 Harbor House: 419-586-9029 VISIT US AT OUR WEBSITE, www.mercerlife.org Larry Laloge, Web Master. MCRTL, 419-678-1348
|