Unborn Lives Matter: By Marie Johnson

Aptly named Commerce Street in Easton was the site of a protest on Saturday, August 22, against Planned Parenthood’s sale of baby body parts, as exposed in videos filmed by the Center for Medical Progress.

Over one hundred people participated in the two hour peaceful event that was organized by Salisbury’s Cathy Keim as one of over 350 such protests around the nation on that day.

A focus of the protest was the need to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, to prevent Americans’ tax dollars from being used to support an organization devoted to the death and dismemberment of innocent unborn children, and the illegal sale of their body parts.

Emphasizing the need for national repentance were six Eastern Shore pastors.

Above are photos and brief comments from the various Planned Parenthood Protest speakers below.

Pastor Keith Myer of Harvest Baptist Church in Salisbury opened the event, citing scripture, and praying that God would, “Break our hearts. Deliver us from ourwickedness. Change our hearts and cleanse our nation. Save us, we pray. Give usbold leaders, faithful citizens, and rid us of this guilt.”

Congressman Andy Harris was the first of three political speakers, stating that the videos from the Center for Medical Progress were, “Game changers,” in the fight against abortion and Planned Parenthood funding. This was especially true, he said, in the reality of the videos,“Showing 10 and 12 week old babies with arms and feet in jars.”

Harris said that the sales activities of babies’ body parts are, “System wide in Planned Parenthood,” and that, “They make money at the expense of women.” “This,” he said, “is the real war on women.”

The Congressman noted the need to fight Planned Parenthood funding on every level, and said that Congress will be voting on funding in the fall.He spoke of the need for a visible opposition to Planned Parenthood, saying that House Speaker John Boehner wants to, “See more public awareness,” on the issue.

Said Harris, “I am with you in this struggle until the end, and we show it for the evil that it is.”

Pastor Eric Olson of Oasis Church in Easton spoke of the need to, “Do pregnancy care with grace and love. Some women think they don’t have an option. Let’s speak the truth in love. We’re doing it here,” he said, regarding the protest.

Maryland State Delegate for the Eastern Shore, Chris Adams, who noted the irony of the Planned Parenthood facility being on Commerce Street,spoke about what the words used by Planned Parenthood really mean. “As a Dad, planning means planning to have that child, and parenthood means cherishing that child, and having it.”

“Abortion is not a slippery slope: we are at the bottom of the chasm,” he said.

Pastor Sean Seldon of Freedmans United Methodist Church in Tyaskin, called the gathering, “A Jesus movement,”and said, “Planned Parenthood is the largest morgue in the country,” and full of, “Evil minds and evil money.”

Jackie Seldon spoke about her work directing the Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center in Salisbury, and the value of the ultrasound machine, “It is a privilege to serve God and to snatch women from the hands of the enemy. When women go into the office and see a beating heart things change.”

Former Maryland Delegate Michael Smigiel asked, regarding the exposures of the Planned Parenthood activities: “Are you disgusted?”

“For the first time,” he said, “We saw that the abortionists dropped their act and changed their language,” in the videotapes, regarding unborn babies.

“Don’t let them talk about it that way,” he said, referring to Planned Parenthood’s typically dehumanizing language about unborn children.

Pastor John Evans, of Faith Baptist Church in Berlin, told of a man whose mother had died giving birth to him, and how she had written him a letter prior to the delivery, knowing that her life would be threatened, yet she chose life for her son.

“What’s wrong with our country that we don’t do this anymore?” Evans asked. “These films are a gift from God to show the truth. We as a nation must take a stand.” He closed his address by asking God to, “Forgive us for our indifference and the willing blindness that we’ve put on.”

Pastor Chris Williams of Covenant Family Church of Centreville spoke of his grandfather having been a holocaust survivor, and stated that “This is going on in our country behind closed doors. Our hearts should be broken for our nation.”

He also said, “Abortion is the anti-thesis of the gospel, which is, ‘I (Jesus) will die for your sins.’ But here, with abortion, it is saying to the baby, ‘You will die for my sins.’”

Providence Presbyterian church of Salisbury’s Pastor John Shelton asked the question, “What kind of people have we become, selling baby parts? We’re a bloody and callous culture concerned with our own personal peace and prosperity. We’re in a spiral toward hell because we’re so caught up with our money and our things.”

He prayed that God the Father would “Use us as your agents to bring an end to this horror.”

Carried through-out the assemblage were signs, many of which were provided by the Wicomico County Right to Life. Manny of the signs bore references to popular culture, such as “Give the baby a chance,” “Life: the First Inalienable Right” on a background of our flag, “Social Justice begins in the womb,” and “Co-exist” with an illustration of a pregnant woman, showing her unborn child.

Other signs read “Love them both” on another illustration of a pregnant woman, “Planned Parenthood sells baby parts,” “Defund Planned Parenthood,” and a quote from the New Living Translation Bible, Proverbs 31:8, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;ensure justice for those being crushed.”

Closing out the time of speeches, event organizer Cathy Keim quoted martyred WWII German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, saying, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” She thanked the assembled crowd for coming, noting, “You have acted and spoken.”

Keim concluded with “marching orders” for participants:

1. Contact all legislators to get rid of all Planned Parenthood funding.

2. Pass on the info, especially the Planned Parenthood video links from the Center for Medical Progress. Put it on your Facebook page as the mainstream media is not showing the videos.

3. Join in with the Wicomico County Right to Life standing on Route 13 Sunday afternoons by the intersection of College Avenue in Salisbury, by the college, holding signs.

4. Write letters to the editor: the Salisbury paper The Daily Times was a part of the news blackout.

5. Keep up the pressure until Planned Parenthood is defunded.

6. Remember that there is nothing extreme about delivering live babies and not having taxpayers pay for their deaths.

7. Fast and pray to end abortion and the evils of Planned Parenthood.