Fox News analyst Monica Crowley wasn’t sure she was going to pull off her presentations for Vitae Foundation’s 27th Annual Pro-Life Events on Tuesday in Jefferson City, Mo., due to “the forces of evil that have been against me from the start.”
Crowley is not the first Vitae speaker to lament about airport issues, but throw in a 4 a.m. hotel fire alarm (which led to a cold trip outside) and a second during the dinner event (another trip outside), and people began wondering if these “forces” were going to win. Fortunately for more than 700 in attendance at the dinner event the fire was contained, and everyone was able to hear the message they came out to hear—Vitae’s strategies are working, and they are needed now more than ever.
“The forces have been aligned against life lately across the country. I am grateful to be working with Vitae on a number of fronts because the work they do is the greatest gift of all, it’s the gift of life,” said the political and foreign affairs analyst for the Fox News channel.
Speaking to over 700 gathered at the Capitol Plaza Hotel for dinner (and almost 300 for lunch), Crowley said that increasingly, the nation as a whole is ground zero in the abortion wars. The life issue, she noted, is generally considered to be a luxury issue. Most voters prioritize other things first, like the economy, jobs, the deficit, government spending and national security.
“Supposedly they don’t focus on life unless these other issues are going well,” Crowley noted. “What we all know is that life is not a luxury issue. It is THE issue. For without life and all its protections, nothing else matters. Life is the issue around which everything else falls.”
It was no surprise when both Crowley and Vitae President Debbie Stokes brought up the atrocities going on in New York and Virginia these past few months. “We are in the most precarious position when it comes to life. Life is under direct enemy assault. That assault is now being sanctioned, approved of by state governments around the country, including my home state of New York,” Crowley lamented.
Stokes shared that when asked about proposed legislation regarding the fate of a baby surviving an abortion, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said, “The infant would be kept comfortable….and then a discussion would ensue between the physician and the mother.”
“It may surprise you to know Governor Northam is a neonatal physician. ‘Comfort care’ is code for a baby who is never held or put in a neonatal unit. Instead, the baby dies of dehydration, a very painful way to die.” Stokes explained.
While Governor Northam was unapologetically promoting infanticide for his state, Vitae was there, training the Virginia Pregnancy Center Association on its research and how to apply it to attract more abortion-determined women to their centers.
In just two months, public opinion has swung more toward the pro-life side, now with people being evenly split 47 percent pro-life to 47 percent pro-choice.
“This is where Vitae comes in,” Crowley stated. “We have an opening on public opinion since Roe v Wade was ruled in 1973. It makes what Vitae does more critical than ever before. Now is the time to recognize the new common ground we have and expose it, stopping the obscenity of infanticide and the obscenity of abortion, period.”
Armed with over $3 million worth of research, Vitae has been able to share its pro-woman approach on the abortion issue through its National Training Initiative. Vitae has been able to help over 75 national pro-life organizations and countless individuals understand how to message more effectively.
“We’ve also consulted and shared information with over 400 Pregnancy Help Centers so they can build a brand that can better compete against the abortion industry,” Vitae Senior Market Director Stacey Kromer stated.
Kromer announced that Vitae’s ongoing investment in the woman-focused approach has led to the exciting collaboration of an emerging movement called Pro Women’s Health Centers (PWHCs). Vitae is about to embark on a year-long marketing and research initiative with PWHCs.
“If a woman can develop a positive, pre-existing relationship with a medical clinic that cares about her fundamental, emotional needs, that is where Pro Woman Health Centers make a difference,” Kromer said. “Their mission is to provide compassionate, high-quality medical services and access to social services by partnering with and empowering women to care for their health beyond a pregnancy test and an ultrasound.”
Crowley said she was far too slow in becoming pro-life. “As a young girl, you are indoctrinated into a pro-choice stance without really knowing what it means.” Then when she did come around to the pro-life way of thinking, her Libertarian ways still made her think, “Live and let live. Ironic, right?”
What changed her mind to be more vocal on this topic? Trig Palen.
“I took one look at that baby and realized he was a gift from God. Ninety-five percent of babies with Down Syndrome are killed after 16 weeks in the womb. It disgusts me!” Crowley stated. “It’s a misdirected sense of compassion. We use it to justify inhumane actions.”
Crowley noted there are laws protecting fish eggs as life, not potential life. “An unborn baby’s potential is to have a life, but it is already life.”
Vitae’s president told the audience that abortion advocates are waging war, and we refuse to let them win. “There are many battles ahead of us, and it’s going to take money, more staff and a lot of prayer to win this war,” Stokes concluded.
If you were unable to attend this event and want to help Vitae with its digital strategies that reach abortion-determined women, donate now.