Update Regarding NARAL Attack orginally sent via email 01/27/2010

Dear Friends,

Great news! Yesterday, all of the harmful legislation against Virginia's pregnancy centers was defeated! Both the House and Senate bills were killed in the sub-committees.

CPC of Tidewater, along with other pregnancy centers, participated in a Senate sub-committee hearing yesterday at our state capital to help defend pregnancy centers in Virginia against harmful legislation. (Please review my last email for an explanation of this legislation.)

With less than 20 hours notice informing us about this meeting, our pregnancy centers group tried to put together the best response possible with very little time to prepare.

We were told by experienced lobbyists that they "fully anticipated" the bill to pass this sub-committee as three of the five members on the committee were expected to be in favor of the bill. Also, the chief patron of this bill, Senator Ralph Northam (D- 6th District, Norfolk), was the chairman of this committee.

With little time and support, we knew this was an impossible situation. So we prayed together and entered the conference room trusting God to give us wisdom and words as we participated in the hearing.

It all began with a doctor reading parts of the infamous NARAL report (see my last email for details) making false and erroneous accusations against our pregnancy centers. However, it was obvious that she and the others in favor of this bill also anticipated it to pass easily in this sub-committee because they did not speak at length or in great number.

I was very proud of our team when we were given an opportunity to speak. We gave testimony of the great work of helping women and preborn children visiting our pregnancy centers throughout our Commonwealth. Several clients even testified on our behalf. One of those clients had been helped by our ministry here in Tidewater. She brought tears to the eyes of many in the room, including mine.

Several Pregnancy Center Directors addressed the false accusations levied against our centers. Their accounts were so compelling that it was easy for the casual observer to determine that NARAL's investigation and report was a thinly veiled attempt to discredit and harm pregnancy centers in Virginia.

In the end, it was very apparent that pregnancy centers in Virginia operate with excellence, uphold high standards and serve women with integrity.

It was also apparent to the senators on the committee because they voted unanimously AGAINST the bill.

Even the chief patron of the bill, Senator Northam, voted against it and it was his bill!

Representatives from the pro-abortion groups left quickly, but I, along with others from the pregnancy centers group, hurried to shake the hands of the committee members. I especially thanked Senator Northam for his courage to overturn his own bill. We disagree on the rights of preborn children, but he acted honorably and with great integrity in this hearing.

I would imagine that Senator Northam will get a lot of negative feedback for this decision. Would you please contact him and thank him for boldly voting against his own bill?

Click Here for Senator Northam's contact info
All praise to God for His provision and protection. This was a day that I will never forget. There is so much more that I could share. However, it would make a very long email. The day did end with another victory as the House sub-committee also voted against their version of the bill by a party line vote of 4-3.

NARAL spent lots of money and more than a year preparing to do great damage to pregnancy centers here in Virginia. It was a very strategic and well orchestrated effort. We were blind-sided by their attack. We had no money and almost no time to prepare ... but God gave us favor. This battle has been won. All glory and honor to Him.

I would like to thank Victoria Cobb and the rest of the Family Foundation for providing us with remarkable support, direction, and encouragement. They worked tirelessly to defend us. I am so grateful that they were there. God used them mightily.

Also, special thanks to Kristen Hansen with Care Net for walking with us through this trial and speaking on our behalf before the committees.

There are many others like NIFLA, Heartbeat International, and the ACLJ that provided valuable support. Thank you, Governor Bob MacDonnell, for sending a representative to clearly communicate your opposition to these bills.

Many people have called, sent emails and text messages letting us that they were praying for us and contacting legislators on our behalf. All of this support has been very encouraging.

I trust God will use all of this to glorify Himself and further His mission of saving lives and sparing hearts though the ministry of the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater.

For LIFE,







Toby DeBause
President

Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater

Urgent Message from the President of CPC

CPC urgently needs your prayers!

Please read and forward to as many prayer partners as you can.

Dear Friends,

I received some alarming news late last week. A group called NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia (NARAL), which is part of the national group NARAL Pro Choice America, has launched a very strategic attack against pregnancy centers all across Virginia.

During most of 2009, NARAL sent people into pregnancy centers throughout Virginia pretending to be women in need of our services. This week they published a report making fallacious claims and accusations based on the experiences of these pretend clients.

On the very same day that they made this report available, NARAL held a news conference. They announced harmful legislation being considered in the Virginia General Assembly to regulate pregnancy centers in Virginia.

If the House Bill 452 and Senate Bill 188 are passed, the mission and ministries of pregnancy centers all across Virginia will be impacted. Part of this new regulation stipulates the following:

A copy of all materials distributed by the centers must be submitted to the state.

Any employee or volunteer of the pregnancy centers found to have violated any of the policies of this new regulation are subject to fines up to $500 per violation.


A sign prominently placed in our centers with letters almost an inch in size stating things such as we are "not an abortion clinic" and that we are "not required to maintain medical confidentiality or medical records in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)"

Although we are not required to do so, we voluntarily
uphold HIPAA standards. Confidentiality is a sacred trust
with the women we serve. We go above and beyond
to ensure that their information is protected. This
type of signage is unnecessary and would cause our clients
to distrust us.

It's hard to believe that legislation like this would ever be introduced based on a report from an obviously biased group like NARAL. However, it is a reality and I will be in hearings this week as a voice for Virginia's pregnancy centers because these bills are likely to be voted on NEXT WEEK.

This is a very well orchestrated effort leaving us with almost no time to defend ourselves. Would you activate your prayer teams and pray for us? May we glorify God and honor Jesus in our thoughts, words, and actions as we speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Please would you pass this on to others and call your state Senators and Delegates on our behalf?

As you know, CPC is not a political organization. We have been passionately serving women and their preborn children for over 25 years. Being thrust into the legislative process at the State Capital is a bit overwhelming... all the more reason why we cherish your prayers.


For Life,

Toby DeBause
President
Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater

For more information:

CPC's Website: http://www.cpcfriends.org/
Find your state Senator or Delegate
Family Foundation's Blog regarding this legislation

LifeChange Changes Lives!

We need your help to meet our goal by the end of the year. CPC's annual goal for the LifeChange campaign is to have 100 participating churches or groups in order to meet our goal of $75,000. To date, we have had 44 participating churches or groups and have already raised $41,684.84! But we need to raise an additional 33,315.16!

LifeChange is a simple and effective way to raise the much-needed funds that support women and families facing crisis-related pregnancies. Everyone has pocket change! All we ask is that instead of keeping it in your pocket, or spending it, you put it in a LifeChange baby bottle - investing it in a life-changing ministry. Oh, and collect everyone else's pocket change too! When your bottle is full, you're done! Any church or group can easily do this. And children especially love it!

Here's what a bottle of change means to our clients and their children:

• 200 QUARTERS = one hour of ministry services to our clients
• 48 DIMES = literature to women about alternatives to abortion
• 50 NICKELS = one pregnancy test
• 172 PENNIES = a Bible to those in need of hope

If your church or group has not yet participated this year in the LifeChange campaign, please consider this as a great way to show your support for the CPC ministry and help provide the funds that allow us to continue God's work!

To get started today, please contact Pamela Tanner at ptanner@cpcot.org, or call 757-410-9703.

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Another example of what happens when we pretend to be God...

click here.

Table Hosts Needed for Benefit Banquet

The Annual Benefit Banquet sets the tone for an entire year of ministry at Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater (CPC). This event plays a critical role in spreading awareness and casting the vision of how God is using CPC in His great work to affirm the value of life in our community. Your help is needed to make this year’s banquet a success.

We need over 100 individuals to invite and host potential supporters such as friends, business associates, and church leaders to hear about joining what the Lord is doing through the CPC ministries.

Please prayerfully consider being a Table Host and contact CPC today at 757.410.9703 or visit us online.

Could the Largest Provider of Abortions Be In Charge of Your Students' Health Care?

by Sheena McAdoo

A little-known provision in the health care reform legislation would create sweeping changes to our nation's public schools and put students at risk of receiving "health services" by none other than the largest provider of abortions in the U.S., Planned Parenthood.

The House version of health care reform legislation, H.R. 3200, contains a provision near the end entitled "School-Based Health Clinics" (Section 2511, pp. 992-1000). According to the legislation (p. 999), federal grants will be awarded to "sponsoring facilities," which may include a community health center, a nonprofit health care agency, or even a local educational agency. Under this description, Planned Parenthood would certainly qualify as a sponsoring facility to provide "health care" to your children in school.

These school-based health clinics will provide "comprehensive primary health services and additional health services" (p. 994), which may include "age-appropriate health education services" (p. 998). This language, as the American Center for Law and Justice puts it "leaves wide open the possibility that Planned Parenthood's federally-funded school-based health clinics would be permitted to provide abortion services."

Furthermore, the bill also assures that federal HIPAA guidelines will be adhered to (p. 993), which may mean that no information may be shared with parents unless the student authorizes it. Therefore, parental rights may be usurped under the guise of "patient privacy." As stated by the American Family Association, parents may "never know what kind of counsel and medical treatment their child has received by the time he gets home from school."

Act Today:
Please contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to oppose H.R. 3200 and any other health care proposal which provides for Planned Parenthood to be given any authority to set up school-based health clinics in America's public schools, paid for with our tax dollars.

"Having My Rapist's Baby is the Best Thing I Ever Did"

A British policewoman, Miraim Virgo, is now sharing her story with the world. At 19, she was drugged and raped. After discovering she was pregnant, she decided to abort. However, she had a last minute change of heart as she says God gave her a "rush of love" for her baby...moments before her scheduled abortion.

See also: Lifesitenews.com article

Please Pray for our Campaign 575

CPC plans to convert the Keim Center of Virginia Beach into a medical clinic offering life-affirming ultrasound. In order to have the funds to operate this new medical clinic, we need to have 575 pregnancy center ministry hours sponsored each month. With ultrasound, many abortion-vulnerable women are empowered to make positive life-affirming decisions. A second medical clinic would serve to greatly increase our efforts to reach out to more women in the community showing them a window into their wombs. Please pray with us that God would extend His grace toward this ministry and allow us to achieve this goal.

Abortion Mandate Remains in Health Care

by Sheena McAdoo

Last Wednesday evening, President Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress on health care reform. While he again claimed that "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions," many are disputing the truth of this statement. Several reports have since been released reinforcing the fact that in the current legislative proposals abortion will in fact be provided and payed for with government funds.
Below are a few of the main points validating the fact that abortion clearly is included in the current health care reform proposals:

• If the law does not explicitly exclude abortion, it will automatically be considered basic health care and become a minimum required benefit for all health care insurance plans, both public and private.


• Many amendments have been offered which would have explicitly excluded abortion from becoming part of the health care legislation, thus preventing abortion from being funded with federal dollars or mandated in health care plans. Every pro-life amendment has been rejected.
  


• The House bill, H.R. 3200, authorizes the Secretary of HHS to "ensure adequate beneficiary access to providers," and to promote "the efficient delivery of medical care" (Section 223 [b][2], p. 123). This means that insurance providers must ensure patient access to abortion clinics and abortionists, which could mean the opening of new abortion clinics and/or training of abortionists across the nation where there is not adequate access.
  


• In March 2009, the HHS rescinded the government regulation that provided conscience protections for health care providers protecting them from being forced into participating in morally objectionable procedures. The current legislative proposals provide no such conscience protections for health care providers. Without such protections, "it is entirely plausible that physicians who refuse to violate their conscience might be forced to relocate, retire early, or shut their practices entirely," says the Christian Medical Association.
  

Even FactCheck.org stated recently that "Despite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans."

Please click on the voided check image or go to http://www.stoptheabortionmandate.com/ for an extensive analysis as well as multiple resources to help you spread the word and take action to put a stop to government-funded abortion. Please share this information with your pastor, church, family and friends.

Please contact your Senators and Representatives urging them to remove the abortion mandate by explicitly excluding abortion coverage and adding conscience protections for health care providers. Any health care legislation that is passed without removing this abortion mandate will usher in the most massive expansion of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.

Articles for further reading:
"Pro-Life Leaders Warn Obama Still Not Honest About Health Care Abortion Funding,"
"Heartbeat Voices Opposition to Healthcare Reform Legislation," Heartbeat International
"Obama Accuses Right of 'Bogus Claims,'" by Kim Trobee, Focus on the Family Action
"Obama's Abortion Minefield," by Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post
"Your Taxes to Pay for Abortions", editorial, The Washington Times

Reminder!!

Let’s Pray - a CPC prayer event
THIS SATURDAY
September 12, 2009 @9AM

First Baptist Church of Norfolk
312 Kempsville Road, Norfolk

Complimentary Continental Breakfast

NO RSVP needed

For more info: 757.410.9703 or info@cpcot.org

Please bring your friends and family!