PSN's Nick Weiler with Ann Manice of Pregnancy Help, Angela McNaughton of Pregnancy Care Center, and Nicole Baker of Boro Pregnancy Center (left to right)

Music, youthful enthusiasm and the wise words of veterans in the fight against abortion marked the first annual LifeFest 2004, a fun and informative event designed to bring more people in the New York City area into the loving and lifesaving work of the pro-life movement.

The daylong extravaganza, held April 3 at Fordham University in the Bronx, was sponsored by the newly formed Pregnancy Services Network of Greater New York, a historic consortium of 16 organizations that help pregnant women and their unborn babies in times of crisis. The pro-life Network is dedicated to the Truth of Two Together: you cannot save the child in the womb without loving and caring for the pregnant woman as well. The Network includes pro-life pregnancy centers that are on the front lines of helping and caring for mother and child. They offer women the truth about abortion and its harmful effects and offer material and moral support to women who often have nowhere else to turn in a time of crisis.

Project Reach was among the LifeFest exhibitors that provided information about pregnancy and the unborn child and offered resources for those who wanted to get involved in pro-life programs.

UPBEAT ANSWERS
The positive focus of LifeFest 2004 was summed up by the afternoon's keynote speaker, Rev. John Ensor, who heads a network of five pregnancy assistance centers in the Boston area, "We are all about the transforming power of neighborly love," he told the hundreds attending. "We have an obligation to reach out those who are facing crisis pregnancies with immediate and consistent aid."

Abortion is supposed to be about "pro-choice," he pointed out, "but too many young women come to us saying that they have no choice. Their parents want them to get an abortion, their boyfriends are pressuring them to do it. They feel abandoned. When we show them the possibility of keeping their babies, their faces very often light up." Ultrasound technology is changing the face of the abortion debate and empowering women to make life-affirming choice, Ensor added. All five of his pregnancy centers are equipped with ultrasound and experienced technicians to offer women more complete information about their pregnancy.

"It truly is a window to the womb," Ensor stated. "It is key in helping a woman make a truly informed choice. For example, we find that 1 of 5 women do not have a viable pregnancy and will suffer a miscarriage. Of course, in these cases, abortion is unnecessary. We also find that before we started providing ultrasound, we had a 37 percent rate of women who turned away from abortion and decided to keep their child. After using ultrasound, the turnaround rate is 82 percent."

A CALL TO ACTION
 

Chris Bell of Good Counsel Homes with Chris Slattery of Expectant Mother Care (left to right)

Chris Slattery, a LifeFest organizer who runs eight pro-life pregnancy centers in the Greater New York area, gave a rousing address aimed at the young people. "You are the future, and the future is now," he said. "This is a call, not just a conference. It's a call to action, to do something definite, something practical and positive for the cause of life. Our purpose is to move your hearts so that you can move the hearts of others to get involved and pick up the banner.

"The cause for life is coming into a new era of outreach and embrace, and you are the ones who must help. Young people: it is your turn to make a difference for life, to save a mother and her baby." Chris Bell, who runs homes for single mothers and their babies in crisis throughout the New York area, called LifeFest, "a new breath of life for a movement that is dedicated to bringing life and hope to others. We are seeing a new era begin, and it is beginning with a new generation of young people who are decidedly pro-life and hopeful. They have rejected the lies of the abortion culture. Today represents the pinnacle of advocacy and outreach for the future of our movement."

NEW IDEAS AND ENERGY
Talks included a symposium of young people offering ideas on how to get involved in pro-life activities and how to talk about issues to peers.

Grace Abruzzo of Love for Life

Grace Abruzzo, who speaks to teen groups and in schools about the benefits chastity and abstaining from sex until marriage, called herself one of the first "survivors of Roe v. Wade," the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion for all nine months of pregnancy. The day her mother learned she was pregnant with her, Abruzzo said, her father was laid off from his job and her mother broke her arm. A young couple with few resources and mounting bills, her parents could have legally gotten an abortion under the newly passed Roe decision.

"Those who were born after Roe are members of the post-Roe generation," Abruzzo said. "We live with the awareness that millions of our brothers and sisters never made it out of the womb alive, and we mourn the loss with a conviction that this cannot go on."

ROCK FOR LIFE
The youth theme played well into the evening with a rock band putting pro-life themes to music. "This is the kind of event that New York needs," Slattery said. "So much of our culture is negative when it comes to life. We show here that pro-lifers can be serious and informed, as well as fun-loving and upbeat. We are planning for LifeFest 2005 already."

-- Promoting the Culture of Life in New York 3250 Westchester Avenue, Suite 210, Bronx, NY 10461 Phone: 718-409-0900 | Fax: 718-409-9259 | info@projectreach.org Program REACH, Inc., aka Project REACH is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. All website content © Program REACH, Inc. 2004