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Sixth Annual Walk for Life
Saturday, March 31, 2001 Springtime is quickly approaching, and with the warmer weather and renewal of life in our valley, we hope you will set aside Saturday, March 31st to put on your walking shoes and show your support for the most vulnerable members of our society by joining in our Sixth Annual Walk for Life. This 2-mile walk should take less than 90 minutes of your time, but its effect could literally last a lifetime. Funds raised will help Tulare-Kings Right to Life continue our mission of promoting the sanctity of human life through educational and legislative efforts. Last year, 176 walkers raised $30,000 dollars and helped fund a four month pro-life media campaign. It's easy! It's fun! And anyone can do it! Get your friends, relatives and neighbors to support you with a single gift, and we'll take care of everything else, including collecting your pledges for you! Just pick up a brochure, read the instructions, and get your feet walking for Life!
Bring the whole family; we'll have activities for every age: live music by Ground Zero, face painting, a Bounce House, basketball throw, Twinkles the Clown and Siroco the Illusionist. Come join in the fun! Sponsor Pledge Forms are available at many churches and Christian bookstores, or call 732-5000 to obtain yours. Corporate Matching Gifts Programs If you are employed by a company that has a Corporate Matching Gifts Program, consider submitting an application to match your donation to our Walk for Life, or any other gifts you make to TKRL throughout the year. In this way, your donation is truly multiplied and goes twice as far toward the pro-life cause here in Tulare & Kings counties. Father Lanum has been a member of our Board since its creation in 1992, serving first as Vice-President and then as President after the hiring of our first Executive Director in the Fall of 1995. An attorney in his "former life," he has been a reasoned mind and a calm presence at all of our meetings, keeping us on task and on an even keel through times of exciting growth, tough decisions and differing viewpoints. Father Lanum has been a wonderful friend to us, both personally and organizationally, for nearly ten years. His advice and wisdom have been important factors in the goals that TKRL has accomplished throughout his time on our board. As a member of the Woodlake Rotary Club and and a visible participant in the Woodlake food pantry, clergy association and other community activities, Father Lanum has contributed much time and energy to his city of Woodlake, as well. I know they will feel the loss as much as we will. We will miss you, Father Lanum. Good-bye, and God bless you as He directs your path in this new stage of your life. "Humor Therapist" to speak at Banquet
Plan for Mom on Mother's Day! Mother's Day is on the way, so plan now to say, "Thanks, Mom, for Life!" Those of you who have participated in TKRL's annual Sanctity of Human Life Sunday We hope many of you caught this year's Sanctity of Human Life Sunday full-page ad which appeared in the Visalia Times-Delta, Porterville Recorder, Tulare Advance Register and Hanford Sentinel on the weekend of January 20th and 21st. Local churches and organizations sponsored the ad, which focused on the theme, "Forgotten Fathers," and presented testimonies from three fathers whose children were aborted. If you missed seeing the ad, you can obtain a copy from us at the office. We want to again thank our local churches, pastors, priests and pro-life groups for making this dramatic and public awareness campaign possible.
Use Your SLED The majority of rational, thinking human beings - even "pro-choicers" - would agree that a newborn is a human being. However, for some reason, many seem to think that the unborn is not human. There are only four ways in which the unborn differs from the born, and none of those differences are acceptable for disqualifying them from receiving the same rights and considerations that other human beings enjoy. The acronym SLED is a helpful reminder of those differences: 1 Size: The unborn is smaller than a newborn, but when has size had anything to do with the rights that people have? Do you have more value than a 5-year old? Are they less human? Can you kill him or her? Do you have less value than someone larger than you? 2 Level of development: The unborn is admittedly less developed than newborns, but so, too, are newborns less developed than toddlers, and toddlers less developed than adolescents, and so on. A retarded child is less developed than his non-retarded counterpart. Does that make him unhuman? Can we kill him? 3 Environment: The unborn is located in a different place than a newborn, but does visibility or a change in location suddenly change a non-human into a human? If you are in a garage, does that make you a car? If no one can see you, are you at that time unhuman? Do you become human when you leave your home and go to work? Or leave work, and go home? Where one is has no bearing on who one is. 4 Degree of dependency: If viability (being able to live independently) is what makes one human, then all those dependent on kidney machines, heart pace-makers and insulin would have to be declared non-persons. There is no ethical difference between an unborn child who is plugged into and dependent upon its mother, and a kidney patient who is plugged into and dependent upon a kidney machine. These are the only arguments used to categorize the unborn as non-human, and none of those arguments are valid ones in disqualifying them from being fully human. The Great American Holocaust by Dick Dotters, Visalia The following letter was submitted to the Visalia Times-Delta's "Your Views" section, but was not published. We thought it was excellent and wanted to share it with our readers. Some time ago, an article written by columnist Mona Charen asked the question, "Were Christians responsible for the Holocaust?" I would have to answer yes. Especially after visiting the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C. The tour, with all its graphic and horrid exhibits, lays proof to the evil of which man was capable. If not directly responsible for the murder of over six million, how about indirectly? Who could stand by and watch their neighbor be dragged off to the gas chamber? Or the experimental labs? These are questions I ask myself: If I were alive then and there, would I have been any different? Could I have made a difference in any of those lives? Towards the end of the tour is a huge pile of shoes. Each of them is black. As if in mourning, still, for the one who wore it last. Different shapes, different styles, different sizes. Men's, women's and children's. But there was one pair that caught my eye. A small pair of baby shoes. You know, the ones like your mom had bronzed. The first pair you wore. Except these are also black. What crime did this little one commit? Who could stand by or turn their back while he or she was murdered? I also wonder what percent of the six million Holocaust victims were infants. Back to Mona's question. Are Christians responsible for the Holocaust? Maybe not that one, but how about ours? The Great American Holocaust. Even as bad as that one was, it pales in comparison to ours. You see, I don't know what percent of those victims were infants, but I know 100% of our victims are. And yes, I, too, a Christian, am responsible for it. It was legalized over 28 years ago and this is the first time I've ever spoken in opposition. Meanwhile, over 40 million lives have been taken. That's over 4000 lives a day for the past 28 years. Four thousand yesterday, 4000 today and 4000 tomorrow. Where is the public outcry? Where is the outrage? Where is the push from other countries' leaders to end this genocide, when our own leaders won't take a stand to stop it, but instead eagerly support it (i.e. partial birth abortion). Let's hope it doesn't take another world war to end this Holocaust. Isn't it ironic that our nation's leaders are all too eager to send our troops anywhere else in the world to stop any other kind of genocide? God bless America? I think God forgive America is more appropriate. How can we expect God to continue to bless this nation when we continue to slaughter and mutilate the most innocent? Where the most dangerous place in this country is in the womb? If for no other reason but greed, I would think corporate America would finance a major campaign to end abortion. What company wouldn't love to have a percent of 4000 new customers each day? Especially those manufacturers of products directly related such as diapers, formula or baby shoes, just to name a few. Perhaps, one day, my future grandchildren will pay homage at a memorial dedicated to all the innocents lost during our Holocaust. If they do, they'll probably ask many of the same questions I did that day in D.C., plus one more. "What kind of a choice was that?" All that the righteous must do that evil may prosper, is nothing. Abortion Practitioner Convicted of Manslaughter in Abortion Death Phoenix, AZ -- An abortion practitioner was convicted of manslaughter February 20th in the death of a woman following a botched abortion, and a former abortion facility administrator was found guilty of negligent homicide. John Biskind, 75, and Carol Stuart-Schadoff, 63, were both charged with manslaughter in the death of LouAnne Herron, who died three hours after an abortion at the now-closed A-Z Women's Center abortion facility in Phoenix in 1998. An autopsy found Herron's uterus had been ruptured by a medical instrument. Prosecutors said Biskind and Stuart-Schadoff caused the death by providing little care for Herron as the 33-year-old woman lay bleeding for three hours, begging for help. Jurors disapproved of Biskind's decision to leave the abortion facility as Herron lay dying. Jurors also were struck by Stuart-Schadoff's disregard for a sonogram showing the unborn child was more than 24 weeks old and her failure to schedule a nurse during Herron's abortion. Stuart-Schadoff resisted calling 911 for fear of embarrassing the abortion facility. By the time staff members made the call, Herron had died. Biskind had no comment. His attorney, Lawrence Kazan, said the jury made a crime out of a medical mistake. "We're sorry the jury didn't see it our way," Kazan said. "We think at worst this was a case of medical malpractice." Biskind had previously been censured for "gross negligence" in 1996 after another patient, Lisa Bardsley, 26, also bled to death. Chinese Officials Drown Baby in Front of Parents Caidian, China - China has been shaken by one of the most horrifying cases of official infanticide in recent memory after government family planners drowned a healthy baby in front of its parents. The baby's mother, identified as Mrs. Liu, was expecting her fourth child. Couples in the countryside, where 70% of China's people live, often have more than one child without punishment, despite China's one-child policy. In Mrs. Liu's case, she was forcibly injected with a saline solution to kill the child and induce labor. Amazingly, the child was born healthy, but officials then ordered the father to kill the child. Terrified, he left the child in a nearby office building, where a doctor found the baby and returned the child to the hospital. Mother and child were reunited and then sent home. Upon arriving home, family planning officials forcibly removed the baby from the parents, and, while they watched, drowned the baby in a nearby rice paddy. Public outcry has been so substantial that the Chinese government has stated its intention to punish the officials involved. Recent government statements, however, indicate China fully intends to continue its commitment to the one-child policy despite recent abuses.The doctor who tended mother and child said, "How could they be so cruel? The child could have been looked after in a children's welfare home. How could they do it?" Care Net Report, Vol 1, #3 British Medical Experts Say Unborn Children Feel Pain During Abortion London, England - Thousands of abortions may cause pain to the unborn child, say doctors preparing to debate the contentious issue of "fetal awareness." Although 90% of abortions in England take place before 13 weeks, concern has resurfaced about those carried out during the next 11 weeks. Professor Vivette Glover is calling for all abortions between 17 and 24 weeks to be performed under anesthetic. At present, some abortions during the period of 13-24 weeks are carried out without anesthesia. Professor Glover acknowledged that by raising the matter, she could be providing fodder for pro-life advocates. She said: "I am pro-choice, but one should not muddle the two. One should think about how one is doing [the abortion] in the most pain-free way." According to one study, aborted children have been heard to cry from 21 weeks, and some doctors believe that distress can be felt as early as 13 weeks. While encouraged that a pro-choice advocate will admit to the unborn child's ability to feel pain, (pro-life advocates have long contended this fact), it is even more alarming to realize that her awareness of this information seems in no way to infuse her intellect with any compassion other than to kill in as "pain-free" a manner as possible. This type of schizophrenic thinking among abortion advocates is all too common. Personhood for the unborn will not entirely solve this terrible reality - after all, assisted suicide, is identical in many ways. Our "certain unalienable Rights, -(endowed by [our] Creator)" -are no longer certain. Being wanted, useful, healthy, a certain gender, or planned - seem far more relevant in today's politically correct world. Understanding Stem Cell Research Perhaps you have caught some of the recent news reports featuring Christopher Reeves or Michael J. Fox advocating stem cell research and wondered: "What's all the fuss about?" Here's a very brief explanation. Stem cells are the cells from which all 210 different kinds of tissue in the human body originate. Because many diseases result from the death or dysfunction of a single cell type, scientists believe that the introduction of healthy cells of this type into a patient may restore lost or compromised function. Now that human embryonic stem cells can be isolated and multiplied in the laboratory, some scientists believe that treatments for a variety of diseases - such as diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's - may be within reach. In recently publicized experiments, stem cells have been harvested from human embryos in ways which destroy the embryos. Despite an existing congressional ban on federally-funded human embryo research, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined on January 15, 1999 that the government may fund human embryonic stem cell research. The stated rationales behind this decision are that stem cells are not embryos (which itself may be a debatable point) and that research using cells obtained by destroying human embryos can be divorced from the destruction itself. While proponents of human embryonic stem cell research lobby aggressively for government funding of research requiring the destruction of human embryos, alternative methods for repairing and regenerating human tissue render such an approach unnecessary for medical progress. Unpredcedented advances show great promise for stem cells obtained from the bone marrow, placenta and umbilical cord. Use of a patient's own stem cells would circumvent one of the major obstacles posed by the use of embryonic stem cells - namely, the danger that tissue taken from another individual would be rejected when transplanted into a patient. The essential ethical dilemma boils down to: Is it morally permissible to obtain stem cells (or any other fetal tissue) in an immoral way if your intent is to help or cure someone else with a crippling disease? Say your mother is suffering from liver disease. Would it be ethically right to kill a two year old toddler to obtain that child's liver for your mother? After all, your mother is ill, and she will die without the liver. Of course, this sounds preposterous, but if life begins at conception, any interruption of an innocent child's life to harvest their tissue, whether or not their tissue will benefit another, is wrong. Pro-lifers will find it necessary to keep a discussion on this ethically explosive issue focused on "What is the unborn?" Pro-abortionists consistently dehumanize the unborn while emphasizing the tragic illnesses of those in search of a cure. There is hope for those who suffer from the many debilitating diseases which researchers hope to cure with stem cells, but it is not necessary that innocent unborn children pay with their lives. We urge Congress to provide federal funding for the development of methods to repair and regenerate human tissue which do not require the destruction of embryonic human life. Complicity in any act which is immoral automatically confers guilt upon those who cooperate with that immoral act. Knowingly and willingly complying constitutes not only immorality, but rises to the level of evil. RU 486 Deaths One of the two drugs used to produce an abortion in the newly approved RU 486 has been linked to eight deaths, 30 uterine ruptures and numerous other complications. The drug, misoprostol, is manufactured by Searle Company under the brand name Cytotec. Searle recently sent out letters to over 200,000 physicians and healthcare providers warning them not to use Cytotec to induce labor. The FDA has approved Cytotec only as an anti-ulcer drug. Searle recently stated, "Serious adverse events reported following off-label use of Cytotec in pregnant women include maternal or fetal death; uterine hyperstimulation, rupture or perforation requiring uterine surgical repair, hysterectomy or salpingo-oopherectomy; amniotic fluid embolism; severe vaginal bleeding, retained placenta, shock, fetal bradycardia and pelvic pain." Despite these warnings, physicians continue to prescribe misoprostol for use as part of the RU 486 regimen and to induce labor. Several lawsuits are pending due to the deaths in Oregon, Texas and Connecticut. According to Dr. Charles Lockwood, chairman of obstetrical practices for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), misoprostol (Cytotec) is becoming "the predominant agent of choice." Please take special note of this information. Warn friends and family whose labor is being induced, whether for delivery of a live baby, a miscarriage or for abortion. Make sure that this dangerous drug is not being substituted for other, more reliable, labor inducing medications. Abortion Violence Not on the Nightly News Kentucky Right to Life has been vandalized three times in the past year. Vandals have spray painted the front and side of the building with profanity directed at "God and his slaves." "It makes you uneasy," said John Graham, administrative assistant for Kentucky Right to Life. Graham indicated that the windows have been shot out five times over the years, leading them to install shatterproof glass. In New Jersey, Bloomingdale Baptist Church displayed a series of pro-life signs in recognition of the 28th Anniversary of Roe v Wade which were vandalized. Church members have replaced each sign which has been defaced with a new pro-life message. Rev. Walker's latest sign reads; "If you find our signs offensive, what is so offensive about protecting the innocent?" Natural Family Planning For many people, the concept of using pills, implants, drugs or surgical procedures to prevent or postpone pregnancy is not only unnatural, but also unhealthy and dangerous. Dozens of side effects and long-terms consequences caused by artificial methods of birth control have been documented, including stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, headaches, infertility, possible birth defects, and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Recent studies suggest there may be a correlation between breast cancer risk and birth control pill usage. Of specific concern to pro-life people is the fact that intrauterine devices and birth control drugs (both the pill and implants) are also abortifacients and cause "silent" (early) abortions. Couples who object to chemical or artificial methods of birth control, whether for health, moral or religious reasons, may want to investigate the Natural Family Planning (NFP) method. NFP provides a medically safe, healthy, highly effective and very low cost method of planning your family. It is convenient and immediately reversible for achieving or avoiding pregnancy. NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life,promotes openness to life,and recognizes the value of the child. NFP is 98-99% effective in achieving or postponing pregnancy, and surveys on marriage conclude that only 2-5% marriages where couples use NFP end in divorce. If you would like to find out more about Natural Family Planning, or would like to learn more about the abortifacient nature of commonly used forms of birth control, call our office at 732-5000 and ask for Dallas. Media Love Affair With the willing assistance of the entertainment and news media, and through the use of the internet, Planned Parenthood continues to force its extremist views of sexuality and abortion on society - especially the young. It continues to give lip service to the importance of parents teaching their children about sex, and yet, if a parent chooses to teach in opposition to the Planned Parenthood mantra, they are branded intolerant religious fanatics. Planned Parenthood continues to wield its power and influence in the public square to gain access to our children. One of the most accurate and yet arrogant admissions in Planned Parenthood's 1999-2000 Annual Report concerns the media. PPFA writes: The media is the public's primary source of information on reproductive rights issues, and PPFA is a primary - and highly respected - source of information for the media. Through thousands of interviews with newspapers, magazines, radio and television, PPFA advocates for reproductive freedom, defines the debate, places issues in their historical and social context, and corrects distortions circulated by anti-family planning, anti-choice extremists. Planned Parenthood was mentioned in thousands of media stories in the last year. Is it any wonder that the general public is so misinformed? People dedicated to disseminating the truth find this to be a painful reminder of why it is so difficult to educate the masses. Life Decisions International, Winter 2001
40 MILLION TAXPAYERS ARE MISSING Since 1973, when Roe v Wade became the law of our land, over 40 million abortions have been done. The oldest of these would now be in their 27th year. This number represents almost exactly the number of workers we are upside down with respect to the Social Security crisis. This shortage of workers has prompted Iowa's Governor Vilsack, to establish a commission to study options for replacing that state's need for new workers due to Iowa's dropping population trend; possibilities include recruiting foreign refugees and changes in federal immigration quotas. HLA Action News, Fall 2000 Dead from Abortion in Dayton A 21-year old woman was pronounced dead at Dayton, Ohio's Good Samaritan Hospital after she was sent home from the Dayton Women's Services abortion mill after having had an abortion there. According to the Dayton Daily News, L'Echelle Renee Head "departed this life unexpectedly" on October 11. According to Peggy Lehner, president of Dayton Right to Life, "We know she entered the clinic as an apparently perfectly healthy woman, pregnant, frightened probably, and had made the choice to have this procedure done. As a result of that choice, she is now dead." Lehner stated that that death could have been prevented by the Ohio Department of Health, if it had properly regulated abortion facilities. One of the real tragedies here was that this clinic, just this past summer, was granted a license as an ambulatory surgical facility by the Ohio Department of Health. "The normal license requirements say that you have to have a hospital and a doctor identified who are going to follow up in case one of your patients runs into trouble. They were not able to get that kind of an arrangement, asked for a waiver, and the Ohio Department of Health granted it. That woman very well may have been alive today if the State Department of Health had done its work." Ohio Right to Life Newsletter, March 2001 Opening the Gates of Wealth International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has received an $8.8 million grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The money, which will be spread over five years, will help the London, England-based group promote abortion and "family planning" in more than 180 countries. The Caleb Report, Jan-Feb 2001 A Warm Embrace to Save a Life by Laurie Wideman
My parents' first reaction to my pregnancy was their embarrassment for our family. They were embarrassed and afraid of what others might say about us and, despite my objections, they demanded that I have an abortion. Their fears and embarrassment clouded their ability to consider the welfare of both their daughter and grandbaby. I felt rejected not only by my parents and those to whom I looked for support, but with my low self-esteem and shame, I truly believed I had been abandoned by God forever. Giving in to the pressure and lies, I had the abortion. A young woman in such a situation will often find herself alone and frightened, and extremely sensitive to how others react to her pregnancy. There is no telling how our first words and actions may affect her thoughts about herself and her baby, so we must try to be as loving and calm as possible. As always, we must love the sinner while rejecting the sin. There is also something to be said for timing - for example, it wouldn't be wise to talk with someone struggling with alcoholism when he is drunk. In order to truly help the person, it's important to discuss the situation when he is sober and more likely to listen to you. Similarly, it is best not to give a chastity lecture to an unmarried mother the moment after you discover her pregnancy. Of course, living sexually pure should be discussed, but at an appropriate time. The most important thing to remember in trying to be as helpful as possible to a new mother who is struggling with her pregnancy is that she needs love. She has already looked for love by giving her most precious gift of self to a man, and now most likely she feels rejected, ashamed and unworthy of any love at all. It is our duty to show her God's amazing love and forgiveness, through our own loving words and actions. This love can be expressed in something as simple as a hug. Pray for the grace to let God's unconditional love shine through you, for it's impossible for us to do this on our own - especially when we ourselves may feel angry, hurt and embarrassed. Pregnancy, no matter how the baby was conceived, is a gift from God. Let's not fight abortion by fighting with the mother over her baby. Try to remember how she is feeling when she talks to you. She is scared. She may hate herself. There is a huge barrier around her that only love can break down. Love her, pray for her, support her and encourage her. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, that whatever you did to the least of these, you did to Me." Celebrate Life, March-April 1998 Care Pregnancy Center Annual Banquet Care Pregnancy Center will be holding their Annual Banquet on Saturday, April 28, 2001 at Bennetts Ranch, 26801 Road 132, in Visalia. Tickets are $15.00. Beginning at 5:30pm, the Banquet will include a BBQ, Silent Auction and Door Prize of a Trip for Two to Hawaii. Don't miss the fun and great food! E-Mail Action Alerts We would like to be able to communicate with you via E-mail. This is a much faster and economical way to get information distributed than through standard mail If you would like to be included on our E-Mail Action Alert list, sign up at our website, tkrl.org, or give us a call at 732-5000. |
Come to the arbor by the raceway at Plaza Park on March 31st, and be ready to walk by 9:00am. If you raise $150.00 in pledges, you will receive a free Walk for Life T-shirt, and the Walker who raises the most in pledges will win a 3 or 4-Night Mexican Baja Cruise for two! 2nd and 3rd place prizes will also be awarded, plus a pizza party to the Youth Group that raises the most in pledges over $500.00.
Greetings from the Executive Director
Author, speaker and "humor therapist," Dr. Lee Ezell, will give the Keynote Address at Tulare-Kings Right to Life's Sixth Annual Making a Difference for Life Banquet on Tuesday, September 18 at 7:00pm at the Visalia Convention Center. Lee has written such well-known books as The Cinderella Syndrome, Pills for Parents in Pain and The Missing Piece. Lee's "missing piece" is her daughter, who was the result of Lee being raped as a teenager. Mark your calendar now so that you don't miss Lee's moving, humorous, sensitive presentation about her own "hard case" crisis pregnancy.
Mother's Day Corsage Sale know how stunning these cymbidium orchid corsages look on the Moms, and how much they appreciate the thoughtfulness represented by these beautiful gifts from those who love them. Orders for Mother's Day corsages will be taken in various churches throughout the two-county area beginning April 22nd and will be available for pick-up at those churches on Mother's Day, May 13th. At only $7.00 each, how can you pass up this convenient opportunity to thank your Mom for choosing life? Supplies are limited, so you don't want to procrastinate and wind up empty-handed! If your church is not participating in our corsage sale, you may still place an order by calling 732-5000 and making arrangements to obtain one through our office.
In addition to running the ad, Tulare-Kings Right to Life hosted several other events commemorating the 28th anniversary of Roe v Wade. Scott Klusendorf, well known bioethicist, speaker and pro-life advocate, spoke at several events over the weekend. On Friday morning, he addressed a group of local physicians, discussing the topic "Abortion and Intellectual Honesty." At a luncheon that same day, numerous pastors gathered to hear a presentation on "Abortion and Moral Chaos." Then on Saturday, a group of 60 met with Scott for a day-long seminar entitled, Pro-Life 101: The Art of Pro-Life Persuasion. Saturday evening, Scott was whisked away south to Kern County Right to Life's Banquet as their keynote speaker. And, in addition to these events, Mr. Klusendorf spoke at several local churches, gave interviews on several radio stations and addressed a youth rally on Sunday evening for local young people. Whew! That's what's referred to as making good use of your time! While many people helped to make these events a success, we would like to publicly acknowledge the hard work and support of Koinonia Christian Fellowship, Jan Valov, Sheri Gist, and Annette Machado, without whom these events would not have happened. A limited number of tapes of Pro-Life 101 are still available. Call 732-5000 for information.
When I was 18 years old, I discovered I was pregnant. Believe it or not, my first reaction was joy at the new life growing inside me. This emotion quickly turned into fear. Already filled with shame, I was afraid to tell my parents, my boyfriend, family members and friends that I was pregnant. I dreaded what their first words would be. I was afraid that when they heard the news, they would reject me and my baby.