Baby Border Battle

*This is an AI generated transcript, and may contain errors*

Mark Harrington (00:00):

We’ve got big news. I mean, breaking news coming out of Florida, that is the Florida Heartbeat Law has gone into effect. Also, we’ve launched our ultrasound unit and I’d like to call it the Mobile Rescue Unit. And on its first day we had a saved baby. So we’ll be talking about these topics today on the Mark Harrington show.

(00:33):

Welcome everybody. You’re listening to Activist Radio, the Mark Harrington show, and you can follow us on all the social media platforms and on all the social media websites, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, all of that anytime 24 7 and share the program if you like it, and just pass on the information to friends who are interested in being involved in the abortion wars. So today we’re going to be talking about two topics. The first is The Heartbeat Law goes into effect in Florida. This is historic Friends. Florida has been, at least since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a destination for abortion. Well, that’s all going to change now that the Heartbeat Law is in effect. We’re going to be talking about that in the second half of the program, but also we are going to discuss the deployment of the ultrasound unit here in southwest Ohio. If you’ve been following me here for years, we’ve been talking about this, we’ve been raising money, we’ve been building it.

(01:38):

Now it’s ready to go. And we finally deployed it last week and we got some big news coming out of that. My guest today is Laura from Cincinnati right to Life. She’s going to fill us in, but before we do, let’s go ahead. I’m going to play this promo clip, and I’ve showed this on the program before about the ultrasound unit and the vision of deploying these on border states. Basically it’s this, you have an abortion state, which unfortunately now Ohio is it’s abortion haven, if you will, bordering states like Indiana, which restricts abortion pretty severely. And Kentucky, which is abortion free and West Virginia, Ohio borders, all three of those states there are women, parents, mothers crossing the border into Ohio to kill their children. We knew this was coming if Ohio passed issue one, and here we have it. But we were ahead of the ball game here thinking that we needed to have these mobile units stationed on borders of abortion free states.

(02:41):

So go ahead and play this promo clip and then we’ll talk to Laura about this deployment here in southwest Ohio. Go ahead. We need border states rescue units, ultrasound units that would be placed on the borders of states like Michigan, which are now abortion havens so that women parents who might be crossing the border from Indiana or Ohio or other states where abortion is severely restricted or banned, will be coming to have their abortions created Equal is putting these on the borders of border states and we need them more than ever in a post row America. This innovative effort is vital to save the lives of Preborn children.

(03:27):

Well, there you go. Two years ago it was just an idea. Then I started raising money and we got the van outfitted it through our friends from Vans for Life. We now have it deployed ready to go with a sonogram and sonographers there in southwest Ohio. And the individual and organization that we’re partnering with is Laura Cincinnati, right to Life and Pregnancy Center West there in the Cincinnati area. And here’s why. Because created equal or not really equipped on that side of the battle. I mean, we are an activist organization. We go to college and high school campuses primarily we train young people in pro-life apologetics and activism. We’re not a pregnancy resource center. That’s not our expertise, but there are people that are good at this stuff and Laura’s one of those. She has a history of being part of the pregnancy resource Center movement and pregnancy center west. So we forged this partnership. We would provide the ultrasound van maintain it, and they would provide the resources to actually operate it. It’s a heavy lift friends, but we’re finally there and last week we deployed it. So Laura, thanks for being on the program. We got big news coming out of Cincinnati just as SIG being launched. Tell us about it.

Laura W. (04:50):

Well, first of all, thank you Mark for your partnership in this endeavor. We’ve known each other for many years, but we really particularly became better friends as we were fighting issue one in partnership with everyone around the state. And we had a discussion about the van, and you are a man of action and you took it under your wing and you said, we need this. You had seen what had happened to our dear friends in Michigan. You knew this was coming down and it could be a possibility in Ohio if we didn’t beat back that abortion amendment and we didn’t tragically, but we are ready to go. And because of you and your foresight and all of the donors and the people that you’ve had partner with this, we were ready to go and get this deployed. So we volunteered ourselves to do all the work to get this deployed in southwest Ohio, knowing that in Cincinnati we have a Planned Parenthood that’s only had eyes on expanding and killing more children than ever before.

(05:45):

It’s a very large mega center and it’s known around the country for being, as you said, right at the border of Kentucky. And now that Kentucky is abortion free. Knowing that women from the states to our south and the state to our west of Indiana will be coming here and having this van deployed is super, super important. And you took it under your mission to get this ready to go. And we partnered with you. We are not a pregnancy center as well, Cincinnati right to life. We are a legacy organization founded by Dr. Jack Wilke considered one of the godfathers of the pro-life movement, and we stand on the shoulder of a giant. And we know that Dr. Wilke began the pro-life movement with education first and then reaching women and then working into politics. So Cincinnati right to life by partnering with you, we’re really going back to our foundation and our legacy of immediately trying to impact one life at a time because we’re not set up as a pregnancy center. We partnered with our dear friends at Pregnancy Center West and really quite honestly, mark every pregnancy center in southwest Ohio is going to know and knows that we will be having more women that we will be referring directly to their pregnancy center from the van. But Pregnancy Center West is supplying us with the ultra sonographers because they have to be under their medical director and under their legal auspice to say so that we are doing everything inside this mobile unit just as they would in a brick or mortar unit.

Mark Harrington (07:20):

And Laura, as you know, that’s the hard part really, honestly, the easy part was raising the money, equipping the van, getting it ready to deploy the hard part’s, the operations, hiring a sonographer, making sure you got all your boxes checked when it comes to operating this because obviously we want to do it legally. We want to do it right. And it took a while and you guys were able to pull it off and we’ve talked about this, but this is one of those, I guess kind of rare situations. It shouldn’t be rare where pro-life organizations are actually working together. So it’s been a real triumph in that, hasn’t it?

Laura W. (08:01):

Sure has. It’s been an absolute triumph. Everyone in southwest Ohio wants to see this van be a success and everyone has raised their hand and come forward and said, we are willing to do what we need to do to get this going. This is going to be our last safety net, our last line of defense as women are entering this Planned Parenthood southwest Ohio is one of the largest killers of pre-born children here.

Mark Harrington (08:27):

Well, let me interrupt because let me tell you what’s happened in Ohio, and since this isn’t just since issue one, but 11% increase in abortions, Ohio has become a destination state for some of these other states, even before issue one, because our law was 20 weeks according to the Guttmacher Institute and Mr. Producer, if you would pull up that map, this is an interactive map that you can find on the Guttmacher Institute’s. Now, keep in mind, Guttmacher Institute is the former research arm for Planned Parenthood to the core. So you got to take everything they do with a grain of salt. But here’s the deal. They show 2,680 out of state abortions in 2023. That’s a lot. I mean, one’s too many. One baby being killed in the state is too many, let alone 2,600 out of state abortions. That means they’re coming across the border from places like Kentucky, West Virginia and Indiana, and they’re coming to Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati. And I’m just saying that statistically we know that, but you have seen that on the ground and that’s the reason for the pregnant mobile unit.

Laura W. (09:39):

That’s absolutely right. Right now, mark, we have over 100 trained sidewalk advocates. We’ve got over 30, over 30 deployed. So we too have been planning ahead of time and getting people trained and they are so professional. They’ve been speaking to women and what our people on the ground, our boots on the ground are noticing our out-of-state license plates. And we’re going to start keeping a statistic and monitoring all of this as we build out the complete operation that we have going on on the sidewalk so that we can get a clear picture of exactly what’s happening at that killing facility that almost has a view of Kentucky. Quite honestly. If you’re up a little higher, you could see Kentucky from it. We are seeing many out of state license plates, most especially Kentucky and Indiana like you said. And we’ve got to be there. We’ve got to be ready to intercept with the truth to the clients, the women, the poor souls who are expecting a beautiful new life who may be on the fence one minute. These women think it’s a good idea and the next minute they don’t. And as we know very often when just a smile and a truth and an offer of honest to goodness, help and relationship, life will be chosen and the baby will be born.

Mark Harrington (10:53):

Yeah. So let’s talk about the day we deployed this. This was last week show if you would, Mr. Producer, pull up the photo of the ultrasound unit in front of the Planned Parenthood. That’s the photo of it. This is the last week, last Wednesday when we officially deployed it, the launch. Tell us what happened after that, Laura?

Laura W. (11:15):

Well, after this, we got the van all set up and we actually, we’ve had many stops. We have our sidewalk advocates positioned right at the top of the driveway, legally Cincinnati right to life and created equal. We do not condone any sort of illegal behavior, but we want to do everything by the book and by the law. And they were able to have a conversation with a beautiful young woman and get her to the van for even a further conversation. And she was actually so grateful to not have to enter the abortion facility. We also had another stop and a save act, quite honestly, that she had been in the abortion facility and when she saw the van and she saw the young people out front and was able to have a conversation, and that was an absolute save as well. So the van, just the visibility of it is making people pause, making people stop and wonder, okay, what other kind of services, what other kind of conversations can we have before we make this big decision?

Mark Harrington (12:18):

On the first day of the launch, we had two babies saved from abortion because of, I know that the van had a lot to do with it, but the first day there were two children saved from abortion.

Laura W. (12:30):

There were two children saved and one we are continuing a relationship with. And the other one was able to, they actually both ended up going to a pregnancy center and the young one woman is getting continued care from the pregnancy center. And the other young woman had such a long conversation with the sidewalk advocate that they are continuing the relationship of help. And we’ve been able to really, really get to the heart of what the obstacles were with them having this next baby and just really end up providing the support for them.

Mark Harrington (13:03):

So let me ask you this. How would it, let’s say typical situation at an abortion center, you have somebody pull up, take it from there. What would the sidewalk advocate say and how would they persuade them, let’s say to go to the ultrasound van and actually get in consultation with the sonographer? How would that work? Well,

Laura W. (13:33):

The way that it would work is the professionally trained, and they’re outfitted with vests by the gate. They lean over when they pull in the driveway and say, oh, hi. They introduce themselves with a smile and love. They offer them a gift and it has pamphlets in the gift as well with other information. And then they let them know that if they’re not sure about the type of decision they’re going to make today, we can offer you a free ultrasound and pregnancy test right now before entering the abortion facility. Save you money, save you time, especially if you’re on the fence. We’d love to discuss this with you. So the client could then either put their car in reverse and pull out and pull into the next parking lot where the van is parked, or they could drive down and turn around and come right back out and maybe they may even enter their building.

(14:24):

We possibly could have even had more saves, mark, because we time how often they watch the couple stay in the building before they leave. But then that’s what happens. And then they come over and we introduce ourselves and we’re obviously always so happy to meet anyone that is just really unsure about what to do. And we will run the pregnancy test. The van is outfitted with a beautiful bathroom, full operating bathroom. We can run the pregnancy test and then we have a high DEF four D ultrasound machine in the van, and then we’re willing to offer a free ultrasound as well and discuss the situation. If they decide that yes, in fact that maybe they want to hear more then from the van, then we refer them to one of our outstanding pregnancy centers. There are many really that are within 10 to 15 minutes of this abortion facility. And then we can refer them there for continued care because all of the pregnancy centers are ready to help and ready to go.

Mark Harrington (15:22):

And my guess is Laura, with Cincinnati right to Life and Friends, you can go to Cincinnati, right to life.org, that’s Cincinnati right to life.org and donate. And you’ll say, well wait, you bought the van, the van’s deployed. What do you need money for? Well, they need to pay for the sonographers, correct. They’re not doing this for free, obviously they’re still sacrificing to do this because this isn’t something they’re going to make a great deal of money doing, but we need to pay their salaries, their rate, we have to pay for all the other expenses that come along with this as well. And Cincinnati right to Life is going to be shouldering much of those expenses. So if you are able go to their website, Cincinnati right to Life, click on the donate page and send them some money to help with this project. And if you are listening to the sound of our voice watching the program and you’re thinking to myself or yourself, we need to do this in our state.

(16:21):

If you are in a state like Ohio, which has become a destination, you can do this and you should be doing this because Planned Parenthood is doing it, just the pill is doing it. They’re deploying mobile abortion mills on border states. They’re doing it in the abortion havens. We’re doing it in the abortion, I’m sorry, we’re doing it in the abortion havens like Ohio, but they’re also on these borders as well. And so we need to stay one step ahead of them because we are in an entirely different situation now than we were pre row v Wade, pre doves, I should say, where things were, you had your brick and mortar set up and things are changing so much, especially with the abortion pill and so forth. We need to be versatile. We need to be able to adapt to what’s going on in the abortion wars. And this is one way to do it, to stay mobile, stay versatile, being able to change with the changing environment in the abortion battle. Laura, let’s go if you would, Mr. Producer, bring up the Give and Go website. Friends. You can donate to this family, Cincinnati right to Life is helping to try to fundraise for them. And there’s a website set up on Go Send. What is it? Give, send, go, give, send, go where you can give money. Laura, talk about the family and what they

Laura W. (17:48):

Need need. Well, this is just a beautiful family and very classically can get caught up in the cycle of poverty in our country. We live in a driving culture. In order to get to work, in order to get to school, you’ve got to have a reliable car. And when your car breaks down and you don’t have any family resources to help you get your car running again, then everything falls apart. You lose your job, you can’t pay your rent, you can lose your housing. This family had even just come out of homelessness and gotten back on their feet and they had sold actually a car, a used car that broke down and the repair of the car was more than the car was worth. They found out they were pregnant with their sixth beautiful child. Look at their five beautiful children. I mean, this is a sweet, hardworking family.

(18:36):

And of course, what is the culture telling them? Well, you can’t have another mouth to feed that’s going to make things worse. So the next thing you know, they’re offered a scholarship for their abortion and she’s at the abortion facility. And that’s where one of our Cincinnati right to Life team members met this beautiful mom. And they started a conversation and he said, no, I promise you we can help you overcome all these obstacles. Because she was ensuring that abortion was the answer to all of these obstacles. What would abortion have solved of this baby? And our young staff member promised her, we will help her get all of these things solved so they can get back to work, get their oldest child back to school, and they actually even have a set of twins, the twin boys that are in the photograph that you’re seeing.

(19:23):

They’re just darling and they’re lovely. They’ve been overwhelmed quite honestly and full of tears. They had no idea what it meant to be pro-life. Again, in their culture, they’re just sold. Abortion is the answer. And she has repeated to me, and she’s repeated to some of the other people that are assisting in this, she had no idea that this is what pro-lifers do. We try to help remove the obstacles and proclaim the truth that their child is unique and unrepeatable as every baby is made in the image and likeness of God with a plan and a purpose. And we’ve been able to show that and exemplify that, and they are amazed. And one day at a time right now, we’re taking care of all of these obstacles and any support is obviously needed and anything extra beyond the car, we’ll go to help finish furnishing the home that they moved into.

(20:15):

And then if there’s any money left beyond that, we can save it for the next mom we meet. We know this will not be maybe the first, but it’s not going to be the last mark. We praise God for them that the pregnancy center movement, even the wonderful large lifesaving organizations such as Heartbeat International and CareNet, they are even saying that in order to save these babies, we’ve got to do more. We’re just having to do more. The culture is stronger against life, so we have to become stronger. And you alluded to that in your remarks as well. So that’s what we’re trying to do. Step up, show the lies of the other side that, oh, we only care about that baby being born. You and I both know there is no truth to that, that we deeply care about this family and their love and support and then being able to live as a beautiful family, not homeless in a home and working and being able to live the American dream. And sometimes people just need help getting out of a difficult situation that can begin just from a car being broken down and losing your job.

Mark Harrington (21:20):

So friends, if you want to support this family, you can go to Give send go.com. I’ll have the link in the description for the show today and you can give to this family. There’ll be more like them hopefully coming, but this family still needs help. They need help with the resources necessary because they chose life. We need to get behind them. The media, as you say Laura says that we only care about the babies until they’re born. That’s not true. Obviously, this is an example of that. These stories don’t get out enough, and this is something that we’re committed to doing and the pro-life movement, as Karen said on a heartbeat, is really having to adapt. And it’s time that we become more and innovative and being able to respond to the needs of these mothers who are now facing these situations in states like Ohio.

(22:18):

And this is why the Border Rescue Unit is such an effective project. I’m praying there’ll be a lot more of these coming online across the country. Friends, if you’re interested in finding out more, we can help you with the process. We’ve been able to pull it off here in Ohio. Obviously we’re just at the beginning. We still have a long way to go to get this operating without any kind of problems or what, but we’ve got some work to do in order to perfect the operation. But we’ve got it this far and so far so good. God has been so good in putting this coalition together. Laura, we appreciate you being on the program. If you would leave us with some parting words of encouragement.

Laura W. (22:59):

Well, I think that by the first day us having the conversations we’ve had and having absolutely two saves, God is showing us this is where he wants us. This is where we are in the battle right now. And any one of the states in this country that has abortion, whether it’s enshrined in your constitution or you may be facing that there is hope and maybe God is calling us to direct our energy to saving one life at a time to build a culture of life and work collaboratively and in partnership with one another. Beautiful things will happen. And I just, again, I’m so grateful, mark, for our friendship and for everything created equal is doing for the culture of life. So thank you for everything.

Mark Harrington (23:40):

Well, you’re very welcome and friends, I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again. It’s all about the body count, whether it’s legal or not. It’s all about the body count. We can drive down the numbers. We’re winning, and this is one way to do it. We’ve got to go to them. You can’t wait for them to come to us. That’s, we just can’t. And we’ve got to be aggressive and we be courageous and fearless in our defensive life. Laura, thanks for being on the program. We appreciate it. Thank

Laura W. (24:04):

You so much.

Mark Harrington (24:06):

Well, friends, we got big news coming out of Florida. That is the Florida heartbeat law has gone into effect, and that’s because the Florida Supreme Court ruled it to be constitutional. They gave it 30 days and now it’s in effect. And I predict that several, if not many, maybe half of all the abortion mills in Florida will eventually close because of this law. From what I understand, there’s some 30 abortion mills in Florida, like in Ohio, when the heartbeat bill went into effect and became law, many of them closed here for that 82 days. Now, in this case, it will be in effect likely until November when and if the Florida voters vote on the constitutional amendment, and we’ll find out what happens then. But the law is basically written this way. It protects a baby at a detectable heartbeat. Now, it’s important that we use those terms detectable heartbeat, because we know that babies begin their, he begins to beat around 22 days.

(25:19):

That’s true, that’s science. However, it’s not measurable. It’s not detectable until around six weeks and beyond. So it is the detectable heartbeat. That means that if there is a heartbeat detected, the baby is protected. That’s how it works, and that’s how the law will work in Florida. Now, I will caution people, and I’ve said this over and again, this is not a six week ban. It’s just not six week ban would be a gestational ban. This is not, is at a detectable heartbeat, which can be as early as six weeks, but it can be later in pregnancy as well. And so we need to not refer to it as a six week ban. That is not accurate. Plus, it plays into the other size argument that it’s extreme. Anything with the words ban or six weeks or any gestational ages referenced to bans the other side uses those very effectively against us.

(26:24):

And so we need to not use six week ban. That’s not what it is. It’s a ban on abortion at a detectable heartbeat. And most people understand if there’s a heartbeat, there’s life. Although we know that life begins a conception, we know that life should be protected at fertilization as pro-life advocates. That’s what we’re working towards. We want all abortions banned and outlawed and abolished at conception. But this allows, this law bans ’em at a detectable heartbeat. And it’s better than nothing because in Ohio, 92% of all abortions are on babies that you can detect a heartbeat. So think what that would’ve done here in this state. And this is going to save thousands of lives in Florida. So that’s big news. The not so good news is that it has rape and incest exceptions in it. We’re not obviously for those as a pro-life movement.

(27:24):

Maybe they did those just to get those through the legislature that may actually help them pragmatically in their battle against the abortion amendment because it takes a little bit of the edge off or pro-choice voters who might think that that would go too far to not allow for those types of exceptions. I don’t know, honestly, because they lie anyway, so it wouldn’t matter maybe. But I know in Ohio they made a big deal out of the Ohio heartbeat bill not having rape and incest exceptions we’re not for exceptions. But as far as getting a constitutional amendment defeated a law like the heartbeat law that in Florida that has rape and incest exceptions may actually help in defeating that. And that’s the goal. Friends, we want to defeat this thing. Additionally, in the law, it allows for $30 million for pregnant women and families. This is a good thing.

(28:25):

Again, we’re not just for babies up until they’re born. We’re for women and children and families afterwards as well. And this provides for that. Florida has become a destination for the southwest part of the country. And according to the 2023 data from Ook g Macher Institute, about one third, this is a staggering number. About one third of all the abortions in the south occurred in Florida. Think about that. George, Alabama, South Carolina people are traveling across the border to kill their children in Florida. Well, that ain’t going to be the case now because of the heartbeat law. Now, that doesn’t mean all abortions are going to cease in the state, but all of those abortions that will or could occur or would’ve occurred after a detectable heartbeat will be against the law. Now, a lot of people say, well, you know what? If the abortion is, what if he just doesn’t try to detect a heartbeat?

(29:24):

Well, I guess that’s the case, but it’s true of any law that tries to restrict or ban abortion. It’s up to the abortionists to follow the law irrespective of what that law is. That doesn’t mean we don’t pass them. We just have to hold them accountable, right? We need to have strong enforcement measures to make sure that the law is being followed. So that’s the news coming out of Florida. Good news, we’ll see how it plays in the battle over the abortion amendment that is amendment for in the state of Florida. I know the other side will use this against the pro-life movement saying that it’s extreme, but 62% of Floridians support ending abortion at the detectable heartbeat. And so that is the case. Now also, we are looking at next week on May 5th, the deadline for signatures in Missouri. The Missouri Coalition is gearing up for a battle ahead if the pro-abortion people get the needed signatures to get it on the ballot in November.

(30:37):

We’ve been talking about that here on the program. We’re going to find out on Monday, May 5th. I’ll be talking next week with Susan Klein. If it does get on the ballot, we’ll be talking to her in the next coming days. So be watching for that program because then Missouri will be a target of the abortion industry and trying to pass another constitutional amendment. And we are very involved now and we will continue to be involved all the way up into November. So that’s the call to action today. We’ve got some big news breaking that is that the ultrasound unit has been deployed in southwest Ohio. You can support that effort by going to Cincinnati right to life.org and help pay for some of the ongoing operational expenses. Also, you can support this family by going to the website, give send go.com. I’ll have the link in the description of the show. And then finally with Missouri, we’re going to find out on Monday whether they get the signatures to put the abortion amendment on the ballot in November, and we’ll have updates in the next coming days and weeks. So you’ve been listening to your radio activist here on the Mark Harrington show. We’ll see you next time. God bless you. God bless America, and remember America to bless God.

Outro (31:53):

You’ve been listening to Mark Harrington, your radio activist, for more information on how to make a difference for the cause of life, liberty, and.