On February 6, Oklahomans celebrated the 17th Annual Rose Day at the State Capitol which is a day for those believing in the sanctity of human life to express their convictions to their legislators. This year, a record crowd filled the State House Chamber to capacity; as the pro-life proponents surprisingly overflowed to the Senate Chamber in order to listen to the guest speeches.
Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and president of the National Pro-life Religious Council, told the packed Chambers: "to say that one human being can kill another is to deny the human family has a God." Pavone, who has been active in the pro-life movement since 1976, shouted an authoritative question: "Did you know that in the last 12-14 years, over half of the free-standing abortion facilities in the United States have closed?" Following a loud applause he continued, "They haven't closed because court decisions were reversed. They closed because abortion on demand has never settled into the conscience of the American public and it never willŠit doesn't fit!"
In 1999, Pavone was named among the Top 100 Catholics of the Century. He serves on James Dobson's Focus on the Family Institute. The National Right to Life Committee awarded him its highest honor, the Proudly Pro-Life Award. Pavone appears often on national programs such as Larry King Live, Good Morning America, The O'Reilly Factor, and other shows on all the major networks. He is quoted in papers such as the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Father Pavone was with Terri Schiavo in her final moments and was an outspoken advocate for her life.
Pavone said believers are called by Jesus "to be actively involved in shaping public policy. He calls us to be actively involved in choosing our leaders, in selecting those among us who would be public servants, and He calls us to understand, and He calls them to understand that the first requirement of being in public service is to be able to tell the difference between serving the public and killing the public."
Praone went on to say, "What affects the baby affects the mother. You can't separate the two. You know, the difference between the two sides of this great struggle is not what the proponents of abortion want the public to believe. They want the public to think we stand for the fetus, and they stand for the woman. But, that's not the difference between the two sides. The real difference is they think you can separate the two, and we say you can't. The destiny of mother and child and inextricably linkedŠYou can't destroy one without destroying the other."
