All posts tagged: Emily’s Voice

Why Wait Until 12 Weeks When You Can Share Now?

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Some of you will be aware that I’m now working part time for Emily’s Voice, an Australian media campaign that shares stories of real women and families in an effort to uphold the cause of the unborn – in a loving, compassionate and heartfelt way. It’s true that my writing for Emily’s Voice has given me less time and focus for my blog. So I thought I’d share with you one of the many stories I’ve been writing for this wonderful organisation. I encourage you to head over to the Emily’s Voice website too and check it out, see how you can be involved and make a big difference in little lives.   I NOTICED that glamorous mummy blogger Sophie Cachia announced her pregnancy early to friends, family and 121,000 Instagram followers recently. She penned some poignant thoughts in an article for popular media website Mamamia. “Societal norms prevent us from freely announcing pregnancy until after the 12-week mark,” she shared as she also revealed the fact she was 9 weeks pregnant. “I didn’t make the …

Fatherhood Billboard Replaced With Beer Ad. Guess Which Received a Complaint for Being Inappropriate?

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Surprise baby?  Surprising joy. The four words on a billboard in Hobart that was taken down after a complaint that it was within the 150m-exclusion zone around an abortion clinic, as stipulated by the new Reproductive Health Act. The billboard on Victoria Street in Hobart’s CBD was defined by a photograph of a young father and his son, an ultrasound image and those four ‘offensive’ words. Surprise baby?  Surprising joy. Advertising company Claude Outdoor promptly removed the billboard after that single complaint.  The ad had remained beyond the contract period of client Emily’s Voice, and uncertainty around the interpretation of the law put them in an awkward position. Emily’s Voice CEO Paul O’Rourke explained the situation in an article on the charity’s website. “We didn’t purposefully seek to flout the law, although we don’t consider our media campaigns a “protest” but a promotion of life, love and liberty. The billboard in question promotes fatherhood, family and commitment. It’s pro-life, pro-women and pro-family, not anti-abortion. There’s a huge difference.” It’s probable that he is right – the …

Man-up. Take Responsibility. We Need You.

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Did you know that the sperm carries the architectural drawings for a baby’s first home? One of America’s most prominent forensic specialists, Frederick T. Zugibe (1928-2013) – who has so many letters after his name that I’d do my word limit with them alone – wrote about it in his paper The Code for Human Life. “Recent studies show that the membranes that enclose the conceptus is derived from information encoded in the spermatozoa which provides for separation of the conceptus from the mother otherwise the mother’s immune system would destroy the conceptus.” Capiche? If you can get past the medical jargon, you will see that this is a rather lyrical illustration of the male role in family: that of security and provision. It made me think of the Emily’s Voice ad running at the moment. Teen boy meets teen girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Girl falls pregnant. What next? “I had to man-up and take responsibility,” the young dad says. The line sounds rather foreign in a culture that elevates a woman’s …

Love, Life & Liberty Seminar

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I’d like to invite you to a very special conference that promises to be educational, inspirational, practical – and a lot of fun! For the first time… ever… Emily’s Voice is hosting the LOVE, LIFE & LIBERTY seminar in Brisbane (March 22), Launceston (April 5) and Hobart (May 31).  It’s for anyone (female OR male) who wants to change culture, support women facing an unexpected or crisis pregnancy, or help those who are suffering as a result of pregnancy loss. The speakers (for the Launceston event) are: Anne Lastman. Founder, Victims of Abortion.  Anne has assisted more than 1500 women who have suffered post-abortion grief.  She is eminently qualified to speak, having personally experienced the trauma of two abortions and with professional qualifications in counselling, psychology and theology. Paul O’Rourke. CEO, Emily’s Voice.  Former CEO of Compassion Australia, Paul has a Master’s Degree in child development and a genuine desire to help Australians fall in love with the unborn.  He has a long history in print journalism as an editor and has authored five books …

Permission to Grieve

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The outpouring of grief following the death last week of television personality Charlotte Dawson has been immense.  The media has lamented the glamorous blonde’s tragic end, naming the causes of her death as depression stemming from a marriage breakdown, financial troubles and her well-documented battle with cyber bullies.  But few have named the root of Charlotte’s tragic struggle with depression. Truth is, she pinpointed it herself. In Charlotte’s 2012 memoir titled Air Kiss And Tell, she revealed that her depression began after she and then-husband and troubled Olympic swimmer Scott Miller chose to have an abortion. “I felt a shift,” she wrote. “Maybe it was hormonal, but I felt the early tinges of what I can now identify as my first experience with depression.” The circumstances around the couple’s decision were not unlike those faced by most women who will choose to terminate a pregnancy; the timing was all wrong.  Charlotte was thrilled, but Scott hesitated because baby was due at the same time as the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. “Everything Scott had done was …

What Shame and Guilt Tell Us About Abortion

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Have you seen those Emily’s Voice ads about family? The one with the woman who explains how she fell pregnant at 18 and was told her life was ruined? (watch it here) These ads, which have been running for the past few months on Tasmanian television stations, reveal in a frank and joyful voice how things turned out well in this real life teen pregnancy story. “Now, with a uni degree and four beautiful kids, I know I didn’t ruin my life or have to give up my dreams to have them – they became part of the dream. I wanted my baby and I wanted my degree – and I got both.” I’ve seen some strong opposition to the ads on Facebook, including a petition to ban these “vile ads”, and I understand there was a complaint or two lodged with one of the television stations, but I fail to see what is offensive about a woman who chose to keep her pregnancy, a woman whose choice resulted in a beautiful family. Such reaction is …