MAJOR SPEAKERS
Lila Rose
Lila Rose, a recent UCLA graduate, has dedicated herself to building a culture of life and ending abortion. At age fifteen, Lila founded Live Action, a pro-life nonprofit which specializes in investigative journalism, media and youth education. Live Action works to expose abuses in the abortion industry and advocate for human rights for the pre-born, using new media to educate and mobilize both local and national audiences. Lila currently serves as President of Live Action.
Lila has led numerous undercover investigations exposing corruption and illegal activity at Planned Parenthood, the nation’s biggest abortion chain. Her work has documented rampant sexual abuse cover up, racism, medical misinformation, the willingness to assist sex traffickers, and false statements made by Planned Parenthood executives.
As a freshman at UCLA, Lila founded the pro-life student magazine The Advocate. The Advocate is now the largest pro-life student publication in the country, distributed at over 300 high school and college campuses with a circulation of 200,000.
Lila is a frequent guest on radio and television programs, including The O’Reilly Factor, The Glenn Beck Show, CNN, EWTN, and The Laura Ingraham Show. Numerous newspapers and blogs have also covered her work, including feature pieces by Reuters, the LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, and National Review. CNN featured Lila in a documentary, “Right on the Edge.” Lila has written for magazines and news groups including Politico, the Hill and First Things. Lila also serves on the board for the Queen of Angels Charitable Trust Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Lila’s work has received a number of awards and Lila is a national and international pro-life speaker.
Steven W. Mosher
Steven W. Mosher is an internationally recognized authority on China and population issues, as well as an acclaimed author, speaker. He has worked tirelessly since 1979 to fight coercive population control programs and has helped hundreds of thousands of women and families worldwide over the years.
In 1979, Steven was the first American social scientist to visit mainland China. He was invited there by the Chinese government, where he had access to government documents and actually witnessed women being forced to have abortions under the new “one-child policy.” Mr. Mosher was a pro-choice atheist at the time, but witnessing these traumatic abortions led him to reconsider his convictions and to eventually become a practicing, pro-life Roman Catholic.
Steven has appeared numerous times before Congress as an expert in world population, China, and human rights abuses. He has also made TV appearances on Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, 20/20, FOX and CNN news, as well as being a regular guest on talk radio shows across the nation.
He is also the author of the best-selling A Mother’s Ordeal: One Woman’s Fight Against China’s One-Child Policy. Other books include Hegemon: China’s Plan to Dominate Asia and the World, China Attacks, China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality, Journey to the Forbidden China, and Broken Earth: The Rural Chinese.
Articles by Steve have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, The New Republic, The Washington Post, National Review, Reason, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Freedom Review, Linacre Quarterly, Catholic World Report, Human Life Review, First Things, and numerous other publications.
Steven Mosher lives in Virginia with his wife, Vera, and their nine children.
Msgr. Jim Lisante
Monsignor Lisante is the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park, NY.
He previously served as a Director of the Office of Family Ministry for the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
Monsignor Jim has authored four books, including: Of Life and Love, Let’s Talk, Personally Speaking, and The Power of One.
Long active in the popular media Monsignor Lisante has hosted several national television programs including: Personally Speaking and Christopher Close-Up. He is currently in the process of launching a new television show, Close Encounter, which will appear nationally on PBS in the near future.
He is also a regular contributor to Fox News Channel and ABC Eyewitness News. Msgr. Lisante has also appeared on PBS, MSNBC, CNN and CBS and Nightline with Ted Koppel. He currently hosts an annual NBC Special called Personally Speaking. Monsignor Jim is also the host of a weekly radio program called Personally Speaking.
Monsignor Jim’s columns have appeared in over 300 newspapers.
He is a widely sought speaker at conferences around the country.
Carol Tobias
Carol Tobias is president of the National Right to Life Committee. A native of North Dakota, she has served on the National Right to Life board of directors since 1987. From 1983 to 1991, she was executive director of North Dakota Right to Life and in 1991 was hired as National Right to Life political director, a position she held until 2005. In that capacity, she organized and conducted seminars on pro-life issues and on becoming involved in the political process. She was a regular speaker at conferences around the country and participated in candidate-training seminars, teaching candidates how to handle pro-life issues in a campaign. During her tenure as political director, pro-life majorities were elected to both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. In both 2000 and 2004, she oversaw the efforts of National Right to Life’s political action committee on behalf of George W. Bush. Mrs. Tobias has appeared on ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC’s Today Show, CNN, The News Hour on PBS, C-SPAN, and Fox News Channel, as well as numerous television and radio programs throughout the country. She has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. She and her husband, Damon, live in Cedar Crest, New Mexico.
Jaime Thietten
Jaime Thietten has spent over ten years traveling around the world. Her music is played on countless radio stations, and she has won numerous music industry awards. But her heart shines best when singing and expressing her ministry of Hope and Forgiveness. With an emphasis on compassion and the unity of believers, Jaime uses her music to nurture those seeking forgiveness, to fill the hurt with hope, and to encourage compassion among people everywhere. Originally hailing from Twin Falls, Idaho, and now residing in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, Jaime has been singing since the age of two, performing publicly by thirteen and touring regionally throughout the 2000s (sharing the stage with ~ay Leno, The Gaithers, Michael English, Phillips, Craig & Dean, and Avalon , to name a few). Recently she began to perform internationally, with trips to New Zealand, Canada, and an upcoming offer to perform in South Africa. With God’s calling upon her heart, she is dedicating a portion of her music ministry to raise awareness and become a voice for the unborn and for those who cannot speak for themselves. “We need to appreciate and respect life at all costs, from the unborn, to the elderly, to the disabled and the homeless,” urges Jaime. “I feel it’s my mission to remind people to reach out and help those round us despite our differences. You don’t have to ,look very far to find someone in need, and the world can change in a moment with a simple smile or a thank you.” joining in this year’s “Bringing America Back to LIFE” convention , Jaime Thietten’s powerful 2009 Momentum Award-winning song My Chance brings compassionate and non-judgmental attention to an emotional trauma that can last a lifetime. Although she has never experienced an abortion herself, God has put upon her heart a passion to help those who have gone through this devastating experience to heal and find hope. Witnessing the birth of her nephew, Tanner, Jaime was forever changed by the miracle of childbirth and the amazing grace of innocence new to the world. With no children of her own, she and her husband are currently looking into adoption, or as she puts it, “adding options” to her family.
WORKSHOP SPEAKERS
KEVIN ALLEN is vice president of The Richard Norman Company, a direct-mail advertising company, and works for Active Engagement, an Internet marketing company. He has been a direct-mail advertising professional for more than twenty years. Mr. Allen has organized fundraisers and events for local non-profits, pro-life groups, political party organizations, and political candidates in various states across the nation. In 2009, he ran the Marine Corps Marathon to raise money for Chinese orphans. In 1992, he served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention. He has been involved in the pro-life movement since 1985. In college, he founded a pro-life group; in 1990, he volunteered for NRLC’s Rally for Life; and in 1998–99, he served as treasurer for the Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL)-Alexandria chapter. Currently, he volunteers for VSHL.
MICHELE AROCHA ALLEN has been involved in the pro-life movement for more than twenty years. In 1987, Ms. Allen became involved in pro-life activities as a college student; within two years, she became a spokeswoman for the Texas Right to Life Committee. Ms. Allen worked in the NRLC Communications Department from 1991–97; in 1994, she became the department’s director. She managed NRLC’s media relations, advertising, and broadcast programs. She served as a spokeswoman for the organization and appeared on programs such as NBC’s Today, was interviewed for publications such as the New York Times, and wrote opinion pieces for journals including USA Today. In 1997, she became a consultant to NRLC, served on the board of the Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL), and served as vice president of the VSHL-Alexandria chapter. In 1999–2000, she served as a Respect Life coordinator in Chantilly, Virginia. Currently, she focuses most of her time on her children, Blake and Shannon, volunteers for VSHL, and serves as an at-large member of the NRLC board of directors.
BURKE BALCH, J.D., is director of the National Right to Life Committee’s Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics. A graduate of Williams College and New York University School of Law, Mr. Balch deals with euthanasia-related issues, including assisting suicide; denial of lifesaving medical treatment, food, and fluids; and rationing. Mr. Balch has authored or co-authored articles on assisting suicide, infanticide, euthanasia, rationing of medical care, and ethics committees. Prior to coming to NRLC, he worked on the federal Protection of Handicapped Infants project for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. During his career, Mr. Balch has served as chief staff counsel for the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, a legal services program that protects the rights of poor people, especially older people and people with disabilities, to be free of discriminatory denial of medical treatment. He is among the authors of the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. He has also served as parliamentarian for the National Association of Parliamentarians and a number of other organizations. He and his wife, Mary, are the parents of two children, Bridget and James.
MARY SPAULDING BALCH, J.D., is the director of National Right to Life’s Department of State Legislation. She received her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in California and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Queens College, City University of New York. After working as a legislative counsel to New Hampshire Sen. Gorden J. Humphrey and as a trial attorney in New York City, Mrs. Balch was offered the opportunity to work full time on behalf of the unborn. She accepted the position working with National Right to Life and has been on staff for over twenty years working with the National Right to Life Committee’s state affiliates to pass pro-life legislation and to defeat anti-life measures. She and her husband, Burke, live in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with their two children, Bridget and James.
MARY HAHN BEERWORTH has been a volunteer for Vermont Right to Life since 1982 – serving as a chapter chair at the local level, and as both Vice President and President of VRLC. Beerworth has served in her current capacity as Executive Director and lobbyist for the organization since 1996. Doctor-prescribed suicide legislation was defeated in the Vermont House in 2007 and the Vermont Senate in 2012. Married to Steven Beerworth for 36 years. Together they have four children and four grandchildren.
LYNDA BELL has been married to Mark for twenty-six years. She has three daughters and eight grandchildren, the latest born last September in Alaska. Mrs. Bell was elected to the Miami Dade County Board of County Commissioners in November 2010, beating out five other candidates. As commissioner she represents over 200,000 residents. Mrs. Bell was elected mayor of Homestead in 2007, making her the first woman mayor in the city’s ninety-six-year history. She is the past president of Florida Right to Life and the Florida delegate to the National Right to Life board of directors, where she also serves as the vice chairwoman. She has won numerous awards and was the recipient of the Athena Award by the Homestead-Florida City Chamber of Commerce in 2004. She received the “I am Blessed Award” at the Dade County Days in Tallahassee in 2009. Mrs. Bell has debated many issues for FRTL, including the authorization for the Choose Life license plate, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and partial-birth abortion. She has also appeared on many local and national television and radio programs. Mrs. Bell also mentors young women and is a Sunday school teacher to adult women.
JOEL BRIND, Ph.D., is a biochemist who has specialized in reproductive steroid hormones and their links to human diseases since 1972. A graduate of Yale College in 1971, he earned his doctorate in basic medical science from New York University in 1981. Since 1986, Dr. Brind has been a professor of human biology and endocrinology at Baruch College of the City University of New York. He is presently also deputy chairman for biology at Baruch. Since coming across the link between abortion and breast cancer in 1992, Dr. Brind has devoted most of his research effort to studying and promoting awareness of what has come to be known as the “ABC link.” In 1996, along with colleagues from the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Dr. Brind published a “comprehensive review and meta-analysis” on the ABC link in the British Medical Association’s epidemiology journal. In 1999, along with three physician colleagues, Dr. Brind founded the nonprofit Breast Cancer Prevention Institute in Poughkeepsie, New York (now headquartered in Bound Brook, New Jersey, (www.bcpinstitute.org), of which he remains on the board of directors. From 2003–06, he served as a member of the federal advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the early detection and control of breast and cervical cancer. His most recent review of ABC-link research published over the previous decade appears in the winter 2005 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (www.jpands.org/vol10no4/brind.pdf).
THE REV. JOHN BOSSERT BROWN, JR., M.DIV., D.MIN., has been president of Friends for Life in the United Church of Christ (UCC) for over nineteen years and has served on the board of the National Pro-Life Religious Council during that time. For the past twenty-seven years he has been senior pastor at Shepherd of the Hills, UCC, which has grown to become a strongly pro-life congregation. In the last few years, the Rev. Brown has served as minister of small groups and pro-life ministries. Mr. Brown is joined in these ministries by his wife, Carol, now retired from school teaching. The Browns have three children and six grandchildren. They are very proud of the fact that all are staunchly pro-life.
CHERYL RINGUETTE CIAMARRA, MCD CCC-SIP, is the Alabama Citizens for Life director to the National Right to Life Committee board of directors. Born in New Orleans, where she participated in community theatre, she earned a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), and then returned to New Orleans to receive a master’s degree in communication disorders from Louisiana State University Medical Center. After fifteen years in the health care profession she semi-retired as director of the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department at Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital to raise her family. She is a mom of seven—five on earth and two in heaven! Cheryl’s private practice consulting business skills and love for life led to the creation of Focus on Life Radio. As host of the show Cheryl continues to advocate for the voiceless. She speaks and presents her message of the value of all human life at fundraisers for churches, women’s groups, pregnancy care centers, and conferences as a missionary of the Gospel of life.
BENJAMIN CLAPPER is the executive director of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. While attending Loyola University in New Orleans, Mr. Clapper worked with Students for Life of America and organized Louisiana Students for Life (LSL) in 2005. LSL networks, educates, and activates the pro-life students in Louisiana and the greater Southeast and Mr. Clapper remains the group’s chairman. He also speaks on various pro-life subjects to other groups throughout Louisiana and the Southeast. Mr. Clapper graduated from Loyola University New Orleans as the Ignatian Award winner for Outstanding Male Graduate.
PRISCILLA K. COLEMAN, Ph.D., is a professor of human development and family studies at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Coleman received her doctorate in Life-Span Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University in 1998. A major concentration of her research has been on the mental health effects of abortion and recent studies address the impact of abortion on interpersonal relationships (parenting and intimate partners). Additional research has focused on mother-child interaction, attachment, and the development of competency beliefs across the transition to parenting. The author of forty-eight peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Coleman frequently presents her research to audiences across the United States and in recent years she has spoken in Australia, Germany, Poland, and Portugal. Dr. Coleman has also served as an expert on state and civil cases related to the harmful effects of abortion and she is on the editorial boards for three international medical journals.
KAREN CROSS is the political director for the National Right to Life Committee. She helped to build the grassroots base in West Virginia, and, as director of West Virginians for Life PAC, helped to put George Bush in the White House in 2000 with his surprise win in the state. Mrs. Cross, who previously served as West Virginians for Life’s executive director, became involved in the pro-life movement as a result of her own two abortions. Her story has been featured in USA Today, in the video Aching Heart, Too, in Life Cycle magazine, in the magazine The Word among Us, on the 700 Club, on RBC Ministry’s radio program Words to Live By, and various radio and television programs and newspaper articles. She has spoken at National Right to Life Conventions, Rally for Life ’90, and numerous universities and colleges. She has testified before the West Virginia legislature and has successfully lobbied to pass a Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, a Women’s Right to Know Act, an Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and an Ultrasound Option law. Her presentation at an international conference on abortion in Poland in June 2004 was published as a chapter in the book Abortion: Causes, Ramifications, Therapy. She currently serves on the National Right to Life Committee board as an at-large member, on the West Virginians for Life board, and as an advisory board member for Labor of Love, a maternity home and crisis pregnancy center. She has three children and one grandson, Jameson.
INGRID ANN DURAN has served as an assistant in the NRLC State Legislative Department since 1995. She provides tools and assistance to NRLC affiliate lobbyists during their legislative session and tracks all pro-life legislation. Ms. Duran is also the first vice chairperson of Maryland Right to Life and serves on its board of directors. She is actively involved with outreach programs such as Hispanic Americans for Life and Black Americans for Life. She has counseled mothers and fathers in crisis pregnancy situations who have contacted National Right to Life. She is also involved in community activities with her local church. She has just completed her third year at Montgomery College. She is the proud mother of Gabriel, Rebekah, and Lystra.
STEVEN ERTELT is the editor and CEO of LifeNews.com, the daily pro-life news service covering abortion and bioethics issues. LifeNews.com reaches more than 500,000 pro-life advocates every week and its news articles are cited and reprinted by countless news outlets, blogs, and pro-life organizations. Mr. Ertelt is a member of the board of directors of Colorado Citizens for Life, the NRLC state affiliate, and he is an alternate member of the National Right to Life board of directors. During two decades of pro-life work, he has served as the past president of Right to Life of Wyoming, executive director of Montana Right to Life, and lobbyist and communications director for Indiana Right to Life. Mr. Ertelt holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Hendrix College in Arkansas and, during that time, he was the president of Students for Life of America. He and his wife, Julie, live in Fort Collins, Colorado.
SCOTT FISHBACH is the executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), and has served in that role since 2001. Under his leadership, MCCL has been able to pass several pieces of pro-life legislation including Women’s Right to Know, the Unborn Child Pain Prevention Act, the Positive Alternatives grant program, and a ban on taxpayer-funded human cloning. Additionally, MCCL has also embarked on numerous new educational outreach programs under Mr. Fischbach, including the Compassion Media campaign, Hispanos por la Vida Hispanic outreach, and most recently the GO! Global Outreach program, which provides life-affirming human rights activists with research and educational materials worldwide. While promoting educational outreach, it is local grassroots development that still is most important at MCCL. The annual MCCL Fall Tour, Student Day at the Capitol, ninety-two county fair booths, and Mother’s Day recognition projects keep MCCL’s two hundred chapters active in their local communities saving lives. He is married to Minnesota State Senate President Michelle Fischbach, and the couple have two adult children and one grandchild.
GEORGETTE FORNEY is entering her fourteenth year as the president of Anglicans for Life, the only Anglican ministry dedicated to inspiring the Anglican Church to understand and compassionately apply God’s Word when addressing abortion, abstinence, adoption, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research. She is also the co-founder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, an effort to raise awareness about the physical, spiritual, and emotional harm abortion does to women and to let those who are hurting from abortion know help is available. Since launching the campaign in 2003, over 4,641 women and men have shared their testimonies at over 771 gatherings in 48 states and 10 countries. More than 159,429 people have heard the truth about abortion’s negative side effects. Mrs. Forney had an abortion at age sixteen and later experienced healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation after going through an abortion recovery program. She serves on the board of directors for the Abortion Recovery International Network (ARIN), which is compiling the only comprehensive online database of abortion recovery counselors so others who hurt can get connected to healing programs. She has been interviewed on numerous radio programs and has spoken at many crisis pregnancy center banquets, pro-life conferences, conventions, churches, rallies, and university and college campuses. Recently Mrs. Forney has spoken at the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children’s annual conference in England and at Princeton University’s Organization of Women Leaders Conference. In May 2005 she attended a meeting with nineteen religious leaders and President Bush. She lives in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, with her husband and daughter.
ELIZABETH GRAHAM moved to Houston, Texas, in 1994 to pursue graduate studies in philosophy at the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. During her graduate studies, she volunteered for Texas Right to Life, where she learned of the mission and efforts to protect innocent human life. She married Jim Graham in 1997 and later started working full time with Texas Right to Life. With her husband, they have grown Texas Right to Life into the largest and only statewide pro-life organization in Texas with a staff of over twenty and a membership of over 250,000 households. Through Texas Right to Life’s Family Assistance Program, Mrs. Graham has advocated for and worked with over fifty families whose ailing loved ones faced losing medical care at hospitals across Texas.
EILEEN HAUPT lives in Vermont with her husband, Steven, and their two daughters. After her second daughter, Sadie, was born with Down syndrome, Mrs. Haupt learned that 90 percent of babies who are prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. This shocking statistic drew her into the pro-life cause. She serves on the board of directors of the Vermont Right to Life Committee, and is the alternate delegate from Vermont to the NRLC board of directors. She is co-founder of KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome), a group of families who have children with Down syndrome, formed for the purpose of walking together in the annual March for Life in D.C. and raising awareness about the tragically high abortion rate of unborn babies with Down syndrome.
MARJORIE HIGGINS, with her experience as a speaker, newsletter editor, lobbyist, legislative aide, and with local, state, and national election campaigns, assists NRL state affiliates with the business end of the pro-life movement. Her current duties, as NRL State Organizational Development coordinator, include organizing educational exhibits, reviewing by-laws, developing and maintaining computer lists, and acting as a resource support for local chapters and state offices. Over the last several years she has brought local teens to serve at the NRL Convention as volunteers. She and her husband, now with only one of their five children still at home, live in Fleming Island, Florida.
DOUGLAS JOHNSON has served as federal legislation director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) since 1981. The Federal Legislation Department is charged with advancing NRLC’s public policy goals in Congress and within the federal executive branch. Mr. Johnson has played a key role in many past pro-life battles in Congress. A profile of Mr. Johnson in National Review (September 3, 2001) was subtitled “The Most Effective Lobbyist in Washington.” According to another profile of Mr. Johnson that appeared in the magazine The Weekly Standard (March 26, 1996), “The proposed ban on ‘partial-birth’ abortions … is the work of one of Washington’s least well-known but most influential lobbyists,” who “commands enormous respect on Capitol Hill.” Mr. Johnson’s role in the development of the partial-birth abortion debate also was highlighted in the article “Gambling with Abortion” by Cynthia Gorney (Harper’s, November 2004). Mr. Johnson is the author of innumerable articles and essays on pro-life topics, including federal abortion laws, unborn victims of violence (fetal homicide), human cloning, the ERA, legal restrictions on free speech about political figures, and the ways in which the news media cover pro-life topics. Many of his writings are found on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org. He has given presentations on pro-life topics in settings as diverse as the National War College and the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. On January 22, 2011, Mr. Johnson was one of six recipients of the prestigious Norinne A. and Raymond E. Ruddy Memorial Pro-Life Prize for 2009–10, conferred by the Massachusetts-based Gerard Health Foundation. Mr. Johnson and his wife, Carolyn, are the parents of four grown children.
BRIAN JOHNSTON is the western director for the National Right to Life Committee. He also serves as director for the California Pro-Life Council and is a member of the board of directors of NRLC. Mr. Johnston is a well-known advocate for the elderly and the dependent and has served as California Commissioner on Aging, on the Board of Examiners of California Nursing Homes, and as a hospice volunteer. He is the author of the important book Death as a Salesman: What’s Wrong with Assisted Suicide? This handbook provides valuable information and is a resource for those dedicated to protecting the medically vulnerable and those suffering from depression—prime candidates for “assisted suicide.” Both the book and a subsequent documentary film based on the book have been used as educational tools throughout the world. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN news programs, ABC’s World News Tonight, the McNeil-Lehrer NewsHour, and many other programs.
LORI KEHOE is the senior congressional liaison for the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics at the National Right to Life Committee. She is also executive director of the New York State Right to Life Committee. Mrs. Kehoe has lobbied Congress on abortion, euthanasia, cloning, health care rationing, and other pro-life and First Amendment issues. She has conducted seminars and has spoken on life issues at conventions, seminars, and debates across the country and throughout Australia. Mrs. Kehoe has appeared on CSPAN, CNN news programs, Fox News, America’s Voice, and other television and radio programs nationwide. She has been quoted in the New York Times, Associated Press, Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Oregonian, and numerous other newspapers across the nation. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo. She and her wonderful husband, Marty, have a fabulous five-year-old, Rowan Blessing, and two precious children in Heaven.
LEO LALONDE has served as president of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) since 1976. Mr. LaLonde joined MCCL as a chapter chair in 1971 and has been active with MCCL ever since. He has served the organization in a number of capacities and, in addition to serving as president, he is the webmaster for www.mccl.org, www.mcclgo.org, www.mcclpac.org, and www.nrlpac.org. He also serves on the board of directors of the National Right to Life Committee. An active pro-life author and speaker, Mr. LaLonde has spoken throughout Minnesota, in other states, and at several national pro-life conventions. A retired process automation engineer and computer consultant, he resides with his wife, Virginia, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. MCCL, founded in 1968, is Minnesota’s oldest and largest pro-life organization.
JOLEIGH LITTLE became involved in the pro-life movement at the age of fourteen, and in the twenty-six years since then she has worked on the local, state, and national levels to advance the cause of life. She served on staff at National Right to Life from 1992 until 1996 and has worked with the grassroots movement in Wisconsin from 1996 to the present. In her current position as Teens for Life director and Region 5 & 6 coordinator at Wisconsin Right to Life, she spends her time working with chapters and teen groups and promoting the right-to-life cause among young people through WRTL’s annual convention and four summer leadership camps. This past year she has been working with NRLC’s Life and Leadership Initiative to roll out a national camp program, along with colleagues from Louisiana RTL and Rhode Island RTL. Joleigh also serves as co-advisor to National Teens for Life and helps to plan the annual NTL Convention, Summit, and Congressional Reception.
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ is the former editor and current editor-at-large of the widely read and cited daily webzine, National Review Online, where she has written and edited for more than a decade. An award-winning opinion journalist who has been praised for her “editorial daring,” Lopez is also a nationally syndicated columnist with United Media’s Newspaper Enterprise Association. Lopez’s work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Human Life Review, First Things, and Stars and Stripes, and on the websites of the New York Times, CNN, and other international publications. She writes frequently for a variety of Catholic publications, including Our Sunday Visitor, and is a columnist for The National Catholic Register and the Knights of Columbus’s Headline Bistro. Lopez’s work has been referenced widely, and has even been cited in the pages of Playboy (they were not fans). She has been recognized by Feminists for Life and Manhattan’s Midtown Pregnancy Support Center for her culture-of-life commentary and reporting. Lopez is a frequent guest on national and international radio and television programs, from PBS and CNN to EWTN and Vatican Radio. She has been a guest host on William J. Bennett’s nationally syndicated morning show. In 2002, Lopez and National Review Online were awarded the Center for Military Readiness Spotlight Award for national-defense coverage. Commonly known as “K-Lo” on the Internet, on talk radio, and around Washington, Lopez speaks frequently on faith and public life, the dignity of human life, and feminism, among other topics. She has addressed audiences at events sponsored by Legatus, the Knights of Columbus, the American Political Science Association, the Heritage Foundation, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, the Milken Institute, Lincoln Center, and the National Press Club, and has spoken on the campuses of Harvard, Yale, the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Ave Maria University. Lopez is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she studied philosophy and politics. She has been a fellow at the Claremont Institute and serves on the Archdiocese of New York’s Pro-Life Commission.
PATRICK McGEE is the director of NRLC’s Information Technology (IT) Department. Mr. McGee maintains NRLC’s internal telecomm and data infrastructure (i.e. backbone) from top to bottom. During Mr. McGee’s tenure, he has overseen NRLC’s migration from word processors to PCs to networks to clients/server and now to cloud. In the IT world, things are cyclical. What was outsourced yesterday might be better accomplished in-house today and what was in-house might now prove beneficial to outsource. One of Mr. McGee’s roles is to position and balance NRLC with those trends. Mr. McGee recently accomplished providing NRLC staff with cloud technology. The next challenge for him is to improve NRLC’s coordination and mobilization with the grassroots who utilize smart phones. His focus will be how to achieve this connection at little or no cost to NRLC. Mr. McGee has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He is married with four children.
MARGIE MONTGOMERY helped establish Right to Life of Louisville, Inc., the first chapter in Kentucky, after her televised response to a pro-abortion editorial on local CBS affiliate prompted several phone calls from those in agreement in 1970. In 1973 she was co-founder of Kentucky Right to Life Association, Inc. and became a Lobbyist, Newspaper Editor, Chairman, Fund-Raising Committees and Chairman of the Kentucky Right to Life Assoc., Inc. Political Action Committee. In 1974 she became the Executive Director, Right to Life of Louisville, Inc., Executive Director, Kentucky Right To Life Association, Inc, State Office, Louisville, Kentucky, and Executive Director, Right to Life Educational Foundation of KY, Inc. 1978 to the present, she is the Director from Kentucky, National Right to Life Committee, Inc. She has served on various boards and committees ranging from American Association of University Women, League of Catholic Parent-Teacher Association, Metropolitan Parks and Recreation Board of Jefferson County, White House Conference on Families, Kentucky Coalition on Teen-age Pregnancy, Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies, and Family Life Education Advisory Task Force, KY Department of Education. Mrs. Montgomery holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, Rosemont College, Pennsylvania. She is the mother of two sons and one daughter, and grandmother of four grandsons, three granddaughters and one great grandson. December 2001 she lost her beloved husband, Schuhmann. February 2002 her lovely daughter, Maura, died after a valiant battle with cancer.
SUSAN MUSKET, J.D., National Right to Life Senior Legislative Counsel.
BROTHER PAUL J. O’DONNELL, FBP, has served in leadership of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis since 1988. The Franciscan Brothers of Peace originated within the Catholic right to life movement and consider the promotion of the Gospel of Life to be their primary and central charism. Br. Paul received his bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Saint Thomas in 1982. Br. Paul was a primary caregiver to Br. Michael Gaworski, fbp, their severely disabled founder, for over twelve years until Br. Michael’s death on August 28, 2003. Because of their own experience, Br. Paul and the Franciscan Brothers of Peace were at the forefront of the battle to save the life of Terri Schindler Schiavo, speaking out on her behalf and offering spiritual guidance to the Schindler family. Br. Paul served as the official family spokesman, appearing daily before worldwide media, proclaiming Terri’s right to life and he right to life of all disabled persons. Br. Paul and his brothers are committed to carry on the legacy of Br. Michael and Terri Schiavo. Br. Paul serves on the board of directors of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, which defends the rights of the disabled and all vulnerable innocents in danger of death for being decreed “useless” or a “burden” to our secularized, utilitarian society. He is a volunteer and consultant for the ongoing mission of the foundation. Br. Paul also serves on several advisory boards and networks with dozens of various right to life organizations. He continues to appear on numerous Catholic, Christian, and secular radio shows and remains a firm pro-life contact for many national media outlets.
THE REV. FRANK PAVONE is one of the most prominent pro-life leaders in the world. Originally from New York, he was ordained in 1988 by Cardinal John O’Connor and specialized in Biblical studies. In 1993 he became the first full-time National Director of Priests for Life, the largest pro-life ministry in the Catholic Church. He is also the president of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, a coalition of groups from many different denominations working to end abortion. He has been an official of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family and is currently a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. He travels to four states a week speaking at pro-life events and appears daily in Christian as well as secular media. Rev. Pavone produces regular broadcasts for outlets such as EWTN, Salem Communications, Bott Radio Network, Sky Angel TV, and numerous other outlets. He has addressed the pro-life caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has been a spiritual guide for Norma McCorvey, the former “Jane Roe” of the Supreme Court’s abortion decision Roe v. Wade, and helped her become a full-time pro-life activist. He is pastoral director and chairman of Rachel’s Vineyard, the world’s largest ministry for healing after abortion, and is pastoral director of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. He is the author of two books, Ending Abortion, Not Just Fighting It and Pro-life Reflections for Every Day.
JENNIFER POPIK, J.D., serves as legislative counsel of the National Right to Life Committee’s Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics, which deals with euthanasia-related issues including assisted suicide; denial of lifesaving medical treatment, food, and fluids; and health care rationing. She lobbies Congress on end of life issues and euthanasia and assists in a variety of related legal issues. She also serves as counsel for the Department of State Legislation, assisting state affiliates with drafting pro-life legislation and providing any additional needed legal support. Prior to coming to NRLC, she worked with the Cleveland Bar Association’s ProBono Program as well as with the City of Cleveland Prosecutor’s Office. She received her bachelor’s degree from John Carroll University and her law degree from Cleveland Marshall College of Law. She and her husband, Eric, are the parents of four children.
DAVID PRENTICE, Ph.D., is senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council. Previously he spent almost twenty years as a professor of life sciences at Indiana State University and as an adjunct professor of medical and molecular genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a founding member of Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics, a fellow of the Wilberforce Forum Council for Biotechnology Policy, a fellow of the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future, and an advisory board member for the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. Dr. Prentice received the 2007 Walter C. Randall Award in Biomedical Ethics from the American Physiological Society, given for promoting the honor and integrity of biomedical science through example and mentoring in the classroom and laboratory. He is an internationally recognized expert on stem cells and cloning, and has testified before the U.S. Congress, numerous state legislatures, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, President’s Council on Bioethics, European Parliament, British Parliament, Canadian Parliament, Australian Parliament, German Bundestag, French Senate, Swedish Parliament, the Vatican, and the United Nations. He gives frequent invited lectures and media interviews regarding stem cell research, cloning, and bioethics.
PAM RUCINSKI is the co-owner of Rucinski & Reetz Communication located in Wausau, Wisconsin. The company provides writing and project management for print, video, and the web for local, state, and national corporate, business, government, and non-profit clients. Her work has received state, national, and international recognition including the New York and Chicago International Film Festivals, Telly Awards, and the International Media Communications Association. She has produced numerous pro-life films. The most recent was produced for National Right to Life, titled A Baby’s First Months: Infinite Possibilities. The film was recently recognized as a best short documentary finalist at “Life Fest,” a California based film festival dedicated to pro-life themes. A Baby’s First Months also won an International Telly Award last year. Mrs. Rucinski is currently working on two other film projects focused on right to life issues. See A Baby’s First Months on her website at www.rucinskireetz.com. Pam and her husband, Chet, have deep roots in the right to life movement. Chet currently serves on the National Right to Life board of directors and was recently elected to the executive board. They have five children and their oldest daughter Tricia is one of the founders of National Teens for Life. Right to life work is a family affair and the brood of Rucinski grandkidlets continues to grow—a sure sign of continued trouble for pro-abortion politicians.
ANDREW A. SABAK has owned Sabak Computer Services since 1985. The company has performed extensive database management and address enhancement services since 1992 for the National Right to Life Committee and NRL PAC, as well as for many of NRLC’s state affiliates. Sabak Computer has also specialized in providing pro-life Republican and conservative candidates with computerized information services, including direct mail programs. Mr. Sabak is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he majored in mathematics and computer science. Following in the footsteps of his father, a Carpatho-Russian Orthodox priest, he also earned his B.Th. at Christ the Savior Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Seminary. In 1980, he earned his master’s degree in computer science and dreamed of starting his own company to assist conservatives. He lives in Fairmont, West Virginia, with his wife, Linda, and their daughter, Nina, who has won numerous writing awards, including at the University of Pittsburgh where she has completed her second year.
BOBBY SCHINDLER is the executive director of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, which works to protect the lives of the medically vulnerable and disabled from the threat of euthanasia. He was born and raised just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with his sisters, Terri and Suzanne. After his graduation from LaSalle University with a bachelor of science degree in marketing, Mr. Schindler moved with his entire family to Florida where he obtained a bachelor of science degree in meteorology from Florida State University. But his life took a dramatic and unexpected turn in February 1990 when his older sister, Terri, suddenly collapsed and was left with a profound brain injury. When Terri’s estranged husband sought court permission to starve and dehydrate her to death, Mr. Schindler was suddenly propelled into a life he had never imagined. He spoke in defense of his sister’s life on numerous national television and radio programs including Hannity & Colmes, Larry King Live, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and many others. Following Terri’s tragic death on March 31, 2005, Mr. Schindler gave up his teaching job at Tampa Catholic High School. In the five years since that time, he has spoken extensively throughout the United States and internationally telling the truth about Terri’s story. He and his family have also authored the book A Life That Matters (2006) regarding their decade-long struggle to care for his sister Terri. The Schindler family continues to advocate for persons with disabilities and works tirelessly to put an end to the growing pro-death mentality that is plaguing our nation.
THE HON. MIKE SPENCE is an alternate board member of the National Right to Life Committee and special assistant to the NRLC Western Office. He is vice president of the California Pro-Life Council, the state affiliate of National Right to Life. He is currently editor of the California ProLife News and past co-host of the Life Matters radio program. Mr. Spence is also serving his fifth term on West Covina Unified School District Board. As a school board member he authored the district’s parental notification policy. He is past president of the California School Board Leadership Council, a network representing pro-family school board members in the state as well as past president of the California Republican Assembly, and has served in various Republican Party positions. He was part of California’s delegation to the 1996, 2004, and 2008 Republican Party national conventions. In 1996, the speaker of the state assembly appointed Mr. Spence to a four-year term on the Library of California Board. He was awarded the Samuel Adams Leadership Award from the Washington, D.C.based Local Government Council in 1997 and the Capitol Resource Institute Award for Educational Excellence in 1999. Mr. Spence serves as a board member of the La Puente Valley Meals on Wheels and on the board of trustees of the Junior Statesman Foundation. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs providing commentary on political issues, including shows such as the John and Ken Show, Laura Ingraham Show, Roger Hedgecock Show, Fox News, and shows on MSNBC and CNN. Mr. Spence has also had commentaries printed in the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Business Journal, and other papers. He is also a correspondent for the popular FlashReport weblogs. He is happily married to the former Marielena Barros and resides in West Covina with their daughter, Reagan, and son, Nathanael.
SUE THAYER served as manager of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake, Iowa, for 18 years. She truly believed she was helping to prevent abortions. Around 2007, Planned Parenthood of Iowa formulated the webcam abortion scheme and mandated that all of its family planning clinics participate. Sue was aghast. She, a non-medical person, would be trained to do vaginal ultrasounds and would have the webcam apparatus in her clinic. This would force her to directly participate in abortion. Sue spoke up forcefully against this scheme and was fired. Today, Sue is a leader for the right-to-life cause in her community where she coordinates pro-life activities.