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Alumna Speaks at Pro-Life Banquet: Still Hope to Rebuild the Culture of Life
November 29, 2008
By Clare Guerrero
Ave Maria University's Students for Life Club hosted its first alumni keynote speaker at its 4th Annual Pro-life Banquet on November 8th. Alumna, Johanna Dasteel, Class of 2007, reminded the pro-life community that, in the face of political defeats, the movement only looks toward renewed strength and energy in the battle for life and against the culture of death.
Miss Dasteel, a Theology major from Durango, Colo., now works as Senior Congressional Liaison with the American Life League (ALL), the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life education organization in the United States. ALL is a 501(c)(3) organization co-founded by Judie Brown and nine other dedicated pro-life Americans in 1979, and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death.
Dasteel dedicates herself to the Capitol Hill region of Washington, D.C., counseling congressmen on the evils of abortion, spreading awareness about the devices of Planned Parenthood and promoting amendments that protect life and defend personhood.
Dasteel instilled hope for pro-lifers, in their work for life at all levels, especially in the shadow of President-elect Barack Obama, "the most pro-abortion candidate in our nation's history to be our Commander-in-Chief."
She lost no time educating listeners on the "situation at hand" and revealing the plan for pro-life movement over the next few years.
Discussing the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), Dasteel said this bill exists for the sole purpose of eliminating government interference with a woman's so-called "right" to terminate her child at any stage of pregnancy, wiping out all existing state and federal pro-life laws, and eliminating all freedom of conscience protections for pro-lifers in the scientific, medical and pharmaceutical fields.
A second bill, the Prevention First Act (PFA), "opens the floodgates for millions and millions of extra taxpayer dollars to support Planned Parenthood and the development of its devices." Dasteel continued, "These include pornographic websites for teens such as, www.teenwire.com, and www.takecaredownthere.com." Additionally, taxpayer funds would support abortion through Medicaid.
"All is not lost, as many have claimed," Dasteel continued. "Even with a pro-abortion extremist in the White House and his inevitable radical appointees to the Supreme Court of the United States, there is still hope to rebuild the culture of life."
One "legislative hope," Dasteel announced, is the invigorated effort to define "person" in state and legislative constitutions, a-yet-to-be sponsored Federal Amendment proposed by the American Life League. This Personhood Amendment is not an effort to curb abortion, but rather an advocacy for civil rights of a class of persons, the pre-born. The amendment would solidify terminology in the Constitution recognizing the pre-born as persons, a still viable option under the Obama administration.
"We can see the need for Ave Maria and its pro-life club, especially as we examine what is in store for us with our newly elected officials," Dasteel told students and supporters.
"There is good reason for concern, but as our beloved Pope John Paul II reminded us time and again: ‘Be not afraid,'" she said, bringing tears to the eyes of listeners. "In the face of the FOCA, ‘Be not afraid.' In the face of PFA, ‘Be not afraid!' In the face of President-elect Barack Obama, ‘Be not afraid!'
"As Catholics and as American citizens we have a dual responsibility," Dasteel said, "first to God and then to our country, to advocate for the protection of the pre-born by being their voice. It is a blessing to know that the students of Ave Maria University are standing up to be that voice."
The Pro-life Dinner proceeds will benefit student Pro-life Club activities, and raise funds for them to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C., in January. †
