Today, Sept. 28th, marks the third day of the 40 Days for Life campaign.
For daily updates from the national site, click here.
For daily blog updates from the St. Louis campaign, click here. 

warning: this video contains a few graphic images toward the end.
disclaimer: posting of this video is in NO way an endorsement of TED Talks.

On October 11th, ECA-MRL will be holding its second annual Celebrate Life Banquet.  This is a Free event.  Please visit our website calendar for event details.  RSVPs appreciated by October 4th.

From Wednesday, September 26, through November 4, 40-day campaigns of prayer and fasting, peaceful vigil and community outreach will be held in …… 316 locations …… all across the United States (49 states and the District of Columbia) plus Canada, England, Spain, Australia and Uganda — our first African campaign!
More local events include:
"We truly hope this fall's 40 Days for Life campaign will reinforce the end of abortion in Columbia," said Kathy Forck, who coordinates the Columbia 40 Days for Life effort. "The pro-life community will join to together for our area's 40 Days for Life kickoff event at the Assembly of God, 1100 North Seventh Street, Columbia on Tuesday, September 25 at 6:30 pm. For more information visit  www.40daysforlife.com/columbia-mo or email columbia40daysforlife2@gmail.com
  
The St. Louis 40 Days for Life kick-off rally will be held Sunday, September 23rd at 6:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis - Boland Hall, 4430 Maryland Avenue, St. Louis.  The featured speaker will be Lauren Muzyka of the National 40 Days for Life Team.  For more information concerning this event contact Brian Westbrook at  Brian@CoalitionForLifeSTL.com

(link to info for other locations)

The mainstream media is working overtime to ensure pro-abortion President Barack Obama is reelected. What they’d like us to believe is that momentum is on Obama’s side and the Romney campaign is floundering.
Polling has been instrumental to the media’s campaign to reelect Obama. From over-sampling Democrats to outright ignoring polls favorable to Republicans, the media has carefully constructed a storyline about the direction of the campaign and is unwilling to deviate from it. If reality does not comport, then it is ignored.
For instance, recent NBC swing state polls show Obama winning by even larger margins than in 2008, a wave year for Democrats. That defies reason. That would require large numbers of McCain voters to flip for Obama in 2012. In fact, it appears the opposite is occurring and Obama 2008 voters are ditching him either for Romney, another candidate or are simply staying home.
NARAL Pro-Choice America has even acknowledged they are having trouble shoring up their base.  As reported by the Daily Caller, according to NARAL’s model, there are over 5.1 million women pro-choice “Obama defectors” nationwide, 1.2 in battleground states, and 338,020 in 25 key battleground counties.”
The media is also ignoring the discontent among Catholics over Obama. In 2008, 54% of Catholics voted for Obama. After four years of working to expand abortion and threatening rights of conscience and religious liberty, Obama will have a hard time winning the Catholic vote again. The Obama campaign acknowledges its weakness among the nation’s single largest religious group. It’s why they offered a speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention to a pro-Obama nun and why they released a new ad directly appealing to Catholics.
While there isn’t available polling data on enthusiasm levels among pro-life advocates, I can tell you firsthand that the pro-life community is fired up to vote in November. The chance to defeat the most pro-abortion president in US history and elect a pro-life president in his place has rallied the movement. The pro-life grassroots are working tirelessly every single day, sacrificing their time and energy to ensure victory.
(link to full article)

"We (Heather Wilson, Deana Schroeder and other members) are members of the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant by Sexual Assault (WPSA). This group was formed eight years ago to petition Congress to hold hearings on the issue of abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. So far, however, this petition has not been heard by political leaders on either side of the aisle, or by most in the pro-choice or pro-life communities.
     Despite the belief that most women in such circumstances would want an abortion, a national study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that only half of those who became pregnant from rape had an abortion. Another survey of pregnant sexual assault victims found that only 30 percent had abortions.
     Whether the true number is closer to 30 or 50 percent doesn’t matter. What matters is that women and girls who become pregnant from rape or incest need real support and resources that meet their needs. In many cases, however, these needs are not met because most people assume that abortion will solve the problem.
     In fact, there are no studies proving that this claimed psychological benefit occurs in general, or even for certain groups of women pregnant by sexual assault. And from personal experience, many of us discovered that abortion only added to our trauma and created additional obstacles to finding healing.
     We are especially concerned — and offended — when our circumstances are exploited to promote abortion on demand, especially when there is no platform being offered for us to voice our real needs and concerns."
(read full article)

Every third Thursday of the month is the ECA-MRL Free Movie night.  As part of our pro-life film series, we will be showing the movie "Bella." Popcorn and soda will be provided. *A free will offering is appreciated to help cover costs but is not required.
Check out our event calendar for more details.

The following statement can be attributed to Pam Fichter, President of Missouri Right to Life:

Today (Sept. 12th), during the constitutionally required veto session, the required two-thirds majority of the Missouri House and well over two-thirds of the Senate voted to override Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of SB 749.  With bi-partisan support in both chambers, the Senate vote was 26 to 6 and the House vote was 109 to 45.
SB 749 simply seeks to protect people and institutions of faith from being forced to provide insurance coverage for abortion or abortion causing drugs against their deeply held religious beliefs.  It also places in statute the right to have Missouri’s Attorney General sue to protect Missouri’s religious institutions and business owners if the federal government mandates participation in the destruction of innocent human lives by way of forcing coverage of abortion causing drugs.
We thank the Missouri legislators who voted to override the veto and take a stand for the protection of our religious liberties and for the innocent human lives that are at risk due to the Obama Health Care bill and the HHS mandate.
Please check our website at missourilife.org to see how your legislators voted on the veto override of SB 749.  If he/she voted to override, please call and thank your Senator and Representative.  If he/she did not vote to override, please go to the polls on November 6 and vote for a new Representative or Senator that will support your pro-life values! Contact information for your legislator can be obtained on the homepage of our website, just enter your 9-digit zipcode.
(link to MRL Press Release)

• House Vote
• Senate Vote

Rally to encourage Missouri legislators to override Governor Nixon's veto of SB 749.  Wednesday, September 12, 9:30am – 12:00 p.m. at the State Capitol building in Jefferson City, MO.  SB 749 deals with protecting the rights of conscience of individuals who oppose the HHS abortion mandate.
If you can't make it to the rally, please call your Mo legislators and ask them to override the governor's veto of SB 749.
(link to info on SB 749)