Talk of the Town - Whitley County

(Talk of the Town photos by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Above, the 2010 Legacy of Life dinner was held in late September in Columbia City, an opportunity for supporters to spotlight the work of the Whitley County Right to Life.  Below, Whitley County Right to Life president Paul Tomaszewski provides an overview of the organization's achieved goals and discusses plans to seek 501(c)3 non-profit status in the year ahead.

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

Last Sunday afternoon, you might have noticed people standing in silent protest in downtown Columbia City or you might have noticed any one of a dozen banners around Whitley County in support of the sanctity of human life over the past several months.
These weren't unrelated events -- but part of a consistent effort of the Whitley County Right to Life to have their mission known by residents of this community.
The Whitley County Right to Life, in conjunction with the Indiana Right to Life, held their annual Legacy of Life dinner on September 20, the largest event held in many years according to the organization's president Paul Tomaszewski.
"We saw a 20% increase in attendance this year," Tomaszewski said.
"We're dedicated to educating the public on the sanctity of life," Tomaszewski told dinner attendees.
Tomaszewski pointed out the many ways his organization has worked to inform the citizens of Whitley County in the past year, including:
The production and distribution of a bi-monthly newsletter, developed pro-life election guides, co-sponsored a post-abortion counseling training workshop for pastors and their spouses in January 2010 as well as a three-day training retreat for counselors in March 2010, held a public meeting in the spring to reintroduce Whitley County Right to Life and sent letters to area pastors inviting them to partner with the organization.
"As an organization, we've had ebbs and flows over the year," Tomaszewski said. "We want people to know we are here."
In the year ahead, Tomaszewski said the organization intends to pursue several new goals, including seeking 501(c)3 status in order to accept tax-deductible donations, conduct a county-wide "white cross" project, establish liaisons within local churches, increase teen involvement through Friends for Life camp and the creation of a newsletter aimed at teens.
Tomaszewski said they will continue the banner project across Whitley County as well as the Life Chain event and the annual Legacy of Life dinner, since all of which have been successful, growing projects.
Other speakers at the recent Legacy of Life dinner included Lisa Davis, Pat Hatcher and Peter Heck.
For the past 10 years, Davis has been instrumental in the A Hope Center, a post-abortive program. The program offers Bible study opportunities to women and men after an abortion to aid in the emotional and spiritual healing process.
"Post-abortive women are mothers. They're not monsters," Davis said. "They're just scared women reacting out of fear."
She said women who had abortions as long as 40 years ago are now coming forward and seeking spiritual and emotional healing.
Davis added that A Hope Center's counseling services are available to men too, because, she said, "There are men hurting from abortion too. More and more men are waking up and beginning to seek healing."
Hatcher has been active in the prolife movement for more than three decades. Hatcher shared her personal experience after having an abortion in the early 1970s and her journey of recovery from a very low point in her life.
"The personal journey to self-forgiveness has been difficult," Hatcher said, but added that she's found passion to move forward in her ability to talk about the situation and voice her support of the prolife movement. "The whole point is this: if you have a voice, now is the time to speak. If you've saved one life, it was a life that matters."
Heck spoke emphatically about the pro-life movement in Indiana, providing a gut-wrenching illustration of just how many abortions have occurred in Indiana in the past four decades -- each represented by the sound of tiny metal pellets dropped into a can.
The pro-life movement, according to Heck, means "taking a stand for a most critical issue we face."
"What makes life critical is what it is," Heck said. "It is created by the hand of almighty God. It is made in the image of God. Too often those in the pro-choice movement lose sight of this."
"If we establish that what is conceived in the womb is human...game, set, match, over," he said.
Heck said he doesn't like clever anecdotes, but felt the dropping of the pellets into the can was poignant in its representation of millions of lives lost. The sound went on seemingly forever.
"If everyone can go home remembering the BBs by themselves," Heck said it would be worthwhile. "We can't go back and undo the yesterdays, but we can improve the tomorrows."
Heck urged support of local organizations like the Whitley County Right to Life, reaching out to those who grieve the abortions they've had, public discussion about the issues involved, demanding personhood for all lives, rallies, letter writing, giving campaigns and prayer.