"Mommy, What's Planned Parenthood?"

Those were the words that made protesting Planned Parenthood all the worthwhile outside a Hillary Clinton event yesterday in freezing weather, and those words contain the main objective of my post on why I am protesting Planned Parenthood.

Ever since I can remember, I have been pro-life. I was raised in a good Catholic family outside of Boston. My parents made sure that I knew what abortion was, and I grew up absolutely despising it and always talking to my friends about the truths of abortion all through school. It wasn't always easily, especially going to public school in a liberal state like Massachusetts.

While protesting Hillary outside, the vast majority of people attending her event refused to take our fliers as soon as they saw my sign, which said, "Planned Parenthood Hurts Women."

But what was so great about the fact that they would not take our fliers was because of the number of young children walking into the event with their parents. As soon as they saw that their parents refused to take the flyer (or some who made nasty comments), we could hear as the children would immediately start to question their parents on what what was wrong or what Planned Parenthood was.

As their voices drifted off as they entered the event, we could only hope for the best. That their child would soon learn about abortion, and start questioning what abortion was. We all know that if you explain what abortion is to a child, they will immediately reject the whole notion of it. The world, after all, is a much better place in the eyes of your common child in America.

But, I also want to emphasize something to pro-lifers: Start teaching your children about abortion and the evils of Planned Parenthood now. They are never too young to learn. The younger they are, the less swayed they will be by common culture and they will see what abortion is the way it is: the killing of an innocent child. Start teaching them pro-woman rhetoric to go along with abortion, such as the exact message on our sign: Planned Parenthood Hurts Women. Think about the rarity of the common student to go through school not ever discussing abortion or coming across a friend, or a friend-of-a-friend, in a crisis pregnancy. Your child could be the lifesaver, but you must plant the seeds.

I will also be grateful to my parents for teaching me about abortion at a young age. Please do not hesitate to do the same for your children.

What do Women Voters Want?

I just ran across this video from Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, discussing Hillary Clinton and women voters on Fox News a couple nights ago. Marjorie discusses the impact on abortion and the women vote. Watch the video, then tell me what you think.

"Live Free or Die"

... Is the motto of the state I just entered last night: New Hampshire, which holds the first-in-the-nation primary this Tuesday, January 8th. And you can see it all around you: Unlike Iowa, campaigns are permitted to put up signs on public roads, so the landscape driving from Manchester to my hotel was huge piles of snow with signs sticking out of them.

However, the difference I immediately sensed in landscape is just a reflection on the difference in voter attitudes between Iowa and New Hampshire. Iowa is very heavily Evangelical, and they play a huge role in the Iowa Caucus, which Mike Huckabee benefited very heavily from in his victory. This is not the case in New Hampshire, whose primary is decided and dominated by independents and libertarians. For instance, gun control is a big issue here.

Also, there are simply the geographical differences -- Iowa is obviously in the Midwest, while New Hampshire is in Northeast. Personalities and ways of life are obviously quite different.

So it is going to be fun being here in New Hampshire, one of the few states I have never been to on the East Coast. Its actually surprising I have never been here considering my dad worked for a pro-life Senator from New Hampshire for a number of years back in Washington.

Tonight, ABC News and Facebook will be sponsoring a presidential debate. We'll be on scene at one of the candidate's debate-watch parties. Find out the details tonight :)

On the Night of All Nights in Iowa...

... We had some real success outside of Hillary's Victory Party in downtown Des Moines -- which served as party central tonight, with nearly every campaign having parties with the exception of Mitt Romney, who had a party in a nearby suburb of West Des Moines. The streets were filled with supporters -- of every candidate -- and you could actually hear cheers from other parties and tons of cars honking on the side of the streets. It was quite a party for us political nerds on a cold night in early January on the streets of Des Moines.

Terry and I had something to cheer about ourselves, as we made some real success outside of Hillary's party. Many party-goers came outside to smoke cigarettes, so of course it we ended up getting in conversations with them about Planned Parenthood. We got many to read both sides of our fliers, and undoubtedly after reading it, their tone instantly changed, usually going on the defensive where prior they were on the offensive. The general answer we ended up getting was... "These are isolated cases for an organization that does so much good.." is the best way to sum up what we heard. But we challenged them, asking them to really consider what abortion is and what Planned Parenthood does. We had some good discussions about how abortions are disproportionately done on African American women, and how most PP clinics are located in minority areas.

We made sure to always tie back the conversation to Clinton, and really encourage the person to consider that the first woman president should stand up for women and investigate the crimes that Planned Parenthood cover up.

It was an interesting night in Des Moines. Hillary ended up placing third, behind a first-place Obama and a narrow second-place finish for Edwards. On the Republican side, Huckabee beat Romney, with McCain and Thompson vying for 4th. Rudy, who we protested our first night in Iowa, was a non-factor, and was beaten by Ron Paul, who we saw at lunch today.

Anyway, we thank you for your prayers for a successful night of sidewalk counseling tonight on the streets of Des Moines!

I am having trouble uploading pics, but will hopefully get some up tomorrow.

The Caucus is Finally Here!

The Caucus is finally here and everywhere you go in the Des Moines area, you are quickly reminded. Its tough to round a corner on a major road and not see young supporters holding up signs for their candidates. Today at lunch, myself and Terry Schilling ended up talking with presidential candidate Ron Paul about the right to life and got a picture with him. When we were driving back from lunch, we sat at a light behind Mike Huckabee's campaign bus. And when you turn on the TV, not a commercial break goes by without a message from Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Romney, Huckabee, or Ron Paul.

Last night we protested Hillary Clinton in downtown Des Moines and handed out an unbelievable amount of our flyers, before we were virtually frozen. Media reports later estimated there were at least 1,000 people there. Hopefully, she'll top that crowd at her rally tonight in Des Moines, and we'll get more Planned Parenthood truth into people's hands.

Stay tuned, its going to be a crazy night!

The "Other" Clinton

After spending a couple days in Eastern Iowa, we thought we'd move on over to Des Moines, the capitol of Iowa, as the caucus drew closer (it's tomorrow!). We were able to meet up with Devon, a wonderful woman and first-class pro-life activist. We headed to Knoxville (population 8,000), about an hour away from Des Moines. The last time I had been to Knoxville, it was June and pretty nice outside. This time, we were greeted by single-digit weather.

Because we were on private property, we were unable to hand out our fliers, so we figured we'd head into the event (the place wasn't heated!!) to try and talk to Hillary. The event started about 20 minutes late, and out came.. the "other" Clinton -- former president Bill Clinton.

Bill talked for a good hour since it was the last event of the night. After the event, we attempted to talk to him not only about Planned Parenthood but also to ask him why he vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban numerous times as president... But, he was able to duck out before we got to him. Lucky him...

Happy caucus-eve, and make sure to check back for more updates tonight!

A Snowy Day in Muscatine

We had a snowy day yesterday in Muscatine (population 23,000), with snow accumulating at an inch an hour! Unfortunately, icy roads kept most of our friends in the right-to-life community in Muscatine home, but we certainly had their support and prayers.

The snow certainly kept Hillary Clinton behind schedule too, as she arrived to the event over an hour late. However, this gave us an excellent opportunity, as we had time to figure out where her motorcade would be coming in, and where we could make sure she would get our message. We were able to stand on the side of the road right next to her motorcade to send her a clear message: Planned Parenthood hurts women and must be investigated.

We'll be moving shop today from Eastern Iowa to Des Moines, the biggest city and Iowa's state capitol. We'll be doing some evening events in some areas surrounding Des Moines. With the caucus the day after tomorrow, some campaigns are doing events as late as 9 or 10 pm. Get-Out-The-Vote efforts are certainly in full swing!