Knights of Columbus start prolife radio ads

NEWS FOR KNIGHTS

"Vote Pro-Life" radio ad begins airing nationwide today Knights of Columbus spot features beating heart of 10 week old unborn child New Haven, CT - September 23, 2008 - A 30 second radio spot encouraging people to "vote pro-life" in the November elections begins running on radio stations around the United States today. It will continue to air until the November 4 election. The ad features the sound of an unborn baby's heartbeat at 10 weeks, and the voice of a woman saying, "Listening to this makes me wonder - why would anyone question that her life has begun?" It concludes with the words, "Vote your heart. Vote Pro Life." "The fact that the child whose heartbeat we hear is alive is simply a matter of science," Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said in announcing the beginning of the ad campaign. "We believe that it is vital that America's pro-life community make it clear that they will reserve their votes for candidates of either party who are committed to protecting life from conception to natural death." Anyone can listen to or download the ad from the Knights of Columbus website, www.kofc.org. A similar ad is planned for broadcast in Canada, where general elections are set for October 14, 2008. The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest lay Catholic organization, with more than 1.75 million members in North and Central America, Asia and Europe. Last year, Knights donated $145 million and more than 68 million hours of volunteer time to charitable causes. Open Letter to Senator Joseph Biden on abortion Supreme Knight Carl Anderson sent an open letter to Senator Joseph Biden on Friday, September 19, challenging the assertion of the vice presidential candidate that Catholic teaching on abortion is not clear. The letter was published in USA Today, The Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Wilmington News Journal, among others. Writing "as a fellow Catholic layman," Anderson said that "statements that suggest that our Church has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion are not merely incorrect; they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision." Anderson noted that the founders of the United States "believed that we are 'endowed by [our] creator with certain unalienable rights,'' and that first among these is 'life,'" and he appealed to Biden, "as a Catholic who acknowledges that life begins at conception, to resolve to protect this unalienable right."