Legendary Notre Dame Football coach Lou Holtz praised the Vitae Foundation audience at their Jefferson City Pro-Life Events on Monday and Tuesday, saying, “People went into burning buildings on 9/11 and saved a bunch of lives. They are considered heroes. What you’re doing is every bit as important as what they did because you’re trying to save lives as well.”
Holtz, the only coach in the history of college football to take six different teams to a bowl game, said, “We’re the good guys in this fight for life. Do not be intimidated by politicians, the media, or Planned Parenthood, because this cause is too important.”
An avid Vitae supporter, Coach Holtz addressed nearly 900 fellow Vitae supporters at the Capitol Plaza Hotel ballroom in Jefferson City, Missouri on Monday night. An additional 250 partners in the community gathered for a breakfast event at the hotel Tuesday morning. He even spoke with area high school students and Special Olympians before the breakfast on Tuesday. Read Jefferson City News-Tribune article.
Vitae President Rob Rysavy set the tone for the evening by pointing out there have been 20,000 September 11s in the womb in this country since the Roe v Wade decision. He noted the Pregnancy Help Centers that Vitae is privileged to collaborate with are on the front lines of trying to stop what is the worst human rights tragedy in the world today, without exception.
“Who will speak for the voiceless?” Rysavy asked. “Maybe you’re not aware of this, but it’s all of you.”
The new Vitae president pointed out that support of Vitae turns into research, which turns into media and messaging, which helps find that woman who is struggling and helps get her into that center, where she can make a life-affirming decision.
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Vitae Founder Carl Landwehr shared that Vitae received a “huge blessing” last summer from the estate of Frank and Gertrude Kaemmerlin. He told the story of this couple from the “Greatest Generation” who believed in helping others.
“They worked hard, believed that life is sacred, and blessed Vitae with the ability to carry out its seventh research study,” Landwehr announced.
That research study pulled back the curtain and exposed the horror and devastation known as Planned Parenthood. Vitae Senior Market Director Stacey Kromer reported that women interviewed were from four major media markets: Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Miami, where abortion numbers are catastrophic.
One of the findings is that Planned Parenthood’s promises of “healthcare” are deceptive. “Women are so desperate and afraid that the will tolerate poor treatment. A woman from New York stated: ‘They take your money and do it, but they don’t care about the effects.’ We’re the good guys!” Kromer reiterated. “That’s why our messages are critical. They direct abortion-vulnerable women to PHCs where they will receive the compassionate support they are so desperately seeking.”
The retired Notre Dame Football coach showed emotion when talking about abortion advocates and their attempts to change the language over the years.
“Fetus is a Latin word meaning unborn child. They (National Abortion Rights Action League—NARAL) had to change that. ‘No, it’s just a clump of cells.’ No it’s not. They want to change the vocabulary, but the fact is an unborn child, after 18 days, starts to have a heartbeat. It starts to form eyes, ears, bones,” Holtz said. “They didn’t like the name (abortion), so they called it ‘pro-choice.’ They want to be politically correct and deceive people. It still comes down to the fact that we’re depriving thousands of Americans the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Known for his ability to use humor to make a point, this was evident in Holtz’s talk from start to finish at both events.
“There are a lot of things in this world that I don’t understand. I don’t understand how a black cow eats green grass and produces white milk and yellow cheese. I don’t understand why they sell hot dogs in packages of eight and hot dog buns in packages of ten. I don’t understand how you can terminate a baby late in pregnancy, but we go to jail for killing a bald eagle,” Holtz said.
The legendary coach shared that you only need three rules in life. The first rule: Do what’s right and avoid what’s wrong.
“You can’t convince me it’s right to kill another human being,” Holtz stated. “We’re talking about millions of babies. …I just believe so strongly in the value of life.”
The second rule: Do everything to the best of your ability. Holtz said that’s all he ever asks of people. He learned this lesson while working under another legend, Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes. He noted there are so many times we let people intimidate us or make us think we’re on the wrong side.
“We are the good guys. We are doing God’s will,” Holtz stated emphatically. “Don’t apologize or be embarrassed about being pro-life, because it’s the right thing to do.”
Finally, Holtz rolled out rule number three: Show people you care. Coach talked about his wife’s battle with stage-four cancer, which she has survived for 18 years, even though she was given a 10 percent chance of survival. In an interview she was asked what she learned from having cancer. Her reply was realizing how much her family loved her. It wasn’t that they loved her more than before; it’s just that they showed her.
“You’re here tonight because you care about people that you don’t even know. Look at the difference you are making in people’s lives,” the New York Times best-selling author stated.
He closed the evening by asking this question: “If you hadn’t shown up here, think how many people would have missed you? It’s obvious, there’s going to be hundreds of thousands of babies that would have missed you if you’d not shown up. By being here, you’re going to help a whole lot of kids be successful. That’s the greatest contribution we could make to our fellow human beings.”
If you were unable to attend any of the Jefferson City Pro-Life Events, please take a moment to consider a donation today. Anything that you can do to help Vitae reach more abortion-vulnerable women would be greatly appreciated…and as Coach Holtz would say, “It’s the right thing to do!”
LIfeNews Note: Martha Schieber is the Communications Director at the Vitae Foundation.
