PHL
is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization
established in 1970 (before Roe
v Wade) to provide educational presentations
on pro-life issues. While a number of other pro-life organizations have been formed in the Philadelphia area since that time (Other Local Pro-Life Organizations) PHL is the only one which has continuously focused on its original mission, education. The other organizations, many of them split off from PHL, have focused on other pro-life issues such as chastity, crisis pregnancy, political action, post-abortion support, legislation and other action.
We are staffed
almost entirely by volunteers. PHL
has one full time executive director,
Martha Short, and a part time office
manager, Kathy Bond.
PHL has a volunteer board of 12
people of varied backgrounds but
all committed to furthering the
pro-life message. Board committees include Education, Finance, Public Relations, Special Events and Technology. PHL also has an
advisory board of medical, legal,
and educational specialists.
Pennsylvanians for Human Life is dedicated to the protection of human life from conception until natural death. We recognize that the single greatest threat to human life is the lack of information about the biological, intellectual and social uniqueness of every human person.
Our mission is to provide clear and accurate information to persons of all ages on the process of human development before and after birth, especially as this process is thwarted by the practices of abortion and euthanasia.
We seek to provide this information through both public and private forums - including schools and adult groups - in an effort to reach as many persons as possible with the message that every human life has absolute worth, irreplaceable value and the right to lifelong protection.
WHAT
pro-life Issues does PHL Address? |
PHL
addresses direct and deliberate
threats to human life, beginning
at conception until natural death.
The primary such threat today, at
least numerically is abortion. Other
threats include infanticide, assisted
suicide, euthanasia, and the growing
threats coming from biotechnology,
which include embryonic stem cell
research, human cloning, genetic
diagnosis, and in vitro fertilization.
PHL intentionally restricts its
range of issues addressed in order
to be and to remain fully qualified
and up to date on the issues which
we do address. We define that range
as the protection of human life
from conception to natural death.
While we recognize the very real
importance of other issues, we also recognize that
we cannot keep our speakers adequately
qualified to address all of these
issues.
PHL’s primary mode of operations
is in giving pro-life presentations
in middle school and high school
classrooms in the Philadelphia metropolitan
area. We also give presentations
to parents, college students and medical
students, and to various adult groups.
A set of middle and high school
presentations have been developed
for each grade level and are organized
to fit within a single class period,
typically about 45-50 minutes. Presentation
aids, including videos, life-like fetal models
and ultrasound images, are selected
to fit each grade level presentation.
Typically PHL delivers a set of
presentations once a year to each
school. Most of the schools at which
PHL makes presentations are schools
where we have given presentations
in prior years. In many of these
schools PHL speakers have been giving
these pro-life presentations for
decades.
The other groups to which PHL makes
presentations cover a widening range
of threats to human life. Often these
presentations are packaged to include
multiple issues. Recent such presentations
have included
- legal issues relating to threats to human life
- assisted suicide and end
of life care
- crisis pregnancyand support services
- post-abortion recovery
- biotechnology, especially stem cells, cloning, and in vitro fertilization
Last year PHL delivered over 900
presentations to over 50,000 people.
The numbers of presentations, schools
and other groups, and people, have been
increasing steadily over the years.
The PHL website, last year, was viewed by more than 50,000 people! We have received queries and comments from all over the world.
WHO
gives these PHL presentations? |
The PHL presentations are given
by trained volunteer speakers. PHL
currently lists approximately 45 speakers
in various levels of activity. Some
very active speakers give presentations
two or three times a week. Some
of our speakers have not given presentations
in more than a year. Most are obviously
between those two extremes.
PHL’s volunteer speakers
bring a variety of personal, educational
and professional experiences to
our presentations. Active and inactive
speakers receive monthly calendars
and up-to-the-minute
respect-life news.
A very important characteristic
of PHL speakers, in addition to
their dedication to the cause of
pro-life, is that they are well
trained and knowledgeable on the
subject.
HOW
are PHL speakers trained? |
Speaker training at PHL is a continuous
process, in part because of the
continuous arrival of new information,
new technology, and new insights,
and also because of the need to
train new speakers and to refresh
the knowledge of the occasional
speakers.
PHL speaker training usually begins
with a two hour training
session for new speakers, followed
by observations of experienced speakers
in a classroom environment. New
speakers usually observe a few such
sessions until they feel comfortable
on their own. Experienced speakers
often sit in on each others sessions
to pick up more information or presentation
ideas.
In addition, the Executive Director,
Martha Short, and other PHL members
read and forward news and other
articles of interest to all speakers.
PHL members also attend numerous
educational seminars on related
subjects, including both seminars
given by pro-life groups as well
as those given by our various opponents.
Attendance at annual conventions
of the National and Pennsylvania
Right-to-Life Committees by PHL
members has been helpful. PHL’s
Advisory Board offered professional
advice in the areas of medicine,
sciences, academics, legal issues,
current legislation and health care.
This PHL web site is also used by speakers to learn of new issues and specialized information.
