Washington, DC - Pro-life groups have joined together to launch IAM71.org, a website where the people can post photos of themselves with the number 71 to remind President Obama and Congress that 71% of Americans oppose taxpayer funded abortions.
"We plan make sure that President Obama and every member of Congress is sent a link to these photos so they can put faces on the 71% figure that represents the percentage of Americans opposed to tax-funding of abortion in health care legislation currently under consideration," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We want them to look us in the eye and consider who they represent before they finalize plans to oppose our will on this critical moral issue."
"We have been encouraged by the response to the I AM 71 project in the past 72 hours," said Newman. "It quickly grew beyond just one organization. Because of overwhelmingly positive the response, other pro-life groups and leaders have joined with us to sponsor this grassroots project. The I AM 71 project is now a growing movement that is just starting to hit Facebook and other social networking sites, thanks to the help of our dedicated supporters around the nation."
"We know that whenever public funds are used for abortions, the abortion rate rises. That makes the issue of public abortion funding a critical life-and-death moral issue of great importance to the American people, who have now spoken with resounding clarity in opposition to such funding. Those voices deserve to be heard. The I AM 71 project doing that."
The concept began with an idea by Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition to place a 100 foot number 71 on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Operation Rescue supported the effort by working to activate the grassroots though the I AM 71 virtual protest in which everyone could easily participate.
Some of the growing number of groups sponsoring the project include the Christian Defense Coalition, Pro-life Unity, Generation Life, Operation Rescue, and pro-life columnist and blogger Jill Stanek.
The new IAM71.org website allows participants to easily upload their photos online where they can be viewed in a slide show and other formats. There is also a new e-mail address, photos@IAM71.org, for those who would like to send in photos from their mobile devices.
Visit IAM71.org