Who knew that it is against the rules of civilized society to mourn a pre-born child whose mother chose abortion over life? The sad truth came to light recently after a Nebraska man submitted an obituary to the Omaha World-Herald for his late son, who was aborted by the woman with whom he had had an affair.
As related by pro-life columnist Lisa Bourne at LifeSiteNews.com, the affair between Brad Allen, a married man with two daughters, and his next-door neighbor, a single mother with two young sons, resulted in a son being conceived.
“Allen recognized his mistake,” wrote Bourne, “and begged the mother not to abort their child, regardless of the status of their relationship. And despite the betrayal, Allen’s wife came beside him to advocate for the child’s life.”
Sadly, the expectant mother made a different “choice,” and the pre-born boy, whom Allen had named Liam Michael Allen, was killed at 10 weeks into the pregnancy by notorious late-term abortionist, LeRoy Carhart, at Carhart’s Bellevue, Nebraska abortuary.
In his grief Allen decided to publish an obituary for Liam, and submitted one to the Omaha World-Herald. Bourne related that Allen “first heard from World-Herald VP of advertising Eric Mayberry on August 23, when he was informed that a service and a death certificate were both necessary to run an obituary, so the request was denied.”
With a bit of audacity Mayberry queried Allen as to the purpose of the obituary. “My reply was, ‘The same purpose of all your other obituaries, to celebrate the life of the deceased,’” Allen told Bourne.
A few days later, Allen e-mailed the Omaha World-Herald to say that instead of an obituary, he merely wanted to run one of the newspaper’s memorial ads for Liam. While a memorial is published with obituaries, it does not require a death certificate, and is simply meant to honor an individual who has died.
Allen eventually heard back from Mayberry, who told him that the paper had agreed to run the memorial for Liam, as long as Allen deleted any mention of abortion, or the pro-life organization Life Runners, to which Allen had requested donations in the name of his son should be sent.
“This request not to mention Life Runners for donation requests struck me as unusual, because obituaries very commonly request donations to causes related to the death of the deceased,” Allen told Bourne. Nonetheless, he added, “I agreed to comply with those terms.”
The final draft of the memorial, which was to include an ultrasound image of a pre-born child the same age as Liam when he was aborted, read:
Liam: in just 10 short weeks of life you touched many lives. You established a mini legacy in your short life. Many know your name and some even call you ‘Saint Liam.’ You make many of us so proud. Your life was so valued. What a blessing and honor to know and love you. Liam’s expected birthday was February 11, 2020. Memorial gifts may be given to any organization that values life.
A few days after submitting the memorial, that included all of the Omaha World-Herald’s requirements, Allen received a phone call from the paper’s advertising VP Mayberry, informing him that the newspaper had finally and irrevocably rejected the touching tribute to Liam.
When asked for an explanation, Mayberry replied, according to Allen: “We are not running the ad. The paper is declining.”
Allen recalled to Bourne that Mayberry “would not explain where or how [the memorial] did not meet the paper’s terms. He again said the paper’s position is, they are not running the ad, and he ended the phone call. The World-Herald is now unwilling to work with me on this request.”
Bourne noted that Allen’s effort to memorialize his son “is simply part of mourning his child’s lost life, and recognizing that the baby’s life, no matter how brief, had meaning.”
Observed Allen: “In the struggle for my child’s life, the mother’s ‘right’ to an abortion utterly overwhelmed my right to protect and provide for my own child. I couldn’t even bury my own child. I’m now discovering my right to even memorialize my own child is being overwhelmed. I didn’t expect the Omaha World-Herald to deny me that.”
By way of explanation for the newspaper’s crass response to Allen’s desire to memorialize his son, Bourne noted that the Omaha World-Herald is owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffet, who has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to pro-abortion groups.
In 2015, LifeSiteNews.com noted that “Warren Buffett’s Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is by far the largest donor to Planned Parenthood in America. The President and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway gave a total of $231 million to Planned Parenthood between 2010 and 2013. That’s over ten times as much as the next largest donor.”
Bourne wrote that those wishing to “respectfully express concern” over the Omaha World-Herald’s denial of Allen’s touching memorial to his son may contact Eric Mayberry, the paper’s VP of advertising, at [email protected] / Tel. 402-444-1110, and Todd Sears, the paper’s president and publisher, at [email protected] / Tel. 402-444-1279.
Photo: September15 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
