Thursday, June 30, 2011

Life Links 6/30/11

A young Scottish woman was killed after her 15-year-old boyfriend found out she aborted his child.


Presidential candidate Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann recently discussed suffering a miscarriage when discussing her prolife views.
"So we made a commitment that no matter how many children were brought into our life, we'd receive them because we're committed to life," she said. "And we didn't know at that time we'd be foster parents, and that one day we'd be parents of 28 children, but we are extremely grateful for that opportunity because you can get money wrong, but you can't get life wrong. And I am committed to life."

Lila Rose has an editorial regarding her group's recent calls to Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana.
Planned Parenthood claims that defunding their group in Indiana will "take away health care from thousands of women in Indiana, leaving them at greater risk for undetected cancers, untreated infections and unintended pregnancies."

But Planned Parenthood employees tell a different story. Today, on June 29, Live Action is releasing videos where our group's undercover investigators called 16 of the 28 Indiana Planned Parenthood clinics posing as women who use Medicaid to pay for medical bills. They asked questions about where to obtain care and voiced concerns that the medical facilities be close by and must accept Medicaid.

In direct contrast to what Planned Parenthood has claimed, every single one of its own employees were quick to refer women to an abundance of other facilities, admitting they easily could access care elsewhere at another facility where Medicaid was accepted.

The Aid for Women abortion clinic in Kansas City is also suing in an attempt to block new abortion clinics. They want to join the lawsuit filed on behalf of abortionist Herbert Hodes. Aid for Women was denied a license based on their application.


Pro-choice researchers are attempting to understand and discover ways to limit abortion stigma.


An Ohio couple has been indicted on kidnapping after allegedly taking a teenage girl, keeping her hostage, getting her pregnant and then taking her to Detroit for an abortion.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Life Links 6/29/11

All three abortion clinics in Kansas failed to pass their inspections. Abortionist Herbert "2-minute abortion" Hodes is suing (or rather the Center for Reproductive Right is suing on his behalf) to try to keep his clinic open and cancelled his scheduled inspection. Planned Parenthood says it will be in compliance by Friday.

The Washington Times has covered Live Action's latest investigation showing that Planned Parenthood knows Medicaid services are readily elsewhere.


The UK's Department of Health is considering a measure that would forbid abortion providing non-profits from doing abortion counseling. Instead, women would have to be referred to an independent organization which doesn't provide abortions.
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries and Labour MP Frank Field propose that counselling would have to be provided either by a statutory body or a private organisation that does not itself provide abortions.

The DoH statement appears to hold out the possibility that the MPs' proposals could become a reality without the need for a vote in parliament.

A spokesman said: "The Department of Health wants women who are thinking about having an abortion to be able to have independent counselling. However, we do not believe it is necessary to set out this requirement in primary legislation as the necessary legal mechanisms already exist to enable this.

The Star-Ledger has a conversation with Mara Hvistendahl on her new book "Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men."

Planned Parenthood of Indiana employees admit finding the non-abortion services they provide isn't that difficult

The latest from Live Action:

Do Women Need Planned Parenthood?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Life Links 6/28/11

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri is suing in an attempt to keep their Title X funding.
At issue are so-called federal Title X funds, which go toward family-planning activities. Kansas will get about $2.7 million in Title X funds for family-planning services in 2012-13....

While the federal funds make up one-third to half of the clinics’ budgets in Hays and Wichita, Brownlie didn’t foresee them immediately closing if the lawsuit is lost. However, he cautioned that clients could pay more for services.

The Indiana law which stripped Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood for the last month and a half also led doctors at a couple of hospitals to stop performing abortions.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the doctors at IU and Wishard hospitals stopped performing abortions on about 70 patients, including many with complications that put the patient's health at risk.

In a statement, Wishard Hospital made it clear it is not the hospitals making the call, it's the doctors.

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue vetoed an informed consent bill. When the measure originally passed, in both chambers it was one vote shy of having veto-proof majorities.


Saturday Night Live alum and Parks and Rec star Amy Poehler may be funny but she's not real smart. From her e-mail to Planned Parenthood's e-mail list encouraging people to join and donate to Planned Parenthood.
There’s no better way to have an impact for women’s health than being a Planned Parenthood member — and if you give now, you have twice the impact.
Yes, "no better way" than donating to a bloated behemoth which rakes in ten of millions in income in excess of expenses every year, wastes money on Twitter advertising, and compensates their higher ups with large salaries.


In Ireland, a man named Christopher Paul Buckham who got a 15-year-old pregnant and gave her abortion drugs has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Buckham pleaded guilty to eight charges of sexual activity with a child and one of supplying a poison to procure a miscarriage, between June 19th, 2009, and May 22nd last year.

Monday, June 27, 2011

New York Times abortion labels

I love how Erik Eckholm uses labels to identify various groups quoted in his article on 20-week abortion bans.

National Right to Life Committee are "Opponents of abortion."

The Guttmacher Institute is "a research group." No pro-choice ties to see here.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is "a legal group." Maybe Erik could have added "pro-choice" before legal group, huh?

David Grimes is "a prominent researcher and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine."

The article doesn't mention that Grimes is an abortionist and has been a leading abortion advocate for decades.

Caitlin Borgmann is "a law professor at City University of New York School of Law and an advocate for abortion rights."

Finally, someone in favor of legal abortion is actually identified as being in favor of legal abortion! Amazing!

Come on Erik, we all know that the Times is going to get 3-4 pro-choice sources for every 1 prolife source but at least give your readers the courtesy of properly identifying which side of the debate your sources are on. Let's not act like David Grimes is just some random ob/gyn professor and the Guttmacher Institute is a plain ole' "research group" who don't have a dog in the fight.

Life Links 6/27/11

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt gave Planned Parenthood of Indiana a temporary injunction against the Indiana law which prevented them from receiving Medicaid payments for the month and a half. The state plans to appeal. One silver lining:
However, Pratt denied Planned Parenthood's request to block the measure requiring doctors to tell women seeking abortions that "human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm."

"The inclusion of the biology-based word ‘physical' is significant, narrowing this statement to biological characteristics," she wrote in her ruling. "When the statement is read as a whole, it does not require a physician to address whether the embryo or fetus is a ‘human life' in the metaphysical sense."


Starting July 1, Aid for Women (an abortion clinic in Kansas) will no longer be allowed to perform abortions because their building doesn't meet the new requirements of Kansas law.
Officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment didn't inspect the Wyandotte County clinic, saying that its application alone indicated it couldn't satisfy the new regulations, Pilate said.

The clinic is reviewing its options, including a court challenge.

The article includes a great crazy abortionist quote:
"What we have isn't a democratic government. We have a theocracy," said Ronald Yeomans, a physician who practices at the Wyandotte County clinic.

"We have a theocracy with a bunch of extremist, right-wing Republicans who are trying to enact their religious views into law."

A FOXNews article notes another abortionist's belief that his clinic will also be denied a license.
"We're doomed," said Dr. Herbert Hodes, who performs abortions for the third provider, the Women's Health Center, also in Overland Park.

Charmaine Yoest and Denise Burke have an editorial in the Wall Street Journal on efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.



Ross Douthat reviews "Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men."
The spread of sex-selective abortion is often framed as a simple case of modern science being abused by patriarchal, misogynistic cultures. Patriarchy is certainly part of the story, but as Hvistendahl points out, the reality is more complicated — and more depressing.

Thus far, female empowerment often seems to have led to more sex selection, not less. In many communities, she writes, "women use their increased autonomy to select for sons," because male offspring bring higher social status. In countries like India, sex selection began in "the urban, well-educated stratum of society," before spreading down the income ladder.....

This places many Western liberals, Hvistendahl included, in a distinctly uncomfortable position. Their own premises insist that the unborn aren't human beings yet, and that the right to an abortion is nearly absolute. A self-proclaimed agnostic about when life begins, Hvistendahl insists that she hasn't written "a book about death and killing." But this leaves her struggling to define a victim for the crime that she's uncovered.....

Here the anti-abortion side has it easier. We can say outright what's implied on every page of "Unnatural Selection," even if the author can't quite bring herself around.

The tragedy of the world's 160 million missing girls isn't that they're "missing." The tragedy is that they're dead.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Life Links 6/24/11

New Hampshire joins the group of states which have defunded Planned Parenthood. This time to the tune of $1.8 million. Here's the solid reasoning.
St. Hilaire said the Planned Parenthood contract differed in that the organization directly provides abortions, it's CEO earns in excess of $250,000 a year, and most of its services and administration are located out of state in Williston, Vt.

A Michigan Planned Parenthood affiliate is suing a business which is trying to uphold a deed restriction on a building in their parking lot which was purchased by Planned Parenthood.
James Carey, a Cooley Law School professor representing the hotel owners, said that before buying their property, his clients asked the parcel be split and demanded land use be restricted by a covenant to restaurant, retail or office use. The owners last year agreed to allow the building to be used as medical offices, according to the suit.

Carey said a medical facility violates the covenant's definition of "office," as would a plastic surgery clinic. He said Planned Parenthood's political stigma will be bad for business.

"Business owners are very much on edge," Carey said.

Planned Parenthood officials said the facility may not provide abortions.
Yeah, right. More details at LifeNews including how Planned Parenthood deceptively tried to keep who they were and what they were planning a secret.

ABC affiliate WXYZ also did a story which shows the locations of the hotel and office space. That building is big. There is no way Planned Parenthood doesn't want to perform abortions there.


The House Appropriations Committee shot down an attempt to allow tax dollars to pay for abortions in Washington, D.C. Sounds like the debate was rather heated.


The Sunshine State News covers National Right to Life's convention.



A judge has ordered Greg Fultz to remove the controversial billboard which formerly named his ex-girlfriend and claimed she had an abortion.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Mila Means plan of opening an abortion clinic is a long shot

The Wichita Eagle profiles Kansas abortionist-in-training Mila Means and interviewed her about her hopes of opening an abortion clinic in Wichita. Here's what I got from the story:

Her chances of opening an abortion clinic are slim to none. Operation Rescue's Troy Newman puts her chances at less than 30%. I think he's being extremely generous. Why?

Mila Means is broke. When she divorced her first husband, she was left with $100,00 in debt. She pays her ex-husband alimony. She'll be paying $1,500 a month to her former practice (which she left) for 8 more years.

Her plan to open an abortion clinic includes trying to raise $800,000-$1,000,000 via a yet unformed non-profit to buy a clinic and equipment. She wants to open a clinic in 12 to 18 months. Unless Warren Buffett (or some other super rich pro-abort) is about to throw a cool mill her way, I don't see she could ever raise that much money.

After reading this article, I'm almost wondering if Means is just hoping to fool enough ardent pro-choicers into donating money to her so she can eek by.

Governor Daniels tells feds to "butt out" of Indiana's effort to defund Planned Parenthood

From the story:
Daniels rejected the Justice Department’s contention that cutting Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood is illegal, and the Governor also rejected claims by advocates of Planned Parenthood that the cuts would leave women without needed healthcare.

“It’s not the Federal government’s job to tell a state through whom to deliver these services,” Daniels said. “Our job is to make sure not a single person, woman or otherwise, misses a single appointment or a single service. There’s no reason for that to happen. We have 800 alternative providers in this state.”

Former NARAL NY president admits expenses were fake

Back in February, I reported that former NARAL New York president Kelli Conlin was facing charges for spending her organization's money to support her lavish lifestyle including Armani clothing, a summer rental home, car service and 22K on meals.

Now Conlin has admitted to stealing from her former employer.
Former NARAL Pro-Choice New York leader Kelli Conlin pleaded guilty to falsifying business records, a felony. Her case will be closed without jail time or probation if she pays more than $75,000 in restitution.

Conlin, 53, said little beyond answering yes to a judge and prosecutor's questions as she acknowledged abusing her expense privileges at the organization she led from 1992 to 2010. She was fired in January after an internal audit brought the improprieties to light, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

Overheard: Abortioneer respect animals, loves abortion

Horrifying:
I’m an Abortioneer. I love abortion and all the good it does in this world. I have seen a 26 week abortion and handed the physician the instruments and did not think twice or have any feelings of sadness or disgust or ambivalence.

I am an ethical vegan. I am proud of the fact that I am intentional about every single food or drink that enters my body. I aim to respect animals in every way possible and that starts with what is on my plate and how I engage with food. I am healthier and happier not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually, and I know this is because I am vegan.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Kansas abortion clinics worried about new regulations, inspections

Kansas is quickly putting in place their new abortion clinic requirements and this has abortion provider all in a tizzy.
The top executive for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri said he's concerned imposing the new regulations so quickly will force all three clinics to shut down. The Planned Parenthood chapter operates one of the three clinics, all of which are in the Kansas City area.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment sent Planned Parenthood a letter earlier this month saying its clinic would be inspected and notified by July 1 whether it would have a license. The other clinics received similar letters......

Brownlie said though he believes Planned Parenthood's clinic, also in Overland Park, can meet the new regulations, he's not sure what issues will be raised by the inspection, scheduled for Wednesday, and whether Planned Parenthood or any other clinic operators will have adequate time to address perceived deficiencies.

Pederson said his clinic's inspection hasn't been set.

The new law requires annual inspections of each clinic. It also directs the health department to set standards for exits, lighting, bathrooms and equipment. The agency not only will issue annual licenses but have the power to fine clinics and could go to court to shut them down.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Life Linls 6/21/11

Planned Parenthood is closing six clinics (none of which perform abortions) in Minnesota supposedly due to federal budget cuts.


Planned Parenthood of Indiana is taking a one-day furlough in the hopes of saving enough money to keep seven clinics open until July 1. They've also stopped seeing Medicaid clients.


A local ABC News affiliate is covering the state of Texas' investigation into the Whole Woman's Health abortion clinic and their improper disposal of fetal remains.
According to an initial report by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, investigators found that fetuses from the clinic ended up at the Sunset Farms Landfill off U.S. 290 and Giles Road along with all other municipal trash.

At the time of the complaint, the clinic had a contract with a medical waste company called Stericycle. According to the TCEQ report, the company would steam disinfect the fetuses before disposing of them at the landfill.

According to state code, steam disinfection is legal treatment if followed by internment including cremation or burial. Investigators say that was not happening. Disposing treated fetuses at a municipal landfill is against state code.

An Arizona man named Fernando Woody received a 10-year sentence for killing his unborn child.
Earlier this year, Woody pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He admitted that he kicked the mother of his child in the stomach while wearing boots. She was pregnant and the unborn child suffered a skull fracture, causing the child to die in-utero.

"Offensive" picture of unborn child prevents prolife group from parade participation

A prolife group in Palatine, Illinois, has been denied participation in a local parade because they refused to censor a banner which included an image of an unborn child.
"They decided that an unborn baby is too offensive," said Martin Kelley, co-founder of Palatine Area Catholics Respect Life. "It's an ultrasound photo. It's not a picture of an aborted baby."

The banner {pictured right} also includes a photo of an elderly woman.

Hometown Fest is organized by the Palatine Jaycees, a private organization. Jaycees officials said the pro-life group was rejected because they refused to work with parade organizers, not because of their message.

"The Respect Life Group was denied participation in the Hometown Fest parade
because [they] refused to work with festival organizers regarding their display materials," the Jaycees said in a prepared statement. "Unlike other groups who fully cooperate regarding display materials, the Respect Life Group refused to make any changes to the banner or even have a discussion about it."
"

Monday, June 20, 2011

Life Links 6/20/11

Marjorie Dannenfelser responds to Mitt Romney's "Pro-life Pledge."
However, there remains a very crucial point of disagreement. It is troubling that the governor does not agree to select only pro-life appointees for relevant cabinet and executive-branch positions, in particular the heads of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health & Human Services. Truly, personnel is policy. Any attorney general in charge of vetting judges and defending pro-life legislation must have conviction and background on the issue to do it well. That is especially true on a deeply moral issue such as abortion. The convictions of the person holding the position are critical to the advancement of the policy goal. To hold a position opposite to the president on the abortion issue would put such a person in an undermining position, especially given the level of leadership Governor Romney has committed to provide. It is counterintuitive to recruit a half-hearted lieutenant to assist in a battle of such consequence.

Here's another bite out of the "prolifers don't care about the born" meme. Belmont Abbey College is building a 10,000 square foot maternity center and residential facility for single mothers.
Putting the new maternity home on the campus of a Catholic school is a "bold move," said Belmont Abbey College President Bill Thierfelder.

He described the project as "a natural extension of pro-life philosophy."

"It's putting your money where your mouth is," Thierfelder said. "You're not just talking philosophy anymore. This is something real. You need to meet people where they are and help them to take the next good step."

Women who stay at the home up to two years for free don't have to be Catholic or students at Belmont Abbey. They can commute to colleges or universities in the greater Charlotte area or take transferable credits at the Abbey. As they complete their educations, they'll also learn to be good parents. Room, board and meals will be provided at the home.

Apparently, all those donations to Planned Parenthood Indiana will dry up today. Note the quote below on PP's thinking as to why they won't restructure so their non-aborting clinics could get funding.
Elsewhere, organizations facing public funding cuts have essentially split into one branch that handles women's health and another that handles abortions, but receives no public money. Planned Parenthood of Indiana president Betty Cockrum rejects that proposal.

"There's a very legitimate concern about the shelf life of any kind of restructuring. Just looking at language that was introduced in the Minnesota legislature this year that would have stripped funds from any organization that even made a referral for an abortion," she says.

Overheard: Casey Anthony and abortion

Stand True Missionary Mike Strain writes about the Casey Anthony trial:
The general public has swarmed over this story, prying for every horrible and tragic detail, in an effort to know how a mother could do such a thing, especially to such a young and beautiful child. The details of the murder are unimaginable and grotesque. They seem quite surreal, coming from a young mother in a suburban Florida neighborhood. As a nation, we seem to ask: "What can cause someone to be so inhuman?"

I believe that the answer lies in a diary entry, written by Casey Anthony, that was dated June 21st, which is as follows, "I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out OK. I completely trust my own judgment and know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means. I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess I will soon see – This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow– I've made new friends that I really like. I've surrounded myself with good people– I am finally happy. Let's just hope that it doesn't change." This does not seem like the diary of a woman who has just murdered her child, although it bears chilling similarity to the way that abortion is justified in this country.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Mitt Romney's "Pro-life Pledge"

The Corner has Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's personal "pro-life pledge." After stating the prolife policies he would support, here's his reasoning for not signing Susan B. Anthony List's pledge.
As much as I share the goals of the Susan B. Anthony List, its well-meaning pledge is overly broad and would have unintended consequences. That is why I could not sign it. It is one thing to end federal funding for an organization like Planned Parenthood; it is entirely another to end all federal funding for thousands of hospitals across America. That is precisely what the pledge would demand and require of a president who signed it.

The pledge also unduly burdens a president’s ability to appoint the most qualified individuals to a broad array of key positions in the federal government. I would expect every one of my appointees to carry out my policies on abortion and every other issue, irrespective of their personal views.

If I have the opportunity to serve as our nation’s next president, I commit to doing everything in my power to cultivate, promote, and support a culture of life in America.

Mitt Romney won't sign Susan B. Anthony List's prolife pledge

Here's the story from Politico:
Five Republican presidential candidates have signed a pledge to advance the anti-abortion movement if elected to the White House, but the current front runner for the 2012 GOP nomination — Mitt Romney — isn’t one of them.
National Review has the terms of the pledge which ask candidates to not to nominate liberal judges, appoint prolifers to cabinet positions which deal with life issues, advance prolife legislation and defund abortion providers.

The NR link also has Romney's explanation.
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul e-mails NRO the details about the unintended consequences Romney is concerned about: “This pledge would require cutting off funding to thousands of healthcare facilities, including VA hospitals, that currently receive funding . It would also place severe restrictions on federal appointments to a broad variety of agencies."

Friday, June 17, 2011

Life Links 6/17/11

Recently, North Carolina cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood and now Planned Parenthood is considering a court challenge. It's a different situation than Indiana because North Carolina didn't cut federal medicaid payments.
North Carolina funding ends July 1 for Planned Parenthood's participation in public health programs, including the access it provides to low-cost birth control and screenings for breast and cervical cancer....

In a statement, Planned Parenthood said it received just over $434,000 a year through state grants and programs.

The Justice Department filed a brief in favor of Planned Parenthood in the court case on Indiana's law disqualifying them from Medicaid payments.


Alexei Ramey has plead guilty to attempted assault after he tried to pay an undercover officer $500 and a pressure washer to stab a woman he thought might be carrying his child (she wasn't). He faces 3 and 1/2 to 10 years in jail.
Ramey's would-be-victim, a Duanesburg woman who turns 20 next month, gave birth last year to a healthy baby girl, said Healy.

"His intent wasn't to kill her, it was to abort the fetus," Healy said afterward.

Asked if the defendant suspected he might not the father, Healy said Ramey "believed there was a chance but didn't want to take that risk," partly because by then he had a new girlfriend who was also pregnant.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Life Links 6/16/11

The Chicago Tribune has investigated Illinois' abortion reporting and found it to be filled with gaps.
Health care providers are failing to detail abortion complications to the state as required by law, one of many gaps in a surveillance system viewed as crucial to protecting patients, a Tribune review has found.

The state's system for tracking abortions is so broken that regulators also may be missing more than 7,000 of the procedures per year.......

The Tribune found:

•State regulators have documented between 7,000 and 17,000 fewer abortions a year than a national research group found in Illinois.

•This reporting is the only tool Illinois authorities have to monitor some abortion providers, yet regulators may be allowing doctors and clinics to operate off the books. Regulators collect reports from 26 providers, but the abortion rights research group has identified 37 providers doing business in the state.

•Also unknown to officials are the types of abortion-related problems experienced by women. Nearly 4,000 reports of abortion complications involving Illinois residents in 2009 were missing the required description.

•Health care providers who intentionally fail to submit accurate and complete reports are committing a criminal act, and a failure to report abortion complications is grounds for revoking their licenses, but the Department of Public Health has never sought disciplinary action against a provider.

Government officials have closed 8 sonography centers and 4 abortion clinics in India's Beed District after finding two aborted female children.
"The centres were run by unqualified medical professionals, the operation rooms at these centres were flouting disinfection norms, there were a lack of emergency drugs and no blood transfusion facility," Ahiwale said.

As per the provisional figure of the 2011 census, the child sex ratio in Maharashtra is 883 girls per 1,000 male children (down by 30 points since 2001). The decline was maximum in Beed district (93 points). Beed has the lowest child sex ratio in the state with 848 girls per 1,000 boys.

Villagers and social activists claim that the secluded spot (nullah on the Beed-Parali road in Parali Vaijananath where the female foetuses were dumped) has become a regular place for those indulging in female foeticide. "They come in a vehicle, throw the foetuses in the nullah or adjoining abandoned well and go away," alleged Balasaheb Gite, the farmer who lodged the police complaint about the foetuses being dumped.

Researchers have started to select patients for the next clinical trial using cells derived from embryonic stem cells. This clinical trial will test the safety of putting the cells in patients with two different forms of blindness.


A man in Kuwait has been arrested for performing abortions.
During the quizzing, he reportedly admitted that he had performed 50 abortions, amid claims that one Asian woman died from complications, the daily said.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Life Links 6/15/11

Look another obviously false/exaggerated story about abortion on Salon. In this one the writer claims to have scammed a CPC into giving her a type of stroller when she never intended to abort. She also claims CPC workers told her to submit to her "psychopath" husband and she supposedly got 3 teens to leave the waiting room at the same time by throwing a fit because they thought the CPC was Planned Parenthood.

The only people who would believe some of the wild exaggerations are avid pro-choicers.


RH Reality Check recently publish an article in which anti-adoption crusader Jessica DelBalzo discusses how she was "euphoric" after her "happy abortion."
It couldn't have been more than five minutes before one of the assistants helped me to sit up so that I could get dressed. She walked me out into the recovery area, and I unsuccessfully attempted to repress the huge grin that had developed on my face. I felt euphoric. I was so relieved to be done with all the medical business, even happier to know that I was no longer pregnant, and pleasantly surprised that I wasn't feeling any physical pain.

I felt momentarily guilty when one of the other patients in recovery asked me if I ever stopped smiling, but I quickly reminded myself that it was senseless guilt. After all, smiling is a natural reaction to happiness, and I was happy sitting there. When they released me to go home fifteen minutes later, I was gladder still.

I know how far out of our society's collective comfort zone it is to hear a woman say that she feels happy about her abortion, but I do. My feelings go far beyond the simple relief that many women describe. I am actually grateful for the experience itself and for the fact that, by sharing my story with others, I can be an ambassador for reproductive freedom.

Final arguments in Indiana's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood have been submitted to Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. She could make a ruling on the case within the week. Planned Parenthood Indiana also lost a tax credit because of the new law.


Alabama will be the next state to have a 20-week ban on abortion. Governor Robert Bentley has indicated he plans on signing the bill which passed less than 30 minutes before the legislative deadline.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Life Links 6/14/11

A Conneticut state senator added a parental consent for abortion amendment on to a bill to create parental consent for minor tanning. This led to the bill not being voted on. Amazingly, some people just can't see the parallels.
"If you can have parental consent for minors for ear-piercing or tanning, why shouldn't you have parental consent for minors for abortions?'' he said Monday.

Derek Slap, communications director for the Senate Democrats, called McLachlan's argument "ridiculous.''

"He knows exactly what he's doing,'' Slap said. "This is political grandstanding.''

The bill in question would have required parents to accompany their child under the age of 18 to a tanning parlor, learn of the risks of tanning, then sign a permission slip on site before their child could use the tanning facilities.

While the Center for Reproductive Rights doesn't want to challenge 20-week fetal pain measures, they've already challenged Texas' ultrasound law.


The Des Moines Register editorial staff thinks doctors prescribing potentially dangerous abortion drugs via web cam without ever physically examining patients is medical progress. They also think nurses should be allowed to prescribe abortion pills, though they don't provide any argument for why.

Palin's letter from Trig's Creator

It's not the smoking gun the New York Times was looking for:
I am blessing you with this surprise baby because I only want the best for you. I've heard your prayers that this baby will be happy and healthy, and I've answered them because I only want the best for you!

.......

You will grow and be blessed with greater understanding that will he born along with Trig.Trig will be his dad's little buddy and he'll wear Carhartts while he learns to tinker in the garage. He'll love to be read to, he'll want to play goalie, and he'll steal his mom's heart just like Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper did.

And Trig will be the cuddly, innocent, mischievous, dependent little brother that his siblings have been waiting for_in fact Trig will - in some diagnostic ways - always be a mischievous, dependent little brother, because I created him a bit different than a lot of babies born into this world today.

Every child is created special, with awesome purpose and amazing potential. Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed up world you live in down there on earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome. Doctors call it "Down's Syndrome", and Downs kids have challenges, but can bring you much delight and more love than you can ever imagine! Just wait and see, let me prove this, because I only want the best for you!

The LA Times blog has the entire letter.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Life Links 6/13/11

The Ledger has a story about the woes of abortion advocates in Florida.
Sheryll Strang of Winter Haven has spent more than 20 years promoting the right of women to have abortions, and she said she can't remember a time as glum for her cause as now.

In its session that ended May 7, the Florida Legislature passed five bills that critics say will make abortion less accessible.

"I would say it's probably the worst," Strang said, describing each of the bills as eight or higher on a negative scale of one to 10.


A tabloid scandal in Britain involves a famous soccer player, his brother's wife and abortion.
She found she was carrying her secret lover Ryan's child, it is claimed, just weeks before she was due to marry his brother Rhodri.

And the 28-year-old has spoken of the moment she broke the shattering news to the Manchester United legend, who, she alleges, told her she must have an ­abortion. She said Giggs, 37, even cycled to a meeting with her with £500 to pay for the termination – £200 short.

Speaking of the moment she ­discovered she was expecting, Natasha said: "All I kept thinking was, ‘I'm getting married to Rhodri next month and I'm pregnant to Ryan, his brother'.

"I said to Ryan, ‘I don't know how to say it but I'm pregnant'. He said, ‘To me?' and I said, ‘Yes'. Then he said, ‘How sure are you?' and I told him, ‘A million per cent'. That's when he told me there was only one option.

"Ryan told me straight off, ‘You know there's only one option, a termination. We can't ruin everybody's life'."
......
She said: "He handed me £500, saying that was all he could get out.

"I just said, ‘OK, whatever'. I'd never asked him for money so it was very difficult. I was very upset, very tearful.

"He just said, ‘Right. OK, I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck'."

Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke at a prolife rally in Los Angeles over the weekend. The goal of the rally was to raise funds for a prolife women's health center in South LA.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Life Links 6/10/11

The New Times has a long article on the burgeoning prolife movement in Russia.
At the conference, Mrs. Yakunina said Sanctity of Motherhood was conducting a pilot program in Krasnoyarsk, an industrial city in Siberia, working with doctors and journalists to shift public opinion and women’s choice away from abortion. The abortion rate in Krasnoyarsk among women who had gone through the program dropped by 16 percent, she said, which if applied to Russia as a whole would mean 200,000 more babies a year, based on the official figure of 1.3 million annual abortions.

Dominic Holt-Reid, the man who attempted to force his girlfriend to have an abortion at gunpoint was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder of his then unborn child.


Gregory Nelson will possibly face the death penalty for killing his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child.
Nelson was arrested in Kissimmee, Fla., four days after Cisneros’ bloody body was discovered by her family several yards from the restaurant in the early morning hours of March 9. Family members said she had gone to meet Nelson at the restaurant when they lost cell phone contact with the 24-year-old immigrant from Mexico.

Laws were passed in Virgjnia in 2004 that created offenses of capital murder and fetal homicide when someone attacks and kills a pregnant woman intentionally and also with the intent of taking the life of the fetus.

Cisneros, according to family members, expected to deliver Nelson’s child within a few weeks, but it is not clear what agreements, if any, existed between the two for the child’s care.

Ross Douthat responds to Ezra Klein's critique of his position on assisted suicide.
It’s more like supplementary evidence for exactly the point I was trying to make — which is, once again, that rather than just providing an escape from unbearable pain in the last hours of life, both moral logic and practical experience (from Ezekiel’s study to Kevorkian’s depredations) suggest that recognizing a right to die will gradually encourage the use of assisted suicide as a kind of “treatment” for depression, chronic illness, and other, not-immediately-terminal conditions.

Thoughts on recent abortion poll by the Public Religion Research Institute

National Right to Life's Dave Andrusko provides some background and digs through the Public Religion Research Institute's poll on abortion, etc.

Besides his points, I think it's important to point out how a large percentage of the public seems to either be heavily conflicted on the abortion issue or just respond how they think the pollster wants them to respond based on the question.

Question 11 in the survey asks: "Thinking about the purpose of abortion laws please tell me whether you think it is appropriate or not appropriate for these laws to do any of the following."

Then 4 different purposes are randomly given and the pollster asks, "Is it appropriate for abortion laws to do this or not?"

One option is (my emphasis): "Protect the life of the fetus throughout the entire pregnancy."

63% of people reply it's appropriate for abortion laws to protect the life of fetus throughout the entire pregnancy.

Another option is "Preserve a woman's freedom to make her own decision."

70% of respondents found this appropriate.

You're not crazy if you think that doesn't make a shred of sense. You have roughly a third of respondents taking the completely opposite position on abortion laws from a position they took a couple seconds ago.

Second, large percentages of the public are extremely ignorant on the reasons why the majority of women have abortions.

In Question 6, 56% of respondents say abortion should be legal in all (19%) or most (37%) cases. But when asked later in Question 10 if abortion should be legal in certain circumstances, respondents are much more likely to say abortion should be illegal in the circumstances that are the most common reasons for abortion. 52% of respondents said abortion should be illegal "if the family has a very low income and cannot afford any more children."

You won't hear pro-choice groups yelling that result from the rooftops.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Cheating is only wrong if you have morals

WSJ's James Taranto just destroys "but he's not a hypocrite" defense of Rep. Weiner.
One suspects this is merely an attempt to rationalize away the bad behavior of their political allies while reserving the right to condemn similar misbehavior in their foes. Hey, Walsh and Marcotte are only human. But what a rationalization it is! What they are claiming is that their side has no moral standards, and therefore there is no basis on which they may be held to account.

This premise, however, is quite glaringly false. The left does have, or at least professes to have, moral standards when it comes to sexual behavior: the moral standards of feminism.

I almost spit out my water while reading this line:
It's echoed by Amanda Marcotte, a former adviser to John Edwards (almost as good a laugh line as "former Enron adviser"), in an essay for Alternet.com:

Life Links 6/9/11

Politico notes that defunding Planned Parenthood is becoming a 2012 litmus test.


The Washington Post has an article on polling research from the Public Religion Research Institute.
Americans, regardless of generation, are deeply conflicted as they wrestle with the legality and morality of abortion, with a substantial majority identifying themselves as both "pro-choice" and "pro-life," according to a sweeping new survey.

While a solid majority — 56 percent — says abortion should be legal in most or all cases, 52 percent say abortion is morally wrong.

Rebecca Taylor looks back at California's Proposition 71.
Californians did not realize that with Prop 71 they became venture capitalists funding speculative research that creates and destroys human embryos or that their money would be going to private universities like Stanford. I am certain that they do not understand that if cures do come, they will be paying the high cost along with everyone else. They won't be getting a break on cures from research that they funded. I hope Californians have learned their lesson and I hope other states will learn from their mistakes.

New research claims inserting IUDs directly after abortions poses only a few risks to women.
The study was designed to see if IUDs, implanted immediately after an abortion or miscarriage, would remain in place. The study also gauged the risk of infection or tears of the uterus. All the volunteers had been pregnant for 5 to 12 weeks.

The IUDs were bought by the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which paid for the study, an arrangement that avoided the federal restrictions.

Six months after insertion, the researchers found, IUDs had been expelled in 5 percent of the 258 women who had received an immediate insertion, compared to less than 3 percent of the 226 volunteers who had been required to wait. About four-fifths of the expulsions occurred within the first 2 months.

Abortion Gang member decries the dangers of prolife billboards

For some reason, it's not currently on their blog, but my blog reader got an Abortion Gang post by Shayna in which she condemns prolife billboards for supposedly endangering the lives of drivers. She also had this tidbit showing her lack of understanding about fetal development and abortion.
Today, while driving on the freeway in New Jersey, I saw a billboard that says "Abortion Stops A Beating Heart," with the symbol for heart substituted for the word. Let's leave aside the blatant falsehoods in the statement itself. After all, by now you probably know that at the point of conception, there is no beating heart. In fact, during the first few stages of fetal development there is no heart at all.

Here's Shayna's conclusion about prolife billboards.
Do the groups that put up anti-abortion billboards along fast highways and lonely rural roads realize that every person who sees them is more likely to die as a result? How can they not be? Their holier-than-thou message is hardly less distracting than an advertisement for fast food or self storage locations, even if you do not find it as enraging as I do.

The hypocrisy of the billboards is undeniable. What makes the purported life of an as yet unborn fetus worth more than that of an autonomous human being and his or her passengers? Worth more than a mother driving home from the office or a father and his children on their way to the dentist? Of course, these billboards are only a small fraction of the many that line America's roadways, but they are the only ones that do so with the sole rationale of claiming that "all life is valuable," while really making a bizarre judgment call about who is worth being put at risk and why.

It seems prolife billboards are just more evidence that we prolifers don't care about life after birth. We're needlessly endangering so many lives by putting up billboards. So hypocritical.

Next item Shayna will complain about: prolife T-shirts.

Do you know how many people are injured and die each year from tripping because they were distracted by looking at someone's eye-catching T-shirt?

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Overheard: Embrace being "pro-abortion"

Abortion Gang blogger Kaitlyn wants people who favor legal abortion to join her in saying "I am pro-abortion."
We make it so scary, so wrong; it brings so much disapproval and judgment down on us that we’re afraid to just say it. I am not anti-abortion. In fact, I am pro-abortion. I am 100% behind any person who needs an abortion having an abortion, and I place “for the sake of mental and emotional health” in the “needs” column.

Say it with me now, scarier but oh-so-freeing: I am pro-abortion.

I am pro-heart transplant, pro-appendix removal, and pro-abortion, whenever one of those is medically necessary. Now the argument will be, it trivializes abortion to say it’s as easy as appendix removal! But it doesn’t trivialize it. The medical reality is that an abortion in the first eight weeks is easier than getting an appendix removed, and the recovery time is much shorter. If that scares you, ask yourself why. Because it shouldn’t. The shame and stigma around abortion is a social invention. Abortions are a legal medical procedure that many people undergo. People who have children, people who want children, people who will never be parents – from all walks of life, we have abortions. And for that reason amongst so many others, I am pro-abortion. Go on, say it with me now, it’s freeing, I promise: I am pro-abortion.

Also, check out the comments section for a glimpse into Kaitlyn's research methodology. In her post she claims that 46% of American women will have abortions. She is challenged on this statistic by a pro-choicer who notes that the Guttmacher Institute puts the number at 33%. Kaitlyn responds,
I got 46% hot off the press from a prochoice working (worker?) in Kansas. I checked and found an anti-choice group (I’d rather not direct you to their site) putting it at 43%. I believe Guttmacher’s numbers, while accurate and meticulously researched, are outdated.
In fact, 43% is the old, outdated number the Guttmacher Institute used to use.

So let's review Kaitlyn's research methodology. She wants a statistic so she calls some Kansas pro-choice worker. She gets a statistic, doesn't ask where it came from and doesn't verify it. Then when challenged on the statistic, she tries to look it up and finds an old statistic posted on an prolife web site which didn't source the statistic either. She accepts this statistic as true despite having no clue where it came from.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Overheard: Weiner's scandal not as bad because he wasn't a conservative

Apparently, a Congressman sending racy photos of himself to young ladies isn't as bad if a liberal does it.

Here's Jill at Feministe:
Yes, Weiner cheated, even if he never met the women he had “relash- communications” with. And cheating is bad. But Weiner isn’t a Defense of Marriage conservative who seeks to police everyone else’s sex lives. There isn’t the same kind of hypocrisy here as we see from anti-choice anti-gay politicians who get caught with their pants down.

Weiner may have cheated on his wife but hey, it's not "hypocrisy." He's not against abortion or same sex marriage, so no big deal.

This reminds me of Joe Carter's The Unpardonable Sin of Hypocrisy in which he discussed the media's reaction to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's infidelity.
For people like Maddow, Sanford’s flaw is not that he acted immorally, but that he expected others to adhere to a standard that he himself failed to keep.

This view of integrity is regrettably common, particularly among elites and the media. I have yet to see a news story that agreed with Sanford that his described his actions as sinful. Instead, most of them, like Maddow, do not condemn him for breaching the sacred bonds of marriage but only for appearing to have a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude.......

The problem is not with pointing out moral inconsistency, which can aid a person in readjusting their level of integrity. The problem is that this approach rewards those with low moral standards. Anyone with high moral standards is likely to come up short, thus opening themselves to the charge of being morally inconsistent (or in their mangled use of the term, a hypocrite). But I would prefer to have politicians who fail to live up to objective moral standards than to to have those who think no such standards exist.

Life Links 6/7/11

Ross Douthat writes about Jack Kevorkian's victims.
This isn't a hypothetical slippery slope. Jack Kevorkian spent his career putting this dark, expansive logic into practice. He didn't just provide death to the dying; he helped anyone whose suffering seemed sufficient to warrant his deadly assistance. When The Detroit Free Press investigated his "practice" in 1997, it found that 60 percent of those he assisted weren't actually terminally ill. In several cases, autopsies revealed "no anatomical evidence of disease."

This record was ignored or glossed over by his admirers. (So were the roots of his interest in euthanasia: Kevorkian was obsessed with human experimentation, and pined for a day when both assisted suicides and executions could be accompanied by vivisection.)

Planned Parenthood of Indiana says it will close 7 clinics of its 28 clinics and lay off 24 employees if it doesn't get a federal injunction to allow it to receive Medicaid funds.


Ohio legislators are considering a proposal to ban abortions at publicly funded hospitals and clinics.

Monday, June 06, 2011

Indiana v. Obama

Are Indiana and the Obama administration facing off in a big game of chicken over Planned Parenthood Medcaid funding?
Is Indiana willing to risk $4.3 billion in Medicaid money to strike a blow for the right-to-life movement? Some conservative members of Republican-controlled legislatures argue it's time for states to risk serious penalties to defend their principles and throw off federal mandates. And the Medicaid program, with its rising costs and strict rules, has been a particular target of ire.

Is the Obama administration actually willing to leave low-income families without health care to punish a defiant state?

"Like any game of chicken, it's about who blinks first," said Ed Haislmaier, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Health Policy, a conservative think-tank.....

The White House and HHS "have made the decision they are willing to drive those stakes that much higher at the risk of poor people's health," said Sue Swayze, legislative director of Indiana Right to Life, which is supporting the Indiana law.

Carrying out the threat could be difficult, Haislmaier said.

"From a political standpoint it is interesting whether the Obama administration has really thought through the implications," he said.

Overheard - Prolifers aren't really against abortion, they're against basic health care and they want to keep wages down

Jodi Jacobson really outdoes herself on the craziness scale here (my emphasis).
When it comes to debates about "abortion" and "pro-life politics," both the media and the pundit class are persistently missing the huge neon-lighted elephant in the room. Current efforts by the far right to undermine health care for the poor are neither about "abortion" as commonly understood nor about "life." Instead, they are part of longer-term broader efforts to undermine women's rights across the board, deny basic health care to the poor and middle class, increase the available labor force, demolish the social safety net, and keep wages down and corporate profits on the rise......

We all now know--even if we don't admit it--that the far right is made up of three basic extremist groups: fundamentalist religious groups seeking to create a theocracy in America (and c'mon folks, they are less and less shy about stating this); fundamentalist "free marketers" who feel only corporations have rights; and fundamentalist pseudo-libertarians. These groups--whether we want to admit it openly or not--share a common belief in the supremacy of men over women, of corporations over democratic government and people, of the rich over the poor, and of whites over everyone else.

Together, these groups hate Planned Parenthood for the same reason they hated Acorn (notwithstanding problems in the organization, it was the mission of helping register disenfranchised voters that so infuriated the right, as evidenced by current efforts to undermine voting rights at the state level). Extremists hate Planned Parenthood for the same reason they hate Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, hate the minimum wage and labor and environmental regulations, and hate programs like Title X and Title IX. All of these--and I name only a few--are aimed at providing basic equity in American society. So they hate Planned Parenthood because it provides basic primary health care--including but not limited to reproductive health care--to people who might not otherwise have it. Abortion is merely the emotional foil used by the far right to rally the extreme religious minority that votes in the Republican primaries and to confuse other voters into thinking they're all about "morality" and "life," fiscal austerity and freedom, and efficiency.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Life Links 6/3/11

Assisted-suicide advocate and convicted murderer Jack Kevorkian has died.


Greenwood Today has a story about a South Carolina sheriff named Ricky Chastain who allegedly had an affair with an employee, impregnanted her and convinced her to have an abortion. She then got pregnant a second time, refused to have an abortion and he made her work miserable so she would quit. Allison Haley Manley is suing Chastain for sexual harrassment.
According to court documents, while on a trip to Myrtle Beach with Chastain in September 2010, Manley learned that she was pregnant a second time with Chastain’s child. She says that when she told Chastain that she would not have a second abortion; Chastain organized a meeting with sheriff’s office administrators and instructed them to “do whatever it took to make [Manley] resign her employment.”

A woman in Idaho has been charged with unlawful abortion after she took abortion pills to abort a 5-6 month old unborn child. Police found the child on her back porch in box wrapped in garbage bag.


Vice President Joe Biden met privately with Pope Benedict today at the Vatican. USA Today wonders aloud if the Pope took him to school on abortion. We can only hope.

Abortion advocate Robin Marty is clearly confused

Try to follow Robin Marty's logic here as she attempts to argue against Rebecca Kiessling, a prolife advocate who was conceived in rape. Here's Kiessling arguing against rape exceptions (my emphasis):
Have you ever considered how really insulting it is to say to someone, "I think your mother should have been able to abort you."? It's like saying, "If I had my way, you'd be dead right now." And that is the reality with which I live every time someone says they are pro-choice or pro-life "except in cases of rape" because I absolutely would have been aborted if it had been legal in Michigan when I was an unborn child, and I can tell you that it hurts. But I know that most people don't put a face to this issue — for them abortion is just a concept — with a quick cliche, they sweep it under the rug and forget about it. I do hope that, as a child conceived in rape, I can help to put a face, a voice, and a story to this issue.

In reply, some have said to me, "So does that mean you're pro-rape?" Though ludicrous, I'll address it because I understand that they aren't thinking things through. There is a huge moral difference because I did exist, and my life would have been ended because I would have been killed by a brutal abortion. You can only be killed and your life can only be devalued once you exist. Being thankful that my life was protected in no way makes me pro-rape.

And here's Marty's response:
But if her life can only be devalued once she exists, and she only exists because her life was protected from abortion, wouldn't that mean that if it was ended through abortion, she never would have existed? Isn't she essentially arguing against herself?

This is why personhood laws confuse so many, I guess.
No, it confuses you because you haven't thought about it for more than a second. If her life was ended by abortion it doesn't mean that she never existed, it would mean that her existence was ended.

Let's take Marty's reasoning and use it on infanticide.
But if her life can only be devalued once she exists, and she only exists because her life was protected from infanticide, wouldn't that mean that if it was ended through infanticide, she never would have existed? Isn't she essentially arguing against herself?
Robin - you are confused. This happens quite often when abortion advocates attempt to act like the unborn don't exist.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Facebook account for unborn child

Both ABC News and Time covered the story of Marriah Greene's Facebook page.
Marriah Greene may be the youngest person with a Facebook page. She hasn't even been born yet.

Her page was put up by her parents, Matt and Ellie Greene of Whitehouse, Texas, who were looking for a playful way to keep friends up to date on the progress of Ellie's pregnancy. They know they're having a girl, and they have a due date of June 9. As of Wednesday night their daughter had 268 "friends" -- mostly real friends and family of her parents.....

The page, Marriah's father says, is meant in fun. Marriah's education: "Studied Labor and Delivery at Tummy University." Favorite quotations: "Swimming, swimming, just keep swimming." Sports Marriah plays: Soccer ("I am quite the kicker").

According to the Time story, Facebook has apparently removed the page because Marriah isn't 13 yet.

Life Links 6/2/11

The Department of Health and Human Services has rejected Indiana's plan to defund Planned Parenthood and has given them 60 days to appeal. At this point, Indiana is sticking to their guns and reviewing their options.
Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, said the letter was being reviewed to determine the state's options but that "we will continue to defend the statute."

Berwick writes in his letter that Indiana should change its plan to conform with federal law, noting that the state has 60 days to appeal. The letter does not state it explicitly, but Indiana could face penalties if it does not comply. In the past, state Medicaid plans that did not conform with federal law have been changed by states before HHS enforced any penalties.

In addition to Berwick's letter, HHS also posted a notice on Wednesday to other interested parties that sought to make clear that the department would take a dim view of similar efforts to ban specific providers from federal funds.


The Montreal Gazette has a story on a former leader of the Tiananmen Square protests who is now focusing her attention on preventing sex-selection abortions in China.
She launched the group All Girls Allowed, which aims to end what she described as "gendercide," the elimination of millions of girls in China and elsewhere through sex-selective abortion.

The group raises money to donate $20 a month to poor Chinese women who raise girls, hoping that their husbands and in-laws would see added value in keeping baby girls instead of considering them to be a burden.

Morgan Zalot has a piece in the Philly Post in which she argues against abortion restrictions based on the experience of a friend who had an abortion as a teenager and is now in nursing school.
Staunch pro-lifers will be quick to judge and condemn, as they always are, and quick to say she didn't consider her "unborn child." But she did—she knew that it wouldn't be fair to bring a young person into a world where she knew the situation just wouldn't work..
It wouldn't be fair to bring a child into this world so she killed him? That's just so convincing. And, of course, Zalot can somehow see into the future and know without a doubt that the situation wouldn't work. Please.

If abortion means the end of what would have been (or, to some, already was) a new life, the question is still valid: What makes that life any more important than the woman's life, forever altered and maybe hindered by the decision to have an unplanned child? What about all the people Rose will help—the lives she'll save when she becomes a nurse—that wouldn't have been, had she chosen otherwise?
Now Zalot is asking what makes the life of an unborn child more important than her friend's "life" except her friend's life wasn't at stake. Her preferences were. She preferred not to be a teen mother. Now she prefers not to have an ex-boyfriend be the father of her child (of course, who knows if their relationship, which continued after the abortion, would have been different if they had a child). None of that threatens her existence. Abortion ended the existence of her child.

Zalot also undermines her friend. Would going to nursing school be more difficult with a child? Sure. That doesn't make it impossible or even that unlikely.

What is it with pro-choicers and their view of mothers? It's like some of them seriously think women are incapable of following their dreams the second a child emerges from their wombs. Suddenly, things like going to nursing school become the equivalent of putting a man on Mars.


The Justice Department has filed another suit claiming a Colorado couple (Kenneth and Jo Scott) violated the FACE Act by standing in front of Planned Parenthood's driveway.


The leadership at Notre Dame is laughably asserting that a Board of Trustee member named Roxanne Martino who has given 25K to EMILY's List over the years didn't know their sole goal was electing pro-choice women.
Let's say, however, that, nevertheless, Martino was, as Father Jenkins and Notebaert tell us, shocked, shocked to learn that Emily's List had anything to do with abortion (which would make her one of the most unaware people in America). Is this a person whose judgment you want on a board of trustees? According to FEC (Federal Election Commission) records, Martino has given the group more than $27,000 starting in 1998 — with her most recent contribution of $5,000 in December.

At this point, the question of judgment goes far beyond Martino. What does it say about Notre Dame's chairman of the board and its priest-president that they would send out the dissembling emails they have?

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Life Links 6/1/11

Planned Parenthood of Indiana may have not wanted to do so much bragging about how money donations they got after Indiana defunded them since it adds credence to the argument that Planned Parenthood doesn't need government support.
“The more private money that Planned Parenthood receives, the more it proves that it doesn’t need public funds,” said Mike Fichter, president of Indiana Right to Life. “Instead of complaining about not receiving government money, they have to go out and raise the money like other organizations.”

State Sen. Scott Schneider, an Indianapolis Republican who sponsored the measure to defund Planned Parenthood, said the amount of donations coming in raises a legitimate question of why taxpayer money was ever sent to the organization.

“What makes them different than any other not-for-profit?” Schneider said. “There’s no reason why they can’t have a capital campaign or some sort of private campaign to raise funds.”

At The Hill, Marianne Mollmann from the Human Rights Watch has a column on what she thinks the Gallup poll proves with regards to abortion. Somehow she concludes that the only "common sense" policy countries should have on abortion is make it "safe" and "legal." She's got some great quotes though:
Study after study has shown that women and girls have abortions when they need them, regardless of the legal or political context.
Really? Which studies are those? Care to provide or cite any of them? No? Okay.
Knowing this, politicians should realize that the only two things a government can affect through legislation and policies are 1) to what extent abortions are needed; and 2) to what extent abortions are safe.
So they can't set any time periods for when abortion is illegal (like in most of Europe)? They can't successful implement waiting periods and restrictions on minor abortions? Also, notice all the "need" talk. I thought abortion was a choice. Now it's apparently a need.

The only suggestion Mollman makes to keep abortion "safe" is to make it legal. Maybe Mollman doesn't follow the news but making abortion legal doesn't necessarily make it safe for women. For example, Kermit Gosnell or say the numerous abortions in South Africa provided by quacks who get their hands on a bunch of RU-486. While she claims (without citation) that 35% of pregnancies in Chile are ended by illegal abortions, she doesn't note that Chile has a very low maternal mortality rate.


Michael Potemra comments on Tim Pawlenty's prolife credibility.


A young woman in the UK has been convicted of arson after setting ablaze the house of her former boyfriend who broke up with her and allegedly convinced her to have an abortion.