Friday, January 30, 2009
Boycott NBC!
NBC is refusing to air The CatholicVote.com ad (please view it if you have not already done so, it is awesome) see news article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2174307/posts
Please write to NBC and tell them that you disagree with their choice! Here is my letter, which you are welcome and encouraged to use:
To: programming@nbcuni.com
I understand that you will not air the http://www.catholicvote.com/ ad. For this reason, I will not be watching the Superbowl or any other programming on NBC. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Please write to NBC and tell them that you disagree with their choice! Here is my letter, which you are welcome and encouraged to use:
To: programming@nbcuni.com
I understand that you will not air the http://www.catholicvote.com/ ad. For this reason, I will not be watching the Superbowl or any other programming on NBC. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Obama Promises to Fund Coercive China One-Child Policy Collaborator UNFPA
By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following on the heels of the elimination of the Mexico City Policy, President Obama has confirmed that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which helped instigate, perpetuate and enforce China's coercive one-child policy, will again receive taxpayer dollars.
Appended to the statement announcing the end of the Mexico City Policy, Obama said: "In addition, I look forward to working with Congress to restore U.S. financial support for the U.N. Population Fund.
"By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries." The move came as no surprise as Obama has spoken out in favor of UNFPA funding in the past.
President Bush halted funding for UNFPA when it was discovered by an independent investigation in 2001, and confirmed by a U.S. State Department investigation in 2002, that the UN group supported restrictive laws and coercive population control tactics in China, including forced abortion and sterilization.
"The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has decided to continue to provide financial and technical assistance to the Chinese birth limitation program under the direction of China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission," read a 2006 statement from U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
It continued: "The U.S. opposition to this program is a matter of principle. It is not directed at UNFPA as an institution. Rather, it is based on the strong opposition of the United States to human rights abuses associated with coercive birth limitation regimes." The statement, however, was recently erased from the State Department website.
Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2002 confirmed the link between UNFPA and China's coercive population control policies following a Population Research Institute (PRI) probe (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/oct/011005c.html).
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following on the heels of the elimination of the Mexico City Policy, President Obama has confirmed that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which helped instigate, perpetuate and enforce China's coercive one-child policy, will again receive taxpayer dollars.
Appended to the statement announcing the end of the Mexico City Policy, Obama said: "In addition, I look forward to working with Congress to restore U.S. financial support for the U.N. Population Fund.
"By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries." The move came as no surprise as Obama has spoken out in favor of UNFPA funding in the past.
President Bush halted funding for UNFPA when it was discovered by an independent investigation in 2001, and confirmed by a U.S. State Department investigation in 2002, that the UN group supported restrictive laws and coercive population control tactics in China, including forced abortion and sterilization.
"The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has decided to continue to provide financial and technical assistance to the Chinese birth limitation program under the direction of China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission," read a 2006 statement from U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
It continued: "The U.S. opposition to this program is a matter of principle. It is not directed at UNFPA as an institution. Rather, it is based on the strong opposition of the United States to human rights abuses associated with coercive birth limitation regimes." The statement, however, was recently erased from the State Department website.
Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2002 confirmed the link between UNFPA and China's coercive population control policies following a Population Research Institute (PRI) probe (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/oct/011005c.html).
Vatican official accuses Obama of 'arrogance'
A senior Vatican official on Saturday attacked US President Barack Obama for "arrogance" for overturning a ban on state funding for family-planning groups that carry out or facilitate abortions overseas.
It is "the arrogance of someone who believes they are right, in signing a decree which will open the door to abortion and thus to the destruction of human life," Archbishop Rino Fisichella was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera daily.
Fisichella is president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, one of a number of so-called pontifical academies which are formed by or under the direction of the Holy See.
"What is important is to know how to listen... without locking oneself into ideological visions with the arrogance of a person who, having the power, thinks they can decide on life and death," he added.
Obama signed the executive order cancelling the eight-year-old restrictions on Friday, the third full day of his presidency.
The so-called "global gag rule" cut off US funding to overseas family planning clinics which provide any abortion services whatsoever, from the operation itself to counselling, referrals or post-abortion services.
"If this is one of the first acts of President Obama, with all due respect, it seems to me that the path towards disappointment will have been very short," Fisichella said.
"I do not believe that those who voted for him took into consideration ethical themes, which were astutely left aside during the election debate. The majority of the American population does not take the same position as the president and his team," he added.
The order won Obama praise from Democratic lawmakers, family planning and women's rights groups but drew angry condemnation from pro-life organisations and Republicans.
More than 250 health and human rights organisations from around the world sent Obama a letter, thanking him for ending a policy "which has contributed to the deaths and injuries of countless women and girls."
Copyright AFP 2008
Friday, January 23, 2009
Obama lifts ban, will use your tax dollars to pay for abortions around the world
President Obama has lifted a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama's actions mean that hundreds of millions of your tax dollars will go to help groups like Planned Parenthood perform abortions around the world.
His actions came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Please take the action suggested below. It will not cause Obama to reverse his decision, but it will send a notice to him that unborn babies are human and deserve the same rights as the born.
Take Action!
Send an e-mail to Obama asking him to stop funding the killing of unborn children.
After you send the e-mail, please make a phone call (202-456-1414) and leave a message that you strongly disagree with Obama's using tax dollars to fund abortion.
Obama's actions mean that hundreds of millions of your tax dollars will go to help groups like Planned Parenthood perform abortions around the world.
His actions came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Please take the action suggested below. It will not cause Obama to reverse his decision, but it will send a notice to him that unborn babies are human and deserve the same rights as the born.
Take Action!
Send an e-mail to Obama asking him to stop funding the killing of unborn children.
After you send the e-mail, please make a phone call (202-456-1414) and leave a message that you strongly disagree with Obama's using tax dollars to fund abortion.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Obama acts quickly, lays out his abortion and gay agenda
One of his first moves pushes social issues to the top.
It didn't take long for President Barack Hussein Obama to move his social issues to the top of his to-do list. His agenda on gay rights can be found here and on abortion rights here.
This is only the beginning of Obama's plans to reshape society. His view is that unborn babies aren't worth protecting and that homosexuals deserve special rights.
Now, not later, is the time to let President Obama know that you oppose his efforts. People like you who oppose taking the life of the unborn and who oppose giving special rights to those who practice of perverted sex need to take action now!
It is time to ask your friends and family who have not been engaged to get involved. This is not the time to quit. It is a time to act! Our children and grandchildren are counting on us!
Take Action!
Send this email or your own to President Obama. It will go directly to the White House.
Please share this to your family and friends so they can read about Obama's priorities.
It didn't take long for President Barack Hussein Obama to move his social issues to the top of his to-do list. His agenda on gay rights can be found here and on abortion rights here.
This is only the beginning of Obama's plans to reshape society. His view is that unborn babies aren't worth protecting and that homosexuals deserve special rights.
Now, not later, is the time to let President Obama know that you oppose his efforts. People like you who oppose taking the life of the unborn and who oppose giving special rights to those who practice of perverted sex need to take action now!
It is time to ask your friends and family who have not been engaged to get involved. This is not the time to quit. It is a time to act! Our children and grandchildren are counting on us!
Take Action!
Send this email or your own to President Obama. It will go directly to the White House.
Please share this to your family and friends so they can read about Obama's priorities.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Oregon's Bishop Vasa Says : "Those who profess to love God, but back abortion, are liars"
By Bishop Robert Vasa
The Mass readings for the week between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord are taken from the First Letter of St. John. These readings are not always used for it often happens, depending upon the day on which Christmas falls, that the season of ordinary time begins immediately after the celebration of Epiphany. This year, however, the occurrence of Christmas allowed for a full week between these two post-Christmas celebrations and thus the readings from St. John’s first letter. As often happens, the daily Mass readings are both appealing and challenging. The reading of Thursday from I John 4:19ff is particularly appropriate in this year when the life issues are very much on the minds of pro-life persons.
The reason for the increased awareness and even concern on the part of the pro-life community is the specter of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which is highly rumored to be in the works at the federal level. It is this act which has stimulated the bishops of the United States to launch a massive postcard campaign calling upon the House and Senate to abandon FOCA. While further details about the dramatic impact of FOCA on our American culture can be found in many places, I will simply say that it would establish abortion as a federally protected right and, as I understand it, preclude state limitation or regulation of abortion. Further, since abortion would be a federally protected right, it is very possible that even Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Physicians would be mandated to provide this heinous service.
Thus I strongly urge all who have a glimmer of concern for the lives of pre-born children to engage themselves in this postcard campaign. This is not an action which would limit or alter present permissive abortion laws, which some so-called Catholic pro-choice persons might object to, it would simply preclude a dramatic expansion of that permissiveness. Thus it would be very difficult for any Catholic, no matter how much in favor of abortion itself, to find a reason to refuse to participate in this campaign. At the same time, I do not see how any Catholic senator or representative could vote for the passage of FOCA without recognizing that such a vote would constitute a direct and intentional declaration of their disdain for Catholic teaching. Such a vote would be tantamount to a public declaration of their intention to abandon the Catholic faith. It would be imperative that the faith consequences of such a declaration be allowed to fall fully on the heads of those who would make it.
The writing from St. John applies: “Beloved, we love God because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
We of the Catholic faith certainly know that love of God is central to our tenets, this is the appealing part. It is hard to imagine a Catholic saying, “I am a Catholic in good standing but I do not love God.” But the inspired scriptures tell us that whoever does not love his brother or neighbor does not and, indeed, cannot love God. This is the challenging part. The people of Jesus’ day understood this and it was this understanding that prompted them to ask, “And who is my neighbor?” For all of us, and especially for Catholic legislators in every strata of government, it is necessary to declare, in conformity with the Natural Law and the teaching of the Catholic Church that, the pre-born child is our brother, our sister, our neighbor!
It may sound a little strong to state that legislators “hate” the pre-born child but hate is an absence of love and love means to wish another well. There is nothing about abortion that wishes the pre-born child well. The preservation of abortion “rights” is already an absence of love for the pre-born child but the passage of FOCA could be construed as nothing less than active and positive disregard, even hatred, for these our brothers and sisters. To paraphrase St. John, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but votes for FOCA, thus showing a disregard for his pre-born brother or sister, he is a liar.” Lots of things can be rationalized in government but I do not see any way in which any Catholic could rationalize or justify an affirmative vote for FOCA.
It is not necessary for your postcards to be as outspoken as this bishop but you do have an obligation to participate in this concerted effort to show love for the tiniest and most defenseless of our brothers and sisters. President-elect Obama made it very clear, prior to the election, that he would happily sign FOCA and the millions of Catholics who voted for him hopefully did so for reasons other than this promise and certainly not because of it. It seems to me that it is particularly incumbent upon these same voters to make it clearly known to their representatives that their vote may not in any way be taken as a sign of support for FOCA.
Another way in which we show our affirmative love for our pre-born brothers and sisters is by way of our annual memorial on Jan. 22. This year the Diocesan Office of Pro-life Activities has scheduled a rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville on Thursday evening, Jan. 22. The rosary will commence at 6:30 p.m. with Mass beginning at 7 p.m. While I recognize that many parishes host similar memorial Masses to pray for the two-fold victims of abortion, the child and the mother, I invite any who can to join me at the rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville.
Regardless of how many years have passed since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision and regardless of how prevalent and routine abortion has become in this country, the simple truth remains, it is an act of extreme violence to the pre-born child and to the distressed mother. Thus, if anyone says, “I love God” and still favors abortion, he is, to quote St. John, a liar. May we all live out faithfully what it means to love God.
The Mass readings for the week between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord are taken from the First Letter of St. John. These readings are not always used for it often happens, depending upon the day on which Christmas falls, that the season of ordinary time begins immediately after the celebration of Epiphany. This year, however, the occurrence of Christmas allowed for a full week between these two post-Christmas celebrations and thus the readings from St. John’s first letter. As often happens, the daily Mass readings are both appealing and challenging. The reading of Thursday from I John 4:19ff is particularly appropriate in this year when the life issues are very much on the minds of pro-life persons.
The reason for the increased awareness and even concern on the part of the pro-life community is the specter of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which is highly rumored to be in the works at the federal level. It is this act which has stimulated the bishops of the United States to launch a massive postcard campaign calling upon the House and Senate to abandon FOCA. While further details about the dramatic impact of FOCA on our American culture can be found in many places, I will simply say that it would establish abortion as a federally protected right and, as I understand it, preclude state limitation or regulation of abortion. Further, since abortion would be a federally protected right, it is very possible that even Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Physicians would be mandated to provide this heinous service.
Thus I strongly urge all who have a glimmer of concern for the lives of pre-born children to engage themselves in this postcard campaign. This is not an action which would limit or alter present permissive abortion laws, which some so-called Catholic pro-choice persons might object to, it would simply preclude a dramatic expansion of that permissiveness. Thus it would be very difficult for any Catholic, no matter how much in favor of abortion itself, to find a reason to refuse to participate in this campaign. At the same time, I do not see how any Catholic senator or representative could vote for the passage of FOCA without recognizing that such a vote would constitute a direct and intentional declaration of their disdain for Catholic teaching. Such a vote would be tantamount to a public declaration of their intention to abandon the Catholic faith. It would be imperative that the faith consequences of such a declaration be allowed to fall fully on the heads of those who would make it.
The writing from St. John applies: “Beloved, we love God because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
We of the Catholic faith certainly know that love of God is central to our tenets, this is the appealing part. It is hard to imagine a Catholic saying, “I am a Catholic in good standing but I do not love God.” But the inspired scriptures tell us that whoever does not love his brother or neighbor does not and, indeed, cannot love God. This is the challenging part. The people of Jesus’ day understood this and it was this understanding that prompted them to ask, “And who is my neighbor?” For all of us, and especially for Catholic legislators in every strata of government, it is necessary to declare, in conformity with the Natural Law and the teaching of the Catholic Church that, the pre-born child is our brother, our sister, our neighbor!
It may sound a little strong to state that legislators “hate” the pre-born child but hate is an absence of love and love means to wish another well. There is nothing about abortion that wishes the pre-born child well. The preservation of abortion “rights” is already an absence of love for the pre-born child but the passage of FOCA could be construed as nothing less than active and positive disregard, even hatred, for these our brothers and sisters. To paraphrase St. John, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but votes for FOCA, thus showing a disregard for his pre-born brother or sister, he is a liar.” Lots of things can be rationalized in government but I do not see any way in which any Catholic could rationalize or justify an affirmative vote for FOCA.
It is not necessary for your postcards to be as outspoken as this bishop but you do have an obligation to participate in this concerted effort to show love for the tiniest and most defenseless of our brothers and sisters. President-elect Obama made it very clear, prior to the election, that he would happily sign FOCA and the millions of Catholics who voted for him hopefully did so for reasons other than this promise and certainly not because of it. It seems to me that it is particularly incumbent upon these same voters to make it clearly known to their representatives that their vote may not in any way be taken as a sign of support for FOCA.
Another way in which we show our affirmative love for our pre-born brothers and sisters is by way of our annual memorial on Jan. 22. This year the Diocesan Office of Pro-life Activities has scheduled a rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville on Thursday evening, Jan. 22. The rosary will commence at 6:30 p.m. with Mass beginning at 7 p.m. While I recognize that many parishes host similar memorial Masses to pray for the two-fold victims of abortion, the child and the mother, I invite any who can to join me at the rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville.
Regardless of how many years have passed since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision and regardless of how prevalent and routine abortion has become in this country, the simple truth remains, it is an act of extreme violence to the pre-born child and to the distressed mother. Thus, if anyone says, “I love God” and still favors abortion, he is, to quote St. John, a liar. May we all live out faithfully what it means to love God.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Campbell's labels help support gay marriage
Many people aren’t aware that when their school participates in Campbell’s “Labels for Education” program they are supporting a company that has openly come out in support of homosexual marriage, and it has no intentions of stopping that support.
“Labels for Education” provides equipment for schools in exchange for proofs of purchase from the family of Campbell’s brands.
Many of the schools that participate don’t know that Campbell’s supports the homosexual publication The Advocate with advertising. The Advocate is a leading promoter of same-sex marriage.
AFA asked Campbell’s to be neutral in the culture war. Campbell’s refused and said it would continue to support The Advocate. The Media Daily News reported that a Campbell spokesman was quoted as saying: “Our plans for the Swanson brand [a division of Campbell’s] include additional placements in The Advocate." To show their commitment to same-sex marriage, Campbell's sought out and featured two "married" lesbians and their son in one of the ads.
Take Action!
Check to see if your school participates in Campbell’s “Labels for Education” program. If so, ask them to stop participating. These labels support a company that openly supports homosexual marriage.
Campbell is blocking AFA e-mails. However, you can send a personally written e-mail directly to Chrm. Donant by clicking here. After sending your e-mail, please call Campbell Soup Company (1-800-257-8443) and its Swanson division (1-800-442-7684) and express your disappointment that Campbell's is supporting same-sex marriage.
Share this with your friends and family.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Anti-Abortion Forces Target Planned Parenthood
Undeterred by solid Democratic gains in November's national elections, religious conservatives who oppose abortion are going on the offensive with a new weapon: a sick economy.
In its largest-ever state-based initiative, the Family Research Council (FRC) is contacting every state lawmaker in the country with a plea to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the nation's largest providers of family planning and abortion services.
Their argument is fairly simple: lots of organizations need public money now, but Planned Parenthood -- with a $1 billion budget and a $114 million operating surplus -- isn't one of them.
"Planned Parenthood has proven that they don't need federal or state handouts," says Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Washington-based FRC. "During these economic times, when states are rethinking their investments, subsidizing abortion is probably not the kind of thing that they want to be known for."
Planned Parenthood has long been a favorite target for abortion opponents, who chafe at the $337 million that the organization receives from public sources to help run its 880 clinics nationwide. States are the center of the action because 17 state legislatures permit their funds to be used for abortions. Federal funds, by contrast, can support only non-abortion services, such as counseling and birth control.
Basing the de-funding argument on a dour economy represents a new wrinkle in a long-term strategy, according to Ted Jelen, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies attitudes toward abortion.
Since most Americans aren't deeply convinced of the moral merits or demerits of abortion, Jelen says, critics of abortion increasingly seek allies by appealing to other value systems -- outrage over the grotesque image of a late-term abortion, for example, or now, a belt-tightening eagerness to purge unnecessary spending during an economic crisis.
"Most people are pro-choice under at least some circumstances,"
Jelen said. "So the idea that `maybe we can't afford this in tough economic times' might be fairly plausible."
Planned Parenthood, meanwhile, is tuning up an economic argument of its own.
"Public funding of family planning services is an investment in prevention care that has numerous dividends," says Tait Sye, spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in an e-mailed statement. "Cutting public funding of family planning is bad public policy, will leave even more women without access to vital health care services, and will lead to increased health care costs for the state."
FRC recently launched its lawmaker outreach campaign after staffers noticed cash-strapped local governments in Florida, Georgia and Texas cutting funds for Planned Parenthood. If budget concerns could prevail in those locales, activists figured, then maybe the same could happen in statehouses from coast to coast.
Other conservative Christian groups are mobilizing, too. The American Life League (ALL) of Stafford, Va., has re-ordered its political priorities this year to focus primarily on de-funding Planned Parenthood, according to Jim Sedlak, director of the ALL's Stop Planned Parenthood project. In his view, the GOP's steep losses in November do not necessarily suggest that Americans have warmed to abortion rights.
"This (election) battle wasn't about abortion, or pro-life or moral values. This election was all about the economy," Sedlak said. "I don't think you can take a message from the election in terms of the moral fight over abortion. ... Things are going our way, and this election was an aberration for other reasons."
Still, anti-abortion activists face logistical and political hurdles. State funding often gets channeled through agencies or local governments, which then may subcontract with Planned Parenthood affiliates for services. That means cutting money for Planned Parenthood isn't as simple as dropping a single line item in a state budget bill.
"We're trying to understand exactly how much funding in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is going to Planned Parenthood," said David Edmunds, policy analyst at the Family Foundation of Kentucky in Lexington. "We have to determine that first before we have any kind of action strategy to try to de-fund it."
Abortion-rights supporters, meanwhile, recognize they may need to be assertive in order for Planned Parenthood to resist the fierce budget-cutting pressures expected in 2009. To that end, they're highlighting the importance of maintaining accessibility to Planned Parenthood's full range of services, especially in hard economic times.
"This economic downturn is going to throw a lot of middle-class women into the `poor' category," said Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in Washington.
"They're going to lose their jobs, and they're going to need these services."
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion News Service
Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
In its largest-ever state-based initiative, the Family Research Council (FRC) is contacting every state lawmaker in the country with a plea to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the nation's largest providers of family planning and abortion services.
Their argument is fairly simple: lots of organizations need public money now, but Planned Parenthood -- with a $1 billion budget and a $114 million operating surplus -- isn't one of them.
"Planned Parenthood has proven that they don't need federal or state handouts," says Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Washington-based FRC. "During these economic times, when states are rethinking their investments, subsidizing abortion is probably not the kind of thing that they want to be known for."
Planned Parenthood has long been a favorite target for abortion opponents, who chafe at the $337 million that the organization receives from public sources to help run its 880 clinics nationwide. States are the center of the action because 17 state legislatures permit their funds to be used for abortions. Federal funds, by contrast, can support only non-abortion services, such as counseling and birth control.
Basing the de-funding argument on a dour economy represents a new wrinkle in a long-term strategy, according to Ted Jelen, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies attitudes toward abortion.
Since most Americans aren't deeply convinced of the moral merits or demerits of abortion, Jelen says, critics of abortion increasingly seek allies by appealing to other value systems -- outrage over the grotesque image of a late-term abortion, for example, or now, a belt-tightening eagerness to purge unnecessary spending during an economic crisis.
"Most people are pro-choice under at least some circumstances,"
Jelen said. "So the idea that `maybe we can't afford this in tough economic times' might be fairly plausible."
Planned Parenthood, meanwhile, is tuning up an economic argument of its own.
"Public funding of family planning services is an investment in prevention care that has numerous dividends," says Tait Sye, spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in an e-mailed statement. "Cutting public funding of family planning is bad public policy, will leave even more women without access to vital health care services, and will lead to increased health care costs for the state."
FRC recently launched its lawmaker outreach campaign after staffers noticed cash-strapped local governments in Florida, Georgia and Texas cutting funds for Planned Parenthood. If budget concerns could prevail in those locales, activists figured, then maybe the same could happen in statehouses from coast to coast.
Other conservative Christian groups are mobilizing, too. The American Life League (ALL) of Stafford, Va., has re-ordered its political priorities this year to focus primarily on de-funding Planned Parenthood, according to Jim Sedlak, director of the ALL's Stop Planned Parenthood project. In his view, the GOP's steep losses in November do not necessarily suggest that Americans have warmed to abortion rights.
"This (election) battle wasn't about abortion, or pro-life or moral values. This election was all about the economy," Sedlak said. "I don't think you can take a message from the election in terms of the moral fight over abortion. ... Things are going our way, and this election was an aberration for other reasons."
Still, anti-abortion activists face logistical and political hurdles. State funding often gets channeled through agencies or local governments, which then may subcontract with Planned Parenthood affiliates for services. That means cutting money for Planned Parenthood isn't as simple as dropping a single line item in a state budget bill.
"We're trying to understand exactly how much funding in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is going to Planned Parenthood," said David Edmunds, policy analyst at the Family Foundation of Kentucky in Lexington. "We have to determine that first before we have any kind of action strategy to try to de-fund it."
Abortion-rights supporters, meanwhile, recognize they may need to be assertive in order for Planned Parenthood to resist the fierce budget-cutting pressures expected in 2009. To that end, they're highlighting the importance of maintaining accessibility to Planned Parenthood's full range of services, especially in hard economic times.
"This economic downturn is going to throw a lot of middle-class women into the `poor' category," said Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in Washington.
"They're going to lose their jobs, and they're going to need these services."
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion News Service
Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
Abortion memorial to honor 50 million dead
The 58,000 names on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., occupy a 10-foot wall that is 500 feet long, so pro-life activists assembling a memorial for the estimated 50 million dead as a result of the 1973 legalization of abortion had to turn to cyberspace.
That's because a wall with that many names would be more than 80 miles long.
The new project, called Personhood, is intended to raise awareness of the cost of abortion in American lives and generate support for a series of advertisements that address the personhood issue: the idea that constitutional rights should be conferred on the unborn.
Dan Becker, the chief of Georgia Right to Life, which has been involved in battling for recognition of personhood rights, said the response has been phenomenal.
In the ad, two prospective parents discuss options for their coming child with a doctor. The physician describes the wonderful genetic advances that have just been developed as they talk about the sex of the child - male - and hair color, blonde.
The discussion is interrupted when the couple's young daughter, apparently born before such technological innovations, turns to her mother and asks: "Would you love me more if I were perfect?"
Hundreds of visitors have been visiting the site daily to participate, organizers for the site said.
SupportPersonhood.com features a short video describing the goal of remembering individual victims of abortion by granting them an identity and providing an epitaph, thereby personalizing the loss.
"Unlike the Jewish Holocaust, there are no pictures of death and destruction to prick our consciences and bring these dark deeds into the light. There is no enduring reminder that these children were our hope and our future," Becker said.
"They are voiceless, faceless and anonymous thereby leaving no lasting impression of their short existence," he said.
"The purpose of this project is to promote personhood within our culture," said Becker.
"We need to be a voice for the voiceless, and we saw this as a way to portray the loss that each individual human life represents. By naming each child, we clothe them in death with the human dignity they deserve," he said.
Individuals are asked to "adopt a child" and provide it an identity and leave a short memorial message. The wall is searchable and the "adoptions" of others may be viewed.
The concept, a new effort by many pro-life activists across the nation, was described in a commentary by Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center.
"While seeking to decrease the number of abortions performed in this country is a laudable endeavor and should continue, we must never forget that ending all abortions is the ultimate goal," he said. "Protecting innocent human life is not negotiable.
He said while critics argue that regulating abortion and seeking to end abortion are "either-or" propositions, they aren't.
"There is no conflict between the two positions, so long as principle is not compromised in the process. Both strategies can and must coexist. However, it would be a tragic mistake to be content with a strategy that makes ending abortion secondary to other regulatory efforts, or worse yet, a strategy that avoids it altogether. Accordingly, passing a human life amendment should be the pro-life movement's main effort," he said.
He suggested a case needs to be presented to the United States Supreme Court to challenge the central premise of Roe – that the unborn is not a person within the meaning of the law.
"In Roe," he said, "the court conceded that if the 'personhood' of the fetus 'is established, [the case for abortion], of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [Fourteenth] Amendment.'"
Pro-Abortion Groups Post ‘Wish List’ on Obama’s Web Site
(CNSNews.com) – A coalition of pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, the Guttmacher Institute, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the American Civil Liberties Union, have posted a reproductive health wish list on the Obama Transition Team Web site, change.gov.
The list outlines the steps the groups think the next president should take during his first 100 days in office to promote and fund abortion in America and around the globe.
The 50-plus-page document, “Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration,” is a laundry list of actions that the coalition says president-elect Barack Obama should put in place to “advance a reproductive health agenda that will make a profound difference in the lives and health of women, men and family in the United States and around the world.”
“For too long, our nation’s reproductive health policies have failed to address adequately the heath care needs of women and their families,” the plan says. “Skyrocketing costs and ideologically driven government restrictions have put reproductive health services out of reach for millions of women.”
The actions the document calls for partly include the following:
- Increasing Title X Family Planning Funding, which funds Planned Parenthood and others on the list, from $300 million in fiscal year 2009 to $700 million in 2010.
- Federal funding of abortions for Medicaid-eligible women, federal employees and their dependents, residents of the District of Columbia, Peace Corp volunteers, Native American women and women in federal prisons.
- Reduce the cost and increase availability of contraceptives for women on college campuses.
- Rescind the so-called “Global Gag Rule,” or Mexico City Policy first implemented by President Ronald Reagan in 1989, to allow federal funding of programs in foreign countries that promote or perform abortions.
- De-fund abstinence-only programs.
- Increase federal funding of international family planning programs from $461 million in fiscal year 2009 to $1 billion for 2010.
- Remove age restrictions -- which is now 18 or older -- for access to over-the-counter emergency contraceptives.
- Create the first-ever comprehensive sex education program that is paid for by federal dollars.
- Calls on Congress to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which would strike down all state and federal laws that restrict abortion and make federally funded abortions available in all 50 states.
- Reverse the Health and Human Services Federal Refusal Rule, which protects health care professionals who are morally opposed to promoting or providing abortions.
- Appoint judges who support Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.
Pro-life groups have reacted to the proposal by acknowledging that the policies it supports have long been part of the agenda of pro-abortion advocates.
“It’s not anything new,” Judie Brown, president and co-founder of the American Life League, told CNSNews.com. “Basically, it’s a boiler plate desire list of the pro-abortion organizations that have been around for years.”
“The thing that I think is different now, is that (the groups) actually have someone going into the White House who agrees with every single one of these priorities that they’ve listed in this report,” Brown said.
“Needless to say, this is the pro-life advocate’s worst nightmare realized,” Rev. Clenard Childress, northeast director of the Life Education and Resource Center and senior pastor of New Calvary Baptist Church in Montclair, N.J., told CNSNews.com. “Unquestionably, it does vindicate the strong opposition of those who were concerned about mothers and the unborn about electing Barack Obama.”
But Malika Saada Saar, executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, which also signed onto the proposal, told CNSNews.com that her organization thinks the plan submitted to the next president is positive.
Saar described the report as “broad, detailed and thoughtful,” and the “right path” for promoting reproductive rights.
“I believe we ought to be in a place of allowing mothers to exercise their right of when they want to be able to mother,” Saar said. “And allowing full access to abortion allows women to exercise when they feel it is best to become a mother, and to be able to mother their children with the dignity and the safety and the stability that they see is required.”
Pro-life advocates, however, see a silver lining of sorts for their cause under an Obama administration.
“I hope this wakes up the sleeping people of conscience,” Childress said. “This is a political, social revolution right now, and we’d better make our voices heard as never before.”
Brown said her organization has its own proposal in the works, inspired by the pro-abortion proposal.
“We have a golden opportunity in the pro-life movement with (Obama) in the White House to raise awareness and, if we don’t do that, we’ve failed,” Brown said.
Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said he does not think the American people want the kind of change proposed by the authors of the plan.
“Abortion supporters overestimate their own strength, because much of what they want will not be achievable,” Pavone told CNSNews.com. “The culture is moving in a pro-life direction, and the election outcome does not reflect any pro-abortion shift on the part of the American people.”
“Some 34 percent of voters said that the abortion issue affected their vote, with 25 percent voting for pro-life candidates and only 9 percent for abortion supporters,” Pavone said. “For Obama or these pro-abortion groups to claim that he has any kind of ‘mandate’ to implement this laundry list of changes is both misinformed and dishonest.”
Ringling College and Planned Parenthood
At the beginning of each performance of the Ringling Brothers circus, the ringmaster exclaims, "Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages ..."
But, the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida is near a final decision on a lease with Planned Parenthood in Sarasota that will put artwork from the college’s students directly below a Planned Parenthood abortion facility – where future circus attendees will be killed.
Under the lease, reportedly at $1 a year for 99 years, the school would display student art in a 1,000-square-foot street-level gallery in the new Planned Parenthood building. The gallery would be visible from the sidewalk through a large glass wall. Patrons could go inside to view the art closely and the school reportedly would have at least some of the art for sale.
On the floor just above the proposed gallery is Planned Parenthood's new abortion facility that will commit an estimated 1,000 abortions a year.
In a previous statement, Ringling college president Dr. Larry Thompson said the school would not be supporting Planned Parenthood but its own students. He added: "As an organization, Ringling School does not espouse any views on the activities of Planned Parenthood or any pro-life organization. We are not a part of any of those organizations and do not intend to be."
Can you imagine a college bearing the prestigious Ringling name not caring about the killing of children? Can you imagine students proudly displaying their art while wondering if blood will drip from the ceiling onto their work? Can you imagine how gallery visitors will react when they learn what is occurring over their heads?
The Ringling family has a long and proud relationship with the arts. The Ringling Museum of Art was established 82 years ago by John and Mable Ringling. Their home, Ca d'Zan, is a treasure trove of art, visited by millions from around the world. Sarasota was the home of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for decades and its legacy remains throughout the community. The art museum grounds include a circus museum.
Now, all of this grand history will be tarnished because the Ringling College administration wants a free facility to show the students’ art. With this 99-year lease, the Ringling name will be linked to Planned Parenthood, operator of the nation's largest abortion chain, forever.
Every time the Ringling Brothers' circus arrives in any town in America, people will be reminded of the association between Ringling College and Planned Parenthood.
ACTION ALERT: Now is the time to speak out. To express your views on a student art gallery at Planned Parenthood’s killing center, contact these key people:
Larry Thompson, president
lthompso@ringling.edu
941-359-7601
Christine Meeker Lange, special assistant to the president for media and community relations
Clange@ringling.edu
941-359-7594
Dr. Tammy Walsh, dean of students
twalsh@ringling.edu
941-359-7509
(50 students are in the Catholic student group FOCUS, which operates under her authority.)
Christine DeGeorge, vice president for human organizational development
ccarnegi@ringling.edu
941-359-7619
(She is very concerned about Ringling's image and wants to keep everyone happy. Cigarette butts on campus or offensive art displayed there or bad food in the Ringling cafeteria are major concerns to her and she takes action immediately to correct the problem)
Jim Dean, dean of admissions
jdean@ringling.edu
941-359-7524
(Each student is worth $140,000 to the college.)
But, the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida is near a final decision on a lease with Planned Parenthood in Sarasota that will put artwork from the college’s students directly below a Planned Parenthood abortion facility – where future circus attendees will be killed.
Under the lease, reportedly at $1 a year for 99 years, the school would display student art in a 1,000-square-foot street-level gallery in the new Planned Parenthood building. The gallery would be visible from the sidewalk through a large glass wall. Patrons could go inside to view the art closely and the school reportedly would have at least some of the art for sale.
On the floor just above the proposed gallery is Planned Parenthood's new abortion facility that will commit an estimated 1,000 abortions a year.
In a previous statement, Ringling college president Dr. Larry Thompson said the school would not be supporting Planned Parenthood but its own students. He added: "As an organization, Ringling School does not espouse any views on the activities of Planned Parenthood or any pro-life organization. We are not a part of any of those organizations and do not intend to be."
Can you imagine a college bearing the prestigious Ringling name not caring about the killing of children? Can you imagine students proudly displaying their art while wondering if blood will drip from the ceiling onto their work? Can you imagine how gallery visitors will react when they learn what is occurring over their heads?
The Ringling family has a long and proud relationship with the arts. The Ringling Museum of Art was established 82 years ago by John and Mable Ringling. Their home, Ca d'Zan, is a treasure trove of art, visited by millions from around the world. Sarasota was the home of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for decades and its legacy remains throughout the community. The art museum grounds include a circus museum.
Now, all of this grand history will be tarnished because the Ringling College administration wants a free facility to show the students’ art. With this 99-year lease, the Ringling name will be linked to Planned Parenthood, operator of the nation's largest abortion chain, forever.
Every time the Ringling Brothers' circus arrives in any town in America, people will be reminded of the association between Ringling College and Planned Parenthood.
ACTION ALERT: Now is the time to speak out. To express your views on a student art gallery at Planned Parenthood’s killing center, contact these key people:
Larry Thompson, president
lthompso@ringling.edu
941-359-7601
Christine Meeker Lange, special assistant to the president for media and community relations
Clange@ringling.edu
941-359-7594
Dr. Tammy Walsh, dean of students
twalsh@ringling.edu
941-359-7509
(50 students are in the Catholic student group FOCUS, which operates under her authority.)
Christine DeGeorge, vice president for human organizational development
ccarnegi@ringling.edu
941-359-7619
(She is very concerned about Ringling's image and wants to keep everyone happy. Cigarette butts on campus or offensive art displayed there or bad food in the Ringling cafeteria are major concerns to her and she takes action immediately to correct the problem)
Jim Dean, dean of admissions
jdean@ringling.edu
941-359-7524
(Each student is worth $140,000 to the college.)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Deficit of a trillion dollars a year as far as the eye can see
Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be paying off the debt we are incurring...
Our government now owes more money than all of us in the country put together possess. We now owe nearly $57 trillion while our net worth is $56.5 trillion.
President-elect Barack Obama has said that we can expect a trillion dollars in additional debt each year as far as the eye can see into the future. Soon Obama will ask Congress for an additional trillion dollars to bail out certain large companies.
Remember when they gave $350 billion to the banks? That money is gone and guess what? The banks cannot or will not tell us what they did with it.
Obama's plan, being promoted by Democrats and Republicans alike, is to pass out money, running up debt that our grandchildren will be forced to pay. Their solution is simple. Throw more money at the problem.
Where will the government get these trillions of dollars? They will go to the printing press and print more, which means that dollar in your pocket will be worth less.
It also means the government will borrow more. From whom? Try China and the rich oil producing countries. At the rate we are going, China will never have to fight us. They will own us.
Our leaders, if that is what you want to call them, are unwilling to call us to bite the bullet and pay the price for our irresponsible financial behavior. It is immoral to pass this debt on to our grandchildren.
The time to act is now, before it is too late. While it may be painful now, failure to act will be deadly in the future.
Take Action!
Send an e-mail to your representative and senators telling them not to support the trillion dollar bailout.
Please share this post with family and friends. If Congress fails to hear from their constituents they will probably vote for Obama's trillion dollar bailout.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Nation's First Goverment-funded Abortion Alternatives Program Serves Over 150,000 Women Since 1995
Pennsylvania Program Sets Record - 19,747 women provided pregnancy and parenting support services last year.
Harrisburg, PA (January 12, 2009) - Real Alternatives, statewide administrator for the award winning Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortion Services Program, reports that in fiscal year 2007 -2008 a record 19,747 women were provided comprehensive counseling, mentoring, and support throughout their nine (9) months of pregnancy and twelve (12) months after the birth of their baby. In fiscal year 2007-2008 the program received its highest funding of $6.5 million per year by the Commonwealth’s Department of Public Welfare. The program's administrative cost ratio is less than 8.5%
“We have seen a steady decrease in annual abortions since the start of the program 13 years ago. To date, the citizens of Pennsylvania have placed $59 million of tax payer funds to provide pregnancy and parenting support services to 150,000 women experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. We are striving for the day when no woman in the Commonwealth feels that she must have an abortion – that is what the program is about,” said Kevin I. Bagatta, Esquire, Real Alternatives President & CEO.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, 118 Real Alternatives-funded pregnancy support centers, Catholic Charities, social service agencies, maternity homes, and adoption agencies throughout the Commonwealth provided services to 19,747 women at 83,263 visits. There is a center within an hour of every woman in Pennsylvania.
Since its inception 13 years ago, the Program [www.RealAlternatives.org/movie] has served over 150,000 women at over 645,329 office visits.
Bagatta continued: “this state-funded support program is the only program in the Commonwealth dedicated to lowering abortions after there is a crisis pregnancy. It continues to work because of the approximately 500 counselors and mentors statewide meeting the needs of women in unplanned and crisis pregnancies. By providing a counselor to be with the woman in need from the moment she finds out she is pregnant to 12 months after the birth of the baby, this program empowers her to overcome her obstacles and crisis. She is not alone. She knows someone is with her to help her. An alternative to abortion is not a pamphlet, it is another person….it is one woman seeing another woman in crisis and loving her and supporting her like she is her own daughter. This program represents the best in America.”
View a short film about this successful program visit: www.RealAlternatives.org/movie.
Harrisburg, PA (January 12, 2009) - Real Alternatives, statewide administrator for the award winning Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortion Services Program, reports that in fiscal year 2007 -2008 a record 19,747 women were provided comprehensive counseling, mentoring, and support throughout their nine (9) months of pregnancy and twelve (12) months after the birth of their baby. In fiscal year 2007-2008 the program received its highest funding of $6.5 million per year by the Commonwealth’s Department of Public Welfare. The program's administrative cost ratio is less than 8.5%
“We have seen a steady decrease in annual abortions since the start of the program 13 years ago. To date, the citizens of Pennsylvania have placed $59 million of tax payer funds to provide pregnancy and parenting support services to 150,000 women experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. We are striving for the day when no woman in the Commonwealth feels that she must have an abortion – that is what the program is about,” said Kevin I. Bagatta, Esquire, Real Alternatives President & CEO.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, 118 Real Alternatives-funded pregnancy support centers, Catholic Charities, social service agencies, maternity homes, and adoption agencies throughout the Commonwealth provided services to 19,747 women at 83,263 visits. There is a center within an hour of every woman in Pennsylvania.
Since its inception 13 years ago, the Program [www.RealAlternatives.org/movie] has served over 150,000 women at over 645,329 office visits.
Bagatta continued: “this state-funded support program is the only program in the Commonwealth dedicated to lowering abortions after there is a crisis pregnancy. It continues to work because of the approximately 500 counselors and mentors statewide meeting the needs of women in unplanned and crisis pregnancies. By providing a counselor to be with the woman in need from the moment she finds out she is pregnant to 12 months after the birth of the baby, this program empowers her to overcome her obstacles and crisis. She is not alone. She knows someone is with her to help her. An alternative to abortion is not a pamphlet, it is another person….it is one woman seeing another woman in crisis and loving her and supporting her like she is her own daughter. This program represents the best in America.”
View a short film about this successful program visit: www.RealAlternatives.org/movie.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Forced abortions - America's secret epidemic
The Elliot Institute has released a report that exposes America's forced abortion epidemic.
Elliot Institute spokesperson Amy Solby tells OneNewsNow that one study found 64 percent of women who had abortions reported they felt pressured to abort by others. "Something like 80 percent of them said that they didn't get the counseling they needed to make a good decision, that often they were not given counseling at all, or that the counseling they had was inadequate," she explains.
Solby also mentions forced abortions, which are not widely discussed in the U.S. An article released from the Institute cites two cases in 2006 in which teenage girls were violently persuaded to have abortions. In Maine, a couple abducted their 19-year-old daughter, bound and gagged her, and drove her to New York for an abortion. However, she escaped from her parents in the parking lot of a store and called police from her cell phone.
That same year, a Georgia mother forced her pregnant 16-year-old daughter to drink turpentine in hopes of aborting her baby. She was later arrested for criminal abortion after her daughter told the school counselor about the incident. The Institute has studied other cases where women are commonly threatened, pressured, or subjected to violence for refusing to abort.
"There's not any necessarily real hard numbers on violent [coercion] but, if you consider that homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women according to several studies, and then the fact that a large number of them have to do with the fact that the woman was killed or assaulted...because she refused to have an abortion or in an attempt to force her to abort," Solby concludes.
The Elliot Institute is trying to convince states to pass laws forcing abortion facilities to screen women for coercion and not to do an abortion where coercion is involved. Solby believes women then could be helped with whatever situation they are facing.
JULIA DUIN: Ignoring issue of black abortions
It arrived in my e-mail last Friday; a press release about a journalism conference on mortality rates for black Americans.
I looked at the conference description, but there was nothing there about black abortions.
Or why blacks, who make up about one-eighth of the U.S. population, have more than one-third (37 percent) of America's 1.2 million annual abortions. Or how, if you take 37 percent of America's 45 million abortions between 1973 and 2005, you come up with 17 million people.
The National Association of Black Journalists' Conference on Health Disparities has all the trappings of a well-run effort. Speakers at the Jan. 30-31 meeting in Atlanta include Dr. Kevin Fenton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund, Phill Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute and Linda Blount of the American Cancer Society.
The focus is on enlightening journalists on health issues that plague blacks, such as mental health issues from incarceration, heart disease, breast cancer, strokes, HIV/AIDS and childhood obesity.
No mention of a procedure that ends one out of every three black pregnancies?
According to the Guttmacher Institute, which compiles reproductive health statistics, black women abort their children at five times the white rate and twice the Hispanic rate. The rate is 11 abortions per 1,000 white women, 28 for every 1,000 Hispanic women and 50 for every 1,000 black women.
I contacted the NABJ and asked why there was not at least one workshop on this topic. Everyone knows abortion is connected to health care. Ask Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The conference organizer said she had never seen the figures I was quoting -- sort of like a Jewish reporter professing ignorance of the Holocaust.
Please. The Guttmacher Institute should be on the Rolodex of every health reporter. Abortion is the country's most common surgical procedure. One of every four pregnancies is terminated this way. Women who get abortions are mostly young, poor, single, and black or Hispanic.
I was told the NABJ's schedule was too full for yet another workshop. At best, unplanned pregnancy might be dealt with during a session on women's health, but not, she said, as a morals or values issue.
So, religion is simply irrelevant here?
Day Gardner, director of the National Black Pro-Life Union, says abortion clinics are purposely located in minority neighborhoods.
"A lot of people don't report abortions in the African-American community," she said. "African-American people are culturally pro-life. Generally, we have larger numbers of children than white people do. I was one of seven children. My mother was one of nine.
"But this is a silent killer among African Americans. We don't talk about it. Millions of African Americans - including the black media - don't know the statistics on this. We think, abortion must be a thing for white people because they are the only ones talking about it."
For her, abortion is all about health. "Abortion is the Number One Killer of African Americans!" her Web site proclaims.
"Women who've had abortions have emotional issues and their breast cancer rates are higher," she assured me. "Abortion is decimating us as a community."
• Julia Duin's "Stairway to Heaven" column runs Thursdays and Sundays. Contact her at jduin@ washingtontimes.com.
Planned Parenthood makes staff cuts
Funding declines partly attributed to Madoff.
Hit with declines in funding from the economic crisis and the Madoff scandal, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is laying off around 20% of its staff.
Roughly 30 people were let go earlier this week, according to a source who works for the nonprofit. Executives at Planned Parenthood confirmed the layoffs, but declined to give more details.
“As with many other nonprofit organizations, Planned Parenthood has had to make staff reductions at our headquarters due to the challenging economic times facing our country,” said Maryana Iskander, chief operating officer at the agency. “While taking this action is never easy, we want to ensure the millions of women and men who rely on Planned Parenthood as a health care provider that the reductions will not impact our ability to deliver care to those in need.”
Part of Planned Parenthood’s funding declines stem from the closing of the Florida-based Picower Foundation, which shut down in December because its assets were managed by Bernard Madoff. The $1 billion foundation was one of the few major funders of reproductive rights issues.
Letter to President Obama
Below is the letter that I am asking you to send to President Obama. You may amend it as you see fit. Please PRINT and MAIL this letter with your signature between January 17 and January 18! Thank you for helping to fight for a better America!
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
I am writing to ask you and members of Congress not to approve the bill S.1173 Freedom of Choice Act. My opposition to this bill is based on the following points:
• In Sec. 2. Findings, the bill informs its readers that before Roe v. Wade thousands of women died annually in the United States from illegal abortions. This claim wildly exaggerates the facts, which may easily be found online;
•The bill seems to call for taxpayer support of abortion;
•The bill disallows or outlaws the rights of parents in terms of notification and consent regarding abortions for underage teenagers;
•Sec. 4. Interference with Reproductive Health Prohibited states that "a government may not deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose," a position which denies the regulatory rights of a state in our federal system;
•Sec. 4 also allows the termination of a pregnancy after "viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman." This point clearly reestablishes the practice of partial-birth abortions;
•FOCA will require hospitals, including those founded and funded by organizations opposed to abortions, to practice abortion;
•FOCA eliminates strict regulation of abortion clinics and may subject women to abortion by non-physicians.
With all due respect, I ask you to keep this bill from becoming law.
Sincerely,
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Second-Guessing First Prevention
On the first day of the 111th Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a very clear message about what pro-lifers can expect from the next two years by introducing S. 21, "The Prevention First Act" that would direct hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to the abortion industry, a business that already receives over $286 million each year from federal taxpayers. It should come as no surprise that Planned Parenthood, the largest supporter of unrestricted abortion, praised the bill. And why not? The abortion merchant will likely be the largest beneficiary of Reid's abortion bailout. Among other things, the legislation would use taxpayer funds to mislead people about the potential of the "morning after pill" (known as Plan B) to act as an abortifacient. It also encourages the use of Plan B for victims of sexual assault yet has no reporting requirement in place for young girls who may have been victims of abuse and/or rape. When you get right down to it, the bill does nothing to support parental involvement--let alone consent--for dispensing the morning after pill and other "contraception" to minors. In addition to funding Plan B, the measure would also: subsidize birth control for college and low-income women; expand Title X, the main federal family planning program that requires abortion referrals; expand Planned Parenthood targeting of low-income women through Medicaid; target teens' with "comprehensive" sex education; and spread emergency contraception.
Planned Parenthood Applauds Introduction of Prevention First Act In U.S. Senate
'Puberty blockers' pushed on children
The sexualization of tots in diapers has been ongoing since Alfred Kinsey bragged of infant orgasms in 1948, kicking off Playboy's infant-and-child sex vignettes in 1954. After the late 1960s, schoolhouse administrators increasingly trained children in Planned Parenthood texts to engage in "outlet" sex, homosexuality, bisexuality and pornography use.
Millions of children did as they were educated and became sexually promiscuous. This opened the door to Big Pharma when, in 1992, the State began mandating an improperly tested venereal-disease vaccine, HepB, for neonates.
Big Pharma neglected to inform mom and dad that one commonly gets HepB from sexual contact with a vector. The Imperial State now mandates yet another improperly tested STD vaccine, HPV, to allegedly protect "tweens" from cervical cancer.
"Follow the money." No moral society finds STDs rife among its chaste or its children. Now, as we await Big Pharma's next batch of children's STD vaccines, "The Endocrine Society has published guidelines advising that children as young as 12 be offered puberty blocking drugs to 'buy time' for a gender change."
Now transsexuality has become a child option. What do you want for Christmas? A boy's part? A girl's part? Any special size, color? In fact, in May, WND published an article about third-graders being asked to "help classmate in gender change."
Here, school pedagogues and the poor boy's parents appear ignorant or unimpressed that brain science confirms the obvious: The human brain does not mature until roughly 21-to-25-years of age. Wholly discounting the lack of cognition in 8 and 9-year-old children, this school principal would impose transsexual "lessons" on 100 third-graders, expecting them to treat their boy classmate "as a girl."
The adults pushing this boy into a transsexual life included the principal, the district director of community relations, teachers, as well as county officials in various states who chose to believe a modern-day superstition – that a boy can be born in a girl's body, or vice versa. This claim was made famous by Johns Hopkins' infamous pedophile advocate, Dr. John Money (deceased), who lied for years about the value of sexual reassignment surgery.
Even the controversial Dr. Paul McHugh, former head of the Johns Hopkins, clinic admitted that sex change operations did not solve people's problems.
And comes now an International Endocrine Society to claim there are "transsexual children as young as 12."
Really?
But how do these simple Society members prove who is a "transsexual"? A child says he or she "feels" like another sex!
Yet, this Endocrine Society has no statistical data or other evidence of early-witnessing wife or spousal battery or of sexual abuse, battery, or neglect of these children who claim to be in the wrong body. The Society could not even know the truth about such abuse were it to exist. How could they know? What parents admit, even if they area aware themselves, what they have done to traumatize their vulnerable child?
The Society, based on wholesale ignorance and the arrogance that commonly accompanies educated ignorance, would drug children "to postpone puberty and make it easier for them to change sex at the age of 16 if they still want to."
The Society guidelines state that children and teens should get puberty blockers to stop the natural body developments "they perceive as out of line with their true gender." As in other propaganda campaigns, the Society uses scare tactics claiming that normal pubertal change can "drive children to self-harm or even suicide."
Again, really, how do these Society members (and who are they, after all?) know what is causing the child's desperation when they cannot even really know the child's real background and most intimate experiences and emotions?
Children are surrounded by supranormal sexual stimuli, inundated with disordered adult sexual misconduct in pornography, in the mass media, schools, in our chemically tainted food and water, at home, everywhere they turn. Adult leaders would clearly rather medicate and vaccinate infants and children than change their own conduct to provide children with a stable, moral culture in which to grow and thrive.
Even those who believe in transsvestism admit that "transsexualism persists into adulthood in only 20 percent of boys who show signs of distress in childhood."
Moreover, like the STD vaccines inflicted on innocent children by order of the State, no long-term, scientifically viable trials (30 years or more) have ever been documented that prove the harmlessness of these chemical insults to children's brains, minds and bodies.
Shame on an adult culture that is so self-centered that it bombards its children with violent and sexual stimuli and answers its crimes by chemically violating and numbing the nation's cruelly and unnaturally traumatized youth.
Shame. Shame. Shame!
Millions of children did as they were educated and became sexually promiscuous. This opened the door to Big Pharma when, in 1992, the State began mandating an improperly tested venereal-disease vaccine, HepB, for neonates.
Big Pharma neglected to inform mom and dad that one commonly gets HepB from sexual contact with a vector. The Imperial State now mandates yet another improperly tested STD vaccine, HPV, to allegedly protect "tweens" from cervical cancer.
"Follow the money." No moral society finds STDs rife among its chaste or its children. Now, as we await Big Pharma's next batch of children's STD vaccines, "The Endocrine Society has published guidelines advising that children as young as 12 be offered puberty blocking drugs to 'buy time' for a gender change."
Now transsexuality has become a child option. What do you want for Christmas? A boy's part? A girl's part? Any special size, color? In fact, in May, WND published an article about third-graders being asked to "help classmate in gender change."
Here, school pedagogues and the poor boy's parents appear ignorant or unimpressed that brain science confirms the obvious: The human brain does not mature until roughly 21-to-25-years of age. Wholly discounting the lack of cognition in 8 and 9-year-old children, this school principal would impose transsexual "lessons" on 100 third-graders, expecting them to treat their boy classmate "as a girl."
The adults pushing this boy into a transsexual life included the principal, the district director of community relations, teachers, as well as county officials in various states who chose to believe a modern-day superstition – that a boy can be born in a girl's body, or vice versa. This claim was made famous by Johns Hopkins' infamous pedophile advocate, Dr. John Money (deceased), who lied for years about the value of sexual reassignment surgery.
Even the controversial Dr. Paul McHugh, former head of the Johns Hopkins, clinic admitted that sex change operations did not solve people's problems.
And comes now an International Endocrine Society to claim there are "transsexual children as young as 12."
Really?
But how do these simple Society members prove who is a "transsexual"? A child says he or she "feels" like another sex!
Yet, this Endocrine Society has no statistical data or other evidence of early-witnessing wife or spousal battery or of sexual abuse, battery, or neglect of these children who claim to be in the wrong body. The Society could not even know the truth about such abuse were it to exist. How could they know? What parents admit, even if they area aware themselves, what they have done to traumatize their vulnerable child?
The Society, based on wholesale ignorance and the arrogance that commonly accompanies educated ignorance, would drug children "to postpone puberty and make it easier for them to change sex at the age of 16 if they still want to."
The Society guidelines state that children and teens should get puberty blockers to stop the natural body developments "they perceive as out of line with their true gender." As in other propaganda campaigns, the Society uses scare tactics claiming that normal pubertal change can "drive children to self-harm or even suicide."
Again, really, how do these Society members (and who are they, after all?) know what is causing the child's desperation when they cannot even really know the child's real background and most intimate experiences and emotions?
Children are surrounded by supranormal sexual stimuli, inundated with disordered adult sexual misconduct in pornography, in the mass media, schools, in our chemically tainted food and water, at home, everywhere they turn. Adult leaders would clearly rather medicate and vaccinate infants and children than change their own conduct to provide children with a stable, moral culture in which to grow and thrive.
Even those who believe in transsvestism admit that "transsexualism persists into adulthood in only 20 percent of boys who show signs of distress in childhood."
Moreover, like the STD vaccines inflicted on innocent children by order of the State, no long-term, scientifically viable trials (30 years or more) have ever been documented that prove the harmlessness of these chemical insults to children's brains, minds and bodies.
Shame on an adult culture that is so self-centered that it bombards its children with violent and sexual stimuli and answers its crimes by chemically violating and numbing the nation's cruelly and unnaturally traumatized youth.
Shame. Shame. Shame!
Pill inventor slams ... pill
Published: January 08, 2009
Eighty five year old Carl Djerassi the Austrian chemist who helped invent the contraceptive pill now says that his co-creation has led to a "demographic catastrophe."
In an article published by the Vatican this week, the head of the world's Catholic doctors broadened the attack on the pill, claiming it had also brought "devastating ecological effects" by releasing into the environment "tonnes of hormones" that had impaired male fertility, The Taiwan Times says.
The assault began with a personal commentary in the Austrian newspaper Der Standard by Carl Djerassi. The Austrian chemist was one of three whose formulation of the synthetic progestogen Norethisterone marked a key step toward the earliest oral contraceptive pill.
Djerassi outlined the "horror scenario" that occurred because of the population imbalance, for which his invention was partly to blame. He said that in most of Europe there was now "no connection at all between sexuality and reproduction." He said: "This divide in Catholic Austria, a country which has on average 1.4 children per family, is now complete."
He described families who had decided against reproduction as "wanting to enjoy their schnitzels while leaving the rest of the world to get on with it."
The fall in the birth rate, he said, was an "epidemic" far worse, but given less attention, than obesity. Young Austrians, he said, were committing national suicide if they failed to procreate. And if it were not possible to reverse the population decline they would have to understand the necessity of an "intelligent immigration policy."
The head of Austria's Catholics, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, told an interviewer that the Vatican had forecast 40 years ago that the pill would lead to a dramatic fall in the birth rate in the west.
"Somebody above suspicion like Carl Djerassi ... is saying that each family has to produce three children to maintain population levels, but we're far away from that," he said.
Schonborn told Austrian TV that when he first read Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical condemning artificial contraception he viewed it negatively as a "cold shower." But he said he had altered his views as, over time, it had proved "prophetic."
Writing for the Vatican daily, L'Osservatore Romano, the president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, Jose Maria Simon, said research from his association also showed the pill "worked in many cases with a genuinely ... abortive effect."
Angelo Bonelli, of the Italian Green party, said it was the first he had heard of a link between the pill and environmental pollution. The worst of poisons were to be found in the water supply.
"It strikes me as idiosyncratic to be worried about this," he said.
Catholic News Agency details the claims by the president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, Dr Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, who outlined a series of scientific arguments said to confirm the prophetic nature of Pope Paul VI's encyclical on artificial contraception.
In an article published by the L'Osservatore Romano, the Spanish doctor pointed to the Federation's recent document commemorating the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, which "irrefutably shows that the most widely used anti-ovulatory pill in the industrialised world, the one made with low doses of estrogen and progesterone, in many cases works with an anti-implantation effect; that is, abortifacient [effect], because it expels a small human embryo."
Castellvi also pointed out that "this anti-implantation effect is acknowledged in scientific literature, which shamelessly speaks of an embryo loss rate. Curiously, however, this information does not reach the public at large."
He also pointed to the "devastating ecological effects of the tons of hormones discarded into the environment each year. We have sufficient data to state that one of the causes of masculine infertility in the West is the environmental contamination caused by the products of the 'pill'." Castellvi noted as well that the International Agency for Research on Cancer reported in 2005 that the pill has carcinogenic effects.
After explaining that the "natural methods of regulating fertility are the ones that are effective and that respect the nature of the person," Castellvi stated that "in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man we can say that the contraceptive methods violate at least five important rights: the right to life, the right to health, the right to education, the right to information (its dissemination occurs to the detriment of information about natural methods) and the right of equality between the sexes (responsibility for contraceptive use almost always falls to the woman)."
Friday, January 9, 2009
Red Faced and Red Handed: Top Ten Pro-Abortion Moments of 2008
by Katie Walker
Released January 7, 2009
Washington, D.C. (7 January 2009) – 2008 was a down year for the pro-abortion movement's talking heads. As you read the quotes below, despite the seriousness of the subject - after all, we are talking about matters of life and death - it's hard not to laugh at their ridiculous attempts to justify their position.
1) NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT!
Dear leader, President-elect Barack Obama at a town-hall meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in March:
“Look, I got two daughters – 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Comment: President-elect Obama demonstrates his disdain for the sanctity of preborn babies by stating that children are “punishments” instead of miracles and blessings.
2) HOLDING OUT FOR A RAISE?
President-elect Barack Obama answers Pastor Rick Warren’s question “At what point does a baby get human rights?” at a Saddleback Church interview:
“Answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade.”
Comment: The future president will swear to uphold and defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights - hard to do when you can’t decide who gets rights and who doesn’t because it’s above your “pay grade.”
3) DATE-NIGHT OPTIONS: DINNER? DANCING? ABORTION?
Justin Timberlake/Jessica Biel
“Nobody should be able to say what you can do with your body,” Biel told cheering crowds at Last Chance for Change, a rally endorsing presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. "I give Jess the right to choose where we go to eat all the time," Timberlake added.
Comment: Just when we start to have a sliver of respect for our Hollywood elite, they say something like this. Justin sees no difference between choosing where to eat or which child to kill.
4) KILLING BLACK BABIES – 'UNDERSTANDABLE, UNDERSTANDABLE'
Planned Parenthood of Idaho – A Live Action Films exposé video exposed Planned Parenthood’s deep-rooted racism. A caller posed as a potential donor and the following conversation ensued:
Actor: I want to specify that abortion to help a minority group, would that be possible?
Planned Parenthood employee: Absolutely.
Actor: Like the black community for example?
Planned Parenthood employee: Certainly.
Actor: The abortion – I can give money specifically for a black baby, that would be the purpose?
Planned Parenthood employee: Absolutely. If you wanted to designate that your gift be used to help an African-American woman in need, then we would certainly make sure that the gift was earmarked for that purpose.
Actor: Great, because I really faced trouble with affirmative action, and I don’t want my kids to be disadvantaged against black kids. I just had a baby; I want to put it in his name.
Planned Parenthood employee: Yes, absolutely.
Actor: And we don’t, you know we just think, the less black kids out there the better.
Planned Parenthood employee (laughing): Understandable, understandable.
Comment – The apple doesn’t fall far. Planned Parenthood hasn’t strayed much since the days of its racist founder Margaret Sanger, who once spoke to a Ku Klux Klan group and was a member of the American Eugenics Society.
5) HEY LOOK, MOM, HERESY!
Ca. Rep. Nancy Pelosi in a television interview with NBC’s Tom Brokaw:
Tom Brokaw: Madame speaker, when does life begin?
Rep. Pelosi: As an ardent, practicing Catholic, …I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins.
Comment: That’s like saying, “As a vegan, I would like my steak medium rare.”
6) BEING 'PRO-CURE' IS BEING PRO-LIFE! ... EVEN IF WE HAVE TO CANNIBALIZE PREBORN CHILDREN FOR IT
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in support of Proposition 2, a bill that now allows embryonic stem cell research:
“As a Catholic, I can say to be pro-cure is to be pro-life.”
Comment: What about this statement is Catholic? Not a thing.
7) FIVE-FINGERED DISCOUNT FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD C.E.O.
PP C.E.O. Miriam Inocencio
Despite a six-digit salary drawn from Planned Parenthood’s tax- and abortion-gorged pockets, Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island CEO Miriam Inocencio must have really liked that Macy’s blouse!
Comment: Clearly her day job – helping to kill preborn babies – has affected her moral judgment. If Miriam is hurting for cash, perhaps we can redirect some of Planned Parenthood's extra Title X taxpayer funding her way?
8) MODERN CHIVALRY
Comedian Doug Stanhope
These are not empty words. I, Doug Stanhope, am offering you, Bristol Palin, the sum of $25,000 so that you can abort your child and move out of that draconian home. I have also set up a PayPal link so that others around the world can help increase this amount to ease the burden of starting out on your own at such an early age.
Comment: We love it when pro-abortion radicals show their true colors. Stanhope can’t fathom why a young couple would actually want their baby. Nope. Clearly, Bristol doesn’t need love and compassion – she needs $25,000!
9) MORE THAN WE CAN SAY FOR SOME POLITICIANS
South Carolina Democrat chair Carol Fowler
Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s “primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”
Comment: South Carolinians overwhelmingly voted for the Palin ticket. That’s got to hurt, Fowler.
10) KEEP IT CLASSY, OLD BOY
Comedian Bill Maher
Refers to Sarah Palin’s Down syndrome baby as “it” three times in a monologue citing why she isn’t qualified to be vice president and then ends with “Does anyone in that party understand the concept of pulling out?”
Comment: What can we say, really? We’ll just let Maher condemn himself.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
Released January 7, 2009
Washington, D.C. (7 January 2009) – 2008 was a down year for the pro-abortion movement's talking heads. As you read the quotes below, despite the seriousness of the subject - after all, we are talking about matters of life and death - it's hard not to laugh at their ridiculous attempts to justify their position.
1) NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT!
Dear leader, President-elect Barack Obama at a town-hall meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in March:
“Look, I got two daughters – 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Comment: President-elect Obama demonstrates his disdain for the sanctity of preborn babies by stating that children are “punishments” instead of miracles and blessings.
2) HOLDING OUT FOR A RAISE?
President-elect Barack Obama answers Pastor Rick Warren’s question “At what point does a baby get human rights?” at a Saddleback Church interview:
“Answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade.”
Comment: The future president will swear to uphold and defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights - hard to do when you can’t decide who gets rights and who doesn’t because it’s above your “pay grade.”
3) DATE-NIGHT OPTIONS: DINNER? DANCING? ABORTION?
Justin Timberlake/Jessica Biel
“Nobody should be able to say what you can do with your body,” Biel told cheering crowds at Last Chance for Change, a rally endorsing presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. "I give Jess the right to choose where we go to eat all the time," Timberlake added.
Comment: Just when we start to have a sliver of respect for our Hollywood elite, they say something like this. Justin sees no difference between choosing where to eat or which child to kill.
4) KILLING BLACK BABIES – 'UNDERSTANDABLE, UNDERSTANDABLE'
Planned Parenthood of Idaho – A Live Action Films exposé video exposed Planned Parenthood’s deep-rooted racism. A caller posed as a potential donor and the following conversation ensued:
Actor: I want to specify that abortion to help a minority group, would that be possible?
Planned Parenthood employee: Absolutely.
Actor: Like the black community for example?
Planned Parenthood employee: Certainly.
Actor: The abortion – I can give money specifically for a black baby, that would be the purpose?
Planned Parenthood employee: Absolutely. If you wanted to designate that your gift be used to help an African-American woman in need, then we would certainly make sure that the gift was earmarked for that purpose.
Actor: Great, because I really faced trouble with affirmative action, and I don’t want my kids to be disadvantaged against black kids. I just had a baby; I want to put it in his name.
Planned Parenthood employee: Yes, absolutely.
Actor: And we don’t, you know we just think, the less black kids out there the better.
Planned Parenthood employee (laughing): Understandable, understandable.
Comment – The apple doesn’t fall far. Planned Parenthood hasn’t strayed much since the days of its racist founder Margaret Sanger, who once spoke to a Ku Klux Klan group and was a member of the American Eugenics Society.
5) HEY LOOK, MOM, HERESY!
Ca. Rep. Nancy Pelosi in a television interview with NBC’s Tom Brokaw:
Tom Brokaw: Madame speaker, when does life begin?
Rep. Pelosi: As an ardent, practicing Catholic, …I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins.
Comment: That’s like saying, “As a vegan, I would like my steak medium rare.”
6) BEING 'PRO-CURE' IS BEING PRO-LIFE! ... EVEN IF WE HAVE TO CANNIBALIZE PREBORN CHILDREN FOR IT
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in support of Proposition 2, a bill that now allows embryonic stem cell research:
“As a Catholic, I can say to be pro-cure is to be pro-life.”
Comment: What about this statement is Catholic? Not a thing.
7) FIVE-FINGERED DISCOUNT FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD C.E.O.
PP C.E.O. Miriam Inocencio
Despite a six-digit salary drawn from Planned Parenthood’s tax- and abortion-gorged pockets, Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island CEO Miriam Inocencio must have really liked that Macy’s blouse!
Comment: Clearly her day job – helping to kill preborn babies – has affected her moral judgment. If Miriam is hurting for cash, perhaps we can redirect some of Planned Parenthood's extra Title X taxpayer funding her way?
8) MODERN CHIVALRY
Comedian Doug Stanhope
These are not empty words. I, Doug Stanhope, am offering you, Bristol Palin, the sum of $25,000 so that you can abort your child and move out of that draconian home. I have also set up a PayPal link so that others around the world can help increase this amount to ease the burden of starting out on your own at such an early age.
Comment: We love it when pro-abortion radicals show their true colors. Stanhope can’t fathom why a young couple would actually want their baby. Nope. Clearly, Bristol doesn’t need love and compassion – she needs $25,000!
9) MORE THAN WE CAN SAY FOR SOME POLITICIANS
South Carolina Democrat chair Carol Fowler
Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s “primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”
Comment: South Carolinians overwhelmingly voted for the Palin ticket. That’s got to hurt, Fowler.
10) KEEP IT CLASSY, OLD BOY
Comedian Bill Maher
Refers to Sarah Palin’s Down syndrome baby as “it” three times in a monologue citing why she isn’t qualified to be vice president and then ends with “Does anyone in that party understand the concept of pulling out?”
Comment: What can we say, really? We’ll just let Maher condemn himself.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Planned Parenthood workers recycled
You may wonder what happens to Planned Parenthood workers who allegedly ignore state laws requiring the reporting of child sexual abuse. Well, it appears that, in at least one case, they are simply given jobs at another Planned Parenthood affiliate.
According to a January 5, 2009 press release by the Idaho Values Alliance, a Planned Parenthood employee, who was named in a lawsuit alleging she was part of the cover-up of the rape of an underage girl in Ohio, has now surfaced as the Director of Education and Training at Planned Parenthood in Boise, Idaho.
This apparent shuffling of employees is outrageous. But, then, so is all of Planned Parenthood’s operations. It will be interesting to watch where the two PP Indiana employees, who left because of the failure to deal legally with the case of a 13-year-old girl, will wind up in a couple of years.
According to a January 5, 2009 press release by the Idaho Values Alliance, a Planned Parenthood employee, who was named in a lawsuit alleging she was part of the cover-up of the rape of an underage girl in Ohio, has now surfaced as the Director of Education and Training at Planned Parenthood in Boise, Idaho.
This apparent shuffling of employees is outrageous. But, then, so is all of Planned Parenthood’s operations. It will be interesting to watch where the two PP Indiana employees, who left because of the failure to deal legally with the case of a 13-year-old girl, will wind up in a couple of years.
Major merger of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the Northwest
As of January 1, 2009, three Planned Parenthood affiliates have merged their operations. Planned Parenthood of Alaska, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, and Planned Parenthood of Idaho will now operate as one new affiliate – Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.
According to the latest financial data filed by each of these affiliates, their annual income is:
Planned Parenthood of Alaska $ 2,653,590 (2007)
Planned Parenthood of Western Washington $28,946,766 (2006)
Planned Parenthood of Idaho $ 2,190,789 (2007)
Clearly, this is a situation where PP of Western Washington is expanding its reach. The Planned Parenthood Federation wants to do away with all of its smaller affiliates. That desire is what led Planned Parenthood of Amarillo to withdraw from the federation and that desire is clearly at work here.
According to American Life Leage records, the combined organization will operate a total of 27 clinics in the three states (28 when the new Juneau, Alaska site opens). This includes 20 facilities that do medical or surgical abortions. The initial announcement was that no clinics would close and no employees would lose their jobs, but it is normal for both to happen during the first year of operation following a merger such as this.
Planned Parenthood continues to cut costs and streamline its operations. With the merger of these affiliates, the number of Planned Parenthood affiliates falls to 99 – the lowest number since 1960. At its peak, Planned Parenthood had 191 affiliates in 1978, but that number has steadily declined through the years. When a merger happens, duplicate positions (presidents, executive directors, medical directors, etc.) normally get eliminated and PP saves money – and makes more profits.
In addition, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington pointed out in its fall 2008 newsletter that “the merge means multiplying the political clout of Planned Parenthood in the region by three. Our Government Relations, Media Relations, Public Relations, and Public Policy teams can apply the influence of the entire three-state region.”
In other words, the new affiliate can be expected to try to obtain more and more government money and get favorable laws and regulations passed in all three states.
According to the latest financial data filed by each of these affiliates, their annual income is:
Planned Parenthood of Alaska $ 2,653,590 (2007)
Planned Parenthood of Western Washington $28,946,766 (2006)
Planned Parenthood of Idaho $ 2,190,789 (2007)
Clearly, this is a situation where PP of Western Washington is expanding its reach. The Planned Parenthood Federation wants to do away with all of its smaller affiliates. That desire is what led Planned Parenthood of Amarillo to withdraw from the federation and that desire is clearly at work here.
According to American Life Leage records, the combined organization will operate a total of 27 clinics in the three states (28 when the new Juneau, Alaska site opens). This includes 20 facilities that do medical or surgical abortions. The initial announcement was that no clinics would close and no employees would lose their jobs, but it is normal for both to happen during the first year of operation following a merger such as this.
Planned Parenthood continues to cut costs and streamline its operations. With the merger of these affiliates, the number of Planned Parenthood affiliates falls to 99 – the lowest number since 1960. At its peak, Planned Parenthood had 191 affiliates in 1978, but that number has steadily declined through the years. When a merger happens, duplicate positions (presidents, executive directors, medical directors, etc.) normally get eliminated and PP saves money – and makes more profits.
In addition, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington pointed out in its fall 2008 newsletter that “the merge means multiplying the political clout of Planned Parenthood in the region by three. Our Government Relations, Media Relations, Public Relations, and Public Policy teams can apply the influence of the entire three-state region.”
In other words, the new affiliate can be expected to try to obtain more and more government money and get favorable laws and regulations passed in all three states.
The new Congress
The 111th Congressional session began on January 6, 2009. The next couple of weeks will see a flurry of activity as hundreds of bills for various purposes will be introduced.
We, of course, are very interested in any bills that will promote the Planned Parenthood agenda or cut funding to that organization. In the latter category, Senator David Vitter introduced S. 85, which would significantly reduce government funding of Planned Parenthood. It is a “bill to amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions.”
On the other side, Senator Harry Reid introduced S. 21, “A bill to reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce abortions, and improve access to women's health care.” This, despite its title, is a pro-abortion bill aimed at promoting programs that will result in millions of dollars going to Planned Parenthood.
We, of course, are very interested in any bills that will promote the Planned Parenthood agenda or cut funding to that organization. In the latter category, Senator David Vitter introduced S. 85, which would significantly reduce government funding of Planned Parenthood. It is a “bill to amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions.”
On the other side, Senator Harry Reid introduced S. 21, “A bill to reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce abortions, and improve access to women's health care.” This, despite its title, is a pro-abortion bill aimed at promoting programs that will result in millions of dollars going to Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood clinic in New York State to close
Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, located in the Albany, New York area, has announced the planned closing of its medical abortion clinic in Latham, NY.
In an article in the Times Union, Planned Parenthood spokesperson, Blue Carreker, said, "We have been looking for several years at ways to increase our efficiency as a nonprofit health care provider. We are always pressed to make the best use of our dollars and we haven't seen increases to our funding for many years, while the cost of providing health care has gone up."
According to Planned Parenthood, the Latham clinic saw 1,200 customers a year and that was simply not enough business to keep the clinic open.
Congratulations to the Citizens Concerned for Human Life, Schenectady County Right to Life, Scripture Wall, and the Capital Region Pro-Life Council that have worked for decades fighting Planned Parenthood’s agenda in the region. May God continue to bless your efforts.
In an article in the Times Union, Planned Parenthood spokesperson, Blue Carreker, said, "We have been looking for several years at ways to increase our efficiency as a nonprofit health care provider. We are always pressed to make the best use of our dollars and we haven't seen increases to our funding for many years, while the cost of providing health care has gone up."
According to Planned Parenthood, the Latham clinic saw 1,200 customers a year and that was simply not enough business to keep the clinic open.
Congratulations to the Citizens Concerned for Human Life, Schenectady County Right to Life, Scripture Wall, and the Capital Region Pro-Life Council that have worked for decades fighting Planned Parenthood’s agenda in the region. May God continue to bless your efforts.
PepsiCo gives $1,000,000 to help promote the gay agenda
Company forces employees to attend sexual orientation classes
January 8, 2009
PepsiCo has refused a request by AFA to remain neutral in the culture war. The company indicated that it will continue major financial support of homosexual organizations. AFA wrote Pepsi two times (on October 14 and October 29) requesting a meeting to discuss Pepsi’s neutrality in the culture war.
On November 17, AFA received a condescending letter (dated Nov. 7) from Paul Boykas, director, public policy, in which he refused to address Pepsi’s support of the homosexual agenda.
In the last two years, Pepsi has given $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and $500,000 to the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The $1,000,000 was to be used to help promote homosexuality in the workplace. Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda. Plus, every homosexual organization we know of is overwhelmingly pro-abortion.
Both HRC and PFLAG supported efforts in California to defeat Proposition 8 which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. HRC, the homosexual group financially supported by Pepsi, gave $2.3 million to defeat Prop 8.
Pepsi forces all employees to attend sexual orientation and gender identity diversity training where they are taught to accept homosexuality.
Take Action!
• Sign the Boycott Pepsi Pledge. After signing the pledge, please call Pepsi (914-253-2000 or 1-800-433-2652) and tell the company you will boycott their products until they stop promoting the homosexual agenda.
• Call the Pepsi bottler nearest you and ask the bottler to ask Pepsi to stop supporting the homosexual agenda.
• Pepsi’s products include Pepsi soft drinks, Frito-Lay chips (800-352-4477), Quaker Oats (800-367-6287), Tropicana (800-237-7799) and Gatorade (800-367-6287).
• Print out the Boycott Pepsi Pledge and distribute.
• Forward this e-mail to your friends and family so they will know about Pepsi’s support of the homosexual agenda. Millions of people are not aware of Pepsi’s support of homosexual organizations.
January 8, 2009
PepsiCo has refused a request by AFA to remain neutral in the culture war. The company indicated that it will continue major financial support of homosexual organizations. AFA wrote Pepsi two times (on October 14 and October 29) requesting a meeting to discuss Pepsi’s neutrality in the culture war.
On November 17, AFA received a condescending letter (dated Nov. 7) from Paul Boykas, director, public policy, in which he refused to address Pepsi’s support of the homosexual agenda.
In the last two years, Pepsi has given $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and $500,000 to the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The $1,000,000 was to be used to help promote homosexuality in the workplace. Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda. Plus, every homosexual organization we know of is overwhelmingly pro-abortion.
Both HRC and PFLAG supported efforts in California to defeat Proposition 8 which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. HRC, the homosexual group financially supported by Pepsi, gave $2.3 million to defeat Prop 8.
Pepsi forces all employees to attend sexual orientation and gender identity diversity training where they are taught to accept homosexuality.
Take Action!
• Sign the Boycott Pepsi Pledge. After signing the pledge, please call Pepsi (914-253-2000 or 1-800-433-2652) and tell the company you will boycott their products until they stop promoting the homosexual agenda.
• Call the Pepsi bottler nearest you and ask the bottler to ask Pepsi to stop supporting the homosexual agenda.
• Pepsi’s products include Pepsi soft drinks, Frito-Lay chips (800-352-4477), Quaker Oats (800-367-6287), Tropicana (800-237-7799) and Gatorade (800-367-6287).
• Print out the Boycott Pepsi Pledge and distribute.
• Forward this e-mail to your friends and family so they will know about Pepsi’s support of the homosexual agenda. Millions of people are not aware of Pepsi’s support of homosexual organizations.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Invest in Abortion: Planned Parenthood's post Christmas wish
On the way out the door, President Bush has delivered a bailout of the domestic automotive industry, which under its current business practices could not possibly survive in a free market. President Obama, on the other hand, may see as his first task a bailout of the abortion industry.
Among the many left-wing interests that have submitted wish lists to the Obama transition team is a conglomeration of 50 abortion-advocacy groups, all of whom want the U.S. taxpayer to stand and deliver. When their 55-page report to Obama calls for an end to “ideologically driven government restrictions,” it really means that the government should be paying more of the bills for groups that advocate and perform abortions.
To provide some context, the government has been “bailing out” Big Abortion for years. Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, feeds off the taxpayer to the tune of $337 million in government funds that would otherwise have to come from donors. If the recommendations in this report are enacted, they and other abortion providers and advocates will have even more spoils upon which to feast.
“Bans on public funding for abortion services have severely restricted access to safe abortion care for women who depend on the government for their health care,” the report states. “These policies create an unjust obstacle to quality health care and inflict disproportionate harm on poor women, women of color and certain immigrant women. . . .”
The report is audacious in the scope of its demands, most of which would mean more money for the groups that authored it. In all, it calls for $1.5 billion for groups that engage in abortion advocacy and perform abortions. Among its demands is an expansion of funding for Title X health clinics, from $300 million to $700 million, and greater freedom in how that money is spent. Of the 4,400 such clinics in America, about 450 are run by Planned Parenthood, whose domestic and international arms are listed as co-authors of the report.
The report also calls for an increase in international “family planning” funds from $461 million to $1 billion, much of which would go to the groups that authored the report and their affiliates. And it calls for an end to the ban on using this money for abortion. The report requests $65 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), whose officials were discovered in 2000 to be assisting Chinese officials in enforcing that country’s coercive population-control program.
Meanwhile, conscience protections for medical professionals in federally funded facilities are targeted in the report for elimination. Those who refuse to perform or refer abortions are protected under current law, but the elimination of appropriations laws and federal rules could make them vulnerable to discrimination by governments or institutions that seek to require cooperation in abortion. This is no unimportant issue — recall that in 2002, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a policy of forcing all medical students who train in public hospitals to participate in abortion (with students who object on moral or religious grounds allowed to opt out).
Another goal of the 50 abortion groups is to expand direct federal funding for abortions by repealing various laws that protect taxpayers from paying for them. This is particularly interesting to read, considering the popular opposition to taxpayer funding of abortions. Currently, appropriations amendments prevent Medicaid or Medicare funding for abortions in most cases (the Hyde amendment) and prevent the Department of Defense from paying to facilitate abortions on military bases in foreign countries. The report calls for these provisions to be repealed. Importantly, the report also calls for abortion to be covered under any national health-care plan produced by the Obama administration.
“There are a lot of restrictions on current funding, and they are looking to overturn all of those restrictions,” says Joy Yearout of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life political action committee.
The abortion groups’ biggest goal, though, is to kill all these birds with one stone through passage of the Freedom of Choice Act. That bill would overturn all state and federal restrictions not only on abortion (such as the partial-birth abortion ban) but also on government funding of abortions. President-elect Barack Obama has promised to sign that bill. He has also promised, in line with the report’s recommendation, only to nominate individuals to the bench who believe in “the right to have an abortion.”
Some of these items, such as the Freedom of Choice Act, seem unlikely to pass. Others look far more likely — particularly the increase in funding for abortion advocates. But in presenting and fighting for their demands, pro-choice advocates may be helping to bring the culture war back to the forefront of America’s electoral politics, after an election in which it played nearly no role.
“The majority of Americans are opposed to taxpayer funding of abortion,” said Yearout. “We’re hoping to leverage that popular pressure even with lawmakers who consider themselves pro-choice.”
While Americans are divided on the question of restricting abortion, polls have found as many as 69 percent opposed to using federal funds to pay for abortions. Amid the dark cloud of a government dominated by proponents of abortion on demand, pro-lifers may find a silver lining in the form of a new debate they can win decisively. There is nothing “pro-choice” in requiring taxpayers to subsidize the abortion industry.
— David Freddoso is an NRO staff reporter.
Among the many left-wing interests that have submitted wish lists to the Obama transition team is a conglomeration of 50 abortion-advocacy groups, all of whom want the U.S. taxpayer to stand and deliver. When their 55-page report to Obama calls for an end to “ideologically driven government restrictions,” it really means that the government should be paying more of the bills for groups that advocate and perform abortions.
To provide some context, the government has been “bailing out” Big Abortion for years. Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, feeds off the taxpayer to the tune of $337 million in government funds that would otherwise have to come from donors. If the recommendations in this report are enacted, they and other abortion providers and advocates will have even more spoils upon which to feast.
“Bans on public funding for abortion services have severely restricted access to safe abortion care for women who depend on the government for their health care,” the report states. “These policies create an unjust obstacle to quality health care and inflict disproportionate harm on poor women, women of color and certain immigrant women. . . .”
The report is audacious in the scope of its demands, most of which would mean more money for the groups that authored it. In all, it calls for $1.5 billion for groups that engage in abortion advocacy and perform abortions. Among its demands is an expansion of funding for Title X health clinics, from $300 million to $700 million, and greater freedom in how that money is spent. Of the 4,400 such clinics in America, about 450 are run by Planned Parenthood, whose domestic and international arms are listed as co-authors of the report.
The report also calls for an increase in international “family planning” funds from $461 million to $1 billion, much of which would go to the groups that authored the report and their affiliates. And it calls for an end to the ban on using this money for abortion. The report requests $65 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), whose officials were discovered in 2000 to be assisting Chinese officials in enforcing that country’s coercive population-control program.
Meanwhile, conscience protections for medical professionals in federally funded facilities are targeted in the report for elimination. Those who refuse to perform or refer abortions are protected under current law, but the elimination of appropriations laws and federal rules could make them vulnerable to discrimination by governments or institutions that seek to require cooperation in abortion. This is no unimportant issue — recall that in 2002, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a policy of forcing all medical students who train in public hospitals to participate in abortion (with students who object on moral or religious grounds allowed to opt out).
Another goal of the 50 abortion groups is to expand direct federal funding for abortions by repealing various laws that protect taxpayers from paying for them. This is particularly interesting to read, considering the popular opposition to taxpayer funding of abortions. Currently, appropriations amendments prevent Medicaid or Medicare funding for abortions in most cases (the Hyde amendment) and prevent the Department of Defense from paying to facilitate abortions on military bases in foreign countries. The report calls for these provisions to be repealed. Importantly, the report also calls for abortion to be covered under any national health-care plan produced by the Obama administration.
“There are a lot of restrictions on current funding, and they are looking to overturn all of those restrictions,” says Joy Yearout of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life political action committee.
The abortion groups’ biggest goal, though, is to kill all these birds with one stone through passage of the Freedom of Choice Act. That bill would overturn all state and federal restrictions not only on abortion (such as the partial-birth abortion ban) but also on government funding of abortions. President-elect Barack Obama has promised to sign that bill. He has also promised, in line with the report’s recommendation, only to nominate individuals to the bench who believe in “the right to have an abortion.”
Some of these items, such as the Freedom of Choice Act, seem unlikely to pass. Others look far more likely — particularly the increase in funding for abortion advocates. But in presenting and fighting for their demands, pro-choice advocates may be helping to bring the culture war back to the forefront of America’s electoral politics, after an election in which it played nearly no role.
“The majority of Americans are opposed to taxpayer funding of abortion,” said Yearout. “We’re hoping to leverage that popular pressure even with lawmakers who consider themselves pro-choice.”
While Americans are divided on the question of restricting abortion, polls have found as many as 69 percent opposed to using federal funds to pay for abortions. Amid the dark cloud of a government dominated by proponents of abortion on demand, pro-lifers may find a silver lining in the form of a new debate they can win decisively. There is nothing “pro-choice” in requiring taxpayers to subsidize the abortion industry.
— David Freddoso is an NRO staff reporter.
DAILY WOMEN'S HEALTH POLICY REPORT
ABORTION NEWS | Antiabortion Groups Protest University of Wisconsin Plan To Provide Second-Trimester Abortions
[Jan. 7, 2009]
A pending University of Wisconsin plan to provide second-trimester abortions at its Madison Surgery Center is drawing criticism from antiabortion-rights groups, which are questioning the legality of the plan, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based antiabortion-rights group, sent a letter to university officials urging them to stop the plan, saying that performing abortion procedures at the surgery center might violate a state law that prohibits federal or state funds from being used to pay physicians or clinics that perform abortions. In the letter, ADF lawyer Thomas Bowman wrote that "[m]any ... employees" believe that performing abortion procedures at the center would "severely upset regular patients, disrupt the respected surgical practice that currently occurs there, decimate employee morale, require burdensome policy changes and compel direct or indirect staff participation" in the procedures. A second antiabortion-rights group, Pro-life Wisconsin, issued a statement saying that its members would regularly protest outside the clinic if it opens, adding, "We strongly urge [the university] to abandon this morally reprehensible, potentially illegal plan."
Lisa Brunette, the university's health spokesperson, said that state physicians employed by the university would perform the procedures and that the procedures would be paid for by patients or insurance companies, not by public funding. Brunette also said that employees would be able to opt out of a procedure and that medical students would only be trained on the procedures if they elect to do so. Wisconsin state law prohibits employers from penalizing health care workers who refuse to "recommend, aid or perform" abortions because of moral objections. Brunette said the plan is awaiting final approval from the surgery center's board, which will meet later this month. The university's lawyers are confident that the plan is legal, she added.
The university released the plan after the retirement last month of the only second-trimester abortion provider in the area. Planned Parenthood took over the provider's clinic and offers abortions up to 18 weeks' gestation. Women who are more than 18 weeks pregnant are now referred to a Milwaukee clinic. The new surgery center would offer abortion services to patients between 13 and 22 weeks' gestation, according to the AP/Tribune. Brunette said that physicians at the surgery center "believe that there is a public health responsibility to provide [second-trimester abortions] as part of comprehensive reproductive health care," adding that physicians also feel that the surgery center is the most appropriate facility to perform the procedures. There were more than 8,200 abortions performed in Wisconsin in 2007, the lowest number since 1974. More than 80% of the procedures were performed in the first trimester, the AP/Tribune reports (Foley, AP/Chicago Tribune, 1/6).
[Jan. 7, 2009]
A pending University of Wisconsin plan to provide second-trimester abortions at its Madison Surgery Center is drawing criticism from antiabortion-rights groups, which are questioning the legality of the plan, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based antiabortion-rights group, sent a letter to university officials urging them to stop the plan, saying that performing abortion procedures at the surgery center might violate a state law that prohibits federal or state funds from being used to pay physicians or clinics that perform abortions. In the letter, ADF lawyer Thomas Bowman wrote that "[m]any ... employees" believe that performing abortion procedures at the center would "severely upset regular patients, disrupt the respected surgical practice that currently occurs there, decimate employee morale, require burdensome policy changes and compel direct or indirect staff participation" in the procedures. A second antiabortion-rights group, Pro-life Wisconsin, issued a statement saying that its members would regularly protest outside the clinic if it opens, adding, "We strongly urge [the university] to abandon this morally reprehensible, potentially illegal plan."
Lisa Brunette, the university's health spokesperson, said that state physicians employed by the university would perform the procedures and that the procedures would be paid for by patients or insurance companies, not by public funding. Brunette also said that employees would be able to opt out of a procedure and that medical students would only be trained on the procedures if they elect to do so. Wisconsin state law prohibits employers from penalizing health care workers who refuse to "recommend, aid or perform" abortions because of moral objections. Brunette said the plan is awaiting final approval from the surgery center's board, which will meet later this month. The university's lawyers are confident that the plan is legal, she added.
The university released the plan after the retirement last month of the only second-trimester abortion provider in the area. Planned Parenthood took over the provider's clinic and offers abortions up to 18 weeks' gestation. Women who are more than 18 weeks pregnant are now referred to a Milwaukee clinic. The new surgery center would offer abortion services to patients between 13 and 22 weeks' gestation, according to the AP/Tribune. Brunette said that physicians at the surgery center "believe that there is a public health responsibility to provide [second-trimester abortions] as part of comprehensive reproductive health care," adding that physicians also feel that the surgery center is the most appropriate facility to perform the procedures. There were more than 8,200 abortions performed in Wisconsin in 2007, the lowest number since 1974. More than 80% of the procedures were performed in the first trimester, the AP/Tribune reports (Foley, AP/Chicago Tribune, 1/6).
Medical Expert Says that Contraceptive Pill is Causing Global Rise in Male Infertility
Writing for the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano, doctor cites growing medical evidence
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
VATICAN CITY, January 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An eminent doctor writing for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has stated that hormones from the contraceptive pill are causing a significant rise in male infertility in western nations.
Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, President of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC), writes that "we have sufficient data to affirm that one of the reasons for the not insignificant rise in male infertility in the west (due to increasingly fewer sperm in men), is the environmental contamination caused by 'the pill'."
"We are confronted with a clear anti-ecological effect that demands further explanation from the manufacturers," continued Castellvi, who also noted that the abortifacient and carcinogenic effects of the contraceptive pill are also well known (see LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09010504.html).
Castellvi's statements echo similar utterances made by numerous other medical and scientific experts since 2004. Female hormones from birth control pills, which enter the water supply through urination, are being blamed for declining sperm counts in human and animal populations, the growth of female sex organs in male fish, breast growth in young men, and early onset of puberty in young girls.
In September of last year, a scientist at the University of Montreal's Department of Chemistry announced the discovery that Montreal's water treatment plant was dumping estrogen products into rivers at a level 90 times the critical amount, a level far beyond the minimum for disrupting the fertility of fish.
Last week, Mexico's Secretariat of Health issued a warning that use of the contraceptive pill during pregnancy could raise the risk of "genital ambiguity," also known as hermaphrodism, in newborns.
"The sad thing about this is that, if we are talking about the regulation of fertility, these products are not necessary," writes Castellvi, noting that Natural Family Planning methods, which involve abstaining from sexual intercourse during the fertile period of a woman's monthly cycle, "are just as effective and furthermore they respect the nature of the person."
Despite mounting evidence indicating the harmful effects of artificial hormones on the environment, the French Press Agency reported that Castellvi's statements were "promptly dismissed by several organizations," which claimed that female hormones are present "everywhere" and change once they are digested.
Castellvi's statements are supported by a report recently issued by FIAMC, which he says contains more than 300 source citations, the majority of which are from medical publications. His article appeared in the January 4th issue of L'Osservatore Romano.
Related Links:
Estrogen 'Flooding Our Rivers,' Montreal Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080918170628.ht...
Male fish becoming female?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6436617/
Hormones in water blamed as more men seek breast reduction
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article549956.ece
Secretariat of Health Alert Regarding Genital Ambiguity (Spanish)
http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/c...
Original L'Osservatore Romano article: L’«Humanae vitae» Una profezia scientifica (Italian)
http://tuespetrus.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/l%C2%ABhumanae-vi...
Previous LifeSiteNews Coverage:
Study Confirms Estrogen in Water from the Pill Devastating to Fish Populations
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08021805.html
Hormonal Contraceptives Pollute Drinking Water - Environmentalists Turn a Blind Eye
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071105.html
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
VATICAN CITY, January 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An eminent doctor writing for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has stated that hormones from the contraceptive pill are causing a significant rise in male infertility in western nations.
Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, President of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC), writes that "we have sufficient data to affirm that one of the reasons for the not insignificant rise in male infertility in the west (due to increasingly fewer sperm in men), is the environmental contamination caused by 'the pill'."
"We are confronted with a clear anti-ecological effect that demands further explanation from the manufacturers," continued Castellvi, who also noted that the abortifacient and carcinogenic effects of the contraceptive pill are also well known (see LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09010504.html).
Castellvi's statements echo similar utterances made by numerous other medical and scientific experts since 2004. Female hormones from birth control pills, which enter the water supply through urination, are being blamed for declining sperm counts in human and animal populations, the growth of female sex organs in male fish, breast growth in young men, and early onset of puberty in young girls.
In September of last year, a scientist at the University of Montreal's Department of Chemistry announced the discovery that Montreal's water treatment plant was dumping estrogen products into rivers at a level 90 times the critical amount, a level far beyond the minimum for disrupting the fertility of fish.
Last week, Mexico's Secretariat of Health issued a warning that use of the contraceptive pill during pregnancy could raise the risk of "genital ambiguity," also known as hermaphrodism, in newborns.
"The sad thing about this is that, if we are talking about the regulation of fertility, these products are not necessary," writes Castellvi, noting that Natural Family Planning methods, which involve abstaining from sexual intercourse during the fertile period of a woman's monthly cycle, "are just as effective and furthermore they respect the nature of the person."
Despite mounting evidence indicating the harmful effects of artificial hormones on the environment, the French Press Agency reported that Castellvi's statements were "promptly dismissed by several organizations," which claimed that female hormones are present "everywhere" and change once they are digested.
Castellvi's statements are supported by a report recently issued by FIAMC, which he says contains more than 300 source citations, the majority of which are from medical publications. His article appeared in the January 4th issue of L'Osservatore Romano.
Related Links:
Estrogen 'Flooding Our Rivers,' Montreal Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080918170628.ht...
Male fish becoming female?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6436617/
Hormones in water blamed as more men seek breast reduction
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article549956.ece
Secretariat of Health Alert Regarding Genital Ambiguity (Spanish)
http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/c...
Original L'Osservatore Romano article: L’«Humanae vitae» Una profezia scientifica (Italian)
http://tuespetrus.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/l%C2%ABhumanae-vi...
Previous LifeSiteNews Coverage:
Study Confirms Estrogen in Water from the Pill Devastating to Fish Populations
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08021805.html
Hormonal Contraceptives Pollute Drinking Water - Environmentalists Turn a Blind Eye
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071105.html
Monday, January 5, 2009
Pro-lifers push to 'stop subsidizing' abortion industry
A Kansas state senator wants to defund Planned Parenthood.
Republican Senator Tim Huelskamp explains why he believes it is time to drop funding of the abortion provider. "Planned Parenthood has been under criminal investigation for nearly a year now, and they've found probable cause to have committed 107 misdemeanor and felony counts in our state," he contends.
On a national level, Planned Parenthood gets many millions of federal tax dollars and makes a sizeable profit, even though it is a nonprofit organization. "It makes no sense that hundreds of thousands of pro-life Kansans have to fork over more than $550,000 to this organization," he adds. "That's the amount we've discovered."
Huelskamp is submitting a bill to the Kansas legislature to defund the abortion provider. "I think it's time to stop subsidizing the actions of an organization that operates under a cloud of suspicion and scandal," he concludes.
Baby girl given only 10 per cent chance of survival goes home for first time
A baby girl given a 10 per cent chance of survival after she and her twin were born at just 23 weeks has gone home for the first time.
Steven and Michelle Wilson were told to expect to lose both their girls after the death of Ellie at 30 days.
But Chloe has defied the odds and has gone from strength to strength in hospital.
Mr Wilson, 24, of South Hetton, County Durham, said: "We have waited 16 weeks for this and it feels fantastic.
"It feels just right having her here in her home rather than hospital. I think we must be the only parents who are looking forward to being woken in the night."
Chloe was born at 23 weeks - one week below the legal abortion limit - after Mrs Wilson went into premature labour.
Mrs Wilson, 23, was first taken to North Durham University Hospital before being transferred to Newcastle where she gave birth.
As Chloe wasn't developed enough to survive on her own, doctors kept her in an incubator and connected to oxygen tubes to allow her lungs to grow fully.
She has already undergone a number of operations, including a heart procedure and a blood transfusion. She also recently had laser eye surgery to prevent her from going blind.
Mr Wilson, a trainee manager, said: "Because she was born before 32 weeks her eyes hadn't fully developed.
"They checked her at 34 weeks and decided they would need to do the surgery.
The blood vessels in her eyes hadn't developed fully and, if left unchecked, would have blinded her.
"We were told that she had 3500 nerves in each eye burned."
Mrs Wilson, who works in insurance, added: "She will need glasses very early on but as she gets older she could wear contact lenses.
"Her peripheral vision won't be as good as ours but she will be able to see things in front of her and she will never know the difference."
At birth, Chloe weighed just 1lb 2oz but she is now 6lb 11oz. She is still connected to oxygen tubes 24 hours a day and will continue to rely on them for a couple more months.
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