Need advice-Don't ask Dear Abby!

Perhaps this is old news, but I recently stumbled upon a "dear abby" article that left me with chills. Apparently Dear Abby is not only "pro-choice" but sprays venom at anyone who dares question her unwavering support for "Planned Parenthood"

Here is an excerpt:In trouble, don't tell your parents-abortion can help!
DEAR ABBY: You should read "Grand Illusions," George Grant's expose of the racist roots of Planned Parenthood. Not to have advised that girl to visit her local Crisis Pregnancy Center was misleading. -- LENORE IN MANHATTAN, MONT.

DEAR LENORE: Margaret Sanger, who founded the tiny birth control clinic that was to become the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, became a family planning crusader because she felt it was vital for POOR women (and that included women of color) to control their fertility and not be forced to have large families they couldn't take care of. A woman who is not in charge of her reproductive life is not in charge of her life. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the average woman, without birth control, would have between 12 and 15 pregnancies in her lifetime.

Planned Parenthood's mission is to help women make the right choice for THEM. For some, that means carrying a pregnancy to term. For others, it means using birth control. And for still others it can mean having an abortion. It is a matter of personal freedom and deeply personal choice.

P.S. I would advise women to go to Crisis Pregnancy Centers if I were convinced they wouldn't be forced to watch color videos of aborted fetuses.

All I can say is I will never respect Dear Abby again. In case you want someone who gives real, Christian advice Gabby is wonderful. Her website is here:
Gabby on Abortion

A death not in vain. Remembering Terri.

I was not a part of the fight to save Terri. I was in a hospital bed in Ft. Worth TX. I now only wish I had done more. She was murdered, her husband did not honor or protect her, he murdered her. She died one of the most painful deaths imaginable. Though I never read accounts of her suffering, I am sure by the end her skin was cracked and her hair falling out. This is not a death with dignity, this was a horrible murder that reduced her to the level of a vegetable. Even our animals have more humane deaths.

Terri was not an animal, or a vegetable-she was a woman. A beautiful, vibrant, disabled woman. So who draws the line on how disabled is too disabled? My son was on a feeding tube for weeks after his birth. I suppose it would have been acceptable for us to remove his feeding tube and let him slowly die? No, this is unacceptable. I pray that Terri has peace and that those who killed her will come to see just how horribly wrong they were.

Awesome Israeli program to help poor families have a wonderful Passover free from hunger and shame!

I am on a mailing list for an Israeli newspaper and I got this bulletin. I really like the concept and am posting it both so those interested can donate and to see if we could start something like this for pregnant and parenting women and families. It allows the families to receive a regular prepaid visa card that can be used anywhere and doesn't carry the social stigma of food stamps. I realize that the food stamps program in America has gotten much more streamlined, but I also know there are a lot of families in need who are too ashamed to be associated with taking money from the government(I know so many of our "caring liberals" make those who need help out to be the lowest level of cretins)

Anyways, here's the link to the Israeli program A full plate

Which abortion package would you like, the economy or the lunch hour special?

No I am not joking, these are actual "types" of abortion proposed by a "forward thinking woman". While it seems these are not her currant practice, this is the ways she wishes the abortion "market" to go.
Would you like a massage with that murder?

1. Economy-- This is our most popular package which has been offered since 1973 and enjoyed by several millions of women in the United States. You can expect to be in an abortion facility about 4 hours. Several other clients will be joining you as you learn about the basics of pregnancy termination, birth control, and aftercare. Outpatient surgery is simple, quick, and safe. Personal review of medical history and emotional “check-in” are available; beverages and snacks will be served and a choice of pain relievers is yours, all for a reasonable fee of $350.

2. The Lunch Hour Special-- Designed for the busy woman for whom time is more valuable than money. Make your appointment on line and submit your personal medical information for review in advance of your appointment. Lab work can be performed at your convenience ahead of time. The physician is kind, quick, and gentle. Some sedatives may not be available in this time frame, but we guarantee service in one hour.
$600.

3. The Family Package-- This is an important decision in your life and of course you want your loved ones around you!! You can be accompanied through every phase of this process by the person you choose. Counseling is available for all family members and includes training and suggestions for them to participate in your care. Flowers, breakfast in bed, baby-sitting, just tell us what you want and we’ll pass it along. We stress support and coping skills before, during, and after your abortion. Choice of abortion pill (additional $100) or surgical abortion.
$650.

4. DIY (Do-It-Yourself)-- Are you the kind of person who does a lot of research? Someone who is knows what you want? Do you want to avoid the hustle bustle--and waiting time-- of a busy clinic? Would you like your abortion in the comfort of your own home? Take a pill today and choose when you bleed anytime in the next three days, safely, completely, in your own home. Full instructions and educational video included and our 24 hour advice line is open to you. Available only in early pregnancy. Some restrictions apply. Like everything else you do, have this experience on your own terms!
$550.

5. Deluxe Spa Treatment-- Get the luxury and personal attention you deserve!! Check into our special suite at the Jetson Hotel where you will meet with our experienced guide, who will be available to you for your abortion experience. After extensive orientation for you and your partner or family, enjoy a relaxing massage and jacuzzi. Full emotional support is available to you and those close to you, tailored to your needs. A full range of sedatives and pain relievers to choose from make for a pain free procedure by our experienced and friendly physician. Recover back in your suite and choose from 3 relaxing options--a foot massage, a mud pack facial, or a rebalancing of your shakras by our expert Reiki master. Then, enjoy room service from a 4 star restaurant. Our guide will be available to you to review aftercare and discuss any emotional issues. Full cable and choice of video entertainment available, and enjoy our feather pillow beds for a good night’s sleep.
$3000

6. Spiritual Journey-- Ending a pregnancy is not just a physical act but also a spiritual process. Meet with our spirit healer and guide a week in advance to plan the ritual journey that will meet your piritual needs. Native American (Taino clan tradition), Eastern philosophy, nature-inspired (pagan), or custom designed ceremonies are available to you and to the support people who will accompany you on your spirit quest. Or, design your own rituals with the help of our experienced guides. Check in to our mountain retreat Friday night for a ritual cleansing and spiritual preparation. Have the surgical procedure when you are ready for a separation of paths with the spirit child within you. Miscarriage with medicines and herbs is also available early in pregnancy. A follow-up ritual a year and a day later is included in this package.
$5000

7. Full Emotional Support-- Deciding to end a pregnancy may well be the most difficult emotional crisis a woman or couple may face. Our experienced counselor will spend 2 hours with you and support person of your choice, and your appointment will be scheduled 2-7 days after that. The counselor will explore relationship and identity issues, personal goals, religious and spiritual concerns and offer interactive skill building to you and your significant other. A choice of 3 self help books are included with additional suggestions for grief work and emotional aftercare. The procedure will be performed by an experienced and kind physician in privacy with your choice of pain relievers and sedatives. Or, choose to miscarry with medicine taken at home. ($100 extra.) Two follow up visits with our licensed and experienced counselors are available one week and one month after the procedure. Consultation by phone with the clergy or spiritual leader from your belief system included, if desired.
$1000.

8. Discount Package-- A basic “no frills” package is available for those women who don’t need ambiance or additional support. No additional sedation is available without additional cost. Licensed physicians perform the safe surgery in less than 5 minutes. Expect delays and waiting time. No support people allowed in counseling or medical areas. If you want to spend the money on something else, this package may work for you, but we encourage you to consult our website for a complete overview of the abortion experience. $250, cash only.

9. Abortions Anonymous-- For the woman who wants to tell no one, keep it secret, and have no record of having been there, we offer an anonymous service with private hours. Counseling offerer to explore any feelings and potential emotional side effects. No names taken. $950, cash only.

Words do not express my horror.

I stumbled upon an article article
regarding funding in Texas going to crisis pregnancy centers instead of "family planning clinics"(yay!) I expected to find some bitter rantings. What I found was far more heinous.

" But no family planning likely means more unwanted pregnancies, Romberg said, which costs taxpayers far more: $160 for a year of family planning care, versus $8,500 for a year of prenatal, hospital and postnatal care."

That's about as blatant as it comes folks. We don't support those crazy organizations who "promote birth" because they cost too much. Apparently there is a price on a human life and it's about 8000 dollars.

The Bodily Integrity Argument is NO LONGER VALID!

I have recently gotten many choicers to agree that being a parent allows your children to infringe on some of your rights. Your child infringes on privacy, financial matters, even your ability to move around. All of this they say is fine because these rights somehow aren't as important as that magical right to Bodily Integrity.

Before I go further I would like to say that the right to bodily integrity is very important. Offenses against BI seem especially heinous(remember Sudam Hussein rolling in Kuwaiti citizens on gurneys, draining their blood, and injecting it into his troops?)However, like all rights, there are certain situations that require your rights to be temporarily held at stasis.

The pro-choicers seem to think that by giving birth you consent to parenting(funny, they don't think that having sex consents to pregnancy but we don't expect them to be consistent). They say that unless you sign away your parental rights, you are in charge of the upbringing of your children. With this consent, you also consent to lose certain rights-such as privacy and autonomy-which is acceptable to the choicers because well it just is!

They claim however, that it is different from pregnancy because you are not required to use your body for your children, only your resources. They argue "why should unborn children be given more rights than born children?" Ignoring the fact that young born children are given more rights than older children and adults are given less rights still, let's look at their claim that raising a child CAN NOT infringe on bodily integrity.

They like to claim that bodily integrity is only he physical strain on your body. This conveniently makes it so that things such as quarantine are not an affront to BI because you are not having something actually done to your body, but rather do not have free movement.

However, I came up with a quite plausible scenario covering a situation where Bodily Integrity is infringed upon, and whether you consent or not to this infringement, you have the obligation to the infringer to deliver it to safety.

I will start with the clearest argument and work from there-going in descending order of consent.

Say you are Michel Jackson. You decide that you wish to pick up your child and hang him over a balcony. At this moment you have made it so that your child is completely reliant on your body for his life. You must use your strength, your muscles, your nerve endings, your heart, your lungs-all of your body- to support this child. If you decide to remove your body from his, he will fall to his death and you will be guilty of murder. I suppose this would be akin to purposefully becoming pregnant, and then a few months later deciding to have an abortion.

Next, let's say that you are sitting with your child on your balcony. You are enjoying a lovely, but winding afternoon together. Suddenly, a gust of wind comes knocking you both to the side of the balcony. You catch your child as he dangles off the side of the building. You are again using all of your muscles and strength to keep the child from falling. You are again using all of your organs excessively to keep the child from falling. If you simply decide to withdraw your body from your child, he will fall to his death and you will be responsible for purposefully letting go. This would be akin to having protected sex, becoming pregnant, and aborting. You would be at the least negligent and at the most again murderous to pointedly decide to allow the child to fall because of your wish to remove him from your body.

Now it would be a different situation if he accidentally fell to his death. Though it could be argued you were negligent, most likely it happened for no foreseeable reason and you would not be held liable-this would be akin to a miscarriage.

The final scenario involves you being alone on the balcony. Suddenly someone comes to you and puts a baby in your arms. The baby is then reliant on your body for its life. If you simply decide to withdraw your body, the baby will fall from the balcony to his death. Though you had no part in creating the situation that led to the child coming into your care, here you are and you can not simply drop the child. You must find a safe place to put the child down or find an alternative caregiver. This scenario represents a rape, where though the woman has not consented in any way to the act that will create the child, she has become the caregiver of the child by default and may not simply allow the child to be removed and die.


For those who argue Mcfall Vs Shimp- that we can not be required to give our bodies to save another- surely the jurisdiction of this law would not cover my scenario. If you hang someone dangling over a cliff, thus causing them to become dependent on your body, you can not simply withdraw your body and allow them to die- doing so would be murder.

Urgent Question!

Hey guys, I have an urgent question that I need answered ASAP.

I had someone question me about where to go if they were carrying a special needs child and looking to adopt.

I used to know of a site that dealt specifically with special needs adoption but Im having trouble finding it. If anyone knows where to find it I would be eternally grateful.

A question for Pro-Choicers

I have a question for pro-choicers. It involves the holy and infallible right to bodily integrity. My question is in regards to conjoined twins. When most people think of conjoined twins they think of one being removed from the other because both would die, or both being removed because both would live.

However there is a third case, the case where if left together neither would die, but if separated the weaker would certainly perish. So here is the situation. On the one side you have the strong twin who can not lead a normal life because he is attached to his brother. He can live a life, perhaps even a long one, but he can not be free of the "leech" of his brother on his bodily integrity..Unless of course he can convince his brother to die for his right to bodily integrity. On the other side you have the twin who is equally distraught by invading the bodily integrity of his brother. However he is thankful for the chance to live and eternally grateful to his brother. How horrible then would it be for a doctor to come up to him and say "we are going to remove you, a process that will certainly kill you, in order to make your brother's life easier"

Keep in mind the weaker brother would have no say in the matter. This is exactly the same scenario as an abortion(if we assume personhood of the fetus, which we are because we are analyzing bodily integrity)

Thoughts?

For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'

This is how life comes into being. Why is this worse than any affliction known to man? Why are children are mortal enemies? Right now I am at a loss for words other than this- We have turned a blessing and a commandment into an atrocity. We believe that our will is greater than God's. Everything in our world wants us to believe that this is true. We get self affirming messages from every angle telling us about the subjective nature of morality and to do what feels good. Our hedonistic culture has forsaken everything that was once sacred. This is life- why do we end it?

There are 200 million missing women.

"violence against women causes every 2 to 4 years a mountain of corpses
equal to the Jewish Holocaust."
http://www.dcaf.ch/women/pb_women_ex_sum.pdf

According to estimates by the United Nations, up to 200 million women and girls are demographically ‘missing’.1 The euphemism hides one of the most shocking crimes against humanity. Given the biological norm of 100 new-born girls to every 103 new-born boys, millions more women should be living amongst us. If they are not, if they are ‘missing’, then
they have been killed, or have died through neglect and mistreatment.

Women live in a very insecure world indeed. Many fall victim to gender selective abortion and infanticide (boys being preferred to girls). Others do not receive the same amount of food and medical attention as their brothers, fathers and husbands. Others again fall prey to sexual offenders, to ‘honour killings’ and to acid attacks (most often for refusing a suitor). An estimated 5,000 women are burnt to death each year in ‘kitchen accidents’ because their dowry was seen as being too modest. Scores succumb to the special horrors and hardships that conflict,
war and post-conflict situations reerve for girls and women. A shocking number of women are killed within their own walls through domestic violence. Rape and sexual exploitation remain, moreover, a reality for countless women million's are trafficked; some sold like cattle

To put this in perspective:

Deaths of women killed for gender related causes equal the deaths of all wars and conflicts of the 20th century.

Globally, women aged between fifteen and forty-four are more likely to be injured or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, traffic accidents, malaria and war combined.

The statistics are even more depressing for rape. In our world, we are so often told that there is no place for feminism. This is the place. Women are dying and being hurt and raped at an alarming rate. I know this isn't exactly "new" news, but I thought it was worth reitterating.


Of these deaths at least 60 million are from gender selective abortions/infanticide. Aditionally, women have a 1 in 72 chance of dying from complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth worldwide. The rate in developed nations is 1 in 4000.

Prayers for "choice" from RCRC

After my original post a few days ago, I began further exploaring the RCRC. I stumbled upon these prayers for choice and I thought the pro-life community may find them of interest. I included only the ones dealing directly with abortion, though there are several others dealing with subjects ranging from adoption to imigration. I'm not going to comment on these prayers, but rather post them only to show what the prayers of a "pro-choice Christian" look like. Feel free to comment on your observations. I plan to compile comments from people of faith from either side of the spectrum regarding the abortion debate.


Gracious Provider of Care and Protection, we remember and stand with health care professionals who furnish health care for women. We give thanks for their commitment to protect the privacy of their patients and to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve.

We give thanks especially for the doctors and nurses and other health care workers who serve the reproductive health care needs of women. Who train women to use contraception safely and responsibly, who educate teenagers about intercourse and its consequences, who counsel women at risk to conceive children with genetic and hereditary problems, who explore options with women who have problem pregnancies, who refer women to responsible adoption agencies, who support women through abortion services, who recognize the rights of women to make reproductive choices.

We pray for an end to the rhetoric and violent acts that target health care providers, and pray for the day when health care providers, women and their families, can exercise their rights to reproductive choice in security and peace. Let us pause now for a moment of silence to remember all who have lost their lives, and for those who have been injured in attacks all across our country

(Silence)

Help us, Gracious God, to stand together with these courageous and caring people who continue to do your holy work.

Amen.

Creator God, we pray for men; those whom you have created to share in the conception of life, and share in the responsibility of raising children.

We ask that you would help them be all that you have created them to be. Help them to see themselves as whole persons, so that they can help their partners and their children be themselves as well. Help them to be present to their families if they've been too long absent. Help them to speak out against injustice where they've been silent; help them to be understanding and supportive of the pro-choice decisions of their sisters, mothers, wives, and female friends.

But most of all God, give them the love and tenderness they need to be loving and faithful partners. May they welcome the opportunity to be supportive of the children they help bring into this world. Give them courage and strength to live according to your guidance and wisdom always.

Amen.



We pray for women who know that life is beginning within them, who face the agony of wondering what to do when they do not know if they can cope.

Some of them are women we know already. Some are women we have yet to meet. Some are in our own places of worship. Some are in our families, workplace, neighborhoods, and other places of worship.

The reasons for their dilemmas are as varied as the women themselves. None of us can actually walk in their shoes, nor can we know all the background and circumstances involved. Each will struggle with how best to decide what to do when no remaining choice will be a good one.

Help them, Gracious God, to find wise counsel, if they choose to seek it; understanding friends if they choose to tell their story; caring clergy if they want to explore the morality of their choices.

But most of all, give them strength to meet what they must face.

Amen.

God of our lives, help us to find ways to break the silence that perpetuates the cycles of sexual abuse and violence in our families and in our communities and religious institutions. Help us break that silence when we see the evidence of the abuse of the beautiful gift of sexuality you have given us. Help us break that silence when we see this abuse throughout the world—forced sterilizations and forced abortions.

Give us the courage to speak out and break the silence that surrounds the abuse of your gift of sexuality in the name of culture—genital mutilation, rape and incest.

Help us find the voice of our outrage and denounce the violence against women and girls in the name of war and ethnic cleansing.

God, we know that you do not want us to misuse this beautiful gift of sexuality you have given us. Let us be loving and faithful to one another. We know that you would have us speak the truth to ourselves and to one another. Let us speak that truth lovingly and faithfully so that the secrets will no longer have power over generation after generation.

But most of all, God, let us be loving and faithful and supportive of the children we bring into this world.

Amen.

My experience with a "late term abortion"

Holden at 33 Weeks

No, I didn't have one. No, I didn't perform one. In fact, my story doesn't really have to do with an abortion, but rather a tiny little girl I came into contact with while my son was in the NICU.

I do not know her name, but I will never forget her face. Before I gave birth, I was wheeled into the NICU to see what the tiniest of babies looked like so that I wouldn't be so shocked when my own micropreemie was born. I was wheeled over to an isolet covered with a blanket. When the blanket was lifted I peered in and saw the most beautiful child I have ever seen. She was lying with her little eyes closed(she did not have the strength to open them) curled up into the little ball that infants so prefer. She had Jet Black hair, and alot of it! She was tiny, but looked so safe in that isolet. They had done their very best to make her an imitation womb, and she looked quite comfortable in her dark, warm, little room. She was born at 23 weeks weighing just over 1 lb. She was fighting!

Soon my own preemie was born. We named him Holden. He weighed in at 2lbs 4oz. He was born at 31 weeks. He was quite small for his age due to IUGR and thus was in the room with the micro's rather than the other 31 weekers. Every day I saw the parents of the Beautiful Black Haired Baby come to sit next to her. They could not touch her, or talk loudly to her, but they could be with her and she could smell them.

On those parent's facese I saw love and grief and heartache and hope. They so desperately wanted their child to live, and she was so desperatly fighting. After a few weeks, Holden was transfered to the "big room" though he was the smallest "big boy" by far! I never saw the Beautiful Black barred Baby again. She changed me. Before I saw her face I never really imagined what a half term infant could look like. There she was, lying on her little stomach. I looked at her perfectly formed features and thought "this, THIS is what is being killed?" This is not termination. This is murder.

I pray for that little girl and her family. I do not know if she lived or died, but I know that her exsitance, her LIFE was worth something. The Beautiful Black Haired Baby touched my life, my views, my heart. I can only imagine what she did for her family.

The picture at the top of this page is a picture of my Holden at 33 weeks old. The teddy bear on top of him is the size of a beenie baby.

Abortionists can no longer hide ultrasound images from women.

I'm excited that even a "pro-choice" govenor could see that hiding the image of the unborn child was not in the best interest of a confused mother.

The law would require physicians who take ultrasound images before performing an abortion to give his or her patient the opportunity to view an active ultrasound of the fetus, and to offer the patient a still image taken from the ultrasound.

Detroit Freepress

Though most women will deny such viewings, at least the abortionists are now required to offer the truth of the fetus' development to the women.

Of course, the pro-choice side and the ACLU see this as

"a strategy by abortion opponents to "make it more emotionally difficult for women to exercise a legal right,""

The Religious collation of Reproductive Choice or What to do When the Enemy infiltrates Religious People

There is no doubt that a welcomed, loved child is a gift from God and a blessing to a joyful family. Yet, not every pregnancy is welcomed.

The preceding quote is taken from the Religious Collation of Reproductive Choice's website www.rcrc.org . They claim to be a group of religious clergy and laymen who believe in reproductive choice. Through a plethora of slanderous and blasphemous quotes and views, they have decided that God doesn't care about abortion, and if he does, well that's for you to deal with later.

The thing that bothers me the most about this website, however, is the original quote. It assumes that only the 50% of children classified as "wanted" are "gifts from God". What then can we assume the other 50% to be? If the prior grouping are "gifts" I suppose these "unwanted children" are "curses". This group seems to believe that God only gives us gifts in the way we ask for them, and that God's Will is subservient to our own. It also seems to belittle God's power and grace, by refusing his gifts and labeling them as problems and prenatal terrorists.

I can not believe that a group of supposed Christians(though I did notice they have strong ties with the Unitarian Universalists) could live with themselves while they spew hate through God's Word. Their claim that only "wanted children" are gifts further serves to demonize the poor half of our population who do not bare the distinction of "wanted". What then are these "unwanted" or "unplanned" children? Are we to believe that they are better off dead? My mother in law had 4 sons, none of them planned. The first 2 were twins(a fact she did not find out about until in her 8th month of pregnancy!). Somehow, she loves and cherishes all of her children and was elated when the next two came despite being told she would be unable to conceive after having an ovary removed. She sees her children as blessings, and every person I know who has experienced a "surprise" child feels the same.

Shame on the RCRC for placing half of God's children in the slums of society while elevating the other to his greatest gift. Either all children are curses, or all are blessings. I choose the later, though I fear that or society is more and more choosing the former.

Oh those zaney pro-life extremists, what will they do next?

I stumbled upon a planned parenthood site called "eye on extremism" and subsequently onto a recent briefing. I know I feel threatened when I receive an unwelcome brochure with a Zan tagline like "So called "planned parenthood""

Here are the list of our and some choicers offenses from December 2005

HotSpots (Security Briefings) 2005
HotSpots for December 1-31, 2005

HotSpots is a summary of incidents of harassment and violence directed at Planned Parenthood affiliates, national offices, and other reproductive health care providers, produced monthly by The Security Group, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.


Maryland 12/29/05 Staff at a Planned Parenthood site found both their front and rear door locks filled with "superglue." (This incident was repeated 01/04/06).

Minnesota 12/27/05 An organization called Defend Life, based in Maryland, sent a Planned Parenthood affiliate an anti-choice fundraising brochure, featuring photos of Joe Scheidler at the recent U.S. Supreme Court hearing of Now V. Scheidler and various protests. It was addressed to "So-called Planned Parenthood."

New York 12/27/05 A Planned Parenthood administrative office received a letter from an anti-choice extremist from the San Francisco area threatening to bring the wrath of God upon Planned Parenthood.

Colorado 12/23/05 Two masked men were arrested athrowing rat a Planned Parenthood health center when they attacked protesters, w eggs. A third man escaped. The three were friends of a patient's partner. The partner had evidently phoned them from the waiting room to come and give the protesters a hard time.

I guess they can't blame that one on the lifers!

Michigan 12/22/05 A Planned Parenthood affiliate reports that a number of their supporters (and at least one other individual who is not a supporter) have received postcards asking that they "cease from supporting" Planned Parenthood and "their racist ideals and abortion sources." There does not appear to be one consistent source for the names.

The Horror!

South Dakota 12/20/05 Pro-choice participants associated with Planned Parenthood on a South Dakota task force on abortion received hate mail from an anti-choice individual from South Dakota. Planned Parenthood is the only abortion provider in South Dakota, where the legislature passed five bills this year attempting to impose further restrictions on women seeking abortions in the state.

Indiana 12/20/05 Parents of a teen came into a Planned Parenthood health center with a letter they received purporting to be from Planned Parenthood about their daughter's "test results." Assured that the letter was a forgery and did not come from Planned Parenthood, the parents planned to report the matter to the police.

I dont know what to think of that one.

Ohio 12/20/05 A suspicious package was brought to a Planned Parenthood site by the mail carrier. The package was covered with over $7.00 worth of 37-cent stamps, had three mailing addresses on it, and an odd return address that appeared to be for a former employee. Staff notified the police who turned the package over to the bomb squad.

Washington 12/19/05 A staff member of a Planned Parenthood health center was running errands and left her car in the parking lot of a grocery store across the street from the health center when she returned to work. When she went back to her vehicle, a shopping bag filled with CareNet anti-choice pamphlets had been left on her car.

Anything but pamphlets!

Indiana 12/14/05 A small Planned Parenthood health center experienced its first protesters in recent years when a dozen members of a local church appeared shortly after they opened and stayed for about 45 minutes.

Washington 12/14/05 Aggressive protesters were reported at a Planned Parenthood health center

Virginia 12/12/05 A Planned Parenthood affiliate received a piece of hate mail via U.S. mail. The message was anti-choice, but not threatening.

New York 12/09/05 U.S. District Court Judge Richard Arcara has called for a pre-trial hearing into talks that led up to the confession James Kopp made to reporters in 2002 that he had shot and killed Dr. Barnett Slepian. Kopp's current attorney is claiming the confession should not be admissible at Kopp's trial on federal charges because he received poor advice from his prior attorney, whom he believes had a conflict of interest resulting from his representation of two individuals accused of aiding and abetting Kopp following the shooting. The hearing was set for January 13, 2006.

Iowa 12/09/05 A district court made an injunction against an anti-choice extremist permanent. However, the parameters of the injunction were adjusted in the extremist's favor. He is now allowed to protest in front of an Iowa clinic where he was previously barred, but within 100 feet of the clinic he is prohibited from "threatening clients or staff of the clinic, which shall be defined as predicting, promising or advocating death or injury to clients of the clinic, abortion providers or abortion procurers." Another part of the injunction still bars him from coming within 100 feet from the clinic's physician and administrator or their homes. He indicated he will appeal the ruling.

Minnesota 12/07/05 Pro-Life Action Ministries of St. Paul, MN, has begun to distribute a self-published brochure to patients entering a Planned Parenthood health center, written by protester Ann Redding and featuring a photograph of one of Planned Parenthood's volunteer escorts. The brochure purports to be "an introduction into the belief system of an abortion clinic escort." No explanation is offered as to how the research for this publication was conducted.

Pennsylvania 12/06/05 A Planned Parenthood site that rarely has protesters reported two picketers. One woman had a sign which read "Planned Parenthood Destroying Generations One Baby at a Time." The other had pamphlets. Neither trespassed, nor physically impeded access to the health center.

Ohio 12/02/05 A Planned Parenthood affiliate received an e-mail through their website that was unpleasant and nasty, although not explicitly threatening . The sender gave his name and town of residence. The local police may pay the young man a visit to caution him about sending e-mails of this kind.

:( I hate unpleasant emails!

Connecticut 11/19/05 Anti-choice extremist Flip Benham, protesting at a Planned Parenthood health center with a group of 25-30 was arrested for refusing a law enforcement request that he move a large "Malachi" sign. At his later court appearance he was released, with no fine or restrictions.

Now I understand that there have been a few extremists over the years, but since when does handing out pamphlets count as terrorism?

No Plan B!

Those on the prochoice side like to pretend that emergency contraceptive is harmless. They like to pretend that it doesn't end a life. They like to pretend it doesn't increase promiscuity. They like to pretend it doesn't hurt women.

I know they are wrong.

A few years ago when I was young,liberal, and heartbroken, I found myself going down the all to common road of promiscuity. I had forsaken my religion and was in a unfaithful relationship with someone who in all likelihood didn't care about me. In a fit of passion or some other vapid emotion, it was decided that it would be ok to engage in sexual relations without any semblance of protection because I could go the next day to get the morning after pill. Feeling quite confident in our decision I was instructed to "do it like a pornstar" and left feeling used and upset.

The next day we drove to the local Planned Parenthood to get the pill. Unfortunately we were too late and they had closed for the day. It was a Saturday and they would not be open until Monday. I was terrified that it would be too late, but I could see no other alternative. My boyfriend was pretty carefree about the entire ordeal so I was pretty much on my own.

When the time came to get the pill I walked into the building alone. My boyfriend was next door at the music shop getting sheet music. A rude counselor berated me for my irresponsibility and then dispensed the pills. Contrary to the manufactures guidelines, I was instructed to take both pills simultaneously.

I was never told of the abortificant properties of the morning after pill, only that it "prevented pregnancy". Ok, I thought. The next few days were horrible. I was so sick. I was sure that I had to be pregnant, which in all reality was ok with me. I knew I would have no support from my family or boyfriend, but I would rather be pregnant than deal with the sneaking suspicion I had somehow killed my child.

Eventually my period came and I knew that whatever had been done was done. I would like to say I stopped my sexual activity but that would be a lie. Of course, the relationship ended and I simultaneously started a new romantic interest.

My new relationship brought be back to God, and for that I am eternally grateful. He is a wonderful man who has never shown anything but love for me. Because of my insecurities and some other evil I could not explain, I was unfaithful to the man who is now my husband. By some miracle he forgave me and we spent a wonderful weekend together. Once again, I was tempted into unprotected sex. Though the reasoning was different, this time love and not lust, I knew that it was wrong in God's eyes for us to be together outside of marriage.

Again the topic of Emergency Contraceptive came about. We decided to sleep on it and make our decision in the morning. Upon "sleeping on it" I knew that I could not do harm to my child again. Though I had never been given knowledge that EC could possibly kill an already created child, I knew in my heart that it could. We prayed about it and decided that whatever should happen, we would be in it together.

God blessed me with a beautiful baby boy. He struggled with life from the very beginning, almost like he knew about our ambivalence in his creation. Mercifully, he was delivered very healthy, but very tiny at 31 weeks. He is now healthy and happy.

But there is something that still pulls at my heart, something that I can not shake. I live with the reality of knowing that not only was I unfaithful to my husband due to fornication before our marriage, but I may quite possibly have ended the life of my child. I believe not knowing is worse than the pain I would feel if I knew I had ended my child's life by abortion. I will never know if I killed my child. I will never know the pain I caused that poor innocent life.

The proponents of Emergency Contraception do not talk about these realities. They pretend that this is a magical pill that offers a second chance. Through the grace of God I was offered a second chance, but all the progesetern in the world did not make it happen. I feel misled and misinformed. I am angry at being lied to. I am angry at believing the lies.

Emergency Contraception is making it easier and easier to skirt responsibility and Godly relations. It allows people to be thoughtless and immature, when they should instead be thinking of the concequences of their actions. I am ashamed of my use of Plan B. I mourn the loss of a child that may have never been. It is NOT a solution. It is simply another step of the chipping away of healthy, loving relationships.

On Death and Dying.

When I was a little girl, my mother was going back to school to get her masters in counseling. On my 5th birthday, she threw me a party complete with pinata and dancing and then took me with her to the library where she was writing her dissertation on death and dying.

I was quite the precocious child and apparently picked up more of her studies than she thought. Upon returning home I performed an interpretive song and dance entitled "It is better to live than die". After that she got my grandparents to watch me any time she would be in the library for long hours.

It seems remarkably simple to think of my childish views on life and death. I had no real knowledge of morality but knew that there was something about this life that was sacred. I spent a lot of time around death as a child. My mother was a hospice counselor and I was often brought along with her to see clients to cheer them up. Being with people on the cusp of death profoundly influenced my later life. The thing that struck me both then and now, was the vivacity these people had in the face of certain death. They cherished life, every second of it.

It seems now that we live in a culture that is flippant and vapid about the miracle of life. Regardless on religious views, there is something inherently amazing about human life. My son nearly died in utero, had he been taken from me I would not lament the loss of a potential life, I would mourn the loss of my son, just as I would mourn him if he is taken from me tomorrow. If my husband becomes immobile and braindead in an accident tomorrow, I will cherish and love him for all of his life until he leaves me. The time he spends unconscious could not possibly devalue the intrinsic person he remains.

Life is so often trampled and ignored. In our quest for something more, we lose the simple and divine nature of who we are. In the process we disrespect death, in our shallow minds we pretend we are immortal. We abuse ourselves and our relationships. But most disturbingly, we kill our brethren. We kill those who do not meet our standards of life. We kill those who we do not think have the right to live. In our fervent need to improve the quality of our existence, we relegate all others to darkness.

A child knows the value of life. Why don't we?

Judge Allows ‘Choose Life’ Plates and Woman gives Teenager a Helping Hand

"A federal appeals court Friday ruled Tennessee can sell license plates that promote "choose life," even though it doesn't offer one with an abortion rights message. "

http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/18024.asp

It angers me that the pro-choice side is so blinded by their own rhetoric, they fail to see the beauty of human life. I applaud Tennessee for being brave enough to offer these license plates regardless of how unpopular they may be with some "progressives" The message of life should transcend politics.

I also found this quite inspiring:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188246,00.html

A young woman gave her waitress 1000 dollar tip to help with the costs of her pregnancy. It's really an inspiring story of generosity and love both on the part of the teenage mother by keeping her child, and the young woman for so selflessly supporting her.

2 More Women Die From Abortion Pill

2 More Women Die After Taking Abortion Pill
NY Times

Article Tools Sponsored By
By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: March 17, 2006

Two more women have died after taking RU-486, the abortion pill. Officials said that they did not know what caused the deaths. Four other women died from a rare and highly lethal bacterial infection after taking abortion pills.

Since reports of drug problems are voluntary, the number of women who have died after taking abortion pills may be higher than the reported total of six.

In a statement, the Food and Drug Administration said that the agency was "investigating all the circumstances associated with these cases."

The statement repeated warnings that women who undergo medical abortions should be vigilant for any signs of trouble. If they suffer from nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea and weakness with or without abdominal pain more than a day after taking abortion medicines, they should immediately be given antibiotics.

The four previous deaths were all caused by Clostridium sordellii infections. Such infections can be difficult to diagnose because victims often do not have fevers.

Such infections could possibly be prevented if patients were given antibiotics as a preventative. But antibiotic therapy has its own set of risks, and so far officials say the risk of infection from C. sordellii is so slight that it does not merit such a precaution.

"We do not know whether these new deaths were caused by sepsis or, if they were, if they were caused by infection with Clostridium sordellii," the statement said.

The government has already scheduled a scientific conference on May 11 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss C. sordellii and a related bacteria, Clostridium difficile, that has caused outbreaks of diarrhea and colitis in hospitals and nursing homes across the nation.

Both bacteria generally live in the soil and human intestinal tracts. Both thrive in environments with limited oxygen. When these bacteria infect the bloodstream, they can produce a toxin that causes something akin to toxic shock syndrome.

The Food and Drug Administration has already added strong warnings to the label of RU-486, or Mifeprex. But officials say they have no idea whether Mifeprex makes patients vulnerable to infection from C. sordellii.

Mifeprex has been used in more than 500,000 medical abortions in the United States since its approval in September 2000. The risks of death from infection after using the pill are similar to the risks after surgical abortions or childbirth, officials said.

The F.D.A. statement also emphasized that abortion providers should stick to the officially approved regimen when giving Mifeprex and an accompanying drug, misoprostol.

In the United States, most physicians instruct women to insert misoprostol vaginally instead of orally. The F.D.A. has not approved this regimen, but it is not unusual for doctors to use drugs differently from how they are officially approved. Studies indicate that this regimen is effective, requires a lower dose of misoprostol, and allows women to undergo the most emotional and painful part of the procedure at home.

What is unknown is whether this unapproved regimen may somehow contribute to bacterial infections.

Monty Patterson, whose 18-year-old daughter, Holly, died on Sept. 17, 2003, from a C. sordellii infection after getting a medical abortion, has long argued that Mifeprex predisposes women to such infections by suppressing their immune systems. He wants the drug withdrawn.

"How many women have to die needlessly before this drug is removed from the market?" Mr. Patterson said.

I can not agree more, How many more woman must die before this insturment of "female impowerment" is taken off the market.

"Abortion is personal, my husband doesnt need to know!"

This question was posed to readers of the Chicago Tribune: "I've had an abortion, have you?"

Here is the answer given by Emily L. Hauser

"Women readers, of course, know their own answer to my question; many of their men would be surprised by it.

Many men don't know that their wives, sisters or mothers have, in fact, terminated a pregnancy. They don't know because the women they love fear their response. Will he see me differently? Will he--figuratively or literally--kill me?"

" And why, in the end, did I have my abortion? I'm not going to record that here. You and I don't know each other, and my reasons are personal. I don't need to defend them, and neither does your neighbor, the stranger at work--nor, perhaps, your girlfriend."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0603160157mar16,1,6556866.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed

Now perhaps I'm just old fashioned, but I beleive that a man has a RIGHT to know that his child is being murdered. Likewise, I think that if a woman claims to have the right to kill her unborn child, she must inhearantly defend that right. If a right or action is indefensible, how then can it be moral? This line of thinking sickens me.

Betrayed by My OB/GYN or What to do When Your High Risk OB is the Guest of Honor at Planned Parenthood

As I've written before, my mother is rabidly pro-choice. She attended a planned parenthood luncheon a few weeks ago and called me to tell me all about it. Aside from my snide remarks about Margaret Sanger and the KKK, some interesting personal information was shared.

One of the guest speakers was none other than my OB. The woman who delivered my very small, very sick child. The woman who is largely responsible for him being here today. After hearing what she had to say about the subject of high risk pregnancies and abortions, it is even more of a miracle that my son is alive and healthy.

She told the panel quite straightforwardly that in a pregnancy she has but one patient. Interesting, I have never heard an obstetrician let alone a high risk obstetrician take such a stand, but apparently that is her belief and practice. She went on to say that she was infuriated at the number of nurses and technicians who will not perform "medical abortions". She orchestrated an ethics committee to insure an abortionist will always be on staff. Perhaps I got lucky and there was no one willing to perform an abortion on the day they thought my son was dying.

What I find very irritating about this whole scenario is the fact that my OB is a very religious woman. She goes on south American missions constantly to work for better healthcare for impoverished women. Of course, she goes on to complain that she was unable to bring the "morning after pill" with her on her religious mission. As a doctor, I would think she would be privy to the information that a pill that prevents implantation may not technically end a "pregnancy" by the loose standards put forth by the AMA, but most certainly ends a life. Apparently she doesn't care.

I suppose it's a good thing then, that I changed insurances and she is no longer a member of my PPO.

Note to Employer: Not all Women Will Abort for the Good of the Company

I was once pro-choice. I was marching for choice by the time I could walk. My mother was a rapid choicer who thought of abortion as a Godsend. I've been told numerous times in my life(including during my own pregnancy) that I barely missed being killed in her womb. I bought all the lies, and then some of the lies, and finally found the truth.

The biggest obstacle in my journey to becoming pro-life was the matter of subjugation of women. I really bought into the whole "men trying to keep women barefoot and pregnant" argument. I really thought that if abortion was not an option, women would be relegated to second class citizens. The rhetoric telling me I must kill my child in order to avoid oppression was quite effective. Then one day, I woke up.

I looked around and asked "what has abortion done for women?" I don't see one thing. Women are still paid less than men, still work in companies that are incompatible with child raising, still are patronized and belittled. What has changed? Nothing.

Abortion has enabled men to continue sexist practices. It has enabled men to maintain prejudice against pregnant women and mothers because, hey, they could have always have a safe,legal abortion.

Abortion has failed women in every way. We are not empowered. We are captured in a patriarchal world that refuses to accept that sometimes, somehow, women have babies. I guess that's easy to forget when 1/4 of all women who get pregnant choose to kill their children instead of allowing them to become such and inconvenience to their lives and their company's bottom line.

All we need is love.

Brother Fuller had an interesting sermon today about endurance and love. More specifically, how love increases our endurance. I believe that a fatal flaw of the Pro-life movement has been burn out. Our anger at the institution of abortion has caused lethargy in our movement. I am excited at the new wave of pro-lifeism that seems to be sweeping our nation. A movement not of anger at the horror, but of love for the hurt. To see the end of the battle we must turn away from the anger, and reach for love. I know this is a rather simple statement, and probably long past the point of relevance but I believe it to be the truth.

What have we become?

The past few days have been a bit odd for me. I've been unsettled about life and issues in a way that is new for me. It's hard to express in words exactly what I've experienced but I think it boils down to a confusion and hopelessness for humanity.

I've been reading more pro-choice articles than is probably good for my soul. I read them looking for a glimmer of something to allow me to see some good in their movement. I looked for empowerment, I looked for justice, and I even looked for some moral good. I looked. What I found was a numb assortment of selfish wants and mortal desires. I found women broken by the establishment of abortion. Women who rely on abortion as a way to put their bodies and selves back into submission. I found women who are fighting for a cause not because of the moral implications of killing their offspring, but because they are terrified of a world where they would be unable to control their own destinies by asserting ultimate control over the destinies of their children.

Control is what it comes down to. After countless years of subservience, women have decided to assert their dominance by enslaving a new group. A weaker group. Because of the injustices of the past, women are inflicting their own injustices for the future. It is quite reminiscent of a certain time, in a certain place, where another group of downtrodden rose to fight not their oppressors, but those who were weak and could be easily overthrown.

Abortion is cowardly. Instead of overthrowing the patriarchal society and reaching for a potential inclusive of maternity, women have pushed aside their very femininity for mans ideology of unrepentant strength. We have become who we hated. We have become heartless monsters trampling anyone who stands in way of our superficial success.

Why has it become acceptable for the oppressed to continue the chain of violence and brut order? Why have we allowed ourselves to sink to the level of the slave owner? Why are we destroying life, not in order for us to live, but in order for us to flourish in the hideous world we refuse to abolish.

This is not acceptable. If our answer to fascism is the domination of the weak, how are we any better than our oppressors? I do not believe that people begin atrocities with the intention to force others into the subjection that they have suffered. Or maybe they do. Maybe this is some sort of revenge via transference...If we can't kill the despot, kill the children.

Color me paranoid

So there is an interesting trend going on with the state abortion bans...Both SD and Mississippi bans have been initiated by Democrats. Now I know that there are a few pro-life democrats, but somehow this seems odd to me.

Though I'm not one to jump on conspiracy theories, I do worry that perhaps these laws are being set up to fail to strengthen the power of Roe rather than weaken it. I really hope I'm wrong about this.