June 2006 Archives

Central Women's Services in Wichita, Kansas was forced to close its doors after the building was purchased by Operation Rescue.

The opportunity to close this abortion mill presented itself when Central fell behind on payments. The building was purchased by OR through a third party. One of the conditions of the purchase was that Central not be allowed to renew their lease. Central was able to come up with back payments and did try to continue their lease but that request was denied.

(photo OperationRescue.org)

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

By Dave Andrusko

"Without independent, long-term evaluations of his patients, it is impossible to know how they are faring, or what difference -- for better or ill -- the treatments make. Without this information, there is no way that patients can balance the true risks and potential benefits. And, Dobkin and others said, there is no way to learn anything from what Huang is doing with his human guinea pigs."

From " Chinese surgeon's claims about cell implants disputed," Boston Globe, June 19.

But often we forget that there still exists a cadre who remain insistent that tissue extracted from aborted babies is a modern elixir, capable of providing nothing short of miraculous cures. Leading (so to speak) the pack in that dubious department is Beijing's Dr. Hongyun Huang, who has been profiled in countless adoring press stories.

As the Globe's Gareth Cook wrote ten days ago, "For many patients with spinal cord injuries and other incurable maladies, Dr. Hongyun Huang has been the great hope. Hundreds of patients from across the United States and around the world have flocked to his Beijing surgery practice, where Huang implants cells with what he says are amazing healing powers."

According to Cook, Huang uses cells from aborted fetuses "that he says have regenerative power, the way stem cells do"--a falsehood piled on top of another falsehood.

(From http://www.NoRoomforContraception.com)

Abortion rights advocates have been accusing the pro-life movement of trying to redefine pregnancy and reclassify certain contraceptives as abortifacients. In essence, they have been charging that the movement has not been telling the truth about contraception but instead has been playing word games in an effort to ban it.

The truth is, it was the abortion rights and family planning movements that have been playing word games for the past few decades, and the pro-life movement is simply trying to correct the damage.

This decades old controversy revolves around the definition of a single word: conception.

Up until the mid sixties, the question of the beginning of pregnancy wasn't a subject of serious debate. It was well accepted, based upon sound science, that, that conception occurred at fertilization (that is, the union of sperm and egg).

Ask these pro-life young people who let me take their picture at last January March for Life in Washington, DC.

Posted at MommyLife

My last entry - Stunning Rebuke to Planned Parenthood - drew this response Bryanne:

WOW!!! Thanks so much for sharing this article, Barbara. I am ashamed to admit that I have buried my head in the sand when it comes to the abortion issue. I always knew I would never personally choose abortion because I believed it was wrong, but I never looked into the "methods" of how abortions were performed because the little bit of information that I did know...well, I could barely handle the fact that people could be so cruel to the precious children (gifts) that God has entrusted to us. This has certainly opened my eyes and now my prayer focus will shift to include all the potential murder victims in the womb.

One thing that distresses me about many "pro-choice" individuals - and I put pro-choice in quotes because they have resisted all attempts to get them to share the whole picture with their clients of their babies' prenatal development (so much for informed consent!) - is that they hold onto their pro-abortion views with the tenacity of a pit bull. It's as though abortion is the defining aspect of their identity. As though it just wouldn't be cool to rethink their position. Like Anne Lamott, who claims to have had an encounter with Jesus and fallen in love with him, but who is locked in such bitter hatred of Christian conservatives that she has adamantly refused to rethink her position. (I dunno, somehow when I became a Christian I figured that all the decisions and opinions I'd formed before encountering Jesus were definitely in need of a second look :)

The Omaha World-Herald is reporting today that C. J. Labenz has sold the building where he has committed abortions for over 25 years and is closing his grisly business. It remains unclear if he will attempt to relocate. Thus, the rumors that have been swirling around the community (several that have been wildly wrong) have finally come into some focus.

Omaha’s only abortion mill, Women’s Services PC, has closed. The property was bought by the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which gave Women’s Services PC several months’ notice to procure new offices. However, veteran pro- lifer Larry Donlan discovered that the mill was unable to find a property owner who was willing to lease to them, forcing the mill’s closure.

The owner of the mill, abortionist C. J. LaBenz, made national news in 1979, when it was revealed that he had ordered a nurse to abandon a late-term baby weighing 2 pound 9 ounce that was born alive during a saline abortion. The child was placed in a “dirty utility room” to cry unattended where he died two and a half hours later.

Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 06:48:29 -0500

Planned Parenthood Celebration Jolted by Abortion Survivor

by TED HARVEY, Assistant Minority Leader in the Colorado House of Representatives and current candidate for the State Senate. (reprinted here and at MommyLife by Barbara Curtis with author's permission)

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She sings the anthem to applause, then her secret is revealed to stunned silence.
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I want to share with you an awesome experience I had in the Colorado House of Representatives on May 8. It is a humbling experience to look back and realize that God used me to play a role in His divine orchestration.

OR to use a (former) abortion clinic as its headquarters:

Operation Rescue announces that it has purchased the building that housed Central Women’s Services, an abortion mill located at located at 3013 E. Central in Wichita, Kansas. The sale of the building forced the mill to close.

A California state Senate committee has rejected a measure that would make the state the second, following Oregon, to legalize assisted suicide. - LifeNews.

The Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection (PRK&CP) initiative has been certified for the November 7 General Election ballot by the California Secretary of State. See: http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/2006 /06_084.pdf

All measures which are certified by the June 29 (131 days before the election) deadline will be assigned their Proposition Numbers for the ballot within one week after June 29.

"We collected over one million signatures in just over three months and from every one of California’s 58 counties," said PRK&CP proponent Paul Laubacher of Sacramento. "This shows the wide public support for requiring a doctor to notify a parent before performing an abortion on a minor daughter -- who may 12 or 13 years old or even younger."

Click here to continue reading

Well, evidently there are a lot of people interested in Sweet Baby James!

I just spoke to the receptionist at A Helping Hand and they have been inundated with calls and emails - over 300 in one day. They are somewhat overwhelmed at the moment, and have released a mass mailing, but do intend to wade through the responses as quickly as they can.

The good news is that because of the enormous interest shown in him, James's file will not be sent back to China at the end of the week, but a committee will be put together to begin the process of reviewing applications.

If you are a reader whose interest was sparked by James' story, perhaps your family will eventually be the one blessed to receive him into your loving protection. If so, I hope to hear from you, because I'd love to write the story.

But if you are not the family God intended for James, perhaps he was trying to capture your attention and give you a nudge in that direction. Perhaps it's not the first nudge. But perhaps it will be the last - either because you will heed the call and do what you need to set out on the journey of adoption, or because God will stop nudging (Have It Your Way!) and turn to someone else.

The folks at A Helping Hand are hopeful - and I am too - that perhaps the eagerness shown to meet James' need for a family will spill over onto some of the other special needs children waiting for homes. Though there is only one James, you can see other sweet little ones here.

So ultimately there may be more than one happy ending to this story. I hope there are many, many more.

If for any reason you feel called to adopt but some piece seems to be missing, remember that God doesn't call the equipped - he equips the called. He may be waiting for a full expression of your willingness. Money can be an obstacle, but there are some resources if you look around. A Helping Hand offers some information at their site.
I think churches should support adoptive parents the way they support short-term missions - maybe your church would take up a collection.

Two of our three adopted sons with Down syndrome were adopted through Catholic Charities, which charged us $50. each. That's right - fifty dollars. Catholic Charities in California - and probably other states as well - completely subsidizes adoption of special needs children (and being Catholic is not a requirement). There are also adoption subsidies to assist families who want to adopt special needs children but for whom the additional financial burden would be too great.

I'm serious. If you are feeling called to adopt, it's time to take the next step and start overcoming any perceived or imagined obstacles to your being united with the child - or children- God intended to be part of your family.

Adoption is a journey and adventure.

As in the Steven Curtis Chapman song, The Great Adventure, which has started humming in the back of my mind as I write this:

Started out this morning in the usual way Chasing thoughts inside my head of all I had to do today Another time around the circle try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible and I read about me
Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free
And somewhere between the pages it hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me and I heard somebody say "let's go"!

CHORUS
Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure

Come on get ready for the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for

(Chorus)

We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams

Yeah... oh saddle up your horses... come on get ready to ride

Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife had already raised a family of their own and were on the verge of Empty Nestdom when they felt called to adopt. They have since adopted three little girls from China. The change in his heart that springs up from his song definitely resulted in actions that spoke louder than any words.

This is what it means to be loved by our Heavenly Father. We are all adopted heirs. We were also created in His image - and the opportunity to embrace a child in adoption is an opportunity to experience and reflect on a small scale the tremendous love He has shown to us. Not because we need to earn our way to heaven, but because like Mary, who broke her alabaster jar to anoint her blessed Savior, we just can't help but break our own
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pssst! If you linked to my original story on James, please follow up by linking to this one as well! Many thanks for spreading the word!

They trudged up the street, their women in a whispering knot behind them, and now there was mud on their shining shoes. They came to the tangle of bodies and then moved closer together. The living looked at the dead and the dead stared back at them and there was no sound on the hill. . . But this was not their guilt, the leading citizens of Ohrdruf explained. They had never shot a man, or used a club. Yes, they were of the same political faith as the executioners. They prospered from the work of these slaves. This camp was in their town but they had never come here before this. Therefore, the leading citizens say, they were blameless.
James Cannon, European Stars and Stripes staff writer, on the forced visit of local Germans to Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald, after its liberation by US troops in April 1945.

Printed on the flyleaf of Surviving Hitler: Corruption and Compromise in the Third Reich by Adam Lebor and Roger Boyes.

After a few days in a row of praying and sidewalk counseling outside the 46th Street abortion clinic and watching the surrounding traffic, businesses, schools, bicyclists, and even the day care center activities on the opposite corner go on apace -- seemingly oblivious to the destruction of human children going on inside this building -- I couldn't help but grieve over the parallels of our own society to that described in the above paragraph from the Lebor/Boyes book I had started reading a couple of days ago.

This camp was in their town but they had never come here before this. Therefore, the leading citizens say, they were blameless. Sigh.

From LifeNews

The headline assumes that they were earnest about this in the first place. Looking at the recent developments, China's intent here is unclear at best.

The Chinese government has decided it will not prohibit abortions used to prevent the birth of girl babies even though sex-selection abortions have contributed to a stark gender imbalance that is creating a host of social problems. The nation's state-owned media reported the plan to scrap the idea.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

You’ve read the news that investment guru Warren Buffett, the world’s second wealthiest man, has decided to donate 80% of his fortune to the foundation set up by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife. "I'm not an enthusiast for dynastic wealth, particularly when 6 billion others have much poorer hands than we do in life," Buffett told a NY audience.

"I love it when I'm around the country club, and I hear people talking about the debilitating effects of a welfare society," he said. "At the same time, they leave their kids a lifetime and beyond of food stamps. Instead of having a welfare officer, they have a trust officer. And instead of food stamps, they have stocks and bonds."

I’m certainly impressed by Buffett's statements and actions, particularly considering the history of the rich and powerful. A lot more could be said about American heirs that destroy themselves after receiving their parent’s wealth or Buffett's equating government welfare with private inheritance.

According to his blog Wesley Smith will soon be taking a much deserved vacation, but not before he joins a bioethics conference in Albany along with Nigel Cameron who has written a bioethics column for Christianity Today. Wesley has predicted some "respectful fireworks", which will be good because right-to-die-friendly bioethicist Art Caplan will be there. Art recently eulogized Dr Ron Cranford in the most glowing of terms.

Hopefully one of my favorite pro-life bloggers, Chana Meira will be able to attend and will give us a report. If any other blogger/readers plan to be there, I'll be happy to post your feedback

Crossposted at Marlowe's Shade

We've followed the controversy of the Northern Kentucky University professor who led students in the destruction of a pro-life display, indignantly defending her actions.

Northern Right to Life has published a statement indicating the controversy surrounding the Cemetary of the Innocents has been resolved:

The vandalism and criminal solicitation charges against former NKU professor Dr. Sally Jacobsen for the dismantling our "Cemetery of the Innocents" display have been resolved outside of court. The charges were dropped after Jacobsen agreed to make monetary restitution for the stolen and damaged property, to donate $1000 to the Madonna House, a Northern Kentucky crisis pregnancy shelter for expectant mothers, and to make a written apology to our student organization and to the owners of the crosses.

Now that this case has been resolved, Northern Right to Life hopes to continue defending human life and promoting education about abortion on our campus and in our community.

Time is running out for James, a sweet little Chinese boy with Down syndrome on whose adoption hangs the fate of other such children in China.

Listen to this from the social worker handling his case:

China officials have not offered children with ds for adoption before because they do not believe people would want them, they put James up because many people advocated for him to be offered.
But, the officials have decided if he is not put on hold (basically meaning picked) in the next six days [by July 1], they will pull him back and he will remain institutionalized in China permanently. And - they will not allow any other children with down syndrome to be offered for adoption - period!
Adopting James will not only make a difference in HIS life, but in the lives of the many other children in China with DS who are left in orphanages and institutions their whole lives. He eeds a home so badly.
I know that international adoptions are costly, but a donor has generously agreed to fund his adoption.

If you, or anyone you know has room in your/their heart/home for this cute little guy, his contact information is below. Please pass this along to any ds list you are apart of!

James, who was born 12/28/04, is currently being cared for a the Phillip Hayden Foundation just outside of Beijing. It is a very good place and the children are well cared for.

Somewhere out there, God has already planned for a family to welcome James into their home. If you feel something click, then that probably means it is you. My advice when you receive a spiritual directive is not to think too hard about it, but to move forward by faith. We have adopted three children - at least one of whom if I'd thought too hard about it would not be alive today. Is my life more difficult than those of moms who have things more under control? Yes. But you know what? You only have one life here on earth to live. Why not live it with abundance? Because abundant living isn't about what you get but what you give.

This adoption seems so important - because the fate of many babies is at stake. Please pass this on through your networks and blogs and let's do our best to find the home in which James will love and grow with a family of his own.

Btw, one of our adopted sons was born with imperforate anus and underwent a very successful reconstruction. James' medical records indicate that he has also had a successful one.

Remember, funding for this adoption has been promised, so money is not an obstacle.

And btw, A Helping Hand has some great information on adoption funding here.

I have posted this at my blog MommyLife. Will you please post on your own blogs and newsgroups?

Update (6/26/2006): Sweet Baby James Update/ Thoughts on Adoption

According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, the number of abortions performed in Michigan in 2005 decreased to 25,209. This is the lowest number of annual abortions being reported in Michigan since Michigan started requiring abortionists to record abortion information in the last quarter of 1979. In 2004, there were 26,269 abortions performed in Michigan. This year's number indicates a drop of more than 1,000 abortions or 4.0%.

Other facts include:

There were 19 abortions performed after 24 weeks.

Five children showed evidence of life after being aborted.

49% of women were having at least their 2nd abortion and 22.9% of women were having at least their 3rd abortion. 86.4% of women were not married.

You've heard recent reports suggesting that condom use decreases a woman's risk for cervical cancer.

William Beckman, Director of Illinois Right to Life, retorts:

The news reports gush with excitement. “For the first time, scientists have proof that condoms offer women protection against the virus that causes cervical cancer.” This virus is the human papilloma virus, or HPV.

Today begins the National Right to Life Convention in Nashville, Tennessee with featured speakers Fred Barnes, Jennifer O’Neill, Ramesh Ponnuru, Paul Greenberg, Erin Brady Wosham and Kellanne Conway. The event is packed with useful and interesting workshops including "Untangling the Web: Making the Most of Your Internet Presence" by LifeNew’s Steven Ertelt.

Perhaps some of our pro-life blogging correspondents will be able to give a live update regarding the convention’s events... email me and I'll feature your post.

Update: Jill is attending

Thanks to our friends at the American Life League for providing the following:

WASHINGTON, D.C. —“The people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota truly understand what it means to respect the sanctity of all human life,” said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. “American Life League wholeheartedly supports this message and encourages the Oglala Lakota Sioux to continue their fight to protect preborn children.”

Yesterday, 21 June 2006, Patronella Mkona, became South Africa's first pro-life martyr - when she told her boyfriend that if he wanted to kill her baby he would have to kill her first:

A mother has paid with her life in defence of her unborn child.

A 35-year-old man is to face murder charges on Friday in connection with the triple killing of his girlfriend, their two-year-old toddler and her sister early on Wednesday.

He is suspected of gunning down 30-year-old Patronella Mkona, her sister, Charmaine Mkona, 35, and their daughter, Latoya, when she apparently refused to abort their second child.

HT: christianview.org

Cincinnati's Planned Parenthood clinic has been ordered by a Hamilton County judge to hand over all records on abortion patients younger than 18:

The documents are being sought by a lawyer suing the clinic over a teenage girl's abortion. Her family's lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood never got her parents' consent, as required by Ohio law.

Attorney Brian Hurley says the records are needed to determine whether the clinic has a pattern of failing to notify parents. Hurley says no patients will be identified.

Advocates for assisted suicide know that when their agenda is described accurately and descriptively--they lose. So, they are ever about the task of trying to come up with new gooey euphemisms to describe assisted suicide--to be, if you will, the sugar that helps the hemlock go down. - more from Wesley J. Smith

More embryo screening news from Britain:

British scientists announced today an advanced screening test for embryos, using a form of DNA fingerprinting, which could help prevent couples passing inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis on to their children.

Developed at Guy's hospital in London and unveiled at a conference on fertility in Prague, the technique is similar to the genetic fingerprinting used by police to identify suspects.

Wisconsin Right to Life claims that NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood are misrepresenting Wisconsin law:

June 19, 2006 Today, NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin issued a news release containing the blatant lie that Wisconsin abortion law "could be used to threaten women with up to 3-1/2 years in prison and fines up to $10,000."

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin along with Planned Parenthood, the state's largest abortion provider, have been intentionally promoting this falsehood for months. Both of the organizations have expressed fear that if Roe v. Wade should be overturned, a particular abortion law, s. 940.04, would come back into effect. That particular abortion law, was on Wisconsin's lawbooks when Roe was handed down. The law became unenforceable because of the Roe v. Wade decision.

This is big news in the battle to end partial birth abortion:

The Supreme Court on Monday added a second Bush administration appeal of a federal appeals court ruling on partial-birth abortions to its docket. That means the nation's high court will hear two appeals related to the partial-birth abortion ban when it considers the gruesome abortion procedure this fall.

Nebraskans are circulating a petition right now to amend their state constitution to elevate food and water care to a basic, constitutionally protected right. The Nebraskans for Humane Care Committee is sponsoring this effort, which has been unanimously endorsed by the board of Nebraskans United for Life.

Noted bioethicist Wesley J. Smith helped draft the language of the amendment, which is also supported by the Schindler family.

Nebraska has a very high signature requirement to place an initiative like this on the ballot--10% of all registered voters in the state must sign the petition! However, petition circulators themselves can live in any state.

Helping with the petition drive is a great way to support this important cause. Please spread the word now, since the deadline for filing the petition is coming right up on July 7.

We've reported about this in the past but you've got to check out Colorado State Representative Ted Harvey's description of the day abortion survivor Gianna Jessen showed up prior to the assembly's recognition of Planned Parenthood - click here. Colorado lawmakers vigorously applauded Jessen after she sang the national anthem and heard about the physical challenges she has overcome. However, when Harvey told his colleagues Jessen was an abortion survivor:

BANG! The gavel came down.

Just as I was finishing the last sentence of my speech -- the climax of the morning -- the speaker of the House gaveled me down and said, "Representative Harvey, I will allow you to continue your introduction, but not for the purposes of debating a measure now pending before the House."

At which point I said, "Mr. Speaker, I understand. I just wanted to put a face to what we are celebrating today."

AN ACT

To amend and reenact R.S. 14:87, to enact R.S. 40:1299.30 and to repeal R.S. 40:1299.31 through R.S. 40:1299.35.18, relative to abortion; to prohibit abortion of a human being, except when necessary to save the life of the mother; to provide for criminal consequences for violations; to provide for the act to only become effective upon the occurrence of certain events; to provide for severability; and to provide for related matters.

Louisiana Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law a ban on most abortions that would be triggered if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 ruling legalizing the procedure, a spokesman said on Saturday.

The ban would apply to all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, except when the mother's life is threatened. It is similar to a South Dakota law that has become a battleground in the abortion debate

----
Update

I was sent a link that shows what a Pro-Life church/committee should look like:

http://www.prolifedallas.org/
End of Update
-----

Lifenews.com points to a recent decision by the Catholic Church to let local leaders decide whether or not to give communion to pro-abortion politicians. Catholic Bishops just gave up on their responsibility. The phrase "I wash my hands of this" comes to mind.

Beginning this Saturday, June 17, at 4:30 p.m. CST, I will host a new, half-hour pro-life radio show called Pro-Life Pulse on Salem Broadcasting's WYLL, 1160 AM, in Chicago.

The show can be heard life via the Internet and will cover current events through news coverage, interviews, and commentary.

The major sponsor of the show is WomanCare Services of Berwyn, Illinois.

Also featured during the program will be pro-life educational commercials by Right to Life of Will County and Illinois Right to Life.

Tune in!

From Hindustan Times

SEEKING TO legalise mercy killing in the case of terminally ill patients, the Law Commission has suggested to the government to consider if a legislation can be enacted under which life-support systems can be withdrawn in the patients' "best interests".

In a report, the commission said that under such circumstances, no criminal case should be made against the patient, the doctor or anyone else for the decision.

More at Marlowe's Shade

LifeNews reports: An abortion business that has come under fire for a non-doctor giving a woman with a late-term pregnancy the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug and falsified its records of what happened has surrendered its medical license. The woman, who had a severely high blood pressure and needed medical attention, later gave birth to a stillborn baby.

Operation Rescue provides the following account:

The Summit Medical Center, has permanently surrendered their license rather than face a scheduled June 20 hearing that would have required them to defend slipshod, unsafe conditions at their abortion mill in Birmingham, Alabama. This means the abortion mill will not reopen.

Summit had its license suspended by the Alabama Department of Health on May 17 after reports of a botched abortion on a nearly full-term baby. The Department of Health indicated that they suspended the license after an investigation revealed that unlicensed clinic workers did an abortion on a woman in her last stage of pregnancy. After suffering complications, the patient was hospitalized where she “delivered a stillborn, macerated, foul smelling, six pound, four ounce baby.”

The self-surrender of the license avoided a hearing that could have revealed even more details of slipshod abortions and unsafe conditions and practices.

“The last thing an abortion mill wants is for the truth to be told about the conditions that really exist inside their offices,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “That is why they fight tooth and nail to prevent clinic regulations and inspections, and why they will not turn over records, even when the private information in the records is redacted. These mills would rather close than submit to the same standards legitimate medical providers must meet. And frankly, if they close, that’s fine with us.”

Summit Medical Center Birmingham Relinquishes License to State Officials in High Profile Case; Activist Calls for Further Action

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Jim Pinto, Founder of Sanctity of Life Ministries and Pastoral Associate with Priests for Life and Her Choice Birmingham, and Pro- life activist for over 26 years in Birmingham made the following statement regarding Summit’s relinquishing of its license before the revocation hearing date set for, June 22nd.

The Alabama Department of Public Health recently suspended Summits License due to gross malpractice. A woman was told she was 6 weeks pregnant, given RU486-chemical abortion, by a non physician, while her blood pressure was dangerously high. We next hear of this woman "presented to the emergency room of a Birmingham hospital with the head of a baby protruding. While at the hospital (she) delivered a stillborn, macerated, six pound, four ounce baby."

The United States' lack of regulation has made it a magnet for the growing global eugenics market

The Chinese want boys, and the Canadians want girls. If they have enough money, they come to the United States to choose the sex of their babies. Well-off foreign couples are getting around laws banning sex selection in their home countries by coming to American soil _ where it's legal _ for medical procedures that can give them the boy, or girl, they want. - Houston Chronicle

The procedure in question - called preimplantation genetic diagnosis - is used to screen a batch of fertilized eggs. A doctor implants only embryos of the wanted sex. What happens to the unwanted embryos? The client decides whether they will be frozen, donated for research or destroyed.

A few weeks ago, I sent an e-mail to my list, encouraging Pennsylvania pro-lifers to support Republican Rick Santorum in his rebid for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Bob Casey.

Both are pro-life, but because Santorum and the White House supported pro-abortion incumbent Arlen Specter in the 2004 Republican primary against pro-lifer Pat Toomey, pro-lifers consider him a traitor. Specter won 51-49 percent. Pro-lifers blame Santorum and Bush for the edge.

This was typical of negative responses I received regarding my e-mail:

Let Rick Santorum be the example to all the other Republican politicians that we will not allow them to play games with the lives of our unborn children, and if they do, they will be gone.

I wish Santorum had not supported Specter. But would turning from Santorum help or hurt the pro-life cause?

I submit it would hurt, badly. Here's why....

Read my column today, "Quit De Wining about the Santorum Spectercle," on WorldNetDaily.com.

William L. Anderson writes an interesting article titled the Progressive Era, summarizing social and political reform attributed to the new progressives. Interestingly, he ties Margret Sanger's motivation to the rise of Darwinian Philosophy:

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection; or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859) had an enormous effect on how intellectuals viewed the world. First, it seemed to vindicate the liberal elite who saw the religion of their day as mere superstition. Darwin’s theories permitted the reformers to expound on their own beliefs that they could “reform” society through the miracles of science. Second, it gave impetus to those who believed that government power could be used “wisely” to fashion a new society.

Many Progressives reasoned that if human evolution depended on “survival of the fittest,” then humans could help that process along through eugenics, which also meant “breeding” humans in a way that would advance the “superior” races and vanquish those races that were “inferior.” (Progressives supported eugenics until Hitler’s embrace of it gave it a bad name.)

There's an urgent new post on the slander against CPCs over at AbortionPundit blog. We invite all to get involved and we provide backup materials to write your Congressmen and "womyn."

Here's a baby the size of a mobile phone in Britain. The child, named Ruby Angel Dunn, was born at 25 weeks and weighed a mere 12.5 ounces at birth. That's approximately 355 grams. In 2004, there were 29 abortions in Michigan where the unborn child weighed more than 400 grams.

Why is abortion tragic?

MIT stem cell biologist James Sherley on Harvard's human cloning ventures.

"They promise that cloned embryos will allow determination of the cause of a person's illness by analysis of embryonic stem cells derived from the person's own cloned embryos. They pronounce that this research is too important to not do. However, they fail to disclose that pigs will grow wings and fly before this approach leads to successful medical therapies."

Were there classic signs of strangulation?

In his op-ed piece in The Guardian Richard Smith gives us the unabashed party line of his generation's secular take on the meaning of life and death.

He starts by confirming my suspicion that the right-to-die movement has an "war of attrition" strategy in pushing euthanasia in the UK:

In 1978 I published one of my first articles in a medical journal - on abortion. It prompted howls of protest, and so did every article on abortion for the next 10 years. But slowly the protesters, some of them very well organised, ran out of steam. We moved - do I dare say progressed? - over a 50-year time scale from refusing termination of pregnancy in a woman whose life was threatened by pregnancy to, effectively, abortion on demand.

I feel I'm watching a similar progression with euthanasia. Len Doyal, "one of Britain's top medical ethicists", arguing that active euthanasia can be acceptable is another step along the path. Len may be in the vanguard, but much of the population is close behind. Other countries and states - the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Oregon, the Northern Territories - are ahead, but surely a post-religious country like Britain will quickly follow. Lord Joffe's bill on physician-assisted suicide may have been put on ice, but it'll soon be warmed up.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

A state court ruled that the Main Department of Health and Human Services should not have made an end-of-life decision for a baby boy in foster care without a court hearing to air the parents' objections:

The state's highest court ruled unanimously in the case of a brain-injured infant allegedly shaken by his father in Bangor.

The state child welfare agency put the baby in a foster home and obtained a ``do-not-resuscitate" order based on the opinions of doctors, who said the boy would not recover. The parents objected, saying the order effectively revoked their parental rights

The 9th Circuit granted a motion to intervene filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of pro-life groups:

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Friday that California healthcare professionals must be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit to defend their right to refuse to provide abortions and abortion referrals. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Legal Society represent members of the Christian Medical Association, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Fellowship of Christian Physicians Assistants.

A recent study concluded that over half of teenagers who take pledges of virginity rescind those pledges within a year:

Reported in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, a study conducted on more than 14,000 students found that 52 percent of those who took virginity pledges retracted those pledges within a year.

Non-believing young people may remain chaste before marriage for pragmatic reasons, but ultimately the motivation for teen purity rises above the level of just avoiding disease or pregnancy.

Nat Hentoff is my kind of liberal. He has already shown he is a mensch in his defense of Terri Schiavo, the only voice in her favor I can recall hearing from the Left. Here he takes on the Culture of Death in both its aspects of euthanasia and abortion. It is simply too good and too intense to pick out one quote. Please take the time to read the entire article, it is relatively short and you won't regret it. Compare his principled stand to that of his former mentor, Jesse Jackson.

The practice of euthanasia was easily established and advanced in the United States under the pretense of end of life wishes, choices, compassion, dignity, assisted suicide, and self rights to the public through introductions of various means. - read the rest at the North Country Gazette

Every day we have an opportunity to do something that will positively impact on the world around us. It may be as quiet and subtle as a smile to a weary cashier or opening a door for a delivery fellow with a huge load. It can also be something that will change a person's life ...forever.

If you want to have positive effect on the world around you, join the pro-life movement. And I mean join. Sure, you think, there is no time. I have to do this or that to prepare for, or there is nothing I could do that would make a difference.

I beg to differ.

More on the clinic bomber from the Post:

The father of a man accused of plotting to bomb an abortion clinic said he felt he had no choice but to contact police about his son's activities.

Robert Weiler Sr. told The Washington Post for an article published Saturday that the decision was agonizing, but that "our concern was just to make sure nobody got hurt."

Weiler, 49, said that like their son, he and his wife, Catherine, oppose abortion, but they do not condone violence.

Nuts like Weiler are a danger to society and will only impede legitimate means for ending abortion. His parents did exactly what they should have done.

LifeNews has a related article

Kathleen Parker comments on the abortion of unborn babies with small defects:

Since abortion was legalized in 1973, estimates are that about 50 million of them have been performed in the United States.

Of that number, relatively few have been owing to fetal defects as compared to lifestyle concerns, according to an Alan Guttmacher Institute study.

While it may be intellectually easier to justify aborting a fetus in cases of severe abnormalities, terminating a pregnancy because of easily corrected imperfections should disturb our sleep.

If parents can be moved to abort their babies because of smallish flaws, how long before designer babies become the norm — or abortions are performed when babies have the wrong eye color?

A brain-dead woman kept alive artificially for more than two months gave birth to a premature baby girl, doctors at Milan's Niguard hospital said. A few hours after the Saturday birth, the machinery artificially keeping the 38-year-old woman alive was shut off. The baby, named Cristina after her mother, is breathing on her own.

HT: WorldMagBlog

Louis Viljoen awoke from a three year coma after he was administered a sleeping pill. The question is whether or not the drug will work on others:

In the coming months, British company ReGen will begin clinical trials with Zolpidem on 30 coma patients in South Africa, in the hope that the drug will also bring them back to life.

Its effect on Louis has been remarkable, says his mother. Photos of the now 36-year-old man adorn the wall above his bed, marking each of the 10 birthdays he has spent here at the Ikhaya Tini Vorster rehabilitation centre in Dunnottar, near Springs.

Previously: End the Madness: PVS is reversible or misdiagnosed

People will ask us what we think about the arrest of Robert Weiler in Maryland yesterday. He admitted planning an attack on one of the local abortion mills here in the D.C. area & was charged with unlawful possesion of a pipe bomb.

Do not play into the media game. Here is what we must say to those who challenge us:

We are not all like Robet Weiler. I condemn his desire to harm others for our cause and ask this question in return. What do you think about abortion "doctors" killing over 3,000 human beings a day.

From Law.com:

A former Catholic school teacher who was fired for expressing her support of abortion rights in a newspaper ad that ran on the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade may not sue the school under Title VII because such a claim would force the courts to rule on the validity of a religious institution's beliefs, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

In its 22-page opinion in Curay-Cramer v. The Ursuline Academy of Wilmington, the court rejected the plaintiff's argument that Title VII's "opposition clause" protects any employee who has had an abortion, who contemplates having an abortion or who supports the rights of women who do so.

Here is a really intriguing article from the biotech writer for The Seoul Times, James P. Kelly. It concerns his conversion from an advocate for embryonic stem cell research to an opponent. The key reason? Kelly wants the best route possible to get successful medical treatments.

By the way, Kelly is no novice in dealing with these issues. He is the director of Cures 1st Foundation, Inc. and, as a paralyzed man, he also has intense personal interest in promoting the most practical, most promising research for the sake of treatments and cures.

This is a great read.

'NOW v. Scheidler' Goes to the History Books

After exactly twenty years the NOW v. Scheidler RICO case is finally history. On Thursday, June 8, 2006, just one day short of the twentieth anniversary of the filing of the lawsuit, Judge David Coar will enter judgment for the defendants, Joseph M. Scheidler, Timothy Murphy and Andrew Scholberg and the Pro-Life Action League, negating all charges against them.

"Judge Coar's action tomorrow will be a great weight off of me," said Joseph Scheidler, National Director of the Pro-Life Action League. "It has taken all this time to vindicate the pro-life movement and declare that our peaceful protests are not criminal acts."

The National Organization for Women sued Joseph Scheidler under anti-trust laws on June 9, 1986. The suit was expanded to a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charge in 1991. After a seven-week trial in 1998 a jury found the defendants guilty. Judge David Coar issued a nationwide injunction against pro-life activists and assessed a triple judgment against the Scheidler defendants in the amount of $257,780. A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court finding, and Scheidler appealed to the Supreme Court.

Harvard experimenters are admitting that they are creating human embryonic life for the purpose of destroying it. - Wesley J. Smith

A prisoner attempts to commit suicide. Is it right to stop them? What if their chosen method is a hunger strike?

Here's the problem: the U.S. military has been force feeding detainees who go on hunger strikes before they become incapacitated:

A Pentagon document setting rules for medical professionals in detainee operations endorses force-feeding hunger strikers, a practice criticized by rights activists, U.S. officials said on Monday.

(...) The Pentagon said in a statement the new document "reaffirms the policy to prevent injury or loss of life of hunger strikers by involuntarily feeding those at serious risk of injury or death, as approved by the detention facility commanding officer or designated senior officer."

(...) Human rights activists have said U.S. medical personnel have been complicit in detainee abuse, and have denounced force-feeding of prisoners as a violation of international codes of medical ethics.

(...) Writing in March in the British medical journal The Lancet, 263 doctors from seven countries called on the United States to stop force-feeding detainees and using restraint chairs.

Australian right-to-die advocate Dr Philip Nitschke plans to hold two euthanasia workshops in New Zealand in August after the government decided not to pursue legal action against him. - The Age

State senator Duane Sutton voted against South Dakota’s abortion ban that was passed by state lawmakers during this year's legislative session. Yesterday, the veteran incumbent was defeated by Isaac Latterell in the Republican primary. Latterell believes his pro-life stance was a contributing factor.

Update: from LifeNews

Lawmakers who opposed the statewide ban on virtually all abortions that the state legislature approved earlier this year did so at their own peril. Four Republican state senators who opposed the ban were defeated Tuesday in primary elections there while those who supported the ban were successful.

The New York Times reports an update:

Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's office said Tuesday that she would shortly sign into law a strict ban on abortion that would permit abortion only in the case where a woman's life was threatened by pregnancy.

Roderick K. Hawkins, deputy press secretary to the governor, said that the abortion bill had not yet reached Ms. Blanco, but that she planned to sign it as soon as possible.

Although Ms. Blanco, a Democrat, has supported exceptions for rape and incest in the past, Mr. Hawkins said she found solace in the bill's "safety measures" that protect the life of the pregnant woman.

"The governor has always been a pro-life person," Mr. Hawkins said, "and this fits into her beliefs of supporting life and being anti-abortion. Plus, this had overwhelming bipartisan support of the Legislature."

.... this post has it all. (One of the scientists involved in the first cloned sheep would like to see the technology used to produce a superior child. )

From National Right to Life's Dave Andrusko regarding National Right to Life's annual three-day convention:

The convention, held this year in Nashville June 22-24, would be worth attending even if there were no general sessions. So much information is conveyed in such an accessible manner in the workshops that'd be reason enough to travel to the Volunteer State.

(You can register online)

But this year's convention is blessed with an especially impressive line up of general session and prayer breakfast speakers. Let's begin with Fred Barnes.

On that day a great number of Americans went to war to challenge tyranny. Many of them died, many went on to save countless lives all over Europe.

We should always remember their sacrifice, bravery, determination, courage and honor.

http://www.americandday.org/

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to provide adequate explanations for withholding more than 6,000 documents from Judicial Watch related to the approval of the abortion pill RU- 486. The appellate court remanded the case back to the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia for further review and ordered the FDA to provide more information about the documents withheld in response to a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

When a federal agency refuses to release documents responsive to a FOIA request, it is required by law to produce a Vaughn index, which describes in detail the documents withheld along with the reasons for withholding them. The purpose is to allow the requester to challenge individual documents, and for the court to determine if the exemptions invoked by the government hold merit. The appellate court agreed with Judicial Watch that many of the FDA’s Vaughn index descriptions for the RU-486 documents were inadequate.

Both chemical and surgical abortions are prohibited by Louisiana’s abortion ban, a law that, for the most part, will not become effective until Roe v. Wade is overturned or congress adopts an amendment to the United States Constitution which, in whole or part, restores to the state of Louisiana the authority to prohibit abortion.

AN ACT

To amend and reenact R.S. 14:87, to enact R.S. 40:1299.30 and to repeal R.S. 40:1299.31 through R.S. 40:1299.35.18, relative to abortion; to prohibit abortion of a human being, except when necessary to save the life of the mother; to provide for criminal consequences for violations; to provide for the act to only become effective upon the occurrence of certain events; to provide for severability; and to provide for related matters.

(2) "Unborn human being" means an individual living member of the species, homo sapiens, throughout the entire embryonic and fetal ages of the unborn child from fertilization to full gestation and childbirth.

Read the entire law here.

We appreciate the following press release by Operation Rescue:

The Louisiana Senate has passed a conditional ban on abortion that is expected to be signed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

The Louisiana abortion ban would punish abortionists with possible 10 year prison sentences and $100,000 fines, but allows exceptions to save the life of the mother or if the mother’s health would be seriously damaged. It can only go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, or the U.S. Constitution is amended to allow states to decided on the legality of abortion.

While Operation Rescue believes this is a step in the right direction, the pro-life group expressed some disappointment that the bill was conditional, and that a “health” exception was included at the last minute.

Planned Parenthood's web site recently Planned Parenthood's Annual Report for 2004-2005.

It shows that the number of abortions performed at Planned Parenthood increased from 245,092 in 2003 to 255,015 in 2004. Meanwhile, adoption clinic referrals decrease from 1,774 to 1,414. Planned Parenthood's prenatal clients actually increased from 16,427 to 17,610.

The report shows that Planned Parenthood's revenues include $346.8 million of clinic income, $272.7 million in government grants and contracts and $215.8 in private contributions. Their total revenues exceeded their total expenses by $63 million.

From the article Americans turn against abortion

Surprisingly, it was science and technology that helped me find my voice. First came ultrasound. To see the movement of a grey mass in the womb and to hear the unmistakable rhythm of a heartbeat testified that life existed. As the technology has progressed, we can now see the movement of limbs as early as eight weeks. We can witness a child develop almost from conception.

I have also viewed snapshots of fetuses that have been aborted. They are not so different from some of the more horrendous crime-scene photos I have seen. The pro-choice crowd would say I’m being sensationalist, or they might say nothing at all. They will argue that life only begins at birth.

But as the Rev. Clenard Howard Childress, director of Life Education and Resource Network, or LEARN, puts it, “If you haven’t seen what abortion does, then you will never understand what abortion actually is.” This is not an easy statement for those who turn away from the reality of abortion to spare their consciences.

Even the co-founder of the National Association for the Repeal of the Abortion Laws (NARAL), Dr. Bernard Nathanson, changed his views after coming to believe that fetology, the study of the fetus within the uterus, removed any doubt that life began at conception.

After performing 75,000 abortions, Nathanson renounced his pro-abortion beliefs and turned his back on NARAL.

From the article Americans turn against abortion

Surprisingly, it was science and technology that helped me find my voice. First came ultrasound. To see the movement of a grey mass in the womb and to hear the unmistakable rhythm of a heartbeat testified that life existed. As the technology has progressed, we can now see the movement of limbs as early as eight weeks. We can witness a child develop almost from conception.

I have also viewed snapshots of fetuses that have been aborted. They are not so different from some of the more horrendous crime-scene photos I have seen. The pro-choice crowd would say I’m being sensationalist, or they might say nothing at all. They will argue that life only begins at birth.

But as the Rev. Clenard Howard Childress, director of Life Education and Resource Network, or LEARN, puts it, “If you haven’t seen what abortion does, then you will never understand what abortion actually is.” This is not an easy statement for those who turn away from the reality of abortion to spare their consciences.

Even the co-founder of the National Association for the Repeal of the Abortion Laws (NARAL), Dr. Bernard Nathanson, changed his views after coming to believe that fetology, the study of the fetus within the uterus, removed any doubt that life began at conception.

After performing 75,000 abortions, Nathanson renounced his pro-abortion beliefs and turned his back on NARAL.

From the Telegraph a report that neighbors of the Swiss assisted suicide clinic want them evicted:

Residents who share a block of flats with Dignitas, the controversial assisted suicide charity, have launched a campaign to evict the organisation from the building.

More at Marlowe's Shade

The pro-life movement is celebrating victories that after over 30 years of Roe v Wade, the scourge of abortion, at least public support for it, has waned and is now the minority position. South Dakota passed an outright abortion ban believing the time was right to challenge the law. Poll after poll demonstrates that the public knows that conception is the "moment that changes everything" where a new life is created and begins its journey to birth. Are we a pro-life nation then? The answer to that question is still no.

LifeNews:

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, says she will sign into law a statewide abortion ban that would take effect if the Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade. The decision is delighting pro-life groups who are pressing for the ban in the legislature.

The abortion ban only contains an exception to allow abortions in order to save the life of the mother. Blanco had previously said she wanted rape and incest exceptions added as well, but the House and Senate voted against them.

She said she believed an exception for rape and incest victims to get an abortion, a proposal rejected by both the House and Senate, would have "been reasonable," but she said she wouldn't reject the bill for that reason.

"The Legislature has spoken," Blanco said.

As I watched Tiffany Souers' family and friends gather for her funeral yesterday, and later, seeing her casket being carried from the Church of the Annunziata out to the awaiting hearse, I found myself overwhelmed with it all, thinking of the excruciating, gut-wrenching, and unrelenting agony that her family and friends are now going through, of the incomprehensible murder of a beautiful young human being whose life had already began to make it's mark through her kindness, charity of purpose and sense of giving to others, and of my own wife and children, of how I kiss them goodbye and send them off to school or out the door - never giving a second thought to the fact that I may never see them again because of the brutal thoughtless act of one of the many dregs of our society - one of the many products of a generation born into a society void of self identity, with little regard for a higher power, of faith, of values, and even much less for the beautiful sanctity and preciousness of a human life, a sad fact not unexpected in a society that places such little value on babies, the old, and the infirmed, that kllling them out of convenience often requires little more than an economic incentive. And now the life of Tiffany Souers, the girl everyone who knew well knew that she would not pass through this world without making a difference, has been tragically ended by her killer.

Continue reading...

Join the Monthly Call For Life Today & Tomorrow - June 2nd & 3rd

Join us today & tomorrow for the nationwide Monthly Call for Life at MarchTogether.com.

On Friday we will be at the Supreme Court from noon til 2:00 pm.

On Saturday the 3rd of June we will be at the Falls Church, Virginia abortion mill from 9:00 am till 11 at 900 South Washington St., (Lee Hgwy). Others will be there earlier in the morning as well. Help boost our numbers. We have had as many as 25 - 30 people there.

In today's Opinion Journal, Peter Berkowitz gives us his own response to Ramesh Ponnuru's book The Party of Death. Like me (and unlike Andrew Sullivan), Berkowitz has actually read the book. That's a good start, I guess.

... will be light over the next couple of days although our right column lists plenty of excellent articles by our member blogs. Also, please consider visiting our advertisers - their support helps defray the costs of hosting prolifeblogs.com.