September 2007 Archives

In a world where I find little that actually shocks me anymore, the following news almost did.

According to new "guidelines" (a favorite word of government bureaucrats that actually means "laws"), U.K. parents are to be removed from the loop when it comes to sex advice, treatment, distribution of contraception, and even abortion given to their children. You see, in the welfare states of the modern West, anyone other than parents knows what's best for kids. And for the naive ninnies of Britain's General Medical Council, that means even the kids themselves.

The story is covered in several of the British papers but here is the basic news from The Press Association:

Children should have confidential access to contraception and abortion and more involvement in their NHS treatment, new guidelines claim. Doctors can provide sexual health advice and treatment to under-16s provided they understand the implications, the guide from the General Medical Council (GMC) said.

While doctors should try and persuade children to tell their parents, they should still be treated if it is in their best interests or if they are very likely to have sex anyway. "A confidential sexual health service is essential for the welfare of children and young people", the guide said...

Note the particularly pregnant phrase (pun intended), "provided they understand the implications." Does anyone actually believe that children under 16 understand the implications of, say, the emotional effects of sex, the physical risks, the trauma of disease, the tragedy of abortion, the spiritual costs of promiscuity, and a whole lot more? Of course not. Otherwise we would trust their judgment about smoking, drinking, schoolwork, sex with older persons, operating motorized vehicles, and self-discipline on a variety of other fronts.

No, the GMC's new "guidelines" certainly aren't about the well-being of children. They are instead about the breakdown of parental authority, the aggrandizement of government power, and the expansion of sexual license.

Aegrescit medendo. (The disease worsens with the treatment.)

During the "big story" on our local ABC affiliate Action News 6 last night, a consumer reporter crisply offered the latest information on more toys that might endanger children. (Here's the video.)

Like other recently recalled play things, these toys were manufactured in China and contain dangerously high levels of lead in the paint decorating them.

The reporter noted that the recall indicated progress because government agencies and toy manufacturers were working more closely together to ensure product safety. Scenes of children in a toy store and remarks by worried parents supported her remarks.

As I watched, I wondered if someday a journalist would show equal concern for the welfare of tiny tots who will never see a rattle because they've been legally denied the right to be born.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

Yet NARAL amazingly thinks Verizon is censoring our free speech!

NARAL ought to consider that Verizon just might be listening to the predominance of its client base.

Here's the email they sent:

State by state, inch by inch, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is losing credibility.

Anecdotal evidence in the stories of regretful post-abortive women, who gave up motherhood with Planned Parenthood's help, has long revealed the group's self-interested deceptiveness.

Increasingly, proven cases of underage women impregnated by older men whom PPFA staffers depregnated via abortions -- even as they advised the teens to lie about their ages on paperwork and/or keep their parents out of the equation -- are surfacing.

Currently, Planned Parenthood again created its own credibility gap in attempting to slip a new super-abortion clinic into the city of Aurora, Ill., under the name of Gemini Office Development and Gemini Health Systems (See my September 6 post.).

And, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri now battles, via a lawsuit, Missouri's director of Health and Human Services over the recently passed law that subjects abortion clinics to the same safety standards as other ambulatory surgery centers -- an odd stance coming from a group like PPFA that constantly expresses deep concern for women's "reproductive health."

The space between what PPFA, America's busiest abortion provider, claims and what it does continues to grow incrementally.

Even the ambivalent about abortion recognize this credibility gap.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

A pro-life hero and friend Chris Danze alerted me this morning he and his wife will travel to Colorado in 10 days to help "get a construction boycott off the ground" at the site of Planned Parenthood's 50,000 sq. ft. planned mega-mill in Denver.

Little did Chris know in 2003 that his effort to block the construction of a Planned Parenthood mill in his home town of Austin, TX, would have such a long-lasting nationwide impact.

It was Chris's boycott that PP has acknowledged caused it to go stealth with plans for future mills, including Aurora, Denver, and Portland, OR.

You may not know what Chris accomplished. Here's a little history....

CNN, November 14, 2003:

Weeks into the project, the contractor hired to build an abortion clinic hit a brick wall: Plumbers and carpenters would not work for him. Drywall installers and heating subcontractors would not do business with him. Cement suppliers for miles around would not touch the job.

He had been hit with a boycott organized by abortion foe and construction-industry executive Chris Danze.

The builder finally quit the job this month, stopping the clinic project in its tracks, in what national Planned Parenthood officials said was the first such boycott they have ever seen.

Danze, a 48-year-old who has protested outside clinics, compares the building of an abortion clinic to construction of a concentration camp during the Holocaust....

The decision by Browning Construction Co., one of the state's largest contractors, to pull out of the project stunned Planned Parenthood, which denounced the boycott and said it will press on with construction to discourage similar tactics elsewhere....

Danze, an owner of Maldonado & Danze Inc., a concrete-foundation contractor, oversaw a telephone and letter-writing campaign urging more than 750 Austin- and San Antonio-area businesses not to provide supplies or services for the project. He recruited contractors to join what he called the Texas Contractors and Suppliers for Life Association.

Soon, contractors were flooded with phone calls from the public warning them to stay away from the clinic project or face losing business....

Danze said hundreds of subcontractors agreed to boycott the project, though not all of them said whether they were anti-abortion. Some simply did not want to get involved in a controversial project, he said.

Newsweek, April 18, 2004:

On a Web site designed for the protest... Danze posted the phone numbers of each company involved in the clinic's construction [and photos, see right], many of them mom-and-pop businesses with a lot to lose.

The calls started immediately, and became so overwhelming that one subcontractor reported receiving 1,200 phone calls in one week. Other companies received faxes of aborted fetuses.

After six weeks, the main contractor pulled out, halting the project. Construction resumed in January after Planned Parenthood took over as general contractor, fueled by what it says was an outpouring of monetary and moral support.

But Danze's disruptions had earned the organization's attention. "In the beginning, we did regard Chris Danze as some[one] that was simply nipping at our heels," says Danielle Tierney, spokeswoman for the group's Texas Capital Region. "There was no way we could have predicted his ability to convince our general contractor to withdraw from the project."...

Since then, her affiliate has become more organized, stepping up volunteer recruiting, talking to the media and calling on local and state political allies, including former Texas Governor Ann Richards, to reassure subcontractors that they wouldn't be put out of business for aligning with Planned Parenthood.

(Side note: Ann Richards, now deceased, was mother to Cecile Richards, PP Federation's current president.)

"If one of your daughters was pregnant, would you force her to have the baby?" a student asked during one of my high school pro-life presentations as a speaker for Pennsylvanians for Human Life.

Without hesitation I replied that I knew better than to try and force any of my children to do anything.

"I would tell my daughter everything about fetal development and post-abortion syndrome that I just told you," I said to the high school senior. "And, I would insist that she have an ultrasound."

For only a view into one's womb makes the decision to abort an embryo/fetus/baby an informed one, I explained.

With that in mind, news of Sen. Sam Brownback's introduction of the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act (S. 2075)to the U.S. Senate last week made my day. (Hattip: Grassfire.org)

As its title explains, the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act is "A bill to ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion."

Passage of this bill will save babies lives and serve their mothers' best interests. For sonogram views into the womb will finally put the "you're-aborting-a-blob-of-tissue" myth to rest.

Both the National Right to Life Committee and Grassfire.org offer means to contact legislators, here and here, if you wish to voice how you feel about women blindly walking into abortion.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

Who stole abortion billboard?

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
September 24, 2007

Colorado Right to Life today accused Planned Parenthood supporters of stealing a controversial billboard banner on display outside the anti-abortion group's annual dinner.

A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains countered that the group knows nothing about the theft, and doesn't condone it.

A witness told Arapahoe County sheriff's deputies that a white male grabbed the 15-foot by 7-foot banner located on one side of the billboard, put it in his car and drove away from the Denver Tech Center hotel where the banquet was being held.

The witness got a license plate number, which shows the vehicle was registered in Aurora, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson. The investigation is ongoing.

Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life, conceded today that she can't be certain that it was a Planned Parenthood supporter who took the sign or that anyone who is pro-choice is automatically a supporter of Planned Parenthood.

"I'm certainly not saying that Planned Parenthood paid somebody to come and do it, but I believe that it's people who support Planned Parenthood who were offended by our message," Hanks said. "They don't want that message out there."

The banner features the photo of a black baby and includes a quote that Right to Life attributes to Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. The quote says, "We don't want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population ... "

Lizzy Annison, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, called Colorado Right to Life an "extremist group," willing to employ "every tactic in the book" to discredit Sanger.

"She was a vocal opponent of racial stereotyping and she worked very hard to eliminate the barriers to health care in the African-American community," Annison said.

"Planned Parenthood is about providing the education, information and services that people need to make responsible choices. Those actions as described (concerning the theft of the banner) do not reflect what we're about, and we don't condone them," she said.

Hanks maintains that Planned Parenthood is about abortions, and she said the group used mobile billboards to get that message across.

The mobile billboard had identical banners on each side. Only one banner, valued at $1,000 was taken.

After the theft, a deputy drove several times by the home where the car was registered but no one was home, the sheriff said.

An investigator will attempt again today.

Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.

On behalf of a number of Aurora citizens who took part in the 40 day prayer vigil, Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society will file a $7.5 million lawsuit against Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area and its CEO Steve Trombley Tuesday.

The lawsuit is in response to Trombley's September 4 letter to Aurora aldermen, which he also sent to the Aurora Beacon.

In it he included "those who oppose" the PP Aurora facility in his false condemnation of Joe Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action League as having a "well-documented history of advocating violence against both persons and property."

Trombley further implicated Aurora protesters when he stated in that letter:

Does it truly come as a surprise, then, that as we complied with all legal and public disclosure requirements, we simultaneously sought to keep this private while the construction was proceeding because the zealots who have been opposing our new facility have a well-documented history of violence and criminal activity?

According to Brejcha in a phone interview this morning:

If you look at the letter to aldermen, Trombley included those in Aurora who oppose the clinic in his general smear. Whatever these people are, they are one removed from Scheidler and the League. And the answer on whether Scheidler and the League are violent was answered by the Supreme Court 8-1 and 8-0. Trombley took even that false assertion a step further.

The lawsuit will be filed in Kane County. The amount corresponds with PP's stated value of its Aurora mill.

On September 7, Brejcha sent Trombley a letter demanding he retract or face "legal redress."

Trombley/PP responded by placing a full page ad in the Beacon on September 10 making the same charges, complete with a photo of an arsoned MI Planned Parenthood building.

FRONT ROYAL, VA -- The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today blasted a gang of 16 Catholic senators for their votes on an amendment to HR 2764 to overturn the Mexico City Policy instituted by President Reagan to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding overseas abortions.

"For the most part it's the usual suspects who claim to be Catholic while their consistent pro-abortion votes amount to a betrayal of the Catholic faith. We expect treachery from them," Fr. Euteneuer said. "But the great disappointment here is Robert Casey, Jr., whose late father courageously stood against the tide for life in his political party. It is disgusting to think that Casey Junior ran as a 'pro-life' candidate. He has betrayed those who voted for him on those grounds."

"At a time when these same politicians bewail America's standing in the world they vote to export death to nations that don't want it, in violation of those nations' religious traditions. They are the new 'ugly Americans' practicing imperialism at its worst," Father Euteneuer said.

The gang of 16 includes: Robert Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Christopher Dodd (CT-D), Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

Press Release from HLI - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: John Mallon, 405-720-2575
September 24, 2007 johnmallon @ cox.net

Crisis Pregnancy Centers often receive phone calls from people seeking abortion. I answered such a call recently from a woman who was calling on behalf of her married daughter.

I asked if the daughter had received a medical pregnancy test and an ultrasound to verify that it was not a tubal pregnancy--services that we offer at no cost. The caller was impatient. "You don't understand. This isn't her husband's baby. She has to have an abortion. She doesn't have a choice."

Stories like this are all too common. Some women who use abortion to cover up infidelity schedule an abortion for a week when their husbands are on a business trip.

It's not just women who cover up immorality with abortion. Abortion is the favorite tool of child molesters and rapists.

There's the 27-year-old Florida high school drama teacher Andrew Foster who was having sex with students and used abortion to hide the crime when he impregnated an 18-year-old.

In Connecticut, Adam Gault, 41, has been charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. He tried to hide that crime with an abortion performed by a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Earlier this year Michael Britt, 43, a Connecticut abortion clinic janitor and owner of a modeling agency, lured teenage girls into having sex with him in order to become models. He reportedly took a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old to the abortion clinic to cover up his crimes.

That case came on the heels of another Connecticut case where 22-year-old Kevon Walker impregnated his 14-year-old girlfriend three times in six months, and ended each pregnancy with abortion.

John Blanks, Jr., of Ohio used abortion to cover up his incestuous sexual abuse of his daughter.

In most, if not all, of these cases, the abortion clinic has failed to report the sexual abuse of minors as required by most states, enabling the abuse to continue.

Abortion is the ultimate cover-up of sexual crimes and immorality. Perhaps that's the biggest reason its supporters fight to keep it legal. Andrea Dworkin, a leading feminist, wrote in Right Wing Women:

In the garden of earthly delights known as the sixties counterculture, pregnancy did intrude, almost always rudely;...one of the real obstacles to female [immorality] on male demand....It was the brake that pregnancy put on [immorality] that made abortion a high-priority political issue.

It's past time to liberate women from the abuse of men who cover up their crimes with abortion.

Wesley Wilson

Wesley Wilson is the President of Let Her Live, a nonprofit dedicated to saving babies by showing the beauty and value of life to women considering abortion. Please learn more about the Let Her Live targeted pro-life billboard campaign. Donations are tax deductible.

Note: Originally posted at the Let Her Live Blog.

As a pro-life American, the first issue I look at when deciding on a candidate to support is the issue of life. Then I look at many other issues to decide between pro-life candidates. Right now, I'm very concerned about illegal immigration, the war on terror, free speech, and gun rights, to name a few. After those, I'm concerned about taxes, social security reform, and other fiscal issues.

In my last post, I listed the announced Republican presidential candidates that I believe hold a strong, consistent position on protecting life from conception to natural death. I need to add Republican candidate for President Wayne Wilson, who has just joined the race, to that list. From his issues page under the Abortion heading:

Even though our Declaration insures our God-given inalienable right to life, it is obvious we need a Human Life Amendment in the Constitution. I will nominate only pro-life judges and we'll need to elect a pro-life Senate to ratify those nominees, but political power and Supreme Court Justices come and go. The Constitution is much harder to change. Therefore, my long-term commitment is to an amendment.

In the meantime, as soon as I take office I'll turn loose the full weight of the federal bureaucracies against all those who take innocent life. I'll direct OSHA, the FBI, the EPA, and any other agency I can think of to inhibit, regulate, and burden the abortion industry. If the bureaucrats there refuse, I'll fire them and replace them with those who will. They are to serve at the pleasure of the administration.

I will sign any restriction of abortion that crosses my desk.

Wilson is not a career politician. In fact, he's never held public office, but in our climate of entrenched corruption in Washington, perhaps we are ready for an outsider with conservative Christian values that represent American values, not Washington values. Wilson isn't the only candidate counting on that.

It is easy for us to complain about many of our elected officials, and we have that right. It is harder to pick a good candidate, donate to his campaign, and support him all the way. That requires some personal sacrifice. Perhaps that's the reason many of our favorite candidates don't win--we'd rather complain about the bad ones than put good ones in their place.

No matter which of the solidly pro-life candidates you support, let me challenge you to give the largest donation you can afford before the end of the month. On October 15 we will find out how much money the candidates have raised through September 30, and that will be a measure of which candidates are viable. As pro-life people, let's make our voice heard financially.

Wesley Wilson

Wesley Wilson is the President of Let Her Live, a nonprofit dedicated to saving babies by showing the beauty and value of life to women considering abortion. Please learn more about the Let Her Live targeted pro-life billboard campaign. Donations are tax deductible.

Disclaimer: Let Her Live does not endorse or oppose any political candidates, and political views expressed on this blog represent only the personal views of their authors.

Note: Crossposted to the Let Her Live Blog

"By no means is this case over. By no means," said U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle upon rejecting a motion to allowed Planned Parenthood to open its new super-abortion-clinic in Aurora, Ill.

The judge also noted that PPFA was in for a long legal fight, the Associated Press reported, in this case that questions whether the group deceived city officials and citizens of Aurora by filing for building permits under the name Gemini Office Development.

Spokespeople for PPFA offer the lame claim that the questionable paperwork was filed to protect construction workers and others from being harassed by pro-life protesters.

In reality, PPFAers have no one to blame but themselves.

Today, Planned Parenthood has its own bitter pill to swallow because this organization applied the same methods it has long applied to ramming its abortion-friendly agenda down the nation's throat in attempting to force a clinic opening in Aurora.

Now PPFA chokes on this taste of its own medicine.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

One would think that having a miscarriage and choosing an abortion were slightly different forms of the same experience, based on PPFA's online explanation of abortion.

Here's what Planned Parenthood has to say on its website:

Abortion ends a pregnancy before birth. It occurs naturally in 15-40 percent of all established pregnancies -- when an embryo or fetus stops developing and the body expels it. This is called spontaneous abortion, miscarriage, or early pregnancy loss. Women choose abortion in less than 25 percent of the 6,000,000 pregnancies that are diagnosed in the U.S. every year -- 50 percent of which are unintended. This is called induced abortion.

This veteran of a miscarriage at four months lost a baby, not an "it" during my spontaneous abortion.

According to PPFA, women who "choose abortion in less than 25 percent of the 6,000,000 pregnancies that are diagnosed in the U.S. every year" don't appear to lose anyone or anything in those 1.3 to 1.4 million induced abortions.

Not surprisingly, post-abortion grief -- the very thing that some women in both groups, those who miscarry and those who abort pregnancies, have in common is missing from this PPFA sales pitch.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

For those of you who are just becoming familiar, The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice has recently made public a report on what they term "the medical right" which is essentially the scientific counterpart to the religious right. The purpose of the report is

to provide information on how the incorporation of religious views into secular policy and law is limiting medical services.

The report goes on to assert that the views of the "medical right" contradict "accepted medical consensus" and that to the degree in which they have influence should be cause for concern, especially to those who "value scientific integrity."

Equally disturbing is the disregard of the principle of the separation of church and state in the drive to impose sectarian religious tenets on people of all faiths and beliefs. In sum, the Medical Right threatens basic democratic values by its determination to impose its theological views on a religiously pluralistic public.

Also interesting to me about this organization's views about religious perspectives is that they fall into the postmodern quagmire of nothing being true. For them, the highest value is inclusivism at the expense of truth and religious perspectives, including any that they hold including their perspective on secularism, are just their own personal values that cannot be true for everyone. So in a pluralistic, yet democratic society, who decides anything? The last I knew, "we the people" have something to say, so the only way to influence "we the people" against fundamentalist biblical values is to silence the medical right with the doctrine of secularism, slamming them up against the wall of separation - or so to speak.

The National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund will hold its 14th annual Proudly Pro-Life Awards Dinner on Tuesday, October 2, 2007, at 7:00pm at the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel in Washington, D.C. A pre-dinner reception will be held at 6:00pm.

The Proudly Pro-Life Award highlights the diversity of pro-life people and honors those with a long-standing commitment to courageously defend innocent human life. This year, National Right to Life will honor the family of Terri Schindler Schiavo: Robert and Mary Schindler, Bobby Schindler and Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo.

The Schindler family came to national and international prominence in their fight to save their daughter and sister, Terri Schindler Schiavo, from death by starvation and dehydration. Terri died on March 31, 2005, after fourteen days without nutrition and hydration. Since then, the Schindler family has created a foundation to help those, like Terri, who are medically dependent and disabled.

Syndicated talk-show host Mark Larson will serve as emcee. In addition, the evening will feature musical artist Kara Klein. Former U.S. House Majority Leader Hon. Tom DeLay will also deliver brief remarks.

Past honorees include actor, lawyer, and writer Ben Stein; actress Jennifer O'Neil; actress Margaret Colin; Dr. James Dobson, founder and president of Focus on the Family; the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta; and the late Robert Casey, former governor of Pennsylvania; among others. Last year, then-Congressman Henry J. Hyde (R-IL) was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Proceeds from this year's dinner will be used to help fund the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund's continuing educational efforts to change hearts and minds and save lives.

On Tuesday, September 25th, many participants in the local 40 Days for Life project will be gathering at Farragut Square in Washington D.C. for the Kickoff Rally. The rally will be attended by at least 6 D.C. area 40 Days for Life Campaign Directors. Speakers will include Jack Ames from DefendLife.org, Pastor Luke J. Robinson and Norma McCorvey.

The 40 Days for Life Project encourages all Pro-Life people to pray for an end to abortion by joining in 40 days of prayer in front of abortion mills, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

As I watched this Fox News-Chicago video report on the delay in opening the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Aurora, Ill., today, I thought about how PPFA has a lot in common with O.J.

(Hattip: Jill Stanek for Fox News-Chicago report.)

Once football great and later accused murderer O.J. Simpson is back in the news for allegedly barging into a hotel room with gun toting companions to retrieve sports memorabilia that he claims belongs to him. Simpson has been arrested and charged with several felonies. One of his accomplices now claims that Simpson was set up, reports the Associated Press.

In dealing with the press about his latest brush with the law, a confident Simpson comes up with all of the best lines, as the Washington Post's Op-Ed Columnist Eugene Robinson notes.

Like O.J., Planned Parenthood's Steve Trombley speaks to Fox Newsand others with assurance in stating that Aurora's city officials should have known by the design for the facility that it would be an abortion clinic, even though PPFA's paperwork for the city indicated in April that the tenant was "Unknown at this time."

With delusional arrogance, O.J. and PPFA appear to believe that laws which apply to the rest of us do not apply to them.

Getting away with murder could easily have that aftereffect.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

A distraction seemed in order while waiting for word on whether Planned Parenthood's clinic -- the one PPFA tried to slip into Aurora, Ill., under the false names Gemini Office Development and Gemini Health Systems -- will open this week as originally scheduled.

So I went window shopping in Planned Parenthood's online store to check out the new products.

Top on my list of creepy items from America's busiest abortion provider is the "birds & the bees one piece/infant gown" that Planned Parenthood sells for "your favorite baby or toddler."

Nevermind the gift of life.

For older chosen children in the family, PPFA offers a tasteless "School Supply Kit" especially for teens. The clear plastic case features the message "Being a good partner means having the right tools." A ruler inside the case reads "Does Size Matter? Got Questions? Get Answers!"

Voters who wish to wear their commitment to aborting babies on their automobile bumpers will find both "Democrat. Freedom. Choice!" and "Republican. Freedom. Choice!" (Is this second one supposed to be a joke?) bumpers stickers.

A third bumper sticker declares "America Loves [represented by a heart] Plannned Parenthood," which strikes me as delusional. Bet PPFA won't be selling many of those in Aurora, based on the local response to having an abortion clinic open clandestinely in that community.

New T-shirts feature the silly message "I Love [represented by a heart] Women" and the one-word message "Vote."

Plus, there 's a PPFA "Vote" tote.

I'm still trying to find the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's "Aborting Babies is Our Business" product line.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

This information comes from pro-life attorney Tom Brejcha, who just left the hearing:

U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle has denied Planned Parenthood's request for an order that Aurora allow it to open tomorrow.

There is a very short schedule for the next hearing. Each side has 24 hours to file papers to respond. They will be back in court Thursday morning. This hearing will include witnesses if appropriate if either side brings them.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall refused to take the case. She said this wasn't related to the Pro-Life Action League case currently before her. Turns out PP wanted its case to go before Kendall, which was likely a tip-off she may lean in favor of abortion.

This is great news.

With all of the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood's sneaking into Aurora, Illinois to build an abortion mill, things wouldn't seem complete unless Planned Parenthood made some moronic insinuation about coming from pro-lifers.

Sure enough, Planned Parenthood posted an advertisement (posted here by Jill Stanek) in the Aurora Beacon with the words dramatically whispering, "Don't Let the Extremists Deny Vital Health Care to the People of Aurora." (click here for effect). These words were just above a charming picture of the remains of a baby-killing center in Michigan, set ablaze presumably by someone who was tired of babies being killed in their community and who decided to stop it the bad way. The rest of the burnt-down clinic's abortion appointments were canceled for the week, much to the dismay of rapists who needed to scuttle their adolescent victims in for abortions without being ratted on by the Planned Parenthood staff. Grade D s, to be handed out in the community's middle schools that week, had to be imported in from the next town.

This ad annoyed several of the pro-lifers who have spent the past few weeks protesting in front of the Planned Parenthood facility, not to mention any pro-lifer who saw the ad online.

In one of the Aurora city council meetings, attended by people from both "sides", one man told the story of a rabbit who hopped up to the intimidating pro-lifers with (gasp!) PRO-LIFE SIGNS. The nerve! The man said something along the lines of, "If a dumb rabbit is smart enough to know that we're not dangerous, what's with these pro-abortion weirdos?" (OK, maybe I'm paraphrasing just a bit...)

A funny story from Jill:

Commenters were also angry, as I predicted, that PP has now insinuated they are violent. One commenter told officials, "Does this look violent to you? This is what I do." And she marched back and forth in front of the podium with her rosary beads. She talked another minute and said again, "Again, does this look violent to you? This is what I do." And did it again. It was very funny.

The pro-lifers in Aurora have been nothing but peaceful. "The extremists" who want to "deny people services" are protesting two things: 1) that Planned Parenthood sneaked it unlawfully and 2) that babies are being killed in their community. And now, of course, Planned Parenthood has to sue in order to get their way. Who knew that people with signs and rosaries are such a threat?

[Posted at NathanSheets.com and LiveJournal's Awesome Pro-Life Community here.]

The stories of each of the women named in that montage on YouTube come from court documents, medical journal articles, autopsy reports, news stories, and online sources. The dates range from the 19th century to the 21st century. The abortionists were mostly doctors, though a few were lay abortionists, some were posing as physicians, and a few were the woman herself.

The one thing all these storis share is this: Each woman died at the hands of somebody who bought into the idea that women and their unborn children are mortal enemies, and that abortion is a solution to women's problems.

Women deserve better.

To read each woman's story, go to that website and click on her name.

Data on reports of teen STD's from the Centers for Disease Control correlated with information on State laws mandating parental notification and consent for abortion is strong evidence that the laws protect young people.

Read more on the research by Jonathan Klick and Thomas Stratmann, "Abortion Access and Risky Sex Among Teens: Parental Involvement Laws and Sexually Transmitted Diseases" at LifeEthics.

(ARTICLE UPDATED SEPT. 16, 2007)

It depends on what percentage of what financial categories you're using to answer the question.

Also would someone please pass this info on to the good folks fighting this PP clinic in Aurora for me? Thanks.

Since some Planned Parenthood supporters brought this up in their testimony before Aurora's city aldermen council (as seen in JT Eschbach's great videos), I figured I'd jump back in with the analyses we and others did of Planned Parenthood's own Annual Report.

Mind you, I haven't picked apart one of their AR's since the 2004 one, but STOPP does so regularly, and it doesn't change all that much year to year, except to say that most services allowing the ultimate in unfettered personal sexual freedoms keep rising, some astronomically.

Abortions represented between 63.3% and 71% of Planned Parenthood Federation of America's total clinic revenue in 2003-04. And that's a fact straight from their own Annual Report.

Abortions were the end result in 93% of all pregnancies seen by Planned Parenthood.

The number of Morning After Pill Kits sold by PPFA went UP 22.2%, Reversible Contraception for women (birth control, shots, patch, ring, implants, IUD, etc.) went UP 2.2%, and condom use for men went UP 9.1% (reversible contraception, etc.). All these "good health services", according to pro-choice folks, are supposed to reduce the number of and need for abortions. Yet in that same year, at PP, abortions that PP did went UP 6.1%.

AUTHOR's EDIT: I have corrected this post to reflect that I was in fact referring to PP's share of abortions continuing to rise.

The estimates of the number of abortions since 2000 show them remaining extremely level overall in this country. This latest officially-available CDC Abortion Surveillance report was done in 2003. Figure 1 in this document shows that the number of abortions has remained extremely level from the start of 2000 through 2003. Not even estimates exist past 2003.

This PDF file shows figures from both Planned Parenthood's Allan Guttmacher Institute and from the CDC. KEEP IN MIND: all figures from 2001 forward are merely estimates, and note the considerable differences between what the CDC reports and AGI reports.

Pennsylvania pro-lifers who voted for pro-life Democrat Bob Casey, Jr., in the U.S. Senatorial election of 2006 because they were angry with proactive, pro-life Sen. Rick Santorum, take note.

Last week Sen. Bob Casey, Jr., voted in favor of Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D-Calif., rated-100 percent-by-NARAL) amendment that would weaken the Mexico City policy, reports Philadelphia's The Bulletin.

Here's Bulletin reporter Joe Murray's story and his explanation of the Mexico City policy below:

The policy, which was first instigated by President Ronald Regan in the 1980s and later revived by President Bush in 2001, prevents the federal government from earmarking U.S. tax dollars to organizations that perform and/or promote abortions throughout the world. It has long been the target of pro-choice politicians who claim the measure is oppressive.

Casey's win over Santorum, a highly effective former senator and powerful Republican, was a major victory for the Democrats and a major loss for Pennsylvanians -- pro-life and otherwise.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

"New Jersey's Top Court Rejects Suit on Abortion" reported The New York Times today. Here's how the story begins:

NEWARK, Sept. 12 -- Because there is no consensus on the issue of when life begins, a doctor does not have to tell a woman considering an abortion that the procedure would result in % an existing human being," the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting a woman's arguments in a medical malpractice suit.

Before noting in the Roe ruling that "the unborn have never been recognized in the law as persons in the whole sense," Justice Harry Blackmun wrote:

We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a positon to speculate as to the answer.

Like it or not, all Americans must bear it with them.

Some of us -- like Rosa Acuna who lost her lawsuit in New Jersey and wants her lawyer to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case on behalf of the unborn -- bear it better than others.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

Jeff from Chicago Pro-Life Activist has put together two video montages, 4-6 minutes each, of highlights from the Aurora City Council meeting on September 11 concerning Planned Parenthood's attempted sneak into the community.

The montages include testimony from both pro-lifers and pro-aborts. In video II you'll start to hear chatter for and against a parental notification ordinance now being proposed in Aurora, a positive outcome of this mess.

Jeff did a great job pulling from 3 hours of video. You will see that the pro-lifers testifying were articulate, sensible, respectful - and adamant.

New Jersey residents' efforts to pressure their public advocate to ensure that abortion clinics there are regularly inspected by the Health Department were in vain, reports the Associated Press.

(Here's the story as it appeared in Newsday.)

This pressure came after the Health Department shut down two clinics, Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood and Alternatives in Atlantic City, this year. A woman nearly died following an abortion at the first and both centers were found to be filthy.

One would think that abortion advocates who express so much concern for women's "reproductive health" would be the crowd demanding sanitary conditions in Jersey abortion clinics.

Think again. Sales-pitch slogans only go so far.

Pro-life activists pressured the public advocate for a guarantee of clean abortion clinics and aftercare for those who aborted pregnancies at the two dirty facilities closed by the state.

New Jersey right to lifers' concern for "reproductive health" is real.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

"...Help WCS save and change lives"

And not just the unborn ones, either. The women who get help from the likes of Woman's Choice Services avoid the "life after abortion," the "depression after abortion", the "suicide after abortion", the "trouble coping after abortion", for which our After Abortion blog was named.

Regarding this, today, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007, at 7:30 PM, Bishop J. Peter Sartain will celebrate a special Pro-Life Mass with Bishop Roger Kaffer and priests of the Diocese of Joliet, IL. The Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Mercy Parish, at 701 S. Eola Rd, in Aurora. The parish church, located immediately next to Waubonsie Valley High, is just 1.5 miles from the new abortion facility.

Yes, that new abortion facility, the one we've all been hearing and reading about that Planned Parenthood even lied about to town aldermen in order to build it.

First, Jeff at Chicago Pro-Life Activist is preparing a video/photo montage of last night he'll get to us asap. I'll post a few photos now to give you a sense.

Eric Scheidler warned in email updates he had heard Planned Parenthood Chicago CEO Steve Trombley requested (ordered?) Chicago PP personnel to show for this meeting, and they did. Here is the scene that greeted us:

This is my favorite photo from last night, perhaps my favorite ever of Joe Scheidler:

Security was tighter, about double the police as were at the August 28 meeting. No standing room only upstairs this time. People were only allowed up as seats became available.

But while pro-aborts dominated the view outside, inside the ratio was about 2:1 pro-lifers to pro-aborts.

After he complained about the blogs... :), Mayor Weisner read a letter he sent to Trombley that I'm trying to get my hands on. The jist: Do not plan on the clinic opening September 18.

The two aldermen responsible for garnering the independent counsel to evaluate whether PP committed fraud against the city reported he started doing so this week.

One of those two, Alderman Richard Irvin (on our side) read a statement that the City Council's role in this entire matter was not to determine the morality of abortion but whether PP committed fraud. Because of this, he said, he motioned to limit comments to three hours, which was amended to allow Aurora residents to speak first. The motion passed. This worked in our favor, because the bulk of Aurora commenters were pro-life.

There is a brand new wrinkle. Pro-lifers are now pushing for the City Council to pass a parental notification ordinance. Indeed, pro-life attorney Vince Tessitore (featured on the Hannity show) has submitted language to the Council. What a major hoot.

Pro-abort commenters were against that, of course. They also made a few jaw-dropping remarks on abortion, etc., which Jeff will chronicle in his montage.

I spotted the elusive Trombley outside with his ilk. He didn't go upstairs. Donald Trump would have marched in and defended himself, but not so this CEO. For a guy who makes nearly $300,000 a year I'm not impressed. I still wonder if his stupendous gaffe to the Tribune - "Frankly, I'm surprised we were able to keep it a secret for so long" - won't end up his undoing.

Many commenters dwelt on the deception talking point, which is our strongest. Frankly, had PP come in to Aurora following the rules, it would have still incurred all this opposition but maintained substantial legal footing to barge in anyway. But its deception has lost that.

Commenters were also angry, as I predicted, that PP has now insinuated they are violent. One commenter told officials, "Does this look violent to you? This is what I do." And she marched back and forth in front of the podium with her rosary beads. She talked another minute and said again, "Again, does this look violent to you? This is what I do." And did it again. It was very funny. Jeff will show that video clip, I'm sure.

Eric Scheidler gave quite the impassioned speech about PP's accusation that his father Joe advocates violence, providing a three-minute history of the 17-year NOW vs. Scheidler lawsuit and its outcome. It was excellent.

The comment receiving the most applause was by a woman who encouraged the Council to hold its ground, and if and when PP sued Aurora, she and others would help pay legal fees. I know that absolutely to be true. The City would get donations and legal help from pro-lifers all over the country.

ABC and NBC were there. All the pro-abort protesters outside left when they did, as did most inside.

Last week, I detailed how it appears Planned Parenthood mega mills popping up across the country are not happenstance but the culmination of a five-year plan not only to expand, but also exterminate competition....

But pro-lifers interrupted the plan in 2003. Led by concrete contractor Chris Danze, they initiated a boycott of construction workers, equipment and supplies throughout the building of a $6.2 million Planned Parenthood mill in Austin, TX.

The boycott didn't stop construction, but it significantly stalled it, created a lot of bad press for PP and most eye-opening, revealed pro-lifers wield great influence in local communities....

Planned Parenthood's response was in hindsight predictable. PP determined to build its other new mills on the sly. It bought property in Denver, CO, and Aurora, IL, and who knows where else in secret. It got busted in Denver before ground broke, but not in Aurora....

But my, how PP's deception has backfired. No one likes to be scammed. The Aurora community became incensed....

Late last week, a panicked PP took aim at stock targets: Joe Scheidler and Pro-Life Action League, also insinuating that all those protesting the clinic were violent extremists....

Obviously, Planned Parenthood thought this bomb throwing would turn public opinion against those it considersed ringleaders....

But did it really think this tactic would garner sympathizers? ...

Continue reading my column today, "Planned Parenthood bombs itself," on WorldNetDaily.com.

Many have been lulled into thinking that because of the federal ban on funding for fetal stem cell research, it is banned. That's how our media portray it.

However, it is a ban on federal funding only - not on the practice itself.

Corporations are already figuring out ways to make money from this from couples who've undergone IVF - while massaging their consciences so they won't think they're just killing the extra babies they've produced.

The following passages are taken from the first few paragraphs of two pages from a California
corporation called StemLifeLine, located in San Mateo County, California

StemLifeLine is proud to offer a unique service to individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization. Until now, there have been only three options for embryos remaining after individual childbearing needs have been fulfilled. They could be donated to research, given up for "adoption" to other couples or discarded. We provide a fourth option for these embryos which is to generate personal stem cell lines that can one day be used to create personal therapies.

StemLifeLine derives and cryopreserves stem cells from remaining stored embryos. Derivation of stem cell lines from human embryos is a highly sophisticated and delicate process which requires state-of-the-art cell culture facilities and a skilled staff.

GETTING STARTED

Step-by-Step Guide

Getting started is simple. You can begin by speaking with your fertility doctor or clinic, by sending an email to info@stemlifeline.com or by calling (650) 592-STEM (7836). Following is a step-by-step guide of what to expect.

1. Contact your fertility clinic and/or your physician to let them know of your decision to have a personal stem cell line developed from your remaining stored embryos.

If your IVF center does not currently offer our service, please contact us directly via phone or email. We will send you a patient information package and work with your personal physician or fertility clinic to initiate services.

Wander around the StemLifeLine website if you want to get the creeps in the tradition of Hal the Computer's voice in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This terrible scenario is why I am against IVF, period.

There are thousands of embryos in our man-made limbo now, leaving us with a problem. One humane solution is embryo adoption.

On this sad anniversary, here's my "A Prayer for the Nation," first published in the Philadelphia Daily News on September 16, 2001:

While the bagpipes wail in mourning, oh Lord, awaken us from our stupor.

A monstrous evil made itself manifest by converting commercial airplanes bearing human cargo into weapons of destruction. May the blasts that rocked the towers and gave rise to a national river of tears help us to see clearly when the smoke settles.

As we remember the civilian martyrs who died never knowing they bore a cause and grieve with their families and friends, please shake us from our collective American apathy. Renew our respect for the fragility of life.

Remind us of the gifts of freedom we take for granted.

When we weep for fallen firefighters and police officers, release us from our indifference toward those who risk their lives in the line of duty. We need your assistance to recognize sacrifices made by bushels of decent public employees, sacrifices overlooked thanks to rotten behavior by a few bad apples.

Deliver us from cynicism.

While we lament lives lost at the Pentagon, raise our appreciation for the soldiers, sailors and aviators who now prepare for warfare against an illusive enemy. Help us to remember that Memorial Day for past patriots was not exactly a day at the beach, that the cost of war will not be a Veterans Day sale bargain. And God almighty, please keep our protectors safe.

Move us forward in our fight for justice.

May the sneering face of evil that jolted the spirit of America open our eyes to other sins that lurk below society's skin. As we fly our flags proudly, let our reawakened patriotism erase the evil of racism. This descendant of myths created to support the institution of slavery weakens our country's Constitution by dividing us. Let true unity arise from the ashes of tragedy.

Please do not allow our outrage to feed other fires of bigotry. Lead us not into the temptation to imitate our enemies by aiming anger at other innocent targets, Americans or immigrants of Middle Eastern descent. Let there be no discrimination in our compassion.

With hands over our hearts, help us to raise the principle, "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," from a pledge to a reality.

Let not the blood of the innocents and the tears of those left living be shed in vain.

And long after we bury our dead and memorialize the missing, Lord, let us never forget.

Amen

On two separate treks into Manhattan, I came across two AX stores that had questionable window displays.

The first store, which is right across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral, had posters of half naked couples. Not only are the photos suggestive, some had undertones of homosexuality as well. These posters are large and clearly visible to children, churchgoers, and tourists leaving St. Patrick's Cathedral.

I came across the second store this past weekend while riding the "express" bus back to Staten Island. In that store's window display were three male models - with chiseled physiques - wearing nothing but underwear, apparently part of AX's underwear campaign. Not unexpectedly, a large crowd had formed outside of the windows.

It's interesting to see that AX finds their window displays to be appropriate and inoffensive.

Yet, this begs the question, if this is appropriate, is this dress code acceptable at their corporate headquarters? Do vice presidents at AX come to work in nothing but underwear? Do couples frolic in their cubicles half naked? Do the board members of Giorgio Armini Group hold meetings in skivvies and bras?

To be fair, many corporations require their employees to wear formal business attire - so would showing up to Armani staff outings, picnics, family days in underwear be appropriate?

The answer to these questions is undoubtedly "no". So why do the directors of this chain feel it's appropriate to have such photos across the street from the symbolic center of the Catholic faith? Why is it appropriate to have men in underwear standing in store windows, for children to see?

One could argue "Well, when you go to the beach this is what you see" - but St. Patrick's isn't on the beach. And if I recall correctly, the other store I mention is on Broadway. Is it appropriate to simply wear underwear in public in NYC, or anywhere for that matter?

And why the chiseled models? Why not feature fat, hairy, balding old men? Why not feature half naked, extra large women in window displays? Or what about featuring suggestive photos of half naked middle aged couples, with fat bulges and all, in these displays?

I'm not here to argue the merits of modesty or what is inappropriate at the beach. But I do maintain that AX's displays and underwear campaign are unreasonable and offensive. After all, if it's unacceptable to wear nothing but underwear to work at Armani headquarters or staff functions, then it's unacceptable to feature such displays that the general public cannot easily avoid.

(Read the rest of this entry to view photos of the displays.)

The only entity likely happy about the Aurora Planned Parenthood battle is the Aurora Beacon, which is selling a lot of ad space these days.

I was flabbergasted when hearing about the full page ad Planned Parenthood took out today with a large photo of a bombed abortion clinic and again accusing Joe Scheidler and Pro-Life Action League of violence. Steve Trombley obviously took Tom Brejcha's letter to cease and desist as a dare.

(Click to enlarge)

Obviously, PP's goal is to turn public opinion away from what it considers the ringleaders of the movement to keep PP out of Aurora.

I'm biased, but it seems to me this is another colossal bad move on PP's part.

Is this PP's idea of a public relations campaign?

Does PP think this will garner sympathizers who decide, yes, they hadn't thought of it before, but they really want a bomb target next to their Dominicks and Blockbusters?

But the real problem is too many thousands of Aurorans have protested and prayed at the mill. Too many churches are involved. All these people have seen with their own eyes that PP is telling a huge lie about Scheidler and pro-life violence. There are too many videos and photographs and montages and interviews and public testimony of peaceful dissidents.

Further, many of these people have invested in the pro-life movement for the first time in their lives, and Steve Trombley and PP are castigating them when they castigate the "extremists."

Here's a link to the entire ad.

Sean Hannity kicked off football season on "Hannity's America" with hard hitting reporting by Fox News correspondent Ainsley Earhardt. Hannity and Earhardt tackled Planned Parenthood.

Earhardt's expose of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which ran last night on the Fox News program, made this pro-lifer wonder if her imagination had gone wild. Could it be?

Someone was actually telling the truth about PPFA on TV.

If you missed Earhardt's report, it is here on You Tube, courtesy of Jeff from Chicago Pro-Life Activist, or here, courtesy of and hattip to Jill Stanek.

As you watch, pretend that you know little or nothing about our nation's busiest abortion provider. Then think about all of the viewers who might fit this profile and how much they learned about PPFA's sneaky ways.

Next, celebrate.

For this Fox News report is a winner for pro-life activism.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

This is old news to pro-lifers, but with all the attention on Planned Parenthood of Chicago for attempting to slither into Aurora with what it brags will be its largest US abortion mill, the time seems perfect to post audiotapes of the undercover calls Life Dynamics made to Illinois abortion clinics in the spring of 2002.

An LDI activist called over 800 Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation clinics nationwide, posing as a 13-year-old girl impregnated by her 22-year-old boyfriend.

While this is considered statutory rape in all 50 states, over 90% of clinic employees taking the call nationwide offered to conceal the crime.

In IL, all 21 clinics that were called - 100% - offered to aid and abet in the cover-up. Of those, 12 were Planned Parenthood facilities, including all 3 in Chicago.

The calls were made in TX, where it is legal to record phone conversations without the other party knowing. Although these calls are inadmissable in court other than to prove perjury, they demonstrate intent and experience with the scenario.

Listen to the calls for yourself:

Planned Parenthood, Chicago Area

1. Planned Parenthood, Chicago, Halsted St. (5:15)
2. Planned Parenthood, Chicago, LaSalle Drive (3:55)
3. Planned Parenthood, Chicago, Milwaukee Ave. (4:41)

Planned Parenthood, other IL communities

4. Planned Parenthood, Belleville (4:19)
5. Planned Parenthood, Bloomington (3:38)
6. Planned Parenthood, Champaign (5:16)
7. Planned Parenthood, Clinton (4:10)
8. Planned Parenthood, Effingham (3:20)
9. Planned Parenthood, Lincoln (5:20)
10. Planned Parenthood, Ottawa (3:16)
11. Planned Parenthood, Pekin (3:44)
12. Planned Parenthood, Peoria (10:23 - too long to upload)

National Abortion Federation clinics, IL

13. Access Health Center, Downers Grove (6:10)
14. American Women's Medical Center, Chicago (3:34)
15. American Women's Medical Center, Des Plaines (3:29)
16. Family Planning Associates, Chicago-60606 (2:56)
17. Family Planning Associates, Chicago-60630 (4:29)
18. Hope Clinic, Granite City (5:13)
19. National Health Care, Peoria (3:52)
20. Northern IL Women's Center, Rockford (5:50)
21. Women's Aid Clinic, Lincolnwood (3:14)

Per Joe Scheidler's weekly hotline, an August 31 Los Angeles Times story was "[o]ne of the most comprehensive stories to come out of the battle against Planned Parenthood so far." Continued Scheidler:

[Reporter] Stephanie Simon... sees a national protest against Planned Parenthood sweeping the country, from Denver, CO, where a new abortion mill is being built to Aurora, IL, where one already built under fraudulent circumstances is being contested....

Simon relates the seven-hour City Council meeting in Aurora... and she relates that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the nation, with 265,000 abortions done in its facilities annually, and reveals that it receives $300 million annually from the government for its so called "services."

She quotes Steve Trombley of Chicago Planned Parenthood admitting that the Aurora clinic was built under a deceptive name, Gemini Office Development, to mask the fact that it is an abortion mill....

While we don't support everything about her article, it is among the most accurate stories we have seen on Planned Parenthood recently.

Read the article is on page 2.

[Ht: Stanek blog moderator MK; photo courtesy of LAT]

The group Students for Life of America has updated its website just in time for students of higher education who are returning to colleges and universities this fall.

It's worth more than a look.

Formerly known as "American Collegians for Life," SFLA strives to connect and educate collegiate pro-lifers across the nation. Here's how to contact the group for information.

If pro-lifers wish to change hearts and minds about abortion, education is one of the keys.

What better place than on a college campus!

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan

Jeff from Chicago Pro-Life Activist has posted last night's Planned Parenthood segment from Hannity's America on YouTube:

I thought the segment covered a lot of ground in six minutes: Planned Parenthood's fraudulent construction practices, its treatment of aborting mothers as cash cows, and its cover-up of minor rape/incest.

Discuss this segment at www.jillstanek.com.

Let's rumble.

Steve Trombley, CEO of Planned Parenthood Chicago, must retract the "false, libelous and malicious statements" in his letter or face "legal redress," this according to a letter just sent electronically to Trombley by Tom Brejcha, attorney for the Scheidlers and Pro-Life Action League. Brejcha successfully represented PLAL before the US Supreme Court.

The entire letter is on page 2, but here is its bottom line:

Should you not retract your false and libelous assertions against Eric Scheidler, or the Aurora protesters, or Fox Valley Families promptly by follow up letter, or by newspaper advertisement, or by public testimony at Aurora's next council meeting next Tuesday evening, we shall seek legal redress.

Moreover, we shall press Aurora officials to seek redress for your false and misleading statements during the permit process when, as you were quoted in the Chicago Tribune, you took pains to keep your actual plans "secret" for as long as possible. As former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis insisted, "the best disinfectant is sunlight." Those who try to confuse, deceive or mislead public officials must be held accountable.

Note that if you were present at any of the protests, Tom is representing you as well.

This Sunday, Hannity's America on Fox News Channel will feature an investigation of Planned Parenthood. The show will air 8p CST and 11p CST.

The program's impetus was the Aurora situation and the tremendous uprising against it. But also covered will be PP's other dubious activities. In fact, show producers asked pro-lifers providing background info to keep it quiet until a couple days ago so they could do some digging of PP without it knowing.

The segment is supposed to air about 8:30p CST. It will feature one or more of the Scheidlers, and we hear it will also feature Chicago's own Yvonne Florczak-Seeman, who had five abortions and is now pro-life.

This is not Planned Parenthood's week.

[HT: Tom Brejcha, Rock for Life, Eric Scheidler]

From the Aurora Beacon, yesterday:

Responding to criticism by anti-abortion activists and some Aurora aldermen, Planned Parenthood officials on Wednesday said they were truthful with the city about the development approval process for a clinic proposed for the city's far East Side.

Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area, sent a three-page letter to all 12 aldermen and Mayor Tom Weisner in the wake of accusations that the agency defrauded city staff about the women's health center, scheduled to open Sept. 18....

"I'm not sure what he (Trombley) was hoping to accomplish," with the letter, Weisner told The Beacon News.

Well, I am. I have received the full letter and posted it on page 2.

First intent, quoting Trombley's letter:

I want to assure you that Planned Parenthood was open and truthful throughout the extensive permitting process and continues to welcome the cooperation of the City of Aurora.

"Welcome the cooperation"? Doesn't that sound like a veiled lawsuit threat?

Second intent, from Trombley's letter:

The activists of the Pro-Life Action League who have been opposing our new facility are headquartered in Aurora and have a well-documented history of advocating violence against both persons and property as well as other related criminal activity.

We think you will understand the urgency of our concerns when you consider the following facts about the Pro-Life Action League and its leader, Joe Scheidler.

Scheidler (along with a handful of other anti-abortion leaders) formed PLAN - the Pro Life Action Network. Scheidler called PLAN the "pro-life mafia" and proclaimed "a year of pain and fear" for anyone seeking or providing abortion.

After a six-week trial in 1998, a jury in Chicago unanimously found that the Pro-Life Action League Network orchestrated 121 crimes involving acts of threats of force or violence against women's health facilities that offered abortion. These crimes proven at trial included beating a post-operative ovarian surgery patient over the head with a sign, knocking her unconscious and causing her to bleed from the sutures in her abdomen; seizing a clinic administrator by the throat, choking and bruising her; and slamming a clinic staff member and volunteer against the stairs (sending them to a hospital and causing permanent injuries) and destroying medications and equipment. Joe Scheidler personally praised the individuals who carried out some of these misdeeds, even taking credit for them....

Oh, my, if that doesn't scream libel lawsuit, I don't know what does, and a newspaper retraction as well, since it printed the letter. Here, Trombley unmistakably accused Scheidler and PLAL of commandeering violence.

Yet Trombley also unmistakably knows NOW lost that case - with an unprecedented three US Supreme Court rulings against it. He has to know because Planned Parenthood was part of that case, since it was brought on behalf of all US abortion clinics.

And a small sidenote, PLAL is not "headquartered in Aurora." Its office for over 20 years has been in Chicago.

The Chicago Tribune reports today:

The opening of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora likely will be delayed as officials investigate whether the group's occupancy permit application was proper, Mayor Tom Weisner said Thursday.

But PP Chicago CEO Steve Trombley is optimistic that won't happen, anxious for the profitous killing to begin:

Trombley said the group had "no reason to believe that the city will not complete its review by the 18th," adding that it was critical for the clinic to open that day because several patients have scheduled appointments.

But OpenlineBlog is reporting a new investigator has not even been determined yet to complete its "review" (nicely done, Steve). Recall the mayor's first pick was found to have ties to a City Council committee that was part of the investigation. Speaking of the mayor, an inside scoopster tells me one reason he backed off his September 12 deadline was because several blogs featured his videotaped promise to let the investigation run its course. "Weisner... apparently wasn't thrilled... because people were reminding him all Thursday 'you did make a promise.'" That seems to me a good enough reason to rerun that.

MSM/pro-abort politician spin alert, again quoting today's Trib:

City officials said all they knew about the property was it was zoned for a medical building called Gemini Health Center. They have said it is not unusual for a development company to receive permits without the city knowing the tenants.

Actually, Gemini lied on several application forms on that direct question, and Gemini also lied to a City Council member during an official meeting. Review city documents here.

Then there's this, from today's Aurora Beacon Sun:

Weisner said Thursday that his office has written a letter to Planned Parenthood, indicating that the city will not issue a permanent occupancy permit until an independent review of their approval process is completed....

"My intent is to get the facts," he said. "As long as things are moving forthrightly to that end, then the deadline is only important in terms of what Planned Parenthood does or doesn't do."

Planned Parenthood officials did not clarify their options if Sept. 18 passes without an occupancy permit....

Weisner charged the two at-large aldermen, Bob O'Connor and Richard Irvin, with picking a new attorney. However, Irvin calls the deadline he initially gave them - the report was to be in by Sept. 12 - unrealistic.

"I think we should hold true to the promise made that evening," Irvin said. "If the investigation is not complete, we should not issue the occupancy permit, and if we get sued, we get sued."

[HT: OpenlineBlog and Rock for Life]

Truth tossed aside often boomerangs and snaps people out of their stupor. Sometimes it takes activists to raise it. Other times those who suppress truth bring themselves down with their deception.

Jill Stanek's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor to talk about aborted babies being born alive back in September of 2000 -- now posted here via video on Jill's website -- stunned even O'Reilly with truth and surely shocked and educated countless viewers.

More recently, Planned Parenthood revealed a lot about its deceptive nature when it tried to slip a new abortion clinic into the town of Aurora, Ill., under the false name of the cutely dubbed Gemini [in astrology the sign of the Twins] Office Development.

Gemini Office Development's twin, Planned Parenthood of Aurora, has selectively reduced its own reputation with its sneaky ways. Folks who might not otherwise pay attention to the whereabouts of the nation's busiest abortion provider, or be NIMBY about an abortion clinic in their backyards, have noticed just how low PPFA will go to force its way into a neighborhood.

This local Aurora, Ill., story, originally reported by pro-life news outlets and blogs, is picking up steam. (Here are links to coverage by Cybercast News Service, the Pro-Life Actions League, Jill Stanek and ProLifeBlogs.)

One unlikely mainstream media outlet that covered the story was the Los Angeles Times. May there be more.

Pro-lifers can only hope that Planned Parenthood will continue to show its true colors. For the more PPFA exposes itself, the less the general public will trust this devilishly devious outfit.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

Ironies abound in Planned Parenthood's attempt to slip an abortion clinic into Aurora, Ill., by hiding its identity under the false names Gemini Office Development and Gemini Health Systems.

PPFA's choice of Illinois is ironic because one of the most influential national pro-life activists leads the highly effective Pro-Life Action League, which he founded in 1980, in Chicago. If I were trying to sneak an abortion clinic into town, the last person I would want within striking distance is Joe Scheidler.

(Here's how Mr. Scheidler and his Pro-Life Action League are rallying the troops to address PPFA's deception in Aurora.)

There's also irony in PPFA's efforts to keep folks in the dark about opening an abortion clinic in Illinois' second largest city since it is known as the "City of Lights."

And, isn't is ironic that Planned Parenthood tries to bring the darkness of death by abortion to a place that bears the name of the goddess of the dawn in Roman mythology Aurora?

It fits. The dealings of a group that refers to itself as "Planned Parenthood," even as it routinely ends motherhood and fatherhood, are bound to be full of contradictions.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

Emily and Tom Walters* knew they wanted children from the beginning. Before the beginning, actually. "My husband and I started trying to conceive four months before our wedding," recalls Emily. "I knew I could still fit into my dress if I got pregnant that first cycle." Neither one expected to be seeking reproductive assistance after two heartbreaking years of infertility. Emily credits their support group for getting them through two more difficult years, three rounds of IVF, and the eventual birth of their first child five years ago.

Both Emily and Tom were surprised when they conceived their 3-year-old twins and 18-month-old toddler naturally. Although the couple felt their family was complete, they still had nine embryos in cryostorage when they came across the concept of embryo adoption on the Internet. Because destruction was not an option for them, they decided to learn more about the possibility of donating their frozen embryos.

That is when they contacted Embryos Alive, an Ohio-based embryo adoption agency that matches donor embryos with adoptive families across the country. Then they began the process of selecting an adoptive couple. They received several dossiers, which are profiles and pictures compiled by the prospective adoptive parents. For Emily and Tom, their choice centered on finding someone who wanted the best for their children and would do anything for them. "I loved looking at all the family pictures and reading about their lives," says Emily. "I loved picturing the potential mothers waddling about in the ninth month of pregnancy so excited."

Hey, she stole our line.

A couple hours ago Planned Parenthood prez Cecile Richards sent the following email to her list, acknowledging Aurora as "ground zero" in the war over abortion, just a few days behind Eric Scheidler. At least we agree.

By this PP is obviously acknowledging that the situation in Aurora has escalated beyond a local skirmish into a major battle. Hooah. Apparently, Chicago PP CEO Steve Trombley is a girly-man general who can no longer handle the situation and may also have majorly miscalculated by concealing the clinic's intended occupants a little too long.

Pro-aborts can't scrape up bodies to show support? Pay $$ for a ribbon. PP can plaster thousands for just a few bucks. What a great money making scheme to boot.

Recall the photo montage I posted of moms, dads, children, and grandparents at the August 25 protest. According to PP, they represented the "anti-choice fringe." Such liars. And no mention of PP's alleged fraud. Of course, I'm not surprised.

Here's the text of the letter with the actual next to it. (Click that to enlarge.)

Dear ,

Something amazing is happening. Right now, this very moment.

Ground zero in the fight for women's access to reproductive health care just landed in a town in the middle of America.

Aurora, Illinois.

Aurora's not really a town. It's a fast-growing city outside Chicago where Planned Parenthood just built a large clinic. And ten days ago, the usual suspects in the anti-choice fringe showed up in droves - and by droves, I mean more people are protesting this clinic than we've seen for a long time.

That's why we need your help. Today. Right now. We're getting ready to open the clinic soon and we need your support - your support of Planned Parenthood and the clinic, and your support of the women of Aurora. From wherever you live, and with whatever time you have - you can help.

To be honest, it's going to take all of our efforts to open this clinic. When the leaders of national groups like Operation Rescue and the Pro-Life Action League showed up and positioned the battle in Aurora as a top priority, we couldn't just fight back. We knew we had to take this battle into our own hands - and into YOUR own hands - by opening with more warmth, more strength, and more solidarity with supporters than ever before.

You see, what's happening in Aurora isn't just some isolated incident. What's happening in Aurora today is what's happening in America. It's not a war on a clinic - it's a war on women's access to needed health care - in Aurora, and across our country.

Planned Parenthood is showing up for this fight. I hope you will, too.

And PP thought the Aurora mill needed some PR so is showcasing a very nice artist's rendering, not the actual site, on its homepage. Click to enlarge:

I obviously don't have the cutthroat business drive that Planned Parenthood executives have. Few do.

So I couldn't understand why PP was erecting its huge Aurora, IL, abortion mill in DuPage County, which was already disgraced by four independent mills, while neighboring, baby-booming Chicago collar counties remained abortion free.

But it hit me when listening to one of 124 citizens speak against the Aurora mill during the 7-1/2 hour city council meeting last week.

This person told council members their accountability reached beyond Aurora, since PP would feed mothers and children to this mill from PP expresses in neighboring communities.

Of course, I realized. Master plan. My mind began defragging random newspaper clippings and dates it had stored....

Master plan. Build satellites first. Then build the anti-mother ship. Then zap the competition to pieces, like a D&E abortion....

Planned Parenthood, the Wal-Mart of the abortion industry....

Who will rescue these poor mom-and-pop chop shops from the savage Planned Parenthood abortion cartel?

Continue reading my column today, "Planned Parenthood aims at mom and pop chop shops", on WorldNetDaily.com.

A chance encounter with a stranger highlighted my Labor Day.

Hers was the face of absolute innocence and unconditional love. I met this joyful teen after her parents had helped her to mount a rented bicycle in a New Jersey seaside town.

"Looks like you're all set," I said to the young lady with Down Syndrome as she settled into her bike seat. She grinned sweetly, threw her arms wide open and gave me not one, but two bear hugs while her mother guided her in speaking to me.

Then we said our goodbyes-and-have-funs and I nodded to the couple whose love for this child spilled all over the sidewalk.

If only every child knew such love.

(c) 2007 Marybeth T. Hagan
Crossposting with http://www.mothermayibeborn.com

From Eric Scheidler, hot off the press:

I've just gotten word that Fox News Channel (national) is going to be out at the Planned Parenthood site between 2 and 3 p.m. today.

They're interested in what we're doing here, and they're in the Chicago area all day conducting interviews on the Planned Parenthood situation.

So if you can make it, come out to the Vigil site at 2 o'clock to help show how broad the opposition to Planned Parenthood is. There's even a chance - if you're willing - that they might interview YOU.

If this story gets out on a national outlet like Fox News Channel, it could be a huge breakthrough for us.

Aurora, Illinois is becoming GROUND ZERO in the fight against Planned Parenthood. Thanks to us, America is beginning to learn their truly sinister nature.

Hope to see you out there today!

September the 7th is the next Call For Life day at MonthlyCallForLife.com. Every month on the first Friday we Email and/or call our representatives to let them know that we want them to end abortion and stop human killing research.

Over 3,000 human beings will be killed by abortion today and every day. Please, do just a little bit more to help save them. It only takes a few minutes of your time.

Also, join us at the abortion mills on the first Saturday following the first Friday. You will be on the front lines of this battle against abortion. We pray, counsel and walk in front of the abortion mills to discourage women from having abortions. We are not violent or angry. The women going in for abortions need our help, they need our presence. The people who won't live that day need our presence and our prayers.

MonthlyCallForLife.com - The only nationwide monthly Pro-Life action Call

United we stand - Divided they die - Pass it on

A letter of invitation was sent June 4 from national pro-family leaders to both the Republican and Democrats running for president. While it seems everyone is clamoring for the same date, Sept. 17, the good news is that seven out of 10 of the Republican candidates have already confirmed their attendance to speak on that date to the most essential constituency: the values voters.

So far, six Republicans (Huckabee, Brownback, Hunter, Paul, Tancredo, and Cox) have rightly chosen to attend the event where they will hear from the base of their party. Please call or email the remaining four who haven't said they'd participate, to ask them to do so...