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American Life League
Volume 6, Number 33 Monday, August 31, 2009
Pro-Life Memorial Day
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States decriminalized the act of abortion through its rulings in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Since then, more than 51 million children have been “legally” killed in their mothers’ wombs.
The Supreme Court will begin its next session on Monday, October 5. As such, American Life League has come to believe that it is also fitting to mark this day, the first Monday in October, as one on which to remember those lives lost.
Over the years, many events have been established to draw pro-lifers together and to publicly proclaim our message to specific individuals. The March for Life in January marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and is an effort to let our elected officials in Congress know that we have not forgotten this shameful decision.
The Day of the Unborn on March 25 reminds us of the personhood of the pre-born from the first moment of their creation.
The Life Chain and various Respect Life activities remind us of the humanity of the pre-born and our need to protect them.
ALL’s Rock for Life established National Pro-Life T-shirt Day in April as a means for youth throughout the country to proclaim the pro-life message.
But, as many pro-life advocates noted, there had not been an entire day set aside to simply memorialize those children who have died.
This year, American Life League is coordinating the fifth annual Pro-life Memorial Day. It is the proper day for us to pause, look back and unite America’s pro-life movement with a special day of observance devoted to the memory of those babies. PLMD is a day to pray that God will inspire the Court in its new term to stop the slaughter it began.
We are asking each and every Associate group to lend its personal support and public voice to PLMD.
We encourage you to plan appropriate activities on a local level — consider prayer vigils and memorial services at local abortion mills (particularly Planned Parenthood facilities) and local courthouses. This will be a rare opportunity for you to do something in your own neighborhood that will be part of a nationwide effort to remember the babies.
In order to assist you with your local activities, American Life League has designed a new PLMD flyer and T-shirt, as well as posters, postcards, web banners and icons — all of which can be used by pro-lifers across the nation as we gather in solidarity to commemorate the pre-born victims of abortion.
Visit the website at www.ProLifeMemorialDay.com and if you need further assistance, let us know!
Tip of the Month – Population
From Handbook on Population by Robert Sassone
World population growth is caused by more people being born than are dying. Before 1800, there was slow population growth with high birth rates but also high death rates. After 1800, the death rate declined and people lived longer in more developed countries. After about 1945, the technologies that had previously helped people in the developed countries (like antibiotics and DDT) spread throughout the world helping people on all of the continents to live longer. Even though fertility (the average number of children born to each woman) declined, substantial population growth occurred due to the greater number of older people. Population growth peaked about 1979 then grew at a lesser rate as fertility continued to decline.
Substantial population decline usually follows a fertility decline that has fallen below replacement level by about twenty to thirty years. That is the time it takes for the earlier fertility decline to substantially reduce the number of women of child bearing years in the next generation. Replacement level is 2.1 children born per woman, so that the average woman has one daughter.
Fertility in developed countries began to fall around 1960 and fell below replacement level about 1975. Births in the developed countries began declining about 1965 and throughout the world about 1985.
Every two years, the UN Population Division publishes World Population Prospects which projects population levels throughout the world in the coming years. During the early 1990’s, the UNPD assumed that the fertility rate in countries having below replacement fertility rates would somehow increase them. This has not happened.
There are about 25 factors that substantially influence fertility rates. During recent decades, each and every one of these factors has acted to reduce fertility rates.
Some of the factors caused by modern life that reduce fertility include:
• Urbanization – children cannot work at early ages and do not make the family more prosperous as they would in the countryside, so the fertility rate declines.
• Female education – women who pursue advanced education have their first child at an older age and, because of competing priorities, have fewer children after beginning child bearing. Additionally, a higher percentage of more educated women never marry.
• Lower child mortality – in most countries, there is no old age income so most elderly must be supported by their children, typically sons. To ensure that one has a son who survives, it is prudent to actually have two or three. As child mortality declines, it becomes less necessary to have several sons.
• Female job opportunities outside the home – women employed outside the home tend to have responsibilities, opportunities and distractions that decrease factors that might otherwise lead them to have more children.
• A desire for more material things – more people opt for the material rewards that more money brings instead of the non-material and emotional rewards of parenthood.
• Government programs – many developing country governments act to reduce births because of a fear of runaway population growth or pressure from the World Bank, UN agencies (UNFPA), the US Government, well-funded pressure groups such as Planned Parenthood, media manipulation and others.
Despite having spent billions of dollars in research, studies, subsidies to parents and even legislation, no country has been unable to increase its fertility permanently to replacement level. These massive failed efforts show that, at the present time, it is either impossible to increase fertility back to replacement level or that we do not know how.
The new UNPD system of projecting has reduced the world population projection for the year 2050 by about 400 million people.
Next month: Species extinction
News
American health care reform - A good end does not justify evil means
All persons of good will need to understand the clear and present danger with which the U.S. is being menaced by the health reform proposed by the Obama Administration. Abortion will be multiplied, the U.S. will move ahead on the road towards euthanasia, conscience rights will be in jeopardy.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082007.html
Mom undergoes cancer treatment of pelvic region while pregnant
When Sarah Joanis found out she was pregnant, she was so thrilled. Three months later, however, Sarah and her husband Kevin received another shock: Her ovarian cancer had returned.
http://www.heraldonline.com/412/story/1553404.html
Obama Administration promotes "death book" for veterans
Americans worried about President Barack Obama's health care reforms turning into "death panels" have a new cause for concern: the Obama Administration has mandated that government-run Veterans Affairs hospitals give their patients a handbook on advanced directives including "end-of-life counseling" created by advocates for legal euthanasia.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082411.html
Controversy surrounds veterans booklet on end-of-life issues
A booklet from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on end-of-life issues asks its veterans to consider under what circumstances their life might not be “worth living.” One critic says the booklet is “guilt inducing” and sends a “hurry-up-and-die” message, while a U.S. Senator has called for hearings on its contents.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=97198
Patient No. 1: Alexandria man first to receive new stem cell heart treatment in U.S
The researchers took Clegg's own stem cells and injected them directly into targeted places in his heart muscle to see if his condition could be slowed, stopped or perhaps reversed. The procedure had been performed a few times in Germany and other areas, but the Food and Drug Administration had only recently allowed U.S. researchers to try the experimental methods on patients in the U.S.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090825/LIFESTYLE/908250302
Suit filed in federal court against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to stop federal funding of research involving the destruction of living human embryos
A lawsuit filed last week in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeks to enjoin and overturn the controversial guidelines for public funding of embryonic stem cell research that the National Institutes of Health issued on July 7, 2009.
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/4728311288.html
HPV vaccine - What parents need to know
The highly-promoted, so-called breakthrough vaccine that was recommended for all girls and given to numerous children and teens to prevent possible future cases of cervical cancer, is related to "adverse events" experienced by thousands of girls after taking the vaccine.
http://townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2009/08/25/hpv_vaccine_-_what_parents_need_to_know
Closing Thought
“Each Christian has to put aside any fears of ‘rocking the boat’ should his upright conduct provoke criticism or rejection. Whoever out of human respect would hide his Christian identity in the midst of a pagan environment would merit this denunciation of Jesus: ‘Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.’ (Matthew 10:32) Our Lord teaches us that confessing our faith is a requirement for being his disciple, no matter what the consequences may be.”
In Conversation with God, 4:269
Volume 6, Number 32 Monday, August 24, 2009
American Life League
Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to our Associate Program, St. Lucie Catholic Church Teens for Life!
Teens for Life is actually a part of the youth ministry at St. Lucie Catholic Church, which is open to all teens, but this particular group has a specific mission: to be educated further in the Catholic faith, especially concerning the Gospel of Life, and to lead others, especially their peers, in pro-life messages within their families, church and community.
Teens for Life attends diocesan-sponsored prayer services and conferences, updates groups within the parish on pro-life issues, attends the March for Life, participates in local parish life chains, keeps current on legislative activity, makes local representatives aware of pro-life issues and attends special meetings with guest speakers. You can view the Teens for Life website at http://www.stlucie.cc/index.cfm?page=Teens_for_Life.
We look forward to working with Teens for Life in their future endeavors!
Tip of the month – Parent Power
From Parent Power!! By Jim Sedlak
Last month we began a look at the basic philosophies of Planned Parenthood as they relate to the subjects taught in typical Family Life Education programs. Our source for determining these philosophies is a book entitled How to Talk with Your Child About Sexuality which was written by Faye Wattleton while she was president of Planned Parenthood (Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York; copyright 1986 Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.).
As previously noted, the stated intent of this book (page 5) is to provide parents with information on the subject of sexuality so that parents can become “the best source” of information for their children. The book then proceeds to offer information on a variety topics concerning sexuality. Of particular interest is some of the information provided in Chapter 7, “The Top Seven Questions.”
In addition to puberty, intercourse and pregnancy which we discussed earlier, no sane person would expect Planned Parenthood to write a book about sexuality without a strong pitch for birth control. After all, it is their main business. The title of this section of the book is very revealing, however, because the chief aim of Planned Parenthood is to control births, not prevent pregnancies. This is illustrated on page 180 of the Appendix where abortion is listed along with the IUD, the pill and other forms of birth control as a method of “fertility control.” The book strongly recommends that parents talk to their teenagers and help them acquire birth control devices.
Planned Parenthood gives lip service to the real problem of sending confusing messages to the children. The confusing message comes from saying that they should not engage in sexual intercourse but then giving them birth control devices “in case they do.”
Planned Parenthood always rejects any discussion of morals and you will find none in this book. God is never mentioned and religious values are only given passing mention on the way to making Planned Parenthood’s own case. On page 86, the reader will find the following statement:
“If parents do not want their children to become pregnant or to make someone pregnant while they are teenagers, they must give them information about contraception and, by so doing, give them permission to use it when they have sex.”
Notice, it’s not “if” they have sex, but “when” they have sex. This illustrates the basic philosophy of Planned Parenthood, which is that all kids are going to have sex anyway, so we might as well accept that fact and stop them from getting pregnant. According to Planned Parenthood, it’s getting pregnant that is the major problem, not engaging in promiscuous sexual behavior at 15 years of age!
Another of Planned Parenthood’s “Top Seven” involves sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This section of the book gives a basic description of STDs and some of the effects. Along with the appendix, it contains some good scientific information on the diseases. Not once in this section, however, is it ever mentioned that the existence of STDs and their prevalence among sexually active teens is a strong case for remaining chaste. Parents are not encouraged to use this information in an attempt to dissuade their teens from having sex. Rather, parents are encouraged to talk about STDs with their kids and to let them know that “it is easy to get medical treatment for STDs.”
What does one expect from an organization that makes a great deal of money from the sale of birth control devices – and from an organization whose president was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in 1987 as stating that Planned Parenthood “will not be an organization that promotes chastity”?
It is not in Planned Parenthood’s financial interest to encourage children not to have sex and this is seen repeatedly throughout all of its programs. As soon as the general public grasps this one fact, Planned Parenthood’s days will be numbered.
And that is why we fight …
Next month: School Districts 4 and 5
News
The Pill and the debt
It was probably a Freudian slip. "The separation of procreation from sexual intercourse is the root cause of all sexual perversions." Sigmund Freud said that over 100 years ago. No one appeared to take much notice. A fellow by the name of Montini said pretty much the same thing about 60 years later; this time the whole world took note. He was thoroughly excoriated. His problem was he was Pope at the time.
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gail/090815
Study finds injectable contraceptive leads to obesity
A study by doctors at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive Depo-Provera experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping use.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081206.html
Pushing contraception on children
Planned Parenthood wants wide availability of contraception for underage children in Montana. A bill to grant carte blanche to teenagers failed in the last session of the Montana state legislature. But Planned Parenthood is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program, which supposedly prohibits coverage of prescriptions of birth control.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=639714
Health care reform would allow Planned Parenthood clinics in schools
A measure in President Barack Obama's health care plan could allow for special interest groups like Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion services provider, to operate health care clinics, at taxpayer expense, inside America's public schools.
http://www.examiner.com/x-11483-Dallas-Republican-Examiner~y2009m8d15-Health-Care-Reform-Would-Allow-Planned-Parenthood-Clinics-in-Schools
UN health data show liberal abortion laws lead to greater maternal death
The world's largest abortion provider, International Planned Parenthood Federation, has recently acknowledged an alarming "surge" in maternal deaths in South Africa, challenging the pro-abortion mantra that liberal abortion laws decrease maternal mortality.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081310.html
Overpopulation myth overblown
Population Research Institute has posted a new video to expose the myth of overpopulation. It is called Overpopulation: The Making of a Myth. Joseph Powell is the creator of the first episode in the mini-cartoon series to deal with the Malthus theory that the planet will become so overpopulated that people will starve and resort to cannibalism.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638610
Closing Thought
“It will never be prudent to keep quiet when keeping quiet may cause scandal or confusion, or when such behavior may have an adverse effect on the faith of others.”
In Conversation with God, Vol. 4, p. 113
Pro-Life Today | 20 August 2009
HEADLINES
Obama Calls Abortion Funding in Healthcare Legislation a 'Fabrication'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082002.html
Life Site News
In a conference call with faith leaders yesterday, President Obama said it was a "fabrication" and "untrue" that his health care legislation involved "government funding of abortions." But pro-life leaders immediately responded to the president's statement, pointing out that it simply does not align with the facts of the House bill's content.
Poll: Majority of Americans Believe Obama Health Care Would Cover Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081906.html
Life Site News
As the health care debate has heated up around the country, a large coalition of pro-life and religious organizations have stepped up their efforts to inform the public of the dangers of provisions in the Obama health care reform plan that would federally fund abortion. And it appears their efforts are working.
Statewide Campaign Against Tax-Funded Abortion Launched in California
http://www.dfwcatholic.org/statewide-campaign-against-tax-funded-abortion-launched-in-california6213/.html
DFW Catholic
Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust announced they will be organizing with pro-lifers throughout California to campaign against tax-funded abortion in Obama’s Healthcare Reform bill. The campaign, which starts Thursday, Aug. 20th, will feature demonstrations and protests in cities across California, asking elected officials to guarantee that tax-funded abortion will specifically be excluded from the bill. Currently the Healthcare Reform bill includes wording that will allow for tax money to pay for abortion as “reproductive care.â€
The Gloves are Off: Planned Parenthood President Slams U.S. Bishops on Abortion, Health Care
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081910.html
Life Site News
The president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, has penned a scathing editorial, published today in the Huffington Post, in which she sets her sights on the U.S. Catholic bishops, slamming them for their opposition to the abortion mandate in the Obama health care bill, and to abortion in general. Richards accuse[s] the bishops of endangering "millions" of women's lives around the globe with their "hard-line opposition to women's rights." "The effort to criminalize access to safe abortion endangers most women in the developing world -- the very women that you would think the bishops would be concerned about," says Richards.
For more headline news, click here for ALL's Daily News Summary.
FEATURE STORY
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR ISN'T ENOUGH!
By Judie Brown
Mary Poppins A Spoonful of Sugar was such a hit with my kids when they were little because it was fun to clean up toys while singing it. The line “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down makes a lot of sense when children are busy with an I don't wanna do this task.
But when it comes to Obamacare, I'm afraid a 10-pound bag full of sugar isn't really going to matter. As Launcelot said in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Truth will out! It always does. And in this case, despite the denials and personal attacks on upstanding Americans such as Sarah Palin, the truth is getting out, and then some.
Obamacare's Trojan horse, known in some circles, as the “death panel provision, is Obama's Achilles heel. Even though those pesky “death panel discussions have taken a turn, not all of us are convinced. Some Americans actually think that just because the Senate has announced that the panels are coming out of its version of Obamacare, we should all heave a sigh of relief and go on about our business. After all, folks, they would argue, don't we all know how sincerely these men and women in the U.S. Congress care about the views of average Americans like you and me and how they are always looking out for us? Well …
For those of us who live in the real world, the news out of Washington that those panels are allegedly gone is nothing to get excited about. What the Senate took out is a reference to advance care planning consultations. The Senate has not removed references to the Independent Medicare Advisory Commission, nor has it finalized any piece of legislation. As we have learned over the years, what was there yesterday and appears to be gone today could come back in a different form tomorrow. It's sort of like a chameleon; the lizard changes color to adapt to its surroundings.
But there's a little more to this story than a Sarah Palin versus Barack Obama debate. As Palin wrote on her Facebook page,
The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.
Sowell, to whom Palin refers, is a wise man who opined,
An old advertising slogan said, "Progress is our most important product." With politicians, confusion is their most important product. They confuse bringing down the price of medical care with bringing down the cost. And they confuse medical care with health care.
Nothing is easier than for governments to impose price controls. They have been doing this, off and on, for thousands of years – repeatedly resulting in (1) shortages, (2) quality deterioration and (3) black markets. Why would anyone want any of those things when it comes to medical care?
And this is precisely where Palin is going with her reference to “death panels and the vulnerable. She had and still has every reason to bring this subject to the public's attention. For those who doubt the veracity of it, just feast your doubting eyeballs on this little tidbit, which is reported on the Compassion & Choices (formerly the Hemlock Society) web site:
Compassion & Choices has worked tirelessly with supportive members of congress [sic] to include in proposed reform legislation a provision requiring Medicare to cover patient consultation with their doctors about end-of-life choice. (emphasis added)
It is clear that Compassion & Choices would approve “death panels, as well as physician-assisted suicide or any other measure that would cut costs. Why not? Its business is helping people die.
So, was it a coincidence that the day after the Family Research Council pointed this out in a Washington Update segment appropriately entitled “Political Suicide? the Senate Finance Committee removed the “death panel provision? Or was it a ploy? While we are grateful to Tony Perkins and his wonderful staff at FRC, we are not convinced that the Senate, or for that matter, the White House, is sincere in any promise they make to the American public on the delicate subject of health care whether the question at hand is abortion, euthanasia or anything else having to do with respect for the dignity of the human person.
But don't take my word for it. Just yesterday, the Washington Times published an article written by attorney Robert W. Painter, who handles medical malpractice matters and testified before the Texas legislature on that state's Advance Directives Act of 1999. In Death Panels exist already, Painter writes about what has occurred as a direct result of the Act becoming law. And he warns that what has happened in Texas is a harbinger of what could happen nationwide if the Obama proposal moves forward. The results in Texas have been devastating for families.
The end-of-life provisions of the Obama health care plan would upset the balance of power in health care decision-making in favor of doctors and hospitals and against individuals and families. The federal legislation provides an economic incentive for doctors and hospital administrators to use Medicare funds to start hastening certain patient deaths a bit sooner under existing state laws. In Texas, that balance already is tipped in favor of the health care providers, and the proposed federal legislation would only make matters worse by placing more Medicare dollars on that side of the scale.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, is rightly concerned that the end-of-life provisions in the proposed federal law could be "misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly." Federal lawmakers interested in protecting individual and patient rights need to study carefully the end-of-life provisions with the understanding that the law will be implemented in health care settings governed under 50 different sets of state law.
Admittedly, the warning of "death panels" is a shocking claim. But when I inform people of the effect of the Texas law and how it has trampled on individual rights, they are understandably shocked. If the Texas Advance Directives Act has shown us anything, it is that governments should leave end-of-life decisions to patients and their families.
It occurs to me that President Obama's rush to impose his prescription for health care reform on the nation is riddled through and through with problems. But at the core of it all, the real question is why should the federal government be regulating medical practices as a way of cutting costs?
If the entire purpose of health care reform is to save money, we’d better be more than vigilant. A spoon full of sugar is one thing, but Conium maculatum (poison hemlock) is quite another.
Pro-Life Today | 19 August 2009
HEADLINES
Anti-abortion Protesters Plan Shock and Awe Campaign
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=253614
Telegraph Herald
Planned Parenthood's opponents mark the organization's 1-year anniversary in Dubuque by pledging to ramp up efforts to drive the organization out of the city. I want Planned Parenthood to not know what's coming next, said Steven Brody, executive director of Dubuque County Right to Life (an American Life League Associate group).
Nebraska Launches Investigation Into Carhart's Abortion Business
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081802.html
Life Site News
Operation Rescue has received written confirmation from the Nebraska Attorney General's office that a request for a comprehensive investigation into late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart's abortion business has been directed to the Nebraska Department of Health and Environment. The investigation will be monitored by the Attorney General's office.
Abortion Expansion Stopped in Knoxville
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5940511275.html
Christian News Wire
The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) is pleased to report that the proposed relocation and expansion of Planned Parenthood's (PP's) abortion business in Knoxville has been stopped. For now.
For more headline news, click here for ALL's Daily News Summary.
FEATURE STORY
COLLISION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
By Judie Brown
In June, Terry O'Neill was elected president of the National Organization for Women at its annual conference. A discussion about conscience clauses then took center stage. The subject came up in the context of health care workers who refuse to provide contraceptive information or services based on moral or religious grounds.
O'Neill said, "Conscience clauses, where pharmacists refuse birth control sales because it's against their conscience, must go. Guess what? Women have a constitutional right to birth control," adding, "There is no constitutional right to be a pharmacist" (Jacobs, Indianapolis Star, 6/21).
Perhaps O'Neill's invective sounds a bit ridiculous to you. Upon closer scrutiny, the statement appears to reflect the overriding attitude of not only NOW's current president, but perhaps entities as far reaching as the White House itself. It is quite possible that what was once perceived to be protected by the Constitution of this nation may not be what is actually recognized by the current political power structure.
A situation in North Carolina, which involves a constitutional right to religious freedom, provokes my opinion on this critical matter.
The news reports are quite clear on exactly what happened at Belmont Abbey, a Catholic college in North Carolina. The college has been warned by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that if the administration doesn't stop discriminating against female employees by denying contraceptive benefits in the colleges health coverage plan, the EEOC will take them to court!
Contraception, abortion and voluntary sterilization came off Belmont Abbey College's faculty health care policy in December 2007 after a faculty member discovered that coverage, according to an e-mail Belmont Abbey College President Bill Thierfelder sent to school staff, students, alumni and friends of the college, the Gaston Gazette reported.
In a subsequent exclusive interview with Thierfelder, LifeSiteNews.com reported that "officials at the Charlotte division of the EEOC told him that a decision to close a discrimination complaint against the school for failing to offer contraception coverage was reversed after the matter went to the nation's capital.
Sound like a strong-arm tactic? Well, read on!
"From a religious freedom standpoint, you don't have religious freedom," he said. Thierfelder stressed, however, that the college has "gotten a lot of support from people who are not Catholic, and who may not share our beliefs on abortion, sterilization, contraception they see the principle and what they're saying is, 'Belmont Abbey College is not trying to tell anybody what they have to do, it's just saying what Belmont Abbey College will do.' And I think that's an important distinction."
"To try to make us change [our beliefs], there's something very wrong with that," he continued. "And I think that's why this has garnered so much attention, and especially with the health care debates that are going on right now, and with all the things that are going on with Catholic hospitals ... what they are basically saying is, if you're Catholic, or if you are of any faith, it doesn't mean anything. You're going to do what the government tells you to do."
Thierfelder acknowledged that the fight could go to the courts, and emphasized that BAC officials were united in maintaining fidelity to Catholic Church teaching against pressure from the government.
"All of us need to have moral courage in today's world," he said. "We are so resolute in our commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church that there is no possible way we would ever deviate from it, and if it came down to it ... we would close the school rather than give in.
"So it is absolutely, unequivocally impossible for us to go against the teachings of the Catholic Church in any way. There is no form of compromise that is possible."
American Life League applauds BAC's courageous defense of Catholic moral teaching and proper Catholic medical ethics. We also understand what is at stake if the Obama administration presses forward with this overt act of intimidation.
It is obvious to us, when one considers O'Neill's version of the Constitution versus that of Catholic/Christian pharmacists, health care workers and BAC administration officials, that something is incredibly askew. While it may be that the Constitution of the United States has a very large number of interpretations depending on whose ox is being gored, the Constitution is not an elastic document.
Obama has said he will respect health care workers rights of conscience. But look at what is happening at BAC under his administration!
Obama has also said that his health care reform proposals would not force anyone into a particular situation. But look at what is being attempted here.
NOW's O'Neill may, in a very perverted sense, have hit the nail on the head, even though a careful reading of the Constitution would deny that this is so.
For those who need a refresher course, the First Amendment of the Constitution reads as follows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Taken at face value, this amendment should protect not only the policies in force at BAC with regard to the removal of contraceptive coverage from the employee health insurance policy, but it should also protect the rights of those who are opposed to government policies that violate their religious beliefs or otherwise impose untenable requirements on their right of conscience.
As law professor Lynn D. Wardle pointed out in congressional testimony a few years ago, “Protection for rights of conscience underlie and historically preceded the First Amendment. In June, 1776, even before the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Declaration of Rights provided, inter alia, that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience."
By the same token, there is no place in the Constitution where one can legitimately find a right to contraception or to aborting a child. As constitutional expert Mark Levin has written,
In order to strike down the Connecticut law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives, Douglas wrote that specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance.
Don't be embarrassed if you don't know what emanations from penumbras are. Young lawyers across America had to pull out their dictionaries when reading Griswold for the first time. A penumbra is an astronomical term describing the partial shadow in an eclipse or the edge of a sunspot and it is another way to describe something unclear or uncertain. Emanation is a scientific term for gas made from radioactive decay it also means an emission.
Douglas's decision not only found a right to privacy in a penumbra of an emanation, it manipulated the facts of the case: Estelle Griswold, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and Dr. C. Lee Buxton, the group's medical director, gave information and prescribed birth control to a married couple. Griswold and Buxton, not the married couple, were later convicted and fined $100 each. The relationship at issue, then, was doctor-patient, not husband-wife. Yet Douglas framed his opinion around a presumed right to marital privacy. He expounded at length about the sanctity of marriage but used vague phrasing to describe the rights at issue, never explicitly stating that married couples have a right to use contraceptives. He even raised the ugly specter of sex police, though no police had intruded into anyone's bedroom. “Would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of marital bedrooms for telltale signs of the use of contraceptives? This little phrase has been used as holy writ by judicial activists ever since to further expand the right to privacy in a variety of areas, including abortion and sodomy
The Constitution does, in clear and undeniably concise language, protect freedoms that you and I and millions of Americans hold dear and, until recently, took for granted. No longer!
This is indeed a grave situation. Clearly the politics of constitutional rights have turned the founding document of this republic on its ear. What was once wrong is now a right, and what was always legitimately part of our national heritage is now under siege.
Such contradiction forces me to make but one assumption: If you don't play ball with the Obama administration, there could be a price to pay, especially if you are a Catholic entity with every desire to serve Christ and His Church first and foremost.
Please write or call Belmont Abbey College President Bill Thierfelder and express your support for his courageous position:
William Thierfelder, President
Belmont Abbey College
100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Rd
Belmont, NC 28012
Call toll-free: (888) 222-0110
Please write or call the EEOC and express your concern over the bully tactics being used to intimidate BAC:
Stuart Ishimaru,
Chairman, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
131 M Street, NE
Washington, DC 20507
Phone: (202) 663-4900
TTY: (202) 663-4494
info@eeoc.gov
Pro-Life Today | 17 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
Cardinal Rigali, Abp. Chaput Intensify Warnings Against Obamacare's Abortion Expansion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081404.html
Life Site News
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, has again spoken out aganst the abortion expansion in President Obama's health care legislation, calling the bill "seriously deficient" on the issue of mandated coverage and funding of abortion. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver also issued a call to action urging Catholics to tell legislators that only a bill that excludes abortion is acceptable health care reform.
Planned Parenthood Continues Boasting Close Ties with White House on Obamacare Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081403.html
Life Site News
As calls for protection against abortion in President Obama's health care legislation fall on deaf ears, Planned Parenthood (PP) has made no secret of its continued communications with the White House on its interest in ensuring that "reproductive health" plays a central role in the final version of the legislation.
Health Care Reform Would Allow Planned Parenthood Clinics in Schools
http://www.examiner.com/x-11483-Dallas-Republican-Examiner~y2009m8d15-Health-Care-Reform-Would-Allow-Planned-Parenthood-Clinics-in-Schools
Dallas Examiner
A measure in President Barack Obama's health care plan could allow for special interest groups like Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion services provider, to operate health care clinics, at taxpayer expense, inside America's public schools.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
Catholic Charities USA, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association have all thrown their weight behind Obama's push for health care "reform." In response, American Life League exposes the "Trojan horse" hidden in the bill that opens the way for abortion, calling on Catholics to demand that the bill be scrapped!
To view the latest ALL Report, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1-MCsZ5Kg
FEATURE STORY
LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
By Carol McKinley
It's been a tough few weeks for President Obama. The urban legends he has told to garner support for the march towards socialism are finally losing their traction.
You could hear the sound of screeching brakes all over America at the collision between an elite Harvard professor and a president making a racial incident out of a police officer's response to a 911 call and the government takeover of health care. America is coming out of the trance.
As a warrior in the trenches, I couldn't count the number of times prayer mercenaries have transformed a blunder into a period of grace. Catholics had better take full advantage of the reprieve. We have a lot to lose in the ethical conundrums of rationing treatment and mercy in a government-controlled HMO.
The mission of providing ethical, compassionate, quality health care to the sick and poor is about to be reformed into setting criteria that determine the value of the patient's life measured against the cost of treating their illness.
The Church's teachings
Denying medical care to the poor, elderly and catastrophically ill to benefit the government is diametrically opposed to Catholic ethics and the Catholic animus. Pope Benedict XVI expounded on [t]he inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual as a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2273, emphasis in original) in his recently published encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:
Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good (Section 28, emphasis in original)
In order to protect nature, it is not enough to intervene with economic incentives or deterrents; not even an apposite education is sufficient. These are important steps, but the decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society. If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology (Section 51, emphasis in original)
To the tragic and widespread scourge of abortion we may well have to add in the future indeed it is already surreptitiously present the systematic eugenic programming of births. At the other end of the spectrum, a pro-euthanasia mindset is making inroads as an equally damaging assertion of control over life that under certain circumstances is deemed no longer worth living. Underlying these scenarios are cultural viewpoints that deny human dignity. These practices in turn foster a materialistic and mechanistic understanding of human life. Who could measure the negative effects of this kind of mentality for development?... While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks, on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human. (Section 75)
Obama projects that giving access to our health care system to 50 million more people will cost Americans less money than it does now. In fact, at the breaking point, Obama claims his health care program will start paying for itself. Like his projections about the economy, writing off the debt of irresponsible people who caused the mortgage crisis, cash for clunkers and “racial profiling, Obama is, once again, way off the mark.
You don't have to be a mathematician to figure out that giving access to 50 million more people in an already burdened health care system and spending less means the patients currently in the system will be sacrificing their present level of care and services. There have been negative impacts on health care access, cancer survival rates, and the quality of life for the elderly, learning disabled and sick in every country where there has been a government takeover of health care. Obama can't escape the laws of supply and demand. Supporting laws destined to place life-threatening hardships upon the disadvantaged and suffering is fundamentally immoral.
We've got to digest the threats to the sanctity of life and Catholic conscience protections, educate grassroots Catholics and make a lot of noise in the public square in the next several weeks. We're going to see Obama infomercials pushing overhaul in the mainstream media in the month of August, ad nauseam. The theologically fallacious Catholics United is firing salvos. Catholic Charities USA, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association are banding together to advance the taxpayer-funded abortions and euthanasia assistance crafted into the legislation.
Stand up and fight.
The threat to the elderly
Reading the proposals, there is no doubt that seniors would pay a heavy price. The White House has proposed the creation of an independent panel to recommend Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Seniors would not only be losing benefits. From all indications, it appears that they would be losing control over life-and-death decisions and care. This is inhumane.
Last week, EWTN's Raymond Arroyo put up a must-read post on his blog, raising the same concerns many have over disturbing references in the bill:
The elderly or people with catastrophic diseases are clearly in the sights of the administration and the congressional leadership for the simple reason that they cost too much. A quarter of all Medicare payments occur in the last year of life, costing the government more than 100 billion dollars a year, according to Forbes Magazine.
One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration.’ This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. [interview with Betsy McCaughey, patient advocate and former lieutenant governor of New York]
This Advance Care Planning Consultation would encourage all of us, but especially those with severe illnesses to submit to hospices rather than pursue expensive therapies that might extend life (and cost a bundle). The bill also establishes a tracking system to insure that doctors are advocating “advance care directives where you predetermine what type of care you would accept or refuse at the end of life. The problem with all of this is it assigns a utilitarian value to human life. If you are too old or disabled, there will be a built-in incentive to push you into hospice and palliative care rather than work to beat the disease.
This isn't hype and hysteria from the fringe. Calm, credible people reading the bills are drawing these same conclusions across the board. Arm yourself with citations from the bill, go to senior centers in your hometown and educate them about the contents of the reforms. The mainstream media is not going to publish the truth, but there is nothing holding us back from doing a little “community organizing of our own.
By their fruits, you will know them
Seniors and, in fact, most people in this country, are unaware that Obama recently appointed a science czar (John Holdren) who co-authored a book entitled Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. Among Holdren's philosophies are the following:
Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
People who contribute to social deterioration (i.e. undesirables) can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility.
This correlates with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's recent, breathtaking admission that Roe was to rid us of undesirables, i.e. growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of.
The president has surrounded himself with radical pro-abortionists, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who will have a heavy hand of influence in shaping and executing policies. Catholics, other Christians and other decent people can't ignore the dangers of giving such people power over life, death and health. Educate your priests and those in your parish. With enlightenment on Obama's trajectory, the health care bill will take on a new patina.
The Massachusetts experience
Catholics should be outraged that the poor are being used and exploited by the White House to swindle them out of benefits and life itself. Catholics United, Catholic Charities and other social pirates who are propagating the myth that this type of health care reform is about service to the poor should be vigorously castigated. The poor already have health coverage in combined federal- and state- subsidized programs. (For example, in Massachusetts, there is MassHealth Medicaid and SCHIP.)
In Massachusetts, where health care reform was instituted in 2007, benefits have been siphoned off from the indigent and transferred to households earning $77,400 for a family of five. For a family of eight, the household income can be up to $111,080. But families earning $30,000, previously eligible for free health care, are burdened with premiums and co-payments costing nearly $10,000 for the least expensive plan.
In fact, in early July, Boston Medical Center (formerly known as Boston City Hospital, serving the poorest of the poor in Boston) filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
The suit says the hospital will lose more than $100 million next year because the state has lowered Medicaid reimbursement rates and stopped paying Boston Medical “reasonable costs for treating other poor patients.
We filed this suit more in sorrow than in anger, said Elaine Ullian, the hospital's chief executive. “We believe in health care reform to the bottom of our toes, but it was never, ever supposed to be financed on the backs of the poor, and that's what has happened in Massachusetts.
The central charge in the suit is that the state has siphoned money away from Boston Medical to help pay the considerable cost of insuring all but a small percentage of residents.
According to the suit, Massachusetts is now reimbursing Boston Medical only 64 cents for every dollar it spends treating the poor. About 10 percent of the hospital's patients are uninsured down from about 20 percent before the law's passage in 2006. But many more are on Medicaid or Commonwealth Care, the state-subsidized insurance program for low-income residents.
Astoundingly, with all the rancor and rhetoric from Democrats about the compassionate immigration policies absent in the Republican agenda, when the cost of operating “health care reform produced an ever-growing deficit, 30,000 legal immigrants were the first people thrown under the bus by the Democrat-controlled Massachusetts legislature: 30,000 of them received letters of health care termination.
The cost of providing health care to the 30,000 immigrants is approximately $130 million a year. A vote on July 29 restored $40 million of the budget, leaving uncertainty about the effect of eliminating $90 million in coverage for permanent residents who have had green cards for less than five years.
Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's former senior adviser, provided an informed analysis of the siphoning off of funds from the poor:
Mr. Obama's problem is that nine out of 10 Americans would likely get worse health care if ObamaCare goes through. Of those who do not have insurance – and who therefore might be better off approximately one-fifth are illegal aliens, nearly three-fifths make $50,000 or more a year and can afford insurance, and just under a third are probably eligible for Medicaid or other government programs already.
For the slice of the uninsured that is left perhaps about 2% of all American citizens –Team Obama would dismantle the world's greatest health-care system.
Don't wait for clerical leadership
There are valuable lessons to be learned from the Catholic trenches in Boston in terms of what lies ahead nationally. In late February of this year, the Caritas Christi health care delivery network sought and was awarded a contract that includes providing abortions, family planning services and other moral evils to the uncatechized, the unsuspecting poor and women emotionally distraught due to an unplanned pregnancy.
With the advice and public consent of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Caritas gave the Commonwealth written assurances that Catholic medical staff would inform women of health care options, including abortions. They appointed NARAL members to serve as advisors and agreed to give them access to monitor Catholic health care workers to ensure compliance.
Caritas set up a corporation, sought out and signed contracts with abortionists, set up a 24-hour family planning/abortion hotline number and hired employees to direct women to the abortionists with whom it contracted and took a 49-percent interest in the operation. A handful of Catholics relentlessly exposed the arrangement and, with some assistance from American Life League, we were able to get Cardinal O'Malley to retreat from ownership in the operation. However, the arrangement marched forward with all the abortion contracts, the 24-hour hotline, written assurances and NARAL oversight of Caritas employees intact.
It should be noted that Cardinal O'Malley tried to generate support for the arrangement by purporting that Catholic theology permitted entering into a contract that binds a Catholic in the performance of moral evils; in effect, he claimed that even though we realize the sinful nature of performing those moral evils, so long as we recruit others to perform the evils, it does not violate Catholic ethics. Theologically, spiritually and ethically, nothing could be more unsound. Knowing something is wrong and sinful, and then baiting somebody else into doing it who doesn't know, compounds the sin. The Caritas arrangement is as ethical as hiring Kevorkian to kill your elderly parents when they become a personal and financial burden.
The cardinal outsourced his conscience to the National Catholic Bioethics Center, which reportedly gave him a formal opinion stating the current arrangement is ethically sound. Repeated requests to the cardinal to release the opinion of the NCBC have been rebuffed.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear about those who give scandal by becoming their neighbor's tempter (Sections 2284 & 2287). Leading others to do evil takes on a particular gravity for those in authority who cause it:
Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! (Section 2287)
The fight for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the next generation of Catholics is in the hands of lay leaders. Every one of us must raise our voices in the public square.
Carol McKinley is a pro-life activist, a paralegal working in the affordable housing industry and the creator of the Lead Us Not into Temptation blog site. Her activism was inspired by a desire to preserve her three children's faith from the ever-growing influence of Planned Parenthood's sexual promiscuity and abortion agenda in both public and Catholic academia. She resides in the challenging city of Boston.
Respond to Judie
http://www.all.org/newsroom_judieblog_response.php?id=27
(This guest commentary was published on the Lead Us Not into Temptation blog site on August 3, 2009 and is used with its kind permission.)
PRO-Life Today | 14 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
Euthanasia Advocates Authored Part of Obamacare
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106812
World Net Daily
Part of the controversial health care reform proposal in Congress that discusses "end-of-life" counseling and medical procedures that could be rationed based on the age of the patient and other factors was written by suicide advocates who argue openly for the "right" to death, according to reports. The group Compassion & Choices, formerly known as the Hemlock Society, also says it had a hand in crafting Section 1233, writing July 27: 'Compassion & Choices has worked tirelessly with supportive members of Congress to include in proposed reform legislation a provision requiring Medicare to cover patient consultation with their doctors about end-of-life choice (section 1233 of House Bill 3200),'" writes Jill Stanek.
Radical NGO Paints Abortionists as Human Rights Defenders
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081311.html
Life Site News
In a recently released report from the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the advocacy group is appealing to the United Nations (UN) to formally recognize abortion-providers as "human rights defenders." In "Defending Human Rights," CRR presupposes that abortion is part of the accepted human rights framework and targets legal restrictions on abortion, funding restrictions on abortion and "failure to reduce abortion-related stigma" as "human rights violations." CRR asserts that abortion providers should be recognized as "human rights defenders" because the targeting of abortion providers directly infringes on women’s fundamental human rights by restricting "women’s ability to realize their right to reproductive healthcare, including safe abortion."
American Nuns Honor Pro-Abortion Cokie Roberts as Vatican Investigation Continues
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081301.html
Life Site News
While American Catholic nuns continue to undergo scrutiny from a Vatican investigation, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) invited Cokie Roberts, a political commentator who has criticized the Church's prohibition against abortion, contraception, and homosexuality, as the keynote speaker for their annual meeting this week. Another Catholic group, Supporting Our Aging Religious (SOAR), has announced it will host a dinner in honor of Roberts and her husband Steve in November of this year.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
Catholic Charities USA, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association have all thrown their weight behind Obama's push for health care "reform." In response, American Life League exposes the "Trojan horse" hidden in the bill that opens the way for abortion, calling on Catholics to demand that the bill be scrapped!
To view the latest ALL Report, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1-MCsZ5Kg
FEATURE STORY
MY BABY
By Phil Kammer
(This guest commentary was originally published by www.StumpReport.com and is used with its kind permission.)
I have always believed that our Creator has made His laws and precepts clear for all of His creation. So this thought came to mind one day.
A young woman finds herself living the typical college life: excited about her life to come and fearful of things that can go wrong. In school, she unexpectedly finds the man of her dreams and, although much in love, is panicked and fearful when she finds herself with child. She consults one of the many “family planning businesses, and its advice seems reasonable: Protect your college education; protect your future: Have an abortion.
The young woman pauses and again her family planning counselor says, It's in your best interest; it's merely a fetus and of no consequence. As she ponders such assurances from a counselor who seems so caring, a date is set. And then the procedure is performed.
Years have now passed, guilt has faded and love has blossomed. The woman now finds herself in the deepest of love with the man of her dreams. They have a beautiful wedding with everyone there, their careers couldn't be better and their life is grand. A great surprise has come to the newly married couple: They have now conceived a child. The young married couple could never have guessed what joy there would be in planning for a first child. A room is chosen and furnished with love. An ultrasound suggests a blue room, and joy is the order of the day.
One day, the couple decides that a slow walk in the park would be nice. But a thief lurks there in the shadows, waiting to carry out a robbery. Under a shady elm tree, he strikes. At gunpoint, he shouts, Give me your money! They pause; he becomes angry. Her young husband is heroic at heart, but is thrown to the ground. His young bride, still standing, bears the brunt of the thief's anger as a single, surreal pop sounds under the elm tree. The young bride stands there, desperately clutching her stomach.
I end this short story here because here is where humanity takes control of the abortion debate. In life, a person chooses to be honest or not. They choose to follow the natural law "or not".
Are you an honest person?
When the young woman was in college, she was told that what was growing inside of her was just a piece of flesh a fetus of no consequence.
When she was struck by the thief's bullet, did she cry out, My fetus, my fetus! or My baby, my baby!?
Our Creator has endowed us with certain undeniable attributes, chief of which is that the truth is written in every human heart.
The vast majority of women will immediately respond that this woman cried out, My baby, my baby! Due to political conditioning, some will hesitate to answer this question. However, the truth remains: Our God-given nature tells all of us that what grows within a woman, regardless of her economic, social or political condition, is simply a baby.
I have not told this tale to play a trick, but rather to shed light on the use of the word fetus and how callously it is used by abortion profiteers. Many have written in defense of abortion. Most of these writings are lengthy and complicated “as intended".
Remember: The truth is simple.
Phil Kammer is an independent freelance writer, public speaker, and avid proponent of the U.S. Constitution and life's simple truths. He earned a degree in public policy from California State University and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. He is also the creator and owner of
www.StumpReport.com, a conservative web site dedicated to simple truths in American politics
From Associates
Volume 6, Number 31 August 17, 2009
Pro-Life Wisconsin
In its Monday Update last week, Pro-Life Wisconsin published a timely reminder of exactly what the “no exceptions pro-life philosophy” means. It is our pleasure to reprint it here for you:
Compassionate and Consistent: The “No-Exceptions” Pro-Life Philosophy
Totally banning abortion makes some people uncomfortable. We’ve been told time and again there are unique situations for which abortion is the best option. If a lie is repeated often enough, people begin to accept it as truth. Such is the case with the erroneous notion that abortion must be permitted in cases of rape, incest, fetal deformity, or a perceived threat to the mother’s life. A principled commitment to the protection of innocent human life, in all circumstances and at all stages of development, is compassionate and consistent.
Not even in the case of rape or incest? Rape and incest are both criminal acts, and in our system of justice we punish the criminal. We do not punish the victim, nor do we punish the criminal’s children. We are told that if a pregnancy results from an act of rape or incest, the compassionate response is to offer the traumatized woman an abortion. No woman should be “forced to carry that monster’s child,” we are told. The trauma of sexual assault is very real. But why compound such severe trauma with the additional trauma of abortion? The compassionate response to rape and incest is to meet the real needs of the mother. Providing life-affirming medical, financial, and emotional care meets these needs.
Not even in cases of fetal deformity? When abortion is used to solve the problem of a disability, it is discrimination of the most severe kind. These children are not merely discriminated against for their disability; they are killed because of it. Abortions in these cases raise frightening prospects, for if it is right to kill a disabled person in the womb, could it not someday be permissible to kill a disabled infant? A disabled adult? The answer is clearly “no” in those cases; why is there any question when the victim is a child in the womb? Preborn children diagnosed with disabilities deserve to be treated with the same respect as people born with or without a disability.
Not even in the case of a perceived threat to the mother’s life? Medical operations such as the removal of a cancerous uterus or the removal of an ectopic pregnancy are moral even under Catholic teaching and are not considered abortions. Such operations are justified by the “principle of double effect,” because the death of the child is an unintended effect of an operation independently justified to save the mother’s life. They do not involve the intentional and willful destruction of an unborn child. Physicians must make their best effort to save both patients, giving equal care to mother and child. They should never be given a license to intentionally kill either of them. Finally, many abortionists believe the very condition of pregnancy itself is a life-threatening condition. Consequently, a “life of the mother” exception can become a massive statutory loophole through which to drive abortion on demand.
When those in the pro-life movement support abortion in exceptional cases, it is destructive to the whole movement. The point is to end ALL abortion. The child is ALWAYS an innocent victim. Once pro-lifers say there can be a “good reason” to kill a preborn baby, the foundation of the pro-life movement crumbles. The argument is lost. Either the preborn child is a person, or the child is not a person. Since the preborn child is a person, there can be no exceptions for abortion.
Fast Facts and Frequently Asked Questions
Editor's note: In addition to our ongoing monthly features addressing specific topics of interest to the pro-life community (the culture of life, Planned Parenthood, population control, etc.), our new feature, "Fast Facts and Frequently Asked Questions," will highlight some of the most frequently quoted and sought-after facts and statistics pertaining to pro-life matters, as well as answer some of the questions most frequently asked of our office (and probably yours too). If you have specific questions or topics you’d like mentioned, please send them to LTignor@ALL.org.
Contraception and abortion
There are two very important health reasons for our opposition to the birth control pill, in addition to the moral reasons why we oppose it. The first is that, contrary to popular thought, the birth control pill does not cut down the number of abortions, and even those who support the pill admit to this. It is extremely dishonest to promote the theory that the pill curtails abortion per se when, in fact, the pill can and does work in three different ways, one of which is abortion. When the pill works by thinning the lining of the uterus, the embryonic child dies and this is known as an early chemical abortion. Therefore, to suggest that the pill "keeps abortions from happening" is not accurate.
Further, the birth control pill is known to be carcinogenic and can cause a series of health problems for women and their future children. It has been linked to cancer, heart conditions, thromboembolisms and more. Moreover, it has now been found to have negative effects on the environment, particularly oceans and rivers.
There is a great deal of research available on this subject, and we strongly recommend that individuals conduct an independent study of the literature on the pill. A good starting point is The Pill Kills web site (www.thepillkills.com). The material that we cite is of exactly the same nature as the material cited by pill advocates. Obviously, each side emphasizes the facts according to its own perspective, so we are not guilty of anything unique when it comes to discussing or debating the birth control pill.
We have never believed it is compassionate to deceive people by only telling them what they want to hear. There are cruel facts about the birth control pill that rarely see the light of day. It is our responsibility to make sure we provide this information through our educational outreach, so that, regardless of one’s opinion, he or she has all the facts before making a decision one way or the other about the birth control pill.
News
Personhood amendment making inroads in Colorado
Personhood Colorado is preparing for a major effort to get a proposed pro-life amendment on an upcoming ballot.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638268
Denver archbishop: "Common ground" claim will be tested in details of health care reform
Whether or not the White House and Congress are really seeking to find common ground on health care reform legislation will be discovered in the details of the plan put forth, Archbishop Charles Chaput said, warning against any attempts to place an abortion mandate in the reform bills.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=97074
Obama on abortion: Unclear now, quite clear then
The White House unveiled its new Reality Check webpage, attempting to realign facts in its favor about the proposed nationalized health care plan. Noticeably missing is any mention of the A-word, even though the topic has taken center stage in the national debate.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106594
Catholic Charities refuses to oppose Obama health care bill
CCUSA spokesman Roger Conner steadfastly refused to explicitly state that his organization would oppose the Obama legislation. Conner also would not agree that health care reform should wait until the Obama legislation was amended or struck down.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081107.html
Catholic organizations' support for health care reform follows the money trail
A clash between Catholic pro-life groups and major Catholic organizations on whether Congress should enact immediate health care reform has drastically muddled the Catholic response to the debate raging on Capitol Hill. But as one Catholic editor has noted, the conflicting messages on whether to push health care reform could be traced to at least one organization's monetary interest in such reform.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09080705.html
Assisted reproduction rates increasing worldwide
Globally, the use of assisted reproduction technology, or ART, to overcome fertility problems continues to increase, and multiple births remain a concern, according to a new report. http://www.theprovince.com/health/Assisted+reproduction+rates+increasing+worldwide/1663093/story.html
Closing Thought
There are no conceivable clinical situations today where abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. In fact, if her health is threatened and an abortion is performed, the abortion increases risks the mother will incur regarding her health.
—Dr. Bernard Nathanson, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Pro-Life Today | 13 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
State threatens abortion business license
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106787
World Net Daily
The health department in the state of South Dakota has threatened to suspend the license of the only abortion business in Sioux Falls, Planned Parenthood, over its alleged failure to follow state law. According to a report on KSFY television, the state agency has issued a formal notice to the business that it must comply. The report said Planned Parenthood has responded by going to court and seeking protection from the state law.
Study Finds Injectable Contraceptive Leads To Obesity
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081206.html
Life Site News
A study by doctors at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping DMPA use.
Pushing contraception on children
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=639714
One News Now
Planned Parenthood wants wide availability of contraception to underage children in Montana. A bill to grant carte blanche to teenagers failed in the last session of the Montana state legislature. But Planned Parenthood is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which supposedly prohibits coverage of prescriptions of birth control.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
FEATURE STORY
OBAMACARE AND THE RIGHT TO LIFE: ELDERLY PATIENTS MAY FACE PRESSURE TO DIE
By Judie Brown
This guest commentary was originally published in the August 9-22, 2009 issue of the National Catholic Register and is used with the Register's kind permission.
By Robin Rohr
As the pro-life movement fights to keep abortion out of the health-care reform bill, an undercover attack on the elderly may be taking place unnoticed.
At issue is a provision that calls for end-of-life counseling of senior citizens every five years. That counseling can include topics such as how to decline nutrition and hydration, antibiotics and basic care treatments for specific conditions such as flu or pneumonia, and how to choose palliative and hospice care for the terminally ill.
I've read about a third of HR 3200 and the counseling parts are designed to encourage euthanasia, claimed Dr. Katherine Schlaerth, an associate professor of family medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Seniors will be counseled every five years, and more often if they get sicker.
Schlaerth, who emphasized that she does not speak for Loma Linda University, said that a frail, elderly, ill and depressed patient or that patient's family “may easily agree to withhold antibiotics or fluid without realizing the full implication.
Patients who have a worsening of their chronic condition, but who may not even be pre-terminal, are included in this strong-arm counseling, and their respect for authority figures could pave the way for agreement with cessation of care not in their interest at all, Schlaerth said. Health-care providers, meanwhile, may be forced to give counseling directly opposed to their religious or moral beliefs.
Key lawmakers are in agreement with Schlaerth. Section 1233 encourages health-care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration and other end-of-life treatments and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressure to sign an end-of-life directive they would not otherwise sign, said the House Republican leader, John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the Republican Policy Committee chairman, Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., in a July 23 statement. “This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia.
Death as Cost Savings
At first glance, the counseling of elders for care options seems like an innocuous requirement. But Schlaerth says the purpose of the counseling has darker roots.
The real reason for these draconian provisions directed against elders who are not terminal, I believe, is to save on Social Security payments as well as Medicare payments, Schlaerth said. The math is obvious. If you kill the disabled and give quality preventive care to the well, your health-care statistics will look excellent.
Bill May, chairman of Catholics for the Common Good, also views the mandatory counseling sessions as an outrageous cover to introduce assisted suicide.
We need to pay attention to issues related to shortening the lives and hastening death for the elderly, infirm and disabled another way of getting rid of undesirable, non-useful and costly people, he said. This bill creates a platform for assisted suicide for the elderly, infirm and disabled at times they are most vulnerable, depressed and open to suggestions of ending their lives early. Compassion & Choices, the former Hemlock Society, wants to get into the end-of-life counseling business, and it looks like the health-care bill will open the door for them to become government contractors as purveyors of the culture of death.
The legislative language of the bill regarding counseling is vague and open to interpretation. I'm a lawyer, and I find this language incomprehensible, stated Wesley J. Smith, associate director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. “I believe it is done maliciously. What is clear is that seniors will receive counseling read re-education every five years or whenever their health status changes. The point is to reduce cost. While the language doesn't require it, these mandatory sessions will often be directed towards not wanting care, in much the same way that genetic counseling of a mother carrying a Down [syndrome] fetus often is directed toward abortion.
Smith said patients could be referred to organizations like the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices to help sort out their choices. “In practice, if not in law, counseling will usually be a one-way street, he said.
Compassion & Choices is an organization that describes itself as working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. Wesley J. Smith says the bill is˜incomprehensible, which may explain why he repeatedly misstates what the bill does, said Steve Hopcraft, a spokesman for Compassion & Choices. It's a myth that C&C or any organization [would] be the counselor. The bill specifically says M.D. or nurse practitioner.
Section 1233 does state the consultation will be performed by a medical provider; however, included in the topics to be discussed is direction to provide suggested people to talk to and a list of national and state-specific resources.
Rationed Care
Concerns about Obama's health-care reform adversely affecting older Americans are not new. Earlier this year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill) appropriated $1.1 billion for research into comparative effectiveness, which compares clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, procedures and strategies. One aspect of this comparison is a concept called Quality Adjusted Life Years, where the value assigned to life varies with the health state of the person. This method is controversial because it means that some people will not receive treatment if the calculated cost is not warranted by the benefit to their quality of life.
Burke Balch, director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics at the National Right to Life Committee, explained that a person's Quality of Adjusted Life Years determines if a procedure is allowed. Of significant concern is the phrase comparative effectiveness, he said. This becomes [how] you end up discriminating against a disability. The language in the health-care bills being considered by the House and reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee can be used for wide-open interpretation of cost-effectiveness leading to denial of treatment based on quality of life. The funding for the promises made in these bills cannot be sustained, and that will create the atmosphere for rationing.
May agrees and says that health-care rationing takes place in Oregon, one of two states where physician-assisted suicide is legal. People fighting life-threatening illnesses there regularly receive letters saying that the state insurance plan would not cover their medication but would pay for a lethal prescription to end their lives, he said.
Boehner and McCotter also warn that with Oregon and Washington having legalized assisted suicide, Section 1233 could create a slippery slope for a more permissive environment for euthanasia, mercy killing and physician-assisted suicide because it does not clearly exclude counseling about the supposed benefits of killing oneself.
Robin Rohr is a National Catholic Register correspondent and writes from Willits, California.
Pro-Life Today | 13 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
State threatens abortion business license
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106787
World Net Daily
The health department in the state of South Dakota has threatened to suspend the license of the only abortion business in Sioux Falls, Planned Parenthood, over its alleged failure to follow state law. According to a report on KSFY television, the state agency has issued a formal notice to the business that it must comply. The report said Planned Parenthood has responded by going to court and seeking protection from the state law.
Study Finds Injectable Contraceptive Leads To Obesity
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081206.html
Life Site News
A study by doctors at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping DMPA use.
Pushing contraception on children
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=639714
One News Now
Planned Parenthood wants wide availability of contraception to underage children in Montana. A bill to grant carte blanche to teenagers failed in the last session of the Montana state legislature. But Planned Parenthood is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which supposedly prohibits coverage of prescriptions of birth control.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
FEATURE STORY
OBAMACARE AND THE RIGHT TO LIFE: ELDERLY PATIENTS MAY FACE PRESSURE TO DIE
By Judie Brown
This guest commentary was originally published in the August 9-22, 2009 issue of the National Catholic Register and is used with the Register's kind permission.
By Robin Rohr
As the pro-life movement fights to keep abortion out of the health-care reform bill, an undercover attack on the elderly may be taking place unnoticed.
At issue is a provision that calls for end-of-life counseling of senior citizens every five years. That counseling can include topics such as how to decline nutrition and hydration, antibiotics and basic care treatments for specific conditions such as flu or pneumonia, and how to choose palliative and hospice care for the terminally ill.
I've read about a third of HR 3200 and the counseling parts are designed to encourage euthanasia, claimed Dr. Katherine Schlaerth, an associate professor of family medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Seniors will be counseled every five years, and more often if they get sicker.
Schlaerth, who emphasized that she does not speak for Loma Linda University, said that a frail, elderly, ill and depressed patient or that patient's family may easily agree to withhold antibiotics or fluid without realizing the full implication.
Patients who have a worsening of their chronic condition, but who may not even be pre-terminal, are included in this strong-arm counseling, and their respect for authority figures could pave the way for agreement with cessation of care not in their interest at all, Schlaerth said. Health-care providers, meanwhile, may be forced to give counseling directly opposed to their religious or moral beliefs.
Key lawmakers are in agreement with Schlaerth. Section 1233 encourages health-care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration and other end-of-life treatments and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressure to sign an end-of-life directive they would not otherwise sign, said the House Republican leader, John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the Republican Policy Committee chairman, Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., in a July 23 statement. “This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia.
Death as Cost Savings
At first glance, the counseling of elders for care options seems like an innocuous requirement. But Schlaerth says the purpose of the counseling has darker roots.
The real reason for these draconian provisions directed against elders who are not terminal, I believe, is to save on Social Security payments as well as Medicare payments, Schlaerth said. The math is obvious. If you kill the disabled and give quality preventive care’ to the well, your health-care statistics will look excellent.
Bill May, chairman of Catholics for the Common Good, also views the mandatory counseling sessions as an outrageous cover to introduce assisted suicide.
We need to pay attention to issues related to shortening the lives and hastening death for the elderly, infirm and disabled another way of getting rid of undesirable, non-useful and costly people, he said. This bill creates a platform for assisted suicide for the elderly, infirm and disabled at times they are most vulnerable, depressed and open to suggestions of ending their lives early. Compassion & Choices, the former Hemlock Society, wants to get into the end-of-life counseling business, and it looks like the health-care bill will open the door for them to become government contractors as purveyors of the culture of death.
The legislative language of the bill regarding counseling is vague and open to interpretation. I'm a lawyer, and I find this language incomprehensible, stated Wesley J. Smith, associate director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. “I believe it is done maliciously. What is clear is that seniors will receive counseling read re-educationâ every five years or whenever their health status changes. The point is to reduce cost. While the language doesn't require it, these mandatory sessions will often be directed towards not wanting care, in much the same way that genetic counseling of a mother carrying a Down [syndrome] fetus often is directed toward abortion.
Smith said patients could be referred to organizations like the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices to help sort out their choices. In practice, if not in law, ˜counseling will usually be a one-way street, he said.
Compassion & Choices is an organization that describes itself as working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. Wesley J. Smith says the bill is incomprehensible, which may explain why he repeatedly misstates what the bill does, said Steve Hopcraft, a spokesman for Compassion & Choices. It's a myth that C&C or any organization [would] be the counselor. The bill specifically says M.D. or nurse practitioner.
Section 1233 does state the consultation will be performed by a medical provider; however, included in the topics to be discussed is direction to provide suggested people to talk to and “a list of national and state-specific resources.
Rationed Care
Concerns about Obama's health-care reform adversely affecting older Americans are not new. Earlier this year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “Stimulus Bill) appropriated $1.1 billion for research into comparative effectiveness, which compares clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, procedures and strategies. One aspect of this comparison is a concept called Quality Adjusted Life Years, where the value assigned to life varies with the health state of the person. This method is controversial because it means that some people will not receive treatment if the calculated cost is not warranted by the benefit to their quality of life.
Burke Balch, director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics at the National Right to Life Committee, explained that a person's Quality of Adjusted Life Years determines if a procedure is allowed. Of significant concern is the phrase comparative effectiveness, he said. This becomes [how] you end up discriminating against a disability. The language in the health-care bills being considered by the House and reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee can be used for wide-open interpretation of cost-effectiveness leading to denial of treatment based on quality of life. The funding for the promises made in these bills cannot be sustained, and that will create the atmosphere for rationing.
May agrees and says that health-care rationing takes place in Oregon, one of two states where physician-assisted suicide is legal. People fighting life-threatening illnesses there regularly receive letters saying that the state insurance plan would not cover their medication but would pay for a lethal prescription to end their lives, he said.
Boehner and McCotter also warn that with Oregon and Washington having legalized assisted suicide, Section 1233 could create a slippery slope for a more permissive environment for euthanasia, mercy killing and physician-assisted suicide because it does not clearly exclude counseling about the supposed benefits of killing oneself.
Robin Rohr is a National Catholic Register correspondent and writes from Willits, California.
Pro-Life Today | 05 August 2009
HEADLINES
Health Care Reform and Abortion - What's the Truth?
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=652150
One News Now
President Obama contends that conservatives are "bearing false witness" about his healthcare reform plan, but one leading conservative says it's the president who's misleading the American public. President Obama told thousands of liberal religious leaders in a telephone call Wednesday that healthcare reform is a "core ethical and moral obligation," and his reform plans are designed to fulfill one of God's commandments -- "I am my brother's keeper. I am my sister's keeper."
Bowling for Death Panels: Euthanasia Group Behind "End-of-Life" Counseling
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082015.html
Life Site News
Although President Obama and liberal Congressional Democrats have denounced claims that the health care reform establishes death panels, it does not help reassure the American public that the nation's foremost pro-euthanasia group is actively pushing “end-of-life counseling as a centerpiece of health-care reforms.
Judge: SD Doctors Must Say Abortion Ends Life
http://www.ktvu.com/news/20480910/detail.html
KTVU
A federal judge upheld part of a South Dakota law that requires women to be told abortion ends a human life, but struck down disclosures that the procedure increases the likelihood of suicide and that they have an existing relationship with the fetus. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier's decision Thursday ends a lawsuit that Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota filed in response to a 2005 informed consent law that required several disclosures to women seeking an abortion.
For more headline news, click here for ALL's Daily News Summary.
FEATURE STORY
ABORTION-MINDED MOTHERS: THE FACTS
By Judie Brown
A recent airing of Raymond Arroyo The World Over presented an opportunity for me to discuss Catholic health care ethics with the president of the Catholic Health Association, Sister Carol Keehan, DC. I received a great deal of messages via e-mail, Facebook and the U.S. Postal Service after my appearance on that program.
I am grateful for every one of them. However, one in particular moved me to think seriously about what is really at stake in our struggle to keep the aborting of a child out of any type of health care reform legislation. It helped me realize what an expectant mother seeking to abort her baby really wants and really needs.
So, rather than tell you my opinion, which would not be based on actual hands-on experience, I prefer to share this letter, written to Sister Carol by Lorraine Curtin, who does know exactly what such a mother thinks, feels and needs:
Dear Sister Carol Keehan,
Thank you for taking a moment to read my e-mail.
I listened to your conversation last Friday evening with Raymond Arroyo and Judie Brown. There is one aspect of your argument regarding health care for pregnant women that I would like to address. It concerns an implied generalization that free prenatal care would greatly diminish abortions in our country.
I am a volunteer consultant at a crisis pregnancy center in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2001, I have talked with hundreds of abortion-minded women concerning their pregnancy and their options. It has been my experience that women do not choose to have an abortion because of lack of prenatal care. In our state, we have a generous, free health insurance program (called Healthy Start/Healthy Families) for women without insurance. The guidelines for eligibility are well above the Medicaid guidelines given by the federal government. In fact, any women in our state ineligible for state insurance can receive quality prenatal care for free (or at a substantially reduced rate) because there are other programs available to these women through grant money.
My experience has been that women choose abortion because they do not want to be pregnant. This might sound overly simplified, but let me explain. Many teens and adults are engaging in premarital sex. Most of them do not want children with that partner or at that moment in their life. Consequently, when they do get pregnant, they seek an abortion. Since abortion is legal and easy to acquire, it is a choice so often made. Many women choose to abort in the first trimester because they are not showing yet. Trust me, if all they needed were health care, we would have very few abortions in our state. (We have approximately 31,000 elective abortions each year.)
I can state at least 10 reasons that are given as to why they choose an abortion (notice that health care is not on the list):
1. Birth control failed pill, patch, shot, condom
2. Wants to finish high school/college baby messes up their future plans
3. No longer in a relationship with the father of the baby
4. Parents would be unsupportive afraid of what they might think doesn't want
them to find out.
5. Has enough kids
6. Pregnant through an extramarital affair
7. Not ready to parent no particular reason given
8. Does not know who the father is casual sex (hooking up) with multiple partners
9. Pressure from someone else to abort (family, boyfriend, employer)
10. Sex is purely recreational I never thought I'd get pregnant!
Women never tell us, Gee, I wouldn't have an abortion if I could get free health care. They know they can get free health care. It's not about health care it's about the devaluing of human life in our culture, and most of the responsibility lies in the fact that abortions have been legal since 1973 [emphasis added]. Please do not be duped into this lie about abortion and health care. The only way to stop it is to make it illegal and teach “abstinence-only in our homes, our churches and our schools.
Now I must say that some of the poorest of the poor do not get abortions, because they cannot pay for them (a first-trimester abortion runs about $350 in our city). So, if health care passes that includes free abortions (a.k.a. family planning services), then even these women will succumb to the culture of death.
If you have any independent studies (not by Planned Parenthood) that corroborate your claim, please send them to me, so that I can read them.
If abortion were illegal, then the choice to abort would change to the choice of an adoption and occasionally to parenting. In our current climate, abortion is an easy option for now (or so they think!) because no one will know that I was ever pregnant.
If it were just as simple as giving them free health care, there would be no use for crisis pregnancy centers. I would happily give up my position here if it were all true, but I know better. I encourage you to visit a crisis center in your state and talk one-on-one with the consultants for more in-depth conversation.
There it is, from an expert. This woman has given us a window into the world of the expectant mother who does not wish to be the mother of a living child. I would hasten to add that most of these mothers do not consider themselves to be the mother of a preborn child, but prefer to think of themselves as a woman with a problem requiring a quick solution. I also believe that this counselor is correct to point out that if abortion is covered in any health care reform plan, abortion numbers will go through the roof. So why hasn't this been made clear?
First and foremost, pro-life America is making the case, and we are not going to shut up. And it is my opinion that, after all these weeks of debate, perhaps the truth is sinking in. Perhaps Americans are finally beginning to think beyond the Obamacare marketing phrases, gobbledygook and false promises making their way through town-hall meetings and other such venues.
On this subject the facts about abortion-minded mothers it is my sincere hope that people across this nation will spread the words of this wise pro-life pregnancy counselor, and help their ministers, priests, bishops and others see that Obamacare is going to increase the killing of the preborn, not ameliorate the situation.
President Obama says abortion is “heart-wrenching, and yet he advocates it. We say abortion is murder and it's time for America to listen.
<Previous | Next Page>
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American Life League
Volume 6, Number 33 Monday, August 31, 2009
Pro-Life Memorial Day
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States decriminalized the act of abortion through its rulings in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Since then, more than 51 million children have been “legally” killed in their mothers’ wombs.
The Supreme Court will begin its next session on Monday, October 5. As such, American Life League has come to believe that it is also fitting to mark this day, the first Monday in October, as one on which to remember those lives lost.
Over the years, many events have been established to draw pro-lifers together and to publicly proclaim our message to specific individuals. The March for Life in January marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and is an effort to let our elected officials in Congress know that we have not forgotten this shameful decision.
The Day of the Unborn on March 25 reminds us of the personhood of the pre-born from the first moment of their creation.
The Life Chain and various Respect Life activities remind us of the humanity of the pre-born and our need to protect them.
ALL’s Rock for Life established National Pro-Life T-shirt Day in April as a means for youth throughout the country to proclaim the pro-life message.
But, as many pro-life advocates noted, there had not been an entire day set aside to simply memorialize those children who have died.
This year, American Life League is coordinating the fifth annual Pro-life Memorial Day. It is the proper day for us to pause, look back and unite America’s pro-life movement with a special day of observance devoted to the memory of those babies. PLMD is a day to pray that God will inspire the Court in its new term to stop the slaughter it began.
We are asking each and every Associate group to lend its personal support and public voice to PLMD.
We encourage you to plan appropriate activities on a local level — consider prayer vigils and memorial services at local abortion mills (particularly Planned Parenthood facilities) and local courthouses. This will be a rare opportunity for you to do something in your own neighborhood that will be part of a nationwide effort to remember the babies.
In order to assist you with your local activities, American Life League has designed a new PLMD flyer and T-shirt, as well as posters, postcards, web banners and icons — all of which can be used by pro-lifers across the nation as we gather in solidarity to commemorate the pre-born victims of abortion.
Visit the website at www.ProLifeMemorialDay.com and if you need further assistance, let us know!
Tip of the Month – Population
From Handbook on Population by Robert Sassone
World population growth is caused by more people being born than are dying. Before 1800, there was slow population growth with high birth rates but also high death rates. After 1800, the death rate declined and people lived longer in more developed countries. After about 1945, the technologies that had previously helped people in the developed countries (like antibiotics and DDT) spread throughout the world helping people on all of the continents to live longer. Even though fertility (the average number of children born to each woman) declined, substantial population growth occurred due to the greater number of older people. Population growth peaked about 1979 then grew at a lesser rate as fertility continued to decline.
Substantial population decline usually follows a fertility decline that has fallen below replacement level by about twenty to thirty years. That is the time it takes for the earlier fertility decline to substantially reduce the number of women of child bearing years in the next generation. Replacement level is 2.1 children born per woman, so that the average woman has one daughter.
Fertility in developed countries began to fall around 1960 and fell below replacement level about 1975. Births in the developed countries began declining about 1965 and throughout the world about 1985.
Every two years, the UN Population Division publishes World Population Prospects which projects population levels throughout the world in the coming years. During the early 1990’s, the UNPD assumed that the fertility rate in countries having below replacement fertility rates would somehow increase them. This has not happened.
There are about 25 factors that substantially influence fertility rates. During recent decades, each and every one of these factors has acted to reduce fertility rates.
Some of the factors caused by modern life that reduce fertility include:
• Urbanization – children cannot work at early ages and do not make the family more prosperous as they would in the countryside, so the fertility rate declines.
• Female education – women who pursue advanced education have their first child at an older age and, because of competing priorities, have fewer children after beginning child bearing. Additionally, a higher percentage of more educated women never marry.
• Lower child mortality – in most countries, there is no old age income so most elderly must be supported by their children, typically sons. To ensure that one has a son who survives, it is prudent to actually have two or three. As child mortality declines, it becomes less necessary to have several sons.
• Female job opportunities outside the home – women employed outside the home tend to have responsibilities, opportunities and distractions that decrease factors that might otherwise lead them to have more children.
• A desire for more material things – more people opt for the material rewards that more money brings instead of the non-material and emotional rewards of parenthood.
• Government programs – many developing country governments act to reduce births because of a fear of runaway population growth or pressure from the World Bank, UN agencies (UNFPA), the US Government, well-funded pressure groups such as Planned Parenthood, media manipulation and others.
Despite having spent billions of dollars in research, studies, subsidies to parents and even legislation, no country has been unable to increase its fertility permanently to replacement level. These massive failed efforts show that, at the present time, it is either impossible to increase fertility back to replacement level or that we do not know how.
The new UNPD system of projecting has reduced the world population projection for the year 2050 by about 400 million people.
Next month: Species extinction
News
American health care reform - A good end does not justify evil means
All persons of good will need to understand the clear and present danger with which the U.S. is being menaced by the health reform proposed by the Obama Administration. Abortion will be multiplied, the U.S. will move ahead on the road towards euthanasia, conscience rights will be in jeopardy.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082007.html
Mom undergoes cancer treatment of pelvic region while pregnant
When Sarah Joanis found out she was pregnant, she was so thrilled. Three months later, however, Sarah and her husband Kevin received another shock: Her ovarian cancer had returned.
http://www.heraldonline.com/412/story/1553404.html
Obama Administration promotes "death book" for veterans
Americans worried about President Barack Obama's health care reforms turning into "death panels" have a new cause for concern: the Obama Administration has mandated that government-run Veterans Affairs hospitals give their patients a handbook on advanced directives including "end-of-life counseling" created by advocates for legal euthanasia.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082411.html
Controversy surrounds veterans booklet on end-of-life issues
A booklet from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on end-of-life issues asks its veterans to consider under what circumstances their life might not be “worth living.” One critic says the booklet is “guilt inducing” and sends a “hurry-up-and-die” message, while a U.S. Senator has called for hearings on its contents.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=97198
Patient No. 1: Alexandria man first to receive new stem cell heart treatment in U.S
The researchers took Clegg's own stem cells and injected them directly into targeted places in his heart muscle to see if his condition could be slowed, stopped or perhaps reversed. The procedure had been performed a few times in Germany and other areas, but the Food and Drug Administration had only recently allowed U.S. researchers to try the experimental methods on patients in the U.S.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090825/LIFESTYLE/908250302
Suit filed in federal court against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to stop federal funding of research involving the destruction of living human embryos
A lawsuit filed last week in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeks to enjoin and overturn the controversial guidelines for public funding of embryonic stem cell research that the National Institutes of Health issued on July 7, 2009.
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/4728311288.html
HPV vaccine - What parents need to know
The highly-promoted, so-called breakthrough vaccine that was recommended for all girls and given to numerous children and teens to prevent possible future cases of cervical cancer, is related to "adverse events" experienced by thousands of girls after taking the vaccine.
http://townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2009/08/25/hpv_vaccine_-_what_parents_need_to_know
Closing Thought
“Each Christian has to put aside any fears of ‘rocking the boat’ should his upright conduct provoke criticism or rejection. Whoever out of human respect would hide his Christian identity in the midst of a pagan environment would merit this denunciation of Jesus: ‘Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.’ (Matthew 10:32) Our Lord teaches us that confessing our faith is a requirement for being his disciple, no matter what the consequences may be.”
In Conversation with God, 4:269
Volume 6, Number 32 Monday, August 24, 2009
American Life League
Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to our Associate Program, St. Lucie Catholic Church Teens for Life!
Teens for Life is actually a part of the youth ministry at St. Lucie Catholic Church, which is open to all teens, but this particular group has a specific mission: to be educated further in the Catholic faith, especially concerning the Gospel of Life, and to lead others, especially their peers, in pro-life messages within their families, church and community.
Teens for Life attends diocesan-sponsored prayer services and conferences, updates groups within the parish on pro-life issues, attends the March for Life, participates in local parish life chains, keeps current on legislative activity, makes local representatives aware of pro-life issues and attends special meetings with guest speakers. You can view the Teens for Life website at http://www.stlucie.cc/index.cfm?page=Teens_for_Life.
We look forward to working with Teens for Life in their future endeavors!
Tip of the month – Parent Power
From Parent Power!! By Jim Sedlak
Last month we began a look at the basic philosophies of Planned Parenthood as they relate to the subjects taught in typical Family Life Education programs. Our source for determining these philosophies is a book entitled How to Talk with Your Child About Sexuality which was written by Faye Wattleton while she was president of Planned Parenthood (Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York; copyright 1986 Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.).
As previously noted, the stated intent of this book (page 5) is to provide parents with information on the subject of sexuality so that parents can become “the best source” of information for their children. The book then proceeds to offer information on a variety topics concerning sexuality. Of particular interest is some of the information provided in Chapter 7, “The Top Seven Questions.”
In addition to puberty, intercourse and pregnancy which we discussed earlier, no sane person would expect Planned Parenthood to write a book about sexuality without a strong pitch for birth control. After all, it is their main business. The title of this section of the book is very revealing, however, because the chief aim of Planned Parenthood is to control births, not prevent pregnancies. This is illustrated on page 180 of the Appendix where abortion is listed along with the IUD, the pill and other forms of birth control as a method of “fertility control.” The book strongly recommends that parents talk to their teenagers and help them acquire birth control devices.
Planned Parenthood gives lip service to the real problem of sending confusing messages to the children. The confusing message comes from saying that they should not engage in sexual intercourse but then giving them birth control devices “in case they do.”
Planned Parenthood always rejects any discussion of morals and you will find none in this book. God is never mentioned and religious values are only given passing mention on the way to making Planned Parenthood’s own case. On page 86, the reader will find the following statement:
“If parents do not want their children to become pregnant or to make someone pregnant while they are teenagers, they must give them information about contraception and, by so doing, give them permission to use it when they have sex.”
Notice, it’s not “if” they have sex, but “when” they have sex. This illustrates the basic philosophy of Planned Parenthood, which is that all kids are going to have sex anyway, so we might as well accept that fact and stop them from getting pregnant. According to Planned Parenthood, it’s getting pregnant that is the major problem, not engaging in promiscuous sexual behavior at 15 years of age!
Another of Planned Parenthood’s “Top Seven” involves sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This section of the book gives a basic description of STDs and some of the effects. Along with the appendix, it contains some good scientific information on the diseases. Not once in this section, however, is it ever mentioned that the existence of STDs and their prevalence among sexually active teens is a strong case for remaining chaste. Parents are not encouraged to use this information in an attempt to dissuade their teens from having sex. Rather, parents are encouraged to talk about STDs with their kids and to let them know that “it is easy to get medical treatment for STDs.”
What does one expect from an organization that makes a great deal of money from the sale of birth control devices – and from an organization whose president was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in 1987 as stating that Planned Parenthood “will not be an organization that promotes chastity”?
It is not in Planned Parenthood’s financial interest to encourage children not to have sex and this is seen repeatedly throughout all of its programs. As soon as the general public grasps this one fact, Planned Parenthood’s days will be numbered.
And that is why we fight …
Next month: School Districts 4 and 5
News
The Pill and the debt
It was probably a Freudian slip. "The separation of procreation from sexual intercourse is the root cause of all sexual perversions." Sigmund Freud said that over 100 years ago. No one appeared to take much notice. A fellow by the name of Montini said pretty much the same thing about 60 years later; this time the whole world took note. He was thoroughly excoriated. His problem was he was Pope at the time.
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gail/090815
Study finds injectable contraceptive leads to obesity
A study by doctors at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive Depo-Provera experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping use.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081206.html
Pushing contraception on children
Planned Parenthood wants wide availability of contraception for underage children in Montana. A bill to grant carte blanche to teenagers failed in the last session of the Montana state legislature. But Planned Parenthood is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program, which supposedly prohibits coverage of prescriptions of birth control.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=639714
Health care reform would allow Planned Parenthood clinics in schools
A measure in President Barack Obama's health care plan could allow for special interest groups like Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion services provider, to operate health care clinics, at taxpayer expense, inside America's public schools.
http://www.examiner.com/x-11483-Dallas-Republican-Examiner~y2009m8d15-Health-Care-Reform-Would-Allow-Planned-Parenthood-Clinics-in-Schools
UN health data show liberal abortion laws lead to greater maternal death
The world's largest abortion provider, International Planned Parenthood Federation, has recently acknowledged an alarming "surge" in maternal deaths in South Africa, challenging the pro-abortion mantra that liberal abortion laws decrease maternal mortality.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081310.html
Overpopulation myth overblown
Population Research Institute has posted a new video to expose the myth of overpopulation. It is called Overpopulation: The Making of a Myth. Joseph Powell is the creator of the first episode in the mini-cartoon series to deal with the Malthus theory that the planet will become so overpopulated that people will starve and resort to cannibalism.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638610
Closing Thought
“It will never be prudent to keep quiet when keeping quiet may cause scandal or confusion, or when such behavior may have an adverse effect on the faith of others.”
In Conversation with God, Vol. 4, p. 113
Pro-Life Today | 20 August 2009
HEADLINES
Obama Calls Abortion Funding in Healthcare Legislation a 'Fabrication'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082002.html
Life Site News
In a conference call with faith leaders yesterday, President Obama said it was a "fabrication" and "untrue" that his health care legislation involved "government funding of abortions." But pro-life leaders immediately responded to the president's statement, pointing out that it simply does not align with the facts of the House bill's content.
Poll: Majority of Americans Believe Obama Health Care Would Cover Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081906.html
Life Site News
As the health care debate has heated up around the country, a large coalition of pro-life and religious organizations have stepped up their efforts to inform the public of the dangers of provisions in the Obama health care reform plan that would federally fund abortion. And it appears their efforts are working.
Statewide Campaign Against Tax-Funded Abortion Launched in California
http://www.dfwcatholic.org/statewide-campaign-against-tax-funded-abortion-launched-in-california6213/.html
DFW Catholic
Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust announced they will be organizing with pro-lifers throughout California to campaign against tax-funded abortion in Obama’s Healthcare Reform bill. The campaign, which starts Thursday, Aug. 20th, will feature demonstrations and protests in cities across California, asking elected officials to guarantee that tax-funded abortion will specifically be excluded from the bill. Currently the Healthcare Reform bill includes wording that will allow for tax money to pay for abortion as “reproductive care.â€
The Gloves are Off: Planned Parenthood President Slams U.S. Bishops on Abortion, Health Care
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081910.html
Life Site News
The president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, has penned a scathing editorial, published today in the Huffington Post, in which she sets her sights on the U.S. Catholic bishops, slamming them for their opposition to the abortion mandate in the Obama health care bill, and to abortion in general. Richards accuse[s] the bishops of endangering "millions" of women's lives around the globe with their "hard-line opposition to women's rights." "The effort to criminalize access to safe abortion endangers most women in the developing world -- the very women that you would think the bishops would be concerned about," says Richards.
For more headline news, click here for ALL's Daily News Summary.
FEATURE STORY
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR ISN'T ENOUGH!
By Judie Brown
Mary Poppins A Spoonful of Sugar was such a hit with my kids when they were little because it was fun to clean up toys while singing it. The line “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down makes a lot of sense when children are busy with an I don't wanna do this task.
But when it comes to Obamacare, I'm afraid a 10-pound bag full of sugar isn't really going to matter. As Launcelot said in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Truth will out! It always does. And in this case, despite the denials and personal attacks on upstanding Americans such as Sarah Palin, the truth is getting out, and then some.
Obamacare's Trojan horse, known in some circles, as the “death panel provision, is Obama's Achilles heel. Even though those pesky “death panel discussions have taken a turn, not all of us are convinced. Some Americans actually think that just because the Senate has announced that the panels are coming out of its version of Obamacare, we should all heave a sigh of relief and go on about our business. After all, folks, they would argue, don't we all know how sincerely these men and women in the U.S. Congress care about the views of average Americans like you and me and how they are always looking out for us? Well …
For those of us who live in the real world, the news out of Washington that those panels are allegedly gone is nothing to get excited about. What the Senate took out is a reference to advance care planning consultations. The Senate has not removed references to the Independent Medicare Advisory Commission, nor has it finalized any piece of legislation. As we have learned over the years, what was there yesterday and appears to be gone today could come back in a different form tomorrow. It's sort of like a chameleon; the lizard changes color to adapt to its surroundings.
But there's a little more to this story than a Sarah Palin versus Barack Obama debate. As Palin wrote on her Facebook page,
The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.
Sowell, to whom Palin refers, is a wise man who opined,
An old advertising slogan said, "Progress is our most important product." With politicians, confusion is their most important product. They confuse bringing down the price of medical care with bringing down the cost. And they confuse medical care with health care.
Nothing is easier than for governments to impose price controls. They have been doing this, off and on, for thousands of years – repeatedly resulting in (1) shortages, (2) quality deterioration and (3) black markets. Why would anyone want any of those things when it comes to medical care?
And this is precisely where Palin is going with her reference to “death panels and the vulnerable. She had and still has every reason to bring this subject to the public's attention. For those who doubt the veracity of it, just feast your doubting eyeballs on this little tidbit, which is reported on the Compassion & Choices (formerly the Hemlock Society) web site:
Compassion & Choices has worked tirelessly with supportive members of congress [sic] to include in proposed reform legislation a provision requiring Medicare to cover patient consultation with their doctors about end-of-life choice. (emphasis added)
It is clear that Compassion & Choices would approve “death panels, as well as physician-assisted suicide or any other measure that would cut costs. Why not? Its business is helping people die.
So, was it a coincidence that the day after the Family Research Council pointed this out in a Washington Update segment appropriately entitled “Political Suicide? the Senate Finance Committee removed the “death panel provision? Or was it a ploy? While we are grateful to Tony Perkins and his wonderful staff at FRC, we are not convinced that the Senate, or for that matter, the White House, is sincere in any promise they make to the American public on the delicate subject of health care whether the question at hand is abortion, euthanasia or anything else having to do with respect for the dignity of the human person.
But don't take my word for it. Just yesterday, the Washington Times published an article written by attorney Robert W. Painter, who handles medical malpractice matters and testified before the Texas legislature on that state's Advance Directives Act of 1999. In Death Panels exist already, Painter writes about what has occurred as a direct result of the Act becoming law. And he warns that what has happened in Texas is a harbinger of what could happen nationwide if the Obama proposal moves forward. The results in Texas have been devastating for families.
The end-of-life provisions of the Obama health care plan would upset the balance of power in health care decision-making in favor of doctors and hospitals and against individuals and families. The federal legislation provides an economic incentive for doctors and hospital administrators to use Medicare funds to start hastening certain patient deaths a bit sooner under existing state laws. In Texas, that balance already is tipped in favor of the health care providers, and the proposed federal legislation would only make matters worse by placing more Medicare dollars on that side of the scale.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, is rightly concerned that the end-of-life provisions in the proposed federal law could be "misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly." Federal lawmakers interested in protecting individual and patient rights need to study carefully the end-of-life provisions with the understanding that the law will be implemented in health care settings governed under 50 different sets of state law.
Admittedly, the warning of "death panels" is a shocking claim. But when I inform people of the effect of the Texas law and how it has trampled on individual rights, they are understandably shocked. If the Texas Advance Directives Act has shown us anything, it is that governments should leave end-of-life decisions to patients and their families.
It occurs to me that President Obama's rush to impose his prescription for health care reform on the nation is riddled through and through with problems. But at the core of it all, the real question is why should the federal government be regulating medical practices as a way of cutting costs?
If the entire purpose of health care reform is to save money, we’d better be more than vigilant. A spoon full of sugar is one thing, but Conium maculatum (poison hemlock) is quite another.
Pro-Life Today | 19 August 2009
HEADLINES
Anti-abortion Protesters Plan Shock and Awe Campaign
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=253614
Telegraph Herald
Planned Parenthood's opponents mark the organization's 1-year anniversary in Dubuque by pledging to ramp up efforts to drive the organization out of the city. I want Planned Parenthood to not know what's coming next, said Steven Brody, executive director of Dubuque County Right to Life (an American Life League Associate group).
Nebraska Launches Investigation Into Carhart's Abortion Business
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081802.html
Life Site News
Operation Rescue has received written confirmation from the Nebraska Attorney General's office that a request for a comprehensive investigation into late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart's abortion business has been directed to the Nebraska Department of Health and Environment. The investigation will be monitored by the Attorney General's office.
Abortion Expansion Stopped in Knoxville
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5940511275.html
Christian News Wire
The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) is pleased to report that the proposed relocation and expansion of Planned Parenthood's (PP's) abortion business in Knoxville has been stopped. For now.
For more headline news, click here for ALL's Daily News Summary.
FEATURE STORY
COLLISION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
By Judie Brown
In June, Terry O'Neill was elected president of the National Organization for Women at its annual conference. A discussion about conscience clauses then took center stage. The subject came up in the context of health care workers who refuse to provide contraceptive information or services based on moral or religious grounds.
O'Neill said, "Conscience clauses, where pharmacists refuse birth control sales because it's against their conscience, must go. Guess what? Women have a constitutional right to birth control," adding, "There is no constitutional right to be a pharmacist" (Jacobs, Indianapolis Star, 6/21).
Perhaps O'Neill's invective sounds a bit ridiculous to you. Upon closer scrutiny, the statement appears to reflect the overriding attitude of not only NOW's current president, but perhaps entities as far reaching as the White House itself. It is quite possible that what was once perceived to be protected by the Constitution of this nation may not be what is actually recognized by the current political power structure.
A situation in North Carolina, which involves a constitutional right to religious freedom, provokes my opinion on this critical matter.
The news reports are quite clear on exactly what happened at Belmont Abbey, a Catholic college in North Carolina. The college has been warned by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that if the administration doesn't stop discriminating against female employees by denying contraceptive benefits in the colleges health coverage plan, the EEOC will take them to court!
Contraception, abortion and voluntary sterilization came off Belmont Abbey College's faculty health care policy in December 2007 after a faculty member discovered that coverage, according to an e-mail Belmont Abbey College President Bill Thierfelder sent to school staff, students, alumni and friends of the college, the Gaston Gazette reported.
In a subsequent exclusive interview with Thierfelder, LifeSiteNews.com reported that "officials at the Charlotte division of the EEOC told him that a decision to close a discrimination complaint against the school for failing to offer contraception coverage was reversed after the matter went to the nation's capital.
Sound like a strong-arm tactic? Well, read on!
"From a religious freedom standpoint, you don't have religious freedom," he said. Thierfelder stressed, however, that the college has "gotten a lot of support from people who are not Catholic, and who may not share our beliefs on abortion, sterilization, contraception they see the principle and what they're saying is, 'Belmont Abbey College is not trying to tell anybody what they have to do, it's just saying what Belmont Abbey College will do.' And I think that's an important distinction."
"To try to make us change [our beliefs], there's something very wrong with that," he continued. "And I think that's why this has garnered so much attention, and especially with the health care debates that are going on right now, and with all the things that are going on with Catholic hospitals ... what they are basically saying is, if you're Catholic, or if you are of any faith, it doesn't mean anything. You're going to do what the government tells you to do."
Thierfelder acknowledged that the fight could go to the courts, and emphasized that BAC officials were united in maintaining fidelity to Catholic Church teaching against pressure from the government.
"All of us need to have moral courage in today's world," he said. "We are so resolute in our commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church that there is no possible way we would ever deviate from it, and if it came down to it ... we would close the school rather than give in.
"So it is absolutely, unequivocally impossible for us to go against the teachings of the Catholic Church in any way. There is no form of compromise that is possible."
American Life League applauds BAC's courageous defense of Catholic moral teaching and proper Catholic medical ethics. We also understand what is at stake if the Obama administration presses forward with this overt act of intimidation.
It is obvious to us, when one considers O'Neill's version of the Constitution versus that of Catholic/Christian pharmacists, health care workers and BAC administration officials, that something is incredibly askew. While it may be that the Constitution of the United States has a very large number of interpretations depending on whose ox is being gored, the Constitution is not an elastic document.
Obama has said he will respect health care workers rights of conscience. But look at what is happening at BAC under his administration!
Obama has also said that his health care reform proposals would not force anyone into a particular situation. But look at what is being attempted here.
NOW's O'Neill may, in a very perverted sense, have hit the nail on the head, even though a careful reading of the Constitution would deny that this is so.
For those who need a refresher course, the First Amendment of the Constitution reads as follows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Taken at face value, this amendment should protect not only the policies in force at BAC with regard to the removal of contraceptive coverage from the employee health insurance policy, but it should also protect the rights of those who are opposed to government policies that violate their religious beliefs or otherwise impose untenable requirements on their right of conscience.
As law professor Lynn D. Wardle pointed out in congressional testimony a few years ago, “Protection for rights of conscience underlie and historically preceded the First Amendment. In June, 1776, even before the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Declaration of Rights provided, inter alia, that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience."
By the same token, there is no place in the Constitution where one can legitimately find a right to contraception or to aborting a child. As constitutional expert Mark Levin has written,
In order to strike down the Connecticut law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives, Douglas wrote that specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance.
Don't be embarrassed if you don't know what emanations from penumbras are. Young lawyers across America had to pull out their dictionaries when reading Griswold for the first time. A penumbra is an astronomical term describing the partial shadow in an eclipse or the edge of a sunspot and it is another way to describe something unclear or uncertain. Emanation is a scientific term for gas made from radioactive decay it also means an emission.
Douglas's decision not only found a right to privacy in a penumbra of an emanation, it manipulated the facts of the case: Estelle Griswold, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and Dr. C. Lee Buxton, the group's medical director, gave information and prescribed birth control to a married couple. Griswold and Buxton, not the married couple, were later convicted and fined $100 each. The relationship at issue, then, was doctor-patient, not husband-wife. Yet Douglas framed his opinion around a presumed right to marital privacy. He expounded at length about the sanctity of marriage but used vague phrasing to describe the rights at issue, never explicitly stating that married couples have a right to use contraceptives. He even raised the ugly specter of sex police, though no police had intruded into anyone's bedroom. “Would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of marital bedrooms for telltale signs of the use of contraceptives? This little phrase has been used as holy writ by judicial activists ever since to further expand the right to privacy in a variety of areas, including abortion and sodomy
The Constitution does, in clear and undeniably concise language, protect freedoms that you and I and millions of Americans hold dear and, until recently, took for granted. No longer!
This is indeed a grave situation. Clearly the politics of constitutional rights have turned the founding document of this republic on its ear. What was once wrong is now a right, and what was always legitimately part of our national heritage is now under siege.
Such contradiction forces me to make but one assumption: If you don't play ball with the Obama administration, there could be a price to pay, especially if you are a Catholic entity with every desire to serve Christ and His Church first and foremost.
Please write or call Belmont Abbey College President Bill Thierfelder and express your support for his courageous position:
William Thierfelder, President
Belmont Abbey College
100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Rd
Belmont, NC 28012
Call toll-free: (888) 222-0110
Please write or call the EEOC and express your concern over the bully tactics being used to intimidate BAC:
Stuart Ishimaru,
Chairman, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
131 M Street, NE
Washington, DC 20507
Phone: (202) 663-4900
TTY: (202) 663-4494
info@eeoc.gov
Pro-Life Today | 17 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
Cardinal Rigali, Abp. Chaput Intensify Warnings Against Obamacare's Abortion Expansion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081404.html
Life Site News
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, has again spoken out aganst the abortion expansion in President Obama's health care legislation, calling the bill "seriously deficient" on the issue of mandated coverage and funding of abortion. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver also issued a call to action urging Catholics to tell legislators that only a bill that excludes abortion is acceptable health care reform.
Planned Parenthood Continues Boasting Close Ties with White House on Obamacare Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081403.html
Life Site News
As calls for protection against abortion in President Obama's health care legislation fall on deaf ears, Planned Parenthood (PP) has made no secret of its continued communications with the White House on its interest in ensuring that "reproductive health" plays a central role in the final version of the legislation.
Health Care Reform Would Allow Planned Parenthood Clinics in Schools
http://www.examiner.com/x-11483-Dallas-Republican-Examiner~y2009m8d15-Health-Care-Reform-Would-Allow-Planned-Parenthood-Clinics-in-Schools
Dallas Examiner
A measure in President Barack Obama's health care plan could allow for special interest groups like Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion services provider, to operate health care clinics, at taxpayer expense, inside America's public schools.
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Catholic Charities USA, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association have all thrown their weight behind Obama's push for health care "reform." In response, American Life League exposes the "Trojan horse" hidden in the bill that opens the way for abortion, calling on Catholics to demand that the bill be scrapped!
To view the latest ALL Report, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1-MCsZ5Kg
FEATURE STORY
LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
By Carol McKinley
It's been a tough few weeks for President Obama. The urban legends he has told to garner support for the march towards socialism are finally losing their traction.
You could hear the sound of screeching brakes all over America at the collision between an elite Harvard professor and a president making a racial incident out of a police officer's response to a 911 call and the government takeover of health care. America is coming out of the trance.
As a warrior in the trenches, I couldn't count the number of times prayer mercenaries have transformed a blunder into a period of grace. Catholics had better take full advantage of the reprieve. We have a lot to lose in the ethical conundrums of rationing treatment and mercy in a government-controlled HMO.
The mission of providing ethical, compassionate, quality health care to the sick and poor is about to be reformed into setting criteria that determine the value of the patient's life measured against the cost of treating their illness.
The Church's teachings
Denying medical care to the poor, elderly and catastrophically ill to benefit the government is diametrically opposed to Catholic ethics and the Catholic animus. Pope Benedict XVI expounded on [t]he inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual as a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2273, emphasis in original) in his recently published encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:
Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good (Section 28, emphasis in original)
In order to protect nature, it is not enough to intervene with economic incentives or deterrents; not even an apposite education is sufficient. These are important steps, but the decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society. If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology (Section 51, emphasis in original)
To the tragic and widespread scourge of abortion we may well have to add in the future indeed it is already surreptitiously present the systematic eugenic programming of births. At the other end of the spectrum, a pro-euthanasia mindset is making inroads as an equally damaging assertion of control over life that under certain circumstances is deemed no longer worth living. Underlying these scenarios are cultural viewpoints that deny human dignity. These practices in turn foster a materialistic and mechanistic understanding of human life. Who could measure the negative effects of this kind of mentality for development?... While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks, on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human. (Section 75)
Obama projects that giving access to our health care system to 50 million more people will cost Americans less money than it does now. In fact, at the breaking point, Obama claims his health care program will start paying for itself. Like his projections about the economy, writing off the debt of irresponsible people who caused the mortgage crisis, cash for clunkers and “racial profiling, Obama is, once again, way off the mark.
You don't have to be a mathematician to figure out that giving access to 50 million more people in an already burdened health care system and spending less means the patients currently in the system will be sacrificing their present level of care and services. There have been negative impacts on health care access, cancer survival rates, and the quality of life for the elderly, learning disabled and sick in every country where there has been a government takeover of health care. Obama can't escape the laws of supply and demand. Supporting laws destined to place life-threatening hardships upon the disadvantaged and suffering is fundamentally immoral.
We've got to digest the threats to the sanctity of life and Catholic conscience protections, educate grassroots Catholics and make a lot of noise in the public square in the next several weeks. We're going to see Obama infomercials pushing overhaul in the mainstream media in the month of August, ad nauseam. The theologically fallacious Catholics United is firing salvos. Catholic Charities USA, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association are banding together to advance the taxpayer-funded abortions and euthanasia assistance crafted into the legislation.
Stand up and fight.
The threat to the elderly
Reading the proposals, there is no doubt that seniors would pay a heavy price. The White House has proposed the creation of an independent panel to recommend Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Seniors would not only be losing benefits. From all indications, it appears that they would be losing control over life-and-death decisions and care. This is inhumane.
Last week, EWTN's Raymond Arroyo put up a must-read post on his blog, raising the same concerns many have over disturbing references in the bill:
The elderly or people with catastrophic diseases are clearly in the sights of the administration and the congressional leadership for the simple reason that they cost too much. A quarter of all Medicare payments occur in the last year of life, costing the government more than 100 billion dollars a year, according to Forbes Magazine.
One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration.’ This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. [interview with Betsy McCaughey, patient advocate and former lieutenant governor of New York]
This Advance Care Planning Consultation would encourage all of us, but especially those with severe illnesses to submit to hospices rather than pursue expensive therapies that might extend life (and cost a bundle). The bill also establishes a tracking system to insure that doctors are advocating “advance care directives where you predetermine what type of care you would accept or refuse at the end of life. The problem with all of this is it assigns a utilitarian value to human life. If you are too old or disabled, there will be a built-in incentive to push you into hospice and palliative care rather than work to beat the disease.
This isn't hype and hysteria from the fringe. Calm, credible people reading the bills are drawing these same conclusions across the board. Arm yourself with citations from the bill, go to senior centers in your hometown and educate them about the contents of the reforms. The mainstream media is not going to publish the truth, but there is nothing holding us back from doing a little “community organizing of our own.
By their fruits, you will know them
Seniors and, in fact, most people in this country, are unaware that Obama recently appointed a science czar (John Holdren) who co-authored a book entitled Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. Among Holdren's philosophies are the following:
Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
People who contribute to social deterioration (i.e. undesirables) can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility.
This correlates with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's recent, breathtaking admission that Roe was to rid us of undesirables, i.e. growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of.
The president has surrounded himself with radical pro-abortionists, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who will have a heavy hand of influence in shaping and executing policies. Catholics, other Christians and other decent people can't ignore the dangers of giving such people power over life, death and health. Educate your priests and those in your parish. With enlightenment on Obama's trajectory, the health care bill will take on a new patina.
The Massachusetts experience
Catholics should be outraged that the poor are being used and exploited by the White House to swindle them out of benefits and life itself. Catholics United, Catholic Charities and other social pirates who are propagating the myth that this type of health care reform is about service to the poor should be vigorously castigated. The poor already have health coverage in combined federal- and state- subsidized programs. (For example, in Massachusetts, there is MassHealth Medicaid and SCHIP.)
In Massachusetts, where health care reform was instituted in 2007, benefits have been siphoned off from the indigent and transferred to households earning $77,400 for a family of five. For a family of eight, the household income can be up to $111,080. But families earning $30,000, previously eligible for free health care, are burdened with premiums and co-payments costing nearly $10,000 for the least expensive plan.
In fact, in early July, Boston Medical Center (formerly known as Boston City Hospital, serving the poorest of the poor in Boston) filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
The suit says the hospital will lose more than $100 million next year because the state has lowered Medicaid reimbursement rates and stopped paying Boston Medical “reasonable costs for treating other poor patients.
We filed this suit more in sorrow than in anger, said Elaine Ullian, the hospital's chief executive. “We believe in health care reform to the bottom of our toes, but it was never, ever supposed to be financed on the backs of the poor, and that's what has happened in Massachusetts.
The central charge in the suit is that the state has siphoned money away from Boston Medical to help pay the considerable cost of insuring all but a small percentage of residents.
According to the suit, Massachusetts is now reimbursing Boston Medical only 64 cents for every dollar it spends treating the poor. About 10 percent of the hospital's patients are uninsured down from about 20 percent before the law's passage in 2006. But many more are on Medicaid or Commonwealth Care, the state-subsidized insurance program for low-income residents.
Astoundingly, with all the rancor and rhetoric from Democrats about the compassionate immigration policies absent in the Republican agenda, when the cost of operating “health care reform produced an ever-growing deficit, 30,000 legal immigrants were the first people thrown under the bus by the Democrat-controlled Massachusetts legislature: 30,000 of them received letters of health care termination.
The cost of providing health care to the 30,000 immigrants is approximately $130 million a year. A vote on July 29 restored $40 million of the budget, leaving uncertainty about the effect of eliminating $90 million in coverage for permanent residents who have had green cards for less than five years.
Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's former senior adviser, provided an informed analysis of the siphoning off of funds from the poor:
Mr. Obama's problem is that nine out of 10 Americans would likely get worse health care if ObamaCare goes through. Of those who do not have insurance – and who therefore might be better off approximately one-fifth are illegal aliens, nearly three-fifths make $50,000 or more a year and can afford insurance, and just under a third are probably eligible for Medicaid or other government programs already.
For the slice of the uninsured that is left perhaps about 2% of all American citizens –Team Obama would dismantle the world's greatest health-care system.
Don't wait for clerical leadership
There are valuable lessons to be learned from the Catholic trenches in Boston in terms of what lies ahead nationally. In late February of this year, the Caritas Christi health care delivery network sought and was awarded a contract that includes providing abortions, family planning services and other moral evils to the uncatechized, the unsuspecting poor and women emotionally distraught due to an unplanned pregnancy.
With the advice and public consent of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Caritas gave the Commonwealth written assurances that Catholic medical staff would inform women of health care options, including abortions. They appointed NARAL members to serve as advisors and agreed to give them access to monitor Catholic health care workers to ensure compliance.
Caritas set up a corporation, sought out and signed contracts with abortionists, set up a 24-hour family planning/abortion hotline number and hired employees to direct women to the abortionists with whom it contracted and took a 49-percent interest in the operation. A handful of Catholics relentlessly exposed the arrangement and, with some assistance from American Life League, we were able to get Cardinal O'Malley to retreat from ownership in the operation. However, the arrangement marched forward with all the abortion contracts, the 24-hour hotline, written assurances and NARAL oversight of Caritas employees intact.
It should be noted that Cardinal O'Malley tried to generate support for the arrangement by purporting that Catholic theology permitted entering into a contract that binds a Catholic in the performance of moral evils; in effect, he claimed that even though we realize the sinful nature of performing those moral evils, so long as we recruit others to perform the evils, it does not violate Catholic ethics. Theologically, spiritually and ethically, nothing could be more unsound. Knowing something is wrong and sinful, and then baiting somebody else into doing it who doesn't know, compounds the sin. The Caritas arrangement is as ethical as hiring Kevorkian to kill your elderly parents when they become a personal and financial burden.
The cardinal outsourced his conscience to the National Catholic Bioethics Center, which reportedly gave him a formal opinion stating the current arrangement is ethically sound. Repeated requests to the cardinal to release the opinion of the NCBC have been rebuffed.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear about those who give scandal by becoming their neighbor's tempter (Sections 2284 & 2287). Leading others to do evil takes on a particular gravity for those in authority who cause it:
Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! (Section 2287)
The fight for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the next generation of Catholics is in the hands of lay leaders. Every one of us must raise our voices in the public square.
Carol McKinley is a pro-life activist, a paralegal working in the affordable housing industry and the creator of the Lead Us Not into Temptation blog site. Her activism was inspired by a desire to preserve her three children's faith from the ever-growing influence of Planned Parenthood's sexual promiscuity and abortion agenda in both public and Catholic academia. She resides in the challenging city of Boston.
Respond to Judie
http://www.all.org/newsroom_judieblog_response.php?id=27
(This guest commentary was published on the Lead Us Not into Temptation blog site on August 3, 2009 and is used with its kind permission.)
PRO-Life Today | 14 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
Euthanasia Advocates Authored Part of Obamacare
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106812
World Net Daily
Part of the controversial health care reform proposal in Congress that discusses "end-of-life" counseling and medical procedures that could be rationed based on the age of the patient and other factors was written by suicide advocates who argue openly for the "right" to death, according to reports. The group Compassion & Choices, formerly known as the Hemlock Society, also says it had a hand in crafting Section 1233, writing July 27: 'Compassion & Choices has worked tirelessly with supportive members of Congress to include in proposed reform legislation a provision requiring Medicare to cover patient consultation with their doctors about end-of-life choice (section 1233 of House Bill 3200),'" writes Jill Stanek.
Radical NGO Paints Abortionists as Human Rights Defenders
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081311.html
Life Site News
In a recently released report from the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the advocacy group is appealing to the United Nations (UN) to formally recognize abortion-providers as "human rights defenders." In "Defending Human Rights," CRR presupposes that abortion is part of the accepted human rights framework and targets legal restrictions on abortion, funding restrictions on abortion and "failure to reduce abortion-related stigma" as "human rights violations." CRR asserts that abortion providers should be recognized as "human rights defenders" because the targeting of abortion providers directly infringes on women’s fundamental human rights by restricting "women’s ability to realize their right to reproductive healthcare, including safe abortion."
American Nuns Honor Pro-Abortion Cokie Roberts as Vatican Investigation Continues
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081301.html
Life Site News
While American Catholic nuns continue to undergo scrutiny from a Vatican investigation, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) invited Cokie Roberts, a political commentator who has criticized the Church's prohibition against abortion, contraception, and homosexuality, as the keynote speaker for their annual meeting this week. Another Catholic group, Supporting Our Aging Religious (SOAR), has announced it will host a dinner in honor of Roberts and her husband Steve in November of this year.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
Catholic Charities USA, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association have all thrown their weight behind Obama's push for health care "reform." In response, American Life League exposes the "Trojan horse" hidden in the bill that opens the way for abortion, calling on Catholics to demand that the bill be scrapped!
To view the latest ALL Report, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1-MCsZ5Kg
FEATURE STORY
MY BABY
By Phil Kammer
(This guest commentary was originally published by www.StumpReport.com and is used with its kind permission.)
I have always believed that our Creator has made His laws and precepts clear for all of His creation. So this thought came to mind one day.
A young woman finds herself living the typical college life: excited about her life to come and fearful of things that can go wrong. In school, she unexpectedly finds the man of her dreams and, although much in love, is panicked and fearful when she finds herself with child. She consults one of the many “family planning businesses, and its advice seems reasonable: Protect your college education; protect your future: Have an abortion.
The young woman pauses and again her family planning counselor says, It's in your best interest; it's merely a fetus and of no consequence. As she ponders such assurances from a counselor who seems so caring, a date is set. And then the procedure is performed.
Years have now passed, guilt has faded and love has blossomed. The woman now finds herself in the deepest of love with the man of her dreams. They have a beautiful wedding with everyone there, their careers couldn't be better and their life is grand. A great surprise has come to the newly married couple: They have now conceived a child. The young married couple could never have guessed what joy there would be in planning for a first child. A room is chosen and furnished with love. An ultrasound suggests a blue room, and joy is the order of the day.
One day, the couple decides that a slow walk in the park would be nice. But a thief lurks there in the shadows, waiting to carry out a robbery. Under a shady elm tree, he strikes. At gunpoint, he shouts, Give me your money! They pause; he becomes angry. Her young husband is heroic at heart, but is thrown to the ground. His young bride, still standing, bears the brunt of the thief's anger as a single, surreal pop sounds under the elm tree. The young bride stands there, desperately clutching her stomach.
I end this short story here because here is where humanity takes control of the abortion debate. In life, a person chooses to be honest or not. They choose to follow the natural law "or not".
Are you an honest person?
When the young woman was in college, she was told that what was growing inside of her was just a piece of flesh a fetus of no consequence.
When she was struck by the thief's bullet, did she cry out, My fetus, my fetus! or My baby, my baby!?
Our Creator has endowed us with certain undeniable attributes, chief of which is that the truth is written in every human heart.
The vast majority of women will immediately respond that this woman cried out, My baby, my baby! Due to political conditioning, some will hesitate to answer this question. However, the truth remains: Our God-given nature tells all of us that what grows within a woman, regardless of her economic, social or political condition, is simply a baby.
I have not told this tale to play a trick, but rather to shed light on the use of the word fetus and how callously it is used by abortion profiteers. Many have written in defense of abortion. Most of these writings are lengthy and complicated “as intended".
Remember: The truth is simple.
Phil Kammer is an independent freelance writer, public speaker, and avid proponent of the U.S. Constitution and life's simple truths. He earned a degree in public policy from California State University and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. He is also the creator and owner of
www.StumpReport.com, a conservative web site dedicated to simple truths in American politics
From Associates
Volume 6, Number 31 August 17, 2009
Pro-Life Wisconsin
In its Monday Update last week, Pro-Life Wisconsin published a timely reminder of exactly what the “no exceptions pro-life philosophy” means. It is our pleasure to reprint it here for you:
Compassionate and Consistent: The “No-Exceptions” Pro-Life Philosophy
Totally banning abortion makes some people uncomfortable. We’ve been told time and again there are unique situations for which abortion is the best option. If a lie is repeated often enough, people begin to accept it as truth. Such is the case with the erroneous notion that abortion must be permitted in cases of rape, incest, fetal deformity, or a perceived threat to the mother’s life. A principled commitment to the protection of innocent human life, in all circumstances and at all stages of development, is compassionate and consistent.
Not even in the case of rape or incest? Rape and incest are both criminal acts, and in our system of justice we punish the criminal. We do not punish the victim, nor do we punish the criminal’s children. We are told that if a pregnancy results from an act of rape or incest, the compassionate response is to offer the traumatized woman an abortion. No woman should be “forced to carry that monster’s child,” we are told. The trauma of sexual assault is very real. But why compound such severe trauma with the additional trauma of abortion? The compassionate response to rape and incest is to meet the real needs of the mother. Providing life-affirming medical, financial, and emotional care meets these needs.
Not even in cases of fetal deformity? When abortion is used to solve the problem of a disability, it is discrimination of the most severe kind. These children are not merely discriminated against for their disability; they are killed because of it. Abortions in these cases raise frightening prospects, for if it is right to kill a disabled person in the womb, could it not someday be permissible to kill a disabled infant? A disabled adult? The answer is clearly “no” in those cases; why is there any question when the victim is a child in the womb? Preborn children diagnosed with disabilities deserve to be treated with the same respect as people born with or without a disability.
Not even in the case of a perceived threat to the mother’s life? Medical operations such as the removal of a cancerous uterus or the removal of an ectopic pregnancy are moral even under Catholic teaching and are not considered abortions. Such operations are justified by the “principle of double effect,” because the death of the child is an unintended effect of an operation independently justified to save the mother’s life. They do not involve the intentional and willful destruction of an unborn child. Physicians must make their best effort to save both patients, giving equal care to mother and child. They should never be given a license to intentionally kill either of them. Finally, many abortionists believe the very condition of pregnancy itself is a life-threatening condition. Consequently, a “life of the mother” exception can become a massive statutory loophole through which to drive abortion on demand.
When those in the pro-life movement support abortion in exceptional cases, it is destructive to the whole movement. The point is to end ALL abortion. The child is ALWAYS an innocent victim. Once pro-lifers say there can be a “good reason” to kill a preborn baby, the foundation of the pro-life movement crumbles. The argument is lost. Either the preborn child is a person, or the child is not a person. Since the preborn child is a person, there can be no exceptions for abortion.
Fast Facts and Frequently Asked Questions
Editor's note: In addition to our ongoing monthly features addressing specific topics of interest to the pro-life community (the culture of life, Planned Parenthood, population control, etc.), our new feature, "Fast Facts and Frequently Asked Questions," will highlight some of the most frequently quoted and sought-after facts and statistics pertaining to pro-life matters, as well as answer some of the questions most frequently asked of our office (and probably yours too). If you have specific questions or topics you’d like mentioned, please send them to LTignor@ALL.org.
Contraception and abortion
There are two very important health reasons for our opposition to the birth control pill, in addition to the moral reasons why we oppose it. The first is that, contrary to popular thought, the birth control pill does not cut down the number of abortions, and even those who support the pill admit to this. It is extremely dishonest to promote the theory that the pill curtails abortion per se when, in fact, the pill can and does work in three different ways, one of which is abortion. When the pill works by thinning the lining of the uterus, the embryonic child dies and this is known as an early chemical abortion. Therefore, to suggest that the pill "keeps abortions from happening" is not accurate.
Further, the birth control pill is known to be carcinogenic and can cause a series of health problems for women and their future children. It has been linked to cancer, heart conditions, thromboembolisms and more. Moreover, it has now been found to have negative effects on the environment, particularly oceans and rivers.
There is a great deal of research available on this subject, and we strongly recommend that individuals conduct an independent study of the literature on the pill. A good starting point is The Pill Kills web site (www.thepillkills.com). The material that we cite is of exactly the same nature as the material cited by pill advocates. Obviously, each side emphasizes the facts according to its own perspective, so we are not guilty of anything unique when it comes to discussing or debating the birth control pill.
We have never believed it is compassionate to deceive people by only telling them what they want to hear. There are cruel facts about the birth control pill that rarely see the light of day. It is our responsibility to make sure we provide this information through our educational outreach, so that, regardless of one’s opinion, he or she has all the facts before making a decision one way or the other about the birth control pill.
News
Personhood amendment making inroads in Colorado
Personhood Colorado is preparing for a major effort to get a proposed pro-life amendment on an upcoming ballot.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638268
Denver archbishop: "Common ground" claim will be tested in details of health care reform
Whether or not the White House and Congress are really seeking to find common ground on health care reform legislation will be discovered in the details of the plan put forth, Archbishop Charles Chaput said, warning against any attempts to place an abortion mandate in the reform bills.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=97074
Obama on abortion: Unclear now, quite clear then
The White House unveiled its new Reality Check webpage, attempting to realign facts in its favor about the proposed nationalized health care plan. Noticeably missing is any mention of the A-word, even though the topic has taken center stage in the national debate.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106594
Catholic Charities refuses to oppose Obama health care bill
CCUSA spokesman Roger Conner steadfastly refused to explicitly state that his organization would oppose the Obama legislation. Conner also would not agree that health care reform should wait until the Obama legislation was amended or struck down.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081107.html
Catholic organizations' support for health care reform follows the money trail
A clash between Catholic pro-life groups and major Catholic organizations on whether Congress should enact immediate health care reform has drastically muddled the Catholic response to the debate raging on Capitol Hill. But as one Catholic editor has noted, the conflicting messages on whether to push health care reform could be traced to at least one organization's monetary interest in such reform.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09080705.html
Assisted reproduction rates increasing worldwide
Globally, the use of assisted reproduction technology, or ART, to overcome fertility problems continues to increase, and multiple births remain a concern, according to a new report. http://www.theprovince.com/health/Assisted+reproduction+rates+increasing+worldwide/1663093/story.html
Closing Thought
There are no conceivable clinical situations today where abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. In fact, if her health is threatened and an abortion is performed, the abortion increases risks the mother will incur regarding her health.
—Dr. Bernard Nathanson, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Pro-Life Today | 13 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
State threatens abortion business license
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106787
World Net Daily
The health department in the state of South Dakota has threatened to suspend the license of the only abortion business in Sioux Falls, Planned Parenthood, over its alleged failure to follow state law. According to a report on KSFY television, the state agency has issued a formal notice to the business that it must comply. The report said Planned Parenthood has responded by going to court and seeking protection from the state law.
Study Finds Injectable Contraceptive Leads To Obesity
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081206.html
Life Site News
A study by doctors at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping DMPA use.
Pushing contraception on children
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=639714
One News Now
Planned Parenthood wants wide availability of contraception to underage children in Montana. A bill to grant carte blanche to teenagers failed in the last session of the Montana state legislature. But Planned Parenthood is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which supposedly prohibits coverage of prescriptions of birth control.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
FEATURE STORY
OBAMACARE AND THE RIGHT TO LIFE: ELDERLY PATIENTS MAY FACE PRESSURE TO DIE
By Judie Brown
This guest commentary was originally published in the August 9-22, 2009 issue of the National Catholic Register and is used with the Register's kind permission.
By Robin Rohr
As the pro-life movement fights to keep abortion out of the health-care reform bill, an undercover attack on the elderly may be taking place unnoticed.
At issue is a provision that calls for end-of-life counseling of senior citizens every five years. That counseling can include topics such as how to decline nutrition and hydration, antibiotics and basic care treatments for specific conditions such as flu or pneumonia, and how to choose palliative and hospice care for the terminally ill.
I've read about a third of HR 3200 and the counseling parts are designed to encourage euthanasia, claimed Dr. Katherine Schlaerth, an associate professor of family medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Seniors will be counseled every five years, and more often if they get sicker.
Schlaerth, who emphasized that she does not speak for Loma Linda University, said that a frail, elderly, ill and depressed patient or that patient's family “may easily agree to withhold antibiotics or fluid without realizing the full implication.
Patients who have a worsening of their chronic condition, but who may not even be pre-terminal, are included in this strong-arm counseling, and their respect for authority figures could pave the way for agreement with cessation of care not in their interest at all, Schlaerth said. Health-care providers, meanwhile, may be forced to give counseling directly opposed to their religious or moral beliefs.
Key lawmakers are in agreement with Schlaerth. Section 1233 encourages health-care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration and other end-of-life treatments and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressure to sign an end-of-life directive they would not otherwise sign, said the House Republican leader, John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the Republican Policy Committee chairman, Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., in a July 23 statement. “This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia.
Death as Cost Savings
At first glance, the counseling of elders for care options seems like an innocuous requirement. But Schlaerth says the purpose of the counseling has darker roots.
The real reason for these draconian provisions directed against elders who are not terminal, I believe, is to save on Social Security payments as well as Medicare payments, Schlaerth said. The math is obvious. If you kill the disabled and give quality preventive care to the well, your health-care statistics will look excellent.
Bill May, chairman of Catholics for the Common Good, also views the mandatory counseling sessions as an outrageous cover to introduce assisted suicide.
We need to pay attention to issues related to shortening the lives and hastening death for the elderly, infirm and disabled another way of getting rid of undesirable, non-useful and costly people, he said. This bill creates a platform for assisted suicide for the elderly, infirm and disabled at times they are most vulnerable, depressed and open to suggestions of ending their lives early. Compassion & Choices, the former Hemlock Society, wants to get into the end-of-life counseling business, and it looks like the health-care bill will open the door for them to become government contractors as purveyors of the culture of death.
The legislative language of the bill regarding counseling is vague and open to interpretation. I'm a lawyer, and I find this language incomprehensible, stated Wesley J. Smith, associate director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. “I believe it is done maliciously. What is clear is that seniors will receive counseling read re-education every five years or whenever their health status changes. The point is to reduce cost. While the language doesn't require it, these mandatory sessions will often be directed towards not wanting care, in much the same way that genetic counseling of a mother carrying a Down [syndrome] fetus often is directed toward abortion.
Smith said patients could be referred to organizations like the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices to help sort out their choices. “In practice, if not in law, counseling will usually be a one-way street, he said.
Compassion & Choices is an organization that describes itself as working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. Wesley J. Smith says the bill is˜incomprehensible, which may explain why he repeatedly misstates what the bill does, said Steve Hopcraft, a spokesman for Compassion & Choices. It's a myth that C&C or any organization [would] be the counselor. The bill specifically says M.D. or nurse practitioner.
Section 1233 does state the consultation will be performed by a medical provider; however, included in the topics to be discussed is direction to provide suggested people to talk to and a list of national and state-specific resources.
Rationed Care
Concerns about Obama's health-care reform adversely affecting older Americans are not new. Earlier this year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill) appropriated $1.1 billion for research into comparative effectiveness, which compares clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, procedures and strategies. One aspect of this comparison is a concept called Quality Adjusted Life Years, where the value assigned to life varies with the health state of the person. This method is controversial because it means that some people will not receive treatment if the calculated cost is not warranted by the benefit to their quality of life.
Burke Balch, director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics at the National Right to Life Committee, explained that a person's Quality of Adjusted Life Years determines if a procedure is allowed. Of significant concern is the phrase comparative effectiveness, he said. This becomes [how] you end up discriminating against a disability. The language in the health-care bills being considered by the House and reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee can be used for wide-open interpretation of cost-effectiveness leading to denial of treatment based on quality of life. The funding for the promises made in these bills cannot be sustained, and that will create the atmosphere for rationing.
May agrees and says that health-care rationing takes place in Oregon, one of two states where physician-assisted suicide is legal. People fighting life-threatening illnesses there regularly receive letters saying that the state insurance plan would not cover their medication but would pay for a lethal prescription to end their lives, he said.
Boehner and McCotter also warn that with Oregon and Washington having legalized assisted suicide, Section 1233 could create a slippery slope for a more permissive environment for euthanasia, mercy killing and physician-assisted suicide because it does not clearly exclude counseling about the supposed benefits of killing oneself.
Robin Rohr is a National Catholic Register correspondent and writes from Willits, California.
Pro-Life Today | 13 August 2009
For all of today's pro-life news articles, from around the country and around the world,
read the Daily News Summary on our web site click here.
HEADLINES
State threatens abortion business license
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106787
World Net Daily
The health department in the state of South Dakota has threatened to suspend the license of the only abortion business in Sioux Falls, Planned Parenthood, over its alleged failure to follow state law. According to a report on KSFY television, the state agency has issued a formal notice to the business that it must comply. The report said Planned Parenthood has responded by going to court and seeking protection from the state law.
Study Finds Injectable Contraceptive Leads To Obesity
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09081206.html
Life Site News
A study by doctors at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping DMPA use.
Pushing contraception on children
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=639714
One News Now
Planned Parenthood wants wide availability of contraception to underage children in Montana. A bill to grant carte blanche to teenagers failed in the last session of the Montana state legislature. But Planned Parenthood is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which supposedly prohibits coverage of prescriptions of birth control.
This daily e-newsletter is only possible through the generous gifts of our readers and supporters. Please help us continue to fight for the defense of babies by donating today! Click here to help.
FEATURE STORY
OBAMACARE AND THE RIGHT TO LIFE: ELDERLY PATIENTS MAY FACE PRESSURE TO DIE
By Judie Brown
This guest commentary was originally published in the August 9-22, 2009 issue of the National Catholic Register and is used with the Register's kind permission.
By Robin Rohr
As the pro-life movement fights to keep abortion out of the health-care reform bill, an undercover attack on the elderly may be taking place unnoticed.
At issue is a provision that calls for end-of-life counseling of senior citizens every five years. That counseling can include topics such as how to decline nutrition and hydration, antibiotics and basic care treatments for specific conditions such as flu or pneumonia, and how to choose palliative and hospice care for the terminally ill.
I've read about a third of HR 3200 and the counseling parts are designed to encourage euthanasia, claimed Dr. Katherine Schlaerth, an associate professor of family medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Seniors will be counseled every five years, and more often if they get sicker.
Schlaerth, who emphasized that she does not speak for Loma Linda University, said that a frail, elderly, ill and depressed patient or that patient's family may easily agree to withhold antibiotics or fluid without realizing the full implication.
Patients who have a worsening of their chronic condition, but who may not even be pre-terminal, are included in this strong-arm counseling, and their respect for authority figures could pave the way for agreement with cessation of care not in their interest at all, Schlaerth said. Health-care providers, meanwhile, may be forced to give counseling directly opposed to their religious or moral beliefs.
Key lawmakers are in agreement with Schlaerth. Section 1233 encourages health-care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration and other end-of-life treatments and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressure to sign an end-of-life directive they would not otherwise sign, said the House Republican leader, John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the Republican Policy Committee chairman, Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., in a July 23 statement. “This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia.
Death as Cost Savings
At first glance, the counseling of elders for care options seems like an innocuous requirement. But Schlaerth says the purpose of the counseling has darker roots.
The real reason for these draconian provisions directed against elders who are not terminal, I believe, is to save on Social Security payments as well as Medicare payments, Schlaerth said. The math is obvious. If you kill the disabled and give quality preventive care’ to the well, your health-care statistics will look excellent.
Bill May, chairman of Catholics for the Common Good, also views the mandatory counseling sessions as an outrageous cover to introduce assisted suicide.
We need to pay attention to issues related to shortening the lives and hastening death for the elderly, infirm and disabled another way of getting rid of undesirable, non-useful and costly people, he said. This bill creates a platform for assisted suicide for the elderly, infirm and disabled at times they are most vulnerable, depressed and open to suggestions of ending their lives early. Compassion & Choices, the former Hemlock Society, wants to get into the end-of-life counseling business, and it looks like the health-care bill will open the door for them to become government contractors as purveyors of the culture of death.
The legislative language of the bill regarding counseling is vague and open to interpretation. I'm a lawyer, and I find this language incomprehensible, stated Wesley J. Smith, associate director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. “I believe it is done maliciously. What is clear is that seniors will receive counseling read re-educationâ every five years or whenever their health status changes. The point is to reduce cost. While the language doesn't require it, these mandatory sessions will often be directed towards not wanting care, in much the same way that genetic counseling of a mother carrying a Down [syndrome] fetus often is directed toward abortion.
Smith said patients could be referred to organizations like the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices to help sort out their choices. In practice, if not in law, ˜counseling will usually be a one-way street, he said.
Compassion & Choices is an organization that describes itself as working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. Wesley J. Smith says the bill is incomprehensible, which may explain why he repeatedly misstates what the bill does, said Steve Hopcraft, a spokesman for Compassion & Choices. It's a myth that C&C or any organization [would] be the counselor. The bill specifically says M.D. or nurse practitioner.
Section 1233 does state the consultation will be performed by a medical provider; however, included in the topics to be discussed is direction to provide suggested people to talk to and “a list of national and state-specific resources.
Rationed Care
Concerns about Obama's health-care reform adversely affecting older Americans are not new. Earlier this year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “Stimulus Bill) appropriated $1.1 billion for research into comparative effectiveness, which compares clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, procedures and strategies. One aspect of this comparison is a concept called Quality Adjusted Life Years, where the value assigned to life varies with the health state of the person. This method is controversial because it means that some people will not receive treatment if the calculated cost is not warranted by the benefit to their quality of life.
Burke Balch, director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics at the National Right to Life Committee, explained that a person's Quality of Adjusted Life Years determines if a procedure is allowed. Of significant concern is the phrase comparative effectiveness, he said. This becomes [how] you end up discriminating against a disability. The language in the health-care bills being considered by the House and reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee can be used for wide-open interpretation of cost-effectiveness leading to denial of treatment based on quality of life. The funding for the promises made in these bills cannot be sustained, and that will create the atmosphere for rationing.
May agrees and says that health-care rationing takes place in Oregon, one of two states where physician-assisted suicide is legal. People fighting life-threatening illnesses there regularly receive letters saying that the state insurance plan would not cover their medication but would pay for a lethal prescription to end their lives, he said.
Boehner and McCotter also warn that with Oregon and Washington having legalized assisted suicide, Section 1233 could create a slippery slope for a more permissive environment for euthanasia, mercy killing and physician-assisted suicide because it does not clearly exclude counseling about the supposed benefits of killing oneself.
Robin Rohr is a National Catholic Register correspondent and writes from Willits, California.
Pro-Life Today | 05 August 2009
HEADLINES
Health Care Reform and Abortion - What's the Truth?
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=652150
One News Now
President Obama contends that conservatives are "bearing false witness" about his healthcare reform plan, but one leading conservative says it's the president who's misleading the American public. President Obama told thousands of liberal religious leaders in a telephone call Wednesday that healthcare reform is a "core ethical and moral obligation," and his reform plans are designed to fulfill one of God's commandments -- "I am my brother's keeper. I am my sister's keeper."
Bowling for Death Panels: Euthanasia Group Behind "End-of-Life" Counseling
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082015.html
Life Site News
Although President Obama and liberal Congressional Democrats have denounced claims that the health care reform establishes death panels, it does not help reassure the American public that the nation's foremost pro-euthanasia group is actively pushing “end-of-life counseling as a centerpiece of health-care reforms.
Judge: SD Doctors Must Say Abortion Ends Life
http://www.ktvu.com/news/20480910/detail.html
KTVU
A federal judge upheld part of a South Dakota law that requires women to be told abortion ends a human life, but struck down disclosures that the procedure increases the likelihood of suicide and that they have an existing relationship with the fetus. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier's decision Thursday ends a lawsuit that Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota filed in response to a 2005 informed consent law that required several disclosures to women seeking an abortion.
For more headline news, click here for ALL's Daily News Summary.
FEATURE STORY
ABORTION-MINDED MOTHERS: THE FACTS
By Judie Brown
A recent airing of Raymond Arroyo The World Over presented an opportunity for me to discuss Catholic health care ethics with the president of the Catholic Health Association, Sister Carol Keehan, DC. I received a great deal of messages via e-mail, Facebook and the U.S. Postal Service after my appearance on that program.
I am grateful for every one of them. However, one in particular moved me to think seriously about what is really at stake in our struggle to keep the aborting of a child out of any type of health care reform legislation. It helped me realize what an expectant mother seeking to abort her baby really wants and really needs.
So, rather than tell you my opinion, which would not be based on actual hands-on experience, I prefer to share this letter, written to Sister Carol by Lorraine Curtin, who does know exactly what such a mother thinks, feels and needs:
Dear Sister Carol Keehan,
Thank you for taking a moment to read my e-mail.
I listened to your conversation last Friday evening with Raymond Arroyo and Judie Brown. There is one aspect of your argument regarding health care for pregnant women that I would like to address. It concerns an implied generalization that free prenatal care would greatly diminish abortions in our country.
I am a volunteer consultant at a crisis pregnancy center in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2001, I have talked with hundreds of abortion-minded women concerning their pregnancy and their options. It has been my experience that women do not choose to have an abortion because of lack of prenatal care. In our state, we have a generous, free health insurance program (called Healthy Start/Healthy Families) for women without insurance. The guidelines for eligibility are well above the Medicaid guidelines given by the federal government. In fact, any women in our state ineligible for state insurance can receive quality prenatal care for free (or at a substantially reduced rate) because there are other programs available to these women through grant money.
My experience has been that women choose abortion because they do not want to be pregnant. This might sound overly simplified, but let me explain. Many teens and adults are engaging in premarital sex. Most of them do not want children with that partner or at that moment in their life. Consequently, when they do get pregnant, they seek an abortion. Since abortion is legal and easy to acquire, it is a choice so often made. Many women choose to abort in the first trimester because they are not showing yet. Trust me, if all they needed were health care, we would have very few abortions in our state. (We have approximately 31,000 elective abortions each year.)
I can state at least 10 reasons that are given as to why they choose an abortion (notice that health care is not on the list):
1. Birth control failed pill, patch, shot, condom
2. Wants to finish high school/college baby messes up their future plans
3. No longer in a relationship with the father of the baby
4. Parents would be unsupportive afraid of what they might think doesn't want
them to find out.
5. Has enough kids
6. Pregnant through an extramarital affair
7. Not ready to parent no particular reason given
8. Does not know who the father is casual sex (hooking up) with multiple partners
9. Pressure from someone else to abort (family, boyfriend, employer)
10. Sex is purely recreational I never thought I'd get pregnant!
Women never tell us, Gee, I wouldn't have an abortion if I could get free health care. They know they can get free health care. It's not about health care it's about the devaluing of human life in our culture, and most of the responsibility lies in the fact that abortions have been legal since 1973 [emphasis added]. Please do not be duped into this lie about abortion and health care. The only way to stop it is to make it illegal and teach “abstinence-only in our homes, our churches and our schools.
Now I must say that some of the poorest of the poor do not get abortions, because they cannot pay for them (a first-trimester abortion runs about $350 in our city). So, if health care passes that includes free abortions (a.k.a. family planning services), then even these women will succumb to the culture of death.
If you have any independent studies (not by Planned Parenthood) that corroborate your claim, please send them to me, so that I can read them.
If abortion were illegal, then the choice to abort would change to the choice of an adoption and occasionally to parenting. In our current climate, abortion is an easy option for now (or so they think!) because no one will know that I was ever pregnant.
If it were just as simple as giving them free health care, there would be no use for crisis pregnancy centers. I would happily give up my position here if it were all true, but I know better. I encourage you to visit a crisis center in your state and talk one-on-one with the consultants for more in-depth conversation.
There it is, from an expert. This woman has given us a window into the world of the expectant mother who does not wish to be the mother of a living child. I would hasten to add that most of these mothers do not consider themselves to be the mother of a preborn child, but prefer to think of themselves as a woman with a problem requiring a quick solution. I also believe that this counselor is correct to point out that if abortion is covered in any health care reform plan, abortion numbers will go through the roof. So why hasn't this been made clear?
First and foremost, pro-life America is making the case, and we are not going to shut up. And it is my opinion that, after all these weeks of debate, perhaps the truth is sinking in. Perhaps Americans are finally beginning to think beyond the Obamacare marketing phrases, gobbledygook and false promises making their way through town-hall meetings and other such venues.
On this subject the facts about abortion-minded mothers it is my sincere hope that people across this nation will spread the words of this wise pro-life pregnancy counselor, and help their ministers, priests, bishops and others see that Obamacare is going to increase the killing of the preborn, not ameliorate the situation.
President Obama says abortion is “heart-wrenching, and yet he advocates it. We say abortion is murder and it's time for America to listen.