Saturday, April 30, 2011
That time of year again
And please, don't forget to continue sharing AbortionSafety.com. Thanks!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Pro-life training event tomorrow in PA
What: Transforming Your Campus for Life
Date: Saturday, April 30
Time: 9:00am-4:30pm
Where: Eastern University, St. Davids, PA
Food: FREE breakfast and lunch
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Ron Paul on Abortion
I applaud Ron Paul for everything he has done for the right to life on a national level. Interestingly, however, he says that abortion should really be a state issue:
He also argues that he is against Roe v. Wade not because it legalized abortion per se but because it nationalized an issue that should be decided at the state level: "I consider it a state-level responsibility to restrain violence against any human being."In a way, this makes perfect sense. After all, laws against post-natal murder are enacted at the state level. There is generally no need for federal laws banning murder, assualt, rape, and other forms of violent crime.
The key difference, of course, is that there is no ideology, adopted by nearly half of Americans, which holds that assualt is a constitutional right. Assault is guaranteed to be illegal in every state by popular demand; abortion is not.
When Roe v. Wade is overturned, pro-life advocates are prepared to go to work to protect preborn life state by state. In some states, this will be easy. But other states-- I'm thinking primarily of New York and California-- are pro-abortion strongholds. This could lead to an unacceptable divide of "life states" and "choice states," similar to the antebellum free state/slave state divide. History suggests that such variation in human rights from state to state will become untenable. There will be pressure for uniform federal protection of the right to life, perhaps in the form of a constitutional amendment.
What do you think?
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Midweek News Roundup: 04/27/11
The Senate also began floor action on two of six abortion-related measures passed by the House and is set to vote on them Thursday. One is a constitutional amendment and the other a bill that would ban public and insurance exchange funding of abortions.Other bills would require women to undergo ultrasounds before getting abortions and make it more difficult for minors to get court waivers from Florida's existing parental notice requirement.Another would give funds raised from the state's "Choose Life" license plate to a private organization that promotes the tags nationwide.Finally, there's a comprehensive abortion regulation bill that would expand the category of prohibited abortions beyond the third trimester to include cases in which the fetus is deemed viable by a doctor. Other provisions would require doctors who provide abortions to undergo ethics training and require that abortion clinics be owned by doctors.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A Tale of Two Protests
The Planned Parenthood staff was not happy; they hastened to the police and accused us of harassment. Of course the police had no problems with our demonstration which had two immediate effects: 1) Since our signs simply said the word “abortion” and were next to a Planned Parenthood booth, traffic to the booth instantly stopped. There were no more visitors to their booth for the rest of the day. As soon as the booth was actually associated with their true purpose, people wanted nothing to do with them – their ruse as child-friendly community helpers was off. 2) The witness of the young people’s demonstration inspired the rest of the fair’s attendees.The Planned Parenthood booth packed up early; the fair organizers apologized and said that Planned Parenthood would not be back.
This is an excellent example of protest done right. The pro-life youth of Dixon did not vandalize the Planned Parenthood display. They did not engage in attacks or insults. They simply presented the facts, in a calm, confident, peaceful manner.
Contrast that with the behavior of pro-abortion students at Clarion University last Wednesday. Clarion Students for Life, like many pro-life student organizations, traditionally puts together a "Cemetary of the Innocents" display each year. Such displays use cemetary symbols, such as crosses, flags, or flowers, to memorialize abortion victims. Clarion displayed 350 crosses, with a sign stating that each cross stood for ten aborted children, for a total of 3500: the number of babies aborted each day in the United States.
Pro-abortion students were not interested in having a peaceful counter-protest, or in attempting to persuade anyone of the correctness of their position. Instead, they vandalized the display by:
1) Splattering red paint on it
2) Turning the crosses upside down, a symbol of religious intolerance
3) Writing the word "pro-choice" in red paint
4) Using red paint to create "bloody footprints" of a baby
I can't make this stuff up.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Carhart under investigation
Carhart does not mention on his application that he worked for late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller for more than a decade doing late-term abortions on pregnant women near and after viability for the unborn child. Newman says that omission and the lack of any information about the abortions Carhart has done in other states, helps to conceal the truth about the nature of Carhart’s late-term abortion business.It is not clear whether or not the Maryland Board of Physicians would have granted Carhart his license if this information were known to them from the beginning. In any event, they were perturbed enough by the omissions to open an investigation. Stay tuned.
“Looking at his Maryland medical license application, there is no mention of abortion anywhere,” Newman says. “One is led to believe that Carhart is an emergency room physician and university professor. There is no indication on that application that he is the most notorious late-term abortionist in the nation.”
“When the most notorious abortionist in the world tries to cover up what he does for a living, you know he has something to hide,” he added.
Operation Rescue has submitted to the Maryland Board of Physicians documentation on Carhart’s involvement in the death of a mentally disabled Texas girl, Christin Gilbert, who was 19 year-old at the time of her death from the abortion Carhart did at the abortion center Tiller ran in Wichita, Kansas before he was killed.
Meanwhile, Iowa Right to Life is concerned that Carhart may have plans to expand his business into Iowa. From a recent email:
We have been told by some that Mr. Carhart is not REALLY going to enter Iowa. It’s just a scare tactic we are using to pass a late-term abortion ban (House File 657.) Mr. Carhart’s website, www.abortionclinics.org suggests that these are not idle words. A visit to his website reveals this statement, “When abortion becomes the choice you have to make, we believe you deserve the very best.” Above that line there is a working tab marked “SW Iowa” and below that line, “South West Iowa – AVAILABLE SOON”.
Upon selection of the “SW Iowa” tab, the visitor is directed to a page that contains a link to “Abortion Fees.” For example, a surgical abortion at 4 weeks will cost $464 with a credit card; while an abortion at 24 weeks costs $3,090.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Taking the weekend off
Friday, April 22, 2011
News bulletin
~Pro-life atheist and conservative political commentator S. E. Cupp has an incredibly eloquent response to the pro-abortion Keith Olbermann, who insinuated that her parents should have killed her prenatally. His exact words were "On so many levels, she's a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does."
~Americans United for Life summarizes what's wrong with "Maria Talks," a sex ed website that shamefully glosses over the risks of abortion ("it's much easier than it sounds"), while noting that adoption is "pretty tough." Pro-life groups are demanding that the site, which is funded by the government of Massachusetts, be taken down. (For a pro-life alternative to Maria Talks, check out Grow Your Knowledge, a SecularProLife.org project!)
~Jezebel shares the fascinating story of Gaby Rodriguez, a high school senior who faked a pregnancy for nearly seven months in order to study social attitudes toward teen moms.
Before taking off her fake baby belly in front of the entire student body, Gaby told her audience, "Many things were said about me. Many things traveled all the way back to me."What Gaby did took incredible courage and dedication. Unfortunately, the full results of her research are not yet available. I look forward to learning more. Did her fellow students encourage her to "take care of it," lest she "ruin her life"? Or did she find a supportive community of life-affirming teens? What about the attitudes of her teachers? Was she subjected to "slut-shaming," or treated as just unlucky? Gaby will present her findings to a board of community members in May, so let's hope for a follow-up story.
Then, she asked several students and teachers to read statements from 3x5 cards, quotes people actually said about her during the course of her experiment.
Her best friend, Saida Cortes, a 17-year-old senior who was sitting in the front row, read card No. 3: "Her attitude is changing, and it might be because of the baby or she was always this annoying and I never realized it."
It grew quiet in the gym as more and more quotes were read aloud. Then Gaby dropped her bomb: "I'm fighting against those stereotypes and rumors because the reality is I'm not pregnant."
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Announcing AbortionSafety.com!
Kristan Hawkins from Students for Life of America believes that when AbortionSafety.com goes live in November, it will save thousands of lives. We need your help to get there! Click here to learn more about the project, and consider making a donation. Share this post with your friends, or write it up on your own blog.
In light of everything that's happened with Kermit Gosnell, James Pendergraft, and countless others, this project is serving an absolutely critical need. Please support us in whatever way you can. You can follow our progress on the Abortion Safety Project blog. On behalf of all the women and children who will be served by this effort, thank you!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Planned Parenthood Not Attacking New Pro-Life Bills?
Despite a wave of late-term abortion restrictions being signed into law in state capitals, advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood so far have held back on filing any legal challenges.Read the whole article - very interesting.
The hesitation could be a sign that the groups are concerned about their chances in court. The new proposals would ban most abortions after about 20 weeks into pregnancy, narrowing the window in which a woman can seek an abortion, based on claims that a fetus can feel pain after that period. Though these proposals are seen by pro-choice advocates as an assault on reproductive rights, the litigation hasn't started flying.
Mary Spaulding Balch, state legislation director for the National Right to Life Committee, suggested that's because the momentum is against those groups.
"It would seem to me that they fear a public debate that focuses on the pain of the unborn child," she told FoxNews.com.
The latest state law to impose these restrictions comes out of Oklahoma. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday afternoon signed a bill, one of two anti-abortion measures, making abortions after the 20-week mark a felony for the doctor.
Unfortunate news from the Peace Garden State
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Numerous abortion centers close
Two facilities in Delaware, which were closed while under investigation by state authorities, are likely to remain closed. The investigations were prompted by the centers' relationship with Kermit Gosnell. The
centers went by the name "Atlantic Women's Medical Services."
In Las Vegas, abortionist Frank Silver has been evicted from his office space. It is unclear whether or not he plans to resume his lethal practice elsewhere.
In Northern California, a "feeder" Planned Parenthood facility, which issued abortion referrals rather than performing them on-site, has closed due to "decreased patient volume and increased costs."
“We have worked hard with our Trinity County Advisory Council and the Weaverville community to brainstorm solutions, expand marketing, get creative, and do anything and everything we could to maintain the current level of service,” [a Planned Parenthood] official said. “We have been part of the Trinity County community for over 25 years and know that patients like you need and value our services.”Sounds like people of Weaverville, CA who want legitimate gynecological care have chosen to take their business elsewhere!
Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Thoughts?
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Political Rhetoric

Saturday, April 16, 2011
Pro-Life Job Opportunities
AbolishAbortion.com has an awesome pro-life jobs and internships page that is updated regularly. I would love to see these jobs filled by individuals who are dedicated to making abortion unthinkable for everyone, religious or not. Several organizations are hiring right now, but I'm going to highlight just one:
Students for Life of America, which has always been very supportive of SecularProLife.org, has an opening for Operations Coordinator. The position is for someone who has a four-year degree, is passionately pro-life, and has excellent organizational skills. It pays $30-40K plus health, dental, and other benefits. Learn more here.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Feminism and Abortion
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Midweek News on India
The figures tell an old and cruel story: the systematic elimination of girls in India. In the 2001 census, the sex ratio — the number of girls to every 1,000 boys — was 927 in the 0-6 age group. Preliminary data from the 2011 census show that the imbalance has worsened, to 914 girls for every 1,000 boys.Women’s groups have been documenting this particular brand of gender violence for years. The demographer Ashish Bose and the economist Amartya Sen drew attention to India’s missing women more than a decade ago. The abortion of female fetuses has increased as medical technology has made it easier to detect the sex of an unborn child. If it is a girl, families often pressure the pregnant woman to abort. Sex determination tests are illegal in India, but ultrasound and in vitro fertilization centers often bypass the law, and medical terminations of pregnancy are easily obtained.Some women, like 30-year-old Lakshmi Rani from Bhiwani district in Uttar Pradesh, have been pressured into multiple abortions. Ms. Rani’s first three pregnancies were terminated.“My mother-in-law took me to the clinic herself,” she said, her voice matter-of-fact but barely audible. “It wasn’t my decision, but I didn’t have a choice. They didn’t want girls.”Now her husband’s family is pushing her to get pregnant again, and she is hoping for a boy. Despite government campaigns against aborting female fetuses, she does not believe she will be allowed a choice.Ms. Rani’s story is echoed across Uttar Pradesh, a state that has among the most skewed sex ratios in India. Census figures show the female-male ratio in the 0-6 year group slipping from 916 in 2001 to 899 in 2011.In a 2007 Unicef report, Alka Gupta explained part of the problem: Discrimination against women, already entrenched in Indian society, has been bolstered by technological developments that now allow mobile sex selection clinics to drive into almost any village or neighborhood unchecked.The 1994 Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act was amended in 2003 to deal with the medical profession — the “supply side” of the practice of sex selection. However, the act has been poorly enforced.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
China to move to 2-child policy by 2015
Did the Party leadership finally begin to regret the massive and ongoing human rights violations that the one-child policy entailed? Hardly. It takes a pretty hardened leadership cadre to send mobile abortion squads to hunt down pregnant women, to arrest them for violating the one-child policy, and then to abort and sterilize them against their will. This has been going on for 30 years. It is highly unlikely that Hu Jintao simply woke up one morning wracked by guilt and said to himself, “This is wrong.”Although Mosher doesn't mention it, I wonder if the policy change was also influenced by the notorious gender imbalance that the one-child policy has caused. In a culture where sons are valued more than daughters, sex-selective abortion and female infanticide have created a population with millions of "missing" girls and "extra" boys. The ability to give birth to two children-- and, with it, two chances to have a son-- may help alleviate the problem. However, baby girls will only benefit if, by the luck of the draw, they have no more than one older sibling. In a country the size of China, no matter how aggressively the government pushes sterilization and birth control, it's inevitable that some women will conceive more than twice in their lifetimes. Mosher continues:
No, the reason that the policy may be ended has nothing to do with human considerations at all, but with cold dollars and cents calculations. You see, as a result of the elimination of 400 million productive young people from the population over the past three decades, China now has a labor shortage.
[The two-child policy] will not eliminate the abuses, of course. Women will still be arrested for the crime of being pregnant, locked up until they give their consent for an abortion, and then aborted against their will. But these now will be women who are pregnant with their third child, not with their second.Sadly, we are a long, long way from international acceptance of prenatal rights and women's rights. If you are interested in learning more about these critical issues, and what you can do to help, I urge you to check out All Girls Allowed and Women's Rights Without Frontiers.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Down to the wire

Hoping to preserve Planned Parenthood's $300 million+ annual subsidy, abortion advocates organized a "Pro-Choice Lobby Day" in Washington, D.C. yesterday. They were hoping for 5000 supporters to show up. Planned Parenthood reported 4000. Students for Life of America, which infiltrated the rally, puts the count at closer to 1000. For purposes of comparison, the annual March for Life draws a quarter of a million pro-life advocates to Washington!
The pro-abortion enthusiasm is waning. We have the power to defund Planned Parenthood! It's time to end subsidies to the organization that ends the lives of more than 300,000 innocent unborn babies every year.
Our elected officials need to hear from us NOW. Enter your zipcode here to get in touch with your representative.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
In their own words: why abortion is not health care
The central objections to abortion are based upon the human rights of the unborn child, as well they should be. This means that secondary arguments are often overlooked; one of these is the objection that abortion corrupts medicine.
The Hippocratic oath famously commands that a physician shall "Do No Harm." In modern ethical terms, this is the principle of non-malfeasance. The classical Hippocratic oath also specifically bans the use of abortifacients.
At most medical schools, the Hippocratic oath has been replaced by a more recent version which, shockingly, does not require a commitment to do no harm. It does, however, include the statement "I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm."
Abortion differs from legitimate health care in a number of significant ways. It is the only "medical" practice that is considered "failed" when it does not do lethal harm. There is often no meaningful doctor-patient relationship. Abortion centers have shown that they cannot be trusted to provide informed consent. In short, abortion is fundamentally incompatible with basic medical values. Abortionists and their employees know this to be true-- and in their more self-aware moments, many have admitted it:
"No doctor, for ethical, moral or honest reasons wants to do nothing but abortions..." ~Edward Eichner
"You have to become a bit schizophrenic. In one room, you encourage the patient that the slight irregularity in the fetal heart is not important, that she is going to have a fine, healthy baby. Then, in the next room you assure another woman, on whom you just did a saline abortion, that it is a good thing that the heartbeat is already irregular....she has nothing to worry about, she will NOT have a live baby..." ~Abortionist Szenes
You are doing a destructive process. Arms, legs, chests come out in the forceps. It's not a sight for everybody." ~William Benbow Thompson
"You certainly know that you will start with a living fetus and that it will be dead by the end of the procedure. But when you start a second-trimester abortion, you don't know when the fetus will die. Every patient is different. ~L. Carhart
"It's necessary to remember that these days abortion is done on request and therefore not a procedure you undertake in the interest of the fetus..." ~Gordon Douglas
"I dismember the fetus - pull it apart limb from limb - and remove it piece by piece and two hours later I've forgotten them." ~Phillip Bennett
"This can burn you out very, very quickly...not so much by the physical labor as the emotional part of what's going on. When you do an ultrasound, particularly if you have children, and you see a fetus there, kicking, moving, living, doing things that your own child does, bringing it's thumb to its mouth, and things like that- it's difficult." ~Ed Jones
"We've come a long way since my mother's time. The idea of abortion to save the mothers' life is something that people cling to because it sounds noble and pure- but medically speaking, it probably doesn't exist. It's a real stretch of our thinking." ~Don Sloan
"[I've seen women] who have just had an abortion ... lie in the recovery room and cry, 'I've just killed my baby. I've just killed my baby.' I don't know what to say to these women. Part of me thinks, 'Maybe they're right.'" ~Anonymous nurse, quoted in American Medical NewsAbortion has no place in the healing profession. I applaud physicians of conscience who are attempting to practice ethically in a field that has abandoned its responsibilities toward its youngest patients. On this World Health Day, let us renew our commitment to ending abortion and restoring the integrity of medicine.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Midweek News Roundup: 04/06/11
“Who hasn’t had a mistress that needed an abortion?”
Monday, April 4, 2011
Heroes
I’ve decided to write about my current personal hero, Rachel Smith. You might have seen her video on Jill Stanek or Stand for Life. She has personally saved at least forty lives, that she knows of, in the last five months. You should listen to her story, I’m sure I’ll get some of the details confused, but I will retell it for those who are pressed for time.
Shortly after the birth of her youngest child, Mrs. Smith had an epiphany about sidewalk counseling. It is so often impossible to talk to the girls going in to get an abortion, they refuse to look at us or see our signs. One day, she decided to go inside and talk to them, showing them her newborn child. She scheduled a pregnancy test, sat in the waiting room, and let nature take its course.
Other patients cooed over the baby, passing her around, and asking questions. She uses these opportunities to start a conversation. She’s supportive and warm-hearted, but she tells them the truth of how she feels about abortion. She doesn’t lie to them. When they call her name, she really does go back and take a pregnancy test. By being there, by being one of them, she has personally walked forty women out of clinics.
Of course, she has to travel often to remain successful. She doesn’t go to the same clinic twice. Most clinics have policies prohibiting babies. She ignores that particular rule and goes in anyway. She says it usually takes about fifteen minutes for them to realize that she has a child with her. During that time she is still able to talk to the women there.
Her baby is five-months old now. Together they’ve saved forty lives. Can you imagine saving eight lives a month? I don’t advocate that we all run out and do this. I know that many people wouldn’t have the temperament for it. I doubt I’d be able to remain calm and normal throughout the appointment. But I think we can all learn from how she speaks to these women. When she speaks to them in that waiting room, she is one of them. They open their eyes and see her and her child. They open their hearts and their minds and they HEAR her.
(But really, you should go watch the video)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
"Anti-non-defensive-killing"


Saturday, April 2, 2011
Weekend update
[O]ne of my fears of what’s before us today is that it could lead to some very perverse unintended consequences — almost encouraging low-income women, that would have this benefit denied from them, to file false claims of rape — whether it’s against a boyfriend, whether it’s against an acquaintance, perhaps even a husband — in order to avoid, you know, the consequences that this legislation, the financial consequences that this legislation would bring.Rep. Kind apparently didn't get the memo that the abortion movement's new motto is "trust women." NRLC's Doug Johnson took him to task:
It is true that some taxpayers of both sexes sometimes tell lies, but does Kind really believe that lots of women will falsely accuse their intimate associates of a serious crime, in order to get a tax-subsidized abortion? He seems to assume a high level of dishonesty and a low level of common sense among the low-income women to whom he refers, presumably including those residing in his own district.
One week ago, an angry pro-abortion man pulled a gun on a pro-life woman identified only as Terry. The incident occurred outside a San Diego abortion business, where Terry was participating in a 40 Days for Life campaign. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Arizona is a hotbed of pro-life activity. The governor recently signed legislation to ban abortions that are based on the victim's sex or race. She is also expected to sign a ban on telemed abortions today. A telemed abortion is administered via Skype or a similar videoconferencing service; the abortionist chats with the customer, then presses a button that opens a drawer of RU-486 pills. This means that the abortion "doctor" gives no physical exam.