Thomas More Society Files Civil Complaint Against Illinois' Reproductive Health Act

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Photo: Chi Hack Night

On October 21, the Thomas More Society filed a civil complaint against Governor Pritzker's radical abortion policy with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Illinois’ Reproductive Health Act requires health insurance policies to cover abortions without offering religious exemptions. This violates the federal Weldon Amendment and the Affordable Care Act according to the Thomas More Society. If the federal government agrees, Illinois could lose billions of dollars in federal funding.

The Weldon Amendment ensures that federal appropriations to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education may not be issued to any government that discriminates against a “health care entity,” including an insurance plan sponsor, on the basis that it does not provide health insurance coverage of abortion.

“We are confident that the Office for Civil Rights will take our complaint seriously,” Thomas More Society attorney Michael McHale said. “Federal law clearly prohibits this brazen attempt to encroach upon our rights conscience. We urge immediate intervention to halt this illegal mandate.”

Click here to read more.

$9 Million Awarded to Parents of Alabama Student who Died From Birth Control Complications

Credit: Beatrice Murch / Flickr

Hope Johnson died from complications resulting from a birth control prescription she shouldn't have received and failure on the part of urgent care doctors to use her medical history to diagnose the problem. Hope's gynecologist prescribed hormonal birth control despite her blood test showing that she was at high risk for blood clots. Doctors did not file the test correctly, so she took the prescribed medication.

About a month later, she arrived at urgent care with shortness of breath, chest pain, headache, and a sore throat. She was diagnosed with bronchitis and given antibiotics. She came back the next day with worse symptoms and was given an inhaler. The doctor treating her was not given login credentials and was told to treat patients without using their medical histories. Hope died the following day.

Brett Turnbull, the attorney representing Johnson's family in the medical malpractice lawsuit, said, “Hope’s death is tragic because it was entirely preventable. We don’t know the exact number of patients seen that day, but it was too many. Patient well-being, not profits, should be the primary goal of healthcare.”

Click here to read more.

Abortion Legalized in Northern Ireland Without Representation

On October 22, legislation passed by Westminster's government came into effect that legalized both abortion and gay marriage in Northern Ireland. Westminster's legislation required that Northern Ireland's government reconvene by midnight on October 21st, or else it would be subject to Westminster's liberal legislation. That date has come and gone, and a large enough number of legislators refused to reconvene that Westminster's legislation can take effect. Conservative lawmakers attempted to convene and write legislation blocking this action, but they did not have the numbers required to make it official.

Northern Ireland has been a conservative island of sorts in the United Kingdom, and the forced legislation is a major blow to the religious culture and freedoms of those who live there. The law replaces existing pro-life legislation protecting women and children from the dangers of abortion with one of the most extensive abortion laws in existence. Abortion is legalized through 28 weeks of pregnancy. Partial-birth abortion has no consequences. Children who survive abortion can be killed without a second thought. It is far more dangerous to be a preborn child in Northern Ireland today than it was Monday.

Click here to read more.

Canada Alzheimer’s Society Endorses Euthanasia by Advance Directive

The Alzheimer's Society Canada said in a press release this month that it endorsed legislation that would allow for people to require doctors to kill them once they reach a certain level of incompetence. As long as they had signed the correct papers, one could order medical professionals to euthanize their future self even if that future self did not want to be killed.

From the Alzheimer's Society Canada's press release:

"People living with dementia are individuals — first and foremost. They have the same rights as everyone else, including the right to participate in decisions about their life and care. We respect the right of all persons with dementia to advocate for their individual best interests, including advocating for MAID [medical assistance in dying, e.g., lethal injection] through advance requests."

Click here to read more. 

Healthy Twins Survive Chemical Abortion After Planned Parenthood Failed to Disclose Second Child In Utero

A woman in Tennessee was recently able to give birth to healthy twins despite taking an abortion pill earlier this year due to her clinic's inability to correctly read an ultrasound. Furthermore, the clinic misinformed her about what they clearly did see to make her more likely to consider having an abortion that it would profit from. 

At seven weeks gestation, she had an ultrasound test during which the clinic failed to notice that she was carrying twins. When she asked if they could hear a heartbeat, she was told, “No, it’s too early to call it a heartbeat; it is just cardiac activity.” The phrase 'cardiac activity' was obviously used to dodge around the fact that there were beating hearts in each of her preborn children.

She likely wasn't given enough Mifeprex to kill either child according to Brent Boles, the physician who shared this story on social media earlier this month. After the mother was told there was nothing more Planned Parenthood would do, she contacted the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline and told her story to Brent Boles, who determined she didn't even require the Reversal treatment due to the low dosage she received. "I am pro-life and I know that a higher dose of Mifeprex is required to work successfully to abort a multiple gestation, because a twin pregnancy produces higher levels of progesterone."

While Planned Parenthood's incompetence saved the lives of two children, in this case, this story shows that clinics are not equipped with the qualifications to serve women with medical tasks as simple as ultrasounds, let alone the health of women and children. Click here to read more.

Colorado Woman Arrested for Selling Preborn Child Remains Over Mail

Emily Suzanne Cain was arrested this month for attempting to mail the remains of several children in glass jars via the US Postal Service to a buyer in the United Kingdom. Customs agents X-Rayed the package, which was labeled “school teaching aids and T-shirts” after noticing that a required signature was missing.

Upon accessing Cain's Facebook message history, officials found messages saying she purchased the specimens from a faculty member from the Department of Medical Education at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. The institution confirmed that the bodies came from the school, but also said that its "...policy dictates the fetuses are to be cremated and not sold." The stillborn bodies were donated to the University in the 1920s and 1930s

Click here to read more.

Child Born with Three Legs, Two Penises, and No Anus Saved by Series of Medical Procedures.

In 2018, a Russian mother discovered that her unborn child several severe deformities, including an extra leg, urinary tract, and penis, but refused to abort. It is assumed that the extra body parts formed as a result of the boy's unborn twin, who died earlier in the pregnancy. After birth in July 2018, it was discovered that the baby boy had two full urinary systems and no anus as well.

Doctors performed an emergency procedure following the boy's birth to allow him to pass waste. In the following months, he underwent several more surgeries to remove the excess body parts. His extra leg and penis have been removed and the boy only has one more procedure planned before he is expected to be able to live a completely normal life. The amazing story of this baby boy shows us that even children born with extremely abnormal conditions can recover, survive and thrive if they are given a chance. Click here to read more.

Northern Ireland to be Forced to Adhere to Westminster Discriminatory Abortion Law

Baby with mild cleft lip before corrective surgery
Credit: Justin Walther / Flickr

A Westminster law legalizing discriminatory abortions against children with disabilities will be forcefully passed in Northern Ireland on October 22 unless the Northern Irish government reconvenes before then. Pro-life advocates in the UK are concerned that the legislation will cause children with even simple innocuous conditions like cleft lip or palate to face abortion. It is similarly legal to abort a child due to a cleft lip in the United States.

The government of Northern Ireland is not expected to reconvene before the October 22 deadline. The people of Northern Ireland were not represented in the legislation of this law, and disabled children will die as a result of what many would consider tyranny. Click here to read more.

Mary Thoms More Society Comments on "Deceptive" Planned Parenthood Clinic

The Thomas More Society issued a press release earlier this month regarding the secretly-built Planned Parenthood mega-clinic in Fairview Heights, Illinois. “The deceptive move is reminiscent of the abortion giant’s covert Oct. 2, 2007 opening of what was then the nation’s largest abortion clinic in Aurora, Illinois.” it said. The abortion business used a shell company to hide the true purpose of the facility during its construction. Planned Parenthood knew that the people of southern Illinois would not receive the facility well, so it relied on deception to prevent protests and complete construction by a deadline. Illinois residents may not even be the primary target group for the facility.

“Planned Parenthood is obviously taking advantage of Illinois’ newly earned status as the Midwest’s ‘abortion tourism destination state,’ targeting women and children from across the Missouri state line, where laws are in place to protect women and girls from the most radical and dangerous abortion practices,” Thomas said in the release. "This purveyor of death has pulled off a sneak attack on the unsuspecting residents of both states in order to profit by preying on pregnant women in Illinois and Missouri.”

Click here to read more.

Young Belgium Woman Applies for Euthanasia for Mental Illness

Credit: Joe Flintham / Flickr

A 23-year-old Belgian woman named Kelly recently applied for assisted suicide via lethal injection. Kelly reportedly suffered from anxiety, self-harm, an eating disorder and has even attempted suicide on her own in the past. While she was in a hospital undergoing treatment, Kelly learned from a psychologist that she could be euthanized if two psychologists confirm that her mental suffering is "unbearable and untreatable."

"We can't allow society to abandon these people," Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition told OneNewsNow. "This is what euthanasia is about. It's about an abandonment. We're abandoning them to their pain rather than helping them find hope in living."

83 people have been killed in Belgium via assisted suicide for mental illness. Click here or here to read more.

Entire Democrat Roster of Candidates Continue to Herald Abortion

Senator Corey Booker
Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

In CNN's Democrat Presidential debate on Tuesday, the full lineup of 12 candidates voiced their support for abortion as a right. From supreme court appointments to federal subsidies, every way that women could be given more access to abortion was seemingly on the table.  Particularly troubling was the concept of codifying Roe vs. Wade, ending the shaky legal ground that abortion has stood on since the Supreme Court essentially legalized it without going through the proper legislative process.

New Jersey Senator Corey Booker said this on the subject,

"And so the way as president of the United States I’m going to deal with this is, first of all, elevating it like we have with other national crises to a White House-level position. And I will create the Office of Reproductive Freedom and Reproductive Rights in the White House and make sure that we begin to fight back on a systematic attempt that’s gone on for decades to undermine Roe v. Wade."

"I will fight to codify it, and I will also make sure that we fight as this country to repeal the Hyde amendment, so that we are leading the Planet Earth in defending the global assault we see on women right now."

Kamala Harris said that she would break the rules of the executive branch by calling on the Justice Department to do the work of federal courts:

"My plan is as — as follows. For any state that passes a law that violates the Constitution, and in particular Roe v. Wade, our Department of Justice will review that law to determine if it is compliant with Roe v. Wade and the Constitution, and if it is not, that law will not go into effect. That’s called pre-clearance."

Click here to read more. 

California Governor Vetoes Student ID Bill Because Schools Might Refer Students to Pro-Life Pregnancy Clinics

California Governor Gavin Newsom
Credit: XPRIZE Foundation / Flickr

A California bill requiring schools to include contact information for local "reproductive health care" facilities was vetoed on October 12 for a surprising reason. Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 624 because it was not pro-choice enough.

“There are many agencies across this state that refuse to give women information about all of their reproductive health care options, and I am not persuaded that schools have the appropriate expertise to decide which of these organizations they should direct their students to,” he wrote.

He is stating that it would be so wrong for a school to refer students to a pro-life clinic that he would rather not have them refer anyone at all. While pro-life advocates welcome the veto, the governor's reasoning is worrisome. Click here to read more.

Pro-Lifers File Suit Against Jackson, Mississippi for Ordinance Restricting Protest

Sidewalk Counselors Outside Abortion Clinic
Credit: Jim Arnone / Flickr

Sidewalk Advocates for Life has decided to take legal action in response to a Jackson, Mississippi ordinance scheduled to go into effect October 31. The ordinance prohibits demonstrations within 15 feet of a healthcare facility and establishes "quiet zones" within 100 feet of these locations. Violators could face up to $1,000 in fines or 90 days in prison.

In their lawsuit, Sidewalk Advocates noted that pro-lifers often have to shout to be heard over blaring music the Jackson clinic plays to cover up protests. Brett Kittredge, director of marketing and communications with Mississippi Center for Public Policy, said this in an interview with the Catholic News Agency:

“And so we feel...that this is a free speech issue above all else. It's not about whether you support one issue or the other, whether you take one side or another on abortion, it's a matter of should people have the right to assemble, have the right to speak freely and convince others of their speech, and we believe that's central to a free society.”

Click here to read more. 

U.S. Circuit Court Blocks Ohio Law Preventing Discriminatory Abortions Against Children with Down Syndrome

A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to block an Ohio law preventing abortionists from committing abortions on the basis of a child's diagnosis with Down syndrome. The decision came on Friday, October 11.

Judge Alice Moore Batchelder gave the following statement in her dissent.

"The law prevents a physician from performing an abortion when the physician knows the abortion is sought not because the woman did not intend to become pregnant, but because the child in the woman’s womb tested positive for Down Syndrome. Ohio concluded that permitting physicians to become witting accomplices to the deliberate targeting of Down Syndrome babies would undermine the principle that the Down Syndrome population is equal in value and dignity to the rest of Ohio’s population, and would do deep damage to the integrity of the medical profession. 

The majority holds Ohio’s choice unconstitutional. But controlling precedent requires that we review laws like H.B. 214 under an undue-burden analysis, which is fact-intensive and must consider the State’s interests and the benefits of the law, not just the potential burden it places on women seeking an abortion. Neither the district court nor the majority here makes a genuine attempt to meet that demand, which leaves their decisions insupportable and incorrect."

Click here to read more.

UK Woman Forced into Abortion by Court Decision

The Court of Protection in London, upon learning that a woman in her twenties 'with the mental capacity of a toddler' was 12 weeks pregnant, ordered her to complete a surgical abortion later this week. If she does not consent, doctors have permission to physically restrain her to administer anesthesia and complete the procedure.

SPUC’s Deputy Chief Executive John Deighan had this to say:

“This is an outrage which should shock every right-thinking person. It is a level of cruelty and barbarity reminiscent of how people with mental health issues were treated in the 1930s of Nazi Germany. To force abortion on any person is abhorrent and to do so in the name of medicine calls into question the structures of law and justice in our society.”

Click here to read more.

Adult Stem Cells Successfully Treat MS-Like Disease

A study published in the scientific journal Neurology found that adult stem cells successfully treated and reversed neuromyelitis optica. This disease functions similarly to multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that causes the immune system to eat away at the coverings of nerve cells. Charlotte Lozier Institute issued the following statement in response to the study:

“Adult stem cells continue to show they are the gold standard of stem cells, providing validated success in therapy after therapy for patients, in contrast to embryonic stem cells, which have not produced a single validated cure in patients,” said Dr. David Prentice, CLI’s Vice President and Research Director, “It’s particularly significant in the current results that most patients suffering from neuromyelitis optica, a progressive autoimmune disease, after a single treatment with adult stem cells, remained treatment-free after five years, versus the standard expensive, ongoing drug treatment. Adult stem cell treatments also improved patient health and quality of life, compared to standard drug therapy. Dr. Richard Burt and other doctors like him should be congratulated for continuing to improve patient opportunities in clinical studies with adult stem cells.”

Click here to read more.

Man Pleads Guilty to Murdering Girlfriend who Refused to have Abortion

Antonio Magana
Credit: Ventura County Sheriff's Office

Antonio Magana pled guilty to murdering his girlfriend in an incident on March 14, 2014. Magana was reportedly arguing with his girlfriend, attempting to convince her to have an abortion, with a witness in the car. The two walked into a park in Santa Paula, California while the witness stayed in the car to give them privacy. The witness heard a sound coming from the park, where he saw Magana returning. He reportedly yelled "I hit her!" when he returned.

Magana's expected sentence is 27 years. The sentencing hearing will be held on Dec. 4, 2019. Homicide is a leading cause of death for pregnant women in the United States, most of which happen at the hands of an intimate partner. Click here to read more.

Abortion Survivors Speak About their Experiences

At the Values Voter Summit held on October 11 in Washington DC, a panel of three abortion survivors shared their experiences coping with the circumstances of their births. The three speakers were Melissa Ohden, a pro-life public speaker who survived an abortion forced on her mother by her own mother while she was in college, Josiah Presley, a man who survived a curettage abortion in South Korea before being adopted by a pastor in Oklahoma, and Claire Culwell, whose grandmother also forced her mother into abortion. Claire's twin was aborted, but Claire survived, albeit with health issues.

Each of them spoke about the numerous emotions they worked through as they learned about what nearly ended their lives before they had even left their mothers' wombs. They came to the conclusion that having a close relationship with God and forgiving their birth mothers was the most helpful thing they could do to move past this. Click here to read more of their testimony.

Florida Grandmother Kills Autistic Grandson. Said Nobody Would Care for him After she Died.

87-year-old Lillian Parks admitted to killing Joel Parks, her 30-year old grandson with autism, because she was dying and didn't believe anyone would take care of him. Other members of his family disagree. She is now charged with second-degree murder.

Lillian gave Joel a drug overdose Saturday night. This morning his sister Yvonne parks found him laying on a couch dead. Yvonne spoke with WWSB about the situation. “I said, ‘Grams, it doesn’t look like he’s breathing,’ and that’s when she said clear as day, ‘Because he’s not.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean he’s not? Like what are you talking about?’ And she said, ‘Oh, I’m doing us both in, we’re going together.’”

In another statement to WWSB, Joel's mother Toshia Fretz said, “I have never been estranged from my children, by choice. I would’ve come and gotten Joel. [Lillian] had planned two weeks prior to that, that she was gonna let [Yvonne] come and take him back to Ohio!” Click here to read more.

California Governor Signs Law Requiring Colleges to Provide Abortion Pills

California Governor David Newsom
Credit: Thomas Hawk / Flickr

California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 24 into law on Friday, October 11. The law will require public universities to provide abortion pills to students. The previous governor vetoed a similar law despite his support for abortion because he believed that abortion clinics were readily available near all public universities in the state, but that apparently wasn't enough for Gov. Newsom.

Democrat State Senator Connie M. Leyva sponsored SB 24. She stated in a press release that without this legislation, students would have to miss class to have abortions, which could “hinder the well-being and academic success of college students, disproportionately impacting students of color and low-income students.”

Students will likely have to miss class regardless since the use of abortion pills also involves completing a miscarriage with the deceased child. Going through with this without medical professionals could be dangerous to students. Click here to read more.

New Spending Bill Would Give $60 Million to Pro-Abortion Organizations

President Donald Trump
Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire added an amendment to a foreign affairs spending bill that would provide almost $60 million to organizations that consider abortion rights part of their core mission. This is despite a bipartisan agreement that spending bills introduced in September would include “no poison pills, additional new riders, additional CHIMPS, or other changes in policy or conventions that allow for higher spending levels, or any non-appropriations measures unless agreed to on a bipartisan basis by the four leaders with the approval of the President.”

Pro-life leaders are calling on President Trump to veto the spending bill. Since Senate Republicans already approved the bill part way through the legislative process via voice vote, the president might be the only politician standing in the way of extensive taxpayer-funded abortion services for foreign countries. Click here to read more.

Disabled Woman in UK Nearly Forced into Abortion by Court

The Royal Courts of Justice, London.
Credit: Elliot Brown / Flickr.

A 24-year old woman who has a mental disability causing her to function "at a level of between 6 and 9 years old" became pregnant as a result of presumed rape, although the father is still unknown. A court originally ordered the woman to perform a late-term abortion, but after an appeal, the ruling was changed to forced insertion of a contraceptive device immediately her child is born via Caesarean section.

Lady Justice King wrote for the three-judge Court of Appeals panel,

“[The judge who made the original ruling] was in error in failing to make any reference in her ultimate analysis to [the mother’s] views about AB's best interests when, as the judge found, she knew AB better than anyone and had her best interests at heart... Carrying out a termination absent a woman's consent is a most profound invasion of her Article 8 [human] rights, albeit that the interference will be legitimate and proportionate if the procedure is in her best interests.”

Click here to read more.

Michigan Governor Vetoes Funding for Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Credit: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy,
University of Michigan

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer vetoed 147 lines out of the Michigan legislature's "mess of a budget," and surprised many with some of her choices. One of the things she chose to veto was funding directed towards pro-life pregnancy centers. Whitmer received pressure from the Campaign for Accountability to defund these groups because they don't "provide or respect the full range of options that are available to people," according to Alice Hurley, an attorney for the Campaign for Accountability.

Real Alternatives, a Catholic pro-life pregnancy support organization, made this statement after the governor vetoed funding it was slated to receive in the 2020 fiscal year:

“Real Alternatives is perplexed to hear, that against the wishes of Michiganders, Governor Whitmer has line-item vetoed the successful Michigan Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Program. The Michigan taxpayer’s investment of $3.3 million dollars since 2013 in funding the work of Catholic Charities and Pregnancy Support Centers has provided life-affirming counseling, mentoring and support to over 8,700 women during their unexpected pregnancy.”

Click here to read more. 

Planned Parenthood Announces Large Political Fund to Defeat Pro-Life Candidates

Planned Parenthood announced Wednesday that it plans to spend a minimum of $45 million to defeat pro-life candidates in the 2020 election. Its initial target states will include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, but there are plans to expand that reach.

Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson participated in an interview in July with CBS News which included the following statement:

“We are primarily a health care provider,” said Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “We provide access to sexual and reproductive health, in some cases primary care. We’re not political by nature but we’ve been politicized, and that fight has actually been our focus — to ensure that our health centers stay open.”

Click here to read more.

English Woman Sues Hospital and Wins for "Wrongful Birth" of Disabled Son

Edyta Mordel (right) outside London’s High Court

Edyta Mordel from Reading, England sued Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust after she gave birth to a son diagnosed with Down syndrome, saying that she was not given a test that would have allowed her to know ahead of time and choose to abort. It is NHS's policy to offer this test to all mothers expecting children, and Mordel originally opted to take the test, but during a screening when she was asked if she would like it she responded no. The court found that Mordel had misunderstood the question and the hospital should have further questioned her about her response since it had changed. She was awarded $360,000 worth of damages as a result.

In her testimony, Mordel stated, “I knew someone from work with Down’s syndrome. I saw how difficult his life is and I would not have continued my pregnancy. I would not have wanted a disabled child, and I would not have wanted my child to suffer the way that disabled people suffer. I wouldn’t want to have brought my child into the world like that.” NHS is not even a pro-life institution, but because there was a miscommunication regarding a medical test it is now 'at fault' for a life that the mother deems isn't worth living. Click here to read more.

Woman Shares Experience of Doctors Refusing to Assist her Premature-Born Children

Sonia with her husband and children.
Source: Sonia's Facebook post

Sonia Homeak Charbonneau gave birth to twin boys at 21 weeks gestation due to medical complications. Even though the babies survived birth, doctors refused to offer any medical assistance to help them live because the letter of the law stated that her children were "unviable". They were born 10 days before the law would have considered them viable. Charbonneau recently went to Facebook and explained the situation.

“[T]hey put me on progesterone and bed rest explaining to us that if the babies were born before 23 weeks they would not do anything to try to save them. They also did not want to give me the steroids to help their lungs develop until 23 weeks. We just really hoped they would stay in there!”

The twins, named Thunder and Cloud, lived for about an hour and a half before passing away. They needed medical assistance to survive since their lungs were not yet fully formed, but it was refused to them because they were born before 23 weeks gestation. Instead, she held her deceased children throughout the night. Click here to read more.

More Bodies of Aborted Babies Found When Family Members Investigated Deceased Abortionist's Vehicles

Ulrich Klopfer

Update: The total number of aborted children found in Klopfer's vehicles has been totaled to 165. Read more about that here.

As family members continue to go through deceased abortionist Ulrich Klopfer's belongings, they encountered even more bodies of aborted children in the trunk of a vehicle put in storage. Up to this point, 2,246 bodies were found in the abortionist's Illinois home. They are assumed to have been transported from abortion facilities he associated with across state lines in South Bend, Indiana.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill had this to say regarding the discovery:

“Today we were notified by authorities in Illinois that family members this morning found additional fetal remains as they continued to sort through the late doctor’s belongings,” Attorney General Hill said. “We have dispatched investigators to Illinois to gather facts, but we anticipate simply adding these remains into the protocol we have already set up for dealing with these disturbing circumstances.”

Click here or here to read more.

Beverly Hills Woman Hemorrhages After Aborting 18-week Twins

On August 6, 2019, A 39-year old woman was brought from the Pro-Choice Medical Center in Beverly Hills to a hospital for hemorrhaging after she had an abortion on her 18-week preborn twin children. The abortion procedure for preborn children of that gestational age, known as dilation and evacuation, involves a doctor physically tearing limbs off preborn children and crushing the skull so that each piece can be removed without undergoing surgery or inducing labor.

Abortion-vulnerable women need to be made aware of the dangers involved with this procedure. Late-term abortions that require dilation and evacuation involve the risk of physical harm to the mother while the doctor physically tears pieces of her children out of her body. If a piece gets left behind or the doctor damages the mother's uterus during the removal process, the mother could experience life-threatening infection or hemorrhages. Click here to read more.

Nevada Dementia Patients Can Now Request to Thirst to Death if Incapacitated

Nevada has passed a law allowing people to request, if they become incapacitated from dementia, that their caregivers thirst and starve them to death. Not only is this problematic because it legalizes a form of assisted suicide, but it could easily require an unwilling caregiver to take part in assisted suicide.

Bioethicist Thaddeus Mason Pope had this to say on the law's passage:

Even after we stop offering food and fluids, other problems may arise. Most problematically, the patient may make gestures or utterances that seem to contradict her prior instructions [to be starved].

Does such communication revoke the advance directive? A recent court case from the Netherlands suggests the answer is “no.” Once the patient reaches late-stage dementia, she is unable to knowingly and voluntarily revoke decisions she made with capacity. But the answer remains uncertain in the United States.

The lives of those suffering from dementia or any other condition are not worthless. This legislation was born out of a culture of ableism and cannot be allowed to stand. Click here to read more.

Baby Boy Missing Part of Skull Survives Birth

Lucas being held by his mother. Screenshot from WABC

Maria Santa Maria was told that her son would die upon delivery due to a rare condition that caused her son's skull to not develop fully. Doctors recommend that she abort and be done with her pregnancy, but Maria decided that she wanted to preserve her child's life for as long as possible. 

When the baby, whom she named Lucas, was finally born, everyone was surprised to see him survive hours, let alone days. Doctors were able to develop an entirely new procedure to remove a fluid sac along with part of Lucas's brain tissue in order to ensure that his brain could develop correctly as he continued to grow older. After a successful surgery, Lucas has gone on to live a full seven months, showing that even a seemingly hopeless pregnancy can lead to a wonderful and miraculous life. Click here to read more.

Facebook Rejects Story with Picture of Baby Born without Nose for Being 'shocking'

Screenshot Credit: Live Action News

Live Action News reported that Facebook rejected one of its news stories as a post due to containing an image that “may shock or evoke a negative response from viewers.” The image in question was of a baby boy named Eli Thompson who was born without a nose. The image is not graphic in any way except that it depicts the boy's face, and apparently that is unacceptable for Facebook.

This action is an insult to anyone with disabilities and shows a devaluation of the lives of anyone born with a disability. To say that this baby's face is inappropriate to show on their platform is to say that either the parents should never have chosen to give birth to Eli or those with disabilities or physical deformities shouldn't be seen by the public. Either perspective is not a good sign. Click here to read more.

Attorney for Undercover Journalists Says Court is Handicapping Defendants' Case

A defense attorney for one of the undercover journalists facing charges of illegal recording when they found evidence of Planned Parenthood selling baby body parts to researchers stated that the defense's case is severely handicapped by the court's imposed rules. The defense will not be allowed to show the videos containing evidence that Planned Parenthood was conducting violent actions, while simultaneously being told to present why the defense had reasonable belief that Planned Parenthood was conducting violent acts. The recording law in California states that if a person has a reasonable belief that violent acts were occurring, then they are not committing a crime by recording people involved. The defense then hinges on whether it can convince the jury that the journalists' reasoning before recording any conversations was "reasonable".

Defense counsel Horation (Harry) Mihet made several statements on Facebook, including the following excerpts:

“...Thus, the Court is NOT allowing us to play ANY portion of the videos that show how Planned Parenthood broke the law by profiting from the sale of baby parts. To show that the videos were recorded, Planned Parenthood is playing only very carefully edited snippets, of only the most innocuous things (people saying ‘hello’). And we can’t play the rest of the videos that show Planned Parenthood’s abhorrent crimes and inhuman conduct...”

“...The result, unless things change during this trial, is that the jury will never see the evidence of Planned Parenthood crimes,” wrote Mihet. “They are being asked to determine whether, BEFORE recording the videos, Sandra had a reasonable belief that Planned Parenthood was committing violent crimes, without being allowed to see that the videos themselves CONFIRMED Sandra’s belief that those crimes were being committed. How could her belief that crimes were being committed be ‘unreasonable,’ when the videos she recorded demonstrated that crimes WERE in fact being committed?”

Click here to read more.

Mississippi 15-Week Abortion Ban Considered in Federal Appeals Court

A new Mississippi law will face a ruling in Federal appeals court following a challenge by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The law would have banned abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy except in cases when the mother is endangered or the child is not expected to survive outside of the womb at full term. Physicians who willingly violated this ban would have lost their medical licenses, and falsifying records would result in additional fines.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves issued a temporary injunction against the law on March 20, 2018, the day after Gov. Phil Bryant signed it into law. The first arguments were heard on October 7. Click here to read more.

Supreme Court to Hear Louisiana Law Requiring Abortionists to Have Admitting Privileges in Nearby Hospital

State Rep. Katrina Jackson and the Executive Director
of Louisiana Right to Life Benjamin Clapper

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this winter regarding Louisiana Act 620, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. The law requires that all abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital. As part of this case, the Supreme court will also consider the issue of third-party standing, which an abortion clinic is using to claim they are representing their patients even when no women have stepped forward to challenge this law.

Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director for Louisiana Right to Life, had this to say:

“We look forward to the Supreme Court reviewing Louisiana’s 2014 Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. Abortion facilities should not be provided loopholes when it comes to health and safety standards that apply across the board to outpatient surgical facilities. We are also pleased that the Supreme Court has accepted Louisiana’s challenge on third-party standing. Substandard physicians and for-profit providers unable to meet health requirements should not be able to hide behind their supposed patients when making legal claims against a law.”

Click here to read more.

Jackson, Mississippi Enacts Restrictions on Protesting Outside Medical Facilities

The Jackson, Mississippi city council voted 3-1 to create 15-foot "buffer zones" around medical facilities, including the town's abortion clinic. The new ordinance would have police officers enforce restrictions on noise near medical facilities and also prevents approaching patients while they are within 100 feet of the facility. Violators could spend up to 90 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy said this in response to the ordinance: “the noise is often escalated by the abortion center who will turn up music while sidewalk participants attempt to speak with those around the abortion center and that the regulation curtails their free speech rights.” Click here to read more.

New Bill Would Require States to Report When Babies Survive Abortions

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas recently introduced the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019 which, if passed, would require states to report when a child survives and is delivered after an attempted abortion. This data would then be publicly available and would serve as an additional resource to the Guttmacher Institute reports, which are biased in favor of abortion and only collect information on a voluntary basis.

Other organizations attempt to report statistics regarding abortion, but they have difficulty collecting information. The United States Center for Disease Control also only collects information submitted voluntarily by states. States report various amounts of information that is dependent on each state's individual reporting requirements. California, Maryland, and New Hampshire report no information whatsoever. Click here to read more.

Students for Life of America Schedules Rally at Planned Parenthood's New Fairview Heights Clinic

In response to the construction of a new Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights, Students for Life of America will be holding a rally in conjunction with the dioceses of Saint Louis, Belleville, and Springfield in front of the facility. Everyone is invited to come and protest the construction of this mega-clinic and listen to the many speakers scheduled.

Date: Wednesday, October 9th
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 317 Salem Place, Fairview Heights, IL
Click here to view the Facebook event

Following the rally, Students for Life of America will also be holding a prayer vigil for those who choose to stay.

Planned Parenthood's Fairview Heights mega-clinic was constructed in secret by the use of a shell company to prevent protestors from coming and delaying its completion.

UK Child's Parents Win Fight to Transport Daughter to Italian Hospital

Tafida Raqeeb

Tafida Raqeeb, a five-year-old girl from the United Kingdom, was recently transported to an Italian hospital after a hard-fought legal battle. Tafida Raqeeb was going to be taken off life support by Barts Health NHS Trust because they believed that action was in the child's best interest. Shelina Begum and Mohammed Raqeeb, Tafida's parents, are relieved that they are allowed to continue to make decisions that protect the life of their child.

Barts Health NHS Trust lawyers stated that the hospital was considering appealing the court's ruling. If this is successful, then the UK will have created a right for doctors to decide when a patient is ready to die. Click here to read more.

Mother Learns School Nurse Put Birth Control Implant in Daughter Without Notification

Screenshot from video explaining the Nexplanon implantation process.
Credit: Design Science / YouTube

Nicole Lambert, a mother in Baltimore, Maryland, learned that a school nurse put a birth control implant in her 16-year old daughter without asking for the mother's consent. Her daughter was experiencing headaches, so they visited her pediatrician and learned that a contraceptive tube had been improperly implanted in her daughter's arm without the mother's knowledge, let alone consent. The doctor recommended its removal to alleviate the discomfort and any further side-effects.

“Ms. Lambert wasn’t given the choice to pick the medical provider where her daughter would feel comfortable going and receiving these services, who she knew did a comprehensive medical exam, who she knew knew her medical history,” said David Ledyard, her new attorney.“Are they looking at the medical history of the students and doing a full workup before implanting these devices? What is the certification process and training of the nurses?” Birth control in this situation was seen as a right that surpassed even this mother's right to care for her child by taking her to a medical professional she trusted.  Click here to read more.

Jury Selection for Daleiden Trial Began Tuesday

David Daleiden

The highly-anticipated legal battle reached an important checkpoint on October 2 when jury selection began for the trial. Undercover journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merrit are facing charges for recording supposedly confidential conversations while exposing Planned Parenthood for selling baby body parts. The journalists are defending themselves mostly through a clause that states situations in which the recorder has a reasonable belief that they are investigating violent acts are an exception to the law. If they successfully convince the jury that altered abortion practices designed to collect intact body parts are more risky to women, the undercover journalists can defend their innocence. If not, the journalists face jail time and the Center for Medical Progress will be forced to pay millions of dollars in damages to Planned Parenthood.

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. Click here to read more.

Federal Judge Blocks Georgia Heartbeat Law

On Tuesday, District Judge Steve C. Jones blocked a Georgia heartbeat law from going into effect next year. The bill would have banned abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. To explain his reasoning for blocking the law, Judge Jones wrote, “By banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, HB 481 prohibits women from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy at a point before viability.”

Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for Georgia Governor Kemp issued a response to the judge's ruling, saying, “Despite today’s outcome, we remain confident in our position. We will continue to fight for the unborn and work to ensure that all Georgians have the opportunity to live, grow and prosper.” Click here to read more.

New Planned Parenthood Clinic Secretly Constructed in Southern Illinois

CBS News Screenshot

CBS News reported Wednesday that Planned Parenthood secretly completed construction on a new facility in Fairview Heights, Illinois by using a shell company to hide the building's purpose. Fairview Heights was chosen to provide abortion services to Missouri residents since Missouri only has one remaining abortion clinic which is struggling to maintain its license. Planned Parenthood hid the true purpose of the facility via a shell company to prevent protestors from slowing down its construction and ensure that it hit its deadline.

Missouri residents will be more able to take advantage of Illinois' more relaxed abortion laws to obtain services that legislators fought against in their own state. The facility expects to be operational later this month. Click here to read more.

Pro-life Title X Clinics and Pregnancy Centers to Receive Funding Turned Down by Planned Parenthood

Health and Human Services announced Sept. 30th that $33.6 million will be used to help fund 50 organizations that receive Title X funding. This is as a direct result of Planned Parenthood and other organizations voluntarily rejecting funding due to a rule requiring Title X recipients to stop providing abortions, colocating with abortion facilities, or sending clients to abortion facilities. These organizations will be more empowered to provide life-affirming family-planning services to more women than they were ever able before.

Click here to read the HHS statement, which includes a full list of benefitting organizations.

New Illinois Bill Would Ban Government Officials from Travelling to Pro-Life States

Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove) introduced a bill in the Illinois House of Representatives last week which would ban state government agencies from requiring employees to travel to states with certain types of pro-life legislation. This would include states which ban abortion at 8 weeks of pregnancy, ban abortion upon detection of a heartbeat, don't have exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, and states that require investigations when a child is miscarried.

Rep. Didech said, “The purpose of the bill is to protect women who may not be able to get the health care they may need when they’re traveling on official state business.” The bill includes an exception for travel that a government agency deems necessary, which makes the law little more than a ridiculous political statement. Click here to read more.

ALERT! PLEASE TAKE ACTION!

The July 12, 2019 issue of The Flinn Report revealed that The Department of Healthcare and Family Services has proposed an amendment (“proposed rule change”) to the Medical Assistance Programs (89 IAC 120; 43 ILL Reg 7599). The proposed rule change will “expand the type of providers who can presumptively enroll pregnant women in the Medicaid program.” (See The Flinn Report, dated 7/12/19, Vol. 43, p.2).

If this proposed rule is approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, (JCAR), Planned Parenthood, and other abortion providers will have the authority to determine independently if a pregnant woman qualifies for Medicaid benefits.

The ability to conveniently approve women for Medicaid benefits at their site and then immediately provide an abortion will encourage women to use their services. There is also financial incentive to find all women eligible for Medicaid benefits.

JCAR is the legislative committee that reviews rules that are proposed by State agencies. It is composed of 12 legislators. It is bipartisan. The committee members will vote on this proposed rule and determine if it will go forward.

The current members of JCAR are:
Sen. Don Harmon, D-39, Co-Chair 

Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-50, Co-Chair 

Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-4 

Sen. Tony Munoz, D-1 

Sen. Sue Resin, R-38 

Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-58 

Sen. Chuck Weaver, R-37 

Rep. Tom Demmer, R-90 

Rep. Mike Halpin, D-72 

Rep. Frances Ann Hurley, D-35 

Rep. Steven Reick, R-63 

Rep. Andre Thapedi, D-32

PLEASE contact these legislators ask them to exempt Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities from this rule change. 

Representatives Push to Repeal Hyde Amendment

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. appeared in a video published on Monday which advocates for the passage of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act (EACH Woman Act), a bill that would repeal the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment was passed in 1976 and bans Federal funds from being used for abortions except in cases of rape and incest.

Proponents for the amendment claim that the Hyde amendment is harmful to women's health because it makes access to abortion income-based rather than a human right. Repealing the Hyde amendment could easily open the door to government-funded abortion in all states. Click here to read more.

Report Says 22% of Undergraduate Students are Parents, But They Have Less Access to Financial Resources

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report in August stating that 22% of undergraduate students are also parents, but over half of them didn't leave school with completed degrees. The report also stated that these students had less access to financial aid than students who didn't have children. This is especially troubling when the U.S. Dept. of Education has a program created specifically to empower students who need financial assistance to pay for childcare.

CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in School) does help many parents pay for childcare while they receive college educations, but even more parents were waitlisted between 2016 and 2017 and never received any assistance. Furthermore, the GAO study reviewed college websites for mentions of CCAMPIS, but only one-third of the websites visited referenced the program. Click here to read more.

Woman with Disability Says Culture Criticized Her Giving Birth but Accepted Abortion

In a Quartz article entitled "As a disabled woman, my abortion wasn’t questioned—but my pregnancy was", Australian feminist and disability activist Nicole Lee wrote about her treatment during two different pregnancies. In one she chose to abort her child, and in the other she chose to keep them. In the instance where she chose to abort the child, nobody questioned her decision or gave her support before or after the procedure. When she chose to complete a later pregnancy, she was often questioned for her decision. Through these experiences, Lee came to the conclusion that the culture surrounding her either did not want her to give birth or simply didn't believe she was physically capable, even though her disability did not prevent her from doing so.

“Imagine you are about to welcome your second child into the world, and everyone is expecting you to fail. This is vastly different to how other women are treated. It was certainly vastly different to how my older (able-bodied) sister was treated while pregnant: I wasn’t showered with congratulations from shop assistants when shopping for baby gear the way my sister was.”

Click here to read more. 

Indiana Senators Introduce the Dignity for Aborted Children Act

In response to the 2,246 bodies of aborted children found in abortionist Ulrich Klopfer's home, Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) have introduced the Dignity for Aborted Children Act. This bill, if passed into law, would require that women who undergo abortions would be given the option to keep their aborted child's body or give the abortion facility permission to dispose of the remains. Abortionists who did not bury or cremate the remains of aborted children would face a fine and up to five years in prison.

In response to the introduction of this legislation David N. O’Steen Ph.D., executive director of National Right to Life, stated, “The Dignity for Aborted Children Act addresses the need to treat the remains of an aborted child with the dignity she deserves.” Click here to read more.

Man Who Admitted to Killing His Mother Cleared of Murder Because He "Acted Out of Love"

Langley Lodge care home in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
Credit: East News Press Agency

Robert Knight was cleared of murder after he admitted to pushing his 79-year-old mother off a balcony. The 53-year-old son was visiting his mother at a nursing home in the United Kingdom when he pushed her off a balcony, giving her brain damage and causing her death not long after. He immediately called the nursing home staff and admitted to killing his mother, and did not resist police when they arrested him. He told authorities that he couldn't stand to watch his mother deteriorate due to her dementia, so he spent several days planning what he might do to end his mother's life.

Judge Samantha Leigh described Knight's actions as "mercy killing" and sentenced him to 60 days of rehabilitation with no jail time. He spent 9 months in jail awaiting his trial but is seemingly getting away with murder because of his mother's medical condition. Click here to read more.

House Members Warn Against Relaxing Restriction on Abortion Drug Mifepristone

Fifty-three members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the FDA to argue against Planned Parenthood's request that restrictions be removed from the distribution of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. The drug has been linked to thousands of complications and 24 deaths in the United States alone, and a generic version of mifepristone, which up to this point had only been sold under the name Mifeprex, has been approved by the FDA.

An excerpt from the representatives' letter states, “We vigorously opposed calls by Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion advocates to remove the REMS [Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy] for mifepristone. Allowing the drug to be available without medical supervision will have dire consequences for women and children.” Click here for more.