Woman Says No to Aborting Down Syndrome Baby: 'He's a Human Being' Although Amanda Clarke was only 22 when she became pregnant with her first child, her obstetrician said she could be screened to see if her baby was at risk for Down syndrome and other genetic conditions. She said she agreed, feeling certain that a woman her age would bear a child free from disabilities. "I thought no matter what happens, it will be fine," Clarke, now 26, and the mother of three children, told CNSNews.com. Clarke's first son was born without problems, and when she was screened while carrying her second child, the results predicted another healthy baby. So when she was offered a screening during her third pregnancy, she did not hesitate. "Yeah, why not?" she remembers telling her doctor. But this time the results of the screenings – done by a blood test when she was 16 weeks pregnant – showed an increased risk of her child having the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause some health problems and varying degrees of mental retardation. She received the news by telephone. "I hung up the phone, and I just lost it," Clarke said. "I cried. I thought it was a death sentence for my child. I didn't know anything about Down syndrome." Clarke then met with a perionatologist, who told her the odds of her child having Down syndrome. "She told me I had a one in 100 chance of having a Down syndrome baby," said Clarke, who lives in Michigan. "Usually, it's one in 870." But even before Clarke agreed to have an ultrasound and an amniocentesis – an invasive diagnostic test that examines the DNA of the child in the womb by using a needle to draw out amniotic fluid – she said she already knew the results. "Deep down, I knew he would have Down syndrome," Clarke said. "I could just feel it." Although many medical professionals claim to give patients "non-directive" counseling free from personal bias when giving a diagnosis, Clarke said that was not the case when she was told of her unborn son's condition by the perionatologist. "She said, 'Unfortunately, your child has Down Syndrome,' 'you do have the option to terminate,' and 'do you have any questions?'" Clarke recalled only seeing one person with Down syndrome who attended her church and remembered hearing stories that these children often ended up in institutions. And although Clarke describes herself as a Christian who opposes abortion, she admits to briefly considering that option. "I thought, maybe it would be easier if I got rid of this baby," Clarke said. But between her religious beliefs and the support of her husband, Clarke decided to continue her pregnancy. That decision made Clarke one of the minority of American mothers who are diagnosed as carrying a Down syndrome baby yet decide to bring the baby to term. Studies indicate that almost 90 percent of American women terminate the baby when pre-natal genetic screening shows the child has Down syndrome. "He was my rock," Clarke said of her husband, Dax. "He said, 'It will be fine. We'll get through this.'" And there was something else that made Clarke certain she was making the right decision. While Clarke was working in a hospital emergency room, a woman who was having a miscarriage was admitted. After the baby was expelled, the woman asked to see her child. "It was a fully formed, perfect little baby with 10 toes, 10 fingers, a nose and a mouth," Clarke said. "It was so small, but so perfect. That image kept popping into my head. (My son) is a baby. He's fully formed." Clarke was 17 weeks pregnant – the same as the woman who miscarried – when she knew for sure her baby had Down syndrome. "How could I abort him? He was a human being," she said. Clarke also had an even more personal reason for believing that choosing life for unborn children is the right thing to do. "My mother was raped when she was 15," Clarke said, adding that her mother had planned to give her up for adoption until her grandmother arranged a meeting between her daughter and her newborn." "I always thank my grandmother," Clarke said. Still, Clarke admits she was terrified the night before her scheduled C-section. "I've never cried so hard in my life," Clarke said. "It was like I was having a monster instead of a baby. I thought I might not want to see him or hold him." But on the morning Ethan was born, Clarke said her fears were quickly quelled. "I can't even describe it," she said. "It was a feeling like I was holding a piece of heaven." Aside from her faith and a supportive family, Clarke also credits a support group of other parents who have children with Down syndrome for helping her enjoy her new son and get the support and resources necessary to raise a special needs child. Ethan is now 9 months old and also is adored by his older siblings, brother Dax Jr., 4, and sister Emma, 2, Clarke said. "There are challenges," she said. "But I know I was meant to be his mom." Contact: Penny Starr Source: CNSNews Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com Publish Date: October 14, 2008 Click or copy the link below to view this article in your browser: |
October 15, 2008
Woman Says No to Aborting Down Syndrome Baby: ‘He’s a Human Being’
Who’s ‘Fierce’ on Abortion?
On Sunday, October 12, CBS wrapped up its "Evening News" with the apparently charming scoop that Sister Cecilia Gaudette, a 106-year-old Catholic nun living in Rome, would cast her first presidential ballot since 1952 ... for Barack Obama. That's one more evening-news story than CBS has devoted to Obama's radical legislative record on abortion. Try this on for size: ABC, CBS, and NBC together have unloaded more than a thousand stories on Obama's presidential campaign, and we're still waiting for the first broadcast network TV story devoted to examining Obama's abortion record. CBS's man in Rome, Allen Pizzey, packaged his story without the slightest interest into inquiring as to why this Catholic nun would vote for a candidate who is clearly the nation's fervent advocate of abortion. Instead, Pizzey chose to ... ooze. "She has a simple, old-fashioned standard for politicians," Pizzey proclaimed, before giving the good nun the opportunity for her on-air national endorsement of Barack Obama: "A good straight man; good private life, honest and politically able to govern, of course." Wait a minute. Isn't this a classic Catholic scandal story, a nun publicly defying church teaching? This kind of story cheering a "dissident" Catholic as "old-fashioned" is a natural for Pizzey, a reporter who kicked the casket of Pope John Paul the Great in 2005, saying his rigid opposition to abortion was a "flaw" of his life: "His legacy is not without flaws. His staunch refusal to ordain women as priests and rigorous rejection of birth control, abortion and homosexuality, have alienated many." CBS skipped that angle. It detracts from the Obama story line. Not only has CBS chosen – yes, chosen – to skip Obama's abortion controversies, this network has also refused to cover the controversies surrounding Obama's Catholic running mate, Senator Joe Biden. He weirdly pronounced on "Meet the Press" in September that the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas could be used to confuse Catholic doctrine against abortion. Just like his Catholic friend John Kerry, Biden couldn't "impose" his faith on anyone: "For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society." CBS didn't find it newsworthy that more than a dozen bishops publicly corrected Biden for mangling Aquinas, or that the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus wrote a terrific open letter calling him out for his remarks. As CBS and other networks touted Biden's "working-class Catholic roots" growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, they refused even to note that the Bishop of Scranton had announced it wrong to give Holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians like Biden. CBS briefly covered Obama's remarks to a right-to-life question at Rick Warren's church, yet completely ignored his infamous declaration that deciding when life begins is "above my pay grade." They just ran the quote "I am pro-choice. I believe in Roe vs. Wade. And I come to that conclusion not because I'm pro-abortion, but because ultimately I don't think women make these decisions casually." For CBS, abortion has been an issue in this race only on the Republican side. CBS has described Governor Sarah Palin's views on abortion as "fierce" several times, but would never apply that adjective to Obama or Biden. Obama's record is beyond "fierce." Not only has Obama dared to support the right to a partial-birth abortion, but in the Illinois state Senate, Obama fought against a Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, designed to offer legal protections to a child who survived an abortion attempt. In one debate in 2002, in a great spasm of ideological ardor, he argued it was acceptable for babies to be killed after they'd exited the womb, since trying to keep this tiny survivor alive "would just burden the original decision of the mother to abort the child." Obama wouldn't want that gnawing tension across the dinner table: "Mom, why did you want me dead?" This is the same Senator Obama that declared in April that he wouldn't want his daughters to be "punished with a baby" for having premarital sex without contraceptives. CBS ignored that, too, as well as ABC. (NBC skipped it except for Tim Russert airing a clip on "Meet the Press.") There is apparently nothing harsh Obama can say about babies that will be considered newsworthy by Barack's disciplined message providers in the media. Remember all this omission when you see vapid pseudo-journalists like Jon Stewart oozing to Michelle Obama that her family has been "vetted about as much as a family can be vetted." Remember all this when the networks claim the campaign should be about "the issues." Obama's been on the presidential campaign trail for 20 months, and the TV networks are still giving him a pass. At this point, it isn't accidental, nor is it coincidental. It is deliberate. Contact: L. Brent Bozell III Source: CNSNews Source URL: www.cnsnews.com Publish Date: October 14, 2008 Click or copy the link below to view this article in your browser: |
FRC Action Highlights Obama's Radical Views on Abortion
FRC Action Highlights Obama's Radical Views on Abortion FRC Action launched a TV and radio campaign today in response to Sen. Barack Obama's promise to make the so-called Freedom of Choice Act his first priority as president. The legislation could wipe away every federal, state and local law limiting or regulating abortion, undoing decades of legal work and educational successes. The ad campaign comes two weeks after the Matthew 25 Network launched a Web site touting Obama as pro-life. The group, which took aim at Dr. James Dobson this summer, claims Obama would "drastically reduce abortion" and "promote life with dignity for all from the beginning of life to the end." FRC Action President Tony Perkins said it's time voters knew the truth. "Four times as an Illinois legislator, he voted against laws that would have ensured equal medical care for babies that survive an abortion attempt," Perkins said. "The (Freedom of Choice) Act would make partial-birth abortion legal again, repeal all parental-notice laws on abortion (and) provide unlimited tax funding of abortion. "For most Americans, these issues are settled, but not for Senator Obama." The TV ads will run this week in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Michigan and Washington, D.C. The radio ads will target Christian stations that carried Matthew 25 ads earlier this year. Contact: Devon Williams Source: CitizenLink Source URL: http://www.citizenlink.org Publish Date: October 14, 2008 Click or copy the link below to view this article in your browser: |
New Down syndrome test could increase ‘eugenic’ abortions
New Down syndrome test could increase 'eugenic' abortions Pro-life advocates have warned that a new non-invasive pre-natal test for Down syndrome could increase 'eugenic' abortions. The new test, which checks a baby's DNA, has been developed by researcher Dr. Stephen Quake and his team at Stanford University. Studies in the United States and the United Kingdom have claimed that as many as 9 in 10 unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. Carol Boys, chief executive of the Down's Syndrome Association in Great Britain, recently told the BBC that the less invasive blood test will make pre-natal testing safer and more common. "There is no question that these non-invasive tests will be introduced in the next few years," she said. "It's therefore incredibly important that potential parents are given accurate information on Down's syndrome before they make a choice about whether to terminate or not." Allison Davis, a member of the No Less Human group associated with the British Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, argued that the new test was not a positive development. "The new non-invasive test for Down's syndrome will inevitably mean more pre-natal testing, leading to more abortions of babies with the condition. Describing this as a 'breakthrough' is offensive to people who live with Down's syndrome, and to all who recognize the equal right to life of disabled people," she said to LifeSiteNews.com. All pregnant women who seek pre-natal care with an obstetrician are offered screenings that can estimate the risk they are carrying a baby with Down syndrome, Cybercast News Service says. Blood tests search for "markers" associated with the genetic condition, in which a third copy of the 21st chromosome causes mild to severe mental retardation and distinct physical characteristics such as low muscle tone and upward slanting eyes. Uncertainty about the effectiveness of such tests was found in a Norwegian study conducted by the Norwegian National Center for Fetal Medicine and released in August of 2008. The researchers found that prenatal testing was highly inaccurate, estimating the prenatal detection rate at only 43 percent. Another study published in 2006 in the journal Nature found that prenatal screening may have incorrectly diagnosed genetic variations as defects, possibly leading to selective abortion based on inaccurate reports of genetic abnormality. In January 2007 ACOG endorsed increased prenatal screening for all women, prompting Dr. Will Johnston, president of Canadian Physicians for Life, to argue the move is another step towards eugenics. "The progress of eugenic abortion into the heart of our society is a classic example of 'mission creep,'" Johnson said in an article posted on the group's Web site in February 2007, Cybercast News Service reports. "In the 1960s, we were told that legal abortion would be a rare tragic act in cases of exceptional hardship. In the '70s abortion began to be both decried and accepted as birth control. In the '80s respected geneticists pointed out that it was cheaper to hunt for and abort Down's babies than to raise them. By the '90s that observation had been widely put into action. Now we are refining and extending our eugenic vision, with new tests and abortion as our central tools." Surveys of primary care physicians indicate that very few doctors encourage women whose unborn babies are diagnosed with Down syndrome to continue their pregnancies. Contact: None Source: Catholic News Agency Source URL: http://www.catholicna.com Publish Date: October 15, 2008 Click or copy the link below to view this article in your browser: |
President Signs Bill to Increase Adoption
President Signs Bill to Increase Adoption President Bush recently signed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, which reauthorizes state adoption incentives, promotes adoption of children with special needs and increases awareness of adoption assistance. Tom Atwood, president and CEO of the National Council for Adoption, said the bipartisan law "provides for a wide array of reforms to benefit children and their interest in adoption." "Focus on the Family also recognizes a responsibility to raise awareness of the orphans in foster care waiting for adoptive families," said Kelly Rosati, senior director of Focus on the Family's Sanctity of Human Life department. Focus has launched "Wait No More, Finding Families for Waiting Kids" in Colorado to raise awareness about the need for adoptive families and help the faith community take the next steps in meeting this need. The collaborative effort is part of Focus on the Family's Orphan Care Initiative, which was established in 2006 to inspire, equip and engage the body of Christ to welcome children into loving families and to support adoptive families. Contact: Kristin Darr Source: CitizenLink Source URL: http://www.citizenlink.org Publish Date: October 14, 2008 Click or copy the link below to view this article in your browser: |
Following the PPFA Money Trail
Following the PPFA Money Trail Though technically a "non-profit," Planned Parenthood makes an enormous amount of money -- $1,0179 billion in revenues for the fiscal year that ended June 2007, to be exact. What PPFA works overtime to hide is that a significant portion of that comes from abortion. (See Part Three, a factsheet that brilliantly summarizes PPFA' s money trail.) Planned Parenthood says abortion accounts for only 3% of its services. Planned Parenthood apparently obtains such a figure by counting each pregnancy test, each packet of pills it passes out, every test it does for sexually transmitted diseases, etc., as a uniquely rendered "service." But abortion produces more than a third of PPFA' s clinic income. With industry rates for a standard first-trimester suction abortion at about $413, PPFA's minimum take for the 289,750 abortions it performed would have been at least $119.6 million. It's easy to understand why PPFA so adamantly defends abortion in the courts and lobbies unceasingly to have state and federal governments pay for it. It also explains one of the reasons why PPFA President Cecilia Richards is encouraging more of Planned Parenthood's clinics to add abortion to their offerings. Once again, the old maxim holds true -- if you want to know the truth, just follow the money. The factsheet will help you do just that. Click on the following link to view the factsheet: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/PPFAMoneyFactsheet.pdf Contact: Dave Andrusko Source: National Right to Life Source URL: http://www.nrlc.org Publish Date: October 15, 2008 Click or copy the link below to view this article in your browser: |
October 14, 2008
NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY
Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.
`Eugenic Abortion': With Pre-Natal Testing, 9 in 10 Down Syndrome Babies Aborted
In 1972, a year before the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, virtually all children with trisomy 21, or Down syndrome, were born. Less than a decade later, with the widespread availability of pre-natal genetic testing, as many as 90 percent of women whose babies were pre-natally diagnosed with the genetic condition chose to abort (murder) the child. The practice has been described by one physician as "eugenic abortion."
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http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37421
Johnson & Johnson Paid $68M to Settle Birth-Control Cases
Johnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company's Ortho Evra birth-control patch, court records show. J&J, the world's largest maker of health-care products, avoided trials through the confidential settlements and hasn't released the financial details to investors. Of 562 complaints reviewed by Bloomberg News, the vast majority of users alleged the patch caused deep-vein thrombosis, or blood clots in the legs, and pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in the lungs. Some blamed it for heart attacks or strokes. The complaints blamed Ortho Evra for the deaths of 20 women. One settled case involved Ashley Lewis, a 17-year-old high school junior from St. Louis who died in 2003. She developed a blood clot in her lung after wearing the patch for six months, according to Roger Denton, an attorney for Lewis's family, including her son, who was a one-year-old when she died.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=amZT0X84_8zU&refer=home
Abortion supporters are outside the Church, says Mexican cardinal
The Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, said this week those who promote and approve laws in favor of abortion are outside the Catholic Church and should not receive Communion.
During his homily at the Mass in honor of Our Lady of Zapopan, the cardinal encouraged those present to defend life from conception to natural death.
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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14050
NJ mom sues abortion clinic for false information
A Supreme Court decision sends a message to states that don't have required informed consent laws concerning abortion.
The case of Acuna v. Turkish comes from New Jersey, which has no such law for women seeking an abortion. Mailee Smith, an attorney with Americans United for Life (AUL), explains the situation.
"A woman had gone to an abortionist, had asked some questions about the status of the baby, and the abortionist did not give her truthful answers about the status of her pregnancy and the gestational characteristics of her unborn child," Smith contends.
The woman learned the truth about her developing baby after she had the abortion, but it was too late. She then sued in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court has refused to hear the case.
"What this case does is...highlight the drastic need for what we call informed consent legislation in the states," Smith adds.
Many states do have the informed consent laws that require accurate information to be given to the woman about abortion, the status of the child, and the possible harmful impact on the mother. Smith suggests a woman seeking an abortion deserves full information about the life-or-death decision she is making.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Source URL: http://www.onenewsnow.com
Publish Date: October 14, 2008
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http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081014_5.htm
About Time to Call Obama on Abortion
Unfortunately the only video I can find of pro-life Gov. Sarah Palin's remarks last Saturday at a speech delivered in Johnston, Pennsylvania, is on CNN, which cuts off early. Please read the transcript of her remarks below on life which have appeared in several places.
I've also included some of the spontaneous comments she made that so endear her to our Movement and which did not make it into the excerpts I ran across on the web. In Part Two I will talk about what Gov. Palin said and how defenders of pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama continue to flat-out lie about his anti-life positions.
"Something else we haven't talked a lot about in this campaign but I think it's important. As governor what I've been able to do is manifest my commitment to life. In this same spirit, as defenders of the culture of life, John McCain and I believe in the goodness and potential of every innocent life. I believe the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who are least able to defend and speak for themselves. And who is more vulnerable, or more innocent, than a child?
Now, when I learned that my son Trig would have special needs, to be honest with you, I had to pray that my heart would be prepared for the challenges to come. It was a shock I wasn't ready for this. I had to ask for this strength. At first I was scared, and Todd and I had to ask for strength and understanding.
But let me tell you a few things I've learned already.
Yes, every innocent life does matters. Everyone belongs in the circle of protection. Every child has something to contribute to our world, if we give them that chance. Now there are the world's standards of perfection and then there are God's standards, and these are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for their own sake.
And as for our beautiful baby boy, for Todd and for me, he is only more precious because he is vulnerable. In some ways, I think we stand to learn more from him than he does from us. So when we hold Trig and care for him, we don't feel scared anymore. We feel blessed.
It's hard to think of many issues that could possibly be more important than who is protected in law and who isn't – who is granted life and who is denied it. So when our opponent speaks about questions of life, I listen very carefully. {You can hear a baby begin to cry in the background.] I love that sound. Please let that baby keep on crying. [Crowd cheers.] We love that sound. …. Not crying, just giggling.
I listened when he defended his unconditional support for unlimited abortions. He said that a woman shouldn't have to be – quote – "punished with a baby." Ladies and gentleman, he said that right here in Johnstown –"punished with a baby" – and it's about time we called him on it.
The more I hear from Senator Obama, the more I understand why he is so vague and evasive on the subject. Americans need to see his record for what it is. It's not negative or mean-spirited to talk to about his record. Whatever party you belong to, there are facts you need to know.
Senator Obama has voted against bills to end partial-birth abortion. In the Illinois Senate, a bipartisan majority passed legislation against that practice. Senator Obama opposed that bill. He voted against it in committee, and voted "present" on the Senate floor. In that legislature, "present" is how you vote when you're against something, but don't want to be held to account.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, described partial-birth abortion as "too close to infanticide." Barack Obama thinks it's a constitutional right, but he is wrong.
Most troubling, as a state senator, Barack Obama wouldn't even stand up for the rights of infants born alive during an abortion. These infants – often babies with special needs – are simply left to die.
In 2002, Congress unanimously passed a federal law to require medical care for those babies who survive an abortion. They're living, breathing babies, but Senator Obama describes them as "pre-viable." This merciful law was called the Born- Alive Infants Protection Act. Illinois had a version of the same law. Obama voted against it.
Asked about this vote, Senator Obama assured a reporter that he'd have voted "yes" on that bill if it had contained language similar to the federal version of the Born Alive Act. There's just one little problem with that story: the language of both the state and federal bills was identical.
In short, Senator Obama is a politician who has long since left behind even the middle ground on the issue of life. He has sided with those who won't even protect a child born alive. And this exposes the emptiness of his promises to move beyond the "old politics."
In both parties, Americans have many concerns to be weighed in the votes they cast on November fourth. In times like these, with wars and a financial crisis, it's easy to forget even as deep and abiding a concern as the right to life. And it seems our opponent hopes that you will forget. Like so much else in his agenda, he hopes you won't notice how radical his ideas and record are until it's too late.
But let there be no misunderstanding about the stakes.
A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for activist courts that will continue to smother the open and democratic debate we need on this issue, at both the state and federal level. A vote for Barack Obama would give the ultimate power over the issue of life to a politician who has never once done anything to protect the unborn. As Senator Obama told Pastor Rick Warren, it's above his pay grade [at the Saddleback Forum at which both Obama and Sen. McCain spoke].
For a candidate who talks so often about "hope," he offers no hope at all in meeting this great challenge to the conscience of America. There is a growing consensus in our country that we can overcome narrow partisanship on this issue, and bring all the resources of a generous country to the aid of both women in need and the child waiting to be born. We need more of the compassion and idealism that our opponent's own party, at its best, once stood for...
Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Source URL: http://www.nrlc.org
Publish Date: October 13, 2008
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http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081014_4.htm
9 in 10 Down Syndrome Babies Aborted
In 1972, a year before the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion on demand nationwide, virtually all children with trisomy 21, or Down syndrome, were born. Less than a decade later, with the widespread availability of pre-natal genetic testing, as many as 90 percent of women whose babies were pre-natally diagnosed with the genetic condition chose to abort the child.
The practice has been described by one physician as “eugenic abortion.”
One survey of 499 primary care physicians treating women carrying these babies, however, indicated that only 4 percent actively encourage women to bring Down syndrome babies to term.
Down syndrome, which occurs in individuals who have three rather than two copies of the 21st chromosome, causes distinct physical characteristics such as low muscle tone and upward slanting eyes. It also causes mental retardation, which can range from mild to severe.
With the advent and increasing use of pre-natal testing, according to studies in the United States and United Kingdom, a diagnosis of Down syndrome has led to as many as nine out of 10 women choosing to abort the child.
A 2000 anonymous survey of 499 primary care physicians in the United States, published by Georgetown University, indicated that only 4 percent of physicians who attend women whose babies are pre-natally diagnosed encourage them to continue the pregnancy and allow the baby with Down syndrome to be born.
Thirteen percent of doctors attending pregnant mothers whose babies are discovered to have Down syndrome, this survey said, “emphasize” the negative aspects of Down syndrome and 10 percent said they “urge” the mothers to terminate the life of the baby.
Sixty-three percent reported they “tried to be as unbiased as possible when delivering a pre-natal diagnosis” and 10 percent indicated they “emphasize” the positive aspects of Down syndrome.
A 1998 study by the Department of Newborn Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, published in Genetics of Medicine, concluded that in 1972, 1 in 1,000 babies were born with the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome.
“There was no pre-natal detection between 1972 and 1974,” said the report, which then measured how many women aborted their Down syndrome babies between 1972 and 1994.
“Between 1972 and 1994 the percentage of infants with Down syndrome who were liveborn decreased dramatically,” the report said. “In the early 1980s, this decrease reflected the impact of amniocentesis among women 35 and older.
“By the late 1980s, pre-natal detection was common among women younger than 35 years and detection was by several modalities including AFP screening, sonography and amniocentesis. When the (Down syndrome) diagnosis was established before 24 weeks of gestation, 86% to 87% of the parents chose elective termination of the pregnancy,” it said.
Another 1998 study by Wayne State University published in the American Journal of Genetics concluded that almost 90 percent of Down syndrome babies were aborted between 1987 and 1997.
“In conclusion,” the report said, “our data confirm that most patients referred to a tertiary care center are likely to choose termination of pregnancy after the diagnosis of Down syndrome, even in the absence of severe ultrasound abnormalities.”
The 2004 annual report of the Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London found an even higher number of abortions were done after a pre-natal Down syndrome diagnosis in Great Britain. In 2003, 91 percent of cases with known outcomes resulted in abortion. The same percentage was recorded in 2004.
ACOG wants more testing
Studies show pre-natal testing for Down syndrome has become increasingly common over the last three decades, however, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in January 2007 called for even more testing.
“All pregnant women, regardless of age, should be offered screening for Down syndrome,” according to the new Practice Bulletin issued (Jan. 2, 2007) by the ACOG.
“ACOG also advises that all pregnant women, regardless of their age, should have the option of diagnostic testing,” the Bulletin states. “ACOG recognizes that a woman’s decision to have an amniocentesis or CVS is based on many factors, such as a family or personal history of birth defects, and the risk of pregnancy loss from an invasive procedure.”
But Dr. Will Johnston, president of Canadian Physicians for Life, reacted to ACOG’s pre-natal testing endorsement as another step toward eugenics.
“The progress of eugenic abortion into the heart of our society is a classic example of “mission creep,’ ” Johnson said in an article posted on the group’s Web site in February 2007. “In the 1960s, we were told that legal abortion would be a rare tragic act in cases of exceptional hardship. In the ‘70s abortion began to be both decried and accepted as birth control. In the ‘80s respected geneticists pointed out that it was cheaper to hunt for and abort Down’s babies than to raise them. By the ‘90s that observation had been widely put into action. Now we are refining and extending our eugenic vision, with new tests and abortion as our central tools.”
Today, women of all ages who seek pre-natal care with an obstetrician are offered screenings that can estimate the mother’s risk of carrying a Down syndrome baby.
These screenings include a blood test to find certain “markers” associated with the genetic condition and sonograms, which doctors can use to measure the fluid in the neck of the baby, or nuchal translucency, which also can indicate that the developing baby has Down syndrome.
If the results of these screenings indicate there is a higher risk that an unborn child might have Down syndrome, doctors offer the mother additional diagnostic tests, including amniocentesis, which requires inserting a needle into the womb to draw amniotic fluid so the chromosomes of fetal cells can be examined.
Another test, Chorionic villus sampling, or CVS, collects fetal cells from the placenta via the cervix. Both tests are almost 100 percent accurate in detecting Down syndrome in an unborn child.
Because they are invasive, however, both tests can cause a miscarriage. According to ACOG and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, between one in 400 and one in 200 women have a miscarraige after amniocentesis. Other complications that can arise from amniocentesis include injury to the developing baby and infection.
The risk of miscarriage after first-trimester amniocentesis may be three times higher than the risk after second-trimester amniocentesis, according to the results of the Canadian Early and Mid-Trimester Amniocentesis Trial Group, which were published in The Lancet in 1998.
Results of a 2004 study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology suggested that early amniocentesis may also increase the risk of the deformity called clubfoot.
According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) in London, the additional overall risk of miscarriage from amniocentesis is approximately one percent. In other words, about one in every 100 women who have amniocentesis under ultrasound guidance after 15 weeks will miscarry.
RCOG also claims that the additional overall risk of miscarriage from CVS is approximately two percent. In other words, about two in every 100 women who have CVS under ultrasound guidance after 10 weeks will miscarry.
Dr. Lewis B. Holmes, a geneticist at Massachusetts General Hospital who participated in the 1998 study on pre-natal testing at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said that some patients refuse pre-natal screening.
“The (patients) who have strong religious or cultural leaning … don’t take the test,” Holmes told CNSNews.com. “So they make their choice very easily.”
But many, Holmes said, use the pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome as a reason to end the pregnancy.
“Even though you encourage, ‘take your time, take your time,’ they usually display a real sense of urgency,” Holmes said.
Post-test resources
Some parents of children with Down syndrome told CNSNews.com that when they got their diagnostic test results, they did not get the information they needed about the condition and the resources that are available to them and their children.
Lucy Talbot, the mother of a Down syndrome child, is president of Families Exploring Down Syndrome, a support group of some 200 families in Michigan that have children with the genetic condition.
Talbot said her group’s Changing Lives program, developed by the National Down Syndrome Society, is designed to teach medical professionals how to give a compassionate diagnosis and provide the resources and support that parents need.
“(The doctor) says, ‘Your baby has these characteristics, we think your baby has Down syndrome,’” Talbot said. “They say, ‘We’re going to do some blood work,’ and they walk out of the room.”
“You’ve just changed a person’s life forever,” she said.
Dr. Holmes said he offers detailed information about Down syndrome to parents, as well as giving them the option of speaking with parents who have children with the genetic condition.
But Brian Skotko, a resident physician at Children’s Boston Hospital, said Holmes is the exception, not the rule. Skotko cited the results of a questionnaire sent out to 1,105 ACOG fellows and junior fellows in 2004.
Among the 60 percent that were returned, 80 percent said they felt qualified to counsel patients about genetic issues and pregnancy, but 45 percent rated their residency training regarding prenatal diagnosis as “barely adequate” or “non-existent.”
Skotko, who has a sister with Down syndrome and serves on several boards of Down syndrome advocacy groups, said pre-natal testing has put the fate of unborn children in their parents’ hands.
“Current testing affords couples to learn, if they so desire, pre-natally whether or not their fetus has Down syndrome,” Skotko said.
“I encourage all parents to think about and answer two essential questions, which I think can be their guideposts through all pre-natal testing that’s available during pregnancy. One, they need to answer for themselves when does life begin and then answer the question, what forms of human life are valuable?” he added.
“The first question will determine for them when life starts,” he said, “so what testing done at certain times may determine for them whether or not termination is allowable in their own moral compass.”
“And then once life begins, they then need to answer the other question, what forms of human life are valuable?” said Skotko. “Some people say, once life begins, all forms of human life are valuable--others say, once life begins, only certain characteristics are valuable.”
New tests could increase abortions
Now, a new pre-natal blood test that could check a baby’s DNA has been developed by researcher Dr. Stephen Quake and his team at Stanford University. Quake said a broader test is needed.
Carol Boys, chief executive of the Down’s (sic) Syndrome Association in Great Britain, told the BBC that the less invasive blood test will make pre-natal testing safer and more common.
“There is no question that these non-invasive tests will be introduced in the next few years,” Boys said. “It’s therefore incredibly important that potential parents are given accurate information on Down’s (sic) syndrome before they make a choice about whether to terminate or not.”
But Alison Davis of the No Less Human group that is a part of the British Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said in an article on lifenews.com that the new test wasn’t a positive development.
“"The new non-invasive test for Down's syndrome will inevitably mean more pre-natal testing, leading to more abortions of babies with the condition. Describing this as a 'breakthrough' is offensive to people who live with Down's syndrome, and to all who recognize the equal right to life of disabled people,” she said.
Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews.com
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com
Publish Date: October 14, 2008
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Thank President Bush for Defending Pro-Life Policies
The Bush administration is facing criticism from pro-abortion activists because U.S.-funded contraceptives are being diverted from a British abortion business.
Under the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, enacted in 1985, federal funding shall not be given to organizations that support or participate in a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has denied funding for Marie Stopes International because of its support for China's population control agency, which coerces abortion.
"The Bush administration is to be congratulated for its consistent enforcement of a policy that is supported by the vast majority of the American people, and which benefits women and girls by defunding predatory agencies which seek to rob them of their fertility," said Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute. "Marie Stopes International needs to decide what its purpose is: performing abortions, often in violation of national laws, or providing legitimate health care to women."
Contact: Jennifer Mesko
Source: CitizenLink
Source URL: http://www.citizenlink.org
Publish Date: October 13, 2008
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Civil Lawsuit to be Filed against Abortion Providers for Killing Baby Born Alive
Thomas More Society Takes Action While Miami Dade County D.A. Refuses -- At Least So Far -- To File Criminal Charges
Funeral Set for Tuesday – Two Years after Death of Infant Survivor of Abortion
On Tuesday, October 14, 2008, Shanice Denise Osbourne will be laid to rest nearly 27 months after she was killed quickly, heartlessly and lethally. Shanice was stuffed into a medical waste bag filled with chlorine bleach just after she was delivered alive by abortion clinic owner Belkis Gozalez at A Gyn Diagnostics Center in Hialeah, Fla. This all took place without any licensed medical personnel (doctors or even nurses) in attendance. While the Miami-Dade County medical examiner determined that Shanice was born alive, he concluded her death was "natural," resulting merely from her "extreme prematurity." Then so-called "experts" publicly claimed that unless an infant could be proved to be "viable" – able to live on her own – her killing could not be condemned as "homicide" or otherwise culpable as a matter of law.
However, Tom Brejcha, President & Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society, Pro-Life Law Center in Chicago, has denounced that claim as a "transparent cover for infanticide." He stated: "Just because a human being is feeble or disabled and supposedly can't live independently, on his or her own, doesn't mean that anybody has the right to kill him or her. If you suffocate a dying elder with a pillow, you're guilty of homicide. If you fail to examine, or aid, or treat an infant – once born – who is struggling for breath and who – with proper care – has any chance to survive to live a healthy life, you should be held equally guilty."
Not only Shanice's mother, who was shocked to see her infant born, gasping for breath, and then disposed of before her eyes, but also a clinic worker witnessed what took place. The clinic worker called police who came with a search warrant, whereupon the clinic owner put the baby's corpse on the building's tin roof where it decayed for days under the hot Florida sun. But police were called again. This time they found the body but the coroner ignored the eyewitnesses, found the death "natural," and prosecutors delayed so that no charges have been brought for more than two years, even though the Department of Health restricted the license to practice medicine of the abortionist, Dr. Paul Renelique, and set a further disciplinary hearing for November 19, 2008.
Brejcha and Thomas More Society decided to intervene last year. They hired an investigator, dug up more facts and witnesses, kept consulting with police, prodded prosecutors, and retained an expert pathologist who critiqued the coroner's botched findings and found that A Gyn Diagnostics' unlicensed staff did play a causative role in the infant's death. Thomas More Society also retained expert Miami counsel, Tom Pennekamp, Jr., former president of the Dade County Bar Ass'n and an expert and very accomplished lawyer in major personal injury cases, as its co-counsel for the purpose of bringing a lawsuit for "wrongful death" of Baby Shanice – already in process. Clinic owners shut down A Gyn but simply moved their operation a few blocks away where they continue to put human beings at risk. Indeed, despite restrictions on his license to practice medicine, Dr. Pierre Renelique may still be performing abortions.
A funeral service will be held for Shanice tomorrow, Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. at The Worldwide Christian Center Church located at 450 North Powerline Road, Pompano Beach, FL 33069. Thereafter, at approximately 11:00 a.m., Shanice will be buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, 1500 South State Road 7 in Fort Lauderdale.
"To date, the Miami Dade district attorney has not filed criminal charges against Gonzalez," said Tom Brejcha. "Killing a baby born alive is still infanticide, and those responsible must be held to account civilly if not also criminally. Medical advances have made it possible to successfully treat even the tiniest of premature babies. Despicably low end 'medical care' facilities like A Gyn Diagnostics Center are getting away with murder."
Both Tom Brejcha and Tom Pennekamp will be available tomorrow for questions and comment after the funeral service at Worldwide Christian Center Church.
Contact: Tom Brejcha
Source: Thomas More Society
Source URL: http://www.thomasmoresociety.org
Publish Date: October 13, 2008
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October 13, 2008
NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY
Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.
Woman Told To Remove 'Obama Is Pro-Abort' Yard Sign
A new political yard sign is stirring up controversy in an Ankeny neighborhood. Michelle Schadler said she posted the sign to criticize Sen. Barack Obama's "pro-choice" stance on abortion and she said she has every right to do so. "Nerves are very raw right now about the election, and I think that's why they got upset," said Schadler. Schadler used her computer to doctor an Obama sign. She said the president of the WaterCrest Homeowners Association told her to take them down because signs aren't allowed. "There are many other signs in the neighborhood," Schadler said. "They have not been asked to take theirs down. So it's obvious they find mine offensive. They're asking me to take it down."
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Abortion Provider Sues to Halt Ultrasound Law
A Tulsa abortion provider has sued the state to halt a controversial law requiring a woman to undergo an ultrasound within one hour of the procedure and to be advised about what it shows. Nova Health Systems, the parent group of Reproductive Services in Tulsa, filed the suit late Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court. The clinic is seeking an injunction to prevent Senate Bill 1878 by Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, from taking effect Nov. 1. The clinic is also asking the court to toss out the law.
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J&J Paid $68 Million to Settle Birth-Control Cases
Johnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company's Ortho Evra birth-control patch, court records show. J&J, the world's largest maker of health-care products, avoided trials through the confidential settlements and hasn't released the financial details to investors.
Of 562 complaints reviewed by Bloomberg News, the vast majority of users alleged the patch caused deep-vein thrombosis, or blood clots in the legs, and pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in the lungs. Some blamed it for heart attacks or strokes. The complaints blamed Ortho Evra for the deaths of 20 women.
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SBA List Voter Contact Efforts to Reach 1.3 Million Pro-Life Voters
'American voters deserve to know the truth about who really is – and isn't – on the side of unborn children'
SBA List Launches Voter Education and Mobilization Program, Targets 1.3 Million Pro-Life Voters in Battleground States
Today, the President of the Susan B. Anthony List offered the following statement about the organization's recent efforts to educate pro-life voters in battleground states across the country:
"Today the Susan B. Anthony List's efforts to educate and mobilize over one million pro-life voters have kicked into high gear," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "The Susan B. Anthony List's efforts will play an invaluable educational role over the next few weeks. While Barack Obama avoids his legislative record of opposing protections for abortion survivors, we are there to stand up for the truth. While Senate candidates like Al Franken in Minnesota and Kay Hagan in North Carolina hide their extreme support for abortion on-demand from the voters, we are there to expose it. American voters deserve to know the truth about who really is – and isn't – on the side of unborn children."
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