Message in a Movie: Open before Christmas

When I was attending graduate school in Chicago, I marveled at the electric blue beauty of Lake Michigan. My dorm sat on Lake Shore Drive, right across from this marvelous body of water. I thought about lounging by the lake for a series of days, writing about my impressions of the waterway daily, thinking that I could capture a different element each day. I wanted to be like a painter who revisits a scene again and again, drawing new inspiration each time.

In that spirit, I am returning this Christmas season to the topic of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The movie, which became a hit only in retrospect, after years of being re-run on television, poses the existential question: What if the main character had never been born?

We see a sweet town turn into sin city…the cantankerous Mr. Potter without a protagonist to stem the tide of his greed… a maiden named Mary who never has an opportunity for marriage and motherhood. And we learn of the tombstone of a 9-year-old boy whose brother was not around to save him. Remember this discussion between the angel Clarence and good old George Bailey?

Clarence: Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine.

George Bailey: That’s a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!

Clarence: Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn’t there to save them, because you weren’t there to save Harry.

I think of desperate women walking into abortion facilities, and I wish they could hear an angel, talking about their babies, telling them that their lives can be wonderful, too. And I reflect on people on the verge of assisted suicide, and I think, if only they could remember this line from the film:

Clarence: You see, George, you’ve really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?

It is a wonderful life…despite dreams that can crumble like Zuzu’s petals…despite sickness and sacrifice…pain and poverty. For where there is life, there is hope — and joy that can come from knowing you’re on the right path, the path of helping people, as George Bailey did.

So, this Christmas, I am looking at “It’s a Wonderful Life,” not only with nostalgia, but with fresh eyes. Because this year, and every year, we need to remember Clarence’s message. It is always a mistake to throw a life away.

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director, Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation via NRL News Today

A look back at CBS Evening News’ coverage of Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973

When we flip the calendar over to December, even more than usual, we come to think about the anniversary of an earth-shattering event that will be only seven weeks away: January 22, 1973.

Last year attention focused a great deal around the obvious—that it had been 40 years since seven Supreme Court justices turned abortion jurisprudence upside down in what dissenting Justice Bryon White called this “act of raw judicial power.”

Between now and January 22, 2015, we will run many old and many new posts about a genuinely revolutionary decision. If you don’t mind, I’d like to begin with a 4-minute long, grainy kinescope of “CBS Evening News” from January 22, 1973. (You can watch it here.)

The video begins with anchor Walter Cronkite looking up for the cue when he will be on camera as we hear the roll call of the names of all the correspondents who would be reporting from around the world. (Pretty impressive list, by the way, not only of journalists but also of the breadth of coverage.)

Cronkite announced that an unnamed “landmark decision” that day had “legalized abortions,” a moment later adding, “during the first three months.” Correspondent George Herman took it from there to explain the details.

In light of the ancient technology (and the over four decades that have passed), I couldn’t help thinking of Cronkite’s “You are There” series which used real network correspondents to tell historical stories as if those stories were being televised live. Only this, of course, was not a re-enactment from the past, but living history.

Needless to say Herman, like Cronkite and all correspondents, only partially described the decision[s] accurately. Herman alluded to a second case but did not clarify that it was Roe’s companion case—Doe v. Bolton—that fleshed out the expansionary impact of what Roe meant.

Three things stood out in Herman’s report, besides the initial error of reporting Roe as if it limited abortion to the first trimester.

One was a reference that later in pregnancy “the states may take legal action to protect the unborn child”! “Child”?

Second, the decision[s] “thus sets limits on the right to abortion on demand,” which, in fact, they did not.



Third, and this is key to understanding where Justice Harry Blackmun, the author of Roe and Doe, was in 1973 (he became much more of an ardent feminist in later years), Herman reported, “In effect the court made abortions subject only to the decision of the pregnant woman’s doctor.” Not the woman, but “the pregnant woman’s doctor.”

Two guests were briefly interviewed. The first was Alan Guttmacher, “president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and a leader in the International Planned Parenthood Federation in the 1960s and early 1970s,” according to the Guttmacher Institute (GI), formerly known as the Alan Guttmacher Institute. GI was spun off from PPFA in 1968 and has ever since earned the misbegotten reputation as a non-partisan source of abortion-related information.

Guttmacher told CBS Evening News, “I think to raise the dignity of a woman and give her freedom of choice in this area is an extraordinary event.” January 22, 1973, he accurately predicted, would be seen as a “historic day.”

Father James McHugh gave the pro-life response. At the time McHugh was executive director of the U.S. Bishops’ Office for Pro-Life Activities. McHugh (who later became Bishop McHugh) spoke of the decision having withdrawn “human rights” from the unborn.

“The judgment of the court will do a great deal to tear down the respect previously accorded human life in our culture,” he accurately predicted.

In case you think our Movement has not made a difference, consider this. Near the end Herman remarks, “New York State, among others, already has liberalized abortion. Now the rest of the country must follow suit.”

He concludes by remarking matter-of-factly, “If the experience of New York State is any guide, America will eventually have one abortion for every two births.”

Just yesterday we reported on the continued decline in the number of abortions, the abortion rate, and the abortion ratio. Tremendously encouraging news.

And why this has come to pass—and not a fulfillment of Herman’s prophecy? For one reason and one reason only: you.

By Dave Andrusko, NRL News Today

Planned Parenthood’s Pastoral Letter: God’s fine with abortion

Wanting to expand the abortion industry into the faith community, Planned Parenthood has come up with a letter to expectant mothers, assuring them that God is fine with abortion.

The newly posted letter penned by “religious leaders” targets women considering abortion and tells them that abortion will not affect their relationship with God.

However, the latest letter is not Planned Parenthood’s first — or even second — attempt this year geared to persuade women that the Bible is okay with abortion.

The first such letter was detected in May, when Planned Parenthood’s “Pastoral Letter to Patients” used God’s name to bring in more women from faith backgrounds to purchase abortions. This message was used to assure biblically minded women and girls in crisis pregnancy situations that the Bible says nothing about abortion being wrong and that many clergy believe that having an abortion is perfectly fine and a scripturally sound decision.

Planned Parenthood’s second-round letter to pregnant women was discovered a month later in June by LifeNews. This pastoral letter was distributed via one of the abortion giant’s political action committees (PAC) and went a step further by using the Bible to justify abortions. Here, the Planned Parenthood Clergy Advocacy Board told women that 1) “many people wrongly assume that all religious leaders disapprove of abortion,” 2) “abortion is not even mentioned in the Scriptures, 3) “there are clergy … from all regions who support women making this complex decision, and that 4) “[Planned Parenthood] will refer you to someone who will be supportive of you and your [abortion] decision.”

A new and ‘improved’ message?

Not to be outdone by their previous persuasive letters, Planned Parenthood was discovered last week by LifeNews to be at it again, this time putting together a “Religious Affairs Committee,” — complete with a dozen reverends and a Rabbi — to speak with a more authoritative voice assuring women that abortion will not threaten their relationship with God.

Planned Parenthood’s most recent plea for women of faith to pay for abortions begins by attempting to establish trust in their religious group and distrust toward conservative Christians.

“If you are reading this letter, you are probably pregnant or close to someone who is,” the letter begins. “The people who have signed this letter below come from a variety of religious communities. Our purpose in writing this letter is to support you in whatever course you choose. The presence of the ‘religious right’ has been very strong in its refusal to accept abortion as one of the choices before a woman. We represent religious traditions which all have different opinions about abortion, but we do have some basic understandings that we would like to share with you.”

Consisting of four main points, the first one emphasizes that Planned Parenthood’s so-called faith leaders declare the killing of preborn children as a morally upright practice that is justified by any difficult situations revolving around the pregnancy.

“We believe, as religious leaders in our faith communities, that abortion is a morally permissible choice for a woman facing a problem pregnancy,” the explanation excusing abortion asserts. “No one thinks abortion is an easy choice. If we lived in a perfect world there might be no problem pregnancies and therefore no difficult choices about abortion. We realize that there are many things that can make a pregnancy difficult. Abortion is chosen for medical, physical, emotional, economic and relational reasons. It is a choice made by women, often in consultation with partners, families and friends. We support you and your ability to choose what is best for you.”

The Pastoral Letter’s second argument for abortion begins with the premise that a woman’s preborn child is just another part of her body that she is free to dispose of as she wishes — as opposed to an individual person who belongs to God, as the Bible teaches.

“We believe, as religious leaders in our faith communities, that ultimately no one can make the choice for or against abortion except the woman herself,” the pastor-signed letter reads. “No one knows your life as you do. We trust that any decision you make will be made after serious thought and contemplation of the alternatives. You will make the best decision you can. We do not believe that it is appropriate for other persons or other faiths to judge you or the correctness of your decision. God gave us all the ability to think and pray and feel and choose. We are called to make the best decisions we can in our personal circumstances. If you have thoughtfully decided to have an abortion then you should be at peace with your decision.”

Next, Planned Parenthood attempts to speak with scriptural authority, declaring that God does not judge them or hold them accountable for many of their sins, and abortion is overlooked by God as just another hardship that will not result in any adverse consequences.

“We believe, as religious leaders in our faith communities, that the decision to have an abortion will not threaten your relationship with God,” the letter assures. “We believe that God is a participant in the struggles of human life. We believe that God is compassionate and does not expect any of us to lead perfect lives. We believe the biblical record shows us a God who loves human beings regardless of our strengths, skills and aptitudes, and loves us equally despite our failings, mistakes and choices. God is not angry with you and will not punish you for any choice you have or might make. In fact, we believe that God loves you and will be with you helping you find strength and understanding and comfort for living through days of doubt and distress.”

Finally, the Pastoral Letter promises women of faith considering abortion that there is no right or wrong choice, and that God will honor whatever they decide. This is considered by most Bible-believing Christians as having a huge conflict with Scripture, which teaches the moral absolutes of right and wrong, based on God’s inerrant Truth — not in the whimsical feelings of human nature.

“We believe, as religious leaders in our faith communities, that your life needs to go on from here, and that you are deserving of support and assistance,” the fourth and final point concludes. “We know that the decision to have an abortion is a difficult one. You may wonder from time to time if you made the right choice. You may be sorrowful, doubtful or depressed because of your choice. These are natural emotions. Experiencing this does not mean your decision was a bad one. It may mean that you are a sensitive person. Nevertheless these feelings may also mean that you could benefit from talking with someone about your decision. It is important for you to find peace. If you have bad moments, we encourage you to seek support from professionals. If you think that it would be helpful for you to talk to a minister, Planned Parenthood keeps a list of clergy who would be supportive of you and the decision you have made. They will see you for no charge and not pressure you to become part of their congregations. We want you to have a peaceful road ahead.”

Not failing to sound spiritual, with a blessing at the end, the letter’s farewell salutation revisits the main intent of the letter — to sell more abortions.

“Thank you for purchasing an abortion and God bless you,” the Planned Parenthood letter ends.

In an attempt to give authority to its assertions about faith and abortion, the letter highlights the names of 12 reverends and one rabbi as official backers of the message. Together, they stand as Planned Parenthood’s Religious Affairs Committee:

The listing of names includes: Reverend Debbie Pitney, Reverend Steve Carlson, Reverend Ken Henry, Reverend Ben Dake, Reverend Melanie Oommen, Reverend Gregory Flint, Reverend Danna Drum Hastings, Reverend Dan Bryant, Reverend Zane Wilson, Reverend Jonathan Weldon, Reverend Jan Fairchild, Reverend Bruce Cameron, and Rabbi Yitzhak Husbands-Hankins.

Their official designations and church affiliations were not mentioned.

Michael F. Haverluck, OneNewsNow.com

Rate Down: Pro-Abortion Types Will be Unhappy

The CDC has issued a report noting a steep decline in the number of abortions. From the report:

For 2011, a total of 730,322 abortions were reported to CDC. Of these abortions, 98.3% were from 46 reporting areas that submitted data every year during 2002–2011, thus providing the information necessary for evaluating trends.

These 46 areas had an abortion rate of 13.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years and an abortion ratio of 219 abortions per 1,000 live births.

Compared with 2010, this represents a 5% decrease in the total number (from 753,065) and rate (from 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women) of reported abortions and a 4% decrease in the abortion ratio (from 228 abortions per 1,000 births). Because of the size of these decreases, combined with decreases from the previous 2 years (15,16), all three measures of abortion reached their lowest level for the entire period of analysis (2002–2011).

That would be good news under the old baloney trope of “safe, legal, and rare.” But pro-choice is fast becoming pro-abortion, whose adherents bristle at the very thought that fetus killing could be immoral or a less favored action than giving birth.

Planned Parenthood executives probably aren’t amused either, as fewer abortions cuts into its revenue stream.

Interesting to note: California has failed to provide detailed abortion statistics, for example, how many adolescents terminated pregnancies.  I guess the state knows what it doesn’t want to know; not surprising given that voters twice rejected proposals requiring that parents be notified–not consent, notified–if their minor daughters had an abortion.

The CDC credits fewer unwanted pregnancies as causing the dramatic decline. I hope that is true.

But I think the pro-life movement also deserves credit. These dedicated and often scorned activists have kept abortion at the forefront of America’s moral concerns and promoted laws that have led to fewer abortions.

In any event, there are thousands of people alive today who might otherwise have never seen the light of day.  To me, that is reason for applause.

By Wesley J. Smith, Human Exceptionalism

Speak Out Illinois 2015

Mother describes ultrasounds of her son, questions abortion

A woman discusses her pregnancy and ultrasound

“… What is a sonogram? A picture, produced by sound waves. It is a factual thing, a part of reality, difficult to manipulate. Which doesn’t mean that it doesn’t involve emotion. When I saw James’s [her son’s] first sonogram, at 4 ½ months, I fell hopelessly in love. I could hardly feel him moving inside me yet, and I had been worried, after my miscarriage, that there would be something wrong. But on the screen my husband and I saw a perfectly round head, beautiful spinal cord, legs kicking, and hands grasping.. As we watched, the baby (we didn’t know the sex) opened its hand and proceeded to suck its thumb… What makes a sonogram so dangerous and emotionally troubling for abortion advocates is the obviousness of a separate life inside a woman’s body, not an appendage. The fetus seems so happy in its own little world, so safe and unconcerned in a close, warm womb were all its needs are automatically met.

The view of the womb we get from a sonogram illuminates what ought to be the safest time in a human’s life. Instead, the sanctuary of the womb is invaded routinely, with the support and even encouragement of society. The Planned Parenthood clinic across the street from our apartment offers abortions up to 16 weeks – just about the age of James’s first photo, which I have lovingly placed in his first photo album. In the sonogram, he held his hand with his thumb out and his fingers tucked in; he still holds his hand that way. In my womb he was active at night and had hiccups several times a day; he still does. His sonogram was simply an introduction to the person we are getting to know. How can doctors deliberately tear our little beings who are able to move around and suck their thumbs? And how can their mothers allow it?

Now that I have James, I see myself quite differently. I have someone who thinks the world of me! I have someone who, as long as he lives, will be able to say “my mother…” and mean me! I have someone who must be put first, and that is a relief. And I have someone who, God willing, will live beyond me, which makes the world seem a more comfortable place. And right now I have an adorable baby who smiles melts my heart a perfect release brings tears of joy. I wouldn’t have missed this experience for anything.

From Maria McFadden “Motherhood in the 90s: to Have or Have Not” Brad Stetson, editor The Silent Subject: Reflections on the Unborn in American Culture (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1996)117-119

Editor’s note. This appeared at ClinicQuotes via NRL News Today

Former clinic worker describes aborting baby

Former clinic worker Zlata blogs about her time in the abortion industry [1]:

I remember assisting, once in particular, in the operating room at the clinic where I had been a medical assistant for six years. I was standing behind the doctor and could see everything as he was performing an abortion on a woman who was 20 – 22 weeks pregnant.

Late term abortions were usually a two-day process. On the second day the actual abortion was performed. The doctor first removed the laminaria and was then able to reach in with forceps to pull the baby out piece by piece. This procedure is very hard to do and requires a good deal of strength on the part of the doctor.

On that particular day, from my position I was able to see him extracting perfectly formed little arms, legs, toes, fingers, spine and finally the head.

I could see the baby’s face. I don’t know how to describe what I felt at that moment. I realized that we just killed a human being. But at the same time I thought: it is legal, so it must be all right. But my whole being was just screaming against what I just saw. I felt death. I was ashamed and confused as I was staring at the bloody parts of the baby. I can even say I felt the presence of the devil. It was very disturbing. My mind was so blinded by the darkness in it I was unable to do anything.

Sometimes I think about that day and feel that I should have run away, or tried to stop this madness. What were we doing, as medical professionals, as human beings? What happened to our hearts? Where was our compassion?

If this baby had been born prematurely at 20 – 22 weeks it would have had a chance to live. I thought, “People, think about what are you doing. What am I doing?” Think about the consequences of this abortion. Imagine this is you. Imagine you are in the most secure place you could be, in your mother’s womb. You have no idea how cruelly your life will end, how you will be torn to pieces. We betray our children. We interrupt their precious lives so abruptly, so unexpectedly. You think abortion brings relief, but instead it brings emptiness, shame, pain, regret, feelings of death. For six years abortion was the way I put bread on my table. For six years it was my life…

This is only the beginning of my story. My heart is burning more and more to tell everyone the truth. You are going to be hearing from me many, many times. I pray that God, the only God that we all have will open your hearts and give you wisdom and passion to stand up and speak up! WAKE UP, WORLD! WAKE UP!!!

[1] Source: Population Research Institute Review” September/October 2008

Note: Although this testimony only talks about late-term abortion, earlier abortions are often just is gruesome.

By Sarah Terzo, via NRL News Today

Editor’s note. This appeared at clinicquotes.com.

Thanksgiving: A Profoundly Pro-Life Holiday

As the week ends, we hope all of you will be able to celebrate the joys and gifts of this life with family and friends. As you cut into the Turkey and perhaps watch football, we hope you’ll be blessed with the chance to give thanks for the good.

While it may not seem immediately evident, Thanksgiving is a profoundly pro-life holiday. We focus on the tragedy of abortion, the loss of life and the suffering of the unborn and their mothers. Working to end abortion and to restore hope to a culture which wants to dispose of its most vulnerable members can be a daunting challenge. But the foundation for why we do what we do explains why we are continually “of good cheer.”

We are pro-life, not anti-abortion, a distinction which is not merely semantic. To be “anti-abortion” is to express opposition for a particular act (the act of abortion), but it does not adequately express why we are opposed to abortion. Likewise the “anti-choice” label which advocates of legal abortion would like to pin on us does not reveal the moral starting point from which opposition to abortion arises.

To be pro-life is to state the positive good that life begins at conception, that life is worth living, and that it is worth being protected, celebrated, and given thanks for. It is only from the joyful affirmation of life in and of itself that opposition to abortion stems. To be pro-life is not to simply oppose abortion, but to first recognize and acknowledge a new life as being worth something of value—infinite value.

So it is entirely appropriate to celebrate and give thanks for life this Thanksgiving. For our own life, for our family and friends, and for all the mothers who did not choose abortion. We offer thanks for the knowledge that more than at any point in the last twenty years, more unborn children will have the opportunity to celebrate their own Thanksgiving.

It is likely not an accident that the two biggest events in the history of Thanksgiving as a national holiday occurred during the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the midst of the Civil War and later at the beginning of World War Two, respectively.

That these events happened during two of the darkest hours of American history, during our two bloodiest wars as a nation, is very revealing. Times of danger and anxiety are the best times to take account of our blessings and be thankful for them, just as the first Pilgrims were thankful for the Fall Harvest before the onset of a cold winter.

While abortion sadly remains a reality, there is still no better time to remember and celebrate the first and fundamental Right to Life, without which Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness could not be achieved.

So take a moment to give thanks for life this Thanksgiving, focus on the good. Therein rests our hope for the future.

By Jonathan Rogers, NRL News Today

Pro-life initiative shows the beauty of choosing adoption

Saturday, November 22 was National Adoption Day. For pro-lifers, adoption is an integral component in transforming the culture and ensuring that every life is cherished. Because of adoption, families are made whole, and mothers in unplanned pregnancy situations are able to make the best choice for themselves and for their children.

Last year, to celebrate National Adoption Month, the Radiance Foundation released the following spot featuring the Dunbars, a family made whole by adoption.

For Ryan Bomberger, the founder of the Radiance Foundation, adoption has a very personal meaning. Adopted after his birth in 1971, Bomberger grew up in a family of adopted siblings with parents who treasured each child as a gift.

Ryan’s life experience as an adoptee inspired him to promote the choice that gave him life. As an initiative of the Radiance Foundation, he started Adopted and Loved, which has produced TV ads like the 30-second spot you saw above.

Their ministry to support birthmoms who choose adoption, SallysLambs.org, helps to change the conversation regarding unplanned pregnancy outcomes. They state:

We want adoption to become one of the first options considered instead of the status-quo go-to of abortion. There are many forms of adoption–open, semi-closed, and closed–and birthparents can help shape the future of their daughter or son by continuing to remain involved in their lives. Sometimes parenting isn’t the best option for those facing an unplanned pregnancy, but expectant mothers and fathers can turn the unplanned into a loving plan and make a great parenting choice. They can choose adoption.

Through Birth Mom Gift Boxes and maternity clothing drives, among other forms of support, Sally’s Lambs strives to be there for moms who choose to place their little ones with adoptive families.

If you’re a birth mom who is looking for support, you can contact Sally’s Lambs here. If you have experienced the adoption process — as a birth parent, an adoptive parent, or an adoptee — the Radiance Foundation would love to hear your story at Adopted and Loved. To watch more videos about positive adoption stories, go here. Happy National Adoption Month!

Editor’s note. This appeared at liveactionnews.org.

By Lauren Enriquez, via NRL News Today

1970s Rocker’s memoir tells of being haunted by her abortion, regretting her abortion, but defends “right” to abortion anyway

Back in late April, I ran across a blurb for a forthcoming book, “Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys,” the memoir of Viv Albertine.

As I said at the time, I didn’t have a clue who she was. Turns out Albertine was the star of the 1970s all-girl punk band, “The Slits,” a group that was hugely influential in breaking through in a very much male-dominated industry.

Albertine had an abortion in 1978 “rather than give up her career,” as publicity blurb for the book puts it. In the years to come Albertine tried IVF treatments eleven times and “lost two babies before finally becoming mother to a little girl in 1999.”

In the book, she writes, “I didn’t regret the abortion for 20 years. But eventually I did and I still regret it now. I wish I’d kept the baby, whatever the cost. It’s hard to live with.”

Well today I ran across a long excerpt from the book in which she described her abortion. What else do we learn?

To begin with Albertine is remarkably articulate and brutally honest. When she becomes pregnant, she tells us that her “mum” offered to help raise the baby and, if not that, suggested adoption as an alternative. Read the following section and how Albertine (looking back at her much younger self) recalls what she was thinking… the rationalizations she employed

Mum suggests adoption, but I think that’s crueller than death. That’s my opinion. To burden a child with abandonment and rejection right from the start. A living death. All or nothing, that’s me. I choose nothing. Nothingness for baby. I think this is a responsible decision. I will not countenance any other option.

“Nothingness”—a desire for emotional numbness–is the unmistakable theme that runs through her very sad and very revealing account. Before she leaves for the abortion clinic, Albertine calls her boyfriend to tell him

that I’m pregnant and I’m off to the hospital to deal with it on my own. He offers to come with me but I don’t want him to. I don’t want to feel anything. If he’s there I might feel something.

The day after her abortion

I can’t sleep. I think about the terrifying power that women and mothers have. We don’t need to fight in wars. We have nothing to prove. We have the power to kill and lots of us have used it. How many of you boys have ever killed anyone? I have. I’ve killed a baby. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Maybe your mother has secretly used her power to kill in the past and not told you. Maybe she even thought about doing it to you. It’s a secret and a burden she carries with her.

One other particularly telling quote. She meets a guy, Jeannot, who crushes her confidence with a dismissive putdown and then offers her heroin.

I laugh it off but inside I’m crushed. I have no confidence. It’s been sucked out of me with the baby. Jeannot offers me heroin. I’m tempted. Not because I want to forget what I’ve done, or because I’m so down, even though both are true, but because I’ve lost my identity. I haven’t a clue who I am. I feel like a nothing. But I know without a doubt, if I take heroin now, I will destroy the tiny morsel of myself that is left, I will be lost forever.

She will subsequently have plenty of trouble with drugs but this time she says no. She describes looking out her hotel window and considering the tradeoffs:

So this is what I’ve chosen over a baby: the Slits [her band], gigging, hotel rooms, music, self-expression, loneliness. It was the right decision – wasn’t it? I wish I was at home with Mum.

As I wrote back in April, Albertine ends on a semi-defiant note. Having said all of the above (how “I wish I’d kept the baby, whatever the cost. It’s hard to live with”), she ends, “I still defend a woman’s right to choose. To have control over her own body and life. That cannot and must not ever be taken away from us.”

Really? Is that her head speaking? Is that her heart speaking?

I think it is neither.

By Dave Andrusko, NRL News Today

'Deception' alleged as Illinois abortionist obtains Indiana license

Operation Rescue wants Indiana to take action against an Illinois abortionist, saying the abortionist "has something to hide."

Abortionist Mandy Gittler has closed her Chicago abortion clinic and become a "circuit-riding" abortionist who has worked, in part, for a Chicago Planned Parenthood. In 2012 she was involved in the abortion death of Tonya Reaves.

Following her death, Reaves' family sued Planned Parenthood and Mandy Gittler for malpractice. In January the family settled the case for $2 million, most of which will go to Reaves' surviving son.

Gittler recently applied for and received a medical license in Indiana. However, she failed to indicate she had been sued for malpracive on her Indiana application - something that she was supposed to do under penalty of perjury. In fact, she marked 'no' in the box next to the question that asked her if she had been involved in any malpractice settlements in her career.

Operation Rescue has filed a complaint with the Indiana attorney general's office accusing Gittler of violating the state's administrative code and requesting that her license be revoked. Gittler also does abortions in Michigan and Illinois.

Illinois Review

U.N. marks 25th anniversary of Convention on the Rights of the Child

New brochure highlights areas in which many children remain unprotected

On Nov. 20, 1989, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed the dignity and rights of all children by adopting the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Events marking the 25th anniversary of the recognition of those rights will be held Thursday at the United Nations in New York.

As nations celebrate their accomplishments in establishing legal rights and protections for the world’s children, the unmet needs of multiple millions of young human beings must be prioritized in order to secure their safe and hopeful future. A new literature piece, “Celebrating the Rights of the Child,” details areas in which the rights of children still are not honored or defended.

“On the 25th anniversary of this landmark human rights treaty, we should celebrate our progress on behalf of the youngest members of the human family while also acknowledging the ways in which the rights of children remain unprotected,” said Scott Fischbach, Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach (MCCL GO), a U.N.-accredited non-governmental organization. Fischbach will be in New York for Thursday’s U.N. events.

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life—from conception to the second birthday—dramatically shape his or her prospects for survival and future well-being. Lives can be saved by improving the quality of care during labor, childbirth and the days following birth, including essential newborn care. Prenatal care and nutrition and optimum breastfeeding are also important to ensure healthy development.

Tens of millions of abortions occur around the world each year, and countries that protect unborn children face pressure to legalize the procedure. This is a profound injustice. The Convention on the Rights of the Child affirms that, quoting the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth” (preamble). All children, born and unborn, deserve protection.

The Convention calls for securing the rights of each child “without discrimination of any kind” (Article 2). But sex-selective feticide—when abortion is performed solely on the basis of the unborn child’s sex—is a massive problem in areas where culture and tradition favor boys over girls, including parts of Asia, Southeast Europe and the Caucasus.

“Great progress has been made in the past 25 years on behalf of children,” said Fischbach. “But many still suffer. All children, born and unborn, male and female, have an equal dignity and right to life. They deserve our respect, protection and care.”

NRL News Today

Mom refuses to take “no” for an answer, baby said to have less than 5% chance of surviving is now thriving

Graceanne with her older sister Allie Claire

When Graceanne Payne came home from the hospital, just before Christmas 2013, she joined her mom and dad and older sister one day before her actual due date. Almost a year later, she “crawls enthusiastically and has already taken her first steps,” according to Scott Rogers of the Gainesville Times.

So, Graceanne came a little early? Actually she arrived September 8, 2013, weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces. She was so premature doctors had given her less than a 5% to survive. Graceanne experienced a 97-day stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Northeast Georgia Medical Center and spent almost six weeks on a ventilator.

“Definitely the hand of God was involved in her survival,” her mom, Melissa Payne, said.

Graceanne’s remarkable story began when the Payne family was visiting relatives in Maine. Rogers explained

Only in her second trimester and more than 1,300 miles away from home, Payne woke to discover her water had broken. She was taken to the nearest emergency room, where doctors said her unborn daughter Graceanne would need to be delivered in the next 24 to 72 hours.

“At that point, we weren’t quite 19 weeks, so she wouldn’t have been able to survive,” Payne said.

They visited a specialist in a nearby town who “pretty much told me this was the hand of cards we were dealt, and we would have to fold them and start over,” Payne told Rogers. Meaning the prediction of a less than 5% for survival and the likelihood that, if she did survive, “he would have a very low quality of life and be a burden on their family.”

But Payne had no interest in giving up on their baby and was determined to return to their home in Georgia.

Rogers explained that several of her friends “orchestrated her return to Georgia and set up her appointment with the obstetrician-gynocologist who approved her for continuing the pregnancy.” And

When Payne’s doctor performed an ultrasound and found a heartbeat, she was given the cautious — though not optimistic — OK to do what her heart told her to do. Payne wanted to continue her pregnancy, come what may.

“I believe that all babies are conceived for a reason,” Melissa Payne said. “It is our job to try to protect them and support what they need. Even when it’s difficult or very trying, what some could see as a burden to your family is still a gift from God.”

Payne was, of course, put on immediate bed rest. She told Rogers of feeling Graceanne kicking and moving and then going to the doctor “and they’d just frown and nod.” To keep strong for her baby, she Payne said she “relied on her family, friends, prayer and visits from church deacons to get her through the next seven weeks.”

Graceanne was born via an emergency C-section at 26 weeks and 2 days, weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces and measured 12 inches long. She had many health hazards—starting with having sufficient lung capacity to breathe on her own or be put on a ventilator.

“I woke up in recovery and asked where the baby was,” Payne said. “They said she was down in the NICU, and had enough lung tissue to ventilate.”

Of course, there were more hurdles to overcome, but as Graceanne’s health improved, so did her doctors’ optimism. Graceanne went home just in time for Christmas, 2013. Far from having medical issues, she is right on schedule, developmentally.

Carolanne Owenby, who was instrumental is helping Melissa find the right kind of help back in Georgia, calls Graceanne “the greatest miracle I’ve known in my life.” But according to Rogers, she credits another source for her survival.

“(Graceanne) was told over and over again that she had no business being here, that she wouldn’t be here, and she’s not only here but she’s thriving,” Owenby said. “A huge part of that is a testament to her mother. Melissa is one of the strongest people I know. She fought tirelessly for (Graceanne) and refused to take no for an answer at every corner. And that’s why she’s here and that’s why she’s thriving.”

By Dave Andrusko, NRL News Today

Five quotes from abortion providers that show abortion’s grisly reality

For those of us who are active in the pro-life movement, and who know what an unborn baby looks like even at the earliest stages, it is hard to believe that so many people do not know that abortions often leave behind recognizable body parts. People really are uninformed about fetal development, especially in the first trimester. For example, this past May, pro-lifers responded with incredulity when comedian Sarah Silverman called unborn babies “goo.”

The next time one of your proabortion friends or family members makes a statement like Silverman’s, direct them to these quotes by three abortion clinic workers and two abortionists.

Fingers and toes

1. “I wonder how many fingers and toes we put down the disposal today?”(1)

Former clinic worker Carol Everett recalled another clinic worker saying this to her around the time she first got involved in the abortion industry. Although aware of the reality of abortion, Everett went on to own two abortion clinics and direct four. Eventually, her clinics came under fire for performing “abortions” on women who were not pregnant in order to make more money. She ended up becoming a born-again Christian, leaving the abortion industry, and launching a pro-life ministry called The Heidi Group.

Detached heads

2. “When you’re doing a dismemberment D&E, usually the last part to be removed is the skull itself and it’s floating free inside the uterine cavity…So it’s rather like a ping-pong ball floating around and the surgeon is using his forcep to reach up to try to grasp something that’s freely floating around and is quite large relative to the forcep we’re using.”(2)

This quote is from sworn testimony given by late-term abortionist Dr. Martin Haskell. He is describing the most commonly used surgical abortion procedure in the second trimester. In this procedure, a D&E, the unborn baby is pulled apart by forceps and extracted piece by piece until only the head is left inside the mother. Haskell compares this floating head to a “ping-pong ball” which he must search for with his trusty forceps.

“Harpooning” a baby

3. “On a number of occasions with the needle, I have harpooned the fetus. I can feel the fetus move at the end of the needle just like you have fish hooked on a line. This gives me an unpleasant, unhappy feeling because I know that the fetus is alive and responding to the needle stab… No one has ever mentioned this, but I’ve noticed it a number of times, you know, that there is something alive in there that you’re killing…”(3)

This quote comes from an abortionist interviewed by Dr. Magda Denes, a pro-choice psychologist whom I quoted in a previous article. This abortionist is describing a procedure commonly used in the 1970s – 1990s where the doctor injected a caustic poison made of saline solution into the amniotic sac to poison the baby. Nowadays, the poison of choice is digoxin.

Body parts

4. “When you see the larger body parts it’s a little bit sickening.”

This quote, from an abortion clinic worker identified only as Marva. An unborn baby has “body parts” i.e., arms, legs, etc. that are formed by 7 to 8 weeks after conception.

A hand left behind

5. “I am walking out the back door, and I see a plastic jar of tissue and blood waiting to be sent to the path lab, and in the plastic jar a tiny perfect white hand. . . “

This quote is from clinic worker Anne Finger, describing a baby that was aborted at the clinic where she worked. Finger wrote a memoir called Past Due in which she detailed her experiences as a disabled woman giving birth to a child who had a traumatic birth and severe disabilities. She also wrote about her time working in the clinic. In this passage, she tried to downplay the aborted baby’s resemblance to a full term child by saying that only the hands looked human. You can see pictures of unborn babies here and make up your own mind.

These five quotes, all from clinic workers or abortionists who were practicing at the time they were quoted, cast light on the gruesome nature of abortion and show that pro-choicers who describe unborn babies as “goo” and abortion as only “terminating a pregnancy” are divorced from reality.

Citations

1. Carol Everett Blood Money: Getting Rich off a Woman’s Right to Choose (Sisters, Oregon: Questar Publishers Inc., 1991) 84

2. Sworn testimony given in US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, May 27, 1999, Case No. 98-C-0305-S), by Dr. Martin Haskell, abortionist

3. Magda Denes, PhD. In Necessity and Sorrow: Life and Death in an Abortion Hospital (New York: Basic Books inc,1976)141

4. “Abortion in America: Focus on the City: Sanger Center’s Moments of Pain, Conflict, Relief” Newsday (New York) March 5, 1989

5. Anne Finger Past Due (Seal Press, 1990) 86

By Sarah Terzo via NRL News Today

Editor’s note. This appeared at http://liveactionnews.org/5-quotes-from-abortion-providers-that-show-abortions-grisly-reality/#more-55844

Danger of “Presumed Consent” Organ Donation

I am not prejudging this case, but I bring it up here because I think it illustrates the loss of trust that a “presumed consent” organ donation scheme would engender in people. (Current law requires us to “opt-in” to be an organ donor–as I have. Presumed consent would require us to each “opt-out.” Otherwise, we would automatically be organ donors, no consent required.)

I worry that a presumed consent regimen would lead catastrophically injured patients to be looked upon more as organ farms than patients. Take a look at the story I quote below–particularly the parts I italicized–and you will see what I mean:

     According to family members of 26-year-old Martha Perez, her organs were removed on Friday against their wishes. Fox 4 spoke to the family before the removal and they said the third woman confirmed dead of injuries sustained in an Arlington wreck involving a suspected drunk driver was technically still alive.

     The Tarrant County medical examiner says Perez died Wednesday and doctors have declared Perez brain-dead, although the hospital declined to confirm that citing patient privacy. “But she still has heart and lung functions,” said family member Juan Martinez. “They took her off the life support and she was still breathing.”

First, “brain dead” is dead and the organ removal protocols would not require the removal of life support. More, if Perez was indeed breathing on her own, by definition, she wasn’t dead.

Now, see how a presumed consent would breed distrust and anger:

     Perez was a registered organ donor and doctors told the family they were prepared to harvest the organs for donations. Perez did not have a will or an advance directive that would have instructed doctors exactly what to do in regards to taking her off of life support.

     According to Martinez, the family felt it was too soon. “We don’t want to be pressured. My family feels pressured and it’s just hard for someone to make that kind of decision when this just happened,” Martinez said Friday before her organs were removed.

     Legal expert Jessice Dunne said the family has the legal right to keep Perez on life support if her organs are still functioning. If they stop, then it’s up to the hospital what to do. “We know we have to come to a decision but we aren’t going to let no hospital or no state make that decision for us,” Martinez said. That wasn’t the case as the hospital decided to move forward in the process.

Under presumed consent, anytime a hospital stopped life support and removed organs, loved ones could become similarly suspicious, feeling that a rushed decision was made because the organs mattered more than the patient.

(That seems to be the concern here because Perez had opted-in. Even so, permission is requested prior to procurement. This is the first case I have heard of where organs were taken under these circumstances without family permission. That could also sow distrust, but I don’t want to get into that now.)

The distrust would be especially acute in a medical system increasingly obsessed with cost control and in a milieu in which bioethics “experts” increasingly reject the sanctity/equality of human life in fabor of a utilitarian “quality of life” ethic.

I have no idea what happened in this case. But if we adopt an opt-out organ donation system, I will remove myself as an organ donor. I wouldn’t have enough trust to “leave it to the doctors” whether the time had come to harvest my organs.

By Wesley J. Smith, Human Exceptionalism

STOP ERA in the Illinois veto session.

We need your immediate help to phone and email your Illinois State Representative and urge a NO vote on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) could be voted on tomorrow when the Illinois House begins their veto session.  They will be in session Nov. 19-20, and Dec. 2-4 with additional days in early January before the new Illinois General Assembly begins.

The ERA has already been ratified by the Illinois Senate.  If the House ratifies it, it will help the unconstitutional "3 state strategy" gain traction and ultimately create a genderless society.

 

(1) Call the Capitol switchboard at 217-782-2000, and ask to be connected with your own State Representative, or visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx and urge a NO vote on ERA.  It is very easy!  Call and email today!

 

(2) Spread the word to every pro-lifer you know!

 

ERA will require taxpayer funding of abortions. Several states have ruled that ERA requires taxpayer funding of Medicaid abortions because, since only women undergo abortions, the denial of taxpayer funding is "sex discrimination." (N.M. Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, Nov. 25, 1998.) The same reasoning could extend to all insurance through Obamacare. We must NOT give courts the power to force us to pay for abortions!

 

Please call the Illinois Capitol office TODAY at 217-782-2000, ask to be connected with your State Representative, and urge a NO vote on ERA. (The operator will tell you who is your own Representative.) We must not let Illinois make the terrible mistake of voting for ERA.

 

What is the ERA?

 

The ERA is a U.S. Constitutional Amendment that has not yet been fully ratified.  The supporters of the amendment claim that if they can get 3 more states to ratify it, it will become a binding US Constitutional Amendment.  The main wording of the amendment reads:  "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." 

 

The amendment originally sought to give women equal rights, but its vague, overly broad language would actually harm women, their families, and our society by removing important legal safeguards. The ERA would create a genderless society by nullifying all laws and government practices that make any distinction based on gender.  The broad language of the ERA will empower the federal government to regulate every aspect of our lives.  An immediate example includes abortion.

 

Please call and email your state senator again and continue to encourage them to vote no on the ERA. Remind them that because the amendment is poorly worded, it will actually harm women by overturning many laws and practices that benefit women.  It will prohibit all restrictions on abortions.  Finally, the 3 state strategy being used to resurrect the legally dead ERA is in violation of the U.S. Constitution.  Encourage them to support women, their families, and our society by voting against the ERA (SJRCA 75).  If they want an amendment for women in the Constitution, encourage them to write a better amendment that doesn't bring about so much harm to women and our society.

 

What can I do?

 

(1) Please contact your State Representative today to urge them to vote NO on the Equal Rights Amendment.  You can find contact information for your state legislators at (217) 782-2000 or visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx

 

(2) Please pass this on to others and encourage them to contact their state legislators too.

 

If we all take action, our voices will be heard.  Thanks for all you are doing to protect our families, our society and our religious freedoms! 

  

More information about the ERA:

 

There is currently an attempt to pass the original federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Illinois in an effort to have three more states ratify the amendment.  The supporters of the ERA have a complex legal argument in which they claim that the time deadline of 1979 can be extended.  If three more states ratify the ERA, it could become a binding national constitutional amendment.  The Illinois House passed it in 2003, but it was blocked in the Illinois Senate.   The Equal Rights Amendment will not help women; instead it will harm women, their families, and our society.

 

The ERA will further entrench abortion in our society and legally mandate taxpayer funding for elective abortions. The New Mexico Supreme Court recently ruled under their state ERA that since only women undergo abortions, the denial of taxpayer funding is "sex discrimination" (N.M. Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, 975 P.2d 841, 1998).

 

Clearly the ERA will harm women, families, society, and the structure of our government. Please contact your state senator and state representative today to urge them to vote NO on the Equal Rights Amendment.   You can find contact information for your state legislators at (217) 782-2000 or visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx