Tuesday, Sept 30, 2008  --  Evidence revealed by Guttmacher statistics

The research arm of Planned Parenthood is called the Guttmacher Institute.   When Guttmacher issues a new report, the information often confirms the inaccuracy of many claims made by Planned Parenthood.  The latest report provides some statistics that conflict with the facts according to Planned Parenthood.

Over the past three decades, the proportion of abortions obtained by teens has dropped steadily, from 33% in 1974 to 25% in 1989 to 17% in 2004. In 2004, more than half of all abortions (57%) were obtained by women in their twenties.  How does that result support the claim that abstinence education is leading to more teen pregnancies and abortions?

Although abortion rates have declined among all racial and ethnic groups, large disparities persist, with Hispanic and black women obtaining abortions at rates three and five times higher, respectively, than non-Hispanic white women. Doesn't that result confirm that Planned Parenthood is successfully targeting minority neighborhoods?  And, what about the claim that more government funding of abortion is needed so poor women can get abortions?  Almost half of all black babies are aborted now.  How many aborted black babies does Planned Parenthood think would be enough?    

Wendy Wright, from Concerned Women for America, analyzes another point revealed by this latest Guttmacher report.  It shows that more than half of all abortions (57%) were obtained by women in their twenties.  That statistic suggests to her that the promotion of birth control does not reduce abortions. 

Wendy explains, "The majority of women who are having abortions are those in their twenties.  These are college career women.  These are not women who lack access to contraception or lack knowledge of contraception."   That should result in a large reduction in abortions -- if the claims of abortion advocates that birth control reduce abortions were accurate.

Remember these Guttmacher statistics when you hear claims from Planned Parenthood that they need more government funding of birth control to reduce the need for abortions and more government funding of abortion to help poor women have the same opportunities as rich women.  The only results to be legitimately expected from any such increased government funding for Planned Parenthood will be more abortions and more profits for Planned Parenthood.

Monday, Sept 29, 2008  --  A day of experience with 40 Days for Life

Yesterday from midnight to 4:30am my wife and I were present in prayer and witness at the Faimly Planning Associates Albany aboriton mill at Elston and Cicero in Chicago.  We were joined by Joe O'Connor who was even willing to stay until relief arrived at 6:00am.

The location is actually more residential than business, but the level of traffic that time of night, even people on foot and on bicycles, was more than we would have expected.  The limited interaction we had with those passing by was positive.   There are so many street lights in the area that there is no lack of light. We even had no problem watching a raccoon climb a nearby tree.

Even though the abortion mill was closed, the continuous presence from September 24th through November 2nd speaks to the importance of ending the tragedy of abortion, both at that location and around the nation.  If you can participate, please do not hesitate to make a commitment of your time to this vigil for life.

Friday, Sept 26, 2008  --  Valuing human life after diagnosis of a disability

Statistics reveal that prenatal diagnosis has led parents to abort as many as 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome.  That percentage is similar for children pre-natally diagnosed with other conditions such as spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and dwarfism.

In a rare show of cooperation Congress has passed the Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act.  This bill requires giving families who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other condition, either pre-natally or up until a year after birth, pertinent helpful information. The information would include facts about the condition and connections to support services and networks that could offer assistance in raising a disabled child.  

Features include expansion and further development of a national clearinghouse on information for parents of children with disabilities, expansion of national and local peer-support programs, and the creation of a national registry of families willing to adopt children with pre- or post-natally diagnosed conditions.

In a rare show of bipartisan support, pro-life Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas worked with pro-abortion Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts on the bill.  After recent Senate passage by unanimous consent, the House of Representatives on yesterday approved the bill, which now heads to President Bush, who is expected to sign it into law.

Thursday, Sept 25, 2008  --  Good news / bad news reveals grim abortion reality

When sidewalk counselors are introduced to a baby saved from abortion, they see the visible evidence that their efforts and prayers are answered.  This week a grandmother introduced a baby to those maintaining a presence at ACU in Hinsdale.  This baby was saved because a counselor called out to the father not to kill his child.  Here are the details:

Tuesday, when Dolores Trefelner and Judy Cormack were at the clinic around 10 am, a grandmother came up to them with a 5 month old baby girl and had a story she had to tell them. Last year her daughter became pregnant.  Her boyfriend did not want her to keep the baby.  So they came to the ACU abortion clinic in Hinsdale.  

When they were going in, one of the prayers/sidewalk counselors called out, "Daddy, don't kill your baby."  The couple were sitting with the others in the waiting room for about 20 minutes, when the young guy started to cry and said, "I'm that Daddy" and he stood up and said, "Come on, let's get out of here." The grandmother said, "Here is my baby grand daughter, Brooke."

The joy of this occasion is in sharp contrast to the tragedy when an out-of-state teenager gets a secret abortion.  The most recent known case finds both sets of grandparents would have been fully supportive of protecting the baby who was secretly aborted at the notorious Hope Clinic.  The grieving grandmother in another Hope Clinic case had contacted me some weeks ago.

This reality adds purpose and meaning to the efforts of 40 Days for Life to end abortion through prayer and witness.  Please join this important effort.   The sacrifice will be worth it.

Wednesday, Sept 24, 2008  --  40 Days for Life begins today

Today is the first day of 40 Days for Life.  Observing 40 days to prayer and witness for the end of abortion mirrors the significance of 40 days in the Bible.  At last report 179 locations around the nation will be participating, each focused on a local abortion mill with about one half of them being Planned Parenthood locations.

If you have not considered it possible to become visibly active in seeking the end of abortion, now is the time to reconsider.  You can get more information about the two Chicago area locations here:    Chicago   Aurora   Downers Grove   Champaign

Chicago -- 5086 N. Elston (Elston & Cicero)

Aurora -- 3051 E. New York St, Aurora

For information on other 40 Days for Life locations, check the national 40 Days for Life web site.

Tuesday, Sept 23, 2008  --  Promoting abortion cannot reduce it

Very little if any focus has been placed on the potential impact of a promise that Barack Obama made in July 2007 when speaking to a gathering of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.  He stated, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”

Abortion advocates claim this bill would simply enact Roe v. Wade into law, but it would do much more.  By establishing abortion as an unrestricted right, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would overturn hundreds of state laws that have placed some limits on abortion.  Those limits have been allowed by the Supreme Court, but none of them would be allowed by FOCA.

The ACLU has acknowledged that FOCA prohibits such restrictions as parental notification and consent, waiting periods, and informed consent.  Family Research Council points out that FOCA would eliminate bans on public funding of abortions and on partial birth abortion as well as modest state laws protecting women’s safety, informed consent and parental rights.  Thus, both sides agree on the huge impact FOCA would have on widely supported abortion laws.

Recogizing this threat, Cardinal Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wrote a letter to members of Congress, warning them about the extreme impact that FOCA would create.  He noted that, under FOCA, “abortion on demand would be a national entitlement that government must condone and promote in all public programs affecting pregnant women.”

Rigali concluded, “We can’t reduce abortions by promoting abortion…. No one who sponsors or supports legislation like FOCA can credibly claim to be part of a good-faith discussion on how to reduce abortions.”

Monday, Sept 22, 2008  --  When do teen abortion rates fall?

Claims are again being made that abortion advocates can effectively reduce teenage abortions through wider distribution of birth control and "comprehensive sex education."  These claims fail the reality test.  First, how can anyone think that advocates of something would want less of it?  Second, actual statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, an affiliate of Planned Parenthood, demonstrate that teenage pregnancy and abortion rates go up in liberal states where easier access to birth control and greater use of "comprehensive sex education" are government policy.

Professor Michael New recently released his latest study on the impact of parental notification and consent laws on teen abortion rates.  His findings show that parental notice laws reduce teen abortions by an average of 13%.   Parental consent laws reduce teen abortions by an average of 19%.  In those states where parental consent laws require involvement of both parents, teen abortion rates fall by 31%.

Given these statistics, how can abortion advocates claim they want to reduce abortion when they consistently oppose parental involvement laws?  In fact, another analysis shows that the repeal of parental involvement laws (that would be forced by the so-called Freedom of Choice Act) would lead to an increase of 125,000 abortions per year in the United States.   That is what abortion advocates are looking for while they use deceptive rhetoric to claim their approach will reduce abortions.

Friday, Sept 19, 2008  --  Too much focus on abortion?

I received an inquiry from the faculty advisor of an Iowa high school pro-life club.  She stated, "We are huge advocates against abortion and are constantly working in our community to support the fight against abortion.  However, we are constantly criticized for not doing enough about the other pro-life issues. ... Do you have any advice about doing more in the community dealing with the issues of euthanasia, the death penalty, and embryonic stem cell research?"

I responded by noting, "First, please recognize that the criticism you mention is not applied consistently so it amounts to hypocrisy.  Do you think that Sr. Prejean ever gets criticized for focusing only on the death penalty?  For example, if people go to abortion clinics to pray or sidewalk counsel, they know babies are being killed there.  When is the last time a prisoner was executed in the state of Iowa?  When 1.2 million babies are killed annually while less than 100 prisoners are executed, which issue needs more attention, recognizing that it is impossible to do everything without diluting the effort to the point of insignificance?" 

I continued, "Euthanasia is an important issue.   When the relatives agree, many people are being denied life sustaining treatment such as feeding tubes, respirators, or even antibiotics or insulin.  However, these things happen in secret so there is no location where you can go to make a witness for life.  However, educating on this issue is possible.   People need to be warned that living wills should never be used." 

"We also have information on stem cell research.  People need to be informed that embryonic stem cell research is not only unethical, but it is not necessary to make great medical progress using stem cells."

It turns out this inquiry came from Dowling, the high school that I attended in Des Moines Iowa, much to the surprise of the faculty advisor who sent me the email. 

Thursday, Sept 18, 2008  --  Expanded strategy to defeat Planned Parenthood

If you spend a little time reviewing the evidence exposing the anti-life and anti-family efforts of Planned Parenthood, you can see that more efforts are justified to defeat them.  I attended a conference today that focused on developing new approaches and urgency in responding to Planned Parenthood's latest long-term plan for destroying families and morality in our nation.

Tuesday, Sept 16, 2008  --  Media double standard on reporting violence

You know there would be prominent publicity if an abortion facility fire was declared to be arson, but you probably did not see anything when an Oregon pregnancy care center was destroyed by arson, just as a major remodeling project was nearing completion. 

Beyond that, if a Pro-Life effort was in progress to confront abortion facilities (e.g. the upcoming 40 Days for Life) and an arson occurred, abortion advocates and the media would be proclaiming that the organizers of the Pro-Life event were indirectly responsible for the arson because they encouraged such behavior by confronting abortion.

Abortion advocates have recently begun a new push to discredit pregnancy care centers.  Will anyone in the media even think that maybe that effort encouraged someone to commit arson?  Of course not, but there is no more merit to support the opposite case.

Why might we expect such a double standard?  Maybe it is because the media is embedded with abortion advocates who believe the claims that pregnancy care centers intimidate women, etc.  In fact, it is the abortion clinic pressure of selling the abortion that intimidates women.  Pregnancy care centers offer women a real choice.

Monday, Sept 15, 2008  --  More on moral responsibilities for voters

Baker Oregon Bishop Robert Vasa clarified the teaching of the US Bishops Conference regarding voting in favor of pro-abortion politicians. The question of whether Catholics may remain in good standing with the Church while voting for pro-abortion politicians was raised.  Bishop Vasa noted that a pro-abortion stance disqualifies candidates from consideration by faithful Catholics.

"When we were working on the document 'Faithful Citizenship', and the issue of whether or not a person's adamant pro-abortion position was a disqualifying condition, the general sense was 'yes that is a disqualifying condition'." he explained.

He concluded saying, "Abortion needs to be in our country a defining issue and we ought not be afraid to make it a defining issue because when we do that we will have an end of abortion in this country."

Bishop Vasa was attending a Catholic Leadership Conference that issued its own clarifying statement for Catholic voters.  That statement said, "The taking of innocent life through abortion, euthanasia, or at the embryonic stage for medical research, can never be supported. They are intrinsically evil and violate the Natural Law, since they always involve the direct and intentional taking of innocent human life."

Friday, Sept 12, 2008  --  Moral responsibilities for voters to consider

Numerous sources are preparing statements and guidelines regarding moral responsibilities in selecting candidates, especially when the positions of some candidates support intrinsic evils such as abortion, same-sex unions and ‘marriages,’ repression of religious liberty, euthanasia, or human embryonic stem cell research.   Here are some examples:

Knowing the disqualifying effect on intrinsic evils, the next step is to understand the positions taken by the candidates and to confirm the accuracy of stated positions based on prior voting records where possible.

Thursday, Sept 11, 2008  --  Seventh anniversary of terrorist attacks

Most people clearly remember the circumstances where they learned about the horror and devastation from the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.  The images of collapsing buildings remain fixed in their memory.   Over 3,000 innocent people died when their office space was invaded by crashing airplanes.

Years earlier Dr. Bernard Nathanson prepared a video called the Silent Scream. This ultrasound video showed a baby in the womb responding to abortion instruments invading this peaceful space to destroy the baby.  That image was powerful as well and motivated new activists in defense of preborn human life.

Imagine that image repeated over 3,300 times, not just one day, but every day!  That is abortion in the U.S.A.  More babies die from abortion every day than the tragic loss of lives experienced on 9/11/2001.  Pray that memory of images from that one tragic day will produce a new respect for preborn life so we can bring an end to the 9/11 that silently happens each and every day.

Think of the impact on so many families from over 3000 lives lost on 9/11/2001.  What has been the hidden impact from the 9/11 in the womb that occurs every day?  How many lives of men, women, and children have been forever altered by the tragic "choice" of abortion?

Wednesday, Sept 10, 2008  --  The power of good example

Has Sarah Palin terrified abortion advocates?  Her decision in favor of life in spite of a diagnosis of Down syndrome is apparently sending a powerful message.

Sarah Palin's choice to respect the life of her Down syndrome baby, Trig, is bad news to André Lalonde, executive vice-president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. "The worry is that this will have an implication for abortion issues in Canada," he told the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper.   According to the paper, Lalonde said that, "above all else, women must be free to choose" and positive messages like the one from Palin "could have detrimental effects on women and their families."

An email from Nancy Keenan of NARAL sent her supporters a call for help pleading, "There is so much wrong with the McCain-Palin ticket that we hardly know where to begin. We've been trying to come up with some ideas—will you help us sum up what this ticket means for a woman's right to choose?"

South Carolina Democratic Chairwoman Carol Fowler said McCain had chosen a running mate "whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn't had an abortion."  Even when making unjustified and derogatory comments, the implication is that abortion is a prominent campaign issue, in spite of claims that the economy and Iraq are the key issues.  Apparently not!

Tuesday, Sept 9, 2008  --  Senior residence encourages signing a DNR

Most people consider the durable power of attorney for health care or the living will when selecting a health care directive.  IRLC has often advocated that selection of the living will is not a good choice.   The IRLC Patient Self-Protection Document is an excellent life-affirming version of a durable power of attorney for health care. 

IRLC is currently running radio messages encouraging discretion in selection of a health care directive.  I received a call from a woman who wanted more information on the Patient Self-Protection Document and decided to obtain copies of it.

During that conversation, she mentioned that she had recently moved into a senior residence in Wilmette.  The administration of this senior housing facility apparently encourages new residents to complete a do not resuscitate (DNR) order.  A DNR is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. 

It seems highly inappropriate that healthy seniors be encouraged to sign a DNR.  Along with the living will, IRLC strongly encourages that the DNR be avoided in almost all cases.  From experiences relayed to IRLC, a DNR very often leads to withdrawal of other standard care during any medical crisis because the DNR is often viewed as a declaration that the patient wants to die. 

The organization managing this senior housing facility is called Mather Lifeways.   They have a number of senior residences in the north suburbs, including Mather Place of Wilmette.  When obtaining senior housing, IRLC recommends that any suggestions or encouragement to sign a DNR be declined without hesitation.

Monday, Sept 8, 2008  --  Response to concern about graphic abortion pictures

I received an email expressing concern about the use of graphic abortion pictures during the September 6th witness at Planned Parenthood Express in Orland Park. Below is my response:

Thank you for expressing your concerns.  I don't know if we would ever reach agreement on this issue, but I hope you will consider some additional information beyond what you already found through the Illinois Right to Life Committee web site.

While Illinois Right to Life Committee (IRLC) lists the monthly witness on LaGrange Road in Orland Park under Upcoming Events, IRLC is not a sponsor of this witness.  We also list the truth tour events sponsored by Pro-Life Action League when they occur, but that organization is completely independent of IRLC. 

The material you read in response to common objections about graphic signs was compiled by Pro-Life Action League.  They use many more graphic signs than ever appear during the Orland Park witness.  There were only two or three graphic signs displayed on Saturday, one or two in each direction.  When Pro-Life Action League uses the warning signs, they have graphic signs posted every 15-20 feet for multiple blocks.

Since you invoked religion as a reason to not display graphic signs, you might consider the comments given by Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, during the March for Life 2007 Youth Conference in Ottawa Canada: 

I told you that I had been involved in this since I was your age, been working on this fulltime across the world, worked with the Holy Father, and Mother Teresa and all these people, worked with the pro-life movement on every level.  There is no single thing that I have seen more powerful to change people on abortion than simply showing them the pictures.

Show them what it looks like.  I have challenged the media over and over again.  Show the public what an abortion is because we can justify anything with our language.  If you are a smooth talker, if you know how to manipulate language and logic - you can convince anyone of anything.  But pictures, that is another story.

When people see what abortion does to a baby, they are stung to the heart and their consciences are awakened.  I am not just talking about showing pictures of the baby living in the womb.  People understand, by and large, that this is a baby in the womb.  Now, they will be very surprised at how much the baby looks like a baby, so early in pregnancy when they do see the pictures, the ultrasound or other ways that we have of viewing the child.  Many people will be very surprised to see how well-developed that baby is.  But, even if you show them the baby, that still doesn't tell them what abortion does to the baby.  That is a big difference.

Some people think abortion just makes the baby kind of disappear.  They still don't appreciate that it is an act of violence.  It is only the pictures of the aborted children, torn apart, limb for limb that convince people that abortion is an act of violence.

Fr. Pavone also has an article on the Priests for Life web site called "Presenting the Abortion Issue to Children".

Each year the Pro-Life Action League's Truth Tour experiences one or more women who see the graphic signs after they have decided on abortion, or even as they are heading to the abortion clinic to have that abortion.  The pictures change their minds, and they let those holding the signs know that they will not go through with the abortion.  How many more babies were saved where the mothers did not stop to tell the people holding the graphic signs about their change of heart?

How many babies need to be saved from abortion by graphic signs to justify your daughter crying?  How can your daughter's crying in response to the graphic picture she saw be fairly classified as suggesting that we think it is "ok to harm children, in the pursuit to save a child"?  How can the response of crying possibly be called child abuse?  Is crying harmful?  How does crying compare to the butchering of a child with abortion?

A portion of the web article you referenced that you did not quote stated: "Children do not want to see other children suffer. Children are naturally pro-life.  We suggest that parents calmly explain to children who see these pictures that we are trying to stop people from hurting babies. When children understand that we are working to protect other children, they are far less likely to be upset by what they see."

You also stated, "with your frame of thought we should harm children to save children.  Those pictures cause long lasting grief for adults who know the truth and pray for change, Imagine the affect it has on children that are exposed to it."

The web article you located responds to your concern as follows: "While they may find the pictures disturbing as they pass by, we see no evidence that any real harm is done. In fact, a child who sees the truth about abortion may be spared grave harm later in life by avoiding any involvement with abortion.  Many of us who hold these pictures first saw them as children. We found the pictures gruesome and saddening, but their only lasting effect was to impress us with a deep sense of the injustice of abortion."

"Our own children often join us on our Truth Tours—children of all ages, backgrounds and personalities. If merely seeing abortion pictures for a few moments while passing by really harmed children, you would expect the extended exposure of actually holding the signs during a Tour site to traumatize them. But we see absolutely no indications of this. On the contrary, our children feel gratified to be doing something to fight abortion. They can appreciate the vulnerablity of unborn babies, being themselves so dependent on their parents. They want to help their unborn brothers and sisters."

Thus, the frame of mind of those holding the graphic pictures is not expecting to harm any children, including yours.  People who participate in the witness at Planned Parenthood Express on LaGrange Road in Orland Park come from many area churches, mostly Catholic.  The witness is organized by St. George Pro-Life. 

A pro-life survey was done at St. George Church during Mass about one year ago.  One of the questions related to the use of graphic pictures.  The results showed that only a small minority considered the use of graphic pictures to be a problem.  We still recognize the issue is controversial.  Some people who participate are not willing to hold a graphic sign.  A few have even decided to stop participating because of the use of graphic signs.

Some people even object to text messages as being harmful to children.  St. George Pro-Life also sponsors the Life Chain that is organized on LaGrange Road the first Sunday each October (Oct 5, 2008 will be the 19th year).  One of the signs used reads "Abortion Kills Children" but some people object to that message as harmful to children.

If you still disagree, be aware that the witness at Planned Parenthood Express occurs monthly on the first Saturday, usually from 10am to Noon.  There may also be other Saturdays occasionally.  For example, the second Saturday was used in July 2008 to avoid the July 4th weekend.

As a Catholic myself, I have no guilty feelings about the use of graphic images to show what abortion really is.  I know in my heart that I am not abusing any children by use of graphic signs and that God approves of my efforts to save children from abortion.

If you send your children to a public school, or even a Catholic school, they will likely be exposed to more damaging material on a variety of topics by the end of first grade.  Only home schooling and throwing out the television and the Internet will shelter your children, but most homeschoolers are involved in Pro-Life activism and their children are often out holding the graphic signs or standing right beside their parents.

There are many evils that your children will encounter in the world, even at a young age.  Graphic abortion signs are not one of those evils.

Friday, Sept 5, 2008  --  Reality check for birth control advocates

Birth control advocates think Bristol Palin's pregnancy is absolute proof that abstinence education is useless, that Sarah Palin is a bad mother because she failed to put her daughter on birth control; and that the solution is "comprehensive" sex education. The letter I just received from a distraught mother reveals the folly of their "solution" to prevent unwanted pregnancies.  

This mother contacted Illinois Right to Life Committee to see what she could do so other mothers do not experience the tragic circumstances that she describes.   Note that she did everything that birth control supporters advocate, but her daughter got pregnant anyway.

Then, because Illinois does not have a parental notice law in effect, her daughter was able to get an abortion without her even knowing beforehand.  If birth control advocates can take the Palin case as evidence that abstinence does not work, I can certainly take this case as evidence that birth control and comprehensive sex education do not work. 

In fact, there is much more evidence that abstinence does work and that comprehensive sex education and birth control do not work.  Abstinence is the only reliable solution, even if it is not practiced by every single teenager to whom it is taught.

Thursday, Sept 4, 2008  --  Assisted suicide in Oregon found to be problematic

An analysis of the ramifications of Oregon's assisted suicide law was recently published in the Michigan Law Review.  This study was compiled by Dr. Herbert Hendin, psychiatrist and CEO/Medical Director of Suicide Prevention International, a nonprofit organization located in New York, and Dr. Kathleen Foley, neurologist and professor at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.

One major concern raised was the lack of referral to psychiatrists who might find a patient requesting assisted suicide to be not mentally competent.  Hendin and Foley pointed out that in most cases no mental evaluation is conducted.  Emphasizing that point, last year in Oregon not one of the 50 individuals availing themselves of physician assisted suicide asked for or received any mental health counseling. 

Hendin and Foley summed up this concern by noting, "If the patient has seen no one knowledgeable enough to undertake to understand and relieve the desperation, anxiety, and depression that underlie most requests for assisted suicide, then even if the patient is capable, an informed decision is not possible."

The Hendin-Foley study cites specific examples where opinions of patients’ long-time attending physicians are ignored and doctors with only a smattering of familiarity with the patient write the prescription for the lethal dose of barbiturates.

This study is relevant to the referendum on the November ballot in the state of Washington where proponents of assisted suicide are claiming that the Oregon law is working just fine.  The study applies as well to a bill (AB 2747) just passed by the California legislature. 

California bill AB 2747 attempts to bypass the assisted suicide issue by mandating that caregivers instruct patients diagnosed as terminal "that they can choose to deny themselves food and water, that the physician must abet this, and keep them sedated as they die."

When Barack Obama was asked about such laws, he gave an unclear answer, but Obama appeared to praise Oregon for legalizing assisted suicide without expressly saying he supports the decision. “I think that the people of Oregon did a service for the country in recognizing that as the population gets older we've got to think about issues of end-of-life care,” he said.  That comment suggests this issue is also relevant to the race for President.

Wednesday, Sept 3, 2008  --  Illinois woman saved from starvation

A few weeks ago I received a scary call from a health care provider.  He told me that a public guardian was refusing to allow doctors to re-establish a feeding tube that a woman patient at this nursing home had pulled out.  The guardian claimed that if she pulled it out, she must not want it.

Not being an attorney, I referred this caller to the Thomas More Society here in Chicago.  Their attorney Peter Breen got involved immediately.   Fortunately, working with this woman's family, Peter got the guardian to back off when they produced a power of attorney for health in which the patient had explicitly indicated her desire to be kept alive.  The guardian had already overriden the family's unanimous request to keep her alive.

Hopefully, more details can be made available about this case.  It needs to be publicized to awaken people to the dangers involved here.  The public guardian had made it clear he would take legal action to prevent restoration of the feeding tube.  The nursing home consulted their inside lawyers who called their outside lawyer who was otherwise engaged and then didn't seem to be familiar with the applicable law.  They were afraid of what the courts would say.

Attorney Tom Brejcha summed it up by noting,  "Meanwhile, somebody was off nutrition and hydration and could have died.  And this was a lady who HAD signed a power of attorney asking to be kept alive! Yikes!"  Thanks so much for the efforts of the Thomas More Society to resolve this issue in favor of life.

Tuesday, Sept 2, 2008  --  Straight talk from Sarah Palin

Mary Mitchell has the nerve to accuse Sarah Palin of "malarkey" and "more malarkey" regarding Palin's statement about her daughter's pregnancy. Mitchell assumes that Palin cannot be sincere when she said, "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents."

Apparently, Mitchell thinks Palin and her daughter would have been better off if Bristol aborted the baby because Mitchell thinks teen pregnancy is "tragic and a moral failure" and "Palin should have acknowledged the disappointment and pain any mother feels when she learns her teenage daughter has stumbled onto this tough road."

These comments make it clear that Mitchell has no respect for the Palin family or the life of Bristol's unborn baby. The message Palin's comments sent was that a new life takes higher precedence to moral failure, disappointment and pain. That is exactly the message one would expect from a person of Pro-Life conviction.

Mitchell reveals her own uninformed perceptions when she states, "Republicans don't make it sound like a beautiful thing" when a "girl comes up pregnant on the South Side of Chicago." Mary, exactly why is it then, that Republicans defend the right to life of that unborn child and support pregnancy help centers to offer that girl help?

Mitchell's claim that abstinence programs fail is based on faulty assumptions about recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics that she references. First, the CDC report measures teen births, not teen pregnancies. If more young women decided not to abort their babies, the teen birth rate would rise without any rise in the teen pregnancy rate.

Second, Stephanie Ventura, head of the Reproductive Statistics Branch at CDC, noted, "It’s way too early to know if this is the start of a new trend." The report reveals that about 22 out of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17 became pregnant in 2006, compared to 21 out of every 1,000 in 2005. The pregnancy rate hit an all-time high of 39 births per 1,000 teens in 1991 and then steadily declined until 2006. With such a long decline, one slight uptick does not a new trend make!

Many studies demonstrate the effectiveness of abstinence education; as does basic logic. Do programs to reduce teen drug and cigarette use tell them abstinence is best, but if you are going to do drugs or cigarettes, do it safely? Why would we expect such a message to work for sex?