Friday, Apr 30, 2010  --  Abortion is a bad solution in cases of rape and incest

The news about the pregnancy of an 11-year-old rape victim in Mexico has become a political opportunity for abortion advocates to push for legalizing abortion there.  Of course, as usual, choice is never truly allowed, given that this pregnant girl does not want an abortion.  Those who want to push abortion do not think she is qualified to decide.  How ironic that they vigorously defend the right of young girls to obtain abortions without the knowledge or consent of their parents.  As usual, for them, abortion is the only choice.

Is abortion actually a good option to choose in cases of rape and incest?   Based on testimonies recorded in the book "Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions and Children Resulting from Sexual Assault," abortion is shown to be a very poor choice.

David Reardon of the Elliot Institute noted, "Most of the respondents who had abortions told us that abortion actually compounded the trauma and emotional pain they experienced from the sexual abuse, and that it was not a good solution.  On the other hand, none of the women who carried to term said they wished they had not given birth or that they had aborted instead."

The justification of abortion in cases of rape and incest does not represent the choice of the victims, but rather of others who want to make that choice for them.  Indeed, the survey on which the book was based found that many of those who had abortions did so due to pressure, demands or even force.  Isn't it about time to start paying attention to the wants and needs of the victims?

Thursday, Apr 29, 2010  --  "If she doesn't want to continue the battle, we can help."

Today I received a call from a Philadelphia man who is concerned about caring for his aunt with Altzheimer's Disease.  She is living in a nursing home environment, but has been placed under hospice care.  The caller explained that the first issue he encountered at that point was an attempt to take her off a drug she needed.  

At one point his aunt had stopped eating and medical assessment found that giving her Ritalin resolved this issue.  Hospice told him that Ritalin was not covered so they would stop giving it to his aunt.  After he demanded that she be kept on Ritalin, they relented, and she kept eating. 

He also had to question why they were talking about giving her morphine.   She was not in pain and has no other disabling medical conditions so they agreed not to consider using morphine.  Both of these issues made him uneasy and vigilent, but over five months have passed without incident.

Since his aunt has no life threatening condition, there is no way for a doctor to diagnose her as within six months of death so she should not qualify for hospice care.  I suggested that he raise that issue with the facility's management because it would seem to be better if she was not under hospice care.

At least twice the hospice physician has mentioned that this hospice is different and whether she wants to continue the battle to live or not, they can help.   The hidden meaning seems to suggest taking away the Ritalin, putting her on morphine, and letting her die from starvation or an overdose of morphine, whichever comes first. 

Without his vigilence his aunt would have already succumbed to this "death with dignity" solution.  He told me he has learned that the facility's management is also connected with the hospice so one can jump to the conclusion that they are trying to work together to hasten the death of patients whose quality of life they deem unacceptable.  This is just the latest example of why you must always evaluate the philosophy of a hospice.  The IRLC hospice checklist can help.

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010  --  Another "right" that is useless without the right to life

Today I received a call from a reporter asking for IRLC's position on HB 5428.  I informed her that IRLC has opposed HB 5428, primarily because it might discourage young mothers with privacy concerns from choosing adoption, leading to more abortions.

HB 5428 is intended to ensure that adoptees have the right to obtain their original birth certificate when they are adults.  While most mothers welcome a chance to meet the children they placed for adoption years earlier, confused women facing problem pregnancies will not be thinking that far ahead.  They are much more likely to decide against adoption when they consider that the child they place may unexpectedly come back into their life.

During that conversation it hit me that providing adoptees this right to obtain their birth certificate may mean there will be less adoptees around to avail themselves of this right.  After they have been aborted rather than placed for adoption, this right will certainly be useless for them.  How sad!

Even though the Illinois legislature has already passed HB 5428, you can still contact Governor Pat Quinn and urge him to VETO HB 5428.  The Springfield Office number is 217-782-0244 and the Chicago Office is 312-814-2121.

Tuesday, Apr 27, 2010  --  Does an incremental approach sacrifice principle?

Nebraska recently passed two unique bills that I predicted might even produce an abortion free state if they are accepted as constitutional.  Michael Barnett of American Life League has expressed another perspective on the Nebraska bills as part of his defense of measures to establish the personhood of the unborn (which I also support).  But he sent out an email seeking feedback so I responded as follows:

I fully support the personhood movement, but I do not agree that the Nebraska law is a negative or that it denies the ultimate objective of recognizing the personhood of all unborn children. See http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/blog.htm#100412Tuesday

While the argument of Jeff Schweitzer is a creative one, it is not compelling. First, without Roe v. Wade in place to protect abortion, Nebraska would have gone further in banning abortion. They are trying to work within the parameters of Roe v. Wade to ban more abortions than were banned previously. Comparing pain to personhood is comparing apples and oranges.

Bringing attention to the issue of pain helps to educate the less attentive public on the humanity of the unborn child. Since most Pro-Lifers consider that pain can be perceived much earlier than 20 weeks, there is potential to push back on the 20 weeks later, at least as another educational exercise on the humanity of the unborn, if not as a change to the law, assuming it passes constitutional muster. Even that possibility of debating its merits before the courts is another danger for abortion advocates. You may not agree, but I am convinced that the ban on partial birth abortion had a very positive impact on the abortion debate and helped swing public opinion in our direction. This law can do the same thing again.

When laws are just, it should be safe to say that everything that is legal is moral. Obviously, we cannot say that given Roe v. Wade. On the other hand, it is not likely that we would ever want to be able to say everything that is immoral is illegal. If we did, we would have government on our back all the time and have no human freedom. Thus, we have to draw the line somewhere based on practicallity of enforcement and protecting ourselves from the intrusion of government. I doubt that we would ever want to ban contraceptives, but we should ban abortion. Even so, I consider contraceptives immoral and dangerous to both health and the environment so maybe we could regulate them very strictly like cigarettes.

I think there are many more aspects that could be discussed about both your perspective and that of Jeff Schweitzer , but I will stop here for lack of time and creativity to delve into those additional aspects for now.

Monday, Apr 26, 2010  --  Opposition to abortion not going away even under duress

Failure to stop the pro-abortion health care bill was a major disappointment with serious implications for the future.  However, efforts continue unabated to defend life and prevent government funding of abortion.  Saturday, Arizona became the first state to enact a law to opt out of abortion coverage in any insurance exchanges created by the new federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill without hesitation while Tennessee still awaits action from their governor after the Tennessee legislature became the first to pass such a bill.  The good news for Tennessee comes with the margins of passage.  Even if their governor would veto the bill, the votes are there to override the veto.

Meanwhile the Thomas More Society continues to seek justice for Pro-Life causes in court.  Today, they filed an appeal with the Illlinois Supreme Court in the case where Pro-Life Action League sued Planned Parenthood for libel after false accusations of violence where used in local newspaper ads and letter to the Aurora City Council.  

This appeal is needed after the suit was turned on its head when Planned Parenthood counter-sued under the Illinois Citizen Participation Act, a new, untested law intended to protect the little guy from big business.  Ironically, it is now being used to protect the $1 billion dollar a year corporation, Planned Parenthood, from the small, grassroots non-profit, the Pro-Life Action League. 

On this day also, Thomas More Society goes before Judge Neal Cerne regarding their lawsuit about zoning violations committed by Planned Parenthood when building their abortion fortress in Aurora.  Judge Cerne will hear arguments from both sides regarding the Motion to Dismiss brought by Planned Parenthood and the City of Aurora.

Both of these cases are critical for defending free speech and citizens rights in Illinois.  Pray that both these cases will be heard on their merits. 

Friday, Apr 23, 2010  --  Time for an assortment of good news

How's this for an encouraging headline: "NARAL's President Admits: Pro-Aborts Aging, Pro-Lifers Young and Zealous" (from LifeSiteNews.com)?  Even without any media coverage, NARAL's Nancy Keenan noticed this year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C. stating, "There are so many of them, and they are so young."

While March for Life estimates it drew 400,000 pro-lifers to Washington for this year's March, Planned Parenthood's "Stop Stupak" rally in December only drew about 1,300 attendees.  In addition, Newsweek revealed that NARAL's own research on American youth shows more reason for Keenan to worry: a survey conducted by the group found that, while 51 percent of pro-life voters under 30 considered abortion a "very important" voting issue, only 26 percent of abortion supporters in the same demographic felt similarly.

How might this energy translate into real world gains?  Last year Virginia elected a Pro-Life governor.  Gov. Bob McDonnell amended the FY 2011-12 state budget to cut taxpayer-funded abortions, eliminating govenment funding for about 99% of all abortions previously paid for. 

With a pro-abortion majority in the Virginia Senate, the expectation was that McDonnell's amendment would be rejected.  However, the Senate approved by a one vote margin so the Virginia state legislature upheld his amendment.

The Family Foundation and Pro-Life groups had been working for this ban on taxpayer funding of abortion for decades and its director Victoria Cobb was elated. "The amendment brings Virginia substantially in line with federal law," which allows states to cut off most abortion funding except in a few very rare cases. "Prior to the Governor’s amendment, Virginia was one of only 17 states that funded elective (“health” of the mother) abortions," Cobb added.  It looks like abortion funding states just dropped to 16.

Thursday, Apr 22, 2010  --  Another cover-up achieved by politically correct science

How many studies showing the dangers of hormonal contraceptives will it take before the media, the medical profession, and the birth control pushers take notice?   The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in a July 29, 2005 press release that a team of scientists has determined that combined oral contraceptives (estrogen plus progestogen) are "carcinogenic to humans."  Did that discourage promotioin and use of these dangerous steroid drugs?  You know it did not!

But hormonal contraceptives create other risks as well.  More than 50 medical studies, to date, have investigated the association of hormonal contraceptive use and HIV/AIDS infection. The studies show that hormonal contraceptives—the oral pill and Depo-Provera—increase almost all known risk factors for HIV, from upping a woman's risk of infection, to increasing the replication of the HIV virus, to speeding the debilitating and deadly progression of the disease.

Does this increased risk have any impact in the real world?   Sub-Saharan Africa has endured decades of contraception-focused population control programs and countless hormonal contraceptive trials. “Among the six countries hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic … two in three users in the six countries rely on the OC (oral contraceptives) or injectables,” said Iqbal Shah of the World Health Organization.

Likewise, Thailand, praised for a contraceptive prevalence of 79.2% in 2000 and upwards of 70% today, is a land where, “More than one-in-100 adults in this country of 65 million people is infected with HIV.”  Among Thai women, “Oral contraception is the most popular method.”

On the other hand, Japan's HIV rate is, at 0.01%, one of the lowest in the world.   In this context, it is important to note that the birth control pill was illegal in Japan until 1999, and even today only 1% of Japanese women use oral contraception.   Similarly, the predominantly Catholic Philippines, with a longstanding popular resistance to contraception, boasts an HIV “prevalence rate of only 0.02%.”

Where are NOW and other feminists who claim to fight for women's rights?   Do women have a right to know potential risks to their health?  Apparently not!  Where is the campaign to educate women on the risks they face when using hormonal contraceptives?

Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010  --  Opposition to the health care bill expands nationwide

Should it not merit coverage on the evening news and the front page of newpapers?  I must say that I am not aware of any bill that has ever had so many states very quickly challenge it in court.  Since you probably have not seen any coverage of this widespread opposition, let me share the news here.

So far, 22 states have filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the government-run health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law.  Oklahoma became the 22nd state to join this widespread effort.  The other states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

At the same time, many states are also taking other actions against the abortion funding provisions of the health care bill.  They are formulating laws to opt-out of abortion funding.  Tennessee has become the first state to complete that legislative process, but many more states are expected to follow them.

Tuesday, Apr 20, 2010  --  Here comes another variation of human cloning

I must say that the description of a "breakthrough" to create viable embryos, free of mitochondrial genetic disease, that could be brought to term was somewhat confusing to me when they were described as having three parents. 

A report published on April 14 in the journal Nature explained, “At this early stage [of embryonic development] the sperm and egg nuclei, which contain most of the parental genes, have not yet fused.” These portions of the unfused nuclei, properly called “pronuclei,” were removed from one embryo and transferred into another “fertilized egg cell,” or embryo, with healthy mitochondria, from which the full nucleus had been removed.

I was having difficulty keeping track of what "material" came from which "parent" and how the count of parents reached three.  The researchers at Newcastle University indicated that they expect children to be born via the process within three years, should the law be changed to allow it.  Needing to change a law should have been the first clue of a problem.

Dianne Irving, a U.S. expert in bioethics, turned on the light for me when she revealed to LifeSiteNews.com that, despite the media’s reluctance to use the term, the article is describing human cloning.  The procedure described, she said, although similar to a technique called “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (SCNT), is more accurately called “pronuclei transfer, a form of cloning.” 

In this research, she said, instead of replacing the nucleus of the embryo with one taken from a mature body cell, as in SCNT, the material was taken from the pronuclei of another embryo.  That explains why the law would need to be changed.  Growing cloned embryos to term is currently banned so that restriction would need to be removed.

Instead, this alternate form of cloning should be banned as well, to insure that such abuse of biology and science is not allowed to create human beings.  Who knows what kind on horrors that could bring, from serious medical issues for these cloned children to future abuses of science without any ethical limits.

Monday, Apr 19, 2010  --  Encouraging versus discouraging late-term abortion

The Pro-Life government leaders in Nebraska have recently taken steps to ban late-term abortion.  Meanwhile in Kansas, the pro-abortion governor has ultimately vetoed a bill that would have required sufficient reporting so the state's late-term abortion ban could become enforceable.  Which state do you think is taking steps to help and protect women? 

Might this contrast between states motivate late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart to move his abortion facility from Omaha to somewhere in Kansas?  If so, could that leave no potential plaintiff in Nebraska to challenge the new ban on late-term abortion?  Now that would be good news!

Friday, Apr 16, 2010  --  Abortion Facts Reference Sheet

IRLC has developed an Abortion Facts Reference Sheet that includes basic facts about abortion, specifics related to Illinois, and some national information.  Print out this one page for quick reference on the abortion issue.

Of course, one page cannot cover nearly everything.  No attempt was made to cover international aspects of abortion.  Just recently new information has become available from the British medical journal The Lancet that shows a decline in maternal deaths worldwide and contradicts the claims of abortion advocates that it is necessary to legalize abortion to reduce maternal deaths.

In fact, statistics provided by The Lancet's research confirm once again that legalized abortion does nothing to reduce maternal death.  Some findings strongly suggest that legalized abortion actually leads to increased maternal deaths.  The report also demonstrates that abortion advocates continue to use exaggerated statistics about maternal deaths to push their agenda to legalize abortion.

Thursday, Apr 15, 2010  --  Evidence of autism link to aborted fetal DNA in vaccines?

Today I received the latest quarterly newsletter from the Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute (SCPI), an organization dedicated to providing ethical and safe vaccines that avoid use of aborted fetal tissue.  SCPI is also leading research to determine if there is a link between aborted fetal DNA and the epidemic of autism that has developed in the last 30 years.

So far, SCPI has identified three change points in the trend of USA autism rates that need to be explained.  They have attempted to correlate events from these three change points (1980, 1988, and 1995) with various potential explanations for increases in autism rates, including watching too much TV, playing too many computer games, microwave ovens, cell phones, a glut of child psychiatrists and psychologists, financial incentives to diagnose children with autism, internet communications, and mercury in vaccines. 

None of those possibilities can be found to correlate with the dates of 1980, 1988, and 1995.  On the other hand, each of those years represents the introduction of aborted fetal vaccines: human fetal rubella (Meruvax) and MMR II approved for the USA in 1979, second dose MMR II added to the vaccine schedule in 1988, and chicken pox vaccine approved for the USA in 1995.

SCPI intends to continue their research by conducting the first studies to look at the impact of residual human fetal DNA in vaccines on brain development and autism disorder in children.  Wouldn't you want to know whether introduction of fetal DNA into childhood vaccines is safe?  Get more information about vaccine ingredients and alternative vaccines here:

Childhood Vaccine Ingredient Information

Childhood Vaccines from aborted fetal cell lines and ethical alternatives

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010  --  Truth Day shares the message in southwest suburbs

Yesterday, I joined the Truth Day, sponsored by Pro-Life Action League, with stops in Mokena and Orland Park.  Life was peaceful on a beautiful spring day as we prepared to deploy volunteers with signs revealing the results of abortion to those driving through the intersection at Route 30 and Wolf Road, which had some remnants of road construction in progress. 

Even before we were deployed in one out of four directions, we suffered a casualty.  Joe Scheidler tripped on the uneven ground near the street and injured his ribs and sprained his wrist.  I was not actually aware of this injury until I talked with him at the second stop.  He carried on almost as if nothing had happened, with the only evidence being the ice pack strapped to his wrist.

Eventually nearly 30 people held signs to share the message with the occupants of the vehicles driving through the Route 30 and Wolf Road intersection in any direction.  A few people noted that the intersection was not that heavily travelled, but it did have relatively steady traffic that often came in bunches, apparently from earlier stoplights. 

Most of the feedback was positive.  While holding my sign, I was able to observe Kathy Meiding move among the stopped vehicles, waiting for the light to change, to distribute literature about our efforts.  Many of the occupants did take the literature from her.

When we arrived at 159th and LaGrange Road in Orland Park, it was even warmer so a jacket was not longer needed.  We had more people there, possibly 35 or more.  At this location an unmarked state patrol car pulled up and the officer demanded that those passing out literature get out of the street.  I am not sure the basis for that restriction, given that we often see fundraising conducted in similar fashion at busy intersections, but I must say that I felt better that Kathy was no longer moving among the cars offering the literature.

I thank the Pro-Life Action League for coming to the south suburbs to help share the Pro-Life message near my own home area.  Some of the participants indicated they will be back to help with the monthly vigil at Orland Park Planned Parenthood Express.

Tuesday, Apr 13, 2010  --  Nebraska abortion laws historic, could end abortions there

Today Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed two pro-life bills into law that have the potential to end abortions in that state.  The first bill bans abortions after 20 weeks based on fetal pain, effectively ending late-term abortion.  The second bill allows women to hold abortionists accountable for negligent pre-abortion screening and counseling.

This bill, intended to prevent women from becoming victims of forced or pressured abortions, was patterned after model legislation called the Protection from Coerced and Unsafe Abortions Act developed by the Elliot Institute, a post-abortion research and education group based in Springfield, Illinois. 

Elliot Institute Director Dr. David Reardon said that inspiration for the bill came from a 1985 article written by the group Feminists for Life.  "The article was identifying obstacles and loopholes in the law that made it nearly impossible for women to recover damages for abortion related injuries," Reardon said.   "Plus, the short statute of limitations when dealing with medical procedures meant it was likely that women injured by abortion wouldn't be emotionally ready to come forward until it was too late."

Since the legislation requires that at least one hour before the abortion a qualified physician or mental health professional perform an assessment to determine whether the pregnant woman “perceived” she was being pressured into having the abortion, this provision could take the profit out of abortion and reduce the number of providers willing to deal with such time consuming assessments.

These two laws could effectively end abortion in Nebraska, and in any other state that passed similar legislation.  Banning late-term abortion eliminates the hightest profit abortions.  Addressing psychological issues reduces profit and adds to the potential for lawsuits.  Of course, such potential impact almost guarantees these laws will be challenged in court. 

Monday, Apr 12, 2010  --  Response to Neil Steinberg's "justification" for abortion

Today I sent the following email to Neil Steinberg, with a copy to the Chicago Sun-Times editor:

In your April 12th article "Show your concern over real babies" you wrote, "the fertilized egg the size of the period at the end of this sentence that typically gets aborted" to establish why you have no need to be concerned about abortion. Since I am sure you claim to have science on your side in the abortion debate, maybe your high school biology class was too long ago or just did not cover fetal development.

I can go to web sites that are neutral (About.com) and pro-abortion (National Abortion Federation or NAF) to obtain information that disputes your premise about what is aborted.

Lets begin by establishing when most abortions take place. From the NAF web site:  "Most abortions (88%) are obtained in the first trimester of pregnancy.   In fact, over half of all abortions are obtained within the first 8 weeks."

Based on these NAF statistics, it seems reasonable to conclude that very few abortions are occurring before the 5th week of pregnancy.  But even if you want to argue about that, at least 33% of abortions must be occurring between the 9th and 12th weeks of pregnancy, with a significant percentage more occurring in the 5th through 8th weeks.

Now, let's see if these babies are "the size of the period at the end of this sentence." From the 5th to the 8th week the baby grows from 1.5-2.5mm to 8-11mm in length. (In case you are metrically challenged, this range is from over 1/16 of an inch to nearly 7/16 of an inch.)

Beyond size alone, for even the earliest abortions, the baby has a beating heart and by the 8th week the baby is moving its arms and legs.

The following information about the development of babies in utero can be found at the web site About.com: Pregnancy and Childbirth:

5th WEEK: Your baby's heart will begin to beat this week! It's amazing how much is happening so quickly. A transvaginal ultrasound will show about 90% of the yolk sacs. It is now possible to differentiate between the head and the tail of your baby now. By the end of the week that folic acid will be paying off as the neural folds begin to fuse. Average length is 1.5 - 2.5 mm.

6th WEEK: By the end of the week your baby will be 4-6 mm Crown to Rump (CR). The larynx starts to form as does the inner ear. The lining of the placenta begins developing but the placenta will take over production of the hormones in week 12. The heart is bulging from the body and circulation is well established. Limb buds appear this week. And the primordia of the liver, pancreas, lungs, and stomach are evident. Transvaginal ultrasound can pick up 86% of the fetal poles with heart motion, and 100% of the yolk sacs at this point.

7th WEEK: The hand plates become present this week, and the baby is about 7-9 mm CR by the end of the week. The genital tubercle is present, but you can't distinguish girls from boys by sight at this point. Nasal pits are forming. Your baby will actually go through 3 sets of kidneys, very rapidly as they develop during this period. This week the second of such sets will form.

8th WEEK: Your baby will be about 8-11 mm CR by the end of the week. The baby's hind brain is clearly visible. This week the baby's gonads will become either testes or ovaries. And spontaneous movement begins! There are a lot of things that we do know about life before birth. Bones and joints this week have many things going on. Elbows appear and the process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins. Toe rays become present, almost ready for you to count!

Maybe you should check out About.com: Pregnancy and Childbirth to see what is happening in the 9th through 12th weeks of pregnancy.

None of the babies being aborted are anywhere near as small as you want to believe. This information may not change your viewpoint on abortion, but if you want to claim science, you better at least develop a better justification for your position. Otherwise, your articles are going to give the Sun-Times a bad reputation about scientific accuracy.

Friday, Apr 9, 2010  --  Unjustified infringement on pregnancy care centers

Is there any history of verified complaints against pregnancy care centers?  No!  In fact, pregnancy care centers have a higher percentage of satisfied clients than most other organizations in almost any field.  They provide those services at no cost to their clients in a loving and caring manner.

In contrast, do abortion facilities have verified complaints against them?   There are many cases of lawsuits for botched abortions, including deaths of women, violations of medical practice laws, failure to comply with mandated reporting laws when sexual abuse is suspected, and even terrible violations of basic cleanliness leading to temporary or permanent closures by health departments.  Dissatisfaction with the services of abortion facilities are so widespread that multiple organizations have been created nationally to address the impact on women who have been victimized by abortion.   If a woman changes her mind, she may not even get her money back.

Do any of these facts make any difference when a city council is under the influence of NARAL and Planned Parenthood?  Not a chance!  Austin Texas has become the second city, after Baltimore, to regulate pregnancy care centers by passing an ordinance pushed by NARAL to protect the profits of abortion providers.   Austin city council members are so hostile toward pregnancy care centers that the vote in favor of this outrageous ordinance was a unanimous 7-0.

The ordinance requires pregnancy care centers to post signs at their entrance that they do not provide or refer for abortions or birth control.  Of course, there is no corresponding requirement that abortion facilities post signs about the services they do not provide.  The ordinance even specifies exact details on the format and size of the signs to be required.

Fortunately, a lawsuit has been filed against the Baltimore ordinance.   Hopefully, a lawsuit will soon be filed against the Austin ordinance as well.   When a city council becomes convinced that their citizens need to be protected from pregnancy care centers, while abortion facilities get a pass to continue victimizing women, it is clearly time to retire those council members in the next election.

Thursday, Apr 8, 2010  --  The growing impact of 40 Days for Life

The last time I mentioned the number of babies known to be saved from abortion during the Lent 2010 40 Days for Life was on March 19th, but the onsight vigils at abortion facilities continued through March 28th.  The total number of babies known to be saved from abortion went from just over 300 to 643 by the time all the information filtered in and was tabulated.

David Bereit, director of 40 Days for Life, recently mentioned a very difficult 40 Days for Life location in Providence, Rhode Island from last year where the few people who faithfully maintained the vigil saw no fruit of their witness.   However, they later learned that just their presence had saved a baby.  How many more cases like that have occurred that we will never learn about?

Wednesday, Apr 7, 2010  --  Abby Johnson answers questions about Planned Parenthood

I recently received an email with information on how to access a revealing video of Abby Johnson, former director of the Bryan/College Station, Texas Planned Parenthood location, answering questions about: Planned Parenthood, leaving the abortion industry, and sidewalk counseling.

Abby shares important perspectives on why Planned Parenthood is much different than their marketing image, on how abortion industry employees often feel trapped in their jobs, and on how to be effective in reaching women who are entering abortion facilities.  I encourage you to watch this 22-minute video and share it with others.

Regarding sidewalk counseling, Abby says many women going in think about their baby and ask the abortion facility staff, "What about my baby?"  A sidewalk counselor should connect to that thought.  For example, say "It's not too late to change your mind and save your baby."

Tuesday, Apr 6, 2010  --  Teen birth rate falls, but generates no headlines

When the news hit that the teen birth rate had increased slightly in 2006 after many years of decline, the politically correct pushers of "comprehensive" sex education claimed the sky was falling because of too much abstinence education sponsored by the Bush administration.  When the 2007 numbers also increased, the media portrayal of the crisis of teen pregnancy reached fever pitch.

Now the CDC has released the 2008 statistics.  Teen births have fallen by 2%, but any news coverage is hard to find.  They certainly would not want to inform the public that the crisis is over, especially with all that money buried in the health care bill to teach young people casual sex (oh, that's comprehensive sex education).

Since Bush was still President in 2008 and abstinence programs were still funded, then the reduced teen birth rate must reflect the success of abstinence education.   That potential correlation would certainly be enough to ensure no coverage of this new CDC report.

Monday, Apr 5, 2010  --  Some states are still taking steps to prevent abortions

Good news is coming from states like Oklahoma, Tennessee, and even New Jersey about actions being taken to better protect women and others from abortion.

Oklahoma has enacted three new laws.  The first protects health care professionals' freedom of conscience by affirming their right to refuse to participate in the taking of a human life.  The second  regulates the use of the dangerous abortion drug RU 486.   The third bill prohibits abortions that are done for sex-selection reasons.

The Tennessee House and Senate both recently approved legislation by overwhelming majorities designed to prevent women from being pressured into abortion.   The bills require abortion facilities to post signs saying: "It is against the law for anyone, regardless of the person's relationship to you, to coerce you into having or to force you to have an abortion."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has taken steps to cut state funding of Planned Parenthood.  He first proposed a state budget that cuts Planned Parenthood funding and now he has rescinded an application for a Federal waiver to reimburse Planned Parenthood 90% for Medicaid services that was submitted by the previous pro-abortion governor.

Thursday, Apr 1, 2010  --  Message from Carol Wright of Illinois Citizens for Life

We’ve lost an amazing woman.  Mary Bliss passed away Sunday evening, March 28, 2010.  She had suffered a mild heart attack and while she was in the hospital she was diagnosed with advanced cancer of the liver.  She had the peaceful death she so richly deserved.  For those who have been associated with Illinois Citizens for Life you know Mary Bliss as one of our former Presidents, as a former Office Manager, and in recent years, the voice with a smile who answered the phone. Her passion since 1996 has been Project Love, the organization she founded to help young women who were experiencing an unplanned or problem pregnancy. There are many hundreds of moms and babies who have a slightly better chance because of the dedication of Mary Bliss and her untiring fundraising to give them a little help over the hump. She gave 100% of her time and talents for the cause of life. She will leave a great void. Typical of Mary, she donated her body to science.

There will be a memorial service on Monday, April 5th, from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Hallowell and James Funeral Home, 301 75th Street, Downers Grove, IL, 630-964-6500.  Her memorial Mass will be Tuesday, April 6th, 5:00 p.m., Divine Savior Church, 6700 Main Street, Downers Grove, 630-969-1532.  A dinner reception will follow the Mass at the Divine Savior Parish Hall.