Illinois Right to Life Committee
PRO-LIFE BLOG
Thursday, Sept 30, 2010 -- Pro-aborts & FBI stage law enforcement conference on FACE A resource document filled with statistics compiled by the National Abortion Federation (NAF) was the basis for a law enforcement conference focused on the application of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Presenters included both FBI and Dept of Justice officials as well as representatives from NAF and Planned Parenthood. The intent of the conference appeared to be an attempt to educate law enforcement representatives about the provisions of FACE and to convince them that there is an urgent need to enforce FACE more broadly, given the long list of violent acts against abortion facilities that filled many pages in the distributed document. One portion of that document lists the websites of many peaceful Pro-Life groups and their leaders, apparently in an attempt to connect these organizations with the previously mentioned list of violent acts. Listed groups include: 40 Days for Life, American Life League, Concerned Women for America, Human Life International, National Right to Life, Priests for Life, Rock for Life, Students for Life, and The Pill Kills. Should I feel badly that IRLC did not make this list? Alliance Defense Fund-allied attorney Matt Bowman attended the conference. He observed, "The resource guide is not only completely one-sided, it adopts the bias against free speech that the abortion movement has been trying to promote for years." Time will tell whether this conference generates any new threats to First Amendment rights outside of abortion facilities.
Wednesday, Sept 29, 2010 -- More abortion facilities closing down Unfortunately, they are not very close to Illinois, but more abortion facilities are closing for lack of an abortionist. Notorious abortionist Romeo Ferrer is closing his Severna Park, Maryland, abortion facility after a 10-year campaign by dedicated Pro-Life organizations and following the suspension of his medical license by the Maryland Board of Physicians. As a 40 Days for Life location multiple times, maybe those prayers helped in the end. Ferrer tried to arrange for another abortionist, but closed the facility after that arrangement with Ghevont Wartanian was terminated when the 40 Days for Life vigil was moved to Wartanian's OB-GYN medical practice location. Earlier this year William Harrison, an abortionist in Arkansas, closed his facility because of his own health problems. He recently died from leukemia at the age of 75 after committing abortions for 36 years and claiming to have killed over 20,000 children in the womb over that time.
Tuesday, Sept 28, 2010 -- PP's RU-486 abortions up; pushes Wisconsin abortions up The September 29, 2010 STOPP Report covers a July 2009 Planned Parenthood study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reporting that in 2008, a total of 96,738 medical (RU-486 abortion pill) abortions were committed by Planned Parenthood in the U.S., representing 32% of first-trimester abortions at Planned Parenthood facilities (an increasing rate for RU-486 usage and higher than the national average reported by its maker, Danco Labs). Planned Parenthood's web site reports that an abortion-pill abortion costs between $350 to $650, so at an average cost of $500 per abortion, that means Planned Parenthood took in over $48 million in 2008 from abortions by pill. All Planned Parenthood had to do to "earn" this high revenue stream was to dispense a pill and send the women home to deal with extended profuse bleeding, sometimes horrific pain, and the emotional turmoil that comes with killing a child and then delivering the dead baby. As a prominent abortion provider in Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood contributed to the first increase in abortions there in 6 years. The total number of abortions in Wisconsin in 2009 was 8,542, up from 8,229 in 2008. RU-486 was used in 27% of Wisconsin abortions in 2009, compared to just 19% in 2008. As Planned Parenthood expands its locations that commit RU-486 abortions, they generate more abortion business.
Monday, Sept 27, 2010 -- More fake science attempting to protect abortion The Guttmacher Institute, which was founded by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, recently announced the results of a study, claiming that "teens who have abortions are no more likely to become depressed or have low self-esteem than their peers whose pregnancies do not end in abortion." The study is undermined by “a number of problems” in its methodology, according to Dr. Priscilla Coleman, an Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University. Coleman pointed out that the sample of women who aborted was very small, a fact even acknowledged by the authors themselves. The professor also criticized the superficiality of the means to assess outcome, which used only 9 items to detect depression and 4 to measure self-esteem. Coleman also questioned the researchers choice of a less appropriate and broader "no abortion" control group when a better comparison is "unintended pregnancy carried to term." Ironically, Coleman had published a 2006 study using the same data, incorporating unintended pregnancy carried to term as the control group, and found that abortion history was associated with a six-fold increased risk of marijuana use, a five-fold increased likelihood of reporting having sought counseling for psychological and emotional problems, and a four-fold increased risk of experiencing sleeping difficulties.
Friday, Sept 24, 2010 -- Free speech wins by a nose Senate Democrats failed to find enough votes today for cloture on S. 3628, the DISCLOSE Act, but all Democrats voted against free speech in an attempt to protect their jobs from the expected November 2nd election results. The margin was a razor-thin 59-39, just one vote shy of the 60 needed to end debate. This vote was a second attempt to end the Republican filibuster and allow a vote on a campaign finance bill that would place stringent limits on the ability of grassroots groups to communicate to the public about legislation and elections. Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for NRLC said the DISCLOSE Act is a "desperate attempt to prevent citizen groups from disseminating messages to the public that might contain unflattering information about the Administration, the congressional Democratic leadership, and the legislation they have been pushing." Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said the bill "amounts to Democrat incumbent protection legislation disguised as campaign finance reform."
Thursday, Sept 23, 2010 -- Rockford police block ultrasound vehicle Rockford IL city officials are complicit in keeping women uninformed before their fatal decisions to abort their babies. These officials have misapplied an ordinance to prevent offering these mothers free ultrasounds so they can become more informed before it is too late on a decision that cannot be reversed. Kevin Rilott, who leads the vigils at the abortion facility, criticized the government of Rockford for prohibiting the ultrasound vehicle. He demonstrated their hypocrisy by notiing they allowed another group, the Total Health Awareness Team, to hand out free condoms and clean needles to illegal drug users.
Wednesday, Sept 22, 2010 -- Tracing abortion's impact on women Abortion advocates claim that women feel relief after an abortion. Their "problem" is solved, and they can move on with their lives. Proponents of abortion are so convinced of this perspective that they refuse to accept even the testimony of women who regret their abortions as evidence to the contrary. But why are women impacted so negatively by abortion? "Women are hard-wired for relationships—and a woman’s relationship to her baby is one of the most powerful of all, whether she realizes it or not. The hard-wiring of the brain may explain many women’s disturbing post-abortion feelings," write Evelyn Birge Vitz and Paul C. Vitz in an article published in the September 20 issue of Public Discourse. "What is particularly striking is that most of the women who have these powerful emotional reactions to their abortion are stunned by them. They were not opposed to abortion; many were actively pro-choice. They were blind-sided by their own reaction. One woman lamented—and thousands of others echo her mystified anguish—‘If this was the right decision, why do I feel so terrible?’”
Tuesday, Sept 21, 2010 -- The prevalence of dangerous abortionists The track record of abortion providers is not good. Whenever state regulators are finally forced by circumstances to take enforcement action, the facts about how abortionists practice "medicine" reveal some of the serious dangers facing women who seek abortion. The blatant disregard for compliance with standard medical procedures, basic cleanliness, and use of trained and licensed staff is too often found to be the case. Unfortunately, ending such dangers seems to take far too long, often years. Then, in too many cases the abortionist just moves to another state and begins the same abuses anew. A new law in Louisiana is intended to overcome some of these deficiencies, but a court ruling has prevented a license revocation while the abortionist appeals the decision. In Boston, abortionist Rapin Osathanondh was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges in the death of one of his clients, and he is also barred from practicing medicine according to a plea agreement. In Maryland, an abortionist finally had his license suspended for an abortion that killed a women in 2006. Then he arranged to keep his facility open by bringing in another abortionist who has a very dangerous track record. It seems that the underlying danger of any abortion is compounded by the dangerous practices of so many abortionists and the slow enforcement process in most states. Imagine the situation in Illinois where abortionists are virtually unregulated!
Monday, Sept 20, 2010 -- Pope Benedict's call to protect human life needed in USA During his recent trip to England Pope Benedict XVI called on Christians worldwide to do more to protect human life from abortion and euthanasia. Pope Benedict, speaking at a residence for the elderly, said, "Life is a unique gift, at every stage from conception until natural death and it is God’s alone to give and take." "Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person," he added. This mission certainly applies in the USA as well.
Friday, Sept 17, 2010 -- Rockford officials keep trying to deny real choice on abortion Rockford officials have consistently shown support for the abortion provider in their community. They refuse to prosecute violence against sidewalk counselors and those praying. Loud noise produced by the abortion provider to drown out the sidewalk counselors is not considered a problem. To "protect" those entering the abortion facility a bubble zone ordinance was proposed. Only the many phone calls and emails from Pro-Life citizens has so far prevented passage of this attempt to deny freedom of speech. After receiving approval from the Rockford police department for a mobile ultrasound to offer free ultrasounds to mothers in need, the city legal department ordered the vehicle out of the city, citing an ordinance against "soliciting business" on the streets of Rockford.
Thursday, Sept 16, 2010 -- Organ harvesting after cardiac "death" problematic Usually vital organ donation occurs after declarationof brain death. However, another convention is receiving more frequent usage. It is called "donation after cardiac death." A group of Canadian doctors have called on the medical community to cease harvesting organs from patients whose hearts have stopped pulsating, saying that doctors are misleading families to believe that the patient has died when in fact their loved one is still alive. The justification for "donation after cardiac death" (DCD) is the claim that circulation has irreversibly stopped after 2 mins of observation. But this protocol ignores the many reports of the "Lazarus phenomenon," where a patient’s heart starts again 5 to 10 minutes after CPR is performed. Such instances suggest that "the heart function and circulation may not be irreversibly stopped in DCD patients at the time of organ procurement."
Wednesday, Sept 15, 2010 -- ObamaCare lawsuits moving forward Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida declined to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 20 U.S. states against the Federal government over the constitutionality of the new health care reform law. This result is consistent with the August 2nd decision by U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson, rejecting an attempt to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the health care law. Hudson wrote, "While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate -- and tax -- a citizen's decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Given the presence of some authority arguably supporting the theory underlying each side's position, this court cannot conclude at this stage that the complaint fails to state a cause of action."
Tuesday, Sept 14, 2010 -- Does assisted suicide encourage suicide? Oregon was the first state legalize assisted suicide back in 1997. Does this so-called "death with dignity" act encourage suicide? The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is concerned that their state's suicide rate is 35% higher than the national average. The Oregon rate is 15.2 suicides per 100,000 people compared to the national rate of 11.3 per 100,000. After decreasing in the 1990s, suicide rates have been increasing significantly since 2000, according to the new report OHA released entitled “Suicides in Oregon: Trends and Risk Factors." Wouldn't there seem to be a connection between the message conveyed by legalizing assisted suicide and more suicide attempts?
Monday, Sept 13, 2010 -- Planned Parenthood continues to corner the abortion market Planned Parenthood claims that abortion counts as no more than 3% of the medical "services" they perform. Do you consider selling a condom a medical service? They do. Maybe it makes more sense to consider what percentage of their medical services REVENUE is generated by abortions. Then we are looking at an estimated 40.6% coming from abortions. [Statistics from STOPP Report of 2010-09-15] Isn't that a substantial portion of Planned Parenthood's business? There's more. Planned Parenthood's number of abortions continues to increase every year, by 6.1% from 305,310 abortions in 2007 to 324,008 abortions in 2008. This huge number of abortions now comes to 27% of the national total, as Plannned Parenthood continues to corner the abortion market. As Jill Stanek observes, "Usually industry leaders love to be known as industry leaders." Why not Planned Parenthood? Jill's answer is: "In 1990, PP’s share of the abortion market was 8%. By 2008, its share of the abortion market had catapulted to 26.8%, proving beyond a doubt that the focus of PP’s business is increasing abortions, and that PP’s mantra that it is decreasing abortions through its salacious sex education and birth control is patently false." I'll certainly second that conclusion!
Friday, Sept 10, 2010 -- Are abortionists their own worst enemy? On September 7th I discussed how abortionists are getting in trouble because of violations of licensing requirements and medical care standards. Might they have become their own worst enemy where cutting corners to make more money is finally having serious consequences? The four-state abortion empire of Steven Brigham continues to collapse with New Jersey becoming the third state taking regulatory action against him. Some of these actions have been stimulated by the efforts of Operation Rescue to encourage whistleblowers to come forward. They have just increased the reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of abortionists who are breaking the law from $10,000 to $25,000 effective immediately. Some abortionists take other actions that get them in trouble with the law. An abortion facility director in Tulsa OK has been accused of misleading police after telling authorities that she had found a bomb at her facility, according to Federal court papers. Between such untruthful actions and violations of medical practices, the number of abortion providers could be shrinking fast. Whistleblowers, come forth!
Thursday, Sept 9, 2010 -- Planned Parenthood disrespects yet another law Parental notice was on the ballot in Alaska. Even though Planned Parenthood and its allies outspent supporters of parental notification by 8 to 1, the voters approved it by 55-45% so it becomes the law in Alaska. Would you expect Planned Parenthood to comply with the law? Alaska Planned Parenthood has created a new web site to tell teens how they will help them bypass the new law and get abortions without informing their parents. Given the undercover work of Lila Rose, why would we expect anything else from Planned Parenthood? The evidence clearly shows that they regularly violate parental notice, mandated reporting, and informed consent laws in many states. In their push for "reproductive rights" (e.g. make lots of money by inflicting abortion on young women), they can justify whatever actions lead them toward their goal to corner the abortion market.
Wednesday, Sept 8, 2010 -- Sacked for not being a team player at Notre Dame No, this situation does not relate to the football team or its coaches. Wasn't part of the justification for inviting President Obama to speak at the Notre Dame commencement to encourage debate on life issues and listening to all sides? It's apparently been a long enough time that such an excuse is expendable now. Only the party line will be tolerated among the Notre Dame administration. Bill Kirk, a long-time member of the Notre Dame community in the role of Student Affairs administrator was abruptly terminated. Is it merely a coincidence that he was the only administration member to join a protest against President Obama's appearance on campus?
Tuesday, Sept 7, 2010 -- The rough life of an abortion provider Abortion advocates want you to believe that abortion providers are heroicly providing "reproductive health care" to women while constantly threatened with violence, and even death. Actually, recent news reveals the factors that make life rough for abortion providers. In Maryland, Steven Brigham is not licensed to practice medicine and never has been. Maryland officials have demanded that he stop performing abortions there because he is violating the law. The Maryland medical licenses of George Shepard, Jr., of Delaware and Nicola I. Riley of Utah, were suspended last week for facilitating Brigham's violations. These actions are such a denial of reproductive rights by actually expecting abortionists to comply with medical licensing requirements! In Louisiana, the state health department closed an abortion facility for health and safety violations such as: failing to properly monitor vital signs of patients under anesthesia, not having proper procedures in place for administering anesthesia, and failing to have properly trained medical professionals administering anesthesia. This action is such a denial of reproductive rights by actually expecting abortionists to follow standard medical practices! Of course, the threat from violent "anti-choice" activists never goes away. In fact, they were organizing a 40-day prayer vigil at the Louisiana facility that was closed. Those prayers for ending abortions there were answered before they even arrived. Such violence against abortion providers cannot be tolerated! Maybe all this violent prayer is contributing to the shortage of abortion providers. It seems that Planned Parenthood can't even find one to keep abortions available in Columbia, Missouri. This denial of reproductive rights is such an outrage! Not! Women are finally being protected, and the same measures are needed in many other states.
Friday, Sept 3, 2010 -- Double standard on judging the meaning of criminal actions When an individual commits a criminal act of violence against abortion providers, the "lamestream" media immediately generates stories that implicate the Pro-Life message as facilitating that violent act. Does this same jumping to conclusions occur when an environmental extremist takes violent actions? Is the environmental movement accused of facilitating violence because of their expressed goals to block development and sabotage industry? Should Al Gore be blamed for instigating the violent actions of James Lee, the gunman who entered the Discovery Channel building and took three hostages on September 1st because he thought the TV station should be doing more to combat overpopulation? Lee has said he experienced an "awakening" when he watched former Vice President Al Gore’s environmental documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," reports MSNBC. Will Al Gore be charged with inflaming the passions of environmental terrorists? Pro-Lifers were accused of instigating the murder of George Tiller because some of them call abortion murder. You can be certain that the "lamestream" media will make no similar jump to conclusions to charge Al Gore and other global warming believers with responsibility for instigating James Lee's actions.
Thursday, Sept 2, 2010 -- Questions raised by mother's death after denial of nourishment [The woman who contacted me for help regarding denial of nourishment to her mother notified me that her mother died on August 26th. Her death is another tragic case of euthanasia by omission. Earlier information can be found on August 23rd and August 20th. Here is my response: You have my most sincere condolences on the tragic and unjust death of
your mother. You raised a number of good questions. Let me attempt to answer them here. Given the risks involved in situations such as your mother's case and many
others that we have encountered, IRLC suggests that the best protection anyone can achieve
(though undoubtably still not perfect to stop every eventuality) is to sign a
life-affirming durable power of attorney for health care (such as IRLC's Patient
Self-Protection Document) with a designated agent that clearly agrees with the wishes of
the patient to avoid any action or omission that would hasten death, and to never sign a
living will. Selection of the correct agent is absolutely essential to the success of this
strategy.
Wednesday, Sept 1, 2010 -- The fantasy that birth control reduces abortion rates Planned Parenthood continues to proclaim that their birth control programs reduce unwanted pregnancy and abortion rates. Such claims are sheer fantasy as showed in the following articles: Study Shows More Contraception, Birth
Control Don't Reduce Abortions
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