Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011  --  HPV vaccine to be pushed for boys now -- just say NO

The health risks of the HPV vaccine (either Gardasil or Cervarix) have become clear with numerous reports of serious adverse reactions, including paralysis and even death.   Now this risky vaccine will also be pushed for boys, after the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices made its recommendation yesterday.

Federal health officials usually adopt what this panel recommends and then ask doctors and patients to follow the advice.  For males, the Gardasil vaccine has been licensed to prevent genital warts and anal cancer.  The vaccine has been available to boys for two years, but this panel's action is the first to strongly recommend routine vaccination.

Officials acknowledged a "disappointing" vaccination rate for girls and expect a tough sell for boys as well.  However, parents can expect a push by doctors, beginning with 11- and 12-year olds when they are scheduled to get other vaccines.   Just say NO!

Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011  --  Fighting the pressure for "selective reduction"

Another impact of in vitro fertilization (IVF) has come to light.  Since IVF often leads to multiple babies developing in the womb, the casual use of "selective reduction" to kill one or more of the "excess" babies "to increase the odds for the remaining baby(s) to survive" has become common.

What happens when a mother is discovered with triplets under natural circumstances?   Of course!  It is time to push for "selective reduction."  Erin and Jennifer Conley, who live in North Carolina, encountered this pressure when their triplets, Jillian, Rebecca and Sarah, were developing in Jennifer's womb. 

When triplets were discovered, her obstetrician referred Jennifer to a specialist who immediately suggested "selective reduction" even though all three babies were considered healthy.  He detailed all the risks of triplets as justification for sacrificing one of them. 

The Conleys demanded to see another specialist who would be interested in the lives of all his patients.  Fortunately, the referral to a second specialist worked out because he remained totally positive throughout the pregnancy.

Once death is suggested as a solution to a problem, it keeps spreading as standard procedure to "solve" related problems.  Where will it end?  That is why it is called a slippery slope.

Monday, Oct 24, 2011  --  Man saved when court ruling favors life

A Maryland man was almost killed when Frederick Memorial Hospital removed the public-assistance patient from life-giving food and water with the permission of his wife when he became temporarily unconscious after suffering a heart attack and a seizure. 

Although Daniel Sanger told his doctor and his mother “I want to live” before he went unconscious, his request was ignored until an Alliance Defense Fund attorney obtained an order in state court on behalf of his mother and brother.  Daniel is now responding to hospital staff after going six days without food and water.

Daniel is very fortunate that the justice system worked in his case.  Too often these court rulings go the other way, or take too much time to have any effect, with deadly results.  This case is another reminder of the importance of completing a life-affirming durable power of attorney for health care and selecting an agent who will make decisions in favor of life.  IRLC offers the Patient Self-Protection Document as one alternative to address this critical issue.

Thursday, Oct 20, 2011  --  Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity saves lives

Thanks to the efforts of Bryan Kemper, president of Stand True Ministries, the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity has become an annual event at schools and colleges around the nation on the third Tuesday in October.  Students refuse to speak for the day and instead hand out literature explaining that they are are silent in solidarity with the babies lost to abortion.

When young people take a stand for life, babies lives are saved when other students who are pregnant change their minds about abortion.  But everything does not go smoothly.   Many students who participated faced some heavy persecution from both their peers and school faculty as they went through the day.  

Wednesday, Oct 19, 2011  --  State defunding leads to shrinking of Planned Parenthood

Based on STOPP's annual survey of Planned Parenthood facilities, at the close of 2010, for the fifth straight year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) continued closing clinics at a rate faster than it opened new ones.  In 2010, PPFA opened 18 new clinics and closed 49, bringing its total clinic number down to 785, the lowest since 1986.  Closures were spread all across the country and took place in 20 different states.

Because various states have reduced or eliminated government funding of Planned Parenthood, 2011 will continue this trend of shrinking locations for PPFA.  With the biggest cuts in Texas, it appears that at least 14 PPFA locations will be closed by the end of the year, with 7 closed so far.

Planned Parenthood has closed facilities this year in other states as well, with one each in Delaware, New Jersey, California, and Ohio, and 6 locations in Minnesota.  If a court injunction blocking state legislation to deny Medicaid funding to abortion providers gets overturned in Indiana, the imminent closure of seven PPFA facilities there is likely to follow.

Monday, Oct 17, 2011  --  At the midpoint 40 Days for Life knows of 229 babies saved

40 Days for Life has reached its midpoint.  Based on reports received from the 301 locations maintaining this vigil to end abortion, 229 babies are known to have been saved from abortion.  The actual number is likely to be much higher.

Based on the experiences reported by vigil participants, many special circumstances often occur to move mothers to change their minds about abortion.  How many more were moved by what they saw and heard but did not provide any feedback about their decision in favor of life.

Beyond that, reports come in slowly so the number of known babies saved from abortion will continue to grow well after the 40 days ends.  That means the number of known saves from 40 Days for Life is likely to grow to well above double the midpoint count.

Friday, Oct 14, 2011  --  Biased ethics panel takes action against Phill Kline

Using trumped up ethics charges to punish Phill Kline for attempting to enforce Kansas law over violations committed by abortion providers, the professional ethics panel that heard the case has recommended that Kline's law license be indefinitely suspended.

This decision is so outrageous because it is based on completely false charges that cannot be taken seriously except by political friends of abortion providers who are trying to discourage anyone else from taking the bold actions that Phill Kline attempted.

The only good news is that the decision is not yet final because it must go before the Kansas Supreme Court, though prospects for true justice there are suspect, and the ethics panel did not recommend that Kline lose his law license, but rather face an indefinite suspension.  That nuance will allow Phill Kline to file an appeal to have his license reinstated.

Thursday, Oct 13, 2011  --  House passes bill to stop abortion funding in ObamaCare

Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protect Life Act, H.R. 358, on a vote of 251-172.  This bill would stop abortion funding in ObamaCare.   Unfortunately, abortion advocates have the votes to block this bill in the U.S. Senate. 

Strangely, abortion advocates, both in govenment and outside it, claim that ObamaCare does not fund abortion, but their opposition to H.R. 358 shows that actions speech louder than words by proving they know ObamaCare does fund abortion so they want to protect that funding.

Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011  --  New law reduces Arizona abortions by 30%

The state of Arizona recently released new abortion figures comparing the number of abortions in September 2011 with those done in September 2010.  “In September of 2010, 1,053 abortions were performed in Arizona compared to 729 abortions this September, representing 324 fewer abortions for a 30% decrease.  The 729 September abortions also compares favorably to the 1,069 abortions done in August of this year.

Why did this significant decrease in abortions take place?  A recent court ruling allowed a law regulating abortion to take effect in Arizona.  This Arizona law requires the following:  a notarized parental signature before an abortion can be performed on a minor child, that women be provided with full and accurate information by a doctor in person at least 24 hours before an abortion, that medical professionals cannot be forced to perform abortions if it contradicts their sincerely held religious or moral beliefs, and that non-doctors are not permitted to perform surgical abortions.

One of the immediate effects of this law was a decision by Planned Parenthood to end abortions at seven Arizona locations.  That change, along with the additional information offered to parents and to mothers seeking abortion, has reduced abortions by 30%.  No wonder abortion advocates always take these laws to court.

Tuesday, Oct 11, 2011  --  New concerns about dangers of the Gardasil vaccine

Gardasil is Merck's vaccine against certain HPV types that are believed to cause cervical cancer.  The side effects reported from taking Gardasil have already raised serious concerns about the safety of this vaccine and the lack of sufficient protection from the vaccine to justify these risks.

Now a New Zealand publication has cited the work of a number of analysts and doctors on the topic of the side effects of Gardasil.  One of the issues raised was finding evidence in vaccinated patients of HPV DNA, when that was not supposed to be possible since officials said the vaccine did not contain HPV DNA.  Further testing of vaccine samples found all of them to be contaminated with HPV DNA of either the 11 or 18 HPV types, or both.

Given serious questions raised about the effectiveness of Gardasil, parents should not take the risk of their children developing potentially serious side effects from Gardasil.  There is too much risk and not nearly enough benefits, given the risks reflected in the adverse reaction reports compiled on this vaccine, and now tests revealing possible widespread HPV DNA contamination in the vaccine.

Monday, Oct 10, 2011  --  Young Pro-Life activist dies in tragic car accident

A tragic car accident took the life of Kortney Blythe Gordon and her 21 week old preborn child Sophy on October 8th.  Recognition of this great loss to the Pro-Life movement continues to appear and will be observed at a number of upcoming Pro-Life events.

Kortney was Student’s for Life of America’s Field Director.  She was returning from a Students for Life of America conference in Georgia when her vehicle was struck by another head on.  Other passengers in the car survived, but another SFLA staff member, Jon Scharfenberger, is in critical condition following the accident and needs many prayers for his recovery.  [10/18 upd: Jon died]

The Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity on Tuesday, October 18th will be dedicated to remembrance of the dynamic efforts Kortney had already displayed in her brief career in Pro-Life work.   That day will see tens of thousands of students from thousands of schools sacrificing their voice to stand in solidarity with the innocent children whose voices are silenced daily by abortion. 

The Students for Life of Illinois Pro-Life Summit on October 22nd will also be dedicated to Kortney and Sophy Gordon.  National Pro-Life speakers Bryan Kemper and Jason Jones will be there.  The  Summit is open to people who are high school seniors and older.

Friday, Oct 7, 2011  --  Wisconsin abortions decline; stand well below national average

The latest abortion statistics from a number of states have shown declines, often reversing a jump in the previous year.  That same situation applies in Wisconsin.  The number of abortions in Wisconsin dropped 8.4% from 2009 to 2010, after rising 3.8% from 2008 to 2009.  With a total drop of 717 abortions from 8,542 in 2009 to 7,825 abortions in 2010, abortions fell below the 2008 level of 8,229, continuing the downward trend of the previous five years.

Even more significant for Wisconsin, these latest statistics show the abortion rate for women aged 15-44 dropped to 6.8 per 1,000 women from 7.0 per 1,000 women the year before — keeping the state below the national average of 16 per 1,000 (per 2007 figures from the Centers for Disease Control).  Similarly, the abortion ratio, the number of abortions per 100 live births, fell from 12 to 11, which compares to a national abortion ratio of 24 abortions per 100 live births.

Based on these two measures of abortion frequency, Wisconsin women get abortions at less than half of the national average.  In comparison, Illinois women have an abortion rate per 1,000 women of 15 and an abortion ratio to 100 live births of 24, both much closer to the national averages.

These differences between Wisconsin and Illinois abortion rates suggest that parental consent and informed consent laws (that exist in Wisconsin but not in Illinois) are having a major impact in reducing abortions.  It is imperative that such laws be established in Illinois to reduce the high rate of abortions occurring here.  We are still waiting for a judicial ruling on the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act. If it was allowed to be enforced, that would be a first step in the right direction.

Thursday, Oct 6, 2011  --  Austin Texas anti-pregnancy-center law taken to court

Local laws attacking pregnancy centers that were passed in Maryland and New York City have already been declared unconstitutional, though an appeal has been made in New York.   A similar law passed in Austin, Texas had not been challenged -- until now.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and two pro-life organizations have now filed a lawsuit on behalf of Austin LifeCare, a pregnancy resource center, against the city of Austin.  This step is important because it is another opportunity to get such an outrageous law declared to be a violation of the First Amendment. 

How many such results will be needed before the radical abortion advocates stop trying to enact such laws.  Right now attempts are being made to pass another such law in San Francisco.  Pray that attempt will be abandoned.

Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011  --  Pro-Life Action League shows NARAL what they support

NARAL held an elaborate banquet today at the Standard Club in downtown Chicago to celebrate "the power of choice" (which means abortion on demand).  I was among those holding pictures of aborted babies to show those coming to this banquet exactly what they are supporting. 

It was impossible to miss that most of the attendees arrived in very expensive cars.   With all their money they have no interest in helping other people except to kill their children before birth.  That must be evidence that desire for wealth can destroy a person's value system.

Pro-Life Action League organized the protest of the NARAL "Power of Choice" banquet and provided the signs, including some that stated, "Stop the War on Unborn Women."  Pray that those who attended the banquet will come to their senses and recognize that destroying unborn children is not healthy for anyone.

Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011  --  Life Chains 1500 strong, but no media coverage

Did you join a Life Chain on Sunday October 1st?  Nationally, there were 1500 Life Chains formed, with at least 75 of those throughout Illinois.  As usual, there was no media coverage of Life Chain in most locations.  I guess the media had too much invested in coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protestors to divert anything to Life Chain.  They display the usual hypocrisy in considering Occupy Wall Street worthy of coverage but not Life Chain.

Monday, Oct 3, 2011  --  Rockford abortion facility closed when license suspended

Might it be newsworthy that an abortion facility in Illinois has its license suspended and is forced to close?  Apparently, the Chicago media do not think so as they ignored, or should we say censored, the story.  But it is true!  The notorious Northern Illinois Women’s Center was closed on September 30th by the Illinois Department of Public Health, based on a suspension notice that stated “the department had found conditions at the facility that are a direct threat to the public interest, health, safety and welfare requiring immediate, emergency action.”

According to the Rockford Register Star, inspectors discovered during the inspection on September 15 that neither of the two abortionists had required hospital privileges.  The clinic had no registered nurse present during invasive procedures as required, nor was a registered nurse to supervise the nursing care of patients.  The clinic also lacked an agreement with a licensed laboratory to conduct tests not done at the clinic.  The inspectors also found that all three of the abortion rooms “failed to ensure a sanitary environment.”  Surgical instruments were not sanitized, and “brown substances” were found on surgical equipment and gloves.

We can only thank the Illinois Department of Public Health for taking decisive action to protect women from this dangerous abortion facility.  What might they find if they perform thorough inspections of other abortion facilities in Illinois?