Post Abortion Resources
NEW! Racism and Abortion 'Stem from the Same Poisonous Root'
Planned Parenthood Continues to Crack: New Video Shows More Racism
NEW! Reproductive Racism
It’s An Ugly Word…Racism
Abortionist Reich Arrested for Practicing Without License
Forensic Report Indicates Manslaughter at Florida Abortion Site – Baby Was Born Alive
Conscious Rights for American OB-GYNs
FDA Asks Maker of Abortion Drug Mifepristone for Safety Plan by September
Chemical Abortion During Flight Speculated
Pro-Life Representatives in Ecuador Harassed for Breaking Official Party Line
Medical Board Director Resigns In Kansas Corruption Scandal
NARAL Director Admits Abortion is "Hard" for Women
NEW! Expelled Movie Exposes Planned Parenthood's Pro-Abortion M.O.
NEW! Controversial Council of Europe Decision
NEW! Italy Sees Abortion Drop Three Percent as More Doctors Refuse to Do Them
America’s Largest Abortion Chain Expanding…
POST ABORTION RESOURCES. Men and Abortion: www.unchoice.infomen.htm; http://www.menandabortion.info/ [not complete].
The Abortion Recovery International web site at www.abortionrecovery.org lists groups that provide healing services for men (as well as for family members such as grandparents or siblings who have been affected by abortion.)
Ramah International has a men's page with links to resources on their web site at www.ramahinternational.org/for-post-abortive-men.html.
There is also a short page for men whose partners have experienced abortion at www.ramahinternational.org/post-abortive-spouse.html.
RACISM AND ABORTION 'STEM FROM THE SAME POISONOUS ROOT'. Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today said that racism and abortion are linked.
"Abortion and racism are both symptoms of a fundamental human error," stated Dr. King. "The error is thinking that when someone stands in the way of our wants, we can justify getting that person out of our lives. Abortion and racism stem from the same poisonous root, selfishness."
"Of course, to get someone out of our way, we have to come up with rationales for doing so," added Dr. King.
"We create the deceptions that the other person is less important, less worthy, less human. These pretenses help us feel a bit better about discriminating against someone because of his skin color or gestational age, but they're still lies and our actions are still wrong."
"The truth is that we are all humans belonging to only one race," said Dr. King. "Racial reconciliation can only mean that we reconcile to the truth that we are all one race of human beings created equal.
"Even though we have ethnic distinctions, those distinctions do not separate us from the human race any more than do our stage of development or state of physical dependency.
"We are all fully human. When we face this truth, there is no justification for treating those who look different than us as lesser beings.
"If we simply treat other people the way we’d like to be treated, racism, abortion, and other forms of inhumanity will be things of the past."
[14Apr08, Atlanta, Christian Newswire, http://christiannewswire.com/news/479696252.html]
PLANNED PARENTHOOD CONTINUES TO CRACK: NEW VIDEO SHOWS MORE RACISM. UCLA publication releases another video of Planned Parenthood staff excitedly accepting donations earmarked for black babies. The Advocate, a UCLA student publication, released another video in its Planned Parenthood series exposing the organization's racist vision.
Posing as a donor, law student James O. calls centers in Oklahoma and New Mexico and asks to make a donation specifically to be used for a black baby. The clinics are more than happy to accommodate his request. See the video here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwif0VMW3c4] [3Apr08, LifeNews.com]
The Advocate released its first video four weeks ago exposing Autumn Kersey, Director of Development at Planned Parenthood in Idaho. Ms. Kersey was caught on audio getting "excited" for a donation by an explicitly racist caller by phone. The students also exposed an Ohio site for gladly accepting donations, no matter what they may be used for. Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LJVPVh5TWo.
"This new video demonstrates a disturbing trend of racism at Planned Parenthood," said Lila Rose, editor of The Advocate. "Planned Parenthood has no shame in accepting donations to purposely abort minority populations. People have forgotten the organization was founded on these principles and has continued to operate under these same racist views for decades."
Irene Gray of Planned Parenthood in Albuquerque, New Mexico took the call from James O. last summer when he wanted to make a donation to abort a bla
ck baby. In sympathetic tones, Gray replied "yes, yes, it's a strange time for sure" to the donor's rant about affirmative action and how there is a need for less black people because they compete with whites for admission to schools.
When asked if the organization takes donations specifically to abort black babies, another Planned Parenthood staffer from Tulsa Susan Riggs answered, "We can definitely designate it for an African-American." Abortion center staff are more than happy to accommodate his request, with one Planned Parenthood employee saying, "for whatever reason, we'll accept the money."
"Clearly, Planned Parenthood has absolutely no shame in using funds to target and abort black children from racist donors. It's a jolting reminder that abortion is a big business, regardless of what the politicians and the special interest groups say and given that Planned Parenthood receives over $300 million in federal funding every year, it's time Congress investigate these extremely disturbing business practices," continued Rose. "Planned Parenthood must be held accountable for their actions. No one is calling them out – including supposedly minority civil rights groups like the ACLU and NAACP – for their despicable actions." Rose has been receiving death threats for her objective and courageous expose'.
[2April08, The Advocate, Los Angeles, Christian Newswire; http://www.earnedmedia.org/laa0402.htm]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwif0VMW3c4]
[3Apr08, LifeNews.com]
REPRODUCTIVE RACISM
by Adua Furlow
The vision of Planned Parenthood, founded in 1916 by Margaret Sanger, became the working arm toward eugenic goals. The stated vision was "reproductive freedom" through legalization of contraceptives to be used by the wealthy and imposed Eugenic Sterilization Laws as "birth control" for everyone else.
The organization most responsible for propagating the bigoted concepts of "Social Darwinism" is the American Eugenics Society. Founded in the early 1900s, this organization was the sister organization of the British Eugenic Society which embraced the white — more specifically, the Anglo-Saxon — race supremacy doctrine.
In the United States, eugenics became more than an abstract philosophy. It degenerated into an active campaign to eliminate all those deemed inadequate and resulted in a worldwide crusade to abolish all human inferiority. (1) The American Eugenics Society fostered the Jim Crow Laws of the South and Eugenic Sterilization Laws nationally, the anti-Semitic doctrine that encouraged nazi Germany during the Jewish Holocaust, and defined South-African Apartheid.
Despite claims that Margaret Sanger was not a racist or an anti-Semite, the fact remains that "she openly welcomed the worst elements of both into the birth control movement". (2) Henry Pratt Fairchild who wrote, "Birth control and eugenics are by nature closely related, and neither one can attain its complete fulfillment, or render its maximum service to society, without the other" (3) and Lothrop Stoddard, author of The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy, were two of many eugenicists who worked closely with Sanger.
Historical documents prove that Planned Parenthood acted as the willful arm of the American Eugenics Society and developed a plan, the Negro Project, as a propaganda program to infiltrate the black community with a "birth control for health" campaign through their civic leaders. (4) Margaret Sanger expressed disdain for the poor and disabled whom she frequently dubbed "underserving", "unfit", and "dysgenic". Her call for their sterilization and segregation (5) is well known and is likely to have been the motive behind her "Negro Project".
Lest one think reproductive racism was merely an issue of the past, current numbers prove the problem persists. Racial targeting by abortion providers, Planned Parenthood being the foremost national provider of abortions, has demonstrably resulted in a disproportionate number of minorities obtaining abortions. In the year 2000, African Americans, numbering 34.7 million individuals, or 12.3 per cent of the U.S. population, obtained 32% of abortions in that year. (6,7) [ed. this percentage continues to slowly rise.]
"Black women are almost four times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.5 times as likely." (8) According to updated census reports, African Americans are no longer the largest U.S. minority population.(9) Abortion and population control have taken a devastating toll on the African American and Hispanic communities [Hispanics now obtain about 20% of all abortions in the U.S. each year].
Akua Furlow, B.S., M.A., is a graduate of the State University of New York College at New Platz where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Education. She received her Master's degree in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is the author of the book The Tuskegee Syphilis Study – What Really Happened and is a national speaker on various issues related to population control and bioethics. Contact info: www.sojournerpress.com, or 713-645-2442.
References:
1. Black, Edwin, War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to CReate a Master Race, New York, Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003, p. 19
2. Ibid p. 135.
3. Fairchild, Henry Pratt, "Programs and Wishes For 1933", Birth Control Review, Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1933), p. 5.
4. Letter from Sanger to Dr. W. E. Burghardt DuBois, 11 November 1930, New York, MSCLC. Dubois served as director of research for the NAACP and as the editor of its publication, The Crisis, until 1934.
5. Sanger, Margaret, The Pivot of Civilization, Humanity Press, 1922, chapters 4,5.
6. Jones, R.K., Darroch, J.E., and Henshaw S.K., "Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in 2000-2001", Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2002, 34(5):226-235.
7. www.prcdc.org/summaries/blacks/blacks.html
8. Guttmacher Institute, Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States, 2006, www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
9. U.S. Census Burear, www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762256.html, 2004/
["trapped…", www.humanlife.org, 2007]
IT’S AN UGLY WORD…RACISM. Noting that 80% of PPFA business sites are in minority neighborhoods and that almost half of African-American pregnancies end in abortion, this video is designed to shake a common assumption about the nation’s largest abortion provider. Listen for yourself to the recorded calls made to clinics offering donations specified for African-Americans for overtly racist reasons. Not one clinic turned them down!Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eygv8qEkiFE . [4Mar08, abstinence.net]
JANUARY MARCH FOR LIFE. American Life League estimates 400,000+ marchers participated in the 35th Roe v. Wade anniversary D.C. March on 22Jan08. Mainstream media continue to downplay the numbers each year — if the story is reported at all.
Independent observers confidently confirm lines of 50 to 75 people wide on the roadways and sidewalks, at a pace of 40 lines per minute, past a specifically marked reference point near the Supreme Court building, which went on "for at least three solid hours before beginning to thin". It is estimated that an abortion is performed every 26 seconds in the USA, totalling over 49 million abortions since 1973. [Feb-March 2008, ALL News; www.all.org/stopp/maps]
ABORTIONIST REICH ARRESTED FOR PRACTICING WITHOUT LICENSE. The law has caught up with another abortion practitioner and, this time, Laurence Reich of California has been charged with practicing medicine without a license.
Reich lost his medical license in 2005 after he was convicted of molesting women during physical exams. Reich was allowed to do abortions until April 2006 and then the abortion practitioner had to agreed to give up his medical license, rather than have it revoked by the court and the Osteopathic Board.
That apparently didn't stop him from continuing to do abortions without a medical license.
Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, told the Los Angeles Daily News that officials arrested Reich last week and that he posted a $60,000 bond.
He has been charged with three felony counts of practicing medicine without certification.
Authorities found out about Reich when they arrested abortion center owner Bertha Bugarin, who ran six abortion businesses in California. That included one in Panorama City, where Reich was allegedly doing abortions without a license.
If convicted on the charges, Reich could face a maximum of four years and four months in prison. [26Feb08, Los Angeles, CA LifeNews.com]
FORENSIC REPORT INDICATES MANSLAUGHTER AT FL ABORTION SITE – BABY WAS BORN ALIVE. Results of a forensic pathologist's review of documents and slides related to the autopsy of a baby born alive during an abortion at a Hialeah clinic in 2006, reveal that non-medical workers may have committed manslaughter when they shoved the struggling baby girl into a biohazard bag and tossed her on the roof of the clinic to die.
Forensic pathologist Abdullah Fatteh inspected the available evidence, including the county autopsy report, microscopic slides prepared by the medical examiner, and other records.
Fatteh concluded that unlicensed worker Belkis Gonzalez performed the failed abortion, wherein the baby was born alive. He concluded that they cut the cord and improperly disposed of the baby's body. Abortionist Pierre Renelique was absent during the incident.
Fatteh stated, "The actions of unlicensed clinic staff probably accelerated and/or contributed to the death of the newborn … It is most likely that neglectful actions around the time of birth of newborn and prematurity were the significant factors that resulted in this newborn's death."
"These conclusions imply that Gonzalez could be held accountable for manslaughter in the premature death of baby Shanice," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger.
Gonzalez, who owned a group of abortion mills, including the Hialeah clinic, pled guilty to practicing medicine without a license at another abortion mill in Miramar, Florida, on December 20, 2007, and was given five years probation. Her associate, Senesis was also charged in the Miramar incident, and her case is still pending.
Gonzalez's lawyer, Robelto Osborne, a former abortionist who had his license revoked, was previously convicted of practicing medicine without a license, as was her receptionist, Joselin Colado, and her cleaning lady, Adrianne Rojas.
The criminal investigation against Gonzalez in the death of Baby Shanice is open and progressing.
"The only way to protect the public from these predatory illegal abortionists is to put them in jail," said Sullenger. [6Mar08, Hialeah, Fla., LifeSiteNews.com]
CONSCIENCE RIGHTS. 3-31-03 The ACOG Ethics Committee met on March 17,18, and considered our comments about Opinion #385.
On March 26, Dr. Noller, ACOG President, sent a letter to Fellows explaining that "the Opinion was not intended to be uses as a rule for ethical conduct which could be used to affect and individuals initial or continuing Fellowship in ACOG."
Additionally, he said one's "board certification is not determined or jeopardized by his or her adherence to this opinion." He referenced our not being required to do abortion procedures. He failed to even allude to the Opinion's mention of our being ethically bound to "refer for" abortion.
This omission concerns us significantly. Dr. Noller's letter states that "the Executive Committee has instructed the Committee on Ethics to hold a special meeting as soon as possible to reevaluate Committee Opinion #385." We have no idea what "as soon as possible" means, but we will keep you posted.
Other notable letters important to you and to AAPLOG:
Michael Leavitt, the Secretary of HHS, in a letter to the ABOG, expressed concern about the new Opinion #385, and the revised ABOG maintenance of certification requirements that tied recertification to fulfilling ACOG Ethics requirements.
The ABOG requirement says ""Fellows must adhere to ethical standards outlined by ACOG, and endorsed by ABOG." (AAPLOG is not exactly sure what that means. But if words have actual meaning, maybe it means what it says—that our eligibility for recertification is tied to ACOG ethics standards—which in normal-speak would mean opinion 385 unless pointedly stated otherwise by ACOG and ABOG).
Finally, Dr. Gant replies to Secretary Leavitt: "Please be assured the ABOG has taken no stand, pro or con, against individual physicians who choose to or choose not to perform abortions or to refer patients to abortion providers. Moreover, such an issue is not a consideration in the application or in the examinations.." dealing with recertification.
This seems to AAPLOG to be plain enough. However, what weight does the ABOG MOC STANDARD #1 carry?—that's the one about "must adhere to ethical standards outlined by ACOG." so there is a degree of lack of Clarity/doublespeak here that we will ask to be defined in a letter we will write to ABOG. And we also await "reevaluation" of opinion #385, as promised above. [31Mar08, Dr. Joe DeCook, for AAPLOG]
FDA ASKS MAKER OF RU 486 MIFEPRISTONE FOR SAFETY PLAN BY 9/08. The Food and Drug Administration has asked t
he makers of 25 drugs, including the dangerous abortion pill mifepristone (RU 486), to submit safety plans later this year.
The FDA published the list of drugs needing safety plans in the latest issue of the Federal Register and abortion drug maker Danco Laboratories is on the list.
The drug manufacturers must devise a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) plan and submit it to the agency by September 21. Those who don't comply by the deadline face "enforcement action," which could include monetary penalties from FDA officials.
According to the medical web site MedPage, amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act are requiring the safety plans. They enable the FDA to require plans from makers of new drugs just appearing on market or those with safety issues.
Jane Axelrad of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told the web site, the safety plans help patients and physicians know the dangers of a drug used improperly.
"These safety plans allow patients to have continued access to certain medicines for which there are safety concerns that can be managed through appropriate use," Axelrad said.
"The FDA approved the drugs identified today before the new law was passed, and they will now be brought under the new statutory authority to require and enforce REMS."
The RU 486 abortion drug has had significant safety issues since its initial approval at the tail end of the Clinton administration.
To this point, the RU 486 abortion drug has killed 13 women worldwide.
According to FDA reports as of December 2006, there have now been eight known deaths associated with mifepristone in the U.S., nine life-threatening incidents, 116 blood transfusions, and 232 hospitalizations.
In total, more than 1,100 women have had medical problems after using the drug as of that date.
The first victim of RU 486 was a Tennessee woman who died after using the abortion drug. She had an undetected ectopic pregnancy, and the drug is not supposed to be used in such situations.
Following her death, four California women died from using the abortion drug and the FDA announced last year that a Colorado woman had died as well.
Women have died from using the abortion drug in Canada, England, France and Sweden.
In January, Danco Laboratories announced that approximately 13 percent of all abortions in the United States involve mifepristone — a number that may seem low but it is double the number of women who used the abortion drug in 2001.
The report also showed that 57 percent of places that do abortions now have the abortion drug, compared with just 33 percent in 2001.
Danco said about 80 percent of facilities that only do abortions now have the Mifeprex abortion drug. It said the number of women using the abortion drug would increase as they opt for abortions earlier in pregnancy.
Ultimately, Danco indicated that 840,000 women in the United States have had abortions with its dangerous drug.
An FDA panel eventually investigated the deaths and found that the vaginal, rather than oral, use of the abortion drug was likely contributing to the deaths.
Planned Parenthood had been going against the FDA guidelines on using the abortion drug and changed its protocols to allow for oral use after women died at their facilities.
Danco Laboratories has been granted an exclusive license from the Population Council, a pro-abortion group, to manufacture, market and distribute Mifeprex in the United States. [30March2008, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, D.C.]
CHEMICAL ABORTION DURING FLIGHT SPECULATED. There are new developments in the investigation of a fetus found on a Continental Airlines flight. The Harris County Medical Examiner has determined that the baby was still stillborn.
A cleaning crew at Bush Intercontinental found the fetus in the bathroom of the plane Sunday evening. It was on a flight from New York's LaGuardia airport.
Houston police tell us detectives have located a girl who they believe might have delivered that fetus while on board that Continental aircraft.
A member of a cleaning crew discovered the fetus in a bag of trash in a bathroom last night onboard Continental flight 433. The plane landed at about 4:45pm Sunday at Bush airport. The worker found the fetus about an hour later while cleaning the plane. All passengers had already left……(cont'd online) PharmFacts E-News Update — 31 Mar 2008 AD #3;
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6050383; Houston, KTRK
PRO-LIFE REPS IN ECUADOR HARASSED FOR BREAKING OFFICIAL PARTY LINE. Ecuador’s ruling party Acuerdo Pais has launched an aggressive campaign to oust pro-life congresswomen Rossana Queirolo and Diana Acosta from the Constitutional Assembly that is drafting the country’s new constitution.
In recent weeks, Queirolo and Acosta have become the main voices in the Acuerda Pais party to speak out in defense of human life and the protection of marriage as a union between one man and one woman in the text of the new constitution. Since then, they have become the target of attacks from fellow party members, including Representative Betty Amores, who publicly called on the two to have the “decency” to resign for not sharing the official party position.
Queirolo responded that she was elected “by the people’s mandate and that she would not abandon her personal convictions. “I am keeping to my position regarding respect for life from conception to death,” she said.
Carlos Polo, director of the Latin American office of the Population Research Institute, called the actions “a grave attack on freedom of thought. A precedent like this only invalidates the very project of the new constitution. [President] Correa should realize that going down this road will mean losing the referendum on the final text of the new Constitution. If Correa is influenced by pro-abortion politicians, the ‘No’ vote on the referendum will be a majority.”
In response to the controversy, Acuerdo Pais published a statement promising to protect life from the moment of conception and to uphold marriage as the union between a man and a woman and to fight discrimination based on “sexual orientation.” [Quito, Apr 2, 2008, CNA]
MEDICAL BOARD DIRECTOR RESIGNS IN KS CORRUPTION SCANDAL. The Executive Director of the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, Larry Buening, resigned today amid increasing calls for his ouster. Buening tendered his resignation, effective July 1, at a special meeting of the Board that was called to address concerns of ineptitude in handling high profile cases. The Board has been rated as one of the worst in the nation for handling patient complaints.
KSBHA foot-dragging first came to light when a group accused the Board of covering up for criminal conduct by late-term abortionist George Tiller in the third-trimester abortion death of Christin Gilbe
rt.
Buening was questioned extensively by a joint legislative committee last fall for failing to enforce the Board’s own guidelines when it came to Tiller. He came under further scrutiny when it became public that the Board refused to act for four years to discipline the owner of a “pill mill” in Wichita, which was accused of misprescribing medication that resulted in over 50 deaths.
“As the people of Kansas become more aware of corrupt abortion politics, heads are beginning to roll. First, we had the resignation of former Attorney General Paul Morrison, who was exposed for attempting to use an illicit sexual relationship to illegally influence criminal cases against Tiller and Planned Parenthood. Now we have Buening’s resignation, who, more than anyone, has covered up for Tiller indiscretions over the years,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
“We believe this that this trail of corruption winds its way though the current Attorney General’s office, the Kansas Supreme Court, and ends at the governor’s office. As more of the corruption is exposed, we expect more resignations in the future,” said Newman.
There are currently two open complaints against Tiller on file with the KSBHA. One complaint filed in October, 2006, involved illegal late-term abortions and violations of the unaffiliated second physician requirement for post-viability abortions. Tiller has since been criminally charged with 19 counts of that same charge, but the Board, while saying their case is progressing, has yet to act. The second complaint involves a coerced, illegal late-term abortion. That complaint has yet to leave the “investigation” stage.
“We call on Buening’s replacement to be appointed by the Legislature rather than by the Gov. Sebelius, who is a radical abortion supporter, or we risk getting someone even worse,” said Newman.
[posted April 2nd, 2008, Wichita, http://www.operationrescue.org/?p=901]
NARAL DIRECTOR ADMITS ABORTION IS HARD FOR WOMEN, BUT HANGS UP WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHY. On 13February08, as reported by Abortion in Washington (AIW), NARAL Pro-Choice Washington (NPCW) announced the results of an investigation into Washington pharmacies not selling the "emergency" contraceptive Plan B ("morning after pill").
They presented their findings as a crisis because 10% of drug stores in the state chose NOT to provide the potentially embryo-destructive pharmaceutical. AIW spoke to NPCW's executive director, Karen Cooper, about their concerns.
"Retail Choice"
Ms. Cooper initially claimed that the goal of her campaign is simply to ensure all pharmacies obey the new Board of Pharmacy rules "which say that pharmacists must provide this drug to any patient who asks for it."
Ms. Cooper appeared to be unaware of the fact that this rule was no longer in effect due to an injunction from U.S. District Court Judge Leighton, on 8Nov2007, who declared it a violation of constitutional rights, and just reaffirmed last week. Such ignorance seems inexplicable since NPCW was involved in the appeal of the ruling.
Also, when pushed, Cooper admitted that their motives went beyond benign rule enforcement, since her group had actively lobbied for the creation of the unconstitutional rule in the first place. In fact, acting Governor Christine Gregoire appointed a former NPCW board member, Vandana Slatter, to the Board of Pharmacy last Fall prior to the finalization of the new rule.
Some have argued that it is hypocritical for an organization calling itself "Pro-Choice Washington" to be actively trying to coerce pharmacists to sell items that conflict with their beliefs, to take away their freedom to choose. Cooper decribed such views as "ridiculous".
"We don't see that as a contradiction at all. There's no analogy there whatsoever. One is a personal choice, the other is a retail choice." She declined to elaborate on the philosophical and historical underpinnings of this distinction.
Cooper said frictionless access to emergency contraception was such an important cause for them "because of the importance of reducing the rate of unintended pregnancies". But what interest does an abortion organization have in reducing the number of unintended pregnancies? Cooper laughed loudly (and somewhat nervously) at the question.
While hearing the question repeated, Cooper interrupted after the word 'abortion': "Listen, thei isn't an abortion pill, it's a birth control pill", she asserted authoritatively. She repeated the point for emphasis, clearly irritated at this stage.
When asked if the medication works sometimes by preventing implantation of a human embryo, as stated for example by Dr. Bruce Carlson in "Human Embryology and Developmental Biology", Cooper claimed that "nobody knows", sounding decidedly less authoritative. "It might work that way," she admitted when pushed.
"Abortion is a Very Hard Thing For Women"
Returning to the previous question, AIW pressed for an answer to why an abortion group would be so determined to prevent unplanned pregnancies to the point that it would try to take away choices from pharmacists in the process — especially for a group which believes abortion should be legal through all nine months of pregnancy, by any procedure, for any reason, at any age, without delay, at taxpayers' expense, and without apology.
This was met with a long silence, followed by a nervous confession that "abortion is a very hard thing for women emotionally", quickly adding "a very hard decision".
Repeatedly during the interview Cooper tried to end the phone call insisting that there were people waiting for her in a meeting. It was clear these were not questions she was keen on answering. Early in the interview she became hostile and argumentative. After responding to this last question, clearly uncomfortable, she hung up.
As a result, were were unable to discover what it is about abortion that makes it such a difficult decision for women. If it's just the removal of a blob of tissue, why should it be so hard?
Unanswered Questions
We were also unable to ask her what data NARAL is relying on in its unstated but fundamental assumption that emergency contraception reduces the rate of unplanned pregnancies.
In a study published January 2007 in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, a review of 23 studies discovered that there hasn't been a single study anywhere in the world showing a correlation between availability or use of emergency contraception and reduced pregnancy or abortion rates.
Indeed, as reported here, Planned Parenthood of Weste
rm Washington has gone from selling 0 EC kits per year to selling a staggering 120,000, but during this time the number of abortions performed by them has risen 11% per year.
We would have liked to have asked Ms. Cooper if she was completely unaware of all scholarship on this matter, or if rather her organization was being abjectly dishonest. (For more on PP of WW see our archive of articles.)
Finally, if these Plan B pills don't reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy and may even increase it, and if this group actually considers abortion as morally inconsequential as a tonsillectomy, what is their true motivation in this campaign?
More importantly, if Karen Cooper and NARAL acknowledge that abortion is a very difficult event for women, why is this the first we've ever heard this admission from them?
What makes it so difficult?
Why have they never mentioned any of the specific difficulties involved?
Why can't one find anything about this on their website?
And why do they oppose every single possible regulation designed to protect women at such a vulnerable and difficult time from making the wrong decision?
[ed. And why do they oppose abstinence training for teens to protect them 100% of the time from unplanned pregnancy so that they would never have to make such a "hard" decision in the first place?]
[25Feb08. J. Boledow, Abortion In Washington (AIW); http://abortionstate.blogspot.com/2008/02/naral-director-admits-abortion-is-hard.html]
EXPELLED MOVIE EXPOSES PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S PRO-ABORTION M.O. A surprising character makes a cameo appearance in Ben Stein's new movie, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed."
It's Margaret Sanger, the matriarch of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion operation.
Stein notes that Sanger was a proponent of eugenics, the pseudo-science which involves trying to create a master race of human beings through breeding.
The implication in the film is that Darwinism leads to eugenics which leads to abortion and euthanasia.
The public relations machine at Planned Parenthood must not be happy about what's happening at the local Cineplex.
In essence, "Expelled" blows Sanger's cover as a benevolent birth control promoter. Instead, she is portrayed as one of the founding mothers of an ideology that treats human beings as animals and readily dismisses the sanctity of human life.
But what Ben Stein reveals on the Sanger front is really nothing new.
In her book, Margaret Sanger's Eugenic Legacy, author Angela Franks debunked the myth that Sanger was a minor player in the eugenics controversy.
Franks wrote, "Without her, eugenics itself would have become the sideshow, largely limited to the self-important musings and designs of academic societies and conferences." According to Franks, Sanger "brought an expansion of eugenics as an activist movement that was breathtaking."
It is obvious that promoters of eugenics follow a philosophy which fails to acknowledge the inherent value of all people, including those with physical and mental disabilities. But there is also a sinister link between eugenics and racism.
In her book, Franks said of Sanger, "Even if she did not attack racial minorities because of their race, her eugenic efforts nonetheless threatened them disproportionately."
Even today, nearly 130 years after Sanger's birth, black women are disproportionately affected by abortion, with black women more likely to have pregnancies ending in abortion than white women are.
The problem has become so pronounced that some black leaders, such as Pastor Clenard Childress of the organization known as L.E.A.R.N., refer to the abortions of African-Americans as a black genocide.
My guess is that Ben Stein will not win any Academy Awards by outing Margaret Sanger. But he has added some fresh insights to the marketplace of ideas. The monotone teacher from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" may just have something new to teach us all — especially when it comes to the root causes of the culture of death.
[21April08, Maria Vitale, LifeNews.com; Note: Maria Vitale is a LifeNews.com Opinion Columnist and the Education Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. Vitale has written and reported for various broadcast and print media outlets, including National Public Radio, CBS Radio, and AP Radio.]
CONTROVERSIAL COUNCIL OF EUROPE DECISION. In a move that took even member nations by surprise, the Council of Europe has passed a resolution of "unconditional" support for abortion. The body, which shapes policies that are often adopted by the European Union (EU), dealt a painful blow to global pro-life efforts.
In a rushed move, the group's Parliamentary Assembly allowed just three minutes of discussion on the abortion issue, then proceeded to vote with only 185 of the 316 members present. The few amendments that pro-lifers scrambled to introduce to water down the language were rejected.
The Council declared a "right to unlimited legal abortion" by a 33-vote margin. Although the Council of Europe doesn't create policy, it does influence it, which makes this decision significant as the EU's clout increases. If there's a silver lining, it's that the vote isn't "legally binding."
However, it sends a disturbing message about the Council's utter disregard for the sanctity of human life. As Patrick Buckley of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said, "Nothing in the European Convention on Human Rights recognizes a right to abortion. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the issue of when the right to life begins is a question to be decided at the national level."
Clearly, the Council is vastly overstepping its bounds. "We urge member nations to denounce the declaration and call for an honest debate."
[FRC, 19Apr08; Council of Europe Declares Unlimited Abortion an Unconditional Right for all of Europe — http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041611.html?CFID=1311249&CFTOKEN=73b3fd49eb451b94-780470CD-A787-DE91-CAA3FE56063905EE
ABORTION NUMBERS DROP IN ITALY. Italy is seeing abortions drop as more physicians decline to do abortions and prefer to see women keep their baby and carry the pregnancy to term. A new report indicates as many as 70 percent of all doctors in Italy wont do abortions, which has helped the abortion figures drop three percent.
The new report from the nation's ministry of health finds about 59 percent of doctors refused to do abortions in 2003 and, as of last year, the figure rose to just over 69 percent.
At the same time, the number of anesthesiologist refusing to take part in abortio
ns rose from 45.7 percent to 50.4 percent.
"In the south, this increase is even more pronounced and in certain areas the rate has almost doubled," the report says, according to an AFP article.
The French Press Agency said the report finds that in Naples and Sicily the number of doctors refusing to do abortions jumps to well over 80 percent.
The decision by medical professionals to refuse to take part in abortions has helped the abortion total drop from 131,018 in 2006 to 127,038 in 2007.
Abortions in Italy have been declining, dropping from 234,801 abortions in 1982 to 136,715 in 2004, but pro-life advocates would like to drive that number down even further.
Italy's abortion law allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in certain cases but it also requires doctors to do all they can to save the life of a baby who survives a botched abortion attempt. [22April08, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, Rome, Italy]
AMERICA'S LARGEST ABORTION CHAIN EXPANDING: Planned Parenthood Nearly Doubles Medication Abortion Sites. Jim Sedlak [VP, American Life League]: "In our latest survey of Planned Parenthood's affiliates and their services, we have uncovered the fact that the organization has greatly increased the number of facilities that commit abortion."
Marie Hahnenberg [researcher, director of ALL Map Room Project]: "Planned Parenthood has a total of 855 sites across the country. We now know that 287 are surgical and medical abortion centers. That marks an increase of 55 abortion locations over the previous year."
It is noteworthy that Planned Parenthood has nearly doubled the number of medication abortion-only facilities that distribute the abortion drugs mifepristone (RU 486, mifeprex) and methotrexate, both of which result in the killing of the preborn baby.
The new survey shows 108 locations offer medication abortions, an increase of 48 over the previous survey.
Sedlak: "Since the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases decriminalized abortion in 1973, there have been an estimated 4,000,000 babies killed at Planned Parenthood facilities alone and the number continues to rise." [Feb-March 2008, ALL News; www.all.org/stopp/maps]
Planned Parenthood: Annual Budget May Soon Surpass $1 Billion; More Preborn Children Killed. "If the current trend continues, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. (PPFA) will command a budget of more than $1 billion in three years," warned Douglas R. Scott, Jr., president of Life Decisions International (LDI), in 2006. But PPFA's Annual Report for 2006-2007 shows that Scott was two years off the mark.
"Planned Parenthood surpassed the $1 billion mark in the very fiscal year immediately following my 2006 comment," Scott said. "This is shocking and more than a little frightening."
PPFA generated $1.0179 billion in Fiscal Year 2006- 2007, which is an increase of nearly 11 percent over the previous reporting period. In Fiscal Year 2005- 2006, PPFA's budget rose just 2.4 percent over the previous Fiscal Year. One year earlier (2004-2005) that figure was 8.4 percent.
PPFA's massive budget has skyrocketed in part due to a $31.4 million increase in the amount the abortion- committing goliath gets from American taxpayers.
In Fiscal Year 2005-2006, government funding increased by nearly 10.8 percent.
In Fiscal Year 2006- 2007, taxpayers gave another 10.3 percent, bringing the one year total to $336.7 million.
The most recent figures show that 33.1 percent of PPFA's annual revenue comes from taxpayers.
In Fiscal Year 2005- 2006 that figure was 33.8 percent.
"This 'not-for-profit' behemoth ends every fiscal year with millions of dollars in 'excess revenue over expenses,'" Scott said, "which is known to regular people as 'profit.'" The 'excess' for 2004-2005 alone was $63 million. In 2005-2006 alone, the excess was $55.8 million. In 2006-2007 alone, the amount was a staggering $114.8 million.
On June 30, 2007, PPFA had net assets valued at $951.8 million, of which $383.1 million was unrestricted and another $160.0 million was temporarily restricted. "This is essentially a savings account," Scott explained. "The money is sitting in a bank and drawing interest that will further advance Planned Parenthood's deadly agenda. Despite these huge sums, the corporation's hierarchy incessantly claims to need more and more tax dollars," Scott said.
The most proficient abortion machine in the United States, PPFA admits to killing 289,750 preborn human beings in 2006 alone (up nearly 9.4 percent from 2005), generating an estimated $125 million. A scant 2,410 Planned Parenthood customers were referred to adoption agencies.
PPFA claims to prevent the "need" for abortion while simultaneously working to increase its share of the abortion market. In 1984, PPFA committed just over 5.5 percent of all abortions in the United States. By 2004 that figure had risen to nearly 20 percent. And its share of the lucrative market continues to increase.
PPFA sold 1,436,846 "emergency" birth control kits in 2006 (nearly 18.0 percent more than in 2005). Every PPFA "clinic" dispenses "emergency" birth control. Most prescribe it over the phone and accept orders over the Internet, without an exam. In the vast majority of cases, "emergency" birth control causes an abortion, but Planned Parenthood wrongly and intentionally claims the drugs are "contraception."
"Some of my colleagues are claiming victory over Planned Parenthood because a few of its local facilities have closed," Scott said. "But the number of affiliates and local 'clinics' has changed very little over the past several years. What we are seeing is merely a calculated reorganization."
"While it is possible for two people to look at the same statistics and come to different conclusions, I just don't see how anyone could reasonably conclude that the Pro-Life Movement is winning against Planned Parenthood," Scott said. "I understand the desire to give pro-life Americans a reason to celebrate–a reason to think positive, but I don't think we should put a positive spin on such devastating statistics. Doing so only serves to mislead and give a false sense of success." Scott called on pro-life/pro-family leaders to give their fellow pro-life advocates the truth and remind them that "we are called to be faithful, even when doing so is difficult."
"Nobody would like to be able to say we are putting Planned Parenthood out of business more than me, but we need to acknowledge that we are failing– miserably. But this does not mean a successful strategy does not exist."
"If the Pro-Life Movement is ever going to offering a serious challenge to Planned Parenthood's deadly agenda, we need to come together in mind and spirit," Scott said. "It's time we jo
ined in prayer because we need God's help in developing a strategy that will have the kind of impact that is needed. I have faith that God will lead, but we need to actively seek Him and be open to His call. It is also time we joined in deed to advance a new strategy."
An affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), PPFA describes itself as the world's oldest and largest "reproductive health care" business. Founded in 1916 by elitist and eugenics advocate Margaret Higgins Sanger, it began as the nation's first birth control facility.
PPFA argues that "everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child…" It pushes for laws and constitutional amendments that guarantee "reproductive freedom," a phrase encompassing unlimited birth control and abortion for everyone, no matter how young.
LDI will publish an analysis of PPFA's Annual Report in the March-April 2008 edition of its newsletter, The Caleb Report, which should be released within the next 15 days.
Life Decisions International (LDI) is dedicated to challenging the Culture of Death, concentrating on exposing and fighting the agenda of Planned Parenthood. LDI's chief project is a boycott of corporations that fund the abortion-committing giant. To learn more about Planned Parenthood, please visit: www.fightpp.org/show.cfm?page=wrong [31March08, Christian Newswire, FRONT ROYAL, VA; PharmFacts E-news Update, 31Mar08]