British Woman's Suicide Part of a Dangerous Trend of Unwanted Abortions and Post-Abortion Trauma

New Resources for Men Who Have Been Involved In Abortion

Hotline Founded After Woman's Post-Abortion Suicide, Now Directs Callers to Abortions

China Denies Plan to Scrap One-Child Policy

Kansas Judge Approves Planned Parenthood's Method of Giving Abortion Records

Ohio Judge's Order Keeping Dayton Abortion Center Open Causes Pro-Life Stir

World's Shortest Mom Rejects Abortion to Give Birth to Healthy Baby

Committee Approves HIV/AIDS Relief Bill with Bipartisan Support

NEW! Scientists, Govt Ignore Abortion-Breast Cancer Link Leading Surgeon Says

NEW! Grand Jury Fails to Indict Kansas Planned Parenthood Abortion Center

NEW! Briefing on UN Activities Lobby Group Concerned that United Nations is Closing Session on Abortion Document

NEW! Illinois Bill would Remove Any/All Restrictions to Abortion, & Eliminate Right of Conscience for Medical Personnel

NEW! Pro-Life Pharmacists Under Attack in Wisconsin

NEW! Court Halts Enforcement of Illinois Parental Notification Law

NEW! Ohio Officials Allow Dayton Abortion Center to Stay Open After Physician Support Promised

NEW! No Abortions by Nurse Practitioners: Arizona Planned Parenthood Nurse Wanted State to Allow Her to Do Abortions

NEW! Second Pathology Report May Point To Manslaughter At Hialeah Abortion Business

NEW!  U.S. Senate Votes Against Helping Pregnant Women

NEW!  Second National 40 Days for Life Campaign Ends

NEW!   Royal College Warns: Abortions Can Lead to Mental Illness

NEW! Late-Term KS Abortionist Tiller Admits Criminal Activity in Undercover Video

NEW! Human Remains Found in Dumpster of Abortion Business / Dumpster Search at Abortion Business Yields Find

NEW! Abortion Practitioner Gives Up License Permanently After Botched Abortion

NEW!  ACOG to Review Their Policy Stating that OBGYNs Should Refer for Abortions

NEW! MT Victory for Pharmacist First Amendment Conscience Rights

NEW! New York Pro-Abortion Bill Is Still on the Table Under New Governor 

NEW! Judge Rejects Lawsuit Seeking to Overturn Federal Right of Conscience for Doctors Weldon Amendment

Undercover Investigation Reveals Racism / African-American Pro-Life Advocate Questions Black Leaders on Abortion Racism....

BRITISH WOMAN'S SUICIDE IS PART OF A DANGEROUS TREND OF UNWANTED ABORTIONS & POST-ABORTION TRAUMA. The recent suicide of a British woman who had undergone an abortion points to the urgent need to raise awareness of the problem of unwanted abortions and post-abortion trauma.

The London Daily Mail reported that an inquest was held on the death of Emma Beck, a 30-year-old artist who underwent an abortion in September 2006.

Her mother told the court that her daughter, who had been pregnant with twins, had not wanted to abort but that Beck's boyfriend had not wanted the pregnancy.

Beck's doctor said that she had been "extremely vulnerable" prior to the abortion and had missed or cancelled two appointments for the abortion.

However, the hospital where the abortion was performed said that Beck had received adequate counseling, even though the regular counselor was away on vacation and the doctor who performed the abortion wrote on a form that Beck was living alone and had no support. The court heard that Beck had made "numerous cries for help" after the abortion and had made a previous suicide attempt the month before her death. She died in February 2007.

In a suicide note quoted by the Daily Mail, Beck wrote: "Living is hell for me. I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum. I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the hospital. ... I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies - they need me; no one else does."

Her story echoes that of other women who said they were in despair and suicidal after their abortions, many of which were coerced or unwanted. Judith, quoted in Hope and Healing, writes:

"My doctor said the baby-at six-and-a-half weeks-was 'just a blob,' and I believed him. Afterwards, before I even got home, I began to cry. It didn't help. When finally I stopped crying on the outside, I kept crying on the inside. … I felt cheated, betrayed, and manipulated. I went to counseling and the psychologist said 'Forgive yourself,' and 'Let yourself go on.' She didn't say how."

Another woman, Janet, a police officer, writes of trying to shoot herself after her abortion:
"With quiet deliberation, I took my handgun from under my pillow. I chambered a round, walked into my living room, sat in a chair, put the gun to my head and pulled the trigger. ... To this day, I cannot think why the gun did not fire … I find it amazing in retrospect, how we can function so well in front of others, while suffering like that."

Research Links Abortion to Coercion, Suicide

In one survey of U.S. and Russian women who underwent abortions, 60 percent of the American women said they "felt like part of me died" after having an abortion and 36 percent had thoughts of suicide. 64 percent said they felt pressured by others to abort and more than 50 percent said they felt rushed or uncertain about having an abortion. However, 84 percent said they did not receive adequate counseling and 79 percent said they were not given any information about alternatives to abortion.1

Record-based studies of women in Finland and the U.S. found that women who had abortions were more likely to commit suicide than women who carried the pregnancy to term. In Finland, aborting women were six times more likely to commit suicide in the following year than delivering women,2 while a U.S. study that looked at outcomes for up to eight years after the pregnancy found that women who had abortions had a 154 percent higher risk of suicide than women who had giving birth.3

For more information on suicide and abortion, visit http://www.unfairchoice.info/suicide.htm.

~~~
Citations

1. VM Rue et. al., "Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women," Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16, 2004.

2. M. Gissler, "Injury deaths, suicides and homicides associated with pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000," European J. Public Health 15(5):459-63, 2005.

3. DC Reardon et. al., "Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome: A Record Linkage Study of Low Income Women," Southern Medical Journal 95(8):834-41, Aug. 2002.
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British Woman Committed Suicide After Abortion of Twins Over Extreme Grief. A British court held a hearing yesterday on a case of a young 30-year-old woman who committed suicide after the abortion of her twin babies.

Emma Beck left a suicide note and said she faced such an intense period of grief afterwards and regret over the deaths of the babies, that she killed herself "to be with them".

"The court heard testimony that Beck asked doctors for help prior to the abortion but that no one was able to meet with her and they gave her the number of a counseling service. Officials went ahead with the abortion even though she said beforehand that she had second thoughts.

Weeks later, following the abortion, she hung herself at her home.

According to the London Daily Mail newspaper, the note she left read:

"I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum. I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies - they need me, no-one else does."

The Daily Mail reported that Sylvia Beck, Emma's mother, told the court that Emma was never given a chance to see a counselor and only had the abortion because her boyfriend didn't support having the babies.

"I want to know why she was not given the opportunity to see a counselor," she said. "She was only going ahead with the abortion because Ben did not want the twins."

"I believe this is what led Emma to take her own life," Beck added. "Because she could not live with what she had done."

News of the suicide comes weeks after a new study [http://www.lifenews.com/nat3730.html] published in the journal BMC Psychiatry which found that women who have abortions typically experience high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study appeared in the July 2007 issue of the professional psychological publication but it only received publicity recently.

The research involved 155 women from South Africa who had abortions and were evaluated one month and three months afterwards.

Approximately 20 percent of the women had post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms just one month later. The results led the authors to note that "high rates of PTSD characterize women who have undergone voluntary pregnancy termination.
[21Feb08, http://www.lifenews.com/int626.html;  Ertelt, LifeNews.com London, England]

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Silence No More: Doing Emma Beck's memory justice

She didn’t have to die. And neither did her unborn children. Over the weekend, London newspapers reported on the 2007 suicide of 30-year-old Emma Beck, a young British artist who hung herself after the abortion of her twin babies. Perhaps the retelling of her suffering can prevent more needless deaths.

The agony and loneliness in Emma Beck’s suicide note resonate across the pond, across racial and class lines, across generations. She was distraught over a breakup with her boyfriend, who didn’t want the children. She was suffering intense grief from her decision to end the lives inside her. And so she ended her own.

“I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum,” Beck wrote. “I told everyone I didn’t want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies — they need me, no one else does.”

Beck’s family blames the medical establishment. The judicial system, as is so often the case, has become a coping mechanism. A British court recently held a hearing on Beck’s suicide. Beck’s mother revealed that her daughter “was not given the opportunity to see a counselor.”

When a professional “counselor” can’t be found, isn’t that what mothers are for?

But it’s not just jaded abortion providers and medical assistants, AWOL counselors, and MIA parents who need to look in the mirror. We have tolerated a culture of callousness and nurtured an entitlement to convenience for decades. Feminists shush women with post-abortion regrets. Population-control zealots and Planned Parenthood drum it into the heads of young women around the world: “The fewer, the merrier” and “Why carry more burdens?” their T-shirts and bumper stickers proclaim.

Last fall, in Emma Beck’s homeland, the British press went gaga over an environmental nitwit who had an abortion and got her tubes tied to “protect the planet.” She told the London Daily Mail: “Every person who is born uses more food, more water, more land, more fossil fuels, more trees and produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of over-population.”

That came on the heels of a British think tank’s report on how children are bad for the environment. Said John Guillebaud, emeritus professor of family planning at University College London: “The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights. . . . The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.”

And who gets premium op-ed space in America’s newspaper of record to talk about abortion? Idiots like University of Iowa adjunct assistant writing professor Brian Goedde, who shared his festive thoughts surrounding the New Year’s Eve before his girlfriend’s abortion in an essay a few months ago in the New York Times. “The abortion is scheduled for two days from now, and we’re holing up,” he reminisced. “We do the dishes . . . brush our teeth, climb into bed and have unprotected sex. ‘I’m not going to get more pregnant,’ Emily says. I’ve never felt pleasure more guiltily.”

What you rarely hear are the voices telling you that such self-indulgence is wrong. What you rarely read are the stories of untold women (and men) around the world who know the vaunted choice they made was wrong and need help. What you rarely see are the studies showing that with abortion come lifelong costs and consequences — high levels of post-traumatic-stress disorder, depression, grief, ostracism, guilt, and, in at least one study in Finland, higher suicide rates.

Delivering that message here in the United States are preventive groups like the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which donates ultrasound equipment and training to open up a “window to the womb” for women in crisis pregnancies, and post-abortion-healing organizations like Silent No More. To combat abortion glorifiers, the Silent No More Awareness campaign makes the public aware that abortion is emotionally, physically, and spiritually harmful to women and others; reaches out to women who are hurting from an abortion and lets them know help is available; and invites women to join us in speaking the truth about abortion’s negative consequences.

What Emma Beck most needed to hear is the message abortion pushers most desperately want to drown out: You are not alone.

[February 27, 2008; Michelle Malkin is author of Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild;  National Review Online - http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTgwYzMzMWZjYjBjZmIzOWM1ZDE4YTgxNjQ1NDNhNmU=
Creators Syndicate]

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A Conspiracy of Silence
Dismissal of Post-Abortion Injustice, Trauma and Pain Leaves Many With No Place to Turn

Melinda Tankard Reist, Giving Sorrow Words

Conventional wisdom has it that abortion is mostly trouble-free. Because of this, those who are troubled are made-indeed, often forced to be-invisible.

Attitudes towards women overwhelmed by grief following abortion demonstrate a cruel indifference to women's pain. Their suffering is considered a figment of their imagination, a by-product of social/religious conditioning. In short, they are an embarrassment.

There is another constraint on their expression of grief. The politics surrounding abortion have drowned out the voices of women harmed by it.

How free are women to share their anguish when advocates extol abortion as "an act of individual self-determination," and a "rite of passage into womanhood," a "positive moral good" for women and "a source of fulfillment, transcendence, and growth"?

Women whose lives are shattered by the abortion experience and for whom abortion was not a "maturational milestone," women coerced or pressured into unwanted abortions, women who did not feel abortion made them a "mistress of their own destiny," are cast aside as oversensitive, psychologically unstable, victims of socially constructed guilt. Their experience is trivialized.

When an article I wrote about women's negative experiences of abortion appeared in The Canberra Times in 1997, a Family Planning figure hastily wrote in to dismiss post-abortion trauma. Similar reactions surfaced in a feminist e-mail discussion about my book that lasted several days.

The project was treated with contempt by all but two participants. Someone suggested a quick on-line collection of "stories of women not hurt by abortion" be compiled. This reaction unnecessarily pits women's differing stories against each other and, once again, suggests there is only one authentic experiential reality when it comes to abortion.

A woman's abortion pain is discounted and minimized due to the prevailing view that a termination is really no big deal  -an easy fix. Abortion is promoted by many who dominate the discourse on the subject as a procedure without repercussions. Because of this, attempts to discuss women's abortion suffering have been constrained.

Suffering post-aborted women feel a resentment towards a society which ignores or neglects their suffering. They are not allowed to acknowledge or mourn their loss openly. The disdain for women suffering after-abortion trauma sends the message: you're only upset because you've chosen to get upset. Herald Sun writer Evelyn Tsitas epitomizes this attitude: "Abortion can be an emotional subject-particularly for people who choose to get upset about it. There is a movement taking hold called: 'I'll always regret what I did and want to burn in hell for it.'"

This mocking response to women's abortion-related suffering makes them feel they're being melodramatic, oversensitive, attention-seeking. But many women are suffering emotionally from a procedure which was portrayed as emotionally benign. They are filled with feelings of self-loss, daily haunted by their abortion experience. "We live with that regret till the day we die and for some we were wishing we too were dead," wrote a woman who signed her name "Tortured."

These women might have been told "there is nothing there," or that their fetuses look like "scraps of paper" (the description given to one woman by an abortion counselor). But to them, these were flesh and blood babies; for them, a baby died in an abortion. "I do not think I terminated a 'bunch of cells' but a real human being," wrote Marguerite.

Their arms feel empty, they don't like looking at babies, they cry often. They ask: "What would my baby have looked like? Was it a boy or a girl?" Would-have-been birthdays are quietly marked year after year.

As Margaret Nicol points out in her important work on maternal grief, it is a myth that a mother only bonds with her child after birth. A woman never forgets a pregnancy and the baby that might have been. When the baby is lost and there are no memories or visible reminders of the baby, "the feeling of emptiness and nothingness becomes pervasive and it is this uneasy and anxious void that makes women wonder if they're going crazy."

The Silence

Beatrice, who underwent a second trimester abortion, describes what this feels like: "My grief will be unresolved because you cannot grieve the normal way, you can't repeat and repeat yourself. My husband and I never talk about the inner feelings ... although I'm sure he must think of it too. It's just taboo and you put it to the back of your mind ... the regret will always be there."

Katarina, a psychologist, wrote: "My sister has since had two stillbirths-as a family we have grieved and empathized with her and her husband's dreadful pain. Inside of me I felt cheated as no one had grieved with me for my two lost children-not even me. My sister's children died at the same time as both my losses-I felt responsible, guilty and so alone. When my mum says no one in the family has experienced pain like my sister my heart cries out silently-but I have."

E. Joanne Angelo, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine in the U.S., has written about the importance of the mourning process:

"Grief following a death in the family is a universally accepted experience. A period of mourning following the loss of a loved one is a normal expectation in every culture. It is also generally understood that if this mourning process is blocked or impacted, there will be negative consequences."

But there is no period of mourning for a woman suffering grief after an abortion. There are no grief teams, no body for her to cuddle and dress, no footprints or photographs to keep in an album, no ceremony, no grave on which to lay flowers; in short, nothing to acknowledge that this baby ever existed.

A grieving post-aborted woman faces a conspiracy of silence.

~~~
Excerpted from the book Giving Sorrow Words: Women's Stories of Grief After Abortion by Melinda Tankard Reist. Copyright 2007 Melinda Tankard Reist. For ordering information, visit http://www.unchoice.info or call 1-888-412-2676.
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New Resources for Men Who Have Been Involved In Abortion

While the movement to acknowledge, raise awareness, and provide help to women struggling after abortion has been steadily growing over the past few decades, there has been comparatively little focus on the experiences of men who have lost children to abortion. A number of web sites and other resources are now becoming available (there are other resources besides the ones listed below).

This fall, the first ever international conference on men and abortion, organized by the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, was held in San Francisco. The conference, called Reclaiming Fatherhood: A Multifaceted Examination of Men Dealing With Abortion, drew together researchers, counselors, and post-abortive men to present information on men's abortion experiences and to explore ways to help men heal after abortion.

Resources for Men

The conference organizers have put together a web site at www.menandabortion.info that includes research, articles, personal stories, information and healing resources for men. It also includes information for counselors and others who provide post-abortion help to men.

The Fatherhood Forever Foundation at www.fatherhoodforever.org/index.html is dedicated to helping men find healing and hope after abortion by creating awareness that abortion does have an impact on men and providing encouragement and resources to those seeking help.

The Men's Abortion Network at www.lifeissues.org/men/MAN/index.html is a network of researchers, counselors and others who promote healing and create awareness of men's abortion experiences. The site contains helpful articles and links to counseling resources. A speaker's bureau is also available.

Men who have been involved in an abortion are invited to participate on an ongoing research study about their experiences. To take part in this confidential survey, visit www.abortionresearch.net. Women, grandparents, and medical personnel who have been involved in abortion are also invited to participate in surveys.

Rachel's Vineyard post-abortion healing ministry has information for men on their web site at www.rachelsvineyard.org/men/index.htm. The group provides support for men struggling after abortion through weekend retreats and email support.

Each of these sites contains links to other sites and information on awareness, hope and healing for men.  Visit our Men and Abortion page at http://www.unfairchoice.info/men.htm. [Elliot Institute, vol. 7, no 3, 3Mar08]

HOTLINE FOUNDED AFTER WOMAN'S SUICIDE TO HELP, NOW DIRECTS CALLERS TO ABORTIONS. A crisis hotline established after a woman committed suicide following an abortion was meant to help women like her.

Now, the suicide prevention phone number is in the hands of a New York City agency that is using it to direct women in crisis pregnancy situations to abortion centers.

Reese Butler established the hotline after his wife Kristin, who suffered from bipolar and borderline personality disorders, committed suicide after she had an abortion. Her physician presented abortion as the only decision in a complicated pregnancy.

After tremendous grief following her death, Butler said he felt god leading him to establish the number for others in crisis. Using money from insurance and the sale of their home, the National Catholic Register says Butler set up 1-800-SUICIDE to help others.

The Kristin Brooks Hope Center owned and operated the number, which now receives as many as 500,000 calls annually without any advertising. However, the Register says Butler made the mistake of accepting a federal grant in 2001 to help promote the line, but the stipulation including giving ownership of the line to the Mental Health Association of New York City.

Now, the newspaper indicates, any pregnancy related calls -- about 10 percent of those received -- are routed solely to Planned Parenthood abortion centers. [28Feb08, LifeNews.com]

CHINA DENIES PLAN TO SCRAP THE ONE-CHILD POLICY: Report. China has denied that it is studying the abandonment of its decades-old one-child policy, local media reported on 2March08, days after an official said the country was considering incremental changes.

In an article headlined "News of abandoning the one-child policy is inconsistent with the facts," the Beijing News said China, the world's most populous nation, was sticking to its controversial system of family planning.

"This report is incorrect, its content is not verified," the newspaper citedthe National Population and Family Planning Commission's publicity and
education department as saying.

It was referring to remarks last week by Zhao Baige, vice minister of the
commission, that China could slowly change its one-child policy and that
family planning had "become a big issue among decision makers."

Since the late 1970s, China has restricted most families to one child,
though rules vary and families in the countryside are typically allowed to
have a second child if the first is a girl, because of a traditional
preference for boys.

China says the policies have prevented several hundred million births.
But experts have warned of looming problems from an ageing population and a
growing gender imbalance stemming from aborted or abandoned baby girls.
Many also say the increasing mobility of China's population make family
planning policies ever more difficult to enforce.

But the Beijing News report, which was also carried by the Yangcheng Evening
News, a state-run newspaper in the southern province of Guangdong, poured
cold water on the prospects for change.

"China will continue to pursue even better its population and family planning policy," the reports said.[2Mar 2, 2008; Beijing, Reuters; Reporting by Lindsay Beck; Editing by Sanjeev Miglanihttp://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK7480520080302?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true]

KS JUDGE APPROVES PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S METHOD OF GIVING ABORTION RECORDS. A Kansas judge has struck a deal with Planned Parenthood, over the objections of prosecutors, on how the abortion business will turn over information for a grand jury looking at possible illegal abortions.

Planned Parenthood will release censored information from subpoenaed abortion records, but not the records themselves.

The panel asked for abortion records to determine whether Planned Parenthood is violating state law at its Overland Park facility. It has been accused of not giving women information on abortion risks and alternatives and notifying parents when a minor girl is considering an abortion.

Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline has also filed 107 charges saying Planned Parenthood violated state limits on late-term abortions and falsified medical records related to them.

Judge Kevin Moriarty will take custody of the 16 abortion records the grand jury initially issued a subpoena for, and on which patient information has already been redacted.

He will compile the information into a spreadsheet members of the grand jury will be allowed to view in order to protect patient privacy. [1Mar08, LifeNews.com; Overland Park, KS]

OH JUDGE'S ORDER KEEPING DAYTON ABORTION CENTER OPEN CAUSES STIR. A judge's last-minute order allowing a Dayton abortion center to stay open has caused a stir among pro-life groups who say that the abortion business has been flouting state law.

The Women's Medical Center, operated by Martin Haskell, who invented the partial-birth abortion procedure, has been in trouble for years.

The abortion center has been violating a state law for not having arrangements with a local hospital to provide medical treatment for women who suffer from abortion complications.

As LifeNews.com reported on Thursday, Ohio Health Director Alvin Jackson revoked the abortion facility's license earlier this month.

However, WMC officials were able to persuade District Judge Algenon Marbley to issued a temporary restraining order stopping it the license revocation -- but not until two weeks after the health department's decision.

The order allows the abortion business to stay open until a court can resolve the issues surrounding its license. Judge Marbley will hold a hearing on March 7 or 8.

Judge Marbley claimed his decision was necessary because some of abortion center's customers are using the two-part abortion drug and need to return to the abortion facility for a followup.

Denise Mackura, an attorney from the Thomas More Law Center representing Dayton Right to Life, held a press conference on Friday to condemn the decision, calling it "an unbridled act of judicial tyranny."

“Haskell’s abortion center must be closed,” she told LifeNews.com.

She said Haskell has had a history of injuring women in abortions and that his failure to obtain the hospital transfer agreement continues to put women at risk.

“He performs late-term abortions and has had several cases of complications and injuries reported over the last few years. It is the health of our sisters, mothers and daughters that is at risk if Haskell is allowed to keep his abortion facility in operation," she said.

Mackura told LifeNews.com that the Thomas More Society is preparing a lawsuit to ask the courts to close the center if it continues to operate in violation of state laws.

“We have to wonder why this abortion business has been allowed to operate in violation of state law for so long and has not been held to the same standards as other medical facilities,” says Mackura. “If the state of Ohio does not act, we will."

The Women's Medical Center abortion facility has been in courts for years over it not having arrangements with a local hospital to provide medical treatment for women who suffer from abortion complications.

The Ohio Department of Health requires free-standing outpatient surgical facilities to designate emergency medical providers through a "hospital transfer agreement." Because no local hospital would agree to serve as the backup provider for Haskell's abortion facility, it can't comply with state law.

Haskell has worked out an arrangement with some individual physicians to provide the backup medical care, but Jackson determined that wouldn't comply with state requirements because they would not make their names publicly available.

"The reluctance of the group of physicians to make their commitment a matter of public record does not provide the same level of reliability and certainty as the prescribed written transfer agreement with a receiving hospital," Jackson wrote to Haskell's attorney, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Haskell attorney Alphonse Gerhardstein told the paper that the state health department's slowness in moving in the case, and letting the matter go for a year before revoking the license this month, shows there is no health danger to women.

Christi Dodson, executive director of Dayton Right To Life, says the abortion center should be shut down and that the existence of a supposed list of doctors willing to help women doesn't give women much confidence.

"They've remained unnamed and we don't know who they are," she said. "What we've always wondered is, do they exist?"

"Does he have no regard for the law — or for women's health, for that matter?" Dodson said. "Because that's what this is about."

Haskell’s abortion facility performs approximately 2,600 abortions annually. [1Mar08, LifeNews.com; 29Feb08, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, Dayton, OH]

SCIENTISTS, GOVERNMENT IGNORE ABORTION-BREAST CANCER LINK, LEADING SURGEON SAYS. A leading breast cancer surgeon has published an article in a top medical journal accusing scientists and the federal government of ignoring the well-established link between abortion and breast cancer.

Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a New Jersey based breast cancer expert, says politics is corrupting science.She presents her evidence in a new article in the March 2008 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Lanfranchi, a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center, provided shocking examples to show how federal officials have suppressed information concerning the breast cancer risks related to abortion.

"Informed patient consent for medical treatment is required by both law and medical ethics. Yet, both federal agencies and academicians are participating in the suppression of information about the heightened risk of breast cancer posed by oral contraceptives and induced abortion," she explained.

She said both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have "violated their mission statements" by refusing to acknowledge the abortion-breast cancer link.

Lanfranchi says the NCI "changes its website information frequently -- it was revised more than 20 times in the first 7 months of 2007." That hardly gives patients confidence in the information the government agency produces.

She pointed to "blatantly incorrect information" on the National Cancer Institute web site saying that estrogen levels decrease during pregnancy.

The surgeon says the opposite is true, which explains why early first full term pregnancy reduces breast cancer risk and premature birth before 32 weeks and abortion raises risk.

"In fact, pregnancy levels of estrogen increase by 2,000% by the end of the first trimester," the doctor explained. "These same biological facts of breast maturation also account for the increased risk of breast cancer due to induced abortion."

"Either the scientists at the NCI are unaware of this, or they are avoiding the biological explanation of why an early first full-term pregnancy reduces breast cancer risk."

The incorrect information was still present on the NCI web site as of last month.

Lanfranchi also pointed to a 2003 NCI workshop where scientists failed to admit the premature birth-breast cancer link is explained by the same hormonal changes that account for an abortion-breast cancer link.

While the workshop scientists claimed abortion does not increase breast cancer risk, she writes that most studies show the abortion-breast cancer link.

"The basic biological changes that occur during pregnancy account for the increase in breast cancer risk for both induced abortion and premature delivery shown in the preponderance of studies," she wrote.

In fact, Lanfranchi indicated that late-term abortions are particularly damaging to women.

"Until maturation is well underway after 32 weeks gestation, the longer a woman is pregnant before premature delivery or induced abortion, the higher her risk of breast cancer because her breasts have greater numbers of lobules where breast cancers start," she writes.

Lanfranchi cited Leslie Bernstein, an epidemiologist and NCI workshop leader, as an example of how the agency perpetuates the bias.

About the reduction in breast cancer risk that having a baby early in life affords, Bernstein recently told a cancer web site that, “I would never be a proponent of going around and telling them that having babies is the way to reduce your risk.”

Bernstein also said she didn't think abortion's link to breast cancer should be part of a discussion about whether abortion should be legal.

Lanfranchi cited errors in textbooks, the reluctance on the part of national breast cancer groups to acknowledge the pregnancy benefit and abortion risk, biased reporting to state legislative officials and other examples of bias from both scientists and NCI and NIH.

"There is an effort to suppress this information by federal agencies and those in academic medicine," Lanfranchi concludes.

"Without this information, women cannot make a fully informed choice about their method of fertility control or about whether to maintain an unplanned pregnancy," she writes. "Medical ethics demands that they be informed."
Related : Read Dr. Lanfranchi's article at http://www.jpands.org/vol13no1/lanfranchi.pdf
[3March08, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, DC]

GRAND JURY FAILS TO INDICT KS PLANNED PARENTHOOD ABORTION CENTER. A Johnson County grand jury has failed to issue an indictment against a Planned Parenthood abortion center near Kansas City. The verdict of "no true bill" comes after several allegations that the grand jury process had been distorted by a judge who sided with the abortion business in limiting the panel's access to abortion records.

Pedro Irigonegaray, a Planned Parenthood lawyer, applauded the grand jury's decision and claimed it exonerated Planned Parenthood, but pro-life groups say the legal process was distorted.

Mary Kay Culp, the director of Kansans for Life, told LifeNews.com she's not surprised the grand jury failed to indicted Planned Parenthood because the evidence needed to prove the abortion business flouted state law was withheld.

"It is hard to believe [their decision] is based on evidence, since the only evidence they saw is a spreadsheet of what Planned Parenthood, the object of the investigation, approved of them seeing," Culp said.

Culp also blamed Judge Moriatry for not wanting the grand jury to make a decision based on its original subpoena because of the way he bent over backwards to appease Planned Parenthood.

"Unfortunately, when it comes to grand juries, it does matter who the judge is and where his sympathies lie," Culp told LifeNews.com.

Last week, LifeNews.com reported on a deal Judge Kevin Moriarty struck with Planned Parenthood, over the objections of prosecutors, on how the abortion business would turn over information for the probe.

Planned Parenthood would release censored information from subpoenaed abortion records, but not the records themselves.

The panel asked for abortion records to determine whether Planned Parenthood is violating state law at its Overland Park facility.

The abortion business had been accused of not giving women information on abortion risks and alternatives and notifying parents when a minor girl is considering an abortion.

The grand jury's decision doesn't affect the status of charges Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline has filed against the abortion business. Kline has filed 107 charges saying Planned Parenthood violated state limits on late-term abortions and falsified medical records related to them.

Also last week, Kline filed a motion saying the 15-member jury couldn't do its job because Planned Parenthood was refusing to comply with a January subpoena. [3March08, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, Overland Park, KS]
Tainted Grand Jury Disbands Without Indicting Planned Parenthood
Refusal to fully investigate is a slap in the face to the 6,400 voters who requested the investigation of illegal abortions and other crimes. A citizen-called grand jury that was empanelled to investigate a Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas, on seven allegations of criminal misconduct disbanded late Monday without issuing an indictment after unanimously withdrawing the only subpoena they issued in the so-called investigation.

The proceedings were tainted by misconduct on the parts of the Judge Kevin Moriarty and special prosecutors, that included improper backroom deals cut with Planned Parenthood attorneys that denied critical evidence to the grand jury as a whole. The secrecy of the grand jury was compromised at every turn.

"The people of Johnson County should be offended that the grand jury made such a mockery of this investigation," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "There is no way that they could have possibly investigated all seven allegations that the voters empanelled them to investigate without inspecting any documents from Planned Parenthood."

"It's shocking that Planned Parenthood was allowed to direct their own investigation and dictate to the grand jury what evidence would be provided, and even how they would be allowed to view the evidence," said Newman. "The entire process was corrupted, and Judge Moriarty is responsible for that corruption. We are considering the possibility of filing ethics charges against him."

Moriarty refused to allow members of the grand jury to inspect 16 subpoenaed abortion records that had already had all patient-identifying information redacted, citing bogus privacy concerns. Instead, he personally took custody of the records and prepared a "spreadsheet" summary of information in the records. The grand jury was not allowed to view the evidence in context.

The L.I.F.E. Coalition, consisting of Operation Rescue, Concerned Women for America, and Women Influencing the Nation, led the petition process that convened the grand jury. The petition requested an investigation of Planned Parenthood for performing illegal late term abortions, failure to report child sex abuse, failure to provide legally mandated standard of care, filing false information with the state, illegal trafficking of fetal tissue, failure to comply with parental consent requirements, and the failure to enforce the required 24-hour waiting period.

"There's no way the public can take the conclusion of this grand jury seriously. We are considering our legal options to insure that true justice is done," said Newman.

Planned Parenthood still faces 107 criminal charges filed by the District Attorney's office in October of last year. [OLATHE, KS, March 4 /Christian Newswire; PharmFacts E-News Update -- 4 Mar 2008]



BRIEFING ON UN ACTIVITIES: February 25th-29th: 52nd Commission on the Status of Women. The UN headquarters in New York was flooded with delegates and NGO representative for the opening of the 52nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The website of the Division for the Advancement of Women defines the mandate of the CSW as followed:

"Following the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, the General Assembly mandated the Commission to integrate into its programme a follow-up process to the Conference, regularly reviewing the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action and to develop its catalytic role in mainstreaming a gender perspective in United Nations activities. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) again modified the Commission's terms of reference in 1996, in its resolution 1996/6, to include, inter alia, identifying emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting equality between women and men." (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/index.html).
The CSW is one of the crucial lobbying opportunities for pro-life, pro-family organizations.

This year, the two week event is centered on Financing for Gender Equality end the Empowerment of Women. Financing family planning and abortion, as opposed to allocating resources to far more needed basic services for women, has some severe social repercussions. This year's theme provided an opportunity to emphasize the real health needs of women as well as the negative financial impact of abortions on families and nations.

In his opening statement last Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stated "Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist. No country, no culture, no woman young or old is immune to this scourge." Pro-life pro-family lobbyists hoped that the declaration of the Secretary General would help place the issue of sex selective abortion at the center of discussions.

Last week, representatives from various pro-life, pro-family organizations, including a representative from Campaign Life Coalition, attempted to highlight the financial impacts of sex selective abortion and abortion in general. With the help of young women from the Overbrook Academy in Rhode Island, they distributed flyers and spoke to delegates about the potentially dramatic consequences of a nation killing its daughters.

Delegates were asked to imagine what would happen to a country 20 years down the road if its citizens engaged in the practice of sex selective abortion. The lack of young woman would mean a lack of future wives and mothers which may lead to trafficking and to many other devastating societal problems. Other topics discussed during the week included the effects of an "abortion-first" agenda and financing for the real health needs of women and girls.

Very few delegations took a firm stand on sexual and reproductive rights. However, as reported by Samantha Singson of Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), observers were shocked when the missions of Poland and Malta, opposed the mainstream European Union position. In C-FAM's latest Friday Fax, Miss Singson stated that "The split in the European Union is significant because the EU hardly ever splits on questions of social policy at the UN" (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022807.html).

In his statement, Ambassador Saviour F. Borg said, "Malta firmly continues to maintain that any position taken or recommendations made regarding women's empowerment and gender equality should not in any way create an obligation on any party to consider abortion as a legitimate form of reproductive health rights, services or commodities."

This dissent from the EU's position is important because it demonstrates to developing countries, some of which are often pressured to liberalize their views on family planning and abortion in order to receive funding, that they do not have to compromise on issues related to life and the family.

Pro-life pro-family lobbyists also encouraged delegations to include supportive pro-life, pro-family language in the agreed upon conclusion, a document which will be adopted at the close of the session next Friday. Country delegations started to negotiate the current version of the document late last week (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw52/Draft%20Agreed%20conclusions%2012Feb08.pdf ). More details will be provided on the outcome of the Commission next week. [3March08, New York, LifeSiteNews.com]




LOBBY GROUP CONCERNED THAT UN IS CLOSING SESSION ON ABORTION DOCUMENT. A pro-life organization that lobbies at the United Nations is concerned the international agency is closing off non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from participating in discussions on a new document that could affect abortion.

The United Nations announced Monday that all negotiating sessions on the draft document to come out of the 2008 Commission on the Status of Women would be closed to NGOs.

Closed sessions are not unusual as the negotiations heat up towards the end, but closing sessions at the beginning of the drafting process is unprecedented.

Dr. Janice Crouse, a Concerned Women for America spokeswoman, told LifeNews.com, "This lack of openness is creating a storm of protest" from pro-life NGOs worried about the UN using the meeting to advance abortion.

"The ruling has caused NGOs to think that the U.N. is railroading pet programs through the sessions," she lamented.

The decision could make it hard for pro-life advocates to assist representatives of smaller pro-life nations in opposing a pro-abortion agenda brought by better-financed, pro-abortion nations in leadership positions.

"NGOs have traditionally provided language for the delegates and briefed them on the ramifications of the various aspects of the draft document for the constituencies that the delegates represent," Crouse explained.

"Delegates tend to be political appointees who serve briefly, while the NGOs are long-term activists supporting specific issues and have institutional memory and are experts on previous U.N. agreements and documents," she added.

Ultimately, Crouse said that, without NGO input, the agreements will represent pro-abortion UN positions without any counterbalance from pro-life groups. As a result, pro-abortion NGOs shut out of the process will have little to complain about.
[3March08, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, Washington, DC]

OHIO OFFICIALS ALLOW DAYTON ABORTION CENTER TO STAY OPEN - they have backed off their efforts to close down a Dayton abortion center that failed to protect women who are victims of botched abortions. The Women's Medical Center of Dayton is not following state law by having a relationship with a local hospital to provide emergency care when women are seriously injured by an abortion.

A judge's last-minute order at the end of last month allowed the abortion business to stay open even though Ohio Health Director Alvin Jackson revoked the abortion facility's license weeks prior.

On Tuesday, Jackson granted the abortion business a variance after it named three physicians at Miami Valley Hospital who have agreed to admit patients injured by abortions.

The abortion center, operated by Martin Haskell, who invented the partial-birth abortion procedure, has been running afoul of the law for years because no hospital would agree to support it.

But the Dayton Daily News indicated Jackson sent the abortion business a letter saying it accepts the hospital's contention that it would accept patients from the abortion center even if none of the three physicians, Larry Amesse, Sheela Barhan and Jan Duke, are available.

"We felt this was a good enough procedure to ensure continuity of care," state health department spokesman Jay Carey told the News. "They've met the requirement."

But Christi Dodson, executive director of Dayton Right To Life, told the newspaper she is concerned about the decision.

"I'm extremely disappointed that he (Jackson) didn't follow through (with the revocation). I still have grave concerns for women who go into that facility," she said.

Had the issue not been resolved, District Judge Algenon Marbley, who issued a restraining order allowing the Women's Medical Center of Dayton to stay open, had planned for a hearing on Friday.

Denise Mackura, an attorney from the Thomas More Law Center representing Dayton Right to Life, previously talked with LifeNews.com about the situation.

“Haskell’s abortion center must be closed,” she told LifeNews.com.

She said Haskell has had a history of injuring women in abortions and that his failure to obtain the hospital transfer agreement continues to put women at risk.

“He performs late-term abortions and has had several cases of complications and injuries reported over the last few years. It is the health of our sisters, mothers and daughters that is at risk if Haskell is allowed to keep his abortion facility in operation," she said.

Mackura told LifeNews.com that the Thomas More Society was considering a lawsuit if the abortion center failed to operate outside state law. There is no word yet on whether the pro-life law firm is still considering such a move.

The Women's Medical Center abortion facility has been in courts for years over it not having arrangements with a local hospital to provide medical treatment for women who suffer from abortion complications.

The Ohio Department of Health requires free-standing outpatient surgical facilities to designate emergency medical providers through a "hospital transfer agreement." Because no local hospital would agree to serve as the backup provider for Haskell's abortion facility, it couldn't comply with state law.

Haskell’s abortion facility performs approximately 2,600 abortions annually.
Related web sites:
Dayton Right to Life - http://www.daytonlife.org
Thomas More Society - http://www.ThomasMoreSociety.org
[5March08, Ertelt, Dayton, OH, LifeNews.com] 

NO ABORTIONS BY NURSE PRACTITIONERS. A House committee voted Wednesday to stop a Tucson nurse practitioner from performing surgical abortions.
The legislation, HB 2269, does not identify the woman, who works for Planned Parenthood Arizona. Instead, it prohibits nurse practitioners from performing abortions.

The state Board of Nursing is already reviewing a complaint against Andrews. It has yet to decide if she is doing anything illegal.
But Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, who chairs the House Health Committee, said he sees no need to wait until the board makes a ruling. He said the issue of who gets to do what should be defined by the Legislature.

A majority of the panel agreed, voting 6-3 to send the measure to the full House.
At the heart of the debate is the question of whether a nurse practitioner is qualified to perform the procedure.
While state law regulates nursing, the issue of what nurses can do generally is spelled out in regulations. That is particularly true of registered nurse practitioners who have advanced training.

Nothing in the rules specifically addresses the question of abortions, stating instead that these people are entitled to "perform therapeutic procedures that the registered nurse practitioner is qualified to perform."
Michelle Steinberg, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said her organization has been using a nurse practitioner for eight years "with fewer complications than the national average."

Steinberg said there are a number of more complicated procedures nurse practitioners are allowed to perform, ranging from inserting an intrauterine device for birth control to lumbar punctures and placing a catheter in a jugular vein. "There's nothing to indicate that nurse practitioners are not within the scope of practice to do this."

But last June someone — the name is not public record — filed a complaint against Andrews with the Board of Nursing.
Valerie Smith, the agency's associate director for investigations and compliance, said board members considered the matter in November but were unable to make a decision. She said the board directed the staff to investigate further. The issue is now on the agenda for a meeting later this month.

Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, said the failure of the Board of Nursing to halt the practice immediately shows lawmakers need to step in.

She said 37 states prohibit nurse practitioners from performing abortions.
Herrod acknowledged her organization has lobbied to make all abortions illegal or impose new restrictions. But she said she doesn't see this measure as part of the perennial debate over legal abortion.

"This is really, in my view, a women's health issue," she said. "It's about how women are going to be taken care of who are having abortions and who legally should be allowed to perform legal surgical abortions."

There already are other laws on the books that regulate abortion sites. Those statutes, Herrod said, clearly refer only to "doctors" when spelling out who can legally terminate a pregnancy.But Smith said the Board of Nursing is empowered to decide the question of whether Andrews is acting improperly based solely on the regulations. [6March08, By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, Arizona, http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/228402]

AZ PLANNED PARENTHOOD NURSE WANTED STATE TO ALLOW HER TO DO ABORTIONS. A nurse at a Planned Parenthood abortion business in Arizona has been doing abortions there for some time and recently decided to report her activities to the state. She wants Arizona officials to acknowledge her legal ability to do abortion -- something that could impact the laws of other states.

Unlike most states, Arizona has no law prohibiting non-doctors from doing abortions and Mary Andrews has taken it upon herself to do surgical abortions.

As CitizenLink reports, she wants the Arizona State Board of Nursing to give her its rubber stamp of approval.

But, doing so could pave the way for a other states to relax their requirements on only physicians doing abortions.

With so few doctors willing to do abortions and so many abortion practitioners running afoul of the law, there is an abortion practitioner shortage. That could be mitigated if nurses are allowed to put women's health at risk by doing surgical abortions.

Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona policy talked with CitizenLink about the situation.

“We don’t agree with anyone performing surgical abortions, but certainly we strongly oppose expanding the pool of licensed medical professionals who can perform abortions to include nurses," she said.

Denise Burke, an attorney with Americans United for Life, says only nine states currently don't have a requirement that only licensed physicians can do abortions.

“In many cases they simply don’t have a law on the books addressing who should be performing surgical abortions," she said of those without such a statute.

"If they can be successful in one state, then they may go to one of these others states that has no physician only requirement," Burke worries.  [5March08, Ertelt, Phoenix, AZ LifeNews.com]

SECOND PATHOLOGY REPORT MAY POINT TO MANSLAUGHTER AT HIALEAH ABORTION BUSINESS. 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.

The Thomas More Society, who is representing the mother of the baby, named Shanice Denise, hired forensic pathologist Abdullah Fatteh to inspect 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 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, Siomara Senesis was also charged in the Miramar incident, and her case is still pending.

Gonzalez’ 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.

Sullenger: “We hope that charges will be filed soon and that justice will be done for Baby Shanice.”

CORRECTION: An earlier report of this story indicated that Siomara Senesis was with Belkis Gonzalez at the time of Baby Shanice’s delivery and could face criminal charges. That is incorrect. Senesis was not present during Baby Shanice’s birth and tragic death. Senesis is an associate of Gonzalez and was charged with her for practicing medicine without a license at a Miramar, Florida, abortion clinic owned by Gonzalez. We apologize for the error. [5March08, Hialeah, FL]

SENATE VOTES AGAINST HELPING PREGNANT WOMEN. On 13 March 2008,  the Senate rejected an amendment that would have offered financial support to poor pregnant women and their unborn children.

The measure had been presented by Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado and would have included pregnant women and their unborn children in the SCHIP program. Pro-life groups strongly supported the amendment because it would help women who may otherwise have an abortion because of financial worries about affording a baby.

Pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton joined a majority of the Senate by voting 52-46 to reject the bid to help pregnant women. McCain supported the Allard amendment.

Before the Allard vote, the Senate approved an amendment, by a 70-27 vote, from pro-abortion Sen. Barbara Boxer that classifies pregnant women as children and fails to recognize an unborn child as a person under law who is eligible for federal funding under the SCHIP program. In addition, the Boxer amendment has the potential to increase eligibility for state funded abortions in certain states where state funded pregnancy services include abortion.

The Boxer amendment received the support of all of the Senate Democrats and about half of the chamber's Republicans. Visit www.Senate.gov for contact information. [14March08, Ertelt, DC, LifeNews.com] 

ALLARD AMENDMENT
To see how senators voted on the Allard amendment, visit
http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00081%20. To call senators: 202-224-3121 or visit www.Senate.gov for contact information.




SECOND 40 DAYS FOR LIFE CAMPAIGN ENDS, LIVES SAVED FROM ABORTION. March 16 marked the end of the second national 40 Days for Life campaign and the director of the projects says it was another success in saving lives from abortion. David Bereit told LifeNews.com that the second campaign, like the first, also reinvigorated pro-life groups across the country.

The campaign began February 6 to correspond with the Lenten season and it saw people in 59 cities in 31 states join together for prayer and fasting for an end to abortion.

In many cases, local pro-life advocates spent 40 days praying and talking to people outside abortion centers.

"We are seeing a tremendous change taking place across the nation as our second simultaneous coast-to-coast 40 Days for Life campaign draws to a close," Bereit said.

"We know lives have been saved. People participating in vigils across America report that women who were planning to abort their babies changed their minds," he explained.

Bereit said he received daily reports from participants and not one day went by during the campaign where he didn't hear about an abortion prevented.

The campaigner told LifeNews.com that pro-life people in communities across the nation who are inactive in the fight to protect unborn children learned, in some cases for the first time, that their city had an abortion business.

"I know many people are simply not aware that abortion is present in their neighborhoods," he said. "But this effort has changed that."

"One of the leaders of a local 40 Days for Life campaign told me she had driven past a building almost every day for ten years, but never knew an abortion facility was present. A whole community knows it now," he added.

Bereit said people are shocked when they find out an abortion facility is located in their community and they want to do something about it.

One outcome of the event is the realization that more trained counselors are needed to talk to women considering an abortion and direct them to places like crisis pregnancy centers that provide tangible help.

"Local communities have identified these needs and we at the national level intend to do everything we can to support them in meeting those needs," he explained. [14Mar08, Ertelt, DC, LifeNews.com]

The American Psychiatric Assn currently has a task force in place evaluating the literature evidence for adverse psychological effects of elective abortion. The Brits are ahead of the APA, and below (excerpted) are news items on their findings, and a copy of the statement itself.
[From The Sunday Times, March 16, 2008, Sarah-Kate Templeton, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3559486.ece]:

ROYAL COLLEGE WARNS ABORTIONS CAN LEAD TO MENTAL ILLNESS. Women may be at risk of mental health breakdowns if they have abortions, a medical royal college has warned. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health.

This overturns the consensus that has stood for decades that the risk to mental health of continuing with an unwanted pregnancy outweighs the risks of living with the possible regrets of having an abortion.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends updating abortion information leaflets to include details of the risks of depression. "Consent cannot be informed without the provision of adequate and appropriate information," it says.

Several studies, including research published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in 2006, concluded that abortion in young women might be associated with risks of mental health problems.

The controversy intensified earlier this year when an inquest in Cornwall heard that a talented artist hanged herself because she was overcome with grief after aborting her twins. Emma Beck, 30, left a note saying: "Living is hell for me. I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum. I want to be with my babies; they need me, no one else does."

The college's revised stance was welcomed by Nadine Dorries, a Conservative MP campaigning for a statutory cooling-off period: "For doctors to process a woman's request for an abortion without providing the support, information and help women need at this time of crisis I regard almost as a form of abuse," she said.

Dr Peter Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: "How can a doctor now justify an abortion [on mental health grounds] if psychiatrists are questioning whether there is any clear evidence that continuing with the pregnancy leads to mental health problems?"

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS POSITION STATEMENT on WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH in Relation to INDUCED ABORTION
14th March, 2008

In the Government Response to the Report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on the Scientific Developments Relating to the Abortion Act 1967, the following request was made:
"In view of the controversy on the risk to mental health of induced abortion we recommend that the Royal College of Psychiatrists update their 1994 report on this issue"

The College has undertaken a literature review to inform the following position statement, which includes the recommendation that a full systematic review around abortion and mental health is required.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is concerned to ensure that women's mental health is protected whether they seek abortion or continue with a pregnancy.

Mental disorders can occur for some women during pregnancy and after birth.

The specific issue of whether or not induced abortion has harmful effects on women's mental health remains to be fully resolved. The current research evidence base is inconclusive – some studies indicate no evidence of harm, whilst other studies identify a range of mental disorders following abortion.
Women with pre-existing psychiatric disorders who continue with their pregnancy, as well as those with psychiatric disorders who undergo abortion, will need appropriate support and care. Liaison between services, and, where relevant, with carers and advocates, is advisable.

Healthcare professionals who assess or refer women who are requesting an abortion should assess for mental disorder and for risk factors that may be associated with its subsequent development. If a mental disorder or risk factors are identified, there should be a clearly identified care pathway whereby the mental health needs of the woman and her significant others may be met.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists recognises that good practice in relation to abortion will include informed consent. Consent cannot be informed without the provision of adequate and appropriate information regarding the possible risks and benefits to physical and mental health. This may require the updating of patient information leaflets approved by the relevant Royal Colleges, and education and training to relevant health care professionals, in order to develop a good practice pathway.

These difficult and complex issues should be addressed through additional systematic reviews led by the Royal College of Psychiatrists into the relationship between abortion and mental health. These reviews should consider whether there is evidence for psychiatric indications for abortion. [AAPLOG, 17March08]

ACOG TO REVIEW THEIR POLICY THAT OBGYNS SHOULD REFER FOR ABORTIONS. The national organization for OBGYNs will re-examine a policy on Monday saying all doctors, including those who are pro-life, should refer women to abortion centers. When it does, a leading pro-life group for physicians says it should scrap the idea and encourage doctors to follow their consciences.
 
As LifeNews.com has reported, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) has been criticized heavily for releasing the statement last year entitled "The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine."
 
The paper targets pro-life physicians, insisting that doctors who object to doing abortions should refer patients to physicians who will do them.
 
ACOG also requests that pro-life doctors move their practices closer to abortion businesses so women can have a shorter drive to get an abortion when these physicians refuse to perform or refer for one.
 
Because of significant protests from members of Congress, physicians and pro-life groups, as well as HHS Director Mike Leavitt, the ACOG ethics committee is reportedly slated on 17March08 to revisit its November 2007 declaration.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt defended their conscience rights in a letter to a national OBGYN group last week. Leavitt opposes the new policy the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has been working on that says all doctors, including those who are pro-life, should refer women to abortion centers. 

Leavitt, in a letter on Friday provided to LifeNews.com, called on the college's board to reject the policy and protect the conscience rights of physicians.  [20Mar08, LifeNews.com] 

The Bush administration also supports pro-life doctors who don't want to lose their OBGYN accreditation for not referring for abortions.

One of the biggest problems with the policy is that the college's board could adopt it and doing or promoting abortions could become formally linked to obstetrician board certification.  

Another leading medical group, the American Association of ProLife Obstetricians and Gynecologists [AAPLOG], has also called on ACOG to reverse course.  

"This is a raw power play to cripple, and ultimately eliminate from practice, those doctors who hold a conscience conviction on the sanctity of human life," AAPLOG spokesman Dr. Joe DeCook told LifeNews.com.  

He said ACOG should be honoring those who "refuse to have a part in doing, or referring for, the elective, deliberate taking of an unborn human life" and called the group's actions "a battering ram, to force pro-life doctors into pro-choice compliance."  

The ACOG ethics committee should change its course and defend the conscience rights of doctors who refuse to perform or refer for abortions, says CMA vice-president Dr. Gene Rudd: "The right to refuse on moral and ethical grounds to participate in the killing of another human being is ... based on long-standing, objective medical ethics and moral principles.  

"Since ACOG represents the vast majority of obstetricians and gynecologists in this country, the organization should be advocating for the decision-making rights of all of its members--not just of those who favor abortions," Rudd added.  

Rudd says the decision has a monumental effect on doctors, since ACOG ethical positions are formally linked to physician board certification.
 
If ACOG refuses to protect conscience rights, Rudd told LifeNews.com, the group would "threaten the livelihoods of thousands of pro-life obstetricians and gynecologists."
 
"ACOG membership stands to drop dramatically once its pro-life members realize that their organization is actually taking steps to undermine their ability to practice," he explained. "The last thing the women of this country need is for yet more obstetricians to leave the field."
 
Last month, CMA drafted and coordinated a letter signed by leading national pro-life organizations, including LifeNews.com, on ACOG to rescind its November statement.
 
Members of the U.S. Congress, led by obstetrician Rep. Phil Gingrey have also called upon ACOG to explain its controversial statement.
Related: CMA - http://www.cmda.org; American Association of ProLife Obstetricians and Gynecologists - http://www.aaplog.org  [14March08, Ertelt, DC, LifeNews.com]


Physician’s Freedom of Conscience Threatened

 An opinion by Felipe E Vizcarrondo, MD

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee on Ethics    published a position paper in November 2007  outlining the limitations of the right of conscience for physicians. The Committee claimed a respect for conscience and recognized its value to the ethical practice of reproductive medicine. The committee opinion addressed specifically those physicians engaged in the practice of reproductive medicine, but admitted that the conflict of conscience could occur in other medical specialties as well. The Committee on Ethics is of the opinion that a physician’s refusal to a patient’s request for a procedure or treatment that the physician finds morally objectionable is justified only if this decision does not negatively affect the patient’s well being. The opinion states that a physician with a moral objection to a procedure requested by a patient has the duty to refer the patient to another physician that would perform the procedure; in an emergency situation, where transfer of the patient would impact negatively the physical or mental health of the patient, the physician has the obligation to provide the requested care.

The Committee on Ethics concluded the opinion statement by making the following seven recommendations: 

   1. In the provision of reproductive services, the patient’s well-being must be paramount. Any
       conscientious refusal that conflicts with a patient’s well-being should be accommodated
       only  if the primary duty to the patient can be fulfilled.
Comment:
The Committee considers a refusal to provide a requested service an imposition on the patient of the physician’s views. The Committee refers to the patient’s well-being (as defined by the patient), rather than health. Well-being is defined  as a good and satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness and prosperity. Patient autonomy (the right of self-determination) should be balanced with physician beneficence (“I will use my knowledge to help the sick according to my ability and judgment” ); there need not be a conflict between the two. The physician is not merely to provide the requested treatment without thoughtful consideration of the patient’s best interest. The physician, using his medical knowledge, should refuse requests that are not in the best interest of the patient, such as prescribing antibiotics for a viral infection.

   2. Health care providers must impart accurate and unbiased information so that patients can
       make informed decisions about their health care. They must disclose scientifically accurate
       and professionally accepted characterizations of reproductive health services.
Comment:
Accurate and complete information should be provided the patient. Of note, ACOG has gone to court to protest the requirement for the abortionist to describe the procedure and consequences to the patient and to mention other alternatives such as adoption and the help available to support the woman through the pregnancy.  Evidence the law suit, ACOG v. Thornburgh, alleging that the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982 violated the Federal Constitution. The Act required the woman a) to give her informed consent to the abortion, b) to be informed of the name of the person to perform the abortion, c) to be informed of the particular medical risks of the procedure, d) to be informed of alternatives to the abortion, e) to be informed of medical assistance agencies that support the pregnant woman and assist after the baby is born. The Act required the physician who performed the abortion to keep a medical record, and to protect the viable unborn child.  The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court, who struck down the statute as unconstitutional.

  3. Where conscience implores physicians to deviate from standard practices, including
      abortion, sterilization, and provision of contraceptives, they must provide potential patients
      with accurate and prior notice of their personal moral commitments. In the process of
      providing prior notice, physicians should not use their professional authority to argue or
      advocate these positions.
Comment:
The physician with moral objection to abortion should notify the patient. If the patient inquires the reason for the refusal to do or recommend an abortion, the pro-life physician ought to be able to give a complete and honest answer.

   4. Physicians and other health care professionals have the duty to refer patients in a timely
       manner to other providers if they do not feel that they can in conscience provide the
       standard reproductive services that their patients request.
Comment:
The pro-life physician must not be forced to send the patient to an abortionist. In doing so, the pro-life physician is forced to participate in the act he or she considers morally objectionable. The pro-life physician would become an accomplice of the action.

   5. In an emergency in which referral is not possible or might negatively affect a patient’s
       physical or mental health, providers have an obligation to provide medically indicated and
       requested care regardless of the providers moral objections.
Comment:
ACOG states that it is the pro-life physician’s obligation to provide the requested service in an emergency, regardless of the physician’s moral objections.  The procedures and treatments specifically addressed are abortion, sterilization and contraception; these interventions are not considered emergency procedures. An improper or poorly conducted transport may deteriorate the patient’s physical condition, however, it is doubtful that the patient’s mental health would be affected by transport to another facility. Is the mental health caveat a convenient ruse to object to transport and force the hand of the pro-life physician? There may be situations where a lifesaving procedure is indicated in a pregnant woman; the pre-viable child would die as a result of the lifesaving procedure. The surgery will produce two effects, the good effect of saving the mother’s life and the evil effect of ending the baby’s life. The intention of the physician is to save the mother’s life and not to kill the baby. The death of the baby is an unintended consequence of the lifesaving surgery. The lifesaving surgery is permissible under the principle of the twofold effect. 

   6. In resource-poor areas, access to safe and legal reproductive services should be
       maintained. Conscientious refusals that undermine access should raise significant caution.
       Providers with moral or religious objections should either practice in proximity to individuals
       who do not share their views or ensure that referral processes are in place so that patients
       have access to the service that the physician does not wish to provide. Rights to withdraw
       from caring for an individual should not be a pretext for interfering with patient’s rights to
       health care services.
Comment:
Forcing a pro-life physician to practice in proximity to an abortion establishment in order to ease referral is to impose a partnership with the abortionist. Controlling the location of the pro-life physician’s practice is a violation of the pro-life physician’s rights and his or her freedom. 
 
  7. Lawmakers should advance policies that balance protection of providers’ consciences with
       the critical goal of ensuring timely, effective, evidence-based, and safe access to all women
       seeking reproductive services.
Comment:
Legislation to enforce these recommendations would render the pro-life physician unable to exercise his right to dissent. If these recommendations were enacted into law, a physician would have to disregard his moral conviction and comply to maintain his license and hospital privileges.

The ACOG is an aggressively pro-abortion organization. Abortion, sterilization and contraception, in their view, are the hallmark of reproductive medicine. The opinion of the Committee on Ethics sets limitations on those that dissent from their views on abortion, sterilization and contraception. The respect ACOG purports to have for freedom of conscience is self-serving. The physician’s conscience is free provided he or she is in agreement with the organization’s views. The dissenting physician is forbidden to speak his or her opinion, he or she is expected to become an accomplice of the abortionist, and his or her practice is kept under surveillance and control. The physician becomes a provider/dispenser of services, ceases to be a thinking person who applies moral discernment to his or her decision making.  The committee opinion is attempting to influence thought. A person can be commanded by human law to speak or be silent, to do or not to do, but human law cannot command to believe or disbelief, to feel or not to feel. 

Note: Dr.Vizcarrondo is a retired pediatrician, member of the American College of Pediatricians.
Endnotes:
1  The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine, Committee Opinion, ACOG
  Committee on Ethics, Number 385, November 2007

2  Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, 1992

3  Oath of Hippocrates

4  ACOG v. Thornburgh, 737 F.2d 283, 297-98 (3d Cir.1984)

5  Hayes, E. J. et al, Catholicism and Ethics, C. R. Publications, Inc., MA, 1997, pp.53-60.

6  Budziszewski, J., Written on the Heart, The Case for Natural Law, InterVarsity Press, Downers
  Grove, IL, 1997, p. 77.

         
MT VICTORY FOR PHARMACIST FIRST AMENDMENT CONSCIENCE RIGHTS.  I just got back home last night (Thursday) from my trip to Helena.  As many of you know, I was asked to go before a MT Board of Pharmacy review panel (on Wed. 3/5) regarding 11 complaints filed with the Board stating that “it is ridiculous” that I, as a pharmacist, would not carry and dispense oral contraceptives and emergency contraceptives and they all asked that I be cited for “Unprofessional Conduct”.   Although both products can act to prevent ovulation, both products also have post-conceptive effects that would prevent implantation if fertilization were to take place…so that just in and of itself is a moral issue regardless of a person’s faith affiliation.  Many of you have emailed and written me and I apologize to answer in a general fashion but wanted to let you know how things turned out.
 
Much to my relief they turned out very well.  None of the complainants made themselves available either in person or via phone for these proceedings.  The Board was clear in that they only wanted to discuss the complaints in how they relate to current pharmacy regulation.  The Board thought that I had gone above and beyond in preventing trouble with my decision as I posted in our local paper over 2 months in advance of the policy change, I had written each patient, and the fact that those who want that type of service can still attain it though our county health nurse who administers the government program called Family Planning (not to mention availability via mail). 
 
The Board saw fit to dismiss all of the complaints against me and furthermore logged them as prejudiced.  They went on to say that they do not feel that it is the profession’s best interest to mandate product availability and that they intend to leave the matter of “professional conscience” or product availability (like Plan B) to the MT Legislature. 
 
In conversation with the MT Board of Pharmacy and the MT Pharmacy Association they fully expect that the legislators will be called to consider the issues of “conscience” and the question of mandating product availability to come up in the 2009 legislative session.  So please keep those topics in mind if you happen to write or contact your own legislators. 
 
Even though I would have liked to see the Board adopt a protective conscience clause, I was greatly relieved at the hearing results.  Thank you all for your interest, your correspondence and your prayers.  Not only were they a great comfort to me, I can only conclude that they were very fruitful.
John L. RPh [7March2008, Broadus, MT, PharmFacts E-News Update -- 10 Mar 2008 AD #3; PFLI, www.pfli.org,  supports pharmacist rights of conscience NOT to be forced to dispense or counsel for chemicals which violate their sincerely held religious, moral or ethical beliefs.  For more info see:
http://www.pfli.org/main.php?pfli=conscienceclausefaq]

NY PRO-ABORTION BILL IS STILL ON THE TABLE UNDER NEW GOVERNOR PATERSON. The fate of a bill that would significantly expand unlimited abortions in New York is still in question with the new governor taking the place of Eliot Spitzer. Pro-life organizations have strongly opposed the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act because it would enshrine abortion in state law and overturn virtually every pro-life limit. The measure would also force pro-life hospitals to change their policies and do abortions upon request.

Paterson is a long-time abortion advocate but he hasn't said whether he will continue Spitzer's aggressive efforts to get it approved. However, last week, Paterson indicated he supports the measure and told a pro-abortion group's annual conference he fully embraced its fight to keep abortions legal. Alan Mehldau, chairman of Westchester-Putnam Right to Life, said he's hopeful Paterson will see the tremendous opposition to the bill and back off.  [20Mar08, Albany, NY (LifeNews.com]

JUDGE REJECTS LAWSUIT SEEKING TO OVERTURN FEDERAL RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE FOR PHYSICIANS, WELDON AMENDMENT. A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit from the state of California seeking to overturn a federal law protecting pro-life medical clinics and professionals on abortion. The state and pro-abortion groups had challenged the Weldon amendment shortly after Congress approved it but the federal judge said it was premature.

The Weldon provision is a federal law that prohibits the federal government or state and local governments receiving certain federal aid from discriminating against medical professionals who refuse to perform or refer for abortions. Any federal, state or local agency that receives federal money would lose those funds if they engage in such discrimination. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit against the Weldon provision in January 2005 saying that California stood to lose billions in federal funds if it didn't follow the provisions of the law. Lockyer claimed that it contravened a California law requiring medical staff to do abortions in situations where an abortion is supposedly needed to prevent the death of the mother or a major medical emergency.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White heard arguments in the case in January 2007 and, on 18March08, issued a decision saying the lawsuit was premature because the potential conflict hasn't arisen and may not occur. [20Mar08, San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com]
 

OWNER OF ABORTION CENTER DUMPING MEDICAL WASTE & PATIENT RECORDS MAY GET A FINE.  The owner of the Michigan abortion business caught dumping medical waste, patient records and the bodies of babies who died from abortions may be fined. State and local officials began pouring over the dumpster's contents earlier this month after a local pro-life group tipped off authorities.

The search originally began at the Womancare abortion businesses in Lathrup Village but concerns eventually came up concerning its Sterling Heights facility. Alberto Hodari is expected to find out this week whether he will face fines of as much as $2,500 per incident for the potentially illegal dumping at his abortion centers.

Robert McCann, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality would not tell the Detroit Free Press whether Hodari will be fined, but indicated a decision is expected at the end of the week. Hodari told the newspaper he's now putting biohazard bags in every room at his abortion centers for the proper disposal of medical waste. He also said he's purchased shredders to use with older patient records that need to be destroyed. He also claimed he has put in place new rules for employees about the proper destruction of records and disposal of medical waste. Still, he admitted he found an employee on 18Mar08 who placed a blood-soaked sponge in a regular trash can. [20March08, Lathrup Village, MI (LifeNews.com]

HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN DUMPSTER OF ABORTION BUSINESS. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Lathrup Village (Mich.) Police Department are investigating the contents of a dumpster behind the WomanCare abortion site where body parts of aborted babies, bio-hazardous materials and patients'medical records were found earlier t