NEW! Minnesota Makes $4.7 Million in Grants to Help Women Find Abortion Alternatives

NEW! QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Death Rates* for the Five Leading Causes of Death --- United States, 2001--2006

NEW! Memorial Dedicated for Unborn Children

Acute Renal Failure Associated with Cosmetic Soft-Tissue Filler "Enhancement" Injections

Uruguay President Vetoes Bill to Legalize Abortion

March for Life: "I Went to get out of Class; I Came Back Pro-Life"

Miracle Child Once Scheduled For Abortion At Tiller’s Goes To Abortion Site To Save Lives

Poland Rejects Abortion at March

KS Governor Issues Excuse of Secret Party at Governor's Mansion Honoring Abortionist Tiller

Planned Parenthood Tries to Dodge Blame after 13 Year-Old Rendered Infertile by Botched Abortion

Former Addict to Porn, Now Turned Fighter of Porn, Will Speak at Abstinence Conference

Evidence Suggests Planned Parenthood Felonies

Planned Parenthood Hides Another Abortion Center With Fictitious Name

Shipment of Condoms Apparently Better Than Aid Relief for Myanmar

NEW! Kansas Attorney General Turns Over 34 Abortion Records to Grand Jury

NEW! Structural Brain Abnormalities Found In Some Marijuana Users

Unplanned Democracy: America's First Vote on Abortion...

MN MAKES $4.7 MILLION IN GRANTS TO HELP WOMEN FIND ABORTION ALTERNATIVES. The Minnesota health department has distributed grants totaling $4.7 million over the next three years to pregnancy centers and other agencies that help pregnant women find abortion alternatives. The grants will hopefully help offset the increase of abortions due to new Planned Parenthood centers.

The grants are part of the Positive Alternatives program that Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life successfully got the state legislature to approve.

The legislature ultimately approved the program in 2005 with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Positive Alternatives grants are available to organizations that provide life-affirming care to pregnant women in need who want to bring their children to term.

They help women with services ranging from medical attention, nutrition support and housing assistance to adoption services, educational and employment assistance, and parenting education.

Scott Fischbach, the executive director of MCCL, told LifeNews.com that the organizations empowered by the grants will, in turn, empower women with help and options apart from abortion.

“Positive Alternatives delivers a wide range of support to women when they are most vulnerable and needy,” he said.

“These grants ensure that pregnant mothers will continue to receive helpful services and won't feel abortion is their only option," Fischbach added.

A total of 31 grantees were selected across Minnesota to receive the funding for the 2008-2010 biennium.

MCCL defeated an effort from pro-abortion legislators in the last session to gut funding for the program.

Reps. Ken Tschumper, Shelley Madore and Will Morgan, all Democrats, tried to cut the funding. In the end, MCCL was successful in having the Positive Alternatives program cut no more than the 1.8 percent the Minnesota health department had cut from its overall budget.

Fischbach told LifeNews.com he looks forward to the new report from the health department expected on July 1. It will cover the number of abortions done in 2007, the first full year the Positive Alternatives program began helping women.

“We know that the grants are helping more women choose life for their unborn children, and we hope that they are enough to reduce the overall number of abortions,” Fischbach said. “But abortions jumped five percent in 2006 -- a troubling increase after four years of steady decline.”
Related: Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life - http://www.mccl.org
[20June08, Ertelt, www.LifeNews.com, St. Paul, MN]

Age-Adjusted Death Rates* for the Five Leading Causes of Death — United States, 2001–2006†

* Per 100,000 standard population.

† Preliminary 2006 data.

During 2001--2006, heart disease and cancer were the leading causes of death in the United States, accounting for nearly half of all deaths each year. During this period, the age-adjusted death rate for heart disease declined 19.5%, from 247.8 per 100,000 standard population to 199.4, and the age-adjusted cancer death rate declined 7.8%, from 196.0 to 180.8. Changes in the other leading causes of death were less pronounced.
SOURCE: Heron M, Hoyert DL, Xu J, Scott C, Tejada B. Deaths: preliminary data for 2006. Natl Vital Stat Rep 2008;56(16). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_16.pdf.
[http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5724a5.htm?s_cid=mm5724a5_e
20June2008, MMWR Weekly / 57(24);666]



MEMORIAL DEDICATED FOR UNBORN CHILDREN. A Leavenworth shelter and Christian ministry for teenage mothers dedicated a memorial garden for unborn children recently.

Lamb’s Inn opened the “Little Lambs’ Garden” to the public with the hope that the space would “help women to heal and have closure,” said the director.

The garden includes a fountain, a statue of an angel and 10 stepping stones engraved with information about instances of either abortion or miscarriage.

The director denied the garden was built to have any political message and said the dedication was not meant to be a protest. She said she is opposed to the practice of abortion, but that the garden was not an extension of any kind of moral or political belief.

“I’m very much against abortion because I know what it does to women,” she said. “I thought that maybe this would help.”

It is hoped that the garden will be a place of quiet reflection.

Lamb's Inn helps pregnant teens regardless of their “home beliefs.” She said the shelter aims to help support them through the pregnancy and into the first year of the child’s life, providing clothes, diapers, education materials on being a new mother and support to finish school.

“They can change their lives if they just can get started in the right direction,” she said of the girls involved with Lamb’s Inn.

One such woman is Brittany, who is now a married mother of two with a steady job. She said she enjoys giving back to the ministry she says helped her to overcome a dark time in her life.

Brittany said the garden will help women who have chosen to have an abortion, or who have fallen victim to unexpected miscarriage, to “settle their feelings.”

One local woman heard about the dedication through Brittany and, though she did not dedicate a memorial stone, decided to attend because of her own grief at the loss of her grandchild due to premature birth in April.

[http://www.leavenworthtimes.com/articles/2008/06/17/news/news01.txt, Alexandra Garry, Leavenworth Times, June 17, 2008]
[PLEASE NOTE: Loss and grief go hand in hand, and need an outlet, a recognition, and a means of closure. Memorials help to provide this. Other memorials are located all around the nation. One of the first and most well-known memorials is the National Memorial for the Unborn in Chattanooga, TN -- http://www.memorialfortheunborn.org/]
 

ACUTE RENAL FAILURE ASSOCIATED WITH COSMETIC SOFT-TISSUE FILLER INJECTIONS -- North Carolina, 2007. Soft-tissue fillers are substances injected to augment or enhance the appearance of lips, breasts, buttocks, or other soft tissues.

In 2007, the North Carolina Division of Public Health was notified of three cases of renal failure occurring among women who had received cosmetic soft-tissue filler injections at a facility in that state. All injections were administered by a practitioner with no medical training or supervision. This report describes the investigation.
[1May2008, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5717a1.htm, MMWR, 2May08, vol.57, no. 17]


URUGUAY PRESIDENT TABARE' VAZQUEZ VETOES BILL TO LEGALIZE ABORTION. Vazquez is getting support from many groups in the South American nation for his vetoing a bill that would legalize abortion. [Many] welcomed his veto of a bill to allow first-trimester abortion on virtually any grounds. Vázquez defied the votes of his party in the Uruguay Congress to expand the nation's abortion law, which currently only allows abortions in cases of protecting the mother's life, rape or extreme poverty. The president is an OBGYN by trade.  President Vazquez initially said in November he would veto the bill. “The Law on Sexual and Reproductive Health has very positive elements that should be salvaged," he said. "But there are others that I do not agree with from a philosophical and biological perspective and therefore they will be vetoed.” [2May08, Montevideo, Uruguay LifeNews.com]



MARCH FOR LIFE: "I WENT TO GET OUT OF CLASS; I CAME BACK PRO-LIFE". With 90 students - two full buses - Madawaska Valley District High School had the largest number of public high school students to participate in the National March for Life on May 8. LifeSiteNews.com spoke with the chaplain involved in the success and received feedback on the March from some of the students.

14-year-old Alyssa Rogers reflected, "When I went on the March for Life I was amazed at how much emotion was in their voices while they chanted against abortions. In the beginning I only wanted to go to get out of school for the day, but during the march, it really made me think. I went there thinking that abortions were alright if the mother was going to abuse it while it was in her stomach. I now think that no matter what the circumstance, the child is still a human being, living, moving, and alive, which is the way it should stay."

Andrew Baklinski, the Catholic chaplain at the public high school spearheaded the effort to have students attend the march. Baklinski, a father of five, has an enthusiasm for the pro-life movement that is infectious.

"I have been very involved in pro-life work my whole life," Baklinski told LifeSiteNews.com. "I see it as the human rights struggle of our time, a struggle on which hinges the fate of our civilization. I am unashamedly prolife in my classes and in my pastoral work at our school trying to build a culture of life and I think this is key. In other words, not skirting around tough issues, but facing them with love, intelligence, passion and humor. It has been my experience that young people are open to the message - perhaps more open than my generation (Gen X) and that given the opportunity they will get involved."

18-year-old Aneta Dabrowska said, "The March for Life was life-changing! And that's the truth!"

She recalled, "Before the March I felt that, yes, abortion is wrong but if I ever became pregnant at this age I would get an abortion. After I went to the March for Life, my views completely changed. Seeing those poor dead aborted babies in the posters during the March traumatized me for days. Now I know that if I ever became pregnant in my life I will never get an abortion, no matter how pressured I get. Babies, no matter how old they are, even if they don't have developed toes, have every right to live as we do. This March for Life was amazing! And I plan on going for many more years to come!"

Asked if he had any pointers for other teachers to help encourage students to come to the march, Baklinski said, "I also schedule a trip to a local mall for shopping and dinner and this is great way to help motivate students to come who would not otherwise be interested in going. Some of the strongest testimonies of 'conversions to life' come from students who were just along to go shopping..."

17-year-old Josh Furniss recalled, "Going into the March for Life I said I was pro life, but I realized that I didn't really know what that meant until I was actually walking. The march for me was the final stage in allowing me to fully say that I was pro life, being a 17 year old male with a girlfriend. I know that if we ever ended up in a situation where abortion was a choice we had, it wouldn't even be a thought in my mind. Pro Life!"

Baklinski also encouraged fellow teachers to be informed on the issues. "Do not be afraid to stand up against the culture, but, know what you are fighting. You can't effectively fight an enemy that you do not know or understand...Get others in your community to do the same for you. Be articulate and passionate about standing up for life and you will attract young people wherever you are. Do not be afraid of being considered a radical. The first apostles were. Do not be afraid about reaching out to 'marginalized' youth at school. They will often be your strongest supporters. Meet our youth where they are at. Challenge them and they will rise to the occasion."

18-year-old Maxeen Kiedroski has attended the March for Life three times previously and remains impressed. "I always end up meeting so many new people, also speaking up for what they think is right. It's a great way to make new friends and make a bigger, better difference with them. I always feel better about myself, almost lighter, after the march."

Despite her frequent attendance, Kiedroski too was changed at this year's march. "The abortion pictures this year brought tears to my eyes because, for once, I opened them. I don't think I ever really SAW the pictures as what they were, what they meant. I saw them as little mangled pieces of meat but my mind wouldn't let me think of them as a person, as a human being. This year I did, I opened myself up to it and let it kick in, and it HAS changed me. I finally saw the full truth about abortion, and how horrible it is. The March for Life let me see more, become more experienced and gave me the inspiration to speak up about it. I never want to stay silent again." [16May08,  John-Henry Westen, Barrys Bay, ON, LifeSiteNews.com]

MIRACLE CHILD ONCE SCHEDULED FOR ABORTION AT TILLER'S GOES TO ABORTION SITE TO SAVE LIVES. Donna Joy and her mom helped pass the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban in 2003 and Delivered Petition to U.S. Supreme Court Justices In 2007

Wichita, KS – Donna Joy Vance has been called a life spared to impact a nation. She certainly has done that in her young life, having appeared at Congressional Hearings in support of a Federal ban on Partial Birth Abortions and in the process, made friends with some of the most influential politicians in Washington, DC. Last year, Donna Joy hand delivered the 2007 Kansas Coalition For Life Signature Ad to all nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices, the first time in the history of the High Court that they have accepted such a petition.

Yet, Donna Joy was once scheduled for abortion at Tiller’s late-term abortion mill after having been prenatally diagnosed with severe fetal anomalies — conditions the doctors said were “incompatible with life.” Thankfully, her mother refused the abortion.

Today, Donna Joy is very much alive and will join her mother, Lori, outside Tiller’s abortion clinic where they hope to help other women chose life for their pre-born babies. Tiller specializes in late-term abortion for fetal anomaly, even though Kansas law prohibits such abortions after 22 weeks. He currently faces 19 criminal charges for committing illegal late-term abortions and a grand jury investigation that could net additional indictments.

Donna Joy and her mother Lori Vance will be available for comment to the media outside Women’s Health Care Services located at 5107 E. Kellogg in Wichita, KS, today, Thursday, May 15, at Noon.

This will be the first time Donna Joy has visited Tiller’s abortion clinic. She and her mother have offered to give statements to the media concerning her impact on the national abortion debate and her feelings about why they believe it is so important for her to help other women save their babies, even if there are serious fetal anomalies involved. [http://www.operationrescue.org/?p=934]
Background story on Donna Joy’s life
http://www.operationrescue.org/?p=621
Additional Photos of Donna Joy
http://operationrescue.org/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=2787

POLAND REJECTS ABORTION AT MARCH. Thousands of pro-family Poles marched through Warsaw on May 25 for the nation’s Third National March for Life and Family. The event was organized by the  Association for Christian Culture and the Fundacja Pro. It was fitting that the event was planned on the eve of Mother’s Day in Poland.

Slawomir Olejniczak, co-organizer of the March for Life and Family, said the march signaled a need for Europe to “return to family values.”

As is common in such marches, the crowd included numerous young people and families with children. Poland has particularly stood out in Europe as a new generation of pro-life and pro-family Poles affirms their Catholic moral values. Marching bands, signs and slogans gave a festive tone to the Sunday rally. The American TFP also sent a delegation which included a bagpiper who added a bit of cultural diversity to the crowd.

The event was especially timely considering the enormous pressure from the European Union on all its members to accept the Treaty of Lisbon which mandates practices contrary to [natural law]. Polish opposition to abortion, same-sex “marriage” and so many other modern day evils has created difficulties for the Union.

The estimated four thousand Poles who attended the march were curiously ignored by mainstream media in Europe. Yet for the participants, the March for Life and Family was an event full of hope and an expression of the true Poland. It ended with a family picnic with a variety attractions - games and competitions for children. Mothers also received Mother's Day wishes and gifts from their beloved ones. [30May08,  TFP.org]

KANSAS GOVERNOR ISSUES EXCUSE OF SECRET PARTY AT GOVERNOR'S MANSION HONORING ABORTIONIST TILLER: Party held exclusively in Tiller’s honor. Tiller and his staff were the only guests invited to the gala event.  In early April, 2007, late-term abortionist George R. Tiller and his entire abortion clinic staff was honored by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius at a lavish secret party held at Cedar Crest, the Governor’s mansion.

In response to photographs published by Operation Rescue this week, Gov. Sebelius’ office has released what Operation Rescue is calling a “laughable” defense, saying that the Tiller party depicted in the photographs was a prize in a charity auction in which Sebelius had no control over who would attend.

OR obtained the set of 27 photographs from a confidential source that told OR the party was held exclusively in Tiller’s honor. Tiller and his staff were the only guests invited to the gala event that featured, according to the source, a menu of steak and lobster.

“According to our source, who attended the event at Cedar Crest, the party was ‘by special invitation only.’ It was obvious to this person that Tiller was on a very friendly basis with Sebelius and took the time to personally introduce each member of his abortion clinic staff to the governor,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “Our source was very specific that the event’s purpose was to ‘honor’ Tiller and his staff. The pictures, especially the ones that include the political t-shirts produced by Tiller, back up our source’s claims.”

“It is laughable for Sebelius to now say she has no control over who she parties with. The Women’s Political Caucus is a radical leftist feminist organization that is providing the smoke and mirrors to cover for the Tiller party,” said Newman. “We don’t buy it.”

Receipts obtained by Operation Rescue from the Governor’s office show that taxpayers paid for the April 9, 2007, event.

OR alleges that "Tiller is a major contributor to pro-abortion candidates in Kansas, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars through a complicated series of political action committees and non-profit organizations".

“Sebelius’ office arrogantly believes that they can keep her strong ties to Tiller a secret, but their efforts to keep the truth from the public have only exposed their corruption,” said Newman. “Sebelius would not be governor today if not for Tiller’s financial support. She owes him her career. Every agency in Kansas that could hold Tiller accountable for illegal late-term abortions, from the Board of Healing Arts to the Kansas Supreme Court to the Attorney General, are all laced with Sebelius appointees. It is little wonder that they all have done nothing but stall and obstruct efforts to prosecute him.”

OR suggests this event is an indication of a broader relationship that the Governor shares with the abortion industry.

Just over a month after the Tiller soiree, Gov. Sebelius celebrated her birthday on May 15, 2007, at a party thrown by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, while they were still under investigation by the Attorney General’s office and the Johnson County District Attorney.

The party featured Planned Parenthood CEP Peter Brownlie leading a conga line in celebration. Planned Parenthood was later cleared by Sebelius’ handpicked Attorney General Paul Morrison but charged by District Attorney Phill Kline with 107 criminal charges related to illegal abortions and manufacturing records.

See all the photos on the Operation Rescue website
http://operationrescue.org/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=4190&g2_navId=x5514f760 ; [29May08, Tim Waggoner, Wichita, KS, www.LifeSiteNews.com]

PLANNED PARENTHOOD TRIES TO DODGE BLAME AFTER 13-YEAR-OLD IS RENDERED INFERTILE BY BOTCHED ABORTION: Being Sued for $50 Million in Damages. On February 12, 2008, a women filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood Metropolitan located in Washington, D.C., for damages suffered during an abortion procedure at a Planned Parenthood centre.

Emma Jean Butler, mother of Shantese Butler, is suing Planned Parenthood for $50 million dollars in damages. Butler took her daughter to the D.C. Planned Parenthood on September 7, 2006 to abort a child conceived in rape.

During the abortion, Shantese sustained severe abdominal bleeding, severe vaginal injury, severe injury to the cervix, significant uterine perforation, and a small bowel tear. In addition, parts of the child were found inside Shantese's abdomen on September 8, 2006. Because of these injuries, Shantese will be infertile for the rest of her life.

Planned Parenthood Metropolitan has denied the injuries suffered and the infertility of Shantese Butler. In addition, they state in their answer that Butler's claims are barred by the doctrines of informed consent and assumption of risk.

Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life of America's Executive Director, remarked, "This is a horrible situation. Our thoughts go out to Shantese and her family as she recovers from her injuries both from the rape and abortion. Further, it is outrageous that Planned Parenthood thinks they are excused from being held liable because Shantese was informed of possible risks associated with abortion. In no other medical profession would this be acceptable. How ironic is it that the pro-abortion movement claims they want abortions to be 'safe, legal, and rare,' when in this poster case for abortion, Shantese was permanently injured, resulting in infertility for the rest of her life, making abortion harmful and almost deadly to the young girl."
[29May08, Tim Waggoner, Arlington, VA, LifeSiteNews.com]




FORMER PORN ADDICT WILL SPEAK AT ABSTINENCE CONFERENCE. The Abstinence Clearinghouse is excited to announce former addict to pornography, now turned fighter of porn, Phil Burress and his wife of Citizens For Community Values (CCV) as featured speakers at the 2008 Abstinence Clearinghouse Conference in Orlando, FL.

Phil and Vickie will be presenting during a plenary, general breakout and youth breakout session addressing "How Pornography Affects the Youth We Serve." Phil and Vickie Burress are recognized leaders in the pro-family arena. Together, Phil and Vickie have presented seminars across the country to assist communities in grassroots efforts to stop the harmful effects of pornography, sexually oriented businesses, and material harmful to children.

The effects of pornography are important for educators and programs to understand because they are what abstinence educators come face to face with everyday in the classroom.

These sessions will focus on helping educators and youth understand these harmful effects but also how to identify indiiduals who are struggling; tips on finding them help; tips on helping young people identify and avoid these harmful images; and information on how to stand up against the porn industry in your own area. 2008 Abstinence Clearinghouse Leadership Conference being held July 22-25th;  www.abstinenceconference.net. [The National Abstinence Clearinghouse, 29May08] 

EVIDENCE SUGGESTS PP FELONIES. Newly revealed documents in the long-running battle over evidence in a criminal case filed against a Kansas Planned Parenthood operation shows that felonies may have been committed in order to avoid misdemeanor paperwork-related charges.

The case was developed by Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline while he served as the state's attorney general. He transferred the evidence to himself when he left the state office and took over in Johnson County, where Planned Parenthood is located.

In a court document made public yesterday, a potential witness in the criminal case against Planned Parenthood indicated Planned Parenthood, instead of admitting to misdemeanor failure to keep required paperwork regarding abortions, may have fabricated the documents instead to respond to a subpoena for the papers. [http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65638
World Net Daily; ALL Pro-Life Today, 30May08]
 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD HIDES YET ANOTHER ABORTION CENTER WITH FICTITIOUS NAME. What does a parking facility have to do with abortion? Not much unless Planned Parenthood is building it.

The abortion business is once again using a fictitious name on papers filed with local city officials to get approval to build a new abortion business without tipping off pro-life advocates. In this case, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Planned Parenthood has filed papers for a new abortion center using the name Auburn Avenue Parking.

Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio in Cincinnati has purchased property near Western Hills High School for an additional office, local Right to Life officials tell LifeNews.com, under the deceptive name.

Jim Sedlak of STOPP International also notified LifeNews.com of the underhanded tactics.

"Just as it did in Aurora, Illinois (Gemini Office Development) and Denver, Colorado (Fuller38), Planned Parenthood bought the property under a name that would not be associated with its evil empire," he said. "But vigilant pro-life forces discovered the subterfuge and are gearing up for an all-out fight against this new Planned Parenthood facility," he added.

He said pro-life advocates plan to hold a public meeting this weekend to notify residents of the community about the tactics. [29May08, Cincinnati, OH, LifeNews.com] 

SHIPMENT OF CONDOMS APPARENTLY BETTER THAN AID RELIEF FOR MYANMAR. While relief agencies struggled to secure permission to bring food, medicine, and shelter to the 2.4 million cyclone victims in Myanmar, the United Nations Population Fund  (UNFPA) was allowed to deliver a shipment of thousands of condoms to the region.

More than 133,000 people are dead or missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on May 2.  The junta ruling Myanmar has resisted accepting foreign disaster aid, granting foreign helicopters permission to distribute aid only on Wednesday.

The UNFPA is shipping to Myanmar reproductive health kits which include razors for cutting umbilical cords, clean sheets for delivering babies, and contraceptive pills and shots to last 3,390 women for three months, the Independent Online reports.

A shipment designed to serve 200,000 to 300,000 people arrived in Yangon by commercial cargo flight on May 10, according to the UNFPA web site.  The UNFPA says it has shipped more than 70,000 condoms to survivors.

"We don't want regular use of contraception disrupted. An emergency usually damages the health system, so people don't have access to condoms and contraceptives," said UNFPA aid advisor Chaiyos Kunanusont.

According to the Independent Online, Chaiyos said a total of 218,400 condoms will be delivered.

Aid groups have complained that limits imposed by Myanmar’s ruling government are hindering the provision of vital supplies to survivors. [Bangkok, May 22, 2008 / 05:58 pm (CNA); http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12720]

 KANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL TURNS OVER 34 ABORTION RECORDS TO GRAND JURY. Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six has turned over 34 redacted abortion records to the Wichita-based grand jury investigating late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.

The records, from 2003, will help the grand jury determine if Tiller broke state abortion laws. Among other charges, Tiller is accused of doing illegal late-term abortions by not having a second, independent physician sign off on the abortions beforehand.

Six had initially refused to turn over the records but the Kansas Supreme Court intervened last month and set the parameters for releasing them. A Six representative told AP that 34 of the 61 abortion records he possessed were turned over to the grand jury on May 20 and that the rest fell outside the statute of limitations.

Earlier this week, news reports indicated Six had refused to turn over the records, promoting an outcry from pro-life groups. "Kansans for Life interprets this report to mean the Attorney General's office is sitting on 30 ready-to-use redacted files from 2003, one month after the court eased the standard for relevancy, and four months after being subpoenaed by the grand jury," Kansans for Life director Mary Kay Culp told LifeNews.com. [7June08, Topeka, KS, LifeNews.com]

STRUCTURAL BRAIN ABNORMALITIES FOUND IN SOME MARIJUANA USERS. Structural abnormalities in the hippocampus and amygdala may be associated with long-term, heavy cannabis use, according to an article released June 2, 2008 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals....

The authors continue, quoting statistics regarding cannabis use in the United States: "With nearly 15 million Americans using cannabis in a given month, 3.4 million using cannabis daily for 12 months or more and 2.1 million commencing use every year, there is a clear need to conduct robust investigations that elucidate the long-term sequelae of long-term cannabis use."

In cannabis users, two major parts of the brain were generally smaller than in their straight counterparts: the hippocampus and the amygdala. The former is presumed to regulate emotions and memory, and was on average 12% smaller. The latter is related to fear and aggression, and was an average of 7.1% smaller in the users.

Cannabis users also showed more sub-threshold symptoms of psychotic disorders. The authors commented on the verbal learning skills shown by the subjects, but this did not seem to correlate with the brain volume differences in either group.

The authors conclude with a call for more research in this area: "...Although modest use may not lead to significant neurotoxic effects, these results suggest that heavy daily use might indeed be toxic to human brain tissue. Further prospective, longitudinal research is required to determine the degree and mechanisms of long-term cannabis-related harm and the time course of neuronal recovery after abstinence."
[Regional Brain Abnormalities Associated With Long-term Heavy Cannabis Use, Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(6):694-701.
Written by Anna Sophia McKenney, Article Date: 02 Jun 2008 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/109397.php]

UNPLANNED DEMOCRACY: America's First Vote on Abortion is a documentary,  to be released in July 2008, that tells the story of South Dakota's statewide abortion ban vote in 2006. 
 
It was produced and directed by a South Dakota political journalist and examines both what happened when the state legislature easily passed an all-out abortion ban and what happened when abortion rights activists put that ban before voters.
 
Visit the website, www.unplanneddemocracy.com, to find more and to view a trailer. [email, 28May08]