until it has been conquered from within."
W. Durant
40 DAYS FOR LIFE — 17 February through 28 March — www.40daysforlife.com
Next D.C. MARCH FOR LIFE — 24 January 2011
17th ANNUAL DUTCH MARCH FOR LIFE
NEW! Sting Catches California Abortionist Practicing in Violation of Suspension: Judge Refuses to Revoke the License, Opposing CA Medical Board
Florida Abortionist Loses Medical License
Hippocratic Medicine
Commentary: Too Few Doctors?
NEW! Statutory Rape Cover-Up by Abortion Industry PP in Birmingham / UPDATE
NEW! Russian Teenage Girl Dies From Legal Abortion at Moscow Hospital 17Feb10
Idaho Proposal Expands Right of Conscience to All Health Care Workers
STUDY: Chilean Maternal Mortality Study Undercuts Pro-Abortion Claims
Study Linking Poor Pre-Abortion Counseling and PTSD Shows Need for New Legislation: Research Finds Poor Counseling Predicts Post-Abortion Psychological Problems
Survey Finds Girls Less Likely Than Boys to Recommend Abortion to Friends
Top Legal Scholar Warns Abortion Issue Can Divide a Nation
BLACK HISTORY MONTH:
NEW! New Study on Black Genocide
http://www.protectingblacklife.org/abortion_genocide/index.html
NEW! National Black Leaders Join Georgia Legislators to End Ugliest Form of Racism: Abortion
Martin Luther King Jr's Niece: Dream Includes Protecting Unborn From Abortion
www.maafa21.com
www.TooManyAborted.com
www.ProtectingBlackLife.org …
Documents Raise Spectre of Fetal Harvesting in WU Late-Term Abortion Scheme
Scott Roeder Found Guilty of Tiller Murder
New Dominican Constitution Defends Life From Moment of Conception
Abortionist Hodari Officially Under Investigation for Forced Abortions
Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood pres, to Join Ford Foundation Board…
Statutory Rape Cover-Up by Abortion Industry
Jim Pinto's interview on ABC33/40 regarding Birmingham Planned Parenthood On Probation.
http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0210/705434_video.html?ref=newsstory
Confronting Abortion on Facebook
AAPLOG has a facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Association-of-Pro-Life-OBGYNS/101069505589
AAPLOG presents abortion complication related information, and engages in dialogue. On the "wall" is one set, on the "discussion" page is a more complete presentation.
The 40 DAYS FOR LIFE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN began 17 February and will continue through 28 March in 165 locations in the USA, Canada, Ireland, and Australia. Hundreds of thousands of people will be participating through prayer & fasting, through quiet vigil at abortion businesses, and through outreach: www.40daysforlife.com
17th ANNUAL DUTCH MARCH FOR LIFE held in Amsterdam in December 2009, drew 700 people, the largest group ever. This march commemorates a Dutch Parliament ruling in 1980 that permits abortion up to the 24th week. [14Dec09, www.LifeSiteNews.com; Celebrate Life, Jan-Feb2010]
Sting Catches California Abortionist Practicing in Violation of Suspension: Judge Refuses to Revoke the License, Opposing CA Medical Board
The California Medical Board has asked for the emergency suspension of Andrew Rutland's medical license after an undercover sting conducted by Board investigators caught him doing first trimester chemical abortions, even though he has been banned from the procedure. Yet at an emergency hearing yesterday, Judge James Ahler allowed Rutland to keep
his restricted license, and indicated that he may continue to do early medical abortions that do not require surgery.
The abortionist's license was partially suspended on January 7, 2010, after Ying Chen died from a botched second-trimester abortion Rutland performed at what has been described as a dirty, ill-equipped acupuncture clinic in San Gabriel. He was banned from surgery and from doing abortions.
Subsequently, Rutland asked for permission to continue doing first trimester abortions, but on January 12, the Board issued a clarification specifically banning him from that practice.
Independently from the Medical Board, Operation Rescue conducted an undercover sting of its own on February 3, in which a woman posing as a potential abortion customer received an appointment for a surgical abortion with Rutland for later that day.
Operation Rescue immediately contacted the Medical Board and submitted a copy of the recorded conversation.
Rutland's attorney told the LA Times that Rutland's daughter was actually doing the surgical abortions, but in the call made by Operation Rescue, the receptionist "Rhea" indicated that the caller's appointment would be with Dr. Rutland, referring frequently to "him." There was no mention of another physician.
However, Judge Ahler dismissed the California Medical Board's petition for emergency suspension of Rutland's license Thursday, saying: "Folks, this is not a referendum on abortion."
Kathleen Nicholls of the California Medical Board commented, "How many patients have to die before a doctor is shut down? It's unfortunate someone else is going to have to die to change this order."
"This is one of those times when one has to shake his head and ask what the judge was thinking," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
"Rutland has a record of human destruction a mile long and he continues to flout the law and the restrictions put on him. He is a danger to the public," said Newman. "When Rutland injures or kills another person, and with his track record, that could be any day now, Judge Alher will have that on his conscience."
Rutland has a long and troubled history. Rutland's license had been previously revoked in 2003, after his negligence caused the death of a wanted baby during childbirth. At that time he was on probation for the deaths of two other infants.
In 2007, Rutland's license was reinstated.
He took over a Chula Vista abortion clinic from abortionist Nolan Jones, who had his license revoked in March, 2009, for violations ranging from botched abortions to fraud. Jones had replaced unlicensed abortionist Bertha Bugarin, who is serving nearly 7 years in state prison for illegal abortions. Bugarin had stepped in after abortionist Phillip Rand surrendered his medical license due to his part in killing a woman during a botched abortion in Santa Ana in 2004.
"We pray that Rutland is the last abortionist in this cycle of abuse of women through illegal and unsafe abortions," said Newman. [CHULA VISTA, CA, February 19, 2010 www.LifeSiteNews.com]
Florida Abortionist Loses Medical License
Breathing baby tossed in garbage after woman gave birth
Florida officials today revoked the medical license of an abortionist who is named in a civil lawsuit that alleges a breathing baby was stuffed into a biohazard bag along with chemicals and tossed into a garbage bin.
The state Board of Medicine voted unanimously to pull the license of Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique, reported the Tampa Tribune, which noted the abortionist ducked into a restroom after the hearing to avoid television cameras.
WND reported previously on the 2006 case in Hialeah, Fla., which was sparked by an anonymous tipster who notified police of the death. The tipster later called back to prompt a police search that led to the discovery of the baby's body in the biohazard bag in a cardboard box in a closet at the abortion business.
The civil case explains 18-year-old Cycloria Williams learned she was pregnant in July 2006 and decided to have an abortion. She went to the Miramar Woman Center and was referred to abortionist Renelique.
Even though Renelique wasn't present, the clinic's receptionist gave Williams the drug Cytotec, which induces labor. Five hours later Willliams gave birth to a live baby girl, the case explained.
"The baby writhed and gasped for air, still connected to Williams by the umbilical cord. Immobilized by shock, Williams watched [business owner Belkis] Gonzalez run into the room, cut the umbilical cord with a pair of orange-handled shears, stuff the baby and afterbirth into a red biohazard bag and throw the bag into a garbage can," the lawsuit explains.
Someone with inside information about the clinic called police about the death. When officers responded, they found medical records but not the baby's remains. Then six days later, another anonymous call said officers could find the baby's body on the roof, but they didn't. Following a third call to police, the decomposing body was found in a cardboard box in a clinic closet. DNA confirmed it was the body of Williams' daughter.
The county medical examiner confirmed the baby had been breathing after birth but blamed the death on "extreme prematurity."
It took just minutes for word of the state board's decision to spread to activists, including WND columnist Jill Stanek, who immediately questioned why criminal charges haven't yet been filed.
"Renelique was accused of negligent care of his patient, who aborted her potentially viable baby alive in A Gyn Diagnostic abortion mill in Hialeah, Fla., in July 2006, without him there," Stanek wrote. "Allegedly clinic owner Belkis Gonzalez cut the baby's cord and zipped the living baby into a biohazard bag filled with bleach.
"To date, no criminal charges have been filed. Two sources within the system have told me they believe Miami-Dade Co. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, appointed to her position in 1993 when her boss, Janet Reno, was made Clinton's attorney general, has purposefully slowed the wheels of justice," Stanek said.
"'She shelved this case because it was related to abortion and hoped it would die, pardon the pun,' one told me. 'This has all got to be driving Rundle batty, because her hand is getting forced now,'" Stanek wrote.
The Tampa newspaper reported Renelique got his medical training in Haiti and later served a residency in New York. The report said New York records confirm Renelique paid out on at least five medical malpractice claims in the past decade, although details weren't available.
On the newspaper's forum page, one commenter said, "This is an unbelievable horror story. Whether you agree or disagree with abortion is not the point here. This baby was born alive and thrown away in the garbage. …"
"Please, people: go to an ADOPTION agency instead of an abortion 'clinic!'" said another. "You and your child will be treated humanely, rather than coldly and dispassionately like just a piece of garbage."
WND reported earlier on a lawsuit brought on behalf of the mother in order to establish that there was a live birth.
The action was filed by attorneys working with the Thomas More Society and names as defendants the Miramar Woman Center, A GYN of Hialeah, Belkis Gonzalez, Siomara Senises, Frantz Baz
ile and others allegedly involved in the death of the baby, named Shanice Denise Osbourne.
Belkis Gonzalez
The claim was filed by prominent Miami personal injury attorney Tom Pennekamp, who was retained by the law society for the case.
The case alleges Shanice was born alive, then murdered by the abortion clinic owner, Gonzalez." The other defendants are cited for "unlicensed and unauthorized medical practice, botched abortions, evasive tactics, false medical records and the killing, hiding and disposing of the baby."
Should the case result in a determination there was a live birth and homicide, it could have national implications because of the issue of care that abortionists are required to provide to babies who survive abortions. While he was a state lawmaker, President Obama opposed such rules, arguing they imposed too great a burden on the abortionist.
The case alleges:
As a direct and proximate result of the negligent conduct of the Defendants, Plantiff Sycloria witnessed the live birth and suffering of her daughter as she struggled for life in pain, moving and breathing on the recliner. She witnessed Belkis Gonzalez enter the room and knock the live baby from the recliner seat where she had given birth to the floor. She then witnessed the murder of her daughter by Belkis Gonzalez before her eyes, as Belkis Gonzalez picked up a large pair of orange shears and cut the umbilical cord connecting mother and daughter. Belkis Gonzalez did not clamp the baby's umbilical cord allowing the baby to bleed out and also threw or by some accounts literally swept the breathing live child into a biohazard bag to suffocate and bleed to death. There are reports that Belkis Gonzalez also placed a caustic chemical in the bag with the live baby.
[February 06, 2009, WorldNetDaily,
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88179 ]
Commentary: Florida Abortionist Loses Medical License
A Florida abortionist has lost his medical license, in part because of a botched abortion in which he inadequately dilated a patient’s cervix, then ruptured her uterus and shoved the unborn child’s body into the abdominal cavity. This was all done in a so-called “safe and legal” abortion clinic.
Many people wonder why someone who goes through the rigors and expense of medical school and ends up with the prestigious title “doctor” would want to use their skills doing abortions. Part of the reason is that these people have no respect for themselves, and are truly the bottom rung of the ladder in the medical profession. Malpractice is rampant in their secret, shame-covered world, and only rarely results in suspended licenses. – Frank Pavone
Hippocratic Medicine
Our January International meeting made one thing very clear: There is an agenda in the world's healthcare systems to mainstream abortion as a human right for all women of all countries. Those of us who do not do elective abortion and do not refer for elective abortion will be looked at as physicians who deny women a basic reproductive healthcare human right. This agenda is unmistakable in the proceedings of committees of the United Nations, of the European Union, certain well funded NGO's, and even in statements from the United States State Department.
Our defense is to declare ourselves practitioners of Hippocratic Medicine. In Hippocrates' time (4th Century BC), it was common for a "physician" to practice purposefully ending lives, as well as treating disease and saving lives. Hippocrates declared a different standard committed to doing good, not harm, to the patient.
The Hippocratic Oath has been a standard value in civilized medical practice for 2400 years. In the USA, medical students routinely pledged themselves to this Oath in past years. However, since the mid 1970's, a commitment to the Hippocratic Oath has first been diluted, and now is practically abandoned.
Hippocratic Medicine is now on the verge of being declared by world medical/ethical systems as "a denial of basic human reproductive rights."
We encourage you to identify yourself as a "Hippocratic physician." Surely the majority of doctors are, but unless we identify ourselves as "Hippocratic," we will be marginalized by world and national systems pushing abortion and euthanasia agendas.
We urge you to go to www.hippocraticregistry.com, read the home page, click on "register here," and register. Registration is free.
The registry is international in scope. The registry is in no way involved with politics. It is simply a service that allows you to identify yourself as a Hippocratic physician. It seeks to form a network of likeminded physicians throughout the world. And as a service, the registry may send you pertinent updates on the national or world scene which may impact your own practice, or impact Hippocratic medicine in general.
The Hippocratic Registry is a project of Dr. John Patrick, retired Pediatrician in Canada, where he had a long involvement in research in pediatric nutrition. He is currently a college president in Ottawa, Canada, and lectures extensively on moral issues in medicine and culture, and integration of faith and science.
AAPLOG encourages all of our members and associates to register as Hippocratic healthcare professionals. We feel this identity will be increasingly essential to our very existence in the world of objectionable medical ideologies/values that is being pressed upon us.
The traditional version and the 1995 version of the Hippocratic Oath can be found at www.hippocraticregisry.com [29Jan2010, Jdc/aaplog]
Commentary: Too Few Doctors
[response to Chivers-Wilson article]
Ms Chivers-Wilson laments the lack of doctors willing to perform abortions and seems to imply that this will result in a rise of "unsafe" procedures.
Only three questions come to mind: unsafe for whom, as abortion always results in someone's demise?
Is Ms Chivers not aware of the rise of supposedly "safe" clinically provided botched abortions? Does she intend to remove the rights of conscience from medical professionals who may oppose abortion for ethical, medical or religious reasons?
It is ironic that while the world mourns the loss of life in Haiti, our small-minded pro-choice movement should fixate on how to grant better access to the taking of innocent life!
Cristina Alarcon, BS Pharm, MA
Vancouver, BC
[Chivers-Wilson, Calgary Herald, Jan 28. 2010, http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/letters/doctors/2493411/story.html ; PharmFacts, 3Feb10]
Planned Parenthood Abortion Center in Alabama on Probation, Hid Sexual Abuse
A Planned Parenthood abortion business in Birmingham, Alabama that was found in an undercover video hiding a potential case of sexual abuse has been placed on probation by state officials. The video also showed a Planned Parenthood employee telling a woman posing as a teenager how she can evade the state's parental consent law.
As LifeNews.com reported last July, the video sho
wed a staffer at Planned Parenthood telling a woman who appears to be a victim of statutory rape that "we bend the rules."
The Birmingham Planned Parenthood counselor tells pro-life advocate Lila Rose, who pretends to be a 14-year-old statutory rape victim, that it "does sometimes bend the rules a little bit" rather than report sexual abuse to state authorities.
Now, state health officials told the Associated Press today the abortion center has been placed on probation.
They indicated the Planned Parenthood abortion facility has until next week to submit a plan to the state health department on how it will fix the problems of not properly reporting potential cases of sexual abuse of minors to authorities as required by state law.
The request came after investigators for the department found Planned Parenthood files showing girls aged 13-15 having abortions even though they are obviously victims of statutory rape.
The document also found Planned Parenthood failed to comply with the parental consent law Alabama has in place. That requires parents to sign off no an abortion before a teenager is allowed to have one.
After the video expose, the Planned Parenthood abortion business released a statement saying its staff normally act in a professional manner and promising an internal probe.
"Planned Parenthood of Alabama provides high quality health care and takes any allegation of this nature very seriously," it claimed.
"An essential part of our mission is to protect teens, and to make sure that they get the counseling and medical care they need. We will conduct an internal, fact-based review to ensure that all our high standards of care have been met," it added.
"Planned Parenthood of Alabama is committed to following all laws, and regularly makes reports to law enforcement officials. The health and safety of our patients is our top priority and we know that parents trust their teens to get accurate information and quality care at Planned Parenthood health centers. We will continue to work exceptionally hard to maintain that trust," it claimed.
But the staffer in question broke that trust when it comes to obeying state law and helping teenager girls and their parents.
The counselor Rose spoke with tells her that a signature from an "older sister that's over the age of 18" or someone "with the same last name" could function as a substitute for parental consent so Planned Parenthood could perform an abortion on a minor.
However, Alabama law specifies that the written permission of either a parent or legal guardian is necessary before a minor may obtain an abortion.
Randy Christian of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office heard the tape at the time and told CBS 42 he was shocked by it.
"Anyone who sees that should be disturbed by it, and I hope they're disturbed by it," he said.
"For a 31 year old to have sex with a 14 year old, that is rape in the second degree. I think they are not only morally obligated to report it – the law requires them to report it, and there could be some serious consequences otherwise," he said.
Related web sites:
See the video at http://www.lifenews.com/state4265.html
Live Action Advocates – http://www.liveaction.org
[February 10, 2010, Birmingham, AL, www.LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/state4801.html ]
Statutory Rape Cover-Up by Abortion Industry
Jim Pinto's interview on ABC33/40 regarding Birmingham Planned Parenthood On Probation.
http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0210/705434_video.html?ref=newsstory
Russian Teenage Girl Dies From Legal Abortion at Moscow Hospital 17Feb10
A teenage girl died from a botched legal abortion at a hospital in Moscow on Wednesday, local sources indicate. The death is yet another casualty of a Russian abortion industry that has produced some of the highest abortion rates in the world and has caused significant infertility problems.
The Pravda news service indicates the woman began suffering problems immediately following the abortion, lost consciousness and eventually died.
Hospital officials took the unnamed woman to a larger hospital located next door and immediately transferred her to an intensive care unit, where she eventually died from the abortion complications.
Emergency physicians told the Russian web site Life News, not affiliated with this pro-life news service, that the woman was dead by the time they arrived to care for her.
They said the woman died from acute cardiovascular insufficiency and intensive blood loss, why typically happens when the abortion has caused damage to the woman's uterus or other internal parts and she suffers intense bleeding. [20Feb10, #4831, Moscow, Russia, www.LifeNews.com]
RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE
Idaho Proposal Expands Right of Conscience to All Health Care Workers
The Idaho Senate is considering expanding the right of conscience for health care professionals to include pharmacists, nurses, and other workers. The law currently only applies to doctors and hospitals. The expansion could protect those workers from dispensing drugs dealing with emergency contraception, end of life care, and treatment using human stem cells.
Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said his plan shouldn’t affect people trying to get a prescription filled. “There’s nothing in it that has anything to do with the right to an abortion or contraception,” he said. “It’s a right of conscience issue.” He said he worked with the Idaho Medical Association and Idaho Hospital Association on the current plan. Pro-choice groups including NARAL call conscience clauses “refusal clauses” and say they can endanger patients’ health.
A similar proposal, which only expanded the right of conscience to pharmacists, failed to pass the Legislature last year. The plan would require employees to give a written notice about their conscientious concerns and protect them from civil, criminal, or administrative punishment from invoking that right. In a life-threatening emergency, the proposal would require that a health care professional provide treatment if no one else is available.
Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, stalled the proposal last year because of its wording. “I thought they could do a better job,” she said. “If they wanted to limit abortions, then say what you mean. Don’t bring a bill that insinuates something. You’re going in the back door. I have no problem with someone’s conscience. I do have a problem if they don’t inform their employer that they do have some conscience issues. I think it’s only fair.”
She said the proposal needs to balance the rights of health care workers and patients. “You have to protect people on both sides. If it’s in a small community and there’s only one pharmacist and they have a conscience matter, you have to make sure that a person doesn’t have to drive 50 miles or more in snow swept roads to get care that their doctor has prescribed.” Lodge said she also tried to work with medical groups to craft a better proposal. “The consensus was let’s hold it (for a year) and see if
something better can come along. They’ve got something better, I guess.” Winder’s proposal won’t go through Lodge’s committee, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, this year.
Winder said he wants to get this proposal approved this year to head off any potential federal health care reform. “We all know that the current (Obama) administration is pro-choice in its leanings,” he said.
Current congressional reform plans don’t include conscience rights for health care professionals.
“In none of the current drafts is there any strong language for protection of conscience.”
Winder also said court cases have made it clear that conscience rights aren’t implied in federal or state law, which is why he is backing the plan this year. He has six co-sponsors for the plan in the Idaho Legislature, including five Republicans and House Assistant Minority Leader James Ruchti, D-Pocatello. [By Brad Iverson-Long, February 12th, 2010; http://www.idahoreporter.com/2010/proposal-expands-right-of-conscience-to-all-health-care-workers/]
Study Linking Poor Pre-Abortion Counseling and PTSD Shows Need for New Legislation: Research Finds Poor Counseling Predicts Post-Abortion Psychological Problems
A new study has found that poor counseling before abortion is more likely to be followed by symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological problems.1
The results from an online survey of women and men who had been involved in a past abortion, published in the journal Traumatology, showed that inadequate counseling and disagreement between the partners about having the abortion were predictors for psychological and relationship problems.
For women, inadequate counseling was linked to relationship problems, psychological problems such as hyperarousal, intrusion or avoidance behaviors; and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Men, on the other hand, were more likely to experience relationship problems and symptoms of intrusion and avoidance after inadequate pre-abortion counseling.
For both women and men, disagreement about the abortion decision meant they were more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD or to experience some PTSD symptoms.
Overall, 54 percent of the women and 43 percent of the men reported all the symptoms for a clinical diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Approximately 80 percent of women and 77 percent of men had at least one symptom of PTSD, and nearly 80 percent of women and 60 percent of men reported that the abortion experience was highly or overwhelmingly stressful.
The authors noted that the stress surrounding an unplanned or crisis pregnancy tends to lead to psychological vulnerability.
"The emotional strain and crisis and the lack of effectiveness of one's usual coping mechanisms may result in anxiety and an inability to function," they wrote. "… Thus, men and women facing a crisis pregnancy may need considerable more counseling than is currently being offered."
Most Women Don't Receive Adequate Counseling
Indeed, a previous survey of American and Russian women found that 84 percent of American women reported that they didn't receive adequate counseling before abortion, with 67 percent reporting that they didn't receive any counseling before the abortion and more than 50 percent saying they felt rushed or uncertain about the decision. Further, 64 percent said they felt pressured to abort and the same percentage reported that they didn't feel supported by their partner.
The same study found that 65 percent of American women reported all the symptoms necessary for a clinical diagnosis of PTSD, and that they attributed their symptoms to abortion.
Women themselves have reported that they want proper counseling before abortion. One survey found that 95 percent of women said they wanted to be informed of all the risks before undergoing an elective procedure such as abortion.
Unfortunately, much pre-abortion counseling—when it is offered—gives women and their partners or families deceptive or inadequate information in order to reassure or sell them on abortion, rather than helping them find the the best support and resources possible.
The Need for Legislation to Protect Women's Rights
Dr. David Reardon, the director of the Elliot Institute, says that the results of this latest survey point to a need for legislation proposed by the Stop Forced Abortions Alliance, which would hold abortion businesses liable for failing to screen women for coercion or for known factors that put them at risk for post-abortion psychological problems. This legislation was recently introduced in Missouri by state Rep. Cynthia Davis.
Without such legislation, it is nearly impossible for women who suffer psychological injuries from a coerced or unsafe abortion to hold the abortionist liable for even gross negligence in regard to pre-abortion screening and counseling," Reardon said.
"Proper screening will reduce abortion rates, especially among women being pressured into unwanted abortions or unsafe abortions, and will also reduce the rate of psychological illness associated with abortion," he added. "But the only way to that goal is remove the barriers which prevent women from holding abortionists liable for negligent screening and counseling."
Citations
1. Catherine Coyle, Priscilla Coleman and Vincent Rue, "Inadequate Preabortion Counseling and Decision Conflict as Predictors of Subsequent Relationship Difficulties and Psychological Stress in Men and Men," Traumatology XX(X): 1-15 (2010).
[22Jan2010, Springfield, IL,
http://www.theunchoice.com/News/traumatologystudy.htm]
Survey Finds Girls Less Likely Than Boys to Recommend Abortion to Friends
A new survey conducted by the Girl Scouts finds girls are less likely than boys to recommend abortion to their friends.
And, overall, less than 10 percent of young people say they would ever suggest an abortion.
The numbers are from a new nationwide survey released today by Girl Scouts of the USA. The study, conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI), is nearly identical to one Girl Scouts commissioned in 1989.
A comparison of the two shows a marked shift toward more ethical and responsible beliefs and values and civic involvement among teens and tweens, the organization noted.
Among teenagers queried in the survey, girls are less likely than boys to say they would advise an abortion — with just 6 perce
nt of girls saying so and 12 percent of boys saying they would advise one.
The study also finds that one third of teenagers say they intend to wait until they are married to have sex compared to less than a quarter (24 percent) in 1989.
Among teenagers, girls are less likely than boys to say they would have sex (18 percent vs. 38 percent) .
In addition, 71 percent say their religious beliefs are important to them.
The survey was of 3,263 girls and boys from the third through twelfth grades and queried them on issues ranging from ethics and diversity to civic involvement and peer pressure.
The study was conducted with Harris Interactive (formerly Louis Harris Inc., the same firm that worked on the 1989 study.)
[13 January 2010, www.LifeNews.com, Washington, DC, http://www.lifenews.com/nat5875.html ]
Chilean Maternal Mortality Study Undercuts Pro-Abortion Claims
Preliminary findings by a prominent biomedical researcher examining the dramatic decrease in maternal mortality, over the past fifty years in the Latin American nation of Chile, appear to undercut claims by global abortion lobbyists that liberal abortion laws are necessary to reduce maternal mortality rates.
According Dr. Elard Koch, an epidemiologist on the faculty of medicine at the University of Chile, Chile's promotion of "safe pregnancy" measures such as "prenatal detection" and accessibility to professional birth attendants in a hospital setting are primarily responsible for the decrease in maternal mortality. The maternal mortality rate declined from 275 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1960 to 18.7 deaths in 2000, the largest reduction in any Latin country.
Because Chile is a nation that protects unborn life in its penal laws and constitution, the decline is therefore not attributable to access to legal abortion. In fact, the preliminary study shows, maternal mortality in Chile declined over the last century regardless of whether abortion was legal or illegal. Chile tightened its restrictions on abortion in the late 1980s.
According to Dr. Koch, "From 1960 onwards, there has been a breakthrough in the public health system and primary care" in Chile, with resources devoted to the development of "highly trained personnel, the construction of many primary health centers and the increase of schooling of the population.” Education appeared to be a primary factor in the country’s improved maternal health. Chile today touts a maternal health record comparable to those of developed nations.
Statistics released the World Health Organization (WHO) support such conclusions. In South America, according to WHO, Chile boasts of the lowest rate of maternal mortality, whereas Guyana, which significantly liberalized its laws in the mid-1990s citing concern over maternal deaths, has the highest.
Indeed, perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of the decline of maternal death rates in the developed world, a peer-reviewed article by Irvine Loudon appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000 confirms that the “sudden and dramatic decline in maternal mortality rates, which occurred after 1937, took place in all developed countries and eliminated the previously wide country-level differences in national mortality rates. The main factors that led to this decline seem to have been successive improvements in maternal care.”
As with Chile today, these strides in the developed world occurred at a time before access to abortion had been liberalized. Thus it appears that improving access to quality maternal health care, rather than permissive abortion laws, is what drives reductions in maternal death during pregnancy and delivery.
Maternal health experts such as noted obstetrician Donna Harrison, MD, point out that introducing abortion in a developing world setting without first improving basic maternal health care increases the risk of maternal death since health systems cannot adequately respond to complications from invasive surgical procedures such as abortion.
Indeed, nations such as South Africa, which has one of the continent’s most liberal abortion regimes, has seen an increase in maternal deaths attributable in part to complications arising from legal abortion.
Dr. Koch presented his initial findings at the inaugural meeting of the International Working Group for Global Women's Health Research last month in Washington, DC.
[11Feb2010, Friday Fax, Volume 13, Number 9, Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. Piero A. Tozzi, J.D., Elard Koch, NEW YORK, C-FAM http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1571/pub_detail.asp
12Feb10, http://www.lifenews.com/int1464.html ]
Top Legal Scholar Warns Abortion Issue Can Divide a Nation
In Washington in January 2010, a top legal scholar from Princeton University said that the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in 1973 led to deep societal divisions as well as to unprecedented political and religious alliances, which will be called on to lead a struggle for the “soul” of the nation once the decision is overturned.
“Abortion and embryo-destructive research are at the heart of the divide between the nation’s major political parties,” Professor Robert George said, galvanizing support for the pro-life plank in the Republican Party while drawing disaffected Democrats to the Republican camp.
In response, “Barack Obama is trying to win over religiously serious Catholics and Evangelicals,” he said, who united around the pro-life cause, “without altering in the slightest his support for abortion, including late-term and partial-birth abortions.” Obama’s recent attempt to woo religious leaders has support among some left-leaning Catholics who argue that collaboration would lead to fewer abortions, a prospect George called “delusional.”
George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, a seat once held by US President Woodrow Wilson.
George is also the Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He delivered the lecture, entitled “Our Struggle for the Soul of our Nation,” to an international audience gathered at the Rose Dinner commemorating the thirty-seventh anniversary of the United States supreme court decision Roe v. Wade.
In what some took as counsel to foreign jurists now reviewing their abortion laws, George said that when the American court usurped “the constitutional authority of the people” to strike down the nation’s laws, they “no doubt believed that legal abortion was a humane and enlightened policy” that would be “easily integrated into the fabric of American social and political life.” Instead, it was “an unmitigated disaster,” he argued.
Despite what abortion advocates promised and the court believed, George instructed, the decision “has taken the lives of more than fifty million unborn victims…done immeasurable moral, psychological, and sometimes physical harm to women…corrupted
physicians and nurses by turning healers into killers…undermined the moral authority of the law by its injustice…abetted irresponsible – even predatory – male sexual behavior…[and] metastasized into widespread elite support for deadly embryo experimentation and even…the horrific and grisly practice of fetal farming – the creation of human beings by cloning or other experimentation and transplantation.”
UN human rights experts say that George’s remarks hold important political and social considerations for other nations now under pressure by UN staff and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to weaken legal protection of the unborn based upon false claims that they are necessary to uphold UN human rights agreements.
They point to Colombia which liberalized its laws in 2006 subsequent to a lawsuit backed by the New York law firm Center for Reproductive Rights.
Other cases include Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic which successfully fended off pressure last year from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and various NGOs to overturn their laws.
George concluded that the 2012 U.S. presidential election “will almost certainly be the decisive one when it comes to the Supreme Court and the future of Roe v. Wade.”
[By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., New York, C-FAM]
BLACK HISTORY MONTH:
National Black Leaders Join Georgia Legislators to End Ugliest Form of Racism: Abortion
In 2008, blacks made up 30% of the population but over 57% of the abortions in Georgia. Today national black leaders gathered at the Georgia State Capitol to join a bipartisan group of black and white Georgia legislators to call for an end to the disproportionate levels of abortion in the black community in Georgia.
"Black children are aborted at three times the rate of all other populations. Georgia leads the country in the number of reported abortions performed on black women, 18,901 in 2008 alone," Catherine Davis, Director of Minority Outreach for Georgia Right to Life reported.
Dr. Johnny Hunter, President of LEARN noted, "The civil rights activists did not fight to make lynching safe, legal, and rare. They ended it. We must fight to end the ugliest form of racism: abortion."
Dr. La Verne Tolbert, former board member of Planned Parenthood stated, "Abortions increase where clinics are located and where are those clinics located? Ninety-four percent of the clinics are located in urban areas where blacks reside. In my own neighborhood which is an African American neighborhood in California, there are three abortion clinics strategically located all in the same area."
On Tuesday, Representative Barry Loudermilk introduced bipartisan legislation that targets this very issue. The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, HB 1155, makes it illegal to knowingly perform, solicit or accept funding for either race- or sex-selection abortions. This bill is based upon existing federal legislation in the 111th US Congress.
"In Georgia, you cannot fire or hire a person based upon their race or gender. If discrimination is wrong in the workplace and in schools, those same standards should be applied to who enters this life and who doesn't. No child should be kept from entering this world based upon their race, color, or sex," said Representative Loudermilk
Dr. Johnny Hunter stated, "All the civil rights gained in education, voting, and equal job opportunities mean nothing to a dead black child."
Catherine Davis noted, "HB 1155 will not victimize or harm women, but will hold accountable those who would perform, solicit, or coerce an abortion because of the race, color, or sex of the child."
Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. commented, "I commend Rep. Loudermilk and the other legislators for ending this last bastion of racism. Abortion is the civil rights issue of the 21st Century."
[11Feb10, Atlanta, Georgia Right to Life, 678-571-5309
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5113913026.html ]
Martin Luther King Jr's Niece: Dream Includes Protecting Unborn From Abortion
On a day when Americans across the country are celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his desire to regard all people as Americans worthy of equal treatment, his niece says King's dream, if announced today, would also include protecting unborn children from abortion.
Dr. Alveda King, today, is celebrating Uncle’s life and she said he would agree that, when it comes to treating all people with respect, that he would include babies before birth.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of a Beloved Community where all are treated with respect and dignity,” Alveda King told LifeNews.com today.
“He fought against society’s exclusion of people who were treated as less than human because of their appearance," she added. "Today, we are compelled to continue Uncle Martin’s fight by standing up for those who are treated as less than human because of their helplessness and inconvenience."
King told LifeNews.com, “The unborn are as much a part of the Beloved Community as are newborns, infants, teenagers, adults, and the elderly."
The niece of the great civil rights leader also said those who follow his ideals of tolerance don't always show that to unborn children.
"Too many of us speak of tolerance and inclusion, yet refuse to tolerate or include the weakest and most innocent among us in the human family," she said.
King concludes, "As we celebrate the life of Uncle Martin, let us renew our hearts and commit our lives to treating each other, whatever our race, status, or stage of life, as we would want to be treated. Let us let each other live."
King had an abortion but now speaks out for protecting human life. She has called abortion and racism "evil twins." [January 18, 2010, http://www.lifenews.com/nat5888.html, Ertelt, DC]
Documents Raise Spectre of Fetal Harvesting in WU Late-Term Abortion Scheme
Pro-life advocates say they have obtained documents that raise serious questions over the possibility of fetal harvesting and conscience violations behind the University of Wisconsin's plans to begin performing late-term abortions at the Madison Surgery Center.
The Alliance Defense Fund and Pro-Life Wisconsin say that documents they obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request illustrate the efforts of UW officials and abortionists over several years to add second-trimester abortions at MSC.
In addition, they say, certain communiqués raise fears that UW researchers could use the tissue of babies aborted at MSC for medical experimentation.
One such document reveals a UW-Madison study involved diabetic patients who received transplants of fetal pancreatic tissue "obtained from medical facilities where legal abortions are carried out." Pro-life advocates fear that medical researchers would be tempted to resort to "in-house" aborted fetal material that would be far cheaper than obtaining it from other areas.
The Madison Surgery C
enter is a joint venture between UW Hospital and Clinics (UWHC), Meriter Hospital and the UW Medical Foundation (UWMF). Officials in charge of the project planned to take up the second trimester abortion business in Madison at the same time a Planned Parenthood abortionist specializing in the practice was retiring.
The Associated Press reports it obtained a detailed PowerPoint presentation developed by two UW doctors promoting the plan. One slide is stamped with a UW logo and titled "Benefits," with "increased departmental revenue" at the top of the list.
FOIA e-mails indicate that supporters took pains to keep the project low key for as long as possible. One November 2008 email from MSC Administrative Director Cheryl Wilson to the UWMF's Peter Christman revealed that they changed the location for discussing their plans to expand abortion access "so MSC staff did not see us meeting and inquire about the reason for the meeting."
The documents are also alleged to show that Caryn Dutton and Laurel Rice, both employees of UW School of Medicine – Rice is Chairwoman of the Ob/Gyn Dept – and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, led the charge to transform the surgical center into an abortion clinic.
Rice sent a letter to the Planned Parenthood Consortium of Abortion Providers stating, "The provision of abortion care is so central to my commitment to health care and leadership in the department, I will personally start to provide abortion care at PPWI’s comprehensive center one day a month beginning November 1, 2008. And I am excited to do so."
The letter, however, used the official UW letterhead – alarming Elizabeth Bolt, Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs UW School of Medicine, because it appeared to veer dangerously toward expending university resources to support abortion.
"I don’t want this letter to cause the legislature to scrutinize this area more closely or even worse, expand the statute," Bolt is quoted as writing. "Right now, I think we’ve found a way to provide this training within the boundaries of the statute and I don’t want to jeopardize that."
Dutton, who is a UW Ob-gyn physician and an associate medical director for PPWI’s board of directors, intends to start performing the late term abortions. MSC paid for Dutton and two associates to take a December 2008 trip to the University of North Carolina to learn how they carry out late-term abortions.
Although MSC got the go-ahead from the relevant boards of directors to start performing second trimester abortions as of February 2009, none have been reported as yet. Crowds of local pro-lifers have repeatedly demonstrated against the arrangement since its inception.
Part of the delay may be due to as yet unanswered questions regarding the separation of public and private funds when it comes to the abortions. Current provisions in federal and Wisconsin law prohibit taxpayer funding being involved with abortions, but pro-life advocates want to make sure that no public funds end up diverted to support UW’s intended abortion business.
ADF has demanded that UW officials released detailed explanations that outline precisely how public money will not be involved in the abortion scheme. The group is also concerned that the conscience rights of medical professionals objecting to abortion would be jeopardized by having MSC performing abortions.
"We will not remain silent while the University of Wisconsin and Meriter Hospital leaders publicly sanction the senseless killing of the most vulnerable members of the human family," said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. "Until the blood stops flowing, these institutions can be assured pro-lifers will stand up for innocent preborn babies."
Virginia Zignego, Pro-Life Wisconsin communications director and a UW-Madison graduate, said that Pro-Life Wisconsin plans to continue "opposing the MSC’s late-term abortion plan, through peaceful prayer rallies, TV commercials, education and raising public awareness."
As part of that effort, a Saturday, Feb. 6 rally and march organized by Pro-Life Wisconsin and Vigil for Life of Madison will protest the Madison Surgery Center’s year-old decision to provide late-term abortions. The protest will begin at noon and be joined by New York pro-life leader Chris Slattery of Expectant Mother Care, and will meet at the UW-Madison campus, by the Library Mall, 700 block of State St.
[29Jan10, Peter J. Smith, Madison, WI, www.LifeSiteNews.com]
Scott Roeder Found Guilty of Tiller Murder
A Wichita jury found 51-year-old Scott Roeder guilty of first-degree murder Friday for his admitted shooting of late-term abortionist George Tiller last May.
Roeder confessed to shooting the abortionist at point-blank range in the Reformation Lutheran Church, where Tiller, 67, was a parishioner. Tiller was renowned for his burgeoning late-term abortion business, one of few in the United States, where he boasted of having killed 60,000 children in the womb.
Although Roeder's attorneys had requested consideration of a lighter sentencing for Roeder, at the end of testimony on Thursday, Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert ruled that only premeditated, first-degree murder could be considered as a charge. Roeder, who says he had stalked Tiller since 1999, now faces life in prison.
Immediately following news of the murder, pro-life organizations, both local around the world, issued strong condemnations of the deed that took Tiller's life.
"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down," stated Operation Rescue, the pro-life group that had moved its headquarters to Wichita to fight Tiller's abortion business. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice.
"We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."
Phill Kline, the former Kansas attorney general who once investigated Tiller's practice, said he was "stunned by this lawless and violent act which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law. We join in lifting prayer that God's grace and presence rest with Dr. Tiller's family and friends."
"Kansans for Life deplores the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and we wish to express our deep and sincere sympathy to his family and friends," stated executive director Mary Kay Culp. "We value life, completely deplore violence, and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today."
Other pro-life groups issuing condemnations included: the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, American Life League, Priests for Life, the Susan B. Anthony List, Canada's Campaign Life Coalition, the Family Research Council, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.K.'s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, and the National Right to Life Committee.
[29Jan10, Kathleen Gilbert, Wichita, Kansas, www.LifeSiteNews.com]
NOTE: PhysiciansForLife.org also has condemned the violent killing of George Tiller. Every life is precious and to be respected and protected, from fertilization to natural death. "If we must err, always err on the side of LIFE!"
New Dominican Constitution Defends Life From Moment of Conception
After seven months of congressional debate, the Dominican Republic has implemented a new constitution which defends life "from conception to natural death."
The new constitution which outlaws abortion took effect on January 26.
Following the official announcement of the constitution, the country's president, Leonel Fernandez called the document the “Constitution of the 21st century."
The defense of life was one of the most controversial issues of the debate and was finally defined in article 37 of the constitution. It reads, "The right to life is inviolable from conception to natural death. The death penalty shall not be established, decreed or applied in any case."
[Santo Domingo, Feb 1, 2010, CNA]
Abortionist Hodari Officially Under Investigation for Forced Abortions
Operation Rescue says it has been notified by the Michigan Department of Community Health in two letters that abortionist Abraham Alberto Hodari is officially under investigation by the Bureau of Health Profession for his involvement in forced abortions.
The complaint against Hodari was filed by Operation Rescue President Troy Newman after receiving information about a lawsuit filed by Caitlin Bruce, alleging that Hodari committed a forced abortion on her in 2008, after she withdrew her consent. Bruce stated that she changed her mind about having the abortion after she viewed an image of her pre-born baby on an ultrasound imaging screen.
Newman's complaint also referenced a 20-year-old case involving a then-16-year-old girl who came forward last year to tell of her abortion by Hodari that she says he forced upon her under false pretenses. Jennifer McCoy filed her own complaint against Hodari saying that she went to his office for what she believed was a routine pre-natal check-up for a wanted pregnancy when she was forcibly aborted. The fact that she had become pregnant by a 40-year-old high school teacher was also never reported to authorities, as is required by law.
"These cases show a twenty year history of abuse by Hodari. Couple that with public statements he has made indicating he believes he has a 'license to lie,' and we have a recipe for disaster as far as women and their babies are concerned," said Newman. "We are grateful that there is now an investigation underway. We pray that Hodari, who has menaced women for over 20 years, will finally be stripped of his medical license."
Hodari was placed on probation last February for illegally dumping medical records. In March, he was fined $10,000 for his part in the death of Regina Johnson. Hodari has been involved in at least three additional abortion deaths.
In November, Hodari put his abortion clinics on the market along with his collection of expensive classic cars and hastily filed for divorce from his wife of 29 years. Local activists told Operation Rescue that it appeared that he was attempting to liquidate his assets so he could flee the country, possibly to his former home in Argentina. [February 1, 2010, Lansing, MI, www.LifeSiteNews.com, http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/feb/10020106.html]
Cecile Richards to Join Ford Foundation Board
The Ford Foundation today announced that Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, will join the foundation's board of trustees when the board next meets in May. She was elected at the January meeting of the trustees that took place last week.
Ms. Richards brings to the Ford Foundation a long history of work, particularly in the areas of women's health [sic], [and] reproductive rights… Since 2006, she has led Planned Parenthood, a federation with nearly 850 centers… Prior to joining Planned Parenthood, Ms. Richards founded and served as president of America Votes, a coalition of more than 40 national organizations working on voting rights, voter education and [ed. liberal, pro-abortion] mobilization efforts at the grassroots level.
Ford trustees serve six-year terms, and may be re-elected to the board for a second term. [http://www.fordfound.org/newsroom/pressreleases/353
Ford Foundation; New York, 1 February 2010 ]