NEW! Mississippi Abortionist Convicted in Slaying of Wife
NEW! U.S. Surgical Abortion Rate Falls, "Medication" Abortions Increase (AGI)
Assassinated Pakistan Leader Benazir Bhutto Was Strong Abortion Opponent
NEW! Spanish Abortion Rate Skyrockets to 100,000+ Annually
NEW! United Nations Population Agency Puts Abortion at Top of World Agenda
2006 Annual Summary of Kansas Vital Statistics Released
KS Commissioners OK Phill Kline’s Request for Investigation
KS Attorney General Resigns During Sex Scandal Kansas Grand Jury in Abortion Business Probe Hires Special Counsel
Mother of Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow Rejected Doctor's Advice to Abort Him
Abortionist Tells MI Medical Students He Has "License to Lie" to Women
Thousands of U.S. Doctors Ask OBG College to Stop Forcing Physicians to Refer for Abortion
Reducing Abortions Would Significantly Cut Premature Birth Rate
Magazine Tips the Scales in Birth Weight Study JAPS Medical Journal Shows How to Reduce Rates of Breast Cancer, Premature Birth
Another Spanish Abortion Center Shut Down, Falsified Late-Term Medical Records
Nicaragua Medical Association President Reports Maternal Deaths Declined After Abortion Made Illegal
Argentine Governor Vetoes Abortion-on-Demand Bill
India Loses 80,000 Women by Maternal Mortality Deaths from Legal Abortions Annually
Out of Business: Longtime San Diego-area Abortion Business Closes its Doors
The Justice Foundation Invites More Testimonies on Abortion
State Legislation Restricting Abortion Reduces Incidence of Abortion Among Minors
2005 Abortion Numbers in Louisiana
South Dakota Report Shows Abortions Down 7%
Missouri Planned Parenthood Sues a Measure that Would Stop Forced Abortions
Alabama Group Says UAB Health System Doing Abortions
CT Sees Fourth Case of Abortion Used to Hide Sexual Abuse Crimes…
MS ABORTIONIST CONVICTED. Nearly 10 years after a 1998 mistrial, a jury has finally found abortionist Malachy DeHenre guilty in the 1997 slaying of his wife.
Dr. Malachy DeHenre was charged with killing his wife, Dr. Myasha DeHenre, with a single pistol shot to the head in their home. The Jones County Circuit Court jury, composed of six men and six women, deliberated 45 minutes before finding him guilty of manslaughter.
10 years ago DeHenre almost escaped conviction for the charge, when the jury in his 1998 trial voted 11-1 for acquittal, resulting in a mistrial. Had it not been for the one juror convinced of the abortionist's guilt, DeHenre would have escaped trial again under the aegis of double jeopardy.
Nationally known forensics pathologist Dr. Michael Baden was called in by the prosecution to testify that Myasha DeHenre's death was no accident, but a homicide. He said the evidence told him that DeHenre fired the pistol from more than 24 inches away from the head of his wife, whom he said must have been lying down on the loveseat, ruling out the possibility that the shot was self-inflicted.
According to Dora Morgan, a dispatcher with the Jones County Sheriff's Office, who took the 911 calls from the DeHenre home, she heard Dr. Malachy DeHenre laughing uncontrollably in the background as she spoke with his daughter, Myasha – named after her mother – who said that her father had "gone mad" and shot her mother.
Dr. Myasha DeHenre died at a Hattiesburg hospital several days after her shooting.
Abortionist Malachy DeHenre had his license to practice medicine in Mississippi, Alabama, and New York suspended after being convicted of "gross malpractice" and "repeated malpractice" on abortion patients beginning in 2003. Three women on whom he performed abortions required complete hysterectomies to control severe hemorrhaging, and another woman Leigh Ann Stephens Alford, died as a result of a perforated uterus after an abortion he committed on her.
DeHenre also faced charges earlier this year of raping a then-21 year old patient in March 1992, however a Jones County jury acquitted him in October.
DeHenre's sentencing in the killing of his wife is scheduled for March 13.
Related on Malachy DeHenre:Mississippi Abortionist says He won't Commit Abortions Again http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/dec/04122003.html
Mississippi Abortionist's Medical License Suspended for Malpractice
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/aug/04082004.html
Alabama Abortion Clinic Surrenders License After Woman Delivers Dead Full-Term Baby
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061504.html
[31Jan08, P. J. Smith, Laurel, MS, LifeSiteNews.com]
U.S. ABORTION RATE FALLS TO LOWEST LEVEL IN THREE DECA
DES: New report does find medication abortions on the increase.
"We don't know why," said study author Rachel Jones [senior research associate, Guttmacher Institute, nonprofit group that focuses on reproductive issues]. The findings will be published in the March issue of the institute's journal, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The actual number of abortions dropped to a new low, the lowest level since 1976 (1.179 million), with 1.2 million abortions in 2005, compared to a high of 1.6 million abortions in 1990. The numbers have dropped 25% from 1990 to 2005. According to the Guttmacher data, the number of abortions declined by 8 percent between 2000 and 2005, from 1.31 million to 1.21 million.
[To view abortion numbers since 1968, click here .]
The institute's president, Sharon Camp, noted that despite the decline, more than one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2005. The report does not include an analysis of why the levels have continued to decline. "We don't regard [the findings] as good or bad," Jones said. "It's a descriptive study."
The abortion rate for 2005 was 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 (down 9 percent from 2000; lowest rate since 1974). In comparison, the rate was 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women in 1981, 21.3 abortions per 1,000 women in 2000, and 19.7 abortions per 1,000 women in 2004.
Abortion rates were highest in Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Maryland and California. Rates were lowest in largely rural states: Wyoming, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Idaho and Utah. The report noted that the rates reflected the state in which the abortion occurred, thus including nonresident women who crossed state lines to get an abortion.
By region, the Northeast had the highest abortion rate, followed by the West, the South and the Midwest.
To arrive at their findings, Jones and her team contacted all known abortion providers in the United States and also used U.S. Census Bureau data to look at national and state trends.
Among the trends they uncovered was an increase in medication abortions between 2000 and 2005. "A majority of providers offer both RU-486 [mifepristone/Mifeprex] as well as surgical [abortions]," Jones said. "The number offering just RU-486 went up."
Jones and her team found that 57 percent of all known abortion providers now offer such abortion services, compared with 33 percent in early 2001. Medication abortions accounted for 13 percent, or 161,000, of all abortions done in 2005, more than double the number of such drug-induced abortions in 2001. Danco Laboratories said that it was excited by the increases and added that about 80 percent of facilities that only do abortions now have the Mifeprex abortion drug.
More than six of 10 abortions were performed within the first eight weeks, the researchers reported. And almost three of 10 were done at six weeks or before.
Jones' team also found that the average cost of an abortion at 10 weeks was $413, about $11 less than in 2001 when inflation is taken into account.
The number of providers in 2005 was 1,787, two percent (2%) fewer than in 2000…
While the study didn't include an analysis of why the rate is declining, Janice Crouse [director, Beverly LaHaye Institute, Concerned Women for America, conservative public policy organization] said one reason could be a decline in abortions among teen girls.
That drop, she added, is partially explained by the success of abstinence programs. "Abortion definitely has gone down, particularly among young people," Crouse said.
"We'd like to take a look at the dynamics [behind the statistics]," said Jones, adding that Guttmacher plans to look more closely at the use of RU-486 in future research.
[17January2008, Kathleen Doheny, U.S. News & World Report, HealthDay News, ScoutNews, http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080117/us-abortion-rate-falls-to-lowest-level-in-decades.htm; Guttmacher Institute, http://www.guttmacher.org/ ; 18Jan08, LifeNews.com; http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hKEE0dpB9sBkDB225XZQGKkzyJ8wD8U7QHVG3]
ASSASSINATED PAKISTAN LEADER BENAZIR BHUTTO STRONGLY OPPOSED ABORTION. The world mourned the loss of assassinated Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, but her death was more than a setback for those hoping for democracy in this war-torn nation.
Bhutto was a member of an international pro-life women's movement that understood abortion causes medical, mental health and other problems for women.
When Bhutto was the prime minister of Pakistan, she helped lead a delegation to the 1994 Cairo population conference that confronted abortion advocates looking to make abortion an international right.
"I dream …of a world where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction," she told the United Nations panel at the time.
Bhutto was one of only two women to address the conference. Bhutto warned conference participants that "this conference must not be viewed by the teeming masses of the world as a universal social charter seeking to impose adultery, abortion…and other such matters on individuals, societies and religions which have their own social ethos."
One of the leading pro-life women's groups in the United States, Feminists for Life of America, honored Bhutto in the 1998 issue of its publication The American Feminist. The group named Bhutto as one of the first and best "remarkable pro-life women" around the world. [28Dec07, Islamabad, Pakistan LifeNews.com]
UN POPULATION AGENCY PUTS ABORTION AT TOP OF WORLD AGENDA. UNFPA’s recently released annual report says that promoting “reproductive rights” and contraception, especially among adolescents, is the primary focus of the organization's work.
Claiming that “every minute, 190 women are forced to confront the possibility of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy—one that could have been easily prevented if only they had access to contraceptives,” the report justified the UN agency's spending two-thirds of its annual budget on the reproductive health agenda, but said that even more would be needed in the future.
UNFPA intends to put pressure on countries to spend more money for “reproductive health services” but spending more on national health priorities will not be enough, according to the report.
The report acknowledges that many governments have already established reproductive health programs but laments that “millions of pregnancies are still unwanted or mistimed.” Besides spending money governments will be pressured to chan
ge policies.
Specific measures to get countries to comply will be: undertaking advocacy to increase national investments in family planning services, promoting increased access to condoms and advocating more condom distribution, “expanding the choice of methods,” improving the quality of services, increasing the number of service delivery points and undertaking advocacy and capacity-building to expand services to adolescents.
Despite numerous claims that the organization is “abortion-neutral” and that “UNFPA does not speak for or against the legalization of abortion,” the report states that the organization is working to promote “family planning as a means to reduce unsafe abortion.”
The term “unsafe abortion” is used by UNFPA officials to mean “illegal” abortion. The report also states that UNFPA will promote “reproductive rights” and “reproductive health services,” both of which have been misused by UN agencies and committees to be synonymous with abortion.
During the last meeting of UNFPA's executive board meeting, several nations expressed serious concern about UNFPA’s lack of accounting transparency and accountability and demanded reform of the agency.
Executive Director Thoraya Obaid does not acknowledge these concerns in her forward to the report and the report is silent on these concerns.
Obaid says she is heartened by UNFPA’s successes but that even “more needs to be done” and that the future work of UNFPA will seek “to link reproductive health, population and gender with the broader issues of poverty reduction.”
The report stated that 60% of UNFPA’s budget of $389 million, or $148 million, went to the reproductive health programs, compared with $51 million dollars on population and development programs.
UNFPA was charged by investigators from the US and British governments with aiding and abetting the forced abortion program of the government of China. As was reported in the New York Times, UNFPA was also charged with supporting a coercive family program in Peru, where native women were sterilized without their consent or were made to exchange their fertility for bags of groceries.
The US government withdrew its annual contribution from UNFPA many years ago and has never reinstated it. [[4Jan08, Samantha Singson, C-FAM Friday Fax; 4Jan, LifeNews.com]
Spanish Abortion Rate Skyrockets to over 100,000 Annually
SPANISH ABORTION RATE SKYROCKETS TO OVER 100,000 ANNUALLY: Coinicides with large increase in use of contraceptives and morning after pill. Spain's annual surgical abortion rate, which has increased dramatically since the socialist government's decriminalization of the practice in 1985, has now reached over 100,000 annually, according to recently-released government figures. The increase represents a doubling of the number of surgical abortions since 1997, when the rate was a little less than 50,000.
As the Spanish pro-family website "Forum Libertas" observes, this increase has occurred despite the promotion of contraception and the introduction of the "morning after pill", which are touted by their promoters as a means of avoiding the "necessity" of a later abortion.
According to Forum Libertas, the use of contraceptives has increased 60% since 1997, and "morning after pill" use has increased 67% since it was introduced in the year 2000. And still, or more likely because of these factors and some others, the abortion rate has doubled since 1997.
In reality, "morning after" drugs are abortifacient themselves, and therefore their use has actually added to the total number of abortions performed annually, on top of the increasing rate of surgical abortions.
Since 1985, Spain has allowed abortions up to twenty-two weeks of pregnancy in cases of "grave" threats to the mother's psychological or physical health. The "psychological" rationale is widely believed to account for almost all abortions, although the official statistics do not distinguish between physical and mental health reasons. Outside "maternal health", fetal abnormalities, rape cases, and "other" comprise slightly more than three percent of the total number of surgical abortions.
In the last year, Spanish and foreign news broadcasters have done exposes on Spain's astounding abortion industry, showing that the private clinics that perform the abortions routinely do so in violation of the abortion laws of Spain and other European countries, manufacturing diagnoses of "psychological risk" to justify the abortions under Spanish law.
In recent weeks, numerous abortion clinics have been closed by Spanish authorities for violations of the nation's abortion laws, and several doctors and clinic personnel are being prosecuted. At least one foreign woman who obtained an illegal abortion in Spain has also been arrested (see LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/dec/07121402.html).
Based on statistics provided by the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Forum Libertas observes that at least 166 of the babies aborted in the last year survived the initial procedure and were born alive, taking up to 80 minutes to die outside the womb.
The Spanish newspaper El Pais, while attempting to attribute the increase to a lack of contraceptive use and a "failure" in sex education, admitted that "the perception that abortion may be, in some cases, one more contraceptive method" may be the cause of the increase.
This reason, wrote the newspaper, "is supported by the data: in some 31% of the cases, the woman had had at least one previous abortion. One thousand two hundred and forty cases were fifth (or later) abortions."
Related: New Report Admits: Emergency Contraception Does Not Reduce Abortion
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07010908.html
[7Jan08, Spain, Hoffman, LifeSiteNews.com]
2006 ANNUAL SUMMARY OF KS VITAL STATISTICS RELEASED by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Program managers, epidemiologists, researchers and federal, state and local governments as well as the public use the annual summary to conduct studies and evaluations to guide policymaking decisions.
Topeka, KS – infoZine- The tables and charts contained in the summary reflect data that is reported to KDHE regarding births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages, marriage dissolutions (divorce and annulment) and abortions. Analysis of trend data, county data and a comparison of Kansas to the nation are included in the report.
Some of the highlights:
* In 2006, a total of 40,896 births were registered to Kansas residents, 1,195 more than in 2005. This 3 percent increase is the highest since a 3.2 percent increase between 1997 and 1998. The number of births in 2006 is the highest reported since 1981 (41,202).
* The percent of Kansas mothers receiving inadequate prenatal care increased 6.6 percent between 2005 and 2006.
* Out-of-wedlock births followed national trends, increasing to a record high (14,376 or 35.2 percent of all births).
* After a steady decline in the pregnancy rate for females ages 10-19 from 1994 to 2004, the rate increased over the following two years. In 2006
, the rate (27.1 per 1,000 female age-group population) was up 1.5 percent from 2005 (26.7) and 3.8 percent from the record low (26.1) in 2004.
* Almost half of the abortions performed in the state occurred to non-Kansas residents. The abortion ratio for Kansans increased 36.5 percent between 1987 (105.4 per 1,000 live births) and 2006 (143.9).
* Wide discrepancies in the infant, neonatal and post neonatal death rates between white non-Hispanics and black non-Hispanics have continued. The black non-Hispanic infant death rate (17.5 per 1,000 live births) is 2.8 times higher than the rate for whites (6.2).
* Marriage and marriage dissolution rates have dropped by nearly a quarter and a third, respectively, since 1987.
Related: The 2006 Annual Summary of Kansas Vital Statistics is available at www.kdheks.gov/ches/. Requests for single, printed copies of the annual summary can be made to the KDHE Center for Health and Environmental Statistics, Office of Health Assessment at 785-296-8627 or 1-800-332-6262 (TDD/TT). [13Dec07, infoZine.com]
KS COMMISSIONERS OK KLINE'S REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION. Johnson County commissioners today authorized District Attorney Phill Kline to spend an initial $25,000 to investigate alleged wrongdoing that Kline said involved blackmail and telephone harassment.
Kline said he had evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but refused to confirm who the target of the investigation was. However, the inquiry is believed to involve allegations surrounding a sex scandal involving Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison.
The money would be used for Kline to hire a special prosecutor. Kline told commissioners that his office could not investigate the matter because some of his staffers could be witnesses.
The allegations against Morrison have come from Linda Carter, a former staff member in the Johnson County District Attorney’s office. She filed a sexual harassment claim, saying she had a two-year affair with Morrison that began when Morrison was district attorney in Johnson County.
Carter also alleges Morrison used the relationship to try to obtain sensitive information about Kline’s investigation of an Overland Park abortion clinic and to pressure her to write letters on behalf of eight employees who were fired the day Kline succeeded Morrison as DA.
Morrison has admitted having an affair with Carter but has denied the other allegations, including harassment. [13Dec07, http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/402019.html]
PRO-ABORTION KS AG RESIGNS DURING SEX SCANDAL. Paul Morrison, the Kansas Attorney General who canceled a criminal investigation of his financial backer, late term abortionist George Tiller, has announced his resignation in the wake of a scandal in which he is accused of sexual harassment and an attempt to illegally gain information on investigations against his abortionist patron.
Morrison made the decision after officials in Johnson County, the jurisdiction where he was accused of wrongdoing, announced that they had allocated $25,000 to hire a special prosecutor to investigate the case.
"I have held others accountable for their actions, and now I must be held accountable for my mistakes," said Morrison during his announcement. He later added, "Many people feel betrayed by my actions, and they have every right to feel that way."
The accusations against Morrison surfaced December 9th, when the Topeka Capital-Journal revealed that Linda Carter, a staffer in the Johnson County District Attorney's office, had filed a civil rights claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that Morrison had pressured her to divulge information about investigations against Tiller and had sexually harassed her in the process.
Carter also alleged that Morrison urged her to write letters supporting eight staffers fired by Johnson County District Attorney Phillip Kline, who were suing for wrongful termination, according to the Capital-Journal (see recent LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/dec/07121005.html).
Carter claimed that she and Morrison had had a two-year relationship beginning during his tenure as district attorney of Johnson County and which continued well after he had left office and had been replaced by his nemesis, former Kansas Attorney General Phillip Kline, who had been investigating Tiller.
Kline lost the Attorney General position to Morrison after a bitter campaign waged by pro-abortion forces seeking to derail Kline's investigation of Tiller's late-term abortion practice. However, Kline was able to continue his investigation as the district attorney for Johnson County.
Morrison admitted to the relationship, but denied charges of wrongdoing. The Kansas political establishment, including his Democratic allies, seemed to hope for a quick resignation.
Jenn Giroux, Executive Director of Women Influencing the Nation, a pro-life organization that has opposed Morrison, was glad to see him go. "As the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Kansas, this man had intervened at the Supreme Court level, on the side of the criminal defendent Planned Parenthood against his own prosecutor Phil Kline," she told LifeSiteNews.
"That is telltale, that is alarming, and it's a good thing he did step down because he has blocked the criminal charges that judges have found probable cause for, he has blocked those charges and oftentimes that has not been reported in the press, just how much abortion money from across the country poured into that state to make sure he was elected to protect Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry," said Giroux.
Kansas Attorney General Accused of Interfering with Investigation of Late-Term Abortionist
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/dec/07121005.html
New Kansas Attorney General Immediately Fires Prosecutor of Abortionist Tiller
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07011107.html
Renowned Psychiatrist Witness in Notorious Late-Term Abortionist Case Breaks Silence: Threatened by Kansas Attorney General
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07061301.html
[14Dec07, Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Topeka, LifeSiteNews.com]
KS GRAND JURY IN ABORTION BUSINESS PROBE HIRES SPECIAL COUNSEL. The grand jury impaneled for a probe into the Planned Parenthood abortion business near Kansas City has hired a special counsel for assistance. The jury is looking into accusations that the Planned Parenthood did illegal late-term abortions and falsified medical reports. The grand jury came about when pro-life groups used a part of state law allowing citizens to call them.
A Johnston County judge selected eight women and nine men, including two alternates, to look into the charges of criminal activity. Now, the members of the grand jury have decided to retain Larry McLain, a retired Johnson County district judge, and Rick Merker, a local attorney, to help them. According to the Kansas City Star, District Judge Kevin Moriarty selected the two after grand jury members requested legal assistance. He picked both in case one attorney is unavailable so the grand jury can have consistent legal counsel. Before it was seated, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri took the panel to court, hoping to dismiss it.
However, Judge Moriarty rejected Planned Parenthood's argument that the grand jury is nothing more than pro-life advocates harassing the abortion business.
The abortion business eventually dropped its legal case against the grand jury after the Kansas Supreme Court said a grand jury probe into late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller can move forward.
A coalition of pro-life groups, including Wichita-based Operation Rescue, Concerned Women for America and Women Influencing the Nation submitted more than 6,400 petitions from county voters for the probe.
"We are looking forward to seeing justice done, both in Sedgwick and Johnson Counties, through the grand jury process," Operation Rescue president Troy Newman previously told LifeNews.com.
"Abortionists are not above the law, even though they have been acting that way in Kansas for years," he added.
The grand jury probe came after Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline filed over 100 criminal charges against the abortion center. The 107 counts include 23 felonies and 84 misdemeanors and they include 29 misdemeanor counts of doing illegal late-term abortions.
However, because they say politics have trumped the state's ability to hold violators of the state's abortion laws accountable, pro-life advocates called for the grand jury for further investigation.
In a previous statement to LifeNews.com, the coalition of pro-life groups behind the grand jury probe said Planned Parenthood President and CEO Peter Brownlie is lying to the media and public about what's going on at his abortion business.
On October 17, he told the Associated Press that his abortion center doesn't perform any abortions past the 22nd week of pregnancy.
However, Planned Parenthood's web site indicates that "Our primary service is providing abortion services from 4 to 23 weeks gestation, based on the patient's last menstrual period (LMP)."
It further states that the cost for abortions between 22.0 weeks and 23.4 weeks is $2,185.
"If Planned Parenthood isn't doing abortion past 22 weeks, why do they say they do on their website, and even list the cost for the abortions Brownlie says do not take place?" Newman told LifeNews.com.
The petition asks the grand jury to look into seven allegations including illegal abortions, failing to report suspected child sexual abuse, providing false information, illegal trafficking in fetal tissue, and failure to comply with the 24-hour waiting period and parental consent requirements of Kansas law.[21Dec07, Overland Park, KS, LifeNews.com]
MOTHER OF HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER TIM TEBOW REJECTED DOCTOR'S ADVICE TO ABORT HIM. University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won U.S. college football's highest honour yesterday. If his mother had followed her doctor's advice when she was carrying him, he would be just another abortion statistic.
Tim's parents, Bob and Pam Tebow, moved to the Philippines in 1985 to conduct a Christian missionary outreach. While pregnant with Tim, Pam contracted amoebic dysentery through contaminated drinking water. Her doctor told her that the medications she needed to recover would result in irreversible damage to the child she was carrying. She was advised to have an abortion.
She refused.
Tim was born healthy and robust in 1987. His mother described him as "skinny, but rather long." Today he stands six-foot-three, weighs 235 pounds, and has been described as a physical and athletic phenomenon.
Tim was fortunate to be born into a family that has strong roots in their faith and a deep understanding of the precious gift that each life is not only to them, but also to the world.
The untold numbers of children saved from abortion, or even surviving abortion, that have brought their talents. skills and contribution to the world, like Tim Tebow, are a resounding testament to pro-life work. [11Dec07, New York, T.M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com]
ABORTIONIST TELLS MI MEDICAL STUDENTS HE HAS A "LICENSE TO LIE". A video of an abortion practitioner is making its way across the Internet featuring a November appearance by Alberto Hodari at Wayne State University in Michigan. The campus pro-abortion organization invited him to speak and Hodari tells them his status as an abortion practitioner gives him license to lie to women.
Hodari gave the local Medical Students for Choice group a talk entitled, "Why I Am An Abortion Provider" to motivate the pro-abrotion medical students.
The national pro-life student group Students for Life of America obtained a copy of the speech, in which Hodari says, "I have great satisfaction of what I do, and I never feel bad or worried about doing abortions."
Hodari also spoke about how little he washed between abortions because it chafed his hands, even though his doing so puts women's health at risk.
Most upsetting to SFLA director Kristan Hawkins is Hodari's claim that being an abortion practitioner gives him "license to lie" to women who seek him out for abortions.
"To hear Hodari speak, one wonders if Michigan is the third world," Hawkins says in a statement she provided LifeNews.com. "Planned Parenthood complains about 'back-alley' abortions, even though Hodari is running a business where he's barely washing his hands between abortions."
Ashley Tyndall, the president of the pro-life student group, noted that Hodari is responsible for multiple women's deaths from his legal abortions.
"Several women have died while getting abortions with Hodari, and yet the Michigan board of health has never investigated him," she said. "How many women have to die before the bureaucrats start telling Hodari to wash his hands and tell patients the truth."
Hodari was responsible for the abortion death of 15 year-old African-American teenager Tamia Russell.
Taisha Glenn, the sister of Russell's 24-year-old boyfriend, Stacy Glenn, had taken Russell to the abortion facility on January 7, 2004 without permission or notifying Russell's mother or guardian.
Glenn and Russell went to five other abortion facilities before coming to WomanCare, Hodari's abortion center.
Tamiia used an identification card with another woman's picture to state she was 19, as abortions cannot be performed on minors in Michigan without parental consent.
The woman in the picture ID looked nothing like Russell — but the abortion was done anyway.
The facility vaginally inserted laminaria, a seaweed used to begin dilation. Russell was sent home, where she confessed to her family that she was pregnant and had begun the abortion procedure.
When her mother and aunt called WomanCare, they said the abortion could not be stopped once the laminaria is inserted.
Russell's mother drove her daughter to the abortion facility the next day to finish the abortion, which was performed by Alberto Hodari. Upon her return home, she experienced severe bleeding — "so much so she soaked an entire mattress," her family told LifeNews.com.
WomanCare told her family that such bleeding was "normal" following an abortion, and not to take her to the hospital.
Concerned for Russell, the family called paramedics who rushed her to Sinai-Grace Hospital. Russell died on the way to the Hospital. Hodari has also come under fire for misusing the drug Digoxin in abortions. [13Dec07, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, Lansing, MI LifeNews.com] VIDEO: Abortionist Tells Medical Students to Lie to Patients. "
;Several women have died while getting abortions" from him and yet Michigan board of health has never investigated him. Last month, Dr. Alberto Hodari spoke to students at Wayne State in Detroit about his career performing abortions. In his speech, Hodari told students that doctors have a license to lie to their patients (34:05).
The video of the entire speech with captions has now been released on Google Video. http://tinyurl.com/2fo7ef ; The speech took place on November 9, 2007.
Also in the speech, Hodari talks about going to Mexico to do experiments on pregnant women that were outlawed in the United States (38:57). He invited students to come watch an abortion he performed (11:57) and he also spoke about how little he washed between abortions because it chafed his hands (12:13).
"To hear Hodari speak, one wonders if Michigan is the third world," Students for Life of America (SFLA) Executive Director Kristan Hawkins said. "Planned Parenthood complains about 'back-alley' abortions, even though Hodari is running a business where he's barely washing his hands between abortions."
SFLA Student President Ashley Tyndall said, "Several women have died while getting abortions with Hodari, and yet the Michigan board of health has never investigated him. How many women have to die before the bureaucrats start telling Hodari to wash his hands and tell patients the truth." For more information visit: http://www.studentsforlife.org/ [12Dec07, LifeSiteNews.com, Arlington, VA]
THOUSANDS OF U.S. DOCTORS ASK ACOG TO STOP FORCING PHYSICIANS TO REFER FOR ABORTION. In an official “ACOG Committee Opinion,” entitled “The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine,” the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (which subtitles itself “Women’s Health Care Physicians”), wanders far from the teaching advocated in the classical textbook, “Williams’ Obstetrics” that a physician attending a pregnant woman has two patients.
The opinion states that “Although respect for conscience is important …[c]onscientious refusals [for abortion, etc.] should be accommodated only if the primary duty to the patient can be fulfilled.” Note the singular; the baby is no longer a patient, else how could it be the attending physician’s duty to kill him or her?
The Committee also asserts “Providers with moral or religious objections should … practice in proximity to individuals who do not share their views” [for referrals]. “In the process of providing prior notice [regarding objection to abortions, etc.], physicians should not use their professional authority to argue or advocate these positions.”
“In an emergency in which referral is not possible … providers have an obligation to provide medically indicated and requested care regardless of the provider’s personal moral objections.” No wonder that there is an American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists (AAPLOG)!! (ACOG Committee Opinion No. 385. Obststet Gynecol 2007;110:1203-8). [excerpt from LA Physicians for Life, Hippocratic Resource, v. 7, n. 10-11]
The 15,000-member Christian Medical Association (http://www.cmda.org), joined other leading national organizations 11Dec07 in challenging The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to stop its attack on the conscience rights of pro-life physicians.
A letter, drafted by the CMA and signed by other national organizations, blasted ACOG's Committee on Ethics position statement, "The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine." CMA's letter noted that the statement "suggests a profound misunderstanding of the nature and exercise of conscience, an underlying bias against persons of faith and an apparent attempt to disenfranchise physicians who oppose ACOG's political activism on abortion."
CMA CEO David Stevens, MD said, "ACOG is not only out of touch with conscience-driven physicians, but also with our long-standing American tradition to protect the rights of citizens to not participate in conscience-violating actions-especially when those actions would take a human life. That American tradition rests on constitutional principles of religious freedom and speech."
ACOG's position paper targets pro-life physicians, insisting that abortion-objecting physicians refer patients to get abortions and declaring that physicians who will not participate in conscience-violating procedures and prescriptions must actually move close to doctors who will.
Dr. Stevens added, "Many physicians had been realizing that because of their aggressive abortion lobbying, ACOG officials do not represent the values of most physicians and mainstream medicine. This statement goes a step beyond not representing our life-affirming values to actually advocating policies to prevent us from exercising those values. ACOG's attitude seems to be, 'If you don't toe the ACOG line on abortion, the 'morning-after pill,' and the application of reproductive technology, then you shouldn't be practicing obstetrics–and if you do, we're going to do everything in our power to force you to accommodate our abortion agenda."
CMA Executive Vice President Gene Rudd, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist, noted, "I have withdrawn my ACOG membership of over 25 years. My conscience can no longer support their lack of conscience. ACOG's strategy seeks to marginalize dissenting opinions. I as an obstetrician have a moral obligation not only to act in my patient's best interest, but also in the best interest of the developing baby, and of society as a whole."
See the CMA letter:
http://www.cmda.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Right_of_Conscience&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=11270
See the ACOG position statement:
http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/ethics/co385.pdf
[DC, 12Dec07 LifeSiteNews.com]
REDUCING ABORTIONS WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY CUT THE PREMATURE BIRTH RATE. Two researchers say reducing abortions in the United States would significantly cut the rate of premature births. They say the rate has increased as abortion has been legalized and point to Poland as an example of how banning or significantly reducing abortions would help pregnant women.
Dr. Richard E. Behrman, representing the Institute of Medicine, has identified prior first-trimester induced abortion as an “immutable medical risk factor associated with pre-term birth.”
In his book Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention, Behrman found that the premature birth rate in the U.S. was 12.5% in 2004 — 40 percent higher than the rate of 8.9% in 1980.
Citing that data, researchers Brent Rooney, of Canada, and William Robert Johnston, of Texas, published in a letter in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, saying that prohibiting abortion would reverse the trend and also drive down medical costs.
To back up their claim, they point to United Nations data showing Poland dramatically reduced its rates of premature birth, maternal mortality and infant mortality within a few years after its abortion rate declined by 98% between 1989 and 1993 (as a result of the passage of an abortion ban).
&q
uot;If induced abortion significantly elevates pre-term birth risk, one would expect Poland’s pre-term birth rate to slump 5–10 years after the induced-abortion rate plunge," they wrote.
They say data from UNICEF found that, between 1995 and 1997, Poland’s pre-term birth rate dropped by 41.8% and maternal mortality decreased 41.4%, and infant mortality was down by 25.0%.
"We know of no other such rapid decrease in pre-term birth rate," the researchers say.
Improved diet and better medical care are alternate explanations for the plunge in premature birth figures.
But, Rooney and Johnston cite a 1987 study of Polish women, published in the Polish journal Wiad Lek, which found that women who had induced abortions had 88% higher relative odds of pre-term birth compared to women who had never had an abortion.
They also point to an October 2007 study in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine [http://www.lifenews.com/nat3420.html], that compiled 58 prior studies finding significantly higher pre-term birth and low-birth weight risks for women with prior surgical abortions.
Another study involving the RU 486 abortion drug found the same results.
"Although it is possible that the decline in Polish legal abortions is partly offset by illegal abortions, the evidence of controlled studies provides very strong evidence that induced abortion elevates the risk of pre-term birth," the researchers conclude.
"We predict that cutting the high rate of induced abortion in the U.S. would not only decrease future breast cancer incidence but also reduce pre-term births," they wrote. [11Dec07, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, DC, LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/nat3527.html]
MAGAZINE TIPS THE SCALES IN BIRTH WEIGHT STUDY. When it comes to educating Americans about the consequences of abortion, Time is of the essence. This week, the magazine did what a majority of the press seems unwilling to do on the issue–report the facts.
Although researchers have long studied the connection between abortion and premature babies, their findings have often been relegated to small sidebars or back pages. However, as more scientists echo what the pro-life movement has said all along–that abortions threaten the health and safety of women–the media is finally beginning to take note. Y
esterday, Time featured a story on the January issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, which shows "one of the strongest links yet" between women who have abortions and the low birth weight of their future children. According to the study, babies born to women who have had one or more previous abortions are significantly more likely to deliver a premature or low birth weight child, which are two of the leading causes of death among newborns.
What makes the research significant is the sheer magnitude of the data, which was compiled from over 45,000 live births, as well as its ability to account for everything from race, age, and maternal weight to occupation, smoking and drinking habits, education level, and more. The greater this study's exposure in the mainstream news, the greater its opportunity to impact the debate–and, more importantly, moms-to-be. Perhaps the most encouraging part of Time's piece is that it reiterates the study's conclusion: "Women need to be informed about these risks."
[A Link Between Abortion and Preemies [TIME] http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1695927,00.html; FRC, 19Dec07]
New Study Finds Abortion Linked With Pre-Term Births, Cerebral Palsy. A new study published in this month's Journal of Reproductive Medicine finds abortion linked with premature births and cerebral palsy. Physicians in Canada and the U.S. teamed up for the study and examined data from more than four million births.
Dr. Byron Calhoun, Professor and Vice Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at West Virginia University, estimates that roughly a third of babies who are considered "very pre-term" result from a woman's decision to have a prior abortion.
Babies who spend less than 32 weeks in the womb almost certainly suffer from very-low-birth-weight, the study found.
The researchers estimated that, of the 32 percent of babies who suffer from very-low-birth-weight, eight percent develop cerebral palsy.
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, commented on the results.
"For years, we have warned that abortion harms women, and children, and now researchers are certifying that the victims' future siblings incur a greater risk of lifelong anguish and disease," he told LifeNews.com.
"The time has come for everyone to pause and reconsider the cycle of suffering that society continues to inflict on future generations in the name of 'choice,'" he added. "Women deserve to be informed–not encouraged to conform–on the issue of abortion."
This isn't the first study to focus on abortion and its link to premature births.
Vladimir Serov, the deputy director of the Russian Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Perinatology Center at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, told the Russian media source Regnum that 120,000 women are injured each year from legal abortions.
He said numerous Russian women suffer from sterility, endometriosis and other problems following abortions.
This has led to a significant problem of premature births and Serov said Russian women typically have 160,000 miscarriages a year and there are 60,000 premature births annually.
Research also shows abortion can lead to infertility by increasing the risk of miscarriages.
A 1986 report in the medical journal Epidemiology reveals women with a history of abortion have a greater risk of fetal loss than women who had no previous abortions. Women with two prior pregnancies carried to term and no abortions had the lowest risk, while women with two prior abortions had the highest risk.
Also, a 1991 British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology article revealed that women with a history of abortion had a 1.5-1.7 times higher risk of ectopic pregnancy than women who had previously carried a pregnancy to term.
According to the Elliot Institute, an Illinois group that studies abortion's effects on women, about three to five percent of aborted women are left inadvertently sterile as a result of an abortion. The risk of sterility is even greater for women who are infected with a venereal disease at the time of the abortion. [1Nov07, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, DC LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/nat3420.html]
MEDICAL JOURNAL SHOWS HOW TO REDUCE RATES OF BREAST CANCER, PREMATURE BIRTH. Two letters published this month in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons show how the exceptionally high rates of breast cancer and premature birth can be reduced in the U.S. [1,2]
The first letter by Brent Rooney and William Johnston reports that Poland dramatically reduced its rates of premature birth, maternal mortality and infant mortality within a few years after its abortion rate declined by 98% between 1989 and 1993 (as a result of the passage of restrictive abortion laws). The authors predict that U.S. rates of premature birth and breast cancer will de
cline if a similar decline in the abortion rate takes place.
The authors said no published animal studies exist that prove the safety of vacuum aspiration (VA) abortion. Noting that that makes abortion on women medically unethical, the authors wrote, "Thus, as of 2007, VA is an unproven experimental procedure."
The second letter, by Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, discusses Patrick Carroll's earlier research [3,4], which showed that abortion is the "best predictor of breast cancer" and fertility is the second-best predictor.
"Abortion and Breast Cancer Link. A remarkable article by Patrick S. Carroll, M.A., Director of Research at the Pension and Population Research Institute (PAPRI), London, U.K., makes an important case for the existence of a link between these two entities – to the extent that the data provided can be used to forecast the incidence of breast cancer for England & Wales. All in all, seven reproductive risk factors were examined, and induced abortion was found to be the best predictor for breast cancer.
In summary, 'In England, a high rate of abortion leads to the large forecast increase. In Scotland, the lower abortion rate, offset by lower fertility than in England, leads to a slightly lower rate of increase expected. In both Irish jurisdictions, a continuation of low abortion rates and comparatively high fertility rates leads to low forecast increases in incidence of breast cancer. In Sweden, a high abortion rate is offset partly by fewer nulliparous abortions and a high level of fertility and breastfeeding.'
The author concludes, 'The increase in breast cancer incidence appears to be best explained by an increase in abortion rates, especially nulliparous abortions, and lower fertility. And the social gradient, which is not explained by fertility, seems also attributable circumstantially to abortion. A linear regression model of successive birth cohorts of women with abortion and fertility as explanatory variables fitted to the cancer incidence up to 1977 has produced forecasts that have performed well in the years 1998-2004 in Great Britain. … The new forecasts for eight countries can be tested in the coming years.' (Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 2007;12:72-78; from Hippocratic Resource, LA Physicians for Life).
Carroll’s correlational research provides key evidence because it shows the impact of the abortion-cancer link on the community at-large. Abortion is a common exposure, and breast cancer is a common disease.
Therefore, to establish that the link exists, scientists must see its impact in the population at-large.
Malec observed that different avenues of research – biological, epidemiological and experimental – all point in the same direction to an abortion-breast cancer link. She said no one has challenged Dr. Joel Brind's conclusions in his 2005 review of 10 studies that the abortion industry uses to dismiss the cancer link. [5] Brind proved that ideological opponents of the link in the scientific community have authored seriously flawed studies that have been used to mislead the public.
"Women are the medical establishment's guinea pigs," declared Malec. "We have been fed a pack of lies about the safety of abortion and the use of hormonal contraceptives."
The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.
References:
1. Rooney B and Johnston WR. Letter: More on the Adverse Effects of Abortion. J Am Phys Surg (Winter 2007) Available at: <http://www.jpands.org/vol12no4/correspondence.pdf>.
2. Malec K. Letter: More on the Adverse Effects of Abortion. J Am Phys Surg (Winter 2007) Available at: <http://www.jpands.org/vol12no4/correspondence.pdf>.
3. Carroll, P. The breast cancer epidemic: modeling and forecasts based on abortion and other risk factors." J Am Phys Surg Vol. 12, No. 3 (Fall 2007) 72-78. Available at:
<http://www.jpands.org/vol12no3/carroll.pdf>.
4. Carroll P. The Breast Cancer Epidemic. The Actuary (November 2007) p. 30-31. Available at:
<http://www.the-actuary.org.uk/pdfs/07_11_30-31.pdf>.
5. Brind J. Induced abortion as an independent risk factor for breast cancer: A critical review of recent studies based on prospective data. J Am Phys Surg Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter 2005) 105-110. Available at: <http://www.jpands.org/vol10no4/brind.pdf>. [11Dec07, Abortion Breast Cancer Coalition Press Release, http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/press_releases/071211/; Media Advisory, 11Dec07, Christian Newswire; ProLife America Daily News, 12Dec]
ANOTHER SPANISH ABORTION CENTER SHUT DOWN. Another abortion center in Spain has been shut down over illegal late-term abortions, this time in the nation's capital city. The closing of the Madrid abortion center Mayrit follows the closing of four abortion facilities in Barcelona and the arrest of 13 people from them for doing illegal late-term abortions.
In the Madrid case, a psychologist fabricated the paperwork involving late-term abortions to make them appear to conform with Spanish law. The unnamed abortion facility staffer completed the paperwork on the abortions before visiting with the women having them. Most abortions are legal in Spain, but they are only allowed in the latter stages of pregnancy for supposedly legitimate medical or mental health reasons.
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo initially reported the closing and quoted a Spanish health care official who said, “various patient histories were bound together by a rubber band, labeled ‘destroyed’ and signed by patients and by employees who work at the center.” Authorities found patient intake forms that were partially completed. [19Dec07, Madrid, Spain (LifeNews.com]
NICARAGUA MEDICAL ASSOC. PRESIDENT REPORTS THAT MATERNAL DEATHS DECLINED AFTER ABORTION WAS MADE ILLEGAL: Corrects AP on "misleading and grossly inaccurate" statements about abortion ban. Pro-abortion groups have worked furiously for over a year to force Nicaragua to reverse its total ban on abortion enacted in November 2006. The relentless attacks from the West and Europe have led to several legal initiatives to reverse the decision which have all been overwhelmingly rebuffed by the country's legislature.
The lastest tactic has been an attempt to vilify the nation, and blame its pro-life law for endangering the lives of women. An Associated Press article published November 27 in the Washington Times blamed the death of a 22-year-old newlywed with an ectopic pregnancy on the "no-exceptions ban on abortion."
The President of the Nicaraguan Medical Association, Dr. Walter Mendieta charged that the AP article writ
ten by Traci Carl was "misleading and grossly inaccurate." Dr. Mendieta said that in Nicaragua, just as before the pro-life law "women with complications from pregnancy must be offered necessary treatment, even if such treatment may indirectly cause the death of their unborn babies." His letter added: "The law allows such medical procedures, and physicians failing to provide such care are liable."
The letter to the editor published in the Washington Times, was co-signed by Lucia Bohemer President of the Nicaraguan Association of Women and Dr. Rafael J. Cabrera a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and the director of the University of Medical Sciences in Nicaragua.
The letter notes that in the year since the pro-life legislative change went into effect maternal deaths declined. Moreover the letter says that "No woman has died in Nicaragua for not having a "therapeutic" abortion since the practice was banned in November 2006."
See the letter to the editor online here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/EDITORIAL/2572500/1013/editorial&template=nextpage
To contact AP: [email protected]
[20Dec07, John-Henry Westen, DC, LifeSiteNews.com]
ARGENTINE GOVERNOR VETOES ABORTION-ON-DEMAND BILL: Veto is a major reversal for pro-abortion forces in the province, who spent years agitating for it. Following a strong opposition campaign, the newly installed governor of the province of La Pampa has vetoed legislation that would have legalized abortion in practically any circumstance up to the ninth month of gestation.
Newly-elected Governor Oscar Jorge, who was installed December 10th, issued the veto within a week. In the process he strongly denounced the measure's "interpretations and applications that openly collide with the restrictive spirit" of Argentina's penal legislation regarding abortion.
The veto of the bill is a major reversal for pro-abortion forces in the province. Their victory seemed certain before the election of Jorge, who is seen as more pro-life than his predecessor, Carlos Verna, who openly favored the law. The Peronist Party to which the governor belongs is split on the issue. Jorge won election to his seat with 56% of the vote, twenty points higher than his opponent, and 17% more than the very popular Cristina Fernandez, who was recently elected president of Argentina. [19Dec07, M.C. Hoffman, Santa Rosa, Argentina, LifeSiteNews.com]
INDIA'S LEGAL ABORTIONS KILL 80,000 WOMEN ANNUALLY, Local Expert Says. A medical expert in India says an estimated 80,000 women die from legal abortions there on an annual basis.
The figures provide further evidence that abortion does not became safer if legalized, as unlicensed and unregulated abortion practitioners pose as much of a threat to women's health as illegal abortions.
Dr. Hema Divakar, the chair of the Federation of Obsteric and Gynecological Societies in India discussed the abortion deaths in an interview. She told the PTI news service that a majority of the abortions done in India involve untrained abortion practitioners.
Divakar said the answer to the problem of women dying from abortions is to promote the morning after pill. She cited figures showing 78 percent of pregnancies in India are unplanned and said women would not resort to abortion if they used the pill and didn't become pregnant.
However, previous studies show that abortion numbers in Scotland and other nations rose after an aggressive effort to promote the morning after pill. The Scotland government reported 13,081 abortions in 2006, up from 12,603 the previous year — an increase of nearly 3.8 percent.
Abortion is causing other problems in India as a new report shows the gender imbalance there is growing worse as a result of infanticides and sex-selection abortions.
Researchers from relief group ActionAid examined a sample of 6,500 households in the Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. They found that the male-female ratio grew worse in four of the states compared with the figures from 2001.
According to a Reuters report, upper class Hindu areas of Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib district had the worst rates as the organization found only 300 girls for every 1,000 boys living there.
"These sex ratios are disastrous," Mary John, a researcher from the Centre for Women Development Studies in New Delhi, told Reuters.
She said the new numbers reflect a trend of having smaller families. Couples are choosing to have only one child and deciding to only have a boy. India follows the beliefs of other Asian nations in favoring boys to carry on work and family names and because girls must have expensive dowries upon their marriage.
John said the skewed gender ratios occurred in virtually every community regardless of socioeconomic status, race or religion. [20Dec07, Ertelt, LifeNews.com, New Delhi, India, http://www.lifenews.com/int573.html]
OUT OF BUSINESS: LONGTIME ABORTION CENTER CLOSES ITS DOORS. Hygeia, an abortion business in Poway, an affluent suburb of San Diego, has closed. The site, located inside a medical building at 15725 Pomerado Road, was operated by Dr. Michael Easter. For more than 20 years it was the site of frequent pro-life protests, public prayer and sidewalk counseling.
While the exact date Easter’s abortion center closed is not available, a phone call to the center was answered by a recording referring the caller to Easter’s email address and a post office box. No additional information was provided. Pro-lifers in San Diego said the center closed “sometime in the last few months.”
During a 12/07 visit to San Diego, Operation Rescue president Troy Newman congratulated area pro-lifers for the closing of Easter’s business. “Newman reminded them that San Diego was the first test ground for cutting-edge Operation Rescue tactics,” said the web site posting. “In a ten-year time span of pro-life ministry led by Newman in conjunction with local groups, over 40 abortionists quit killing in San Diego County and 18 abortion centers closed. Today that trend is continuing.” According to the California Medical Board web site, Easter has no current disciplinary proceedings pending against him. He graduated from the University of Texas Medical School, Galveston branch, in 1968 and has held a medical license in California for the last 38 years. [31Dec07, CCD; OR 20Dec07, http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=b97e49a4-5272-40f4-a19c-581f8527b925]
THE JUSTICE FOUNDATION INVITES MORE TESTIMONIES ON ABORTION. Justice Kennedy quoted from the brief submitted by The Justice Foundation in the recent Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban on partial birth abortion. The Court heard testimony from women of Operation Outcry, The Justice Foundation’s project to end legalized abortion by exposing the truth that abortion hurts women, men, families and the culture. Although the Court said that abortion causes severe depression in some women, it also said that it does not have reliable data on the scope of the problem. In response, The Justice Foundation is aiming to collect 1,000,000 testimonies to use as legally admissible evidence from people who have had abortions.
If you would like to submit your story c
ontact: Tracy Reynolds, Media Liaison, The Justice Foundation. 210-614-7157, 650-400-0436 (cell), [email protected]
www.thejusticefoundation.org www.operationoutcry.org
STATE LEGISLATION RESTRICTING ABORTION REDUCES INCIDENCE OF ABORTION AMONG MINORS. Between 1990 and 1999, and excluding the federal reporting ‘refusenik’ states of California, Alaska, New Hampshire and Oklahoma, the number of legal abortions declined by 18.4%.
Among minors aged 13 to 17, however, the abortion rate fell from 13.5 per 1,000 girls in 1985, to 6.5 per 1,000 in 1999, a reduction of over 50%. Michael J. New, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama, writing for the Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., recently analyzed the effect of state legislation on the incidence of abortion among minors.
His conclusion:
“The Supreme Court’s Casey decision and the electoral success of pro-life candidates at the state level resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of laws enacted to protect the unborn during the 1990s. By the end of the decade, more states had adopted pro-life legislation, including parental involvement requirements. Regression results from this analysis suggest that parental involvement laws and public funding restrictions are effective in reducing the incidence of abortion among minors.
"Specifically, the passage of a parental involvement law correlates with a 16 percent decline in the minor abortion rate, and passage of Medicaid funding restrictions correlates with a 23 percent decline in the minor abortion rate. … The results indicate that enforced laws were significantly more effective than nullified laws in reducing the abortion rate. Moreover, the regression results indicate that parental involvement laws were considerably more effective in reducing the abortion rate for minors than they were for reducing the overall abortion rate.”
(Michael J. Day, “Analyzing the effect of state legislation on the incidence of abortion among minors; a report of the Heritage Center for Data Analysis.” Washington, DC, February 5, 2007 (CDA07-01).
ABORTION NUMBERS IN LOUSIANA dropped from 11,224 in 2004 to 8,556 in 2005. Known proportions of abortions performed in 2004: 53.7 non-white/37.1 white. Almost 300 abortions (3.5%) performed at 21 weeks (5 mo.) or more.
[Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals. Data preliminary as of 12/07; delayed per hurricanes Katrina & Rita; LA Physicians for Life, Hippocratic Resource, v.7, n.12] "Much of this drop can probably be attributed to the dramatic population shift resulting from the Katrina and Rita hurricane catastrophes, i.e. basically, just the movement out of Louisiana of large numbers of people who utilize abortion for birth control."
SOUTH DAKOTA REPORT SHOWS ABORTIONS DOWN 7%; NEW BAN COVERS 98%. A new report from the South Dakota health department shows that abortions decreased seven percent in 2006 from their 2005 figures. The decrease could possible be attributed to the statewide debate on an abortion ban as pro-life advocates talked about how abortion kills unborn children and hurts women.
There were 748 abortions performed in South Dakota in 2006, down from the 805 abortions performed in 2005, the state reported. Pro-life advocates in South Dakota have put forward a second effort to ban abortions there and added rape and incest exceptions to the ban after the first one, with just a life of the mother exception, failed at the ballot box.
The South Dakota Department of Health reported that just 1.9 percent of all abortions there in 2006 involved threats to the mother's life or rape or incest as a reason for the abortion.
That means the new ban would prohibit about 98 percent of all abortions in the state if it becomes law. Women were given multiple choices for the reason for the abortion and 85 percent involved the mother not wanting a baby at the time and another 21 percent involved the mother not having the financial means to have a child. The number of abortions to protect the woman's life or for reasons of sexual abuse have dropped over the years.
The health department also reported on the effect of a state law that requires abortion practitioners to give women information on fetal development. A total of 1,016 women visited the abortion center in South Dakota and 748 (73.6 percent) of the women went on to have an abortion while 268 women (26.3 percent) decided against it. Of the 748 abortions performed in South Dakota, 633 or 84.6 percent were performed on South Dakota residents. [21Dec07, Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com]
MO PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUES THE MEASURE THAT WOULD STOP FORCED ABORTIONS. PP in Missouri has filed a lawsuit against a statewide ballot measure that would prevent forced abortions there. The abortion business claims the measure would ban most abortions in the state [ed. Is the abortion provider then saying that most abortions are forced? They've always told us this was "reproductive freedom"…], but the measure only puts firewalls in place to make sure women who have abortions haven't been pressured or coerced.
The Stop Forced Abortions Alliance is behind the statewide initiative that it submitted to the Secretary of State last month. The petition, titled the Prevention of Coerced and Unsafe Abortions Act, has been approved for circulation by the Secretary of State’s office.
Backers of the forced abortion measure now must gather the signatures of 90,000 state residents in order to get it on the November 2008 ballot. But Planned Parenthood wants that process stopped before it begins. Lawyers for the abortion business and a woman from St. Louis County filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming the initiative would subject abortion practitioners to medical malpractice lawsuits if they don't ensure that women aren't pressured into an abortion. [19Dec07, Jefferson City, MO LifeNews.com]
AL GROUP SAYS UAB HEALTH SYSTEM DOING ABORTIONS. An Alabama pro-life group says it has learned that hospitals in the University of Alabama-Birmingham health system are doing abortions as late as 22 weeks into pregnancy. The organization says it's
requesting that the university stop the abortions or said it would consider protests and legal action. Huntsville-based Alabama Alliance Against Abortion wrote a letter Monday noting the information about the abortions from the state health department.There is also concern that UAB may be doing abortions at taxpayer expense since the facility is a public state-funded institution. The pro-life group sent a letter to Carol Z. Garrison, the chair of the UAB Health System Board of Directors asking that any abortions be stopped immediately if they are occurring at the college's hospitals. [19Dec07, Birmingham, AL (LifeNews.com; Tuscaloosa News]
CT SEES 4TH CASE of ABORTION USED to HIDE SEXUAL ABUSE CRIMES. A Connecticut pastor who is accused of sexually assaulting two young girls has been accused of urging a 13-year-old victim in a 2005 case to get an abortion to hide his alleged crime. The case is the latest out of the northeastern state to involve abortion as a means of covering up sexual abuse. In this latest incident, Hartford minister M. Reyes is awaiting sentencing for the sexual assault of an 11-year-old. Reyes, who is in prison on a $1 million bail, was slated for a sentencing hearing on Friday but officials postponed it after they learned he may have assaulted the teenager, who is now 15. According to a Hartford Courant report, Reyes impregnated the younger girl, who gave birth in May 2006. He urged the teenager to have an abortion, but she declined and ultimately had a miscarriage. The newspaper indicated the teen's mother came forward last month to accuse Reyes of sexually assaulting her daughter. Both girls were members of his congregation at a Pentecostal church. Reyes, 53, now faces additional charges in the second case, including multiple counts of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. [19Dec07, Hartford, CT, LifeNews.com]
ABORTION RESOURCES
Good Tunes. Marjie Higgins wrote lyrics to a song in 1973 following the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. She remembered that she had written it last February. Within six months the lyrics were set to music and a band was put together to perform the song, called “Please Don’t Say No.” Marjie hopes that the lyrics of the song help, in part, to heal broken hearts. For a copy of the CD, call Marjie at (801) 737-1373.