The summary report of the study bears the intriguing title "Abortion: The Least Of Three Evils-Understanding the Psychological Dynamics of How Women Feel About Abortion." The report suggests that women do not see any "good" resulting from an unplanned pregnancy. Instead they must weigh what they perceive as three "evils," namely, motherhood, adoption, and abortion.
Unplanned motherhood, according to the study, represents a threat so great to modern women that it is perceived as equivalent to a "death of self." While the woman may rationally understand this is not her own literal death, her emotional, subconscious reaction to carrying the child to term is that her life will be "over." ...the sudden intrusion of motherhood ...shatters their sense of who they are and will become, and thereby paralyzes their ability to think more rationally or realistically.....
Even those women who are likely to choose life rather than abortion do so not because they better understand fetology or have a greater love for children, but because they have a broader and less fragile sense of self, and they can better incorporate motherhood into their self-identity.....
In fact, while abortion itself is seen as something evil, the woman who has to make that choice is perceived as being courageous, because she has made a difficult, costly, but necessary decision in order to get on with her life....
Saturday, April 30, 2005
An effective outreach strategy
This article reposted at the Priests for Life site is a fascinating look at how research has led to more effective campaigns to promote a prolife message:
Lest we forget... Robbie Lou Thompson
Today is the anniversary of the death of twenty-one-year-old Robbie Lou Thompson, who was one of a string of women to die in Oklahoma City in 1932 when two inept physicians set up shop near an Oklahoma City university.
Baby Rowan preliminary autopsy report
This report indicates that the county ME performed an autopsy on Baby Rowan and concluded that he was not born alive. But the report does not indicate on what finding that conclusion is based.
Florida is an open-record state for autopsies, so we can find more details when the full report is released.
Florida is an open-record state for autopsies, so we can find more details when the full report is released.
World Magazine report on Baby Rowan
World Magazine's report on Baby Rowan indicates that they got transcripts of the 911 call and reports filed. They quote this exchange between the caller and the Orlando Fire Department dispatch:
World also reports that the police had contact with Angele, but that the fire department EMS workers had no contact with any patient. Stay tuned for updates as I learn more.
Angele's Friend (AF): It's a women's clinic. . . . My friend is having an abortion and the baby was born alive. . . . They're not allowing her to use the phone there. They're wanting the baby to die!
OFD: She wants the baby to live?
AF: That's correct. . . . [She] said the baby was just born and it was alive and they were wanting her to leave it in the toilet and, uh, just let it die, and she's not wanting that to happen.
World also reports that the police had contact with Angele, but that the fire department EMS workers had no contact with any patient. Stay tuned for updates as I learn more.
Texas woman fighting to keep husband on vent
The Houston Chronicle is covering the story of a woman's second fight in two months to get her husband's feeding tube restored so she can transfer him back to a nursing home and resume long-term care. The man has been in a reduced state of consciousness since an automobile accident twenty years ago. He also needs ventilator support. Prayers for this family and everybody involved.
Friday, April 29, 2005
A happy ending
Today, April 29, is the anniversary of a far better ending than most abortion stories have. On this date in 1984, "Emily" gave birth to her full-term baby. She'd had a suction abortion performed by Basil Bisca on September 24, 1983. The lab report indicated very little tissue, indicating that the abortion hadn't killed Emily's baby after all. Happy 21st birthday to Emily's child!
Better Living Thru Science?
A British couple got the go-ahead to use IVF to conceive an embryo tissue-matched to their ailing son, so the embryo can be used to treat the child's rare blood disorder.
They've conceived twice naturally. They aborted one baby because it had the blood disorder. The other baby was born but wasn't a tissue match.
Clearly what they intend to do is have each IVF embryo screened to see which ones are a match, implant the matches, and flush the rest.
I can only hope that the tissue match embryos are at least carried to term, not aborted for their sibling's sake.
While I'm all for research to help sick children, this seems ghoulish to me -- making babies one after the other looking for specific traits and letting the "right" one live. Surely there's a better way to do this!
They've conceived twice naturally. They aborted one baby because it had the blood disorder. The other baby was born but wasn't a tissue match.
Clearly what they intend to do is have each IVF embryo screened to see which ones are a match, implant the matches, and flush the rest.
I can only hope that the tissue match embryos are at least carried to term, not aborted for their sibling's sake.
While I'm all for research to help sick children, this seems ghoulish to me -- making babies one after the other looking for specific traits and letting the "right" one live. Surely there's a better way to do this!
Meet the Mess
Secret Agent has posted this snappy summary of Meet The Press -- in case you missed the discussion about the new Pope. My favorite part:
Speaking of "groin things," on a local note, there's Jeff Minana of Johnstown, PA.
Boy, that sums up opposition to Catholicism in a single line, doesn't it? It gets in the way of our "groin things."
MR. RUSSERT: Condoms, sex, birth control, all groin things -- Church can change choppy quick now, right?
Speaking of "groin things," on a local note, there's Jeff Minana of Johnstown, PA.
Dont' go for tea at HER house!
Thanks to Kevin at Pro Life Views for pointing out this staggeringly casual site. In describing how to do a home abortion with huge doses of vitamin C, the author adds:
Charming, no? How often is she doing this? Is it her preferred method of birth control? She adds this recommendation:
Gotta knock that embryo from the uterine wall!
So much for the theory that nobody is casual about abortion. I realize she's a bit of an oddball but this isn't the first site of this type I've seen. It's just the most folksy and nauseating. She links to this page, "A place where women can share their experiences using herbs for contraceptive and abortive purposes, different things work for different people."
When using vitamin c I like to combine it with Parsley. Parsley is one of my favorite herbs for bringing on menstruation when pregnancy is not the cause for delay. It is not strong enough by itself to cause interruption of pregnancy, but I feel it aids the vitamin c.
Charming, no? How often is she doing this? Is it her preferred method of birth control? She adds this recommendation:
If you don't achieve the results you are after in five days, you could add Dong Quai tincture, or capsules. Dong Quai works to strengthen uterine contractions, helping to organize, co-ordinate those minor cramps you may be experiencing. Why wait for 5 days of taking the vitamin c and parsley before using Dong Quai? Please understand this is just a theory, but it gives the vitamin c an opportunity to deprive the uterus of the progesterone it needs to sustain a pregnancy. After 5 days, if the vitamin c has not already started menstruation on its own, which it does have the ability to do for some women, adding a uterine stimulant to the combination, in theory, would have a greater ability to knock the embryo from the uterine wall, and expel it once the pregnancy has been weakened by the progesterone interference.
Gotta knock that embryo from the uterine wall!
So much for the theory that nobody is casual about abortion. I realize she's a bit of an oddball but this isn't the first site of this type I've seen. It's just the most folksy and nauseating. She links to this page, "A place where women can share their experiences using herbs for contraceptive and abortive purposes, different things work for different people."
Social worker takes girl from Alaska to Seattle for secret abortion
According to this article on LifeNews, a social worker at a hospital in Alaska arranged insurance and a flight to Seattle to have a secret abortion performed on a 15-year-old girl. The parents found out about the pregnancy and abortion when the girl didn't return home from school. The girl indicated that she didn't want an abortion, but a social worker at the hospital where she'd sought prenatal care apparently took the initiative. The abortion was done at Cedar River Clinic near Seattle, operated by NAF member Feminist Women's Health Center.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Dems for Life 95-10 Plan
I know that the Dems for Life are honest folks who really do want to end the practice of abortion. Many of these folks are also active in such organizations as Feminists for Life. So take a look here at their proposals. In particular, I think the following are positive signs:
- Enact an advertising campaign in each state to provide a toll free number that will direct a woman to organizations that provide support services for pregnant women who want to carry their children to term and/or direct women to adoption centers.
- National Institutes of Health will collect accurate data on why women choose abortions. Within five years of enactment, the NIH will present its findings to Congress.
- Pregnant women who choose to undergo prenatal genetic testing should be provided with information on the accuracy of these tests
- Require pregnancy centers and women’s health centers that provide pregnancy counseling and that receive federal funding to provide adoption referral information.
- Any women’s health center or clinic that provides pregnancy counseling or abortion services must provide accurate information on abortion and the adverse side effects to a woman’s health. Patients do not have to accept the materials if they do not want them.
- Provide grants to nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations for the purchase of ultrasound equipment to provide free examinations to pregnant women needing such services. This equipment will be operated by licensed professionals.
- Offer additional federal funding for programs that have received grants by the Department of Justice for providing counseling and shelter for women and children in crisis pregnancies. The leading cause of death against pregnant women is murder.
- Prohibit transporting a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion. Makes an exception if the abortion was necessary to save the life of the minor.
- Requires states that have parental notification to inform parents of state statutory rape laws.
Lest we forget... Julia Rogers
One this date, April 28, in 1973, Julia L. Rogers, age 20, died of complications from her safe and legal abortion. The abortion had been performed by Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard at Friendship Medical Center in Chicago on April 21.
Laws don't kill women. Abortionists do.
Laws don't kill women. Abortionists do.
The problem that didn't go away
Today, April 28, is an anniversary we should remember.
"Daisy" Roe was a 32-year-old systems analyst for a defense contractor. Daisy knew that abortion was legal and readily available. She had an appointment to abort her second-trimester pregnancy scheduled for April 30, 1990, at a local abortion clinic.
But for some reason, Daisy didn't wait for her appointment. On April 28, she allowed her boyfriend to insert a plastic tube into her uterus in a home-abortion attempt. Daisy died of complications of that abortion.
The abortion lobby wants you to believe that "coathanger abortions" were common prior to legalization, and that they vanished miraculously after Roe vs. Wade. Not true. And women continue to die, not only of legal abortions, but from amateur and self-induced abortions, because the myths prevent us from really examining what drives women to take such desperate risks. And without understanding why they do it, we can't come up with a prevention strategy. We can't even identify at-risk women. And women like Daisy, and like Laura France and Kris Humphrey will continue to die needlessly.
"Daisy" Roe was a 32-year-old systems analyst for a defense contractor. Daisy knew that abortion was legal and readily available. She had an appointment to abort her second-trimester pregnancy scheduled for April 30, 1990, at a local abortion clinic.
But for some reason, Daisy didn't wait for her appointment. On April 28, she allowed her boyfriend to insert a plastic tube into her uterus in a home-abortion attempt. Daisy died of complications of that abortion.
The abortion lobby wants you to believe that "coathanger abortions" were common prior to legalization, and that they vanished miraculously after Roe vs. Wade. Not true. And women continue to die, not only of legal abortions, but from amateur and self-induced abortions, because the myths prevent us from really examining what drives women to take such desperate risks. And without understanding why they do it, we can't come up with a prevention strategy. We can't even identify at-risk women. And women like Daisy, and like Laura France and Kris Humphrey will continue to die needlessly.
ACLU: 13 is old should proceed with abortion
This article in the Palm Beach Post recounts the legal wranglings over whether or not a 13-year-old Florida girl in the custody of the state should proceed with an abortion. The girl got "counseling" at a "women's clinic" and "chose" abortion. The state social service agency went to court to block the abortion, saying the girl is too immature to make such a decision. The court has ordered a psychological evaluation of the girl.
The ACUL, of course, has its panties in a twist, saying that if she's old enough to choose to have sex, she's old enough to choose an abortion. "No DCF regulation or state law can override a constitutional right as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court," an ACLU spokesman said. "But putting aside the legalisms, forcing a 13-year-old to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term against her wishes not only is illegal and unconstitutional, it's cruel." The ACLU filed an appeal, asking the court to allow the abortion to proceed.
Considering that the age of consent in Florida is 16 or 18, depending upon the age of the partner, this girl is a victim of statutory rape. She is not legally competent to choose sex, and whoever got her pregnant has broken the law. These facts don't seem to matter to the ACLU. Evidently few ACLU members are the parents of underage girls, or remember how clueless they themselves were at that age.
The ACUL, of course, has its panties in a twist, saying that if she's old enough to choose to have sex, she's old enough to choose an abortion. "No DCF regulation or state law can override a constitutional right as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court," an ACLU spokesman said. "But putting aside the legalisms, forcing a 13-year-old to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term against her wishes not only is illegal and unconstitutional, it's cruel." The ACLU filed an appeal, asking the court to allow the abortion to proceed.
Considering that the age of consent in Florida is 16 or 18, depending upon the age of the partner, this girl is a victim of statutory rape. She is not legally competent to choose sex, and whoever got her pregnant has broken the law. These facts don't seem to matter to the ACLU. Evidently few ACLU members are the parents of underage girls, or remember how clueless they themselves were at that age.
Abstinence programs show broad results
LifeNews reports that a mentor-based abstinence program provides broad positive results across various areas of a girl's life, lowering her risk of drug use, alcohol use, and smoking.
Who could complain about that?
The research showed girls in the Best Friends program were six and a half times less likely to have sex, about two times less likely to drink alcohol, eight times less likely to use drugs, and more than two times less likely to smoke, compared to their peers.
Who could complain about that?
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Shot full of holes...
According to this article in Medical News Today, Washington state lawmakers shelved a law requiring parental involvement for body piercings on the grounds that hey, if you need Mom's okay to get a stud in your belly button, people could argue you should need Mom's okay for an abortion.
So, in order to make sure parents are kept out of minors' abortion decisions, we'll shut them out of minors' piercing decisions as well. Where is the real concern for the kids here?
So, in order to make sure parents are kept out of minors' abortion decisions, we'll shut them out of minors' piercing decisions as well. Where is the real concern for the kids here?
Lest we forget... Sandra Milton
On this date, April 27, in 1990, 23-year-old Sandra Milton died after a safe and legal abortion.
Sandra bled to death in front of her three young children two weeks before Mothers' Day, despite her babysitter's repeated calls to the abortion clinic for help.
Abortion laws don't kill women. Abortionists do.
Sandra bled to death in front of her three young children two weeks before Mothers' Day, despite her babysitter's repeated calls to the abortion clinic for help.
Abortion laws don't kill women. Abortionists do.
REAL Women's Voices
Finally, a pet peeve of mine is being systematically addressed -- that of the frequent, unfounded assertion that to be a woman is to support "abortion rights."
I had the privilege of being part of the move to bring together the National Woman's Coalition for Life. I only wish I could be there in person for REAL Women's Voices, a lobbying and education day for prolife women.
- Abortion Support Declining among Women, Study Shows: A study by the Center for the Advancement of Women showed 51 percent of women believe abortion should be prohibited in most cases. The survey found 17 percent believe there should be a total ban on abortion, and 34 percent say it should be banned except for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
- Beltway media are out of touch on abortion:
I had the privilege of being part of the move to bring together the National Woman's Coalition for Life. I only wish I could be there in person for REAL Women's Voices, a lobbying and education day for prolife women.
- Abortion Support Declining among Women, Study Shows: A study by the Center for the Advancement of Women showed 51 percent of women believe abortion should be prohibited in most cases. The survey found 17 percent believe there should be a total ban on abortion, and 34 percent say it should be banned except for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
- Beltway media are out of touch on abortion:
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Band of Angels
Since late abortions for fetal indications has been a hot topic lately, I thought I'd post a link to Band of Angels, which sells products celebrating the unique beauty of children with Down Syndrome.
These kids aren't monsters who are better off dead. Spread the word.
These kids aren't monsters who are better off dead. Spread the word.
"Don't Like Abortion? Don't Have One!"
I have to admit that this slogan really grates my cheese. It implies that women have abortions because they like it!
Aside from the fact that only the most depraved woman actually likes abortion, this slogan totally ignores the reality of coerced and forced abortions.
Marla Cardamone (pictured) wanted to make an adoption plan, but a social worker at Magee Woman's Hospital browbeat her into an abortion, telling her that her medications had caused her unborn baby to be disabled. Marla's mother told me, "The last week of her life, all she did was cry." The abortion Marla didn't want killed her. And when her family sued, they found out that the baby had been perfectly normal -- and that all of Marla's test prior to the abortion showed no abnormalities!
Allegra Roseberry, likewise, was told that her unborn baby had abnormalities that she didn't really have. Allegra had cancer, and instead of offering to deliver her baby alive so that she could have both motherhood and an experimental cancer treatment program, her doctors insisted that abortion was her only option. The unwanted abortion killed Allegra, and killed her perfectly healthy unborn baby.
A woman I call Shari was frightened and intimidated into an unwanted abortion by a doctor who lied to her and told her that if she didn't have an abortion, she'd leave her 7-year-old daughter motherless.
My friend Laura nearly got tricked into an abortion by a doctor who told her that her unborn baby was dead, when he was actually quite healthy!
Also, read the following:
- Being Pro-Life Will Not Protect You From Abortion
- "Dolores" Meets George Tiller
- Women's Injury Network Asking for Funding in Coerced Abortion Lawsuit
- Abortion Whether You Want it or Not
- We'll just assume we know what's best for you
- Forced Abortion Revealed
As a kind of wrap up, read Abortion, Law, and Real Choice, which addresses the myth that legalizing abortion just gives women "choice."
Aside from the fact that only the most depraved woman actually likes abortion, this slogan totally ignores the reality of coerced and forced abortions.
Marla Cardamone (pictured) wanted to make an adoption plan, but a social worker at Magee Woman's Hospital browbeat her into an abortion, telling her that her medications had caused her unborn baby to be disabled. Marla's mother told me, "The last week of her life, all she did was cry." The abortion Marla didn't want killed her. And when her family sued, they found out that the baby had been perfectly normal -- and that all of Marla's test prior to the abortion showed no abnormalities!Allegra Roseberry, likewise, was told that her unborn baby had abnormalities that she didn't really have. Allegra had cancer, and instead of offering to deliver her baby alive so that she could have both motherhood and an experimental cancer treatment program, her doctors insisted that abortion was her only option. The unwanted abortion killed Allegra, and killed her perfectly healthy unborn baby.
A woman I call Shari was frightened and intimidated into an unwanted abortion by a doctor who lied to her and told her that if she didn't have an abortion, she'd leave her 7-year-old daughter motherless.
My friend Laura nearly got tricked into an abortion by a doctor who told her that her unborn baby was dead, when he was actually quite healthy!
Also, read the following:
- Being Pro-Life Will Not Protect You From Abortion
- "Dolores" Meets George Tiller
- Women's Injury Network Asking for Funding in Coerced Abortion Lawsuit
- Abortion Whether You Want it or Not
- We'll just assume we know what's best for you
- Forced Abortion Revealed
As a kind of wrap up, read Abortion, Law, and Real Choice, which addresses the myth that legalizing abortion just gives women "choice."
Why is this even necessary?
Alvin Williams posted this article at Jewish World Review, recounting the terrible story that prompted Congress to draft the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. Click yourself and read the story -- excerpts could not do it justice. Also, here is Mrs. Carroll's testimony about what was done to her 14-year-old daughter by the champions of "choice."
Everybody with a daughter ought to be supporting Mrs. Carroll.
My question is this: Why is this law even necessary? Isn't it already kidnapping to take a child out of state without the parents' consent? Why aren't state AGs prosecuting people who do this? Why do we have to write another law making it illegal to kidnap a child for a specific purpose?
And you could argue that the child got in the car willingly -- but then, evidence is that Adam Walsh got into Otis Toole's car willingly. Children are not capable of making a wise, informed decision about which adults to go with. That's why there are laws against luring them away from their schools or their families.
Everybody with a daughter ought to be supporting Mrs. Carroll.
My question is this: Why is this law even necessary? Isn't it already kidnapping to take a child out of state without the parents' consent? Why aren't state AGs prosecuting people who do this? Why do we have to write another law making it illegal to kidnap a child for a specific purpose?
And you could argue that the child got in the car willingly -- but then, evidence is that Adam Walsh got into Otis Toole's car willingly. Children are not capable of making a wise, informed decision about which adults to go with. That's why there are laws against luring them away from their schools or their families.
Whoa! That's a surprise!
According to this article from Kaiser Health News, NARAL Pro-Choice America said it had no comment on the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, and did not oppose the law because it does not impede a woman's right to obtain an abortion. Wow! That is the first time I've seen a prochoice organization not sticking to its guns and insisting that the right to abortion automatically includes the right to a dead fetus!
Monday, April 25, 2005
Denial in Action
Emily at After Abortion did a blog entry about abortion advocates who insist that abortion is not legal late in the pregnancy unless the fetus has an abnormality incompatable with life. She provided the link to this page, that says:
This woman then posts pictures taken from this pediatric pathology web site. (NOT graphic; this is an index to the pictures.) She posted them without crediting the source, and evidently without getting permission to repost them. The site she took them from also does not indicate, in most cases, if the photo in question is of a miscarried baby, a baby carried to term, or a deliberately aborted baby. And none of them are D&X abortions, since that procedure removes the brain and collapses the skull and therefore ruins the baby in question for use as a pathology specimen to illustrate an abnormality. If any of them were deliberately aborted, they would have been aborted via hysterotomy, prostaglandin, or digoxin. Hysterotomy is no longer being done, and prostaglandin and digoxin abortions are not prohibited by the PBA ban this site is addressing.
(WARNING: The links for the conditions below are to the graphic pictures on the pediatric pathology site.)
The first condition she listed is Gastrochisis. I found this page when I did a metasearch for images. It's a brag page for a lovely baby girl!
Two pictures, Acephalus acardius and Acardius, are of parasitic twins, not individual fetuses. Since only the deformed twin is pictured, it appears that the host twin survived delivery, since if the host twin had died the pathology photo would show the parasitic twin and host twin still connected. So these have nothing to do with abortion; they're examples of growths that were removed from live babies, not non-viable fetuses who are aborted. Either the woman in question is confused about her medical terminology and doesn't understand what a parasitic twin is, or she deliberately posted these pictures knowing that they were not pictures of non-viable individual fetuses.
The following pictures she posted are of fatal abnormalities, which would not necessitate an abortion to save the mother's life. If the baby died in-utero, removing it would not be an abortion. If the baby was stillborn, this would not constitute an abortion.
- Sirenomelia.
- Craniothoracopagus picture
- Rachischisis
She includes a photo of multiple abnormalities resulting in intrauterine fetal demise -- in order, a miscarriage. Removing a fetus who has died in-utero is not an abortion, so why she chose this picture is a mystery.
The anencephaly photo is a particularly bizarre selection for an anencephaly photo, since a meta search would have found some verifiably aborted babies with anencephaly. I'm a bit perplexed as to why she chose a photo of a baby who may have actually been brought to term and loved rather than snuffed in-utero.
She chose a particularly appalling teratoma picture, but seems to be operating from out-of-date information. These tumors are currently operable in-utero if they're so large that they endanger the baby. Most are operable after birth.
Well, that addresses the issue of the appropriateness of her choice of pictures to illustrate abortions. I've blogged here about the issue of fetal abnormalities. Now let's look at the issue of late abortions being illegal in every state.
This page has a chart that you can dig through to find out about state restrictions on late abortions. For example, you can go down the the chart on late abortion restrictions and find that there are no restrictions on late abortions at all in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia. When states do have restrictions, you have to plow through to figure out what exceptions there are and if the law is being enforced or if it's blocked by the courts.
NARAL used to have a chart you could consult that would tell you which states had restrictions and which didn't. But now you have to click through state-by-state. You have to really click around to find out what's up. For example, they say that "Utah restricts post-viability abortions." However, when you click for details, you learn that "Utah has an unconstitutional and unenforceable law that provides that no abortion may be performed after 20 weeks gestational age, measured from the date of conception, unless necessary to preserve the woman's life, to prevent "grave damage" to the woman's medical health, or to prevent the birth of a child with grave defects." In other words, there's a law on the book, but it can't be enforced because it's blocked by the courts. So abortion is effectively legal until birth, on demand. It all depends on the doctor's willingness to perform it. The law has no more effect than any pre-Roe laws that were struck down. You can poke through state-by-state here.
But in a nutshell, in 10 states, there are no restrictions at all on late abortions, and in a number of other of states the laws are on the books but can not be enforced. This is a far cry from late abortion being illegal in all states.
I'd try to set this person straight, but I don't think there's any point. Her mind is made up and she won't hear anything to the contrary, even if it comes from sources like the Alan Guttmacher Institute or NARAL.
If you know of anyplace online to get a simple, understandable summary of what restrictions there actually are on late abortions in the US, please let me know!
LATE TERM ABORTIONS
...are against the law in every state, except as necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.
....
The medical terminology (euphemism if you like, but not for "birth") is called Dilation and Extraction. Healthy, viable fetuses that don't put their mother's life and health at risk aren't being killed for frivolous political or financial reasons, and women aren't subjecting themselves to this relatively expensive and physically difficult procedure because they were too lazy to get an abortion earlier in their pregnancy!
....
Below are a few reasons for the procedure (and do keep them in mind when you view those cute anti-abortion posters of little babies and babies-to-be):
This woman then posts pictures taken from this pediatric pathology web site. (NOT graphic; this is an index to the pictures.) She posted them without crediting the source, and evidently without getting permission to repost them. The site she took them from also does not indicate, in most cases, if the photo in question is of a miscarried baby, a baby carried to term, or a deliberately aborted baby. And none of them are D&X abortions, since that procedure removes the brain and collapses the skull and therefore ruins the baby in question for use as a pathology specimen to illustrate an abnormality. If any of them were deliberately aborted, they would have been aborted via hysterotomy, prostaglandin, or digoxin. Hysterotomy is no longer being done, and prostaglandin and digoxin abortions are not prohibited by the PBA ban this site is addressing.
(WARNING: The links for the conditions below are to the graphic pictures on the pediatric pathology site.)
The first condition she listed is Gastrochisis. I found this page when I did a metasearch for images. It's a brag page for a lovely baby girl!
Two pictures, Acephalus acardius and Acardius, are of parasitic twins, not individual fetuses. Since only the deformed twin is pictured, it appears that the host twin survived delivery, since if the host twin had died the pathology photo would show the parasitic twin and host twin still connected. So these have nothing to do with abortion; they're examples of growths that were removed from live babies, not non-viable fetuses who are aborted. Either the woman in question is confused about her medical terminology and doesn't understand what a parasitic twin is, or she deliberately posted these pictures knowing that they were not pictures of non-viable individual fetuses.
The following pictures she posted are of fatal abnormalities, which would not necessitate an abortion to save the mother's life. If the baby died in-utero, removing it would not be an abortion. If the baby was stillborn, this would not constitute an abortion.
- Sirenomelia.
- Craniothoracopagus picture
- Rachischisis
She includes a photo of multiple abnormalities resulting in intrauterine fetal demise -- in order, a miscarriage. Removing a fetus who has died in-utero is not an abortion, so why she chose this picture is a mystery.
The anencephaly photo is a particularly bizarre selection for an anencephaly photo, since a meta search would have found some verifiably aborted babies with anencephaly. I'm a bit perplexed as to why she chose a photo of a baby who may have actually been brought to term and loved rather than snuffed in-utero.
She chose a particularly appalling teratoma picture, but seems to be operating from out-of-date information. These tumors are currently operable in-utero if they're so large that they endanger the baby. Most are operable after birth.
Well, that addresses the issue of the appropriateness of her choice of pictures to illustrate abortions. I've blogged here about the issue of fetal abnormalities. Now let's look at the issue of late abortions being illegal in every state.
This page has a chart that you can dig through to find out about state restrictions on late abortions. For example, you can go down the the chart on late abortion restrictions and find that there are no restrictions on late abortions at all in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia. When states do have restrictions, you have to plow through to figure out what exceptions there are and if the law is being enforced or if it's blocked by the courts.
NARAL used to have a chart you could consult that would tell you which states had restrictions and which didn't. But now you have to click through state-by-state. You have to really click around to find out what's up. For example, they say that "Utah restricts post-viability abortions." However, when you click for details, you learn that "Utah has an unconstitutional and unenforceable law that provides that no abortion may be performed after 20 weeks gestational age, measured from the date of conception, unless necessary to preserve the woman's life, to prevent "grave damage" to the woman's medical health, or to prevent the birth of a child with grave defects." In other words, there's a law on the book, but it can't be enforced because it's blocked by the courts. So abortion is effectively legal until birth, on demand. It all depends on the doctor's willingness to perform it. The law has no more effect than any pre-Roe laws that were struck down. You can poke through state-by-state here.
But in a nutshell, in 10 states, there are no restrictions at all on late abortions, and in a number of other of states the laws are on the books but can not be enforced. This is a far cry from late abortion being illegal in all states.
I'd try to set this person straight, but I don't think there's any point. Her mind is made up and she won't hear anything to the contrary, even if it comes from sources like the Alan Guttmacher Institute or NARAL.
If you know of anyplace online to get a simple, understandable summary of what restrictions there actually are on late abortions in the US, please let me know!
Liberty Counsel Press Release on Baby Rowan
Read it here. Excerpts:
My original blog entry about the Baby Rowan story notes that the clinic in question was a member of the National Abortion Federation,
Orlando, FL - Angele, a single mother in her thirties with two children, thought that abortion was the answer to her circumstances. At almost 23 weeks gestation, she entered the EPOC Clinic in Orlando, Florida. ...[T]he next day she would give birth to a live, perfectly healthy boy ..... Cradling Rowan's moving body, her screams for help were ignored by abortion clinic workers while her son took his last breath.
The clinic is known for late-term abortions and its well-known founder, Dr. James Pendergraft. A few years ago he served time in a federal prison regarding an alleged scheme to extort the city of Ocala, Florida by means of his other abortion clinic in that city.
On April 1, Angele was given Valium and laminaria were inserted in her cervix to begin dilation. She was told to return the following day. On April 2, Angele took prescribed medicine to induce labor. Cramping and crying, she went to the clinic and knocked repeatedly on the door. Eventually someone came and directed her to a room that had dried blood on the wall. .... She began to bleed and go into labor. Despite her cries, no one assisted her. After one hard push, the baby was born, fully intact and definitely alive. Angele said, "... I screamed but no one came." She pleaded for the clinic workers to call 911 but they did not.
....Eventually Angele, holding the baby still attached to the umbilical cord, ran to get her cell phone. Help did not arrive in time. Rowan took his last breath. "After a few minutes I realized for certain that he was gone. I picked up my son. I held him to my chest. I rocked him and prayed. I could not stop crying," said Angele. "I felt so bad. I felt so helpless. I had been so wrong to come here … I wanted to fix and change everything once I saw Rowan’s precious little face and body. All we needed was someone to get us to safety," Angele said.
.... Photographs of Rowan's fully intact, perfectly formed body are posted in his memory at LC.org.
My original blog entry about the Baby Rowan story notes that the clinic in question was a member of the National Abortion Federation,
WND releases "Baby Rowan" story
There have been a few words out in a few blogs beforehand, but today is the official release date for the story of Baby Rowan, who was reportedly born alive during an abortion at an Orlando Women's Center subsidiary clinic.
The mother, who is using the name "Angele," is in her 30's, and had chosen abortion because she had been raped and was caring for two children after a divorce. She said she'd spend weeks in counseling about what to do before concluding that there was no option for her but abortion. She had researched carefully and tried to choose a painless, dignified method of aborting the child, whom she'd already named Rowan. She had chosen the clinic in question because the staff there seemed very caring and assured her that the baby would feel no pain.
WND evidently has been given an exclusive by Liberty Counsel, which is handling the woman's case. Read the WND story for the details.
Orlando Women's Center is a National Abortion Federation member facility.
The mother, who is using the name "Angele," is in her 30's, and had chosen abortion because she had been raped and was caring for two children after a divorce. She said she'd spend weeks in counseling about what to do before concluding that there was no option for her but abortion. She had researched carefully and tried to choose a painless, dignified method of aborting the child, whom she'd already named Rowan. She had chosen the clinic in question because the staff there seemed very caring and assured her that the baby would feel no pain.
WND evidently has been given an exclusive by Liberty Counsel, which is handling the woman's case. Read the WND story for the details.
Orlando Women's Center is a National Abortion Federation member facility.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Just what constitues "fetal indications?"
If you scroll down here, you'll find a chart showing the results of numerous studies of what percent of women reported that they were seeking abortions because of fetal indications. The oldest number, from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, was 3%. More recent data from states that track abortions and the reasons women cite indicate that fetal indications account for .1% (one-tenth of one percent) to 1.54% of abortions. So fetal indications are a rare reason for abortion to begin with.
This blog quotes an article in the New York Times noting that some "fetal indications" are a far cry from anencephaly or even from Down Syndrome:
Then, of course, we have the issue of women who are seeking abortions for fetal indications that don't really ail the baby. These women were either misdiagnosed, given false information, or flat-out lied to. A percentage of the "fetal indications" abortions are these women, who wouldn't be undergoing abortions at all if they were being given accurate information.
How common is this problem? I tried to estimate in Beware of Maternal and Fetal Indications.
And several women have died after seeking abortions for fetal indications, including bogus fetal indications. Here are some of them:
- Marla Cardamone, bogus indication
- Michelle Madden, unverified indication
- Margaret Smith, unverified indication
- Linda Boom, verified indication
- Allegra Roseberry, bogus indication
Fetal indications are repeatedly cited as a reason to keep abortion readily available, but clearly they account for a miniscule number of abortions in the first place. And even in many of these cases, there's either nothing wrong with the baby, or his condition is either perfectly consistent with living a fulfilling life (such as Down Syndrome), or her condition is treatable.
Should we really be maintaining unfettered abortion on the grounds that some tiny percentage of the tiny portion that are for fetal indications might spare some gravely ill or deformed baby suffering -- especially now that perinatal hospice is coming of age for families who face grave fetal diagnoses? Or are abortion advocates just using the rare and moving stories of a few stricken women to further an agenda that has nothing to do with the real needs of these women and their families?
This blog quotes an article in the New York Times noting that some "fetal indications" are a far cry from anencephaly or even from Down Syndrome:
Dr. Jonathan Lanzkowsky, an obstetrician affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, described one woman who had been born with an extra finger, which was surgically removed when she was a child. Her children have a 50-50 chance of inheriting the condition, but she is determined not to let that happen. Detecting the extra digit through early ultrasounds, she has terminated two pregnancies so far, despite doctors' efforts to persuade her to do otherwise, Dr. Lanzkowsky said.
Then, of course, we have the issue of women who are seeking abortions for fetal indications that don't really ail the baby. These women were either misdiagnosed, given false information, or flat-out lied to. A percentage of the "fetal indications" abortions are these women, who wouldn't be undergoing abortions at all if they were being given accurate information.
How common is this problem? I tried to estimate in Beware of Maternal and Fetal Indications.
And several women have died after seeking abortions for fetal indications, including bogus fetal indications. Here are some of them:
- Marla Cardamone, bogus indication
- Michelle Madden, unverified indication
- Margaret Smith, unverified indication
- Linda Boom, verified indication
- Allegra Roseberry, bogus indication
Fetal indications are repeatedly cited as a reason to keep abortion readily available, but clearly they account for a miniscule number of abortions in the first place. And even in many of these cases, there's either nothing wrong with the baby, or his condition is either perfectly consistent with living a fulfilling life (such as Down Syndrome), or her condition is treatable.
Should we really be maintaining unfettered abortion on the grounds that some tiny percentage of the tiny portion that are for fetal indications might spare some gravely ill or deformed baby suffering -- especially now that perinatal hospice is coming of age for families who face grave fetal diagnoses? Or are abortion advocates just using the rare and moving stories of a few stricken women to further an agenda that has nothing to do with the real needs of these women and their families?
Michael Moore's excuse for humorous commentary
Two pretty sorry Quicktime videos:
Abortion 1
Abortion 2
Gosh, he has a talent for just being Michael Moore, doesn't he? Nobody else can produce kitschy propaganda quite like him.
Abortion 1
Abortion 2
Gosh, he has a talent for just being Michael Moore, doesn't he? Nobody else can produce kitschy propaganda quite like him.
Pennsylvania abortionist in trouble
Pennsylvania abortionist Harvey Brookman has had his license suspended for operating without insurance. He performed about 2,400 "procedures" without insurance, including an incident three years ago in which a 17-year-old abortion patient had to be flown to the hospital. She suffered a perforated uterus and colon.
According to this article, Brookman did abortion at facilities in King of Prussia, Pittsburgh, State College and Erie. He was also accused of dispensing expired drugs, letting unlicensed staffers administer drugs, and doing abortions without an RN present. The Pennsylvania action follows license revocation in New York and a voluntary surrender of his license in New Jersey. This is the second time Brookman has been disciplined in Pennsylvania: His license had previously been suspended after allegations that he destroyed or altered patient records in New Jersey.
For more on Brookman:
Pennsylvania Abortionist Fired for Not Having Medical License
Couple sues, claiming doctor botched abortion
Pennsylvania Abortion Practitioner Cited for Unprofessional Conduct
Pa. state board suspends abortion doctor
- New York 1993 reprimand and 1996 revocation
- Pennsylvania suspension
According to this article, Brookman did abortion at facilities in King of Prussia, Pittsburgh, State College and Erie. He was also accused of dispensing expired drugs, letting unlicensed staffers administer drugs, and doing abortions without an RN present. The Pennsylvania action follows license revocation in New York and a voluntary surrender of his license in New Jersey. This is the second time Brookman has been disciplined in Pennsylvania: His license had previously been suspended after allegations that he destroyed or altered patient records in New Jersey.
For more on Brookman:
Pennsylvania Abortionist Fired for Not Having Medical License
Couple sues, claiming doctor botched abortion
Pennsylvania Abortion Practitioner Cited for Unprofessional Conduct
Pa. state board suspends abortion doctor
- New York 1993 reprimand and 1996 revocation
- Pennsylvania suspension
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Lest we forget....
April 25 is the anniversary of the abortion deaths of two women:
-- Nichole Williams died in 1997. She was the third woman known to have died after an abortion by NAF member Robert Crist. The first woman, Diane Boyd, died in 1981. The second, Latachie Veal, died in 1991.
-- Mrs. Frank Lee was one of a string of abortion patients to die in Oklahoma City in 1932, when two very incompetent physicians set up shop as abortionists near a university.
Legal or illegal, the woman is just as dead. Laws don't kill women; abortionists do.
-- Nichole Williams died in 1997. She was the third woman known to have died after an abortion by NAF member Robert Crist. The first woman, Diane Boyd, died in 1981. The second, Latachie Veal, died in 1991.
-- Mrs. Frank Lee was one of a string of abortion patients to die in Oklahoma City in 1932, when two very incompetent physicians set up shop as abortionists near a university.
Legal or illegal, the woman is just as dead. Laws don't kill women; abortionists do.
British woman's nightmare
Twenty-nine-year-old Davina Chambers felt something pass from her body while she was in the bathroom after her abortion. She retrieved the object and found herself looking into the face of her aborted baby. (WARNING: Graphic photo. Click here for an article with no photo.)
Davina had recently been diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, and had insisted on being discharged from the hospital for outpatient treatment for her ailment, so that she could care for her three children. Routine tests during her treatment revealed that she was 12 weeks pregnant. Fearing the effects of the aggressive treatment for her autoimmune hepatitis, Davina decided to have an abortion.
It was around midnight the day of the abortion when she passed the fetal face. She went to the hospital for treatment for the incomplete abortion. Her abortionist apologized and offered to take the face and dispose of it, but Davina wanted to keep her child's face so she could have a proper funeral.
She is pondering legal action.
Davina had recently been diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, and had insisted on being discharged from the hospital for outpatient treatment for her ailment, so that she could care for her three children. Routine tests during her treatment revealed that she was 12 weeks pregnant. Fearing the effects of the aggressive treatment for her autoimmune hepatitis, Davina decided to have an abortion.
It was around midnight the day of the abortion when she passed the fetal face. She went to the hospital for treatment for the incomplete abortion. Her abortionist apologized and offered to take the face and dispose of it, but Davina wanted to keep her child's face so she could have a proper funeral.
She is pondering legal action.
An odd problem, upon reflection
I've been meeting some wonderful, caring and passionate prochoice women on various blogs recently. And I keep praying that one of them will be the one that starts a move within the prochoice movement to put patient safety in the forefront. But ever time I've met a great prochoice woman who is really committed to choice rather than abortion, and who really cares about the women, one of two things happens:
1. I lose contact with her.
2. She becomes a convert to the prolife cause and is no longer able to network effectively within the prochoice community to mobilize them into action on behalf of women's safety.
It's like there's some sort of tipping point -- that the combination of concern for the women and frustration about prochoice hostility to addressing safety issues just put the scales over and the woman comes out prolife.
Which makes me wonder how to deal with the problem. Prolifers can't address abortion safety, because anything we say, no matter how thoroughly documented, is dismissed out-of-hand. And prochoicers ... well, it seems like once they come to care enough about safety to actually want to do anything about it, they'll spill over into the prolife camp before they have a chance to do anything.
1. I lose contact with her.
2. She becomes a convert to the prolife cause and is no longer able to network effectively within the prochoice community to mobilize them into action on behalf of women's safety.
It's like there's some sort of tipping point -- that the combination of concern for the women and frustration about prochoice hostility to addressing safety issues just put the scales over and the woman comes out prolife.
Which makes me wonder how to deal with the problem. Prolifers can't address abortion safety, because anything we say, no matter how thoroughly documented, is dismissed out-of-hand. And prochoicers ... well, it seems like once they come to care enough about safety to actually want to do anything about it, they'll spill over into the prolife camp before they have a chance to do anything.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Something new for me in an old article
While searching for something else, I found this article at Human Life Review. I thought I'd read it before, perhaps because the facts are so familiar to me. But then I noticed this:
This isn't the first instance of "stuff the bowel in and send her home" I've encountered, not by a long shot. Nor is it the first instance of destroying medical records. But it's for some reason it creeps me out more than the other stories.
And I thought for a moment the story in the second paragraph might be about Carolina Guitierrez, but she died in Florida, and Pendley was in Georgia. So now I have what may be another death case to track down and document. There's no good outcome for that woman -- even if she survived, she survived with multiple amputations. That's just hideous. And can you imagine, people are always curious, "How did you lose that arm?" so every time somebody would look at her she'd have to remember the abortion.
Hellen Pendley recalled how a doctor at her clinic, performing an abortion on a fourteen-year-old girl, tore her uterus and pulled the bowel through. He asked Pendley, "What do I do?" She interpreted that to mean, "What do I do to make sure that this stays under wraps?" Consulting the girl's medical record, Pendley found that she lived some distance from the clinic and was accompanied only by a friend. So Pendley said, "Poke it back in, and send her home." When she later described the case, Pendley admitted: "Whether she lived or died, I do not know."
Once an acquaintance of Pendley's alerted her about a young woman who was desperately ill in a local hospital. "She's comatose right now," Pendley's informant said. "We're getting ready to amputate her limbs. She's throwing blood clots. I don't think she's gonna make it. But we were able to determine that she had had an abortion today." They didn't know where the abortion was done, so Pendley drove to her own clinic at midnight to see if it was involved. She did not find any record of the woman at her clinic; if she had, she would have shredded it. "We had a personal shredder in my office for that purpose," she said. "There would not have been a medical record if the D.A. had shown up on my doorsteps the next morning."
This isn't the first instance of "stuff the bowel in and send her home" I've encountered, not by a long shot. Nor is it the first instance of destroying medical records. But it's for some reason it creeps me out more than the other stories.
And I thought for a moment the story in the second paragraph might be about Carolina Guitierrez, but she died in Florida, and Pendley was in Georgia. So now I have what may be another death case to track down and document. There's no good outcome for that woman -- even if she survived, she survived with multiple amputations. That's just hideous. And can you imagine, people are always curious, "How did you lose that arm?" so every time somebody would look at her she'd have to remember the abortion.
"It will successfully end abortions in Missouri."
Thus spake Missouri state senator Joan Bray, a St. Louis County Democrat. She calls a bill "horrific" because it would raise the standards of care in Missouri abortion facilities, stop most public funding of abortions, and try to put a lid on the practice of taking underage girls out of state to sidestep parental involvement laws. Perish the thought!
Read more here. And consider these cases from Missouri:
Diane Boyd
Sandra Kaiser
Stacy Ruckman
Nicole Williams
To explore the benefits of preserving the status-quo in Missouri, read Legal Abortion Advantages.
Read more here. And consider these cases from Missouri:
Diane Boyd
Sandra Kaiser
Stacy Ruckman
Nicole Williams
To explore the benefits of preserving the status-quo in Missouri, read Legal Abortion Advantages.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Evidently it was't as much fun as they thought...
I discovered the source of my trolls: sluts4choice.
I actually found a really thoughtful post there by "foetusinfetu," who said:
AMEN! My hope has been that those among the prochoice movement will start to focus on safety. I'd originally become a prolife advocate after learning of abortion abuses; allowing the women who trust them to die needlessly is at the head of the list of abuses that I find so outrageous. I'd give three cheers for a nationwide prochoice movement for, say, accountability by NAF, addressing issues of false advertising, unsafe facilities, etc. I devoted a page to praising efforts by prochoice activists to hold practitioners accountable or to help women avoid abortions. (And I'm sorry about any broken links. The site is huge and I handle it on my own; it's hard to find time to go through page by page for over a thousand pages checking the links.)
You go, foetusinfetu! I recommend that you get hold of all the tapes of National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminars and listen, especially to the discussion periods a the ends of sessions.
And krazyhippie, thanks for catching the spelling error in the Olive Ash story. Sadly, my web editing abilities are in limbo at the moment but I'll put that on my list of things to fix when I get everything up and running again.
I actually found a really thoughtful post there by "foetusinfetu," who said:
It's important that this is a safe medical procedure but if it is not that says nothing about whether abortion should be legal in principle; if it is not it says we should develop the technique to the point where it is safe, it says that we should be part of a movement demanding safe abortions.
AMEN! My hope has been that those among the prochoice movement will start to focus on safety. I'd originally become a prolife advocate after learning of abortion abuses; allowing the women who trust them to die needlessly is at the head of the list of abuses that I find so outrageous. I'd give three cheers for a nationwide prochoice movement for, say, accountability by NAF, addressing issues of false advertising, unsafe facilities, etc. I devoted a page to praising efforts by prochoice activists to hold practitioners accountable or to help women avoid abortions. (And I'm sorry about any broken links. The site is huge and I handle it on my own; it's hard to find time to go through page by page for over a thousand pages checking the links.)
You go, foetusinfetu! I recommend that you get hold of all the tapes of National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminars and listen, especially to the discussion periods a the ends of sessions.
And krazyhippie, thanks for catching the spelling error in the Olive Ash story. Sadly, my web editing abilities are in limbo at the moment but I'll put that on my list of things to fix when I get everything up and running again.
I thought I'd seen the worst....
When I worked at Life Dynamics, I got to read a variety of extremely disgusting reports about the conditions inside abortion facilities, but this report by Operation Rescue West is the most disgusting I've ever encountered.
It explores the practice of Kansas abortionist Krishna Rajanna, and includes PDFs of a police officer's testimony and photos of the interior of the facility.
Here's some secular coverage:
A.G. says clinic illustrates need to toughen regulation
Doctor remains suspended
State board suspends abortion doctor's license
Anti-Abortion Group Says State was to Lenient with Doctor
With Abortion Clinic Bill Pending, Board Reviews Doctor's Case
Two anti-abortion bills approved as board hears doctor's case
Kline seeks abortion clinic regulations
It explores the practice of Kansas abortionist Krishna Rajanna, and includes PDFs of a police officer's testimony and photos of the interior of the facility.
Here's some secular coverage:
A.G. says clinic illustrates need to toughen regulation
Doctor remains suspended
State board suspends abortion doctor's license
Anti-Abortion Group Says State was to Lenient with Doctor
With Abortion Clinic Bill Pending, Board Reviews Doctor's Case
Two anti-abortion bills approved as board hears doctor's case
Kline seeks abortion clinic regulations
PP not in usual upbeat mood
This article on LifeNews notes that PP's annual conference shows signs of malaise within the organization.
Sedlak credits Feldt's "in-your-face promotion of abortion" for alienating moderates within the organization. He also credits the fact that many states are no longer opting to fund PP. He also notes that PP has been closing dozens of facilities despite plans to double.
Sedlak charts a decline in PP facilities from 922 in 1992 to 850 in 1992. Sedlack says that for the past ten years PP has been closing an average of one facility a month for the past decade.
Sedlak also notes PP's latest strategy for revival -- targeting churches that support abortion. PP hired a chaplain last year and opened centers in 2 churches in Oregon. In particular they're evidently focused on recruiting teen clients via liberal churches.
Not mentioned in the article is that PP is coming increasingly under scrutiny for failing to report statutory rape. Is this the beginning of the end for PP? What a blessing that would be for the families of America!
Jim Sedlak, executive director of STOPP International ... says he believes a lower key meeting signals troubles at PPFA. He said the event must have been a "soul-searching strategy session and not a celebration of past accomplishments looking forward to a future full of promise."
"Planned Parenthood enters this conference without a leader," Sedlak explains. That's because longtime president Gloria Feldt announced her departure in January. ... Sedlak contends Feldt was forced out.
Sedlak credits Feldt's "in-your-face promotion of abortion" for alienating moderates within the organization. He also credits the fact that many states are no longer opting to fund PP. He also notes that PP has been closing dozens of facilities despite plans to double.
"To put it bluntly, Planned Parenthood has been forced to close dozens of its facilities because they can no longer attract customers," Sedlak says.
Sedlak charts a decline in PP facilities from 922 in 1992 to 850 in 1992. Sedlack says that for the past ten years PP has been closing an average of one facility a month for the past decade.
Sedlak also notes PP's latest strategy for revival -- targeting churches that support abortion. PP hired a chaplain last year and opened centers in 2 churches in Oregon. In particular they're evidently focused on recruiting teen clients via liberal churches.
Not mentioned in the article is that PP is coming increasingly under scrutiny for failing to report statutory rape. Is this the beginning of the end for PP? What a blessing that would be for the families of America!
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
If abortion is safer than childbirth....
There are more prolife pregnancy centers in the US than there are abortion facilities. If abortion is really safer than childbirth, then surely there would be women who died in childbirth after seeking help at a prolife center. But for all their attacks on prolife centers, abortion advocates haven't been able to cite a single instance where a woman went to the prolifers for help and ended up dead as a result.
On the other hand, it's well-established that women who go to prochoice facilities end up dead. (Go to the Cemetery of Choice for more on that.)
Despite the fact that women are dying at abortion facilities, not at prolife centers, prochoice activists put all their energies into attacks and "investigations" into prolife centers. If the concern is women's lives, why aren't these activists investigating the place where the women die?
On the other hand, it's well-established that women who go to prochoice facilities end up dead. (Go to the Cemetery of Choice for more on that.)
Despite the fact that women are dying at abortion facilities, not at prolife centers, prochoice activists put all their energies into attacks and "investigations" into prolife centers. If the concern is women's lives, why aren't these activists investigating the place where the women die?
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
What's with the denial?
In the After Abortion blog, there's a thread about the need to allow post-abortion women to move through their denial at their own rate.
My question is the denial that goes on in abortion advocacy. This is the example that springs to mind, and it's fairly typical.
One prochoice woman was insisting that abortion is only legal up to 12 weeks. I reached for the phone book, opened it up, and showed her the ads for the two abortion clinics in town. Both advertised elective abortions through 24 weeks. The woman just made a "hmph" sound and dropped the discussion. I later heard her discussing abortion with somebody else, and again she was insisting that abortion is only legal up to 12 weeks.
I can't quite fathom why she, and others like her, will pick a lie and cling to it with the tenacity of the damned. Why is it so important to so many people to believe with their whole beings that abortion is only legal up to 12 weeks? And how can they cling to that belief in the face of overwhelming proof that elective abortion is perfectly legal the whole way through the second trimester? I've had this very same thing happen online again and again. I'll be in a chat room or on a forum, and somebody will assert that abortion is only legal through 12 weeks. I'll post a link to prochoice sites that list dozens of facilities that do elective abortions to 22, 24, and 26 weeks. And these people will insist that the sites must be fake prolife sites!
What is with that?
My question is the denial that goes on in abortion advocacy. This is the example that springs to mind, and it's fairly typical.
One prochoice woman was insisting that abortion is only legal up to 12 weeks. I reached for the phone book, opened it up, and showed her the ads for the two abortion clinics in town. Both advertised elective abortions through 24 weeks. The woman just made a "hmph" sound and dropped the discussion. I later heard her discussing abortion with somebody else, and again she was insisting that abortion is only legal up to 12 weeks.
I can't quite fathom why she, and others like her, will pick a lie and cling to it with the tenacity of the damned. Why is it so important to so many people to believe with their whole beings that abortion is only legal up to 12 weeks? And how can they cling to that belief in the face of overwhelming proof that elective abortion is perfectly legal the whole way through the second trimester? I've had this very same thing happen online again and again. I'll be in a chat room or on a forum, and somebody will assert that abortion is only legal through 12 weeks. I'll post a link to prochoice sites that list dozens of facilities that do elective abortions to 22, 24, and 26 weeks. And these people will insist that the sites must be fake prolife sites!
What is with that?
Lest we forget....
Today, April 20, is the anniversary of the abortion death of 35-year-old Brenda Benton. Brenda's survivors sued Biogenetics after her death, following an abortion performed March 13, 1987 at Chicago's notorious Biogenetics abortion mill. (Note: The current Biogenetics medical facility in Chicago is not an abortion facility and is in no way affiliated with the Biogenetics facility responsible for Brenda's death.)
Her death was due to infection and "overwhelming septicemia."
Her death was due to infection and "overwhelming septicemia."
Monday, April 18, 2005
A few bad apples?
Some folks have argued that women's abortion deaths, even when caused by gross malpractice by abortionists, aren't a sign of widespread problems. These guys are just bad apples. Are they?
The National Abortion Federation is the abortion equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. They advertise that their members meet the highest standards. They -- and other prochoice folks and groups -- urge abortion-minded women to call the NAF hotline to get a referral to a safe, high-quality abortion provider. Well, the truth is that to be a NAF member, you don't need to meet any standards of care. You only have to pay dues. Pay those dues and no matter how big a quack you are, NAF will refer women to you and assure those women that you are a high-quality practitioner. Here's some food for thought:
Steir and NAF in Perspective reflects on how many NAF practitioners admitted to dangerous practices even after one of their number had been scolded for endangering patients' lives.
Who Do You Believe? contrasts what NAF says and what they do.
Ignorance and Mushrooms Grow Best in the Dark looks at how NAF keeps information away from their hotline counselors in order to ensure that callers are kept in the dark about what goes on inside member facilities.
Eighteen-year-old Barbaralee Davis was the first woman to die of abortion complications in member facility of the then newly-formed NAF. She was far from the last.
Fifteen-year-old Sara Niebel died after an abortion at NAF member Midtown Hospital.
Despite the fact that he was responsible for the death of 28-year-old Linda Padfield, Benjamin Munson was welcomed into NAF. He went on to perform a fatal abortion on 18-year-old Yvonne Mesteth.
Twenty-year-old Gloria Aponte died after an abortion by NAF member Hanan Rotem.
Eighteen-year-old Christi Stile was left in a vegetative state after an abortion at NAF member facility Mayfair Women's Clinic. She'd been referred there by Planned Parenthood.
Seventeen-year-old Sophie McCoy died after an abortion by NAF member Abu Hayat, who is best known for having ripped the arm off a 32-week-fetus, Ana Rosa Rodriguez, who was then born live and maimed.
NAF member Curtis Boyd performed the fatal abortion on 22-year-old Vanessa Preston.
NAF member facility Atlanta Women's Pavillion managed to fatally injure two teenage girls, Angela Scott and Deloris Smith, in the same hour.
NAF member facility Easter Women's Center is responsible for the deaths of 13-year-old Dawn Ravenell, 21-year-old Dawn Mack, and Venus Ortiz, who was 23 years old when her abortion left her comatose until her death six years later.
NAF member Robert Crist has three patient deaths to his discredit: 17-year-old Latachie Veal, 22-year-old Nichole Williams, and 19-year-old Diane Boyd.
And the following women and girls died after abortions at the largest NAF member, the Family Planning Associates chain of abortion facilities:
Thirteen-year-old Deanna Bell
Seventeen-year-old Laniece Dorsey
Sixteen-year-old Patricia Chacon
Kimberly Neil
Forty-three-year-old Mary Pena
Thirty-year-old Susan Levy
Thirty-seven-year-old Josefina Garcia
Nineteen-year-old Tami Suematsu
Thirty-two-year-old Joyce Ortenzio
Eighteen-year-old Christine Mora
FPA had been permitted to join NAF even though 24-four-year-old Denise Holmes had already died under their care.
Most recently, a 19-year-old developmentally-disabled woman I call "Myra" Roe died after an abortion at NAF member George Tiller's famous late-abortion facility in Wichita.
If prochoice activists put half the effort into exposing NAF that they put into attacking prolife CPCs, imagine how much safer women would be! But the main priority of prochoice efforts isn't protecting women's lives; it's protecting the practice of abortion.
Totally unrelated to abortion, just letting people in Johnstown, PA, know about a local bad apple: Jeff Minana. Check him out carefully before having anything to do with him.
The National Abortion Federation is the abortion equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. They advertise that their members meet the highest standards. They -- and other prochoice folks and groups -- urge abortion-minded women to call the NAF hotline to get a referral to a safe, high-quality abortion provider. Well, the truth is that to be a NAF member, you don't need to meet any standards of care. You only have to pay dues. Pay those dues and no matter how big a quack you are, NAF will refer women to you and assure those women that you are a high-quality practitioner. Here's some food for thought:
Steir and NAF in Perspective reflects on how many NAF practitioners admitted to dangerous practices even after one of their number had been scolded for endangering patients' lives.
Who Do You Believe? contrasts what NAF says and what they do.
Ignorance and Mushrooms Grow Best in the Dark looks at how NAF keeps information away from their hotline counselors in order to ensure that callers are kept in the dark about what goes on inside member facilities.
Eighteen-year-old Barbaralee Davis was the first woman to die of abortion complications in member facility of the then newly-formed NAF. She was far from the last.
Fifteen-year-old Sara Niebel died after an abortion at NAF member Midtown Hospital.
Despite the fact that he was responsible for the death of 28-year-old Linda Padfield, Benjamin Munson was welcomed into NAF. He went on to perform a fatal abortion on 18-year-old Yvonne Mesteth.
Twenty-year-old Gloria Aponte died after an abortion by NAF member Hanan Rotem.
Eighteen-year-old Christi Stile was left in a vegetative state after an abortion at NAF member facility Mayfair Women's Clinic. She'd been referred there by Planned Parenthood.
Seventeen-year-old Sophie McCoy died after an abortion by NAF member Abu Hayat, who is best known for having ripped the arm off a 32-week-fetus, Ana Rosa Rodriguez, who was then born live and maimed.
NAF member Curtis Boyd performed the fatal abortion on 22-year-old Vanessa Preston.
NAF member facility Atlanta Women's Pavillion managed to fatally injure two teenage girls, Angela Scott and Deloris Smith, in the same hour.
NAF member facility Easter Women's Center is responsible for the deaths of 13-year-old Dawn Ravenell, 21-year-old Dawn Mack, and Venus Ortiz, who was 23 years old when her abortion left her comatose until her death six years later.
NAF member Robert Crist has three patient deaths to his discredit: 17-year-old Latachie Veal, 22-year-old Nichole Williams, and 19-year-old Diane Boyd.
And the following women and girls died after abortions at the largest NAF member, the Family Planning Associates chain of abortion facilities:
Thirteen-year-old Deanna Bell
Seventeen-year-old Laniece Dorsey
Sixteen-year-old Patricia Chacon
Kimberly Neil
Forty-three-year-old Mary Pena
Thirty-year-old Susan Levy
Thirty-seven-year-old Josefina Garcia
Nineteen-year-old Tami Suematsu
Thirty-two-year-old Joyce Ortenzio
Eighteen-year-old Christine Mora
FPA had been permitted to join NAF even though 24-four-year-old Denise Holmes had already died under their care.
Most recently, a 19-year-old developmentally-disabled woman I call "Myra" Roe died after an abortion at NAF member George Tiller's famous late-abortion facility in Wichita.
If prochoice activists put half the effort into exposing NAF that they put into attacking prolife CPCs, imagine how much safer women would be! But the main priority of prochoice efforts isn't protecting women's lives; it's protecting the practice of abortion.
Totally unrelated to abortion, just letting people in Johnstown, PA, know about a local bad apple: Jeff Minana. Check him out carefully before having anything to do with him.
Lest we forget....
Today is the anniversary of two women's deaths from abortion:
Jane Roe of Long Beach
Jane died in 1940 after an abortion performed by Mrs. Josephine Williams and her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Adele H. Sassen.
Gloria Aponte
Twenty-year-old Gloria bled to death in 1986 after an abortion by National Abortion Federation member Hanan Rotem.
Though Rotem was a respected member of the highest-profile abortionists' advocacy organization, and Mrs. Willians and Mrs. Sawwen were not even physicians, they had something in common -- they took instruments in hand and caused a woman's death. And, of course, all three were prochoice.
Jane Roe of Long Beach
Jane died in 1940 after an abortion performed by Mrs. Josephine Williams and her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Adele H. Sassen.
Gloria Aponte
Twenty-year-old Gloria bled to death in 1986 after an abortion by National Abortion Federation member Hanan Rotem.
Though Rotem was a respected member of the highest-profile abortionists' advocacy organization, and Mrs. Willians and Mrs. Sawwen were not even physicians, they had something in common -- they took instruments in hand and caused a woman's death. And, of course, all three were prochoice.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Lest we forget....
On April 18, 1981, Barbara Lerner, age 30, died in Florida of complications of her safe and legal abortion.
Abortion laws don't kill women. Abortionists do.
Abortion laws don't kill women. Abortionists do.
Who will you speak for?
Bloggers and speakers like Julia, referenced below, have chosen to speak out in favor of the US abortion industry, to hold it up as a conglomeration of compassionate champions of women's lives.
Ah, yes, those selfless abortionists, striving to better the lives of women! Let's look at one of them: Moshe Hachamovitch.
In 1986, he was preparing to discharge 40-year-old Luz Rodriguez from his clinic when she collapsed from blood loss. Though emergency medical personnel were able to resuscitate her, she died four days later from an incomplete abortion Hachamovitch had failed to detect and treat.
In 1990, he performed a fatal abortion on 19-year-old Christina Goesswein. This was not a case of "all surgery has risks." Abortion advocates blithely dismiss all legal abortion deaths as simply being blind dumb luck. But the New York medical board hardly saw it that way, and scathingly chastised Hachamovitch for his recklessness with Christina's life, including his decision to perform after-hours emergency care in his office instead of admitting his gravely injured patient to the hospital.
In 1996, he failed to adequately monitor 28-year-old Tanya Williamson, and failed to have adequate training and equipment to resuscitate her when she stopped breathing. She died as a result of his carelessness.
And Hachamovitch wasn't just sloppy in his own personal practice. He was sloppy in his oversight of other clinics he owned. His willingness to tolerate poor standards of care allowed two women and a teenage girl -- 33-year-old Lou Ann Herron, 26-year-old Lisa Bardsley, and 14-year-old Jammie Garcia -- to die horrible deaths at his facilities.
The "I'm Not Sorry" crowd, and the other cheerleaders for abortion, are too busy salving their own consciences to worry about the real lives and deaths of real women and girls. If they did care, they'd be standing up against the likes of Moshe Hachamovitch, instead of standing in solidarity with him and others like him.
Who will you speak for? Abortionists like Moshe Hachamovitch? Or women and girls like Luz, Christina, Tanya, Lou Ann, Lisa, and Jammie?
Ah, yes, those selfless abortionists, striving to better the lives of women! Let's look at one of them: Moshe Hachamovitch.
In 1986, he was preparing to discharge 40-year-old Luz Rodriguez from his clinic when she collapsed from blood loss. Though emergency medical personnel were able to resuscitate her, she died four days later from an incomplete abortion Hachamovitch had failed to detect and treat.
In 1990, he performed a fatal abortion on 19-year-old Christina Goesswein. This was not a case of "all surgery has risks." Abortion advocates blithely dismiss all legal abortion deaths as simply being blind dumb luck. But the New York medical board hardly saw it that way, and scathingly chastised Hachamovitch for his recklessness with Christina's life, including his decision to perform after-hours emergency care in his office instead of admitting his gravely injured patient to the hospital.
In 1996, he failed to adequately monitor 28-year-old Tanya Williamson, and failed to have adequate training and equipment to resuscitate her when she stopped breathing. She died as a result of his carelessness.
And Hachamovitch wasn't just sloppy in his own personal practice. He was sloppy in his oversight of other clinics he owned. His willingness to tolerate poor standards of care allowed two women and a teenage girl -- 33-year-old Lou Ann Herron, 26-year-old Lisa Bardsley, and 14-year-old Jammie Garcia -- to die horrible deaths at his facilities.
The "I'm Not Sorry" crowd, and the other cheerleaders for abortion, are too busy salving their own consciences to worry about the real lives and deaths of real women and girls. If they did care, they'd be standing up against the likes of Moshe Hachamovitch, instead of standing in solidarity with him and others like him.
Who will you speak for? Abortionists like Moshe Hachamovitch? Or women and girls like Luz, Christina, Tanya, Lou Ann, Lisa, and Jammie?
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Ohio officials to investigate abortion on raped teen
This report from LifeNews indicates that Ohio officials will be investigating why the Planned Parenthood that performed an abortion on a 13-year-old statutory rape victim failed to report the rape.
The girl, who was 13 years old when impregnated, was 14 when her 21-year-old abuser took her to Planned Parenthood for an abortion. He is serving three years in prison for his crimes against the girl. Her parents have filed suit against the facility.
The girl, who was 13 years old when impregnated, was 14 when her 21-year-old abuser took her to Planned Parenthood for an abortion. He is serving three years in prison for his crimes against the girl. Her parents have filed suit against the facility.
On the use of Human Shields
Uncommon Misconception is one woman's tragic story of the prenatal diagnosis and abortion of her son, Thomas.
Julia's pain is very real, as is the pain of women in similar situations. What compounds the tragedy is that her family's pain is being used to promote abortion as palliative care.
Julia's unborn son, Thomas, was diagnosed in-utero with arthrogryposis. A baby with arthrogryposis has severe muscle contractions, causing truly tragic deformity. Julia underwent amniocentesis to try to determine the cause of the arthrogryposis. But the amnio came back normal, meaning they didn't know why Thomas had arthrogryposis. Julia's testing also indicated that Thomas had cleft palate and swelling of the skull, which indicated a more severe prognosis. (Note: Each link in the proceeding paragraph leads to a different arthrogryposis site.)
As Julie tells her story:
Julie and her husband chose abortion. Julie rhapsodizes about how caring everybody was during the induction abortion that ended her son's life. And I have no doubt that in her case, she was indeed surrounded by people moved by her plight. She's one of the lucky ones.
Julia struggled with the pain of her son's short life, and concluded, "Through him, I’ve grown closer to God, who understands what it is to sacrifice your only begotten son in the name of mercy."
I won't address the theological ramifications of comparing abortion with the crucifixion. But I will address what abortion advocates fail to address: The sad fact that the best they can offer women like Julia is a nice, sanitary way to kill their children.
What abortion advocates have done with Julie is abominable. They are using her, and women like her, as human shields.
There are three important responses to this appalling exploitation:
1. It's cruel to offer only two choices: abortion or futile and intrusive care. It's especially cruel when there is a third, life-affirming option: perinatal hospice. Whose needs are being addressed when women are given a dreadful Sophie's Choice scenario, and placed in that situation needlessly, when a loving and compassionate alternative is available?
2. Women who get a prenatal diagnosis are routinely given unrealistically grim prognoses. This is so well documented that even Senator Ted Kennedy, a great proponent of abortion, has co-sponsored the Brownback-Kennedy Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act to ensure that families are given accurate and up-to-date information, not frightened and intimidated into unwanted abortions.
3. Even if the legislature would concede that in Julia's case, an abortion was justifiable, Julia hardly constitutes, as she calls herself, "the face of late-term abortion." Even Ron Fitzsimmons, head of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, called upon the prochoice movement to stop lying about the reasons women undergo late abortions. This page pulls together a lot of prochoice research on why women undergo late abortions.
But it boils down to this: Cases in which the mother sought a late abortion because of a fetal anomaly amount to 2% of late abortions. And remember, "fetal anomaly" is a broad category that includes everything from a fetal condition like anenecephaly to conditions like Down Syndrome -- hardly a fate worse than death -- to simple cleft palate. It also includes mere suspicion of a fetal abnormality. So putting Julia behind the microphone and presenting her as "the face of late-term abortion" is a bald-faced lie. And if late abortion is really something society can get behind, why aren't abortion advocates putting forth more typical cases? (For more on this theme, see Late Abortion Lies: They're Only Done for Health Reasons.)
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Julia's pain is very real, as is the pain of women in similar situations. What compounds the tragedy is that her family's pain is being used to promote abortion as palliative care.
Julia's unborn son, Thomas, was diagnosed in-utero with arthrogryposis. A baby with arthrogryposis has severe muscle contractions, causing truly tragic deformity. Julia underwent amniocentesis to try to determine the cause of the arthrogryposis. But the amnio came back normal, meaning they didn't know why Thomas had arthrogryposis. Julia's testing also indicated that Thomas had cleft palate and swelling of the skull, which indicated a more severe prognosis. (Note: Each link in the proceeding paragraph leads to a different arthrogryposis site.)
As Julie tells her story:
Even the best case scenario was abominable.. Thomas would lead a very short life of only a few years at the very most. During those years he would be in constant pain from the ceaseless, charley-horse-type cramps that would rack his body. He would undergo numerous, largely ineffective surgeries, just to stay alive. He would never be able to walk or stand; never grasp anything, never be able to hold himself upright. He wouldn’t even be able to suck his own thumb for comfort. And this was only if we were lucky. The more likely scenarios tended toward fetal death and serious health complications for me.
Julie and her husband chose abortion. Julie rhapsodizes about how caring everybody was during the induction abortion that ended her son's life. And I have no doubt that in her case, she was indeed surrounded by people moved by her plight. She's one of the lucky ones.
Julia struggled with the pain of her son's short life, and concluded, "Through him, I’ve grown closer to God, who understands what it is to sacrifice your only begotten son in the name of mercy."
I won't address the theological ramifications of comparing abortion with the crucifixion. But I will address what abortion advocates fail to address: The sad fact that the best they can offer women like Julia is a nice, sanitary way to kill their children.
What abortion advocates have done with Julie is abominable. They are using her, and women like her, as human shields.
There are three important responses to this appalling exploitation:
1. It's cruel to offer only two choices: abortion or futile and intrusive care. It's especially cruel when there is a third, life-affirming option: perinatal hospice. Whose needs are being addressed when women are given a dreadful Sophie's Choice scenario, and placed in that situation needlessly, when a loving and compassionate alternative is available?
2. Women who get a prenatal diagnosis are routinely given unrealistically grim prognoses. This is so well documented that even Senator Ted Kennedy, a great proponent of abortion, has co-sponsored the Brownback-Kennedy Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act to ensure that families are given accurate and up-to-date information, not frightened and intimidated into unwanted abortions.
3. Even if the legislature would concede that in Julia's case, an abortion was justifiable, Julia hardly constitutes, as she calls herself, "the face of late-term abortion." Even Ron Fitzsimmons, head of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, called upon the prochoice movement to stop lying about the reasons women undergo late abortions. This page pulls together a lot of prochoice research on why women undergo late abortions.
Only two percent (2%) said "a fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy," compared to 71% who responded "did not recognize that she was pregnant or misjudged gestation," 48% who said "found it hard to make arrangements," and 33% who said "was afraid to tell her partner or parents." The report did not indicate that any of the 420 late abortions were performed because of maternal health problems. ["Why Do Women Have Abortions?," Family Planning Perspectives, July/August 1988.]
But it boils down to this: Cases in which the mother sought a late abortion because of a fetal anomaly amount to 2% of late abortions. And remember, "fetal anomaly" is a broad category that includes everything from a fetal condition like anenecephaly to conditions like Down Syndrome -- hardly a fate worse than death -- to simple cleft palate. It also includes mere suspicion of a fetal abnormality. So putting Julia behind the microphone and presenting her as "the face of late-term abortion" is a bald-faced lie. And if late abortion is really something society can get behind, why aren't abortion advocates putting forth more typical cases? (For more on this theme, see Late Abortion Lies: They're Only Done for Health Reasons.)
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Monday, April 11, 2005
Court ruling in Mae's case
Straight Up with Sherri posts excerpts from court documents on Mae's situation. She also provides a link to a PDF copy of the documents. The excerpts below are from the petition by Mae's family to get her transferred to a hospital for care:
2.) Ora Mae Magouirk has requested that her brother, A. B. McLeod, her sister, Lonnie Ruth McLeod Mullinax and her nephew Kenneth Gordon Mullinax Jr. assist her in obtaining treatment for her medical condition at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, AL. Ms. Mullinax has been successfully treated for the same condition at UAB.
3.) The petitioner, Elizabeth A. Gaddy, has refused to allow Ms. Magouirk to be treated for her condition in Birmingham, and has made the following statements which are contrary to the alleged incapacitated adult's interests:
(a.) "Uncle Buddy, before you and Kenny try to get Grandmamma to UAB to get well, I want you to know that I am in charge now, it's totally up to me because I hold the medical POA and Grandmamma (Mrs. Magouirk) has suffered too much and I want her to stay here in LaGrange."
(b.) "I don't care if they are the best doctors in the whole world. I have prayed about this and God has told me that Grandmamma is ready to go home with Jesus and Granddaddy. Since I hold the medical power to do this, it is my decision and I want her to go to hospice. Her heart is now bad and she has glaucoma and blood clots. Grandmamma told me she wants to go home and I feel that means that she wants to die so I want her to go to Hospice. I promise y'all I won't withhold anything Grandmamma needs."
(c.) "Grandmamma is ready to go to heaven and Jesus has told her this so Grandmamma will stay here at the Hospice and I will make sure she gets good heart medicine and care here and that she is given food and water."
4.) Ms. Magouirk has a living will that provides that she is not to be denied nourishment unless she is comatose or PVS. The petitioner does not have Ms. Magouirk's medical POA, nonwithstanding, she has claimed to have the legal authority to direct Ms. Magouirk's medical treatment, and has instructed the W. GA Hospice caregivers to withhold nourishment, contrary to the explicit terms of Ms. Magouirk's living will.
5.) In addition, Ms. Magouirk has made the following statements which indicate that the petitioner is not acting in her (Ms. Magouirk's) best interests:
(a.) "Buddy, I have discovered that Beth (Elizabeth A. Gaddy) is writing unnauthorized checks on my account. I just can't trust her anymore at all. Would you please get with me and tell me what I need to do to have her removed from doing this. Also, I want to replace Beth and appoint you (Buddy) to have my POA and to act on my behalf if I get sick."
(b.) "Lonnie, I am scared Beth is stealing money from my checking account. I have told Buddy already and ask him to please help me remove her from being able to do it. If you feel it's OK, I want to appoint Buddy as my guardian."
(c.) "Kenny, Beth is trying to make me give my car to Pat (Elizabeth A. Gaddy's mother) and I don't want to do this because I need it so my woman (her daily housekeeper) can take me to the beauty shop and my appointments. I told her no but she keeps bothering me about it and she's now treating me real mean. Charlie (Mae Magouirk's deceased husband) and I bought Pat the house she lives in and even pay the property taxes on it. I would think that is enough, but now this. What should I do?"
6.)The objectors arranged to have Ms. Magouirk transferred to UAB Hospital via life flight to be treated by a cardiologist who has successfully treated malady from which Ms. Magouirk suffers. the petitioner discovered the objectors' plans to have Ms. Magouirk transferred to Birmingham for medical treatment, and applied for the within emergency guardianship in an attempt to gain the authority to prevent objectors from abtaining medical treatment for Ms. Magouirk.
7.)The objectors agree that Ms. Magouirk is in need of an emergency guardian so that she can obtain the needed medical care, but show that the petitioner would deny Ms. Magouirk the medical attention she needs, and is therefore not a fit and proper person to serve as guardian.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Links on the Mae Maouirk case
Hospice Patients' Alliance can't confirm or deny specifics, but says that the allegations certainly fit into practices that have been documented.
This is the only link I've found that isn't a blog repeating the World Net Daily report, or the reports at Sherri's blog. Anybody else have anything?
This is the only link I've found that isn't a blog repeating the World Net Daily report, or the reports at Sherri's blog. Anybody else have anything?
"Mass Euthanaisa" investigation in GB
Thanks to Straight Up with Sherri for the tip.
Coroner seeks inquiry into 'mass euthanasia' at hospital
Coroner seeks inquiry into 'mass euthanasia' at hospital
A CORONER is demanding a public inquiry into claims that 11 hospital patients were deliberately starved to death. He believes that it could be Britain's first case of forced "mass euthanasia"....
The allegations first surfaced after Jayne Drew, a healthcare assistant, alerted the hospital managers after the deaths of Simon Smith, 74, and Arthur Boddice, 81, in the summer of 1997.
Families of fellow patients at the hospital claimed that some staff had become so upset at seeing elderly people being starved that they had taken it upon themselves to feed them secretly.
One relative has described how it was distressing to see his father go without food. Andrew Hughson said his 75- year-old father, also called Andrew, would vainly stretch his hand towards meals being delivered to other patients.....
Mae is getting care! Praise God!!
From Straight Up with Sherri, the blog that is getting information straight from Mae's nephew:
I'm weeping with gratitude. We need to let people know an advance directive can NOT save you! You need somebody to show constant vigilance and stand up for you. It shouldn't be like this!
EMAIL FROM KENNETH:
THANKS TO THE SUPPORT OF ALL OF THE FRIENDS OF TERRI, MY AUNT MAE MAGOUIRK HAS BEEN AIR LIFTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM MEDICAL CENTER
... and receiving IV fluids, nourishment and some of the finest medical care available in the United States!
Praise be the name of the Lord GOD...
Thanks to Terri's friends...
It would NEVER ever have been possible without bloggers who love life , and the truth!!
I am racing from my home to UAB now and will type a detailed update after I see my Aunt Mae!
Thanks guys, your calls, emails, blogs and prayers did it ALL!!!
I so love you guys!!!!!!!!!!
Ken Mullinax, nephew of Mae
IT IS NOT OVER YET - THE OPPOSITION IS STILL TRYING TO GET HER BACK TO THE HOSPICE - SO KEEP FIGHTING BLOGGERS!
I'm weeping with gratitude. We need to let people know an advance directive can NOT save you! You need somebody to show constant vigilance and stand up for you. It shouldn't be like this!
Friday, April 08, 2005
Update on elderly woman being Schiavoed by granddaughter
The woman's name is Mae. This blog is getting information from her nephew, who is spearheading the family's efforts to save her.
Of course, the Michael Schiavo Fan Club is rooting for the granddaughter on this and hoping Mae croaks promptly. The rest of us hope we can pull together and stop a helpless elderly woman from being murdered.
Of course, the Michael Schiavo Fan Club is rooting for the granddaughter on this and hoping Mae croaks promptly. The rest of us hope we can pull together and stop a helpless elderly woman from being murdered.
Looking for confirmation elsewhere...
... but it's believable and certainly disturbing. It boils down to a granddaughter manipulating Granny into a hospice during a medical crisis, then yanking Granny's feeding tube. This although Granny had an advance directive saying she WANTED a feeding tube.
Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube
In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.
Mae Magouirk was neither terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.
Of course we can expect more of this. Evil is never the servant, always the master. You make a deal with the devil at great peril.
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Since you brought it up....
In the interview with World magazine, the founder of the "I'm Not Sorry" blog celebrating abortion said flat out that abortion is birth control.
For those of you who find this a bit tough to believe, check out Are Abortions Used as Birth Control?".
The more appropriate question would be, "How often are abortions used as birth control?" And the answer is, depending on your definitions, it ranges from a high of 93% to a low -- low -- of 42%. So even by the low estimate, almost half of the women getting abortions are using it as a method of birth control: they were not contracepting, they were having sex, and they just used abortion to "fix" it.
For those of you who find this a bit tough to believe, check out Are Abortions Used as Birth Control?".
The more appropriate question would be, "How often are abortions used as birth control?" And the answer is, depending on your definitions, it ranges from a high of 93% to a low -- low -- of 42%. So even by the low estimate, almost half of the women getting abortions are using it as a method of birth control: they were not contracepting, they were having sex, and they just used abortion to "fix" it.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
New study, old news
When prenatal testing reveals Down Syndrome, moms are given grim prognosis and pressured to abort. And Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead!
New Study Fuels Controversy Over Down Syndrome Abortions
Of course, studies like this, and anecdotal evidence, just underscore what a lie it is that having abortion legal only impacts women who happen to view abortion favorably in the first place. See: Don't Like Abortions? Don't Have One!"
New Study Fuels Controversy Over Down Syndrome Abortions
Of course, studies like this, and anecdotal evidence, just underscore what a lie it is that having abortion legal only impacts women who happen to view abortion favorably in the first place. See: Don't Like Abortions? Don't Have One!"
PP aborts 14-year-old rape victim when perp brings her in
Teen's Abortion Prompts Lawsuit
A 21-year-old got a 13-year-old girl pregnant. He called PP to arrange an abortion, but they told him the girl would have to arrange the appointment. So he made the girl make the call. PP vacuumed her out, in violation of Ohio's parental involvement laws, then returned her to her abuser. (She turned 14 between getting pregnant and undergoing the abortion.)
The girl's parents somehow got wind of this, had the perp arrested, and are suing PP. PP claims total innocence. Somebody's scaly hide needs to be nailed to the wall for this.
A 21-year-old got a 13-year-old girl pregnant. He called PP to arrange an abortion, but they told him the girl would have to arrange the appointment. So he made the girl make the call. PP vacuumed her out, in violation of Ohio's parental involvement laws, then returned her to her abuser. (She turned 14 between getting pregnant and undergoing the abortion.)
The girl's parents somehow got wind of this, had the perp arrested, and are suing PP. PP claims total innocence. Somebody's scaly hide needs to be nailed to the wall for this.
"I'm Not Sorry" - Adrienne
There's been so much coverage of the I'm Not Sorry blog, for women who think their abortions were just hunky-dory, that I went and took another peek. And frankly, it's a great collection of stories demonstrating how shallow and thoughtless so many women have become now that we've "normalized" abortion.
Here's snippets from "Adrienne's" Story (Emphasis added by me.):
Just a medical comment -- the way this facility is passing out the medications, to be taken at home with no medical supervision, is asking for trouble. That's how Brenda Vise and Holly Patterson wound up dead.
And the, "Sweetie, don't go to the emergency room. They won't know how to treat you!" line. What a crock! They should tell the truth and say, "Sweetie, don't go to the emergency room. We like to keep our little snafus amongst ourselves!" Yeah, they're so concerned about you, they tell you not to go to the ER, then your boyfriend has to call again and again and again to get in touch with somebody. Ah, those champions of women's health and lives! They're just so selfless!
Here's snippets from "Adrienne's" Story (Emphasis added by me.):
My back story: I'm a thirty-something professional woman with a younger live-in boyfriend who is still in school for his B.A. We have been together for over three years now, and had lately gotten careless about protection. ....
So I told my SO, and we talked about what to do. He thought he might want to have children someday, but felt very strongly about waiting until he had graduated and found a job, and until we were legally married (and marriage also has to wait until he graduates). I strongly considered giving up the child up for adoption, but after reading some online stories from mothers who gave up children and later wished they hadn't, I changed my mind. .... Since I didn't want to force a pregnancy on my SO, and I didn't know if I could emotionally handle giving up a child in adoption, we decided on an abortion. ....
Fortunately, there is a clinic that uses Mifeprex nearby to our home. SO and I went there together.... We went in, I filled out paperwork, and I paid with my credit card. ....
My state's law mandates a 24-hr waiting period, but the clinic kind of winked at it. They give you the abortion meds to leave with that day, but give you a dosage schedule as though you weren't going to start taking them until the next day. .... If I experienced extraordinary pain or bleeding, I was to call the clinic's emergency line. She said something interesting too: I asked her about going to the emergency room if I were bleeding too much or in too much pain, and she said, "No, they won't know how to take care of you there."
As SO and I left the building, I took the Mifeprex. .... During the three day waiting period, I wondered sometimes if I felt *too* good. Did it really work? Then three days later, on Saturday afternoon, I took the Misoprostol. And that's when things started to get bloody. ....
.... I remember lying on my stomach just moaning in pain and crying, just wishing I could somehow just go unconscious until it was all over. My poor SO, who was terribly frightened and worried at this point, called the clinic's emergency line again and again and finally got hold of the OB-GYN on call. SO talked him into calling in a prescription for Tylenol 3 with Codeine to the nearest pharmacy. .... All I could do was lie in bed, grit my teeth against the pain, and wait for my SO to bring me the medicine.
While I was waiting for SO to return, I passed a blood clot that was approximately the size of a walnut. I am pretty sure that this clot contained almost all of the pregnancy tissue. .... SO *finally* arrived home with the Tylenol 3, and it made all the difference in the world! Finally, my cramping pain went away, and I was able to relax and sleep.
.... This morning I took another pregnancy test. Negative. What a relief! It was an ordeal, and SO and I both sometimes wonder about the baby that could have been. But overall, I feel that we made the right decision, and I have no deep regrets or guilt. And I'm happy to say that my SO was supportive and helpful through the whole thing, and was a good nurse to me when I was going through the worst of it. I think that the experience actually brought us closer together.
Just a medical comment -- the way this facility is passing out the medications, to be taken at home with no medical supervision, is asking for trouble. That's how Brenda Vise and Holly Patterson wound up dead.
And the, "Sweetie, don't go to the emergency room. They won't know how to treat you!" line. What a crock! They should tell the truth and say, "Sweetie, don't go to the emergency room. We like to keep our little snafus amongst ourselves!" Yeah, they're so concerned about you, they tell you not to go to the ER, then your boyfriend has to call again and again and again to get in touch with somebody. Ah, those champions of women's health and lives! They're just so selfless!
Monday, April 04, 2005
Some people's love we can do without....
I'm still too sick at heart to pull together something poignant and pithy. But I'm struck with the parallels between Michael Schiavo and Sherri Finkbine.
In both cases, we have a "loving" family member campaigning, with great public sympathy, to have a helpless person put to death -- a person that ordinarily they'd have a duty to love and protect.
The link I found to the Finkbine story is particularly grating because there she is, having just killed her baby with worldwide fanfare -- and she's grinning like the cat that ate the canary. She got what she wanted -- that crippled fetus was killed, and she was the darling of all right-thinking people, of the literati, of the press. Why not smile?
Yes, there was an outraged outcry by some folks. But Finkbine came out smelling like roses. She paved the way not only for abortion of disabled babies, but for abortion-on-demand. Sherri Finkbine, more than any other individual, normalized abortion. She made it something a cute, perky, respectable mom could pursue without seeming shallow or selfish. Because, after all, she wanted to rid the world of something unsightly, of a reminder of our human frailty, of one of those "thalidomide babies" we'd all grown weary of seeing.
I'm wondering if Michael Schiavo has done the same thing for euthanasia -- if he has turned killing your disabled spouse into a respectable, mainstream activity.
In both cases, we have a "loving" family member campaigning, with great public sympathy, to have a helpless person put to death -- a person that ordinarily they'd have a duty to love and protect.
The link I found to the Finkbine story is particularly grating because there she is, having just killed her baby with worldwide fanfare -- and she's grinning like the cat that ate the canary. She got what she wanted -- that crippled fetus was killed, and she was the darling of all right-thinking people, of the literati, of the press. Why not smile?Yes, there was an outraged outcry by some folks. But Finkbine came out smelling like roses. She paved the way not only for abortion of disabled babies, but for abortion-on-demand. Sherri Finkbine, more than any other individual, normalized abortion. She made it something a cute, perky, respectable mom could pursue without seeming shallow or selfish. Because, after all, she wanted to rid the world of something unsightly, of a reminder of our human frailty, of one of those "thalidomide babies" we'd all grown weary of seeing.
I'm wondering if Michael Schiavo has done the same thing for euthanasia -- if he has turned killing your disabled spouse into a respectable, mainstream activity.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Terri sent to the oven by Michael
Terri's body went to the oven, in keeping with the wishes of the man who had her put to death. Draw your own analogies. And let's just heap on the irony -- an unnamed uncle gave Michael the plot to bury the wife he fought so long and hard to kill. This uncle's name wouldn't be Screwtape, by any chance?
Terri's supporters to work for others
Well, no doubt God works in mysterious ways. Though He stayed his hand and didn't save Terri from a horrible death at the hands of her estranged husband and euthanasia activists, He did build a powerful coalition for others who, like Terri, live entirely at the mercy of other, stronger people.
Terri Schiavo Battle Prompts Call to Protect Disabled Patients
When I was active in care for the disabled, I was in contact with disability-rights activists who had to arrange 24-hour bedside vigils to prevent severely disabled people from being euthanized by hospital staff. Now, God willing, the legislature and public education may be moving toward providing protection for these vulnerable folks.
Terri Schiavo Battle Prompts Call to Protect Disabled Patients
When I was active in care for the disabled, I was in contact with disability-rights activists who had to arrange 24-hour bedside vigils to prevent severely disabled people from being euthanized by hospital staff. Now, God willing, the legislature and public education may be moving toward providing protection for these vulnerable folks.
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