Saturday, March 31, 2007

Princeton to allow Charmaine Yoest to speak about abortion!

Princeton gives a forum to the pro-lifers and a tip of the hat to Anne-Marie Slaughter

In a breathtaking, courageous example of fostering real diversity of thought, Princeton University is allowing Charmaine Yoest to give a speech, "How Abortion Hurts Women." Go Princeton!

You can read Ashli's story as an example of the ongoing pain caused by abortion. And Ashli never would have had the abortion in the first place if she hadn't been abandoned by health care providers who were relieved that she was going to take her health problems elsewhere and quit pestering them.

Even women who don't have abortions are hurt by the prevailing attitude that abortion is some sort of palliative thing.

The whole "poor women need abortions" mentality took all the joy out of my pregnancy with my son. The pressures heaped on women who don't want abortions are often enormous. Women are put through needless trauma by abortion fanatics, all in the name of "choice". Women have had their doctors totally refuse to provide care because they refused to abort!

We need to get rid of the idea that legal abortion only effects women who choose abortion. It hurts all women who love their unborn children.

HT: Birth Story.

Words from the self-abortion mom

HT: Big Blue Wave

Massachusetts Woman in Self-Abortion Case Talks About Her Actions

Amber Abreu, the Massachusetts woman who gave birth to a premature infant who later died, as a result of taking illegally-obtained abortion drugs, has spoken out about her experience. The child, who Amber named Ashley, was born on January 6, at 25 weeks of gestation, weighing 1.25 pounds. (This is one week past the legal cut-off for elective abortions in Massachusetts.) The baby died four days later.

"If I could turn back the clock, I would do things differently," Abreu told the Eagle Tribune newspaper in an interview. "Those people who judge me don't know what I'm feeling inside."

....

"This is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. I pray that one day, she (Ashley) can forgive me for making this decision.?"


Amber had orginally been charged with murder in Ashley's death, but those charges have been dropped.

Abreu said she was scared and confused when she found out she was pregnant and she got the ulcer drug Cytotec, which is also known as misoprostol, from a friend who had visited the Dominican Republic, where she is from, and that she took them over a period of three days.

....

"I was in shock when they told me at the hospital I was having the baby," she told the newspaper ....

....

"I felt bad because I knew she was suffering," Abreu told the Eagle Tribune about her daughter's death. "I felt guilty for what I had done. At that moment, I'd have done anything to let her live."

"I was hysterical when she died. I hugged her and kissed her," she indicated.


I've seen it again and again that as soon as the woman sees the baby -- be it expelled alive or dead -- she is bowled over with anguish and remorse. I wish people would talk to these women before they get their panties in a twist about showing women ultrasounds or pictures of fetal development prior to their abortions. When is it best to see what the entity being killed looks like? When it's too late? Or when the woman can still change her mind and let her baby live?

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Anniversary: Teen dies of sepsis

On March 25, 1975, 18-year-old Sharon Floyd went to Associated Concern in Chicago for an abortion. Three days later, she died of pelvic infection and blood poisoning.

On July 1, 1975, public health officials closed Associated Concern, which was one of the abortion mills featured in the Chicago Sun-Times "Abortion Profiteers" series.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Anniversary from prochoice sources: Clara/Claudia

According to the National Organization for Women web site, Clara Bell Duvall was a 32-year-old married mother of five, aged 6 months to 12 years. She and her family were living with her parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to financial problems. NOW says that Clara attempted a self-induced abortion with a knitting needle. Though she was seriously ill and severe pain, NOW says, Clara's doctor delayed hospitalizing her for several weeks. Her death, at a Catholic hospital on March 27, 1929, was attributed to pneumonia.

I'd welcome any verifying information on Mrs. Duvall's death. After all, NOW also claims that Becky Bell died from complications of an illegal abortion, when in fact she died of pneumonia concurrent with a miscarriage. (There was no evidence that Becky's pregnancy had been tampered with in any way.)

Clara Duvall seems to be the woman described in the chapter, "Marilyn," in The Worst of Times by Patricia G. Miller. Marilyn was Clara's daughter. There are differences in Marilyn's story and in the story NOW relates, but so many other details match that it is unlikely that they're describing different women.





Marilyn gives her mother's name as Claudia, and her age as 34. The difference in ages may be attributed to people taking the years of the woman's birth and death and calculating her age without taking the months into account, and/or to Marilyn misrecalling how old her mother was when she died.

As for the different names, Marilyn said that her mother sang with the Pittsburgh light opera company, so it is possible that Claudia had a stage name that NOW used when telling her story. Or Marilyn might be using a false name for her mother to preserve the family's privacy.

Clara/Claudia's association with the opera company may also explain the elegant portrait on NOW's site -- a portrait that a poverty-stricken and desperate woman would have been unlikely to afford.

The following facts match:

  • Five children, from an infant to a 12-year-old
  • Living in Pittsburgh
  • Died in March of 1929
  • Death originally attributed to pneumonia
  • The woman used a knitting needle
  • Was at home for several days before being hospitalized
  • Died in a hospital
  • Cared for until her death by her usual doctor who seemed at a loss as to how to care for is moribund patient


Marilyn said that her brother Gerald was the oldest, twelve years old when Clara died. Eileen was ten. Rose was eight, Marilyn was six, and Constance was 18 months. Marilyn describes poignantly the difference between her life before her mother's death and her life after losing her mother. The loss was truly shattering for the entire family.

Marilyn said that her mother had gotten help from a friend for a successful abortion between the births of Marilyn and Constance. Marilyn didn't have any details of the first abortion, and got what she knew about the fatal abortion from her sister Eileen, who had spoken at length with their mother when she was hospitalized.

NOW's story differs from Marilyn's in many aspects, however. Aside from the different age and name, the following aspects do not match:

  • NOW has the family living with the woman's parents; Marilyn said that they were living in a large house owned by the woman's parents.
  • NOW indicates that the family were too poor to afford a home of their own. Marilyn said that they lived in a large house, and that her father was an editor of one of Pittsburgh's daily newspapers, and that he did freelance public relations for sports events. Marilyn also said that one of her mother's friends was the wife of a well-known Pittsburgh industrialist. This is not a likely friendship for a destitute woman forced to move her family of seven into her parents' home. Marilyn also said that her mother was laid to rest in a magnificent mahogany casket with a satin lining, hardly the sort of burial a poverty-crushed widower could afford for his dead wife. Marilyn also said that the casket lay in the parlor, not a room that poor people were likely to have. In fact, Marilyn describes how shocking it was, after her mother's death, to go live with poor relatives. Poverty was a new experience for the child. In fact, Marilyn describes an riverboat outing the family took before her mother's death. She described how the girls were dressed in matching navy blue coats with red satin linings, and her brother had a jacket and tie.


So there are two possibilities:
  1. Clara Bell Duvall and Claudia are two different women, both with five children, both of whom lived in homes owned by their parents, who both performed knitting-needle abortions in the same city in the same month, and who both died in hospitals and both had their deaths wrongly attributed to pneumonia.
  2. Clara and Claudia are the same woman, and but NOW turned her from a prosperous matron and opera singer into a wretched slum mother in order to make her situation seem more desperate.


Take your pick.

History: Midwife performs fatal abortion

On March 27, 1926, 24-year-old Louise Maday died at Chicago's West End Hospital from complications of an abortion performed that day. Midwife Amelia Becker was held by the coroner on April 27.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Safe and legal: Gail Wright

Gail Wright was 29 years old when she underwent a legal abortion. She was 20 weeks pregnant. After her abortion, she developed sepsis. She died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on March 26, 1986, leaving behind a husband.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

False accusation stresses mom, leads to abortion

Child abuse case drove mother to abortion

Another case of people hurting themselves and others when acting out in a moment of panic and stress. What kind of pathetic "counseling" were they doing at the place that did this abortion?

This is sickening.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Other assorted searches

Somebody wanted information on Barbara Lofrumento. Barbara died during an illegal abortion performed by Dr. Harvey Lothringer at his office in 1962.

****

Somebody else wanted Albany Medical Surgical Center in Chicago. That's the National Abortion Federation member clinic where Steve Lichtenberg performed the fatal abortion on 13-year-old Deanna Bell. Albany is owned by FPA founder Edward Campbell Allred. Deanna is one of a dozen patients who I know of who died at FPA facilities. The others are:

  • Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
  • Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
  • Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
  • Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
  • Lanice Dorsey, age 17, 1986
  • Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
  • Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
  • Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
  • Christina Mora, age 18, 1994
  • Kimberly Neil, 2000
  • Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004

    ****

    Somebody was looking for Frederick Taussig. He's the source of the notorious bogus statistic of 5,000 to 10,000 maternal deaths a year in the US from illegal abortions, a number he later repudiated. (Abortion proponents tend to ignore that little fact!) Read more here.

    ****

    Somebody was looking for self abortions. The fatal cases I have found are here. I look here at the connection between self-mutilation and self-induced abortion attempts.
  • Search: Abortion, 1940s

    Here's what I have for abortion deaths in the 1940s:

  • Pauline Shirley, died 1940
  • Agnes Pearson, died 1941
  • Helen Clark, died 1941
  • Harriet Lichtenberg, died 1942
  • Madeline McGeehan, died 1942
  • Cleo Moore, died 1942
  • Florence Schnoor, grand-niece of Andrew Carnegie, died 1942
  • Amelia Cardito, died 1944
  • Beatrice Fisher, died 1945
  • Jane Ward, heiress to the Drake Bakery fortune, died 1947
  • Ilene Eagen, died 1947
  • Doris Becker, died 1948
  • Dorothy Martin, died 1949
  • Kerneda Bennett, died between 1942 and 1949

    Also, in 1942, Frederick Taussig admitted that his estimates of 5,000 to 10,000 maternal deaths a year from abortion were wild guesses and not even remotely accurate. Dr. Robert B. Nelson reported to the Planned Parenthood Conference on Abortion in the United States that from 1940 to 1943, the District of Columbia saw zero to five abortion deaths per year. From 1940 to 1945, there was roughly a 50% drop in abortion deaths, thanks to the development of antibiotics. Then from 1945 to 1950 came a tremendous drop, with abortion mortality falling to roughly a third of the previous tally.

  • Within her rights....

    Sister of Dying Man Refuses to Donate Bone Marrow to Save His Life

    You can't force her. She won't say why she's refusing. Does she have a religious belief that prevents her from doing this sort of thing? A pathological fear of medical procedures? Does she just hate her brother? Is it a power trip? Nobody knows but her and God.

    Does her motive matter? I think so. If she, like the Amish, believes that it's tinkering with God's will to do certain medical acts, then she's acting to try to preserve the wellbeing of her soul and her brother's soul. You can disagree but you can see that there's no malice. But if she's doing it because she just doesn't want to, "It's my body!" Well, then there's an unwillingness to reach out and help another human being that's pretty shabby. And if it's, "I don't like him and I wouldn't piss on him to put him out if he was on fire," then there's malice.

    The brother is just as dead in any case. But it does make a difference in the morality of her refusal.

    I bet there are about a million absolute strangers who are frustrated that they can't step in to do what she's refusing to do.

    It'd be nice if she'd say why.

    Illegal anniversary: Osteopath fails to treat infection

    On March 3, 1962, Dr. J. Bryan Henrie, an osteopath, performed an abortion on Jolene Joyce Griffith, at his clinic in Grove, Oklahoma. Jolene developed an infection, and, according to her survivors, Griffith abandoned her and provided no care to treat the infection.

    On March 10, Jolene was admitted to a hospital in Tulsa. She died there on March 25, leaving behind a husband and three minor children.

    Friday, March 23, 2007

    Serve it up for a fetus, but not for Fido

    Irony of ironies about the tainted pet food that has killed over a dozen animals:

    The substance in the food was identified as aminopterin, a cancer drug that once was used to induce abortions in the United States and is still used to kill rats in some other countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said.


    Kinda ironic. Rat poison. As an abortifacient? Good thing! In Fido's dish by mistake! Much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

    Not that I'm not sad about the people who lost beloved pets. I do hope they put an end to the carnage and catch whoever is responsible. But the irony is rich. Women would snark this stuff down to kill their kids.... I wonder if any of the same women are frantic with worry lest Fluffikins ate some of the tainted stuff?

    Illegal anniversary: Woman bullied into abortion

    On March 21, 1947, Ilene Eagen was brought to Mankato, Minnesota, to the dental office of W. A. Groebner for an abortion. Court records indicate that Ilene was pressured into the abortion by her paramor, Raymond Older, who refused to marry her and threatened her with bodily harm if she refused an abortion. Charming man.

    After the abortion, Ilene became violently ill and lost consciousness. Groebner and Older failed to seek or provide properly care for the sick woman. Instead, Older took Ilene to his service station in Granada, Minnesota and kept her there through the remaineder of the night, into the morning of March 22. Charming man.

    Older allowed Ilene to languish without medical care. She died March 24.

    Ilene left a seven-year-old daughter motherless.

    Older tried to escape civil liability on the grounds that despite his refusal to marry her, and the threats, Ilene had consented to the abortion and that therefore she was responsible for her own sickness and subsequent death.

    Charming man.

    Wednesday, March 21, 2007

    Anniversary: Death from criminal abortion, doc and midwife charged

    On March 21, 1927, Nancy Dawson died on-site in Chicago from a criminal abortion performed that day. That same day, Dr. J.F. Peck and midwife Christine Sedwig were booked for murder. They were indicted for felony murder on April 1.

    Tuesday, March 20, 2007

    Pre-Roe death. Legal or illegal?

    On March 20, 1926, 19-year-old Alice Annalora died at the County Hospital in Chicago from complications of an abortion performed that day. Dr. Wilford Vine was booked for Alice's death, as was her husband, Joseph Annalora.

    Vine was indicted for felony murder.

    Ultimately, the coroner was unable to determine the legal status of the abortion that killed Alice, so Dr. Vine and Mr. Annalora were released.



    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

    To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.

    Monday, March 19, 2007

    Ask Mr. Language Person

    An oldie but goodie.


    Some snippets:

    ***

    Today, as is our wont, we begin with our first question:


    Q. You have a wont?


    A. Yes, but we comb our hair such that you cannot see it.

    ***

    Q. I have trouble remembering the difference between the words "whose" and "who's." Should I put this in the form of a question?


    A. In grammatical terminology, "who's" is an interlocutory contraption that is used to form the culinary indicative tense.


    EXAMPLE: "You will never guess who's brassiere they found in the gumbo."

    ***

    David Davidson sent an article from the Tybee News containing this statement about the mayor of Tybee Island, Ga.: "He also said an older woman suffered a broken hip when a dog pounced on her and read a long letter from someone supporting the dog ban."

    ***

    Several readers sent in an article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch concerning a dump-truck driver who "dropped more than 59,000 pounds of processed human excrement on Interstate 295" and was charged with "failure to contain his load."
    ***

    Sue Colson sent in a "Police Blotter" item from the Port Aransas (Texas) South Jetty, consisting entirely of this fascinating statement: "No goat was found in the trunk of a vehicle when an officer responded to a complaint on East Avenue G at about 1:20 p.m."

    Words of wisdom from Jewish World Review

    Victor Victorians. A lesson in real morality

    As Metaxas puts it, ''Slavery was as accepted as birth and marriage and death, was so woven into the tapestry of human history that you could barely see its threads, much less pull them out. Everywhere on the globe, for 5,000 years, the idea of human civilization without slavery was unimaginable. . . . What Wilberforce vanquished was something even worse than slavery,'' says Metaxas, "something that was much more fundamental and can hardly be seen from where we stand today: He vanquished the very mind-set that made slavery acceptable and allowed it to survive and thrive for millennia. He destroyed an entire way of seeing the world, one that had held sway from the beginning of history, and he replaced it with another way of seeing the world.'' Ownership of existing slaves continued in the British West Indies for another quarter-century and in the United States for another 60 years, and slave trading continued in Turkey until Ataturk abolished it in the '20s and in Saudi Arabia until it was (officially) banned in the '60s, and it persists in Africa and other pockets of the world to this day. But not as a broadly accepted "human good.''


    God willing, we can do the same for abortion -- all people will be recognized and valued for themselves, and not as somebody else's property to dispose of as they see fit.

    TX mom fighting for son's life -- against DOCTORS!

    Toddler Forced Off Life Support - Help Needed

    A 16-month old Texas boy, who appears to have a somewhat treatable metabolic disorder (he could live 6 - 8 years, with current life expectancies, if treated) is being denied care and taken off the respirator by doctors who, against the mothers' wishes, just think it would be better if the child died.

    Emilio Gonzales is fighting for his life, his mother is fighting for his life.

    We have been in touch with the Bishop of the Austin Diocese--Bishop Aymond--who you would THINK would stick up for the life of this little child, but who instead supports killing little Emilio Gonzales. I guess if you're on Medicaid, your life just isn't as worthwhile as it would be if you had good insurance. Bishop Aymond's number is: 512-476-4888. Please call him and if you can't get him on the phone, leave a message, letting him know how you feel about the Catholic Church's approval of the murder of this small child. Keep in mind: This is a CATHOLIC-owned hospital! The head of the Catholic Conference of Bishops is Andrew Rivas. His phone number is: 512-339-9882; please call him and let him know how you feel about this issue.

    Please, also get in touch with Brackenridge Children's Hospital, in Austin, TX. Their number is: 512-324-8000. Let them know how you feel about their murdering Emilio Gonzales. Maybe if they get enough calls through their switchboard, they might change their mind about killing this little boy.

    You may also contact the physician's group (Pediatric Physicians Alliance of Central Texas) that is handling Emilio's treatment, composed of several doctors who have actively campaigned to have this child's treatment withdrawn at: 512-324-8009.

    Please post these numbers on any blog or website you can think of and help this mother stop the hospital from killing her little boy!


    And I don't have a phone!!!! However, I'm spreading the word as best I can. Pass it on

    Saturday, March 17, 2007

    Pictures from the visa run to Japan

    See the slideshow here!

    Safe and legal anniversary: Failure to treat laceration leads to death

    Cycloria Vangates underwent an abortion on March 13, 1976, performed by Dr. Paul Glassman. She suffered a cervical laceration. The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine found that Glassman failed to adequately treat Cycloria's injury. She died on March 17.

    Glassman's license was finally revoked for three years beginning in 1981. He later recovered his license on the condition that he undergo close supervision and not perform any more abortions. Glassman moved to Missouri, but his attorney revealed to the Florida Board of Osteopathic medical Examiners that Glassman performed 17 abortions while visiting in Fort Lauderdale, in an effort to prove that the ban against Glassman performing abortions was unnecessary.

    Glassman also faced a 1978 Florida conviction for felony grand larceny involving filing insurance claims for a faked automobile accident.

    Glassman paid out $386,875 to Cycloria's survivors, according to a malpractice liability search.

    Friday, March 16, 2007

    Illegal anniversary: Chicago abortion death

    On March 16, 1924, 35-year-old Mrs. Selma Hedlund died in Chicago's Jefferson Park Hospital from complications of an abortion performed that day. The sources says that she died at the crime scene, which would mean that the abortion had been done at the hospital.

    Nobody was ever positively identified as the abortionist. However, a Carl Carlson, indicated as a person known to Selma, was arrested as an accomplice.

    Safe and legal anniversaries

    Norma Greene, age 34, went into cardio-respiratory arrest in a Winston-Salem hospital on March 16, 1981. Her death certificate indicates that the arrest was caused by a pulmonary embolism following a recent abortion.

    ****

    Reports on death of Evelyn Dudley, age 38, alleged that she was treated at Friendship Medical Center in Chicago on March 16, 1973. Later, at home, she collapsed in the driveway. She was taken to a hospital, where attempts to save her failed.

    Her death was due to shock, hemorrhage from a ruptured cervix and vagina, from "remote abortion." T.R. Mason Howard stated that Evelyn was treated at Friendship for infection sustained in an abortion in Detriot. But Evelyn's brother stated that she had come to Chicago specifically to have the abortion.

    Julia Rogers and Dorothy Brown also died after abortions at Friendship Medical Center.

    History: Failed prosecution leads to legislative bid

    On March 16, 1869, Magdalena Philippi died of complications of an abortion performed on her, evidently by a Dr. Gabriel Wolff.

    Although Magdalena was four or five months pregnant, prosecutors had no way of proving that she had felt movement in the fetus, so they could not prosecute Dr. Wolff under the laws in place at the time.

    The next day, a bill was introduced in Albany to eliminate the quickening distinction in prosecuting abortion cases. This would make it easier to prosecute abortionists like Wolff.

    Virgina man slips girlfriend an abortion mickey

    Virginia Man Charged With Causing Girlfriend's Abortion With Spiked Drink

    Daniel Riase, age 21, purchased two misoprostol pills online, crushed them, and put them in his girlfriend's drink. The woman, I-Sharii Best, began bleeding and drove herself to the hospital, where it was confirmed that she had lost the baby at 11 weeks.

    Best told reporters that Raise had tried to pressure her into an abortion, but she had refused. Raise assaulted Best, but she dropped the charges when Raise began to pretend to be happy about the baby and supportive of Best's decision.

    "I'm angry, and I'm upset, and I'm still a little shocked that it went this far," Best told a reporter. "He was acting like he was being supportive, but he was just putting on a front all along because he had already ordered the pills."

    Riase faces ten to twenty years in prison if convicted. Best had taped a phone conversation in which he confessed to her what he had done. He is being held in Hampton City Jail without bond.

    Prolifers, of course, are uniformly appalled at this -- though not particularly surprised. I imagine prochoice response will be all over the map, from "She saw this as her baby and he killed it -- they should throw the book at him!" to "It wasn't very nice, but it's not like he did any real harm." If they pay much attention at all. The abortion lobby doesn't tend to speak out on unwanted abortions.

    Thursday, March 15, 2007

    Visa run

    All the new teachers are having to go, one by one, to Fukoaka, Japan, for our E-2 work visas. I am the first to go, and I was very nervous about it. For all that people tend to think I am brave, I am quite the weenie. I do not do things that frighten me unless forced to do so. Like this: going into a country where I do not speak the language at all and they do not use the same alphabet and there would be nobody to meet me at the airport and put me where I was supposed to be. But go I must. Go I did. Here I am, unable to find the apostrophe and the quotes on a Japanese keyboard in the hotel lobby.

    First matter was getting to the bus to get to the airport. Mr. Bang told me to take a taxi to Sang Ne(sp?) station to catch the 302 bus. So I went and caught the 5:10 a.m. bus -- only to have it cruise past The Mall, a few blocks behind our apartment building! So I will tell the other teachers where to walk to catch the bus and save themselves the taxi fare. The time to get there will probably be about the same.

    I ran into an Aussie at the airport who was also making a visa run, and he told me how much cash to exchange -- WAY too much. I can pass the extra along to Alberto, who is the next teacher slated to go. In all there seemed to be about 40 expats on the flight all making the visa run. Adam, the Aussie, had indicated that he would show me how to get where I was going but I lost him. I fell in with some girls from Canada, and as they waited for a guy they had met at the airport and promised to help some more of us accumulated, eight in all. Hannah became Mama Duck and kept a head count for where we all were as we went from Point A to Point B.

    Hannah knew to take a shuttle bus to the domestic terminal to catch the subway. The shuttle is free and you need it -- the two terminals are pretty far apart. Finding the subway was easy enough, and a nice Japanese fellow, seeing our confusion, showed us how to find our fare and buy our subway tickets. Then down the steps to the tracks -- past a huge sign for a gynecology clinic called TOON -- and the double Os looked just like a pair of boobs! It was hilarious! I will try to get a picture tomorrow. We were hurrying today to get to the consulate before it closed for lunch. God willing I will not be in a huge hurry tomorrow.

    Hannah had no trouble getting us on the right train, though how she knew it was the right train was beyond me. Maybe because it is the end of the line and there is only one train to take! Makes sense!

    The stop for the consulate is on that line, so all we had to do was watch for our stop. Each stop has a little symbol -- the one for the consulate (I forget the name) is a little brown jug. Hannah knew where to go after getting off the subway, but it is pretty easy -- straight down, turn right. There the Korean consulate sits. From the front it looks sort of like a traditional Korean building, but from the side it looks very odd. I may get a picture tomorrow when I go back to pick up my visa.

    It was pouring rain and those with no hoods were getting pretty soaked. Then we had to fill out papers to go inside and show our passports. I guess tomorrow I show my receipt to get in.

    I had seen online to expect a massive queue, but there really was no crowd until the eight of us arrived. I had already printed out my application with all my info on it except I had forgotten to write my work permit number, which I had because I had reminded Mr. Bang that I would need it. Easily fixed. So I just stepped to the desk and got taken care of pronto. It cost me 5,400 Yen, less than I had expected. I had been told to expect to pay between 6,000 and 8,000. That would be 60 to 80 dollars, roughly.

    I waited for the rest of my new found friends, who were still filling out their paperwork. One poor girl had to get on the phone back to Korea -- her administrator had not given her the work permit number! She spent twenty minutes getting through, then they told her to go call back in half an hour -- then she found out that the consulate staff could look it up for her! What an ordeal for her! This really good looking guy was near the vending machine next to the pay phone so I chatted with him and the girl (who was spending a lot of time on hold) while I waited for my group. The vending machine had some interesting looking drinks. I bought a Soda Planet soda. The taste was vaguely familiar and I had a hard time placing it and finally realized that the soda tastes like Sprite with a banana Popsickle melted into it. Not bad, really. I bought it mainly for the can, which is cute. I can hardly wait to see what security thinks of it when I get to the airport.

    Speaking of vending machines, they are everyplace here! Mostly soda and coffee, but a lot of cigarette machines, too. Then it struck me that it has been ages since I have seen a cigarette machine, maybe when I was living in Germany. Since the US tightened up tobacco sales laws the cigarette machines have become a thing of the past but since I do not smoke I never noticed they had gone.

    After we all got taken care of we went across the street to a sort of mall to look for someplace to eat. We found a pizza place that was fairly reasonable. For about 880 Yen each (about $9 -- I found the dollar sign!) we got pasta or pizza. I had a white pizza with broccoli -- and sausage that turned out to be sort of a sliced cocktail weenie. Tasty, though.

    A couple of the girls set into shopping so I headed back to the subway with Phil and Mary from our group. Mary got us on the right train, again I do not know how. She got off a few stops ahead of Phil and me. Phil was paying more attention and noticed that we were supposed to change trains.

    We found the tourist information booth upstairs at the Hakata Station (which is huge, like Bupyong Station in Incheon), and the girl there told us how to get to our hotels. Phil wanted to go get some shut-eye so we parted ways. I went to Sunlife Hotel #1 like Mr. Bang had told me, only to have the girl at the desk tell me I wanted Sun Life Hotel #2-3, across the street. I walked what seemed like a little far for just across the street, and finally asked a cop where the hotel was only to learn that I was standing in front of it.

    The room is tiny, tiny, tiny, but clean and comfortable enough. But as soon as I got in they rang up from the front desk and asked me if I had a voucher, that I was supposed to have a voucher from a travel agency. I told them Mr. Bang had told me it was all paid for and gave them his phone number and have had no problems so I assume it is all sorted out.

    I had fun playing with the hi-tech Japanese toilet with spray and bidet. It made me remember my sitz bath from after Lisa was born and how my husband teased me that I certainly was making myself at home on it. Enough said on that score!

    It was pouring rain so I could not really sight-see so I went back to the Hakata Station (directly across the street -- how convenient!) and cruised the underground shops. I found a subway guide in English and got a couple of English booklets and guides for tourists but I really had too little time and energy for them to be much use for me. I found a bakery with English signs and got a couple of snack breads with cheese, meat, and veggies, which they heated for me. One of them would have been enough! They were very filling and tasty. I found an Italian Tomato restaurant with English menu and reasonable prices that I thought I might go back to for supper, or recommend to the other teachers.

    And naughty me, I also bought a cream puff. Yum!

    Back to the hotel. I got online and looked for Yahoo! Stadium, which is right near the consulate, thinking maybe I would be able to get a better map for the teachers who come after me. Yes! Success! I printed it out, for no charge, it turns out. The net and the printing are free. Then upstairs for a nap. But I channel-surfed a bit first and watched some sumo. Nothing like two fat guys in colored diapers shoving each other around. When I woke up it was around 8 p.m. and the rain had stopped. I went out and looked around the area. I have never seen such a place for vending machines and bicycles! Bicycles galore! Parked all over the place! Ridden on the sidewalks by neatly dressed Japanese business women from the look of some of them.

    I was looking for someplace interesting to eat, with the Italian Tomato in my mind as back-up. Since I hate Japanese food this was a challenge, but I noticed a sign indicating that on the fourth floor of some sort of electronics mart there were restaurants. I figured, what the heck. Up I went and found an Indian restaurant with English menu and kicking food. I got mutton and spinach, with flat bread. It did not look like a lot of food when I got it but it smelled fantastic. The waiter seemed to want to converse with me a lot. Evidently despite the English menu not a lot of us make our way to that restaurant.

    I ate Ethiopian-style, tearing off bits of bread and using it to scoop up my spinach. Spicy and with a grilled flavor that just could not be beat. And it was far more filling than I expected. I ate about half and had them wrap the rest and it will be my lunch tomorrow, since I will be pressed for time most likely. My flight leaves at 3:35 and the consulate supposedly only gives you your passport and visa after 11. Very tight to make it back to the airport, since it took us about two hours from the time the plane landed to arrive at the consulate, what with immigration and figuring out where we were going. I will go to the consulate at 9 a.m. and see if showing them my e-ticket speeds them up.

    And so here I am, back at the hotel with my leftover spinach and mutton stuff with about a third of my bread. (Okay, I really pigged out on the bread!) It set me back about $11, but it is giving me two meals.

    I am thinking of going to a mini mart and getting a cocktail, just for the experience and to help me sleep. It would set me back a little under two bucks. Funny, I do not feel much as if I have left Korea. Japan looks pretty much the same. Even the school girls wear similar uniforms and hair cuts. Other than the bicycles and vending machines, I might be in Seoul. (Both the Japanese and the Korean will hate me for saying that, but Phil agreed with me!)

    Go to JJ for more on nasty NAF clinic

    I am blogging from a computer in a Japanese hotel and I can not find a lot of the keys I need. Follow another link to JivinJehosaphat to read the lastest on that nasty NAF clinic in New Jersey! I can not figure out how to post links right now, but I can give you a snippet:

    The department also found that the patient's medical and operative records were incomplete.

    "The operative report was not immediately completed following the procedure because Staff Member #1 reported being 'superstitious' and was aware that Patient #1 had emergency surgery performed and was waiting for the results," investigators wrote.

    Wednesday, March 14, 2007

    Coache's wife does two home abortions, keeps fetuses in shed

    No charges in self-abortion case
    Authorities in Bay County, Fla., received a tip a year ago that Sarah Jo Warner Izard, the wife of the late coach Jim Izard, told friends there that she kept the remains of two fetuses in a storage shed in Rome [Georgia].

    Investigators found two human fetuses hidden in containers in the storage area. Izard reportedly told authorities shortly after her husband’s February 2006 suicide that she performed the abortions herself. Izard said one took place in Rome and the other in Florida, where she and her husband moved following his resignation from Berry in 2005.


    The Centers for Disease Control researched amateur abortions (both self-induced and induced by others) and found that women resorted to them for "ideosyncratic" reasons. It sounds to me like Sarah Jo has some serious mental health issues. Issues that having a National Abortion Federation member clinic just down the street won't fix.

    HT: JJ

    Anniversary: Death after criminal abortion by doctor

    On March 14, 1930, Alberta Beard, age 29, died at the office of Dr. Davis Lucas from an abortion performed there that day. Lucas was arrested on May 24, on recommendation of the coroner. Lucas was indicted for felony murder in Alberta's death on August 7.

    Tuesday, March 13, 2007

    I hadn't known about this: Doc sued for accepting fake ID

    Doctors may be liable for patients' fake IDs
    Some Texas physicians who provide abortions might be contemplating an in-office display of the "We Card Hard" sign often found in stores that sell alcohol and tobacco.

    .... In what's believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind, a Texas patient who presented a fake ID and the patient's father were allowed to go forward with a civil lawsuit against a physician who gave the girl an abortion without contacting her parents.

    Cherise Mosley Hughes first came into the clinic where Houston general practice physician Douglas Karpen, DO, works in the summer of 2000. She didn't have an ID, so the office staff turned her away, court records said. She later returned with an ID that said she was 18. It was not government-issued but did contain a birth date and Social Security number.

    Dr. Karpen said he didn't contact Mosley Hughes' parents because he had no reason to believe the girl was younger than 18.

    ....

    Now married and a mother of two, Mosley Hughes, along with her father, sued Dr. Karpen and the Aaron Women's Medical Center in Houston. They argued that the ID was obviously fake and that the doctor should have seen through it.


    1. What's the standard for convenience store clerks carding kids trying to buy beer and cigarettes?

    2. Should the standard for abortion workers be the same, higher, or lower?

    Monday, March 12, 2007

    Anniversary: Death in Chicago, 1928

    On February 4, 24-year-old Julia Agoston underwent a criminal abortion in Chicago. The coroner concluded that the abortion had been performed in her home. On March 12, Julia died at St. Elizabeth's Hospital.

    On March 31, Dr. Anton Feher, Dr. Helen Moskowitz, Susie Kosmos, and Manhart Agoston were held by the coroner. The physicians were held as principals. The two laypersons were held as accessories. Moskowitz was indicted for felony murder on November 23.

    Saturday, March 10, 2007

    Someone was looking for pre-Roe abortion deaths

    Cassandra Bleavins, a 20-year-old clerk, had an abortion performed on her at John Wesley Hospital, owned by Los Angeles County, on September 2, 1971.

    Twila Coulter traveled from her home in Colorado to California for a saline abortion.

    Margaret Daviswas a 33-year-old homemaker who underwent an abortion at Windsor Hills Hospital in Los Angeles County. Christopher Dotson began the abortion at about noon on July 15, 1971.

    Gwendolyn Drummer was admitted to Doctor’s Hospital of Pinole for a legal abortion in 1972.

    Janet Foster underwent an abortion at the hands of Richard Neal at Valley Doctors' Hospital in North Hollywood, California on September 11, 1971.

    Doris Grant, age 32, was admitted by W. W. Williams to Doctor's Hospital in Los Angeles for an abortion February 11, 1971.

    Betty Hines was 21 years old when she was checked into Doctors Hospital in California for an abortion to be performed by Dr. A. Mitchell on July 19, 1971.

    Denise Holmes, a 24-year-old Australian woman living in Texas, decided to undergo an abortion at Avalon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on her way home for Christmas of 1970.

    Sara Lint, a 22-year-old coed, submitted to an abortion at San Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on August 11, 1970.

    Natalie Meyers was brought to San Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles by her mother on October 21, 1972.

    Katherine Morse was admitted to Bel Air Memorial Hospital in LA County on September 1, 1972.

    Maria Ortegatraveled from her home in Massahusetts for a legal abortion by Dr. Armida Zepeta in her New York office on October 10, 1970.

    Erika Peterson, age 28, died July 23, 1961 during an abortion at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California.

    "Alice" Roe was 31 years old when she underwent a 14-week saline abortion in New York City.

    "Amanda" Roe was 19 years old when she traveled from Indiana to New York for a legal abortion in 1970.

    "Amy" Roe was 35 years old when she had a legal abortion December 24, 1970.

    "Andrea" Roe was 26 years old when she underwent a legal abortion at a New York City abortion facility on January 12, 1971.

    "Anita" Roe was a 23-year-old mother of two when she chose safe and legal abortion in 1971.

    "Annie" Roe traveled from New Jersey to New York for a safe, legal first-trimester abortion on June 24, 1971.

    "April" Roe was 17 years old when she underwent a saline abortion in New York City on August 20, 1971.

    "Audrey" Roe was 44 years old when she underwent a safe and legal first-trimester abortion in New York on July 1, 1971.

    "Barbara" Roe was 35 years old when she traveled from Michigan to New York for a safe and legal abortion in 1971.

    "Beth" Roe was 23 years old when she traveled from Massachusetts to New York for an abortion in 1971.

    "Cindy" Roe was 25 years old when she submitted to an abortion in 1972. She was nine weeks pregnant and the abortion was performed by vacuum aspiration

    "Colleen" Roe traveled from Michigan to New York for a safe and legal abortion. She was 21 years old and 20 weeks pregnant.

    "Connie" Roe was 31 years old when she underwent a safe and legal abortion in New York on March 3, 1972.

    "Danielle" Roe, age 18, had traveled from Massachusetts to New York for a safe and legal abortion. On May 17, 1972, the abortion was performed. Minutes after the abortion was completed, Danielle was dead.

    "Dawn" Roe was 29 years old and 7 weeks pregnant when she underwent a legal abortion in August of 1972.

    "Judy" Roe was a 42-year-old mother of four from upstate New York when she chose safe and legal abortion in 1970.

    "Julie" Roe was only 14 years old when she underwent a safe, legal abortion in New York on March 26, 1972.

    "Kimberly" Roe was 25 years old and 18 weeks pregnant when she underwent an abortion in New York City on December 23, 1970.

    "Mary" Roewas 19 years old when she checked into a Los Angeles hospital for a first-trimester abortion some time before 1973.

    "Monica" Roe was a 31-year-old mother of five. She requested a safe, legal abortion when she was 8 weeks pregnant in 1971.

    "Nancy" Roe was 16 years old, and 16 weeks pregnant, when she underwent a saline abortion in 1972.

    "Robin" Roe traveled from Massachusetts to New York for a safe, legal first trimester abortion.

    "Roseanne" Roe was in the second trimester of pregnancy when she chose safe and legal abortion in 1971. She was 37 years old, had had four children.

    "Sandra" Roe was 18 years old when she underwent a first-trimester abortion procedure in New York. Three days later, on April 18, 1971, Sandra killed herself.

    "Sara" Roe underwent a safe and legal second trimester abortion in New York City in May of 1972.

    "Sheryl" Roe was 23 years old when she chose abortion. She had a history of sickle cell anemia and three live births. She was in her first trimester of pregnancy when she underwent the safe, legal abortion on July 11, 1970.

    "Tammy" Roe traveled from Ohio to New York to undergo a safe and legal abortion, which was performed on September 25, 1971. She was 33 years old.

    "Vicky" Roe was 23 years old when she underwent a safe and legal abortion in New York state.

    LaSandra Russ, from Berkley, California, went to Los Angeles to have a safe, legal abortion on December 13, 1971.

    F.S., a 16-year-old girl underwent a safe and legal second-trimester salilne abortion on August 26, 1969.

    Stella Saenz, age 42, had arranged for a legal abortion in the spring of 1968.

    Carole Schaner was 37 years old when she traveled from Ohio to Buffalo, New York, for a safe and legal abortion. Dr. Jesse Ketchum performed a vaginal hysterotomy abortion on October 20, 1971.

    Margaret Louise Smith traveled from Michigan to New York for an abortion because she had been exposed to rubella.

    Kathryn Strong, 26, went to Civic Center Hospital in Oakland, California for a legal abortion that was to be performed by Dr. Harold Van Maren.

    Cheryl Vosseler was 17 years old when she was admitted to Fresno General Hospital on July 31, 1969, to undergo a legal abortion.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Beggars invited to wedding

    Indian Couple Invite 250 Beggars To Their Wedding Party

    Shades of Luke 14: 12-14: 12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

    Prayers needed: Alabama newborn kidnapped

    Police: Newborn Kidnapped From Texas Hospital by Woman Posing as Medical Worker

    Anniversary: Death after illegal abortion by midwife

    On February 13, 1929, 30-year-old Catherine Mau underwent an abortion at the hands of Chicago midwife Anna Heisler. Catherine died on March 11. On July 20, 1929, Heisler was sentenced to Joliet Penitentiary for Catherine's death.



    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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    Anniversary: NAF abortion leaves woman in fatal coma

    On March 11, 1989, 27-year-old Catherine Pierce underwent a safe, legal abortionat Atlanta Surgi-Center, which had at one time also done business as "Northside Women's Clinic." (Thus it is possible that Atlanta Surgi-Center is the same facility as the "Atlanta Northside" facility where Geneva Calton had undergone her fatal abortion in 1979.) Catherine's abortion was performed by Daniel McBrayer.

    Catherine went into cardiac arrest while left unattended in recovery after her abortion. She was resuscitated, but remained comatose. State officials inspected the clinic and alleged "serious problems" after Catherine was injured. They cited this National Abortion Federation facility for administering "the same anesthesia dosages" to patients whose weights ranges from 107 to 167 pounds, inadequate record keeping, and inadequate supervision of patients.



    State investigators indicated that they'd been turned away the first time they'd tried to inspect the facility, and were forced to stage a raid in order to obtain the records needed to investigate the mishap that later killed Catherine. The clinic complained that they'd only turned the state investigators away because they'd failed to display badges and a subpoena. They also complained to the press that the raid was "political harassment" due to the fact that an anti-abortion activist had complained to the state about the facility.

    Among the patient care problems cited, the investigators also said that they found discrepancies between the number of fetuses sent to the disposal lab and the number of abortions performed. In 1989 Atlanta Surgi-Center had logged 1,748 abortions, but had only sent 155 fetuses for disposal. In 1988 they had logged 2,774 abortions, but only sent 155 fetuses for disposal. In 1987 they logged 1,104 abortoins but only sent 306 fetuses for disposal. The investigation into fetus disposal was prompted by local prolifers reporting that they had seen hundreds of fetuses in the clinic's dumpsters. Dr. Gay, the clinic director, denied the allegations.

    On October 10, 1989, Catherine died in a nursing home in Tennessee without ever awakening from her coma. She left an 11-year-old daughter motherless.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Anniversary: Death after legal abortion by former criminal abortionist

    Sidney Knight was facing a number of criminal abortion charges in 1973, when Roe v. Wade made them a moot point. He hung out his shingle and began performing abortions legally.

    In March of 1974, Janet Blaum went to Knight's New Orleans facility for an abortion. Five days later, on March 11, she was dead of brain hemorrhage.

    Janet's ex-husband sued Knight on behalf of the couple's children, alleging that Knight had administered a fatal dose of anesthesia while preparing Janet for the abortion.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Abortionist appreciation

    There's a bake sale and cake walk in Chicago. What's surreal about this event is a raffle to benefit "Women and Children First Bookstore." A celebration of people who kill children at the behest of women seems an odd day to raise money for anything called "Women and Children First".

    The blogosphere seems to be three-to-one prolife entries versuse abortion-advocacy entries on this observance.

    Imagine the impact on abortion workers if on National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, the only people taking time out to show them special kindness were prolifers!

    Search: Saline abortions

    In 1939, a Rumanian abortionist named Abruel first got the idea of taking out amniotic fluid and replacing it with something to kill the fetus and/or induce premature labor. Although different substances were tried, with varying success and varying complications, hypertonic saline (a strong salt soloution) became the most popular. Abortions that involve taking out amniotic fluid and replacing it with something else are called "instillation abortions" or "amniotic fluid replacement abortions," or are named after the substance injected. I use the terms "saline abortion" and "saline instillation" interchangably.

    The saline causes abortion by two mechanisms:
  • Killing the fetus
  • Irritating the uterus

    Saline abortion is hardly a pleasant experience. The abortionist would remove as much amniotic fluid as he cound using a needle and syringe. He would then replace the amniotic fluid with a concentrated saline (salt) solution that would poison and kill the fetus. The woman would then go into labor and expel the fetus.

    Instillation abortions spread into nations where abortion was legal, and saline quickly became the favored abortifacient, although other substances, including glucose, were tried. Glucose was quickly abandoned because it fed infection rather than killing the fetus.

    Saline abortions became very popular in Japan following WWII. Within the Japanese medical community, however, word quickly spread: this method was unsatisfactory. Too many women were being injured and killed. Over 70 papers were published in the Japanese medical community reporting hazards of saline abortions, including at least 60 maternal deaths. The Japanese Obstetrical and Gynecological Society condemned the technique, and it was quickly abandoned. But the Japanese abortionists kept news of the trouble among themselves -- until Western nations discovered instillation abortions and embraced them with great enthusiasm. (Mark Crutcher, Lime 5, p. 126; Manabe, "Artificial Abortion at Midpregnancy by Mechanical Stimulation of the Uterus," Am. Journ. Ob Gyn 9/1/68)

    Two Japanese doctors, Takashi Wagatsuma and Yukio Manabe, broke the silence. Wagatsuma wrote, "It is, I think, worthwhile to report its rather disastrous consequences which we experienced in Japan." Manabe wrote, "It is now known that any solution placed within the uterus can be absorbed rather rapidly into the general circulation through the vascular system of the uterus and placenta. Thus any solution used in the uterus for abortion must be absolutely safe even if given by direct intravenous injection. ... A solution deadly to the fetus may be equally toxic and dangerous to the mother. ... In spite of the accumulating undesirable reports, the use of hypertonic saline for abortion is still advocated and used ... in the United States and Great Britain. I would like to call attention to the danger of the method and would predict the further occurrence of deaths until this method is entirely forgotten in these countries." (Wagatsuma, "Intraamniotic Injection of Saline for Therapeutic Abortion," Am. Journ. Ob Gyn 11/1/65; Manabe, "Danger of Hypertonic Saline Induced Abortion," JAMA 12/15/69)

    As western abortionists gained experience with saline abortions, other grim reports arose. A British study published in 1966 found that the saline would enter the mother's bloodstream and cause brain damage. Swedish researchers noticed an unacceptably high rate of complications and deaths. Sweden and the Soviet Union abandoned saline abortion as too dangerous for women in the late 1960s. (Mark Crutcher, Lime 5, p. 127; Cameron, "Association of Brain Damage with Therapeutic Abortion Induced by Amniotic Fluid Replacement: Report of Two Cases," British Medical Journal, 4/23/66 )

    For whatever reasons, American abortionists were deaf to these warnings. When New York had completely repealed its abortion law, doctors had tremendous leeway in abortion practice. In New York City in particular, it became popular to inject the woman with the saline in the office, then send her home with instructions to report to a hospital when she went into labor. This was, to say the least, a highly irresponsible way to use an abortion technique that was risky even when performed in a hospital under close medical supervision. Women started dying from these saline abortions. (See: New York Saline Abortion Deaths, 1970-1972)

    Women were also already dying in California as well, even though the law there still required abortions to be done in hospitals: California Saline Abortion Deaths, 1972)

    After Roe v Wade was handed down, saline and other instillation abortions spread to other areas of the country, despite the dismal goings-on in New York and California, and of course more women died: Instillation Abortion Deaths After Roe

    US abortionists showed no alarm over these deaths. Even as late as the 1990's, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and abortionists such as Don Sloan and Warren Hern, were describing saline and other instillation abortions in such terms as "a low-risk procedure."

    Stastics show, however, that abortionists did gradually move away from saline instillation abortions, albeit more slowly in New York City than in the rest of the country.

    Since the problem of maternal deaths from instillation abortions had been long documented, this factor probably only had a minor impact on the move away from saline and other instillation abortions. One important factor was financial: although suction and D&C were adequate procedures for first-trimester abortions, they were inadequate for killing and removing the larger second-trimester fetuses. But the uterus was not large enough to perform instillation abortions until 16 weeks. This left a 4-week "grey period" during which women could change their minds about aborting.

  • There was also the problem of starting a suction or D&C abortion only to discover that the pregnancy was already in the second trimester. Necessity is the mother of invention, and abortionists who found themselves dealing with second-trimester fetuses that had already been damaged had to come up with ways to remove these fetuses quickly and without alarming the patient. Thus evolved the Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) procedure that remained popular for mid-trimester abortions for over a decade.

    D&E was cheaper than instillation abortions, which required at least an overnight hospital stay. It also had the advantage of producing fewer live births, the "dreaded complication" no abortionist wanted to face.

    While instillation abortions were still the most common method of mid-trimester abortion, roughly 500 live births were reported to the Centers for Disease Control every year by abortionists. The CDC's Willard Cates thought that this number probably came nowhere near the true number of live births, because there is no penalty for failing to report these births to the CDC. "It's like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit," Cates said.

    So, addressing the multiple problems of live births, lost sales during the "grey zone," and miscalculating gestational age, the abortion industry gradually phased out saline and other instillation abortions, replacing them with D&E dismemberment abortion.

    The few persisting saline abortions raise interesting questions. Why are these physicians, who are conscientious enough to report the abortions they do, still using an outdated and highly risky technique? Are there still a large number of saline abortions being performed by fringe abortionists who aren't reporting to the CDC? And will the "greying" of the abortionist pool eliminate saline abortions entirely over the next decade?

    For the sake of the women, one would certainly hope so.

    Reminder: Outreach to abortionists day

    March 10 has been designated "National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers" by the abortion lobby. NAF is plugging it on their main web site, so evidently at least some folks are planning to observe it this year, though it seems to be petering out over the years and becoming more of a day for prolifers to remember abortionists than for prochoicers to "appreciate" them. I can find very little online that's current, but I'm without a computer at home for the nonce so I don't get a lot of chance to look. Cue me in, folks!

    The National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers is mainly intended to overcome the powerful negatives of working in abortion. Dr. Rachel McNair has explored the stresses of abortion work in her Achieving Peace in the Abortion War. I'll not repeat Dr. McNair's findings here. I heartily recommend that each and every person who is called to stand for life read this book online, prayerfully, with a heart open to ideas of how we can reach the folks who've fallen for the lie that abortion helps women.

    Keep in mind that we're not dealing with evil people who enjoy killing babies. Yes, there's greed. Yes, there's egotism. But a common underlying motivation is the idea that somehow what they're doing is helping the patients. The typical abortion worker views himself as bravely overcoming his natural revulsion at destroying fetal life in order to better the lives of women.

    So what we need to do is break through that illusion. With that in mind, let's look at Refuse and Resist's suggestions, and see where we can get ideas to reach these lost souls and help them break free.

    Some suggestions on outreach approaches that you still have time for, even at this late time:

  • Join others in prayer for abortion workers.

  • Bring your local staff gift baskets that include information on the Society of Centurions, or Clinic Worker.com. Make the gifts real gifts, like notecards, fruit, bath salts, and so forth, not phony "gifts" intended to crush the worker's spirit, like bloody dismembered baby dolls, baby clothes, etc. You might even consider giving them a book such as Won by Love or Blood Money, written by former abortion workers, with a note saying that the book was written by somebody had worked inside and knows what it's like.

  • Be a presence outside abortion facilities, reminding staff, patients, and the public of women who've been harmed there.

  • Invite your local abortion staff to coffee, to let him or her vent in a safe environment without fear of being labeled a traitor.

  • Write to your local newspaper, and call talk shows, to educate people about the harm abortion does to women.

  • Use your imagination to create a climate in which abortion staff know that it's safe for them to approach you should they ever need your help.

    Keep your eyes open for events being planned to keep abortionists in thrall. Think of ways to counter these efforts. Let's be a soft place for these wounded souls to land.
  • Anniversary: Teen chokes to death, not resuscitated

    Eighteen-year-old Erna Fisher's mother held her hand as Dennis W. Miller performed an abortion on her on March 10, 1988. During the abortion, Erna suddenly sat up, went into convulsions, and began to vomit.

    Miller continued with the abortion while Erna choked to death on her own vomit. When an ambulance crew arrived, they found Erna's airway still full of vomit. Miller was making no attempt at resuscitation, but was holding Erna in his arms. Erna, of course, was beyond saving.

    Miller had already settled six malpractice cases in the Kansas City area. He had failed the Missouri state medical exam three times before finally giving up. It took nine tries for him to pass the exam to be licensed in Kansas.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Friday, March 09, 2007

    Two criminal abortion anniversaries

    On March 1, 1921, Dr. C.W. Milliken performed an abortion on Iva J. Triplett. Milliken was practicing in Akron, Ohio.

    Immediately after the abortion, Iva became severely ill. She continued under Milliken's care until she died of septicemia and peritonitis on March 9, leaving a widower and children.

    Iva's survivors sued, not only for the injury but for failure to inform Iva's family of the nature of her illness so that they could seek and provide appropriate care for her.

    ****


    On March 9, 1929, Alline L. Brown died in Chicago from a criminal abortion. The culprit was never identified or brought to justice.

    Thursday, March 08, 2007

    Italy: Baby finally succumbs to abortion injuries

    Italian baby succumbs after surviving abortion

    The parents had been told he was severely deformed, so they agreed to an abortion at 22 weeks. Turns out there was nothing wrong with the baby other than that he was extremely premature because they'd tried to abort him. But hey, better to kill any number of healthy babies than to let one of them cripples slip through.

    (Sounds of Pink Floyd playing)
    Waiting -- to cut out the deadwood.
    Waiting -- to clean up the city.
    Waiting -- to follow the worms.
    Waiting -- to put on a black shirt.
    Waiting -- to weed out the weaklings.
    ....
    Waiting -- for the final solution to strengthen the strain.
    Waiting -- to follow the worms.

    Jill Stanek recaps this year's seedy abortionists

    Yippie! The Third Annual Abortion Practitioner of the Year Awards

    If I only had time right now to delve into them! But it's a work day and I gotta get home into the shower soon. Perhaps this weekend. Look for more on Abortionists' Day.

    New Jersey NAF mill fails corrective inspection

    Abortion Business in New Jersey Closed on Health Concerns Fails Follow-Up
    An abortion business in New Jersey that state health officials closed nearly two weeks ago failed a follow-up inspection on Tuesday. The state health department said the abortion business still ran afoul of health and safety requirements despite assurances the problems had been fixed. ....

    Nathan Rudy, spokesman for the department, talked with the Bergen Record newspaper about the visit and said the abortion business can reopen when the problems are corrected.

    "What we're looking for is for all the serious deficiencies to be abated and when they are, the order curtailing admissions will be lifted," he said.

    "They told us their plan of correction was completed so we went out and inspected," he explained.


    Sounds like they don't have much of a sense of what's adequate if they think they've fixed things but the state doesn't even let them re-open under stipulations.

    It was shut down after a complaint was filed after a woman who had an abortion there went into a coma for more than four weeks following a botched abortion.

    Newark resident Rasheedah Dinkins, now 20 years old, became severely ill following the abortion and was transferred to Beth Israel Medical Center where she needed blood transfusions and had her uterus removed. She also suffered a stroke due to the serious blood loss and had one of her lungs collapse.

    Dinkins said her mother and hospital officials told her she died en route to the medical facility from the abortion center but medical personnel were able to revive her.

    "I was laying in my bed and I got the cold shakes," Dinkins, who filed a lawsuit against the abortion facility last week, said about her ordeal. "My body kept going numb. After that, I don't remember anything."

    Adam Slater, her attorney, talked with the Record about her current health situation.

    "She is able to stand up and walk a little bit so she is progressing, but no one knows how it will go," he said.

    "She's very determined to focus on the positives. She's seen her kids now and of course that helps. She was ecstatic to see them, and they were ecstatic to see her," Slater added.


    Well, thank God she's getting better and that her kids are getting their mom back.

    This is only the second time state health officials ordered one of the state's 650 ambulatory health centers closed but the second time MMA has been shut down. It was temporarily closed after health and safety violations in 1993.


    So how high can National Abortion Federation standards be, if this place was able to meet them but not able to remain open when hundreds of other ambulatory surgical centers were?

    MMA was also sued by Gloria Mozas, who didn't realize the place was an abortion clinic when she went for pregnancy care. They told her she'd miscarried and needed a D&C to remove dead tissue. Only later when she saw her medical records did she learn that her fetus had been alive and deliberately aborted. So much for choice.
    And Gloria isn't the only woman who lost a wanted baby to an abortion sold to her under false pretenses. A woman I call "Dolores" was brought by her boyfriend to Teflon Tiller, ostensibly for a prenatal checkup. Tiller told her that her life was in danger from an ectopic pregnancy and that she needed immediate care to save her life. Like Gloria, she only found out later by accident that her pregnancy had been normal and that her baby had been aborted. A woman I call "Shari" was told that if she didn't agree to an immediate abortion she'd die and leave her daughter orphaned. Only later, by accident, did she learn she'd been lied to. My friend Laura narrowly escaped an unwanted abortion. She, too, had been told she had miscarried, but she insisted on waiting to see what would happen before allowing anybody near her with a canula. She gave birth to a healthy little boy. More cases can be found here of women who lost wanted children to unwanted abortions.

    Two more safe, legal anniversaries

    In early March of 1972, "Colleen" Roe traveled from Michigan to New York for a safe and legal abortion. She was 21 years old and 20 weeks pregnant. Colleen had a history of asthma. During the abortion, she went into respiratory arrest. She died March 8.

    ****

    "Connie" Roe was 31 years old when she underwent a safe and legal abortion in New York on March 3, 1972. She went into cardiac arrest during the abortion. Attempts to save her life were futile; she died on March 8, five days after her abortion. She left behind one child.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Anniversary: Deliberate incomplete abortion kills teen

    Sixteen-year-old Rita McDowell was the daughter of Ethel Kennedy's part-time housekeeper. On March 4, 1975, Robert Sherman performed an abortion on Rita. When Rita was discharged, her mother was informed that she would probably expel the fetus that night. Rita did not expel the fetus. Instead, she developed a fever. Her mother called Sherman's facility on March 5 to seek care for her daughter. She said that Sherman would not speak to her, and that the receptionist told her to bring Rita in two days later.

    In the early morning hours of March 7, Rita awoke screaming, then collapsed in her mother's arms. Doctors at the hospital where Rita was taken removed the fetus, but she died just after midnight on March 8.

    An investigation into Rita's death revealed evidence that Sherman deliberately performed incomplete abortions so that he could charge more for follow-up care. Sherman was charged with murder in Rita's death, and prosecutors presented witnesses and evidence that Sherman re-used disposable medical equipment, failed to perform tests to verify pregnancy, failed to do pathology examinations of abortion tissues, allowed a nurse's aide to perform surgery, and falsified medical records.

    Sherman claimed to develop heart problems during the murder trial. He plea-bargained, getting the murder charge dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on the perjury charges. The prosecutor defended the plea bargain on the grounds that the felony convictions would block Sherman from ver practicing medicine again. Sherman served two years in a federal prison, then set up a legal abortion practice in Boston.

    Wednesday, March 07, 2007

    Anniversary: High risk outpatient abortion kills mother of six

    Gloria Small, a 43-year-old mother of six, went to Ronald Tauber for an abortion. Despite Gloria's obesity, asthma, chronic lung disease, and family history of high blood pressure, Tauber elected to perform the 15-week abortion at his Orlando Birthing Center on March 7, 1978.

    Gloria's uterus was punctured in the abortion. She died despite an emergency hysterectomy. The medical examiner said that Gloria's medical history should have precluded performing an abortion in an outpatient setting. A court-appointed panel found Tauber negligent in Gloria's death.

    Tauber's license was suspended the month Gloria died; this means that if the Centers for Disease Control counted Gloria's death, they would have tabulated it as a death from an illegal abortion. (They count abortions as legal only if they are performed by a physician with an active license.)

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Anniversary: Criminal death after abortion by midwife

    On March 6, 1928, Lucille Smith, a 23-year-old store clerk, died at Chicago's Burrows Hospital from complications of an abortion performed that day at the office of midwife Emma Schulz. Schulz was indicted for felony murder on April 1, 1929.

    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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    Anniversary: Teen dies after seven months in coma

    A 16-year-old girl underwent a second-trimester saline abortion on August 26, 1969. A journal article on her death identifies her as "F.S." Life Dynamics identifies her as "Fay" on their "Blackmun Wall" as having been killed by a legal abortion.

    F.S. developed an infection and symptoms of meningitis after her abortion. She continued to be treated for ten days before she was transferred to another hospital in San Francisco for further treatment.

    Doctors performed two heart valve replacements of F.S., and had scheduled her for yet another before she died on March 6, 1970. The cause of death was severe congestive heart failure and pneumonia.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Anniversary: One of a dozen dead women at FPA

    Seventeen-year-old Laniece Dorsey underwent an abortion at a Family Planning Associates Medical Group facility in Orange County, California, on February 6, 1986. Laniece lapsed into a coma, was transferred to a nearby hospital, and died later that day.

    The Orange County Sheriff's Department medical examiner blamed the death on cardiorespiratory arrest due to the anesthesia, although he also found a "thick adherent layer of fibrinous material containing moderate numbers of inflammatory infiltrates" in Laniece's uterus.

    Laniece wasn't the first or last young woman to die from abortion at a facility owned by FPA head honcho Edward Campbell Allred. Others include:

  • Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
  • Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
  • Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
  • Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
  • Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
  • Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
  • Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
  • Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
  • Christina Mora, age 18, 1994
  • Kimberly Neil, 2000
  • Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004

    Allred's facilities remain members of the National Abortion Federation despite these deaths.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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  • Anniversary: Tea and sympathy and death at a discount

    Chatoor Bisal Singh did an abortion on Ellen Lorena Williams On March 2, 1985 at Miami's notorious Dadeland abortion mill. On March 4, Ellen returned, doubled over and rocking back and forth in pain. Dadeland owner Betty Eason gave her some tea, then called Singh, who arrived four hours later. Singh examined Ellen, then turned her over to Nabil Ghali, who performed a second D&C and sent Ellen home with a bottle of antibiotics. On March 5, Ellen was rushed by ambulance to Coral Reef Hospital, where she was rushed into surgery. She died in the intensive care unit on March 6. The autopsy revealed that she had uterine and bowel perforations, causing the peritonitis that killed her.

    Singh told the Miami Herald that he didn't usually work at Dadeland, but was "strapped for cash" and agreed to fill in for Robert Kast while he was away. Singh described himself as "not an abortionist, just an honest, easygoing guy looking for something temporary. After Ellen's death, Singh quit working at Dadeland, saying, "It was a bad month." It certainly was: the same day he'd performed the first abortion on Ellen Williams, Singh also did an abortion on a woman identified as "Patricia W.," who afterward hemorrhaged and passed a portion of her fetus, which Singh had failed to remove. When she returned with it to the clinic, staff told her it was "a blood clot," but a hospital later verified that it was a 16-week fetal head.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Monday, March 05, 2007

    More on the New Jersy NAF mill

    OR West has more on the seedy NAF member recently closed down in New Jersey, including link to a video report, which I've embedded below:



    I'm glad they're covering this, but they missed the fact that this place (and it looks kinda seedy, doesn't it?) is a NAF member.

    I'd do more myself to pull this together for you but I'm without a computer right now so I really only get a chance to spend large chunks of time online on weekends.