Planned Parenthood Action Center sent me an email with the snarky title, "Truly stunning: a woman who doesn't trust other women"
Well, sometimes some women don't deserve to be trusted.
Andrea Yates and Susan Smith are living proof that just having two X chromosomes doesn't mean you can be trusted. They were trusted with children, and that trust proved to be tragically misplaced.
Others choose to kill children before birth. And Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards is fine with that.
Well, like Governor Sarah Palin, I hold that this is one choice women ought not to simply be "trusted" with.
Regardless of your genetic makeup, killing another human being just because you think your life would be easier that way not a valid choice, and the very act of making that choice is proof that you can not be trusted.
At least not with a child.
Which is why we need to restore legal protection to the unborn.
Some women can't be trusted.
You need look no further from the nation's appalling abortion rate for proof of that.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
McCain's pick: A Pro-Life Feminist. Go Sarah!
I'm jazzed! I heard about the choice when I was driving home from work. I don't have time to make my own comments, so I'll just pass along the Feminists For Life press release.
("Madam Vice President" -- I like the sound of that!)
FFL Member Nominated for Vice President of the United States
Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, has been selected by Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain as his running mate.
According to The Anchorage Daily News published August 6, 2006, "Palin said last month that no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child." The article went onto say that "she's a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life." "I believe in the strength and the power of women, and the potential of every human life,' she said."
Feminists for Life's policy is that all memberships are confidential. However, since Governor Palin has been public about her membership, we can confirm that Palin became a member in 2006.
Earlier this week Feminists for Life reacted to the inclusion of woman-centered solutions in the Democratic Party platform, and the inclusion of FFL's trademarked message, "Women deserve better® than abortion,©" in the Republican Party platform.
FFL President Serrin Foster said "It is unprecedented to see the platforms of both major U.S. political parties incorporate key pieces of FFL's unique message."
"Of course there is a certain excitement about the recent movement toward FFL's woman-centered solutions and message by the parties, and now the selection of a pro-life feminist as the Vice Presidential nominee. But as a nonpartisan organization, we cannot endorse any candidates," Foster said.
“FFL members represent a broad political as well as religious spectrum, and we remain both nonpartisan and nonsectarian. There are many issues outside Feminists for Life’s mission. Feminists for Life is dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion—primarily lack of practical resources and support—through holistic, woman-centered solutions. We recognize that abortion is a reflection that our society has failed to meet the needs of women and that too often women have settled for less. Women deserve better than abortion,” said Foster.
As each party takes steps to acknowledge and meet the needs of women, Feminists for Life is prepared to work with our elected leaders on behalf of girls and women who deserve far better than abortion. FFL has a long track record of working with both sides of the political aisle on major legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act, Child Support Enforcement Act, and much more. Many members of Congress have already stepped forward to cosponsor the FFL-inspired bill with bipartisan support, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act.
"We invite all parties, all public servants, and all people to join us on the bridge of woman-centered solutions," Foster said.
And I have to add a collection of links.
I'm so jazzed! Why does this have to come down the pike when I'm about to go spend a three day weekend with no internet!?
I'll try to get myself and my Mac to a McDonald's tomorrow to blog some more.
UPDATE:
Just some more excellent links (from Vital Signs Blog:
Dobson: "I would pull that lever" for John McCain - Sarah Palin
Not to mention, as Craig Ferguson points out, she's got a "naughty librarian" vibe to her:
Hate to disappoint you, Craig, but she's married.
Sad anniversaries
On August 29, 1925, Katarzyna Tobiasz, age 31 or 32, died at Chicago's St. Mary's Hospital from an abortion performed on her there that day. A woman whose name is spelled once as Barbara Kolur and elsewhere as Barbara Kar was held by the coroner on August 31 for Katarzyna's death. Kolur/Kar's profession is given as nurse or midwife. On July 5, 1927, she was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder in Katarzyna's death.
In 1927, fifteen-year-old Florence Kruse became pregnant as a result of statutory rape by Corwyn Lynch. Somebody arranged for an abortion, which was performed on August 29. Florence died that day. Dr. James Aldrich was arrested on murder by abortion charges that day for the girl's death. However, the coroner's jury was unable to confirm that Aldrich had performed the abortion, and he was released. Florence's father, Louis C. Kruse, was booked as an accessory. However, on September 17, both men were cleared by the coroner, and on September 19 they were released. The coroner did, however, recommend that Corwyn Lynch be charged with murder. There is no record that Lynch was charged.
How common was it before legalization for somebody with medical training, or even a physician, to be involved in an abortion?
It was rare. Most abortions were performed without any sort of medical oversight at all.
It was seen fairly frequently. About 20% of abortions had a doctor or nurse involved in some role.
It happened about half the time.
It was the rule, rather than the exception. Almost all illegal abortions were performed by doctors, and many of the rest by nurses, midwives, or other people with medical training.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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In 1927, fifteen-year-old Florence Kruse became pregnant as a result of statutory rape by Corwyn Lynch. Somebody arranged for an abortion, which was performed on August 29. Florence died that day. Dr. James Aldrich was arrested on murder by abortion charges that day for the girl's death. However, the coroner's jury was unable to confirm that Aldrich had performed the abortion, and he was released. Florence's father, Louis C. Kruse, was booked as an accessory. However, on September 17, both men were cleared by the coroner, and on September 19 they were released. The coroner did, however, recommend that Corwyn Lynch be charged with murder. There is no record that Lynch was charged.
How common was it before legalization for somebody with medical training, or even a physician, to be involved in an abortion?
It was rare. Most abortions were performed without any sort of medical oversight at all.
It was seen fairly frequently. About 20% of abortions had a doctor or nurse involved in some role.
It happened about half the time.
It was the rule, rather than the exception. Almost all illegal abortions were performed by doctors, and many of the rest by nurses, midwives, or other people with medical training.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sad news -- with a correction
Two-headed baby boy Kiron dies at home
A pair of dicephalic twins was born in Bangladesh. Their parents, who could not afford medical care, took them home. They developed respiratory problems and a fever, and died.
To reiterate -- There were two children. If you doubt it, consider the Hensel twins:
Did the boys die because of lack of medical care? I can't say. After all, conjoined twins rarely survive to birth, and frequently die soon afterward, due to malformations in their internal organs. Boys also have a higher risk of death than girls -- as do all male children.
I would like to have known about the boys, and to have seen a fund set up to provide their medical care. I certainly would have readily contributed.
Of course, the death of a child is always sad, the deaths of two children doubly sad. But considering how rare it is for such children to survive to birth, this is more a happy story that ended too soon. Whether it could have been lived out longer we will likely never know.
A pair of dicephalic twins was born in Bangladesh. Their parents, who could not afford medical care, took them home. They developed respiratory problems and a fever, and died.
To reiterate -- There were two children. If you doubt it, consider the Hensel twins:
Did the boys die because of lack of medical care? I can't say. After all, conjoined twins rarely survive to birth, and frequently die soon afterward, due to malformations in their internal organs. Boys also have a higher risk of death than girls -- as do all male children.
I would like to have known about the boys, and to have seen a fund set up to provide their medical care. I certainly would have readily contributed.
Of course, the death of a child is always sad, the deaths of two children doubly sad. But considering how rare it is for such children to survive to birth, this is more a happy story that ended too soon. Whether it could have been lived out longer we will likely never know.
1943: Abortion sepsis or ingrown toenail?
Naomi Congdon, age 21, was the wife of Donald Congdon, a sailor from Denver, stationed in Norman, Oklahoma. She died in an Oklahoma hospital on August 28, 1943.
The string of events that led to her death begaon on July 27, 1943, when Dr. Andrew Young examined Naomi and noted that she was pregnant, and also that she had an ingrown toenail that was infected. The infection, he said, was "minor".
Naomi told her husband that she wanted to "do something" about the pregnancy. She even admitted to him that she had ingested turpentine to try to cause an abortion, but had vomited it back up. Donald objected to the idea of an abortion.
On August 16, Donald found a note from his wife, telling him that she was at the home of Mrs. Lena Griffin Smith, a 63-year-old maternity nurse in Oklahoma City. Donald went there and found his wife in great pain. He contacted doctors at the naval base, who instructed him to have Naomi brought to the base hospital. Donald called an ambulance and rode with his wife to the hospital.
After Naomi was hospitalized, Smith called Donald and asked if she was going to face further questioning. Donald said he didn't think so, since Naomi hadn't died from the abortion.
Police raided Smith's practice at her residence, finding one woman in bed recuperating from an abortion, and another just arriving for "treatment" she had already paid for. Smith confessed that she had been operating an abortion business for about 15 years. She had an accomplice, Mrs. Pearl Green, who was also a nurse. Smith herself had attended medical school for two years.
On August 19, a Navy doctor examined Naomi and found she had a fever of 103 from an infection that appeared to have started in her uterus. He administered sulfa drugs and blood transfusions. But despite the efforts of the Navy doctors, Naomi died of septicemia on August 28.
Smith was charged with first-degree manslaughter. Her defense claimed that Naomi had already been feverish when she'd come for care, and that the fatal infection had originated in the ingrown toenail. Dr. R. S. Love testified that at the autopsy he conducted he could not determine absolutely if the septicemia had come from the foot infection or an abortion, but in cross-examination the prosecution wondered how a woman in otherwise good health could have died on August 28 from an ingrown toenail that had been observed as a "minor" infection a month earlier. The defense also noted that Naomi's landlady had found turpentine, ergot, and douche powders in Naomi's room, indicating that Naomi herself had initiated the abortion and thus allowed the toenail infection to take hold and become fatal. However, Donald noted in his testimony that on August 15, the day prior to the visit to Smith, Naomi had been in apparent good health and had even gone on a trip to Turner Falls for the day with some friends.
The jury found Smith guilty, and recommended a 10-year sentence.
Smith also faced manslaughter charges regarding the death of an infant born in an Oklahoma City hospital after Smith had attempted to perform an abortion on the child's mother.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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The string of events that led to her death begaon on July 27, 1943, when Dr. Andrew Young examined Naomi and noted that she was pregnant, and also that she had an ingrown toenail that was infected. The infection, he said, was "minor".
Naomi told her husband that she wanted to "do something" about the pregnancy. She even admitted to him that she had ingested turpentine to try to cause an abortion, but had vomited it back up. Donald objected to the idea of an abortion.
On August 16, Donald found a note from his wife, telling him that she was at the home of Mrs. Lena Griffin Smith, a 63-year-old maternity nurse in Oklahoma City. Donald went there and found his wife in great pain. He contacted doctors at the naval base, who instructed him to have Naomi brought to the base hospital. Donald called an ambulance and rode with his wife to the hospital.
After Naomi was hospitalized, Smith called Donald and asked if she was going to face further questioning. Donald said he didn't think so, since Naomi hadn't died from the abortion.
Police raided Smith's practice at her residence, finding one woman in bed recuperating from an abortion, and another just arriving for "treatment" she had already paid for. Smith confessed that she had been operating an abortion business for about 15 years. She had an accomplice, Mrs. Pearl Green, who was also a nurse. Smith herself had attended medical school for two years.
On August 19, a Navy doctor examined Naomi and found she had a fever of 103 from an infection that appeared to have started in her uterus. He administered sulfa drugs and blood transfusions. But despite the efforts of the Navy doctors, Naomi died of septicemia on August 28.
Smith was charged with first-degree manslaughter. Her defense claimed that Naomi had already been feverish when she'd come for care, and that the fatal infection had originated in the ingrown toenail. Dr. R. S. Love testified that at the autopsy he conducted he could not determine absolutely if the septicemia had come from the foot infection or an abortion, but in cross-examination the prosecution wondered how a woman in otherwise good health could have died on August 28 from an ingrown toenail that had been observed as a "minor" infection a month earlier. The defense also noted that Naomi's landlady had found turpentine, ergot, and douche powders in Naomi's room, indicating that Naomi herself had initiated the abortion and thus allowed the toenail infection to take hold and become fatal. However, Donald noted in his testimony that on August 15, the day prior to the visit to Smith, Naomi had been in apparent good health and had even gone on a trip to Turner Falls for the day with some friends.
The jury found Smith guilty, and recommended a 10-year sentence.
Smith also faced manslaughter charges regarding the death of an infant born in an Oklahoma City hospital after Smith had attempted to perform an abortion on the child's mother.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1926: Who was Minnie Miller?
On August 28, 1926, 44-year-old Margaret Muscia died from a criminal abortion performed that day in Chicago. Mrs. Minnie Miller, alias Molinaro, was arrested on July 10 for Margaret's death. Minnie's profession is not given. On November 15, she was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Just tissue, or what?
Is the fetus a "blob of tissue"? Big Blue Wave does an excellent job addressing this question, along with the standard ad hominem attacks. I would add that there are circumstances in which the "products of conception" really are just tissue; nobody objects at all to the removal and disposal of said tissue.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
You're doing it wrong!
Real headline: "Md. Teacher Charged With Giving Students Cocaine"
Everybody knows you want to feed the little buggers Quaaludes! Or blow them some shotguns. As I teacher, I can vouch for this. They're hyper enough without adding cocaine to the mix.
Everybody knows you want to feed the little buggers Quaaludes! Or blow them some shotguns. As I teacher, I can vouch for this. They're hyper enough without adding cocaine to the mix.
New video: Laura Smith's parents speak out
Laura Hope Smith's parents, Tom and Eileen Smith, tell their story:
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Bed and Sofa
I stumbled across this clip from a 1927 silent Soviet film, Tretya meshchanskaya, entitled Bed and Sofa in English. The clip is called, for some reason, "The Abortion", though Liudmila leaves before her turn comes up.
Notice the way the men made the choice.
Notice the impersonal "Take a number" clinic.
Notice the dreary waiting room, and the cross-section of aborters populating it.
Most of all, notice the nurse's reaction when she looks out the window and realizes what it was that prompted Liudmila's departure.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Notice the way the men made the choice.
Notice the impersonal "Take a number" clinic.
Notice the dreary waiting room, and the cross-section of aborters populating it.
Most of all, notice the nurse's reaction when she looks out the window and realizes what it was that prompted Liudmila's departure.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Let the fiesta begin!
As I watch the electoral process unfolding, I am think of these sage words from writer P.J. O'Rourke:
I'm tempted to add to that, or elaborate on it, or give examples. But why bother? It captures the system in a nutshell.
The moment a candidate comes along that actually has something new to say -- Alan Keyes springs to mind -- I get excited. I think that maybe, just maybe, we might have some intelligent discourse. O'Rourke captured this well, too:
Obama gets treated as if he's saying something new, but is he? An Obama speech sounds like one of the spiels you get at the Holiday Inn for free right before the speaker tries to sell you his Motivational CD Series for a mere $89.99. Zaphod Beeblebrox had more substance, and less of an ego.
An election gives the public a Punch-and-Judy show, a chance to watch grownups smack at each other. It's trite and childish, but at least it engages our attention for a while. When the election is over, it's back to business as usual. Whatever that is. Who can tell? Bills get debated, laws get passed, resolutions are made. And what changes? Who can tell?
The areas where the government has the most control over our lives are the areas of regulation and spending, and even if the media did bother to give us decent coverage of that process, we'd all fall asleep. As O'Rourke said:
Do I sound cynical? I always do, when it comes to politics. And in an election year, everything is politics.
I think, sometimes, that what passes for politics in the United States is actually an elaborate charade designed to draw our attention away from what's really happening where the real power is. And when we had Bill Clinton in the White House (the closest thing to Zaphod Beeblebrox to be found among one-headed, two-armed earthlings until Obama's appearance, a la Harold Saxon from Doctor Who), I start to think that P. J. O'Rourke has just a faint idea what's really going on. Douglas Adams (author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) has it right. The job of President isn't to wield power, but to draw our attention away from it. Maybe the person we need in the White House isn't a leader or a politician. Maybe we need a blabbermouth. We need somebody who will spend the State of the Union Address saying, "You should see what wrangling goes on behind the scenes here!" And then tell us.
P.J. O'Rourke quotes from Parliament of Whores
The American political system is like a gigantic Mexican Christmas fiesta. Each political party is a huge pinata - a paper mache donkey, for example. The donkey is filled with full employment, low interest rates, affordable housing, comprehensive medical benefits, a balanced budget, and other goodies. The American voter is blindfolded and given a stick. The voter then swings the stick wildly in every direction, trying to hit a political candidate on the head and knock some sense into the silly bastard.
I'm tempted to add to that, or elaborate on it, or give examples. But why bother? It captures the system in a nutshell.
The moment a candidate comes along that actually has something new to say -- Alan Keyes springs to mind -- I get excited. I think that maybe, just maybe, we might have some intelligent discourse. O'Rourke captured this well, too:
In the American political system, you're only allowed to have real ideas if it's absolutely guaranteed that you can't win an election.
Obama gets treated as if he's saying something new, but is he? An Obama speech sounds like one of the spiels you get at the Holiday Inn for free right before the speaker tries to sell you his Motivational CD Series for a mere $89.99. Zaphod Beeblebrox had more substance, and less of an ego.
An election gives the public a Punch-and-Judy show, a chance to watch grownups smack at each other. It's trite and childish, but at least it engages our attention for a while. When the election is over, it's back to business as usual. Whatever that is. Who can tell? Bills get debated, laws get passed, resolutions are made. And what changes? Who can tell?
The areas where the government has the most control over our lives are the areas of regulation and spending, and even if the media did bother to give us decent coverage of that process, we'd all fall asleep. As O'Rourke said:
Government is so tedious that sometimes you wonder if the government isn't being boring on purpose. Maybe they're trying to put us to sleep so we won't notice what they're doing. Every aspect of our existence is affected by government, so naturally we want to keep an eye on the thing. Yet whenever we regular citizens try to read a book on government or watch one of those TV public affairs programs about government or listen to anything anybody who's in the government is saying, we feel like high-school students who've fallen two weeks behind in their algebra class. .... This could be intentional. Our government could be attempting to establish a Dictatorship of Boredom in this country. The last person left awake gets to spend all
the tax money.
Do I sound cynical? I always do, when it comes to politics. And in an election year, everything is politics.
I think, sometimes, that what passes for politics in the United States is actually an elaborate charade designed to draw our attention away from what's really happening where the real power is. And when we had Bill Clinton in the White House (the closest thing to Zaphod Beeblebrox to be found among one-headed, two-armed earthlings until Obama's appearance, a la Harold Saxon from Doctor Who), I start to think that P. J. O'Rourke has just a faint idea what's really going on. Douglas Adams (author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) has it right. The job of President isn't to wield power, but to draw our attention away from it. Maybe the person we need in the White House isn't a leader or a politician. Maybe we need a blabbermouth. We need somebody who will spend the State of the Union Address saying, "You should see what wrangling goes on behind the scenes here!" And then tell us.
P.J. O'Rourke quotes from Parliament of Whores
It's 3 AM and You Have a Speech You Gave in 2002
I would love to be a fly on the wall when Obama's people tear into Hillary for this little gem!
HT: Dakota Voice
Monday, August 25, 2008
Born Alive
Since there's so much coverage lately of Obama's reluctance to have any pediatrician second-guess an abortionist's attempt to kill a baby, I've updated the Dreaded Complication page, and added a few other cases of live births triggered by abortion attempts.
Like many aspects of abortion advocacy, Obama's claim that the abortionist can be trusted to admit that he screwed up, and to just send a viable baby to the NICU, doesn't begin to pass the logic test. As abortion advocate David Grimes of the CDC once said, "It's like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit." Nobody's going to want to say to the mother, "Oh! Remember that dead fetus I promised you? Well, we've got a live, injured baby, and you're gonna be dealing with maybe a quarter million dollar medical bill for the neonatal intensive care unit. Would you promise not to sue if I refunded your abortion fee?"
That ain't gonna happen. They're gonna say, as did William Baxter Waddill (pictured), "This baby can't live or it will be a big mess."
I don't recall a single case of a baby surviving an abortion in which the abortionist was the one who sought medical care for the child. If the baby was born at a freestanding facility, he was pretty much doomed. If he was born during an abortion being performed at a hospital, a nurse might bring him to the NICU. His best chance of survival was if his mother was sent home still pregnant, with the expectation that she'd either expel a dead fetus or return later to finish the job; his mom might go to a hospital unaffiliated with the abortionist, and then the child would get the same care he'd get if he'd have been born prematurely for any other cause besides abortion.
Feel free to prove me wrong. Give me one case in which it was the abortionist who noticed that the expelled "fetus" wasn't dead yet and sought medical care for him.
Like many aspects of abortion advocacy, Obama's claim that the abortionist can be trusted to admit that he screwed up, and to just send a viable baby to the NICU, doesn't begin to pass the logic test. As abortion advocate David Grimes of the CDC once said, "It's like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit." Nobody's going to want to say to the mother, "Oh! Remember that dead fetus I promised you? Well, we've got a live, injured baby, and you're gonna be dealing with maybe a quarter million dollar medical bill for the neonatal intensive care unit. Would you promise not to sue if I refunded your abortion fee?"
That ain't gonna happen. They're gonna say, as did William Baxter Waddill (pictured), "This baby can't live or it will be a big mess."I don't recall a single case of a baby surviving an abortion in which the abortionist was the one who sought medical care for the child. If the baby was born at a freestanding facility, he was pretty much doomed. If he was born during an abortion being performed at a hospital, a nurse might bring him to the NICU. His best chance of survival was if his mother was sent home still pregnant, with the expectation that she'd either expel a dead fetus or return later to finish the job; his mom might go to a hospital unaffiliated with the abortionist, and then the child would get the same care he'd get if he'd have been born prematurely for any other cause besides abortion.
Feel free to prove me wrong. Give me one case in which it was the abortionist who noticed that the expelled "fetus" wasn't dead yet and sought medical care for him.
What if McCain was friends with Eric Rudolph?
Shock & Blog points out the the MSM are ignoring the Obama/Ayers link, but that if McCain's political career had been launched from the home of an abortion clinic bomber, the networks and papers would be all over it.
Why does this guy get a walk?
1980: A trash bag is not aftercare
On August 23, 1980, 26-year-old Betty Jane Zellers Damato went to Dr. James Franklin in Denver, Colorado, for a safe, legal abortion. According to Betty's family, Franklin did not remove all of the fetus. He instead gave Betty a trash bag, and instructions to collect whatever she expelled in the bag and bring it to him.
Two days later, Betty was dead from infection.
Franklin told a grand jury that he did not perform the fatal abortion. He claimed that he had examined Betty, found a dead fetus, and sent her to the hospital. A jury convicted him of manslaughter in Betty's death on October 19, 1981, and he was sentenced to prison for three years.
Other abortionists have also faced charges in the death of legal abortion patients:
Dr. Robert Sherman was charged with murder in the 1975 abortion death of Rita McDowell.
Frank Robinson was charged with murder in the 1982 abortion death of Jennifer Suddeth.
David Benjamin was indicted for murder in the 1993 abortion death of Guadalupe Negron.
Bruce Steir (rhymes with "fear") was charged with murder in the 1996 abortion death of Sharon Hamplton (Pictured, with her son, Curtis).
John Biskind was charged with homicide in the 1998 abortion death of Lou Ann Herron.
Dr. Rapin Osathanondh was indicted on manslaughter charges in the 2007 abortion death of Laura Hope Smith (Pictured).
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Two days later, Betty was dead from infection.
Franklin told a grand jury that he did not perform the fatal abortion. He claimed that he had examined Betty, found a dead fetus, and sent her to the hospital. A jury convicted him of manslaughter in Betty's death on October 19, 1981, and he was sentenced to prison for three years.
Other abortionists have also faced charges in the death of legal abortion patients:
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Search: Second-trimester abortions
Then there was Margot, who thought she was in the first trimester, was informed that she was 14 weeks pregnant, but who turned out to be 20 weeks pregnant. Brenda (scroll down) thought she was in the first trimester but turned out to be 14 weeks pregnant. Rosa Rodriguez thought she was in the early 2nd trimester but turned out to be over 30 weeks. Bianca (scroll down) thought she was about 12 weeks pregnant, but turned out to be around 18 weeks. Hattie thought she was 16 weeks but turned out to be 20. Nadine Bourne thought she was 14 - 16 weeks pregnant when her abortion caused the birth of a live, disabled baby. Tanisha thought she was 16 weeks but turned out to be in the third trimester. Jean thought she was in the first trimester but turned out to be 19 weeks pregnant. Janet Foster turned out to be 19 weeks pregnant, not 12 weeks. The same was true of Eurice Agbagaa.
There are these borderline abortions performed at Midtown Hospital.
Lou Ann Herron was said to be 23 weeks pregnant but was probably over 24 weeks. Her abortionist, John Biskind, had estimated another woman as around 23 weeks only to attempt to abort a near-term infant.
Why are they done?
And British abortionist/inventor David Sopher was quite adept at them.
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Nancy Pelosi: Roe trumps all
Nancy Pelosi “Meet the Press” transcript
Staggeringly, amazingly, unbelievably, Tom Browkaw asked Nancy Pelosi how she, as Speaker, would advise Obama about when human life begins. Pelosi, who calls herself "an ardent, practicing Catholic" (in which case I'm Mrs. Craig Ferguson), says:
Bullshit. You can study Catholic teaching for about ten minutes and find out what church doctors have said: You shall not kill.
Which Browkaw, again astonishingly, held her feet to the fire on:
So after her waffling, she concludes that it doesn't really matter when human life begins, because "The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose."
In other words, if she wants it dead, kill it. Don't bother yourself with trivial questions such as "Is this a human being we're pulling to bits?"
She pulls out this old fallback for "Christians" who want to justify abortion: "But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions."
Well, yeah, Nancy. "I have set before you life and death. Therefore choose life." Does this chick really believe that God gave us free will for the express purpose of patting us on the head and calling us good little servants when we choose evil? Or maybe -- this takes a bit of sophistication, Nancy -- did He give us free will so that we could CHOOSE good rather than be constrained to it? Think about when you give your kids a chance to choose. "Fine!" you tell your teenage son. "Go to bed whenever!" Are you just as pleased if the kid stays up until 5 a.m. playing "Grand Theft Auto" as you are if the kid does his homework, reads a story to his sister, and is snoozing under the covers at 10:30? Granting the capacity to make a choice doesn't mean that any choice made is equally valid.
According to Nancy Pelosi, God gave humans free will for the express purpose of allowing the females among us the opportunity to choose abortions!
Then she wriggled off into Contraceptive Land, as if encouraging people to think of sex without reproduction as an entitlement will somehow make them less likely to see abortion as a natural response to pregnancy.
This woman spat out every lame justification she could think of for her support of abortion without ever answering the question. Because, to her, it doesn't matter. If somebody wants it dead, kill it. Don't bother yourself with trivialities like life or death.
Which makes me kind of glad Ms. Pelosi doesn't hunt. I can't see her making very sure her target is a deer and not a fellow hunter with the "When it doubt, kill" attitude she espouses.
Staggeringly, amazingly, unbelievably, Tom Browkaw asked Nancy Pelosi how she, as Speaker, would advise Obama about when human life begins. Pelosi, who calls herself "an ardent, practicing Catholic" (in which case I'm Mrs. Craig Ferguson), says:
I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition.
Bullshit. You can study Catholic teaching for about ten minutes and find out what church doctors have said: You shall not kill.
Which Browkaw, again astonishingly, held her feet to the fire on:
So after her waffling, she concludes that it doesn't really matter when human life begins, because "The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose."
In other words, if she wants it dead, kill it. Don't bother yourself with trivial questions such as "Is this a human being we're pulling to bits?"
She pulls out this old fallback for "Christians" who want to justify abortion: "But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions."
Well, yeah, Nancy. "I have set before you life and death. Therefore choose life." Does this chick really believe that God gave us free will for the express purpose of patting us on the head and calling us good little servants when we choose evil? Or maybe -- this takes a bit of sophistication, Nancy -- did He give us free will so that we could CHOOSE good rather than be constrained to it? Think about when you give your kids a chance to choose. "Fine!" you tell your teenage son. "Go to bed whenever!" Are you just as pleased if the kid stays up until 5 a.m. playing "Grand Theft Auto" as you are if the kid does his homework, reads a story to his sister, and is snoozing under the covers at 10:30? Granting the capacity to make a choice doesn't mean that any choice made is equally valid.
According to Nancy Pelosi, God gave humans free will for the express purpose of allowing the females among us the opportunity to choose abortions!
Then she wriggled off into Contraceptive Land, as if encouraging people to think of sex without reproduction as an entitlement will somehow make them less likely to see abortion as a natural response to pregnancy.
This woman spat out every lame justification she could think of for her support of abortion without ever answering the question. Because, to her, it doesn't matter. If somebody wants it dead, kill it. Don't bother yourself with trivialities like life or death.
Which makes me kind of glad Ms. Pelosi doesn't hunt. I can't see her making very sure her target is a deer and not a fellow hunter with the "When it doubt, kill" attitude she espouses.
Yippee.
Here is a segment from "The most remarkable abortion story ever told" -- a tribute to the Jane abortion syndicate in Chicago. "Jane" was a group of laywomen who set up an abortion ring. In this segment, there is much rejoicing. Why?
Because they screwed up an induction abortion and ended up doing a D&E (The author calls it a "D&C" because the terminology for D&E hadn't been coined yet.) extemporaneously, without their "doctor" present:
What a thing to be proud of. Put that on your resume: I can take apart a baby. And dance a jig with my friends afterward to celebrate.
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Because they screwed up an induction abortion and ended up doing a D&E (The author calls it a "D&C" because the terminology for D&E hadn't been coined yet.) extemporaneously, without their "doctor" present:
Four counselors were working at the apartment one Thursday, breaking water bags and inserting Leunbach paste for long-term miscarriages. [Primitive induction abortions - ed.] The fourth and last patient for the day was a 19-year-old black woman, about 14 weeks pregnant fully counseled and prepared for a labor and miscarriage.
.... We dilated the patient and reached in with a forceps to break the membrane. Two other counselors were talking to the patient and watching.There was the usual gush of water slightly pink with blood—and in the teeth of the forceps the arm of a 14-week fetus.
The counselor who was doing the abortion looked silently at the forceps and its contents for a full ten seconds. The other counselors were silent... watching.
Finally the woman asked, “Is anything wrong.”
“Not at all,” the counselor replied. “In fact, I think we’ll do you direct and get the whole thing over with today.”
Suddenly the room was charged with energy again. One counselor began talking animatedly to the woman, explaining a D&C, while the other stood ready to help. The patient remained calm and confident.
“Okay—this is one of those times when there is no choice but to... so go.
. . . Remember... be cool... we’ve seen it done a thousand times.. . reach in again with the forceps. .. gently explore the wall of the uterus ... feel for loose material . . . twist ever so gently to make sure it’s loose . . . pull slowly through the cervix.
...Another arm and hand...a big piece of placenta . . a leg . . . an endless length of tiny intestine . . . a large bone that comes with a stronger tug—a shoulder . . .
. . . The woman winces as a hip bone is pulled through the cervix . . . the other leg . . . the ribs . . . a two inch length of backbone.
. . . Now with each tug, there’s a small gush of blood. Only the head is left. Forget that for now and get the placenta off the wall so the bleeding will stop— switch to a curette and scrape the placenta down towards the opening.
Now . . . back to the forceps—in and out, in and out—pulling the loose placenta out. The bleeding stops almost entirely.
Now feel with the forceps, find the head, crush it and pull. Harder. The patient moans softly as a piece of skull is pulled out, then the next piece, and finally the last piece.
....
“There. All done.”
....
Suddenly the room is in bedlam. One counselor is jumping around and yelling, “We can do it ourselves! From now on, we can do it ourselves!”
What a thing to be proud of. Put that on your resume: I can take apart a baby. And dance a jig with my friends afterward to celebrate.
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"It's easy to be given choices when you're not the one that has to walk them out."
Based on Angele's experience watching her baby drown in an abortion clinic toilet.
That first line nails it.
"It's easy to be given choices when you're not the one that has to walk them out."
Frontline: Abortion Clinic
"I wake up. Someone is crying. Someone is bleeding. It's me. It's me."
There's more.
And more.
And more.
And still...
"It's easy to be given choices when you're not the one that has to walk them out."
Who needs Dr. Cornelsen?
Back in 1977, William Baxter Waddill got himself into a peck of trouble in California. A baby had been born alive during a saline abortion. As required by law, Waddill had called in a pediatrician -- in this case, Dr. Ronald Cornelsen -- to assess the baby. Waddill told Cornelsen, "If we all tell the same story, there will be no trouble. ... So long as we stand together, no one anywhere can make any accusations anywhere. ... Do not get squirrely. Just tell them exactly as we've discussed. Just say you went in, there was no heartbeat and you left."
The baby was well into viability -- over 30 weeks gestational age, in fact -- and much to Waddill's consternation she wouldn't stop breathing. In front of witnesses, Waddill strangled the little girl. He beat the murder rap because an obscure legal definition of "death" resulted in a hung jury.
The Born Alive Infants Protection act would remove any ambiguity in the law. A doctor who strangled a baby born alive as a result of an abortion would be legally culpable in that child's death.
Well, a recording has surfaced that makes it clear why Obama voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. He wanted to keep those pesky Dr. Cornelsens out of the room so that abortionists could deal with their screw-ups in privacy. Hear it for yourself here (MP3) or here (wav):
(See the entire post and more context to Obama's comments at Jill Stanek's blog.)
Obama, on the advice of his abortionist friends at the Medical Society, clearly doesn't want witnesses like Dr. Cornelsen being involved in the neglect (or strangulation) deaths of babies who survive abortions. The Dreaded Complication is something that abortionists want to keep "in the family" as it were -- away from the prying eyes of pediatricians who might be tempted to say, as Dr. Cornelsen said to Waddill, that the baby belongs in the NICU, unmolested. And the last thing an abortionist wants is a pediatrician in court -- as Waddill had Cornelsen -- providing expert testimony that the child could have survived.
The baby was well into viability -- over 30 weeks gestational age, in fact -- and much to Waddill's consternation she wouldn't stop breathing. In front of witnesses, Waddill strangled the little girl. He beat the murder rap because an obscure legal definition of "death" resulted in a hung jury.
The Born Alive Infants Protection act would remove any ambiguity in the law. A doctor who strangled a baby born alive as a result of an abortion would be legally culpable in that child's death.
Well, a recording has surfaced that makes it clear why Obama voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. He wanted to keep those pesky Dr. Cornelsens out of the room so that abortionists could deal with their screw-ups in privacy. Hear it for yourself here (MP3) or here (wav):
I suspect and my impression is, is that the Medical Society suspects as well that doctors feel that they would be under that obligation, that they would already be making these determinations and that, essentially, adding a -- an additional doctor who then has to be called in an emergency situation to come in and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion.
(See the entire post and more context to Obama's comments at Jill Stanek's blog.)
Obama, on the advice of his abortionist friends at the Medical Society, clearly doesn't want witnesses like Dr. Cornelsen being involved in the neglect (or strangulation) deaths of babies who survive abortions. The Dreaded Complication is something that abortionists want to keep "in the family" as it were -- away from the prying eyes of pediatricians who might be tempted to say, as Dr. Cornelsen said to Waddill, that the baby belongs in the NICU, unmolested. And the last thing an abortionist wants is a pediatrician in court -- as Waddill had Cornelsen -- providing expert testimony that the child could have survived.
1955: Mystery abortion victim is actually heiress
On August 24, 1955, the body of a young woman identified as Shirley Silver was brought the morgue in Philadelphia from the North Philadelphia apartment of bartender Milton Schwarts and his beautician wife, Rosalie. The young woman, they said, had suddenly taken ill and collapsed while sitting on a sofa in their living room. But when machinations were begun the next day to try to remove the young woman's body without an autopsy, her real identity was revealed, and a scandal rocked the city.
The dead woman was Doris Jean Silver Ostreicher, a 22-year-old heiress. Doris had made front page news when she eloped in a "fairy tale romance" with Earl Ostreicher, a 29-year-old motorcycle cop from Miami Beach, in late June of 1955. Ostreicher was the son of a Chicago fuel dealer. He held that he'd not known that his beautiful red-haired bride was wealthy. She'd told him, he said, that her father was a butcher, not vice president of the Food Fair chain of grocery stores.
But fairy tale romances don't always lead to fairy tale marriages. Within a few weeks, Doris evidently was disillusioned, and had separated from her husband, returning to her family's Philadelphia home.
On August 23 and 24, Doris' mother, Gertrude Silver, had taken her daughter to an obstetrician, Dr. Jacob Hoffman. Mrs. Silver had been "very unhappy" about the possibility that her daughter was pregnant. Hoffman himself was not certain that Doris was pregnant, since at that time a 6-week pregnancy was difficult to definitively diagnose.
Hoffman didn't indicate that Mrs. Silver was seeking an abortion for Doris, but seek one she did, taking her to the Schwartz's apartment on August 24. Somebody had used some sort of instrument, augmented with some "vegetable compound" to try to induce an abortion. Within an hour, Doris reported feeling unwell, along with chest pains. She collapsed and died. Her pregnancy, along with the attempt to abort the baby, was confirmed at autopsy. She had died from collapsed lungs and overwhelming shock.
When police searched the Schwartz apartment, they found abortion instruments there, including syringes, medications, dry mustard, absorbent cotton, mineral oil, and olive oil, along with a metal tube that was believed to be the fatal instrument in Doris' abortion.
Rosalie Schwartz had tried to claim that she and her husband had known the Silver family for at least ten years, but Doris' father, Herman, indicated that he'd never seen or heard of either of the Schwartzes.
The Schwartzes pleaded no contest for their role in the young woman's death. Rosalie got a sentence of indeterminate length, while Milton was sentenced to 3-10 years. Both were paroled after 11 months, based on a "pathetic" letter from their grown son asking that his parents be freed in time for Christmas.
Doris' mother, who was hospitalized for "bereavement shock" in the early days after her daughter's death, was charged as an accessory. She was fined and given a suspended sentence for her role in her daughter's death. The judge said that he considered the memory of how her daughter had died "substantial punishment."
How common was it before legalization for a woman to resort to somebody like the Schwartzes, with no medical training, for an abortion?
Well over 70% of the time.
Roughly half of the time.
About 1/3 of the time.
Less than 10% of the time.
Doris was not the only wealthy woman to die at the hands of an abortionist. Florence Nimick Schnoor, wealthy grand-niece of Andrew Carnegie, arranged a "brutal and inept" illegal abortion for herself in 1942; the perpetrator was never caught. Jane Ward, heiress of the Drake Bakeries fortune, managed to find a physician who fatally bungled her abortion in 1947. Did fear of discovery lead some wealthy women to "slum it" when seeking abortionists? Was there an aspect of deliberately courting danger as a way of self-punishment? Was it sheer crummy luck that led them to quackery, like when Barbara Lofrumento's parents chose a Princeton graduate and got a butcher? Perhaps each dynamic could play a different role in different women's deaths.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
The dead woman was Doris Jean Silver Ostreicher, a 22-year-old heiress. Doris had made front page news when she eloped in a "fairy tale romance" with Earl Ostreicher, a 29-year-old motorcycle cop from Miami Beach, in late June of 1955. Ostreicher was the son of a Chicago fuel dealer. He held that he'd not known that his beautiful red-haired bride was wealthy. She'd told him, he said, that her father was a butcher, not vice president of the Food Fair chain of grocery stores.
But fairy tale romances don't always lead to fairy tale marriages. Within a few weeks, Doris evidently was disillusioned, and had separated from her husband, returning to her family's Philadelphia home.
On August 23 and 24, Doris' mother, Gertrude Silver, had taken her daughter to an obstetrician, Dr. Jacob Hoffman. Mrs. Silver had been "very unhappy" about the possibility that her daughter was pregnant. Hoffman himself was not certain that Doris was pregnant, since at that time a 6-week pregnancy was difficult to definitively diagnose.
Hoffman didn't indicate that Mrs. Silver was seeking an abortion for Doris, but seek one she did, taking her to the Schwartz's apartment on August 24. Somebody had used some sort of instrument, augmented with some "vegetable compound" to try to induce an abortion. Within an hour, Doris reported feeling unwell, along with chest pains. She collapsed and died. Her pregnancy, along with the attempt to abort the baby, was confirmed at autopsy. She had died from collapsed lungs and overwhelming shock.
When police searched the Schwartz apartment, they found abortion instruments there, including syringes, medications, dry mustard, absorbent cotton, mineral oil, and olive oil, along with a metal tube that was believed to be the fatal instrument in Doris' abortion.
Rosalie Schwartz had tried to claim that she and her husband had known the Silver family for at least ten years, but Doris' father, Herman, indicated that he'd never seen or heard of either of the Schwartzes.
The Schwartzes pleaded no contest for their role in the young woman's death. Rosalie got a sentence of indeterminate length, while Milton was sentenced to 3-10 years. Both were paroled after 11 months, based on a "pathetic" letter from their grown son asking that his parents be freed in time for Christmas.
Doris' mother, who was hospitalized for "bereavement shock" in the early days after her daughter's death, was charged as an accessory. She was fined and given a suspended sentence for her role in her daughter's death. The judge said that he considered the memory of how her daughter had died "substantial punishment."
Well over 70% of the time.
Roughly half of the time.
About 1/3 of the time.
Less than 10% of the time.
Doris was not the only wealthy woman to die at the hands of an abortionist. Florence Nimick Schnoor, wealthy grand-niece of Andrew Carnegie, arranged a "brutal and inept" illegal abortion for herself in 1942; the perpetrator was never caught. Jane Ward, heiress of the Drake Bakeries fortune, managed to find a physician who fatally bungled her abortion in 1947. Did fear of discovery lead some wealthy women to "slum it" when seeking abortionists? Was there an aspect of deliberately courting danger as a way of self-punishment? Was it sheer crummy luck that led them to quackery, like when Barbara Lofrumento's parents chose a Princeton graduate and got a butcher? Perhaps each dynamic could play a different role in different women's deaths.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Saturday, August 23, 2008
Another ringing endorsement
HT: Big Blue Wave
What To Expect When You're Aborting. (As catchy as "What To Expect When You're Expecting"?)
As did BBW, I'll highlight what particularly struck me:
Hey, typical retail markup is 100%. Assuming PP buys them at the drugstore they're giving you a discount! Right? I mean, it's not like they get a discount for bulk pregnancy tests!
Who wants to bet they bill them as "specimen containers" at $8 a pop when they get tax reimbursement for the pregnancy tests?
She spoke with a doctor before the abortion? That is astonishing. But getting an "Options Counselor" whose "speciality is apperantly aborting, not communication"?
What a surprise. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and die from that surprise.
Um, are there some RU-486 deaths PP isn't telling us about? Because the dead RU-486 patients we know about died from sepsis, not hemorrhage.
Par for the course at Planned Parenthood.
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What To Expect When You're Aborting. (As catchy as "What To Expect When You're Expecting"?)
As did BBW, I'll highlight what particularly struck me:
They give you walk-in pregnancy tests. $18 bones ($12.99 at your local drugstore. Not sure what the mark up is about. It’s not a blood test.
Hey, typical retail markup is 100%. Assuming PP buys them at the drugstore they're giving you a discount! Right? I mean, it's not like they get a discount for bulk pregnancy tests!
I peed into a dixie up. Dixie cups, the HEIGHT of medical technology).
Who wants to bet they bill them as "specimen containers" at $8 a pop when they get tax reimbursement for the pregnancy tests?
I asked to meet with a “Options Counselor”.
The O.C. was doctor, but one of these doctor’s whose speciality is apperantly aborting, not communication.
She spoke with a doctor before the abortion? That is astonishing. But getting an "Options Counselor" whose "speciality is apperantly aborting, not communication"?
What a surprise. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and die from that surprise.
In the waiting room I decided I would just get the [abortion] pill asap. So when I asked what she believed the pros and cons were to doing the pill she busted:
“No..no..just do the surgical. Then you don’t have to do it alone.” Which is nice that they believe in the buddy system but didn’t do much to help me weigh my options.
After some pushing, she finally explained blurted out that I could hemorrhage and I would be alone. She said that they generally always recommend the surgery.
Um, are there some RU-486 deaths PP isn't telling us about? Because the dead RU-486 patients we know about died from sepsis, not hemorrhage.
Made me feel helpless and uninformed.
Par for the course at Planned Parenthood.
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1974: "Wall-to-wall blood"
Twenty-five-year-old Dorothy Muzorewa, a nurse, had recently immigrated to the Chicago area from Zimbabwe. A journalist's notes after her death tell the following story:
Dorothy went to Women's Aid Clinic for a safe and legal abortion on June 15, 1974. The fetus didn't die, however, and Dorothy returned to the clinic on August 21 to report her symptoms. Staff told her to return the following day.
On August 22, Dorothy again returned to Women's Aid, bleeding and in pain. David Turow examined Dorothy, diagnosed an infection, and sent her home with prescriptions for tetracycline to control the infection and ergonovine to control the bleeding.
Dorothy's husband said that he awoke at around 6:00 on the morning of August 23 to find his wife bleeding profusely. Dorothy assured him that she was just menstruating, so he left for school. When he returned home, he was alarmed by Dorothy's bleeding and called an ambulance.
Dorothy was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after noon. Only after her death did her husband, a theology student, learn of the pregancy and abortion.
A witness in Dorothy's apartment described the bedroom as "wall to wall blood." He found the fetus in a waste basket and put it in the refrigerator for safekeeping.
The coroner ruled Dorothy's death from hemorrhage accidental.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Dorothy went to Women's Aid Clinic for a safe and legal abortion on June 15, 1974. The fetus didn't die, however, and Dorothy returned to the clinic on August 21 to report her symptoms. Staff told her to return the following day.
On August 22, Dorothy again returned to Women's Aid, bleeding and in pain. David Turow examined Dorothy, diagnosed an infection, and sent her home with prescriptions for tetracycline to control the infection and ergonovine to control the bleeding.
Dorothy's husband said that he awoke at around 6:00 on the morning of August 23 to find his wife bleeding profusely. Dorothy assured him that she was just menstruating, so he left for school. When he returned home, he was alarmed by Dorothy's bleeding and called an ambulance.
Dorothy was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after noon. Only after her death did her husband, a theology student, learn of the pregancy and abortion.
A witness in Dorothy's apartment described the bedroom as "wall to wall blood." He found the fetus in a waste basket and put it in the refrigerator for safekeeping.
The coroner ruled Dorothy's death from hemorrhage accidental.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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1870: Mystery abortion leaves teen bride dead
Mrs. Lafavor, the 15-year-old wife of Frank Lafavor, was "the victim of ... inhuman outrage". Her father, Samuel Shearer, was "a worthy and respectable farmer of this vicinity." Frank had married his young bride over the objections of her family in March of 1870.
The couple had settled as tenants on the farm of Thomas McIntyre.
On August 15, Frank went with McIntyre to Rushford with two loads of wheat, leaving Mrs. Lafavor feeling unwell. She left the home herself at about 7 a.m. "The neighbors became alarmed at her absence from home and made search for her in every direction without success" until about midnight, "when she was discovered dragging herself around the corner of her dwelling more dead than alive."
The neighbors took her to the McIntyre house and summoned medical aid. Two doctors came to her aid, Dr. Thomas and Dr. Case. The found her to be in critical condition, examined her, and and asked her if she had undergone an abortion. She admitted that she had taken some sort of abortifacient that day, but refused to say who she had gotten it from.
"Everything possible was done to restore her, but after suffering intensely for a whole week and died on Tuesday morning last [August 23] at about eight o'clock."
The neighborhood had been agog since the events first started unfolding. The day after Mrs. Lafavor's death, the coroner and coroner's jury arrived at the McIntyre home to perform the inquest. Dr. Thomas and Dr. Case came to perform the autopsy.
Mrs. Lafavor's mother testified that her daughter was raised up in bed five minutes before her death to make her dying declaration, but all she was able to say ws, "Tommy gave it to me! Tommy gave it to me!"
Thus the young bride's landlord, Thomas McIntyre, was charged with her death.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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The couple had settled as tenants on the farm of Thomas McIntyre.
On August 15, Frank went with McIntyre to Rushford with two loads of wheat, leaving Mrs. Lafavor feeling unwell. She left the home herself at about 7 a.m. "The neighbors became alarmed at her absence from home and made search for her in every direction without success" until about midnight, "when she was discovered dragging herself around the corner of her dwelling more dead than alive."
The neighbors took her to the McIntyre house and summoned medical aid. Two doctors came to her aid, Dr. Thomas and Dr. Case. The found her to be in critical condition, examined her, and and asked her if she had undergone an abortion. She admitted that she had taken some sort of abortifacient that day, but refused to say who she had gotten it from.
"Everything possible was done to restore her, but after suffering intensely for a whole week and died on Tuesday morning last [August 23] at about eight o'clock."
The neighborhood had been agog since the events first started unfolding. The day after Mrs. Lafavor's death, the coroner and coroner's jury arrived at the McIntyre home to perform the inquest. Dr. Thomas and Dr. Case came to perform the autopsy.
Mrs. Lafavor's mother testified that her daughter was raised up in bed five minutes before her death to make her dying declaration, but all she was able to say ws, "Tommy gave it to me! Tommy gave it to me!"
Thus the young bride's landlord, Thomas McIntyre, was charged with her death.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1927: Abortion proves fatal; doctor indicted
On August 23, 1927, 27-year-old Shellane Franklin, a Black woman, died at the scene of the crime from an abortion performed on her that day. Dr. Gordon Jackson, a white physician, was held by the coroner on October 28. On December 15, he was indicted for felony murder.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
1880: Canadian woman dies at hands of Chicago abortionist
On August 20, 1880, Miss M.A.M. Faulkner, a white woman formerly of Ottawa, Canada, died at the Chicago office of Dr. Thomas J. Cream during the commission of an illegal abortion.
Cream, a white physician, and Mrs. Mackey, a Black nurse, were arrested in the death.
How common was it for a woman to obtain an illegal abortion at the hands of a doctor?
It was rare, less than 10%.
It was unusual, around 30%
About half of women were able to arrange for a physician-abortionist.
It was common, around 90%.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Cream, a white physician, and Mrs. Mackey, a Black nurse, were arrested in the death.
It was rare, less than 10%.
It was unusual, around 30%
About half of women were able to arrange for a physician-abortionist.
It was common, around 90%.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
1937: Fatal self-induced abortion
Mrs. Ruth Haught, a 30-year-old widow, died at University Hospital in Hobart, Oklahoma, on August 19, 1937, of blood poisoning from an apparent self-induced abortion.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1988: Safe, legal abortion kills asthmatic teen
Tami Suematsu, age 19, underwent a safe and legal abortion performed by Vern Wagner at Riverside Family Planning Center August 19, 1988. Tami went into bronchial spasm and asthma-related respiratory failure then cardiac arrest. She was transported to a hospital, but died shortly after arrival.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Saturday, August 16, 2008
1989: Prestigious women's hospital lets teen die in botched abortion
Marla Anne Cardamone, age 18, became pregnant while on Tegretol and Elavil for depression. Marla lived with her parents, including her quadriplegic father who she helped to care for. She had a young son that lived with them as well.
Marla's mother, Deborah Cardamone, commented:
Marla was admitted to Magee Women's Hospital for the abortion August 15, 1989.
Although the urea induction technique was contraindicated due to Marla's medical history, Michael W. Weinberger injected urea into Marla's uterus.
Either an error during this injection or some other mishap caused generalized necrosis of Marla's uterine wall. The laminaria were also inserted by Weinberger in a manner resulting in septicemia, and massive cortical necrosis of the kidneys.
Marla became ill during the night, with nausea, vomiting, urinary incontinence, and dried blood on her teeth. Her pulse and temperature were severely elevated.
At 6:30 AM the charge nurse contacted a the first of several doctors to treat Marla, but no were cultures taken.
By 7 AM Marla was "increasingly disoriented and speaking inappropriately."
By 7:15, her blood pressure had fallen to 80/40, her pulse had shot up to 144, and she was "unresponsive, grunting loudly, and having seizures."
At 10 AM, intravenous antibiotics were administered. Marla was dead from septicemia at 12:15 PM.
The suit filed by Marla's family noted failure to notify them of her deteriorating condition. Marla's parents adopted her child.
The suit faulted the doctor and hospital with performance of a psychiatrically contraindicated abortion, failure to evacuate the dead fetus, administering an overdose of Pitocin, and failure to consult qualified doctors.
Marla's mother adds bitterly:
You can read Deborah's story in her own words here.
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Marla's mother, Deborah Cardamone, commented:
Originally, she had planned to put her baby up for adoption, since she already had a toddler to take care of, but a medical-social worker at the hospital strongly urged Marla to have an abortion.
The social worker argued that Marla had damaged her baby because of medication she had taken. Statistics gave a 92% chance that the baby was fine, but Marla had a sonogram to be sure. After the sonogram, that social worker kept pressuring Marla to have an abortion. Finally, Marla gave in.
Marla was admitted to Magee Women's Hospital for the abortion August 15, 1989.Although the urea induction technique was contraindicated due to Marla's medical history, Michael W. Weinberger injected urea into Marla's uterus.
Either an error during this injection or some other mishap caused generalized necrosis of Marla's uterine wall. The laminaria were also inserted by Weinberger in a manner resulting in septicemia, and massive cortical necrosis of the kidneys.
Marla became ill during the night, with nausea, vomiting, urinary incontinence, and dried blood on her teeth. Her pulse and temperature were severely elevated.
At 6:30 AM the charge nurse contacted a the first of several doctors to treat Marla, but no were cultures taken.
By 7 AM Marla was "increasingly disoriented and speaking inappropriately."
By 7:15, her blood pressure had fallen to 80/40, her pulse had shot up to 144, and she was "unresponsive, grunting loudly, and having seizures."
At 10 AM, intravenous antibiotics were administered. Marla was dead from septicemia at 12:15 PM.The suit filed by Marla's family noted failure to notify them of her deteriorating condition. Marla's parents adopted her child.
The suit faulted the doctor and hospital with performance of a psychiatrically contraindicated abortion, failure to evacuate the dead fetus, administering an overdose of Pitocin, and failure to consult qualified doctors.
Marla's mother adds bitterly:
I had to file a lawsuit to get any answers. Marla had died of septicemia--a massive infection from the abortion. I also learned that the social worker had never seen Marla's sonogram or discussed the results with her. Marla never saw the words on the sonogram report that would have changed everything: No abnormalities detected. My daughter was pressured to have an abortion, and there had been no reason for it, no reason at all.
I've often wondered why pro-choice women's groups have never expressed any sympathy or concern over Marla's death. Why aren't they demanding justice? Why aren't they concerned that Marla was lied to about the condition of her baby and wasn't shown the sonogram results? Why aren't they concerned that proper treatment was delayed because Marla was misdiagnosed by a resident who was only two months out of medical school? Why are they so quiet?
I believe it's because pro-choice groups don't want women to read or hear about abortion injuries and deaths. Bad publicity hurts their cause. That's why they prefer that Marla and her baby remain hidden statistics.
You can read Deborah's story in her own words here.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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1974: Chicago woman dead within hours of abortion
Dorothy K. Brown, age 37, underwent a safe and legal abortion at Friendship Medical Center in Chicago on August 16, 1974. Within hours, she was dead at a nearby hospital. Her death was attributed to "shock related to hemorrhagic necrosis of uterus."
Julia Rogers and Evelyn Dudley also died after abortions at Friendship Medical Center.
Friendship Medical Center was one of the abortion providers mentioned in the Chicago Sun-Times "The Abortion Profiteers" series. What was different about Friendship Medical Center?
The investigators hadn't worked there, so they hadn't uncovered problems or deaths. Friendship had instead been featured in a sidebar about "safe, compassionate abortion care".
Friendship's owner/administrator, "Creepy Kenny" Yellin, was gunned down in a glangland-style slaying in the gutter outside his abortion mill.
Friendship had been founded by civil-rights activist Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, as a broad-service medical facility for the minority community.
Friendship was an upscale facility, catering to career women who wanted lunch-hour abortions.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Julia Rogers and Evelyn Dudley also died after abortions at Friendship Medical Center.
The investigators hadn't worked there, so they hadn't uncovered problems or deaths. Friendship had instead been featured in a sidebar about "safe, compassionate abortion care".
Friendship's owner/administrator, "Creepy Kenny" Yellin, was gunned down in a glangland-style slaying in the gutter outside his abortion mill.
Friendship had been founded by civil-rights activist Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, as a broad-service medical facility for the minority community.
Friendship was an upscale facility, catering to career women who wanted lunch-hour abortions.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Friday, August 15, 2008
PP doc sued for botched contraceptive implant removal
Woman Awarded $2.78 Million in Malpractice Suit against Planned Parenthood Associated Doctor
Dana A., age 39, went to a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood in February of 2003 to have her contraceptive implant rods removed by Dr. Joel Lebed. According to her lawsuit, Lebed was "inexperienced" in removing the rods, and made several painful attempts to do the procedure. He "gave up after a lot of pain and tears," said Dana's attorney, and another PP doctor, Janet Wilson, finished the job.
The removal left Dana debilitated by pain which began in her arm and spread to the entire left side of her body. She was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (RPS), a chronic pain condition. Surgery to attempt to correct the problem turned out to have been unnecessary and only made Dana's condition worse.
An article in the July, 2006 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, titled "Nerve injury caused by removal of an implantable hormonal contraceptive" warns of the risk of nerve damage:
I know of one other lawsuit against Lebed. Colista G., age 38, of Philadelphia, alleged that she had gone to Lebed complaining of minor spotting and a late menses, and told Lebed she suspected pregnancy. Lebed did not conduct a pregnancy test. He conducted a pelvic examination, and told Colista she was not pregnant, but had benign polyps in her uterus. Lebed performed a uterine scraping to remove the polyps. It turned out that Colista had indeed been pregnant, and the procedure Lebed performed killed her fetus. Since benign polyps are not an emergency situation, Lebed was negligent in not ascertaining whether or not she Colista pregnant before proceeding. (Jury Verdict Review)
Dana fared better in her contraceptive removal than Michelle J., who died at the hands of Tommy Tucker from complications of a Norplant removal.
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Dana A., age 39, went to a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood in February of 2003 to have her contraceptive implant rods removed by Dr. Joel Lebed. According to her lawsuit, Lebed was "inexperienced" in removing the rods, and made several painful attempts to do the procedure. He "gave up after a lot of pain and tears," said Dana's attorney, and another PP doctor, Janet Wilson, finished the job.
The removal left Dana debilitated by pain which began in her arm and spread to the entire left side of her body. She was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (RPS), a chronic pain condition. Surgery to attempt to correct the problem turned out to have been unnecessary and only made Dana's condition worse.
An article in the July, 2006 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, titled "Nerve injury caused by removal of an implantable hormonal contraceptive" warns of the risk of nerve damage:
Implanon (a brand of contraceptive implant rods) insertion and removal are relatively uncomplicated procedures in the hands of medical professionals familiar with the technique. However, injury to branches of the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve during Implanon insertion and removal can result in impaired sensibility, severe localized pain, or the formation of painful neuroma that can be quite devastating to the patient.
In the event that an injury to the nerve is recognized, immediate plastic surgical measures should be undertaken to avoid displeasing sequels of nerve injuries. Therefore, the benefit of this generally well-tolerated, highly effective, and relatively cost-efficient contraception is guaranteed only in the hands of medical professionals familiar with the technique.
I know of one other lawsuit against Lebed. Colista G., age 38, of Philadelphia, alleged that she had gone to Lebed complaining of minor spotting and a late menses, and told Lebed she suspected pregnancy. Lebed did not conduct a pregnancy test. He conducted a pelvic examination, and told Colista she was not pregnant, but had benign polyps in her uterus. Lebed performed a uterine scraping to remove the polyps. It turned out that Colista had indeed been pregnant, and the procedure Lebed performed killed her fetus. Since benign polyps are not an emergency situation, Lebed was negligent in not ascertaining whether or not she Colista pregnant before proceeding. (Jury Verdict Review)
Dana fared better in her contraceptive removal than Michelle J., who died at the hands of Tommy Tucker from complications of a Norplant removal.
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A Glimpse into the Past
Dr. Mary S. Calderone served as Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Medical Director from 1953 until 1964, when she became the first Executive Director of the newly-launched SIECUS (Sex Information and Education Council of the United States). Calderone played a key role in promoting Planned Parenthood's goals and agenda, through political savvy and public relations skills.
Dr. Calderone was a lead participant in the 1955 Planned Parenthood conference on abortion. She summarized the conference findings in "Illegal Abortion as a Public Health Problem," published in the July, 1960 issue of The American Journal of Public Health.
I heartily recommend reading the proceedings of the entire conference, but copies are a bit hard to come by. But Dr. Calderone's article alone provides an excellent glimpse into abortion as it was practiced in the United States in the decades before Roe vs. Wade, with added reflections from the experiences of the Scandinavian countries, where abortion laws had been "liberalized" already.
See how much you know about abortion practice in America in the "bad old days".
What was the legal status of abortion in America?
It was completely illegal nationwide.
It was legal under very limited conditions.
It was totally illegal in most states, but a few states allowed abortion for the "hard cases" -- rape, incest, the life of the mother, and suspected fetal abnormalities.
The country was a patchwork. Twelve states banned abortion entirely, most had health exceptions, and two allowed abortions for "mental health" reasons that were interpreted fairly loosely.
How many maternal deaths were there a year from complications of abortions in the 1950's?
5,000 - 10,000
500 - 1,000
About 500.
About 250.
The conference found that once a woman concluded that she wanted an abortion, nothing could dissuade her, not laws, not counseling, not the risks of seeking an abortion from a clearly disreputable character. True or false?
True.
False.
What were the conference findings on the psychological impact of abortion on women?
Neither legal nor illegal abortions were traumatic.
Both legal and illegal abortions were traumatic.
Legal abortions were palliative, but illegal abortions were traumatic.
Because only the most determined women sought illegal abortions, those women suffered no trauma, but legal abortions could cause trauma because the women were less sure of their decisions.
Which of the following recommendations were made by conference participants? More than one answer is correct.
"To to search for ways and means whereby the need for abortion is reduced to the absolute minimum and then to help legalize and facilitate abortion for that requisite minimum."
To make abortion requests reportable to public health officials in order to gather data on why women were requesting abortions and develop strategies to address those issues.
To encourage "higher standards of sexual conduct."
To legalize abortion on demand.
To foster, through sex education, "a greater sense of responsibility toward pregnancy."
To promote greater access to contraceptives.
Dr. Calderone was a lead participant in the 1955 Planned Parenthood conference on abortion. She summarized the conference findings in "Illegal Abortion as a Public Health Problem," published in the July, 1960 issue of The American Journal of Public Health.
I heartily recommend reading the proceedings of the entire conference, but copies are a bit hard to come by. But Dr. Calderone's article alone provides an excellent glimpse into abortion as it was practiced in the United States in the decades before Roe vs. Wade, with added reflections from the experiences of the Scandinavian countries, where abortion laws had been "liberalized" already.
See how much you know about abortion practice in America in the "bad old days".
It was completely illegal nationwide.
It was legal under very limited conditions.
It was totally illegal in most states, but a few states allowed abortion for the "hard cases" -- rape, incest, the life of the mother, and suspected fetal abnormalities.
The country was a patchwork. Twelve states banned abortion entirely, most had health exceptions, and two allowed abortions for "mental health" reasons that were interpreted fairly loosely.
5,000 - 10,000
500 - 1,000
About 500.
About 250.
True.
False.
Neither legal nor illegal abortions were traumatic.
Both legal and illegal abortions were traumatic.
Legal abortions were palliative, but illegal abortions were traumatic.
Because only the most determined women sought illegal abortions, those women suffered no trauma, but legal abortions could cause trauma because the women were less sure of their decisions.
"To to search for ways and means whereby the need for abortion is reduced to the absolute minimum and then to help legalize and facilitate abortion for that requisite minimum."
To make abortion requests reportable to public health officials in order to gather data on why women were requesting abortions and develop strategies to address those issues.
To encourage "higher standards of sexual conduct."
To legalize abortion on demand.
To foster, through sex education, "a greater sense of responsibility toward pregnancy."
To promote greater access to contraceptives.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Just how dead does an organ donor have to be?
From the New England Journal of Medicine (hardly a bastion of right-to-lifers) The Dead Donor Rule and Organ Transplantation
Translated from jargon to English:
Well, yeah, because they're not dead.
The author goes on to concede that "brain dead" patients aren't really dead. Not that he has any problem with gutting them for their organs. After all, somebody else needs them. What he proposes isn't that we stop killing incapacitated people to get organs that livelier people need. He simply proposes that we start being honest about what we're doing.
It's a start. I've been agitating for it already.
Prospective donors need to know exactly how "dead" they will be when their organs are taken -- which is not dead. Some people will have a problem with this; others won't. But ought it not to be their choice whether or not they get cut open while they're still warm, pink, and showing all the signs of life except consciousness?
Prospective recipients need to know exactly how "dead" the donor will be when his or her organs are taken-- which is not dead. Some people will have no problem with this. Others -- myself included -- will, and will voluntarily abstain from getting on any waiting lists for organs. It remains to be seen how much this will reduce the wait for organs.
Here, for your edification, are some photos of a "brain dead" woman, taken from this PDF flier:
Maybe I'm naive, but she just doesn't look very dead to me. And I'd bet that if you were to walk into her room and drive a knife into her heart, you'd be charged with murder. Why should it be okay to take her to the OR, strap her to a table, and start taking her organs out?
Please tell us why you voted as you did.
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The concept of brain death has served us well and has been the ethical and legal justification for thousands of lifesaving donations and transplantations. Even so, there have been persistent questions about whether patients with massive brain injury, apnea, and loss of brain-stem reflexes are really dead. After all, when the injury is entirely intracranial, these patients look very much alive: they are warm and pink; they digest and metabolize food, excrete waste, undergo sexual maturation, and can even reproduce. To a casual observer, they look just like patients who are receiving long-term artificial ventilation and are asleep.
Translated from jargon to English:
Calling people "brain dead" so we can take their organs and give them to other people -- who, after all, need them to survive -- has worked really well for organ recipients. However, some people insist that "brain dead" isn't dead. After all, these "brain dead" people are warm and pink; they digest and metabolize food, excrete waste, undergo sexual maturation, and can even reproduce. They certainly don't look dead. They look asleep.
Well, yeah, because they're not dead.
The author goes on to concede that "brain dead" patients aren't really dead. Not that he has any problem with gutting them for their organs. After all, somebody else needs them. What he proposes isn't that we stop killing incapacitated people to get organs that livelier people need. He simply proposes that we start being honest about what we're doing.
It's a start. I've been agitating for it already.
Prospective donors need to know exactly how "dead" they will be when their organs are taken -- which is not dead. Some people will have a problem with this; others won't. But ought it not to be their choice whether or not they get cut open while they're still warm, pink, and showing all the signs of life except consciousness?
Prospective recipients need to know exactly how "dead" the donor will be when his or her organs are taken-- which is not dead. Some people will have no problem with this. Others -- myself included -- will, and will voluntarily abstain from getting on any waiting lists for organs. It remains to be seen how much this will reduce the wait for organs.
Here, for your edification, are some photos of a "brain dead" woman, taken from this PDF flier:
Maybe I'm naive, but she just doesn't look very dead to me. And I'd bet that if you were to walk into her room and drive a knife into her heart, you'd be charged with murder. Why should it be okay to take her to the OR, strap her to a table, and start taking her organs out?
 | How does this information impact your feelings about organ donation? |
| I would still be willing both to donate and to receive vital organs. | |
| I would be willing to donate, but not to receive, vital organs. | |
| I would be willing to receive, but not to donate, vital organs. | |
| I would not be willing to donate or receive vital organs. | |
Please tell us why you voted as you did.
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Anniversary: A fatal self-induced abortion
When Kris Humphrey found out she was pregnant, she consulted friends. One of Kris's friends said she'd done more than one self-induced abortion and recommended an abortion technique. The method relied on a tea of pennyroyal extract and black cohosh root.
On August 5, Kris started the abortion regimen. Over the approximately 10 days Kris was taking the tea, she went about her business, socializing with friends and family. Kris experienced abdominal pain and cramping, which she took as signs that the abortion was going as planned. Neither Kris nor her friend who recommended the tea thought anything was wrong at first.
The only person who was concerned was her mother, Embee. The two attended a movie together on August 7, and Kris told her mother about the pregnancy and about her herbalist plans. Embee, who'd suffered through an ectopic pregnancy herself, saw something familiar in the way Kris was holding her side from pain. She asked Kris if she was sure that the pregnancy was normal, not ectopic, but her daughter evaded the question.
Instead, Kris told her mother that the abortion should be complete on the 9th, and that she'd call then. But Kris continued to experience problems and continued to take the abortion concoction.
By Friday, August 12, Kris had given up on her herbal abortion plan. Embee and a friend offered to make arrangements and pay for her to have the abortion done by a doctor on the 13th. But when one of Kris's many housemates came home at 7:30 on Friday evening, she found Kris pale and feverish, and learned that she'd been vomiting. She continued to suffer chills, cramps, and vomiting for the next six hours.
Her condition continued to deteriorate. She passed out at around 11 p.m. Her friends continued to try to care for her, placing her in a cold bath at about 2 a.m Saturday to try to address her feverish sweating. But Kris just went into a seizure, so her friends carried her to the kitchen. One of them noticed that she wasn't breathing and started screaming. One friend called for an ambulance while another attempted to revive Kris.
The ambulance crew arrived at 2:27 a.m transported her to a hospital, where staff tried to stabilize her.
Her friends told staff about the abortion, and even brought the bottles of pennyroyal and black cohosh. The staff had no idea what effects the herbs might be having on Kris, and called poison experts.
Kris was in shock and suffering from disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. "She was bleeding from everywhere," said a doctor who treated her.
Doctors suspected an ectopic pregnancy, but feared doing exploratory surgery because Kris's condition was so fragile. They pumped her with IV fluids and made other attempts to stabilize her. In desperation, the doctors proceeded with surgery, finding an unruptured right tubal pregnancy that was bleeding from the end of the fallopian tube. The doctors removed the pregnancy and "significant quantity of old blood which was malodorous."
Even though the tube hadn't ruptured, it appeared that the effect of the pennyroyal on Kris's liver had caused the clotting problems that had led to her excessive internal bleeding.
After surgery, Kris showed no signs of responsiveness. She was declared brain dead on Sunday. Friends and family gathered at the hospital. Half an hour later, at 4:51 p.m., Kris was declared dead.
Testing on samples of Kris' liver showed signs of damage associated with one of the substances, pulegone, contained in pennyroyal. Not enough was known of the effects of pulegone on the liver to say for sure what effect the damage had on Kris or what role it played in her death.
Why didn't Kris have a safe, legal abortion?
She faced her pregnancy before legal abortion became available.
She was poor and couldn't afford an safe, legal abortion.
Kris was afraid her father would learn of the pregnancy and get violent, and her state had a law that required that both parents be notified if an underage girl sought an abortion.
Kris had already undergone a clinic abortion, found the process painful, and felt like she'd been treated disrespectfully.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
On August 5, Kris started the abortion regimen. Over the approximately 10 days Kris was taking the tea, she went about her business, socializing with friends and family. Kris experienced abdominal pain and cramping, which she took as signs that the abortion was going as planned. Neither Kris nor her friend who recommended the tea thought anything was wrong at first.
The only person who was concerned was her mother, Embee. The two attended a movie together on August 7, and Kris told her mother about the pregnancy and about her herbalist plans. Embee, who'd suffered through an ectopic pregnancy herself, saw something familiar in the way Kris was holding her side from pain. She asked Kris if she was sure that the pregnancy was normal, not ectopic, but her daughter evaded the question.
Instead, Kris told her mother that the abortion should be complete on the 9th, and that she'd call then. But Kris continued to experience problems and continued to take the abortion concoction.
By Friday, August 12, Kris had given up on her herbal abortion plan. Embee and a friend offered to make arrangements and pay for her to have the abortion done by a doctor on the 13th. But when one of Kris's many housemates came home at 7:30 on Friday evening, she found Kris pale and feverish, and learned that she'd been vomiting. She continued to suffer chills, cramps, and vomiting for the next six hours.
Her condition continued to deteriorate. She passed out at around 11 p.m. Her friends continued to try to care for her, placing her in a cold bath at about 2 a.m Saturday to try to address her feverish sweating. But Kris just went into a seizure, so her friends carried her to the kitchen. One of them noticed that she wasn't breathing and started screaming. One friend called for an ambulance while another attempted to revive Kris.
The ambulance crew arrived at 2:27 a.m transported her to a hospital, where staff tried to stabilize her.
Her friends told staff about the abortion, and even brought the bottles of pennyroyal and black cohosh. The staff had no idea what effects the herbs might be having on Kris, and called poison experts.
Kris was in shock and suffering from disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. "She was bleeding from everywhere," said a doctor who treated her.
Doctors suspected an ectopic pregnancy, but feared doing exploratory surgery because Kris's condition was so fragile. They pumped her with IV fluids and made other attempts to stabilize her. In desperation, the doctors proceeded with surgery, finding an unruptured right tubal pregnancy that was bleeding from the end of the fallopian tube. The doctors removed the pregnancy and "significant quantity of old blood which was malodorous."
Even though the tube hadn't ruptured, it appeared that the effect of the pennyroyal on Kris's liver had caused the clotting problems that had led to her excessive internal bleeding.
After surgery, Kris showed no signs of responsiveness. She was declared brain dead on Sunday. Friends and family gathered at the hospital. Half an hour later, at 4:51 p.m., Kris was declared dead.
Testing on samples of Kris' liver showed signs of damage associated with one of the substances, pulegone, contained in pennyroyal. Not enough was known of the effects of pulegone on the liver to say for sure what effect the damage had on Kris or what role it played in her death.
She faced her pregnancy before legal abortion became available.
She was poor and couldn't afford an safe, legal abortion.
Kris was afraid her father would learn of the pregnancy and get violent, and her state had a law that required that both parents be notified if an underage girl sought an abortion.
Kris had already undergone a clinic abortion, found the process painful, and felt like she'd been treated disrespectfully.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Gardasil kills
Judicial Watch Uncovers New FDA Records Detailing Ten New Deaths & 140 “Serious” Adverse Events Related to Gardasil
Here's how Pro Life Blogs sums it up:
As Greg pointed out in the comments, section, "Just so everyone knows, the VAERS database is a record of all reports of adverse events that occurred in patients around the time they received a certain drug, in this case Gardasil. These reports are not necessarily first hand, and information is often incomplete. Just because the deaths happened around the time of vaccination does not mean the vaccination caused the deaths."
There is still evidence, however, linking Gardasil with serious adverse reactions and deaths, and these reports show the lack of information about the risks of this vaccine.
But it's the social conservatives who are monsters because we object to giving potentially fatal vaccines to 11-year-old girls on the off chance that they might decide later to become promiscuous and thus run a high risk of cervical cancer.
That would be a risk that they would be choosing themselves. Later. When they're older. If we were doing our jobs as parents, teachers, pastors, youth leaders, aunts, older sisters, etc., girls would realize that sexual experimentation was risking their health and potentially their lives. They'd not see it as a harmless way to get male attention (as long as they use birth control, of course, and fix any "ooopsies" via abortion).
What right do we as a society have to try to mandate this vaccine? What is it about sanctioning teen sexual activity that makes it worth achieving at the cost of these kids' lives?
Here's how Pro Life Blogs sums it up:
This is 25 girls or young women dead in 18 months' time, one of which was 11 years old, four of which were 12 years old, and one of which was 15.
As Greg pointed out in the comments, section, "Just so everyone knows, the VAERS database is a record of all reports of adverse events that occurred in patients around the time they received a certain drug, in this case Gardasil. These reports are not necessarily first hand, and information is often incomplete. Just because the deaths happened around the time of vaccination does not mean the vaccination caused the deaths."
There is still evidence, however, linking Gardasil with serious adverse reactions and deaths, and these reports show the lack of information about the risks of this vaccine.
But it's the social conservatives who are monsters because we object to giving potentially fatal vaccines to 11-year-old girls on the off chance that they might decide later to become promiscuous and thus run a high risk of cervical cancer.
That would be a risk that they would be choosing themselves. Later. When they're older. If we were doing our jobs as parents, teachers, pastors, youth leaders, aunts, older sisters, etc., girls would realize that sexual experimentation was risking their health and potentially their lives. They'd not see it as a harmless way to get male attention (as long as they use birth control, of course, and fix any "ooopsies" via abortion).
What right do we as a society have to try to mandate this vaccine? What is it about sanctioning teen sexual activity that makes it worth achieving at the cost of these kids' lives?
1984: After weeks in coma, abortion patient dies
Yvonne Tanner, a 22-year-old mother of a young daughter, had a safe and legal abortion performed by Stephen Pine and/or Morton Barke July 10, 1984 at Inglewood Women's Hospital.
Yvonne went into a coma immediately after the abortion, and died August 14, 1984. Her death certificate indicates coma, hypertension, and urinary tract infection.
The suit by her survivors alleged that Yvonne was not adequately advised of the risks prior to undergoing the fatal abortion.
The other women I know of who died from abortions at Inglewood are Kathy Murphy, Lynette Wallace, Elizabeth Tsuji, Cora Lewis, and Belinda Byrd.
What sort of facility was Inglewood Women's Hospita?
It was a respected, full-service women's hospital. The high number of deaths was attributed to the fact that they typically only performed abortions on high-risk patients.
It was an ordinary abortion facility that had a sudden cluster of deaths. They did an internal investigation in addition to the state investigation, and found that the deaths were all connected with a single nurse, who was fired and lost her nursing license.
It was a fairly seedy place that was frequently in violation of regulations but managed to stay open by always promising to do better next time. It was only shut down once, and re-opened almost immediately.
It was a disreputable abortion mill that was repeatedly shut down by the state, but by challenging the state's actions in court it was able to remain open.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Yvonne went into a coma immediately after the abortion, and died August 14, 1984. Her death certificate indicates coma, hypertension, and urinary tract infection.
The suit by her survivors alleged that Yvonne was not adequately advised of the risks prior to undergoing the fatal abortion.
The other women I know of who died from abortions at Inglewood are Kathy Murphy, Lynette Wallace, Elizabeth Tsuji, Cora Lewis, and Belinda Byrd.
It was a respected, full-service women's hospital. The high number of deaths was attributed to the fact that they typically only performed abortions on high-risk patients.
It was an ordinary abortion facility that had a sudden cluster of deaths. They did an internal investigation in addition to the state investigation, and found that the deaths were all connected with a single nurse, who was fired and lost her nursing license.
It was a fairly seedy place that was frequently in violation of regulations but managed to stay open by always promising to do better next time. It was only shut down once, and re-opened almost immediately.
It was a disreputable abortion mill that was repeatedly shut down by the state, but by challenging the state's actions in court it was able to remain open.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Search: Abortion Videos
This is a popular search so I'm giving it a post of its own.
There is the Spanish abortion video with English subtitles. It's pretty graphic, including footage of a teenage patient expelling her dead baby, which the undercover investigator shows us.
To purchase videos or DVDs of former abortion workers' testimonies, visit Meet the Abortion Providers.
Priests for Life has videos about how abortions are performed; you can see them here. These videos aren't particularly graphic; Father Pavone uses fetal models to demonstrate, with real abortion instruments, how fetuses of these ages are destroyed.
You can view and read about a panel discussion about Carhart vs Gonzales, the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban" case.
There's a BBC programme about abortion that is staggering in its honesty. It includes graphic footage which the BBC got from a prolife source, but they got an abortion doctor to verify the accuracy of the footage.
How about equal time? Here's a video for the abortion advocacy side, full of so many lies and distortions it boggles the mind.
Follow along with an old Frontline program about abortion. It follows two teenage abortion patients, and also shows some women who rejected abortion and were helped by a local prolife physician and his wife.
I also gathered a collection of music videos about abortion.
And here is a video showing the results of one safe, legal abortion:
I have the best abortion videos here.
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
There is the Spanish abortion video with English subtitles. It's pretty graphic, including footage of a teenage patient expelling her dead baby, which the undercover investigator shows us.
To purchase videos or DVDs of former abortion workers' testimonies, visit Meet the Abortion Providers.
Priests for Life has videos about how abortions are performed; you can see them here. These videos aren't particularly graphic; Father Pavone uses fetal models to demonstrate, with real abortion instruments, how fetuses of these ages are destroyed.
You can view and read about a panel discussion about Carhart vs Gonzales, the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban" case.
There's a BBC programme about abortion that is staggering in its honesty. It includes graphic footage which the BBC got from a prolife source, but they got an abortion doctor to verify the accuracy of the footage.
How about equal time? Here's a video for the abortion advocacy side, full of so many lies and distortions it boggles the mind.
Follow along with an old Frontline program about abortion. It follows two teenage abortion patients, and also shows some women who rejected abortion and were helped by a local prolife physician and his wife.
I also gathered a collection of music videos about abortion.
And here is a video showing the results of one safe, legal abortion:
I have the best abortion videos here.
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Searches: Let's start with the quacks
There were a lot of searches for various quacks today. I'll pull them together all in one place:
Dr. "George Klopfer" abortion: Ding! Ding! Ding! You've picked a winner! Klopfer's specialty seemed to have been botching abortions. And here you can scroll down to the story of Patricia T., whose loved, wanted, and perfectly healthy 10-week fetus Klopfer aborted after telling her the child had died. And to compound the injury, he lacerated Patricia so badly that she had to have a hysterectomy and could never have another chance at having a baby. An investigation into Chicago Loop Mediclinic, a seedy abortion mill where Klopfer worked for a while, noted that Klopfer and Ming Kow Hah competed to see who could do the most abortions quickly. Hah kept tally on his scrub suit. A staffer said, "When Hah is here, Klopfer really zips. Hah marks the patients on his leg, and if Klopfer sees that Hah's got a legful, he goes like wildfire to catch up." Here is a write-up with pictures about Klopfer's abandoned clinic.
ob/gyn, Dr. "Tommy Tucker": Another winner! This guy called his private practice "Birmingham Women's Medical Clinic", giving patients the impression that he ran a licensed clinic. He botched an abortion on Angela Hall, then canceled the ambulance his nurse had called, delaying much needed care, with fatal results. He was such a quack he managed to kill a patient in 1994 when he was supposed to be just removing her Norplant.
Dr. Joe Bills Reynolds: This guy was responsible for the abortion death of 21-year-old Gaylene Golden. Reynolds' anesthetist, age 60, had originally been hired as a janitor, and an untrained orderly was acting as his nurse. The operating room was littered with dirty cups and papers. Reynolds tried to collect $500,000 on his wife's life insurance after she bled to death after he opened 25-inch incision, ostensibly for liposuction, on September 7, 1989. Reynolds was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He voluntarily surrendered his Oklahoma license.
1986: Anesthisia kills asthmatic abortion patient
Donna Heim, age 20, went to Her Medical Clinic on August 12, 1986, accompanied by her sister. Donna told staff that she had asthma, and she noted this on her forms when she filled them out. Despite this pre-existing condition, a nurse anesthetist administered general anesthesia for her safe and legal abortion. Donna started to have difficulty breathing, but Mahlon Cannon continued with the procedure for five more minutes before helping the nurse anesthetist to try to restore Donna's breathing.
Donna's sister, who was in the waiting room, became alarmed at the intense staff activity she noticed, and questioned a staffer about her sister. She was reassured that Donna was fine. The sister saw an ambulance pull up to the building and stepped outside, where she observed her sister being transferred into the emergency vehicle. Donna's sister followed the ambulance to a nearby hospital, which summoned the comatose young woman's parents.
Donna died the next day without regaining consciousness. An investigation was sparked, and an administrative law judge ruled that Cannon was negligent in continuing with the abortion despite the patient's respiratory distress. The judge also found that Cannon often failed to do medical exams, take medical histories, or administer standard tests prior to abortions./we
Liliana Cortez also died after an abortion at Her Medical Clinic that year.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Donna's sister, who was in the waiting room, became alarmed at the intense staff activity she noticed, and questioned a staffer about her sister. She was reassured that Donna was fine. The sister saw an ambulance pull up to the building and stepped outside, where she observed her sister being transferred into the emergency vehicle. Donna's sister followed the ambulance to a nearby hospital, which summoned the comatose young woman's parents.
Donna died the next day without regaining consciousness. An investigation was sparked, and an administrative law judge ruled that Cannon was negligent in continuing with the abortion despite the patient's respiratory distress. The judge also found that Cannon often failed to do medical exams, take medical histories, or administer standard tests prior to abortions./we
Liliana Cortez also died after an abortion at Her Medical Clinic that year.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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1922: Chicago woman dies from abortion, two doctors indicted
On August 13, 1922, 21-year-old Beulah Pickerill died at Chicago's Mid West Hospital from complications of a criminal abortion performed there that day. Two physicians, Vincent Filletti and Michale Galgano, were held by the coroner and indicted for felony murder. Floyd L. Butler and P.J. Owens were held as accessories.
How common was it before legalization for a woman to find a doctor to perform her abortion?
It was very rare. Most abortions back then were self-induced or done by people with no medical training.
It wasn't unheard-of, but it was unusual. Only about 25% of women were able to find a doctor to perform their abortions.
Roughly half of abortion-seeking women were able to find a doctor to do the procedure.
About 90% of women found doctors to do their abortions in the pre-legalization days.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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It was very rare. Most abortions back then were self-induced or done by people with no medical training.
It wasn't unheard-of, but it was unusual. Only about 25% of women were able to find a doctor to perform their abortions.
Roughly half of abortion-seeking women were able to find a doctor to do the procedure.
About 90% of women found doctors to do their abortions in the pre-legalization days.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1858: Mystery abortion proves fatal for widow's daughter
Ann Regan, "the daughter of a respectable widow" in Knightstown, Indiana, took ill on August 10, 1858. Her condition deteriorated over the next few days. On August 13, she went into a severe convulsion and died. The next day an autopsy determined that somebody had used instruments to perform an abortion on Ann, resulting in her death.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1988: Abortion turns miracle to double tragedy
Allegra Roseberry, age 41, had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Allegra was admitted to Emory Hospital for assessment and surgery in anticipation of admission to an experimental cancer treatment program. There, a sonogram during surgery revealed a 23-week pregnancy, much to everyone's surprise since Allegra had undergone fertility drug treatment in order to conceive her son Matthew 20 years earlier. Her liver specialist, family doctor, and gynecologist all failed to detect her pregnancy despite amenorrhea, breast tenderness, distended abdomen, and nausea because these symptoms were attributed to the cancer and other ailments.
Allegra's doctors offered safe and legal abortion as her only alternative, saying that the fetus was "doomed" due to Allegra's ailments, that the pregnancy would render her ineligible for the experimental treatment, and that the pregnancy was damaging her fragile health and would greatly hasten her death. No one arranged for a consult with a perinatologist (specialist in treating pregnancies with high risks to mother or baby) or a high-risk obstetrician. The options of continuing the pregnancy and/or premature delivery of the infant were not offered or discussed.
Allegra was transferred to Emory's Crawford Long Hospital for the abortion. Young W. Ahn initiated the abortion by prostaglandin suppository on August 8, 1988. On August 9, Allegra expelled the dead baby, whom she and her husband named Amy Ann.
Allegra developed sepsis from the abortion, and died on August 13.
An autopsy revealed that Amy had been normal.
The liver specialist contended that Allegra would have aborted Amy even if she had known the child was healthy in order to be eligible for the experimental program. Allegra's gynecologist claimed that the reason for the abortion was damage to the fetus due to radiation therapy and also mentioned chemotherapy, neither of which Allegra had undergone. All defendants held that Allegra could not have survived long enough to deliver Amy alive anyway.
Could Amy have survived if delivered at 23 weeks?
No. Babies are not viable until at least 24 weeks of gestation.
Yes, but only a tiny chance, less than 1%.
Yes. Amy had a better than 10% chance of survival at 23 weeks.
Yes. Babies that young just need a lot of help and extra time in the NICU, but they routinely survive.
The jury rendered a verdict against the liver specialist for the wrongful death of baby Amy, but returned no verdict for the wrongful death of Allegra due to their assumption that the cancer would have killed her soon anyway. Evidently they did not consider the time she could have spent being a mother to her baby daughter to be of any value.
Allegra's was not the only tragic death caused by doctors who recommended (or excused) abortion as a life-saving or health-preserving option for the mother:
What percent of abortions are performed to try to save the life of the mother?
There are no definitive statistics, but the number is less than 3%
Peer-reviewed research by high-risk obstetricians puts the number at about 3%.
Extensive research puts the number at about 10%.
About 1/3 of abortions are performed because the woman's doctor has serious concerns that the pregnancy threatens her health or life.
What percent of abortions are performed because there is something wrong with the unborn baby?
There are no definitive statistics, but the number is less than 1%.
There are no definitive statistics, but the number is slightly more than 3%.
Extensive research shows that about 5% of abortions are performed to prevent the birth of a severely ill or disabled baby.
About 10% of abortions are performed because tests have shown that the baby has a serious birth defect.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Allegra's doctors offered safe and legal abortion as her only alternative, saying that the fetus was "doomed" due to Allegra's ailments, that the pregnancy would render her ineligible for the experimental treatment, and that the pregnancy was damaging her fragile health and would greatly hasten her death. No one arranged for a consult with a perinatologist (specialist in treating pregnancies with high risks to mother or baby) or a high-risk obstetrician. The options of continuing the pregnancy and/or premature delivery of the infant were not offered or discussed.
Allegra was transferred to Emory's Crawford Long Hospital for the abortion. Young W. Ahn initiated the abortion by prostaglandin suppository on August 8, 1988. On August 9, Allegra expelled the dead baby, whom she and her husband named Amy Ann.
Allegra developed sepsis from the abortion, and died on August 13.
An autopsy revealed that Amy had been normal.
The liver specialist contended that Allegra would have aborted Amy even if she had known the child was healthy in order to be eligible for the experimental program. Allegra's gynecologist claimed that the reason for the abortion was damage to the fetus due to radiation therapy and also mentioned chemotherapy, neither of which Allegra had undergone. All defendants held that Allegra could not have survived long enough to deliver Amy alive anyway.
No. Babies are not viable until at least 24 weeks of gestation.
Yes, but only a tiny chance, less than 1%.
Yes. Amy had a better than 10% chance of survival at 23 weeks.
Yes. Babies that young just need a lot of help and extra time in the NICU, but they routinely survive.
The jury rendered a verdict against the liver specialist for the wrongful death of baby Amy, but returned no verdict for the wrongful death of Allegra due to their assumption that the cancer would have killed her soon anyway. Evidently they did not consider the time she could have spent being a mother to her baby daughter to be of any value.
Allegra's was not the only tragic death caused by doctors who recommended (or excused) abortion as a life-saving or health-preserving option for the mother:
- Anjelica Duarte sought an abortion on the advice of her physician, and ended up dying under the care of a quack.
- Barbara Hoppert died after an abortion recommended due to a congenital heart problem.
- Christin Gilbert died after an abortion George Tiller holds was justified on grounds of maternal health.
- Erika Peterson died in 1961 when her doctors obtained her husband's permission to perform a "therapeutic" abortion.
- "Molly" Roe died in 1975 when her doctors made the dubious decision to perform a saline abortion to improve her chances of surviving a lupus crisis.
There are no definitive statistics, but the number is less than 3%
Peer-reviewed research by high-risk obstetricians puts the number at about 3%.
Extensive research puts the number at about 10%.
About 1/3 of abortions are performed because the woman's doctor has serious concerns that the pregnancy threatens her health or life.
There are no definitive statistics, but the number is less than 1%.
There are no definitive statistics, but the number is slightly more than 3%.
Extensive research shows that about 5% of abortions are performed to prevent the birth of a severely ill or disabled baby.
About 10% of abortions are performed because tests have shown that the baby has a serious birth defect.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Remember Rose Marie?
I remember her from The Dick van Dyke Show and Hollywood Squares. Well, here she is in her original career, as a child singer:
This is a real treat. I'm trying to find MP3s.
Here's a Vitaphone classic. She sings three songs -- and she's only 5 or 6 years old:
Wow!
This is a real treat. I'm trying to find MP3s.
Here's a Vitaphone classic. She sings three songs -- and she's only 5 or 6 years old:
Wow!
Let's be clear who they're trying to reach out to
The blogosphere is alive with commentary about how the Democratic party is supposedly trying to reach out to "moderates" or "prolifers".
Democrats Reach For Moderates On Abortion: "Democrats say their new platform plank on abortion takes a step toward “establishing common ground” with abortion opponents and reaches out to evangelcals, Catholics and others who oppose abortion."
Dems' New Abortion Language Courts Pro-Life Moderates: "As CBN's David Brody notes, the new language is an effort to make the Democrats' position on abortion more palateable to moderate Evangelical and Catholic voters who agree with the Dems on other issues."
Uh, huh. Let's get some slightly clearer thinking here:
Dems Reach Middle Ground on Abortion?: "Some Catholics and evangelicals are touting efforts by the Democratic Party to write into their platform specific support for women to carry babies to term."
And here we've nailed it. Finally, the Democratic party isn't all about abortion, abortion, abortion, abortion, nothing but abortion, it's an absolute fundamental right that ought to be paid for by the taxpayers, it's all we ever wanted, it's all we've ever needed! Now they're finally conceding that yeah, now that you hold our feet to the fire, having the baby is okay, too.
They're not seeking middle ground with prolifers. They're seeking middle ground with PROCHOICERS. We're seeing a shift from shameless and braezen abortion advocacy to making concessions, albeit small, to those who think women might occasionally want to make another choice.
Again: This shift in the proposed wording of the platform isn't a move toward a middle ground between prochoice and prolife. It's a move toward a middle ground between proabortion and prochoice.
Which is a shift toward moderation the way moving from Berkeley to San Francisco is a shift toward Middle America.
But it's progress all the same.
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Uh, huh. Let's get some slightly clearer thinking here:
And here we've nailed it. Finally, the Democratic party isn't all about abortion, abortion, abortion, abortion, nothing but abortion, it's an absolute fundamental right that ought to be paid for by the taxpayers, it's all we ever wanted, it's all we've ever needed! Now they're finally conceding that yeah, now that you hold our feet to the fire, having the baby is okay, too.
They're not seeking middle ground with prolifers. They're seeking middle ground with PROCHOICERS. We're seeing a shift from shameless and braezen abortion advocacy to making concessions, albeit small, to those who think women might occasionally want to make another choice.
Again: This shift in the proposed wording of the platform isn't a move toward a middle ground between prochoice and prolife. It's a move toward a middle ground between proabortion and prochoice.
Which is a shift toward moderation the way moving from Berkeley to San Francisco is a shift toward Middle America.
But it's progress all the same.
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An ironic juxtaposition
Somebody came to my blog searching for "lovejoy surgicenter tubal ligation". The Google search they did turned up this as the first two links:
There's something I find ironically apt in how the story of how one of their patients died under the care of a pervert who is now in prison for possessing particularly deplorable child pornography is immediately followed by the clinic's statement of how "proud" they are of their "role" in "caring for women".
Certainly they have no shame. But maybe pride is pushing it a bit? Or is this just typical abortion-advocacy tunnel-vision?
Either way it certainly shows up reality in a way I couldn't have done on my own. Thanks Google!
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There's something I find ironically apt in how the story of how one of their patients died under the care of a pervert who is now in prison for possessing particularly deplorable child pornography is immediately followed by the clinic's statement of how "proud" they are of their "role" in "caring for women".
Certainly they have no shame. But maybe pride is pushing it a bit? Or is this just typical abortion-advocacy tunnel-vision?
Either way it certainly shows up reality in a way I couldn't have done on my own. Thanks Google!
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1970: Coed killed in California abortion
Sara Franki Lint, a 22-year-old coed, submitted to an abortion at San
Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on August 11, 1970. Adolpho
Zlotolow, who operated San Vicente said that Sara went into ventricular fibrillation (an erratic heart pattern that can't sustain life) soon after the abortion was initiated by either Albert Kapstrom or Milton Gotlib.
The technique being used on Sara, hysterotomy, was one with a known high maternal mortality rate. San Vicente staff treated Sara for an hour before transferring her to Midway Hospital down the street, where she died at 4:57am on August 12. The autopsy found yellow fluid in Sara's heart, frothy tan fluid in her lungs, and a seven-inch male fetus in Sara's uterus.
How was it that Sarah was able to get a hospital abortion before the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide?
She had serious health problems, so her abortion was permitted even though most abortions were illegal.
Her doctor had lied on her medical records, pretending he had admitted her to the hospital for another procedure so he could do the abortion secretly.
Sarah had been exposed to rubella ("German measles"), so she was allowed to get an abortion on the grounds of a risk of birth defects.
Abortion was legal in California already at the time of Sarah's abortion.
What happened to San Vicente Hospital and the abortionist after Sarah's fatal abortion?
The hospital was not disciplined, but the doctor lost his medical license.
The hospital was closed and the doctor went to prison until his attorney used Roe vs. Wade as leverage to get his conviction overturned.
They both got sued, but didn't face any disciplinary actions since they hadn't broken any laws.
Absolutely nothing. There were no repercussions of any sort.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on August 11, 1970. Adolpho
Zlotolow, who operated San Vicente said that Sara went into ventricular fibrillation (an erratic heart pattern that can't sustain life) soon after the abortion was initiated by either Albert Kapstrom or Milton Gotlib.
The technique being used on Sara, hysterotomy, was one with a known high maternal mortality rate. San Vicente staff treated Sara for an hour before transferring her to Midway Hospital down the street, where she died at 4:57am on August 12. The autopsy found yellow fluid in Sara's heart, frothy tan fluid in her lungs, and a seven-inch male fetus in Sara's uterus.
She had serious health problems, so her abortion was permitted even though most abortions were illegal.
Her doctor had lied on her medical records, pretending he had admitted her to the hospital for another procedure so he could do the abortion secretly.
Sarah had been exposed to rubella ("German measles"), so she was allowed to get an abortion on the grounds of a risk of birth defects.
Abortion was legal in California already at the time of Sarah's abortion.
The hospital was not disciplined, but the doctor lost his medical license.
The hospital was closed and the doctor went to prison until his attorney used Roe vs. Wade as leverage to get his conviction overturned.
They both got sued, but didn't face any disciplinary actions since they hadn't broken any laws.
Absolutely nothing. There were no repercussions of any sort.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Monday, August 11, 2008
What Obama supports
Somebody found my blog by searching for Ronald Cornelsen, the pediatrician that got sucked into the fray the day William Baxter Waddill killed Mary W.'s newborn baby.
The baby, however, had been born as a result of an abortion Waddill had initiated on Mary. The baby was supposed to be dead. Waddill said it himself, in front of multiple witnesses.
He told Cornelsen, "Sorry to get you in this mess. We had a baby that came out live from a saline abortion, and it can't live!"
Cornelsen said Waddill pressed his hand on the baby's throat and said, "I can't find the goddam trachea," and "This baby won't stop breathing."
Cornelsen asked Waddill why he couldn't just leave the baby alone, and Waddill replied, "This baby can't live or it will be a big mess."
Waddill persisted in his efforts. A pathologist examined the baby's lungs and concluded that she'd been alive for at least 30 minutes. The neck trauma was "consistent with manual pressure, and inconsistent with saline." This pathologist also testified that only the infant's placenta and small bowel seemed to have been "significantly affected by the saline," meaning that the baby had not suffered fatal injury from exposure to the saline in-utero. The autopsy found the cause of the baby's death to have been "manual strangulation." The baby's gestational age was determined to have been 29 to 31 weeks at autopsy.
Had Waddill not strangled her, Mary's baby would likely have survived and even thrived.
Now, according to Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, it's a violation of the mother's constitutional rights to provide routine medical care to a baby born live as a result of an abortion attempt. Which means that by Obama's standards, the nurses in this case were in the wrong, committing a horrible assault on Mary's rights. By Obama's standards, Waddill was a hero, bravely providing comprehensive reproductive health care to Mary.
What do you think?
The baby, however, had been born as a result of an abortion Waddill had initiated on Mary. The baby was supposed to be dead. Waddill said it himself, in front of multiple witnesses.
He told Cornelsen, "Sorry to get you in this mess. We had a baby that came out live from a saline abortion, and it can't live!"
Cornelsen said Waddill pressed his hand on the baby's throat and said, "I can't find the goddam trachea," and "This baby won't stop breathing."
Cornelsen asked Waddill why he couldn't just leave the baby alone, and Waddill replied, "This baby can't live or it will be a big mess."
Waddill persisted in his efforts. A pathologist examined the baby's lungs and concluded that she'd been alive for at least 30 minutes. The neck trauma was "consistent with manual pressure, and inconsistent with saline." This pathologist also testified that only the infant's placenta and small bowel seemed to have been "significantly affected by the saline," meaning that the baby had not suffered fatal injury from exposure to the saline in-utero. The autopsy found the cause of the baby's death to have been "manual strangulation." The baby's gestational age was determined to have been 29 to 31 weeks at autopsy.
Had Waddill not strangled her, Mary's baby would likely have survived and even thrived.
Now, according to Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, it's a violation of the mother's constitutional rights to provide routine medical care to a baby born live as a result of an abortion attempt. Which means that by Obama's standards, the nurses in this case were in the wrong, committing a horrible assault on Mary's rights. By Obama's standards, Waddill was a hero, bravely providing comprehensive reproductive health care to Mary.
What do you think?
What media bias?
This was taken verbatim from an ABC News affiliate (emphasis mine):
It also looks as if it's taken verbatim from an abortion-advocacy press release.
These people should be ashamed of themselves. But then, if you think killing babies is okay, I guess blatant bias like this is no big deal, right?
And catch this! When I emailed the News Director and scolded him for allowing such blatant bias, he sent me this lame response:
Does this guy's wife work for Planned Parenthood or something? Since when it is not bias to refer to one side of a contentious issue using the term the other side uses to denigrate them? He's not calling the "Campaign for Healthy Families" pro-abortion, which they are.
Another one to share with NewsBusters!
UPDATE: After an email exchange Mr. Peterson relented slightly and changed "anti-choice" to "anti-abortion", which is still biased but at least accurate. Here's the screen capture showing the original wording:
Here's a close-up:
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A pro-choice group shifts into full gear to fight an abortion ban in South Dakota. The Campaign for Healthy Families announces the launch of a massive campaign tomorrow in the nation's capital.
The group claims anti-choice forces are using South Dakota to further their agenda to overturn Roe vs Wade.
South Dakotans rejected a law to outlaw abortions in 2006 and voters head back to the polls in November to decide on a similar ban.
The Campaign for Healthy Families kicks off their effort Tuesday at eight o'clock at the National Press Club in Washington.
It also looks as if it's taken verbatim from an abortion-advocacy press release.
These people should be ashamed of themselves. But then, if you think killing babies is okay, I guess blatant bias like this is no big deal, right?
And catch this! When I emailed the News Director and scolded him for allowing such blatant bias, he sent me this lame response:
As far as I know, groups supporting the ballot measure will not be appearing before the National Press Club on Tuesday. That in fact is: that’s what the story is about – the group is launching its campaign against it on a national stage. We will have more coverage on Tuesday from the perspective that they’re taking their campaign to a national level. No doubt we will have reaction locally from people who support the measure tomorrow.
So you see, you really don’t need to push the bias button.
Does this guy's wife work for Planned Parenthood or something? Since when it is not bias to refer to one side of a contentious issue using the term the other side uses to denigrate them? He's not calling the "Campaign for Healthy Families" pro-abortion, which they are.
Another one to share with NewsBusters!
UPDATE: After an email exchange Mr. Peterson relented slightly and changed "anti-choice" to "anti-abortion", which is still biased but at least accurate. Here's the screen capture showing the original wording:
Here's a close-up:
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1923: One woman dies, another implicated
On August 11, 1923, 26-year-old Martha Byzynski died at Chicago's St. Mary's Hospital from an abortion performed that day. The coroner named Jane Worchowski as the person responsible. Worchowski's profession is given as nurse or midwife.
What percentage of pre-legalization abortions were done by nurses, midwives, and other people who weren't doctors but still had medical training?
Less than 1%
About 4%
About 30%
Over 50%
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Less than 1%
About 4%
About 30%
Over 50%
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
It's not working! Let's do more of it!
High abortion rate worries NY experts
No surprise here. But then we get to hear a public health official say something truly insane, at least according to Albert Einstein, who was credited with defining insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
You can't spit in New York City without hitting someplace that's dispensing cheap or free birth control, but still the abortion rate is astronomical. The proposed solution? MORE BIRTH CONTROL!
More access to contraception means more people engaging in sexual intercourse in untenable situations. Now, I know that this is a heretical thing to say in this day and age, but SEXUAL INTERCOURSE IS WHAT CAUSES PREGNANCY. The more you do it, the more likely you are to get pregnant.
The lowest rates and rations of abortions are in Idaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
In the Alan Guttmacher Institutes's Contraception Counts grading system:
Idaho:
* 22nd in service availability
* 26th in laws and policies
* 30th in public funding
* 26th overall
Wyoming:
* 5th in service availability
* 26th in laws and policies
* 3rd in public funding
* 7th overall
South Dakota:
* 40th in service availability
* 40th in laws and policies
* 37th in public funding
* 44th overall
Only Wyoming gets what the AGI would consider any good scores, but they're considered pretty sucky, by AGI standards, on "laws and policies". Idaho and South Dakota, on the other hand, rank 26th and 44th for "preventing unintended pregnancy" even though they actually rank 1st and 3rd for actually having low rates of pregnancies so troublesome that they land the mother on the abortion table.
The AGI doesn't show New York City separately, but you can see here how they rank the state as a whole:
* 25th in service availability
* 3rd in laws and policies
* 13th in public funding
* 5th overall
"Overall", the Alan Guttmacher Institute ranks New York State 5th in "pregnancy prevention" efforts. I'd have to suggest that maybe these "prevention" efforts are, in New York City at least, failing miserably. Maybe New York City needs to take some lessons from Idaho.
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In most of the United States, 24 abortions are carried out for every 100 live births. In New York, 72 abortions occur for every 100 live births.
The continuing boom in abortions—90,157 were performed in the city in 2006, the last year for which statistics are available—apparently means that many women are using abortion as their birth control method of choice. ....
No surprise here. But then we get to hear a public health official say something truly insane, at least according to Albert Einstein, who was credited with defining insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
The easy availability of abortion and not enough access to affordable contraception may be reasons behind the city's high abortion rate. An average of 250 abortions are performed in the city each day at more than 200 clinics and doctor's offices.
And even though free or low-cost contraception is offered through 59 publicly funded programs at 218 sites in New York state, mostly in New York City, more could be provided, says Deborah Kaplan, deputy commissioner of the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
“To me, the problem is access,” says Ms. Kaplan. “If we improved access to contraceptives, there would be a reduction in abortion.”
You can't spit in New York City without hitting someplace that's dispensing cheap or free birth control, but still the abortion rate is astronomical. The proposed solution? MORE BIRTH CONTROL!
More access to contraception means more people engaging in sexual intercourse in untenable situations. Now, I know that this is a heretical thing to say in this day and age, but SEXUAL INTERCOURSE IS WHAT CAUSES PREGNANCY. The more you do it, the more likely you are to get pregnant.
The lowest rates and rations of abortions are in Idaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
In the Alan Guttmacher Institutes's Contraception Counts grading system:
Idaho:
* 22nd in service availability
* 26th in laws and policies
* 30th in public funding
* 26th overall
Wyoming:
* 5th in service availability
* 26th in laws and policies
* 3rd in public funding
* 7th overall
South Dakota:
* 40th in service availability
* 40th in laws and policies
* 37th in public funding
* 44th overall
Only Wyoming gets what the AGI would consider any good scores, but they're considered pretty sucky, by AGI standards, on "laws and policies". Idaho and South Dakota, on the other hand, rank 26th and 44th for "preventing unintended pregnancy" even though they actually rank 1st and 3rd for actually having low rates of pregnancies so troublesome that they land the mother on the abortion table.
The AGI doesn't show New York City separately, but you can see here how they rank the state as a whole:
* 25th in service availability
* 3rd in laws and policies
* 13th in public funding
* 5th overall
"Overall", the Alan Guttmacher Institute ranks New York State 5th in "pregnancy prevention" efforts. I'd have to suggest that maybe these "prevention" efforts are, in New York City at least, failing miserably. Maybe New York City needs to take some lessons from Idaho.
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"Are Democrats Now Pro-Life?"
ABC News Asks: 'Are Democrats Now Pro-Life?':
The Democratic party isn't very open to dissent on abortion. Bob Casey was silenced at the 1992 Democratic National Convention because he wanted to -- gasp! -- speak heretical words in support of life. The Minnesota delegates got beaten up in front of TV cameras -- footage you and I will never see -- for holding prolife and pro-Casey signs. NewsBusters is guessing that ABC News is trying to present Democrats as moderate, as not being in the hip pocket of the abortion lobby. I, for one, am not buying it.
Today ABC News's Web site asks "Are Democrats Now Pro-Life? As Convention Draws Near, New Talk of a Pro-Life Presence." The story points out that after many years of being strongly pro-choice, "the party and its presumptive nominee, Barack Obama, are rethinking how they talk about the issue."
....
Diverse views on abortion? Not likely. NARAL Pro-Choice America used to travel under the more honest name of the National Abortion Rights Action League. It still rates members of Congress based on abortion votes. Its most recent scorecard for the U.S. Senate shows 45 members achieving a 100% pro-choice rating.
Of that number, only three are Republicans. The remaining 100 percenters are Democrats and independent Senators Lieberman and Sanders, who caucus with the Democrats. The tally for the House of Representatives shows a similar pattern. Overwhelmingly, Democrats - including presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama ... - vote in favor of abortion.
The Democratic party isn't very open to dissent on abortion. Bob Casey was silenced at the 1992 Democratic National Convention because he wanted to -- gasp! -- speak heretical words in support of life. The Minnesota delegates got beaten up in front of TV cameras -- footage you and I will never see -- for holding prolife and pro-Casey signs. NewsBusters is guessing that ABC News is trying to present Democrats as moderate, as not being in the hip pocket of the abortion lobby. I, for one, am not buying it.
Search: A Planned Parenthood supporter
Jessica added the comment, "I have a right to put my tax dollars where I want them to be or remove them from where I don't want them to be. I do not support this false clinic issue. Please do not make me pay for something I don't believe in. You wouldn't want that done to you."
Think how we feel, Jessica, when our tax dollars are going to Planned Parenthood and paying for this slander against CPCs. Not to mention the other lying and bad behavior PP engages in.
And, Jessica, you have every right to think it was okay for Planned Parenthood to refer Christi Stile to a dangerous facility that didn't have resuscitation equipment, but why should those of us who object have our tax dollars fund such referrals? We didn't want to buy permanent brain damage for this girl with our tax dollars.
Our tax dollars kept the doors open in the Planned Parenthood where Edrica Goode was given fatal "care" by a nurse who ignored obvious symptoms of vaginal infection. Edrica died a horrible death. If you want your money to keep open the doors of the place that killed her, make private donations. Don't ask us to fund such slovenly care for young women.
Our tax dollars were also keeping the doors open at the Planned Parenthood that let Diana Lopez bleed to death. We didn't want our tax dollars to help purchase a life without a mother for two little boys. We didn't want our tax dollars facilitating any of these deaths. They may be okay with you and your fellow Planned Parenthood supporters, but we prolifers object strenuously.So, Jennifer, you can look at this death and grief and think that it's okay to spend our tax dollars making sure such things keep happening. But we prefer happy endings like this one:
What I'd like to know is why people like you object.
Somebody needs to check ads regularly
911 Callers Told of Carnage at Texas Bus Wreck Scene
The bus company was obviously advertising, so that this church group could find it to arrange the charter. Whenever there's any type of overseeing entity, there needs to be somebody whose job it is to check advertisements periodically to see that everybody who's running ads is actually being overseen.
I've seen this often enough in abortion -- places openly operating, figuring nobody's ever going to question them. Right now the only people checking to see if they're licensed and operating legally seems to be prolifers. (Though it's possible to just name your private practice so it looks like a licensed clinic, so I think we need to have some truth in advertising there, where doctors have to make it plain whether or not they're running a clinic or not.)
Having a licensing process is all very well and good, but it can also give the impression that all entities advertising a service are licensed.
The bus company was obviously advertising, so that this church group could find it to arrange the charter. Whenever there's any type of overseeing entity, there needs to be somebody whose job it is to check advertisements periodically to see that everybody who's running ads is actually being overseen.
I've seen this often enough in abortion -- places openly operating, figuring nobody's ever going to question them. Right now the only people checking to see if they're licensed and operating legally seems to be prolifers. (Though it's possible to just name your private practice so it looks like a licensed clinic, so I think we need to have some truth in advertising there, where doctors have to make it plain whether or not they're running a clinic or not.)
Having a licensing process is all very well and good, but it can also give the impression that all entities advertising a service are licensed.
1988: Anesthesia screw-up kills teen
As an experiment, I'm going to incorporate a few questions into my blog posts. Tell me if they make it more interesting or if they are annoying. My goal here is to get people to think, and I know asking questions gets different parts of the brain activated. Also, I tend to prefer interactive web sites myself. Note: Clicking on the links will bring you to pages that give answers to the questions. Click later if you want to try to answer the questions without help.
Here goes!
On August 10, 1988, 19-year-old K.B. (due to confidentiality, the public record documents do not give the patient's name) was given anesthesia for a safe, legal abortion at 14 weeks. Since Life Dynamics calls her "Kelly" on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by abortion, I will refer to her as Kelly as well.
Shortly after the procedure, she showed signs of distress, but emergency measures were not instituted for almost an hour. Kelly was transported to Cabrini Medical Center where she was pronounced dead from complications of anesthesia.
After Kelly's death, the health department investigated and found a mystery: Kelly's chart listed her post-operative condition as "pink, responsive, alert," even though she had gone into full cardio-respiratory arrest by the time indicated on the assessment. They learned that the note had been entered into the chart before the abortion was even performed.
The inspectors noted that the clinic "did not employ proper monitoring equipment or procedures," "had no working EKG machine," and didn't have a cardiac defibrillator. They noted that no one on staff was qualified to perform CPR. No one on staff was qualified to administer anesthesia, and they did not use proper procedures or equipment. Anesthesia was administered "by eye," with no means of accurately measuring the dose. Dosage was estimated to be twice that recommended in the procedure manual.
The operating rooms were found to be ill-lit, and there was no soap or paper towels at the scrub sink. The scrub sinks were stained, the walls and floors dirty, trash was stored in the scrub room. There were red make-up stains on the oxygen masks and nitrous oxide masks, dusty tubing on the suction machines, and blood on the wheels of the operating table.
The clinic had no documentation verifying the credentials or qualifications of medical director David Gluck. Gluck had been previously convicted of felony charges related to the sale of 48,000 Diluadid tabets to pay off gambling debts. His license had actually been revoked two months before K.B.'s death, but had been restored by judicial stay.
There was no evidence at the investigation two weeks after Kelly's death that Gluck had reviewed her chart, or the charts of 18 other patients identified as having suffered complications.
The state closed the clinic for 60 days, but it never re-opened.
Now, time to test your knowledge.
What kind of clinic was the place where Kelly died?
A fly-by-night that had closed and re-opened several times due to problems
A highly respected facility
An ordinary abortion facility that had never attracted any sort of attention before
What became of medical director David Gluck after Kelly's death?
He kept his license and was hired by another clinic, where he performed a fatal abortion on another patient.
He lost his medical license and never practiced again.
He was disciplined and had to get a mentor and take continuing education classes. He never was involved in another patient death.
He lost his medical license but got caught performing abortions anyway at another clinic.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Here goes!
On August 10, 1988, 19-year-old K.B. (due to confidentiality, the public record documents do not give the patient's name) was given anesthesia for a safe, legal abortion at 14 weeks. Since Life Dynamics calls her "Kelly" on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by abortion, I will refer to her as Kelly as well.
Shortly after the procedure, she showed signs of distress, but emergency measures were not instituted for almost an hour. Kelly was transported to Cabrini Medical Center where she was pronounced dead from complications of anesthesia.
After Kelly's death, the health department investigated and found a mystery: Kelly's chart listed her post-operative condition as "pink, responsive, alert," even though she had gone into full cardio-respiratory arrest by the time indicated on the assessment. They learned that the note had been entered into the chart before the abortion was even performed.
The inspectors noted that the clinic "did not employ proper monitoring equipment or procedures," "had no working EKG machine," and didn't have a cardiac defibrillator. They noted that no one on staff was qualified to perform CPR. No one on staff was qualified to administer anesthesia, and they did not use proper procedures or equipment. Anesthesia was administered "by eye," with no means of accurately measuring the dose. Dosage was estimated to be twice that recommended in the procedure manual.
The operating rooms were found to be ill-lit, and there was no soap or paper towels at the scrub sink. The scrub sinks were stained, the walls and floors dirty, trash was stored in the scrub room. There were red make-up stains on the oxygen masks and nitrous oxide masks, dusty tubing on the suction machines, and blood on the wheels of the operating table.
The clinic had no documentation verifying the credentials or qualifications of medical director David Gluck. Gluck had been previously convicted of felony charges related to the sale of 48,000 Diluadid tabets to pay off gambling debts. His license had actually been revoked two months before K.B.'s death, but had been restored by judicial stay.
There was no evidence at the investigation two weeks after Kelly's death that Gluck had reviewed her chart, or the charts of 18 other patients identified as having suffered complications.
The state closed the clinic for 60 days, but it never re-opened.
Now, time to test your knowledge.
A fly-by-night that had closed and re-opened several times due to problems
A highly respected facility
An ordinary abortion facility that had never attracted any sort of attention before
He kept his license and was hired by another clinic, where he performed a fatal abortion on another patient.
He lost his medical license and never practiced again.
He was disciplined and had to get a mentor and take continuing education classes. He never was involved in another patient death.
He lost his medical license but got caught performing abortions anyway at another clinic.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Saturday, August 09, 2008
Safe and legal? Or back alley butcher?
I'll describe several situations to you, and you decide if we're dealing with a "safe and legal" abortion provider or a criminal abortionist. And you can cheat, since I provide links. But I challenge you to just try to answer the question first, then click on the link to get more information.
Tell us how you did!
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Tell us how you did!
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Searches: Assorted quacks, for the most part
1917: Despite two doctors, abortion proves fatal for Colorado schoolteacher
Miss Mary Park, a 24-year-old schoolteacher of Greenley, Colorado, died August 9, 1917. Four years later, Dr. Nicholas J. Phelan was tried for murder in her death from illegal abortion, but he was acquitted by reason of insanity and sent to a mental hospital. The next year, Mary's body was exhumed, and Dr. E.L. Willis of Denver was subsequently tried and convicted in her death. He had been party to the abortion, performed at the Colonia Hotel in Denver. Willis was sentenced to 10 - 15 years in prison for Mary's death.
Mary's abortion was typical of those prior to Roe in that it was performed by a physician.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Mary's abortion was typical of those prior to Roe in that it was performed by a physician.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1927: Chicago doctor arrested for fatal abortion
On August 9, 1927, Irene Campbell died in the Chicago office of Dr. Herman Webber from an abortion performed there that day. Webber was arrested on August 9, and on September 1 he was indicted for felony murder.
Irene's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Irene's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Friday, August 08, 2008
One of Life's Great Mysteries. NOT!
The Abortion Counseling Conundrum
Abortion advocate Dana Goldstein laments that you just can't get deep-pockets abortion-advocacy contributors to donate money to "prochoice" post-abortion efforts.
That's because to remain "prochoice" you have to maintain the illusion that abortion makes everything all better. If it's leaving women screwed up and needing help, what's the point of supporting it in the first place?
Get a clue, Ms. Goldstein.
Abortion advocate Dana Goldstein laments that you just can't get deep-pockets abortion-advocacy contributors to donate money to "prochoice" post-abortion efforts.
That's because to remain "prochoice" you have to maintain the illusion that abortion makes everything all better. If it's leaving women screwed up and needing help, what's the point of supporting it in the first place?
Get a clue, Ms. Goldstein.
Searches: dead, Birmingham, anencephaly, and Lysol douches
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Guys. There goes my life.
Too bad the embedding is disabled:
There Goes My Life
Nailed it. He totally nailed it.
HT: Vital Signs, who also passes us along to Guys for Life.
The Awareness Test -- I won't spoil it for you; I'll just say I had my suspicions, they were confirmed, and I totally missed it.
There Goes My Life
Nailed it. He totally nailed it.
HT: Vital Signs, who also passes us along to Guys for Life.
The Awareness Test -- I won't spoil it for you; I'll just say I had my suspicions, they were confirmed, and I totally missed it.
Adoption surprisingly rare
This report on an adoption study says that, "Among women aged 18 to 44, only about 1 percent had adopted children. About 2.3 percent of men that age had ever adopted."
This is something I find absolutely unbelievable. Are my friends and family really that far outside the norm?
I went to school with a classmate who had been adopted, and another whose family adopted a child from Korea. I dated a man in college who was adopted, as was his brother, as was his former girlfriend.
A close family friend adopted their daughter. My sister and her husband adopted theirs, as have many of their friends. My old boss, prolife activist Mark Crutcher, adopted his daughter. One of my closest online friends has an adopted daughter. I've had 6 kids on my caseload at the agency where I started working five months ago, and one of them was adopted.
What's up with this?
Well, it's time for me to head for work with this mystery to chew on during spare moments. I'll have to think of the kids I know and what percent of them are adopted, I guess.
This is something I find absolutely unbelievable. Are my friends and family really that far outside the norm?
I went to school with a classmate who had been adopted, and another whose family adopted a child from Korea. I dated a man in college who was adopted, as was his brother, as was his former girlfriend.
A close family friend adopted their daughter. My sister and her husband adopted theirs, as have many of their friends. My old boss, prolife activist Mark Crutcher, adopted his daughter. One of my closest online friends has an adopted daughter. I've had 6 kids on my caseload at the agency where I started working five months ago, and one of them was adopted.
What's up with this?
Well, it's time for me to head for work with this mystery to chew on during spare moments. I'll have to think of the kids I know and what percent of them are adopted, I guess.
1975: Uterus ruptures, woman bleeds to death
On August 6, 1975, 29-year-old Cheryl Tubbs underwent a saline abortion at Pacific Glen Hospital in Los Angeles County. She experienced heavy vaginal bleeding after this safe, legal abortion, so she was transferred to White Hospital on the evening of August 7.
Cheryl continued to bleed profusely, and twice went into cardiac arrest. Staff performed a paracentesis on her to remove blood and fluids from her abdomen. About an hour after midnight, staff could no longer detect any blood pressure. For an hour they tried heart massage, to no avail. Cheryl was pronounced dead at 2:30AM on August 8.
An autopsy revealed that Cheryl's uterus had ruptured, tearing open and
during the abortion, spilling blood and uterine material into her abdomen. She had bled to death.
Two years later, Jackie Bailey also bled to death from a ruptured uterus caused by a saline abortion at Pacific Glen.
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Cheryl continued to bleed profusely, and twice went into cardiac arrest. Staff performed a paracentesis on her to remove blood and fluids from her abdomen. About an hour after midnight, staff could no longer detect any blood pressure. For an hour they tried heart massage, to no avail. Cheryl was pronounced dead at 2:30AM on August 8.
An autopsy revealed that Cheryl's uterus had ruptured, tearing open and
during the abortion, spilling blood and uterine material into her abdomen. She had bled to death.
Two years later, Jackie Bailey also bled to death from a ruptured uterus caused by a saline abortion at Pacific Glen.
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When words kill
And this from a conservative news source that should know better. Abortion Debate Rages in India After Court Decision:
Nobody is preventing the parents from ending the pregnancy. ALL pregnancies end. What the couple wanted to do was kill the fetus. We need to make that clear.
Accurate reporting would have said:
When even people who ought to know better start using language that distorts what is really happening, we're participating in the lies.
The parents wanted to kill the child. The courts intervened to spare his life. And we need to SAY IT, not couch it in abortion-advocacy euphemisms.
A nationwide debate over abortion is under way in India, where a court dismissed a couple’s request to end a pregnancy to prevent birth of a disabled child.
Nobody is preventing the parents from ending the pregnancy. ALL pregnancies end. What the couple wanted to do was kill the fetus. We need to make that clear.
Accurate reporting would have said:
A nationwide debate over abortion is under way in India, where a court dismissed a couple's request to have a disabled fetus aborted to prevent him from being born alive.
When even people who ought to know better start using language that distorts what is really happening, we're participating in the lies.
The parents wanted to kill the child. The courts intervened to spare his life. And we need to SAY IT, not couch it in abortion-advocacy euphemisms.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Not "search and destory"?
A commenter a while back insisted that prenatal testing isn't some sort of "search and destroy" mission to eliminate babies that eugenicists consider "defective".
And along comes somebody to make my point for me:
Change The Law - Puneet Bedi:
Evidently the idea of healing is alien to those doing prenatal diagnostics.
Once upon a time, doctors were healers. Now there's no difference between a doctor and Inspector Number Five tossing an ill-sewn shirt into the trash bin.
And along comes somebody to make my point for me:
Change The Law - Puneet Bedi:
The aim of prenatal diagnosis is to prevent the birth of an abnormal child. The whole science of prenatal diagnosis is meaningless if abortion is not allowed even when gross abnormality is confirmed.
Evidently the idea of healing is alien to those doing prenatal diagnostics.
Once upon a time, doctors were healers. Now there's no difference between a doctor and Inspector Number Five tossing an ill-sewn shirt into the trash bin.
Search: Gayna Uransky
Gayna Uransky, California, was one of the people signing on to Planned Parenthood's hoax petition, in which they fabricated lies and told their tales.
Gayna added comments to the petition: "If the clinics presented both sides of this weighty question, it would be a good idea. Doesn't sound as though this is the case. Let's cut their funds."
If lying to patients is grounds to cut funds, then, Gayna, we need to cut Planned Parenthood's funds. They told my babysitter her 8-week fetus was "like a blood clot". That was the lie that jolted me off the fence and got me to questioning whether they were really as benign as they presented themselves to be. Then I started investigating. And nobody who looks closely and really cares about women will much like what they see.
Gayna added comments to the petition: "If the clinics presented both sides of this weighty question, it would be a good idea. Doesn't sound as though this is the case. Let's cut their funds."
If lying to patients is grounds to cut funds, then, Gayna, we need to cut Planned Parenthood's funds. They told my babysitter her 8-week fetus was "like a blood clot". That was the lie that jolted me off the fence and got me to questioning whether they were really as benign as they presented themselves to be. Then I started investigating. And nobody who looks closely and really cares about women will much like what they see.
Eileen Smith speaks on daughter Laura's death
From Concerned Women for America
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Why check facts when you can pass along lies?
Patty Fisher of the Mercury News actually has the unmitigated gall to drag the fictitious Becky Bell "abortion" into the fray over "Sarah's Law.
This is something I couldn't just let slide.
HT: JJ
This is something I couldn't just let slide.
Dear Ms. Fisher:
In your piece, "Anti-abortion ballot measure still bad idea", you urge readers to pass on the tale of "The Indiana girl who died from an illegal abortion because she was afraid to tell her parents." This is an ironic suggestion, since it seems the main bone you have to pick with "Sarah's Law" is that the law's proponents made what you consider a poor choice of girls to use as an example. But you counter with the example of a girl who never even underwent an induced abortion in the first place. A double standard, perhaps?
That "Indiana girl" was Becky Bell. Becky died from the same strain of pneumonia that killed Muppets creator Jim Henson. She was still pregnant, carrying fliers from homes for unwed mothers in her purse, when her parents brought her to the hospital. She miscarried. Her parents saw the word "abortion" on her autopsy report and became confused. Nobody in the abortion lobby bothered to tell them that "abortion" is the medical term for a miscarriage. The abortion lobby took an abortion that never even happened and used it as leverage to defeat parental involvement laws.
And you want people to continue the subterfuge.
Jammie Garcia, on the other hand, did really die from an abortion done behind her parents' back. She died such a hideous death that I cried when I read her autopsy report.
I also cried when I read about how Dawn Ravenelle's mother got the call from the hospital because 13-year-old Dawn was "fighting for her life". With the help of school counselors and a relative of the boy who got her pregnant, Dawn had undergone a secret abortion. Her mother said later, "I was going, 'How can she be fighting for her life? She left for school this morning, looking healthy, never been sick.' While I was there at the hospital -- they were doing tests -- I had to keep my hand pressed over my mouth to keep from screaming in horror. I kept going, 'This is all a bad dream. I am going to wake up and this will not have happened.'" Of course, it did happen. Dawn's parents spent weeks at her bedside, talking to her, playing gospel songs she'd sung in the choir to her, praying. She never woke up. But her death is considered beneath your notice.
How about the shock 15-year-old Tamiia Russell's mom got when her daughter confessed that she had been brought for an abortion by her abuser's girlfriend? Tamiia had been so far advanced in her pregnancy that several other Detroit abortion clinics had turned her away -- one even offering prenatal vitamins. But the abuser's sister persisted, the abortion was arranged. And Tamiia hemorrhaged and died. Another dead teenager beneath your notice.
Attack "Sarah's Law" on its merits or lack thereof, if you will. Or rather, if you can. Which you can't, or you'd not be reduced to dragging up a 20-year-old lie and trying to breathe new life into it.
Christina Dunigan
HT: JJ
Imagine the outcry
Selective feticide in dichorionic pregnancies with intracardiac blood aspiration: report of nine cases.
Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. Mom's pregnant with twins. One of them is deemed defective, but the other one meets quality control standards. So what to do? How about stick a tube in the ailing baby's heart and suck out all the blood?
Could you even begin to imagine the outcry if this was proposed as a way to execute convicted murderers?
But it's okay to do it to a baby whose only crime is being imperfect.
HT: Big Blue Wave
Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. Mom's pregnant with twins. One of them is deemed defective, but the other one meets quality control standards. So what to do? How about stick a tube in the ailing baby's heart and suck out all the blood?
Could you even begin to imagine the outcry if this was proposed as a way to execute convicted murderers?
But it's okay to do it to a baby whose only crime is being imperfect.
HT: Big Blue Wave
1983: Connecticut woman dies from amniotic fluid embolism
Mary Ives was 28 when she had an safe, legal abortion performed at 19 weeks into her pregnancy. She was admitted to W.W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut, for treatment of complications of the abortion, but her heart and lungs failed due to amniotic fluid embolism (amniotic fluid in her blood stream). Mary was pronounced dead on August 7, 1983.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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1988: Another safe, legal death
Teresa Smith was 31 years of age when she submitted to a safe, legal D&C abortion. She went into cardio-respiratory arrest from a pulmonary embolism (tissue, fluid, or air carried through the blood into the lungs) and was pronounced dead at a local hospital on August 7, 1988.
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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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1979: One of four maternal deaths at Miami abortion clinic
Ruth Montero, age 23, underwent a safe and legal vacuum abortion of her 8-week pregnancy, under general anesthesia, August 1979, at Women's Care Center in Miami.
Ruth awoke from anesthesia in the recovery room, and went into convulsions and cardiopulmonary arrest. She died from hemorrhage, and a prolapsed mitral valve, August 7.
Ruth Montero, Myrta Baptiste, Maura Morales, and Shirley Payne all died in a clinic owned by Hipolito Barreiro, trained in Argentina and West Africa, but not licensed in U.S. Barreiro was accused of practicing without a license and tampering with witness.
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Ruth awoke from anesthesia in the recovery room, and went into convulsions and cardiopulmonary arrest. She died from hemorrhage, and a prolapsed mitral valve, August 7.
Ruth Montero, Myrta Baptiste, Maura Morales, and Shirley Payne all died in a clinic owned by Hipolito Barreiro, trained in Argentina and West Africa, but not licensed in U.S. Barreiro was accused of practicing without a license and tampering with witness.
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Addressing the myths
HT: JJ
Recycling the Myths of Abortion History is (as one would expect from First Thing) one for the eggheads. Joseph W. Dellapenna deconstructs a standard litany of abortion-advocacy revisionism that had been put forth, as if afresh, by an abortion enthusiast attacking his book, Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History.
Anybody who has dealt with abortion-advocacy rhetoric in other areas is familiar with the tactics Carla Spivack uses to try to undo the damage Dellapenna's work would do to her pet cause should it capture the attention of anybody open-minded enough to question what they'd been told by the abortion lobby all these years.
From Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History:
I'll note, as Dellapenna does, that claims 2 and 3 are contradictory. Why, after all, would legislators go to the trouble to draft laws purely to protect women from a common and safe practice that nobody has any moral qualms about? But we see contradictory claims in abortion advocacy all the time. They oppose informed consent laws on the grounds that women are perfectly capable of gathering the necessary information themselves (implying, by the way, that women are uniformly capable of accessing and plowing through a medical library), but they also insist that government funding is necessary to refer for abortions because these same women don't know how to read a phone book in order to find an abortion practitioner.
We can go into more detail in the discussion if anybody's interested.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Recycling the Myths of Abortion History is (as one would expect from First Thing) one for the eggheads. Joseph W. Dellapenna deconstructs a standard litany of abortion-advocacy revisionism that had been put forth, as if afresh, by an abortion enthusiast attacking his book, Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History.
Anybody who has dealt with abortion-advocacy rhetoric in other areas is familiar with the tactics Carla Spivack uses to try to undo the damage Dellapenna's work would do to her pet cause should it capture the attention of anybody open-minded enough to question what they'd been told by the abortion lobby all these years.
From Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History:
In Roe v. Wade, Justice Harry Blackmun structured the argument of the majority as around the history of abortion laws. That history built on the work of law professor Cyril Means, jr., and historian James Mohr. Means and Mohr proclaim four theses as summarizing the "true" history of abortion in England and America:
(1) Abortion was not a crime "at common law" (before the enactment of abortion statutes in the nineteenth century. (2) Abortion was common and relatively safe during this time. (3) Abortion statutes were enacted in the nineteenth century in order to protect the life of the mother rather than the life of the embryo or fetus. (4) The moving force behind the nineteenth century statutes was the efforts of the male medical profession to suppress competition from competing, largely female practitioners of alternative forms of medicine.
Each of these theses is wrong, but together they form the new orthodoxy of abortion history—an orthodoxy that is used to sustain a claim of a constitutional right to abort. Only by placing strictly legal materials in social, political, and technological contexts can one properly understand what happened in the past and how the law specific to abortion changed through time.
This book dispels these myths and sets forth the true history of abortion and abortion law in English and American society. Anglo-American law always treated abortion as a serious crime, generally including early in pregnancy. Prosecutions and even executions go back 800 years ago in England establishing law that carried over to colonial America. The reasons offered for these prosecutions and penalties consistently focused on protecting the life of the unborn child. This unbroken tradition refutes the claims that unborn children have not been treated as persons in our law or as persons under the Constitution of the United States.
I'll note, as Dellapenna does, that claims 2 and 3 are contradictory. Why, after all, would legislators go to the trouble to draft laws purely to protect women from a common and safe practice that nobody has any moral qualms about? But we see contradictory claims in abortion advocacy all the time. They oppose informed consent laws on the grounds that women are perfectly capable of gathering the necessary information themselves (implying, by the way, that women are uniformly capable of accessing and plowing through a medical library), but they also insist that government funding is necessary to refer for abortions because these same women don't know how to read a phone book in order to find an abortion practitioner.
We can go into more detail in the discussion if anybody's interested.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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1988: Toddler found in motel room with dead mom
On August 6, 1988, 30-year-old Laura Sorrels was found dead in a motel room, her one-year-old daughter by her side.
Two weeks earlier, she had undergone a safe and legal abortion at a facility in Lancaster, California. Whoever had done the abortion hadn't noticed that there had been no embryo in Laura's uterus. It has been in her fallopian tube. As a result, Laura had been left unaware of the ectopic pregnancy -- which the abortion clinic should have easily diagnosed -- and thus not knowing that she needed medical care. The tube ruptured, and Laura, alone with her young child, had bled to death internally.
Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually more likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Two weeks earlier, she had undergone a safe and legal abortion at a facility in Lancaster, California. Whoever had done the abortion hadn't noticed that there had been no embryo in Laura's uterus. It has been in her fallopian tube. As a result, Laura had been left unaware of the ectopic pregnancy -- which the abortion clinic should have easily diagnosed -- and thus not knowing that she needed medical care. The tube ruptured, and Laura, alone with her young child, had bled to death internally.
Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually more likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
TV erotica
Modern hypersexualized society has lost sight of what's really erotic.
I first saw this episode only recently, with a young friend who is a huge I Love Lucy fan and had just bought a DVD collection. When Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz launched into the drum scene in this clip, I nearly choked. "I can't believe they're showing something that erotic on 1950's TV!" I exclaimed.
My friend said, "Erotic?"
I pointed to the screen -- "Are you kidding? They're practically getting it on!"
She didn't quite believe me until Lucy cried out, "What did we say?! What did we say?!" and Desi told her, "Not here, please."
Hollywood has forgotten how to capture eros. We've brought up a generation that can't recognize it. And that's a sad loss, I think.
I first saw this episode only recently, with a young friend who is a huge I Love Lucy fan and had just bought a DVD collection. When Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz launched into the drum scene in this clip, I nearly choked. "I can't believe they're showing something that erotic on 1950's TV!" I exclaimed.
My friend said, "Erotic?"
I pointed to the screen -- "Are you kidding? They're practically getting it on!"
She didn't quite believe me until Lucy cried out, "What did we say?! What did we say?!" and Desi told her, "Not here, please."
Hollywood has forgotten how to capture eros. We've brought up a generation that can't recognize it. And that's a sad loss, I think.
Striking a nerve
I found this charming missive in my mailbox today (Warning: Strong language):
It was forwarded to my mailbox because it had been left as a comment to this post on my own blog: Bring out your dead!
I was not using Renee's blog for any purpose whatsoever. She was using her own blog to spread the words of abortionist Garcon Romalis on why legal abortion is so supposedly so very good for women. I was using my own blog to note that the problems that led Garcon to become an abortionist were not eliminated by legalization. Renee evidently has some problems with boundaries, unable to distinguish between her own blog and mine.
She then calls me "pro-birth" as if that is some sort of insult.
Then she launches into quite a tirade, without in any way responding to a single thing in the offending blog post. She simply makes a lot of assumptions and spews quite a bit of spittle venting them. How she got from my concern over women being disemboweled or killed to a lack of concern for women remains somewhat bewildering.
Renee, do some yoga and come back when you've calmed down and then tell me exactly what you objected to in my blog post. Which, again, was in my blog.
Don't use my blog to spread your falsehood and lies you woman hating pro-birth troll...you don't give a shit about women! This is all about controlling women. In fact you don't even give a shit about the kids...where is your out cry to help this women after these kids are born??? Huw where the fuck is it? You pro birth people claim you care but you don't give a shit about the poverty a single woman lives in when she is the sole support for a child. You don't advocate socialized daycare or specialized job training or job sharing..just as long as we pop the kids out...asshole
It was forwarded to my mailbox because it had been left as a comment to this post on my own blog: Bring out your dead!
I was not using Renee's blog for any purpose whatsoever. She was using her own blog to spread the words of abortionist Garcon Romalis on why legal abortion is so supposedly so very good for women. I was using my own blog to note that the problems that led Garcon to become an abortionist were not eliminated by legalization. Renee evidently has some problems with boundaries, unable to distinguish between her own blog and mine.
She then calls me "pro-birth" as if that is some sort of insult.
Then she launches into quite a tirade, without in any way responding to a single thing in the offending blog post. She simply makes a lot of assumptions and spews quite a bit of spittle venting them. How she got from my concern over women being disemboweled or killed to a lack of concern for women remains somewhat bewildering.
Renee, do some yoga and come back when you've calmed down and then tell me exactly what you objected to in my blog post. Which, again, was in my blog.
Has Ghali resurfaced?
Somebody came to my blog after searching for "Nabil Ghali, M.D. Cuyahoga County".
This guy is a real piece of work. But the last I saw of him was in 1997, when he got arrested in Ohio for practicing medicine without a license and raping his patients.
I figured he was bound to pop up again sooner or later. Does this search mean there's been a sighting?
Here's the Ghali Timeline. Please let me know if you can fill in any gaps:
1934
Born in Cairo, Egypt
1958
Graduated from medical school in Cairo
1972
First granted license to practice medicine in Ohio
1974
Prescribed Valium to mother, allegedly causing injury of infant Richard in Kentucky
1978
Sued over death of woman and injury of infant in delivery in Kentucky
Injury of infant Nathan in Kentucky
1982
Conviction for sexual transaction with minor in Kentucky
1984
Ohio license suspended. Ghali appeals.
1985
Utah license revoked for making false statements in renewal application; he'd denied disciplinary actions that had been taken against him by Kentucky
Fatal abortion on Ellen Williams at Dadeland
Botched abortion on "Charice" at Ladies First in Florida
Ohio license suspension upheld in court. Ghali appeals.
1986
Applied for renewal of Ohio license, failed to disclose suspension of Utah license. Suspension upheld on appeal.
Botched abortion on "Priscilla" at Ladies First in Florida
1987
License revoked in Kentucky, Florida, and New York due to sexual transaction with minor
Botched abortion on "Pamela" at Women's Medical Center of Miami
1988
License revoked in California due to sexual transaction with minor
Ohio license reinstated by court
Botched abortion on "Gail" at Dadeland in Florida
Applied for renewal of Ohio license, not indicating that he'd been disciplined since his last application although his license had been revoked in New York, California, and Florida. The Ohio Medical Board said, "the evidence shows a long-term pattern of repeated fraud. Such behavior on Dr. Ghali's part provides no foundation for a continued relationship between him and the Board, which is charged with regulating licenses and protecting the public."
1989
Ghali's Blue Coral clinic shut down in Florida
1990
Ohio license ordered revoked in November for giving false and/or misleading information on application for reinstatement.
Failed to diagnose ectopic pregnancy on "Janilla" in Kentucky
1991
Botched abortions on "Vonnie" and "Brittany" in Ohio
Ohio orders permanent revocation of license. Ghali appeals.
1992
Botched abortion on "Susan" in Ohio
Numerous attempts by Ghali to regain Ohio license fail in court
1993
Ohio Supreme Court refuses to hear Ghali's appeal; license is effectively permanently revoked.
1997
Women sue after sexual assaults at Academy in Ohio
This guy is a real piece of work. But the last I saw of him was in 1997, when he got arrested in Ohio for practicing medicine without a license and raping his patients.
I figured he was bound to pop up again sooner or later. Does this search mean there's been a sighting?
Here's the Ghali Timeline. Please let me know if you can fill in any gaps:
1934
1958
1972
1974
1978
1982
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1997
Search: Seth Gilbertson
Somebody was searching for Seth Gilbertson. Seth was one of the people who signed a Planned Parenthood petition trying to shut down CPCs.
Seth said, "Every woman should have the ability to recieve balanced information so they can make their own decisions."
Like when Planned Parenthood told my babysitter that her 8-week fetus was "just like a blood clot"?
Like the way Planned Parentood told Cristi Stile they were referring her to a "safe" facility, and they sent her to one with no crash cart? Cristi has been incapacitated since that ever so safe abortion.
How about the way PP endangered the lives of women with their lies that the anesthesia given to the mother in a late-term abortion kills the fetus? Obstetricians were faced with sick moms who didn't want to consent to desperately-needed surgery because PP's lies convinced them that they would be endangering their loved and wanted babies.
You don't like lies, Seth? How about the lies PP told you to get you to sign the petition in the first place? Or did you know it was a lie, Seth? Were you scammed, or one of the scammers?
Seth said, "Every woman should have the ability to recieve balanced information so they can make their own decisions."
Like when Planned Parenthood told my babysitter that her 8-week fetus was "just like a blood clot"?
Like the way Planned Parentood told Cristi Stile they were referring her to a "safe" facility, and they sent her to one with no crash cart? Cristi has been incapacitated since that ever so safe abortion.
How about the way PP endangered the lives of women with their lies that the anesthesia given to the mother in a late-term abortion kills the fetus? Obstetricians were faced with sick moms who didn't want to consent to desperately-needed surgery because PP's lies convinced them that they would be endangering their loved and wanted babies.
You don't like lies, Seth? How about the lies PP told you to get you to sign the petition in the first place? Or did you know it was a lie, Seth? Were you scammed, or one of the scammers?
More ectopic survivors
I found these as a result of checking the other results for searches that led to my blog. I'm going to have to do a page over at RealChoice about it, building on my original ectopic survival blog post.
As is generally the case in ectopic cases in which there is a live birth, these are abdominal pregnancies.
Live abdominal pregnancy presenting as massive rectal bleeding: "A case of massive rectal bleeding resulting from the placental attachment of an abdominal pregnancy to the sigmoid colon is reported. Both mother and infant survived this rare complication which should be considered when abdominal colic and major gastrointestinal haemorrhage occur in a pregnant patient."
Abdominal pregnancies, Primary Surgery: Volume One: Non-trauma, Chapter 8. The surgery of pregnancy: Covers a case of survival, with recommendations for management.
Massive hemorrhage in a previously undiagnosed abdominal pregnancy presenting for elective Cesarean delivery: Not sure if this is a new case or not.
Abdominal pregnancies in Sweden resulting in live infants 1970-81: The site is just a cite for an article in Swedish, leaving me to wonder how many infants were born alive after abdominal gestation just in Sweden in those 11 years.
Full-term viable abdominal pregnancy: a case report and review: A full-term abdominal pregnancy culminating in the birth of a live healthy baby by laparotomy is described.
As I said before, I'm going to do more research on this and get it up on the main RealChoice page so I can more readily link to it. Please contribute more cases as you find them.
I get the sad feeling this baby didn't get a chance to survive, the page is remarkable. An ultrasonographer presents video ultrasound of an embryo in an ectopic, including the "cardiac activity". For those of you wondering why we get all in a tizzy about wanting to save these "pregnancies". Answer: They're tiny children, that's why.
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As is generally the case in ectopic cases in which there is a live birth, these are abdominal pregnancies.
As I said before, I'm going to do more research on this and get it up on the main RealChoice page so I can more readily link to it. Please contribute more cases as you find them.
I get the sad feeling this baby didn't get a chance to survive, the page is remarkable. An ultrasonographer presents video ultrasound of an embryo in an ectopic, including the "cardiac activity". For those of you wondering why we get all in a tizzy about wanting to save these "pregnancies". Answer: They're tiny children, that's why.
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Monday, August 04, 2008
Why can't we beat AIDS?
Whence this problem? More than 56,000 in U.S. infected with AIDS each year
WARNING: LINK TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER WARNING PAGE WARNING YOU HOW EXTREMELY GRAPHIC THIS REPORT IS. Don't say you weren't warned.
Up Your Alley 2008:
This is a photo report by Zombie. It's uncensored, though Zombie does allow you to choose a version in which the genitalia are pixillated. It's just as obscene, but not quiet as likely to cause nausea.
Zombie notes, "Many of the beneficiaries from the fair's vendor proceeds were AIDS-related organizations. And various AIDS-themed booths were stationed around the fair -- such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation seen here on the left." But not a condom in sight. And in just the hour he/she was there, Zombie got photos of one man having oral sex performed on him by three different other men.
The whole thing pretty much speaks for itself. But it's not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach.
And, as one of the commenters in the Zombie blog points out, here is a case in which life surpasses The Onion. (Link safe and not graphic.)
WARNING: LINK TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER WARNING PAGE WARNING YOU HOW EXTREMELY GRAPHIC THIS REPORT IS. Don't say you weren't warned.
Up Your Alley 2008:
a free, open-to-the-public street festival held in San Francisco on July 27. Up Your Alley -- which until recently was called the Dore Alley Fair -- is very similar to the larger and more well-known Folsom Street Fair, in that they are both held to celebrate the leather and fetish scene in the gay community. While Folsom is internationally known and draws visitors from all over the world, Up Your Alley is thought of more as the fetish event "for locals," and because of that it is smaller, has fewer retail vendors and booths, and generally flies under the radar.
However, in recent years, the original Dore Alley Fair stopped being independently produced, and became a subsidiary of the larger Folsom Street Fair nonprofit organization; the name was changed to Up Your Alley, and was it was more heavily promoted on the official Folsom Web site.
This is a photo report by Zombie. It's uncensored, though Zombie does allow you to choose a version in which the genitalia are pixillated. It's just as obscene, but not quiet as likely to cause nausea.
Zombie notes, "Many of the beneficiaries from the fair's vendor proceeds were AIDS-related organizations. And various AIDS-themed booths were stationed around the fair -- such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation seen here on the left." But not a condom in sight. And in just the hour he/she was there, Zombie got photos of one man having oral sex performed on him by three different other men.
The whole thing pretty much speaks for itself. But it's not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach.
And, as one of the commenters in the Zombie blog points out, here is a case in which life surpasses The Onion. (Link safe and not graphic.)
You can always have another baby later, right?
A severely preterm baby that will die. But better two dead babies than a live one at an inopportune moment, right?
Please before going ballistic, note that "Abortion causes increased preterm births" does not equal "Preterm births are always caused by abortion."
For those who haven't studied logic in math class:
Effect D can have more than one cause. You understand this all the time.
Effect D, Car Crash, can be caused by:
A. Driver error -- Speeding, tailgating, drinking, putting on makeup instead of paying attention, etc.
B. Maintenance shortcomings -- Bald tires, worn brakes, cracked tie-rod assemblies, etc.
C. Road conditions -- Ice, snow, fog, water, etc.
In fact, usually there will be more than one cause.
It's the same for preterm births. They might be caused by things the mother had control over, or things she had no control over. And an induced abortion is a major thing she has control over.
When a woman gives birth, her cervix is softened and opened gradually by natural processes. In an abortion, her cervix is forced open when natural processes are trying to keep it shut. Hard instruments are passed through. In later abortions, bony pieces are pulled out. The cervix is often torn. You can clearly see how this would contribute to preterm labor in future pregnancies.
Surgical abortions also scrape the interior of the uterus, particularly where the placenta had attached. This means that the area where the placenta is supposed to attach in a future pregnancy has been compromised to some degree. This can cause problems with how well the placenta attaches, or can lead to poor placental placement in future pregnancies. You can clearly see how this can contribute to preterm labor.
Surgical abortions can cause adhesions inside the uterus, a condition called Asherman's Syndrome. These adhesions impair fertility, and you can imagine how much harder it would be to get a pregnancy to go fully to term in a uterus that had been full of adhesions.
Advanced maternal age contributes to preterm birth. Aborting during your peak childbearing years in order to delay childrearing until your peak earning years will therefore increase the odds of a preterm birth.
And if the woman is having multiple abortions, these factors are adding up.
You can always have another baby later, right?
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Washington, DC (04 August 2008) – New statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics are adding more evidence to the body of research surrounding the link between abortion and infant death.
"Here is another of the unseen consequences of abortion," said Leslie Tignor, director of American Life League's Associate Program. "We're seeing that abortion not only ends the life of a child; it also endangers the life of that child's future siblings."
Tignor is project manager of "Baby Steps," a DVD that features detailed 4D ultrasound pictures of preborn babies from eight to 34 weeks throughout their 16 stages of development.
The NCHS' "Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2005 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set," (Vol. 57, No. 2) of the National Vital Statistics Report released July 30, shows that preterm births were responsible for over 36.5 percent of infant deaths in 2005.
The NCHS' findings affirm past studies that show women who have had abortions are more likely to give birth to preterm babies.
The 2007 Journal of Reproductive Medicine reported that nearly 32 percent of "very preterm" U.S. births – before 32 weeks gestation – are due to the mother's prior abortions.
"American Life League will continue to work to make women aware of abortion's ripple effect," Tignor said. "Not only does abortion hurt women, preborn babies and their families, but it could also risk the life of future children. Abortion leads to death, not only for the preborn child killed by abortion, but also for the many children susceptible to preterm birth and infant death.
Please before going ballistic, note that "Abortion causes increased preterm births" does not equal "Preterm births are always caused by abortion."
For those who haven't studied logic in math class:
Effect D can have more than one cause. You understand this all the time.
Effect D, Car Crash, can be caused by:
A. Driver error -- Speeding, tailgating, drinking, putting on makeup instead of paying attention, etc.
B. Maintenance shortcomings -- Bald tires, worn brakes, cracked tie-rod assemblies, etc.
C. Road conditions -- Ice, snow, fog, water, etc.
In fact, usually there will be more than one cause.
It's the same for preterm births. They might be caused by things the mother had control over, or things she had no control over. And an induced abortion is a major thing she has control over.
When a woman gives birth, her cervix is softened and opened gradually by natural processes. In an abortion, her cervix is forced open when natural processes are trying to keep it shut. Hard instruments are passed through. In later abortions, bony pieces are pulled out. The cervix is often torn. You can clearly see how this would contribute to preterm labor in future pregnancies.
Surgical abortions also scrape the interior of the uterus, particularly where the placenta had attached. This means that the area where the placenta is supposed to attach in a future pregnancy has been compromised to some degree. This can cause problems with how well the placenta attaches, or can lead to poor placental placement in future pregnancies. You can clearly see how this can contribute to preterm labor.
Surgical abortions can cause adhesions inside the uterus, a condition called Asherman's Syndrome. These adhesions impair fertility, and you can imagine how much harder it would be to get a pregnancy to go fully to term in a uterus that had been full of adhesions.
Advanced maternal age contributes to preterm birth. Aborting during your peak childbearing years in order to delay childrearing until your peak earning years will therefore increase the odds of a preterm birth.
And if the woman is having multiple abortions, these factors are adding up.
You can always have another baby later, right?
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2006: Murder-suicide in aftermath of abortion
On August 4, 2006, 30-year-old Laura Grunas, a police officer in Plantation, Florida, shot her boyfriend, 31-year-old Robert Peat, dead inside his home. Grunas then turned the gun on herself. The couple had been together for about a year.Neighbors reported that Laura was hysterical the last day of her life, standing outside Peat's garage yelling, "Why is everyone blaming this on me? He killed my baby." The argument became so loud that neighbors called the police.
In what those close to the pair believed to have been a mutual decision, Laura had aborted the couple's baby a few weeks earlier. Michael Roth, a friend of Peat, told police that Peat had been "enormously upset" about the legal abortion. "He was a lot more religious than me and didn't believe in that, but they had felt that that was the right thing to do for whatever reasons."
Peat had called Roth and asked him to come over shortly before the shooting. Roth said that when he arrived, Grunas became upset, saying, "If, when he felt the need to call, did he tell you about killing my baby?"
Peat also called the police, and when two officers arrived, Grunas, a colleague of theirs, became furious. They asked her to leave, and she complied. Peat asked Roth to remain with him, and Roth recommended that Peat get a restraining order. "Thirty seconds after I tried to make that suggestion, his phone started ringing. .... And then she started banging on the front door."
Laura then used a Smith & Wesson 9mm, her work-issued handgun, to shoot out the sliding glass door to the kitchen. Roth, who suffered minor injuries in the incident, fled the kitchen through the shot-out door and called 911.
Laura had been a police officer in Plantation for about five years, and none of her colleagues suspected that she was troubled. But Roth, in whom Peat had confided about the abortion, told investigators that the couple's relationship had been increasingly rocky since the abortion.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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1900: Abortion by midwife kills woman in her Chicago home
On August 4, 1900, Mrs. Mary Borglun died in her home from complications of an abortion performed there that day. Mrs. Mary Kempfer was arrested that same day and held without bail by a Coroner's Jury. Kempfer's employment status was listed as nurse or midwife -- though she might have been an obstetrician, since at that time obstetrics was often referred to as "midwifery" when practiced by a woman.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Clarification
Texas defies World Court, Bush on execution
An adolescent choice.
An adolescent choice.
Let me clarify, for Medellin and others who share his point of view:
Boiling a baseball (and setting the hot saucepan down on the kitchen counter without a trivet) to see if you can hit a hot baseball farther is an adolescent choice.
Playing The Legend of Zelda for six straight hours instead of doing your term paper on the Ming Dynasty is an adolescent choice.
Jumping off the roof into the swimming pool is an adolescent choice.
Cutting class is an adolescent choice.
Staying up half the night to read a Stephen King novel is an adolescent choice.
Participating in the brutal gang-rape and murder of two young girls is not an adolescent choice. It's a total psychopathic disregard for your fellow human beings.
But I suppose it's not a surprise that the hideous slaughter of two innocent girls gets described as just a "choice". We've been calling killing babies "choice" for over thirty years now.
"Don't feel sorry for me," [Jose Medellin] said on an anti-death penalty Web site where inmates seek pen pals. "I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice."
An adolescent choice.
Medellin... was one of six teenagers arrested and charged with the gang rape and murders of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. The two Houston girls... stumbled on a group of teenagers drinking beer after initiating a new gang member.
Evidence showed the girls were gang raped for more than an hour, then were kicked, beaten and strangled. Their bodies were found four days later.
An adolescent choice.
Let me clarify, for Medellin and others who share his point of view:
Boiling a baseball (and setting the hot saucepan down on the kitchen counter without a trivet) to see if you can hit a hot baseball farther is an adolescent choice.
Playing The Legend of Zelda for six straight hours instead of doing your term paper on the Ming Dynasty is an adolescent choice.
Jumping off the roof into the swimming pool is an adolescent choice.
Cutting class is an adolescent choice.
Staying up half the night to read a Stephen King novel is an adolescent choice.
Participating in the brutal gang-rape and murder of two young girls is not an adolescent choice. It's a total psychopathic disregard for your fellow human beings.
But I suppose it's not a surprise that the hideous slaughter of two innocent girls gets described as just a "choice". We've been calling killing babies "choice" for over thirty years now.
Keep repeating: It's just tissue.
Doctors Work Inside Mother's Womb to Save Twins
Twin-to-twin Transfusion Syndrome was threatening the lives of Kim and Nate Stroh's 22-week unborn sons.
Twenty-two weeks. Legally abortable on-demand in every state in the Union.
The doctors went in with a laser instrument to fix the trouble:
Repeat it again, prochoicers, so you can continue to support abortion: "It's just tissue. Abortion just removes tissue."
HT: Big Blue Wave
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Twin-to-twin Transfusion Syndrome was threatening the lives of Kim and Nate Stroh's 22-week unborn sons.
Twenty-two weeks. Legally abortable on-demand in every state in the Union.
The doctors went in with a laser instrument to fix the trouble:
Occasionally, to their surprise, a fetus will actually grab on to the scope in the middle of the procedure.
"The fetus will reach up and wonder what this scope is," Moise said. "And even though his or her eyes are fused so they can't really see the scope, they'll grab the scope sometimes because it's an object in their cavity."
Repeat it again, prochoicers, so you can continue to support abortion: "It's just tissue. Abortion just removes tissue."
HT: Big Blue Wave
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Bring out your dead!
It's always the same with abortion advocates. Stick a nickel in 'em and they'll play the same tune about how abortion just has to be legal so that women won't die horrible deaths. Womanist Musings is no exception, printing in toto abortionist Garson Romalis' justifications for engaging in fetus-slaughter.
Sounds a lot like the case of Edrica Goode. A Planned Parenthood nurse inserted laminaria into Edrica's cervix. Laminaria aren't made of slippery elm; they're made of seaweed. But the idea is the same. They absorb water, expand, and dilate the cervix. In Edrica's case, they were intended to facilitate an abortion to be performed later. But the nurse ignored Edrica's obvious symptoms of a vaginal infection. The laminaria wicked the infection into Edrica's uterus. Edrica quickly took ill, becoming so severely feverish that she was incoherent, unable to return for the rest of the abortion -- which she had been keeping a secret from her family. Edrica developed toxic shock syndrome from the infection and died.
Why is the first woman's death an unacceptable tragedy, and Edrica's death just a flukey thing you have to accept?
Back to Garcon:
How was her care any worse than the care provided by Sahib Sinuhe Halil to "Thelma"? Despite what Halil clearly knew, from the two laminaria changes, was an advanced pregnancy, he first attempted to perform a suction abortion without any anesthesia. Thelma, in so much pain that she had difficulty remaining still, repeatedly screamed, "You're killing me!" "I'm dying!" "Stop!" and "I can't stand the pain!" She lost consciousness multiple times. There was no mystery to why Thelma was in such horrible pain; Halil had pulled so hard on her internal structures that he bent his forceps, then "broke the sterile field by using an unsterilized pair of desk scissors to cut inner body organs of [Thelma]." Halil pulled out Thelma's right ovary and fallopian tube, severed her left fallopian tube, and caused a large uterine rupture. He "lacerated and rendered necrotic almost four feet of small intestine" and "left the fetus floating in the abdominal cavity." Halil didn't monitor Thelma's blood loss during the procedure, then delayed transferring her to a hospital and delayed his own arrival to treat her, allowing her to go into potentially fatal hypovolemic shock from blood loss.
Or how about what Scott Barrett did to Patient B.J.? B.J. said that she awoke screaming during her abortion, and begged Barrett to stop. But Barrett proceeded, B.J. said, and had an employee clamp a hand over the patient's mouth. B.J. again lost consciousness. She awoke on a chair in the recovery room, with the bottom of her shirt drenched in blood. The next thing she remembered was Barrett carrying her out to her car. A friend drove B.J. to the hospital -- without any clinic staff even accompanying them. The doctor who performed emergency surgery on B.J. said, "It would take a lot of force, an extreme amount of force to do that kind of damage." B.J. had a 10 centimeter perforation of her uterus, and had lost around 80% of her blood. The ligaments around her uterus were severed, and her right ovary had been torn loose. She had to have her uterus and ovary removed due to the damage. The hearing document slams Barrett, noting that "having nearly eviscerated his patient and with her clearly in critical condition, he sent her to the hospital in a private car during rush hour. ... A more egregious example of incompetence and gross negligence is difficult to imagine."
Janet R. underwent an abortion by Dr. Sylvan Hershey. He failed to obtain fetal parts or amniotic fluid, so he reached in with forceps, grasped tissue, and pulled out Janet's bowel through her vagina. She had to have several feet of bowel resected. (Jury Verdict Review; Bergen County Superior Court Docket No. L38313 86MM)
The Kansas City Star reported on a woman who had undergone an abortion and sterilization procedure by Dr. Dennis Miller in 1985. He pulled out 3 feet of her bowel and damaged her uterus so badly she had to have a hysterectomy.
Sharon D. sued Women's Pavilion after their doctor botched her abortion. Dr. Fore noted that the suction tube was clogged. He had punctured Sharon's uterus and suctioned out all but 5.5 inches of her small intestine, along with her fallopian tubes, her appendix, and part of her large intestine. Sharon had to have a permanent catheter tube implanted to allow nutrients to be taken into her bloodstream, a procedure that takes up to 14 hours daily. (Durham Herald Sun)
At least these women survived their bowel injuries. Sharon Hamplton (pictured with her son, Curtis, who was nestling in her arms as she bled to death), "Julie", Ellen Williams, Sharon Davis, Magdalena Rodriguez, Jammie Garcia, and Moris Helen Herron didn't.
Back to Garcon:
I have documented seventy-three safe, legal septic abortion deaths, among them Carolina Gutierrez (pictured), who endured gangrene and multiple amputations over Christmas, New Years, and her 21st birthday before finally leaving her young children motherless.
Now, predictably, our pal Garcon credits legalization with the decrease in numbers of such deaths, but he's ignoring the reality: The decrease in the number of abortion deaths is a trend that began with the introduction of antibiotics and blood transfusions. Take the dates off a chart of abortion deaths during the 20th Century, and you'd probably be totally unable to point to the period when the switch was made from "back alley butchery" to main-street maiming.
In fact, looking at the data, you would think that abortion had been legalized in 1940, recriminalized in the mid-1950s, and then legalized again around 1960:
Yes, Garcon, the women who suffered and died before legalization suffered and died needlessly -- just as women continue to suffer and die. The suffering and death are not, and have never been, caused by legislators wielding pens. The suffering and death are, and have been, caused by prochoicers wielding abortion instruments.
Prochoicers not so very different from yourself, Garcon.
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The first time I started to think about abortion was in 1960, when I was in second year medical school. I was assigned the case of a young woman who had died of a septic abortion. She had aborted herself using slippery elm bark.
... Slippery elm is not sterile, and frequently contains spores of the bacteria that cause gas gangrene. It is called slippery elm because, when it gets wet, it feels slippery. This makes it easier to slide slender pieces through the cervix where they absorb water, expand, dilate the cervix, produce infection and induce abortion. The young woman in our case developed an overwhelming infection. At autopsy she had multiple abscesses throughout her body, in her brain, lungs, liver and abdomen.
I have never forgotten that case.
Sounds a lot like the case of Edrica Goode. A Planned Parenthood nurse inserted laminaria into Edrica's cervix. Laminaria aren't made of slippery elm; they're made of seaweed. But the idea is the same. They absorb water, expand, and dilate the cervix. In Edrica's case, they were intended to facilitate an abortion to be performed later. But the nurse ignored Edrica's obvious symptoms of a vaginal infection. The laminaria wicked the infection into Edrica's uterus. Edrica quickly took ill, becoming so severely feverish that she was incoherent, unable to return for the rest of the abortion -- which she had been keeping a secret from her family. Edrica developed toxic shock syndrome from the infection and died.Why is the first woman's death an unacceptable tragedy, and Edrica's death just a flukey thing you have to accept?
Back to Garcon:
I will never forget the 17-year-old girl lying on a stretcher with 6 feet of small bowel protruding from her vagina. She survived.
How was her care any worse than the care provided by Sahib Sinuhe Halil to "Thelma"? Despite what Halil clearly knew, from the two laminaria changes, was an advanced pregnancy, he first attempted to perform a suction abortion without any anesthesia. Thelma, in so much pain that she had difficulty remaining still, repeatedly screamed, "You're killing me!" "I'm dying!" "Stop!" and "I can't stand the pain!" She lost consciousness multiple times. There was no mystery to why Thelma was in such horrible pain; Halil had pulled so hard on her internal structures that he bent his forceps, then "broke the sterile field by using an unsterilized pair of desk scissors to cut inner body organs of [Thelma]." Halil pulled out Thelma's right ovary and fallopian tube, severed her left fallopian tube, and caused a large uterine rupture. He "lacerated and rendered necrotic almost four feet of small intestine" and "left the fetus floating in the abdominal cavity." Halil didn't monitor Thelma's blood loss during the procedure, then delayed transferring her to a hospital and delayed his own arrival to treat her, allowing her to go into potentially fatal hypovolemic shock from blood loss.
Or how about what Scott Barrett did to Patient B.J.? B.J. said that she awoke screaming during her abortion, and begged Barrett to stop. But Barrett proceeded, B.J. said, and had an employee clamp a hand over the patient's mouth. B.J. again lost consciousness. She awoke on a chair in the recovery room, with the bottom of her shirt drenched in blood. The next thing she remembered was Barrett carrying her out to her car. A friend drove B.J. to the hospital -- without any clinic staff even accompanying them. The doctor who performed emergency surgery on B.J. said, "It would take a lot of force, an extreme amount of force to do that kind of damage." B.J. had a 10 centimeter perforation of her uterus, and had lost around 80% of her blood. The ligaments around her uterus were severed, and her right ovary had been torn loose. She had to have her uterus and ovary removed due to the damage. The hearing document slams Barrett, noting that "having nearly eviscerated his patient and with her clearly in critical condition, he sent her to the hospital in a private car during rush hour. ... A more egregious example of incompetence and gross negligence is difficult to imagine."
Janet R. underwent an abortion by Dr. Sylvan Hershey. He failed to obtain fetal parts or amniotic fluid, so he reached in with forceps, grasped tissue, and pulled out Janet's bowel through her vagina. She had to have several feet of bowel resected. (Jury Verdict Review; Bergen County Superior Court Docket No. L38313 86MM)
The Kansas City Star reported on a woman who had undergone an abortion and sterilization procedure by Dr. Dennis Miller in 1985. He pulled out 3 feet of her bowel and damaged her uterus so badly she had to have a hysterectomy.
Sharon D. sued Women's Pavilion after their doctor botched her abortion. Dr. Fore noted that the suction tube was clogged. He had punctured Sharon's uterus and suctioned out all but 5.5 inches of her small intestine, along with her fallopian tubes, her appendix, and part of her large intestine. Sharon had to have a permanent catheter tube implanted to allow nutrients to be taken into her bloodstream, a procedure that takes up to 14 hours daily. (Durham Herald Sun)
At least these women survived their bowel injuries. Sharon Hamplton (pictured with her son, Curtis, who was nestling in her arms as she bled to death), "Julie", Ellen Williams, Sharon Davis, Magdalena Rodriguez, Jammie Garcia, and Moris Helen Herron didn't.Back to Garcon:
I will never forget the jaundiced woman in liver and kidney failure, in septic shock, with very severe anemia, whose life we were unable to save.
I have documented seventy-three safe, legal septic abortion deaths, among them Carolina Gutierrez (pictured), who endured gangrene and multiple amputations over Christmas, New Years, and her 21st birthday before finally leaving her young children motherless.Now, predictably, our pal Garcon credits legalization with the decrease in numbers of such deaths, but he's ignoring the reality: The decrease in the number of abortion deaths is a trend that began with the introduction of antibiotics and blood transfusions. Take the dates off a chart of abortion deaths during the 20th Century, and you'd probably be totally unable to point to the period when the switch was made from "back alley butchery" to main-street maiming.
In fact, looking at the data, you would think that abortion had been legalized in 1940, recriminalized in the mid-1950s, and then legalized again around 1960:
Yes, Garcon, the women who suffered and died before legalization suffered and died needlessly -- just as women continue to suffer and die. The suffering and death are not, and have never been, caused by legislators wielding pens. The suffering and death are, and have been, caused by prochoicers wielding abortion instruments.
Prochoicers not so very different from yourself, Garcon.
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The power of love
The Girl in the Window
A feral child was discovered in a run-down Florida rental house. But she is coming into her own in the care of an amazing adoptive family.
Don't just read the story, because it doesn't capture the spirit of this remarkable family. Click on the multimedia show. Hear Dani's parents talk about their bond with her. See Dani's smiling face, her joyful demeanor. And listen to her laughter.
I agree with abortion apologists that no child should have ever had to endure the wretched start that Dani had in life. But I don't agree that what she suffered means that her life has no value and is not worth living, that both she and the world would have been better off had her life been cut off before she drew her first breath.
She worked hard to get to that laugh, to those smiles. She is loved and has learned to love in return.
She is an ambulatory testimony to the power of the human spirit, and the power of love.
A feral child was discovered in a run-down Florida rental house. But she is coming into her own in the care of an amazing adoptive family.
Don't just read the story, because it doesn't capture the spirit of this remarkable family. Click on the multimedia show. Hear Dani's parents talk about their bond with her. See Dani's smiling face, her joyful demeanor. And listen to her laughter.
I agree with abortion apologists that no child should have ever had to endure the wretched start that Dani had in life. But I don't agree that what she suffered means that her life has no value and is not worth living, that both she and the world would have been better off had her life been cut off before she drew her first breath.
She worked hard to get to that laugh, to those smiles. She is loved and has learned to love in return.
She is an ambulatory testimony to the power of the human spirit, and the power of love.
Oops, they did it again!
I was just checking my site stats, and what searches people did to get to my blog, and this led me to something I'd forgotten about but which is quite relevant to the brouhaha over "Sarah's Law" in California.
Somebody had come to me searching for "gwen elliott death notice pittsburgh", which brought them to this page. It gives an example of the pathetic excuse for fact-checking the pro-abortion movement does.
Patricia Miller's The Worst of TImes describes the death of a woman that NOW's site tells as the story of Vivian Campbell:
In Miller's book, the chapter "Gloria" has a woman telling of her mother's death. "Gloria" indicated that she learned "the truth" of how her mother died when she needed a copy of the death certificate years later. The death certificate said "spontaneous abortion". There is no explanation of how "Gloria" got from a death certificate saying her mother died from complications of a miscarriage (which is what "spontaneous abortion" means; it doesn't mean that the decision to undergo an abortion was made spontaneously) to concluding that the abortion in question had been induced and illegal. It's likely that "Gloria", like Bill and Karen Bell, thought that any "abortion" means an induced abortion, and the abortion promoters never bothered to clear up the confusion.
And of course they'd have no motive to clear up the confusion. This obituary of retired Pittsburgh Police Commander Gwendolyn J. "Gwen" Elliott -- almost certainly "Gloria" from Miller's book -- indicates that the woman was motivated by her belief that her mother had died of an illegal abortion, not a miscarriage, "to become a strong proponent of abortion rights."
Compare the abortion lobby's willingness to create induced abortions that never happened out of bereaved people's confusion over medical terminology, to their meticulous fact-checking and insistence on full and total disclosure and full and total relevance in the way they cry "foul" over the "Sarah" of "Sarah's Law".
Notice a double standard?
Somebody had come to me searching for "gwen elliott death notice pittsburgh", which brought them to this page. It gives an example of the pathetic excuse for fact-checking the pro-abortion movement does.
Patricia Miller's The Worst of TImes describes the death of a woman that NOW's site tells as the story of Vivian Campbell:
Vivian Campbell
December 12, 1925 - May 6, 1950
Vivian Campbell was the mother of two children ages five and three. She was newly separated from her husband when she realized she was pregnant. Sending her children to stay with her parents, she sought and obtained an illegal abortion. She sent for her husband, but by the time he arrived at the hospital it was too late. She died in agony of peritonitis.
In Miller's book, the chapter "Gloria" has a woman telling of her mother's death. "Gloria" indicated that she learned "the truth" of how her mother died when she needed a copy of the death certificate years later. The death certificate said "spontaneous abortion". There is no explanation of how "Gloria" got from a death certificate saying her mother died from complications of a miscarriage (which is what "spontaneous abortion" means; it doesn't mean that the decision to undergo an abortion was made spontaneously) to concluding that the abortion in question had been induced and illegal. It's likely that "Gloria", like Bill and Karen Bell, thought that any "abortion" means an induced abortion, and the abortion promoters never bothered to clear up the confusion.
And of course they'd have no motive to clear up the confusion. This obituary of retired Pittsburgh Police Commander Gwendolyn J. "Gwen" Elliott -- almost certainly "Gloria" from Miller's book -- indicates that the woman was motivated by her belief that her mother had died of an illegal abortion, not a miscarriage, "to become a strong proponent of abortion rights."
Compare the abortion lobby's willingness to create induced abortions that never happened out of bereaved people's confusion over medical terminology, to their meticulous fact-checking and insistence on full and total disclosure and full and total relevance in the way they cry "foul" over the "Sarah" of "Sarah's Law".
Notice a double standard?
1982: Clotting problems after abortion leave children motherless
Angel Dardie, age 22, left two children motherless when she died on August 3, 1982, of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (a clotting disorder) after a safe, legal saline abortion performed by Youl Choie at Plymouth General Hospital.
Angel's mother sued, saying that the abortion was performed negligently. Although she sued for $5 million, she was awarded a settlement of $6,000 from Choi and $2,500 from the hospital. $1,744 of this went to the attorney, plus an additional $667 given to him from the settlement for his expenses. $1,528 of the settlement was ordered to be used to reimburse for funeral expenses. This left Angel's mother and orphans with $4,561. No settlement was awarded for pain and suffering, nor was there any settlement for Angel's motherless children.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Angel's mother sued, saying that the abortion was performed negligently. Although she sued for $5 million, she was awarded a settlement of $6,000 from Choi and $2,500 from the hospital. $1,744 of this went to the attorney, plus an additional $667 given to him from the settlement for his expenses. $1,528 of the settlement was ordered to be used to reimburse for funeral expenses. This left Angel's mother and orphans with $4,561. No settlement was awarded for pain and suffering, nor was there any settlement for Angel's motherless children.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Saturday, August 02, 2008
1981: Coma, death from botched anesthesia for abortion
Twenty-seven-year-old Robin Wells, mother of three children ages 6, 4, and 2, went for a safe and legal abortion under general anesthesia by Max Gaujean at Akron Center for Reproductive Health on July 15, 1981.
Robin went into cardiac arrest in the recovery room, and was transferred by ambulance to a hospital. She remained in a coma until her death on August 2, 1981.
Both Gaujean and the anesthesiologist were independent contractors and did not maintain private practices. The suit filed by Robin's survivors alleged that she was overdosed on anesthesia and not properly monitored. It also alleged that staff at Akron Center for Reproductive Health failed "to resuscitate her after her condition had been discovered." Laura Hope Smith suffered a similar death in 2008.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Robin went into cardiac arrest in the recovery room, and was transferred by ambulance to a hospital. She remained in a coma until her death on August 2, 1981.
Both Gaujean and the anesthesiologist were independent contractors and did not maintain private practices. The suit filed by Robin's survivors alleged that she was overdosed on anesthesia and not properly monitored. It also alleged that staff at Akron Center for Reproductive Health failed "to resuscitate her after her condition had been discovered." Laura Hope Smith suffered a similar death in 2008.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Friday, August 01, 2008
Desperate times call for desperate measures?
Since there is nothing in Proposition 4 ("Sarah's Law") itself to attack, Planned Parenthood of California has decided to attack "Sarah" -- 'Sarah's Law' would not have applied to 'Sarah,' acknowledge backers of the abortion-notification measure:
As the article says, "Sarah" was in Texas at the time of the fatal abortion. Texas does not recognize common-law marriage of a minor without either a court order or proof of parental consent. But the article doesn't say that there was such a court order or proof of parental consent. The article merely notes that the man who was with Sarah "declared himself her common-law husband". That does not make him her husband any more than me saying "I'm Mrs. Craig Ferguson" would make me the Scottish guy's wife.
So unless Planned Parenthood is holding back, "Sarah" was not in a common law marriage. And even if she was, what does that change? Would "Sarah" be less dead? Would the girls of California be somehow protected from sexual predators?
Planned Parenthood is attacking a measure to protect teens, using an assertion by somebody who didn't care enough about his supposed "wife" to seek prompt medical care for her. He let her die. Her seedy abortionist let her die. Nobody bothered to tell her parents. And nobody is disputing this, not even Planned Parenthood.
But the details of "Sarah's" horrible death hardly really matter to Planned Parenthood. All that matters to them is that Proposition 4 threatens a major source of revenue: sexual predators seeking, via contraception and abortion, to keep their crimes a secret. And if that means treating a fatally-neglected teenage girl as if she was an adult and therefore somehow responsible for her own death, they'll do it.
Now, what really gets me is that Planned Parenthood has no taste for accuracy in their own propaganda. They fight parental involvement tooth and nail, often dragging up the death of Becky Bell (See here.) -- who died of the same strain of pneumonia that killed Jim Henson and who never had an induced abortion. Her parents became confused by the word "abortion" on her autopsy report (referring to a miscarriage shortly before her death), and the abortion lobby -- including Planned Parenthood -- never bothered to correct their misunderstanding. They lied to Becky's parents -- telling them that yes, Becky did really have an abortion -- as well as to the public and to legislators, in order to further their financial objective of maintaining a customer base of underage girls. This bears repeating: Planned Parenthood lied, not merely held back some information, about Becky Bell, to the point of inventing an abortion that never took place, in order to promote secret teen abortions. But they are attacking Friends of Sarah for citing the story of a girl who really did die of a secret abortion, claiming that it is Friends of Sarah who "mislead" the public!
I never thought it was smart to use a girl who aborted out-of-state as a poster child for a state ballot initiative, especially when there are plenty of instances of underage girls being horribly injured in secret abortions within California's borders. Rachel Ely was left paralyzed by a botched secret abortion. Diana Lopez didn't know her daughter was pregnant until she got a call from the middle school telling her the child was in the hospital. Ditto for Virginia P.. The backers of Proposition 4 could have supplemented the identified in-state injuries (and, no doubt, hundreds if not thousands of cases of verified statutory rape) with stories like "Sarah", and Dawn Ravenelle, and Tamiia Russell. Girls do die from secret abortions, often because they don't get medical care in time. Girls are horribly injured by secret abortions. Girls are subjected to years of additional abuse because of secret abortions. Planned Parenthood knows this and is doing everything in their power (with the fawning help of the MSM, who would print that fetuses grow under cabbage leaves if Planned Parenthood told them to) to keep people from recognizing this.
Friends of Sarah didn't lie about Sarah. Everything on the web site about her is true:
Where are the lies? An underage girl was subjected to an abortion, kept secret from her parents, the guy who got her pregnant didn't get prompt medical care for her, and as a result this secret abortion killed her when prompt medical care would probably have saved her life. Even as Planned Parenthood is going on the attack, they are not disputing a single fact that Friends of Sarah put out.
Friends of Sarah also put up information on abused girls in California and other states -- including four cases in which a Planned Parenthood aided an abuser -- none of which Planned Parenthood has been able to refute. Again, where are the lies? There are none.
But keeping back some information -- which Planned Parenthood, given how they are going after Phil Kline, was bound to have ferreted out sooner or later -- was a bad move. Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy organizations can put out bald-faced lies and the MSM will repeat them even after they are thoroughly debunked. (See Becky Bell, above.) But all Planned Parenthood or other abortion advocates have to do is have a shred of evidence that somebody disagrees with a prolifer to "prove" that we're "lying". Not a single lie was put forth in support of "Sarah's Law", but withholding some information gave Planned Parenthood a single note that, with the help of the MSM, they will play like Todd Rundgren plays the guitar.
The question supporters of the bill need to be asking opponents is, "What's your real objection here?" Which is a question the MSM will NOT ask.
Play the Life Dynamics tapes of Planned Parenthood staff telling a girl they thought was 13, pregnant to a 22-year-old, how to evade mandatory reporting laws. Point out the huge financial interest Planned Parenthood has in defeating Proposition 4. And mostly, ask them to point to the part of Proposition 4 that they object to, and ask them explain why they object. Then, when they have nothing, ask why they're fighting a bill that there is nothing wrong with.
And bring out every sordid detail about how "Sarah" died. Her death was so horrible that Mona and I were crying when we read her autopsy report. Nothing Planned Parenthood says can make that poor girl's death anything but a needless, inexcusable tragedy. And we should allow nothing they say to hide their indifference to her suffering, and the suffering of other girls like her, the suffering of their families.
ADDENDUM: Last night (August 1) I sent Ashli of The Sicle Cell the following email, which she suggested I post. I am taking her advice, because this is really bugging me.
And, in advance, for those of you with the question on your minds, "Why do you post the nasty abortion stories anyway?" I've answered that here. "Sarah is Jammie" was showing off. But telling Jammie's story in the first place wasn't.
Backers of a ballot measure that would require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor acknowledged Friday that the 15-year-old on which "Sarah's Law" is based had a child and was in a common-law marriage before she died of complications from an abortion in 1994.
As the article says, "Sarah" was in Texas at the time of the fatal abortion. Texas does not recognize common-law marriage of a minor without either a court order or proof of parental consent. But the article doesn't say that there was such a court order or proof of parental consent. The article merely notes that the man who was with Sarah "declared himself her common-law husband". That does not make him her husband any more than me saying "I'm Mrs. Craig Ferguson" would make me the Scottish guy's wife.
So unless Planned Parenthood is holding back, "Sarah" was not in a common law marriage. And even if she was, what does that change? Would "Sarah" be less dead? Would the girls of California be somehow protected from sexual predators?
Planned Parenthood is attacking a measure to protect teens, using an assertion by somebody who didn't care enough about his supposed "wife" to seek prompt medical care for her. He let her die. Her seedy abortionist let her die. Nobody bothered to tell her parents. And nobody is disputing this, not even Planned Parenthood.
But the details of "Sarah's" horrible death hardly really matter to Planned Parenthood. All that matters to them is that Proposition 4 threatens a major source of revenue: sexual predators seeking, via contraception and abortion, to keep their crimes a secret. And if that means treating a fatally-neglected teenage girl as if she was an adult and therefore somehow responsible for her own death, they'll do it.
Now, what really gets me is that Planned Parenthood has no taste for accuracy in their own propaganda. They fight parental involvement tooth and nail, often dragging up the death of Becky Bell (See here.) -- who died of the same strain of pneumonia that killed Jim Henson and who never had an induced abortion. Her parents became confused by the word "abortion" on her autopsy report (referring to a miscarriage shortly before her death), and the abortion lobby -- including Planned Parenthood -- never bothered to correct their misunderstanding. They lied to Becky's parents -- telling them that yes, Becky did really have an abortion -- as well as to the public and to legislators, in order to further their financial objective of maintaining a customer base of underage girls. This bears repeating: Planned Parenthood lied, not merely held back some information, about Becky Bell, to the point of inventing an abortion that never took place, in order to promote secret teen abortions. But they are attacking Friends of Sarah for citing the story of a girl who really did die of a secret abortion, claiming that it is Friends of Sarah who "mislead" the public!
I never thought it was smart to use a girl who aborted out-of-state as a poster child for a state ballot initiative, especially when there are plenty of instances of underage girls being horribly injured in secret abortions within California's borders. Rachel Ely was left paralyzed by a botched secret abortion. Diana Lopez didn't know her daughter was pregnant until she got a call from the middle school telling her the child was in the hospital. Ditto for Virginia P.. The backers of Proposition 4 could have supplemented the identified in-state injuries (and, no doubt, hundreds if not thousands of cases of verified statutory rape) with stories like "Sarah", and Dawn Ravenelle, and Tamiia Russell. Girls do die from secret abortions, often because they don't get medical care in time. Girls are horribly injured by secret abortions. Girls are subjected to years of additional abuse because of secret abortions. Planned Parenthood knows this and is doing everything in their power (with the fawning help of the MSM, who would print that fetuses grow under cabbage leaves if Planned Parenthood told them to) to keep people from recognizing this.
Friends of Sarah didn't lie about Sarah. Everything on the web site about her is true:
Sarah was a 15 year old girl who became pregnant. Without her parent’s consent or notice, Sarah visited a clinic and the abortionist performed an abortion on Sarah, unknowingly tearing the right side of her cervix. Unaware of this complication, Sarah suffered blood poisoning, fever, chills, abdominal pain and nausea for four days before finally being admitted to the hospital. When hospital personnel discovered the tear and post-abortion infection, they placed Sarah in the Intensive Care Unit, but the infection was too far advanced and Sarah died. Hospital physicians reported that had Sarah received prompt medical care, she would still be alive today.
Sarah’s parents did not know that she was pregnant. Sarah’s parents didn’t know that Sarah had an abortion. Her parents could have saved her….if they had known.
Where are the lies? An underage girl was subjected to an abortion, kept secret from her parents, the guy who got her pregnant didn't get prompt medical care for her, and as a result this secret abortion killed her when prompt medical care would probably have saved her life. Even as Planned Parenthood is going on the attack, they are not disputing a single fact that Friends of Sarah put out.
Friends of Sarah also put up information on abused girls in California and other states -- including four cases in which a Planned Parenthood aided an abuser -- none of which Planned Parenthood has been able to refute. Again, where are the lies? There are none.
But keeping back some information -- which Planned Parenthood, given how they are going after Phil Kline, was bound to have ferreted out sooner or later -- was a bad move. Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy organizations can put out bald-faced lies and the MSM will repeat them even after they are thoroughly debunked. (See Becky Bell, above.) But all Planned Parenthood or other abortion advocates have to do is have a shred of evidence that somebody disagrees with a prolifer to "prove" that we're "lying". Not a single lie was put forth in support of "Sarah's Law", but withholding some information gave Planned Parenthood a single note that, with the help of the MSM, they will play like Todd Rundgren plays the guitar.
The question supporters of the bill need to be asking opponents is, "What's your real objection here?" Which is a question the MSM will NOT ask.
Play the Life Dynamics tapes of Planned Parenthood staff telling a girl they thought was 13, pregnant to a 22-year-old, how to evade mandatory reporting laws. Point out the huge financial interest Planned Parenthood has in defeating Proposition 4. And mostly, ask them to point to the part of Proposition 4 that they object to, and ask them explain why they object. Then, when they have nothing, ask why they're fighting a bill that there is nothing wrong with.
And bring out every sordid detail about how "Sarah" died. Her death was so horrible that Mona and I were crying when we read her autopsy report. Nothing Planned Parenthood says can make that poor girl's death anything but a needless, inexcusable tragedy. And we should allow nothing they say to hide their indifference to her suffering, and the suffering of other girls like her, the suffering of their families.
ADDENDUM: Last night (August 1) I sent Ashli of The Sicle Cell the following email, which she suggested I post. I am taking her advice, because this is really bugging me.
Howdy, Ashli. Hope you're holding out well.
I'm feeling like I blew it.
When the California Proposition 4 people came out as "Friends of Sarah" with "Sarah's Law", I thought I'd encountered an abortion death I hadn't known about. But I quickly saw that "Sarah" was Jammie Garcia.
I confess, it was ego. I wanted to be clever, to be in the know. I mentioned in several blogs that "Sarah" was Jammie.
Now Planned Parenthood has uncovered information about Jammie I hadn't known about -- that she was cohabitating with her baby's father, who at lease SAID he was her "common law husband". That she had another child already at the time of the abortion.
They're using the fact that "Friends of Sarah" didn't disclose this as proof that FoS is "misleading" the public, that the whole underpinning of Proposition 4 is a pack of lies.
On a practical level, all they're doing is suing to make them remove the "Sarah" information from their materials. But it's a PR nightmare. And California being California, it may be enough to torpedo the ballot initiative. You know how the MSM are. Cheerleaders for the abortion agenda, totally without any sense of reality or proportion.
They're not challenging that "Sarah" was underage, that she died a horrible death for lack of prompt medical care after a botched abortion. They're not disputing or challenging a single fact of the proposition. They're not addressing the issues at all. They're just taking the "Sarah's law wouldn't have applied to Sarah anyway" line, and the LA Times is running with it.
I have no doubt that other news outlets will do likewise. As I blog search I'm already finding it.
I'm the one who put the information about Jammie all over the web, long before "Friends of Sarah". And they had information on her that I didn't have, like that her parents hadn't known about the abortion. And at the time I was tracking down information on "Sarah", I found another site that positively identified that it was Coleman, not Hachamovitch himself, who did the abortion. But I was the one who looked for blogs about teen abortions and put info and links about teen deaths -- including Jammie's -- up in response.
I know FoS should have done a better job picking a poster child, should have been more upfront with their information. PP likely would have dug it out anyway. But I feel as if I "blew their cover".
Even if I hadn't said "Sarah is Jammie", somebody would have put two and two together eventually. I keep telling myself.
Sigh. The Guilties. Moshe Hachamovitch ran the seedy clinic. John Coleman shoved her fetus through her bowel and left it there to rot. Her "husband" didn't get her to a hospital until she was moribund. FoS was evasive about who "Sarah" was when they should have been upfront. And Planned Parenthood doesn't care if every underage girl in America gets a fetus shoved into her bowel as long as it doesn't impact their bottom line.
So why do I feel so miserable?
Me
And, in advance, for those of you with the question on your minds, "Why do you post the nasty abortion stories anyway?" I've answered that here. "Sarah is Jammie" was showing off. But telling Jammie's story in the first place wasn't.
Scaring women to death
False fears spreading about inaccessible abortion in South Dakota notes the alarmism already brewing, and provides an example -- Last of the Old Guard: Abortion providers retire in the West, leaving their posts empty. This article laments the lack of "access" and paints self-induced abortion (their example being a woman who poisoned herself with whiskey) as the only option for a pregnant woman facing challenges.
At no point does the article mention prolife pregnancy centers, churches, or other organizations or programs to help pregnant and parenting women. It's pure gloom, doom, and despair.
There is also no focus on the fact that states like Wyoming and its neighbors are clearly doing very well with abortion prevention, as shown in the most recent Abortion Surveillance Summary (emphasis mine):
Table 3 shows South Dakota women undergoing a total of 942 legal abortions (including women who traveled out of state), a rate of 6 per 1000 women of childbearing age, and a ratio of 83 abortions for every 1,000 live births. But instead of asking what states like Idaho and South Dakota are doing right, abortion cheerleaders are lamenting "lack of access".
Let's face it, we have a very real-life research project happening naturally. It seems as if people who cry, "Join us in prevention efforts!" are unwilling to look at what these states are doing to achieve low abortion rates and ratios. Instead of asking what more these states could do, asking how low an abortion rate and ratio is actually attainable, abortion enthusiasts instead focus on bringing in more "providers" -- when clearly a low number of abortionists is associated with low abortion ratios and rates. Why screw up a good thing? What's the real agenda?
Why not point out the resources that the women of South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming have been using to avoid abortions? Why not look at which women are falling through the cracks, seeking ways to reach them? Why just go on and on about how women will be driven to acts of despair and desperation, unless the goal is to isolate the women as much as possible and magnify their fears until those fears block out all hope?
And it all hearkens back to the sackcloth-and-ashes routine the abortion lobby put on when the Hyde Amendment was coming down the pike. Abortion advocates shouted from the housetops that women would have no options but seedy illegal abortionists or dangerous home abortions. Actual help -- or even private abortion funds and sliding-scale abortions -- were not mentioned as being available. And abortion fanatics got what they wanted -- a corpse to drag through the streets.
The goal here isn't to help pregnant women; it's to literally scare at least one of them to death, to provide another Rosie Jimenez that the abortion lobby can make into a poster child.
There's nothing the prolife movement can do to prevent the abortion cheerleaders from pursuing this goal. But there are things that reasonable citizens on both sides can do to prevent them from achieving it:
1. Highlight -- with pride -- how the vast majority of women of these states are smart, responsible, and resourceful enough to avoid abortions.
2. Tell their stories. Focus on all the ways they avoid abortions, from avoiding ill-timed pregnancies in the first place to coping effectively and successfully with challenging pregnancies when they do occur.
3. Publicize resources available to women who want to emulate their abortion-avoiding sisters.
4. Locate and address areas of concern.
5. Set goals. Each state should be trying to achieve the same abortion rate and ratio that the next most-successful state achieved the last reported year. State the goal, publicize the goal, and challenge citizens to work together toward achieving that goal. And for Idaho, which is already the most successful state, aim toward cutting the abortion ratio and rate in half.
I'd suggest a two-pronged PR campaign, with one prong highlighting success, and the other addressing the opposition -- "Don't let them scare you to death!"
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At no point does the article mention prolife pregnancy centers, churches, or other organizations or programs to help pregnant and parenting women. It's pure gloom, doom, and despair.
There is also no focus on the fact that states like Wyoming and its neighbors are clearly doing very well with abortion prevention, as shown in the most recent Abortion Surveillance Summary (emphasis mine):
In 2004, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in Florida (91,710), NYC (91,673), and Texas (74,801); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (12), South Dakota (814), and Idaho (963). The abortion ratios by state or area of occurrence ranged from [a low of] 43 per 1,000 live births in Idaho to 770 per 1,000 in NYC. Among women aged 15--44 years, rates by occurrence ranged from [a low of] three per 1,000 women in Idaho to 30 per 1,000 in New York.
Table 3 shows South Dakota women undergoing a total of 942 legal abortions (including women who traveled out of state), a rate of 6 per 1000 women of childbearing age, and a ratio of 83 abortions for every 1,000 live births. But instead of asking what states like Idaho and South Dakota are doing right, abortion cheerleaders are lamenting "lack of access".
Let's face it, we have a very real-life research project happening naturally. It seems as if people who cry, "Join us in prevention efforts!" are unwilling to look at what these states are doing to achieve low abortion rates and ratios. Instead of asking what more these states could do, asking how low an abortion rate and ratio is actually attainable, abortion enthusiasts instead focus on bringing in more "providers" -- when clearly a low number of abortionists is associated with low abortion ratios and rates. Why screw up a good thing? What's the real agenda?
Why not point out the resources that the women of South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming have been using to avoid abortions? Why not look at which women are falling through the cracks, seeking ways to reach them? Why just go on and on about how women will be driven to acts of despair and desperation, unless the goal is to isolate the women as much as possible and magnify their fears until those fears block out all hope?
And it all hearkens back to the sackcloth-and-ashes routine the abortion lobby put on when the Hyde Amendment was coming down the pike. Abortion advocates shouted from the housetops that women would have no options but seedy illegal abortionists or dangerous home abortions. Actual help -- or even private abortion funds and sliding-scale abortions -- were not mentioned as being available. And abortion fanatics got what they wanted -- a corpse to drag through the streets.
The goal here isn't to help pregnant women; it's to literally scare at least one of them to death, to provide another Rosie Jimenez that the abortion lobby can make into a poster child.
There's nothing the prolife movement can do to prevent the abortion cheerleaders from pursuing this goal. But there are things that reasonable citizens on both sides can do to prevent them from achieving it:
1. Highlight -- with pride -- how the vast majority of women of these states are smart, responsible, and resourceful enough to avoid abortions.
2. Tell their stories. Focus on all the ways they avoid abortions, from avoiding ill-timed pregnancies in the first place to coping effectively and successfully with challenging pregnancies when they do occur.
3. Publicize resources available to women who want to emulate their abortion-avoiding sisters.
4. Locate and address areas of concern.
5. Set goals. Each state should be trying to achieve the same abortion rate and ratio that the next most-successful state achieved the last reported year. State the goal, publicize the goal, and challenge citizens to work together toward achieving that goal. And for Idaho, which is already the most successful state, aim toward cutting the abortion ratio and rate in half.
I'd suggest a two-pronged PR campaign, with one prong highlighting success, and the other addressing the opposition -- "Don't let them scare you to death!"
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Conversion by the numbers
HT: Voices Carry, which reiterated the SLED analysis of how the unborn differ from the born before sharing the story.
SLED: Size, Level of Development, Environment, Degree of Dependency.
I'll take the SLED for a ride:
Size: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger more of a "person" than Dakota Fanning? After all, he's significantly bigger, just as a newborn is bigger than a fetus.
Level of Development: Is a toddler as developed as a middle-aged man? Does that make the toddler less of a "person"? Why should developmental level be a life-and-death issue?
Environment: The Quecreek Miners were in a very hostile environment. Left there, they would surely have died. Did that make them less "persons"? Why should the location of a human being determine whether or not we include her as one of us?
Degree of Dependency: Christopher Reeve would have lasted about 15 minutes without his ventilator. Did that make him less of a "person" than Lance Armstrong? Does needing our help give us a right to kill the person who needs us?
Anne G. Beal of Colman, SD, wrote a letter to the editor that showed how the SLED principle allowed mere numbers to overcome an initial "prochoice" leaning:
Hillary Care drew the line at 500 grams. Less than that, you were medical waste. More than that, then it depended on your location. If you were in the womb, you were nonviable, disposable tissue. If you were outside the womb, you were a person. So Hillary has two hoops the child must jump through: Get out of the uterus in one piece, and weigh more than 500 grams.
Obama, on the other hand, doesn't have a size limitation. He grants your mother full discretion. If she intended for you to be delivered alive, you are a person. If she intended to abort you, you are medical waste, even if you come out weighing six pounds and screaming your head off. Off to the soiled utility room with you until you realize the error of your ways and stop imitating a newborn.
So Hillary was more gracious toward deliberately-aborted babies; if they weighed in at 501 grams, they were babies and entitled to continue to draw breath. But she was less gracious toward loved and wanted micro-preemies, who were destined for the pathology lab regardless of their mothers' feelings on the matter.
Obama, on the other hand, has no animosity toward micro-preemies in general. It's entirely up to the mother whether they're "persons" or not.
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SLED: Size, Level of Development, Environment, Degree of Dependency.
I'll take the SLED for a ride:
Size: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger more of a "person" than Dakota Fanning? After all, he's significantly bigger, just as a newborn is bigger than a fetus.
Level of Development: Is a toddler as developed as a middle-aged man? Does that make the toddler less of a "person"? Why should developmental level be a life-and-death issue?
Environment: The Quecreek Miners were in a very hostile environment. Left there, they would surely have died. Did that make them less "persons"? Why should the location of a human being determine whether or not we include her as one of us?
Degree of Dependency: Christopher Reeve would have lasted about 15 minutes without his ventilator. Did that make him less of a "person" than Lance Armstrong? Does needing our help give us a right to kill the person who needs us?
Anne G. Beal of Colman, SD, wrote a letter to the editor that showed how the SLED principle allowed mere numbers to overcome an initial "prochoice" leaning:
Before 1976, I was as pro-choice as a woman could be. Then I got a job that changed my mind.
I was working as a lab technician ..., researching genetic birth defects. We were looking for fetal cells in maternal peripheral blood. Every morning I went to the hospital delivery suite to pick up our paired samples of maternal blood and fetal chord bloods. Then I copied the data from the delivery suite log book: mother's name, date of birth, child's sex and weight, etc. Every entry was much like the other. Every child was identified as a "boy" or a "girl." The only way to know if the child was born alive or had been aborted was by the weight: 2,000 grams and up was a child born alive; 200 grams or less was aborted. But they still were identified as boys or girls, and the awareness of that made me uneasy.
I did this for a year, becoming more and more uncomfortable with the fact that the only differences between these little boys and girls was their weight. As a society, are we prepared to decide who lives and who dies by how much they weigh?
How much does a person have to weigh before he or she is a human being? As individuals, are we incapable of changing our minds about abortion even when given more information?
I changed my mind. I hope other pro-choice people will look at the facts and change their minds, too.
Hillary Care drew the line at 500 grams. Less than that, you were medical waste. More than that, then it depended on your location. If you were in the womb, you were nonviable, disposable tissue. If you were outside the womb, you were a person. So Hillary has two hoops the child must jump through: Get out of the uterus in one piece, and weigh more than 500 grams.
Obama, on the other hand, doesn't have a size limitation. He grants your mother full discretion. If she intended for you to be delivered alive, you are a person. If she intended to abort you, you are medical waste, even if you come out weighing six pounds and screaming your head off. Off to the soiled utility room with you until you realize the error of your ways and stop imitating a newborn.
So Hillary was more gracious toward deliberately-aborted babies; if they weighed in at 501 grams, they were babies and entitled to continue to draw breath. But she was less gracious toward loved and wanted micro-preemies, who were destined for the pathology lab regardless of their mothers' feelings on the matter.
Obama, on the other hand, has no animosity toward micro-preemies in general. It's entirely up to the mother whether they're "persons" or not.
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1991: Punctured uterus causes fatal peritonitis
Documents regarding the death of Ingrid L. Thomas, age 28, indicate that her uterus was perforated by Kanu Virani during a safe, legal abortion. Ingrid developed acute peritonitis, and died at Botsford General Hospital Augist 1, 1991, several days after the abortion.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
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