New Project Helps Women Who Change Their Mind During Abortion Procedure
The idea is to have trained prolifers outside the abortion facilities, and trained medical staff at a nearby hospital, to help women who have changed their minds about wanting their babies to die, after the laminaria have been inserted to start the abortion, but before the baby is killed.
And I can tell you exactly how the abortion facilities will respond. Not by counseling or screening their patients better so that they're not initiating abortions on women whose minds aren't really made up yet. In your dreams. I bet within a couple of weeks, any facility near a program like this will very carefully perform a lethal injection into the fetus as the very first step, so that there will be no turning back.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Smart-phone ultrasound app bad news for abortionists
HT: Choice is Murder
Life in the Palm of Your Hand:
The FDA is expected to approve the device soon. I'm gonna go on a hunch here and say that only qualified people will be permitted to use it (as should be the case), and you'll still need a modicum of privacy in a place the woman will be comfortable. But this certainly will make it possible to bring ultrasound technology to more women, to give them a chance to see their babies and know who it is they're considering having put to death -- before it's too late to change their minds.
Life in the Palm of Your Hand:
Handheld ultrasound machines smaller than a newborn and viewable on your Smart Phone may have a spectacular impact on the abortion debate.
The FDA is expected to approve the device soon. I'm gonna go on a hunch here and say that only qualified people will be permitted to use it (as should be the case), and you'll still need a modicum of privacy in a place the woman will be comfortable. But this certainly will make it possible to bring ultrasound technology to more women, to give them a chance to see their babies and know who it is they're considering having put to death -- before it's too late to change their minds.
Two centuries, one city, three deaths
On November 30, 1874, Mrs. Mary Dix died at her Chicago home from complications of a criminal abortion performed there. Dr. W. F. Aiken was arrested and charged with murder.
On November 30, 1926, 34-year-old Sophie Peterson died at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. She had been hospitalized due to complications of an illegal abortion performed October 27 in the Chicago office of Dr. Frederick Springe. Springe was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury on December 15.
A year to the day later, 22-year-old Lucille van Iderstine died in the Chicago office of Dr. Emil Gleitsman, from an abortion that had been performed on her that day. Gleitsman was indicted for felony murder in Lucille's death on January 15, 1928.
Were these criminal abortions, performed by physicians, typical of abortions before legalization?
Yes. Most abortions were performed by doctors.
Yes, though abortions by midwives or nurses were about as common.
Not really. Doctors did abortions, but only about a quarter of them.
Not at all. Most abortions were self-induced or performed by housewives or other untrained people.
On November 30, 1926, 34-year-old Sophie Peterson died at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. She had been hospitalized due to complications of an illegal abortion performed October 27 in the Chicago office of Dr. Frederick Springe. Springe was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury on December 15.
A year to the day later, 22-year-old Lucille van Iderstine died in the Chicago office of Dr. Emil Gleitsman, from an abortion that had been performed on her that day. Gleitsman was indicted for felony murder in Lucille's death on January 15, 1928.
Were these criminal abortions, performed by physicians, typical of abortions before legalization?
Yes. Most abortions were performed by doctors.
Yes, though abortions by midwives or nurses were about as common.
Not really. Doctors did abortions, but only about a quarter of them.
Not at all. Most abortions were self-induced or performed by housewives or other untrained people.
Monday, November 29, 2010
1939: Abortion proves fatal for teen
Seventeen-year-old Miss Dorothy Jasinski was brought to St. Mary's Hospital in Chicago by two unidentified women on November 17, 1930. Dorothy was treated there until her death on November 29. The coroner determined that Dorothy had died from an abortion performed in Michigan City, Indiana, the day she'd been brought to the hospital.
The coroner recommended identification of the person or persons responsible, and his or their arrest on charges of murder.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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The coroner recommended identification of the person or persons responsible, and his or their arrest on charges of murder.
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, November 28, 2010
Woman silenced for expressing her reason for opposing PP funding
What could be more germane to a bill than what sorts of things the organization in question does with its funding?
This guy's motto is "It's about how much Federal cash we can suck up, not whether the money will be used for harm or help."
1888: Abortifacient proves fatal for teen bride
Mrs. George Libby, age 18, died November 28, 1888, in Wahpeton in the Dakota territories.
Before her death she admitted that she had bought abortifacient drugs from "a traveling doctor who made a specialty of selling such drugs."
If anybody has a membership in Ancestry.com and can thus figure out Mrs. Liddy's first name, I'd appreciate it. It grates on me to have a woman known only as "Mrs. George Libby" as if she didn't have a name of her own.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Before her death she admitted that she had bought abortifacient drugs from "a traveling doctor who made a specialty of selling such drugs."
If anybody has a membership in Ancestry.com and can thus figure out Mrs. Liddy's first name, I'd appreciate it. It grates on me to have a woman known only as "Mrs. George Libby" as if she didn't have a name of her own.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Friday, November 26, 2010
Anniversary: Doc's fatal work in Chicago
On November 26, 1923, 23-year-old Alice S. Johnson died at Chicago's West End Hospital from a criminal abortion performed there that day. The coroner identified Dr. Lorenz Lapsky as being responsible for Alice's death. Lapsky was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder on December 15.
Alice's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
Alice's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
1971: Safe, legal, gruesome death
"Monica" was a 31-year-old mother of five. She requested a safe, legal abortion when she was 8 weeks pregnant, but the abortion was delayed about a month in order to address "some health, personal and administrative problems."
Her doctor decided that it was best to simply remove Monica's uterus with the fetus still in it. The hysterectomy was done under general anesthesia with no apparent complications.
On the second day after surgery, Monica developed fever and nausea, and had no bowel sounds. The next day she felt unwell and had a distended abdomen.
The next day, she felt better and resumed eating, but still had not had a bowel movement.
Six days after the surgery, November 26, 1971, Monica began to scream and vomit. She reported severe abdominal pain and couldn't see. Within an hour of the onset of these symptoms, Monica died.
The autopsy revealed grim findings. Monica had a severe infection that had interfered with her bowel function. As she continued to eat but not to have bowel movements, her bowels backed up, allowing gastric juices to enter her lungs and begin to digest them. She also had bacteria in her brain, which may have caused her blindness in the final hour of her life.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Her doctor decided that it was best to simply remove Monica's uterus with the fetus still in it. The hysterectomy was done under general anesthesia with no apparent complications.
On the second day after surgery, Monica developed fever and nausea, and had no bowel sounds. The next day she felt unwell and had a distended abdomen.
The next day, she felt better and resumed eating, but still had not had a bowel movement.
Six days after the surgery, November 26, 1971, Monica began to scream and vomit. She reported severe abdominal pain and couldn't see. Within an hour of the onset of these symptoms, Monica died.
The autopsy revealed grim findings. Monica had a severe infection that had interfered with her bowel function. As she continued to eat but not to have bowel movements, her bowels backed up, allowing gastric juices to enter her lungs and begin to digest them. She also had bacteria in her brain, which may have caused her blindness in the final hour of her life.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Delusions of RH "Reality Check"
Live Action Blog shares a bit of delusional thinking from RH Reality (sic) Check: "The effectiveness of embryonic stem cells over adult stem cells is a scientific fact that everyone except the most extreme of the anti-choice movement has recognized." This statement is so divorced from reality, it's akin to holding up Chernobyl as a sterling example of safety in the nuclear power industry. To paraphrase Arthur Dent, this is obviously some strange, new usage of the word 'effective' that I've been previously unaware of. The "effectiveness" of embryonic stem cells is -- well, they're effective in producing a "devastating" disaster. Meanwhile, adult stem cells are currently used in at least 73 effective treatments (my sister's cancer, for example, is currently in remission thanks to adult stem cell treatments).
So, if you want tremors and tumors, by all means go with embryonic stem cells. They are, as RH "Reality Check" says, very effective. If you want actual treatments and cures, stick with adult stem cells.
To each his own.
So, if you want tremors and tumors, by all means go with embryonic stem cells. They are, as RH "Reality Check" says, very effective. If you want actual treatments and cures, stick with adult stem cells.
To each his own.
Pray for injured abortion patient and her family
Abortionist Randall Whitney injures yet another woman: The report says that this morning (Thanksgiving day?), the prolifers praying outside Whitney's abortion mill were approached by the sister of an abortion patient they'd just seen hauled off in an ambulance. The injured woman is hemorrhaging and was brought to the hospital for a transfusion and surgery.
At least, thank God, the facility called an ambulance instead of further endangering the woman by trying to treat her in-house for life-threatening complications.
Whitney stopped performing abortions at all at another Florida location in order to evade Florida safety regulations -- which are pretty lax to begin with.
So, prayers for this woman and her family:
Heavenly Father, we ask that you let this woman and her family feel Your Presence as they face this even more difficult time. May they learn to lean on You, and not their own understanding, as they face crises in their lives. May their eyes open to the reality of Your love, and the sufficiency of Your provision. May the hands of all the medical caregivers be guided by Your hands as they work to save this woman's life. May the prolifers ministering to this family be given constant guidance by the Holy Spirit to always say and do the most loving words and deeds, in this crisis and in all they do as they reach out to vulnerable women. May the ambulance crew have their eyes opened to what Whitney does for a living. May Whitney and his staff have an epiphany and turn from death to life. May their desires to help women be guided to providing real loving help. May they learn to trust in You to guide them in meeting their financial needs, their belonging needs, and their needs for purpose in life. We ask this all in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
At least, thank God, the facility called an ambulance instead of further endangering the woman by trying to treat her in-house for life-threatening complications.
Whitney stopped performing abortions at all at another Florida location in order to evade Florida safety regulations -- which are pretty lax to begin with.
So, prayers for this woman and her family:
Heavenly Father, we ask that you let this woman and her family feel Your Presence as they face this even more difficult time. May they learn to lean on You, and not their own understanding, as they face crises in their lives. May their eyes open to the reality of Your love, and the sufficiency of Your provision. May the hands of all the medical caregivers be guided by Your hands as they work to save this woman's life. May the prolifers ministering to this family be given constant guidance by the Holy Spirit to always say and do the most loving words and deeds, in this crisis and in all they do as they reach out to vulnerable women. May the ambulance crew have their eyes opened to what Whitney does for a living. May Whitney and his staff have an epiphany and turn from death to life. May their desires to help women be guided to providing real loving help. May they learn to trust in You to guide them in meeting their financial needs, their belonging needs, and their needs for purpose in life. We ask this all in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Anniversary: "Quality care" proves fatal
Leigh Ann Stephens Alford, age 34, underwent a safe and legal abortion at the hands of Dr. Malachy DeHenre at Summit Medical Center of Alabama, a National Abortion Federation member clinic, on November 25, 2003.
Leigh Ann was discharged from the clinic 20 minutes after her abortion, according to a lawsuit filed by her husband. Within six hours, he said, he called the facility to report that Leigh Ann was suffering pain and fever. She died about 18 hours after the clinic had sent her home. Death was attributed to hemorrhagic shock from an unrecognized uterine perforation.
DeHenre's medical license was suspended in Mississippi and Alabama after the death. DeHenre, age 53, also performed abortions at New Woman Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, as well as his own Jackson's Women's Health Organization.
Alabama suspended DeHenre's license as of July 28. The Mississippi suspension was expedited, rather than addressed in a board meeting scheduled for September 16. An Associated Press article quotes Dr. W. Joseph Burnett, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure: "We couldn't wait another day to take action. He won't be practicing in Mississippi."
The Alabama medical board concluded that DeHenre's practice was conducted in such a way as to "endanger the health of patients," and found that he had committed "repeated malpractice."
Leigh Ann was discharged from the clinic 20 minutes after her abortion, according to a lawsuit filed by her husband. Within six hours, he said, he called the facility to report that Leigh Ann was suffering pain and fever. She died about 18 hours after the clinic had sent her home. Death was attributed to hemorrhagic shock from an unrecognized uterine perforation.
DeHenre's medical license was suspended in Mississippi and Alabama after the death. DeHenre, age 53, also performed abortions at New Woman Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, as well as his own Jackson's Women's Health Organization.
Alabama suspended DeHenre's license as of July 28. The Mississippi suspension was expedited, rather than addressed in a board meeting scheduled for September 16. An Associated Press article quotes Dr. W. Joseph Burnett, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure: "We couldn't wait another day to take action. He won't be practicing in Mississippi."
The Alabama medical board concluded that DeHenre's practice was conducted in such a way as to "endanger the health of patients," and found that he had committed "repeated malpractice."
DeHenry was also investigated after an abortion he performed on March 20, 2003. That patient began to hemorrhage and was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she underwent a total hysterectomy.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
An illegal anniversary
On November 24, 1907, Lizzie Paulseu, age 38, died at County Hospital in Chicago from an abortion performed that day. John and Minnie Nelson were arrested and held without bail. John Nelson was sentenced to Joliet for his role in Lizzie's death. John Nelson's profession is given as "outside labor force" and "abortion provider", so likely he was a professional lay abortionist.
Lizzie's abortion was unusual in that it was not performed by a physician.
Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Lizzie's abortion was unusual in that it was not performed by a physician.
Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Anniversary: A Thanksgiving tragedy
Eighteen year old Michelle Madden, a coed, sought an abortion from O.B. Evans at Family Planning Medical Center of Mobile, Alabama in November of 1986. Michelle had been taking medication for epilepsy, and a doctor had told her that her baby would have birth defects.
When Michelle's parents arrived at the college to take her home for Thanksgiving, the house mother had sad news for them. Three days after the abortion, Michelle had collapsed. She had been taken to the hospital, where doctors found a leg bone, two pieces of skull, and some placenta still in her uterus. The surgery to save her life was too late. Sepsis had already set in, and Michelle died three days after she was admitted.
Her parents sued Evans and the facility, and in 1991 a jury awarded them $10 million in damages.
Other young women who lost their lives in abortions intended to keep a child with a disability from being born include:
Twenty-five-year-old Margaret Louise Smith, who traveled from Michigan to New York for an abortion because she had been exposed to rubella. Her abortionist, Jesse Ketchum, had run a criminal abortion practice in Michigan, before carpetbagging to Buffalo when New York legalized abortion on demand.
Marla Cardamone was browbeaten into an unwanted abortion by a social worker at Magee Women's Hospital, who lied to her and told her that her baby would be severely disabled; Marla ended up dying with her baby in a botched abortion.
Linda Boom, age 35, died after a resident at Sinai Samaritan Medical Center in Milwaukee used a dangerous, antiquated method to perform an abortion on September 21, 1995. Linda had elected abortion because the baby had been diagnosed with Down Syndrome, which Linda believed meant "no life."
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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When Michelle's parents arrived at the college to take her home for Thanksgiving, the house mother had sad news for them. Three days after the abortion, Michelle had collapsed. She had been taken to the hospital, where doctors found a leg bone, two pieces of skull, and some placenta still in her uterus. The surgery to save her life was too late. Sepsis had already set in, and Michelle died three days after she was admitted.
Her parents sued Evans and the facility, and in 1991 a jury awarded them $10 million in damages.
Other young women who lost their lives in abortions intended to keep a child with a disability from being born include:
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010
1909: Woman implicated in fatal abortion
On November 23, 1909, Anna Pozajevich, age 24, died in Chicago home from an abortion performed on November 7.
Julia Adamovitch was indicted by a grand jury. Her profession is given only as "abortion provider". She was tried and acquitted for reasons not given in the source document.
Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Julia Adamovitch was indicted by a grand jury. Her profession is given only as "abortion provider". She was tried and acquitted for reasons not given in the source document.
Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Monday, November 22, 2010
"I'd love a baby. Just not enough to stay my hand from killing it."
HT: Jill Stanek via Pro Life in TN.
A young abortion doctor's dilemma
In short, a gay abortionist started having shaky feelings about his dedication to abortion when he and his partner started trying to adopt a child. After all, each baby he dismembers is "one less child for adoption".
No. It's a specific child he killed.
"Evan" does struggle with this:
But Evan is also choosing. He is choosing to value the mother's "reproductive rights" above the life of each and every child he kills. He could, after all, say to her, "My partner and I want to adopt. I, personally, would give this child a home. Will you allow me to love your child rather than kill him?"
He chooses not to.
As does every abortionist, in a way. Probably every single abortionist knows somebody who would adopt the child his forceps are closing in on.
It's just that, for "Evan", the way he's set his priorities is a bit more clear.
There are so many other facets of this article I could go after. The coy way the author avoids, as much as possible, the violent reality of what "Evan" does to children. The melodrama of painting abortion as sparing women from dangerous criminal abortions, rather than the reality of abortion as ensuring that she ends up with a dead baby instead of the live baby she'd very likely be eager to love and care for herself, if given the chance. The question of how "Evan" could be "proud" of what he does, yet unwilling to talk about it. The fact that abortion is emotionally and morally repugnant even to those who have strong stomachs and an intellectual dedication to the principle that abortion is a right.
No. Let's just stick with the fact that whenever he finally does adopt, "Evan" will know in his heart of hearts that there is always something he loves more than the child he's opened his home to.
A young abortion doctor's dilemma
In short, a gay abortionist started having shaky feelings about his dedication to abortion when he and his partner started trying to adopt a child. After all, each baby he dismembers is "one less child for adoption".
No. It's a specific child he killed.
"Evan" does struggle with this:
He also wondered how he would explain what he did for a living to his adopted child. After all, wouldn't his son or daughter have been born because the birth mother had not chosen abortion?
But Evan is also choosing. He is choosing to value the mother's "reproductive rights" above the life of each and every child he kills. He could, after all, say to her, "My partner and I want to adopt. I, personally, would give this child a home. Will you allow me to love your child rather than kill him?"
He chooses not to.
As does every abortionist, in a way. Probably every single abortionist knows somebody who would adopt the child his forceps are closing in on.
It's just that, for "Evan", the way he's set his priorities is a bit more clear.
There are so many other facets of this article I could go after. The coy way the author avoids, as much as possible, the violent reality of what "Evan" does to children. The melodrama of painting abortion as sparing women from dangerous criminal abortions, rather than the reality of abortion as ensuring that she ends up with a dead baby instead of the live baby she'd very likely be eager to love and care for herself, if given the chance. The question of how "Evan" could be "proud" of what he does, yet unwilling to talk about it. The fact that abortion is emotionally and morally repugnant even to those who have strong stomachs and an intellectual dedication to the principle that abortion is a right.
No. Let's just stick with the fact that whenever he finally does adopt, "Evan" will know in his heart of hearts that there is always something he loves more than the child he's opened his home to.
Denise Crowe's killer surrenders license
I've blogged before about the 2006 abortion death of Denise Crowe at the hands of Maryland abortionist Romeo A. Ferrer. And now, praise God, her killer has surrendered his medical license. This is a permanent surrender, and includes a pledge not to try to practice medicine in any other state in the US. The voluntary surrender prevented the board from revoking Ferrer's license.
Operation Rescue West made a PDF of the medical board documents available here:
Like many abortion "clinics", Ferrer's private practice, Gynecare Center, would look to the untrained eye like an outpatient clinic. A patient making an appointment there would likely believe she was in a licensed clinic, not a doctor's office.
The board refers to Denise as "Patient A".
Denise was 21 years old, mother of a 3-year-old son, when she went to Ferrer's clinic-looking office for an abortion on February 3, 2006. She was 16 weeks pregnant. Denise was in good health, with a history of two "uncomplicated abortions" and a miscarriage. "On her health history form, it was noted that [Denise's] reason for terminating her pregnancy was, 'can't afford it right now.'" Denise was accompanied to her appointment by a friend, who was helping to keep the abortion a secret from Denise's family.
Ferrer started the abortion, a D&E abortion, at about 1:00 p.m., using ultrasound to help him visualize the baby as he dismembered it. Twenty-five minutes later, Ferrer was still pulling fetal parts out of his patient, and administered 20 units of pitocin via an IV solution. Five minutes later, he added 125 mg of Demerol and 5 mg of midazolam (Versed, a short-acting sedative and amnesia-producing medication). Because "pt. was still reacting to pain", Ferrer administered additional doses of Demerol and midazolam. It wasn't until 1:45 that Ferrer completed the abortion.
Denise was moved to the recovery room, where at 1:47 a "surgical assistant" noticed signs of cyanosis (blue coloring) in her fingernails. A nurse assistant was unable to get a blood pressure or pulse reading on Denise, and told Ferrer. He gave a verbal order for 0.4 mg Narcan, which was administered by the nurse assistant. Narcan is a drug to counteract narcotics.
At 1:50, Ferrer began efforts to resuscitate Denise, including performing CPR, and having an assistant perform CPR while he administered intracardiac epinephrine. Staff called 911 while Ferrer continued resuscitation efforts, maintaining an open airway with the non-professional method of head tilt and chin lift. Ferrer did not use an airway or endotracheal tube, as is customary with professionally-administered CPR.
The medics arrived to find Denise still unresponsive and without a pulse. The medics used an oxygen mask and additional drugs as they transported Denise to Anne Arundel Medical Center. There, emergency room staff continued the attempts to resuscitate her, to no avail. She was pronounced dead at 2:57 p.m.
The autopsy found no underlying physical reason for Denise's heart to have stopped. The cause of death was given as "Meperidine intoxication" (an overdose of Demerol).
The medical board faulted Ferrer in his care of Denise:
1. Ferrer administered successive "push" dosages of medications. He should have titrated (gradually administered) the second dose. "[T]he second dosage was too large and administered too quickly."
2. Despite having had a written policy in place since 1994 to provide proper monitoring, Ferrer did not use a pulse oximeter to monitor Peggy's pulse and blood oxygen, nor were her pulse and blood pressure monitored every five minutes during the 45 minutes of surgery. Ferrer also failed to provide oxygen to Denise during surgery. "[Ferrer's] failure to monitor [Denise] appropirately during and after the abortion constitutes a violation of the standard of quality care."
3. During resuscitation, Ferrer did not use an airway and did not provide supplemental oxygen with an ambu-bag.
In short, Ferrer gave Denise too much medication too quickly, causing her to stop breathing, and failed to monitor her closely enough to notice in a timely manner. He then failed to adequately resuscitate her.
UPDATE: The medical board did go through with suspending Ferrer's license. They learned of the incident when Peggy's family sued. You can read the suspension order here.
Operation Rescue West made a PDF of the medical board documents available here:
Like many abortion "clinics", Ferrer's private practice, Gynecare Center, would look to the untrained eye like an outpatient clinic. A patient making an appointment there would likely believe she was in a licensed clinic, not a doctor's office.
The board refers to Denise as "Patient A".
Denise was 21 years old, mother of a 3-year-old son, when she went to Ferrer's clinic-looking office for an abortion on February 3, 2006. She was 16 weeks pregnant. Denise was in good health, with a history of two "uncomplicated abortions" and a miscarriage. "On her health history form, it was noted that [Denise's] reason for terminating her pregnancy was, 'can't afford it right now.'" Denise was accompanied to her appointment by a friend, who was helping to keep the abortion a secret from Denise's family.
Ferrer started the abortion, a D&E abortion, at about 1:00 p.m., using ultrasound to help him visualize the baby as he dismembered it. Twenty-five minutes later, Ferrer was still pulling fetal parts out of his patient, and administered 20 units of pitocin via an IV solution. Five minutes later, he added 125 mg of Demerol and 5 mg of midazolam (Versed, a short-acting sedative and amnesia-producing medication). Because "pt. was still reacting to pain", Ferrer administered additional doses of Demerol and midazolam. It wasn't until 1:45 that Ferrer completed the abortion.
Denise was moved to the recovery room, where at 1:47 a "surgical assistant" noticed signs of cyanosis (blue coloring) in her fingernails. A nurse assistant was unable to get a blood pressure or pulse reading on Denise, and told Ferrer. He gave a verbal order for 0.4 mg Narcan, which was administered by the nurse assistant. Narcan is a drug to counteract narcotics.
At 1:50, Ferrer began efforts to resuscitate Denise, including performing CPR, and having an assistant perform CPR while he administered intracardiac epinephrine. Staff called 911 while Ferrer continued resuscitation efforts, maintaining an open airway with the non-professional method of head tilt and chin lift. Ferrer did not use an airway or endotracheal tube, as is customary with professionally-administered CPR.
The medics arrived to find Denise still unresponsive and without a pulse. The medics used an oxygen mask and additional drugs as they transported Denise to Anne Arundel Medical Center. There, emergency room staff continued the attempts to resuscitate her, to no avail. She was pronounced dead at 2:57 p.m.
The autopsy found no underlying physical reason for Denise's heart to have stopped. The cause of death was given as "Meperidine intoxication" (an overdose of Demerol).
The medical board faulted Ferrer in his care of Denise:
1. Ferrer administered successive "push" dosages of medications. He should have titrated (gradually administered) the second dose. "[T]he second dosage was too large and administered too quickly."
2. Despite having had a written policy in place since 1994 to provide proper monitoring, Ferrer did not use a pulse oximeter to monitor Peggy's pulse and blood oxygen, nor were her pulse and blood pressure monitored every five minutes during the 45 minutes of surgery. Ferrer also failed to provide oxygen to Denise during surgery. "[Ferrer's] failure to monitor [Denise] appropirately during and after the abortion constitutes a violation of the standard of quality care."
3. During resuscitation, Ferrer did not use an airway and did not provide supplemental oxygen with an ambu-bag.
In short, Ferrer gave Denise too much medication too quickly, causing her to stop breathing, and failed to monitor her closely enough to notice in a timely manner. He then failed to adequately resuscitate her.
UPDATE: The medical board did go through with suspending Ferrer's license. They learned of the incident when Peggy's family sued. You can read the suspension order here.
Jill's question on Common Ground efforts
Jill Stanek's post about "Common Ground" efforts warrants an entire blog post of its own. She asked for comments on William Saletan's "common ground" suggestions. I'll use Jill's summaries, then add my thoughts.
1. Reduce the abortion rate through voluntary means. “Rather than focus on passing laws… study data on why women seek abortions and… systematically address those factors…. Help women avoid pregnancies they don’t want, and you’ll wipe out the vast majority of abortions without having to enact a single restriction.”
2. Subsidize maternity. “Money can’t buy everything. But it can make it easier to carry a pregnancy to term and raise the child. To that extent, it can discourage some abortions.” Saletan suggested both taxpayer support and church support. “Every parish that can afford to should have a women’s shelter designed to support mothers and their newly born children.”
3. Embrace contraception. “[I]f pro-lifers were to embrace contraception and give it moral sanction – it would prevent more abortions than any anti-abortion law would.”
4. Early abortions are better than late ones. “‘And do you think that reducing gestational age of abortion is a common-ground goal?’ [quoting Christina Page]. From a pro-life standpoint, trading late abortions for early ones is hardly ideal. But it’s better than nothing, and if you pursue it, nobody will stand in your way.”
5. Choose your friends by your mission, not your mission by your friends. “[T]he pro-lifers who co-organized the conference… have been derided and accused of treachery [for]… cooperat[ing] with pro-choicers…. The reason why young, poorly funded people represented the pro-life movement… is that the old, well-funded people who think they own the movement failed to show up. That’s the role young people ought to play in history: thinking in new ways and taking on new challenges when the older generation has lost its compass or its courage. If the pro-life movement is going to be a movement and not just a self-congratulatory fundraising machine, it will need people like Gushee and Camosy to lead the way. These forward thinkers may have to choose between preventing abortions and pleasing the pro-life establishment.”
PS: I'll also believe that abortion advocates are sincere in their quest for "common ground" when they embrace this sort of proposal: that if there is evidence that the to-be-aborted baby can feel pain, that the mother be informed and that every reasonable measure be taken to ensure that the child is properly anesthetized before being stabbed in the skull, harpooned in the heart, or just dismembered alive. Concede that abortions should at least be done in a way that does not cause pain to the baby you're killing.
Put up or shut up.
1. Reduce the abortion rate through voluntary means. “Rather than focus on passing laws… study data on why women seek abortions and… systematically address those factors…. Help women avoid pregnancies they don’t want, and you’ll wipe out the vast majority of abortions without having to enact a single restriction.”
Voluntary means? Absolutely. But I disagree on the idea that helping women "avoid pregnancies they don't want" is the key. The idea that an unwanted pregnancy means an unwanted baby is a palpably false one. So in a way, this is a great suggestion, but in a way it's also a red herring.
Real prochoicers would jump at the chance to help women to address their real problems -- bad relationships, financial difficulties, health problems, etc. But I think a lot of the reason that proabortionists, disguising themselves as prochoicers, make this suggestion is to promulgate the "unwanted pregnancy means unwanted baby" fallacy. More on this later.
2. Subsidize maternity. “Money can’t buy everything. But it can make it easier to carry a pregnancy to term and raise the child. To that extent, it can discourage some abortions.” Saletan suggested both taxpayer support and church support. “Every parish that can afford to should have a women’s shelter designed to support mothers and their newly born children.”
This one grates on me, and smacks of paying women to have babies. The effect would likely be to increase pregnancies rather than decrease abortions, by encouraging women who would never be abortion minded to get pregnant, or to at least be less responsible with their sexuality, while having little impact on abortion-minded women.
I'd say Mentor Maternity is a better approach. This is something prolife pregnancy centers already tend to do, that we need to do more of. A lot of the needs aren't financial, at least not in terms of needing money. It's a matter of learning money management. Learning to delay gratification. (And the inability to delay gratification is likely a huge part of why she's pregnant in an untenable situation to begin with.)
3. Embrace contraception. “[I]f pro-lifers were to embrace contraception and give it moral sanction – it would prevent more abortions than any anti-abortion law would.”
Yeah, like it's suddenly gonna start working. We've been throwing contraceptives at women for how long now?
The contraceptive mentality CAUSES abortion by creating a dichotomy in many people's thinking. I've actually had people very seriously insist that sex does not cause pregnancy. "Contraceptive failure causes pregnancy," they say.
No. Sex causes pregnancy. And we need to get that idea back into people's heads. And we need to stop treating women's healthy bodies as if they're diseased. There's something very perverse about "liberation" and "equality" taking the form of pumping your body full of chemicals, and following up with surgery if the chemicals fail, because your body is functioning normally. And then women end up feeling as if they failed because their normal, healthy bodies are functioning. They might as well feel like failures because they built muscle mass after eating well and exercising regularly. Let's stop this pitting of women against their own bodies.
4. Early abortions are better than late ones. “‘And do you think that reducing gestational age of abortion is a common-ground goal?’ [quoting Christina Page]. From a pro-life standpoint, trading late abortions for early ones is hardly ideal. But it’s better than nothing, and if you pursue it, nobody will stand in your way.”
This is such bullshit. The longer a woman delays the abortion decision, the less likely she is to abort. Ambivalence -- and even rejection of the pregnancy -- are normal in the first trimester. The woman needs time, information, and support. Encouraging her to abort earlier so that she's avoiding a more taxing late abortion is a means of ensuring that she aborts before she can pass through this normal stage and get to where she's excited and happy about the pregnancy. It's making it all about pain and loss and failure, and not about life or joy or triumph. Excuse the hell out of me for not jumping on this dismal bandwagon.
Encouraging early abortion is encouraging more abortion. You might as well say you can reduce the divorce rate by encouraging earlier divorces so as to avoid "delaying" divorce through marriage counseling.
5. Choose your friends by your mission, not your mission by your friends. “[T]he pro-lifers who co-organized the conference… have been derided and accused of treachery [for]… cooperat[ing] with pro-choicers…. The reason why young, poorly funded people represented the pro-life movement… is that the old, well-funded people who think they own the movement failed to show up. That’s the role young people ought to play in history: thinking in new ways and taking on new challenges when the older generation has lost its compass or its courage. If the pro-life movement is going to be a movement and not just a self-congratulatory fundraising machine, it will need people like Gushee and Camosy to lead the way. These forward thinkers may have to choose between preventing abortions and pleasing the pro-life establishment.”
This sounds like a "divide and conquer" tactic by the abortion establishment, frankly. Let's not forget that us old soldiers have been ambushed before by "common ground" ploys.
Yes, there are sincere prochoicers who really do want to work with prolifers on areas where we agree. But they're not those in power. And I've yet to see a "prochoice" call for "common ground" that wasn't just another way to assert untrue assumptions such as those tired old canards about "prevention" that have failed in the past.
I'll believe that the abortion lobby is sincere in a "common ground" effort when they start basing their efforts on reality, and not slogans.
PS: I'll also believe that abortion advocates are sincere in their quest for "common ground" when they embrace this sort of proposal: that if there is evidence that the to-be-aborted baby can feel pain, that the mother be informed and that every reasonable measure be taken to ensure that the child is properly anesthetized before being stabbed in the skull, harpooned in the heart, or just dismembered alive. Concede that abortions should at least be done in a way that does not cause pain to the baby you're killing.
Put up or shut up.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Equally tragic
On November 14, 1928, 21-year-old Eunice McElroy died in Chicago from complications of a criminal abortion. Dr. Thomas J. Ney was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder in Eunice's death. Eunice's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
Forty-four years later, on November 14, 1972, 21-year-old Twila Coulter died in a California hospital. Twila had traveled from her home in Colorado to California for a safe, legal abortion. Twila was injected with saline on November 13, then expelled the dead fetus and the placenta the following day. Twila had no blood pressure and was bleeding from IV sites. She was given oxygen and three units of blood and transferred to a fully-equipped hospital. Upon arrival, Twila was comatose and bleeding heavily. Doctors removed some retained pregnancy tissue and sutured numerous uterine injuries, but were unable to address her clotting problems. Twila died of cerebral hemorrhage. Despite the fact that her doctor had chosen an antiquated, dangerous abortion method, nobody was prosecuted in Twila's death. After all, her abortion was legal. There was no longer any call to hold anyone accountable for her death.
I fail to see any improvement. Twila is just as dead as Eunice. And I will never understand the mentality of looking at a tragic death like Eunice McElroy's and responding with "We need to stop punishing the guys who do things like this."
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Forty-four years later, on November 14, 1972, 21-year-old Twila Coulter died in a California hospital. Twila had traveled from her home in Colorado to California for a safe, legal abortion. Twila was injected with saline on November 13, then expelled the dead fetus and the placenta the following day. Twila had no blood pressure and was bleeding from IV sites. She was given oxygen and three units of blood and transferred to a fully-equipped hospital. Upon arrival, Twila was comatose and bleeding heavily. Doctors removed some retained pregnancy tissue and sutured numerous uterine injuries, but were unable to address her clotting problems. Twila died of cerebral hemorrhage. Despite the fact that her doctor had chosen an antiquated, dangerous abortion method, nobody was prosecuted in Twila's death. After all, her abortion was legal. There was no longer any call to hold anyone accountable for her death.
I fail to see any improvement. Twila is just as dead as Eunice. And I will never understand the mentality of looking at a tragic death like Eunice McElroy's and responding with "We need to stop punishing the guys who do things like this."
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
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Saturday, November 13, 2010
Who would adopt those aborted babies?
Prolifers, that's who. Like the ones who adopted this aborted baby:
Melissa Oden later gave birth in the same hospital where her biomom tried to kill her.
During the heyday of saline abortion, the Centers for Disease Control got reports of 500 live births following abortions annually. Willard Cates of the CDC admitted that the actual number of cases must be significantly higher, because of disincentives for reporting such births. "It's like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit," Cates said.
Aside from the normal issues -- Is Melissa a person? After all, you don't abort persons, you abort tissue. Was the nurse wrong to save Melissa, rather than implement the biomom's decision? After all, she had chosen, and paid for, a dead fetus, not a live baby. -- there are the freaky questions about what this was like for her biomom. Imagine choosing abortion and adoption for the same baby. And how about biodad, who got a letter from his aborted child a few months before his death. He kept the letter. His family found it. Imagine their shock.
Melissa's biomom's decision to kill her is still having an impact on the lives of many families.
This sort of thing happens sometimes, Obama's blithe scoffing to the contrary. What should we, as a society, do about it?
Melissa Oden later gave birth in the same hospital where her biomom tried to kill her.
During the heyday of saline abortion, the Centers for Disease Control got reports of 500 live births following abortions annually. Willard Cates of the CDC admitted that the actual number of cases must be significantly higher, because of disincentives for reporting such births. "It's like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit," Cates said.
Aside from the normal issues -- Is Melissa a person? After all, you don't abort persons, you abort tissue. Was the nurse wrong to save Melissa, rather than implement the biomom's decision? After all, she had chosen, and paid for, a dead fetus, not a live baby. -- there are the freaky questions about what this was like for her biomom. Imagine choosing abortion and adoption for the same baby. And how about biodad, who got a letter from his aborted child a few months before his death. He kept the letter. His family found it. Imagine their shock.
Melissa's biomom's decision to kill her is still having an impact on the lives of many families.
This sort of thing happens sometimes, Obama's blithe scoffing to the contrary. What should we, as a society, do about it?
Three illegal anniversaries
1899: Marie Hecht
1906: Lola Madison
1907: Annie Horvatich
1925: Lottie Lowy, Nina H. Pierce, Jean Cohen, Bridget Masterson, and Elizabeth Welter
Hagenow was typical of criminal abortionists in that she was a doctor.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
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Friday, November 12, 2010
Totally off topic -- elevators, and one man's experience trapped in one
Up and Then Down tells the story of Nicholas White, thirty-four-year-old production manager at Business Week, and his lost weekend. Interspersed are fascinating (to me, at least) asides about elevators.
I won't give away the ending in this post. I'll put it in the first comment.
I won't give away the ending in this post. I'll put it in the first comment.
Around the Internet
Questions about “abortion and the law” are usually seen as matters of constitutional law. Constitutional law, however, seems ill-suited. This is not only because the U.S. Supreme Court discovered a “constitutional right” for something that had been banned by most states for most of the nation’s history. It is also because the “privacy” right encompassing abortion frames the issue as a struggle between the state and the woman over her right to define her life, her future, or even her “concept …of the universe,” in the famous words of the Casey Court. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that abortion is about family relationships, not simply a contest between the state and a woman who happens to be pregnant. Scientific discoveries about human development and the testimonies of women who have had or have considered an abortion suggest that it is family law rather than constitutional law that provides the best means of understanding the issue of abortion.
This past semester... the class spent considerable time reading women’s stories about their abortions, focusing particularly on a website called www.afterabortion.com. This website was founded by a pro-choice woman and on it no mention of politics, religion, or morality is allowed. The website contains thousands of women’s stories about their abortions—and about their post-abortion feelings. And many of these women are in acute pain; some are almost totally incapacitated. ....
....
What is particularly striking is that most of the women who have these powerful emotional reactions to their abortion are stunned by them. They were not opposed to abortion; many were actively pro-choice. They were blind-sided by their own reaction. One woman lamented—and thousands of others echo her mystified anguish—“If this was the right decision, why do I feel so terrible?”
Writing in the Washington Post a few years ago, Katrina Clark reported that she envied friends who had both a mother and a father. "That was when the emptiness came over me. I realized that I am, in a sense, a freak. I really, truly would never have a dad. I finally understood what it meant to be donor-conceived, and I hated it."
Question: Should women be encouraged to abort children conceived through AI because they'll likely suffer this distress?
There are rumblings in San Francisco that a measure to ban the circumcision of any child under the age of 18 could end up on the ballot in November 2011 when the city elects its next mayor.
The article quotes Lloyd Schofield, the author of the initiative: "People can practice whatever religion they want, but your religious practice ends with someone else’s body."
How about when your "religion" says it's okay to destroy somebody else's body via abortion? I wonder where Mr. Schofiled stands on that.
Smoking CAN result in this:
Abortion ALWAYS results in this:
1952: An unusual death
On November 3, 1952, Isabell Cuda went to the home of Mary Murawsky in Rockford, Illinois, for an illegal abortion. Mary was neither licensed nor qualified to practice medicine. Murawsky used some sort of instrument on Isabell. Isabell became ill, and died on November 12, leaving behind a husband and a minor child.
Isabell's abortion was unusual in that it was performed by an amateur, rather than by a doctor, as was the case with perhaps 90% of criminal abortions.
During the 1950s, we see an anomaly: Though maternal mortality had been falling during the first half of the 20th Century, and abortion mortality in particular had been plummeting, the downward trend slowed, then reversed itself briefly. I have yet to figure out why. For more, see Abortion Deaths in the 1950s.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion.
Isabell's abortion was unusual in that it was performed by an amateur, rather than by a doctor, as was the case with perhaps 90% of criminal abortions.
During the 1950s, we see an anomaly: Though maternal mortality had been falling during the first half of the 20th Century, and abortion mortality in particular had been plummeting, the downward trend slowed, then reversed itself briefly. I have yet to figure out why. For more, see Abortion Deaths in the 1950s.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Four dead babies and a bewildered mom. Because they're asking the wrong damned questions.
HT: Jivin' J
I didn't want 4 abortions but I really couldn't afford to be a mum:
The article then presents Stacy's rationale for the abortions:
Does killing that child's unborn siblings do anything to improve his mother's financial situation?
Evidently not, if you can have four of them in three years and get your picture in the newspaper lamenting how it was totally not your fault.
And so much for the idea that throwing birth control at women is an effective "prevention" strategy. All it does is create a mindset where people are astonished that their sexual activity creates babies. For millions of years, humans understood that sex causes babies. Only in our lifetime have we lost sight of that. Only in our lifetime has the creation of a baby by sexual activity left the parents bewildered as to how such a thing could happen.
She's been with this guy for seven years. He evidently isn't willing to marry her. (Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?) And he's not doing his job as a breadwinner. Or as a man. Why is he okay with his "partner" climbing tearfully onto the abortion table again and again and again and again. If he's unwilling or unable to support his children, and he's chosen to have sex with a woman this fertile, can't he use condoms? Get a vasectomy? Man up and get a job where he CAN support the children he creates?
Personally, I think there's some weird shit going on between Stacy's ears, and we're ignoring it because it's so much easier to focus on what's going on between her legs.
I Googled how much a forklift driver earns. Wiki Answers said "typically £12,000 to £20,000 a year".
This look at household income indicates that with taxes and "redistribution", the family would end up with £20,000 to £25,000 a year. That makes this family solidly working-class, not impoverished.
What is going on here, that she's so convinced that she can't handle a second child?
Is she bad with money? Is she insecure? Does she have mental health issues?
Nobody seems to be asking why she can't make a standard family income stretch to meet the needs of two kids.
We're supposed to take, "I just don't feel I can care for my son and a second child" as an accurate assessment of her situation. That she's really just too poor.
So four unborn children die. Because nobody cares enough about this woman and her kids to figure out what the hell is really going on here.
That's MY spin. We've turned the question into, "Which bad option does she choose?" And we never ask, "Is there a better way?"
Mental health treatment? Budgeting training? A part-time job? Job training for her man so he can support more than one kid? A kick in the ass and an admonition to quit whining and grow up? I don't know what this woman needs. But clearly four abortions weren't the answer. And neither was The Pill.
You have to be "prochoice" to look at that story and think that ANYBODY has been done right.
I didn't want 4 abortions but I really couldn't afford to be a mum:
STACY CUTLER listens to her 22-week-old unborn child's heartbeat - and her eyes fill with tears.
The grainy scan shows the fully developed foetus moving around inside her.
But Stacy's tears are not of joy at seeing her baby for the first time. She has made the heartbreaking decision to have an abortion at this late stage.
The 22-year-old mum-of-one has terminated FOUR pregnancies in the past three years.
She felt that she was not financially or emotionally secure enough to have another child.
The article then presents Stacy's rationale for the abortions:
Stacy believes she made the right decision when terminating four pregnancies - one only two weeks before the legal limit of 24 weeks. She says: "It was certainly not an easy decision to abort four of my unborn children.
"But I realised that it would be unfair to bring those children in to the world when I barely had the money to look after my son.
Does killing that child's unborn siblings do anything to improve his mother's financial situation?
Stacy, who was on the Pill when she fell pregnant all four times, feels that abortion is still too much of a taboo in this country.
Evidently not, if you can have four of them in three years and get your picture in the newspaper lamenting how it was totally not your fault.
And so much for the idea that throwing birth control at women is an effective "prevention" strategy. All it does is create a mindset where people are astonished that their sexual activity creates babies. For millions of years, humans understood that sex causes babies. Only in our lifetime have we lost sight of that. Only in our lifetime has the creation of a baby by sexual activity left the parents bewildered as to how such a thing could happen.
Stacy, from Cradley, Birmingham, has a four-year-old son, Jason*, with her partner of seven years, fork lift truck driver David*, 25.
She's been with this guy for seven years. He evidently isn't willing to marry her. (Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?) And he's not doing his job as a breadwinner. Or as a man. Why is he okay with his "partner" climbing tearfully onto the abortion table again and again and again and again. If he's unwilling or unable to support his children, and he's chosen to have sex with a woman this fertile, can't he use condoms? Get a vasectomy? Man up and get a job where he CAN support the children he creates?
YOU can decide whether she is selfish and irresponsible or realistic about her ability to provide.
Personally, I think there's some weird shit going on between Stacy's ears, and we're ignoring it because it's so much easier to focus on what's going on between her legs.
I Googled how much a forklift driver earns. Wiki Answers said "typically £12,000 to £20,000 a year".
This look at household income indicates that with taxes and "redistribution", the family would end up with £20,000 to £25,000 a year. That makes this family solidly working-class, not impoverished.
What is going on here, that she's so convinced that she can't handle a second child?
Is she bad with money? Is she insecure? Does she have mental health issues?
Nobody seems to be asking why she can't make a standard family income stretch to meet the needs of two kids.
We're supposed to take, "I just don't feel I can care for my son and a second child" as an accurate assessment of her situation. That she's really just too poor.
So four unborn children die. Because nobody cares enough about this woman and her kids to figure out what the hell is really going on here.
That's MY spin. We've turned the question into, "Which bad option does she choose?" And we never ask, "Is there a better way?"
Mental health treatment? Budgeting training? A part-time job? Job training for her man so he can support more than one kid? A kick in the ass and an admonition to quit whining and grow up? I don't know what this woman needs. But clearly four abortions weren't the answer. And neither was The Pill.
You have to be "prochoice" to look at that story and think that ANYBODY has been done right.
NRLC plans follow-up on pro-life election victories
Carhart knows what other abortion supporters know: that testimony about how you rip the arms and legs off living unborn children isn't good public relations. Let's revisit it, shall we (italics mine):
Question: Are there times when you don’t remove the fetus intact?
Carhart: Yes, sir.
Question: Can you tell me about that, when that occurs?
Carhart: That occurs when the tissue fragments, or frequently when you rupture the membranes, an arm will spontaneously prolapse through the os. I think most...statistically the most common presentation, we talk about the forehead or the skull being first. We talked about the feet being first, but I think in probably the great majority of terminations, it’s what they world call a transverse lie, so really you’re looking at a side profile of a curved fetus. When the patient...the uterus is already starting to contract and they are starting to [expel the fetus], when you rupture the waters, usually something prolapses through the uterine, through the cervical os, not always, but very often an extremity will.
Question: What do you do then?
Carhart: My normal course would be to dismember that extremity and then go back and try to take the fetus out either foot or skull first, whatever end I can get to first.
Question: How do you go about dismembering that extremity?
Carhart: Just traction and rotation, grasping the portion that you can get a hold of which would be usually somewhere up the shaft of the exposed portion of the fetus, pulling down on it through the os, using the internal os as your counter-traction and rotating to dismember the shoulder or the hip or whatever it would be. Sometimes you will get one leg and you can’t get the other leg out.
Question: In that situation, are you, when you pull on the arm and remove it, is the fetus still alive?
Carhart: Yes.
Question: Do you consider an arm, for example, to be a substantial portion of the fetus?
Carhart: In the way I read it, I think if I lost my arm, that would be a substantial loss to me. I think I would have to interpret it that way.
Question: And then what happens next after you remove the arm? You then try to remove the rest of the fetus?
Carhart: Then I would go back and attempt to either bring the feet down or bring the skull down, or even sometimes you bring the other arm down and remove that also and then get the feet down.
Question: At what point is the fetus...does the fetus die during that process?
Carhart: I don’t really know. I know that the fetus is alive during the process most of the time because I can see fetal heartbeat on the ultrasound.
When is a good time to be providing fresh testimony of this sort, when you know that National Right to Life and every prolife blogger on the planet will be sharing it?
I think we have a winning strategy.
Two pre-Roe anniversaries
On November 11, 1929, 23-year-old Mary L. Kelly died in Chicago from an abortion performed by an unidentified perpetrator.
On November 11, 1909, Marian Lang, age 29, died in Chicago home from an abortion. Dr. Pope was indicted by a grand jury. The source document does not indicate that the case went to trial.
Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. And things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion.
On November 11, 1909, Marian Lang, age 29, died in Chicago home from an abortion. Dr. Pope was indicted by a grand jury. The source document does not indicate that the case went to trial.
Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. And things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion.
The Begging Abortionist Redux
Yesterday I blogged about stalwart advocates for women's reproductive health who are raising money for abortionist LeRoy Carhart. Poor LeRoy. He can't even afford to get the junked truck towed away from his parking lot. Maybe it's left over from when the place was still a garage.
Here's another shot of what a run-down, seedy place Carhart runs. He didn't even have an occupancy permit, for crying out loud!
Most rational people would ask Carhart to clean up his existing facility before they gave him money to expand.
The journal of post-abortion suicide Haley Mason paints a nasty picture of Carhart's abortion practice. Haley‘d been told to arrive at the clinic at 7:00 in the morning, but it was ten hours before she was finally on the table, ready for the abortion. Carhart walked into the room, clad in a dirty coat and glasses so smeared that Haley‘s friend, who had accompanied her, wondered how he could even see through the lenses. While performing the vacuum abortion, Carhart spouted profanities. He told Haley and her friend that he was tired. He‘d been speaking in California the day before, and had just flown into Omaha that morning.
Carhart can't manage his own home front. Back in 1992, 4 of his 11 horses, and two dogs, were confiscated by the humane society due to neglect. An officer of the humane society said she had not obtained a warrant because the animals were in danger of death. She also said that the horses were in danger of starvation even though several large bales of inferior-quality hay were outside a fence, just beyond the reach of the horses. Some of the older horses had bite marks on their backs indicating that younger horses had driven them away from what food was available, and that the most skeletal of the horses, a 20 to 30-year-old female, had to be coaxed from a barn that was a foot deep in mud and excrement. The humane society spokesperson also said that Carhart "wasn't too happy" that she had taken the horses, and that he threatened to file charges against her. (Source: Bellevue Leader 7-25-92)
His animals are left to starve half to death, his building is run-down and shabby, and he had to rent himself out to George Tiller to make ends meet.
While he was working for Tiller, he "provided" fatal "abortion care" to Christin Gilbert, a mentally disabled Texas teenager. When paramedics arrived at Tiller's mill, Carhart was performing CPR so awkwardly that they thought he was a bystander, not a doctor.
His command of the English language isn't always the best. This from Jill Stanek's recent post:
This guy is just screwed up on all fronts. And prochoice fundraisers want you to give him more money.
Though it seems Carhart isn't trusting the useful idiots to collect enough cash for him. He, his wife, and his daughter have set up a non-profit to beg for more money.
Read Jill's entire post. It's chock full of good information.
Here's another shot of what a run-down, seedy place Carhart runs. He didn't even have an occupancy permit, for crying out loud! Most rational people would ask Carhart to clean up his existing facility before they gave him money to expand.
The journal of post-abortion suicide Haley Mason paints a nasty picture of Carhart's abortion practice. Haley‘d been told to arrive at the clinic at 7:00 in the morning, but it was ten hours before she was finally on the table, ready for the abortion. Carhart walked into the room, clad in a dirty coat and glasses so smeared that Haley‘s friend, who had accompanied her, wondered how he could even see through the lenses. While performing the vacuum abortion, Carhart spouted profanities. He told Haley and her friend that he was tired. He‘d been speaking in California the day before, and had just flown into Omaha that morning.
Carhart can't manage his own home front. Back in 1992, 4 of his 11 horses, and two dogs, were confiscated by the humane society due to neglect. An officer of the humane society said she had not obtained a warrant because the animals were in danger of death. She also said that the horses were in danger of starvation even though several large bales of inferior-quality hay were outside a fence, just beyond the reach of the horses. Some of the older horses had bite marks on their backs indicating that younger horses had driven them away from what food was available, and that the most skeletal of the horses, a 20 to 30-year-old female, had to be coaxed from a barn that was a foot deep in mud and excrement. The humane society spokesperson also said that Carhart "wasn't too happy" that she had taken the horses, and that he threatened to file charges against her. (Source: Bellevue Leader 7-25-92)
His animals are left to starve half to death, his building is run-down and shabby, and he had to rent himself out to George Tiller to make ends meet.
While he was working for Tiller, he "provided" fatal "abortion care" to Christin Gilbert, a mentally disabled Texas teenager. When paramedics arrived at Tiller's mill, Carhart was performing CPR so awkwardly that they thought he was a bystander, not a doctor.
His command of the English language isn't always the best. This from Jill Stanek's recent post:
“We need a place where we can do our patients without the harassment of the courts.”
“Do?” Sounds like he’s having sex with them.
And, “I said before we practice within the laws what they were and fight the laws to get rid of them.”
Almost incoherent, abortion’s best and brightest.
This guy is just screwed up on all fronts. And prochoice fundraisers want you to give him more money.
Though it seems Carhart isn't trusting the useful idiots to collect enough cash for him. He, his wife, and his daughter have set up a non-profit to beg for more money.
Read Jill's entire post. It's chock full of good information.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
NJ defunds PP!
New Jersey Defunds Planned Parenthood :
The Governor insisted that prescription drug coverage was more important than funding other people's sex lives.
Abortion supporters are hoping to find funding elsewhere, such as the Department of Corrections. Yup -- don't lock the perverts up! Instead facilitate their continued sexual abuse of underage girls.
I found this interesting:
What the hell does the State of New Jersey need with box seats at a sports arena? How about spending that money on, say, after-school sports programs for kids?
And are there no other locations in the entire state of New Jersey where women can get these services? If not, BUILD THEM. Women should have better options for reproductive health care than places that see them as stray animals that need to be chemically spayed.
What more appropriate setting for an abortion mill.
Does New Jersey really need to spend tax money luring underage girls in from out of state so that their parents can be kept from finding out they're risking their futures -- or are being subjected to repeated statutory rape?
Maybe now New Jersey will start to move away from the "dose 'em with hormones, scrape 'em out and send them back to their abusers" mindset that holds that sexual abuse of underage girls is fine, as long as you get rid of the evidence.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a bill that included funding for Planned Parenthood has withstood a challenge from Democrats in the state senate.
The veto deprived the state’s leading abortion provider of money that is essential to its continued operation.
....
The bill in question was a supplemental spending bill for “Women’s Health and Family Planning Services.” It was set to distribute $7,453,000 to 58 abortion businesses throughout the state. Of these facilities, 29 are run by Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion services in the state and the nation.
The Governor insisted that prescription drug coverage was more important than funding other people's sex lives.
Abortion supporters are hoping to find funding elsewhere, such as the Department of Corrections. Yup -- don't lock the perverts up! Instead facilitate their continued sexual abuse of underage girls.
I found this interesting:
Sen. Donald Norcross, D-Camden, has suggested selling the state’s box seats at the Meadowlands sports arena in order to restore the funding.
What the hell does the State of New Jersey need with box seats at a sports arena? How about spending that money on, say, after-school sports programs for kids?
Supporters of the bill are quick to point out all of the women’s health services provided by this bill, including breast exams, pap smears, ... and STD testing.
And are there no other locations in the entire state of New Jersey where women can get these services? If not, BUILD THEM. Women should have better options for reproductive health care than places that see them as stray animals that need to be chemically spayed.
When the veto override failed, Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey claimed that this loss of funds was already forcing them to close one clinic, the South Jersey Women’s Center, located in a converted funeral home at 1044 Haddonfield Road in Cherry Hill.
What more appropriate setting for an abortion mill.
Because of New Jersey’s lax abortion laws and the southern location of the Cherry Hill clinics, they are a magnet for out-of-state women seeking late term abortions, and minors seeking abortions without parental consent or notification. Claire Howson of 40 Days For Life frequently sees cars from Delaware and Virginia at the clinic. “I’ve even seen a school bus drop off teenage girls, and girls still in their Catholic school uniforms,” she said.
Does New Jersey really need to spend tax money luring underage girls in from out of state so that their parents can be kept from finding out they're risking their futures -- or are being subjected to repeated statutory rape?
Maybe now New Jersey will start to move away from the "dose 'em with hormones, scrape 'em out and send them back to their abusers" mindset that holds that sexual abuse of underage girls is fine, as long as you get rid of the evidence.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Fund raiser for abortionist: God knows he needs the money
Trust Women: Documentary film featuring Drs. Hern and Carhart
We'll set side the fatuity of "Trust Women" as a slogan to raise money for abortionists, and just look at Carhart's abortion facility:
Maybe they'll raise enough money for him to get that truck towed away, and move into a building that isn't a converted muffler shop.
You don't have to be a class act to win the admiration of prochoicers. You only need to be willing to pull the arms and legs off living, viable unborn babies to win the unquestioning and unquenchable love of abortion supporters.
We'll set side the fatuity of "Trust Women" as a slogan to raise money for abortionists, and just look at Carhart's abortion facility:
Maybe they'll raise enough money for him to get that truck towed away, and move into a building that isn't a converted muffler shop.
You don't have to be a class act to win the admiration of prochoicers. You only need to be willing to pull the arms and legs off living, viable unborn babies to win the unquestioning and unquenchable love of abortion supporters.
Making life easier for dudes in bars
Ladies, the bar scene is rough. A lot of women are out there, looking for Mr. Right. Or Mr. Right Now.
How can you beat the competition?
Let him know you're available, but in a classy way. Give him the message, "I put out, and I'll never file for a paternity test."
You need to let him know, up front, just what sort of woman you are.
Just wear this t-shirt and put his mind at ease!
How can you beat the competition?
Let him know you're available, but in a classy way. Give him the message, "I put out, and I'll never file for a paternity test."
You need to let him know, up front, just what sort of woman you are.
Just wear this t-shirt and put his mind at ease!
Two safe and legal anniversaries
"Yvonne" Roe is one of the women Life Dynamics notes on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by legalized abortion. Yvonne was a 19-year-old student who died from sepsis on November 9, 1999 in Marrero, Louisiana, after undergoing a safe and legal abortion. She had been an All-American cheerleader and a member of the National Honor Society. Life Dynamics cites the Clarion Ledger, November 11, 1999, and indicates that though they have information giving Yvonne's real name, they can not release it due to a confidentiality agreement.
Demetrice Andrews, age 22, underwent an abortion on October 17, 1988. She became progressively ill, and was finally admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Demetrice suffered multiple organ failure. She died on November 9, 1988. It is ironic that Demetrice was admitted to Grady to be treated for abortion complications. Another woman, Jacqueline Reynolds, died just two years earlier, from complications of anesthesia administered for an abortion performed at Grady.
Demetrice Andrews, age 22, underwent an abortion on October 17, 1988. She became progressively ill, and was finally admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Demetrice suffered multiple organ failure. She died on November 9, 1988. It is ironic that Demetrice was admitted to Grady to be treated for abortion complications. Another woman, Jacqueline Reynolds, died just two years earlier, from complications of anesthesia administered for an abortion performed at Grady.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Is this a big deal?
‘Emergency Situation,’ Illegal Abortionists Uncovered at Only North Dakota Abortion Clinic : Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, ND, is evidently using two abortionists whose state medical licenses had lapsed.
Is this a big deal? It's a big enough deal that if one of them were to have a patient die, that patient's death would be counted as an illegal abortion death by the Centers for Disease Control, just as they counted Myrta Baptiste as an illegal abortion death, even though Myrta's abortion had been performed in an openly operating facility, because Orlando Zaldivar's license was inactive at the time.
On the one hand, you can say, "Well, they were actively licensed in other states, so they are no doubt qualified, and it was just a paperwork oversight." Yeah, and letting drugs expire is a paperwork oversight. Failing to get your equipment inspected so that you know it's safe is a paperwork oversight. Do you really want to trust your life to a place that can't even keep track of whether or not their doctors are licensed?
Is this a big deal? It's a big enough deal that if one of them were to have a patient die, that patient's death would be counted as an illegal abortion death by the Centers for Disease Control, just as they counted Myrta Baptiste as an illegal abortion death, even though Myrta's abortion had been performed in an openly operating facility, because Orlando Zaldivar's license was inactive at the time.
On the one hand, you can say, "Well, they were actively licensed in other states, so they are no doubt qualified, and it was just a paperwork oversight." Yeah, and letting drugs expire is a paperwork oversight. Failing to get your equipment inspected so that you know it's safe is a paperwork oversight. Do you really want to trust your life to a place that can't even keep track of whether or not their doctors are licensed?
PP unable to weasel out of 107 criminal charges
Criminal case against OP Planned Parenthood can go forward, court rules: "Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri faces 107 charges that it falsified records and performed illegal abortions." Long story short, PP faces charges that they falsified records in order to make illegal abortions look legal (i.e. understating gestational age). According to Operation Rescue, those charges are:
23 felony counts of Making a False Information
26 misdemeanor counts of Unlawful Failure to Maintain Record
29 misdemeanor counts of Unlawful Failure to Determine Viability for a Late-Term Abortion
29 misdemeanor counts of Unlawful Late-Term Abortion
"The felonies carry possible fines of up to $100,000 for each count, and the misdemeanors carry possible fines of up to $2,500 for each count."
What! Planned Parenthood LYING?! Perish the thought! Why, next thing, they'll be claiming that bears shit in the woods!
"The felonies carry possible fines of up to $100,000 for each count, and the misdemeanors carry possible fines of up to $2,500 for each count."
What! Planned Parenthood LYING?! Perish the thought! Why, next thing, they'll be claiming that bears shit in the woods!
A Safe and Legal Anniversary
Eighteen-year-old Christine Mora underwent an abortion at Doctors' Surgical Center in Cypress, California -- an FPA facility. She was about 17 weeks pregnant and a high school senior. The date ws November 2, 1994. A nurse practitioner inserted laminaria to dilate Christine's cervix. Christine went hom and returned the following day for the abortion.
Dr. Thomas Grubbs performed the D&E and sent Christine to recovery. Preparing to leave the clinic, Christine fell while unattended. Grubbs was called to check her, and noticed slurred speech and inappropriate responses. Somebody called an ambulance, and Christine was taken to La Palma Hospital, where she spent several hours in the emergency room, attended by her friend Robert. When Christine's father was finally located, Robert had to tell him about the abortion as well as about the hospitalization.
Christine was admitted to the intensive care unit, where her condition deteriorated until she was finally taken off life support at noon on November 8, and pronounced dead. Christine left an 18-month old child motherless.
The autopsy showed acute septicemia and hemorrage in the brain, along with some small cervical lacerations. It also revealed that Christine had a congenital heart defect called "foramen ovale," in which a connection between the two sides of her heart had not closed at birth as it was supposed to do. Her family filed a wrongful death suit. The attorneys for Grubbs, Allred, and FPA claimed that Christine's heart defect, not the abortion, caused her death. But an expert reviewing the case for Christine's family said that the care provided to Christine at the FPA facility "fell below applicable standard" and that the "breach of standard care was the direct cause of Miss Mora's death." In particular, he faulted FPB because:
Grubbs had never examined Christine prior to the surgery. In fact, he'd had no contact with her at all prior to beginning her abortion.
"The anesthesia record says that Dr. Grubbs did the entire extraction procedure in three minutes (emphasis in original)," and that this haste caused the cervical lacerations.
The expert concluded that the amniotic fluid entered Christine's bloodstream through the cervical lacerations, causing her death. Oddly, Dr. David Grimes, the expert defending FPA, agreed that Christine's death was due to an amniotic fluid embolism and not to her heart defect. Grimes, however, claimed that the amniotic flued had entered Christine's bloodstream when the placenta had detached, and not through the cervical lacerations. Grimes considered three minutes to be adequate time for a 17-week abortion. (Grimes had also spoken on behalof of notorious California abortionist Leo Keneally.)
The lawsuit had gone to trial, with Allred himself taking the stand, when prolifers discovered that Allred was being sued and complained that the medical board and news media were ignoring the death. As soon as the prolifers began agitating, FPA quickly settled with the family, stipulating confidentiality as part of the settlement.
Christine wasn't the only young woman to die from abortion at a facility owned by FPA head honcho Edward Campbell Allred. Others include:
Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
Laniece Dorsey, age 17, 1986
Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
Kimberly Neil, 2000
Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004
Allred's facilities remain members of the National Abortion Federation despite these deaths.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Dr. Thomas Grubbs performed the D&E and sent Christine to recovery. Preparing to leave the clinic, Christine fell while unattended. Grubbs was called to check her, and noticed slurred speech and inappropriate responses. Somebody called an ambulance, and Christine was taken to La Palma Hospital, where she spent several hours in the emergency room, attended by her friend Robert. When Christine's father was finally located, Robert had to tell him about the abortion as well as about the hospitalization.
Christine was admitted to the intensive care unit, where her condition deteriorated until she was finally taken off life support at noon on November 8, and pronounced dead. Christine left an 18-month old child motherless.
The autopsy showed acute septicemia and hemorrage in the brain, along with some small cervical lacerations. It also revealed that Christine had a congenital heart defect called "foramen ovale," in which a connection between the two sides of her heart had not closed at birth as it was supposed to do. Her family filed a wrongful death suit. The attorneys for Grubbs, Allred, and FPA claimed that Christine's heart defect, not the abortion, caused her death. But an expert reviewing the case for Christine's family said that the care provided to Christine at the FPA facility "fell below applicable standard" and that the "breach of standard care was the direct cause of Miss Mora's death." In particular, he faulted FPB because:
The expert concluded that the amniotic fluid entered Christine's bloodstream through the cervical lacerations, causing her death. Oddly, Dr. David Grimes, the expert defending FPA, agreed that Christine's death was due to an amniotic fluid embolism and not to her heart defect. Grimes, however, claimed that the amniotic flued had entered Christine's bloodstream when the placenta had detached, and not through the cervical lacerations. Grimes considered three minutes to be adequate time for a 17-week abortion. (Grimes had also spoken on behalof of notorious California abortionist Leo Keneally.)
The lawsuit had gone to trial, with Allred himself taking the stand, when prolifers discovered that Allred was being sued and complained that the medical board and news media were ignoring the death. As soon as the prolifers began agitating, FPA quickly settled with the family, stipulating confidentiality as part of the settlement.
Christine wasn't the only young woman to die from abortion at a facility owned by FPA head honcho Edward Campbell Allred. Others include:
Allred's facilities remain members of the National Abortion Federation despite these deaths.
For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:
To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
What's the significance of the video PP is trying to censor?
I posted here about Planned Parenthood's efforts to keep this video from the public eye:
One YouTube viewer comments:
Yeah, those kids are pretty ignorant. How did they get to be that dumb? Were they dropped on their heads as babies? Did they eat a lot of paint chips? Are they all recovering from acute alcohol poisoning? No. There's no organic brain dysfunction to explain this level of idiocy. These are all college students, fairly bright to start with. Then what happened to make a bunch of bright kids into such laughable morons?
Here's where we get to the real point: These kids are members of "Advocates for Choice", a Planned Parenthood college outreach. Those kids, who "didn't make much sense", were trained and "educated" by Planned Parenthood. This video shows us very clearly what the best "educated" and "trained" youth come away from Planned Parenthood with: not only staggering ignorance, but blithe over-confidence in their misinformation and ignorance.
It took a lot of work to make those kids that stupid. Work that was paid for by your tax dollars.
Consider this:
And what are they being taught?
That every woman "sheds a fertilized egg every month". (WTF?)
That an unborn baby's heart doesn't start beating until 24 weeks.
That science and evidence are irrelevant -- that, in fact, science and evidence are mere "opinion".
That there is no scientific way to determine if something is alive. (What's the point of having death certificates if there's no way of determining if the person is alive or dead? And yeah, your goldfish has gone belly-up, but that's not proof that there is or is not life there. And NASA is wasting TONS of money looking for life on Mars, since there is, according to Planned Parenthood, no scientific way to detect life.)
That there is no distinction between viruses and zygotes. (Which would mean that if you have a cold, your pregnancy test will come up positive.)
And the topper:
An X and Y chromosome combo make you biologically female. (Though, to be honest, I don't think PP specifically taught him that. I just think they taught him to speak confidently about things he knows nothing about, so he had no qualms about authoritatively shooting his mouth off when he had no real knowledge to back it up with.)
How do we see this promotion of ignorance in other contexts? Let's go to a completely other state, in a completely other context:
So the "education" Planned Parenthood provides a prospective abortion patient includes the following "facts":
A 6 - 8 week embryo has "no legs, no arms, no head, no brain, no heart."
That at 6 - 8 weeks "there's nothing developed at all."
Let's go ahead and assume that the patient is at the 6-week end of this window. I've blogged already about 6-week embryos.
MayoClinic.com notes these developmental milestones:
The Visible Embryo notes the following:
Let's go back to The Visible Embryo and see what would be happening if she's a bit further along in that 6 - 8 week window:
Stage 17, c. 41 days post-ovulation, "The nasofrontal groove becomes distinct and an olfactory bulb (sense of smell) forms in the brain." "The dental laminae or teeth buds begin to form."
Stage 18, c. 7 weeks post-ovulation, "Nipples appear on the chest." "Kidneys begin to produce urine for the first time."
Stage 19, 47-48 days post-ovulation. "Brain has the first detectable brain waves."
Stage 20, c. 8 weeks post-ovulation. "Brain is connected to tiny muscles and nerves and enables the embryo to make spontaneous movements." "Testes or ovaries are distinguishable."
All this is pretty remarkable in an embryo that's "nothing developed" and has "no legs, no arms, no head, no brain, no heart."
(Also, note the "non-directive counseling" urging her to "go with abortion." That an abortion is the default choice, and that continuing the pregnancy is something "you'd really have to think about." The "non-directive counseling" urging her to make a decision quickly, when it's "cheaper" and "won't stress you out as much.")
The ignorance displayed in the Colorado video isn't some flukey thing, just a bunch of dumb kids who picked up a Planned Parenthood brochure and declared themselves to be spokespersons. The ignorance displayed in that video is something Planned Parenthood deliberately plants, nourishes, and cultivates. At taxpayer expense.
The first time I was exposed to the way PP promotes ignorance was back in 1983, when my babysitter told me about her first abortion. It was at Planned Parenthood in San Diego. She had specifically asked about "the baby". She was told that her 8-week unborn baby was "like a blood clot". Does that 8-week fetus to the right look like a blood clot to you?
It seems nothing has changed from 1983 -- except that now, people are recording PP's lies and calling them out on it.
It's about time!
One YouTube viewer comments:
And relating to the video; these kids didn't make much sense, but how about you interview people actually in charge of Planned Parenthood instead of using a few unprepared comments by some undereducated undergrads at an obscure college to analyze the intentions of Planned Parenthood?
Yeah, those kids are pretty ignorant. How did they get to be that dumb? Were they dropped on their heads as babies? Did they eat a lot of paint chips? Are they all recovering from acute alcohol poisoning? No. There's no organic brain dysfunction to explain this level of idiocy. These are all college students, fairly bright to start with. Then what happened to make a bunch of bright kids into such laughable morons?
Here's where we get to the real point: These kids are members of "Advocates for Choice", a Planned Parenthood college outreach. Those kids, who "didn't make much sense", were trained and "educated" by Planned Parenthood. This video shows us very clearly what the best "educated" and "trained" youth come away from Planned Parenthood with: not only staggering ignorance, but blithe over-confidence in their misinformation and ignorance.
It took a lot of work to make those kids that stupid. Work that was paid for by your tax dollars.
Consider this:
Planned Parenthood is the single largest provider of sex education in communities across the United States. Every year, Planned Parenthood physicians and nurses see nearly 675,000 teenagers who come to our health centers to get help in making informed decisions about their sexual health.
And what are they being taught?
And the topper:
How do we see this promotion of ignorance in other contexts? Let's go to a completely other state, in a completely other context:
So the "education" Planned Parenthood provides a prospective abortion patient includes the following "facts":
Let's go ahead and assume that the patient is at the 6-week end of this window. I've blogged already about 6-week embryos.
MayoClinic.com notes these developmental milestones:
Just four weeks after conception [6 weeks LMP, the way pregnancy is calculated], .... your baby's heart is beating with a regular rhythm.
Basic facial features will begin to appear, including an opening for the mouth and passageways that will make up the inner ear. The digestive and respiratory systems begin to form as well.
The Visible Embryo notes the following:
Head and Neck
Brain is well marked by its cerebral hemispheres. ....
Thorax
Primary cardiac tube separates into aortic and pulmonary channels and the ventricular pouches deepen and enlarge, forming a common wall with their myocardial shells. ....
Limbs
Hand region of upper limb bud differentiates further to form a central carpal part and a digital plate. The thigh ..., leg ... and foot areas can be distinguished in the lower limb buds.
Let's go back to The Visible Embryo and see what would be happening if she's a bit further along in that 6 - 8 week window:
All this is pretty remarkable in an embryo that's "nothing developed" and has "no legs, no arms, no head, no brain, no heart."
(Also, note the "non-directive counseling" urging her to "go with abortion." That an abortion is the default choice, and that continuing the pregnancy is something "you'd really have to think about." The "non-directive counseling" urging her to make a decision quickly, when it's "cheaper" and "won't stress you out as much.")
The ignorance displayed in the Colorado video isn't some flukey thing, just a bunch of dumb kids who picked up a Planned Parenthood brochure and declared themselves to be spokespersons. The ignorance displayed in that video is something Planned Parenthood deliberately plants, nourishes, and cultivates. At taxpayer expense.
The first time I was exposed to the way PP promotes ignorance was back in 1983, when my babysitter told me about her first abortion. It was at Planned Parenthood in San Diego. She had specifically asked about "the baby". She was told that her 8-week unborn baby was "like a blood clot". Does that 8-week fetus to the right look like a blood clot to you?It seems nothing has changed from 1983 -- except that now, people are recording PP's lies and calling them out on it.
It's about time!
Planned Parenthood continues censorship efforts
Personhood Colorado, sponsor of Colorado's Personhood Amendment 62, has been notified that opposition to Amendment 62 has complained to YouTube, claiming that a recently released video violates the privacy of the people debating.
The nearly 3 minute video contains excerpts from a recent debate in which Advocates for Choice, a Planned Parenthood college outreach group, claimed that "We are not gonna try to use science, or evidence," "Abortion is...safer...than getting your wisdom teeth removed," and "there's people on our side that research that says that the heart doesn't beat until 24 weeks."
"Those misstatements by our opposition are easily refuted. The most basic studies of human development confirm that a baby in the womb has a heartbeat days after the beginning of development, not months after," explained Jennifer Mason, a spokesperson for Amendment 62. "The day before the election, it is critical that Colorado voters learn the truth before they go to the polls."
Before the debate, all parties to the debate agreed to be videotaped, and agreed that the video could be used. The campus newspaper also has an audio recording of the debate.
"This is not an issue of privacy. We were videotaping a public debate, on a public campus, and we had the permission of all of the participants," stated Gualberto Garcia Jones, co-sponsor of Amendment 62 and Personhood USA legal analyst. "I believe that this is not about privacy at all, but about Planned Parenthood's embarrassment over the video. The no on 62 side had to resort to lies or misinformation to try to defeat us - either way, it reflects very poorly upon their organization."
The misinformation provided by the no on 62 side of the debate is easily refuted with scientific text and public information.
As for the request for the video to be pulled from YouTube, Amendment 62 organizers are prepared to make an offer to Planned Parenthood:
"We are willing to remove the video from YouTube, shocking as it is, if Planned Parenthood will publicly state that the No on 62 side of the debate was wrong, that a baby in the womb has a heartbeat days after conception, and that abortions performed at Planned Parenthood stop that beating heart and kill a living, growing, developing human being," confirmed Mason. "If Planned Parenthood publicly makes these statements, which are well-known facts, we will take the YouTube video down immediately."
The nearly 3 minute video contains excerpts from a recent debate in which Advocates for Choice, a Planned Parenthood college outreach group, claimed that "We are not gonna try to use science, or evidence," "Abortion is...safer...than getting your wisdom teeth removed," and "there's people on our side that research that says that the heart doesn't beat until 24 weeks."
"Those misstatements by our opposition are easily refuted. The most basic studies of human development confirm that a baby in the womb has a heartbeat days after the beginning of development, not months after," explained Jennifer Mason, a spokesperson for Amendment 62. "The day before the election, it is critical that Colorado voters learn the truth before they go to the polls."
Before the debate, all parties to the debate agreed to be videotaped, and agreed that the video could be used. The campus newspaper also has an audio recording of the debate.
"This is not an issue of privacy. We were videotaping a public debate, on a public campus, and we had the permission of all of the participants," stated Gualberto Garcia Jones, co-sponsor of Amendment 62 and Personhood USA legal analyst. "I believe that this is not about privacy at all, but about Planned Parenthood's embarrassment over the video. The no on 62 side had to resort to lies or misinformation to try to defeat us - either way, it reflects very poorly upon their organization."
The misinformation provided by the no on 62 side of the debate is easily refuted with scientific text and public information.
As for the request for the video to be pulled from YouTube, Amendment 62 organizers are prepared to make an offer to Planned Parenthood:
"We are willing to remove the video from YouTube, shocking as it is, if Planned Parenthood will publicly state that the No on 62 side of the debate was wrong, that a baby in the womb has a heartbeat days after conception, and that abortions performed at Planned Parenthood stop that beating heart and kill a living, growing, developing human being," confirmed Mason. "If Planned Parenthood publicly makes these statements, which are well-known facts, we will take the YouTube video down immediately."
Saturday, November 06, 2010
A must-read on abortion and the death penalty
Death Penalty and Abortion :
In terms of moral theology there are several reasons why abortion and the death penalty are not of equal weight.
The first is the question of proportion. .... Generally speaking in the United States about 50 criminals are executed every year. This compares to well over a million abortions each year.
The second issue we need to consider is ability to resist the violence which takes life. The criminal being executed has no way to resist the executioner. However, he or she does have the full process of law and numerous appeals through all the courts of the land before the execution takes place. ....
In addition to this, the criminal had the choice not to commit the crime for which he or she is being executed. ....
The unborn infant has absolutely no choice or ability to resist the violence inflicted upon them. The unborn child is a totally innocent victim. The condemned criminal is not.
This brings us to the third issue: guilt of the condemned. .... Most often the criminal is guilty himself of a violent crime. The unborn child, on the other hand, is completely innocent of any crime.
The fourth issue is one of personal or corporate responsibility. In the case of abortion individuals are making monumental decisions about the death of an innocent child. .... In the case of the death penalty the individual is put to death by the will of the people, decided by a democratic process, and executed anonymously so that it remains, as much as possible, the action of the corporate body done through legal means in the name of the body politic. ....
....
Therefore we must consider the circumstances and intention of those seeking abortion and those seeking the death penalty. .... The circumstances and intentions surrounding abortion are complex, but the ultimate reasoning is that it is better to take an innocent life than to continue with the problems the pregnancy presents.
The circumstances and intentions of a state execution, on the other hand, are very different. The circumstances are clear: the prisoner has committed a heinous crime. His legal appeals are exhausted. The intention is that the state end his life as an act of justice. The culpability of this action is negligible compared to the culpability of a person who procures an abortion for self centered 'social' reasons.
....
I hope no one will mis-understand this post. I should state clearly that I am opposed to the death penalty, and do not wish to support it in any way. Nevertheless, it is important to think through these moral issues with both clarity and compassion.