1971: Where was the deadly abortion performed.

Cassandra Bleavins, a 20-year-old clerk, died shortly after midnight on September 19, 1971, at LA County/USC Medical Center. She had been taken there just the day before, comatose after an abortion.

The abortion had been performed on September 2, 1971. Cassandra had bled heavily afterward, and the abortionist had tied off a portion of her cervix to control the bleeding, then sent her home.

On September 15, Cassandra returned to the place where her abortion had been done, reporting heavy bleeding. She was given a follow-up D&C and again sent home. She returned again on September 17, still bleeding heavily, and went into convulsions during treatment. Cassandra slipped into a coma. The next day, she was brought to LA County/UCLA Medical Center, where she died.

The coroner discovered a 1.25 inch sutured laceration in Cassandra's uterus, additional sutures to her uterine artery, and uterine hemorrhaging. The medical examiner concluded that Cassandra had bled to death due to the lacerations and D&C.

Where had Cassandra undergone the abortion that took her life?
At the apartment of a woman who ran an underground abortion service. The abortionist was the leader of the group, a social activist who had learned to do abortions from an elderly doctor who was looking for somebody to replace him.
At a veterinary clinic.
At a doctor's office. The doctor was arrested after Cassandra's death.
At a county-owned hospital. The abortion was perfectly legal, and the doctor faced no charges in Cassandra's death.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Mind-blowing dolphin video

Read about it at Snopes.

Search: Foul smell after abortion

If you or somebody you love is experiencing this problem, it's time for immediate medical care.

There are two causes for foul smell after an abortion.

1. Bowel injury. Such as Moris Helen Herron.

2. Infection. This was the case with Janet Foster, or Jammie Garcia.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Abortion Videos

For some reason, a search for "abortion videos" still only brings you to the post about the Spanish abortion videos, instead of to this post, with a plethora of videos to choose from.

I'll recap and add a few:

There is the Spanish abortion video with English subtitles. It's pretty graphic, including footage of a teenage patient expelling her dead baby, which the undercover investigator shows us.

Every place I know of in the US has the woman go alone into the bathroom and expel the dead baby in the toilet. Other than that, the process seems pretty much the same, right down to rubber-stamping the paperwork if the state has a requirement that there be some pretext of a health reason.



To purchase videos or DVDs of former abortion workers' testimonies, visit Meet the Abortion Providers.

Priests for Life has videos about how abortions are performed; you can see them here. These videos aren't particularly graphic; Father Pavone uses fetal models to demonstrate, with real abortion instruments, how fetuses of these ages are destroyed.

Suction abortion:



D&E (second trimester abortion):



Here is how D&X, intact D&E, Partial Birth Abortion, The Procedure Formerly Known as Prince, or whatever they're calling it now, is done:



He says it can be done "at any point in pregnancy" but I think he was trying to impress that it can be done even up until term; nobody's going to try this at less than 20 weeks, because the fetus is too fragile for the most part. You'll just end up doing a standard dismemberment abortion.

Martin Haskell, who popularized the procedure, said that often the baby "helps" -- his term, not mine -- the baby "helps" by wrapping her little arms and legs around the abortionist's hand, making it easier to hold her steady while jamming the blunt, curved Metzenbaum scissors into the base of her little skull.

Since the federal PBA ban was passed, abortionists who wanted an intact baby to show the parents started injecting digoxin -- the same drug used in lethal injections and considered "cruel" and "painful" when put into the veins of an anesthetized murderer -- directly into the baby's heart to kill it. This does carry with it a risk of infection and of getting the digoxin into the mother's blood stream, but I guess they've decided a riskier abortion is still better than a live baby.

You can view and read about a panel discussion about Carhart vs Gonzales, the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban" case.



There's a BBC programme about abortion that is staggering in its honesty. It includes graphic footage which the BBC got from a prolife source, but they got an abortion doctor to verify the accuracy of the footage.

What I find amazing is that in spite of presenting what abortion really is, showing very vividly what it really does to very real fetuses, the narrator speaks as if this hideous destruction is somehow really necessary. It's just an assumption that's never explained and never explored, despite decades of evidence that women will, if given support, get past the idea that abortion is necessary and will adjust well to pregnancy and motherhood -- even in cases where they'd actually undergone an abortion, but the abortion failed.



How about equal time? Here's a video for the abortion advocacy side, full of so many lies and distortions it boggles the mind.

Follow along with an old Frontline program about abortion. It follows two teenage abortion patients, and also shows some women who rejected abortion and were helped by a local prolife physician and his wife.

I also gathered a collection of music videos about abortion.

Here is an assessment of the records of George Tiller's late term abortions and the "health" justifications therefor. I have a more in-depth examination of the entire series of videos here. It all boils down to Tiller and his friend rubber-stamping all abortions as "necessary" in order to meet the letter of the law.



Here's a video of what the prolifers found in the dumpster behind Hodari's abortion mill:



A story of a young woman's experience at Hope Clinic for Women:



A nasty abortion clinic in New Jersey closes after they nearly kill a young woman:



Famous abortion video, "The Silent Scream", shows an ultrasound of what happens to the fetus during an actual abortion:



And here is a video showing the results of one safe, legal abortion:



Gianna Jessen on Sean Hannity:



And there are some very graphic abortion videos here.

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Where the press could be going with the Gianna Jessen ads

Dear Members of the Press:

Have you seen the new ads by abortion survivor Gianna Jessen?



They provide a perfect opportunity to do a bit of a background check on the abortionist who signed her birth certificate: Edward "Fast Eddie" Allred. He's been dubbed "Fast Eddie" because he claims credit for inventing the assembly-line abortion. A supporter said Allred "did for abortions what Ray Kroc did for hamburgers."

Allred runs the largest chain of for-profit abortion mills in the world, Family Planning Associates Medical Group. I know of a dozen abortion patients who have died at Allred's facilities. In a deposition for the Deanna Bell case, Allred admitted that he has never done a preventability assessment after a patient death to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.

In spite of all this, Allred's FPA remains a member in good standing of the National Abortion Federation -- a group that promises "safe" abortionists with "highest standards". Sort of an Underwriters Laboratory for abortion. Or a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

This could really be big, because even prochoicers are outraged when they find out what kinds of quacks NAF refers women to with bland assurances of safety. Remember that guy back in 1992 who ripped the arm off a 32-week baby during a botched abortion attempt? (And now we're back to born-alive infants! See? It comes full circle!) HE was a NAF member!

You have a responsibility to the public that ought not to be left to bloggers. Get out the truth about live births from abortions, about Obama's stand (ignorance or evil?), about Fast Eddie, and about the National Abortion Federation's tolerance of quackery.

Great new Down syndrome resource

Down Syndrome Brochure provides information, plus a beautiful 4-color brochure in both English:



and Spanish:



The site also includes a reminder that there are currently over 200 families waiting to adopt a child with Down syndrome. Feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of meeting the special needs of a child with DS need not put a woman on the abortion table. She can place her child in a home that is ready to welcome him or her with open arms, fully prepared for all the special joys and challenges associated with DS.

HT: Causa Nostrae Laetitiae

This is also a good time to remind you that Band of Angels puts out beautiful Celebrate! packages for parents who have just been told their child, born or in the womb, has Down syndrome. You can choose from three different packets at different prices.

Band of Angels also produces a beautiful coffee table book, Common Threads, available in hard or soft cover. (I recommend the hard cover! This book is too beautiful to go for anything but the very best!) If you run any sort of a business that has a waiting room, leaving this book for customers to explore will go a long way toward reducing the misconceptions and prejudice.

Put the Gianna Jessen ad on YOUR web site

Two different ads, along with the code to embed them, are available at BornAliveTruth.org.

1993: Abortion causes fatal pulmonary embolism

Thirty-six-year-old Kathy McKnight underwent a safe and legal abortion on September 17, 1993. Early the next morning, Kathy had trouble breathing. She was taken to University Memorial Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kathy died in the emergency room. Her autopsy revealed that she died of a pulmonary embolism -- something that didn't belong in her bloodstream getting carried into her lungs.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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1958: Mystery death from induced abortion

On September 18, 1958, "Glenda Coe" was found dead in her Norman, Oklahoma home by one of her four children. An autopsy confirmed that an induced abortion had caused her death. Her ex-husband, James Paul Morion, was arrested for questioning. Witnesses said they had seen him at Georgia's home the night before her death. For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.

Greta interviews First Dude

Todd Palin, Alaska's "First Dude" Sits down for his first interview with Greta Van Susteren to discuss his home and family life in Alaska as the Husband of Governor Sarah Palin, he discusses his Iron Dog Championship Snowmachine Racing and other leisure and work activities including being a Pilot, Hunter of Caribou and Moose, His love of flying as a Pilot, and So Much More. Part 1 of Day 1

HT: Catholic Fire

Just for fun

Deliberately bad writing.

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2008 Results -- The task: The worst opening sentence to the worst imaginary book imaginable.

Runner-Up
"Die, commie pigs!" grunted Sergeant "Rocky" Steele through his cigar stub as he machine-gunned the North Korean farm animals. (Dave Ranson, Calgary, Alberta)

Winner: Children's Literature: Joanne watched her fellow passengers - a wizened man reading about alchemy; an oversized bearded man-child; a haunted, bespectacled young man with a scar; and a gaggle of private school children who chatted ceaselessly about Latin and flying around the hockey pitch and the two-faced teacher who they thought was a witch - there was a story here, she decided. (Tim Ellis, Haslemere, U.K.)

Runner-Up: Dorothy had reasons to be nervous: a young girl alone in a strange land, traveling with three weird, insecure males badly in need of psychiatric help; she tucked her feet under her skirt to keep the night's chill (and lewd stares) away and made sure one more time that the gun was secured in her yet-to-develop bosom. (Domingo Pestano, Alto Prado, Caracas, Venezuela)

Romance, Dishonorable Mentions: He was a dark and stormy knight, and this excited Gwendolyn, but admittedly not as much as last night when he was Antonio Banderas in drag, or the night before that when he was a French Legionnaire who blindfolded her and fed her pommes frites from his kepi. (Leslie Muir, Atlanta, GA)

Carmen's romance with Broderick had thus far been like a train ride, not the kind that slowly leaves the station, builds momentum, and then races across the countryside at breathtaking speed, but rather the one that spends all day moving freight cars around at the local steel mill. (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA)

Appalling puns, Dishonorable Mentions - Jan Svenson, having changed his fortune in the annual "Scandinavian King of the Beach" in Santa Cruz with a bottle of black hair coloring and thus standing out in a sea of fair-haired rivals to win the coveted title, realized the ironic truth of the old adage "That in the kingdom of the blonde, the one dyed man is king." (Matthew Chambers, Parsons, WV)

Dimwitted and flushed, Sgt. John Head was frustrated by his constipated attempts to arrest the so-called "Bathroom Burglar" until, while wiping his brow, he realized that each victim had been robbed in a men's room, thereby focusing his attention on the janitor, whose cleaning habits clearly established a commodus operandi. (Jay Dardenne, Baton Rouge, LA)

Winner: Western - Nobody knew just who the steely-eyed stranger was, where he came from, where he was headed, or what his intentions were while he was in Dodge City; but he wasn't an hombre you'd want to stick your tongue out at or flip off, and any man who tried to tickle him would be asking for a long stay in a pine box, if you know what I mean. (David McKenzie, Federal Way, WA)

Miscellaneous Dishonorable Mentions - She had the kind of body that made a man want to have sex with her. (Barry J. Drucker, Bentonville, AR)

There are certain people in the world who emanate an aura of well being -- they radiate sunshine, light up a room, bring out the best in others, and fill your half empty glass to overflowing - yes it was these very people thought Karl, as he sharpened his mirror-finished guthook knife, who were top of his list. (Jason Garbett, London, U.K.)

The day started out as uneventfully as any other, and continued thus to midday and from there it was nothing at all to ease into an evening of numbing, undiluted monotony that survived unmarred by even the least act of momentary peculiarity-in fact, let's skip that day altogether and start with the day after. (Jon Starr, Rumford, ME)

Earthy ochre and russet hues in the lifeless leaves which rustle under his feet, and spiral down from the majestic trees above, signal that October has now arrived, but of course he knew this already because he has a calendar above his breakfast bar in the kitchen. (Roz Black, Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland)

It was a dark and stormy night, except when the lightning flashed, because then it wasn't dark; it sort of turned the windows into a giant disco ball for a moment, but eventually the thunder and lightning stopped and it settled down to a steady light rain, so then it really was dark, but it would probably be a stretch to call it stormy. (Laura Loomis, Pittsburg, CA)

Like almost every other post-Hegelian neo-hipster angst monkey at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Rene flatly rejected the labels society placed upon him. (Bob Salsbury, Spokane Valley, WA)

Gripping his terrified victim by her sensual slender neck with his foul piercing talons like a lawnspiker, Igor the Terrible bellowed, "How do you want to die? over the coals? with a plastic bag over your head? with your blond hair seeped in red blood? in agony? today? tomorrow? -- hurry up, please, my fingers are getting sore." (Edward Vincent Tennant, Edgemead, Cape Town, South Africa)

2003: Home abortion fatal for California teen

Holly Patterson, age 18, died September 17, 2003, from sepsis caused by a fetus incompletely expelled in a safe and legal medical abortion. Holly had gotten the drugs for the fatal abortion at a Planned Parenthood in Hayward, California, on September 10.

Rather than follow the recommended protocols for chemical abortions, Planned Parenthood followed the more popular American approach of giving Holly the mifepristone at the facility, then giving her misoprostol to self-administer at home.

Holly had experienced severe cramping and pain, and went to the emergency room. She was examined, given pain medication, and discharged.

At her boyfriends insistence, she returned to the emergency room on September 17, but by then her condition had deteriorated and efforts to save her were futile.

Monty Patterson, Holly's father, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "The medical community treats this as a simple pill you take, as if you're getting rid of a headache. The procedure, the follow-ups, it's all too lackadaisical. The girl gets a pill. Then she's sent home to do the rest on her own. There are just too many things that can go wrong."

Three other women were identified as having died of infection deaths after RU-486 deaths in the Los Angeles area: Chanelle Bryant, Oriane Shevin, and Vivian Tran. Chanelle got her abortion drugs at a Planned Parenthood, and Oriane and Vivian got theirs from National Abortion Federation members.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Three more reasons to vote for McCain

Three Facts About John McCain's Extreme Position on Choice

I'll re-post them, with comments:

1. John McCain is running on the Republican platform, which would ban all abortions - even in cases of rape and incest.

That is the Republican platform. Though what McCain has specifically promised is to nominate Supreme Court justices who don't invent new "rights" -- like the "right" to abortion -- out of "emanations from a penumbra". If it ain't in the Constitution, it ain't in the Constitution, and either learn to adjust or change the Constitution.

What does this mean for fans of abortion? That it'd go back to the states. Would this mean scores of coathanger-impaled women littering the emergency rooms of America? Hardly.

This is the same scare tactic the abortion lobby brings up every four years. Yawn.

2. John McCain voted to criminalize doctors who support women in their reproductive choices, even when a woman's health is at risk.

McCain has, not my knowledge, never voted to criminalize doctors.

What they're implying here is that McCain would make it a crime for doctors to do certain things. Which he no doubt would like to do. But it's already illegal for doctors to do certain things, like have sex with underage patients, commit fraud, etc. None of these laws "criminalize doctors". So enough with the overblown rhetoric already.

And enough with calling abortion "support[ing] women in their reproductive choices". Abortion is a choice made after the woman has already reproduced. (Get out your old biology textbooks if they're still laying around the house. Gamete meets gamete, make zygote. Reproduction has taken place.) They need to be honest and say that what they're talking about is prohibiting doctors from helping women impose death on their own offspring. That's not the same as interfering with any reproductive choice. Reproductive choices would include having sex, abstaining from sex, using an artificial contraceptive, not using an artificial contraceptive, using fertility awareness methods to increase or decrease the odds of conception, getting your tubes tied, having infertility treatments, choosing c-section or vaginal childbirth, choosing home birth or hospital birth, etc. A plethora of reproductive choices all untouched by any laws regarding the one choice abortion advocates focus on.

Then let's touch the specter of the woman's health being at risk. In what way would restricting abortion prevent doctors from doing what's in women's best health interests? Another cheap ploy. Having abortion readily available is nice for lazy doctors -- they don't have to help women with health problems during pregnancy. They can just refer them for an abortion and not be bothered. I'm not clear on how this helps women with health problems during pregnancy. Abortion isn't medical care for sick women. It's a way to avoid providing health care.

3. Since 1983, John McCain has voted 125 times against women's reproductive health choices.

Translated into English: Since 1983, John McCain has voted 125 times against the abortion lobby's wishes.

This is only bad news if you're in the abortion business. But very few of us either work in abortion facilities or for organizations that rely on the abortion agenda.

So, thank you, JohnMcCainRecord.com, for giving people who care about women and children three more reasons to vote McCain, and three more reasons to not trust you any further than we could spit a rat.

People wishing Gianna Jessen was dead

Anybody with a conscience will be sickened by the comments at Obama's abortion record under fire in latest independent ad. People are looking at this young woman, left with cerebral palsy after surviving an attempt to kill her in an abortion, and all they can say is how they are for the CHOICE to have Gianna killed.

They are saying flat out that Gianna should be dead.

What kind of freaking hateful monster can look at that girl and be angry that she's alive?

And they don't have the sense to be ashamed of how filled with hate they are.

This isn't some fetus hidden away in the womb. This is a young woman. And the supposedly pro-women people HATE her and want her to be dead.

THIS is "the face of Pro Choice America". Hate. Hate for anybody who stands in the way of them getting the dead fetus they personally want.



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Hey, Obama!

This one's gotta go in my sidebar. Thanx, Mama

"Nobody is Pro Abortion." Revisited Again.

HT: Right Wing News

The Curse

When tests made it clear that Palin’s pregnancy, which happened around the age of 43, had chromosomal abnormalities, she did not do the rational and even humane thing: return to nothing that which was still a no-thing.

Bigotry is alive and well. So much for "tolerance" and "diversity". There is only tolerance for the diversity that doesn't make the elitists uncomfortable.

A Tale of Two Fetuses

One of those fetuses who survived an abortion attempt speaks out on Obama:



That's gotta be as scary for Barak Obama as it was for Pat Schroeder: a fetus with attitude.

But Gianna was lucky. A nurse recognized her as a baby, not just a fetus ex-utero, and sent her to the NICU.

It is in the case of Ximenia Renearts that we more clearly see Obama's attitude in action. Ximenia's mother underwent an abortion, thought her fetus was dead, then showed up at a hospital in pain. The staff at the hospital elected to respect her choice, to refrain from further burdening her. They stuck the fetus in a bedpan. They left the fetus, cold and alone, in a closet. It wasn't until another hospital employee mistook the fetus for a baby that care was sought.

Ximenia's adoptive parents sued on her behalf, arguing that since she'd been born alive, she was a baby and entitled to care.

BC Minister of Health, Michelle Stewart, was dismissive of the issue of infants born live during abortions, commenting, "As you know, this Ministry is very much in favor of giving women choices about their reproductive health." British Columbia's Chief Coroner Larry Campbell included a letter in a report on such live births, and dismissed them as to be expected in abortion and therefore outside the purview of BC coroners, who only get involved if a death is "unexpected".

This is the stand Obama took. That providing care for babies like Ximenia was too much of a burden on the mother's choice.

If you're okay with that -- if you think that the wrongdoing was by the people who provided Ximenia with care, not by the ones who left her in a bedpan to die -- then by all means, vote for Barak Obama.

As for Ximenia herself, she is too profoundly disabled to speak out. About anything. Which is lucky for Obama. One less fetus with attitude to challenge his assertion that the proper thing to do with them is stick them in a closet and wait for them to die.

1994: "Feisty" patient crashes and dies after abortion

Alerte Desanges had been informed that her fetus was deformed, so she went for a safe, legal abortion at Choices Women's Medical Center in Queens on September 16, 1994. She was 36 years old and 19 weeks pregnant.

The abortion was performed by David Gluck. Staff said that after her abortion, Alerte was "feisty, telling nurses she wanted to go home. Then all of a sudden, she coded, she went into cardiac arrest."

Should Gluck and his staff have been concerned that Alerte was "feisty" and "telling nurses she wanted to go home"?
No. This is usually a sign of a healthy patient who just wants to get on with her life.
Yes. This is a sign that the patient is going into shock.

Her blood pressure fell. Staff attempted to revive her, then transported her to a hospital. Her death was tentatively attributed to amniotic fluid embolism by staff.

Desanges' 66-year-old mother, who speaks only French, was described as throwing her hands in the air and sobbing, "What are we going to do? What are we going to do? We can't go back to Haiti." Desanges supported her mother and three daughters working as a caretaker for an elderly woman, and had just bought a small house in Brooklyn.

Had Gluck been in any trouble before Alerte's death? There might be more than one correct answer.
Yes. He had a history of selling controlled substances to support his gambling addiction.
Yes. He had performed a fatal abortion on another patient in 1988.
Yes. He had overseen a slipshod and dangerous clinic where a patient died.
No. Alerte's death was his first run-in with the medical board.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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1941: Blind abortionist kills patient

One of the few cases I've found in which a criminal abortionist wasn't a doctor is also one of the strangest cases I've found. The abortionist, Sarah Howe, age 57, had been blind since she was three years old. Howe was charged with abortion and with manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Helen Clark. Helen died September 16, 1941. Howe was convicted of abortion, but was found not guilty of manslaughter. She was sentenced to two to four years in prison.

How common was it for a woman to end up with an amateur abortionist, like Sarah Howe, who had no medical training, before legalization?
It was very common. Most women relied on themselves, friends or family, or rank amateurs like Sarah Howe.
About half of women seeking criminal abortions ended up in the care of amateurs with no medical training.
A little under 20% of women seeking abortionists found somebody with no medical training.
Less than 10%.

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

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"Nobody is pro-abortion" redux

Down Syndrome Families Brought Into Sharp Focus

Many parents also talk about how the phone never rings with invitations for a play date for their children or an offer to help carpool. Sometimes, they find themselves answering people who suggest that their child should never have been born.

That happened to Tia Marsili, 49, of Vienna while driving from her hometown in western Pennsylvania to Virginia Beach with her sister. The trip lasted six hours and was not without some fussing from Marsili's daughters, Sheridan and Skye. Both girls have Down syndrome. Sheridan's condition had come as a surprise after birth, but Marsili knew from prenatal testing that Skye would have Down syndrome.

"My sister looked at me and said, 'Why didn't you abort her?' " Marsili recalled. "I said, 'What? Because we love her, and she's my baby, and we love her!' 'But you knew,' my sister said. . . . It was pretty shocking. Even people that close to me."

HT: JJ

1971: Deadly abortionist two months off his estimate

Eighteen-year-old Janet Foster underwent a safe and legal abortion at the hands of Richard Neal at Valley Doctors' Hospital in North Hollywood, California on September 11, 1971. Janet's abortion had been a "therapeutic" abortion approved by the hospital committee, as was required at the time. Neal reported that he'd estimated the pregnancy at 12-weeks and performed what he thought was an uneventful suction abortion.

Janet's brother-in-law reported that she was very weak and sleepy when he picked her up at the hospital. After returning home, Janet suffered abdominal pain and called Neal on September 14. He told her he'd see her the next day. Janet felt ill, so she went to bed early. In the early morning hours, Janet went into convulsions.

Her brother-in-law and paramedics attempted to revive her, to no avail;
Janet was pronounced dead at 3:55 am. The autopsy found that in Janet's uterus was a "macerated, lacerated and purulent male fetus of about 19 weeks gestation. This fetus measures 14.5 cm. in crown-rump length, shows lacerations in the shoulder area, evisceration of the bowel through an abdominal laceration, and destruction of the skull and facila structures." Janet's uterus also contained "approximately 20 cc. of red-brown purulent and foul-smelling liquid with similar odor and color to an exudate on the endometrial surface." Janet's death attrubuted to septicemia due to "incomplete abortion, therapeutic, septic."

An LA County grand jury indicted Neal on a felony manslaughter charge
in Janet's death. The 1976 trial ended with a hung jury.

Janet isn't the only woman who ended up having an abortion far later in the pregnancy than she intended. Read about more here.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Two deaths, a year apart, in Chicago

On September 15, 1925, Mary Williams, a 25-year-old Black woman, died at Chicago's County Hospital from an abortion performed on her that day at an undisclosed location. The person responsible for Mary's death was never identified.

On September 15, 1926, 23-year-old Mary Bailek died at Chicago's Lutheran Deaconnes Hospital from complications of a criminal abortion performed at her home that day. Rozalia Ossowska, alias Olszewski, was arrested for the death on October 7. Her profession is not given. On March 15, 1927, she was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury.

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

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1992: Philadelphia woman dead from safe, legal abortion

Rhonda Rollinson underwent a safe, legal abortion by Dr. Jay I. Levin at Malcom Polis's Philadelphia Women's Center September 3, 1992. The abortion attempt was unsuccessful. Rhonda was then sent home, with instructions to return on September 12 to try again.

Rhonda experienced such severe pain, dizziness, fever, and discharge that on September 10 she sought emergency care at a hospital. She was suffering "severe non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema consistent with adult respiratory distress syndrome."

Doctors did a laparoscopy, dilation and evacuation, abdominal hysterectomy, and splenectomy, to no avail. Rhonda died on September 14. The autopsy revealed a perforation from her vagina into the uterine cavity, sepsis, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis, pulmonary infarctions, and dysplastic kidney.

The suit filed by Rhonda's survivors also charged the facility and Polis with hiring Levin despite his lack of competence, failure to properly supervise his work, violation of applicable laws and regulations, lack of informed consent, failure to give proper post-operative instructions, and failure "to respond to the requests of [Rhonda] and her family for post-operative medical advice."

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Two criminal anniversaries.

On September 14, 1925, 19-year-old Elizabeth Welter died in the Chicago office of Dr. Lucy Hagenow from complications of an abortion performed that day. Lawrence Vail or Vaily was identified by the coroner as responsible for the pregnancy, and the coroner recommended his arrest. The coroner also recommended the arrest of Dr. Hagenow. However, because Vail refused to give a statement, police were unable to gather enough evidence to arrest her. There were a number of deaths in Chicago attributed to either a Lucy Hagenow or a Louise Hagenow. I believe these to be the same woman. The deaths include: Lottie Lowy, Bridget Masterson, Nina H. Pierce, Mary Moorehead, Jean Cohen, Marie Hicht, and Lola Madison.

On September 14, 1928, 20-year-old Stella Wallenberg died from a criminal abortion performed in Chicago. Loretta Rybicki, identified as a "massaguer", was held by the coroner for murder by abortion. Dr. Nicholas Kalinowski was held as an accessory. Rybicki was indicted for felony murder on November 15.

Who was the more typical criminal abortionist, Dr. Hagenow, or Loretta Rybicki?
Hagenow. Most criminal abortions were done by doctors.
Rybicki. Most criminal abortions were done by amateurs.

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

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Fun! Church sign generator!

Here's the results of my efforts. The slogan is one Magda Denes reported seeing on the wall in an office in an abortion hospital -- far, of course, from where patients might see it.


It's here.

Searches: Quacks, etc.

Garcon "Gary" Romalis: Canadian abortionist who laments the plight of the pre-legalization aborting woman, but lacks even awareness of, much less compassion for, women who suffer and die from the safe-n-legal kind.

Alberto Hodari: seedy abortionist and National Abortion Federation member who worked at Woman Care Clinic and Detroit Memorial Hospital. He is believed to have performed the fatal abortions on Tamia Russell and Chivon Williams. Despite -- or prehaps because of -- all this, Medical Students for Choice think he's the bee's knees. Though I think they could pick a better role model, myself.

"woman vegetative state after abortion": Christi Stile remains in a vegetative state after going into a coma during an abortion in Colorado. Other women were left comatose or otherwise permanently incapacitated.

Home abortions: takes various forms, such as the herbal teas embraced by some women as natural and safe and gentle. These safe and natural abortions are how Kris Humphrey and Penny Roe ended up killing themselves. There are also what are the more stereotypical "home abortions", such as Laura France doing herself in with an air compressor, or "Daisy", who despite being well-educated and experienced in legal abortion, let her boyfriend ream her out with a plastic tube. "Home abortion" is also the new name given to chemical abortions, like the ones that killed "Wanda", Holly Patterson (pictured), Chanelle Bryant, "Cherish", "Tara", Oriane Shevin, Vivian Tran, and Brenda Vise. I think that somebody came up with the idea of calling them "home abortions" instead of "chemical abortions" or even "medical abortions" to try to make them seem "natural", sort of a variation of homeschooling or home birth. Ya know, wholesome and earthmom-ish, like quilting or canning or making your own soap. Are you buying into this?

"does a 19 week fetus sleep?": Yes. And (see these adorable ultrasounds) yawning is observed as early as 12 weeks. (Yawning and sleeping are neurologically associated.)

"if you need abortion in atlanta": First let's get out of the way one thing: There is no such thing as a need for abortion. The ambivalence and fear that send so many women off to the abortion table are actually normal and typically self-limiting, which is something that, of course, the abortion lobby and abortion salespeople don't want you to know. Now let's move on to abortion specifically in Atlanta. Atlanta Surgicenter is the National Abortion Federation member where Catherine Pierce underwent her fatal abortion. It might be the same facility where Geneva Calton's fatal abortion was performed. Sara Niebel underwent her fatal abortion at Midtown Hospital in Atlanta. Midtown was a National Abortion Federation member facility that experienced numerous scandals pertaining to illegal late abortions and filthy, chaotic conditions. Jacqueline Reynolds died after an abortion at Grady Memorial in Atlanta. Arnetta Hardaway's fatal abortion was performed in Atlanta. Angela Scott and Deloris Smith were both fatally injured within the same hour at Atlanta Women's Pavillion. Demitrice Andrews underwent her fatal abortion somewhere in Atlanta. Allegra Roserberry's fatal abortion was performed at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.

Obama disses McCain's adaptive strategies

Obama has an ad out dissing McCain for not being able to send an email:



Now, some people are interpreting this purely as making fun of McCain for the injuries inflicted on him in the Hanoi Hilton, leaving him with impaired use of his arms and hands.

It could just as easily be interpreted as dissing McCain's choice of how to adapt to his disability.

For some people, adaptive equipment, and the Occupational Therapy required to use it, makes sense. For some, it doesn't. This is a choice people make based on their support network, their particular limitations and skills, and their personal preferences.

Some blind people choose to use guide dogs, others choose white canes. People with amputations make choices about prosthetics or other adaptive equipment. People with speech deficits may choose to use adaptive equipment or to undergo intensive speech therapy to help them to communicate better.

These are all decisions that people with disabilities make daily.

Dissing McCain's choice of how to deal with his injuries is just another sign of how Obama and his handlers don't understand the lives of ordinary people. They don't get that there is no "one size fits all" way to adapt to life with a disability.

McCain allows his wife, who has the manual skill, to be the one at the keyboard. That's the adaptive strategy he chose. And like many other people, McCain also tends to avoid email because of the security breach risks. So, for a combination of security, personal, and physical reasons, McCain chooses to leave the digital manipulation of digital technology to the people close to him. Is this not a valid choice? According to Obama, no.

PS: The reference to McCain "not understanding economics" is a deliberate out-of-context quote. McCain has made the following statements: "The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should." and "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." In other words, he was setting a goal to improve his understanding of a particular aspect of his skill set. He showed the capacity to assess his abilities and set goals to improve them. Unlike Obama, who simply needs to show up and the waters will recede and the earth will heal, much like at the end of "The Lion King" when Simba just stands on the rock and the rain starts falling and the gazelle return to the savanah. Note to Obama: It's just a movie! And a kids' movie at that. Real life doesn't work that way. You can't just stand on the White House lawn and expect the cosmos to fall into place around you. Which evidently he does.

PPS: I love what Scrapple Face did with it:

One year ago today: The call that no parent wants to get

One year ago today.

It was 7pm, we had just finished dinner and settled down to watch the evening news. My husband's cell phone rang with Laura's name on the ID. We always loved hearing from her. Laura was so full of life, your spirits were lifted just by talking to her. Except this time it wasn't her voice. There was guttural screaming and sobbing on the other end by a voice I did not immediately recognize. I heard the words "Laura", "Hospital" and the worst one, "Not Breathing," and then "abortion". My brain tilted, my heart sank, and life as I knew it ceased. It was Laura's friend Karen on the phone. She told me what happened, that Laura was having an abortion and something went terribly wrong. Karen was at the ER and the Doctor needed to talk to me. What Karen didn't know was that Laura had arrived at the ER already deceased. The EMT's found her this way at the abortion mill. The hospital was looking for next of kin to give the news to first, and Karen wasn't kin. "Laura's gone" the doctor told me. I wanted to hear "50-50 chance"...I would even accept "90-10 chance." But the word "chance" was not in the doctor's statement. All hope was gone, along with my daughter.

That call came on September 13, 2007 to Eileen and Tom Smith. Laura had died on a Hyannis, Massachusetts abortion table.

The bewildered couple hadn't even known that their daughter was pregnant.

Karen and Laura had arrived at Women Health Center in the morning for preparatory steps to abort Laura's 13-week baby. The two young women were to return in the afternoon for the actual procedure. Laura wasn't supposed to drive, so Karen drove and the two ran errands. Because Laura wasn't supposed to eat, Karen fasted with her friend.

They returned to the facility at about 4 in the afternoon and waited. Laura was called in at about 5, back to where Dr. Rapin Osathanondh (O-SATH-an-on) and his instruments waited for her. Karen stepped out briefly, expecting her friend to be out of surgery in about fifteen minutes. Abortion was, after all, safe and legal. What could go wrong? But Laura didn't emerge from the bowels of the clinic. A worried Karen grew increasingly distressed.

"And then all of a sudden [an assistant] comes out and says she's not breathing. And I was like, what do you mean she's not breathing," Karen told the Cape Cod Times.

Fire department rescuers were dispatched to the clinic at 5:49 p.m., and found an unresponsive patient. They initiated CPR and took her to the hospital. Karen followed, but was not permitted to see her friend. She asked about Laura's condition. "It doesn't look good," she was told. Because next of kin hadn't been notified yet, the doctor couldn't tell Karen the truth: Laura was already dead on arrival. It was 6:22 p.m.

I met with the doctor who aborted my grandchild, and who saw my daughter take her last breath. He would only meet me in a public place, without my husband. We talked for an hour and a half. Based on that meeting I believe I know what happened to Laura. He denies doing anything that caused her death. When we were done talking about Laura, I prayed, and asked God if there was anything He would have me say to the doctor. This is what I said next.... "The blood of my daughter is on your hands; the blood of my grandchild is on your hands; the blood of every life you have ever taken is on your hands," and I went on from there. He was silent with his head hung low. When I was ready to leave, I asked him if he would think about my daughter, and consider not doing any more abortions—he said he would think about it. When I left there I was praying, and said to God, "Can You stop this man from doing abortions? Is this what You have in mind, that he might even stop doing them?" I was thinking too small. I thought if one girl changed her mind [about having an abortion], I could find some comfort. I then realized that the Lord had much bigger plans. I have never experienced in my life, such tragedy, nor such grace.

Eileen pulled out all the stops to find out what had gone wrong. "My daughter was 22, healthy, and alive when she walked into that clinic," OR quotes Eileen Smith. "She didn't even have a cold. There is no reason for her to be dead." Eileen found out that a Sheriff's Deputy from another county provided Osathanondh and his staff with CPR training after Laura's death, then backdated the session to a date prior to Laura's death, with the full knowledge that someone had recently died at the facility. Osathanondh and his staff had been not been certified in CPR at the time of Laura's fatal abortion. And none of his staff was qualified to assist with general anesthesia. The assistant in the room with him when Laura stopped breathing was not a anesthesiologist, a nurse, or even a trained medical assistant. She was the receptionist.

Eileen has filed a complaint in Bristol County against the deputy. Laura's family have also filed a lawsuit against Osathanondh in order to bring to light the truth about Laura's death.

It's particularly sad to me that Laura resorted to abortion despite being a Christian active in her local church. Her mother also reported that Laura was strongly opposed to abortion. Which goes to show that anybody can panic, and our churches need to be teaching young women how to get past the panic that too often leads to the abortion table.

OR reports that over 600 people attended Laura's funeral, and at least one young woman decided to reject abortion after learning of Laura's needless death. National Catholic Register reports that the young woman was being pressured by her parents to abort, and was about to capitulate when she learned of Laura's fate.

Meanwhile, Eileen Smith has become an activist, speaking at churches, getting the message out that merely being quietly and privately prolife isn't enough to protect families from the tragedy of abortion.

I know that God is going to bring good out of my daughter's death. What a horrible thing; for my daughter to be associated with abortion. But, if God's going to use it for good and for His glory, then so be it. We're going very public with a very shameful, private thing because I believe God wants to use it to save lives. I believe the truth will come out, and the light of God will shine on this. Laura's death has had tremendous impact around the country, and even into Canada, without the local news mentioning it. It just came out in the secular media this week -- 5 weeks after Laura's death. I now believe it is my calling to keep telling Laura's story to the Church, and the world. I naively believed that abortion was not a choice for a Christian girl. A Pastor had even apologized to me and the Lord, for not speaking about this from his pulpit. We both had false assumptions. This is a problem in the Church, and one that needs to be spoken about from the pulpits. We have to take the "A" word out of the closet, put it out in the open, and discuss it. And maybe, possibly, hopefully, we'll even become active against it. Please keep our family in your prayers, and please tell someone Laura's story.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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OMG! Zorg has a brother!

Mug shot courtesy of The Smoking Gun

Palin Allegation: The Divorce Dirt

Well, The Smoking Gun has the straight dope on this:

Was Sarah Palin named as the other woman in a messy divorce action? Well, since Richter's September 3 motion ... was denied yesterday, his divorce filings remain open to the public. And a TSG review of the 98-page file shows that the Palins are only mentioned in Richter's sealing request. According to the filing, Richter wanted the documents deemed confidential in a bid to cloak details about his home, workplace, and phone numbers because "reporters and news agencies" were using that information to contact him. Richter, a 39-year-old contractor, noted that he is "friends and land owners in a remote cabin" with the Palins and, as a result, journalists were intruding on the "cabin life and private life" of him and his 11-year-old son.

Creating your own reality: The Palin "divorce scandal"

The Smoking Gun has the straight dope on the allegation that Sarah Palin was "the other woman" in a messy divorce:

Was Sarah Palin named as the other woman in a messy divorce action? Well, since Richter's September 3 motion ... was denied ..., his divorce filings remain open to the public. And a TSG review of the 98-page file shows that the Palins are only mentioned in Richter's sealing request. According to the filing, Richter wanted the documents deemed confidential in a bid to cloak details about his home, workplace, and phone numbers because "reporters and news agencies" were using that information to contact him. Richter, a 39-year-old contractor, noted that he is "friends and land owners in a remote cabin" with the Palins and, as a result, journalists were intruding on the "cabin life and private life" of him and his 11-year-old son.

So it turns out that the media created the entire thing by making the allegations then drawing false conclusions from one of their target's futile attempt to get a little privacy.

New link: Carrying to term

Carrying to Term with a Negative Prenatal Diagnosis

I've added it to the sidebar.

The Vultures

Snopes: Kevin Carter Photograph

If ... the most talented members of the advertising industry were tasked with creating an image to illustrate the concepts of poverty and famine, quite possibly none of them would come up with anything nearly as grippingly and devastatingly effective as this 1993 picture by South African freelance photographer Kevin Carter. His poignant photograph of an emaciated toddler who collapsed from hunger on her way to a feeding center in famine-ravaged Sudan while a vulture ominously loomed in the background was originally published in the New York Times ... and earned Carter the 1994 Pulitzer Prize in the Feature Photography category....

How did Carter get the shot?

Seeking relief from the sight of masses of people starving to death, he wandered into the open bush. He heard a soft, high-pitched whimpering and saw a tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding center. As he crouched to photograph her, a vulture landed in view. Careful not to disturb the bird, he positioned himself for the best possible image. He would later say he waited about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. It did not, and after he took his photographs, he chased the bird away and watched as the little girl resumed her struggle. Afterward he sat under a tree, lit a cigarette, talked to God and cried. "He was depressed afterward," Silva recalls. "He kept saying he wanted to hug his daughter."

It never occurred to Carter during those twenty minutes he spent there to comfort the child, to give her a sip of water, to take her to the feeding center, to alert anybody else to her plight. And Carter was attacked for that:

Though the photo helped draw enormous attention to the humanitarian crisis that was engulfing Sudan, it was criticized by others who felt that Carter should have helped the girl and was instead exploiting her suffering for his gain. The real vulture, they said in vitriolic hate mail, was Carter himself. Some photojournalists might have easily dismissed such criticism, but it hit Carter hard and fed his self-doubts.

On 27 July 1994, barely two months after having received his Pulitzer Prize, 33-year-old Kevin Carter could shoulder that burden no more and took his own life....

Granted, Carter had other problems in his life besides the horrors he saw in Sudan and any guilt he might have felt over his failure to at least comfort the dying child. But one can't help but think that it was a burden he didn't need. A burden he could have avoided had it only occurred to him to help the girl. But it didn't.

I'm not going to join in attacking Carter. I just want to point out a dynamic.

Carter had training as a photojournalist to stay out of the story, to just shoot the picture, and this no doubt contributed to his decision to sit there for twenty minutes watching a vulture wait for a child to die. And no doubt seeing so many other people he couldn't help just languish and die must have added a feeling of helplessness and futility to the "just shoot, don't intervene".

Training: "Don't intervene. Just get the picture."

Overexposure to death. Every day an endless vista of famine victims, dying one after the other.

Do we want to do to our fellow human beings whatever it is that happened to Kevin Carter, that allowed him to just sit there for 20 minutes, watching a whimpering child, waiting for a better shot of the vulture in the background?

Do we really want our health care professionals to get to where their natural urge to help a child becomes as deadened as Carter's became?

Training: "Don't intervene. Just get the picture." Or "Don't judge. It's her choice."

Overexposure to death. Every day an endless vista of famine victims, dying one after the other. Or every day an assembly-line of fetuses to be pulled out, piecemeal or whole, dead either way by your hand.

Until we deaden them to where they can put a live baby in a soiled utility room and wait for it to stop breathing. To where they can toss it in a bedpan. To where they think nothing of strangling a baby in front of multiple witnesses.

This is what abortion does to those who practice it. And what some abortion advocates choose to do to themselves.

Do we want to do to them what Kevin Carter's training and experiences did to him?

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Obama speaks well about experience

“I am a believer in knowing what you are doing when you apply for a job and I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now before having served one day on the Senate. Now there might be people who would be comfortable doing that, but, uh, I’m not one of those people.” -Barak Obama, 2004

Gosh, what suddenly made him change his mind?

2002: Misdiagnosis and carelessness lead to woman's death

Brenda Vise, a 38-year-old pharmaceutical representative, died on September 12, 2002, of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy after what she believed would be a perfectly safe, legal abortion at Volunteer Women's Clinic in Tennessee. Her survivors filed suit against the facility, as well as Dr. Edgar "Ed" Perry (sometimes mistakenly identified as "Edward Perry") and Dr. Richard Manning.

The lawsuit filed by Brenda's survivors notes that "Volunteer Medical Clinic, Inc. ("VMC") was administratively dissolved by the Tennessee Secretary of State because of its failure to comply with applicable law. VMC has been administratively dissolved by the Tennessee Secretary of State since September 17, 1999."Despite having been shut down by the state, VMC continued to do business and to advertise in the yellow pages for abortions, including medical abortions.

Brenda had taken a home pregnancy test on September 5, and it was positive. The suit implies that she found VMC in the yellow pages, and made an appointment for Friday, September 7. VMC staff did a pregnancy test and did an ultrasound.

"Ms. Vise was advised that the ultrasound showed no fetus in the uterus. Clinic personnel explained that this was because the fetus was 'too small to be seen.' It was estimated that Ms. Vise was approximately six weeks pregnant. By such point in her pregnancy, a fetus in the uterus would have been easily seen with a proper ultrasound examination."

The lack of a visible fetus in the uterus should have clued the facility in to the fact that Brenda had an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency and is a contraindication to the administration of Mifeprex.

VMC gave Brenda a dose of Mifeprex. "Ms. Vise was advised by the Clinic that side effects of Mifeprex were mild and short-lived."

Brenda was then sent home from the facility with a dose of Cytotec that she was to self-administer to complete her abortion. She did not have a follow-up appointment scheduled for the recommended 2-3 days after the administration of Mifeprex.

The suit also mentions that "The Federal Government has never approved Cytotec for use in pregnant women and specifically has not approved it in pregnant women for the purpose of inducing an abortion, and in fact has warned against such use". It also noted, "In August, 2000, the manufacturer of Cytotec specifically issued a letter to healthcare providers that Cytotec was contraindicated in women who are pregnant and that Cytotec was not approved for the induction of labor or abortion, and in fact should not be used in an abortion. Ms. Vise was never advised of these facts."

"Ms. Vise was never advised of who [her qualified physicians] were and, in fact, Ms. Vise was specifically advised that she would have to return to Knoxville rather than consulting a local physician or hospital in the event of any complication."

Brenda called VMC to report problems upon returning home. In all of Brenda's repeated calls to VMC, she was assured that her symptoms were "normal and routine."

Brenda took the Cytotec as instructed roughly 48 hours after her initial dose of Mifeprex. She continued to experience pain and nausea, and called VMC. She was told to take some medications for her symptoms. VMC was told that Brenda had a sub-normal body temperature, that she was pale, and that she had significant pelvic pain. "Instead of advising Ms. Vise to immediately proceed to a doctor, the Clinic continually assured her that all of these were normal symptoms and that she was not to be concerned."

Brenda called VMC again on Monday, September 10, indicating her deteriorating condition. She was told that her symptoms were "to be expected," and was told to travel to VMC, in Knoxville, for a check-up at 3:30 p.m. "She was specifically directed not to go to a hospital in Chattanooga because, according to the Clinic, no hospital in Chattanooga would have knowledge about the drugs that had been administered."

Brenda's boyfriend tried to take her to Knoxville, "but was unable to do so" and called an ambulance, which rushed Brenda to a Chattanooga hospital.

"Ms. Vise was immediately admitted to the hospital in very critical condition. Exploratory surgery revealed that Ms. Vise had had an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy which had ruptured. Such rupture led to massive infection and a collapse of her vital systems."

"On September 12, 2001, the attending physician certified that Ms. Vise was terminal with no reasonable medical prospect of recovery and was in a coma and totally unresponsive. Ms. Vise died later that day."

Are women who choose abortion more or less likely to die from an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy than women who choose to continue the pregnancy?
More likely.
Less likely.
Equally likely.

For more RU-486 deaths, see "Wanda", Holly Patterson, Chanelle Bryant, "Cherish", "Tara", Oriane Shevin, and Vivian Tran.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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1962: Doc's unsuccessful attempt to cover up socialite's abortion death

Dr. Mandel M. Friedman was charged with homicide in the September 11, 1962 death of Barbara C. Covington, age 35, a Florida socialite.

Friedman attributed Barbara's death to a heart attack and tried to get an undertaker to arrange a burial. The undertaker reported the case to authorities.

A 31-year-old advertising executive, Franklin Charles Beck, admitted to securing the $1000 abortion fee and driving Barbara to Friedman's office. Friedman was on bail for the death of Vivian Grant at the time of Barbara's death.

Barbara's abortion was typical in that it was performed by a doctor, as was the case with perhaps 90% of criminal abortions.

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

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McCain release footage unearthed in Sweden

Here it is at a Swedish site. Apparently a Swedish cameraman had left his camera behind with a Vietnamese photographer, asking him to film the release of POWs, and buried in all that footage was McCain, who of course was at the time just another brave, battered young man returning home.

When I was in Korea, one of the few English language TV channels I got was AFN -- American Forces Network, run by the DOD for servicemembers overseas. Instead of commercials, we got to watch military PSA's, including one reviewing the Code of Conduct that kept McCain and his fellow POW's sane and strong.

Could you imagine how quickly they'd have been broken had they not been taught that they were capable of maintaining their dignity and honor even in the darkest of circumstances?

I sent an email once to Ashli at The S.I.C.L.E. Cell about how our society, rather than build young women up to deal with challenges, bombards them from infancy with messages about how they can't cope with an unplanned pregnancy, about how they're just too weak, too incapable, how nobody could possibly be expected to bear up under the strain of having a baby when they hadn't planned to, or when their circumstances are tough, or when it turns out that the baby might be sick or have a disability.

Imagine how fast the abortion rate would fall if we spent time instead reminding young women that they are capable of courage and resourcefulness.

How long would McCain had lasted, how long would his fellow POW's have lasted, if the Code of Conduct has stated, "It's too hard to withstand ill-treatment if you are captured. Just betray your fellows. Spill your guts. Tell the enemy everything he wants to know. It's your life."

Sad: No new trial for West Memphis Three

Judge: No new trial for West Memphis killings

For why this blows chunks, see the WM3 Innocence web site.

I'm usually cynical about prison inmates claiming innocence, but in the cases of these guys and Darlie Routier, I'm convinced.