Life Links 5/17/10

The Des Moines Register has an article on Planned Parenthood’s nefarious abortion pill by teleconference process in Iowa.

The first-in-the-nation system allows a Planned Parenthood physician from Des Moines to visit with each patient by videoconference, then press a computer button to open a drawer in front of the patient, who could be seated up to 190 miles away. The patient then reaches into the drawer and withdraws the abortion pills.

A mother and her child are both doing well after surgeons removed a tumor the size of a watermelon during her pregnancy.

"One night I couldn't breathe and my dad took me to A&E but they just sent me home saying it was a panic attack. The doctor's said the tumour might have been there my whole life but it was only the pregnancy hormones that allowed it to grow.

"It was a shock to be told that I have tumour in my chest without even really realising it. Some of my family had told me I should have an abortion because of the risks to me to have any surgery, but I knew I had to go through with it for Layla.

A nun in Arizona who was an administrator at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center was reassigned after the Bishop Thomas Olmsted discovered she was part of an ethics committee which approved an abortion to apparently save a pregnant mother’s life.

McBride was part of the discussion about the surgery, described as urgent. It involved a serious illness, pulmonary hypertension. The condition limits the ability of the heart and lungs to function and is made worse, possibly even fatal, by pregnancy.

In a statement issued to The Republic late Friday, the diocese confirmed that Olmsted learned of the case after the surgery.

"I am gravely concerned by the fact that an abortion was performed several months ago in a Catholic hospital in this diocese," Olmsted said. "I am further concerned by the hospital's statement that the termination of a human life was necessary to treat the mother's underlying medical condition.

Here are statements from the Diocese of Phoenix and St. Joseph’s.


The AP has a story on how prolifers in various states are working to keep their tax dollars from subsidizing abortion coverage.