Life Links 11/19/10

More than thousand additional aborted children have been found at a Buddhist temple in Thailand. Earlier this week there were reports of more than 300 aborted children being found. Now, after opening a new area, 1,500 more children were found on Thursday night according to MSNBC. Police have arrested one woman who admitted performing illegal abortions.


Politico has an article about how National Right to Life is pushing hard for Representative Joe Pitts to get "the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health" if Fred Upton (mixed voting record on life issues) is given the chairmanship of the full committee.

"It has been widely reported that Congressman Fred Upton is the frontrunner for the full committee chairmanship. This prospect raises the gravest concerns from the pro-life perspective," Johnson wrote. "We acknowledge that Mr. Upton has voted pro-life on a number of significant issues, including curbs on direct federal funding of abortion. Moreover, in recent weeks he has stated his intent to actively move certain pieces of key pro-life legislation. But these statements do not greatly comfort us, in light of the 24-year record summarized above. If, however, the Health Subcommittee were to be chaired by a Member with a long history of bold leadership on pro-life issues, our objections to a prospective Upton chairmanship would be greatly mitigated."

At the Corner Greg Pfundstein relates some of what happened at the New York City Council committee hearing on a measure to regulate CPCs.

Halloran, who is concerned about the bill for scope-of-government reasons, pressed Freedman and her co-panelist, Dr. Susan Blank of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, on the “truth in advertising” contention. Did they honestly think that anyone would be confused about what an organization called Bridge to Life, the Sisters of Life, or Life Center does? Both officials averred that indeed, people would, since not everyone is well-versed in the vocabulary of the culture war. That is, Blank and Freedman believe that a reasonable person might assume that an organization called the Sisters of Life performs abortions.

The councilman then asked whether a person might also think an organization called Planned Parenthood focuses its efforts on assisting women who choose parenthood. No, said Blank and Freedman, a reasonable person would not assume that an organization called Planned Parenthood is primarily concerned with parenthood.

But the most damning testimony against the law was given by a young lady who was confused by the name “Planned Parenthood,” which led her to have a very strange experience just last week. The address 44 Court Street in Brooklyn is home to EMC, Planned Parenthood, and Dr. Emily’s Abortion Clinic. Twenty-eight weeks pregnant and happily so, but a little “financially strapped,” the young lady went to 44 Court Street looking for an organization that had assisted a friend of hers a few years earlier. She couldn’t remember the name of the organization, just the address. What she wanted was a car seat, since you’re not allowed to leave the hospital without one. Looking at the directory in the lobby, she saw Planned Parenthood and assumed that it must be the organization she was looking for. But when she went inside and explained her situation, she was told that they could not help her get a car seat, but that since she was financially strapped, she could sign documents indicating that she was under psychological stress and get a medical waiver for a late-term abortion.