Life Links 1/10/11

The Telegraph-Herald has a story on the possibility of telemed abortions coming to Dubuque, Iowa, after the merger of Planned Parenthood affiliates. While a PP spokeswoman says no decision has been made, the Telegraph Herald got its hands on a letter to PP donors which seems to indicate otherwise.

In the letter, June makes direct reference to the former CEO of Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa, Joe Lock.

"One of the natural concerns of any merger is about the people, particularly the leadership," June wrote. "Joe Lock and I have worked together as CEOs these past five years. In fact, it was Joe who sought us out to find a way to expand and provide telemedicine to clients of PPECI."

June went on to write that, "There is no doubt the troubled economy has affected many of our clients. We feel certain that through a newly merged affiliate, patients will benefit from the expanded services we will be able to provide."

Singapore-based TODAYonline features an article on the rising number of abortions in China.

"The moral outrage over having a child before marriage in our society is much stronger than the shame associated with abortion,'' said Ms Zhou Anqin, the manager at a clinic in Xi'an, which performs about 60 abortions each month, mostly on students aged 24 or younger.

The facility is one of five operated in China by Marie Stopes International, a non-profit group that runs clinics globally promoting safe abortions, HIV testing and other services. Marie Stopes frequently sees repeat customers such as Ms Zhang Jie, 22, who recently had her second abortion in as many years.

In an examination room, student Ms Nancy Yin, 20, looks away from the image on the machine: A nearly three-month-old foetus with arms, legs, and a fluttering heartbeat. Ms Yin and her boyfriend never used contraceptives because she "did not feel comfortable with it".......

The Chinese can be brutally frank when it comes to abortion. Beijing sociologist Li Yinhe noted that "people generally feel that before the actual birth, you don't yet have an actual person, so we have cases of induced abortion at seven and eight months along ... China has absolutely no need for the so-called 'right to life' argument, no need to introduce ideas about abortion as murder and so on.''

A woman in Malaysia recently died during an abortion.

According to the daily, she had either died of excessive bleeding or from lack of oxygen during the operation.