Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Life Link 7/31/12

U.S. District Judge James Teilborg says Arizona's fetal pain/20+ week abortion ban can take effect.
U.S. District Judge James Teilborg said the statute may prompt a few pregnant women who are considering abortion to make the decision earlier. But he said the law is constitutional because it doesn't prohibit any women from making the decision to end their pregnancies.

The judge also wrote that the state provided "substantial and well-documented" evidence that an unborn child has the capacity to feel pain during an abortion by at least 20 weeks.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the measure into law in April, making Arizona one of 10 states to enact types of 20-week bans.

Here's the latest report on the 248 unborn children found dumped in a Russian forest and the police investigation. This report notes the children were all late-term (approximately between 22-26 weeks).


It's amazing how the editorial board of the Washington Post can write something like this regarding the vote on D.C. Pain Capable Unborn Child Act without ever thinking about the lives of unborn children.
But that won't stop the issue from being demagogued or used as a rallying point or an appeal for money in the upcoming presidential and other national elections.

What gets lost in the gamesmanship are the lives that could be impacted. During Tuesday's limited debate, someone should read the powerful words of Christy Zink, a D.C. woman who knows the pain of terminating a wanted pregnancy because of gross fetal abnormalities.

Former police officer Noah Pestak has been charged with statutory rape. He allegedly also tried to get the girl to have an abortion.
But last week, Pestak was charged with statutory rape. He is also charged with tampering with evidence. The Sierra County Sheriff's Office says that is because he tried to get the girl to have an abortion.

The criminal complaint indicates Pestak gave her $425 to pay for the abortion, but she missed the appointment and then decide not to have the procedure. The complaint indicates Pestak then asked for his money back and got it. The girl and her father then reported the incident, concerned that Pestak would not provide for the baby.

A Japanese company has developed a way of taking a MRI image of an unborn child and turning it into a 3-D statute.
A Japanese firm Fasotec has sensed the need and has thus in collaboration with Parkside Hiroo Ladies Clinic in Mintao-ku, Tokyo devised ‘Shape of the Angle', a miniature 3D replica of the fetus that you can actually keep as a memorabilia for the rest of your life. The process requires the fetus to be photographed using MRI, the photo is then processed with a custom built 3D software. A 3D printer is then used to create the resin for the mother's body and the white resin for the fetus.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Life Links 7/27/12

Here's a classic B-word slip in a Slate article discussing how the placenta works entitled, "Your fetus is an alien":
Erlebacher's not the only one studying this stuff. Kliman, the Yale researcher, also investigated human placentas, and his findings suggest an entirely different mechanism in play. Kliman suspects that a specific protein in pregnant women, called PP13, acts as a decoy of sorts to trick the mom's immune system to stay away from the baby.

Another day and another lame Obama attack on Mitt Romney position on abortion (they really couldn't find a better actor?). The most irritating thing to me is how the Obama campaign team seems to think that all women are scared about prolife laws.



A Michigan Senate committee has passed a bill to regulate abortion clinics in Michigan. Abortion clinic executive director Renee Chelian classed up the place by calling the committee chairman a liar.
"You, sir, are a liar," Chilean replied, audibly shocked by his response. "You (should) have picked up the phone and called me, instead of relying on some right-to-life flunky with an agenda."

The New York Times editorial board is dismayed the Arizona fetal-pain bill case may not be going their way.
Then he lectured her for what he suggested, wrongly, was a lack of compassion for the unborn. He said he had read the plaintiffs' affidavits and had found that they "reflect profound compassion and concern for their patients, the women, and presumably the fathers." However, he added, "I didn't find anywhere in those affidavits any expression of concern by the plaintiffs' positions for the unborn child — or even a hint of concern on their part.

"Given that silence on that part," the judge said, "and given the silence in your own presentation, doesn't that underscore the legitimacy of the state's regulatory action out of concern for the unborn child?"

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Don't let Martha Kempner babysit your kids

RH Reality Check blogger Martha Kempner has one of the most head scratching pieces I've ever read on that site (which is saying quite a bit). In her post, she shows how completely irresponsible she was while watching her niece and nephew last year.

I was excited to watch something that didn't feature animation or talking dogs and they were excited to see something that they wouldn't necessarily see at home. We decided on the clearly inappropriate Hot Tub Time Machine. It seemed like the kind of thing an aunt and uncle should say yes too (though I did quickly text my sister to make sure I wouldn't get in too much trouble for this choice). It wasn't a particularly good movie and though there was a lot of sexual innuendo, I don't remember all that many actual depictions of sexual behavior but I could be wrong—I have remarkably poor recollection of what I see in movies and a tendency to fall asleep five minutes after the opening credits. I do remember that they laughed uncomfortably and covered their eyes dramatically at a kissing scene.

Seriously? I can't fathom how someone would let their (presumably teenage or younger) niece and nephew watch a "clearly inappropriate" movie without knowing much about the movie and then fall asleep during the movie and then publicly share that as if they did nothing wrong. Martha didn't even take the time to research the movie after the fact. IMBD's web page of the movie notes that it is rated R for "strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language." Not that many depictions of sexual behavior? Hey, I could be wrong I fell asleep.

Really? Who is this person?

Martha goes on to describe how a friend handled a similar situation:
I was recently with a friend when his ten-year-old son asked if he could see the new Batman movie. My friend said that he had to go see it first and then would decide if they could see it together. I think this was a perfect answer. Know what they're watching and whenever possible watch it with them so that you can answer any questions or challenge any depictions of sexual relationships that don't fit with your values or the messages you want to convey.

Notice how this "perfect answer" is the polar opposite of what Martha did with her niece and nephew. She didn't watch the movie first and then she fell asleep so didn't know what they watched and she wasn't awake to answer any questions. But Martha's obviously poor behavior is okay because she's a sex educator.
I'd love to end this article by saying that watching Hot Tub Time Machine with their Aunt the Sex Educator was edifying for my niece and nephew, that I took my own advice and started enlightening conversations about sexual behavior and relationships, and that I answered questions they had had for years but were afraid to ask. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I spent most of the movie snoring next to them on the couch. The good news is that they have an aunt who is a sex educator and parents who would rather answer questions than keep them in the dark, so I'm confident that they came out of our foray into bad and inappropriate movies unscathed.

Such confidence for someone so ignorant. Parents - don't let Martha Kempner watch your kids. This is the kind of behavior most 15-year-old baby sitters would recognize as troubling.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Life Links 7/25/12

Here's more information about the barrels filled with hundreds of unborn children found in Russia with video and a graphic photo of one of the children.


The 8th Circuit Court has upheld South Dakota's informed consent law which requires abortionists to disclose to women that abortion may increase their risk of suicide.
In Tuesday's ruling, the court decided that the suicide disclosure did not amount to an unconstitutional burden on abortion rights. Planned Parenthood had argued that the "increased risk" language in the law necessarily pointed to a causal relationship between abortion and suicide, and that such a disclosure places an undue barrier between a woman and a protected procedure.

They also argued that the disclosure violates a doctor's free-speech rights.

The court noted in its ruling, however, that while there is no causal link between suicide and abortion, there is a well-documented correlation.

That is enough to justify the language "increased risk," the court ruled.

"There appears to be little dispute about the truthfulness of the required disclosure," the opinion states.

An Australian abortionist who published advice on how to commit at home abortions has been found guilty of unprofessional conduct.
Dr Adrienne Freeman will not be banned from practising but will face yet-to-be-determined sanctions for her actions.

The Medical Board of Australia took Dr Freeman to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) earlier this year over her decision to establish a website that advised how women could terminate a pregnancy using a drug regime and without medical supervision.

The board alleged she engaged in misconduct by providing instructions for terminations that were unsafe, failing to warn users of the risks, and advising women on how to obtain an abortion drug without a prescription.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Bodies of more than 200 children found in Russia

Four barrels containing 248 unborn children were found in a forest in Russia.

Police in the Sverdlovsk region said Tuesday the fetuses, preserved in formaldehyde, were kept in barrels with tags containing surnames and numbers.

Police suspects that one of the four local hospitals is responsible for dumping the barrels.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Life Links 7/23/12

Tonya Reaves, a 24-year-old woman from Chicago is dead after having an abortion at Planned Parenthood.
Tonya Reaves died Friday after she began to hemorrhage, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Her death was ruled an accident.

The pregnancy and "cervical dilation and evacuation," which is a technical term for abortion, that she received at the Planned Parenthood clinic, 18 S. Michigan Ave. were listed as contributing factors in her death.

The victim's twin sister told WBBM Newsradio that her family is demanding answers.

"It happened so fast," said Toni Reaves. "She was just fine one day -- and then the next day she was gone. We're just trying to figure out what happened."
Tonya's death leaves her 1-year-old son without a mother. Planned Parenthood couldn't issue a statement of condolences without a note from their PR department.


A woman in England plead guilty to administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage after buying misoprostol (the second drug used in RU486 abortions) online and allegedly taking it within a week of her due date.


In Indiana, a woman has been arrested for helping to kill her grandchild and cover up her son's crimes. Kacy Heath allegedly helped transport a 15-year-old girl to Granite City, Illinois for an abortion after her 21-year-old son impregnated the teen.
Heath, who is King's mother, is accused of paying for the abortion and furnishing identification for the girl so she could have the abortion.

Police said King was arrested in April for sexual misconduct with the girl and is held on bond in the Gibson County Jail.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Participant of prolife Crossroads walk killed after being hit by car

Andrew Moore, a 20-year-old man participating in the Crossroads walk was killed after being hit by a car. Crossroads is a ministry where young people walk across the country during the summer to raise awareness about abortion.

The Indianapolis Star has published Moore's testimony on why he joined Crosswalk.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Our illogical President

As some with a full-time job who has started a small business and typically works on that small business nearly every weekend, President Obama's ridiculous statement that I "didn't build that" business hits me on a personal level. I know for a fact that my hard work and long hours did "build that" business in spite of the ineptness of government bureaucrats who instead of making building my business easier, have at numerous times made it more difficult and costly.

But instead of going into depth about that, I'd like to look at the paragraph preceding President Obama's statement and show how completely illogical the thought process of the man leading our country is.

ABC News has the context of the quote.

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me, because they want to give something back. They know they didn't -look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something – there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.

Besides the obvious strawman which acts like successful people think they obtained their success completely on their own, President Obama is arguing that because some smart people and some hardworking people don't succeed that means the success of other smart people and hardworking people isn't caused by their smarts and/or hard work. That's a hasty generalization.

Sometimes people who are hardworking do fail but that in no way means that hard work doesn't often lead to success or wasn't the primary factor in the success of someone else. Many factors can lead to being successful and they vary in importance on a case by case basis but how illogical is it to assume that the success of all successful people isn't caused by their hard work because "there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there" and some of them aren't successful?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Life Links 7/18/12

The Daily Beast has a puff piece on abortion clinic owner Diane Derzis.
After nearly four decades working in, running, and owning abortion clinics, both her champions and her opponents call her the "abortion queen." That Diane Derzis, the owner of the state's last abortion clinic, embraces that moniker is one of the myriad reasons Mississippi's prolife absolutists want to put her out of business.

Meanwhile Derzis' Mississippi clinic was inspected on Monday. We'll see if it has a number of violations like her now-closed Alabama clinic did.


The Windy City Times has this to say about recent prolife and pro-choice demonstrations at Daley Plaza in Chicago.
Pro-life groups Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Action League spent the day demonstrating against abortion with graphic images and large placards along Washington Street, while a truck with an anti-abortion image circled the plaza.

Advocates from NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) Pro-Choice America and the Chicago Abortion Fund countered the demonstrations with pro-choice posters and messages.

Pro-life demonstrators largely outnumbered the pro-choice groups.

"I know we are smaller in numbers, but we are big in spirit," said Benita Ulisano of NARAL.

Tantrum throwers State Representatives Barb Byrum and Lisa Brown gave the office of the Michigan Speaker 115,000 petitions with signers from pro-abortion activists from around the country (knowing the percentage that actually came from Michigan would be interesting) demanding Speaker Jase Bolger apologize for preventing them from speaking on the House floor for one day. Byrum and Brown continue to lie about why they were banned from speaking.
House Republicans say they disciplined Byrum and Brown, a West Bloomfield Democrat, on the final day of an emotional debate regarding proposed abortion bills, saying the pair engaged in undecorous conduct on the floor. Brown said she was banned later from speaking because she uttered the word " vagina," and Byrum said she was banned for shouting the word "vasectomy."
I find it amusing that pro-abortion lawmakers like Brown and Byrum who describe themselves as strong women but can't take a simple punishment for violating House decorum rules and have to carry this show on for like a month.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Life Links 7/17/12

Virginia's attorney general Ken Cuccinelli has refused to agree to a Board of Health plan which would allow abortion clinics to avoid meeting new abortion clinic regulations.
"The Board does not have the statutory authority to adopt these Regulations," it says. "[T]he Board has exceeded its authority. Thus, this Office cannot certify these Regulations."

The action by the attorney general's office is not the final word on the subject. The regulations, which would require extensive renovations, will continue to go through executive branch review. The attorney general's office was only the first step in that process.

A Virginia woman is suing her employer after she was allegedly fired after she wouldn't get an abortion.
The lawsuit claims restaurant President Leopoldo F. Aguirre Sr. ordered the firing and told Shomo that customers don't want to see "a belly" on their waitresses.

Bei Bei Shuai has rejected a plea deal which would have allowed her to plead guilty to attempted feticide and avoid murder charges.
Shuai was eight months pregnant on Dec. 23, 2010, when she ate rat poison after her boyfriend broke up with her. Shuai was hospitalized and doctors detected little wrong with the unborn child's health for the first few days. The premature girl, Angel Shuai, was delivered by cesarean section Dec. 31, but died from bleeding in the brain three days later after being removed from life support.

FOXNews has a long article on fetal surgery which profiles Addison Kelly, a five-year-old girl who had a tumor removed from her chest cavity when she was in the womb. Also of interest are efforts by researchers to use fetal treatments sooner and sooner.
Efforts under way in fetal surgery involve using less invasive or earlier treatments. One hope is that procedures done today for fetuses who are twentysome weeks old could be done sooner, with greater benefit.

Dr. Alan Flake, director of CHOP's Center for Fetal Research, is working with stem cells from adult bone marrow to develop a treatment for the blood disorder sickle-cell anemia that could be administered 12 to 14 weeks into pregnancy. Clinical trials of the therapy should begin in a year or two.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Another less-than-empowering abortion story

From Kelly Gray, a self-described "extremely pro-choice" volunteer with the Bay Area Doula Project:
I was 18 when I had my first abortion. For a week and to my surprise, I intended to keep my baby. Previously, I had never wanted children but I suddenly found my hand resting on my tummy, I took pride in my full breasts, and I looked keenly at young children while smelling their hair as they sat in my lap. I convinced myself that I was glowing. In time, about seven days to be exact, it became clear that my partner did not share my thoughts. My parents assumed I was calling Planned Parenthood, and when I hesitated they made an appointment for me at a private clinic. The doctor said, “You need to make a decision that will allow you to look into your own eyes, day after day.” I knew instantly that the ethical, responsible thing to do, as a pregnant mother, was to abort my pregnancy.
So she intended to keep the child until her partner disapproved, her parents made an abortion appointment for her and an abortionist talked her into an abortion. That's pretty much the opposite of empowering.

Overheard: Taranto on Roiphe

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal discusses Katie Roiphe's Slate piece (which I discussed Tuesday) as an example of how liberals tend to lose arguments because they follow the framing advice of George Lakoff.
This is an important insight, not only into the way the left debates and otherwise communicates, but into the way the left thinks--or fails to think. The book's subtitle, after all, promises an instruction in "Thinking and Talking Democratic." Lakoff and Wehling command their readers not only to act as if opposing arguments are without merit, but to close their minds to those arguments. What comes across to conservatives as a maddening arrogance is actually willed ignorance.......

Through her use of rhetorical questions and the passive voice, Roiphe considerably softens a position that, stated flatly, amounts to this: A woman's desire is sufficient to justify her "absolute control" over whether her unborn child is a human being or a disposable object.

When you put it baldly like that, it is a monstrous proposition. One begins to understand why Lakoff-style willed ignorance is such a seductive alternative.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Life Links 7/11/12

At Jezebel, one anonymous woman who describes herself as "a visible pro-choice advocate and public figure," explains why she won't "come out" about her abortion and openly wonders if efforts by pro-choice groups to have women share their abortion experiences does more harm than good for the pro-choice movement.


The New York Times reports Feng Jianmei, the woman who was forced into an abortion at 7 months in China, will receive a payment from her local government. According to the People's Daily online the payment will be approximately $11,000.

Zhang Kai, Deng's attorney, submitted an appeal to the Ankang police and procurators on July 2, asking authorities to file a case and start investigations into the local officials involved. However, Deng returned home during the past weekend and decided to hold negotiations with the local government agencies.

"I've given up legal appeals and agreed to take the compensation offered by the township government," Deng told the Global Times Tuesday.

"We just want our normal life back," he said.

The Des Moines Register is covering Sue Thayer's whistleblower lawsuit against Planned Parenthood.
The suit alleges the nonprofit organization illegally billed Medicaid for services related to elective abortions. Elective abortions, defined as abortions in which the mother's life is not threatened, are not covered by Medicaid under federal and state law. The document also claims Planned Parenthood "unbundled" services related to elective abortions — such as blood pressure tests, blood tests and other procedures — and billed those to Medicaid, but not the actual abortions.

The lawsuit also alleges Planned Parenthood staff in Storm Lake and other clinics prescribed birth control pills for as long as 14 months without a qualified health care professional ever directly seeing patients or conducting a follow-up visit. A qualified health care professional should have seen the women at least once every three months, the suit says.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Will the pro-choice movement abandon the strategy of dehumanizing the unborn?

At Slate, Katie Roiphe addresses the elephant in the room for the pro-choice movement after reading a NY Times piece about the possibility of requiring men to provide for women they impregnate during pregnancy (termed "preglimony" by Shari Motro). After discussing Motro's proposal to require both sexes to "take responsibility for (conception's) economic consequences," Roiphe discusses the proposal's implications to the pro-choice movement and the fear that the proposal would acknowledge the unborn as life (my emphasis).

I don't actually think it is in the interests of feminism or the pro-choice movement to cling so rigidly to outdated notions of "life." It no longer helps our cause to try to argue that the fetus is not "life." The reason for this, as people have noted, is that technological advances, like sonograms, where you can see feet on a fetus in the first trimester, have made those claims clearly and patently hollow to even ardently pro-choice people who have seen the black and white staticky fuzziness take shape into human form. How can we possibly claim that the moving creature, with feet and toes that we can see, is not "life"?

It seems to me that the pro-choice movement doesn't need to cling to these ideas, or this rigid '70s-era idiom, to make its central argument acceptable to the larger public. The idea that a woman should control her reproductive choices is still a vivid and moral one even to a population that understands full well that a fetus is a baby-in-progress.

Can we admit that a woman has the right to choose, while also acknowledging what we see on sonograms? Can we say "embryos" and "fetuses" do represent some form of "life" without conceding a woman's absolute control over the womb that bears them? A person who has had an abortion knows, and in fact has always known, and experienced very intimately this charged ambiguity: An unborn fetus that is wanted is a "baby," and an unborn fetus that is not wanted is a "fetus."

I think the new technologies, and the new demographic realities, in which unwed mothers need protections, demand a more imaginative, honest rhetoric. Paradoxically, I think in the long run it will only help the ongoing fight for reproductive rights, to evolve with the times, to trailblaze a way of thinking that encompasses the ambiguities we know, and can see, are there.

This has to make the old guard cringe. For years, the pro-choice movement and the abortion industry have worked to dehumanize the unborn in an effort to make abortion less of an abomination and now Roiphe openly says the rhetoric of the pro-choice movement is outdated, patently hollow, and less honest and fashions the movement's old guard as cave women rigidly clinging to a "'70s-era idiom." She basically admits the pro-choice movement has been intentionally deceiving people for decades but now with technological advances those deceptions are no longer plausible. In light of this, a new strategy (one which doesn't dehumanize the unborn) and new arguments are necessary.

I think Roiphe makes a mistake when she assumes "(t)he idea that a woman should control her reproductive choices is still a vivid and moral one even to a population that understands full well that a fetus is a baby-in-progress."

For some of the population - yes. But for large swaths - no. It's much easier for abortion advocates to defend abortion to the public-at-large when they can speak of the need for reproductive rights as taking precedence over the non-life of a dehumanized embryo or a parasitic fetus. Those arguments become less persuasive to many when the dehumanized embryo is no longer dehumanized but considered a "baby-in-progress." A woman's right to do whatever she wants with her body is more sell-able to the public when the body and life of the unborn child are not seriously considered.

I think Roiphe's position also shows the disconnect between the academic pro-choicers like herself, who don't want to look foolish by acting like the unborn aren't alive, and the establishment ground soldiers at NARAL and Planned Parenthood, who don't care about looking foolish and will use any means to keep abortion legal.

NARAL and Planned Parenthood understand that a large segment of their supporters and our population (often individuals who've had or could have a personal experience with abortion) are at least somewhat (if not mostly) content to put up a mental wall where on one side wanted unborn children are humanized while unwanted unborn children are dehumanized. It makes not a peep of sense to those, like Roiphe, who think about it but that weak wall is what is keeping the pro-choice movement together.

Life Links 7/10/12

Another forced late-term abortion case in China is garnering attention.
Pan Chunyan's pregnancy was terminated at nearly eight months in April because she had violated the one-child policy, Beijing-based lawyer Zhang Kai said.
Her husband sought legal help after hearing about another recent forced late termination in Shaanxi province…..

"They already paid a penalty but the pregnancy was still terminated forcibly," Mr Zhang told the BBC. He said Mr and Mrs Wu's violation of the one-child policy did not give officials the right to terminate the pregnancy.

In an open letter published by US-based aid group China Aid, Mr Wu said "a group of people" took his wife "forcefully" to a local hospital on 6 April after a brief detention, where she was given an injection.

China Aid has an open letter from Mr. Wu about the forced abortion of his unborn child.


FactCheck.org finds that the Obama campaign is twisting Romney’s position on abortion in their latest ad.


In Colorado, a five-time DUI offender is responsible for a crash which injured a pregnant woman, her five-year-old son and killed her near-term unborn child.

Monday, July 09, 2012

Why can't pro-choice bloggers make an argument?

At Feministe, guest blogger Anna Lukas Miller provides a perfect example of why the pro-choice movement is losing the argument on abortion.

First she shows ignorance in describing women who have abortions:
After all, she is in good company—one in every three women gets an abortion, and sixty percent of those women are already married.

Ummm.... nope. Usually around 80-90% of women who have abortions are unmarried. Maybe she's thinking "sixty percent of those women already has a child." Maybe she should have actually done some research instead of just parroting Planned Parenthood.

Then she shows a complete inability to make an argument or for some reason believes cursing at those who disagree with her is in some manner persuasive.
So, I would like to say a few words to all of the Republican (and Democrat) legislators trying to make abortion inaccessible—first through manipulating insurance plans away from covering it, then through enforcing mandatory counseling, mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds designed to guilt women about their choice and then through absurd regulations designed to shut down abortion clinics, making abortion nominally legal but inaccessible.

Those words? (Expletive). You. All.

Then she goes back to ignorance by ridiculously claiming that all prolife legislators are men.
You are all men. You have no idea what it is like to be a woman, and what it is like to be pregnant, not be sure if you are pregnant or even any grasp of how much taking a pregnancy to term affects every aspect of daily life—and then the future thereafter.
It's almost as if she can't imagine that women like Kelly Ayotte or Cathy McMorris Rodgers or any of the numerous prolife female state legislators exist.

Then on to an ad hominem. Males have "no role in the abortion debate" except to agree with her even though it appears her knowledge of the topic is exceptional low.

As men who wish to be called men, you have no role in the abortion debate other than to unquestioningly support women in whatever choice they might choose to make.

With a "thought" process like this, you start to see why the pro-choice movement doesn't have the public advocacy strength it once did.

Life Links 7/9/12

In Indiana, a local prolifer has pointed out to the Justice Department how the Fort Wayne abortion clinic doesn't adhere to the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The executive director of Allen County Right to Life today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice against the Fort Wayne Women's Health Organization, alleging that the clinic at 2210 Inwood Drive does not provide handicapped parking spaces or a ramp for wheelchair access -- an omission Humbarger says could endanger women who have just undergone surgery there.

The Right to Life Office moved to 2126 Inwood a year ago, and Humbarger said that she has seen "women leaving (the clinic) in apparent discomfort. Moreover, these women were unable to walk unassisted - apparently as the result of having undergone an abortion. These women had to walk down steps and across a parking lot to their vehicles. On each occasion, these women were being physically held up by a (clinic) employee and/or an unidentified person.

Also in Indiana, a Medicaid official claims Indiana's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood runs contrary to federal requirements.
Hearing officer Benjamin Cohen wrote that the Indiana law violated the federal requirement that individuals must have the freedom to obtain care from any qualified provider. Restricting that choice just because a care provider also offers non-covered care isn't allowed, he wrote.

Indiana asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago last August to lift U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt's June 24, 2011, preliminary injunction blocking parts of the abortion law. The court has not yet ruled.

India's FDA is cracking down on the illegal distribution of abortion drugs in an effort to stop sex selection abortions. This crackdown has led some chemists to stop stocking the pills entirely.
Gynaecologists in the city claim that following a crackdown by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on illegal sale of abortion pills to curb sex-selective abortions, chemists are reluctant to stock the pills, especially those prescribed to terminate a second trimester (between 12 and 20 weeks) pregnancy. The sex of a foetus can be determined during the second trimester.

Prolifers in Ohio (including Stand True's Bryan Kemper) are suing Sinclair Community College after the campus police forced them to take down a banner and lower their signs.

Friday, July 06, 2012

Life Links 7/6/12

Celebrity news sites are abuzz about this letter to the editor from Brad Pitt's mom which appeared Tuesday in the Springfield News-Leader. Jane Pitt writes that she's planning on voting for Mitt Romney partly because he is against abortion.


Blogger Infinite Grace reflects on her year of blogging about her post-abortion journey.


In India, their FDA has found discrepancies in the abortion drugs stocks of 21 doctors.
"The administration is verifying which of these 21 gynaecologists do not have licences under Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. Notices will be issued to these doctors and they will face action," Yadav said.

The AP has a story on Mississippi's lone abortion clinic and its struggle to stay open.

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Life Links 7/5/12

Fifteen Chinese scholars have issued a public letter calling for Chinese government to rethink their one-child policy.
"The birth approval system built on the idea of controlling population size as emphasized in the current ‘Population and Family Planning Law' does not accord with provisions on the protection of human rights contained in the nation's constitution," the authors of Thursday's letter wrote, adding that a rewriting of the law was "imperative."
.........
Researchers with the Research Development Center, a prominent government-affiliated think tank, added their voices to the chorus on Tuesday with an open call for Beijing to consider revising the policy, though they made no mention of Ms. Feng. Instead, the researchers focused on China's rapidly aging population and a predicted dearth of young workers that some have said could bring about a demographic crisis.

In Tennessee, the Obama administration is doing their best to keep Planned Parenthood affiliates open. After the Shelby County Commission voted in 2011 to contract with Christ Community Health Centers for family planning services, the Obama administration has jumped in to help the Planned Parenthood affiliate with 400K.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen has announced Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region has been awarded $395,000 for its Title X Family Planning Services Program......

"Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region has been helping Memphis and Shelby County residents get the health care they need to lead happier, healthier lives for years," Cohen, D-Memphis, said in a release. "These new federal funds will help ensure the Title X Family Planning Program reaches those who need help the most in underserved communities."

NPR has a long story on forced abortion, the one-child policy and future population problems in China.


A husband and wife abortionist team in India has been arrested on suspicion of performing sex-selection abortions. They were on the run for 2 weeks after one of their midwives was caught attempting to bury an aborted female child.