Life Links 3/13/13

In his Best of the Web column from yesterday, James Taranto hits on a number of issues related to abortion, out-of-wedlock births and sex-ratios as he comments on New York City's new campaign to stigmatize teen births and Planned Parenthood's response. 

Planned Parenthood may describe itself as a "health organization," but in reality it is an ideological outfit. It is committed to the idea of "reproductive rights" that belong only to women. In the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, for instance, the group persuaded the Supreme Court that a married woman has a constitutional right to abort her husband's child without telling him.

If men have no reproductive rights, it follows logically that they have no reproductive responsibilities.......

The contemporary problem of illegitimacy, then, is largely the consequence of Planned Parenthood's ideology of female "reproductive rights" and the technology that made it feasible. Planned Parenthood's hostility toward any effort to tackle, or even acknowledge, the problem is anything but coincidental.......

The "98%" poster alludes to that life script and makes the dubious supposition that following it--at least if one leaves out college--is realistic for all women. But an important reason women bear children out of wedlock is because they don't expect to find husbands.

Intersections South LA has an article about sidewalk counselors and abortion clinic escorts at one South LA abortion clinic. 

On one side, a group of people kneel on a broken sidewalk, sliding rosary beads through their fingers as they call for divine action. And across the sidewalk, another group stands silently; dressed in bright orange vests and black sunglasses. They escort patients into the clinic. Both sides stay on their sides without budging an inch, unless someone tests the boundaries.

An unlicensed pharmacy in Bangkok has been shut down for illegally distributing abortion drugs.

"One of our officers who is three months pregnant entered the store and asked to buy abortion pills. The pharmacist gave her the pills and charged her 16,000 baht," Ministry of Health legal officer Chatree Pinyai explained. 

Life Links 3/12/13

Authorities in Minnesota have charged a man with two counts of murder for killing his wife and his unborn child.

The Dakota County attorney's office charged Roger Earl Holland, 36, with two counts of second-degree intentional murder _ one count in his wife's death and one in her unborn child's death. Bail was set at $1 million, or $750,000 with conditions.

Holland called 911 last Thursday to report finding his wife, Margorie Ann Holland, in cardiac arrest at the foot of a staircase in their Apple Valley apartment, prosecutor James Backstrom said in a news release. Margorie Holland, who was nearly four months pregnant, and her unborn child died at a hospital later that morning.

The Beaumont Enterprise has a story of a fetal surgery where doctors used a laser to cut off blood flow to a mass which was pushing against the child's lungs and heart.

The surgery, known as fetal laser ablation for bronchopulmonary sequestration (BPS), has only been performed one other time in the United States, at the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute in 2011. During the procedure, doctors insert a needle into the mother's belly and into the womb. Then, the needle is advanced into the baby's chest, then into the BPS where a laser fiber is introduced through the needle and targeted at the abnormal blood vessel going to the BPS. The laser fires and blocks the blood flow, causing the mass to stop growing. The goal of the operation is to reverse the process by which the BPS is causing heart failure in the fetus. After the surgery, the BPS steals less blood flow from the fetus, and the heart and lungs start growing more normally as the BPS shrinks in size. 

NARAL Wisconsin stopped CareNet of Dane County from getting a city loan to build low-income housing.

City staff had recommended extending two low-interest loans totaling $550,000 to Care Net, which operates a crisis pregnancy center and residential home for pregnant single mothers on MacArthur Road. The group is proposing to build a 36-unit apartment building and daycare on land it owns next to its center.....

Clausius' comments came after Megin McDonell, a board member with NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, and Ald. Lisa Subeck, the former executive director of NARAL, told the committee that Care Net, an anti-abortion, faith-based group, misleads women about the risks of abortion and does not offer "all-options" counseling, as it advertises.

Life Links 3/11/13

The state of Maryland has suspended the licenses of three abortion clinics.

State health officials have suspended surgical abortion procedures at three clinics, including one in Baltimore where a patient suffered cardiac arrest and died.

The physician who performed the abortion at Associates in OB/GYN Care LLC on North Calvert Street wasn't certified in CPR and a defibrillator at the facility did not work, state officials said in a letter Friday to the General Assembly.

Although the cardiac arrest was caused by underlying health conditions and not the abortion, investigators found that it raised questions whether doctors at the clinic can handle an abortion that goes wrong......

The other two clinics that lost surgical privileges, located in Landover and Silver Spring, also are owned by Associates in OB/GYN Care and also had licenses suspended for issues related to the ability to respond to life-threatening problems during surgery.

The National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers was March 10.  From the various pro-choice sources I read, it seems like it was less celebrated than usual. 


The Wichita Eagle interviewed one of the physicians who has signed up to provide abortions at the South Wind Women's Center abortion clinic when it opens.  South Wind is operating at the same location where George Tiller provided abortions in Wichita.  The new physician says she's never performed an elective abortion.

She has been a board-certified OB/GYN for about 10 years but has never performed elective abortions. The doctor says abortion is probably not a choice she would make for herself.

But she believes that women have the right to that option and she said she felt a calling to step up to provide that option.

The doctor asked to not be named in this story.

Tiller was shot to death on a Sunday in May 2009 at his church by a man who opposed abortion.

The OB/GYN wants to remain anonymous for as long as she can.

Overheard: Arkansas' "misogynistic" 12-week abortion law similar to the law of ultra-conservative......France?!?

Something to keep in mind when the abortion advocates at NARAL and Planned Parenthood and the various pro-choice blogs howl about Arkansas' recently passed (but likely soon to be overturned) law which bans abortions after 12 weeks.  Via Garance Franke-Ruta in the Atlantic:

But it's been the case since their abortion laws were liberalized in the 1970s that many of the European nations have abortion laws not much less strict than the one Arkansas just passed. France permits abortions up until the 14th week of pregnancy (which is counted from the date of the last menstrual period, even though ovulation doesn't usually occur until one to two weeks after that). After that, abortions are only available in exigent circumstances, such as severe fetal deformities, or to save the health or life of the mother. France also has a mandatory one-week waiting period for all abortions (they prefer to describe it as a "cooling-off" period), unless by so waiting the woman would pass the 14-week cut-off, which coincides with the end of the first trimester. Other nations that restrict abortions largely to the first trimester include: Germany (14 weeks), Italy (90 days from the last menstrual period), Spain (14 weeks), and Portugal (10 weeks).

Abortion law in the United States is out of sync with most of world but not in the way abortion advocates think. 

Planned Parenthood to open new abortion clinic in Meridian, Idaho

From KTVB.com:

A woman's access to abortion may be getting a little easier in the Gem State. KTVB told you about the shortage of doctors here, and Planned Parenthood said this also applies to reproductive health care providers.

However, they are doing something about it right here in the Treasure Valley.
By the end of April, there will be a third Planned Parenthood health center in Idaho.

"We'll do well women exams, breast health exams, life-saving cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment,  birth control services and abortion services as well," said Hannah Brass Greer, with Planned Parenthood.

Federal judge overturns Idaho's pain-capable abortion law

A federal judge named B. Lynn Winmill has ruled that Idaho's 20-week abortion ban in unconstitutional. 

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled late Wednesday in favor of Jennie Linn McCormack, who was 33 at the time she decided to challenge the state's so-called fetal pain law and other abortion laws.

Judge Winmill relied, at least partially, on the disproved mythology of abortion laws pre-Roe created by NARAL lawyer Cyril Means which claim laws banning abortion were created solely to protect women.

"Historically, abortion statutes sought to protect pregnant females from third parties providing dangerous abortions," Winmill wrote. "As a result, most states' abortion laws traditionally criminalized the behavior of third parties to protect the health of pregnant women -- they did not punish women for obtaining an abortion. By punishing women, Idaho's abortion statute is therefore unusual."

Prolifers need not apply

Apparently, being prolife is a disqualification for serving on abortionist Kermit Gosnell's jury. 

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart treaded lightly, but directly, as he questioned potential jurors about their views this week. Those who expressed religious, ethical or moral qualms about abortion or the death penalty were promptly dismissed.

Lawsuits, bankruptcy lead to more abortion clinic closures in Michigan

Some times abortion advocates argue that providing abortions isn't a profitable business. I guess in some cases that could be correct if the abortionist (like Reginald Sharpe) keeps botching abortions and getting sued.

Livonia’s last remaining abortion clinic — The Women’s Advisory Center at 27549 W. Six Mile Road — permanently closed Saturday after operating in the city for more than 30 years.

Owner Dr. Reginald Sharpe, of Grosse Pointe Park, filed for bankruptcy Oct. 15 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, alleging assets of up to $50,000 and liabilities of $100,001 to $500,000. He was also the subject of three lawsuits, one filed April 29, 2011, by the family of a 26-year-old Detroit woman who died following an abortion performed by Sharpe, the other two filed Aug. 30, 2012, by women who said their reproductive organs were damaged as a result of abortions by Sharpe. One of the women had to have a hysterectomy.

Sharpe could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. Someone who answered a call to the clinic phone number Tuesday said simply, “The office is closed.” A message was left for Sharpe......

Sharpe owned clinics in Bloomfield Hills and Warren, which also have been closed, Miller said.

Sharpe has a long history of unsavory practices.  Superpages.com has 4 reviews of Sharpe's Woman Advisory Center in Detroit, 3 of which give 1 star. 

Life Links 3/5/13

A Wisconsin man has been charged with stalking after he allegedly threatened to kill a woman if she didn't have an abortion.

True Xiong, 46, demanded she undergo the procedure when she learned she was pregnant with his child in July, according to the complaint filed Monday in La Crosse County Circuit Court.

She refused, and Xiong continued with his threats to kill her and the child, sometimes calling her two or three times a day. Xiong said he

tampered with her car and rotated her bed, an action in Hmong culture meant to bring bad luck to the woman and her child, according to the complaint.

Xiong, who is married, threatened the woman in person when he could no longer reach her by phone.

A teacher who was fired by a Christian college after becoming pregnant is suing her former employer. 

Teri James, 29, told the news outlet that she did sign a two-page contract with San Diego Christian College that included a provision agreeing not to engage in "sexually immoral behavior including premarital sex."

"I needed a job in this economy and so I never thought that anything would happen," James explained to "Today."

But James said she was humiliated after being pulled into her supervisor's office last fall, where she was asked if she was pregnant and then was let go. After James lost her job, she claims the school offered a position to her now-husband, even though they were aware he'd had sex before getting married, too.

Planned Parenthood representatives testified against legislation to curtail Alaska's tax-funded abortions. 

One of their arguments was that limiting tax-funded abortions would be dangerous for women and would "put their health at risk."  They provided no evidence that states which have banned tax-funded abortions are more dangerous places to obtain abortions.  Another argument was that the government should stay out of abortion decisions (an odd argument to make when you want the government to pay for abortions). 

Alaska's Supreme Court ruling allows tax-funded abortions in cases that are "medically necessary" and then went on to define "medically necessary" in a way that allows anything to be considered "medically necessary."  Last year, Medicaid paid for about 1/3 of Alaska's abortions. 

The testimony by the Planned Parenthood representatives is great evidence that Planned Parenthood thinks that any abortion is "medically necessary" if a woman wants one. 

Amanda Marcotte's late-term abortion vs. rape conundrum

In a piece for the RH Reality Check, Amanda Marcotte argues that pregnancy from rape "is very common" and that women seeking abortions who are pregnant due to rape are frequent occurrences. 

Here are her statistics, which I won't argue with:

Pregnancy from rape is very common, and no amount of right-wing wishful thinking will change that fact. Pregnancy resulting from rape was estimated to be around 32,000 cases a year from a longitudinal study conducted in 1996. About half of those surveyed had an abortion, putting their estimates at 16,000 abortions needed a year. Guttmacher Institute's more recent statistics (which were collected differently) indicate that about 1 percent of women getting abortions were raped, which would put the number of rape-related pregnancies at around 12,000. This is not a small number......

The more conservative numbers would suggest a woman gets pregnant by rape every 43 minutes in this country, assuming half of them don't get abortions. That means 230 women a week in this country need to have abortions to end a pregnancy caused by.

So 12,000 abortions or 1% of all U.S. abortions is not a small number in Marcotte's opinion.  

Well....at least when it comes to abortions performed on women who were raped.  When it comes to late-term abortions, Marcotte has been singing a completely different tune for years.  Here's what Marcotte has to say about late-term abortions and their frequency.

In the American Prospect:

The noise might lead most people to think late-term abortions are far more common than they are, but only 1.5 percent of abortions occur after 20 weeks, and the incidence goes down dramatically each additional week into a pregnancy.

In Slate:

This just goes double for the late term abortions that Bachmann was discussing when she allowed that states should have a right to legalize them. Only1.5 percent of abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy, and most of those are done because of fetal indicators or maternal health problems.

At Alternet:

Anti-abortion propaganda tends to focus on late term fetuses and even pictures of babies and small children, falsely implying that what’s evacuated during your typical abortion is basically the same as a baby. They shouldn’t be able to get away with this, but instead should acknowledge that nine out of ten abortions take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

The RH Reality Check also has a history of downplaying the frequency of late-term abortions and saying they're rare.  Here's a Jodi Jacobson "fact-sheet" on them. 

Late-term abortions are very rare.  About one percent of all abortions performed in the United States occur after 21 weeks.  There are different definitions of what constitutes a "late term abortion," but most definitions refer to abortions at or after 24 weeks or in the third trimester.

So are 12,000-18,000 abortions a year a rare occurrence or a frequent one?

For abortion advocates, that apparently depends on if you're talking about abortions performed on women who were raped (very common) or late-term abortions (very rare). 

Overheard: Abortion advocate admits transvaginal ultrasounds are "a useful tool"

At RH Reality Check, uber abortion advocate Tracy Weitz defends the use of trans-vaginal ultrasounds and even praises them for allowing earlier abortions. 

Both supporters and opponents of abortion rights get another thing wrong: they misunderstand standard abortion practice. The use of trans-vaginal ultrasounds is routine among abortion providers. When I started this work three decades ago, pregnant women often had to wait until they were seven or eight weeks pregnant before providers felt comfortable performing an abortion—they needed to wait that long to confirm a pregnancy and its placement. With advances in ultrasound technology—specifically the ability to conduct trans-vaginal ultrasounds—providers can now verify an intrauterine pregnancy as early as 4 weeks. Women no longer have to wait through weeks of pregnancy symptoms and distress before having a desired abortion. Trans-vaginal ultrasound is a useful tool and shouldn't be maligned by abortion rights supporters seeking to make a quick exaggerated political point.

I'm not sure why she thinks abortion opponents misunderstand standard abortion practice.  One of the reasons for the mandatory ultrasound bills is to make sure shady abortionists aren't endangering women with substandard practices. 

The main reason she opposes mandatory ultrasound laws is she doesn't like abortionists having to do the ultrasounds themselves or having to be at the clinic when they are done. Basically, it's not preferable for circuit-riding abortionists.  Imagine the horror of an abortionist having to be at a clinic for two consecutive days! 

Let’s consider the minutiae of these laws and the significant problems they pose. To start, the policy requires that a physician perform the ultrasound at least one day in advance of the procedure and that this physician is the same physician who performs the abortion. There are several problems with this requirement. One, this type of mandate is contrary to the way health care is generally provided. The truth is that ultrasounds are routinely performed by competent non-physician staff in the abortion setting. There is no evidence that this way of providing care is unsafe or unsatisfactory.
Two, these mandates increase the costs of abortion. Requiring the physician to be present in the clinic on two consecutive days drives up the cost of abortion for the women seeking them. In most states, low-income women have to come up with between $500 and $1000 in cash to pay for an abortion.
- See more at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/03/01/challenges-in-the-trans-vaginal-ultrasound-debate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=challenges-in-the-trans-vaginal-ultrasound-debate#sthash.kSD0dcLE.dpuf

Let’s consider the minutiae of these laws and the significant problems they pose. To start, the policy requires that a physician perform the ultrasound at least one day in advance of the procedure and that this physician is the same physician who performs the abortion. There are several problems with this requirement. One, this type of mandate is contrary to the way health care is generally provided. The truth is that ultrasounds are routinely performed by competent non-physician staff in the abortion setting. There is no evidence that this way of providing care is unsafe or unsatisfactory.
Two, these mandates increase the costs of abortion. Requiring the physician to be present in the clinic on two consecutive days drives up the cost of abortion for the women seeking them. In most states, low-income women have to come up with between $500 and $1000 in cash to pay for an abortion.
- See more at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/03/01/challenges-in-the-trans-vaginal-ultrasound-debate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=challenges-in-the-trans-vaginal-ultrasound-debate#sthash.kSD0dcLE.dpuf

Let’s consider the minutiae of these laws and the significant problems they pose. To start, the policy requires that a physician perform the ultrasound at least one day in advance of the procedure and that this physician is the same physician who performs the abortion. There are several problems with this requirement. One, this type of mandate is contrary to the way health care is generally provided. The truth is that ultrasounds are routinely performed by competent non-physician staff in the abortion setting. There is no evidence that this way of providing care is unsafe or unsatisfactory.
Two, these mandates increase the costs of abortion. Requiring the physician to be present in the clinic on two consecutive days drives up the cost of abortion for the women seeking them. In most states, low-income women have to come up with between $500 and $1000 in cash to pay for an abortion.
- See more at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/03/01/challenges-in-the-trans-vaginal-ultrasound-debate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=challenges-in-the-trans-vaginal-ultrasound-debate#sthash.kSD0dcLE.dpuf

Abortionist Kermit Gosnell may be considering plea deal

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes there is talk of abortionist Kermit Gosnell possibly pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty.  Gosnell is accused of murdering 7 children who were born alive after late-term abortions and killing one woman who was seeking an abortion.  It would be hard to imagine that Gosnell would stand a chance at trial considering all the evidence against him and because many of his former employees have already pleaded guilty and could testify against him.  

Gosnell never appeared in court at the city's Criminal Justice Center. Instead, he was in a prisoner interview booth attached to the courtroom.

There he spent about two hours as defense attorney Jack McMahon shuttled between the booth and Assistant District Attorneys Edward Cameron and Joanne Pescatore in a nearby waiting room.

Gosnell's third wife, Pearl, 52; a teenage daughter; and an adult son periodically joined McMahon in the booth.

Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart carved out the morning from an ongoing murder trial in case a formal hearing was required. But by about 1 p.m., the shuttling ended and the lawyers left.

It could not be determined if Gosnell had rejected a plea offer, as a gag order was cited by Cameron, Pescatore, and McMahon in declining to comment.

A last-minute plea deal is not unusual in a case like Gosnell's, where a death sentence is possible if the jury finds a defendant guilty of first-degree murder.

Ohio abortion clinic forces women to have two transvaginal ultrasounds with RU-486 abortions

Abortion advocates from Amanda Marcotte to Robin Marty to Katie Halper vilified Indiana legislators for introducing legislation which would require women having RU-486 medication abortions to have two ultrasounds, one before the abortion and one after.

If you read the text of the legislation it doesn't require transvaginal ultrasounds just that the abortionist before the abortion "(c)onduct ultrasound imaging or oversee fetal ultrasound imaging" and after the abortion "confirm that the pregnancy is terminated by conducting ultrasound imaging." 

Marcotte called the requirement, "(r)itualized humiliation for the one in three American women who will get an abortion in her lifetime, at the behest of a prudish state."

Halper claimed, "The bill makes no medical sense, whatsoever, and is a clear attempt to discourage women from taking RU 486, by adding two unnecessary trips to an abortion clinic and two unnecessary uncomfortable procedures to it."

Is an abortion clinic which requires two ultrasounds (at least one of which and likely both are of the transvaginal variety) also making "no medical sense" and humiliating women?  Are they trying to discourage women from having abortions?  Are they prudish? 

Because that's what Preterm Abortion Clinic in Cleveland requires. 

From their Abortion Services - Medication page:

During your first appointment, you'll have lab tests, a medical history review, and an ultrasound.

From their follow-up appointment web page:

You'll take a pregnancy test and meet with a nurse to go over information about how you are doing physically. If you had a surgical abortion, you will have a pelvic exam. If you had a medication abortion, you will have a trans-vaginal ultrasound. (Please wear a two-piece outfit.)

Life Links 2/28/13

An Alabama health committee heard testimony on legislation to regulate abortion clinics.  One ob/gyn noted some of the problems created by circuit-riding abortionists.

Matt Phillips, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Montgomery, spoke in favor of the bill and said the hospital privileges were an important requirement.

"In these botched abortions, when the patient is in trouble, it's usually at night," Phillips said. "The abortionist has already gone back to their own town. Then the patient arrives at the ER, unattended. In that case, oftentimes, we're called to the ER to clean up the mess. Now I don't mind cleaning up the mess because I took a Hippocratic Oath to take care of people. But it's good care to be able to stay and take care of your patients."

Politico interviewed Ilyse Hogue about how NARAL will "redefine" choice.

The new head of NARAL Pro-Choice America is ready to redefine "choice." It's the right to end a pregnancy — and the right to start one, including access to pricey fertility treatment.

Once a baby is born, parents should have paid family leave to take care of them.....

"Choice is a dynamic thing," she told POLITICO in an interview in her new office last week. "It's not like the definition of choice 40 years ago necessarily is the same definition. It will always be access to safe and legal abortion. … But that's the beginning of the conversation; that's not the end of the conversation."

The Arkansas legislature have overridden Govenor Beebe's veto of their 20-week abortion ban. 

Abortion advocate Katie Stack notes required ultrasounds are "necessary part of abortion," "standard of care" and doesn't understand pro-choice outrage

On February 21, abortion advocate (and apparently abortion clinic employee) Katie Stack tweeted with fellow abortion advocates and pointed out the absurdity of attacking legislators who want to require ultrasounds before abortion.

Maybe she didn't get the memo that the whole "Those evil prolifers forcing women to have transvaginal ultrasounds!" is PR ploy designed to demonize prolifers for simply wanting abortion clinics to comply with basic safety standards.

Katie writes:

I'm going to be totally honest here - I don't really get the outrage about required ultrasounds (transvaginal or otherwise) for abortions.

Ultrasounds are required to determine a properly located pregnancy. It's a necessary part of abortion.

I would never go to a doctor who didn't do them before and after every procedure. It's a standard of care.

They are necessary in every case.

I'm talking about responsible medical care. You can have a positive urine urine test and not be preg, or have serious factors

Other abortion advocates (Robin Marty and Leah Torres) try to bring her back into the fold by claiming "they're expensive" and legislators shouldn't tell doctors what to do.  Stack is still resistant and even notes that the media hysteria (which Stack doesn't seem to understand was created by deceptive abortion advocates) led one of her patients to "freak out" because of her clinic's required ultrasound policy.

Yeah, what I don't get is demonizing a transvaginal ultrasound when they are so often part of good medicine.

I guess. It seems like we have bigger fights. And it makes it real awkward to be a provider who requires it.

Yes. I guess my beef is with the media sensationalizing ultrasound as if its cruel or something.

I had a pt the other day freak out about our required ultrasounds because of what she saw on Maddow.

 

Life Links 2/27/13

TIME provides more information on the teenage couple in Texas who sued to prevent the young woman's parents from forcing her to have an abortion. 

The baby is due Sept. 16. According to Evan, he and R.E.K. — they began dating last summer — knew right away they would have the baby. "We've always been against abortion," says Evan, who wants to become a welder (R.E.K. wants to attend nursing school). "As soon as we found out she was pregnant, we knew we wanted to keep it."
.......
It remains to be seen just how involved the girl's parents will be with their new grandchild. While Burnside and her husband, who is not Evan's biological father, are being supportive, the girl's parents may find it harder to play a role: days after the judge's ruling, Evan, a high school sophomore, married his pregnant girlfriend, a junior, in what Burnside calls a "shotgun" wedding.

The BBC reports on the research of French scientists who have discovered that unborn children can decipher speech as early as 3 months before birth. 

The evidence comes from detailed brain scans of 12 infants born prematurely.

At just 28 weeks' gestation, the babies appeared to discriminate between different syllables like "ga" and "ba" as well as male and female voices.

Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the French team said it was unlikely the babies' experience outside the womb would have affected their findings.

A couple in Virginia have filed a $1.7 million lawsuit against Langley Air Force Base Hospital after the hospital allegedly misdiagnosed a healthy unborn child as a molar pregnancy and then aborted the child.

Heather Fergurson, 32, of Chesapeake, Va., filed the suit against the federal government this month, alleging hospital personnel performed a dilation and curettage procedure April 18, 2011, after medical staff misinterpreted ultrasound and other tests to conclude Fergurson had a molar pregnancy -- a rare mass inside the uterus that can change into a rapidly spreading cancer -- The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.

Fergurson and her husband, Army Sgt. Maj. Charles Fergurson, 56, have been unable to conceive again, the newspaper said.

Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat, vetoed Arkansas' 20-week fetal pain/abortion ban bill yesterday.  It appears the legislature has more than enough votes to override his veto. 

Life Links 2/25/13

Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mountains has issued a press release, which is basically a "no-comment," in response to Ayanna Byer's lawsuit against them for forced abortion. 

Apart from these legal requirements, Planned Parenthood has long maintained its own high standard for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of each of our patients. Thus, we cannot comment on the care we provide to any particular patient, or confirm that any individual has sought our care.

"Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of the patients we serve."

The Abortion Gang has a post (language warning) regarding Jennifer Morbelli's death which boils down to the following absurd claims: Prolifers are bad people for reporting Morbelli's death, prolifers apparently had no information about Morbelli's death even though everything leading prolifers asserted has turned out to be accurate, we still don't know if Morbelli's health/life was threatened by the pregnancy, and when prolifers bring up Morbelli's death and Carhart's incompetence abortion advocates should stick their fingers in their ears and "not engage."


In India, an abortionist and others have been sentenced to jail time for the 2003 death of a woman due to an illegal late-term abortion. 

Overheard: Charles Murray on the importance of competent parents

From Bloomberg:

Is there anything that money can buy for these children? I am sure that Head Start buys some of them a few hours a day in a safer, warmer and more nurturing environment than the one they have at home. Whenever that’s true, I don’t care about long-term outcomes. Accomplishing just that much is a good in itself. But how often is it true? To what extent does Head Start systematically fail to serve the children who need those few hours of refuge the most?

Asking those questions forces us to confront a reality that politicians and other opinion leaders have ducked for decades: America has far too many children born to men and women who do not provide safe, warm and nurturing environments for their offspring -- not because there’s no money to be found for food, clothing and shelter, but because they are not committed to fulfilling the obligations that child-bearing brings with it.

This head-in-the-sand attitude has to change. If we don’t know how to substitute for absent, uncaring or incompetent parenting with outside interventions, then we have to think about how we increase the odds that children are born to present, caring and competent parents.

Life Links 2/21/13

At First Things, Pete Spiliakos writes about a winning strategy for prolife candidates. 

This "speak only when spoken to" approach to abortion seems cautious, but it is really foolhardy. It allows Democrats and their media allies decide when and how the abortion issue is discussed. So in a country in which third trimester abortions are legal on-demand, our abortion discussion centers on questions like "So why are you against the removal of a tiny clump of rapist-produced cells?" Republicans not choosing to talk about abortion doesn't mean that we don't talk about abortion. It means that we only talk about the issue when and how liberals choose.

Richard Doerflinger writes about ways to reduce abortion including fighting poverty, end tax-funded abortions, regulating the abortion industry, upholding strong marriages and promoting sexual risk avoidance for the young. 


Planned Parenthood will close two Iowa clinics in March.  One of the clinics set to close (Spencer Health Center) currently offers abortion services.

Medical examiner finds Jennifer Morbelli died of abortion complications

Both the Washington Post and Newsday are covering the medical examiner's report on Jennifer Morbelli's death from abortion complications.  A full autopsy report will take a couple of months.  From Newsday:

The chief medical examiner's office in Baltimore lists "amniotic fluid embolism following termination of pregnancy" as one of two causes of death for Jennifer McKenna Morbelli, 29, said Bruce Goldfarb, spokesman for the medical examiner's office.

The second is "disseminated intravascular coagulation," a condition that occurs when small blood clots form in the blood vessels, according to Morbelli's death certificate. Eventually, the proteins needed for clotting can become depleted, which can lead to extensive bleeding throughout the body.

The Washington Post story notes that friends say abortionist LeRoy Carhart is "devastated" by Morbelli's death.  He didn't return Newsday's call. 

Ilyse Hogue's favorite witch still around, practicing witchcraft

When I posted on NARAL president Ilyse Hogue's fondness of her former cell mate Starhawk, I had no clue the witch was still at it.  Starhawk's got an official web page, an organization she founded called Reclaiming, a FaceBook page (she has nearly 33,000 likes!), a Wikipedia page, she writes the occasional column for the Washington Post's On Faith section and apparently does some public speaking.

Shouldn't Hogue invite Star Hawk to NARAL's next conference for a workshop?

We keep hearing how the pro-choice movement is divided by generations and the old abortion advocates don't give the young abortion advocates enough power, credit, etc.   Shouldn't Starhawk be allowed the chance to buoy everyone's spirit with the Earth's energy and use her spiritual dance to impart the disparate groups a feeling of unity?

The story we've heard before

NARAL's Blog for Choice has posted a video of a woman named Dana Weinstein discussing the reasoning behind her 31-week abortion. They labeled this "The Story Anti-Choice Politicians Don't Want You to Hear." Dana's daughter had multiple brain defects and was told her daughter would most likely seize to death upon delivery. Dana was interviewed in 2011 by Mother Jones about her abortion and the National Abortion Federation had her speak at a press conference in 2011. The NAF speech is very similar to the NARAL speech except the NAF speech includes the name of diagnosed conditions and a few extra details (including the cost of her abortion and how she sued her insurance company to pay for it).

Items of note:

 During the video, Dana describes her unborn child as "my baby."

She claims she "needed" to have an abortion.

 Dana seems to believe her child felt pain while in the womb. She even describes aborting her child as "end(ing) her (the child's) pain." That kind of flies in the face of various attempts by abortion advocates to deny or undermine the idea that abortion could cause a child pain.

The reasoning is so odd to me. Dana acts like it would be horrible for women to carry a pregnancy to term that will result in the death of the child while acting like abortion is some cure-all for this. The only difference in her case was 7-9 weeks of her carrying the child. Her child still died. It's not like abortion magically made the child not exist.

Her heart ached when she felt her child move after she received the diagnosis. Was her heart cured because she choose to kill the child?

 Every time I hear one of these stories, I'm struck by the aborting parent's desire to control the situation. The diagnosis of fetal anomaly is something they can't control and abortion becomes a way for them to regain that control.

I don't see why pro-choice people think this is such a great testimony for them. People are naturally sympathetic that Dana's child was diagnosed with fetal anomalies but does your average person really sympathize with the decision to abort the child instead of bringing her to birth, especially when the child is 31 weeks?

Life Links 2/20/13

Manuel Montalvo's reaction to news that his wife was carrying two sets of identical twins is classic. 

Manuel's immediate reaction was jubilation.

"The first thing I said was ‘Home run!' and then I started jumping up and down," he said.

The Montalvo's doctor says this delivery is a very rare event.

"The incidence of spontaneous quadruplets is somewhere of the order of 1 in 500,000," said Dr. Brian Kirshon, a specialist in maternal and fetal medicine at Houston Perinatal Associates. "And then if you take two sets of identical twins in the quadruplet set, the incidence must be one in many, many millions. It's an extremely rare occurrence."

NARAL's take on the teen whose parents allegedly attempted to force her to have an abortion is not-surprising (they argue it confirms the importance of "choice") but it leaves me wondering: "If you're really in favor of everyone's choice, then why is it that a prolife group had the resources to help this young woman while I've never heard of a pro-choice group protecting women from forced abortion."


National Review has an editorial on Governor Cuomo's attempt to make abortion even more accessible in a state which is home to the nation's abortion capital.

New York does not want for access to abortion. Two in five pregnancies end in abortion in New York City; the rate for black women is 60 percent. The statewide figures are lower, but they are high enough. There are about 250 abortion clinics in the state, and 93 percent of the state's women live in a county that is home to an abortion facility, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Nationally, abortion kills the equivalent of the combined populations of Atlanta and Cleveland every year. All that with no help from Governor Cuomo.

Governor Cuomo's bill is not about easing access to abortion — those bloody skids already are well-greased. The issue is political domination. The abortion party does not brook resistance, and it steadfastly seeks to ensure that everybody has a hand in its grisly business: taxpayers, employers, priests. All must be implicated. If a religious hospital declines to provide abortions, then it must be forced to do so. If a counseling center treats adoption as preferable to abortion, it will either change its mind or have its mind changed for it by the gentle persuasion of the State of New York.

NARAL's president Ilyse Hogue used pagan rituals and the Earth's energy to build unity after being arrested at WTO protests in 1999

Ilyse Hogue (via Netroots Nation)

Yesterday, the New Republic published an article on Ilyse Hogue, NARAL Pro-Choice America's new leader.  The article is entitled, "Not in the Mood for Mellowing NARAL's new president plans an aggressive approach to the abortion debate."

What I found most interesting was that Hogue was arrested during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle.  Hogue discussed sharing her cell with a "witch" named Star Hawk in the LA Times.

Star Hawk, the Northern California witch, offered training seminars on the uses of magic at the "convergence site," which is at the Welcome Center. Although Star Hawk was not immediately available for an interview, fans praised her talent at using ancient pagan rituals, such as the spiral dance, to impart to the disparate group a feeling of unity, "the sense that we are all part of each other," according to Ilyse Hogue, one of the protesters.

Hogue, of San Francisco, recalled that she and Star Hawk were arrested at the World Trade Organization melee in Seattle and landed in the same cell. The witch, Hogue said, buoyed everyone's spirits in jail by "recognizing that the Earth has its own energy" and tapping into it to build human solidarity.

Remember this when pro-choice advocates claims prolifers are anti-science.  At around the age of 30, their leader, with the help of a witch named Star Hawk, was magically obtaining the Earth's energy by spiritual dance in an effort to build solidarity. 

You can't make this up!

Also amazing is how the New Republic article, written by Molly Redden, links to the LA Times article but doesn't mention any of the crazy, witchcraft, ancient pagan ritual, Earth's energy mumbo-jumbo.  The leader of one of America's biggest pro-choice organizations was praising witchcraft 13 years ago and that's not worth a mention?  Are you kidding me? 

Update on Michigan abortion provider whose clinic was closed

My local NBC affiliate continues their investigation into Robert Alexander, an ex-con abortionist whose Muskegon clinic was recently closed.  The new report tries to track him down and highlights how previous complaints against him were closed without investigation by a former mentor. 

After his clinic was closed, the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society reported he was seen working at an abortion clinic in Detroit.  A worker at that clinic says Alexander doesn't work there anymore.  No one answered the door at Alexander's home in Plainwell and an address in Detroit Alexander gave the city of Muskegon is boarded up. 

Schuitmaker wants abortion doc hearing

Parents agree not to coerce teen daughter into abortion

CNN and the Houston Chronicle have stories regarding the agreement on the case where a Texas teen sued her parents after they allegedly attempted to coerce her into an abortion.  From the Chronicle:

The recently filed lawsuit ended Monday with an agreement that the teen's parents would not use physical force or psychological coercion. They also agreed to pay half of the hospital bill if the girl has not married when the baby is delivered and let her use her car to go to school and work.

CNN's story includes an interview with the child's father who seems mature for a 16-year-old, while the video shows the teen's father swinging his jacket at TV cameras. 

An abortion advocate finally notes death of woman from abortion

If any abortion advocate was going to actually publicly mention that a woman died this month from a legal 33 week abortion it would have to been Amanda Marcotte and as usual Marcotte finds a way to turn this woman's death at the hands of abortionist LeRoy Carhart into an attack on prolifers. 

In a number of ways, Marcotte desperately tries to strain reality to conform to her twisted worldview. 

She begins by arguing that Jennifer Morbelli's abortion was medically necessary. The title of piece claims the abortion was "medically indicated."  She later expounds on this:

Here's the reality: Maryland prohibits post-viability abortions unless the mother's health is in danger or the fetus has a serious defect. We may not know the particulars of this woman's case, but we know that she had a medically necessary reason for her abortion, and was likely referred by her obstetrician.

First, let's start with Maryland's law.  Marcotte links the NARAL's write-up of the law.  Here's the actual text of the law.  Women can have abortions after viability if:

(i)      The termination procedure is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or

(ii)      The fetus is affected by genetic defect or serious deformity or abnormality.

So any genetic defect will do.  It doesn't have to be "serious."

Second, let's point out that we already know the abortion was for some kind of fetal abnormality.  While, we don't know which one, the abortion wasn't performed for Morbelli's health or life.  There's a reason Marcotte doesn't mention this.  She wants her readers to be under the false impression that the procedure (occurring over multiple days at a non-hospital facility) was medically necessary (it wasn't) and was possibly being done to save Morbelli's life.  If the abortion was done to save Morbelli's life, she wouldn't have traveled from New York to Maryland and undergone multiple days of dilation. 

Marcotte then claims prolifers somehow believe Morbelli was a moron.

To paint her as some sort of moron who was hoodwinked into an abortion because she was too dumb to know better is beyond vile. That's a level of misogyny that assumes women have no brains at all, that assumes women are too stupid to make even the most basic decisions about their lives with the assistance of expert advice.

I haven't read any prolifer paint Morbelli as a moron.  Not one and Marcotte, unsurprisingly, doesn't provide one. While a number of prolifers struggle to understand the decision to abort a viable, wanted child because of a fetal anomaly, I haven't read one claiming she was "hoodwinked into an abortion because she was too dumb."

Marcotte's concluding paragraph is a long-list of strawmen and name-calling in a lame attempt to get abortion advocates to pay no attention to the dangers of LeRoy Carhart circuit-riding ways and his negligence in this case. 

They're idiots, pretending not to know that surgery carries risk and that doesn't mean that people have to weigh benefits against the risk.

Which prolifer has ignored the risk of surgery?  Many prolifers noted their problem with Carhart performing the abortion and then flying back to Nebraska and not returning the Morbelli's family's calls. 

And they're deeply, deeply sadistic, not only in wanting to force women to undergo dangerous pregnancies gone horribly wrong, but also not even letting the few who pass away have any peace from their vicious shaming of women for making complex reproductive decisions, even women who, for medical reasons, had no good choice at all.

And the evidence that carrying this child was dangerous for Morbelli's before she went to Maryland and put herself in Carhart's hands? 

Any attempts to pretend that the anti-choice movement isn't a bunch of organized misogynists who mindlessly want to sacrifice women's futures and even lives for the hell of it should be put to rest by this disgraceful abuse of a woman's memory, simply because they disagree with her choice to end a pregnancy gone wrong.

So prolifers aren't allowed to mention the name of a woman who died from a late-term abortion but abortion advocates can shout Savita's name from the mountaintops?

After ignoring Moribelli's death for a week, Marcotte stands on her pedestal, intentional deceives her readers about the situation, makes up prolife arguments from scratch, never mentions Carhart's failings and acts like prolifers are the ones who hate women. 

Man says men shouldn't talk about abortion

Tim White from Highland, Michigan provides his contribution for the worst letter to the editor of year. He thinks Roe v. Wade was decided in 1963. Short, sweet and uninformed.

Leave it for women to decide

When are the abortion-rights male zealots in the Michigan Legislature going to address real issues in this state -- such as employment, education and crime -- and leave women to decide these highly personal issues for themselves?

These women's rights were affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court 50 years ago, yet the Michigan Taliban continues to carry on their tired and obnoxious war.

Tim White

Highland

Baby's body found in Houston

Houston police have found the body of the child which was thrown in a trash container after a woman apparently self-aborted. The woman originally lied about where she put the child but police found the body at her sister's home.

Texas police search for child's body after 5-month abortion

Police in Houston are searching for the body of a child who was apparently aborted and then placed in a trash can.

Police were searching at a home Tuesday on Tambourine Drive in Stafford. The 29-year-old woman said she gave birth at the home this morning and placed the fetus in a trash can, said Sgt. James Racus of the Houston Police Department.

Police had not yet found the fetus early Tuesday afternoon.

Racus said the woman sought treatment at Memorial Hermann Hospital Southwest because she was bleeding. She told a nurse at the hospital that she had a baby and wrapped it up in a blanket and placed in an apartment complex in north Houston.

Medical staff at the hospital estimated the woman had been 20-25 weeks pregnant at the time she allegedly gave herself the abortion, Racus said. So far police have been unable to find the child at the home, but they're still processing the scene there.

Officers think the woman is an illegal immigrant, which is why she lied about where to find the fetus.

Life Links 2/13/13

USA Today picked up the story of Jennifer Morbelli's death. 


The Stir's Adriana Velez is the first pro-choicer that I've seen attempt to comment on Morbelli's death (quite a difference from Savita Halappanavar).  A search at the RH Reality Check web site for Morbelli returns 0 results.  Velez thinks one must be "a heartless ideologue" to protest the clinic whose practices led to Morbelli's death. One wonders if she felt the same way regarding the protests after Halappanavar's death. 


A woman in Michigan gave birth to a 10-pound baby on the day she learned she was pregnant. 

Last week, Linda Ackley went to the doctor because she had some bloating in her abdomen.

Believing she might have a hernia, the doctor sent her to an Allegiance Health facility for a computerized tomography or CT scan.

The scan revealed she was pregnant.

She would deliver in three to four weeks, medical professionals at first told the Ackleys.

After a second ultrasound, however, the couple learned Linda Ackley had carried the baby a full term, 40 or more weeks.

In India, a man was sentenced to 7 years in prison after raping his cousin and coercing her to have an abortion. 

Gupta assured the girl that he would marry her and developed physical relations with her on the false promise of marriage, the police said.

It said that consequently, the girl became pregnant and the accused took her to a hospital, where against her wishes she was made to undergo abortion on the pretext that it was done to save her life.

More details in Texas abortion coercion case

The local CBS station has new details from a Courthouse News Service story regarding the case of the Texas teen who is suing her parents and claiming they are trying to force her to have an abortion.

The complaint states that the girl lives with the baby's father and when they told her parents, Jeffrey and Denise Koen, they threatened her and tried to coerce her into having an abortion.

"Denise informed them that R.E.K. having the baby was the biggest mistake of her life, that Denise had already had four abortions, and it was the right thing to do in this situation," the complaint states, according to Courthouse News Service.

The lawsuit accuses Denise Koen of suggesting to slip her daughter an abortion pill.

R.E.K. claims that her father says the decision to have an abortion rests with him.

"On 2/1/2013, defendant Jeffrey Koen came to the house of the paternal grandparents and demanded that plaintiff ‘stop playing house' and have the abortion," the lawsuit says. "He was screaming and yelling at her, making verbal threats to enter the paternal grandparents' house and ‘drag her little ass out of there' if he had to. He said he would put a stop to this today."

Denise Watts Koen has a FaceBook page where she recently recommended the ABC story on the case.  That story doesn't mention her by name and the father claims the lawsuit allegations are false. 

We spoke to the teen's father who claims the allegations are false. He says he believes someone is putting his daughter up to this lawsuit and had no further comment about the case.

The Courthouse News Service story notes the plaintiff claims she has threatening text messages from her father and notes the paternal grandparents were the ones who claim Denise suggested slipping her daughter an abortion pill. 

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard provides muddled pro-choice thinking

More, a women's magazine, has various opinions from women who went from one side of the abortion debate to the other. One of the "Pro-Life to Pro-Choice" conversions is Tulsi Gabbard, a newly elected congresswoman from Hawaii. Congresswoman Gabbard says her experience in the Middle East changed her mind.

I saw Iraqi women who were required to cover themselves from head to toe. I remember that on my second deployment, in Kuwait, there was a ban on any kind of celebration by locals or foreigners on New Year's Eve, because this was a Western unholy holiday. Religious police—undercover agents—would be out in force to make sure there was no piano playing, no music, no fireworks in the Western hotels or anywhere in the country. Typically, these kinds of edicts were backed by guns, fines and imprisonment. Witnessing restrictions touched me to the core......

I grew up thinking I personally would not choose to have an abortion and therefore that's what the government should reflect. My own views, based on Hindu principles, haven't changed. Hinduism teaches that the individual atman, or soul, is present from conception. What has changed is my conviction about what our government's role should be in our personal lives. I realized that no government official, bureaucrat, politician or judge should impose his or her moral views on any other individual.

So according to Congresswoman Gabbard, the unborn are living human beings with souls but she doesn't think it's the government's role to protect living human beings with souls. Are there any other living human beings Congresswoman Gabbard doesn't think should be protected by the government? Does she believe the government shouldn't impose the moral view that slavery is wrong? Does she believe the government shouldn't impose the moral view that killing abortion providers is wrong?

This is pro-choice thinking at its worst. Her argument is that because some government interventions are wrong (ban on western celebrations, women having to cover themselves) that all government interventions based on morality are wrong.  I doubt she'll be using this argument during various other issues where the government becomes involved in personal lives.  

Life Links 2/12/13

Jennifer McKenna-Morbelli's death after abortion was covered by News 12 Long Island.


A federal judge has blocked Arizona's attempt to prevent Planned Parenthood from getting Medicaid funds.

In an 11-page ruling, Judge Neil Wake said legislation approved last year violates federal laws which say that those enrolled in the Medicaid program are entitled to get their services from any qualified medical provider.

He said there was no evidence presented that Planned Parenthood is not qualified to offer family planning services. Instead, Wake said, the law is simply an attempt by legislators to prevent Planned Parenthood from getting any federal or state funds, no matter for what they are used.

In New Mexico, a man has been charged after attacking his pregnant girlfriend. The district attorney will also appeal to state lawmakers to pass a law to add punishments when someone attacks a pregnant woman and her child.

Rose said the fetus survived the attack by Andrew Thomas, 26, who is accused of punching and beating Jessica Aguilera with a broom handle at the home they share in Logan. Thomas is also charged with felony attempted murder and kidnapping and misdemeanor interfering with communications and criminal damage to property.

Aguilera told officers that Thomas had been drinking and was arguing with his mother on the phone when she told him "it's stupid the way you threaten your mother."

According to court records, the couple began arguing with Aguilera deciding to leave. She said Thomas took her cell phone and threw objects at the car as she attempted to flee.

Thomas opened the door of the vehicle and pulled Aguilera out by her hair, punching her as he dragged her back into the house, according to court records.

A 16-year-old girl in Texas is suing her parents and claiming they're trying to force her into an abortion. 

Abortionist LeRoy Carhart suddenly doesn't want to talk to the media

Just a couple of weeks ago at the Sundance Film Festival, abortionist LeRoy Carhart was willing to be photographed, treated like a star and talk to the media about his late-term abortion business. He even shared a wild, nonsensical conspiracy theory with the Daily Beast.

Dr. Carhart believes these anti-abortion crusaders are part of a larger plan concocted by the Republican Party to make women and minorities second-class citizens.

"If all abortions become completely illegal in the United States, then women can't compete in the marketplace so corporate America becomes all-male—and unfortunately would become all white male, since minorities are the ones who need abortions and can't pay for them," he says. "Rich, white people can go find one. This whole thing is a conspiracy, as far as I'm concerned, to keep the WASPs in power."

Now that one of his patients is dead, he is suddenly as unavailable to media as he was when his patient was having complications and looking for help.

Via Omaha World-Herald:

Carhart did not return messages left on his cellphone Monday. A woman who answered the phone at his Bellevue clinic said he would not be available for comment.

Via the Washington Post:

Carhart did not respond to requests for an interview.

North Carolina abortion clinic closes

Via News-Record.com, A Woman's Choice abortion clinic in Greensboro is no longer in business.

It was just a week ago Saturday that the protesters showed up on the sidewalk along the strip of businesses and found an empty parking lot. The protesters said a woman who stopped by to schedule an appointment found the door locked and told them the office had been stripped of furniture.

No notes have been left on the door, and the clinic's listed telephone number transfers calls to an unaffiliated abortion clinic in High Point.

Dr. Carl Maurice Hoffman, the listed owner and operator of A Woman's Choice, could not be found to comment.

Trent University rejects prolife club in name of inclusivity

LifeNews reports on more intolerance for prolife views at a Canadian university.

Students applying to form a pro-life club at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario were rejected by the Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) last week on grounds that such a club would be ‘exclusive'. Trent Lifeline has secured legal counsel and is demanding that the decision be reversed and club status granted.

"The purpose of Trent Lifeline is to engage with the student body regardless of what someone's position is on abortion," said Heather Anne Robertson, President of Trent Lifeline. "Anyone can bring their ideas and opinions to the discussion. To exclude us in the name of being inclusive is absurd."

In response to its application, Trent Lifeline received an email from the TCSA Club & Group Coordinator informing them that "campaigning for pro life or pro choice is not allowed on campus as well since there is [sic] so many opinions to this it can lead to a very exclusive group, while all clubs at Trent University must be inclusive." After requesting more information on the policies upon which this decision was based, Lifeline was informed that a policy could not be sent "as there is one working under way."

From a listing of student organizations at Trent University, it's rather clear there is no "inclusive" policy.  A few organizations which would seem rather exclusive (especially if used the way the TCSA Coordinator does) include South Asians at Trent (SAAT), Trent African and Caribbean Students' Union, The Wiccan Rede, Trent Christian Fellowship, Trent Japanese Association, Trent Jewish Students Association, Trent Pagan Circle and Trent Muslim Students' Association. 

Life Links 2/8/13

Abortionist LeRoy Carhart killed another woman during a late-term abortion.  Cue media silence. 

A 29-year old woman died yesterday as the result of fatal complications suffered during an abortion at 33 weeks. Late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart performed the abortion at the Germantown Reproductive Health Center in Germantown, Maryland.

The New Mexico Board of Medicine cleared abortionist Shelley Sella of gross negligence for her role in a botched abortion on a woman who was 35 weeks pregnant.  There's no quote in article from the Board of Medicine so they apparently have no problem with abortionist doing things regular ob/gyns shouldn't do. 


The FDA has approved an ultrasound app.

According to FastCompany, the FDA recently approved MobiUS, a medical ultrasound imaging system made by medical device company Mobisante. The system basically consists of an ultrasound wand, a smart phone, and a clever app. That's it!

Just like the doctor's office version of such a system, the MobiUS allows a medical practitioner to view, manipulate, and analyze ultrasound images instantly. As a bonus though, he or she will be able to transfer the data wirelessly to wherever it needs to go.

This seems like something which could be problematic for the abortion industry.

No, it's not about transvaginal ultrasounds and how the media is a tool of abortion advocates

MSNBC has an article by Aliyah Frumin on prolife legislation in Michigan which she claims "would essentially require all women seeking an abortion to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound first." H.B. 4187 (which for some reason isn't linked to by Frumin) would require abortionists to perform an ultrasound at least 2 hours before an abortion and require them to use the "most technologically advanced ultrasound equipment available at that location." 

There's nothing in the bill requiring transvaginal ultrasounds.  Not a peep.  The only reason someone would think it was about transvaginal ultrasounds is because an abortion advocate claims it is.  The only reason an abortion advocate would claim it's about transvaginal ultrasounds is because it worked in Virginia.   

In Frumin's piece she dismisses the obvious truth that it's not about transvaginal ultrasounds because an aide to sponsor of the bill said it was.

Now, while the bill doesn't explicitly say "transvaginal"ultrasound, an aide to Republican state Rep. Joel Johnson—who introduced the legislation—has previously confirmed that the procedure would be required.

Hmmm.... Really? He did. He confirmed it would require a transvaginal ultrasound?

Frumin links to this story in Raw Story by Eric W. Dolan as evidence. Dolan writes,

Though the bill only mandates a "diagnostic ultrasound examination of the fetus," an aide for Johnson confirmed a transvaginal ultrasound would be required.

Dolan's source for this claim is a Talking Points Memo post which says:

Johnson was not available for comment Wednesday, but his legislative aide, Ben Frederick, confirmed to TPM that, while the legislation does not specifically mention transvaginal ultrasounds, the bill aims to require women to undergo an ultrasound prior to receiving an abortion.

Wait a second.  He didn't confirm anything about transvaginal ultrasounds.  He confirmed the legislation requires an ultrasound (not a transvaginal ultrasound) yet the unabated laziness (Frumin) or intentional deception (Dolan) by media types turns an interview with a legislative staffer basically from, "No, it's not referring to transvaginal ultrasounds" to "Yes, transvaginal ultrasounds will be required."

Here's the simple formula: Liberal advocates say something deceptive and provide no evidence. Left-wing blogs go cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Liberal establishment media then picks up the story and runs with it without checking any facts.

I don't think I could despise the media anymore.

Life Links 2/7/13

Slate's William Saletan (a pro-choice writer) argues prolifers get legislation passed because they care more than pro-choicers. 

To cancel out that advantage, pro-choicers have to raise the intensity level. When the percentage of respondents who call abortion critical, very important, or a deal-breaker rises toward 30 percent or more, the balance of power begins to shift.

Think about that when you see pro-lifers winning elections, passing laws, and marching in the cold. They don't win because they're a majority. They win because they care enough to fight.

At Public Discourse, Matthew Franck writes on the latest HHS mandate "accommodation."

But in the cramped freedom calculus of the Obama administration, one of these identically situated employers—all, in truth, equally religious—gets an exemption, another gets an "accommodation," and a third gets nothing at all. The government has decided that religious freedom is at its maximum in houses of worship, is attenuated in charities, colleges, and other institutions, and is nonexistent elsewhere in the productive economy.

This in fact has been its argument in courts of law—that for-profit employers have no religious freedom that the government is bound to respect. The administration has conceded that religious freedom is at stake in the struggle over its mandate, but it has dictated for whom that freedom exists, when it is truly the common possession of all.

The AP did a story regarding the medical privacy angle of the 35-week abortion botched by abortionist Shelley Sella. 


El Paso Times notes the death of infamous abortionist Raymond Showery.

In 1981, Showery was accused of trying to run an El Paso Times reporter off the road while the doctor was being investigated on a number of allegations made by his patients.

In 1983, Showery was found guilty of the 1979 murder of a 5- to 7-month-old fetus he had attempted to abort. Showery's employees testified they saw the baby girl attempting to breathe and claimed that Showery smothered and drowned her, though a corpse was never found, according to El Paso Times archives. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

While free on bail pending an appeal on the murder charge, Showery was charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a 28-year-old mother of four who died from hemorrhaging after an abortion he performed at his Southside Medical Center in 1984. The woman's uterus and a uterine artery were perforated during the procedure.

Prosecutors charged that Showery used inadequately trained staff, failed to properly treat the tear, delayed treatment and delayed transferring her to a hospital, news archives show.

Abortion Gang member lets the "b" word slip

I find it so strange when abortion advocate attack prolifers for using the term "baby" to describe the unborn and then they do it themselves (often when they're not talking about abortion).

From Abortion Gang member Kaitlyn on a post (language warning) about the difficulties of pregnancy (my emphasis):

I have been exposed to more images of fake baby-bumps that I have been exposed to actual people’s real, pregnant bodies. As a result, I thought pregnant bodies had sort of big, round, firm bellies, like a safe case for the baby – like a guitar in a guitar case. THIS IS NOT TRUE. A pregnant belly is a lot more like a sac that an alien is growing in, and it’s freaky. Babies move in-utero and sit on your spine, on your vital organs – one friend, while in-utero, sent her mother to bed for several months because she just loved to lie on a major artery and she CUT OFF HER MOTHER’S BLOOD SUPPLY. Once, my friend’s baby reached it’s little hand out, from the womb, to high-five me. I could see a hand trying to reach through my friend’s stomach, from the inside. Guys, pregnancy is horror-movie-level WEIRD, and that is no joke.

Life Links 2/5/13

The Ottawa Citizen reports that Norman Barwin, a leading abortion advocate in Canada, had his medical license revoked for 2 months for medical misconduct after he admitted to inseminating 3 women with the incorrect sperm. Barwin has also agreed to end his fertility practice. Before settling lawsuits, the families believed Barwin may have used his own sperm.

As part of his plea bargain, Barwin agreed that he inseminated three women with the wrong sperm, but according to his lawyer Karen Hamway, he was unsure how the errors happened.

"There must have been some type of human error," she said, as Barwin's victims listened from the back of the small hearing room. "He cannot explain how the error occurred." ......

He is past-president of the Canadian Fertility Society, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada and Planned Parenthood Ottawa.

The Daily Times is covering the New Mexico Medical Board's upcoming ruling on abortionist Shelley Sella's botched 35-week abortion.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that an attorney for the New Mexico Medical Board maintains Dr. Shelley Sella breached the standard of practice in treating a 26-year-old New York woman who had a uterine rupture during a procedure to abort a 35-week-old fetus with severe brain abnormalities.

According to a transcript of the disciplinary hearing and other documents, the patient had to be rushed to University Hospital after the rupture. She ultimately recovered, but may not be able to carry a future pregnancy to full term.

I wonder if Sella's problems with the medical board are mentioned in the documentary movie featuring her and other abortionists who do 3rd trimester abortions.


Jonathan Kay argues that Canada should have a law setting limits on abortion.

For the sake of argument, let me argue the issue on Ms. Bennett's terms. In particular, I am going to accept her contention that Canada's professional medical societies are enforcing a de facto national abortion policy — a policy whereby, absent medical need or serious fetal abnormalities, women cannot receive abortion services past 24 weeks gestation.

Having accepted this contention, my question is this: How is this status quo meaningfully different from a federal abortion law that sets 24 weeks as the gestational limit for elective abortion? The current Canadian policy, as Ms. Bennett describes and praises it, is basically a civil variant of the one encoded in the criminal laws of just about every European nation — except that most of those countries generally have gestational limits well below 24 weeks (12-18 weeks is typical)......

When politicians do finally muster the courage to tackle this issue, there will be a hearty political battle over where the gestational limit should rest. But I have never understood the argument that we should avoid such a political battle lest it be too "divisive." Britain recently has had a vigorous debate about whether that country's gestational abortion limit should be rolled back from 24 weeks to 20 weeks — yet the country seems to have survived the experience. Why is Canada, alone among Western nations, seen by many of its citizens as so delicate that we must be spared any real debate about such an important moral question?

Widespread use of abortion pills without prescription in India

I wonder if abortion advocates who pushed for the widespread distribution of RU-486 pills would have ever imagine something like this could happen in a country where abortion is legal.

According to them, last three-four years had seen abuse of abortion pills in the city. Swamped with cases, where both married and single women took these pills without expert's guidance and landed in life-threatening situations, leaving doctors worried.

Thanks to chemists, illegally selling drugs without prescription, sale of the abortion pill has shot up significantly, but so has the number of cases of women with complications rushing to the doctors.

According to estimates of chemists' association, in past three years growth in sale of abortion pills has shot up to nearly 300%. As per health department figures, as much as 65-70% of abortions still go unreported as women want to maintain secrecy. And a considerable 23,000-25,000 number of annual maternal deaths in India are attributed to abortions.

The story also notes that abortion pills are more popular than contraceptives.

Sale of abortion pills: 20% more than contraceptive pills

Michigan abortion advocate doesn't know her history

Michigan abortion advocate Angi Becker Stevens and RH Reality Check contributor has no clue what she is talking about.

It was a democratic former Governor, James Blanchard, who signed our parental notification requirement into law. And years later, yet another Democrat, Jennifer Granholm, signed off on the "informed consent" legislation mandating 24-hour waiting periods and requiring that any woman in need of an abortion be given state-produced materials detailing the current developmental stage of the embryo or fetus she is carrying. We are a state, in other words, where the dividing line between "pro-choice" and "anti-choice" is often not so clear, and where that divide certainly does not fall neatly along partisan lines.

James Blanchard didn't sign Michigan's parental consent (not notification) law. It was a piece of citizen-initiated legislation which passed in the Michigan Senate and Michigan House after over 300,000 signatures were collected. In Michigan, citizen-initiated legislation can become law without the governor's signature. The parental consent legislation law was citizen-initiated legislation because Blanchard had vetoed a previous attempt to pass parental consent legislation.

Jennifer Graholm didn't sign Michigan's informed consent law. Michigan's informed consent law requiring a 24-hour waiting period passed in 1993, about a decade before Granholm took office, and it was signed by Governor Engler. Court challenges prevented the law from taking full effect until 1999.

Granholm did sign rather uncontroversial legislation which requires abortionists to offer women the option of viewing their ultrasound. The legislation passed the Michigan Senate by a vote 36-0. 

During her time in office, Granholm was no friend of the prolife movement as she vetoed legislation to ban partial-birth abortion.  Her campaigns were always supported by a who's who of abortion advocates.   

Did Becker Stevens just assume because Michigan's parental consent law passed during Blanchard tenure that he signed it?  How could Becker Stevens confuse an add-on bill with the original bill which passed a decade earlier?  Did she not do any research at all? 

I really think the pro-choice movement's focus on story-telling them prevents them from obtaining and retaining knowledge. 

Abortion advocate discouraged after experience at March for Life

In the comments at Feministing, a male abortion advocate discusses his experience at the March for Life. It's noteworthy in that he was discouraged by the lack of abortion advocates, he got angry when he was asked to defend his position, he was unable to persuasively defend his position, he lacks knowledge regarding human biology and he believes that the only effective arguments abortion advocates could make were post-abortive women talking about their own experience.

We only had about 50 this year, so I could understand people getting discouraged. I certainly was, in no small part because people from the other side kept approaching me to defend my position. Obviously when I tried to do this seriously, it was no better than talking past them, and made me a great deal more angry than I had promised myself to be. I know that as a man, I find it hard to be able to speak straightly about a woman's right to choose, when I will never have to exercise that right. More often than I wanted to I got dragged into philosophical debates over when life begins. Which I honestly don't care about – a fetus is not a human being, whether alive or not, as far as I'm concerned – but I wished I had more of a spiel to give the other side when confronted with that

The only really effective talkers on our side were the women, some of my friends in fact, who had had abortions and could speak plainly and from experience. There is no way for the other side to respond to this. I thank you for being courageous enough to do the same.