Proposition 85 - Diana Lopez: My daughters' secret abortion

Vote yes on 85

AbortionCams

A controversial very right of center anti-abortion approach.

Dixie Chicks Shut up and Sing Trailer

The Dixie Chicks and the movie they made out of the controversy.

Abortion and depression

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=413049&in_page_id=1770

Women who have abortions are three times as likely to suffer depression and other mental illness, it emerged yesterday.
Senior doctors claim new evidence shows a clear link between abortion and mental health problems in women who previously had no history of such illness.
They believe the risks are being 'played down' so women wanting an abortion are kept in the dark.
As a result those considering having an abortion should be warned of the dangers, says a group of leading specialists.
The call comes in a letter from 15 senior obstetricians and psychiatrists to mark the anniversary of the legalisation of abortion 39 years ago.
Since the Abortion Act came into effect in 1967, more than six million abortions have been carried out in Britain, with levels now running at around 200,000 a year.
The letter headed by Patricia Casey, professor of psychiatry at University College, Dublin, says medical guidance to doctors should be revised to take greater account of the mental health risks.
She said a New Zealand study found women who have had abortions have twice the level of psychological problems and three times the level of depression as women who have given birth or never been pregnant.
"Since women having abortions can no longer be said to have a low risk of suffering from psychiatric conditions such as depression, doctors have a duty to advise about the long-term adverse psychological consequences of abortion," she wrote in the letter to The Times newspaper.
The study said abortion could trigger depression and other illnesses in women with no mental problems in the past.
The research prompted the Amercian Psychology Association to withdraw an official statement which denied a link between abortion and psychlogical harm.
But Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which is responsible for one-quarter of all abortions carried out in the UK each year, said women were already counselled about the risk of depression.
She said the focus of concern about abortions had switched in recent years from moral objections to physical and mental risks.
She said: "Any women having abortion counselling is currently advised of the risk of long-term depression because she needs the information to be able to give proper consent."
"We can say that some women in some circumstances may experience depression after abortion, but the vast majority do not."
"They usually feel relieved, if saddened."
"I have not seen the New Zealand study, but often the difficulty with this kind of research is that women with an unwanted pregnancy are compared to women who are not in that position."
"However, it is not comparing like with like because these women are faced with two choices, to have a baby they do not want or have an abortion, that may be equally difficult."
She said the charity's board meets four times a year to update advice given to women about the risks.
"The risks are not trivialised or played down," she added.
There is to be a renewed attempt next week to reduce the time limits for abortion from 24 weeks to 21 weeks, and a cooling off period after a women has decided to have an abortion.
A bill will be presented to Parliament by Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, despite protests from pro-choice campaigners that women already face delays in getting NHS abortions that forces them to go private.
Anna Pringle, a spokeswoman for LIFE, said its own research showed some women suffered post-abortion trauma that left them with psychlogical suffering.
She said: "This survey confirms the reality that LIFE counsellors and support staff see and hear every day. We know that, for many women, abortion can have a devastating impact on their psychological health."
"We applaud members of the medical profession for highlighting the devastating effects suffered by many women after abortion," said Citra Abbott of pro-life campaign group Alive and Kicking.
"The abortion industry has, for too long, marketed abortion as a positive solution to a crisis pregnancy, denying the distress and long term trauma that can be experienced."
"We urge the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to formally acknowledge the very real risk of psychological harm."
"Surely those who support a woman's right to abortion must also support her right to know the risks associated with that choice."
"Choice is only a reality if women know exactly what it is that they are choosing."
Peter Saunders, General Secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said, "As well as ending the lives of 200,000 unborn children every year; abortion leaves many women hurt, damaged and not knowing where to turn." "This strengthening evidence for a link between abortion and mental illness needs to be taken very seriously."
"Women have a right to know the medical facts in order that they make fully informed decisions and get the help they need, and doctors, and particularly the Royal Colleges, have a responsibility to impart accurate information and provide proper care."

This is a significant study in that unlike some other studies in this area that have suggested elevated risk for depression this study appears to have controlled for women who have an existing issue with depression.

Although this is a study that is potentially significant and can assist physicians who perform abortions in sharing information with their patients it is important to take into consideration that women who feel under-supported, women who are in fragile marriages, women without consistent reliable financial resources etc are all over-represented in the number of women who have abortions. They feel that their lives lack the stability to welcome a baby. It could be that those factors, rather than the abortion itself, end up contributing to a mental health disability.

It is also possible that someone can experience depression related to the decision to abort but still affirm that decision as something that they see as the best possible decision under the circumstances. I have met women who are greatly saddened by their abortion but still continue to feel it represented the right choice.

I don't think that this is a slam-dunk victory for the pro-life by any stretch and we need to remain cognizant of other explanations. It does, however, serve as a valuable tool in the discussions that are ongoing about the impact of abortion on mothers.

Yes on 85 - Diana Lopez True Story - YESon85.net

The true story of mother, daughter, and grandchild.

Response Ad to Michael J. Fox

A response to the Michael J. Fox ads. They have a series of celebrities.

Vote for Yes for Life 2!

A pro-life commercial in South Dakota

South Dakota Abortion Ban Supported by Former Abortion Practitioner

http://www.lifenews.com/state1917.html

Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) -- A former abortion practitioner at the state's only abortion facility in Sioux Falls says she supports Referred Law 6, the state's abortion ban. Patti Giebink, M.D., now an obstetrician-gynecologist, appears in a new ad sponsored by Vote Yes for Life, the pro-life group urging support for the measure.
Giebink formerly did abortions at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility, which now relies on out of state abortion practitioners because no South Dakota physician will do abortions.
“I would go to Planned Parenthood and I would do abortions where I would be ending a life of a baby,” Giebink says in the new commercial. “And I think this is the time to ban abortion on demand in our state.”
Dr. Giebink says the law will protect both babies before birth and women as well and says she doesn't think abortions are needed given the kind of help women can receive nowadays.
“I don’t think it's necessary. I think its time has passed," she said.
The group opposed to the ban is outspending the pro-life organization that supports it by a 2-1 margin on the two top television stations in the state's largest city, Sioux Falls.
According to the Argus Leader newspaper, the pro-abortion Campaign for Healthy Families has spent $285,227.50 on ads on the CBS and ABC television stations while Vote Yes for Life has paid for $122,592.50 on commercials there.
The pro-life group's grassroots campaign has increased the level of public support for the abortion ban, according to a late September Zogby International poll. The survey, of 531 likely South Dakota voters on September 20, finds 44 percent of state residents back the abortion ban while 47 percent oppose it.
That's an increase of five percentage points since a July Mason-Dixon poll found a 47-39 split against the ban.

A brunette in Ottawa and a blonde in Halifax: The sad story of Petey MacKay

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012776

As we all know Peter MacKay and Belinda Stronach had a very public high profile romance which Peter richly enjoyed. That relationship ended under difficult circumstances when Belinda left the party after a series of difficult interactions with Stephen Harper and coming to the conclusion that she was ill-suited to the CPC party and her future was better found in a different party.

Peter MacKay left Ottawa quite wounded by her decision and found himself on television and in the press teary eyed stroking his collie dog and bemoaning how dogs were more loyal than his ex-girlfriend. Some of his CPC colleagues publicly chastized her commenting negatively on her intellect (an intellect that had earned her 30% plus of the leadership vote and had earned her a shadow cabinet position under Mr. Harper) and referred to her as a "whore" - I don't consider those proud moments for the CPC.

Now months and months later Peter MacKay, a 40 year old man, is alleged to be calling her a "dog" in the House of Commons when she is not present and able to respond. He has since denied saying it and it is hoped that the Conservatives will ask for an audio review by a specialist can give insight to that.

While one never cherishes seeing the heartache of others it is hard to see Peter McKay as a victim. From the above referenced website.

"he's had his own history of trampling hearts. He was involved in a longer relationship with Lisa Merrithew - a Maritime public relations professional and daughter of former veterans affairs minister Gerry Merrithew - when he was rumoured to have become entangled with Stronach. Before that, even as he took up with Merrithew, he was still living with a previous long-term girlfriend, a nurse named Maribeth Ryan, in Ottawa. (At the time, says one insider, it was well known on the Hill that MacKay had "a brunette in Ottawa and a blond in Halifax.").""

He also went into the relationship with Belinda Stronach with the full opportunity to know that she had had serial relationships and , by her own description, "doesn't stay home to knit on friday nights". Her values, her morals, her character etc were all perfectly acceptable during the time they shared a relationship, co-habitated, and planned for a future together. When she decided that her future didn't include him all of a sudden she became a person of questionable character both to himself and to his party.

That all changed after she left. When the bedroom door was closed in his face all of a sudden he found her morally reprehensible.

http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/article.jsp?content=20061009_134299_134299 outlines some of the difficulties that were faced after her departure.

It is said that Belinda faced serious consequences and wrath from the public including death threats so serious that security guards had to be sent to her childrens' school. She was quieter and more private about her relationship with Mr. MacKay commenting very little on that aspect of her decision.

In contrast Mr. MacKay was found throughout the media commenting on the personal impact That article gives a quick summary:

Reaction to MacKay's public display was equally polarized, Entwistle told Maclean's. Many people viewed it as a cheap ploy for sympathy. "I was the press secretary of the prime minister and you don't get a colour photograph on the front page of the Globe and Mail unless it is highly orchestrated. Some people thought, poor Peter, poor Peter. Others were like, grow up, man."

Some people weren't ready to say "grow up Peter" back then but surely 16 months later we are ready now?

According to the article linked above the awkwardness lingered for months. One day when she wished him a Happy Birthday he is described as glowering at her and asking "How can you live with yourself?" A question he apparently never asked himself when he screwed David Orchard or when he courted one woman while secretly dating another. A question he never asked himself during all the months he and his girlfriend co-habitated.

It got awkward to the point that "They actually moved Belinda in the House because he would stare every day," Stronach told Martin, "and it made all my colleagues feel uncomfortable."

It's been sixteen months since what everyone would agree is a difficult break up and now this 40 year old grown man is alleged to have referred to her as a "dog" by ten or so caucus members who heard the remark.

If said was not the brightest remark, if it was said, given that it reinforces a very difficult reputation that the CPC has gained about not being female-friendly. A party that calls someone a whore and accuses her of prostituting themselves now as a member referring to her as a dog? It can't do anything but reinforce a very difficult reputation. I would have thought that Peter, given his reputation of such a progressive man, wouldn't have considered that as he planned his comments. They were apparenty as well planned and thought out as him standing up and confusing dance troops and the military troops (Did it make you wonder why he was picked given that he doesn't know the difference between soldiers and dancers?) to the chuckles of everyone!

That aside - and it can be argued that it's too sweeping to say a comment made to a past lover with a bitter end represents an overall view of women - it really does call into question other things. If a grown adult man within 40 years of experience on this earth is truly saying these things and behaving this way at his place of employment we have to ask ourselves how appropriate that is. Mr. MacKay is not paid to stare at Ms. Stronach while she speaks, to make cutting remarks in response to cordial interactions, or to just generally bring his personal issues to work. If Mr. Harper is not able to function at work without bringing his unresolved emotions to the work place he needs to look through the benefit package for MP's and secure some help.

Or perhaps we can save ourselves a whole whack load of money and someone like Myron Thompson can just tell him to grow up and be a man. You'd think that with all of those role models on stoicism, manhood, and personal accountability within the CPC caucus that at least a little bit would rub off but, alas, they have not.

Recent acts of abortion violence show prolife is peaceful

http://www.lifenews.com/nat2625.html

Recent acts of violence related to abortion show that abortion and its legalization is more responsible for violence than pro-life advocates. A leading pro-life group says the acts back up its research showing pro-life people are less violent than abortion advocates.
Human Life International recently unveiled a web site featuring the results of its research showing over 7,000 acts of violence and illegal activities by those who support or practice abortion.
Brian Clowes, Ph.D., senior analyst for HLI, points to several recent acts of violence that back up his research.
In a statement provided to LifeNews.com, he highlighted the recent kidnapping of a Maine teenager by her parents to take her out of state for a forced abortion, and the case of a Georgia mother who tried to make her daughter drink turpentine to cause her to have an abortion

The pro-choice parents in those situations, I believe, were mentally ill. What was disturbing was the absence of censure from the pro-choice community. You can acknowledge the choices of the parents as being the actions of people with probable mental health problems but the deafening silence of the pro-choice community response was disturbing.

He also pointed out the Miami abortion facility staff who put the body of a baby born after a botched abortion on the roof of the center to hide it from police

God I wasn't familiar with that one. That is so nasty and disturbing. It's beyond vile.

and the woman an who used scissors to cut open another woman's womb and steal her baby.

Horrible, hadn't heard.

"In the past two weeks the mainstream media has reported numerous acts of violence against pregnant women and their children both born and preborn," Clowes said.
"Over thirty years of pro-choice rhetoric has undermined the dignity of all life but pregnant women and their children are most at risk from pro-choice violence," Clowes added.

There was also the recent conviction of a pro-choice man who killed his girlfriend for not aborting their baby as he required.

"The recent news coverage of violence against pregnant women and their children by abortionists and their pro-choice supporters underscores the dangers women are exposed to by pro-choice rhetoric," Clowes said in the statement.

If abortion were not legal I do believe those crimes against mothers who hesitate to abort would be less.

Clowes said his group will continue to highlight cases of abortion-related violence at its web site.

Lifenews has an interesting article on the "I had an abortion" campaign done by Ms. Magazine.

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A new campaign unveiled by Ms. Magazine features the signatures of thousands of women who have had abortions but is smaller in scope comapred to other campaigns which have had several times more women say they regret their abortion decisions.
The pro-abortion women's magazine is releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story about the women and their abortions.
Eleanor Smeal, president of the pro-abortion Feminist Majority Foundation, which publishes Ms., says the issue comes at a "dire" time when abortions are on the decline, states are considering abortion bans, and the Senate has approved two new Supreme Court justices who may back repealing Roe v. Wade.
The issue is also timed to coincide with the heating up of the November election battle, but Smeal told the Associated Press "We have to get away from what the politicians are saying and get women's lives back in the picture."
But abortion affects the lives of women like Caron Strong of Brentwood, Tennessee.
"It's been 14 years since my last abortion and it has been a week and a half since my last nightmare," she said.
Strong said she was upset that no one told her that the four abortions she had would cause her emotional torment and later result in miscarriages of subsequent pregnancies.
Ms. executive editor Katherine Spillar told AP that the issue, which hits newsstands on October 10, includes only 1,016 names but she claims 5,000 women who have had abortions signed the petition saying they are happy with their abortion decision.
Out of a potential 20-25 million women who have had abortions since the 1973 Roe decision, the Ms. number seems like a paltry amount. That may be because most women eventually come to regret their abortion.
"This campaign is intended to drown out the courageous women who have spoken out on how abortion hurt them," Wendry Wright of Concerned Women for America told LifeNews.com. "But simply stating that one has had an abortion does not legitimize the act, erase the pain or undo the damage to mother and baby."
That emotional and physical pain was cited by tens of thousands of women in petitions to the state of South Dakota before it considered a ban on abortions and in petitions to the group Operation Outcry in its efforts to overturn Roe.
The Ms. petition celebrating abortions doesn't represent people like Jupiter, Florida resident Faith Crowashaw.
"If there had just been one person who told me I had other options, I would not be standing here," she said of her own abortion. "The greatest regret of my life was the taking of the life of my first child in 1979."
Ms. also doesn't represent Mississippi resident Kim Slade who had an abortion 13 years ago. She told WLBT-TV she had physical complications and still feels the psychological pain of the abortion.
"It's a hole that never goes away in your heart. It's a child that you can never hold here, and you never forget the pain of that," she said.
Some of the women in the petition may come to regret their abortions years down the road, like Barb Frick of Sioux Falls, South Dakota did. She had an abortion in 1978 but didn't wish she could undo her decision until six years later.
Amy Young of Sterling, Virginia, said it took her 17 years to realize that the cause of the anger and bitterness in her life was due to a past abortion.
"I still cry; I still hurt," she said.
Meanwhile, Alveda King, the niece of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said the "guilt made me ill" following her abortion.
Some of the women who signed the Ms. petition include Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, comedian Carol Leifer, and actresses Kathy Najimy and Amy Brenneman.
Ms. says it will send the signatures on its petition to the White House, Congres, and state lawmakers.

I think that it is important to recognize that neither campaign captures the diversity of the reactions that mothers have to abortion. There are mothers that are deeply pained by that decision and regret not having made a different decision, there are mothers that regret the abortion but would still repeat the very same decision if faced with the same circumstance, there are mothers that remember the abortion as a perceived relief and that emotion dominates any other, there are mothers who move forward with their lives with minimal reflection on that experience , and there are mothers such as Gloria Steinhem who celebrate and embrace their abortion as a political act.

Neither the Silent no more or the Abortion pride campaigns should profess to represent all mothers who have had abortions

At the same time it is of definite interest to see the campaign numbers are greater for those who regret their abortions than for those who have a more positive overview of the experience. We don't very often see the "I had an abortion" t-shirts touted by the feminists or see women signing their names to "I had an abortion". I am not sure that this campaign is going to take off as they hope. I don't believe that the "I had an abortion" mentality represents even a significant MINORITY of the mothers who have had abortions.

I am very proud that Alveda King has joined her voice to the movement of mothers who regret their decision and are wanting to speak up on behalf of unborn children to share the message that their lives are worthy.

I do hope that people have paid attention to the names of the celebrities who are speaking up and promoting abortion. Tune out their movies, don't buy their products, and make sure that you write and say why.

Megan's story

http://www.voteyesforlife.com/content/stories_megan.asp

This is the video of a mother who was raped and conceived a baby as a result. She speaks to the pressure at the hospital to take the morning after the pill, they asked her again after declining the first time.

For those who don't have the computer resources to watch the video here is the coles notes version of her story.

I love my Baby who was Conceived by Rapeby Megan Barnett
Two years ago I was raped. After a couple of phone calls to a priest and a counselor my friend drove me to the Emergency Room where I had a rape kit done. I was quickly offered the “morning-after pill,” but I declined it. Although I knew very little about the pill itself, I did know that I believed that life begins at conception and anything that would prevent a life from forming was not something I wanted to take.
Two weeks later it was confirmed that I was pregnant as a result of the rape. At this time the authorities had contacted the man who raped me and he denied any contact with me. He has since been convicted of 2nd degree rape on three counts. He signed over his parental rights and was sentenced to six years in prison.
My family, especially my parents, was very supportive towards my decision to give birth to a beautiful baby girl whom I named Maria Grace. She is named after Mary and St. Maria Goretti.
Although the situation was one of the most trying times of my life, I would do it all over again just to have one glimpse of my daughter.
Some people struggle with the abortion ban because they feel it has no compassion for rape victims. I am here to say that true compassion does not come from the choice to kill, but in the right to life. I chose life for my baby and I am convinced that she was meant to be here. There would be no one who could look her in the eyes and believe that she doesn’t deserve life due to the choice of a man we never even knew.
Maria is now fifteen months old and loving life. She is happy, confident, and the mischievous look in her big brown eyes lets me know she is very thankful to be alive.

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/changing_worldviews/Archives.asp

with Jill StanekWhat do some hospitals do with babies that are aborted but still alive? Throw them in the ‘dirty room’. What happens if a nurse reports such treatment? They’re fired. What happens when hospitals violate the Born Alive Infants Protection Act and falsify legal documents? Our guest, a nurse, now journalist, takes us behind the scenes

This is an audio of Jill Stanek's story.

Thank you to http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com/2006/10/hot-off-show-throw-away-babies.html for pointing this resource out.

Catholic post-abortion healing program expands

While it is important to acknowledge that not all women struggle with guilt or remorse after an abortion some women do. Their voices are important as well. Rachel's Hope is expanding in direct response to women coming forward and identifying this need for healing. Hopefully this resource and others can help women come to terms with abortion experiences.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CNS) – For 12 years, Rachel's Hope has reached out to hundreds of women and men with its post-abortion healing and reconciliation retreats.

Though the organization is based in San Diego, its successful retreat format has been exported to regions of Mexico, the Philippines and, most recently, Ecuador. Now there is interest in bringing the retreat to San Francisco and Colombia.
Rosemary Benefield, a registered nurse who co-founded Rachel's Hope with her husband, Jim, in 1994, said the growth of the program "means that God's healing word is expanding."
This summer Mary Ann Schwab, Project Rachel coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, visited San Diego to learn more about Rachel's Hope. She was expected to send a few San Francisco-area therapists to San Diego for training as retreat leaders.
A former retreat participant who was returning to her home in Colombia told Benefield that she would try to establish the retreat in her country.
But this was not the first time the program had gone international.
In 2000, Benefield provided training to a religious sister wanting to promote the program in the Philippines. In 2004 the Trinitarians of Mary offered the first Rachel's Hope retreat in Mexico at the monastery in Tecate, after a member of the order received training from Benefield.
This year Flerida Calkins led the first Rachel's Hope retreat in her native Ecuador.
Whether offered in English or in Spanish, the retreats provide opportunities for prayer, Scripture readings, a closing Mass and activities designed to bring closure to a tragic chapter in participants' lives.
Four women, ranging in age from the mid-30s to the early 70s, participated in the retreat in Ecuador. Calkins said the women cried as they shared their stories.
The women gave names to their aborted children, making it easier to pray and offer Masses for them. Other activities included writing down their feelings of guilt, presenting these accounts to the group and then burning them to symbolize God's forgiveness. The women also wrote letters to God and their aborted children, imagining responses from each.
Although many women had registered for the retreat, Calkins said, some found it too painful to attend. But for the four who did attend, the reaction was uniformly positive, she said.
One participant told her, "Nothing I did before has helped so much," while another said, "A big burden has been lifted."
Calkins plans to return to Ecuador next year to offer another retreat and train more women as retreat leaders.

Rape Survivor chooses Life

http://www.dakotavoice.com/200610/Guest/20061016_MB.html

Two years ago I was raped. After a couple of phone calls to a priest and a counselor my friend drove me to the Emergency Room where I had a rape kit done. I was quickly offered the “morning-after pill,” but I declined it. Although I knew very little about the pill itself, I did know that I believed that life begins at conception and anything that would prevent a life from forming was not something I wanted to take.
Two weeks later it was confirmed that I was pregnant as a result of the rape. At this time the authorities had contacted the man who raped me and he denied any contact with me. He has since been convicted of 2nd degree rape on three counts. He signed over his parental rights and was sentenced to six years in prison.
My family, especially my parents, was very supportive towards my decision to give birth to a beautiful baby girl whom I named Maria Grace. She is named after Mary and St. Maria Goretti. Although the situation was one of the most trying times of my life, I would do it all over again just to have one glimpse of my daughter.
Some people struggle with the abortion ban because they feel it has no compassion for rape victims. I am here to say that true compassion does not come from the choice to kill, but in the right to life. I chose life for my baby and I am convinced that she was meant to be here. There would be no one who could look her in the eyes and believe that she doesn’t deserve life due to the choice of a man we never even knew.
Maria is now fifteen months old and loving life. She is happy, confident, and the mischievous look in her big brown eyes lets me know she is very thankful to be alive.

The View - Rosie and Elisabeth argue about gun control

Feminists should be honest with girls about abortion

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061010/OPINION02/610100306


As public relations campaigns go, proudly proclaiming “We Had Abortions” probably isn't going to win any Addy awards.
Such is the gist of Ms. Magazine's current campaign to thwart trends toward curtailment of abortion. The Oct. 10 issue of the feminist magazine features a cover story titled “We Had Abortions,” as well as a petition signed by thousands of women who, well, have had abortions.

And who are not one bit sorry. The campaign was organized to put a woman's face on abortion, as Ms. Magazine publisher Eleanor Smeal put it, and as a counterpunch to pro-life testimonials from women who regretted their abortions.
The fact that many women feel shame, guilt and loss — and are willing to say so — has created a snag in the fabric of pro-choice arguments that focus only on the technical aspect of abortion.
On Wednesday, Smeal told MSNBC's Tucker Carlson that abortion is “a medical procedure, that's obvious.”
Actually, it's not obvious. Abortion certainly involves medical personnel and equipment, but the result is something more than merely medical. It is also human — or more to the point — inhuman.
To put an accurate face on abortion would require something that strict pro-choicers refuse to acknowledge: That abortion really has three faces — that of the mother, the father, and that of the ... what do we call it? Fetus is so South Park these days. How about the quirky “products of conception from your termination”?
That's how hospital administrators a few years ago in Glasgow, Scotland, labeled the post-abortion remains from Nicola McManus, who had induced the miscarriage of her 9-week-old “baby,” as I prefer to call it, upon taking the RU486 “abortion pill.”
McManus was startled to discover the remains in a jar resting on a shelf in her hospital room. Her outrage at the careless hospital staff brought tears and the sort of statement Ms. & Co. prefer not to hear: “Women need more counseling before abortions, not less,” said McManus. “I will never get over what happened to me.”
A nine-week-old fetus, for the record, has a heartbeat, a closed circulatory system, a respiratory system, eyes, ears and brain function. She can't go shopping yet, but she can squint, swallow, move her tongue and make a fist. She is not, in other words, “just a clump of cells.”
The problem with petitions and “I Had An Abortion” T-shirts, such as those hawked by Planned Parenthood, is that they trivialize the deeply emotional and spiritual consequences many women suffer. They also deny girls and young women access to the nobler feminist position that knowledge is power.
We insist on informed consent for appendectomies or tooth extractions but not abortions. As a result, American daughters now coming of age will see only the go-girl aspect of sexual freedom without the whoa-mama revelation of maternal awe.
The latter isn't learned from a textbook but is experienced during that moment of personal reckoning when one realizes that a fetus is unequivocally a baby. My own transformative thinking — from an unflinching pro-choicer to a disclaiming pro-lifer — came with childbirth and motherhood.
After experiencing the humbling power of creation, it was impossible for me to view abortion as anything but the taking of a life. That is the truer lesson feminism should impart to its little sisters.
Now for the painful disclaimer I hinted at above. It begins with “Nevertheless,” and ends with “I am reluctantly pro-choice.” The very bottom line is that abortion ultimately is a personal decision. That said, I favor far stricter limits than most pro-choicers, beginning with “six weeks and time's up.”
I figure 42 days is enough time for a gal to figure out whether she's up for motherhood. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a sane remedy to appalling recklessness.
As I differ with pro-choicers, I also differ with pro-lifers who insist that once abortion is outlawed, hearts and minds will follow. It is more likely that abortion will continue but will become more dangerous and even more hideous.
Hearts and minds indeed must be changed, and feminists — if they really care about women — should lead the charge. By showing and telling the unfiltered truth, abortion eventually will die of natural causes.
Flaunting abortion on T-shirts and petitions may make for radical fashion, but the models and signatories aren't likely to sway people in the hoped-for way. For beneath the message is a callousness that merely reiterates the lack of empathy implicit in every abortion. Likely few will be inclined to award empathy in return.
Kathleen Parker's e-mail address is kparker@kparker.com.

The myths of divorce

http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/Print/Print%20Myths%20of%20Divorce.htm

Here are a few:

Because they are more cautious in entering marital relationships and also have a strong determination to avoid the possibility of divorce, children who grow up in a home broken by divorce tend to have as much success in their own marriages as those from intact homes.
Marriages of the children of divorce actually have a much higher rate of divorce than the marriages of children from intact families. A major reason for this, according to a recent study, is that children learn about marital commitment or permanence by observing their parents. In the children of divorce, the sense of commitment to a lifelong marriage has been undermined.

Following divorce, the children involved are better off in stepfamilies than in single-parent families.
The evidence suggests that stepfamilies are no improvement over single-parent families, even though typically income levels are higher and there is a father figure in the home. Stepfamilies tend to have their own set of problems, including interpersonal conflicts with new parent figures and a very high risk of family breakup.

The impact of divorce on children

The impact of divorce on children according to focus on the family


Long-time researcher-author Judith Wallerstein reported many of the children in her longitudinal study on divorce weren’t aware their parents were having serious problems; their parents’ divorce marked the end of their childhood. Wallerstein says a family break-up is so detrimental to kids because “children identify not only with their mother and father as separate individuals, but with the relationship between them.” From the child’s perspective, mother and father are a naturally inseparable unit. Compared to children from intact homes, children of divorce are far more likely to struggle academically, engage in drug and alcohol use and other high-risk behaviors, commit suicide, experience psychiatric problems, live in poverty, and have a greater likelihood to divorce themselves. Thirty years of research conclusively shows its harm to children in virtually every measure. Studies support marital longevity as a vital component of good health for children and adults alike.

Environment Minister: Afraid of Hurting Trees

Rona Ambrose on Rick Mercer's show.

the hard truth about abortion

"On Rush Limbaugh yesterday, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said, 'We took care of Mr. Foley. We found out about it and asked him to resign.' Yeah, a year later. That's not just slow, that's FEMA slow." --Jay Leno

What Mr. Foley did was despicable. What appears to be some real evidence that colleagues covered up for him is even more shameful. What is the most shameful though is the "responsibility" that is being taken for this travesty.

While people say they are sorry and acknowledge they could have done better there is always a cushioning of that apology....
blaming the news media for being liberal....
blaming the news media for the timing of the story...
blaming the Democrats for the story coming out...

TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY

the news media and the democrats are not responsible for Mr. Foley's sexual habits or his text messaging

the news media and the democrats aren't responsible for the timing - if those in power had dealt with it swiftly about a year ago the timing wouldn't BE close to an election.

The Republicans chose to sweep it under the carpet.
The Republicans chose to embrace a member with these kind of criminal choices.
The Republicans chose to blame everyone else but Mr. Foley.

Radical pro-choice

Is anyone else sick of the “moderate” pro-choice position that is the only one you are “allowed” to state politically? You know, the one that says “Abortion should be safe legal and rare!” or “We need to do everything we can to lessen the number of abortions while still keeping it safe and legal!”

Well I am sick of them but for other reasons!

I do not care about lowering the number of abortions. Not one bit. Furthermore, I think it is ridiculous to say “abortion shouldn’t be used as birth control” - abortion IS birth control.

I have yet to see any rationalization of being “moderate” on abortion that does not involve, either subtly or overtly, disgust with the concept that women who are sexually mature actually have sex. I’ve seen many proposed “solutions” to the “problem” of women who have multiple abortions. The reasoning goes something like this: “Well, any woman can make a mistake once, but she ought to learn from that mistake and go on to use a more effective means of birth control!” The proposed “solutions” I have seen range from approving of some of the ridiculous measures already enacted in various states, such as “24 hour waiting periods” to force women to “think about their decision” (often after having had pictures of developing fetuses shoved in their unwilling hands so as to “educate” them about what they are doing), to proposed and not yet enacted laws requiring a woman to notify her husband before she has an abortion (this will be FUN if he’s in jail, has run off, is in the process of a divorce, or beats her), to self-righteous and ignorant proposals coming from individuals such as “maybe we should limit a woman to one legal abortion in her lifetime so we can force these slutty whores to be more responsible!” or “maybe we can allow a woman to have a legal abortion if we force her to get her tubes tied right afterwards/get a contraceptive implant!”

I am not familiar with any law where a husband has to be consulted or advised.

And the words “whore” and “slut” are thrown around quite easily when speaking of women who abort. Other favorite pejoratives are “irresponsible” and “disgusting”. Women who abort more than once are told they should “keep their legs shut” and “learn to use condoms”. Women who abort more than once are told they don’t respect themselves. The slurs never stop.

I have never used the term "whore" or "slut" when referring to women who have abortions. I have seen pro-choice progressive men in the blogosphere use it to refer to women who are not like-minded with them on issues. Women who speak out and have a different perspective are called that by some progressive men.

I have never talked about anyone "keeping their legs shut either".

It is clear from all of this that self-described “moderates” on abortion hate women just as much as the rabid anti-choicers. The main difference is that moderates see abortion as a useful population control mechanism, and also, frequently, as a “get out of child support free” boon to men. They are just as prone to use the “virgin-whore” dichotomy as fundamentalist right-wing Operation Rescue style Christians.

God who does this woman know?

Abortion moderates have a stereotypical “good girl” who “deserves” to have her abortion. She will have many of the following qualities:
She was violently, forcibly raped by a stranger or incestuously raped while underage;
She was using birth control faithfully every single time and it just inexplicably failed;
She is in a monogamous relationship, preferably married but depending on how “liberal minded” they are, she can be in a long term stable relationship with a man;
She has never had an abortion before;
Lives an acceptable white middle class lifestyle (works office job or goes to school, dresses conservatively, wears a conservative hairstyle)
She has economic hardships which would make it difficult for her to raise a child (bonus points if she is working her way through school);
She really wanted a baby but found out either she was very ill or the fetus would not survive;
and last but not least, she MUST feel very, very conflicted and guilty over the abortion and promise to the world at large that she will be very careful from now on to ensure nothing like this ever, ever happens again because she has learned her lesson.

I always feel sorry for anyone - pregnant or not- who has been raped although I don't believe in abortion under those circumstances. And, naturally, someone facing an illness deserves special sympathy as well. That's just normal human compassion.

Moderates on abortion have a “bad girl” too. A “bad girl” who doesn’t “deserve” an abortion can have any one of the following qualities, and the more she has just increases the degree of her “badness”:
She smokes and drinks heavily, and/or uses “drugs”;
She has had an abortion before;
She has sex with multiple partners;
She has had sex with more than 3-5 men;
She has been “cheating” on a man;
She could afford to raise a child but decides against it;
She was using birth control inadequately or not at all;
She has an elective abortion later than 2-3 months into pregnancy;
Is unemployed, on welfare, or works in a “vice” industry (bartender, stripper, casino)
Dresses or behaves in any way not consistent with the white, middle class norm
And she expresses no qualms or regrets about having an abortion.
(Paradoxically enough, some moderates hold up this “bad girl” both as an example of someone whom they don’t want breeding AND who doesn’t deserve an abortion. I have yet to figure this one out.)

I wouldn't see any of these women as morally inferior to the person who was in a monogamous relationship and experienced a pregnancy that was unplanned. I would also not be more or less likely to support abortion under those circumstances. I do feel people should be attentive to birth control and I am disturbed by later term abortions but I don't think that wades into the level of animousity that she is referencing.

I've also never met the pro-choice people she's talking about.

None of these judgements are made on the man who contributed sperm to the unwanted pregnancy. No one speaks about men who refuse to wear condoms as “irresponsible” in regards to birth control.

I do. So do others. I have seen people who are feminist when men complain about being "caught" and having to pay child support as being told that they missed out on their own responsibility in that situation.

No one speaks about men who have a series of one night stands as sluts who are responsible for there being too many abortions.

This woman has not met me!!

No one expects a man, when he finds out a girlfriend has had an abortion, to cry about it for the rest of his life and wonder how he could have changed his behavior to avert this tragedy.

I do.

The guilt, burden, responsibility, and penalty for the social phenomenon of abortion are all laid on women, in deliberate ignorance of the fact that it takes a man and a woman to get a woman pregnant.

You are right in some ways but you take it too far.

http://amananta.wordpress.com/2006/09/25/radically-pro-choice/

And take a looksee at the people commenting!!

"I had an abortion": The dream of pro-choice men

A man's right to choose is discussed in a time magazine article


A Man's Right to Choose?
A new lawsuit asks whether men should be allowed to get "a financial abortion" in cases of unplanned pregnancies.Time Magazine, By NANCY GIBBS, Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2006
Should a man be forced to be a father if he doesn't want to be? Yet another front in the abortion wars reopens now that the National Center for Men has undertaken a crusade to establish a "Roe v. Wade for Men." "Up until now, reproductive choice has been seen as a woman's issue: you're either pro-life or pro-choice," says center Director Mel Feit. "We're adding another element. If we expect men to be responsible, isn't it right to give them some choices too?" It's a legal stunt, but as a way of calling attention to double standards and unintended consequences, the campaign makes sense. Matt Dubay, a 25-year-old computer programmer in Michigan, was ordered to pay child support after his former girlfriend had a baby. He says he had made it clear when they were dating that he did not want to have children; she had said she couldn't get pregnant anyway because of a medical condition. When she did get pregnant, he argues, she could have chosen to have an abortion. So shouldn't he have a choice as well, about whether to support a child he never wanted to have? Dubay and the center filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, which raises all kinds of confounding questions about rights and choice and what we really mean by equality, when we look at the social and biological roles played by men and women in the course of becoming parents. Feit argues that within a short window of time after discovering an unplanned pregnancy — he has proposed a month, but thinks a week might even be more appropriate — a man should have the right to terminate his legal and financial obligations to the child. "I'm not talking about fathers opting out of obligations that they've committed to," Feit says. "I mean early in pregnancy, if contraception failed, men should have a choice, and women have a right to know what that choice is as they decide how to proceed." His argument gains force as more and more states pass laws requiring, as part of pre-abortion counseling, that pregnant women be informed that the baby's father has a legal obligation to pay child support. These rules were a response to evidence that the overwhelming majority of women seeking abortions do so for social and economic rather than medical reasons. Abortion opponents hope that by informing women about the legal and financial support systems available to them, including the father's obligations, they might reduce the number who choose abortion. But solving one problem may just be creating another: pregnancy counselors find that another great source of pressure on ambivalent women is often the father of the child. As states crack down on "deadbeat dads," men have a greater financial incentive to pressure women into ending unwanted pregnancies. Some threaten to break up with their partner if she doesn't get an abortion. There is concern that violence against pregnant women is fueled by men trying to avoid a financial liability. So Dubay could argue that allowing men to shed their financial obligations for unwanted children might protect women from all kinds of pressure when they are deciding how to handle an unplanned pregnancy. The larger philosophical argument is basically this: Do men have as much of a right to control their reproductive lives and financial futures as women do? "Roe v. Wade really changed the world for women," Feit says. "It allowed them to separate intimacy from procreation, freed them from the fear of contraceptive failure. That kind of empowerment and security that women feel in intimate relations — well, men can't, frankly." The only sure protection is total abstinence. Feit contends that men who don't want to have a child and made reasonable efforts to avoid it should at least be able to choose a "financial abortion" that frees them from any responsibility for the baby. In a sense women already have a version of that right: Most states have laws permitting a woman to relinquish all her parental responsibilities if she leaves a baby at a hospital after giving birth. "No shame. No blame. No names" says the poster on the bus shelter. Naturally such laws are designed to offer an alternative to the heartbreaking stories we read of babies dumped in trash cans and abandoned by the side of the road. The rights of fathers have always been the background noise of the abortion debate. Beginning with Planned Parenthood v. Danforth in 1976, then in Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, state efforts to require that fathers be notified before women have abortions were struck down by the Supreme Court as placing too great a burden on women. A majority of Americans approve of spousal notification, provided there are exceptions for women in abusive situations, and when he was an appeals court judge Sam Alito upheld such a provision. But the Supreme Court ruled in Casey that "it cannot be claimed that the father's interest in the fetus' welfare is equal to the mother's protected liberty...." Requiring a woman to notify her husband before an abortion, the Justices argued, "embodies a view of marriage" that is "repugnant to this court's present understanding of marriage and of the nature of the rights secured by the Constitution." Wanda Franz, president of National Right to Life, is glad to see Dubay's case calling attention to the mixed messages society sends to men. "He's basically saying that a woman now has the right to engage in sex relations without worrying about having a child she's responsible for. He wants the same right — to be able to have sex with a woman and if she gets pregnant, he shouldn't have to be responsible, since he can't force her to have an abortion legally." Franz says that she is, of course, in favor of both parents' taking responsibility for a child, an impulse that she says legal abortion has undermined. One obvious problem, if men can sever their financial ties to unwanted children, is what becomes of that child, particularly as states cut back on health care and social services. "What I expect to hear [from the court] is that the way things are is not really fair, but that's the way it is," Dubay told the Associated Press. "Just to create awareness would be enough, to at least get a debate started." Still, Feit has been surprised by the response he's gotten so far. "It doesn't break down along traditional gender lines," he says. "We're getting so much support from women." The men divide roughly half and half between those who support what he's doing and those who say essentially "be a man; accept responsibility." "Women seem more supportive, which is very surprising and gratifying. They say maybe this is fair, men should have some say, some choice. I'm getting more support from women than I anticipated." He is the first to say that these are not easy questions. So sometimes just asking them is the right place to start.

http://www.canadiancrc.com/articles/Time_Magzine_A_Mans_Right_to_Choose_15MAR06.htm

Matthew Shepard (December 1, 1976 to October 12, 1998)

Matthew Wayne Spehard was born to an average american family. He was born into a two parent church attending family and he had a very average american life in many ways.

He was fortunate enough to travel and study abroad for high-school and he learned many languages.

Matthew Wayne Shepard is a story known to many across the USA and Canada now. He was a student in Wyoming who was attacked onOctober 7, 2006. It was a brutal attack and he died five days later. The men who killed him are serving life sentences in prison.

Matthew was 21 years old when he died. He was robbed, beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. The beating left him with a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. His brain damage was so severe that his entire body's abilityt o regulate his own heart rate, temperature, and vital signs was effected. He had a dozen facial lacerations. He never regained consciousness and was on life support until he was pronounced dead on October 12. When Matthew was initially found he was mistaken for a scarecrow.

There are varied accounts of what happened with the murderers giving many different stories but it is widely concluded that Matthew's sexual orientation was a factor in selecting him for the robbery and beating.

As he was in intensive care there were vigils throughout the nation wth the public reacting with warmth and prayer.

Since then Melissa Etheridge wrote the song "Scarecrow" as a tribute to him referring to him initially being thought of as a scarecrow when he was found. Elton John wrote "American Triangle" Coretta King wrote to Matthew's mother expressing her sympathy and sharing her support for gay and lesbian rights.

Matthew's parents have become very involved in civil rights issues and want to keep their son's memory alive through their work.

No parent should ever have to know that the child that they carried for 9 months, birthed, and raised was beaten and left tied to a fence to die. No human being should have that as final chapter of their life. While I do not believe in capital punishment I am thankful that these men have life sentences.

Why isn't our world safe for little girls?

IN SCENES of quiet dignity, four of the five victims of the schoolroom killing of Amish children have been laid to rest in an area of southern Pennsylvania called Paradise.
A sixth victim has been removed from life support and taken home to die.
State police riders led a long line of black horse-drawn buggies from the small settlement of Nickel Mines to accompany the body of Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7, to her grave.
When the procession arrived in neighbouring Georgetown, mourners with impassive faces framed by black hats and white bonnets stared out from within their cabs. Georgetown was home to Charles Roberts, the killer who barricaded an Amish school on Monday, tied up its girl pupils, then murdered five and seriously injured five more in a barrage of gunfire.
His former neighbours lined Route 896 in an expression of solidarity with the bereaved. Amish elders requested that funeral ceremonies take place away from the public eye. Security was tight, with police snipers posted in the village and at checkpoints.
Later on Thursday, the scenes were repeated, with the bodies of sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7. The last funeral of the day was that of Marian Fisher, 13. The fifth victim, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, was to be buried yesterday.
A sixth girl, Rosanna King, was taken off life support at Penn State Children's Hospital on Thursday, said Rita Rhoads, a nurse and midwife who delivered two of the victims, as she waited for the funeral procession.
Rosanna, 6, was taken to her home, overlooking the site of the massacre. Doctors said it was likely she would die.
Four others remain in hospital with gunshot wounds. The victims' families have forgiven Roberts, in accordance with the traditionalist Christian group's respect for the Gospel message of forgiveness, Ms Rhoads said.
The grandfather of one of the victims visited the Roberts family on Monday to convey that, and Roberts's family is expected to visit the victims' families after the funerals, she said.
Ms Rhoads also said relatives of the victims told her that the girls showed courage in the classroom and that parents were glad they were not abused by Roberts, suspected by police of planning to molest the girls.
"They knew they were going to be shot, and nobody begged not to be shot," Ms Rhoads said.
The victims' mothers and other women dressed the girls' bodies in white from head to toe, in accordance with Amish tradition, a process that gave them a chance to grieve in private, she said.

Each girl was buried in a plain pine coffin, using no metal, in accordance with the Amish belief that all human remains should return to dust.
Amish funerals are simple events. Vots, or oral invitations, are extended by the bereaved to those attending the ceremony. Yet the day had threatened to be much more tumultuous than it turned out.
A church group that blames such tragedies on divine retribution for America's permissive morals had planned to hold a demonstration at the event.
But members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, accepted a deal from a radio program for one hour of airtime in exchange for a promise not to disrupt the funerals.
The threat prompted a group of bikies to arrive on the scene with the intention of shielding the families from any protest.
Burly men wearing leather vests and bandannas chatted with dark-suited Amish elders, one more surreal image in a week of such images.
The mourners assembled in their buggies or arrived on foot. After a prayer session at home, the bodies were removed for burial. In a cemetery atop a small hill, graves had been dug by Amish men on their knees, clawing at the earth with their hands.
One Amish man, Sam Stoltzfus, 63, said his faith honoured the dead above the living.
"A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth, because we believe in the hereafter," Mr Stoltzfus said. "The children are better off than their survivors."
As the funerals began, fresh doubt was cast on the killer's claims that he was driven by guilt. In suicide notes, Roberts, a 32-year-old milkman, said he had abused two family members 20 years ago. After interviewing the women, police reported neither could recall any molestation.
Psychologists said anger, not guilt, was a more likely explanation.
"This is an adult killing helpless, vulnerable children," said Professor Robert Sadoff, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania. "Clearly this was suicidal. Apparently, he wanted to make a statement to show how angry he was."
Roberts also wrote of his unending anger at the loss of a prematurely born daughter, who would have been nine this year.
Telegraph, London; Reuters

It is hard to understand how it ever got to be so dangerous in the world to be a little girl. Those beautiful little ones of such tender years to have to safe such cruelty is just saddening beyond measure.

The eldest one that showed such courage as she asked to be shot first. Few of us would be so brave as adults. She had the most bullet holes. 20 I understand from other articles. She had hoped that her volunteering would reduce the number of victims or offset some of the brutality.

The man also had brought with him lubricant, some type of tie-downs, and some screws. It appeared possible that he was going to assault them and his history would reinforce that suspicion. Thank God that they were spared that.

I admire the Amish people who have extended their forgiveness and who have reached out to the family of the killer. Although it is the right and Christian thing to do the strength that would take so quickly and so early on is unfathomable to me.

I pray for the mothers and fathers of these little girls and for that whole community.

I also pray that one day it shouldn't have to be such a scary world to be a little boy or girl.

Shirley Phelps on the little Amish girls

How the pro-life has helped mothers and their children: Women Deserve Better than Abortion

Feminists for life.org is a pro-life organization that has done a tremendous amount for women and their babies.

Here are some of their accomplishments:
http://www.feministsforlife.org/news/12YearAccomplishments.htm

Through our work for low-income women:
FFL was the only pro-life group active in a unique coalition of women's groups to successfully fight child exclusion provisions in welfare reform supported by President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress. (The "family cap" was later tested on poor women and teens in New Jersey and proven to significantly increase abortions.)
FFL was the only pro-life and women's group to actively champion the New York state model program to help working poor pregnant women receive prenatal care through the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under both President Clinton and President George W. Bush. SCHIP was successfully implemented by a resolution under President Bush.
Through our work to reduce poverty among women and children, prevent coerced abortions due to threats to withhold child support, and instead encourage the active support of fathers in the lives of their children:
FFL was the only pro-life group to successfully advocate for the Enhanced Child Support Enforcement Act of 1996, which will help streamline the collection and distribution of child support, establish uniform laws governing interstate child support cases, and expand penalties for child support delinquency.
FFL educated women and men to the rights and responsibilities of fathers through our "What Women Really Want" brochure, articles in The American Feminist® and our website (www.feministsforlife.org).
FFL published the first-ever comprehensive pregnancy resource directory in the country in 1994. The self-help directory covered services in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland.
Through our work to prevent violence against women and pregnant women:
FFL was the only pro-life group in the National Task Force on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence to work successfully for the Violence Against Women Act, which was passed in 1994.
FFL was the only feminist group to support Laci and Connor's Law, also known as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. C-SPAN carried live coverage of FFL President Serrin Foster as she testified before Congress in support of this Act. President Bush signed it into law in 2004.
FFL was a charter member of a coalition against sex trafficking. (1995)
Through our work to prevent the coercion of women into unwanted abortions:
FFL was the only pro-life group that worked with the ACLU to successfully sue the National Honor Society for denying admission to two teenage moms (1999) and to speak out in support of a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit in New York in 2006.
FFL consulted on the groundbreaking Coercive Abortion Prevention Act introduced by Michigan women legislators in 2006. The five-bill package identifies very specific forms of coercion from financial threats to physical violence, which could result in jail time and/or fines.
Through our revolutionary work to meet the needs of college-age women, who are at highest risk of abortion, and redirect the debate towards action for women, through the ongoing development of the FFL College Outreach Program from 1994 to present:
FFL speakers delivered lectures across the country at top Ivy League, big state, women's and Catholic colleges—to positive response from both pro-life and pro-choice students and faculty. (1994-present)
FFL worked with both pro-life and pro-choice stakeholders to develop and launch resource kits for student leaders, advisors, counselors, health clinics and libraries.
FFL hosted the first-ever FFL Pregnancy Resource Forum in 1997 and developed creative tools to evaluate and spark discussion about the lack of services for pregnant and parenting students, including FFL's Pregnancy Resource Surveysm in 1998, resulting in concrete improvements on top campuses across the country.
FFL created a model for the future, FFLU, to give schools a vision of what could be accomplished. (2005)
FFL's Question Abortion® and Women Deserve Better® ad campaigns reached 5 million students from 1996 to present.
FFL President Serrin Foster's landmark speech was recognized in 2002 as one of 22 pivotal speeches on Women's Rights in the anthology series "Great Speeches in History."
A report by Planned Parenthood's research arm, Guttmacher Institute, revealed that in the 10 years since FFL began our College Outreach Program in 1994, there was a dramatic 30% decrease in abortions among college-educated women.
By helping to introduce legislation to put into hyper-drive pro-woman solutions on campus:
FFL's work inspired Michigan legislation, which was overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate and signed by the pro-choice Governor in 2004.
FFL worked to introduce the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act (2005-06), which, if passed, would provide $10 million in grants to 200 colleges and universities for annual pregnancy and parenting resource forums and a central office to coordinate and promote ongoing resources and support on and off campus.
FFL held the first-ever Capitol Hill briefing on the needs of 4.5 million parenting students, and millions of students who become pregnant and need resources and support for marital and single parenting choices and various adoption options. (2006)
By walking our talk:
FFL set the example for small employers and nonprofits through our telecommuting and televolunteering office.
IMPACT
FFL's feminist name, our pro-woman message, our demonstrated support for women and our saying "yes" to life-affirming solutions have earned us credentials with the media and the pro-choice and pro-life students we are trying to reach.
Because of FFL's message and education about our nation's rich pro-life feminist history, the pro-life movement has become better at articulating support for women.
Many now educate others about Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and their suffragist colleagues, who condemned abortion as exploitative and anti-woman.
Many are now using strategies similar to FFL's on college campuses, and some are taking direct services to the next level.
Others are using FFL language and strategies on Capitol Hill, at the United Nations, and even in the entertainment community.
The leadership of celebrities like two-time Emmy winner, New York Times best-selling author and Feminists for Life Honorary Chair Patricia Heaton, Co-Chair Margaret Colin and others has given FFL increased visibility and put a fresh face on the pro-life feminist movement. We are the "red carpet organization" welcoming those who want to help us redirect the polarized abortion debate toward envisioning and advocating better solutions for women.
Because of our track record and the credibility we have earned, FFL has received overwhelmingly positive press from the mainstream media—liberal and conservative, religious and secular-and pro-life press for the last 12 years. This was demonstrated vividly when FFL's connection with Jane Sullivan Roberts, whose husband now serves as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was revealed in the press. Jane was FFL's former executive vice president and continues to serve as counsel.
FFL's message—that Women Deserve Better-—has become the rallying cry of those in the pro-life movement and the catch-phase of pro-choice activists who recognize that endless polarized debates do not help women and children. The Women Deserve Better idea is redirecting the debate towards women-centered solutions.

African-American Pro-Life leaders hold Summit

Philadelphia, PA (LifeNews.com) -- Several leading African-American pro-life advcoates will band together and hold a national summit on abortion and other topics in Philadelphia. Organizers say the city is an appropriate place for the conference because nearly half of all black babies in pregnancies there in 2002 were victims of abortion.
The event will feature prominent African-American clergy and medical professionals on October 8 and 9 and the "Summit for Life" is meant to rally and organize black Americans to stand against abortion.
The Life Education And Resource Network is sponsoring the rally at the Greater Exodus Baptist Church, where The Rev. Herb Lusk is the host pastor.
Lusk, famous for his role as the praying tailback of the Philadelphia Eagles in the late 70s, said in a statement LifeNews.com obtained, "It is time for these issues to come to the forefront of discussion in the Black community."
The Rev. Johnnie Hunter, Rev. Clenard Childress, Dr. Alveda King and Star Parker are among the presenters for this weekend's conference.
Childress said he and other black pro-life advocates are upset by comments made at a recent conference by African-American leaders who said abortion isn't an issue for black Americans.
"We are all appalled by the statements made by Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson and Joseph Lowery at their Dallas pastors event," Childress said. "How can any Black leader say that abortion is irrelevant to the Afro-American community?"
Childress said abortion targets the black community "more than any other ethnic group in the country."
He points to Census Bureau data showing that African-Americans are below the birth replacement rate for the first time in US history.
Childress explained that "15 million Afro-Americans have been killed by abortion since 1973. That represents over a third of the present Afro-American population. Can 15 million Afro-American lives be irrelevant?"
"The Dream of Martin Luther King means nothing to a dead baby," Hunter added. "We have failed to give our children the one thing Martin Luther King wanted most. The right to live out our dreams"
Polls show a majority of black Americans take a pro-life position on abortion.
In August of 2004, in a survey sponsored by Pace University and Rock the Vote, 54% of all Americans declared themselves pro-life while just 44% said they supported legal abortion. However African-American voters took a pro-life position by a larger 59% to 42% margin.
"There has been great inroads in the Afro-American community but there still is away to go," Hunter says. Having a gathering like this a few years ago was unheard of. Our efforts are beginning to pay off and that means more lives will be saved."
Related web sites:LEARN Summit - http://www.learnsummit.org

Original story at lifenews.com

Gianna Jensen: An abortion survivor sees disability as a "gift"

Gianna Jessen survived her biological mother's attempted abortion and her resulting disabilities to become a marathon runner, a singer and a motivational speaker. She urged young people at a pro-life youth rally Sept. 10 to find their own courage and accountability through the grace of God.

By Maryanne MeyerriecksFort Smith Correspondent
FORT SMITH -- "We are called to a life of joy, but a life that costs something."
Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor, marathon runner, Christian recording artist and motivational speaker, brought a message of courage, hope, joy and accountability to several hundred teens, young adults and parents at a youth rally in Fort Smith Sept. 10. The rally was co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Catholic Campus Ministry and River Valley Life Teen.
After an hour of praise and worship music led by the River Valley Life Teen Band, the 29-year-old sang several praise songs accompanied by acoustic guitar. Leaning occasionally on her guitarist for support, she said that the cerebral palsy she suffered as the result of her pre-term birth following a 7 1/2-month saline abortion was a "gift."
Jessen learned that she had survived an abortion when she was 12 years old, and said, "I thought, 'Wow, my life must really have a purpose.'" Having survived that challenge, she found that, with God's help, she could overcome other challenges as well.
She has completed two marathons, the first in Nashville in 2005 and the second in London this year. She expects to run many more.
Her training process was more arduous than most other competitors because she can only run on the balls of her feet. She suffered an injury to her right foot prior to the London Marathon but still completed it in eight hours and 20 minutes. She is determined to run a marathon in five hours and told the audience, "I encourage you who feel like quitting to not quit."
"I was aborted and I didn't die," she said, "so I am used to the impossible occurring. I ask for the grace of God and the grace of God comes through."
Through God's grace, when Jessen was born in an abortion clinic on April 6, 1977, a nurse called 911. After her biological parents surrendered her for adoption, she lived in an abusive foster home for the first 18 months of her life. At that point she was placed with Penny, her "queen" who taught her to walk, with braces and a walker, at age 3 1/2. Penny's daughter and her husband, an architect, adopted Jessen, and Penny became her adoptive grandmother.
Penny is now 83 and has cared for 55 other foster children.
Jessen, whose given name means "forgiveness," met her biological mother last February. Although she had forgiven her, the meeting was traumatic. Jessen said she saw that her birth mother was a broken woman and is still in the process of recovering from their meeting.
"There are consequences to each action," Jessen said. "Every day I bear the mark of my biological mother's decision."
But yet she has found that positive thinking has helped her to overcome obstacles and tell her story to others.
"Weakness can be beautiful," Jessen said. "I am made in the image of God. That gives me my value. He molds me and shapes me as a person."
When Jessen was 14, she visited Ireland and received a Claddaugh ring as a gift. She wears this ring as a sign of her commitment to chastity, and told the young women in the audience that she "wants to be fought for, not used; honored, not left behind." She plans to use the ring as a wedding band when she meets the "extraordinary man" who will fight for her.
She told the young men that they are amazing and "capable of greatness" and urged them to be strong and courageous. She urged young women to find "knockout outfits that have a little mystery."
Jessen's career as a public speaker has led her to meet President George W. Bush and to speak to the British Parliament. She is recording her first Christian CD and plans to attend college to obtain a degree in psychology.
Carol Brown, a member of Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Barling, said, "Gianna Jessen was down to earth. She didn't put on airs. And she got to the point, speaking straight from the heart."
In the evening Sept. 10 Jessen spoke at Heart to Heart Pregnancy Support Center's 20th anniversary gala in Fort Smith.

http://www.arkansascatholic.org/article.php?id=657

Baby Escapes Abortion to Find Home with Loving Parents Parents believe all human life is sacred and has value
By Robert and Jo Dee Ingalls Faith, SD
When Joseph entered our lives through the miracle of adoption on a Monday afternoon, we knew we had been blessed. It wasn’t until the following day, however, that we learned of the miraculous way in which Joey’s life had been spared.
Joey’s birthfather was an older, very wealthy man. He wanted a child to whom he could pass his wealth to, but he particularly wanted a son who would also carry his name.
By paying each surrogate $80,000 per pregnancy and buying donor eggs for $30,000 each, he began his crusade for the perfect male offspring. The first three pregnancies were aborted because the children conceived were baby girls.
In the fourth pregnancy, three embryos were implanted. Two of those were baby girls. The first baby girl was aborted early in the pregnancy. The second little girl was aborted at 34 weeks gestation. With the abortion being done so late in the pregnancy, the violence was so horrific that Joey’s placenta was ruptured, probably by his sister thrashing in agony.
Joey was taken by emergency c-section and placed in NICU where his 4 pound 13 ounce body spent weeks fighting the complications inflicted upon it. His sister died during the c-section and was given a certificate of demise.
Joey was born with Down syndrome. All prenatal testing had come back negative. Since his birthfather was paying for a perfect male child, Joey would have been aborted along with his sisters if his chromosome anomaly had been diagnosed before birth. It wasn’t until we had Joey for several weeks did we learn that Joey’s birthfather had told nurses in NICU that he believed parents should be able to decide whether to euthanize a baby born with a disability.
Joey was created perfectly by his Creator. When we look at him, we know we are blessed! We believe that Joey’s life was not cut short because the Lord has a special plan for him. Our prayer is that Joey’s story will compel others to be a voice for the sisters he will never know and for the 3,700 innocent unborn American children who are slaughtered in their mother’s wombs every day.
Robert and Jo Dee Ingalls live in Faith and have more than a dozen children. They have told Joey’s inspirational story at numerous “Life and Liberty” events around South Dakota in recent months.

http://www.dakotavoice.com/200610/Guest/20061005_Ingalls.html

the hard truth about abortion

A graphic video

Sad Truth

A difficult video to watch on abortion

the hard truth about abortion

A difficult to watch video

the hard truth about abortion

A very graphic and difficult to watch video.

My sister died of breast cancer in her early 20's so this has a personal element for me.

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This year it is predicted that an estimated 22,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5300 will die. One out of every nine women in this country will face a battle with breast cancer.

Please remember this by honouring your health and taking the steps necessary to screen yourself for breast cancer. Early detection is key.

Through pink ribbon campaigns and participation in fund raising events, efforts continue to raise funds for research into the prevention of breast cancer. Please consider participating or donating to the various events.

A response to Le Revue Gauche

Le Revenue Gauche website poses questions to people who are pro-life. Lets break it down.

The Canadian blogosphere has been inundated by the anti-abortion, anti-choice, anti-women rantings of Christian Conservative moralists. Using the same old offensive assaults on those who disagree with them. As I have posted here.

People who are against abortion have as much right to discuss abortion as those who are in favour of abortion rights. I do not agree that it's an offensive assault to discuss the recent cases of forced abortion that have created media attention and the noteworthy absence of public outcry from pro-choice people. I believe that if a pro-life parent had taken their child at gunpoint to prevent an abortion they would have been rightfully outraged but this young expectant mother who simply wanted to give birth has no support from pro-choice circles. I find that odd.

A simple question for these moral simpletons, since you claim to be Pro-Life I take it you are opposed to Capital Punishment and War, both the very essence of anti-life . I look forward to your vociferous pontifications on these anti-life topics. Especially from the Catholic bloggers. But I suspect that war and capital punsihment can be justified. However many moral twists and turns that takes.

I think it's offensive in a discussion to call those who disagree "simpletons" but I will at least acknowledge that it's superior to "cunt" and "slut" which are terms that other progressive men have used in referring to women who stay at home with their children.

I can't answer for the entire pro-life movement but I am against capital punishment. In terms of war I can't make that sweeping statement. I believe that WWII was a necessary war and I am sorry we didn't stop the holocaust. I do not agree with the current war in Iraq. I am not prepared to say that makes every war unnecessary.

As capital punishment is not legal in Canada and that doesn't appear to be changing it's not something I've discussed. That war is won. If I believed that Stephen Harper was bringing back capital punishment I would blog about it.

Of course those who are protestant evangelical fundamentalists face no such moral predicament. They simply justify their anti-choice positon by appealing to mythical family values, the ultimate defense of patriarchy.

A male-led household works for some families and does not work for others. People have to figure out how to make their families work.

Instead of saying abortion is murder and the worst crime in the history of mankind (of course for womankind it is not a crime but a historic neccisity of birth control), lets get real and deal with real crimes against humanity, war and capital punishment.

Abortion is unquestioningly a tragedy and it is a national shame that a developed country such as ours cannot help expectant mothers facing difficulty with a better answer than the death of their baby.

Oh and while we are on the topic of abortion and birth control I hope you support a girls/womans right to know, by providing alternatives to the neccisity of abortion, or worse infanticide, by supporting access to birth control and public sex / human relationships education K-12. Why of course you do

I disagree that abortion is a necessity.

I would give my daughter (if I had one) information about birth control. I would not want that role to be taken over by the school and I would not allow it. The school does not need to discuss health care matters with my child and the school does not need to discuss value-laden topics such as human relationships.If other people want their children to have information through that venue that is their decision as parents and I wouldn't suggest that they don't have a right to ask the school to assume that responsibility.

I do not wish to make information on birth control hard to get for the public as a whole and I don't wish to impede access to consenting adults. I have no desire to create barriers to birth control information or access.

Little girls lost

Today begins a month that focuses on women's rights. I would like to acknowledge this with reflecting on the lives of women who never got to be born.

Technology now allows us to abort children based on their gender as the gender of the baby can be determined through ultrasound or aminiocentesis. It is not a common practice in North America but is disturbingly common in other nations such as China, Japan, India, Taiwan, and South Korea. Sex selection in favour of females is rare and/or non-existent. The babies that are being aborted are female.

The Lancet, a British medical journal, reported in early 2006 that there may have been close to 10 million female fetuses aborted in India over the past 20 years. Perhaps contrary to popular expectations, the study also reported that sex selective abortion is more common among the wealthy and among educated women than among the poor and the uneducated.

Millions of children are being aborted for the "crime" of being female and yet you rarely hear western feminists talk about this devastating reality.

So today when people are reflecting on what feminism let us remember the little girls that never got to be born, that never got to be cradled in their mother's arms, that never got to learn to read their first book, who will never walk down the aisle, who will never experience their first day of University, and who will never share their gifts and talents with the world.

An absolute tragedy.

Where were you Stephen?

Today was an important annual pro-life event where people in every major city and some towns in Canada took to the streets to share the message that abortion hurts women, kills babies, and that as a nation we need to move towards choosing life.

Thousands gathered throughout the country to proclaim this message.

Mr. Harper is a member of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church and is a member of a congregation in Ottawa where he and his family have historically attended.

Many at his church attended.

Mr. Harper did not.

Thousands of people active in the pro-life volunteered money to his election.

He never showed up today.

Thousands of people active in the prolife volunteered their time to his MP's and to the CPC party.

Mr. Harper never showed up today.

Thousands upon thousands of pro-life people voted for the CPC party.

Mr. Harper never showed up today.

Mr. Harper promised during the election to do everything in his power to stop pro-life legislation.

Mr. Harper and Mr. Toews worked tirelessly to prevent Mr. Benoit's bill which would have acknowledged crimes against expectant mothers as including penalties for killing the unborn from making it's way to the House of Commons.

Mr. Harper worked along with others to prevent late term abortions from being addressed at the convention and, infact, the most pro-choice policy on the books is with the CPC not with the NDP or the liberals.

I would encourage those in the pro-life movement to ask themselves whether or not this man, who has had the full benefit of a pro-life education, is the man that they wish to vote for and the man they believe reflects their values.

The Big Blue Wave Pro-Life BlogBurst

Today is October 1, 2006 and a few hours from now people will be standing, rain or shine, in various pre-appointed places in Canada to spread the pro-life message.

A message that abortion represents the killing of children and that abortion has been harmful to some women who experience regret after an abortion.

Today is a today to remember the unborn in thought and prayer, it is a day to attend events in your city that memorialize the child, and a day to put your thoughts into action.

Join pro-life people on the streets today as part of the Life Chain and if you can't attend pray for us today and get involved at a later date!