Archives for February 2011

BPAS, a UK abortion provider, just petitioned the government to allow women to induce abortion at home. They lost.

But the point is, they want women to have less contact with a doctor, not more, less medical care, not more. When in fact these self-induced early abortions don’t always go quite according to plan.

I’m not sure what motivates them to push for this. Is it normalization? You can brush your teeth, make a cup of tea and now, have an abortion–all at home? Is it money?

I can’t step into the mind of a pro-abortion person and comment, but I will say this: I can’t see how it’s for women’s health.

________________________

Jennifer adds: What really gets me is this little tidbit, “Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS, said: “It cannot be morally right to compel a woman to physically take tablets in a clinic and to subject her to the anxiety that symptoms will start on the journey back when her doctor knows it is safe and indeed preferable for her to take these at home. ” Furedi seems to assume that every woman is going back to her country estate for bed rest and foot rubs after taking the second dose! In reality, many are going back to a council estate, other children, daily chores, grocery shopping, possibly even their jobs. If symptoms “will start on the journey back”, maybe women need to stay under the doctors’ supervision even longer to ensure their safety.

I know we’ve already commented on the Philadelphia Kermit Gosnell case (the abortion “doctor” who killed babies after birth by plunging scissors into their necks among other macabre things) but I’m sorry, I’m going to return to it.

Here we have a piece grappling with the idea that everyone knew about his “work”–if this post is correct, Gosnell received referrals from the National Abortion Federation. And it strikes me, once again, that the media is not as horrified by what happened as they should be. Perhaps Mark Steyn is, so let’s give him credit, shall we? But for the rest of them–it passed them by. When Tiller was killed we heard about it endlessly, on repeat, in blogs, in the news, everywhere. I’m not sure why this is, but can only conclude that the media turns thinking off when they think the abortion debate might be on.

The disturbing thing to me is that with Gosnell I think I did that too. I was not as shocked as I should have been. I’ve always said I can’t afford to be shocked and sad every single day of the year and abortion happens all the time. But I should not grow so “used to things” that there is never a flash of anger.

When the Gosnell story broke, I seem to remember thinking “here we go again” or something to that effect. Way to go, Andrea, there’s moral clarity for you.

I think the takeaway is that it’s hard to be pro-life in our big ole’ pro-abortion world without losing your marbles, your good nature, your hope in humanity and/or your moral compass.

The writing of others calls me back, whether it’s Mark Steyn or this Real Choice blog. We forge on.

When you look at the picture above do you feel a deep sense of happiness? Peace? Love? The desire to become a surrogate mom? If you checked “all of the above” you are not alone. 

A woman acts as her daughter’s surrogate while chasing after that ever elusive goal, the subject of so many quests from ancient times. Yes, it’s the desire to achieve the Happiness of an Ostrich:

During a visit to Chicago — she lives in Virginia — Casey participated in a workshop led by Connell, a life coach, writer and lecturer on women’s empowerment. In one class exercise, she used pictures cut from a magazine to create a collage depicting a life’s goal. One picture grabbed her attention: an ostrich with an expression of wonder and joy.

Casey wanted to experience the exuberance captured in the picture.

“I found something that would make me feel like that ostrich,” she later wrote to the Connells offering to be Sara’s surrogate.

If I ever decide I need to do something different, something off the beaten path, I sure do hope I am never so vapid as to actually tell people it’s because I saw a picture of an ostrich looking euphoric and I hoped I could achieve that same nirvana.

You might like to track with this web site to see if the new pro-life documentary called Ten Fingers is coming your way. One of the people interviewed is Bruxy Cavey, whose church I used to attend in Toronto. Abortion never came up in that church (just as it rarely comes up in any of the many churches I’ve gone to) so I’m pleased to see he was happy to contribute to a pro-life documentary. (Bruxy also happens to be super smart and has a unique way of looking at the world. I think he would have interesting things to say.)

This is an interesting story:

A Chicago medical center has found itself in a controversial position, as the first Roman Catholic hospital in the country to help women halt an abortion midway through the process.

Resurrection Medical Center began the new practice after pro-life activists started bringing in women who, in the second trimester of their pregnancy, had gone to a clinic for an abortion and then changed their minds. The process used by the clinic for a second trimester pregnancy takes 2-3 days to complete, so by stopping the process early on, Resurrection doctors are hoping to preserve the pregnancy.

[…]

A procedure for late-term abortions, which uses a dried seaweed called laminaria, is new and still unknown by many medical personnel. “They put in this so-called laminaria, which is made from seaweed, and they insert it into the cervix…and the concept is that, this seaweed will soften the cervix… and then after a period of time, 12 to 24 hours, sometimes longer, they take the woman back and they look in her cervix again to see if she’s ready to have that abortion” said Doctor Shu Boung Chan, the chairman of quality at Resurrection Hospital.

Laminaria, he explains, is like a thin rod made of dried kelp that is inserted like a tampon. The laminaria is supposed to expand and dilate the cervix. Once brought to Resurrection, the laminaria is removed, with the hope the cervix will return to its normal state, saving the fetus.

Critics worry the hospital’s efforts could actually cause medical problems for the pregnant woman, and may result in a miscarriage.

Two things. First: Seaweed? Ew. Second: People worry that trying to reverse an abortion might result in a miscarriage? Huh?

There’s more:

Resurrection CEO Sister Donna Marie Wolowicki said hospital staff won’t try to persuade or coerce a woman either way.

“We have our staff prepared to walk her into a private area to make sure that she has the opportunity to share what she really wants us to do or how to help her and what she understands. The first thing we want to make sure is that she understands what’s happened to her thus far we want her to understand about her pregnancy … how far she is along with the pregnancy and what we can do to help her if she really wants us to stop this abortive process … We want it to be a free decision by her.”

[…]

Planned Parenthood of Illinois supports the hospital’s way of handling the situation. Vice President for Public Policy, Pamela Sutherland, said that as long as the women weren’t coerced into changing their minds, it seems they were treated well.

“Based on the statements made by Resurrection …regarding women who come to them to interrupt a second-trimester abortion in process, Planned Parenthood of Illinois agrees with the Hospital’s Standard of Care. We are very pleased that they are counseling women to be sure women are comfortable with their decision. And we support what we also consider to be good medical practice.”

That’s nice – we’re now at the point where a Catholic hospital has to be extra careful not to appear to be putting any pressure at all on women who are coming to them hoping their abortion can be reversed. And the journalist has to make sure to get a quote from Planned Parenthood, as though PP was some kind of unbiased authority suitable to making pronouncements on what constituted proper medical treatment at an actual hospital?

Give me a break!

[h/t]

Romania has problems, big problems. Historically it’s always been that way. Invaded by every neighbouring country, Soviet occupation, the Ceausescu dictatorship, all of these things contributed to the country’s economic downturn. Though they have now entered the European Union, Romania still has a history of people doing what they can to earn a living. For women, especially Romani women, options were and still are limited. The country’s new “witch tax” threatens to take away a portion of what little income Romanian women are currently making. It’s a requirement for witches to carry a permit and provide receipts would almost certainly result in further discrimination towards the Romani (as they don’t typically have a physical address let alone identification), possible fines and/or imprisonment.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — There’s more bad news in the cards for Romania’s beleaguered witches.

A month after Romanian authorities began taxing them for their trade, the country’s soothsayers and fortune tellers are cursing a new bill that threatens fines or even prison if their predictions don’t come true.

Superstition is a serious matter in the land of Dracula, and officials have turned to witches to help the recession-hit country collect more money and crack down on tax evasion.

In January, the government changed labor laws to officially recognize the centuries-old practice of witchcraft as a taxable profession, prompting angry witches to dump poisonous mandrake into the Danube in an attempt to put a hex on them.

[…]

The new bill would also require witches to have a permit, to provide their customers with receipts and bar them from practicing near schools and churches.

Hot women are pro-life. Hey,it’s not me saying it. It’s the New York Times. And oddly enough they don’t seem thrilled about it.”

(h/t)

_______________________

Brigitte adds: 🙂

Ottawa-based doctor extraordinaire René Leiva comments on the new Saskatchewan guidelines:

After reading the recently revised guidelines from Saskatchewan’s College of Physicians and Surgeons on unplanned pregnancies, I was amazed at some statements in this story. While it is true that the college expects doctors to provide full information to patients considering abortions, it seems incorrect to state that they are forcing doctors to go against their medical and moral judgments and refer to abortions. The guidelines contain very good points in terms of options for women facing an unplanned pregnancy. Furthermore, it is insulting to believe women who want abortions lack the intellect to search in the phone book for their local sexual health clinic and will need a doctor to open the book. I see this in my own practice.

My patients have been informed well in advance of my position that I will not refer to abortions, yet, I feel honoured that they will still look to me for advice in their crisis pregnancies. Some will go on to have abortions without delay but others change their minds after proper counselling. At the end, I think what we truly need is not guidelines but doctors who consciously want the best for their patients. 

Dr. Rene Leiva, Ottawa

Black History Month is not only an opportunity to revisit black history but is also a chance to follow that time-line and look progressively forward to the contemporary civil rights movement.

The Rev. Clenard Childress Jr., told Pennsylvanians for Human Life Scranton Chapter that its cause is the modern civil rights movement.

Delivering the keynote address at the group’s annual prayer breakfast Saturday, the Rev. Childress, who heads the Life Education and Resources Network and founded the website Blackgenocide.org, equated abortion with genocide and an attempt to control undesirable population.

“The African-American community has been targeted by abortion,” he said. “A pregnant woman who is in poverty and destitute and may appear not to have much chance at a fruitful life seems to be a candidate for abortion, but that is the mindset of an elitist group making the rules of who lives and who dies.”

More than 400 people turned out for the breakfast,

[…]

Pennsylvanians for Human Life President Helen Gohsler gave a political overview in which she decried the elimination of abstinence-only education funding from the federal budget but cited the election of Gov. Tom Corbett, who is anti-abortion, as a bright spot. She also mentioned the offenses that came to light recently at a West Philadelphia abortion clinic where employees stand accused of killing viable newborns and conducting late-term abortions.

The Rev. Childress noted he rarely addresses black audiences since he critiques contemporary black leaders and fellow preachers who tolerate or support abortion.

“I tell them they are blind and being played like a harp,” he said.

Following the breakfast, attendee Kathy Tumavich of Clarks Summit saw parallels between the Rev. Childress’ ostracism and former Gov. Robert P. Casey, who often found himself at odds with his political party over abortion.

“Rev. Childress gave a great, thoughtful speech,” she said. “I think he is carrying on the true message of Martin Luther King (Jr.)”

Here, we see doctors counselling a mom to have an abortion at five months because she’s been diagnosed with cancer and needs to begin chemo. Her response?

Holding my daughter in my arms was an amazing moment. I might have risked my life for her, but she was worth it.”