Pro-life blog buzz 6-27-14

from Jill Stanek.com

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

At Secular Pro-Life,Rebecca Stapleford, who is autistic and physically disabled, writes an excellent article about the pervasive philosophy of ableism in society, and how it is devaluing to life both in and out of the womb:

Simply put, ableism is a prejudice, much like sexism or racism. Unlike most other prejudices, ableism can often be well-intentioned. For instance, a doctor denying lifesaving treatment to a severely disabled infant is often acting out of compassion, believing that the child’s life is not worth living. However, such an assumption ignores the fact that many severely disabled individuals do find their lives to be worth living, and this scenario involves an able-bodied individual forcing their assumptions about the kind of life that is worth living onto a disabled person — a textbook example of able-bodied power and privilege….

If we want to create a truly pro-life society, we must not only establish the humanity of the unborn and their right to life, but the right of all human beings to life and non-discriminatory medical care, regardless of how much we cost or how productive we are.

Saynsumthn’s Blog notices that a new Planned Parenthood in New York appears to be wooing the business

of the LGBT community:

According to the Star Gazette, on the second floor is business offices and space for youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered groups.
Planned Parenthood told the paper that an example of designing to meet program needs, restrooms were designed with care for transgendered people in mind, according toMaureen Kelly, vice president for programming and communications. For about 18 months, PPSFL Ithaca’s center has provided health care including hormones for transgendered people, the first Planned Parenthood affiliate in New York to do so.

Wesley J. Smith points out that Wisconsin Democrats now officially embrace the culture of death in their 2014 platform, which states, “We believe in freedom of reproductive choice, family planning, and the individual’s right to choose death with dignity including physician‐assisted end‐of‐life”.

Right to Life of Michigan spots a “whoops” in the Detroit Free Press, whose editorial board supports abortion. They originally referred to the death of a woman’s “unborn baby” in a story about a traffic accident. The term was quickly changed to “unborn fetus”, but the link still uses the term “baby”.

At Reproductive Research Audit, Dr. Jacqueline Harvey examines how New York’s newly proposed Women’s Equality Act is simply another version of the defeated Reproductive Health Act, which supported late-term abortion and generally lowered the standard of care for women:

Ultimately, the proposed Women’s Equality Act achieves the same dangerous goals as the Reproductive Health Act, only repackaged to be more concise and more misleading. The Women’s Equality Act, just like the Reproductive Health Act would endanger women of all ages by lowering medical standards for first trimester abortion, increasing the legality of dangerous late-term abortions, and removing stiff penalties for violence against pregnant women.
There is not compelling evidence that Women’s Equality Act presents any benefits, but rather that this bill is a threat to the health and welfare of women of New York state.

Pro-Life Wisconsin rejoices in the closure of the Planned Parenthood facility in Fond du Lac (pictured above). 5 down, 22 to go:

These clinic closures are no accident — they’re the direct result of Pro-Life Wisconsin’s efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the state budget. And de-fund them we did. In the last bi-ennial budget, we successfully eliminated $1 million in funding from Planned Parenthood. 

PLW also credits the prayerful and persistent public witness of the pro-lifers in the area.

[Photos via Saynsumthn's Blog and doorcountyadvocate.com]

Pro-life blog buzz 6-24-14

from Jill Stanek.com

by Susie Allen, host of the blog,Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! EmailSusie@jillstanek.com.

Clinic Quotes shares a quote from an abortionist who admits he does “mental gymnastics” in order to perform abortions:

… I started doing abortions on an altruistic basis. I've done a couple thousand, and it turned into a significant financial boon, but I also feel I've provided an important service.

The only way I can do an abortion is to consider only the woman as my patient and block out the baby. I've delivered enough babies, seen enough divorces, and seen enough abused kids to do abortions with a clear conscience. This may be some kind of mental gymnastics on my part, but I really feel that parenthood is so tough that people shouldn't back into it.

ProLifeBlogs.com links to a Life Newsreport regarding a decision by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to refuse to condemn the killing of babies born alive following botched abortions:

… 78 percent of the PCUSA General Assembly struck down a resolution condemning the killing of babies born alive during abortions, as occurred with notorious abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Initiated by the South Alabamapresbytery, it called for inclusion of pro-lifePresbyterians and an investigation into doctrinal and financial support of abortion. Dissenters cited pro-abortion stances, while others noted past affirmation of viable babies and reservations in commenting on criminal cases.
In other words, PCUSA sees no problem with what Gosnell did. It appears that gay marriage (which was approved by the assembly) matters to PCUSA, while the right to life itself doesn’t matter at all. (Maybe the “PC” in PCUSA should really stand for “politically correct”.)

A Culture of Life finds both good and bad news in the latest abortion statistics out of New Zealand:

The recorded abortions have dropped for the sixth consecutive year to 14,073. This is the lowest since 2007 when there were 18,382 abortions reported….
Significantly, younger women are leading the way in the rejection of abortion. Since 2007, when the number of teen abortions reached their highest in history, the number of 15 to 19 year olds having abortions has decreased by half!…
Unfortunately women aged 40 to 44 are having more abortions. 637 – up from 590 in 2012. It is the highest number of abortions in this age bracket since 2010 when 655 were recorded.

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life has an excellent article pointing out the importance of fathers regarding the abortion issue. Abortion is NOT just a women’s issue.


At Live Action, Cassy Fiano reports on some “Nazithinking” comments made by a Czech government advisor who was forced to resign due to public outcry. But would the outcry have been so swift had his verbiage been a bit more… nuanced?

Miroslav Mitloehner drew strong protests after he argued in a recent article published in the Journal of Medical Law and Bioethics that “it makes no sense to prolong the life of a baby born as a monster….
Mitloehner said doctors should be allowed to terminate babies’ lives without parents’ consent, adding that their disabilities led to the question “whether such a freak is a human being at all.”
Mitloehner said society should have the courage to agree to “legally end their life in the course of pregnancy or immediately after the birth.”

At National Review, Michael J. New points out the media’s pro-abortion bias and how it does a disservice to women by neglecting to report the connection between abortion and preterm birth:

… [E]ven though the Bloomberg article reports extensively on both high abortion rates and the high rate of preterm births in the same story, it never bothers to draw a connection between the two. This is despite the fact that there exist 127 studies documenting such a link. These studies date back until 1963 and include a wide range of methodological approaches.

They also include recent, methodologically rich studies from Italy andChina, each of which analyzed thousands of women; as well as a 2009 meta-study of the literature from 1995 to 2007 authored by both pro-life and pro-choice researchers, which found a 64 percent increased risk of a preterm birth with just a single induced abortion.

[Injection photo via immortalhumans.com]

She Was Attacked for Not Aborting Her Baby With No Eyes, Now He’s Had a Miracle Surgery

She Was Attacked for Not Aborting Her Baby With No Eyes, Now He’s Had a Miracle Surgery

Pro-life blog buzz 6-20-14

from Jill Stanek.com

by Susie Allen, host of the blog,Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli. We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

Right to Life of Michigan says Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California has sent a letter to California legislators stating their opposition to a ban on sex-selective abortion. The war on women is being waged in the womb with the support of Planned Parenthood.

Live Action highlights Planned Parenthood’s outrageous statements on sex selection abortion and infanticide. It’s all in a day’s work for this organization, which enjoys exorbitant amounts of our tax dollars and great favor in Washington, D.C.

Pro-Life Action League recently hosted a “Face the Truth” day at two sites in Chicago where abortionist Mandy Gittler does business. Gittler is the abortionist responsible for the death of Tonya Reaves at Planned Parenthood. Armed with informational fliers and signs about the bubble zone, Reaves’ death, and the lack of inspection by the Illinois Department of Health, PLAL educated many people.

Pro-Life in TN comments on the story of a Nashville woman who rented her womb as a gestational surrogate, only to stumble upon a couple who insisted upon sex selection and selective reduction: 

The third time was not a charm for the surrogate who finds “pregnancy an easy process.” This time she entertained renting her womb to a famous and mega rich heterosexual couple who must be unnamed due a non disclosure agreement.

She started to get bad vibes when they said they wanted a boy and would use gender determining tests on five day old embryos to accomplish this…. The final straw was after they finally settled on two female embryos, but wanted to assure a singleton was born. This meant that [Jessica]Szalacinski had to agree to abort one of the babies if they both “took”… [which made] her feel like her a commodity and she backed out of this intended lucrative arrangement.

ProLife365.com spotlights David Bereit, National Director of 40 Days for Life, who was once passively pro-life, but now devotes himself to a full time pro-life ministry. The organization has had amazing results, with 8,900+ babies’ lives saved, 50 abortion mills closed, and 100+ abortion clinic workers leaving the industry.

Saynsumthn’s Blog notes that New York Planned Parenthood employees are unionizing – an idea Jill Stanek actually encouraged last year. A previous post by Saynsumthn points out that Planned Parenthood contracted with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to do their telemarketing to the tune of $1,067,934. (Recall that PP CEO Cecile Richards’ husband, Kirk Adams, is an executive vice president of the SEIU.)

The Leading Edge and thirtyone8 take exception to Rev. Francis “Frank” Ritchie’s blog post on the New Zealand Green Party’s new abortion policy.

ProWomanProLife links LifeSiteNews announcement that Canadian sidewalk counselor Mary Wagner (pictured right) has been freed after nearly two years in prison for counseling abortion-bound women. Wagner believes her time in jail was not wasted: 

She said she saw the time as “an opportunity for the Holy Spirit really to be at work in hearts that are broken, seeking and are open to God. So quite easily, prayer groups formed and people asked why I was there, why I was in jail. Immediately, I had the chance to share the truth about the wound of abortion.”

She estimated some 80 percent of the women she met in the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton had undergone an abortion and of those, 90 percent said they regretted it. “I would love to see more of a connection between the outside world and the inside world for women who are hurting,” she said. “Maybe just by pen pals or visits and that, because a lot of them don’t have connections with somebody in their lives anymore.”

At National Review, Michael J. New questions whether contraception truly plays a role in reducing the abortion rate:

… [E]ven though contraceptive use has gone up, the fertility rate and unintended pregnancy rate have both actually increased slightly since the mid-1990s. All in all, pro-life efforts to change the hearts and minds of women facing crisis pregnancies might be more effective than commonly realized.

New’s statements have generated a great deal of feedback. In a poorly-researched post at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum took issue with New’s conclusions, “doubting that public opinion, contraceptives, or legislation are playing a substantial role in the recent abortion decline” and stating that both sides of this debate should “stand down.” New responds by saying that looking at the actual evidence is a better strategy. After going into some must-read detail, he concludes: 

Overall, since the early 1990s there have been gains in pro-life sentiment, pro-life legislation, and decreases in teen sexual activity. These factors may not completely explain the decline in the abortion rate. However, they seem like far more compelling explanations than increases in contraception use.

Also responding to New’s article – with absolutely no data or arguments to the contrary – Slate’s Katie McDonough asserts that New is “delusional”. New writes: 

I have a simple question for McDonough and others who think that contraception is responsible for America’s long-term abortion decline: If contraceptives are effective and contraceptive use has increased, why has the unintended-pregnancy rate gone up? Again, statistics from bothGuttmacher and the National Center for Health Statistics… both show the unintended-pregnancy rate has increased since the mid 1990s. Honestly, I am not expecting much of a response. It is unfortunate that instead of thoughtfully engaging the arguments that I put forward, McDonough and others simply choose to engage in childish name calling.

[Photos via Pro-Life Action League and LifeSiteNews]

Pro-life blog buzz 6-17-14

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com

Abstinence Clearinghouse says Facebook has decided to contribute to the gender identification confusion by providing users with a myriad of choices – far beyond simply “male” or “female” – with which to identify: 

In February 2014, Facebook made the startling announcement that they would provide 58 gender choices for their users to choose from. The typical identities such as male or female, heterosexual, gay or lesbian can be found on the list. But there are numerous other obscure options such as “Pangender” and “Two-Spirit.” When this “buffet-style approach” to gender becomes available to Facebook users, it places biology as secondary and allows users to describe themselves by however they “feel like” at the time.

Bound4Life, Live Action, and Down on the Pharm all react to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s recent announcement that they will not fund abortion. Is this a true change of mind and heart or a deception, and will they suffer blowback from the abortion industry? Bound4Life writes: 

This is huge news as the Gates have always been not just “pro-choice” in their philanthropic endeavors, but radical abortion activists. According to Breitbart, “The Gates Foundation has together awarded the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, and other Planned Parenthood affiliates approximately $71 million in grants from prior to 2009 and through 2013.

Live Action says even though people like Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane would like to turn sex-selective abortion into a joke, the public isn't laughing:

Although Planned Parenthood may take a blase attitude to all of this, most Americans do not. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of the public is opposed to gendercide, with a significant portion also concerned about fetal suffering. You can add your voice to that number by signing Live Action’s petition calling for Planned Parenthood to be stripped of the half a billion in federal funding that it receives. Girls already face plenty of challenges; a federally subsidized death shouldn’t be one of them.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition says the best way to prevent elder abuse (which is on the rise) is to say no to legalized assisted suicide in New Jersey.

The Leading Edge has 10 pressing questions for New Zealand’s Green Party about their “rushed and badly crafted” proposed abortion policy: 

It seems that the Greens have had to do a spot of damage control since Friday’s announcement that the introduction of a new extreme abortion law in New Zealand is going to be one of their key priorities for the upcoming general election.

Clinic Quotes posts a reader’s amazing testimony of aborting a child with Down syndrome (to spare the entire family the burden of caring for the child) only to end up in preterm labor during her subsequent pregnancy, in which she gave birth to a child with special needs. The reader says she has learned something important since the birth of her son: 

But what I have learned in the 5 years since he was born amazes me more. I have learned that I do have the strength to raise this child. That yes, the drs. appts. and therapies which at the beginning seemed all encompassing, fade into the past as he grows older. I have seen my daughter grow beautifully into a compassionate and loving person. The experience of having a brother with special needs has exposed her to something that I always said I would teach my children. That different isn’t bad… that what makes a person beautiful isn’t what you can see with your eyes.

Coming Home has some strong words for President Obama regarding the deaths of children in school shootings: 

WHY are these shootings taking place, and WHY now? We have tighter restrictions on gun purchase and ownership than in any time in America. There is a seeming proportionality between restrictions and violence, but even that cannot explain the motives….
Obama is too myopically focused on the gun to see the coarsening to life that he himself has championed his whole adult life. He fails to see the 57 million babies torn apart in abortion…. 

He fails to see an African American community decimated by 15 million missing members from abortion…. But blaming Obama is as myopic as the president’s vision. 

We have brought all of this upon ourselves. We live in a constitutional republic: limited powers to government with elected officials. We have been too narcissistic and hedonistic to care about the destruction wrought by these men and women who come from us, and are a reflection of us. We have lived lives, as a people, that are out of control and have raised children in a coarsened and calloused environment of our own making…. 

The only difference between the victims of Columbine, Sandy Hook, the other school shootings, and the 57 million butchered babies is that these children in school were wanted children.

[Photos via brogzinho.wordpress.com and mdbeau.blogspot.com]

Pastoral Meanderings: What is torture? Abortion or Prohibition of Abortion?

Cross posted at Pastoral Meanderings by Pastor Larry Peters....an excellent read.

Once again the United Nations has been up to no good.  The UN experts on all things moral and righteous met in Geneva to attack Catholic teaching on abortion.  According to the great and mighty UN, prohibiting abortion is a grave human rights abuse against women and the Vatican better do something about it.

The one and only American on the U.N. Committee Against Torture, Felice Gaer, went even further by labeling the Church’s position on abortion was a form of torture. Speaking calmly but forcefully, the Vatican representative, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio in Geneva, labeled abortion as the ultimate torture.  It was a subtle statement of the obvious.

Prohibiting abortion only inconveniences the life of the woman, putting her in no more danger than nearly anything else in life -- such as riding in a car, for example.  She is not obligated to keep her child but only to bear the child.  Abortion, on the other hand, is the ultimate torture because it steals the life of the unborn, tosses it away as if it were so much garbage, and treats all life as cheap and ordinary in the process.

Imagine that.  We live in a world where Muslims kill people for their Christian faith, where school girls are held hostage and forced to convert in Nigeria, in which Russia annexes Crimea and threatens the Ukraine, in which women are subject to everything from genital mutilation to subservience before Sharia law but the high and mighty of the UN have decided that being anti-abortion trumps all of this! 

Of course their minds will not be changed but at least we can expose the sham of concern for rights that is behind such ridiculous assertions.  It would be humorous if so many lives were not at stake.  The absurdity of their grave concern is an affront to the millions of unborn whose lives are discarded as so much trash and their lives considered unworthy of the least protection of the law while women are treated as the victims here.  What good is a right you claim for yourself at the expense of the child within your womb?

Pro-life blog buzz 6-13-14

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

At Priests for Life, Fr. Frank Pavone calls for civil disobedience in response to the recently passed New Hampshire “bubble zone” law that bans pro-lifers from coming within 25 feet of an abortion facility: 

"This is an unjust law, not only from the perspective of free speech, the regulation of which must be content-neutral in order to be Constitutional, but also from a perspective that is antecedent to the Constitution…. This law attempts to stop those who are trying to save human lives, and therefore violates natural justice.Because of its injustice, and because of the teaching of the Church that calls for conscientious objection to such laws, this law has no claim on conscience and should be directly disobeyed and violated."

The Passionate Pro-Lifer says Oprah Winfrey has joined the list of billionaire philanthropists who are contributing to population control and family planning efforts worldwide through the Global Health Initiative (or “Obamacare on steroids”): Why Oprah Winfrey wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with people who… “support GHI projects, fund China’s brutal population control, but also engages in forced sterilization, coercion, bribery, and eugenics throughout the developing world” is a question she should be encouraged to answer.

At National Review, Michael J. New points out that Guttmacher’s latest numbers show a reduction in teen pregnancy rates. But predictably, they credit this reduction to increases in contraceptive use with no mention of the decrease in teen sexual activity rates. Among the factors that have likely contributed to the teen pregnancy decline are an increase in abstinence and an increase in the enactment of parental involvement laws.

ProLife360.com has a thought provoking post entitled, “10 Ways the Pill Kills Marriages”, which states that “divorce rates skyrocketed over 300% within three decades of the Pill being introduced”.

CEC for Life discusses the lies being told about pro-lifers by Alabama abortionists who hope to convince a judge that the real reason their clinics can’t seem to stay open isn't because of unethical practices – it’s because of those “pesky (pro-life) protesters.”

ProWomanProLife wonders why Quebec just legalized euthanasia, linking to an article by Margaret Sommerville, in which she states:

I predict history will see each society’s decision about euthanasia as its turning-point values decision of the 21st century.

PWPL responds, “[I]s not legalizing killing of elderly and infirm on their choice a logical outcome of a society that has had legalized killing of babies for decades?”

Real Choice says there is no comparison – pregnancy resource centers are much safer for women than abortion clinics:

No woman has ended up with a hysterectomy or a colostomy because she visited a CPC. No woman has ended up with her life in a tailspin because she visited a CPC. No woman has ended up in her grave because she trusted a CPC. Many have been helped, a few have been irritated. And that’s it.

Secular Pro-Life and The Vine both discuss the new People of Choice website, which draws attention to the vulgarity found in the pro-choice movement. Warning: not suitable for children.

Pro-Life Wisconsin shares their commercials produced through their educational True to Life Media campaign.

Pro-Life Action League launches a new video series featuring “eight former abortion workers [who] tell the stories of why they left the abortion industry and became advocates for life”:

Your tax dollars at work: Planned Parenthood's dangerous sex advice for kids

SEXED: Dangerous Sex Advice for Kids (Episode 1)

Pro-life blog buzz 6-10-14

from Jill Stanek.com

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

Josh Brahm announces the start of his new pro-life ministry, the Equal Rights Institute:
We’re going to largely accomplish our mission through speaking, writing and campus outreaches. We’re excited to be partnering with Students for Life of America to be training as many of their campus clubs as possible. We have several books we’re planning to write. I’ll be speaking on pro-life dialogue tips as well as relational apologetics with my formerly pro-choice friend Deanna.

You can donate to this new ministry (and/or personally support Josh) here.


Live Action chronicles “the nutty professor” of abortion advocacy, Sarah Silverman (who recently called preborn children “goo”) and her even more disgusting buddy, Tucker Max, who sleeps with as many women as possible and then refers to them as “sluts” and “whores.” While they’re making jokes about abortion and praising Planned Parenthood, the abortion giant is proving itself to be a friend to the abusers and users of women. How hilarious is that?

Fletcher Armstrong appeals to post-abortive men and women to join his team to administer the truth with love about abortion: 

If you have experienced abortion, please join our team. Please go with us, so you can explain… how God loves us in spite of our sin. You can explain how God can forgive us and heal us from abortion, just as He can forgive and heal us from any other sin. You can tell them that you know this is true, because you’ve been there.

Big Blue Wave weighs in on Justin Trudeau, the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, who recently made news by saying he would not consider any pro-life candidates for the Liberal Party. Trudeau claims, “This is not a position about trying to gain votes or trying to play a certain angle…. This is very much a position of principle.” BBW’s succinct response: “Your principles suck.”

Bound4Life says it’s time to admit it: The Catholic Church was not only right on the issue of contraception, but their vision was also “prophetic”:

The Church teaches that love, marriage, sex, and procreation are all things that belong together. That’s it. But it’s pretty important. And though the Church has been teaching this for 2,000 years, it’s probably never been as salient as today.

A Culture of Life is disturbed by this photo, above, being used as a “get out the vote” effort by New Zealand’s Green Party. Their platform actually seeks to liberalize abortion and to remove it from the Crimes Act (though you’d never know it from this picture), allowing for late-term abortions for fetal abnormalities:

How ironic today to view this picture featuring the rounded bellies of mothers who are Green supporters with the words “vote for me”.

Here, the value, the existence and the reality of the child hidden inside each mother’s womb was acknowledged and even celebrated. 

But in this year’s election, a vote for Green will not be a vote for the vulnerable pre-born child. Neither will it be a vote for women. It will be a vote for death.

Generations for Life says one way to combat abortion is to be willing to show our own vulnerability to those facing unplanned pregnancies:

One of the most powerful ways that we can make ourselves vulnerable is by acknowledging that our lives are not perfect. We often expend so much effort trying to prove that we have it all together, giving others the impression that we are above their sufferings and struggles. We create a culture in which a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy is pressured to abort her child in order to maintain the façade of a perfect life. If we can instead embrace the imperfections in our own lives without discouragement or distress, we take on a small role in creating a culture where living “perfectly imperfect” lives is okay.

[Silverman/Max photos via zimbio.com]

Pro-life blog buzz 6-6-14

from Jill Stanek.com

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

Pro-Life Action League does not apologize for picketing hospitals that invite the “P.R. disaster” that will come as a result of granting abortionists admitting privileges:

Admitting privileges legislation has made hospitals the gatekeeper for abortion clinics’ ability to remain open. That’s allowed protests to move away from the clinics themselves and back to the hospitals, a far more vulnerable target.

At National Review, Michael J. New points out the media bias in the Detroit News’ latest reporting on abortion numbers in Michigan.


At Reproductive Research Audit, Dr. Rebecca G. Oas discusses Ann Starrs (pictured left), the new director of the Guttmacher Institute, and her strong advocacy for abortion rights – which appears to have affected her ability to be objective:

In 2010, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), led by former World Health Organization (WHO) employee Dr. Christopher Murray, published a study in the journal Lancet refuting the UN’s numbers, showing maternal mortality levels were far lower than the WHO had long claimed. Lancet editor Dr. Richard Horton faced pressure from advocacy groups to delay publication. Among them wasAnn Starrs, who urged the scientists to “at least hide that there is disagreement” lest the conflicting numbers compromise advocacy efforts.

Abortion advocates hiding the truth to continue pushing the lie that abortion is necessary? Now, there’s a real shocker.

ProLife NZ effectively points how correlation does not necessarily imply causation in the case of maternal mortality and abortion:

One of the pillars of the abortion movement is the idea that legalized abortion prevents maternal deaths. They can point to improved maternal mortality rates after the legalisation of abortion in New Zealand and elsewhere….
But there are two major problems with that theory. The first is that the numbers themselves are often either wrong or manipulated….
The second problem is the spurious correlation problem. The movement for the legalization of abortion happened to coincide with medical breakthroughs that dramatically improved Americans’ health in general, and in particular, allowed doctors to manage infection, hemorrhage, and other issues that may appear as complications of abortion. It also coincided, in the developing world, with independent foreign aid focused on maternal health issues, such as the provision of midwives.

ProWomanProLife gives an example of how we can know that late-term abortions are done in Canada – when abortion facilities advertise it. But one clinic in Toronto also actually links to a website which claims even the Pope says abortion is acceptable. Oh, really?

At The Vine, Breeanne Howe gives her take on how our society is beginning to react to extreme, pro-abortion views.

At Priests for Life, Kevin Burke reviews the pro-abortion movie, Obvious Child.

At thiryone8, Andy Moore has a great post about how to frame the abortion language. Let’s learn to use it on behalf of life.


Suzy B reports on the consequences of Terry McAuliffe’s election as the governor of Virginia, following the term of pro-life Gov. Bob McDonnell. As promised, McAuliffe (pictured right) is trying to remove all limits on abortion in the state (home of the infamously lawbreaking abortionist Steven Brigham, lest we forget):

Abortion facility safety regulations signed into law by former Gov. McDonnell were designed to protect Virginia women from Gosnell-like abortionists such as Steven Brigham. Brigham continues his dangerous practice of beginning late-term abortions in Virginia then transporting women across state lines to his facility in Maryland. Now Terry McAuliffe has replaced 5 members of the Virginia Board of Health with his chosen appointees, and asked them to reconsider Virginia’s life-saving regulations requiring abortion facilities to meet basic medical safety standards.

At Real Choice, Christina Dunigan writes about the likely upcoming strategy of the abortion movement to counter the impact of pro-life state legislation. She says we need to be ready for the inevitable:

Having established the “legal = safe” and that the alternative to “safe, legal abortion” is only “unsafe abortion” and not help addressing the woman’s actual problems, the preparations are already in the works for any contingency that they can play to the abortion lobby’s benefit. You can be certain they’re ready for those states that will soon be without a dedicated abortion facility. We’ve seen this sort of thing play out before, so we know what’s going to happen….
It’s important to note up front that it is not the average pro-choice citizen who is gearing up to create and exploit a tragedy. It’s Big Abortion — an unholy alliance of population control zealots, abortion practitioners, eugenicists, and Sandra Fluke-style feminists. They are putting the pieces in place, and average pro choice citizens are being primed to play their part in protecting Big Abortion’s interests under the guise of protecting women.

Big Abortion is losing traction. The main thing they need to regain momentum is a corpse. If you think they’re not gearing up to produce one, think again.

[Photos via guttmacher.org, politico.com]

Pro-life blog buzz 6-3-14

from Jill Stanek.com


by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli
We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

Clinic Quotes reports the words of a Boston abortionist who acknowledges that her work as an abortionist does end lives… but for “good reasons”:

I have the utmost respect for life; I appreciate that life starts early in the womb, but also believe that I’m ending it for good reasons. Often I’m saving the woman, or I’m improving the lives of the other children in the family. I also believe that women have a life they have to consider.

If a woman is working full-time, has one child already, and is barely getting by, having another child that would financially push her to go on public assistance is going to lessen the quality of her life. And it’s also an issue for the child, if it would not have had a good life. Life’s hard enough when you’re wanted and everything’s prepared for. So yes, I end life, but even when it’s hard, it’s for a good reason.

In our newest addition to the blogroll, ProLife 365.com, Kevin Kukla shares an interview with American Life League’s National Director of STOPP, Rita Diller. Kukla writes that ALL “[has] many projects, including STOPP International, Celebrate Life Magazine, and The Pill Kills.”

Americans United for Life says in a new book entitled Protection of Human Life in Its Early Stages, AUL’s William Saunders “shows how the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade was contrary to the principles of American self-government and to the rule of law. Further, he shows how the decision was contrary to science and to fundamental principles of human rights.”

Big Blue Wave says birth control and the morning after pill were supposed to end the need for abortions – but in Denmark where sales have doubled, the abortion numbers remain unchanged.

FRC Blog remarks on Planned Parenthood’s form letter from abortion-supporting clergy.

Abstinence Clearinghouse links to an article discussing the reduction in the teen birth rate.

At Live Action, Cassy Fiano says “pro-choicers” are beginning the push to remove conscience protections for doctors who refuse to perform abortions. Remind me again: who are the real “anti-choicers”?

Kansans for Life announces that Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri plans to close its “financially failing” facility in Hays, which “no longer qualifies for family planning funds distributed by the Kansas health department.”



A Culture of Life speaks hard truth about the exploitation of IVF. The strong desire to have children is understandable but most couples do not examine adequately the realities that go with IVF treatments:

There is immediate relief for couples who get a baby. But frequently there are “leftover” embryos. Currently in excess of 10 000 in New Zealand alone.

Many couples end their treatment with no intention of having more children. But frequently they correctly identify these embryos as being the siblings of the children they already have at home. They don’t want to bring them to birth, but they don’t have any morally acceptable alternatives. They see them as theirs, so they don’t want to donate them to others. And because they have some understanding of their humanity, they don’t want them destroyed by the clinic or by medical researchers. So every time the bill for cold storage arrives, there is a repeat of the anxiety. In the past many couples just paid the bill and put off making a decision. But now they will be forced to make the decision after 10 years. These dilemmas aren’t adequately considered before starting IVF.

IVF image via just.edu.jo

TN: Muslims offended by Taliban abortion law comparison

cross posted at Jill Stanek.com

Muslims offended by Taliban/abortion law comparison







The ad ran in Sunday’s paper in the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Times Free Press in Chattanooga. It’s a cartoon of a man in a turban standing over top a woman with his foot pinning her down.

In the man’s folded arms is a rolled paper saying ‘Amendment #1′, which is a proposed legislation that would allow state lawmakers to make more laws concerning abortion. The ad calls the amendment the Tennessee Taliban Amendment, and says voting no will keep Tennessee legislators from controlling women.

Muslims across the state are furious about the depiction….

The group who purchased the ad is called the Tennesseans for Preservation of Personal Privacy. A lawyer for the group said that they never intended to offend anyone with the ad campaign.

“The idea that this was intended in any way to insult the Muslim community, or that it would have that effect, it wasn’t expected, and certainly never was intended,” attorney Michel Kaplan said.

~ Local8now.com, reporting on the offense taken by Muslims over a newspaper ad comparing restrictive abortion laws to the Taliban, , May 29