Tennessean Congressman Blackburn and Black receive recognition from Susan B Anthony

The Tennessean recognized two middle Tennessee pro life Congressman....Marsha Blackburn and Diane Black who were recognized by Susan B. Anthony for their stand for life in Washington DC.

Marsha Blackburn / Submitted

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Submitted

WASHINGTON — One of the leading interest groups opposing abortion rights honored U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Wednesday for her work on measures to restrict the practice.

The award comes as Blackburn, R-Brentwood, and Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, continue to sponsor and co-sponsor numerous bills in the 113th Congress that take aim at the procedure.

Blackburn received the Distinguished Leader Award from Susan B. Anthony List, a Washington organization dedicated to funding women candidates who oppose abortion. The award was to be presented at the group’s annual gala Wednesday night.

The group cited Blackburn for leading the House floor debate in June on a bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks. The measure passed the Republican-controlled body 228-196, although it failed to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“Representative Blackburn is already recognized as one of the foremost and fearless leaders of the pro-life caucus here in Washington,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the SBA List. “She is never afraid to go on offense for the unborn and women, whether she is debating opposing members of Congress or media pundits.”

Dannenfelser added, “Her leadership spurred several states to take action and continues to inspire change in the hearts and minds of Americans across the nation.”

The group also praised Black, who spoke at a panel discussion it held Wednesday morning. “She is another of our amazing women in the House. We love her,” said spokeswoman Mallory Quigley.

The two members began the 113th Congress in January by each introducing a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.

Together or separately, they also have co-sponsored a number of other abortion-related bills. Among them are proposals to:

• Prohibit transporting a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion.

• Keep health insurance plans offered under President Barack Obama’s health care law from offering abortion services, except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother.

• Prohibit funding of state and local education agencies unless they certify that any health services they offer students do not cover abortions.

• Ban federal funds from paying for any health benefits that include abortion services. The bill passed the House but has yet to make it out of the Senate Finance Committee.

• Prohibit abortions in cases in which the unborn child is more than 20 weeks old and capable of feeling pain.

• Allow individuals who have a moral or religious objection to abortion to refuse insurance under Obama’s health care law that provides such coverage. It passed the House but not the Senate.

Both also co-sponsored a House resolution calling for Congress and the states to gather information about those offering “abusive, unsanitary or illegal abortion practices.” It passed the House.

Tennessean confirms TN as out of state abortion mecca

A well written article in the Tennessean show three important points.....TN is the abortion destination in the southeast...in fact fourth in the nation for out of state abortions, most abortions are done on women of color, and most Tennesseans consider themselves pro life.

Over the same time period, the percentage of women coming from outside Tennessee for abortions increased by more than 30 percent. One in four abortions in 2010 was sought by an out-of-state woman — a result of bordering states passing abortion restrictions and a steep decline in abortion clinics in those states. 

While non-white Tennesseans constitute just 17 percent of all state residents, non-white women were more likely to obtain abortions than white women. Non-white women obtained 6,294 abortions in 2012 versus 5,376 sought by white women. 

A recent poll by Middle Tennessee State University found that 51 percent of Tennesseans think abortion should be “legal only under certain circumstances.” Another 12 percent think it should be “legal under any circumstances,” and 32 percent think it should be “illegal in all circumstances.”

Chart from CDC data 2010 

Vandy doc oppose requiring standards for outpatient abortion surgery centers as too expensive !!

What an outrageous statement from Dr. Frank H. Boehm professor and vice chairman of the department of OB/GYN at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

In this Op Ed for the abortion supporting Tennessean, Dr. Boehm identifies himself as an abortion supporter/provider who supports limiting late term abortions and agrees with the TX portion of the law that does so. He stated that if the mother's life is in danger, they can deliver the baby and turn the baby over to doctor's who tries to save the life of the baby. So much for the argument that to save the life of the mother...baby must die.

But this paragraph dismissing the need for free standing abortion centers to meet the same standards as other outpatient surgical treatment center is astonishing. Can you say profits before women's health and life?

"There have been attempts by individual states such as Texas to add other restrictions to the abortion process, such as requiring a physician who performs abortions to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital and requiring abortion clinics to comply with the same structural requirements as an outpatient hospital facility, a requirement that would clearly be so expensive it would cause the majority of abortion clinics in Texas to close their doors."

If they are not meeting standards, closing is not a bad thing?  Why would an abortion center have to have hallways wide enough for a gurney to fit down? Ask the paramedics in the Gosnell case as they tried to save the life of the woman dying from a botched abortion? Paramedics have stated that the narrow hallways prevent the speedy transport of a woman to the waiting ambulance. In fact they say that it needs to be wide enough not only for a gurney but for the paramedic running alongside the gurney "bagging" the patient to have a reasonable chance of survival. These are not cosmetic changes.

 Would you want to have any type of surgery done at a facility that failed to meet these basic standards because it cut into their bottom line? How about qualified doctors who have admitting privileges at local hospitals. If the doctor who wants to perform surgery on me does not meet that standard, I don't want his/her services. How outrageous that a doctor would side with the abortion industry in putting profits before the safety and health of the women they pro port to serve.  

Pix: Tennessean

Cancer survivor, new mom is thankful like she's never been thankful

from Tennessean:

Cancer survivor, new mom is thankful like she's never been thankful

"Joanna Montgomery was featured in the Mother’s Day issue of The Tennessean. Since telling her story through her blog, she has received national attention, including a September appearance on Katie Couric’s show, “Katie.” Follow Montgomery at www.hellojomo.com or on Twitter @hellojomo."

"On Dec. 1, 2011, I underwent an emergency C-section. Mysterious pain brought me into the emergency room, and it was discovered that I was experiencing a partial placental abruption."

"I now know that it was pain from the cancer growing inside me that brought me to the emergency room that day. It was the cancer that alerted us to the fact that our little girl was about to lose her source of nourishment.

It was the cancer that saved her life. And she saved mine, too. If I hadn't become pregnant, the cancer — a typically asymptomatic type — likely would not have been discovered until it had spread much further."

pix: Tennessean

Tennessean columnist worries about late night comedians laughing at abstinence education....

 Gail Kerr is a columnist for the abortion promoting  Tennessean.  She is known for her left viewpoints extraordinaire.... this week she wrote  a column  entitled  'Gateway sex' bill makes TN a laughingstock again.
She laments the bill passed by our legislature and signed by our governor that says that abstinence should be promoted,  not with a wink and a roll of eyes, but enthusiastically and stop with the promotion of gateway sexual activities that ultimately lead to intercourse.   Kerr is incensed and incredulous. Worse than that she is embarrassed because late night comedians are mocking the bill and TN.


So I just had to comment on her article......

Question: How can you tell if this is a good piece of legislation? Answer: Gail Kerr writes an editorial condemning it.

Poor Gail needs to get a life. She bases her ideas of good and bad, right and wrong on late night comedians opinions. She's embarrassed.  She needs to  be embarrassed that we allow the abortion industry to have access to our children through the school system. Yes, they give a wink and a nod to abstinence but then hurry on to the good stuff. This is how you put on a condom and now let's talk about the fun of sex without getting pregnant. Outercourse, anal sex and oral sex. But wait, we do tell them to always wear a condom! Ya, get real guys,  will always want to put on a condom when receiving oral sex. Sure! 

Mother delivers healthy baby and then finds out she has cancer...pregnancy helped her find cancer early

 The Tennessean is a strong supporter of abortion but every now and then the pro life truth peeks through. 

This story ran on mother's day of  a woman who gave birth to a  beautiful perfectly healthy  baby girl when her womb was  also  carrying cancer. Had the cancer been discovered prior to the birth,  she surely would have been strongly advised to abort. In this case the birth actually led to the discover of the cancer at an early stage where her prognosis is hopeful.

"I marvel at how my body was able to carry her as long as she needed to be carried, and keep her safe and secure and healthy. How it was able to house her in a warm and cozy environment; and how even though she was literally surrounded by cancer during her stay in my uterus, she arrived perfect and unscathed."

Interesting points from the story....at age 41 got pregnant while on the pill  " early in her relationship with Mark, now her husband,"   but suffered a miscarriage while planning her  wedding . She got pregnant a second time  and delivered her daughter , Magnolia Grace.  Just a few days following her birth came the dreadful news of the discovery of cancer.
 

"The cancer was on her fallopian tubes, her uterus, both ovaries, throughout her abdomen, symptomatic, and as such, often deadly.
Because it was caught as it was, unexpectedly early by an unexpected child, Joanna’s prognosis is one of hope."

 Read the story online here and here. What are the take away pro life points?  The first one is obvious that she was able to successfully carry and deliver a healthy baby while her body was also cancer ridden. Actually the "accidental" pregnancy is credited with saving her life. Questions surrounding the cause of cancer and if the pill had any relationship remains unanswered.

Congratulations on the birth of Magnolia and best wishes as you battle cancer.

Pix: Tennessean

TN: pro life community concerned about the fox in the hen house.

Tennessean downplays the abortion support in the puff piece about the strange selection from a "pro life" governor who appointed the new Commissioner of Health for TN.   They mention the  concerns of the pro life community but diss it by calling it political. Disappointed is too mild I would say.....pro life Tennesseans have clearly spoken about abortion and the funding of it but strange things happen  like bumps in the middle of the night.  Dates on legislation passed are changed. Ghost amendments  insert themselves into legislation that negates the intent of the legislature.  

RTL calls it fox guarding the hen house but maybe it is more like from the frying pan into the  fire.  

 
From Knox News:

In a new release Tennessee Right to Life President Brian Harris focused on Dreyzehner as a presenter at the 2011 conference of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, during which he appeared with "pro-abortion lobbyist" Rachel Benson Gold.
"After a legislative session in which pro-life majorities made clear their desire to bar the use of tax dollars for agencies such as Planned Parenthood, it appears that the governor has invited a fox into the henhouse," said Harris in the news release.

In an interview, Harris said Right to Life had suggested "several names" as a new health commissioner and the organization had been hopeful for appointment of a commissioner more supportive of the group's views than Cooper was. There is "deep disappointment" that was not the case, he added.
The group was unhappy with Cooper on several fronts. Harris said the Department of Health, for example, has failed to enforce a 2009 mandating that abortion providers post notices declaring patients cannot be coerced into having an abortion.

"Dreyzehner's active involvement with an organization so radically supportive of abortion makes clear that pro-life Tennesseans will have a continued fight in order to enforce even the most basic pro-life protections for unborn children and abortion vulnerable women in our state," said Harris.
Money for Shelby: After some controversy earlier this year on efforts by Republican legislators to block Planned Parenthood from receiving any state funding, the group was this week granted $75,000 in government funds to provide free testing for syphilis project in Shelby County. The money came from federal dollars, but is allocated by the state.

"It's difficult to construe this as anything other than a slap in the face of pro-life Tennesseans across the state," said Harris.

Dr. supports graphic pictures for smoking...how about abortion??

An editorial in the  abortion supporting Tennessean caught my eye even though I am not a smoker. It is written by Dr. Eddie Hamilton president of the TN chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He agrees with graphic labels on cigarette packages  and chastises "Big Tobacco" for fighting this. His article is entitled Labels true, appropriate way to stop smoking.

As I read the article all I could think of is substitute abortion for the word cigarettes and kill for harm.  Insert abortion industry for Big Tobacco. It works.

I would hope that Dr. Hamilton a pediatrician would agree.

"My hope is that the court dismisses the Big Tobacco lawsuit; we must fight this epidemic with every weapon at our disposal — deadly pictures included."

I agree let's educate people with the truth. It will save millions of lives.

TN: Once SJR 127 passes the legislature...the PR battle begins

Tennessean features a story on SJR 127 which is being voted on in the state legislature this week.  After 11 years, it is expected to pass but then it must be put on the ballot in 2014 for the voters. The amendment is meant to correct a ruling by 5 judges in 2000 that found that our state constitution approved in 1870 gave our citizens such a broad right to abortion that commonsense restrictions around abortion such as waiting periods and informed consent and that second and third trimester abortions be performed in hospitals must be thrown out.
Because of this ruling by activist unelected  judges, free standing abortion mills such as The W omen's Center in Nashville could operate without being licensed as an ambulatory surgical treatment center and go without inspection and regulations  all these years. Every time the Health Dept. tried to act on that the ACLU would go to court for them and have them back up and running by the end of the business day. The judges were sympathetic to the abortion industry and said since no one had determined how many abortions  were needed to meet that requirement then they were not out of compliance. They never took up the issue of how many abortions would trigger that requirement. To this day unsuspecting women enter thinking that it is inspected and licensed to perform surgical procedures as an ambulatory surgical treatment facility.
The article in the Tennessean is pretty straightforward and accurate which I applaud since the paper has not be shy about showing their bias toward the abortion industry.

"The amendment is meant to reverse a 2000 ruling in which the Tennessee Supreme Court found that the state constitution's right to privacy affords greater protections for abortion access than the U.S. Constitution.The amendment says explicitly that abortion is not protected by the state constitution. "Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion," the amendment says. "The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother."

SJR 127 is expected to pass this week and then the PR battle begins. Already the abortion industry has their friendlies and employees commenting with inaccurate things meant to confuse and scare the public. 

Sure can't believe everything you read.....recent examples of inaccurate reporting...let the reader beware!

No wonder the social media has taken over from standard  journalism of the MSM. Perhaps it is not the speed,  but the content that edges them out. Not that social media cannot be inaccurate,  but trust of the MSM especially print media is  declining. These are some  reasons why...

While preparing Proliferations for Jill Stanek.com, it appeared that there are many stories of important issues being reported inaccurately due to laziness, carelessness or outright deceit. No wonder the rise of citizen journalists like Lila Rose who go out and use their media skills to produce videos to bring out the facts that papers will not print. 

Here are  four recent incidents of shoddy journalism. This is important to point out because not everyone is a news junkie and has the time and interest in digging to find the truth. Many are casual readers who take the story at face value...beware.

 The most egregious one is the excellent post by Jivin J pointing out that anyone can get a job at Newsweek. Jonathan Alter writes a story that proves the ineptness of his journalistic talents..as Jivin J points out a simple goggle search could have spared him  outrageous, inaccurate comments.
 
Second place goes to the Knoxville News Sentinel that Fletcher Armstrong gently chides  for not digging deeper. Actually he was way too easy on them. Again, just a few clicks of the mouse could have spared them from printing inaccuracies  that are publicly other places.

Third is the Tennessean which I regularly complain about,  but they do not hide that they are pro abortion. My latest complaint  came when Jessica Bliss wrote a piece that took talking points and a few comments from facebook and wrote an article passing it off as news when it should have been a paid ad for PP. 

Andy Birkley of the MN Independent comes in 4th ...only because I am letting him slide on the issue of ESCR and cloning which may be bit confusing but MN Citizens Concerned for Life rightly takes him to task for his lack of journalistic skills before  putting the article out.


These are just examples of the past few days......so readers beware! Don't assume fact checking is standard procedure. 

Tennessean...Abortion proponents dehumanize unborn children

  Tennessean prints an editorial ....Abortion proponents dehumanize unborn children.  

Of course this has propelled the abortion supporters to use the same ole tired and inaccurate arguments that does not address  the subject of the editorial...the humanity of the preborn.  They trot out their tired inaccurate arguments that men cannot get pregnant, pro lifers don't want to support the children following birth and PP is non profit. No one wants to address the elephant in the room that abortion takes the life of an innocent defenseless human being. Sad...

Stand up and write....good letter to the editor that got through the pro abortion gauntlet at the Tennessean

'Abortion' and 'baby' can't be used together

In the article "Early delivery," March 6, before the first five paragraphs were finished, the word "baby" was used four times. Yet in another article on page 4, "Young women boost the ranks of U.S. abortion providers," the term "baby" is never used and for good reason.

The pro-abortion industry knows the word baby and abortion are never to be used in the same sentence. Terms like, "product of conception," "terminating an unwanted pregnancy," "women's reproductive health care," "a woman's right to choose to do with her body" and dehumanizing the baby by calling it a fetus are used to deceive the uneducated public.
Fact is, abortion ends the life of a innocent human being that is totally separate from the mother's body. With only 2 percent of all abortions preformed because of rape, incest and life of the mother, 98 percent of abortions are unnecessary.
Since "both sides can be wrong, but only one side can be right," I'll take my stand with the smallest, weakest and most defenseless of all — the unborn.

Allen Lawrence
Hermitage 37076

My comment to Allen....
Great letter, Allen. You can always tell by the angry replies from the abortion industry that you hit the nail on the head. Words matter and that is why they get so angry when you point out that they deliberately try to use words to dehumanize the baby. All in t he abortion debate realize that abortion kills...that's the point of the procedure to take that which is alive and growing and kill it. What are we killing?? Fetus, sure..Latin word for offspring of young one. embryo...sure a word to describe a stage of development. Just like infant, toddler, teenager, adult, senior citizen. It just is a word to say what season of life we are in.
If abortion does not take the life of an innocent defenseless human being, then no justification is needed but if it does take the life of an innocent defenseless human being, what justification is adequate.
Congratulations on getting a letter through the pro abortion gauntlet of the Tennessean.

Powers: lengthy research on my part changed my mind on support for abortion .....

I woke up the AM thinking about the Kirsten Powers article again. I did some research on her as I knew she was a Democratic strategist and found that she was a former supporter of abortion until  5 years ago when she did some lengthy research on the issue and basically came to the conclusion "that to support abortion would be a violation of human rights as it clearly was a distinct life."  Wow, don't you just love it when someone does their homework!! 

Well my good mood was soon dampened by another puff piece today  by the Tennessean that should run as a paid advertisement for the abortion industry.  Should the Tennessean have a disclaimer ...kind of like when a commentator says...this station is owned by the parent company of such and such that says.....

I had to write a letter to the editor comparing the piece in the Daily Beast written by Powers and the recent article written by their own reporter that read  like an paid ad  for PP. I have had mixed results with getting my letters published but every now and then they let one through. So here it is...

I read Kirsten Powers article in the Daily Beast 3-4-11 ," Planned Parenthood ... busting the birth control myth." Powers, a liberal  with deep Democratic  ties, does some independent research and  calls out Planned Parenthood pointing  out their own statistics show their "deception" and ends up with the conclusion that "this is not the kind of organization that taxpayers should be funding."  How different from the your piece  on 3-1-11 about Planned Parenthood that basically took their talking points and a few comments off Facebook and wrote an article that should have run as an advertisement.

I was eager to look up information on Powers on the issue of abortion and found this quote from her.  I changed my mind on the issue  5  years ago when I " did a lot of research and felt it was clearly a life and violation of human rights."  Independent research replacing  talking points can change minds.

Tennessean editorial:Aim is to make constitution neutral on abortion

Should abortion facilities in Tennessee be licensed and regulated by the state Department of Health? Should women considering abortion be provided informed consent and basic information regarding the gestational age, characteristics and development of their unborn sons and daughters? Should state tax dollars be used for abortion? Is parental involvement appropriate before a minor daughter undergoes an abortion?

Until 2000, questions such as these were debated and decided by the people of Tennessee as represented by our elected state legislators. Then, in a radical 4-1 ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood vs. Sundquist, authority regarding the practice of abortion in Tennessee became the arbitrary domain of five un-elected judges. At the time, dissenting Justice William Barker reacted strongly to the ruling, saying, "The effect of the court's holding today is to remove from the people all power, except by constitutional amendment, to enact reasonable regulations of abortion.''

Barker further stated, "With its decision today, the Court has elevated one extreme of this debate to a constitutional level and has made any meaningful compromise on this issue all but impossible.''

Tennessean editorial: decries violence against minorities ....but shows support for abortion

Dwight Lewis is the editorial page editor  for the Tennessean.  They have previously stated that they are pro choice in their philosophy.   Mr. Lewis recently wrote an article that started with an email from a reader asking if he ever wrote anything that was not race related. He then goes on to write an editorial  talking about violence in TN and he quoted some stats showing how many minorities were the victim of violence  and makes the following quotes.

"These are human beings the Violence Policy Center is talking about. And if these same victims belonged to any other race, I hope I would be writing about them, as well.
As Sugarman said Friday, all too often these awful statistics are taken as being acceptable.
"We hope to draw attention to the lives lost so that communities, churches and others might come up with some solutions to stop these killings.''
And, he added, these homicides short-circuit opportunities, and that's the case regardless of race."

Let's also get concerned about the abortion rates among the minority population which is considerably higher than among whites. In fact the stats recently  released by the Health Dept. point this out. In TN the abortion rate among non whites recently  released at 21.5  as opposed to 5.7 for white population. In the Mid Cumberland  area (where the Tennessean appears) the rate for non whites is 15.5 versus 6.0 for whites. We should be concerned about all  violence including violence against the pre born.
I agree with his quotes against violence and call for his concern for the short circuiting opportunities for those lost to abortion the post abortive men and women who are left shattered by abortion. 

picture: from Tennessean

TN: Man charged with assisted suicide and abuse of corpse. CT: son charged with assisted suicide

From Tennessean: The man had been charged with abuse of a corpse when he dumped his wife's body in the woods after her death. TBI continued to investigate and now has charged him with murder and assisted suicide in giving her pills that she overdosed on.

In CT, a man is charged with manslaughter in the death of his father who suffered from Alzheimer s Disease by an overdose of alcohol and  amitriptyline. The son claimed the father had confided his intent to commit suicide  before he became incapacitated.

Tennessean: article dismisses ADF complaint against Vanderbilt....Update Vandy changes policy one day after ADF files complaint

Update: 8:21 PM 1-12-11....great news. Vanderbilt has decided to abandon the policy that they deny having in the first place. Per this story

Vandy has had a change of heart. 

ADF said they will be "monitoring the situation to make sure the university continues to comply with the law. It’s ironic that Vanderbilt changed its policy one day after denying that it required the pledge.”

Tennessean has an article responding to the Alliance Defense Fund's complaint.  I posted about it here. The Tennessean never has hidden their support of abortion.  They start off with the facts but then find two lawyers who say that ADF does not have much of a case because....Vandy does have a non discrimination policy.....which by the way is not stated in the acknowledgment but of course students are supposed  to just know that I guess.  The spokesman for Vandy says this is just to inform the applicants that they may be providing care to a woman who has had an abortion or  is seeking one. Here is the wording...what does it say to you? I think ADF is right when they say this is their way of screening out pro life personnel and a violation of their rights. The two lawyers they trot out for their article indicate that the wording in the required acknowledgment may not be the best but if they do not actually force someone  to participate in an abortion against their conscience they do not actually break the law. Pretty lame Vandy. Here is the actual wording...I think it is pretty clear that pro life nurses are not to apply and there is no advising of legal rights of conscience. No dice Vandy

Applicants to the nursing program's women's health track are required to sign an acknowledgment stating, "I am aware that I may be providing nursing care for women who are having" procedures including terminations of pregnancy.

"It is important that you are aware of this aspect of care and give careful consideration to your ability to provide compassionate care to women in these situations," the acknowledgment states. "If you feel you cannot provide care to women during this type of event, we encourage you to apply to a different track of the Nurse Residency Program to explore opportunities that may best fit your skills."

Tennessean: headline incomplete due to space,ignorance or to advance liberal agenda ??

Article in Tennessean yesterday had a catchy headline.That is what it if for. To attract your attention and get you to read the article. Too bad the headline is not always accurate. I know space is limited but sometimes key words are left out on purpose due to agendas or ignorance. Many reporters do not have a good knowledge of the subject matter; but often there is an agenda. The Tennessean is a liberal paper and it is easy to see their agenda. This article was on stem cells. Many, unfortunately, skim over the words and do not understand the difference between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.

The article tells about two ladies in this area suffering from degenerative diseases, MS and spinal cord injury. They travel abroad for ADULT stem cell treatments. Neither one brought the success they had hoped for but it allowed them, in one case, some relief and in the other case closure. I wish the reporter would have clarified the difference between adult and embryonic stem cells. They tend to lump them together in an attempt to confuse and persuade the public. There is promise in adult stem cells, the kind that come from umbilical cords or your own cells or other cells that do not require killing in order to use. There should be more money invested in this research. Embryonic stem cells are derived from killing the embryo which is LIFE in an early form. We were all embryos at one time.

  I wish the reporter had realized that there never has been a ban on embryonic stem cell research but a ban on using tax money to fund this. What researchers really want is an open wallet of tax money to do their research. Think it is not important that the embryo is killed to do this?? Because it is so small and does not yet  look like a baby or going to die anyway? Then do not criticize the Nazis for their experiments on the Jews in the prison camps who were the subject of experimentation to further their science. They were destined to die in the gas chambers eventually so why not use them for experimentation?

We are no better. No one has to teach us how to be selfish....it comes naturally to us. But look into the face of snowflake baby and ask if that life should be ended to  help another born life.  Why not invest in adult stem cell research which has shown such promise without the ethical dilemna! Agendas and incomplete reporting......yuk.

Tennessean supports use of graphic images to educate about smoking...what about abortion then?

How interesting  that Dwight Lewis, manager of the Editorial Board for  the abortion supporting Tennessean  should use his premier space to support the use of graphic images about what smoking does to you. I am not a smoker and agree that you should not smoke. I also agree that verbiage on cigarette packages have not done the job. So they want to use graphic images. Go for it! The images are true and truth is always in good taste. But I laugh at the hypocrisy that Dwight Lewis and Kathleen Sebelius display. They are both abortion supporters and disagree with the use of graphic  and TRUE images of abortion.  Have you ever seen an abortion? Not too pretty. But their  argument would be  to deny the humanity of the pre born. Science is proving them wrong everyday but why should  facts to interfere with their abortion advocacy.

"As a result, one year ago the Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion was given author­ity to reg­u­late tobacco prod­ucts. Since the ver­bal warn­ings on cig­a­rette packs and adver­tis­ing that have been in use for more than 25 years haven’t been suf­fi­cient, the agency recently announced that in 2012 it will require graphic images and warn­ings instead."

"They will include pic­tures of a dis­eased lung or a man smok­ing a cig­a­rette through a tra­cheotomy tube. It’s an unfor­tu­nate but appar­ently nec­es­sary step to ensure peo­ple get the mes­sage across that smok­ing causes seri­ous health prob­lems and death, and it’s never too late to quit."

Spin machine in full force to keep the $$ flowing for ESCR

 Jill Stanek wrote an informative post with some inside information gleaned from a conference  call from  the  White House, Dept. of Justice, and National Institutes of Health  to liberal supporters and beneficiaries of federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The WH operatives told them to start the publicity machine going to get support for ESCR and purport   great public support. This is contrast to recent Rasmussen Report showing 57% OPPOSE funding of ESCR. They are encouraged to  get the spin going....

The local paper, The Tennessean, wrote a headline story last Sunday entitled 
Stem Cells: From researcher to plaintiff, TN enmeshed in embryo debate.
Actually it should have said embryonic stem cells but that is customary with print stories...often the author is not up to speed on the issue or deliberately seek to confuse/influence with the slight of hand on the words or it could be a space thing...but the story was pretty balanced.  On to my point, they tell how Vanderbilt in Nashville is  significantly hurt  by this court decision which they said hit them by surprise..gosh don't they have lawyers over there that can read the law???   Obama, the constitutional law professor, signs the appropriations bill including the Dickey Wicker amendment banning the use of federal funds for the destruction of ESCR two days after his much publicized Executive Order authorizing the use of federal funds for ESCR.....so I guess I should not be so hard on Vandy lawyers if even the POTUS does  it. But anyway the article points out how upset Vandy is with the loss of the very lucrative income from federal funding.... once you get plugged into the public trough, the good times just keep on rolling.

"The impact of the court statement is becoming painfully clear," said Dr. Mark Magnuson, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology. "Unless it is reversed, we will likely need to cease any and all work that involves the use of human embryonic stem cells. Already, we have halted all of our own experimental plans."
Vanderbilt also could have to suspend adult stem cell studies if any research equipment used was purchased with federal grant money for embryonic stem cells.

Today the liberal  Tennessean complied  by publishing an  editorial   from Stephen S. Ent­man, M.D., is pro­fes­sor emer­i­tus, obstet­rics and gyne­col­ogy, at Van­der­bilt Uni­ver­sity Med­ical Center. It was pretty weak in evidence and vague  but of course it was meant to rally support for spending tax money on ESCR for unrealized  cures but building  hopes for cures to come. He glosses over the fact that the embryo must be destroyed to get their  stem cells and with a courtesy nod to the life begins at conception "belief"  ...goes on with his half hearted comments. I almost felt like he got the assignment from someone on the conference call  to get the advocacy going since they benefited so handsomely from the funding.

The embryos that are avail­able for research will never achieve life beyond their cur­rently frozen state; the other options are dis­mal — or worse.
Nation­ally, there are tens of thou­sands of frozen embryos. Nobody really has a pre­cise count.

Alas, today Politico is running a story  about DeGettte (D CO) trying to rush through a bill permitting funding for ESCR. She is working to see that "pro life Dems" won't raise objections...unfortunately that is not too hard to get as we saw from the Obamacare vote. She hopes that this will help the Dems in the upcoming election and even says they will paint the opponents as extremists. She says the stars are aligned in her favor. Hmmmm ....isn't that something Obama said during the campaign. Maybe she was getting her talking points from the conference call from the WH and NIH.