Are Children a Drain or a Boon to Our Economy? (Planned Parenthood Sounds Off Again!)

I have been hearing from the time that I was a little girl that our planet was in danger from many things. However, one of the main ones is that we just have too many people. Living in Iowa and Nebraska, that logic confused me. When we drove anywhere all I saw was miles and miles of cornfields and empty space.  I admit that I do not understand things like the ratio of food to population and how many resources it takes to support a certain number of people. However, I haven’t read a convincing report yet that has shown me that we are endangered by the number of people on the planet.

I  also realize that even though we have an abundance of food here in the United States,  there are people who are starving in other nations. My heart goes out to those poor people in Indonesia who have just gotten slammed by a tsunami and a volcanic eruption at the same time. Their infrastructure is not that good to begin with, and I am sure that there are many wondering today how they will feed their children. However, from most of the things I have read, this is not a population problem as much as it is a problem of food distribution.

My husband and I used to travel to Mexico several years ago, to work with poor families. I will never forget the first time I saw the stark contrast between the United States and Mexico- even right at the border! On one side you could see the wealth and abundance and on the other you could see the poverty. I remember thinking that this could not be a matter of a lack of resources, since the two sections were only feet apart. It had to be a difference in governments- in the way resources are viewed, handled, and distributed.

A few days ago, the President of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards,  argued that the new federal health care reform should consider using taxpayer money to pay for free contraception. The rationale was that fewer children would lead to less government expense.  She went on to argue that since the cost of healthcare looked like it would skyrocket out of control, we ought to make birth control a priority as a means of “cost saving.”   Richards states, “..an investment in covering birth control actually in the long run is a huge cost savings because of women who don’ t have children that they weren’t planning on having and all the sort of attendant cost for unplanned pregnancy.”

This leads to an interesting question: are children a drain or a boon to the economy? I assume what Ms. Richards is talking about are the initial costs to the family of having a child, especially if they are living in poverty and already have several children. And, yes, I would have to concede that finances can be a big concern with a new baby. However, we are discussing the economy along with the rising cost of health-care.  And, if we are going to do so we have to look at the bigger picture. A baby may be a drain on a family’s income, but the full-grown adult that the baby grows into can a be a huge  and necessary asset to the financial health of our nation.

The Population Research Institute reports that our annual population growth rate of 0.9% is not high enough. According to them, we are facing a future in this country of a rapidly aging population who are living longer and longer without enough new babies to grow up and provide support. Joseph A. D’Agostino, the group’s vice-president, explained that, according to the United Nations, the percentage of our population over 65 will increase from 12.3% today to 20.6% in 2050. Plus, our worker to retiree ratio will increase from 3-to-1 to 2-to-1.  Without more children to grow up and enter the workforce, social security will go bankrupt, and we will see a severe shortage in the work force.

So, not only is Planned Parenthood not giving us the whole (or long-range) picture, they are also being more than a little self-serving. What is the one organization that will benefit the most from tax-payer funded birth control? That’s right- it is Planned Parenthood itself. And, remember how I reported that they have been overcharging the government for their services, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars?  (See Oct. 18′s Blog: “Planned Parenthood or Pregnancy Centers- Who do you Believe?”) If they follow suit, they stand to make a more than tidy profit from this. This is sort of like McDonald’s asking the government to distribute free Happy Meals to poor children and then doubling the price of beef. 

Once again, the abortion industry is laying this good-sounding (birth control as “preventative, cost-saving care”) rhetoric in front of the people and hoping no one will look deeper into the facts. Children are not destructive nuisances to be eliminated or prevented at all cost. They are blessings, and most of them grow up to be a vital, productive part of our society.  Please continue to take the time to look behind the lies!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Who Knew? Having a Baby Makes Your Brain Grow Bigger!

You just never know what you are going to stumble upon when you are scanning the internet for interesting topics. I certainly never expected this one! The headline read: “Brains of New Moms Grow, Study Reveals.”  Wow!

Well, I guess this can be added to the growing list of health benefits in having a baby. In case you are new to this blog, this includes a decreased risk of breast cancer. However, I am pretty sure the growth does not take place in the section of the brain that includes memory retention. Or, maybe that decline was caused by sleep deprivation. Regardless, I’m pretty sure my downhill slide in remembering names and dates started about that time. But- I digress!

Actually, it appears that the section of the brain that is affected most is the mid-brain which controls such things as reasoning, judgment and sensory perception. You know, when you think about it, this all makes sense. Maybe this accounts for the maternal bond and nurturing that kicks in when a woman becomes a mother.  When the research was done with animals, the changes in the brain were directly connected to the stimuli of touching, smelling, seeing and nursing the baby. This particular study on humans was too small to definitively make such a link.

Some of the women in the study had just giving birth to their second child and experienced the same growth. That could also explain why all the same impulses kick in once that new baby, no matter how many you have, is born. I know when I was pregnant with my second child, I was a little concerned that I could never love them as much as my first. However, it was love at first sight. It was like my capacity to love swelled in size. Perhaps this study is a verification of that phenomena!

This all fits in perfectly with my belief in God as our creator! He gives us just what we need exactly when we need it. Before giving birth, we did not need to have all those maternal, nurturing emotions. How like Him to add a little more capacity for love to our brains as we hold our children in our arms! (I believe that this also applies to those who hold their adopted child in their arms for the first time- or a grandchild!) In fact, part of the theory is that it is not actually the giving birth that increases brain size, but the loving reaction to the baby.

I love it when my faith and scientific fact join hand in hand. It usually does, given time and the right research. After all, our Creator designed it all! It has to fit!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Is it Homicide if the Woman Doesn’t Want Her Unborn Child to Die?

Okay, sometimes it seems like it gets just a little schizophrenic out there! Of course, that is what happens when people legalize something that is wrong and then try to justify it as right.  Things like abortion.  An unborn child is either deserving of protection or it is not. It is also either a human being with the same rights as the rest of us or (as the pro-abortion people say) it is a blob of tissue totally under the control of woman who is carrying it. However, advances in ultrasound and fetal surgery are blurring the lines, making it harder and harder to deny the unborn their humanity.

Dominic Holt-Reid, 27-years-old, had gotten his girl-friend, Yolanda Burgess, pregnant. It turns out that Dominic already has six children and doesn’t want a seventh. So, he told Ms. Burgess that she needed to get an abortion. When she refused, Dominic pulled out a gun and forced her to go to the abortion clinic with him. Once there, Yolanda handed a note to a clinic employee and she called the police, who promptly came and arrested him.

It turns out that Ohio has a law, which they passed in 1996, which states that a person can be found guilty of murder for causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.  This law, and ones much like it in some other states, are primarily used for convictions when the mother is in some type of accident, or has been injured and the baby dies as a result.  Even more states than that (38) have increased penalties for crimes which are committed against pregnant women. However, this would be the first time a man has been charged for attempting to force an abortion.

Okay, does anyone else find it at all inconsistent that there would have been no stir if this mother would have agreed to the abortion, but the father is being charged with attempted murder for trying to force the same action? Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled he has been arrested! However, I wonder why he is not being charged with attempting to force his girlfriend to have a surgical procedure against her will or force with a deadly weapon.  Would it be as big a deal if he was forcing her at gunpoint to have a mole removed?

How can the death of the same child be okay under some circumstances but not under others? And, isn’t it only murder if it is against another human being? Hunters don’t “murder” deer do they?(Well, I guess to PETA they do.) If as Planned Parenthood argues, life has not even begun yet, how can it be “murder?”

Again, I am very glad that there are such things as “fetal homicide laws.” However, how can a state ever say that in the abortion clinic and initiated by the woman carrying the baby, the death of the child is fully sanctioned; however, if the baby is wanted by the mother and is harmed in any way, suddenly it is fully protected by the laws of the state? It is so sad to think that the value of a child’s life is determined by whether or not he or she is wanted by the person who should desire to protect them the most: their mother.  (Of course, I fully realize that many women are like Yolanda are coerced and bullied into making the decision to abort. Thank goodness she was strong enough to fight back!)

Perhaps I am naive, but I truly believe that lies can only be piled so high before they come crashing down.  There will come a day when we won’t be able to deny the humanity of the unborn child, even from the moment of conception. We will begin to see the irrationality of cases like this and the insanity of qualifying life based on momentary decisions. The problem is: by that point, will we care?

The Fetal Pain Bill Stops Nebraska Abortions at 20 Weeks!

Hooray! The Fetal Pain Bill has gone into effect. Abortions can now not be performed in Nebraska after twenty weeks. And, amazingly, it is has not yet been challenged. I am amazed and thrilled.

Personally, I already know of one child that has been saved. And, I’m certain there will be many more.  Just knowing that their child is alive enough to feel pain is going to be a deterrent to many women. Plus, 20 weeks is the point at which they can determine the sex of the child. The fact is that it is much harder to abort when you are talking in terms of “he” or “she.” Plus, have you ever seen a 20-week-old baby in an ultrasound? Everything is formed: you can see the arms and legs moving around, the heart pumping away and a perfectly formed spinal cord.  Sometimes they are sucking their thumb. (Of course, a lot of that can also be seen as early as 8 or 9 weeks!)

It must be frustrating for the abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood these days! They continue to try to tell women that the baby’s heart does not start beating until much later in the pregnancy. Then they come to us and see the heart pumping away at 5 1/2 weeks. By 10 weeks, everything is formed and in place- the baby just needs to grow. I will never get tired of watching an ultrasound at that stage. They are little enough that you can see the whole baby, and they are fascinating to watch as they swim around in their watery world. Sometimes it seems like they are waving at us! The mothers begin to bond with their baby at that moment, and most  no longer even consider abortion.

It is the same with this fetal pain bill: it illustrates the humanity of the child in the womb. Of course, as babies are surviving earlier and earlier births, it is getting harder to deny their personhood to begin with. I’m not sure what the cut-off is now- but I know I have heard of babies surviving weighing less than a pound!  We should be troubled to think that a child that can survive on their own would ever be aborted!

There was an editorial in the World Herald last week by an OB-GYN, explaining why the Fetal Pain Bill was wrong. One of his arguments was that even if the child can feel pain (which he disputed) no woman should ever be forced to give birth. Well, I hate to tell him (his being an OB-GYN and all) but a 20-week-old baby is pretty good-sized and it has to get out of her somehow. The only question is whether she is going to give birth to a live child or a dead one.

I am so proud to live in a state like Nebraska where they care about life!  Leroy Carhart was quoted as saying that this law should be called, “Put Carhart Out of Business Bill.” Amen to that!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Making a Difference on November 2!

Are you planning to vote on November 2? I hope so! Whenever I am tempted to skip it, I make myself remember all the freedoms we have in this nation. I also think about all the people in the world that do not have a say in who runs their country. No one cares what they think. Well, I’m sure there are not too many who care what I think, but I still have a say. I can vote- and so can you!

As a representative of the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling, I am not going to make suggestions as to who you should vote for. However, I am going to tell you about issues I think we need to vote against. I am one of those people who are known as “one-issue voters.” Actually, I take many things into consideration when I cast my ballot, but one issue takes priority. I will never vote for anyone who supports abortion!

I guess there are a lot of Americans who agree with me. I read yesterday that recent polls show that fewer people support the abortion funding in the health care legislation.  In fact, 49 % are against it, with only 39% in approval. Many people, like me, want men and women voted into office that will take action to reverse not only the abortion funding, but the entire health-care package!

Charmaine Yost, of Americans United for Life, notes that she and her group are “targeting enemies of life who voted for, or supported, the largest increase of taxpayer-funded abortion since Roe v. Wade.” She goes on to say: “If we succeed, we’ll secure a pro-life House and eliminate taxpayer-funded abortion, once and for all. If we fail, your tax dollars will pay for insurance that covers abortions under health care reform. It’s that simple.”

Well, I am a born skeptic and don’t believe that anything is “that simple.” However, I do agree that it is crucial for everyone to get out and let their voices be heard.  If those who believe in abortion stay in office, things are going to get worse and worse. And, tax-payer funded abortion is just the tip of what is wrong with that legislation. I truly believe that if it is implemented, our medical expenses will skyrocket while the quality of care will diminish.  For the sake of our children and grandchildren it has got to be stopped.

Please pray now about who you should be voting for. You can find out more information at www.voterinformation.org. Educate yourself on the key races around the country and pray for them as well. This is a critical year, and you can make a difference!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Are Young People Being Robbed of the Best Sex?

I was scrolling through the internet yesterday, looking for articles on women’s health, when something grabbed my attention. “What’s in a Number?” it read.  So, I was curious enough to look a little closer. The number of what, I wondered? The number of children one might have? The age that one should settle down and get married? No, it was the number of sexual partners one has had, and the new question of the day: should one tell one’s “partner” the number of other people that they have slept with?

Wow. Okay, I’m already feeling really old and prudish, because I am kind of shocked by this. However, the real astounding part was yet to come. This author, a woman named Jenny Block, went on to treat the whole matter so whimsically that I thought for a minute that I had misread it and that she was actually talking about the number of jobs they’d had or the number of cars they’d owned.

She continued on to say that it is not the number of partners that matters, but the motivation behind having so many partners. A high number, according to her, could be a sign of problems (such as drug and alcohol abuse) but it could also be a sign that they simply enjoy their sexuality. And, a low number could be good if it means making wise choices or bad if one is just afraid of sex. Jenny (in all her wisdom)  recommends that you should not share your number unless you have to. Because, after all, “once you know, there is no way to un-know!”

Is she kidding me? In this day and age of rampant STD’s, does she think this is just a game? She certainly must not work with young women who are sexually active, because I can tell you that it is a mess out there. And, the ones with the most partners are the ones who tend to be the most messed up, without even mentioning the long litany of diseases they are spreading to any new person they end up sleeping with next!

I went on to learn that a poll had been taken by ABC  to discover how many sexual partners the average man and woman now have. I guess women now have an average of six partners, while men claim to have twenty! According to another study, the average for both sexes is 10.7 partners (actually, I hate that word “partner.” If you’ve had twenty of them, I don’t know what they are, but they are not your “partner,” at least the way I define it!)

Jenny ends things up by saying that “in the end, it’s all about what works for you. So stop worrying. There is no magic number other than the number that you find works for you. The real magic is in making every sexual experience a good one.” Excuse me while I go and throw up! Of course, since this generation was raised to think that they are the center of the universe, I guess this makes sense. However, if this is the philosophy being espoused, then look out! The rate of STD’s in this country is about to explode!

I don’t know about you, but it would make a HUGE difference to me to know that the man I was going to marry had already had multiple sexual partners. For one thing, for every woman he has slept with the chances that he had at least one, if not more, STD’s is a certainty. So, he needs to get tested. (I, however, would not, because I would not be sleeping with him until we were married. You know, it really makes life so much simpler!)  Honestly, do you know any woman (or man for that matter) that this information would not matter to?  Hiding information like that makes for a shaky start to a marriage. (However, if it is just another “partner,” I guess it may not matter.)

A crucial part of all of this, that Jenny left out, is that when a person has sex with another person, they are also having sex with everyone else they’ve ever slept with, including all of their diseases. And, they, in turn, are sleeping with everyone their partner has slept with, as well as all they that have slept with, etc., etc. In fact, if each of you have slept with say, five people, you are actually be exposed to 31 partners. If each of you have slept with 8, that increases to 255 partners. And, if each have had sex with 12, then the number skyrockets to 4095!  Now, that is just gross, as well as dangerous! When C. Everett Koop was United States Surgeon General, he made this comment: “When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 65 million people in the United States are currently living with an incurable STD.  An additional 19 million people get infected each year.  Plus, the more sexual partners a woman has (or her partner has) the greater her chance of getting Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID.) This sometimes symptomless condition can silently ravage female organs, leaving a woman unable to have children.  (I am not even touching the whole area of unplanned pregnancies and abortions which having multiple sex partners has left in its irresponsible wake.)

I have looked into the eyes of young women who have had sex with many men. They have a hardness about them and sometimes great pain.  I don’t care how much things have changed, we were not created to treat sex like this. Our bodies were not made for it. A heavy toll is being paid: emotionally and physically.  People with many sexual partners may think what they have is “good,” but that is because they have not known the deep richness of years of commitment to one person: a spouse who has vowed to be faithful and loving for life. I have a feeling that if we don’t speak up and battle against today’s morals, sex as it was meant to be may be lost to this generation as well as those to come. That would be tragic, wouldn’t it?

Keeping it true!  Barb

Planned Parenthood or Pregnancy Centers: Who Do You Believe?

I had a  feeling last week that I was not done with Planned Parenthood yet and I was right! I have promised you a more complete blog on Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood (the one who made the comment about needing to get rid of all of society’s “undesirables.”) I will try to get that done tomorrow. However, this weekend an item popped up in the news which I thought fit perfectly with last week’s announcement of New York City cracking down on pregnancy centers because of their so-called “deceptive” practices (which include telling women that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer and that women might suffer emotional and physical consequences if they have an abortion. No, really- that is their argument!)

Just one word about that whole New York ordinance thing, and then I’ll move on.  Their concern is that women will mistake a pregnancy center for Planned Parenthood or an abortion clinic and go in thinking they will get an abortion.  (Which happens occasionally here-  but it is rare. Most of our patients know exactly where they are coming, and actually prefer us to the other places.) So, in those rare cases where women get confused, they insist that the Centers put up signs stating that they do not do abortions, or that they do not give out birth control. This seems so crazy to me! 

My husband and I were joking about this and thought maybe what they ought to do in New York is to plaster their walls with all kinds of signs: “We do not sell beer,” “We do not groom dogs,” “We do not cut grass,” etc, etc.  To us that made about as much sense as the other. Or, maybe they should actually take a closer look at Planned Parenthood, since they are the ones that actually have some serious and legitimate accusations being leveled against them.

Anyway: back to the court case. The one which grabbed my attention this weekend concerned a decision which came down from the Kansas, which leveled 107 counts of fraud against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, alleging that they performed illegal abortions and falsified their record-keeping for the state.  To put it simply, they are charged with doing late-term abortions without determining if they were medically necessary or without determining the viability of the baby- both of which violate Kansas state law.  Personally, I can easily believe the charges.  In fact, my guess is that this occurs all the time! We’ve had several patients with pregnancies in the later stages who made appointments to go to Kansas for their abortion.  There are supposed to be health reasons for those to take place- but their ultrasounds with us looked perfected healthy and normal. They just didn’t want to be pregnant.

Anyway, in spite of the charges, and the fact that they have incriminating patient records which were legally taken from the Planned Parenthood offices,  the case stalemated. Kline’s successor as attorney general, a man named Paul Morrison, in spite of all the evidence at hand, sent Planned Parenthood a letter telling them they were fine and no charges would be filed.  I guess it should not have been too much of a surprise when Morrison was later forced to resign amid a “sex and corruption scandal.”  (I don’t know if it is just me, but it always seems like things involving Planned Parenthood turn into a huge, convoluted mess!)

Well, anyway, to cut through a lot of details, the case has been tied up in the Kansas Supreme Court for the last two years.  However, this was not because the evidence and the witnesses were not there- they were. Planned Parenthood has been fighting against having any of it used. Well, last Friday the justices decided that everything should be laid out for a jury to hear.  I will keep you posted as I learn of any updates.

Out of curiosity, I googled “Court cases against Planned Parenthood.” In addition to the one I just told you about, some others popped up as well. It seems that in California a former employee of the organization has reported that Planned Parenthood overcharged the state for hundreds of millions of dollars for reimbursement for birth control.  Turns out state audits in both California and Washington State have found them guilty of overbilling. Actually the case is tied up in court not over whether or not Planned Parenthood is guilty, but over whether  the man who is making the report qualifies as an official “whistleblower” or not. In fact, the state passed legislation in 2003 that Planned Parenthood is allowed to charge more than others because it “would suffer financial problems without it.” Are you kidding me?

There are others, of course. It seems they attempted to deceive a zoning b0ard in Aurora, Illinois. Oh, and there are those cases in Ohio that I previously pointed out. The ones where the young girls are suing because Planned Parenthood neglected to pass along their reports about being raped and molested (and were brought in for their abortions by the men who abused and impregnated them.)

Oh, by the way, I also googled “Court cases against pregnancy centers.” The only ones listed were ones in Baltimore and New York City where the centers were accused of “misinformation.” That is it! No cheating the government, no fraud, no neglect of abuse victims, nothing! Okay, remind me again why New York is aiming its guns at pregnancy centers and letting Planned Parenthood go scott free? 

Keeping it true!  Barb

Abortion and Planned Parenthood: Involved in Black Genocide?

Alveda was married and in her early 20′s when she found herself pregnant the first time. Her father had died recently in a tragic drowning accident. It appeared that his life had spiraled out of control after the murder of his brother, Martin. Her own life was also in turmoil, and, without her family’s knowledge, when she found she was pregnant the family doctor performed an abortion. Then, in 1973, after her marriage fell apart, she found herself pregnant again. This time it was after Roe vs. Wade had legalized abortion in all 50 states. For her 2nd abortion she sought out Planned Parenthood. Now, almost forty years later, she greatly regrets both.  In fact, today, Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., is a strong pro-life advocate. She also believes that Planned Parenthood, as well as others in the abortion community, determined decades ago to use abortion to systematically destroy the African-American community.

In her article, “Planned Parenthood Targets Minorities Like Tobacco Companies Target Smokers,” Alveda points out that even though blacks only comprise 13% of the population, they receive 37% of all abortions. Since 1973, about 16 million African-American babies have been aborted. At present, there are only about 36 million members of the black community. Over 36% of them have been lost!  Right now it is estimated that almost half  (47%) of all pregnancies to African-American women are aborted, compared to only 16% in the white community.

Planned Parenthood has attempted to explain these statistics by stating that African-Americans don’t receive enough contraceptives or value-free sex education. Almeda  refutes that in her article by giving statistics from the abortion capital of America: New York City. In New York there are 72 abortions for every 100 live births (compared to 24 for every 100 in the rest of the nation.)  Blacks comprise 24% of the city’s population but have 45% of the abortions. Yet, in New York City, birth control is freely accessible. Anyone on Medicaid can receive free contraceptives. They even give them away at over 200 sites spread out all over the city. In 2006, they averaged 1.5 million free condoms a month!

Alveda King works very closely with a priest named Father Pavone.  When asked about the targeting of African-Americans for abortion, he wouldn’t say one way or the other. However, his remark was very profound: “I think the best way to look at it is that in the end, this is practical targeting. It doesn’t matter what rationale a person puts on it. The bottom line is that if you were to deliberately target African-Americans, you would end up doing exactly what Planned Parenthood is doing.”

Mark Crutcher, leader of a group called Life Dynamics, was writing a book about abortion and began to do some research on eugenics. It is well documented that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a huge proponent of eugenics, or the elimination of “undesirables” from society.  (I’ll go more into detail on this next week. It is a long and very sordid story.) Anyway, in doing his research, Mark uncovered a horrifying plan to destroy blacks in America which did not end with the Civil War, but stretches to present times. Only the strategies have changed. Since 1973, it has primarily been by means of abortion.

His research is documented in a chilling and compelling documentary called, Maafa 21. I had a lot of skepticism when I began to watch it. I knew that a disproportionate number of black babies were being aborted, but a conspiracy went beyond my wildest imagination. I still think (perhaps because I tend to be both a skeptic and a hopeless optimist) that most people who are in favor of abortion would be horrified at the thought of black genocide. However, Mark’s evidence of a conspiracy among  those in the highest seats of power  is very compelling. 

As a Christian, I believe there is a malevolent power at work in the universe (Satan) and that, as the Bible says, he seeks to “steal, kill, and destroy.” I think his particular target is the unborn and that abortion has become his pet project. And, yes, he will use whatever means he needs to continue to destroy life in the womb- including deep-seated prejudice.

The facts are that most victims of abortion are African-American.  And, almost 80% of all Planned Parenthood clinics are located in minority communities. The founder of Planned Parenthood once stated that “the unfit, the feeble-minded, and the inferior races must be suppressed through birth control in order for Western civilization to survive.”  In addition, recently some students from UCLA called seven Planned Parenthood Clinics to ask if their contribution could just go towards  the abortion of black babies because “the less black kids out there, the better.” All seven were willing to accept those contributions, and assured the caller that their money would be used for that purpose.  This alone is pretty damaging stuff!

Am I stating that everyone who is associated with Planned Parenthood is racist? No. I am not even saying they are all evil. However, I do believe that at the very least they are deceived. The answer to the problems of our society, or even to the extremely difficult situations some women face (and I know some are facing almost impossible things) is never to destroy a human life, in the womb or out. Black, White, Hispanic, African, European, Asian- it is all tragic! And Planned Parenthood is by far the largest provider of abortion in the world!

(More on Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, and MAAFA 21 next week.)

Keeping it true!  Barb

Pregnancy Centers vs Planned Parenthood- New York Should Focus on the Real Danger

As long as pregnancy centers have been in existence (which would date back to right after Roe vs. Wade was enacted in 1973) they have been in conflict with Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups. Since the purpose of pregnancy centers is to help women so they don’t feel like they have to choose abortion, this should not be too surprising. Since I work at a pregnancy center, I am going to count myself among their numbers. However, I am not going to give an overall justification for the actions of all centers, since there are some that use methods I don’t agree with. However, our unified enemy has to remain the abortion industry.

New York City announced this week that legislation is being proposed to require the city’s pregnancy centers to post signs at their entrance and in the waiting rooms to inform women that they do not provide  or refer for either abortions or contraceptives. In addition, if there are no licensed medical professionals they must make that clear as well.  This bill is partially the result of an undercover operation which Naral Pro-Choice New York carried out. I guess they sent their representatives into the centers as patients (some with the urine of pregnant friends) to find out what would be said. Their report stated that the centers “fed women information that has been medically refuted.” Among this information was the link between breast cancer and abortion, as well as stating that abortion can have negative consequences both physically and emotionally.

I am not going to presume to speak for all pregnancy centers. The only center that I can speak about with any authority is the one I work for and have been with since it’s inception over 25 years ago.  In the first five minutes of our time with the woman, we make it very clear that we do not perform nor refer for abortion, but we also will not profit from any of the decisions that they make. We always have a nurse (either LPN or RN) and a sonographer present whenever our doors are open. We have a physician who oversees everything we do, including reading each ultrasound. We strictly observe all HIPAA laws and never call anyone without their signed consent.

We do give women information on the breast cancer link to abortion. Past blogs will tell you the reason for this is because we believe it to be true and that it is irresponsible (even criminal) to tell women any differently. Every official organization that has dismissed the link is also in favor of legalized abortion.  Many of them also have financial ties to Planned Parenthood. In my opinion, that borders on conflict of interest.

To the credit of the New York Times, they printed an opinion piece last December 3 by Ross Douthat, called “The Politics of Pregnancy Counseling.” In my humble opinion, he did a good job presenting both sides of a similar ordinance to New York’s that was passed in Baltimore. In addition to a sting operation that was carried out against pregnancy centers by Senator Henry Waxman’s office (resulting in the same “scurrilous” report that pregnancy centers tell women lies about that “old breast cancer rumor” and “falsely malign abortion” by stating some its negative consequences) he pointed out some undercover operations have also been directed at Planned Parenthood, with some pretty damning results.

In 2002, a pro-life group called Life Dynamics had an actress call more than 800 abortion clinics nationwide and tell them she was a 13-year-old girl who had been impregnated by her 22-year-old boyfriend and now needed an abortion. The response at 91% of the clinics (including many Planned Parenthoods) was that she should not mention her boyfriend’s age when she came in.   Lila Rose ran a similar operation beginning in 2007 which had the same result. She pretended to be fifteen with a 23-year-old boyfriend.  Planned Parenthood told her time and time again to keep that news to herself.  The only news agency that reported any of this was Fox News.

Mr. Douthat goes on to tell of an attorney in Ohio who represents a couple of clients who reported being abused when they came to Planned Parenthood but it was never reported. The first told them that her father, who had brought her in for the abortion and was possibly the father of her child, was sexually abusing her. The second was fourteen when she was taken in for an abortion (without her parents knowing) by her 21-year-old soccer coach who had impregnated her. In that case, the attorney was even able to retrieve the actual report of the abuse that the girl had filled out when she was there. In neither case were the authorities ever contacted and the abuse was allowed to continue.

Strange, isn’t it, that Planned Parenthood isn’t under investigation? No, instead, it seems like they receive more and more money from the government every year. Instead it is pregnancy centers, most of whom who don’t receive a penny of tax money, who are told to put up notices of disclosure on their walls so their patients won’t be deceived. Who is going to protect women from the lie that their 8 week old baby is only a “blob of tissue?” Or that they will never have any repercussions from their abortion- no depression, no night-mares, no regrets? We don’t advertise our post-abortion counseling: women seek us out.  Hurting, desperate women who cannot move forward with their lives because of the child they aborted.

Once again, with a third topic in three days, I am writing about the veil of lies and deceit that surround abortion. It has permeated deeply into multiple layers in our society.  Those making the decisions to ignore research and facts and the danger are relatively few in number. Sadly, the innocent whose lives will be changed and destroyed are multiplying  into the millions.  Where does it end?

Keeping it true!  Barb

Today’s Headline: “First U.S. Embryonic Stem Cell Treatments Begin”

Geron Corporation, a private research company, is going inject the first embryonic stem cells into a human patient. They point out that this test, a phase 1 trial, is not for the purpose of curing the patient, but to prove that the cells are safe for use. In spite of claims that embryonic cells are the most versatile for medical use, they have been difficult to work with and do not easily grow into new tissues. Plus, in tests with lab rats, tumors and cysts have been a problem.

The patient that has been enrolled for these tests is at the Shepherd Center, a spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation center in Atlanta. One of the qualifications for this tests is that the injury had to have taken place in the last two weeks. The drug being tested (called GRNOPC1) contains embryonic cells which produce myelin, a coating which allows impulses to move along the nerves. It is the loss of myelin that can cause paralysis after a spinal cord injury. The hope is that this new drug will produce new cells, which will allow for movement once again.

I cannot imagine what it is like to lose all feeling in a spinal cord accident. I have always admired people like Joni Eareckson Tada who lost all of her ability to move from the neck down in a diving accident and has been dependant on others for everything! It is exciting to think that they will finally be able to reverse such a condition. However, as I have pointed out time and time again, I do not think it should come (or will come) through embryonic stem cell research.

This may be the first human test with embryonic stem cells, but research, and real results, have been achieved with adult stem cells for years. As far back as 2006, success has been seen with the transplantation of nasal stem cells. One of those patients, a young woman named Laura Dominguez,  tells her dramatic story of increasing recovery from a devastating spinal cord injury. Researchers are also encouraged by improved function which has been seen with stem cells taken from adult bone marrow.

In their own literature, Geron gave two reasons to justify the superiority of embryonic stem cells over any other stem cells: that they were able to divide endlessly in a tissue (the term they used was “immortal,” which may be a technical term, but I found it very interesting) and that they were able to differentiate into many tissue types. However, with recent advances in adult stem cells, it appears that they are able to do the very same things. Plus, since most adult stem cells are taken directly from the patient, the risk of cell rejection is greatly decreased.

Geron attempts to justify their destruction of embryos by stating that they were left-overs from in-vitro fertilization (another topic for another day!) and were destined for destruction anyway. They had been given to them by “parental donors” (interesting term- does an embryo have a “parent?” And, if it does, is it a baby?)  I think it is interesting that they feel the need to make this justification to begin with.

Again, my question is, why is embryonic research necessary? As far as I can see, researchers are having a lot of success with adult stem cells. Why destroy new life for something that is already being done? Is it that same “veil of abortion” that I talked about in my blog concerning the Susan G. Koman foundation? In my opinion, that is exactly what it is. Otherwise reasonable, sensible, intelligent people are having their logic clouded by this tragic issue.

I’ll  continue to keep you posted on any new developments.

Keeping it true!  Barb