Pro-Abortion Forces Fight Laws to “Clean Up” Abortion Industry: Who is Really Pro-Woman?

Filthy,blood stained beds. Unsanitary medical equipment. Jars filled with dead babies and body parts. Narcotics distributed by untrained personnel. These were the horrible conditions which surfaced in several East Coast abortion clinics last year. Some of these hell-holes had gone decades without any regulation whatsoever!

In response, several states are now coming up with legislation to regulate the abortion industry. You would think the pro-choice crowd, with all their fine sounding rhetoric of “protecting women from back-alley butchers” would be all in favor of cleaning up the abuse and filth. (I mean, really, how much worse could the back-alleys have been?) Alas, no! They are fighting these regulations tooth and nail!

The protest is that if abortion clinics are held to the same standards as hospitals they will not be able to afford to stay in business. Poor women would suffer because they would be forced to pay more. Well, I tell you what: let’s ask women what they would prefer. Do they want filth and the chance of infection, and maybe even death,  just so they can save a few dollars?

Plus, many of these abortionists make millions of dollars. Gosnell, the butcher on trial in Pennsylvania, had a beach house in New Jersey as well as a big home near his clinic.  In order to turn his tidy profit, he hired untrained workers instead of medical professionals and obtained his narcotics illegally. It appears that he did not give much of a discount for those suffering from his unsanitary and unregulated conditions.

It is during times like these that the real heart of the matter comes to the fore-front. Pro-abortion advocates fought hard to stop Virginia from passing a bill to create a board to regulate any clinic performing more than 5 first trimester abortions a month. This panel would make certain that medication was dispensed properly and that sanitary and safe conditions were upheld. How can anyone who cares about women possibly object to that?

Louisiana passed a similar bill to Virginia last May. Immediately, five abortion clinics brought a lawsuit against the regulations, claiming they were unfair. However, the courts just recently upheld the law and dismissed all the charges against it. A quote was given that “a patient’s health is more important that an abortionist’s bottom line.”

I will continue to fight until all abortion is outlawed in our nation. I would love nothing more than to see all abortion clinics shut down. However, the very least that states can do is to make certain that tough regulations are set in place and strictly followed. We have seen the horrible nightmare that occurs when abortionists know they are not being watched. It has to stop!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Pro-Life Healthcare Workers Forced to Deny their Conscience!

Do you think that medical health workers can be forced to do things they believe are morally wrong? For instance, even if it is mandated by law, do you think a doctor with Biblical principles would ever give medicine to a patient which he knew would kill them? Well, that is how pro-life physicians and nurses consider abortion as well as abortifacient drugs: it is the taking of an innocent human life.

Last Friday, the Obama administration took the first of what I fear may be many steps toward eroding the rights of pro-life medical care workers. In 2008, President Bush issued a ruling that prohibited any organization that receives federal money from discriminating against health care workers who refuse to take part in procedures to which they have religious or moral objections. Obama did not erase all of these protections, however he removed a portion which is intolerable to many.

If I understand the situation correctly, doctors and nurses are still protected from having to assist with or performing abortions. However, they are vulnerable when it comes to the distribution of contraceptives or medication such as the Morning After Pill.  Many medical workers have strong convictions that many contraceptives work as abortifacients, destroying life after it has been conceived.

Dr. J. Scott Ries, speaking for the Christian Medical Association and its 16,000 members said the following: “The administration contends that a rule change is necessary to protect access to contraception, but absolutely no evidence is presented to justify any such concern. In the process, the administration blatantly ignores the scientific evidence that certain controversial prescriptions that abortion advocates promote as contraception are actually potential abortifacients, ending the life of a living, developing embryo. This is a critical concern for pro-life patients, healthcare professionals and institutions.”

Thirty-five years ago, I was preparing to get married. I went to a doctor I trusted for advice on what to use so that I would not get pregnant right away. Without much discussion, he put me on the birth control pill. And, without much thought or concern, I took them until we decided to try to conceive a baby three years later.

Fortunately, for us, I had no problem getting pregnant. However, I was shattered to learn that one of the back-up mechanisms for the pill was to prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterine wall. The chances were small that this would occur, but they existed.

I was angry that I had never been informed of that possibility. The risk may have been small, but it was a risk that I should have been told of! When I asked my doctor about it, he laughed it off. I had to press him to even get him to admit that it was true. Needless to say, I found a new doctor: one that I trusted would respect me enough to give me all the facts so that I could make an educated decision for myself.

If the erosion of rights for health care workers continues, will doctors even be allowed to give their patients all the facts? In this era of “pro-choice” will women like myself be given the truth so that we can make an educated decision? Will women who are struggling to make a decision about their unborn child be offered true alternatives to abortion? Or, will the government decide what is “good” for them?

I also fear that all the good, moral doctors will leave the field of medicine rather than be forced to compromise. Indeed, in my opinion, they will be forced to either break the law or to leave their career. Men and women of true conviction will not compromise on matters of such life and death importance! If the president thinks they will, he has sorely underestimated them.

I know I have asked this of you many times, but please call your congressman and senators and ask them to come up with a bill which will protect the rights of men and women of conviction. These are the finest members of the medical community, and if they are forced into retirement we will all suffer. Plus, it makes the most vulnerable amongst us all the more at risk. Please speak up for not only yourself, but also for those who have no voice!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Is Canada’s “Death Panel” Deciding the Fate of Baby Joseph?

Eight years ago, Joseph Maraachli and his wife, Sana Nader, watched helplessly as their daughter lay dying of a neurodegenerative disease. The doctors at their Canadian hospital had given up all hope and wanted to remove the little girl from life support.  Instead, the family convinced them to perform a tracheotomy so they could take the child home to die, surrounded by loved ones. After she got home, the baby lived for six unexpected months before dying peacefully in her parent’s arms.

I can’t even imagine the anguish that this family went through upon discovering that a second child, this time a son, had been stricken with the same horrible condition. Their little boy, Joseph, now lays dying in a Canadian hospital. His parents have requested to take him home, just like his sister years earlier. This time Canadian Consent and Capacity Board has refused and ordered that his life support be withdrawn so he can die in the hospital.

Little Joseph’ s parents have refused to comply with this order. Their attorney is frantically attempting to have the child transferred to Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. So far, the transfer order has not come through, and Canadian officials are threatening to remove the breathing tube at any moment.

Okay, this makes me very angry, but, sadly, it doesn’t surprise me. As the government gains more control over our lives, parental rights are the first thing to be diminished. The assumption is made that we don’t know how to take care of our children; at least not as well as the government does.  All these parents are asking is to take their precious child home to die. Shouldn’t that be a basic human right for every grieving family?

What could possibly be the rationale for the Canadian government to deny them this one little thing? Are they afraid he might die in transit? That performing the tracheotomy might do fatal damage? They are going to remove his life support so he can die, for goodness sake! Surely it would be worth the risk, whatever it was, to allow this family to face death in peace!

Our government can give us all the reassurances it wants, but this is exactly the type of thing that many of us fear with ObamaCare. The so-called “Death Panels” are nothing more than this committee seems to be: a group of bureaucrats who strip families and individuals of the right to make life and death decisions for themselves and their loved ones.  This Canadian Consent and Capacity Board is acting exactly like what I feared a “Death Panel” would act. 

Please pray that little Joseph will be able to go home. I also pray that they will have a few more months with him (or he will find total healing!) Any parent can tell you that even having a few more hours to spend with a precious child can make a huge difference. And, dying at home, surrounded by familiar things and loving family is so much more dignified than being left to expire in a cold hospital room.

The authorities in Canada are threatening to “pull the plug” at any time. Please pray that the hospital in Detroit will allow Joseph to transfer to them. Maybe there will be a doctor in this country with a new treatment option. Or, perhaps a miracle will occur. At the very least, Joseph will have a chance to go home with his loving family to face his final moments in peace.

Keeping it true!  Barb

Fannie’s Story: “My Baby is Here Today Because of the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling!”

Fannie had just been through a very rough time in her life. Late in 2009, her first baby was born three months early. She spent weeks with him in the hospital, hoping he would make it through okay.

Her baby’s father had not been very supportive. He had been in and out of jail and only bothered to show up when he felt like it. It also looked like he was not going to provide any support for her and her son.

In June of 2010, Fannie was just starting to get back on her feet. Her baby was doing pretty well, but he still got her up at night. It was tough to be a single mom and do it all alone. Thank goodness her family was supportive. Sometimes she thought that was the only way she would make it.

Then Fannie found out that she was pregnant. She could barely handle the news! Both her baby’s father and her new boyfriend (the father of her unborn child) were in jail. The bad memories of her son’s premature birth were still too fresh. Plus, she was so tired!

Fannie had never been in favor of abortion. However, in her desperation, she called Planned Parenthood. They told her that she could take a pill to cause her to abort if she was still under nine weeks. However, she would have to get an ultrasound to find out exactly how far along she was.

Fannie did not go to Planned Parenthood for her ultrasound, because they would have charged her for it. Instead, a nurse at her doctor’s office told her about the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling, and that they did free ultrasounds. So, Fannie made an appointment on June 2, 2010 and came in.

It was immediately apparent that Fannie was very upset. She clearly didn’t want to abort her baby, but she was so overwhelmed. She had resolved that abortion was the only option available to her.

Then came the ultrasound. To put it in Fannie’s own words: “I knew for sure what I was going to do, but when they showed me the ultrasound screen I thought, ‘Now why did they have to do that?’ I started to think differently about things.”

The ultrasound showed a perfectly developed baby that was 8 weeks and 6 days in development. Just one more day and Fannie would be too late for the abortion pill. That didn’t matter anyway: Fannie was already convinced that she couldn’t abort. The strong heartbeat and little arms and legs changed her mind.

Her 2nd son was born on December 23, 2010. He was a few weeks early, but not premature like her first son. Today he is a happy, healthy, smiling, cooing little boy. He and his brother are the lights of Fannie’s life.

I went with Fannie to tape her story for our upcoming banquet, which will be held on Thursday, March 3 at 6:30 PM. It was inspiring to hear her tell her story, as well as to see the love in her eyes for her little boy. Her story is filled with gratitude that she was spared from making the worst mistake of her life: destroying the life of her precious child. And her baby? Well, he couldn’t have been cuter!

If you would like to hear Fannie’s entire story and hear more about the life-saving work of the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling, please call me (Barb) at 402-390-9700. I would love to talk with you and get you set up with tickets ($15 a person/ $100 for a table of 10.)

In addition to Fannie’s story, we are thrilled that best-selling author, Bruce Wilkinson, will be our speaker.  Bruce is the author of “Prayer of Jabez,” along with many other books. He is also a champion for pregnancy centers, speaking on their behalf nation-wide. (In fact, he will be spending next Thursday in our office, learning all he can about our needs so he can specifically share that night!)

I hope some of you can come! If you do, please introduce yourself to me and tell me you read this blog. I would love to meet you!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Reasons Why De-funding Planned Parenthood will NOT Hurt Poor Women!

Late last week, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to deny tax-payer funds to Planned Parenthood.  The Democrats in the Senate have vowed to restore the funding, as has the President. Nancy Pelosi declared that the Republican members of the House are “against women and children!”

I have been working with the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling for over 25 years. For those of you that don’t know anything about us, we provide pregnancy testing, limited obstetrical ultrasounds and limited STD testing (chlamydia and gonorrhea) at no charge.  We also have never received a dime of taxpayer money. 

Women come to us who are just suspecting that they are pregnant and are not sure what to do. If our pregnancy test and ultrasound show that they are pregnant, we provide them with a comprehensive list of medical services in the community that can help pregnant women, even if they do not have insurance. We feel secure knowing that we have provided them with quality, affordable care. Planned Parenthood is nowhere to be found on our list!

(Ironically, Planned Parenthood regularly sends patients to us. Usually that is because they are not seeking an abortion but are in need of an early ultrasound. These women tell us that the ultrasounds at Planned Parenthood are too expensive!)

In Omaha, Douglas County Health Department provides complete STD testing and treatment at very low-cost.  An excellent resource for affordable pre-natal care (even for those that don’t qualify for Medicaid) is One World Now, located in South Omaha. We also have a list of great doctors from all over the city that work with our patients financially.  We see over 1,000 women a year, most of them living below the poverty level, and we have never felt it necessary to refer even one to Planned Parenthood.

At present, I am reading the book “Unplanned” by Abby Johnson, the former director of a Planned Parenthood in Texas.  It has been fascinating to read about her journey from  idealistic college student to disillusioned employee. Abby began work at her clinic full of dreams that she would be able to help reduce the number of abortions in her community. However, she watched in dismay as performing more and more abortions became the priority, and later-term abortions became the norm because that was where the real money was.

Finally, after witnessing a 12-week abortion on an ultrasound screen, Abby couldn’t take it anymore. She left her job with Planned Parenthood and became a pro-life activist. I highly recommend reading her book for more insights into the mindset of this anti-life organization.

Yes, Planned Parenthood provides services like pap smears and sports physicals. They run STD tests and give treatment. However, they are also the largest provider of abortions in the United States. And, the undercover videos produced by Live Action show an organization willing to do anything, even at the expense of condemning young girls to a life of sex slavery, to turn a profit!

The tax money now being given to Planned Parenthood should instead be given to community organizations that will provide great pre-natal care and basic medical support without providing abortions. Big cities are full of such centers, many of them struggling financially because they lack Planned Parenthood’s political clout. However, with proper funding, they could provide far superior service than Planned Parenthood since they will be concerned for life!

At the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling, we will never take tax-payer funds even if they were offered to us.  We are a Christ-centered organization and know that it is only through salvation that women will really be set free. Therefore, we share about Jesus with every woman who will allow us to do so.  We never want to be hampered in this by government restrictions or regulations.

Please keep praying the Senate and the President will allow Planned Parenthood to be defunded. That money can be better spent enabling communities, including small towns, to build life-honoring clinics to help the poor and needy. If the money is not taken away, I think we can expect the horrifying videos we have seen to be only the tip of the iceberg.

Keeping it true!  Barb

No, South Dakota is NOT Legalizing the Murder of Abortionists!

“South Dakota Moves to Legalize Killing Abortion Providers!” That was an article heading in the February 15 issue of Mother Jones Magazine. Wow, I wonder what side of the abortion issue they land on?

Isn’t it amazing how often the truth is sacrificed for sensationalism? Of course, in this case the editors of Mother Jones are also trying to make the pro-life legislators in South Dakota seem like blood-thirsty bad guys, not only depriving women of their “rights,” but placing a death warrant on the backs of abortionists. I wonder if they ever took the time to find out what  the bill really says?

In South Dakota (a great pro-life state, by the way!) Republican State Representative Phil Jensen has sponsored House Bill 1171. This bill states that: Homicide is justifiable if committed by any person in the lawful defense of such person, or of his or her husband, wife, parent, child, master, mistress, or servant, or the unborn child of any such enumerated person.

In South Dakota, the law already states that an unborn child is legally a person. They have attempted to ban abortion altogether in the state, but that has been rejected by the courts. No where does this bill mention that killing abortionists is allowed; that leap has been taken by pro-abortion proponents and plastered in the news just like it was specifically mentioned in the bill and not solely based on their speculations.

As Representative Jensen was quick to point out, this bill only covers illegal assaults. So, since abortion is unfortunately legal, it is not included.  (Let me make it clear: I would never condone the killing of an abortionist. However, some of the atrocious acts which have been committed against women either seeking or being coerced into abortion can be clearly be defined as “assault!”)

I’m not really sure what I think of the bill itself. Yes, I do think people should have the right to defend themselves. However, there is something about this bill that makes me uneasy. Yet, in my mind, that does not justify this unwarranted and untrue attack against the good men and women that serve in this state.   

To tell you the truth, I am much more excited by a second bill that is making its way through the same legislative body. This bill would require women who are seeking abortions to go through a two-step process: 

 First, they would meet with a physician who would have to validate that the woman was voluntarily seeking an abortion.  This confidential meeting would hopefully reveal her true heart in the matter and whether or not she was being coerced. (In my experience, very few women truly want an abortion; they are being pressured into it by parents or the baby’s father.) After this meeting, she would still have to wait 72 hours before having the procedure.

The second part of the bill is equally exciting! After meeting with the doctor, each woman would be required to go to a pregnancy center to receive full information on the assistance that is available for her and her child. A full list of approved centers would be put together by the state. And, since it is South Dakota we are talking about, I would bet that it is Centers like our own and not Planned Parenthood.

Is South Dakota awesome or what? It is almost as great as Nebraska! Thank God for the sanity of the Midwest. Of course, most of this legislation will probably not make it past the courts, but like I stated yesterday, it is important that the legislative attacks against abortion just keep coming!

So, there are a couple of things that you can do. One, pass along to those you know that South Dakota has not legalized the murder of abortionists. That is insane poppycock! And, two, please pray that a miracle will occur and the second bill, protecting women seeking abortions, will pass and be allowed to become law. Prayer is a powerful thing, and your’s might just make the difference!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Come on Congress: Keep the Volleys Coming!

Okay, so maybe I don’t mean actual rifle volleys. However, in terms of protecting the unborn, we are involved in a hotly contested battle. For the present, the ammunition is legislation, both on the state and federal levels. And, even though the Democrat majority in the Senate and President Obama threaten to reject them, I pray that the House keeps sending volley after volley their way!

The new battlefield is the national budget. House Republicans are placing several strategic pro-life resolutions within the bill. Two of them attempt to undo some of the damage which Obama did when entering office; another prevents us from providing funds for world-wide promotion of abortion; one would de-fund Planned Parenthood; and the last would protect health-care workers from being forced to take part in abortions.

When President Obama entered office, he entered into a giant “volleyball” game that has been going on between rival administrations for years. One was to reinstate federal funding for abortions in the District of Columbia (What? Did it become its own country somewhere along with way?) The other was to restore the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits the use of our taxes to pay for abortions overseas. (Plus, it would include a provision so that it cannot be undone by the next man getting elected president.)  In this same line, funding would also be yanked from the United Nations Population fund, which also provides international abortions.

Now, one of the most of exciting provisions to me is that an amendment has been proposed to yank funding from Planned Parenthood. That would be so awesome!!! Their whole argument about federal funds not going to provide abortions was such a joke. Just like us, all their funds go into one big pot. If the taxpayers pay the employee salaries and building overhead, that just leaves that much more than can underwrite abortion. I think even my 2-year-old grandson could see through that ruse!

(My heartfelt thanks go once again to Lila Rose and her great organization, Live Action, for their courageous work exposing Planned Parenthood. They took what was hidden in darkness and kicked it into the limelight. The Bible talks about shining our light into the dark and hidden places. It is only then that evil can be defeated!)

Lastly, Obama has been making mutterings that he intends to rescind a regulation put in place by President Bush to protect health care providers who refuse to take part in abortions. Congressman John Fleming has proposed an amendment which would keep that protection firmly in place, setting doctors and nurses free to follow their convictions.

Here on the home front in Nebraska, our wonderful, amazing Unicameral is discussing a bill to prohibit tax-payer funds going to pay for abortion when the “insurance exchanges” kick in in 2014. Okay, does anyone really understand all of this Healthcare mess? I mean, seriously, first this administration swears up and down that abortion funding is not included, but now states have to pass laws to specifically prohibit it? It is all too crazy for my little brain, but I’m glad my wonderful state is doing all it can to protect the unborn.

Do you see what I mean by keeping the volleys coming? I read an editorial this morning which pointed out that even though the vote prohibiting partial birth abortion was unsuccessful at first, the discussion that surrounded it educated an entire generation to the humanity in the womb. As a result, the clear majority of young people today are pro-life.

Only when abortion is hidden away and allowed to fester in secret, can it get stronger and more dangerous. Case in point is the late-term abortionist who ran a house of horrors in Pennsylvania. Or, the cocky irresponsibility of Planned Parenthood. Even if the main-stream press refuses to cover these atrocities, the more they are discussed in Congress and placed in law before the courts of the land, the more the ugly truth will be revealed. Only then can it be rooted out and destroyed.

So, keep ‘um coming, Congress! And, keep passing those radical new laws, Nebraska!  Even the shots that miss stir up the waters. And, as every hunter knows, if you keep placing well-aimed shots, one has to eventually hit the mark. Let’s pray, for the sake of the unborn, that happens sooner rather than later.

Keeping it true!  Barb

Fighting Forced Abortions: In China and Here At Home!

I cannot imagine a worse nightmare scenario than being forced to abort a beloved child! Yet, in spite of the Chinese government’s denial, it happens all the time; sometimes even days away from giving birth to a healthy, full-term child. My new hero, Chen Guangcheng, has been paying a huge personal price trying to bring the horrible practice to an end.

In 2005, the Chinese government decided that the province of Shandong had too many people. Therefore, pregnant women were forcibly taken to local hospitals and their unborn children were murdered. Chen Guangcheng was not officially a lawyer (he is blind and was prohibited from getting a degree!) but he audited many legal courses. Courageously he stepped in to fight for the rights of these distraught and grieving mothers.

Chen made enough noise that the government said it would crack down on the officials who were forcing the abortions. Then he did an interview with Time magazine, detailing the gruesome deaths. Three hours later, Chen was thrown into the back of an unmarked car and suffered through over four years of house arrest, torture, and prison on trumped-up charges.

When this heroic young man finally returned home to his wife and son, he found that his house was surrounded by armed thugs.  The family was forbidden to leave and no one was allowed to enter except his mother, who brings them food.  Prying eyes stare into the home day and night.

Just this month, Chen and his wife smuggled out a home-made film showing the horrible conditions they are living under. It was released to the world by a government source sympathetic to Chen’s cause (I’m sure at risk of their life!) There are now reports coming out of China that the couple was severely beaten for their actions.

Before his arrest and imprisonment, Chen exposed the fact that there had been 130,000 forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations in Shandong province in 2005 alone! The government denies it, but has also been doing all they can to shut Chen up.

Here in the United States, things are not so blatant. The government is not directly mandating forced abortions or sterilizations (although there are documented incidences of both in our history!) No, here things are much more subtle, yet the results are the same.

As I reported recently, charges have been filed against several late-term abortionists on the east coast. Several of the complaints came from young women who changed their minds about aborting their child, but were forced to continue.

 There are also lawsuits pending against Planned Parenthood in Ohio for proceeding ahead with abortions and neglecting to notify authorities, even though the young mothers clearly told them their rapist was the one who brought them to their clinic for their procedure. (In the case of one underage girl, it was her soccer coach!)  Just today, I read of a case where Planned Parenthood in Washington state forcibly held a 14-year-old patient, 22 weeks pregnant, refusing to let her father take her home.

Forced abortions can take many forms. At the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling, we see over 1,000 young women every year that are facing an unplanned pregnancy. There are a handful that are bound and determined to abort their child because that is what they want.(Fortunately, most don’t: ultrasound is a powerful tool!)

However, the great majority that abort do so because of outside pressure from either their families or the father of the baby. These women tell us, with tears, that they don’t want to abort, but their boyfriend will leave them or their family will kick them out. Without support, they feel they have no choice. If that is not a forced abortion, I don’t know what is!

Fighting the evil of abortion is a battle that we must continue to fight! Whenever I get weary, I will now think about Chen Guangcheng. At least for now, we don’t risk a jail cell, house arrest, or severe beatings for speaking up!

Would I continue to speak up if my freedom was at risk? I don’t know for sure, because I’ve never been tested in that way, but I hope I would. Before the end, it will probably take that kind of commitment to get the job done.

If you would like to play a small part in helping Chen and his family, an organization called Women’s Rights Without Frontiers is gathering signatures on a petition calling for Chen’s immediate and unconditional release from house arrest. You can sign this petition at: http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/ You can also pray for the family: for strength and for their freedom. We are comrade at arms, even though he lives a world away!

Keeping it true!  Barb

To Pastor Chuck Smith: There Are No Extenuating Circumstances!

Abby and Brittany Hensel, seen on the left, are conjoined twins who share what appears to be one body. They each have their own vital organs, but they are very different in personality. Of course, life presents challenges for them that it doesn’t for other people, but no one: not them or their parents or their friends or family would ever wish that they did not exist! 

About twenty years ago, I got a call from a pastor.  He had just spoken with a woman in his congregation who had been informed by her doctor that her unborn child had a genetic condition which would probably cause it to die soon after birth. He was wondering if abortion might not be acceptable in a case such as this.

I don’t remember the details of what I told him. However, I will never forgot my shock that the question was even asked. I could not imagine there being any extenuating circumstances for such commands as: “Thou shall not kill!”  The Bible does not have a separate clause for the sick and the dying- in the womb or out of the womb. (And that was before I was aware of the barbaric ways in which late-term abortions are performed.)

To his credit, he soon totally agreed with me and counseled the woman to carry through with her pregnancy (with help, of course!)  Since that time, I realized how vital it was to know the truth and to stand firmly in it, no matter what circumstances come my way. And, believe me, we have seen a host of heart-breaking circumstances come through our office door: pregnant 13 and 14 year olds; abused women; possible genetic disorders; etc, etc….. Without being grounded in the truth of God’s Word, I would be tossed to and fro by compassionate sounding but misguided advice.  For the truth is: all life is created by God for a purpose, and life and death are in His hands, not ours!

In case you have not heard, Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel, had a call last week on his radio program, “Pastor’s Perspective,” from a woman who had learned that she was expecting conjoined twins, with two heads and one body.  Her doctor was pressuring her to abort because the babies would probably not survive birth or long after. She told Pastor Smith that she wasn’t sure what she should do. She made it clear that she did not believe in abortion, but was anguishing over what might be best in her circumstance.

This anguishing mother never mentions how far along she is.  Nor does she say anything about her life being in danger. Just that her babies will probably not survive long outside the womb. Two little babies with only one body between them: a freak to most of the world, but extremely precious to their Creator! But- what purpose could possibly be served by having them die so soon? We don’t know, but they have great value just because their tiny lives were shaped by His loving hands. God does not make mistakes.

It really grieved me to read Pastor Smith’s response to this hurting mother. She needed to hear what I just said about the life of her children: that there was purpose and meaning in all of this for their entire family! However, these were his words: “It’s awfully hard to actually suggest abortion. But, you know, I’m sure that in a case like this where the life expectancy is just, you know, is so bleak, and all, that I’m sure that the Lord would not condemn her if she went ahead and had an abortion at this early age of the development of the fetus.”

Lord have mercy! Satan’s lies about abortion have certainly permeated deeply into our society. How did we ever come to perceive that children being torn limb by limb in the darkness of the womb was merciful? Is it because we can’t see it and therefore it doesn’t disturb our sensibilities?  (I doubt this would be an early abortion, since these babies are developed enough to know they are fully conjoined. However, does that really make a difference?)

And, how about that poor mother? Certainly God will forgive her, but how long will it take her to forgive herself? It has been proven that women who have strong convictions about abortion suffer much longer and harder from post abortion syndrome. If she takes the lives of her children into her own hands and orders their death, she will always wonder if the doctors were right. Plus, it will not take long for her to realize she made a choice which God never gave her: a choice which was never hers to make (no matter what Chuck Smith says!)

It is a very good thing that God gave us strong commandments that did not contain “extenuating circumstances.”  If He had, his sinful creation would have worn them all down to nothing by now. If nothing else, we are experts at rationalization. That is why Chuck Smith’s statements need to be soundly condemned (note I said his statements, not the man.) If the evangelical community begins to crumble on this, it will all fall apart very quickly. The truth is the truth, Pastor Smith, even if it makes us uncomfortable! Please go back on your radio show and tell everyone that you were wrong in your advise!

Keeping it true!  Barb

Action Alert: Help Get Iowa’s Fetal Pain Bill Passed!

When the news was released that Leroy Carhart was thinking of moving his late-term abortion business to Council Bluffs, I was very proud of the way the city’s citizens sprang into action! Immediately, a town meeting was formed. A large group were determined to keep the grisly business of killing unborn babies over 20 weeks out of their city!

Unfortunately, if Carhart is determined to open a clinic in Council Bluffs, there is very little that can be done to stop him- at least on a local level. So, some Iowa state legislators determined to do the same thing that Nebraska had done to rid themselves of him in the first place: pass a bill banning abortions at 20 weeks.

At first it seemed like the bill would sail right on through. The Governor, Terry Bransted, has already promised to sign the bill into law. It looked like it would breeze through the Human Resources Committee, since it had 12 Republicans and 9 Democrats. However, the bill appears to be blocked from an unusual direction.

Two of the Republican House members, Kim Pearson and Glenn Massie, are refusing to vote for the bill, but not because they are for abortion. Rather, they don’t think the bill goes far enough: they want a bill banning all abortions. Now, I admire their stance, but I think they are very short-sighted! Such an all-out ban would never pass; nor would it clear a court battle. As a result, Iowa will see more late-term unborn lives lost!

I am asking you a big favor: please call or e-mail these two representatives and ask them to reconsider their vote. This is the e-mail I am going to send to both of them:

“Dear Congressman Massie,   I understand that you are voting against the Fetal Pain Act because of your convictions that all abortions should be outlawed, not just late-term ones. I would ask you to please reconsider. I work for a pregnancy center in Omaha, and we see unborn lives saved all the time as a result of the Nebraska 20-week ban.  Perhaps because of the economy, women have been coming into us for their initial pregnancy tests later and later. It is not uncommon for them to discover they are pregnant until quite late in the pregnancy. However, because of the Nebraska law, they can no longer pursue an abortion here in the state and most cannot afford to travel elsewhere.

I agree wholeheartedly that all abortion should be outlawed. However, circumstances have taught us that this battle will most likely be won a little at a time. Surely you can agree that some lives saved is better than none. Plus, late-term abortions take a horrible toll upon the women and families involved.  Even though I don’t live in Iowa, women and children in Nebraska will be impacted by your vote since Council Bluffs is just across the river. I implore you to vote yes for this bill.

Sincerely,  Barb Malek, Administrative Director, AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling. “

These are fellow pro-lifers we are speaking to, so the e-mails and phone calls should not be difficult. Their contact information is:

State Congressman Glenn Massie: 515-281-3221, Glen.massie@legis.state.ia.us.

State Congresswoman Kim Pearson: 515-281-3221, kim.pearson@legis.state.ia.us

The phone number is a general switchboard, so ask to speak to their office. I know you will be polite, but firm. They need to see that saving a few is better than saving none. Again, I will keep you posted as I learn more information.

Keeping it true!  Barb