Life Links 10-19-11
by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat
- A UK woman is claiming she overheard her husband on the phone telling a friend that he had drugged her with an abortion pill. The drugging apparently led her to miscarry and have an emergency trip to the hospital.
- Kelcie McCrae, the editor-in-chief at North Carolina A & T’s paper is opposed to North Carolina’s ultrasound viewing law:
Having an abortion was one of the hardest things one of my closest friends has ever done, and to imagine looking at the ultrasound moments before the procedure, according to her, would have been unbearable.
Why would it have been unbearable? If a fetus isn’t a human being and killing one should be legal then why would it be so hard to view an image of one?
- A maid in the United Arab Emirates has been charged with premeditated murder after having an abortion and then waiting 10 hours for the child to die.
- The Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference is attempting to get their state health department to look into the discrepancy in abortion reporting. The state received 14,442 abortion reports in 2008 while a survey by the Guttmacher Institute has 17,030 abortions reported in 2008 after surveying abortion providers.
- The Williamette Week has an interview with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards (pictured left). There was one question which wasn’t a toss-up:
In the efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, a lot was made of your salary—close to $400,000 per year. PP declined to comment on it. Why?
[Richards:] It’s public record. It always has been. I work hard for my salary, and I think that’s a red herring. Planned Parenthood is the most cost-effective provider of family planning services in this country. The far right has done everything they can to undermine us and to create non-issues, which I think that is.
- A Chinese man attempted to sue his wife for “violating his reproductive rights” after she had an abortion without his consent:
Liu Gang, 34, divorced his wife and demanded 30,000 yuan in psychological compensation after his partner Li Fenfen, 31, terminated her pregnancy in favor of a job promotion….
After several rounds of futile mediation, the couple was granted a divorce. But Liu’s demand for psychological compensation was thrown out by the judge as China’s marriage law stipulates that wives own the right to terminate a pregnancy.
[Richards photo via Williamette Week]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
JILL! Cecile Richards?? At lunch????
Really?
400K could provide a lot of diapers, baby clothes, meals for homeless vets or families fleeing domestic violence, it could build maternity homes for unwed mothers to live in until they are able to have a home of their own….instead, its blood money…..
400K isn’t a high salary for someone running an organisation of that size and turnover. Even in the not-for-profit sector.
PP provide much more than just abortions Liz.
as I said, that money could be used elsewhere….for unwed mothers who choose life, for maternity homes, for the homeless…..etc…..
Well, so could yours, or mine, or anyone else’s.
What about someone like Herman Cain or Sarah Palin, they don’t really need half what they’ve got.
She’s doing a job which needs to be done.
Yeah, they talked a lot about jobs that needed to be done on the Sopranos, too.
She’s doing a legitimate job in a legitimate industry which supplies legitimate services for which there is a legitimate demand.
The sopranos broke numerous laws in their activities.
Comparison invalid.
Reality, no LizfromNebraska is right. While Planned Parenthood likes to talk about how only 3% of their services are abortions when it comes to funding and their income, as of 2009, 38.4% of their income came from providing abortions. According to their 2009 services fact sheet:
Annual abortions performed at Planned Parenthood: 332,278
Source: Planned Parenthood 2009 services fact sheet
Average cost of abortion: $468
Source: Guttmacher Institute estimate
Total income from abortions: $155,506,104
Total health center income: $404,900,000
Source: Planned Parenthood 2009 annual report
This means that fully 38.4% of Planned Parenthood health center income came directly from aborting unborn children.
Source
Also, many of the other services you refer to can be obtained through other sources such as community health clinics, county health offices, hospitals, and private physicians offices (of which may take Medicaid and Medicare, participate in a hospital-based assistance programs, provide payment plans, or offer services for a reduced or sliding-fee).
“Also, many of the other services you refer to can be obtained through other sources such as community health clinics, county health offices, hospitals, and private physicians offices (of which may take Medicaid and Medicare, participate in a hospital-based assistance programs, provide payment plans, or offer services for a reduced or sliding-fee).”
Sure. But pro-lifers aren’t ensuring that these services are actually place when they call for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. When PP clinics closed in NJ recently (reported on this site), who among the pro-life camp stepped up to the plate to help the 10,000 or so women who lost access to these preventive services?
Liz is right about what Rachael? She was talking about Cecile’s salary being put to other uses. How does that correlate to what you’re saying?
Reality, I LOVE how you whacked out liberals love to tell folks how much money they need or don’t really need.
My husband and I just bought a farm. We’ve been saving and working our whole married lives for this. Of course, many of my friends don’t have land or their own homes. Maybe we didn’t need that farm anyway. Wait, you’re right. I’m just being selfish and I should give it to the ogvernment so they can pay for other folks’ abortions and birth control. WHAT WAS I THINKING.
Oh, and Megan–what makes you think that I (as a member of the ‘pro-life camp’) am responsible for subsidizing other folks’ sex lives?? Pay for your own birth control. And if you can’t, stop having sex.
Yeah, I said it.
Cecile is right. Her salary is a non-issue. It’s a fair salary for running a non-profit of that size, something that takes education, experience and skill and has relentless demands on your whole being.
Now, what that non-profit does is an issue. It should be shut down, not just de-funded. It’s the epitome of all evil. That’s the problem, not the amount of blood money Cecile earns. It’s inappropriate and just wrong to pick on her salary when it’s perfectly within industry standards. “I LOVE how you whacked out liberals love to tell folks how much money they need or don’t really need.” Isn’t this doing the same thing?
“What about someone like Herman Cain or Sarah Palin, they don’t really need half what they’ve got.”
They work for their money, too. Only they don’t kill millions of children doing their jobs. Glass houses, Reality.
Don’t grumble to me Courtney, it was Liz who suggested that peoples’ salaries be diverted to support services such as those we are told are provided by CPC’s.
I merely asked her if people who had oodles of money such as Cain and Palin shouldn’t also donate large portions of their wealth.
I fully support you having the choice to keep what you have worked hard for. You obviously deserve it for your efforts.
Myself, I no longer own a house or have a fat pension fund. I gave it all away. I now work hard just to live simply and modestly.
Oh, and Courtney, what makes you think that I (as an atheist) am responsible for subsidizing other folks’ religious activities?? Pay for your own church. And if you can’t, stop having one.
Palin didn’t ‘work’ for most of her money Jacqueline. She joined the cult of personality, became some sort of maniacal, messianic mama and accumulated money from people who actually worked for it. But again, that’s their choice.
Whether you like the way she made herself or not, Palin is self-made. She is not an heiress or a lottery winner. Because she has qualities that make people want to purchase her book, listen to her speak or even make fun of her- that money was freely given to her for those efforts. I don’t know how much of it she gives away- it’s not my business, because she comes into that money honestly- given to her freely.
Cecile, while again, I don’t degrudge her salary (just her work)- her money was not given freely. That money that pays her salary was extorted. It’s taxpayer money (my money- 20% of my earnings) that goes against my will to her organization. Money given to her to promote killing children is money that I also think would be better spent by a CPC. That money is extorted blood money.
20% of your earnings goes to Cecile’s salary! Wow, how did that happen?
Palin hasn’t done anything useful, she has simply ridden the tea party express all the way to the bank. The minute she’s been faced with the prosepct of doing real work for less money she’s done a runner.
Who cares? Palin hasn’t killed any children that I am aware of. Cecile kills children everyday- and has even killed her own.
Yep, I have to pay 20% of my earnings for two reasons. 50% of Americans pay NOTHING, so I am supporting their free-loading @sses. Secondly, since PP gets tax money and I am in the half that actually pays taxes, yes, I do pay her salary- among other things. Maybe, if the other half pitched in, I would only have to pay half as much in taxes and wouldn’t be supporting PP as much. The only way we can afford half of citizens free-loading and STILL give PP 363 MILLION a year is because I am paying for it.
Cecile performs abortions?
The precentage of your taxes which go to PP is smaller than can be seen by the naked eye.
All of us have some of our taxes going towards things we don’t like or agree with.
It’s called democracy.
Jacqueline, I’m a full-time college student who also works full-time. I pay my bills without assistance and have never received any form of welfare payments from the government. And yes, I DO get a little bit of a tax refund at the end of the year, due to an educational tax credit.
Yes, the tax code may be unfair, and no, I don’t like tax dollars going to PP either. But, please, explain to me how I could possibly be “freeloading” in your mind–80+ hours of work, classes, and studying isn’t enough?
Kate, getting a refund doesn’t mean you don’t pay any taxes- it could mean you allowed them maximum withholding and you are getting back what you aren’t required to pay. And I got their grad school of scholarships and loans, so I also paid nothing for a while. So for that year and a half, people who paid taxes were paying my way.
The tax code IS unfair. It was unfair when I paid nothing and it’s unfair when you pay nothing. It’s unfair because it’s designed in a way where HALF of the citizens pay nothing. That half also recieve as many services (actually, more services) as those that pay, so clearly, the half that pays are paying for the services of the half that does not. Yeah, that’s called FREELOADING. It’s not purposeful, as the tax code decides what people pay, not the people. The tax burden wouldn’t be that bad if everyone contributed- but those that pay must pay for those who don’t, because everyone receives services, like national defense, which costs money.
I am fundamentally opposed to income taxes. The income tax has destroyed our nation.