Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the killing by dehydration and starvation of Terri Schindler Schiavo, and Terri's Foundation along with Priests for Life have established an annual Terri's Day observance.

Terri's brother Bobby Schindler has an op ed at Townhall.com today. In it he takes all 3 presidential candidates to task for opposing governmental attempts to intervene to stop Terri from being so cruelly killed...

One of these candidates will be our next President, and the fact that they can make such statements with little to no fanfare from our secular media, or any noticeable outrage from the general public, is a chilling reminder of how far we have drifted as a nation....

I often wonder if our presidential candidates would make such insensitive and callous comments if this were their child or if they had ever known someone like Terri.

Perhaps they could take time to visit my parents and see the agony and torment that remains with them every single day as a result of having to needlessly watch their disabled child slowly killed by dehydration and starvation.

Maybe as president they could explain why my parents were told by the armed police guarding Terri that if either of them tried to give her ice for her bleeding lips they would be arrested immediately.

Maybe my parents could remind all three candidates, who are parents themselves, that a mother and father value nothing in life more than their children and want only to love them unconditionally and protect them in every way possible--a right you can no longer take for granted.

March 31st will mark the third anniversary of my sister's brutal death. Sadly, it is a day that reminds me of what our nation has become, bringing back horrible images of a hideously inhumane death and how the judge who sentenced Terri to die also, in essence, sentenced my parents to death with her.

As a mother and grandmother, I literally do not think I could handle my child being slowly killed in front of me. I cannot imagine the Schindlers' grief. I'm very sorry.

Last week Human Life International got a "nuclear reaction" to 3 billboards it erected in the capital city of Tanzania in East Africa, where condoms are promoted to stave off the AIDS epidemic. (The title is rewritten in Swahili.) Reported HLI...

On Tuesday, the main newspaper in Tanzania, The Citizen, ran a story on our billboards.

The article described people at "high-profile" anti-life organizations like United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, Family Health International, Population Services International and others as "up in arms" ... and government officials as "jolted."

It said that the chairperson of the Tanzania Commission for AIDS was "furious"... and told of meetings... held with... the Prime Minister's office to discuss an "urgent intervention" to suppress and censor our message!

They're freaked because their failed plan is being exposed. Here is the latest (December 2006) map by the U.S. Census Bureau on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the low risk population of East African countries:

Obviously, Tanzania is overwhelmed by AIDS, while Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda are not.

The difference? The latter 3, particularly Uganda, have more successfully focused on the A and B aspects of AIDS prevention (abstinence, be faithful) than Tarnzania, which obviously promotes C (condoms), explaining why the HLI billboards hit a nerve.

HLI needs donations to keep the billboards up. Donate here.

[HT: John Mallon]

FYI, tonight Hannity's America will feature 2 segments of interest to pro-lifers: Obama's position on abortion and Planned Parenthood's willingness to accept bucks to kill blacks. For the latter it will play the calls secretly recorded by UCLA pro-lifers.

UPDATE, 8a: Hannity combined an exposé on Barack Obama's radical support of abortion with an exposé on Planned Parenthood's willingness to take money to abort black babies, since Obama supports PP.

The segment was very good except on one key issue...

Hannity botched Obama's opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protect Act as state senator, i.e., support of infanticide. What a missed opportunity.

How hard was that to get right? But Hannity didn't. He focused instead on the Induced Birth Infant Viability Act, 1 of BAIPA's 2 companion bills that Obama also opposed.

Not only that, but Hannity mischaractered it as "requiring parents to be financially responsible for the baby's medical bills and well-being if the abortion is not successful." No, quite the contrary. The bill allowed a baby's parent or guardian to sue a hospital, abortion clinic, or abortionist for failing to provide care to a live aborted baby. "Gosh!" as Napoleon Dynamite would say. Terrible research!

But Lila Rose, the UCLA student behind the PP phone sting, looked and sounded great, while PP looked and sounded terrible.

Hannity showed some condemning clips of Obama speaking at a PP event last summer, including this stumble, when Obama winged his close:

Thanks... uh... to all of you... uh... at Planned Parenthood for all the work that you are doing for women all across the country, and for families all across the country, and for men who are... have enough sense to realize you're helping them all across the country.

Huh? Speaking of sense, aside from the obvious irony in Obama's statement, the portion on men in particular made no sense. Men, of course, love PP, since it allows them to sexually exploit women more freely.

Hannity's people asked Obama for a statement on PP's racism but got no response. Excellent that Hannity tried to pin Obama on his support of this racist organization.

Here's the segment:

by Glenn McCoy for Townhall.com, March 24:

Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers.

Michelle linked to my March 5 column, "Fr. Pfleger's black heart," in her post yesterday on Rev. Jeremiah Wright's surprise appearance Friday night at Pfleger's southside Chicago Catholic church, St. Sabina's.

What a nonsurprise.

Click on graphic below for link to see the reception Wright received:

Reported the Houston Chronicle...

Barack Obama's former pastor, who canceled several public events after an uproar over his incendiary comments, surprised a Chicago congregation by attending an event to celebrate poet Maya Angelou's birthday.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright got a raucous standing ovation when he entered Saint Sabina church on the South Side on Friday night, video from WBBM-TV showed. Members yelled "Hallelujah!" as Wright embraced the Rev. Michael Pfleger, Saint Sabina's pastor.

The smiling Wright accepted an invitation to give the benediction at the Roman Catholic church but did not address the furor over his past sermons. He also sang "Happy Birthday" to Angelou, whose birthday is April 4....

Wright has not spoken publicly since the controversy over his sermons began. He recently scrapped plans to receive an award in TX and to speak at churches in Houston and Tampa, FL.

The new poll question is up:

Should the international community boycott the Beijing Olympic Games due to China's recent crackdown against Tibet and/or its forced one-child-per-family policy?

Responses to last week's poll surprised me. I didn't expect so many to think aborting mothers should be considered criminals. Perhaps this shows true thoughts of pro-lifers; perhaps it shows how some pro-aborts think pro-lifers should think...

I've adjusted the map showing your brightly colored voting flags to include Canada. I've also boxed a map of world votes in the upper right hand corner. Click to enlarge:

As always, please make comments to either the old or new poll here, not at the Vizu website.

Last week came the first noticeable hurdle to Barack Obama's race to the White House: his pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

News organizations held their collective finger on the replay button showing sermon clips from "best of" videos Wright sells at his Trinity United Church of Christ bookshop.

In these Wright displays himself as an anti-American black racist who thinks the U.S. government secretly launched the AIDS epidemic to wipe out blacks; that Jesus was "a poor black man" killed in a country "controlled by rich white people" by "Italians"; that 9/11 was a terrorist turnabout, giving the U.S. back what it has given; that Israel's nuclear weapons are "ethnic bombs" designed in part to wipe out blacks, and much more.

Not news: I am an Obama cynic. I live 30 minutes from Obama's church. I have attended it. My take is Obama joined TUCC, the largest black UCC church in the U.S., to garner southside Chicago black church power to help elevate him in politics, which worked at the time. As a community organizer before garnering his IL senate seat, Obama had access to all the southside churches and picked Wright's for good reason.

This week, as reporters pored over old Wright sermons, speechs, and videos, more vileness came out, such as that Wright called Italians "garlic noses." We can expect more in weeks and months to come.

So here's a Gary Varvel comic inviting readers to write the caption as Barack and Michelle shake hands with Wright one fine Sunday morning.

Try your hand. What do you think Obama is saying?

Well, thanks!

I've been informed I made Women's Voices Women Vote's list of top 10 female bloggers due to your votes!

I mentioned earlier this month having received notice of the contest and that I'd sure like to see a pro-lifer make the list. Thanks!

WVWV is now holding a run-off, although I'm seriously content just to have made the the top 10.

It does appear by the bios and a scan of my competitions' blogs I'm not only the sole pro-life woman represented but also the sole conservative.

And my oh my, at least one of my liberal sisters apparently can't handle the 9:1 ratio, in particular little ole me! Wrote Taylor Marsh...

But a word about Jill Stanek. She is one of the most virilently anti-civil rights for women activists on the "pro-life" side. Though I, for one, will never understand how dictating to a woman how she lives her own life is being "pro-life." But Stanek is very popular, in fact the most highly trafficked blogger in her category, so credit where it's due. But let me be blunt. In the 21st century it would be a wonderful change if the conversation on abortion wasn't put in terms as strident as what moves Ms. Stanek.

Virilent, strident? Moi? LOL.

Anyway, thanks again.

This just out, Planned Parenthood's 2006-07 annual report, for the reporting period July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007.

I'm linking to it post-haste, fyi. The biggest news is PP for the 1st time made over $1 BILLION in 1 reporting year, $1,017,900,000 to be exact. Last year it made $902 million....

The Congressional Pro-Life Caucus also noted these findings:

An increase in the number of provided abortions from 264,943 in 2005 to 289,650 in 2006.

A doubling of "excess of revenue over expenses" funds from $55.7 million in 2005 to $112 million in 2006.

Acknowledged receipt of over $336 million in government grants and contracts. (Note: the report does not indicate that the government grants and contracts are all from the Federal Government, the exact amount received from each of the Federal, State, and local governments as well as any reimbursements or other payments is not known.)

Click to enlarge:

Add your findings from the report in the comments section.

[HT: Congressional Pro-Life Caucus]

This March 27 blurb from Family Research Council is so full of rich sidebars, I'm simply reposting it (including the title):

Actress Kate Walsh isn't a doctor in real life, but apparently playing one on ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice qualifies her to talk about reproductive health on Capitol Hill.

Yesterday, Walsh, who sits on Planned Parenthood's Board of Advisors, hosted a congressional forum sponsored by the nation's biggest abortion trafficker....

In ads for the event, PP played host to "Kate Walsh Talks About Sex on Capitol Hill: Actor Leads Congressional Briefing on Real Sex Education."

In case you're wondering how Walsh describes "real" sex education, this is what she says in a 2007 interview: "If you're going to have sex, use a condom."

She speaks openly about her desire to zero-out federal abstinence funds, a goal shared by the monopolists at PP.

Contrary to what Walsh and her liberal friends believe, doing away with abstinence education won't lower teen pregnancy rates; instead it would squelch one of the most effective methods of reducing teen sexual risk.

Moreover, according to Adolescent and Family Health, 67% of teen birth reductions are a direct result of abstinence. The Medical Institute notes that "sexual activity places teens at high risk for getting sexually transmitted diseases - and using contraception does not eliminate that risk." It also leads to elevated risks of suicide, depression, substance abuse, anxiety, and dating violence.

However, the implications of yesterday's event go beyond PP's unsound advice. As a recipient of nearly $300 million a year in taxpayer funds, more than a few eyebrows were raised when the organization tried to lure in a big crowd by offering a free lunch.

Under the new ethics rules, it's unlawful for nonprofit groups to provide meals to congressional members or staff. How is it, then, that PP is able to violate government rules? In light of the organization's latest scandals, which span everything from fraud, criminal cover-ups, and clinic deficiencies, I think we'd all agree that Capitol Hill's time is better spent investigating the group than promoting it.

[Photo of Walsh at a 2007 Los Angeles PP fundraiser courtesy of InStyle]

American Life League has released a compelling new video spotlighting the CO personhood amendment drive and also taking unnamed organizations to task for sitting on their hands or worse, opposing this voter initiative:

This seems like the right time to post a March 7 op ed by Judie Brown, also compelling, taking CO, GA, and MT Catholic bishops to task for opposing their state's personhood amendment. I've included Judie's column in its entirety on page 2.

The bishops are not alone. I am saddened that some of my good friends in the movement, with good organizations behind them, are contesting these efforts.

Back to the video, at its end ALL thanked bloggers - meaning you - for contacting YouTube when it unceremoniously yanked ALL's previous video, Planned Parenthood sells sex, for its "inappropriate content" while leaving PP's ads up that ALL was exposing. Sheesh. YouTube quickly responded to your complaints by reinstating the video.

We remain steadfast, but...

By Judie Brown

March 7, 2008

Over the last few weeks, something rather bizarre has occurred in the pro-life movement and it is difficult for me to get my arms around it. So, I have decided to share the puzzlement I am experiencing in the hopes that others, upon reading this, will join me in a fervent Lenten prayer for healing.

This past January 17, as a personhood proposal was being presented as a way to amend Georgia's state constitution, the two bishops in that state made a public statement in opposition to it. They wrote, "As the Catholic bishops of Georgia we, along with our brother bishops throughout the world, have unceasingly advocated for the sanctity of human life and continually supported legislative efforts to increase protection of human life."

They claim to agree with the "objectives" of the proposed state constitutional amendment but oppose the approach because it "does not provide a realistic opportunity for ending or reducing abortion in Georgia."

A few weeks later, on February 26, the two Catholic bishops in Montana issued a statement expressing their views on a proposed personhood amendment to the Montana state constitution. They wrote, "We, the Catholic Bishops of Montana, remain steadfast in our commitment to defend human life in all of its stages, from conception to natural death."

They went on to commend the "objective" of the efforts to amend the state's constitution, but pointed out that they support efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution rather than the state's. They wrote that they "do not believe that CI-100 is the most beneficial venue to pursue necessary change." They listed several strategies which they deem appropriate at the state level, including funding pregnancy centers, providing support for expectant mothers and passing a law requiring parental notice with judicial bypass prior to a minor acquiring an abortion.

Two days later, the Colorado Catholic Conference issued a statement regarding the proposal by Colorado for Equal Rights to amend the Colorado state constitution with personhood language. In that statement, the Colorado Catholic Conference said, "We commend the goal of this effort to end abortion... but we do not believe that this year's Colorado Personhood Amendment is the best means to pursue this issue at this time."

The Colorado conference denied that any of the bishops had lent their support to the personhood initiative being promoted by Colorado for Equal Rights even though Bishop Tafoya, one of the three bishops in Colorado, had his picture taken with the campaign leader, Keith Mason, and had given every indication that he supported the effort.

The thread that ties these three separate actions together is the realization that even though these seven Catholic bishops in three states all share the goal of doing all they can to end the slaughter of the innocents, they also agree that personhood amendments to state constitutions are not realistic, timely or the best way to do things. Statements like those I have just excerpted are the source of my confusion.

For the record and, if I may say so, for the babies, allow me to point a few things out.

It was not anyone in the pro-life movement, but rather United States Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun who wrote in the Roe v. Wade decision, "If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's [abortion] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."

In other words, if those who understand that a preborn child is a person from the point of his creation want to restore absolute legal protection to children, then personhood must be established in the law. Justice Blackmun did not tell us how personhood could be established, but he did give us a clue and this is why so many pro-life activists have chosen to do what they can to propose personhood amendments to the various state constitutions. The hope is that one of these proposals will be passed by the people and if it eventually arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court, the actual merits of personhood will be argued.

Further, on March 7, 1974, Cardinal Humberto Medeiros spoke at a United States Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for the entire National Conference of Catholic Bishops and told the senators that any proposed constitutional amendment "...should clearly establish that, from conception onward, the unborn child is a human person in the terms of the Constitution."

In that same statement, Cardinal Medeiros also made it perfectly clear that every proposal should be "universal and without exceptions."

So, a totally pro-abortion Supreme Court justice and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church both came to the same conclusion: Personhood is the key to ending the tyranny of the abortion empire in America. And yet when we have three actively dedicated pro-life organizations pursuing the very goal that Cardinal Medeiros encouraged, we also have Catholic bishops publicly distancing themselves from such efforts and opposing them in a variety of ways.

This is discouraging, but not surprising. In fact, it is a harbinger of things to come if those committed to pro-life principle do not press on rather than succumb to a spirit of despair.

Now is not the time to accept defeat simply because of the negative statements coming forth from Catholic conferences whether in the east, the west or anywhere in between. We cannot change the statements of those Church leaders who have chosen to oppose personhood efforts, but on the other hand, we cannot abandon the very principle that is foundational to all pro-life efforts not only in Montana, Georgia and Colorado - but everywhere else.

Among the many legal minds who have contributed to the fundamental strategy that underlies the necessary pro-life legal efforts in these three states is that of the wise Notre Dame law professor Charles Rice. In 35 years, he has never changed his perspective on personhood. What he said in 1973 he continues to say today. He teaches that it was the denial of personhood that was the foundation for everything that the Nazis did to the Jews, the Christians and others under their regime. The idea of relegating entire classes of people to subhuman status was the crux of the Nazi euthanasia program and all the gruesome acts that followed it.

Professor Rice ties that very attitude of annihilation by dehumanization directly to the abortion industry of today. And as he has written, the affirmation of the non-personhood of the preborn child means that the particular human beings who fall into this category are subject to all manner of cruelty and abuse, including death because they have no rights - they are not human beings according to the law.

This alone should give rise to a total advocacy of personhood on the part of every single pro-life American in our day and age. Whether a Catholic prelate or a man on the street, there is no denying that the culture of death now has a tragic grip on the thought process of those in authority in our nation and that must change.

As Professor Rice so eloquently wrote, "Roe applies precisely the principle that underlay the Nazi extermination of the Jews, that an innocent human being can be declared to be a non-person and subjected to death at the discretion of those who regard him as unfit or unwanted. The justices, who triggered the abortion avalanche by their own free decision, are no more defensible than the Nazi judges who acquiesced in the crimes of that regime and the functionaries who administered its decrees at Auschwitz and similar places."

As if that were not enough, he concluded on this sober note, "The Court will allow states to enact marginal restrictions on surgical abortions, but those abortions are becoming obsolete because of early abortifacient drugs and devices."

So, I am left bewildered and anguished by these questions: Why not personhood? How can one be steadfast and at the same time oppose such sensible strategies?

As Alan Keyes warned, "The evil that we fight is but a shadow of the evil that we do."

Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. For three decades, she has advocated personhood declarations in law.

We've talked much the last couple weeks about MI late-term abortionist Alberto Hodari, in the news for tossing aborted babies and medical records into his dumpsters. Read my Hodari archives here.

But just what does an abortionist do with all the money s/he makes from aborting poor mothers in crisis?

Pro-lifer Judy Papa has sidewalk counseled at Hodari's Flint, MI, pole barn abortion mill for years and sent photos of Hodari's hobby, classic car collecting. He even takes them to shows.

Where does Hodari keep his babies? Inside the mill, at the service entrance.

These first photos are of Hodari leaving the mill in his favorite car. He mentioned it during his infamous talk at Wayne State U last November...

See more photos on page 2.

Hodari's driver is Geraldo, shown here in another of Hodari's cars...

Parked by the service entrance...

And a couple others...

Much has been made of Planned Parenthood's Big Annoucement that it plans to spend $10 million on the 2008 elections. ABC News has a story on it today:

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is promising to spend $10 million this election cycle - three times more than the organization has spent in any previous election.

Look, making these Big Announcements to attract friends and scare enemies is PP's modus operandi. Words, words. It's all a scam. PP is just going for the media splash. That's its endgame here.

PP doesn't expect anyone to check back after its media splashes. Well here's 1 person who does.

Does the following sound familiar? In 2002, our old friend Steve Trombley and Planned Parenthood of Chicago promised to spend $1 million in the IL governor's race, as quoted by Crain's Chicago Business, June 24, 2002 (click to enlarge):

And this is what PP actually spent, according to the IL State Board of Elections website...

$42,500, less than 5% of what PP boasted it would. In total, PP spent $67,500 on the 2002 governor's race, less than 10% of its claim. PP didn't even spend all Trombley said donors had earmarked for it.

PP lies. The 1st thing anyone should think when PP says anything is, "This is a lie."

Still, it's nice PP senses such a threat. Love it. I was surprised by this in the ABC story, although "defending itself" portrays PP as the victim:

Planned Parenthood is defending itself against a range of civil and criminal complaints in several states, and critics charge that the organization is trying to buy influence in Congress.

[HT: reader Kristina]

Here's a new, tragic twist, thanks to abortion.

On November 6, 2007, 24-year-old Logan Lage (pictured right) was fleeing in his vehicle from police in Grand Junction, CO, when he crashed into an SUV being driven by 26-year-old Shea Lehnen, 8-1/2 months pregnant. Police found marijuana and heroin in Lage's vehicle.

The injured Shea was rushed to the hospital, where an emergency c-section was performed. Coincidentally, Shea had been scheduled for a routine c-section....

Lileigh Lehnen was born alive but died hours later from asphyxia. According to the Aspen Times, "Coroner Dr. Robert Kurtzman ruled the baby's death as homicide and said the collision damaged the mother's placenta, restricting blood flow to the baby."

So Lileigh was fatally injured when preborn but died of her injuries after being born.

But on March 19 Judge Richard Gurley tossed homicide charges stating Lileigh was not a person at the time of the crash. He wrote in his ruling:

To qualify as a "person," three conditions must obtain at the time of the homicidal act: (1) the victim is a human being; (2) the victim has already been born; and (3) the victim is still alive.

The district attorney's office, which has vowed to take this case to the state Supreme Court if need be, argued Lileigh was viable at the time Lage crashed into her mother's vehicle.

Lage's public defender argued "Lileigh Lehnen was neither a 'person' nor a 'child' at the time of the crash, according to state law," according to the Grand Junction Sentinel.

In 2002, I testified before a CO Senate committee when pro-lifers were trying to pass a state Born Alive Infant Protection Act. Democrats stopped it. This would have ensured Lage was properly charged with murder.

Now pro-lifers are attempting to add a "personhood from conception" amendment by way of citizen referendum. This would also ensure pathetic losers like Lage get their just reward.

[HT: readers Keith Mason and Robert; Lage mug shot courtesy of KJCT news]

I reported March 25 that the Planned Parenthood Federation had closed 5 FL clinics apparently due to financial shenanigans by member(s) of their oversight affiliate.

American Life League's Planned Parenthood watchdog arm STOPP added this in an email alert yesterday:

There is much confusion about the status of Planned Parenthood clinics in Boca Raton, FL and the surrounding areas. According to various reports, PP is scrambling as the local affiliate, Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties, is having severe financial difficulties....

Information received by STOPP indicates that, apparently, 5 clinics run by this affiliate still have their doors open, but are not seeing any customers. PP customers are reportedly being referred to other local providers. We also note that the affiliate's web site has been taken down.

According to one report, the affiliate's Form 990, a reporting form that certain tax-exempt organizations must file annually with the IRS, showed total revenue of $3,361,439, and a deficit of $12,709 for 2005. This is hardly enough of a loss to cause major problems.

The actual reason for these changes is more likely tied to 4 board members resigning in the past few years over management questions. Moreover, several weeks ago, the affiliate's chief executive resigned and was replaced by an interim officer. It should also be noted that Planned Parenthood Federation of America recently audited the affiliate's operations.

There is... speculation that this affiliate will merge with...
[an]other.... Employees have been laid off and it appears that some clinics will close while the merger takes place. PP claims that a merger would make it "better, stronger and more efficient," but what else can PP say? It wouldn't want to inform the public that it is falling apart.

According to the March 20 Palm Beach Post, PP's only live operation at the moment is its teen comprehensive sex ed program, for which it is getting $257k this year from Palm Beach County. So it is teaching kids how to have sex without providing inadequate mop up tools.

Is PP worried about the IRS, embezzlement? From the PBP story:

[I]n June... a former employee filed a wrongful termination letter with the agency demanding $500,000 in back pay and damages....

As part of the complaint, employee Nedezda Martinez asserted that the organization's 2006 annual financial statement was inaccurate.... The board then ordered an audit, [her attorney Samuel Lopez] said. Lopez and [Marilyn] Krantz [affiliate CEO until 2001] said they were told by Planned Parenthood officials the board was checking, among other issues, whether money was missing.

This update is overdue, but I want to close the loop on this topic for those who hadn't heard.

On March 3 I reported the VA Senate narrowly voted to cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood. I warned at the time this would not likely survive pro-abort Gov. Timothy Kaine's line-item veto.

Well, it didn't get that far. Since the amendment was not in the House approved budget, it was up for debate in the secret General Assembly conference that wrangled out differences between the 2 chambers' approved budgets.

The Richmond-Times Dispatch reported March 15 that PP funding ($200k) was restored in the final budget.

On the bright side, our side at least tried. Good for them. Their effort can be added to the nationwide pressure mounting against PP. Maybe next year.

A comment on RH Reality Check today from a mother who aborted her handicapped baby:

I... received the news that the fetus [I] was carrying was going to die - there was not one thing that could be done, he had no kidneys and a host of other problems. I was just a little more than halfway through my pregnancy when I received the news and after weeks of agonizing, chose to end my pregnancy through early elective induction. I held my son when he was born alive and kept him with my husband and I until he died peacefully in my arms.

There's that choice. And there's the choice to let God decide. MSNBC reported March 24 - in a well-done article, I might add - on the perinatal hospice movement, growing as doctors are able to diagnose more fetal handicaps earlier.

There are now 55 such programs nationwide, tracked here. One person involved in the movement estimated only 10-20% of mothers receiving a poor prenatal diagnosis carry their babies to term. That jumps to 40% if given hospice support.

Here's the bottom line, quoting MSNBC...

"It's the worst news that anyone could get - that your child is going to die," says [genetic counselor Cheri] Schoonveld. "These horrible feelings aren't going to go away with a termination. But the flip side is that they're not going to go away after a baby is born either.... "

Having talked to mothers who aborted their handicapped babies, I've heard plenty of regrets. But I've never heard of a mother regretting her decision to protect and love her fatally ill baby until s/he naturally died. Here is 1 family's story, from MSNBC:

[HT: readers Andy and Hannah]

The Detroit News reported today that the MI Dept. of Environmental Quality will not levy any fines against late-term abortionist Alberto Hodari for tossing aborted babies, biohazardous waste, used drugs, needles, and medical records into his dumpster. Pro-lifers found all of these over the course of 4 weekends at 3 of Hodari's 6 mills.

When authorities search Hodari's Lathrup Village mill trash, according to the DN, they found "waste that was improperly disposed and separated, placed in unlabeled containers and improperly mixed with other waste" but no babies.

According to the DN, the DEQ charged Hodari with 3 "waste-disposal violations" with instructions to retrain employees. That was it.

Meanwhile, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society reported in an email alert today that Monica Miller, the pro-lifer who stored Hodari's trash at her home until enough evidence was garnered to notify police, is being billed $1100 "for keeping evidence on my property from Hodari's dumpster - evidence that we collected so that the DEQ could do an investigation and file charges against Hodari!"...

CPLS stated in a press release:

The DEQ defends its inaction by claiming that Hodari's violation was a one-time, isolated instance. Miller explains: "This is not true. And the DEQ knows it's not true! We gave them evidence of violations that we discovered on February 24th and March 2nd. Furthermore we gave them evidence of violations at other Hodari abortion clinics - not just the one in Lathrup Village. There's no question that Hodari violated the law multiple times....

CPLS has released an extended video that includes footage of obscured patient records and additional babies taken Hodari's trash:

There is no justice when it comes to abortion. Authorities/judges are either pro-aborts are cowed by pro-aborts.

[Still shot of Hodari's trash was taken from above video]

I find the MTV-type youth reality shows heart-breaking and disgusting. I've just been told of a CBS show in that genre, Big Brother.

BB airs 3x a week during primetime. Its storyline: Group mostly young strangers together in a house, follow their every move, and over the course of 3 months whittle housemates down to 1 winner as they vote one another out. Sexual escapades abound, of course.

One of the current crop is 28-year-old Natalie.

We learned on a recent episode that Natalie lactates. Why? She said it started when she became pregnant at 19 and aborted 2 months later.

Her timing is way off, leading me to believe Natalie aborted much later or has a secret nursing child stashed somewhere.

But so Nat's story goes, after her abortion her breasts shrank to such an extent ("grapes") she decided to get breast implants at age 23. Only the night before her surgery, she found out she was pregnant again....

So she and the father of her 2nd baby (not the father of her 1st) devised a plan to fill a condom with his urine so she would pass the next morning's required pre-op pregnancy screen. Natalie got her 2nd abortion 2 weeks later. She claimed to have been on birth control and using a condom for both pregnancies.

The video's sound quality is poor, but it's the best I could find:

In another clip I won't post, Natalie demonstrated she wasn't lying about her ability to lactate.

In a previous BB, Amber, a former meth addict, revealed she had faked 2 of 4 abortions to keep her boyfriend.

I'm really not understanding a certain segment of today's youth. They're frightening and repulsive, totally desensitized to acts of horror.

[HT: John Jansen of Pro-Life Action League and Serogeta]

In her RH Reality Check column, "When Obama voted 'no,'" Dana Goldstein wrote yesterday:

... Yes, Obama voted "present" instead of "no" [as state senator] on 7 bills that would have limited women's reproductive rights....

But while the Democratic campaigns and women's organizations quibbled over which 100% pro-choice Senator, Obama or Hillary Clinton, would be... better... many choice advocates missed what was percolating under the radar... a conservative smear campaign against Obama's... support for reproductive freedom.

The anti-choice anti-Obama strategy is based on Obama's clear "no" votes on the "IL Born Alive Infant Protection Act".... Leading anti-choice blogger Jill Stanek, who testified in the IL state Senate on behalf of the bill, has played a key role in disseminating this anti-Obama argument in the right-wing blogosphere.

Finally, a little credit! Thank you, Dana.

But from that splendid launch, Dana's column fizzled, sad to say....

First Dana incorrectly pegged partial birth abortion (dilatation and extraction, D&X) as BAIPA's target, oddly describing the brain-suctioning-head-crushing part as "capsizing the skull."

I looked up "capsize" in both my trusty medical and Webster's dictionaries and could find no other definition than, "to cause to overturn." In my mind this procedural variation would make it difficult, as Dana rationalized, to "allow[] a woman or couple to grieve and bring closure to a pregnancy by holding the intact fetus."

Daena next devised a variation for dilation and evacuation (D&E) dismemberment abortions: "[t]he aspiration process is sometimes preceded by an injection into the abdomen that ensures fetal demise," wrote Dana.

"Aspiration" means to suction, and it would be impossible to suction 2nd trimester baby parts unless using an industrial vacuum cleaner hose, which I wouldn't put it past abortionists to attempt. Dana may know something.

And "[i]njection into the abdomen"? No, that's an injection of a drug into the baby's heart through the mother's abdomen causing instant cardiac arrest. And this injection isn't needed for D&E abortions, when the abortionist rips apart the baby's rib cage before removal, causing instant cardiac arrest sans drugs.

Dana remained linguistically creative to the end, closing with a word to the unwise about us:

[T]hey plan to peel moderate and Republican support away from Obama by painting him as a heartless politician who closed his ears to the cries of "abortion survivors." Let it serve as a reminder that supporters of reproductive rights have bigger fish to fry than one another.

Now I was busy yesterday but awakened this morning to find Dana's commenters had begun frying poor me! I find I'm illogical, biased, cruel, a troll, have a poor relationship with the truth and am a liar, and I write an insane blog.

And Dana started out so well. I'm crushed.

Well, maybe I'd better not use that word since Dana and her side appear averse to it.

I'm capsized. That's better.

[HT: friend Autumn; Dana's photo is courtesy of DanaGoldstein.com]

Yesterday was Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign Day of Action to promote the morning-after pill, according to a NARAL email alert.

The 2-pill MAP regimen contains 8-20x the potency of 1 birth control pill (see chart below). It has never undergone long-term studies. No one knows how these mega-doses of female steroids will impact women, particularly teens.

But up til now the other side has disputed our logical concern that some girls and women would use the MAP as a primary method of BC if made available over-the-counter. And why not? Much easier than the daily pill grind, and no doctor visits/prescriptions involved.

To this day, PLan B, the most known MAP manufacturer, says don't do it:

But look what yesterday's NARAL email alert said:

The industry has been whining loudly since last autumn about the government halt to subsidizing birth control pills on college campus "health centers."

Is not NARAL subliminally advocating the MAP as a primary method of BC? A girl having illicit sex a couple, few times a month or just during spring break may think that's a great idea.

Aside from that, NARAL's email alert was just silly....

Read it in its entirety below. Does NARAL think its audience is full of mathematically challenged idiots? It likely is.

NARAL 1st complained about the high cost of MAPS ("$40-70 in pharmacies nationwide") but then said the high cost of BCs, which sans the government subsidy is "$30 to $50 a month" according to US News and World Report, would drive women to purchase the MAP. I'm not an accounting major but still see NARAL's fear-mongering is laughable. Could it do no better?

Here is a BC for MAP substitution chart posted by the Feminist Women's Health Center, a group of northwest U.S. abortion mills, indicating the MAP regimen is a mega-dose 8-20x 1 BC:

NARAL email alert, March 25, 2008:

Here's a great billboard ad currently on display in Waco, TX, provided by pro-lifer John PIsciotta:

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is the best known organization raising money for the cure. But Komen gives money to Planned Parenthood, the U.S.'s largest abortion provider, and abortion causes breast cancer.

Komen, pro-aborts, and all liberal groups also vehemently deny the abortion-breast cancer connection.

For those 2 reasons, pro-lifers do not donate to Komen....

Let's skip an in-depth discussion of the physiological reason for the abc connection, which is that abortion abruptly stops estrogen messaging to maternal breast tissue, causing developing lactation cells to go haywire.

Yes, let's skip the overwhelming volume of worldwide studies proving the link.

Let's discuss common sense. If nothing else, abortion should be included in Komen's list of behavioral risk factors.

Komen acknowledges delayed child-bearing as a risk factor. Pregnancy provides a "protective benefit," according to Komen.

Komen also acknowledges not breast feeding as a risk factor. Breastfeeding "offer[s] protection against both estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative tumors," states Komen.

Does not abortion delay child-bearing? Does not abortion make breast-feeding impossible?

Therefore, should not abortion logically be considered a risk factor?

[HT: reader Leslie]

by Valerie Jane and Jill Stanek

Usually MSM is all over any story having to do with shady financial shenigans within a large corporation. Enron anyone?

But when it's Planned Parenthood, MSM's eyes avert.

In this case, national PP shut down its FL Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties affiliate about 2-1/2 weeks ago, according to the March 21 Sun Sentinel.

This meant closing 5 clinics in Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Oakland Park, Pembroke Pines, and Tamarac to make "necessary service upgrades," quoting a PP prepared statement provided to the SS.

But former board members and a worker who has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit told SS of deeper problems...

... of the pressured resignation of the affiliate's CEO, of "concerns about management and about the financial stability," of the affiliate's resistance to merge with the Orlando or West Palm Beach affiliate, of "allegations... that money may be unaccounted for," of "concerns over the proper documentation of medical procedures," and of "undisciplined spending and poor decision making."

PP's VP of operations and affiliate relations, Karen Ruffatto, responded in her statement that "[t]he federation has no knowledge of unaccounted money at the agency," the proposed merger was "not unusual," the examination of the affiliates finances was "routine[]," and any "problems were being addressed."

What "problems"? For how long? Former board members said they complained to national PP about smelly books for 18+ months with no response.

This affiliate has a $3.9 million annual budget, according to SS, including $441,000 in government funding.

This is apparently the end of the story as far as MSM is concerned, a big business financial problem being internally handled, something MSM would never walk away from if any other big business.

Also of note, PP only self-ceases operations when its own pocketbook is threatened, never for charges of racist fund-raising, bilking taxpayers, or creating false front companies and building mega-mills under false pretenses.

UPDATE, 3/24, 9:00a: Daughter Daena remains in town this morning for the remainder of our Easter weekend, and I'll be traveling this afternoon to speak tomorrow at the TN Right to Life's Pro-Life Women's Day on the Hill tomorrow.

So I'm moving the Long Weekend Question up for one more day, and this will be my only post today.

In consideration of Easter, this weekend's question:

by Gary Varvel, explaining the real meaning of the lately bandied word, hope.

Have a blessed Easter, all!

The new poll question is up:

Pre-Roe v. Wade, all U.S. laws considered mothers who aborted victims and their abortionists criminals. Post-Roe, all unchanged abortion laws will resume. Pro-aborts have lately been calling this unfair, saying pro-lifers should want aborting mothers prosecuted. Do you think mothers who abort should legally be considered victims or murderers?

[HT: reader Jess]

Following are the results of last week's poll....

Some wondered what the answer "before conception" meant. That referred to Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," indicating God preplanned the conception of each and every one of us. I'm curious what the 5.7% "other" readers were thinking.

This week moderator MK showed me something I didn't know, that the poll map could be zoomed out. Doing so on this week's poll showed readers from 5 continents responded, which is cool. Click to enlarge:

U.S. poll responders can find their own brightly colored flag. Click to enlarge:

Be sure to respond to this and last weeks' poll questions here, not on the Vizu site.

Yesterday Denver's Central Presbyterian Church hosted the state capital's annual "Pro-choice Lobby Day."

Pro-lifers from the Collaborator's Project, a group launched to stop Planned Parenthood from building a 50,000 sq. ft. mega-mill in the Mile High City, showed up to remind lobbyists exactly what they were supporting.

Reported organizer Will Duffy in an email alert, "The front parking meter opened up as soon as the protest started. Perfect place for the truth truck, courtesy of The Weitz Company, of course."

Weitz is PP's general contractor. Duffy et al have been picketing homes of senior management for months.

Duffy reported getting many signatures from passersby for CO's personhood ballot initiative, making double good use of valuable pro-life time.

Duffy concluded that lobby day participants got the distinct message, "No child killing with tranquility!" Great work.