A couple items in follow-up.

First, Mannix's mailer implicated OR Right to Life as having endorsed Erickson. I received an email of clarification from Lois Anderson, political director of the ORRTL PAC:

Hi Jill,

Just to make sure you know. We have solely endorsed Kevin Mannix for CD 5 in 2008. Erickson was endorsed in 2006 before she came forward with her story.

Second, Erickson is now saying he didn't do it. From the Oregonian, today...

He acknowledged dating a woman named Tawnya for "a couple of months" in 2000 and helping her with financial problems but said he was unaware she became pregnant or had the procedure.

"I never asked anybody in my life to have an abortion," Erickson said. "Did I pay for an abortion? Absolutely not."

Erickson... said... it was a casual relationship and that he could not remember her last name or where she lived.

One day she asked him for a ride to a doctor's appointment, he said. She also asked for financial help, and he gave her $300, he said, adding that their relationship soon ended.

The abortion charge surfaced in 2006.... Kristi Oetken, a friend of Tawnya, sent an e-mail to... media outlets claiming Erickson knew he had impregnated the woman and knowingly gave her money for an abortion. The allegations remain unsubstantiated....

On Monday, Mannix sent a letter disclosing the 2006 allegations to 60,000 Republican voters. He continued to press the allegations Thursday, this time with a letter sent to 36,000 Republican women who haven't voted.

The letter, from Gayle Atteberry, executive director of Oregon Right to Life, called on Erickson to withdraw from the race, accusing him of dishonesty both in seeking the organization's 2006 endorsement and in denying he had any role in Tawnya's alleged abortion....

"When we approached Mike about these allegations, he admitted giving her money and dropping her at a 'doctor's office.' He said he did not know she was getting an abortion," Atteberry wrote. "No matter where you stand on abortion, Mike's actions are troubling."

Oh, come on. He gave her $300 but didn't know why? He drove her to a doctor's office but didn't know what for?

And he doesn't even remember her name? Low blow, Mike. You just lost the women's vote.

[Photo credit: Mike Erickson for Congress]

I wrote in February that pro-aborts were raucously split in support of Clinton vs. Obama for president.

Ideologues like NOW (feminists 1st, abortion zealots 2nd) support Clinton. Hillary is a woman, and the presidency is their grail.

Pragmatics (abortion zeal and greed tied for 1st) support Obama. They expect him to do more to help the industry through government handouts, laws, and presidentially-overseen agencies.

So the NARAL board's May 14 announcement to endorse Obama is no surprise. The abortion industry funds NARAL. It's no dummy.

And the protest by feminist groups like EMILY's List is no surprise, nor defections of pocket NARAL affiliates, particularly NY, likely headed by rabid feminists.

Reported the New York Times, today...

The decision by a major abortion-rights group to endorse Senator Barack Obama has created an uproar among some of its affiliates and other abortion-rights advocates. Many said that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had as good a record on reproductive rights as Mr. Obama and that there was no need to take sides in the Democratic primary....

Clinton supporters in the blogosphere said they perceived it as a badly timed gratuitous slap at Mrs. Clinton as she grapples with the likely end of her quest for the presidency....

In making the Naral announcement, Nancy Keenan, the president, said Mr. Obama, who leads in the delegate count and could claim the nomination as early as Tuesday, was the more viable candidate. Ms. Keenan said it was important to make the announcement now because Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, who opposes abortion rights, was getting a "free ride."...

Elizabeth Shipp, political director of Naral... said there was a feeling that endorsing Mr. Obama at a high-profile juncture might help Naral shed its image as an organization for white women only....

Very interesting last line, a distancing from NOW.

NARAL has been trying to generate a swarm against McCain for some time in its email alerts, apparently to no avail. See a couple examples below. NARAL must finally have become exasperated that the clock is ticking and pro-aborts have yet to really begin hammering him.

This from the NYT's article is another indicator the abortion industry thinks Obama will be its sugar daddy:

... Obama... collected four more superdelegates on Thursday, including Representative Henry Waxman of California....

Waxman is the industry's go-to guy to push increased government funding of comprehensive sex ed and to terrorize pregnancy care centers.

[HT: LifeNews.com]

NARAL email alert March 31...

NARAL email alert April 18...

To columnist David Broder's request for an explanation of its purpose, the Obama campaign responded via email (emphasis mine):

These fliers are part of the Obama campaign's sincere effort to communicate the values of Senator Obama's own Christian faith and the hope that people of all faiths and moral backgrounds will come together to address the needs of the "least of these" in our nation and in our world....

"Sincere"? "Values"? "Christian faith"? Obama's increasing gall is increasingly galling me.

"Least of these"? I'd like Obama's definition. I have one. How about live aborted babies left to die in hospital soiled utility rooms? No, the campaign won't like that one. How about late-term babies getting stabbed in the back of the head and their brains sucked out? No, it won't like that one either. How about 11-year-old girls being raped by their step-fathers? Ixnay. Oh, I give up.

And the line used to be "Faith, hope, and charity," btw. Now Obama's even trying to rewrite the Bible. Hide the 10 Commandments, quick.

He claims to be "do[ing] the Lord's work"? The man has cajones, I'll give him that.

[HT: Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America]

Sunday afternoon I chose another cozy spot to work, lounging in bed while watching old movies. So I retrieved my computer, arranged my pillows just so, found just the right old movie (Mr. Holland's Opus), and settled in to catch up on emails and such.

But as soon as my computer warmed up, what to my surprise should emerge but ants! Lots of them! And one of them even "jumped up and bit me," as Forrest Gump would say (although not in the buttocks).

What a coincidence that the Associated Press posted a story yesterday about "crazy ants" taking over Houston, including computers. I'm in Chicago. Are they taking over America this quickly? From the story...

The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" - crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on....

Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean....

They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.

Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.

They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center ....

Barrack Obama called Rev. Jeremiah Wright his "crazy uncle." Well, we've apparently got our own crazy ants. Beware.

[HT: husband Rich; photo, courtesy of the AP, is of exterminator Tom Rasberry, letting the "crazy rasberry ants," crawl up his arm]

When last we left the Roderick "Why Can't We All Just Brawl" King vandalism story (catch up just a couple posts down), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point official Stephen Ward wrote in an email that while the Student Senate failed to defrock King, he had resigned.

But Students for Life of America reported in a press release late yesterday:

Contrary to Ward's e-mail, SFLA confirmed this afternoon by speaking with Erika Wardle, College of Natural Resources Caucus Chair and Student Senate member, that King is still a member of the Student Senate and was unanimously re-appointed to Student Senate for the 2008-2009 school year.

PFL further reported that the Student Senate found a provision in their constitution requiring the body to hold meetings before they can address the situation. Because the Student Senate has now adjourned for the school year, it will not take up the situation until its first meeting in the Fall 2008 semester.

The press release added that both the full Senate and the sabotaged Pointers for Life rejected the Senate Rules Committee's recommendation that King be forced to write a letter of apology and hold off on his reelection until the Fall. PFL nixed the idea because King stated during the meeting he wasn't sorry for vandalizing PFL's crosses.

But it hasn't driven by pro-lifers.

While our side has been arguing whether or not now is the time to nail this point down legally, the other side has been plodding full steam ahead to fill the void with their own definition of personhood. And it isn't pretty. Read all about the Personhood Theory on Wikipedia.

"Secular scholars" have been arguing with greater and greater success that personhood is defined by consciousness and self-awareness. This definition excludes a lot of people, like newborns, vegetative children and adults, and dementiaed elderly.

So it's time for ney sayers within the pro-life movement to just knock off complaints about various statewide attempts to define personhood as beginning at fertilization or risk the other side filling the gap.

Grand place to start: Colorado.

I couldn't be prouder of young Kristi Burton (below, left), who launched a ballot initiative in the Centennial State last year when only 19 years old to define personhood.

Yesterday Kristi and crew submitted 131,245 signatures (above, right) - 55,000 over the requirement - of CO voters wanting an amendment attached to the CO Constitution with these simple but brilliant 14 words:

The term person or persons shall include any human from the time of fertilization.

Now CO voters will decide in November whether they want to protect not just preborns but themselves. How foolish if they don't....

Colorado for Equal Rights needs donations now, $100,000 to be exact, in the early weeks of its campaign. Every donation will help. Early money is more important than late money, enabling the group to set up a structure and teams to get the education campaign rolling. Please donate generously here.

The CO personhood initiative will force the other side to address the question they thus far have avoided: Exactly what are the unborn?

[Photos courtesy of Leslie Hanks]

On May 9 ABC News unearthed disturbing footage from a 2000 Republican primary debate between John McCain, Alan Keyes, and George Bush showing McCain's surly pro-abortion side. View the video below:

McCain provoked President Bush on the exceptions they share: rape, incest. He tried to corner President Bush as a liar or hypocrite since he supported the pro-life plank of the Republican platform, which backed a human life amendment to
the Constitution.

Keyes, always clear, although these days so hostile he has alienated all but a core few, nailed them both on their duplicity, saying...

Continue reading my column today, "McCain and the pro-life plank," on WorldNetDaily.com.

From HattiesburgAmerican.com, May 11:

Judy and Yu Loong [Liew] were born in Malaysia, and moved to the U.S. in 1996 to study at Mississippi State University. Judy earned a degree in industrial engineering, and Yu Loong obtained a degree in electrical engineering. They married in December 2004 and moved to Laurel [MS].

Life was good, and then it got even better in the fall of 2007 when they learned that they were expecting their first child....

All was well until a routine ultrasound... during the 4th month of her pregnancy revealed a complication. The doctor explained that the ultrasound indicated the baby's bones were not developing properly....

The couple turned to their faith to comfort them in this difficult time. They prayed for their unborn child, and family and friends around the world joined them in prayer.

Prayer provided Judy with peace and hope.

Eight weeks later another ultrasound was performed... the news was not good. That test revealed fractures in the arms and legs of the baby.

Doctors feared that he was suffering from Osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare genetic disorder in which the bones are brittle and break easily. In some cases, it is fatal.

Another ultrasound performed on March 21 revealed multiple fractures so clearly that even Judy and Yu Loong could detect them with their untrained eyes. They were devastated as the doctors explained that their baby boy had the most severe type of Osteogenesis imperfecta.

They also were told the baby's lungs were not developing properly, and they were given little hope for his survival.

The couple continued to pray, as did their family and friends. Family members and friends sent gifts for the baby, but eventually Yu Loong tucked them into a closet because it was too painful for Judy to see them. The room in their home that they planned to decorate as a nursery was turned into a home office.

A few weeks later, the Liews invited their pastor, Father Tommy Conway, to their home. Father Tommy blessed their home with holy water and anointed Judy with holy oil. Judy and Yu Loong asked him to be present during the birth of their baby so that he could baptize the child immediately....

[T]he delivery... was scheduled for May 2 - one week before the original due date.

Judy's parents... traveled from Malaysia and her sister... from Australia.... They were in the waiting room of Forrest General Hospital that Friday just before noon when Father Tommy emerged from the delivery room in scrubs exclaiming "He's alive, and he's perfect!"

Asher Liew entered this world at 11:46 a.m. screaming at the top of his lungs. He weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and measured 19 inches in length.... [D]octors who worked on Asher's case are amazed that he is so healthy.

It truly is a miracle. Judy and Yu Loong believe that Asher is with them today because of the power of prayers. They wish to thank everyone who prayed for them.....

First-time grandmother, Alice, said the family never gave up hope throughout the entire ordeal....

[HT: moderator MK; photo courtesy of HattiesburgAmerican.com]

Between 300-350 cars participated in the funeral procession that wove through Knoxville. Must have been quite something. Watch a VolunteerTV.com news video by clicking on the graphic below:

According to knoxnews.com:

Organizers formulated the idea after hearing of a funeral and burial of 25 aborted babies found in dumpsters behind a clinic in Detroit.

... Hodari's babies.

Balance, we must have balance. So VolunteerTV.com dredged up a pro-abort to condemn the mourning:

"I think that it is a little dramatic, and implies that it was a kind of intended murder, which I don't believe choice is," said Ina Hughs, a pro-choice advocate who also said she understands why healing is needed, but called the procession a mockery. "I think it denigrated the spiritual and ritual side of a funeral."

Notice Hughs avoided the word abortion, which rendered her statement incoherent. And why is healing needed? Exactly WHY?

Since then a sidebar has developed involving fellow SGA senator Claire Smith, who wrote a juvenile and poorly crafted email blaming Pointers for Life, the group displaying the crosses, posted here first, for King's behavior. She was responding to a respectful complaint that the SGA had not reprimanded King.

Pro-lifer Milissa fowarded UWSP official Steven Ward a link to my posting of Smith's email. Smith first responded last night by shedding just a tad more light on King's SGA staus.

Later Ward forwarded Milissa an email he had just sent Smith. It is good to see at least 1 UWSP administrator appreciates the ramifications of King's actions as well as the significance of an immature little snit making matters worse. I also appreciate Ward's transparency. Here's his latest email...

The fact that UWSP is receiving "international attention" is also encouraging. Even the Huffington Post covered the King story with no defense of his actions.

[Photo courtesy of the Wausau Daily Herald]