What we want to do is talk to everybody involved who works in a clinic – the receptionist, the doctors, the consultants, the counsellors, and, if patients agree, we will talk to them.

~ BBC Radio 5 Live host Victoria Derbyshire explaining the purpose of the BBC’s planned broadcast of a two-hour show live from an abortion clinic, The Independent, April 23

Following were my top five favorite political cartoons for the week, starting with, no surprise, the Secret Service….

by Steve Kelley at GoComics.com…

 by Michael Ramirez at Townhall.com…

 by Ken Catalino at Townhall.com…

 by Joel Pett at GoComics.com…

 by Michael Ramirez at Townhall.com…

But now the LORD declares: “Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.”

~ I Samuel 2:30b, New International Version

UPDATE 5p: Baby boy has arrived! 3:55p. 9#1oz, 20-1/2″.

9:51a: I’m at the hospital with daughter Daena and son-in-law Andy, who are going to have a baby boy today!

I’ve been staying with them in Dallas the past 10 days and have heard many labor and delivery stories during that time. They seem to automatically eminate when people spot a pregnant mom.

Myself, I went into labor with Daena on Labor Day 1985, funny. That afternoon we were picnicking in a park with friends and by 7:30p I had a daughter. My labors were always quick: Michael eight hours, Tim four hours, Daena two hours.

How about sharing one/some of your favorite labor and delivery stories?

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

• University of Michigan Students for Life share their experiences with the setting up of a Cemetery of Innocents display. In their interactions with people, some hearts were changed, but others were just plain confusing:
  

  I talked with an old couple who, at first, I believed to agree with me. They said they were Catholic and pro-life. But then they went on to say that they were proud supporters of Planned Parenthood. Then they went on to say they were pro-abortion because they “value all human life.”…

  They denied the truth of the footage of Live Action, and refused to even accept the challenge I gave them of reading pro-life literature.

• Star Studded Super Step discusses the power in the post-abortive man’s testimony by noting Alabama legislator Ed Henry’s (pictured left) recent public disclosure of his past involvement with abortion:
  

  [A]dvocates of legal abortion are just fine with men speaking up about abortion – when they’re in favor of it. It’s only when they seek to voice their opposition to the practice that the “prochoice” lobby attempts to shut them down.

  As Pro-Life in TN points out, this attempt to silence the message of abortion regret was plainly seen at RH Reality Check, which immediately ran a post denigrating Henry – and in their haste, RHRC got everything wrong, from the photo to the state he represents. Fact-checking took a back seat to the pro-abortion agenda, as it took three days for RHRC to correct its errors.

• Timmerie Millington discusses the HHS Mandate and whether it will unite people of faith:
  

  President Obama and the pro-abortion movement know they cannot defeat a unified Catholic church. They are scared of the Catholic church. Well, guess what? Not only are Catholics saying no to this mandate that directly assaults religious liberties, but people of all faith walks are saying “enough is enough!…

  The late Dr. Bernard Nathanson, one of the founding members of pro-abortion organization NARAL who led in legalizing abortion in the U.S. and later turned pro-life said, “We would never have gotten away with what we did if you (the clergy) had been united, purposeful, and strong.”

• Students for Life is reporting vandalism today to the display of crosses on the campus of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green:
  

  Early this morning campus police at Western Kentucky University refused to stop vandals from draping condoms on the top of small crosses in the stadium – these crosses, 3,700 of them, symbolize how many unborn children die through abortion each day in the US and were installed by the Hilltoppers for Life group on campus. The vandals were art students who claimed the condoms were part of an art project.” The group had campus approval for this display. Campus police were called but refused to intervene and just stood and watched because the students claimed this was a part of an approved art project of which credit was given.

  SFL encourages readers to contact Dr. Dennis George to “demand the university apologize to WKU Hilltoppers for Life and to train the campus police that putting condoms on someone else’s crosses is not art or freedom of expression, it is desecration and vandalism.” If an art teacher did, indeed, approve this project, he or she should also be disciplined.

• John Smeaton reports that in the UK, women can now obtain morning after pills by courier after “fill[ing] out an online form to be assessed by a doctor, and the pills will be delivered within two hours.”
• Mommy Life lauds the Vatican for finally taking action against nuns who may embrace social justice but throw the sanctity of human life under the bus.
• Reflections of a Paralytic shares a beautiful Procter and Gamble commercial about Olympic moms, and says that not only are stay-at-home mothers denigrated by our society, sometimes working fathers are viewed in a poor light as well:
  

  Being a mother and a father is hard work, to be sure, but it’s more than just a “job”. It’s a vocation. It’s who they are. They don’t get paid for it and there’s certainly no “quitting time.”

  So, thanks to all you mothers and fathers for all you do and the sacrifices you make to shape our future, one immortal unrepeatable individual at a time!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NScs_qX2Okk[/youtube]

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• The Texas Tribune is reporting on another Planned Parenthood affiliate merge. North Texas, Austin and Waco Planned Parenthoods are merging to become Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas:
  

  Publicly, Planned Parenthood leaders say the merger, which has been under discussion since 2009, is about creating a leaner, more efficient organization, especially in the face of reductions in state and federal financing. Less brazenly, they suggest that joining forces is the best way to defend their branches from an onslaught of anti-abortion legislation — and to connect the fundraising powerhouses concentrated in North Texas with endangered clinics throughout the 58,000-square-mile region and beyond.

  “For us, it’s a strategic merger, an opportunity to pull together three very strong operations into one,” said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Waco-born daughter of the late Gov. Ann Richards. “It will help on the advocacy side and, more important, on the health care delivery side.”

• Also in Texas, a judge has heard arguments over legislation to remove Planned Parenthood from the state women’s health program:
  

  But lawyers for the state said Planned Parenthood’s mission was contrary to a Texas Women’s Health Program goal of reducing abortions. The program provides cancer screenings, birth control and other health services to more than 100,000 low-income women.

  U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel did not rule on Planned Parenthood’s request but said he planned to do so by April 30.

  “I find this to be a difficult case,” he said after lawyers for both sides made their arguments.

• Pennsylvania has revoked the registration of one of Steven Brigham’s abortion clinics which has been shuttered because its abortionist resigned:
  

  The letter acknowledges the clinic voluntarily closed, but the newspaper says regulators noted the clinic failed to notify the state that its doctor resigned creating an “infrastructure failure” that prompted the letter revoking the clinic’s registration.

[Image via news10.net]

by LauraLoo

Meet Boo the cat, who has a very annoying daily habit at 5 am.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTagDSnclk[/youtube]

Email LauraLoo with your Lunch Break suggestions.

[HT: ABC7 Chicago]

They claim they think it’s a mockery of the 40 days for Life campaign, but I don’t think there is any mockery in it. The prayers are quite sincere.

Apparently the religious right does not believe that anyone is allowed to pray except those who believe as they do. This is not a biblical idea; it is pure arrogance.

~ Rev. Rebecca Turner (pictured), a United Church of Christ minister and the head of Faith Aloud, a pro-choice religious organization, explaining why the pro-choice 40 Days of Prayer may irritate pro-lifers, as quoted by RH Reality Check, April 15