We're all used to pro-aborts avoiding the A-word by using the code word "choice."

But here's a new one.

EMILY's List, "a community of progressive Americans dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to every level of office," according to its website, has begun running an ad against pro-lifer Cory Gardner, who is running for Congress in CO-4 - and it totally avoids the topic of abortion altogether.

In fact, you would think the ad is pro-family if you weren't cynical enough to know its attack points are total spin...

This is the most disingenuous political ad possible. A group whose sole focus is clearing the way to abort children is feigning concern about education funding, children with autism, and deadbeat dads?

Why do you think EMILY's List is hiding its true agenda?

[HT: Leslie Hanks of The Passionate Pro-Lifer]

A chagrined but valiant Rachel Joy Larris (aka NewsCat_in_DC) attempted yesterday to defend her fetus cookies on the Abortion Gang blog in the post, "Fetus cookies, or absurdity as activism."

Larris claimed 1 goal accomplished was "driv[ing] the anti-choice side a bit crazy," namely moi. Well, no, we were simply disgusted, which Larris's fellow pro-aborts frankly explained to her deluded self:

It also may crossed a line of good taste, even for ardent pro-choice activists....

Afterwards some of my pro-choice friends who aren't activists, chided me for the prank. They said I was adding fuel to the antis' fire and making the pro-choice side look bad....

Earlier this week at Yahoo! Answers Diana asked, "How would I begin a local pro-choice 'campaign'?"

Diana lamented, "Unfortunately, the majority of people in [my] area tend to default to 'pro-life,' thanks to some loud anti-choicers."

That got me thinking. While one could find a local pro-life group in every nook and cranny of the country, one would have a difficult time locating an equivalent pro-abortion group.

Why is that?

NARAL Pro-Choice VA has removed a blog post identifying 1 state senator and 5 state representatives who it met with in April for a "legislative debriefing" (although the post is cached here, and I saved a screen shot just for fun). Here was an interesting quote (underline/italics theirs):

In the last part of the evening, we had an enlightening impromptu discussion about ceding battles of language to anti-choicers. Although we know that they are not "pro-life" (as one attendee said, we are pro-life, we are the ones who care about saving lives), we often use other anti-choice word choices without realizing it or considering the consequences....

Catherine Palmer at Ethika Politika made great points in a post yesterday:

So abortion is unpopular. Most people don't like it. Or wouldn't choose it themselves. Or think there are better alternatives. Or all of the above. But the problem is this: while abortion is unpopular, it is not unthinkable. While it is seen as a tragedy, it is not seen as a crime. While it is grappled with considerably, tossed back and forth between one's hands as he inspects it from multiple angles, he does not ultimately see it for what it is and hurl it across the room; he rather sets it down gently and walks away, deeming it tricky and intimidating and weighty and not wanting to examine it any longer....

I wrote June 4 about a battle that has emerged over the meaning of what it means to be a feminist.

This is due in large part to wife, mother of 5, and former AK Gov. Sarah Palin, who calls herself a feminist but rejects the modern liberal pro-abort understanding of the term for the originalist, suffragette, pro-life, "mama grizzly" definition.

The new issue of Newsweek features a cover story about "Saint Sarah" by religion editor Lisa Miller (who 3 weeks ago called the excommunication and reassignment of a Catholic nun for authorizing an abortion in a Catholic hospital "authoritarian meddling").

Clearly the sticking point is abortion. Wrote Miller...

UPDATE, 6/8, 7:05a: Rabbi Nessenoff has posted his much anticipated complete interview with Helen Thomas... "I'm of Arab background"...

UPDATE, 6/7, 12:05p: From the Associated Press, moments ago...

I read an interesting post by KushielsMoon, who comments here sometimes, on the Abortion Gang blog. Her June 2 piece was entitled, "The things I can't say":

As a vocal prochoicer, I am not able to always speak my mind.

Every single time I tweet, blog, email or post a comment somewhere, I have to carefully look over each and every word, to ensure that I haven't said something I "shouldn't."...

UPDATE, 4:35p: I've been giving this more thought, and if for whatever reason this abortion mill needs an infusion of cash, this means either it isn't making enough money to set aside an allotment for improvements, or it is mishandling its money.

And an additional question, what exactly would it mean to the abortion industry and ideologues were a state to become abortion mill-free? I actually don't think they would ever let that happen, even if they had to seriously underwrite it to keep the doors open....

Last week young pro-abort Red Doll Shoes asked this question on Yahoo! Answers:

Anti-choicers, since you agree that preserving human life is more important than letting women make their own desisions [sic] about what happens to their bodies, would it be okay to force you to give up one of your kidneys in order to preserve human lives?

Red Doll Shoes wasn't really looking for analytical debate. She later complained pro-lifers weren't providing simple "yes" or "no" answers.

Nevertheless, how would you respond to Red Doll's question?

On April 23 Ms. blog posted what it called the "10 worst abortion myths - and how to refute them."

That is a post in itself, and feel free to refute their refutations. I'm listing them on page 2. I notice they sometimes misstate our position. In other words, they invent their own myths and call them ours.

But my weekend challenge is to name one or more of the worst pro-abortion myths and refute them.

One of the other side's worst lies is highlighted in the National Right to Life ad on the right. (Click to enlarge.)

Following are what Ms. says are "some of the common myths about abortion"...

Young filmmakers Martha Shane and Lana Wilson are planning to make a documentary, "Trust women: The story of two American abortion doctors," if they raise enough seed money, which it appears they have.

The film's two subjects will be late-term abortionists LeRoy Carhart and Warren Hern....

The filmmakers describe Carhart and Hern as "inspiring," "courageous," and "sacrific[ial]," certainly topic matter for a separate post. (For instance, will what the abortionists actually do to merit all this praise be shown in the film? Doubtful.)

But this weekend's question goes a little different direction: If you could make a film about two pro-life heroes or heroines, who would they be?

(I asked the question; I can't be an answer... not that I think of myself as such... but just so you know this isn't a thinly veiled promotional attempt.)

This Mother's Day Planned Parenthood will send a card to the mom of your choice for a minimum donation of $25. Click to enlarge...

And the Center for Reproductive Rights has put together a very nice Mother's Day message on video...

Newsweek, April 29, featured a conversation about "the future of the abortion-rights movement," with a recurring lament about the shortage of vocal pro-abort men...

Susie linked to a Daily Mail article in her April 20 (Prolifer)ations post about a "38-year-old, post-abortive woman named Sarah, who, during her college years, aborted the only child she would ever conceive. Her college boyfriend, however, went on to marry and father 2 boys."

Apparently the article was completely fabricated....

UDPATE, 4/19, 6:30a: Still no recap of Saturday's protest from Sunsara. Me thinks it was a bust.

UPDATE, 4/18, 7:20a: At 12:45a this morning Sunsara blogged about a debate she participated in Friday night at the University of Chicago entitled, ""A Communist, a scientist, and a priest sat down to discuss... morality to change the world," Sunsara being the Communist. Her previous post was dated April 13. No mention of her planned pro-abort NYC subway protest yesterday. So I'm guessing no one showed up. Just made a request at RH Reality Check for an update.

4/17, 6:13a: The "Abortion changes you" ad campaign in the NYC subway system continues to make waves....

We know damage has been done, but we still do not yet comprehend the magnitude of the 11th hour betrayal of preborn babies by a group led by House Democrat pro-life caucus co-chair Bart Stupak.

The consequences have only just begun to unfold, as I described in a post yesterday. The extent of the harm will not be fully realized for years, if not decades.

There are many tentacles.

I'm not just talking about taxpayer funding of abortion in healthcare. As for me, my rising hope of building bilateral political support against abortion has been dashed. As long as the power brokers in the Democrat Party are pro-abortion, pro-aborts will get their way. Insurrections by pro-lifers will be squelched by "having both of their arms twisted," as Stupak prophetically described about himself.

But our weekend question goes the opposite direction. Genesis 50:20 states, "Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now."

What possible good can you see coming from this mess?

The Left is complaining about this March 23 cartoon by Protein Wisdom (click to enlarge)....

Thoughts?

UPDATE, 3/27, 1:17a: Available on the West Coast already, here is Kathleen Parker's response, to be published Sunday in the Washington Post, to Stupak's op ed (which had been written in response to Parker's 1st brilliant, must read column).

3/26, 10:26p: Read Congressman Bart Stupak's 3/27 op ed in the Washington Post on page 2.

What do you think? Do you accept Stupak's premise? If so, what would you have done if you were in his shoes?

A question posed on Affiliate Referral Sources, March 5...

Details...

Did you know? Creepy, filthy abortion clinics run by the scum of the earth are all our fault, and they're only spotlighting due to media bias. According to Kate Harding at Salon.com, February 24...

Pro-lifer Todd's personal mission is to rouse mega-churches in the Ventura, CA, area to become more proactive in opposing abortion.

To that end Todd has been picketing those churches, holding 2 signs, pictured right....

How refreshing!

The TX Republican primary ballot will include questions on 5 "red-meat issues," including this one:

Ballot Proposition #5: Sonograms

The TX Legislature should enact legislation requiring a sonogram to be performed and shown to each mother about to undergo a medically unnecessary, elective abortion.

What question would love to see on a primary ballot?

[HT: Monte at StandForLife.net]

This week's People magazine cover story features Michelle, Jim Bob, and Josie Duggar, and it asks the inevitable question asked every time the Duggars have another baby, "How many kids are too many?"

They say they're leaving the kid count up to God...

Having a mega-family turned the devoutly Christian couple into reality sensations: Their TLC show 19 Kids and Counting... is in its 3rd season.... But for every fan of the show - the TLC special covering Josie's birth garnered more than 3 million viewers - there have been detractors in online chat rooms, on parenting Web sites and within the medical community, who have been critical each time Michelle has announced a new pregnancy on average every 18 months....

Two questions:

Do you think CBS will cave to pro-abort pressure and reject Focus on the Family's ad featuring Tim and Pam Tebow or stand strong for another week and air it during the February 7 Super Bowl?

and

Which advocacy group is the ultimate winner of this controversy, pro-lifers or pro-aborts?

Here's backdrop if you need it, first a report by Fox's Shannon Bream and then a debate between Bill O'Reilly and Jehmu Greene of the Women's Media Center...

AZStarnet.com reports on a microcosm of a nationwide phenomenon:

As the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches, Tucson is seeing a increase in anti-abortion activism....

The election of President Obama, the push for health-care overhaul and Obama's push for the Freedom of Choice Act - which would eliminate all state restrictions on abortion access - have increased activism, said Kelly Copeland, a local activist.

"We're in danger of losing everything we've gained for 37 years," said Copeland, a Catholic who plans to open a crisis-pregnancy center on March 25.

The national shift has brought out more activists locally, he said. Beginning last spring, for example, biannual meetings of Tucson for Life, which typically included about 15 attendees, shifted to monthly meetings averaging about 80 activists....

So this past year's national pro-abortion political activism, often successful, has spurred tangible national, state, and local pro-life activism.

Which side is winning?

Yesterday the Daily Beast reported:

For weeks, pro-choicers have been despairing over the way abortion rights are being sold out in health care reform. But the speech Hillary Clinton gave on Friday at the State Department, to an audience full of international women's health advocates, was a reminder of the fact that if this administration hasn't done much for choice at home, it's done quite a bit for reproductive rights abroad....

Twitter has an interesting hashtag going, #10years ago.

What are your memories of the world around you as we entered Y2K?

What were you doing?

It was liberals, not conservatives, who became incensed when it was learned 2 weeks ago Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo had issued an order November 4 that "female soldiers [serving in Iraq] will be punished if they get pregnant and male soldiers will be punished if they are the father."

4 female pro-abort Democrat senators - Barbara Boxer (CA), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) - immediately demanded Cucolo retract his order....

Looking back over the last year, what do you think was the top pro-life/anti-life story?

So did you think pro-life Democrat Senator Ben Nelson would ultimately cave on abortion in healthcare as he did, or hold strong?

I actually thought he'd stick with the babies.

I received the following email this week:

How would you respond?

Liberty Counsel has published its "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign 'Naughty & Nice List'" of national merchants that do and don't acknowledge the premiere holiday this season, CHRISTmas.

CNS News reports stores are getting in the Christmas spirit again, after a low point 4 years ago...

Going off topic this weekend.

Just in time for the Christmas season, I received the following gifting rules for men and thought they were funny, because at least as it goes for my husband, they were for the most part true! Can you think of any other gift giving rules for men - or women?

Buying gifts for men is not nearly as complicated as it is for women. Follow these rules and you should have no problems....

In an article entitled, "Bishops raising holy hell on abortion," the New York Post reported today:

President Obama's effort to reform the health-care system could blow up in a holy war with the nation's Catholic bishops over the historically hot-button issue of abortion.

The Catholic Church claims the Senate bill introduced by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would permit insurance coverage for certain abortions.

By comparison, the church applauds a measure passed by the House... that calls for a blanket ban on abortion for health plans that receive federal subsidies.

Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops' conference Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said Reid's legislation was "actually the worst bill" on life issues....

The Washington Post, reporting today on the opening of the semiannual meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, quoted its leader, Cardinal Francis George, as stating, "To limit our teaching or governing to what the state is not interested in would be to betray both the Constitution of our country and, much more importantly, the Lord himself."

Re: abortion in the healthcare bills, when it actually comes down to it, who do you think will win, the Bishops or pro-abort Democrats?

UPDATE, 12:05p: FYI, partner Tim and I ("I" used very loosely... :) have just added a new feature, to receive an email alert if someone comments after you on a post. You'll see the check box after the comment box. Right now it's set on automatic. You have to uncheck not to receive the alert. Let me know if you'd prefer it the other way around.
_______________

Given the events that have transpired this past week, what are any and all of your predictions for passage of a socialized healthcare bill?

Will it retain the Stupak/Pitts Amendment? If so, if not, will it pass?

UPDATE, 11/1, 4:55p: Fallen GOP NY-23 candidate Dede Scozzafava endorsed Democrat Bill Owens today. According to The Hill...

Yukon asked on the US Message Board:

Many Conservatives, and even some Liberals, claim that same sex marriage and abortion are "sins" and the "Bible says it is wrong."

I ask any of you to please indicate the passage in the Bible where claims such as these are made? Show me one verse. Use whatever Bible you choose but where does it state this?

We don't have to delve into the homosexual issue unless you'd like, but what is your response to his question re: abortion?

On September 18 the inventor of ultrasound imaging, Dr. John J. Wild, died at the age of 95....

Moderator Carla posed a good question to pro-aborts in a comment this week:

HOW do they help a young woman who is pregnant, alone and broke but DOESN'T want an abortion?

Well?

[HT: moderator Bethany]

I received this email:

America is becoming very divided over abortion. Dialogue at message boards, etc., becomes very antagonistic and heated.

I have always been fiercely pro-life, and I don't hesitate in telling family members and friends who are pro-choice why their decision is WRONG....

This out from Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (click to enlarge)...

CBR entitled a press statement accompanying the release of the graphic above, "New Obama-Joker poster as outrageous as Obama-Care," writing...

PBS is asking this poll question:

Of course liberals initiated this spin to intimidate average Americans from displaying anger and rabble rousing in the healthcare debate. Liberal audacity knows no bounds, particularly on this topic. Loud, disruptive, vitriolic dissent has been a liberal staple since the Vietnam War protests. Speaking of the LSD era, here are a couple flashbacks.

Hillary, 2003...

Nancy, 2006...

So what is your response to PBS's question?

[HT for Pelosi video: Illinois Review]

It is critically important that pro-lifers bring pressure to bear against the socialized healthcare plan while our legislators are home on recess. We may not be able to attend townhall meetings, particularly as we see legislators now bailing or refusing to hold them.

But here is something each of us can do, from home, on the computer. And that is submit a letter to the editor of our local newspaper. This is the most widely read section of the paper. And it's free at our disposal.

StopTheAbortionMandate.com has even prepared 3 samples, which follow! Please choose one, or use one as a template to formulate your own thoughts, and submit it this weekend. Let us know in the comments section you have done your weekend homework! Also, if you create your own succinct letter others can use, post it as a comment, too....

At its Values Voter Summit, September 18-20, the Family Research Council is awarding its 1st ever Media Courage Award to Bill O'Reilly, explaining:

Bill O'Reilly has never shied away from denouncing late-term abortions and the handful of doctors who perform them. In the aftermath of George Tiller's murder, O'Reilly became an easy target for the liberal media who tried to pin some of the blame on Bill, saying he incited the violence by decrying these unnecessary procedures on his show.

Despite the unfair allegations, O'Reilly spoke the truth, bringing new light to a gruesome procedure. On behalf of our co-sponsors and millions of values voters, we want to express our gratitude to a culture warrior who uses his national platform to promote life - no matter what the personal or professional costs.

No surprise, liberals are not happy. Here was News Hounds' take...

Yesterday the National Right to Life Committee bestowed its first ever "Phony-Baloney Citation" to Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL), for claiming to seek "common ground" on abortion in a letter he co-signed this week to Nancy Pelosi proposing reproductive healthcare "reform."

But meanwhile Meek has racked up 30 anti-life votes in his mere 6 years as congressman, including opposition to parental notification, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, and fetal homicide penalties. As recently as last week Meek voted against amendments to the healthcare bill that would have prevented mandated abortion insurance coverage and public funded abortion.

This week's question: To which politician(s) would you give a Phony-Baloney Citation?

I am reading the book, Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. Among other torments in Hell, Alcorn described the possibility of "diminishing personhood." Abortion proponents, of course, view preborn children as void of personhood. Interesting....

The issue of contraception is coming more and more to the forefront in the abortion debate, most recently by Ruth Bader Ginsburg's speculation to the New York Times Magazine that widespread access of the morning-after pill would render abortion obsolete.

Do you agree or disagree that the contraceptive issue is tied to the abortion issue?

Why or why not?

Do you think pro-lifers should accentuate or ignore contraception in our discussion of the sanctity of life?

Happy Independence Day, a sacred American holiday only pro-lifers celebrate in its entirety according to the Declaration's 3 underpinnings, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Question 1: What are your weekend plans?

Question 2, submitted by friend Dr. Michael New: What should the official song of the pro-life movement be?

For example, Michael wrote his vote goes to, "Another somebody done somebody wrong song."

by John Cole of thetimes.tribune.com...

A double heart breaker for me was reading that a large contingent in the Iran uprising was women. Of course. They are unbearably oppressed.

And they were abandoned back to their hell on earth by so-called feminist Barack Obama, as they were by so-called feminist groups like the National Organization for Women, from which we have heard nary a peep re: the Iran situation....

Heather Corinna at RH Reality Check wrote on June 25:

The murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller on May 31st has resulted in a lot of conversation about abortion. It's a topic frequently hushed, or spoken about more around its politics than the actual procedure, the experience itself and the real women who have abortions. So this increased discussion is certainly something potentially positive happening because of something horribly tragic. More discussion around anything which is or may be treated as unspeakable is always a good thing.

Two questions:

Do you agree that the national conversation about abortion after the death of late-term abortionist Tiller has been "a good thing" for pro-aborts?

And Corinna apparently would rather talk about the "actual procedure, the experience itself and the real women who have abortions" than leave the topic "hushed." Do you agree conversations about those 3 aspects of abortion would be helpful to its acceptance?

In the wake of the George Tiller murder, liberals are unsurprisingly attempting to tag former President George Bush with culpability. According to Think Progress, June 12 (bold highlights theirs):

The day after Dr. George Tiller was murdered, TWI obtained data revealing that under the Bush administration, criminal enforcement of the federal law designed to protect abortion providers and clinics had declined by more than 75% over the last 8 years.

Strangely ignored is there were no murders of abortionists under President Bush's watch. The other side preferred a witch hunt. Somehow he's at fault, even though The Washington Independent admitted, "The clinic where Dr. Tiller worked, for example, was repeatedly vandalized, including just days before his murder," this under President Obama's watch.

But as Mark Crutcher pointed out...

The Washington Times reported June 6:

Liberals and conservatives are often disgusted with one another. No surprise there.

But conservatives are literally the more easily disgusted of the 2 when it comes to such squeamish things as maggots, questionable toilet seats and the prospect of eating monkey meat. Such sensitivity, it seems, plays a role in their ideology and moral values.

Two joint studies released Friday from psychologists at Cornell, Harvard and Yale universities determined that conservatives are more fastidious about the creepier, smellier side of life....

The chicken or egg theories why:

Moral values are driven by emotion.

Emotion is driven by moral values.

In other words, either people who are more squeamish lean toward conservatism, or conservatism leads to a greater awareness of the potentially unhealthy or unsafe.

Questions: Which do you think came first? What does this say about liberalism?

This week I reported that Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi no longer considers himself "pro-choice." He wrote that he started to rethink his position when comparing it to his opposition to the death penalty.

And the Pelican Project blogger wrote, "I for one used to be pro-choice, until the day came when I held my newborn niece. And now especially after having my own kids. After that, I could never imagine why anybody would consider killing such a beautiful and innocent being."

If you are a convert to the pro-life position, what prompted your change of heart?

And if you were once pro-life and are now "pro-choice," same question.

Recent polls have trended pro-life, some to historical highs (click all to enlarge)...

UPDATE, 5/10, 6:30a: While I disagree with Terry/Keyes' tactics, they have already borne short-term fruit, forcing Notre Dame to pay for extra police coverage during President Abortion's visit next weekend. From the Associated Press, last night:

The University of Notre Dame has agreed to pay some of the costs that local police will face for helping provide security during next weekend's visit by President Barack Obama.

Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown said the school will pay the South Bend and St. Joseph Co. departments for services beyond those required by the Secret Service.

Anti-abortion activists are planning protests when Obama visits next Sunday to speak at the commencement ceremony.

On Friday, former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes and 21 others were arrested when they marched on the university to protest the commencement speech.

About 75 protesters gathered Friday outside the school's front gate to pray and to listen to Keyes speak before about 30 of them walked onto campus.

Police say the 22 arrested were handcuffed and taken to the St. Joseph County Jail on trespassing charges.

This is so ironic: a Catholic university arresting peaceful pro-life protesters while paying for extra security to honor the most pro-abortion president in history.

Donations by pro-life ND alum comprise some part of this Obama-enabling.

[Photo attribution: WorldNetDaily]
_______________

This is the last time I'm going to mention Alan Keyes or Randall Terry as they relate to the Notre Dame scandal unless they do something really outrageous.

Both have done great good for the pro-life movement in the past. Keyes is an amazing orator for the sanctity of life. Terry was one of the founders of pro-life activism....

President Abortion's anti-life activism has caused an unexpected backlash.

The 1st sign was the public's reaction to Obama's overturn of the Mexico City policy so as to provide taxpayer $$ to international abortion groups. This got him a 65% disapproval rating according to Gallup.

Then Politico.com reported a spike in pro-life recruitment and mobilization.

This week a Pew Poll showed the biggest drop in abortion support in 15 years - mostly from abortion-leaning Independents.

Obama may be winning battles like the Sebelius confirmation, but at this point he's losing the public opinion war.

Translation: Obama is making abortion unpopular.

The public fights Obama is instigating about abortion through his staff-picks and policy decisions are having an impact....

The nomination of Kathleen Sebelius for HHS Secretary is growing more tenuous by the minute.

Thursday GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to allow Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid go the easy route, so Sebelius now has to get 60 votes instead of simple majority to win Senate approval, with a vote scheduled Tuesday, after 8 hours of debate to begin at 10a EST....

On April 16 the Thomas More Law Center filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for violating the civil liberties of pro-lifers among others by targeting them as potential domestic terrorists simply for their beliefs in an April 7 a report.

One of the 3 plaintiffs is Gregg Cunningham of the pro-life activist group Center for Bioethical Reform.

Another plaintiff, radio talk show host Michael Savage, announced on his April 16 show the lawsuit also demands the classified list of names on the watch list.

Will it be good or bad if the Department of Homeland Security has not identified you as a pro-life activist?

Incredibly, radical pro-abort KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Abortion's nominee for US Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary, skated through 2 Senate hearings - Health Committee and Finance Committee - with nary a question asked of her that included the word "abortion."

Numerous pro-lifers are members of those committees (click on committee links for names), including Sen. Bob Casey and Sen. Pat Roberts, although the latter's silence should come as no surprise since he has already endorsed her as a colleague from his home state.

Only Sen. Tom Coburn ventured close, asking Sebelius her position on health care providers' conscience protections and whether she agreed RU-486 should be reclassified as an emergency contraceptive. Sebelius snaked in both her responses.

Two questions: Why do you think senators ignored the abortion elephant in the room, and what questions do you think Sebelius should have been asked?

I received this message from E. D. on Facebook:

A story for you, because you inspired me to it.

I work in a call center for prescription meds. A woman called thinking we were her health care, and she asked if abortions are covered.

I didn't tell her we were not the right company, I just said, "I'll take your baby."

She said, "What?"

"I'll take your baby and adopt it for my own, please don't kill your daughter."

She got mad and said,"Lady, I don't need no preachin'. Just give me the information."

So I said, "Well, you'll have to call a different number," and then I gave her the number of the local Care Net crisis pregnancy center.

I figure if Rahab was honored for lying to save the Israelite spies in Jericho, then I can take liberties with the truth to save a life, too.

E. D. is right. Throughout the Bible people were blessed for lying if to save lies. There was the aforementioned Rahab; there were the Israelite midwives; there was Jonathan and Michal who lied to their father and king, Saul, to save David's life; and there were the wise men, who God Himself told to disobey King Herod and leave town without saying where baby Jesus was.

Do you agree or disagree with pro-life tactics such as E. D. described?

With news this week 2 more Planned Parenthoods have been added to the list of those covering up child rape comes this question from reader yor bro ken:

If a minor female is not mature enough to consent to sex with an adult male, how is she mature enough to consent to the elective surgery of abortion?

With additional news a lesbian who attempted forced insemination could be charged with attempted rape, yor bro ken asked a germane follow-up question:

Technically speaking, there are different classifications of rape. "Insertion" is not limited to a male body part but can be any object. So how is the adult abortionist's vaginal insertion of any instrument for abortion in the case of a minor girl, particularly without parental notification, not statutory rape or some other form of sexual assault?

"Pro-choice" 150 years ago...

What's the difference?

[HT: Facebook group Memeshock]

President Obama announced plans March 6 to begin taxpayer funding of human embryo experimentation, bad enough.

The question remains, however, whether Obama will also lift the ban against creating embryos specifically for research, rather than relying on "leftover" embryos in fertility clinics. Some researchers want unfettered access to human embryo creation and destruction. From the Washington Post today:

"We're all waiting to see what the details of the policy will be," said George Daley, a leading stem cell researcher at Children's Hospital Boston. "If the policy were limited to lines exclusively from frozen embryos left over at IVF clinics, that would be a very restricted course and exclude some very important lines."

Do you think Obama will lift that ban as well?

FYI, several member of Congress spoke during a Stem Cell Special Order March 5 against embryonic stem cell research and for adult stem cell research. Watch video here.

President Obama has just reversed policy in place since 1991 banning photographs of caskets of American soldiers killed in war.

My immediate response was anger. But is the rationale for this any different than that of pro-lifers wanting photos of aborted babies shown? Wrote the Seattle Times:

Anti-war activists have long lobbied to lift the ban, believing presidents have blocked photographs as a way of hiding the human costs of war from the American public. If only the public could actually see the images of the dead returning, the reasoning goes, perhaps they would internalize the tragic costs and turn on the wars in Iraq and elsewhere.

[Photo courtesy of Tami Silicio]

Last month NBC rejected the following ad by CatholicVote.org to run during the Super Bowl because of its "political advocacy":

Now CNN has also rejected the ad, which CatholicVote.org wanted to air on its station during President Obama's first State of the Union address later this month, stating...

Catholic writer Deal Hudson posted this intriguing quote on Facebook:

There are two things that have no limit, femininity and the power of taking advantage
of it.

Thoughts?

I previously reported on Internet RU-486 abortions being offered in countries where abortion is illegal.

Now, Susan Yanow and Kinga Jelinski at RH Reality Check are proposing US law be relaxed for RU-486 abortions.

Currently, mothers must be assessed and given the medication regimen (mifepristone, i.e., RU-486, to kill the baby and misoprostol, i.e., Cytotec, to expel the baby) at a dr's office or abortion clinic and must return for assessment to ensure the abortion was complete.

Yanow and Jelinski maintain...

Two questions:

What stands out in your mind as the biggest pro-life story of 2008?

Who would you nominate as Pro-Lifer of the Year for 2008? I'll run a poll after getting suggestions.

[Graphic courtesy of SimsGamer]

RH Reality Check's Amanda Marcotte has listed her top 10 stories on "sexual and reproductive issues" for 2008. She wrote in her introduction:

But one thing I'm happy to report is that in a field where it seems we're always fighting an uphill battle, 2008 was actually packed full of good news.

Interesting that we also feel we're fighting an uphill battle, although we actually are. Pro-deathers have been kings of the hill since 1973. That said, 2008 was indeed a raucus year on the life issue. In general, do you think the pro-life movement moved the abortion issue forward or lost ground in 2008?

About Pastor Rick Warren's agreement to give the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration I wrote the other day:

As a pro-lifer I'm glad Warren is giving the invocation. I don't care what ulterior motives Obama has for inviting Warren, such as trying to appear more of a center than left guy....

I've seen Warren take a stronger and stronger stand on abortion. Obama needs people like him in his ear. Warren says things nice, but he says them well and straight up. Read this from BeliefNet.org December 12....

And then I posted a recent example of Warren's public teaching on abortion, including what he has said to Obama himself.

The secular left has come out strongly against Obama's pick of Warren. But some in our camp have as well. Read this from a letter Human Life International's Fr. Thomas Euteneuer sent to Warren (click to enlarge)...

A reader today asked syndicated columnist Miss Manners if "sex, politics and religion [are] still off-limits in polite dinner conversation?"

Miss Manners responded one was not free to speak about such topics unless among "like-minded old friends." She added, "That is not a quaint prohibition. Such subjects as gay marriage, taxes and abortion have been known to explode otherwise pleasant dinner parties."

I have certainly sensed hesitancy at dinner parties to discuss my occupation, so to speak. Do you agree with Miss Manners that abortion is a taboo topic "in polite dinner conversation"?

A month has passed since the 2008 elections. Now that the dust has settled, how do you think the pro-life movement should change strategies or messaging, if you think so at all?

For instance, a pro-abortion opinion writer in the NM Daily Lobo wrote that "anti-abortion advocates need to broaden their perspectives" to care for global children.

(She also strangely wrote pro-lifers should encourage more "health dollars....go to international programs to alleviate suffering," including abortion, but I digress.)

The fact is pro-lifers and Christians sacrifice more time and money to try to alleviate the suffering of children around the world than anyone. Should one of our action items be to focus more energy on PR? Etc.

UPDATE, 12/1, 9:35a: Running weekend question through today. Daena still home.
_______________

Barbara Walters interviewed Barack and Michelle Obama for ABC's November 26 20/20.

During the interview Michelle said:

The truth is, you know, and Barack knows this about me, I, I love kids...

There's a disconnect here, not only on Michelle's part, who has called partial birth abortion a "legitimate medical procedure," but on the media's part.

Have you ever heard MSM call out a pro-abort who makes a statement like this: "How can you say you love kids but support abortion?" No.

Why is that?

LansingCityPulse.com reported that the homosexual anarchist group Bash Back (pictured above) disrupted the November 9 (Sunday after election) services at Mt. Hope Church in Eaton County, MI...

With the election of Barack Obama as president, how do you think the pro-life movement's strategy should shift, if you think it should shift at all? (Or perhaps you think the pro-life movement doesn't have a strategy?)

I'm a day early, but I'm not able to post today. My husband, brother, and I flew to Albuquerque yesterday afternoon to help my Dad move back home to IN. We're now driving a U-Haul truck and his car cross country. So this will be my only post today, and the moderators are in charge!

So on to the question....

This question was posed on Planned Parenthood's Teenwire website:

PP's research arm, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, published a study in November 2006 estimating, "Among women having abortions in the United States, about one-half have already had a prior abortion."

If one's first abortion is the fault of inadequate sex education or nonavailability of contraception, whose fault is a repeat abortion, after one has presumably been armed with sex ed instruction and contraceptive(s) of choice at the abortion mill after the first go-around?

(BTW, Teenwire's response to the question is a whole other weekend question.)

[HT: reader Brandon C.]

TheWeeklyOffender.com emailed me the graphic below with this note:

I have attached a piece of artwork I did, I hope you like it and can see it for its true representation of Barack Obama.

UPDATE, 3:30p: Sorry, too many people I respect thought this artwork was too graphic, so I've asked the artist to post it on his website so I can send you there to view if you'd like. Will let you know if/when he does.

UPDATE, 8:30p: Ok, go to TheWeeklyOffender.com to view the artwork and report back thoughts. As for me, while the piece was brutal and shocking, I thought the artist accurately portrayed the subject. The real shock is, then, that it is brutally accurate.

Pro-life/anti-life news didn't stop yesterday, even though I wasn't around to report it. Imagine that.

So I'm offering an extra weekend question to play a little catch-up.

Oklahoma legislators recently passed a comprehensive pro-life law ensuring mothers are not coerced to abort by forcing abortion mills to post signage; ensuring health care professionals are not coerced to abort or recommend to abort; forcing abortionists to follow FDA guidelines when administering RU-486; and forcing abortionists to provide ultrasounds before abortions....

Sorry I was out of pocket yesterday. Gianna Jessen and I taped a radio show with Dr. Dobson of Focus on the Family to tentatively air October 15.

This weekend's question has to do with Barack Obama and Jesus Christ.

Just released was this video of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan calling Barack Obama the Messiah...

A new website, ProlifeProObama.com, has just been unveiled by the pro-Obama Matthew 25 Network (click to enlarge)...

Think the site's theses have merit? Think the attempt to persuade pro-lifers to vote for Obama will work?

Aw, Paul Newman died yesterday at the age of 83.

Great quote: Asked by Playboy magazine whether he was ever tempted to step out on wife Joanne Woodward, Newman responded, according to the Associated Press, "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"

Off topic question this weekend: What was your favorite Paul Newman movie and/or scene?

[Photo of Woodward, Newman and pet, courtesy of Men & Dogs
A Personal History from Bogart to Bowie, was taken in 1958, right after they married.]

On September 17, ABC Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer picked up with Cindy McCain where Katie Couric left off last week.

Both were trying to get a clear answer from Cindy on her position on Roe v. Wade.

As the video shows, Cindy did not clarify her stance and went further to say abortion is not actually important in the 2008 election:

Diane Sawyer: But Mrs. McCain, do you oppose the repeal of Roe vs. Wade? Was that report correct?

Cindy McCain: ... This is not the major issue on people's minds right now.... A difference in how we stand on abortion or things like that are not what's foremost in the voters' minds right now - at all.

Do you agree or disagree with Cindy McCain?

I think I've been wrong about Rick Warren and may owe him an apology.

I accused Warren beforehand of soft-balling questions to presidential candidates at the Saddleback forum.

But he did not. His "at what point does a baby get human rights" query to Barack Obama was simple yet expertly phrased and elicited an answer that may have cost Obama the election.

I've also accused Warren of being one of those whom we've been told is a new breed of evangelical -- moving the abortion battle down their list of priorities in lieu of sexier wars to wage, like AIDs in Africa.

It appears I was duped by liberals and MSM. In this week's World magazine...

Back in the day pregnant mothers wore tents with neck bows after they began showing.

The following photos, courtesy of x17online, are of "mega-pregnant" actress Minnie Driver at a Malibu beach on August 24.

I'm all for modesty but have a hard time disapproving of today's moms showing off their baby bumps. Do you consider baring one's prenatal baby risque or a proud and natural advertisement for motherhood?

Last Saturday night Barack Obama told Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback Showdown it was "above his pay grade" to answer when "a baby get[s] human rights."

Both friend and foe thought Obama's response was lacking.

In an attempt to recover the fumble, Obama told ABC News on August 21:

I don't think this issue has to be resolved in terms of when life begins. That is a theological question or scientific question. I as a Christian have a belief that the potential for life is sacred at the moment of conception, but I also believe that it is not decisive in determining who makes the decision that difficult in questions like abortion.

Is it true the issue of abortion does not hinge on when life begins? Can one believe human beings are "sacred" at conception but expendable based on subjective opinion? What was Obama trying to say?

Yesterday Obama also announced he had picked DE Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, about whom AOL News wrote:

Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

In 2007, NARAL gave Biden a 75% rating and National Right to Life gave him a zero.

Do you think Biden will help or hurt the Democrat ticket?

[Photo courtesy of Reuters]

Barack Obama has painted himself into a corner by his vote against the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

He made this evident at Pastor Rick Warren's Aug. 17 Saddleback Showdown.

Warren asked both presidential candidates the same questions separately. Here was his best one: "At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?"

Very simple. But Obama wouldn't answer it. His now infamous response: "Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

The most adamant pro-abort will at least agree babies acquire human rights when they have completely delivered.

But Barack Obama couldn't bring himself to say, "At birth." He wouldn't confer human rights to newborns....

Continue reading, "Why Obama couldn't answer Warren's baby question," on WorldNetDaily.com.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will be asked a range of questions tonight by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in CA at what is being called the Saddleback Showdown.

What question would you ask either or both of the candidates?

P.S.: There has been a run of people, mostly Obamamaniacs, responding to this week's poll question - over 2,000 now - so I'm going to leave it up a couple more days. One can always hope they'll inadvertently learn a thing or 2 about their infanticidal rock star when visiting here.

UPDATED QUESTION, 5:40a: What did you think of the Saddleback Showdown?

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reportedly sold the first photos of their 3-week-old twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Léon for $14 million to People and Hello! magazines in a joint venture.

According to several news reports, the couple will donate their earnings to the nonprofit Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which has previously provided financial aid to Doctors Without Borders and Global Action for Children.

Do you think it is a good or bad idea to sell photos of one's children, even if the money goes to charity?

[HT: proofreader Laura Loo]

The current issue of Precious Times, a black Christian women's magazine, features a cover story about The View's Sherri Shepherd, with this quote:

Before I converted to Christianity, I was a Jehovah's Witness.

In 1993, my mother was dying from diabetic complications. My sister was heavy into drugs, and we would have to go and get her from crack houses. I was in a very physically abusive relationship. I was sleeping with a lot of guys and had more abortions than I would like to count. I had very low self-esteem and just wanted to die. I felt if someone killed me, it wouldn't even make a difference.

But God showed me that it would make a difference....

Men's apologist Mark Rudov wrote the following in an interesting July 19 Men News Daily column, "Obama's baby mamas," on the speech "misandrist" Barack Obama should have given on Mother's Day to balance his chastisement of absentee fathers on Father's Day:

Unmarried mothers must stop complaining that sperm owners aren't committed fathers. Here's a rule of thumb for every unmarried woman: if you have no wedding ring on your finger, assume the man with whom you're having sex will not hang around post-childbirth. Let that sink in the next time you roll the dice with an innocent child's future.

Women have 20 methods of birth control from which to choose, according to Planned Parenthood.

Women must stop passing the buck to men. Either men are equally responsible for pregnancy or they're not. If they are, give them an equal say in all decisions about abortion, adoption, and custody. Otherwise, all unwed mothers should be totally responsible - logistically and financially - for raising their children.

Agree or disagree?

CNN reported yesterday, "Teen pregnancies rose in the U.S. for the first time since 1991, the National Institutes of Health reported," adding a shocking statistic, "1/3 of girls in the U.S. got pregnant before age 20."

At the same time, CNN reported a "striking decrease" in the percentage of 8th graders smoking, down from 10% in 1996 to 3% in 2007.

While "[f]ederal health experts said they don't know why the teen pregnancy numbers went up," reported CNN, a CDC official knew why smoking abated:

He attributed the downward trend to efforts convincing kids and adults not to smoke, as well as policies that restrict smoking in public places and tax cigarettes.

Meanwhile, Rev. Sam Ruteikara, co-chair of Uganda's National AIDS-Prevention Committee wrote a remarkable op ed, "Let my people go, AIDS profiteers," June 30 in The Washington Post that is well worth reading in its entirety (posted below). An excerpt...

The Los Angeles Times reported July 3:

The 1st Amendment rights of two anti-abortion activists were violated when they were ordered to stop circling a Rancho Palos Verdes [CA] middle school in a truck displaying graphic photos of aborted fetuses, a federal appellate court ruled Wednesday....

[A] U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously ruled that school officials and sheriff's deputies violated the men's free speech rights by ordering them to leave the school's neighborhood....

Reported TriCityHerald.com yesterday:

Planned Parenthood of Central Washington's [State] Teen Council spread the word about National HIV Testing Day today to about 250 people in Richland's Howard Amon Park, though the peer education group had to switch locations.

The teens had originally planned to distribute information at Richland's Wal-Mart about free HIV testing that will be at the Kennewick Planned Parenthood clinic Tuesday.

But after threats of a protest by a grass-roots Catholic anti-abortion organization, the American Life League, Wal-Mart requested Thursday that the PP-affiliated council not distribute information at the store....

I am not Catholic, but since the Catholic Church has written the most extensively and perfectly on the pro-life issue, and since the Catholic Church wields a great deal of influence in this arena, I like to follow Catholic conversations.

On June 7, Doug Kmiec, chair and professor of constitutional law at Pepperdine University, and former dean and St. Thomas More professor at Catholic University of America, wrote a column on Catholic Online explaining his endorsement of Barack Obama for president....

Today is Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies. It marks the 43rd anniversary of the Supreme Court's Griswold vs. Connecticut decision that freed Planned Parenthood exec Estelle Griswold to peddle birth control pills legally she had been peddling illegally. And the rest is history. We can certainly look back over the past 4 decades and see the number of "unwanted" children conceived has dropped, right?

Since that time the contraception/abortion industry has engaged in a cover-up to keep women ignorant about the fact the bc pill may abort 5- to 9-day old preborn children by making the uterus impermeable to their attachment.

Several supposedly feminist writers have taken offense to my WND column this week publicizing The Pill Kills Day....

According to People magazine, May 30:

Angelina Jolie, who is expecting twins this summer, says being pregnant makes her feel womanly and sexy.

"It makes me feel that all the things about my body are suddenly there for a reason," she says in the July issue of Vanity Fair. "It makes you feel round and supple, and to have a little life inside you is amazing."

Plus, the actress says that her partner, Brad Pitt, "finds pregnancy very sexy. So that makes me feel very sexy."

The 32-year-old - already mom to Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3; and Shiloh, 2, - also says she is awed by what the human body can do.

When giving birth to daughter Shiloh, "I had a C-section and I found it fascinating. I didn't find it a sacrifice and I didn't find it a painful experience," she tells the magazine.

"I found it a fascinating miracle of what a body can do."

Do you agree pregnancy makes a woman "womanly and sexy"?

[HT: proofreader Laura Loo]

A Cambodian named Kaing Guek Eav is scheduled to go on trial soon in his native homeland.

As a Khmer Rouge leader of a Phnom Penh torture center 30 years ago, Eav has admitted responsibility for the deaths of 12,000 to 14,000 people who were forced from there to their final resting place in mass graves in the Cambodian killing fields

"Some 1.7 million Cambodians, 1/4 of the population, died during the 4 years of Khmer Rouge rule," reported World magazine.

The government recently took Eav back to the scene of his crimes, including "a tree against which his underlings smashed babies' heads," according to World.

"Eav broke down in sobs," continued World, "But he did more than that. He knelt on the ground and prayed, because during the 1990s the torturer had made a professiona of faith in Christ."

Until caught Eav worked for a Christian children's relief organization, World Vision.

Eav has expressed profound regret and was apparently attempting to repay his debt to society in his own small way.

What do you think should be Eav's punishment, if found guilty?

Here is an off-topic but related question this weekend.

This week Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama was touring a Detroit auto plant when a female reporter tried to ask him a question...

Obama later apologized to the reporter for calling her "sweetie." Do you think he was displaying sexism in an un guarded moment, or are we all just hypersensitive to any "-isms" in these politically correct days?

So what do you think?

In his public message to Gov. Sebelius, KS Archbishop Joseph Naumann wrote, in part...

Anti-torture activist Dr. Steven Miles was scheduled to speak before Masses tomorrow at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis until the Archdiocese there nixed him Wednesday because he is pro-abortion. In response Miles stated an interesting position, according to the Star Tribune:

Miles believes passionately that torture violates fundamental rights of life and dignity. And causes abortions.

"Torture causes women to abort at a horrendous rate," Miles says, "and people who have been tortured are much more likely to commit suicide. The point is that an anti-torture campaign is a pro-life campaign."

I find several holes and inconsistencies in that argument. Do you? Or perhaps you agree with Miles. If so, about what forms of torture do you think he is speaking?

David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life, reported this week that of 63 abortion mills pro-lifers conducted 40 days of continuous prayer this spring during Lent - many round-the-clock - 2 have stopped committing abortions and 1 has closed altogether.

Planned Parenthoods in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, have now stopped offering abortion, and Abortion Services, at 200 East Eckerson Road in New York City, closed altogether yesterday.

Several questions. Do you think 40 Days had anything to do with the abortion curtailment, or were these just coincidental incidents? Do you think sustained prayer vigils/pickets at abortion mills can ultimately shut them down by slowing business long enough? Do you think this form of protest is legitimate or harrassment? If you think the latter, do you also disagree with union strikes?

On Thursday we learned pro-abort US Senator Barbara Boxer blocked a Senate resolution welcoming Pope Benedict to America for its reference to "the value of each and every human life."

Boxer thought this referred to abortion.

After a 3-day impasse, the sponsor, Catholic US Senator Sam Brownback, relented and struck the disputed language, and the resolution passed unanimously. See the original here and amended version here.

The Crypt reported Brownback "did not want a high profile fight over the resolution."

Do you agree with Brownback's decision, or do you think he should have stood his ground?

About a nationwide poll it conducted April 7-9, the Associated Press reported:

Against McCain, Obama lost ground among women - from 57% in February to 47% in April. Obama dropped 12 points among women under 45, 14 points among suburban women and 15 points among married women.

Polls will come and go, but looking back over the past several weeks, why do you think Obama's support among women dropped so drastically?

An interesting aside: As bad as the poll was for Obama, it was still skewed in his favor: The AP interviewed 489 Democrat voters and only 369 Republicans.

This week Oprah and People magazine introduced the world to what most news organizations have mislabeled a pregnant "man."

In reality Thomas Beatie is a woman who had her breasts removed and injected herself with testosterone to take on male characteristics. She became pregnant by artificial insemination with the help of her female "wife."

On Friday, in a discussion of potential psychological ramifications for the baby, Good Morning America co-host Chris Cuomo said, "[B]iology aside, it is all about love of this child and as long as that's present, everything else is really going to be normal."

Do you agree that the traditional parental model - married man and woman - are inconsequential to a child's well-being as long as there is love?

HT GMA quote: NewsBusters]

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?

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:

UPDATE, March 20: Reader Jess is our 3,000th commenter on this post! Congrats, Jess! How about your own copy of the book, On Message? Either that, or I have some t-shirts in my pro-life stash. Email me.

UPDATE, March 19: Yes, comments to this February 23 weekend question are still going strong, and I've been asked to bump it up again before comments close, which they do when a post has been up 2 weeks.

2827! Reader Bobby Bambino was our 1,000th commenter and received a copy of On Message as his major award, and moderator Bethany was our 2,000th. (Do you have Lime 5 yet, Bethany? I'm trying to think of a prize you haven't won already... :)

Will there be a 3,000th commenter to this post that will not end? I think so!...

Mental health break question this weekend...

Last night O'Reilly showed his pick for the top 5 movie scenes in history:

Last month the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune reported:

An unmarried fifth-grade teacher at the Catholic school in Wabasha is out of a job because she got pregnant.

Emily Prigge, 23... told her principal about her pregnancy....
[T]he principal and a priest asked her to resign... and she did. Her pregnancy is about 15 weeks along....

When [Prigge] took the job, she signed a Catholic Christian Witness Statement, where she agreed to set a good example as a Christian in her personal and academic life. Prigge, who is Catholic, says she was told that she didn't live up to the statement because she had premarital sex.

Do you think the school should have fired Prigge?

[HT: reader Hieronymous]

UPDATE on February 23 Weekend Question: The number of comments on this post has shattered the previous record of 615. Currently at 1,624, chatter is still going strong. Who was the 1,000th commenter? Our beloved Bobby Bambino! Bobby, email me your address. You've won a copy of either On Message or Lime 5, take your pick.

Barack Obama talks much of hope.

What is the real meaning of hope?

First correct answer gets one of my dvds.

Granny Grump at the Real Choice blog has listed "The Top Ten Signs Your Boyfriend is an Abortionist." Witty:

10. You've seen him run medical instruments through the dishwasher.

9. The top three numbers on his speed-dial are a lawyer, a bookie, and a bail bondsman....

by Mary Kay Hastings and Bethany Kerr

It was just about a year ago this month that Bethany and I stumbled upon Jill Stanek's blog.

So much has happened since, with so many great posts.

Many of you are new and missed them, so we thought you might like to take a trip with us down memory lane.

Here are 6 of our favorite posts from the past year:

Just why did Rudy Giuliani lose in his bid to become the Republican presidential nominee? San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders suggested his equivocation on the abortion issue made him look weak:

I have to wonder if Giuliani's biggest mistake was not touting himself as the only supporter of abortion rights in the Republican primary....

Since the very day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned every state abortion law by its Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions on January 22, 1973, liberals and MSM accomplices have attempted to distort them by saying they only legalized abortion in the 1st three months of pregnancy.

Was there a time when you understood this falsehood to be true? (Perhaps you still believe it?) When did you learn the truth, that the U.S. has virtually no gestational restrictions on abortion?

See page 2 for Roe and Doe docket and page numbers.

On January 7 the Los Angeles Times attributed American Psychiatric Association president Nada Stotland as stating, "It may be... that women who have abortions are more emotionally unstable in the first place."

Do you agree?

CNN recently reported on a new industry: outsourcing pregnancies. It spotlighted an Indian clinic where closely monitored surrogate mothers grow the fertilized egg and sperm of parents from the U.S. and other countries for 9 months in a group home and present them with their newborn.

The positives are that this is a rather inexpensive way for infertile couples to obtain their own healthy biological children, and surrogates make more money for 9 months of labor (pardon the pun) than they would in 15 years.

The negatives are concerns of overall ethics about this way of producing children, whether this exploits poor women, the legalities of change of mind by any of the involved parties, that "wombs for rent" will next become a convenience for the rich who don't want the bother of pregnancy, and because this is an unregulated industry, its standards will fall.

What is your opinion?

[HT: reader Lyssie]

Abortion proponents often claim pro-lifers who support the death penalty are inconsistent (an admission that preborns are human, btw).

This January 4 opinion in the LA Times about GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was typical:

When analyzing Huckabee's platform more closely, however, a major contradiction arises. Huckabee claims to value the "sanctity of every and each human life." Yet, he also declares that capital punishment is needed within American society.

Accepting this premise for the sake of argument, does this mean that those who oppose the death penalty but support abortion are grossly inconsistent, considering the innocence and guilt of the parties involved?

Families Against Planned Parenthood in Denver plans to picket the home of a company executive helping construct PP's new abortion mill on Christmas morning.

I think this is a proper and commendable idea.

Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

In the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds, Michelle Pfeiffer played a teacher in a rough school who fought an administrator for moving one of Pfeiffer's pregnant students to another school because she was "contagious."

Do you agree unmarried pregnant teens should be withdrawn from their home high school for fear of copycatting?

From SignOnSanDiego.com, December 6:

James Bopp Jr., general counsel for the NRLC [National Right to Life Committee], said efforts to get state laws banning abortion outright "divert our attention and resources into feudal strategies" that would languish in the courts for years.

"We don't think it is yet time to pursue efforts to prohibit abortion," said Bopp. "If a law prohibits abortion in any way, it's contrary to Roe v. Wade (and would be illegal) and if it doesn't prohibit abortion, then what's the point?"...

"Human life amendments have been bouncing around in one way or another since Roe v. Wade," said Susan Hill, president of the Raleigh, N.C.-based National Women's Health Organization, which is the sole abortion provider in Mississippi. If passed, a human life amendment would "be ruled unconstitutional at this point because it has already been tested."

We have here a pro-life organization agreeing with a pro-abortion organization that a certain pro-life strategy is futile. Do you think that 1) both sides of the abortion issue can agree on strategy, or anything; and 2) both sides in this case could be right?

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire office was seiged and hostages taken by a man, Leeland Eisenberg, who turned out to have a history of mental illness and "severe alcohol and drug abuse," according to his former wife, as quoted by the New York Daily News.

Eisenberg said he wanted to speak to Clinton, according to Newsday, "about the shortage of mental health services in his state."

NYDN reported, "During the siege, [police] said he asked for cigarettes, alcohol and Pepsi."

Today in the papers I cannot find one article insinuating that all mentally ill people, alcoholics, smokers, or Pepsi drinkers are potentially violent.

Yet if this same man in the same condition had professed to be pro-life and wanted to speak with Hillary about her pro-abortion views, MSM, liberals, and the abortion industry would be all over that angle.

The pro-life movment is the most peaceful social justice movement in history.

People calling themselves pro-life have murdered seven abortion industry workers in the past 35 years, all between 1994-98, but as AbortionViolence.com reminds us, "[A]ccording to the U.S. government, more janitors, bartenders, secretaries, hairdressers and cosmetologists have been killed on the job than abortionists."

Meanwhile, Human Life International has documented more than 7000 acts of violence and illegal activities by pro-abortionists, aside from the 50,000,000 babies they have killed.

There could be several reasons why the abortion industry, MSM, and liberals promote pro-lifers as violent. Why do you think they do?

How can someone who is pro-abortion argue against abortions of female fetuses based solely on their gender? Some countries such as China or India have made such abortions illegal. Would you support such a prohibition in the United States?

Let's take a topic break.

On average, how many hours of sleep do you get a night?

At least two questions arise from Planned Parenthood's contention that abortion accounts for only 3% of the women's "health care services" it offers. I'm sure you can think of others.

German philosopher Oswald Spengler, a contemporary critic of Hitler and the Nazis, said, "Every act alters the soul of the doer."

How do you think abortion alters the soul of the doer, if at all?

Moderator Tim Russert posed the following to Sen. Hillary Clinton during the September 26 Democrat presidential debate:

RUSSERT: I want to move to another subject, and this involves a comment that a guest on "Meet the Press" made, and I want to read it, as follows: "Imagine the following scenario. We get lucky. We get the number three guy in Al Qaida. We know there's a big bomb going off in America in three days and we know this guy knows where it is. Don't we have the right and responsibility to beat it out of him? You could set up a law where the president could make a finding or could guarantee a pardon. Should there be a presidential exception to allow torture in that kind of situation?"

In actuality, this was a pro-life question, and a particularly deep one if the extent of torture allowed in this scenario could lead to death. So I'll likewise pose it to you.

(FYI, Clinton's response was, "As a matter of policy it cannot be American policy period...." Then, in a classic journalist "gotcha" moment, Russert responded: "The guest who laid out this scenario for me with that proposed solution was William Jefferson Clinton last year. So he disagrees with you." See video of entire exchange here.)

Veronica at the Planned Parenthood Aurora blog blames pro-lifers for the lack of participation by pro-aborts in the civil discourse, or perhaps it's noncivil discourse, because she says we scare them away:

I have heard from friends, read your comments & blogs. Why weren't there more pro-choice voices at recent City Council meetings? Why did supporters leave meetings early? It is my belief that the history of clinic violence keeps some silent. The fact that the anti-choice leaders picket clinic workers homes keeps us silent.

Do you agree with Veronica it is our fault pro-aborts are less likely to actively engage in the abortion debate?

Three questions to choose from on Planned Parenthood Aurora:

If PP is found guilty of defrauding the City of Aurora, what do you think should be the consequences, if any?

What do you think will be the actual outcome of this real life drama?

Who should play CEO Steve Trombley in the t.v. movie?

The largest abortion provider in the U.S., Planned Parenthood Federation, recently embarked on a national abortion building campaign.

If you are an abortion proponent who (inexplicably) believes, as the Clintons do, abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare," do you support or oppose PP's expansion program, which will obviously result in more abortions. (As it is said, "If you build it, they will come.")

Why or why not?

Yesterday Amanda Marcotte lamented having to sit through a karaoke version of Brick by Ben Folds Five.

When her mom saw the face she made as the singer started and asked Marcotte why she didn't like it, she responded, "Because the point of the song is that his girlfriend sucks for getting an abortion because it was such a downer for him. Boo-f***ing-hoo. How dare you get pregnant on accident with my sperm."

She blogged, "In fact, the song may even be more self-centered and horrible than I put it to my mother. It's indescribably mean, with the lyrics about how his girlfriend turned into this albatross around his neck with this abortion, or actually a brick."

Was the song "indescribably mean"? Was its point as Marcotte described? Read lyrics here. Read backdrop on Wikipedia.

[HT: moderator Lauren]

This question is for abortion proponents:

Would you mind if an abortion clinic located in your neighborhood?

Pro-abort trailer park feminist thought my WorldNetDaily column this week, "Liberal misogynitis," was "silly."

One of several points I made to demonstrate that in reality, pro-aborts, not pro-lifers, are the misogynists, was their promotion of abortion - of which way more than half aborted are female - had caused such a gender imbalance in Asian and Third World countries that a sex slave trade crisis has emerged.

To that trailer park feminist responded:

In other words, women who abort their female fetuses rather than bringing them in to an extremely hostile, sexist world are responsible for their own sexist oppression! How convenient!

What do you think tpf meant by that statement?

A new study suggests political persuasions may be partially genetic in origin.

If this proves true, would you support or oppose aborting babies with a liberal genetic marker?

[HT: Mark Crutcher]

At last week's YearlyKos Convention, Hillary Clinton stated, "I believe marriage should be left to the states."

Hillary and liberals say they want each state to decide whether marriage should be between one man and one woman, not the federal government.

Yet Hillary and liberals don't want the legality of abortion decided by the states, which is all the overturn of Roe v. Wade would do.

Why not? What's the difference?

USA Today reported August 2, "doctors are becoming more assertive in refusing to treat patients for religious reasons," expanding on refusing to commit abortion to refusing artificial insemination, refusing to prescribe the morning-after pill, refusing to administer chicken pox and measles vaccines that were developed with aborted fetal tissue, and refusing assisted suicide.

The State-Journal Register reported August 3 that a federal judge has ruled IL pharmacists can refuse to dispense the morning-after pill.

One of the problems, according to John Lynch, Washington Hospital Center medical director, as quoted by CNN, is, "Our technology is ahead of our morals. From an ethical point of view, we haven't learned when to use our technology."

In light of exploding technology and evolving morals, and bearing in mind there is a growing shortage of medical professionals in all fields, how do you think the question of health care ethics should be handled?

Pearl S. Buck said, "It is natural anywhere that people like their own kind, but it is not necessarily natural that their fondness for their own kind should lead them to the subjection of whole groups of other people not like them."

Do you think this statement applies to abortion?

Sorry, I've been out-of-pocket in DC again this week. I'll be home Monday. Thanks very much to moderators Bethany and MK for holding the fort in my absence.

Thursday night, MN Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was able to add an amendment to a bill that prevents any government from carrying out a death sentence on a woman while she is pregnant. Aside from arguments for and against the death penalty, why would pregnancy matter?

[Hat tip: Family Research Council]

Jennifer Roback Morse wrote on Townhall.com this week:

[U]sing Planned Parenthood's own data... two studies [here and here]...

A poor cohabiting teenager using the Pill has a failure rate of 48.4%. You read that correctly: nearly half of poor cohabiting teenagers get pregnant during their first year using the Pill. If she kicked her boyfriend out of the house, or if she married him, her probability of pregnancy drops to 12.9%. At the other extreme, a middle-aged, middle-class married woman has a 3% chance of getting pregnant after a year on the Pill.

Over 70% of poor, cohabiting teenagers using condoms, will be pregnant within a year. By contrast, the middle-aged, middle-class married woman has a 6% chance of pregnancy after a year of condom use.

These figures cast new light on the debate over contraception education. The commonly quoted failure rates of 8% for the Pill and 15% for the condom are inflated by the highly successful use by middle-aged, middle-class married couples. Yet, the government promotes contraception most heavily among the young, the poor and the single

Bearing in mind comprehensive sex ed has been trialed in the U.S. for over 40 years, and contraceptives are now easily (and literally freely) available, what do you think should be done to lower the pregnancy rate of America's socioeconomically poor?

We decided to stay in DC a couple more days, so I'm posting the Weekend question early, since I now won't be back in the saddle until Monday.

According to ABC on July 3, "[t]he bill to make it a felony to kill a police dog sailed through the [North Carolina] legislature, and the bill to make it double murder to kill a pregnant mother is bottled up in a committee... [due to the] volatile debate over abortion."

Explained Democrat State Sen. A. B. Swindell, "All animals are parts of folk's family."

Swindell opposed the comparisons being made. "The police dog thing - I see that as something different as getting to debate on [the abortion] issue."

Intentional or not, Swindell made two assessments. First, he implied animals are family and preborn children are not. Second, he tied a Laci/Connor Peterson-type murder to abortion.

Do you agree or disagree on either/both points?

[Hat tip: Reader jasper]

What do you think the Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson and signed by 56 American leaders on July 4, 1776, means by the term, "created equal"?

In context, this rich statement reads:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Both of these columns are posted in full on page 2, in case you cannot access them.

New York Times op ed, "Why pro-choice Is a bad choice for Democrats," June 22

Wall Street Journal op ed, "Unintended consequences: It's not enough to be 'wanted'," June 19

Also, some readers of this blog may know Dan McConchie of Americans United for Life. He was involved in a serious motorcycle accident Friday that resulted in a lower spinal cord injury. No further details known yet. Please pray for Dan.

[Hat tips: NYT piece, reader Jeff; WSJ piece, Dr. Frank]

My new poll question this week, on the right, asks your understanding of the legal impact of Roe v. Wade's overturn. My weekend question tackles the sociological impact:

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, what do you think the societal impact will be on America?

In time for Father's Day, Life & Style magazine has named Hollywood's top 10 dads. They are:

10. Gavin Rossdale (married to Gwen Stefani)
9. Tom Cruise
8. David Arquette (married to Courteney Cox)
7. Patrick Dempsey
6. Larry Birkhead
5. Will Smith
4. Ben Affleck
3. Johnny Depp
2. Tobey Maguire
1.

Weekend question combo: It's pretty much a no brainer, but who do you think was L&S's pick for #1 Hollywood dad? Who would be your pick for #1 dad and why?

Update, 6-20-07: Answer to #1: Brad Pitt

This week Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "Science is a gift of God to all of us and science has taken us to a place that is biblical in its power to cure. And that is the embryonic stem cell research."

Do you agree or disagree that embryonic stem cell research is a gift of God?

Why or why don't you agree wth this statement:

"As a taxpayer, I'd rather pay $300 for a welfare mom's abortion than pay thousands of dollars to raise her kid for 18 years."

Are you pro-choice and anti-death penalty?

Or are you pro-life and pro-death penalty?

There are two other combinations possible. You get the idea. Please validate your position.

Is there anything wrong with this picture?

[Hat tip: Daena; apparel is being sold for Planned Parenthood fundraiser.]

At what age, if any, do you think abortion clinics should breach a minor girl's "right to privacy" and alert authorities that her pregnancy, request for contraception, or STD testing is evidence a sexual crime may have been committed against her?