Jivin J’s Life Links 10-14-10
by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat
- A jury in Australia found a couple not guilty after they were arrested for importing RU-486 drugs from Ukraine to abort a pregnancy:In summing up the 2-day trial, Judge Everson explained to the jury that Ms. Leach could be found guilty regardless of whether she had been pregnant or not when she attempted to procure her own miscarriage.
As a result, he said, the jury must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the drugs Ms. Leach took were noxious to her health, rather than to the health of her unborn child.
- A MT school board has voted to end Planned Parenthood’s 7-year run of providing presentations on birth control and STDs.
- Pro-lifers in Pittsburgh have won an injunction against a littering law which prevented them from placing pro-life voter guides on cars.
- Placental stem cells are being used to treat patients with Peripheral Artery Disease at Duke University:Cells are taken from the placentas of Israeli women who’ve given birth. Once injected, they secrete proteins, which boost additional cell growth. Then, it’s believed those cells may contribute to the growth of additional vessels around the plaque, circumventing the blockage.
Three days after injections, [the patient] was walking, and doctors say the oxygen level in his leg tissue jumped from 43 percent to 67 percent. This specific type of stem-cell therapy is currently involved in a phase-one clinical trial. P-A-D affects up to 20-percent of people over the age of 65.
Oct.14, 2010 1:30 pm |
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
“huh”- factor for the Australian ruling. The aim of RU 486 was to end her pregnancy thru abortion if it was not prescribed by a doctor for other purposes. If the drug was illegal for abortion in Australia – wouldn’t you be found guilty of having it when you have it and are not supposed to?
If the jury was supposed to rule if the drug was possibly injurious to the woman – what makes a jury of non-scientists and non-medical personnel qualified to decide if a drug was beyond a reasonable doubt possibly injurious beyond reading the warning labels on the original purpose of the drugs involved?
Goodness.
And YAY on the other items.
While RU486 is supposedly technically legal in Australia, various differences in state laws impact on the extent. In Queensland the government says that it is legal for doctors to prescribe but the medical profession appears to lack a little faith in this.
When the case first ‘broke’ doctors were sending patients interstate for chemical terminations as they felt they were at some legal risk.
From all reports the case ultimately hinged on whether the drug was noxious to the woman. It was medically proven that this was not the case. The jury was provided with scientific evidence.
The jury of 8 women and 4 men took less than one hour to return their verdict.
As an aside, apparently anti-choice groups in Australia were against the prosecution of this case. The only groups with a presence around the courthouse were pro-choice groups. A leading online political group has started a petition requesting that the Queensland government amend the law to clarify legal protection.
RU486 is more than “technically legal” in Australia- it is legally distributed by over 80 doctors (who have incidentally, reported over 110 serious adverse effects from its administration in the past 18 months alone.) In this case, the RU486 that Ms Leach ingested was not prescribed at all- it was illegally imported into Australia from overseas and taken without any medical supervision. This should alarm anyone, regardless of abortion views, as reckless and dangerous behaviour.
The issue with Qld specifically is that abortion is still illegal there in most circumstances- but the law is flouted every day, without consequence. The doctors who were sending women over state lines rather than administer RU486 are the same ones doing illegal surgical abortions every day, including abortions using the most barbaric partial-birth method (yes, we still have them here, as well as live-birth-and-then-drown-the-baby-in-a-bucket abortions. No BAIPA here either.) It wasn’t to protect themselves- it was to make a political statement.
The anti-“choice”-to-dismember-or-poison-your-own-child groups of Australia are very much aware that Ms Leach is being used like an Aussie Norma McCorvey. We are praying for her.
It is legal when there is ‘a threat to the woman’s mental or physical health’.
What exactly are you praying for for her? I’m just wondering.
In my state, there is no other requirement than the woman wants an abortion, and there is a doctor willing to give her one. In Queensland, the law is more restrictive, but as I said before, is routinely ignored. The “threat to physical or mental health” is stretched to mean whatever the abortionist needs it to. The only reason Teagan was prosecuted was because the drug was imported illegally and consumed without medical supervision.
We are praying for Teagan, that she will be protected from those in the pro-abortion lobby who seek to use her sad situation for their own gain, and from anyone who would threaten her safety because of the very public nature of her abortion. I am also praying that as a post-abortive mother who has been thrown into the spotlight, she will one day have the opportunity to come to terms with her loss, personally and privately.