MS NOW prez: Pro-lifers the real problem at clinic skirting the law
Mississippi’s only abortion clinic continued seeing patients Tuesday, the day after a federal judge temporarily stopped the state from closing it.
Several people wearing florescent yellow vests labeled “Clinic Escort” helped women find parking places and walked with them into the cherry pink building in a Jackson retail district. Outside an iron fence that separates Jackson Women’s Health Organization from the street, abortion opponents stood on a sidewalk and implored women not to end their pregnancies.
“Mom, come talk to us. Your baby is a precious gift from God,” Leslie Hanks of Denver, who has been vice president of Colorado Right to Life, said to one woman. “Please don’t go in and see people who kill babies, ma’am.”
The woman kept walking without glancing at Hanks.
One of the clinic escorts, Laurie Bertram Roberts [pictured above], of Jackson, wore a T-shirt with the slogan, “I (Heart) My Abortion Provider.”
“No matter what side of the abortion issue you stand on, it should be important that women are not harassed, that they are not terrorized, that they are not stopped when they are trying to access safe and legal care in America, and that’s what happens to women trying to come in and out of clinics,” said Roberts, Mississippi president of the National Organization for Women.
“And so we’re here to try to put our bodies between protesters and patients as they come in and out of the clinic.”
~ Hattiesburg American, reporting on a judge’s injunction against closing the Jackson Women’s Health Organization (pictured at top) during its lawsuit against a state requirement for abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital (which the clinic “has been unable to get”), April 16
[Photo via 123people.com]
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.
I’m glad that the newspaper report quotes the kind words of the pro-lifers as we offer our last chance to help the desperate women.
I’m glad that there are so few deathscorters, in comparison to the pro-lifers who offer real help. I’ve never encountered a volunteer deathscort.
Yep thanks to Jill I had those pics of the aborted babies…Gosnells wonderful work. My girlfriend is pregnant and she did have the RU 486 abortion. At first one said “I don’t want to look.” But I reminded them that people will not reject abortion until they see abortion. They agreed and all 3 were all automatically sick. OMG that’s an abortion? Those babies are fully formed. My pregnant friend said “I will never have another abortion.” The 2 guys were mortified. I explained …Yep rise up against this satanic evil. I thought Rodney would vomit . Rodney said “I have always been against it but I didn’t know that was what it looked like.” Education is the best tool!!
My what an ugly building. I thought there were zoning laws to prevent such an ugly monstrosity. But that’s besides the point. I have heard it from the clinic escorts before that they’re protecting the women from us. I’ve often shot back “You go ahead and protect that woman from us but we’re protecting her baby from you.”
They’re predators, those escorts. That’s all they are. They remind me of Cerebus.
Truly, it’s heartbreaking that with pro-choicers it’s always about access. Just once I’d like to see one quoted saying “No matter what side of the abortion issue you stand on, it should be important that women are” treated at clinics that meet health and safety regulations, are properly inspected, and employ qualified personnel. Instead we see them fighting safety regulations and fighting to allow less qualified personnel (non-doctors) to do abortions. Access over safety. Access over competent medical care. It’s sickening.
“No matter what side of the abortion issue you stand on,”
Is it just me, or are lines like this almost always followed by something incredibly dependent on one’s views on abortion?
” Is it just me, or are lines like this almost always followed by something incredibly dependent on one’s views on abortion? ”
Lol. We should start saying “no matter what your views on abortion, it should be illegal and women should be given assistance to help them carry to term.
Jack! I’m clapping for that last sentence! But Jill’s site will only let me hit like once ;>)
Making abortion illegal will not stop it; it just means women will start dying again. People like Gosnell were commonplace before Roe v Wade and will become commonplace again. I hope there’s a special place in Hell for women who sell out their gender to assure themselves of a place in Heaven–as if Christ ever said anything about abortion…
Carole Miles,
You honestly believe pro-lifer women “sell out their gender”? Wow. That’s one of the more horrible things I’ve heard a pro-choicer/pro-abort say. Also, it IS in the Bible “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. Jesus said “Love thy neighbor” To me, a baby in the womb is as much my neighbor as anyone else…and ending their existence through abortion is not my idea of loving them.
P.S. “The Trinity” teaching isn’t necessarily in black-and-white the Bible or spoken by Jesus, either, yet many Christians believe it. “I m in the Father, and the Father is in Me” doesn’t cover Trinity (3 in 1).
as if Christ ever said anything about abortion
If Christ is God incarnate as He claimed to be, then He had plenty to say about the killing of innocents, about how He forms children in the womb, about child sacrifice, about murder, and about loving one’s neighbor. Perhaps you should get to know something about Scripture and Christ before you claim things about Him you don’t seem to understand.
Furthermore, one doesn’t need to be a Christian to know that killing humans is wrong, and human fetuses are totally, 100% human. There is nothing else they could possibly, scientifically be. Therefore, the only ones selling out are those who, for the purpose of self-gratification or perceived self-preservation seek to dehumanize living human beings before birth.
Making abortion illegal will not stop it; it just means women will start dying again.
And they’re not now? Along with women like Tonya Reaves, consider the 3,500+ children who were killed in utero JUST TODAY were also half of them females. The possibly 200 women who died in illegal abortions the ENTIRE YEAR before Roe in no way comes close to comparing to the thousands of lives taken DAILY. Not even a little close.
People like Gosnell were commonplace before Roe v Wade and will become commonplace again.
Yeah. We have to legalize abortion so that people like Gosnell who set up shop when abortion became legal, and practiced the entire time abortion has been legal. So yeah, totally makes sense to claim we need to keep abortion legal to prevent people from Gosnell from practicing who are only practicing BECAUSE ABORTION IS LEGAL. Derp.
I hope there’s a special place in Hell for women who sell out their gender to assure themselves of a place in Heaven–as if Christ ever said anything about abortion…
I don’t believe in hell since I’m not religious or even spiritual, but if there was, I’d think there would be a special place there for ANY HUMAN BEING who takes the life of their own vulnerable child willingly and knowingly by having them aborted (which is really just the act of killing a child when they are very young). Comparably guilty too would be those who are cheerleaders for such a barbaric practice and who work for it and support it in word and deed.
I also do not believe in a Heaven. My sole motivation for opposing legal abortion is because it is a human rights violation (one of the most dire forms of child abuse really). However, I DO believe in women, and know that we are stronger, better, and more capable than the “need” for some imagined and formulated “right” to kill our children in utero in order to get by in life.
Our success will never be bought with the blood of our children, for even if we use that blood to buy success in our career, finances, or personal relationships, it will still end up being for naught, since by being a willing party to the killing of our own offspring, we lose our humanity and are no longer the women we once were.
“People like Gosnell were commonplace before Roe v Wade and will become commonplace again.”
..and are still commonplace and legal (! YAY !) thanks to Roe.
“I hope there’s a special place in Hell for women who sell out their gender to assure themselves of a place in Heaven–as if Christ ever said anything about abortion…”
Now, this is a situation where the ever misapplied “judge not” verse would actually be appropriate. Liberal atheists who like to misquote the bible and opine on a God that doesn’t exist – take note.
Um abortion IS selling out your gender because little baby women are killed in abortion. There I fixed your little red wagon!
Furthermore if you do believe in Hell then you must read or know something about scripture. Thou shalt not KILL!!!
Unrepentant murderers will burn for eternity so instead of JUDGING pro lifers get help now if you’ve had an abortion.
People so focused upon these babies being born frequently fail to look at the big picture, including the reasons the mother may have for ending her pregnancy. It is usually a very painful decision for them they which have chosen only after struggling with options that they are unable to carry out for one reason or another. Consider a teenager who might be disowned if her parents discovered her pregnancy or who was abandoned by her partner after getting pregnant, or an unwanted remnant which is the product of rape or incest, even an accidental occurrence between a married couple due to failed birth control who simply cannot afford a 3rd, 4th, or 5th baby.
You say you want a MS with NO abortions yet it is a federal right, and to top it off this state has one of the highest welfare burdens in the country. Is it justifiable to add to this requirement for government assistance by ensuring new babies enter the system? Who will step up and buy food, diapers, clothes, pay the electric bill and rent? Who will assist these mothers birthing, “lifers”? Will you give your time or work for free? I will tell you who does: Laurie Bertram Roberts.
While you attempt to villainize her for assisting these women who have already faced the pain of having to choose and shielding them from harassment, she also looks after women who carry out their pregnancies by heading and seeking funding for the Jackson Birthing Project. Low income women and teens will receive meaningful assistance and education and even real-life hands-on natural birthing help. How many of you will roll up your sleeves and get these babies born? She is a beacon for women, not just simply abortion, and with seven children of her own, she is an exceptional mother with children to be proud of.
I know her personally, as she attended my birth in Jackson free of charge after I was denied an appropriate birth by my “trusted” OB, a woman doctor who decided for me she knew what was best for my body and my baby. Laurie was my doula and stayed with me for 36 hours from the start of my labor until after my beautiful girl was born, watching out for me and ensuring the hospital staff was aware of my wishes and never asked for a thing in return.
For all of you judging the work she does and judging these women for the choices they have to make, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself what tangible, substantial help are you giving these women whose babies you are trying to “save”, or are you just simply seeking your own personal moral victory?
Children are not an “unwanted remnant”. Or an accidental occurrence for that matter, though their conception may have been accidental. They are real human beings. Describing humans as such is fairly gross.
And same old same old “pro-lifers do nothing for born people” garbage, that’s been refuted thousands of times.
“it should be important that women are not harassed, that they are not terrorized, that they are not stopped when they are trying to access safe and legal care in America”…
They aren’t. But pregnancy is not a disease, and abortion is not health care; and it isn’t safe for the babies or their mothers. If Derzis wants the protestors to go away, all she has to do is stop killing the babies and endangering their mothers via induced abortion. Funny, she has had signs up in front of her Birmingham mill for years forbidding protestors within some 25 feet of the place; but she welcomes as many preborn protestors as she can fit in. And yes, Marcie and Laurie, they do protest…check out The Silent Scream…
As would you if you were in their position, about to be or being dismembered alive, as most of them are. Or killed period, without due process of law (that means being convicted of a capitol crime in a just court of law). If you were in their position, though, I’m guessing that you’d want someone intervening for you and not your attacker, yes? Ah, but you matter, because you’re much bigger? Careful; your hypothetical attacker could be much bigger than you; should his/her choice to kill trump your right to live on that grounds? Compassion dictates that the more vulnerable the victim the more protection should be provided him/her. Nature demonstrates that by placing us in utero, generally until we are well able to survive outside it.
The circumstances or pressures troubling a woman facing an unplanned (by her) pregnancy do not in the least alter the fact that induced abortion is dangerous FOR HER. Even some people who are quite focused on babies being killed legally have admitted as much…
“An abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun. It is dangerous to your life and health. It may. .make you sterile, so that when you want a child you cannot have one”
-from a Planned Parenthood pamphlet,@1963…AFTER the discovery of antibiotics, the only thing that has made surgical abortion somewhat less physically dangerous for the mother, by reducing the risk of infection. (Infection, however, is but one medically recognized potentially lethal complication of induced abortion; one which has killed women whose abortions were legal) This hasn’t changed since 1963: PP just hasn’t been as forthcoming about it since 1973, when it became legal and lucrative to suppress this knowledge…
“Today it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through pregnancy alive, unless she suffers from. a fatal disease such as cancer or leukemia, and if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong, much less save.. the life of the mother.” -Alan Guttmacher, former Planned Parenthood president, 1987.
“People do not realize that there are thousands of serious physical complications from abortion every year in this country.”–Dr. Bernard Nathanson, OB Gyn. – former American abortionist and abortion-rights advocate.
“The impact of abortion on the body of a woman who chooses abortion is great and always negative.
I can think of no benefit of a social abortion on a [woman’s] body.” – Daniel J. Martin, M.D.
“In medical practice, there are few surgical procedures given so little attention and so underrated in its potential hazards as abortion. It is a commonly held view that complications are inevitable.” – Warren Hern, Boulder, CO abortionist.
Since none of these facts has been refuted since they were admitted , I think it’s fair to ask (though I think I already know the answer…) whether Laurie Bertram Roberts & co. are freely sharing them with the JWHO quarry she encounters. I doubt it. If she were, JWHO probably wouldn’t still be open. But it is, and I expect that exposure to the truth about abortion is why she’s so intent on getting between JWHO’s quarry and their opposition.
One last thought; last time I checked, prolife pregnancy resource centers – places where pregnant women can get all kinds of tangible, substantial help- way outnumbered abortion mills. That said, though, there being a tangible, substantial difference between a living child and a dead one, I’d have to differ that “merely” saving the child’s life is not tangible, substantial help, and I think that the children involved, given the chance and the choice to comment, would tend to agree…
Nazis killed a lot of people. But boy, did they make some VERY NICE lampshades.
Yes but take a look at the big picture. You don’t HAVE to have sex!! Its called a little bit of restraint and self control. True people enjoy sex but if you aren’t wanting a child and your only solution is abortion then ask yourselves ..What measures did I take to prevent this? Many women do not take any. Last time I checked condoms were available at any CVS or Walgreens. Heck even some bars have a condom dispenser. So ask yourself why you couldn’t control your sexual urges that PUT you on that abortion table. I know there were plenty of times I wanted to have sex in my younger years but my brain kicked in and the urge was gone. That’s how I spared myself the pain of an abortion. It’s called abstinence!
Having to make the painful decision ……well don’t put yourself in the position of having to make a painful decision. True some young girls are not to blame…meeting you half way here. My friend was pregnant at 13 and her family told her “You ARE having an abortion.” My friend is in Silent No More now but her grandma drove her to the clinic and told her she had no choice . Her family would have disowned her so the abortion was perfomed. She is now in her 40s with 4 wonderful kids and a good husband but if abortion was something so easy to forget then why would she still be mourning her loss. And her mom is post abortive also and to this day a very cold woman. The poor girl was forced and had NO choice.
Blame your abortion on pro lifers? Whatever helps you sleep at night. Accept personal responsibility and your healing can begin. Play the blame game and it gets no better.
If I choose to get drunk and drive whose fault is it? The local police ? People who invited me to get drunk? No it was my poor choice. BTW didn’t happen. Anyway gotta get ready for work.
Marcie,
If abortion is such a “painful decision” then why are there so many women out there saying “Oh it’s no big deal!” Why are there women out there having abortions for inane reasons like weight, or they just plain don’t want kids? It’s not always so-called “altruistic” reasons why women have abortions and to say so is to be in denial. There ARE women out there having abortions for superficial reasons, too.
St. Gianna Beretta Molla was told that if she didn’t have an abortion she’d die. She refused to have an abortion. She gave birth to a child, nurtured, loved, and cared for that baby until she died. Her family did a video in which they talked about her generosity of spirit, her love, her sense of hope, and the child she gave birth to talks about how grateful she was to her mother for giving her a chance. Gianna knew what it would cost her, but she did it anyway. Motherhood is about sacrifices. I’m not saying this lightly. I *am* a mother. It is NOT easy. I understand how stressful parenthood can be, but I’d rather have that than the guilt of the termination of the existence of my offspring on my conscious.
What about pregnancy centers–my family worked with one for many years–it opened its doors tot he girls, the girls could stay with a family that would care, nurture, and be there for them while they went through the pregnancy, birth, and recovery periods. Many of these girls came back to thank my parents for being there for them. One of them wrote me to say my mother talked her out of an abortion–not because she said anything about shame, but because she talked with the woman and heard her out. She listened, and helped her work through whatever were her questions/concerns.
Pro-choicers are so quick to dismiss these people saying “they shame women” when in fact my mother never shamed anyone. She just sat down, heard people out, offered whatever support she could (or was asked for) and left them to decide which way they’d go. Many pro-lifers’ only plea is “Please don’t have an abortion. There are people who care.” They aren’t lying and that’s not shaming anyone.
Awww, are those big bad people who love preborn children and their mothers and families trying to help those mothers not to destroy their babies and their lives? How cruel of them. How wonderful those nice people are who are keeping the meanie pro-lifers away and helping those women go in and have their children killed and mess up their lives.
If that sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is!
Carole Miles, many abortionists including Dr. Bernard Nathansen later admitted that the numbers of so called back alley and coat hanger abortions were greatly exaggerated in order to get abortion on demand legalized.
However, here is a list of just the abortion deaths that could be picked out of the government and abortion industry red tape since abortion became “safe and legal”:
http://safeandlegal.com/the-pro-choice-death-list/
And if anyone is selling out their gender it is certainly not pro-lifers. No, it is the National Organization for Women, it is those clinic escorts, it is the abortion industry for it’s support, whether out loud or in silence, of gendercide:
http://www.liveaction.org/gendercide/
Christ said plenty about abortion, because He said plenty about life and the immeasurable value of all human life.
Since you seem to be interested in what Jesus says about abortion, I refer you to my post “Unborn Non-Persons, based on Jesus blessing the children, in my blog at
http://chokingoncamels.blogspot.com/