UPDATE 7/24, 5:20a: We got great news yesterday, that the abortion rate in Texas has dropped by 13% since November, when the new pro-life law began taking effect. This represents 9,200 babies saved from abortion!

7/23, 7:32a: On September 1 a new pro-life law will take effect in Texas that requires abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers, abortionists to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the clinic, and the abortion pill RU-486 to be dispensed per FDA protocol.

And on that day Planned Parenthood will seize control of the Texas abortion market, since it will at that point own six* of the eight remaining abortion clinics.

Only two years ago there were 44 abortion clinics in Texas. The new law is purging smaller and subpar chop shops, including some of Planned Parenthood’s own.

But no surprise, the United States’ largest abortion business is seizing this opportunity to re-expand and drive the remaining independent abortion clinics under, so as to capture the Lone Star State’s lucrative abortion trade. The abortion death toll there (77,592 in 2010) accounts for almost 8% of all abortions committed in the U.S. annually.

Ever the liar, Planned Parenthood purchased property for two new clinics in Dallas and San Antonio after it claimed the law would doom abortion access.

Planned Parenthood killing the competition

Moreover, Dallas and San Antonio already had established abortion ambulatory surgical centers that qualify to remain open under HB2 – they’re just not Planned Parenthood clinics.

Texas is a huge state, so there are several “unserved” locations Planned Parenthood could have picked to add new abortion clinics.

But Planned Parenthood chose instead to compete head to head with rivals, demonstrating it is cut-throat in more ways than one. Any Planned Parenthood exec such as CEO Cecile Richards who complains about declining “abortion access” in Texas is a hypocrite. They are purposefully making Planned Parenthood a contributing factor, demonstrating once again their concern is not about women but about money.

Doubling its abortion market share

In 2011, Planned Parenthood owned approximately 14 of the state’s 44 abortion clinics, or 32% of the market share, according to Emily Horne of Texas Right to Life. After the dust settles on September 1 Planned Parenthood will own as much as 75%* of the market share, more than doubling its cut of abortion profits in Texas.

One additional bit of Planned Parenthood hypocrisy, as noted by Texas Right to Life:

Planned Parenthood has purchased an existing ASC [in Dallas, pictured right] and is making minor renovations in order to use it for abortion.

The news comes after Planned Parenthood officials insisted that the perceived burden of converting their facilities into ambulatory surgical centers would be too great and would force them to cease their operations. Melaney Linton of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast said last year, “You can’t just do a few renovations and convert a facility that is already existing.” And yet, converting a “facility that is already existing” is exactly what Planned Parenthood is doing….

__________

*The actual number of Planned Parenthood and independent abortion clinics that will be left standing in Texas on September 1 varies slightly by news story. While RH Reality Check says Planned Parenthood will have six, Healthcare Daily says it may have seven, and Planned Parenthood’s own website says it has five. Meanwhile, several news sources, like Kaiser, claim the total number of  Texas abortion clinics in September will be six.

It is possible that one or more of the nonabortion clinics Planned Parenthood is “renovat[ing],” in Addison, Arlington, Cedar Hill, and Lewisville, is covertly being converted into an abortion clinic. Or Planned Parenthood is secretly prepping a brand new site as I type.

And, of course, Chicken Little abortion proponents may be low balling the grand total for drama.

Current abortion clinic count

At any rate, for those trying to keep track, here is the current tally of Texas abortion clinics that will remain open on September 1. The count is in flux but at present is eight total, with Planned Parenthood owning five. Thanks to Karen at the Catholic Pro-life Committee and Rachel and Emily at Texas Right to Life for help with the compilation:

Austin

• Planned Parenthood on East Ben White Blvd.

Dallas

• Planned Parenthood on West Virginia Dr. – set to open in a few weeks (Planned Parenthood on Greenville Ave. will have to stop committing abortions on September 1)
• Southwestern Women’s Surgery Center also on Greenville Ave.

Fort Worth

• Planned Parenthood on John Ryan Dr.

Houston

• Planned Parenthood on Gulf Freeway
• Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center on North Shepherd

San Antonio

• Planned Parenthood at as yet unknown secret location, opening a new $5 million clinic by September 1 (Planned Parenthood on Babcock Rd. will have to stop committing abortions on September 1)
• Whole Woman’s Health of San Antonio on East Southcross

[Photo of the Dallas clinic via LifeSiteNews.com]

by Carder

Terminating a pregnancy is not inherently tragic - women have a variety of abortion experiences - but for Lena (and Stef), this was devastating. She really wanted this baby; she’d dreamed about this baby and already fought with the baby’s sperm donor over parental rights.

A lot of stories on The Fosters are about making the best of a family situation that’s not on its face what most people would wish for, but this was the first time the show’s emotional philosophy led to an instance of abject sorrow.

~ Margaret Lyons describing a recent episode of the TV series The Fosters,  in which the lesbian couple chooses a late term abortion in light of the mother developing pre-eclampsia, Vulture, July 22

by Kelli

• American Life League’s Judie Brown discusses the latest idea in birth conrol technology – remote control contraception:
  

  Technology Review says the wireless implant, if approved for safety and efficacy, could make it possible for a woman to turn her birth control on and off at will by using a remote-control device. The implanted chip contains the chemical levonorgestrel—the same ingredient in Plan B One-Step (emergency contraception)….

  CBS News states, “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed funding to a preclinical trial on a user-controlled microchip that can effectively prevent unwanted pregnancies for up to 16 years. The futuristic birth control method could make it to the general market as early as 2018.”

  But even some on the Left are concerned that such technology could be used on women against their wills, aiding both eugenicists and sex traffickers.

• Culture Campaign links to articles regarding the University of Chicago’s support of abortion to the extent that they are “the only college in America performing on-campus abortions” and they have also published an abortion guide warning against going to “confus[ing]” pregnancy resource centers (because that might “delay” having an abortion). Matt Lamb of The College Fix writes:
  

  Asked what other resources the university makes available to pregnant students, such as adoption services, the university forwarded links to how a student could acquire birth control or emergency contraception.

• At Ethika Politika, Chrissy Wing points out the paradoxical behavior of women who consume chemical-free, organic, free-range everything – except for their birth control:
  

  This sounds absurd. Yet, it is possibly the most common paradox I have seen. Eat the meat of a cow that has consumed synthetic hormones? No! Take them yourself via a highly concentrated white pill? Yes, please, but I can only wash them down with organic juice. Chemical free.

  The recent storm against GMOs are enough to make me think that if birth control didn’t fall within the boundaries of “women’s reproductive rights,” it would have gotten banned long ago.

• Clinic Quotes shares a statement regarding abortion grief – and how those who experience it can’t seem to find help from organizations linked to abortion. From Melinda Tankard Reist’s:
  

  Women often spoke of being unable to get satisfactory help for their grief from clinics or organizations connected with abortion. Karleen said that when she sought help at a women’s counseling clinic in Sydney she was told it was wrong of her to speak badly of her abortion experience. Kara, from Queensland, told of posting her personal abortion story on an Internet discussion of abortion. She was told to “get lost” – her story wasn’t welcome….

  If a woman is depressed after an abortion, she is made to feel it’s her own inability to deal with sadness which is the problem. The onus is all on the woman.

• Abstinence Clearinghouse says MTV has released a new reality show called Virgin Territory. The show “follows 15 young adults, ages 18-23, who are all still virgins…. During the course of this series, some of the 15 young adults will lose their virginity. MTV thinks this show will help facilitate conversations among teens about safe sex, but many others believe that the show will only portray virgins as ‘misfits.'”
• Josh Brahm outlines how he chooses to discuss contraception when conversing with pro-choicers:
  

  When I’m on a college campus and asked by a pro-choice person whether I think birth control pills should be illegal, I take a cue from my colleague Steve Wagner at Justice For All, and say:

  “As a matter of public policy, I am not opposed to birth control methods that don’t kill anybody.”

  Obviously the most important question on the morality of birth control pills is whether or not they actually act as abortifacients. While there is an important theological discussion that can be had on whether or not God wants people to plan their families and whether or not it’s wise to take birth control pills that often have negative side effects like loss of libido, but I’m tabling all of that discussion when talking to pro-choice people.

• At National Review, Michael J. New discusses an article by Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig which suggests that conservatives should help abortion-vulnerable women by increasing their welfare benefits:
  

  … [T]here is not one peer-reviewed study which shows that greater spending on welfare or other social programs reduces the abortion rate. Some analysts point to lower abortion rates in European countries which tend to have more generous public benefits for low-income earners. However, the abortion rate in many of these countries is rising, while the abortion rate in the United States has been falling. Pro-lifers should certainly advertise the excellent work pregnancy resource centers are doing in meeting the needs of many women facing unplanned pregnancies. That said, expanding welfare benefits is a strategy that probably will be less successful than advertised.

[Images via phillips.blogs.com, thewrap.com]

by Hans Johnson

There is the famous quote from the Talmud that “whoever saves one life saves the world entire.” (See this clip from Schindler’s List.)  At the forefront of the Pro-Life Movement is 40 Days For Life.  Here is an overview of their ministry, which has saved more than 7500 lives so far.

Be a part of 40 Days in your community! The deadline to register a fall campaign is today.

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

by Kelli

It’s especially bizarre, I think, when those on the Left turn out to enthusiastically celebrate any new revelation of a cultural figure having an abortion. The more they admire the person, it seems the happier they are at the “courage” of said person having had an abortion. A bit unintentionally insulting, don’t you think? I admire you so much! I’m so glad you terminated a child that might have had your talent or been a lot like you!

Revolutions, however, famously do not discriminate in their grim reaping of human life. The Sexual Revolution is no different, even though we’ve replaced guillotines with Planned Parenthood clinics. The crowds cheered both, and the similarity between a howling mob and a pro-choice rally is striking to say the least.

Perhaps it is Peter Hitchens who has the best explanation: “I think that abortion is much beloved by revolutionaries,” he noted gravely, “because they always like the mob to get their hands in blood and commit some sort of crime of their own.”

~ Jonathon Van Maren, “The abortion of JFK’s children was evil – but it’s also a tragic loss,” LifeSiteNews.com, July 21

[Image via abtaknews.com]

by Kelli

From Breitbart comes the story of pregnant mother Chantal Gauthier-Vaillancourt from Canada, a midwife with malignant melanoma of the eye, who opted to have her eye surgically removed rather than expose her preborn child to radiation treatment:

[HT: Susie Allen]

by Carder

Since appealing to moral conscience doesn’t cut it, Bruening has a less novel idea: give poor mothers money to keep their children. Bruening calls it a “child allowance program.” I call it liberal policymaking disguised as a conservative solution to what Pope Francis decries as “throwaway culture.”

So giving people free money helps reduce poverty. Who knew?

~ Taylor Lewis finding fault with Elizabeth Stoker Bruening’s supposedly “conservative” plan to provide financial incentives for women to not seek abortions, American Thinker, July 20

I’ve realized over the course of time I’m basically attracted to write three types of posts, those that 1) uplift pro-lifers, 2) expose the pro-abortion underbelly, or 3) discourage abortion proponents.

I keep track of where I am quoted by the mainstream media or abortion groups, enabled to give our side a voice only because of new media.

Several thousand people also stop by here every day to participate in the community we’ve built. And if you’ve seen me (gratefully) reposted by “friendlies” elsewhere, like LifeNews.com, LifeSiteNews.com, or Newsbusters, it is due to this blog as the launching point.

Thanks to Susie, JillStanek.com also spotlights posts by other pro-life bloggers twice a week. And we showcase videos and quotes germane to the movement with the help of Carder, Hans, and Kelli. An important value here is promoting the work of other people and groups engaged in online pro-life activism.

I’ve been blogging nine years now. In the beginning no financing was needed, just time. When the blog grew, and I did need money to keep it going, the Life Prizes award I  received from the Gerard Foundation in 2008 kept us financially afloat.

Now that funding has run dry, and I need to turn to pro-lifers for help.

The needs aren’t great as perhaps compared to other pro-life ministries – $1,000 a month pays for Kelli - the administrative glue that keeps things running, the server, and improvements. I’m not paid, nor are the aforementioned feature writers or sacrificial and dedicated moderators – Bobby Bambino, Carder, Del, Hans, LibertyBelle, Susie, and Sydney.

We need $6,000 to remain in the black until the end of the year, and it would be great to get a little padding. So our goal is $10,000. We have a bar under our donation button at the top of the page on the right side that shows how near or far we are to that goal. You can see we have quite a ways to go at this point.

THANKS to those who contributed when I asked in May! Your donations helped us stay afloat for two months. I also appreciated all the “likes” and “shares” that post got. Before you do that today, if you would consider simultaneously donating a tad at the same time, that would be great. It takes a village, as someone once said!

There are two giving options – one time donations and/or monthly giving. Donating even $5 a month would be helpful. If several people do that we would be ok.

Thanks in advance for the generosity of those of you who have the same passion I do for online pro-life activism.

UPDATE 2:25p: Dear friend Bethany has offered to donate four 9×12 pencil drawings to help, which is very kind. Many of you know Bethany as one of our original moderators. An example of her work is to the right, a drawing she made of me with my preemie grandson Gabriel when he was born in 2000.

So the first four who donate $150 (either at one time or spread out over a year) will get one of Bethany’s drawings. Thank you, Bethany!