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

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

• At The Daily Caller, Dustin Siggins writes that Republicans should not run from the “war on women” meme but expose the truth – that “the profiteers in our nation’s abortion clinics, and their allies in political office” are the ones really waging the war.
• Live Action posts about the culture of silence which protects Planned Parenthood and its former abortionists who are caught sexually molesting patients:
  

  Why is it that this man was able to practice medicine for 20 years? And while the Boston Globe reports that he molested patients at his fertility clinic, bemoaning the “culture of silence” which allowed him to get away with his sick actions, they have no problem keeping silent about his past with Planned Parenthood.What if his patients there were molested as well? Even if it’s unintentional, they’re still protecting Planned Parenthood. The “culture of silence” is around Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry, keeping quiet any hint of impropriety or scandal or, worst of all, law-breaking. The media consistently carries water for the abortion lobby, and they’ve done it here again by glossing over this man’s history as an abortionist for Planned Parenthood.

• Bound4Life reports on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s continued assaults on life in the womb and on women’s safety:
  

  “The Governor’s proposal… would expand abortion rights beyond current federal and state law,” said Edward Mechmann of the Archdiocese of New York. “It would remove any obstacles to late-term abortions, and would allow non-doctors to do surgical abortions, even late-term abortions up until the moment of birth.”

In addition to allowing abortions to be performed by any “qualified, licensed healthcare practitioner” such as a nurse practitioner or midwife, the RHA sought to expand abortions after 24 weeks for the mother’s “health,” a nebulous term that in practice allows abortion under any circumstances.

It would have also forced all hospitals to refer patients for abortion or lose state funding, according to the New York State Right to Life Committee.

The Reproductive Health Act was killed in the Senate Health Committee.

• Big Blue Wave concurs with 52 pro-life leaders worldwide who are calling on Catholic Bishops to deny communion to abortion-supportive politicians.
• At Priests for Life, Fr. Frank Pavone comments on their case before the U.S. Supreme Court, believing that ultimately, regardless of the decision, religious freedom will prevail.
• At Generations for Life, Christine encourages readers to go out and accomplish “the hardest thing” they’ve ever done, whether it’s training for a bike ride or dealing with unplanned pregnancy. She writes, “… you will find that you can do more than you ever imagined.”

• Josh Brahm recounts a conversation he had with a pro-choice biology professor during a recent campus outreach. It is a great example of how to have a civilized discussion, finding common ground with someone of the opposing view.
• Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life shares an editorial their team wrote for the Star Tribune. In it, they discuss the fact that the state of Minnesota pays for one third of all abortions performed there:
  

  Public funding means more abortions. Limits on public funding mean fewer abortions. And fewer abortions is something almost everyone wants….

Minnesota’s current policy allows abortion providers to market “free” abortions to economically vulnerable women. Planned Parenthood, which performs more abortions than any other provider, increased its state-funded abortion claims by 64 percent over the last six years. In 2012, the organization collected $255,000 from the state for performing 1,139 abortions on low-income women, a 30 percent revenue increase over the previous year.

In 2011, state representatives voted to stop this funding but the bill was vetoed by Governor Dayton.

• Albert Mohler comments on Emily Letts, the young woman who filmed her own abortion in what he calls “the ultimate selfie.” In her comments following the procedure, Emily says, “I don’t feel like a bad person. I don’t feel sad. I feel in awe of the fact that I can make a baby. I can make a life. I knew that what I was going to do was right, ’cause it was right for me and no one else.” Mohler writes:
  

  [Emily’s statement] is a statement of Promethean self-assertion. It is also a concise statement of an absolutely godless worldview. She feels “in awe of the fact that I can make a baby. I can make a life.”

That actually explains her worldview. She grants to herself the power to give life; to “make a life.” What she gives, she can destroy. Emily giveth, and Emily taketh away.

And she is also the creator of her own moral system of value and the judge of her own solitary moral universe — “I knew what I was going to do was right, ’cause it was right for me and no one else.” No one else matters.”

Yes, Emily is the ultimate selfie. I wonder how she will feel about this adventure ten years from now.

• Scott Klusendorf also addresses Ms. Letts’ so-called abortion video in a Facebook post:
  

  So a young woman films her abortion and it goes viral–only she didn’t. She filmed her own face.

He goes on to say, “Had she filmed the actual procedure, it would look more like this”:

• At Clash Daily, however, Kristen Iglesias seems to doubt the veracity of Emily Letts’ abortion and pregnancy claims altogether, for several good reasons.

[Brahm photo by Joseph Seaward via joshbrahm.com; Cuomo photo via lohud.com; Clash Daily HT: Carla]

by LauraLoo

Lauren Alaina (second place American Idol alum) sings “Like My Mother Does” as a tribute to her mother.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX-04oKskFs[/youtube]

Happy Mother’s Day!

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

by Jill

Emily Letts’ abortion video* has been around a couple months, but it’s getting scrutiny now due to an essay she just had published in Cosmopolitan, which included this gem:

I remember breathing and humming through it like I was giving birth. I know that sounds weird, but to me, this was as birth-like as it could be. It will always be a special memory for me. I still have my sonogram, and if my apartment were to catch fire, it would be the first thing I’d grab.

Grabbing the precious sonogram of the baby you murdered? I can’t fathom the thinking. But I’m not the only one. CNN’s Dr. Drew and an all woman pro-choice panel interviewed Letts on May 6, and they let her have it, asking questions seemingly from the mouths of pro-lifers. (Except, “Did you get pregnant on purpose?” I wouldn’t even have thought of that. Perhaps I should have.)…

*In actuality, this was not an “abortion video.” If was a self-absorbed facial close-up by the perpetrator. Live Action’s Lila Rose noted:

She claims to film an abortion, but that is the one thing we don’t see. We don’t see the powerful suction machine ripping the developing embryo from the safe harbor of Letts’s uterus. We don’t see the child’s delicate arm and leg buds ripped apart by the force of the suction tube, or the child’s body parts floating afterward in a pool of blood and amniotic fluid in a medical receptacle.

All we see is Letts’s smile, not her victim. In a society that religiously ignores the victim, we will never achieve lasting peace…. a society that has come to embrace the slaughter of a child as “empowerment.”

UPDATE 5/10 8:10a: The $2.1 million funding goal for the Gosnell tv documentary was indeed reached and surpassed yesterday! Now producers have a “stretch goal” for the 2-1/2 days they have left before the crowdfunding campaign ends:

At present the number of funders is 24,243. If you haven’t yet, donate just $1 to help show not just the breadth but the depth of support for a movie about Gosnell’s heinous crimes against not only preborn children but barely postborn children.

5/9, 11:10a: As I type, funding for the proposed Gosnell tv documentary has almost reached its goal – and 4 days before the deadline!

Donations stand at the moment at $2,083,632, just short of the history making $2.1 million target.

It is fun to hit ”refresh” and now see the total go up by thousands every few minutes!

Recall liberally biased crowdfunder Kickstarter rejected the project. But in so doing Kickstarter cut off its nose to spite its face, losing its 5% cut, or $105,000, to Indiegogo, along with the chance to host a record-breaker, quoting film producers Magdalena Segieda, Phelim McAleer, and Ann McElhinney:

So far, the biggest “crowd funded” film of all-time is the Veronica Mars movie, a teen detective story that asked for $2.1m and raised $5.7m, we think the Gosnell movie is more important, we think you do too.

So we are asking for $2.1m and we are hoping to break the record and make history. 

With your help we’re going to hire the best screenwriter, director and actors to make sure that the story of Kermit Gosnell gets into every home in America. 

Bravo to celebrities who have endorsed the Gosnell documentary, including actors Nick Searcy and Kevin and Sam Sorbo.

These actors are swimming against the Hollywood tide. As The Five’s Greg Gutfeld noted:

The thing is, I mean, it is a brutal topic. But so is Idi Amin, so is Rwanda, so is the holocaust. Hollywood has made movies that involved all of those topics. The reason why they don’t do this one is not because the evil is so grotesque. It’s that it’s too close to a moral choice they’ve made. That’s what it’s about. It’s not that like, ah it’s so hard to do something on this man who butchered babies. It’s because it’s too close to the pro-choice mindset.

Amen, and so it’s up to us to now not only meet the goal but push past it. Doing so will demonstrate pro-life muscle, make the film ever better, and show wobbly cable channels that people are interested in Gosnell and will watch the documentary.

This is an investment in the progression of support for the sanctity of preborn humans in America. As Gutfeld said, what Gosnell did hits too close to home on abortion. This film will cause many who considered themselves pro-choice to change their minds.

I was pretty selfish… No kids, no marriage. That was my motto. But then that all changed when I met Jessica.

When her son called me “Dad,” a new man was born.

~ Survivor contestant Benjamin ‘Coach’ Wade on fatherhood’s positive effect on him, People, May 8

by Hans Johnson

With four days left, the prospective Gosnell TV movie is about to reach its fundraising goal. It will be the one-year anniversary of his convictions for the murders of three newborns. Do people know about his crimes? Do they care? Not enough, say the producers, which is why they were compelled to pursue this project. The panel on The Five discusses the need for the movie:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/sA7f5UrACDU[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

(HT: Kelli)

On May 3, a group of 70 physicians took out a full page ad on page 2 of the Osceola News Gazette to encourage Kissimmee, Florida, citizens to join them in attempting to keep Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando from opening an abortion mill in their community, which is just 20 minutes from Walt Disney World.

Many of the physicians oppose PPGO because they are pro-life. Others are incensed on a professional level, because Planned Parenthood wants to open up shop in the middle of a large complex of medical office buildings, pictured below, directly across the street from a hospital. They fear Planned Parenthood’s presence will negatively impact their business, property value, and harmony, all of which are absolutely true.

Planned Parenthood kept its plan secret until March, when pro-lifer Jay Rogers  discovered its scheme while researching another proposed abortion clinic.

As it turns out, PPGO purchased its 8,800 sq. ft. building in December 2013 from Orthopaedic Associates of Osceola for $1.4 million, this only after Adventist Health Systems (aka Florida Hospital System), which held the deed to the property, signed a waiver to a restriction  that specified “the performance of elective termination of pregnancies is prohibited.” Seventh Day Adventists are woefully pro-abortion.

Not only that, they’re apparently spiteful. The hospital across the street from the proposed PPGO abortion mill, Osceola Regional Medical Center, is not part of the Adventist hospital system, so AHS’s signing of the waiver was noncolleagial, to put it mildly. AHS opened a can of worms, placed it on its competitor’s doorstep, and ran. ORMC is sure to get Planned Parenthood’s abortion botches as well as pro-life protests and prayer vigils on the sidewalk between it and the clinic.

The doctors at Orthopaedic Associates, who still have an office in the Oak Commons complex, also double-crossed their colleagues. I’m told by Dr. John Littell, who is spearheading the effort to oust Planned Parenthood before it can embed, that the entire medical community is now snubbing the group and refusing to refer patients. One can express umbrage with these doctors, some of whom are Catholic, here. 

PPGO CEO Jenna Tosh (pictured right), whose brother-in-law is pro-abortion comedian Daniel Tosh, made no secret of the fact PPGO is “excited” to target the area’s predominantly Hispanic population.

Planned Parenthood’s new abortion clinic is slated to open the end of May.

But there are still several hurdles.

One is zoning. The area is zoned B-5 for medical – not surgical – offices. If Planned Parenthood is allowed to proceed, it will be the first surgical facility allowed under the B-5 zoning restriction.

Pro-lifer Katy Shultman, who attended the May 5 Kissimmee City Commission Meeting, told me Mayor Jim Swan and City Attorney Don Smallwood both claimed the city is helpless to enforce the zoning restriction, having been preempted by the state to regulate abortion clinics. They also both fretted Planned Parenthood would sue and cost the city millions in legal fees.

So does this mean Planned Parenthood is above the law? Can Planned Parenthood simply flout zoning restrictions with no ramifications? As was pointed out at a recent city  commission meeting, quoting forerunner.com:

Littell argued that it is nearly impossible to get a pain clinic licensed in the city. Strip clubs are not allowed within city limits. Recently, a funeral home was not allowed to open next to a McDonalds. Littell urged the city to consider how an abortion center could be allowed to open, when more stringent laws are applied to far less less dangerous and offensive businesses.

Attorney Maureen Arago, who is working with the doctors and pro-life groups to block Planned Parenthood, told me they will sue the city if it refuses to enforce its own zoning restrictions. She said she is receiving input from two national pro-life legal powerhouses,  Alliance Defending Freedom and Life Legal Defense Foundation, to explore additional options.

Meanwhile, the Kissimmee community has indeed expressed overwhelming opposition to Planned Parenthoood’s presence in their city:

Stay tuned.

[In addition to the pro-lifers named in the post, thanks to Brad Fischetti, Annette Cayer, Michele Herzog, and moderator Carder for their input.]

by Kelli

Just knowing that her daughter Chelsea is pregnant, with a baby – It’s a real baby! – It’s not some disposable something, and I know that’s going to be controversial….

So maybe even on a social issue like that, she’ll open her eyes.

~ Sarah Palin, suggesting that becoming a grandmother has the potential to change Hillary Clinton’s perspective on the sanctity life in the womb, as quoted by CNN.com, May 7

[Photo via strongsuitblog.wordpress.com]