Whatever happened to keeping abortion “safe, legal, and rare”? Those goals just don’t fit the needs of the abortion industry anymore.

… How’s this for a new motto: “Cheap, legal, and ubiquitous”?

~ Collin Garbarino, First Things, June 26

[Photo via gosanangelo.com]

I’m on vacation but have been following the drama in Texas, which this afternoon took an upturn after a scandalous pro-abortion cabal illegally disrupted democracy last night.

The Houston Chronicle’s lede is so misleading, but what else should we expect from MSM? In actuality it was a pro-abortion mob that blocked common sense, public supported pro-life bills, not a “fail”ure of the Texas Senate to pass “strict abortion restrictions.”

And where is a description of the illegal disruption from the gallery? But whatever, Governor Perry is ensuring democracy, not anarchy, rules:

Just hours after the Texas Senate failed to pass a package of strict abortion restrictions, Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday said he is hauling the Legislature back in for a second special session set to begin Monday [July 1]….

The special session call Perry laid out Wednesday deals with the three bills that were left hanging in the Senate: a catch-all anti-abortion proposal, a bill for transportation funding and one dealing with sentencing guidelines for 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder.

“Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn. Texans want a transportation system that keeps them moving. Texans want a court system that is fair and just,” Perry said. “We will not allow the breakdown of decorum and decency to prevent us from doing what the people of this state hired us to do.”

Human Events has a good take on last night’s events, as does Michael New.

[Top photo via U.S. News]

by LauraLoo

“Pregnant man” Thomas Beatie is upset after a judge refused to grant him a divorce from his estranged wife – and he’s willing to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

Beatie, a transgender male, is appealing an Arizona judge’s decision regarding his divorce from Nancy Beatie on the grounds the marriage was never legal since Beatie couldn’t prove he was a man during their nuptials – and the state doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.

He states:

This is not Beatie v. Beatie. This is the State of AZ versus transgender people, human reproductive rights, and fairness under the law.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEc2_QC9eWE[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: TMZ]

I’m alarmed about restrictions being passed by various legislatures that take out of the control of women, and their partners, and their doctors, and their priests, their own decisions about their healthcare.

~ Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asserting that abortion restrictions “interfere with a woman’s relationship with her priest,” via Gateway Pundit, June 25

[Video at the link]

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 National Review, Michael New points out that – surprise, surprise! – a much-touted poll claiming to show that most Texans are opposed to a 20-week abortion ban was actually chock-full of loaded and leading questions. New refers to a methodologically sound poll, which the media has, of course, ignored:
  

  A more professional poll was conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune. It shows that… banning abortion after 20 weeks of gestation — one of the provisions of SB5 — has the support of over 62 percent of Texas residents.

• Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life highlights a Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons paper which debunks three popular myths about abortion and women’s health by comparing actual data from Great Britain (which allows abortion on demand) with data from Ireland (which prohibits it).
• Fletcher Armstrong shares video of a Georgia Tech student who says her involvement in the pro-life movement started because of a Center for Bioethical Reform Truth Truck showing graphic abortion images. She was 12:
  

  I saw the image and I knew it for what it was. I burst out crying, because I knew that was a child and it had been murdered.

  A commenter summed it up well by saying, “It’s amazing how children who see these pictures KNOW? that abortion kills a baby.”

[youtube]http://youtu.be/9XovYo-3NXE[/youtube]

• Expose Abortion has a heartbreaking June 20 quote that shows pro-choice attempts to sanitize abortion, from abortionist Carolyn Westhoff, who in sworn testimony in 2004 stated:
  

  In the case of our D&E patients we actually have little hats available so we could in fact cover the back of the head where the incision had been made.

• Big Blue Wave has some thoughts on a New York Times article which tries to paint a pretty picture of a mother, pregnant with twins, choosing abortion at 23 weeks when faced with a poor prenatal diagnosis for her son. Though the woman claims she isn’t religious, she likes to think that her son’s soul “is in his sister” and is happy that he died in a “warm and loving place” in the womb following the lethal injection.

  BBW wonders why that “warm and loving place” could not have been in his mother’s arms following birth. What I find amazing is that she was willing to risk losing both children in order to ensure her son’s demise.

• Bound4Life’s Jess Clark shares an update on her son Richy (pictured left) who was born at 24 weeks and is now 14 years old. Though he has had major health struggles, he is “joyfully, fully alive”:
  

  His birthday this year was a celebration of that miracle and the miracle that he has always been. We celebrated him in the womb, we celebrated him in the hospital, and we celebrate him now. Here’s to the best 14th year ever!

• Euthanasia Prevention Coalition says Washington State’s annual report on legal assisted suicide is most interesting because of what’s not reported:
  

  The Department of Health Report, if accurate, documents a small number of people using Washington’s assisted suicide act. The reported persons are, however, in a vulnerable demographic for abuse including murder. The report’s lack of information about consent to administration of the lethal dose is disturbing.

• At Live Action News, Cassy Fiano shares five things expectant parents of children with Down syndrome need to hear.
• Culture Campaign highlights how the media went to bat for abortion upon the merger of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian with St. Joseph Health (Catholic) in California, stating:
  

  After Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian… stopped performing elective abortions, outrage by the media and other abortion advocates caused the California attorney general’s office to investigate and ensure that there are enough abortionists to kill children of low-income women.

by Hans Johnson

Prior to the passage in the House of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the House’s Pro-Choice Caucus held a press conference protesting the legislation.

Afterwards a reporter from CNSNews asked a question of Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who is co-chair of the Caucus with Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY):

Many Democrats, when they were arguing for gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting said: “Even if this saves one life it will be worth doing.” Why not support this bill then, if it undoubtedly will save lives of babies that have been carried throughout five months of pregnancy?

Concerned Women For America has the video of the “answer”:

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

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: TheBlaze]

My faith is very deep and has been my whole life. I love my faith and my faith has nothing to do with whoever he [Father Frank Pavone] is. The arrogance of it all! It’s like something ancient, medieval….

I wouldn’t even dignify whatever it is they said. It was a highly emotional statement that they made. If it were more intellectual I might have paid attention to it. He was acting hysterically.

~ House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi “laughs off” Fr. Frank Pavone’s open letter denouncing her for calling abortion “sacred ground,” as quoted by ThinkProgress.org, June 24

[Photos via bizpacreview.com and amarillo.com]

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• A 17-year-old girl in India died after a forced abortion.
• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding Massachusetts’ 35-foot abortion clinic buffer rule:
  

  The justices today said they will hear an appeal from abortion foes seeking to overturn the Massachusetts law as a violation of the First Amendment. The challengers say they have a right to hand out leaflets and start conversations with women entering abortion clinics.

• The Toledo Blade has a long article on the closed Toledo clinic named Center for Choice. The article also discusses the possible closure of Toledo’s other abortion clinic:
  

  The answering machine at Center for Choice clicks on after several rings, quickly telling every caller of the clinic’s closure.

  “Unfortunately we closed our doors as of Friday, June 7, due to restrictive abortion legislation in Ohio,” the message states.

  Thirty years as a Toledo abortion provider over in about 30 seconds. To some, the words are an answer to prayer; to others, cause for alarm.

  Capital Care Network, the only remaining local abortion clinic, could face the same fate, and its closure would make Toledo the biggest Ohio city without an abortion provider.

• Texas legislators have tentatively passed new regulations on abortion clinics in the state:
  

  Supporters say the bill will raise the standard of women’s health care, but
  opponents point out the bill would shut down 37 out of 42 abortion clinics in the state. “If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and daughter of the late former Texas governor Ann Richards [both pictured left in an early photo].

  I recall not that long ago abortion advocates claimed similar legislation in Virginia would close 17 of 21 clinics. After the legislation passed, the story changed and 20 out of 23 clinics decided to meet the new standards. From what I’ve seen, one closed and one is suing to prevent from being closed.

  Abortion advocates often lie about what abortion clinics will do as their main tactic to avoid stricter regulations.

[Photo of Cecile and Ann Richards via Pro-Life Action of Oregon]