It’s no doubt tempting for abortion opponents to cite the many stories of turnaway mothers [women denied abortions] who grew to embrace motherhood as a way to make their case for banning abortion. But bluntly put, what other option do these women have?

In addition, being able to love a child who is actually here while being opposed to having the child while it’s in the womb highlights the very real difference between an actual person and a potential one, a difference the anti-choice movement tries to deny.

~ Abortion advocate Amanda Marcotte, reacting to a recent study which showed that “turnaways who keep their babies eventually come around to accepting and even embracing their status as mothers. (Only 9 percent give their children up for adoption),” Slate, June 12

[Photo via Slate]

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• Abortionist Kermit Gosnell was expected to plead guilty today to federal drug charges, but that has been postponed:
  

  Defense lawyer Jack McMahon says he needs more time to consult with Dr. Kermit Gosnell about the plea. Gosnell is due back in court on June 26.

• Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have filed suit against Alabama’s admitting privileges law.
• The BBC has a story about a woman who claims to have had an abortion due to British immigration rules:
  

  My doctor said: “This is disgusting. This could be the last time you could have children.” But I didn’t feel I had a choice. I came out of the doctors crying – a married woman shouldn’t have to cry and be forced into a decision like that.

  I’ve had some counselling, I’ve been depressed. It destroyed a lot of things in our relationship for months. If it wasn’t for the immigration rules I wouldn’t have had an abortion.

• The New York Times has an article on women who were denied abortions because they were too far along. It also profiles a woman (“S.,” pictured left with her daughter) who didn’t have an abortion, struggled in various ways after giving birth, and now says her child is the best thing to ever happen to her:
  

  After S. urinated in a cup, she was led into a small room. She texted one of her sisters, “Do you think God would forgive me if I were to murder my unborn child?” It was the first time anyone in her family knew she was pregnant….

  In the exam room, a technician asked her to lie down. She did an ultrasound, sliding the instrument across S.’s stomach: “Oh… it shows here that you are a little further along.” She repeated the exam. S., she estimated, was nearly 20 weeks pregnant, too far along for this Planned Parenthood clinic….

  When I told [Diana Greene Foster, a demographer and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California] S.’s story, she wasn’t surprised that S. ended up bonding with her baby. “That would be consistent with our study,” Foster said. “About 5 percent of the women, after they have had the baby, still wish they hadn’t. And the rest of them adjust.” S.’s experience is also consistent with one of the most striking statistics from Henry David’s Czech study. David found that nine years after being denied abortions, 38 percent of women said they never sought one in the first place.

  The take of abortion advocates on this piece will be interesting. Neither S. nor J. (another woman whose experience getting a late-term abortion was detailed) were delayed in seeking abortions by pro-life laws, nor did either have a prenatal diagnosis which revealed problems with the child. Neither discovered they were pregnant until late into their pregnancies. J. (age 38) thought she was too old to be pregnant and S. had spotting and typically had light periods. I’m sure that won’t stop abortion advocates from claiming these situations prove the need for more access to abortion.

[Photo by Michelle Asselin for the New York Times]

by LauraLoo

Arms of Audio shares some of their telephone interviews conducted with former Biola University students and staff regarding the recent controversy over actions taken again nursing student Diana Jimenez for displaying graphic abortion images on campus.

Did Diana know she was wrong? Is this racially charged? Is Biola complacent? Does the term “conviction with courage” only apply to situations outside of Biola’s campus? Watch and give us your take.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A_xRkKbrz8[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: Kristy T.]

What Makes a Baby is a 36-page picture book, lovingly produced in full colour and illustrated by the award-winning Canadian artist, Fiona Smyth. What makes it new is that it’s a book about where babies come from that actually works for every kind of family and every kind of kid….

What Makes a Baby will help parents single or partnered, LGB or straight, trans or cis-gendered, biological, adoptive, or otherwise answer their kids’ questions.

~ Sex educator and author Corey Silverberg introducing his new children’s book, What Makes a Baby, via Radical Doula, June 11

In December 2010 Planned Parenthood ordered all its affiliates to begin offering abortions at a minimum of one clinic location by the beginning of 2013.

At the time the number of Planned Parenthood affiliates stood at 87, far below their all-time high of 200+. That number has now now shrunken further to 73 with the news earlier this week that Planned Parenthood of Kentucky was merging with Planned Parenthood of Indiana to create the too cute acronym, PPINK.

But Planned Parenthood’s flowery explanation for the merge masked the real reason, according to Jim Sedlak of American Life League’s STOPP in an email to me.

There is an overriding factor that is not mentioned in the article.

At the beginning of 2013, there were six Planned Parenthood affiliates that had not adhered to the Federation’s demand that every affiliate have at least one clinic that does surgical or medical abortions.

The six were:

Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma
Planned Parenthood of Kentucky
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey
Planned Parenthood of North Florida
Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey
Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan

With the merger, now there are only five.

Once you know that, rereading the IBY.com story reveals veiled hints:

The combined organization will “allow us to to better address the sadly unmet need for family-planning services throughout Kentucky,” said Kim Greene [pictured above], chairwoman of the PPKY board.

All 28 of the health centers will continue to offer preventive health care services…. The four Indiana centers that perform abortions will continue to do so…. The Kentucky centers do not perform abortions.

Certainly, many of PP’s 14 mergers of the past two years have been for the same reason. Planned Parenthood wants to keep those lucrative abortions in-house. But at least two affiliates have chosen to part company with the abortion giant rather than be forced to commit abortions – Planned Parenthood South Texas and Planned Parenthood of South Central New York.

I just checked, and to date none of the remaining five affiliates yet offer abortions. So look for more merges.

In a side note, Indiana Right to Life CEO Mike Fichter believes “the merger will likely result in Planned Parenthood expanding its abortion business south of the Ohio River and driving the abortion rate higher in Kentucky while avoiding Indiana’s abortion laws.”

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 Real Choice, Christina Dunigan says abortion advocates omitted crucial information about Beatriz, the woman from El Salvador who delivered a terminally ill child at 27 weeks gestation, in order to make the world believe Beatriz had an abortion:
  

  Their argument was that since Beatriz’s baby was “not viable” due to anencephaly, the c-section was actually a hysterotomy abortion, performed to deliver a baby and then just let it die of prematurity.

  Thanks to Melissa for providing links to this Spanish-language article, and this one, which certainly add an interesting big of information: Beatriz had already gone into labor when doctors elected to switch from a vaginal delivery to a c-section to preserve her health….

  I’ve also learned that Beatriz and her mother did go to the nursery and see the baby.

  In other words: She didn’t have an abortion.

• At Live Action, Ashley Herzog points out the latest instance of anti-life bullying by the “hate brigade” – this time against Republican Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler (pictured left), who recently discovered that her preborn child has a potentially fatal anomaly:
  

  What motivates these people to abuse women who have chosen to carry to term despite a poor prenatal diagnosis? I strongly suspect many of them have been involved in an abortion — or know they would want one in a similar situation. It angers them to see someone make a choice they didn’t have the courage to make themselves. But it’s impossible for any normal-thinking person to really know what motivates them.

• Abstinence Clearinghouse links to an article about the balance between a minor’s privacy and parental responsibility. In her column, Mary Beth Hicks writes:
  

  How much privacy you allow depends on the child and the record of trust she has built, but your minor child’s privacy is not an entitlement. Parental responsibility for our children means we have the right to know what’s going on. That’s the only way we can guide and teach them.Too bad the abortion industry fights furiously against parental involvement when it comes to sex ed and abortion. It’s just bad for business.

• Alex Schadenberg of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition highlights an article written by Montana State Sen. Jennifer Fielder (pictured right) on the issue of assisted suicide legislation in MT, in which she notes the massive amount of funding behind pro-assisted suicide “nonprofit” lobbying groups.
• At National Review, Michael J. New discusses a report which features “two separate polls both of which found that a majority of young voters lean toward either banning or restricting abortion.”
• Big Blue Wave says Canadian conservatives seem to have the same trouble as many in the U.S. – they court pro-life support to get elected, but distance themselves from the position once in office.
• Ethika Politika notes the importance of fatherhood, and how its disappearing role in the home affects all of us. Each day this week, they will feature a new article on the subject to “make possible a more serious, productive discussion of fatherhood.”
• At FRC Blog, Anna Higgins laments the continuing reluctance of pastors to discuss abortion in the church, deeming it a “political issue” instead of a heart/sin issue necessitating repentance. Higgins also points out that where church leaders have dropped the ball, Christian rappers are beginning to speak out, offering hope and healing. One of those artists is Trip Lee:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/NQr6xmpdO5s[/youtube]

[Photo via Twitter]

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• Arizona lawmakers are working on legislation to allow abortion clinics to be inspected without announcement and without a warrant. Planned Parenthood is opposed. One state legislator pointed out the silliness of requiring a warrant to have an unannounced inspection of an abortion clinic:
  

  Rep. John Kavanagh, R–Fountain Hills, pointed out there is no warrant requirement for other state-licensed medical facilities, and that health inspectors need no warrant to check out the conditions in the food-preparation areas of the local McDonald’s restaurant, an operation Kavanagh said is far less dangerous to public safety.

  “An inspector can mosey in any time, unannounced, to protect the public,” he said.

• Bollywood star Jiah Khan (pictured left) recently committed suicide. In her suicide note, she mentions numerous issues with her boyfriend including a recent abortion. Khan wrote to her boyfriend:
  

  I aborted our baby when it hurt me deeply. You destroyed my Christmas and my birthday dinner when I came back. When I tried my hardest to make your birthday special. You chose to be away from me on Valentines Day. You promised me once we made it to one year we would get engaged. All you want in life is partying, your women and your selfish motives.

• A police officer in Pawtucket, Rhode Island has resigned after a domestic violence incident in which he attacked his ex-girlfriend after she refused to have an abortion.
• Planned Parenthood might close an abortion clinic in Appleton, Wisconsin if the state legislature passes a law to require abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles:
  

  On Monday, the bill requiring clinic physicians to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles was approved by the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee on a party-line 3-2 vote, with Republicans in the majority. The bill also requires an ultrasound before every abortion.

  Planned Parenthood’s Nicole Safar said applying for admitting privileges could take months and wouldn’t happen before the bill takes effect.

  “If this bill passes in the time frame they are proposing, we are closing the doors,” Safar said, referring to the Appleton clinic.

[Photo via LifeNews]

As reported yesterday by LifeSiteNews, IRS Exempt Organization Specialist Sherry Wan spoke with Ania Joseph of the Texas group Pro-Life Revolution, insisting that the organization remain neutral on abortion and avoid speaking to abortion-minded women in order to obtain tax exemption:

The legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom represents the group, which did not receive its tax-exempt status until last week, nearly two-and-a-half years after applying for it.

“The IRS is a tax collector; it shouldn’t be allowed to be the speech and belief police,” said Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “The current scandal isn’t new but has merely exposed the abuse of power that characterizes this agency and threatens our fundamental freedoms.”…

In March 2012, Joseph received the call from Wan that is depicted in the recording.

IRS Caught on Tape from ADF Media Relations on Vimeo.

Continued from LSN:

In February of this year, the IRS requested additional information in another letter and attempted to apply a standard for tax exemption to Pro-Life Revolution that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held to be unconstitutional in 1980. Alliance Defending Freedom pointed this out in a letter responding to the IRS, which finally granted tax-exempt status to the organization in a letter received Thursday.

“The power to tax is the power to destroy,” added Stanley…. “We cannot allow the IRS to ruthlessly dictate against legitimate non-profits simply because it does not approve of the organization’s mission….”