by Carder

It’s so wrong and scandalous. Especially at a Catholic campus…

How on earth can a woman like Gloria Steinem with such a public pro-abortion record be invited to give a lecture at a Catholic institute, which ought to be a cornerstone in the defense of innocent life?

~ Pro-life activist John Ritchie of TFP Student Action, sounding the alarm that St. Norbert College plans to host radical pro-abortion activist Gloria Steinem, October 19

Click all photos to enlarge…

The location of Planned Parenthood’s new mega-abortion clinic in San Antonio, Texas, was kept a closely guarded secret until October 11, when Planned Parenthood of South Texas CEO Jeffrey Hons gave a reporter from San Antonio Express-News a tour of the facility, now in the latter stages of construction.

The existing 22,000 sq ft building, located at 2140 Babcock Road, is being renovated at a projected cost of $6.5 million, up from $5 million just 7 months ago. Love those overruns.

Yesterday, pro-life activists from Created Equal and Love of Truth Ministries were able to enter the two-story building, around which there were no “No Trespassing” signs or fence, to conduct their own inspection, with video camera in hand. Here’s what they saw…

[youtube]http://youtu.be/3bgMqEOgB9c[/youtube]

CE’s Mark Harrington, who narrated the video, told me he almost vomited during the walk-through, particularly on the second floor, where all the “killing rooms,” as he called them, are located.

According to Harrington, a Planned Parenthood executive on the premises became visibly agitated when spotting he and his videographer exiting the building. She instructed a construction site manager to shoo the pro-lifers off the property. That’s who you see at the end of the video.

It appeared to Harrington the mega-abortion mill is at least a month from completion.

Pro-lifers are going to make that month difficult. This week they will begin exposing and confronting contractors as well as leafletting the neighborhood. They already began picketing the premises yesterday.

They will also pull as many permits as they can to inspect for irregularities.

Hons bragged to the San Antonio-Express News “an outcome that backers of HB2 probably didn’t envision” was Planned Parenthood’s expansion will enable it to commit late-term abortions. Currently, Planned Parenthood only kills babies in the first trimester.

[tweet_box]Planned Parenthood South TX CEO says new mega-abortion mill in San Antonio will kill 2,800 babies/yr.[/tweet_box]

Hons also credited the new pro-life law with a bump in the number of abortions his affiliate will now commit, “about 2,800… a year – an increase of 1,000 over the number provided two years ago, before HB2.”

In reality, any increase in abortion trade is due to Planned Parenthood’s heavy-handed monopoly of the market in Texas.

Planned Parenthood had to stop committing abortions at its current location at 104 Babcock Road on September 1, because that building did not meet ambulatory surgical center requirements. Until this building is completed, “Planned Parenthood has leased space at a local surgical center to perform abortions,” according to the paper.

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

• Fletcher Armstrong has put in a request to City Hall in Asheville, North Carolina, asking them to afford his pro-life group the same right to display a banner on the building as was given to a rainbow flag celebrating the striking down of a statewide ban on gay marriage. While he is still awaiting an official response, he has received some local TV coverage for his request.

• Down on the Pharm showcases the edgy work of California graphic artist Sabo, whose art “lampoons the Left.” Pictured at left is his response to Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis‘ 13-hour filibuster of a 20-week abortion ban, which vaulted her to prominence. They are a pair of earrings entitled, “Snip.”
• The New Yorker has a feature piece on Marjorie Dannenfelser and the history and strategy of the SBA List, as well as some great history on the pro-life movement in general.
• Kansans for Life discusses the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Kansas between pro-life Sen. Pat Roberts (R) and pro-abortion challenger Greg Orman (who says he is an Independent). Orman has used late abortionist George Tiller’s popular slogan, “Trust Women,” to promote his pro-choice beliefs, while claiming that abortion is settled law, so we need to get past the issue. Roberts was incredulous, “saying that to admonish us to ‘get past’ the rights of the unborn and those at the end of life is unconscionable”:
  

  “I am pro-life,” he said [voting record: 64 out of 64 correct pro-life votes] and am proud to be endorsed by National Right to Life and Kansans for Life.

  In a follow-up rebuttal, Roberts added, “[abortion] isn’t settled law because we had a great fight over Hobby Lobby, didn’t we? …[that] we’re not going to accept Obamacare because it strikes at our religious beliefs. And the Hobby Lobby won. And so it isn’t settled law, not by a long shot.”

• At Pro-Life Action League, John Jansen calls out the euphemisms that the abortion industry uses to sell abortion (“pregnancy termination,” and “emptying the uterus,” to name two) and shares a Planned Parenthood “whitewashed tomb of a video” which demonstrates this perfectly:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/2RQ3H2tnxfw[/youtube]

by Hans Johnson

Few truer words have been written than the oft-paraphrased observation of philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” A new short film called Sing A Little Louder seeks to remind us of that lesson.

It is based on the pro-life tract of the same name written by activist Penny Lea. She tells the story of an old man who approached her after a speech and related his experiences in a church in Nazi Germany. They heard the train whistles and the screams of terrified Jews, knowing they were being taken to the concentration camp. They decided to “sing a little louder” to drown out the cries of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

The implication for today is clear. Will we do the same? Or will we “speak a little louder” in defense of the victims of the abortion holocaust?

You can see the film’s trailer and contribute to its promotion by clicking on the image below:

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: Royce Hood]

by Kelli

Where are the women’s rights groups, like Planned Parenthood, that supposedly should be outraged that women have to go to subpar abortion facilities for care? Abortion advocates claim to want abortion to be “safe, legal and rare.” If they want it to be safe, why would they oppose a common sense regulation that seeks to protect women from dangerous doctors like Kermit Gosnell?…

The fight in Texas is not over yet and there are still many more hurdles to overcome to ensure that the abortion industry adheres to the same standards as any other outpatient facility, but, in the meantime, supposed women’s rights groups and abortion advocates should not get a free pass to cheer the Supreme Court ruling while calling common sense regulations “burdensome” for abortion facilities all in the name of “access.”

~ Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins (pictured), The Blaze, October 20

As most know by now, the U.S. SUPREME COURT ruled by a lopsided 6-3 majority on October 14 that Texas could not enforce that part of its 2013 omnibus pro-life law requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as other ambulatory surgical centers, this while the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals makes its decision on the case.

SCOTUS also blocked Texas from forcing abortionists at clinics in McAllen and El Paso to have admitting privileges within 30 miles of their clinics, also pending the 5th Circuit’s final decision. All other Texas abortionists must meet this requirement.

Otherwise, other prongs of the far-reaching statute are being enforced, and the contended issues are still in play. Most pro-lifers did not expect Chief Justice Roberts to side with the liberals, and many were surprised to see Justice Kennedy do the same.

Before I get to analysis of the votes, I’d like to untangle the chain of events, which has involved two lawsuits and many, many court decisions.

Passage of bill: June 18, 2013

HB 2 was signed into law three weeks after state Senator Wendy Davis’s (pictured right) infamous filibuster trying to block it. It includes:

1. a ban on abortion at 20 weeks post-fertilization, at which point it is known preborn babies feel pain
2. a requirement that abortionists have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic
3. a requirement that the RU-486 chemical abortion regimen follow protocol approved by either the FDA or American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
4. a requirement that abortion clinics meet the same standards as other ambulatory surgical centers

Planned Parenthood v Abbott: Sept-Oct 2013

On September 27, 2013, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit to block two of the first three parts of HB 2 before they were scheduled to take effect on October 29, 2013: the admitting privileges and RU-486 requirements.

I’m going to skip the details and get to the bottom line, which is that as of today Planned Parenthood has failed.

The only recourse Planned Parenthood now has is to ask SCOTUS to reverse the decision of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and I explained on October 7 why it would be risky for the abortion industry to ask SCOTUS to hear a case on RU-486.

The ball is in Planned Parenthood’s court, while meanwhile the RU-486 requirement is currently in effect as well as the admitting privileges requirement for all abortion clinics save two, as described below.

Whole Woman’s Health v Lakey: Apr 2014-present

On April 3, 2014, five independent abortion clinics sued to block the fourth component of HB2 from taking effect on September 1, 2014: the ASC requirement. They also sued to block the admitting privileges requirement at two outlying facilities in McAllen and El Paso.

After a lower court judge intervened on behalf of the abortion industry, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (pictured left) asked the 5th Circuit to let the newly questioned parts of HB2 take effect while the state appealed.

On October 2, a 5th Circuit of three judges agreed to Abbott’s request.

On October 3, 13 of the remaining 21 abortion clinics in Texas closed.

The clinics filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to block enforcement while they appealed to the full 5th Circuit.

On October 14, the Supreme Court agreed in a 6-3 decision.

All this means is clinics not up to ASC standards can remain open while their case is appealed, and abortionists in McAllen and El Paso can continue to abort without admitting privileges during the appeal process.

So here are the parts of HB2 in effect and not in effect at present. All parts of the law in italics or struck are in limbo. All other parts of the law are being enforced:

1. a ban on abortion at 20 weeks post-fertilization, at which point it is known preborn babies feel pain
2. a requirement that abortionists must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic – except in McAllen and El Paso
3. a requirement that the RU-486 chemical abortion regimen follow protocol approved by either the FDA or ACOG
4. a requirement that abortion clinics meet the same standards as other ambulatory surgical centers

[tweet_box]Did u know? TX 20-wk abortion ban, RU486 regs, & admitting privs at all but 2 clinics are in effect.[/tweet_box]

 What does the 6-3 Supreme Court split mean? 

There are two schools of thought when trying to read the tea leaves for the day this case may return to the Supreme Court.

The following opinion is being heard quite a bit among DC pro-lifers who study and work with the Supreme Court:

There is confidence SCOTUS will hear either this case soon or a case regarding regulation of RU-486.

Again, the 6-3 ruling did not overturn the parts of the Texas law in question. It simply prevented them from taking effect while the 5th Circuit debates the constitutionality of the law.

Kennedy, being the swing vote, likely did not want to prejudice himself by tipping his hand, thinking he is going to hear this case.

Kennedy joining with the liberals made the tally 5-3.

Since the decision was already 5-3, there was nothing for Roberts to gain by making it 5-4. Roberts is probably playing politics and wanting to keep dialogue open with the liberals by siding with them.

The other school of thought is more cynical. Fr. Ben Johnson of LifeSiteNews.com expresses it well in an email statement:

Justice Roberts (pictured left) has cast some praiseworthy votes on issues affecting the pro-life movement. However, his vote suspending enforcement of HB2 allows subpar abortion facilities to go back into the business of preying on women and killing unborn children – and it makes Roberts partially responsible for their actions until the law is upheld.

Roberts is the author of an incomprehensible ruling upholding Obamacare, a facially unconstitutional bill that some believe represents the greatest expansion of abortion funding in U.S. history. And he has left conservative justices twisting as he voted against them on procedural issues.

I would like to believe when the final vote on HB2 comes that Justice Roberts will be inclined to follow the better angels of his nature and uphold the inherent dignity of life at every stage of development.

However, I could see the liberal bloc convincing him to ignore the underlying issues and rule on the law’s effect, as he did in McCullen v. Coakley. Although a win, that ruling simply said the anti-free speech zone around Massachusetts abortion facilities was too large.

The court’s liberals would be content to have a similar decision on HB2  - that eliminating abortion facilities for hundreds of miles places an “undue burden” on women’s “right” to an abortion under Planned Parenthood v. Casey - in the process upholding bad precedent. I hope everyone will pray for Justice Roberts’ impending decision.

One final thought. Notice the abortion industry has not yet touched the 20-week ban in a lawsuit. There isn’t any other explanation than it expects the 5th Circuit would uphold the ban, creating a circuit court split with the 9th Circuit, which struck down Arizona’s 20-week ban in 2013. In the event of a circuit split, SCOTUS would be likely to hear the merits of the case, which the industry likely fears. How do you think a Supreme Court vote would go?

[Many thanks to Mailee Smith of Americans United for Life with her help on this post!]

by Kelli

Three Northland High School students recently interacted with a member of Created Equal at one of their outreaches in Ohio, providing them with more of a pro-life education than they bargained for.

One young woman first looked at the photos displayed on the group’s literature and said of abortion, “A girl’s gotta do what they gotta do.” After some respectful conversation, watch what happens:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/IpDU58lKP2g[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

by Carder

It’s true that, for political reasons, we can’t afford for those on the other side to be the only ones talking about this issue. But I’ll go a step further: If we in the pro-choice movement don’t start paying serious attention to the ways in which our own practices contribute to the dehumanization of people with disabilities, we can’t claim to operate under a reproductive justice framework at all.

~ Lenzi Sheible, a pro-choice advocate who is honestly and truly concerned that people with disabilities will feel alienated by the pro-choice rhetoric, RH Reality Check, October 17