Tuesday, February 28, 2006

I hope this was psychosis and not evil intention

ABC 7 News - Pregnant Woman Charged With Shooting Herself
Suffolk, Va. (AP) - A woman who told police she had been shot in the abdomen was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with illegally inducing an abortion by shooting herself, resulting in the death of her full-term baby girl, police said.

Of course, this just highlights the need for immediate, no-questions-asked abortions to be performed the moment a woman asks for them, right up until the moment of birth, right?

Or maybe we should stop acting as if it's perfectly rational and natural for a woman to want her own baby dead. I know it wasn't prolifers who put the idea into her head.

By request: Pre-Roe abortion deaths

There have been so many searches for pre-Roe abortion deaths that I've compiled them all, legal and illegal, onto one page.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Heresy in Hartford

Grab an emesis basis before you read. This is one of the creepiest, most revolting things I've read in a while: My Choice (Originally on the Hartford Courant web page)
I am a 58-year-old white woman. I had an abortion 19 years ago. I am not bragging, nor am I apologizing.

.... I am an ordained Christian minister.

So, this is how a minister lives out the Imitation of Christ? Does this ordained minister ever crack open a Bible? Has she never read the words expressing the value God places on each of us even before birth? Did she never notice anything the Bible says regarding the sanctity of the individual, even strangers, or of how to deal with a crisis?

  • Jeremiah 7:6 "...and do not shed innocent blood in this place..."
    The blood of the fetus, who is about as innocent as you can get, is irrefutably shed in abortion. Where on this earth can a Christian say is an appropriate place for a Christian to shed innocent blood? There is no hospital, clinic, or doctor's office where God is not present, where His eyes do not see and His heart does not grieve. Does the fact that abortion takes place outside a church building make the shedding of innocent blood any less abominable?

  • Matthew 25:40 "...whatever you did for the least of one of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me."
    How much more "least" can one be than a tiny fetus in the womb? Do not Christ's words tell us that the very smallness and helplessness of the fetus compel us even more to see Christ, and to treat our unborn brethren as we would our Savior?

  • Romans 12:1 "...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God..."
    Is making one's womb a place where a creation of God's is torn into little pieces in keeping with this scripture? Likewise, is abortion, the tearing into pieces of God's handiwork, a suitable act for inside our bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit?

  • 1 Peter 4:9 "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."
    How hospitable are we being when we deny our own offspring the safety of our wombs? If we refuse to love our own children, sheltered in our bodies, how can we claim to love our brothers and sisters who seek refuge in our homes?

    Did this ordained minister not attend seminary? Did she not study the original meanings of the words within the Scriptures? Strong's Bible Concordance and Lexicon, which ought to be on any clergyperson's bookshelf, informs us that the two Hebrew words for womb derive from the Hebrew word for compassion. Yet this woman, with no evident awareness of blasphemy, feels confident that she has every right, as a Christian and as an ordained minister, a shepherd of the flock, to deny compassion to the child in her womb?

  • Isaiah 49:15 "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?"

    I'm wondering how Jesus led this woman into an abortion clinic His path is of sacrifice for others, not of sacrificing others for self. That's a purely heathen approach, one that this particular ordained minister nevertheless embraces.
    When I got pregnant with the child I call 'Alma,' which means soul, I was not interested in a fourth child. I chose, with some searching, to exercise my constitutional right and ended her birth. .... I did what was right for me, for my family, for my work, for my husband and for my three children.

    Again, the sacrifice of other. Why? She wasn't interested. She simply chose not to care, like the priest and the Levite that walked past the injured traveller in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Did this ordained minister ever read this story in her perusal of Scriptures? Did she forget it? Or did she somehow think that the priest and the Levite were the role models Jesus had in mind? "Who is my neighbor, Lord?" This woman excludes own unborn child.
    I happen to agree that abortion is a form of murder. I think the quarrel about when life begins is disrespectful to the fetus. I know I murdered the life within me. I could have loved that life but chose not to.

    Um, don't they cover the Ten Commandments in seminary? Does this ordained minister think they're just suggestions? That God wasn't serious about the "Thou shalt not kill" business? Strong's Concordance says this word means to murder, slay, be it premeditated, accidental, or as an avenger. It's a no-no. Remember "do not shed innocent blood in this place"?
    I did what I think men do all the time when they take us to war: They choose violence because, although they believe it is bad, it is still better than the alternatives. The 'just war' theory assumes that human beings get caught in terrible choices all the time.

    Here we get to the heart of the matter. This ordained minister is angry that soldiers get to kill, but she doesn't. It's not fair! Well, it seems as if becoming a soldier might be a more Scripturally sound way to slake a blood lust. After all, at no point did Jesus order soldiers to lay down their arms. He healed the Centurion's servant without any critique of the man's martial occupation. If, as a Christian, this woman finds it unfair that men get to kill but women don't, she could have joined today's Army. She need not have brought war and bloodshed into her own body.
    This freedom is not just for men; it is for women also.

    She seems to think that men have the freedom to simply kill anybody whose presence troubles them. War is not an exercise in freedom to the men participating. It's a time of brotherhood and terror. It's a time to kill or be killed -- or to see your brothers blown to bits. Where did she get the idea that war is some time of giddy freedom for men to go about killing at will? And why does she think that soldiers obeying orders, acting against enemy combatants, somehow gives women the right to carry out raids on the helpless noncombatants in their own bodies? Doesn't the Geneva Convention forbid the killing of helpless civilians? If she wants to equate abortion with war, she's going to have to recognize that even by her own analogy, she's guilty of the worst of war crimes: slaughtering innocent, unarmed, children. Honey, that's not combat; it's an atrocity, regardless of the sex of the person doing it.
    When I made my choice to end one life on behalf of other life, I was terribly troubled. I was in a double bind. I prayed and anguished. Then I made a choice.

    There would have been no double bind, no anguish, had she simply chosen to follow her Savior.
    .... Instead, it is about women and sex and about women and maturity. .... When I made my choice to end life, I was behaving as an adult. I did not shrink from the responsibility of making a choice. .... The unprotected sex I had with my husband while nursing our twins had a consequence that neither of us desired. It was a human life. That's why we named her, wept for her, wanted her but also knew we did not want her enough.

    She shrank for her responsibility to nurture her child, to practice Christian hospitality, to refrain from shedding innocent blood. She shrank from every responsibility a Christian can have to other people.
    Because women are mature sexual beings who make choices, birth control and abortion are positive moral forces in history. They allow sex to be both procreational and recreational.... That is good news....

    Where in the Bible is recreational sex lauded as a great good? I've not done an extensive study on sexuality the way I have of abortion, but still, this one puzzles me. Casual sex seemed to be frowned on in Scriptures.
    [Abstinence] is immoral to its core.Obviously, protected sex is the most moral thing of all. Unprotected sex is adolescent, immature, sometimes life-threatening and always stupid. Women are mature enough to handle that. We are not babies. Sometimes, in the battle over killing our babies, I hear the echo of people wanting to kill women's maturity and sexuality. .... That's why I am breaking my silence about who I am.

    How she equates killing babies with being responsible adults boggles the mind. I thought the whole idea of being an adult was of being responsible for caring for one's offspring, not offing them because we can't be bothered.

    Well, I have to leave for work, with this woman's appalling embrace of violence against children echoing in my mind. Pray for us all. Because if this is how an ordained minister approaches abortion, there is a great cancer in the Body of Christ.
  • More recent searches.

    Somebody wanted Steve Lichtenberg. He's the guy who performed the fatal abortion on 13-year-old Deanna Bell. Strangely enough, I can't find Lichtenberg on the Illinois medical board's physician database.

    Someone else was looking for dr. turow. Dr. David Turow performed the fatal abortion on Kathleen Gilbert, and provided the inadequate abortion aftercare that allowed Dorothy Muzorewa to bleed to death. More information on Turow's malpractice is here. According to the Illinois medical board's physician database, Turow is dead.

    Another search was for richard schwarz septic abortion. I have nothing on a Richard Schwarz on RealChoice. Nor do I have anything in my notes. I think what this person is looking for is Septic Abortion, by Dr. Richard Schwarz, published in 1968. This book cites the discredited overestimates of abortion deaths originally put forth by Frederick Taussig. In other words, whatever other value the book may have, it's not a reliable source for statistics.

    Somebody was searching for abortionist harvey johnson. Johnson performed the fatal abortion on Shary Graham while working for Carol Everett. I searched the Texas medical board site, and found a John Harvey Johnson III, deceased, at 11617 North Central Freeway in Dallas. I'm not sure if this is the same Dr. Harvey Johnson who was responsible for Shary's death.

    Someone searched for pre-Roe abortion deaths. I recommend that this searcher simply go to the Cemetery of Choice and click on deaths with pre-1973 dates. Since this search seems fairly common, I might need to put them all on one page together.

    Another person searched for abortion+stories+teen. I blogged this topic before, at Teen Abortion Stories.

    And, the last for this roundup, is the search for why do women use abortion for birth control. I did a series, Are Abortions Used as Birth Control?.

    Call for abortionists to stop racial profiling

    HT: JivinJehosphaphat

    Stop racial profiling of abortion clinics
    When a black motorist is stopped without cause, simply because of the color of his or her skin, people from all walks of life are understandably incensed.

    Yet, when abortionists disproportionately set up shop in predominately African-American neighborhoods across Michigan, preying on vulnerable black women caught in an unwanted pregnancy, not so much as a whimper of outrage is heard. Not even in the black community does anyone seem to take notice or, if they do, work to expose this dirty little secret. ....

    Of the 36 abortion clinics in Michigan, doesn't it seem unusual that nearly one-third are located in our three largest black-majority cities? ....

    Beyond this, more than 80 percent of all abortion clinics are located in the 10 counties that boast the highest number of African-American residents. While these same 10 counties represent about 57 percent of the state's total population, they represent more than 92 percent of the African-American population. ....

    If this isn't racial profiling, then what is?

    No wonder African-Americans, while representing about 12 percent of the nation's population, account for 30 percent of all abortions. ....

    When African Americans are concerned, the abortion industry obviously puts aside it's "safe and rare" mantra and instead replaces it with one that appears to embrace "numerous and near."

    While we're at it, let's not forget that Black women are disproportionately likely to die from complications once they're on the abortion table.

    Three safe-n-legal anniversaries: Diana Lopez, Andrea Corey, and Diane Adams


    Diana Lopez
    , age 25, was 19 weeks pregnant when she went to a Planned Parenthood for an abortion on February 28, 2002. Before the day was over, Diana had bled to death. She left two sons, 4-year-old Frankie and 2-year-old Fabian, motherless. The taxpayers of California paid for the fatal abortion, courtesy of Medi-Cal.

    After the abortion, Diana had been rushed by ambulance to County Women's Hospital, where a hysterectomy was performed and Diana was given five units of whole blood in a futile attempt to save her life. Diana's autopsy noted that Diana had hemorrhaged from a perforation of her cervix.

    Diana's husband, David, filed suit, alleging that the abortionist's haste caused severe lacerations that killed his wife. The suit says that Diana's abortion was rushed through in ony six minutes, although Planned Parenthood's own web site says such a procedure should take 10 to 20 minutes. The lawsuit also blames Planned Parenthood for proceeding with an abortion even though Diana's hemoglobin levels were abnormally low prior to the procedure.

    The family's attorney also noted that in 2000, the same Planned Parenthood had rushed another woman though a similar 6-minute abortion, lacerating her cervix, rupturing her uterus, perforating her sigmoid colon and causing the loss of 2 liters of blood. Planned Parenthood also delayed three hours before transferring the patient to a hospital. Fortunately, this patient survived her ordeal.

    A review of Los Angeles County civil cases indicates that this patient was probably Kimberly T., who sued on April 19, 2002, after her abortion by Joseph Marmet. Kimberly's suit was one of roughly 50 filed against the Los Angeles Planned Parenthood from 1983 to 2002. The medical board took no action against Marmet.

    The medical board took no action against Diana's abortionist, Dr. Mark Maltzer, either. However, the California Department of Health Services investigated the facility and cited Planned Parenthood for:
    • Failing to institute a necessary change in medical protocol relating to the use of laminaria (used to expand the cervix) in the dilation and evacuation procedure.
    • Lacking the evidence to show a completed assessment of the competency and credentials of the physician who carried out the abortion.
    • Inadequately advising against a potentially dangerous second-trimester D&E procedure based on low hemoglobin levels.
    • Failing to follow proper surgical abortion policy and procedure by administering Cytotec to the patient on day one of the two-day abortion procedure, when policy requires it to be administered 90 minutes before the surgical procedure on day 2.
    • Failing to inform Planned Parenthood's governing body of any adverse outcome related to patient care within the facility.
    • Failing to notify the Health Department of a patient's death within 24 hours of the occurrence.
    • Keeping incomplete records describing the services provided to Diana Lopez
    The fact that the Planned Parenthood has made 'corrections' to satisfy the state does not satisfy Diana's family. 'It was wrong. It was wrong,' said Judy Lopez, Diana's older sister. 'She was healthy. She was fine.'

    Andrea Corey was 31 years old when she was referred by nearby Planned Parenthood to Southern Tier Women's Services in New York for an abortion. Andrea was sent home after her abortion, but she had retained tissue that caused an infection. She died of this infection on February 28, 1993.

    The only information I've been able to gather on Diane Adams comes from pro-life web sites. Human Life International mentions that abortionist Angel Acevado Montalvo was charged with manslaughter in two cases of maternal deaths from abortion. But the report doesn't give the names of the patients. HLI also notes that after his conviction, Montalvo went right back to business doing abortions.

    Priests for Life posts a list of women who have died from legal abortions, including Diane, whose date of death they give as February 28, 1992. They cite a March 5, 1992 article in the Virgin Islands Daily News. They cite one other death, that of Rosael Rodriguez, from that article. Rosael Rodriguez and Diane Adams are therefore most likely the two women referred to by HLI.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Monday, February 27, 2006

    Today's searches, a real hodgepodge

    First, there's "Mrs. W. Pick Magee Woman's Hospital".

    Magee Women's Hospital is where the fatal abortion was performed on Marla Cardamone. As to Mrs. W. Pick, specifically, I found this interesting tidbit:
    Mrs. W. Pick was an anesthetist working at the Magee Woman's Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her superior told her that a new assignment consisted of putting women to sleep while their babies were aborted. Then, while the women were still unconscious, the babies were taken away to research centers for vivisection experiments. "It was repulsive to watch live fetuses [living babies] being packed . . while still moving and trying to breathe, then being rushed to a laboratory." Apparently this sickened her and so Mrs. Pick requested to be excused from helping with the abortions done at the hospital. Her request "was denied . . with threats of being fired, harassment, intimidation, restrictions in assigned duties, etc." Finally she quit her job. (Mrs. W. Pick, Anesthetist, Sworn testimony before the Pennsylvania Abortion Commission, 1972)

    This is one where I hope somebody resurrects the story. The documents are no doubt in public record. The State Library in Harrisburg would no doubt have them available. I have enough on my plate. Any volunteers? (The parallels with the current embryonic stem-cell brouhaha are clear.)

    And, just as an added note, Magee women's hospital is a plaintiff in two other cases in my notes:

  • Roxanne W. alleged that their employees perforated her uterus in a 1984 abortion at Women's Health Services. (I'll do a write up later, looking at the primary plaintiff, Mark Caine.)
  • Nabila Z. alleged that she suffered a perforated uterus in a 1980 abortion at Magee by Robert Kisner. (I'll write this up later when I focus on Kisner.)

    Next, there's "arnetta hardaway lawsuit".

    Arnetta Hardaway was 18 years old when she had a mid-trimester abortion performed by Dr. George Tucker in Atlanta on December 23, 1985. Arnetta continued to bleed, and developed infection, after her abortion. On December 27, she died from her complications.

    Then we have two searches for "Hyperemesis Blog". Go to The S.I.C.L.E. Cell and Ashli is bound to have a link to whatever you're looking for.

    Next is a search for "barbara lofrumento". Barbara died in 1962 in an abortion performed by Dr. Harvey Lothringer in his home office. What adds a gruesome touch is that Lothringer then cut Barbara into little pieces and tried to put her down the toilet and the garbage disposal. Then he called a friend -- who happened to be a cop -- and asked him to have Roto-Rooter come unclog his drains. Dumb move.

    Someone else was looking for "MUCIE". Perhaps he or she meant Dr. Richard Mucie, who performed the fatal abortion on Nancy Ward in 1968. Mucie was further disciplined by the medical board after getting his license back, but we at Life Dynamics were unable to get the documents because by then, Mucie was dead and the Missouri medical board won't release disciplinary documents on dead physicians.

    Next was a search for "pictures malcom knarr kansas". Knarr, or at least William Malcom Knarr, was, pardon the pun, knarrly. But he was still welcome in the National Abortion Federation Clearly, they're not too picky. Sorry, I couldn't find any pictures.

    Somebody wanted "'Phillip Rand' pictured". I found this on a Dogpile search:

    The link was dead, but originated with Operation Rescue. A search of their site found the picture accompanying this article, and again with this article. OR also has this article on when Rand's license was yanked.

    Somebody else wanted "percent of women on birth control who have abortions". Does anybody have this information handy?
  • CBS: Evil, or just stupid?

    JivinJehoshaphat: CBS, what about adult stem cell research?
    Last night while flipping thru the channels ... I came upon a 60 Minutes story on stem cell research. The transcript is here. The slanted story which didn't have an interview with anyone who is opposed to embryonic stem cell research had some solid whoppers in it. .... But I think the most amazing (even though relatively predictable) part of the segment is that stem cells from adults and umbilical cords weren't mentioned once. .... After discussing how embryonic stem cell research still needs to jump over some hurdles before it can be tested in humans, we learn that there is 'one area of stem-cell research' that is ready for human testing.'But there is one area of stem-cell research that is now ready for human testing and it may be the only chance that Joanna and Marcus Kerner have to save the life of their 6-year-old son, Daniel.'Guess which area. .... It's research on stem cells from aborted children. .... I guess America doesn't need to know that research with adult stem cells has outpaced embryonic stem cell research with regards to spinal cord injuries, heart disease and diabetes when hyping embryonic stem cells seems to never get old.

    Does anybody know how to contact these turkeys and hold their feet to the fire? They're not doing investigative journalism. They're doing public relations for embryonic stem-cell researchers.

    Again I ask, are they evil, or just stupid?

    Anniversary: Pre-Roe legal abortion death

    "Roseanne" Roe was in the second trimester of pregnancy when she chose safe and legal abortion in 1971. She was 37 years old, had had four children.

    She was infused with saline for the abortion. Two days later, she began vomiting and having siezures. She aspirated some of the vomit and developed pneumonia.

    The pneumonia took its toll. Roseanne died on February 27 from the pneumonia and anoxic brain damage.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Sunday, February 26, 2006

    The tide is turning: Post-abortive Kansas lawmaker reveals pain

    Wichita Eagle | 02/24/2006 | Landwehr: No regrets of abortion disclosure
    Rep. Brenda Landwehr said Thursday that she has no regrets about publicly revealing a day earlier that she had an abortion years ago.
    The Wichita Republican, among the most vocal abortion opponents in the Legislature, talked about the matter during debate on a bill to regulate abortion clinics.
    Her immediate family was aware of the abortion, she said, but she had never shared the experience with her colleagues. And she didn't intend to talk about it when she went to the microphone.
    'I have to believe that it was supposed to happen,' she said. 'A higher power guides us. Obviously, it was not something that was planned. I've served here 12 years.'

    Nobody can say she knows not of what she speaks. Read more in Abortion bill gets personal.

    The blogosphere is abuzz:
  • Abortion Watch includes important links, among them a TV interview you can watch.

  • After Abortion blog praises Rep. Landwehr and includes several links.

  • Adam's Blog comments, "It takes a great deal of courage to do something like that. There are a lot of women out there in the pro-life movement who've had an abortion and the pro-life movement has always had a firm message that there's forgiveness and healing. I hope its a message that women in Kansas who are hiding their abortion and suffering in silence will hear and get help."

  • News You Need to Know has a discussion going.

  • Swords Into Plowshares cites the moment when Landwehr blurted out her secret: "How many of you have sat down and really talked to a young woman who’s gone through with an abortion, and what she’s living with today?" asked Landwehr as her voice choked with emotion. "You live with a lot. I’m one of those women. I live with that pain every single day. Because I killed a baby. . .It’s more than just a surgical procedure, having a knee repaired or a hip replaced."

    Of course, abortion supporters are less than delighted:

  • Republicans for Satan calls for Rep. Landwehr to immediately be removed from her office, lest she impose the will of the Vatican on the American people.

  • the last goddess of the midwest gets even more melodramatic: "Listening to NPR news at work this morning, i heard this story about five times. In the sound bite, she cries. Cries. Choked up tears of pro-life bullshit. I am ashamed to share the same reproductive organs as this woman, not to mention ashamed i share a state that would vote her into office for 12 years." What a bubbling wellspring of compassion! Who says prochoicers don't care about women?
  • Illegal abortion death anniversary: Patsy Roe

    On February 6, 1924, Ida Cantor performed an abortion on a woman not named in Westlaw summaries. I'll refer to her as 'Patsy' Roe.

    Patsy developed septicemia after the abortion, and went to a hospital on February 11. She was treated there until her death on February 26.

    The jury found that Ida used improperly sterilized or non-sterile instruments in the abortion.



    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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    Saturday, February 25, 2006

    Don't bother this person with facts!

    cad_red_ducati: Read this and be PISSED OFF!!!

    cad_red_ducati only allows friends to post at his/her/its Live Journal, so that he/she/it won't be pestered with annoying things like reality. He/she/it posted:
    Read this and be PISSED OFF!!!
    Sections of the purposed law to criminalize abortion in South Dakota:


    Section 2. The Legislature finds that the life of a human being begins when the ovum is fertilized by male sperm. The Legislature finds that the explosion of knowledge derived from new recombinant DNA technologies over the past twenty-five years has reinforced the validity of the finding of this scientific fact.
    The Legislature finds that, based upon the evidence derived from thirty years of legalized abortions in this country, the interests of pregnant mothers protected under the South Dakota Bill of Rights have been adversely affected as abortions terminate the constitutionally protected fundamental interest of the pregnant mother in her relationship with her child and abortions are performed without a truly informed or voluntary consent or knowing waiver of the woman's rights and interests. The Legislature finds that the state has a duty to protect the pregnant mother's fundamental interest in her relationship with her unborn child.

    Section 4. The Legislature finds that abortion procedures impose significant risks to the health and life of the pregnant mother, including subjecting women to significant risk of severe depression, suicidal ideation, suicide, attempted suicide, post traumatic stress disorders, adverse impact in the lives of women, physical injury, and a greater risk of death than risks associated with carrying the unborn child to full term and childbirth.


    I, for one, find these two sections extremely paternalistic. What in insult to any adult woman! Also the section 4 is a total rehash of all the “abortion causes depression” crap that the anti-choicers spew.

    I wanted to respond:
    And I supposed you'd like to personally tell Stacy Zallie's parents that their daughter's suicide was just a figment of "antichoicers" imaginations. Just like we imagined Arlin della Cruz's suicide. And Sandra Kaiser's. And Carol Cunningham's. And Sandra Roe's.

    I'm sure these families will be very comforted to know that their daughters didn't really kill themselves, that it's just them mean old antichoicers who made them think that their daughters are dead.

    And I guess we somehow infiltrated the brains of CDC researchers and made them imagine a greater rate of violent deaths among women in the year post-abortion.

    Gosh, we're just Svengali-like in our ability to make people imagine dead women where there are none!

    But cad_red_ducati is too smart for me! He/she/it has foiled my attempts to make him/her/it see all these non-existent dead women!

    Somebody wanted TSS mortality rates

    In Comparative Safety - Abortion & Stuff Folks Get Riled About, I noted that TSS is seen in one per 100,000 menstruating women. The mortality rate for TSS is roughly three percent. So the risk of death from TSS associated with tampon use is .03 deaths per 100,000. This is considered significant enough to alert women to the risks of tampon-associated TSS, and significant enough to warrant policing of the feminine tampon industry.

    The Centers for Disease Control claim a death rate of 1.2 deaths per 100,000 legal abortions. I would dispute that, because I don't think the CDC makes more than a cursory attempt to identify legal abortion deaths. Nevertheless, it's the only number we have, so we have to use it.

    So, by the CDC's estimates, a woman is more likely to die from an abortion than she is to get TSS from using a tampon -- and even if she gets TSS, she has a 97% chance of survival.

    Okay, the risk of TSS was higher in 1979, when the use of new materials by some tampon manufacturers led to an epidemic. The number of TSS cases at the peak of the epidemic was perhaps 12 per 100,000 menstruating women. That's still .36 deaths per 100,000 menstruating women, or about 1/3 the CDC's (under)estimated risk of death from abortion. This risk was still much smaller than the risk from abortion, but rightly considered enough of a risk to alert women and hold tampon manufacturers accountable.

    Gosh, I wonder why the CDC sees fit to tell tampon manufacturers how to make and market and label their product, and to insist on inserts in the packages to warn women of the risks, but go overboard to assure women that the risker gambit of abortion is perfectly safe.

    Is Milagros Cerron, the "mermaid baby", okay?

    Somebody was searching for "sirenomelia baby died". I am worried that this means that little Milagros Cerron, the second documented survivor of "mermaid syndrome", has died. All my search has turned up is medical case studies of infants who had the usual, fatal form of sirenomelia, which involves kidneys that are severely dysfunctional or even absent. These infants typically die in-utero, or within a few hours of birth, if they're fortunate enough not to have been diagnosed prenatally and targeted for abortion.

    Does anybody know anything? Is Milagros okay?

    Landmark Women's Center is just a quack's office

    Somebody was searching for Landmark Women's Center. Though it sounds like a name for a clinic, it's actually just the office of Mi Yong Kim, who performed the fatal abortion on Adelle Roe in 2002.

    This is a common gambit among abortionists. They give their offices a name that sounds like a clinic, leading patients to assume that the place is a clinic and thus subject to the kinds of regulations and inspections a clinic would be subject to. However, since they're legally just the physician's private practice, they're subject to very little oversight.

    Friday, February 24, 2006

    Charlotte Wyatt in need of urgent prayers!!! :: Action Items :: BlogsforTerri

    Charlotte Wyatt in need of urgent prayers!!! :: Action Items :: BlogsforTerri

    Baby Charlotte is ill with a virus that is making it difficult for her to breathe. Doctors are poised to take away her vent if she needs it.

    Anniversary: Eastern Women's Center Leaves Woman in Fatal Coma

    A suit was filed on behalf of Venus Ortiz, age 23. The following are the allegations raised in the suit against National Abortion Federation member Eastern Women's Center.



    Evidence indicated that the abortion of Venus' approximately 15-week pregnancy was performed by a Dr. Leiber. The abortion took place at Eastern February 24, 1993.

    The suit alleged that there was negligence in administering anesthesia to Venus, and failure to establish an airway. Brevital, fentanyl, and midazolam were administered in dosages and manners contrary to standards of practice, causing Venus to suffer a synergistic reaction.

    Eastern's staff failed to promptly diagnose and attend to cardio-pulmonary arrest. Eastern's notes of 5:35 PM indicate '2:35 PM end of surgery ... we noticed patient's ashen color and the pulse oximeter tracing and digital readout were gone from the monitor.' Emergency medical services were called. The reading of Venus' blood pressure at that time was 90/55; four minutes later it was recorded as being 146/62.

    Venus was transported by ambulance to a hospital, accompanied by Dr. Cyrus, Dr. Goodman, and/or Dr. Jeffrey P. Moskowitz. However, the damage had already been done. Venus was left in permanent need of respirator, with profound brain damage. Venus remained in a coma/vegetative state. She was hospitalized a little over five months before being transferred to permanent nursing home care.

    To further underscore Eastern's neglect of patients' needs, the suit also noted that although this young woman was undergoing her 4th abortion, Venus had not been referred to a social worker.

    Venus remained in a permanent vegetative state for the remainder of her life. She died in New York on December 16, 1998 at the age of 29.

    Two other patients, Dawn Ravenelle and Dawn Mack, also died of complications of abortions done at Eastern Women's Center.

    Other women who lingered in a coma or vegitative state before dying from abortion complications include:
    • Delores Smith, whose fifteenth birthday came and went during the four months she remained comatose
    • Catherine Pierce, who left an 11-year-old daughter motherless after seven months in a coma
    • Deborah Ann Lozinski, who died after two months in a coma
    • Suzanne Logan, who spent four months in a coma before awakening, paralyzed and unable to speak; she remained in a nursing home for three years until her death
    • Shelby Moran, mother of five, who languished in a nursing home for over twenty years while her five children grew up without her


    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    I've updated my PBA series

    Inventors on the Bench is the first in a series I did back in 1999. With new links. Vital for understanding how we came to be where we are with the battle over these gruesome late abortions.

    Thursday, February 23, 2006

    Dynamic new pregnancy outreach


    A View from the Sidewalks: Abby Women's Center
    AWC is a dynamic approach to the Crisis Pregnancy Center/Pregnancy Resource Center concept. Instead of expecting abortion-minded women to come to us through advertising, we go to them, by sidewalk counseling in front of abortion mills. Our sidewalk counselors give women information, and direct women to free sonograms and other resources.

    .... AWC also provides comprehensive care. Instead of just providing referrals and baby items, we provide mentoring. .... Our mentoring program seeks to thwart her disillusionment and help her make goals to achieve her dreams in light of having a child. She wants to go to college? Let's look at grants for students with dependent children and family housing options. Let's look at subsidized childcare availability. We want her to know that pregnancy is the beginning of a new life, not the end of her own.

    .... Our abortion after care approach is different from other pregnancy centers. Most women only seek abortion healing 7-10 years and several abortions later. We stand at the exit of abortion mills with special Bibles and gospel tracts, along with a message that God still loves them and that they can be healed and never endure another abortion.

    .... We know that we may only have one chance with a woman heading into an abortion mill, but we have daily opportunities to minister to the clinic workers. Our outreach to clinic workers is a vital aspect of our ministry. So far, in just a few short months of witnessing, we have been able to help one young lady leave the industry.

    .... Now you know what Abby Women's Center does. But did you know that WE DO ALL THIS WITHOUT A BUILDING?! So far, our sonographer works out of another center, our social worker and mentors schedule with the individual women to meet at restaurants and in homes, and our sidewalk counselors are stationed all over the city of Dallas. We know that it's God's will for us to have a permanent presence next to Aaron's Women's Health Center, the only late-term abortion mill in North Texas, but we need more funding to make this happen.One local pastor has offered to let us make a presentation at his church and take an offering. Please pray that this will be fruitful. If you would like to support the work of Abby Women's Center, please contact us. Our email is abbywomenscenter@gmail.com.Thank you all for your prayers and support!

    Surprise Child


    Four years ago I walked into the bathroom, hand clenched around a white cellophane-wrapped stick. Three minutes later the bathroom door opened, and my face was white. In a tiny centimetered window no bigger than my fingernail a faint line slowly emerged, then solidified. It was the face of another human being—one I had not asked for. Surely my life was over.

    I'm the mom of a surprise child. I was a surprise myself. Not all surprises are bad!

    Searchers - Herbal abortion and more

    Lately I'm getting a lot of visitors hopping over from my response to the home-abortion tea recipe. I went through the posts and the readers there don't seem to understand that abortion attempts can lead the woman to attribute her symptoms to the abortion rather than to an ectopic pregnancy, resulting in death. L., if you're here, can you try explaining it to them one more time? They seem to think I'm telling them that the abortion tea can relocate the embryo! (While at the same time they deny that there actually is an embryo. Lots of confusion over there.)

    Interestingly enough, somebody else was looking for the Kris Humphrey abortion lawsuit. Kris's parents are suing the herbalist that sold her the pennyroyal from which she made her home-abortion tea. Kris died from liver damage and complications of an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Kris attributed her symptoms the the abortifacient effects of her tea, and kept dosing herself, damaging her liver and allowing the ectopic pregnancy to rutpure. This is the sort of thing I've been trying to warn the angry-for-a-reason gang about.

    As for the Brenda Vise abortion lawsuit, I'm not up to date on how the suit is progressing, but the information about Brenda's death is here. L., you might reference Brenda's death if you go talk to the angry-for-a-reason home-abortion crowd: Brenda died from an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy because she, and her "health care providers", attributed her symptoms to the normal abortion process instead of recognizing that her life was in danger.

    I'm not sure what the searcher is looking for with "no fetus in sac". Information in this article, When the POC Really is Just Tissue, might answer your question.

    The search for "abortion deaths pre-Roe" should carry over to the Cemetery of Choice. Just click on dates that are prior to Roe. If you're looking for something more specific, let me know.

    Searches: Nichole Williams, RU-486 in Louisville, abortion teas, and illegal abortions


    Nichole Williams
    is the most recent woman to die after abortion by National Abortion Federation member Robert Dale Crist. Crist was also responsible for the deaths of Diane Boyd and Latachie Veal.



    I'd not recommend that the searcher who is looking for Louisville, KY, clinics that perform RU-486 abortions actually go there. The only abortionists I can find in Lousiville, KY, is NAF member EMW Women's Surgical Center. Their security guard turned out to be a rapist. And EMW's abortionist botched an abortion on a 16-year-old Indiana girl that Planned Parenthood brought across state lines to evade parental consent laws.

    I'd also recommend that the person looking for home abortion tea remedies not proceed, lest she end up like Kris Humphrey, who thought her herbal abortion tea must be safe because it was "natural." Not to mention, the baby's just as dead, no matter what method you use to end its life. Click on one of the many pregnancy help sites in my sidebar instead. Or call The Nurturing Network, 1-800-TNN-4-MOM.

    And the search for illegal abortion deaths should take you to the pages where I've broken down fatal illegal abortions into those done by doctors, those done by paramedical staff, those done by amateurs, and those done by the woman herself.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Abortion History: After fatal abortion, doctor pulls stupid crook trick

    On February 14, 1944, Amelia Cardito, a 34-year-old mother of 4, underwent an illegal abortion at the office of Dr. Anthony Renda. Amelia died nine days later in a New York hospital.

    Renda, author of three books on obstetrics, may have been a smart doctor, but he was a stupid crook. He implicated himself when he called police to complain that Amelia's widower was shaking him down for funeral expenses.

    Renda was sentenced to 7 years in Sing-Sing for Amelia's death. (New York Times 4-1-43, 4-22-43, 4-21-44, 5-12-44)



    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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    Wednesday, February 22, 2006

    PBA background

    Inventors on the Bench

    This is one of my older pieces, but it has a lot of good background information on PBA. I'm going to update it and add a sidebar, so I'd appreciate suggestions as to information to add and links for the sidebar.

    Dutch Lawmaker Proposes Forced Abortions to Stop "Unwanted Children"

    Dutch Lawmaker Proposes Forced Abortions to Stop "Unwanted Children"
    A ... councilwoman in Rotterdam says that forced abortions should be used to curb the 'problem' of unwanted children in Holland and its territories.

    Alderman Marianne van den Anker ... says the forced abortion and contraception would reduce the incidence of child abuse. ....

    Van den Anker said Antillean teenage mothers, drug addicts and those who are mentally disabled should be forced to have abortions and use contraception if they are having sex. .... She indicated courts would determine when women should be forced to have abortions and that social workers 'can see in 95 percent or even 100 percent of cases whether the child has a chance of growing up with love.'"

    To their credit, the Dutch aren't rallying behind her. But what's alarming is that she's considered credible enough to be elected to public office.

    It's not been that long since we had forced sterilization in the US.

    Blog roundup: Whose choice?

    JivinJehoshaphat: Whose "choice" is this?
    JJ quotes Jasmine's struggle with her boyfriend's pressure to abort:
    When we agreed yes to keeping it one afternoon, we talked about naming the baby, what the baby would look like...complexion, eyes, nose, hair..and then the rest of the day would go by...and nothing would be talked about..then he woke me up that night to tell me that he doesn't want to keep it...because he's not ready to settle down....

    Later that afternoon as I was taking him to work we argued at the fact that I said I'm keeping the baby...and he was giving me the guilt trips...after a few mins...he agreed to keeping the baby again...and then...the next morning..after he dropped me off at work..he went to an abortion clinic...talked to a counselor...and then came back to me with paperwork that its okay to have an abortion....

    Doesn't she just sound so empowered!

    *****

    Pro Life Blogs examines today's episode of Starting Over, in which a woman copes with her abortion:
    The show tried its best to support "choice," but the grief this woman feels is heartbreaking testimony to the effects of "choice."

    After writing a goodbye letter to her "little one," Jodi breaks down. She said she pictured this "pretty package" that would be her life after the abortion, but that wasn't what she ended up with.

    "I realized the pretty package doesn't matter. I'd do anything to have that child now," she said, then broke down sobbing.


    *****

    With "National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers" coming up March 10, it's nice that Birth Story posted a link of Ex-Abortion Workers: Why They Quit. We ought to do a concurrent "Outreach to Rescue Abortion Workers" on March 10.
    "And as I brought out the rib cage, I looked and I saw a tiny, beating heart. And when I found the head of the baby, I looked squarely in the face of another human being--a human being that I'd just killed. I turned to the scrub nurse and said, "I'm sorry." But I just knew that I couldn't be a part of abortion anymore."

    ....

    "The baby's little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the [surgical] scissors in the back of his head, and the baby's arms jerked out...
    The doctor opened up the scissors, stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening, and sucked the baby's brains out. Now the baby went completely limp.
    I was really completely unprepared for what I was seeing. I almost threw up as I watched Dr. Haskell doing these things....
    The woman wanted to see her baby, so they cleaned up the baby and put it in a blanket and handed it to her. She cried the whole time. She kept saying, "I am so sorry, please forgive me." I was crying, too. I couldn't take it."

    ....

    "I counseled these women so well; they were so sure of their decision. Why are they coming back to me months and years later--psychological wrecks?"

    ....

    "I took speed while I was at work. And I smoked marijuana, drank lots of alcohol....this is the way that I coped with what I did. It was horrible to work there, and there was no good in it."

    *****

    Nathan Sheets reviews Why No Health Exception.

    *****

    Birth Story is putting together a pregnancy health list by country, state, and possibly area.

    Peeking behind the politics of PBA

    Gambling With Abortion (Harpers.org)

    HT: Dawn Eden

    This informative piece is an oldie but goodie, looking into the strategic planning of both prolife and prochoice organizations in approaching brain-sucking abortions. A must-read!

    Searches: 13-year-old's abortions, etc.

    Somebody was searching for 13-year-old's abortions. I have these deaths:
    Deanna Bell
    and Dawn Ravenelle.

    *****

    Somebody else wanted EMW Women's Clinic. EMW was one of the seedy mills the ACLU backed in a lawsuit.

    *****

    Somebody else wanted "back alley abortions 1920's american women trying to give themselves abortions." That's really two different topics. I have these deaths for the 1920s. Doctors performed 8, paramedical or trained staff 2, laypeople 1, and 2 were self-induced. Those were Clara Duvall and Ruth Friedl.

    Other self-induced abortion deaths I know of are:


    *****

    Somebody wanted John and Susan Hamilton. Abortionist John Hamilton (pictured) was convicted of the 2001 Valentine's Day murder of his wife, Susan.

    *****

    As for the search for "'New York Times' Koonin 2006 CDC", all I can tell you offhand is that Lisa Koonin was (maybe still is) an employee of the Centers for Disease Control's abortion surveillance activities. She was supposed to "verify" abortion deaths so they could be investigated. Koonin and her co-worker, Stanley Henshaw, managed to completely fail to notice the abortion death of Latachie Veal, even though they were present at a National Abortion Federation seminar where the death was discussed. Koonin worked for the abortion-activism organization the Alan Guttmacher Institute while working at the CDC, which is a clear conflict of interest. Koonin had also served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.

    *****

    Somebody else was searching for Leigh Ann Alford. Leigh Ann died from a safe and legal abortion in 2003.

    *****

    Another search was for P. Scott Ricke. This guy was caught in inappropriate sexual relationships with his abortion patients. He botched an abortion on a patient I call Andi. He sent abortion patient "Sandra" to the hospital with her 28-week fetus hanging partway out her vagina after he botched the abortion in his office. The medical board smacked his hand for these and other bad behaviors.

    *****

    Somebody else was searching for Manar Maged. She was the little girl who survived surgery to remove her parasitic twin, Islaam.

    *****

    And someone was searching for abortion survivors. My sidebar has several photos that link to the stories of some children born alive after abortions.

    Turning back the clock

    Accoucheur's Antique

    Yes, folks, fans of the Destructive Operation, aka "D&X" aka "Partial-Birth Abortion", claim that it's prolifers who want to "turn back the clock" to the "bad old days". Well, visit the obstetric house of horrors courtesy of this fellow's collection of medical antiques. Look familiar?

    Tuesday, February 21, 2006

    Blog roundup - "Nobody wants an abortion", South Dakota hand-wringing, etc.

    Leaves from a Mislaid Album - Back to the Dark Ages.
    Nobody wants an abortion. Nobody gets a kick out of someone scraping around and vacuuming her insides. I have never known a woman who made the choice to have an abortion easily. I have never known a woman who was not thoroughly devastated by the decision to end a pregnancy. Every woman I know who has ever made this decision has made it because she did not have the means to support the child. Outlawing abortion again will not bring more potential children into the world, but many, many more women will die.

    I asked why, if nobody wants an abortion, it's considered "helping" when you facilitate one. Wouldn't it make more sense to help her avoid the abortion?

    *****
    The beginning of the end of reproductive rights?
    “South Dakota's state Senate plans to vote Wednesday on a controversial bill to ban abortion in nearly all cases -- except to protect the life of the mother.”

    How many impoverished women will have to carry pregnancies to term because they can't afford travel to a state where they can have an abortion? How many improverished women will have to resort to life-threatening coat hanger abortions?

    South Dakota abortion rates by county
    South Dakota abortion totals

    Most South Dakota counties have fewer than ten abortions per year. The abortion rate is low. The only counties where more than 8% of pregnant women seek abortions are in counties near the state border. I'd bet that women living in the rural areas of South Dakota are used to driving a long way for anything. So all this hand-wringing is about a situation that, frankly, it seems that South Dakota women are pretty much happy with. They're not like New York women, who in some counties abort half their pregnancies.

    So, just in terms of pure numbers, we're not looking at a public health disaster.

    Of course, this doesn't address the issue about whether having legal abortion readily available is really doing women any favors in the first place.

    *****

    Go Blue wants to lower the bar even further:
    On one hand, I think that it should be the right of the individual whose life this decision ultimately affects to decide whether or not to bring a child into this world. On the other hand, I do not feel that it is fair to allow a woman to have the decision on whether or not she wants to have the child. I say this because if a woman has the right to decide to keep her child or to abort the pregnancy, then the male counterpart should have the decision to completely walk away from the situation without penalty. It is not fair to force the male to pay child support, which is a life altering situation, without having the option to walk away from that situation, but allow a woman to make the decision.

    Not that he or she is the first one to advocate letting men bail on their kids. Hey, if women are allowed to kill them, letting the man simply walk out is a small concession, right?

    *****

    Jen doesn't seem to understand that once you've got most of the baby out you might as well deliver him live. Hello? We put the cranioclast away with the advent of antibiotics. Crushing the baby's skull used to be relegated to the obstetric house of horrors. Now suddenly it's necessary again. Go figure. And the prolifers are supposedly the ones who want to "turn back the clock."

    Getting "unplanned joy"

    Urania: Abortion
    I'll just address my responses to Urania.
    ...I want to say that Patricia Heaton's quote on the front page is just...very scarily uneducated: Women who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy also deserve unplanned joy.

    Seriously, that's what it says. That's what she said. Can I just point out that that is so NOT what the abortion issue is about?? Most women who get an abortion do so out of desperation. I realize that shows like Sex & the City have made it seem like people just flippantly get abortions without ever really thinking about it--but that's not usually the case.

    Obviously you don't get that the unplanned joy is the baby that the woman will have to love if she doesn't cave into the desperation and fear that the abortion workers are exploiting to make a sale.
    There are a lot of people who get abortions because of mom and/or baby health issues.

    Yes. And they are just as entitled to joy as healthy mothers of healthy babies. Should we abandon women to the despair of an abortion just because they, or their unborn children, have health issues?

    And, more to the point, having abortion framed as a "right" rather than as a crime brings pressure on these women to abort when they don't want to. Should women who love and want their unborn babies be pressed into unwanted abortions, or forced to fight tooth-and-nail to get decent medical care, in order to placate the minority, who want abortions? Some women even learn, too late, that their health problems, or their unborn babies' health problems, were not so serious -- or were even figments of their doctors' imaginations. Some women have died as a result.
    Others do it because their pregnancy is a consquence of rape--be it date rape, incest, whatever.

    Yes. And these women and girls are again, entitled to love and support. Scraping her out doesn't erase the abuse. In fact, it makes it easier for the perpetrator of ongoing abuse to hide his handiwork.
    ....Roe v. Wade did not come about as an Administrative decision to 'condone' abortions. Rather, it came about because the Justices of the SCOTUS, in their wisdom, realized that women had been getting and would continue to get abortions, regarldess of the ruling. The decision to make abortions legal was done in the interest of saving more lives, not in the interest of ending lives.

    Well, that may have been their intention. Only the Justices, and God, can know what their intentions were.
    How can this be? Well, if abortions are legal, they they can be done in sanitary and safe environments. They can be done by doctors with the actual know-how. Science can research new technologies to make the procedures used even less painful and even cleaner and safer.

    Well, when abortions were illegal, they could be done in sanitary and safe environments. Most illegal abortions, after all, were done by doctors or other health professionals, and they had more motive to be clean and safe than does a legal abortionist.

    The technology and know-how were saving women's lives long before legalization. If you look at maternal deaths from abortion over the 20th century, you'll see this for yourself.
    If abortions are not legal, doctors who perform abortions risk losing their licenses to practice. This leads to doctors not performing abortions.

    Indeed, I'm sure the risk of prison or losing a license stopped more than one doctor from doing abortions before legalization. But what is it that's stopping them now? Regardless of legality, abortion doesn't attract the best and the brightest, because it's destructive.

    Legalizing abortion didn't make it any more tempting to those who see it for what it is. All it did was remove the risk of prison or disciplinary action for botching abortions from over the heads of those inclined to do abortions anyway. Hence, we ended up with doctors like Jesse Ketchum and Milan Vuitch -- who had clean records before legalization -- going on to kill women after legalization.
    Women will still seek abortions, and in desperation, they will go to 'chop-shop docs'--people with unsanitary and unsafe enviroments and without the education necessary for such a delicate procedure.

    First of all, only some women will seek abortion regardless of its legal status. The abortion rate increased tenfold with legalization. Women who don't want abortions, who never would have sought them out on their own, are coerced, pressured, and sometimes tricked into unwanted legal abortions. Some even die as a result. How is subjecting ten times as many women to the risks of abortion any kind of improvement?
    Also, many women will revert to the 'coat-hanger' or 'crochet-hook' procedures--trying to perform their own abortions.

    The motives for dangerous self-abortions are mixed, and not as simple as "Well, it's not legal so I'll just ream myself out with a rusty coathanger." Even the Centers for Disease Control was forced to conclude that women seek self-induced and illegal abortions for "ideosyncratic reasons." Women continue to die from self-induced and amateur abortions. Legalization led to these women's problems being swept under the rug rather than addressed.
    What makes me angriest about people who want Roe v. Wade overturned is that they can't seem to think past their particular religious/philosophical/political viewpoints.

    The same could be said of those who want it to stand.
    ....I DO NOT BELIEVE that the Federal government, State governments, or city governments should have the right to take away safe and clean abortion possibilities for women.

    You're working on the assumption that the situation right now is simply one of making clean, safe abortion available for women who would otherwise be reaming themselves out with rusty coathangers. I've covered this assumption already, and I really suggest that you learn more about the status quo before assuming that women are being served and protected.
    Be against abortion, if you like. Pledge not to have an abortion yourself. Work for education about rape, sex education for youths, sex education in churches, health consequences surrounding abortion, adoption facts courses, unplanned pregnancy counseling services. If you have a friend who is considering abortion, talk with her about the options--adoption, motherhood, whatever. If she opts for abortion anyway, love her and be there for her throughout the ordeal--before, during, and after.

    Gotta give you credit for recognizing the positive things we do.
    But don't take away from her the possibility of a clean and safe--a sanitary--abortion. If you do, she has a MUCH higher risk of ending up dead due to desperation.

    Again, you seem to be operating from the assumption that regardless of abortion's legality, the same number of women will be getting pregnant when they don't want to be. Christopher Tietze laid that myth to rest back in the early 1970s.

    You're also operating from the assumption that once the woman in pregnant, the only possibilities are a nice, safe, clean, sanitary abortion (if abortion is legal), or a nasty, dirty, dangerous abortion (if abortion is illegal).

    But there are so many mistakes in the underlying assumptions.

    1. The only choices aren't safe abortion versus dangerous abortion. Joyful motherhood is an option, as is the difficult choice of making an adoption plan.

    2. Just because the abortion is clean and sanitary doesn't mean the woman has walked away unscathed. The Silent No More movement, and the problem of suicide after abortion, show otherwise.

    3. Just because the abortion is legal doesn't mean it's going to be safe and sanitary. Even high-end, trustworthy organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation, have been caught in behaviors you'd not tolerate in a veterinary clinic. Fly-by-night abortion mills are even worse.

    Just a few thoughts.

    Illegal Abortion Death Anniversaries: Viola Parr and Virginia Clark

    On February 20, 1919, W. G. Waters and M. T. Summerlin performed an abortion on Viola Parr with instruments of some sort, causing her death the following day. (Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 1. Wilbanks v. State No. 20148.March 5, 1930)

    On February 21, 1929, Virginia Clark died of complications of a botched, illegal abortion. G. W. Wilbanks and W. A. N. Jones were charged with murder in her death. Wilbanks was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and the following information comes from the Westlaw commentary on his appeal.

    Virginia was treated prior to her death by a Dr. McArthur, who testified as to her dying declaration. He said that Virginia told him that when she learned that she was pregnant, she told the man responsible that "something would have to done about it." He made arrarrangements for an abortion to be performed by a doctor. The paramor brought the doctor to Virtinia, and he used medicine and instruments on her. The procedure was so painful that Virginia asked him to stop, so the doctor administered chloroform. According to Dr. McArthur, Virginia told him that this abortion "was what had butchered her up and was killing her."

    Virginia didn't tell her mother, Mrs. Goodwyne, about the abortion. Mrs. Goodwyne testified, "She (Virginia Clark) said that she went to the theatre or something, and it seemed like there was something broke, and she said she thought she wouldn't be able to get back to the hotel, but she did."

    Wilbanks tried to get his conviction overturned on the grounds of the difference between what Virginia told her mother, and what she told Dr. McArthur as she lay dying. (Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 1. Wilbanks v. State No. 20148.March 5, 1930)



    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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    Monday, February 20, 2006

    A question for my regulars

    I'm slogging away through my RealChoice site and my notes. I really need to start writing regular articles again based on my notes and new research, as tedious as this is.

    Here's a question for you. What should I do about blog entries that include information that people might want ready access to. Should I just list them as articles in my Archives at RealChoice, or should I transfer the information onto RealChoice template pages and post them over there? Both the blog and RealChoice have search engines.

    The benefits of just linking:
    -I don't have to do all the work of copying, formatting, and posting.
    -The articles are only in one place.

    The benefits of putting them up on RealChoice:
    -They're easier to find on a search.
    -I can put relevant information for particular articles in the sidebar.

    While we're on the topic of RealChoice, I really need to get the site professionally hosted so that it's more user-friendly, but I am broke. If anybody knows of somebody willing to underwrite the expenses -- about $500 for the set-up, and about $25 a month to maintain -- please connect us.

    Who’s Afraid of an Argument? The Insecurities of the Abortion Rights Movement

    Who’s Afraid of an Argument? The Insecurities of the Abortion Rights Movement, by Albert Mohler
    "Don't waste time talking to anti-choice people." That is the straightforward instruction provided by NARAL Pro-Choice America in its "Campus Kit for Pro-Choice Organizers." The director of the Pro-Choice Action Network answered a question about why his group does not engage in conversation with pro-life advocates with this statement: "Along with most other pro-choice groups, we do not engage in debates with the anti-choice." In other words, they are scared to death of a genuine argument.

    Mohler then examines an article, "Bioethical Politics," by Jon A. Shields of the Center on Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia.

    Shields provides a fascinating view into the work of Stand to Reason and Justice for All, featuring the arguments offered by Steve Wagner in his "Pro-Life 101" seminar. ....

    The article describes what happened when JFA staff and volunteers showed up on the Auraria campus in downtown Denver--home to the University of Colorado, the Metropolitan State College, and the Community College of Denver. The program set up its characteristically large displays that featured pictures of aborted fetuses throughout the process of gestation.

    As expected, many of the students walking by the exhibit, especially women, responded with initial disdain and little interest in conversation. Nevertheless, the JFA volunteers and staff were eventually able to engage many of these students in conversation about abortion and the meaning of human life.

    The pro-life advocates "labored to focus their conversation on ontological questions," Shields recalled. This is important, for it indicates the centrality of questions of being to the controversy over abortion, stem cell research, and other urgent biomedical questions. Is this embryo a human life or not? Is the fetus something other than human until at some point it magically becomes a human being? "For most Auraria students," Shields reports, "it appeared that this intellectual exercise was altogether new and that most had never thought about the ontology of the fetus before."

    Not to mention they probably have never given any serious thought to why abortion is a "right" that nobody really wants to exercise. How often do you see weeping voters approaching a polling place, filling out a ballot only as an act of despair because it's the lesser of two evils? How many people experience anguish and grief after exercising their right to free speech?

    Best not to even ask the questions.

    New resource for parents whose child has Down Syndrome

    Gabriel's Angel Network

    Somebody wanted info on Laurence Reich

    Reich is an osteopath who worked at Nicholas Braemer’s Clinica Medica para la Mujer de Hoy. He recently surrendered his medical license. This guy is so bad, even abortion proponent Barbara Boxer wanted him put out of business.

    Reich has a long history of wrongdoing. He had been arrested in January of 1982 by Santa Monica police. An investigation found two abortion patients who said he’d sexually assaulted them before and after their abortions. One said she had to return to have the remainder of her fetus removed. A total of 28 criminal charges were brought, including assault, battery, unprofessional conduct, prescribing drugs without a license, falsely representing himself as an MD rather than as a DO, and attempting to intimidate victims into dropping their testimony. Reich plea bargained in June of 1984, pleading no contest to two counts of battery and two counts of misrepresenting himself in exchange for dropping other charges. He was fined $3200. In 1994, he completed a 10-year probation for botching an abortion. But still he was permitted to prey on California women.

    For more on Reich, see:


    How Reich and his buddies in Chula Vista were an improvement over "back-alley butchers" remains a mystery.

    UN Data Show Banning Abortion Doesn't Increase Maternal Mortality

    Bradford Short: UN Data Show Banning Abortion Doesn't Increase Maternal Mortality

    Abortion proponents trumpet the high maternal mortality in developing countries as evidence that they need to legalize abortion in order to reduce the maternal death rate, when experience in the United States shows that sanitation, nutrition, and so forth -- things sadly lacking in developing countries -- are the key.

    Of course, it's easier to ship in vacuum aspirators than it is to build a sewage-treatment plant.

    Searches: Mary Pena, Joe Bills Reynolds, and Steven Chase Brigham


    Mary Pena
    , a 43-year-old mother of five, bled to death after an abortion at Edward C. Allred's San Vicente Hospital. Allred had just added San Vicente to his NAF-member Family Planning Associates Medical Group, the largest for-profit abortion chain in the world.



    ****

    Dr. Joe Bills Reynolds was responsible for the abortion death of 21-year-old Gaylene Golden. Reynolds' anesthetist, age 60, had originally been hired as a janitor, and an untrained orderly was acting as his nurse. The operating room was littered with dirty cups and papers. Reynolds tried to collect $500,000 on his wife's life insurance after she bled to death after he opened 25-inch incision, ostensibly for liposuction, on September 7, 1989. Reynolds was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He voluntarily surrendered his Oklahoma license.

    *****

    Dr. Steven Chase Brigham ... This guy is a pip. He's the only abortionist I know of that even Planned Parenthood tried to shut down. But he just rises from his own ashes like a malevolent phoenix. Sadly, everything I'd written up on this character got lost when About.com did the massive layoff just after 9/11. I've started the onerous task of rebuilding. In the mean time, prolifers in Erie, Pennsylvania, collected these links. I started to do a search for a few other links and realized that with Brigham evidently itching to be the Fast Eddie Allred of the East Coast, it's a major project. Please, somebody in Brigham's area, take on this task! This guy needs a team of people to constantly follow him and keep the rest of us updated. Malpractice, tax evasion, evictions... he's always up to something.

    Anniversary: Stacy Ruckman - Legal Abortion Death

    When 23-year-old Stacy Ruckman went to Scott Barrett for an abortion on February 20, 1988, she didn't know how he anesthetized his patients.

    According to Barrett's staff, Barrett would not have general anesthesia administered to his abortion patients. Instead, he would inject them with excessive amounts of the local anesthetic Lidocaine. The overdose would cause the woman to lose consciousness.

    Sometimes, staff reported, a woman would stop breathing, and Barrett would resuscitate her. But when Stacy stopped breathing, Barrett and his staff were unable to revive her.

    An autopsy found toxic concentrations of Lidocaine in Stacy's blood. Her parents sued, and a jury awarded them $25.3 million for the wrongful death of their daughter.

    Here's everything I have on Barrett over at RealChoice:
    • Legal Abortion Advantages describes Barrett's care of 22-year-old B.J. The medical board noted that "having nearly eviscerated his patient and with her clearly in critical condition, he sent her to the hospital in a private car during rush hour. ... A more egregious example of incompetence and gross negligence is difficult to imagine."

    • Another Barrett Botch Job describes Barrett's care of 18-year-old S.G., who nearly bled to death right under Barrett's nose, while her anxious family pleaded with him to do something for her.

    • Yet Another Barrett Botch Job describes how Barrett sent 15-year-old S.C. home with retained tissue, then didn't return her mother's calls when the girl was was in shock from infection.

    • Scott Barrett Wrap-up summarizes what I'd covered in the series.


    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Sunday, February 19, 2006

    Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics

    HT: Birth Story


    Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics
    Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics, tells the personal stories of women who have resisted medical eugenics – women who were told they shouldn’t have babies because of perceived disability in themselves or shouldn’t have babies because of some imperfection in the child. They have confronted the stigma of disability and in the face of silent disapproval and even open hostility, had their children anyway, in the belief that all life is valuable and that some are not more worthy of it than others.

    This is a book about women who have dared challenge the utilitarian medical model/mindset. Disparaged and treated as pariahs for departing from accepted medical wisdom they have chosen non-compliance with medical/social prejudice and defiantly said yes to their babies, and no to the cult of perfection.

    Must Read: Children with extra challenges, and the parents who love them

    Suitable For Mixed Company: Children with extra challenges, and the parents who love them

    This post is snippets and links about parenting special-needs kids:
    Headmistress keeps running into people who look at her brain-damaged daughter and say, "I wouldn't want to live like that."

    Some people are just cruel!

    A loving alternative to Tiller the Killer

    The Haven Network for Perinatal Death and Bereavement

    HT: Jill Stanek

    I've asked them to please make a banner and a button for linking. I'll add it to my sidebar as soon as I can.

    wondinna and friends still dont' get it

    wondinna: freak comments on my L_J

    Wondinna, who posted about the "die-in", started a new thread on her Live Journal:
    freak comments on my L_J
    Just in case you think your journal's are only being read by friends...they aren't. An anti-abortionist left a comment on my L_J saying that we should talk about real deaths because of abortion.

    I clicked on the links and they were links about women who died as a result of their abortions.

    All the more reason to assure MEDICALLY SAFE access to all women.

    First, it's interesting to note that to wondinna, anybody who cares if women actually survive their safe-n-legal abortions is, by definition, a "freak." Well, Johnny Eck was called a "freak" too, so I'm in good company!

    Wondinna's friend, grlcalledremedy replied to wondinna, "i'm super excited about being dead with you this week."

    I reminded grlcalledremedy that the real victims aren't very excited about being dead, and that their families aren't really happy, either. I suggested, "Maybe you ought to start caring about real women who are dying instead of hypothetical women who might die.

    Denial. It's not just a river in Egypt. it's a chosen life-style for the reality-impaired.