My Life in Reflection

All I Want for Christmas...

2011-12-23T14:32:00.004-05:00

As the holidays come upon us, in my family, the question, "So what do you want for Christmas?" and the topic of the intermediate family gift exchange arises. The store shelves are full of all kinds of cool gifts, as are advertised on television: toys, gaming systems, fishing and outdoor equipment, electronics, etc. I haven't given much thought to this, although sure I'd like a Nintendo Wii, Amazon Kindle/Barnes and Noble Nook, books, compact discs (CDs), or digital video discs (DVDs), but I stand in my home and look around and am reminded of more immediate needs: my husband and I need new clothing and shoes to replace that which is too tight and worn out, my husband's broken hearing aids needs replaced, our broken vacuum cleaner needs replaced, we need new drinking glasses to replace those which have broken over the years, we need food in our refrigerator and cupboards, my husband's car needs the passenger compartment heating/cooling system blower fan reapired (as it's with little heat this winter) and it's brake rotors need replaced, repairs which will likely cost over $1000 of which we don't have. So in a sense, I guess I've grown up, matured, and gained new perspectives. Christmas and even life is no longer about what we want, but rather about what we need to get by in our every day needs. So in conclusuion, I don't want anything for Christmas this year, although clothing would be nice, and of course to spend time with my friends and family.

Texas Mom Denied Foodstamps for Months, Shoots Own Kids

2011-12-08T15:33:00.063-05:00

This is sad...

Texas Welfare Office Shooting: Mom Denied Food Stamps For Months, Shoots Own Kids
PAUL J. WEBER 12/ 6/11 09:24 PM ET AP

SAN ANTONIO — A Texas woman who for months was unable to qualify for food stamps pulled a gun in a state welfare office and staged a seven-hour standoff with police that ended with her shooting her two children before killing herself, officials said Tuesday.

The children, a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, remained in critical condition Tuesday. The shooting took place at a Texas Department of Health and Human Services building in Laredo, where police said about 25 people were inside at the time.

Authorities identified the mother as Rachelle Grimmer, 38, and children Ramie and Timothy. Laredo police investigator Joe Baeza said Grimmer had recently moved to the border city from Zanesville, Ohio, about 30 miles east of Columbus.

Grimmer first applied for food stamps in July but was denied because she didn't turn in enough information, Texas Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said.

Goodman didn't know what Grimmer specifically failed to provide. In addition to completing an 18-page application, families seeking state benefits also must provide documents proving their information, such as proof of employment and residency.

"We were still waiting, and if we had that, I don't know if she would still qualify or not," Goodman said.

Goodman said Grimmer's last contact with the agency appeared to be a phone call in mid-November. When the family entered the Laredo office on Monday shortly before 5 p.m., Goodman said Grimmer asked to speak to a new caseworker, and not the one whom she worked with previously.

Shortly thereafter, Goodman said, Grimmer was taken to a private room to discuss her case. She said it was there the mother revealed a gun and the standoff began.

Police negotiators stayed on the phone with Grimmer throughout the evening, but she kept hanging up, Baeza said. She allegedly told negotiators about a litany of complaints against state and federal government agencies.

Despite those complaints, Baeza said it wasn't clear what specifically triggered the standoff.

"This wasn't like a knee-jerk reaction," said Baeza, adding that Grimmer felt she was owed restitution of some sort.

Grimmer let a supervisor go unharmed around 7:45, but stayed inside the office with her children. After hanging up the phone around 11:45, police heard three shots, and a SWAT team entered the building. Inside, they found Grimmer's body and her two wounded children.

The children were "very critical" and unconscious when taken from the scene, Baeza said.

Multiple family members in Ohio and Missouri did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the agency had no information on Grimmer.

A YouTube channel the family appeared to have created in 2009 includes a profile that reads, "We are Shell, Ramie and Tim. Mom, daughter 10 and son 8. We like turtles, horses, and being outside. The kids have two turtles, an alligator snapper and a red eared slider. We work on naturalizing them and try to give them the most natural setting possible."

There are no videos uploaded. Tagged as favorites are an eclectic mix of nearly two dozen videos, ranging from a solar panel installation to a live clip of the band of AC/DC. The "Hometown" category reads: "We don't have one."

Goodman credited an office supervisor, a 24-year veteran of the agency, for ensuring the release of the other employees.

"He had told her he would try to help her, and that if she would let everyone else leave, he would talk to her," Goodman said.

Goodman didn't know whether Grimmer had a job, or whether her children were covered under Medicaid or the state children's health insurance program. The family had no history with the Texas Department of Child Protective Services.

The family's move from Ohio may have complicated Grimmer's application if the family had no Texas records the agency could check electronically, Goodman said. Grimmer also would have been denied benefits if she was receiving welfare assistance.

Grimmer also appeared to fall out of touch during her pursuit of food stamps. The mother originally applied July 7, but Goodman said Grimmer missed her first interview and didn't call back and reschedule for a few weeks. Her case was closed Aug. 8 for lack of a full application, Goodman said.

How much food stamp money a family receives depends on their income level. The average family on food stamps in Texas receives $294 a month.

Three months later, Grimmer called the agency's ombudsman Nov. 16 and requested a review of how her rejected case was handled. Goodman said the agency found that caseworkers acted appropriately after looking over Grimmer's file, and a supervisor called Grimmer's cell phone last Thursday to tell her the outcome. No one answered and the phone's voicemail box was full, Goodman said.

"The indications she had she was dealing with a lot of issues," Goodman said.

State welfare offices have come under scrutiny in the past for being overburdened, but Goodman said the agency has made significant strides in the past three years. She said wait times are shorter, and that Grimmer was scheduled for her initial interview just one day after applying. Grimmer didn't make the appointment, she said.

Goodman said it's not unusual for caseworkers to confront angry or confused benefit-seekers, but that it's very rare for a situation to escalate to violence.
___

Associated Press Writer Christopher Sherman in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.

Also, see Texas mom shoots self, kids after welfare standoff

Unfortunately there are those who'd politicize this tragedy in the name of the pro-choice view point. Pro-choice activists at the Facebook group Pro-Choice/Pro-Life Open Forum are quick to blame political opponents and assume this is the result of unwanted children. However, no where in the article does it state whether the children were planned or not. Also, I find it rather patronizing to assume one's children are unplanned or unwanted based on one's income and the number of children. Followed to it's premise, one could deduce from the above discussion (at Pro-Choice/Pro-Life Open Forum), this incident could of been prevented if this woman only had access to birth control and abortion, which I feel is classist and the antithesis to "choice", akin to telling low-income women they need to be limit their family size and get "fixed" like a stray animal for their own good. Also, they are missing the bigger picture of the many socioeconomic factors which contribute to poverty and desperation, such as in this case, which can't be fixed by pushing for birth control and abortion access as a cover all solution. I see an overwhelmed mother, with an untreated mental illness, who did not have access to community resources and who fell through the cracks of an overwhelmed, flawed bureaucratic welfare system (which, in my opinion needs reformed, not removed).

The Joys and Challenges of Fostering

2011-10-15T15:29:00.000-04:00

This past month, I took in and helped care for a neighbor's neutered male diabetic cat, named Cartman, on a temporary foster basis with my neighbor's blessing, to provide him with more individualized care and attention and hopefully to get his blood sugar under control. Cartman was a very loving cat. He was diagnosed with diabetes by a vet 2 years prior, but my neighbor was unable to afford the veterinarian care he needed and has a multiple cat household. She tried to manage his diabetes with diet with canned food (although inconsistently), and complicating this, Cartman was a picky eater. He was under-weight and I suspected his blood sugar levels were elevated. Unfortunately, my husband and I didn't have the money either for veterinarian care and insulin, so we took a conservative home treatment approach (in an other-wise healthy diabetic cat, this is acceptable, however in Cartman's case, this wasn't such a good idea, as I'll explain later). Since coming to my home, Cartman was put on a special diet of Fancy Feast White Chicken Appetizer/Friskies Chicken pate, Iams Kitten Pro-Active dry food (this was later phased out of his diet due to dry kibble having a high level of carbohydrates), and I supplemented this with Vita Gravy (for cats) and Cat-Sip mixed in his wet food, which he loved and lapped up, to help with weight gain. Also, I wanted to get a blood glucose meter to home test and keep an eye on his blood sugar levels and was waiting until payday, when someone on the Feline Diabetes Message Board told me about Newbie Kits for Cats, a volunteer effort which receives donations of diabetic testing supplies and puts together kits (with a blood glucose meter, testing strips, lancets, and special extras such as home-made catnip toys, a warming sock, and low-carbohydrate treats) which they then distribute to individuals who have difficulty affording these supplies. I received my kit today and was very grateful for this gift. Life with Cartman has been...interesting. Our weekday routine starts with Cartman meowing and demanding his food anywhere from midnight to 2am and breakfast at 6 am, which in the mornings, I feed him and ran interference so he doesn't get under hubby's feet while he gets ready for work. Then I lay back down for a bit, usually waking to a meowing kittty either laying on or next to my head and kneading my face. Because of his diabetes, Cartman is hungry more often than most cats and needs (or should I say "demands") to be fed wet cat food every four to six hours. After breakfast he typically would sleep for the rest of the afternoon. Because I work on weekends, Cartman goes back home to be cared for by his mom (my neighbor) and I pick him up either on Sunday night or Monday afternoon and we start the routine all over again :) Yes, it was a lot of work, but rewarding in having Cartman's companionship and unconditional love, and definitely worth it!

Update: On Monday, October 17th, Cartman took a turn for the worse, resulting in an emergency trip to the vet. Not good news.He was in acute renal (kidney) failure and shock. The vet informed us that the average life span for a cat once they're diagnosed with diabetes is 2 years and Cartman wasn't diagnosed until 2008 (when he was 7 yrs old) and his diabetes have been not well controlled for a few years. The vet informed us there wasn't much we could do, he may make it maybe another 24 hrs at most. We were both devastated. My neighbor was given the option of euthanasia or taking him home to make him comfortable as possible until he passes, where he'd be in familiar environment (which is what the vet felt was best) and she opted to bring him home. Cartman passed away in his mother's arms on October 18th a little after 5 o'clock in the afternoon, following complications of diabetes. Fly Free Cartman, land every so softly back in both your mommies hearts

Cartman Hall

March 2001-October 18, 2011

Help Stamp Out Stigma This Halloween

2011-10-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again...It's the season for ghosts and goblins, and unfortunately stigma for those living with a mental illness. Every year, some local haunted house attractions take the form of "insane asylums," featuring "mental patients" as murderers or ghouls. Halloween costumes, displays, or other products may reflect similar themes with straightjackets and statues.While it is often claimed such costumes and fun houses are only in humor and fun, not ment to depict mentally ill individuals, such depictions are based off of a sordid history of early mental health treatment, depicting actual hospitals and conditions the mentally ill endured during that time period. Also, when such stereotypes are used, where mentally ill individuals are only portrayed only as antagonists or villains, portrayed as violent, or when offensive or insensitive symbols (e.g., straitjackets), these perpetuate stigma and stereotypes which can be quite hurtful and damaging to those living with a mental illness today:

•Straitjackets represent extremely painful, traumatic experiences. Their image is hurtful to individuals and families who struggle with mental illness.

•Using straitjackets for entertainment demeans individual dignity and trivializes mental illness.

•Straitjackets are often associated with violence.

•Violent stereotypes are inaccurate and offensive. Most people who suffer from a mental disorder are not violent there is no need to fear them. Embrace them for who they are normal human beings experiencing a difficult time, who need your open mind, caring attitude, and helpful support.”(Grohol, 1998) Grohol, J. M. “Dispelling the violence myth.” Psych Central. (June, 1998).

•Lunatic" is an obsolete, stigmatizing, offensive term—just like racial and ethnic slurs that once were used in the past. "Pyscho" also is insulting and further perpetuates stigma, along with themes like "Halloween of Horrors."

These images reinforce shame and create the kind of stigma that the U.S. Surgeon General has found to be a major barrier to people seeking help when they need it. Remember, offensive portrayals of heart or cancer patients would never be tolerated. The issue isn't "political correctness." It's about human dignity and a public health crisis. Usually, no one intends to offend, but they need to understand that the effect is not only offensive, but also generates stigma. Here's what you can do if you encounter such displays and costumes:

•Complain directly to a store manager of an offending item and ask that a store product be removed from shelves. For chain stores, ask to contact the regional manager.

•Complain to the owner or sponsor of a Halloween attraction especially if it involves a service club and ask for the attraction theme to be changed. The sponsors may apologize but be unwilling or unable to change the attractions this year. If so, ask instead for a public statement or written promise to use a different theme in the future. Also, if the sponsor is a club, ask to make a presentation on mental illness at one of their meetings.

•If dialogue fails, have NAMI members, family and friends phone, send letters, or e-mail the sponsor—as well as to any newspaper or radio station running a promotion. Letters from allies such as hospital directors or medical societies may especially have an impact.

•Contact local newspaper editors and television news directors. Use the controversy as a "teaching moment" about mental illness and the need to eliminate stigma.

Together, you can help stamp out stigma this Halloween.

An Update...

2011-09-06T16:18:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I realize I've taken a pretty long hiatus. My laptop has been down for the last 8 months and was just recently repaired. But truth be told, although I have computer and internet access at the local public library, I just haven't felt like blogging much as of late. Maybe it's my depression, maybe it's my chaotic work schedule, I don't know. But do know that I will be checking in from time to time and posting sporadicly. So to my regular readers, I ask that you don't give up hope on me yet and to my visitors and new readers, I say welcome!

Abortion Safety Questions and Answers

2011-05-12T14:08:00.005-04:00

Q: Isn't Having an Abortion Safer Than Childbirth?

According to Jezebel, the claim "Abortion is safer than childbirth" comes from 2002 CDC statistics. In 2002, the CDC recorded 9 deaths out of 845,573 abortions. That's a little over 1 in 100,000. Also in 2002, the CDC recorded 8.9 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. From there, they deduct carrying a child to term was about 9 times more dangerous than having an abortion. However, there are some issues with this approach and deduction, with the comparison of abortion mortality and maternal mortality rates. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control report for pregnancy-related mortality rates: "In this report, a woman's death was classified as pregnancy-related if it occurred during pregnancy or within 1 year of pregnancy and resulted from 1) complications of the pregnancy, 2) a chain of events that was initiated by the pregnancy, or 3) the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of the pregnancy or its management". This means pregnancy-related mortality rates are broadly defined to included the following: aggravation of a maternal pre-existing, non-pregnancy-related medical condition, pregnancy-induced maternal medical condition, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, still birth, post-partum complications, and includes induced abortion. Therfore the maternal mortality rates are inflated and we are not comparing with the pregnancy mortality rate alone. In addition, regarding the CDC and AGI reports for Induced Abortions, mortalities resulting from induced abortion are typically under-reported as such. One reason is that a medical examiner may code the underlying cause of death on the autopsy report as the complication alone, i.e. embolism, septsis, hemorrhage, or anesthesia complications, rather than correctly as a legally induced abortion with specified complication. A good explination of this can be found here. Therefore it is misleading to compare pregnancy-related mortality rates to abortion mortality rates to obtain the conclusion that abortion is safer than childbirth.

Q: How Safe Is Having an Abortion?
Mortality and morbidity depend on gestational age (GA) at time of abortion. In the US, mortality rates per 100,000 abortions are as follows: (1) fewer than 8 weeks, 0.5; (2) 11-12 weeks, 2.2; (3) 16-20 weeks, 14; and (4) more than 21 weeks, 18. Let me put this into perspective for you. Consider that in 2002, 1.3 million abortions were preformed and 430,000 spontaneous abortions occured in the United States, (source: Unintended Pregnancy Statistics) for this purpose, a total of 1.73 million, correlating the number of total spontaneous and elective abortions to the above mortality rates for spontaneous and elective abortions <-- 0.5 in 100,00 is equivalent to 1 in 200,000, divide 1.73 million by 200,00 and so on --> this translates to the following statistic number of mortalities (or deaths) which occur for spontaneous and elective abortions (but keep in mind the actual numbers may be higher or lower), (1) fewer than 8 weeks, 8.7 deaths, (2)11-12 weeks, 38 deaths, (3) 16-20 weeks, 242 deaths, 4) more than 21 weeks, 311 deaths. To put a face on these deaths, the Real Choice website features the names and cases of women killed during abortions.

According to the CDC Abortion Surveillance taken during the years 1972 to 2002, the total number of deaths due to legal induced abortion were highest before the 1980s (despite widespread legalization in 1973) and during the years 1972 to 2002 there were more deaths due to legal abortions than illegal abortions, with a steady trend of of 12.6 abortion deaths average a year in the United States (see table 19), however the CDC admits that because these data are reported voluntarily, several limitations and under-reporting exist (see Limitations). Medscape's continuing medical education website, E-Medicine, features the following complication and mortality statistics for abortion:

Abortion Complications: complications of spontaneous and therapeutic abortions include (1) complications of anesthesia, (2) postabortion triad (ie, pain, bleeding, low-grade fever), (3) hematometra, (4) retained products of conception, (5) uterine perforation, (6) bowel and bladder injury, (7) failed abortion, (8) septic abortion, (9) cervical shock, (10) cervical laceration, and (11) disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Frequency of complications depends on gestational age at time of abortion and method of abortion. Reported complication rates according to gestational age at time of abortion are as follows: for 8 weeks and under - Less than 1% or less than 17,300 women will experience complications, for 8-12 weeks - 1.5 to 2% or 25,950 to 34,600 women, 12-13 weeks - 3 to 6% or 51,900 to 103,800 women, Second trimester - Up to 50% or 865,000 women, possibly higher.

H/T: Life Report's Link Party: On the Danger's of Abortion

Pro-Life Videos

2011-05-05T09:30:00.012-04:00

Just wanted to share a couple of powerful, moving pro-life videos, two fiction and one based on a true story of a woman's horrifying abortion experience:

To Be Born
Official Movie Website

Synopsis:
To Be Born is about a young woman faced with an unplanned pregnancy that seeks to have an abortion. In the midst of the procedure, she finds herself in a regrettable situation when she hears her unborn daughter begin to describe the chilling details of what is happening to her.

Sarah's Choice

Synopsis:
Grammy-Award-winning recording artist Rebecca St. James stars as Sarah Collins, a young woman on the rise. As a junior account executive at a major advertising agency, Sarah is poised to get it all: executive promotion, salary increase, new car, fabulous apartment and first-class travel. Theres only one thing thats going to keep her from getting it, her unborn baby.
Full movie can be purchased on DVD at most Christian bookstores.

22 Weeks (Trailer)
Official Movie Website

Synopsis:
Based on a true story. The story of a woman using the name "Angele" who underwent a late-term induction abortion, at EPOC Clinic for Women, which went terribly wrong. Her full story can be found here and here

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-24T20:54:00.003-05:00

Happy Holidays from my family to you and yours!

Let Us Be Thoughtful & Thankful This Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

As I'm sitting down for breakfast this Thanksgiving morning, I'm taking a moment to reflect on what I'm thankful for:
1)Freedom: to practice the religion of my choosing or not practice at all, the right to work, and the right to have a voice and vote
2)My Family and Friends: You know who you are. Thank you for being there through the hard times and by my side to laugh through the good times.
3)My Best Friend and the Love of My Life, "B": I just want to let you know that I love you very much. We've been through some hard times together, but we've made it though. Thank you for being there through the hard times and by my side to laugh through the good times.
4)Finding and becoming employed with not only one, but two jobs after 6 months of unemployment.
5)My supervisors, who took a chance and gave me the opportunity to gain experience, as well as work in a field I enjoy
6)The individuals who've helped us out during difficult financial times.
7)A roof over our head, which is safe and protects us from the weather.
8)Food on the Table
9)Clothing and Shoes to Wear
10)Experiences Which Let me Walk in Others Shoes and Keeps Me Humble
11)Chocolate
12)Our Two Cats: They've brought us companionship, comfort, and laughter, they're practically members of our family
13)Indoor Plumbing/Electricity
14)Hot Chocolate and Warm, Soft, Chocolate Chip Cookies
15)Books Which Comfort, Inspire, Make Me Think, and Entertain
16)Our Firefighters, Police Officers, and the Men and Women Serving Our Country...Thank you
17)Nurses, doctors, and nursing assistants, you heal and comfort, and are underappreciated for all that you do...Thank you
18)Minimal Traffic on the Interstate Highway
19)...and Safe Arrivals For Myself, My Friends, and My Family at Their Destinations
20)Two Words: Star...Wars

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holidays.

On This Day Nine Years Ago

2010-09-11T08:00:00.003-04:00

September 11th, 2001 at 8:46am, the first United Airlines plane crashed into the North Twin Tower and many lives were changed forever. Today, please take a moment of silence and bow your heads to remember the individuals and service men/women who lost their lives in this tragedy nine years today and to hold in your thoughts and prayers (whatever your spiritual beliefs may be) for our men and women serving over seas. Thank you. Peace and spiritual blessings to you on this day.

Frustrated

2010-09-05T09:51:00.000-04:00

I am frustrated and tired of the bickering and homophobia within the pro-life movement. Sexual identity doesn't have anything to do with protecting the unborn, and not only diverts away from the issue, but also causes division within the pro-life movement. You know, you're free to disagree with other pro-lifers about gay marriage, but do you really want to risk losing allies by telling self-professed pro-lifers that they can't be pro-life? Do you think people saved from abortion really care what the person or people who saved them thought about gay marriage? Do you think this is a movement that can afford to alienate people?

We are essentially shooting ourselves in the foot, unintentionally furthering the misconception that we pro-lifers are only about moralizing and policing sexual practices or punishing those who participate in non-traditional sexual practices and that we oppose potential life-saving practices such as using condoms

I'm also getting really sick of, "hey, you know about this over-the-top, highly publicized gay event that focuses on promiscuity? Do you agree with that, too?" That's like claiming that people who support heterosexual marriage approve of Girls Gone Wild. People acting like sex-crazed hedonists in public is not the same thing as two people wanting a loving, committed relationship.
Pro-life should mean equal rights for all, born and unborn, whether they are GLBT or straight.

My Experience at a Planned Parenthood

2010-08-01T01:40:00.074-04:00

I went to Planned Parenthood last year and saw a nurse practitioner for my annual exam. You may be wondering, because I identify as pro-life, why I'd find myself in a Planned Parenthood. Well, although I had health insurance, it was a high deductible plan and we were tight on money, plus I wanted to see what the organization was like for my self..According to the National Planned Parenthood website, they list female infertility as one of their services, in addition to routine preventive care. I signed in and During the course of the exam, I explained that I have been diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), one of the most common female endocrine disorders. I explained my concerns regarding the negative health implications associated with this condition and requested a medication to treat the symptoms. She replied that all she could offer was the regular birth control pill.. I tried to explain that I didn't want the Pill, I'd experienced too many side effects and my husband and I were open to pregnancy. Even so, she continued to encourage to me to re-consider taking the Pill and I felt like I didn't have much of a choice, between treating the symptoms of my condition or keeping my fertility. At no time during our discussion were any other options given. She continued to encourage me to take a script for the pill, although I was not interested. Getting no where and frustrated, I ended my appointment and took the script for a birth control pill of l which I had no intention of filling, so I could get out of there. I remained polite however and signed out at the desk and left. I later did some research and learned there are several other medications which can be prescribed to treat the symptoms of and address the underlying cause of PCOS without preventing fertility. Apparently this PP wasn't equipped to provide infertility services or treat abnormal female reproductive conditions, nor did their staff seem interested in providing services to help me become pregnant.

Helping Women Fight Back Against Rape

2010-06-22T22:00:00.007-04:00

At the South African World Cup soccer games this week, in a country with alarmingly high rape rates and low conviction rates, 30k condoms of a different type are being distributed: female condoms with teeth.

South African doctor invents female condoms with 'teeth' to fight rape

(CNN) -- South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers was on call one night four decades ago when a devastated rape victim walked in. Her eyes were lifeless; she was like a breathing corpse.

"She looked at me and said, 'If only I had teeth down there,'" recalled Ehlers, who was a 20-year-old medical researcher at the time. "I promised her I'd do something to help people like her one day."

Forty years later, Rape-aXe was born.

Ehlers is distributing the female condoms in the various South African cities where the World Cup soccer games are taking place.

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said.

Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

"It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. "If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure."

Ehlers said she sold her house and car to launch the project, and she planned to distribute 30,000 free devices under supervision during the World Cup period.

"I consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to help in the design and make sure it was safe," she said.

After the trial period, they'll be available for about $2 a piece. She hopes the women will report back to her.

"The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she's going out on some kind of blind date ... or to an area she's not comfortable with," she said.

The mother of two daughters said she visited prisons and talked to convicted rapists to find out whether such a device would have made them rethink their actions.

Some said it would have, Ehlers said.

Critics say the female condom is not a long-term solution and makes women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.

It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."

Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.

"It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma," she added. "It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults."

However, its one advantage is it allows justice to be served, she said.

Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.

South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, Human Rights Watch says on its website. A 2009 report by the nation's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year, according to Human Rights Watch.

In most African countries, rape convictions are not common. Affected women don't get immediate access to medical care, and DNA tests to provide evidence are unaffordable.

"Women and girls who experience these violations are denied justice, factors that contribute to the normalization of rape and violence in South African society," Human Rights Watch says.

Women take drastic measures to prevent rape in South Africa, Ehlers said, with some wearing extra tight biker shorts and others inserting razor blades wrapped in sponges in their private parts.

Critics have accused her of developing a medieval device to fight rape.

"Yes, my device may be a medieval, but it's for a medieval deed that has been around for decades," she said. "I believe something's got to be done ... and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman."

H/T Jill Stanek

I honestly think this is a great project. On the positive side, in countries where women do not often enough receive protection from rape and justice against rapists, it will provide a new form of self-defense and empowerment for women. And in developed countries such as the U.S. it will hopefully lead to more arrests of and deter date rape. However, while this condom is intended to deter potential rapists, one of my concerns is that it doesn't prevent the act of rape from occuring, but rather is made to very quickly put an end to a rapist's attack. And with that said, while it does provide protection against seminal fluids, because it is designed as a defense once penetration has occured, it's faults lie with that it doesn't protect the woman from the physical and pyschological devastation of being forcibly penetrated against her will. Also, my concern lies with protential violent retaliation against the victim by the would-be-rapist. There are benefits, but also disadvantages to this. The Rape-Axe is a start, but we've got a longs ways to go.

While we're talking about this issue, it's worth noting that a while back, feminist and progressive blogger, Bitting Beaver wrote a contraversial, but informational article, entitled, "The Rapist Checklist" which defined and clearly defined rape so that men and women can know boundaries.

Blogger's Home Vandalized for Expressing Pro-Life Views

2010-06-19T11:02:00.005-04:00

This is just sad. In the United States, he has the same right to free speech and to express his political views and opinions as anyone else, whether others agree with his views or not. All too often pro-choice individuals are defenders and advocates of "tolerance" and "free speech," that is until a differing view from their own is expressed. As the old saying goes, "Free speech for me, but not for thee!"

Update 6/25/10: Apparently this has made the news: Telegraph Harold: Man believes vandalism tied to his opposition to abortion

More About Me

2010-06-16T03:08:00.002-04:00

Some interesting questions have been raised, as well as implied, in the course of discussions with others on political blogs and I would like to take the time to answer these questions as well as provide an opportunity for you, my readers, to get to know me better.

Question: You've mentioned that you have been a peer counselor for 10 years. Did you have any sort of training? When and where does your experience come from?

In the spring of 1999, I began peer ministry through a local church's highschool youth group, which ended the following summer. In peer ministry, we trained to be peer counselors through role-playing, a work book, discussions, and peer evaluation. Some vital key points we learned were: reflective and active listening, how to provide non-judgemental responses and advice, guidance through basic problem solving, with an emphasis on confidentiality unless the person was in danger of harm or death & refer to a professional if issue is severe. Issues we learned about included: unplanned pregnancy, illegal drug use, underage drinking, and depression/suicide.

From 2002 until January 2004, I maintained a now defunct website (seen here), with a section of information on unplanned pregnancy and provided an e-mail where men and women could contact me for advice and support. Basically I would guide and support them through the decision-making process using active and reflective listening and basic problem solving skills and connected them with resources in their communities to further meet their needs. I received and answered up to 5 e-mails a week.

May 17, 2003, I completed and received a certificate for 6 contact hours of Infant Adoption Awareness Adoption Liason training (Provided by the National Council for Adoption, through a grant from the state of Indiana. Training personnel provided by Bethany Christian Services)

In 2003, I created a Yahoo! Group Pregnant_Teen_Support, a peer support group for teens (12-20yrs) who are facing an unplanned, unexpected, or unwanted pregnancy, with an emphasis on politically neutrality and non-judgementalism. Today, the group has over 400 members and I have stepped down to co-moderator due to pressing issues in my personal life.

Also, I have become an accepted member at the following online unplanned pregnancy/abortion recovery support communities starting in 2004: Yahoo! Groups: I Might Be Pregnant, IVIllage Abortion Support Board, and the PASS Support Boards.

Question: What are your spiritual/philosophical beliefs?

Answer: I consider myself an agnostic theist. I was born and raised a Catholic, but in my college years I choose to leave the Catholic Church and started attending my husband's church, a small congregation (less than 100 members) which at the time was afffiliated with the United Methodist church. My parents jokingly call me a "Matholic" a combination of Catholic and Methodist :P At that time that I felt very much at home in a United Methodist church because of their scripturally based beliefs (sola scriptura), emphasis on mission work, traditional services, very similiar to the Catholic mass, traditional music, and more conservative stance on political issues. However as time went on, a series of life events led me to start doubting my faith and the existance of a Christian god or higher power(s). I no longer found comfort in or the answers I was seeking in the Christian faith, nor did I idenify with any of the world religions, which led me to identify myself as agnostic two years ago in 2008. I do not believe in multiple gods/godesses, but I am undecided about whether or not one omnipresent, benevolent god/godess exists. My spouse is a practicing Christian and does not agree with my decision and so I do attend church from time to time with my husband to maintain relationship harmony.

Question: What are your political beliefs?

Answer: I would consider myself a moderate, voting democratically on some issues and republican on others. My politically beliefs on the various issues are described here.

Question: But don't you oppose abortion and contraception based on moralistic, bible-based thinking? Didn't we even see a blog entry where you clearly made biblical references in oppositon to abortion?

From when I began to write this blog in 2004 until about mid 2008, I did indeed write a couple of spirituality based entries, at a time when I still believed in the Christian god, but was starting to doubt my faith. These entries can be found under my Religion and Spirituality post tag. There is one entry, written in late 2004, entitled Political Corruption in the Church, in which I took the United Methodist Church and other Christian denominations to task for taking a pro-choice stance based on false and loose interpretations of the Christian faith. You will find this is the only entry on my blog where I make biblical references in oppositon to abortion, which at the time 5 years ago, was made when I still believed in the Christian Faith. However my beliefs have changed over the years and these days my primary reasons for opposing abortion are based on social, ethical, and medical reasons, and thus these are the basis of my writings on abortion from mid 2005 on. I do not believe in making abortion illegal. Rather I believe we would benefit from: more medical regulation of abortion practices, changing hearts and minds with education and knowledge, reducing the need for abortion through a focus on preventing unplanned pregnancy with availability of contraception and sex education, a better support system for pregnant and parenting women who are working or continuing their education, and addressing the societal pressures which lead women to abortion.

Happy Birthday to Meeee!!

2010-06-08T14:01:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share that today is my 27th birthday :)

Plans? We celebrated my birthday this past Sunday with a dinner at home with a couple of close family friends attending. Although I do have to say it was interesting because we heard the local tornado warning sirens go off around 7pm, just as we were getting ready to sit down and eat. A small cold air funnel touched down on the south west side of town, with no serious damage in that area. The cell which produced our funnel cloud was part of a cold front with severe thunderstorms which produced 6 tornadoes in Indiana over Saturday and Sunday, causing moderate damage to homes, outbuildings, trees, and utility poles.
Tornado: National Weather Service tracks path of tornadoes in Indiana - WXIN

Expressions of the Mind: Living with Clinical Depression

2010-06-03T13:26:00.000-04:00

Art can be a creative and healing outlet for many. I've created the following Wordle to express what living with clinical depression feels like, so that others may have a better understanding, awareness, and more compassion towards those living with clinical depression and other mental illnesses—

On This Memorial Day We Remember...

2010-05-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

On this day of rememberance, we keep in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers those who have died defending our freedom as well as those who are currently on the battlefield. Let us pray...

Higher power, we ask that you keep watch over our soldiers, as you know, our family members are out there, please keep them safe from harm. Please deliver them home safely. And for those who have passed, may they go to rest peacefully in your arms. In your name we pray, amen.

In Memoriam to Our Fallen Marines

Memorial Day 2007: A Tribute to Our Soldiers

Memorial Day salute: Armed Forces Medley

Off to the Race!

2010-05-30T10:27:00.005-04:00

Earlier today, I attended the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500. My husband and I started preparing a backpack for the race the night before. Sunscreen, check. Hats, check. Non-parishable food, check. My Epipen for in case I get stung by a bee, check. We got up at eight am (later than we wanted) and got dressed for the day and packed our cooler with a sack lunch and dinner. We met our friends at their apartment on the west side of Indy about nine am, but didn't leave until about nine-thirty am and got stuck in slow moving traffic in the smoldering heat for two hours (it was already around a humid ninety degrees by this point). Finally we decided to just park and walk and so parked at five dollars parking at a bar and walked the rest of the two and a half miles, a fourty-five minute walk to the race track with our coolers, back packs, and gallon jug of water. We arrived at the race right during the opening ceremony. We had free tickets from my father-in-law, for seats in the National Guard section, on turn four, at the beginning of the straight way. They were great seats, four rows up from the track, but in the direct sun and man was it hot! Overall it was a great experience, though and I've included pictures below. Also, I found more great pics from the Indy 500 by another user on Photobucket, which can be seen here

An Experiment in Compassion

2010-05-28T20:00:00.004-04:00

Josh is an actor. So are the people heaping verbal abuse on him. See how the ordinary shoppers respond in the following video:

Food for thought: How would you respond if you saw an individual with developmental disabilities being verbally or physically harassed at a local store, restaraunt, park, school, or other place in your community?

H/T Real Choice and Mommy Life

One Year Anniversary of Late-term Abortion Provider George Tiller Death

2010-05-27T17:35:00.003-04:00

Monday, May 31 - Memorial Day, this year - will mark the 1 year anniversary of abortion provider George Tiller's murder.

Pro-choice activists have been paying tributes and are planning memorials. Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has read or will read a Tiller tribute statement on the Senate floor today.

For a donation of $75 the TX Equal Access Fund "will deliver a handmade card, flowers, and a basket of goodies" to your favorite abortion provider on May 31. Why not instead deliver flowers to the women and families of women who were injured or killed during supposed "safe and legal" late-term abortions at George Tiller's clinic. Where's their concern for these women and their families? Does their concern not extend beyond the woman's abortion?

The George Tiller Abortion Fund has been established to subsidize late-term abortions. However, I think it's important to keep in mind that often in the case of a theraputic late-term abortion for health reasons or poor prenatal diagnosis, the woman has often been has been given a worst-case scenario and feels that she has run out of options and she may have been told that an abortion is the best option by her doctor despite carrying a wanted pregnancy. Rather than abandoning these women to despair and hopelessness and feeling they have no choice but to have an abortion, instead let's give them a support system, medical resources, and options. Instead of supporting the George Tiller Abortion Fund, instead consider donating to organizations such as Be Not Afraid, Prenatal Partners for Life, or your local prenatal hospice, establish a community outreach to parents who have received a poor or difficult prenatal diagnosis, create a database of community resources for those with special needs children, purchase and distribute Ashli McCall's book "Beyond Morning Sickness: Battling Hyperemesis Gravidarum" to families and doctor's offices, sew memory blankets or create a comfort basket for a family facing neonatal death or infant death, or offer to help a family by bringing meals over or assisting with errands. To this end, we can help support and comfort families through their challenges, grief, and sorrows and healing journeys.

Picture credit: Jill Stanek

Nun Excommunicated For Allowing Abortion : NPR

2010-05-20T11:16:00.002-04:00

Nun Excommunicated For Allowing Abortion
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
http://npr.org/

Last November, a 27-year-old woman was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. She was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child, and she was gravely ill. According to a hospital document, she had "right heart failure," and her doctors told her that if she continued with the pregnancy, her risk of mortality was "close to 100 percent."

The patient, who was too ill to be moved to the operating room much less another hospital, agreed to an abortion. But there was a complication: She was at a Catholic hospital.

"They were in quite a dilemma," says Lisa Sowle Cahill, who teaches Catholic theology at Boston College. "There was no good way out of it. The official church position would mandate that the correct solution would be to let both the mother and the child die. I think in the practical situation that would be a very hard choice to make."

But the hospital felt it could proceed because of an exception — called Directive 47 in the U.S. Catholic Church's ethical guidelines for health care providers — that allows, in some circumstance, procedures that could kill the fetus to save the mother. Sister Margaret McBride, who was an administrator at the hospital as well as its liaison to the diocese, gave her approval.

The woman survived. When Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted heard about the abortion, he declared that McBride was automatically excommunicated — the most serious penalty the church can levy.

"She consented in the murder of an unborn child," says the Rev. John Ehrich, the medical ethics director for the Diocese of Phoenix. "There are some situations where the mother may in fact die along with her child. But — and this is the Catholic perspective — you can't do evil to bring about good. The end does not justify the means."

Ehrich adds that under canon or church law, the nun should be expelled from her order, the Sisters of Mercy, unless the order can find an alternative penalty. Ehrich concedes that the circumstances of this case were "hard."

"But there are certain things that we don't really have a choice" about, he says. "You know, if it's been done and there's public scandal, the bishop has to take care of that, because he has to say, 'Look, this can't happen.' "

A Double Standard?
But according to the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer, the bishop "clearly had other alternatives than to declare her excommunicated." Doyle says Olmsted could have looked at the situation, realized that the nun faced an agonizing choice and shown her some mercy. He adds that this case highlights a "gross inequity" in how the church chooses to handle scandal.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, shown here in 2003, declared that McBride was automatically excommunicated because she allowed a patient at a Catholic hospital to get an abortion. But some say her quick punishment stands in stark contrast to the protection many pedophile priests have received from their bishops.

"In the case of priests who are credibly accused and known to be guilty of sexually abusing children, they are in a sense let off the hook," Doyle says.

Doyle says no pedophile priests have been excommunicated. When priests have been caught, he says, their bishops have protected them, and it has taken years or decades to defrock them, if ever.

"Yet in this instance we have a sister who was trying to save the life of a woman, and what happens to her? The bishop swoops down [and] declares her excommunicated before he even looks at all the facts of the case," Doyle says.

Ehrich agrees that sexual abuse can't be tolerated. But he says neither can McBride's actions.

"She said, 'Yes, you can kill that unborn child.' That's a heinous act. And I'm not going to make a distinction between what's worse. They're both abhorrent," Ehrich says.

Ehrich says the nun can be admitted back into the Catholic community by going to confession and repenting. McBride still works at the hospital in another position. Whether she is allowed to remain in her religious order, Erich says that is up to the Sisters of Mercy.

I don't know, I think every effort should be made to save both mother and unborn child with close monitering and treatment with medications in a hospital setting. However, in this case, it sounds like moderate to severe pulmonary hypertension, also known as Preeclampsia and Eclampsia. According to E-Medicine/Medscape: Eclampsia and Preeclampsia it appears terminating the pregnancy via emergency delivery is indicated in a later-term pregnancy in addition to medications to stabilize her blood pressure and reduce seizures (with every attempt to save both baby and mother), however delivery wasn't possible here, and so perhaps this was one of those rare cases where there were no other options and terminating the pregnancy via a theraputic abortion was necessary to save this woman's life. In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, the principle of double effect comes into play. However it's also important to note that this case was an exception, not the rule for abortion as theraputic abortions for endangerment to the woman's health only comprise 1% of all induced abortions. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic, so I don't know the specific guidelines for theraputic abortions necessary to save the mother's life. *Sighs* And how the Catholic church has handled the cases of sexual abuse is one of the reasons why I'm no longer a practicing Catholic.

H/T to my younger sister, "T"

Singing a'cappella

2010-05-19T21:58:00.003-04:00

A while back, my sister told me about a great new up and coming a'capella group called "Straight No Chaser"

If you like "Straight No Chaser," you might like the following up and coming group, University of Oregon's all male a'cappella group "On The Rocks" Their version of Lady Gaga's song Bad Romance is especially great.

Learn About Down Syndrome

2010-05-13T21:58:00.007-04:00

Down syndrome often strikes fear and dread in an expectant mother's and father's heart. The Down syndrome diagnosis brings forth images of retarded children, unable to do the simplest, most mediocre things and a sentence of having to care for their children or child with Down Syndrome for the rest of their lives. Also, many people still view Down Syndrome as "terminal illness" like cancer or heart disease, and the individuals with this condition "defective" or "broken" and unable to take care for themselves and unable to partake in life in any real way. These and other misconceptions about Down syndrome, which are based on misperceptions, sterotypes, and ignorance, further perpetuate these fears and feed into these stereotypes.

Down Syndrome it is a developmental disability. Down syndrome is a genetic condition that causes delays in physical and intellectual development. While there is no cure for Down syndrome, there are many treatments available for the problems associated with Down syndrome. Approximately 40% of the children have congenital heart defects. Some of the heart conditions require surgery while others only require careful monitoring. Children with Down syndrome have a higher incidence of infection, respiratory, vision and hearing problems as well as thyroid and other medical conditions. However, with appropriate medical care most children and adults with Down syndrome can lead healthy lives. The average life expectancy of individuals with Down syndrome is 55 years, with many living into their sixties and seventies.

Also, most people with Down syndrome have only mild to moderate mental retardation. More important than IQ scores is the fact that all individuals with Down syndrome are capable of learning. Most children with Down syndrome in the United States are “mainstreamed” into regular schools. They attend regular classes for some subjects and attend special classes for other subjects and continue to graduate from high school. A large percentage of adults with Down syndrome live semi-independently in assisted living facilities and group homes. Adults with Down syndrome often hold jobs and have romantic relationships. Some high school graduates with Down syndrome participate in post-secondary education. Many adults with Down syndrome are capable of working in the community, but some require a more structured environment.

It's important to remember that individuals with Down Syndrome are people too. They enjoy various hobbies and activities and have individual likes and dislikes like you and I. Also, people with Down syndrome experience a full range of emotions such as sadness, anger and happiness & they respond to positive expressions of friendship and they are hurt and upset by inconsiderate behavior, just like everyone else.

Disability rights organizations, care providers, and individuals and their families are seeking to educate the public and bring about awareness about Down Syndrome so that better treatments can be found, to lend to more education and understanding of the condition, and bring about awareness.

For more information on Down Syndrome and to listen to families and individuals with Down Syndrome share their insight and experiences, please visit:

Room for More: World Down Syndrome Day

CDAC
Offers scientific research, information, education, and suuport to parents and families of children with Down Syndrome as well as awareness and education for the medical professionals and the general public. Written by parents of a child with Down Syndrome.

National Down Syndrome Society
Offers advocacy, outreach, education, and support and resources for families, parents, and medical professionals. Helpline: 1-800-221-4602

SOFT
Support Organization for Families of Trisomy, a nonprofit volunteer organization offering support for parents who have had or are expecting a child with a chromosome disorder and education to families and professionals interested in the care of these children.

Recommended Down Syndrome Sites on the Internet
Compiled by Len Leshin, M.D.

Hidden Treasures: The Trisomy 21 Journey
Parents from all around the world share their stories.

Video: Dreams
Dreams features children and adults who have Down syndrome talking about their dreams and what they're proud of in their lives. This fun and inspirational video made by Scott and Julia Elliott celebrates the work of the National Down Syndrome Society and the larger Down syndrome community.

Hiatus Interrupted

2010-04-24T14:06:00.003-04:00

As you may have noticed, I've taken a recent hiatus, sans an occasional entry or comment on other's blogs. Recently I've started working again in direct care with the developmentally disabled, now for a different agency. Also, I was in the process of completing my CNA (or nurse aide) certification, which I'm happy to say, I completed 105 contact hours of training (lab/lecture and clinicals) and passed the state certification exam this morning. I hope to return to writting again, although it may be infrequent due to a hectic work schedule.

Please Help Spread the Message of Teen Suicide Prevention

2010-04-23T15:41:00.010-04:00

1,800 young people under age 20 take their own lives each year, most because of untreated depression. Tragically, only 1 out of every 3 depressed teens receives treatment. AFSP developed More Than Sad: Teen Depression to help students recognize depression in themselves or their friends, promote help-seeking and demystify what treatment involves. In 2009, the film was recognized as a Best Practice in Suicide Prevention. What’s needed now is to make sure that it gets used in high schools across the U.S. Our idea is to recruit 2,000 teachers to participate in one of 10 hour-long webinars, aimed at introducing them to the film and helping them understand its importance as a suicide prevention tool. Following the webinar, teachers will receive a complimentary copy of the DVD and instructional materials for use in their schools. Our intention is that this project will empower high school teachers to play a crucial role in preventing the loss of young lives to suicide.

About American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
AFSP is a national nonprofit engaged in research, education and advocacy to prevent suicide. We also reach out to people living with mental disorders and suicide loss. Our highly acclaimed film, More Than Sad, educates teens about depression, the leading cause of suicide.

Update:
Voting Ended April, 30 and AFSP was a finalist to receive $50,000. Thank you for your votes!

Donating Bone Marrow Can Save a Life

2010-04-16T15:37:00.007-04:00

A while back, Keep Calm and Carry On provided information on becoming a bone marrow donor and bone marrow donation here, here, and here. Blood stem cells taken from the bone marrow or blood of a matching volunteer donor can be used to treat a number of conditions and can be life saving for people with diseases of the blood, bone marrow, or certain types of cancer. It only takes 5 minutes to do a buccal swab to determine if your tissue might be a match for someone in need of a transplant.

Often times when individuals think of bone marrow donation, they think having having to be put under anesthesia and having a long needle draw bone marrow out of a bone in their hip. However, I'm happy to say that the process has improved there is another option to donation. The other option is to administer certain drugs (which unfortuantly may have flu-like side effects) which stimulate the release of stem cells from the bone marrow into circulating blood. An IV is inserted into the donor's arm, and the stem cells are filtered out of the blood. The procedure is similar to donating blood or platelets.

Today I went to the local university student center and did a buccal (cheek) swab to see if I might be a donor match for a bone marrow transfusion for two local girls in need
Ailing sisters still need a donor match | thestarpress.com | The Star Press
and was added to the National Donor Registry.

Spring

2010-04-04T21:45:00.003-04:00

For the last week or so, it's been rather dreary here, overcast, rainy, and cold. It sure didn't feel like Spring. As I looked out the window into the rain yesterday, I wondered if it would be warm in time for Easter Sunday. Fortuantly the weather today turned out to be beautiful, sunny and breazy, with temperatures in the 70's. Even better are the beautiful flowers in bloom. Below are some pictures, taken earlier today, of my grandmother's flower garden.

Easter

2010-04-04T08:00:00.007-04:00

Happy Easter!

The first two pictures are from online, I'm not sure who the author is.
The rest of the pictures are of a traditional Easter at my Grandmother's house.

April is National Child Abuse Awareness Month

2010-04-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

Learn about child abuse and how you can help prevent it..

What Is The Definition of Child Abuse?
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child (source).

What are the Types of Child Abuse?

Child abuse can take several forms (source): The four main types of abuse are physical, sexual, psychological, and neglect(source).

Physical Abuse:
Physical abuse is physical aggression directed at a child by an adult. It can involve striking, burning, choking or shaking a child. The distinction between child discipline and abuse is often poorly defined. Cultural norms about what constitutes abuse vary widely: among professionals as well as the wider public, people do not agree on what behaviors constitute abuse.

Child Sexual Abuse:
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.(sources: here and here) Forms of CSA include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities (regardless of the outcome), indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual sexual contact against a child, physical contact with the child's genitals, viewing of the child's genitalia without physical contact, or using a child to produce child pornography (sources: here, here, and here).

Psychological/Emotional Abuse:
Out of all the different forms of abuse, emotional abuse is the hardest to identify. This form of abuse includes name-calling, ridicule, degradation, destruction of personal belongings, torture or destruction of a pet, excessive criticism, inappropriate or excessive demands, withholding communication, and routine labeling or humiliation (source).

Neglect:
Neglect is the instance in which the responsible adult fails to adequately provide for various needs, including physical (failure to provide adequate food, clothing, or hygiene), emotional (failure to provide nurturing or affection) or educational (failure to enroll a child in school).

Why Does Child Abuse and Neglect Occur?

Child abuse is a complex problem which has multiple causes (source). Understanding the causes of abuse is crucial to addressing the problem of child abuse. Parents who physically abuse their spouses are more likely to physically abuse their children. However, it is difficult to know whether marital strife is a cause of child abuse, or if both the marital strife and abuse are caused by tendencies in the abuser (source). Substance abuse is a major contributing factor to child abuse. One study found that parents with documented substance abuse, most commonly alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, were much more likely to mistreat their children, and were also much more likely to reject court-ordered services and treatments (source).

What Children Are at Risk?

What is the Outcome for Children Who've Been Abused?

How Can Child Abuse and Nelgect Be Prevented?

Some Helpful Links
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE
(1-800-799-7233)
http://www.ndvh.org/

National Domestic Violence Hotline TDD
(for the hearing-impaired)
1-800-787-3224

Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)
Toll-free 24-hour Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE
http://www.rainn.org/
RAINN is a 24-hour national hotline for victims of sexual assault. Calls to the hotline are instantly computer-routed to the 24-hour rape crisis center nearest the caller.

Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline
National Hotline: 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
TDD: 1-800-2-A-CHILD

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
National Hotline: 1-800-THE-LOST
www.ncmec.org/

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
A child advocacy organization in the UK promoting awareness, education, and public change to put an end to child abuse.
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Child Welfare Information Gateway
Topics Covered Include: Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect, Overview of Child Abuse and Neglect, Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect, Responding: The Child Welfare System, and Issues Associated with Child Abuse and Neglect, and Find Help with a Personal Situation. También disponible en español.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/

Prevent Child Abuse America
A not-for-profit organization that has worked for over 25 years with local, state, and national groups to promote healthy parenting and community involvement as effective strategies for preventing child abuse.
http://www.preventchildabuse.org/

Child Abuse Prevention Network
Provides multiple links to child abuse prevention sites, including Army Family Adovcacy Program, Physicians Network, and Family Life Development Center.
http://child-abuse.com/

Child Abuse.org
Contains information about child abuse prevention and treatment, and a method to report suspected abuse cases in the US.
http://www.childabuse.org/

Childabuse.com
Seeks to support, inform and encourage those dealing with any aspect of child abuse, in a positive non-threatening environment. Includes articles by child abuse prevention experts.
http://www.childabuse.com/

Parent-Wise
A clearinghouse of information for facts and strategies for those seeking to keep children safe from maltreatment, such as crisis hotline numbers, parenting articles, and web links.
http://www.parent-wise.org/

Parents Anonymous
Self help groups for abused children and parents under stress
www.parentsanonymous.org/

Coalition for Children
Comprehensive resource for child abuse, lifeskills education, advocacy, media support, legal & expert witness services, research, strangers, safety on the Internet and bullies.
www.safechild.org/

April is Abortion Recovery Awareness Month

2010-03-30T11:45:00.003-04:00

If you or a loved one is struggling after an abortion, please know you are not alone and that help is available and there is hope and healing for you or your loved one. The most important thing to realize is that you/they are not alone in your/their thoughts and feelings. Others have traveled the path to find healing and you/they can, too. If you or your loved one is struggling, please reach out for help. You or your loved one will receive lots of love and support and support in your/their journey to find healing and peace. You can find organizations which offer counseling services, websites on healing, books of diverse beliefs and practices, and more healing resources at the following directory: Abortion Recovery Resources

Coerced Abortion: A Concerning Issue

2010-03-27T11:59:00.007-04:00

Having spoken with and listened to post-abortion women for a number of years, especially at this post-abortion support website, I've learned that subtle to overt pressure and even coercion to have an abortion were a common factor for many woman in their abortion decision. This issue is concerning, however under-represented in discussions on abortion. A growing body of evidence shows that most abortions are unwanted or coerced. One study 64% of American women felt pressured by others. (1) More than half felt rushed or uncertain, yet 67% received no counseling.(1) 79% were not told about available alternatives.(1)

A survey of members at a poltically-neutral post-abortion support website of 5,714 active members, found 772 incidences of individuals in a member's life invovled in coercing her into the abortion(s) (source)

Pressure and coercion to have an abortion comes in many forms and from all sides. It may come from a boyfriend/partner spouse, parent, mentor, school counselor, employer, family planning clinic staff, or religious clergy. Coercion comes in many direct and indirect forms, overt or subtle.

Overt coersion often involves outright words or actions of threat --- such as someone saying to you --- "if you don't get an abortion..." then they will usually list dire consequences purposely to upset her and push her into doing what they want. These dire consequences and threats may include threats of ending the relationship, removing their other child(ren), kicking them out of the home, job termination, etc.

Subtle coersion often includes double-entendres, veiled threats, mind games, passive-agressive actions by the coercers, etc. These threats are not as blatant as the overt coercers, but are more subtle forms of emotional abuse, intended to make her doubt herself, for example, a double-entendre, "It's YOUR decision BUT you'll never finish school." or "It's YOUR decision BUT you wouldn't be a good mom."

Another method includes bribing, sweet talking, or making empty promises ... for example, a boyfriend may promise to marry her if she has the abortion, he may promise that she can have a baby later if she only has the abortion at this time, if she has the abortion everything will be okay and they will be together forever. However these relationships often don't last.

These are all real examples of coercion and these are all forms of emotional/psychological abuse. For those who say "the final decision was up to her," "she signed the consent form," "no one forced her to get up on that table" etc., yes, she ultimately made the choice to get on the table, but pressure and coercion strongly influenced her decision, it was not a "choice" completely made of free will. We need to consider the effects of what being in an abusive relationship can be like and what it can do to a persons free will when she's been emotionally worn down. If you have ever spent time at a woman's shelter or know of a woman who has been abused, know how quickly they feel dehumanized and have no choice and do things they wouldn't have normally chosen to do.

Some coercers have even gone as far as to actually call up and book an appointment at the abortion clinic for the coerced woman, either taking her to the clinic under a misleading guise or basically dragging her and forcing her to into the car and then clinic...using every threat and tactic they can think of to force her through the door and even to sign the form stating that she isn't being coerced. Unfortuantly, many of these women, under emotional duress from harassment and the fear of what will happen when they return home/back to work if they don't get the abortion, will sign the form. Coercion by abusive or otherwise controlling individuals can escalate to violence, forced abortion or even homicide - the leading cause of death for pregnant women.

Some coercers honestly think that by pushing her into having an abortion, they are doing what is right for her, often in the case of parents, who mistakenly believe it is their 'job' as a good parent to presure her into an abortion to protect her from ruining her life or embarassing the family, etc. However, this doesn't undo the emotional hurt or damage of being coerced into an unwanted abortion. "65% of women coerced into an abortion suffer symptoms of trauma" (1) This represents the need for better screening and pre-abortion counseling at hospitals and clinics and more dialogue on this issue from both sides of the abortion debate.

1) VM Rue et. al. "Induced abortions and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women," Medical Science Monitor 10(10):SR5-16 (2004).

For more information, please see:

Abortion: The UnChoice
Stories, research, and documentation of forced or coerced abortions

Forced and Coerced Abortions
Documentation of high profile cases of forced or coerced abortion.

Unwanted Abortions
Stories, research, and documentation of forced or coerced abortions

Women's Experience of Forced or Coerced Abortion
Shared experiences of women who were forced or coerced into having an abortion(s).

More Women's Experiences of Forced or Coerced Abortion
Shared experiences of women who were forced or coerced into having an abortion(s).

Incredible Photo Essay on Poverty and Young Mothers in Troy New York

2010-03-25T18:22:00.010-04:00

At the following link, you will find an incredible photo essay on poverty and young mothers in Troy, NY. The issues surrounding poverty are complex, there are many layers and facets contributing to life in poverty: unstable relationships with partner(s) and family, domestic violence, partner's involvement in gang or drug activity, lacking a high school diploma or GED, lack of vocational or career skills, lack of reliable transportation, lack of safe housing, unemployment due to layoff or termination, underemployment at a minum wage or poorly paying job, underemployed but inelgibile for federal assistance programs, and mental illness or ongoing health issues, etc. coupled with the emotional state of hopelessness and discouragement that often accompny poverty, there are no easy solutions. Beyond the political arena of hot cotemporary issues such as welfare, abortion, and health care are the individuals living everyday lives in poverty.

Brenda Ann Kenneally: Upstate Girls

As a journalist and activist I have dedicated my life to exploring the how and why of class inequity in America. I am concerned with the internalized social messages that will live on for generations after our economic and social policies catch up with the reality of living on the bottom rung of America's upwardly mobile society. My project explores the way that money is but a symptom of self-worth and a means by which humans separate from each other. Poverty is an emotional rather than physical state with layers of marginalization to cement those who live under them into their place. The economic crisis as it is called has done some to take the moral sting out of being poor, though the conversation remains centered on economic rather than social stimulus relief. Thus indicating that the crux of the crisis is for those that are recently without money rather than Americans whose ongoing struggles left them unfazed by the headlines.

H/T to Keep Calm and Carry On

Pro-lifers Don't Care About the Born, Redux

2010-03-15T00:25:00.008-04:00

If you're a pro-life individual and activist, you've probably heard it at sometime or another in a conversation on abortion or maybe as a pro-choice activist, you hold the view that we don't care about children once they're born, only fetuses.

However, keep in mind that many pro-lifers individuals volunteer on an individual basis in over 4,000 pregnancy resource centers in the United states and other countries, which provides parenting and childbirth classes; nutritional counseling; material items (see Earn While You Learn program below); and referrals to public and private agencies for assistance such as Medicaid, the Woman, Infants, and Child (WIC) program, Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), homeless and battered women shelters, utility assistance, and for health care. Most centers feature clothing rooms, which are a department store-like resource center for supplementary material goods such as baby furniture, car safety seats, diapers, hygiene items, blankets and crib bedding, formula/baby food, and new and gently used infant/toddler clothes. are able to make purchases by using "Mommy Money" that is earned by attending 'Earn and Learn' classes. 'Earn and Learn' classes are provided for pregnant and parenting women and include pregnancy, prenatal development, delivery and postpartum care, the emotional needs and physical care of a newborn/toddler/school-aged child, first aid, foundations of discipline, financial management, job preparation and other life skills. Not only does this program provide clients with the material things they need for their infants and their other children, but also teaches them valuable life skills to help them rise out of poverty, and gives them independence and a sense of self-worth.

Also we act on an individual basis to provide, "We offer—and deliver—concrete, here-and-now help. Groceries, clothing, cribs, "safe haven" places to stay as long as they need (like my own home, for instance, in my guest room), baby supplies for their other young ones, even medical care for them and their unborn babies." - http://afterabortion.blogspot.com/2004/07/ive-gone-back-finally-as-some-of-you.html

One great example is when pro-lifers pitched in and worked together to help pay a 15 week pregnant woman's $1950/month mortgage payment when she couldn't work due to pregnancy complications and was at risk of loosing her home:
http://thesiclecell.blogspot.com/2005/12/question-arose-from-someone-interested.html
http://afterabortion.blogspot.com/2005/12/need-has-been-met-god-bless-you-all.html

And on a personal note, my best and closest friend is a single mom to a school-aged child. I was there for her through her pregnancy and her daughter's childhood. I've been there to provide emotional support when she went to the hospital, provide transportation to doctor's offices and Medicaid appointments, provided childcare for her daughter while she was at work or needed an evening off, but most of all continue to giver her support and encouragement. Also, keep in mind that many pro-lifer individuals, such as myself, volunteer on an individual basis for a number community service and support agencies. I've been volunteering at local food pantries and the local soup kitchen, where we distribute hot meals and sack lunches to low income and homeless individuals and families, for the last eight years, off and on, as times allows. And I'm currently creating and distributing basic care bags, with information on local resources, to the indigent homeless in Indiana.

This is one such stereotype of pro-lifer individuals which is inaccurate, perpetuated by biased perceptions and rhetoric, rather we should focus on constructive dialogue of what we can do to better support disadvantaged pregnant and parenting women in our communities.

Former Abortion Clinic Building Converting to Teen Parenting Center

2010-03-13T13:00:00.028-05:00

Former Abortion Clinic To House Teen Parent Center

Little Steps To Lease, Renovate Laurens Road Site

Beth Brotherton, WYFF News 4 Anchor/ Reporter
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A building that used to be an abortion clinic has a new tenant.

Little Steps has taken a lease out on the downtown Greenville property. The teen parent program offers parenting classes, mentoring, support groups, supplies and childcare to young moms and dads.
The group's founder, Mandy Black, was a teen parent herself. "They're young parents, they're going to be parents whether we come along side and help them or not," Black said.

The abortion clinic closed in 2002. The building has been unoccupied for years. It is moldy, water damaged and in need of repairs. To fix it up, Little Steps has planned a community makeover the first weekend in May. Black says they need supplies and sponsorships before then. "We will be repairing walls throughout the building. I don't think there is one wall in whole building that doesn't need repairs," Black said.

Little Steps hopes to finish renovations before summertime. They want to create more space for classes and play groups. Jackie Harris, a 15-year-old single mom to daughter Mary Grace, is excited about the move and the extended hours Little Steps will offer. "I didn't have the baby's father's help. I was a single mom at age 14, a freshman in high school. They gave me options for daycare. They helped me with a job."

Mandy Black knows the move is a bit of a political statement but she says the space really is a perfect fit to provide classrooms, playrooms and mentoring stations. "I don't want to forget what happened here," she said. "There were a lot of lives lost and a lot of lives changed in this building. We don't want to forget that, but at the same time we want to move from that and say here is what can happen now."

To learn how you can help Little Steps with renovations go to their website http://www.littlestepssc.org/.

This is one great example of a pro-life individual seeing a need in the community and taking the intiative for change, by provide mentoring, emotional support, and life skills to prepare pregnant and parenting teen moms for adulthood. Whether you consider yourself pro-life or pro-choice, this may be one area of common ground, there is definately a need in many communities for better support services, like this, for teens and college students who are pregnant and parenting.

H/T Christina at Real Choice

Hello!

2010-03-08T13:54:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to pop in and say hello. My blogging is going to be lighter for the next few weeks, as I'm taking six to eight week CNA (certified nursing assistant) or nurse aide certification course . Having worked for two years in direct care with the developmentally disabled, I've found that I enjoy providing compassion and care to patients and I think I've found my niche.

Volunteering at the Local Soup Kitchen Tuesday Mornings

2010-02-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

I'm living back in my hometown temporarily and so I've begun every other Tuesday, volunteering at the local soup kitchen with a family member, where we distribute hot meals and sack lunches to low income and homeless individuals and families. The soup kitchen is operated by the Catholic church across the street and is located in the basement of the old catholic school, meals are prepared and served in the kitchen and clients eat in the old cafeteria. Also in the basement, next door to the kitchen, is a day room where clients can receive educational tutoring, assistance with GED course work and job applications, Dress for Sucess and Share You Soles clothing for employment, and on some days just serves as a safe, warm place where they can relax, watch movies, and socialize with others. Also, up on the first floor is a St. Vincent DePaul resale store. I've been volunteering with the soup kitchen for the last eight years, off and on, as times allows and the regular volunteers and the director know me. When we got there around 8:30 and the hot food was already prepared and sack lunches ready to go, as sometimes meals are prepared in advance. A few of the regular inviduals we serve often choose to give back and volunteer and were washing the tables in the dinning room and emptying the trash cans for us. Shortly after we arrived, Second Harvest food bank made a delivery of fresh produce and various milk products, so I helped put away food. I noticed that we had a bushel of patatoes, more patotoes than we knew what to do with, and had gotten fresh produce in, and so suggested to the director that maybe we could make my grandmother's famous patotoe soup recipe. She liked the idea and so I set to cleaning and peeling patotoes. I got the patotoes done and had a minute to sit down, but I'm always looking around to see if there's anything that needs done. Today's menu consists of hot vegetable soup (made this morning), salad, yogurt sticks, fruit cocktail, and orange juice or water, plus they can choose to get a sack lunch to take with them (consisting of a sandwhich, piece of fruit, chips, and a desert), and extras such as loaves of bread, and heads of lettuce. We opened the door and started serving at 9:30 (we serve until 11am) and I was right upfront, distributing the meals, as well as pouring more juice and washing trays as needed. We served an estimated 85 individuals, about average for a given day.

Reflections on Haiti and Catholic Relief Services' Operation Rice Bowl

2010-02-16T19:03:00.005-05:00

As I sat down for dinner tonight, I looked down upon my bowl of home-made soup of chicken broth, spaghetti noodles, chicken, and celery, and I contemplated about Haiti and how many hungry bodies, such a simple soup would nourish. I wish there would be a way I could go overseas to Haiti and serve nutritious meals such as these to the hungry there, however temporarily unemployed and without a church affiliation (I consider myself an agnostic theist), I have no means to connect with mission groups or to travel overseas. Then I remembered the Catholic Relief Services' Operation Rice Bowl collection container on the kitchen counter (from a family member's church). This program of Catholic Relief Services invites Catholics in the United States to respect human dignity and foster solidarity with the poor through the traditional practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving (Seventy-five percent of gifts will go to Catholic Relief Services international hunger and poverty alleviation efforts and twenty-five percent will remain in the donor's local diocese to support local hunger and poverty alleviation efforts). In turn, participants will enter the stories of people throughout the world who are rising from poverty with the help of these relationships of solidarity. Although having no intention of participating in the prayer or fasting, I gathered what little money I have out of my purse and dropped it into the Operation Rice Bowl collection container, while dreaming of more, hoping it will make a difference.

Giving All Post-Abortion Men and Women a Voice

2010-02-16T18:30:00.004-05:00

This is to let you know of new pro-choice post-abortion sharing website, 45 Million Voices. In their words:

45 Million Voices is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating the stigma, shame, and silence surrounding abortion through education, empowerment, and sisterhood....
In this virtual space, we will share women's stories of their abortions, unedited, posted as they are submitted to us. The goal is to provide a safe space to listen women into voice. A space where stigma is eradicated, silence is broken, and honesty prevails through the power of love and support....

The stories of women who had abortions are featured, although they mostly focus on physically and emotionally positive abortion experiences. However the experiences of women are diverse and I believe the voices and experiences of all women should be honored and heard. Let's see how honest these people are and let's give a voice to all women.

For those post-abortion women and men, who regret or had physically or emotionally difficult abortion(s), or have had difficulty coping after your abortion, this would be a good opportunity to share your pregnancy and abortion experience and to promote post-abortion stress syndrome awareness.

I encourage you to share your abortion story because others need to know that while feelings of relief are normal, so are feelings of sadness, loss, or grief and everything imbetween are normal too and all women's voices and experiences should be honored.

In Favor of Reproductive Choice...Except for the Choice to Have Multiple Children

2010-02-02T03:20:00.005-05:00

With the recent birth of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar's 19th child, feminists and advocates for reproductive choice are working themselves up into a tizzy once again. The target of their disdain? Michelle and Jim Bob's reproductive decision to have multiple children and a large family.
http://jezebel.com/5424247/hey-nineteen
http://jezebel.com/5356506/is-a-womans-body-made-for-19-kids
http://jezebel.com/5114470/fertility-field-guide-debunking-the-duggars
http://unrepentantoldhippie.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/clown-car-unsafe-at-any-speed/
http://www.breadnroses.ca/birthpangs/2008/05/two-baseball-teams/
http://www.lemondrop.com/2008/12/25/jumping-jehosephat-the-18th-duggar-baby-arrives-early
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7603942

Many of their responses show a double standard of many in the "Reproductive Rights" movement. If a woman decides she wants to have multiple children and a large family, based on a fully informed decision, made between her and her husband, and based on their personal convictions and beliefs, she is looked down upon with a patronizing attitude that she must of been coerced or brainwashed, or mentally ill; her very real feelings and experiences are challenged and questioned (with the viewer or reader presuming to know what she must be experiencing and feeling); jokes and insults regarding the possible state of Michelle's genitalia are made at her expense; and she is called condescending and belittling names such as "brood mare," "breeder," and "clown car." In the same breath they shame and berate the Duggars for reproductive choices they've made, these advocates would expect others to respect their own reproductive rights, to limit their family size using birth control or having an abortion. Those who have a large family, whether by circumstance or choice, are looked down upon as misguided, lacking intelligence, irresponsbile breeders, and contributors to the problems of overpopulation, overall a burden, while women who use birth control and carefully limits her family are viewed as good girls, empowered and intellegent, making good choices. With an obvious amount of disdain, many feminists turn their matriarchal noses up and away with an air of disgust towards those with multiple children.

As for the various comments and pot-shots towards the Duggar's belief system, while I don't personally agree with their belief system, I don't see the Duggars trying to push their beliefs onto others, or presumably wanting everyone to live their lives this way. Rather, the Duggars are living their life to their beliefs, as they see fit. While many of their family practices are quite questionable and while I must disagree with their practices, it's not of anyone's business to tell them how to raise their children, so as long as the children are receiving adequite food, shelter, clothing, and education. While you may agree or disagree, how many children they have, what religion they practice, and how they raise their kids is their business, as long as they're not abusing their children and are within the confines of the law. And regardless of their decision to appear on public television, by no means should Michelle Duggar's body or her personal beliefs, be subject to public judgement. Leave them be. As mom always has said, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Adventures in Plasma Donation

2010-01-28T03:15:00.160-05:00

Ok, so since I'm strapped for cash right now and I've been a blood donor before, I'm considering donating plasma. I've already looked into the whole process and the place where I'd be going and it looks clean and the process appears to be safe, and there is a strict screening process for donors. Apparently these places are regulated by the FDA and an independent regulatory organization and are basically operated by pharmaceutical companies, which then use the plasma to manufactor medications for those with clotting disorders, immune disorders, burns, etc. But I have some concerns because donating plasma seems to carry stigma based on some of the cientele they receive and because you receive money in return. I have an appointment this Monday and am a bit nervous.

Update 2/02:
Ok, it's Monday and my first appointment. I wasn't able to get anyone else to go with me, both my best friend and my parents are firmly against selling plasma for ethical reasons. So I borrowed a family member's pickup truck (remember, I'm still without a vehicle since my car accident in December) and went to my appointment by myself. I made sure to have the required identification documents (letter of proof of social security number from the social security office, driver's license, and a piece of mail for proof of mailing address), a book to read, and my CD player with a book on CD to pass the time during the wait and procedure. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was 1) How busy they were 2) All the staff handling clients apeared to be phlebotomists and other medical professionals (including those operating the front desk) and were using universal precautions and wearing lab coats, 3) How clean and ultra-modern the place looked, and 4) They have a nice supervised playroom for the children of clients. After a short wait, they got my information put into the computer, my finger print scanned (to login each time), took me back to the procedure area and had a phlebotomist check my veins, then took me back up front and showed me how to do the automated medical history questionare on a self-service computer. After I filled out the history questionare, I was then taken into a small private office to review my history questionare with one of the medical staff. She reviewed my prescription medications and asked what condition they were for, and how long I've been taking them, but seemed particularly interested in the medication I'm on for depression. Uh oh, I thought, something's wrong, that isn't on the medication deferral list (I know from being a whole blood donor). She then took me back to her office/examine room for a short physical examination to make sure that donating won't adversely affect my health, a part of the normal screening process. On the way back, out of curiousity, I asked what her titled was and she told me licensed nurse practioner, with a bit of an attitude (like, "Why'd you ask that?") but over all was professional. Once we were in her office, she explained that I couldn't donate today, that I'd need to be on my medication for 30 days to make sure the medication was at its peak dose in my blood stream, because the medication is present in plasma and when a person donates plasma, it can temporarily lower the amount of medication in ones blood stream. Because of this, she explained, for certain medical conditions, where a patient needs to have their medication consistantly in their blood stream, they would need the prescribing doctor's approval before they can let the person donate, and such as my case and they would need my physician's approval before they can let me donate.

She then had me fill out a release of information form and handed me a form to have my primary care physician, who's been treating me for my depression, to fill out and to fax back to the plasma center. Then the medical director of the plasma center has to review what my physician wrote to determine whether or not I'm eligable to donate. Well, that was that. I need to get a physical because I'm going back to school and I'm due for an annual medication review for my depression anyways, so after leaving the plasma center, I headed over to my primary care physician's office to drop off the form and to schedule an appointment. So I have an appointment at my primary care physician next Monday and may have to wait until I've been on my medicine for 30 days before I can donate, depending on what my primary care doc writes on the form for the plasma center and if the plasma center director approves me. Darn! I was hoping I could start donating today, not to mention I've been drinking like a liter and a half of Gatorade (sports drink electrolyte replacement) over the last 24 hours so I'm adequitely hydrated in anticipation of donating and really had to pee! So that was my initial experience and the place I'm going to looks clean and safe and as you can see, it's a thorough screening process, not just anyone off the street can donate plasma. Despite all lengthy screening process and challenges which have arose, if I'm approved, I'd like to still donate.

Update 2/9:
It's been a week and so I followed up with the plasma center via a phone call to see if they had received the form back from my physician's office and if my physician had given the ok for me to donate and apparently he had. Now I just have to wait until I've been on my medicine for a month before I can make the actual appointment to donate.

Update 3/10:
I had an actual donation appointment today, but because I hadn't ate an actual meal beforehand (meal replacement shakes don't count I guess) and they prefer you do as to minimize side effects, they deferred me until tomarrow, but went ahead and took a test tube of blood to test for any blood-borne pathogens (such as HIV and viral hepatitis) which might make my blood and blood products unsafe to use, a normal part of the screening process. Normally the screening process, the physical, medical questionare, and test tube of blood are all done in one appointment, but because I had to have a physician's ok, it was a bit more drawn out.

Update 3/11:
Yea, I was able to donate today! I made sure to eat a good breakfast this time before my appointment. I got there a little early and got logged in at the front desk and because I was a first time donor, I got a bag of gold-fish crackers and a bottle of water to drink. Once I finished my snack, I filled out an automated medical history questionare on a self-service computer. I then was called to chair along a large round counter where a phlebotomist (or lab tech) weighed me (to determine how much plasma can be donated), took my blood pressure and temperature, and took a finger-prick of blood to check the iron and protein levels in my blood. Everything was good, so next I proceeded to a large room where the actual plasma donation would take place, and took a seat in a recliner next to a plasmapheresis machine. Donating plasma is similar in many ways to whole blood donation. First a blood pressure cuff is put around my arm and then the tech hooked up the disposable tubing. Then the tech will felt for a vein in the bend of my arm and marked it, my skin was cleaned well with betadine, and a needle is inserted into the vein. I know having a needle inserted interveinously isn't fun, but honestly I think the finger prick hurt more than having the needle inserted. The machine was then set for the amount of plasma to be collected and the process begain. In the first cycle, blood is drawn through the needle and into tubing, up into a spinning tube which seperates the plasma from the rest of the blood products, the blood products then run out of the tube, down a line where it mixes with an anticoagulant (to keep it flowing) and collects in a small resevoir. Once a pint of blood has been collected in the resevoir, the machine stops and enters the next cycle, in which the blood and is then pumped back into the body. The anticoagulant used (citric acid) gave me an awful metallic taste in my mouth and made my lips tingle at first. Once the resevoir is empty again, the first cycle begins again and this continues until 520 to 820 ml of plasma is collected. Once the process is complete, the machine automatically switched off, with the machine chirrpring and moniter screen showing the process is complete. Then the phlebotomist then changed the settings so that an infusion of normal saline drip was given to help rehydrate me and prevent dizziness; however at normal room temperature (15 to 20 degrees below normal body temperature), the saline feels cold and made me shiver, I think next time I'll bring a blanket! The tape holding the tubing in place on my arm was removed (and I got free hair removal on my arm :p) and the needle was removed and a piece of colorful elastic bandage was wrapped around my arm. I got a purple one, only my favorite color. I felt well with no side effects and so was released. I then checked out on the finger scanner, receiving $20 credited a a debit card I received, a worthy incentive I might add. Overall, the process wasn't that bad nor that big of a deal and I look forward to donating again in the near future.

Also, the following is a pretty thorough, honest, and informative article about plasma donation:
Pimping For Plasma - The Truth Behind Plasma “Donations”

Legal but No Safer - Shoddy Abortion Practices Continue in the U.S.

2010-01-27T06:02:00.000-05:00

This article will be addressing continuing unsafe abortion practices in the United States. Let me start out with an excerpt of an article:
"Although thousands of abortion procedures are performed every year without incident, the procedure does carry risks, and some complications of abortion can be extremely serious, even life-threatening. In certain cases, negligence on the part of a medical professional can cause or contribute to complications of abortion. Women who have procedures performed incorrectly or incompletely may suffer complications of abortion including perforation of the uterus, infection, and endotoxic shock. Some complications of abortion are long-term, such as the possibility of an increased risk for certain cancers and ectopic pregnancies. Patients should be warned of the risk of complications of abortion before deciding to go ahead with the procedure, but surgical mistakes and medical negligence are not considered acceptable risks." http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/medical_malpractice/obgyn/abortion.html

Despite legalization, women are continuing to experience and die from abortion complications; however, women are dying from foreseeable and preventable complications due to inexcusable poor clinic conditions and carelessness and neglect on the part of abortion providers, which is supported by the following statistics and actual cases.

According to the CDC Abortion Surveillance taken during the years 1972 to 2002, the total number of deaths due to legal induced abortion were highest before the 1980s (despite widespread legalization in 1973) and during the years 1972 to 2002 there were more deaths due to legal abortions than illegal abortions, with a steady trend of of 12.6 abortion deaths average a year in the United States (see table 19), however the CDC admits that because these data are reported voluntarily, several limitations and under-reporting exist (see Limitations). Medscape's continuing medical education website, E-Medicine, features the following complication and mortality statistics for abortion:
Abortion Complications: complications of spontaneous and therapeutic abortions include (1) complications of anesthesia, (2) postabortion triad (ie, pain, bleeding, low-grade fever), (3) hematometra, (4) retained products of conception, (5) uterine perforation, (6) bowel and bladder injury, (7) failed abortion, (8) septic abortion, (9) cervical shock, (10) cervical laceration, and (11) disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Frequency of complications depends on gestational age at time of abortion and method of abortion. Reported complication rates according to gestational age at time of abortion are as follows: for 8 weeks and under - Less than 1% or less than 17,300 women will experience complications, for 8-12 weeks - 1.5 to 2% or 25,950 to 34,600 women, 12-13 weeks - 3 to 6% or 51,900 to 103,800 women, Second trimester - Up to 50% or 865,000 women, possibly higher.

Mortality and morbidity depend on gestational age (GA) at time of abortion. In the US, mortality rates per 100,000 abortions are as follows: (1) fewer than 8 weeks - 0.5; (2) 11-12 weeks -2.2; (3) 16-20 weeks - 14; and (4) more than 21 weeks- 18. Let me put this into perspective for you. Consider that in 2002, 1.3 million abortions were preformed and and 430,000 spontaneous abortions occured in the United States, (source: Unintended Pregnancy Statistics) for this purpose, a total of 1.73 million, correlating the number of total spontaneous and elective abortions to the above mortality rates for spontaneous and elective abortions, this translates to the following statistic number of mortalities (or deaths) which occur for spontaneous and elective abortions (but keep in mind the actual numbers may be higher or lower), (1) fewer than 8 weeks, 8.7 deaths, (2)11-12 weeks, 38 deaths, (3) 16-20 weeks, 242 deaths, 4) more than 21 weeks, 311 deaths.

Cases of Legal Abortion Deaths from 2000-201

Abortion Reportedly Kills Woman in New York at A1 Medicine Abortion Center
The below news reporting agencies also confirm LifeSite's news report
Woman Dies While Undergoing Apparent Abortion - WPIX TV New York
New York Daily News: Queens clinic A1 Medicine probed after Alexandra Nunez is fatally injured

New York, NY -- A New York woman has apparently died as a result of a failed abortion done at the A-1 Women's Care abortion center located in the Jackson Heights section of Queens. Reports indicate emergency officials responded to an emergency call from the A1 Medicine facility at 95-45 Roosevelt on Monday afternoon.

WPIX-TV indicates a woman in her 30s was reportedly undergoing heavy bleeding and was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center where she was later pronounced dead.

The television station indicates an investigation into the failed abortion is ongoing and that one question officials are examining is whether the center was licensed to do abortions.

Another local media outlet, 1010 WINS, indicated the abortion practitioner severed an artery during the abortion procedure.

The A-1 Women's Care abortion business does abortions but advertises gynecology and plastic surgery on the sign located outside the building.

No one from the abortion business answered the phone when LifeNews.com contacted it for information or a quote about this story.

The New York state department of health lists A1 Medicine as a facility for plastic surgery accredited by The Joint Commission on July 13, 2009.

Other media reports indicate the second-floor office specializes in plastic surgery, laser wrinkle surgery, skin depigmentation and liposuction but does abortions as well.

Local news agencies indicated the center was still taking appointments for abortions.

This failed abortion comes after a California medical board said an abortion practitioner who killed a woman last year in a botched abortion must stop doing them. However, to the chagrin of pro-life advocates, a judge did not revoke the medical license of Andrew Rutland, as happened years ago before reinstating it.

Rutland surrendered his license in October 2002 after a two-year state investigation that resulted in accusations of negligence, misconduct and incompetence in his treatment of 20 pregnant women, newborns and gynecological patients

Rutland faced a Thursday hearing in front of the California Medical Board at a hearing in San Diego after documents showed Rutland killed a woman during an abortion by administering anesthesia to her and not knowing the proper dosage.

A judge ordered Rutland to stop doing abortions until a more thorough hearing on the case could be held.

Also late-term abortion provider Pierre Renelique's FL medical license was revoked following his part in the alleged murder of neonate, Shaunice Williams. Renelique was the abortion provider on call when in 2006, Sycloria Williams delivered a live baby girl, who she named Shaunice, during a botched abortion. A Gyn Diagnostics clinc owner Belkis Gonzalez allegedly then killed the neonate and threw her body in a biohazard bag and onto her Hialeah, FL, clinic roof to hide the evidence from police. Pierre Renelique preformed a D&E on the client and then falsified the records to cover Renelique's mistake. On February 16, 2009, the State of FL revoked Renelique's medical license and a lawsuit against him is pending. Pierre Renelique then moved and began to practice medicine again, this time in NY. However his past caught up with him and NY officials put Renelique on a 2-year probation.
(sources: here, here, and here)

Also this follows Abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari, based in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, fined $10,000 in 2009, by a state board in connection with a woman's botched abortion death (source). Hodari is facing civil and possibly criminal charges after he allegedly had a staffer hold a teen down and performed an abortion on her against her will (source). Also Hodari was implicated in the death of Tamia Russell, a 15 years old girl who died in January of 2004, after an abortion at over 26 weeks gestation. The abortion was arrainged by her boyfriend's sister and paid for by her 24 yrs old boyfriend, who paid Hodari $2,000 in cash. Tamia died from complications of the abortion less than 24 hours after the procedure at Hodari's Womancare clinic of Southfield/Lathrup Village (source). Most recently, a lawsuit filed January 28, 2010, is accusing Hodari of assault and battery for committing a intrauterine abortion on a woman who was actually carrying an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. Hodari and the clinic failed to inform the woman of the ectopic pregnancy and to properly treat the ectopic pregnancy, instead preforming an unncessary intrauterine abortion (source). Hodari and/or his Womancare clinic have a number of lawsuits against them: http://www.voicesforwomen.org/Hodari.html. All cases can be accessed by visiting the county’s circuit court office (from which the case was filed), just present the case number. Current Oakland County files may be sent to a personal e-mail address for a charge of $1 per a page at:
www.oakgov.com/clerkrod/courtexplorer/index.html.

The following are other client cases as well as disciplinary action against doctors and clinics; evidence of the continuing medical malpractice and neglect occuring within the practice of abortion services.

Kimberly K. Neil : Date of Death: May 22, 2000. Place of Death: Family Planning Associates, Los Angeles, California. Abortionist: Kenneth L. Wright. "Fresno Abortion Practitioner Sued for Abortion Death, Botched Abortion." Fresno Bee, August 18, 2001; "Kenneth Wright Loses Abortion Patient." About.com, August 22, 2001.

Nicey Washington, age 26, : Date of Death: June 6, 2000. Place of Death: Ambulatory Surgery Center, Brooklyn, New York. Abortionist: Unknown. "City, State Probe Patient Death at Abortion Clinic." New York Post, June 9, 2000.

L'Echelle Renee Head, 21, died October 11, 2000. Place of Death: Dayton Women's Services, Dayton, Ohio. Abortionist:

Brenda A. Vise : Date of Death: September 12, 2001. Place of Death: Volunteer Women's Medical Clinic, Knoxville, Tennessee. Abortionist: RU-486 death. Christine Hall. "Lawsuit Alleges Medical Malpractice in RU-486-Related Death." CNSNews.com, September 3, 2002. Jane Roe of Vancouver, BC : Date of Death: August 31, 2001. Place of Death: Vancouver, British Columbia. Abortionist: RU-486 death. Celeste McGovern. "Woman Dies in Canadian Abortion-Pill Testing." National Catholic Register, October 7-13, 2001.

Diana Lopez, age 25 : Date of Death: February 28, 2002. Place of Death: Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, California. Abortionist: Mark Maltzer. Sandra Schmerz. Diana Lopez, a 25-year-old Huntington Park woman, bled to death after her cervix was punctured during the procedure.
Los Angeles County Coroner's Report #2002-01721

Cherry Hill Women's Center; Dr. Charles Benjamin

Cherry Hill, New Jersey - 2003
Failure to obtain parental consent and informed consent
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35222

Settled out of court
Holly Patterson : Date of Death: September 17, 2003. Place of Death: Planned Parenthood of Hayward, California. Abortionist: RU-486 abortion pill fatality. Kara Platoni. "The Making of a Martyr." East Bay Express, December 17, 2003; Julian Guthrie. "Pregnant Teen's Death Under Investigation." San Francisco Chronicle, September 19, 2003; "Parents of Abortion Drug Victim Sue Drug Company and Planned Parenthood." Culture & Cosmos [Culture of Life Foundation], December 28, 2004 [Volume 2, Number 22].

Leigh Ann Stephens Alford, age 34, died November 26, 2003 of complications of an abortion preformed by Malachy DeHenre and Andy Kanengiser at Summit Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama, which resulted in the suspension of the license of one of the abortion providers.
"Abortion Death Cited in Action Against Doctor: Ala. Suspends License of Jackson Abortion Practitioner." The Clarion Ledger, August 14, 2004; Associated Press, August 19, 2004.

Oriane Shevin, age 34 : Date of Death: June 14, 2005. Place of Death: Eve Surgical Center, Los Angeles, California. Abortionist: Unknown. Maria L. La Ganga. "FDA Warns Patients." Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2005.
Christin Gilbert, a young woman with Down Syndrome, died January 2005 as results of complications of an abortion procedure preformed by George Tiller at Women's Health Care Services, Wichita, Kansas. "Woman's Death After Abortion Not a Crime, Jury Finds." The Wichita Eagle, August 1, 2006.

Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region

Ohio - 2005
Failure to obtain parental consent; failure to report statutory rape
Case status not known
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05040504.html

Dr. Deborah Levich - Medical license suspended

Alabama - 2006 Use of early-term abortion pill on late-term patient
http://www.albme.org/Documents/PublicDocs/BME_FILES/md.00025207.pdf

Erica Goode, died February 14, 2007 Planned Parenthood, Riverside, California. Edrica Goode, 21, went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Riverside for an abortion Jan. 31 and that a nurse inserted cervical dilators, used to gradually expand the cervix in preparation for second-trimester abortions, despite the fact that the nurse noted Goode had a vaginal infection. Goode then became feverish and disoriented and did not report back to the abortion clinic for the removal of the dilators. Goode's mother, Aletheia Meloncon, was unaware of the abortion. She described her daughter as having become "mentally unstable." She took her to a Moreno Valley hospital where, due to a lack of knowledge about the abortion, proper treatment was delayed and she eventually died.
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=10027

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-abortion21jun21,0,885364.story?coll=la-home-local

Smith, Laura Hope : Date of Death: September 13, 2007. Place of Death: Women's Health Center, Hyannis, Massachusetts. Abortionist: Rapin Osathanondh. Gail Besse. "Abortion Business Death Raises Questions." National Catholic Register, October 21-27, 2007; Steven Ertelt. "Mainstream Media Finally Reports Massachusetts Woman's Abortion Death." LifeNews.com, October 22, 2007.
Abortion Malpractice: Exploring the Safety of Legal Abortion
http://uffl.org/vol%205/collett5.pdf

Metropolitan Medical Associates: Dr. Keith Gresham & Dr. Nicholas Kotopoulos
Englewood, New Jersey - 2007
Medical malpractice
Settled out of court
http://lifenews.com/state4638.html

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri
Overland Park, Kansas - 2007
Providing unlawful late-term abortions
Case Status: Ongoing
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302919,00.html

Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California - 2008 Medicaid fraud
Case status not known
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/features/fraud-planned-parenthood.html

Dr. Hamid Hussain Sheikh
Lexington, Kentucky
2008 Unsanitary abortion facility, Medicaid fraud
Case Status: Ongoing, medical license suspended

James Pendergraft
Orlando, Florida - 2008
Medical malpractice
Medical license suspended

Dr. Rapin Osathanondh
Massachusetts - 2008
Medical negligence resulting in maternal death
Case Status: Ongoing. Medical license revoked.

Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs; Dr. Meryl Severson
Lincoln, Nebraska - 2007
Botched abortion: perforated uterus
Case status not known

South Dakota Planned Parenthood
Sioux Falls, South Dakota - 2009
Failure to comply with informed consent law
Ongoing
http://www.lifenews.com/state4344.html

Planned Parenthood of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas - 2009
Performing abortions without a license
Ongoing
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15692

Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest
Spokane, Washington - 2009
Medicaid fraud, drug distribution by unauthorized personnel
Fined
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/aug/12/audit-clinic-overbilled-medicaid/

Gentilly Medical Clinic for Women
New Orleans, Louisiana
2010 Violation of state health standards
Medical license revoked
http://www.lifenews.com/state4743.html

James Pendergraft, medical license suspended according to a order on the Florida board of medicine website
365 Women Who Have Been Killed by "Safe" and Legal Abortion
http://abortionviolence.com/DEATHS.HTM

Abortion Deaths Prior To and After Legalization
http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/blldideathsyear.htm

Abortion Lawsuits Archive
http://secularprolife.org/lawsuits.php

It's time to put women's safety first. It's time for abortion-rights activist to also step up to the plate and demand better care for women.

March for Life 2010

2010-01-21T02:40:00.020-05:00

For over 35 years, on the anniversary of Roe V. Wade, hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans participate in the March for Life.
In 1974 the first March was held on the West Steps of the Capitol and the numbers have gradually risen through the years. These growing numbers give testimony to the increasing ranks of pro-life Americans and to the importance of the March's work.
Widely considered the most attended annual march in Washington, DC, the March for Life has become the pro-life movement's signature event. The pro-life movement is culturally diverse and is represented by a variety of indivudals of all races, creeds, nationalities, sexual preferences, and spiritual beliefs.

Update 1/23/10:

The March was not very well covered by the mainstream media, and even those who did cover the March were misinformed and seem confused, as demonstrated when at the 3p ET hour of CNN's Rick's List on Friday, host Rick Sanchez started coverage with the statment, "Abortion rights supporters and opponents hit the streets of the nation's capital Friday to mark the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade...." followed by "It's the 37th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade case....both sides being represented today, but it does appear to me, as I look at these signs that - which side is represented the most....Do we know?"

The Washington Times reports "Thousands of pro-lifers storm D.C." and writes 'Organizers estimated the crowd at the March for Life to number at least 200,000. A "virtual" march on Washington, hosted by Americans United for Life at http://www.virtualmarchforlife.com/, attracted 74,925 "avatars" by late Friday afternoon.'

In additionOne News Now and Catholic News Agency estimate 250k to 300k in the crowd at the March for Life, while tthe Washington Post vaguely reports "tens of thousands." In contrast to the 200-300,000 pro-lifers marching, the best the pro-choice movement could come up with was 50-60 counter-protestors, according to National Infozine, a liberal/pro-choice publication, which writes, "A group of about 60 abortion rights demonstrators faced off against a much larger crowd of anti-abortion demonstrators during the annual March for Life, held on the anniversary of the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision."

Russia Today of all things that produced the best mainstream news story on the 2010 March for Life

Fallible Dogma, a pro-life Catholic blog, features Pictures and Video from March For Life Dallas 2010

1-22 Marcher has linked to 2 more good person-on-the-street March videos, here and here

The Campus Progress website, a liberal and pro-choice organization, features pictures from the March for Life. While their captions are from their point of view, the pictures capture the diversity and positive attitudes of pro-life individuals at the March.

The March for Life begins this Friday, January 22, 2010 in Washington D.C. There's a lot going on. Specific details can be found at the March for Life website and Life News Site as well as here at my blog below.

Thursday, January 21:

Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
LSN Reporter Peter Smith will be speaking at 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
See full schedule.

March for Life Convention
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Washington D.C.
LSN's John-Henry Westen, Tim Waggoner, Matthew Anderson, Kathleen Gilbert, Peter Smith and Hilary White will rotate their presence at the LSN booth in the displays area on Thursday afternoon and evening and Friday morning and afternoon. Stop by to say hello!
See the above link for more details.

American Life League - Personhood Conference
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Washington Court Hotel, Washington D.C.

March for Life White House Mini-Rally - flashlight program
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Lafayette Park, Washington D.C.

Opening mass for National Prayer Vigil for Life
6:30 p.m.
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.
All night prayer vigil to follow. See schedule for details.

Rock for Life Concert
8:00 p.m.
Washington Court Hotel

Friday, January 22:

Human Life International Mini-Conference
8:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Washington Court Hotel, Washington D.C.
LSN Editor in Chief John-Henry Westen will be giving a few remarks to introduce HLI's President, Fr. Thomas Euteneuer.

Rock for Life Concert
7:00 p.m.
Washington Court Hotel
Also, LSN's U.S. Coordinator and journalist Matthew Anderson will be at the concert to get the word out about LifeSiteNews.

Giant 2010 Youth Rally and Mass for Life
7:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Verizon Wireless Center - Washington, D.C.

Closing mass for National Prayer Vigil for Life
7:30 a.m.
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington D.C.

Blogs4Life Conference 2010 (Scroll down for more details)
8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Family Research Council Headquarters
801 G Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

You can still register to attend in person. Or make plans to view online. Bloggers can live stream the conference on their sites. You will be able to watch the event live here at my blog below:

Here is the tentative speakers' schedule for the Blogs4Life Conference, which even as late as yesterday changed. So it's by no means written in stone.

8:30 - 8:35a Jill Stanek, emcee introduction
8:35 - 8:45a Kristen Day, Democrats for Life
8:45 - 9:00a Joseph Farah, WorldNetDaily.com
9:00 - 9:20a PANEL: "Hosting a winning pro-life blog, " American Life League's Katie Walker and ALL's Pro-life Blog Contest winners
9:20 - 9:33a Carol Clews, Executive Director, Center for Pregnancy Concerns, Baltimore, MD
9:33 - 9:35a Kristin Hansen, VP of Communications, Care Net
9:35 - 9:45a Marjorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List
9:45 - 10:05a Rep. Michele Bachmann Todd Akin, R-MO
10:05a - 10:15a Break
10:15 - 10:25a Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D (pictured right), President and CEO, Americans United for Life
10:25 - 10:45a Rep. Jim Jordan, R-OH
10:45a - 11:05a PANEL: Emerging Online Technologies, Molotov Mitchell, Illuminati Pictures; Peter Shinn, President, Pro-Life Unity; Founder, Blogs for Life; Krystle Weeks, Web Editor, Family Research Council
11:05 - 11:15a Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
11:15 - 11:30a David Prentice, Ph.D, Senior Fellow for Life Sciences, FRC, StemCellResearchFacts.org

Lutherans for Life worship service
9:00 a.m.
Immanuel Lutheran Church
1801 Russell Road
Alexandria, VA 22301

Rally for Life
12:00 p.m.
National Mall and 7th Street
Washington D.C.

March for Life
1:00 p.m.
Washington D.C. National Mall
See details and route map.

Silent No More Awareness Campaign - testimonies
4:00 p.m.
Steps of the Supreme Court, Washington D.C.
Immediately following the March women from the Silent No More Awareness Campaign will be giving testimonies of their experiences with abortion.

International Culture of Life Awards Reception
Honoring Arizona Congressman Trent Franks
4:00 p.m.
Special invited guests - Congressman Chris Smith and many others
Phoenix Park Hotel, Across from Union Station
520 North Capital St. NW, $40 per person donation
Information and to register on line

March for Life Rose Dinner
6:00 p.m.
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Washinton D.C.
At least four of the LSN team will be there.

Saturday, January 23:

Students for Life of America National Conference
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The morning's events will include a series of speeches from representative of Operation Outcry, Silent No More, and Alliance Defense Fund.
Pryzbyla Center, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.
More information

American Life League Training and Activism Week - Rock for Life
9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Washington Court Hotel, Washington D.C.
Speeches about pro-life activism.

For More On the Schedule, Go Here

EWTN To Air 2010’s Historic “March for Life/Walk for Life”

Pro-life people won’t want to miss any of EWTN’s pro-life shows in January. Highlights include:

“March for Life 2010:” On the East Coast, Doug Keck (Host of EWTN’s “Bookmark”) will anchor the Network’s live coverage with Fr. Joseph. They will be joined in studio by EWTN Radio Hosts Jim and Joy Pinto. In Washington, D.C., Teresa Tomeo (host of EWTN’s daily radio news and feature program “Catholic Connection”) and EWTN Series Host Damon Owens will interview the newsmakers and pro-lifers from around the country.

Solemn Vigil Mass for Life airs 6:30 p.m., Jan. 21 (live); Solemn Mass for Life airs 7:30 a.m., Jan. 22 (live); March for Life 2009 airs 11 a.m. Jan. 22 (live) and encores 10 p.m. Jan. 22.

“Walk for Life West Coast 2010:” On the West Coast, Father Mark and Doug Barry, hosts of EWTN’s “Life on the Rock,” will cover the walk whose fabulous speakers include former Planned Parenthood Clinic Director Abby Johnson; UCLA Student Activist and Filmmaker Lila Rose; 40 Days for Life National Director David Bereit; Silent No More Speakers Irene Beltran and Georgette Forney, and Jim Garlow, a San Diego-based evangelical pastor. In addition, Rev. Clenard Childress, director of LEARN and BlackGenocide.org, a speaker since the Walk’s inauguration in 2005, will rally the walkers.
Airs 1 p.m. Jan. 23 (live) and encores at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 24.

Other Information:

Down syndrome advocates will March for Life again in 2010
Families of children with Down syndrome will walk together for the 2nd year in a row at the March for Life in D.C. on January 22, 2010.
KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome) was formed by Eileen Haupt and Leticia Velasquez, parents of children with DS, for the purpose of gathering families to walk together in the March for Life, raise awareness of the tragically high abortion rate of DS babies, and to share the joys that their children bring into their lives....

Abby Johnson featured on Focus on the Family radio shows today and tomorrow
In conjunction with the 36th anniversary of the US Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, former Planned Parenthood employee Abby Johnson will be featured on Focus on the Family's radio programs today and tomorrow. This show will air on 2k radio outlets in the US and will also be available for online listening.
To learn more about today's broadcast - and find a station you may listen on - click here.

For tomorrow's broadcast of the second half of the discussion, click here.
If there's no station near you - or you just don't have a chance to listen - recordings of both programs will be posted after they are broadcast here.

If you're not able to attend the March for Life in person, you can join the over 42,000 Americans represented in the Virtual March for Life.

While I won't be able to go to D.C. this year due to financial constraints, my thoughts will be with those marching, especially my post-abortion friends in Silent No More Awareness, and I will be representing myself at the March through the Virtual March for Life

H/Ts to Jill Stanek and Big Blue Wave Canada

Haiti Hit by Magnitude-7.0 Earthquake with Devastation - How You Can Help

2010-01-13T15:55:00.009-05:00

Thousands feared dead in Haiti quake; many trapped
By JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after a powerful earthquake flattened the president's palace, the cathedral, hospitals, schools, the main prison and whole neighborhoods. Officials feared thousands — perhaps more than 100,000 — may have perished but there was no firm count.

Death was everywhere in Port-au-Prince. Bodies of tiny children were piled next to schools. Corpses of women lay on the street with stunned expressions frozen on their faces as flies began to gather. Bodies of men were covered with plastic tarps or cotton sheets.

President Rene Preval said he believes thousands were killed in Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake, and the scope of the destruction prompted other officials to give even higher estimates. Leading Sen. Youri Latortue told The Associated Press that 500,000 could be dead, although he acknowledged that nobody really knows.

"Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," Preval told the Miami Herald. "There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."
Even the main prison in the capital fell down, "and there are reports of escaped inmates," U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was missing and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince was dead.

"The cathedral, the archbishop's office, all the big churches, the seminaries have been reduced to rubble," Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the apostolic envoy to Haiti, told the Vatican news agency FIDES.

The parking lot of the Hotel Villa Creole was a triage center. People sat with injuries and growing infections by the side of rubble-strewn roads, hoping that doctors and aid would come.

The international Red Cross said a third of Haiti's 9 million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.

At first light Wednesday, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to the hospital on the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the military has been detaining suspected terrorists.

President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort, adding that the U.S. commitment to its hemispheric neighbor will be unwavering.

"We have to be there for them in their hour of need," Obama said.

A small contingent of U.S. ground troops could be on their way soon, although it was unclear whether they would be used for security operations or humanitarian efforts. Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said roughly 2,000 Marines as part of an expeditionary unit might be deployed aboard a large-deck amphibious ship. Fraser said the ship could provide medical help.

Other nations — from Iceland to Venezuela — said they would start sending in aid workers and rescue teams. Cuba said its existing field hospitals in Haiti had already treated hundreds of victims. The United Nations said Port-au-Prince's main airport was "fully operational" and open to relief flights.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is under way and expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday. Additional U.S. Navy ships are under way to Haiti, a statement from the Southern Command said.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the capital of 2 million people as women covered in dust clawed out of debris, wailing. Stunned people wandered the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares to sing hymns.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said it was possible that the death toll "will be in the thousands."

"Initial reports suggest a high number of casualties and, of course, widespread damage but I don't have any figure that I can give you with any reliability of what the number of casualties will be," Holmes said.

People pulled bodies from collapsed homes, covering them with sheets by the side of the road. Passers-by lifted the sheets to see if loved ones were underneath. Outside a crumbled building, the bodies of five children and three adults lay in a pile.

The prominent died along with the poor: the body of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, 63, was found in the ruins of his office, said the Rev. Pierre Le Beller of the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in Landivisiau, France. He told The Associated Press by telephone that fellow missionaries in Haiti had told him they found Miot's body.

Preval told the Herald that Haiti's Senate president was among those trapped alive inside the Parliament building. Much of the National Palace pancaked on itself.

The international Red Cross and other aid groups announced plans for major relief operations in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

Many will have to help their own staff as well as stricken Haitians. Taiwan said its embassy was destroyed and the ambassador hospitalized. Spain said its embassy was badly damaged and France said its embassy also suffered damage.

Tens of thousands of people lost their homes as buildings that were flimsy and dangerous even under normal conditions collapsed. Nobody offered an estimate of the dead, but the numbers were clearly enormous.

"The hospitals cannot handle all these victims," said Dr. Louis-Gerard Gilles.

Medical experts say disasters such as an earthquake generally do not lead to new outbreaks of infectious diseases, but they do tend to worsen existing health problems.

Haiti's quake refugees likely will face an increased risk of dengue fever, malaria and measles — problems that plagued the impoverished country before, said Kimberley Shoaf, associate director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters.

Some of the biggest immediate health threats include respiratory disease from inhaling dust from collapsed buildings and diarrhea from drinking contaminated water.

With hospitals and clinics severely damaged, Haiti will also face risks of secondary infections. People seeking medical attention for broken bones and other injuries may not be able to get the help they need and may develop complications.

Dead bodies piled on the streets typically don't pose a public health risk. But for a country wracked by violence, seeing the dead will exact a psychological toll.

An American aid worker was trapped for about 10 hours under the rubble of her mission house before she was rescued by her husband, who told CBS' "Early Show" that he drove 100 miles (160 kilometers) to Port-au-Prince to find her. Frank Thorp said he dug for more than an hour to free his wife, Jillian, and a co-worker, from under about a foot of concrete.

An estimated 40,000-45,000 Americans live in Haiti, and the U.S. Embassy had no confirmed reports of deaths among its citizens. All but one American employed by the embassy have been accounted for, State Department officials said.

Even relatively wealthy neighborhoods were devastated.

An AP videographer saw a wrecked hospital where people screamed for help in Petionville, a hillside district that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians as well as the poor.

At a destroyed four-story apartment building, a girl of about 16 stood atop a car, trying to see inside while several men pulled at a foot sticking from rubble. She said her family was inside.

"A school near here collapsed totally," Petionville resident Ken Michel said after surveying the damage. "We don't know if there were any children inside." He said many seemingly sturdy homes nearby were split apart.

The U.N.'s 9,000 peacekeepers in Haiti, many of whom are from Brazil, were distracted from aid efforts by their own tragedy: Many spent the night hunting for survivors in the ruins of their headquarters.

"It would appear that everyone who was in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi, the United Nations' secretary-general's special envoy, and everyone with him and around him, are dead," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on RTL radio.

But U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy would not confirm that Annabi was dead, saying he was among more than 100 people missing in its wrecked headquarters. He said only about 10 people had been pulled out, many of them badly injured. Fewer than five bodies had been removed, he said.

U.N. peacekeeping forces in Port-au-Prince are securing the airport, the port, main buildings and patrolling the streets, Le Roy said.

Brazil's army said at least 11 of its peacekeepers were killed, while Jordan's official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed. A state newspaper in China said eight Chinese peacekeepers were known dead and 10 were missing — though officials later said the information was not confirmed.

The quake struck at 4:53 p.m., and was centered 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince at a depth of only 5 miles (8 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said. USGS geophysicist Kristin Marano called it the strongest earthquake since 1770 in what is now Haiti.

Video obtained by the AP showed a huge dust cloud rising over Port-au-Prince shortly after the quake as buildings collapsed.

Most Haitians are desperately poor, and after years of political instability the country has no real construction standards. In November 2008, following the collapse of a school in Petionville, the mayor of Port-au-Prince estimated about 60 percent of buildings were shoddily built and unsafe normally.

The quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, and in eastern Cuba, but no major damage was reported in either place.

With electricity out in many places and phone service erratic, it was nearly impossible for Haitian or foreign officials to get full details of the devastation.

"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Henry Bahn, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official in Port-au-Prince. "The sky is just gray with dust."

Edwidge Danticat, an award-winning Haitian-American author was unable to contact relatives in Haiti. She sat with family and friends at her home in Miami, looking for news on the Internet and watching TV news reports.

"You want to go there, but you just have to wait," she said. "Life is already so fragile in Haiti, and to have this on such a massive scale, it's unimaginable how the country will be able to recover from this."

Haiti is one of poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with eighty percent of residents live in poverty, according to the CIA World Factbook (source). The country is in dire straits right now. If you wish to help out the Haitians, please consider making a donation to the following charitable relief organizations:

American Red Cross
Catholic Relief Services
Cross International
Doctors Without Borders
Food For the Hungry
Food for the Poor
Haiti Mission
Mercy Ships
Partners in Health
Samaritans Purse
Save the Children
The Salvation Army
World Vision

In addition, the Anchoress has complied a comprehensive and long list of news updates and charitable relief organizations. Also, please note that if people phone you up asking for donations, hestitate before giving out that credit card number. Unfortuantly there will always be those who use the tragedy of a natural disaster such as this, as an opportunity to scam the unsuspecting out of money. You are better off taking the initiative and contacting the agencies themselves, or donating online at a reptuable organization's website.

Update 1/13/10, 3:24 EST:

Massive aid effort begun for Haiti quake victims

Pregnancy Center in Arizona Severely Burned in Apparent Arson Attack

2010-01-02T17:45:00.011-05:00

Whiteriver, AZ. -- The Whiteriver Clinic, a pregnancy center and member of the Living Hope Women's Center group, in rural eastern Arizona, was severely burned in what appears to be an arson attack. The center serves a predominantly native American population and received 400-600 visits every month from the low-income individuals in the community, of which 2/3 of the visits were for the Earn While You Learn program. Read the rest here and here.

Why would anyone seek to damage this center when they provide beneficial community services such as their Fatherhood and Mommy Stores [part of the Earn While You Learn program] in which low-income residents earn the ability to "purchase" critically needed pregnancy and parenting items (such as maternity clothes, baby/toddler clothing, seasonal clothing, diapers, hygiene items, baby formula and bottles, crib sheets and blankets, and more) by attending classes which teach parenting and life skills. There is political opposition to pregnancy resource centers by pro-choice groups, but opposing these centers, who's primary services, include support programs for pregnant and parenting women, seems the anti-thesis of choice and removing these programs does a disservice the clients served and the community. You can help the center rebuild with a donation to Living Hope Women's Centers, 1000 E. Huning St., Show Low, AZ 85901

Unfortuantly, this is not the first case of arson, vandalism, or bomb threats at a pregnancy resource center. In July of 2009, a pregnancy center is Eugene, OR, was vandalized with spray-painted phrases "kill us now", "give us your eggs", "freedom", and a swastika on the windows at the front of the pregnancy center. In September of 2008, an arson fire caused total loss at Pregnancy Alternatives Center in Lebanon, Oregon. Also, according the Catholic Sentinel article, in 1999 bomb threats were called in to a California pregnancy center and others were vandalized with graffiti, messages included ``Abortion is a Right'' and ``Lies Told Here.'' and the building was also pasted with flyers for local pro-choice clinics and an epoxy-like substance was smeared over door locks, source: San Francisco Chronicle, 1/23/99. A Canadian center in Winnipeg was covered with graffiti in 2001. In 2004, two Maryland pregnancy centers were vandalized, with smashed windows and computers. In 2005, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, another Maryland center was hit with smashed windows and graffiti that said “Choice” and “Womyn Haters.” When a ban on abortions was debated in South Dakota in 2006, the homes of pregnancy center directors were vandalized with eggs, they received threatening phone calls, and the bodies of decomposing animals were left near their workplace. Terry Weaver, executive director of Birthright, recalls bomb threats at the organization’s Atlanta house. She hears about vandalism regularly from Birthright houses around the country — splattered paint, shot-out windows, dog feces in mailboxes. Sometimes, pro-choice activists call the Birthright hotline to heckle the organization.

Happy New Years!

2009-12-31T11:48:00.004-05:00

Mysterg at Meditations in an Emergency shares Ten Commandments for a Happy New Year. I hope you find encouragement and strength in them, as I have.

Now for New Years Resolutions. For this coming year, I pledge to:
-Lose 30 pounds by 1)Using my Curves/YWCA membership 2)Exercising twice a week 3)Developing healthier eating habits
-To finish my wedding thank-you notes.

What are some of you New Years Resolutions?

Traveling

2009-12-30T15:28:00.003-05:00

I will be traveling and so blogging will be light for the next 4 to 5 days. I wish everyone a safe and happy New Years!

Christmas Miracle: Mom and Baby Given Second Chance at Life

2009-12-29T11:22:00.006-05:00

Full Video Story
On Christmas Eve, an expectant Colorado mom went into cardiac arrest during labor and died, along with her baby. An emergency c-section was preformed to deliver the baby, but after birth the baby wasn't breathing on it's own. But miraculously, both managed to revive and survived. It is unknown what caused the mother's heart to stop during labor. Mother and baby are now home and doing well.

2009-12-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays From My Family to You and Yours!

Wishing everyone joy, health, and peace this Holiday Season and throughout the year.

It looks like it's going to be a white Christmas after all.

Nala: Ohh, ohh! I want to help decorate!

The tree with just the beads on...and yes, that's Dad hiding behind the tree :)

We keep in our hearts and remember those family members who are no longer with us.

This angel tree-topper was hand-made by Mom and Dad over 30 years ago

This poor one-legged Santa ornament has been in the family for many years

Planned Parenthood Caught Lying on Video

2009-12-14T16:42:00.002-05:00

Last week, Live Action Video released their newest video, the first in the Rosa Acuna project, which reveals undercover footage showing a abortion practitioner and staff making erroneous statements about fetal development and abortion's risks, to two young women (played by Lila Rose and a friend), in a counseling session at a Planned Parenthood in Appleton, Wisconsin. Wisconsin informed consent law requires that women receive medically accurate information before undergoing an abortion. Lila Rose, the 21-year-old UCLA student and Live Action president, told LifeNews.com, that medical lies and manipulative counseling are routine at Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider.

In the video, one of the two women, ask a Planned Parenthood counselor if the pregnant woman's 8 week old embryo has a heartbeat (the pregnancy is 10 weeks LMP). The counselor emphasizes "heart tones," and answers, "Heart beat is when the fetus is active in the uterus--can survive--which is about seventeen or eighteen weeks."

It is clear that this Planned Parenthood employee is confusing when the fetal heart begins to beat, with viability, when the fetus' organs are mature enough for the fetus to be able to survive after birth (induced or natural). Evenso, the explination of heart tones is in particular, medically inaccurate and dishonest. An embryo/fetus' heart beat is the same thing as fetal heart tones and the term "fetal heart tone" is used to describe the sound made by the heart beating and this is the sound picked up by a Doppler ultrasound (source). The fetal heart beat can be picked up with a Doppler ultrasound, at the earliest, during the 9-10th week of pregnancy, and sometimes not until the 12th to 14th week of pregnancy (source). However, while it is not detectable immediately, the rudimentary heart has been beating since day 22-25 or 3 weeks since ovulation, 5 weeks since LMP. The development of the fetal heart is not dependent upon viability, which is a seperate event and occurs not until somewhere around 23 to 25 weeks.

"Heart – begins to beat in Humans by day 22-23, first functioning embryonic organ formed."
- http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Notes/week4.htm

"The embryonic heart starts beating 22 days after conception, or about five weeks after the last menstrual period, which by convention we call the fifth week of pregnancy."
- http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,9851,00.html

"A primitive S-shaped tubal heart is beating and peristalsis, the rhythmic muscle contractions propelling fluids throughout the body, begins"
- http://www.visembryo.com/baby/11.html

"The heart begins beating 3 weeks and 1 day following fertilization [5 weeks LMP - Ed.]." - http://www.ehd.org/resources_bpd_documentation_english.php#chapter9

"Embryonic Heart Rate (EHR), early in development the heart starts to spontaneously beat" - http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Notes/heart6.htm

This scientific information contrasts to the misinformation the Planned Parenthood employee gave. The Planned Parenthood employee then goes on to talk about the ability of the fetus to survive outside the uterus -- which is not what the patient asked. She didn't ask if her baby could survive if it were born at that moment. She asked if her baby's heart was beating. The Planned Parenthood employee tries to divert the patient's interest from what matters to her -- Is the heart beating? -- to what the employee is more comfortable talking about, the nonviability of the fetus, and the Planned Parenthood employee tries to avoid discussing and minimizes the fetal development in hopes to diminish the patient's concern for her embryo/fetus: "Heart tones is cardiac activity, but it is not a beat on your own-that you would survive on your own outside the uterus. Obviously if a fetus at 10 weeks could survive outside the uterus you wouldn't be pregnant for 40 weeks."

When the client then asks, "What's fetal?" the Planned Parenthood counselor then says, "A fetus is what's in the uterus right now. That is not a baby. A baby is what is born at 40 weeks. A fetus is what is in your uterus right now."

Former Planned Parenthood clinic director, Abby Johnson reaffirms this and is quoted in the video saying, "...they don't necessarily want to talk about all the aspects of fetal development...they don't want to talk about when your baby has a heart beat...they don't want to talk about when organs start to develop...they don't want to give the woman information that could make that connection...that could give her a connection with her baby."

The patient then asks for a consult with the doctor. When the doctor comes in, known only as Dr. "P", he avoids the patient's questions and tries to push for an exam first -- to move this patient along in the process and to get her past asking questions.

The patient to the doctor, "The other lady told me I could talk to you first like what the procedures were-" at which time the doctor cut her off and said, "I'm going to go over that with you as soon as I do the exam."

The further you are along in a process, the less willing you are to back out. And this doctor, like the other staff, are trying to keep this patient from thinking too much about her pregnancy and what she's about to undergo. If they were interested in giving this patient complete information and time to thoroughly consider her options before proceeding with the abortion, why would they avoid or redirect her questions and push for going straight into the exam?

The doctor then gives in and allows the patient to ask her questions. When asked, "When does it become a baby," he gives a conflicting and subjective philosphical statement:

The Planned Parenthood counselor earlier told her: "A baby is what's born at fourty weeks."

Dr. "P" said: "When you're like seven months pregnant or so. Six, seven months pregnant." and insists "It's not a baby at this stage or anything like that."

While "fetus" is a correct medical term to describe the developing human during pregnancy, the term "baby" is not incorrect and is a layman's term, which may be used by the woman to describe her feelings towards the embryo/fetus. To give you an idea of what the pregnancy looks like at this stage of development, here are some images of the embryo at 56 - 60 days post-ovulation (8 weeks fetal age, 10 weeks, LMP):
http://embryo.soad.umich.edu/carnStages/stage23/stage23.html
http://www.visembryo.com/baby/23.html
http://www.ehd.org/dev_article_unit9.php

"Most embryos at [Carnegie] stage 23 are approximately 56-57 postovulatory days old and measure 23-32 mm in length. Distinguishing criteria for this stage include fusion of the eyelids at the medial and lateral margins, clear distinction of the subdivisions of the upper and lower limbs, the forearms appear at or above the level of the shoulders, the superficial vascular plexus of the head is very close to the vertex, and the external genitalia are well developed but not always sufficiently to distinguish the embryo's sex." (source)

More on the embryonic development at this stage:

Head and Neck
Head is erect and rounded. External ear is completely developed. The eyes are closed, but the retina of the eye is fully pigmented. The eyelids begin to unite and are only half closed. Taste buds begin to form on the surface of the tongue. The primary teeth are at cap stage. Bones of the palate begin to fuse. Scalp plexus reaches head vertex.

Abdomen
Intestines begin to migrate from the umbilical cord into the body cavity.

Pelvis
External genitals still difficult to recognize.

Limbs
Upper and lower limbs are well formed. Fingers get longer and toes no longer webbed and all digits are separate and distinct.

Spine, Skeleton, and Muscles
Layer of rather flattened cells, the precursor of the surface layer of the skin, replaces the thin ectoderm of the embryo. Tail (the enlongated spinal cord) has disappeared.
http://www.visembryo.com/baby/23.html

Definately not just a "mass of tissue" or "undifferentiated cells" as most pro-choicers will claim.

The abortion practitioner then goes on to provide one-sided information in order to persuade this woman to have an abortion, saying, "This is very safe. The stage you're at right now is very, very safe. Safer than having a baby, actually." He then goes on to add, "You know, women die having babies."

According to Jezebel, the claim "Abortion is safer than childbirth" comes from 2002 CDC statistics. In 2002, the CDC recorded 9 deaths out of 845,573 abortions. That's a little over 1 in 100,000. Also in 2002, the CDC recorded 8.9 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. From there, they deduct carrying a child to term was about 9 times more dangerous than having an abortion. However, there are some issues with this approach and deduction, with the comparison of abortion mortality and maternal mortality rates. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control report for pregnancy-related mortality rates: "In this report, a woman's death was classified as pregnancy-related if it occurred during pregnancy or within 1 year of pregnancy and resulted from 1) complications of the pregnancy, 2) a chain of events that was initiated by the pregnancy, or 3) the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of the pregnancy or its management" (source). This means pregnancy-related mortality rates are broadly defined to included the following: aggravation of a maternal pre-existing, non-pregnancy-related medical condition, pregnancy-induced maternal medical condition, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, still birth, post-partum complications, and includes induced abortion. Therfore the maternal mortality rates are inflated and we are not comparing with the pregnancy mortality rate alone. In addition, regarding the CDC and AGI reports for Induced Abortions, mortalities resulting from induced abortion are typically under-reported as such. One reason is that a medical examiner may code the underlying cause of death on the autopsy report as the complication alone, i.e. embolism, septsis, hemorrhage, or anesthesia complications, rather than correctly as a legally induced abortion with specified complication. A good explination of this can be found here. Therefore it is misleading to compare pregnancy-related mortality rates to abortion mortality rates to obtain the conclusion that abortion is safer than childbirth.

The patient then asks, "Do women die with abortions?" A very common question women ask about the safety of the procedure, to which the abortion practioner replies, "Yes. But it's never happened to me..." This marks the end of the video.

Let me take a moment to address abortion safety, since it was brought up. According to E-Medicine: Abortion Complications complications of spontaneous and therapeutic abortions include (1) complications of anesthesia, (2) postabortion triad (ie, pain, bleeding, low-grade fever), (3) hematometra, (4) retained products of conception, (5) uterine perforation, (6) bowel and bladder injury, (7) failed abortion, (8) septic abortion, (9) cervical shock, (10) cervical laceration, and (11) disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Frequency of complications depends on gestational age at time of abortion and method of abortion. Complication rates according to gestational age at time of abortion are as follows: for 8 weeks and under - Less than 1% or less than 17,300 women will experience complications, for 8-12 weeks - 1.5 to 2% or 25,950 to 34,600 women, 12-13 weeks - 3 to 6% or 51,900 to 103,800 women, Second trimester - Up to 50% or 865,000 women, possibly higher.

Mortality and morbidity depend on gestational age (GA) at time of abortion. In the US, mortality rates per 100,000 abortions are as follows: (1) fewer than 8 weeks, 0.5; (2) 11-12 weeks, 2.2; (3) 16-20 weeks, 14; and (4) more than 21 weeks, 18. Let me put this into perspective for you. Consider that in 2002, 1.3 million abortions were preformed and and 430,000 spontaneous abortions occured in the United States, (source: Unintended Pregnancy Statistics) for this purpose, a total of 1.73 million, correlating the number of total spontaneous and elective abortions to the above mortality rates for spontaneous and elective abortions <-- 0.5 in 100,00 is equivalent to 1 in 200,000, divide 1.73 million by 200,00 and so on --> this translates to the following statistic number of mortalities (or deaths) which occur for spontaneous and elective abortions (but keep in mind the actual numbers may be higher or lower), (1) fewer than 8 weeks, 8.7 deaths, (2)11-12 weeks, 38 deaths, (3) 16-20 weeks, 242 deaths, 4) more than 21 weeks, 311 deaths. To put a face on these deaths, the Real Choice website features the names and cases of women killed during abortions.

Teri Huyck, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, told the Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper the video is questionable and Planned Parenthood dismisses the attacks as false and inflammatory. Also, Planned Parenthood once again cites the context of the video as unclear in part because the video is edited. However Lila Rose said her group plans to provide the raw, unedited video to authorities. She said she also will post full footage on the Live Action Web site but declined to say when. Despite Planned Parenthood's attempts to dismiss this video, I think the facts of the matter speak loud and clear, that two Planned Parenthood employees did indeed provide misleading and subjective information, in order to persuade this woman to choose abortion. It was wrong for Planned Parenthood staff to intentially misinform or withhold information from the woman about fetal development or information on what is going on in her own body, in order to suite their own ideological preferences. Medical professionals have an ethical and legal obligation to provide complete and accurate information, not just what suits their own personal or political agenda, which is what the Planned Parenthood staff is doing here. Planned Parenthood has come under fire recently after Live Action's investigations found its centers willing to conceal sexual abuse and accept donations targeted to preform abortions on African-Americans specifically.

The Top Six Signs That You're Over 50...

2009-12-13T02:30:00.000-05:00

Irony in Life

Lovingly and humorously dedicated to my parents, aunts, and uncles.

You Know You're Over 50 When...

1. You've began to receive mailings for the AARP.

2. You've received a free trial for Life Alert and considered using it.

3. A waitress at a restraunt gave you a senior discount...even though you're not over 65.

4. One of your co-workers invited you to join the local chapter of the Red Hat Society...eventhough you're not over 55.

5. Your shopping list primarily consists of high fiber foods, ibruprofen, hair coloring, and Icy Hot.

And last but not least...

6. One morning, as you look in the mirror, you've realized everything's moved south.

Debunking the Coat-Hanger Myth

2009-12-08T14:46:00.003-05:00

The coat-hanger has become the pro-choice movement's rallying cry and you will often hear the claim that when abortion was illegal, large numbers of women either attempted abortion on themselves with sharp or caustic liquids or went to back alley, medically untrained, practitioners, and often died in the process. And they further make the claim that if abortion is restricted or made illegal again, abortion will become unsafe and women will resort self-induced abortion or dangerous means of obtaining one. But how accurate or true are these claims? Abortion right advocates also often make their claim by touting individuals cases of illegal abortions which led to death, such as Gerri Santoro, but while these cases are tragic, individual cases of ancedotal evidence does not make for a strong case. So let's take a look at the facts of abortion practice before legalization:

"Mary Claderone (then Medical Director of Planned Parenthood) and Nancy Howell Lee (a pro choice researcher) both investigated the practice of criminal abortion in the pre-legalization era. Calderone estimated that "90% of all illegal abortions are presently (1960 - ed) being done by physicians." Calderone further estimated that 8% were self-induced and that 2% were induced by someone other than the woman or a doctor. Lee estimated that 89% of pre-legalization abortions were done by physicians, an additional 5% by nurses or others with some medical training, and 6% were done by non-medical persons or the woman herself. Calderone's numbers came from "43 men and women from the various disciplines of obstetrics, psychiatry, public health, sociology, forensic medicine, and law and demography." Lee interviewed women who had undergone pre-legalization abortions. The discrepancy between Lee's and Calderone's breakdowns of non-physician abortions is probably due to sampling errors."
And on the 5% of amature and self-induced abortions: "Lee's interviews with women who had self-aborted found a different picture from the women who had sought professional (however illegal) abortions. These self-aborting women tended to be less rational, and more self-destructive, than the women seeking competent abortionists. Lee also found that the women attempting self-abortion were likely to have had a death wish at the time of the abortion.
This finding is in keeping with psychiatric literature of the time, which treats self-induced abortion as a peculiar manifestation of the self-mutilating behavior common in patients with certain psychiatric disorders. Self-mutilation in patients with these disorders can range from superficial cuts and cigarette burns to self-trepanning (drilling holes in the skull), enoculation (gouging the eyes out), and amputation of limbs.
Mutilation of the genitals is not rare in these patients, and self-induced abortion was often regarded as an extreme form of genital mutilation aimed at attacking the patient's own femininity. It was in the political context, not the psychiatric or psychological context, that self-induced abortions were considered to be the expected behavior of normal women. This politicized view of self-aborting women eclipsed the reality, and case studies stopped showing up in the literature, although occasional stories still do make it into the newspaper.
This is not to say that all women who self-induce abortions are mentally ill. Investigators of post-Roe self-induced abortion injuries and deaths found other factors, such as distrust of the medical profession, a perception of home herbal abortion as more "natural," cultural preferences, and "ideosyncratic" factors nobody could readily explain. These women, however, carefully research abortion methods and use common sense and intelligence to select a method likely to be efficacious and comparatively safe.(source)

Just how many criminal abortions were there before legalization? This is an excellent question, and a difficult one to answer.

Abortion-rights advocates often parrot the claim, "There were 5,000 to 10,000 unsafe abortion deaths before legalization." This claim is nothing more than a well-established myth. In debunking this myth, let's look at the source:

"In the case of the 5,000 - 10,000 claims, the original source was a book -- Abortion, Spontaneous and Induced -- published in 1936 by Dr. Frederick Taussig, a leading proponent of legalization of abortion. Taussig calculated an urban abortion rate based on records of a New York City birth control clinic, and a rural abortion rate based on some numbers given to him by some doctors in Iowa. He took a guess at a mortality rate, multiplied by his strangely generated estimate of how many criminal abortions were taking place, and presto! A myth is born!
Even if Taussig's calculations, by some mathematical miracle, had been correct, they still would have been out of date by the end of WWII. Antibiotics and blood transfusions changed the face of medicine. But not only are the Taussig numbers dated, they were never accurate to begin with. At a conference in 1942, Taussig himself appologized for using "the wildest estimates" to generate a bogus number. Although it took Taussig six years to reject his own faulty calculations, at least he did admit that he'd been wrong. Other abortion enthusiasts lacked Taussig's compunctions. Bernard Nathanson, co-founder of NARAL, admitted that he and his associates knew that the claims of 5,000 to 10,000 criminal abortion deaths were false. They bandied them about anyway, Nathanson confessed, because they were useful. This, too, is old news -- Nathanson came clean over twenty years ago." (source)

Because this is before the Centers for Disease Control began Abortion Surveillance Activities in 1968, and began looking at abortion mortality in earnest in 1972, all abortion deaths were typically counted together: legal (or "therapeutic"), illegal, and spontaneous (miscarriage). Mary Calderone, who was then Medical Director of Planned Parenthood, reported on a conference studying abortion in America. She indicated that in 1957, there were 260 abortion deaths nationwide. That number included all abortions: legal, illegal, and spontaneous. The caluclations based on state maternal mortality investigations are fairly close to Calderone's numbers based on national data. These numbers were based on alerting doctors, law enforcement, coroners, and hospital administrators, along with public records officials, of their responsiblity to report these deaths(source)However, even without the CDC's intervention, public health officials were watching maternal mortality in general, and abortion mortality in particular, very carefully. Mary Calderone, who was then Medical Director of Planned Parenthood, reported on a conference studying abortion in America. She indicated that in 1957, there were 260 abortion deaths nationwide. That number included all abortions: legal, illegal, and spontaneous. The caluclations based on state maternal mortality investigations are fairly close to Calderone's numbers based on national data. These numbers were based on alerting doctors, law enforcement, coroners, and hospital administrators, along with public records officials, of their responsiblity to report these deaths. (source).

So the numbers aren't as high as abortion-rights advocates would have you believe. Also, if you looks at statistical trends for abortion deaths from 1940 to 1970, the number of deaths actually began to decrease even before the legalization of abortion began in the 1960's, with 1,407 deaths in 1940, 744 deaths in 1945, 263 deaths in 1950, 224 deaths in 1955, 251 deaths in 1960, 201 deaths in 1965, and 119 deaths in 1970. Source: "Induced termination of pregnancy before and after Roe v. Wade" JAMA, 12/9/92, vol. 208, no. 22, p. 3231-3239.
Despite abortion-rights advocates crediting the legalization of abortion, much of the decrease in maternal/infant and abortion mortality during from that time period (from 1940 to 1970) can be better attributed to improvements in antibiotics (such as the finding of penicillin), improved access to blood products, improvements in surgical techniques, improvements in emergency medicine, broader access to adequate prenatal care, improved vaccinations, and improvements in environmental health/sanitation, to name a few.

Now regarding claims of what would occur if abortion were to become illegal again. Nicolas R.P. Lewine addresses one of the sources for these claims in an op-ed piece, entitled "Stumping for Stupak," published in the student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson:

The Harvard Crimson
"Stumping for Stupak" (Excerpt)
By NICOLAS R. P. LEWINE
Published: Thursday, December 03, 2009

...Finally, opponents of the Stupak amendment claim that the amendment would lead to more unsafe abortions, which are likely to harm women. Participants in an anti-Stupak rally in Harvard Square on Nov. 18 brandished coat hangers and handed out flyers that said legal restrictions on abortion “just make abortions dangerous.”
This claim likely has its roots in a 2007 Guttmacher Institute study of worldwide abortion that concluded that countries in which abortions were illegal had significantly higher rates of unsafe abortions. However, the fatal flaw in this conclusion is that the countries where abortions are illegal are almost entirely developing countries, including most of Africa. The countries where abortions are legal include the United States, Europe, and other already developed nations. Moreover, 97 percent of unsafe abortions were in developing nations. This argument attributes the disparity in unsafe abortions to legal restrictions while not addressing the fact that medical care in countries where abortion is illegal is vastly inferior, much less available, and often not performed by adequately trained professionals. So it is misleading to claim, based on this study, that making abortions illegal would cause a rise in unsafe abortions. (Moreover, it is important to remember that the Stupak amendment does not actually make abortions illegal.).... (source)

Prior to Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion across all 50 states, abortion law was left to the individual states deciding if and under what circumstances they permitted theraputic or elective abortion (source). It is likely that we would return to this status with the state legislaters deciding if and and under what circumstances they permitted theraputic or elective abortion and most likely theraputic abortions would permitted in hospitals for rape/incest cases and where continuing the pregnancy endangered the woman's life.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T19:20:00.001-05:00

To My Dear Readers and Friends...

Wishing Everyone a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

I hope todays brings you lots of good food, fond memories, and lots of laughter and love.

Darkside Humor

2009-10-31T14:18:00.004-04:00

Good...good! Feel the power of the Dark Side.

Ratzinberger would of made a great stand-in Emperor Palpatine

Happy Halloween!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2009-10-07T16:06:00.001-04:00

"Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed in women in America. Each year, more than 211,300 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed. More than 39,800 women will die from the disease. The good news is, as more breast cancer is detected early, far fewer women will lose their lives."
National Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign: Early Detection brochure

National Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign
Information on breast cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment.

The Breast Cancer Site
Sponsor free mammograms for low income and minority women.

Breast Cancer Research
A journal of peer-reviewed biological research, reviews, and opinions relevant to breast cancer research.

October is National Respect Life Month

2009-10-04T15:56:00.001-04:00

For all those pro-lifers out there, October is National Respect Life Month. I encourage you to take action:

Learn about the unborn. abortion, and the profound effect abortion has on women and men:

Abortion: Some Medical Facts
Quotes from Abortion Clinic Workers
The PASS site
After Abortion Blog
Human Embryonic Development
Stand Up Girl: The Inside Story (Prenatal development with 3D ultrasound and contact embryoscopy)

Volunteer your time at a pregnancy resource center. Also pregnancy resource centers are run off of donations. Often needed are gently used maternity clothes, and baby items. (What is a Pregnancy Resource Center)

Pray for the women facing an unplanned pregnancy decision and a change of heart and courage for those who are abortion minded.
Pray for healing for women who have had an abortion.
Place a crib or host a baby shower at your church to collect baby supplies for a mom in need.
Take legislative action: National Right to Life Political Action Committee
Participate in a local Life Chain

I'd like to close out this entry with some of my favorite pro-life quotes:

"There is tremendous sadness, loneliness in the cry, A woman's right to choose.' No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg." -- Frederica Mathewes-Green in her essay, 'Beyond "It's a Baby" '

"It is a cruel joke to call this a woman's "choice". We may choose to sacrifice our life and career plans, or choose to undergo humiliating invasive surgery and sacrifice our offspring. How fortunate we are--we have a choice!" -- Frederica Mathewes-Green in her essay, 'The Bitter Price of "Choice" '

"When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organizer of the first Women's Convention, Seneca Falls, N.Y., 1848

21 Easy Things You Can Do to Be Pro-Life...Revised

2009-07-15T18:58:00.002-04:00

Are you new to the pro-life movement and aren't sure what you can do to help or looking for some new ideas?

Here are over 30 easy things you can do to continue to be a catalyst for life...

1) Be sure to share a pro-life message through blogging. Some great examples of well-written pro-life blogs include: Jill Stanek, The Dawn Patrol, and JivinJehoshaphat to name a few. If you're new to blogging, Blogging Basics 101 can help you get started.

2) If you've had an abortion, share your abortion story (your experience, feelings, how your abortion affected you, and how you found healing or closure) with others and learn how to become involved in the Post-Abortion movement. The negative effects of abortion on women are often downplayed and/or not discussed in dialogues about abortion.  Women who've had an abortion, especially when they experience feelings of grief or loss after their abortion, often face stigma and shame from both sides of the abortion debate. In sharing your experience, you can help remove the stigma and shame as well as show other hurting men and women that they're not alone in their feelings/experience, as well as present dialogue and opportunity to help others find healing/closure.

3) Host a baby shower or place a collection crib at your church/non-profit for a mom in need.

4) Volunteer your time with, support, and spread the word about The Nurturing Network. "The objective of the Nurturing Network is not a political one, but a most practical one: to ensure that every woman knows that the resources she needs in order to continue her pregnancy are available by calling the Network's toll free number: 1-800-TNN-4MOM. Volunteer members form an extensive employment, medical, educational, counseling and residential network which enables a mother to continue the life of her unborn child without sacrificing her own hopes and dreams. Services include medical assistance, financial assistance, nurturing homes, educational programs, employment & adoption counseling, preparation for parenthood. Staffed during normal business hours, specializing in help for college and professional women.

5) Support your local pregnancy resource center! You can do this a few ways 1)Volunteer your time at a pregnancy resource center. (What is a Pregnancy Resource Center). 2) Donate new and gently-used items to your local pregnancy resource center's Earn While You Learn Program. Through this program, women participate in parenting and life skills courses which empower them to become more independent and break the cycle of poverty, poor parenting, neglect, and abuse while earning vouchers for supplemental maternity and baby items. Or 3) Support your local pregnancy resource centers by participating in the Purple Envelope Project. Place 1 dollar inside a purple envelope and a supportive note and send it to Care Net and/or Heartbeat Int. Their addresses can be found at the blog above.

6) Become a peer counselor and support advocate for teens at your high school. Be a non-judgemental and safe person for other teens to approach with their questions and issues. Be prepared to direct them to community resources as needed, but most of all, just be a listening ear and supportive.

7)  Participate in activities which support single and teen moms who choose life, for example: create a single moms support group in your community, start a home daycare or create a daycare co-op for parenting teen and college students, provide rides to doctor's appointments, WIC appointments, job interviews, etc.

8) Become a visible volunteer in your community. Being prolife encompasses more than just activism on behalf of the unborn and their mothers, it also means caring for the disadvantaged in our communities and our enviroment. Some ideas include volunteering at your local soup kitchen, food pantry, or homeless shelter, becoming a Big Brother/Big Sister to an at-risk child, becoming a foster parent to an at-risk child, volunteering at the local animal shelter, or organizing a trash pickup day along a highway or in your neighborhood.

9) Reach out to change the hearts and minds of abortion providers and clinic staff on National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, March 10th. See this blog entry for ideas.

10) Be a peaceful presence at an abortion clinic: silently praying or sidewalk counseling. This is an opportunity to minister to abortion-minded women as well as those undecided and to abortion clinic staff. Remember: Love and kindness wins hearts better than condemnation and hate.

11) Get involved with your local pro-life organization. There are many pro-life organizations and many different approaches. Be sure you are aware of and agree with their mission statement and activities. You can find listings of groups here and here. If one doesn’t exist in your community, consider starting one.

12) Get involved with your college's pro-life organization, Students for Life (national organization), or Feminists for Life's college outreach. If there's not pro-life group at your school, considering starting one. Be sure to check with your student affairs or activities department for the guidelines and rules.

13) Host an informational pro-life booth at your employer's or college's health or activities fair. Be sure follow guidelines and get written permission. Heritage House76 is a great source for pro-life literature and materials.

14) Attend the annual March for Life and other pro-life marches and peaceful protests. Also present a pro-life presence for life at state houses and government buildings on the anniversary or Roe v. Wade and when laws pertitant to pro-lifelife issues are being debated/passed. Also you can participate in a Life Chain or speak out at Silent No More events. Remember, no matter how heated it gets, not to engage in screaming, name-calling, obscenities, or threatening gestures.

15) Don't forget to speak out on other issues important to supporting women and their children, including, advocating for male responsibility in sex and reproduction, prevention of unplanned pregnancies through acess to better and more reliable contraception and education, paid maternity and family leave and better living wages, support services for pregnant and parenting women at educational institutions, affordable and quality prenatal and children's health care/day care, and safe drinking water and food sources for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children.

16) Thank local businesses as well as large corporations for standing up for life. Send out “thank you” notes/emails to organizations which support local PRCs, boycotted pro-choice projects, and who have donated time and money to the pro-life movement.

17) Read and support pro-life publications. There are a myriad of movies with a pro-life theme, books and blogs out there. Check out my sidebar for my favorite sites and my Amazon book list for a pro-life tool box of books!

18) Share a pro-life message with those in your community by  wearing a shirt, bracelet, necklace, lapel pin, button, etc. Don’t have any of this stuff? Make something! With that said, don't forget National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week!

19)Find out how your money is being spent. Don’t support pro-choice companies or organizations unless it is unavoidable. A boycott list of companies/organizations which support pro-choice causes can be found here.

20) Write to and call your senators and congressmen and urge them to vote pro-life. Sometimes, we have to remind them why the pro-life issue is important! Click here to locate your Congressperson. Click here to locate your Senator.

21) VOTE! This is the most effect way to have an impact on support for pro-life measures. Research the candidates voting background and stances on the issues. Vote for representatives and leaders who have a pro-life voting record, but also have beliefs consistant with your other views

Most importantly, please share these ideas with others.

Rachael's Note:Following concerns regarding a prior, similiar entry I had posted, I have re-written the entry in it's entirety.

Must-Read for Parents and Caretakers: 10 tips for protecting children from sexual abuse

2009-07-09T13:21:00.001-04:00

Jackie Block Goldstein, a relative of Dawn Eden, and a social worker with Philadelphia's Children's Alliance, has written an article every parent of young children should read: "10 Tips for Protecting the Children You Love from Sexual Abuse." (note: It's a PDF file and Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view it).

Inexpensive Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

2009-06-09T13:47:00.002-04:00

Keep Calm and Carry On has some good insight on inexpensive ways to stay cool this summer

1. Fans are great. They use much less energy than air conditioners. I run my ceiling fans all day long to keep the cool air circulating.

2. Keep shades/curtains drawn. Sunlight is hot!

3. If your bathroom has one and doing so would not attract Peeping Toms & Tinas, shower with the window open to let out the steam. Otherwise, open the window immediately after your shower. If you belong to a gym, you can use their facilities and avoid steaming up your own. Of course, you could always shower with cold water. Having done this for several months two years ago, I don't recommend it. You will feel deprived the rest of the day, and probably cram yourself full of chocolate/sugar/salt until you realize what is missing.

4. At night, rinse off in cold water just before you get in bed. The evaporation will cool you as you fall asleep.

5. Close your closet doors. No need to air condition your closets.

See the rest of the tips here

Contraversial Abortion Provider Shot & Killed Yesterday

2009-06-01T07:25:00.001-04:00

Dr. George Tiiler, a contraversial, late-term abortion doctor was murdered while attending service at his church. This is indeed a sad day, for a crime has been committed in the name of "pro-life" and the division between pro-life and pro-choice has grown even deeper. While there are many claims that the murder was motivated by pro-life beliefs and the blame is being extended to anyone who identifies themself as pro-life (guilty by association fallacy and profiling), it was not pro-life beliefs nor any member of the pro-life movement, but an individual with a history of untreated mental illness and member of an anti-goverment faction, acting alone. Please bear in mind that no person who condones murder is pro-life, as murder (and even the death penalty) is not consistant with pro-life beliefs, which call to honor the sanctity of human life from conception until natural death, even with those with whom and actions which we vehmently disagree. This is also evident by the statements of nonviolence made by many mainstream pro-life organizations. In fact the majority of pro-lifers were praying for a change of heart and convictions and they wished no harm upon Dr. Tiller, nor any other abortion provider.

Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life released YouTube statement

Several of the Comments Made By Pro-Life Individuals on Anti-Abortion Activist's Jill Stanek's blog:
"By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller's life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our "weapons" in the fight to defend the lives of abortion's tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the Spirit."
Well said. Two wrongs have never made a right.
I hope Dr. Tiller had a chance to make peace with God before he took his last breath. No one is beyond redemption.
My prayers are with his family.
May whoever murdered Dr. Tiller realize the terrible wrong he did and plead for God's mercy.

I used to have elaborate daydreams about his conversion. Now all the secrets that would have been brought to light are taken to the grave....But it's somebody who, had he only lived to convert, would have been a mighty warrior for life. And now he's stone cold dead, a martyr for abortion advocacy.
[named removed -ed] , I also had hoped and prayed for his conversion....

I agree with you, too, [named removed -ed]. I had such hopes that something good could come of all things, including Tiller's actions. I've read that a suspect is in custody, and hopefully we can all start to respect life enough that nothing like this ever, ever happens again.

Absolutely *no* human being deserves to be shot down in cold blood...let alone in a house of worship, which should be a place of safety, peace, and refuge for *all* God's children who seek it there...no matter what they do for a living and no matter how objectionable we may find their means of livelihood.
*No* human being should usurp that power of life and death over another.
There is *no* justification or extenuating circumstances for this murder of a fellow member of humankind.

May peace and healing come to George Tiller's loved ones.

Basic Care Bags for the Homeless

2009-05-19T11:17:00.001-04:00

I was inspired by a suggestion Keep Calm and Carry On made of creating basic care bags to distribute to the indigent homeless individuals you come across at street corners and traffic lights. Well I'd like to follow her example and take it one step further, and start a non-profit organization for this purpose. We will be filling gently used backpacks with items and distributing them to the indigent homeless of greater Indiana. The basic care bags will contain travel/sample-size hygiene items, seasonal care items (i.e. sunscreen, hats, and gloves), clothing items, simple non-perishable food items, as well as a small card with the phone numbers and addresses of local social service organizations.

We need your help and your donations! We are in need of unopened travel-size and sample-size hygiene items: shampoo/conditioners, body soap, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrush, sunscreen, hair brushes and combs, antiperspirant/deodorant (solid only), wet wipes, tissues, as well as simple non-perishable food items (i.e. trail mixes, dried fruit, Carnation Instant Breakfast packets, etc), old backpacks, and seasonal items and clothing such as: solid water bottles, socks, hats, scarves, mittens, light-jackets, and umbrellas. We CANNOT accept hygiene items containing alcohol, alcoholic beverages, medications, razors, cigarettes, lighters, knives, guns, or any other weapons for liability reasons.

If you'd be interested in helping out with this program or donating items, please leave a comment below with your e-mail address and I will contact you.

UPDATE: We now have a group on Facebook: Helping Hands for the Homeless

Sexting: What You Need to Know Before Hitting 'Send'

2009-05-01T14:27:00.001-04:00

Sexting, or sex texting, is a new trend among teens and young adults in which individuals sends sexually explicit, usually nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves to other teens and young adults. However fun or cool this practice sounds, it isn't without risks or consequencies. Be smart and consider the following before taking that picture or hitting "send":

Keep in mind that you loose control over who sees it once you hit 'send' and it goes to another person's phone. Regardless of what a person tells you they intend to do with the picture, once it's on their phone, they could save or distribute copies without your knowledge or permission.
Once you hit 'send' and it's in cyberspace, you can't take it back. Much like wildfire and rumors, sexually explicit pictures tend to spread quickly. Once you hit 'send' and it goes to another person's phone, the image could be saved and/or distrubuted through a variety of means, including on the internet. Once it's reached the internet, it's all but almost impossible to track down and remove all the copies of such images and they may circulate around the internet for years.
Your pictures may get into the wrong hands and go from cool and sexy to embarasssing. The images could be received by and used in a malicious or otherwise a threatening way by someone with a grudge or who otherwise dislikes you.
If you're under 18, it could land you in serious legal hot water. Possesion of sexually explicit images of any person under 18 is illegal and could result in charges ranging from misdemeanor to felony and probation, heavy fines, or even jail time, depending on how the images were used and the jurisdiction. Also, if you were caught during school hours, you could lose your scholarship, the ability to participate in extra-circicular activities, or even face suspension.

What to Expect When You're Expecting in College

2009-04-23T19:40:00.004-04:00

The following is a documentary exploring the real basis of pregnancy in a college setting, created by St. Loius University student, going by the monniker, PrettyInPink. Beginning with portraying herself as an 8 month pregnant college student, she explores others reactions to pregnant and parenting college students. Also she interviews parenting college students, explores the options available to pregnant and parenting college students, and explores the relationship of these elements with the Saint Louis University administration and stated values. Her reason behind this documentary?

I came up with the idea to do a movie about pregnancy when I was in need of a quick Halloween costume and sacrificed my scarf collection temporarily to fashion a quick belly with duct tape and a large t-shirt.
I thought some of the reactions to me were a bit interesting - I'm sure a few people were wondering whether it was a costume or not - so I thought it would be interesting to do a larger belly for a longer period of time.
The topic evolved into exploring the real basis of pregnancy in a college setting on St. Louis University's campus, which has unique qualities that are worth investigating. [Editor's Note - SLU is a Catholic university.]...

Specifically, it is interesting to see how the values of charity and chastity intertwine during these situations and how the structure of the university addresses them.

This is not a "pro-choice" or "pro-life" issue, although the discussion of pregnancy in the educational system may cause these kind of political issues to rise to the surface.
Women today faced with pregnancies legally have several options in front of them. But are they truly able to make these decisions freely? Or are they pressured by family, community, financial, or educational circumstances to make a choice they are not fully comfortable with? My motivation is to help women make these choices freely, and academia and communities need to be able to make accommodations freely available to women who need them.

In the first video, we are introduced briefly to SLU and 3 lovely students who have had children: Dana, Cassi, and Alex. Each has a story to tell and her own experiencesabout being a student and a mother on SLU's campus. Here we get a glimpse of what SLU is doing right and a few things that SLU might need to work on.

What to Expect When You're Expecting in College: Part 1 of 5

In Part 2, we learn more from the girls about the "lowest lows and highest highs," and about the accommodations they received. She asked different people in the St. Louis University community if they know what resources are available on campus and/or where to get it, and get some interesting answers. Then we are introduced to the 1st of 2 big pregnancy centers close by that cater to the students - Planned Parenthood. The representative explains PP's programs, agenda, and what happens when students or women come in the door with a positive pregnancy test.

What to Expect When You're Expecting in College: Part 2 of 5

In Part 3, she finishes looking into pregnancy options with ThriVe St. Louis, a pro-life pregnancy care center near the St. Louis University campus - what it offers and how it helps women. Then we are introduced to her project. She quickly outlines her experience of portraying myself as 8 months pregnant for 2 weeks on campus. Then the SLU community tells us what they thought about her "pregnancy."

What to Expect When You're Expecting in College: Part 3 of 5

In Part 4, she approaches the issues of the frequency of pregnancy on college campus, social reactions, and stigma towards pregnant college students. She interviews students, asking them how frequently they see pregnant college students and what their reactions were. Also, she interviews members of the faculty about their approach to pregnant students.

What to Expect When You're Expecting in College: Part 4 of 5

Summary of Part 5 Coming...

What to Expect When You're Expecting in College: Part 5 of 5

Fair, Balanced, Unbiased Reporter Seeks Negative Experiences with Crisis Pregnancy Centers UPDATE

2009-04-15T10:57:00.003-04:00

Back in February of 2006, I discovered and disclosed Marie Claire magazine reporter Siobhan O'Connor requesting negative experiences with Crisis Pregnancy Centers for a biased article she was writing. In response, I encouraged others to take action and share their own experiences with CPCs, while also writing this article bebunking pro-choice myths about CPCs. Other blogs picked up my article and the positive response was overwhelming. As a result the article was never published in Marie Claire magazine. Now an update. I recently discovered Ms. O'Connor went on to write and publish a negative article on CPCs May 2007 in Good Magazine, entitled, "Playing Doctor: The pro-life movement's new plan for family planning" Reader responses at the article have been mixed, but please be sure to share your own experience with a crisis preganancy center, whether you were a client or a volunteer, with others at this article and in your community. Also, you can support your local CPC through volunteering your time or donating.

Related:
Myths and Facts About Pregnancy Resource Centers
A comprehensive and investigative report looking at the accusations leveled against CPCs by pro-choice organizations, using facts and documentation in response.

Fake Story About a Fake Clinic?
A Planned Parenthood sent out an action alert mass e-mail to drum up support for a bill targeting allegedly deceptive advertising by crisis pregnancy centers, using a questionable ancedote about a CPC in Indiana. The ancedote in question is explored more in depth with some investigative reporting.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has come to Indiana!

2009-04-03T12:40:00.000-04:00

Indianapolis Family To Get 'Extreme Makeover'
Estridge To Construct Home For Family In Need
POSTED: 7:35 am EDT March 16, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS -- ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has chosen an Indianapolis family to be the recipient of a new home. Every Sunday night on ABC and RTV6, the show's crew changes the lives of a family in need, tearing down their home and building them a brand new one in just one week.
The Estridge Companies, a central Indiana homebuilder, will be take on the project. Mayor Greg Ballard was part of an official announcement Monday morning.
"This will not only help a deserving family, but it also will demonstrate to the world how this community works together to honor and support its everyday heroes," Ballard said.
The Indianapolis family, whose identity won't be revealed until later this month, was chosen for the show's season finale, which airs on May 17.
"In a couple of weeks, Ty Pennington (show host) will knock on the door and the family will know for the first time," said Paul Estridge Jr., president of the company.
The show, in its sixth season, has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as Best Reality Program.
"There are many dimensions of this that are quite transforming, to not only this tremendous model of an American family, but also the entire neighborhood," Estridge said. "More than any other show, this show will go beyond the four walls and reach out into the neighborhood."
Times are tough for homebuilders, and the decision to take part in the project was not one that Estridge took lightly.
"It was one of the most challenging decisions our company had to make, because as everyone knows, if you're a homebuilder today … you're struggling to try to make the right decisions," Estridge said. "We're certainly no different than any other builder, but this opportunity is really an extension of our company's values."
Estridge has built more than 7,500 homes in its 42-year history.

Updates on the project as well as airing date can be found at the link above on the WTHR Channel 6 website.
I'm so excited, both that the producers have chosen this well deserving individual and that the show has come to my area! :D

New Website Offers Incredible Array of Images & Movies of the Developing Human

2009-04-03T00:40:00.000-04:00

The Endowment for Human Development is a website showing the developing unborn in astonishing detail, using scientific images and details. And one gallery of movies provides subtitles in over 90 languages. This is a great pro-life resource. Pass it on.

Other Great Scientific Prenatal Development Sites Include:

Multi-dimensional Human Embryo

University of New South Wales Embryology Website

The Visible Embryo

H/T to Suzanne at Big Blue Wave

A Story of Hope....

2009-04-01T09:27:00.001-04:00

The Story of Faith Hope

A diagnosis of anencephaly has not stopped this young single mom from embracing every day, every moment, of her child's life. A chance at life and joy, even if brief, which would of been taken from this mother and child, had she had an abortion. And a wonderful story of hope and encouragement for other mothers experiencing this devastating diagnosis.

H/T Christina at Real Choice

If you're facing a poor prenatal diagnosis, please check out Be Not Afraid where you'll find other mothers stories and hope.

National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers

2009-03-10T18:03:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder -- "National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers" is March 10.

The project was launched in 1996 and was co-sponsored by many national organizations and individuals , though it's popularity among abortion rights supporters has diminished over the years. Here's where we can step in and fill the void and compassionately reach out to abortion providers. Priests for Life has in the past suggested March 9 as "National Day of Invitation for Abortion Providers" to invite them to repent and reform. In fact, I don't see why we can't do it March 10 so that we're using the same day. In fact, it would be a powerful witness if the only people reaching out to abortion clinic staff on their special day was prolifers.

Abortion wounds everyone it touches in some way or another, from the woman to her partner and family, even to abortion providers. Former abortion providers have spoken out here. And Dr. Rachel McNair has explored the stresses of abortion work in her book Achieving Peace in the Abortion War. Though there are certain elements of greed (see here and here) and egotism, keep in mind that we're not dealing with heartless evil people, but misguided and well-intentioned individuals. A common underlying motivation is the idea that somehow what they're doing is helping the patients. The typical abortion worker views herself or himself as bravely overcoming his natural revulsion at destroying fetal life in order to better the lives of women. So what we need to do is break through that illusion. With that in mind, let's look at Refuse and Resist's suggestions, and see where we can get ideas to reach these lost souls and help them break free:

Send clinic staff letters gently letting them know that though they may have meant well, they hurt you or your loved one.

Bring your local staff gift baskets that include information on the Society of Centurions, or Clinic Worker.com. Make the gifts real gifts, like notecards, fruit, bath salts, and so forth, not phony "gifts" intended to crush the worker's spirit, like bloody dismembered baby dolls, baby clothes, etc.
Organize a local event to increase awareness of how abortion hurts women, or provide a respectful counter-presence at locally organized pro-choice events.
Organize a job fair to help link clinic staff with people willing to give them new jobs that will allow them to escape the abortion business.

Be a presence outside abortion facilities, reminding staff, patients, and the public of women who've been harmed there (look here for an example of such a pamplet ).
Invite your local abortion staff to coffee, to let him or her vent in a safe environment without fear of being labeled a traitor.
Write to your local newspaper, and call talk shows, to educate people about the harm abortion does to women.

Use your imagination to create a climate in which abortion clinic staff know that it's safe for them to approach you should they ever need your help.

H/T and Credits Go to Christina at Real Choice

Help Needed in Developing Crisis Pregnancy Manual for the GLBT Community

2009-03-08T19:28:00.002-04:00

The ProLife Alliance of Gays and Lesibians and the Nonviolent Choice Directory are collaborating on a crisis pregnancy manual for the LGBT community. Please check out their survey and see if you can offer any assistance.

Your initial response may be, "How can lesbians experience a crisis pregnancy?" But the link explains, and really raises some awareness. And the manual will likely develop into something that will also help in all pregnancy center situations

H/T Christina at Real Choice

Teen with Autism Tasered into Unconsciousness

2009-02-28T11:59:00.001-05:00

Suit: Autistic boy was Tased
February 20, 2009
Carmel Clay school called police during outburst, parents say
By Vic Ryckaert
vic.ryckaert@indystar.com

A middle-school student with autism was Tased twice by a Carmel police officer, according to a lawsuit filed by the boy's parents against the Police Department, one of its officers and a local school district.
According to the suit, the electrical bursts temporarily knocked the 90-pound boy unconscious during a confrontation at Creekside Middle School. The boy, who was 14 at the time, was taken to a local hospital before being released to his mother.
The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, seeks damages for medical expenses, pain, suffering and mental anguish. The defendants are the Carmel Police Department, officer Matthew Kinkade and Carmel Clay Schools.
Carmel Clay Superintendent Barbara Underwood declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit. Efforts to contact Kinkade and a spokesman for the Carmel Police Department were not successful Thursday.
According to the lawsuit:
On March 11, the boy, who is not named in the complaint, was dropped off at Creekside by his mother, Dianne Bell, who called to tell school officials her son was going to be late.
At the end of the day, the boy was told he was going to receive detention. At that point, the boy, who is described as having "affective disorder and has been diagnosed with autism, manic-depressive disorder and bipolar disorder," became "frustrated and began to act out."
"During this outburst he is saying outrageous things," said the Bells' attorney, Ronald Frazier, noting that the boy threatened to call members of his gang to retaliate against the teachers.
"They know there is no gang there," Frazier said. "They know he has no way of acting on what he is saying. They are taking these idle threats and calling police."
The Bells contend the school district failed to follow the guidelines they had set up to deal with the boy's outbursts -- techniques the family says would have given the boy a chance to cool off.
"When a child like (the Bells' son) starts to have emotional problems, the (individual procedure) is supposed to be followed," Frazier said. "It has specific steps that are to be taken in order to keep the child from melting totally down."
Instead, school officials dialed 911.
Officer Kinkade arrived, according to the complaint, and reacted to the boy's outbursts by grabbing him and forcing him to a bench in the school lobby.
When the physical force failed to control the 5-foot boy, Kinkade drew his Taser and shocked the boy two times until he lost consciousness, according to the complaint.
"Officer Kinkade used unreasonable and excessive force by failing to follow policies and procedures that were in place for dealing with autistic children," the suit alleges.
Frazier contends in the suit that although school officials say they advised police about the boy's condition, the Police Department says that's not so.
The Police Department has an autism response team, but it was not dispatched. Kinkade is not a member of that team, according to the suit.
"Autistic children have a great difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they don't understand social cues," Frazier said. "(The Bell child) gets confronted with violence, with Tasers, and he is flipping out because of his sensory overload."
The suit contends Carmel police were "grossly negligent in the training of Matthew Kinkade," who joined the department in January 2006.
Noblesville Police Department Lt. Bruce Barnes, an instructor in the use of Tasers, said officers are trained to use the devices when lesser-force options are not available.
"You can use the Taser anytime anybody is punching, kicking or threatening to punch or kick," Barnes said. "We can use it when we tell someone to do something, they refuse, lesser-force options are not available and they are a credible threat to you."
Barnes declined to comment on whether the boy could have posed a credible threat to a police officer, saying he did not know the full circumstances of the incident.
Sheila Wolfe, director of the Indianapolis-based Autism Education and Training Center, said the reaction of school officials and the police officer agitated the boy.
"You need to step away and leave them alone so that they can decompress," said Wolfe, who has an autistic son in middle school in Carmel Clay. "I have a hard time believing that a trained officer would Taser a child with a disability if they fully understood the situation they were walking into.
"I know from experience that the people in Carmel (Clay schools) know better. As a school system, they have the expertise and they have the people available that know better. I'm surprised."

When I saw this, I thought to myself, "Oh no, not in Indy..." Indiana is one of 6 or 7 states which requires autism-recognition instruction for law enforcement and emergency response individuals. Earlier this year the HAMILTON-BOONE-MADISON SPECIAL SERVICES COOPERATIVE provided training to over two hundred police officers in Hamilton County, Arcadia, Carmel and Fishers to inform police officers of the common characteristics of individuals across the autism spectrum, and strategies to help when interacting with these individuals. From working in special education, I can tell you, this child would of had a behavior plan, which likely would of included a de-escalation plan. I would question if the plan was followed by the faculty at the school. Also, there are restrictive physical interventions which are taught in most institutions and schools for these types of situations and could have been applied in this situation to keep this student and staff safe. Also, I question why wasn't the police department's autism response team wasn't dispatched and did the school inform the police department that the child has autism, so the responding police officer could adjust his approach appropriately, to meet the child's communicative and physiological needs associated with his disability.

No Longer a Quiet Safe Haven

2009-02-25T11:48:00.005-05:00

Unfortuantly public libraries have become less and less of a quiet place to study or read books and more of a busy, bustling, and often loud technology cafe, teen hang out, and a preschool all under one roof. While most of these are welcome changes, it appears the common curtesy of maintaining a quiet enviroment for those who may be studying or reading has faded with the times. As a patron and a former library staff, it has become increasingly frustrating for me because our local public libraries are becoming ridiciously loud due to the part of inconsiderate and outright rude patrons and even staff! Also, it has been my experience that librarians and staff are increasingly becoming more hesitant to ask a patron to take steps towards remedying the noise they are causing for fear of *gasp* offending the patron. Sure, nobody likes a grumpy librarian, but no one likes a headache, either! So in closing I ask of this:

1) Please set your cellphone ringers to silent or vibrate mode.

2) Please make haste to the foyer/entrance or a designated area of the library when receiving a call or to make a call on your cellphone, as to avoid disturbing the other patrons.

3) Parents, please teach your children and reinforce library manners, starting at a young age, i.e. to use an indoor voice; walk, not run in the library; and to not climb library furniture or bookcases like they are a junglegym.) And if your child is being disruptive (yelling/screaming, crying, temper tantrumming), please remove them to the foyer/entrance or your vehicle.

4) Parents, the library staff are not your babysitters, nor do they get paid to be your sitter, if your child is under the age of 12, please have a designated guardian stay in the library with them (this could be an older sibling, a neighbor, an after school sitter, a grandparent, or an aunt or uncle) and have a designated pick-up time so the library staff does not get stuck babysitting your child after the library closes.

5) Please do not hold conversations by yelling accross the room, instead walk over to the person. You will not only save others a headache, but your message will be much clearier as well.

6) Library staff, you have been just as culpable: Please moniter the volume level of your conversations, with patrons and other staff.

7) Library staff, please don't allow teens to gather around computer stations, as their excitement over their friend's updated Myspace page, the newest video game, or the latest school gossip may become disruptive for their neighbor at the next computer station over.

In taking these steps, we will be working towards creating a quiet enviroment, which is more conductive to learning, as well as considerate to others.

Fun Videos

2009-02-15T18:33:00.008-05:00

My husband sent me links to these funny videos he found last week on You Tube. They are of course Star Wars related.

Talent Night
A little fun with popular music and Star Wars action figures

Talent Night 2

More fun with popular music and Star Wars action figures. After watching this, I recommend checking out the other similiar videos this person made, including "We Will Rock You", "Bicycle", and "Yellow Submarine." Lots of laughs!

For more fun, I recommend these funny non-Star Wars videos as well.

David After the Dentist
A funny video of a little boy coming out of anesthesia after having a tooth extracted

Smart Cheetah
A nature documentary gone wrong...

Scary Snake...Just Watch

Free Pro-Life Handbook

2009-01-20T15:02:00.001-05:00

To anyone who is interested:

The Pro-Life Action League is giving out a pro-life handbook to anyone who requests it, for free!

The book is called "Sharing the Pro-Life Message" and it's packed with information about abortion, life in the womb, responding to pro-choice arguments and more.

You can order your free copy at the link below:
Free Pro-life Handbook

H/T Bethany at Precious Infants

Inexpensive and Practical Charity

2009-01-20T12:46:00.005-05:00

Blogger Keep Calm and Carry On has a series of great ideas for being charitable and helping others, which are both inexpensive and practical. I wish I would of thought of this! I recommend checking out their whole series of blog posts on this topic:

Charity, Cheaply: Part 1
Care Packages for Soldiers Across Seas

Charity, Cheaply: Part 2
Donating Blood, Plasma, and Bone Marrow Can Save a Life

Charity, Cheaply: Part 3
Comfort and Joy: writing letters and creating care packages for children with a terminal illness

Charity, Cheaply: Part 4
Toiletry Kits for the Homeless: practical uses for hygiene item samples we tend to accumulate and a great way to serve those less fortunate.

Charity, Cheaply: Part 5
Time and Service: Sometimes, the most needed gift is the gift of time and service for friends, neighbors, and in the community.

Happy Birthday A.A. Milne (Author of Winnie the Pooh)

2009-01-18T15:09:00.003-05:00

Anyone who knows me well knows I'm a fan of the children's Winnie the Pooh series. Today is the birthday of A. A. Milne and not coincidentally, it's also Winnie the Pooh Day. Happy Birthday A. A. Milne!

For Fun: Which resident of Pooh Corner do you identify with the most?

A Family in Need of Help...Not Just an Abortion

2009-01-17T23:39:00.001-05:00

Dawn Eden alerts us to a story featured by abortion provider "Nell" at the abortionclinicdays blog, discussing an African-American woman with the name of DaShay, a hysteric mother who called to inquire about getting Plan B for her mentally disabled 17-year-old daughter, Alia. In the discussion with abortion provider "Nell" DaShay comes to the realization that her daughter is 9 weeks pregnant and insists her daughter has an abortion.

The story is a that of single mother living at poverty level and end the end of her rope, caring for her mentally disabled daughter and for her daughters son as well. And now the daughter is pregnant again. Because of the nature of her disability, this raises the question of whether or not the sex is consensual and whether or not she is the victim of statuatory rape. Also, there is the issue of the financial and living situation in which she and her mother are living in.

Nell describes what happened after DaShay, who was "pretty angry, cursing her daughter up and down for having sex," put her daughter on the phone:

Alia answered my questions slowly, but kept confirming that she did not want to be pregnant. Even though she was 17, she sounded younger. Mom was in the background shouting lots of questions, so I asked to speak to DaShay again. "Look--my daughter has one baby and I got her baby. I adopted him because she can't care for him. She's got a disability, she can't care for herself, she can't learn, she was in special classes but went and dropped out. I been laid off. We only get a little bit of money for her disability. She can't have another baby! We are on welfare--do you hear me? WEL...FARE. WELFARE! Understand? We got nothing. Now what's this gonna cost? Thirty? Fifty dollars for the pills?"Because of where she lived, DaShay's welfare would not cover the cost of an abortion. "Actually, it's going to be closer to $350," I explained again why it was different than needing Plan B. She started screaming at her daughter, "$350? What am I supposed to do! Where we gonna get money? Where'd that little boy go who said he's gonna help you?"

The abortion provider Nell seems short-sighted, focusing on raising the funds to end the girl's pregnancy, but does not seemed concerned of the living situation of Alia and her mother, nor of Alia's disabilities:

When DaShay calmed down again, we went over her finances. She was right--they were just barely surviving. I don't know how she was making it work. We went through the steps to get her some emergency help from the National Abortion Foundation, but still weren't able to get the whole cost covered. We made a plan where she would try to come up with a portion and I would start calling around to some other emergency abortion funds to find part of it. We scheduled Alia's appointment for two weeks in the future, to give each of us a chance to try to come up with some more money. I'm still waiting for phone calls back from the emergency funds and I don't know what's going to happen.

Following readers concern for Alia, the abortion provider, Nell, added a postscript to the entry:

Because several readers have been distressed at the possibility that Alia may have been sexually abused or that she did not have the intellectual capacity to understand what was happening for her. I'm glad that our readers are concerned for her welfare. No woman should be forced or coerced into having an abortion, continuing a pregnancy or giving a child up for adoption. It is very important that women with special needs get extra time and care to ensure that they make decisions that they are comfortable with. For an example of how a counselor can work with a minor to ensure that she is not being abused, that she understands the medical care she will recieve and that her medical team and family come together to help support her, please see this entry that Lou wrote a few weeks ago.

Ok, so they talk about how wrong coercion is and blah, blah, blah, but do they actually take the time to sit down and talk with the women and actively listen to what the woman really is saying? Eventhough she may be saying yes, she is crying, and her abusive boyfriend or parent is waiting for her out in the waiting room or the car. And I wonder, with how hysterical and demanding the mother in this situation is being, if the daughter is under pressure or being coerced to have the abortion? And what, I wonder, is Nell and Lou's idea of counseling for Alia? Having her hysterical mother sit with her and hold her hand while they describe her pregnancy and the abortion procedure in run-of-the-mill medical descriptions and pro-choice euphemisms which she may or may not understand? Will the abortion providers refer the family for community and support services or do their services only extend to the abortion?

Following Nell's post, abortionclinicdays posted a follow-up telling readers how they could finance Alia's abortion:

One organization that helps women nationally is WRRAP. They are wonderful, just wonderful. I could tell you so many stories of women they have helped! Pregnant women who have lost their jobs, women who are homeless, women whose personal finances are committed to their children. Even working women sometimes earn too little to be able to pay for an abortion and still pay their rent. WRRAP's staff is volunteer so whatever you donate goes right to the clinics for a specific woman whose situation we present to them. Whenever WRRAP has money, they immediately spread it around! And I have never seen such an increase in requests! These days, with so many women losing their jobs, losing hours at work, losing their homes, the requests are greater than ever. As a result, WRRAP is always short of funds. Any amount you care to send will be so appreciated, is so needed!

It's not amazing the number of individuals who are so quick to jump in and offer financial donations for the abortion, but I wonder if the same individuals would also be willing to jump to the aid and support of women who chose to carry to term, to assist a single mother afford daycare while she works, to help a poor family who is struggling make rent, to open their home to a young mother and her child, or be willing to drive a woman to well-care doctors appointments, etc.

What will become of Alia, her son, and her mother after the abortion? And why is the PREGNANCY the only thing the mother and the abortion clinic staff care about? This family needs help on so many levels and Christina from Real Choice addresses these issues:

1. They need to consider whether or not Alia's sex was consensual and whether or not it is statuatory rape, due to her age and disabilities.

2. The girl has special needs that obviously aren't being met. How is an abortion going to fix that?

3. Her mother is obviously past the end of her rope, totally decompensating, stressed out to where she can't cope any more. That girl needs to be out of that situation and her mother needs intervention to get her life on a decent track.

All an abortion will accomplish is ending the life of Alia's unborn baby and a bunch of elitists patting themselves on the back for what? For “helping “ another woman by providing her an abortion, even while this girl and her family remain in a miserable situation.

Take Action:

- Pray for DaShay and Alia, that they have a change of heart and for their home situation.

- Learn about your local pregnancy resource centers, non-profit organizations, and assistance programs so that you may be able to refer those in need.

- Donate to your local pregnancy resource center's Earn While You Learn Program. Through this program, women participate in parenting and life skills (finances, budgeting, time management, etc) courses which empower them to become more independent and break the cycle of poor parenting, neglect, and abuse while earning vouchers for supplemental baby hygiene items, furniture, maternity and infant/toddler clothing, car seats, infant bedding, etc, with diapers and formula given out on an emergency basis.

When Does a New Human Life Begin?

2009-01-11T13:37:00.005-05:00

This is a hotly debated question among those in the abortion debate. Many on the pro-choice side argue that a new human life doesn't begin until viability, quickening, or until birth. Also many people say that this is a philosophical or religious question..But what is the right answer?
It's not clear, so let us turn to science and medical embryology for answers. The sciences of embryology and genetics reveal that a zygote, embryo, and fetus are members of the genius homeo sapiens (human beings) and rather these terms describe developmental stages, rather than species. The values of legal rights, personhood, and worth are philosphical and sociological values not to be confused with the scientific classification of a human being. Let's look at more of what embryologists have to say:

First, Let's Look at Newer Embryology Textbooks:"Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm (spermatozoo developmentn) unites with a female gamete or oocyte (ovum) to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual."
"A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo)."
Keith L. Moore, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 7th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2003. pp. 16, 2.

"Development begins with fertilization, the process by which the male gamete, the sperm, and the femal gamete, the oocyte, unite to give rise to a zygote."
T.W. Sadler, Langman's Medical Embryology, 10th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006. p. 11.

"[The zygote], formed by the union of an oocyte and a sperm, is the beginning of a new human being."
Keith L. Moore, Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology, 7th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2008. p. 2.

"Although life is a continuous process, fertilization (which, incidentally, is not a 'moment') is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte."
Ronan O'Rahilly and Fabiola Müller, Human Embryology and Teratology, 3rd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2001. p. 8.

"Human embryos begin development following the fusion of definitive male and female gametes during fertilization... This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development."
William J. Larsen, Essentials of Human Embryology. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1998. pp. 1, 14.

"It is the penetration of the ovum by a spermatozoan and resultant mingling of the nuclear material each brings to the union that constitues the culmination of the process of fertilization and marks the initiation of the life of a new individual."

Now Let's Look at Older Embryology Textbooks:

Clark Edward Corliss, Patten's Human Embryology: Elements of Clinical Development. New York: McGraw Hill, 1976. p. 30.

"The term conception refers to the union of the male and female pronuclear elements of procreation from which a new living being develops."

"The zygote thus formed represents the beginning of a new life."

J.P. Greenhill and E.A. Friedman, Biological Principles and Modern Practice of Obstetrics. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1974. pp. 17, 23.

"Every time a sperm cell and ovum unite a new being is created which is alive and will continue to live unless its death is brought about by some specific condition."

E.L. Potter and J.M. Craig, Pathology of the Fetus and the Infant, 3rd edition. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1975. p. vii.

"Every baby begins life within the tiny globe of the mother's egg... It is beautifully translucent and fragile and it encompasses the vital links in which life is carried from one generation to the next. Within this tiny sphere great events take place. When one of the father's sperm cells, like the ones gathered here around the egg, succeeds in penetrating the egg and becomes united with it, a new life can begin." - 13

Geraldine Lux Flanagan, Beginning Life. New York: DK, 1996. p. 13.

"Biologically speaking, human development begins at fertilization."

And What Educational Videos Have to Say:
The Biology of Prenatal Develpment, National Geographic Video, 2006.

"The two cells gradually and gracefully become one. This is the moment of conception, when an individual's unique set of DNA is created, a human signature that never existed before and will never be repeated."

In the Womb, National Geographic Video, 2005.
Science tells us an individual human life begins at conception. There has even been acknowledgement from the pro-choice side that life begins at conception.

Zygote, embryo and fetus don't refer to non-humans, but humans at a particular stage of human development.

Quotes compiled and documentation completed by Abort73, if in doubt you can borrow the above textbooks from your local public or university library and verify the above quotes yourself.

What the Pro-Choice Side Has to Say:

"I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing is a signal of our ambivalence, a signal that we cannot say yes, it kills a fetus..."
Faye Wattleton. former president of Planned Parenthood, as quoted in Salon Magazine, June 27, 1997

"Clinging to a rhetoric about abortion in which there is no life and no death, we entangle our beliefs in a series of self-delusions, fibs and evasions. And we risk becoming precisely what our critics charge us with being: callous, selfish and casually destructive men and women who share a cheapened view of human life...we need to contextualize the fight to defend abortion rights within a moral framework that admits that the death of a fetus is a real death."
Naomi Wolf, prominent feminist author and abortion supporter, as quoted in Our Bodies, Our Souls, The New Republic, 1995).

"In the top drawer of my desk, I keep [a picture of my son]. This picture was taken on September 7, 1993, 24 weeks before he was born. The sonogram image is murky, but it reveals clear enough a small head tilted back slightly, and an arm raised up and bent, with the hand pointing back toward the face and the thumb extended out toward the mouth. There is no doubt in my mind that this picture, too, shows [my son] at a very early stage in his physical development. And there is no question that the position I defend in this book entails that it would have been morally permissible to end his life at this point."
David Noonin, in his book, A Defense of Abortion, p. xiv

Quotes Compiled by Sarah Terzo at Abortion Clinic Quotes

Some Other Interesting Arguments the Pro-choice Side Makes:

The pro-choice side often compares the similiarities of developing human to other mammals or amphibians, pointing out gills along the neck and the tail of the developing human.

What are mistaken for gills are actually known as the pharyngeal arches. By the end of week 4, 6 pairs of pharyngeal arches are present, although only 3 are visible. (The word pharyngeal stems from the word pharynx, which refers to the area in the back of the throat.) These arches have been thought to resemble a fish's gills; however, it should be noted that they do not function as gills. Pharyngeal arches, on the other hand, are tissue folds which will develop into head and neck structures. The 1st arch will develop into parts of the upper and lower jaw, the ear, the mouth, the teeth, and the nose. The 2nd arch will help to form the tongue, the neck, the tonsils, and the ear. The 3rd arch will help to form the tongue, the parathyroid gland, the thymus gland, and the neck. The 4th, 5th, and 6th arches will all work together to form parts of the larynx, commonly referred to as the "voicebox," and the trachea, as well as contributing to the parathyroid and thymus glands.

Also, what is believed to be a tail is not a tail at all, but is the continuation of the spinal cord, caused by the spine growing in length faster than the rest of the trunk

Sources:
Visible Embryo
http://www.visembryo.com/baby/

University of New South Wales Embryology Website
http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au

Winter Holiday Quizes :-)

2008-12-22T14:39:00.001-05:00

You Are Cider

Your holiday personality is cozy.

The holidays are your favorite time to stay home, stay warm, and spend time with those you love.

You don't need a lot to make you happy over the holidays.

Seeing an old relative or favorite holiday film is enough to make your day.

What Holiday Drink Are You?

You Are Flannel Pajamas

You seek comfort above everything else. You rather feel good than look good.

You are a very relaxed person, especially when you're surrounded by your favorite things and people.

You are a homebody. Home is the place where you can truly be yourself.

You are likely to wear pajamas a lot. In fact, you often change into your pj's the minute you get home!

What Kind of Pajamas Are You?

A Retake on a Christmas Classic

2008-12-19T20:20:00.000-05:00

"My Charlie Brown Christmas"
Featuring original writing and voice talent from
cast members of the show [Scrubs]

A Book Worth Having: Beyond Morning Sickness

2008-12-18T13:45:00.003-05:00

The book is entitled, "Beyond Morning Sickness: Battling Hyperemsis Gravidarum" and is written by Ashli McCall. During Ashli's four pregnancies, she experienced Hyperemsis Gravidarum, a rare disorder characterized by severe and persistent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, which lead to hospitalizations for dehydration, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and excess weight loss as well as just plain misery. During Ashli's first pregnancy, her physicians gave her little information or hope on the treatment options available for HG; with some physicians outright insensitive to the condition, while others were apologetic, unable to offer her relief. As a disease it was under-studied, poorly understood, and fraught with the myths of years of misinformation and misunderstanding from the medical profession. Feeling abondoned, very sick, and her health in jepordy, at four months, she gave in to the advice of her doctor and relatives, ending the very much wanted pregnancy. Here is her story, from an interview on CNN:

The lack of information and support for women with HG in the medical community has had an impact on Ashli and and now she seeks to educate, inform, and support other women who find themselves facing this debilitating illness. More on Ashli's book as well as a support forum for mothers facing HG can be found at her website Beyond Morning Sickness.com.

Question Reply: Infection Following an Abortion

2008-12-15T11:20:00.001-05:00

This is in response to a visitor who came to Christina's blog searching, "I've got an infection from abortion. Can I die?" Things have turned into a heated debate over there, so I figure I'd post my reply here.

I strongly recommend going to see a doctor and get checked out, if you haven't already. If you don't feel comfortable returning to the same clinic, you can seek the follow-up care through your community's public health clinic, your regular gynecologist, or your primary care provider. The health care provider will probably preform an ultrasound and pelvic exam to ensure your abortion is complete and draw some blood because your white blood cell count can tell them whether your body is reacting to an infection. You may then receive a week or two supply of antibiotics. Sometimes the cause of infection is an incomplete abortion and a woman will need to have a repeat vacuum aspiration to remove remains of the pregnancy. However, if you're experiencing any of the following symptoms, please don't wait until your 2 week follow-up and immediately go to your local hospital emergency department, as these could be signs of a potentially serious complication:

Fever (more than 100.4°F) and chills.
Severe persistent pain or cramps not relieved by pain relivers (ibuprofen or naproxen), rest, or a heating pad.

Vomiting for more than four to six hours and you are not able to keep anything down
Prolonged or heavy bleeding, soaking through more than 4-5 pads per hour or more than 12 pads in 24 hours.
An unpleasant, foul-smelling, and/or abnormal cottage-cheese-like or foamy green, yellow, or grey discharge from your vagina

Regardless of the severity of your infection, the sooner you start treatment, the better the outcome.

Sources:
E-Medicine Health: Elective Abortion Follow-Up, an article by Suzanne R Trupin, MD
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/252560-followup

E-Medicine: Abortion Complications, an article by Slava V Gaufberg, MD, FACEP
Aftercare and clinical indications of complications to look out for following an induced abortion. A non-political professional medical website.
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic4.htm

Abortion and Subsequent Mental Health

2008-12-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

In August, the American Psychological Association released a news report, which concludes abortion causes no mental health problems despite recent research proving otherwise (see documentation below). While the American Psychological Assocation refutes the fact that PASS exists, I believe that PASS exists and it can affect women in many ways, I want it to be recognised so that women can get the treatment, help and support that they deserve. Refuting the previously released report of the APA, a new study shows a direct link between abortion and subsequent mental health problems.

Abortion was found to be related to an increased risk for a variety of mental health problems (panic attacks, panic disorder, agoraphobia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, major depression with and without hierarchy), and substance abuse disorders after statistical controls were instituted for a wide range of personal, situational, and demographic variables," they wrote. "Calculation of population attributable risks indicated that abortion was implicated in between 4.3% and 16.6% of the incidence of these disorders," they concluded.
Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University, led the research team that conducted the study.
Together with Catherine Coyle of Edgewood College, researcher Martha Shuping and psychologist Dr. Vincent Rue, they published their results online today at the Journal of Psychiatric Research, a well-established and respected journal.
The researchers found women who had abortions, compared with those who didn't had a 120% risk for alcohol abuse, with or without dependence, a 145% increased risk of alcohol dependence, 79% increased risk of drug abuse with or without dependence and a 126% increase in the risk of drug dependence.
For mood disorders, the experience of an abortion increased risk of developing bipolar disorder by 167%, major depression without hierarchy by 45% and major depression with hierarchy by 48%.
For anxiety disorders, there was a 111% increased risk for panic disorders, 44% increased risk for panic attacks, 59% increased risk for PTSD, 95% increased risk for agoraphobia with or without panic disorder and a 93% increased risk for agoraphobia without panic disorder.
There was no mental health outcome showing abortion to have decreased the risk or a high risk for women who did not have an abortion.

The following are additional studies, from within the last 10 years, which have found a connection between abortion and subsequent mental health issues.
The Norwegian study, conducted by Dr. Willy Pedersen, was recently published in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.
The authors make the link clear in the conclusion of the abstract: "Young adult women who undergo induced abortion may be at increased risk for subsequent depression."
The Norwegian researchers studied 5,768 women between the ages of 15 and 27 years and asked then questions concerning abortion and childbirth as well as family relationships and a number of individual characteristics, such as schooling and occupational history and conduct problems.
The results showed, "Young women who reported having had an abortion in their twenties were more likely to score above the cut-off point for depression."

A study earlier this month in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found 30 percent of women who purchase the abortion drug mifepristone on the Internet experience depression and negative feelings accompanying the abortion.
The most prominent study of abortion's link to mental health issues comes from New Zealand.

The New Zealand study found that having an abortion as a young woman raises the risk of developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Some 42 percent of the women who had abortions had experienced major depression within the last four years. That's almost double the rate of women who never became pregnant. The risk of anxiety disorders also doubled.
According to the study, women who have abortions were twice as likely to drink alcohol at dangerous levels and three times as likely to be addicted to illegal drugs.
David Fergusson, an abortion advocate who led the study, said the results show access to legal abortions is not necessarily good for women. He also said the study confirms abortions cause women mental health issues -- rather than alleviating them as abortion advocates claim.

"Abortion and Depression: A population-based longitudinal study of young women."
Willy Pedersen
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2008
The "Young in Norway" longitudinal study, which surveyed students in Norway four times from 1992 through 2005.
There was no correlation between teenage abortion and subsequent depression, after controlling for such factors as family stability and socioeconomic status. Women who had abortions in their 20s did have increased rates of depression.

"Resolution of Unwanted Pregnancy During Adolescence Through Abortion Versus Childbirth: Individual and Family Predictors and Psychological Consequences"
Priscilla K. Coleman
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2006
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which interviewed thousands of U.S. middle- and high-school students in 1995 and again in 1996.
Adolescents who had abortions were significantly more likely than those who gave birth to seek psychological counseling, have trouble sleeping and report frequent marijuana use.
The study relied on the adolescents to self-report their pregnancy history and only 65 reported an abortion. It was not possible to control for all factors. For instance, perhaps adolescents involved in abusive relationships were more likely to seek abortions; if so, it could be the fear of violence, not the abortion, that caused insomnia and drug use.

"Abortion in Young Women and Subsequent Mental Health"
David M. Fergusson, L. John Horwood, and Elizabeth M. Ridder
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2006
A health and development study that followed more than 1,200 New Zealand children from birth to age 25.
Adolescents and young women who had abortions were more likely to suffer from depression, thoughts of suicide, drug addiction and overall mental health problems than peers who had children or who never got pregnant. This result remained statistically significant even after controlling for factors such as education, family stability, self-esteem, smoking habits and prior history of depression.

"Depression and Unwanted First Pregnancy: Longitudinal Cohort Study"
Sarah Schmiege and Nancy Felipe Russo
British Medical Journal, 2005
A national study of U.S. youth, who were first interviewed in 1979 and followed through 1992. This research looked at more than 1,000 women who reported their first pregnancy was unwanted.
Women who aborted had no higher risk of depression than women who delivered. Over the years, those who aborted ended up with higher incomes and education levels than those who delivered – achievements that can lower the risk of depression.

Medical Science Monitor, 2003: This study examined National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data, specifically the records of 1,884 women with a first pregnancy. It also considered if there were any previous psychological problems. The study found that, at an average of 8 years after the first pregnancies, women who chose abortions were 8% more likely to score in the "high-risk" range for clinical depression than women who gave birth. This was after controlling for age, race, marital status, divorce history, education, income, and previous psychological state. [NLSY is an ongoing nationwide interview-based study conducted by the Center for Human Resource Research at Ohio State University and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. [9(4): CR105-112].] full text] [This and the later-discussed NLSY results have been adjusted to reflect questions already raised and addressed about this research, as discussed here and here.]

Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), May 13, 2003: Another study found that
"Psychiatric admissions were more common among women at anytime between 90 days to 4 years after an…abortion, than among those who carried a pregnancy to term." The risk was “significantly higher.” They reviewed the California Medicaid records of 56,741 women aged 13–49 years at the time of either abortion or childbirth, and only included women with no previous psychiatric admissions or pregnancy events during the year before.

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2002: This study found that women with a prior history of abortion are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use illicit drugs, and ten times more likely to use marijuana during the first pregnancy they actually carry to term, compared to other women delivering their first pregnancies. ["History of induced abortion in relation to substance use during pregnancies carried to term." December 2002; 187(5).]

British Medical Journal, Dec. 2001: An earlier look at that NLSY data found that, an average of eight years after abortion, married women were 37% more likely to be at high risk of clinical depression, compared to similar women who carried their unintended first pregnancies to term. However, women having abortions instead of carrying to term in their first marriages were 50% more likely to be in that “high risk range” than those in second or later marriages. [324: 151-152] [This and the above-mentioned NLSY results have been adjusted to reflect the questions already raised about this data, as discussed here and here.]

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2002: A comparison of outpatient mental health claims over 5 years, including records of 173,000 California women, found that women were 63% more likely to receive mental care within 90 days of an abortion, than after giving birth. Also, significantly higher rates of later mental health treatment persisted over the entire four years of data examined. Abortion was most strongly associated with later treatments for neurotic depression, bipolar disorder, adjustment reactions, and schizophrenic disorders." [culled from data about state-funded abortions vs. deliveries; Vol. 72, No. 1, 141-152]
"Psychological Responses of Women after First-Trimester Abortion"
Brenda Major, Catherine Cozzarelli, M. Lynne Cooper, Josephine Zubek, Caroline Richards, Michael Wilhite, Richard H. Gramzow
Archives of General Psychiatry, 2000
Series of interviews with nearly 450 women seeking first-trimester abortions for unintended pregnancy. They were interviewed one hour before the abortion and one hour, one month and two years after.
Indications of depression increased over time. At the two-year mark, 20% of women had experienced an episode of clinical depression. But many of them had a history of depression before their abortion. At the last interview, 72% of women said they were satisfied with their decision. But 19% said they would not have the abortion if they could go back; another 12% were undecided.

While the studies are conflicting and scientists continue to debate, we need to turn to the women making the decision and listen to their needs. These women are speaking and there is strong demand for adequate post-abortion counseling. According to Vicki Thorn, founder of the Catholic-based post-abortion healing program, Project Rachel, "The national office receives 300-400 phone calls and about 200 e-mails each month." (source, 2002). The PASS Site, a well-known neutral peer support sight has 12 pages (with an estimated 217 stories) and 6,005 more active members on the message board community of men and women who are working through post-abortion issues. In 2002, the pro-choice post-abortion hotline, "Exhale" was established and currently receives more than 500 calls a month (source). In addition, a number of independent, peer support post-abortion message boards have appeared over the last several years, for example, the message board at Safe Have Ministries and the "Post Abortion Healing Support" board at Voy Forums.

In addition, Naomi'st true story reveals the barriors of stigma and political rhetoric women face when seeking post-abortion counseling:

"I think it is also crucial for women to be warned that post abortion depression is not just a myth promoted by anti-abortionists. I had been reassured that I would not have emotional problems after the abortion. I heard that the only opposition to abortion was religious; since I was an atheist, I should never have a problem with it.

When post abortion trauma hit me a full decade after the abortion I was not prepared and absolutely stunned at its force. I was devastated, depressed, suicidal, angry and ashamed for a full six months. I had nightmares, couldn't cope with going out in public, and hated myself and everyone involved with the abortion. Anything I thought I could not have acquired or achieved if I had allowed my child to be born, I wanted to destroy: my marriage, my career, my home, my car; I even had to put my wedding pictures away for a while because I felt like tearing them all up.

Trustingly, I turned to pro-choice groups for help with my trauma. Even though I was still pro-choice and an atheist, I was laughed at and argued with. I was told that if I was having any regrets it was because I was not psychologically normal before the abortion! I was told it was just post-abortion hormones (the abortion had taken place ten years earlier!). In tears I called several pro-choice organizations and clinics, honestly seeking help. I was told that there was no such thing as post abortion regrets, I was called a liar, I was told there was no help available for me at all. The only "nice" response I got was a lady who said "I'm sorry" and then hung up. The last abortion clinic receptionist I talked to got furious and accused me of being an anti-abortionist pretending to have post abortion depression and threatened to report me to the police for "harassing" the clinic!

I was devastated. If I had a gun and did not have two small children to care for I know I would have ended it all right then. I didn't know who to turn to. I had not even told my husband yet what was upsetting me.

Luckily, I called a pro-life center and they referred me to post-abortion therapy (even though I told them I was pro-choice). I chose non-religious post-abortion therapy and eventually healed. But for a while my husband and some relatives were angry with me for admitting I never wanted the abortion. Cruelly, they subjected me to the very same comments and pressure which caused me to submit to the abortion in the first place ("reassuring" me that it was what I "had" to do) while insisting that it was all my idea and they never pressured me at all!

I strongly urge women to speak up and be honest - no matter who it pisses off! No more pretending that it's what we want or all our idea. It's bad enough others (who supposedly "love" us) impose their wishes on us without us also being expected to act like it's what we alone "chose."

Naomi
July 1998
Feminist Women's Health Clinic: Naomi's Story

In closing, please consider the following section of a letter submitted by Celia Ryan, a social worker and specialized grief counselor, in response to the Canadian Medical Association May 13 (2006) article relating abortion to increased risks of psychiatric hospitalization...

"I am not a researcher, and the hurting men and women who come to my office for counseling, or to my groups, are not interested in statistics or expectable outcomes. They are interested in having a language, structure and a framework for their abortion experience and an opportunity to use that information in a helfpul and healing way. They are grateful and relieved to finally be able to name and explore an issue that society says does not exist. They are no longer disenfranchised from their appropriate grief."

These women exist, we can't ignore their presence or needs for support/counseling as well.

Help TX pregnancy care center win $25k

2008-11-20T15:41:00.001-05:00

CareNet Pregnancy Center of Central TX is in the running for a $25,000 office makeover from Perry Office Supply.
CareNet is currently in 1st place. Voting ends Sunday. CareNet would use the makeover proceeds for a new office it is opening across the street from the Waco Planned Parenthood abortion mill. Great news.
Wherever we are in the U.S., we can vote.
1. Go to www.perryop.com.
2. Click on "See the finalists and vote now."
3. Click on "Go Vote" and then vote for CareNet.
Very easy. Please vote. $25k would go a long way toward meeting the needs of this PCC.

Go to Jill's site (link below) for the winner.

H/T to Jill Stanek

Update:

The Pregnancy Center won! Followed by the Waco Humane Society.

Update #2: See Before and After Pictures!

Fun with Medical Terms

2008-11-06T17:35:00.005-05:00

Another fun quiz to give us a break from the daily grind.

Can you match the fun (think Redneck) definition of these real medical terms?

Medical Term

Defintion

1. Artery
2. Bacteria
3. Barium
4. Benign
5. Bowels
6. CAT Scan
7. Cauterize
8. Cesarean section:
9. Colic
10. Coma
11. D & C
12. Dilate
13. Enema
14. Fester
15. Fibula
16. Genital
17. G.I. Series
18. Hangnail
19. Impotent
20. Labor Pain
21. Medical Staff
22. Minor Operation
23. Morbid
24. Nitrate
25. Node
26. Organic
27. Outpatient
28. Pap Smear
29. Pelvis
30. Postoperative
31. Prostate
32. Protein
33. Recovery Room
34. Rectum
33. Secretion
34. Seizure
35. Serology
36. Tablet
37. Terminal Illness
38. Tumor
39. Urine
40. Varicose
41. Vein

Was aware of
A higher offer
A person who has fainted
Getting hurt at work
A fatherhood test
Distinguished; well known
Cousin of Elvis
A coat hook
A letter carrier
A baseball game in the Army
A place to do upholstery
Not a Jew
Dang near killed him
A small lie
Hiding something
Quicker
A Roman emperor
Not a friend
A small table
To live long
Getting sick at the airport
Where Washington is
More than one
A punctuation mark
Opposite of "you're out"
Made eye contact with her
Near by
Searching for kitty
Conceited; a large ego
A sheepdog
A doctor's cane
A neighborhood in Rome
Coal digging
A, E, I, O, or U
Church musician
What you are after you be eight
Study of English knighthood
What doctors do when patients die
Veins that are very close together
Back door of a cafeteria
In favor of young people
The study of paintings
Opposite of day rates

From: http://www.mtdaily.com/mt1/silly.html
No Cheating!! ;-)

Let's Rock the Vote!

2008-11-04T06:00:00.005-05:00

Ok, folks, it's time to rock the vote and make your voice heard! Let's get out there to our local polling stations and vote! And after you're done, you can get freebies from several food retailers, including Starbucks, Chik-fil-A, and Ben & Jerry's, but also you can get a free flu vaccine through the Vote & Vax project.