Pennsylvania abortionist fired for operating without a valid medical license

My back is killing me, it's hard to carry Tyler, sit still or complete my chores. Mom came by to help, cook, delight me with honeyed buffalo wings and hot chocolates and cheesecakes, and watch Tyler so that I can nap and rest. Postpartum back pain rules - as insane as it sounds.

This is appalling - HIV infected children are being used as guinea pigs by pharmaceutical companies to test dangerous drugs on human subjects.

I thought this might be useful for fellow nursing moms, moms-to-be and soon-to-be-moms (TTC) re: mercury in fish and shellfish.

Thanks to these 3 FDA and EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) recommendations, we can still get the benefits from eating fish and shellfish whilst reducing the risk level to the harmful effects of mercury:

1. Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.

2. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.

* Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
* Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.

3. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but do not consume any other fish during that week.

The so-called empowerment of women through abortion is a shell game. It actually does much more to disempower women. - Dr David Reardon, The Elliot Institute

Why Pro-life politicians need to talk to Pro-choice women

"It is natural to want to avert one's eyes from the sight of a pair of tiny human feet held between an adult thumb and index finger, an image taken from a first trimester abortion. It is human to want to call "it" something positive and upbeat like "choice," to celebrate the "wantedness" of all the children marching, rather than to linger over the image of a dismembered baby.

But by whatever term we comfort ourselves, pictures don't lie. Pro-choicers are right to be concerned that public support is slipping for abortion on demand. They're right to be concerned that the Bush administration is seeking ways to make abortion rare.

But they are wrong to deny what is plain if painful to see. Abortion ends a human life and that life looks an awful lot like a baby much sooner than we ever thought when Roe vs. Wade became the law of the land 31 years ago.

I'm not in favor of criminalizing abortion, but I am in favor of an honest - even brutal - assessment of what abortion is and what abortion does. Pro-choicers are wrong to dress up abortion as only a woman's choice, and pro-lifers are wrong to insist that women who choose abortion are "baby killers." No one gets an abortion for the pleasure of it."

Five pro-life college students were forcibly removed from a pro-abortion rally held by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on Friday. The students were literally dragged off after they began leading a pro-life chant and one woman suffered injuries to her feet as a result.

Further reads: Two photographers who witnessed the incident speak of the manhandling of the women - photos.

You've read about it, heard the testimonies. So maybe now you can speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, and stop the maiming and killing of women and unborn children.

Here's another powerful account of the "death march".

See how vicious these pro-aborts/pro-choice advocates are. You condone the maiming and killing of innocents, you fight in the name of your reproductive-rights; it's your body, your choice, you say. You fight for your rights to kill. You say abortion is good, that it will empower you, liberate you. But you wouldn't be here, would you? If abortion is that good.

One more here from a valiant pro-lifer.

Please, pray for these brave souls who have so courageously stood by to attest to the truth, pray for innocence lost.

I think one of the most rewarding and remarkable experiences of being a parent is to watch your little one grow and discover himself each day. Tyler's lying quietly on his back, with his toys, and Smelly underneath his cot - opening and closing his hands, carefully inspecting his fingers with wonder. I think part of the fascination is he is actually starting to understand that his hands are an extension of himself - with unique capabilities. He will also develop hand-eye coordination as his vision improves, which happens between now and the fourth month.

I try
To make my way to you
But still I feel so lost
I don't know what else I can do

Abortion and forgiveness:

"The Catholic Church has always taught that "human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being" (CCC 2258).

From the advances in science, we now know that a baby's life does not begin on the day of birth, but rather at conception. This is what makes abortion, when it is done with full knowledge and intention, a mortal sin - taking the life of an innocent human being. Why do people have a hard time seeing this? It seems that today so much of the world is in some sort of blindness about the gravity of abortion. Ask yourself the following, however: how many people could kill a live baby if you placed the infant in front of them and asked, "Can you kill your child now?" I doubt that many could or would do such a thing. Then why is abortion acceptable?

When we commit a mortal sin, by our own action we have cut ourselves off from God. It is not God who turns away from us, but we who turn away from Him. Everything we know about God tells us that He is a God of infinite love and mercy. He is also, however, a God of justice.

Hell is the place reserved for those who have outright rejected God and persist in this until the end (CCC 1037). So many people are keeping themselves separated from the love and mercy of God because they say they fear He will not forgive them, but that is not true of God. Perhaps what they really fear is His demand for justice, not realizing that love, mercy and justice go together."

The media and abortion advocates in Washington for Sunday's march are talking about abortion but ignoring its harmful effects says one leading pro-life advocate. One problem leading researchers have identified is the increasing number of women who have multiple abortions and lasting health problems as a result.

.. the overarching reason why women had repeat abortions was because of a lack of financial and/or emotional support for the pregnancy.

"In other words, women abort their babies because they need practical help and emotional support and no one will give it to them," Cathy Cleaver Ruse of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explains. "And that is the dirty secret of the pro-choice movement: that abortion is a reflection that we have failed to meet the needs of women."

Nurses to perform abortions

Here's Annie's full account and coverage of Sunday's march. Powerful and courageous.

I'd like to ask that you keep Annie, the rest of the ladies and men in your prayers. What they did was very, very brave.

Wear a pro-life T-shirt today!

Thousands of students will take pro-life messages to class today, in support of the "National Pro-life T-Shirt Day".

The "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day" is a national event organized by the American Life League and its youth outreach program, Rock for Life.

The morning-after pill: Pharmacists' moral beliefs vs. women's legal rights

A few hundred thousand people may have attended the pro-abortion march on Sunday, pro-life groups however, says march participants don't represent most Americans. In fact, according to a recent poll by Zogby International which was released Friday, a total of 56% agreed with one of the following pro-life views: abortion should never be legal (18%), legal only when the life of the mother is in danger (15%) or legal only when the life of the mother is in danger or in cases of rape or incest (23%). Only 42% agreed with one of the following statements supporting abortion: abortion should be legal for any reason in the first 3 months (25%), legal for any reason during the first 6 months (4%) or legal for any reason at any time during the woman's pregnancy (13%).

When asked to simply identify themselves as "pro-life"or "pro-choice," Americans said they were pro-life by a 49-45% margin. 60% of 18-29 year-olds took one of the pro-life positions on abortion while only 39% agreed with the three pro-abortion stances. Some 26% of young Americans said abortions should never be legal.

On the question of whether abortion should not be permitted after the fetal heartbeat begins, 65.5% of 18-29 year-olds agreed, 46.9% strongly so.

(The human heart begins to beat 18-21 days after fertilization, before most women realize they are pregnant)

So Deal Hudson, in his Catholic Exchange article, was right - the press has been acting like the unofficial PR department for the "death march", just look at the media coverage prior to and after the event. They don't do that (much) for the 'March of Life', do they?

Huge coverage on the march, it's plastered all over Washington Post and other major newspapers. Yet all we see is one-sided coverage of the rally. The other side of it, the truth, if it was ever really mentioned, was buried somewhere off the front page. Gotta hand it to the media, really..

More press coverage here, here and at After Abortion.

The morality of prenatal diagnosis

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry, says she backs abortion. She also retracted a previous statement indicating she wasn't fully 100% committed to the pro-abortion cause.

"I'm more old-fashioned than a lot of women.. I don't view abortion as just a nothing. It is stopping the process of life," Heinz Kerry told Newsweek contributing editor Melinda Henneberger in a recent interview.

Let me just say this again: Abortion does not liberate women, abortion most certainly does not empower (women)

Interestingly, I am now having a conversation with Joe re: abortion (which I will not to post here), one that resulted in him accusing me of "a classy display of stereotypical ignorance" and "shallow prejudice" because of some remarks I made about the younger male species - the contributing factors behind abortion, refusing paternity and responsibility; because of my sweeping presumptions (which is true in my opinion), because I questioned his morals and ethics. The man does not support abortion, or so I found out, and adhere the killing of abortionists if killing them would stop them from killing more women and children.

Coverage on the "death march" here and here. Apparently the march attracts lower numbers than expected.

Teddy made us dinner today, I have no idea he's as good a cook as his brother is. He made some lovely assortment of chickpeas tossed with sauteed leek to go with the grilled bread, grilled prawns served with cilantro sauce, grilled squid with tamarind chili sauce, and lamb souvlaki served with feta cheese on the side. Boy, it was just awesome, I was completely stuffed -- I want to keep him here for good!

Lord, let me be more maternal, able to love and defend, and teach with all of a mother's fervor. Be there for me, teach me and lead me to the right paths so that I am able to raise him well. I will share this journal, these stories with Tyler Rayne, tell him the truth; and teach him about responsibility, teach him that this is what happens when he don't take responsibility (for his actions). I will teach him how to be a man, how to be a person so that he won't fail himself, fail you.

Shelly was a 22-year-old college student at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She was pretty, worked hard - keeping two jobs along with school and liked to have fun - go to bars - party with friends. A typical college student, or so the family thought.

Then, the call came. Shelly was dead. An accidental overdose, or so read the autopsy report.

The answers to Shelly's death were not in the report, nor were they in the investigator's office. The answers were written in Shelly's journals - several notebooks, where she poured out her internal pain, her moral struggles, her broken relationships, her failure as a mother - as a daughter of God.

Shelly did have an abortion five months prior to her death. The family did not know. Shelly thought they might hate her. So, instead, she became locked in her own internal prison where the bars became heavier and heavier until she felt crushed under the weight.

The trauma began before Shelly even left for the clinic. She writes in her journal,
"Dear Lord,

I sit here alone with my thoughts wondering if you will ever find it in your heart to forgive me. Why do I continue to fail you? I'm failing you because I'm turning away from the precious gift of having a child. A child. A breathing, living, beautiful life that I created but too selfish to accept from you. Will you still love me as a child of yours? Will I still love me after today?"

Shelly also felt the pain of a boyfriend who wanted her to get rid of the problem. She writes, "I must let him abandon me. He doesn't care about me. I know he's only agreed to pay for it to ease his own guilt."

Shelly suffered from post-abortive hemorrhage. We know through Orva (Shelly's friend who was with her throughout the procedure) that Shelly was still bleeding four months after the procedure. Post-abortive hemorrhage occurs when the cervix is forced open through an intrusion such as the abortion procedure. This causes stress on the cervical muscles and can even result in ripping the uterine wall.

Since Shelly did not have to return to the abortion clinic for a follow-up check, she had no where to turn. She did not know if the prolonged bleeding was normal or not. If she went to another doctor, she would have to tell him/her she had an abortion, and the pain of telling was more than she could bear. The bleeding became a constant reminder to Shelly of the death of her unborn baby.

Shelly suffered from sleeping disturbances, promiscuous activity and depression. She retreated from her pain by escaping into alcohol. She began drinking heavily even suffering from blackouts, which she documented in her journals.

One night, after a night of drinking, Shelly went into her living room. She had poster-sized wall hangings of the serenity prayer and the poem, "Try again." She took a photo of her mother with her mother's father. Both dead. Next to the pictures she placed a bottle of aspirin, an old prescription drug, Benadryl and a bottle of vodka. Shelly took some of each drug and washed it down with the vodka.

She went into her bedroom. Above her bed was a photo of the Lord's heavenly banquet. On the side of her bed were two angels. Shelly put her rosary around her neck. An empty bottle of holy water was on her dresser. She opened her journal to the day of her abortion. She laid her head on her pillow. She fell asleep. She never woke up.

(Guess who the abortionist was?)

I hope Shelly's story move you as much as it moved me. Maybe I could not tell you the depth of her pain, the way she must've felt that night she took her life, but what I can tell you is, what happened to Shelly is one good reason why you and I must bring the truth (about abortion) to light. Because like all the others, Shelly don't deserve to die, she deserve better than abortion.

Feminists for Life's Serrin Foster's Marching in the wrong direction. Excerpts:

"Perhaps as many as 1 million men and women will march on Washington on Sunday in support of "women's lives." Yet you can be sure this support won't include addressing the health risks from abortion, or the root causes that drive women to abortion.

Women continue to die from legal and lethal abortion, just as they did before Roe vs. Wade. In 2003, California teen Holly Patterson, age 18, died after taking RU-486. Who will mourn her on Sunday? This march won't bring her back.

Women are also rendered infertile and risk future miscarriages. A Montana woman, Lorraine Thul, had a hysterectomy after her uterus was nicked during an abortion in 2002. How will this march help Lorraine?

Twenty-nine of 38 worldwide epidemiological studies show increased risk of breast cancer after an abortion, including 13 of 15 studies on American women. Will march organizers continue to deny medical research?"


Please. Go lend your support and help Silent No More in bringing out the truth if you can, if you're in the vicinity this sunday. To fight for your rights, your reproductive-rights, you first need to know what these rights entail. It's too late for Holly Patterson, for Tamia Russell and many others who lost their lives or are permanently damaged. To participate, see details here.

"90% of mothers will have some type of back pain for six weeks to six months postpartum. During pregnancy, the placenta secretes hormones, which cause laxity of the ligaments in your back. This allows lordosis, that big arch in the small of your back, which helps you support the weight of a sack of concrete of the front of your belly. After delivery, it takes time to re-tighten and strengthen them. Unfortunately, instead of resting, you now spend 24/7 bending over to lift a 10-pound baby out of cribs and car seats."

Hmph. So that explains why my back still hurts..

Preventing seizures in newborn: New study finds that high-fat diet protects newborn brain cells from damage that otherwise may accompany prolonged seizures.

Protesting life

Further reads: 1972 interview showed Kerry flip-flopped on abortion

Should pro-abortion politicians receive communion?
Cardinal Arinze: "Objectively, the answer is clear. The person is not fit. If he shouldn't receive it, then it shouldn't be given.. The norm of the church is clear. The Catholic church exists in the United States. There are bishops there. Let them interpret it."

Meanwhile, Kerry affirms support for abortion just hours after the Vatican cardinal's comments.

Pennsylvania abortionist performs abortions without medical license

Teddy made a surprised visit this morning, he didn't even tell me he's flying in. Tyler got some more presents, and I got a pep talk. Obviously the man knew of his brother's plan (to send the roses), gave me a thousand and one reasons why Rob and I should get back together, but let's not get into that and pretend we did. All the men I have in my life, I just don't have the one I thought I needed most. *sigh* Theodore and I are of the same age, by the way and is as charming as his brother. He spent the afternoon playing with Tyler, who's only too glad to have someone entertain him. I don't know what he did that thrilled the boy to bits, and made him laugh out loud. Yes, you heard me - Tyler laugh out loud today.

My sister just took Smelly out for his grooming, boy, I'm sure he's gonna be real pissed when he gets home later.

Oh my god. Guess what Rob just sent me? A nicely wrapped package of more than a dozen, gorgis, long-stemmed Amazon roses. I am beyond psyched.

Here, go read this fact sheet. This is what they don't tell you.

I have like, pain in my heart when I read stories of these two women at After Abortion.

Induce abortion and risks of premature birth: 1,100 excess brain damaged babies are born yearly in US due to previous abortions

Most babies with cerebral palsy due to their mother's prior induced abortions are not overdue but are born prematurely, less than 37 weeks gestation, according to Brent Rooney of the Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition. Most abortion cerebral palsy victims are, in fact, "early preemies," born before 32 weeks' gestation, he claims.

Currently in the U.S. there are about 4 million births per year, with 11.6% of them born pre-term; about 17% of these pre-term babies are "early pre-term" babies.

Using data from a 1998 study of German women, Rooney contends that 35% of early preemies are in excess of what the total would be if no women had prior elective abortions. All this math means about 27,608 babies are born extra-early pre-term yearly to U.S. women, based on the estimate that 11% of U.S. women have had one abortion, and 9% have had two or more abortions.

Of these 27,608 pre-term babies, roughly four percent will be born with cerebral palsy, Rooney argues. This translates to an extra 1,100 cases of children born with cerebral palsy in the U.S. annually. More here.

Operation Rescue West will expose the truth behind the deceptive "March for Women's Lives" with truth trucks outfitted with special graphic signs depicting the gruesome remains of aborted children that are some say are guaranteed to incur the wrath of the pro-abortion forces and unmask the lie that abortion benefits women.

Martin Sheen backs out of pro-abortion march - YEAH!

Two-time Emmy winner Patricia Heaton, star of the hit comedy series "Everybody Loves Raymond," won't be attending Sunday's pro-abortion march in Washington, unlike many of her Hollywood friends.

"I find it impossible to subscribe to a philosophy that believes that the destruction of human life is a legitimate solution to a problem that is mostly social, economic and psychological," said Heaton, who is also the Honorary Chairwoman of Feminists for Life. "In reality, most women 'choose' abortion because they believe they have no other choice."

The pro-abortion women celebrities does not represent the majority of women, according to recent polls, which finds that only 39% backed abortion.

"Being a mother is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life," Heaton concludes. "As a member of Feminists for Life, I want to share the joy of motherhood with other women, to enable women to make life-affirming choices for themselves and their children, and to elevate our society's perception of mothers."

I TOTALLY second that. Thank you, Patricia - for not supporting the maiming and killing of women and children. Because women deserve better than abortion, because every child deserves a chance at life.

It is just so sad that Jennifer Hudson was voted out because, damn, she was talented and she was getting better and better each week (my top three in fact). Have America forgotten that this is a talent show and not a popularity contest?

What on earth happened to my big, bad American Idol thread on Evil Board?

Repetition is the soul of wit - or so it's been said of babies and toddlers. In addition to amusement, the repetition of simple activities has another important function - it helps build memory. The more an act is performed, the more likely it is to be remembered and a memory trace established in the brain. Once a baby can remember things from one day to the next, he'll be able to add new behaviors to his existing repertoire rather than 'reinventing the wheel'. In fact a study I read today suggests that 3-months-olds developed short-term memory, through which they are able to recall repeated signals well enough to become bored by them. Well, bet you didn't know that, did you?

Julia Black on "My Foetus": Why I had to lift abortion veil of secrecy

Related article: She's still "pro-choice" despite grim reality of abortion shown in "My Foetus"

"I'm going because I literally think we're marching for our lives," Sister Donna Quinn said. "We need to be there to march with the women in this country. This one issue for women that is so basic. We have to be in control of our mind, spirit and body."

Well, clearly, abortion is a basic right for some clergy. Hmph.

Still on the subject, The National Park Service is refusing to give some pro-life groups permission to hold silent sidewalk protests to counter the 'death march'. Talk about discrimination.

Update: Pro-life groups sue after permit to protest abortion march revoked

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer has publicly rebuked Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Health Department Commissioner Dianne Mandernach for eliminating language on the department's Web site about research supporting abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

"The governor has lost his political courage," said the Coalition's president Karen Malec in a statement. "Consequently, 'pro-choice' girls and women will die. It's deplorable there's so little concern for abortion-minded children."

The department's website, which had earlier given equal weight to studies that confirmed or denied a link, and suggested that the issue needed further study, now reads:

"Findings from earlier studies suggested there was an increased risk of breast cancer among women who had an abortion. In March 2003 the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a consensus report finding no link between abortion and breast cancer. An additional report issued in March 2004 by a cancer research group at Oxford University also indicated there is no link between abortion and breast cancer."

But the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer pointed out that the Oxford study, led by Valerie Beral, relies on faulty data.

"Did Mandernach read the review?" asked Malec. "If so, she knows Beral's team reported a significant 11% risk elevation among abortion-positive women in the retrospective research and a significant 7% risk decrease among abortion-positive women in the prospective research."

In a scathing critique of Beral's review, Joel Brind, president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, observed that scientists excluded 15 studies "for unscientific reasons" which, if averaged together, would show an 80% risk increase among post-abortive women.

"This is the third time that Oxford's unorthodox methods have misled women about the ABC link," said Malec. "With this review, they and their Lancet editors will be responsible for many deaths."

So we will be not meeting Andy today after all, since he's completely booked up. He needs to fly back tomorrow, I can't believe we didn't have a chance to catch up this time, was horribly sick, bloated and well, very preggers the last time we met. I would've loved for him to meet Tyler, and the "slim new me" (now, don't you dare say anything, "Barbie"..), guess that will have to wait till next month, eh? Ack, I thought I could have my cheesecake with cranberry sauce today.

Uh-uh. Abortion footage of "My Foetus" on Britain's Channel 4 have drawn mixed reviews and stirred debates. Here's one - don't tell 'em what they already know (then why the feck are women still hurting, damaged and dying?), they don't regret it nor feel any remorse (hmph.. maybe that's why Norm never talked about her two prior abortions and in fact pressured me into having one, coz hell, she's not bloody sorry).

Abortion lobbyists see everything as an attack on (Roe vs. Wade), on reproductive-rights:
"In biblical terms we would say of these women that "they have become callous" and "are darkened in their understanding .. because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart" (Ephesians 4:17-19). Theirs is a ruthless, take-no-prisoners logic that steamrolls every other humane concern. All laws and lawmakers are but expendable fodder and collateral commodities before its blind rampage. All obstacles in its path are bulldozed by a controlling obsession whose secret name is "Nobody tells me what to do!""

An AP coverage on the 'death march', seeking to attract the younger crowd, whitewashing these young people with lies (about abortion) and their so-called 'reproductive-rights', and that is so sad. The good news is Silent No More will surround their rally of lies with their presence and the truth - post-abortive women will be holding "I Regret My Abortion" signs, men to hold "I Regret Lost Fatherhood" signs, while others will hold "Women deserve better than abortion" and "I'm Pro-life" signs.

"Abortion just masks the problem - and creates new ones," says Feminists for Life President Serrin Foster, "This march is misdirected energy. March organizers are leading women in the wrong direction. Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Abortion is not the best we can do. We need to focus on systematically eliminating the root cause of abortion - primarily a lack of practical resources and emotional support. We need our leaders to know that women deserve better than abortion."

Meanwhile, vice president Dick Cheney reaffirmed the Bush administration's staunch opposition to abortion Tuesday, saying the issue was a nonpartisan question of protecting the "weakest members of our society." More here and here.

Here, go read this at After Abortion: It's written by a doctor.

Pro-abortion leader blasts pro-life feminist group for using abortion story

"There is a special connection that daughters have with their fathers that even a mother cannot replicate, which grants young women a startling immunity from compromising themselves with jerks."

A weak link between a father and daughter will lead the daughter to the wrong kind of men down the road. Ahem. And that is SO true. Fathers are, technically, role models to us daughters. Promiscuity on the other hand, is a choice, and it has nothing to do with the father-daughter relationship. Blame it on tart culture. Let's face it - you can't blame your (parent) if you chose to be a tramp now can you?

Want to clone your kids?

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has started running television ads blasting President Bush for his pro-life position - specifically his nomination of pro-life judges to various federal courts. The ads are timed to coincide with the national pro-abortion march on Saturday.

"The Supreme Court is just one vote away from outlawing a woman's right to choose. George Bush will appoint anti-choice, anti-privacy justices. But you can stop him. Help elect John Kerry and join the fight to protect our right to choose," the ad says. "I promise to take the fight to George Bush every single day," Kerry says, closing the ad.

Pro-life advocates say the ad doesn't get past the first sentence before it gives viewers wrong information.

The Kerry campaign is targeting the ads at strong Kerry supporters in an attempt to bring in donations, Associate Press reports.

Dr. Martin Luther King's niece Alveda is strongly pro-life, and speaks out on it constantly. In fact, as someone who has experienced abortion, she is now part of Priests for Life's Silent No More Awareness Campaign. On her website, Alveda asks the poignant question, "How can the dream survive if we murder the children?"

"I join the voices of thousands across America who can no longer sit idly by and allow this horrible spirit of murder to cut down, yes cut out and cut away our unborn... This is the day to choose life. We must live and allow our babies to live. If the Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is to live, babies must live." See full article here

I'm addicted to this blog (I think maybe deep inside I secretly wish I had a more colorful job - like running some strip joint - don't ask).

Here's Annie's latest: A love that moves you to tears

Annie, I know it hurts. I share your pain, and the others too, I mourn all the unborn children who lost their lives. But God loves them, more than we do. I know how the pain never really go away, but I promise you - someday it will get better. *Hugs*

Hear personal stories, views and thoughts on abortion here, here and here.

I don't know this, but apparently babies suck to soothe themselves, to learn about the objects they place in their mouth, and for pleasure. I find this rather disturbing at first, because I've seen not only toddlers, but also preschoolers who suck their fingers or thumbs past infancy. From what I read, nearly half of all children do that, but over 95 percent give it up by the age of six (six? *Horrors*) Pacifiers, fingers, thumbs... it has become a conscious activity with a variety of goals - which is also a very, very bad habit. Tyler puts everything in his mouth and it bugs the hell out of me.

U.K. police have open a fresh investigation in a late-termed abortion in 2001 allegedly performed solely because the unborn child had a cleft palate. The Rev. Joanna Jepson of St. Michael's Church in Chester sought to sue Paul West, chief constable of the West Mercia Police, as British Law does not permit abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy unless the child has a serious handicap. Jepson, who had a congenital jaw defect surgically repaired in her late teens, says that such a defec is in no way a "serious handicap".

Miracle or curse? A look at RU486.

Woman sues Ohio abortion mill over an RU486 abortion

30 year-old Dana Powell began suffering cramping and bleeding during an otherwise normal pregnancy. In October 2002, despite the clinic's assurance that it was a normal pregnancy, Powell opted to abort her child. She opted for the abortion drug, RU-486, and was also instructed to take two Cytotec pills two days afterward to promote expulsion of the dead baby. It was after taking the Cytotec that she suffered cramping. She said she was told to take another dose and call back the next day. Her condition continued to worsen over the next month until she was forced to go to a hospital. She was taken to the Akron City Hospital and diagnosed with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in the left fallopian tube, leaving her unable to conceive.

Final arguments begin for PBA injunctions. New federal law that bans certain kinds of abortions constitutes a burden on a woman's right to choose, attorney for Planned Parenthood said during closing arguments. The New York case is continuing, and closing arguments in the Nebraska case are set for June. The issue is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Update: Federal judge to hear closing arguments in San Francisco trial, won't issue national ruling. It is not indicated when she will issue a decision.

Student gets detention for wearing pro-life t-shirt after losing censorship fight.

Guess where your tax dollars went to?

Car crashes after woman gives birth, new father dies. The baby, found in the car under a coat wasn't breathing, but let out a big cough after motorist cleared his mouth and nose, with instructions from a 911 dispatcher.

".. as science pushes viability back earlier and earlier, it becomes evident that unborn children are much more than just "protoplasmic rubbish" or "gobbets of meat protruding from human wombs," as we have been told by the pro-choice lobby." (and in case you didn't have the chance to look at the picture from the spina bifida corrective surgery which I posted before - here it is again)

Minnesota state Health Department has removed language on its women's right to know website that had told of the abortion-breast cancer link, following opposition from some medical groups and abortion advocates.

March for Women's Lives: NARAL raps radio station for pulling ad. Program director Steve Monz said he decided to pull the ad for the Washington march on April 7, the third day it had run, after many listeners had called to complain.

"We've really conditioned our audience to know we're a safe haven on the radio," Monz said. "We're family-friendly, kid-safe... Our barometer is, if our listeners have to explain to their kids what an item is, and they're uncomfortable with that, we're uncomfortable with that."

Tiny Tim: This story made me wept. :(

The Cherise Mosley Hughes case: Jury Rules Texas Doctor Only "10% Negligent" for Performing Abortion on Minor Without Parental Consent".

Speaking of child support, this is the kind of trouble you get into if you don't pay..

Leading pro-abortion groups are inviting radical protest organizations and professional protesters to participate in "March for Women's Lives" in hopes of swelling their ranks.

Silent No More to offer prayerful response.
See Washington Post coverage here.

Abortion wars: STOPP vs Planned Parenthood

Heads-up, alkies - Study finds heavy social drinkers show brain damage, impairment similar to hospitalized alkies.

Meanwhile, here's some good news, pregnant women.

Tyler has started to develop quite a consistent routine by now - he wakes up at about the same time each morning, eat and stay awake for a short period, and then take a nap before lunch. In the afternoon, he'd have a period of alert wakefulness followed by a feeding and a nap, followed by another feeding and bed. He sleeps through the night - six, sometimes eight hours at a stretch - on a good night. But it can be tiring some days, because at two or three in the morning, he just wants to play, be sung to, or be carried, something his poor mommy is unfortunately not very enthusiastic about. Increasing the size of his bedtime feeding does help reduce the night wakings significantly, although nothing seemed to stop him from waking up. Tyler wakes when he wakes. Sounds like it'd be a while before I'll have nights of uninterrupted sleep, eh?

Michigan pro-life group turn in signatures to overturn abortion veto. Petition drive to outlaw partial birth abortion sends clear and overwhelming message that the people of Michigan are standing up to defend life and demanding that the cruelty of partial birth abortion ends.

Legalizing abortion in Uruguay: President Jorge Batlle said he will not sign the bill into law

YEAH! Sextuplets Doing Well After Couple Refuses Abortion Suggestion

"We figured maybe twins, triplets. We never imagined six," said the babies' father, Ron Otten.

When doctors advised the couple to consider "selective reduction" -- aborting one or more of the babies to improve the odds that the rest would survive and be healthy -- the Ottens categorically rejected the idea.

"We asked them not to even discuss it with us again," Ron Otten told the Belleville paper. "We can't play God.''

"It wasn't our choice," Tina Otten says of the multiple pregnancy. "God put them there and that's where they're going to stay."

I forgot to mention this - Tyler turned three months old yesterday. I wish you could have known him, because he's a lovely child. Watching him everyday is a joy, I can't tell you how or what his miraculous existence has done to this poor, lost, barren soul of mine. Motherhood has been wonderful, as is life.

So maybe I'll let him backpack across America (in search of his "lost siblings") when he's a lot older someday. Perhaps we could rally around and slap one big, fat lawsuit on "he who abandoned" and watch in sheer delight as his drunken ass topple over the bar stool. Because if your drinking won't kill you, darling, the child support will.


Photos, folks - Chad just fedex-ed over a CD. Whee! Let's just hope I can find some time for editing and uploading.

Inspiring. Women deserve better than abortion. And here we stand as The "Berlin Wall" of Roe begins to crumble.

This is sad, isn't it? They could have made a difference.. (compare that with Rock for Life's list)

Trial began for this young Texas woman who sued an abortion facility for performing the abortion in violation of Texas' 1999 parental notification law. Under the law, parents of a teenage girl must be notified 48 hours before an abortion takes place. Cherise Mosley Hughes who used a fake ID (the father of the child, whom she later married, wanted her to have the abortion, had assisted in obtaining the fake ID) was 17 at the time when the abortion was performed. Defense laywer for abortionist Douglas Karpen and Aaron Family Planning Clinic claimed that the abortion center is not liable because Hughes presented a fake ID at the time of the abortion, that she got away with "fraud".

The ethics of Extreme Makeover: Therapeutic amusement or moral dilemma?

I don't know, maybe it's good for the patients, in the sense that "it-help-boost-their-self-esteem-and-confidence" good. Hmph. I want to grow old gracefully. Then again, I wouldn't mind a free boob job..

Yikes. Did somebody say asteriod? This calculator rocks - in case you ever wonder what kind of space mass crashing into earth would ruin your whole day, that is.

Just bring me Bruce Willis, can?

Here's an article by my heroine, Annie Banno: This is an uplifting story about a man who regrets an abortion, a man who found God, forgiveness and healing along the way.

Well, maybe I don't understand this. I mean, (in reference to the pro-aborts, of course) finding objectivity in something that (we already know) is so, so wrong. So enlighten me: In what way is maternity distressful?

So in light of the recent abortion/breast cancer findings, the Research Director at the Vancouver-based Reduce Pre-term Risk Coalition, Brent Rooney compared those findings with different findings reported by the same journal in 2002, which reported that significant, risk-reducing benefits of childbearing and breastfeeding, according to the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. The author, Valerie Beral who assured women that there is no ABC risk, who hinted that induced abortion may slightly reduce breast cancer risk, is in fact the same author who praised breastfeeding as a major breast cancer reducer. Beral, in the 2002 study said that breast cancer rates could be reduced by more than half if women start having more children and breastfeeding them longer. Childbearing is the most effective way of reducing breast cancer risk because it's the only event that matures a woman's breast cells into cancer-resistant, milk-producing tissue. The study reported that each childbirth reduced breast cancer risk by 7% and each one year of breastfeeding reduced breast cancer odds by an additional 4.3%. (Which really means if you have two deliveries and breastfeeds each infant 18 months, you reduced your breast cancer risk by nearly 27%)

So what women don't know or don't realize is induced abortion causes them to delay their first full term pregnancies, have smaller families, lose the benefit of breastfeeding and, in some cases, remain childless forever. Abortion dramatically changed women's childbearing patterns and expose them to increased breast cancer risks. It is wrong to deny the existence of the abortion/breast cancer link because it does exists - this new study uses "fuzzy math" according to this article - as it is to deny women seeking abortion of this truth.

Isn't it "comforting" to know that we can soon rely on artificial wombs to have children? *shudders*

While I'm less than comfortable with this, I think maybe, just maybe, the potential medical benefits might be worth looking at. I don't know, it could be a good thing for women who wants to have children but can't; women who have had multiple miscarriages (due to embryo implantations, for instance), women who have had hysterectomies, women with endometriosis - where conception rate/chances is less than 40% within the next 12 months after surgery (ask me - I should know because Dr John said my pregnancy was a miracle). IVF don't always work, we all know that. And this could mean an alternative to surrogacy, (but) not without flaws.

But ask if I'll trade nine months of "discomforts", bliss and miracles just for sheer "comfort" - I think not. I wouldn't want to miss it for the world. To feel a child - your child - growing inside of you is a blessing. Pregnancy and motherhood is a gift, an experience. It's what it's like to be a woman.

"There is something about being born of a human being - rather than a cow or an incubator - that fundamentally makes us human. Whether it is the sound of a human voice, the beating of a human heart, the temperature and rhythms of the human body, or some combination of all of these things that makes it so, it is difficult to imagine that science will ever find a way to truly mimic them."

We all need miracles.

Jay once said to me (in jest of course), "I'll get you an engagement ring when we have our first orgasm." Funny how I don't find that the least bit hilarious now, as it did then. Maybe I'm fast becoming a cynic, like Anna. Once upon a time ago, (Lena and) I could never understand why she'd close herself up like that, but maybe I do now. Maybe I don't believe that love exist between a woman and a man anymore, only lust. The latter seem a lot less complicated (well, maybe not in the long run - as you can probably see) to me. I believe in love when I was younger, a lot younger - I just couldn't fantasize about it (love) now. Because now I believe that true love exists only with God, between parent and child. Unconditional love. The Lord says that we must love or remain in death. But like I said, love kills.. Contrary to romance novels and the love-conquers-all mentality that even some of us who grew up in an era of divorce (as if in response to some atavistic instinct) are raised and still led to believe - love is always a product and a victim of circumstances. It is fragile and small. Love is... a cold and a broken hallelujah.

This is how abortion hurts women - in the long run. Abortion doesn't make the "problem" go away, it create problems.

Want one of these?

She was only fifteen and she was six months pregnant when they did an abortion on her. Tamia Russell reportedly used an identification card with another woman's picture to state she was nineteen, as abortions cannot be performed on minors in Michigan without parental consent. The abortion was done anyway, even though the woman in the picture id looked nothing like her. Tamia bled to death by the way. Her family speaks out at a press conference, I say it is about time - this needs to stop.

Interesting on-going abortion debate here, check out the meritorious comments by my heroines at After Abortion - seriously, no one could do it as well as you do, Ashli..

Updates on Lincoln trial:
Doctor says banned method might sometimes be necessary. Meanwhile, the judge has offered to step down saying he is biased in favor of the abortion practitioners who want to stop the ban from taking effect.

Update: Judge: Medical expert may help decide case to dispel possible perceptions of bias toward plaintiffs. In making the offer, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf noted comments earlier this week by Rep. Steve King that activist judges were using their positions to impose their personal views on the rest of society.

Update #2: Offer to add expert rejected

RU486: Woman sues Ohio abortion facility saying that it left her infertile

The media sure made legal abortion sound like it's God's gift to women, didn't they? Tens of thousand of women around the world are dying from "unsafe abortions", in fact a WHO study showed 70,000 women each year, one claimed. Hello? Reality check. Legal abortion kills too - just so it's legal certainly doesn't make it safe. Let's not bastardise the memories of these women (who have lost their lives) by saying that abortion is safe. There is no such thing as a "safe" abortion. Abortion kills. If you didn't bleed to death or die from the complications, it will eat away at your psyche like termites eat wood - you'd die anyway, it's a death that is worse than death.

Updates on the PBA trials:
A doctor told court in the Lincoln trial that D&X is both risky and never medically unnecessary, saying that the procedure - which involves a dilation of the cervix to a degree significantly greater than those in other (abortion) methods - can damage the "normal integrity of the cervix," which can lead to complications in future pregnancies. Coverage on the New York trial here and here.

Now, this is not good. These young women need to know what these "rights" entail.

Hmph. Smelly is not going to like this..

Criminalizing abortions: "Forbidding abortion doesn't save anyone or anything," said Sonia Fertuzinhos, a member of the Portuguese Parliament. Hmph. Well, considering how 79% of Portugal's population now favor abortion rights..

This mommy is very, very brave.. she'd put Melissa Rowland to shame...


Update: Speaking of Melissa Rowland, prosecutors have dropped the murder charge based on her "mental health history" and will ask for no more than five years in prison instead.

18 year-old New York student dies suddenly from "patch" contraceptive complications.
More here.

Still on contraceptives, I find it appalling that the morning-after pills were being sold to girls as young as 13 years old.

I get tired a lot these days, and I do not attribute that to Tyler, because he is not what you might call a fussy or difficult child. He is a joy to have around, a blessing, although sometimes I secretly wish I have someone to watch him while I lay back and shut my eyes for a bit.

It's raining now, it's pouring outside. I'm all curled up in bed, with a cup of hot chocolate in my hand. He stirred. I could hear him from where I was, he is awake and he is crying. And as I unfurl myself, I wish in my heartiest of hearts that Chad is here, to help me care for him and just be there for us.

Doctor testify that fetus does feel pain at 20 weeks gestation.

"I believe the fetus is conscious," said Dr. Kanwaljeet "Sonny" Anand, a pediatrician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, who took the stand as a witness for the government. He told the court that a 20-week-old baby would experience "severe and excruciating" pain during a partial-birth abortion. "The physiological responses have been very clearly studied," he said. Fetuses show increased heart rate, blood flow and hormone levels in response to pain. "The fetus cannot talk.. so this is the best evidence we can get."

Update: More here
(transcripts from the New York trial)

THE COURT: Do you tell them it feels some pain?

THE WITNESS: I do know that when we do, for instance an amniocentesis and put a needle through the abdomen into the amniotic cavity that the fetus withdraws so I certainly know based on my experience that the fetus with withdraw in response it a painful stimulus.

THE COURT: Don't you make it simple for them and say yeah, they feel it?

THE WITNESS: I am not confident what the fetus feels with the anesthesia that we use and I don't want to shy away from the possibility the fetus feels pain but I do not believe it's fully determined what the fetus feels during this procedure.

THE COURT: Do you care?

THE WITNESS: Certainly.

Hmph. Talk about being graphic. Wait, this one is not even a board certified physician.. Makes one wonder if they (the abortionists) were ever as candid and explicative (as they now) to these post-abortive women before (the abortion), eh?

Partial birth abortion is NOT safer for women, we know that, and this one can testify to that:


Justice Department attorney Mark Thomas Quinlivan asked Dr "Doe", testifying under a pseudonym to remain confidential, "Could there potentially be risks to the cervix when you are opening the forceps wide enough to get around the calvarium [the baby's head]?"

"Yes," the abortion practitioner admitted.

"In fact, one of those risks might be a perforation or a laceration of the cervix, right," the Bush administration attorney asked.

"Yes," came the response.

"And another risk might be a perforation or a laceration of the lower uterine segment," Quinlivan asked.

"Yes," the abortion practitioner said.

Quinlivan then asked whether those same risks apply during the next step of the abortion procedure, when the deceased baby's head is removed.

"And when you are crushing the calvarium, there are the same risks that we talked about earlier, possible perforation or laceration of the cervix, the lower uterine segment, or the uterus; is that right," the attorney asked.

"Yes," came the response again.

Then, according to the court's transcript, Quinlivan questioned whether a cervical or uterine laceration could be severe enough to cause a woman to "exsanguinate and die."

The abortion practitioner answered yes.

"Can you tell us what exsanguinate means," the attorney said.

"To bleed to death."

19 year-old Philippine student arrested for illegal abortion.

Check out Times Against Humanity, for some really good reads. And if you click here you can find interesting discussions and commentaries on the impact of ultrasound on abortion.

In my case, ultrasound technology played a big part in the decisions I made. I recalled how I felt that night, when I first tested positive - I was sobbing and I was so damn sure I was gonna have an abortion. I had to. Until I saw Tyler for the first time on that machine in Dr John's office the next day. Just seeing my child inside me - I realized how real he was (is). How he deserved so much more. So maybe images like these did not deter some of us (from having abortions), but it did wonders to my heart, truly. And I was a cold-hearted, hard-assed one - ask Em.

I wish I could share those images here, but well, Jules won't get me a new scanner.. *sigh*


All things are possible with God

- Mark 10:27

Just once I knew what life was for.
In Boston, quiet suddenly, I understood;
walked there along the Charles River,
watched the lights copying themselves,
all neoned and strobe-hearted, opening
their mouths as wide as opera singers;
counted the stars, my little campaigners,
my scar daisies, and knew that I walked my love
on the night green side of it and cried
my heart to the eastbound cars and cried
my heart to the westbound cars and took
my truth across a small humped bridge
and hurried my truth, the charm of it, home
and hoarded these constants into morning
only to find them gone.

- Anne Sexton, 'Just Once'

"Let's not forget that without legalized abortion, many women died or suffered terrible consequences in the struggle not to bring a child into this world."

Honey, many women are dying, most suffering from its physical and psychological complications, thanks to legalized abortions. In fact, according to the Elliot Institute, women with a history of abortion are six times more likely to commit suicide. They are also more prone to substance abuse and other forms of risky behavior that may lead to death. They also have increased rates of breast and cervical cancer. In addition, approximately 100,000 women each year will lose a planned baby to spontaneous miscarriage as a direct result of reproductive damage caused by their prior induced abortions. So you see, darling, legalized abortions doesn't mean safer abortions. IF there is even such a thing as a "safe abortion" in the first place.

So let's put aside arguments that it is a back door effort to outlaw abortion, or how it tramples on women's rep rights. How misleading can the UVVA be if what it does basically is protect pregnant women and their unborn children?

It's Pro-life T-Shirt Day!
Thousands of students will don pro-life messages to class on April 27 and make their views known. The annual event is championed by Rock for Life, a division of American Life League.

I don't know, if this means reducing the numbers...

Eleven weeks and six days. Tyler did something really cool earlier - he raised and held his neck in line with the rest of his body when I picked him up today. Wish I could have capture it on cam and post it right here. Apparently the boy's been busy working on his head and neck coordination (with what I thought was just Tyler being extremely good 'just lying there' playing with his hands and kicking, engrossed with the colorful mobile and sounds of the tut-tut train which Uncle Rob sent last week and Barney's singing - I guess I underestimated him). Hmm. Wonder what else he has learned - can't wait.

It's bright, it's colorful and it's got a cute lil' monkey, giraffe and lion hanging from a palm tree - Tyler's gonna love this mobile. Er.. Aunty Jules?

A federal judge in Riverside, California has ruled that the city must allow a group of anti-abortion protesters to continue to display large signs on the sidewalk outside a clinic, saying that confiscating the signs violates their constitutional rights. The group, most of whom are members of the Calvary Chapel in Romoland, have assembled outside the Family Planning Associates clinic in downtown Riverside each Tuesday and Friday since last summer. Their signs, about 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide, include a picture of a live baby and another of an aborted fetus, said one of the demonstrators, Kathy Schwab of Perris. "I have no idea why they would take our signs," Schwab said. "Some people are very offended by the truth."

Babies are bits of stardust blown from the hand of God. Lucky is the woman who knows the pangs of birth for she has held a star.

- Larry Barretto

I gave this, us, a lot of thought. I knew how hard this was gonna be, emotionally and financially, to have him grow up without his father. Every child should be a wanted child. Every child deserves what it deserves. It was hard. I considered abortion again, but the pain that lay in the direction was even greater. It was easier to have him. I was torn, between doing the right thing, and not knowing if I can ever be good enough for this new life.

Days went by. I saw his heart beating, feel him growing inside of me. He was so small. But he's alive, and he's a part of me. That was when I knew. I came to the stabbing realization of how precious he is to me, how much my life is lightened by his existence, and how lost I would be without the angels he brings with him. The idea of losing him is simply unthinkable.

If I could live my life all over again, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Erica Richardson, a 16-year-old Maryland resident, bled to death from a punctured uterus only hours after undergoing an abortion in March 1989. During the next five months, two more Maryland residents, Gladys Estanislao and Debra Gray, also died from abortion complications. In fact, four Maryland women died from abortion's obtained that year. Susanne Logan became comatose following her abortion and awoke four months later a quadriplegic, unable to talk. She died three years afterwards in 1992. Those who claim abortion is safer rely on faulty data that do not properly categorize all abortion-related deaths, says the Elliot Institute.

Kevin Sherlock, an investigative reporter, in the late 1980s examined death certificates of women of reproductive age in Los Angeles County. Between 1970 and 1987, Sherlock found 29 women who had died from abortion complications. Four of the deaths came during a one-year period for which the CDC found no abortion deaths in California and only 12 for the entire country. Sherlock eventually concluded the CDC underreports the number of abortion deaths by as much as 40%. Autopsy reports often hide abortion's impact on women and contribution to their deaths. Women who die from abortions are frequently listed as having died from infection, though the abortion itself brought on the infection. Such was the case in the death of Holly Patterson, a California teen who died after taking the RU 486 abortion drug at a Planned Parenthood. Still, in spite of all that, this woman insisted that abortion is safer than childbirth.

Stuck in the middle

Dr. Cassing Hammond said he sometimes tells women he will crush the skull of the fetus during an abortion. "We want them to know exactly what the procedure is going to entail," he said in his testimony. Hammond, who estimates having performed 3,000 abortions in the last 15 years, said the doctors "actually try not to sugarcoat this for them because they're the ones who are going to undergo the procedure'' citing that they didn't go into the gory details because many of the women (before an abortion) are "emotionally fragile". Christian Medical Association Doctors decry what it calls the inhumane testimony of abortion doctors. CMA's David Stevens noted, "When the judge also asks if the doctor ever considered the fact that an abortion causes the baby pain, the doctor incredibly says it never crossed his mind. Then he claims ignorance of the well-documented medical evidence that aspects of pain perception are present in an unborn child from as early as six to seven weeks gestation, and that they feel pain at a much stronger level than adults. What kind of doctor is this?"

In case you haven't seen it - Planned Parenthood advocacy site, SaveRoe.com, took on this look in light of April Fool's Day. The spoof site comes in reaction to the White House's use ('without permission') of the Planned Parenthood service mark, "Responsible Choices", as the title for the administration's "abstinence-only" initiative, and is an attempt to highlight the inappropriateness of using a 'responsible' trademark to promote such irresponsible policy choices.

President Bush signs Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA).

See the President's remarks here, and NRLC's release here.

Meanwhile, opponents of UVVA like NARAL called it a "deceptive bill" that threatens a woman's rights, a sentiment echoed by NAF, who said that the bill does nothing to protect women from violence but is designed to establish a precedent that could be used to take away a woman's right to choose. Planned Parenthood cited that it poses a direct threat to Roe vs. Wade, while the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice called it a radical attack on freedom of religion and conscience.

So you see now what the whole problem about abortion is? They (the pro-aborts) sugar-coat everything, the important facts. They lie about it. And women has to pay for it, some with their dear lives.

This is a story I read in an old issue of The American Feminist which I felt compelled to share. This is one woman's testimony on how abortion tore her life apart:

Emotional, verbal and sexual abuse were part of my childhood. When I got older I dated men who abused me in one way or another. I became pregnant in my early thirties. I had attempted to get an abortion, but when I sat on the table with my gown on, and looked down at the garbage can, I cried. Knowing I'd be on welfare, food stamps and in poverty, I went through with the pregnancy. I was glad.

A few years later, and one, last, bad relationship, I was pregnant again. He did not say he wanted me or the baby, or to support us or help us. I went against my instincts and had the abortion. I was left with no choice and my boyfriend was no help.

After that day, I was suicidal and cried for eleven months consistently. The woman who advised me to "go ahead, do it - it will empower you," was not there for me. My spirit was broken.

No one told me that after you have an abortion you hear babies screaming in your sleep, or that the counseling services offered after your abortion are not really there for you, even though they say they are. You can't talk to your friends. You can't get close to anyone including your living child. You are angry for no reason and snap at the least bit of stress. No one told me I would lose (my) desire for sex and intimacy or that abortion caused hormonal imbalances that hit me way too young. No one warned me that I would suffer panic attacks and fear my own death and death of my living children. No one told me that this quick fix would cause a host of other emotional problems that I would be dealing with my whole life.

After the experience of abortion, I can honestly tell you that it was easier to be a single mother, on welfare and food stamps, whose baby never slept, and (with) no family support, than it was to abort my baby and deal with the other problems for the rest o my life that nobody told me about. To this day, I am still working on healing this part of me.

Credits: Story Copyright of Rachel's Vineyard, adapted from The American Feminist, Fall 2001 (Vol 8, No. 3)

Woman sues abortionist for an abortion she regrets. She was only seventeen when she had her abortion.

Oh boy. You gotta hand it to this guy man..

In the Manhattan courtroom, Judge Richard C. Casey also questioned Johnson about whether physicians warn women that a fetus is dismembered during an abortion.

"So you tell her the arms and legs are pulled off? I mean, that's what I want to know. Do you tell her?" Casey asked.

"We tell her the baby, the fetus, is dismembered as part of the procedure, yes," answered Johnson, a University of Michigan professor and research scientist at the school's Center for Human Growth and Development.

Casey asked Johnson if doctors tell a woman that the abortion procedure they might use includes "sucking the brain out of the skull."

"I don't think we would use those terms," Johnson said. "I think we would probably use a term like 'decompression of the skull' or 'reducing the contents of the skull.'"

The judge responded, "Make it nice and palatable so that they wouldn't understand what it's all about?"

This is just in: Bush will sign Unborn Victims of Violence Act into law thursday, 1500 hours, eastern time.

Thanks to Annie for this article. Seriously, is this guy telling us he is more humane than any of his abortionist friends? Does the fact that he stopped the fetus' heart before removing it from its mother's womb justify or make him any less the murderer he was (and is)?