Brazil will subsidize birth control pills for the poor, Health Minister Jose Temporao said on Monday, a decision that may stoke a simmering conflict between the state and Catholic Church over contraception and abortion.

Birth control pills will be discounted up to 90% at a network of 3,500 government-authorized pharmacies across Brazil. That number will rise to 10,000 drugstores by the end of the year, Temporao said.

A pack of pills designed to last a month will cost the equivalent of 20 U.S. cents. The government hopes to boost the supply of pills to 50 million per year from the current 20 million.

It also wants more men to take advantage of the free vasectomies offered by the public health service.

A growing number of women and their advocates, many of them staunchly pro-choice, are pushing for the formal recognition of the miscarried fetus as a symbol of their grief and loss. In some cases, they're seeking out these rites even when, for medical reasons, they have chosen to terminate the pregnancy.

But the fetal funeral could be a Pandora's Box. Some graveyards and funeral-home staff have been reluctant to bury remains for which no burial permit can be issued. Medical staff worry it may push patients to dwell on losses they would rather forget. More profoundly, holding funerals for fetuses raises implicit, uncomfortable questions about when life begins.

The Scotland government reported 13,081 abortions in 2006, up from 12,603 the previous year -- an increase of nearly 3.8 percent.

The figures represent an all-time high for the number of abortions done in that part of Great Britain since abortion was legalized in 1967.

My father was another abortion-to-be. In 1941, my then 17-year-old aunt Dina barely managed to convince my grandparents that the invading Germans meant to kill Jews and that the family needed to evacuate from Odessa. They got onto the last ship out of the city, an overcrowded barge that had no food and only dirty water. Dina's 2-year-old brother, Rudik, didn't survive the journey to Uzbekistan.

Heartbroken and shunning the idea of any "replacements" for Rudik, Grandma didn't think twice before setting out for an abortion when she became pregnant at 42. But through insistent implorations, her Uzbek landlady talked her out of it.

The fetus went on to become a world-class violinist, first for the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra and later the Baltimore Symphony, and blazed one of the earlier trails out from behind the Iron Curtain to America, inspiring and facilitating many relatives and friends to abandon Russia for the free world.

Soon after arriving in Israel, a family friend named Zoya discovered she was pregnant with a second child and went in for the abortion routine. She was dumbfounded to encounter the following whispered line of questioning from the admitting nurse: "Do you not have a roof over your head?" There was a roof. "Do you not have enough food on the table?" There was plenty of food. Then an altogether alien concept to Zoya: "So why kill it?"

"I was shocked. No one had ever told me I was killing anything," Zoya recalled. Much like my grandmother, today Zoya is the mother of a master violinist.

Even in the case of teen mothers-to-be, for all the ruination and dead dreams we are told will be visited upon their lives if they keep the baby, if someone has ambition to begin with, nothing has to stand in her way.

Consider the story of Beverly D'Onofrio, dramatized in the movie Riding in Cars with Boys. Beverly, played by Drew Barrymore, gets pregnant at 15. She marries the father, an older boy, only to discover that he is a drug addict. Over the next few years, things at home fall apart and the two separate, with Beverly retaining custody.

While for a time her opportunities are more limited than they would otherwise be, ultimately her dreams stay intact and her personal story paves a way to literary and cinematic success - not an easy feat even for the privileged. Beverly D'Onofrio got to have her cake and eat it too, and while the men in her life since have come and gone, she will always have her son.

Rather than debate what it is we're killing, we should consider what we may be saving - for our sakes as much as for "its" own. When you choose to abort, you alter the course of history. While the child up for abortion may or may not be the next Einstein, saving his or her life could one day save yours.

In our talks with Jessie and other women, we uncovered a striking sense of isolation among many abortion patients. Rather than expressing solidarity with others experiencing unwanted pregnancies, nearly all our respondents took pains to distinguish themselves as different from other women getting abortions.

Though there were some expressions of sympathy, we also heard disparaging remarks about women who were too careless about contraception and were obtaining abortions too "easily." "I am a Christian," one woman said, "I am not doing this casually" -- with the clear suggestion that others in the waiting room were not so thoughtful or moral. Perhaps the starkest example of isolation came in one woman's response to the question of whether she would "ever consider being part of a group that supports people who get abortions?" Her answer was an emphatic "no!" As she put it, "I wouldn't support them [other abortion recipients] because ... it [might become] a habit for everyone." The speaker is a 20 year old mother of one, who was about to have her second abortion.[..]

None of the women interviewed said they thought abortion should be illegal. But many expressed ambivalence about their decision to have one. An unmistakable sense of sadness hovered around our conversations. Ultimately, these women made the decision to have an abortion for the same reasons women always have: their recognition that they could not adequately care for a child at this moment in their lives.

At the Colorado Springs Pregnancy Center, women considering abortion are presented with a glossy magazine called As Your Baby Grows.

The periodical traces the "journey of motherhood," from the moment the "speck" of the fertilized egg implants itself in the uterus until the fully formed baby is dispatched out of the womb. A single page at the end shows a sleepy mother and her newborn.

What follows in that trek - the infant's childhood, adolescence and adult life - gets no mention, as if to say, "Your baby is outside your body! You didn't abort! Well done!"

So it goes at this private Christian clinic in Colorado Springs. Here, women are mothers and mothers are glowing, young and nurturing, tending over sweet, if fussy, babies that never grow up.

Lisa pretends to be a 24-year-old bookkeeper whose boyfriend is pressuring her to choose between him and the unborn child. I'm the longtime best friend who only wants her to know her options. While in real life, Lisa plans to give birth, her erstwhile alter ego is gravely undecided. Saddled in the second trimester of her unplanned pregnancy, she could lose her job, her apartment and even her boyfriend if she carries to term.

After filling out paperwork, Lisa is ushered into the back hall as I watch a Disney movie in the waiting room. Once inside, Lisa sits on a couch in a dimly lit space as she describes her conundrum. The volunteer counselor, a middle-aged woman who wears a pin shaped like tiny human feet, perches opposite Lisa and responds in firm, if pleading, tones.

"We want to educate you," she says. "We care about the baby. We are pro-life, and you know that. We care about the baby and we care about you, too. We care about the decision you make.

"One way or another, we want you to take care of it. It still changes [your and your boyfriend's] lives. Even if you don't want to deal with it, it is still in there somewhere. We are here to educate you, and if you do decide to go along with an abortion, we do offer post-abortion counseling. Our main concern is you. Of course, we encompass that as the whole "you,' spiritual as well. If you decide to carry to term, I will be praying for you. I will be praying for you anyway now, just because I met you."

"OK," says Lisa, who had written "atheist' on the intake form.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I don't want to preach to you," the counselor continues. "I will ask you to keep your mind open in the years to come. If you ever hear Christ knocking at your door, you should listen."

The counselor ruminates on abortion, describing in detail the procedure for first-, second- and third-term pregnancies, even the types for which Lisa is ineligible. She cites a link between abortion and breast cancer - an anti-choice myth that has been disproved - and describes perforations and lacerations that might occur during the procedure, though first-term abortion carries less risk than penicillin or, of course, giving birth.

The counselor pauses before she talks about the emotional impacts of termination.

"A lot of women don't feel it for up to 10 years," she says. "Sometimes it is a recurring thing. After the abortion, you remember what the baby's birth date would have been. It could affect your future relationships with children.

"Symptoms of stress are guilt, anger, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, anniversary grief, flashbacks of the abortion, sexual dysfunction, relationship problems, eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse. Those are all logical reactions."

If Lisa carries to term, she is told, she may enroll in free childcare classes, earning "baby bucks" to buy clothing or formula for her newborn. This incentive not to abort lasts for two years into the baby's life, ending long before the need does.

There were now five prayer warriors praying the Holy Rosary in front of the killing center. A young Hispanic woman left the mill. She was talking on her cell phone as she walked up to the sidewalk. I approached her but she avoided me by quickly crossing the street. I gave her a minute and then followed her across the street.

"Excuse me, miss, I noticed you left that clinic and I have some important information about it," I said in Spanish. I told her about the history of the clinic, gave her the pamphlets and a rosary. I started talking to her about adoption and what a blessing the adoption of our son Martin had been for our family. She said adoption was fine for those who wanted to have a baby, and then she began to weep. I asked her if she had an abortion. She began to weep harder as she admitted she had one a couple of weeks ago, that this was a follow-up visit.

A member of the powerful Kansas House State and Federal Affairs Committee has resigned his committee position in protest of political corruption and stonewalling surrounding allegations that late-term abortionist George R. Tiller is committing post-viability abortions in violation of Kansas law.

"Our judicial system is covering up crimes," said Rep. Ben Hodge. "Our attorney general is ignoring crimes, and I think it is our job to expose crimes."

Rep. Hodge and other committee members had pushed for Speaker Melvin Neufeld to issue subpoenas for the sealed documentation gathered during the three-year investigation into Tiller's abortion business by former Attorney General Phill Kline. That investigation resulted in the filing of 30 criminal charges against Tiller all related to the commission of illegal late-term abortions, but the charges were dismissed the following day on jurisdictional grounds even though two judges ruled there is probable cause to believe Tiller committed the crimes.

Speaker Neufeld refused to issue the subpoenas.

Rep. Hodge believed that the legislature should have had access to the documents to determine if the law was being followed. Committee Chair Arlen Siegfreid had supported the subpoenas, then in a surprising move, withdrew his support at the eleventh hour.

Listening to news of the Supreme Court's ruling, third-year medical student Lysie Cirona, 24, found herself shouting at her radio in frustration. Then she took a hard look at her career plans. She had always been interested in psychiatry, but now she envisioned herself flying to North Dakota or Nebraska a few times a month to perform abortions.

"It wasn't on my radar screen" a year ago, Cirona said, but her priorities have changed as she's learned more about the history and current state of abortion rights. Cirona has taken to badgering her professors to include information about abortion in their lectures. She attended workshops on how to respond effectively to antiabortion protesters.

Some days, she still wants to be a psychiatrist. Other days, she thinks of the women who drive 10 hours to reach the nearest abortion clinic. "This is what I'm going to do," she tells herself.

Her roommate at the University of Colorado, Michelle Cleeves, is also drawn to abortion work; simply voting for liberal politicians, she said, no longer seems like an adequate response to the abortion wars.

"It doesn't matter what you believe if you don't back it up with action," said Cleeves, 24. "The right to abortion doesn't mean anything if women don't have access."

Rep. Chris Smith has called Amnesty International's new position on abortion "outrageous" and said it creates a "major credibility gap" for the widely respected human rights organization.

In a May 18 telephone interview, the New Jersey Republican said Amnesty's new position makes it "just another pro-abortion organization."

Amnesty's claim that it takes no position on whether abortion should be legalized, when it calls for complete decriminalization of abortion, is "totally contradictory."

"When you decriminalize, you legalize. ... If there is no sanction, there is no law," said the Catholic congressman, one of the leading foes of abortion in Congress and also one of Congress' leading human rights advocates.

Almost two-thirds of respondents to the Irish Independent poll said they supported abortion in cases where the foetus cannot survive outside the womb.

Reports this morning say voters' support for abortion in such cases is at complete variance with the stance of the political parties, which all say they will not legislate for abortion in cases where the foetus cannot survive.

The Fear of the Lord could be seen in the eyes of the female armed guard at Planned Parenthood. A dozen prayer warriors had been praying the Holy Rosary and singing hymns for about an hour. After praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the prayer leader asked for two minutes of silence for the babies who had lost and would lose their lives in this killing center. The Guard was probably feeling God’s presence in the silence – a silence that was a requiem for the thousands of innocents who had been slaughtered in this building. Denied life and a tomb, the loving presence of these prayer warriors is the only dignity this world offered them.

An hour earlier, after attending Mass, about a dozen prayer warriors joined in a procession with a life-sized image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Planned Parenthood abortion mill on First Avenue and Grape Street in downtown San Diego. When they arrived, they lined the sidewalk next to the abortuary. Many got on their knees. The image of Our Lady faced the entrance.

When a sidewalk counselor wished the guard a good morning, she brusquely told him that FACE (federal access to clinic entrance) laws required him and the group to stay 20 feet away from the building. The counselor retorted that there was no such provision in the law and that that she could confirm this with the police officer who was parked in his car not far from were they stood.

The guard would not allow anyone to enter the building with any materials given to them by the sidewalk counselor – including brochures and Rosaries.

The counselor approached a 19-year-old man with a military haircut who left the abortuary to retrieve something from his car while his 18-year-old girlfriend waited in the building. The young man said that one of his siblings had been aborted and that the news had devastated him when he found out a few years ago. The counselor told him that a third of his generation had been wiped out by abortion since 1973. The young man said that he and his girlfriend had discussed having an abortion if she ever got pregnant. He said that neither he nor his girlfriend felt good about this, but sometimes you need to make a hard decision for the sake of your future.

The counselor explained that abortion was not the only option available to them. Adoption was a choice that could protect his girlfriend from the risks of abortion. Inexpensive or free medical care and housing could be provided to the mother. The counselor gave him a brochure listing all the assistance available to him and a Rosary. The young man was aware that patients could not bring brochures into the building, so he left the brochure in the car and stuffed the Rosary in his pocket. He shook the counselors hand and said he was grateful for the information.

A GP raised the alarm after a 22-year-old woman demanded a termination when more than six months' pregnant. He refused and a colleague referred her for counselling to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), a charity which runs a chain of private abortion clinics.

When the woman returned to the surgery about a different matter several weeks later, she was no longer pregnant and told the GP that she "had it sorted privately".

The GP reported his dilemma over the case on a secure website for doctors - prompting dozens of his colleagues to urge him to report the case immediately to the police.

He said on the website, doctors.net.uk, "I feel decidedly uneasy about what has happened here. I picked up a late pregnancy and it doesn’t seem right that, as far as her medical record is concerned, the baby vanished without explanation."

He added: "My examination, followed by an ultrasound that clearly states 28 weeks, constitute evidence that she was past 24 weeks. For someone to have taken money to perform an illegal and damaging service cannot be condoned and, if I let this go, I am condoning it."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill Wednesday that would require hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims. The state House approved it 113-36 two weeks ago over the objections of the state's Catholic bishops. The law would require all 30 hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, to make the drug, known as Plan B, available. The Senate passed it earlier in the session. Pro-life advocates say the pills could cause an abortion. Last year, Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell directed the four Catholic hospitals in the state not to prescribe the drug if a rape victim is ovulating or an egg has been fertilized -- creating a new human life. In an effort to appease the Catholic Church, the bill allows an independent, third-party health care provider, such as a rape crisis nurse, to distribute the drug. That clause satisfied the governor.

Led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the Congressmen had accused the Pope of offending "the very nature of the American experiment" for his statements "warning Catholic elected officials that they risk excommunication and would not receive communion for their pro-choice views."

"Religious sanction in the political arena directly conflicts with our fundamental beliefs about the role and responsibility of democratic representatives in a pluralistic America," the Congressmen stated. "It also clashes with freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution."

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President of Human Life International, called the pro-abortion "gang of 18" both "ignorant of their faith" and in need of "a civics lesson."

"It is an embarrassment that a Catholic, much less a member of Congress should make such an absurd statement," said Fr. Euteneuer. "Even if this statement were true, the Holy Father answers to a Higher Power than Rep. DeLauro and the Gang of 18."

"The truth is," Euteneuer continued, "nothing threatens the American experiment more than the legal but unjust killing of human beings by abortion which stands in stark contrast to the very first right enumerated by our Declaration of Independence: The Right to Life. The humanity of the unborn child is no longer even debated. It is a scientific fact. Abortion is murder, and murder is against the law."

Maureen Downey wrote an article for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the subject of the Georgia pro-life movement's new political goal: A proposed legislative resolution that defined a human being's life as beginning at the moment of fertilization. The resolution would restore personhood to each innocent human being from his beginning.

Downey was appalled by this change in direction for the pro-life movement in Georgia and quipped, "The groups are trading their hammer and chisel for a nuclear warhead." Well, to that comment I can only add that I wish the entire pro-life movement was equipping itself with precisely the same tools.

In case nobody has noticed, the ongoing focus on "reproductive health" is all about killing preborn babies, banking women's eggs, testing embryos in laboratories in order to weed out the imperfect and developing better birth control methods that kill prior to implantation. Such practices reject nature's plan for marriage and contribute to the disintegration of the family. The only way to reverse this dreadful course upon which America is traveling at breakneck speed is for those of us who truly believe in the sanctity of human life to do something meaningful about it rather than continuing to "chip away" at abortion.

The real problem with the "hammer and chisel" versus "nuclear warhead" critics is that in the wee small areas of their thought process, I think they are afraid. They are gripped with this unbelievable sense of dread at the very thought that pro-life people might actually get serious, restore total legal protection to every single innocent person from the instant his life begins and thus eradicate all forms of abortion from the social landscape.

A CT scan confirmed that there had been a tumor that someone, somewhere, had removed. It had been a sloppy job; nerves were damaged, and as Natalie grew her condition would worsen, eventually leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Control over her bladder and bowels would go, too; this had already begun, as indicated by her loose sphincter. Yes, she had a form of spina bifida, as well as a cyst on her spine.

I looked at my husband in shock, waiting for him to tell me that I had misunderstood everything. But he only shook his head.

I held on to him and cried into his chest, angry that creating a family seemed so impossible for us, and that life had already been so difficult for Natalie.

Back at the hotel, we hounded the women from the agency: Why wasn't this in her medical report? How could a scar that size not be noticed? It was two inches long, for God's sake.

They shook their heads. Shrugged. Apologized.

And then they offered a way to make it better.

"In cases like these, we can make a rematch with another baby," the one in charge said. The rest of the process would be expedited, and we would go home on schedule. We would simply leave with a different girl.

Months before, we had been presented with forms asking which disabilities would be acceptable in a prospective adoptee - what, in other words, did we think we could handle: H.I.V., hepatitis, blindness? We checked off a few mild problems that we knew could be swiftly corrected with proper medical care. As Matt had written on our application: "This will be our first child, and we feel we would need more experience to handle anything more serious."

Now we faced surgeries, wheelchairs, colostomy bags. I envisioned our home in San Diego with ramps leading to the doors. I saw our lives as being utterly devoted to her care. How would we ever manage?

Yet how could we leave her? Had I given birth to a child with these conditions, I wouldn't have left her in the hospital. Though a friend would later say, "Well, that"s different," it wasn't to me.

I pictured myself boarding the plane with some faceless replacement child and then explaining to friends and family that she wasn't Natalie, that we had left Natalie in China because she was too damaged, that the deal had been a healthy baby and she wasn't.

How would I face myself? How would I ever forget? I would always wonder what happened to Natalie.

I knew this was my test, my life's worth distilled into a moment. I was shaking my head "No" before they finished explaining. We didn't want another baby, I told them. We wanted our baby, the one sleeping right over there. "She's our daughter,' I said. "We love her."

"As a woman and mother, I am heartbroken when I hear of a young girl being victimized," Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "When these young girls reach out for help from a group that claims to be pro-woman and get none, my feelings turn to outrage.

"This is clearly yet another case where young girls, who need our help, are instead being further victimized," she added.

The teenaged mother of an anencephalic child, known in the press as "Miss D," has told the Irish Independent that she has changed her mind about aborting her baby. She said today, "I feel this is just a normal human being, I want it to have its own (burial) plot."

A week after winning a court decision allowing her to travel to Britain for an abortion, the pregnant mother has announced that she will give birth by medical inducement of labour and intends to bring the body of her child home for burial.

She explained. "I'll bury my child here. I have clothes bought for my baby. I'll be pregnant next year". In an interview, Miss D said she will always see the baby as her first child and has chosen the name of the baby. She said that she will buy doll's clothes for the child's burial.

The news media emphasized repeatedly that an anencephalic child can live only a short time outside the womb. Miss D has responded, "I think most people think that I must be very silly and that this baby is not much. But this baby means the world to me."

Miss D credits pro-life websites for her change of heart. "There were pictures of babies who had been aborted," she said. "I didn't want that, my baby deserved to live, it deserved more than that."

I'm very, very passionate about the issue of abortion," he said. "I oppose it. That's a principle I've held forever, and I'll hold it forever. That's not going to change. But I also believe that in a society like ours, where people have very, very different consciences about this, it's best to respect each others' differences and allow for choice."

Fidelis called on the campaign to remove the image from the video. "It is wholly inappropriate, disrespectful and disturbing that Hillary Clinton is using an image of Blessed Mother Teresa as a political tool, especially given their radically different views on abortion," said Fidelis President Joseph Cella.

"Mother Teresa tirelessly fought to protect unborn children, while Hillary Clinton staunchly supports abortion on demand in all nine months of pregnancy, including partial birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion," he said. "Out of respect to Mother Teresa, and the Missionaries of Charity strict guidelines for the use of Mother's image, we call on the Hillary Clinton campaign to immediately remove her image from their campaign video."

The Texas state Senate has approved a bill that would revise a law that allows families just 10 days to find care for a loved one when a medical facility refuses to provide continued lifesaving medical treatment. Under the measure, families would get a minimum of 21 days to locate a medical facility that will care for the patient.
Current state law allows medical facilities to determine that a patient is too far gone to receive further care and they can tell families that they will stop lifesaving medical treatment in 10 days.

Pro-life groups and disability rights advocates have fought the law saying it promotes euthanasia and puts families in a difficult position.

Although lawmakers are keen on improving the law, pro-life groups and legislators were split on two bills -- one upping the 10 day window and another providing an indefinite period of time to placed a loved one somewhere else.

Lawmakers eventually compromised on the bills as Sen. Bob Deuell and House Public Health Chair Dianne Delisi worked middle ground between their measures.

Kathy Kneer, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California - the state public policy office of Planned Parenthood - criticized Rose's tactics but told Cybercast News Service that staff has been notified of its policy to follow all reporting laws.

"We believe the individuals behind this are doing this not out of motivation to protect teens but in fact to discredit Planned Parenthood," Kneer said of Rose and her male accomplice. "They went in with an objective to manipulate our staff, and they did succeed in manipulating our staff."

The morality of any "choice" under consideration, however, cannot be divorced from the thing that is being chosen. Choices are not mere abstractions. They are concrete, and they have consequences. Let's not kid ourselves about what is at stake in the "choice" debate. When abortion advocates talk about the "right to choose", they are not talking about the right to choose between chocolate and vanilla. They are talking about the right to choose to kill an innocent unborn child. The fact that a mother would contemplate killing her child, and that there are those who zealously advocate such a "choice", is evidence that something has gone very, very wrong in our society. As the Feminists for Life slogan puts it, "women deserve better than abortion." Indeed they do, and so do their children.

Adoption is an option that is not discussed nearly enough in the public debate about "choice". Rarely is the case for adoption made with the same vigor as the case for abortion. Part of the zeal for abortion is fueled by money. We should never forget that abortion is a multi-million dollar industry. With that kind of money at stake, it is easy to see why abortion proponents get so pumped up.

In the abortion debate, Americans are being asked to choose between a woman and her child. We are asked to come down on one side or the other. The debate is framed as an "either / or" proposition. When the adoption option is introduced, however, the debate is transformed into a "both / and" proposition. We do not have to choose between a woman and her child. Our hearts are big enough to love them both.

In a civil suit filed Wednesday in Warren County Common Pleas Court, the teen, formerly of Mason, says she disclosed the years - long sexual abuse to a Planned Parenthood employee when she and her father went to the agency's Mount Auburn clinic to abort her pregnancy in November 2004.

Yet no police report was filed - and as a result, the abuse continued for another year and a half, the suit says.

Becki Brenner, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region's president and chief executive officer, said she had not seen the lawsuit, but she disputes the primary allegations.

If such abuse was disclosed, "We would call and report as we are required to do by law," Brenner said.

Ohio law makes doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals "mandated reporters," people who must report even suspicions of child abuse to authorities.

Brenner doesn't usually comment on individual cases, but said she is aware of the facts in this case. "I am going to be very, very pleased when the facts of this case do come out in a court of law."

The Mason teen's situation came to light about a year ago, when she confided to her future college sports coach that her father coerced her to have sex. The coach reported the abuse to authorities, leading to an investigation and criminal charges against the teen's father, John Blanks Jr.

Blanks, who had lived in Mason and Lincoln Heights, is serving a five-year prison term.

Now 45, Blanks was convicted last year of repeatedly sexually abusing his daughter from the time she was 13 until she was 18.

Blanks forced the girl to share his bed nightly, almost as though she were his "wife," prosecutors said. She didn't even have her own bedroom.

According to the teen's lawsuit, Planned Parenthood employees did not tell police that the Mason girl alleged her pregnancy resulted from rape, because of a "don't ask/don't tell" policy relating to sex abuse.

"We do not have a do-not-ask, do-not-tell policy," Brenner said. "If a woman comes in, our goal is to keep women safe and deliver a quality service."

The lawsuit includes a hand-scrawled document, allegedly from Planned Parenthood, that mentions the phrase, "don't ask/don't tell."

Lila Rose posed as a 15 year old, entered a Santa Monica Planned Parenthood and announced that a 23 year old man had impregnated her, according to the Advocate, a student magazine at UCLA. Planned Parenthood staff informed Rose that this constituted statutory rape and then encouraged her to "figure out a birth-date that works," to obtain the abortion and avoid getting the man in trouble with the police. The Planned Parenthood staff assured Rose that if she said she was 16 or older, they wouldn't have to report the rape.

"California's mandatory reporting laws for statutory rape are supposed to protect pregnant minors," said Lila Rose, Editor in Chief of The Advocate. "Underage girls are being targeted by predators, and Planned Parenthood is busy covering up the evidence. How many other rapes has this one clinic covered up?"

If a couple aborts their child, it is a sin against God, against each other, against their child and against human society. They have rent the fabric of their marriage. Their marriage has been wounded. Their state of being one flesh has become disjointed, like a bone torn out of its socket. The man can no longer say, "This in now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" as Adam said about Eve. (Genesis 2:23)

The couple might now feel somewhat more like two single people together and somewhat less like one united being. The uncompromising Bonhoeffer (Theologian Diertrich Bonhoeffer) said that such a marriage "ceases to be marriage and becomes a mere liaison."

The couple who aborts their baby has taken a step away from the marriage union and a step towards lawless singleness, that is to say, they can become like single people who are having a sexual liaison. Holy singleness is celibate, but lawless singleness is sexually active with illegitimate liaisons, as when a man lives with his girlfriend. It is possible for a married couple whose marriage has been wounded to behave like lawless singles in their bedroom. These are the inescapable implications of Bonhoeffer's axiom.

A person in a marriage devastated by abortion is more likely to commit adultery — because he or she might feel like a lawless single person. Adultery would be a second great wound to the marriage, of course. Even if they do not commit adultery, they may begin to feel like their own sexual liaisons are somehow lawless, that is to say, they might sometimes feel like two lawless single people coming together for illegitimate purposes. Their marriage is no longer holy because it was defiled by the abortion. They no longer enjoy safety or blessedness on the marriage bed.

Read in part to the committee by Zachary L. Heiden on behalf of the MCLU, this clearly worded public document states that court action will result if the current pending abortion legislation is not passed.

The letter lays out the MCLU's argument that current Maine law regarding abortion is unconstitutional, and then goes on to define the remedy for this to be either legislative action or court action.

The basis of the MCLU's claim lies in their perception of "gender-based discrimination" and "discrimination among the classes" in current Maine law regarding abortion.

The testimony states, "Though our [Maine] Constitution and laws guarantee a women a full range of choices, Maine has decided that it will only fund one choice, effectively denying the poor women control over their medical decisions. This gap must be addressed, and Maine must adopt a funding scheme that is neutral with regard to the constitutionally-protected choices available to women. Current Maine law is not neutral and, therefore, is unconstitutional."

The letter continues with a very clear admonition to the Legislature: "The MCLU wishes you to know that the Maine Constitution requires passage of LD 1309 [the pending abortion funding bill]."

The letter goes on to lay out the MCLU's claims of discrimination: "Our constitutional sense of fairness does not allow us to tolerate discrimination among the classes. Maine does not discriminate in this way for any other medical procedure" and "LD 1309 removes a conspicuous gender-based discrimination from the [Maine] law by declaring that women are just as capable as men of making medical decisions for themselves."

Finally, the document concludes with the threat of litigation if the abortion funding bill is not passed: "In states where the legislature was unwilling to remedy an unfair discrepancy in reproductive funding for low-income women, advocates have had to turn to the courts. In those states, it took years of costly litigation to learn what the Maine legislature should already know: that the state must remain neutral when funding a woman's constitutionally-protected reproductive health care choices."

For three years Utah's ban on partial-birth abortions has been on ice, frozen from taking effect, until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the ban's constitutionality.

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled for the first time since establishing a woman's right to an abortion in 1973 that the 2003 Partial Birth abortion Ban Act does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. The ruling was a victory for anti-abortion supporters, who had moral objections to the late-term medical procedure.

In light of the ruling, the Utah Attorney General's Office has filed a federal petition, seeking to have an injunction on Utah's abortion ban lifted, allowing the bill to go into effect immediately.

SB69 was passed by the Utah Legislature in 2004 in both houses by wide margins. Then-Gov. Olene Walker signed the bill with the understanding that the bill would be frozen pending litigation.

Immediately after, the Utah Women's Clinic and the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah sued the state over the law. A federal judge imposed an injunction, keeping the bill from becoming law, pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, the attorney general's office noted that both parties had agreed to wait on any legal action until the country's high court ruled. Given the recent ruling, the state is seeking to reopen the case and have a federal judge lift the freeze.

"In order for the court to consider anything, we had to reopen it," said Assistant Utah Attorney General Jerrold Jensen.

Jensen said Utah's partial-birth abortion ban is modeled after the federal ban, leaving little legal wiggle room.

Jensen said how long it will take for the bill to become law will depend on whether Utah Women's Clinic and Planned Parenthood will fight the lifting of the injunction. If they do not, the law would take effect immediately, Jensen said.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in his campaign appearances this year has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose. But records show that in the '90s he contributed money at least six times to Planned Parenthood, one of the country's leading abortion rights groups and its top provider of abortions.

Federal tax returns made public by the former New York mayor show that he and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, made personal donations to national, state and city chapters of Planned Parenthood totaling $900 in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999.

The returns have been on the public record for years, but the detail about Giuliani's support for Planned Parenthood -- along with e-mailed copies of the returns -- was provided to The Politico by aides to a rival campaign, who insisted on not being identified.

In an interview with the magazine Hola, he said he was "very frustrated over what is happening in Mexico today. I think there is tremendous manipulation of the news that the Mexican people are being given. The law is based on lies, because abortion is a crime."

Abortion, Verastegui told the magazine, is "something so grave, so profound, it goes beyond any philosophy or religion."

The Mexican actor went on to say there is no justification for abortion. "Let women do with their bodies what they wish, but the baby? What happens to the baby who has no voice and can’t defend himself? Perhaps 100 years ago there could have been doubts… that there was life from the moment of conception. But today it is something scientifically proven, there is no doubt."

Four and a half months into her pregnancy, Anna Chernocke could feel the first stirrings of life as she sat in the hospital waiting room.

She placed her hand on her belly and started to talk to her baby, although the only thing she could say was "sorry".

Minutes away from having the abortion she thought she wanted, each second felt like a second closer to murder rather than the blessed relief she had imagined.

Overwhelmed with guilt and fighting back tears, she was led by two nurses into the operating theatre. The doctor, a fatherly-looking man in his 50s, was sitting waiting for her.

He was kind, reassuring. "Anna," he said. "Are you ready? If so, we will give you a little injection in the back of your hand and transfer you to the table. Is there anything you would like to say?"

"Yes," replied Anna. "I'm really sorry, but I've changed my mind." But instead of being annoyed with her for wasting their time, the medical team seemed to be overcome with a sudden, unexpected euphoria.

The doctor broke out into a huge smile, grabbed her shoulder and laughed "Congratulations! Well done, you won't regret it."

The two nurses who'd led her into the operating theatre - with, she thought, slightly disapproving eyes - swooped on her bed delightedly and whisked her back to the ward.

One of them told Anna how she'd been trying for a baby for ages, without success, while the other - who had children - said becoming a mother had been the best thing that had ever happened to her.

"You are never going to regret the decision you just made. It's a wonderful, beautiful thing."

Today, Anna's son David is a lively, outgoing, sunny toddler with blond hair and blue eyes.

Just as the nurse promised, Anna has never regretted her decision and his birth in July 2004 has transformed her life.

"I believe it is the most basic duty of Government to guard the innocent. With that in mind, I will veto any legislation that weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage." So said President Bush yesterday in identical letters sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.).

In Guangdong, it was customary to keep a bucket of water by the delivery table, to drown the newborn if it was a girl.

'We are studying it from two ways: on the mother or child's health. But the choice to have the abortion will be under the umbrella of religion. Whatever we decide has to be within the religious and social environment,' Ali Shakar of the ministry of health was quoted as saying in Gulf News Thursday.

According to the draft law, it will be legal to terminate foetuses with severe genetic disorders such as thalassemia.

The poll by the doctors' newspaper Pulse, has also indicated that almost a quarter of Britain's GPs are refusing to sign abortion referral forms.

In addition, a massive 55% of the 309 GPs surveyed said they wanted the current 24-week limit for abortions to be reduced immediately.

As the law currently stands in the UK, two doctors need to sign the application referring a patient for an abortion, as proof that the woman meets the legal requirements for an abortion.

However, 24% of GPs said outright they would not sign abortion referral forms, and a substantial 19% did not believe abortion should be legal at all.

For most women, oral contraceptives seem to cause only small negative side effects. But the verdict on a link to cancer -- in particular, breast cancer --is coming in, and it is worrisome.

Results of a meta-analysis conducted by Dr. Chris Kahlenborn, a Pennsylvania-based internist, show that being on the pill at a young age, before having children, increases the chance of developing breast cancer by an average of 44%. This is hardly the stuff of "junk science": Dr. Kahlenborn's work was published late last year in the peer-reviewed journal of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

This week, he visited Ottawa to discuss his astounding findings. You'd think most women would know about his study. They don't.

To listen to Dr. Kahlenborn's critics, one would think he had self-published his work on YouTube after consulting with a mystic. Doctors dismiss it and much of the media ignores it. One reporter from CITY-TV, calling to ask about Dr. Kahlenborn's presentation in Ottawa, led the interview with the question: "Don't you just want to stop women from having sex?" Nothing could be further from the truth.

Yet such skepticism is understandable given that the Canadian Cancer Society itself is dismissive. The group's Web site notes: "Alcohol, as well as the use of oral contraceptives (the pill) are associated with a slight increase in breast cancer risk." One might infer that taking the pill is about as risky as having a beer after work. And since no one is giving up the latter, why care about the former?

The Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, too, downplays the link. "The risk for premenopausal breast cancer is slightly increased in oral contraceptive users," the group notes. "Compared to other reproductive and lifestyle factors that affect

breast cancer risk, the increase in risk associated with the oral contraceptive is very small."

We read stories about links between breast cancer and red meat; between breast cancer and light exposure; between breast cancer and toxins in the environment; and, most recently, between cancer and BBQs. So why the silence on this link?

Pro-Vida, or "Pro-Life", also said in a news release that it will publicize the names of doctors who perform abortions and its members will hold prayer vigils outside hospitals and clinics for the fetuses and mothers.

Activists will also try to persuade the women not to go through with their abortions, but the group said they will respect the women's confidentiality no matter what their decision.

Sometimes the truth hurts. Often, people want to hide it because it is graphic, and violent. Sometimes, they even call the police to take it out of sight.

When the Clinton County Sheriff's office was called to Rombach Avenue Tuesday evening, here is what they might have found: several tiny, dead bodies.

Small ribcages smashed. Arms and legs dismembered. Little hearts, quiet and still and exposed in the evening light.

Hands, perfectly formed, still balled up in little fists as though they fought for life at the last moment.

This is the reality of a legal first trimester abortion.

This is the truth nobody wants to see.

Instead, the sheriff's office was called out because of some pictures.

Understandably, people didn't like seeing all that blood; they didn't like to see dead babies.

They found it difficult to tell their children, "Oh, that is just a 'voluntary interruption of pregnancy,'" or "that is responsible family planning," or "it is just 'a normal part of the reproductive cycle,'" or any of the other adult terms children have a way of seeing right through.

It is hard to dodge the reality when the photos are looking at you in the face.

The thing is, the pictures are only as bad as the reality, and the reality is what is truly offensive.

The business of cutting out unborn babies is the very biggest "blatant disregard for families," not the pictures.

The pictures only portray what abortion really is, what everyone wants to believe it isn't: a violent end to life.

I was told that an abortion would solve my problem, when it was never really the problem in the first place.

I was told, "Your parents know what's best," when they obviously were only concerned about their own reputations.

I was told, "You make the right decision," when I was never given a choice. More importantly, where was my baby's choice?

I grieve every day for my daughter. I have struggled to forget the abuse and the abortion. I can do neither. All I think of is, "I should have done more, fought more, struggled more for the life of my child." [..]

I was violated and betrayed over and over by my father, who God created to love and protect me. I was humiliated, hurt, and yes, violated again by the abortionist.