Planned Parenthood affiliates across California have geared up their PR machines once again, this time in an effort to persuade Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign a bill that could result in the state spending another $3.2 million a year on "family planning services."

Planned Parenthood, whose California affiliates typically end each fiscal year with budget surpluses in the millions, want the governor to sign SB-94, sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles. The bill, which would increase Medi-Cal rates for "family planning", passed the legislature with the support of only one Republican. It was sent to the governor on Sept. 19, who has until Oct. 14 to either sign or veto the measure.

A source inside the Schwarzenegger administration told California Catholic Daily earlier this week that the governor has yet to make up his mind on whether to sign or veto the bill.

The drug, called Lybrel, is lauded for its ability to interrupt a woman’s normal fertility cycle and entirely stop her menstruation, potentially permanently.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approved the drug in May based on the results of two studies. It comes in a 28 day-pill pack containing 90 micrograms each of a progestin, levonorgestrel, and 20 micrograms of an estrogen, ethinyl estradiol.

Traditional hormonal contraceptive drugs include placebo or pill-free intervals lasting four to seven days that stimulate a menstrual cycle. Lybrel is designed to be taken without the placebo or pill-free time interval. Women who use Lybrel would not have a scheduled menstrual period, but, the FDA notes, will most likely have unplanned, breakthrough, unscheduled bleeding or spotting.

Some studies have shown side effects associated with Lybrel, as with most hormonal contraceptives, can include blood clots in the legs or lungs, gallbladder inflammation, ectopic pregnancy, stoppage or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain (stroke), heart attack, angina, liver tumours and high blood pressure. Some studies have shown association with cervical cancer.

If only we could get the journalistic watchdogs on every pullback of political speech these days. The problem is that under the cover of "too controversial" or "not entertaining" or any number of silly categories talk about reproductive rights is moved to the margins. The fact is, when it comes to the issues of abortion and family planning these days, those doing much of the censoring aren't choosing one side over another -- they just are shutting down the whole debate.[..]

We may have a common ground issue here: the anti-abortion and pro-choice sides could unite in a effort to not be shut up by the mainstream media companies.

Miss D, as the courts called the Dublin teenager during a landmark legal battle in May, said it was a shock that she had become pregnant again so quickly. "I cried when I found out. It was a surprise. I know I said I wanted to get pregnant but I didn't want it that soon. But I don't regret it, I can't wait," she told the Irish Independent newspaper.

She was in the care of the Republic's Health Service Executive (HSE) and four months pregnant when she was told her baby was suffering from anencephaly and would not survive outside the womb. The HSE contacted the police to prevent her leaving Ireland. She went to court and the judge ruled that the case was about the right to travel rather than the rights of the unborn child to life.

"I didn't have an abortion, it was an induced labour," she insisted in yesterday's interview. The baby, whom she named Jasmine, died.

Eileen Smith has come forward in order to keep her daughter's abortion death from being "swept under the rug." Her 22-year old daughter, Laura Hope Smith, died on September 13, 2007, during an abortion done by Rapin Osathanondh at Women Health Clinic in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

Smith told Operation Rescue that she had no idea that her daughter was 13 weeks pregnant and considering an abortion. A friend accompanied Laura to the clinic. Early reports indicated that Laura died of hemorrhage, but Smith says that her daughter died on the abortion table. "There was no bleeding. She stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest," said Smith.

Ten days after Laura's death, Smith met privately for one hour at a public place with Osathanondh. He would only meet with Smith alone and refused to allow even allow her husband to accompany her. Osathanondh admitted that Laura died during the abortion but refused to admit he did anything wrong.

Smith told Operation Rescue that the details of her daughter's death appalled and sickened her, but she could not discuss those details because she is seeking legal action against Osathanondh for killing her daughter.

"My daughter was 22, healthy, and alive when she walked into that clinic," Smith said. "She didn't even have a cold. There is no reason for her to be dead."[..]

Over 600 people attended Laura's funeral. Since then, at least one young woman has changed her mind about abortion since hearing about what happened to Laura.

Smith told Operation Rescue that two days after Laura's death, she gave a full interview to the local newspaper, which was scheduled to be published on the day of Laura’s funeral. The article has yet to appear, leading Smith to believe that there are attempts underway to cover up her daughter’s death.

Reports are coming out of Massachusetts that a 22-year old woman died on September 13, 2007, from hemorrhaging caused by an abortion obtained at Women Health Center in the Cape Cod town of Hyannis. The abortionist responsible for the death is reportedly Rapin Osathanondh, who made headlines in 2001 for threatening to murder five hospital nurses in a fit of rage over misplaced paperwork.

A receptionist at Women Health Center responded in to inquiries about the woman's death with obvious agitation, but would not confirm or deny the abortion death. "I can't help you," she told Operation Rescue.

The abortion victim, whose name Operation Rescue is currently withholding, was reportedly a member of a Calvary Chapel church in a nearby town. According to her MySpace page, she was a cosmetologist who was born in Honduras and adopted by an American family. She was engaged to be married.

A complaint has been filed against Osathanondh with the Massachusetts Board of Registration In Medicine regarding the abortion death.

Caroline Aigle would have turned 33 on September 12. The first female fighter pilot of the French military and future astronaut died of cancer on August 21. The country is still mourning her death and continues to be moved by her sacrifice: she was five months pregnant when she learned she had cancer and she chose to postpone her treatment so her baby could be born.

In mid-July Caroline received the devastating news. Rather than despairing, she faced the adversity and ignored doctors who advised her to have an abortion.

Together with her husband Christophe Deketelaere, who is also a pilot, she decided to give this new member of her family a chance to live. Her second son was born three and a half months premature at the beginning of August and doctors say he is progressing well.

In an interview Christophe said, "She could not stop the life she had carried for five months. She told me: 'He has the right to have the same chances I had'." Her husband said that her pregnancy was "her final battle and she won." Before dying, she was able to see her son several times and hold him in her arms. "She was heroic to the end," he said.

The papers, released by a judicial watchdog group, come as Clinton is attempting to moderate her image on the issue in advance of a possible 2008 presidential campaign.

Judicial Watch, a public interest group, announced the release of a special report based on the papers.

The group said its research into papers at the archive details the Clintons' "strong support - both politically and ideologically - for attacking the pro-life movement and aggressively expanding the 'culture of death,' especially with public funding."

Judicial Watch's special report focuses on three particular documents that provide evidence that Hillary Clinton was a key player in crafting the Clinton administration's abortion policies. They also show that decisions on abortion policy were made for political gain.

The Clinton Archives contains a May 1993 memo from Domestic Policy Council staffer Bill Galston to President Bill Clinton, which includes a two-page discussion of the Hyde Amendment, weighing legislative tactics, public opinion and political strategy.

It ends with President Bill Clinton's handwritten question, "What does Hillary think?" next to the "decision" section of the memo.

The procedure itself wasn't painful at all, and it was so quick, but as soon as it was done I made the mistake of looking up and seeing the jar, and I started to bawl again. I just wanted to talk to the girl and express what I was feeling but she kind of had to rush me out because they had four more girls to go. [..]

Finally I left and ate and felt better but I have a huge feeling of sadness. I wanted my baby. I am so mad that this society will not let me afford it.

The Vatican spokesman has informed media that scientists into stem cell research murdering humans via embryos will be open for excommunication, per Elisabeth Rosenthal of The New York Times.

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo stated that such scientists are equal to those in abortuaries; therefore, they are not Christian nor Catholic. They go against the biblical ethic. [..]

"Destroying an embryo is equivalent to abortion", said the cardinal. "Excommunication is valid for the women, the doctors and researchers who destroy embryos."

"Applying the classic carrier screening paradigm to common, low-penetrance disease leads to inevitable dilemmas, and programs offering such screening should determine whether the true goal is knowledge and presymptomatic risk assessment or pregnancy termination of fetuses with a specified genetic status," the researchers wrote.

"Our results suggest that to avoid termination of pregnancies for generally mild conditions, even in a highly educated population, screening programs would require a combination of traditional, nondirective genetic counseling with medical counseling by professionals familiar with the specific diseases," they concluded.

Central to the beliefs of each side is when life begins. Some argue it begins immediately at conception. Others say it doesn't begin until the development of higher functions. But realistically speaking, a fertilized embryo is basically a collection of undifferentiated cells and over 90 percent of abortions take place during this stage. So the argument on what is life constitutes more of a philosophical argument rather than a medical argument.

I don't understand those who are pro-life. It just doesn't make sense. Especially women that are pro-life.

A new initiative is being proposed in California to stop teenage girls from obtaining "secret" abortions under pressure from the older adult men who get them pregnant.

The proposed plan called "Sarah's Law - the Teen Safety and Stop Predators Act," is named after Sarah, a young girl who decided to have an abortion without her family's knowledge. Her cervix was torn during the procedure and she died as a result.

The initiative that will be on the California ballot for November 2008 reads, "The People of California have a compelling interest in protecting minors from the known risks of secret abortions, including the danger of not obtaining prompt care for health - and life - threatening complications when a minor's parent or responsible family member is unaware that she has undergone a secret abortion. The People also have a compelling interest in preventing sexual predators from using secret abortions to conceal sexual exploitation of minors."

If passed, this bill will expose the fact that many young girls are secretly getting abortions because they are being pressured to by the older, adult men who impregnate them.

Also, instead of emphasizing parental notification, family notification will be stressed. If the girl signs a statement that she has a parental abuse history, the clinic can notify another relative such as a grandmother, aunt, stepfather or an adult sibling.

Tiller also accepts some late-term patients with healthy fetuses. Among them, he has said, have been girls as young as 10, rape victims, alcoholics, drug addicts, and women who were suicidal or depressed or who feared their relatives would harm them if they continued the pregnancy. Tiller has said a few of his patients were just a week or two from their due dates.

But even abortions performed by trained health workers are not always safe.

The letter-writer "Trapped in Colorado" agonized over her recent pregnancy with a child by her boyfriend "Garth," who possibly deceived her. Your answer blew me away.

"If he refuses (to offer proof of a vasectomy), well, then you will have to decide whether to carry the baby to term," etc.

You acknowledge this is indeed a baby and flippantly give its killing as the mother's No. 1 option.

It's unbelievable we have come this far down a moral slippery slope that this can be printed and there isn't a huge public uproar!

The 19 year-old girl became pregnant through rape, and although a lower court ruled an abortion could not be allowed, an appeals court stuck that ruling down, and in a few days the girl is scheduled to have an abortion at the request of her mother.

In statements to the media, Mario Martinez, the lawyer of the handicapped girl's father, said he has contacted the administration of Children's Hospital expressing his desire that "the pregnancy not be terminated and asking that doctors provide information and guidance to the mother of the girl about the dangerous consequences of abortion."

Likewise, Martinez said the father has offered to add the baby to his health care insurance and provide for all of his post-natal needs as well as for the post-partum recovery of his daughter.

Dr. Ellice Hammond, 37, refused high-level chemotherapy that might have saved her from Hodgkin's lymphoma. The treatment would have endangered the life of her unborn daughter, Mia Ellice.

After two initial rounds of mild chemotherapy failed, Mia Ellice, then 31 weeks old, was born after an inducement. She is developing well at the Monash Medical Centre neonatal intensive care unit, the Herald Sun reported today.

The replies to the questions posed by the bishops were published in a document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and were approved by the Holy Father.

The first question the bishops asked was: "Is the administration of food and water (whether by natural or artificial means) to a patient in a 'vegetative state' morally obligatory except when they cannot be assimilated by the patient's body or cannot be administered to the patient without causing significant physical discomfort?"

The CDF replied that, "Yes. The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper end, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented."

Cardinal William Levada, the head of the CDF, also provided further clarification noting that there may be circumstances of poverty or geographical remoteness where the means of artificially providing food and water to a patient may not be available. In this case, those caring for the patient should do all that they are able to keep that person alive. He also noted that it could occur that a person's body might stop retaining even artificial nutrition or water. If this occurs then it would be okay to stop providing them with food and water.

The Vatican was also asked by the U.S. bishops about another situation which is reminiscent of the Terri Schiavo case. The prelates asked, "When nutrition and hydration are being supplied by artificial means to a patient in a 'permanent vegetative state,' may they be discontinued when competent physicians judge with moral certainty that the patient will never recover consciousness?"

The response from the Vatican maintained clear and consistent respect for life at all its stages. The CDF responded, "No. A patient in a 'permanent vegetative state' is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means."

The Family Ministry of the Archdiocese of Parana (Argentina) has issued a statement underscoring that "abortion is never the solution for affirming or recovering the dignity of women."

The statement was issued in response to the case of a 19 year-old handicapped girl who has been authorized by the courts to undergo an abortion because she conceived through rape. The statement emphasized that in this case, "the aberrant fact that has harmed the dignity of women is the rape" which "we strongly and firmly condemn."

"Abortion is always a crime against an innocent person," the statement indicated. As Blessed Mother Teresa said, "abortion is just as dangerous a threat as war, as innocent victims are turned against who have no voice to defend themselves."[..]

"Only God is Lord of life and death. Nobody can arbitrarily decide who should be born and who should die," the statement stressed. "To lay claim to this is the greatest act of discrimination that there can be." The statement also affirmed that when there is a pregnancy, "the question ceases to be a private one and affects society itself. Children are not things, the exclusive property of those who engendered them. They are a gift to all of society."

"The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideals of liberty. My professional and legislative record demonstrates my strong commitment to this pro-life principle," says Paul, an OB/GYN, who says he has delivered over 4,000 babies.

By the time I had the abortion, I was 15 weeks and two days pregnant. I went into hospital with my best friend for moral support, and the nurse gave me tablets to bring on labour. Because I was so far into the pregnancy, I had to give birth rather than have a straightforward abortion.

It was horrendous. After two hours the contractions started, and I clung onto the hand of the midwife. Once I felt the baby starting to come, I had to go into the toilet and let it drop onto a stainless steel tray.

"Don't look," said the midwife. "Keep your eyes straight in front of you and walk away immediately." There was no way I could have looked down and seen my baby. I was numb.

By then I was bleeding heavily, but I was allowed to go home. I went straight to bed and told my mum I had a very heavy period. For two days I lay in bed, shocked and exhausted, but I still I knew I had done the right thing.

Three months later, I started university. I coped by just blanking the abortion out. I would make the same decision again, but it has affected my life. I am paranoid about getting pregnant, and haven't had a successful relationship since.

The 5-0 Supreme Court ruling reversed a unanimous ruling by a three-judge appeals panel and dismissed the lawsuit of a woman who had an abortion.

"On the profound issue of when life begins, this court cannot drive public policy in one particular direction by the engine of the common law when the opposing sides, which represent so many of our citizens, are arrayed along a deep societal and philosophical divide," Justice Barry T. Albin wrote for New Jersey's highest court.

The decision, citing past rulings, said the court "will not place a duty on doctors when there is no consensus in the medical community or among the public" on when life begins.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Rosa Acuna, who had complications from a 1996 abortion and sued Dr. Sheldon C. Turkish, charging he failed to give her enough information before she signed a consent form for him to perform the abortion.

She asserted that she could not give informed consent because the doctor did not tell her of "the scientific and medical fact that (her six- to eight-week-old embryo) was a complete, separate, unique and irreplaceable human being" and that an abortion would result in "killing an existing human being." [..]

Acuna was 29 and had two daughters following a miscarriage when she consulted Turkish, who had delivered her second child, on her pregnancy in April 1996.

"According to Acuna, Turkish told her that she 'needed an abortion because (y)our kidneys are messing you up,"' court papers said. "Acuna asked Turkish whether 'the baby was already there.' According to Acuna, Turkish replied, 'Don't be stupid, it's only blood."

Researchers at Aberdeen University who studied the records of 46,000 women over a 36-year period found that taking the oral contraceptive for up to eight years did not lead to an increased risk of cancer over a woman's lifetime.

However, doctors said the risks of cancer were greater in women who took the pill for longer than eight years.

Researchers, led by Prof. Philip Hannaford, found that "there was no overall increased risk of cancer among pill users" and that taking the pill could cut the risk by up to 12 per cent in some cases.

The mother of the first baby in Europe to undergo fetal surgery hopes the successful outcome of her story will lead to fewer abortions and allow other children diagnosed with malformations the chance to live.

Maria Jose gave birth a few days ago to her daughter, who underwent surgery in the womb to correct spinal bifida, a deformation that can cause paralysis, neurological damage, mental difficulties and other problems.

The girl is named Maria and was born by caesarean at 33 weeks. On July 31, when she was in her 27th week, she underwent prenatal surgery by Spanish doctors at a hospital in Seville, with guidance from Brazilian and American specialists.

The girl's mother knows her case is "very important" for families with similar problems and could help other children to have a chance to live. "May parents never chose to abort," she said, noting that her husband never considered making such a choice.

Doctors say little Maria is in "very good" condition and showing no signs of paralysis.

"'Choice' is such a contemptible word when applied to abortion," said Janet Morana, co-founder of SNMAC. "This young woman, like so many others, had abortion chosen for her by others. Did the abortion clinic stop to see if she really wanted the abortion? Of course not; the abortion industry only sees pregnant women as profit targets."

"This woman's story is neither unusual nor surprising," added Georgette Forney, also a co-founder of SNMAC. "We know from many, many other testimonies that, first, lots of women get abortions because other people want them to and, second, abortion clinics are not interested in offering women choices. Counseling at these clinics amounts to abortion sales pitches. That's not 'choice', that's exploitation."

The Cardinal Archbishop of Lima, Peru, gave a stinging sermon Sunday stating that abortion "is murder and those who commit it are murderers", as Peru's health minister Carlos Vallejos sat in the pews. Although Vallejos claims to be pro-life, he supports the abortifacient morning after pill and has cooperated with efforts to normalize "therapeutic abortions" in Peru.

"It is cowardice on the part of contemporary society," continued Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, in his homily for the mass for Family Day in Peru. "We cannot remain in silence to avoid problems, and those children have every right to live," he added.

People For People, Inc., a community development corporation founded by former Philadelphia Eagle and now pastor Herbert Lusk, has teamed up with Care Net and Carpenters for Christ to bring the women of Philadelphia much needed pregnancy support services. The three organizations will be targeting an area of downtown Philadelphia, where there are five abortion providers within a two-mile radius, but no pregnancy centers. The collaborative effort is part of Care Net's "Touchdown Cities" project, an initiative to bring free pregnancy services to women and men in urban areas.

You see, pro-lifers don't care about babies at all, because that would make their points something you might have to listen to and we can't have that, can we? So what they obviously really care about is screwing up women's lives so that they'll have to spend the rest of them barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen making lemonade for Pa and his friends when they come in from a hard day of plowing and oppressing colored people. And pro-choicers don't actually care about women; all they're really interested is enforcing a radical feminist agenda on the rest of us so girls won't be able to wear dresses and lipstick any more and boys will have to have their genitalia surgically removed at puberty and replaced with a copy of The Feminine Mystique. Also, while we can't be totally sure, it's reasonable to assume that many of them enjoy baby-killing, and would sacrifice live infants if not restrained by the hard work of good, Christian folk.

"It was in Europe that the notion of human rights was first formulated. The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself," he said in an address at the former imperial Hofburg Palace.

"This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right -- it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society."

The pro-choice movement, and feminists in general, seem to have historically shied away from the difficult but imperative task of involving men in conversations about abortion. It is understandable that the movement has been weary; no hot-button issue brings out more manipulation than this one. But it is time that feminists' commitment to equality, as well as the quality of both women and men's lives, trumps their fear that acknowledging men's hardships will only serve as fodder for pro-life spin doctors. There must be a way to talk about men's perspectives and experiences without compromising women's bodies.

The teens dub their movement Youth for Truth, because they believe their generation needs to know what's really going on behind Planned Parenthood doors. On Saturday, an estimated 700 kids turned out at the site of the abortion provider's largest clinic to talk about those dangers.

"We're the target of Planned Parenthood, and as the targets we have to show that we don't want their destructive presence," participant Mary Kate Guest told Family News in Focus.

Petitions were submitted in Sedgwick County Kansas demanding that a grand jury convene to investigate illegal late-term abortions that may have occurred at George Tiller's Women's Health Care Services since 2003.

The petition specifically asks that Foulston and Attorney General Paul Morrison, a beneficiary of an estimated $1 million Tiller’s campaign help, not be involved in the requested grand jury investigation.

Kansas law allows for citizens to call for grand jury investigations by obtaining a number of qualified signatures of registered voters. Yesterday, the group Kansans for Life submitted 7,857 signatures, three times the required number.

Minda is a masseuse with a difference. Her caress is used to abort foetuses.

The 50-year-old grandmother has lost count of the number of pregnancies she has terminated in this largely Roman Catholic country where abortion is illegal and strictly taboo, but where about half a million women end their pregnancies every year.

Most women who seek abortions are like Remy, married with several children and too poor to afford another baby.

The petite 44-year old, who declined to give her last name, paid 150 pesos (1.50 pounds) for a hilot, or traditional midwife like Minda, to crush her three-month old foetus using rough strokes and pincer-like grips on her belly.

The procedure, which can also involve pounding the lower abdomen to trigger a miscarriage, is called a massage.

"I felt guilty but I thought it was better than having another child that will only suffer because we have no food," she said in an interview in a slum on the outskirts of Manila.

Remy bled for a week after her session with the hilot, passing out with the pain. She refused to let her husband take her to the hospital because of the shame of what she had done and because they couldn't afford the medical bills.

"I just prayed to God and asked for forgiveness," she said.

The website of Marie Stopes International says the conference's aim is to "build consensus and momentum around international efforts to reduce the unacceptable toll on women's health and lives caused by unsafe abortion." It is being timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the United Kingdom's 1967 Abortion Act.

The conference, to be held October 23 and 24 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, offers a line-up of speakers from many of the world's prominent abortion and population control organisations including Catholics for a Free Choice, Amnesty International, International Planned Parenthood and the Guttmacher Institute. Parliamentarians scheduled to speak include Gareth R Thomas, MP for Harrow West and Christine McCafferty MP for Calder Valley.

The Church in Mexico, together with various lawmakers, politicians, civil organizations and parents, has signed the Declaration of Human Rights of the Unborn, the result of the work of more than 100 specialists in law, bioethics, medicine and education, who gathered in June to focus on the right to life of the unborn from the moment of conception.

The declaration, which contains ten principles that state that the unborn have the right to be recognized as individuals of the human race, will be delivered to the Mexican Congress in support of an amendment to the constitution.

A 40-year-old Nebraska woman said in a lawsuit filed Friday that she had an emergency hysterectomy because of a botched abortion at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Lincoln last month.

The woman, who is not named in the lawsuit, said she lost four liters of blood - the equivalent of 80 percent of the average woman’s blood volume, according to the lawsuit - and that the procedure caused her excruciating pain.

Lincoln attorney Jefferson Downing, who filed the lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court, as well as a complaint with the Nebraska Health and Human Services Department on behalf of the woman, said his client felt violated by the treatment she received at the clinic.

"Our client has filed these complaints to bring to light the negligent actions of Planned Parenthood and Dr.(Meryl) Severson," Downing said in a prepared statement.

He said the woman is identified as Jane Roe in the lawsuit to protect her privacy.