A huge fight is going on within the OB/GYN field in the United States. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) ethics board issued a proposed policy last November which states that doctors who refuse to perform abortions and other practices on religious or moral grounds “have the duty to refer patients in a timely manner to other providers if they do not feel they can in conscience provide the standard reproductive services that patients request.”
Then, in January, the organization that certifies doctors in this field issued regulations that tie compliance with ethics board policies to re-certification as an OB/GYN.
In other words — be a part of the abortion practice or lose your certification.
Weighing in with strenuous objection has been the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) and the Bush administration.
Although ACOG appears to have relented somewhat, the issue is far from settled. Pro-life doctors are insisting on a specific declaration which ensures the conscience rights of health care providers.
Funny how “choice” is interpreted by those who support it. Do it our way — or else.
For some time, Planned Parenthood and their cohorts in the radical pro-abortion movement have been waging a campaign of lies against Assembly Representatives Jim Ott (R-Mequon), Karl Van Roy (R-Green Bay), Mark Honadel (R-South Milwaukee) and Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem).
In radio ads, website ads and in flyers mailed to constituents of the four legislators, Planned Parenthood accuses them of supporting legislation that would result in women being imprisoned for having abortions. Things had died down for a time but this week, Planned Parenthood sent more flyers with the same flagrantly dishonest message to people in Rep. Ott’s district.
The truth is no woman in Wisconsin will ever go to prison or face any penalty whatsoever for having an abortion in this state! And Planned Parenthood knows that.
To attempt to justify their outrageous claims, Planned Parenthood cites a law, s. 940.04, that prior to 1985, could have been used as the basis for prosecuting women who obtained abortions. But the unscrupulous Planned Parenthood fails to tell people that the penalties were nullified by the legislature in 1985 when legislation was enacted (s. 940.13) that completely exempts women who undergo abortions in Wisconsin from being penalized in any way under Wisconsin law. Wisconsin Right to Life was one of the organizations that supported that provision.
All four targeted legislators strongly oppose penalizing women for having abortions and they strongly support s. 940.13.
What is even more shocking is that Planned Parent participated in and endorsed the passage of the 1985 law that was enacted so that women were not penalized for having abortions. And now they are attacking the very law they helped to enact. This is the height of hypocrisy!
What this is about, of course, is trying to bloody up these Assembly representatives in anticipation of the 2008 elections. Whether they do it with blatant lies doesn’t seem to matter. Getting a pro-abortion majority in the Assembly, at any cost, is their goal.
But the right to life movement has its eye on the prize too and we intend for the truth to win out in the end.
Our state and country have invested a mind-boggling hundreds of millions of dollars in embryonic stem cell research. States are vying to become the embryonic stem cell research capital of the world, with Wisconsin in the hunt. Controversy surrounds the research because living human embryos must be destroyed to obtain these cells.
Here’s the best kept secret from the public — embryonic stem cells have had zero — yes, that is 0 — results in treating human patients.
Recently, a British scientist honestly conceded failure in a newspaper interview. Here are some of his provocative comments:
Admission that scientists may never be able to overcome the hurdles — such as the development of tumors or immune syndrome rejection issues — that plague embryonic stem cell research and make it risky in humans.
“We have to be cautious. It may not deliver therapy for anything. We may find that stem therapy is quite a risky business.”
“I could not guarantee to anyone that this work will actually lead to improvements in disease as a definite.”
In the meantime, other scientists are forging ahead with research using the recently discovered iPS cells which act like embryonic stem cells but actually come from human skin cells. The best part — no one has to die to retrieve the cells. Because this discovery is so new, there are no human trials to date. However, scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research recently used these new cells to successfully treat mice with Parkinson’s disease.
Neither embryonic stem cells nor the new iPS cells are as successful at this time as the use of adult stem cells which have been used to beneficially treat humans with 73 diseases.
So, the question remains: Is embryonic stem cell research already obsolete? The answer is a resounding yes!
By now everyone is familiar with Obama’s famous statement that he wouldn’t want to “punish” his daughters with a baby if they were pregnant. When observers were aghast at this description, he later tried to backtrack by saying his two daughters are “miracles.” Let’s see if we have this straight – his daughters are “miracles” but his grandchildren are “punishment,” depending on when his “miracles” might be pregnant. Wonder if his daughters don’t want to be “punished” with a baby when they are 30, not 13? After all, Obama supports abortion at any time for any reason.
Are there any babies he likes? He surely doesn’t care about the ones in the womb. Doesn’t want lifesaving treatment for the ones who survive abortions. Parents shouldn’t be notified if their “miracles” want to have an abortion. It’s okay if a stranger takes someone else’s “miracle” across state lines to avoid a state law which requires parental notification or consent. Pretty to easy to sum all of this up – babies are not his favorite people.
Just when you think it couldn’t get much worse between Clinton and Obama, one of them ventures further into the pro-death mentality. This time it is Hillary. Earlier this week, she was in Oregon which owns the infamous reputation of being the only state in the nation to have legalized assisted suicide.
Meeting with an editorial writer and reporter, Clinton was asked point blank what her attitude is toward Oregon’s assisted suicide law. She dodged and weaved, but here are some comments which reveal her “flirt” with this horrible practice:
“I believe it’s within the province of the states to make that decision.”
“…the fact that Oregon is breaking new ground and providing valuable information……when it comes to end-of-life questions, I think, is very beneficial.”
When asked if she would have voted for legalization had she been a resident of Oregon when it was on the ballot, she replied:
“I don’t know the answer to that…..I have a great deal of sympathy for people who are in difficult end-of-life situations.”
“….it’s a terribly difficult decision that should never be forced upon anyone.”
“So with appropriate safeguards and informed decision-making, I think it’s an appropriate right to have.”
Hmmmm. With the last statement, the dodging and weaving solidified into support for a right to assisted suicide. Was she thinking out loud? Sending up a trial balloon? Trying to get votes from Oregon residents? It is sickening to experience how once one slips into the idea that death is a solution to social problems, the list of people who have lives not worth living grows.
When writing about Planned Parenthood, it’s hard to know where to begin. This mega-corporation is an incredible blight on our nation — and yet it receives enough public and private dollars to make it a $1 billion corporation nationally. That’s right — $1 billion.
The part about PP that makes me the angriest is that it continues to be the top abortion provider in the nation — while speaking outside of the other part of its corporate mouth that it is the major contributor to reducing the number of abortions. Sadly, some people actually buy this doublespeak.
In its most recent report from 2005-2006, PP records performing (and receiving funds for) 289,750 abortions, or 25% of all U.S. abortions. As the number of abortions decline nationally, PP is bearing most of the load by increasing the number of abortions it performs by 9% in a year. Abortions provide 31% of the group’s annual income.
This self-proclaimed “all options” group provided prenatal care in that same year for just 11,058 women and did 2,413 adoption referrals.
On a brighter note things were really bad last year for Wisconsin’s PP. It had to shut down its Appleton and Milwaukee abortion clinics for seven months!!!! In keeping with its doublespeak history, PP claimed that the clinics were closing for only two months to upgrade surgery centers, paperwork, and employee training. Then, ads appeared on the PP website looking for abortionists for — guess what — the Appleton and Milwaukee abortion clinics. Logic suggests that they couldn’t find anyone to perform abortions.
Today, Assembly Rep. Frank Boyle (D-Superior) announced his retirement from public office. In almost every legislative session since he was elected to the Assembly twenty-two years ago, Boyle has introduced legislation that would legalize the killing of vulnerable patients by allowing their physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs so the patients can kill themselves. Wisconsin Right to Life has gone head-to-head with Boyle and his allies over this issue every time. Thus far, no legislation to legalize physician-assisted suicide has advanced beyond the public hearing stage.
Boyle’s retirement does not mean an end to the debate on assisted suicide at the state capitol. Far from it! There will always be someone who will take up the banner for the so-called “death with dignity” movement and that means we must remain vigilant. The pro-euthanasia/assisted suicide crowd is not going to give up!
To provide a worldwide resource on the topics of assisted suicide and euthanasia, Wisconsin Right to Life and Christian Life Resources founded the “Nightingale Alliance.” We encourage you to visit the highly-acclaimed Nightingale Alliance website to keep up to speed on what is happening on these issues throughout the nation and the world.
For those of us who believe the sanctity of human life is the bottom line issue in making our voting decisions, we will find no presidential candidate from the Democratic Party who fills the bill. Sadly, that party has deteriorated to the point where only radically pro-abortion candidates are considered to be acceptable presidential material.
Democrats may be divided as to which of the two remaining candidates should be their nominee, but Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have each passed their party’s pro-abortion litmus test with flying colors. In the eyes of the party, their credentials on this issue are impeccable.
And no wonder! Their voting records show that there is no unborn child that they would vote to protect from abortion. It doesn’t matter the gestational age of the child or what the reason is for the abortion. Obama and Clinton support abortion on demand throughout the full nine months of pregnancy, for any reason.
While serving in the Illinois legislature, Obama twice voted against the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act, legislation that required hospitals to provide appropriate medical care to babies born alive after an abortion attempt. In some of our nation’s hospitals, these tiny survivors were often thrown in the garbage (alive) or left in a supply room until they died without any medical attention whatsoever. Later, as Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, Obama prevented the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act from advancing to the floor for a vote by the full Senate.
Keep in mind these babies have been completely delivered from their mothers and have taken their first breath, making them a “legal person.” On this one, Obama went beyond even late-term abortion by supporting the infanticide of already born infants.
There is no recorded vote for Clinton on the federal version of the born alive bill because the bill was passed in the Senate by unanimous consent.
In 2003, Clinton voted to keep the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure legal by opposing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. A partial-birth abortion involves the abortionist grabbing the leg of a fully formed baby with forceps and pulling the baby’s leg out into the birth canal. The abortionist then delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head and jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child’s brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is removed.
In Clinton’s world, a “right” to abortion is paramount above all else, even when untold pain, suffering and death is inflicted on an innocent, helpless late-term baby.
Both Obama and Clinton have maintained 0% right to life voting records since being elected to the U. S. Senate, according to the National Right to Life Committee. Both are co-sponsors of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would invalidate all laws, state or federal, that would “deny or interfere” with “a woman’s access to abortion.” Some of the laws FOCA would invalidate are laws restricting taxpayer funding of abortion, laws that ban the gruesome, late-term partial-birth abortion procedure, laws requiring parental consent prior to a minor’s abortion and many, many others. Obama and Clinton support unfettered abortion with no restrictions whatsoever.
For people who believe that human life at all stages is intrinsically valuable and ought to be protected, Obama and Clinton are more than unacceptable … they are frightening!
Against enormous odds, a little-known judge from a tiny town in northern Wisconsin will now sit on the State Supreme Court for the next ten years. Gableman made no promises about issues or cases, as is fitting a judicial candidate. His philosophy is what won the day. Gableman clearly understands and embraces fully the role of a judge to interpret, not make, law. And, the public now clearly understands that some judges run rampant once elected or appointed and attempt to substitute their “wisdom” for that of the people who work to enact laws through the legislature. The legislative, not the judicial, process is true democracy as envisioned by our nation’s founders.
The lesson of this judicial race and others to come is that the people are now very savvy about judges and the importance of judicial races. It was interesting to hear Gableman’s opponent and other judicial candidates fall all over themselves in attempts to portray themselves as judicial conservatives – when their decisions on prior cases indicate they are not.
Wisconsin Right to Life is very proud of our efforts in this race. Again, Gableman made no promises. But, our Wisconsin laws protecting unborn children from abortion and older people from assisted suicide seem ever so much safer today.
One of the major problems the right-to-life movement has is that many of the vulnerable we defend - most notably unborn children - cannot speak for themselves. Several exciting developments have accurred recently regarding the use of adult stem cells - the most important being patients who were treated with them can tell the tale of their improvement.
The Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. held a press briefing on March 13 featuring three patients treated with blood or bone marrow derived stem cells taken from their own bodies. No one had to die to retrieve these cells. Their testimony can be seen below or viewed at YouTube.
The three patients were successfully treated for Multiple Sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects connective tissue in the body, and for a lupus-like disorder. The youtube video is visual proof of the effectiveness of moral and ethical stem cell treatment. The patients’ full testimony can be found here.
Also at the briefing was Dr. Richard Burt who published an article in the February 27, 2008 Journal of the American medical Association (JAMA). The article, entitled “Clinical Applications of Blood-Derived and Marrow-Derived Stem Cells for Nonmalignant Diseases” examined hundreds of studies over a 10 year period and concluded that blood or bone marrow derived stem cells are successful and safe for treating heart disease and autoimmuine disorders. In 2007, Dr. Burt led a study that used adult stem cells to reverse Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes in patients.
Yet, the media, scientists, and certain celebrities continue the drum beat for embryonic stem cells where embryos die, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent, and no one has been helped. It is our job to pound the public with the right information so that one day, these elites will see the error of their ways.
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