Last week we told you about the lie which has already been used in ads against John McCain– that he wants women who have abortions to go to prison. This week, Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin are airing a radio ad in La Crosse that goes one notch further — that rape victims who have abortions will go to prison.
“I was raped in 2004…,” the ad starts. “If they want to turn me and my doctor into criminals, ask them how much time should we do?,” the ad concludes. Here’s the comical part – the ad also says at one point that “they want to turn victims into criminals.” I don’t think you could find a single American who believes an abortionist who collects money for performing an abortion is a “victim.”
This ad names no specific legislator. We will most likely hear the names of various legislators/candidates in phase two of this campaign. And, it’s no surprise that the campaign has started in La Crosse where incumbent Senator Dan Kapanke is public enemy number one to Planned Parenthood and the top target of the Democratic party.
Long before Trig Palin entered the American consciousness, a bill authored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) was making its way through the U.S. Senate. The goal: to reduce the number of abortions of babies detected in utero with Down syndrome. That bill has now cleared both houses of Congress and is on its way to being signed into law by President Bush.
The reason why this legislation is so desperately needed is that up to 90% of babies detected with Down syndrome are aborted. Senator Brownback’s bill requires that families who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or other anomalies receive full information on the condition and connections to support systems. So many times, abortions occur out of fear or ignorance. This measure is crafted to assist parents at a time when they are bewildered and in need of whatever assistance they can get.
The bill also sets up a national registry of families willing to adopt children with anomalies so that the adoption option is available for parents.
Kudos to Senator Brownback and Senator Ted Kennedy who co-authored the bill. Hopefully, the numbers will change as this measure takes effect.
Assisted suicide has reared its ugly head again this year. Earlier in 2008, a State Senate committee held a public hearing on a proposed measure to legalize assisted suicide. Fortunately, no further action was taken by the committee.
Now we have a court decision emanating from Clark county. Linda and Megan Schunk allegedly drove Edward Schunk, their husband/father, to a cabin on their property and left him there alone with a loaded shotgun. He subsequently killed himself with the gun. Linda and Megan are inheritors under Edward’s estate. Another daughter of Edward’s, Donna Lemmer, filed proceedings claiming that Linda and Megan should not be entitled to their inheritance because they assisted in Edward’s suicide.
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV, concluded that the probate statutes only disallow inheritance when there is intentional killing, and that assisting a suicide is not an intentional killing under the probate statutes. Wisconsin does have a law specifically prohibiting assisted suicide but this statute does not address the inheritance issue.
This decision has ominous implications for Wisconsin citizens by giving a financial motive to those who provide the means for someone to kill themselves. Wisconsin Right to Life will seek either court or legislative action to close this loophole.
It happens every election cycle. Planned Parenthood and its cronies run blatantly false ads accusing right-to-life candidates of being in favor of throwing women who have abortions in prison.
The latest victim is Senator McCain. A group called the Winning Message Action Fund, which is associated with the pro-abortion group the National Institute for Reproductive Health, will begin airing ads in battleground states (including Wisconsin) in early October. The ad has “questions” for McCain: “Will you stand by as states put women in jail?”
I have worked with candidates for over thirty years. I cannot think of a single right-to-life candidate or legislator who favors putting women who have abortions in jail. Nor does Wisconsin Right to Life hold that position. Think of how hypocritical we would be as we welcome women who have had abortions into ranks, while holding the position that they should really be in prison.
Beyond that, the law doesn’t support it. Our Wisconsin abortion ban, s. 940.04 of the statutes, says in (3) and (4) that women who have abortions are subject to penalties. However, s. 940.04 (3) and (4) are nullified by passage of s. 940.13 in 1985 which states that women cannot be penalized or fined in any way. The pro-aborts ignore s. 940.13, which is the prevailing law, and insist that in Wisconsin women will go to prison.
Be prepared for an onslaught of such ads being used against candidates for the state legislature. We’ll keep you posted on who is attacked and when.
It is brilliant! Wisconsin scientist James Thomson owns two research companies which are focusing on development of ethical iPS stem cells rather than life-destroying embryonic. Why this is so remarkable is because Thomson ushered in the era of stem cell research through his 1998 isolation of the first embryonic stem cell. Thomson, along with a Japanese scientist, announced in late 2007 that they were able to reprogram ordinary skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, now known as iPS stem cells, which have the same qualities as embryonic.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Thomson said “I personally believe that the future is in the (adult skin) cells. “ Thomson still maintains, however, that embryonic stem cell research should continue.
The move by the scientific community into ethical research that doesn’t rely on the destruction of human life is an exceptional step forward. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. Scientists can move forward with the full support of the American public to discovery of treatments and drugs to help the human condition without contention. The practical benefits are also enormous, as skin cells are plentiful, their use mitigates rejection factors, and no human cloning is needed.
It is still early for iPS cells as they have not yet been put into patients. While this research progresses, scientists have been able to ameliorate the impact of 73 diseases and conditions of real human patients using ethical adult stem cells.
Kudos to James Thomson for moving in the right direction. And, special thanks to President Bush whose 2001 policy to prohibit the use of federal funds to destroy new human embryos pushed scientists to find an ethical alternative.
Obama telegraphed in his speech four years ago at the Democratic national convention that Democrats need to recruit people of faith. Obama the candidate has organized a “faith tour” featuring evangelical author Donald Miller, Pepperdine University professor and Catholic Doug Kmiec and former Indiana congressman Tim Roemer.
The goal is obvious — to attempt to convince Catholic and evangelical voters that Obama really isn’t such a bad guy. Especially on abortion and infanticide. For months, Kmiec has been weakly trying to defend Obama’s dismal anti-life-to-the core record.
On abortion, here are the basic Obama spin messages:
1. Obama will reduce the number of abortions. This statement makes me crazy. Obama wants fully funded abortions in his health care plan. Yes, that means that you taxpayers will pay for 1.2 million abortions each year for any reason, as many times as a woman wants one, at any time during pregnancy. Does anyone really believe that essentially “free” abortions will actually decrease the number? An increase is much more likely. And, Obama fully intends to push for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would overturn all laws that restrict abortion. State and federal laws that prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions, ban partial-birth abortion, require parental notification before abortion, and require information for women seeking abortions with waiting periods would become useless words in the statutes if FOCA becomes law. Result: more, not less, abortions.
2. Abortions decrease under Democratic presidencies and increase under Republican ones. Howard Dean has already started beating this drum. It is just plain factually incorrect. Abortions have fallen to the lowest numbers in decades with some of the most significant decreases in the past eight years. Wisconsin had a 14% decrease in 2007. Just when I think no one can take this argument seriously, reality hits. A man at my church asked me if abortions really go down under Democrats. It was clear this statement had struck a chord with him.
Will the public be fooled by the spin that is certain to increase? Some people will be fooled, which is why those of us in the know need to continually pound the reality that Obama would be THE ABORTION PRESIDENT.
Back to the “faith tour.” At its first stop at Liberty University in Virginia, a state that Obama desperately needs to carry, 15 people came to the first tour event. May the faith tour rest in peace.
Obama is so desperate to continue the cover-up of his four votes as an Illinois State Senator to deny lifesaving treatment to babies who survive abortions that he is airing an ad bashing Gianna Jessen. Gianna survived a late-term abortion 31 years ago and appears in her own ad questioning why Obama would deny treatment to babies like her.
Clearly, this issue is getting under his skin, because anyone who talks about it is immediately branded a liar. “…Obama’s always supported medical care to protect infants,” his ad indignantly proclaims. Really. There are four recorded votes in the Illinois Senate of Obama voting against legislation to provide lifesaving treatment for abortion survivors.
Obama even spoke against one of the measures on the Senate floor, essentially saying that “pre-viable” babies who survive abortions do not deserve care. In other words, if a woman wants a dead baby, we should preserve her “right” to one, even if the baby is alive and breathing and fully separated from her.
Obama has come unglued over the discovery of committee votes by the National Right to Life Committee which indisputably prove that as a committee chair, he voted for language to make the Illinois bill before his committee virtually identical to the federal law which was approved unanimously by the U.S. Congress. Obama then voted against the amended bill. He continues to weakly claim he would have voted for a bill that was the same as the federal one, given the chance.
Even FactCheck.com has looked at the evidence and concluded that Obama is not telling the truth about his committee vote.
In an interview with LifeNews.com, Jessen said, “Obama is clearly blinded by political ambition given his attack on me this week. All I asked of him was to do the right thing: support medical care and protection for babies who survive abortion — as I did 31 years ago….In the words of his own false and misleading ad, his position is downright vile.”
Stay tuned for a lot more on this issue, especially in battleground states.
As Palin continues to impress the American public, her critics have gone through the roof. One writer claimed she and her friends wanted to jump out windows. Another felt her head exploding at the mere sight of Palin.
Groups claiming to represent women are on an all-out rampage. The Feminist Majority Foundation and National Organization for Women release a constant barrage of criticism practically denying Palin her womanhood. Gloria Steinem even did that!
Palin has had her personal email account hacked, exposing her private communications with friends and family. Instead of outrage, some in the mainstream media have raised questions about Palin even having a private email account, alleging she shouldn’t be conducting business on her personal email account (which she didn’t do). This, after Obama ran an ad criticizing McCain for not using email. How much more bizarre can it get?
Quite frankly, all of the above is pretty silly stuff in the bigger scheme, as Palin herself stated in her high-quality interview with Sean Hannity. What is really beyond the pale is the commentary of Nicholas Provenzo writing for the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, a libertarian group. Provenzo slams Palin for giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome!
“…I am troubled by the implications of Alaska governor….Sarah Palin’s decision to knowingly give birth to a child disabled with Down syndrome,” he writes. “A parent has a moral obligation to provide for his or her children until these children are equipped to provide for themselves. Because a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive (if at all) and requires constant care and supervision, unless a parent enjoys the wealth to provide for the lifetime of assistance that their child will require, they are essentially stranding the cost of their child’s life upon others.”
Contrast this self-serving, discriminatory viewpoint with what Palin herself said at the birth of her precious Trig: “….we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives.” A class act indeed.
A new video is available to send to friends, colleagues, neighbors. If you want a copy of the video to take to your church or organization for viewing, please call 888-378-7395.
Now, more than ever, it is critical that people examine the values that candidates bring to office, from president to congressional to state offices. Educating others on the importance of voting their values is the most important thing you can do in an election that will set the course of our right-to-life values for decades to come.
Gianna Jessen was born 31 years ago after a failed abortion attempt. Today, she is a beautiful, vibrant young woman as well as a talented musician, author and motivational speaker.
Gianna said, “I’m a survivor, as are many others … but if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn’t be here.”
What Gianna was referring to is Obama’s four votes against legislation in the Illinois legislature that would have afforded basic human rights to fully born babies who survive abortion attempts. Obama not only voted against the legislation, he used the power of his committee chairmanship to make sure the legislation died! The legislation was called the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
Today, Gianna has come forward to give tiny abortion survivors a voice by creating a website to expose the truth about Barack Obama’s outrageous opposition to protecting these babies.
On Gianna’s website, which can be accessed here, is an ad that is now running on television in New Mexico and Ohio that features Gianna exposing Obama’s outrageous actions in opposition to the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act. Gianna hopes that resources will permit the ad will be shown in additional states.
As Gianna said, “I am living proof these babies have a right to life, and I invite you to learn more about Senator Obama’s record on this important issue.”
We join Gianna in urging you to become informed on the Obama record on the born alive issue. Visit Gianna’s website and share what you learn with others!
![[Email]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
