Just when you think the world couldn’t get more tasteless, Planned Parenthood reaches the ultimate new low. A few years ago, PP sent out crass and disgusting “Choice on Earth” Christmas cards. This year, Planned Parenthood of Indiana is offering — I am not making this up — gift certificates which can be used for abortions.
Many lament that we have lost the meaning of Christmas. That its true intent is to celebrate the birth of a precious baby. PP has turned this most beautiful occasion into a mockery, twisting the celebration of the birth of a child into the promotion of the death of a child, with cash for Planned Parenthood as the “reward.” How much lower can we go?
My colleague, David Andrusko at National Right to Life, summed it up: “Let’s imagine how a young, pregnant, single mom, already concerned about her relationship, would feel waking up Christmas morning. She unwraps a package to find a stack of Planned Parenthood gift certificates and a note that says ‘ This ought to cover the abortion. Merry Christmas, Billy.’”
Appalling!!!
Read the full story on the gift certificates here.
FOCA, the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, is a very real and dangerous threat to women and unborn babies. As repeatedly reported in this blog and on our FOCA webpage, FOCA would overturn some 350 laws passed by the various states to restrict abortion.
Proponents of abortion have started a campaign to understate the impact of FOCA to try to make it palatable to the American public. Websites are claiming Catholic bishops are practicing “hysterics” by expressing concern over the real possibility of Catholic hospitals having to perform abortions. One commentator claims the right-to-life movement had to “invent” fears about FOCA to get people to vote against Obama.
Here is what a 2004 Planned Parenthood fact sheet says about FOCA: FOCA would immediately restore reproductive freedom for the millions of American women who already face interference with their right to choose as a result of onerous state and federal restrictions. FOCA will supercede anti-choice laws that restrict the right to choose, including laws that prohibit the public funding of abortions for poor women or counseling and referrals for abortions. Additionally, FOCA will prohibit onerous restrictions on a woman’s right to choose, such as mandated delays and targeted and medically unnecessary regulations.”
Just like we have been saying for the past 16 years.
Proponents are also trying to throw everyone off track, claiming there are not enough votes for FOCA, it is not a priority, etc. Only a fool would listen to such rhetoric. What is especially troubling is to hear right-to-life commentators surmise that it is unlikely FOCA will pass. What crystal ball are they consulting?
Wisconsin Right to Life is not fooled by the rhetoric and will continue an aggressive campaign to educate and motivate people to oppose FOCA in every way possible.
Kudos to Cellular Dynamics International LLC (CDI) , a Madison-based technological firm, which recently raised $18 million to push towards its goal of becoming a world leader in ethical stem cell research using iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells.
Scientists at CDI believe that through the use of iPS cells, formed from human skin cells instead of from destroyed embryos, patient-specific stem cells can be stored which will revolutionize the way patients are treated in the future. The 2007 discovery of iPS cells by Professor James Thomson of Madison and University of Kyoto scientist Shinya Yamanaka has propelled this new avenue for use of stem cells which are:
Abundant since they are formed from human skin cells
Easy to harvest
Practical because the cells formed from a patient’s cells will not be rejected by the patient since they carry that patient’s DNA
Have no ethical problems since no human lives are lost in the process
According to CDI Chairman and CEO, Bob Palay, the $18 million “will help CDI develop an infrastructure for industrializing production of human cell types for research and for creating a repository of stem cells . . . That bio-bank would be where people could store stem cells engineered from their DNA for use as part of personalized therapies or for testing reactions to drugs.”
Exciting news indeed. A win/win for science and ethics. Kudos not only to the scientists who made this discovery and are bringing it to fruition, but to President Bush and to the right-to-life movement which has insisted for the past ten years that ethical science which does not rely on the destruction of human life can be embraced and promoted by all.
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