We know firsthand how fervently Paul Ryan believes in the sanctity of human life. It is at the center and core of his being. And what he believes is how he votes. Now that he is the official Vice-Presidential candidate, Ryan is under fierce attack by his opponents. Ryan is “extreme,” they intone. Ryan does not like women. Ryan embodies what the “war on women” is all about. Yada, yada. So inflammatory, and so off the mark.
How did Ryan handle these ridiculous attacks in his acceptance speech? Beautifully, we think. Here is what he said:
“Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life.
“We have responsibilities, one to another— we do not each face the world alone. And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak. The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.
“Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government— to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America’s founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.”
August 21, 2012
To Whomever Can Help:
Dad’s huge toothless smile greeted me as I settled on the edge of his bed this morning; his blue eyes were dimmer now, yet they matched his wide smile.
“Good morning Dad.” I lay a kiss on top of his head and placed one hand on his far shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Dad lifted his arm and positioned it over the top of mine. I gazed at him; how can he be doing so well after five days with nothing at all to eat or drink – no feeding tube or IV?
I thanked the CNA that busied herself with Dad’s roommate. She was one of several that I had watched care for my father over the past year and it was important to me to let her know how much I appreciated the cheerful way she tended to his needs. “I love your Dad’s smile.” She said, walking to Dad’s side, “How are you doing Frank?” She asked. “Pretty good.” Though his voice was hoarse and dry, the words were clear.
This morning as I spoke with Dad, reminiscing over games of pinochle and scrabble that we had played together since I was a child, I saw that he was continually raising his head off his pillow as if trying to sit up. Do you want them to get you up in your chair Dad, and then I can push you out on the patio?” I asked. Sun was shining through his window and I knew the temperature was close to eighty degrees; I thought of all of our walks around the grounds together; Dad always loved the outdoors.
“Yah.” Came the instant reply.
Dad’s temperature was taken; no fever. His blood pressure was 130/90; yet we were soon informed that my father’s guardian, who is also my mother, said she did not want Dad out of bed all day.
The tears could not stop now. Sitting beside Dad – his eyes locked on mine, his smile growing fainter – I wondered how we could starve a man to death when I could not even neglect my pet dog in this way. I wondered what Dad’s thoughts were as he watched the stream of tears flow down my cheeks. How could I explain to him that this inhuman plan was made by his wife – but was being fought by his children.
Only days earlier we received a phone call telling us that Dad had lost the ability to swallow and now he choked when being fed; he would not be receiving any more food or water. Adult children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren immediately set out to drive or fly across the U.S. to spend those last days with their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. What we found at Sannes Skogdalen Heim was not a dying man as we had envisioned, but rather, a smiling man sitting up in his wheelchair. Dad was still laughing, still forming words. He told me he was thirsty.
The days keep ticking away yet Dad remains unbelievably strong. I know he will weaken soon – before my own eyes and I know that this isn’t right. This is my dad; I only get one in a lifetime and this is how his life’s ending was chosen. I cannot comprehend why or how this can even be a choice.
Why did the doctors not start an IV when Dad was brought into the hospital and found to be dehydrated? It is well known that dehydration in a person causes swallowing difficulties. Why was this decision made between doctor and guardian with no input from Dad’s fifteen children?
Can you please help us?
Sincerely,
Bernadette Hall
“Thou Shalt Not Kill!” God
I am writing for your help in saving the life of our father, Frank Sedlak, from death by starvation. We received a call from my sister, Therese Stroupe, on Saturday, August 18. She told us that our dad only had 3-4 days to live. If we wanted to see him, we were told to come now. He hadn’t eaten since Thursday, had swallowing problems and the doctor said he was no candidate for a feeding tube because of his advanced age and low quality of life.
Being a Hospice aide, I expected to see a dying man when I arrived on Sunday, August 19th. Instead, what I saw was a man very alive, excited to see us, smiling, laughing, talking (hard to understand because of strokes), but responding appropriately to our questions and remarks. At a visit the next day, I found the guardian, our mother, listening to my brother-in-law, Stephen Gould, about how a feeding tube could help Dad. I questioned about the results of the swallowing test and stated that dysphasia was not a problem if fed correctly. He could be fed orally, and not starved to death.
This situation is too heart-breaking and so unreal, it is hard to believe it is actually happening! Doctors, who instead of instructing on proper feeding of someone with dysphasia are saying, “Don’t give him anything to eat or drink!” How could my sister, (Therese Stroupe), and my mother be cruel enough to agree to this?
Even today, August 21st, my Dad has let me know he does not want to die. But the doctor is ordering it, my mother is agreeing with the doctor’s order, and the administrative staff and nursing staff at the nursing home are enforcing it, even having law enforcement officials on hand to prevent any one from trying to help my Dad. The name of this “Nursing Home” is Sannes Skogdalen Heim. It is located in Soldiers Grove, WI.
Other family members beside myself who have worked in nursing homes, and countless other people that I have talked to, have said they have never seen anything like this before. They have never seen a patient who expressed that he wanted to live, who is not suffering from any terminal illness, forced to die through withholding food and water.
When did guardians or doctors become gods? When were they given the legal right to ignore the expressed wishes of the adult patient? This is a travesty, especially since these professionals are so misguided regarding the sanctity of human life.
Mary Sharpe, daughter of Frank Sedlak
Post Script: Wisconsin Right to Life was contacted about this case and found legal counsel to assist. We are sad to report that Mr. Sedlak died under these horrendous conditions before anything could be done for him.
In a new interview aired on CBS, Ann Romney, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, shared a personal moment in talking about the multiple miscarriages she suffered and how they affected her life and the life of her family.
Romney had the miscarriages in her 40s and the couple’s youngest son was reportedly devastated by the news, collapsing in tears in front of his mother as she informed him of the loss of one of her babies before birth. Mitt Romney himself had not heard the story of his son’s reaction until Ann Romney shared it with CBS.
Ann Romney talked about how their son Craig, the youngest of the five boys the Romneys have, really wanted a little brother or sister and was “thrilled” when she a announced she was pregnant. She was four and a half months pregnant at the time it happened.
“You know, I [had] sort of told him, ‘I’m sorry, but that, you know, there’s no more children in our future.’ So, he was thrilled to death” when he was told about her pregnancy, said Ann Romney.
“I knew I was losing the baby. It was about three or four in the morning and I decided that I wasn’t going to wake Mitt up,” Mrs. Romney says in the upcoming interview. “I waited until it was about six in the morning and I said, ‘Mitt, you gotta take me to the hospital right now.’”
“I was home by the time Craig got home from school in the afternoon and he walked in the door and he was about ten or 11 years old and he fell on the floor and he just burst into tears,” she added. “And the poor little kid had been at school all day long holding this sorrow inside of him and having no one to speak to, no one to comfort him, no one to explain what is going on.”
“I said, ‘You know, Craig, you know, you’re probably not going to have another little brother or little sister in your life, but you’ll have children of your own someday. And, you know, this little hole will be filled by that,’” said Ann Romney in the CBS interview. “And the interesting thing: He married a woman who had younger, much younger brothers. And when I saw Craig playing with those younger brothers, I thought to myself, ‘Isn’t life interesting. He got those little brothers. He had to just wait a while.’”
According to CBS, Mitt Romney said he “hadn’t heard the story of Craig coming home from school that day and being so devastated.”
“I’m not surprised. He’s a very tender heart and a wonderful father today himself,” he added.
Ann Romney’s health has come up before in the campaign as voters get to know her as well as her husband. Ann has battled multiple sclerosis since 1998 and fought an early-stage breast cancer diagnosis in 2008.
In 2007, Ann Romney said she no longer supports abortion and joins her husband, Republican presidential candidate Mitt, in taking a pro-life viewpoint.
Ann Romney told Fox News that what is important now is that both she and her husband are pro-life and actively promoting the pro-life perspective. She also said that she became pro-life at the same time as Mitt after evaluating the issue of embryonic stem cell research.
“So I’ve had to make a decision, a personal decision, on this, and it came pretty much at the same time with Mitt, with feeling about M.S. and research dollars and everything else, as to the value of life and experimentation on life,” Mrs. Romney said.
“And it gave me pause at that time to say whose life is more important, and I had to come out on the side of life when it came for me making a real personal decision about research dollars going to creating new human life for experimentation,” she concluded.
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and President Obama have such a cozy relationship that PPFA will be working overtime and spending millions to have their best friend re-elected. PPFA fears, rightly so, that if Romney is elected, the half a billion dollars that PPFA and its affiliates receive from the taxpayers will be in jeopardy.
The Obama administration is so all-in for Planned Parenthood that the President makes it personal. In July, Obama said : “Mr. Romney wants to get rid of funding for Planned Parenthood I think that’s a bad idea. I’ve got two daughters. I want them to control their own health care choices.”
Here is the Planned Parenthood election playbook:
PPFA President Cecile Richards will be a featured speaker at the Democratic convention. (Personally, I think it scandalous when the nation’s largest abortion provider is given a place of honor at a major national event.)
PPFA will host a private soiree at the Democratic convention titled “Sex, Politics & Cocktails.” (Wonder how to get an invite and see if they are, as one observer asked, going to be handing out free condoms.)
PPFA is planning a bus tour to support the Obama Presidency. (You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.)
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund plans to spend $3 million to air ads attacking Romney in the battleground states of Ohio and Virginia. According to the group’s political director, Elizabeth Shipp, “We’re going after voters known as ‘Obama defectors’, women who voted for Obama in 2008 and are not committed to voting for him in November or not planning to vote.” (Can Wisconsin be far behind?)
Struggling for survival — and that’s just where we like to see Planned Parenthood and President Obama.
Wisconsin Right to Life is not a partisan organization. It has been extremely sad to watch the Democratic party be co-opted by the proponents of abortion. In prior years, there were numbers of pro-life Democrats serving in Congress and the state legislature as committed to the sanctity of human life as we are. No more.
Nowhere is this contrast starker than now, as the two major political parties approach their national conventions.
Speaking at the Democratic party convention will be Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards, pro-abortion Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, NARAL Pro-Choice President Nancy Keenan, HHS mandate proponent Sandra Fluke, and numbers of other high-profile pro-abortion individuals. Cardinal Timothy Dolan asked to be present to pray and was denied. The request by pro-life Democrats for the party to moderate its platform and add language welcoming Democrats who oppose abortion has been denied.
The Republican party has once again adopted a strongly pro-life platform on abortion. According to Attorney Jim Bopp, who was a leader in formulating the platform statement, the party has once again, as it has since 1980, endorsed the adoption of “a Human Life Amendment” to protect unborn life and to reverse Roe v. Wade. Bopp states that, “The position does not take a position on which version of a Human Life Amendment should eventually be adopted. We leave that decision to Congress and the people of the United States at that time. Thus, we do not take a position on which exceptions should be included in a Human Life Amendment.” And, Cardinal Dolan will be present to offer a prayer at this convention.
Wisconsin Right to Life firmly believes there are many Democrats not in leadership positions who support the right-to-life. We continue to welcome them into our organization and our cause. It will take many Americas to end the tragedy of abortion.
It’s the latest chapter on the fictitious “war on women” and comes as no surprise. The Obama campaign is using the selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as Romney’s running mate as an excuse to write this new chapter. A new television ad will air in Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, Ohio, Florida and Iowa with its main charge that Romney and Ryan want to eliminate taxpayer funding of the nation’s abortion giant, Planned Parenthood. It is important to repeat over and over that Planned Parenthood does abortions on 91% of the pregnant women it sees, and Planned Parenthood receives almost $500 million in taxpayer dollars annually.
Obama mouthpieces and groupies, including Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice America, are hysterical about the “extremeness” the Romney/Ryan team presents. On abortion and the HHS mandate, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund says, “These are really extreme positions that are far to the right of most Americans.” NARAL Pro-Choice America chimes in that “We can now not only remind people how good Obama has been — but how bad Romney-Ryan will be. It’s a full court press…. We are confident we can reach …once women become familiar with Paul Ryan’s views on choice and reproductive rights.”
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin (PPAWI) wasted no time in blasting Ryan following his selection as VP running mate. According to Tanya Atkinson of PPAWI, “If there were any lingering doubts about Mitt Romney’s position on women’s health issues, they ended today….Congressman Ryan has one of the worst records in congress on women’s issues.”
Look for this recurring theme and for the Obama ad and Planned Parenthood ads to show up in Wisconsin homes soon. And, continue to ask — how is abortion “healthy” for unborn women?
The Netherlands opened the doors to euthanasia way back in 1973. Since then, it has fallen off a vertical moral cliff with the killing agenda having spread to the pediatric wards, the mentally ill, and now stalking the elderly “tired of life”–all reported here and in my other writings.
But even that isn’t enough. The cultural death addiction is now spreading, as I have reported, to the point that people want to be able to do each other. That process is moving ahead with Hemlock Society type advocacy of assisted suicide proselytizing. From the Radio Netherlands story:
“A special website has been launched in the Netherlands for people who assist family or friends to commit suicide and want to tell their stories anonymously, or simply ask questions. Assisted suicide carried out by lay people is currently punishable by law. In the Netherlands, only doctors can carry out assisted suicides, and they can do so only if they follow strict protocols. [Me: Baloney!]
“According to Right-to-Die-Netherlands (NVVE), physicians frequently refuse requests for assisted suicide, leaving patients unable to carry out their wishes in a humane way. One case recently made headlines: a man who helped his 99-year-old mother to die by giving her the lethal medication she requested. The Ministry of Justice is considering bringing charges against the man. The NVVE says people are often unwilling to help their friends and loved ones because they fear prosecution. So they’re left witnessing their loved ones dying or committing suicide and have to live with those memories. The organisation hopes that the anonymous testimonies will provoke discussion in the Netherlands and ultimately to the scrapping of the law against lay people helping in cases of assisted suicide.”
If he is prosecuted, don’t expect any meaningful punishment. And watch, Euthanasia will spread away from the “medical model,” which is logical when you think about it because killing isn’t really a medical act.
Here’s the moral of the story: Euthanasia is addicting. Once you allow it for a few circumstances, over time, you will allow it for many. Ultimate destination: Death on Demand.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation will undergo significant changes following the debacle in which it announced it would eliminate grants to Planned Parenthood, only to buckle under public pressure instigated by Planned Parenthood which caused Komen to reinstate the grants. CEO Nancy Brinker will step down to focus on Komen’s “global mission and raising resources to bring our promise to women all around the world.”
It was only a matter of time, for the public debacle over Planned Parenthood has damaged this organization significantly in the public eye and financially. Also resigning are policy chief Karen Handel; Executive vice president and chief marketing officer Katrina McGhee; vice president of global networks Nancy Macgregor; and director of affiliate strategy and planning Joanna Newcomb. Board members Brenda Lauderback and Linda Law are also leaving. Finally, Komen President Liz Thompson is leaving effective September 7. News stories present different accounts on why all of these key people are leaving the organization, but it is clear that the organization is sweeping house.
Adding to the organization’s woes is the about-to-be-released book by Karen Handel titled “Planned Bullyhood: The Truth about the Planned Parenthood Funding Battle with Susan G. Komen For the Cure.” Handel was intimately involved in the decision to eliminate grants to Planned Parenthood and has done several interviews on why that decision was made. Handel told Fox News: “I think the Congressional investigation, along with the various state investigations, were a factor in the decision. But make no mistake about it, it was a bigger picture than that. There was the granting criteria, as well as the controversies that were surrounding Planned Parenthood.” Handel here is referring to investigations of Planned Parenthood by the federal and several state governments where Planned Parenthood is accused of fraud, misuse of taxpayer dollars and breaking abortion laws.
A tarnished organization, for sure, that maintains its ties to the nation’s abortion giant. What a sad outcome for its cause and the women it hopes to serve.
When Paul Ryan first ran for Congress in 1998, he was a very young 28 — boyish and eager. He came to a Wisconsin Right to Life interview with his clean-cut button-down shirt and fresh approach to public life. WRTL-PAC endorsed him for his fervent and sincere right-to-life convictions, but thought him perhaps too young to succeed. But succeed he did and Ryan has been over-achieving ever since.
Who is Paul Ryan? Fiercely pro-life, amiable, tons of character, principled, honest, charismatic, man of integrity, fantastic communicator, devoted husband and father. This is the man we met in 1998 and he has not changed, just grown in stature and maturity. People know Paul Ryan and like him. All of these qualities have allowed him to continue to be re-elected with over 60% of the vote in a district that is, at best, a “swing district” but mostly Democratic.
A few years ago, at an event in Ryan’s district where he was the featured speaker, the room was filled with Democratic politicians and sympathizers. Ryan worked the room, talking to everyone in his charming, friendly way. In his public remarks, Ryan took a few humorous jabs at the Democrat pols in attendance, and even they laughed.
And smart. Ryan is really smart. We didn’t know what a terrific policy wonk he was until he released his Road Map to the Future about four years ago. It has been fascinating to watch our friend tackle the most complex fiscal issues facing our country, and describe solutions in a manner which the average person can understand. When Ryan says the country is facing a dangerous fiscal future, he is incredibly believable due to his comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the federal budget.
Perhaps the most defining moment in Ryan’s rise to stardom was his face-down with President Obama on ObamaCare. There is no question who won that encounter, for Obama was no match for Ryan’s facts and ability to articulate them. It is no wonder that everyone is salivating over a debate between Ryan and pro-abortion Vice President Joe Biden, for we already know who will win.
The right-to-life Romney/Ryan ticket is now complete, and once again, Wisconsin is at the center of the political universe. We are extremely proud of our pro-life Governor, Scott Walker, who has changed the direction of the country through his leadership at the state level. We are doubly blessed to have Paul Ryan who will help lead the country on a needed corrective course. The biggest blessing of all is that these two individuals of unblemished character are among the strongest advocates for life in the country.
May God bless Governor Mitt Romney for choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate. May God continue to bless Paul Ryan. And may God bless the United States of American under courage and leadership of the Romney/Ryan comeback team.
It is terrible enough that each abortion results in the death of a precious baby. But it is doubly tragic when the abortion takes the lives of both mother and child. That is what happened recently at a Chicago Planned Parenthood clinic when a botched abortion claimed the lives of both Tonya Reaves and her unborn child. Tonya underwent a second-trimester D&E abortion at 11:00 a.m. and began to bleed profusely. Shockingly, the bleeding continued for five and one half hours at the Planned Parenthood facility before the clinic staff finally called for an ambulance that took Tonya to Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 4:30 p.m.
Why the delay? A recording and transcript obtained after the incident indicates that the Chicago Planned Parenthood ignored instructions from an emergency dispatcher to directly call 911 in order to prevent wasting precious time in the case of this woman who needed immediate medical attention. Instead, clinic personnel waited five and one half hours to have Tonya transported by a Fire Department ambulance to Northwestern Hospital. After hospital staff worked to save her life, Tonya died at the hospital from hemorrhage caused by a uterine perforation.
In the tragic aftermath of these events, some are calling for a criminal investigation of the Planned Parenthood facility, citing gross negligence in the way Planned Parenthood handled Tonya’s medical emergency. The Reaves family has obtained an attorney who is looking into a possible civil lawsuit against Planned Parenthood. And rightly so!
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