file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News/1993: PLN-0310.TXT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 3, No. 10 May, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Pro-Life Newsletter is intended to provide articles and news information to those interested in Pro-Life Issues. All submissions should be sent to the editor, Steve (frezza@ee.pitt.edu). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Will the Real U.S. Supreme Court Please Stand Up? On Wednesday, May 12, U.S. District Judge Daniel Huyett III continued an injunction blocking the implementation of the restrictive Pennsylvania abortion law, and ordered a new trial to determine whether the law is constitutional. This move confounds Pennsylvania pro-lifers (including the state Attorney General Ernie Preate and Governor Robert Casey) as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the provisions of the law in last year's Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision--and pro-abortion groups are using this decision to provide the grounds for the new challenge! The Casey decision stated that Pennsylvania had a right to restrict abortions, as long as these restrictions did not constitute an ``undue burden,'' which the pro-abortion groups are now claiming is the case. ``Judge Huyett's decision is outrageous because it is in direct violation of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in this case,'' Gov. Casey said. ``The Supreme Court clearly ruled that provisions of the Pennsylvania law under review, with one exception, are consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and, therefore, are entitled to be put into effect.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Mitchel Amendment to FOCA a Sham The 1993 version of FOCA includes the Mitchell Amendment, which deals with parental notificaion. However, the wording of the amendment permits and "responsible adult" to be substituted for a parent. Given past court decisions, it is possible that even an abortion counselor would be considered a "responsible adult." The wording was carefully crafted by pro-abortion attorneys to finesse a political problem by creating the impression that the bill would permit parental notification laws, whaile actually invalidating all current and future laws that require the consent of, or notice to on or both parents (or judicial bypass). There probably will be more of these bogus amendments added, because members of Congress are well aware that majority of people in this country support Pennsylvania-type provisions, such as informed consent, 24-hour waiting periods, parental consent, and prohibition of sex-selection abortion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) What the NRLC really said about Dr. Gunn's Murder (excerpts) The National Right to Life Committee condemns the violence against abortionist Dr. David Gunn, as NRLC condemns the violence of abortion that has killed 30 million unborn children in the last 20 years. NRLC is involved in peaceful, legal activities to protect human lives threatened by abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. We continue to oppose any form of violence to fight the violence of abortion. It is false and offensive to suggest, as some pro-abortion groups have done, that speaking in favor of the right to life somehow causes violence. Such a suggestion is like blaming the civil rights movement---and all those who courageously spoke in favor of the rights of African Americans---for rioting or deaths that were a part of that era. National Right to Life will continue to work in educational, legislative, and political activities to ensure the right to life for unborn children, people with disabilities, and older people. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) The Media, the NRLC, and the Pensacola Murder The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) issued a statement within hours of Gunn's murder, strongly condemning the shooting. So did other pro-life groups. The mainstream media, especially the major networks, simply ignored these statements and omitted any representative pro-life spokespersons from their coverage of the story. ABC's Nightline had tentatively booked NRLC public policy director Susan Smith on the Friday two days after the killing. Two hours before the show, they cancelled Smith and replaced her with John Burt, described as "a former Ku Klux Klan member," not affiliated with any pro-life group, but who knew Gunn's killer. According to two different producers, the show's guest host wanted the pro-life side to be represented by "a more fringe element." On March 16, almost a week after the killing, the MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour, featured Susan Smith opposite a Planned Parenthood lawyer. Except for this instance, the news media used no representatives from any significant pro-life group to respond to this issue. Dateline NBC did interview Nancy Myers of NRLC, but stated they would go elsewhere if she did not "talk openly about [her] reaction." Their story compared the pro-life movement to David Koresh's cult in Waco, TX. The Donahue Show featured at least five pro-abortion acti- vists and one pro-life minister not known to any pro-life group. A short quote from Myers condemning violence was added for "balance." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Guest Editorial: News Media Distortion of the Abortion Issue One of the benefits of reading publications like _Life Communications_ and _SisterLife_ is that you hear a side of the abortion story that the main stream news media *never* reports, like the number of repeat abortions. Instead of reporting facts like these the news media attempts to characterize the abortion issue through examples of women in very rare circumstances. The media in this way uses front page "news" articles which report on the predicaments of a minute number of women in highly unusual circumstances to promote their views on abortion instead of relying soley on the editorial page. Here are 3 such examples. Last summer _60 Minutes_ ran a segment on abortion. The example that they used to characterized abortion was a Colorado woman who had a life threatening complication during her 2nd trimester of pregnancy. The local abortion clinic was being protested, so she had to be sent elsewhere by air ambulance. Of course, life threatening pregnancies are extremely rare. This is also a deceitful example because no one in the pro-life movement would deny abortion when the woman's life is threatened. But that is how _60 Minutes_ characterized it. A _New York Times_ story which ran nationally on 3-15-92 also used a woman in very unusual circumstances to characterize the abortion issue. The story is about how access to abortion is being limited nationwide: >...a combination of economic forces, political pressures and the >changing attitudes of doctors has put abortion out of reach for >many women. > .... > But the best indication [of how access to abortion has been >restricted] probably comes from stories like that of 23 year old >Mary Jiveden, of New Haven, W.Va., a divorced, unemployed beautician >with a 2-year-old daughter. Jiveden discovered she was pregnant is >late December, in the course of a routine gynecological checkup. > "I had gone out with this guy one time, and it was kind of like >data rape, and I had no idea I was pregnant until the doctor said >I was," she said. The nearest abortion clinic was 4 hours away and when she got there she found out that she was 17 weeks pregnant and that clinic did not perform abortions after 16 weeks. They referred her to a clinic that did abortions until 19 and 1/2 weeks. She went there 1 and 1/2 weeks later thinking that she was 18 and 1/2 weeks pregnant, but that clinic told her that she was 21 weeks pregnant. They referred her to Dayton. She scraped up and borrowed the needed money but when she got there she was told that she was high risk because her daughter had been born by Caesarean section and that she would have to go to Wichita. She couldn't afford that trip and the cost of the abortion so she is going to keep the baby. Now consider this woman's circumstances. She gets pregnant because of something that "was kind of like date rape" and doesn't realize that she is pregnant until she is 19 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. About 1% of all abortions are becasue of rape, and very few women don't realize that they are pregnant until 19 and 1/2 weeks (perhaps an Ob/Gyn out there knows exactly what the statistics are on detection of pregnancy). This is an *extremely rare* case, yet this is what the _New York Times_ considers "the best indication" of how access to abortion is restricted. This article doesn't mention anything about the fact that 43% of all abortions are done on women who have already had atleast one abortion. But the concluding paragraph continues the propaganda by noting that an Atlanta abortion clinic has "extended our limit from 21 weeks to 26 weeks" because women are having more difficulty raising the money for an abortion. This is a thinly veiled attempt to lobby for public funding for abortions. Another example of how the media has distorted the abortion debate is _Time Magazine's_ TV advertising campaign last fall in which they said that it is a fact that abortion is available in only 17% of the country. (My initial reaction was "Hurray!".) The blatant distortion in this statement is that abortion is only available in 17% of counties in the US, but of course counties do not get pregnant. Women do. _Time_ lied about the abortion issue while telling a fact; a largely irrelevant fact. The relevant facts are that 26% of all pregnancies end in abortion and that abortion is widely used. I think that the abortion debate in this country could be significantly influenced if people heard the facts about the rate of repeat abortions instead of only hearing the media's dishonest "reporting" on abortion. - Dean Schulze ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Wofford Waffles the Abortion Issue According to the Associated Press, Sen. Harris Wofford (D-PA), member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, said on Wed., March 24, that, although he voted to send "legislation intended to protect abortion rights [FOCA], ... he wouldn't support it unless it's amended to conform with 'fundamental principles' of Pennsylvania's abortion law, as upheld by the Supreme Court." Wofford is an adamant abortion supporter, who tried to use the issue to his advantage during his Senate election campaign, which was a by-election to fill the seat of the late John Heinz III. He received many Pennsylvania Pro-Lifers during the March for Life in January, and stated that he would support FOCA if it were amended so as not to conflict with the guidelines laid down in the Casey decision. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) A Pro-Life Spring Break [Follow up to v3n6 announcement: STUDENTS IN ACTION] The St. Thomas Students for Life spent their spring break involved in several pro-life activities, including a concert, speakers, and demonstrations. Three of the talks concerned the moral implications of artificial birth control. One of the speakers, Pastor Johnny Hunter, spoke of the statistical effects that birth control is having on the African American community. The participants also received instruction on how to use sidewalk counseling to try to reach people seeking abortions. The demonstrations included picketing of abortion clinics in two different cities, the local Planned Parenthood office, the home of the person owning half the local clinic, and the law office that defends both the owner and clinic. The students also heard the Language of Illusion. "It proved that every term that the pro-aborts use, is really defined to be a term in our favor." - Kathi Anfang ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) Reader Questions Re: v3n8 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act Our March 26 newspaper mentioned that the House Judiciary subcommittee sent to the full panel a bill that would make blockading a family planning clinic a federal crime, and also would allow both women and clinics to get federal injunctions against blockaders. Do you have any more info on this? - Lynn Firestine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) Reader Responses One in three babies are aborted, according to the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. - Kathi Anfang -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Re: The Pro-Life Response to the Pensacola Murder Feminists for Life held simultaneous candlelight vigils in Buffalo (NY), Rochester (NY), and Cleveland (OH) to condemn the killing and rededicate ourselves to non-violence. - Anne-Marie Kinsley -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Re: The Pro-Life Response to the Pensacola Murder Just a brief thought on the Florida situation, after reading so much about it in the "Prolife News." It seems to me that we shouldn't spend so much time arguing back and forth about the murder that occurred in Florida recently. Was it a bad thing? Yes, most agree it was. But as to condemning or condoning, not one person knows the inner dispositions of the man who shot Dr. Gunn. I think it's a more complex issue. There are many people "out there" who are not the university trained "intelligentsia", who act more perhaps by feeling and common sense than by well-thought-out logic. Numerous of our pro-life "brethren" have been marginalized as our government and its leaders have driven societal standards out of line with common sense and the desire to "do good and avoid evil." Consequently, I think many people, perhaps people who don't feel poorly written letters or inarticulate phone conversations with government representatives do much good, have resorted to a more active "response." I used think that people were being extremist when saying abortion would cause the next civil war in this country. But I now tend to believe that such may be exactly the case. Let's move forward and put this incident behind us. If it's causing divisive- ness on the Pro-Life side, what good is it serving but simply to harm our unity? -Mark J. Viz Cornell University ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "Help us, Lord, to see as you do -- Life is precious in each stage. From the unborn to the feeble, -- Life is precious in each age. Help us, Lord, to be your witness -- And to show the world we care. So that people may not perish, -- But instead, Your life may share." - From a Lutheran Hymnal +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 1 - Based on a UPI article (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)May 13, 1993 | | 2 - From the Professional Women's Network "Action Bulletin" Pittsburgh | | Chapter, April, 1993. Contact PWN at PO Box 112514 PGH PA 15241. | | 3,4- Based on an article by Nancy Myers, NRLC Communications Director, | | in the National Right to Life News, March 30, 1993, p.4., thanks to | | reader Anne-Marie Kinsley | | 6 - Excerpt from "The Times Leader," March 25, 1993, submitted by | | Lynn Firestein | | QOM- Verse from the hymn "Lord of Life," #402 Hyfrydol, thanks to reader | | Tonya Eza | | A special thanks goes to Readers Dave THuel and Sean Smith for assembling | | this issue. All blame for errors still belongs to your regular editor, steve| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.