--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 5, No. 9 July, 1995 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This 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 . --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Pro-Abortion Funding Under Pressure Under Republican Leadership, The U.S. House, particularly the House Appropriations Committee, which controls the language and funding levels for bills introduced to the House of Representatives passed a number of measures that, if passed by the Congress, would severely reduce the federal funding of abortions and pro-abortion groups. *Human Embryo Research* Reps. Jay Dickey (R-AR) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) offered an amendment to ban all federal funding for both the creation of human embryos for research purposes and for any research in which a human embryo is destroyed, discarded or subjected to risk of injury or death. The Dickey / Wicker amendment passed by a vote of 30 to 23. *Title X - Family Planning* Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Livingston (R-LA) offered an amendment to "defund the Title X family planning program and transfer the $193 million to the Maternal and Child Health block grant and Community Health centers." There is a possibility that "family planning" programs will still be able to receive some federal funding through these programs, but it is much less likely. The Livingston amendment passed by a vote of 28 to 25. Planned Parenthood and other major pro-abortion groups have been the primary beneficiaries of Title X funds. Although these groups are not allowed to use the funds for abortions, they can use the funds for abortion counseling and referrals. *Hospitals That Refuse to Provide Abortion Training* In light of the recent Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) decision to mandate abortion training for all OB/GYN programs in the U.S. [see v5n2, v5n3, v5n4, v5n5], Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) offered an amendment that would allow hospitals to receive federal funds even though they refuse to provide abortion training for their residents. This amendment passed by a vote of 29 to 25. Under the amendment, hospitals that lost their accreditation due to the new abortion training mandate would still be eligible for federal payments, including Medicare payments. *States' Rights Regarding Medicaid Abortion Funding* Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) offered an amendment that would allow states to decide whether or not to fund abortions for rape, incest and life of the mother. Last year, following the passage of the liberalized Hyde amendment, which said that states may use federal dollars to pay for abortions in cases of rape and incest, the Clinton Administration directed that states MUST pay for these abortions. The Medicaid funding for 30 states hung in the balance. Many caved, and changed their laws and State Constitutions. Several cases are still in court. The Istook amendment passed in the full Appropriations Committee by a vote of 29 to 23. *Treasury Postal Appropriations Bill-H.R. 2020* The House rejected an amendment that would have allowed taxpayer-subsidized abortion coverage in federal employee health insurance. This amendment, offered by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), was defeated by a vote of 188 to 235. According to the Family Research Council, federal employee health-insurance abortions number over 17,000 each year. *Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995-H.R. 1833* On July 18, 1995, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which would prohibit abortionists from using the D&X (Dilation and Extraction) abortion procedure in order to kill a child, unless the abortion were used to save the life of the mother and no other form of abortion were possible to do so. [ A strange exception; it seems _highly_ unlikely that a mother's life could be saved *only* by having a partial-birth abortion; During partial-birth abortions, the baby is almost fully delivered except for his or her head, and if the mother is in sufficient condition to survive the partial delivery, she would almost certainly survive full delivery. ] The bill would also subject the accused abortionist to "fines or up to two years in jail." Rep. Martin Hoke offered an amendment that would "prevent a woman undergoing the procedure from being able to sue the [abortionist]." This amendment was adopted 31 to 1. The father and maternal grandparents of the baby would be permitted to sue the abortionist. The bill is now before the full House, but no consideration date has been scheduled. [ American Citizens who are interested in the passage of these bills should call their congressional representatives and the House Speaker (202-225-0600) and urge them to vote Pro-Life. Email and phone contact listings are available. Ed. ] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Around the Globe *Dublin, Ireland* - IRISH PREGNANCY COUNSELLING GRANTS ANNOUNCED In the first such announcement since the passage of the Abortion Information Act, Irish Minister for Health Michael Noonan announced grants totalling IR300k for six agencies involved in pregnancy counselling. The Catholic agency CURA receives half the total. A further IR40k goes to LIFE which is also opposed to abortion. The other agencies to receive grants are the Irish Family Planning Association (IR35k), the Dublin Well Woman Centre (IR30k), Cherish (IR30k) and PACT (IR15). The Minister also announced that he was funding a research programme to identify the factors causing the current level of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. *Alberta, Canada* WILL ALBERTA STOP PAYING FOR ABORTIONS? Alberta Prime Minister Ralph Klein has indicated that his government "may try to stop paying for abortions, even though he concedes that doing so would anger many Albertans and might be unwise politically." A government committee currently is studying a proposal to eliminate public funding for abortions, except to save the life of the mother. If the committee approves the measure, as it is expected to do, Klein will allow the Progressive Conservative caucus to hold a free vote on the measure. But pro-aborts have vowed to challenge the proposal in court should it pass a caucus vote. In addition, Ottawa may intervene if the Liberal party perceives that not paying for abortions violates the Canada Health Act. Under current law, women who have an abortion in a hospital pay nothing, but those who go into a private aboriton facility pay as much as $600. Medicare covers $107 for an abortion. Other Canadian provinces in 1988 attempted to eliminate abortion from the public dole, only to have the measure struck down (in the case of British Columbia) by the provincial Supreme Court. In 1991, Saskatchewan voters indicated in a non-binding measure that they did not want medicare to pay for aboritons, but the issue was never persued. - Steve Ertelet --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) American Shorts *San Diego, California* ANOTHER BOTCHED ABORTION San Diego's _Union-Tribune_ reports that county and state authorities are investigating a case in which a woman "gave birth to a stillborn twin fetus at home the day after having a botched abortion." The Co. Medical examiner's office is investigating the incident, and attempting to determine the approximate age of the "undetected fetus, which reportedly was estimated to be at about 18 weeks of development." The CA The CA Medical board announced that it had opened an investigation of Dr. Michael Chi-Wai Wong, the abortionist who botched the procedure. Wong indicated that he had not detected the twin before or during the abortion. Wong completed a five-year probation imposed by the CA Medical Board for "fraudulently" billing the state Medi-Cal program and in 1987 Wong pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of fraud as a part of a plea bargain. Wong also received a three-year suspended sentence and was fined $1,000 and required to pay a total of $5,000 in restitution and ordered to complete 250 hours of volunteer work. Additionally, Wong was prohibited from treating Medi-Cal patients for five years. No information was provided on how many other abortionists operating in California have been convicted on state or federal charges. *Las Vegas, Nevada* ABORTION NURSE SURRENDERS LICENSE, CHARGES LINGER Las Vegas' newspaper reports that the Clark County D.A.'s office is currently investigating ex-RN Zoe Wulff, who is suspected of having defrauded a women at an abortion facility by "scheduling mothers for abortions when they weren't pregnant" and "illegally practicing medicine." Wulff surrendered her nursing license in April to avoid "a public airing of allegations of unprofessional conduct." According to a Board of Nursing's 28-count complaint against Wulff, she performed actions above and beyond the scope of her practice, such as prescribing birth control pills, administering Deepo-Provera injections, and interpreting ultrasounds. Wulff is suspected of exploiting patients for monetary gain and falsifying clinic records. The complaint cites several instances where Wulff overcharged patients by telling them that their pregnancies were further along than they actually were, thus allowing the clinic to charge more. Other cases claim Wulff told pregnant patients that their pregnancy tests came back negative so they would later return with a more advanced, i.e. costly, pregnancy to abort. Gynecologist Robert Meyer who worked at the abortion facility part time in 1992 said the clinic appeared "to be run on a shoestring budget, lacking basic necessities" such as "emergency medical supplies" needed if a mother "reacted badly or began to bleed too much." D.A. investigators are continuing to look for other improprieties. *Washington, DC* HOUSE REASSERTS MEXICO-CITY POLICY On July 11, 1995, the House passed the Foreign Operations Appropriations, Fiscal Year 1996 bill (H.R. 1868) by a vote of 333 to 89. One of the provisions of this bill would reinstate the Mexico City Policy, which would eliminate funds for any organization that directly or indirectly performs abortion except in cases of rape and incest, and when the life of the mother is endangered. The bill is now before the Senate. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) What Works: Facing 'Inconsistencies' Why Don't Pro-Lifers Charge Aborted Women on Murder Charges? > On the Dr. Dean Edell [nationally syndicated radio] show, > the good doctor was expressing his thinly veiled contempt for the > pro-life camp, and made the following observation: "If the anti-abortion > side was so consistant, then why don't they bring women who have had > abortions up on murder charges? After all, abortion is murder, right?" *Answer A:* Pro-Lifer's are inconsistent. But how does it follow from this inconsistency that the fetus is NOT a human person? "Prochoicers" (like Edell in this case) fallaciously use this rhetorical ploy to discredit the personhood of the unborn. Inconsistency in a person's character is _not_ proof that everything they say is wrong. For example, "prochoicers" believe in confiscating people's wealth in order to fund things they don't consent to (AIDS research, porno-art, etc.). Does that mean that the fetus is now a person? Would the other side concede this? Edell is a physician not a thinker. He should stick to prescribing prozac to troubled yuppies and take a course in critical thinking. *Answer B:* Prochoicers frequently say that if abortion becomes illegal women will die. This means prolifers are instruments of harming women. Why don't prochoicers kill prolifers IF THE REALLY BELIEVE we could do this? *Answer C:* Let's go back to the pre-Roe days when abortion was illegal. How did the law handle it? Well, the woman, in virtually every statute and court decision, was given immunity or a slap on the wrist, since it was thought that without her testimony there could be no conviction and thus no legal way to stop abortion. So, in order for society to truly end the killing of the unborn through the force of law, and since the only witnesses present were those involved with the crime, the only way to get a conviction was to give someone immunity. Thus, the only way to treat abortion as truly horrendous and truly unjustified homicide was to give someone immunity. The conventional wisdom that anyone seeking an illegal abortion must be desperate and for that reason she was perceived as a second, though not wholly innocent, victim. I deal with this great detail in chapter 4 of my book, POLITICALLY CORRECT DEATH: ANSWERING THE ARGUMENTS FOR ABORTION RIGHTS (Baker, 1993). - Frank Beckwith --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Points to Ponder - Liberty and Truth > "At the heart of liberty, is the right to define one's own concept > of existence, of meaning, of the universe and of the mystery of > human life." U.S. Supreme Court in _Planned Parenthood v. Casey_ > The underlying error in modern thought is the tendency to "exalt > freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute, which would > then be the source of values." Pope John Paul II in _Veritatis Splendor_ 'The individual conscience,' according to the theory advanced by the Supreme Court and disputed by the pope, 'is accorded the status of a supreme tribunal of moral judgment which hands down categorical and infallible decisions about good and evil. To the affirmation that one has a duty to follow one's conscience is unduly added the affirmation that one's moral judgment is true merely by the fact that it has its origin in the conscience. But in this way the inescapable claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity, and 'being at peace with oneself,' so much so that some have come to adopt a radically subjectivistic conception of moral judgment." [ from E. Michael Jones, "Truth or Desire? Why This Magazine? Why Now?" _Culture Wars_, May 1995 ] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) ProLife Profile: THE NURTURING NETWORK Through compassionate and professional services, the Nurturing Network seeks to provide each each woman experiencing a crisis pregnancy with an alternative that recognizes her own unique values, needs and circumstances by providing one or more of the following: > 1. Professional (licensed) guidance and counseling. > 2. Six-month or longer employment transfer at same level. > 3. College Transfer (Incl. mid-semester, with maintenance of many > scholarships: "red-shirting"). > 4. Medical, financial, and educational assistance. > 5. Counseling and/or parenthood preparation. For more information on the Nurturing Nuturing Network call: 1-800-TNN-4 MOM. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) New On-Line Resources *Pro-Life News Archives Moving* The archives for the _ProLife News_ have moved to a new URL: . At the new site, uncompressed files are now available. Also, our _Guide to Pro-Life Resources on the Web_ has moved to URL . *Pro-Life Activists' Encyclopedia Now Available on the Web* A great resource for all engaged in the debate over the value of human life, this very-well documented _Pro-Life Activists' Encyclopedia_ was sponsored by American Life League. This electronic book contains 140 Chapters, six appendicies and a table of contents covering most major topics in the abortion debate, and is replete with citations, statistics, and places to turn to for sources. This resource has been made available by reader Tim DeRyan and the consent of American Life League. Unfortunately, this wonderful resource has not been hyperlinked yet, but even in its text form, it is highly useful. The _Encyclopedia_ is available at URL: . The Table of Contents is available at URL and the comprehensive index is available at . -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- *New Additions to Our Archives*: "On the Management of Cancer and Pregnancy" A pro-life MD comments on the frequency and necessity for abortion for cancer treatment in pregnant women. Some good medical insights for those interested in "the hard cases". [ Ask for "CancerAndPregnancy" ] "Pro Life Quotations" From the editors and contributors to the _ProLife News_, this is a long and growing list of pro-life quotations from many varied writers and topics. [ Ask for "Quotables" ] "Abortionist Quotes" A well-referenced list of abortionists and abortion clinic workers commenting on the humanity of the unborn. [ Ask for "AbortionistQuotes" ] "Is Sinn Fein Pro-Abortion?" An Irishman writes on Sinn Fein's position on the civil rights of the unborn. His open letter includes a copy of a letter from the Sinn Fein, explaining their pro-abortion position. [ Ask for "SinnFein.ie" ] "The Triple Screen for Down Syndrome: Newly Mandated Prenatal Genetics Screen" Describes a new non-invasive procedure for helping determine if an in-utero child has Down's syndrome. This procedure has been become a medically _mandated_ prenatal screening, which will result in increased abortions of Down Syndrome children. [ Ask for "DownsScreening" ] To request any of the above items, please send a list of items by title to the editor, eg.: "Please send v4n17, SciForLife.Jan94, WhyChristians". To obtain the current list of available resources, please ask for "v5Topics". These and other on-Line resources are also available via the World Wide Web at URL "http://jupiter.ee..pitt.edu/ ~frezza/AboutPLN.html", or via anonymous from or in the directory "users/s/t/stfst/pln". --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) Announcements *Susan B. Anthony List* The prolife response to the pro-abortion Emily's List, the Susan B. Anthony list gives aid to female prolife candidates. For more information, contact: SBA List, 5310 N. 26th Road, Arlington, VA 22207, (703) 534-9519, *Unwed Parents Anonymous* National Support group for women who have had repeat crisis pregancies--excellent resources, support network. INFO: UPA, PO Box 44556, Phoenix, AZ, 85064 (602) 952-1463. *Priests for Life Cable-Ready Vidieos Available* Fr. Pavone of Priests for Life is producing regular pro-life shows for cable access T.V.. If you can get them on your local community station, they can send tapes! Also, Special videos are also available specifically for priests, concerning how they can more effectively preach and act on abortion. Rev. Frank Pavone, P.O. Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314. (914) 937-8243. *New 1995 Prolife Video Releases* "Ultrasound", Shari Richard (810) 360-0743 "Facing Single Motherhood" Daughters of St Paul (617) 522-8911 "No Easy Way Out", American Portrait Films, (800) 736-4567 "Meet the Abortion Providers IV", Pro-life Action League, (312) 777-2900 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) Reader Questions I am trying to find documented instances of violence by pro-abortionists against pro-life people. Where might I find this? - John Wiley --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) Reader Comments Coats Defends Med Students Against Forced Abortion Training - [v5n8] _Technically_, the ruling from the accrediation group [ACGME] allows _residents_ to opt out of abortion training but _residency programs_, even if they were run by Catholic hospitals, could not opt out. The programs do not have to perform abortions on site but they do have to contract with a PP clinic or some other organization to train their OB/Gyn residents. Getting back to the residents... as I said they could opt out, but wouldn't there be pressure not to? Would you, a young doctor with school debt, publicly announce you are pro-life and put yourself on a list? Of course not. In short, the residents have a "choice", which is a sham, but the doctors and administrators who run the programs, the trustees of the hospitals, in short all the people who when the come together make a hospital have no choice. Currently these programs have a choice -- no one is forcing them, by law or accreditation, not to train abortionists -- and they are choosing not to train. That is why the pro-aborts are upset. They are upset that so many residency programs [ and residents] have made the "wrong" choice. - Keep up the good work. Bruce Hall -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- On substituting the term "prenaticide" for "abortion" - [v5n8] So I agree with Mr. Samples that we should be more precise in our language, emphasizing more the facets of abortion that most Americans find abhorant, but I think the term "prenaticide" is the wrong way to go. The premise here is that what hampers our ability to accurately convey to those on the fence the true nature of killing of unborns is a lack of a more descriptive term. I would disagree with this. What really hampers us is the ambivalence that people feel about this issue, in that most Americans support "pro-choice" in theory, but when questioned about specifics (i.e. for birth control, sex selection, etc.) their attitudes are by far more pro-life. Therefore, perhaps we should amend the term we use to "abortion as means of birth control." This is, after all, what we are fighting and the reason most are performed. In addition, virtually everybody knows what "abortion" means, and introducing a new term will only confuse people. As a dental student, I have received lectures from physicians in the department of OB/GYN, who describe the procedure as "dilatation of the cervix, followed by evacuation of the products of conception." This is certainly more descriptive than the word "abortion" but disarms our sense of horror by being too clinical. Prenaticide, likewise, is more accurate, but is far more cumbersome and, therefore, distracting. As far as "abortion" becoming euphemistic, I think the pro-choicers already try to avoid the term whenever possible and instead describe it as "termination" and "a legal medical procedure." They do this precisely because so many people have come to associate "abortion" with "abortion as birth control" and pro-choicers wish to avoid the association. We, therefore, must be even more dilligent to make sure the association continues to be made. - Sincerely, Louis Core --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "The enterprise launched in Roe ... sought to _establish_ --in the teeth of a clear, contrary tradition-- a value found nowhere in the constitutional text. " -- Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia, in his dissent from the 1992 _Casey v. PP_ decision. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 1 - From the July 25 A.L.L. Action Alert available via the American Life| | League BBS (703-659-7111) and the Pro-Life forum of The Catholic | | Resource Network (703-791-4336) or telnet | | 2 - Dublin news courtesy of 10 July issue of _The Irish Emigrant_ (No. | | 440). To subscribe, contact . Alberta | | news as reported in the _Toronto Globe and Mail_, 7/20/95. Many | | thanks to Steve Ertelt and the College Right-to-Life Connection | | . | | 5 - 19 May edition of American Life League's _Communique_ (Vol. 5, #10).| | Stafford, VA 22555 (USA); phone 703-659-4171. $16.95 per annum. | | 6 - Care of the Catholic Information Network: 619-449-6030 14,400 bps | | many thanks to reader Tim DeRyan. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, or other information should contact the editor For those on the web, there is a preliminary World Wide Web page at URL , and an index of Pro- Life web sites at URL . ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News: pln-0509.txt .