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Abortion World' S View - Culture, Family, Travel, Consumer Reviews - Posted: 9th May, 2003 - 10:22pm
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Roe vs. Wade - Global view on Abortion, Abortion Laws, Personal Experiences, etc. Some countries allow abortions and others do not but the heated debate is most apparent in the united States where some are for and against it. What is your view?Abortion - The World's View
This thread discusses abortion related issues from around the world.
Some countries accept it and others do not. Is it murder? Are their conditions that would make abortion necessary? All these things can be discussed here.
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From: Â The Pro-Life Infonet
Subject: Â What We Can Learn From the Japanese on Abortion
Source: Â Town Hall; January 14, 2003
QUOTE What We Can Learn From the Japanese on Abortion by Marvin Olasky
[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Marvin Olasky is Editor of World Magazine.]
With the 30th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision coming up next Wednesday, is it a positive sign that many abortion supporters have learned from the Japanese and no longer pretend?
Thirty years ago, pro-abortion stories commonly dehumanized unborn children and made abortion seem easy: 15 minutes to feel "Like a brand-new woman," the Omaha World-Herald declared. The San Francisco Chronicle told how a typical young woman "Came back from the abortion smiling" and telling her patiently waiting mother: "I'm starved. Let's go to lunch."
That was conventional liberal talk in those days. Now, even feminists admit that abortion is sorrowful and that the conflict about it will not go away. Abortion yields too much gut guilt to be ignored.
Aborting mothers in Japan have known that for a long time. They typically make or buy mizuko jizos, small statues of babies. They dress the statues in bibs and knitted caps, and leave next to the statues bottles of milk, baby rattles and furry toys. You can find stacks of mizuko jizos in cemeteries and also in special temples where they are housed. Mourning parents pay hundreds of dollars per year to have a small statue bathed and dressed, with incense burned and prayers recited.
One survey showed 86 percent of Japanese women and 76 percent of men saying they felt or would feel guilty upon having an abortion or pressuring their partners to have one. In this country, abortion advocates have generally sneered at the reality of post-abortion syndrome. Maybe now they will accept it and call for government provision of "Grief consultants."
Mourning is important when death has visited. But mourning becomes electric only when people are moved to action, and particularly to help other innocents from dying as well. Confession not followed by repentance and action is suspect.
A remarkable new book by Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth, "From Conception to Birth," uses the latest technology to show in marvelous detail the clearly human (and very cute) unborn baby at many stages, including at eight weeks of age, the time many abortions take place. Time reported on the new book under a headline, "What scientists have learned about those amazing first nine months." Sadly, Time did not suggest that our new knowledge should lead us to protect the children depicted.
It seems bizarre to defend abortion when it so clearly stops the beating heart of an innocent human being. The ignorance or pretense of some folks 30 years ago was no excuse, but now that the evil is acknowledged, do we need any clearer indication of man's sin than our recognition of the unborn child's humanity combined with our refusal to offer protection?
Let's glance at one other aspect of suppressing the truth. From "Conception to Birth" includes not only wonderful pictures but explanation about "The grand plan for human reproduction." Whose plan? The book clearly points to a planner, but it begins with a quotation from Charles Darwin and periodically sprinkles in lines suggesting that these marvels are the result of plan-less evolution.
And so, despite the evidence accumulated for 30 years since the Roe vs. Wade decision, we still face a traditional movie scene. Behold, a locomotive (fueled by both feminism and male selfishness) barreling down the tracks. Cut to a lovely lass (in this case, a lovely unborn child) tied to the cold rails. Cut to train. Cut to lass. Then cut to the hero riding his horse hard as he races to untie his sweetheart before she is sliced to bits. Suspense mounts.
This is no movie. The locomotive has run over 40 million unborn children, sometimes cutting them up piece by piece, sometimes vacuuming them up, sometimes poisoning them. But will most of the next 40 million be rescued? Depends on whether many of us are content with guilt without action, except the action of paying for our "Mizuko jizos."
[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Marvin Olasky is Editor of World Magazine.]
With the 30th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision coming up next Wednesday, is it a positive sign that many abortion supporters have learned from the Japanese and no longer pretend?
Thirty years ago, pro-abortion stories commonly dehumanized unborn children and made abortion seem easy: 15 minutes to feel "Like a brand-new woman," the Omaha World-Herald declared. The San Francisco Chronicle told how a typical young woman "Came back from the abortion smiling" and telling her patiently waiting mother: "I'm starved. Let's go to lunch."
That was conventional liberal talk in those days. Now, even feminists admit that abortion is sorrowful and that the conflict about it will not go away. Abortion yields too much gut guilt to be ignored.
Aborting mothers in Japan have known that for a long time. They typically make or buy mizuko jizos, small statues of babies. They dress the statues in bibs and knitted caps, and leave next to the statues bottles of milk, baby rattles and furry toys. You can find stacks of mizuko jizos in cemeteries and also in special temples where they are housed. Mourning parents pay hundreds of dollars per year to have a small statue bathed and dressed, with incense burned and prayers recited.
One survey showed 86 percent of Japanese women and 76 percent of men saying they felt or would feel guilty upon having an abortion or pressuring their partners to have one. In this country, abortion advocates have generally sneered at the reality of post-abortion syndrome. Maybe now they will accept it and call for government provision of "Grief consultants."
Mourning is important when death has visited. But mourning becomes electric only when people are moved to action, and particularly to help other innocents from dying as well. Confession not followed by repentance and action is suspect.
A remarkable new book by Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth, "From Conception to Birth," uses the latest technology to show in marvelous detail the clearly human (and very cute) unborn baby at many stages, including at eight weeks of age, the time many abortions take place. Time reported on the new book under a headline, "What scientists have learned about those amazing first nine months." Sadly, Time did not suggest that our new knowledge should lead us to protect the children depicted.
It seems bizarre to defend abortion when it so clearly stops the beating heart of an innocent human being. The ignorance or pretense of some folks 30 years ago was no excuse, but now that the evil is acknowledged, do we need any clearer indication of man's sin than our recognition of the unborn child's humanity combined with our refusal to offer protection?
Let's glance at one other aspect of suppressing the truth. From "Conception to Birth" includes not only wonderful pictures but explanation about "The grand plan for human reproduction." Whose plan? The book clearly points to a planner, but it begins with a quotation from Charles Darwin and periodically sprinkles in lines suggesting that these marvels are the result of plan-less evolution.
And so, despite the evidence accumulated for 30 years since the Roe vs. Wade decision, we still face a traditional movie scene. Behold, a locomotive (fueled by both feminism and male selfishness) barreling down the tracks. Cut to a lovely lass (in this case, a lovely unborn child) tied to the cold rails. Cut to train. Cut to lass. Then cut to the hero riding his horse hard as he races to untie his sweetheart before she is sliced to bits. Suspense mounts.
This is no movie. The locomotive has run over 40 million unborn children, sometimes cutting them up piece by piece, sometimes vacuuming them up, sometimes poisoning them. But will most of the next 40 million be rescued? Depends on whether many of us are content with guilt without action, except the action of paying for our "Mizuko jizos."
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View Worlds - Abortion
A way to turn the hearts of mothers towards their child? Maybe it is playing with their psychology, but it might just work!
QUOTE Congressman Hopes Ultrasound Bill Will Prevent Abortions
Washington, DC -- Pregnant and distressed, 23-year-old Rebekah Nancarrow walked into a crisis pregnancy center in Dallas "95 percent certain I was going to have an abortion."
What turned her around was seeing an ultrasound. "She was moving, she was kicking, she had legs," said Nancarrow, who said she promised her unborn baby on the spot, "I will take care of you."
Such dramatic decisions thrill pro-life advocates, who see detailed ultrasound images as a high-tech way to change minds about abortion. But pro-abortion groups oppose the practice, arguing that ultrasound becomes a manipulative weapon when put in the hands of those trying to persuade pregnant women against abortions.
The two sides are clashing over a $3 million bill that would provide up to half the cost of ultrasound equipment, which ranges from $20,000 to more than $100,000. The money would go only to nonprofit centers that do not charge for services -- the vast majority of pregnancy centers fit this description while abortion facilities don't.
A similar bill went nowhere last year, but its chances are somewhat improved by Republicans controlling Congress. Pro-life advocates hope that at least the House will take a vote and put pressure on the Senate to consider it.
Even without the funding, about 350 pregnancy centers around the country have ultrasound equipment. It appears to be working as intended, according to staff at several centers, who report many changes among "Abortion-minded" women once they see ultrasounds of their unborn children.
Dr. Dolores Pretorius, a professor of radiology at the University of California, San Diego, is a pioneer in developing the latest generation of ultrasound technology, which can provide moving pictures of small details such as an ear or chin.
Pretorius, who says she is "Pro-choice," has been fascinated by the impact the images seem to have. She plans to conduct a study that quantifies the impact, but says her "Gut feeling" is that the images do affect women's abortion decisions.
When used by pregnancy centers opposing abortion, ultrasound "Isn't a matter of providing more knowledge, but an attempt to manipulate women," claims Susanne Martinez, Planned Parenthood's vice president for public policy in Washington.
"They don't want women to go to Planned Parenthood, where they'll get their full range of options," said Alison Herwitt, director of government relations for NARAL Pro-Choice America in Washington. "They just want them to go to crisis pregnancy centers, where women will be exposed to this weapon at taxpayers' expense."
In response, Dr. Pretorius says, "What is is. Women do have a right to know what their fetuses look like."
Pro-life Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the bill's sponsor, says ultrasound images can provide women with useful information.
"If we can get it into a woman's mind, regardless of her age, that it's standard medical procedure to have an ultrasound when you're pregnant, that in itself will change the debate on abortion in this country. Information is knowledge and knowledge is power and that's why this is a threat to Planned Parenthood."
Even if the bill fails, the movement to provide pregnant women with ultrasounds will continue, said Tom Glessner, president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, an organization that provides legal advice and arranges medical training for pregnancy centers wanting to provide ultrasounds.
"I'm not a prophet," said Glessner, who helped write the bill, "But I do have an educated feel for this thing and the bottom line is this: By the end of this decade, we want to have 1,000 pregnancy centers becoming medical centers with ultrasound. If those 1,000 medical centers provide, on the average, 1,500 ultrasounds for abortion-minded women per year, we will see the number of abortions in this country plummeting to 500,000 a year, compared to the current 1.3 million."
Among the 350 pregnancy centers already providing ultrasound, the issue of pressure and manipulation is a sensitive one.
"The ultrasound image is true," said Gail Tierney, head of the Rockville Pregnancy Center in Rockville, Md. "There's nothing manipulative about it. We're just showing a mother a window into her womb. We're educating, not manipulating, because women can figure this out when they're truly informed."
"It's ignorant women that can be manipulated," Tierney said referring to Planned Parenthood's desire to keep women in the dark.
Said Dr. Rhonda Kendrick, a supervising physician at the center, "There's no propaganda involved because what you see is what you get."
Kendrick says an ultrasound is also medically necessary to determine if a pregnancy is still viable. Women frequently miscarry without knowing it, said Kendrick, and an ultrasound can prevent them from going ahead with an unnecessary abortion.
Kendrick said she prefers women to wait until they are at least seven weeks pregnant -- prior to when most abortions occur -- before having an ultrasound, so they can see "They're not just carrying around a blob of tissue. There's a child inside of them."
In most states, the main requirement for providing ultrasounds is having a physician who oversees what's happening, though some states have more stringent requirements.
After offering free ultrasound exams, some pregnancy center officials say they have seen an increase in the number of women seeking help, especially those they deem "Abortion vulnerable."
Take, for example, Collier Pregnancy Center of Naples, Fla., which began offering ultrasound in July. Director Beth Chase said the center saw an average of 80 women a month before ultrasound. Ten percent were identified as abortion vulnerable, and of that group, only 4 percent carried their babies to term.
After ultrasound was offered, the number of women visiting jumped to 105 per month, of which 80 percent were labeled abortion vulnerable. Of that group, 95 percent said they decided to carry to term after seeing an ultrasound.
"What we've come down to is this: If we build it, they will come," said Chase. "I think we've hit on something that women are so hungry for and talking to other women about."
Nancarrow, whose baby girl was born last spring, said in a telephone interview that she first went to Planned Parenthood in fall 2001 when she discovered she was pregnant. Her boyfriend had told her he was not ready to be a father and would leave her if she didn't abort.
She received an $80 ultrasound at Planned Parenthood, she said, but was told she couldn't see the results because "That will only make it harder on you."
Nancarrow, upset and ambivalent, visited the Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center, where she remembers saying, "I'm only here to give you one shot to get another view on this."
"I honestly have to say that had I not had the sonogram (ultrasound), I would have had the abortion. But that sonogram just confirmed 100 percent to me that this was a life within me, not a tissue or a glob."
--
Find pro-life books, materials and merchandise at Life Cycle Books. Go to Source 8
Abortion - The World's View Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture
More on abortion:
QUOTE Abortion: A Poor Last Resort for Women by Michaelene Jenkins
[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Michaelene Jenkins is the executive director of the Life Resource Network in San Diego, California.]
After 30 years of legalized abortion in the United States, people have grown tired of the shouting and sloganeering. Catch phrases and political posturing only fuel the stereotypes that cause most people to tune out. Dialogue isn't pursued while each day thousands of women allow themselves to undergo the violence and violation of abortion because they feel there is no other way.
When I was 18 I found myself pregnant. Even though I was pro-choice at the time I considered adoption, but my boyfriend said he would kick me out if I didn't have an abortion. I turned to my employer for advice. She agreed that abortion was the only logical option, so I allowed her to make the appointment.
My experience at the Planned Parenthood clinic was painful and humiliating. The promised solution the only option presented to me wasn't the end of my nightmare, but only the beginning. I felt dirty, I felt guilty, I felt unworthy to live.
I soon found myself in a cycle of self-destructive behavior as I attempted to repress the sense that I had destroyed my child. Desperate for a fresh start, I broke up with my boyfriend, quit my job and moved to another state. Unfortunately my depression and self-hatred only deepened.
The worse I felt, the more I became convinced that pregnant women needed to know that abortion was not an easy "Solution." I also realized that I needed help and was fortunate enough to find other caring women who had experienced abortion to assist me.
During the healing process, I made the decision to publicly share my story
-- a story that is repeated and experienced by millions of other women in this country. Planned Parenthood's own statistics tell us that one-out-of-four women of childbearing age have had at least one abortion.
It has been eighteen years since my abortion. Although much has changed in eighteen years, not much has changed for women experiencing an untimely pregnancy. They still face unsupportive partners and employers and are often unaware of the community resources available to them. They undergo abortion not so much out of choice, but out of desperation or as a last resort.
Although some women are able to move on from their abortion, many are left with physical or emotional scars that negatively affect their lives for years and sometimes decades.
In all the noise, women have been forgotten. It is time to stop the noise and start working on meeting the unmet needs of women so that they are no longer pressured into abortion.
[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Michaelene Jenkins is the executive director of the Life Resource Network in San Diego, California.]
After 30 years of legalized abortion in the United States, people have grown tired of the shouting and sloganeering. Catch phrases and political posturing only fuel the stereotypes that cause most people to tune out. Dialogue isn't pursued while each day thousands of women allow themselves to undergo the violence and violation of abortion because they feel there is no other way.
When I was 18 I found myself pregnant. Even though I was pro-choice at the time I considered adoption, but my boyfriend said he would kick me out if I didn't have an abortion. I turned to my employer for advice. She agreed that abortion was the only logical option, so I allowed her to make the appointment.
My experience at the Planned Parenthood clinic was painful and humiliating. The promised solution the only option presented to me wasn't the end of my nightmare, but only the beginning. I felt dirty, I felt guilty, I felt unworthy to live.
I soon found myself in a cycle of self-destructive behavior as I attempted to repress the sense that I had destroyed my child. Desperate for a fresh start, I broke up with my boyfriend, quit my job and moved to another state. Unfortunately my depression and self-hatred only deepened.
The worse I felt, the more I became convinced that pregnant women needed to know that abortion was not an easy "Solution." I also realized that I needed help and was fortunate enough to find other caring women who had experienced abortion to assist me.
During the healing process, I made the decision to publicly share my story
-- a story that is repeated and experienced by millions of other women in this country. Planned Parenthood's own statistics tell us that one-out-of-four women of childbearing age have had at least one abortion.
It has been eighteen years since my abortion. Although much has changed in eighteen years, not much has changed for women experiencing an untimely pregnancy. They still face unsupportive partners and employers and are often unaware of the community resources available to them. They undergo abortion not so much out of choice, but out of desperation or as a last resort.
Although some women are able to move on from their abortion, many are left with physical or emotional scars that negatively affect their lives for years and sometimes decades.
In all the noise, women have been forgotten. It is time to stop the noise and start working on meeting the unmet needs of women so that they are no longer pressured into abortion.
View Worlds - Abortion
CRAZY MAN IN VAN THINKS:
Yep... This will get attention! But wait, I am trying to save life and I might just kill a few? Ah, what the heck... *Pushes on gas pedal*
Used by Permission:
QUOTE Source: Houston Chronicle, Pro-Life Infonet; March 7, 2003
Man Drives Van Into Houston Planned Parenthood Abortion Business
Houston, TX -- A man who claims to be against abortion and has previously been convicted for abortion-related violence drove his van into the entrance of a Planned Parenthood abortion facility on Friday morning. There were no injures.
Frank Lafayette Bird Jr., 61, of Houston, remains in custody after police say he admitted smashing his van into the abortion facility entrance to "Stop the killing." Damage to the entrace of the building was limited to broken glass.
Proving that violence does nothing to stop abortion, the cleanup and repair of the entrance was completed by the end of the day and those seeking abortions were taken to a back entrance during repairs.
Pro-life organizations said they opposed any acts of violence, including this one.
"Texas Right to Life and all 50 state affiliates of National Right to Life vehemently oppose all transgressions of the law, including incidents such as the one at Planned Parenthood of Houston earlier today," explained Elizabeth Graham, associate director of Texas Right to Life. "An incident such as this only harms the legitimate, peaceful prolife movement."
David Bereit, director of a local pro-life group, the Coalition for Life, agreed.
"Violence is never the solution to the violence of abortion. It is regrettable that a person who claims to oppose abortion resorted to this destructive tactic."
Peter Durkin, the president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, said Bird is familiar to those at the clinic because of his frequent protesting. "He has been arrested at this location before, and he has been involved at other clinics in the Houston area," Durkin said.
Harris County Precinct 7 Deputy Constable Willie Winfree said Bird told him he made sure no one was standing in the immediate area before he plowed into the doors shortly after 9 a.m. The white commercial van hit the glass-and-metal frame entrance and pushed about three feet into the building.
The man was peacefully arrested after the van came to rest. The van was towed off immediately and work crews were on the scene within an hour repairing the entrance.
Man Drives Van Into Houston Planned Parenthood Abortion Business
Houston, TX -- A man who claims to be against abortion and has previously been convicted for abortion-related violence drove his van into the entrance of a Planned Parenthood abortion facility on Friday morning. There were no injures.
Frank Lafayette Bird Jr., 61, of Houston, remains in custody after police say he admitted smashing his van into the abortion facility entrance to "Stop the killing." Damage to the entrace of the building was limited to broken glass.
Proving that violence does nothing to stop abortion, the cleanup and repair of the entrance was completed by the end of the day and those seeking abortions were taken to a back entrance during repairs.
Pro-life organizations said they opposed any acts of violence, including this one.
"Texas Right to Life and all 50 state affiliates of National Right to Life vehemently oppose all transgressions of the law, including incidents such as the one at Planned Parenthood of Houston earlier today," explained Elizabeth Graham, associate director of Texas Right to Life. "An incident such as this only harms the legitimate, peaceful prolife movement."
David Bereit, director of a local pro-life group, the Coalition for Life, agreed.
"Violence is never the solution to the violence of abortion. It is regrettable that a person who claims to oppose abortion resorted to this destructive tactic."
Peter Durkin, the president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, said Bird is familiar to those at the clinic because of his frequent protesting. "He has been arrested at this location before, and he has been involved at other clinics in the Houston area," Durkin said.
Harris County Precinct 7 Deputy Constable Willie Winfree said Bird told him he made sure no one was standing in the immediate area before he plowed into the doors shortly after 9 a.m. The white commercial van hit the glass-and-metal frame entrance and pushed about three feet into the building.
The man was peacefully arrested after the van came to rest. The van was towed off immediately and work crews were on the scene within an hour repairing the entrance.
Post Date: 9th Mar, 2003 - 5:36pm / Post ID: #
View Worlds - Abortion
This is one of the most difficult subjects I have ever tried to think about.
I personally could not do it.
But I will never have to do it, and thus, will never have to live with the ramifications of either choice.
I have seen bitter fruits from both choices, and in every case, 100%, it is the woman involved who has to live with the consequences.
I feel that men have no say in the matter. We have zero understanding of the issue, as we do in most matters pertaining to women.
I do not think the matter should be legislated. It should be up to the woman involved. She lives with the consequences either way, so she should make the decision.
For those of us standing on the sidelines to say you must do this or that, when we will not be there to deal with all the problems is ridiculous.
If you would DEMAND that a woman have a child, then YOU should be required to help raise it.
Abortion - The World's View
QUOTE I do not think the matter should be legislated. It should be up to the woman involved. She lives with the consequences either way, so she should make the decision.
Let's not worry about if it is legal or not in the US, let's go and introduce it somewhere else! Seems like they want to bring 'their ideas' to Iraq now. I wonder how it will be accepted. What are these people thinking!?
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QUOTE Planned Parenthood: Iraqi Women Need Abortion by Father Michael Reilly
[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Father Michael Reilly is the religion editor for NewsMax.]
What do Iraqi women need now more than ever? According to Planned Parenthood, if you answered food, water or medicine, you're wrong.
Instead, the pro-abortion advocacy group sees the liberation of Iraq as an opportunity to extend abortion and birth control to yet another civilization.
"If we are fighting for freedom in Iraq, then most surely that freedom should extend to women globally and in the United States," says Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt, in a statement posted on the group's Web site. "The most fundamental freedom is the freedom of reproductive self-determination."
But the Bush administration, Feldt complains, is standing in the way. "In mid-February, a leaked State Department memo indicated that the administration intended to extend the global gag rule to cover all health programs, including reproductive health programs for refugees."
Imagine the outrage on the "Arab Street" if the U.S. War of liberation became a genuine liberal culture war, with a victorious America imposing abortion on Muslim women of a conquered land.
How might the Muslim world react, for instance, to the words of abortion crusader Margaret Sanger, who favored the practice of eugenics to limit "Inferior" populations?
"We are paying for and even submitting to the dictates of an ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all," Sanger wrote in a screed she titled "Pivot of Civilization." "The wealth of individuals and of states is being diverted from the development and progress of human expression and civilization."
If the Bush administration decided to take Planned Parenthood's advice, observations like Sanger's would surely fuel Arab speculation that the U.S. Is more interested in aborting Iraq than rebuilding it.
[Pro-Life Infonet Note: Father Michael Reilly is the religion editor for NewsMax.]
What do Iraqi women need now more than ever? According to Planned Parenthood, if you answered food, water or medicine, you're wrong.
Instead, the pro-abortion advocacy group sees the liberation of Iraq as an opportunity to extend abortion and birth control to yet another civilization.
"If we are fighting for freedom in Iraq, then most surely that freedom should extend to women globally and in the United States," says Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt, in a statement posted on the group's Web site. "The most fundamental freedom is the freedom of reproductive self-determination."
But the Bush administration, Feldt complains, is standing in the way. "In mid-February, a leaked State Department memo indicated that the administration intended to extend the global gag rule to cover all health programs, including reproductive health programs for refugees."
Imagine the outrage on the "Arab Street" if the U.S. War of liberation became a genuine liberal culture war, with a victorious America imposing abortion on Muslim women of a conquered land.
How might the Muslim world react, for instance, to the words of abortion crusader Margaret Sanger, who favored the practice of eugenics to limit "Inferior" populations?
"We are paying for and even submitting to the dictates of an ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all," Sanger wrote in a screed she titled "Pivot of Civilization." "The wealth of individuals and of states is being diverted from the development and progress of human expression and civilization."
If the Bush administration decided to take Planned Parenthood's advice, observations like Sanger's would surely fuel Arab speculation that the U.S. Is more interested in aborting Iraq than rebuilding it.
Abortion - World's View
Does God exist in Taiwan?
Used by Permission
From: The Pro-Life Infonet
Reply-To: Steven Ertelt
Subject: Taiwan Official Wants Illegal Chinese Immigrants to
Have Abortions
Source: The Straits Times, taiwan News; April 13, 2003
Taiwan Official Wants Illegal Chinese Immigrants to Have
Abortions
Taipei, Taiwan -- Taiwan's Interior Minister Yu Cheng-hsien on
Thursday proposed 'goodwill abortions' for pregnant illegal
immigrants from China, who are being held at the Chinlu detention
centre in northern Hsinchu while awaiting repatriation.
During an inspection tour of the detention centre, he told
reporters: "We are considering induced abortions for adult
pregnant women - of course with their consent."
His proposal, apparently made to alleviate funding and management
problems faced by Chinlu, came as a shock to both government and
civilian groups.
Of the 843 women being held at the detention centre, 37 are
pregnant while 19 have given birth and are taking care of their
babies themselves. Many of these women were not aware of their
pregnancy before they were sent to Chinlu and they had no idea
who the fathers were.
More than half of the illegal immigrants had sneaked into Taiwan
to escape China to work as prostitutes before they were caught.
Taiwanese legislators and religious leaders opposed the move.
'Regardless of whether it is the women's own wish, the move would
violate the Genetics Health Code here,' said opposition
Kuomintang legislator Chiang Chi-wen.
"Killing cannot solve any problem," said Ti Kang, a Catholic
bishop, during a news conference at the Legislature. "No one has
the right to terminate the lives of others. Abortions represent a
severe violation of fundamental human rights." Ti said that
Catholic organizations can help take care of babies born out of
wedlock and argued that the government should adopt similar
approaches when addressing the issue.
Reverend Cheng Hsin-chen echoed Ti's views, saying that he and
fellow Christian workers would do their utmost to help support
children born at the center. "Let's not take the value of life
lightly under any circumstances," he pleaded.
Yang Shun-oh, an official of a Buddhist foundation, also frowned
on the abortion plan.
"Being anti-abortion is more than a religious stance," Yang said.
"It is a genuine show of respect for life. I hope Minister Yu
would reconsider the policy."
According to Immigration Bureau director Cheng Wen-chang, who is
Mr Yu's subordinate, many of the pregnant women do not want the
babies and there is a high possibility that the infants would be
sold after they are repatriated to the mainland with their
mothers. He noted that some of the women had even tried to induce
a miscarriage themselves by deliberately falling from staircases.
He claimed the government official was making the abortion
proposal out of 'mercy and compassion'.
However, an Interior Ministry source said that Mr Yu proposed the
idea after he learned that pregnant women at the detention centre
and others who had given birth were creating serious financial
and management problems at the centre.
Meanwhile, Mr Chen Ming-tong, vice-chairman of the Cabinet-level
Mainland Affairs Council, said yesterday the abortion idea was
merely a proposal.
Food for the illegal women immigrants from China alone cost NT$40
million last year, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Medical, maternity and other expenses were additional costs, he
added.
Abortion - World's View Culture Family Travel & Consumer Reviews
Now this is an interesting ruling. Unborn child is a body part.
USED BY PERMISSION
From: The Pro-Life Infonet
Reply-To: Steven Ertelt
Subject: Court Rules Unborn Child is a "Body Part"
Source: Associated Press; May 7, 2003
Court Rules Unborn Child is a "Body Part"
Hartford, CT -- Upseting pro-life advocates, the Connecticut
Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an unborn child is a body
part, akin to teeth, skin and hair that are eventually shed.
The ruling unanimously upheld the conviction of a man who tried
to force his girlfriend to have an abortion by slipping her
labor-inducing drugs. Edwin Sandoval argued he could not be
charged with attempting to commit aggravated assault because the
baby was the target, not the mother.
Though the court held that the 5-week-old unborn child was part
of the woman's body, Chief Justice William J. Sullivan issued a
separate concurring opinion saying a baby before birth might have
"its own independent existence."
"In other words, the fetus may both be a part of its mother as
well as its own individual being," Sullivan wrote.
Pro-life groups applauded the court's protection of the unborn
child from acts of violence, but criticized the identification of
an unborn baby as a body part.
"It could have had a different blood type, and certainly it had
different DNA," said Bill O'Brien, vice president of the
Connecticut Right to Life Corp.
Sullivan's opinion, which declared that a baby before birth may
be entitled to legal protection, drew criticism from pro-abortion
groups. Abortion advocates have come under fire recently for
opposing common sense laws that provide protection for pregnant
women and their unborn children when the baby is killed or
injured as a result of an assault against the mother.
"Any time I hear about giving rights to fetuses, I get
concerned," said Elaine Werner, executive director of the
Connecticut chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive
Rights Action League. "That's the slippery slope to eroding Roe
vs. Wade."
Sandoval was sentenced in 2001 to 12 years in prison for using
ulcer medication in an attempt to induce a miscarriage. The woman
later gave birth to a healthy son.
Gov. John G. Rowland is expected to sign a bill increasing the
penalties for someone convicted of assaulting a pregnant woman
and causing her to lose the baby. The assault would be punishable
by 10 to 25 years in prison.
Defense attorney Paula Waite said if the baby is its own life
form, the state's abortion laws are in question. If the baby is a
body part, laws increasing the penalty for assaulting a pregnant
woman could be jeopardized. Another defense attorney promised to
appeal.
TOPIC: Abortion - The World's View