Illinois Right to Life News for Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Oppose so-called reproductive and justice access

When the Illinois Legislature is in session, given its pro-abortion leadership, it is not surprising to learn that bad bills are being filed and given committee approval.  In recent years almost all of these bills have eventually been stopped in the Illinois Senate.  The opposition has usually consisted of a combination of Pro-Life Republicans and downstate Democrats, who are often Pro-Life. 

One very outrageous bill that is scheduled for a hearing in the House Human Services Committee on February 27th is House Bill 5615, known as the Reproductive and Justice Access Act.  Enactment of House Bill 5615 would ensure the following:

1)  The government WILL NOT be allowed any regulation of abortion (parental notification, ban on partial birth abortion, etc.);

2)  Medicaid funding WILL BE used for abortions;

3)  Illinois’ Health Care Right of Conscience WILL cease to exist – employers will have statutory reasons to fire workers morally opposed to abortion or contraception;

4)  Comprehensive sex education for every student in Illinois public schools, K - 12, WILL BE MANDATED!

These provisions are outrageous because they are a radical imposition of government to promote abortion and "safe sex."  HB 5615 is effectively a combination of the so-called “freedom of choice” act that would enshrine Roe v. Wade into statute, including a complete ban on any reasonable regulation of abortion, and the bills offered in recent years to replace the state requirement for abstinence education with “comprehensive” sex education.  

It is critical that your voice be heard on this very dangerous bill.  You can make a difference by calling your state representative and state senator.  You might also fax or email them a letter expressing your concerns.  Be sure to ask them to oppose HB 5615 and to vote against it.

You can find your legislators under Action Needed on this Illinois Right to Life web site.  If you need help, call us at 312-422-9300.

 Illinois Right to Life News for Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Estrogen pollution crisis being ignored

Have you become aware of the latest environmental threat?  Most likely, you have not, because this one is not politically correct.  While the focus has been placed on issues such as over-population (totally untrue), global warming (evidence in dispute), and other popular crises, the estrogen from birth control pills has been deforming fish and polluting our water.  Where are the crisis headlines?  Where are the public hearings and calls for action?

Why is everything so quiet when it comes to negative impacts of contraceptives?  The UK Environment Agency confirmed the contraceptive pill as a pollutant back in 2002.  The Agency warned then that fish stocks in British rivers were showing signs of gender ambiguity as a result of high levels of estrogen in the water.  A survey of 1,500 fish at 50 river sites found more than a third of males also displayed female characteristics.

In 2005, University of Colorado scientists, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, found that of 123 fish caught in Boulder Creek downstream from the Boulder sewage treatment plant, 101 were female, 12 were male, and 10 had both male and female characteristics.  More recently, in June 2007, scientists from the University of Pittsburgh investigated the fish populations in the Allegheny River near storm sewer outflow pipes and discovered the same deformations. The region is dependent on the Allegheny system for drinking water.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that other study results have shown ambiguous gender in 85% of the catfish caught on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.

Most recently, a study by Dr. Karen Kidd, of the University of New Brunswick and the Canadian Rivers Institute, confirmed that estrogen from birth control pills entering the water system through sewage adversely affects fish populations.  The researchers added estrogen to an experimental lake at a level commonly found in the treated wastewater from cities with about 200,000 people.  They discovered that exposed male fish became feminized, producing a protein normally found in females.  Chronic exposure to estrogen led to the near extinction of the lake's fathead minnow population, as well as significant declines in larger fish, such as pearl dace and lake trout.  Kidd observed, “What we demonstrated is that estrogen can wipe out entire populations of small fish - a key food source for larger fish whose survival could in turn be threatened over the longer term.”

Fish are not the only creatures threatened by estrogen pollution.  At a conference on breast cancer in Toronto in 1998, author and cancer surgeon Dr. Susan Love said, “Pollutants are metabolized in our bodies as estrogen.  And it is lifetime exposure to estrogen that has increased world cancer rates by 26% since 1980.... We live in a toxic soup of chemicals.”

Further recognition of the cancer-causing effects of estrogen occurred in 2005.  A July 29th press release issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives as carcinogenic. The IARC placed them into their Group 1 classification, the highest classification of carcinogenicity, used only “when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans.”

Studies are also showing significant evidence for a link between environmental estrogens, and estrogen-like chemical pollutants, and the earlier onset of puberty in girls.  The phenomenon of early-onset puberty in American girls is so pervasive, that the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society urged changing the definition of abnormal development.  Ten years ago, breast development at age 8 was considered abnormally early, but a study in 1997 said that among 17,000 girls in North Carolina, almost half of blacks and 15% of whites had begun breast development by age 8.  Studies from the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand have shown similar results.

With this significant evidence of the growing pollutant impact of estrogen from contraceptives on both fish and humans, where is the outcry of concern?   It seems that contraceptives are so politically correct that neither environmentalists nor cancer researchers are willing to raise concerns about the increased risks caused by estrogen pollution.

 Illinois Right to Life News for Friday, February 15, 2008

Not recognizing the consequences

A February 11th Chicago Tribune article covered a Kansas grand jury that is investigating late-term abortionist George Tiller for possible violations of Kansas abortion law.  The article mentioned a “Jane Doe” who expressed how much Tiller’s services were needed for circumstances like hers where a discovery of serious fetal disability is not made until late in the pregnancy.  Mothers such as “Jane Doe” are convinced they could not handle a seriously disabled infant, even for a short time.  They often express concern that they could not watch their baby suffer.  They still believe that George Tiller helped them by killing their baby late in the pregnancy to avoid this “problem.”

Based on testimony of mothers who chose the deadly option offered by George Tiller compared to those who allowed their disabled baby to come into this world naturally, the contrast in what they experience is meaningful in evaluating who made the best decision. 

Just the headlines of articles about families where the parents chose to support their disabled child under whatever circumstances occurred tell a heartwarming story with titles like “35 minutes to live, feel love” and “Tribute Video to Short Life of Handicapped Baby Inspires and Touches Tens of Thousands” and “When What Seems Broken is Perfect: The Mother of a Disabled Child Tells her Story.”  These testimonies tell of babies who lived from just 35 minutes to as long as 99 days.  In each case their short lives had a great impact on the parents, families, and even extended families.

Eliot Mooney was born with an undeveloped lung, a heart with a hole in it, and DNA that placed faulty information into each and every cell of his body. He would live for only 99 days. They made a video about his short life. The video, called “Ninety-nine Balloons”, concludes: “Not a pulpit, not a slick presentation, not a best-selling book, but a six-pound boy with Trisomy 18. God showed great pleasure to take a lowly thing in the eyes of the world and show truth…And so today we celebrate. Eliot you are well, and although we miss you more than we can express, we are only separated by our time left on earth. See you soon son. Mom and dad.”

Annie Smyth was born full-term with trisomy 13. Her mother wrote, “During her 80 days, our little Annie taught us our greatest lessons in life. Through her life, we experience the deepest sorrow and the most intense love. She taught us the true meaning and purpose of life and we are forever changed as a family. Our children have learned that if they are ever in need, their family will love them, protect them and do anything to support them, just like we did for Annie. They developed an incredible empathy for the disabled and the vulnerable.”

Zeke Weatherford was confirmed to have full trisomy 13. Jessica Weatherford decided the best gift she could give to her unborn son was to love him until his death, even if the only fullness of his life would be in the soft cushion of her womb. Present at Zeke’s birth were Jessica's twin sister, Jacquelyn; her father; her mother-in-law, her minister, aunts, grandparents, and friends. Zeke was with them all for 35 minutes before he died.

Perinatal hospices are becoming more common to provide the necessary support for parents who recognize and treasure the humanity of their babies, even under these adverse circumstances.

Now consider testimony of mothers who still claim they are grateful they decided to allow George Tiller to abort their children.  Here are three revealing quotes from a May 31, 2005 article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, entitled "A Late Decision, a Lasting Anguish":

1)  "I don't know what I would have done had [Dr. Tiller] not been available to me," said Katie Plazio, a financial analyst from New Jersey.   "That's selfish, I know.  I feel selfish."

2)  "Since her abortion, Plazio has suffered such severe panic attacks that she can't drive even as far as the high school to watch her daughter cheerlead. She has gained 60 pounds as she battles depression. The abortion she sought to preserve her mental health has left her deeply shaken; doctors say she suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome."  She aborted a down's syndrome baby at Tiller's clinic, and still maintains that “her mental health would be even worse had she tried to raise a profoundly disabled son — or had she given him up for adoption.”

3)  Despite her family's support, Crocker, who lives in Texas, has struggled with doubt and depression. "I did the unthinkable," she said. "I ended my baby's life.  Sometimes I think, oh God, what if I was wrong?"

And these mothers, and their doctors, may have been wrong.  There are more cases than the medical profession is willing to admit where the mother refuses the pressure to abort and at birth is blessed with a fully healthy baby despite the diagnosis that indicated severe disabilities were found.  If the death penalty should be banned because of the possibility the prisoner could be innocent, then abortion for disabled babies should be banned because of the possibility the diagnosis could be wrong. 

Comparing the contrasts in these examples between those mothers who took their disabled babies to term and those who allowed Tiller to kill their babies "to prevent them from suffering", it seems evident to me who made the wiser decisions and obtained the long term benefits.

Even though they still claim to be “grateful” that Tiller was there for them, the mothers who aborted appear to be very uncertain about their decisions, even years later.   They would not suffer from such conflicted feelings if they gave their babies a chance at life.  Did Tiller really help them, or are they kidding themselves in an attempt to justify a decision that they are forced to live with?  If Tiller had not been available, would they have found the same joys experienced by the families who valued their disabled babies?  Very possibly – what a loss for them by trying to outsmart God!

 Illinois Right to Life News for Friday, February 8, 2008

Planned Parenthood closes three locations, two in Illinois

Only a short time into 2008 and there is already good news that Planned Parenthood is contracting again after their deceptive expansion into Aurora, Illinois.  The February 6, 2008 STOPP Report indicates closure of three Planned Parenthood facilities recently.  Two of these facilities were located in Illinois and the third was in  Idaho.  The three clinic locations include an express clinic in Nampa, Idaho, an express clinic in Naperville, Illinois, and a non-express clinic in Lincoln, Illinois.   The Naperville “express” location closed on January 19th.  The Lincoln clinic closed on January 26th. 

Planned Parenthood’s web site stated that Lincoln was closed for lack of funds.  Even a pro-abortion governor and legislature could not send enough money to Planned Parenthood to keep the Lincoln location open.

Rhonda Robinson reported in an article published by Illinois Family Institute that the Lincoln clinic was housed in the Logan County Health Department.  It served about 400 clients a year, but needed taxpayer money to stay open at all.

Commenting on the Planned Parenthood closing, Rhonda noted, “Contrast their plight with that of the Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Lincoln who served 808 women in 2007, and relied solely on donations by individuals, churches and the Grace of God.   Their Lincoln center opened in 1989, and has served over 7,248 women and children.  Now is a good time to support this center and bring life and hope where there once was death.”

The national total of Planned Parenthood locations now stands at 852, of which 24 are located in Illinois.  Pray that with the aid of 40 Days for Life from February 6th through March 16th that even more Planned Parenthood locations will be closed in coming months.