Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Planned Parenthood - Media approved pedophiles

The mainstream media has been having a field day with the tragic news from Penn State about allegations of child abuse involving a long time coach and the subsequent cover-up of the alleged criminal activities. The press has also been talking a whole lot about allegations of sexual harassment by presidential candidate Herman Cain, taking anonymous complaints and giving them front page treatment.

Now both stories may be newsworthy in their own right. Politics is not for the faint of heart. The reaction by the public has been most interesting. The scandal at Penn State has brought down the legendary Joe Paterno because he did not act more completely when told elements of the alleged activity. The public outcry again has been predictable.

So along comes Jill Stanek who asks a very serious question - where is the media examination of Planned Parenthood at its cover-up of sexual abuse of children?

In her blog today she asks some extremely targeted questions about the code of silence in the media when it comes to Planned Parenthood and its involvement in various sex scandals over the years.

She lists in her blog examples taken from an Americans United for Life exclusive report: The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood.

These reports do not mention the events that happened in Arizona involving Planned Parenthood. Not many people know about the 14 year old girl who was a ward of the state, living with a foster couple whose adult son impregnated the child on two occasions and took her to Planned Parenthood on both occasions for abortions. The pattern of abuse of underage children is widespread and knows no geographical boundaries. Live Action did a number of explosive stories proving that Planned Parenthood employees will lie and cover up child abuse in order to facilitate an abortion

Jill's story may be read by those of us in the pro-life community. The question is whether it will be read by congressional leaders who need to hold hearings on these predatory practices of Planned Parenthood. It is not enough that Planned Parenthood gets millions of federal dollars without any oversight as to how these tax dollars are spent. This international enterprise is covering up the exploitation of women and children while the media conveniently ignores the tales of disaster it leaves in its wake.

The media rightly asks how those in power can abuse the public trust. We must ask the media to ask themselves the same question. AS Jill reported in her blog,

And in September Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services did an end run around the State of New Hampshire to award a no-bid contract to the very same Planned Parenthood of Northern New England whose CEO 10 years before had testified it did not report suspected child abuse as mandated by law.

We must contact our elected officials and ask them to investigate Planned Parenthood. We must ask our public officials to make sure all proper reporting is being done according to the state laws. We must be vocal in our opposition of any political figure, any entertainment figure, any public figure who supports Planned Parenthood. Finally we must ask companies why they who ever consider giving money to an organization connected with child abuse.

Thankfully the use of the alternative media and social networking has allowed more information to get out to the public. Still most do not know or have not heard of the horror stories of the abortion industry. We must continue to to put pressure not only on the mainstream media but also on the so-called conservative outlets be they on radio, cable TV or on the internet. Everyone needs to be discussing how it is that a recipient of tax dollars is complicit in sex trafficking of minors, forced abortions of minors, covering up of statutory rape of minors, and the continued failure to report criminal activity. The media needs to do its job. Thank you Jill for doing yours.

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Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Remembering our mothers and the movement they brought into being.

Recently there have been a number of articles that have discussed the new, younger, more feminine face of the Pro-Life Movement. These articles have been excellent insofar as they have presented some wonderfully competent leaders within the Pro-Life Movement such as Marjorie Dannenfelser, Charlene Yoest, Kristan Hawkins to name a few.

It is however interesting how these articles need to create a fiction that somehow there were no women in leadership in the 70s,80s or 90s or that "those" leaders were hard hearted nd did not care about women. A recent article by Lisa Miller, published in the Washington Post, did a profile on Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. It was sad to see how limited Miss Miller's awareness of the history of the Pro-Life Movement was when she could only refer to certain men in leadership such as Henry Hyde and Jerry Falwell, or limit women as Beverly LaHaye and Phyllis Schlafly. While leaders in their own right, especially Phyllis Schlafley, who successfully led the fight to stop the pro-abortrion ERA, the reference does not do justice to the courageous women in pro-life leadership during the last forty years. To forget these women who blazed a trail that our current leadership travel is to ignore a very important part of the Movement. I knew these heroes, some of whom have recently passed away and others who are now in the twilight years of their life. The next generation would be wise to learn from them and draw strength and determination from their example.

I especially want to recall five very important women whose efforts in the early days of the Movement left a powerful mark on the Movement. Dr. Mildred Jefferson, M.D., who recently passed away, was the first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. She graduated with a masters degree from Tufts College prior to being accepted at Harvard.She later became a surgeon at Boston University Medical Center and a professor of surgery at the university’s medical school. She was an incredibly gifted speaker, and one of the founders of the National Right to Life Committee. As president of National Right to Life back in the 70s, her articulate and impassioned defense of the unborn is the stuff of legend.

I met Dr. Carolyn Gerster, M.D. not in Arizona but in Boston at the National Right to Life Committe Convention in 1976. A full-time doctor of Internal Medicine, she and her husband Dr. Josef Gerster, M.D. raised five sons, and also managed to be one of the founders of Arizona Right to Life, the National Right to Life Committee, and Arizonans for Life PAC. She was president of both AZRTL and later National Right to Life Committee for three years in the early 80s. Her forty-year involvement in the Pro-Life Movement, dated back to 1971 when she helped found Arizona Right to Life, and was an example of her complete and utter dedication to the cause. A powerful speaker, advocate and debater, she challenged conventional wisdom at the time and showed the pro-abortion extremists to be concerned about power and not about protecting women. As a result of her strong, compelling witness for life, she was shunned in her profession, a profession that failed to stand up and defend the unborn. Yet her compassion and dedication saved many lives and offered real hope to women with difficult pregnancies.

Nellie Gray was a Washington D.C. lawyer who retired from her work in the government to start the March for Life Committee. Another pioneer of the early movement, she made sure everyone held true to the principles of no compromise when it came to passing laws that would someday protect all human beings, born and unborn. The March for Life is the oldest longest continuing civil rights march in the history of the United States. Since 1974, pro-lifers have gathered in January to protest the Roe v. Wade decision. Still tough, still running the show, she is an example of someone who has "true girt."

Erma Craven, a Minnesota social worker back in the 70s and 80s, was one of the leading African-American women regarding the right to life of the unborn and the protection of women. She was another great leader who articulated a compassion not only for the unborn but for women who were being exploited by abortion.

Barbara Wilkie, the wife of Dr. Jack Wilkie, was a nurse, an educator, and a speaker on human sexuality. Together with her husband, they were an incredible team presenting a view on the dignity and sanctity of human life that we can only regret people do not follow. They started Cincinnati Right to Life, Ohio Right to Life and were founders of the NRLC.

Other strong women who were leaders in the Movement back in the 70s and 80s included Ellen McCormick, who actually ran for President as a Democrat, Anne O'Donnell of Missouri, Jean Doyle of Florida and Fran Driscoll of California.

These were women who set the stage for this next generation of leadership. These were women who like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, and Alice Paul, called our nation to respect both the mother and her child, to protect both the mother and the child, and to pass laws that would guard the dignity of every human person.

I had the privilege of knowing and working with these incredible people. I know how proud they are or would be of the current efforts of this next generation of women in leadership. These women as their mothers before them recognize that the dignity of women is respected by protecting the children and the bond between mother and child and not creating conflict between them. The present day pro-life movement stands on the shoulders of these gritty, self sacrificing women. It is only right that the media acknowledge their contributions as well.