Thursday, February 09, 2006

Dueling Post Abortion Stories in Australian Fight over Fate of RU-486

She (Lyn Allison, leader of the minority Australian Democrats) said:

An estimated one in three women have had an abortion, and I am one of those," she told parliament.

It is galling listening to the men - and it is mostly men - who have such contempt for women who terminate unwanted pregnancies, who have neither the compassion nor the understanding of the huge and, for many, daunting task of taking an embryo the size of a grain of rice to adulthood.

He (Finance Minister Nick Minchin) said:

"I bring to this debate personal experience in that a former girlfriend of mine had an abortion when we were in a monogamous relationship," he told parliament.

"I cannot divorce that experience in my life from this consideration."
Read it all here.

If there is nothing wrong with surgical abortion why the mad dash to chemical abortion? Maybe because they know there is something wrong with abortion. After all, Miss Allison's hyperbole and emotionalism makes a compelling case that her abortion didn't go so well for her and that perhaps chemical abortion might be an improvement.

The abortion pill is seen as a magic bullet but, as Rachel M. MacNair points out in this chapter of Achieving Peace in the Abortion Wars, it is doubtful that it will provide the improvements that Miss Allison hopes for.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Sad Conversation

In the same Seattle PI article mentioned in the post below, there is an intersting conversation between "tensharp" and "Tempus Figitis" over whether or not Project Rachel is helpful. Both women seem to be post-abortive and I would guess tensharp has gone through Project Rachel and Tempus Figitis has not. I'm always surprised that there are so many post-abortive women reading and commenting on articles related to abortion on the internet. I figured that women who don't regret their abortions wouldn't be bothered reliving and defending what they felt they had to do. They've moved on, right?

One part of the post contains a strange conversation/argument between two post-abortive women. Tensharp recommends Project Rachel to post-abortive women, which seems to rub Tempus Figitis the wrong way because "they [Project Rachel] come from an attitude that you have murdered your child". She then seems to imply that post-abortion trauma is hormonal based. Tensharp makes some good counter points and even throws in a bit of humor but then, bam! out of nowhere Tempus Figitis accuses her of being angry, recommending anger management therapy and diversity training, and tells her to, "Please get help". Then there's the back-handed insult of asking for (demanding?) "Tolerance!!!" and saying "Down with the violence!" (The implication being that tensharp is being intolerant and violent.)

The conversation is eerily reminiscent of ones I have with a close friend who is post-abortive, has not been through a healing program and says she does not regret her abortion. The conversation always breaks down because I'm accused of saying things I didn't say, I'm attacked as not being [fill in politically correct virtue de jour] enough, and alas angry and judgmental. Our conversations usually up with me feeling like I've gone down the rabbit hole with Alice.

Posted by tensharp at 1/24/06 4:31 p.m.
Abortion is an industry. Just like Big Tobacco, Big oil, Big government. There is money to be made. Once they get their chunk they're done with you. They care about their bottom line. Period. (No pun intended. Really!) For those that need it, help is out there. Project Rachael is a wonderful opportunity for healing.

#12581Posted by Tempus Figits at 1/24/06 5:08 p.m.Project Rachel is not the path I would recommend for most women. Basically, they come from an attitude that you have murdered your child and are seeking God's forgiveness for that act. If this is the path of healing you wish to choose, they are sincere and wish to help you overcome your guilt you are feeling.That being said, if you are mourning what might have been or depressed due to hormonal imbalances (which is the most common issue) they are not the ones I would recommend turning to.

#12586 Posted by tensharp at 1/24/06 5:25 p.m.
Project Rachael seeks nobody out. They receive those that choose to walk through the door. Those that come have had abortions last week, last month, two decades ago. Kind of hard to blame it all on hormones, but that is usually the male response to everything. It's convenient for them I guess. If fact they call it menopause because well, men pause while they think of something. (a little Maxine humor there) Like it or not reasonable women realize they are ending a life and it is with sadness. They saw the beating heart maybe even heard it. Many were mislead "It's just a tissue" and now with the advancement of medicine, they know better. I think its sad that you trivialize what they go through for your own political agenda. God forbid a pro-abortionist can admit women have been hurt by this procedure.

#12589Posted by tensharp at 1/24/06 5:40 p.m.
ONE MORE THING....Project Rachael isn't out there on picket lines, screaming at the women, bringing little kids to protest, financing lobbyists. They're on the front lines helping women through a difficult time. If more people put their time and money towards the problems rather than complaining about how wrong everyone else is and how right they are....ahhhhh utopia.

#12599Posted by Tempus Figits at 1/24/06 7:02 p.m.
Gee tensharp, you look like you need some anger management therapy. I'm sure our good government has some options available to you. Please get help. You need some diversity training as well, it sounds like. Tolerance, my friend. Tolerance!!! Down with the violence!I suggest you reread my statement on Project Rachael and tell me where I denigrated them. I called them sincere and a viable path of healing if you are feeling like you murdered your baby after having an abortion. That is the sector they are supporting. As far as admitting that women have been hurt, I don't recall anyone saying that its something people celebrate about. If you would actually read what people write rather than judging people you have never met with the only consideration that they disagree with your fanatical stance. Not everyone shares your religious vision and I guarantee you that yours is not the one true path.On second thought, forget my saying you need to follow your own advice. I would suggest meditating on Jesus' words of 'Judge not lest ye be judged.' Otherwise, when you stand before the Allmighty in judgement, Jesus just may claim not to know you.

Only Two Choices: Life and Abortion

The January 23rd issue of the Seattle P.I. had an article from a medical student who is studying to become an abortionist. The comments section at the end of the article revealed this post-abortion testimony directed at pro-lifers by someone calling herself "lovingmom":

Here's the honest truth of the matter - if any of you actually want to get down to the facts....I am a woman who has had an abortion, termination, "baby-killing operation", or whatever else you find fit to name the personal decision / procedure.

For those of you who are already "pro-choice", this is only reinforcing your standpoint. For those of you who are "pro-life" please take into account that I am not naieve enough to think that you would abandon your standpoint and turn your back on the belief-system that you consider yourselves a part of.

All I am doing by writing this, is to simply provide you with a SMALL glimpse into a situation, my situation, that resulted in the termination of a pregnancy. My hope is that at least one reader might give a few extra minutes and lend an open mind to the idea that it IS possible that making the gut-wrenching decision of terminating my pregnancy MIGHT have been the better choice.

If you are, as you say, fighting for the life of a child, then you must be fully aware of the fact that a child that walks the earth, breathes the air, must be cared for by someone - and in today's society, by someone's money and emotional stability and love. You must agree that if these basic neccessities are not met somehow, that the child WILL suffer. A child with no food in their mouths (let alone healthy food) will starve. A child with no clean water to drink will suffer illness. A child with no heat to keep them warm in the winter will suffer horribly painful and seemingly endless days and nights. A child with no access to any medical care at all (let alone decent medical care) could suffer through insurmountable physical trauma that quickly leads to deep emotional pain. A child without a Mother or Father (single parent or not) that has the will and the maturity to support them will suffer on so very many levels, however, this is NOT the fault of the child. That child may not have asked to be terminated, but that same child did also not ask to live.

Forcing a woman to bear a child that she, for whatever reason, does not feel she can provide for does NOT make her a Mother. Do you agree that every child deserves a Mother? Do you wish to inflict pain and suffering on these "innocent children" who's rights you are so diligently fighting for?

At the age of 20, I was at the peak of what I call my "bad period". I graduated high school with honors, was successful in sports, music, relationships. I went on to begin my college career. Not long after I began, I lost control. I had been diagnosed with bipolar, depression, ADD, and everything else that would put me into a category. It is difficult to diagnose someone who maintains a seemingly successful life but just cannot maintain it consistently. I DO NOT blame some mental illness, or diagnosis for ANY of my decisions or actions. Having extremely low self esteem, I seeked out those who had far worse situations than mine. I became them. I suppose I felt I was "helping" them - while all the time I was simply becoming them, their environment.I went from living with a wonderful, open minded, caring family to living in a broken down projects apartment. No, I was not a drug or alcohol addict. No, I was not a prostitute.

I became involved with a guy ("man" is not the proper term for this individual) who grew up half in the U.S., half in Puerto Rico. Whenever his mother decided she didn't feel like being here anymore, when her welfare checks ran out, when her WIC coupons were boring her, when her Section 8 wasn't affording her a large enough apartment to comfortably house her FIVE children - she would just take them all out of school and jet off to P.R. This guy had no education. He sold drugs and stood in the street all night. He robbed apartments and stole cars. As did EVERY SINGLE OTHER person living in that sprawling part of the city. They all came from the SAME exact background. I holed up with him and his entire family. His 13 year old sister had a one year old daughter and did not know who the father was.

I got pregnant. I was on the pill. Yes, it is entirely possible. I had a job that paid $9.00 an hour. I used my oven to heat my apartment. I spent days going to court dates for my "boyfriend", visiting him in jail. Driving his family members around - no one had a car. I had "breakfast" with his family everyday - this meant sitting and watching them toast a piece of bread per person, melt a piece of processed cheese on it, and wash it down with soda. This included the one year old baby - yes - she was drinking soda ONLY.

I made the decision to have an abortion. Had I had this child, I would have had NO prenatal care. I had no insurance through my "temp-agency". I made "too much money" to be given Medicaid. When that child was born, I would have had nothing to offer. Had I attempted to raise the child in that environment, the cycle would have simply continued. The would-be "father" now has 3 children with 3 different women and is in prison. Had I put the child up for adoption - there was ABSOLUTELY no guarantee that a permanant home would have been available and waiting. The very real possiblity, based on statistics, was that the child would have spent time being shifted through foster homes - with no attachment to a parent and the window for abuse and neglect. You cannot deny that would result in nothing less than needless suffering. I had to identify to the very best of my knowledge what the "lesser of two evils" in THAT individual situation was. You may respond by saying that by having that child, it at least would have had a chance. This is where you need to really dig deep and think - Isn't the CHANCE of just ONE SINGLE CHILD living a life of hunger, violence, neglect, pain too much to risk? I believe if you really consider the difference between the the "suffering" that you are causing an unborn fetus by terminating it and the life long suffering that you might be causing a child by choosing not to - you will have to see what this boils down to.

You will never be able to gain control over women becoming pregnant. And unfortunately, there will never be a world where all men and women think before they act. But do not let that burden fall on the shoulders of a child that is born into that situation. When a woman is pregnant, there is only two choices - life (regardless of who or who isn't going to care for the child) or abortion.

Unless any of you are prepared and WILLING to adopt every single child that results from a ban on abortion - you truly need to consider what you are fighting for. You may not realize this, but there aren't people standing around waiting to adopt EVERY SINGLE child that is born and not "wanted". Caucasian children may have it easier, but still not half the time. Are you prepared to adopt a black, asian, hispanic child that is born addicted to crack or with AIDS? Are you prepared to adopt every child that is born with a severe mental or physical handicap that will follow them and shape their lives? Newsflash - most people are not. Most people are just like you.

I am now a married mother of twin 16 month old boys. I live in a very lovely city and stay home with my children. I work in the advertising industry and have a very positive life. Do I feel guilty for terminating a pregnancy? No. I feel thankful that I took the time to think the decision through and that I made the choice to keep yet another child safe from the possibility of a life that was anything less than an innocent child deserves.

Post-Abortion Trauma in Canada

Canadians are also discussing the fall-out from abortion in this article and blog in the Western Standard. An advice columnist in the National Post recommends a therapist or counsellor to a woman who writes in:
"It's been two months but I'm still overwhelmed with sadness and guilt."

The last person to post made this observation:

"A wise choice for any young woman considering abortion is to talk to an older woman who has had one."

As the Chinese proverb goes -- Too soon old. Too late smart.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Statement Along Highway 101



Janet Flatley of the Respect Life Committee of Queen of Angels Parish in Port Angeles was kind enough to share what her local pro-life group--Port Angeles Human Life of Washington, an affiliate of National Right to Life--did this past weekend: they "planted" 380 crosses on a most visible part of the main (and only) highway in and out of the region.

The colored photos appeared on the front page of the Port Angeles regional newspaper (covers 2 counties on the northern Olympic Peninsula). The caption said: "STATEMENT ALONG THE HIGHWAY - Wooden crosses and a series of signs line a portion of the U.S. Highway 101 right of way near Deer Park Road east of Port Angeles on Monday, a day after the 33rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. The anti-abortion group Port Angeles Human Life said the 380 crosses represent 10 percent of abortions performed daily in the United States."

This group also organized a contingent of 78 people from Queen of Angels Parish, Port Angeles, to travel 2 1/2 hrs. to state house in Olympia for March for Life.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Silent No More Awareness 2006 Event Highlights

Here's a recap of the day and some of the highlights:

**Seven women attended this year's event. Six women shared testimony and one held an "I regret my abortion" sign. There were probably twice that who wanted to speak but had other engagements or commitments. There are also many other women who wanted to speak but have not told their families or are still unsure about speaking publicly.

**Several young women in their 20s stopped along the side of the park and listen, engrossed in the testimonies.

**We had about forty to forty five people at the rally listening to us. There were two spunky, elderly women all the way from Port Angeles - which is several hours away from Seattle, as well as a groups of pro-life students from Sumner, another hour or so away from Seattle.

**The Seattle Times put an accurate notice about our event in their NW Weekend Section and KGNW 820 also interviewed us and promoted our event heavily. (Thank you KGNW, Thor Tolo and his producer Heidi!)

**A nice looking man came up to one of the participants and asked if she knew how this issue affected men. She was able to tell him about Project Rachel and give him a card with the number for Project Rachel. When she told him that he was welcome to come on a Project Rachel retreat he was most interested. He is in a twelve step program and she believes he will follow through with Project Rachel and that he may even be a speaker for SNMA one day.

**Many people who walked through the park stopped and nodded in agreement and walked on.

**There was little opposition to our message though the few who were there did try to disrupt our peaceful and prayerful event. Someone across the street had a National Organization for Women (NOW) sign. Remember them? I thought they were defunct. Maybe it was an sign leftover from the 70s.

**Women from around the state continue to be inspired and hear the call to come forward and share their testimonies and the truth about abortion. Plans are in the works for several events to happen around the state in the future.

**Kitsap Human Life has a great web site and very kindly posted some photos of the event

Thanks to everyone who prayed in support of this noble effort.

If you know someone who is hurting after an abortion please pass on the following numbers: Project Rachel -- 1-800-822-HOPE and 1-800-395-HELP. If you know someone in the abortion industry, let them know there is help to get out: Have them contact the Society of Centurions of America at PO Box 75368, St. Paul, MN 55175, Phone 651-771-1500, Fax 651-771-6967.

Debunking the Myth of Choice

I received this email from a friend last night:

I was called out at 9pm a couple nites ago to talk to a young woman scheduled for an abortion the next day. A good friend (male) of hers went with me. It wasn't far from our home. I prayed with the friends of hers and we went. The mother wouldn't let us talk to her, but we were able to talk to the mother. We weren't allow in the house. Both of us were post abortive. I know the girl could hear us, as I think she was sitting on the couch, right by the door. We were calm, even though the mother was rude and seemed strange to us. We tried to talk to the mom for only about 5 minutes. We left peacefully and sad.

We stood outside on the street, off private property, and prayed for 15 minutes until the mother called the cops on us. Three police cars arrived. We were told not to come on the property again or we'd be arrested, after they took a report from the mother inside. We drove away with a sigh of relief, we had done our job. No arrest and we were a voice for the unborn. Her abortion was scheduled yesterday. I prayed the whole day for Sarah and baby. Soon I'll hear what happened. I wanted so to save the baby and we were so close to talking to Sarah. I thought if I could just talk to her, she would see and hear my pain. I tried.

Sarah's mother is a single mom. She appeared to be around 60. The mother was definitely in control. She was speaking for the girl/young woman. We couldn't tell without speaking to Sarah whether she wanted the abortion. I think with the right counsel, she would have changed her mind. I haven't found anything out yet. Her friends haven't heard from her yet.