Attorney Praises Plaintiff's Courage, Calls Washington College's Policies Some of "Worst Ever Seen"

AIW spoke with Alliance Defence Fund (ADF) attorney Heather Hacker about the significance of the recent free-speech victory in the Spokane Falls Community College case. Ms. Hacker said while some might think this was just a case involving a few students and a small community college somewhere in eastern Washington, "it's definitely much bigger than that".

She said that's not only because the policy changes they secured apply to the entire Community Colleges of Spokane district, but also because the details of the ruling send a message for any nearby university systems as to how they would fare in court if they attempted something similar against their students.

She also pointed out that it's not just a victory for pro-life or Christian students, but for all students. "Spokane Community College officials are now much more aware of the Constitutional rights of their students."

"Unconstitutional on their Face"

Ms. Hacker also told AIW that this was one of the most egregious cases of free speech violations she has ever seen. "The facts of this case were unbelievable," she said.

"The policies even before they were applied were already some of the worst we've ever seen, but the fact that the college went ahead and applied them was incredible."

She pointed out that they knew they were on solid legal ground from the outset, since the judge enjoined the policies orally at the preliminary injunction hearing. "These policies were unconstitutional on their face."

In the end, it was a total victory. "Every policy we challenged they agreed to change," said Ms. Hacker. "We felt it was a complete win."

All this raises the question as to what GOP Attorney General Rob McKenna was doing spending six months defending these outrageous policies. Ms. Hacker confirmed that McKenna, who was ultimately the defendant in the case, had the option of ceding the argument at the outset and not mounting a defense, which would have saved the taxpayer's lots of money, and the plaintiffs lots of stress.

Mr. McKenna's strategy for currying support for his future political ambitions with the base of the Republican Party remains confusing at best.

"Takes Courage"

Ms. Hacker also praised the bravery of the plaintiff, Beth Sheeran. "It takes courage to stand up to your university. You've got to be brave to do this." Despite the extreme nature of the unconstitutionality of the college's policies, legally "we couldn't have brought this case if Beth hadn't stood up for her rights," she explained.

These policies had been in place for some time because no-one else had challenged them, through self-censorship and fear.

"It's just going to get worse and worse if no-one challenges these kinds of restrictions," she added, pointing out that all Christians should be concerned, because ultimately it means a loss of ability even to share the Gospel.

Spokane Falls Community College Loses in Bid To Bully, Silence Pro-Life Students

As if the abortion forces in the Eastern half of the state hadn't suffered enough blows recently -- with the audit of Planned Parenthood of Spokane, Planned Parenthood being told to stay out of Pasco (for now), and Planned Parenthood being kicked out of a new health center in Walla Walla -- but now the administration of Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) just lost a very important free speech case, thanks to the courage of one student and great legal help from the Alliance Defense Fund, and their allies.

The resolution of the closely watched case essentially amounts to a total defeat of the abortion side, including the student government of the school, the administration, and even the Attorney General's office which defended the school.

The case involved a student, Beth Sheeran, from Cheney, Washington. She simply wanted to organize some small meetings and to distribute and display some information to educate her fellow students about the plight of the unborn in this state and country, in particular those babies who are executed in utero due to biological "imperfections".

SFCC officials even went so far as to threaten Miss Sheeran, and other members of a Christian student group, with disciplinary measures, including expulsion, if they chose to hold a pro-life event on campus. The reason? Their information was deemed “discriminatory” and did not include a pro-abortion viewpoint!

According to the Miss Sheeran & the ADF, as she went up the food chain, expecting perhaps to bypass radical leftist students on student government, she instead found officials claiming college policy "prohibited one-sided events and expressive displays on campus." One-sided events not involving abortion frequently occur on the campus, it was pointed out.

Miss Sheeran was later told the group could proceed with their event providing they voted on it, but after they did so, the club’s own faculty advisor told the students their flier was “offensive” and that their event violated the district’s “Stop the Hate” policy -- as well as state law! This advisor, who rebuffed AIW's requests for an interview, said the students could face expulsion if they “offended” anyone.

AIW interviewed the various parties to the case & reviewed the legal briefs in the Spring. One surprising development not mentioned in the coverage was the fact that the State's argument did not include a defense of the college's behavior or policies, but rather a string of denials of nearly all the facts alleged by Miss Sheeran, including disputes over most dates, conversations, and decisions made.

The attorney for the college, since it's part of the Community Colleges of Spokane, and operates under the state government, was Assistant Attorney General Jerry Cartwright. He told AIW that the government had "absolutely no interest nor intention to restrict the free speech rights of anyone".

Miss Sheeran's immense courage in this whole saga is a valiant example to everyone. As a result, not only is her group finally able to tell the simple truth to SFCC students about the great human rights disaster of our time, but now anyone in the Washington State Community College system can stand on her shoulders and exercise their constitutional rights without fear.

This is because the administration and government agreed to change not just their unconstitutional "anti-hate" policies, but no less than four sections of the WAC, the Washington Administrative Code. Another element of the court order is the elimination of the Orwellian-sounding "Bias Incident Response Team".

Most other features of the college system's snitch-on-thy-conservative-neighbor regime dressed up as "anti-hate" programs are also going to be dismantled.

The college also has to pay Miss Sheeran $1,000 in damages, and cough up $45,000 to cover her legal fees.

We commend Beth Sheeran. She's a shining example to all of us. If we had half as much courage in our pulpits in this state as she has demonstrated, we would start to see the culture of death rolled back.

40 Days For Life Kickoff in U-District Sees 150 Attendees, Inspiring Speeches

The following is a guest blog from Terra M who attended the 40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally in the U-District, Seattle:

"Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrew 10:24-25

That is my vision of what a pro-life rally should look like: love, encouragement, unity, and a healthy dose of "spurring" one another on to do what is impossible to do alone. I rejoice that on Tuesday night, I walked away from the Seattle 40 Days for Life Rally, feeling all those things in abundance.

Shortly before 7pm on September 22nd, a steady stream of attendees began to file in the doors of the Newman Center, the beautiful brick chapel across from the University of Washington. Attendance numbered between 100 and 150 people and represented those from every age group and background.

In a moving and joy-filled speech, Camille Pauley of Healing the Culture emphasized the person, not simply the baby, that abortion claims. Even those lives that are aborted have an eternal meaning and significance. At a funeral, we not only mourn and "protest" the loss of a loved one, but we also honor and rejoice in the unique person they were. In the same way, our job in standing vigil is not simply to oppose the act of abortion, but also to honor the person that is taken from us.

Pauley urged us to consider both the "before" and "after" of abortion. As believers, we have hope, even after abortion. We hope in the healing and forgiveness of Christ: for the mother, father, family, abortion workers and nation, and hope for the soul of the unborn, as it is ushered from this world to the next. Pauley drew upon recent experiences, including her current pregnancy and the loss of family members as she spoke with conviction about the value of each life, adding new depth and meaning to the way I think about abortion.

Following Pauley's thoughtful reflections came the fiery orations of Russell Johnson. As the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Family Policy Institute of Washington, Johnson approached the issue of abortion from a less personal, more historical perpsective. With the zeal of a traveling preacher, and the precision of a policy wonk, Johnson delivered this message to the crowd: real hope and change are coming to America.

He detailed recent successes that resulted from everyday people taking a stand: the blocking of Planned Parenthood in Pasco, the 1,561 lives saved during past 40 Days campaigns, the 18 abortion workers who have walked away from the industry, and many more. For a normally subdued crowd, the energy was palpable, drawing a number of cheers, "amens" and hearty applause. Johnson punctuated the end of his address with "I'm Russell Johnson, and I approved this message." (I'm sure I am not the first to say this: Johnson 2012...anybody?)

To close out the meeting, campaign leaders Monica Oberlin and Amy Tribble covered the basic housekeeping rules of the vigil and invited all of us to sign up for specific hours of prayer. Lines quickly formed as people eagerly went to the back of the room to register.

In the city of Seattle, it is easy for the pro-lifer to feel estranged. The hostility we experience should not surprise us, for Jesus warned that those who believe His truth would be hated by the world. But on Tuesday night, I felt the grace of God in a special way, as I found myself surrounded by advocates of life in a city of death. I was reminded of the ultimate foundation of our hope: Christ's victory over death in the resurrection, and the free gift of life He offers to all those who believe.

Jay Inslee Continues to Lie about Abortion Funding in Health Care Bills

The following letter was sent to a constituent of Rep. Jay Inslee (D) of Washington's 1st congressional district in response to a request to stop goverment funded child killing in the health care proposals before Congress.

Rep. Inslee and his wife are rabid and enthusiastic supporters of abortion. He has a 100% pro-abortion voing score from NARAL, he was honred this year's "Power of Choice" luncheon, and has basically never met an abortion he didn't like.

His wife Trudi Inslee is a volunteer and board member for NARAL Washington. It seems as though she can't do enough to promote abortion.

Here it is--

September 23, 2009

Dear:

Thank you for contacting me to express you concerns regarding H.R. 3200 and the use of taxpayer funds for controversial medical procedures, specifically under the public health insurance option. I appreciate hearing from you.

You may be interested to know that, with my support, an amendment to H.R. 3200 was passed during the Energy and Commerce Committee markup of the bill that would prohibit the availability of public funds for elective abortions within the proposed public health insurance option. According to the Congressional Research Service, under this amendment, introduced by Rep. Capps, enrollees in the proposed public option would be required to pay for such reproductive health services with private funds, specifically those collected as premiums from the patient. Additionally, the affordability credits offered under the plan, granted to those who qualify based on a low household income, could not be used to pay for abortion services. This amendment also impacts the Health Insurance Exchanges established by H.R. 3200, through which individuals could purchase their own health care. , the qualified health benefits plans offered through an exchange would be required to provide certain basic services, of which abortion is not included. Under the Capps Amendment, each exchange would be required to include one plan that does not provide coverage of elective abortions.

There are strong beliefs on both sides of the abortion debate that deserve respect. As you know, however, the United States Supreme Court determined in 1973 with Roe v. Wade that a woman's right of choice is protected by the U.S. Constitution. The court ruled that this decision should be left up to the judgment of a woman in consultation with her doctor, her family, her conscience and her religious beliefs. I believe that the Roe v. Wade decision must be preserved and respected. As Congress moves to reform the health care system in the country, I believe it is important that the choices that are currently available to women not be eliminated. Women can currently select insurance plans that provide for the coverage of abortion, and maintaining this choice as a result of reform should not be equated to government funding of abortion services.

As you know, since the Roe v. Wade decision Congress has attached provisions to federal funding bills for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, known as the Hyde Amendment, to prohibit federal funding from paying for abortions. The first such amendment was attached to the FY1977 Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare Appropriation Act, with the intent of restricting the use of appropriated funds to pay for abortion through the Medicaid program. In the context of the ongoing health care reform debate, I would like you to know that the restrictions put in place by the Hyde amendment will apply to any expansion of existing health care programs, such as Medicaid.

Please continue to contact me about the issues that concern you, as I both need and welcome your thoughts and ideas. Because security measures in the House cause delays in receiving postal mail, I encourage you to contact me by telephone, by fax, or through my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact. For more information on my activities in Congress, and for information on services that my office can provide, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee/. If you would like to subscribe to my email updates, please visit http://www.house.gov/inslee/signup.htm.


Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress



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DISCLAIMER I cannot guarantee the integrity of the text of this letter if it was not sent to you directly from my Congressional Email Account: wa01ima@mail.house.gov. If you have any questions about the validity of this message, please email me at: Jay.Inslee@mail.house.gov or call my Washington, DC office at: 202-225-6311. If you would like to be removed from my email update list, please email me your name and address at: Jay.Inslee@mail.house.gov and type "REMOVE" in the subject line.

Rep. Inslee already tried these lines on AIW a few weeks ago.

However, he did get one thing right--the Disclaimer: Jay Inslee cannot guarantee the integrity of this letter.

Do ya really think Jay Inslee would support a health care bill that didn't include government funded abortion?

Please can we get this man thrown out of office at the next election?

40 Days for Life Campaign Gets off to Great Start with Kick-Off Rally

From the Everett 40 Days for Life Campaign that started September 23rd and runs through November 1st.

Faithful Supporters,

Last night, we sang, prayed, and listened marking the beginning of our Fall Everett 40 Days for Life journey. As emcee, Michelle McIntyre, 2007 Campaign Coordinator, opened the evening by inviting Father Olson of St. Mary Magdalen, who led in prayer. Father proclaimed portions of Luke's Gospel. Then he provided
us with words of inspiration: continue to fast, pray, vigil for an end to abortion.

Our main speaker, "Wendy,"told us her true and painful story as a young abortion industry worker. She brought many to tears. Her departing words to us were a reminder to always remember to pray for those who work behind the walls of an abortion clinic. We pray for their hearts and minds to change.Following Wendy, Ed Mohs, 2009 Everett 40 Days for Life Coordinator, gave an account of God's blessings through 40 Days for Life.

Over 1,500 abortions have not taken place since Fall 2007 40 DFL. And he told portions of a talk by David Bereit following the end of Spring 2009 in which David told the people of South Dakota to believe and proclaim the end of abortion, then to act in a manner to end abortion. After a break for snacks and socializing, Michelle played a 45 minute video on sidewalk outreach. Attendence was near 75 participants.

Praise God! Our first day at the vigil site is well attended and all shifts covered. We prayer, sang, and distribute many pro-life materials. It is a humble blessing to be there on site where women and children are violently harmed. May God continue to bless us as we proceed through these 40 days.

Register for vigil hours here.

Snohomish County Pregnancy Resource Clinic to Hold Fundraising Banquet October 8

It's not too late to get in for the annual fundraising banquet of the Pregnancy Resource Clinic of Snohomish County (PRC).

“The Power of One” will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at the Edward D. Hansen Conference center located in the Everett Events Center from 6:30pm until 9:00pm. Attendees are guaranteed "a wonderful night full of fellowship, laughter, and encouragement"!

The emcee will be Christian commedian Mike Williams.

The special guest speaker will be Tim DeTellis. The PRC website says the following about Mr. DeTellis:

In 1972, Tim’s mother was given horrible news. The child she was carrying was going to die. If it was born the multitude of birth defects would overwhelm the family. The doctors also declared that her life was also at stake. She had previously given birth to 7 children and the last 4 had died! The Chief of Staff at a medical hospital in Boston recommended the abortion. He said it was the right thing to do. She was told it was her only option! To complicate matters, she couldn’t talk about the situation with anyone, for she was a Pastor’s wife and the President of Boston Women’s Aglow. Well the voice of Tim’s older brother brought Mom to the decision that she must give this child the same chance she gave the others, despite the huge risk. God provided a miracle and Tim made medical history. You will be moved to tears and challenged to change the world when you hear the entirety of his story!

Click here to RSVP or sign up to be a table host, or call PRC at 425-339-2175 with questions.

Gonorrhea Cases Down 96% Since Planned Parenthood Kicked Out of Cowlitz

Well, the numbers are in, and Cowlitz County -- which had the highest rates for gonorrhea in the state just 3 years ago -- has cut that number by an incredible 96% in two and a half years.

How did they do it? While public health officials claim not to be able to explain the staggering drop, the fact is that just as the climb corresponded with the how long Planned Parenthood had had a clinic in Longview, so too the drop coincides perfectly with their departure.

We reported on these pages in early 2008 how the Cowlitz County Commission had finally severed all ties with the abortion clinic chain after the controversial organization had refused to operate on the county's terms. At that time, Planned Parenthood and its leftist supporters had whined about what a "terrible" decision this was, given the county's status as having the highest gonorrhea rates for any county in Washington.

The assumption was that somehow having a Planned Parenthood helps reduce STD rates.

But we have the data now, and we know that PP and all its allies in government and academia have been completely discredited.

Cowlitz County had 15 reported cases of gonorrhea in 2003, about the time PP arrived. That steadily climed until it reached a peak of 223 in 2006. It was early 2007 that Planned Parenthood announced it was going to "have to" close its Longview clinic for lack of funding. This was a posturing move to try to get more money out of Cowlitz taxpayers. In the end, the county commissioners stood firm.

In 2007, with no PP around, the gonorrhea rate fell in half to 2007. In 2008, the rate plummeted to 38. And in the first 5 months of this year, there have been only 3 reported cases! That compares to 26 for the corresponding period of 2008.

That's a 90% drop.

This data is extremely important as the Pasco City Council considers whether to allow Planned Parenthood of Central Washington to open an abortion referral clinic and drive-by contraception stand next door to an elementary school.

Anonymous sources have indicated that some of the swing votes on the council are susceptible to the notion that because Franklin County has relatively high STD rates, somehow having a Planned Parenthood would help bring those down. This despite the fact that there is not one scintilla of evidence available from the Planned Parenthood affiliates of Washington, or their friends at the Department of Health or the Department of Social and Health Services to back up this assumption.

The Pasco City Council would do well to pick up the phone and make a call to the Cowlitz County Department of Health. Today.

Virginia Mason Gynecologist Conceals Abortion Career From Patients

Do Dr. Nancy Tipton's clients know about her double life as an abortionist for the only chain of abortion clinics in Washington State that does abortions right up to the end of the 5th month of pregnancy?

Dr. Tipton's only public medical practice is with Virginia Mason, as a gynecologist. Her website gives current or prospective patients no insight whatsoever about her involvenment in the abortion industry.

But if you look at Cedar River Clinics' 990 tax form for 2002, you find that she pulled down $155,080, working 40 hours/week (aka, full time).

The next year, she cut back her hours at Cedar River to 4 days a week, and "only" made $103,925.

In 2004, she was still working 4 days a week, but pulled in just $67,895. Perhaps she moved out of second trimester abortions and was focussing more on the marginally less barbaric first trimester abortions.

Dr. Tipton doesn't appear on any 990s after that, but since those forms only require documentation of employees making more than $50,000/year, it's possible she was still working there. Indeed, if you run a google search of Cedar River's Yakima address, Dr. Tipton still shows up.

As with so many abortionists in the area, a little research shows that they've made the rounds at most of the abortion clinics on our I-5 corridor. Back in the early 90s, Dr. Tipton was the Medical Director for Planned Parenthood of Seattle-King County. Planned Parenthood is the largest chain of abortion clinics in the country. As medical director, she would have been deeply involved in abortion.

Ironically, in that 1992 Seattle Times piece, she is quoted praising the morning-after pill, claiming widespread availability would cut abortion rates in half.

"This is my favorite subject!" she announces. "This is one of the most underutilized treatments in reproductive medicine today. Post-coital pills can cut unplanned pregnancies in half." And that means fewer abortions.

Well, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington (PPWW) has been selling over 100,000 units of this drug every year since 2004, and has made millions of dollars in the process because of a special pricing arrangement with Barr Labs. What about the abortion rate? In 2007 they did 50% more abortions than in 2004!

In other words, Dr. Tipton's words have been completely discredited.

(Two years ago we asked PPWW's spokesman Brian Cutler about this, though not in the context of Dr. Tipton. His response was: "Does it really matter?")

Tax returns from the now defunct Aradia abortion clinic in downtown Seattle show Dr. Tipton as having been on their payroll for a time. Interestingly, her file at DrScore.com (plus numerous other similar websites) shows her as still working there, even though it went out of business a few years ago. Ironically, the phone number on that page is the Cedar River Clinics number.

We attempted on several occasions to speak with Dr. Tipton. The farthest we could get was her office manager, who claimed neither she nor anyone in the office had any knowledge of her involvement in abortion. She said that Dr. Tipton would call us back if she was interested in talking about her experience as an abortionist. We have not received any calls.

This story goes to underline the fact that regardless what activists and political hacks might say about the supposed moral case for abortion and its legalization, if you try to talk to those individuals who actually do the dismembering and executing of the babies, they want to run and hide as fast as they can. They know exactly what abortion is, and they don't want to talk about it.

Put another way, on career-day at their kids' school (if they have living kids), are people like Nancy Tipton going to be giving a presentation with a photo of an aborted baby, describing in detail to a packed auditorium what 'Mommy' does for a living?

Not on your life.

Planned Parenthood of Central Washington Dealt Another Blow: Kept Out of New Walla Walla Health Center

Just a day before being told to stay away from Pasco's schoolchildren, Planned Parenthood of Central Washington (PPCW) is whining again because someone else in Eastern Washington has had the guts to stand up to them and their cult of death and fraud and tell them to stay away from our children's schools.

This time it's a new health center in Walla Walla, called the Lincoln Health Center, next door to Lincoln Alternative High School. Owned by Providence St. Mary Medical Center, the health center terminated it's on-site partnership with PPCW last Thursday.

"We're not going to hand out little paper bags with condoms or have a fish bowl in the lobby where you can scoop and run," said Stan Ledington, board president of the new health center. "We don't want to be known as the place to get contraceptives, but as the place to get health care. Physical, mental, emotional care."

Ouch.

Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion industry in the country, and advocate and legal bully of completely unregulated abortion on demand at taxpayers' expense, still has a clinic three blocks away, which they claim doesn't do abortions. Critics argue that they provide abortion clinic referrals and biased and dishonest pregnancy counselling.

On PPCW's facebook page, they predictably complain that "thanks to religious doctrine, Planned Parenthood will not be providing much needed, no cost services to teens at the Lincoln Health Center in Walla Walla." The only services the teens will be missing will be "drive-by" contraception dispensers.

Planned Parenthood to stay out of Pasco for now; Children safe to enjoy corn maze

From our Pasco correspondent:

The Pasco City Planning Commission met this evening (Thursday Sept. 17, 2009) to vote on the special permit request to locate a Planned Parenthood facility adjacent to Mark Twain Elementary. Since the last meeting Planned Parenthood has offered to place a 6-ft high brick wall separating the clinic (where abortions could potentially be performed) from the elementary school.

After much deliberation at the on how to present the vote to the city council, the commission voted 3 to 2 to recommend denial of the permit to Planned Parenthood. The denial recommendation now goes to the city council. During the meeting the director of the City Economic Development, David White stated to planning commission the "staff" are in favor of approving the permit.

After the meeting Planned Parenthood advised a television reporter they were going to appeal the decision. I learned their appeal will be presented to the City Council along with the decision by the commission. The next city council meeting is scheduled for October 5th, but the appeal process could run into early November.

It is very important that the Pasco Community keep up the momentum we have gained in the past two months to oppose the special permit by calling the city planning commissioner, their councilmen/women, and by prayers during the coming 40 days campaign. It is important to note that the permit appeal process begins at almost the very same time the 40 days for Life campaign begins.

The Tri-City Herald has published their version of events and also announced the pleasant news that the planning commission did approve a request for a corn maze. The children of Pasco will be safe from the perverts at Planned Parenthood for another few months.

Life Chain Schedule 2009

Here are the local life chains -- WASHINGTON (partial listing - for information, call 530-674-5068)

* BELLEVUE / REDMOND - 148th Ave NE at NE 24th St south of Hwy 520, first Sunday of every month all year, including Oct 5, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Myron Miller 425-643-1246 or Robert Owen 425-746-5056

* BELLEVUE - 156th Ave NE at NE 8th St, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Myron Miller 425-643-1246 or 800-473-6175

* BOTHELL - St Rte 522 at Bothell-Everett Highway, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.; Ronald Fernandes 425-821-3599

* BURLINGTON / MT VERNON - S Burlington Blvd at E Cedar St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Susan 360-757-3909

* CENTRALIA / LEWIS COUNTY - I-5 Fwy Exit 82 off ramp at Harrison Ave, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; signs available at 2:15 p.m. at AM-PM side lot across from Wendy's on Harrison; Darlene Mackey 360-748-3706

* EVERETT - Everett Mall Way at 3rd Ave SE, 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Arlene Noyes 425-778-0258

* FEDERAL WAY - S 320th St at Pacific Highway S, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Chaplain Mike Ballinger 253-927-3757

* KENNEWICK / PASCO / RICHLAND - Rd 40 at Court St, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.; Jim Toth 509-546-9923

* LYNNWOOD / EDMONDS / MOUNTLAKE TERRACE - 220th St SW at Hwy 99, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Nicholas & Marie Harkins 425-775-9711

* OLYMPIA / THURSTON COUNTY - Legion Way at Adams, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Dani Sauley 360-491-0610

* RENTON - S 43rd St & Talbot Rd S, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Sarah Schaper 206-243-7515

* SEATTLE - NE 50th St at Interstate 5 overpass, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Terrance Brown 206-985-1578

* SEATTLE / WHITE CENTER - 15th Ave SW at SW Roxbury St, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Toni Halsey 206-856-0609

* SEDRO WOOLLEY - Hwy 20 at Ball St, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Pastor Bill Heberling 360-856-0509

* SILVERDALE - Silverdale Way at Ridgetop Blvd, 2:00 to 3:15 p.m.; Tom Holtsnider 360-830-0650

SPOKANE - Division Couplet between Mission and Indiana, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Violet Stephens 509-238-6356

* STANWOOD / CAMANO - SR 532 at 88th Ave NW, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Bill & Karen Majkut 360-939-2102

* WHATCOM COUNTY / BELLINGHAM - Guide Meridian at Horton Rd, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Juanita Verbree 360-354-8329

For more information: http://www.lifechain.net/

Update on Julie Komarow Story

A couple of posts ago we told you about Dr. Julie Komarow, the ex-abortionist who used to moonlight at Cedar River Clinics (aka Feminist Women's Health Center) without the knowledge of her employer, Covington Primary Care, and who has now reportedly stopped doing abortions and is just working as a ob/gyn at Sound Family Medicine. We called on Dr. Komarow to disclose her past as a killer of unborn children to her current patients.

We also left out a very important piece of information regarding Dr. Komarow. She was one of a handful of Washington State physicians who added their names to a letter from "doctors" to Congress in 2003 taking the extreme position that Congress should not ban the outrageous and despicable abortion procedure known as partial-birth abortion.

The abortion procedure involves delivering a live baby feet-first all the way until its head is still inside the mother's womb, then puncturing the base of the skull with something sharp (presumably surgical scissors, but presumably a pocket knife would suffice), and then sucking out the baby's brains with a vacuum. At this point the baby is dead, and its skull can be crushed, and the baby dumped into the garbage.

Dr. Komarow's letter predicted calamity should she and her colleagues not be allowed to do this anymore:

"The outcome of its passage would undoubtedly be countless deaths and irreversible damage to thousands of women and families. We can safely assert that without D&E and D&X ... we will be returning to the days when an unwanted pregnancy led women to death through illegal and unsafe procedures, self-inflected abortions, uncontrollable infections and suicide.

The cadre of physicians who provide abortions should be honored, not vilified. They are heroes..."

The bill has been law for a number of years now. To the best of our knowledge, Dr. Komarow's predictions have been proven completely wrong.

Is Rep. Jay Inslee Lying to Constituents about Abortion in Health Care Reform?

The issue of Inside the Beltway politicians lying about the contents of the Democrats' controversial health care reform bill is in the news lately. It seems Washington Rep. Jay Inslee may be trying to get in on this action.

If you send Mr. Inslee a letter objecting to the well-documented fact that the health care reform proposals being considered in Washington would result in a massive increase in taxpayer funding of abortion, and thus a massive increase in abortions, you'll get a letter back assuring you that this is not the case.

In one letter from Mr. Inslee's office which we received, he assured us that the Hyde Amendment would prevent this from happening.

The fact is, however, that the Hyde Amendment does not provide a blanket ban on federal money going to abortion, but rather specifically applies to Medicaid and only Medicaid. The so-called public option health care plan that would come into effect under Obamacare is nothing to do with Medicaid. Thus Mr. Inslee is either completely uninformed -- which would be shockingly negligent on his part -- or is deliberately misleading constituents.

Moreover, Mr. Inslee sits on the House Energy & Commerce (HEC) Committee, which was considering the health care reform bill and passed it out of committee. Mr. Inslee voted no less than three times against amendments that would specifically have prevented the bill from including abortions as an insured health care service.

All of this is unsurprising when you consider Mr. Inslee's 100% rating from the abortion lobby, and the fact that his wife, Trudi, is on the board of Washington State's chapter of National Abortion Rights Action League.

We have contacted Mr. Inslee's office on two occasions by phone to find out why he is misleading constituents. The lady who answered the phone assured us that his office would never deliberately mislead a constituent, but she promised a response within a few days. With no response forthcoming, we called again. Same assurances, same result.

The fact is Mr. Inslee knows full well that the health care reform bill he supports would fund abortions, and would lead to tens or hundreds of thousands of extra dead babies each year, and huge increases in the standard of living of his abortion industry patrons.

If people don't feel bad about killing babies, why would they feel bad about lying about it?

Seattle Abortionist Turns Up at Legit Practice, Tries to Bury Past from Patients

Pregnant patients of one of Sound Family Medicine's newest doctors may be horrified to find out that she was recently moonlighting at Western Washington's only chain of late term abortion clinics without her regular employer's knowledge.

Julie Komarow, MD, was until recently an abortionist at Cedar River Clinics. Her "day job" was working at Covington Primary Care. But she recently quit Covington and is working full time for Sound Family Medicine, a division of Good Samaritan.

We tried to contact Dr. Komarow for an interview, to find out why she left Cedar River, and to ask, for example, if she got tired of tearing 23 week old babies apart limb from limb, or drowning them alive with saline solution, which burns them alive from the inside out. Her assistant confirmed that she was no longer doing abortions and passed on our request for an interview.

Rather than getting a call from Dr. Komarow, or someone from Sound Family, we later received a call from an individual who identified himself as Peter, who said he worked for Cedar River Clinics, also known as the Feminist Women's Health Center.

He said he didn't know any details, but was just following the instructions he received "in an email" to call us up and decline the interview. He didn't indicate why, if Dr. Komarow wasn't working there anymore, he was returning my call.

Attempts to call back Peter's number have been unsuccessful, as the number has been recently delisted.

We then contacted Komarow's previous employer, Covington Primary Care, where she was working while she was also doing abortions at Cedar River. We spoke with Paul Larson, Senior Vice President (Clinic Services), Valley Medical Center. Mr. Larson was audibly angry to discover that Komarow had been moonlighting as an abortionist, and insisted that they had no knowledge of this, and would not have condoned it.

We then attempted to contact her current employer, Sound Family Medicine, which is a "doctor-owned" medical facility. She has an extensive bio on the SFM website, including details on the car she drives, and her pet llamas, but no mention at all of her past as an abortionist. We wanted to find out if Sound Family was aware of her past when they hired her, and if they thought patients who trusted her to deliver and care for their babies would be angered to find out that she had recently been dismembering and killing similar babies.

Emails to SFM management and colleagues went unanswered. The SFM website lists no administration number, so we called the business office hoping to get in touch with the appropriate individual. Initially they misunderstood the nature of our inquiry and told us that while SFM didn't do abortions -- which is good -- they referred clients to Planned Parenthood, despite that organization's well documented abuse of numerous laws and ethical regulations requiring informed consent and rape reporting, not to mention their extremist and radical hostility to any and all regulations of the abortion industry.

After clarifying the nature of our inquiry, we were met with an incredibly rude and hostile "supervisor" who told us that she refused to give out the telephone contact information for any doctors or administrators. "Look them up in the phonebook," she snapped.

We will keep our readers updated on any further developments in this story. We applaud Dr. Komarow for leaving abortion behind, but it's important to note that usually only a personal encounter with the God of All Comfort is sufficient to deal with the guilt that comes with an honest assessment of what you have done. Trying to run and hide isn't a lasting solution.

Lynnwood Park Named After Abortionist

If you're driving around Lynnwood near 196th Street and Highway 99, you'll come across an appealing stretch of greenery with the valuable sounding name of "Gold Park". Most passers by would think nothing of it. But some original research by AIW has revealed that this park is in fact named after one of the Seattle area's first abortionists.

The park is named after Dr. Morris Gold, and his wife Barbara, who used to own and operate an abortion clinic on that site throughout the 1970s. The clinic was not publicly advertised as an abortion mill. Instead, it was promoted as a pioneering childbirth clinic. It's not known how late-term the abortions they did were, but it is believed that second-trimester babies were executed in their clinic.

They even promoted their "abortion services" as far away as Calgary, Alberta, taking well-healed abortion tourists from Canada.

We're still researching details about the clinic, but it seems Dr. Gold "was ordered not to perform abortions under certain circumstances", and "freely prescribed diet pills to people who did not need them."

So why is a city park named after such an odious individual? We contacted Lynwood city council-member and mayoral candidate Lisa Utter about this issue. Ms. Utter was non-committal in terms of renaming the park, but after doing some research, she told us that the city of Lynnwood's Purchase and Sales agreement for the property had several conditions among them, including a requirement that "the name 'Gold' will be a part of the park's name for 99 years following the sale."

She also noted that while the city does have a policy regarding the naming of parks, "in my memory we have not changed the name of a park, and I don't believe we currently have a policy for that. Which means we would first have to go through developing a policy if one were proposed."

We consider it unconscionable that a city park should be named after an abortionist and will be pursuing this issue. Return back for updates on this topic.

PP Spokane Appealing Entire Audit: Doesn't Want to Pay $629,000

We finally have a copy of Planned Parenthood of Spokane's (PPS) appeal of the recently finalized audit by the Washington State Department of Social and Human Services (DSHS). The audit found that Planned Parenthood had overbilled Medicaid by $629,000 and required them to pay that money back. It is the only significant, finalized audit of a Washington State Planned Parenthood by the state government in recenty history.

As we recently reported, Planned Parenthood filed a notice of appeal two weeks ago, but DSHS did not reveal any details as to the extent or basis of the appeal. We immediately requested a copy. It's finally here.

We are still reviewing it and will post a full report within days. The appeal is 26 pages long, written by their surly attorney, David R. Robbins, of Bennett Bigelow & Leedom, in Seattle. It seems to challenge all five categories of the audit findings. One of their main arguments seems to be that DSHS is applying rules governing pharmacies, but Planned Parenthood says they are not a pharmacy, and shouldn't be bound by such rules.

One of the major categories of illegal billing that DSHS found was for oral contraceptives that were not supported by legitimate prescriptions. Another was charging for condoms above the acquisition cost. According to original documents we have obtained from the government, during the course of the audit then PPS president CJ Gribble conceded in writing to the overbilling for condoms, and seemed eager to repay the state. But according to the appeal, PPS, now under the leadership of Anna Franks, is no longer conceding this error.

Interestingly, from what we've seen so far, like the audit document itself, the appeal makes no mention of "requiring too many office visits by its poorest clients", which is what Washigton Medicaid directory Doug Porter told the Spokane Spokesman-Review was the main finding of the audit. We have asked Mr. Porter to explain this discrepancy. We are still waiting for a satisfactory answer.

Keep checking back for more on this very important story.