Afraid of the Truth About Plan B

“Why are you afraid to post the real exchange?” asks Geoff Simpson in this post.

We aren’t afraid to post the real exchange. I’m assuming that the additional comments Mr. Simpson has left in the comments box came later than the version I received. I’ve pulled them out and posted them here for all to see.

Mr. Simpson: I'll attach a copy of the mailer since you apparently have not seen it. I did not violate anyone's rights, on the contrary, I am trying to protect people's rights against activist pharmacists who choose to lead the charge to prevent women from preventing an unwanted pregnancy.

My mailer stated my position clearly: “Decisions about family planning should be made by women, with their families and doctors. Not by pharmacists, insurance companies or politicians.” Mr. Ramseth stated his position clearly in the newspaper: In the mind of pharmacist Jim Ramseth, there is a moral hierarchy when it comes to preventing pregnancy: Selling condoms and birth control pills is OK. But the emergency contraception known as Plan B is not, and Ramseth refuses to provide it.

How is repeating his own statement a violation of the Constitution?

AIW: We’ve attached the flier here for all to review. The idea that Mr. Ramseth is “leading any kind of charge” is simply laughable. I don’t know him but he seems to be an honest man trying to make an honest living who doesn’t want to participate in the taking of a human life or the abuse of women by rapists, abusive boyfriends, Planned Parenthood and the pharmaceutical industry.

Mr. Ramseth is free to violate his own conscience. You are free to violate your conscience, which you are doing quite nicely as you go skipping down the lane with Planned Parenthood and NARAL. A woman is free to violate her own conscience by procuring abortion or contraception. The problem is that YOU hope to use the power of the state to force Mr. Ramseth to violate his conscience and deny him an opportunity to earn a living. That is against the constitution of the state of Washington and United States. Maybe you just don't understand the First Amendment. Here's a link to the Constitution.

In fact, the court in Chicago agrees with me and Mr. Kahler on this point. Judge Jeanne E. Scott has allowed for the lawsuit filed by the Illinois pharmacists who were fired after refusing to distribute the Plan B to proceed to trial. Specifically she said that if proven at trial, the pharmacists’ allegations, “may establish that the object of the Rule [morning-after-pill mandate] is to target pharmacists, such as the Plaintiffs, who have religious objections to Emergency Contraceptives, for the purpose of forcing them either to compromise their religious beliefs or to leave the practice of pharmacy." Gee, that sounds an awful lot like what a certain legislators in Washington are trying to do.

Mr. Simpson: As a full-time professional firefighter, I am not free to deny emergency medical care because of my personal point of view. I am required to treat everyone equally.

AIW: Plan B is NOT medical care. It is an overdose of hormones that alters a woman’s normal healthy condition. It has negative short-term side-effects. The long-term side effects are yet to be determined, but if the known side-effects of OCs and other contraceptives are any indication of what's to come, the best interests of women’s health will not be served by passing out Plan B like Chicklets. Plan B is not health care anymore than salting a field is agriculture. If the firefighters of this state actually believe that contraception and abortion are “health care,” and if being pregnant or having sex is an “emergency” then God help us all.

Mr. Simpson: I'm glad you asked: (Mr. Simpson was asked to provide a source for his contention that “Thousands of abortions per year could be averted and millions in scarce health care dollars saved if emergency contraception were more readily available”, and provided this link.)

AIW: For me this is probably the saddest part of this whole exchange because it shows how easy it is to dupe well-meaning people like yourself. Here it is in a nutshell: They lied to you to get your support for Plan B. They made promises they knew they couldn’t deliver or had no interest in delivering. Now that Plan B is over the counter they’ve backpedaled, and admit it won’t have the impact they said it would. Here they are in their own words:
"It will not reach that potential," Jackie Payne, the abortion businesses' director of government relations, told the Associated Press.

And this, “Kirsten Moore, president and CEO of Reproductive Health Technologies Project, conceded there is no evidence that easy access to the morning-after pill reduces the number of pregnancies or abortions.”

In real life, not six year old position papers published by people who make their living off pushing abortion or contraception, the facts show increased abortions and VD, here, here and here. The abortion industry makes $400 to $600 per abortion. Can you explain to me why they would push a drug that would supposedly cut their revenue so significantly?

As for this state, we are holding steady at about 25,000 abortions a year, with the number of first time abortions actually increasing, and we’ve had widespread access to EC since 1997. Are you willing to reverse your support for Plan B if we continue to see no decrease in abortion or an increase in abortions and/or rates of VDs? We've actually seen an increase in Chlamydia since the introduction of EC to this state.

Plan B was a drug developed with the financial assistance of Planned Parenthood of Western Washington to aid and abet sexual activity by teens and keep money for contraception, abortion and VD treatments flowing into Planned Parenthood’s coffers. That’s the real drain on the state’s precious health care dollars and they’ve got you thinking you’re helping women. How tragic.

Mr. Simpson: I've stated my position and I stand by it.

AIW: Stand by what? The lie that EC will reduce the number of abortions and save millions in “scarce health care dollars”? The argument from a position of self-interest that you aren’t advocating a repeal of the First Amendment for certain groups of people? The laughable idea, but apparently flattering thought, that you are protecting women from some little old man in a white lab coat. Please. You really don't have a very high opinion of women if you think that we can't stand up to a pharmacist or are too stupid or lazy to find another pharmacy.

Mr. Simpson: Although it is theoretically possible, there is no scientific evidence that Plan B prevents implantation

AIW: Do you remember those Seattle firemen who went into the burning building because they thought there might be some homeless people inside? There was no “scientific evidence” that they were inside but they didn’t want to take that chance that someone might die.

You might also consider why the consent form that women are forced to sign includes this telling line: "...it may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb..."

And why does the approved EC education program for pharmacists in Washington tell readers that preventing the implantion of the blastocyst in the endometrium is one of EC's mechanisms?
Mr. Simpson: You are free to draw the line where you wish. I choose to demand that all pharmacists provide Plan B or turn in their licenses.

AIW: Back to Mr. Kahler’s and Judge Scott's point, which you’ve proved quite nicely – Shame on you for advocating the denial of First Amendment rights to the pharmacists of this state.

I would encourage you to open your mind, forget about anything you might owe Planned Parenthood, and peruse our other articles in this topic. It's never too late to do the right thing.

Further Reading:
Prescriptive Authority Agreements for EC in Washington
Your Friendly Neighborhood EC Certified Provider
Emergency Contraception Consent, Release and Assessment Form
Are You Experienced?
Mixed Messages
Rates of Chlamydia Rise after Introduction of Plan B to Washington

Art is the Politics of Reality

Abortion in Washington would like to dedicate the following song to every Washingtonian who is going to the polls tomorrow, especially the politicians who have it within their power to end America's holocaust. Listen. Watch

Happy Birthday
I love you whoever you would've been.

I got a million excuses, as to why you died.
And other people got their own reasons for homicide.

Whose to say it would have worked.
And whose to say it wouldn't have.

Geoff Simpson (D) makes Common Cause with State's Abortion Industry to deny First Amendment Rights to Pharmacists

At right you can see an image of the flier that was sent out by the Washington State Democratic Party on behalf of Geoff Simpson (D) who is running for re-election 47th legislative district.

Below is a letter sent to Mr. Simpson from pharmacist C.J. Khaler. Below that is Simpson's resonse and further response from Khaler.

Original letter
Dear Rep. Simpson:
I am writing you to ask you to do the right thing - publicly apologize to Jim Ramseth, the owner of Covington Pharmacy.

Recently the Washington State Democratic Central Committee mailed a postcard to the voters of your district that "criticized" Covington Pharmacy for taking a stand on the issue of the emergency contraception pill. Its owner Jim Ramseth refuses to dispense the pill on the basis of his freedom of conscience to act in accord with his ethics and morals. While refusing to dispense the pill, he provides to patients with such prescriptions a list with contact information of other pharmacies within a close proximity to his pharmacy where they may go to get the prescription filled.

Article 1, Section 11 of the Washington State Constitution states: “Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion”. As a member of our government, you must and should uphold our constitution and not violate it. Jim did nothing but act on this freedom of conscience that this constitution guarantees.
In addition, Gov. Gregoire, has said “As Governor, I do not believe the state should discriminate against any citizen. I also believe that personal religious beliefs are protected by our Constitution.” I realize that your campaign office did not sponsor this postcard. However, the postcard does support your re-election. It is up to you to stand up and apologize to Jim and let the citizens of Washington know of your integrity.

Correspondence between Simpson and Kahler
Simpson: What is it exactly about the mailing that you did not like? It simply reprinted information that appeared in in the second largest newspaper in Washington State.

Pharmacist: I repeat. As a member of our government, you must and should uphold our constitution and not violate it. Jim did nothing but act on this freedom of conscience that this constitution guarantees. The postcard singles out Covington Pharmacy and its owner, Jim Ramseth, for acting on his state guaranteed right of conscience. The postcard suggests that Covington Pharmacy has done something wrong, and that is just not right.

Simpson: I disagree that pharmacists should have the right to refuse to dispense emergency contraception.

Pharm: And why don't they have this right just as legislators, firefighters, physicians, nurses, and all citizens of the US who are guaranteed this First Amendment right? It is possible for patients to get legal prescriptions filled and pharmacists to be able to refuse morally objectionable presriptions if all are willing to be tolerant of different religious beliefs and find a way to work together.

Simpson: Thousands of abortions per year could be averted and millions in scarce health care dollars saved if emergency contraception were more readily available.

Pharm: What is the source for these statistics?
(Editor's note: Widespread use of EC in Europe has shown to be ineffective in decreasing abortion rates, though rates of VD have increased.)

This is not an issue of access to legal prescriptions. There are adequate locations where a patient can access Plan B in Washington:
a. WA pharmacies:
With a prescription: at 1177 community pharmacies
Without a prescription: 418 pharmacists have a collaborative agreement with a physician to dispense Plan B
b. WA physicians
c. WA health centers or departments
d. WA hospital emergency rooms
e. Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Williamette: Overnight mail on
Monday thru Friday
f. In advance as recommended on the Plan B website

In fact, Washington pharmacists have led the nation in allowing pharmacists to write prescriptions for Plan B under a protocol arrangement with a physician. Approximately 3600 pharmacists have been trained with the Emergency Contraception Provision by a Pharmacists training program through the Washington State Pharmacy Association. Approximately 200,000 Emergency Contraception prescriptions have been written and dispensed by pharmacists in WA since 1997. This number does not include Emergency Contraception prescriptions written by physicians and ARNPs.

This lack of availability is further supported by the fact that while only 25 formal complaints of a pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription have been filed with WA Board of Pharmacy for the period of June 28, 2004 to June 6, 2006 (2 years), only 1 was for Plan B. It has been estimated that the pharmacies in WA will fill 85,000,000 prescriptions in 2006 including approximately 24,000 prescriptions for Plan B.

Simpson: Plan B is not an abortifacient. It prevents fertilization from ever taking place.
(Editor's note: Obviously Mr. Simpson hasn't done his research. Wonder who he's been talking to that would give him such erroneous information.)

Pharm: Your statement is not accepted by all health care professionals. According to The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th Ed, Keith L. Moore, PhD. & T.V.N. Persaud, MD, (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1998), the embryology text currently used at the UW School of Medicine: “(The zygote) results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being. Human development begins at fertilization.”(p.2-18) “Postcoital birth control pills (‘morning after pills’) … These hormones prevent implantation, not fertilization. Consequently, they should not be called contraceptive pills. Conception occurs; but the blastocyst does not implant. It would be more appropriate to call them “contraimplantation pills.” Because the term abortion refers to a premature stoppage of a pregnancy, the term abortion could be applied to such an early termination of pregnancy.” (p. 532)

Handing out lists of other pharmacies is not adequate. Time is of the essence when unprotected sex has occurred, such as a condom breakage, and women should not be forced to go from pharmacy to pharmacy to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

Pharm: A woman has from 72 to 120 hours (depending on your source) to take Plan B for effectivenes. See above statistics for sources of availability. In addition, she has a responsibility to seek the out the right health care professional to give her the care she desires. A woman may not go to any physician to get an abortion. Likewise, she may not go to any pharmacist to get a prescription for Plan B.

If we spent as much time in trying to figure out how to live together in a diverse society, as we spend in digging in our heels to support our position, this issue would no longer be debated.

Sincerely,
Geoff

Tales from the Campaign Trail

I ran into a friend of mine Thursday night and he relayed this conversation he had recently with a paid worker for the Eric Oeming (D) campaign.

Campaign Worker: Hello, my name Karen* is I'm calling to remind you to vote for Eric Oeming. He has the endorsement of NARAL, Planned Parenthood, etc.

Voter: Hi Karen. You sound like a nice lady. Maybe even a mom. Do you have kids?

Campaign Worker: Uh, yes I do. I have some babies at home.

Voter: Well, I think that's great. I have have 6 of my own. You know I just can't bring myself to vote for someone who supports the killing of little babies.

Campaign Worker: Uhhh...I never really thought about it that way before....well...You're right. I'm just doing this for the job. I need the money to take care of my family. God bless you. God bless you and your family.

Voter: God bless you.

Campaign Worker: Goodbye

*Not her real name.

Nobody likes abortion. They're just doing it for the money.

Professing to be Wise, They Became Fools

Roger Goodman (D) is running for the Washington state house in the 45th District against Jeffrey Possinger (R). I've gotten several campaign fliers from Mr. Goodman and after the last one I couldn't take it any more. The two most recent fliers only confirming my opinion that many of those claiming to have the smarts and education to lead our state are in fact complete fools and should not be allowed anywhere near Olympia.

Mr. Goodman's c.v. includes degrees from Harvard, Dartmouth and George Washington University. We'll try not to hold that against him but this statement on the latest flier shows how completely ignorant Mr. Goodman is about the abortion industry he has chosen to caucus with.

It's clear that the people you trust...National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, Planned Parenthood Votes! Washington...Trust Roger Goodman for state house.

Psst...Roger, very few people trust the abortion industry. They have done nothing but left a string of grief, sorrow and death in their wake. Here's the big secret NARAL didn't tell you -- pro-choice people don't even trust the abortion industry.

Here's the real kicker, Mr. Goodman also has a plan to legalize drugs, which despite the protestation of his wife in the other flier would increase access to drugs. What this mindless interloper doesn't recognize is that his whole plan is eerily similar to the plan that legalized abortion and is sure to bring about the same disastrous results: more not less, easier access for teens, a huge drain on the health and well-being of our citizens, and ultimately government protection and sponsorship.

Mr. Goodman hasn't studied his history and yet he's offering us the same old song and dance -- if we could only put our social problems into the hands of professionals and the "good drug dealers" we would "dry up the black market for heroin, marijuana and other substances." Sound a lot like the "we'll get the back-alley" abortionists off the street argument. Mr. Goodman should know that it was a "back-alley" illegal abortionist who sponsored and pushed for the legalization of abortion in Washington state. It's deja vu all over again. If those selling illegal drugs are the ones pushing for legalization it doesn't sound like they are too worried about legalization puting them out of business now does it? In fact, it sounds like a boondoggle.

In the same way that women facing an unexpected pregnancy need the love and assistance instead of the number for the local abortion mill, those suffering with addiction need real compassion and help, not a government sponsored drug give-away that isolates them from the people who love them and want to help them most.

Reading this article tells it all. Mr. Goodman even prefers to use the term "medicalize" as opposed to "legalization." Kinda like calling it "reproductive health" instead of abortion huh, Roger? We'll just put a nice new label on it, use the words "health", "medicine", "goodness" and "science", maybe throw in "tested by Harvard grads," and whamo you've got a wonderful new product ready for FDA approval.

If you like what legalization did for abortion, you're going love what it does for drugs. Maybe that's why the abortion industry is so supportive of Roger Goodman.

Here's Jeff Haley, of the Drug Policy Foundation in Bellevue -- "People who are selling need to have no incentive to sell." How to remove the incentive? "The only way we could think of," he said, "is to make these people state employees." Are these people high?! Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that tax-payer funded drugs for teens without their parent's consent would following right behind legalization? Teens will be able to get confidential drug assistance through their school nurse and "your parents don't need to know anything about it."

Do we really want the same failed abortion policy replicated in our drug policy?

Help send Mr. Goodman back to Cambridge where his half-baked ideas were cooked up in the first place. The people of the 45th district don't like abortion and we don't like drugs.

Despite all his education, or maybe because of it, Mr. Goodman just hasn't learned that the minds that got us into this mess aren't going to be the ones to get us out of it.

The Revolution will not be Televised

Human Life of Washington is urging a vote for Mike McGavick against Maria Cantwell here in Washington no doubt for this very reason. But is this really helping matters, if over and over again the Republican party can use and abuse its pro-life constituency? They know they can count on our vote, because the Democrats are worse on the life issues. But should they count on our vote when over and over again they present us with pro-choice Republican candidates?

Some very good questions.

Women sue companies over popular birth control patch

Now you know.

Editorial Cartoons

Here are some great editorial cartoons from the Vote Yes for Life campaign in South Dakota.

Select the slideshow option and imagine just one of these cartoons appearing in a Seattle paper.

Toby Nixon and Abortion

Toby Nixon (R) of the 45th Legislative District in Washington state is running for state senator to replace liberal republican pro-abortion senator Bill Finkbeiner.

Under what he calls "Abortion and Reproductive Health", Toby has this utterly strange, muddled, uninformed, and contradictory statment on his web site's issues page. Toby just happens to be a Mormon.

I am pro-life –- and if asked, would personally advise anyone against having an abortion except to save themselves from grave physical harm. But the public generally supports the Supreme Court’s decisions on women’s reproductive health. In respect for the will of the people, I do not seek to prohibit early term abortions. However, taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for any elective medical procedure, including abortion, but only in cases of medical necessity.

If the public generally supported the idea that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace...." and were "unwanted." would he respect the will of the people then?

As for the "reproductive health" jargon, Toby should know better. He attended the Susan B. Anthony List's seminar when they came to the Seattle area. He knows there is nothing healthy about abortion.

Just like with Dave Reichert and most of the democratic party for that matter, if you ain't got the money or the votes you ain't got a voice.

Since When?

"The days of the back-alley abortions are gone," Judge Giovine told Berdiel, according to an Asbury Park Press newspaper report.

I've got some bad news for you Judge...Here's just a partial list of deaths at just one U.S. abortion center:

Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
Lanice Dorsey, age 17, 1986
Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
Christina Mora, age 18, 1994
Kimberly Neil, 2000
Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004

Thanks to Christina at Real Choice for providing this list.
Click here for more commentary on this story.

Show the Truth Hits UW

Ed Sauley of “Show the Truth” brought his truth tour to the University of Washington yesterday and the PI actually covered it. Silent No More Awareness had been invited to attend to share the harmful effect that abortion has on women but no one was available that day.

According to the story in the PI, several pro-abortion demonstrators, including Radical Women, attended to try and hide the truth about abortion. They tried it earlier this year at Show the Truth's tour in Olympia (click under Events to see the photo) and they tried to do it when Silent No More Awareness held their gatherings in Westlake Park in January 2006 and January 2005. At the SNMA Westlake Park gatherings pro-abortion demonstrators had bull-horns (used illegally) to try and drown us out, to no avail. In 2005, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington and the abortion mill, and darling of the Seattle media/political/business elite, Aradia Women's clinic, had initially tried to shout us down and force us out. Bad-publicity, however, resulted for PP when KOMO News Radio 1000 played portions of women's testimonies almost every hour two days in a row, forcing them to leave the field. We haven't seen them since.

In a post filed under "Higher Education", a blogger named Matt Rosenberg also posts about yesterday’s “Show the Truth” rally at the University of Washington. Mr. Rosenberg supports the free speech rights of the demonstrators and rightly criticizes the UW administration and the pro-abortion protesters who tried to cover up the truth about abortion. It’s too bad Mr. Rosenberg and Sound Politics, Mr. Rosenberg's blogging home, couldn’t grant the same consideration to preserving the First Amendment rights of the pharmacists in our state.

The great thing about being pro-life is that we can cite Jefferson, Moses, Locke, John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Aquinas, Montesquieu, Maritain.

Mr. Rosenberg gets to quote...Wendy McElroy. A woman with no claim to any area of expertise on matters of science, political or moral philosophy, social ethics, embryology, or the U.S. Constitution. She's simply your garden variety feminist dabbling in the philosophies of Nitchte, Satre and Kinsey.

Miss McElroy's essay includes this line, which Mr. Rosenberg enthusiastically supports, "The best hope of limiting the divisiveness comes from voices in the middle that are not fully committed to pro-choice or pro-life." That's a great idea in theory but the reality is there is no middle with any voice. Washington's pro-life movement is waiting anxiously for Rosenberg, McElroy, et al. to start pushing for greater oversight of abortion centers, ending or decreasing funding for Planned Parenthood, informed consent laws, parental notification, fetal pain laws, and laws that would make it easier for a woman to sue her abortionist. In the states where these laws have passed it's been through the efforts of pro-lifers, not pro-choicers.

Why are all the voices who claim to be in the middle silent when it comes to fighting the abortion lobby and politicians who are trying to put CPS out of business with laws and phony law suits? Why don't they encourage those "moderate" and "mainstream" Republican politicians they love so much to come out and give voice to this so-called great middle that is neither pro-choice or pro-life? Perhaps it's because they aren't in the middle afterall.

In the meantime I'll keep hoping.

The Cavalry Has Arrived

Michelle McIntyre has started her own blog (Sorry I'm a little late getting this notice up!) Life of the Party.

Michelle is a dear friend of mine and her voice is sorely needed in this state. While we at AIW try to cover a mix of abortion related news, state abortion politics, post-abortion healing opportunities for the women and men of Washington, pro-life activities and commentary, Michelle's blog will cover mainly politics, specifically republican party politics, and anything or anybody that needs a swift kick in the pants. Already she's taken on the state's pro-abortion republican politicians and the people who love them (you might be surprised to hear who), rallied the troops in support of South Dakota, and scouted out great grassroots pro-life video commentary at The Vent.

I've added her blog to the blog roll. Welcome Michelle.

Story of "no choice" Supports need for Parental-notification

You're standing on the gang-plank. You hold your child in your arms. An angry, abusive pirate is lurking somewhere behind you. You don't want him to hurt your baby. The sharks swim in the ocean below. You can jump knowing your child will die but you will live and the child will escape abuse. The people who suggested the gang-plank as an escape route in the first place, and extracted a large fee for its use, ask you if you "are sure you want to do this" several times. They don't, however, tell you about several of the hidden paths off the island away from the pirate. You decide to jump. What's wrong with this story and have you really made a free choice?

The incomparable Dawn Eden takes out The Oregonian's attempt to turn voters away from Oregon's parental-notification ballot measure 43.

Important Polling Information

RealChoice has an excellent poll I would recommend to all you pro-choice-abortion folks out there.

Remote Controlled Hunting

According to Dave Reichert's re-election web site, the Seattle Times has endorsed the candidate with this statement, "The former King County sheriff has an impressive record of public service and has shown a conscience-driven independent streak that reflects his moderate district."

Conscience-driven? Conscience-driven? What definition of conscience are they using? And what pray tell is "moderate" about allowing the state, the court, a quasi-husband, and a business to conspire in the killing of an innocent human being. And if that's how the Seattle Times defines "public service" then we need a whole new vocabulary to just read the newspaper in Seattle.

Reichert is now bragging about his lack of conscience in his latest TV ads with this line, "I opposed Bush on Schiavo."

That a former police officer, an officer of the law, would employ braggadocio to discuss a crime he did nothing to prevent and use it as a political strategy for wooing voters does not seem to bode well for our state or nation.

With each and every campaign in Washington it's becoming more and more clear that the ideals of the Constitution and the basic principle that all men are endowed with the unalienable right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness have been abandoned by those elected to uphold those values. The reality is I suppose more frightening and jolting to the conscience if we consider that our politicians are being elected for the specific purpose of violating those principles and... the state's largest newspaper cheers them on.

If the statement "I opposed Bush on Schiavo", i.e. "I helped kill and innocent woman" is actually a rallying point for voters and specifically "moderates" then it is apparent that our fellow citizens cannot be counted on to protect us either. For decades now the "protecting" professions -- the police, politicians, doctors, and judges -- have refused to protect citizens or are actively involved in attacks on us. Only those with the money and the votes, which the unborn, the sick, the weak, and disabled don't have, will rule the roost and if you look closely you'll see that those shouting "death!" have the upper-hand when it comes to votes and money.

It has been said that Roe v. Wade created an open season on the unborn. With unfettered euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research a few election cycles away, society is poised to take aim at them as well. On his web site Dave Reichert comes out against "Remote Controlled Hunting" of animals. Too bad he can't take the same position when it comes to people.

Planned Parenthood Continues to Support Secret Teen Abortions

Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, for example, donated $50,000 to the anti-parental-notification campaign in Oregon; the group's Hawaii affiliate gave $3,000.

Calling All Artists and Creative Types

Please consider using your talents toward a good and worthy cause: The defunding of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood of Western Washington is consistently ranked among the top 5 most profitable Planned Parenthoods in the nation. Therefore, artists in our state have a special calling to paticipate in this contest. Thanks to the blog The Truth About Margaret Sanger for sponsoring this competition.

It is time again for the Margaret Sanger at the Ku Klux Klan Rally Art Contest. This year's contest will highlight the 80th Anniversary of Margaret Sanger's speech to the the women's branch of the Silver Lake Ku Klux Klan. In her own 1938 autobiography, Margaret Sanger An Autobiography (1971 reprint by Dover Publications, Inc. of the 1938 original published by W.W. Norton & Company) Sanger indicates at pages 366-367 that the she got along quite well with members of a New Jersey branch of the Ku Klux Klan at her 1926 speech, eventually getting a "dozen invitations to speak to similar groups."

Participants in this year's contest are encouraged to commemorate Sanger at the Klan rally in unique artistic ways. Drawings, cartoons, historical novels, haiku, dance, plays, videos, paintings, quilts, rap, actual photos of Silver Lake, modern interpretations of Sanger speaking to the Klan, reenactments of the actual speech on YouTube, audio recordings of actual Sanger quotes she may have reused when speaking to the Klan - - there is no limit to the artistic ways this historic event can be commemorated.

If you make a submission and live in the state of Washington please send it to me and I will post it on AIW blog.

Denial is not a River in Egypt

We know Dr. Cullins of Planned Parenthood is compromised and we really shouldn't be shocked or upset by this stuff any more but really, how much longer are they going to be able to get away with this stuff?

On the other hand I do like their Legal Disclaimer which is bookmarked to this headline:

3. Information Obtained Through the PPFA Web Site Does Not Constitute Medical, Legal, or Other Professional Advice

Churches, Youth Orgs Partner with Planned Parenthood on Civil Rights Group

Joseph Bryars at Abortion Watch reports the disapointing news that "Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, announced last week that it has joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), sharing membership with such organizations as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Junior League, the Teamsters, YMCA and the National Bar Association, among others."

If you are a member of or contributor to any of the organizations that are part of the LCCR, I would encourage you to start putting the pressure on these organizations to get Planned Parenthood out of the LCCR.

Joseph makes this recommendation, "Pro-life members of these organizations should ask their leadership to revaluate its association with the LCCR since it now has common cause with the nation’s largest abortion provider." I, however, hesitate encouraging groups who are sincerely pro-life to pull their membership in LCCR. We need people on the inside fighting against Planned Parenthood, not pulling out in defeat and retreat. This only creates a vacuume that the pro-abortion side is only too willing to fill.

I scanned quickly through the membership list of LCCR and sadly I don't see any "fighters" for the pro-life cause there. Not the USCCB. Not Catholic Charities. Certainly not the ACLU, the NEA, or the League of Women Voters.

Which incidentally confirms an AIW axiom -- "Any group that isn't explicitly pro-life will become pro-choice overtime."

Seattle Abortion Gals Gather with Nancy Pelosi

The same day that Silent No More Awareness will be gathering in Olympia to share testimony about the harmful effects of abortion, i.e. the truth, representatives from the state's abortion industry and political community will be gathering to raise money for one of their own.

Karen Cooper - NARAL Pro-Choice Washington

Valerie Tarico -- Anti-Christian supporter of the Wisdom of Abortion

Pamela Eakes -- Executive Director of Women's Leadership Forum

Linden Rhoads -- Founder Washington Women for Choice

Trudi Inslee -- NARAL Board Member

Michele Rosen -- Member of JAC and abortion rally participant

INVITE YOU TO JOIN THEM AND SPECIAL GUESTHOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER NANCY PELOSI

For a Lunch Reception in Support of Darcy Burner

Future Congresswoman from Washington's 8th District
Friday, October 13th, 2006 12:00pm- 1:30pm
Tea and light fare will be served

Contributions and gifts to Burner for Congress not tax deductible for federal tax purposes. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 per election cycle.

Proabortion Campaign Goes on Offense Against Women, Post Abortion Groups

A story in the LA Times interviews a young womyn named Emma Tupper from Seattle who is helping to fight the South Dakota abortion ban.

Is this the same Emma Tupper?

This must be the week for going after the post-abortion movement. Here's two more scare-quotes -- "post-abortive support groups" and "side effects". What I'd give to see "reproductive health" and "pro-choice" in quotes in the Seattle Times and PI. Then there's the general dismissal of the reality of post-abortion trauma and a good dose of misinformation/laziness. Readers of this blog know that the American Psychological Assn. stated earlier this year that their support for abortion is not based on the evidence but rather ideology, or what they call "civil rights."

The concept that women are exploited by abortion has been nurtured by the many "post-abortive support groups" around the nation. Unruh runs one such group in Sioux Falls; the women gather to mourn and to help one another through "side effects" as varied as substance abuse, anorexia and detached parenting.

And

Abortion-rights supporters respond with exasperation. The American Psychological Assn. has found that abortion carries few long-term emotional risks. And clinic doctors routinely turn away women who are uncertain or seem to have been coerced.

Routeinely? Routinely?! Then how come I hear so many testimonies from women who cried going in and coming out of their abortion? If that doesn't qualify for "uncertain" then I don't know what does. Any other business would kick them out of the store at the very least. The better stores would try and comfort the poor woman and most importantly remove her from the sales floor. They certainly wouldn't try and force her into a purchase. How about the woman who actaully ran out of a Washington state clinic only to have the clinic worker and her boyfriend run after her and bring her back in? What could possibly justify doing the abortion that day? Do the words "come back tomorrow" every enter their vocabulary.

Those wishing to set the record straight with Ms. Simon can email her at stephanie.simon@latimes.com. You can also contact the Readers' Rep. via their online form.

Scary Post-Abortive Women

Some magazine I've never heard of but is apparently very popular in Seattle includes this article in their October issue belittling the pro-woman aspect of the pro-life movement in general and the South Dakota abortion ban in particular.

Scare-quote award of the week goes to the use of "post-abortive women" in this sentence -- "...a busload of “post-abortive women," called the Fleet for Little Feet...”

As one of our Washington Silent No More Awareness speakers said this year after the Feds beefed up their presence at our silent vigil outside Washington NARAL's January 2006 Pro-Roe rally, "Lee Anne and I should feel flattered that we would warrant an increase in the police protection. Let's see that is 3 policeman each for both of us. We are a couple of really scary post abortive women with a lot of positive anger!"

(On a side note: Authors Reva Siegel and Sarah Blustain need to connect with the advertising department, which seems to be at least a little more clued in to reality as evidenced by the fact that they have a 3-inch banner ad linking to Feminists for Life's "Pro-Woman Answers to Pro-Choice Questions." Or maybe they just need the money.)

Mark Foley Scandal

Pro-abortion congressman gives new meaning to the phrase, "Every child a wanted child."

Dog Bites Man Story

New York Times reporter is pro-abortion.

Yuck

There's so many things wrong with this web site produced by Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon but we'll just leave you with a few excerpts. The first is from their "Love Letter" to a 12th grader from his parents.

Dear Kevin,

You're growing into a handsome, bright, and sexy young man....

We know that you are as amazed (and probably confused) about your emerging sexuality as we sometimes are. It's difficult to accept you as a "sexy young man" - and frankly, hard to ignore. As you go through the process of understanding yourself as a sexual person, please think about the beliefs and values we have shared with you over the years. We hope you will consider them carefully.

Next, in case you want to get a jump start on the indoctrination Planned Parenthood has in store for them at one of our state-sponsored schools, they give some recommendations for talking shop with your three year old. Yes, you read correctly -- a three year old.

Q. What happened to my penis?
A. You never had one. Only a boy has a penis. A girl has a clitoris.
Q. Can I see where the baby came out of you?
A. The baby came out through an opening between my legs called the vagina. I prefer not to show you my vagina because it's a private part of my body. Would you like to look at a book on how babies are born?

The repeated theme to parents throughout the site is: You needn't worry about telling "too much, too soon." Children absorb what they are ready to, and are not overstimulated, encouraged, or whatever by more detail. The real danger lies in "too little, too late."

Finally, they do mention something Planned Parenthood does know an awful lot about:

Studies suggest that 1 out of every 4 children in this country experiences some form of sexual victimization before age 17; 15% - 20% are boys. Contrary to the early warnings of our own parents the typical child molester is not the stranger who entices children with candy. The majority of sexual abusers are adult heterosexual males who are rarely strangers. In fact, 70-80% are known to the child - and often are relatives.

No "Plan B" For A Good Conscience

By Djana Milton

Ipecac, the vomit-inducing syrup administered after someone swallows poison, is the only medication pharmacists in the State of Washington are required to carry. A pharmaceutical commonly known as "Plan B," which in some cases stops implantation and may potentially terminate the life of an unborn baby, could soon be added to the list.

Earlier this year, the Washington State Pharmacy Board ruled that pharmacists in the state did not have to dispense the controversial drug if they had religious, moral or ethical objections to it. But the Board subsequently withered in the face of an assault from Governor Christine Gregoire, pro-abortion special interest groups, and a seemingly complicit media. A pharmacist may object to dispensing the drug (a "conscience clause"), but another pharmacist in the same pharmacy must be available to dispense Plan B and give referrals to pharmacies that sell it.

Since the Board's initial unanimous decision in favor of pharmacists' rights was announced on June 1, the Governor threatened the Board, the special interests issued blistering press releases, and the media quoted only outraged women. Absent from the majority of the public discourse are the voices of women and other Americans who believe that rights should be applied universally and without prejudice.

The ideal that human rights apply to all has come under attack by special interests and politics. One of the founding principles of our great nation - the right to exercise one's conscience - seems an early casualty. Abraham Lincoln's words should remind us of our responsibilities in the face of injustice - as in this case when the rights of others are in jeopardy. Lincoln said: "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."

Our governing bodies are obligated to ensure that the rights of all individuals are respected equally. In Washington, the Pharmacy Board had a civil obligation to not craft rules that violate pharmacists' rights just to make it convenient for those who, in the pursuit of their own desires, would trample upon the rights and convictions of others.

As former presidential candidate and secretary of state Williams Jennings Bryan said in 1915: "The chief duty of governments, in so far as they are coercive, is to restrain those who would interfere with the inalienable rights of the individual, among which are the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness and the right to worship God according to the dictates of one's conscience."

In Washington, the Board is failing to protect the right to life, as well as pharmacists' right to liberty and freedom of conscience. Similar boards in Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina and Wyoming have also ruled against pharmacists' conscience clauses.

At the same time, in the pending Illinois case of Menges v. Blagojevich, Judge Jeanne Scott has recognized that rules forcing pharmacists to dispense Plan B, if proven at trial, "may establish that the object of the Rule [morning-after-pill mandate] is to target pharmacists... who have religious objections to Emergency Contraceptives, for the purpose of forcing them either to compromise their religious beliefs or to leave the practice of pharmacy."

Once a pharmacist is forced to dispense medication that might harm a budding life, that pharmacist becomes an accomplice in the gravest of crimes. The mental and spiritual damage that would result from compulsory disregard for the moral imperative not to kill cannot be undone.

A wise man once said, "Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." That wise man was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When the Washington State Pharmacy Board reversed their draft ruling on August 31, effectively trampling on the right of pharmacists to exercise their consciences, did board members recall and attest to Harper Lee's words in To Kill A Mockingbird: "[B]efore I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience"?

The Board caved to cowardice, expediency and popularity.

# # #

A New Visions Commentary paper published September 2006 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court NE #200, Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110, Fax 202/543-5975, E-Mail Project21@nationalcenter.org, Web http://www.project21.org./

Djana Milton is a member of the national advisory council of the black leadership network Project 21 and a co-founder of Women First, a Washington pro-woman/pro-life organization. Comments may be sent to Project21@nationalcenter.org.

Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views of their author, and not necessarily those of Project 21.

The Original "Plan B"

Police Arrest Georgia Mother, Cousins in Second Forced Abortion Case

Columbus, GA (LifeNews.com) -- Police have arrested the mother and two cousins of a 16 year-old girl who are accused of forcing her to drink turpentine in an attempt to kill her baby in an abortion.

Maybe if they had renamed turpentine something like "Emergency Health Drink" or "Chicken Soup for the Uterus" and sold it in drug stores no one would have batted an eye.

Has your interpreter ever walked out during an abortion?

That's the question Planned Parenthood of Western Washington asks on their web site pushing one of their cheerful and ever-helpful publications, "Pregnancy Options: A Self-Study Guide for Professional Interpreters."

The whole scenario makes me cringe. What would cause an interpreter to probably lose a whole day's wages and potentially their job by walking out on their assignment? Think about all the poor interpreters who were told they were going to help with some "medical procedure" and ended up helping with abortions.

If you are an interpreter who walked out on an abortion and would like to share your story, please contact us at AIW:

Fortitude Ladies, Fortitude

From the Abortion Access Project Spring 2006 Newsletter:

Provider Appreciation Day March 10 marked the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. AAP extends our warm thanks to abortion providers throughout the United States for their extraordinary commitment and fortitude in ensuring women’s access to reproductive health care.

for‧ti‧tude – noun
mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously: Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.

Performing abortions; not exactly a day at the beach.

October Pro-Life Mass

The next deanery-wide Pro-Life Mass & Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 7, 2006, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (a/k/a Our Lady of Victory). It is open to anyone who is Pro-Life (not just the leaders of the various groups). Please feel free to spread the word.

Mass will begin at 9:00 a.m. at Saint Michael Catholic Church, 1021 Boundary St. SE, Olympia, WA 98507. Father Ed White, Fr. Sean Raftis, Father Jim Lee & Father Thomas Nathe will be offering Mass. Refreshments and Fellowship to follow in the church gathering space. If possible, please bring something for the table (brunch type foods).

Fr. Ed will speak on the USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities. (Anointing of the Sick also available at this Mass). For directions and more information you can go to www.SaintMichaelParish.org or contact Karen Rotter at karenrotter@juno.com or Peggy at 253-564-6660. Hope to see you there!

"Freedom of Choice"

"Her parents chased her out into the yard, grabbed and tied her hands and feet together..."

Authorities in Maine said the parents apparently thought that, in light of their daughter's stage of pregnancy and the different abortion laws in each state, the abortion should be performed in New York.

Huh? So they were exercising their parental rights by kidnapping their daughter? If they had decided to take her to a Planned Parenthood in Maine it would have been ok? I'm confused.

WA State Medical Association to Meet; Euthanasia, MAP on the Agenda

The Washington State Medical Association is meeting this weekend in Spokane for their Annual Meeting. One of our embedded reporters there has alerted us to the fact that two items on the agenda for the WSMA are: Euthanasia and Plan B (the abortifacient drug that sometimes acts as a contraceptive.)

In the ultimate irony, the person putting forward a resolution asking the WSMA to take a neutral stance on euthanasia is long time assisted suicide and abortion supporter, William O. Robertson the founder of and current Medical Director for the state's Poison Control Center. He is also a long-time supporter of Washington's Hemlock Society strategically renamed Compassion and Choices of Washington (CCW).

It's also been reported that the "William O. Robertson" Patient Safety Award, named after Dr. Robertson, will be awarded to a lucky recipient this weekend.

It appears that Dr. Robertson has already made some progress toward normalizing assisted suicide among the medical profession here just by virtue of the fact that they've managed to stack the organization with like-minded doctors and form their own "coalition" within the WSMA. The WSMA's "End of Life Consensus Coalition" includes Dr. Robertson and Robb Miller of the Washington state Hemlock Society (now CCW) on the Steering Committee. (I suppose it's easier to claim you've got a consensus when everyone on your steering committee already agrees with you.) The chairman of the steering committee is Stuart Farber, MD who recieved a $250,000 grant from George Soros's pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia group Open Society Institute.

Another of our correspondents mentioned to us that they had spoken to Dr. Robinson in the course of calling Poison Control and he seemed like such a "friendly, caring, elderly gentleman." It's eerily similar to the abortion lobby and the grandfatherly abortionists they always put up as the paragon of caring and compassion. It's deja vu all over again in Washington state.

Oregon to Host National Network of Abortion Funds

According to the Abortion Access Project Spring 2006 Newsletter (.pdf).

National Network of Abortion Funds Susan Yanow will also co-present with Angela Hooton from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health at the upcoming conference of the National Network of Abortion Funds in Portland, Oregon. Their presentation, “Self-Induced Abortion– What Abortion Funds Need to Know” will discuss reported use of medications to self induce abortion among Latina immigrants and others in the U.S., and address issues this emerging trend presents regarding access to abortion and reproductive health care.

More from the Women's Health Activities Update 2006

A few weeks ago we stumbled across the "Washington State Department of Health Community and Family Health Women's Health Activities Update 2006" (MS Word doc, 7 pages, available from the Women's Health Resource Network page of the Washington DOH web site). We did an initial post on their contraception/sterilization program here but want to highlight a few of the other activities keeping your ever friendly and helpful Washington state DOH busy.

Plan B Marketing and Distribution Plan
· FPRH exhibits a tabletop display at professional conventions to raise awareness with practitioners and the general public about the importance of making emergency contraception accessible to women.

· FPRH continues to purchase emergency contraception for distribution through FPRH-funded agencies and appropriate partners. These doses of emergency contraception are provided at no cost to the client. In addition, some public health nurses are distributing emergency contraception to their clients.

(Key talking points at conventions and to clients: This will help reduce abortions; Plan B does not cause abortions. Under NO circumstances are you to use the words "prevents implantation of an embryo."

Sex, Condoms and Abortion Education
· DOH also plans to implement and evaluate community-based media literacy projects throughout the state. The goal is to reduce teen pregnancies by delaying initiation of early and unsafe sexual activity and by raising youth awareness around media (mis)representation of human sexuality. The project-sites will use an abstinence-based media literacy curriculum that will enable youth to deconstruct media messages related to sexual behavior.

(Lesson 1 Objective: Students should know they don't have to have sex but if they do condoms and BC pills are available from the school nurse, their family doctor, or Planned Parenthood. Students should also by able to cite WACs and RCWs that prevent anyone from informing their parents that took condoms or pills. List of Planned Parenthood offices should be distributed at each class. Students should also demonstrate their understanding that they have a right to abortion under Washington law. Extra credit for those who can recite the law from memory. Lesson 2 Objective: Students should be able to identify the funny white man in Italy who wears a hat that looks like a beanie and any man with Southern accent holding a Bible. Accurately deconstructed messages include: People are trying to impose their values on me; If I say "yes" it's ok; I don't have to tell my parents because the nice ladies at Planned Parenthood will help me; Whitey is keeping me down; Are those the same people who got in big trouble for molesting kids? Lesson 3 Objective: Repeat lessons 1 and 2.)

Events Planned for Comprehensive Sex Ed Kick-Off Party and Celebrations
· Upon legislative request in 2004, DOH collaborated with OSPI to create Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention. The voluntary Guidelines, released in January 2005, provide a framework for medically and scientifically accurate sex education for Washington youth. DOH and OSPI strongly encourage all school districts, community-based organizations, juvenile detention centers, and tribal health programs vested in adolescent health to participate in the distribution of the guidelines.

(Strategy: Experiment on the poor, ignorant, unsupervised and incarcerated first, i.e. the powerless. Work out the kinks. Sneak it into the 'burbs when parents aren't paying attention. Accuse disenters of placing personal views ahead of kids. Don't worry about the "voluntary" qualifier; remember the collectivization of agriculture in Russia was also voluntary at first.)

· DOH partnered with The Center for Health Training, OSPI, and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Washington to submit a proposal on adolescent reproductive health. The Center for Health Training was successful in securing the CDC grant funding that will provide $150,000 per year for the next five years. The goal of the grant is to reduce the rates of unintended pregnancies, STDs, and HIV infection among Washington youth. During the initial year of the grant, funds will be used to provide technical assistance, consultation, and training to three local communities around comprehensive sex education and the use of the DOH-OSPI Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention.

(NEA, DOH, PP, OSPI, PATH, BOP, ASHA, WMA, FPRH, UW are all on board. Please send us your finance code so we can make sure your grant money is properly coded and accurately credited to your budget.)

FDA Rules Men Allowed to Purchase Plan B

Plan B is about "preventing abortion." Yep. And if you believe that I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

In legal terms, it's called "deception by silence." In moral terms, it's called "sin of omission."

Making Money off Your Misery

This web site sells Plan B, various birth control pills, the birth control patch, ED medications, and VD treatments with the odd flu and smoking cessation drug thrown in. Yikes. No wonder these people don't want to push abstinence; they're making too much money treating all the side effects of promiscuity.

I just had to shake my head at the totally lame copy writing. When I read it I get visions of a marketing/web development team sitting around a conference table passing a huge joint.

"Due to the contents of the package, we require an adult signature on all packages."

They can't be serious.

On the Plan B information page they have this:
"Gender of patient must be Female on consultation form. However, credit card holder can be male on Billing/Shipping form."

Won't be used by men who are exploiting women. Nawww. Never happen.

Birth control pills are in a category called "Women's Health" and VD treatments are in a category called "Sexual Health."

Whatever.

I did learn something though on their Plan B page:
"Plan B (Levonorgestrel) passes into breast milk. Do not take Plan B (Levonorgestrel) without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby."

I hadn't even thought about that and hadn't seen it in any of the Plan B promotional or sales sheets, Plan B web sites, or product inserts. Very interesting.

I'm now getting visions of some very sober trial lawyers sitting around a conference table smiling.

McGavick's Gains Against Cantwell Evaporate

A new poll by Rasmussen Reports finds pro-abortion Sen. Maria Cantwell now leads Republican challenger Mike McGavick 52% to 35%.

McGavick had been touting this virtual dead-head against Cantwell on his web site and in fund-raising letters, which incidentally seem to be arriving at my house every week now.

One error in Life News' report says, "McGavick backs legal abortion but supports some pro-life laws." The fact is McGavick has not named one pro-life law he would support. I've asked his campaign if he would support the current bill to suspend the sale of RU-486 (a bill that if passed would be very helpful to women in Washington state) and they have refused to answer.

A Win. Finally.

Anyone who is listening closely to the fight over forcing pharmacists to become participants in the America's abortion industry, understands that it is an anti-Christian and specifically anti-Catholic enterprise. Judge Jeanne E. Scott has now allowed for the lawsuit filed by the Illinois pharmacists who were fired after refusing to distribute the abortifacient Plan B that sometimes acts as a contraceptive to proceed to trial.

In a 28-page opinion, issued on September 6th, Judge Jeanne E. Scott said that the pharmacists’ allegations, if proven at trial, “may establish that the object of the Rule [morning-after-pill mandate] is to target pharmacists, such as the Plaintiffs, who have religious objections to Emergency Contraceptives, for the purpose of forcing them either to compromise their religious beliefs or to leave the practice of pharmacy."

Exactly.

Born in Lies

A recent news item from Argentina shows the abortion lobby there is using the same tactic -- namely lying -- the abortion lobby used in the United States to legalize and normalize abortion there.

In one of the best editorials detailing some of their biggest whoppers and how they managed to accomplish their goal with the willingness of some very educated if perhaps naive people (supreme court justices, politicians, lawyers, and sadly some in the church), National Review said this on the 25th anniversary of Roe:

The abortion regime was born in lies. In Britain (and in California, pre-Roe), the abortion lobby deceptively promoted legal revisions to allow "therapeutic" abortions and then defined every abortion as "therapeutic." The abortion lobby lied about Jane Roe, claiming her pregnancy resulted from a gang rape. It lied about the number of back-alley abortions. (Argentina's health minister is now using this same lie in 2006.) Justice Blackmun relied on fictitious history to argue, in Roe, that abortion had never been a common law crime.

The abortion regime is also sustained by lies...This movement cannot speak the truth.

We know at least one of our readers who prefers scripture references to back-up our commentary. See John 8:44.

Women First Responds to Seattle Times

Dear Editor--
Regarding your article concerning pregnancy centers (8/18/06), there are a number of published studies supporting the hypothesis that a link exists between induced abortions and breast cancer. Although these findings may be disputed by some, the National Cancer Institute did in fact publish the results of a 1994 study by Dr. Janet Darling of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center citing just this link.

Why would anyone object to making these findings available to women who are considering abortion?

Don’t medical clinics have a responsibility to inform patients of all risk factors before recommending or performing a medical procedure? Don’t women have the right to choose for themselves whether they are willing to trade their current situation for another more insidious one down the road?

Finally, don’t medical researchers have an obligation to interview representative samplings of women in the course of their studies? I wonder how many women from the Silent No More Awareness Campaign would agree that post-abortion psychological stresses are of a no more severe nature or duration than those following a birth.

Demanding that pregnancy centers filter information and tow a party line serves only to endanger women and deny them their right to true choice.

Djana Milton
Women First
Djana Milton is the co-founders of Women First, a Pierce County group formed to promote dialogue about issues facing women, particularly expectant mothers.

Scientists and Medical Doctors Continue to Back-up Bloggers' Doubts about Plan B

Dear Dr. von Eschenbach,

In the 1960s, Dr. Frances Kelsey was a newly-hired physician with the FDA, and her first assignment was a presumably easy review of a "safe" sedative, thalidomide. However, she and other reviewers found deficiencies in methodology and in the completeness of data, especially that for chronic toxicity, in the experimental trials. She came under tremendous pressure from the Merrell company and from superiors who were badgered by the drug firm to approve the drug, but she refused to back down on her demands for better scientific evidence of safety.1
Fast forward four decades, to the FDA being pressured by a pharmaceutical company and political organizations to make Plan B available over-the-counter. The rationale offered for this change is that emergency contraception is safe and if it is more easily available it will reduce unwanted pregnancies and the abortion rate. However, the available scientific evidence does not support this rationale.

Emergency contraception use has been associated with concomitant sexually-transmitted infections and a higher incidence of ectopic pregnancies. Increased availability of emergency contraception has not resulted in a decline in pregnancy or abortion rates. Such evidence indicates that women using emergency contraception should be under the care of a physician to provide best care, including monitoring women for complications of the medication and sexually-transmitted infections. Women required to make a visit to their physician to obtain a prescription can be better evaluated and treated.

· Ectopic pregnancy--The British Government issued a warning to doctors to be especially aware of a potential complication of ectopic pregnancies following emergency contraception use. The post marketing surveillance experience in the United Kingdom, with specific reference to 201 emergency contraception failures, found 12 ectopic pregnancies, or a 6% rate‹triple the expected rate for both the UK and the US. (See: CMO update #35, dated 4-2-03, content # 20 at HERE)

· Sexually-transmitted infectionso In Sweden, following over-the-counter availability of emergency contraception in the late 1990¹s, there was a 30% increase in Chlamydia infections from l999 to 2001.2

o In Washington state, in the seven years following the start of the pharmacist direct pilot project for dispensing emergency contraception, chlamydia infection rates rose from 169.8 to 285.9 cases per 100,000, with teenage women showing a 36% increase (l997-2004) (see: HERE).
o A California study of women having different levels of access to emergency contraception found that 12 percent of all participants acquired a sexually-transmitted infection.3
o These data do not implicate a causal association between over-the counter emergency contraception and chlamdia or other sexually-transmitted infections, but show a need for physician supervision of any sexually active woman. Without physician oversight, these undiagnosed and untreated sexually transmitted infections may lead to infertility and cervical disease, which is surely not a good public health result for these women.

Easy access to emergency contraception does not necessarily produce intended results--Theoretically, the goal of enhanced availability of emergency contraception has been to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortion rates, but such results are lacking in actual research. In one study, advanced provision of emergency contraception did not decrease abortion rates.4 In Sweden, where emergency contraception is available without a prescription, increased induced abortion rates among teens have been found.2 A study in California compared three groups of women who had 1) pharmacy access to emergency contraception, 2) advance provision of emergency contraception, or 3) clinic access. Compared with controls, women in the pharmacy access groups and the advance provision groups did not have a significant reduction in pregnancy rates.3 While there was no reported significant differences between groups with respect to contraceptive or condom use or sexually transmitted infection rat! e or sexual behaviors, 12 percent of participants acquired a sexually-transmitted infection.3

A thalidomide catastrophe was prevented in the U.S. by one person, Dr. Kelsey, staunchly standing for good science in the face of tremendous pressure. Please stand firm in protecting the health of women and not make Plan B available without a prescription.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sharon Quick, MD, FCP, FAAP
Washington State Coordinator, American Academy of Medical Ethics

1. Daemmrich A. A tale of two experts: thalidomide and political engagement in the United States and West Germany. Soc Hist Med. 2002 Apr;15(1):137-158.
2. Edgardh K. Adolescent sexual health in Sweden. Sex Transm Infect. 2002 Oct;78(5):352-356.
3. Raine TR, Harper CC, Rocca CH, et al. Direct access to emergency contraception through pharmacies and effect on unintended pregnancy and STIs: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005 Jan 5;293(1):54-62.
4. Glasier A, Fairhurst K, Wyke S, et al. Advanced provision of emergency contraception does not reduce abortion rates. Contraception. 2004 May;69(5):361-366.

ECP Certified Pharmacists Relegated to Working Cash Register, Checking ID

Pharmacists who formerly enjoyed "playing doctor" with patients who came in requesting the morning-after-pill, marketed under the name Plan B, can now dispense the drug to any woman 18 years of age and older provided she shows proper ID. No private consultations, no questions about last menstrual periods, no discussion about side-effects or how Plan B works, just Plan B on demand. Whether or not the pharmacy will continue to receive their $15 "consulting" or kick-back fee, depending on your point of view, is yet to be determined.

With the switch to selling Plan B in a manner similar to malt liquor and cigarettes, will the next move be selling Plan B at 7-11?

Rates of Chlamydia Rise after Introduction of Plan B to Washington

Starting in 1991 Washington began to see a 6 year decline in rates of Chlamydia. After the introduction of what abortion proponants like to call "Emergency Contraception", and marketed under the name Plan B, rates began to climb back. Planned Parenthood of Western Washington in conjunction with the UW School of Pharmacy, the Washington Board of Pharmacy and others teamed up to launch a pilot project to introduce this drug to Washington residents. The pilot project was conducted from February 1998 to June 1999. The rate of Chlamydia in 1997 was 169.8. In 1998 the rate was 193.4 and has increased every year since then. The rate is now almost 300 per 1,000.

Washington DOH Pushes Contraception Possibly Sterilization to Illegal Immigrants

I was just reviewing a document entitled, "Washington State Department of Health Community and Family Health Women's Health Activities Update 2006" (MS Word doc, 7 pages, available from the Women's Health Resource Network page of the Washington DOH web site) and came upon several interesting bits of information.

Under Unintended Pregnancy and Family Planning here's what our state government is pushing on women in immigrant, or as they like to say "non-citizen" communities. Note the innocuous and innocent sounding title for the program.

The Eastern Washington Family Outreach Pilot Project that provides free or low cost contraception to women who are not U.S. citizens was expanded to include five more counties. Family Planning and Reproduction Health (FPRH) received state funds to include non-citizens in Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, and Yakima counties in the pilot project. Three family planning agencies are administering the pilot project. In addition, two agencies were awarded small federal grants through Title X to do non-citizen pilots. One agency will cover Whatcom and Skagit counties. The other agency covers Chelan and Douglas counties and their federal grant will be used to enhance their existing non-citizen pilot project.

There are so many things wrong with this I don't even know where to start. Is shoveling more money to Planned Parenthood really the best use of our state's resources? Are isolated, possibly uneducated, non-English speaking women who are fearful of deportation really in a position to give informed consent or opt out of a state program they may feel is compulsory in order to stay in the United States? What kind of contraception are they taking about -- birth control pills or Norplant or IUDs? Norplant and IUDs aren't exactly reversible at any time. Is this contraception or a state sponsored sterilization program? Are there any reporting requirements demanded of the women, i.e. must they report any contraceptive failures back to Planned Parenthood or the state, whereupon they are introduced to a "family planning" appartchik, freshly-minted from one of our state schools who tells them how safe and wonderful abortion is.

Assuming these women are Catholic, I have to wonder if the Catholic Church in Washington, especially the Archdiocese of Western Washington is paying attention to what the state is doing. Coincidentally the headline on their glossy magazine Samaritan this month was, "Immigration Assistance in the Skagit Valley: Serving a population in need of reliable information." Churches that need to be informed about this program include: Immaculate Conception in Mount Vernon; St. Charles in Burlington; Sacred Heart in La Conner; Immaculate Heart of Mary in Sedro-Woolley; and St. Catherine in Concrete.

Plan B, Right to Conscience Round Up

Radicals continue to push for Plan B on demand
"Really the right answer is 'yes,' whenever the woman asks for it," Dr. Linda Prine of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

Evangelicals question contraception; 88% still support it
A recent New York Times article on the subject, it is true, quoted Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, saying that the separation between sex and procreation caused by contraceptives is "ominous." But he also went on to say that "evangelical couples may, at times, choose to use contraceptives in order to plan their families and enjoy the pleasures of the marital bed."

Cooler Heads Prevail on Pharmacists' Right to Conscience
"Pharmacists and all other health care providers already have a constitutional and statutory right to refuse to participate in any service to which they have a moral objection."

An Open Letter to Patty Murray

Reproduced below is a letter recently sent to Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in respose to Senator Murray's defense of her vote against the Child Custody Protection Act:

Senator Murray,

Sadly, I believe you are misinformed and your approach, not the Child Custody Protection Act, is what endangers the health of women.

If your statistic is correct, then two-thirds of women who do not involve their parents are not victims of abuse (from their parents.) They are, however, victims of abuse by a system that readily channels them into the choice of abortion as the preferred option to a challenging pregnancy. This two-thirds of women then face life long serious physical and emotional consequences including depression, suicidality, drug and alcohol abuse and spiraling self-esteem and self-confidence which negatively impacts their future life success.

I don't need statistics to tell me that this is true because I have worked with these women for the last twelve years. These women tell me about the so-called "counseling" provided by "family planning clinics" which was nothing more than disinformation regarding potential health consequences for themselves as well as development of their child, along with no real help toward making any other choice but the choice of abortion.

Many young women express fear of disclosing pregnancy to their parents and even say such things as "My parents would kill me." This can reflect a typical adolescent fear with no actual basis in reality. What teens need at that point is specific help in telling parents and enlisting their support. After the initial shock, most parents step in with support for their daughter. This bonds the family and results in growth for the teen as well as family relationships.

There are safeguards of judicial bypass already provided by law for those teens in truly dangerous abuse situations. What we do not need is intrusion into the parent / teen relationship by teachers, counselors, other school officials and clinic personnel by providing transportation across state lines so minor teens can obtain abortions without parent knowledge or consent. This is clearly wrong-headed thinking.

Senator Murray, we do agree on the need for education which will significantly reduce teen pregnancies. Unfortunately, current public funding supports education by the very people who profit by teen sexual activity and abortion, most notably Planned Parenthood. This is a clear conflict of interest. I would urge you instead to read the attached study (The Current National Picture on Teen Pregnancy by Stan E. Weed, Ph.D., 1999, 4 pp, available through the US Conference of Catholic Bishops) regarding teen pregnancy statistics and sex education.

Democrats pride themselves on being open-minded. I would therefore respectfully request you read this article with an open mind. Any democrat who votes a consistent ethic of life is first in line to get my vote.

In the meantime, I will continue to pick up the pieces of those women who have been victimized by a so-called pro-choice culture.

Valerie J.

Wearing the Seamless Garment Inside Out

I just received the Summer 2006 issue of Samaritan Magazine, an official publication of Catholic Community Services. As I scanned it for any hint of what CCS might be doing to serve the most vulnerable and voiceless among us, I bumped into this line from an interview with Archbishop Brunett.

Many people live with great dichotomy, for example, condemning abortion but supporting capital punishment. (.pdf file, see page 17)

Ahh, yes insult the pro-lifers who understand the Church's teaching on both abortion and capital punishment, and the difference between the taking of innocent human life and the right of the state to exercise the death penalty in a prudent manner. It's too bad the Archbishop didn't mention the real dichotomy: The many Catholics in Western Washington who insist on wearing their seamless garment inside out by condemning capital punishment but supporting abortion.

Seattle Times Denies Abortion - Breast Cancer, Depression Link

In an article that does nothing more than repeat the usual pro-abortion falsehoods and misinformation, the Seattle Times proves once again they have no interest in reporting the truth about abortion. (It is just me or does this article read more like a thinly disguised editorial in support of Jim McDermott's (D-WA) reelection and co-sponsorhip of Waxman's anti-CPC bill than good research and reporting?)

Whatever the case, After Abortion has the best analysis and background information on this latest outrage. They also have a great sample letter with references to the specific studies showing abortion's harmful effects.

You can write or email the Seattle Times at: opinion@seattletimes.com and Diane Albert, Letters Editor.

You may want to mention that at least one abortionist in Washington believes that Post-Abortion Syndrome exits since they reported it as a complication to the Department of Health in 2002. (MS Excel doc; see Table 8D; "1 PAS")

You could also mention that the author of the quote below and one of the major researchers into the ABC link, Dr. Janet Daling with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, lives in Seattle. They could talk to her without even the expense of a long-distance call or thinking about the time-zone.

If politics gets involved in science, it will really hold back the progress we make. I have three sisters with breast cancer, and I resent people messing with the scientific data to further their own agenda, be they pro-choice or pro-life. I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion, but our research is rock solid, and our data is accurate. It's not a matter of believing. It's a matter of what is.

Mike McGavick Still Trolling for Pro-Life Votes

Below is a messsage from the McGavick campaign that was recently forwarded to me. (I'm trying not be be too hurt that I'm not on their "pro-life" e-mail list.):

Electing Mike McGavick is essential to maintaining control of confirmation of pro-life judges in the next 2 years. Please pass this on to your pro-life friends! This election is essential for the future of our nation and beliefs.

Kathy McDonald
WA Conservative Coalition Coordinator
Mike McGavick for the US Senate
http://www.mikemcgavick.com/
360-607-8959

Dear Kathy,
I'm sure you are a nice person but are you kidding? McGavick will vote to confirm almost any nominee that gets through the Judiciary Committee, including another Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Would he vote to confirm a Robert Bork? Hmmm...my guess is probably not. Too much pressure from the "mainstream" Republicans back home, his staff, contacts at "It's My Party Too", and his friends at the Seattle PI and The Stranger. Besides, by the time it gets around to a full vote of the Senate the fix is already in and the nominee, 99.9% of the time, flies through the Senate by a wide margin. In this scenario, McGavick's vote is of little consequence. The president is really the gate-keeper when it comes to SCJ nominees. As long as we get a good pro-life president who nominates good pro-life judges we can get the kind of SCJ we want even with a Maria Cantwell in office.

However, how he would vote on other pro-life issues such as the suspension and reviw of RU-486, funding for Planned Parenthood and international population control, bans on fetal farming, cloning, and whatever else the abortion lobby is trying to get for themselves can be of critical importance. These votes are often close and we need to win them to just hang on to the gains the pro-lifers have made in past years. McGavick has refused to tell pro-lifers how he would vote on those issues. He refused to answer the survey from Human Life of Washington. Fortunately we know that he has told the Seattle PI he supports legal abortion.

Mike doesn't share the beliefs of pro-lifers after all now does he? For reasons known only to his heart he supports legal abortion with few if any restrictions.

By the way, may I see a copy of the survey or questionnaire that gained him his endorsement from "It's My Party Too" PAC?

Best Regards,
Mary E.

As Pro-Lifers Go to the Polls this Fall...

Here's something to think about:

Only pro-abortion choice, pro-illegal amnesty, gay rights, tax and spend constitutional liberal candidates have an inside track for the support of the GOP pragmatic elite and the big money they have controlled (and squandered) since 1980. Trying to run a conservative candidate through this surrealistic obstacle course is, and has been, hopeless. I’ve been on enough of the conservative teams to know. We are the outsiders in our own Party. It is the Decepti-Cons, that fool the Party faithful about who they are, that run the show.

Which reminds me, why is George Nethercutt (R) who I am constantly told is "pro-life" part of the Advisory Board for the pro-abortion PAC "It's My Party Too"? Is he just practicing the world's second oldest profession or has he perhaps been committed to unsafe, legal, and common abortion all along.

Abortion 101

It is no wonder abortion mills smell so nasty,” said Cheryl Sullenger. “The blood – and God knows what else – simply flies during an abortion and that stuff all soaks into the dry wall and gets tracked into the carpeting where it putrefies. There is no way to get rid of it aside from major demolition. From what we observed, there can be no such thing as a ‘safe, clean’ abortion clinic.

No commentary necessary. Just read the whole article.