| look at this picture but instead of the label "fetus" imagine the label "Gianna." |
I've been lucky enough to meet some really wonderful people in the past 2 years of my involvement in the Pro-Life movement. These are their stories. *cue dramatic Law & Order- bumbum- sound*
Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor
Gianna's mother was 17 and in her third trimester when she had a saline abortion. This was completely legal. Until last year, I personally was unaware that a woman could have an abortion up until the time of birth. Roe v. Wade secures a woman's right to have an abortion in the first trimester and the states' rights to regulate after that point, but Doe v. Bolton ruled simultaneously and granted women the right to have an abortion at any time if the child would be a risk to her health. However, the definition of the word "health" is so broad that any woman could argue that an unwanted child would be a risk to her "health" even up to birth. According to Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life:
Doe v. Bolton was meant to be read in conjunction with its more famous counterpart. In Doe, the Court ruled that a woman's right to an abortion could not be limited by the state if abortion was sought for reasons of maternal health. The Court defined health as "all factors physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age relevant to the well-being of the patient." This health exception expanded the right to abortion for any reason through all three trimesters of pregnancy.
This definition is so broad and encompassing that it allows for wrong timing, marital status, fear of pain, too many children, weight gain, etc., as "health" reasons. Because of Doe, any reason for abortion can be construed as a health reason. Together with Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton allows abortion for any reason and at any time during the pregnancy.
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| Me, Jacob, and Rebecca surrounding Gianna |
Gianna was born alive. A nurse in the abortionist's office had Gianna taken to the hospital and luckily Gianna survived and was adopted. She has "the gift of cerebral palsy" and when she speaks- people listen. She is truly one of the most amazing people I've ever met. One of my favorite things she said was "Just because I walk with a limp doesn't mean I want to marry an ugly guy." How she managed to bring up dating standards as the keynote speaker at a Pro-Life benefit in Austin last year is beyond me... but I loved it. If you want to hear her tell her story click here. It's a 2 part video but it is TOTES worth it. She's pretty amazing.
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| first time I met Abby... I was really giddy. |
Abby became involved with Planned Parenthood as a volunteer in 2001, but by 2008 she was named Planned Parenthood's employee of the year. After years of doing everything she could to do what she thought was helping women, Abby realized what she was really doing. Assisting in an ultrasound guided abortion, where the abortionist locates the baby using a sonogram machine rather than just poking around a woman's uterus and risking perforation, Abby watched as a baby at 13 weeks fought for his life in his mother's womb and struggled to escape the abortionist's tool but ultimately, lost his life. Realizing that this baby at only 13 weeks was actively trying to escape, Abby knew she had to get out of Planned Parenthood.
After leaving, Abby exposed some of the lies Planned Parenthood feeds its employees and patients. One lie PP was telling women was that their babies couldn't feel pain which, as Abby witnessed, wasn't true. Fetal pain is real. Babies shouldn't have to endure the pains of abortion. Abby also shed light on the financial motives of PP regarding abortions. PP advocates will jump at the chance to tell you that abortions only account for 3% of their services, but will be reluctant to let you know that abortion accounts for more than a third of their revenue (great facts here). Read her article here that exposes PP's warped business model. Abby states in the article that even the 3% claim is false:
Planned Parenthood’s claim that abortions make up just 3 percent of its services is also a gimmick. That number is actually closer to 12 percent, but strategically skewed by unbundling family planning services so that each patient shows anywhere from five to 20 “visits” per appointment (i.e., 12 packs of birth control equals 12 visits) and doing the opposite with abortion visits, bundling them together so that each appointment equals one visit. The resulting difference between family planning and abortion “visits” is striking.She goes on to mention that by 2013 all of its affiliates provide abortions. I thought the goal was to reduce abortions? Apparently not so much. And without abortion, where would PP be financially? I'm all for helping women, I kiiinnd of am one and all, but abortion isn't helping women and the cost of an unborn life is too great to cover the cost of their other services (including non-existent mammograms... shammograms).
To hear more about Abby's story and incredible journey- which includes having to deal with some freaking crazy Pro-Lifers - read her book Unplanned. So good. Also, she is just a cool person to talk to. She says what she thinks and she has a good time doing what she does. She has me lol-ing everytime I hear her speak!
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| Didn't have my camera when I met Lila #fail but I have the Live Action card #notascoolasapicture. |
Not only is Lila incredibly beautiful and has great hair, she is a Pro-Life superstar. I got to meet her at the FOCUS conference in Nashville in January and she was so endearing! Live Action works to expose the abuses of the abortion industry and recently has been in the news for a series of investigations of Planned Parenthood locations across the country. Their blog has great content.
One thing Lila inspired me to do this year was call Planned Parenthood just to see what they say on the phone. The Pro-Life community has created this huge dark cloud of an idea of Planned Parenthood and I was just curious how true that is, so I started calling. Initially I would call clinics in TX and ask about emergency contraception which was pretty true to their standards; it's not hard to get. Over the next few weeks I started calling Colorado, Michigan, and California. Kind of a random group of states, haha. The thing I found most interesting was that despite Planned Parenthood's claim to be Pro-Woman and Pro-Choice, you can't get a sonogram there UNLESS it is preceding an abortion... which is weird. Pregnancy is a part of the lives of many women, so shouldn't an organization that is so keen on helping women be eager to perform sonograms?
My favorite phone call was to a PP in California. They were friendly (unlike the one in Flint, MI- uh, RUDE!). I asked to have a sonogram done to determine the sex of my baby since I was at 22 weeks. I was out of town so I couldn't go to my doctor. PP said they don't perform sonograms. I asked if they did before abortions. She said yes. I said that I already had a daughter so I wanted the sonogram done to determine the baby's sex and if the sonogram said my baby was a girl I wanted to abort, so I asked if I could just schedule an abortion as if I were going to go through with it and then if it ended up being a boy I could just "spontaneously" back out. She put me on hold. A few minutes later she came back and gave me the number to another Planned Parenthood and wished me luck. Something about that was just eerie to me. Her reaction was as if my request was very commonplace... frightening.Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life
I wrote about Fr. Frank pretty recently after the National Right to Life Convention, but in case you are reading this, my new friend, I'd like you to take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/user/FrFrankPavone. It's Father Frank's YouTube channel and this guy tells it like it is. For me, it took learning about the methods of abortion and watching videos like the ones on Father Frank's YouTube (specifically under the playlist "This Is Abortion"). The word "abortion" or what some Pro-Choicers will call "termination of pregnancy" seems simple, while in reality- the process of burning a child alive, of dismembering a baby limb by limb, of crushing a baby's skull, of vacuuming a child up - is a big deal, a freaking big injustice, and ought to be treated as such.Okay, I really want to write about Melissa Ohden and DAN COMPTON and Carrie Holland but I should get to work on some other things. This post didn't seem to have much of an objective or structure other than if you are reading this, P, I hope that something in this made you agree/disagree with me more.
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