56% of Young Adults in a New Sexual Relationship Infected with HPV

A groundbreaking study of couples found more than half of young adults in a new sexual relationship were infected with the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. Of those infected with HPV, nearly half (44 per cent) were infected with an HPV type that causes cancer. The study is the first large-scale study of HPV infection among couples early in their sexual relationships when transmission is most likely. LifeSiteNews

Abortion rights pioneer dead at 102

Ruth Proskauer Smith, a longtime reproductive rights advocate who helped found what is now Naral Pro-Choice America, died Jan. 22 at her home in Manhattan. She was 102. In 1969, Ms. Smith and 11 others formed the first steering committee of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, as the organization was then known. In recent years, Ms. Smith remained involved with Naral Pro-Choice New York, an affiliate of the national body. She was also active in the right-to-die movement, advocating that physician-assisted suicide be legally available to terminally ill people. Boston Globe

Abortion chain owner Susan Hill is dead

Susan Hill died on February 1. She was president of the National Women's Health Foundation, which collected donations to fund abortions of poor pregnant mothers, and the National Women's Health Organization, "a pioneering group of [abortion] clinics." At one point Hill/NWHO owned 11 mills but were down to four at the time of her death, including the last mill in Mississippi, located in Jackson. Two weeks after Roe v. Wade, Hill and a partner opened the first mill in Florida, now owned by James Pendergraft. Hill, a social worker by trade, is said to have been responsible for the deaths of 400,000 children aborted at her mills. Jill Stanek

Group exposes media malpractice

LifeSiteNews, YouTube

Magazine Fined for Calling Abortion “Killing” becomes #1 Weekly

Gosc Niedzielny (Sunday Visitor), published by the Archdiocese of Katowice in southern Poland, and which became famous last year after its editor was fined for calling abortion “killing,” just became the country's best-selling weekly. The magazine has just surpassed the leftist publication Polityka, which held the monopoly on #1 selling weekly for over 20 years. LifeSiteNews

Got a source for that image?

Seen this photo? Do you know who the photographer/Photoshopper is? (This person, who posted it on his/her Flikr page admitted he/she didn't know, and that it came with no attribution.)

There's a lot of controversy on the web over it, with many cogent explanations of why it must be a Photoshopped hoax (also here and here). Others are disappointed their unborn babies don't behave as profoundly when the cameras are rolling. Apparently, no one has yet come forward to claim or verify it. My advice (and plea) is don't use any image unless you know its provenance and can credit the source.

Turning abortion into an online game show

When the president said he wanted "to find ways to communicate about a workable solution to the problem of unintended pregnancies," Dominic Iocco conceived "Bump." He and co-executive producer Christopher Riley want to see whether stories can succeed where four decades of rhetoric and politics have failed. They fashioned their experiment in a way that would be most appealing to the wired, reality-show generation.

Beginning Feb. 1, episodes will appear each week on Mondays and Thursdays, both on BumptheShow.com and on YouTube, and spectators are invited to comment. A pilot, which appeared on the eve of the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, already had drawn 147 comments by Friday, ranging from criticism of the acting and the doctor's make-up to heartfelt accounts of personal experiences with abortion. WashingtonPost

Report from a Liberian PCC

Aaron Garyemah, executive director of New Hope Pregnancy Services* in Gbarnga, Liberia, reports the following for 2009:

• 48 new clients registered
• 164 return visits
• 14 salvation decisions
• 3 spiritual decisions/rededication
• 38 clients viewed extra materials
• 14 clients received supplies
• 18 participated in Bible studies

Pregnancy outcomes:

• 14 births
• 0 abortion

Brother Aaron says, "We are also pleased to note that the NHPS was incorporated with government, and the board installed. We see these as answers to prayers; given that the ministry is only a year and half old. May you know however, that your prayers are even more needed in this 2010. Our prospect for 2010 is to extend presentations to schools, churches and the communities around us."

*2009 Summit attendees may recall missionary Carolynn Sharp's compelling presentation about this minstry.

What Tim Tebow's Super Bowl ad can teach the pro-choice movement

Who said this? "Women's and choice groups responding to the Tebow ad should take a page from the Focus on the Family playbook. Erin Matson, the National Organization for Women's new vice president, called the Tebow spot 'hate masquerading as love.' That kind of comment may play well in the choice choir, but to others, it makes no sense, at best; at worst, it's seen as the kind of stridency that reinforces the view that pro-choice simply means pro-abortion." Kate Michelman and Frances Kissling, in the Washington Post. Surprised?

Get to Know: Banquet Success

While traveling coast-to-coast speaking at banquets over the last few months, we’ve been able to implement a few of the proven Banquet Success strategies we used to grow our own fundraising banquet from $24,350 to $312,964. As a result, we’ve seen many groups experience amazing fundraising results — even in the midst of this challenging economy.

Wisconsin Senate Passes Bill Banning Abstinence-Only Education in Schools

Last Thursday the Wisconsin State Senate passed the "Healthy Youth Act" mandating that all sexual education classes in public schools teach about contraception. Wisconsin Governor James Doyle has said that he will sign the bill. The bill takes from local school boards the power to determine the content of classes. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, which had been pushing for the bill, had identified several schools that taught abstinence-only programs. LifeSiteNews

Abstinence-Only Education Linked to Decreased Promiscuity in High-Risk Teens

Theory-based, abstinence-only intervention has been linked a lower rate of sexual involvement among African American preteens, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association. The study found that the probability of ever having sexual intercourse was approximately 15 percentage points lower among teens in the abstinence-only program than those in condom-promoting courses or those undergoing no sex education. LifeSiteNews

Abortionist Hodari Under Investigation by Michigan Officials

Michigan-based abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari has a troubled history as an abortion practitioner that has seen him kill three young woman botched abortions and he faces accusations from another that he forced her to have an abortion. Now, Michigan officials are looking into his abortion practice. The Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed in two separate letters that Hodari is officially under investigation by the Bureau of Health Profession for his involvement in the forced abortion. In November, Hodari put his abortion facilities up for sale along with his collection of expensive classic cars and hastily filed for divorce from his wife of 29 years. Local pro-life advocates are concerned he is attempting to flee the country to return to his native Argentina. LifeNews

Ireland: Rights body calls for legalized abortion

In a report by Human Rights Watch, Ireland is accused of violating a long list of human rights in its treatment of abortion. The report says the actions of the Government in the face of the "need for abortion" have been "erratic and divisive" and it calls for a change to its restrictive abortion laws to meet its obligations under international law. Irish Examiner The SPUC responds that "there is no such thing as a right to abortion under international law."

Abortifacient Ellaone Billed as Better Morning After Pill

Abortion advocates are pushing a new drug that they say is an expanded morning after pill, or emergency contraception. Ellaone can be used up to five days after rape or unprotected sex. The drug is becoming popular in Europe and abortion advocates there are pushing it as a better version of the morning after pill.

But Josephine Quintavalle, of the Pro-Life Alliance, says Ellaone is not an emergency contraception because it causes an abortion rather than preventing pregnancy. "If you take a morning-after pill within 24 hours, there is always the argument that the sperm may not have fertilized the egg by then, meaning pregnancy has not yet happened. But if this pill works for five days there is no argument. This is not a contraceptive, it is an abortive agent."

Dr. Donna Harrison, the president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists agrees. "I think it's important that the pro-life community recognize exactly what Ulipristal is, and how it works, so they are not fooled." LifeNews

Councilors to Planned Parenthood: Go away

Six members of the City Council voted Thursday to draft a resolution urging the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts to abandon its plan to locate in Fitchburg, after the organization announced plans to open an office on Main Street earlier this week. Sentinel & Enterprise

Criticism of PCCs "nonsensical"

“We’re scratching our heads as to why anyone would attack Pam Tebow’s courageous story or hinder a message of hope to other women facing similar circumstances,” said Care Net's Melinda Delahoyde in response to all the fuss over the Tebow ad. “As an organization that helps provide support to women with difficult or unplanned pregnancies, Care Net is even more confused why any group advocating for women would criticize the compassionate, practical help offered by our nation’s pregnancy centers. Part of the reason why our country is increasingly pro-life is because of the positive, volunteer-led work of pregnancy centers in communities across the country." InspireLife

Documents Raise Spectre of Fetal Harvesting at UWisc

Pro-life advocates say they have obtained documents that raise serious questions over the possibility of fetal harvesting and conscience violations behind the University of Wisconsin's plans to begin performing late-term abortions at the Madison Surgery Center. In addition, they say, certain communiqués raise fears that UW researchers could use the tissue of babies aborted at MSC for medical experimentation. LifeSiteNews

Getting Away With Murder -- Ruth Barnett and the Illegal Abortion Trade

Over the years pro-abortionists and pro-lifers have often squared off over the history of abortion. . . . [P]ro-life guesstimates often fall short of reality when citing abortion figures in some cities. Their figures too are frequently not a clear reflection of the "demand" for and availability of services to rid women and society of unborn babies. Life Advocate

Sex Ed in Washington

Last week’s news that teenage birthrates inched upward late in the Bush era, after 15 years of steady decline, was greeted with a grim sort of satisfaction. The new numbers, declared the president of Planned Parenthood, make it “crystal clear that abstinence-only sex education for teenagers does not work.” In reality, the numbers show no such thing. Abstinence financing increased under Bush, but the federal government has been funneling money to pro-chastity initiatives since early in Bill Clinton’s presidency. If you blame abstinence programs for a year’s worth of bad news, you’d also have to give them credit for more than a decade’s worth of progress. NY Times