As White House Readies Abortion Plan, Packaging Emerges as Major Issue

As the White House readies its plan for finding "common ground" on reproductive health issues and reducing the need for abortion, a major debate has emerged over how to package the plan's two major components: preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion. Many abortion rights advocates and some Democrats seek to reduce unwanted pregnancies by funding comprehensive sex education and contraception and to reduce the need for abortion by bolstering federal support for pregnant women. But more conservative religious groups say they would be forced to oppose such a plan—even though they support the abortion reduction part—because they oppose federal dollars for contraception and comprehensive sex education. US News

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Connecticut Governor Bans Ultrasounds Without Medical Reason

Under a new bill pro-abortion Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell signed into law last week, an ultrasound of an unborn child can't be done without a medical reason or authorization from a physician. Rell claimed she signed the bill because she is concerned about the health and safety of mothers and unborn children. However, no studies have revealed any negative health affects for either by viewing an ultrasound. The bill is also an effort to target the new ultrasound "boutiques" that allow parents of unborn children to view an ultrasound and take home their children's first baby pictures of them moving around in the womb. The new law will take effect on July 1.

The bill follows a warning the Food and Drug Administration put out in May 2004 warning against using ultrasounds for entertainment. The agency said it was encouraging pregnant women to forego prenatal portraits, videos, and CD-ROMs, which are available from specialty photo studios around the country. Still, the director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, physician Dan Schultz, admitted that ultrasound technology has proven to be safe. LifeNews

Editor: The headline has an interesting double meaning - the ban is on ultrasounds performed for no medical reason, but also the ban was issued for no medical reason.

Two or more abortions could more than DOUBLE chances of a premature birth next time

Women who have an abortion could be risking the health of their next baby, it emerged last night. Those who terminate a pregnancy are subsequently more likely to give birth prematurely, with two or more abortions more than doubling the odds. Premature babies are at greater risk of health problems, with one in ten having lung disease, cerebral palsy, blindness or deafness. The data, revealed at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Amsterdam, comes as abortion rates hit record levels. Daily Mail

Planned Parenthood to shutter El Paso offices

More than 12,000 patients will be forced to look for a new health-care provider after Planned Parenthood Center of El Paso closes its doors forever on Tuesday. Financial pressures necessitated the closing. The organization was founded in 1937 as Mothers Health Center, the movement's founder and controversial women's rights advocate Margaret Sanger visited El Paso to speak about the need for birth control. Since its founding, the organization has been the target for pro-life advocates, though it did not perform abortions in El Paso. El Paso Times

‘Choice’ workshops help women heal

In her “Beyond the Choice” sessions, Tammy Rude offers workshops to women who chose abortion as she did, but who cannot find peace of mind even years after they “solved the problem” of their unwanted pregnancies. She works through the Life Choices Center, a faith-based pregnancy resource across from Binghamton High School. The location isn’t a coincidence. About half their clients are 19 and under. Last year they served about 450 girls and women with free pregnancy tests, free diapers and information to make a decision. Press & Sun-Bulletin

Achilles' heel of the anti-life lobby

Amnesty International claims that banning abortion "could lead to violations of women's human rights," even though it admitted that "international human rights law...already protects prenatal life." That admission is very revealing, because other pro-abortion groups won't admit such an unpalatable (to them) truth. It is an Achilles' heel in the anti-life lobby's campaign to get the United Nations to declare abortion to be a human right. That is why SPUC is developing the Amnesty for Babies campaign, so that legislators will declare that international law in fact protects the unborn from intentional killing from conception onwards.

Texas Pregnancy Center Network Earns Seal of Excellence

The Texas Pregnancy Care Network has earned the prestigious Seal of Excellence for meeting the highest standards of ethics and accountability. The Standards for Excellence Institute, a Maryland-based initiative that promotes the highest standards of ethics and accountability in nonprofit governance, management, operations, and facilities, issued the rating. A national peer review team of nonprofit experts evaluated TPCN for compliance with 55 standards.

Darryl A. Jones, the director of the Institute, talked about the criteria used to evaluate groups like TPCN. "Organizations that successfully complete the Standards for Excellence certification program exemplify openness, accountability and a commitment to excellence," he said. "The Institute encourages nonprofits to participate in the voluntary certification program because the standards can help build their capacity, which enables them to serve their communities more effectively."

Editor: What makes this award more remarkable is the fact that the Institute's foundational support is not known for being friendly to life.

How many mothers die from ‘unsafe abortion’?

Nobody knows, and current definitions are designed with political ends in mind. UN Millennium Development Goal 5 aims at reducing maternal mortality by 75 per cent between 1990 and 2015, but it is a target most unlikely to be reached. One important reason for that, says American doctor and researcher Donna J Harrison, is unreliable data on the causes of maternal death -- in particular abortion. In this interview with MercatorNet, Dr Harrison explains what’s wrong with the abortion data and why it matters. MercatorNet

Indian Women March against Sex-Selective Abortion

Thousands of women marched in Coimbatore, southern India this week to protest the practice of sex-selective abortion. Ten thousand students participated in the three kilometer long march carrying signs reading "Do not kill us" and shouting, "Adoption against abortion," and "No discrimination against girl child." The march was organised by the All India Association for Abolition of Discrimination Against the Girl Child and the Michael Job Centre for Orphan Girls in Coimbatore. It was supported by local colleges and schools as well as local and international pro-life organisations from the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Romania. LifeSiteNews

Huckabee Hashes Out Abortion Arguments with Comedian Jon Stewart

The June 18 episode of the Daily Show featured an unusual topic for a late-night comedy segment: abortion. Stewart softened his objection to Huckabee's arguments by admitting his affection for his own children before birth. "I have kids, and I think it is very difficult when you look at an ultrasound of your child and you see a heartbeat - you are filled with that wonder and love and all those things," he said. "I don't just feel personally that is a decision I can make for another person. . . . Out of all issues - I can be incredibly certain about so many issues and get my dander up, and self-righteousness. This is one I can't, and this is the one that I probably, in the culture, struggle with the most. I think it's a very difficult issue." LifeSiteNews

Program Pays Girls $1 Per Day To Not Get Pregnant

The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies. Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings. The program is funded by a four-year grant from the state. WXII

Killing Girls movie

In today’s Russia, 80% of the women have between 2 and 10 abortions each. Killing Girls brings us into the world of an abortion clinic that specializes in late term teenage abortions. Here, abortions are sometimes performed even after 6 months of pregnancy. This is a story made for women with a women’s point of view. Killing Girls

The Abortion Movement's best-kept secret

In addition to greatly exaggerating (and even inventing) incidents of pro-life violence, the pro-abortion movement is deathly silent about the violence from within its ranks against pro-lifers. Spero News

Abortion Proponents See Red after Senator Proposes "Office of Unborn Children's Health"

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) filed an amendment this month to the President's healthcare reform package authorizing the institution of an Office of Unborn Children's Health. It would be one of hundreds of amendments filed so far with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee as they examine the Affordable Health Choices Act. Abortion proponents lambasted the amendment by the "anti-choice" Coburn, who is also a medical doctor. LifeSiteNews

Planned Parenthood says abortion pictures "not real"

On June 24th, Live Action uploaded a video to YouTube which was removed shortly thereafter for "violation of the YouTube Community Guidelines." No detailed explanation was provided and YouTube also give our account a "warning strike." Live Action

Generic Plan B Approved for Teens

A generic version of the morning-after-pill known as Plan B has received Food and Drug Administration approval for prescription use by women aged 17 and under. For the present the pill is available only to those under 17, but it will be available for other ages after August 24 when the exclusive market rights of Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. manufacturers of the original Plan B expires. The new generic version is manufactured by Watson Pharmaceuticals of Corona, California. They call their version “Next Choice.” Health News

Christians still giving to charity amid recession

A new poll Premier Christian Radio has found that most Christians are giving as much to charity as before the recession. In the poll of 512 Christians, 85 per cent confirmed their charitable giving had stayed the same or increased since the recession began. Sixteen per cent of those surveyed revealed they had actually increased their charitable donations since the start of the recession, with 69 per cent remaining steady. Only one per cent of the Christians surveyed said they had stopped giving to charity since the start of the recession. Christianity Today

Parents can hold scale model of their unborn baby

Pregnant women are being given the chance to hold life-size models of their unborn babies, thanks to an invention that converts data from ultrasound and MRI scans. Jorge Lopes, a Brazilian designer, uses 3-D printing technology to create the plaster models. “It’s amazing to see the faces of the mothers. They can see the full scale of their baby, really understand the size of it,” said Dr Lopes. A blind woman registered at the clinic has also volunteered to try out the technology at her next scan. TimesOnline, Christian Institute

Send your center's photos, logos

If you're sending a group to the PCC Leadership Summit, remember that we need photos of your center (building and staff . . . the staff standing in front of the building is great!) and a logo for our Center Introduction Powerpoint. Email them to Partners in Ministry by July 20. Remember, the registration deadline is July 9.