Forced Abortions: Majority Of American Women Feel Coerced To Abort
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009Many women experience pressure, abuse, and coercion when faced with a surprise pregnancy. This is bearing out with research reported by LifeNews:
Elliot Institute director David Reardon, co-authored a Medical Science Monitor study of American and Russian women with the 64 percent figure.
His new report, Forced Abortion in America, documents cases of violence against women who refused to have an abortion.
It also highlights cases like the one in Maine, which saw a couple charged with abducting their pregnant daughter in an attempt to force her to have an abortion, and another in Georgia, where a woman forced her pregnant daughter to drink turpentine to cause an abortion.
Reardon says the cases are just part of an epidemic of coerced and forced abortions in the U.S.
Reardon said that cases of women being pressured, threatened, or subjected to violence if they refuse to abort are not unusual.
He pointed out that studies have shown that homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women in the U.S. and that women in abusive relationships are at risk for increased violence during pregnancy.
“In many of the cases documented for our ‘Forced Abortion in America’ report, police and witnesses reported that acts of violence and murder took place after the woman refused to abort or because the attacker didn’t want the pregnancy,” he said in a statement LifeNews.com received.
“Even if a woman isn’t physically threatened, she often faces intense pressure, abandonment, lack of support, or emotional blackmail if she doesn’t abort. While abortion is often described as a ‘choice,’ women who’ve been there tell a very different story,” he added.
It has been the rare woman in my practice who sought the abortion and feels no guilt years later. Most women were either pressured to abort or chose the abortion and feel guilt later and remorse later. It is the rare woman who truly “chose”. It is a rarer woman who has no regret over her choice.
Why The Democrats Should Call It KennedyCare
Sunday, August 30th, 2009Should Democrats name the health care bill KennedyCare? Why not? A snippet:
It should also be noted that Senator Kennedy, like all fabulously wealthy people, had nothing to gain or lose with this legislation. This law, should it pass, will be for the great unwashed masses subjected to government-run health care because their businesses will save money with the public option. Senators, as the Democrats voted in committee, will still get their own special plan.
Senator Kennedy would not have been beholden to his namesake legislation. He would still have gone to the best hospitals for care — maybe on some Caribbean island at some point as doctors and innovative health care providers look for cheaper, less regulated ways to deliver stellar care. No one likes to be sick and in the hospital now. It would be abominably insulting for a bigwig to be a number in a line in a hallway in a crumbling hospital with an imported doctor, waiting for eight hours to eight days. A rich person can go to prison for that kind of care today. Under KennedyCare, he would get on a private jet and go find the care he’s accustomed to receiving.
Call it KennedyCare. It’s a great idea!
No More Dissent: “It Ain’t America No More”
Friday, August 28th, 2009Not while this cop is on the job, anyway:
Yeah, well. This is the way things will go…. It’s shocking. It’s outrageous.
President Obama promised change, alright. No one can say he hasn’t delivered.
Obama’s Interrogations, Obama’s War
Monday, August 24th, 2009Wow, is there nothing that President Obama can’t do? With the move to control terrorist interrogations, President Obama no longer has plausible deniability. From the Washington Post:
Obama signed off late last week on the unit, named the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG. Made up of experts from several intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the interrogation unit will be housed at the FBI but will be overseen by the National Security Council — shifting the center of gravity away from the CIA and giving the White House direct oversight.
Seeking to signal a clean break from the Bush administration, Obama moved to overhaul interrogation and detention guidelines soon after taking office, including the creation of a task force on interrogation and transfer policies. The task force, whose findings will be made public Monday, recommended the new interrogation unit, along with other changes regarding the way prisoners are transferred overseas.
Who will he blame when the inevitable mistakes happen? Oh wait, that’s what cover-ups are for. Silly me.
A Reality Check For Whitehouse.gov/realitycheck
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009Two separate problems are inherent with www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck. One, it’s pure Obama propaganda. Two, it’s funded by you, the taxpayer.
In my American Issues Project column today, I take on the reality of the six narratives the President puts forward via his proxies in videos there. I’ll share two “reality checks” here, but I hope you’ll read the whole thing.
The topic of the day seems to be “death panels”. President Obama and his representatives insist that utilitarian and actuarial arguments will have nothing to do with decisions. People are skeptical for very good reasons:
“The ‘euthanasia’ distortion on help for families” Related to the rationing concern, euthanasia is like unto it–rationing begets denial of care. Containing costs, when administrative costs are out of control (a problem with all bureaucracies), means denying high-cost items. Since the majority of health care costs come at the end of life, the bureaucracy is going to look at limiting end-of-life care. This is just common sense.
So, what that will mean is this: Grandma might have a two weeks left, but if parental nutrition (IV nutrition) was withheld, she would die in three days, instead. This results in enormous cost savings. It may also deprive the family of her last waking moments. It may deprive the family of time to say last good-byes, etc. These are intangibles. Life and death and the choices around them are incredibly personal. The government board who decides such things will, by cost-cutting necessity, insert themselves and be making moral (or immoral, depending on one’s perspective) decisions. This is a valid concern.
There are five other myths over there including talking about current Medicare recipients, veterans benefits paying for care, rationing, keeping your own insurance, etc. The most snort-worthy is that government run health care is good for small business:
“Reform will benefit small business – not burden it” This statement is just laugh-out-loud worthy. The best treatment of this subject is by Patty Briguglio, small business owner. I urge you to read her whole article. Here’s a snippet:
The president plans to use revenue from these higher taxes to pay for the $634 billion health care reform reserve fund. The administration’s new health care mandate would require employers like me either to offer health insurance to our employees or to pay an unspecified percentage of our payroll toward the cost of a national plan. Right now, I give each of my employees an allowance toward health care — essentially, they obtain the health insurance plan of their choice, and I reimburse them. In most cases, this allowance covers 100 percent of the cost of their insurance. Some of my employees worry that under the administration’s new mandate, they would not be allowed to keep their current insurance plans.
So, the plan will tax small businesses, but give them a tax credit. Guess what happens when costs sky-rocket? That’s right. Buh-bye to the tax credit. Furthermore, small business, already struggling with cash flow, decreased credit availability, a shrinking market and increased overhead proportional to profits, will have to pay more taxes? This is an economy killer and small business people know this. So does the administration.
Again, please go read the whole thing. As a taxpayer, you should be very concerned that the Obama administration is using the power of their pulpit to give bad information this way.
Protests Reveal The New Civil Rights Issue: Ignoring The Will Of The Majority
Friday, August 7th, 2009The Left, exasperated by being thwarted both without and within, have taken to distortion, demonizing, and violence. Discussion not allowed.
This is expected.
Conservatives and small government types, have had it. The press has been in the business of painting those on the Right as psychotic, baby-killing, meanies. If you doubt the bias, tell me how many soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since President Obama took office. Yeah, suddenly body counts don’t count. They don’t fit the narrative. So of course, the press will lie about the protests. Nothing much new here.
But it hasn’t only been the press. For six years, Republicans controlled the House and had an evenly divided Senate and Republican president. And still, the government expanded. It wasn’t just war spending that did this. Big fat government freebie programs like the Prescription Drug Benefit passed under President Bush did this. Wars come and go. Entitlement programs live forever.
Conservatives and libertarians wondered why they should vote Republican. Some didn’t. Some just did not vote. Others voted for Ralph Nader or Bob Barr. And some disgruntled conservatives and libertarians voted for Barack Obama because they hoped for change.
The most bitter pill is being swallowed by those in the latter category. For now, they see the government expanding exponentially bigger. The growth of the government is so staggering, the average person can’t comprehend the scope and the size. They can only feel the oppressive magnitude.
So, when the cameras turn onto the faces of average Americans, and the people watching see themselves in those faces and those faces are portrayed as “mobs”, the people get angrier. This is not a group who has been content for a long time. This is a group who have seen their hopes for a smaller, leaner, sensible, more efficient government thwarted over and over and over.
The Republicans still don’t seem to get it either. It’s not just the President and his pet progressives who have insulted the tax payers and citizens. They just seem to be more ribald and open about their contempt.
Protests over health care are the current topic. Expansion of the government’s scope and intrusion is the underlying concern. That the political class don’t seem to care one iota about how the American people feel reveals a general contempt for democracy.
That the President and Representatives and Senators don’t even read bills before passing them symbolizes everything wrong in America right now. And these same people are surprised that something like the Tea Party movement emerged? That they’re surprised reveals their disconnect with the American people.
It would be more comforting if it seemed like the Republican party was more in touch, humble, and responsive. But, like their Democratic buddies, so far they haven’t been.
Maybe the Town Hall protests are making a point. Maybe. The discontented need to keep the ultimate goal in mind and understand that freedom’s enemies will distort even the smallest disrespectful action. The Anchoress has wisdom here.
This is a civil rights issue, ultimately. When a small percentage of the population impose their will against the majority and the majority must pay for the minority, the notion of representative democracy is turned inside out. A vote means nothing.
I suggest that our representatives Meet the Mob. They have lots to say that’s worth listening to. Our Republic depends on it.
Why Gays Don’t Get Mad At President Obama
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009Vice President Dick Cheney threw the whole intolerance meme on its ear with his very progressive stance regarding same-sex marriage. In contrast, President Obama, the progressive’s objet desire, holds very, very, very traditional views. Marriage is, says Barack Obama, between one man and one woman.
Why don’t gay people get mad at the President? It’s simple, really. They know he’s lying.
President Obama knows that the issue is a political loser. So do gay activists. For the greater good, gay activists won’t push the President. They will hypocritically maintain their silence. They will be willingly silenced by the President because it serves the Democrat’s purpose.
Is anyone astonished and appalled at the hypocrisy around this issue? We shouldn’t be. The Left has a long record of political expedience around this and other social issues. Remember President Clinton’s treatment of women? Yeah. And they love, love, loved him!
Maybe President Obama isn’t lying. Maybe he really does hate gay people. The first rumblings of this notion are up at Kos:
So why is Obama silent on gay issues? Is it because he has too much to do? He’s had a change of heart and now is anti-gay? In an effort to be “bipartisan” and “compromise” with the far right wing, he’s the throwing gays under the bus? He just faked support of gay rights since Hillary Clinton already had the “conservative Democrat” vote locked up in the primary anyway?
Nah, patience friend. Your cream frosting dreams will come true. Consider: President Obama wants to get re-elected. He needs the support of blacks and Catholics, two very solid Obama voting groups. He wants to keep them happy. And after re-election all the campaign promises will be be fulfilled.
It’s politics. I’m actually surprised that there is one idealist on the left who doubts this.
About Dr. George Tiller, Legality & Morality
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009I didn’t want to write about this topic. At. All. It’s absolute insanity. And it’s personal.
The procedure that Dr. George Tiller became expert at is absolutely gruesome and he was an “expert” over sixty thousand times. That is a medium sized city of people who died being pulled limb from limb or by chemical burn. The numbers make me want to throw up right now.
People need to know the facts. Bill O’Reilly gave the facts while sharing his personal opinion that abortion is wrong. It’s his right. More about O’Reilly and free speech and the Left’s hypocrisy at my Pajama’s Media article.
This topic is personal because my own sons were born at 24 weeks five days. Here is a picture of a baby a week older. There is no question in my mind, not even a shadow of a doubt, that what Dr. Tiller did, over and over, was murder. That is, an innocent life was taken. How the man lived with himself every day, I don’t know. How he distanced himself from his acts of barbarism is beyond me.
But a pox on all our houses.
This is America. We are a country of laws. The laws should be written that something like this procedure is illegal. There is no question it is immoral. 72% of Americans were against this procedure in a survey taken two years ago. I’d venture to guess the number is higher now. Each year that passes, the ability for doctors to understand these tiny babies increases. No one doubts that they’re babies. If born, with treatment, they survive. Just like grandma survives a stroke, if given treatment. Just because she’s on life support for a while doesn’t mean that she’s not alive.
The thing is, we all know this. We all know that the baby is alive.
The disingenuous left wanting to paint those who are pro-life as wackos know that the majority of Americans, and even they themselves, know the baby is alive. For them, it’s not about killing the baby. It’s about promoting the life of the mother–rarely literally, mostly metaphorically. This whole topic is about a woman controlling her destiny by controlling her uterus. They conveniently ignore the control she had when the baby was made.
This procedure should be illegal in all 50 states. A man like Dr. George Tiller should have committed maybe 20 of these procedures over the lifetime of his practice to save a woman who was going to die, imminently, because it was either her or the baby. It should be so rare and unique that we all agonize with the devastated family. I know a woman who had this horrible choice as her body marched toward death with leukemia. The moral choice was clear, but she will live forever with the loss of her child. It was not a fetus. It was her baby. And the choice was devastating.
Otherwise, we become a nation immune to the horrors of these deaths and all bear the guilt of allowing such a thing to happen.
Dr. Tiller was murdered. His profession and his expertise was legal. A raving lunatic took justice into his own hands and killed this man in cold blood. The killer should get the chair for an act so premeditated. He clearly planned this killing.
The rule of law rules all. A murderer should be brought to justice. When it comes to late term abortion, the law needs to be changed.
No More Americanization
Thursday, May 28th, 2009The impulse is to say Soto-my-er. But that wouldn’t be correct. The proper pronunciation is Soto-may-YOUR and with a opening of the mouth to get the proper fullness and roll of the tongue.
Sigh.
Remember when people Americanized their names? Partly, it made their names easier to say. Mostly, people just wanted to be American. Fully American.
When the in-laws came from Italy, Italian was most certainly not spoken. They were Americans and they spoke English. In the second generation, that would be grandma who is 92, there is not even the remotest hint of Italy in her voice though she is only the second generation here in America.
Not so now with some folks. Oh no. Acculturation is akin to living in the closet and hiding your ancestral glory. Much better to keep the Puerto Rican accent even though you’ve grown up on American soil.
My uncle is of Mexican descent. He speaks Spanish and knows five dialects. When he speaks English it is not Spanglish. It’s English. It is not English with the twang of Spanish hovering over him. I dare say, if I asked him if his Mexican heritage makes his judgment more stellar, he would say no. I’m quite sure he wouldn’t say that being a man makes him smarter. And yet, he finds a way to integrate his Mexican heritage and embrace his history.
Generations of Americans have done this. They know the language of the old country. They keep certain traditions. But they were eager to be American. They were eager to Americanize their name, even. It was symbolic. It was a blessed gift to have this country and people were proud to be a part of it. A shortened name meant becoming new and American.
So, while President Barack Obama can say Pak-ee-stahn correctly and every newscaster is embracing his inner Latina pronouncing Soto-may-YOUR with relish, I just see more of an effort to elevate other cultures in relation to the American culture.
It isn’t about proper pronunciation it’s about putting America in her place. And her place is no better than any other place, including 3rd world racist, sexist, intolerant, nuclear-armed holes like Pakistan. Well, I say America is better. America is better than Mexico. It’s safer. There are more jobs. There is less corruption (for the time being). America is better than pretty much any place in the world I can think of, actually.
People who live here, myself included, are damn lucky to be here by birthright. And those who choose to become citizens are making the best decision of their lives. Their whole future will change.
So, a kid from Puerto Rico can come to America, get educated in the best schools and be put forth as a potential Supreme Court Justice for the best country in the world. That’s America. It’s great. And America is bigger than our collective pasts. She is better than the places we came from. We do well to melt into her beauty and live to rise to her ideals.
Americanization is a good thing. Assimilating and changing to fit America’s mold is what makes this country different from the fractured and racist Europe. So those who are so intent on elevating other cultures might want to consider the outcome of their actions. America doesn’t need to turn into a place where races are Balkanized and marginalized by neighborhoods, language, religion and culture. That would be a destructive place.
America needs to continue to be a melting pot. I’m Melissa Clouthier. It is not Cloo-tee-ay. It is Cloth-ee-er. I’m American and proud of it.
Your Carbon Butt-Print Is A Problem
Monday, April 20th, 2009Environmentalists now want to tax your ass–not metaphorically. They literally want your ass taxed. This science was inevitable (via Pierre LeGrand). I love the title, “Stay Slim To Save The Planet“:
Overweight people eat more than thin people and are more likely to travel by car, making excess body weight doubly bad for the environment, according to a study from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
…
“We need to be doing a lot more to reverse the global trend toward fatness, and recognize it as a key factor in the battle to reduce (carbon) emissions and slow climate change,” the British scientists said.They estimated that each fat person is responsible for about one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions a year more on average than each thin person, adding up to an extra one billion tonnes of CO2 a year in a population of one billion overweight people.
Environmentalism is the new religion. And now, the amen pew will be shaming the gluttons. For being so open-minded the Left sure sounds like a bunch of old ladies at a prohibition meeting.
