The Insanity of Using the Rights of Future Generations as An Argument For Abortion

Posted on by metroupe

 

I recently saw Planned Parenthood ReTweet this article (linked below) and I stared in disbelief.

PP insanity

Did they really just say that? That has to be someone pretending to be prochoice in order to make them look illogical…

Nope, they said it.

This is part of the insanity of abortion, that someone would try to make an argument for abortion by talking about the rights of children yet to be born.  Future generations must have the right to abort their children, even if they don’t have the right to exist. In this mindset, the right not to be pregnant trumps the right not to be killed.

But evidently we do have some responsibility to future generations? Are we responsible to them? We need to protect their rights?  On what basis? Which rights? If we don’t protect their rights, what happens?

“Will our daughters, sons and young neighbors have the same reproductive rights we have? Only if advocates of chosen childbearing tap the deep moral roots and emotions beneath abortion care.

“Picture a future in which children come into the world by design rather than by default. In this future, young women and men pursue their dreams and form the families of their choosing without the ever-present risk of a surprise pregnancy that plagues young lives today. Contraceptives almost never fail, and most pregnancies are healthy thanks to “preconception care” and prenatal care.” (emphasis mine)

She also writes about an imagined pro-choice future:“In this future, young women and men pursue their dreams and form the families of their choosing without the ever-present risk of a surprise pregnancy that plagues young lives today. Contraceptives almost never fail, and most pregnancies are healthy thanks to “preconception care” and prenatal care.” (emphasis mine)

Again, note the argument. We should be able to terminate a life in order to make sure that other lives are healthy.  It sounds caring, but it is diabolical. Can you imagine if this ethic was applied to any other element of healthcare? If you’re not healthy, we’ll put you down like a dog at the vet.  (Which by the way, we should note that dogs have more rights than unborn children. You cannot inflict any pain on an animal while euthanizing it. Not so with children.)  That ethic may work for animals, but not for humans. This sounds like a soft expression of eugenics to me. Taking the life of sick people in order to improve the lives of everyone else is BAD MEDICINE.

As always, the defense of abortion is shrouded in deceptive mask of euphemisms about our dreams and prosperity. Absolute insanity

Insanity abortion

Source: Claiming Abortion Care as a Positive Social Good—Four Steps to Change the Conversation and Win

14 Reasons why I am attending the Protest at Planned Parenthood Tomorrow

Posted on by metroupe

14

I have many reasons for my position on abortion. I am going to list a few here, and try to do it in a way will encourage you to act.  IF YOU ARE PROLIFE, YOU SHOULD JOIN A PEACEFUL PROTEST TOMORROW.  It is a national event.

One conviction that I have is that even if you are prochoice, you should be outraged by what Planned Parenthood is doing.

I am attending the peaceful demonstration in Fresno tomorrow. You can find more info here.

You can also learn more about other events here.

  1. If we care about creating a just society, we need to protect the value of every human being. I read a statement once that makes a lot of sense: “Everyone matters, or no one matters.” We can’t act like people have value and “human rights” and then turn around and deny those rights to other humans like me. It doesn’t make any sense. We have to ask the question regarding the fetus, “what is that?” And the answer can’t depend on how we feel about it. As ardent prochoice advocate Mary Elizabeth Williams said, the unborn “don’t qualify as human life only if they’re intended to be born.” It is crazy to rejoice with pregnant friends, grieve with couples that have had a miscarriage, and then ignore what abortion does to children. Everyone matters or no one matters.
  2. I need to take a stand for the lives of children. As a man I feel responsible to stand up for the weak and helpless. The most helpless human beings in the world are unborn children. If I never take a stand, then I can’t respect myself or expect others to respect me.
  3. So few are willing to take a stand on this issue. There are many Americans, maybe even a majority, that believe abortion is wrong. But the group that is willing to take a stand on this issue is much smaller. I don’t want to have hidden convictions.
  4. I hope to encourage some other people that are struggling or on the fence on this issue. I hope that when they see me, hear my reasons, see the other things I do for children and the poor they will be able to dismiss all the nonsense they hear about the prolife movement.
  5. I believe that God created children and loves them. I believe that they are made in his image and should be valued. I can’t pretend to love God and then be indifferent when his image is desecrated.
  6. The recent release of videos has brought the horrors of abortion to the front of the American conscience like never before. This is the biggest event in the abortion arena since 1973. We may not see another event like this any time soon. I want to see real change. I don’t want to waste this open door.
  7. I want to support and partner with the leaders in the prolife community that have taken risks and made sacrifices for the lives of babies. I know what it is like to feel like you are all alone. I want to support them. I am happy to stand with them on this issue.
  8. I want to use my anger and frustration in constructive ways. I think that changing the abortion laws and the abortion industry in our country is one of the best things that can happen for the unborn, and it will also be a good for women. I have watched all the videos. I have cried. I have been distracted. But I don’t want that to be fruitless.  I want good to come of this!
  9. I believe in the power of forgiveness and grace. Many women and men are suffering from guilt and shame from their involvement in abortion. Some of them knew what they were doing, some didn’t. The vast majority had no idea of the consequences they would face. I believe in the power of the grace of Jesus Christ to bring healing and restoration to people in need. But this can only happen when we face the reality of our dark choices. I want people suffering in secret to have an opportunity to experience healing and grace.
  10. If Planned Parenthood was doing this to puppies or kittens they would have been arrested long ago. You can’t dismember an animal or cut them into little pieces while they are still alive without anesthesia. We actually dissected “fresh” rats in my anatomy class years ago. They had to be euthanized with Ether before the process, and animal rights groups checked on them.   Unborn children shouldn’t be treated worse than animals. Why should the unborn be treated differently? Because to treat them chemically would be to render their tissues unfit for resale.
  11. Planned Parenthood has shown that it is manipulating our government contract system by making political donations to candidates that support them (here one article of many on this topic. Here is another). This is a conflict of interest and a clear example of corruption.
  12. Many media outlets have intentionally ignored the stories attached to the recent videos. And the PR firm that was hired by PP sent letters to various outlets encouraging them not to cover the story. And it isn’t that they have alternate evidence, they are ignoring it. The white House press secretary said that they haven’t even seen the videos. With such staggering violations of human ethics at stake, isn’t it warranted to even look.
  13. I do NOT want to tell my grandchildren that I was silent during this time. Most likely I will have some grandchildren in the coming decades. I also think that we will talk about history and the value of life. When they ask me if I remember when the undercover Planned Parenthood videos came out, and what I did about it, I don’t want to have to change the subject. I want to tell them that I prayed, and wrote, and loved, and spoke up for the lives of the innocent.
  14. I don’t want to be a coward. It is clear that following Jesus involves a cost. I also know that many pastors and friends don’t speak up on abortion, even though they think they should because they are afraid. They are afraid of many things. I am convinced that Christ is greater than all my fears. The words of Rev 21:8 are sober: “8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Those ruled by fear cannot be ruled by faith. I am often frightened. I am going to trust God and step out in faith.

You Should Read This: “I Don’t Know If I’m Pro-Choice Anymore”

Posted on by metroupe

Protect children

“That’s bullshit! These are babies that are being killed. Millions of them. And you need to use your voice to protect them. That’s what a man does. He protects children—his own children, and other children. That’s what it means to be a man.”

This is what Ruben Navarette’s wife told him about his neutrality on the subject of abortion. Navarette is a syndicated journalist who has never written on the topic of abortion, until now. And what prompted the change of heart?  The videos. And an angry woman that is close to him.

The whole article is worth reading. Here are some highlights:

“After all this, I still consider myself pro-choice, as I have for the last 30 years. I staked out this position during my freshmen year in college. Even then, I understood the abortion debate was a tug-of-war between competing rights—those of the mother versus those of an unborn baby. I sided with the mother. And I tried not to think about the baby….

“I arrived there for a simple reason: Because I’m a man. Many will say that this is not a very good reason, but it is my reason. Lacking the ability to get pregnant, and thus spared what has been for women friends of mine the anguishing decision of whether to stay pregnant, I’ve remained on the sidelines and deferred to the other half of the population.

“Over time, I made refinements—going along with waiting periods and parental notification laws at the state level, and coming out against the barbaric practice known as partial birth abortion.

“As I’ve only realized lately, to be a man, and to declare yourself pro-choice, is to proclaim your neutrality. And, as I’ve only recently been willing to admit, even to myself, that’s another name for “wimping out.”

“At least that’s how my wife sees it. She’s pro-life, and so she’s been tearing into me every time a new video is released. She’s not buying my argument that, as a man, I have to defer to women and trust them to make their own choices about what to do with their bodies. To her, that’s ridiculous—and cowardly.

“You can’t stand on the sidelines, especially now that you’ve seen these videos,” she told me recently. “That’s bullshit! These are babies that are being killed. Millions of them. And you need to use your voice to protect them. That’s what a man does. He protects children—his own children, and other children. That’s what it means to be a man.”

via I Don’t Know If I’m Pro-Choice After Planned Parenthood Videos – The Daily Beast.

Corroborating Evidence. Why I Don’t Believe The Planned Parenthood Videos Are A Lie

Posted on by metroupe

corroborating evidence

A number of people have expressed suspicion about the recent Planned Parenthood videos, even calling them “deceptive.” It seems that many of us are eager to give the abortion industry the benefit of the doubt. We don’t want believe that such terrible things can be happening just up the street, paid for by your income taxes, defended by our darling political candidates.

There are a few people that I have read that seem like they are attempting to evaluate the facts without bias. For instance Tim Stanley at the Telegraph wrote a piece on the current scandal.  He travels around debating pro-lifers. He is an abortion apologist and he is disgusted by what has been happening. He writes,

“The Planned Parenthood scandal isn’t about whether or not abortion should be legal. It’s about medical ethics, big money politics and public morality. You can be pro-choice and still feel sick to your stomach about it.”

There are others like Camille Paglia who wrote, 

“Now I am a former member of Planned Parenthood and a strong supporter of unconstrained reproductive rights. But I was horrified and disgusted by those videos and immediately felt there were serious breaches of medical ethics in the conduct of Planned Parenthood officials.”

But most of the voices I hear coming from the prochoice side of the discussion are vigorously defending Planned Parenthood as if that organization cannot be separated from women’s rights.  We are often eager to believe that corporations could be corrupt and unethical, but not this corporation. And so there is an eagerness to denounce the video evidence the way conspiracy theorists deny the lunar landing. But in this case it may be worse because many have rushed to defend Planned Parenthood but admit they haven’t even watched the videos

This account below from Abby Johnson is an example of one of the reasons I don’t believe they are deceptive. I suppose it is not really just a “reason” but more like a category of evidence. They match up with what many other former PP employees have said. There is A LOT of corroborating evidence.

By the way I recently learned about an investigative report from 15 years ago done by 20/20 that pretty much reveals the same thing. Though not from “pro-life extremists.”

Abby Johnson was a director for Planned Parenthood and she left the organization when she realized the horror of abortions. You can read her story in “Unplanned.”

She writes (about abortion in general not necessarily fetal tissue donation in this quote) on her Facebook Page,

“I remember one day at Planned Parenthood we were standing around in the POC lab talking about how far along Warren Hern performed abortions (he performs them up until the date of birth in Colorado). I remember my boss laughing and saying, “He aborts them so far along they come out crying and looking for their mama.” Everyone in the room laughed as she made the motion of holding a baby up and spanking it’s bottom. I went to a friend of mine and asked her what she thought of aborting babies so late…I had always been uncomfortable with late term abortion. She said, “Well, it’s better to kill them before they are put in a dumpster.” And that was how I then began to justify late term abortion in my mind…”better than in a dumpster.” 

Since leaving Planned Parenthood, that conversation has always haunted me…how easily I could justify something so heinous. I have since learned that if you have to justify something, then you probably shouldn’t believe in it. 

Thank God for redemption and mercy.”

The videos echo what a number of present and former abortion providers have been saying for years.  There is a LOT of this kind of testimony.  If you are interested in looking at this issue, you don’t have to rely on the videos by themselves.  This post is just about one other source of corroboration. There are others. But to be open minded about this you would have to at least believe that it was possible that as a nation we have been defending the indefensible.

Read more about former abortionists here.  It seems like one of the most powerful tools for changing their minds was exposure to abortion itself.

Here is a page with links to videos with former abortion providers telling their stories.

What is the Difference Between Planned Parenthood Presidents Cecile Richards and Gloria Feldt?

Posted on by metroupe

PlannedParenthood Presidents

The Internet makes all the difference. 15 years ago Chris Wallace was part of an undercover investigative report about several companies obtaining fetal tissues from abortions and turning around and selling them for profit. The doctor in this video said that he can obtain a fetus for $50 and turn around and sell the parts for $2,500. But did you hear anything about it back then? You aren’t hearing much about it now from the mainstream networks, but the power of social media and the Internet has dislodged the choke hold that mainstream media has on the stories it wants to cover. I suppose you could say that the video is “heavily” edited, but you will never know because 20/20 doesn’t release the complete footage of their work, unlike the Center for Medical Progress.

Watch the Video Here.  It is worth the 7 minutes of your time for some historical context. And if you are familiar with the current investigative videos it will seem like deja vu.


Note also that this video exposes a history of:

  • Compromised consent procedures, including outright dishonesty.
  • Changing medical procedures during abortions in order to obtain “better” specimans for sale.
  • And profiting from the sale of the bodies of these unborn children.

Here is something else important. Note how Gloria felt responds to the charges raised by the undercover video (back in 2000). The  former Planned Parenthood president said, “It seems inappropriate, totally inappropriate. Where there is wrong doing it should be prosecuted, and people doing that kind of thing should be brought to justice.” (7:22 in the video) That is a far cry different from what we are getting from current Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. What we are getting now is an apology about “tone,” and the constant message that any outrage over this is political and anti-woman… That any investigations must be motivated by partisan interests. We are hearing lots of name calling (“extremist”) for anyone concerned about these illegal activities, etc.

Read more about this from lifenews.com here.

Can I Kill It?

Posted on by metroupe

Can I Kill It?

You are washing dishes and your young child walks up behind you and says, “Dad, can I kill it?”  What do you have to know before you can answer that question?  You have to know what “it” is. If it is a spider you might say, “yes, please, let me help you.” But if it is the neighbor’s cat or his baby brother you have to say no. There are certain things we do not kill

A friend (Josh Brahm) told me this story. And I am sure he got it from someone else. But it is a fitting parable for the abortion issue

Have you noticed that recently there is a bizarre commitment to avoid this question? Some people approach it like it is suspicious package at the airport. As if ignoring the truth will somehow make it go away.  The reason is fairly obvious. If we answer this question it based on observation, common experience, and science then the answer is pretty clear, and it comes with a freight train of implications. Unborn babies are just that. Babies that haven’t been born yet. They are indeed human babies.  In recent weeks America has been confronted with these uncomfortable facts. They have limbs, livers, kidneys, skulls, hearts with electrical systems, central nervous systems, etc.  The exact same kind that other humans have. That is why they are worth so much money.

My family and I watched this video interview (below) with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards where she answers the question “when does life begin” by saying the question is irrelevant to the work of Planned Parenthood.  I guess it isn’t good for business to admit that the organisms that you are planning to kill and sell are both alive and human.  Even worse, she says that because there is disagreement on the subject of what constitutes a living human, each woman gets to determine that for herself.  I wonder if Cecile would be eager to allow others to make that decision about her.  BTW, I will let you in on a secret, having one set of standards for yourself and another set for other people is not good.

By the way, on the issue of trying to deny full humanity to other people, haven’t we learned from history?  It isn’t good to believe that someone is 2/3 of a human.  “Am I not a man?”

I am a man

A few thoughts.  First of all, this is dodging the issue. This question is definitely relevant, and we definitely know when life begins. My son, a college sophomore who just completed anatomy and physiology in preparation for a nursing major, watched the video and exclaimed, “that’s ridiculous, an unborn child matches all 7 characteristics of life!”

Second, the question of what constitutes a human life is not something we want to allow people to decide for themselves. Historically, this has been the strongest tool of tyrants. Deny the status of human being to your quarry, and you can perpetrate your will in barbaric ways.  That has been the story of imperialism.

Let me ask you a question: Does her answer give you confidence that she is engaged in good and honest activities? Or like she is being evasive and trying to hide from inconvenient truths? What is your take on the interview?

Photo courtesy of Justpo

Planned Parenthood is the Ray Rice of the Pro-Choice Movement

Posted on by metroupe

 

Planned Parenthood is the Pro-ChoiceRay

During the 2014 football season a scandal erupted surrounding Ray Rice, a running back for the Baltimore Ravens. A casino surveillance video showed Rice dragging his unconscious fiance out of the elevator. There was real concern and even outrage  expressed. But the whole story wasn’t known to the public at first. Then a second video was leaked from INSIDE the elevator showing Rice (an NFL running back) punch an average-sized woman into unconsciousness. Many remarked that it was not merely the vicious blow that he delivered but the way he treated her unconscious body that seemed to add insult to injury.

Seems pretty clear cut. This is a bad guy, right? Well, he is also a very successful running back, and a favorite in the community. He racks up lots of yardage and points for the Ravens and that translates into lots of money and fan support. Hard core fans couldn’t believe that the video told the whole story. There must have been more. She must have attacked him first. Maybe she had it coming…

The NFL has conduct policies and Ray Rice should have been in big trouble. He should have lost his job. But the initial punishment handed down by the NFL’s commissioner Roger Godell was light in comparison to the crime. And the public was rightly outraged. Gradually the NFL’s history emerged of showing leniency to it’s successful/money-generating players while handing out harsh punishments to the rank and file.  It seems that strong, successful football players get cocky and think they can break the law and get away with it.  And for a long time they have been right.  Everyone was glad to give them a get out of jail free card as long as they put up numbers for the team.

As the storyline solidified, the outrage surrounded the ethics of the NFL.  Did they have any ethics?  Is winning games and making money more important than doing the right thing? More important than violence?

Eventually the scandal bumped from the head story on ESPN to the front page everywhere.  But something was different this time. Players are accused of rape, sexual assault, and physical abuse all the time. The NFL has been facing these issues for years. What made Rice’s case such a big deal? 

It was the video, that horrible video. You couldn’t watch the video without disgust.  Gradually public sentiment shifted and  Ray Rice was suspended and fired. The initial punishment was overturned and replaced with something more fitting. Why? One reason. The video.

Then the headlines drifted from talking about Ray Rice, to talking about the NFL.  Had they seen the video when the first, lighter punishment was handed out.  They claimed that they had not. They claimed they only saw the footage from outside the elevator.  Did they know how bad it was?  Did they even want to see the whole story?  Was the new punishment really a stance for what is “good and right” or just a response to public opinion. Was the NFL in damage control mode, only moved when the potential loss of revenue from the scandal outweighed the loss of revenue from Rice’s talent?

The nation was having a conversation. Do athletic accomplishments give you a pass on domestic violence? Are the goals of making money and winning football games more important than protecting vulnerable women?

Well, Planned Parenthood is the Ray Rice of the prochoice movement.  In fact, right now it is their bad behavior that is the biggest threat to abortion rights in America.  Sure they rack up a lot of yards for the team, but they can’t contain those disturbing videos.  Their star players, their medical directors, are seen haggling dismissively about the body parts of children and talking about the need to get their stories straight so they can stay out of legal trouble.

And sadly the prochoice movement is acting like the NFL, acting like the mindless fans that support their team no matter what. It seems that abortion covers a multitude of sins.  If you provide abortion services, you are not even vulnerable to wrong doing.  If you are watching,  right now many prochoice voices are suggesting that it isn’t even possible for Planned Parenthood to be guilty of breaking the law.  No need for an investigation.  On social media we are told that if Planned Parenthood looses its funding, women will have no place else to go. Women are telling stories about all the great things that Planned Parenthood has done for them.  And they sound like mindless fans worried about their fantasy football scores.

But what about those videos? There is a good chance that we haven’t yet seen what happened inside the elevator.

 

If Planned Parenthood is The Sum of All Virtue, Why All The Secrecy?

Posted on by metroupe
ABORTION GAG
In recent weeks, 3 videos have been released exposing the unethical and illegal nature of Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue practices.  But we  have been told that the disturbing nature of the videos is really just the messy reality surgical medicine. Surgeries are bloody and yucky.  And the casual way the doctors talk about surgery is disturbing to the lay person. “My goodness! I almost passed out when I saw my own surgery!”

If this is all it is, then why then a gag order? (Pursued by Stemexpress) There has been the unofficial media blackout on this issue, and for now a judge has prevented the release of any future videos. Why all this maneuvering if Planned Parenthood is simply about women’s health? Why not parade all that they are doing if it is so virtuous and beneficial? If no one is profiting from the sale of human organs and tissues, why not open up the books and let the world see?

Planned Parenthood supporter Camille Paglia called attention to the media black out and why it is so dangerous:

“Now let me give you a recent example of the persisting insularity of liberal thought in the media.  When the first secret Planned Parenthood video was released in mid-July, anyone who looks only at liberal media was kept totally in the dark about it, even after the second video was released.  But the videos were being run nonstop all over conservative talk shows on radio and television.  It was a huge and disturbing story, but there was total silence in the liberal media.  That kind of censorship was shockingly unprofessional.  The liberal major media were trying to bury the story by ignoring it.  Now I am a former member of Planned Parenthood and a strong supporter of unconstrained reproductive rights.  But I was horrified and disgusted by those videos and immediately felt there were serious breaches of medical ethics in the conduct of Planned Parenthood officials.” (Salon, emphasis mine)
Oh, and BTW Planned Parenthood didn’t show up for their own senate hearing in Texas to testify.  If everything is amazing, and they are helping women live extraordinary lives why not show up with fanfare and announce it from the rooftops? Why not rejoice that other groups are calling attention to all your noble deeds? Why not thank them for the opportunity to set the record straight? If I were pro-choice, I would have great reasons for my position and I would everone to see and hear the unvarnished truth. I would be confused by all the skulking cloak and dagger stuff.

Besides, Americans are used to watching medical dramas, hacker films, and surgery on live TV.  If this is just “medicine unfiltered,” why does it need to be hidden?  Why can’t you allow the American people to see the whole business? The Center for Medical Progress (the one’s gagged by the court order) have released the full videos of their undercover episode.  They clearly want all the cards on the table.  Why have your PR firm tell major networks NOT to run the footage?

The answer is simple and disturbing.  The things that they are doing can only be done behind a veil. The veil of euphemisms and distraction. The veil of lies and misinformation that we have seen this week.  Every attempt has been made by the abortion industry to keep their business in the dark, and to suppress anyone who would dare reveal it.  And yet we hear the continual parade of comments from Planned Parenthood and their posse that their work is so noble, so essential to the happiness of women.  If this is true why not let it out in the sunshine? Why not let women see the whole thing? Something doesn’t fit. Someone is lying.

Edited photo courtesy of Katie Tegtmeyer Some rights reserved