Abortion Debate

The "Balancing the Abortion Debate" Blog

Welcome to the Blog. Posts will be added as time permits. If you have any comments, please e-mail them in at the address at the bottom of every page.
Thanks.
Craig.

May 13, 2010

Blood Money - the movie: Coming Soon.

This aught to liven-up the abortion debate! This is what they are saying about the movie at www.bloodmoneyfilm.com:

"BloodMoney is a documentary film that exposes the truth behind the Abortion Industry from the Pro Life perspective. This film will examine the history of abortion in America, from the inception of Planned Parenthood and the profitability of abortion clinics, to Roe v. Wade, to the denial of when life begins, to the fight to save the lives of innocent babies, and the devastating effects it has had on the women that have had them. "


December 8, 2009

The Debate About Amendments to the U.S. Health Care Reform Plan Continues 
 
On Dec. 4, 2009, TODD SPANGLER of the FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF wrote:

The National Abortion Rights Action League is running a TV ad targeting U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan for his amendment restricting abortion coverage under the health care reform plan being debated in Congress.

In the ad, a narrator asks the rhetorical question, "Why would politicians like Bart Stupak introduce abortion into America's health care debate? Why? Are they trying to make it more difficult than ever before for women to buy insurance coverage for abortion in the new health care system, even if they use their own money?" The narrator then says the amendment would "impose one of the worst restrictions on a woman's right to choose in a generation."

Stupak's amendment says no insurance plan receiving federal subsidies under the health care reform bill can provide abortion coverage, unless they do so on an entirely separate policy paid for in full by the policyholder. Stupak and his allies argue that maintains an existing restriction on using federal funds to pay for any kind of abortion coverage.


July 25, 2009

What will the effect of the proposed U.S. health care reform bill be on abortion?

See the article below for more details on this subject. It was sent out by the StopTheAbortionMandate.com website. This is obviously the pro-life side of it. The pro-choice angle on this proposed bill will obviously be different:

"From: StopTheAbortionMandate.com
Subject: Replay & URGENT action needed today!
Received: Friday, July 24, 2009, 4:23 PM

Last night, 36,187 pro-life Americans united in an unprecedented fashion for the "Stop the Abortion Mandate" webcast event -- and the timing could not have been better.

News is breaking in Washington that the House of Representatives WILL be voting before August recess on the health care reform bill that would:

* Result in the biggest expansion of abortion since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision...

* Force YOU to pay for abortions through your tax dollars -- something 71% of Americans oppose...

* Implement a cornerstone of FOCA -- the Freedom of Choice Act -- that would lead to a massive, taxpayer-subsidized abortion industry bailout...

* Force you and virtually all Americans into health plans with mandatory abortion coverage (health care reform legislation must explicitly exclude abortion in writing or else abortion automatically becomes a minimum required benefit.)

It is very important that you -- and record numbers of people -- do 2 things RIGHT NOW:

1. E-MAIL your Representative and 2 Senators and tell them in no uncertain terms: "Keep abortion out of health care! Any health care reform bill must include language that explicitly excludes abortion." It's easy to do -- just go to: http://www.stoptheabortionmandate.com/email

2. CALL the Washington office and the local office of your Representative and 2 Senators to say: "Keep abortion out of health care. I urge you to oppose any health care bill unless abortion is explicitly excluded." Get tips and look up your elected officials at: http://www.stoptheabortionmandate.com/call

If each of us does these two things today -- and encourages others to do these things -- we can make a powerful impact at a crucial moment. After you've sent your e-mails and made your calls, be sure to listen to the entire recorded replay of last night's webcast at: http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com"
[End of excerpt.]

Even though some of this may be a bit exaggerated, there is still much more to this new Bill than meets the eye, and there is something devious about it.


February 4, 2009

Is Abortion Linked to Breast Cancer? 
 
I came across something interesting in a macrobiotic health book, Healing Ourselves by Noboru Muramoto. (Macrobiotics is the name given to the holistic diet and lifestyle based on Yin and Yang balance, originating in the ancient Orient. See www.wholesomebalance.com/Macrobiotics.html for more details.) It says: "Abortions are a possible cause of breast cancer. Even though a woman has had an abortion, the  pregnancy process continues. The body started to prepare to produce milk and was stopped abruptly from doing so."
 
I was sure there would be some debate about that, so I did some research, and sure enough, there have been a lot of studies done, and some say it's true and others say it's not. At www.abortionbreastcancer.com they say, among other things: "As of 2006, eight medical organizations recognize that abortion raises a woman's risk for breast cancer, independently of the risk of delaying the birth of a first child ..."
 
On the other hand, the New York times reported on April 24, 2007:
"There is no association between abortion and an increased risk for breast cancer, scientists reported yesterday in a large study. ... This study, published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, tracked women prospectively to see if those who reported having abortions were more likely to develop breast cancer in the future. They were not."
 
For a list of the research on the subject, for and against, see: www.a-zbreastcancer.com/articles/aabortion2.htm. As you can see the experts are evenly divided on the subject. The question is: How accurate are any of these studies, and are they influenced by the personal views of the researchers?
 
The bioethics journal, Ethics and Medics, published a hard-hitting editorial in its December 2004 issue accusing the British journal Lancet and the scientific community of corrupting scientific research examining the abortion-breast cancer link. The editorial, "The corruption of science by ideology," was authored by Edward J. Furton, M.A., Ph.D. In it, he says:
 "... In fact, the majority of the scientific studies that have examined the possible connection between abortion and breast cancer have shown a definite link. ... The published study in the Lancet, purportedly one of the most definitive “meta-analyses” yet carried out, was seriously flawed. Specifically, it omitted many studies that showed a link between abortion and breast cancer
... Would it be cynical to think that the issue that causes this unwillingness to confront the facts squarely is abortion? There is no topic that is more divisive or that carries with it more ideological freight.
 ...The unwillingness of scientists to speak out against the shoddy research that is being advanced by those who deny the abortion-breast cancer link is a very serious breach. The lives and health of millions of women are put at risk."
 
So who do you believe? That is a personal matter. I believe that on a higher level, we are all one and that we all have a connection to the real truth, whether you call it God or otherwise. It is a matter of attunement.
 
The outcome of this debate will definitely have far-reaching effects. It is easier for abortion to be banned if it is proven to pose a risk to a woman’s health. This sentiment is what was suggested in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on April 19, 2007 that upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
 
So for those who believe in prayer or who are involved in discussions on social issues, here is another subject to include: For the truth and the lies to be exposed in the research and studies concerning the link between abortion and breast cancer.


Jan. 12, 2009

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), is expected to be passed in the U.S. Congress later this month, soon after President Elect Barack Obama gets sworn in. It appears to be a great boon to the Pro-Choice movement, and a great blow to the Pro-Life movement. Concerned Women for America are joining many others in their massive March for Life in Washington DC on January 22nd. I think it's important for people in a free society to take a stand and express their views. And, as silence is consent, it also makes them non-accountable for the results of legislation that has negative consequences. But lobbying government is still dealing with politicions, who usually have more of an allegiance to popularity and enrichment than to doing what is right. So my hope is that enough education and information will get to the grass roots of society so that they may see the main causes and true effects of abortion and the alternatives available, so that they may prevent unwanted pregnancies and prevent the need for abortion. That way it does not really matter what abortion laws are in effect at any given time.



Dec. 8, 2008.

Forgetting Women in the Abortion Debate.

Why do the majority of women who have abortions decide to do so?
Is it because they feel they are a free, liberated woman who has a right to decide what happens with their body? No, not the majority. That is part of the Pro-Choice movement's idea. Is it because they don't consider the fetus to be human, and are too selfish to endure having a child. No. That may be the view of some in the Pro-Life movement. Who has actually sat down with a large number of women and listened intently as to why they had an abortion? One person who did so is Frederica Mathewes-Green. And her findings, documented in her book Real Choices (see picture link to the left) were surprising.

According to most women who had abortions, they did not want an abortion, but did so to fulfill a felt obligation to another person, usually a parent or boyfriend. From reading what she says, it seems to me that due to lack of support, these women act more out of fear of rejection and the need for social survival than out of a desire for freedom from responsibility. If there is selfishness involved, it is more often in unsupportive family or friends than in the women herself. Not all surveys on abortion agree with these findings. But the fact that during her research she sat down and listened intently to these women in different cities gives her a lot of credibility.

Pro-Life activists tend to focus a lot on the fetus, almost at times seeing the women as the competition, and Pro-Choice activists focus more on the ideal of the unrealistic "independent" woman. Both tend to forget the predicament of the real woman stuck in the middle of this challenging situation. And when we save the woman's predicament, we save the baby as well. So I feel it is a goal worth striving for, to rise above the heated abortion arguments and work on helping and supporting the women, the unborn child and their mutual predicament as a whole. (See the Home and Resources pages of this web site for ideas on how to get involved.)





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