LIFE DIGEST: Planned Parenthood helps quash donations for pregnancy center
- Dec 11, 2007 - comment
Planned Parenthood can still throw its weight around, as a pregnancy care center in Ottawa, Canada, can testify.
First Place Pregnancy Centre announced Dec. 6 it would not accept donations from a foundation sponsored by the Ottawa Senators hockey team after Planned Parenthood Ottawa criticized the choice of the pro-life organization for funding. The abortion rights organization’s action prompted criticism of the Senators and First Place.
Terri Mazik, executive director of First Place, said in withdrawing the center from participation in the fundraising effort it did not “wish to interfere in even the most indirect way with the Foundation’s positive image and valuable contributions to our community. We also want to extend our support for the other worthy charities.”
The Sens Better Halves, wives and girlfriends of the players on the National Hockey League team, chose First Place as one of three charities to receive funds from their Christmas tree raffle, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News (CBC). The Sens Foundation will match the donations raised by the Better Halves at home games between Nov. 29 and Dec. 22, CBC reported.
Planned Parenthood, however, instigated the controversy when it criticized the selection of First Place in a Nov. 27 release, expressing concern “that generous Senators fans contributing to this fundraising campaign may do so without knowing that a portion of their donations is going to support an anti-choice organization.” Planned Parenthood accused First Place of deception, saying the pregnancy center makes it appear it is “a very pro-choice organization” by advertising on its web page it provides “real choice,” according to CBC.
First Place’s Mazik responded on the same day, saying in a written statement she was “disheartened” by Planned Parenthood’s criticism, which she said “mischaracterized First Place operations.”
“While it is true that First Place does not provide referrals to abortion services, we do provide complete and accurate information on abortion and allow each woman to make her own decision in a non-judgmental, compassionate environment,” Mazik said.
“Furthermore, the fact that we do not offer abortion referrals is plainly stated on our website and is reiterated to anyone making an appointment. There are no efforts to ‘trick’ anyone, as the Planned Parenthood Ottawa statement infers.”
In the United States, Planned Parenthood is the country’s largest provider of abortions, recording more than 260,000 of the procedures in the most recent year for which statistics are available.
Casey, under fire, proposes pro-life bill
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania introduced legislation to reduce abortions a few days after ads sharply questioning his pro-life commitment ran in state newspapers.
Casey introduced the Pregnant Women Support Act, S. 2407, Dec. 4. The legislation, which is designed to reduce abortions by helping women in crisis pregnancies, was produced in conjunction with the 95-10 initiative by Democrats for Life of America. That campaign seeks to cut abortions by 95 percent in 10 years.
The bill is a package that includes proposals requiring informed consent for all women considering abortion, making adoption tax credits permanent and establishing grants for colleges to provide services to pregnant and parenting students.
Two pro-life organizations – Focus on the Family and the Pennsylvania Family Institute – had paid for ads in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and three other newspapers just prior to Casey’s action. They did so after Casey, who had campaigned last year as a pro-lifer, twice voted to enable federal funds to go to abortion providers.
Under the title “Prodigal Senator?,” the ads urged Casey to “come home,” saying, “Senator, be who you claim to be. Live up to your pro-life commitment. And if you are who you claim to be, then work to defend the most innocent, defenseless member of the human family, the unborn child.”
Casey’s father, Robert Casey Sr., was probably the Democratic Party’s leading defender of the unborn during and following two terms as governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He died in 2000.
The younger Casey’s legislation is similar to H.R. 3192, a House of Representatives bill introduced earlier this year by Rep. Lincoln Davis, D.-Tenn.
New stem cell method cures mice of sickle cell
Scientists have used a non-controversial method of creating stem cells to cure mice with sickle cell anemia, it was reported Dec. 6.
The study’s use of the recently discovered technique of reprogramming skin cells to become stem cells, which does not harm the donor, provides the “first direct proof that the easily obtained cells can reverse an inherited, potentially fatal disease,” The Washington Post reported. Results of the study were first published in the Internet version of the journal Science.
The promising results in mice followed Nov. 20 reports from two research teams that they had converted skin cells from adult human beings into the functional equivalent of embryonic stem cells. Those reports proved especially exciting for pro-life advocates who oppose embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) because it requires the destruction of human embryos.
The new study with mice was performed by researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., and the University of Alabama Schools of Medicine and Dentistry in Birmingham, according to The Post.
The newly successful research is known as “somatic cell reprogramming.” Researchers refer to the cells developed from skin cells as “induced pluripotent stem” (iPS) cells.
Embryonic stem cells are considered “pluripotent,” meaning they can develop into all of the different cell types in the body. Adult stem cells, also referred to as non-embryonic stem cells, typically have been regarded as “multipotent,” meaning they can form many, though not all, of the body’s cell types.
Stem cells are the body’s master cells that can develop into other cells and tissues, giving hope for the development of cures for a variety of diseases and other ailments.
Despite their potential, embryonic stem cells have yet to treat any diseases in human beings and have been plagued by the development of tumors in lab animals. The use of stem cells from non-embryonic sources – such as umbilical cord blood, placentas, fat and bone marrow – has produced treatments for at least 73 human ailments, according to Do No Harm, a coalition promoting ethics in research.
Late-term abortionists face accountability
Justice may be catching up with two doctors who have been accused of performing illegal, late-term abortions.
The Florida Board of Medicine suspended the license of James Pendergraft for a year and fined him $10,000 for a third-trimester abortion in 2005.
Meanwhile, a grand jury in a Kansas county will begin meeting Jan. 8 in an investigation of George Tiller, probably the country’s best known abortion provider. The Sedgwick County jury, which was initiated by a citizen petition, will determine if charges should be brought against Tiller for performing illegal abortions at his Wichita clinic.
The Florida board penalized Pendergraft, who operates five clinics in central Florida, after finding he failed to follow state regulations in doing an abortion on a woman who was 27 or 28 weeks pregnant, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Third-trimester abortions are allowed in Florida if they are performed in a hospital and two doctors have certified in writing a woman’s life is threatened, the newspaper reported. Pendergraft violated both rules.
In addition to a suspended license and fine, Pendergraft received a three-year probation that will follow the suspension, according to the newspaper.
The Kansas Supreme Court had rejected arguments by Tiller Nov. 29 and had cleared the way for the grand jury investigation.
Tiller’s clinic, Women’s Health Care Services, specializes in second- and third-trimester abortions. Women from across the country travel to Wichita to undergo abortions at his clinic.
Kansas permits citizens to call grand juries by means of a petition drive.
Further Learning
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