LIFE DIGEST: WIC connects poor to No. 1 abortion provider
- Jul 29, 2008 - 2
The federal government not only abundantly funds Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), but now it is referring poor women to the Web site of the country’s leading abortion provider.
The Internet site of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Learning Center includes a link to Planned Parenthood in its health care section. The link was first reported by Dawn Eden, a pro-life, pro-abstinence blogger who is a consultant for the Family Research Council.
The link exists “because a hefty chunk of the $5 billion in taxpayer funds for the [WIC] program” goes to PPFA, Eden wrote in a July 24 post on her Weblog, The Dawn Patrol.
“Granted, the federal money that pays Planned Parenthood to serve WIC clients technically does not go towards abortions,” she said. “But any money given to Planned Parenthood by the federal government keeps the organization’s lights on and its paychecks coming, enabling it to spend its $115 million surplus on expanding its abortion business. And does anyone doubt that Planned Parenthood will attempt to impress upon a pregnant WIC client that it can make her un-pregnant if she wishes?”
WIC, which is administered under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helps provide food and health care to low-income women, as well as children under the age of 5.
PPFA, which recorded nearly 290,000 abortions at its affiliates in 2006, surpassed $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time last year. It received more than $336 million of that total in grants and contracts from the federal and state governments.
House panel urges China to end one-child policy
A House of Representatives committee has urged China to halt its coercive population control policy as part of legislation calling on the Communist regime to end its abuses of human rights.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved by voice vote July 24 a measure requesting China stop its violations of a variety of human rights so the Summer Olympics, which open officially Aug. 8 in Beijing, “take place in an atmosphere that honors the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness.”
During its consideration of the bill, the panel passed an amendment by Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J., calling for an end to China’s one-child program. The policy has helped produce a gender imbalance in the world’s most populous country, with many girls being aborted in order to enable a male baby to be born later.
Calling the practice “gendercide,” Smith said in a written statement, “As a direct result of the government’s one-child policy, tens of millions of girls are missing today—dead due to sex-selection abortions—creating a huge gender disparity. With its heavy reliance on forced abortion, involuntary sterilization and ruinous fines for illegal children, the policy, in effect since 1979, constitutes one of the greatest continuous crimes against humanity in human history.”
China’s policy limits couples in urban areas to one child and those in rural areas to two, if the first is a girl. Penalties for violations of the policy have included fines, arrests and the destruction of homes, as well as forced abortions and sterilizations. Infanticide, especially of females, also has been reported.
China had 120 males born for every 100 females in 2005, according to the United Nations Population Fund. The normal ratio is about 105 to 100. The ratio was as high as 130 to 100 in some provinces, the organization reported.
Canadians protest award to abortion rights activist
Some Canadians have protested the induction of a pioneering abortion rights advocate into the Order of Canada by announcing they will return their awards.
The Order of Canada, which is the country’s highest civilian honor, was awarded to Henry Morgentaler July 1.
Morgentaler, 85, was prominent in the campaign to legalize abortion in Canada, according to Canwest News Service. He opened an abortion clinic in Montreal in 1969 and performed many illegal abortions. He was jailed for 10 months at one time for his violation of the law. Canada’s Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1988 in a case in which he was involved, Canwest reported.
Previous Order of Canada inductees whose medals will be returned in protest include:
- The late Alphonse Gerwing, who was recognized for his work in raising money for children and families in Brazil’s slums, LifeNews.com reported. Steve Buttinger, Gerwing’s nephew, told Canwest, “We know he would want to return this medal. All of us believe that. I know he didn’t approve of Henry Morgentaler. [He] stood for life.”
- Lucien Larre, a priest with the Archdiocese of Vancouver, who started a center for young people who are emotionally disturbed or have addictions, according to Canwest. “[I] believe in my heart that [Morgentaler] is horribly wrong and that the advisory committee [for the Order of Canada] made a terrible mistake,” Larre said.
- The late Catherine Doherty, founder of Madonna House, according to LifeNews. Officials at the Ontario-based, Catholic charity returned the award.
- Gilbert Finn, New Brunswick’s lieutenant-governor from 1987 to 1994, LifeNews reported.
The Order of Canada is given, according to its Web site, for “a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.”
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
Further Learning
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2 comments (post your own) feed
1 On Jul 29th, 2008, at 8:13pm, Wayne from Jeremiah Films wrote:
Thanks for posting the information on PPFA.
Linked to your post from McCain vs Obama on right to life
2 On Jul 30th, 2008, at 12:03am, Helen T wrote:
What a sad commentary to a world of people who like to think they are compassionate, and yet advocate abortion to kill little babies. In looking at the China situation, who will these little boys marry when they grow up, there will not be enough girls for all of them to have wives. What a cruel and sad world we live in when such practices are in the world. Even so come Lord Jesus.