by Rusty Pugh
(AgapePress) – A pro-life activist says Planned Parenthood does not care about the welfare of women, but simply wants to do whatever is necessary to increase the number of abortions worldwide.
Loretta Hanley of the American Life League says Planned Parenthood is in the business of abortion-for-profit. She says the group's mantra of “a woman's right to choose” is simply their justification for increasing the number of abortions — which, in turn, means more money, she says.
According to Hanley, since its beginning Planned Parenthood has had a very specific agenda, which consists of three things: education, contraception, and abortion.
“Education [is to] get the kids interested, get people interested in sex at a very early age — I mean, four years old, they're pushing sex education on kids. Once they're interested, they're going to explore,” Hanley says. “Their next [agenda item is] contraception. Once they can push the contraception issue, then what is to follow but abortion — because contraception fuels recreational sex, and recreational sex definitely fuels abortion.”
Hanley says Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers will continue to fight any measure that would increase the likelihood that a woman might decide to keep her baby. That would include such measures as informed consent laws, she says, which would among other things require abortionists to provide an ultrasound picture of the developing baby. Recent studies indicate that between 60 and 90% of women who had planned to abort their baby changed their mind after viewing a sonogram in a doctor’s office.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
Rights of Unborn at Issue in South Carolina Case
by Fred Jackson
(AgapePress) – A report says a court case under way in South Carolina could have far-reaching ramifications in the debate over the rights of a mother versus her unborn child.
Two years ago, Brenda Kay Peppers was arrested for child abuse after giving birth to a stillborn baby with cocaine in its bloodstream. She was charged under a state law that allows prosecutors to file abuse, and even murder, charges against drug-addicted women who are pregnant. She eventually accepted a plea bargain which gave her two years probation. But now Peppers is back before the South Carolina Supreme Court to fight the law itself.
As The Christian Science Monitor notes, South Carolina is leading all states in the aggressive approach it has taken to punishing those who harm the unborn. Last month, a jury there became the first ever to convict a woman for the murder of her cocaine-infused unborn child. Another woman was arrested recently for drinking while pregnant. And in a third case, the parents of a 13-year-old who gave birth to a stillborn child were arrested for failing to provide “fetal care.”
The report says more than a dozen other states have taken steps to extend civil rights to the unborn, and they no doubt will be watching for the outcome of the South Carolina challenge.
While the rights of the unborn continue to spark heated debate, another southern state is fighting for the rights of the “unwanted.” The State of Mississippi has taken steps to ensure mothers of unwanted newborns have a safe and legal alternative to abandoning their children.
The Clarion-Ledger reports a new law, dubbed “Safe Place for Newborns,” allows mothers to drop off unwanted babies at hospitals or adoption agencies within 72 hours after birth. The mothers will not have to identify themselves. The exception is if the baby has been harmed. In such cases, the mother could still face criminal child abandonment charges.
