file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News/1992: pln-0208.txt --------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 2, No. 8 April, 1992 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This newsletter is intended to provide articles and news information to those interested in Pro-Life Issues. Questions to readers and articles for submissions are strongly encouraged. All submissions should be sent to the editor, Steve (frezza@ee.pitt.edu). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) THE MANDATORY ABORTION ON DEMAND ACT (S.25/H.R.25) The so-called "Freedom of Choice" Bill before congress has been dubbed the Mandatory Abortion on Demand (M.A.D.) act by pro-life American legislators. If passed, this act would strike down state laws that protect against - abortion performed in the 7th, 8th, & 9th months of pregnancy; - persons other than physicians performing abortions; - abortions for sex selection; - abortion as a method of birth control; - unregulated abortion clinics; - abortions performed before 24- or 48-hour waiting periods; - individuals or hospitals being forced to perform or assist in the performance of abortion, even when it offends their moral convictions or religious beliefs. The measure could even discourage pro-lifers from going to medical school because of its prohibition of state conscience clauses. Aside from the massive march of pro-abortionists in Washington on April 5th, oral arguments before the Supreme Court on April 22 are expected to unleash yet another torrent of pro-abortion media commentary. Americans will be told over and over that their rights are in jeopardy. Some pro-lifers see an opportunity for an historic turnabout. If the M.A.D. Act can be defeated in the House of Representatives, the stranglehold of pro-abortionists on the US Congress will be broken. With many veteran observers looking to a massive change in house membership next November, a pro-life victory against the M.A.D. act could set up historic changes in the way Congress views the need to protect all threatened human lives. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Write to your local newspaper and call in to your local radio talk show. Emphasize the extreme nature of the Mandatory Abortion on Demand Act. Commend your US Representative by name if he or she opposes the M.A.D. Act. Alert readers and listeners to the representative's stand if he or she favors it. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- I recently saw a video of the testimony of ultrasonographer Shari Richard as she presented arguments before both house and senate subcommittees regarding the infamous Freedom of Choice bill. The house subcommittee, which was dominated by democrats and which included Pat Schroeder, denied Richard's request to show her very powerful video images of in utero babies as young as six weeks. The hypocrisy of the denial was underscored by one pro-life member of the subcommittee who reminded everyone that, for example, when the astronauts return from a mission everyone in the committee is interested in THEIR video. [See Article (3)] -Greg Wadlinger ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) REPEAT ABORTIONS - ANOTHER INESCAPABLE GHETTO? "The First Abortion - And The Last? A Study of the Personality Factors Underlying Repeated Failures of Contraception," P. Niemela, P. Lehtinen, L. Rauramo, R. Mermansson and R. Karjalainen, int. J. Gynaecol. Obstet. 19:193-200(1981). This Finnish study[1981] compared women who were able to successfully contracept following one abortion with women repeating abortion and found that women repeating abortion were lower in self-esteem, more impulsive, had less emotional balance, were less realistic, more unstable, and had less capacity for integrated personal relationships. Women repeating abortion were less likely to have a relationship of five years or longer with their current male partner. Partners of repeaters took less responsibility for contraceptions even though the women had left them with greater responsibility in this respect. Soladarity with the partner was weaker in those repeating abortion even thought the women felt greater admiration for their partners. Those who were repeating abortion tended to indicate a 'split' mechanism and immaturity of ego development which verged on a borderline level of disturbance. The study also found no statistically significant differences between women aborting for the first time and women repeating abortion as to amount of education, level of vocational training or the womens' satisfaction with their own education. There was no significant difference between the women in the two groups in terms of net income. However, in the case of men living with women in the same household, net income was higher in the single abortion group. The level of housing conditions was poorer in the repeat abortion group and they were more commonly dissatisfied with their living environment in general. The authors concluded that women repeating abortions had poorer competence in building up the socio-economic framework of their lives. [These findings parallel those done in the US.-ed.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (3) SHARI RICHARD - ULTRASOUND EVANGELIST The following is a synopsis of the presentation I attended of Shari Richard's ultrasound work and of her personal testimony. Ultrasonographer Shari Richard had two abortions in the mid 1970's. At the time she was told the lie that her pre-born babies were just "blobs of tissue". It wasn't until she began ultrasound work in 1980 that she realized some of the facts of fetal development. When she saw for herself the startling image of an eight week old fetus on an ultrasound monitor she became angry and full of remorse that such information had been concealed from her. She knew then that she had aborted two tiny, fully-formed and active babies! In her work for doctors who performed abortions she was told to turn the monitor away from patients who received ultrasounds prior to getting abortion-for fear of subjecting the patients to "irrational emotive impulses". Instead, when the doctor left the room, she would show the patient her baby. The patient would reverse her abortion decision each time! To combat the ignorance that she herself had been subjected to, Shari formed a company called SOUND WAVE IMAGES which has produced two videos: "Ultrasound: Window to the Womb, and Ultrasound: Eyewitness to the Earliest Days of Life" She travels all over the country and helps counsel women in crisis pregnancies, using her portable ultrasound equipment to provide free imaging of their babies. So far she has not failed to see a woman change her mind about abortion after viewing the baby in her womb. In 1990 Shari testified before House and Senate subcommittees against the so-called "Freedom of Choice" bill. [See (1)] The house committee refused to countenance the truth and be subject to their consciences - they refused to let Shari's video be shown. If you haven't heard of or seen Richard's work, it is a thing that will grab you. The address of her company is: SOUND WAVE IMAGES 2422 HARNESS DRIVE UNION LAKE, MI 48387 (313) 360-0743 or (313) 347-1601 -Greg Wadlinger ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (4) CATCHING FLAK Hi, its Jenny from Villanovans for Life. At least I hope it will still be Villanovans for Life -- that's what I'm writing to you about. We are getting flack from some administrators about the name of our group. They say that the name "Villanovans for Life" is inappropriate because we focus primarily on the abortion issue. My argument to them was that many other college groups (including the IFL) who also focus on abortion use the suffix "FL" meaning "for life". Our groups constitution has not been changed since 1975 and we think it is time to rewrite it to protect the interests of our group. Any advice would be helpful -Jenny Schuler <068707654@ucis.vill.edu> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (5) A MORE `CENTRIST' POSITION ? Planned Parenthood removed Faye Wattleton, I believe, because it is trying to assume a more "centrist" position. Or, "the issue is choice and it is everyone's right..." This is a grossly shorthanded version of what I'd like to see us doing more of, but it goes like this, "the issue is about life and it is everyone's right. We are not here to restrict men or women, or create a theocracy. We are here to reinstate that every human being has a right to continue living without having that right and their life, taken from them, by others. Laws against shooting, are of this principle: laws against abandoning children, are of this principle. A law against abortion would be following this principle and this one only, not that against freedom of speech, privacy, or religion." I think I've been working on the centrist thing a lot longer than PP has, as have a lot of other pro-lifers, and that it needs some pointed attention in further pro-life pursuits on this net. Just my opinion. I am just getting back on this net now more often, after fighting tooth & nail with a resolution on campus which I might not beat after all. - Steve Chaney ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (6) READER RESPONSES Re. the LHJ survey, the problem with these surveys, which every politician knows, is that they just reflect the views of the magazine's readers. LHJ has long been an advocate for abortion, so their poll will have less impact. (E. g., Coral Ridge Ministries just came out with a poll of people on their mailing list that showed 90%+ opposed to abortion.) It would probably be better for pro-lifers to urge a magazine with a more friendly readership (e.g., Reader's Digest) to do a poll of their own. On `All Things Considered,' National Public Radio said that "tens of thousands" of marchers participated in last Sunday's rally. They had quoted the attendance at the 1990 Rally for Life as 60,000, and the 1989 abortion-rights march as 300,000. I wondered if they were toning down their rhetoric since their funding renewal is under scrutiny by the Senate right now. But I quickly dismissed this idea, as they had presented a fiercely one-sided report on Title X abortion counseling last Friday (in a ten-minute report, the only pro-life argument heard was some demonstrators screaming "Murderer! Baby-killer!"). All groups, including the NRLC, have overestimated attendance at their marches. I was at the Rally for Life '90, and I was pretty sure that the attendance was about 200,000. Comparing it to the photo of the 1989 NARAL march (in NRL News), I would say that the NARAL march drew 75,000. I will not believe anything about last Sunday's march until I see the pictures. -Ed Gehringer - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Quote Of the Month: "The effect of the [Irish] Supreme Court's ruling is that, at a stroke, Ireland had one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe. A woman who, in the opinion of a non-medical practitioner, threatened to kill herself could have an abortion at any stage of her pregnancy." -Kieron Wood, Irish television. +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 1- From the Washington Watch v3n7 p. 1, published by the Family | | Research Council 700 13th st. NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005| | 2- Quoted from p.2 of the Newsletter of the Association for | | Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change, v4 n2, | | Summer, 1991. They can be contacted at 419 7th St. NW | | Suite 500 Washington, DC 20004 (202) 626-8800. | |QOM- From an article entitled "Divided Isle" from the _Catholic World| | Report_, April, 1992 p. 23. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.