Op-Ed Archives - Live Action Pro Life Blog

March 1, 2012Josh Brahm 33 Comments

Pro-Lifers Need to Defend Their Views Too

Don’t you hate it when pro-choice advocates refuse to defend their views past one or two levels of argument? This has happened to me many times, and it’s aggravating because the topic of abortion is so serious. Lives are literally on the line, yet some people are too intellectually lazy to spend more than two minutes attempting to ground their views in something deeper than bumper sticker slogans.

Yet for some reason, I’m more annoyed when pro-lifers do the same thing.

This happened to me recently in a debate that was bizarre on several levels, and there’s a few lessons I’d like to draw from it for the benefit of my friends and colleagues. Even though this debate took place publicly on Facebook, I’m going to protect the person’s identity and just refer to her as “J.” Her comments are only adjusted for spelling and grammatical accuracy. I’ll tell the story and end with a few lessons of application.

February 29, 2012Kristi Burton Brown 5 Comments

China Attempts to Make One Child Policy More Palatable

China has undertaken a project to make their “slogans” for the One Child Policy sound better to the ear. Well, at least that’s their goal. According to the BBC News, China’s Communist Party conducted research on the slogans found around China concerning the policy.

Research by China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission, published in the People’s Daily, concluded that a quarter of slogans posted in furtherance of its policies had been crude and harsh in the past. It described some as spine-chilling.

Among the examples it cited were, “Kill all your family if you don’t follow the rule” and, “If you escape (sterilisation), we’ll hunt you down; if you want to hang yourself, we’ll give you the rope”.

The research said milder expressions should be used to “avoid offending the public and stoking social tensions”.

Of course, the Chinese media—which is the government’s media—blamed officials in local areas for the unpalatable slogans. They also ensured that everyone knows the One Child Policy will go nowhere. According to those in power in China, the policy is there to stay. Read more China Attempts to Make One Child Policy More Palatable

February 27, 2012Nancy Flanders 13 Comments

Planned Parenthood Uses New Technology to Take Advantage of College Students

planned-parenthood-sexual-fantasy — Planned Parenthood thinks everyone wants them in their personal sex lives.

Planned Parenthood is the best deceiver of young people since the evil queen tempted Snow White with that poisoned apple. They have already been successful at reeling in young people with empty promises of carefree, no consequence sex. Now they want students to tell them when, where, and with whom sex is happening at the exact moment it occurs.

Everywhere you look these days, products and advertisements feature QR codes, which can be scanned with smartphones to visit a web site, get a coupon, or learn more information. Now a QR code has been featured on the wrappers of 55,000 condoms handed out to college students by Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.

When the codes are scanned, users can check in with Planned Parenthood–and the rest of the world–with information including their age, their location, why they use condoms, the status of their relationship or lack of a relationship, and whether or not they had sex in a bed or a kitchen, at a beach or a party. Plus, they can rate the sex from “Things can only improve from here” to “Ah-maz-ing”. But they don’t even need a smartphone or a condom. They can just head to WhereDidYouWearIt.com and tell the world about the sex they just had – which the world can tweet about if they wish. Read more Planned Parenthood Uses New Technology to Take Advantage of College Students

February 27, 2012Lucy LeFever 4 Comments

Exploiting Exploitation

The Virginia legislature recently considered a bill that would require women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound. Grasping for arguments against the bill, various abortion advocates have stated that requiring an ultrasound, in the words of Virginia Del. Charniele Herring, is “akin to rape.”

The absurdity of this claim has already been eloquently debunked by writers for Live Action, LifeNews, LifeSiteNews, and other organizations, so I won’t spend time reiterating their points. Equating an ultrasound to rape is ridiculous, but if the pro-choice movement wishes, two can play this game. Let’s look at a much more valid comparison: rape and abortion.

The MORAL Basis for Defending All Human Life

“Moral” is defined as “concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character.” I think most of us can agree that there are right and wrong ways to behave and that humans can demonstrate both good and bad character. So, on the issue of abortion—and the issue of defending human life in general—what is the moral position to take?

First, in order to come to any sort of moral conclusion in the matter, we need to make a basic assumption that this article is predicated on: we’re talking about human lives. You can’t argue against my conclusions on the basis that an unborn child isn’t a unique, living human being. We’re already assuming that based on the Scientific Basis for Defending All Human Life. If you don’t believe that an unborn child is a human being, you have an issue with science and morality, but you may need to resolve your science first.

0Hitler smiles while reading newspaper — Abortion: equally immoral as the Holocaust.

Next, let’s ask and answer four questions. 1) What is the result of declaring certain classes of humans as “less” than others? 2) We all agree that Hitler’s genocide of the Jews was wrong and immoral. How does this relate to abortion? 4) Is it actually wrong to fail to stand up for innocent lives? 5) What should good moral character compel me to do? Read more The MORAL Basis for Defending All Human Life

February 27, 2012Calvin Freiburger No Comments

Abortion Funding Muddies the Waters of DC Budget Controversy

Because it is the nation’s capital, the District of Columbia works a little differently from most localities.

For starters, its budgets are subject to review by the United States Congress. The legislative branch of the federal government is currently considering whether or not to give DC greater control over its own budget, but the specter of abortion is complicating the decision. The Huffington Post states:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which oversees D.C. affairs, expressed his commitment late last year to giving budget autonomy to the District to help city government avoid a shutdown whenever Congress appears unable to pass a spending bill.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), Mayor Vincent Gray and others welcomed the proposal but reluctantly rejected the plan Issa unveiled in November because it contained a provision barring local funding for abortions — a move Issa said was necessary to win Republican votes. Read more Abortion Funding Muddies the Waters of DC Budget Controversy

February 27, 2012Kristi Burton Brown 6 Comments

San Diego Senator Pushes for Greater Abortion Access at the Expense of Women’s Health

On Friday, Sen. Christine Kehoe proposed a bill in the California Senate that would greatly expand who can be an abortion provider in California. Apparently, there is current confusion in California over exactly who can perform abortions. Kehoe’s bill would

…clarify that the estimated 16,000 trained nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants in the state could provide first-trimester abortions in outpatient clinics and doctor’s offices.

Likely referring to the oft-cited claim that 86% of U.S. counties do not have an abortion provider, Kehoe claims that her bill will give greater access to abortion to rural women who would otherwise incur what Kehoe considers multiple hardships and great expense. Ironically, the U-T San Diego News article reports that one of those hardships would be missing time away from “other children.” “Other children” of course admits that the sought abortion is designed to kill a child, but I digress.

According to California Senate Bill 1501 the new category of “providers” would be allowed to perform “an abortion by medication or aspiration techniques.” Basically, these providers would be allowed to give women the necessary medication for a Mifeprex/Misoprostol “do-it-yourself” abortion (read about these; they are horrifying), and they would also be allowed to use a vacuum machine to suck out the baby in the first trimester.

Kehoe’s bill does face opposition, notably from Assemblyman Brian Jones who makes several excellent points.

“That’s pretty aggressive,” he said. “My immediate question is where and how are they going to do these procedures. It sounds like they want to turn the clock back to the back ally practices they were against.” Read more San Diego Senator Pushes for Greater Abortion Access at the Expense of Women’s Health

February 27, 2012Jonathan Keller 8 Comments

Why Obama’s HHS Mandate Violates Pro-Life Values and the First Amendment

Passed in March 2010, the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “ObamaCare,” has been widely criticized by pro-life advocates as potentially dangerous to the sanctity of human life. But almost no one predicted the current administration’s latest assault on not just pro-life values but the first amendment and religious liberty itself.

On January 20, 2012, Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued a new mandate for all insurance plans in the country. Under the guise of “preventative care,” Secretary Sebelius deemed pregnancy to be a condition that must be guarded against, even at the expense of religious liberty. The HHS administration’s new regulation requires that all employers (including religious schools and colleges, non-profit food banks, pro-life pregnancy centers, and even Right to Life organizations) must provide their employees insurance coverage which includes not only free contraception, but also the morning-after pill and the chemical abortion drug “Ella” – with no co-pay.

February 25, 2012Kristi Burton Brown 5 Comments

TIME’S Writer Thanks Rick Santorum for His Daughter’s Smile

Occasionally, in this world of liberal and biased media, a sane voice makes its way to the surface. TIME Magazine’s Joe Klein has written a poignant salute to Rick Santorum, admitting that his daughter Bella’s smile has given him cause to stop and think.

Sometimes, it seems easy for some to stay in the same old rut, regardless of what we believe. Pro-lifers sometimes fail to provide practical help for women who choose to keep and raise their children, though many pregnancy centers and ultrasound buses are a model of exactly what pro-lifers should be doing. Pro-choicers seem to focus on convenience and to believe in the false weakness and helplessness of women—regardless of modern science, the amazing “window to the womb” that 3D and 4D ultrasounds provide, and the research on how abortion hurts women, too.

But I have to say that I admire any pro-choicer who allows themself to be moved by a compelling pro-life story, fact, or argument. Or a pro-life face like Bella Santorum’s.

What, after all, does it hurt to stop and think about the consequences of your beliefs? What do your beliefs really say about you and how you view the world? What does your advocacy for “choice” do to the helpless and innocent who surround us in this world?
So, if you are pro-choice, I ask you to read the words of Joe Klein, look at the face of Bella Santorum, and stop and think for a minute. Read more TIME’S Writer Thanks Rick Santorum for His Daughter’s Smile

February 25, 2012Morgan Witt 9 Comments

Nancy Pelosi Only Sees the Women Who Agree With Her

“I firmly believe — I want to remove all doubt in anyone’s mind where I am on this subject…”
— Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi has said enough. Her position on the HHS mandate is quite, quite clear.

Nancy Pelosi is an absolute supporter of absolute coverage of contraception by absolutely all insurance companies, regardless of religious beliefs. In doing so, she defies Constitutional religious liberties, the tenets of the Catholic Church, and even the beliefs of her family.

“My mother has differing views, but she taught me that we all have a free will, and that is a gift of God. My hope is that another gift of God, science, will take us even farther from this discussion, which really shouldn’t be a public policy issue.”

You need a lot of nerve to throw God’s gifts back in His face like that. Or a lot of foolhardy hubris. Pray for her.

To justify the mandate, Pelosi cites an unreliable statistic that over 98% of Catholic women use birth control – the real number is nearer to 68%.

February 25, 2012Laura Peredo 124 Comments

Should Men Be Silent in the Fight for Life?

I often hear pro-choicers talk about this topic. I recently found this post, and knew it was a wonderful opportunity to write about men and abortion.

Pro-choicers often say that men shouldn’t have input in abortion decisions because it’s solely a woman’s issue. The author of that post even went on to say she wanted to “silence all the male voices in the abortion discussion.” Pro-choicers say the decision should be left up to the woman – it’s her body after all, right? They say that most pro-lifers are men who are trying to control women’s bodies. Apparently, since men can’t give birth to babies, they don’t have any business in what happens to their own children. I beg to differ. Men have every right in the world to have a say in what happens to their children.

February 24, 2012Calvin Freiburger 5 Comments

How Low Can You Go? Salon Writer Accuses Rick Santorum of Wanting Her Daughter Dead

Rick-Santorum-Daughter-Bella-500x282 — Clearly, he hates little girls.

Once again proving how hated those who stand for life are in some corners of society, Sarah Fister Gale at Salon explains how Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum “would have killed my daughter.”

She explains how a prenatal test of her unborn baby’s amniotic fluid revealed that she had Rh negative disease, which would have been fatal to her if left undiscovered. The prenatal testing saved the child’s life by enabling Gale’s doctor to track her development, ensure that she was delivered at the safest time, given a full blood transfusion, and monitored to make certain the disease was eliminated. Thankfully, little Ella is alive and well today.

What does this have to do with Rick Santorum, though? Read more How Low Can You Go? Salon Writer Accuses Rick Santorum of Wanting Her Daughter Dead