Archive for August, 2010

On politics, politicians with exceptions and a higher standard

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Totally banning abortion makes some people uncomfortable. We’ve been told time and again there are unique situations for which abortion is the best option. If a lie is repeated often enough, people begin to accept it as truth. Such is the case with the erroneous notion that abortion must be permitted in cases of rape, incest, fetal deformity, or a perceived threat to the mother’s life. Read more about our stance on the “exceptions” cases here.

Pro-Life Wisconsin was formed 18 years ago to provide a voice for thousands of pro-lifers across Wisconsin – pro-lifers who believed in a higher standard, pro-lifers who wanted to see contraception’s link to abortion addressed, pro-lifers who weren’t afraid to take a stand.

As our Victory Fund Political Action Committee prepared to release the list of endorsed candidates for the 2010 fall election, we were humbled to realize our endorsement list totaled 96 – the highest number ever! Click here to view the list of endorsed candidates.

But do these candidates defend their 100% pro-life convictions?

A recent Wisconsin Public Radio clip focused on Republicans’ effort to unseat Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker in the Wausau area.  The Republican candidates are unabashedly 100% pro-life during this interview, even when pushed by the reporter. To listen to the WPR clip, click here (the story is titled, “GOP state senate candidates target long-time incumbent” and is dated 8/30/10).

We are proud to support candidates who stand up for all the babies and who are not afraid to articulate their pro-life convictions. We are proud to create a political culture where people do not hide their pro-life views or simply talk about regulating the practice of abortion but when under pressure, do not bend in defending EVERY baby’s right to live.

Wisconsin’s 2010 general election primary is Tuesday, September 14. Vote pro-life!

Two UW-Madison professors on the board of the abortion-financing Women’s Fund

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

An article in Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal focused on the Madison-based Women’s Fund. The sole purpose of the Women’s Fund is to pay for poor women to have abortions. The fund has paid for 18,986 abortions at the time the article was written.

The Women’s Fund 2008 tax forms (click here to view the PDF) reveal there are two UW-Madison professors on the board of the Women’s Fund – Prof. Robert West and Prof. Robert Kimbrough.

UW-Madison’s entanglement with the abortion industry should come as a surprise to no one.

Just how linked to the abortion industry is UW-Madison, the “flagship” of the UW System?
- UW promotes Planned Parenthood (including abortion services);
- Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the UW Law and Medical Schools, is on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America board and the Alan Guttmacher board;
- Doug Laube, professor and former chair of the UW Ob/Gyn Medical School, is openly “working in collaboration with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin;”
- Faye Wattleton, former director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, will be a guest panelist for a UW School of Business summit;
- Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is paying UW School of Medicine faculty to perform abortions. UW doctors Laurel Rice, Sabine Droste, Barbara O’Connell, Maria Sandgren and Doug Laube are also employed by Planned Parenthood. Caryn Dutton, another UW abortionist who has now fled to ply her trade at Harvard, previously performed abortions at PPWI as well.

The Wisconsin State Journal article covered many horrific aspects of the  Women’s Fund – how women just want help; how abortions performed on teenagers are celebrated and used as a means of fundraising; and how parents coerce their teenage daughters into abortions.

For those who like to connect the dots, many interesting aspects of the Women’s Fund were found in its 2008 tax forms.

The tax forms show the Women’s Fund provides “loans” for women to obtain abortions. Women then have to repay the loan. From 2004-2008, a total of $12,925 was repaid by these women.

The mission statement of the Women’s Fund is to, “Assist poor women in paying for abortions.” And apparently hound them for blood money afterwards. The Women’s Fund merely provides a funnel for rich donors to finance the abortions of poor women.

Read below for excerpts from the Wisconsin State Journal or click here to read the article in its entirety.

From the Wisconsin State Journal [emphasis added]:
At all hours, strangers phone Anne Nicol Gaylor’s Madison home, always desperate.

The caller one recent morning was a middle-aged woman with a 14-year-old pregnant daughter.

After the call, Gaylor opened a checkbook for the Women’s Medical Fund, a Madison nonprofit that has helped pay for abortions for 34 years. Gaylor has written every check for every abortion.

This was No. 18,986.

The fund’s sole purpose is to pay for abortions. Last year, it paid out $162,202, about 75 percent of which came from individual donors, the rest from foundations.

“Of the 632 women the fund has helped so far this year, 147 were teenagers,” Gaylor wrote to donors last Thanksgiving. “Of these, nine were only 13 years old, and one, not yet a teen, was just 12!”

“It’s a stark example of misguided compassion that serves as discrimination of the worst kind,” said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “To finance extermination of pre-born children because those children would have been brought up poor is deplorable.”

Ads urge parents to opt out of Planned Parenthood’s sex ed

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Concerned Parents and Citizens [CPAC] Wisconsin placed ads in the Juneau County Star Times, Juneau County Reminder and the Messenger of Juneau County all last week, reminding parents to opt their children out of Planned Parenthood’s sex ed. We strongly applaud this move by CPAC. See ad, below, or click here for a larger version.

Effective this school year, all Wisconsin public school districts are prohibited from adopting “abstinence-only” or “abstinence-centered” human growth and development programs (also known as sex ed). Under a new law signed by Gov. Doyle in 2010, if a school district chooses to adopt a human growth and development program, it would be forced to include in its curriculum instruction on the “health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods.” This law does not apply to private schools.

Planned Parenthood lobbied heavily for this law to be passed.

If a school district retains or initiates a program, we urge parents to opt their children out of the program and either teach chastity/abstinence themselves or find a private program that does. Our children’s lives depend on it, born and preborn.

For a sample form to file with your school to opt your child(ren) out of sex ed, click here.

Many school boards will be voting on whether or not to provide human growth and development (sex ed) programs in the next several weeks. It is important that school board members hear from you even if your children do not attend the class or school.

It’s not all bad news out there!

Friday, August 20th, 2010

There is plenty of bad news one could focus on, especially in the pro-life, pro-family realm. We would like to point out many of the very positive things going on in our state.

- Sidewalk counselors in Milwaukee had a save the first week of August! The mother’s name is Kieza and we ask that you keep her and sidewalk counselors in your prayers.

- Four days after our July 18 Stations of the Cross prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood abortuary in Madison, sidewalk counselors had a save at this location! More than 120 people attended the Stations of the Cross and stayed for a pro-life family picnic afterwards.  To view a picture of Father Rick Heilman leading the Stations of the Cross, click here.

- On August 9, two more babies were saved at the Madison Planned Parenthood, due to the efforts of sidewalk counselors.  On August 18, another baby was saved!

- In Rockford, Ill., two mothers turned away from the abortuary the first week of August, deciding to keep their babies.

- As a result of the pro-life billboards we have had in locations around Milwaukee since December, more than 400 women have called for crisis pregnancy counseling and assistance.  View the billboard below.



What does this mean?
The pro-life battle is not only fought in the courts and in the legislatures, but through the power of prayer and action. It is through prayer and peaceful witness outside abortion mills, offering women the help they need, that hearts and minds will be changed.

YOU can help us keep the good news coming! We strongly encourage everyone to get involved in this fall’s 40 Days for Life effort. 40 Days for Life will be observed in the Wisconsin area in Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, Wausau, Green Bay and Rockford, Ill. 40 Days for Life begins September 22 and runs through October 31. Visit 40daysforlife.com for details.

When did taxpayer-funded equal “free”?

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

The headline of an August 18 Wall Street Journal article was slightly misleading. The title read, “Wisconsin Makes Push on Free Birth Control.”

The article discussed the state of Wisconsin’s move to expand a federal/state program whereby birth control, the morning-after pill and vasectomies are provided to minors as young as 15, without their parents’ knowledge or consent.  Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article.

In a move that will only pad Planned Parenthood’s bottom line, Wisconsin officials have applied to raise the income level of those eligible for the program to $32, 490. Currently, in order to be eligible for this program as a single person, income cannot be above $21,600, twice the federal poverty level. The low age starting point, combined with the income threshold, qualifies literally every teenager in the state. Apparently, birth control is free when the bill is footed by the mythical taxpayer and business owners.

Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Matt Sande was interviewed about the program by Catholic News Agency/EWTN.

In the interview, Sande discussed how parents’ rights are overruled by the philosophy that the state knows best: “Parents don’t know. I’ve had parents call me and just be shocked and saddened that their child was on the morning-after pill.” To read the CNA/EWTN article, click here.

Kohl’s and Planned Parenthood: The smoking gun

Monday, August 16th, 2010

First, thanks to everyone who has called or emailed Kohl’s in the past couple days to express displeasure with Kohl’s support of Planned Parenthood.

Many of you have received a canned email response from Kohl’s, stating:

Thank you for contacting us directly with your concerns.

After receiving your e-mail, I researched your concerns about any involvement we may have with Planned Parenthood. Our Community Relations department confirmed that Kohl’s does not have a corporate partnership with Planned Parenthood. I reviewed their annual report and verified that Kohl’s is not listed as a partner. Additionally, we have not sponsored any Associates in Action (formerly A-Team) events with Planned Parenthood within the last 24 months.

We appreciate the time you took to contact us and look forward to serving you again.

Sadly, Kohl’s statement that they’re not providing funding to Planned Parenthood is a far cry from stating that their policy is that “no support is to ever go to Planned Parenthood in the name of the company.”

We have found a link between Planned Parenthood and Kohl’s, however. Kohl’s did, in fact, donate cash to and items to support the services of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties [PPOSBC]. Click here to view on PPOSBC’s website.

We urge you to continue contacting Kohl’s! Provide the above link as proof . In 2008-09, PPOSBC performed 4,611 abortions and provided 37,870 doses of “emergency contraception.” The message to be sent to Kohl’s is clear: We will take our money elsewhere rather than support an organization involved in the extermination of our future.

Before sending your children back to school, opt them out of Planned Parenthood’s sex ed

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Effective this school year, all Wisconsin public school districts are prohibited from adopting “abstinence-only” or “abstinence-centered” human growth and development programs (also known as sex ed). Under a new law signed by Gov. Doyle in 2010, if a school district chooses to adopt a human growth and development program, it would be forced to include in its curriculum instruction on the “health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods.” This law does not apply to private schools.

Planned Parenthood lobbied heavily for this law to be passed.

If a school district retains or initiates a program, we urge parents to opt their children out of the program and either teach chastity/abstinence themselves or find a private program that does. Our children’s lives depend on it, born and preborn.

For a sample form to file with your school to opt your child(ren) out of sex ed, click here.

Government-funded birth control, whether provided directly or promoted educationally, encourages sexual promiscuity and with it a host of social pathologies including underage pregnancies, chemical and surgical abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases. Hormonal contraceptives are also dangerous in their own right, posing serious and sometimes fatal health risks to women and often causing pre-implantation chemical abortions.

Pro-Life Wisconsin opposes the sexualization of our children! As parents and concerned citizens, we need to fight this assault on our youth. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect their bodies and preserve their innocence. Pro-Life Wisconsin urges public school districts across Wisconsin to drop their human growth and development programs.

Wisconsin-based Kohl’s supporting Planned Parenthood

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Kohl’s – the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based department store – has been placed on a pro-life boycott list due to its financial support of Planned Parenthood. Life Decisions International [LDI] researches companies that support  Planned Parenthood and regularly publishes a boycott list. Read more from LDI here.

You can read a news story from LifeSiteNews here.

If you think these boycotts don’t influence companies, consider this quote: “As a direct result of the commitment, action and prayers of pro-family people, at least 256 corporations have stopped funding Planned Parenthood,” said Kenneth C. Garvey, LDI’s Director of Communications. “This should serve as a testament to those who thought it impossible to change corporate philanthropic behavior.”

Contact Kohl’s today! Write to Kevin Mansell, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer; Kohl’s Corporate Offices, N56 W17000 Ridgewood Drive, Menomonee Falls, WI 53051 ; or call (262) 703-7000.

Milwaukee Catholic Herald: Poll on Tom Barrett, a pro-abortion Catholic

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Today, the Milwaukee Catholic Herald chose to make Tom Barrett – a pro-abortion Catholic, Milwaukee Mayor and gubernatorial candidate – the subject of their weekly website poll.

We urge everyone to VOTE in this poll and display your concern about pro-abortion Catholics! To take the poll, go to the Catholic Herald’s website, http://www.chnonline.org/. The poll is on the right-hand side.

July 28 and 29, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, was the keynote speaker for two fundraisers for gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett. The fundraisers were held at private homes in Milwaukee and Madison – at the home of Chris & Miriam Abele, 3319 N. Lake Drive, in Milwaukee and at the home of Peggy Hedberg, 69 Cambridge Road, in Madison.  Click here to view pictures from the protests on our Flickr page. Read a summary of the protests in the August 2 Monday Update.

Welcome

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Welcome to Pro-Life Wisconsin’s blog. Here you will find updates and analyses of pro-life news in Wisconsin, the U.S. and around the world.

Why are we starting this blog, when there are already so many other pro-life blogs?
Pro-Life Wisconsin proudly stands in defense of all life, from fertilization to natural death, recognizing the personhood of each person. Pro-Life Wisconsin is continually working to bring us closer to the day when all babies in Wisconsin (no matter how they were conceived, what stage of development they are at, or whether or not they are in perfect health) are protected in every community in our state. We will be bringing that unique perspective to our analysis of pro-life happenings. Look for posts by Communications Director Virginia Zignego, Legislative Director Matt Sande and Development Director Steve Karlen.

Tips? Questions? Comments? Email us at info@prolifewisconsin.org.

Interested in talking to the staff? Click here for a staff list.