Posts Tagged ‘Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ad highlights Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s $18 million taxpayer price tag, rising abortions

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

The above full page ad, placed by Pro-Life Wisconsin, in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel highlights the taxpayer money Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) receives in contrast with the “services” provided and the increasing number of abortions performed.

PPWI collected more than $18 million in 2010 in federal and state taxpayer dollars, yet chemical and surgical abortions in the state continue to rise. PPWI performed 5,439 abortions in 2009, a 56% increase from 2008, when PPWI was responsible for 3,053 abortions.

PPWI is pulling the wool over taxpayers’ eyes in the guise of providing healthcare. PPWI does not even provide mammograms and has been shown willing to cover up purported statutory rape.

In 2010, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin received $18 million in federal and state taxpayer funding.

According to its 2009 tax forms, PPWI has a net worth of $9.8 million and paid its CEO, Teri Huyck, a salary of $248,819.

In addition, according to its 2009 annual report, PPWI performed 5,439 abortions and 6,164 minor children received “services” at a PPWI facility without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

A non-profit organization with a net worth of $9.8 million, which profits from killing unborn children, preys on minor children and exploits women in distress, should not be considered a healthcare provider. The time is now to defund Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Click here to sign our petition to defund Planned Parenthood.

NARAL New York director misappropriated funds; reminiscent of NARAL Wisconsin in 2002

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

News reports in the last 2 days have alleged financial wrongdoing by the former director of NARAL New York.

From LifeSiteNews:

A forensic audit conducted for NARAL Pro-Choice New York that shows Kelli Conlin appropriated hundreds of thousands of the organization’s dollars – since at least 2008 – for what appear to be personal purposes… The audit shows Conlin used NARAL’s credit cards to purchase over $5000 in clothing from retailers like Giorgio Armani, a $17,000 summer rental in the Hamptons in 2009, and $22,000 in meals. The purchases on the company dime also included a $100,000 car service to drop off her children at school in Manhattan’s posh Upper West Side.

Sound familiar? It should, to those in Wisconsin. In 2002, the then-director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin was convicted of felony theft in a remarkably similar situation:

Using her NARAL checkbook, Katherine Venskus siphoned off $12,939 from the organization over the next several months, according to the criminal complaint. She was charged with felony theft and forgery in April 2002 in Dane County Circuit Court and pleaded no contest to the theft charge in August of that year, with prosecutors dropping the forgery charge. Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article here.

How can you say… systematic problems of an identical nature?

Why all the pro-abortion editorial statements?

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Once upon a time, newspaper editorial boards contented themselves with expressing their pro-abortion sentiments on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

In under a week’s time, both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Capital Times have printed pro-abortion statements from lead editors at their respective papers. Read the MJS editorial here and the Cap Times editorial here. To be fair, the MJS did print our rebuttal, which you can read here.

So, why the sudden onslaught of support for Planned Parenthood and taxpayer-funded birth control programs?

Much can be gleaned from the tone of the editorials. The MJS borders on hysteria, calling out cafeteria Catholics to be more vocal in supporting abortion and birth control (can you blame these so-called “cafeteria Catholics” for attempting to remain unnoticed in the pews?). The Cap Times editorial shows how out-of-touch the average editorial board is with the rest of society (could this be why newspapers are failing?). The title of the Cap Times editorial — “Pro-lifers seem to care more about life before birth than after” — tries to resurrect a fallacy that’s been around for 30 years. If that were true, why aren’t pro-aborts involved in crisis pregnancy centers? If that were true, why do pro-aborts fund “grant programs” to pay for poor womens’ abortions?

While it can be disheartening for pro-lifers to read these public expressions of abortion support (and then realize why newspapers never write on pro-life rallies, fundraisers, crisis pregnancy baby showers, and so on), realize that Planned Parenthood is on the run, and they’re pulling out all the stops and calling in all the favors. Including those in very high places — Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin lists the Capital Times Kids Fund (the irony!) as one of its major benefactors. Wouldn’t you do that if $20 million of your budget was on the line? Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin receives $20 million in state and federal taxpayer funding every year.

Candidate for Milwaukee County executive on Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin board

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Since Scott Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin, he is no longer Milwaukee County Executive. A special election will be held to fill that open seat. The runoff primary for the Milwaukee County Executive seat is Tuesday, February 15. The general election is Tuesday, April 15.  The county executive race is non-partisan, so party affiliation (ie, if a candidate would identify as Republican, Democrat, Green Party, Independent, etc.) will NOT be listed on the ballot. Do your research if you are going to vote!

Chris Abele, one of the candidates for Scott Walker’s former job, is an emeritus member of the Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin board. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and PolitiFact Wisconsin did an article on Abele, whose “federal donations have helped Wisconsin congressional candidates Russ Feingold, Dave Obey, Steve Kagen and Tammy Baldwin, as well as Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Michael Bennet of Colorado.”

From Media Trackers:

Milwaukee County Executive candidate Chris Abele and his family’s Argosy Foundation have given tens of thousands of dollars to leftist organizations and candidates in recent years… The Argosy Foundation provided grants of under $20,000 for The Progressive magazine and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calls on “cafeteria Catholics” to step up their abortion support

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

An editorial in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Ricardo Pimentel (Editorial Page Editor for the MJS) covers a variety of topics popular with bleeding heart liberals — the newly elected Republican majorities in the Wisconsin State Capitol, the importance of fixing the state’s budget woes, and so on.

Pimentel’s main point in his editorial is that defunding Planned Parenthood and defunding taxpayer-provided birth control will only lead to more abortions. Pimentel fails to back up his case with statistics or anything more than a “social justice for all” rant.

I direct this appeal mostly to those who object to abortion – on whatever grounds – but who might realize this is not a zero-sum game. They know that restricting comprehensive sex ed and access to birth control is counterproductive to the goal of making abortion rare. These good people have much in common in this regard with those Rush Limbaugh vilifies as Feminazis.

Yes, I’m talking about you so-called cafeteria Catholics, others who value their faith but don’t necessarily walk in lock step and then those troubled by abortion quite aside from faith. Your gift is that you realize that common sense, faith and objections to abortion need not be canceling propositions. Legislators set to launch assaults on reproductive rights will make a pretense of representing you.

Actually, I think “cafeteria Catholics” know exactly what they’re getting. Hence the attempt to distort the truth. Hence the overwhelming number of Nancy Pelosis in the world — those who claim to be Catholic but are able to separate the infallible truths taught by the Catholic Church with their voting decisions. Pimentel’s interpretation of “common sense” applies to pro-choice Catholics able to ignore the teachings of the Church regarding abortion and contraception. So…. into what category do Catholics who FOLLOW the teachings of the Church fall? Certainly not the relativism category.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s support of Planned Parenthood is no surprise, as we saw this past summer when the MJS wished Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin a very public Happy 75th Birthday”. And sadly, the MJS’s public call for cafeteria Catholics to go all Nancy Pelosi with the Church’s teachings is not much of a surprise either.

Update, 02/09/2011, 11am: As one commenter noted, the Baltimore Catechism of the Catholic Church states, in Part 111:

Q. 554. Could a person who denies only one article of our faith be a Catholic?
A. A person who denies even one article of our faith could not be a Catholic; for truth is one and we must accept it whole and entire or not at all.

Infanticide proponent (and former Senator) Russ Feingold rewarded with professor spot at Marquette University

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold will join the “Marquette University Law School faculty as visiting professor of law beginning the spring semester 2011,” according to a release from MU. In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Feingold states Marquette approached him first about the position.

In a 1996 Senate floor exchange, Feingold stated, in effect, he supported the killing of a baby if the abortion resulted in a live birth. The following exchange between Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) took place on the Senate floor on September 26, 1996.

Sen. Santorum: Will the Senator from Wisconsin yield for a question?
Sen. Feingold: I will.
Sen. Santorum: The Senator from Wisconsin says that this decision should be left up to the mother and the doctor, as if there is absolutely no limit that could be placed on what decision that they make with respect to that. And the Senator from California [Sen. Barbara Boxer] is going up to advise you of what my question is going to be, and I will ask it anyway. And my question is this: that if that baby were delivered breech style and everything was delivered except for the head, and for some reason that that baby’s head would slip out — that the baby was completely delivered — would it then still be up to the doctor and the mother to decide whether to kill that baby?
Sen. Feingold: I would simply answer your question by saying under the Boxer amendment, the standard of saying it has to be a determination, by a doctor, of health of the mother, is a sufficient standard that would apply to that situation. And that would be an adequate standard.
Sen. Santorum: That doesn’t answer the question. Let’s assume that this procedure is being performed for the reason that you’ve stated, and the head is accidentally delivered.Would you allow the doctor to kill the baby?
Sen. Feingold: I am not the person to be answering that question. That is a question that should be answered by a doctor, and by the woman who receives advice from the doctor.   And neither I, nor is the Senator from Pennsylvania, truly competent to answer those questions.  That is why we should not be making those decisions here on the floor of the Senate.

Why all the fuss over a law school professor, you ask?

For starters, Marquette University identifies itself as a “Catholic and Jesuit” university.  The Catholic Church opposes abortion in all cases. An institution that identifies as Catholic but strays from Catholic principles only furthers pro-abortion attempts to create division where there is none.

Feingold is hardly Marquette’s first controversial professor, however. Two current Marquette professors are also on the Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin board – Jacqueline Boynton and Daniel Maguire..

Jacqueline Boynton is an adjunct professor at the Marquette University Law School [perhaps her and Feingold can discuss how they would make partial-birth abortion legal?] and an ex-officio member of PPWI’s board.

Daniel Maguire is a tenured professor in the theology department at Marquette and an emeritus member of PPWI’s board. Maguire’s views on Catholicism and abortion resulted in Archbishop Dolan banning Maguire from all Archdiocesan churches.

Feingold’s appointment is hardly a surprise to anyone familiar with Marquette, but why do we content ourselves with sighing and shaking our heads at news such as this, rather than demanding more from our “Catholic” universities?

In January 2010, the Marquette Law School included Planned Parenthood in its list of community organizations recommended to students. Read an article from Catholic Culture here. Planned Parenthood has since been removed from that listing.

Update, 1/6: As the Cardinal Newman Society blog notes:
Pope John Paul II’s apostolic constitution on Catholic universities, Ex corde Ecclesiae, stipulates, “All teachers and administrators, at the time of their appointment, are to be informed about the Catholic identity of the institution and its implications, and about their responsibility to promote, or at least to respect, that identity.”

Cedarburg School Board votes for parental “opt-in” on sensitive sex-ed issues

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Last February, Governor Doyle signed Assembly Bill 458 into law as 2009 Wisconsin Act 134. The new law effectively prohibits local public school districts from adopting “abstinence-only” human growth and development programs. Under Act 134, 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.” Parents are allowed to opt their children out of the program.

Planned Parenthood lobbied heavily for this law to be passed. For a sample form to file with your school to opt your child(ren) out of sex ed, click here.

The Cedarburg School Board has responded by voting to require parents to opt their children in to the most sensitive areas of sexual education instruction:  intercourse, contraception, abortion, homosexuality and masturbation. The Department of Public Instruction may challenge this policy if they receive a citizen complaint, arguing that it may not meet the letter of the law. See the full Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article here.

The state law’s one-size-fits-all state mandate has understandably angered many local human growth and development advisory committees, comprised of parents, clergy, physicians and other area professionals, who under previous law had the freedom to craft sexual education curricula that reflected the values and goals of their communities.

Pro-Life Wisconsin is urging public school districts across Wisconsin to drop their human growth and development programs. Forcing contraceptive education and instruction into our public schools sexualizes our children. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect their bodies and preserve their innocence. 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.

Short of a school district fully dropping their program, we support a parental opt-in because it offers greater protection for parents and children. We applaud the Cedarburg School Board for making the best of a bad situation.

18,986 abortions in 34 years

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Today’s Wisconsin State Journal features a follow-up article focusing on the Women’s Fund. Read it here.

The sole purpose of the Women’s Fund is to pay for poor women’s abortions. At the time of the August 22 printing, the Women’s Fund had paid for 18,986 abortions in 34 years. Read the original article here.

Anne Nicol Gaylor, administrator of the Women’s Fund, claimed in today’s article the fund has taken in $50,000 in the past six weeks.

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

There is something wrong with this world when an article about a abortion-funding charity inspires a donor to write a check for $10,000.  How exactly does a 12-year-old child’s abortion cause someone to whip out their checkbook?

What Gaylor fails to grasp is how far-reaching her actions are. Does Gaylor also provide for post-abortion counseling? Does Gaylor work to ensure that 12-year-olds are removed from the situation that resulted in their underage pregnancy?

What happens in the world when a life is ended before it has begun outside the womb? A gap exists forever, in more ways than we know.

Elizabeth Garibaldi, head of the La Crosse 40 Days for Life, has spoken openly about learning she was adopted as she was caring for her dying mother. Her birth mother was 14 when she had Elizabeth.

Pro-Life Wisconsin encountered a similar situation last February. The best friend of a 15-year-old girl called our office in a panic looking for pro-life crisis pregnancy counseling. The teen’s mother was pushing her daughter to have an abortion. Having been pregnant herself at 16, the mother said she did not want her daughter to wind up with the same mistake – as a teenage mom. Thanks to the efforts of a pro-life pregnancy counselor and the courage of the baby’s paternal grandparents, a little boy celebrated his one-year birthday this summer with his adoptive family.

This May, Pro-Life Wisconsin and 40 Days for Life of Madison held a pro-life baby shower for a family who chose life for their baby, after a sidewalk counselor intervened outside Planned Parenthood.

There are stories like this all around the country.

If Elizabeth Garibaldi’s mother had contacted the Women’s Fund for money to pay for an abortion, where would 40 Days for Life in La Crosse be today? These and so many more are the faces Anne Nicol Gaylor is intent on exterminating – people that have an opportunity to do something, be someone, have children, live life. Why is Anne Nicol Gaylor so intent on ridding the world of poor women’s babies?

The follow-up article also references legal action taken against the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel due to a pro-life opinion column the paper printed. Not surprisingly, the Women’s Fund, like most pro-abortion activists, is also in favor of stifling debate. As does NARAL, the Women’s Fund is only in favor of “choice” when it comes to killing babies. Read more about NARAL’s attempt to censor the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.

Why is NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin outraged with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel?

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Lisa Subeck, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, is “outraged” with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, according to a NARAL email sent this morning. View the entire email here.

But why, exactly, did NARAL state the organization is enraged with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a mere week after the newspaper’s editorial board wished Planned Parenthood a public “Happy 75th Birthday”? Why is NARAL asking its members to demand higher journalism standards?

On Sunday, August 22, the Wisconsin State Journal printed a high-profile article about the Women’s Fund, an organization that exists solely to pay for poor women to have abortions. You can read that article here.

What prompted NARAL’s rage?

On August 24, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an opinion column about the Women’s Fund by columnist Patrick McIlheran. In the column, McIlheran refers to Anne Gaylor, founder of the Women’s Fund, as “Sweet little old Granny Blood-Money.”

It took NARAL more than a week – from the publishing of McIlheran’s column on August 24 to today, September 1 – to collect their thoughts and get a handle on their rage. Or did it take a week for NARAL to realize the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wouldn’t budge?

NARAL’s attempts to manhandle the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel failed, as the email indicates the newspaper refused to issue a retraction for an opinion column. NARAL didn’t protest the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s birthday wish to Planned Parenthood, so is it only pro-life opinion columns that fill Lisa Subeck full of rage?

Subeck’s demands for higher standards in the abortion debate are laughable, considering NARAL awarded a “George Tiller Memorial Award” at its recent Milwaukee and Madison “Wine and Choice” fundraiser events. An award in the name of Tiller’s trust in women is a disrespect to the thousands of baby girls Tiller killed via grisly late-term abortions. Subeck’s editorial on the George Tiller Memorial Award can be found here.