The Unborn Voice

What do they mean by "choice"?

2012-01-22T15:43:00.000-08:00

Today is the 39th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade United States Supreme Court decision that universally legalized elective abortion in our country. Alongside the sister case, Doe vs. Bolton, Roe vs. Wade legalized elective abortion for any reason in the first two trimesters of pregnancy and for the health of the mother in the last trimester; in the Doe vs. Bolton case, "health of the mother" was broadly defined to include mental health; finally, the term "mental health" was also broadly defined to include financial hardship or relationship difficulties. Thus, abortion was legalized on the federal level through all nine months of pregnancy for practically any reason. The unborn were effectively removed from any and all protections afforded them in the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL, formerly ARAL-- Association to Repeal Abortion Laws) is the sponsor of an annual "Blog for Choice Day" which is held every year on the Roe vs. Wade anniversary date. However, what choice is NARAL and participating bloggers advocating for?

CHOICE
The word itself means having the ability to choose. The word "choose" is defined as the ability "to select from a number of possibilities; pick by preference." Does this definition help us to understand which choice NARAL intends to allow? No, it does not; yet they are supposed to be blogging about it today. I will now discuss about choice.

There are certain choices that are clearly allowed in a society. A restaurant has a menu from which to choose a particular dish for a meal. A electronics store has a plethora of products from which customers are able to choose. All of these, and a plenty more like them, are choice of which practically everyone is in agreement to allow freedom to choose. Furthermore, society often will protect choices such as ability to own property, freely speak and protest peacefully, travel, amongst others.

However, there are also certain choices that are clearly NOT allowed in a society. A restaurant does not have a choice in offering contaminated foods that will make their customers sick. An electronics store has policies in place to disallow their employees from choosing to steal from store cash registers. Furthermore, society disallows choices such as prostitution, slavery, human trafficking, personal drug abuse, drunk driving, rape, amongst so many others.

Thus, the issue that NARAL and bloggers are addressing in "Blog for Choice Day" is NOT about choice in and of itself. Indeed, all people of all backgrounds believe that some choices should be allowed whilst others should not be. Rather, the topic is about what specific choices should be allowed and what specific choices should not be allowed. Indeed, it is about one choice and only one choice.

Being "pro-choice" does not specify which choice someone is in favor of allowing. One could be "pro-heroine-choice" whilst another "anti-heroine-choice" in regards to public and personal policy. Most people would most likely be "anti" in regards to the choice for heroine usage. Even more-so would one find it ridiculous and even laughable that we, as a society, should have a debate that is regarding the legalization of the "choice" of murdering another human being. Could someone "agree to disagree" regarding legalization of murder since "it's a personal decision" and one cannot "force your religion on me" and that, indeed, "it's a choice!"? Heck, "don't like murder, then don't murder anyone!"

THE ACTUAL CHOICE
The choice of which NARAL and those blogging for "Blog for Choice Day" is clearly one thing and one thing only: abortion. Hiding behind the word "choice" helps cover up the pro-abortion movement's true motivation which is, in fact, abortion itself. It's truly disingenuous to use the word "choice" in this matter.

Since the actual choice is abortion itself, then the debate is NOT about choice but is, rather, if abortion kills a human being or not. Refer to my previous article The Right Choice as a start then go to the website for The Endowment for Human Development for in-depth, scientific, accurate, and awesome information about fetal development. To determine if abortion is a viable choice, we must look at who it affects the most: the unborn human child. Those who are pro-abortion-choice wish to skirt this conversation by omitting the word "abortion." If they are trying to hide it, don't you think that would be perfect place to start looking?

Demand that those who pro-abortion-choice start discussing what they wish to defend: abortion!

Coping More than Two Years Following an Elective Abortion

2011-11-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

Focusing on Lazarus coping theory, I wrote a term paper discussing the need for health coping strategies for women who have had a previous abortion. As a nurse, this focuses on many nursing interventions and even has a paragraph noting appropriate nursing diagnoses. This term paper was an assignment for a nursing writing and theory class. Please read through it. If you have any thoughts or corrections, please comment!

Introduction: Lazarus’ Theory on Coping and Relationship to Elective Abortion

Richard S. Lazarus is a theorist that has been at the forefront at developing research and published works regarding coping. Coping literally means the ability to deal with stress; it is defined as malleable and practical actions to resolve stress by resolving daily problems (Lazarus & Folkman 1984). Lazarus has described coping as being based in reality and able to adjust freely to lower stress levels associated with difficult events. Lazarus states that coping is different for all people and that there are many different forms of coping that result in the successful ability to deal with stress. Furthermore, stress is different for all people and for all situations; indeed, two people can experience a same event and experience related stress in different ways. Stress can be good and it can be bad. Forms of coping with these stressors are far and wide.
There are a multitude of situations that require coping. The death of a father, an upcoming wedding, and a new addition to a family are all stressful events that require the use of coping strategies. Among the situations in life that require healthy coping strategies is an elective abortion. Indeed, an elective abortion is a stressful occurrence that requires a healthy coping reaction to allow recovery and resolution (Goodwin & Ogden, 2007).
There are many coping strategies that can be applied to the stressor of an elective abortion and that of other stressful life events. There are four key coping strategies. One is Type A and B personalities, a second is healthy coping, a third is denial or avoidance and a fourth is defensive coping.

Coping: Type A and Type B

Type A coping involves heavy work towards a goal, high competitiveness, and a fixed faith system (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). This coping requires a person to make efforts to control the person’s environment because a particular event allowed no control. This attempt at control is a compensatory mechanism. It aids in the coping process but leads to an unhealthy physical and mental lifestyle. This behavior may be exhibited in what many people call “workaholics.” Working excessively hard and being an over-achiever can help someone cope with a person’s history of elective abortion by aiding the person in a sense of “fixing” problems or “making up” for possible wrong doings; for example, it may help a woman who has regretted the decision to abort to “make up” for this wrong. These actions may also serve the purpose of the person attempting to not remember the elective abortion and remain distracted.
Type B coping is essentially the opposite of Type A. Whilst Type A is motivated by intense competitiveness, lofty goals, control of the environment, and a fixed system of faith, Type B is motivated to receive reduced work-load, wish to achieve goals in an extended time frame, feels largely unable control of the environment, and does not usually believe in a fixed set of values or beliefs (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Also, this group of people may be seen as vulnerable to being withdrawn and use this as another coping mechanism. It is easier to visualize this group as avoiding conflict to reduce their stress level. Those whom have had an abortion may use this coping mechanism to avoid situations that may remind them of their abortion (i.e. remaining stagnant keeps them away from different situations that may trigger displeasant memories).

Coping: Denial and Avoidance

Another form of coping is denial or avoidance. Denial can also be described as the reluctance or lack of ability to admit or deal with spiritual or emotional hurt is termed denial (Burke & Reardon, 2002). Further, denial or avoidance is not based in reality (rather, denial denies reality). There are many different forms of denial or avoidance. Indeed, the many different forms of denial are meant to help cope with an uncomfortable experience or reality.
Many women are at a very difficult time of their lives when they decide to have an elective abortion. It has been found to be common in women who have experienced an elective abortion to utilize avoidance and denial as coping mechanisms (Cougle, Reardon, & Coleman, 2005). With the multitude of stressors pressing on them, the reality of an elective abortion (death of the fetus) is oftentimes not realized and placed as the accomplishment of an elective abortion procedure. Many problems facing women that lead them to the decision of elective abortion does not negate the emotional reality that it produces in the short-term and, especially, long-term aftermath of the procedure. One long-term study demonstrated most post-abortion women involved used avoidance as a coping mechanism to deal with the memory of abortion (Hess 2004). The ineffective coping strategy of denial or avoidance oftentimes occurs due in large part to lack of familial support and societal acceptance (realized or perceived), deemphasizing the problem, and personal shame.
Lazarus’ studies led him to eventually conclude that denial can have a lessened negative effect if occurring immediately after an event but are illustrative of ineffective coping in the long-term (Lazarus & Folkman 1984). The lacking desire to appropriately address, understand, and accept a problem contributes to ineffective coping. The desire to appropriately grieve can be assisted by aiding in the reversal of a woman’s thought processes of shame, misplaced guilt, perceived lack of support, and dehumanization of the fetus.
Defensive coping may manifest as being mad, using substances to numb the emotional pain, and removing oneself from societal dialogue regarding the stressor of problem. This unhealthy form of coping can be seen in those who have no extensive support system due to not having known access to healthy channels to funnel stress and, thus, healthily cope. Some studies have shown women who have had elective abortions to have an increased risk of substance abuse, mental health problems, and mood disorders (Cole, Coyle, Shuping & Rue, 2009).

Healthy Coping

Healthy and appropriate coping is characterized by a person’s active participation in the process of coping. It takes recognition that there is or are problem(s) (acceptance) to cope with and a rigorous cognitive effort. The effort of coping following acceptance is different for each situation. There are many different coping mechanisms. Lazarus openly admitted that there is no one healthy coping strategy but many different ones that may lead a person health coping. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) wrote that the appropriateness of a coping strategy is illustrated by how it positively affects the person in the long term. Folkman later wrote with Moskowitz that only the coping processes that maintain an encouraging affect in response to chronic stress could possibly involve meaning to a person (2000). Thus, women who have had an abortion in their past must illicit positive coping strategies tailored to their own needs that will result in a healthy view of themselves and who they are today. However, one common healthy coping mechanism related to past elective abortion, following its acceptance, is grief.

Focus On Long-Term Coping vs. Short-Term Coping

Many studies that have been published have one glaring fatal flaw. This flaw is that many of them use a very small time of follow-up (two years or less) (Trybulski 2006). In addition to this glaring flaw, many studies on the subject of women’s reaction following an abortion have had poor design, selected samples resulting in bias results, inability to control confounding, and misuse of subjects’ prior mental health (Fergusson, Horwood, & Ridder 2006). Rosanna F. Hess, a Registered Nurse (RN) and Nurse Practitioner (DNP), stated that a woman’s elective abortion resolved and held a different perspective regarding it “as the woman matured;” short-term studies will not capture and have not captured this aspect (Hess, 2004).
Tybulski published a study that involved one to two hour detailed interviews of women immediately following an elective abortion; the study illustrated that the 16 people interviewed had reported relief (Trybulski, 2006). The term “relief” sounds like an entirely positive response. However, Lazarus states that the feeling of relief is not always a positive emotional response (Lazarus 2000); whilst the immediate response of some women is certainly relief, it does not ensure that the experience was wholly positive. Rather, it indicates that many immediate stressors have been relieved. These stressors are due to the person’s current situation and include such things as pressure from family and mate, lack of support structure, belief that birthing a child would hinder personal and financial achievement among others. Placed in the perspective that women’s view of an elective abortion changes over time, this feeling of relief may transform into other emotions that may or may not be positive. Furthermore, Hess explains that her studies have illustrated that a women’s immediate reaction to abortion can also include “guilt, a sense of loss, and anger” (Hess, 2004).
Long-term coping is important since there are many ineffective coping skills, such as denial that was mentioned by Lazarus, that can benefit a person in the short-term but not truly resolve the stressor. This results in a stressor needing to be dealt with in the long-term; when a stressor is “put-off” using coping mechanisms such as avoidance, denial, defensive, Type A and Type B it results in increased difficulty in resolving the stressor. Using such coping mechanisms prevents the most appropriate coping mechanisms which is acceptance and grief.

Signs of Ineffective Coping

Burke, a psychiatrist who started his career specializing in eating disorders, found that many women have found elective abortion to be a traumatic occurrence resulting in ineffective coping (Burke & Reardon 2002). This ineffective coping has led to the finding that elective abortion is associated with rates of mental disorder (Fergusson, Horwood, & Ridder, 2006). Recognizing the possibility of unhealthy behaviors may be exhibited in women who have had elective abortion is important. Some of these unhealthy behaviors including using passive-aggressive behaviors to gain control, keeping an elective abortion secretive, conjuring up images and fantasized situations if the women did not have the abortion, and involvement in ceremonies (Hess, 2004). Another sign of ineffective coping is the lessened ability to choose healthy relationships. Some may choose to remain in abusive relationships with the father of the aborted unborn child to help maintain the only remaining connection.

Emotional Responses Triggered by Events

Avoidance and denial may exhibit by strong emotional reactions that are triggered by events that remind women of their elective abortion. Worden (2009) described succinctly that, in his experience, a negative response, such as grief, may be displayed at the due date of the pregnancy and even when infertility occurs. Furthermore, when a woman who has had abortion discovers the more human features of the fetus that was killed in the abortion procedure, it will often result in increased negative reactions (Goodwin & Ogden, 2007).

Nursing Intervention: Discussion

Nurses in Labor and Delivery are often unlikely to allow assignment to care for women who have are scheduled to have an elective abortion (Marek, 2004). This indicates the extreme moral issue surrounding elective abortion that nurses have been uncomfortable with. No matter how uncomfortable a nurse is with elective abortion, it is important to remain impartial and nonjudgmental to women who have had an abortion. It is important to remember that once an elective abortion has taken place, nothing is going to reverse what happened.
Open and non-judgmental discussion regarding difficult aspects of a person’s past that has been difficult to cope with has been proven to be successful. Nurses and all professionals in contact with those using coping mechanisms dealing with stressful situations need to be sensitive in their approach. Being non-judgmental, allowing the person to lead conversation, giving him ample time for discussion (not “over-talking”), expressing concern over the appropriate concepts at appropriate times, and not interjecting a personal opinion into the discussion all can help a person appropriately and healthily cope. Gentle guidance to help people accept the reality of what has happened is important since denial is generally an ineffective coping mechanism and a barrier to a healthy grieving process.

Nursing Intervention: Referral

Nurses and other professionals, once gaining the trust of a person, can then refer them to appropriate counseling groups, organizations, and events. One such organization that provides support for women who have had elective abortions Rachel’s Vineyard. Founded in 1995 by Doctor Theresa Burke, Rachel’s Vineyard now holds over 700 weekend retreats annually to provide group counseling for women who have had elective abortions (Rachel’s Vineyard 2010).
Referrals are important because they provide a resource for those in need. It also provides concrete evidence to post-elective abortion patients that not only is there support for them, but that there are other women who have had similar experiences and are willing to help. Hess (2004) has written that nurses need to discuss with women who have had an elective abortion regarding utilizing therapy and group counseling. Support is indeed important in healthy coping.

Nursing Intervention: Prevention

Since many women have reported negative reactions in the long-term following an elective abortion, it is important to teach women and men techniques for primary prevention of pregnancy and, thus, elective abortion (Hess, 2004). If the destruction of the unborn child is desired to be avoided, it is important to teach patients one possible mechanism of action of low dose birth control; this mechanism of action is changes in the endometrial lining leading to the reduced likelihood of an embryo properly implanting resulting in embryonic death (Bayer Pharmaceuticals, 2011). Furthermore, teach patients that intra-uterine devices (IUDs) also have a similar mechanism of action. Educate patients regarding all of their birth control options such as barrier methods, natural family planning (NFP), and abstinence.
When discussion prevention strategies with men, it is important to teach men to provide support and assistance to their mate especially when she is pregnant. It has been demonstrated that pregnant women who have been abandoned or left without support by their mate were much more likely to have an elective abortion (Kimport, Foster, & Weitz, 2011).

Nursing Intervention: Teaching Healthy Coping Skills

For those patients that you encounter that have an elective abortion in their history, teach these women techniques to appropriate cope. Stress the importance with the patient of surrounding herself with supporting family and avoiding negative contacts; it has been shown that a lack of support from others results in an increased negative coping (Goodwin & Ogden, 2007). Hess (2004) also suggested suggesting to women to name, give a gender, and dictate a letter to the fetus that was aborted to solidify the importance of using the grieving process as a healthy coping mechanism.

Appropriate NANDA Nursing Diagnoses

Appropriate NANDA nursing diagnoses include Anxiety, Moral Distress, Ineffective Coping, Ineffective Denial, Defensive Coping and Complicated Grieving. Anxiety is appropriate due to some research that has indicated generalized anxiety surrounding the elective abortion (Cougle, Reardon, & Coleman, 2005). Moral Distress is appropriate due to the question of a fetus’ humanity in the mind of a post-elective-abortion woman and her surrounding support systems. Ineffective coping is appropriate due to the use of unhealthy coping mechanisms such as denial, avoidance, Type A and Type B personalities, personal shame, among others. Ineffective Denial is appropriate because the higher levels of denial lead to ineffective coping. Defensive Coping is appropriate because it employs unhealthy tactics to remove negative feelings of the mind such as substance abuse (Cole, Coyle, Shuping & Rue, 2009). The last appropriate nursing diagnosis is complicated grieving; this diagnosis is specifically appropriate because it fits the portions of this topic where grieving for a fetus that is legally and socially accepted to kill without consequences is taboo.

Conclusion

Richard Lazarus describes that coping is unique for all people and changes depending on the situation. However, he also described that there are general types of coping such as denial, avoidance, defensive, healthy, and Type A and Type B. When women have an elective abortion it may result in a period of relief among other emotions. As the woman matures or is separated from the experience, a clearer image of what occurred surfaces. Many of these reactions in the long-term, and sometimes short-term, are negative due to the utilization of ineffective coping strategies.
In conclusion, it is important for nurses to teach the use of effective coping strategies, use of conception prevention and elective abortion prevention strategies, remain nonjudgmental, allow patients to lead conversation, refer women to appropriate support groups, among other interventions. To appropriately help women following an elective abortion that has happened years in the past, it is important to recognize signs of ineffective coping. Nurses have a responsibility to assist patients in properly coping with an elective abortion that has occurred in their past.

References

About us. (2010). Retrieved November 11, 2011, from Rachel's Vineyard website: http://www.rachelsvineyard.org/aboutus/ourstory.htm

Burke, T. K., & Reardon, D. C. (2002). Forbidden grief: The unspoken pain of abortion. Acorn Books.

Coleman, P. , Coyle, C. , Shuping, M. , & Rue, V. (2009). Induced abortion and anxiety, mood, and substance abuse disorders: Isolating the effects of abortion in the national comorbidity survey. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43(8), 770-776.

Cougle, J. , Reardon, D. , & Coleman, P. (2005). Generalized anxiety following unintended pregnancies resolved through childbirth and abortion: A cohort study of the 1995 national survey of family growth. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19(1), 137-142.

Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L., & Ridder, E. M. (2006). Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 47(1), 16-24. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01538.x

Folkman, S. K., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2000). Positive affect and the other side of coping. American Psychologist, 55, 647–654.

Goodwin, P., & Ogden, J. (2007). Women's reflections upon their past abortions: An exploration of how and why emotional reactions change over time. Psychology & Health, 22(2), 231-248.

Hess, R. (2004). Dimensions of women's long-term postabortion experience. The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 29(3), 193-198.

Kimport, K. , Foster, K. , & Weitz, T. (2011). Social sources of women's emotional difficulty after abortion: Lessons from women's abortion narratives. Perspectives on Sexual and Reprod Health, 43(2), 103-109.

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (n.d.). Stress, appraisal, and coping. (Original work published 1984) Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=i-ySQQuUpr8C&dq=Coping+lazarus&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Marek, M. J. (2004), Nurses' attitudes toward pregnancy termination in the labor and delivery setting. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 33: 472–479. doi: 10.1177/0884217504266912

Trybulski, J. (2006). Women and abortion: the past reaches into the present. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 54(6), 683-690.

Worden, J. W. (2009). Grief counseling and grief therapy (S. Sussman & J. Rosen, Eds., 4th ed.). New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Yaz official FDA information, side effects, and uses. (2011, March). Retrieved November 11, 2011, from Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc via Drugs.com website: http://www.drugs.com/pro/yaz.html

Experiencing Death in Hospice

2011-11-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

I have not been writing much on this blog due to being extremely busy. I am working full-time, going to school, and taking care of two sons alongside my wife. This is a post that I made in the online portion of a nursing class. It is regarding how me, my coworkers, and our hospice organization deals with the deaths of our patients.

Death. At times it is a relief. Even in times of relief, there is always an element of grief. Death of a patient is never easy no matter how much it was expected nor how much suffering was experienced by the patient. Every human being's life is a blessing and is eternally valued. After experiencing many deaths with whom there is an element of compassion, nurses and other health professionals "may...experience a state of exhaustion and a biological, psychological, and social dysfunction called...compassion fatigue" (Papadatou 2000).

In experiencing a death, I pray, reach out for support from my immediate supervisor, discuss the experience with other nurses, get a hug from my wife, and watch my children be happy. Other times the endless amount of paperwork and other job responsibilities distract me from being required to appropriate grieve.

In supporting a coworker who has experienced a patient loss, I direct conversations regarding the patient to them. I ask my coworker what the patient was like. If I know the patient, then I mention the positive qualities that I noticed regarding the patient.

Our organization is a small business and has a lot of work to do. Admission, death, admission, death... it never seems to stop. I have asked management a number of times to institute a biweekly meeting for all of the staff to give support to one another regarding patient death. However, nothing has yet been implemented. There is such a great need for this type of institutionalized support for our workers. I have felt the need for such a meeting a great number of times. I can tell that the stress of paperwork, patient care, time-management, overtime, and patient death has put a heavy burden on many of my coworkers. It is sorely needed and I will again make the suggestion. Our company does not allow any paid time off to attend funerals although they are always very willing to grant time-off.

Grief is something that all people will experience. It is not always from the loss of a loved one. However, the loss of a loved one is one of the most dramatic losses. The loss of a patient can also be very dramatic and requires support systems from coworkers, family, and institutional assistance. Our organization needs to address the compassion fatigue that many of us have been experiencing.

This is a long quote, but Suzanne Rich in 2005 published words that explain my feelings really well:

When a patient under our care dies, we may feel an acute sense of loss, both professionally and personally. Professionally, if a particular treatment or intervention fails, and a patient clearly shows signs of dying, we may feel eesponsible, guilty, angry, depressed, or helpless. On a personal level, if we are unable to relieve or control a patient's symptoms, such as nausea or pain, we may feel incapable of dealing with a dying patient.

Papadatou, D. (2000). A proposed model of health professionals' grieving process. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 41(1), 59-77.
Rich, S. (2005). Providing quality end-of-life care. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 20(2), 141-145.

The Protest Experience Revisited

2011-01-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

I was sidewalk counseling outside of Planned Parenthood in Riverside with my son Adam and my wife Heather today. I was able to talk to many people today regarding the issue of abortion that this Planned Parenthood commits.

I spoke to a Satanist who believes that pro-lifers are strictly religious zealots and recited a lot of pro-choice talking points; I was able to educate him that there are many pro-life organizations and individuals that are not religious at all and that the scientific reality of human life is the reason why many people are indeed pro-life.

I met some very nice elderly women who stood by to pray the rosary. They were one of the nicest people I have ever met; they were so kind to us and our son Adam. They were very peaceful and patient.

I also elicited a response from a clinic worker about my son and how he was "planned" just like they are helping people "plan" in their clinic. I told them that my planning was remaining abstinent until marriage and that their services are not necessary. I only had a few seconds to speak since they were trying to ignore me. I should have also said that planning does not require the killing of innocent babies.

I also spoke to some women and men who were going into the clinic about fetal development, the fact that Planned Parenthood commits around 350,000 abortions yearly versus around 3,000 adoption referrals yearly. Planed Parenthood's business is one sided--it is focused on the killing of innocent children and the damaging of their mothers in the process.

On November 21, 2004 I wrote an article titled "The Protest Experience" that I have never published on this blog. It was a very good article so I wish to share it with you.

The Protest Experience

It was in the middle of the night. I was sitting at the computer browsing the internet. The day was an ordinary day. This night was also an ordinary night. Then I found some images and movies of murdered children. Images of atrocities have called people to act to stop the atrocities o the images depict. A picture of a gruesome lynching of an African American called people to act against lynch mobs and racism. Pictures of death camps in Nazi Germany called people to act in favor of eradicating Nazism. “Most of us would neither understand nor believe the extent of the Holocaust were it not for the pictures” (Alcorn 241). That night, the pictures I saw called me to act against the mass murder of children: the atrocity called abortion.

Just a few days after I saw these images I went to the city of San Bernardino in California to attend a protest in front of an abortion clinic named “Family Planning Associates.” My parents drove me to the clinic and participated in casual discussion with other protesters and a man whose wife had gone into the clinic to have an abortion. My mother talked to this person. She told him that we were here because we believed in the life of the unborn and wanted to save lives. The person stated that even though he respected his wife’s decision, he secretly did not want his wife to have an abortion. After he told my mom this, he looked at his four year old daughter standing next to him and started to cry. It was too late for his baby to live. This person understood that his child had been killed that day.

I walked towards the protesters at the front of the abortion clinic. The group that was there was called Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust (survivors.la) and represented the youth involved in spreading the pro-life message. The first conversation I started with somebody was a discussion about the television show “The Simpsons” and how some portions of the show had illustrated the point that abortion was, at the very least, wrong. My conversation with him showed me that not all protesters were “extremists” that the media portrayed. This person was someone just like me that felt compelled enough about the lives of unborn children to do something about it.

After I finished talking to that person I walked towards the entrance to the clinic and saw a Catholic priest praying the rosary for the women and children inside the clinic. He was not there to stop anyone from entering but, instead, to pray for their safety and the lives of the unborn. After he prayed the rosary, the priest talked to the protesters and encouraged them to continue doing God’s work while remaining peaceful and loving. I was again surprised. Here I saw that pro-life protesters were not the people I was lead to believe that they were. I have seen on the news that pro-life protesters were violent and wished to force women to not have an abortion. What I saw at this protest was completely contrary to the notion that pro-life individuals very often became violent and vile.

I then saw somebody holding a large display detailed with high quality pictures and text. The pictures on the display showed the development of the unborn human child. The pictures showed pictures from the first week, fourth week, eighth week, and all the way until birth. The text was placed next to each photo and gave facts about fetal development. For example, there was a fact like that was stated by the intrauterine photographer and author of A Child is Born Lennart Nilsson, “Though the embryo now weighs only 1/30 of an ounce [at 6 ½ weeks old (when many women do not yet know they are pregnant)], it has all the internal organs of the adult in various stages of development. It already has a little mouth with lips, an early tongue and buds for 20 milk teeth. It’s sex and reproductive organs have begun to sprout.” Seeing this was, again, a great service to me. The facts that I have so often seen on the internet, stated in books, and published by doctors were being shown to those walking into the abortion clinic. These facts were not presented by force. Instead, the facts were viewed by choice.

Unfortunately, this was when I saw the reaction by those that disagreed with the pro-life position. This reaction did not appear to be rational. A person walking into the clinic yelled to “get out of [her] face;” another yelled at us from inside the clinic and called us evil people. Soon thereafter, I was holding a sign showing one of the pictures I saw on the internet of a sixth month abortion (a picture of Malachi). Numerous cars drove by and yelled profanities directed at me! A couple even drove by and flipped me off. Of the few hours that I was at the clinic that morning I was repeatedly yelled at and called evil. Am I evil because I want to save human lives?

I can only hope that people can see photos of induced abortions for themselves so that they can understand what I understand. I have been repeatedly told that I cannot show these images. People have continually stated that they do not want to look at these photos because they are very gruesome. Politicians and debaters have been attacked whenever they use these photos to prove a point. Documentaries and news stories will freely use pictures of the Holocaust to show what truly happened yet they will not use pictures of abortions to show what abortion really is. If induced abortion was not something bad then why are these pictures not allowed to be used to prove that point? Countless Americans have either not seen these pictures or have chosen to ignore them. When people attack me for showing these pictures, the photos have an effect. When people immediately look away from the photos once they see them, the photos have an effect. This effect is to show that we are killing over a million children every year in the United States. No one wants to realize this atrocity and the photos help them to realize it. Once an individual realizes than an atrocity is taking place then they will be more likely to help end the atrocity. Protesting against abortion is one way to help end this atrocity.

Going to protest once has compelled me to continue protesting. I went to Long Beach to show the pictures of abortions and hand out literature to educate the public. Again, I was yelled at. A handful of pennies were thrown out of a car traveling about 35MPH aimed to hurt me. They missed, thankfully, but their intention was aimed at hurting me because of my message. I have protested at an abortion clinic near in my city of Riverside numerous times. Each time I have been there I have been yelled at. One time I asked what an individual’s job was as he was walking out of an abortion clinic. This person walked up to me and threatened to beat me up just because I asked him that question.

There have also been moments that made everything worth while. While protesting, I have seen one person change her mind about having an abortion. While protesting, I have seen numerous people driving by looked extremely surprised by the pictures we showed allowing them to realize what truly happens. I prayed the rosary in front of a clinic and had one person change from being angry at me to being thankful to me. These things alone, amidst those yelling, threatening, and throwing things at me, have made it all worth it.

By doing this, I have been making a difference. People have seen what development an unborn child goes through. Because of my action, more people have seen what really happens by the abortion procedures. The more minds that we change the greater the chance we will have upon changing our culture into one that values human life at all stages of development. Having these values will change the amount of people having abortion and to also elect government officials that are pro-life. In 1990 there were approximately 1.6 million abortions. In 1997 there was a drop of abortions to approximately 1.3 million abortions (according to Planned Parenthood's own The Allan Guttchmacher Institute). If the pro-life message continues to spread we can continue to limit these numbers. I, personally, will not stop spreading the truth about abortion until all induced abortions end (thus, I will never stop!).

The first major step to ending abortion is by making it illegal. Abortion was illegal in most states in the United States before 1973. Many people believe that abortions done before 1973 were done as “back alley abortions” or “coat hanger abortions.” This is largely untrue. Planned Parenthood, in 1960, stated that “90% of all illegal abortions are presently done by physicians” and also said "abortion, whether therapeutic or illegal, is in the main no longer dangerous" (American Journal of Public Health, 1960--found at ClinicQuotes.com). Again, people state that 5,000 to 10,000 women died from illegal abortions but Bernard N. Nathanson, M.D., one that helped to fabricate this number in NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League), states today that “[he] knew the figures were totally false” (Aborting America 193). The truth, by looking back at the numbers, shows that that the average amount of deaths caused by illegal abortion every year was 250, with a high of 388 in 1948 (Aborting America 48). Some people state that deaths do not occur from legal abortions yet the three clinics I have protested at have had women dying at them (Edrica Goode, Chanelle Bryant, Tami Suematsu)! The courts have legalized the killing of our unborn children. We must not keep the murder of unborn children legal just to make the killing process a little safer (although this might not even be true).

We must work together in our effort to understand the issues of the day. I protest so that I can spread what I believe. If what you believe is that abortion is not the killing of innocent children then I would also like to hear from you rather than being yelled at and threatened like I was at the abortion clinics I protested at. We must gather together. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment if you wish.

The Pro-Abortion Program in C++

2011-01-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

An abortionist that has been practicing since the 1970's in Philadelphia has been arrested for 7 charges of murdering born alive infants from botched abortions and 1 charge of murder of a woman. For more information regarding this story, please read Jill Stanek's article regarding it on her blog. One pro-abortion blogger believes that the 7 charges of murdering the infants should be dropped. Reading comments from other pro-abortion people is a scary task. It is I who has fished out a truly disgusting and vile reason to be pro-abortion.

Poster Aquaria shared something that his mother told him (emphasis mine):

"This is an orphanage. Used to [be] when you came by on a Saturday, you'd see hundreds of kids playing everywhere, people nobody wanted, or couldn't afford to keep, and nobody adopted them. You don't see many kids here anymore, not since abortion was legal, and maybe that's a good thing."

Aquaria cited this as a reason he is now pro-abortion. I took only one class on C++ in college. I did alright in the class but it has been a while. This is a bare-bones program of how pro-aborts think.

If(Money>0)
{
Baby;
}

elseIf(Wantedness>0)
{
Baby;
}

Else
{
Blob;
}

The equation reads: if there is money or wantedness then the unborn is a baby; if neither is true then the baby is nothing but a blob of tissue. Let us test this equation through hypothetical examples.

Hypothetical #1: Wantedness
A woman at the age of 17 becomes pregnant. She was using the pill but forgot to take a dose. She cites this as the reason she became pregnant. She doesn't want a baby right now. Due to the unwantedness of the baby it is referred to as pregnancy tissue and she schedules an abortion for the end of the week. The abortion takes place when she was 12 weeks pregnant. According to the equation, regardless of contradicting the most basic principals and facts of science, there actually was no baby (wantedness was false).

Hypothetical #2: Money
A man discovers that his wife is pregnant. Him and his wife are very excited about the baby. A week later the man is fired from his job as an electrician. They have few support systems and are bracing for the inability to pay bills, rent, and other expenses. Although the pregnancy was initially wanted very much by the couple, the baby was no longer a baby due to the lack of funds to support it (money was false).

Hypothetical #1 Pt2: Wantedness
The 17 year old woman has the abortion completed to expel the unwanted pregnancy tissue. Immediately following the procedure the woman has a change of heart and panics. She knows it is too late and starts to wale and cry. At this point what was previous called unwanted pregnancy tissue is now called baby yet... nothing can bring that baby back to life (wanted became true after the program ended).

Hypothetical #2 Pt2: Money
The woman reluctantly had the abortion although she really wanted to have a child. The lack of funds did not allow the pregnancy blob of tissue to be a baby. One week following the abortion when the blob of tissue was killed the man got a job that paid better than the last. Now with money, his dead blob of tissue that was killed became a baby yet... nothing can bring that baby back to life (money became true after the program ended).

Due to this very complex program that the pro-aborts have concocted, blobs of tissue magically become babies after they have been killed. When using their perverse logic to its natural conclusion it results in equally scary prospects. If a blob can magically become a baby, then a baby can also magically become a blob. What better a way to deal with unwanted born children in the orphanage than to declare them blobs of tissue that can be killed in a "safe, sane, and legal" clinic? No different than the unwanted and unaffordable blobs in utero! With such faulty logic it is strange how so many people are blind to its deception.

Pro-lifers have an even simpler program!

If(humanBeing)
{
baby
}

else
{
notBaby
}

This program simply reads: if it is a human being, then it is a baby; otherwise it is not a baby! Science has proven time after time that a human being's life begins at conception. No amount of religion, opinion, or philosophy will ever change this fact. Please refer to my blog entry Playing the Human Being Word Game and Abort73.com's Medical Testimony Page for further details regarding this line of facts.

"After fertilization has taken place a new human being has come into being. [It] is no longer a matter of taste or opinion...it is plain experimental evidence. Every individual has a very neat beginning, at conception." Jerome LeJeune, Geneticist (In 1981 at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee)

1. Comment left by Aquaria on the article "This is not a case about abortion" by PZ Myers as accessed on January 20, 2011. URL

Reflection After Reading Unplanned

2011-01-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

Abby Johnson is a former director of multiple Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas who became pro-life. After leaving her job at Planned Parenthood her story spread to the national news then published her story in the book Unplanned on January 11, 2011. My wife bought the book for us to read when it was released from a Berean Christian Store. We called Barnes and Noble and Borders but they were out-of-stock stating that the book was released at the end of December 2010. I have now read Unplanned in it's entirety. What do I think of the book in one word? Awesome.

Important Points Learned from the Book

There are good pro-choicers and good pro-lifers...
No matter what controversial topic may arise, there are always those who are in favor and those who are against. Also, with every topic there will always be good and bad people on both sides. Abortion is no different.

Abby Johnson helped me to understand the reasoning that she had in becoming involved in Planned Parenthood's mission. Her reasons were heartfelt and genuine. She wished to decrease the number of abortions in our country. Planned Parenthood has repeatedly stated in their talking points that this is one of their goals. Abby Johnson then explained that many people who were not in a leadership position at Planned Parenthood also believed the same. These people had good reasons to be involved at Planned Parenthood.

...but there is only one truth.
However well intentioned the volunteers and workers at Planned Parenthood are, Abby Johnson helped me to learn, will not change that there is a right and wrong. When Mrs. Johnson experienced first-hand an ultrasound guided abortion procedure her entire perspective changed. She also recently discovered that in the face of losing business Planned Parenthood was encouraging clinics to increase their abortion numbers rather than decrease it. Planned Parenthood had no intention to decrease the number of abortions although they publicly stated that they wanted to. They have deceived and continue to deceive many people regarding their true purpose: profit no matter how many babies are killed.

Prayer changes things
If it wasn't for the persistent, prayerful, and peaceful pro-lifers then the conversion of Abby Johnson would have never occurred. Her conversion was a miracle of answered prayers. 40 Days for Life started at Abby Johnson's Planned Parenthood in Texas and has now become an international pro-life movement. 40 Days for Life is an event that occurs twice a year that is organized by local pro-lifers to pray peacefully outside of an abortion clinic 24/7 for 40 days straight. These are the prayers that aided Abby Johnson in her journey. The power of prayer cannot and should not be underestimated.

Peaceful witness is powerful; aggressive witness is not
Mrs. Johnson illustrated in her book that the more aggressive pro-life protesters, although well intentioned, were less effective and possibly detrimental to the pro-life cause. Those who are pro-choice often will demonize pro-lifers by stating that all pro-lifers are violent and extreme when they protest. The small percentage of more aggressive protesters (who are ONLY verbally aggressive) help validate the false claim of Planned Parenthood that all pro-life protesters are violent. Mrs. Johnson illustrated that Planned Parenthood liked to be seen as the "victim" of pro-life protesters so that they could receive more donations from supporters.

Abortion is indeed the murder of babies
This might seem like a moot point, but it is indeed very important. Those of us who are pro-life understand that abortion is a horrendous evil yet many of us do not act accordingly to help stop it.

I am a prime example: I write a blog periodically about this topic and post links and statements on my facebook account yet I am not consistently active in the pro-life movement. I am doing everything to change this because abortion truly is a holocaust that should be opposed whenever possible. I prayed outside of a Planned Parenthood with my wife and son on Saturday and have committed myself to doing the same every single Saturday whenever possible. This is a start! All of us pro-lifers should be committed to saving as many babies from being killed and helping as many women in crisis as possible. God has called us all by name to help those who need the most help; let us act on that command!

Forgiveness from ourselves and from God is possible
Although Abby Johnson admits many things that she regrets that she has done, she has received forgiveness from herself and from God. Dwelling on our past, especially on our past mistakes, leads many to a large amount of depression and a lack in the ability to improve our lives. Every single day is another opportunity to positively affect the world. With a damaged soul there affecting the world in a positive way is nearly impossible. We must take care of ourselves so that we can then take care of others. My job in hospice has taught me this very straightforward yet hard lesson very frequently. It is a real lesson that we all must apply to our daily lives.

There were many points that I took away from the book Unplanned by Abby Johnson. I am very grateful that Mrs. Johnson converted to being pro-life and is now an advocate in the correct way for the unborn, mothers, and fathers. It is a blessing to see the works that she has accomplished through the grace of God. Abby Johnson is also a wonderful resource for those who work in the abortion industry but want out; she shows that it is possible to quit work that is life-destroying and then join work that is life-affirming. God bless you Abby Johnson.

Now, go buy and read your copy of Unplanned today!

Links relevant to the blog entry
Abby Johnson: URL
Berean Book Stores: URL
40 Days for Life: URL

My Own Pro-Life Walk

2010-12-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

The arguments are sound. The logic is perfect. The questions are answered. The opposition has no intelligent response. Yet, are you willing to live the life of a pro-lifer when the going gets tough? If you are faced with a crisis pregnancy yourself are you willing to choose life? If you are one the hard cases talked about in your arguments are you going to stand true to your convictions?

It is imperative that we human beings mean what we say. Indeed it is true; "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No'" (Matthew 5:37) What we say should be how we live unless, that is, we don't really mean what we say.

Getting Married
I got married as a Catholic back in July of 2009. I learned growing up that abstinence was the answer to preventing unplanned pregnancy. Indeed, my wife and I remained abstinent until the day that we got married. We were as chaste as we could have been. We had a honeymoon in Hawai'i and had a great start to our marriage. We were able to *barely* afford our wedding and honeymoon with a combination of debt and the wage that I earned as a Licensed Vocational Nurse at a local hospital. The wage that I earned from my nursing job was the way that we survived.

Coming Home for the Worst
One week following a great honeymoon, I was called into the nurse manager's office at my work. My nurse manager explained to me that I have been a great employee who has worked very hard, worked well with others, been great to patients, and even have volunteered to work shifts that were not required of me. However, I was released from my position during the probationary period that day. The reasons have never been clear to me since the nurse manager stated that during the probationary period an explanation is not given. She did, however, share that it had nothing to do with patient safety. I have been a safe nurse working on the unit.

This experience left me feeling devastated. How would I pay the bills such as rent and electricity? How would I be able to continue to survive without a job? How would I be able to continue nursing school to become a Registered Nurse? How would my wife continue going to school at the local university? My car was close to the brink of breaking down and so was I.

The Week After
Pregnant. We were looking forward to our first child being conceived. Indeed, we knew that life began at conception and should be protected once the knowledge of a child's existence became evident. I was happy that my wife became pregnant. However, I was extremely worried about how we could afford both of our schooling, rent, bills, food, and now prenatal care.

Was abortion ever considered? Nope! Both of us have discussed the issue of abortion at length long before we got married. We were both ardently pro-life and very well educated about it. I even joked with my wife that this would be a "perfect example" of a pro-choicer's "hard-case" to prove that abortion is somehow necessary.

Resourcefulness
After feeling beaten down, I swept up my pride and went to the welfare office. We received some governmental assistance. I also started to receive unemployment. I landed a part-time job (about 6-24 hrs a week) getting paid minimum wage as a caregiver. My parents helped us to *barely* pay our rent and bills. I continued to go to school as did my wife. I graduated and got my Registered Nursing license months later. Seven months of barely making it and wondering what would become of us had ended once I got a job full-time as a Registered Nurse in hospice. My wife had MediCal (California form of Medicare) which paid medical expenses through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and afterbirth. There were even pro-life protesters whom we protested with who gave us free clothes, blankets, and supplies although we did not ask for anything.

The Affirmation of Life
The story of my wife, my son, and I is a testament to how an unborn child's life should be respected no matter the circumstances. Our situation was definitely not the hardest, but it did present with itself many difficulties. I hope sharing our situation will help people understand that handling a difficult time financially and situationally during pregnancy is possible without killing a single unborn child.

We named our son Adam. He is a beautiful boy whom we love very much.

Reader, if you ever need a helping hand please do not hesitate to contact me and my family.

Christopher Schmenk, Facebook Profile, Email

Dad Confronts Abortion Protesters Rebuttal

2010-11-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

On October 23, 2010, a video was posted on YouTube that has now been viewed 716,000 times as of today. Why is it so popular? Apparently, it is popular because of a man who had an angry tirade against pro-life protesters holding signs outside of an abortion clinic.

The man stated that the pro-life protesters yelled at his wife while she was entering the facility. I have been a protester in front of abortion clinics before. I know how hard it is to get even one word heard by those who enter those clinics. The protesters know nothing regarding each person's situation other than there abortions are provided in that facility on that particular day. Thus, the most important information is quickly stated loudly to those who enter it ("please do not kill your baby," "what you have inside of you is a baby, it has a heartbeat"). Oftentimes literature is handed to these people as they enter the clinic. Usually the people who enter the clinic do not accept the literature; most clinics instruct their patients to have no interaction with pro-lifers including to not accept any literature. Other times, the literature is ripped out of their hands by clinic staff once they enter the clinic.

Furthermore, during the few protests in front of clinics that I have been to, I have been the one on the receiving end of violence and yelling. People have thrown things at me as they drive by. Numerous people yell obscenities at me as they walk or drive by. Some people who enter the clinic go into a yelling tirade. One woman who was entering the clinic yelled at those protesting "f*** you! I'm going to kill my parasite! You guys [pro-lifers] are worthless pieces of s***!" I can guarantee you that these pro-life protesters were peaceful and welcoming to those who wished to talk.

As illustrated in the following video, it was the man with the video camera that was being irate while the pro-life protesters were hardly ever given the chance to respond in a peaceful way. I will respond to the majority of the man's talking points after you watch the behavior of both the man and the pro-life protesters.

What are you looking to accomplish here?
Simple: to prevent unborn babies from being killed at the hands of another. Would you protest a clinic that killed born children? Pro-lifers value the unborn as much as we do the born.

We were trying to have a kid, [but our kid has "mermaid syndrome" - sirenomelia]. You're yelling at my wife, for having nothing more than having a dead baby inside of her?
An unborn human being who has sirenomelia is not dead. To the contrary, an unborn human being with that condition can very much be alive. Sirenomelia is a congenital deformity that results in their being fused legs and oftentimes a lack of a lower urinary tract and patent anus. Many cases of sirenomelia result in death shortly after birth (at times it does happen before due to chronic oligohydramnios from the lack of fetal urine production). There are rarely survivors. However, there are a few survivors of this condition. [1] To assume that an unborn child with this condition will die is to deny the very real possibility.

Do you maybe want to ask before?
As mentioned previously, there is no time at all to be asking what each person is there at the clinic for. Women who enter the clinic get out of their car and walk into the clinic in approximately one minute. This is one of the many reasons why Crisis Pregnancy Centers exist. There are many of these in my own immediate area and they are staffed by life-affirming and well-trained volunteers.

You have no idea what you are doing to [women who enter the clinic].
Many women put their trust into the doctors and paraprofessional people involved in the abortion industry. After all, women reason with themselves, these people have a really good education and know what they are doing. Carol Everett ran abortion clinics for a living where 35,000 abortions took place. She wrote a book titled Blood Money. In her book, Carol Everett chronicled how abortions were sold. Abortions were sold as a product; as if abortion was a product at a furniture store. "Counselors" were trained to play on the emotions of women and hide facts from them. [2,3] Thus, it would be wise for all people to seek information regarding abortion from all sides of the debate. More importantly, non-biased scientific information should be sought. Education is key.

Because of people like you, no one wants to perform these anymore.
Unfortunately, the numbers of abortions completed in the United States continue to remain high; "In 2006, 846,181 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas. This total presents a 3% increase from the 820,151 abortions reported for 2005 [NOTE: the actual numbers of abortion are higher since multiple states are not counted in the CDC's statistics]." [4] Why? Because there the industry is highly unregulated and the procedure is vastly legal and unimpeded by government intervention.

There are not really many places to go anymore.
Aside from abortion clinics, approximately "367 doctors’ offices perform" abortions when asked by their private patients in the United States. [5] Altogether, "there were 1,787 abortion providers in the United States" in 2005 and "The number of abortion clinics has remained relatively constant." [5] However, there have been recent reports from pro-life sources who claim that there has been a drastic decline in abortion clinics nation-wide. One such source Operation Rescue who claims that "over two-thirds of the nation's abortion clinics have closed in the past 18 years." [6]. At best, the Alan Guttmacher institute, the research arm of the largest abortion provider in the United States, Planned Parenthood, the availability of abortion services has remained relatively stable. Thus, this man may be right that the number could be declining but there still are plenty of abortion clinics available to the public.

[Abortion is a] time sensitive in nature.
Time sensitive in that the further a baby develops the harder his tissue and the larger his body becomes thus making abortions more difficult. The irate father is correct in this assertion.

My wife does not want to deliver a still-born baby.
She wants a dead baby as soon as possible rather than an abnormally developed and very unhealthy baby? This is called discrimination against the disabled. It would be very rare for anyone to suggest killing a disabled born person, yet it is socially acceptable to do so to the disabled unborn? Even unborn children with Down's Syndrome and non-fatal neural tube defects such as spina bifida are discriminated against with purposeful death (abortion).

Why don't you go help average kids? Why don't you try to stop the problem before-hand?
The woman in the video answered that she has adopted children. Indeed, adoption is the answer to helping women in crisis pregnancies. It is the ultimate sacrifice to give of oneself in the raising of another for the sake of another.

Helping children? What are these protesters doing? They are trying to save the very lives of children at their most vulnerable stage of development: in the womb! I'd say that's helping "average kids." Further, should no one help "non-average kids" such as those with disabilities? A child with sirenomelia is someone with a grave disability and needs the most help from others! That child needs a chance at life--NOT absolute death!

Stopping the problem before-hand? Regardless of the efforts of organizations like Planned Parenthood and the vast majority of public schools that push contraceptives there are still a high number of unintended pregnancies. Planned Parenthood's research arm the Guttmacher Institute admits that "for teens, abortion
rates and numbers decline due to increasing abstinence and teens
continuing unwanted pregnancies"-a clear admission that abstinence works more efficiently than contraceptives. [5] Indeed, failure of condoms and all reversible contraceptives is 19% in the first two years; further, those who are targeted most to use reversible birth control have the highest rates (higher than 19%) of failure (teens, hispanics, blacks, poor, and unmarried) [7,8,9]. Contraception does not work in preventing pregnancies. Thus, it makes sense to defend those "unwanted" or "unintended" children to survive as pro-life protesters do.

Why do you stand out here to make people feel bad about themselves?
When a pro-life protester speaks the truth ("please do not kill your baby") they are neither making people feel good nor bad about themselves. If the truth hurts, so be it. The truth is the most important thing for all people in the world in all situations. If a woman is unsure about having an abortion due to these statements then that women should take the time and research the topic more. Abortion is not something to be taken lightly. Even those who are ardently pro-choice frown upon the perspective that abortion is similar to a tooth extraction--it is NOT. It is a lot more than that. Pro-lifers contend that it is the taking of another person's life! Scientifically, that is the most true statement a person could make.

Lowest common denominator [in reference to the pro-lifers].
Rather than judging someone without giving them a chance to talk, why don't you engage these people in a civil and calm conversation? You may find that they are not the lowest common denominator. You may find that these protesters have a heart willing to care for a child with sirenomelia. Indeed, there are plenty of peri-natal hospice programs available for this very reason: to care for ill newborn children who are expected to die at birth or shortly thereafter. [10]

The name of the man in the video is Aaron Gouveia. His article regarding his experience surrounding this video is available through the following link: URL [11]. The following is a very thought-provoking response to the father in the video:

Matt says:
November 1, 2010 at 10:34 am

Don explains a very valid point, and I don’t think he is trying to be obtuse. “Being a parent and being pregnant are two very different things.” That may be the case ONLY if you believe that becoming a Parent only happens when a child leaves the womb, versus when the child in conceived. “A fetus cannot survive outside of the womb.”…that is true, but neither can a baby survive on its own. It’s not a viable argument.

Think of it this way...if you TRULY BELIEVED that a child is created at conception, then you would be fighting for the life of a child.

To put it in perspective, if an abortion clinic was a clinic for mothers of 0-2 month old kids to go and kill their children, would not pretty much everyone on this board be across the street screaming in outrage? Even for a child who would die or was suffering?

So the argument is really about, if an unborn child is a child, or not. This has always been the argument. Some people believe that others are misled by thinking that a child only becomes a child at some unclear point during a late term of the pregnancy, or after the child leaves the womb. Others believe some are misled thinking that a fetus younger than some point is a child.

In this case, the child’s outlook was terminal from a doctors point of view, but at that term, the child still had time to develop, and doctor’s are not always right. I could not in this case have decided not to give my child every chance.

I feel for the father and mother in this article and their situation, but I also sympathize with the protesters, as I know how they feel watching people enter the facility.

Indeed, "[The Zygote] results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being. Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm … unites with a female gamete or oocyte … to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual." [12]

[1] A Warm Place (blog), "The Little Mermaid Syndrome," written by (unknown author, can't seem to find out who). **The links are the most important in this source** URL

[2] Blood Money: Getting Rich Off Woman's Right to Choose, written by Carol Everett, 1991, 1992, published by the Heidi Group.

[3] Blood Money: A Documentary. Access a trailer to this movie containing first-hand accounts regarding the business of abortion: URL to YouTube

[4] Center for Disease Control, "CDC’s Abortion Surveillance System FAQs" accessed on November 16, 2010. URL

[5] The Alan Guttmacher Institute (research arm of Planned Parenthood, the United State's largest abortion provider), "An Overview of Abortion in the United States" - a presentation with slides. PDF

[6] Opposing Views (blog), "Number of abortion clinics continues to decline." URL

[7] Center for Disease Control (CDC), "2002 PRAMS Surveillance Report: Multistate Exhibits: Unintended Pregnancy and Contraceptive Use." URL

[8] Ranjit N, Bankole A, Darroch JE, Singh S. Contraceptive failure in the first two years of use: differences across socioeconomic subgroups. Family Planning Perspectives 2001;33(1):19–27.

[9] Fu H, Darroch JE, Haas T, Ranjit N. Contraceptive failure rates: new estimates from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Family Planning Perspectives 1999;31(2):56–63.

[10] Perinatal Hospice and Palliative Care: A Gift of Time (website). URL

[11] Good Men Project (magazine), "Confronting Life," October 23, 2010 By Aaron Gouveia. URL

[12] The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th ed. 1998, pg. 2-18.

Hospice Nursing: Embracing the End of Life

2010-10-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

Those who are pro-life espouse the mantra of protecting life from conception to natural death. Indeed, it is science that is on our side. To those who are pro-choice there is a mantra that bodily autonomy, freedom of privacy, and the rights to make decisions are more important than the right to life.

I am going to shortly describe how the end of life connects with the pro-life cause and relate it to my nursing career.

Do those who are dying have a right to life?
Yes. Those with a terminal diagnosis have a right to live their lives in the way that they choose. Those who are dying have a right to pain relief, to be comfortable, to be at home, to be with their loved ones, and to pass on from this life in the way that is most respectful to them. We all have a right to life; indeed, we can all choose how to be treated in end-of-life care that respects our lives.

Do those who are dying have a right to die?
No. Those with a terminal diagnosis have a right to determine in what ways they will pass from this life to the next but they do not have the right to kill themselves or to obtain aide in doing so. The rights of those who are dying are exemplified by their life itself and the quality of their lives. We cannot take one without the other.

Some claim that it is torturous to deny the right to die to those that want it.
Some have this contention. Those that have terminal diagnoses often experience pain, discomfort, loneliness, ambivalence, uncertainty about the afterlife, regret about some things done during their lives, depression, and other troublesome experiences. However, actively killing the actively dying does nothing to address these issues. It ends these issues but does not deal with them.

How can those issues be dealt with?
Pain: The ability to control pain has seen many advances over the years. It is possible to control pain for practically all terminal patients. Indeed, controlling pain is a huge priority for caregivers and the dying patient. It is up to the patient to determine how much pain relief is necessary while weighing the side effects (stupor, fatigue, constipation, etc). Death as a result from pain medication is a real possibility. However, if pain management has been done properly then death caused by pain medication is not the intent but rather a side effect. For those who are dying, death is imminent. Thus, controlling pain is vital and may hasten death as a side effect. This is not tremendously common and is also not the intention of the pain management regimen and is thus not considered in the realm of euthanasia. It is being respectful of the patient's wishes to be pain free during the dying process and nothing more.

Discomfort: Those who care for the dying are able to help a patient with comfort whether they be family, friends, caregivers, nurses, or doctors. Hospice allows a patient to experience least discomfort as can be possible. Indeed it is best for those who are dying to experience their last days in their own home in the ways that they desire. These measures reduce discomfort. Other causes of discomfort such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and other problems can also be managed with medications and other therapies.

Loneliness: Those who visit the dying patient include a wide array of individuals such as nurses, pastors, and volunteers. These resources are vital to help curve the feeling of loneliness. The worst fear many people have is of dying alone. Hospice care and loving families help prevent this from happening. Indeed, visitors are vitally important for those who have a terminal diagnosis.

Ambivalence: Hospice care provides those who are dying and their families with answers regarding the process of death, dying, and the care that they will receive. It helps all of those involved to have an understanding; this helps in reducing fear, pain, discomfort, and many other unfavorable things.

Uncertainty About the Afterlife: Having a Hospice team that is willing to speak with patients regarding the life after death is very important. One does not need to share the same faith with each other to know that most people worry about what will happen to them after dying. Some may not care, many others will. This is also why chaplain services are readily available to those on Hospice. When someone has comfort with what will happen to them following their death then it can help calm and comfort.

Depression: A broad support system oftentimes helps those who are depressed. Hospice provides that to a great deal. However, this does not always help fight against depression. Clinical depression can be treated with medications while other depression can abetted a little bit at a time by a support group. Oftentimes volunteers can provide companionship that busy nurses and other workers cannot give as much as they would like. Many Hospice organizations provide volunteers and other services to help brighten the last days of patients with terminal diagnoses.

How does hospice relate to the pro-life cause?
Hospice should not provided a means to end a persons life. It is about increasing the quality of the time a person has left to live. Allow me to simply compare and contrast:

Euthanasia is a quick end to suffering; hospice deals with the problems to allow comfort and dignity.
Abortion is a quick end to an unwanted pregnancy; choosing life deals with the unwanted pregnancy to allow a newly created human being to live.

Just like there are many issues that surround end-of-life care that can be managed, there are many problems with an unwanted pregnancy that must also be managed.

I have been a hospice nurse for seven months. It can be very stressful, but it can also be very enlightening. I have been a small part of the care to help so many patients pass away with comfort and dignity. I have such awesome coworkers who have also helped these patients in their own special way. I am so thankful to work with such a wonderful group of people who have such compassion for their patients.

Indeed, giving life is the most important aspect of hospice nursing. This is the reason why I continue to work hospice. Respect life! Give it dignity! Give it what it rightfully deserves! Embrace life from conception until natural death.

A Life Dedicated to Life

2010-08-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I wanted to become a composer for video game music. When I went to college I started out as a music major intending to accomplish that goal. I became complacent. I took an Anatomy and Physiology class to fulfill a science lab requirement and loved studying it. It was a wonderful class with great students and a wonderful professor. I was enthralled at the inner workings of our bodies created by our Almighty God that it gave me a different insight into the goals of my life. I wanted to protect life. I graduated as a Registered Nurse a few years later.

Today I work as a Case Manager for hospice. I help manage the care and also personally care for patients that are in their final moments. I help them to love life in the short time that they have left to experience it. Life is a beautiful experience with its horrible and difficult times and its wonderful and fun times. As beautiful as life is, it is short. We must value every moment that God has given us to experience it.

Among the worst things in this world is taking away someone's life. Taking a person's life takes away the experiences that God intended for that person to experience. It robs a person of the great things that can be experienced. How much worse is it to take away the life of someone who has only been in life for a few short years, months, or weeks. The beginning of life is the most precious because there is so much life to live in the young.

Indeed it is my goal to allow people to make the most of their lives, even in their end times. It is also my goal to allow people to experience a life that they deserve to experience. I strive to end abortion for this very reason. It is pure evil to take this most precious gift of life away from another human being.

As a Registered Nurse it is my duty to defend the defenseless, give a voice to the voiceless, and be an advocate to those without one. It is my duty. It is my goal.

In music-- enrich lives.
In nursing-- defend lives.
In life-- love and live what God has given us.

A life dedicated to life. We all should strive to live that kind of life.

Playing the Human Being Word Game

2010-03-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

When those who favor legal abortion talk to me, I always get a plethora of word games. Oftentimes my words are twisted or taken out of context. Other times issues that I present are ignored completely. There are other instances where the points on which I agree with another person are ignored entirely and maybe even refuted. These techniques are meant to etch away at my patience in a conversation so that when I end the conversation due to frustration the other person can claim victory.

Word Games Blur the Core Issue
I have an example of this. Is there a scientific definition of the phrase "human being?" I certainly have not found that particular phrasing in textbooks or online. Does this mean that the scientific community has not defined what is a human being or not? No, this is not true. However, to those who argue against me the opposite is true.

Those who argue against me claim that there are no scientists who agree that a human being's life begins at conceptions since one cannot find the exact phrase "human being" defined by science. Since no scientist can define what is a human being, they say, then we must use the philosophical framework to define what is considered a human being. In conclusion, they say, we must use the philosophical definition of a human being as having cognition which occurs at a particular point in human development. There are really huge reasons why this argument is flawed.

1. "Human being" is a phrase and not a word. Thus, one must combine two separate words to come to a definition. The word "human" means (in the context of this debate) a member of the species homo sapiens. Does science claim that a zygote is a member of the species homo sapiens? Yes it does. In fact, I have never heard of a current scientist claim anything else. The word "being" is defined as existing. Does a zygote exist? Only a moron would think that a zygote does not exist. Thus, "human being" (in the context of this debate) is considered any existing member of the species homo sapiens. Zygote easily fits this definition according to current scientific knowledge. Furthermore, the zygote is a living and independent member of the species homo sapiens whom exists in reality by objective scientific fact.

2. A philosophical framework can lead to many different definitions; not one definition could we all agree upon. I have heard people state what makes a developing human a "person" or "human being" is the detection of brain waves (8 weeks LMP [1][2]), when consciousness occurs (one claims that this is placed at approximately 28 weeks when thalamic afferents begin to enter in the cerebral cortex [3], another claims that consciousness doesn't occur until months or years after birth [4]), viability [5], birth [6], and other moments in a human's lifespan. Thus using philosophical, religious, and subjective reasons to define what is and what is not a human being cannot be trusted. These reasons are merely the inner workings of the human mind.

Yes, a fetus may not experience pain prior to 20 weeks gestation [7]. Yes, a fetus does not breath air until being born. Yes, a fetus does not respond to sound until around 20 weeks gestation [8]. Hmm... you know what? An infant cannot participate in sexual intercourse, believes that others can read his mind, does not understand commitment, does not have a fully developed nervous system, does not have fully functional visual capabilities, and has numerous other developmental milestones that he has not reached yet. I'm thinking all the more... all of us who are still alive have not experienced the developmental milestone of death.

"Development begins with fertilization, ..." [9] and ends with death.

To play the human being word game is to determine who will live and who will die.

1. Epigee: Health and Fitness, "First Trimester Fetal Growth" as accessed on March 16, 2010. "8 weeks - ... Brain waves can be measured." URL LINK

2. Abort73, "Fetal Development" as accessed on March 16, 2010 and last updated on February 27, 2010. "Primitive brain waves have been recorded as early as six weeks and 2 days (gestation)." URL LINK

3. User pirbird14 on YouTube comment on video "Abortion Pictures: The Abortion Reich Lie" comment posted on March 16, 2010. "Consciousness is a function of the cerebral cortex, which does not begin to develop prior to week 26 (sic)." URL LINK

4. Elroy. "Why Abortion is Moral" as accessed on March 16, 2010. "...consciousness normally doesn't occur until months, even years, after a baby is born (sic)." URL LINK

5. Little, Margaret. Rutgers School of Law. "Abortion and the Margins of Personhood" as accessed on March 16, 2010, published sometime in 2003. "Especially when robust viability precedes full moral status, a gray zone emerges in which decisions over the life of the fetus hover between the private and the public." PDF LINK

6. Green, John. eLetters, Denver Post. "Personhood begins on your birthday" as accessed on March 16, 2010 and posted on December 17, 2007. URL LINK

7. NewsMaxx. "Reintroduced Fetal Pain Bill Garners Unlikely Supporter" as accessed on march 16, 2010 and posted on February 2, 2005. URL LINK

8. Endowment for Human Development. "Prenatal Form and Function: The Making of an Earth Suit" as accessed on March 16, 2010. "By 20 weeks it reaches adult size within the fully developed inner ear. From now on, the fetus will respond to a growing medley of sounds." URL LINK

9. T.W. Sadler, Langman's Medical Embryology, 10th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006. p. 11.

Atheism and Abortion

2010-01-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

Is atheism compatible with legalized therapeutic abortion? Through my experience talking to and hearing stories from atheists I have concluded that atheism is very much incompatible with legalized therapeutic abortion.

The key to understanding if atheism is compatible with legalized therapeutic abortion is simple: 1) remove God from the equation and 2) put in place common human decency instilled in all humans to not kill each other.

Accomplishing the first premise of removing God from the equation is a simple task. What remains is science and law. Then a question quickly becomes clear: what do we rely on for an answer, science, law, or both?

I have found that the majority of pro-choice atheist choose to base their arguments on law almost entirely. The reason for this is obvious; the law does not recognize the person that is the unborn human being. Countering this argument is easy, though. Say that slavery in the United States of American did not end with the Civil War, does that mean that slavery would still be justified and moral if it was still legal? The answer is no. Another simple rhetorical question could be that if one day a Personhood Amendment became part of the United States Constitution that defined a person as "any human being from conception to natural death" would that magically make an unborn human being a person? The answer is no, a law cannot make something true or false; law is very much just a reflection of a person's (or a people's) view in which a society should be governed. Basing an opinion from law is similar to basing an opinion based on public opinion polls; it's absolutely useless and completely illogical.

When pro-choice atheists jump into the fray of scientific evidence to support their claims, their arguments fall flat. I have oftentimes asked simple questions to pro-choice atheists that they almost always dodge and try every trick in the book to not answer. I have been discussing abortion with an atheist online, the following is a part of that conversation:

SegaMon: Consider the statement: "Clearly God has caused more abortions than we have." Does that make elective abortion moral? Nope.

Now consider this statement: "Clearly God has caused more murders to happen than we have." Does this statement make murder moral? Nope.

Pro-Choice Atheist: Can you please have your god come out and talk to us and tell what she wants?!? That would clear up a lot of misunderstandings. Thanx.
Where is the logic of abortion being immoral?

SegaMon: Knowing what God wants can often times be internal. For specifics, the Bible has given us many things to direct us in the right way.

Killing people ourselves is wrong (ie murder is a sin). Even the majority of atheists believe in this form of morality (ie elective abortion is NOT a religious issue).

Now, can you answer the question that I asked? "Does this statement make murder moral?"

Pro-Choice Atheist: I will only answer questions that come directly from your god. You are but a misguided middle man with a tedious and banal way of thinking. As far as I can tell god hasn't caused anything, show us some proof, then I might take your ramblings more seriously. btw - Abortion cannot be murder, by the definition of murder.

SegaMon: I wasn't saying that "abortion is murder." However, if the law starts to protect the unborn just like the born, then that statement would certainly be true (it's a term of law).

My "ramblings?" Come back down to Earth, your ego is making you float away.

I don't have to "prove" God to you. Just the fact that we will NEVER fully understand the human body is enough proof of God that I need.

I was using LOGIC, something that you claim to have such a handle on. Just answer my question please.

Pro-Choice Atheist: I guess I haven't been clear enough. Your god doesn't exist and therefore your question is nonsense. You can't use logic and proof of god in the same paragraph. hehehe

SegaMon: YOU were the one talking about God, not me.

Thus, I used the same exact statement that you had and then replaced "abortion" with "murder" and asked if you could explain it.

Again, it wasn't me that brought up God, it was you!

My question was NOT about God.

Read my first post again and answer the question. If you do not answer, you have failed to follow truth and use proper logic.

If we are going to blame God for more abortions, then we should certainly blame God for more murders. God certainly kills more born people than we do from heart attacks, falls, strokes, cancer, hepatitis, HIV, TB, etc.

So please, if you fail to answer then you are conceding to defeat.

Pro-Choice Atheist: As I have said breore god does not exist (at least the christian concept) so, a nonexistent being can have no effect. No moral laws, no killing, no giving of life or death. Your question is nonsense. Change your question to something that relates directly to abortion and i will answer it.

SegaMon: [[Here I mistakenly thought that this poster was the poster of the video]] My question has EVERYTHING to do with abortion. Thus you concede to defeat.

Pro-Choice Atheist: [[Here the poster is correcting me that he is not the poster of the video]]

SegaMon: I do concede that I wrongly assumed that you made the video based upon your answers (I should have double checked).

Regardless of my mistake, my response was in regards to the video itself. My question has much merit in relation to the statements made in the video. Do you like this video? Do you agree with this video? If so then you should still answer my question.

Mistaking you for the video's creator is not as bad as not answering a simple question.

Besides does it really matter if I'm smart of not? If someone asks a very simple question, even if it's asked by a complete moron, then someone with half a brain should be able to answer it. So why do you not answer it?

Pro-Choice Atheist: I answered over and over and over and over. The question does not relate to me. How can I answer a question about god's actions if I think the whole bible is myth and metaphor ie that there is no such being? Answer your own question, i guess that's what you want to do any way?? Tell us what the point is you are trying to make.

SegaMon: You didn't answer the question: "Does the previous statement make murder moral?"

This is not a question about God. This is not a question regarding religion. This is a response to the video's statements. You didn't answer this question!

The reason why I wanted you to answer the question was to help guide you through my reasoning then hopefully you could see where I was coming from.

My point was if abortion is moral because God does it then murder must be moral because God murders too.

Pro-Choice Atheist: What if god doesn't exist? Like I've been saying over and over and over and over. Then, isn't your point meaningless? THAT'S what I've been trying to tell you.

SegaMon: My question was directly countering what was in the video (which was made by an atheist). My question was NOT about God. It was NOT about religion. How many times do I have to tell you that? I'll make my question easier for you to understand by using non-God speak:

"Clearly [mother nature] has caused more murders to happen than we have.

"Thus, does the previous statement make murder moral?"

Please answer the question. (I wonder how long this game of ping-pong will last, lol)

You said that "the question does not relate to me." Then why did you respond to my post to begin with? There must have been something that interested you in what I said. I can't stand it when people stifle conversations by not answering simple questions and ignoring the topic's core. That was what you did. If this conversation is not important to you, then maybe you shouldn't be talking to me.

Why would pro-choice atheists choose to not answer simple and direct questions? An answer that comes to mind would be that they are uncomfortable with either the facts that they know or uncomfortable with the facts that they may learn in the process of conversation. Although I am a staunch right-wing conservative eastern Catholic Christian it is amazing to find out that I am the one siding with scientific facts.

Knowing that every human being's life begins at conception is the crux of the scientific debate. The most important hypothetical question that must be asked of these pro-choice atheists is the following: if we do not side with protecting what science defines as a human being, then at what point of development do we start defending human life? Answers to this question have much variety ranging from "when brain waves that can be detected" to the extreme "when the umbilical cord is cut after birth." Then the response to whatever their answer is should become blatantly obvious; the answer is do we base decisions on the objective facts of science or on one of the numerous subjective opinions of imperfect minds? It would be a natural choice to side with undeniable scientific facts than with the imperfect opinions that our minds have determined for ourselves.

Thus, the argument is won in favor of life. Of course, the prideful pro-choice atheist will kick and scream in objection, but there is no denying their defeat. This is all done without the acknowledgement of God's existence. To deal the deafening blow to the pro-choice atheist's argument at this time is to state that it is common human decency to protect our own species from purposeful death (murder). If the person believes that there is no such thing as common human decency, then ask him if he is willing to kill a born person to prove his thesis. If this person is not willing kill then he does have common decency and is just being stubborn. However, if the person is willing to kill a born person then there is no use in talking to an insane lunatic who may one day become a murderer (I have actually met people that have said this).

Pro-lifers of all faiths, use the following information to define the beginning of human life at conception:

**Credit goes to Abort73.com for the following list of sources**

"Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm (spermatozoo developmentn) unites with a female gamete or oocyte (ovum) to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo)."
Keith L. Moore, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 7th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2003. pp. 16, 2.

"Human embryos begin development following the fusion of definitive male and female gametes during fertilization... This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development."
William J. Larsen, Essentials of Human Embryology. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1998. pp. 1, 14.

"Every baby begins life within the tiny globe of the mother's egg... It is beautifully translucent and fragile and it encompasses the vital links in which life is carried from one generation to the next. Within this tiny sphere great events take place. When one of the father's sperm cells, like the ones gathered here around the egg, succeeds in penetrating the egg and becomes united with it, a new life can begin."
Geraldine Lux Flanagan, Beginning Life. New York: DK, 1996. p. 13.

"Biologically speaking, human development begins at fertilization."
The Biology of Prenatal Develpment, National Geographic, 2006. {A video documentary]

"The two cells gradually and gracefully become one. This is the moment of conception, when an individual's unique set of DNA is created, a human signature that never existed before and will never be repeated."
In the Womb, National Geographic, 2005. [A video documentary]

"Development begins with fertilization, the process by which the male gamete, the sperm, and the femal gamete, the oocyte, unite to give rise to a zygote."
T.W. Sadler, Langman's Medical Embryology, 10th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006. p. 11.

**Credit goes to Bobby Bambino of the Jill Stanek blog for the following list of sources**

"Almost all higher animals start their lives from a single cell, the fertilized ovum (zygote). ... The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual."
Carlson, Bruce M., Patten's Foundations of Embryology, 6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996, p.3.

"The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which two highly specialized cells, the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female, unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote."
Langman, Jan. Medical Embryology. 3rd edition. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1975, p. 3

"Zygote. This cell, formed by the union of an ovum and a sperm (Gr. zygtos, yoked together), represents the beginning of a human being."
Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N. Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects. 4th edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1993, p. 1

"Although human life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed. ... The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity."
O'Rahilly, Ronan and Müller, Fabiola. Human Embryology and Teratology, 2nd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29.

"...the term conception refers to the union of the male and female pronuclear elements of procreation from which a new living being develops. It is synonymous with the terms fecundation, impregnation and fertilization ... The zygote thus formed represents the beginning of a new life."
J.P. Greenhill and E.A. Freidman. Biological Principles and Modern Practice of Obstetrics. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Publishers, pages 17 and 23.

"Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon) with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei (the haploid nuclei of the sperm and ovum) and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human being."
Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2.

"Embryo: An organism in the earliest stage of development; in a man, from the time of conception to the end of the second month in the uterus."
Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 146.

"...every time a sperm cell and ovum unite, a new being is created which is alive and will continue to live unless its death is brought about by some specific condition."
E.L. Potter, M.D., and J.M. Craig, M.D. Pathology of the Fetus and the Infant (3rd Edition). Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1975, page vii.

"Embryo: The developing individual between the union of the germ cells and the completion of the organs which characterize its body when it becomes a separate organism.... At the moment the sperm cell of the human male meets the ovum of the female and the union results in a fertilized ovum (zygote), a new life has begun.... The term embryo covers the several stages of early development from conception to the ninth or tenth week of life."
Considine, Douglas (ed.). Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia. 5th edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976, p. 943

“The chromosomes of the oocyte and sperm are…respectively enclosed within female and male pronuclei. These pronuclei fuse with each other to produce the single, diploid, 2N nucleus of the fertilized zygote. This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development.”
- Human Embryology. 2nd edition. 1997, p. 17

“In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual. … Fertilization takes place in the oviduct … resulting in the formation of a zygote containing a single diploid nucleus. Embryonic development is considered to begin at this point… This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development.”
Essentials of Human Embryology 1998 1-17.

“[The Zygote] results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being. Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm … unites with a female gamete or oocyte … to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”
The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th ed. 1998, pg. 2-18.

“Fertilization is an important landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed… Fertilization is the procession of events that begins when a spermatozoon makes contact with a secondary oocyte or its investments… The zygote … is a unicellular embryo…”
Human Embryology & Teratology 1996 pg. 5-55.

Additional source for incompetent cervix post

2010-01-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I run into an extra source for a topic that I have covered in the past. I figured that it would a good idea to add these sources as they are discovered. Some posts that I write include numerous sources. These sources can oftentimes be more important than the post itself.

Blog post that source was added to: "Incompetent cervix linked with abortion"

Source added to the blog post: (8) Langerquist SL, McMillin JL, Nelson RM, Snider KE, Davis' NCLEX-RN Success: Second Edition, F.A. Davis, 2006, Philadelphia.

Sentence mentioning source: It is known that "cervical trauma may occur and may lead to incompetent cervix," a statement that my education has repeatedly confirmed.

Hopefully this additional source is useful. Also, any suggestions for added sources are certainly welcome.

Quick thought about a common pro-choice view

2010-01-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

I have always heard about people who believe that it would be morally sufficient to kill human beings to help alleviate the theoretical problem of world overpopulation. Through news stories I heard about China forcing their population to abort children who were their second child (oftentimes referred to as the "One Child Policy"). Very few politicians in the United States openly support this policy; however, there are many pro-choice politicians whose opinions have become known that they secretly admire this policy.

Throughout my life I have never actually met someone who told me that they would not mind killing people to abate the "problem" of a rising world population. I finally met someone with that very belief in 2003: my first year in college. I met this person while riding the city bus. On this bus, I ran into an old classmate from elementary school and, somehow, we started discussing abortion. At first he claimed that the unborn were not actually human beings. After some debate he conceded that therapeutic abortion was indeed the killing of innocent unborn human beings (and even agreed to call them "babies"). I asked him one of the questions I asked him earlier in the debate: "do you agree with legalized therapeutic abortion?" He answered "yes" with an unwavering tone. He elaborated further by saying "I don't care if abortion kills children, it is needed to decrease our world population." I was shocked to hear this coming from his mouth! He agreed that abortion was the direct and malicious killing of unborn children yet it was justifiable to him by some unproven theory that we were going to overpopulate the world!? I bid him farewell. I really did not want to see him ever again. Come to think of it, I never did.

Today I was looking over some comments to a news story about abortion protesters displaying abortion photos when I cam across this very same argument:

I'm all about choice. If a woman decides not to have a child by all means kill it. The world is over populated as it is, and it would be one less mouth to feed. (1)

Many who state this belief also understand the biologic and scientific proven fact that human life starts at conception. It cannot be denied that these people consider the theoretical problem of overpopulation to be more important than human life itself. This is also very telling of many of those who consider themselves pro-choice. Many pro-choice people will certainly agree with pro-lifers that human life starts at conception. For them, the only reason to remain pro-choice is because of the supposed benefits of killing an unwanted child: continuing an education, having extra free time, the ability to go to parties, the ability to save and use more money for themselves, saving the environment, reducing world population, or one or more of any many other asinine reasons.

The biggest difference between pro-lifers and pro-choicers? That's simple. Pro-lifers wish to defend unborn children while pro-choicers wish to destroy unborn children to their own personal gain.

I wonder if these pro-choicers would be willing to help further reduce the population by actively killing the "unfit" or "unwanted" born people in our society?

Keep in mind that I am referring to the ideological debate of those who SHOULD know better. I am NOT referring to women who have aborted yet have received little to no information regarding the facts of the unborn, offered little in the way of support in allowing the unborn child to live, and lead to believe the numerous lies that pro-choicers espouse.

1. abc15.com (of Phoenix, Arizona), "Billboard shows aborted fetuses outside Phoenix high school: Comment from ckaye02" published on October 13, 2009. URL LINK

Planned Parenthood's suggestion to me for birth control

2010-01-03T22:55:00.000-08:00

I used an online algorithm advertised by Planned Parenthood called "My Method." This is a simple algorithm program that takes user answers to questions and then provides a statement based upon them. The idea is simple. However, this algorithm does not always have an answer. This also means that Planned Parenthood does not always have an answer.

"My Method" was not advertised to me as something that is only meant to be used by women. However, the questions fully expected me to be a woman. I am a man and do not experience menstruation nor do I have a vagina. Planned Parenthood must assume that only women are responsible for birth control? That's a strange proposition. Either that or they think that men have vaginas! Quality improvement, Planned Parenthood! You should have asked what gender I was at the onset of the algorithm.

For the questions assuming that I had female biological characteristics I answered how I knew that my wife would have answered. We are both very pro-life and do not agree with any form of birth control except for abstinence and natural family planning (NFP). I answered these questions with this in mind.

At the end of the algorithm, "My Method" gave me the following message:

My Method cannot determine which birth control methods may be best for you based on your answers to these questions. (1)

The reason that Planned Parenthood cannot provide me with a solution is that abstinence and Natural Family Planning are not a part of their vocabulary. The reason that they believe this is simple: they believe that human beings are incapable of controlling their natural instincts of sexual behavior. They believe that each and every one of us will one day "cave in" to our sexual desires and participate in an unending parade of intercourse with person after person.

Unlike Planned Parenthood, I believe that we humans are capable of more than acting like animals.

(1) Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as accessed on the website "Sex. Really." "My Method by Planned Parenthood" as accessed in January 3, 2010. URL LINK

My email to stayteen.org

2010-01-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

My wife and I were watching the show The Secret Life of an American Teenager and were enjoying it quite a lot. We were happy to notice that they did not offer abortion as an option for a teen pregnancy. However, this was no surprise to me since most television shows consider abortion to be a topic that is"too hot to handle." This is why I admire the movie Juno for actually addressing abortion during teen pregnancy within the movie so honestly.

Before every commercial break, one of the actors from the show suggests the viewers (which, I suppose, are mostly teenagers) to talk to their parents about sex. Another thing that they suggested to these viewers was to make a visit to their website titled StayTeen.org. The website actually gave good reasons to be abstinent from sex. However, the website went in great length about kinds of birth control methods to use other than abstinence, all of which are not 100% effective in STD prevention or pregnancy prevention (all forms other than abstinence fail in this regard). I accept this kind of talk on these sorts of websites. It's what today's society suggests to our youth. I do not agree with it, though.

The thing that bothered me the most about the website was the numerous times it linked to Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Teen Talk website. This website is filled with half-truths and lies. This is especially true regarding abortion. This is why I decided to email StayTeen.org to see if they could oblige my offer to remove the links to this organization. I know that they probably will not agree, but the least I could do was educate! I gave them over 20 sources for them to peruse as well! The email I sent them is as follows:

stayteen.org,

My relationship reality is simple: contraception is unnecessary and abortion is the killing of unborn human beings. That being said, I have both things to say about stayteen.org that is commemorative and horrendous. Please read my list, it is very important that you understand these things.

I commemorate the website stayteen.org for...
1. Encouraging abstinence as the only 100% effective way to prevent pregnancy and the transmission of STDs. I knew that as a teenager and I know that now as a 24 year old Registered Nurse.
2. Encouraging teens to listen to their own voice in saying NO to having sex before they are "ready."

Those things I believe are horrendous about the website stayteen.org is...
1. Connections and links to Planned Parenthood Federation of America who has been documented time after time to pass one medical inaccurate information regarding therapeutic abortion, birth control effectiveness, and fetal development. This is the most important aspect of my email today. Please hear out my case against Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and please consider removing any and all links to this organization known to have started under the premise of eugenics.

The reasons why Planned Parenthood of America Federation should be removed from the website stayteen.org is...
1. Documented resistance of this organization to give their patients and the public accurate and unbiased information regarding therapeutic abortion. For example, PPFA states that abortion does not lead to a higher risk of premature birth or low birth weight babies. However, this is untrue! Time after time, therapeutic abortions have been shown to lead to a higher incidence of incompetent cervix (which is one cause of premature birth and miscarraiges which have to be appropriately treated through cervical cerclage etc.) (1). PPFA states that there is no such thing as "post-abortion stress syndrome." However, there is certainly evidence that it does exist through unbiased research (2,3). Post-Abortion Stress Syndrome is certainly not proven but it is also not completely disproven, either. Many people have spoken out about their own abortion stress (4). PPFA claims unequivocally that therapeutic abortion has not chance to be displayed as increasing the chance of breast cancer. However, PPFA's claim cannot be undeniably proven. In fact, there are many scientific studies that have should some type of link or that the link is unclear at this time (5, 6, 7, 8). These discrepancies are just on PPFA's teen-talk website that you have linked your visitors to (aka teenagers). Planned Parenthood also lies about medically sound information. refer to LiveActionFilms investigation regarding this reality: "Investigation of medical lies and manipulation at Planned Parenthood of WI" and "Planned Parenthood lies about abortion images" (9, 10)

2. Planned Parenthood has been documented to repeatedly allow abuse of young girls to continue. Watch the numerous examples through videos from LiveActionFilms: "Planned Parenthood clinics across the country are contributing to the abuse of young girls" (11). The fact that some (possible most of them) are encouraging minors to continue their sexual relationships with adults is truly horrible and damaging to the girls that they should be helping.

3. An organization with their beginnings as an arm to encourage eugenics should not be linked to by secular, bipartisan groups (such as stayteen.org). Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, wished to use her organization to further encourage eugenics and euthanasia to make human genetics stronger (12, 13). Furthermore, she targetted minorities, immigrants, and the poor working class. Know that today's Planned Parenthood, as part of the abortion industry as a whole, commits abortions on black women at a much higher rate than that of whites. While blacks make up 12.8% of the United States population while 38.5% of all abortions were done on black women (14, 15). This racism should not have begun. We cannot change this. However, it should not be encouraged through PPFA. Please stop linking your website to this organization.

4. Planned Parenthood is the leading organization providing abortion services in the country. They were reported to have carried out 305,310 abortion in 2007 (that is approximately 1/3 of all abortions in this country) according to their own annual report published in April of 2009 (16). This wouldn't be worrisome to those in favor of abortion, but if you realize the truth that abortion is the killing of human beings then one would feel different. It would be best for you and everyone to know the facts regarding therapeutic abortion and the development of the unborn which these procedures destroy and kill. For more information regarding this topic, visit links below range 17 through 21 (there are certainly more sources, but this is a good start)

Planned Parenthood's lies should be rebutted and/or not allowed to be spread. My offer is the following: remove the link to Planned Parenthood Federation of America or provide a source from the opposite side of the fence, namely abort73.com, which carries more true facts about abortion than any PPFA website or clinic.

Thank you for your time. I hope that you have considered this issue as much as you can. Please consider my proposition for those in need of unbiased information regarding pregnancy altogether. I hope that you read this entire message. Have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,
Christopher Schmenk, RN

As you can see, I took my time in researching and providing evidence to my claims. This is something that is important in any important issue such as abortion. Please contact organizations and educate them regarding the truth about abortion. The truth is not as evident to people as it may seem. I will be praying that they understand my message.

(1) Schmenk, Christopher: Incompetent cervix linked with abortion, October 16, 2009. URL LINK
(2) Reardon, David, Elliot Institute, Fact Sheet, 1997. URL LINK
(3) Coleman, Priscilla: Abortion Mental Health Research: Update and Quality of Evidence, Spring 2008. PDF LINK
(4) Website Mentioned: Silent No More Awareness
(5) Xing P, Li J, Jin F. "A case-control study of reproductive factors associated with subtypes of breast cancer in Northeast China.” Humana Press, e-publication online September 2009. URL LINK (Showing increased risk)
(6) Kitchen AJ, Trivedi P, Ng D, Mokbel K. "Is there a link between breast cancer and abortion: a review of the literature." Int K Fertile Women's Med, Nov-Dec 2005. (Showing that research is unclear)
(7) Lipworth L, Katsouyanni K, Ekbom A, Michels KB, Trichopoulos D, "Abortion and the risk of breast cancer: a case-control study in Greece." Int J Cancer, Apr 1995. (Showing increased risk)
(8) Robertson C, Van Den Donk M, Primic-Zakelj M, MacFarlane T, Boyle P, "The association between induced and spontaneous abortion and risk of breast cancer in Slovenian women aged 25-54." Breast, Aug 2001. (Showing increased risk if abortion was done prior to first full-term pregnancy)
(9) LiveActionFilms: Investigation of medical lies and manipulation at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. URL LINK
(10) LiveActionFilms: Planned Parenthood lies about abortion images URL LINK
(11) LiveActionFilms: The Mona Lisa Project URL LINK
(12) Wikipedia: Information Page on Margaret Sanger. URL LINK (Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Wikipedia, the fact that this website acknowledges the true history of Margaret Sanger was notable)
(13) Green, T, "The Negro Project" URL LINK
(14) Center for Disease Control (CDC), "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Abortion Suveillance Summary" November 27, 2009. PDF LINK
(15) U.S. Census Bureau, "State and Country Quick Facts" Last revised on November 17, 2009. URL LINK
(16) Planned Parenthood Federation of America, "PPFA Annual Report" April 2009. PDF LINK
(17) Condic, Maureen. Westchester Institute, "White Paper: When Does Human Life Begin? A Scientific Perspective" October 2008. PDF LINK
(18) abort73.com, "Medical Testimony" Last updated on December 8, 2009. URL LINK (This link contains many sources at the bottom of the page that are from unbiased scientists and their findings in research)
(19) My Family Doctor, "When Does Life Begin? Medical experts debate abortion issue." Accessed on Jan 3, 2010. URL LINK (Note that the debater arguing against conception being the starting point of becoming a human being is a bioethicist and not a scientist, it should be further noted that the opinion of this person is extremely subjective and not based on scientific fact)
(20) Alcorn, Randy. Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions: Scientists Attest to Life Beginning at Conception, published in 2000. URL LINK of book excerpt, URL LINK of Amazon book listing
(21) Schmenk, Christopher: Right Choice, October 22, 2008. URL LINK (There are many sources on the bottom of this blog entry as well)

Clinic Violence: From Only One Side?

2009-12-24T13:12:00.000-08:00

There have sometimes been violence associated with the abortion debate in the United States of America. However, which side commits such violence?

Anti-Abortion Violence?

Those who protest against the legality of therapeutic abortion are often vilified as violent. "Protestors [against abortion] seem to have changed tactics, and engaged in hate letters, harassing phone calls, bomb threats, etc." says ReligiousTolerance.org (1). Back in April of 2009, the Department of Homeland Security released a document titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" which pointed out specifically those against abortion are possible terrorists and even assumed that "right-wing" people were racist against blacks (2). Even Sherry Colb, who shows an intelligent understanding of the topic, assumes that pro-lifers are almost always the instigators of violence as is shown by her statement: "In hearing about clinic attacks, my initial response is anger and outrage, as I suspect it is for virtually everyone who shares my view [of] abortion..." (3). Organizations that favor legalized therapeutic abortion further spread the thought that pro-lifers are violent in their numerous articles regarding this without ever mentioning any violence from those that support their view; examples of these organizations include the National Abortion Federation, and Planned Parenthood (4, 5).

Pro-Abortion Violence?

The anti-abortion side of the debate has often answered by both refuting much of the claims of violence and/or accusing the other side of just as much or more violence committed. One such example is of Human Life International's website ProChoiceViolence.com in which they show a "documented more than 8,519 acts of violence and illegal activities by pro-abortionists" (6). Another example of a pro-life organization accusing the other side of violence is of the American Life League (ALL) in their story "Pro-Abortion Violence on Rise After Media Build Up, ALL Reports" (7). My conclusion is that violence is coming from both sides of the debate.

My experience with abortion-related violence has been quite plentiful although I have not protested often. I have only experienced violence from those opposing my pro-life viewpoint. When I protested with fellow protesters near a beach in Southern California there were people cussing in my face as they walked by and others who were throwing things at me as they drove by. When I protested at an abortion clinic in the Inland Empire, CA there were people cussing at me as they stopped at the nearest traffic light. When I had a bumper sticker that read "Abortion is Murder" I had at least one instance a month of people driving next to me and yelling profanities at me and even wishing that I was dead. When I protested at another abortion clinic in Downtown Riverside, CA there was a driver of biomedical-waste who said that he wanted to beat me up.

Most recently, I have been debating the abortion topic with a blogger named OperationCounterStrike. Through this persons profile this individual says that I am a murderer because of what I believe: "ALL right-to-lifers are murderers." (8) Furthermore, this person has called for the death of Phill Kline, Eric Rucker, and a blogger named Rick (8a, 8b). I'm sure that there are other instances of this individual encouraging violence (the same violence this person supposedly condemns).

Violence is from Both Sides?

What is true in reality is that there are numerous examples of those from both sides of the debate committing violence. What is important in this debate? Condemn any form of violence from anyone no matter what is their belief. As an aside, it is also important to condemn the restriction of the right to peaceful free speech and assembly.

Violence in unacceptable. The way to change the hearts and minds in this country is through peaceful protest. This is the way that I have protested. Further, I encourage everyone to know the facts of the abortion debate rather than to be following strictly the emotional aspect! I also encourage everyone to share their views peacefully and fully in as many ways as possible. A national dialog about the facts of abortion is very long overdue. The truth is that the most violent thing that is happening today is the death of innocent unborn children.

(1) Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (religioustolerance.org) as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(2) Department of Homeland Security, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," published April 7, 2009. PDF DOWNLOAD
(3) Colb, Sherry, "Abortion Clinic Violence: Is Pro-Life Murder an Oxymoron?" published on January 9, 2008 as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(4) National Abortion Federation, "Anti-Abortion Violence" as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(5) Planned Parenthood, "Creating Healthy Responses to Hatred and Violence" as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(6) Human Life International, ProChoiceViolence.com Home Page as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(7) Walker, Katie, "Pro-Abortion Violence on Rise After Media Build Up, ALL Reports" published on July 2, 2009 as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(8) OperationCounterStrike, Profile as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(8a) OperationCounterStrike, "Don't investigate him; kill him" published on September 23, 2009 as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(8b) OperationCounterStrike, "Euthanise this geezer" published on September 1, 2009 as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK

Nursing and Abortion: Compatible?

2009-12-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

I am currently a new graduate from Registered Nursing school. Nursing is considered one of the most compassionate careers to be a part of. Why? The reason is because nurses have great opportunities to heal and help patients physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Indeed, the nursing profession is consistently one of the highest respected professions in the United States (1).

Since many nurses do indeed assist in therapeutic/elective abortions throughout the United States, it is arguable whether the current nursing establishment would have anything against the practice. However, what is the intention of the profession? How does the foundation of nursing, which nurses continue to be encouraged to follow, relate to the topic of abortion? If there is any indication of what the framework of nursing is look no further than the Florence Nightingale Pledge. This pledge was written 1893 by Lystra Gretter in honor of Florence Nightingale and is considered to be a modification from the Hippocratic Oath that physicians recite, although their oath has been modified throughout the years.

The Florence Nightingale Pledge is what I recited at my graduation ceremony from vocational nursing school (the nursing pledge from registered nursing school was altered somewhat). What does this pledge mean to me and the nursing profession as a whole in relation to therapeutic/elective abortion? Should nurses be involved in therapeutic/elective abortion?

I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug (2).

It is the responsibility of the nurse to not do anything harmful to patients. Who are patients? A patient is any "individual awaiting or under medical care and treatment" (3). Then, reason asks, who is an individual or human being? For many in the abortion debate, this has been a perplexing question. If highly subjective opinions were not considered then the word individual would include everyone from the moment of conception (refer to Abort73.com's article regarding the zygote).

Since "no harmful drug" can be administered knowingly then it matters if the unborn is a human being or individual. Since the word "individual" includes the zygote, embryo, and fetus then no drug should ever be administered that purposely kills these individuals. In today's practice, nurses do administer or aid in the administration of medications and agents that harm and, ultimately, kill the unborn individual.

Some surgical abortion procedures require administration of specific medications or fluids. Prostaglandin labor induction abortions (past 20 weeks gestation) can include the use of oxytocin, misoprostol, dinoprostone, among others (4)(5a). Saline abortion (past 20 weeks gestation, although today this form of abortion is rare) involves the use of injecting a fluid highly concentrated in sodium chloride into the amniotic sac thus killing the unborn individual (5a). Another method of later term abortion is "intra-amniotic or intrafetal digitalis" (a medication which can indeed be lethal to adults as well) (5b)(6). Mifepristone (RU-486), and methotrexate in combination with misoprostol are ways to accomplish a medical abortion (which is suggested to work "up to day 49 of pregnancy and regimens up to day 63 are effective as well") (5a).

I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care (2).

The standard of the profession is caring for ALL patients. Aiding the physician does not mean to do anything that the physician tells you to do. The care of patients come first and foremost. The unborn have consistently been considered patients in the medical field. "...fetal patients may well be considered the 'best' patients by medical workers" as written by Monica Casper in the book The Making of the Unborn Patient (7). In the past, the unborn have undeniably been considered patients by the medical establishment.

Thus, since it is established that the individual is a defined as a separate creature from other individuals, the unborn is certainly classified as one. Furthermore, nurses have an obligation to protect all patients, who are all individuals, from harm; this includes the unborn. The conclusion is that the unborn patient should not be harmed. Rather, the unborn patient should be aided so that he can be born and live a long and as prosperous of a life as possible. The same and equal consideration should be made to the mothers of these unborn patients. Indeed, both are patients and both must be showed love, compassion, and care that is necessary to be a true nurse. God is my witness; that is my goal as a nurse.

Thus, nursing and therapeutic/elective abortion are incompatible with each other.

Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." --Florence Nightingale.

(1) Brandon E., "The Most (and Least) Prestigious Careers" published on August 2, 2007 by U.S. News and World Report. URL LINK
(2) American Nurses Association, accessed on December 24, 2009 by Nursing World. URL LINK
(3) Marriam-Webster Online Dictionary, accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(4) Goldberg, A, & Wing, D. "Induction of Labor: The Misoprostol Controversy" from J Midwifery Womens Health in 2003 as accessed on Medscape Today on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(5a) Trupin, S. "Elective Abortion" from eMedicine, last updated on December 22, 2008 as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(5b) Trupin, S. "Elective Abortion: Treatment and Medication" from eMedicine, last updated on December 22, 2008 as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(6) Aggrawal, A. "Death by Digitalis" from The Poison Sleuths August 1999 issue as accessed on December 24, 2009. URL LINK
(7) Casper, M. The Making of the Unborn Patient: A Social Anatomy of Fetal Surgery, copyright 1998 published by Rutgers University Press. URL LINK

Incompetent cervix linked with abortion

2009-10-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

It has long been known that two or more first trimester abortions or one second to third trimester abortion greatly increased the risk to incompetent cervix. This link has been reinforced through my nursing education and in my own small amount of research into the topic online.

What is incompetent cervix?

Sometimes the neck of the uterus, called the cervix, can be weak during pregnancy. If the cervix is too weak and becomes too thin, the pregnancy leads to a miscarriage after the 12th or 14th week. (1) However, incompetent cervix is not the sole cause of pre-term labor and it is also not something that is easily diagnosed. One treatment that sometimes is offered is cervical cerclage, a procedure in which a medical doctor sutures the cervix to help prevent miscarriage. (1)(2) Many people who are diagnosed with incompetent service are told to be on complete bed-rest (to reduce weight on the uterus and cervix) and to abstain from sexual intercourse (which can disturb the weakened cervix) among other recommendations. (1)

What leads to incompetent cervix?

The risk factors to developing the condition of incompetent cervix does not always include therapeutic abortion. However, many do. Some include surgical procedures that are also used to accomplish abortions such as dilation and curettage (D&C). The Australian medical journal O&G had an article stating the risk factors to be congenital, acquired, and/or clinical. Congenital risk factors included "biological variation, collagen disorders, Ehlors Danlos syndrome, congenital uterine anomaly, and in utero diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure." (1) DES is "a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen that was used to prevent miscarriage and other pregnancy complications between 1938 and 1971 in the United States." (3) Acquired risk factors included "cervical lacerations or injury post vaginal or caesarean delivery, prolonged second
stage, surgical procedures [such as] D&C [and] excisional biopsy." (1) Clinical risk factors were listed as presenting signs and symptoms to help physicians consider a possible diagnosis of incompetent cervix.

The part that I want to focus on is the "acquired" risk factors of incompetent cervix. Some risk factors in this category may have been avoidable risk factors. Cervical lacerations can occur during an induced surgical abortion and is oftentimes considered a "side effect" of even the earliest abortions (4). Procedures that must go through the cervix include a D&C. Dilation is often accomplished through hard metal rods and curettage is accomplish through large metal tools which can directly injure the cervix and even the uterus. It is known that "cervical trauma may occur and may lead to incompetent cervix," a statement that my education has repeatedly confirmed (8).

So the cervix is injured in an abortion?

Illustration of the cervix, tools are used to stabilize and dilate it.

Tenaculum is used to stabilize the cervix by grasping it on the side during a surgical abortion.

Hagar dilators commonly used to forcibly dilate the cervix during a surgical abortion. Even if laminaria (osmotic dilators) are used prior to the surgery, these kinds of dilators will still be used.

A curette. This is used for D&C associated and not associated with surgical abortions.

Abortion Procedure In-Progress
Link shows an actual abortion procedure and it's trauma to the cervix and pieces of the mutilated unborn human being. You have been warned, the pictures are very graphic.

What's the big deal?

All of this information is culminated in the following quote from eMedicine: "The most common etiologies for cervical injury are elective abortion, surgeries to treat cervical dysplasia, and injury occurring at delivery." (2) This means that more children are being born prematurely directly due to the practice of surgical abortion. Not even using non-mechanical means to dilate the cervix in a surgical abortion fully mitigates this risk. (2)

How many people have an increased risk due to abortion?

Think about the numbers. The most recent numbers regarding the amount of yearly surgical abortions in this country come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The caveat, however, is that California, New Hampshire, Louisiana, the District of Columbia (DC), and New York City (NYC) do not report any abortion statistics to the CDC which dramatically lowers the total numbers of abortions in the United States. According to the CDC, there were 820,151 legal induced surgical abortions that occurred in the United States in 2005 (the number is probably over 1 million due to the exclusion of the states aforementioned). Thus, over 800,000 women are at higher risk of having incompetent cervix in the future.

Yet people get cervical lacerations from childbirth?

Yes, this is true. However, the number of people that experience true cervical injury during childbirth is very small. According the American Journal of Obstetrics, only 0.16% of vaginal childbirths resulted in any cervical lacerations. (7) Keep in mind that the cervix naturally prepares for childbirth through a long process during pregnancy and during the labor and delivery process. Induced abortion, however, is sudden and unnatural. Many people confuse cervical lacerations with vaginal lacerations during childbirth. The difference is real since it is the cervix which helps keep a woman in the pregnant state while the vagina is much more related to the actual birthing process as the birth canal.

How come I never hear about this?

I believe the reason is political. I can only pray for March of Dimes to declare the suggestion to "have fewer or no abortions to decrease the risk for pre-term labor in relation to the increased risk of incompetent cervix." I doubt that they will step into the political fray no matter how true a statement that is. I really do want people to stop thinking of abortion in terms of political correctness.

Let us pray for the women who are at risk for incompetent cervix that they may have the strength and courage to bear children. Let us pray for the unborn children whose mothers have incompetent cervix that they may be born alive and healthy. Let us also pray for health care workers to have the ability, knowledge, and willingness to care for the women and unborn children affected by incompetent cervix the best that they can.

Follow the sources that I have listed (one is extra) for further information. Of course, I do have some pro-life bias. Research all of this stuff on your own to form your own conclusion. Remember to follow the truth, always.

(1) Lo, Chern. O&G Magazine. "The incompetent cervix." Winter 2009. PDF
(2) Ross, Michael. eMedicine. "Preterm labor." Jul 31 2009. HTML
(3) Schrager, Arina and Potter, Beth. American Family Physician. "Diethylstilbestrol exposure." May 15 2004. HTML
(4) State of Alaska Health and Human Services. "Making a decision about you pregnancy: about abortion methods." Accessed on October 15 2009. HTML
(5) Centers for Disease Control. "Abortion surveillance." November 14, 2008. HTML
(6) Pregnancy-Facts.com. "Incompetent cervix and pregnancy." morefocus group. HTML
(7) Melamed, Ben-Haroush, Chen, Kaplan, Yogev. "Intrapartum cervical lacerations: characteristics, risk factors, and effects on subsequent pregnancies." April 2009. HTML
(8) Langerquist SL, McMillin JL, Nelson RM, Snider KE, Davis' NCLEX-RN Success: Second Edition, F.A. Davis, 2006, Philadelphia.

Is deceit part of the pro-life mantra?

2009-06-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

A user at RH Reality Check wrote, "...deceit is part of the pro-life [mode of operation]." (1) Are those who are against abortion purposely deceiving others? This is hard to believe. Others may contend that those who are against abortion deceive others based upon their own misconceptions. This is a fact that is a lot easier to believe; it is specifically those who are in favor of legalized therapeutic abortions that believe this slant of the opinion.

What is my own opinion on the matter? You may think that you know; actually, you do not know.

Can I write a sentence or two? Maybe I can write something like the following: deceit is part of the pro-choice mode of operation. Would I be more wrong than the user at RH Reality Check? Could it be said that those in favor of abortion purposely deceive others? This is certainly hard to believe. It may be easier to believe that those who are in favor of abortion deceive others based upon their own misconceptions. This is a fact that is a lot easier to believe.

So what is my own opinion on the matter? Those from both sides of the abortion debate inadvertently deceive other people based upon their own misconceptions!

It is hard to distinguish between the truth and lies. It is even harder to distinguish this in today's age of information. Numerous people are giving information in one way and then another person is giving information in another way. It is all given in a certain slant. The information on this blog is, of course, swayed a little by my own bias.

What do I suggest? Be skeptical whenever anyone ever tries to "prove" something to you! Do your own research! Find out the facts in as objective a way that you can! Then, apply your deepest morals and theology to those facts once those facts have been determined.

What facts have I determined to be true? The core of these facts are as follows:

1. Human life begins at conception (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)

Wow... that's a lot of core facts!!! So, where exactly is all of the deception that both sides can commit? I did mention about applying morals to the facts, right? What are the morals? They are as follows:

1. No one should purposely kill a human being (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)

Shazaam! That's a lot of deep morals and theology! And, is it in this deeply held moral and theological standard where much of the deceit comes from? No, it does not come from here. It is easy now to see where all of this deceit comes from. The deceit comes from the muddy battle grounds when arguing the validity of fact and the importance of morality.

My suggestion to both those for and against legalized abortion? Be true to what is true. Don't worry about what others think. Don't be concerned that others feel that you are "deceptive." Also, don't be concerned that others are being "deceptive," rather, look through what people say to determine reality. Do what is right.

Thus, is deceit part of the pro-life or pro-choice mantra? Who really knows? Who really cares? It is wrong if someone is deceitful but that is their own prerogative. It doesn't matter. Find the truth, wherever it may be, and follow it. All that is really required is that you not participate in deceit; follow the truth and you have the ability to change history.

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." (1 Peter 2:1)

1. The "Pro-Life" Movement's Hot Rhetoric and All-Out Lies as found on RH Reality Check accessed on July 3, 2009.

2. "The resulting single cell [from fertilization] is now referred to as the zygote." Klossner, N and Hatfield, Nancy. Introductory Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Page 107. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2006.

3. "Development begins with fertilization, the process by which the male gamete, the sperm, and the femal gamete, the oocyte, unite to give rise to a zygote." Sadler, Langman, and Leland. Langman's Medical Embryology. Page 37. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2006.

4. "A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo)." Keith L. Moore, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 7th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2003. pp. 16, 2.

5. "Although life is a continuous process, fertilization (which, incidentally, is not a 'moment') is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte." Ronan O'Rahilly and Fabiola Müller, Human Embryology and Teratology, 3rd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2001. p. 8.

6. "Human embryos begin development following the fusion of definitive male and female gametes during fertilization... This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development." William J. Larsen, Essentials of Human Embryology. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1998. pp. 1, 14.

7. "Thou shall not murder." The Holy Bible. The Old Testament. Exodus 20:13.

8. "The deliberate murder of a innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human being." Catechism of the Catholic Church. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Inc, 1997. pp. 602-603

9. "From the earliest times, Hindu tradition and scriptures condemn the practice, except when the mother's life is in danger." Hinduism's Online Lexicon URL LINK **Must input "abortion" in search box. 2006 Himalayan Academy. Accessed on June 3, 2009.

10. "Abortion for any purpose other than saving the life of the mother is not permitted." Jacob Neusner, Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period, p.226. June 1999.

11. "Buddhism believes in rebirth and teaches that individual human life begins at conception. The new being, bearing the karmic identity of a recently deceased individual, is therefore as entitled to the same moral respect as an adult human being." Damien Keown, Science and Theology News, April 2004. As retrieved from BBC - Religion and Ethics, "Buddhism and Abortion." URL LINK

Does a low percentage help you feel better?

2009-05-28T18:45:00.001-07:00

How many of those who support the legal "right" to abortion understand that abortions can be done past 21 weeks of gestation? Many people that I talk to do not know this. Most are ignorant of this fact. Then, if one is not ignorant of this fact he says "only 1% of all abortions are done past 21 weeks!"

What, then, is 1% of all abortions in the United States of America? Let's see... I was just looking at a journal article from the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology which cited that "in 1999, 9,643 abortions were performed at [greater than or equal to] 21 weeks’ gestation, representing only 1.5% of total abortions reported"(1)(2).

Fetus at 22 weeks gestational age(3)

At 20 weeks gestational age the fetal "nervous system is starting to function; [the fetus] can suck a thumb, yawn, stretch, and make faces"(4). Furthermore, many studies suggest that the unborn fetus can now experience pain: "new evidence...has persuaded [Dr. Kanwaljeet "Sunny" Anand] that fetuses can feel pain by 20 weeks gestation and possibly earlier"(5).

10,000 abortions for therapeutic reasons a year and hardly a peep of outrage from the public. Do the research for yourself and understand the horror that abortion really is. Maybe people will just continue to hide behind the idea that 1% is such a small percentage...

1. The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, (2004) Volume 190, pages 1180-3 PDF FILE

2. Elam-Evans LD, Strauss LT, Herndon J, Parker WY, Whitehead S, Berg CJ. Abortion surveillancedUnited States, 1999. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2002;51:1-28

3. Retrieved from "A Woman's Right to Know" on 5/28/2009 URL LINK Photograph by Lennart Nilsson URL LINK

4. WebMD, Fetal Development Timeline, reviewed by Matthew Hoffman, MD, URL LINK

5. New York Times Magazine, Fetal Pain, written by Annie Paul, Feb. 2008, URL LINK

When did Life Become Expendable?

2009-04-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

For many people that see abortion as the killing of a human baby, it may be hard to realize that there have been many other massacres in the history of mankind. We humans are all imperfect; we humans are all sinners. What are we capable of doing?

The Romans around 2,000 years ago persecuted Christians in brutal and disgusting ways (1). Today, over 50,000 people have died in Sudan due to the conflict between Arab militias and and Africans in western Sudan (2). There have been atrocities in the past and there are still atrocities in our current world. Has it always been this way?

Abortion, as a means to end an "unwanted" child's life, has been a part of society for a very long time. Throughout man's history, abortion has sometimes been accepted and, at many other times, shunned. Sometimes there are just people who view abortion as a means to achieve their goal. The following is a quote from an average citizen back in 1930, "for those who cannot be educated, sterilization or legalized abortion seems to be the only remedy, for we certainly do not want such stupid people to pollute the race with stupid offspring. The defective conditions of life call urgently for improvement" (3). Unfortunately, this kind of mindset will always be around in some people.

There will always be those who wish harm to come of others for their own self benefit. Being pro-life is about overcoming those who wish to kill innocent human beings. We must be called to action and let others know that abortion is unacceptable. Human life has been expendable in various times throughout history. We can stop life from being expendable; life can only become expendable if we allow it to be.

1. Manzullo, N. (2000, February 8). The roman persecution of Christians. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from http://patriot.net/~carey/afa/latinclub/persecution.htm

2. O'Keefe, E., & Marcus, J. (2004, September 9). Crisis in Sudan. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from Washington Post Web site: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20765-2004Jul1.html

3. Norman Haire, letter to the editor, Birth Control Review, (July, 1930) ... as viewed on Wikiquote on April 26, 2009 Web site: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abortion

Love Those Who Hate You

2008-12-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was browsing the Catholic blog American Papist and enjoying the blog's hilarious photo caption feature. A user started to comment in all caps how horrible it was that the blog was being funny about religious photographs. Due to the user's comments he was banned. I posted in defense of the ban since the owner of the blog has a right to do so if he wishes; a blog owner could even disable commenting altogether if he wanted to.

Due to my support of the blog the user that was banned came onto my own blog and posted many comments from different names. All of the quotes I am showing here were intended by the poster to be public since he used the "Comment" feature of this blog.

Hey ..., you're a total dunce. Your mother should be ashamed to know she gave birth to such a sissyfied nitwit.

You call yourself a Catholic? You're an idiot.

BTW are you a homo? Just wondering after seeing your photo.

Well, that's nice. For the record, I'm not a homosexual; I am getting married next summer to a beautiful woman. This person continued to flame so I changed my blog settings so that I would have to approve messages prior to publication on my blog. The poster continued ranting.

Next time keep you efing mouth shut birdbrain

But wait, there was more hate in my email inbox!

I see you're sooooo brave over at American Papist where you can shoot off your big mouth, but get you alone over here and you are a sniveling crybaby cowering in the corner with your "Comment moderation has been enabled. All comments must be approved by the blog author."

hahahahahahaha Which means we can post all we want and you just sit there and listen. We don't have to listen to YOUR bull**** you coward.

You're what we call a real piece of work.

This poster claims to be defending the Blessed Virgin Mary. Defending her is certainly honorable; I do agree. However, it is not right, in fact sinful, to personally attack those that you disagree with. Using silly cuss words certainly does not help any one's credibility. Thus, I feel like this is the perfect example to illustrate why hate is such a horrible thing.

The Bible instructs us about hate, "whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him" (1 John 2:11). Therefore I pray for the one posting such hateful comments. Through such expression of hate he is lost in darkness. Hopefully the hate coming from him will subside. Regardless, I forgive him and I love him.

Where does this darkness of hate lead? For many people, hate is temporary. For others, hate builds on top of itself and is very hard to overcome. For still others, hate is treasured and encouraged and will lead to dire circumstances. The hate of reproduction in our society has lead to the acceptance of birth control and lead to the acceptance of elective abortions. Many women despise their bodies. I have heard of women who say things such as "I'm so happy I got rid of my uterus" after having a hysterectomy. No uterus, no children. The hate of human reproduction leads to a hate of children. Many people will say things like "having a child now will take away my ability to have fun." Children are seen as a burden rather than a blessing. This has lead to people despising their elder family members who they need to take care of. Euthanasia is slowly becoming accepted. We need to reverse hate of our neighbors, family, children, and our own bodies. If we do not reverse this hate then hate will further damage our society in ways most people could never imagine.

I have personally experienced hate when I protest against the horror of abortion. Just by holding a sign passersby would yell profanities, show their middle fingers at me with pride, and throw objects at me with the intention of harming me. By the grace of God I have been able to respond with kindness. They are mad at me for reasons that I may not understand. Thus, I pray for the healing of their hearts.

Jesus tells us what we should do in response to hate, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:27-28). God bless the one who continues to send me hateful comments. I pray that your hate will be reversed and that you will have a peaceful life without sin. God loves you. Let us all go forth and reverse hate in our community and our society. Let us replace hate with a never ending supply of love. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). Let us bring God back into our world.

God Made Me be a Nurse

2008-12-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

When I was a child I had a dream of composing music for video games as a career. Today I am a Licensed Vocational Nurse in the state of California. Hopefully, in little over a year I will become a Registered Nurse. What made me decide to become a nurse? I certainly didn't do it; God made me do it!

Just three years ago I was a college student with my eyes set on being involved in the video gaming industry. Not once did I ever consider going into the medical field in my whole life. One day my fiance and I were driving around town. Without thinking I sputtered out the words "wonder if I want to be a nurse?" What the heck was I saying? I didn't want to say that! In fact, it felt like I wasn't the one saying it at all. Today I realize what made me say those words; God made me do it!

For everything that God does there is a reason. For me, the reason has recently become very obvious. I have consistently been Catholic and Pro-Life. Have I been a Catholic blindly? No I have not. When I was challenged by various anti-Catholic high school friends I took the time on my own to learn all I could about my Catholic faith. I found that the more that I was challenged the stronger my faith became. During my journey of faith I found one very strikingly serious issue facing our nation: legalized induced abortion. I have always known that my faith values unborn human beings as equals to those who are born. What I did not know was the reasons behind this belief.

I searched and searched for information about abortion. I looked at both sides of the issue. If my own faith was wrong regarding this issue I certainly could not remain a Catholic. I understood, in a vague sense, the hardships that many women go through prior to making the decision to remove the growing human being inside of them. Abortion was no easy decision even if it was legal and easily accessed. My question was "what right is more important: the right of an unborn child to life or the right of a woman to end a pregnancy?" In the end I came to an affirmation of faith. I knew that while many women may face hardships due to pregnancy it in no way entitled them to destroy a baby developing inside of their body. All people have a right to life. As such, the right to life trumps all other rights.

During my search for truth regarding abortion I gained a heart for all those involved in the dilemma. I had so much reason to care for pregnant women and unborn children. My own mother was pregnant with me inside of her womb! For her protection and sharing of love I am eternally grateful. I wanted to show the love that mothers have for their children to all people. These were feelings in the depth of my mind and soul. The only way that it came out of me was in my expressions and, eventually, in my strive to become a nurse.

While I was in nursing school I still had doubts about becoming a nurse. I have even had doubts about a nursing career very recently. However, what was clear was that it has always been God's intention for me to be a nurse. The clearest example that showed me that nursing is where I belong was when I went through the four week obstetrics rotation in nursing school. This was where I was able to see the beauty of life coming into the world. This was where I was able to truly show my inner-most emotions of gratitude to all mothers all around the world. The experience was absolutely surprising.

The first birth that I saw was that of a delivery by the surgical procedure cesarean section. During the procedure I saw the uterus outside of the woman's body. It was such a wonderful sight. Biology and spirituality mixes through the purpose of one organ. Biologically speaking, the uterus has no knowledge of what it does. However, the uterus has a divine purpose to nurture and bring forth life! Then I saw the baby being born. The baby was covered with blood and amniotic fluid from the procedure. I looked past these factors and saw a beautiful, perfect human being. Soon thereafter the baby was taken to the nursery while the mother was brought to the post-anesthesia recovery room. I was placed at the bedside of the woman and monitored her vital signs. I observed the nurse administer medications ordered by the obstetrician for the woman. After the woman stabilized properly she was transfered to postpartum where I assisted licensed nurses to take care of her. I helped her walk to the bathroom, monitored her condition, comforted her, gave her advice I learned during nursing school, and did what I could to aid in her recovery.

Following all that I did for her, the mother made sure that I knew how much she was thankful for my help. What I did for her fit so perfectly with my psyche.

I had a similar experience with a natural delivery. It was a magnificent experience. I aided in the advice for breastfeeding and watched in wonder at the newborn's perfect form. God is so great. I did all that I could for this woman as well. The experience I had with the first mother was reaffirmed with the second. God intended me to help mothers survive and thrive; God intended me to save the lives of unborn children through the science of nursing.

Does this mean that my childhood aspiration to compose video game music is dead? It is never dead. God has not stopped working in my life. God made me do it!

"The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Luke 18:27

The Most Selfish Act

2008-11-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

What do we think and feel about motherhood?

When I think of motherhood I think of a kind, warm, giving, and loving woman comforting me with a hug as I cry. Oftentimes I feel awestruck knowing that I cannot experience as a man what all mothers do. In a conversation with my aunt about the experience of pregnancy I gained some insight of motherhood. She told me that she felt a rush of joy when she felt her child move inside of her womb. She expressed that pregnancy was a fulfilling experience that she would never trade for anything else in the world. She also mentioned how much of a bond she had with the child inside of her.

I cannot fathom the experience, nor will I ever experience it personally.

Soon I will be married. By the grace of God, I pray that I will be a father and that my fiance will be a mother. When I look into my fiance's eyes I can feel motherhood at such a deep level. When I feel her sense of motherhood I realize that there is something about a woman that a man will never have. Unexplainable in words, what man cannot have is the deep feelings that mothers possess. These are degrees of bonding with her children. Such an outpouring of love can never be grasped properly by a man. It is selflessness that is at the heart of motherhood.

If motherhood was so magnificent of a thing, how could therapeutic abortion be so prevalent? This has been a question that I have struggled with so much in my life. If motherhood during pregnancy and throughout the lifespan of a woman was so strong and wonderful, how could so many mothers be complacent to killing their unborn children? The problem was not that I didn't know the answer. The problem was being able to believe the answer.

Selfishness has grown, slowly but constantly, in our society. People demand that they should be able to have sex with whomever and whenever they want. People demand that whatever career they choose should be as easily obtainable as possible. People demand to increase every possible convenience to make their days easier. People demand so much just for their own self gratification. The eventual fruit of this selfishness is death! If what people demand is in the way, get rid of it!

To take it a step further, if a new human being is in the way of my life, kill it! This idea is so very hard to believe--yet it is very true. This way of thinking has become part of the fabric of today's society in the United States.

I have so often looked at the abortion debate from both sides. When I look at the side in favor of legalized abortion, I have always seen selfishness as the underlying cause. "A woman shouldn't be punished with a baby." When I look at the side in favor of protecting unborn life, I have always seen concern for least among us. "The unborn are human beings and should be protected." Instead of siding with those who already have power, I have decided to protect those who have no power.

I have taken a lesson from the understanding I have of motherhood, albeit elementary. The lesson is that I must not be selfish. I must give of myself fully to others. I have also learned that while mothers must strive to be true mothers, so must fathers strive to be true fathers. As a future father, I must protect those who are the weakest among us. As a future father, I must give of myself to all those around me.

Abortion is the most selfish act. It is the destruction of motherhood.

Every Life is a Blessing

2008-11-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

The following video is a story of one of God's children. It is a story that shows that all of God's children are precious no matter what. We are all valued. We all have a purpose in life. Many times we touch other's lives without realizing it. God loves every one of us. I found this video from a blog named La Vite e'Bella when I was browsing around on the internet.

Eliot had what is called Trisomy 18 (or Edward's Syndrome). What causes Trisomy 18 is a genetic defect that causes a child to be born with multiple medical difficulties such as heart defects, kidney problems, part of the intestines protruding outside of the body, delayed growth, small jaw and head, among others. (1) Eliot lived a blessed life and touched the hearts of many people. Today, Eliot touched my heart.

Statistics show that many Trisomy 18 children are born dead (stillbirth) and many others die during or shortly after birth. Still, there are some who have the genetic condition that live into their 20's and 30's. (2) Does this mean that we not value these lives?

People that advocate for abortion for fetuses diagnosed with Down Syndrome certainly would not mind advocating for abortion in this case either. Even today's medical establishment commonly suggests abortion for fetuses with defects. In one of my nursing textbooks it states "The most common reason for undergoing amniocentesis is to determine if there is a fetal abnormality so that the pregnancy might be ended (elective abortion) before the age of viability." (3) Research of law and actual abortion practice will yield that abortion is legal during all nine months of pregnancy. Clinics will most often limit the abortions that they will do and/or advertise, however. In my own Yellow Pages an abortion clinic named Family Planning Associates advertises abortions up to 22 weeks gestation at which time the fetus can then be realistically considered viable.

Fetus at 24 weeks of development (4)

Every life is a blessing and deserves to be protected. These is no distinguishable line to determine person-hood other than at conception. Thus, life must be protected from conception until natural death.

Those who support legalized abortion will dehumanize the unborn and will use language to express this. Do the research yourself and do so with the intention of wanting to love and care for all human beings in this world.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" Matthew 19:14

1. Trisomy 18 Foundation, What Is Trisomy 18?, 2008. Accessed November 15, 2008.

2. eMedicine, Trisomy 18, August 8, 2007. Accessed November 25, 2008.

3. Klossner, N and Hatfield, Nancy. Introductory Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Page 442, 107. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2006.

4. Medline Plus, Fetal Development, October 19, 2007. Accessed November 25, 2008.

A Murder Trial

2008-11-12T10:21:00.000-08:00

THE COURT: Except here you are crushing the head of a baby.

JOHNSON: Correct.

The crowd went silent after finishing Johnson's description of how he murdered a little baby. He described how he was given money to murder this unwanted child. He went on to describe his method of tearing the arms and legs from the baby. After doing so, the baby was still alive so he decided to crush the skull of the baby to finish the job.

After a moment of silence, the judge declared Johnson to be guilty of first-degree murder. The judge sentenced Johnson to a life sentence in prison. Once the court had convened, the crowd started to murmur and leave the court-room.

"How could anyone kill a baby like that in such cold blood" asked Howard.

"There is no way to know how someone could do that. I could never imagine doing something like that" answered Sarah. She continued "I wish that I could comfort and save that baby. The baby was unwanted by the parents; I want a baby. I would have done anything to become the parent of that baby.

Howard held Sarah close to himself as they walked through hallway of the courthouse, "I feel the same way. No child should be murdered in this way." A tear went down Sarah's face as Howard said a short prayer "God, accept that baby into your loving hands."

Except Johnson was not on trial for murder. Dr. Timothy Johnson was describing to Judge Richard Casey what happens in a legal medical procedure called Dilation and Extraction (D&E) to accomplish therapeutic abortion that terminates pregnancy usually in the 2nd trimester. (1) (2) 11% percent of abortions are done past 12 weeks into the pregnancy states the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. (3) So how many abortions does this equate to in the United States? 1.21 million abortions were done in 2005. (3) This means that 137,500 abortions were done past 12 weeks of pregnancy in 2005.

Fetus at 12 weeks of development (4)
14-week D&E abortion (5)
23-week D&E abortion (5)

The reaction that our country has over 100,000 babies being murdered either in this way or in ways similar after 12 weeks of development has been... no reaction at all. Why does our public not respond to this atrocity? There are some words that may shine light on this: ignorance, denial, fear, selfishness, and carelessness.

Let us react with love and action to stop these and all abortions. Refuse to remain ignorant. Refuse to deny the reality of abortion. Refuse to fear prosecution from family, friends, and community. Refuse to be selfish and only think of our own situation. Let us start caring for the smallest and more defenseless among us. Let us stand up and fight for the unborn who have no voice of their own.

Open your eyes.

1. Concerned Women for America, Abortionists reveal inhumanity in testimony on partial-birth abortion, April 4, 2004, Accessed November 12, 2008.

2. WebMD, Dilation and evacuation (D&E) for abortion, October 6, 2006, Accesssed November 12, 2008.

3. Guttmacher Institute, Facts on induced abortion in the United States, July 2008, Accessed November 12, 2008.

4. BabyCenter, Fetal development week by week, 2008, Accessed November 12, 2008.

5. Abort73 and Nucleus Medical Art, Abortion Techniques, 2007, Accessed November 12, 2008.

Demand the Truth

2008-11-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

I found a vital blog post at RealChoice. I cannot let this post by Christina Dunigan go by without linking to it on my own blog. It is vital that as many people have knowledge regarding the practice of therapeutic abortions.

As a side note, I sent Obama a picture of an aborted fetus at change.gov. I'm sure he'd love to see the fruit of his labor. Let us pray that our president-elect will see the truth and change for the better.

"...the truth will make you free." (John 8:32)

A New Era of "Change" for the Unborn

2008-11-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

A Christian supporter of president elect Barack Obama stated yesterday "Most important never give up, never give up the fight for the least among us." (1) Let that apply to us who opposed Barack Obama becoming president. What is Obama's intention for the least among us?

President elect Barack Obama voted four times against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA) in the state of Illinois as a state senator. This same bill in the United States Senate passed without one "no" vote. The bill required that if a fetus was born alive that immediate medical care must be used to save the newborn's life. In 2002, Obama stated "As I understand it, this (BAIPA) puts the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a nonviable fetus." (2) Yet, viability is considered to be determined around 23 weeks gestation: "a fetus less than 23 weeks' gestation has almost no chance of surviving outside of the womb." (3) Surgical abortions which fail to kill the fetus at birth are most often the result of the fetus being at or beyond the stage of viability. This is what our country, the United States of America, voted for.

President elect Barack Obama claimed at a speech to Planned Parenthood in July 2007 that his first act as president would be to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). (4) What will the FOCA do? It will reinforce the legality of abortion in all nine months of pregnancy, parental informed consent laws in all states voted by popular vote will be overturned, it will require all hospitals to either perform abortions or else not receive any federal funding, conscience-protection laws will be overturned, will reverse state laws requiring that only physicians can perform abortions, the partial-birth abortion (dilation and extraction or D&X) will be re-legalized, among others. (4) This is what our country, the United States of America, voted for.

President elect Barack Obama will very likely have an opportunity to elect judges to the Supreme Court that subscribe to his ideology. Thus, the court case Roe v. Wade and the companion case Doe v. Bolton that legalized abortion in all nine months of pregnancy will not be challenged. Roe v. Wade allowed restrictions on abortion in the second and third trimesters but Doe v. Bolton gave "health exceptions" to mean something as trivial as psychological to mean "health." Furthermore, psychological "health" was never defined. Roe v. Wade will not be overturned while so many other pro-life laws will be through FOCA. This is what our country, the United States of America, voted for.

It's a new era of "change." A change that will further endanger the lives of thousands and maybe even millions of unborn human beings. How is this "the fight for the least among us"? (1)

"Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great." (Luke 9:48 NAB)

We must do all that we can to prevent this further "change" into a culture of death. Let us defy all odds and live the pure and true Christian life. Be a voice for the unborn!

Image courtesy MileHiMama

1. Barack Obama Community Blogs, Nov. 3, 2008. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdate4/gGg8sm/commentary - Accessed Nov. 5, 2008.

2. Catholic News Agency, Aug. 22, 2008. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13617 - Accessed Nov. 5, 2008.

3. Klossner, N and Hatfield, Nancy. Introductory Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Page 442, 107. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2006.

4. National Catholic Register, October 19, 2008. http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/16236 - Accessed Nov. 5, 2008.

Just a MySpace Coward

2008-10-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

I used to have an account on MySpace. I would check on it every once in a while. I also posted some information against abortion on it. One picture I had on the MySpace page was of an aborted fetus at 22 weeks gestation. Family Planning Associates Medical Group advertises in my local Yellow Pages for abortion up to 22 weeks. If the image that I am showing is of a legal surgical procedure, then surely it would not be an abomination to show, right? If I were to show a removed portion of a stomach ulcer, people might be a bit disgusted but they would not want to get the picture removed. Removal of a stomach ulcer is just as much legal as a 22 week abortion.

**Photo of a dead child from an abortion was removed by Photo Bucket. Evidently it's too harsh of a truth for them to allow too. I need my own server again... Go to HerestheBlood.com for real photos and videos of abortion.

My eight year old nephew has a MySpace account which was posted by his mother. An eight year old boy having a MySpace account is against the rules of MySpace. I reported this violation to MySpace but the account is still up. My nephew's mother emailed me and said that she will keep my nephew from being my MySpace friend because of the abortion picture. Shortly thereafter, my account got hacked into and the abortion picture got removed. I put the abortion picture back up. As soon as I put the picture up, my account was hacked into again to have it removed again. Removal and putting the picture back happened numerous times until one day I was locked out of my MySpace account. Today I found out that my MySpace account was deleted by the person who hacked into my account.

On my MySpace page I asked the individual hacking into my account to discuss the abortion topic with me. Instead, this person decided to remain a coward and remain silent. Just because of one photo my privacy and free speech were violated.

This ordeal is actually why I started this blog. Let us pray that this account does not get hacked into either. It is wrong to forcefully silence a person based upon a belief. The person who hacked into my MySpace account could have decided to block the URL so that my nephew could not go to it. Instead, they decided to fully attack me. This shows the weakness, fear, and denial that pro-choice people have in their hearts. It truly is sad.

The Right Choice

2008-10-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

You are presented with two choices. The choice is very hard for you to make. One of the choices is encouraged by your conscience, family, and education. The other choice is encouraged by how hard your current situation is, the resolution to the problem, and what many of your friends tell you. The choice is whether or not you should start using dangerous hallucinogenic drugs.

Your conscience tells you that using this drug is wrong, your family has always told you to stay away from it, and your education has told you about all of the bad things that can happen with drug use. You reason with yourself. Your friends have told you that it will make you feel better. You have been going through so much stress in your life; you just need to have an escape from your life and current situation.

Many women face a similar choice, but on an entirely different issue. The choice is abortion. Many times women are unsure if abortion is the right choice to end their unexpected pregnancy. In the United States, "approximately half of unintended pregnancies in the U.S. result from a contraceptive method failure." (1) By what they are told, abortion is a woman’s choice. The abortion will end their worry and allow them to have an escape from their current situation. Many women feel trapped and come to the conclusion that abortion is the only way out of their predicament.

While the reasons for doing drugs and for having an abortion are both oftentimes very real and legitimate, does it make those things right? When someone is truly trying to do what is right, is any choice acceptable?

Some choices are considered wrong and are discouraged in our society. One way that choices are discouraged is through law. Dangerous hallucinogenic drugs are illegal in an attempt to reduce the amount of people who use them. Society has determined, through research, previous experiences, and morals that these drugs should not be allowed in their country. Other choices that are regulated by laws include certain sexual acts, robbery, murder, extortion, perjury, and even how to drive a car and walk around public streets. Laws are created by those representing the people who believe which choices are right and wrong. These laws do not guarantee the eradication of such acts; the laws aid in the reduction of them.

Is abortion considered a wrong choice in the United States of America? An ABC News/Washington Post poll asked if abortion should be legal altogether or if it should be regulated in some way. 22% of those polled believed that abortion should legal in all cases while 76% believed that abortion should be at least illegal in certain situations. Altogether, 44% stated that abortion should be illegal in most cases and in all cases combined. (2)

With so many people believing that abortion should be at least illegal in some circumstances, is there law to reflect this belief? No. Seven out of the nine Supreme Court justices voted in the case Roe v. Wade, alongside the Doe v. Bolton decision, to legalize abortion in all nine months of pregnancy in 1973.

The case of Roe v. Wade states that abortion can occur without regulation in the first trimester, that the mother’s health in the second month is the only issue regulating abortion in the second trimester, and that abortions in the third trimester can be regulated except “for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.” (3)

The case Roe v. Wade would have allowed some abortions in the third trimester to be illegal. Unfortunately, Doe v. Bolton extended the clause of regulation in exception of the mother’s health to also include “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and woman’s age.” (4) Thus, even emotional hardship in a pregnancy renders abortion legal in all nine months of pregnancy, as long as a physician determines this emotional hardship. Late term abortions are commonly held within hospitals while earlier abortions are done in medical clinics.

Since Supreme Court decisions can only be overturned by itself, the 76% in our country who wish that abortion is illegal in at least some circumstances have been forced to accept legal abortion virtually unregulated in all nine months of pregnancy. Was this a choice that the United States decided? No. It was a choice that nine Supreme Court Justices decided. Was it the right choice?

The choice of the seven Supreme Court Justices that legalized abortion in all nine months of pregnancy was based upon two premises. The first premise was that zygotes, embryos, and fetuses are not human persons. The second premise was that a woman has a "right to privacy" in the United States Constitution. Both premises were based upon interpretation and personal opinion. If the first premise can be proven wrong, then there is no basis for the second. Thus, the question that must be asked is are unborn human beings human persons?

Most people, if not all, recognize that once a child is born he is certainly a human person. Today's law enacts the ideology that personhood is only recognized at birth. Some people attest that this is only point in which we can assign personhood to a new human being. Most people know that, in normal circumstances, a baby is born 40 weeks gestational age (after the pregnant woman's last menstrual period). (5) Does this mean that a baby born at 36 weeks is not a human person? Most would consider this reasoning abominable! Yet the baby is 4 weeks younger than the one born at 40 weeks. A fetus still within the womb at 38 weeks can still be legally destroyed prior to birth. So if a marker of personhood cannot be made at birth, then where can it be made?

There are those that believe that viability, the ability of a fetus to live outside of the womb, should be the marker of personhood. Has this timetable of viability remained constant? A book arguing in favor of abortion, written by Solinger, openly admitted that "fifty years go [viability] was reached after approximately thirty-four weeks' of gestation." Furthermore, the author stated "so that today, in some cases, a fetus of twenty-seven or twenty-eight weeks gestation can be rendered viable" due to medical advances. (6) According to the nursing curriculum written by Klossner "a fetus less than 23 weeks' gestation has almost no chance of surviving outside of the womb" rather than an age less than twent-seven or twenty-eight as Solinger claims. (7) Family Planning Associates, a company that provides abortions, advertises in the Verizon Yellow Pages abortions up to twenty-two weeks' gestation in their clinics. Yet there is a chance, albeit very small, that a twenty-two week fetus could survive outside of the womb. My own neice was born years ago at between twenty-two and twenty-four weeks gestation who is today alive and well. So if a marker of personhood cannot be made at viability, then where can it be made?

Still others claim that fertilization, the moment at which the spermatozoa and ovum join to begin pregnancy, is the marker of personhood. A book titled Langman's Medical Embryology states "the main results of fertilization are as follows: restoration of the diploid (23 and 23 is 46) number of chromosomes...determination of the sex of the new individual...[and] initiation of cleavage." (8) Notice how the authors decided to use the term "new individual" when referring the newly fertilized ovum, now termed zygote. (7) The fertilized offspring zygote is a seperate entity and will continue to always be. So is fertilization where the marker of personhood be made? There is no other moment in human development that can come close.

1. American College of Gynecology, http://www.acog.org/departments/dept_notice.cfm?recno=18&bulletin=1084. 2008.

^{2. ABC News/Washington Post Poll.}^{Aug. 19-22, 2008}^.

^{3. Justia.com, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), http://supreme.justia.com/us/410/113/case.html.}

^{4. Justia.com, Doe v.}^Bolton^{, 410}^U.S.^(1973), ^{http://supreme.justia.com/us/410/179/case.html.}

5. Marieb, Elaine. Human Anatomy and Physiology 6th Edition. Page 1131. Pearson Education, 2004.

6. Solinger, Rickie. Pregnancy and Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics in America. Page 19. NYU Press, 2005.

7. Klossner, N and Hatfield, Nancy. Introductory Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Page 442, 107. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2006.

8. Sadler, Langman, and Leland. Langman's Medical Embryology. Page 37. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2006.