Planned Parenthood admits "the pill" may cause earliest abortions. - FaxNotes

Feb. 27, 1998



Networks Refuse Ads Featuring Mother Teresa A 30-second media spot developed by Right to Life of Michigan has been rejected by ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CNN. The spot features one of the final interviews with Mother Teresa, captured by award-winning producer Jim Hanon just months before her death. In the 30-second segment, Mother Teresa makes some concerned comments about life issues. “The refusals of the major networks was based on an alleged policy against issues,” said project director Amanda Peterman. The media censorship in Michigan brings to mind the refusal of the major networks to air TV commercials pointing out Brooks Firestone’s support of partial-birth abortions during his failed campaign against pro-lifer Tom Bordonaro in CA-22. Those ads, funded by Gary Bauer’s Campaign for Working Families, used comments on PBA’s taken directly from the networks’ own news broadcasts, and they were still rejected. For 25 years the pro-life movement has endured an almost total media blackout. That is why the political arena has been so important for the right to life cause. Without it, we would not have been able to educate millions of people to the great moral evil and social injustice of abortion. From the Planned Parenthood Web Site: “The Pill” May Cause Abortions - Here is what Planned Parenthood says about “the pill:” If you choose the Pill your clinician will prescribe the right Pill for you. Take one Pill once a day. Complete one Pill-pack every month. Combination pills contain estrogen and progestin. Mini-pills contain only progestin. Pills contain hormones that work in different ways. Combination pills prevent release of egg. Both types thicken cervical mucus to keep sperm from joining egg. Both types also may prevent fertilized egg from implanting in uterus. A fertilized egg is the tiniest of babies. Prevention of implantation causes an abortion. Michelman Bemoans Pro-Life Gains Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) released its annual survey of state laws restricting abortion at a January briefing, saying “We’re not losing the war, but the other side’s gaining ground.” The NARAL survey revealed that 17 states have enforced three or more abortion regulations in the last year, 11 states enforce two restrictions on abortion, 12 states enforce one restriction and 11 states do not restrict abortion. NARAL indicated that the 1992 Supreme Court ruling in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey, which upheld Roe but curtailed its protections, led to 12 states enforcing a mandatory waiting period for women seeking an abortion, 30 states now require parental consent for minors seeking abortion, and 31 states enacted a total of 55 pro-life measures in 1997, compared with 14 such measures the previous year. State legislators introduced at least 405 pro-life measures in 1997, an 84% increase over the 220 such measures introduced in 1996. (Reuters World Report, 1/13/98) Dilation-and-Evacuation - The Next Target? While partial-birth abortion has received all the attention lately, “far more widely used is the procedure known as dilation-and-evacuation, in which the fetus is cut into pieces with serrated forceps before being removed bit by bit from the uterus,” U.S. News and World Report says. If people object to partial-birth abortions, “what will they say when they get to this?” said the director of one abortion clinic. (Washington Times, 1/12/98)