Planned Parenthood Honors Republicans
Winners of the 1998 "Responsible
Choices Award" are
pro-abortion Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), and
Robert Bradner, top aide to Rep.
John Porter (R-IL). Mr. Porter is chairman of the powerful House
Appropriations Committee, a position to
which he was appointed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The award
honors individuals who provide
exemplary leadership in Congress supporting the goals of the Planned
Parenthood Responsible Choices Action
Agenda: preventing unintended pregnancy [contraceptive/abortion-causing
drugs and devices], improving the
quality of reproductive health care [abortion counseling and referral],
and ensuring access to abortion [Planned
Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortion in America].
(Planned Parenthood News Advisory, 6/8/98)
What the Polls are Telling Us
Two recent Wirthlin polls commissioned by Family Research Council reveal:
- 61% of the adults interviewed disagree that abortion should be legal
after fetal brain waves are detected.
- 58% agree that abortion should not be permitted after the fetal hearbeat has begun.
- Only 21% believe that abortion should be legal for any reason during the first six months of pregnancy.
- Only 9% feel abortion should be legal at any time during pregnancy and for any reason.
- 57% of Americans describe their own personal position on abortion as
pro-life.
- Most Adults (53%) believe that abortion has hindered the relationships between men and women. 58 percent
of women and 48 percent of men agree.
- Most Americans (78%) strongly agree that women who have had abortions
experience emotional trauma,
such as grief and regret.
- Most Americans (70%) believe that legal abortion is not necessary for
women to pursue various educational
and career goals. (FRC News Release, 1/20/98)
Gary Bauer’s Washington Update, 1/21/98, said this: "USA Today reports
there has been a dramatic
drop in the number of Americans who support abortion under any
circumstances. Here are the greatest shifts:
- Democratic women: support dropped from 40 percent in 1994-95 to 26
percent in 1996-97.
- Liberals: support dropped from 52 percent to 37 percent.
- Liberal-moderate Republican women: support dropped from 40 percent to
25 percent. At this point, no
pro-life politician has any excuse for failing to speak boldly on the
issue."
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Health Department released 1996 abortion
statistics which show a decrease in
the number of abortions performed in PA. The figures show a drop of
2.7% in 1996. There were 38,004
abortions performed in the state in 1996, a decrease of 1,046 from the
1995 total of 39,050. The 1996 figure
represents a 42.2 percent decrease from the highest yearly total of
65,777 abortions performed in 1980,
according to the report. Pro-life leader Marlene Wohleber points out
however, that late-term abortions and
those committed in doctor’s offices are under-reported in Pennsylvania.
Of course, there is no reporting of
very-early abortions committed through abortion-causing drugs
camouflaged as "contraceptives."
South Carolina Bans Assisted Suicide
Governor David Beasley has
signed a statewide ban on assisted
suicide. Doctors, nurses and pharmacists who help patients commit
suicide could be convicted of a felony,
sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $100,000. Offenders also
would have their licenses or certifications
revoked. Doctors who withhold treatment or life-prolonging procedures
at the legal request of the patient would
not violate the law. And giving drugs, like painkillers, without aiming
to cause death would not constitute
assisted suicide. (The State, 6/11/98)
