The HHS Mandate: A Pro-Life Perspective

It took me a while to figure out how to write about the recent HHS mandate solely from a pro-life perspective.

The controversial mandate generally brings up discussion about religious liberty, especially in regards to the Catholic Church and its teachings on contraception. While I believe religious freedom is very important, this is not a topic I can write about in this blog as it is a pro-life blog and not a religious blog.

So should the pro-lifer be directly offended by the HHS mandate, regardless of her religion or lack thereof? Yes. And the reason, in one word, is: abortifacients.

The HHS mandate would allow for employees to demand coverage for contraceptive pills that could result in the death of a human embryo. This is offensive, regardless as to whether the employer is Catholic or not. As pro-lifers, we are confident in our belief that human life begins at the moment of conception. We consider any intentional harm done to the human organism after this point to be immoral, an act of violence against a human person.

This mandate is not only offensive to anyone with respect for religious freedom, it is offensive to the dignity of humanity itself.

I encourage everyone to sign the petition in protest to this mandate. For the petition and more information, visit: www.stophhs.com.

SFL Blog Hijacked!

Alright, who changed the blog design to that ugly "dynamic view"? Fess up! (It can only be one of about eight people.)




P.S. Did I mention that it was ugly?


P.P.S. Dear Culprit, I apologize if my aesthetic preferences differ from yours...

Komen and the Daily: Too many lies to count!

It's time for a lesson in Lying 101

Introducing...Planned Parenthood's 3 Steps to Getting YOU to Believe an Outrageous Lie:

1. Keep it short.
2. Keep it simple.
3. Keep repeating it.

For example:

Only 3 percent of our services are abortions.
Only 3 percent.
3 percent
3 percent!
THREE PERCENT!!!!
Got that? Only 3 percent are abortions.

There. You believe us now? Good.

Case in point, today's Michigan Daily Op-ed. Here's our emphasis and [comments].

Last week, amid public outcry [and rejoicing!], the breast cancer foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure reversed its decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. The foundation’s initial decision to pull funding elicited much opposition and reignited the political debate over abortion. While it’s good that Komen ultimately reversed its decision, this was only one in a series of attacks on Planned Parenthood [the more the merrier!]. Conservative groups need to stop making Planned Parenthood the face of abortion [um...maybe that's because it is] and attacking its programs, many of which provide essential health-related services to women.

Komen announced its plans to cut funding for Planned Parenthood on Jan. 31, citing a policy that forbids donations to groups under investigation. The decision elicited public opposition and was criticized for being politically motivated. In the aftermath of the announcement, Planned Parenthood received an outpouring of support via social media outlets and it raised more than $3 million. [For what it's worth, Komen's donations just happened to increase by 100 percent following the announcement. Not too shabby...] Caving to public pressure, Komen reversed its decision on Feb. 3 and apologized to Planned Parenthood. [Not exactly.]

Planned Parenthood is unfairly targeted by anti-abortion groups. Only 3 percent of its health services are abortion-related. [Lying 101! I don't know about you, but repeating that number a zillion times has sure made me start to believe it. Not. In all seriousness, here's how we responded last time that misleading statistic appeared in its pages. When in doubt, follow the money!] Beyond that, Planned Parenthood provides cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and family planning guidance. These are all services that empower women and advance women’s health. Anti-abortion groups regularly manipulate the facts to make Planned Parenthood the scapegoat of the abortion battle. [OK, Daily, then tell me just who is the biggest abortion provider in the nation! Oh wait...]

Komen prides itself on being a voice for women’s health. It’s disappointing that an organization that shares goals with Planned Parenthood would resort to cutting funds for political reasons. [Excuse me, but abortion has been found to increase the risk of breast cancer. The Pill, which PP considers "family planning," is a first class carcinogen. Dear Komen--how can you effectively fight breast cancer by donating to an organization which causes it!] There’s too much baseless political rhetoric surrounding Planned Parenthood. Organizations [including the Daily] need to check the facts before making such drastic decisions. [and editorials]

Family planning, sexual protection and STD screening are instrumental in health education and awareness. Planned Parenthood provides a secure and comfortable environment for women to use these services, and it's especially useful for low-income women, who couldn’t otherwise afford care.

Health care for young women should continue to be easily accessible, and Planned Parenthood ensures that it is. Abortion opponents need to stop attacking Planned Parenthood for procedures it rarely performs. [You call 300,000 abortions a year "rare"?!? ¿Qué estás fumando?] Planned Parenthood isn’t an abortion organization — it’s an organization that seeks to empower and educate women about their health. Conservative anti-abortion groups need to understand that the variety of ["]services["] offered by Planned Parenthood are instrumental in women’s health care.

Be sure to stay tuned to the Daily over the next few days for SFL's official response...

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Issues

Hi everyone, this is simply an update about what has occurred concerning the Komen Foundation recently. Komen is the largest breast cancer charity in America. It has been donating to Planned Parenthood because Planned Parenthood caries out breast exams and claims to do mammograms. Mostly, Planned Parenthood refers mammograms rather than doing them. Komen made an announcement recently that it would not renew grants to all Planned Parenthood facilities except for three in low income areas. These three would be have their funding cut as well once Komen could find replacements to carry out breast scans and treatments in these areas. A main cause of this was that a Congressional investigation was occurring on Planned Parenthood's possible misuse of funds. Komen was planning to eliminate the middle man of Plant Parenthood. Last year Komen gave Planned Parenthood $629,159. This is about 1/20th of 1% of Planned Parenthood's funding. When the announcement was made, Planned Parenthood had an outrage. Much of the liberal media tried to pressure Komen into reversing its decision. Also, Planned Parenthood tried to encourage many businesses and donors that sponsor Komen into cutting their funding for Komen. I believe the reasoning is not that Planned Parenthood needed this money, but because it makes Planned Parenthood look good when they are involved in trying to help breast cancer patients and because Planned Parenthood was worried that if Komen left, who would jump ship next? Because of this huge pressure, Komen apologized for its decision. However, the last I heard, Komen has not said it would renew future grants to Planned Parenthood, but that it would continue with its current grants. I believe Komen was planning on continuing with its current grants anyway. Since then, the vice president of Komen, Karen Handel, resigned with Komen. She is strongly pro-life, and ran for governor of Georgia on a pro-life position.