Kudos to Congressman Mike Pence for his work to defund Planned Parenthood

(Dave's letter to the Editor)

Dear Editor,

Kudos to Congressman Mike Pence for his work to defund Planned Parenthood. The American people have spoken and according to a CNN poll, reject taxpayer funded abortion 61% to 37%. ¹

Contrary to claims made in the puff piece submitted by board chair Deborah Simon, Planned Parenthood is a substandard health care center for women. Just ask former Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson. Ms. Johnson has stated, "Planned Parenthood is an organization that does not provide quality health care. Our tax money should go to organizations that provide comprehensive care to women, men, and children. There are better uses of our money. Planned Parenthood provides shabby, limited health care. Why would we want women to get some health care when they can go to a different clinic, other than Planned Parenthood, and receive total health care? "²

We hear over and over that without Planned Parenthood to provide birth control, more women will get pregnant and have more abortions. Such claims are tiresome and simply untrue. Lack of knowledge and the lack of available contraception are not the main reasons women get abortions. In January 2011, the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute reported that only 8 percent of women who have abortions never used birth control. Further, they found that 54 percent of women who had abortions had used contraception in the month they got pregnant.³ Part of Planned Parenthood's stated mission is "to prevent unplanned pregnancy." Clearly they are failing in this regard by their own standard. Does it make sense to reward such incompetence with continued funding? Am I the only one who finds it sick and demented that they get paid between $350 and $950⁴ to provide what they call the "solution"?

Like 61% of Americans I'm pro-choice on taxpayer-funded abortion. I choose not to pay for it and believe others should have that right as well. Who is Planned Parenthood to stand between a taxpayer and their wallet?

Congressman Pence is right. Taxpayers should not be forced to fund abortion.

Respectfully submitted,

Sources:

¹ CNN Poll (18 November 2009) http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-18/politics/abortion.poll_1_public-option-abortion-issue-health-insurance?_s=PM:POLITICS

² Abby Johnson interview by Kathryn Jean Lopez (http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/259954/deadly-domino-effect-kathryn-jean-lopez)

³ Guttmacher Institute: "Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States" (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html)

⁴ Planned Parenthood: "What Happens During an Abortion" (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/abortion/in-clinic-abortion-procedures-4359.asp)

SUPPORT IHOP - who is locally supporting Crisis Pregnancy Centers!

Participating IHOP restaurants will offer a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to customers from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday (March 1) as part of National Pancake Day. Donations for Crisis Pregnancy Centers are requested.

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110223/FEAT0111/302239951/1011/FEAT

Looks like nationally they’re supporting “Children’s Miracle Network and other local charities”. I just spoke with Mike who is the manager at the Lima Road location. He confirmed contributions are being encouraged for A Hope Center (Crisis Pregnancy Center). Mike confirmed this is for all three locations here in Fort Wayne:

IHOP #5465
15335 W. Washington Ctr. Rd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46825-4144
260-490-4467

Restaurant Website

IHOP #1245
4403 Coldwater Road
FORT WAYNE, IN 46825-5522
260-483 8435
Restaurant Website

IHOP #318 6839 West Jefferson Blvd. FORT WANE, IN 46804-6211 260-432-9040

Sun - Thu 6am - 10pm / Fri & Sat 24 hrs

Restaurant Website

Please spread the word and be sure to thank them for supporting life!

see also:

About National Pancake Day

http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/pancake-day-details.html

March 1, 2011

Since beginning its National Pancake Day celebration in 2006, IHOP has raised more than $5.35 million to support charities in the communities in which it operates. While IHOP's National Pancake Day typically takes place on Shrove Tuesday, this year, the company will host its free pancake event one week earlier on Tuesday, March 1 to build buzz and excitement prior to Shrove Tuesday. With your help, we hope to raise $2.3 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities!

Known also as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, National Pancake Day dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products...hence the name Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday.

Dave's response to the Journal Gazette abortion editorial

Bishop Rhoades responded in the Journal Gazette to a recent editorial about abortion. http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110204/EDIT05/302049994/1021/EDIT

Dave responded to the same editorial below :

Dear Editor,

Your January 26 editorial, “A back-alley reminder,” made the common assertion, “[w]hen safe, legal abortions are no longer available, the horrific back-alley abortions that preceded Roe v. Wade will return.” The editorial staff appears to have fallen prey to and, perhaps unintentionally, perpetuates the lies of the early abortion movement, specifically the myths regarding back-alley abortions.

The co-founder of NARAL, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, now freely confesses that his group’s members lied to gain media attention. “We simply fabricated the results of fictional polls” he stated. “We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60 percent of Americans were in favor of permissive abortion…We aroused enough sympathy to sell our program of permissive abortion by fabricating the number of illegal abortions done annually in the U.S. The actual figure was approaching 100,000 but the figure we gave to the media repeatedly was 1,000,000.”

Dr. Nathanson has acknowledged that leaders of the early movement grossly exaggerated claims about women dying in back-alley abortions, that the vast majority of abortions performed prior to 1973 were not done with coat hangers in back alleys, as abortion activists frequently insist. Rather, they were done by unscrupulous doctors who couldn’t make a legitimate living. Nevertheless, NARAL's lies continued. He explained,

"Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public. [Prior to Roe v. Wade] the number of women dying from illegal abortions was around 200-250 annually. The figure we constantly fed to the media was 10,000. These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans, convincing many that we needed to crack the abortion law. "

The abortion debate has suffered with enough hyperbole. We must insist that both sides back up emotionally charged statements with facts. Future generations deserve no less.

Sources:

Confession of Bernard Nathanson, MD - http://www.aboutabortions.com/Confess.html
Wikipedia - Bernard Nathanson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Nathanson
NARAL & Dr. Bernard Nathanson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-FpJMq_gAY

Respectfully submitted,

David A. MacDonald