How accessible should abortion be?

I agree abortion clinics should be hidden, so it would be difficult for people to use them and also hospitals should be hidden from the uninsured and the illegals. What???

When are we as American citizens going to stop letting religion and racial motivated prejudices affect our reasoning. Pro-life will always exist in a modern society, as will Pro-choice. I realize that Christians don't want women to have abortions, but they will happen regardless. Clinics provide safety for the women, back alleys do not.

I find it puzzling that most Pro-lifers also preach Pro-death penalty.

Hold up the constitution. Keep church and state separate.

Whom is Steve Trombley trying to kid? There are no fewer than four abortion clinics in DuPage County--Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove, Hinsdale and Wood Dale. In another article Planned Parenthood said they have been planning this since 2002 so surely they know the situation. The bottom line is that PP sees a very lucrative market in the western Dupage/Kane area. All the talk about being so concerned about women having to travel great distances is simply a form of self promotion that the gullible, largely pro-choice media swallows without question.

Since abortions are legal, they should be available to those women who want them. People who don't believe abortion is the right choice don't have to have one. Do some research: Women have been controlling their fertility for thousands of years and will continue to do so, no matter what anyone else says or does.

Also, Planned Parenthood is about more than abortions. It's about birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. If there's a market in Aurora for a clinic that provides these things, why shouldn't we have one?

A note to Mr. Nickels: Clinics in Glen Ellyn, etc., don't help women who live in Aurora and lack the transportation to reach those places. For many women, those are "great distances."

Would I ever personally choose abortion? Probably not... but I'm very happy that there will be a clinic nearby for those who make that choice. Planned Parenthood is a wonderful organization that does a LOT for women's reproductive rights. As a former employee in Aurora schools, I've seen many young pregnant girls walking the halls, many of whom don't return to school after giving birth. PP is definitely needed in Aurora! I applaud the decision to open a PP clinic here, and will likely flash obscene gestures at the inevitable protesters as I pass by.

That's right ladies, take it from Dave Parro, receiving reproductive health services should be difficult for your own good.

My goodness...what logic.

All this focus on the fact that the new clinic will offer abortions and hardly any coverage of the other services PP will offer women who can't afford to go anywhere else. This clinic will be doing more for underprivileged and uninsured women in Aurora than all of the pro-life protesters in the county. It will be so sad if women looking for birth control are discouraged from visiting the clinic because of the graphic posters and taunts from the pro-life crowd that plagued the Galena office. The pro-life protesters already planning on trying to stop this clinic from opening need to be reminded that abortion is still a legal procedure and as such women should be able to have access to it if they desire it.

There are all the Health care facilities already availeable that a person may need. the problem is they don't want health care they are looking for an abortion mill. Keep them out of our community.

Sorry - Planned Parenthood only wants a clinic there to make more money. You would not believe how far people travel, and for what reasons people get abortions (I want to run track; I want to play volleyball; I don't want my wife to find out I was cheating on her etc...)

If people only knew the misery from abortion, and the harm it does not only to unborn children - but women, people would certainly not want abortion to be 'easy.'

Besides having to live with the decision to kill her unborn baby, my girlfriend is childless now due to her abortion history. That is a huge price to pay.

Most women have abortions because they feel coercion - from their boyfriends, or because they are scared to let their parents find out they are sexually active, and from social service agencies and doctors that don't want to deal with more people or a problem patient.

Only a month ago, I ran into a 14 year old, who was having an abortion, because she was afraid that her mother would find out she had been seeing a young man, over her mother's objections. The sister of the boyfriend, who could drive, brought her into the clinic that was 2 hours away from their home.

What women really need is help - but not help in killing their unborn child.

If they had more help and support, they can do what they should do - be responsibile and bring their baby to life. If they truly can not parent that child, there are other options than killing their children via abortion,(adoption, having family members bring up the baby temporarily, etc.).

Remember - every abortion's intent is to kill a pre-born human.

I think that our society is more supportive, more generous and more loving than that.

Abortion is not healthcare. Health care is taking care of one's health, like pre-natal services, exams, etc. There is nothing "healthy" in any way about terminating something that is natural, like a pregnancy. I'm sure the highly Catholic, Hispanic population of Aurora will not appreciate this abortion mill in their community. What a shame.

We don't have abortion clinics in Ireland.On July 7th 2007 thousands of mainly young people marched in Dublin to celebrate the culture of life and to remind the Irish Government of their pre-election pro-life promise, not to legislate for abortion.A pro-life ethos exists in our land but a small pro-abortion lobby continue to seek for 'safe and legal abortion'.Abortion is Murder and with abortion you have a dead baby and a wounded woman and society.I would appeal to doctors and nurses in the abortion business to get out and seek the healing of God.I would appeal to to your citizens to get behind pro-life activism.You need Prayer and Action to close these mills and embrace the culture of life and love for humanity.

I'll stop a second to overlook the fact that some are all about killing babies, especially if they aren't theirs.

Has anyone actually known a woman that has had an abortion? Talk about being anti-woman. Almost all of these gals are emotionally devestated, so I have to ask, who is this best for? There have been so many studies, one just recently done by a Professor at Kent State University on the after effects of abortion on teenage girls. The results were horrifying. I dont wish anyone that I care for to have to go through something like that. Preaching no sex to these kids wont always work, but adoption is always an option. Watch Oprah and you can see all the very desperate women trying to adopt. I much rather know my baby was in good hands, rather that have to live with the pain of knowing I killed my child.

It is a choice, a choice that woman agonize over and one that is ultimately emotionally horrible. Im for women, and for their health. Seems kind of simple to me.

"receiving reproductive health services should be difficult for your own good. My goodness...what logic."

I would agree, except that "reproductive health services" in this case means "the tearing apart of an unborn human child".

Supposedly "everyone agrees" that we want fewer abortions. Just how do we accomplish that end? By bringing in more abortion providers? By allowing our children to be escorted by strangers without a parents permission to get an abortion? By highlighting the few "worse case situations" to advocate for why abortion should be easy and ignore the millions of abortions that are lamented and mourned, for years if not for life? Not to mention the life that never gets a chance live.

When we start calling a spade a spade, when we call abortion abortion, when we all finally face the horror and disgrace of what abortion is, maybe then we will have less of them.

How stupid is the government of Aurora in protecting its residents? First Planned Parenthood went after the African Americans and desecrated their population. Now they're obviously going after the Hispanics. It's WWII all over again. I feel as if I'm in my Holocaust Studies class from college. When will people wake up to smell the coffee?

Planned Parenthood, a "proud" business for Aurora? Just the fact that they were deceptive in how they were "approved" by the city, should be a huge red light for any working tax payer. You are aware that Planned Parenthood is given millions of your tax dollars for "health care", yes abortion, as they are the number one provider of that brand "health care". How can they be so arrogant with our money and our children. Shame on Aurora for allowing this, may all the residents decide they'd rather have their children educated, than provided with condoms and abortions instead. The facts are in, abortion is not a "health" issue, it continues to destroy many women's lives daily, where is the "health" in that?

Children don't pick their parents. They have zero say in it. They have done nothing wrong. They didn't have sex with anyone. They are the cause of someone elses actions but they pay the greatest price. How fair is that?

Pro-aborationists claim they will lose their 'rights' if abortions end but children lose their lives if it continues. They claim that women will die if forced to conduct back alley abortions but it's okay to kill children in 'clinics'. I've never heard such selfish, illogical nonesense in all my life. One dies so another can LIVE their life as they wish.

It is kind of funny in a sad, depressing way. The child and father and grandparents have no rights...but we hear over and over again that the mother's rights must not be ignored. If she was to have the child even though I wanted her to abort the child, the state would still make me pay child support for at least 18 years, decide when I would see the child, and send me to jail if I refuse. But if I want the child and she doesn't, if I beg her to not kill my child, no one will make her carry the child for nine months so I can then have my child for the rest of my life. I ask again, how fair is that?

How did children become our enemy? How did we ever get to a point that mothers see the unborn child in their womb as the 'bad guy'?

In this day and age it shocks me that there are people living among us that spout such archaic ideology. Planned Parenthood is a single issue organzation that advocates for women's reproductive health and their right to choose. I encourage the readers from this community think long and hard about their motivations/intent/purpose before they make a judgement about Planned Parenthood's presence in Aurora. I'd hate for everyone to generalize and think that EVERYONE out here is PRO LIFE; my fellow community members open your mind for our own sake--PLEASE!

Joy wrote: "Sorry - Planned Parenthood only wants a clinic there to make more money."

Planned Parenthood is a NOT FOR PROFIT. Their mission is not to make money, but to serve all women with reproductive health care services.

Jerry Nickels-
"It's about birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. If there's a market in Aurora for a clinic that provides these things, why shouldn't we have one?"
The Kane County Health Department is already there in Aurora- easily accessed by public transit.
Heidi Bell-
"As a former employee in Aurora schools, I've seen many young pregnant girls walking the halls, many of whom don't return to school after giving birth."
If the school were not encouraging kids to be sexually active that would not be such a big problem. Maybe they don't come back because they can see through the silly notion that what was growing inside them was not a child. Obscene gestures- shows your level of maturity and care for other human beings doesn't it? BTW- I was a former student of yours. I am surprised that you plan to act this way.
Person with Comment #1-
"Clinics provide safety for the women, back alleys do not."
The notion that thousands of women were being harmed by illegal abortions is MADE UP by a former abortionist. He himself admits to it.
"Hold up the constitution. Keep church and state separate."
This is not part of the constitution, and it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that a microscopic being with 46
( 0r sometimes 47)chromosomes is a human being- nobody else has this number of chromosomes. This is a scientific FACT- not something that only religious people believe.
It is illegal for an adult to have sex with a child even though this is common practice in other countries. Should we not prosecute this type of behavior? because their religion says it is ok- so we should all let them do that here to keep church and state apart?
Stealing is against the 10 commandments, but we have made laws against it. Why? Is this based on religion or the fact that it is wrong no matter who you are? You cannot take " it is true for you but not for me" to the bank. If you believe you have a million dollars, and the bank says your account is overdrwn- guess what? You don't have a million dollars. it cannot be true for you, but false for them. Some things are just wrong. period.
ASIDE from that- Planned parenthood and other abortion service providers are not giving women informed consent- and they are covering up the fact that today ABORTIONS DO HARM TO THE MOTHER INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO REPRODUCTIVE http://www.afterabortion.info/hope/arti61.htm
Clinics have been known to take women home to drop them off at home or somewhere else when they are in mortal danger so that the clinic will not be blamed- instead of calling an ambulance or taking them to the hospital like an organization concerned with "women's rights" should be doing.
Plainfieldrob-
"abortion is still a legal procedure and as such women should be able to have access to it if they desire it."
Slavery used to be legal too. Did that make it right? Would you protect a person's right to do that? Make sure there was a slavery depot in every community? It used to be legal to beat your wife. Should we protect that "right"? Or should we speak up for those who are being victimized here? HINT- it isn't just the women.
The right of citizens to protest is still legal also- and you need to remember that. Not every hill is worth dying on- but this one is.

Im so happy we are finally having more access here in aurora. you dont know how much this will help not only women but men as well. hurray!!!!

I think Mr. Parro was correct in noting that this is an ideological discussion and nothing more. I just don't understand why his ideology has to creep into this blog. His Cold Case entry was, in my opinion, just what this blog should be...down the middle observations with an open forum.

It should not be (Abortion, Hastert, Immigration, Cross) a conservative opinion page. I can't beleive that was the intent of this project, but I may be wrong.

Why are we focusing only on Abortion. When we can focuss all the other services that they will be offering like contraceptives, std testing and treatment and not to mention confidential services. I am currently a patient at one of their clinincs in chicago and from experience i can tell you that no other non planned parenthood clinic has been more caring about our health than planned parenthood. So yes Im happy we are finally having one here in aurora and I hope they continue to have more here in the suburbs.

"This raises an interesting question within the debate over abortion itself: Is it important that abortion be easily accessible, or should providers be rare so that it isn't a convenient option?"

Accessibility has nothing to do with how common abortions are. Education and access to pregnancy prevention have more to do with this, both of which are part of Planned Parenthood's mission. But of course, opponents of Planned Parenthood always conveniently forget this.

And by the way, they want to make more money? Planned Parenthood is a Non-Profit. Ask the IRS if you don't believe me.

It is not in the best interests of anyone to have their child killed. Let's be honest about what's really happening in PP clinics. Also, why are they called abortion "providers"? Would you call a hit man a euthenasia "provider"?

Sadly, those who support abortion support the murder of a child created in the image and likness of God, a child God loves, our sister or brother.

And when you support the murder of your fellow human beings all you do is make your soul fit for hell for all eternity.

In the end people who support abortion "choose" death for a baby and hell for themselves.

Abortionists are NOT pro woman.
If they truly wanted to help her,
they would NOT take her money, KILL
her baby and send her home !!!

Spoken on behalf of all babies in danger of losing their life to abortion: (notice the middle name of the baby who was saved)

Thank God, these "saves" happen continuously. But we usually don't get letters from those who were saved. Guadalupe wrote this one, however, so that she could thank us all.

Dear Fr. Frank and Priests for Life:

I wanted to say thank you for all you have done. Because of Fr. Frank and Priest for Life for coming to Florida, they were able to save my Mom's life and mine. I feel that I'm glad you were there, because if you were not there I probably would have been aborted. Now I'm here in Poinciana living great and I wanted to say thank you! And that's why I wanted to add we need more priests out in every abortion clinic and on Television. Also we need more priests in action, and ready to save babies at an abortion clinic. So if you get up and do something about these women who don't want to do this but thinks she does. There are millions of babies killed by abortions. We should do some thing about abortions!

Love,
Guadalupe Aurora Lovera

ENOUGH SAID !!!

There are so many other issues that we should be focusing on. Abortion is a personal and private matter, period. Pro-lifers should be focusing on matters such as health insurance for children, education, and poverty.

to the commenter who said that reproductive healthcare access is a misnomer: you're wrong. you define healthcare so narrowly you leave out an entire biological system. you *do* know that the reproductive system is part of the body yet you don't think that it should be part of 'healthcare.'

strange.

healthcare for women covers a wide range of healthcare needs, and that includes issues pertaining to our reproductive system: the care of the organs themselves, but also the decisions we make about controlling those organs, their fertility and taking care of our fertility. this is healthcare in its most basic and fundamental form.

when a woman goes in for a Pap smear, that's healthcare.
when a woman gets the Pill, that's healthcare.
when a woman gets an STD screening, that's healthcare.
when she gets a pelvic exam, that's healthcare.
when she gets a pregnancy test, that's healthcare.
when she gets a 'script for Plan B, that's healthcare.
and, yes, if she and her doctor plan for an abortion, that's also healthcare. it's a legally recognized medical procedure and so is part of healthcare and without access to these things, the woman could become unhealthy. (is her health more at risk while pregnant or not pregnant? i'd argue while pregnant.)

but it's a different argument you're making if you don't think that women should be able to control their own fertility and take care of their own reproductive health in the first place. personally, i'd characterize that as a freaky 16th century idea that should have no bearing on women in the 21st century.

i agree with the commenter who wants to call a spade a spade. here's your spade, say it with me: I WANT TO FORCE WOMEN TO GIVE BIRTH AGAINST THEIR WILL.

it's quite simple; if you don't like abortion, then tell your nosy parker pharmacists to stop interfering when a woman wants her birth control. but y'all don't want that either. admit it, you just don't want women having sex at all.

so here's another spade:
I DISAPPROVE OF WOMEN'S SEXUAL FREEDOM BECAUSE IT'S NOT BIBLICAL AND MY PERSONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS SHOULD DICTATE YOUR BEHAVIOR.

and this is what your whole conservative argument against a clinic boils down to: religion.

so, let's re-ask dave parro's question, which is intellectually dishonest and disingenuous: why should your religion be able to dictate what women do with their private parts?

Planned Parenthood is a money-making machine and the #1 provider of abortions. They kill our children for cash. Abortion is murder - anyone who denies that is only kidding him/herself and is far from an awareness of sin. Every life has value - God has a plan for each human being. Did you know the condoms Planned Parenthood hand out have a much higher failure rate than the average? Did you know the services they provide and the building they provide them in are not government medically regulated, and that many people assisting the abortionist are not medically trained professionals? Planned Parenthood locates near schools for a reason - future customers who they can brainwash into believing teenage sex is the norm and if pregnancy occurs, abortion is the answer. Just check the Planned Parenthood website to see the methods they use to attract and corrupt our children. Panicked women who find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy can get a quick abortion at Planned Parenthood as long as they come up with the cash necessary. Unfortunately Planned Parenthood has no quick and easy solution for the many women who suffer physically and/or mentally as a result of their choice to end the life of their unborn son or daughter. Many women are finding courage to publically say "I regret my abortion." I hope their stories will eventually get main-stream media coverage. It is a sad day for Aurora and the surrounding areas if Planned Parenthood opens here.

This is ridiculous! As stated before in Pro-Life issues if Aurora chooses to be known as a killing field or the Killing Capitol of Dupage county it is a very sad day for them and their officials that oversee the city's heritage and legacy of its ancestors. Yes, I agree women/men do have the right to govern their fertility--- taking the responsibilty to ABSTAIN if refusing to take the responsibility to allow another human being to have the opportunity of LIFE--a God-given right!

If you people must "CHOOSE" to kill then do it with your own $$$ not our tax dollars!!!

May God have mercy on you---

Laurie Paulson

Abortion is murder. Just imagine if your parents chose to abort you!!! They would have murdered you and you wouldn't be here!!

STOP PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN AURORA NOW!

PLANNED PARENTHOOD = PLANNED BARRENHOOD

Planned Parenthood is not a benign organization. Their name would be more correct in fact, if it were changed to:
Planned BARRENHOOD. That's because if they stand for anything, it's definitely not for women having children. Oh no. Babies are are not in their agenda or vocabulary. But instead they call their services "Reproductive Health Services". Again, a misnomer, because they have no intention of helping women to conceive and bear children. They only want to prevent children from being born, aka, "birth control". And they will try to do this through any means, including dangerous abortifacient chemicals. And if that fails, they will abort your daughter's child.

Abortion is a dirty rotten racket. Yes, I said racket, meaning, it brings in a lot of revenue. Of course, for Planned Parenthood, an extremely wealthy, tax-supported not-for-profit organization, this is nothing new. Planned Parenthood (PP) is a big business. Their biggest profits come from the sale of chemical abortifacients, also known as "The Pill". PP's sale of oral contraceptives accounts for the lion's share of it's income. But in addition to sales of The Pill, PP does the following:

* Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion chain in America and has killed more than 3 million innocent children at its facilities

* Planned Parenthood's top goal for the next 25 years is to push its agenda of promiscuous sex everywhere in our society

* Planned Parenthood puts minors on birth control without parents' knowledge or involvement

* Planned Parenthood has demonstrated a willingness to cover up for rapists and child predators

* Planned Parenthood pushes pornography onto children with shocking and offensive websites, books, and literature

* Planned Parenthood is openly hostile to Christianity, and regularly mocks people of faith

* Planned Parenthood hurts women with misleading and dishonest medical information

And Planned Parenthood does all of this with over $305.3 million dollars a year of your tax money

Millions of Americans are fed up with this insanity! Take a stand and tell your elected officials that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Go online and sign a petition telling our elected officials to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

Go to: http://www.stopplannedparenthoodtaxfunding.com/

And for more information on Planned Parenthood's 25-year agenda and much other information, go to:

http://www.all.org/stopp/hoax.htm

And call your alderman and the mayor to tell them what you think of the city council approving the construction of PP's facility so near a high school and keeping a secret from the Aurora community until someone blew the whistle on the construction activity.

We know what PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S agenda is: to indoctrinate our young people with their agenda of sexual promiscuity so they can keep selling the kids dangerous Pills or if they don't work to kill their unborn babies, the ABORTIONS they will perform at the Aurora facility will. Let's not let them open their doors to one innocent woman or girl. Let's stop them now.

STOP PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN AURORA NOW!

Dear Enrique,

All the healthcare issues you named are readily available without the help of Planned Parenhood. The real issue for Planned Parenthood is Abortion and the money they make from providing them and that is why they are in business.

A spade a spade response. I WANT EVERY HUMAN LIFE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE THEIR POTENTIAL AND NOT BE KILLED.

Let's re-ask the question one more time: Why should a woman's "right" to "choose" dictate whether a pre-born baby should live or die?

I don't know what you have against your Creator and the Creator of all life, or religion in general, but many people who claim no religious beliefs still believe life is life and abortion is wrong.

THANK GOD...THE COMMUNITY HAS SPOKEN; get off your radically high and impractical horses...AURORA WANTS & NEEDS A REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CENTER THAT PROVIDES THE SERVICES THAT PLANNED PARENTHOOD PROVIDES--YOUR COMMUNITY HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!!!

Hispanic people and immigrants, legal or not

A couple of bloggers here mentioned the above groups of people, who are numerous in Aurora. Planned Parenthood specifically chose Aurora because of these groups. They also have a facility in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which has a small Hispanic community, and a much larger Hispanic Migrant Worker community during apple harvest season. This was also one of PP's devious plans. Their founder, Margaret Sanger was an anti-semitic bigot of the worst kind. She wanted to keep "undesirable" races and groups of people from having big families. Blacks and others were on her list. PP will not admit to this easily verifiable fact.

So all you pro-choice liberals who are so much for making illegal immigrants legal, just remember that by defending Planned Parenthood you are telling Hispanic people "We don't want you to have children."

It's time the Mexican and Latin-American community got involved in the fight against Planned Parenthood and their evil tactics. Join the meeting on August 16 and the protest on August 22. For more info check the Pro-Life Action League's website: http://www.prolifeaction.org

Need more information on Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood?

http://www.all.org/stopp/hoax2.htm

http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10180&search=margaret%20sanger%20eugenics

We have mothers killing their children, we have grandmothers bringing their grandchildren to abortion killing centers to kill their children, we have children killing other children. We have the elderly being being put to sleep because they are to old and not much use to society anymore. The world is going crazy and nobody seems to know why. It seems pretty clear to me. We have no respect for human life anymore. If I kill my unborn child than I can buy that new car.
A NATION THAT KILLS IT'S OWN CHILDREN IS A NATION WITHOUT HOPE.
John Paul II

God is not going to be patient forever with proaborts. They have no shame allowing torturing babies to death, killing His precious creation. Neurosurgeons who performed surgeries on second trimester babies reported that those babies can feel intense pain. Do proaborts care? I wonder if they would change their mind if they could experience just for a moment how it feels to be ripped apart and crushed alive, have the brain suck out or burn in acid. No, they do not care about God's commandment "You will not kill". They say they can do it because it is legal? Was there ever just government? Where is the first amendment right to life for those killed babies? Would aborts agree with what was legal in the past? It was legal in the past to have slaves, kill Christians, Jews, handicapped. Killing terminally ill even did not stop - just look at Terri Shiavo. Ancient Aztecs sacrified every fifth child to demons and today pagans do bloody sacrifies even more - every forth child is murdered - in mother's womb. It was Christianity that stopped that massive bloodshed of children
centuries ago on this continent and gave dignity to women who were not considered equal to men. I believe future of this planet belongs to prolife people and abortions are going to be condemned, just a sad part of history like times of Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Saddam Hussein and other Anticrists coming.

There were women who died while having abortion in those "clinics". PP performed abortions on teenage girls who got pregnant by adult men. PP did not report this. And testing? Ridiculous, everybody can get them in gynecologist or any family doctor office! PP not for profit? PP makes huge millions by sheding blood and getting more from government. Animals are better protected from killing by laws than humans. What a cry over thousands of people dead on 9/11 but how many cry over same amount of babies butchered in this country just in two days?
My neighbors cannot have a child and they are thousands like them. Adoptions should cost less and if abortions are banned how many happy families there would be raising adopted children!
We cannot call this country a country with liberty and justice for all as long as our tiny citizens are killed on demand.

Village Voice - Unfortunately because of secrecy and deception (which is typical of Planned Parenthood and its supporters) the community didn't have the opportunity to speak. Let our voices now be heard! NO PLANNED PARENTHOOD FOR AURORA!!!

www.Abortionno.org

War in Iraq, attacks on children and again Planned Parenthood with their lies, arrogance and relentless
murder of our children.

www.AbortionNo.org

God Help Us All

John & Dinorah

To: ENRIQUE

Aborting a little baby, that is, killing it, cutting up in pieces, or burning it with saline, or jamming a scissors into a its skull and sucking its brains out

IS NOT HEALTHCARE!

Some of the comments I'm reading here are extremely disturbing, to say the least. I prefer to let Mother Teresa tell you herself:

1)"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you live as you wish"

2)"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion"

3)"Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor"

NO MORE ABORTION MILLS - ANYPLACE, ANYWHERE! THIS EVIL MUST STOP!! NOW!!

Dear beautiful people :) Last summer I had the chance to visit Aurora to see a concert and it was BEAUTIFUL! How tragic that that beauty may soon be marred by a Planned Parenthood clinic. As a young woman, this is sooooo important to me. The lives of girls my age are ripped apart by the physical and emotional repercussions of abortion. It's enough to make a heart break...

In response to 'Ding'...

I once again find myself in agreement, "but"...

I fully support a woman's access to health care. That's what doctors, hospitals and local health centers are for. Abortion providers are there to provide abortions.

I did not state that "reproductive healthcare access is a misnomer", simply that in the course of this discussion, we are talking about abortion.

Let's PUBLICLY fund "woman's health centers" that don't provide abortions. If a woman's life is in eminent danger, her and her doctor should make the call if an abortion is necessary. That would be a woman's health issue.

If an unborn baby is horribly deformed or worse, already dead, again her and her doctor should make that call, that would be a health care issue relevant to her and her unborn child, which she (I assume) would be the legal guardian of.

"Oops I got pregnant! Quick, kill it!" ???? Why are we having sex in the first place, knowing what "could" happen, if we are not in a position to handle the consequences?

Women get pregnant. Somehow we have chosen to overlook that in discussions of sexual "freedom". We have been telling are women AND MEN (adults as well as children) that it's ok to have sex, just take the pill, use a condom, take a "morning after" pill, etc. When all those available options fail, kill the baby before it gets too big, becomes a nuisance or otherwise interferes with your life.

Also, I think that as a society and as an example to the world, we should be making a stronger effort to tell our men that if the woman they have slept with gets pregnant, that is his responsibility also. Have more respect for women and for yourself and your children.

Having sex could result in a pregnancy, right? Shouldn't your future children have a mother and father? It's no surprise that we get something less when we expect less to begin with. We should be having sex within committed, marriage relationships. Anything less is something less. What would you want for your daughters and/or sons? For your grandchildren?

And within all this, I have not brought up God, the Bible, or religion in general. We could go on discussing these issues within a social context for hours without even bringing religion into the discussion. Health, social engineering, psychological and societal moral issues alone are enough to speak against pre-marital sex AND abortion. We don't even have to touch on religious issues.

Sex is fun. Sex is great! I'm not against sex. I'm not against women controlling their bodies. I am just wondering how, as a society, we benefit by encouraging irresponsible behavior? Or rather, how we benefit by remaining silent regarding responsible behavior?

And 'Ding', I love your response. It's passionate and relevant. People need to debate important topics such as this more often. It benefits everyone to be well informed on all sides of such critical issues.

How have we allowed ourselves to get into a position where we allow our young daughters and grandaughters to murder their unborn children because our government tells us it is o.k.????

These are the same girls who cannot get treatment in a hospital for a broken bone, or a tooth pulled, without parental consent...

These are the same girls who grow up and are so ashamed and guilt ridden by what they did, that they are flocking to psychiatrists offices and popping pills to deal with something that they NEVER should have been allowed to do......

How can any woman actually believe that is a womans right???????

We all cry and pray that the gang murders will come to a halt, and that our young ones will somehow respect all life....But, how can we expect any of this when we allow the smallest, weakest, most defenseless human beings to be ripped apart and murdered????
Is this not sending a mixed message to our children???

I abhor war, but at least our soldiers are given weapons to protect themselves.....What are these unborn babies, who are all a gift from the same creator who created us, given to protect themselves?????

Our Lord thought of the safest place for his creations to grow for 9 months, a mothers womb, and for so many this has turned out to be the most dangerous place for a human being!!!!

We walk around proudly asking God to Bless America.....America, do we really deserve his blessing??????

No to contract killers in our town. God is the final authority on who lives or dies. Fortunately, He is merciful and forgiving but he is also just and wise. Wisdom throughout human history dictates that the unmitigated annialation of innocents is to be condemned and opposed on every front, especially on the Christian front.

Go Jesus!

What is wrong with our society that we allow abortion to continue. I just read a book "Lime 5" by Mark Crutcher that exposed the abortion industry behind the scenes. What a shock!

Abortion clinics are regulated no different than a vets office. The doctors and owners are more concerned with making the most money, than the health and welfare of the patients. Would you go to a dirty doctors office for a medical proceedure? Women every day go to dirty smelly clinics to "get rid" of their problem. There is dried blood everywhere, unsterile instruments, filthy bathrooms and floors, blood stained recovery loungers, among many other health code violations. The government overlooks this problem and just "okays" their yearly inspections to avoid dealing with it. Clinics that should be closed are still operating in conditions worse than a 3rd world country.

What about the women who die in these clinics daily and the coverups by the doctors. Our national statistics aren't even correct because the CDC (which has ties to PP and the National Abortion Federation) doesn't want the truth exposed. Doctors are even operating without licenses. They lose their medical license in one state for a botched abortion and they move to another. Most times the abortionists are the bottom of the medical school barrel and they barely passed or couldn't get into a good practice and went the abortion route. Believe it or not, abortionists aren't even respected in the medical community.

Aurora doesn't need an abortion clinic to service it's underprivliged and uninsured. It needs more crisis pregnancy centers to counsel women on their options of parenting or adoption and help them get the services they need to do so. I don't understand why someone underprivleged, without insurance or unmarried would put themselves in the situation of getting pregnant in the first place. If you can't afford to have a child, DON'T HAVE ONE!!

May God help American's stop this atrocity, before it takes our country down further.

From Jesus:

Dear children, for your good I gave you the Law. Do not kill. Among these children is a large number of them who were a gift to you for your good. The Shining Darkness knows this and he still rules your hard hearts. These very ones, these innocent ones were intended to deliver you from the despair which you now suffer. These innocent souls were intended to rule and advance this world which I gifted you, in the manner that I teach you, in my Love. Those of you who have been DECEIVED by this sin, convert and you shall be forgiven. But, you shall also receive My special blessing when you openly, in My Name, condemn this evil for the good of your brothers and sisters..

It is sad and frustrating to me to see the division here. Yes, the usual reason that a woman seeks abortion is because for some reason, she cannot bear the child...mentally, emotionally, physically, it doesn't matter. I was about 4 months pregnant and suffering hyperemesis gravidarum, and I met with a counselor to discuss abortion. It was NOT an easy choice to make the appointment, but it was the best decision I made all pregnancy. The counselor was very caring and explained a lot of options to me, including how to survive the HG. Her suggestions went beyond what my MD had offered and made a huge difference for the rest of my pregnancy. With her help, I decided not to have an abortion. Today, my son is 9 months old.

The idea that Planned Parenthood is an abortion mill is insane and ridiculous. As has been pointed out, they are NON-PROFIT. They are not out to kill babies. They are not out to destroy women's lives. They are offering counsel, assistance, and support.

The problem I see with the debate is that abortion is a very PERSONAL choice. It is not one that should be settled by the government, not one that should be settled by the church, not one that should be settled by the community. It is a choice that must be weighed carefully in the woman's heart and family.

The abortion issue has become clouded. Let's clear the haze some. Legalization: Dr. Bernard Nathanson, founder of NARAL, admitted that they made up the # of deaths of women and girls caused by back-alley abortions before its legalization. They claimed 10,000 in 1972 but the actual # was about 39. And don't kid yourself, women and girls still die from abortion even tho it's legal. But for argument sake, IF the # 10,000 was accurate, making abortion illegal would save the lives of about 750,000 women and girls each year.
Planned Parenthood, Not-for-Profit?: They reported in 2003 a PROFIT of $35.2 million. That same year they had rec'd $265.2 million in taxpayer's money!! As far as all their other "good" services for "women's health", if you look closely you'll see that everything they proclaim and everything they offer comes back around to supporting and building their main money-making business - abortion. Offering birth control to kids does what?...gives them a false sense of security in engaging in sex, among other things. Let's take the condom, which they dish out in schools and elsewhere in mind-staggering quantities...In 1999, the National Cancer Institute reported to Congress that "Condoms are ineffective against HPV" and that "additional research efforts by NCIL on the effectiveness of condoms in preventing HPV transmission are not warranted." HPV is the most common STD in the world; causes 99.7% of cervical cancer; internationally kills about 288,000 women annually. The HPV virus is just one STD that the condom is useless against; HIV is another among many. Bottom line, condoms offer no "safe sex" for anyone. They also fail in preventing pregnancy 100%, so the more our kids have sex the more chances they have of getting pregnant; and the more business for Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice?...This is an illusion designed to entice the most vulnerable. If they were truly pro-choice they wouldn't fight tooth and nail to prevent the facts from reaching their clients who walk thru their door to receive an abortion. Why, if they believe so much in choice, do they not want women and girls to receive information on the life within them? Why do they call this life "tissue", even when we all now know from medical science that this little life is a separate human being from the moment the sperm entered the egg; separate DNA, everything! It's not the mother's tissue! (Women find this out later and are devastated!) Why are they so against Parental Consent for young girls? They claim it's to protect the girls from abusive situations. Is that really the case seeing as those cases are so rare? MANY cases where an underage girl seeks out an abortion, the father of the unborn child is 18 or older. Planned Parenthood has been found to cover up this fact and suggest the girl lie about her age or his age to avoid having to report it. That's covering up statutory rape! Why is parental consent needed for so many countless other things, from aspirin in school to ear piercing, and beyond - and none of these things are as life altering as having an abortion. In none of these cases is a mother and father's help needed more! We're talking surgery here! Not to mention the guilt, depression, physical ailments, etc., that will follow in many cases. Planned Parenthood is pro-choice when it's convenient for THEM, heck w/ the girl and her parents.
So, do I think Aurora would benefit from a Planned Parenthood abortion mill? Heck no, Planned Parenthood needs to be exposed for what they really are.
Most people who have been tricked into believing abortion is a good thing, most of them want to show compassion for the woman. True compassion, though, is to offer her HELP. That's what crisis-pregnancy centers offer. FREE services & supplies, help in adoption process if it's not wise for the mother to raise her child, etc. And other groups step in, too, such as Project Gabriel, to be with the mother during her pregnancy and offer any help she's needing to be self-sufficient in raising her child. This is true compassion. It's the loving choice.

First of all...to all of you men:
How can you look at your little girls (or future little girls) and not break down in tears at the thought of her being some guy's object of lust? And, how can you stand the image of her in an abortion clinic having some strange doctor jamming instruments into her body and he can't even see where he's jamming them? Blood everywhere. She's sobbing in pain both emotional and physical. Why is she there? Because this society promised her it would be ok to have sex with whoever she wants in the name of freedom. Because no one told her she was more precious than that. Is that the image of your daughter that you want??

To all you women:
Picture your little baby daughter. YOu dressed her up and loved her. She learned how to love her little babies just as you loved her. Is this the child you DON'T want?

To all you who just don't know:
When I was a girl we had three sexually transmitted diseases to worry about. Gonorreah, syphillis and hmmm? Well, maybe only a couple. Now, there are over 30 std's and many of them cause sterility, some of them cause death. The fruits of all this sexual activity....of "being in the 21st century"....is death. Death from std's, from babies being aborted, from women dying from botched abortions, death of the family. With all this sex we have opened up a pandora's box. Contraception was devised for one reason! To indulge lust. Without it, we have to be responsible with sex. What they don't tell you is that the pill is classified by the World Health Organization as a class 1 carcinogen; right up there with cyanide and nuclear radiation. And, that it's failure rate is huge. Abortion is the backup plan for failed contraception. Oh btw, condoms don't prevent aids. The viruses can get through the pores of the latex.

Planned Parenthood really does make a lot of money. The only reason they are non-profit is because they don't have shareholders...that is non-profit. Make no mistake...they are worth millions and millions! The so-called doctors don't care about the girls they treat. They will not care for them when they botch the abortion. Just read Lime 5 or go to abortionno.org. Those will open your tightly closed eyes.

Please read LIME 5 by Mark Crutcher. It will open your eyes to the real back alley abortions being performed by butchers in "clinics" to this day. Also, the Hippocratic Oath makes physicians swear NOT to perform abortions.

If you pro-lifers put half as much energy on educating our children and providing children with good healthcare, this country would be a much better place. Private matters and decisions are none of your business. Besides, who are you all to judge others? Mind your own business.

To Enrique - We MUST judge the actions of others based upon right and wrong, good and evil. We ALL do that (even you), and we MUST. No one is judging a person's destiny, but their ACTIONS. And this is not a private matter, it's NOT a personal choice. The fact is that some choices have victims, and when somebody's choice destroys another's life, that's everybody's business! Your argument is based upon emotion only and doesn't hold water.

I have a dear friend who had 2 abortions. 30 years later she stills mourns for them. She still cries about them. There are many like her. I have another friend who had an abortion. She mourns too. It breaks my heart to see their suffering. It is nothing in comparision to what the babies who are killed feel. Their senses are more acute than ours. They are not fully developed. Their pain is intense. It is not just a baby that will not be born. It is generations that will not be born. The abortion mills are not all that safe. Almost every abortion mill has had deaths. These girls would not be dead if they had not made the mistake of going to Planned Parenthood????? No Parenthood about it. With so many abortions in the world, there are many nations who have fallen below the replacement level for their citizens. Abortion is a tragedy for both the individual and the world.

A Commandment of God - Thou Shalt Not Kill - Not a Suggestion
It would do everyone a great deal of good to read and reread Psalm 139.
As the children of Bethlehem were victims of Herod's selfishness, nowadays the children killed by abortion are the martyrs of the selfishness of mankind. In the Gospel Jesus declares solemnly: "I tell you, in that you did it for one of the least important of these my brothers, you did it for me." (Mt. 25, 40) so in each child killed by abortion, Jesus is crucified again.
Where is everyone's conscience?
In the 1930s abortion was legally a crime. Today, when abortion is constitutionally protected as a "right," most women are the second victims of abortion: sometimes coerced or pressured, sometimes deceived, always subjected to the pressures of the culture, and victims of laws that teach abortion to be acceptable and even good. The act of the doctor is wicked; the mothers themselves most often are not. Yet, they are responsible for their own degree of true culpability, as are the fathers of the children.

Dear Anonymous-

You've not swayed me. Mind your own business.

Planned Parenthood's execution in complete secrecy of this soon to open abortion mill in Aurora is diabolical in its genius! If Planned Parenthood is sincere in its "service" to women, why the need to hide behind lies and deception? Must be because the culture of death they advocate is from the Prince of Darkness and Lies. On the other hand, the culture of life is from the God of TRUTH & LIGHT, LIFE, & LOVE. True love and concern for our neighbor entails responsiblity and respect.....both lacking in those who claim to be prochoice. Most conveniently foget that the other side of the coin in choice is responsiblity. The child they kill has NO CHOICE. It is pathetic that animals are better protected than the unborn human. There are truly loving people providing compassionate help to women like Project Gabriel, Catholic Charities, etc. Prolifers don't just say NO to the instrinsic evil of abortion. We provide practical, healthy, and responsible support to both the mother AND child. It is not easy, but it is the only moral solution. We cannot compartmentalize our faith. My faith defines me personally, socially and professionally. To those who say abortion is a personal choice and none of my business, then child abuse and murder and other social injustices are also none of my business! I am obligated by my faith and convictions to live and speak out the truth in love, even if it is controversial or unpopular. Prolifers, let us unite in protest actions, support organizations, and prayer for the conversion of the abortion-minded people. More than political or social controversy, this is a spritual battle. We cannot afford to be silent or be fence sitters any longer!!!

...and as my very wise 11 year old daughter points out, the more abortions, the less children there will be....it will only be a matter of time before Planned Parenthood kills its own following for the next generation....

No woman ever regrets the children she had. She only regrets not having the ones she could have had.

There is no need for abortion clinics. Government funds should be used to provide a way for all babies to come to term and either stay with their mothers or allowed to be raised by couples who desire a child - there are more than enough of us out there if the financial burdens to adopt were removed.

Women should and do have the right to keep sex for their future husbands and for the time they desire children.

They should not have the right to use murder to excape the consequences.

For those who were forced into sex, I am so sorry you've had to go through that. Adoption is great option, but two wrongs don't make a right. I'd encourage you to raise the child and love it as if it was your own; his/her life depends on you.

Planned Parenthood is a women's Health Clinic???? Are you kidding me. How many women and children have died because of PP's totally inaccurate label as a Women's Health Clinic. Take off the blinders and discover the facts of the true purpose of PP. It is a method of legally acquireing tax dollars and killing innocent children of the womb as well as destroyig women and many times killing women.

When you speak of a womens right, are you including the frightened 13 or 14 yr. old girl who goes to an abortion clinic and has her unborn baby murdered, without telling or confiding in her parents or any family memebers???? The same girl that will carry this guilt and shame with her throughout her entire life???
The same girl who cannot get any type of medical treatment without her parents permission????

I dont know your age, but I find it very disturbing to think that any adult would justify a young girl being allowed to have such a right...It isnt a right, it is an atrocity against that girl, and her unborn child~~~against all woman......

If everyone would take a look at the aborted babies at priestsforlife.com, maybe then Planned Parenthood Clinics would not be allowed anywhere in our country......

1.) Women in Kane and DuPage in need of transportation can't take a Pace bus or Metra train to the other sites? They take them everyplace else. Metropolitan Chicago allegedly has this fabulous transporations system! Poor excuse to offer services here in Aurora.
2.) How do you know in the process of killing these children that you are not killing a great scientist, a talented musician, a renown professor, a peace-maker? How do you know that by supporting abortion you haven't already done that?
3.) It's nine months out of a woman's entire life. There are good people who would adopt these babies, who would give these babies good homes, good educations, make them useful members of society. Those children would grow into tax-paying adults. You all complain about Social Security not being funded. There is nobody to fund it because those people were killed before they even had the chance to be born.
4.) Where is Mayor Weisner? Off chasing his wireless WAN for the whole city while another abortuary opens in Aurora? Where is Alderman-At-Large Irvin?

30% to 40% of fertilized egss pass naturally through the woman while never attaching themselves. Hey righties...that is a lot of dead babies and souls swimming around in your bathroom facilities. Why don't you just incarcerate all sexually active women and let the government decide. Better yet...let's get the Taliban here.... They certainly have some experience treating women as second class citizens. I can see it now you can bring back the chastity belt. Morons!

Ok a wise woman once said "I am pro-life. I am pro my life and women's lives." Face it, women need to have choices about what happens in their lives and to their bodies. This means the right to decide when to become a parent. So if you don't like abortions then don't get one. I am thrilled that Planned Parenthood has taken the steps necessary to expand abortion access for women.

This is the first time I have ever entered anything on a Blog. This is too important of an issue to not speak out.
I am sure there are those on the pro-abortion side who feel they have the best interests of women at heart. But, face it, Planned Parenthood is an industry which deals with death- not life. With two major hospitals and many health clincs in the Aurora area, for PP to say "90% of the services will be 'nonabortion'" is at least a deception. They are in it for the money.
I am opposed to the killing of innocent human life. I can be opposed based on Faith and Morals. The Bible is "crystal clear" on when life begins. However, I can base my oppostion on the Science of Biology. A new life for an organism does not begin when an egg hatches or when the child emerges. Life begins at the moment the male genes combine with the female genes at the moment of conception. It is at that moment that an absolutely unique genome is formed for that individual, be it a human, a chicken or a worm. To say otherwise is not scientific.
Those insisting on the destruction of life say that a child is not human until it emerges from the vagina. They are allowing their decisions to be based upon Sociology and not Biology. I have a Masters degree in Biology and have taught the subject for 38 years. I know of what I speak! To say the a fetus is an undifferentiated blob of tissue, is to say that you have never seen one, or, as I have, held one, my son, in the palm of my hand. He was in his 14th week of pregnancy. He was not a blob. He was a human!

Please, do not open this clinic! Neither Aurora, nor America, needs to be destroying their own children. Mother Teresa once spoke of the "great poverty" that is seen in our country due to abortion.
Thank you.

I find it interesting whenever the issue of abortion is debated. Anyone who is pro-abortion ends up grasping onto thin arguments like "It's a woman's choice", "Then don't get one", "Mind your own business". The reason this is all they end up with is because their argument is based strictly on emotion. I keep picturing them on the floor, flailing around like a child in a tantrum, wailing "Don't tell me what to do!" There's a big difference between nature taking its course and a person interrupting what is natural simply out of selfishness or fear. What this is mostly about is to have full "freedom" to have sex whenever a person wants without any natural consequences. This is not true freedom, it actually is enslavement. True freedom is doing what you SHOULD, not what you want. Ask any former drug addict. And about those natural consequences, they'll catch up with you anyway. There are many scared pregnant women & girls out there; they don't need Planned Parenthood and their fan club to feed them these lies, which pushes them farther into a bottomless pit. What they need is the truth and to be empowered to better their lives. This is what they'll find at crisis pregnancy centers and groups like Project Gabriel.

One question - Will the number of abortions performed at the new clinic be included in the yearly "Murders in Aurora" count?

What exactly does "not-for-profit" mean, anyway? Who doesn't profit? At Planned Parenthood, the doctors who perform abortions profit, the staff profits, the CEOs profit. For the year 2005-2006, Planned Parenthood recorded "$345.1 million in clinic income, $305.3 million in taxpayer funding and $212.2 million in donations. Total income reached $902.8 million while total expenses came to $847.0 million, leaving a profit of $55.8 million"--CNSNews. Aren't you happy that your tax dollars helped a "not-for-profit" multimillion-dollar organization make a $55.8 million profit?

The ones who don't profit are the babies who are killed, the mothers who are scarred, the countless people who buy the "safe sex" lie and end up with diseases, unintended pregnancies, and spiritual, emotional, and physical damage from misusing their sexuality.

Planned Parenthood at its core is about abortion. The drugs Planned Parenthood peddles: the Pill in its many forms, Norplant, Depo-Provera, RU-486, the "morning-after pill", IUDs all have abortion as one of their modes of action. Don't believe me? Read the package inserts. They make the woman's womb hostile toward a newly conceived baby if fertilization takes place. And women die at the hands of Planned Parenthood. Look it up. Search "Planned Parenthood deaths". It should be no surprise. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a great admirer of Hitler and his eugenics program. She had no respect for life.

Do you really want Planned Parenthood in your community? Do you want the blood of countless innocents on your soil?

God help us.

As an endnote, for those who want to space their children or have a serious reason for avoiding pregnancy, there is Natural Family Planning (NFP)--(NOT the ineffective "rhythm" method). It's 100% safe, over 99% effective (more than most contraceptives, including the Pill), morally permissible, makes men and women equally responsible, and is FREE after an initial investment in a book or inexpensive course. It's scientifically proven, often encouraged by fertility doctors for the converse purpose--it can also be used for achieving pregnancy since the method revolves around recognizing signs of fertility. For more information, contact the Couple to Couple League.

Years ago I had watched this PBS program called "On Common Ground" It was a debate program in which 2 individuals would argue on a topic and a moderator would try to find their common ground. The topic was abortion. I was disgusted by the "pro-lifer", not by his statements of the how special life is, but by his ignorance. He planly stated that "pro-life" movement was only concerned about the issue after conception. Therefore, only once there is was problem.

Americans have a short term memory and choose the methods of band-aiding our issues rather than find preventive strategies. PP is a preventive organization. Will it offer abortions to those in need, yes. But it is more about preventive care and education in hopes that there is a future in which no woman needs to make that choice.

Abortion is always a private matter. It is between that individual and their faith. Their world view. Not yours. I relish in my right to choose as I do my right to vote or be counted as a citizen. Roe vs Wade was more than legalizing abortions. It was knocking the shackles away from a patriarcal society that tells me I am less for being a woman and there fore can be controlled.

Abortion is not an issue of world faith. It is a personal choice with the people involved. And who is to say that it will be focused on just he teenage population? Teenage pregnancy is the lowest since 1945. Let PP continue it's goal of helping women in need and education on the reproductive process. PP is not a band-aid organization.

Good question - In the least the numbers of abortions should be included in the amount of deaths. And women who lose their life on the abortionist's table, or afterward from complications, should be listed as such; not from "heart attack".

To all you pro-lifers that care so much about saving unborn babies, I'd be curious to know what you're doing for the education of our children and for all of those children that do not have healthcare. What about those children that are the victims of violence? I'd venture to guess that you aren't doing very much. Shame on all of you.

If Planned Parenthood's goal is to relieve women of the stress or fear of a new baby, it certainly adds ten times that in the post-abortive destruction of a woman that lasts her entire life. I see these women in my workplace every day. If it is a matter of resources, I resound that pregnancy resource centers are there to help women with the resources needed to raise their babies with dignity. In the end, abortion is a permanent solution to a temporary state in life.
Let's help give women the dignity they deserve by helping them bring their baby into the world rather than calling the baby's death a valid solution.

It amazes me at the closed mindedness of some women. It is a womans right to make choices for her own body and self. What the heck do you think all the woman of the past did for you, fight for mens rights and womens own oppression. We still this day are fighting to get equal wages, dead beat dads, abuse etc... Religion does not support womens choices either. Women have fought and are still fighting to have an equal voice in the church. Why don't women support each others rights in the choices they make with their bodies and minds. Keep in mind the number of abortions at these clinics does not compare to the number of health related services, education and support these clinics offers. Shame on all you women who do not support a women's choice. It is about time we stick together and get the male voice and the programing out of our heads. Do majority of men multi task, raise the kids, hold a job for a second income, cook, clean, grocery shop, do laundry, dishes etc.... should I continue. If we have one thing in common, it is the fact that we are women and should be able to make educated choices for ourselves and support each other. These clinics offer much more than the place to abort a baby. It offers a choice! I support women who support women and this clinic 100%.

Enrique, Your comments are insightful and right on. If more people on this posting were as open minded as you, then America would truely be the land of the free.

I vote no againstany abortion clinics in Aurora or any other place.

It is amazing that Planned Parenthood decided to move into the area in the "dead of night". Had not someone blown the whistle, they would have emerged on Aurora routinely. Why the secrecy. The whole issue of abortion being a right was based on a LIE. So we form our conciences that everything is relevant. (What's right for you might not be right for me). There is so much proof that abortion is wrong, evil and an attack on women not the opposite. Many abortion clinics have closed in recent years because many of the workers with a developed conscience have become disgusted with the work they were doing and have left. They then could not find replacements and left. The whole abortion industry is just to make a quick dollar.

Those of you who still are under the delusion that this helps the poor woman, might want to ask yourself why don't you enter into a debate with a pro life individual. This doesn't seem to be done because the abortion supporters don't have truth and actual facts to substantiate their claims. Just their 'feelings'. What a great way to validate an opinion!!

You've been duped if you think Planned Parenthood is interested in preventing pregnancy. You've been duped if you think you need Planned Parenthood for "those in need"; who ever NEEDS to have an abortion? For those REAL emergencies, we have the ER. As far as bandaiding the problem, Planned Parenthood is doing just that by dishing out contraceptives and offering abortions! Instead of teaching kids in schools HOW to have sex because "they're going to do it anyway", like Planned Parenthood does, we should be telling them how much faith we have in them, that we know they have the power to proclaim their own dignity enough to abstain! We should be teaching them about the beauty of the marital embrace, about the beauty of their bodies, about the happiness they will find on their wedding night after years of waiting and years of praying for your future spouse. Accurate education is the key.

Does anyone find it slightly offensive that PP wants to open an abortion clinic on the East side of Aurora? Does that not offend our blue collar, Hispanic neighbors? What does this say about their habits? Is this another label they want put on them? Shame on you PP!!

Abortion is the evil that will ruin the world. Pray Pray Pray!

If there were one iota of proof that abstinence-only education worked to keep teenagers away from sexual activity, I'd be all for it.

The fact is, there is NO proof. There is overwhelming proof, on the other hand, that compared with kids who have had a more comprehensive sex education, kids who have had abstinence-only education start having sex around the same time that the former group does, but they protect themselves less. Not only is it dangerous, it's creating the need for all these abortions that you're so against.

I don't personally like the idea of abortion, but until people learn to be responsible about sexuality, they will exist. Legal or not. Safe or not.

I would also argue that NO WOMAN takes the decision of abortion lightly. Of course it is a difficult decision, but sometimes it is the right thing to do at the time given the circumstances. Above all, it is a PERSONAL decision, to be made between a woman and her doctor, not by bureaucrats in Washington and certainly not by you.

Let's also talk for a minute about what Planned Parenthood is really about. PP provides options counseling for any woman (or man) who walks through their door. They do not ADVISE or ENCOURAGE abortion - they merely present it as one of many options. More importantly, Planned Parenthood is a provider of health care, birth control, and STI testing for women. You say that all gynecologists and GPs provide these services - what about women who have no health insurance?

I am most appalled at the argument that pro-choice individuals rely solely on emotions instead of facts. When you look at the kind of language used on this page - "murder, killing, infanticide, God-created" - I think it might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Think long and hard about the emotion and religious views that are fueling your arguments before you condemn someone with a difference of opinion.

I applaud Planned Parenthood Chicago and wish them the best of luck with their new health center.

Does it not harden a heart and numb a conscious to deliberately stop a beating heart??? Thank God that we bring our faith into the abortion debate......This is a country that was founded on faith and under God.....

Abortion has led our young girls into thinking they can have sex at any age because if they do become pregnant, they can get rid of the problem!! And, when does it stop?? After the 1st, 2nd, 3rd abortion?? Soon this young girl grows into a woman, a wife, a mother~~~only then does she realize, as she holds her newborn baby, that yes these little fetuses truly are babies with a soul...So very many of these woman are emotionally tormented the rest of their lives because of a decision they made at an age when they should not have been allowed into these so called clinics, and why~~because they believed that since it was legal, it wasnt immoral!!!!!!

I went to highschool in the 60's before the nightmare of Roe V. Wade was even thought of.....There were a few girls that became pregnant....Some married, and at least 90% of them to this day are still married.......Some went away until the baby was born, and gave the child up for adoption.....They gave them a chance at life.......

All of you who are convinced it is a woman's right to kill an unborn child, please take the time to go to priestsforlife.com and look at the pictures of the aborted babies...Anyone with a conscious and heart would have to agree that this atrocity must stop.....

We will all suffer for allowing this to continue in our city, our state, our country!!

Have any of the pro-aborts seen the "tools of the trade?" The knives, forceps, hooks, cranial spears, suction machines? Go to "www.abortioninstruments.com" and get an eyefull. Go also to "www.radical-conservative.org/abortion" to see the results of a saline abortion, a partial birth abortion, and a D&C abortion. Take a good, long, hard look at those photos and then come back here and tell us what a "good thing" abortion is (good for whom?). Go to "www.youtube.com/user/daisiesinmyheart" and watch a baby being aborted trying to get away from the abortion tools while its heart rate increases from the fear, pain and panic. Then tell us that you still believe it is ok for your teenaged daughter to have an abortion, without your knowledge and consent.

Another thing to remember: while many states say it's ok for a minor girl to have an abortion without her parents knowledge and/or consent (while I had to sign in about 5 different places to allow my daughter to have her ears pierced at Claires); if something goes wrong with the abortion, ALL 50 states say it is mandatory for the girl's parents to be fully responsible for her post abortion care.

Also, why can one law say that if you kill a pregnant woman and her unborn child dies you are guilty of TWO murders, but if you abort (kill) an unborn child that is perfectly legal?

I find it interesting whenever the issue of abortion is debated. Anyone who is anti-abortion ends up grasping onto thin arguments like "It's God's law", "You shouldn't have had sex in the first place", "How can you kill your baby!". The reason this is all they end up with is because their argument is based strictly on emotion. I keep picturing them on the floor, flailing around like a child in a tantrum, wailing "You have to do what we tell you!" There's a big difference between forcing a woman to bear a child she does not want and a person reclaiming their life from the consequences of an accident or rape. What this is mostly about is to have full "freedom" to lead a reasonable life without being trapped by consequences. Banning abortion is not true freedom, it actually is enslavement. True freedom is living life to your own standards, not doing what some conservative Christians say you should. Ask any non Christian. And about those natural consequences, what are they, anyway? There are many scared pregnant women & girls out there; they don't need Project Gabriel and their fan club to feed them these lies, which pushes them farther into a bottomless pit. What they need is the truth and to be empowered to better their lives. This is what they'll find at Planned Parenthood and similar organizations.

Just for the record, I think you're confusing pro-CHOICE with pro-abortion. They aren't one and the same.

Once again, it comes down to people not wanting to be told that what they are doing is wrong, bad for them, bad for society. The blinders are still on. Luckily, many of our young people can see through this falsehood placed in front of them. They've seen what abortion on demand can do. They've seen the negative affects from radical feminism. They've seen the hurt. Many more young people are taking back their dignity, dressing modestly, abstaining from premarital sex, loving their femaleness and not trying desperately to become like men in the name of "freedom". I have total confidence in our future generations.

Mother Teresa said it best, "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish" and "The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between."

It sickens me to hear people talk about convenience of abortion as if it should be like putting up a Walgreens on every corner. Maybe the long drive for some will help them come to a realization that human life starts with a heart beat and ends with a heart beat. Once a sperm and egg are joined, nothing more is added but time. Who are we to decide life and death?

Against abortion?

Don't have one!!

Pretty simple, dont'cha think?

Already addressed the poor argument of "Then don't have one". And yes, pro-choice and pro-abortion ARE one in the same. Pro-choice means you believe a woman has the right to choose an abortion = pro-abortion. And this being a woman's right has been addressed already, too.

I have yet to read one posting from a pro-lifer regarding the education and healthcare provided to our children. Instead, pro-lifers are throwing the Bible at our faces and spewing nothing but self righteous rhetoric. It is so much easier to sit at your computer and preach to us what good and evil is.

Get the facts first. Call your local crisis pregnancy center (the organization that provides REAL help to women in crisis for FREE because they care for the woman AND her baby and many of the volunteers have "been there" themselves) to borrow a tape called "Meet the Abortion Providers". You will hear directly from former abortion providers and find out their motivations for performing abortions. Do you really think they are concerned about women and about providing health care? If so, why don't they work for FREE? Many will prescribe low dose birth control pills so you will be a repeat customer. Better yet, search the internet for fetal development and ask yourself how do they get the baby out of the womb. Did you know abortion is legal in our country up to 9 months? Where you told by the abortionist what kind of abortion he was performing on you? What about the risks? Please know there is free and confidential help available to you to help you to heal after your abortion. Call your local crisis pregnancy center, hospital or church.

I have been a labor and delivery nurse for over 20 years. I have seen many women who have suffered the pain of losing a baby they chose to carry because of an incompetent cervix. Many, not all of these women, have had previous abortions. The perinatologists refuse to discuss the previous abortions despite the strong likelyhood of the abortion being the reason for the impending miscarrage. The perinatologist because feel it is politically incorrect and can do nothing to help the mother with the loss of the chosen child. Forced dilitation of the cervix, which happens in an abortion can and does have lasting health risks to a woman. There is an abortion breast cancer link which also is politically incorrect to discuss. Research monies that should go to researching this aspect of breast cancer are also unavailable due to the highly charged issue and the lobbying power of planned parenthood, and other special interest groups . Can you imagine the pay out by Planned Parenthood from a class action lawsuit targeting them for providing abortions without informing a woman about the abortion breast cancer connection? Abortion does nothing but hurt a woman, physically and emotionally.

Why dont you suggest that the tax money going to kill the unborn be used for healthcare of the children that need it????

This issue is regarding the opening of a clinic that will murder babies by Drs. who took an oath to save lives, not torture and destroy a helpless baby with no voice or chance of defending themself....

Education and healthcare are very important separate issues....

This community does not need another abortion clinic and it has been proven. The previous abortinionist in Aurora Dr. L. Myers, abandoned his practice, unable to pay for the lease.
If you go to Kane County Court you can request to view the same information listed below. I have attached a bystander's report from the eviction trial of 10/102006.

The trial began at 1:13 p.m. and ended 1:19 p.m. Dr. Myers was absent at the trialCourt at the 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Kane County.

Attorney Gary G. Picconny
Bld. Owner (Plaintiff) Aleksander Jakubowski
Gary G. Piccony
1700 N. Farmsworth Avenue
Suite 25
Aurora, IL 60505
(630) 820-8877

Attorney for Defendants
Pro-Se
Dr. Louis S. Myers & Assoc.
523 W. Galena Blvd.
Aurora, IL 60506

October 10, 2006 Judgment against Louis Myers in the amount of $20,305.48 plus cost $208.00 and $2359.00 for attorney fees. This judgment was an in effect immediately pending a three day notice posted in the building prior to eviction. On 10/12/2006 an eviction notice was posted on the building.
This timeline is based on documents obtained from court records in Kane County, Illinois and information obtained at the trial on 10/10/06. This timeline indicates that Dr. Louis Myers has not made payments since June, 2006. Dr. Myers, the new abortionist is responsible for rent, property taxes. A $15.00 assessment is added to his rent for every day that he does not pay. The current monthly rent is $3,255.00 a month. Property taxes are $420.00 a month. The judgment amount listed here for $22,872.48 was for occupancy of the building until 10/10/06 and does not include additional days in which Dr. Myers occupies the building. On 10/12/2006 an investigator went to the building to check if Dr. Myers was in the building on 10/12/06. The eviction was enforced enforce and completed on Monday, October 16, 2006 at 1:30 pm.

June 9, 2006 Affidavit of service of five day notice (terminating lease)

June 14, 2006 Landlord’s five day Notice statement demanding the rent for June and atty. Fees. Total $3666.89. Stated that lease “will be terminated on June 14, 2006.” On June 14, 2006 the Lease was terminated.

July 11, 2006 Law suit filed on the 16th Judicial Circuit, Kane County. Claim Complaint in Forcible Entry and Detainer for $7,188.78 plus atty. fees and late fees at $15.00 a day.

July 15, 2006 Order for continuance of case entered in court.

July 25, 2006 Complaint in forcible entry and detainer for $7,188.78 plus atty. fees and late fees at $15.00 a day.

August 30, 2006 Alias Summons filed in court

September 1, 2006 Served summons and complaint by Yahnke Professional Service.

September 12, 2006 – Forcible entry and detainer

September 21, 2006 – Rescheduled by Jakubowski – out of the country.

If Planned Parenthood were really concerned about women's health they would tell the truth about what abortion does to women. Physically and emotionally. (ask them about the link between breast cancer and pregnancies that are terminated)

I had several close friends in my predominantly white high school that had abortions. Lets see if any 'rights' were upheld in these situations:

My best friends mother was alowing her step father to force her to have an abortion. Where was PP then - did they protect her reproductive rights NOT to have an abortion. By the way - she went on a self destructive bent trying to forget through drugs and alcohol and has never been the same emotionally and though she has done all she can to recover her life and is a responsible woman now she is unable to have children due to damage done by the abortionist.

Another close friend was was taken for an abortion by her white boyfriends parents - without her parents knowledge. They played on her fears of their reaction and she believed they would never forgive her. This was done because they knew that her Mexican parents did not believe in abortion and they did not want this child getting in the way of their son's future. btw - 2 out of 3 of her later pregnancies did not produce healthy children.

Another friend had an abortion to hide the years of ongoing sexual abuse by her step father. That way no one would find out. He got away with it.

Another girl I went to school with had a different story. She had already had several by the time she was seventeen. It was just birth control afterall.

Is this the culture we as Americans want. Please dont try to preach seperation of church and state and that we cannot legislate morality. That is completely illogical because if it were not for morality and beliefs then we would have no laws at all. Why not murder? Why not steal? Because it is immoral and harmful. And so is abortion.

To all the people who wrote about the emotional devastation of women who've had abortions, what about the emotional devastation of unwanted and undercared-for children? I know several women who have chosen to terminate an unwanted pregnancy and went on to have healthy, happy lives and healthy, happy children when the time was right. There is no guilt for choosing to not bring a child into the world who could not be well cared for at the time. There is no guilt or despair looking back at that turning point and choosing a path of education, financial stability and a strong homelife for the children they now have. If you are Christian and don't believe in abortion, don't have one. Remember, PP offers health services beyond abortion that many women need. Though I wish women could access all health services without the fear of running into protesters, it would be hypocritical to suggest banning those exercising a constitutional right in order to allow others to easily exercise their constitutional right to abortion. However, I suggest the protesters pause to realize they aren't stopping abortion, just safe abortion.

Sorry, My Business, but asking us pro-lifers to look the other way and take the mind-your-own-business view is akin to asking us to ignore another human being being murdered right in front of our eyes. Tell me - if you'd lived next to Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, or Auschwitz, would you/could you have looked the other way, and minded your own business? "Personally, I'm not in favor of killing Jews, but I won't stand in the way of a another person's right to kill a Jew if they feel it is in their and the Jew's best interest" -- another Third Reich, here in America, in the 21st Century! All we need is Hitler and Goerring!!

It is a documented fact that child abuse has not gone down since Roe V. Wade came to be......In fact it has risen.....

It is also a hidden fact that there are many more woman than not, who have lasting emotional problems after they have had an abortion....Not to mention the hidden physical problems so many woman encounter after they terminate their pregnancies.....It would be very frightening if a woman did not feel remorse....Too many hardened hearts and a lack of conscious would indicate that there are an abundant amount of 'robots' walking around!!!!

And please do not call abortion health care......Call it what it is: Brutally stopping a beating heart.........

I think that this is going to provide a much needed service in this area. Abortion is never an easy decision, but to imply or rather outright state that this is a decision that is made for purely frivolous reasons with absolutely no forethought, is a crock! and demeaning to all women. The implication is that we are something less and incapable of making an informed decision. From the moment a WOMAN finds out she is pregnant, she thinks of little else!

When I was very young I was raped by two men who I thought were my friends. I was very frightened, first by the trauma of the assault and then by the outcome. I didn't talk to my parents, but they found out about it anyway, and guess what, they were there for me, didn't judge,and were just there for me. And no, I have not suffered from any long term damage from having an abortion, I did however have to deal with the trauma of the rape. And in the last 25 years I have gone on to lead a productive life and now have 2 beautiful children that I chose to have. So to the charge that it is emotionally damaging to have an abortion, from personal experience I dont find that to be true. While it is probably true for some woman, what is also true is that some of them have some underlying pathology that is really effecting their life.

What it really boils down to is having a choice to make a decision about something that is going to directly effect your LIFE. No one else can live this life for you. Poor, undereducated, or young woman should not be denied this choice because well-meaning, but totally oblivious to the reality of others lives, people want to impose their personal morality on them. If you choose to utilize PP, for whatever reason, more power to you and if you don't, more power to you anyway...remember, it's all about choice.

Abortion is murdering our preborn nation. Who in their right mind would approve of such base practices?! I want to take pride in "The City of Lights". If this clinic opens in our city, I will be highly dissappointed in our leadership.

Come and watch the women and young girls going into the clinic. Look at their faces and listen to their stories. Then, tell me abortion is a woman's choice, that it is for their benefit in any way.

Abortion sucks? NO! PREGNANCY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Quote: "These are the same girls who grow up and are so ashamed and guilt ridden by what they did, that they are flocking to psychiatrists offices and popping pills to deal with something that they NEVER should have been allowed to do......

How can any woman actually believe that is a womans right???????"

I am a woman. I CHOSE to have an abortion (no one pressured me - my partner was begging me to have the child). I was determined to get rid of pregnancy. I did not view the fetus as a child. I viewed it as an invador, an Alien that crawled into me and was eating me away. For all women who have never been pregnant before - PREGNANCY SUCKS LIKE NOTHING ELSE IN THIS LIFE! I mean, I have been raped in the past, and even that didn't suck as much as pregnancy did. Pregnancy reduced me to a sub-human being that could only barf, pee, barf, pee, barf, pee, and then barf and pee some more, always starving, always nausiated, too weak to walk without help, too disoriented to stand up stright... I looked with longing at the kitchen knives thinking I can end this mysery right now...

The pro-lifers who tell you how all these women suffer after abortions forget to mention how they suffer during pregnancy!

I had my abortion 3 years ago, and so far I never regreted it for one minute. If there were no abortion clinics in my state, I would drive, walk, or crawl to the next state if necessary and nothing would stop me. If there was no help there, either, I would go for those kitchen knives, or liquid bleach, or baseball bat, or a coctail of pills, or whatever else I would think would do the trick.

So, ban abortion all you want. When a woman wants that thing OUT, you ca only tie her up and hold her down for all 7-8 months, nothing else will stop her.

On the very day of the abortion, my sickness (barfing, etc.) stopped. It just stopped!!!! We went to Dennies and had some pancakes... I was crying and my parter though I was crying because of the abortion, but I was crying because I could not hold my my joy and relief inside, it just overwhelmed me. I was hurting physically but I was ovewhelmed with joy. I was sobbing, shaking, and devouring the food like I hope I will never have to do again, and our waitress almost freaked out. I went home and slep about 12-14 hours... Next day I woke up to see how I feeling, and I was feeling hungry and light, bursting with energy and joy, and I felt like singing and dancing and floating by the ceiling like a butterfly.

I am sure that there are women who regret their abortions. I am sure there are those who don't really think much of their abortions. And there are women who feel that an abortion saved their health and, most important, sanity. Please don't generalize! All women feel different! I personally was traumatized by the pregnancy, not by abortion. I still can't think about pregnancies or see a pregnant woman without starting to shake and break the cold sweat.

ABSOLUTELY NOT. EVER WONDER WHY AMERICA HAS SO MANY PROBLEMS?? WAKE UP AND SEE THE GRAVE SIN AGAINST GOD AND MANKIND. ABORTION IS MORALLY, PHYSICALLY, AND SPIRITUALLY WRONG IN ALL SITUATIONS. DON'T PLAY GOD. GET AMERICA BACK IN ORDER BY STOPPING THE EVIL PEOPLE BEHIND THE AGENDA OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD. NO.

I live in a rural area, have no health insurance, and would like to get on the pill to regulate the miserable monthly curse. I also want to get sterilized, because I'm childfree and don't want kids, now or ever. My first thought on hearing that PP was coming to Aurora was "It's about time!!" :)

Providing abortions for black and Latino clients is NOT EVER to be compared to Holocaust. Black and Latino women without private healthcare are at the mercy of (mostly) white men who make the laws that govern women's bodies. When men know the emotion of an unplanned pregnancy within their bodies, then they can speak to that issue. Until then, they should be sure that women and girls in their families have only planned pregnancies.

I had to drive someone to Chicago, it was horriable, an absolute slotterhouse. I was not a Beliver at that time but, something inside me just new abortion is nothing but wrong.
The person I took has had to suffer now for years and keep her secret from even her husband.Not to mention my shame for being there to help her. I'm so glad my God forgives cause I sure couldn't forgie myself for years.
Keep out any abortion clinics for sanity sake.

PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION ACCOUNT FROM NURSE
(In September, 1993, Brenda Pratt Shafer, a registered nurse with thirteen years of experience, was assigned by her nursing agency to an abortion clinic. Since Nurse Shafer considered herself "very pro-choice," she didn’t think this assignment would be a problem. She was wrong. This is what Nurse Shafer saw:)

" I stood at the doctor’s side and watched him perform a partial-birth abortion on a woman who was six months pregnant. The baby’s heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen. The doctor delivered the baby’s body and arms, everything but his little head. The baby’s body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. The doctor took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the back of the baby’s head, and the baby’s arms jerked out in a flinch, a startle reaction, like a baby does when he thinks that he might fall. Then the doctor opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the high-powered suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby’s brains out. Now the baby was completely limp. I never went back to the clinic. But I am still haunted by the face of that little boy. It was the most perfect, angelic face I have ever seen."

...Sounds like something from Nazi Germany...
but this happens in the USA under the false pretense of 'Women's rights.' The foundation of this country is that EACH person has rights, from the most helpless to the powerful. What about the millions of UNBORN FEMALES who were never given a chance to live and be somebody?
Nobody has the right to end the life of innocent life like that.
I'm all for promoting women's healthcare, but abortion should not be part of it.

I think the reason all these women feel so bad about their abortions is because they
1) were never Ok with it in a first place but went to have one anyway
2) they were Ok with it until someone came in and convinced them that what they have done was wrong.

I think it is wrong to invade a woman's body without her permission. Why should rape be illegal, but a fetus could use the woman's insides in all possible manners, and then rip her genitals apart on its way out? Why is it ok to force someone to undergo the incredibly painful and dandgerous experience of childbirth? Why is is ok to ruin her health for someone else's benefit?

I mean, if the woman doesn't mind all of that, that is her decision. But to hold her down and force her? Isn't it a rape of the most sadistic level?

I tremble just thinking of all her pain, anguish, and agony....

Reading the posts on this issue makes me so discouraged and saddened. I just can't figure out how we, as a society, have gotten here. I was born in 1974 which means abortions were just becoming legal, and to this day I simply can not understand the logic behind such a ruling.

Religion aside, it is nearly impossible to argue that a pregnant woman, even in earliest weeks of pregnancy, is not carrying inside of her another human life. Last I checked, murder, in this country, is illegal. So, is our society saying that as long as a baby has not seen daylight it's ok to kill it? I just can't comprehend this. How can any human being sit back, close their eyes and visualize what happens to these tiny humans and not become nauseated and not feel in their heart that this is wrong? Are there people out there who have never seen a 5 week ultrasound? - a beating heart, the beginning formation of hands and feet? And most women have abortions much later when their is an obvious baby being dismembered. I feel as if our society has completely lost it's humanity. And for what? We are NOT a better country than we were 30 years ago.

I am the mother of 4 young children, my youngest being 5 months old and i am so very saddened by the state of our county, and many other countries around the world. Why can't we end this debate by getting women the help they really need. Yes, every woman is entitled to quality healthcare services and resources should she find herself pregnant and scared. Can't we possibly help women AND babies? Why does it have to be one or the other?

We should be striving for a country where abortion, legal or illegal, does not exist. Where women have other,safer, moral, options available to them. One where BOTH lives can continue and thrive. A baby is not a disease or a mistake - it is a consequence of sexual intercourse. But, of course, we live in a world where we'd rather not deal with consequences or take any personal responsibility for our actions. We desire the pleasures of life but none of the suffering or hardships.

I don't always agree with the way pro-lifers deal with the public during their protests but i think maybe sometimes they feel like our world has gone mad and they are desperate to send out a wake up call.

Please, search your heart on this issue. My children deserve to live in a country that values human lives - ALL human lives.

Nancy, Yes, hooray! Now anyone who wants to in Aurora will be able to murder their children while in their own womb (where they should be safest). Men will feel free to continue exploiting young ladies, then as they try to deal with the fact that the act of procreation causes babies (of all things!), they are pressured into going along with murder. They now have actively accepted the role of accomplice and final say in the murder of their own baby. Instead of being able to blame someone else and at least releasing their guilt in some small way, they will live and eventually die knowing their part in their own child's murder. Meanwhile, Mr. Sex Offender will get off scot free and be ready to seduce and confuse another young lady who hasn't had a chance to grow up innocent of things not meant for her to know.
As long as young girls are getting raped, abused, seduced, and then pressured into this decision by the very people who should be protecting and reporting such abuse, I think feminists should be willing to even lay down their live to protect them. Are we really about protecting women, or about allowing them to be used, abused, and unconsoled?
Yes, many women choose to have sex outside of marriage, and a few of them would not feel any guilt at murdering their child. But are more hurt by the results of a society ruled by the consequences of such behavior? or would more be hurt by acknowledging the facts of life and start living in such a way as to live successfully rather than to keep hitting the negative consequences of our choices?
Do not be fooled; a baby is uniquely human, and its own being, from conception. Just because they require their own mother's help to live, does not make them worthless. Would you become worthless if you were unable to provide for yourself for a year due to an accident? How about if you needed help for 6 months? Or as in the case of late term abortions, all you needed was a doctor to help you (or maybe a month or two of the help of the one who caused you to be dependent on them and a doctor to help you) and then you would have a wanted and happy life after that (babies are VERY wanted, even if the birth mother doesn't want them)? The mother is actually MUCH better off physically and emotionally to give birth than to abort.
Anyone accepting abortions should seriously look at their real goals. Is it really to protect this woman, who will have to live with her knowledge that she agreed with the murder of her own child, (even if it does take care of some temporary problem), or is it for some other reason (maybe disrespect for her based on her behavior, race, or background)? Her child is no less valuable than yours, and her emotional well being would be better served by helping her to care for her child than to be party to its murder.

If you "pro-lifers" are really so concerned about life, then how about addressing the preventable deaths and the quality of life for the already-born?

How about health care and food for children and adults who don't have enough of either?

How about more daycare, education, and other assistance for all those single mothers you want to create? For that matter, how about more training, education, and social work for all young parents, ill-equipped to deal with the stresses of raising a child on a low income, so that their kids won't in turn also get themselves knocked up at 17?

How about pushing for more spending on traffic safety? About 40,000 of us die every year on US roads. That's a lot of preventable family tragedies.

How about impeaching the president and getting us out of his reckless war that has caused the deaths of 600,000 Iraqis, not to mention over 3,600 US service men and women? Those numbers are downright grisly. Can you live with them? I can't!

How about more spending on cancer and heart disease? Over 650,000 of us die of heart disease and over 550,000 of us die of cancer every year. My dad died of heart disease when I was 18. I would have liked to have him around a bit longer.

Every year, 30,000 Americans are killed by guns, and another 65,000 are injured by them. I don't see any of you out there protesting for tougher gun laws!

No, you "pro-lifers" seem more interested in punishing people for having sex than for doing anything that improves live or prevents death. To that end, if abortion was banned, what should the punishment be for a woman who has one? How many years in jail? What if she already has kids? Will you take her away from them? From her family, if she is too young to be out on her own? What should it be?

I agree with the notion that fetus is a human. But why should it be OK for the human fetus to use a body of human woman against her will? I repeat, I see it as the same thing as rape.

Doctors here can't even use the organ of a DEAD PERSON without his previous permission! Organs that could save someone's life, I might add. And the dead guy doesn't even need it for himself anymore. Now, imagine you told a living man that you need a pint of his blood and some of his bone matter to save your life and HE would have to pay for the procedure and for his recovery. Do you get to hold him down and take it, or do you have to ask for his permission first? Yet, when it is womans' body, any fetus can use any of her organs he can get his undeveloped hands on (regardless of the health consequences for the woman). Sure, knock yourself out, baby, she is your walking free all-you-can-eat buffet. She will pay for feeding you, giving you birth, and then for healing her torn body out of her own pocket, let's hope she's got insurance, ha-ha! But it is ok even if she doesn't, God made her to be used that way!

As a woman, I am very, very angry and resentful toward people who tell me that I was made to be used by anyone. I will not allow not a man, not a woman, not a child, and not a fetus to use anything of mine without my permission.

Every parent in Aurora needs to band together and stop this baby slaying clinic from opening in your town!!!

Your children are not allowed to pray in their schools, but your young girls are given permission by lawmakers to end a life without your knowledge!!!

We as loving parents try to protect our children from every hurt and evil that we possibly can.....What could be more hurtful for a young girl to walk into these so called clincs, get violated by these so called Drs, and sent home to deal with what has just occurred, and so many times in secret without their parents ever knowing what their loving child has just been put through!!

Lord help us all if this is allowed to continue..............

"Are there people out there who have never seen a 5 week ultrasound? - a beating heart, the beginning formation of hands and feet? And most women have abortions much later when their is an obvious baby being dismembered. I feel as if our society has completely lost it's humanity."

Some woman does not want the fetus to occupy her body, so it needs to be removed one way or another. Its removal will kill the fetus either way. Up to a certain age, it is not even capable of feeling anything, neither pain nor pleasure. Whether you remove it in one piece or in 10, it would probably not even know it. After a certain age it can feel pain, but most of abortions are done before the 12-14 weeks, so majority of those killed fetuses didn't have the ability to feel much of anyting yet. So, I would say that their deaths are rather "humane" in this regard, given that had they been born and had to die from, for example, cancer or physical abuse, their deaths would be alot less "humane" as far as the pain goes.

However, I personally don't feel bad for fetuses and their pain either way. Women scream for hours during labor (do fetuses care?), and no one thinks its inhumane toward them, so I guess pain is not such a big deal, hun?

Pain is pain for everyone. But while fetus will suffer just for a few seconds, the woman has 10+ hours of labor to look forward if she allows the fetus to stay. I am not even mentioning the pregnancy and all the unpleasant things it can bring.

As I said, if she doesn't mind, that is her decision, but I think that it is no more morally ok for a fetus to force a woman to suffer through pregnancy and labor than it is for a woman to make the fetus to suffer through abortion. Both are not exactly fair to the other side.

I first learned about this clinic at http://www.openlineblog.com and was particularly concerned at how city officials didn't seem to notice the unusual plans for this clinic. Do city planning department people pay attention to what is proposed? It should have raised flags with so few windows and bullet-proof glass.

This has nothing to do with reproductive health or the right to choose; this has everything to do with killing an unwanted baby.

No matter what term is used, abortion is about killing. More and more doctors are coming to this realization which is why fewer locations perform abortions just for the sake of convenience.

It's one thing if the mother's life is in danger; it's quite another when a pregnancy interferes with a career or a lifestyle. The unborn are the most helpless among us and deserve protection from the pro-choice industry.

We are teaching our young children that there is a "way out" So that they don't get caught. Some of the reasons I have heard for getting an abortion are just so stupid! I am too young, my mom and dad will kill me, I just started a career, I am only 15, I am only 21, I didn't want children. blah blah blah!!!! How selfish! Why aren't children taught that sex is not a recreational sport! If you are old enough to have sex, then you are old enough to take 9 months out of your life and put the child up for adoption. Or grow up fast and raise the child your self. Don't give me the I am too young, single parent pity story. Health care is about taking care of ones health, and if you are pregnant, the health of ones child. Not how to get rid of the "mistake" And as for church and state, do you forget that this nation began on the foundation of God. The problem is not how to kill babies that people don't want, the problem is how to teach people to be responsible for their actions. And if someone is stupid enough to have a "back alley abortion" well, I can't even begin. Of course, how often does that really happen anymore.

When will we teach our young women to grow up and stop being so selfish?

Only God has the right to perform abortions...He commands

that all others refrain from doing so...Thou shalt not

kill ! ! ! ! ! !

Elena, you are missing the point. How did the fetus get there in the first place??? Did you just wake up one morning and it had invaded your body? NO - if you become pregnant it is because you had sex by your own choice - full well knowing the consequences. Sex = the opportunity for new life - if it didn't then we wouldn't have contraception. It's not rocket science. The baby didn't CHOOSE to be there it was placed there by the mother. Therefore, the mother needs to take moral responsibility for her child.

It's sounds like from your pregnancy and abortion experience that you could have benefitted from counseling, not abortion services. A child is not an alien or a blob of cells. YOU were once a fetus too. There are people in this world who would, and have, murdered their own families, neighbors, etc, and have felt no guilt what-so-over. Just because it doesn't bother them doesn't make it OK or acceptable in our society.

And to Ray, i agree, there are many societal woes that must be addressed but that is no basis for saying that abortion is the least of our problems. Yes, most pro-lifers DO believe that all the issues you posted are extremely important and their are groups out there working just as hard to fight for the lives of all human beings.

"The mother is actually MUCH better off physically and emotionally to give birth than to abort."
Here is a list that lists all side-effects of pregnancies.

Normal, frequent or expectable temporary side effects of pregnancy:

* exhaustion (weariness common from first weeks)
* altered appetite and senses of taste and smell
* nausea and vomiting (50% of women, first trimester)
* heartburn and indigestion
* constipation
* weight gain
* dizziness and light-headedness
* bloating, swelling, fluid retention
* hemmorhoids
* abdominal cramps
* yeast infections
* congested, bloody nose
* acne and mild skin disorders
* skin discoloration (chloasma, face and abdomen)
* mild to severe backache and strain
* increased headaches
* difficulty sleeping, and discomfort while sleeping
* increased urination and incontinence
* bleeding gums
* pica
* breast pain and discharge
* swelling of joints, leg cramps, joint pain
* difficulty sitting, standing in later pregnancy
* inability to take regular medications
* shortness of breath
* higher blood pressure
* hair loss
* tendency to anemia
* curtailment of ability to participate in some sports and activities
* infection including from serious and potentially fatal disease
(pregnant women are immune suppressed compared with non-pregnant women, and
are more susceptible to fungal and certain other diseases)
* extreme pain on delivery
* hormonal mood changes, including normal post-partum depression
* continued post-partum exhaustion and recovery period (exacerbated if a c-section -- major surgery -- is required, sometimes taking up to a full year to fully recover)

Normal, expectable, or frequent PERMANENT side effects of pregnancy:

* stretch marks (worse in younger women)
* loose skin
* permanent weight gain or redistribution
* abdominal and vaginal muscle weakness
* pelvic floor disorder (occurring in as many as 35% of middle-aged former child-bearers and 50% of elderly former child-bearers, associated with urinary and rectal incontinence, discomfort and reduced quality of life)
* changes to breasts
* varicose veins
* scarring from episiotomy or c-section
* other permanent aesthetic changes to the body (all of these are downplayed by women, because the culture values youth and beauty)
* increased proclivity for hemmorhoids
* loss of dental and bone calcium (cavities and osteoporosis)

Occasional complications and side effects:

* hyperemesis gravidarum
* temporary and permanent injury to back
* severe scarring requiring later surgery (especially after additional pregnancies)
* dropped (prolapsed) uterus (especially after additional pregnancies, and other pelvic floor weaknesses -- 11% of women, including cystocele, rectocele, and enterocele)
* pre-eclampsia (edema and hypertension, the most common complication of pregnancy, associated with eclampsia, and affecting 7 - 10% of pregnancies)
* eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
* gestational diabetes
* placenta previa
* anemia (which can be life-threatening)
* thrombocytopenic purpura
* severe cramping
* embolism (blood clots)
* medical disability requiring full bed rest (frequently ordered during part of many pregnancies varying from days to months for health of either mother or baby)
* diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
* mitral valve stenosis (most common cardiac complication)
* serious infection and disease (e.g. increased risk of tuberculosis)
* hormonal imbalance
* ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
* broken bones (ribcage, "tail bone")
* hemorrhage and
* numerous other complications of delivery
* refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease
* aggravation of pre-pregnancy diseases and conditions (e.g. epilepsy is present in .5% of pregnant women, and the pregnancy alters drug metabolism and treatment prospects all the while it increases the number and frequency of seizures)
* severe post-partum depression and psychosis
* research now indicates a possible link between ovarian cancer and female fertility treatments, including "egg harvesting" from infertile women and donors
* research also now indicates correlations between lower breast cancer survival rates and proximity in time to onset of cancer of last pregnancy
* research also indicates a correlation between having six or more pregnancies and a risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease

Less common (but serious) complications:

* peripartum cardiomyopathy
* cardiopulmonary arrest
* magnesium toxicity
* severe hypoxemia/acidosis
* massive embolism
* increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
* molar pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease (like a pregnancy-induced cancer)
* malignant arrhythmia
* circulatory collapse
* placental abruption
* obstetric fistula

More permanent side effects:

* future infertility
* permanent disability
* death.
Those are mostly physical complications and side effects. Emotionally, many women have to face post-partum depression that sometimes leads to permanent mental health problems (look at Andrea Yates and others like her).

One lady I know is having her child taken away because her post-partum depression was not treated in time and now she has to be on meds continiously to avoid having relapses, and she was deemed not a fit mother. Her marriage felt apart, her child is suffering when he is with her, and also suffering without her, and her life is in ruins because she has to be taken care off and there is no one there to do that. She loves her child but it destroyed her previously fairly enjoyable life. A classmate of mine gave birth right out of highschool. Her child was born paralized on one side of his body (some neutological thing). After several years of constant treatments and hostpital stays, his second side became paralized, too. Now she is my age (28) and the kid is 11 or 12. She has not had a single boyfriend who would want to stick around once he saw the child, and she works minimum wages to support herself and the baby. Th baby's father is not known, so she is on her own with the support. her mom helps. There is no hope for her at this point, unless some prince on a white horse comes and buys her kid a permanent place where he could be taken care off by some medical professionals so she could try to rebuild her life.

Can we ignore those facts to proclaim that pregnancy is best for everyone?

Human Life starts at conception. A childs heartbeat can be measured at 18 days after conception. His or her brain waves can be measured 42 days after conception. Bernard Nathanson, the former abortionist who started NARAL and author of "Aborting America" says that he presided over the murder of over 75,000 human beings. Most of the discourse involves our religous or philisophical perspectives on the value of those lives. The issue is not whether or not that abortion ends a human beings life but rather do we condone or condemn it.
Christians are compelled by the "second greatest commandment" to love the preborn and thus not only condemn his or her murder but to defend his or her life (some may seek to justify themselves by asking who is my nieghbor).
Without placing some immutable value to human beings our society is at great risk. Who's next in line to be sacraficed for the benifit of those who remain ? And when and where dose the Judge his creation wiegh in?

Quote:
"It's sounds like from your pregnancy and abortion experience that you could have benefitted from counseling, not abortion services. A child is not an alien or a blob of cells. YOU were once a fetus too."
I went to councelors. My partner made me to go. That was his condition on giving his agreement for the abortion. I had 3 sessions and i did not feel any different about my physical condition after them.

I personally believe that I benefited from abortion, not counceling. I think that counceling was a good idea, but in the end only abortion could actually help me to win my body back. I wanted my body back, asap, before it got ruined any further. I still think it is ruined. It has never been the same again. I think my emotional health suffered, too. I start shaking and sweating when people talk about pregnancies and childbirth, and I get so anxious that sometimes I can't concentrate on anything else, I feel overcome with fear and desperation.

As to your other comment... I was a wanted fetus. Had I been an unwanted fetus, I wouldn't want to impose my presence on my mom against her will. I don't consider myself to be such a gem that the planet couldn't do without me.

I love my mom so I would rather leave than make her suffer. Of course, I understand that some fetuses may feel different (if they even can to understand such complex idea), but it is up to them.

"Elena, you are missing the point. How did the fetus get there in the first place??? Did you just wake up one morning and it had invaded your body? NO - if you become pregnant it is because you had sex by your own choice - full well knowing the consequences. Sex = the opportunity for new life - if it didn't then we wouldn't have contraception. It's not rocket science. The baby didn't CHOOSE to be there it was placed there by the mother. Therefore, the mother needs to take moral responsibility for her child."

I knew nothing about pregnancy and childbirth before I got pregnant. I had very vague descriptions that my girlfriends gave me (that "it was horrible", and that they wished they didn't do it), but I thought, well, it couldn't be all that bad, after all, the babies are cute, and I just wanted to play with them.

It was not until I got pregnant that I ever picked up a book about pregnancy, looked at the pictures, and watched a childbirth video. I was shocked, terrified, and almost hysterical by the time I finished watching. My partner couldn't understand why I am so anxious, he said, "All women go through this, you will be Ok." Well, what other women do is their business. But I said, "Carry your own baby if you want it. I am done."

I love reading all that everyone has to say, so many insights to offer on this issue. Some angry, some fundamental, religious, idealogical, practical, personal, impassioned. I especially enjoy hearing points which I don't see all the time on this subject. I enjoyed Enrique's comments and hearing Elena's unique experiences. It's interesting that different people have different and opposing ideas about PP's interests.

It's important that everyone be willing to "go to the mattress" for another's right to express a viewpoint, because if any one of us can't, then none of us can. My only objection is to being bullied. It's a good thing to find more ways to look at an issue, and hurray to everyone for sharing your thoughts.

Pregnancy ruins your body? Carry your own child, I'm done? What kind of statements are these? They are statements from lost souls. They are derived from selfishness, which our culture bombards us with if we're not careful. It comes down to women wanting full freedom to have sex whenever they want without having to worry about becoming pregnant; like men. Fortunately there's hope for these lost souls. If they are honest with themselves, if they look closely and deeply at the desperate notion of radical feminism, they'll see that we women are most fulfilled when we DO NOT throw away our femaleness. When we offer our bodies for the good of another. When we nurture those we love. Give yourself unselfishly, unconditionally to another in marriage; give yourself unselfishly, unconditionally to a life growing within you; give yourself to this husband and child and you will find true happiness and fulfillment like no selfish lifestyle can touch! And all those "complications of pregnancy", like stretch marks, those are your shining glory! Job well done!

I believe that the moment we pass on in life we will be asked that critical question: what have you done with your life and where are your children? That moment will be filled with terror if we have to admit that one of our children had been aborted to save face, ease struggles, enhance a career, or for other self-serving reasons. Abortion is harmful to our bodies, minds and souls. Abortion seperates man from his/her role in the beauty of creation that is delegated from our maker. This is a sad day for the city of Aurora.
Susan Senderak

Elena, I will pray for you. The fact that you defend yourself so vehemently speaks volumes. Your list of side effects and complications is quite impressive but doesn't hold much weight. Sure, pregnancy changes you but usually not in the extreme ways in which you describe. I have 4 children and the only physical change i have to show for it is, well, 4 children. I routinely run 5K's and wear only one size larger than i did before having children. Was there some pain and inconvienence? Sure, but nothing that was so unbearable that i'd rather murder my child. Most of my friends have had similar experiences. The side effects you list are the exception, not the rule. As for childbirth - well they do have pain medication for that.

But all that is beside the point. Basically you will lose every time with your arguements because you still haven't addressed the basic fact that if you have so much concern for you body and keeping it to yourself, why would you allow yourself to become pregnant in the first place? Your defense of your action is just so riddled with holes.

Finally, in your backward logic of you being a "wanted fetus" - perhaps YOUR fetus would have loved you as much as you love your mother. Maybe he/she wanted to live but had no voice to express that to you. No one said you had to keep it, you could have loved it by giving it up for adoption to a family who desparately wants a child.

I understand that it is hard to feel like you have to defend yourself and even harder to accept the fact that perhaps you have done something wrong. However, changes are if you had chosen life over death for your baby that he/she would be a happy, healthy 2 1/3 or 3 year old toddler, smiling at you, giving you hugs, speaking in small sentences and calling you mom. I doubt your life, or body for that matter, would be ruined.

You may not want my prayers but you, and our world as a whole, need them.

I'm sure you'll have something to post in reply but I am preparing to leave for a nice long vacation with my family so i won't be posting again in reply.

I wish you the best and I hope that down the road you will see the flaws in your arguements.

Elena,
Please be realistic....You went to the medical books and listed every complication of pregnancy that you could find!! Why didnt you list the complications of having an abortion??? And the list is VERY long....
Children are a gift from our creator, not a curse....Any mother will tell you that hug, a smile, or a kiss from their child is worth more than anything else that this world could ever offer...

I am very much in favor of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora. Women should make their own intelligent choices about their health and their bodies. The government should not be making the decisions for women. Education for both men and women about reproduction and responsibility is necessary.

Three of our daughters have blessed us with beautiful grandchildren this year. As I look into their little faces and think of those thousands of babies who will never see the face of their mother, father, or grandparents... will never be held or loved or grow into adulthood it saddens me deeply. Abortion has robed a whole generation of thousands of family members, friends, co-workers, and spouses. When will we stop denying life to our children? I pray that now that people know the truth about the clinic underconstruction on the east side of Aurora we will rise up in outrage against it. I also hope and pray that the planners, organizers, employees and construction workers realize that they are contributing to a "culture of death" which is robbing us of our future generation. And to those women contemplating aborting their babies...you have the power to choose. Choose life!

I was sad the day i heard of the Planned Parenthood opening. They get people to think they are there to help them by giving them the freebee condoms (least effective and therefore know that these women will be back; Check the Consumers Report), abortions once in a while and send people out to smile every so often. I have counseled too many women who have been hurt by abortions to say it is a good thing. Even in cases of rape. The decision of every Abortion is; "therefore the child must die". I don't have enough money, therefore the child must die. I was raped, therefor the child must die. ect. But as illustrated in the above woman who was raped; abortion leads the woman to holding onto the pain of the rape in order to justify the abortion. The thought would go like this. "The rape is evil; the child was concieved in the rape; therfore the child is evil." With this conclusion, she really thinks there is no choice, we have a duty to erradicate the evil. But this thinking is wrong. As hard as it may seem to some people, bringing the child to birth allows a positive ontcome out of one of the most horredous acts. Thus the woman can come to some healing. A woman may be able to function with all this in her heart and may seem calm and cool, but inside she will be dying. The more she cries it was good for her, the more she is hurting from the abortion, and the rape. Here are sopme healing tips for those who have lost their children before their birth:
Healing after an
Abortion
Does the Church condemn me?
Will Jesus condemn me?
Is there hope?
What can I do? Come and receive the peace you so long for.

Does the Church Condemn Me?
No. Many women and men who have had an abortion or participated in an abortion may feel that the Catholic Church does condemn them. But in fact, we want to welcome them back into the Church and reconcile them with Jesus; if only they knew how much we love them.

Pope John Paul II said, “The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision [to have an abortion], and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful decision. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. ...give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord.” (The Gospel of life, Paragraph #99)

What great words of love from our beloved late Holy Father. The Church truly does care. The Church is dedicated to bring healing to your life. The hard part in bringing this healing is dealing with the pain and acknowledging and confronting it. This can be a very scary task, especially if one thinks they have to do it alone.


Unfortunately, many counselors do not acknowledge the pain women and men go through after an abortion, so these women and men feel like they are alone in their pain. But they are not. There are many women and men who have sought healing and reconciliation and received it through the Church.
Thanks be to God He gives us the Church and many people in her to help. The Diocese of Rockford has a hotline specifically for this. All you have to do is call: 1-815-877-5433 and let them know you need some help from Project Rachael. Or you can call one of the priests here at Holy Cross at (630) 879-4750. We will welcome you with open arms.
But Will Jesus Condemn Me?
No. He wants to be united to you. If you stop to think about it; Jesus knew every sin you would commit before he created you, and yet, he rejoiced in your creation. The only thing that keeps us from being united with Him is our own fear. Do not let this happen to you.
Do not be afraid! If the Church loves you so much, Jesus loves you all the more. Pray to Him and give Him your heart. It is not too late! Yes you can be forgiven, if you come to Him with a repentant heart in the Sacrament of Confession. There are many graces waiting for you in confession. Jesus said to one of our more recent saints, Saint Sister Faustina in a vision;
“My daughter, my pleasure and my delight, nothing will stop me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder my mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to my mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of my mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of my mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls— no one have I excluded.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul; The Diary of Saint Sister Faustina Kowalska, Paragraph #1182)
What loving words from our Savior! What more do we need. Why wait any longer?

What can I do?
The first step you can take is to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You can go to any of the times that are mentioned in the bulletin. We offer confessions here at Holy Cross at least one hour every day.
Second, give yourself to Jesus. Put yourself in His care. Let Him heal you. The healing process does not happen over night, but over time it can get better.
Third, give your child a name. He or she is somebody. They deserve that respect. It will also open the door to having a relationship with him or her. We cannot have a relationship with someone we do not acknowledge. Acknowledge them and ask them for forgiveness as well through prayer.
Fourth, you can pray for your child. A rosary is a great way to express your love for your child. You can also have a Mass said for your child. If you are worried about what people may think, you can just say it is for “a special intention” of yours. This is done often and for many reasons.
Fifth, set up an area in your house in honor of your child. It can be something small or big. You can put it anywhere in the house. Your bedroom, living room or even your kitchen. The important thing is that there is some sort of acknowledgement of your child. It is something tangible you can go to in order to identify with your child. Some people even get a gravestone for their child at the local cemetery.
Sixth, find support through other people. It may be the priest you go to confession with. There are also groups specifically for this kind of healing. Project Rachael has such groups.
Once you have had time for healing, you can help others either prevent themselves from going through the same pain that you have gone through or you can help them through the healing process. This can be a great way to make amends for what has happened and you help many others overcome their fears and doubts.
All these things will help you get started in reconciling yourself with God, and your child. Eventually, you will see a difference in your whole family life. Most of all, you will finally be able to live with peace in your heart. A peace long waited for. Today could be the first day toward that peace.

I encourage any woman to get healing, real healing.

Abortion is also a public issue not just private. This does not mean that it does not have its private aspects. All acts are done between persons and are therfore private. Let me explain. Anybody under the age of about say 30 for a good round number could have been aborted at any time during their pre-natal development. If you are one of them, this means you. What about your future spouse? Cousins? Brothers and sisters? Nieces and Nephews?

Quote: "I especially enjoy hearing points which I don't see all the time on this subject. I enjoyed Enrique's comments and hearing Elena's unique experiences. It's interesting that different people have different and opposing ideas about PP's interests."

Thanks, J! I agree that reading all these very different thoughts is pretty fascinating. I spent half an evening yesterday reading the comments here! :)

How's that bumper sticker go - "I'm pro-choice before conception and pro-life after"

It's a child....plain and simple. If your two year-old was "inconvenient" and an interruption in your lifestyle, would it be okay to kill him/her? If keeping your three year-old was going to be a financial or psychological burden on you, would it be okay to commit murder then? I'm assuming most of you so-called "pro choice" folks would say No. Then why is it okay to kill an unborn child? It is because you still can't see it? That makes it okay?

And those of you who keep saying how PP is a "not for profit" organization really need a reality check. I've seen the inner workings of MANY non-profit organizations. "Not for profit" and "non-profit" just mean that the accountants can show that the organization (not it's members or management) doesn't show a financial profit. Just because the organization doesn't show a profit, that doesn't mean the folks running it aren't making money. Salaries and perks are part of the cost side of the equation. If the money is going to the folks running the show, it doesn't show as a profit for the organization.

So, basically, if you are a patron of PP, you've been scammed twice: once in believing that what they're doing is "for your good" and a second time in believing they're not making money off of you.

Any you trust and defend these people......that's just sad.

Quote: "A woman may be able to function with all this in her heart and may seem calm and cool, but inside she will be dying. The more she cries it was good for her, the more she is hurting from the abortion, and the rape."

So, all women who say that they are ok or even happy (like me) that they aborted are all actually hurting and just don't realize that themselves?

It reminds me of some guy I read about a while ago. He was a rapist and he didn't think he was really hurting anyone, because he was absolutely convinced that all the women enjoyed his sex very much but were crying and screaming because they were in denial about how much they enjoyed it, and if only they wouldn't be so stubborn they would understand that he was giving them just as much pleasure as he was experiencing.

Seriously, that was his thought process.

Same about women who aborted. They think they are happy, but they are actually in denial about how much they hurt... :)))))

No, I think you WANT them to hurt, because you think that if you were in their place you would hurt... That is Ok, I think I have fallen for the same fallacy once or twice. I look at pregnant women and say to myself, "They tell everyone they are happy because everyone expects to hear that, but their are really miserable and hate it, I know it." Then I caught myself thinking it and admonished myself to be wiser and more open-minded than that.

Quite interesting, how our heads work, isn't it?

I don't doubt for a minute there are women who are very sorry they aborted. I don't doubt for a minute than there are those who don't let on that they are sorry. But I personally know 3 of my classmates who aborted and one other lady who aborted, and they are all well as far as I can tell, and they are all pro-choice obviously, and think that girls who give birth when they are not ready for motherhood are the ones who are being in denial and the ones who will be very sorry later. But if several teenage moms come and tell me that they are very happy, I would consider that it IS possible to be a teenage mom and be happy, even though I personally don't undertsand that happiness. After all, one may be in denial, but two may be in denial, but even then there should be some merit to what they say.

And I would let them be happy for as long as they feel happy and not try to poo-poo on their feelings just because I personally don;t think they made a good choice. They are happy, after all, what more to ask for?

Elena, The biggest point you're missing is that this is not simply about your feelings and your happiness; YOUR self. When reading through all of the previous comments, did you go to any of the websites which show what abortion looks like? Can you look at it? That rapist you talked about had warm feelings and happiness in his evil acts. But what about the women that he victimized? Likewise, what about the baby that's been victimized? You may always "feel" okay with your abortion, and whether or not that's truly the case is beside the point. You need to stop just thinking about yourself.

Elena,
I dont know your age, but your comments lead me to believe that you are quite young, and very mislead...
I wonder if your family knows about your abortion....
You are the best reason why these clinics need to be banned, you have hardened your heart and convinced yourself that your body, the body the Good Lord gave you, is more important than anything else, even anothers life......
Another person commented that they will be praying for you, I will be doing the same, even tho you will more than likely snicker at the thought...

Quote: "It's a child....plain and simple. If your two year-old was "inconvenient" and an interruption in your lifestyle, would it be okay to kill him/her? If keeping your three year-old was going to be a financial or psychological burden on you, would it be okay to commit murder then?"

If I went through with the pregnancy and childbirth, I would feel pretty commited to this child at that point, but ok, let's imagine that I wanted to get rid of her very bad.

If she was detached (physically) from me, than I don't see what the problem is, I would just drive her to my mom's and let my mom have it, or let the state have it. But rest assured that she would be gone in the most expedited manner, probably that afternoon.

But if a 3 years old with some strange physical abnormality was physically attached to me and was feeding off my blood and any body, I would require her to be "disconnected" from me if she is becoming too much of a "financial or psychological" burden for me. She could be fed artificially or however else they would want to handle that, it would be up to them (state, doctors, whatever), as far as I am free to go.

OK you've convinced me. It would be better to have pre-pregnancy education and support for mothers-to-be as opposed to combining those services with others that are controversial at Planned Parenthood. However, save for two references--Kane County Health Department and Project Gabriel--no one has referred to such a healthcare institution. The nearest Project Gabriel is in Indiana. The Kane County Health Dept. website appears to not offer pre-pregnancy education. They do assist mothers-to-be, but it appears to be on an extremely limited basis.

It's time for those who oppose the services at Planned Parenthood to come forward and found alternative services. If there are these services in the Western DuPage/Kane County area, please inform us where they are so that we can publicize them adequately. Let's start the fundraisers. Let's start the construction. The Federal Government has money for Faith Based Healthcare Initiatives. Why hasn't anyone tried to get some grant money for our area?

If there were successful alternatives to Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood wouldn't exist. So, get off your butts and let's stop talking and start doing something. [And, I don't mean picketing outside the clinic. That might close the clinic but it won't help provide healthcare to population needing services.] Who's the first to sign on? Where are the volunteers?

Quote: "When reading through all of the previous comments, did you go to any of the websites which show what abortion looks like? Can you look at it?"

Yes, I have been shown alot of them by pro-lifers (this is not the first time I shared my story with pro-life audience!). Personally to me they look like dead frogs or like dead baby hampsters. I don't start to see human features in them until fairly advanced age.

But it has little chance of moving me, either. I have also seen real (born) people. Not pleasant, but that is what's at the end of everyone's road, including mine, so I am generally at peace with that is how I look like when I die, too.

Quote: ""You are the best reason why these clinics need to be banned, you have hardened your heart and convinced yourself that your body, the body the Good Lord gave you, is more important than anything else, even anothers life......
Another person commented that they will be praying for you, I will be doing the same, even tho you will more than likely snicker at the thought..."

I am 28.

I do believe that protection of my health, happiness, and finances are my priorities in life. Health and happiness of them being the main ones. I don't let people push me around, but if I care about someone or something, I will go out of my way to help. I care about animals and I volunteer in the shelters and I forster for humane societies. I care about the environment and I try to live my life as environmentally-clean as possible. I care about humans, so I donate regularly to fighting poverty, illiteracy, hunger, and some other social problems in 3rd world countries. As you can see, I am not totally selfish. I just happened not to like being pregnant or have people tell me that my body belongs to state / god / fetus to use however they want against my owbjections.

Eric,
You are right to say there needs to be alternatives to PP. Thankfully there are many places out there. There are crisis-pregnancy clinics all over this nation, including Illinois. They offer many free services. Aid for Women is one; you can also call the option line 1-800-395-HELP. Project Gabriel is a parish-based, 100% volunteer ministry. There are Project Gabriel ministries nationwide as well, including Illinois. Project Gabriel's true compassion towards pregnant women has resulted in its rapid growth. I personally know of its presence in the Joliet area and northern Illinois. If a woman/girl is pregnant and needs help (materially, spiritually, etc.) all she needs to do is call 1-888-4-HOPE-4-1. She will be connected with help in her area, whether it's a Project Gabriel group or another source.

More info on Project Gabriel...news release: Free Help Now Available for Women in Crisis Pregnancies
By calling 888-4-HOPE-4-1, (888-446-7341), confidential, free help is now available for women and families in crisis pregnancies in Northern Lake County.
Project Gabriel is a network of Catholic churches standing together in their commitment to offer immediate, practical assistance to women and families facing crisis pregnancies. Through the program, Project Gabriel volunteers, called "angels," provide ongoing emotional, spiritual, and material support to women and families facing a difficult or crisis pregnancy.

Creative advertising for the Project is provided by bumper magnets and stickers, which have been distributed at local Catholic churches. These attractive moving advertisements proclaim to those in the community that hope and help is available. They read, "Pregnant? Need Help? Please call us: 888-4-HOPE-4-1"
The Northern Lake County Project Gabriel is part of Chicagoland Project Gabriel, which also provides help in DuPage, Northern and Central Will, and Northern Cook Counties. Chicagoland Project Gabriel is co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Diocese of Joliet, and Woman's Choice Services, a pregnancy center headquartered in Lombard, Illinois.
Are you pregnant and need help? Call 888-4-HOPE-4-1, that's 888-446-7341 toll-free, for confidential help.

I want to thank Anonymous for pointing out services for mothers-to-be. Now where are the pre-pregnancy educational programs?

Eric,
Just read an article at http://www.lifenews.com/nat3242.html which highlights why abstinence programs are better than PP type. A great resource online is www.pureloveclub.com. A great book for teens is Theology of the Body for Teens, by Ascension Press (www.ascensionpress.com). This is actually a workbook designed for group discussion (great idea!). But, I think it's important for all parents to read and take it from there. These are just a few ideas that I have on hand. But they are perfect places to start.

It's interesting that there are no services in Aurora and Kane Counties. Maybe Planned Parenthood is meeting a need not served? Still seems like we need people to step up and see that services are provided if they are against those supplied by Planned Parenthood.

And, also, if there were good pre-pregnancy educational services, there would be decreased need for problem pregnancy services. Where are the people ready to see that these services are available so that people do not have to seek them at Planned Parenthood?

Wouldnt it be more beneficial for taxes to be used for pre pregnancy education, rather the many millions used for abortion???

This is to Fr. Tim...I am assuming that I am the girl you were referring to who was raped....with all due respect, please dont speak for me. What I said was I had to deal with the assault as well as the outcome. I would have had to deal with the rape irregardless of final outcome. of course, it could have been worse, maybe those guys could have killed me and then I wouldnt have had to deal with anything; or I could have been physically incapacitated to the point that I could never have children or walk or think. But believe it or not this is not something that I dwell on obsessively...it's pretty much anecdotal by now and something that I share with others given circumstances. I did learn from the experience and that is what life is about...continuously learning and growing.

I find it amazing that because women have to deal with the actual physical repercussions, that everyone, even men who will NEVER, EVER be able to speak with any real authority about the subject, feel free to offer up judgements...PLEASE DONT!

To the women who are being so hard on other women...maybe your life is perfect and you dont mind the men in your life telling you how to think, or maybe you just really do feel that way, but either way MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

And, lastly, to the person who keeps writing in about, duh, where babies come from;"SEX = THE OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW LIFE"...hey, you forgot one...RAPE = DESTRUCTION...not all sex is about procreation, or "just having fun"...some of it is very serious business....and to the argument that if youre old enough to have sex youre old enough to be a mother...what a totally irresponsible statement...what would you say to a 12 year old incest victim? "...oh, it's only 9 months out of your life and too bad, it may totally destroy your health and prevent you from having a child when you want and are prepared for it but that's what you get for LEADING ON (you little Lolita!) that poor man who was just going for his bite out of the apple...I dont think so and how cruel of you to even think so...how about a little compassion...there is no black or white...there are only us imperfect women trying to live the best lives we can for ourselves and our families...

Mother Teresa said it best.
There can be no peace until abortion has been eliminated.
The womb should be the safest place in the world.
The abortion mill coming to the east side is in for a battle like they've never seen.

Eric, Both toll free numbers listed above will direct the woman to help near her. As far as good pre-pregnancy services...they're out there. The problem is what's being taught in our schools. The gov't spends $12 to promote "comprehensive sex ed" (which is actually teaching kids how to have sex) and contraceptives for every $1 spent on abstinence education. Polls show that parents prefer abstinence education, which includes facts on STDs, etc. Another problem is the messages the media puts out; very pro-contraception, pro-abortion. People believe what they hear, whether it's true or not. Change starts in the home. Parents need to take control. Parents need to be more involved in what's being taught at school. Kick out PP and their influence on sex ed. If you go to that website mentioned earlier, www.pureloveclub.com, there's lots of great info under the Q&A and Research sections.

To Nicole, You've obviously been through much pain. My prayers are with you. No one's lives are perfect. No person is perfect. We all fall, or are pushed. No one is judging our fall. What matters is if we get up again; what decisions we make afterwards. This sets us in a certain direction. And our direction can always be altered. Many women have been hurt from rape, incest, abortion; some women even have said that their abortion was the second rape. Many women have received support and healing from www.rachelsvineyard.org and www.silentnomoreawareness.org. Best to you.

"Do city planning department people pay attention to what is proposed? It should have raised flags with so few windows and bullet-proof glass."

You may thank all the domestic terrorists (for that's EXACTLY what they are) who have bombed such places or attacked/killed medical staff in the past for these security precautions.

Dear Nicole,
Your story is very sad and heartbreaking, and I am sorry for what you had to go through.....
Rape is a horrible, inexcusable act...
But honestly, ending the life of an innocent child is not the solution...
We are given 10 commandments, only 10, and 1 of them is Not to kill....Our Lord gives life, and only he has the authority to take life......
Adoption would be a most positive result....Many find comfort in knowing that out of a very bad situation, they have given a child life, and to a couple, the child they could not have on their own....This loving act has been known to bring much healing in a bad situation.....
As for minding our own business~~We are all children of God, and every person is our brother or sister, that makes the innocent, unborn our business.....
None of us have perfect lives, we are all called to carry our crosses.....
My passion is not to judge others, but to try and stop the innocent, weakest of us from being brutally murdered....

I vote NO!

We just received our referral to adopt from a foreign country. There are very few children to adopt in the U.S. because we have a law that says we can kill children. It is amazing to me that people who claim to be open minded choose to hide their heads in the sand when understanding that abortion means killing a BABY. We have such scientific advancements. We know life begins at conception. But in our country a person is guilty of murder if an unborn baby is killed in a DUI car accident -- even if the mother was on her way to an abortion clinic... This is about big money to be had by very greedy people who have no concern for women. They hide the truth from women to get into their wallets. That is what it is all about. That and people wanting to use their sexuality without care about anything but themselves. They will even deny the life of another individual. Keep the women exploiting greedy liars out of our community!!!

Anonymous

First, assuming abstinence programs are effective, who is offering them in the Aurora/Kane County Area? Where do you go for information and education?

Second, abstinence programs are really for unmarried couples. Who is offering programs for married couples to assist them in family planning? If a married couple is not currently prepared for a new child, where do they go? Abortions are not only sought by teens and unmarried people.

I’ve always believed the worst thing about abortion is not the death of a particular baby, as horribly butcherously heinous as that is, but that there is an even more evil corollary dieing that takes place in the rest of us; the death of innocence, hope, optimism, vitality, and belief in our own integrity - a brutalizing death leaving our society cynical, jaded, decadent, vulgar. Knowing we allow the unthinkable atrocity of killing our young, what other wickedness could be left for us to perpetuate?

Life is sacred and only God should decide who will live or die. Our Catholic Faith is teaching that life is special gift from God and we believe totally in this concept.

Eric, I'll try this again. Not sure why my last entry hasn't appeared.
1) The toll free numbers mentioned earlier will direct a pregnant woman/girl, married or unmarried, to help in her area.
2) Our gov't spends $12 on "comprehensive sex ed" (which teaches kids HOW to have sex; such as programs that Planned Parenthood sponsors) for every $1 on abstinence programs (which include all the health info., including facts on STDs). SO, parents need to take more interest in what their kids are learning in school. Polls have showed that when parents are informed on what their kids learn in "comprehensive sex ed" they are mortified. Parents, ask your school ahead of time for the curriculum. Opt your child out if necessary. Work to get things changed in your school.
3) Parents - educate yourself and your kids AT HOME. Louisiana has a great website, www.abstinencedu.com. Another great website is www.pureloveclub.com; their Q&A and Research sections have lots of info and links. A couple great book for teens: Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit (the "whys" of dressing modestly); Theology of the Body for Teens, by Ascension Press.
4) At the home is the key. As young as 5 parents can teach their kids to respect all people, to pray for the end of abortion (they are more receptive than many people think), to talk about the differences between men and women in a positive manner (we ARE different, from the core. Listen to Fr. Loya on 820AM on Thursdays at 7A.M. to hear about these differences). Around age 10, or earlier if the kids ask, parents can explain in age-appropriate ways WHY those magazines at the checkout counter are demeaning to women; WHY those tv show, commercials, movies are disrespectful and immoral. When the kids are too young those need to just be avoided. But when they're old enough to understand, it's best to explain the WHYs behind your decision that it's inappropriate. As the kids get closer to 12 you need to give more details, resources mentioned earlier.
5) We cannot leave this up to a sexually confused society. Take charge!
6) For married couples, NFP, which has been mentioned earlier. This is NOT the old ineffective rhythym method! NFP, Natural Family Planning, is more effective than the birth control pill without all of the health risks for women. NFP also has many other perks, one big one is that it brings husband and wife closer together. Very low % of married couples who use NFP get divorced. A place to start learning about NFP is at www.omsoul.com (One More Soul).

Quote: "Mother Teresa said it best.
There can be no peace until abortion has been eliminated."

I think Mother Teresa was dead wrong on this one. Without abortion, the overpopulation (which is already a problem) would lead to more wars: for food, access to water (in some countries), and for territory.

If you put 3 rats in a large cage with a certain amount of food provided daily they will live and play together and be happy as a rat could be. If you let the rats reproduce without allowing them to have a bigger cage and more food and water, within 3 generations the rat's behavior will change drastically. They will form groups that will attack rats from competing groups, the level of violence between rats will increase, and the competition for food will become a major problem. If you check after 2 or 3 more populations, you will find many rats just dead from bite wounds. The strong rats would attack the weak rats with or w/o provocation and the level of violence will be habitual, and not as much food-related (like the whole behavioral pattern changes within the last several generations).

That was the experiment the sociologists conduct to demonstrate the effects of overpopulation.

Abortion in many countries, esp. India and China, have been able to keep the problem in check, and you should be grateful for that, people, or you have no idea what kind of problems who countries would be facing right now, how they would decide to solve those problem, and how you, USA, would fit into their plans.

I think that many people seem to think that the more people the better, but I think a sociologist would disagree. We have just one planet, limited amout of food, water, and territory, and the more people are breeding more offsprings than a replacement for themself + 1 (2 kids total), the sooner the rat experiment will become more of a human race experiment, I believe.

P.S.

One more note about the rat experiment.

(I will try not to bore you any more with it after this)

In the stage 2 and 3 of the experiment, the scientists observed a "rape" practice when a group of male rats would attack a female or a young male rat from a competing gang, and the top rat in their gang would force a sexual intercourse on the victim. They figured out it was a demonstration of power (male or female, or male v male) rather than natural reproduction instinct.

I read with interest the comments for and against the abortion clinic. I of course am pro life and the comments were interesting. You will note those who back the pro life issue have reliable statistics and examples to back up their arguements. Those for the abortion clinic spew anger and resentment and have nothing but their own selfishness and feelings to back their argument. Case in point Heidi Bell who incidentally is a teacher in the Aurora school system. (No wonder the schools have so many problems.) Her comment "I applaud the decision to open a PP clinic here, and will likely flash obscene gestures at the inevitable protesters as I pass by." How intelligent is that!

Those of you who continue to support this barbarious act please do your research, get your facts and statistics straight and come up with some plausible reason why this senseless butchering should continue rather than tell us to mind our own business.

Elena,

You obviously know more about, and care more for animals than you do about human babies that have a soul!!

And please do not use the overpopulation excuse to murder the unborn.....Check your statistics on this one.....Our Lord when he created this world did not make a mistake and make it too small...

There is enough food and water that no one should ever be hungry or thirsty....There may be a need for our richest countries to share their surpluses with the poorer countries, and that is exactly what our creator intended us to do........

The wars will never stop as long as we are killing the most innocent of the human race because there is no respect for life..

You have already stated several times that the reason you aborted your innocent baby is because you did not want your body ruined by this fetus that was feeding off of you.......So please dont insult the caring people sharing their feelings on this blog with your false excuses regarding overpopulation, wars, hunger etc...

Regarding the overpopulation MYTH, read up at www.pop.org (which is also linked from the www.pureloveclub.com website). While still at the www.pureloveclub.com website, checkout the library for an article on the overpopulation myth. Basically, when we humans try to play God, things run amuck. Look at poor China. Look at Europe; they're under replacement levels! The US would be, too, if it weren't for immigration. Pro-death people, like Margaret Sanger, have been scaring the public for years with this myth. Sanger (1879-1966), who by the way started Planned Parenthood, believed in eugenics, a phony "science" advocating "breeding of the select", contraception for the poor, and sterilization & euthanasia for the "unfit". (Sound like Hitler?) Quote from Sanger's American Baby Code: "Feeble-minded persons, habitual congenital criminals, those afflicted with inheritable diseases, and others found biologically unfit should be sterilized or in cases of doubt should be isolated as to prevent the perpetuation of their afflictions by breeding." Another, referring to Sanger's suggestion that parents apply for permits to have children: "No permit for parenthood shall be valid for more than one birth." Quotes from Sanger's Plan for Peace: "The main object of the Population Congress would be: ...to raise the level and increase the intelligence of the population. ...to keep the doors of immigration closed to the entrance of certain aliens whose condition is known to be detrimental to the stamina of the race, such as feebleminded, idiots, morons, insane, syphilitic, epileptic, criminal, professional prostitutes, and others in this class barred by the immigration laws of 1924."
More quotes from Sanger: "...We do not want word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, ...Remember our motto: if we must have welfare, give to the rich, not to the poor...We are paying for...an ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all."
"Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective."
So, you see all of you who praise Planned Parenthood, see what they are about. See their foundations. You all talk so much about "Mind your own business" and "Don't tell me what I can or cannot do" - listen to the words of PP's founder! Talk about controlling other people's business! Does Aurora need Planned Parenthood? Not only does Aurora NOT need PP, but PP should be put out of its grisly business for good.

Quote: "Dear Nicole,
Your story is very sad and heartbreaking, and I am sorry for what you had to go through.....
Rape is a horrible, inexcusable act...
But honestly, ending the life of an innocent child is not the solution..."

It is not a solution for rape itself. But if a raped woman does not want to go through the pregnancy and childbirth hell for the sake of the rapist's kid, then abortion is very much a solution.

I have been raped before, and trust me, being unable to continue with your life for the next 9 months, being sick and miserable from pregnancy 24/7 for the next 9 months, anticipating the pain of childbirth for the next 9 months, and paying the fetus' medical bills for the next 9 months has ZERO healing qualities. Especially if people around will constanly remind you about what happened.... "oh, you are expecting! How wonderful!" - "Not really, I was raped." - "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that!"
Yeap, now the whole world knows! Goody-goody.

I was raped twice in my life, and none of my friends, parents, of relatives know about either one of tose incidents. I never told anyone who knew me personally. Police knew about the last rape, but I refused to do anything that would allow police to let my family know. The rapists ended up paying me money for me to make it "go away", but if they didn't I wouldn't do anything further. I didn't want any criminal case if my family and friends would find out. Luckly, police cooperated, but I will never report a rape again, it is just too much!

My parents still don't know, and I hope they never will.

Now, I only imagine how I would feel if EVERYONE in the neighborhood knew! The old ladies, the old farts, my parents' friends, their friends, the worst of all - the highschool gossip group... I would never step a foot in my school again.

When you been raped, all you want is a blissful absence of memory about what happened. I was able to forget about what happened within a few weeks, because the less you talk about it and the more you keep your mind busy with school and other things, the sooner you move on. Now what happens if your gross behemot body, the every-minute-of-the-day remind of what happened, will be with you all the time? Good luck with moving on until after the birth and only if you are lucky and there were no complications during delivery that would lead to prolonged treatmnet.

I feel so lucky I never had to face something like that.

Patty,

I didn't intend to do any overpopulation research project, but I can try. But even if I can demonstrate to you that overpopulation creates poverty and suffering, will you stop believing that it is all a part of Lord's plan and change your opinion about overpopulation actually being a problem? I doubt so.

If you tell me that you will (change your opinion), I will go ahead and spend time researching ths for you.

I never said that I aborted because I thought about overpopulating the world. I just mentioned the rat experience when someone brought up that quote from Mother Teresa that without abortion world will never be saved.

Ever hear PP or others claim that the Pill is fine, unharmful? Read THIS at www.pop.org - click on Weekly Briefings - click on Current... - click on July 30th Contraceptive Poison. Very scary, but not surprising.
Artificial contraception is linked to abortion. Not only because many of them actually cause abortions without you even knowing it, but also because the mentality of a society who accepts artificial contraception will ultimately accept abortion. They go hand in hand.
For Elena, Nicole, and anyone who has been a victim of rape, my heart goes out to you. I can only hope that you find true healing and support. Groups like www.rachelsvineyard.org and www.silentnomoreawareness.org can help. Even though the % of pregnancies that result after a rape is extremly low, about 1%, being in that 1% is life-altering. Many of those women have said, after having an abortion, that the abortion was their SECOND rape. Many more have said that being able to talk about it freely has brought healing. My prayers are with you.

Quote: "Many of those women have said, after having an abortion, that the abortion was their SECOND rape. Many more have said that being able to talk about it freely has brought healing"

I don't doubt that. And if it works for them, good for them! For me it didn't, and I as I said I will never report another one again because talking about it with police people was just as, if not more, humiliating as the rape itself. But I wouldn't try to tell other raped women how to feel or how to deal with it. If giving birth heals them, go for it! If abortion heals other ones, go for it! If talking helps, talk! If keeping it secret helps, keep it secret! I would suggest pondering for an hour or so about what you think would be the easiest way to go thought it, before talking to anyone, even your friends, though. When you are so stunned and traumatized, it is easy to let others to make decisions for you. While it may be good decisions for someone else, it may not be the best decision for you. Take charge, that is the only way to restore your balance.

You don't believe in abortion? Great! Don't have one!

Then mind your own business for those of us that reserve the right to make our own decision. We may decide to have one, we may decide not. That is our right. And it's not YOUR decision to make for us.

As my momma always said to me, stay out of other people's business.

Didn't yours teach you the same?

Say no to this in Aurora.

Joan, You were right on target!

Linda,
Above all else I was taught to fight for life, respect all life, especially the unborn because they have no voice to fight for their own life!!!!
Life is everyones business, murder is everyones business......
To not want a baby slaying mill in ones community should be a right for every human being..............

You're right on Linda. This is a personal and private matter. All these good Christians should pray about it and let their God be the judge.

Enrique,

We do not intend to try and judge peoples actions, only our Lord can do that......

But, he enpowers those who love Him and life to try and stop the horrible injustice done to the unborn, innocent babies that He created.....

He is not on this earth to stop Planned Parenthood from opening a so called clinic that will destroy what He created....Therefore, every person, parent, grandparent needs to speak out, in His behalf, against those who want to destroy life......

Patty-

So long as I have the power of free speech and the right to vote, I will work hard to make sure that women have the right to choose. I am very much aware of the dire situation women would be in if they no longer had this right. I value and respect women too much to let that happen.

For all who want to stop abortion! Keep dreaming. Abortion was practiced since before Christianity, and in every society ever since. Before Civil War, right after the 2nd Great Awakening, abortions were "surprisingly common," as historians note (so much for the good old days!... They were common before Roe. Currently, they are still very common in S. America where the woman gets to go to jail for having one... I can think of many other examples.

The reality of abortion is that it is A VERY NEEDED SERVICE. Always was, and probably always well be for as long as women don't have a 100% reliable contraception available to them.

You can drive PP out of Aurora, or state, or country, but as far as stopping abortions, well, you have a task that no society, religion, or culture has been able to achieve. The demaind brings the supply. Always has, always will be.

I was on a blog of one pro-choice woman... In the wake of some recent Supreme Court decisions, she was distributing (online) manuals for at home abortions which anyone with a minimum medical exerience can provide, giving exact list of the medical instruments, and signing up women for underground networksbu that would either provide abortion services locally, or transport women to the states where abortions are legal. The manual for abortion was interesting but a bit intimidating to read. I don't think I would attempt one based on that manual alone.

But I was taken aback by the enourmous popularity of her blog and how many women were enlisting for those transportation networks, re-re-distributing the manuals, etc. I thought they were over-reacting, and I did not think that distribution of those manuals to just anyone was a good thing - who knows who could get their hands on it! But overall I think I will support their network if things came to that, although I do not think they will, at least not in my lifetime.

The argument that women have the "right" to choose to kill their unborn baby has already been addressed. It's a false argument with the intent to justify a wrong, and it's a moot point. Roe V. Wade is bad law, constitutionally speaking, and will be overturned someday soon. Then it'll be up to each state, and the people of that state. Eventually abortion will be seen in it's correct light...a deviant, evil act which preys on women in their most vulnerable state. To respect women is to desire the best for them, not giving them what they think they need at the moment out of fear. To respect women is empowering them to get through their difficult time with dignity. It's already been discussed why abortion does neither of these.

Anonymous-

i suggest you pray long and hard about this issue. So long as there are rationally thinking Americans, a women will always have this option.

No one denies that abortion, in some form or another, has been performed for ages. The difference is the people of today have become numb and many have bought into the lie that we need abortion. This lie of it being a need has already been addressed. So, again, once Roe is overturned and it goes to the states the #s will drop dramatically. Those vulnerable women will no longer be fooled into thinking it's okay simply because it's legal. Just as slavery was once legal and is now seen as an evil by society at large, so will abortion. Stop listening to the Margaret Sangers out there.

Enrique,

If Americans who agree that an unborn, innocent baby should be brutally butchered and ripped from it's mother's womb, are what you call 'rational', then God Help Us All!!

As someone who is not really in either the Pro Choice or Pro Life camps, but is somewhere in between, I am not against the presence of Planned Parenthood in Aurora per se. However I do not like the sneaky way they went about building their clinic and I do question their choice of location. They felt when their clinic was designed and planned that they would need to include bulletproof glass to protect their doctors, employees, and patients. Yet their clinic backs up to townhomes and is across the street from apartments. Are they going to pay for those residences to have bulletproof glass for protection? How will they protect the customers shopping at Dominicks or renting movies from Blockbuster from those people they feel they need bulletproof glass to protect themselves from?

Personally I feel the clinic should have been located in a more remote area of Aurora. It should not be located in the midst of a residential area. I would have less issue with it if it were across New York Street in the commercial area there or in the area near Rush Copley. It should NOT be so close to people's homes.

Actually, Enrique, you should thank God that there are good Christians out there praying. Praying for those who rationalize the truth away to justify selfish desires. Prayers go up daily for the abortionists; that God will reveal the truth to them. (And many HAVE seen the evil and stopped doing abortions). Prayers go up daily for the women who are considering having an abortion; that they'll find the help they are desperately looking for; that they'll find the courage to stand up and take responsibility for the life within them; that they'll offer their precious child up for adoption if their time in life isn't suitable for raising the child themself - this is love. Prayers go up daily for our nation, for our world, that God will have mercy on us for this horrific reality of baby slaughter. And, yes, prayers go up daily for the closing of the slaughter houses, aka abortion "clinics". Prayers are even going up for everyone reading these posts.

Why don't you people put as much effort into stopping the atrocities that are taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan? Because your political party, the Republicans, who always seem to have the "pro life" stand are CLEARLY NOT pro life overall. Put your money where you mouth is and try to get your priorities straight. If you don't believe in abortion, fine, but accepting the killing of thousands of individuals in Iraq under your choice of a political candidate is just as horrific to those who are pro choice.

To the person stating that 'our' political party is responsible for the thousands of deaths in Iraq, THIS is not the issue....If you are going to participate in this blog, wouldnt it be better off for all concerned to stick to the issue?????

The issue is if Aurora needs a baby slaying clinic in their city??

As I have stated previously, I absolutely abhor war....But, at least our soldiers are given weapons to defend themselves from the enemy.......The innocent unborn are given nothing except the safety of their mothers womb, which so many times turns out to be a death sentence for them......They cannot defend themselves, & any God fearing person needs to speak up for these helpless babies......

Killing babies is evil, no one intentionally wants evil in their community.....

Quote: "To respect women is to desire the best for them, not giving them what they think they need at the moment out of fear."

I thought to respect someone would be to give that someone an advice (if you think they are going in the wrong direction) and then leave it to them to make the final decision.

Making a decision for women, forcing them to comply, and then telling them that you did it "for their own good" (and of course YOU know what is good for them!) would be to more like.. patronizing them? Is that the right word?

I am amazed at how many people think they have the capacity to always know what is best for all others, what they want, what they need. Not just for some of them, but to all of them. You guys must be the wisest of the wisests. You may not know why you bought those ugly shoes 2 years ago and never wore them again, what were you thinking allowing your kid to drive, or why in the world you thought that your relations with this or that person would work out nicely... But as far as knowing what is trully best for all others, you are just a wisdow tree on legs!

Quote: "They felt when their clinic was designed and planned that they would need to include bulletproof glass to protect their doctors, employees, and patients. Yet their clinic backs up to townhomes and is across the street from apartments. Are they going to pay for those residences to have bulletproof glass for protection? How will they protect the customers shopping at Dominicks or renting movies from Blockbuster from those people they feel they need bulletproof glass to protect themselves from?"

I feel that it is a valid question.

Maybe their logic is that there have not been any incidents of attacks on the PP-neighboring business yet (I believe around the nation, but I could be wrong), and they don't expect any? However, if their building does puts shop owners (and customers) in danger, they need to design some protection system for them, as well, or it would not be fair to other businesses.

Quote: "As I have stated previously, I absolutely abhor war....But, at least our soldiers are given weapons to defend themselves from the enemy......"

Is defending themselfes all that they are doing there? Or is there some murdering of insurgents (who are "human life") and occasional civilians (who are also "human life") involved as well, maybe? Maybe even on everyday basis? Maybe they even get medals for that?

And why do they have to defend themselves? Because people are shooting at them? I wonder why? What are they doing there? How did they end up there? Did a tornado picked up their mobile home and landed them square in the middle of Bagdad?

Ok, I know, I know, all they did is to go there to kill off or capture (so we could later kill off) all the "bad guys", but somehow it all turned around now the bad guys are shooting at them! Darn, how those things go wrong...

I want to clarify that my statements about protecting the neighboring homes and businesses was not because I felt there would be attacks on those. But should someone decide to shoot at a doctor entering PP (as has happened at other abortion clinics in the US) the possibility of a stray bullet causing unintended harm is there. We hear about stray bullets harming unintended victims in other types of situations on the news all of the time.

Quote: "But should someone decide to shoot at a doctor entering PP (as has happened at other abortion clinics in the US) the possibility of a stray bullet causing unintended harm is there"

I see... I do not know what to asnwer. I do not think the doctor or employees would enter through the main entrance (they would probably go through the back entrance), however, if someone wanted to shoot at the women entering or leaving, I can see how a stray bullet could hit someone (even if a fellow prolife demonstrator). Also if someone decided to bomb the building, it would also create a problem. Maybe that is why PP decided to attach itself to other businesses? So the protestors would avoid bombing the building since that could hurt innocent shoppers nearby? Or maybe it was the only place suitable for them that the administration of the city would approve? I do not know. Either way, I agree that the situation is not the best for the other businesses!

The points to show why abortion is not a good, not a need, have been shown. Now people are grasping at thin air. Planned Parenthood is an evil institution, and this has been shown as well.

Quote: "The points to show why abortion is not a good, not a need, have been shown."

I didn't notice....

Anonymous-

I find your self righteousness to be evil.

I was in a position 24 years ago to make a choice between having my child or giving it up for adoption. Abortion was never an option. I went to an orgainization called "Birthright" and recieved all the help and information I required to make my decision and to make it through my pregnancy. I made the decision to keep my baby and am now blessed with a grandchild. If I had given my baby up I would have regretted it for the rest of my life because I had to have an emergency hysterectomy a year after my baby was born and was therefore blessed to have had the one child. I think aborting a baby is sin and I would never stear a woman towards an abortion clinic. I have saved several babies' lives over the years by helping pregnant women through their pregnancies and supporting their decisions to keep their babies.
I PRAY FOR THE END OF ABORTIONS AND TO A START OF THE HEALING, AMEN!

So many people here mentioned how women tell them that abortion was a second rape and all that stuff. Ok, maybe for them it really was, I do not know. But here is my account of abortion, and it was not nearly as terrible.

It is long because I wanted to make it detailed. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, skip to the very end.

This is to the best of my recollection, with only one or two manor modifications to protect my privacy.

=============
You already know the first part of the story (or if you do not, it is somewhere above, in the comments).

I searched for contact info on local abortion clinics on the internet. I looked at several, and they all looked ok. On one of them I saw a picture of the doctor, and his bio, and for some reason I decided he is going to be my doctor. He didn't look intimidating.

His clinic was actually a private clinic, not PP.

I called and asked for prices an appointment, and found out they were booked for 1.5 weeks ahead, but I decided I would rather wait than to go to someone else. I was very much looking forward to my appointment because I was just getting so weak from my sickness I was getting to the point I had to crawl (rather then climb) upstairs sometimes, and I just felt like I could not hold my own against this so-called baby for much longer, but the very fact that I had the appointment was giving me a sense of resilience.

Day one. The receptionist on the phone gave me some confusing instructions for parking and finding an entrance. On the day of my appointment I found the clinic’s building but couldn't figure out my notes for parking, so I parked a half a block away and walked to what looked like the front door, which was extended from the building good 6-8 feet, and there was a glass tunnel that attached that entrance to the actual building.

I tried the door and it was locked, so I rang a bell, and had to give my DL to the lady who appeared in some side window like a bank teller. She took my ID and left and came back to open a door.

When I came in, they asked me why did I come in through this door, and showed me out of the window the gated parking lot and told me to park there from now on and use that door over there, and be careful when I come out back on the street after my appointment. I was like, “What is going on?” At that time I did not know much about abortion clinics and all the bombings and stuff.

BTW, there were no protestors outside that whole day, because I did not see any when I was leaving, either.

I had to wait for about 20-25 minutes (along with a few other ladies who were reading magazines), filled out some paperwork, and then they called me and took me into a small room with just a desk. A nurse took my temperature, pulse, weight. She was super-nice, I liked her. I had to wait another 15 minutes before the doctor finally arrived.

We sat down and talked for good 20 minutes. He first asked me easy questions, like whether I worked or studied, where geographically I lived, how long, etc, and then we got to the main part: why I wanted to abort, what other options I have considered, and how I felt about aborting, how my partner felt about it, who else knew about my decision, how they felt about it, and on and on.

Then he asked me how well I understood the reproductive system, and I said, “Vaguely.” He pulled out a large chart with pics and some plastic imitations of cervix, uterus, etc and explained to me how the whole things goes from a sperm to a fetus, what it looks like inside the uterus, and how different abortions are usually done.

Then he left and I had to watch 2 instructional videos: one on the procedure itself, and one on some special new method of cervix opening they used there. He also left a pile of papers with me to fill out, and part of it were survey questions, like what was my age, marital status, religion, did I have any children, frequency of sexual activities, etc.

Then we went into the examination room and did a sonogram, and again while he was working the machine we were talking about my reasons for abortion, and my partner’s disapproval, and how I went through the family therapy about it, etc.

Then I was done. They gave me a bag of papers with me to read about the procedure, plus at least 15 brochures of all kinds. Among them, by the way, were pro-life brochures, one on adoption (with phone numbers and web sites), and one on God and religion, or something like that. I read the adoption one (it had pretty pictures) but tossed it without hesitation.

I had one more appointment 2 days later, mainly to come and talk about he fact that I indeed want to proceed and understand that after the abortion I won’t be pregnant any more and there will be no way to reverse the abortion (I was like, “I sure hope so! These people must think I am a Down or something….”)

The day of the abortion I was nervous and arrived early, so I had to wait a while. Several ladies were waiting with me in the waiting area. All was quiet, and rather cozy. The chairs there were soft and wide. They had a coffee machine and a water filter. There was a stand filled with all kinds of info on contraceptives in the corner, many brochures. They also had a huge aquarium from floor to ceiling with some exotic looking water plants and fish in it. Two ladies in the corner were whispering to each other. Two other by the window looked like mother and daughter, they were reading paperback books.

They had plenty of magazines, many of them on pregnancy, others were the gossip ones like Ok and Stars, some were more like fashion and health. I flipped through a few. My stomach was growling, my morning sickness was finally waking up, and I just about ready to go use their bathroom when they finally called me and led me to a small changing room.

I changed and waited for the nurse. The nurse came in and asked me how I was feeling (nervous!) and whether or not any changes in my plans happened since the last visit, because until the operation started I could still decide not to do it. I energetically told her that I was 100% sure. She told me to sign here and there, and said the doctor will speak to you shortly.

I sat there staring at my toes for the whole eternity until the doctor came in. He sat next to me and we had about 5 minutes conversation about, again, that I was not obligated to proceed and if I had any doubts about the procedure, then I all had to do is to pay for the initial exams and go home. He said in such a way that I got almost scared that he changed his mind! I said, "No, no, I am absolutely sure I want to proceed." He looked at me for about 10 seconds, and I felt confused and didn't know what else to say, and then he said, "Ok. Let’s start getting you ready."

The nurse then led me to some room where I laid down while they attached a needle to my arm, and started some medication. I was laying there thinking "I am not sure this stuff is working because I don't feel any different". They left me there with this medication for a good while, and I got bored and felt asleep.

Then I remember them telling me to go bathroom, and when I got up I found out the medication was indeed working: I could not feel my legs at all and my head was spinning. Somehow I managed to land myself on a toilet seat without making a flip head forward. While I sat there, my head stopped spinning and suddenly I felt totally awake and alert.

I came out and they asked me how I was doing, and I said, "I think the medication is wearing down, I am very alert", they told me to tell it to the doctor and led me into a large examination room, where I climbed on the examine table.

The doctor came in, and I told him I needed more medicine, and he asked me again if I changed my mind to let him know right away, and I said in frustration, "No, no!! I am ready! I just don’t think this anesthetic is working". He said Ok, we will get you some more. He started to do the sonogram again, giving some instructions to the nurse, while another nurse was painfully moving the needle in my arm, and I thought to myself, "If I can feel that needle, the medicine is NOT working!" I mentioned it to the doctor and he said I would be ok in a few minutes, although I didn’t feel very confident about that assurance.

They did a VERY long sonogram, and I started to fall back asleep.

Then he said, “ok, we are ready to start, I will give you a couple of shots in this and that area. You will feel a needle when I give you a shot”. I took a deep breath and said, "OK." One of the nurses took my hand and said, "You will be ok. Squeeze when it hurts."

I did feel a shot, and said, "ouch!" and he said, "the next one will be much better." And he was right, the next one I could barely tell when it happened. They then let me lay there for a few minutes, talking quietly among themselves (there were 3 nurses and him), while I felt getting numb inside. Some time passed, and I started to fall asleep again, but suddenly he told me very loudly, "Please keep your eyes open for me!" I woke up and opened my eyes, startled. The nurse gave me a soft pat on my arm and said, “We just want to make sure that you are conscious, that’s all.”

I tried to keep my eyes open the best I could but I was falling asleep every few seconds and waking up again. He was talking to me and asking me questions and made me answer them to keep me awake. I have no idea how much time have passed, it didn’t feel like very long, I felt like I was starving for a 5-minute nap, but then I remember him saying, “I will now scrape the surface clean, tell me when you feel a cramp.” And boy did I feel a cramp! I made a yelp and almost sat up, and the nurse said, “Sorry about that! This the worst part, hold on.” After about 40 seconds the cramp slowly went away, and I was a little pissed at myself for yelping but trying to relax again.

After that it was just a few minutes, and he said, “You are all done, and you were a trooper” and I thought to myself, “Yeah, right….” It was less painful than I was preparing myself for, so I was disappointed that I handled it not as well as I hoped I would.

He told me he would see me later in the recovery room to give me my discharge instructions. Somehow I found myself in a room with 4 beds I think. Two nurses were very gently helping me up, and then down on the bed, and gave me a very nice warm blanket. I laid my head down and I think I felt asleep that same minute.

Then a nurse woke me up and said they had to take my pulse and other things, and while they were doing that, the doctor came. He came in and brought a plastic bag filled with stuff. There were pills, pads, several pages of info on what to watch for that evening, 24-hours emergency contact information, a large envelop with my papers, and just a lot of stuff, I tried to listen the best I could but I felt like swimming in and out of the sound of his voice. Then my partner who was waiting outside came into the room, and doctor and him were talking about the papers and pills while I finally felt asleep for good.

I don’t remember when the doctor left. When I woke up, my partner was sitting by my side, and reading the papers. Before I even sat up all the way I started to feel incredibly sick and grabbed the dish they left for just that purpose and puked my guts out for a good 5 minutes. I will remember this moment forever as the LAST PUKE of that hated pregnancy.

I was all shaking like a leaf but suddenly I felt great! Very light. He asked me, “How are you feeling?” I said something like, “Been better.” He asked, “Was it terrible?” And I said, “No, not really.” He was kind of staring at me, like unsure how to take it.

I was very lightheaded and laid down so I wouldn’t fall of the bed. Nurses would come in all the time, checking this, checking that, and wake me up, but I would go right back to sleep. When I would wake up I would feel great, just very tired. The doctor came in twice, last time to say good bye, and I said, “Thank you, it was better than I expected.”

After a while I got tired of sleeping and wanted to get out. The nurses said I can stay in for the rest of the day, but I was ready to go home. I gave the nurses a big Thank You for their patience. They were really nice to me all the day long and I really appreciated that..

I did not have any problems, neither that night nor anytime after. I bled like I had a regular period for about 3 days, and that was it. The next day I was already energetic and strong, and several days later I had to force myself to stay in bed like the instructions said. By then I was bouncing off the walls. I wanted to go for a nice walk outside or do some household chores, something physical. Lastly, I was constantly hungry. I dropped to I think 113 (from my normal 120) while I was pregnant, and I felt obligated to indulge myself in any food I wanted to, after all I have been through, and since I had a few pounds to gain back!

On my follow up exams I was found perfectly ok.

Although before that pregnancy I planned to have children, right now I do not feel like I will ever want to get pregnant again.

As you can see, not all abortions are terrible expriences. Mine wasn't.

Elena sounds like a VERY SELFISH person. How sad. Glad I don't know her!!

STOP PLANNED PARENTHOOD
These guys are very slick. Even though PP may do some good, they counsel as many as possible to have abortions. They do not show the mother an ultrasound of the baby. They do not report rapes as they are mandated by law to do. They actually promote sex that results in more pregancies so that they can perform more abortions. It's the abortions that brings money. They don't make money from counseling. Their other services are a cover. This will be very bad for Aurora.

For more information about the hidden agenda of Planned Parenthood visit http://www.childpredator.com/

"Or maybe it was the only place suitable for them that the administration of the city would approve? I do not know."

That is the problem. The city did not approve of PP being located there because PP purposely did not attach their name to any aspect of the building until it was already approved and built. The area was zoned for medical offices, but a few general practitioners offices would not create a problem in any way for that location. PP does. Their underhanded way of going about this is one of the things that bothers me.

"Elena sounds like a VERY SELFISH person. How sad. Glad I don't know her!!"
Which is why I find you to be very judgemental. How can you judge someone as selfish when you do not know all of her reasons or motivations for her choice? While I would only make that choice for myself in rare situations, I am not going to judge Elena for hers since I do not know what all she was going through at the time.

To the person who said we dont know Elena's reasons for wanting an abortion.......Scroll to the top.....She plainly stated she didnt want a fetus feeding off, and ruining her body!!!!!
What does that sound like to you????????

Quote: "That is the problem. The city did not approve of PP being located there because PP purposely did not attach their name to any aspect of the building until it was already approved and built."

If this is the case, then I agree, I think PP should have done it with alot more consideration to the other business establishments. However, I do understand why they didn't want to disclose it too early just to anyone.

Sorry, Patty. I just joined into this group yesterday. I have not been following it and did not read every post that was there before I came on. You are right, I did miss that.

However even with her statements we still don't have a full grasp on her emotional state at the time of her choice. Her history of rape, etc. brings in a whole element that none of us can relate to. I still would not judge her choice unless I knew her personally and knew all I could about her, her past, and her state of mind at the time of her choice. What happened to her to make her view a fetus as an alien, etc? There was probably much more going on than she has indicated here.

Again I will reiterate that I am not in either the pro choice or pro life camps. If my daughter was raped, became pregnant from it, and was in a delicate emotional state, I would take her for the abortion if that was what she felt she would need in order to recover. This would be after some counseling. If I had become pregnant when my children were young and the doctors told me that there was a strong chance I would not survive the pregnancy, I might have had an abortion in order to not leave my two children without a mother. However, I would not have an abortion because something was wrong with the fetus, and I would not have one simply because I had an unplanned pregnancy. These are my choices. But I cannot make those choices for others.

As a Christian, I would like to see abortion and any need for it to disappear. But I would not push my choices and my beliefs on others who are not of that same mind. As long as there are certain social issues that often impact a person's choice in this matter, I would prefer that every woman be allowed her choice. If we can rid the world of many of the issues that lead to this choice, then that would be great.

Please keep in mind also that not all of the "Anonymous" people on this board are the same person. I think there are at least 3 different people posting under that moniker.

Quote: "Elena sounds like a VERY SELFISH person. How sad."

I hear that alot. And it am Ok with being selfish. There is this notion that women should always do what is best for others, at their own expense, and obviously many women don't mind, but not me.

However, no one but me seems to think that the fetus, too, was taking care only off its own selfish interests, with no regard for the body it was occupying, and I would like to put it on record right now:
I believe it boils down to my selfish versus its selfish, and none of us would give an inch (although I was certainly on the "loosing" side of this arrangement for many weeks). I don't present it as a fact, but it is certainly my opinion about what happened.

Truly there is no intent to judge those who have aborted their babies, only our Creator can do that, and we are constantly reminded that He is a forgiving God if one wants forgiveness.....

The intent here is to stop more babies from being slaughtered....
An evil like this does not belong in anyones community.....

THIS JUST IN... Quote from www.lifenews.com: "In an ironic vote, Senate Democrats led a fight against an amendment to the SCHIP bill on Thursday night that would have helped poor pregnant women and their unborn children obtain prenatal care. They voted against restoring a program that allows states to provide help for pregnant women in difficult financial circumstances. The reasons for the vote likely had more to do with the politics of abortion. In 2002, President Bush authorized a change in the SCHIP program that allowed states to cover pregnant women and their babies -- and many states such as California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Texas, Wisconsin and Michigan -- have done so. Pro-life groups were thankful because the program provides help to vulnerable pregnant women who might have an abortion because of financial pressures. But abortion advocacy groups decried the move because they don't see an unborn child as worthy of coverage under a federal program that provides health care insurance for children after birth. With control of Congress, pro-abortion lawmakers have revised the program and dropped the Unborn Child Rule in favor of language saying that pregnant women can be covered, but not their babies."
ANOTHER STORY TODAY by www.lifenews.com: Connecticut Planned Parenthood Did Abortion in Sexual Abuse Coverup... "Police investigating a kidnapping and sexual abuse case in Connecticut have confirmed that a Planned Parenthood abortion business did an abortion on a 15 year-old girl who is the victim. The news is the latest in a string of cases across the country where abortions have been used to cover up cases of sexual abuse."
GO TO WWW.LIFENEWS.COM TO READ FULL STORIES

I just read the article Both sides want to stop abortion and find the characterization of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, very "amusing", to say the least. The columnist makes her sound like a saintly woman, on par with Mother Theresa. However, what most people either don't know or choose to ignore is that she was very much a racist and an elitist. Do some research on this woman for yourselves and see her own words. Here's a sampling ...

• "We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population," she said, "if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon
• The purpose in promoting birth control was "to create a race of thoroughbreds," Birth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)
• "...human weeds,' 'reckless breeders,' 'spawning... human beings who never should have been born." Margaret Sanger, Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants and poor people.

When does life begin? If death is when the heart stops beating, shouldn't life be measured by when the heart starts beating? Does anyone argue this?

A sperm and an egg are joined together; what else is added but time? How can we decide between life and death?

Pregnancy, childbirth, raising children is scary. Anyone who does not think so does not take it seriously. It's okay to be scared. It is what you do with that fear that makes a difference.

I will pray for all the women that are thinking about abortion. And for the women that have had an abortion (or several). I don't judge you. I thank God that I was not put in a position to make that decision when I was living by the world's standards. I can't say that I would have made the pro-life choice then.

I am now married to a wonderful husband and have two children. Sometimes this scares me; that I could be trusted with so much. But I trust in God and what he has given me and I thank God everyday.

Quote: "THIS JUST IN... Quote from www.lifenews.com: "In an ironic vote, Senate Democrats led a fight against an amendment to the SCHIP bill on Thursday night that would have helped poor pregnant women and their unborn children obtain prenatal care. They voted against restoring a program that allows states to provide help for pregnant women in difficult financial circumstances."

Here is national news coverage of this bill:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/18/AR2007071801434.html
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200707/POL20070727b.html

I can see how a fetus health coverage problem could create a paperwork nightmare... Basically what they want is to create two (or three, or four, or six... depending on the number of fetuses) health coverage recipients instead of the one that the insurance initially agreed to cover. So, you potentially have a patient (or several patients) with no name(s), no SSN(s)... How are they going to submit claims? And I think the insurance companies will use this as an excuse to raise the premiums for the pregnancy coverage for ALL pregnant women, whether their fetuses need any special medical treatments or not.

I feel horrible that anyone has an abortion because they're morning sick. Morning sickness can be terrible and debilitating, but there are other, guilt-free, healing ways of dealing. I wish everyone knew there's help for severe morning sickness. CNN did an interview of a woman (3 minutes and 53 seconds in length) which is posted on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=morning+sickness+abortion&search=Search
Check it out.

WHY should an abortion require more planning? I don't see how more unwanted children is a good thing: more abused and neglected children means eventually more adults who had almost no love or nurturing growing up. Those are not well-adjusted adults.

Give women a break here. You think we're silly brainless things who don't know what we really want, and if we're put off long enough we'll change our flighty little minds, do you?

We know when we can't afford to raise another child (most women who have an abortion already have kids). It is not your business to tell us we don't know our own minds, and it is certainly not your business to restrict services from poor women that rich women can easily (and do easily) afford. They are the last women who need to suffer through an unplanned pregnancy without proper health care.

And it's not as if abortions are all PP do. They provide birth control and gyno checkups as well, but I suppose women need time to think those things over as well, do they? I mean, we might actually want to have cervical cancer. I hear it's a real laugh.

If you view abortion as a convenience, a flippant answer to a "problem", then no it does not require any planning at all. If you view abortion as a LIFE INVOLUNTARILY ENDING, then yes! a whole lot more planning needs to take place. Over 40 BILLION ABORTIONS HAVE TAKEN PLACE SINCE 1973.

We cannot make these decisions, for life and death. It isn't always about what we want. Sometimes the consequences of our actions are uncomfortable and require sacrifice. Sex is serious enough that it creates life. "it is a great poverty that a child must die so that one may live as they wish" Mother Teresa.

This isn't about rich or poor. It is about making a choice. Rich or poor is just an excuse. Just as many wealthy women have abortions. It is a convenience.

Every community has some form of funding in place for poor women to access proper health care. It just requires a little paperwork. There are several solutions throughout this blog alone. Maybe PP could just offer these solutions(std testing, prenatal care, pap tests, adoption services....), not abortion.

Who can afford to have children? If we all wait until we can afford them, who would have them? All they want is our love and affection. They don't need the latest toys and shoes. AND IF YOU CAN'T LOVE THEM there a hundreds of thousands of people that would love to adopt. GIVE A CHILD A CHANCE AT LIFE.

I'm with you LW Jolly. You are so much more based in reality than many of those that have posted comments on here. I would suggest that these pro lifers focus their energies on helping children get a good education and get access to healthcare. It's so much easier for them to sit at their computers and preach good and evil to everyone.

Enrique, you seem caught up on education and healthcare. I suggest YOU focus on that. As a matter of fact, many pro lifers DID just try to get good prenatal care for poor women who are pregnant, but the pro abortion Democrats turned it down. Pro lifers believe good education and healthcare is very important, and I'm sure many do what they can to improve it. But the main issue here is this: What does good education and healthcare do for a person if they aren't even alive to enjoy them? All of our rights our meaningless if we don't first have the right to life!
I have yet to hear a valid argument for why abortion is a good thing for women and for our society. And you know what, I never will because there isn't one out there! It's an evil and nothing can change that. You can change the subject, you can say we're all preaching and should mind our business, you can say "then don't have one", you can justify it all you want...but none of this changes REALITY. The true reality is that abortion kills a human being, who has just as much right to live as you do! And until you pro abortionists understand this, until you admit that your motives are out of pure selfishness, YOU will be the ones prohibiting someone (or 47 million someones!) from THEIR rights!

To Enrique:

The issuse here is weather a baby slaughterhouse for babies should be allowed in the community.....
Not about education and healthcare.....If you are so concerned about these issues, which most all of us are, why wouldnt you agree that the many, many millions of dollars that come from taxes used to murder babies should go toward education and healthcare instead????

And to Elena:

Is it o.k. for insurance companies to be required to pay for a botched abortion, and all the complications that come along with it?? When these baby slaying clinics are funded by the many milliions of dollars of tax payers money????

Seriously, think before you try to mislead the many serious, caring people that are participating on this issue.....

The majority of people believe that they were created by God....That same God gave us 10 rules to live by and hopefully make it to heaven.....One very important rule was to NOT kill.....What would make one think that he excludes the helpless, innocent creations that are growing in their mother's womb.....The only reason a female is given a womb is to carry a baby, it serves no other purpose.....
Denial, excuses etc. will not make the fact disappear that abortion is murder of the cruelst kind........

Quote: "This isn't about rich or poor. It is about making a choice. Rich or poor is just an excuse. Just as many wealthy women have abortions. It is a convenience."

I think you missed the point. Your effors to make abortion less accessable will affect only poor women who don't have their own car, or cannot take a day or two off work.

The women without financial problem will always get an abortion, either in another state or in another country.

So, poor women who are too poor to have an abotion is going to have have more kids, and since kids = wellfare, they are better off keeping the kid than giving it up for adoption.

QUOTE: "f you are so concerned about these issues, which most all of us are, why wouldnt you agree that the many, many millions of dollars that come from taxes used to murder babies should go toward education and healthcare instead???"

Because if they don't go toward abortion, in a few years you will be very short of money for the education and healthcare of millions of new people. 1 abortion is economically much cheaper than the cost of healthcare and edicare for 1 child.

Quote: "Is it o.k. for insurance companies to be required to pay for a botched abortion, and all the complications that come along with it??"

My insurance company did not have abortion coverage, and I do not know if any do.

As far as complications, I didn't have any, so $0 for both me and the insurance company after the abortion.

I have several friends who had abortions, and they didn't have any complications, either. I was on many prochoice blogs and communuties where women who had abortions come together, and no one there ever mentioned any complications that they had after their abortions (be that chemical or surgical abortions).

So, I am sure that some women have medical complications after abortions, but I don't know how much the insurance companies actaully lose (annually) on those complications... maybe not enough for them to get up and do something about it. But ok, fine, let's stop covering complications after abortion, if it makes you feel better.

If I was the insurance company, however, I would rather cover BOTH abortions and complications after abortions, because they would cost alot less than covering pregnancy, delivery, and post-delivery recovery. I think if you look at the total for an average pregnancy+delivery+post-delivery and the total for abortion and the post-abortion, the cost benefit would be quite sizable.

I think that in UK and Germany, that's is exactly how they do it (cover abortions to avoid higher pregnancy costs), but I am not 100% sure.

Quote: "feel horrible that anyone has an abortion because they're morning sick. Morning sickness can be terrible and debilitating, but there are other, guilt-free, healing ways of dealing. I wish everyone knew there's help for severe morning sickness."

Ben, I am sorry I am on dial-up and don't have much luck downloading videos, but I wish I knew of a good morning sickness meds, too, because this morning sickness was the big part of the problem. But I would decide to abort either way, I think, because I was completely freaked out by the child birth video, and the pictures of all those enormous bellies, so in the end it was about deciding to keep my body from undergoing all of that then the morning sickness. The morning sickness just sealed the deal by making me hate the fetus' guts.

Cheaper for whom? You're not thinking of the poor, who would most likely be needing the abortion to be tax-funded. You're thinking like Margaret Sanger, who wanted to weed out the minority poor who were "unfit" in her eyes... exerpt from Dr. Willke:

"But poor women want this help.

Not as much as rich people. In 1984, the strongly pro-abortion University of North Carolina polled its state to find that only 32% favored tax funding. An important finding was that 43% of the college-educated favored such government "assistance," while only 17% of those with less than a high-school eduction concurred. Also, 36% of men favored assistance, but only 28% of women. So, those who would receive the "benefit" of tax-funded abortions wanted them the least. One might conclude that the elitist social planners see this as a way of reducing poverty — killing the unborn children of the poor.

From a strictly economic standpoint, isn’t it cheaper to abort than to have another person on welfare?

Planned Parenthood did one of the definitive studies on this which showed that at the time of the study there were welfare costs of $13,900 for each first birth to a teenager (married and unmarried), and $8,400 for each first birth to her if she was 20 years or older. Compare this with the average of nearly $50,000 each will ultimately pay in taxes as an adult. M. Burt, "Public Cost of Teen Childbearing," Family Planning Perspective, vol. 18, no. 5, Sept. 1986

The average time a family stays on welfare in the U.S. is 27 months, not 18 years. When we peel away the outer layer of the rhetoric, what we find is a callous cost-benefit analysis of solving poverty by killing the unborn children of the poor.

This continues to happen. In 1982, Michigan for instance, only 14.7% of pregnancies of non-welfare mothers were aborted. This clearly suggests coercion when we realize that the minority classes who make up a large share of the welfare people are more against abortion than are the while middle and upper classes. Ibid

It isn’t the poor who want abortions. It’s the rich who want abortions for the poor.

WHO'S BENEFITTING MOST FROM ABORTIONS? Another exerpt, an interview w/ Eric, who previously ran abortion clinics:

Brad: When you were involved in this industry, what was your annual income?

Eric: When I walked away from the clinics, I walked away from everything. I left my ownership and my money there. I wanted nothing else to do with it. The average doctor who does abortions one day a week at a clinic averages 25-40 abortions. He will walk away in his pocket with an average of $100,000-$125,000 a year. An average clinic that performs roughly around 8,000 abortions will gross approximately $1 million a year.

Dr. W: One doctor can do that? That’s full time, though.

Eric: No, it’s not. Not at all. Abortion clinics, Dr. Willke, are set up like cattle slaughtering centers. You get ‘em in and you get ‘em out. I would say, honestly, about 60%-70% of all abortions takes place on Saturdays.

Brad: How many women do they usually schedule in a day?

Eric: The maximum I’ve ever seen get done in a day is probably 50-60 women. Usually, that takes two abortionists, but I have seen doctors kick out 40-50 patients by themselves. First trimester cases – if you have a doctor who’s been doing it for a while and he knows what he’s doing – you can push through 6-7 an hour. And that goes back to the whole issue too of how little regulation there is. Even within PA, which prides itself on being the bastion for restrictive abortion laws, there really are no regulations. There’s nobody to monitor these facilities. There’s nobody who tracks the money that comes from the birth control companies that flood through the clinics – the paybacks. There’s nobody who tracks the insurance companies that give incentives to physicians for performing abortions, because insurance companies would rather pay for abortions than pay for a full labor and delivery.

Dr. W: You get those incentive payments?

Eric: Oh yeah, they flow like water. If you’re a participating member of an insurance company, they will give you incentives to perform an abortion. First trimester abortions are $250, and insurance companies such as…I’ve seen them pay over $2,000 for those abortions, because they would rather pay $2,000-$2,500 for a first trimester case than pay $7,000-$8,000 for prenatal, labor and delivery.

Brad: So do you, as the clinic owner, pocket that money?

Eric: Oh, definitely.

Quote: "The true reality is that abortion kills a human being, who has just as much right to live as you do!"

Well, take it out and place it in a tube where it can grown on its own, and it can live happily ever after, I don't think women will specifically desire to have it killed.

The point is to allow the woman to have control over who and how uses their bodies. While we all have a right to life (I would say it is an artificial law, but most laws are), we do not have a right to occupy other people's internal organs against their will.

Abortions for the poor. Shame. How about if that poor kid turns out to be a great caring human being?

How is that a person can go to jail for killing a mother a her unborn child, also known as murder, yet when a woman decides to kill, also know as abort, her unborn child, there are no consequences? Our world is confused. Take a minute to reflect on your life if you are one of those who are pro-abortion...Have you enjoyed the beautiful warm sunny days? The fresh breeze blowing against your face as you step outside? The company of friends? Being able to go and do whatever you want to do? Being able to make your own choice on how you want to spend your day? Now ask yourself are you giving your unborn child that same opportunity? Your mother chose life....and so should you!

Elena, We're not talking about your internal organs. Scientific evidence proves (and this has been stated twice on this blog) that as soon as the ovum & sperm unite, a SEPARATE human being has begun. This new life can be determined to be male or female, is alive, has all the right # of chromosomes to be deterined human, and is complete (meaning, everything is there and will continue to mature and develop until this human being grows old and dies). SO, an abortion does not abort YOUR organs. An abortion aborts YOUR baby. And, again, no you do not have the right to do whatever you want if that means killing someone else in the process. A parent does not have the right to abuse their child. A person does not have the right to enslave another human being. And no one has the right to commit murder, inside or outside of their womb.

R. Earl - you are right on about M Sanger!

Should your dad commit a horrible crime, should you have to do the jail time? What if your mom robbed a bank, should you have to pay back the debt? No, right? So if a sperm and an egg come together and create a beating heart (a NEW life), why should that child have to pay for the consequences of your actions?

46 MILLION CHILDREN PAY FOR THESE CONSEQUENCES A YEAR. If 46 million abortions are documented a year, they must be accessable.

If you abhor pregancy, or the idea of having a child that much then don't have sex. That is what creates life. Why should an unborn child have to die because you can't stand the idea of discomfort or sacrafice?

AFFORDABILITY? WELFARE? I can't put a price on my children, or any human life. I can't believe that is even an issue in a country where people don't even bat an eye at paying $4.00 for a coffee. Sure some people abuse the system, but should that mean children should die? No one argues the LIFE issue here, it is about affordability and welfare.

It comes down to you pro lifers minding your own business. Focus on your own lives. Though you may believe that you have the right to judge others, that is not the case.

Enrique,

Human life is everyones business.....Any God fearing person does have the right to do their best to stop evil especially when it is in their own backyard.....Deny it all you want, murdering the most innocent of all of us is the worse of all evils.......

And no one is out to judge what others will do, or have done....
Our Lord is the judge of us all.........

Anyone with an ounce of common sense must look at the law that states if a person murders a pregnant woman, he has murdered 2 people.....Plain and simple......How can anyone justify that the person God entrusted to protect that life the most, is allowed to brutally murder it???? Is this not the most hiporcritical, evil belief ever????

What's next, allowing a woman to murder her baby after it is born because he cries too much????

Roe V Wade was and is the most grotesque evil to fall upon our land....It is worse than the holocaust......And dont you find it a bit intersting that the female in the case of Roe V. Wade realized many yrs ago what a horrific evil she helped bring about, and rallies for the end to abortion????

Patty-

Your self righteousness is laughable. You really should focus on your own life and stop judging others. Mind your own business. Perhaps you can focus on your own health. Have you gone for a jog lately? What about your cholesterol level?

Does it make you feel like you're closer to God or that you're a better person by calling us evil? That's pathetic.

I've been criticized for dwelling on education and healthcare for children, but not one of you has told me what you're doing in either case. Are you advocating for more money for our schools or universal healthcare for children? I highly doubt it.

Again, it's so much easier for you and others who claim to defend life to judge and criticize others. What are you really doing to make life better on this earth? I'm afraid to know the answer to that because I doubt you're doing much.

You can't call someone self righteous and judgemental while being self-righteous and judgemental. There is no tone in these blogs.

An agnostic friend of mine has described her belief system to fit all religions and the non religious, because it is based on science. I am paraphrasing a little, but physicists believe that the entire universe since the beginning of its existence is heading towards some ultimate complexity. They call it the tendency towards complexity. Anything that helps us move towards this is good, and anything that doesn’t is evil.

If you ask someone why something is wrong, they will say the law says it is, the bible says it is, Jesus says it is, etc. But, why is it really? You only have to ask two questions: 1. What would happen if everyone did this thing? 2. Would this help or hinder the movement towards complexity? (or God.)

For example, Why is killing wrong? What would happen if everyone killed others? Would that help or hinder? We would eliminate the species eventually, and that would hinder. We may be the most evolved species (that we know of,) but we aren’t the last achievement of the universe. If we kill each other off, we would wipe out all the progress our species has made since it was here. This would set the tendency towards complexity back
billions of years, inhibiting its evolving, and is therefore evil.

In conclusion, scientifically speaking, if everyone had an abortion this would hinder the movement toward "ultimate complexity". This therefore would be considered evil. I hope this helps you understand from another point of view why this is wrong.

This is a wonderful country that has some problems, but I choose the problems that this country has over any other country. I thank God that I was born and raised here. If we could all get on the same page we can achieve anything.

I will continue to advocate for life and you advocate for a solution for education and healthcare. But if we don't advocate for life, there will be no need for education and healthcare.

What am I doing to make life better on this earth? I am trying to love....from the unborn to the elderly. Every day I try to become more Christ-like. What can I do to provoke others unto love and good works? I ask myself that question and try to meet people where they are and do whatever answers that question. That's all. I'm imperfect, I need God's grace just like everyone else.

What are you doing?

Enrique:

I am not judging others, and your entire 1st paragraph would be laughable if this were not a matter of life or death for the unborn.....Pro choicers tend to get emotional and start to name call to make themselves feel better when they have run out of rational arguments, which is understandable because there is no rational argument for murdering innocent babies.....

And I will say it again, human life IS everyones business.....

I am a mother of 3, grandmother of 3 with another on the way.....

I am not calling anyone evil, I am calling abortion evil because it is.....

As I have questioned before, why isnt the many, many millions of dollars used to murder the unborn used for healthcare and education?????

Your childishness and arrogance are showing thru, and clouding the issue here....The issue is~~Does the community of Aurora need a baby slaying clinic?? Myself and many others believe murdering the unborn is evil...So, our answer is no.....

I do not feel the need to defend my beliefs, because my beliefs are what I have been taught by believing in my creator.....But, yes I do contribute to my church thru our pro life group....We genuinely do care for the unborn and their mothers.....There are occasional baby showers where the congregation is asked to donate money and items needed for mothers who are having financial difficulties.....We have a group where woman who have aborted get together and mourn together because they are also loved and cared for.....I could go on and on, but again that isnt the issue here.......

Why is it that people think they have the right to tell others what to do with their body? If I'm a vegeterian and you're not, do I have the right to stand outside your house with pictures of bloody cows while you eat? I'm not sure an abortion would be right for me, but I don't have the right to tell you what is right for you. I don't know your situation. I haven't lived your life. I also find it funny that most pro-life people advocate adoption as the answer. Yet there are thousands of children in foster care and waiting to be adopted. Some are considered "too old". Apparently when that child was born, no one called the pro-life organization to let them know a child was saved! How come these pro-life opponents don't adopt? Not enough money? Already have children? Too young? Not married? Aren't capable? Huh, I wonder if that's how the young girl seeking an abortion feels? Put down the sign and take a hard look at your life. If, you are so passionate about this debate, don't just "talk the talk". "Walk the walk", go right down to child services and tell them you would like to adopt. I have two daughters and I hope that I never have to help them make this decision. However, I also hope that they have the right to control their bodies as they see fit.

Patty-

Casting stones is all you can do. Sad indeed.

OK, this discussion has been going on for over a week without very much being offered as a solution. Since our fundamental law has been interpretted to allow such procedures, the only way to stop abortions in our society in the near future is to stop problem pregnancies. The way to stop problem pregnancies is through education. Planned Parenthood is building a brand new $5 million building that, amongst other services, will offer their philosophy of education to stop problem pregnancies. Some of you don't like their philosophy. The rub is that there is not a visible institution or clinic or building in our community where people can go to where alternative education is available. Some of the suggestions in this blog refer you not to address but to emails and phone numbers. There is no high visibility alternative well known in our community.

Again, who of you will volunteer to start the formation of a organization to build a clinic in opposition to the one you complain about? Who amongst you will fill out the grant proposal to get Faith Based money from the federal government to fund the initiative? Which of you will donate money to the cause?

Let's stop complaining and do something!

The abortion industry has a revenue of about half a billion dollars a year....This money very well could be used to save life instead of destroying it.....

We all come from different backrounds and base our beliefs and passions on what we have been taught.......

When one is taught that we are created by God, in his image and that all life is sacred, and that only our creator can take life, then we will always fight for life......

Loving and protecting life is our given right, given to us by our Lord.....Taking the life of our most innocent is smiled upon by Satan himself.......

How heartbreakingly sad that Planned Parenthood would so cunningly choose to build this slaughterhouse approximately 1 mile away from Waubonsie highschool where girls as young as 13 attend.....

13 yr. olds cannot obtain any type of true healthcare without their parents consent, but they will have the opportunity to abort a life because the laws tell her it is o.k......This without their parents ever knowing what their loving child has gone thru....
Please read some of the statistics....Young girls who have aborted are more likely to turn to drugs and alchohol to try and forget what they have done.....

And what about the families with their young children shopping at Dominicks and Blockbuster, not to mention the homes behind and across from this building.......Why did Planned Parenthood feel it was necessary to put such a building in the midst of this neighborhood?????

This organization should not call themself Planned Parenthood, rather they should change their name to Baby Butchers.....

Protecting all human life is everyones business........

All the usual red herrings of the pro abortion movement are in full force in this discussion.

1) "You can't impose your [morality, religious beliefs, etc] on me." Bunk. That is what the law is--it is the codified social contract that punishes rapists and murderers and causes us to stop at red lights. All of this, the enactment, the enforcement and the compliance with the law, is the imposition of a moral standard. Frankly, who are YOU to impose your morals on the rest of us? If abortion takes a human life and taking human lives is wrong as recognized by law and acknowledged by the citizenry, then to snuff out a life because it's an inconvenience is, de facto, wrong.

2) "What about all these "unwanted" children--you pro lifers are only interested in meddling in women's bodies and disappear when the baby is born." Rot. Who do you think runs so many crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, etc? Many churches in town run day care centers, provide assistance with material support and more. Could we do more? Certainly. But to say that until society somehow solves every other problem means abortion should remain legal imposes an impossibly high standard that serves to maintain the status quo. The fact that children live in foster care or are caught up in a system that is less than desirable does not negate the inherent worth of each individual child.

3) "You're so judgmental." OK, I'll concede this point. While someone who is only interested in their own welfare and their own comfort is BY DEFINITION selfish, it is not necessary to point this out as it only turns into a namecalling fest. We would all do well to emulate the tone by Fr. Barr in his comments above.

Anonymous who posted an interview with an abortionist - I am not buying what that guy is telling. If he is really an abortionists, I am not sure where he worked and what kind of abortions her performed... 6-7 abortions per hour? If an hour is 60 minutes, then the abortion lasts... 8-10 minutes?

If you read my abortion report (above), you will see that the doctor had to spend with me at least 30 minutes or more during the operation (of what I remember), maybe 10 minutes before, then about 10-20 minutes with me before I felt asleep, than he explained everything again to my partner, so I would say on that day he spent a total of no less than 1.5 hours with me, and on the first visit we had about an hour leasurely chat and conversation and all the sonograms, and then I had follow up appointment... Why would he spend so much time with me if he had 6 other women waiting? I never saw more than 3 or 4 other ladies in the waiting area at a time. And out of those 4 only 2 looked like patients, others looked like their mothers or girlfriends. Were those crowds of ladies hidden from me? I was by myself (well, with my partner) in a large 4-bed recovery room from morning till afternoon, and no other women were there. I saw that they had 3 other recovery rooms that were in that hall that I recall walking by. If he made 20 other abotions that day, where were they recovering?

The clinic I went to was nothing like a mill of any kind. It was rather small, private, and cozy, the nurses were very sweet and caring. They offered to stay for the rest of the day but I wanted to go home. No one asked me what kind of insurance I have. That was not even a question on the paperwork. So, they certainly did not receive any kick-backs from my insurance... all in all, alot of what is in that interview you posted does not sounds right to me.

I think that doctor either tries to dramatize or he ran some kind of over-hyper establishment that was nothing like the clinic I went to.

Quote: "Elena, We're not talking about your internal organs. Scientific evidence proves (and this has been stated twice on this blog) that as soon as the ovum & sperm unite, a SEPARATE human being has begun."

I didn't say that the fetus was my private organ. It was a foreign organism.

I was saying that no one has a constitutional right to use other people's private organs (even to save their life), otherwise forced blood, organ, bone, and tissue donations would be a part of our law. Right now the doctors can't even remove organs of the dead person without his prior concent, or without the concent of his family. Not even to save a life.

Quote: "The issue is~~Does the community of Aurora need a baby slaying clinic?? Myself and many others believe murdering the unborn is evil...So, our answer is no....."

As far as I can tell, YOU do not need this clinic. But you are not the only one woman in the area, so I would say that if there is indeed no need for this clinic, then it will close its doors soon on its own due to lack of clients.

If it becomes busy, then it is obviously NEEDED for others, even if you don't think that the clients visiting that clinic are making a right choice. So, maybe you guys should make a determination how needed this clinic is after is opens, not before?

Quote: "As I have questioned before, why isnt the many, many millions of dollars used to murder the unborn used for healthcare and education?????"

Patty, because those are two different issues. Just as money for road improvements don't go for educational expenses. Women need help paying for their abortions (some do, some don't - I paid for mine 127%, because it went on my high-interest credit card). Children need help paying for healthcare and education. Elderly people need to help pay for prescription drugs.... I do not see why should money needed to help one group be used up by another group. Now, you could argue that women don't need abortions, but obviously some women disagree.

Quote: "Anyone with an ounce of common sense must look at the law that states if a person murders a pregnant woman, he has murdered 2 people.....Plain and simple....."

I actually disagree with that law. I think it should say that he murdered a woman and her fetus died as a result.

Killing the most innocent of God's creations is the most heinous crime ever, and the law which allows it has created a nightmare which is much worse than the holocaust.......

We are all brought up with different values and beliefs....The majority of people who are defending life believe that we were created by God in his likeness and that only He has the right to take life.......

The abortion industry which has a revenue of half a billion dollars a year has now chose to build an abortion clinic less than 1 mile away from Waubonsie highschool where girls as young as 13 attend.....

These same girls who cannot get real healthcare without their parents consent, can now abort their babies without their parents every knowing what their loving child has done.....

There are statistics that show many young girls turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the guilt they are feeling after an abortion....

And for what reason would planned parenthood choose to put their building between a Dominicks and Blockbuster where people shop with their young children.....Not to mention the homes with families that surround that building......

It is our God given right, and every human beings business to defend the life of the innocent......

We will all face our creator in the end, and only He will be the judge of the ones who did not defend the helpless babies......

Elena:

Should your dad commit a horrible crime, should you have to do the jail time? What if your mom robbed a bank, should you have to pay back the debt? No, right? So if a sperm and an egg come together and create a beating heart (a NEW life), why should that child have to pay for the consequences of your actions? Could you please answer that question for me? That child did not ask to be there, and was only as result of your actions. I want you to know that child did not invade you, YOU created NEW life. That is the point. I don't judge you. I have very close friends that have had abortions, some of them several. I can't say that when I was unmarried I what choice I would have absolutely made. But I know now.

My church is very active with Teen Moms. A lot of couples in my church are active in the fostering system. A close friend of mine has adopted 4 children from the fostering system. I hope to foster some day too. But my real passion is to reach our youth during and before they reach the dating age. Share my testimony. (I never made a good decision for myself until I turned my life over to God). I want to give them hope, even if they have given themselves away already or if it has been taken from them. "I kissed dating goodbye" by Josh Harris is a phenomenal book. I wished I could have read it when I was a pre-teen.

I don't want to condem. I want to reach out and help people to understand that abortion is not the answer to the solution. Past actions cannot be undone, but so much can change.

ABORTIONS ARE ACCESSABLE ENOUGH. OVER 40 BILLION ABORTIONS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED SINCE 1973. Please don't allow PP to abort in Aurora. That child may be the greatest blessing you will never know.

Quote: "Should your dad commit a horrible crime, should you have to do the jail time? What if your mom robbed a bank, should you have to pay back the debt? No, right? So if a sperm and an egg come together and create a beating heart (a NEW life), why should that child have to pay for the consequences of your actions?"

First of all, having sex is not a crime (at least not yet!). So, your examples have a sub-meaning that I personally do not appreciate. But to answer your question (and I will speak only for myself), my fetus died not because of something that I did, but because of something that it did, specifically, threatened my health.

Individuals who have been involved in an abortion and who seek healing, both women and men, can find a caring, non-judgmental ear where they may freely share their stories at the organization, Victims of Choice. The phone number is 630-378-1680.

Why isn't Victims of Choice, Inc, an Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation [according to the Secretary of State] and a 501(c)(3) charitable organization according to its website where it solicits donations, listed in the Illinois Attorney Generals Data Base of Charitable Organizations?

Aurora does not need an abortion clinic. There are other much safer, better ways for a pregnant woman who does not want her child. The number of abortions needs to be cut down, DRASTICLLY and immediately. If abortion was made illegal this would help bring the number of abortions down. Stopping the building of another huge clinic is one of the first steps we need to make. Women do not need abortion, America does not need abortion. Abortion is tearing apart relationships and families, breaking hearts, and murdering our future generation, it needs to stop. Let us protect the woman (and men) of America from this evil.

Can someone forward Mark Aughenbaugh's e-mail address to Eric Scheidler for me I would like it. Thanks.

Mark good blog by the way.

Thanks.

Quote from Anonymous: "Aurora does not need an abortion clinic. There are other much safer, better ways for a pregnant woman who does not want her child"

1) Childbirth is more dangerous than abortion (I provided the list of side effects somewhere earlier in this blog). More dangerous and causes more long-lasting physical damage to the body. As far as minimising the damage to the women's health, abortion beats childbirth hands down. Anyone who wants to agrue this point, please provide references to published medical studies done in the past 10-15 years so we can debate the facts, not opinions.

2) Why would anyone want to go through 9 months of most unpleasant experiences just to never see the "fruit of their labor" after the birth? The whole point of giving birth is that you could have a child to show for your trouble.

I personally think people who put up kids of adoption lose twice: first time the time and money (on the pregnancy), and second time the kid. I am sure that some women don't think much of losing 9 months out of theit lives and then moving on like nothing happened, but for most people, the adoption solution is not really "better" or "safer". It is less safe and alot more burdensome. The only reasons to CHOOSE it are either for fear of judgement and punishment (the selfish reason), or of emotional attachment to the fetus (the non-selfish reason). Thus, I believe that the decision to carry to term has nothing to do with safety and actual benefits personally to the women and everything to do with her personality and state of mind.

I just want to throw my two cents in on the issue. I hope everyone remembers who was in office when this Abortion Clinic opens. I find it hard to believe that the Mayors office and other elected officials had no idea what it's purpose was. Apparently various inspections on the site gave them no idea. This is exactly the kind of leadership that keeps Aurora a secound rate city.

K. Meier

If you were Mayor and an elected official, what would you have done to stop the office? Each of these people swore an oath to uphold the law. What law would you have used to stop the office? How would you have gone about it? How would you have shielded our city from liability?

If I were mayor I would have been aware that most dentist offices are not 22,000 sq. feet with surgical units. I'm not suggesting anyone break the law, but you and I both know there are scores of loopholes in the law. For examples you don't have to look any further than the city of Chicago. At the very least the mayors office could have sounded the alarm early on instead of staying mum. Now all of us in the region can watch are property values drop. I wonder if the mayors office has put that into the cities budget for next year.

I really don't know of any loopholes that would stop the construction of a medical building in a properly zoned district. Please remember that Illinois law sets up 2 distinct zoning laws--one for Chicago and one for the remainder of the state. I would be more than interested to hear how under the laws and ordinances that pertain to Aurora that the city could have stopped the construction of the building and the establishment of the planned parenthood clinic.

Eric, I have three questions for you. 1)Are you a lawyer? 2) Are you a lawyer for the City? 3)Are you from a city office monitoring this blog? I'm just curious.

Anonymous

Yes, no, no. Now, how would you have legally stopped the planned parenthood office. I'm just curious too.

Elena, you are so full of drama. Your fetus did NOTHING to "threaten your life". You mean to tell me you'd be dead if you hadn't had an abortion??? My goodness, what a drama-queen you are. This blog is obviously your arena to take center stage and justify your actions to no one but yourself. Just like they say about children, negative attention is still attention and you, my dear, are desparately seeking attention. Your lack of maturity and unstable mental condition are quite obvious.

by the way Elena, many bloggers have stated to you the very obvious fact that you, and you alone, allowed yourself to become pregnant. That your baby did not miraculously invade your body without your knowledge. That you were not a victim but rather a very willing participant in an act that you knew could result in the creation of new life. And each time this is stated to you, you have no come-back to justify it. Hmmm? So, where's your personal responsibility in all of this? Convienient that you never seem to take any - responsibility that is.

Quote "from Anonymous from Oswego": "Elena, you are so full of drama. Your fetus did NOTHING to "threaten your life". You mean to tell me you'd be dead if you hadn't had an abortion???"

I said it threatened my health. And please don't tell me it did nothing to threaten it. I was healthy as a horse both before and after the pregnancy.

I did post here to get some attention, especially of all those pro-lifers who convinced themselves (and are trying to convince others) that abortion is some kind of trip to hell, that all women regret it, that the doctors don't take care of women, that the pregancy is so much safer and better, and blah-blah-blah...... Check that as WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, at least in one case - mine.

I hope to publish my story on EVERY blog that discusses pregnancy and abortion, so people could look at it and ask themselves, "Maybe not all women regret it? Maybe not all pregancies are better and safer?"

I do not expect anyone to change their overall mindset about how they feel about abortion and when the life begins and all of that, but I do want at least 1% of those reading to barely notice the fact that maybe SOME women don't regret it. Maybe SOME pregnancies are not safer solution. Because right now many prolifers never ever hear anything contrary to the common pro-life propaganda, so how can I blame them for thinking in stereotypes? Rather than blaming them, I think it is my responsibility to start putting info out there,and hopefully for someone it will make a difference.

I'm glad your murder experience, i mean abortion, was pleasant for you (not sure it was so peachy for your now dead baby) but that doesn't make it right. Murder is murder, wrong is wrong. That's the bottom line.

and you still, as usual, never addressed the issue of how your baby got inside you in the first place. It's that personal responsibility thing again.

Quote from Anonymous in Oswego: "by the way Elena, many bloggers have stated to you the very obvious fact that you, and you alone, allowed yourself to become pregnant. That your baby did not miraculously invade your body without your knowledge. That you were not a victim but rather a very willing participant in an act that you knew could result in the creation of new life. And each time this is stated to you, you have no come-back to justify it. Hmmm? So, where's your personal responsibility in all of this? Convienient that you never seem to take any - responsibility that is."

I never bothered to answer. The "personal responsibility" lecture seems to me the weakest argument against abortion ever invented. Well, maybe not THE weakest, but I haven't see one that would be weaker than that.

But if you insist.

1) Anyone who is not me is a guest in my body.
2) The guests are allowed to stay for as long as I enjoy their presence (men), or for as long as I willing to put up with their presence out of sheer feeling of generosity (some very pathetic men and possibly some well-behaving fetuses).
3) Once my welcome runs out, they are given a polite notice to vacate the premises asap.
4) If they are not willing to leave on their own, they are removed by less polite measures.

Now, I must say, I have been raped in the past, and I have been pregnant againt my will, so my rules not always been abided in the past, but of course I am still trying for 100% compliance.

As for "willing participant in the act that could have created life"... Driving a car can create a car accident, walking alone to my car can create a rape situation, and getting a tattoo can create an HIV situation. Even though each is my fault and the risks were known ahead of time, I wouldn't call myself a "willing participant" of all those unfortunate outcomes, and I would most certainly look for any ways to get out of these situations asap and with the most minimum damage. I would expect everyone to do the same.

It's folks who think like you that will destroy the integrity of our society and ultimately destroy our nation. Since you don't seem to want to take personal resposiblity for your reproductive system maybe you should just get your tubes tied. Or is it just OK to butcher someone elses body and not your own? With your backward way of thinking it's a sure bet that you'll end up pregnant again before too long and killing yet another baby.

If you want to just have sex for recreation and outside the institution of marriage then maybe you should be more careful so as not to involve an innocent third party (a baby).

I would argue that personal responsibility is actually the strongest and most logical arguement, seeing how in most cases if you don't have sex you won't get pregnant. Hmmm, pretty easy to figure out and nobody dies, or is unwillingly "invaded" by a fetus, in the process. If you can't handle the repercussions of sex then you shouldn't be having it.

Taking a life is murder no matter how you try to rationalize it. We do not hand a loaded gun to someone suicidal. Someone under extreme duress is not always thinking clearly. Abortion is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. There is no sin bigger than God. God alone can heal anyone who has been through an abortion. We should not judge those who in a very desperate state might choose to abort. At the same time we should not make it easy for them.

Quote: "I'm glad your murder experience, i mean abortion, was pleasant for you (not sure it was so peachy for your now dead baby) but that doesn't make it right."

Wow, I now have at least one pro-lifer admitting on the record that 1) I don't regret having an abortion, 2) the abortion itself was not traumatizing.

So, the myth that all women hate their abortions has been slightly dented! I did it!

It is not much, but that is all I needed from this conversation, actually.

These facilities are not "health centers". They are not regulated and monitored as other clinics are. They are insensitive and impersonal. They maim the mothers physically and emotionally and kill babies. As for Elena, I will pray for you. I am sorry that you were raped. You were violated and treated as a thing less than human. I would think that after that experience, you would be even more passionate about no other human being being treated as a thing and less than human, like an innocent unborn child.

Quote: "I'm glad your murder experience, i mean abortion, was pleasant for you (not sure it was so peachy for your now dead baby) but that doesn't make it right."

It sure doesn't. But the fact that the fetus was totally trashing my body during its stay does. I consider that pregnancy (and the fetus itself) more an assault on my body than anything else I ever experienced in my life. Abuse of my body, intentional or not, is no joke to me.

Quote: "These facilities are not "health centers". They are not regulated and monitored as other clinics are. They are insensitive and impersonal. They maim the mothers physically and emotionally and kill babies."

Karen, please read about the abortion clinic I went to (see the post about my abortion experience above). It was not a PP clinic, it was a private clinic, but it certainly shows that not all clinics are what you would imagine they are. I myself expected the quality of the service to be much lower and I was surprised a bit by how gently they treated me.

So, unless you been inside of this particular one, or worked inside of this particular one, and can testify to what you yourself vitnessed, I do not think you or I or anyone can say for sure what this clinic is going to be like. I certainly don't expect all of them to be as nice as the clinic that I went to, but I at least cen testify from my own experience that not all of then are what you think they are.

Karen

Why do you believe that the Planned Parenthood clinics are not regulated and monitored as other clinics are in Illinois?

Thanks

Elena, what is frustrating to me is that you refuse to answer this point - if you are so concerned about your body being "trashed" and "invaded" why are you having sex, out of wedlock, and full well knowing that you could become pregnant?

You are obviously intelligent in many other areas of your life so why not this one? At 25 had you not heard the news that sperm + egg = baby? It is a known fact that any birth control can fail so if you are so very concerned about your body why not keep it to yourself? Becoming pregnant was obviously something that you did not want, so for all your witty, educated, researched responses it would seem as if you could have prevented the pregnancy in the first place? no?

I just can't understand the lack of personal responsibility.

I also find it very disturbing and distressing that there is even a small percentage of the female population such as yourself who truly feel absolutely NOTHING about killing another human being. And in fact walk about the earth feeling very satisfied with themselves. It is truly frightening. It scares and saddens me to know that my young sons will venture out into the world as grown men someday and meet women who have no remorse about killing a baby.

There is another similar population of people who also kill other humans and we call them criminals, murderers, serial killers, etc. and we incarcerate them for the taking of human life. Since it's generally agreed that life begins at conception then really all we are debating whether it's ok for women to kill their babies. So were does it end? One day does it become ok to kill my own family because, well, after all they're MINE so who is my neighbor or the government to tell me what i can and can not do in MY own home, to MY spouse and children? Oh, and that pesky toddler who keeps wandering over to play on MY swing set, sorry, I just had to get the shotgun and take aim because after all he was on MY property. Just doesn't seem right, huh?

The laws in our country dictate every day what we can and can not do. They are meant to protect ALL people. This is one area were government has failed to protect its citizen and human beings die every day because of it.

I just happened to come upon this today and haven't caught up yet, but I'm wondering if this PP clinic offers tubal ligation as an option ? I see comments in here from pro-choice people who want to have sex at will with no consequences. Then have your tubes tied; you'll never need an abortion.

Life starts at conception and abortion is murder. I have no problem with anyone who wants to have sex; go ahead and have fun and enjoy it. But you also have to be responsible for your actions. If you are so certain you don't want to have children, then have a vasectomy or have your tubes tied. Then you can't / won't conceive, and then you won't have the need to murder an innocent baby you created through your own act.

Frank

I agree. The problem is that there is currently no place in our area that offers affordable tubal ligations and vasectomies.

Why don't the pro-life people start the process to establish such a clinic? Remember, no problem pregnancies means no abortions. Can I count on your support? Will you help with the fund raiser? How much can I put you down for?

You cant use teenages as the litmus test for abortion- at one point or another they regret most decisions they make- they are a hormonal and mood swing group - and their feelings should not be used to limit ADULT WOMENS decisions to access health care as they see fit. You know, I never see a study where people as women who didnt have an abortion if they regret it - I know a few people who do. I think if you dont want abortions then make AFFORDABLE BIRTH CONTROL AND SEX EDUCATION A PRIORITY. Encourage responsibilty BEFORE pregnancy occurs, and you wont need to have this debate. Also - before you go spouting off on either side - get educated and get facts (http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/603547/Healthc?_id=wom=kg=jtl) question the statistics you hear, and the researchers, ON BOTH SIDES. Then make a PERSONAL decision based on facts, not "the bible" or emotional responces.

Anonymous in Oswego,

I have no problem answering your question.

1) I knew that egg + sperm = pregancy since my teenage years, but I did not see any childbirth pictures or videos until AFTER I got pregnant. I also did not considered the health hazards of the pregnancy until AFTER I got pregnant. Among my friends, several had bad pregnancies, but they never shared any details with me. So, in some ways I was quite naive about the actual process of pregnancy and childbirth, and I blame the system of education for it. Children study all kind of crap they will never actually have to do, but a few things that everyone will be doing (finances, dating, marriage, childrearing, health) is badly missing from our eduction.

2) at the time I got pregnant, I was not planning on getting pregnant, but I was actually not against getting a child. I planned to keep it when I first found out. It was only later that I started to realize that there is alot more to it than I thought.

3) I do not believe that carrying a fetus to term is any more "responsible" way of handling an unwanted pregnancy than aborting. In my opinion, the only "irresponsible" way of handling it is dumping your born child on relatives or the state.

4) In my 28 years, I have never considered murder as a solution for any other interpersonal or financial problems because usually there were other solutions available. I have no interest in killing anyone if I can help it - even the fetus, toward which I must admit I did feel very strong violent urges at times. However, there is only a limited number of ways a fetus of 12-13 weeks can exit the body. Had there been a way to take it out while keeping it alive, I would consider it.

5) I personally know several women who had abortions and feel not much about it. I think that, contrary to what prolifers believe, MOST women move on rather quickly, remain satissfied with their decision, and live their lives without even thinking about it (until the conversation turns to abortion and then they can throw their 2 cents in if they feel like it). But that is my personal opinion based on what I have seen. I have not studied any statisics on this subject.

Eric,

After I posted, I did check to see if this clinic is planned to support tubal ligation. They plan to offer counseling, but not the actual procedure. I would hope that they help the patients who seek this procedure get it done. It appears that a small number of Planned Parenthood clinics do offer tubal ligation, and at least one also offers vasectomies. These clinics are the ones that I would say are really about "health".

For those that are sexually active and have no intention of carrying a child to term, they should have these procedures done. Since I am not a big fan of Planned Parenthood, I would never support them financially (and it is this very reason why I also do not support United Way or Susan G Komen, because they in turn support Planned Parenthood).

However, I firmly believe that Planned Parenthood has every right to set up business providing it is a law abiding organization. Thus I would not fight against them coming to town, even next to a high school (as this one is) if they didn't perform abortions.

I would also support federal or state funding (even up to 100% of pre, procedural, and post-procedural care) for those that want BC, including tubal ligations and vasectomies. I also don't care if they give away free condoms, etc. (although I would argue that if you aren't mature enough to walk into some random gas station and ask for them, you shouldn't be having sex). What I care about is that they don't do abortions, or only perform abortions when it's clearly a life or death situation for either the fetus or the mother. The rest of BC issues I have to deal with with my children anyway.

I do support abortion if it is due to medical health (other than mental), cases of rape (but I would also indicate that a report *must* be filed with the police); I would say I am undecided about the case where the fetus is known to have a moderate to severe defect of some type. But those are the cases where I think most people would say they could definitely understand that someone seriously considered the situation they were in and chose the abortion as a last resort.

The issue is there are just too many abortions performed in the collar counties of Chicago for it to simply be just a case of abortion as a last resort. Here are the numbers for 2004 :

Cook: 23,462
Dupage: 2,032
Kane: 661
Will: 985
Lake: 1,238

Source: http://www.idph.state.il.us//health/abortion/abort04.htm

So without Planned Parenthood being in Aurora, 2000 abortions were performed in Dupage County, and 661 abortions were performed in Kane in 2004. This does not seem under-served to me.

Mary wrote July 31, 2007 02:02 PM
Against abortion?

Don't have one!!

Pretty simple, dont'cha think?
``````````````````````
Too late for me!

Birth control fails; people make mistakes; the innocent baby should not be the one to pay for carelessness or inconvenience.

Against abortion; better plan ahead and save yourself for marriage.

Adoption is the loving option.

Frank

It's not the abortions that are underserved, it's the affordable family planning services that are underserved. There are no affordable family planning services in our area and we desperately need them. Planned Parenthood can't offer permanent birth control in their clinic because to do so would require them to be an out patient surgical center, which they are not. [Don't ask me why they can perform first trimester abortions without being an out patient surgical center because I don't fully understand the licensing of medical centers in our community.] However, Planned Parenthood will be the only center offering other means of affordable family planning once they open.

I understand that there are people who are philosophically opposed to Planned Parenthood, and I would never ask that they support their clinic. What I ask is that people who oppose Planned Parenthood ban together to raise funds and obtain grants to offer alternative affordable family planning. To me, there would be no problem with abortion if there were no problem pregnancies. We need people who are willing to help solve that problem. The Pro-Choice people have done so by forming Planned Parenthood. If the Pro-Life people have a problem with Planned Parenthood, they need to step up to the plate and work to offer alternative programs.

It's funny, this is the third week that the Beacon Blog has dealt with the question of abortion, and the third week that I have challenged Pro-Life supporters to help establish alternative family planning services. Not one has taken up the cause. Your support of the concept is the best that has been seen. We just need ten or 15 more like you and we could start the process.

One more thing on Dept of Health Statistics, the number of abortions listed is by the residence of the patient and not by where the procedure was performed. I believe that the DuPage and Kane procedures were probably performed in Chicago. However, the solution remains to stop abortions by stoppinng problem pregnancies.

Abortion is murder. I pray that all legal angles, political offices, county ordinances to stop this are put into place to stop Planned Parenthood from even opening this murder mill.

Frank,
Where did you get the idea that this clinic was next to a high school? Are Dominick's grocery store and Blockbuster now granting high school degrees? Sorry, it was just a thought that struck me as funny.

I do have an issue with the location backing up to a residential community. I think a better spot would have been on the north side of New York Street or near Rush Copley.

Otherwise I agree with you on most issues. I believe that there is a definite middle ground on the issue of abortion. I am frustrated that unwanted pregnancies occur at all when condoms are so easily accessible. The number of unwanted pregnancies that occur cannot possibly all be from "failed" birth control. Most are from no birth control used at all. As someone who has used condoms exclusively as birth control throughout 22+ years of married life, with a few pregnancies at times when they were planned, I know that if used properly condoms are a reliable form of birth control. (Too many side effects from the pill way back when made that not a good form for me.)

So I do believe that education is one of the keys. I know that many pro-lifers believe that abstinence education is the only way to go. I disagree. (And I graduated from a Christian college.) I think young people need to know that abstinence is the only sure fire way of avoiding pregnancy and STDs. But should they decide to have sex, they need to learn about all of the other ways to lower their chances of those two things. If PP is one of the ways that these young people will get educated about this, great.

Eric has some good ideas that the pro lifers should consider. (I am not in either the pro life or pro choice camp but somewhere in between.) Unfortunately since most of them are coming from a religious standpoint, they won't embrace his ideas since they don't advocate premarital sex.

With my own teenagers, sex has been discussed as something that should be enjoyed only when one is in a deeply committed, loving relationship. Hopefully with the person one is married to or at least plans to marry. Do I hope they wait until marriage? Sure. Do I expect them to? Not necessarily. I will be happy if they share that with someone that they truly love and are committed to after much thought and contemplation.

Anyone who wants to know the truth about planned parenthood, PLEASE go to youtube.com and type in planned parenthood exposed in the search area.

This report by an undercover reporter is quite interesting, and shows pp's true colors.

They DO NOT care about our young girls and woman.
They DO NOT care about life, or these so called Drs. would not inflict pain on tiny babies and then kill them.

They are all about the almighty dollar.

They deceived the city of Aurora, that is what they do best.

While our brave men and women are risking their lives and dying in foreign lands because life is sacred to Americans. How can we condone the taking of innocent lives. There are so many loving couples and singles who could give these developing babies the nurishment to reach their potential. All of these fetuses are individuals and capable to returning to society so much. Can't we give them a chance?

This is rediculous!!! We are talking about children here! Anyone who kills a child should be charged with murder. How often do we see drunk drivers being charged for killing an unborn child in a accident, or men being charged for killing an unborn child when they are beating on their women, why is it a crime to fight and kill animals, but it is ok for a person to continue to kill day after day many times a day this precious gift that god has given us? A BABY!!! A LIFE!!! A HUMAN!!! We don't need Planned Parenthood we need a Place where these woman can get support and someone telling them that they can succeed as a mother. Maybe they would learn to protect themselves a little better next time instead of having an abortion over and over.

I am so sick of all this silly talk. If you don't want to get pregnant and have a baby-DO NOT HAVE SEX!!!! Don't say your pill did not work, your condom broke, blah blah blah. Don't want kids, don't have sex!!! It is that easy. And how dare anyone say a baby is selfish for invading a body?? The woman who put the baby there to begin with is the selfish one for not thinking ahead. DO NOT HAVE SEX!!! It is that easy. And don't preach to me about rape, been there done that. I'm o.k. DON'T HAVE SEX.

My abortion was a glorious, relieving, strengthening procedure. I have never regretted it for a minute, and I now have two great kids that I had when I was ready. It is so sad to see young girls hide pregnancies for far too long, fearing the hatred and condemnation of those who scream at women outside clinics, preach at them from pulpits, and make them believe they have no choice over the function and purpose of their bodies and lives.

I would never make my girls feel that they couldn't make the choice that was right for them. If they become pregnant as teenagers they can have the child, keep it, give it up, or have an early abortion. The tragedy would be if they felt they couldn't tell me to either get a safe, painless early abortion, or receive appropriate prenatal care. I know girls that were happy teenage mothers. My child would have had a terrible early life given how busy and rambunctious I was at the time I became pregnant.
The abortion was NOT the "blood everywhere," "scissors in its skull" atrocity that is blathered everywhere by the abortion opponents. It was a clean, fast, procedure that gave me only a dull little side ache. Easy.

I examined the contents of the jar when I was finished. Murder is a ridiculous word for a first-trimester abortion.

Don't have an abortion if you don't like it. Maybe you should protest the death penalty instead of abortion, and focus on breathing, ambulatory PEOPLE instead of ambiguous blood and water and cells.