Here is a story that will not surprise you.
Jill Stanek reports a story about a woman who dies from an abortion. She contrasts the news about Tiller's death with the death of this woman. The national press did not cover the story. But then again, think back and remember all the news blackouts on the important events that would have galvanized public opinion in favor of the pro-life movement. The national media is so much in the back pocket of the abortion industry that they will never point out the horror of abortion and how it affects men, women and children throughout this country.
You will remember that here in Arizona two women died at one particular abortion mill and the national press pretty much ignored the story. That abortionist was convicted for the death on one of them and went to prison for manslaughter.
You will remember that here in Arizona a prominent abortionist went to prison for molesting hundreds of women during their examinations before, during and after their abortions. The national press never picked up the story.
After writing a glowing story about this abortionist years ago, this was the best that the New York Times could muster - a one paragraph briefing.
So why is it not surprising that the press ignores the death of a woman from a botched abortion.
It is not news. It happens all the time.
LifeNews.com reports the following story that you will NOT read or hear about in the mainstream press.
A 34-year-old California man, Aaron Ashley was convicted of two counts of murder in the killings of his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child. Ashley, who could be the first to be prosecuted since the conviction of Scott Peterson for the deaths of Laci and Conner, wanted his partner to have an abortion.
In a scene being played out on more than one occasion throughout the country, men are trying to force the women they have impregnated to have abortions. The pressure that these scoundrels exert can be overwhelming and many times between the fear and the pretense of caring, these men are exerting an influence over women who are under tremendous stress. The results are that women are being coerced into having abortions they do not want or are being physically harmed or killed in order to prevent the child from being born.
The only thing that will end this abuse is the passage of federal and state laws to prevent the coercion of women to have abortions.
And here is the incredible inconsistency. This man is going to prison for doing the same thing abortionists are getting paid to do.
One's expectation of the typical media generated response to pro-life reaction to the untimely death of notorious abortionist George Tiller reflects an awareness of the decades long manipulation by the various players of the tragic national crisis called abortion. The dance follows these steps. Event involving injury or death or property damage to abortionist, abortion worker or abortion property takers place. Pro-lifers condemn the event. Pro-choicers blame pro-lifers for using inflammatory rhetoric to incite individual whacko or in polite terms morally confused person. Media joins the pro-choice chorus and runs multiple articles about the event permanently harming the pro-life movement. Certain pro-life groups will castigate the media for its continuing (read 36-year bias). The parties return to their corners for the bell, wait for the next round and the fight continues.
The cynics will point to those who exploit the "base" of either camp and then attempt to claim a certain objectivity even as they smear the pro-life side with their perceived impartial analysis.
I have seen this dance so many times over the last 34 years that I could call out the steps.
But I must credit Thomas Frank's column "Red State Story" in his Titling Yard column in Wall Street Journal for being as smooth a hatchet job as I have seen in years.
Seeing it in the WSJ is no surprise. The reporters on any abortion story have a built in bias against the pro-life side. A line by line analysis here is not warranted but suffice it to say that the lack of balance in reminding readers of the number of women who have died or been injured in Tiller's "clinic" is just one example of selective reporting. Another is the actual amount of money Tiller gave to political figures in Kansas to protect him from the long arm of the law. But I digress.
Thomas Frank begins his piece by attacking Phill Kline, the one time attorney general who sought to bring Tiller to court to account for the allegations of wrongdoing. Tiller's success in stopping Kline ironically kept him in business thus allowing him to be a continuing target for the morally confused and relativistic mentalities such as Scott Roeder. Frank does not know what Kline has been through in his efforts to follow the rule of law. He does not know about the personal lawsuits filed against him by the abortion industry and the economic impact of such litigation on a person and his family. Frank does not seem to care that the allegations of Tiller's influence all the way up to the Governor's office are supported by the hundreds of thousands of dollars in political campaign contributions. No, Phill Kline is a convenient punching bag for the media.
Frank then claims that those who use the tough rhetoric really do not believe it; otherwise they would support the violent actions of individuals such as Roeder. Thomas forgets one important ingredient found in the logic of consistency and in a philosophy that respects the rule of law. One does not take the law into one's own hands. One who believes in the sanctity of human life understands that there are "rules" by which a people live. These rules are what separate one from the terrorist or the vigilante or the IRA bomber in London.
Rational pro-lifers who adhere to moral principles invoke these time-honored rules of engagement. So it is not inconsistent to accurately describe the horror of killing children, still demand the law be followed and refuse to usurp the rule of law in bringing these matters to justice. Indeed the number of people actively involved in pro-life activities over the last 35 years is living proof to the non-violent nature of the movement. Compared with the violence during the labor and civil rights movements, there should be no complaints about the rare and random acts of violence that have occurred at the hands of morally confused or deranged people. Further it is interesting that most pro-life leaders will not bring up in their statements the violence directed toward pro-life activists, women seeking abortions, or others. The silent treatment in the media regarding women injured, sexually abused or killed by abortionists is a fact. But Mr. Frank conveniently ignores this little wrinkle.
Finally Frank wants his readers to believe that pro-lifers imagine "themselves as modern-day John Browns." Actually nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps some consider themselves modern day Harriet Tubmans, others Frederick Douglas. But most see themselves as the little farmhouse that was part of the Underground Railroad. Pro-lifers just want to help where they can and when they can. They will volunteer at local pregnancy centers. They will pray in front of the mills. They will write their congressman and protest government actions, which promote abortion. But they do not take to violence and it is not because deep down they do not really believe in their rhetoric. It is because for the most part they believe in the rule of law and the need to adhere to a higher law which is the foundation of our laws. This is the law that the Supreme Court, the current Congress and the current president pretend does not exist. The natural law requires everyone respect the right to life of every person and the corollary, that only those with legitimate moral standing have the right to impose sanctions for violating the law.
Thomas Frank would benefit by talking to those of us who have been involved for years in making a positive difference while never compromising on the reality that abortion is a violent action that harms mother, father, baby and culture. For us on the front lines, the work to save lives, to end the killing, to correct the law will continue until we have prevailed to restore the right to life and the protection of law to all persons, born and unborn.
Mesa Police and firefighters unfortunately reflect the problem of today's society when it comes to dealing with the subject of abortion.
Instead they mimic a society that turns its back on a national problem affecting the lives of over a million women and children every year.
The incident involved five Mesa police officers and four members of the Mesa fire department. a woman had a miscarriage in a Mesa motel. When law enforcement and paramedics arrived at the scene, she was taken to a nearly hospital for further care and treatment. According to the East Valley Tribune and other news accounts, the paramedics refused to take the body of the unborn child with them. Police called for instructions and someone told them to get rid of it.
Arizona Right to Life came out with a statement calling of a greater sensitivity when dealing with the remains of unborn human life and offering to provide training and classes to inform Mesa personnel as to the medical, legal and moral components of respecting unborn human life.
It is important that those in authority remember that their role is to respect the lives of all persons. It is just as important to convey this understanding to all employed in the public trust. Arizona Right to Life stands committed to assisting those in authority to understand this important reality. It is an important reflection on the character of a society how it deals with the mortal remains of its members. It also teaches the next generation how important each person truly is to ua all. This is an opportunity that should not be wasted.
It was not enough that Frankie Schaeffer, now Frank Schaeffer, supported the most pro-abortion presidential candidate in the last election, all the while claiming to still be pro-life. It was not enough that he has repudiated his parents' work which called people to respect and reverence all innocent human life as he told stories of his past. Children of famous people tend to do beat up on their parents as a way of creating their own identity. And of course his own sense of importance required him to lay out all of his pro-life credentials as he told us all of what he did and how important he was to the pro-life movement back in the 1980s.
So as he sought the acclaim of the left, he further distances himself from the principles that one should seek the good and avoid doing harm.
But now he wants to blame the entire pro-life movement for the actions of a "mental case."
Sorry. That horse won't run.
The pro-life movement is the most peaceful civil rights movement in the history of the world. More people have been involved in the movement over the last 35 years than any other civil rights movement in this country. Each year for example over 200,000 people gather in Washington, DC to protest the Roe v. Wade decision. and how many are arrested? And how many people were attacked? and how many people were killed? Yet the media would manufacture all sorts of stories about alleged abortion violence in an effort to turn public opinion against pro-lifers.
Every day throughout the country, hundreds of pro-life activists pray, picket and demonstrate in front of abortion mills. In the last 35 years, there have been a few isolated events that tragically have harmed people and property.
Now we can look over to the other side of the ledger and ask about the 40,000,000 babies killed by abortion.
We could compare the pro-life movement with the labor movement of the early 20th Century and add up all the men beaten and killed by the unions, the police, the goon squads, the mob.
We could look at the civil rights movement in the 1960s and ask about the riots in Watts, Harlem, Detroit, etc, and count the number of people beaten and killed by extremists. We could raise the memories of Huey Newton and Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers and the violence they perpetrated.
And then there was the violence involved in the protests against the war in Viet Nam. The infamous Weather Underground was credited with killing an number of people but Bill Ayers, friend and confidant of President Obama, isn't at all apologetic about his involvement with such violence. Yet no one in the leftist media is at all concerned about the hypocrisy. And neither is Frank Schaeffer.
Today I attended the funeral of a dear friend and pro-life activist whose life was one that affirmed the dignity of the human person. She lived the pro-life message in everything she did. Frank Schaeffer insults her and the memory of the thousands of pro-lifers who have gone before her when he blames the death of an abortionist on the movement. He should apologize to all of those men and women who have for the last 35 years sacrificed their time and energy to offer women hope and help with their unplanned pregnancies. He should apologize to those who have without concern for self given of their time, talent and treasure to support pregnancy centers, maternity homes,and pro-life groups that have educated young people about the respect one should have for life for all people. And he should apologize to his parents' memory for having embarrassed himself with his stupid remarks.