Susan G. Komen For The Cure And Planned Parenthood, Abortion/Breast Cancer Connection – Updated 7/19/11

The most recent update is at the bottom of the article.

On Wednesday, a dear friend of mine sent me an e-mail about donating to “Susan G. Komen for the Cure” to help fight breast cancer.  She has a friend who has breast cancer, so she’s doing a walk for that organization.  I e-mailed her back telling her that I couldn’t help her with her cause because of the links between Komen and Planned Parenthood.  It turns out that, on their website, Komen has dedicated a page and several PDF’s to soften their Planned Parenthood link and to out-rightly dismiss scientific studies that link breast cancer with abortion.

I read the letter from Komen’s Chief Scientific Advisor Eric Winer that tries to downplay Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood.  That is exactly what he is trying to do.  The first three paragraphs don’t even deal with the subject, but promote their own “good nature”.

The best, or worst depending on how you look at it, line in the entire letter is “As part of our financial arrangements, we monitor our grantees twice a year to be sure they are spending the money in line with our agreements, and we are assured that Planned Parenthood uses these funds only for breast health education, screening and treatment programs.” (emphasis mine)

First off, they freely admit to giving money to Planned Parenthood!  If you had any doubts, there it is from Dr. Winer, himself, with no coverup.  His statement is naive at best and downright idiotic at worst.  This is like saying someone donates to the KKK, but it’s OK because they assure us they only use it for cake and punch, or they give money to neo-nazis, but that is also OK because they assure us they only use it for prostate exams.  This definitely reads more like some bad joke than what Dr. Winer believes, but, alas, it is true.  Even if they only used the money for cancer screenings, that means they don’t have to use their existing funds for those screenings, giving them even more resources to fund their abortions, contraception, “education”, and advertising.  If you donate to Komen, part of that, without a doubt, goes directly to Planned Parenthood.  Dr. Winer makes that unashamedly clear.

Nancy Brinker, who founded the Susan G. Komen Foundation, was, herself, on the advisory board of Planned Parenthood of Dallas, and has received the Gertrude Shelburne Humanitarian Award from them. Between April 2005 and March 2006, Komen affiliates gave $711,485 to Planned Parenthood.

After learning about the link between Planned Parenthood and Komen, Council Board member Eve Sanchez-Silver resigned.  She has gone around the country giving talks about Komen and the link between breast cancer and abortion.

Dr. Winer goes on to say that Catholics approve of the Komen foundation.  Well, some may, but many have issued statements against Komen and warned their congregations about participating with them.  Catholics also voted for Barack Obama, who is the most liberal, pro-abortion President in our nation’s history.  Several Cardinals have called for Obama voters to abstain from Communion until they repent for voting for him.

Dr. Winer also repeats their mantra of denying the link between abortion and breast cancer and that studies contradict other studies that confirm the link. A group dedicated to informing women about the abortion-breast cancer link is the Coalition On Abortion/Breast Cancer.  They have information specifically dedicated to abortion’s link to breast cancer including information about cancer fundraising groups’ dismissal of the link.

Life Issues Institute also has more information about the ABC link, such as information specifically about Susan G. Komen for the Cure and medical institutes that DO recognize the ABC link.

From the Coalition on Abortion Breast Cancer FAQ:

20) I know that abortion industry experts concede that women who have abortions lose the risk-reducing benefit of childbearing. However, apart from that effect, aren’t there studies showing that an abortion raises risk very little or not at all, in comparison to not having had that pregnancy?

Yes. There are several studies that report these results.  Unfortunately, when you read about it in the press, journalists often don’t understand the differences between the two cancer risks of abortion.

For instance, Valerie Beral and her colleagues published a paper in the British journal Lancet in 2004 that has been widely used to convince women that abortion is “safe.” [31]

The Beral paper only examined the debated breast cancer risk.  Its authors conceded the recognized risk of abortion – that childbearing protects women from the disease.

“Unfortunately, misinformation has circulated in the media following an article published last year in the British medical journal The Lancet,” noted Andrew Schlafly, General Counsel for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.  “The article did not deny that increased abortions result in greater incidence of breast cancer.  Rather, the article merely claimed that abortion does not increase the risk of breast cancer, compared to the risk of someone who delayed pregnancy altogether.” [21]

Four experts, independently of one another, sharply criticized the Beral paper. [21,32,33,34,35]  Some of the criticisms include:

1) Beral et al. did not compare groups of women who were physiologically the same.  They should have compared pregnant women who aborted to pregnant women who carried their pregnancies to term.  Instead, they compared the effect of aborting with the effect of not having had that pregnancy. Pregnancy brings about permanent changes in the structure of the breasts. Pregnant women who choose abortion should be compared to pregnant women who give birth after a full term pregnancy.

2) Twenty-eight out of 52 studies (a majority of the research) contained unpublished abortion data. That means that scientists cannot double-check those studies to determine if they’re flawed or if the research is even relevant.  Women just have to take their word for it.

3) Beral et al. used unscientific reasons to exclude 14 peer-reviewed, published studies that reported risk increases for women who had abortions.

Ed Furton, MA, Ph.D., editor of the journal, Ethics and Medics, severely criticized the Beral paper.  He said:

“The Beral study is therefore cause for alarm.  When a leading scientific journal allows its pages to be used as a political platform, and sets aside objective standards of scientific research, we must begin to wonder whether the spirit of (Jacques) Derrida has infected even scientific discourse….

“Picking conclusions ahead of time, and arranging the evidence to support them, will only serve to undermine the respect that scientific inquiry deserves….

“The unwillingness of scientists to speak out against the shoddy research that is being advanced by those who deny the abortion-breast cancer link is a very serious breach…

“When the public learns that a causal link between abortion and breast cancer has been downplayed by the scientific community – for reasons that are ideological rather than factual – the feeling of betrayal will be strong.” [34]

Professor Joel Brind at Baruch College in New York concurs with Ed Furton.  He has documented widespread bias in the scientific community against the abortion-breast cancer link. In a major paper for the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, he cited flawed research that is being used in press reports to erase any notions in the public mind that abortion is unsafe. [32]

In a subsequent paper for the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons published in 2005, Brind reviewed ten recent, prospective studies and concluded that they are seriously flawed.  He wrote:

“Collectively, these studies are found to embody many serious weaknesses and flaws, including cohort effects, substantial misclassification errors due to missing information in databases, inadequate follow-up times, inadequately controlled effects of confounding variables, and frank violations of the scientific method.  These recent studies therefore do not invalidate the large body of previously published studies that established induced abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.” [35]

Although these studies have been criticized in a medical journal for their flaws, the abortion industry and the cancer fundraising industry use them to convince women of the safety of abortion.  These studies include:

Melbye M, Wohlfahrt J, Olson JH, Frisch M, Westergaard T, Helweg-Larsen K, Andersen PK. Induced abortion and the risk of breast cancer. N Engl J Med 1997;336:81-85.

Lazovich D, Thompson JA, Mink PJ, Sellers TA, Anderson KE. Induced abortion and breast cancer risk. Epidemiology 2000;11:76-80.

Tang NC, Weiss NS, Malone KE. Induced abortion in relation to breast cancer among parous women: A birth certificate registry study. Epidemiology 2000;11:177-80.

Goldacre MJ, Kurina LM, Seagroatt V, Yeates. Abortion and breast cancer: a case-control record linkage study. J Epidemiol Community Health 2001;55:336-337.

Ye Z, Gao DL, Qin Q, Ray RM, Thomas DB. Breast cancer in relation to induced abortions in a cohort of Chinese women. Br J Cancer 2002;87:977-981.

Newcomb PA, Mandelson MT. A record-based evaluation of induced abortion and breast cancer risk (United States). Cancer Causes Control 2000;11:777-781.

Erlandsson G, Montgomery S, Cnattingius S, et al. Abortions and breast cancer: Record-based case-control study. Int J Cancer 2003;103:676-679.

Paoletti X, Clavel-Chapelon F, E3N group. Induced and spontaneous abortion and breast cancer risk: Results from the E3N cohort study. Int J Cancer 2003;106:270-276.

Brewster D, Stockton D, Dobbie R, Bull D, Beral D. Risk of breast cancer after miscarriage or induced abortion: a Scottish record linkage case-control study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2005;59:283-287.

Palmer J, Wise L, Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L. A prospective study of induced abortion and breast cancer in African-American women. Cancer Causes and Control 2004;15:105-111.

For more information, see Dr. Brind’s review article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons at: http://www.jpands.org/vol10no4/brind.pdf

In 2007, Patrick Carroll, a British statistician and actuary, reported that abortion is the “best predictor” of breast cancer rates in eight European countries (including the U.K.), and fertility is also a useful predictor of those trends. [39,40] Carroll demonstrated that he could predict future breast cancer cases for England and Wales for the years 2003 and 2004 with nearly 100% accuracy by using abortion rates and, to a lesser extent, fertility rates in his mathematical model.

They also state:

ESTROGEN – THE “SMOKING GUN”

Most of the risk factors associated with breast cancer involve estrogen overexposure. Women who experience more menstrual cycles are exposed to higher levels of estradiol, a form of estrogen, over the course of their lifetimes. Women who reach puberty at an early age or menopause at a late age or who have fewer or no children, experience more menstrual cycles. Ergo, they are known have a higher risk of breast cancer. Women who have more children and who nurse them, on the other hand, experience fewer menstrual cycles and reduce their risk of breast cancer by doing so. Similarly, a low fat diet and avoidance of alcohol reduce a woman’s exposure to estrogen.

Estrogen is a secondary carcinogen. It promotes the growth of normal and abnormal tissue. In fact, estrogen replacement therapy, which is generally the same chemical form as the estrogen naturally produced by a woman’s ovaries, was included on our nation’s list of known carcinogens in 2001.

For an exhaustive explanation of estrogen’s role in the promotion of breast cancer, see the Web Site for the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute at and click on “The Estrogen Connection,” www.BCPInstitue.org.

Biological Explanation for the Link

The explanation for the independent link makes good biological sense. It remains unrefuted and unchallenged by scientists because it is physiologically correct.

A never-pregnant woman has a network of primitive, immature and cancer-vulnerable breast cells which make up her milk glands. It is only in the third trimester of pregnancy – after 32 weeks gestation – that her cells start to mature and are fashioned into milk producing tissue whose cells are cancer resistant.

When a woman becomes pregnant, her breasts enlarge. This occurs because a hormone called estradiol, a type of estrogen, causes both the normal and pre-cancerous cells in the breast to multiply terrifically. This process is called “proliferation.” By 7 to 8 weeks gestation, the estradiol level has increased by 500% over what it was at the time of conception.

If the pregnancy is carried to term, a second process called “differentiation” takes place. Differentiation is the shaping of cells into milk producing tissue. It shuts off the cell multiplication process. This takes place at approximately 32 weeks gestation.

If the pregnancy is aborted, the woman is left with more undifferentiated — and therefore cancer-vulnerable cells — than she had before she was pregnant. On the other hand, a full term pregnancy leaves a woman with more milk producing differentiated cells, which means that she has fewer cancer-vulnerable cells in her breasts than she did before the pregnancy.

In contrast, research has shown that most miscarriages do not raise breast cancer risk. This is due to a lack of estrogen overexposure. Miscarriages are frequently precipitated by a decline in the production of progesterone which is needed to maintain a pregnancy. Estrogen is made from progesterone, so the levels of each hormone rise and fall together during pregnancy.

For a thorough biological explanation of the abortion-breast cancer link, see this second website for the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, www.BCPInstitute.org and click on its online booklet, “Breast Cancer Risks and Prevention.”

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

The first epidemiological study was reported in an English language journal in 1957. Researchers found a 160% elevation in risk among women who’d obtained abortions. [Segi M., et al. GANN (1957); 48 (Suppl): 1-63]

The first study to examine the abortion-breast cancer link among American women was published in 1981 and reported that abortion “appears to cause a substantial increase in risk of subsequent breast cancer.” A 140% risk elevation was reported. [Pike MC et al., British Journal of Cancer (1981;43:72-6]

Howe et al. 1989, the only statistically significant study conducted on American women in which medical records of abortion were used, not interviews after the fact, reported a 90% increased risk of breast cancer among women in New York who had chosen abortion. [Howe et al. (1989) Int J Epidemiol 18:300-4]

Our bar graphs reveal the relative risk found for each epidemiological study. These graphs were developed for our website by Chris Kahlenborn, M.D., author of the book, Breast Cancer, Its Link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill.

Let me give you the simple version of how the ABC works:

When a women has her monthly cycle, her breasts fill with a cancer causing toxin (estrogen). When she becomes pregnant, her cycle stops for the 9-month period. That in itself has always been an indisputable key factor to lowering breast cancer. The earlier a woman completes a full-term pregnancy, the better, and the more children, the better. Breastfeeding also helps stave off breast cancer.  But in addition, when a pregnancy is suddenly aborted, breasts that were preparing to nourish a baby are left with more undifferentiated, i.e., cancer-vulnerable cells, than before she was pregnant. The fact is, abortion can increase a woman’s risk factor up to 160%!

Update: 7/19/11

LifeSiteNews.com has published an article now detailing that Komen has been granting money for embryonic stem cell research.  The evidence comes from Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer.

Now, Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer has spent time examining Komen’s 990 Forms for the IRS for 2010 and she found that Komen has active relationships with at least five research groups or educational facilities that engage in embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of unborn children in their earliest days for stem cells that have yet to help any patients.

Komen is careful in its documents to state that none of the funds directly support embryonic stem cell research, saying in its Group Return for 2010 under a section entitled “Grant Statement” that “While Komen affiliates do not fund research grants directly, a portion of the funds raised by every Komen affiliate (approximately 25%) go to support the research and training grants program at Komen’s International Headquarters.”

The return shows donations from Komen totaling $3.75 million to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, $4.5 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center, $1 million to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, $1 million to the Society for Women’s Health Research, and $600,000 to Yale University.

Looking at those institutions, Yale not only engages in embryonic stem cell research but, in 2006, came under federal investigation for apparently mismanaging federal stem cell research grants. Also, a Johns Hopkins researcher also came under fire in December 2008 for trashing peer-reviewed research showing abortion’s link to negative mental health issues and problems for women. And the National Cancer Institute has been repeatedly blasted by pro-life advocates for denying the abortion-breast cancer link exists.

“Komen’s Parent Return for 2010 shows that millions of dollars in grants were given to research facilities that have policies supporting experiments on human embryos,” Malec says, adding that the list of schools is only a partial list of the facilities engaging in embryonic research that received grants.

Recent statements from the Catholic Bishop of Toledo, the Most Reverend Leonard Blair, bring up both abortion and the potential of Komen indirectly supporting embryonic research as reasons for Catholics to have misgivings about the breast cancer group. Malec says the statements from Bishop Blair “suggest that local Komen officials may have misled him and his associates with respect to the organization’s practices involving experiments on human embryos.”

“They are open to embryonic stem cell research and may well fund such research in the future,” the bishop noted.

Combined with the millions in donations to the nation’s biggest abortion business, Komen says the new information about the Komen ties to embryonic stem cell research centers makes it so the breast cancer group is not worthy of support. She says Komen needs to be honest with women about the abortion-breast cancer connection.

“It’s more than ironic that Planned Parenthood receives contributions from an organization allegedly dedicated to the eradication of breast cancer,” Malec says. “Abortion and the birth control pill – which Planned Parenthood sells – are risk factors for the disease. It’s certainly bad for business to tell women the truth about the abortion-breast cancer link. Knowledge of that risk would cause some to turn their backs on induced abortion and cut into Planned Parenthood’s profits.”

“On the other hand, warning women about the breast cancer risk of abortion would mean fewer breast cancer patients and, therefore, a reduction in donations for Komen. Telling donors that their previous abortions may have been responsible for their breast cancers is simply not a good fundraising tactic,” she concludes.

Before anyone starts formulating their arguments: does this mean that everyone who gets an abortion will get breast cancer?  No.  Did everyone with breast cancer have an abortion in the past?  No.  Does having an abortion increase the risk of breast cancer.  Undeniably, yes.

This is the simple truth:  Susan G. Komen for the Cure gives money and resources to Planned Parenthood.  That alone should give you cause for great concern, but they also deny critical information to women about the link between abortions and breast cancer.

If you support Susan G. Komen for the Cure, congratulations, you help support abortion.

Helpful Information: Fact Sheet by Life Issues Institute Linking Susan G. Komen with Planned Parenthood
The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Jill Stanek’s Blog
Life Issues Institute
OneNewsNow Reports On The Komen/Planned Parenthood Link

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‘Judas’ Stupak Fails To Protect The Unborn, Trades Vote For Executive Order

CNSNews has this story.  Instead of sticking to his (apparent) principles, Rep. Stupak folded into pressure from his fellow demons Democrats and voted for H.R. 3590 because Obama promised to sign an executive order affirming the ban of federal dollars funding abortions.  The problem with this is that federal law can override executive orders (the “law” isn’t permanent), and they can be rescinded at any time by the President.  Obama also promised to be more transparent and to change the way politics were conducted in Washington, D.C.  We’ve all seen how well that has gone.

Stupak Decision Blasted As ‘Unconscionable’

Monday, March 22, 2010
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor

(CNSNews.com) – Pro-life activists call it “regrettable” that Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) ended up abandoning those who stood by him in his opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion in the Democrats’ health care bill.

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, said Stupak’s decision to accept the promise of a presidential executive order as a solution to the abortion-funding issue is “unconscionable.”

“The Executive Order fix is a band-aid solution that fails to solve the fundamental problems in this bill, and can be repealed at any time, for any reason, by the president or future presidents. The order is likely to be challenged by pro-abortion groups, and could be struck down by the courts,” Burch said in a news release issued Sunday night.

“The Catholic Bishops along with CatholicVote.org and every major pro-life organization oppose this ‘fix.’  We have defended Rep. Stupak for months, but today we stand in protest of his decision,” Burch added.

Stupak’s last-minute decision to vote in support of the health care bill he opposed for so long made all the difference in Democrats’ getting enough votes for passage.

“Since I was first elected to Congress I have fought to provide quality, affordable health care for all Americans and I am proud to be able to vote for this historic legislation,” Stupak said Sunday in a message posted on his Web site. He said he’s witnessed the struggles that families and employers in his northern Michigan congressional district face under the current system.

“Although this legislation is not perfect and does not do everything I believe is necessary to reform our health insurance industry, it is a tremendous step forward for northern Michigan residents and for our nation,” Stupak said.  He said he looks forward to the president signing the health care bill into law.

Stupak has insisted from the beginning that no federal funding be used to subsidize insurance plans that cover abortion. Abortion should not be recognized as a benefit in federal health plans, he said.

To mollify Stupak, President Obama announced he would sign an Executive Order reaffirming that the Hyde amendment can not be circumvented and that no taxpayer dollars would be used to pay for health plans that cover abortion.

“I have said from the start I would not vote for health care reform without adequate protections in place to make sure the current law of no federal funding for abortion is maintained,” Stupak said on Sunday.  “The president’s Executive Order upholds the principle that federal funds should not be used to subsidize abortion coverage.”

President Obama promised to sign the Executive Order following passage of H.R. 3590.

But pro-life activists say the Executive Order on abortion funding will further politicize the issue. It will put decisions on taxpayer funding for abortion as well as conscience protections in the hands of Obama, future presidents, and Health and Human Services Secrtary Kathleen Sebelius, Burch said.

“Catholics have worked hard to make the protection of the unborn a two-party effort, and pro-life members of the Democratic Party encouraged these efforts over the last year, Burch noted. He said Stupak’s decision to accept an Executive Order “will be difficult to overcome.”

“We are convinced Rep. Stupak will come to deeply regret today’s decision,” Burch said.

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New Study: Abortion Ban Does Not Increase Maternal Deaths

CNSNews brings us a report explaining that a new study conducted in Chile finds that the pro-abortionist’s arguments that banning abortions will lead to more maternal deaths is false, cutting one if their greatest counterpoints to banning abortions.  In fact, the study finds that maternal deaths decreased after abortions were banned.

Abortion Ban Does Not Mean More Maternal Deaths, Chilean Study Finds

Tuesday, March 02, 2010
By Karen Schuberg

(CNSNews.com) – Initial findings by a prominent biomedical researcher which examines the drastic drop in maternal deaths in the last 50 years in Chile challenges the claim made by global abortion lobbyists that broad abortion laws are necessary to guard women’s health.

“This study provides evidence that the legal status of the therapeutic abortion is not related with maternal mortality reduction. Moreover, after abortion was prohibited, an additional reduction in maternal and abortion mortality was observed in Chile,” Dr. Elard Koch, an epidemiologist on the faculty of medicine at the University of Chile, said in an e-mail to CNSNews.com.

Illegal abortions do not necessarily correlate with unsafe abortions, Koch continued.

“Although (it) is frequently considered that illegal abortion is related with ‘unsafe abortion’—especially in developing countries with restrictive abortion laws, our preliminary findings suggest that although in Chile abortion is fully clandestine, it occurs in very low-risk sanitary conditions,” Koch explained.

Koch said that education and improved health care access appear to fuel the decrease in maternal deaths in Chile.

“The increasing education level appears as the most important factor predicting maternal mortality reduction in this developing country, likely influencing other factors such as reproductive behavior (fertility rate) and maternal health facilities,” Koch said.

To assess if legal abortion is associated with lower rates of maternal deaths in Chile, Koch examined vital statistics data for maternal deaths from 1960 to 2007.

“Historically, an active epidemiological surveillance in maternal mortality has been carried out in Chile, including deaths by abortion,” Koch said.

Abortion was legal in this Latin American country until 1989 when it was completely outlawed. Abortion was legal from 1931 to 1988.

Koch observed that maternal mortality peaked in 1961, abortion causing 34% of maternal deaths. From 1960 to 2007, total reduction in maternal mortality rates equaled 97.9% – regardless of whether or not abortion was legal.

“The present study provides preliminary evidence that indicates that in Chile, the elimination of therapeutic abortion did not translate into increases in maternal mortality.  Thus, access to legal abortion does not appear to be necessary to achieve low rates of maternal deaths,” Koch said.

Koch added that the association between poor education and high maternal mortality should be studied further.

Dr. Susan Yoshihara, vice president for research at Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), told CNSNews.com that Koch’s study is significant because global abortion lobbyists equate illegal abortion with unsafe abortion and claim maternal deaths would decline with liberal abortion laws.

“(Global abortion lobbyists claim) illegal abortion, or unsafe abortion, is causing a certain number of deaths—anywhere between 13,000 and 80,000 a year in the world—and therefore, abortion has to be legalized in order to make it safe. And (they claim) that will save women’s lives,” Yoshihara said.

Yoshihara called the data which abortion supporters cite to make that claim “unsubstantiated” and “unverifiable.”

Yoshihara called the Chilean study “very exciting” because though preliminary, its data is “outstanding,” setting it apart from other studies on maternal mortality rates in developing countries.

“This study is remarkable because Chile, although it is considered a developing country, has outstanding maternal health data dating all the way back to the beginning of the 1900s,” Yoshihara said.

Because this study shows a steady decline in abortion after 1961, it undercuts the abortion lobbyists’ claim that liberal abortion laws are needed to protect women’s health, Yoshihara said.

“And it’s pretty clear that maternal mortality decreased whether or not abortion was legal in that country,” she added.

Yoshihara said both sides of the abortion debate agree that there is a dearth of reliable data on maternal mortality rates in developing countries.

“The reason for that is that the developing world doesn’t keep good records,” she said, explaining, “It’s very rural, (and) they don’t have good health infrastructures.”

Yoshihara said that to make claims based on weak data is unreasonable because “we all know you just can’t get that kind of good data in the developing world.”

She predicted that Koch’s study will be published this year.

Last September, Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion access, said in a report titled “Estimates of Health Care System Costs of Unsafe Abortion in Africa and Latin America” that 19 million unsafe abortions occur each year in developing countries, resulting in approximately 5 million women treated for “serious medical complications.”

The study concludes that the costs of treating medical complications from unsafe abortions significantly burden the public health care systems of the developing world and that post-abortion injuries “are a significant cause of maternal morbidity.”

In a report from last October, Guttmacher Institute President Dr. Sharon Camp states, “Legal restrictions do not stop abortion from happening, they just make the procedure dangerous. Too many women are maimed or killed each year because they lack legal abortion access.”

The report, titled “Abortion and Unintended Pregnancy Decline Worldwide as Contraceptive Use Increases, But Progress Over Past Decade Has Been Uneven, and Unsafe Abortion Remains a Key Challenge to Women’s Health,” also states, “Unsafe abortion causes an estimated 70,000 deaths each year, and an additional five million women are treated annually for complications resulting from unsafe abortion. Approximately three million women who experience serious complications from unsafe procedures go untreated.”

Guttmacher Institute Communications Associate Rebecca Wind declined to comment on the initial findings of Koch’s study.

“(Chile) is not a country we have expertise in, so it’s not something we would comment on,” Wind said.
Koch presented his preliminary findings at the inaugural meeting of Women and Children First: International Working Group for Global Women’s Health Research last January in Washington, D.C.

A consortium of region specific working groups,  Women and Children First  brings together maternal health researchers from the United States, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Lithuania, France and several other nations to address the critical need for evidence-based research on maternal mortality causality and methods to decrease maternal mortality.

————-

ABSTRACT FROM KOCH’S STUDY

Is there an association between maternal mortality reduction and abortion legalization? Preliminary data from time series analyses in Chile, 1960 – 2007.

Elard Koch¹ on behalf of The Chilean Maternal Mortality Group
¹Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Background: Nowadays, the impact of abortion prohibition on maternal mortality trends in developing countries is unknown. Chile offers the opportunity for assessing the impact of different factors related with maternal mortality reduction, including two periods before and after abortion was prohibited in this Latin American country.

Methods: Time series of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and abortion mortality ratio (AMR) from 1960 to 2007 were analyzed using multiple autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) models. Therapeutic abortion was legal until 1989 and was considered as a dummy variable in statistical analyses along time series of social and demographic factors and maternal health facilities.

Results: During the study period, MMR decreased from 293.7 to 18.2 per 100,000 live births (-93.8%); AMR decreased form 92.5 to 1.7 per 100,000 live births (-98.1%). No significant effect of legal and illegal abortion periods on these decreasing trends was observed in ARIMA models. After abortion was fully prohibited, MMR and AMR decreased from 41.3 to 18.2 (-44.1%) and 16.5 to 1.7 (-10.3%) per 100,000 live births respectively. The average of education years, illiteracy rate, GDP per-capita, and the percentage of delivery by skilled attendants were all significant predictors of MMR. The same factors along decreasing fertility rate were significant predictors of AMR trends.

Conclusions: Reductions in MMR and AMR are not related with legal/illegal therapeutic abortion periods in Chile. The increasing education level appears as the most important factor predicting maternal mortality reduction in this developing country, likely influencing other factors such as fertility and maternal health facilities.

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Music Video: Unborn

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“Baby Tiger” Aborted

Fox News has a report on one of the apparent number of mistresses of Tiger Woods.  Porn star Joslyn James says that Woods got her pregnant, twice.  James aborted the second baby in February of 2009 after she miscarried the first baby in 2007.

Report: Tiger Woods Impregnated Porn Star Girlfriend Twice While Wife Was Expecting

NewsCore

Joslyn James says she miscarried one of the surprise pregnancies and aborted the other.

Tiger Woods allegedly impregnated his porn star mistress twice, both times when his wife was also pregnant, according to an interview with the woman set to air Monday.

Joslyn James, the star of such adult classics as Big Breasted Nurses and My Sex Teacher #12, said her lengthy and steamy affair with Tiger Woods always involved unprotected sex.

Using protection “was never talked about,” the actress told U.S. television show Inside Edition.

“It was never protected.”

James, 32, who carried on an affair with Woods from 2006 to 2009, said she miscarried in her first pregnancy at about the same time his wife, Elin Nordegren, gave birth to daughter Sam Alexis on June 18, 2007.

SLIDESHOW: The Tiger Woods News Ticker

James said she aborted her next pregnancy close to the Feb. 8, 2009, birth of Woods’ son Charlie Axel.

Woods was never told about either pregnancy, she said, claiming she “just didn’t want to ruin anything.”

The buxom adult film star said she was close to breaking the news to Woods, 34, but said she chickened out just before suffering the miscarriage.

“Actually, the day I was going to tell him, I had a miscarriage,” she said.

“After I lost the baby I didn’t want to talk about it.”

SLIDESHOW: Tiger’s Den of Women

But the miscarriage fueled her desire to be with Woods.

“I got more emotionally attached,” she said.

Despite her more-than-passing role in Woods’ marital debacle, James said she regretted the scandal’s impact on Nordegren.

“I feel bad for (Elin),” she said.

“She didn’t deserve this, and she didn’t deserve being humiliated.”

James said she believed Woods’ scorned wife never had a clue that her husband was playing around with a porn actress.

“Not to my knowledge,” James said.

“But she had two kids at home, and she was stressed out.”

Woods and his wife were said to be living apart in the same Orlando-area neighborhood so he can visit with their children. Nordegren was not wearing her wedding ring during recent weeks.

Woods took an indefinite leave from golf and his return to the sport remains shrouded in mystery.

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Alan Keyes Arrested

WorldNetDaily reports that Alan Keyes was arrested, along with 21 other pro-lifers, at the campus of Notre Dame for protesting Notre Dame’s invitation for the extremist and pro-abortion Barack Obama to speak at the University’s commencement.

Alan Keyes arrested at Notre Dame

Leading protesters ask others to follow, fill jails with pro-lifers

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Posted: May 08, 2009
7:00 pm EasternBy Drew Zahn
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Alan Keyes being arrested

Former presidential candidate and WND columnist Alan Keyes was arrested this afternoon, along with 21 others, on charges of trespassing while he was protesting against Barack Obama’s abortion record at the University of Notre Dame.

As WND reported, University President John Jenkins prompted national outrage when he invited the pro-abortion president to speak at the university’s May 17 commencement. Despite at least 55 bishops publicly denouncing or questioning the university’s decision, Jenkins has refused to rescind the offer.

“I will step foot on the Notre Dame campus to lift up the standard that protects the life of the innocent children of this and every generation,” Keyes said in a statement prior to his arrest. “I will do it all day and every day from now until the Master comes if need be, though it means I shall be housed every day in the prison house of lies and injustice that Obama, Jenkins and their minions now mean to construct for those who will never be still and silent in the face of their mockery of God and justice, their celebration of evil.”

Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, who made headlines last week after he was arrested for pushing a stroller carrying a doll covered in fake blood on the Notre Dame campus, witnessed the arrest.

“Keyes and 21 people with strollers walked onto campus, praying,” Terry told WND. “The police grabbed them all and arrested them, but it was done very peacefully.”

Alan Keyes (center-left) amid protesters at Notre Dame

Nonetheless, Terry said, what’s happening at Notre Dame is infuriating.

“The outrage is that they were arrested by Notre Dame’s orders for defending babies; meanwhile Notre Dame is going to honor someone who kills babies,” Terry said, referring to Obama’s record on supporting abortion.

University spokesman Dennis Brown told the Chicago Breaking News Center that Keyes was given notice that university policy bans protests unless they are organized by student groups and approved in advance.

Brown further stated that university policy is to arrest anyone who refuses to leave campus after being notified.

“We’ve got a long established policy that only members of the university community can organize or lead a protest, and they have to be approved by our office of student affairs,” Brown said.

Sergeant Bill Redman of the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that those arrested were handcuffed and taken to the St. Joseph County Jail, held for trespassing on a $250 bond.

Prior to his arrest, Keyes had announced, “If this be trespass, then forgive us our trespasses and join us in trespassing until the South Bend jail is filled to overflowing with witnesses to truth; filled beyond capacity; filled until we break the most onerous shackles – the ones that bind the heart and mind to evil and our nation to the path of its destruction.”

Terry told WND that he believes Keyes and several of the 21 other protesters intend to remain in jail through the weekend. In fact, a witness from the jail told Terry that Keyes has been using his time behind bars to preach – for hours on end – to the inmates.

“Pro-life activism has been dying,” Terry said, “but this has given us a fresh line of defense to regroup.”

Now, Terry is urging others to follow Keyes’ example.

“We are asking people to come,” Terry said. “We want to have 50 or 100 people in jail next weekend, so that every time that the media discusses Obama speaking at Notre Dame, they talk about the fact that there are people in jail for protesting his appearance.”

Earlier, Terry told WND that he hoped the efforts would cause Obama to cancel his commencement appearance at the university.

“There would be no better witness to the world of the value of these babies – who Obama is even now slaughtering – than if there are hundreds of people sitting in jail,” Terry said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, however, told reporters this afternoon that Obama had no plans to cancel the appearance or decline the honorary degree Notre Dame has offered him.

“We are honored to have received the invitation,” Gibbs said. “Notre Dame has a good history of robust, civic debate and the president looks forward to speaking to the graduating class.”

Terry is nonetheless continues to promote a website called StopObamaNotreDame.com so others may join the protests.

“My goal, and my challenge to everyone, is to create such a political mud pit here that Obama chooses to not walk through it in order to speak,” he said. “The only way that’s going to happen is by massive social tension on the ground. That’s why these arrests are going to be so critical.”

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Pro-Abortion Governor Sebelius Vetos Abortion Reporting Law

Operation Rescue reports that the Kansas governor and Obama’s HHS Secretary nominee, Kathleen Sebelius, has vetoed a law that would have required Kansas’ abortionists to give a diagnosis justifying late-term abortions.  The move assists Sebelius’ greatest supporter, Abortionist George Tiller.

Sebelius Flaunts Her Radical Support for Late-term Abortion In Veto Of Reporting Law

Meanwhile, RNC Chairman calls for Obama to withdraw Sebelius’ nomination to HHS

UPDATE! The confirmation vote on Sebelius’ nomination as HHS Secretary is scheduled in the full Senate for Tuesday, April 28. Now is the time to increase the pressure! Please contact your senator and voice your opposition to Sebelius.

CLICK HERE TO BLAST FAX EVERY SENATOR NOW!

Topeka, KS – Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill late today that would have required abortionists to report the specific reasons for post-viability abortions, reinforcing her reputation as a pro-abortion extremist.

In her veto message, Sebelius falsely attempts take credit for the falling abortion rate in Kansas.

“Abortions have decreased in spite of her, not because of her. Abortions actually started to decline the year Operation Rescue moved our headquarters to Kansas – one full year before Sebelius was elected as governor,” said Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger. “Her false claims are a slap in the face to the hundreds of pro-life advocates who have worked tirelessly to expose her friend, late-term abortionist George Tiller, and provide help and practical alternatives to abortion-minded women outside Kansas abortion clinics.”

Sebelius’ veto will benefit only one abortionist in the state, and that is her political benefactor George Tiller. The bill would have required him to give the specific diagnosis used to justify a post-viability abortion. Kansas law requires that such abortions can only be done if the continuation of the pregnancy will result in “substantial and irreversible impairment to a major bodily function” of the pregnant woman.

“As it stands, no one can even check to see if Tiller is actually complying with the law,” said Sullenger. “Now Sebelius is helping Tiller continue to conceal the true nature of what is going on at that late-term abortion clinic. She apparently wanted to do Tiller one last favor before heading off to Washington.”

But Sebelius has endangered her recent nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services by underreporting the full amount of campaign contributions she received from Tiller.

Opposition to her nomination continues to grow. Today Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has asked President Obama to withdraw Sebelius’ nomination unless she answers more questions about abortion.

“Michael Steel is hardly an ardent pro-life supporter. The fact that he is now opposing Sebelius really shows how truly radical she is on abortion,” said Sullenger. “It’s a huge embarrassment for the state of Kansas when you look at her and realize that she is too extreme and too short on integrity even for the jaded political environment of Washington, DC.”

Text of Veto Message

Related Posts: Sebelius’ Confirmation Hearings
Operation Rescue Documents Gov. Sebelius’ Support For Abortion
Governor Sebelius Signs Ultrasound Bill
Will Sebelius Veto Kansas’ Ultrasound Law?
Abortionist Tiller Charged By KSBHA
Abortionist Tiller Acquitted
Abortionist George Tiller Takes The Stand
Tiller Trial: Abortionist Ann Kristin Neuhaus Declared ‘Hostile Witness’
Abortionist Tiller Sends Another Patient To The ER, Ambulance Runs Without Lights, Siren
Fact Checking Governor Sebelius’ Abortion Remarks

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