Radical Womanhood

The Gosnell Case: A Human Rights Tragedy of Epic Proportions

I might have been one of the few people who read about Kermit Gosnell's abortion clinic in Philadelphia after it was raided by the FBI back in 2010. But the fact that I'm aware of the current prosecution is because my friends have made an award-winning short documentary about the case, 3801 Lancaster (a reference to the clinic address), and the "house of horrors" that masqueraded as a women's clinic. It was an abortion clinic, one of the most gruesome places of medical practice you can imagine: filthy, unsafe equipment; unlicensed and underage (15!) practitioners; broken and rusty equipment; murders of babies born alive; and a bizarre collection of fetal parts preserved in jars and other containers. The grand jury report is sickening to read, not only because of Gosnell's actions but also because of the complete lack of regulatory oversight.

This week, the mainstream media finally gave the Gosnell murder trial some attention. Kirsten Powers wrote about it for USA Today, chastising her fellow journalists for ignoring the story. She wrote: "Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell's former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart. ... You don't have to oppose abortion rights to find late-term abortion abhorrent or to find the Gosnell trial eminently newsworthy. This is not about being 'pro-choice' or 'pro-life.' It's about basic human rights."

Then The Atlantic magazine picked up on it, noting the grand jury's report that said, "We think the reason no one acted is because the women in question were poor and of color, because the victims were infants without identities, and because the subject was the political football of abortion." Others soon joined in, from Slate (which actually had published an earlier piece in 2011) to Anderson Cooper and CNN (with David Altrogge, the director of 3801 Lancaster, as one of the guests). One media outlet that has consistently covered the story has been the Philadelphia Inquirer. Their extensive library of articles can be accessed in their Gosnell collection.

Gosnell kept no records so it's hard to know how many lives were taken at his clinic. But it's a visible reminder of one of the biggest human rights violations in our generation--from the innocent babies who were killed, to the women who were subjected to the worst kind of "back alley abortions" in an era of "safe and legal" abortions, to the flagrant violations of basic medical standards and patient safety. It's been said that a nail salon has more regulation than this clinic. 

Pray that justice is done in this matter. Pray that Gosnell repents. Pray for the women who were treated there. Pray for our media that didn't think there was a story here worth covering for so long. Pray for this divisive political topic to be subject to reasonable discourse. Pray for an end to abortion. 

Sanctity of Life, Gendercide, and Science

Though it may seem like it's been around a lot longer, the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday was declared by President Reagan in 1984, eleven years after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand. In the ensuing years of this observance, the science surrounding the issue of abortion has changed considerably, but the emotions have not. To understand why, it's important to understand the ideological progression of this moral norm. As one author and professed noted, contributions from Jewish, Greco-Roman, and Christian sources expanded this idea in Western culture. 

Much of the history of the past two centuries has involved the expansion and enriching of the concept of life’s sacredness in various forms. It has expanded in that the logic of every human life has demanded universal application—to religious minorities, women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and property-less, the disabled, and so on. 

At one level, the Roe v. Wade decision represented an attempt to value the sanctity of women’s lives by providing a legal freedom that some believed was necessary to protect it. Thus the most charitable reading of that decision was that it was an effort to stand in continuity with the trend toward the expansion of human dignity, in this case on behalf of women.

For those of us who believe that decision was wrong, we still face the task of showing not just that Roe opened the door to the mass destruction of developing human lives in utero, and that this assaults life’s sanctity. We must also show why Roe does not succeed in advancing the sanctity of women’s lives, and must offer both on-the-ground and legal alternatives that can do better.

Abortion was and is valued by supporters because it is seen in the continuum of the long march for women's rights. While I support many of those rights, I cannot say that pitting the life of an adult woman against her unborn child is a step-up in that progression. I urge pro-abortion supporters to study and know the ideas of people like Margaret Sanger, who purported to advance the cause of women but actually held to the Nazi idea of eugenics that some lives are worth more than others. This is why less than 100 years after Sanger began her crusade for women's reproductive rights, somewhere between 100 and 166 million girls worldwide are missing due to female gendercide, largely because of sex-selective abortions. The terrible irony is that abortion did not ensure that the lives of women were more valued after all.

When Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, the scientific argument in favor of it was based on the issue of "viability." Until a certain stage in the pregnancy, the fetus was seen as just an undeveloped blob of tissue and not a viable life. But even as that argument was being made in the early '70s, the ultrasound machine was being developed and our ability to actually see the wondrous development of human life undercut that argument. In fact, that development led to the famous conversion of an abortionist, a doctor who later made a film showing an abortion on ultrasound called Silent Scream.

With scientific advances like ultrasound technology and prenatal medicine, viability today is a medical collision course where doctors find themselves intervening to either create or save one fetus and then aborting another of the same fetal age. The only determining factor is whether the pregnant woman values or wants that life or not, a position akin to other abuses in history.

Therefore, as a culture we have not really made the progression in human rights that we believe we have.

Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, since the declaration of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in 1984, the ethics surrounding sanctity of life have only gotten more complicated. As one bioethicist told The New York Times, "In an odd way, having more choices actually places a much greater burden on women, because we become the creators of our circumstance, whereas, before, we were the recipients of them. I’m not saying we should have less choices; I’m saying choices are not always as liberating and empowering as we hope they will be."

Though it may seem that the bitter disagreements surrounding this topic will never end, I see that some of the underlying assumptions for abortion have been challenged over time. Therefore, as some of us will acknowledge Sanctity of Human Life Sunday tomorrow, I hope we will not grow weary of standing up for the lives of the pre-born. I also pray our concern for the value of human life will also lead us to fearlessly challenge other human rights abuses, such as human trafficking, modern slavery, gendercide and more. 

To study this topic further, I recommend a new e-book by John Piper, made free courtesy of the Desiring God ministry.

Planned Parenthood and Child Sex Trafficking

This was brought to my attention by The Gospel Coalition blog. It is an undercover video of an office manager at a New Jersey Planned Parenthood clinic who not only looks the other way when child sex trafficking is blatantly presented to her, she also appears to recommend the heinous abortion clinic run by Kermit Gosnell to perform services her clinic cannot. The video was released today by Live Action, which bills itself as "a new media movement for life."

And it is utterly appalling:

A Planned Parenthood manager in New Jersey coaches a man and a woman posing as sex traffickers how to secure secret abortions, STD testing, and contraception for their female underage sex slaves, and make their whole operation “look as legit as possible” in an undercover video released this morning.

Clinic manager Amy Woodruff, LPN, of Planned Parenthood Central New Jersey’s Perth Amboy center, warns the pimp and his prostitute to have their trafficked underage girls lie about their age to avoid mandatory reporting laws, promising, “even if they lie, just say, ‘Oh he's the same age as me, 15,’…it's just that mainly 14 and under we have to, doesn't matter if their partner's the same age, younger, whatever, 14 and under we have to report.” She says, “For the most part, we want as little information as possible.”

Woodruff also recommends how the pimp can get his prostitutes cheaper contraception by claiming they are “students”: “If they're minors, put down that they're students. Yeah, just kind of play along that they’re students--we want to make it look as legit as possible.”

If one of the young trafficked girls needs an abortion, Woodruff refers the pimp and prostitute to the Metropolitan Medical Association, where “their protocols aren’t as strict as ours and they don’t get audited the same way that we do.” The prostitute in the video asks how long after the abortion until the girls can have sex again, and when Woodruff says “minimum of 2 weeks,” she asks what sex acts the girls could still do to make money. Woodruff advises, “Waist up, or just be that extra action walking by” to advertise sex to potential clients. 

Sex trafficking is punishable under federal law and carries a potential life sentence. The new video is released by Live Action, a pro-life new media organization led by 22-year-old Lila Rose. The video airs just days after Planned Parenthood’s leadership suspected the sting operation and sought an FBI probe of Live Action in order to deter the release of the exposé. Live Action is sending full footage to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, NJ Attorney General Paula Dow, officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and other law enforcement officials, requesting federal and state investigations into Planned Parenthood’s sexual abuse and sex trafficking cover up.

On Choices and the Worth of a Life

I asked my friend, Vivian, to share her thoughts about placing her daughter for adoption and the thought process she had about it as a pregnant teenager. This is a long piece, but well-written and thought-provoking. I hope it will address, in part, some of your points and questions that have been raised in the comments section this week. I also hope you will share it with any other young women who are considering what to do with their pregnancies. My thanks to Vivian for her candor. 

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When I was 17 I found out I was pregnant. It was October. I can’t remember the weather, but I remember my mother’s reaction when I told her in the car on the way home from the doctor’s visit that the rabbit died. Yeah, I used those words. I was not a sensitive child.

Mom was angry, which I understand. My sister was a mother at fifteen and now here I was ten years later doing the same thing. When it came time to tell my dad, mom was impatient. It was really pretty awful. Dad said some very hurtful things, and mom was buzzing around in the background adding to the hurt.

All of this was supposed to go down better; it had for my sister. Family legend has it that he was very supportive. Discussing it with later my sister, the legend was a bit more fantastical than factual.

Those first few months of my pregnancy were rather awful. I spent Christmas with my sister who was due to have her sixth child on Christmas Day, although she ended up giving birth the day before Christmas Eve. It wasn’t a peaceful Christmas, but at least I wasn’t the focus.

After Christmas we began to make plans for me to stay in a maternity home so that my last months of pregnancy would take place away from all the stress of home.

I moved in to the maternity home in April.  The home moved from one house to another during my stay. I spent May, June, and July in Amish country in Lancaster, PA. My daughter was born on July 16, and I “celebrated” my eighteenth birthday two days later. On the nineteenth, I left the hospital and my daughter behind.  After two more weeks at the maternity home, I left for home—childless.

In the twenty-six years since, I have had no more children and I have never married. I have never stopped loving and missing my daughter. I think of her every day. I pray for her as often. When my daughter turned eighteen she looked me up and I got to meet her. In the years since, we’ve begun to work at a relationship. She’s married now and will at any moment deliver her third child.

That is the bald version of the events of that year and those since.

The real meat of being a birth mother is what happens in your heart and mind while pregnant and in the days, weeks and months after the birth.

I am asked often enough, “Wasn’t it hard?” “Didn’t it hurt?” and other questions of that sort. It was desperately hard and terribly painful. I still cannot talk about the day I left my daughter in the hospital. Even now my heart is wrenched just writing this twenty-six years later. It was excruciating. That moment was the worst moment I’ve ever experienced, which is why I don’t speak about it. It’s too full of pain.

Yes, giving up a child for adoption is painful and hard.

But I believe those questions—the hurt and the pain questions—are the wrong questions. Obviously, giving your child up to another woman to raise as her own is painful and hard. God designed us to, generally, love our children. I did love my daughter. Very deeply. I still do.

The questions that a girl or woman needs to ask of herself and have asked of her are about value and worth. Is this child, this pregnancy, worth anything? Is going through a pregnancy and delivering a baby you do not mean to keep and then giving that child to another woman worth it?

I had to answer those questions. If I hadn’t answered those questions, I couldn’t have given up my child. Even at seventeen I had to wade through the swamp of worth, life, convenience, pain. I had to do the hard calculations of life. Was this thing I was going to do worth it in the end?

Changing Thoughts On Abortion

This past week, I finished reading the 20th anniversary edition of R.C. Sproul's book, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue. I highly recommend it, especially for young adults who were born after abortion was legalized. The book is divided into three parts: the ethical dilemma of abortion, the analysis of arguments presented on both sides and a compassionate response and strategy. 

If you are weary of this topic, then I highly recommend you read this book because Dr. Sproul goes deeper into the issues surrounding abortion than are normally discussed in the media. For example, many could assume abortion began as a 20th-century issue. But Dr. Sproul quotes from the famous Oath of Hippocrates that specifically mentions abortion: "Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion."

He is also reasonable in presenting the views of those who are not pro-life, outlining the differences between being pro-choice and pro-abortion and allowing that both sides could have a high view of the sanctity of life. As he writes, "For the most part, the pro-abortion and pro-choice activists are not denying that life is sacred; they are only saying that a developing fetus is not a human life."

This book also shows how the arguments for abortion have been challenged through the years. One of the key arguments in favor of abortion has been in the woman's right to control her own body -- which assumes the fetus is part of that body. But scientific developments since the 1970s have underscored the biological differences between the fetus and the mother. Genetic fingerprinting has been an important discovery. As Dr. Sproul writes:

If any single cell of a woman's body is analyzed to find its essential biological structure, each and every cell will have the same genetic fingerprint. Likewise, an analysis of the cells of the fetus will determine that each cell has the same genetic fingerprint--which is different from that of the mother. This indicates that, at the physical biological level, there is a clear line of demarcation between the body of the fetus and the body of the mother. Two distinct sets of human tissue reside in the pregnant woman's body.

Another argument is that if abortion is made illegal, women will have dangerous back-alley abortions and more lives will be lost. But the events of this past week have refuted that claim. Dangerous back-alley abortions exist today because there is no more oversight of the legal abortion industry than there is an illegal one. As has been reported, one abortion doctor in Philadelphia has been charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of seven infants and a Bhutanese refugee who died after a late-term abortion in 2009. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. According to the grand jury report, Dr. Kermit Gosnell's clinic had not been inspected for 17 years because in the mid-1990s, the governor ended regular inspections of abortion clinics. He was only busted because the police raided him for prescription drug abuse--for running a "pill mill." The report from the grand jury was beyond revolting, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In his squalid West Philadelphia abortion clinic, Kermit Gosnell had a surefire way of dealing with the unwelcome complication of a live birth: He'd allegedly plunge scissors into the squirming newborn's neck, killing it by severing the spinal cord.

Sometimes, the elderly physician didn't do this right away. Often, he allegedly gave the chore to his unlicensed office staff. One premature infant wiggled around on a counter for 20 minutes before an untrained worker slit his neck - after first playing with him.

Those allegations were among countless bombshells in a 261-page grand-jury report that District Attorney Seth Williams released yesterday.

Gosnell killed "hundreds" of babies and at least two women during abortions from 1979 to last year at his Women's Medical Society at 38th Street and Lancaster Avenue, according to the grand jury. Further, he and his unlicensed, unskilled staff overdosed patients with drugs, perforated their wombs and bowels, and spread venereal disease by using unsterilized equipment, the report said.

And although red flags mounted about wrongdoing at the clinic, those with the capacity to stop the carnage, such as the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Department of State, looked the other way, Williams charged.

Gosnell, 69, and nine of his staffers were arrested yesterday morning on charges including murder, infanticide and abuse of a corpse.

Williams said he might seek the death penalty for Gosnell in the murders of seven babies born alive and then killed....

Police last February raided Gosnell's offices after reports that he ran a "pill mill" there, giving out prescription medications to anyone who would pay.

Once inside the three-story brick building, they discovered horrors that would haunt them forever.

Semiconscious, moaning women sat in dirty recliners and on bloodstained blankets. The air reeked of urine from the flea-infested cats permitted to roam the clinic. There was blood on the floor and cat feces on the stairs. One investigator likened the scene to "a bad gas-station restroom."

In the patient areas, equipment was rusty, dirty and broken. Paramedics who were called to remove the patients during the police raid had trouble getting them out because clutter blocked the hallways and the emergency exit was padlocked shut.

But even worse horrors were hidden in the basement and staff-only areas.

Detectives found a row of jars containing just the severed feet of fetuses. Fetal remains filled bags, milk jugs, orange-juice cartons and even cat-food containers; some were stored in a refrigerator where staffers chilled their lunches. In all, authorities found the remains of 45 fetuses in this "baby charnel house" and gave them to the medical examiner, who determined that at least two of them had been born alive, according to the grand-jury report.

It is horrifying to contemplate that the lives of these women and children weren't protected because of the political bombshell that abortion has become. I am praying that justice is served here, and that these stories of abuse and murder will serve as the turning point in our nation for the rights of the unborn.

A Prayer for Today

I have the privilege of praying with my church today on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Here is what is on my heart. This post kicks off a week of exploring the issues of justice, repentance and redemption that surround this topic. May God have mercy on us all.

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Most of you were born after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in the notorious Roe v. Wade decision. You have grown up to be called "Generation Justice" -- a group who is intensely interested in the issues of social justice. But there are millions of this generation missing --government statistics record 1.5 million abortions each year in the U.S. Even more happen abroad. As a result, it's not surprising that the Gallup poll reported more Americans aged 18 to 29 are trending pro-abortion. The right to life is the most basic of justice issues.

But what to do about this? Many have compared the abolition movement headed by William Wilberforce to the pro-life movement of today. Both movements seek to convince the ruling majority to change their opinion about a group that has been designated less than fully human. If that be the case, may we be as firmly grounded on the gospel as Wilberforce was. And for those of us who have either obtained abortions or helped others do so -- or even once supported the abortion movement -- may we be as amazed by the grace of repentance and forgiveness as was John Newton, the former slave trader who penned the hymn we know so well, "Amazing Grace." This amazing gospel addresses both the injustice of abortion and the guilt and pain of those who have experienced it. The cross is the answer for all of us who are hurt and broken.

Therefore, I'd like to pray today that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction to our nation on the issue of abortion as He once did with slavery and other justice issues. And I'd like to pray that the God of all endurance and encouragement will help us to persevere in this area, not growing weary of doing good, so that we may clearly and boldly address the injustice of abortion while proclaiming the gospel of redemption to those who support and participate in it.

Father, we confess the sin of selfishness that undergirds the idea that a growing, genetically separate human being is not fully worthy of life. Have mercy on our nation, Lord. Give us the grace to repent and change as a nation. Thank you for the revelations of genetic science that show us how You have made each of us as unique beings, just as Psalm 139 teaches us. Holy Spirit, strengthen us to speak up boldly, proclaiming your justice and mercy that are found in the cross of Christ. Do not let us grow indifferent and apathetic in the long struggle for change. Give us, as well, the grace and conviction to help women with unwanted pregnancies, to care for orphans, to restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and vice versa. Help us to manifest the change we pray for. We ask all of this in Jesus' holy and powerful name, Amen.

Unwanted

This has to be said simply and clearly: Killing someone because they are unwanted is murder. Period. We cannot condone these kinds of choices. And the American medical system should not be a party to this. From TIME comes a horrifying story of parents aborting a presumably healthy set of twins to get a child they want:

A couple in Australia — already parents of three sons — have announced they have aborted twin boys in their quest to replace their baby daughter, who died soon after birth. Although sex selection via IVF is illegal in Australia, they petitioned a patient review panel for permission, which was denied. They've now appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which is slated to hear their case in March.

In the event that their appeal is unsuccessful, the couple has said they intend to travel to the U.S. for assistance conceiving a daughter. Since 2008, Victoria's Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act has prohibited sex selection except in cases where it would allow parents to avoid transmitting a genetic disease. It's legal — though still controversial in many circles — in the U.S., where pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PIGD) is used to separate XX from XY chromosomes for reasons of "family balancing."

The Herald Sun said the couple, who has not been identified, said opting to terminate their twin pregnancy was “a traumatic decision to make but they could not continue to have unlimited numbers of children.”

It's not that the woman doesn't love her sons; she does, but she says she is griefstricken over the loss of her daughter. Conceiving a girl has become an obsession "that has become vital to her psychological health.”

12th & Delaware

Wearing my other hat as a filmmaker, I attended the international premiere of the abortion film, "12th & Delaware," last night at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto. It is a film about two clinics that are on opposite sides of the street at this Ft. Pierce, FL, intersection. One is an abortion clinic and one is a pro-life pregnancy care center with staff and volunteers that actively protest across the street.

The film is well-crafted, engaging the audience immediately in the subject. It also has tremendous access to the pregnant women who visit both clinics. As a producer, I was amazed that so many women would agree to be on film during such a stressful and pivotal time. The filmmakers spent a lot of time with both clinics and the film feels even-handed in the time it allots to both. It excels as a documentary, offering interesting characters and compelling tension.

Unfortunately, the "interesting characters" are all on the pro-life side. If you are pro-life, you have to admire on some level their dedication to the cause. But there wasn't much humility or grace exhibited, unfortunately, by many of the protesters. At least it was edited to feel that way. As the film progressed, I realized that may be due to the fact that the gospel never seemed to be reference point for these pro-life activists.

Even so, I found myself praying throughout this screening, especially when people snickered at the aborted fetus sign. That was a helpless human being whose lifeless, bloody body was on display. God help us all if that doesn't elicit some sympathy and respect.

The film ends with the statistic that there are some 4,000 pregnancy care centers in the U.S. and only 816 abortion clinics. And that was the focal point of the discussion afterward with the directors, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. Just like I was before I became a Christian, these were women working in the media who had never heard of pregnancy centers. I distinctly remember being shocked to find out about them when I began going to church--I didn't know there were any pro-life people who put their money where their mouths were.

And therein lies the offense. In the Q&A afterward, someone asked a question about what happened to the women who decided to continue their pregnancies. The directors said they got no help. All the aid that was promised by the pregnancy center evaporated, they said. That's when a man behind me asked if the directors were going to post "the truth" about these centers on their website. I raised my hand then to offer the perspective that not all centers are like that, but I was never called on.

At the conclusion, I was able to engage the man behind me in a short conversation. I asked if he would like to know my perspective, and I told him I had volunteered for five years with a pregnancy center that was quite dissimilar to the one portrayed (again, assuming an accurate representation). I had been a mentor to four pregnant women, relationships that had gone on for years in most cases. Each woman and her child received all kinds of material and emotional help from me and my church. To his credit, he listened politely and seemed willing to hear me out.

Then I was able to make the same point to co-director Rachel Grady afterward. I offered my sincere congratulations on a fine film, then I asked if she would like to hear my experience. I told her briefly about my years of mentoring work, which ranged from birthing support to baby showers to job networking to legal help with the immigration arrest of one baby's father. I wanted to let her know the center she profiled is not representative of all. She kindly heard me out and thanked me for coming.

I am grateful to have had these opportunities to speak up. My hope is that Rachel will remember this in future presentations and perhaps allow for the fact that not all pregnancy centers are represented in this film. I also hope you fine readers will attend screenings and humbly represent your perspective, however possible, to others present. I believe it is important that gospel-centered, gracious, pro-life people are present at screenings just for this reason.

Finally, we also have a responsibility to make sure the centers we know are accurately representing medical facts, are motivated by the gospel, are avoiding deception, are fulfilling their promises, and are in no way endorsing or justifying the murder of others--even abortion doctors.

Young Activists Adding Fuel to Antiabortion Side

An astonishing report from today's Washington Post about Friday's March for Life, written by columnist Robert McCartney ... 

I went to the March for Life rally Friday on the Mall expecting to write about its irrelevance. Isn't it quaint, I thought, that these abortion protesters show up each year on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, even though the decision still stands after 37 years. What's more, with a Democrat in the White House likely to appoint justices who support abortion rights, surely the Supreme Court isn't going to overturn Roe in the foreseeable future.

How wrong I was. The antiabortion movement feels it's gaining strength, even if it's not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous.

As always, we in Washington enjoy an up-close view of the health of various causes because of the city's role as the nation's most important setting for political demonstrations. In this case, I was especially struck by the large number of young people among the tens of thousands at the march. It suggests that the battle over abortion will endure for a long time to come.

"We are the pro-life generation," said signs carried by the crowd, about half its members appearing to be younger than 30. There were numerous large groups of teenagers, many bused in by Roman Catholic schools and youth groups. They and their adult leaders said the youths were taught from an early age to oppose abortion.

Read the rest from the Washington Post online.

Opposition to Pregnancy Centers

Tonight is an important meeting in my county. A county council member, backed by the initiatives of Planned Parenthood and NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League), has proposed a bill that targets the four nonprofit pregnancy centers here in Montgomery County offering free services to women. (The four centers outnumber the three full-service family planning clinics in Montgomery County, which are funded partially with county dollars.) 

According to a local report, the four pregnancy centers in Montgomery County that don't provide abortion services would be required to tell potential clients that they should go elsewhere for medical advice. The bill's sponsor, Duchy Trachtenberg, claims the private centers often provide false and misleading medical information about the dangers of abortions or contraceptives in attempts to convince women not to abort their pregnancies.

However, Gail Tierney, the director of one of the targeted centers, the Rockville Pregnancy Center, wrote supporters and said, "We have been a licensed medical clinic since 1999 with doctors, sonographers, and nurses. The medical team does give medical advice during the scope of their duties whether it be performing sonograms, STD testing and treatment, or Pap smear testing. We will continue to do so for as long as I am the director here."

I know many members of my church are going to the hearing tonight because we support two of these centers through our donations and our volunteer time. What surprised me, however, was the support of the Washington Post's editorial team, who wrote that this legislation is "flawed and should be rejected." 

The Post added, "The proposed disclosure is too cryptic to be an effective alarm bell for many women and yet is suspect because it singles out pregnancy centers while absolving abortion clinics of any disclosure requirements regarding adoption or parenting options." 

Completely true and I'm grateful they pointed out the discrepancy. Your prayers in this matter are greatly appreciated.

(Photo: Garrison Photography)