Shirley Moore

My name is Shirley Moore and I am a recovering dupe, a victim of deception. Are you one too? I pretended for a hopeful moment that Planned Parenthood (PP) was out of the schools when they were removed from the approved speakers’ list on February 25, 2011.

But parents ought to know they have been covertly embedded for years in the education profession through teachers’ associations, PTA and the family life curriculum. They often play the role of “curriculum guidelines” policeman to maneuver their programs into the schools. It seems to have worked three years ago when they won approval from the Knox County Schools (KCS) to present their marketing pitch to the captive KCS audience.

The fly in the school reformers’ ointment was that they tore the cover off PP by putting them on the approved speakers’ list in 2008. It must have seemed the PP brand was acceptable now as it had never been before (even to Dumb Tennesseans, as one Knoxville News Sentinel letter writer recently called us). But was it really? A fracas ensued in the school administration building when parents discovered their presence in the schools in the fall of 2010.

The questions they raised about their fitness to be there showed it still isn’t a reputable brand. (And even Planned Parenthood supporters get squeamish when their association with them is made too public. That’s why the Life Decisions International Boycott list works…given time and persistent boycott participants.)

By removing all outside groups in the area of sex education, the Superintendent has undercut any abstinence presentations. Since no outside groups are presenting overtly, there will be no apparent need to “opt out.” But “opt out” was always a toothless maneuver as Planned Parenthood’s material and worldview can be woven into as many subjects as possible throughout the school day.

A Planned Parenthood trained teacher can serve it up in subtle ways. It’s called “comprehensive sex education.” Be aware: the hidden hand of Planned Parenthood remains in the KCS schools via teacher training seminars. The Superintendent admitted as much in the WATE-TV interview after the April 6 School Board meeting. It was a “yeah but, no but, yeah but” bumbling statement, but it’s there.

But what does our School Board think? We don’t know. They fired themselves from their jobs in 2008 by signing an agreement with the Superintendent promising not to dissent in public. Odd way to go about Racing to the Top. The top of what? The heap? But what’s in that heap? A heap of parents, the community, and our local democracy, for starters. Evidently, we can’t discuss it in public and that should tell us all we need to know about the secrecy and arrogance operating in this matter.

Shirley Moore
Knoxville, Tennessee

Last chance for Summer Internships.  Click here and call Fletcher at 865-776-1312.

Want to win hearts, change minds, and save lives?  Of course you do!  That’s why you are doing pro-life work in the first place!  So please call now!

One of the most curious things said at the debate was Dr. McLean’s charge that pro-lifers are responsible for a network of “fake clinics.”  Dr. Mclean struck me as a fair-minded person, so I have to attribute this charge to spending too much time on uber-left websites in the hours leading up to our debate, because this charge clearly originates from radically pro-abortion groups who are committed to only one choice for women, and that’s abortion.  There is perhaps no charge that is more comcially hypocritical this that one.

I responded that when we are on campus, people routinely demand to know what we are doing to help women in crisis pregnancies.  I tell them we do quite a lot.  Pro-lifers run a network of centers where women and families can go to receive guidance, resources, referrals to doctors who will treat them for free, referrals to housing, etc.  In fact, pro-lifers spend many, many times more money on these activities than on educational projects like we do at CBR.  So, in response to all of this, we are to be condemned for running a network of “fake” clinics?  If that’s the game, we can’t win, because were damned if we do and damned if we don’t.

Secular ProLife and Students for Life of America have published a flier, Fake Clinics: Myth vs Fact, to respond to this charge.  Some of the text:

Claim: CPCs are “fake clinics.”

Pregnancy centers come in two types. The first is a traditional crisis pregnancy center or pregnancy resource center. They are not clinics and do not pretend to be, although in most states they are able to offer pregnancy tests and prenatal vitamins. They provide numerous social services, including parenting classes, options counseling, baby supplies, and other financial aid. The second type is a Pregnancy Help Medical Clinic. These are licensed clinics working under the direction of an M.D. Medical services provided vary from clinic to clinic, but often include ultrasounds, on-site prenatal exams, and/or STD testing. In neither case can these be considered “fake clinics.”

Claim: CPCs only care about preventing abortions.

CPCs serve a variety of women; not only the abortion-minded, but also women who have chosen adoption or parenting parenting, women whose babies have already been born, and women struggling with a prior abortion.

Claim: CPCs use volunteers, who are unqualified.

CPCs do utilize volunteers– and so does Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider and one source of this claim! All CPC volunteers undergo training to ensure that they are qualified.

Claim: CPCs have religious affiliations.

Some do and some don’t. Many respectable non-profits have religious affiliations. People who make this claim are usually implying something further: religious discrimination. This is patently false. No CPC will refuse a client on the basis of her religion.

Continuing the coverage of my debate at Eastern Kentucky University.  Part 3 was here.

As you might imagine, Dr. McLean was big on “choice.” I said in my opening remarks that I was as pro-choice than just about anybody in the room. I believe that every woman and every man should be free to choice her own health care provider, her own school, her own religion, her own career, etc.

What I didn’t say (but should have) is that unlike many on the political left, I even believe people should decide whether or not they will join a union and whether or not they will have money taken out of their paychecks to support union-backed political candidates.

But some choices are wrong, even immoral, like killing innocent human beings simply because they are in the way and cannot defend themselves.

She also objected to being called “pro-abortion” instead of “pro-choice.”  I admitted that I often use the more pejorative term, but it can certainly be justified.  Stephen Douglas was said to be personally opposed to slavery, but he argued that the states should have to “right to choose” whether to be free states or slave states.  We always refer to him as “pro-slavery,” not “pro-choice.”

Following our prepared remarks, we took questions. Lots of questions. At the scheduled ending, the moderator asked if we would be willing to stay longer. I asked when the Cracker Barrel closed. We ended up staying for an extra hour.

One student asked how many churches support our “hate-filled message.” His question was laden with additional pejoratives, but I can’t recall  his exact words. I had to restrain my laughter, because if the Christian church in America—I’m talking about the self-proclaimed “pro-life” church—had ever taken abortion seriously, this would have been over long ago.

People frequently ask about my religious views, as if abortion were a religious issue. I pointed out that although my religion demands that I care about others, you don’t have to share my Christian beliefs to know killing people is wrong. We’re not asking people to accept a new system of morality; we just want them to apply their own system of morality to all human beings.

More in Part 5

On our recent GAP trip, I debated a pro-choice professor at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). In all of the GAPs we have done, this was only my third such debate. I’ll debate anybody, anyplace, anytime, but few will accept my offer. The Student Government Association at EKU recruited Dr. Meg McLean to answer the challenge.

Dr. McLean got on my good side right away. Early on, she made reference to the Appalachian region, and she said it correctly! Few people from outside Appalachia know how to say it, and Dr. McLean is from Wisconsin. The folks at Appalachian State finally taught ESPN how, but only after their second national championship. For getting it right, we make Dr. McLean an honorary member of the “I know the correct pronunciation of ‘Appalachian’” Facebook group!

Three groups of people show up for debates like this. Pro-lifers come to cheer for our side. Another group comes to cheer for the pro-abortion side. The third group shows up because a teacher is giving them extra credit to be there.  The debate was organized too late to attract many of that third group.  Of the first two groups, Dr. McLean’s cheering section was noticably bigger than mine. That’s cool, because each one of them got to see the Choice Blues video and hear me make the pro-life case!

My opening remarks (sort of) are in Part 2.

While we were on our big GAP trip to Kentucky last week, I embarked on a personal journey of sorts.  I became a Catholic.

It was quite unexpected, really.  On Sunday, I prayed, “Lord, if you’ll let Notre Dame beat UConn, I’ll become a Catholic.”  The rest, as they say, is history.

I know I’ve got a lot to learn, but because of my years of pro life work, I know a lot already.  I’m guessing I’ve attended my last Martin Luther birthday party.  I’ll have to give up at least 2 points of Calvinism, maybe more.  But I’ve got lots of Catholic friends, and I’m sure they’ll be lining up to teach me the new lingo.

By the way, does anybody know where I can find a King-James-only Mass?

Debbie Picarello represents the healing ministry of Deeper Still at EKU

GAP was a huge success on Day 2 at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU).  The weather was great, although cold, and we had a steady stream of visitors.  I think twenty or so people signed up for the student pro-life group.

Media Coverage:

• Story in The Eastern Progress.  Check out the photos!

New video from Abort73.com.  See astounding images of 1st trimester baby.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6VLUVglG8

Karine John Hardin

We are indebted to the Pro Life in TN blog for this story about the newest member of the CBR family!  Four-year-old Karine is the latest arrival at the Hardin household, whose members are fixtures on the GAP circuit.

How many of those pro lifers ever adopt?

Well the Hardin family, whom I am proud to call friends, are as pro life as they come.   Just take a look at their van covered in pro life stickers … their 8 home-schooled children … their entry into pro life oratory contests … avid and trained sidewalk counselors and  in several  pro life arenas … I can count on them  to march in the parade and help with any pro life event.

They have worked and fund raised for over two years to raise the money to adopt this special needs child from Armenia who had never been outside her orphanage in her 4 years of life. While the prayed and waited for the bureaucracy  to move, they almost lost her as Kathy Hardin received a call to make an emergency trip as  their to be daughter, Karine was critically ill.

She  was sick and down to only 15 pounds.  The is hospital was without the basic necessities to treat her. I must admit when I received  the broadcast email of what was happening, I was greatly discouraged. The Hardins have a strong faith and when they finished the email by telling us to take a front row seat and watch what God can do, I must admit I felt that she could not possibly survive even if  they were able to raise the funds for an air ambulance from Armenia to Nashville.

Fast forward … they were able to get the adoption accomplished in an emergency period of time, fly home on a commercial flight, get her into Vanderbilt for the needed surgery literally in the nick of time. Yea God !!! … Slap me across the face for my lack of faith.

Channel 5  covers the story here, here, and here.

“For two weeks it was pretty touch and go and I was working on adrenaline,” Hardin said.

Karine suffers from Spina Bifida and lives with a shunt to reduce swelling in her brain. Just weeks before she was scheduled to make the journey, the Hardin’s said she underwent surgery to correct the shunt, then developed meningitis, and lost nearly 20 pounds when the Armenian hospital withheld pain medicine and antibiotics.

If you’d like to help with her medical costs, you can make a donation to the Karine John Hardin fund at the Hendersonville branch of Regions Bank.

You can also visit the following Facebook page for updates: http://www.causes.com/causes/588490-rescue-karine-hardin

I was disappointed in the Knoxville News Sentinel (KNS) editorial about sex education in Knox County Schools.

I’m not a KNS basher. Some of my conservative friends say it’s a liberal rag. I laugh because I remember what the Charlotte Observer was like, when I lived there in the late 1980s. That paper was comical, sort of a cross between the Washington Post and the old Pravda. But in all my time in Knoxville, KNS has covered my newsworthy activities faithfully and without prejudice. They have accurately printed my letters and I hope they will keep doing so.

But I was disappointed at the misstatements of fact in this editorial, as well as the failure to recognize and address the key issues. Perhaps it’s too much to expect. After all, I struggle to be competent on just one or two subjects. I can’t imagine having to become an expert on a new topic every day.

The most obvious error was the statement that Planned Parenthood (PP) “offers abortion services in some locations across the country but not in Knoxville.” In 2009, the KNS itself reported that PP “will dispense RU486, the ‘abortion pill,’ to women up to nine weeks pregnant.” On their website, PP lists “abortion services” as being offered in Knoxville.

Further, it has been widely reported that PP has directed all of their local affiliates to operate abortion clinics by 2013. That explains why PP’s former office at Downtown West was no longer big enough and they recently moved to a larger space.

Their status as an abortion clinic is a critical fact, because it means that PP stands to make a lot of money by marketing themselves in our schools. This is an outrageous conflict of interest that completely escaped the notice of KNS reporters and editors.

The editorial went on to say that PP’s website “linked to material that was inappropriate for the classroom and could be seen by some parents as offensive.” That’s an astonishing understatement that could have been written only by a person unfamiliar with the PP material. It would be like saying that Pat Summitt “has won a few ball games and could be considered by some fans as an adequate coach.”

Evidence of PP’s criminal behavior all over the US, including their institutional willingness to cover up sexual abuse of minor children, was completely ignored. Nor was it mentioned that PP routinely arranges for judicial bypasses that allow minors to get abortions behind their parents’ backs. Were these deliberate omissions or just plain sloppiness? No rational person could think them unworthy of mention.

The tone of the editorial suggested that the issue at stake was whether or not teens needed to know about sex. I don’t recall anybody on our side of the issue ever suggesting teens should be ignorant on matters of sex. We do, however, oppose the approach to sex that tells 13-year-old children that they might be ready for sex if they “trust each other,” “care about each other,” and “have fun together.” We object to PP’s “anything-goes” approach to sex. And I do mean anything.

To my knowledge, no KNS editor ever spoke with any of the parents about this matter. I don’t know if they interviewed the other side or not. Maybe KNS just takes at face value whatever Dr. McIntyre tells them. Maybe an ad hoc collection of parents just can’t overcome years and years of taxpayer-funded PP propaganda. Maybe KNS is a liberal rag and I’m too naive to see it.

I don’t know, but I have to think KNS could have written a more insightful piece had they bothered to do a little independent research. Speaking with some of the pro-family leaders who raised this issue might have been helped.

KNS, I love you, man, but you really needed to dig deeper on this one.

A commenter has brought it to my attention that the article I referenced in a previous posting has been retracted.  Here is the retraction:

Author’s Note: I made a serious error in reporting this column that undermines the conclusion I drew. I compared statistics on contraceptive use from a January 2011 Guttmacher Institute fact sheet to a year 2000 study on the same issue.  However, I did not realize that the 2011 fact sheet derived its statistics from the year 2000 numbers, so my argument was not supported by the data. I am deeply sorry for the error, which invalidates my piece.

First of all, thank you to the commenter for letting us all know of the error.  We always want to get the facts right.  We can’t make rational decisions based on myths and errors.  As Daniel Patrick Moynhan is quoted as saying, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

I must point out,  however, that some of the statements in the article itself are not without merit.  For example, the statement that 54 percent of women who had abortions had used a contraceptive method in the month they got pregnant came directly from a Planned Parenthood information sheet.  It’s still a sobering number for those who claim that handing out condoms to teenagers will make abortion “rare.”  Yes, the statement is based on data gathered in 2000, but Planned Parenthood is still quoting this number today, so we have no reason to doubt that much has changed.  I referenced this in my previous posting on the relationship between contraception use and abortion.

Earlier tonight, more than two dozen citizens, including many parents of children in Knox County Schools, spoke out against the presence of Planned Parenthood (PP) at the monthly School Board meeting.  Although PP has apparently been kicked out (for now), many parents are concerned that their corrupting influence will still endanger our children through teacher training programs and PP water-carriers in the Health Department.

As nearly as we could tell, few (three, according to a comment below) parents spoke on behalf of PP, other than their own staff members.  That ought to tell you something.  Of the next few days, FAB will publish the comments from many who spoke.

Here are my remarks:

My name is Fletcher Armstrong, a concerned citizen. Thank you for hearing my concerns.

Let me first acknowledge the decision to remove Planned Parenthood from our classrooms, effective at the end of the year. I urge you to make this removal effectively immediately. Planned Parenthood is the largest chain of abortion clinics in America and they make a lot of money at it. They should have no place in our schools to market their agenda and their “services” to our children.

Please don’t believe anything I’m about to say. Examine the evidence for yourself. Start with ChildPredators.com. You will hear conversations between Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation abortion clinic personnel and a caller who identified herself as a 13-yr-old child, pregnant by her 22-yr-old “boyfriend.” This is statutory rape in every state. You will hear clinic workers acknowledge their own legal responsibility to report the evidence of this abuse, but still coach the caller to help them cover it up.

You could also visit LiveAction.org and watch video of Planned Parenthood personnel offering to perform abortions on under-age girls, employing a “judicial bypass” as a way of getting around state laws that require parental consent or notification.

Put it all together, and you will see evidence that Planned Parenthood is willing and able to provide your children with abortions, behind your back. If your minor child is being abused, they are even willing to cover up the evidence and allow the abuse to continue.

Listen to the tapes. Watch the videos for yourself.

Beyond their deceptive business practices, Planned Parenthood promotes an unhealthy agenda for children. Their materials and philosophies are much worse than you think.

For example, consider the Planned Parenthood website TeenWire.com. On this website, teenagers are told that if you “trust each other,” “care about each other,” and “have fun together,” among other things, “you may be ready to have sex.” What sane parent would tell her 13-yr-old daughter that if she and any of her boyfriends “have fun together” and “care about each other,” they might be ready for sex? (Source: www.plannedparenthood.org/info-for-teens/sex-masturbation/am-ready-sex-33826.htm)

Consider the Planned Parenthood website, Take Care Down There (.org).  In one skit, I Didn’t Spew, one teenage boy is engaging in oral sex. The adult figure walks over and gives his implicit approval of the activity. He complains only at the boy’s failure to use a condom. In the middle of this conversation, another boy stands up and wipes his mouth. Would you teach your teenage boy that this is normal sexual behavior? Before he goes out with his friends, do you encourage him to be this guy (standing there with his pants down) or this one (down on his knees)?

Some have tried to say that all of this is pretty tame compared to the other things that our children have seen. That’s beside the point. Yes, there are disgusting things on the Internet. The difference is that none of the porn merchants who put up those websites have been endorsed by the Knox County Schools as experts and role models. Until now, we haven’t promoted reckless sexual behavior as suitable for teenage “exploration.”

The effect of all of this, if not the purpose, is to break down all barriers and limitations on behavior. What has this gotten us? We used to worry about 2 STDs, now there are more than 25.

And rampant teen pregnancy. But not to worry. Planned Parenthood will perform your child’s abortion, and you don’t even need to know about it.

And why have they become so much more aggressive at marketing their “services” to your teens and ours? Follow the money. I’ve documented on my blog how Planned Parenthood could rake in billions of dollars by expanding their abortion business and getting taxpayers to foot the bill.  (Source: www.fletcherarmstrongblog.com/abortion-obamacare-and-planned-parenthood-follow-the-money/)

There’s a big profit to be made by marketing (first) sex and (then) abortion to our children, and Planned Parenthood is poised to get a huge share of it. It’s an outrageous conflict of interest.

Pam Strickland wrote a column in the News Sentinel entitled “Somebody needs to talk to kids about sex.” Maybe she’s right about that. Somebody should talk to them about smoking, too, but it shouldn’t be Philip Morris.

CBR airplane tow banner.

One more thing I have to tell you in all candor. I am the Southeast Director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. At CBR, we expose what Planned Parenthood does. Where they go, we will go. We do not trespass, we obey traffic laws, and we obey FAA regulations. But we will go.

CBR trucks and signs.

You may have seen this story at LifeNews.com about a pro-life flash mob that showed up at a pro-abort march in Chicago.  Check out the video below.

What do you think about this?  Personally, I’m not one for this kind of thing.  When I played football, I never liked pep rallies.  But what did I know; I was just a dumb lineman.

I wonder if pro-life pep rallies and other similar activities just trivialize the struggle between life and death.  But maybe you see something I don’t.  What do you think?

When I consider whether or not to organize or participate in any pro-life activity, I ask myself three questions:

1. What would Jesus do?
2. What would Martin Luther King do?
3. What would Patton do?

What do you think?  Please leave  your comment!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI8zcNYGKF4

From Walter Hoye:

Cerebral Palsy and Preterm Birth

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a condition where the brain does not properly control muscles and movement. According to Brent Rooney, M.Sc. Byron C. Calhoun, M.D., M.B.A. and Lisa E. Roche, J.D., extremely preterm birth (XPB) infants (i.e., infants delivered at less than 28.0 weeks gestation) have a 129 times higher risk of Cerebral Palsy when compared to full-term infants. So what causes such disparity? Induced Abortion (IA). Rooney, Calhoun and Roche found numerous studies have shown a statistically significant increase in risk of EBP or XPB in women with a history of induced abortion compared with women with no prior IA. About 43% of pregnancies in Black American women end in IA. [1]

Induced Abortion and Racial Disparity in Preterm Births

Between 1980 and 2005, the United States preterm birth (PTB) rate increased by 43% (from 8.9% to 12.7%). Black American women have triple the risk of early preterm birth (EPB), defined as delivery at less than 32.0 weeks gestation, and quadruple the risk of extremely preterm birth (XPB), defined as delivery at less than 28.0 weeks gestation, compared with non-black American women (1.39% in blacks vs. 0.35% in whites). Again, according to the Rooney, Calhoun and Roche study, published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 13, Number 4 in the Winter of 2008, in 1987, Harvard researchers led by Ellice Lieberman reported that black women in the Boston area with more than one prior IA had 1.9 times the odds of a PTB compared to black women with no prior IA. In 2006 and 2007, the Institute of Medicine confirmed that “prior first trimester induced abortion” is an “immutable medical risk factor associated with preterm birth.” [2]

References:

1. Does Induced Abortion Account for Racial Disparity in Preterm Births, and Violate the Nuremberg Code?, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 13, Number 4, Winter 2008 (http://bit.ly/aLzL4h).
2. Ibid.

More Knoxville News Sentinel coverage of our Celebrate Life event.