Pregnancies among incarcerated women are more common than some may initially believe, with around 58,000 pregnant women<a href="https://arrwip.org/projects/pregnancy-in-prison-statistics-pips-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> admitted</a> to prisons and jails in the United States every year. Data about incarcerated pregnant women can help reveal what they experience during pregnancy and postpartum recovery, as well as the impact their circumstances may have on their babies.
A<a href="https://arrwip.org/projects/pregnancy-in-prison-statistics-pips-project/"> study</a> from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People was completed using information from 2016-2017 and summarized pregnancies from every federal prison in the United States, as well as some state prisons and large jails. The data portray 57% of women in prison and 5% of women in jail, providing a picture of what pregnant incarcerated women experience. The study found that 11 prisons allowed for breastfeeding and/or pumping, while five jails allowed breastfeeding and/or pumping. Of the 272 babies born, 186 were given to a designated family member for care, while the placement of 183 infants was unknown. Twenty-one babies were placed in the prison or jail nursery, 15 were given up for adoption, 29 were placed in foster care and 21 were given to a caregiver who was not a family member. 
When a woman is pregnant in prison, there can be health <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/forced-give-birth-alone-how-prisons-jails-neglect-pregnant-people-who-are-incarcerated">consequences</a> for the baby she is carrying. Research <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6671683/">shows</a> that when women are incarcerated while pregnant they are more likely to have babies born before they are full-term. They are also more likely to give birth to “infants who are small for their gestational age,” according to a study published in the Journal of Correctional Health Care. The study noted that this is likely due to conditions that impacted these women prior to their incarceration and could be made worse while they are in prison. It also pointed out that because these women are incarcerated, they are in a position where they can be helped because of their circumstances. 
When prenatal care is not prioritized for women in prisons, however, this is not the case, resulting in health problems for them and their children. The future success and health of her child should be a primary concern. The ability for an infant to bond with his or her mother, to successfully breastfeed and connect, are all <a href="https://www.webmd.com/parenting/psychological-benefits-of-breastfeeding">vital for the health</a> and wellbeing of that person. This connectedness should be prioritized when it comes to the difficult circumstances of giving birth while in prison.
Pregnant women who are incarcerated should be treated with dignity. The practice of “shackling” or restraining pregnant incarcerated women has lost <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/22/1093836514/shackle-pregnant-inmates-tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support</a> over the years, but it is not illegal in every state. There are still 14 states that do not outlaw the practice, according to the <a href="https://www.acog.org/advocacy/policy-priorities/health-care-for-incarcerated-women#:~:text=Shackling%20interferes%20with%20the%20ability,ability%20to%20break%20a%20fall." target="_blank" rel="noopener">American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists</a>, a group that is vehemently against shackling incarcerated women “throughout pregnancy, labor and delivery, transport, and postpartum recovery.” 
Pregnancy takes a toll on a woman’s physical health no matter where she lives, which is why prolonged care prior to, during, and after pregnancy should remain a priority. And it shouldn’t change just because that woman is incarcerated. 
Soon-to-be mothers are often educated on postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety and other mood disorders they could experience after delivery. For women who are incarcerated, however, the physical and mental impact of carrying a child may be even more pronounced because women often enter the criminal justice system in a physically and mentally vulnerable position. A woman&#8217;s mental state is a serious consideration for people who are imprisoned. 
Around 40% of people in jails and prisons had a history of a mental health problem, according to a 2011-2012 Department of Justice <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/imhprpji1112.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>. It revealed that female inmates are disproportionately affected by serious psychological distress. Out of the women in prison, 20% “met the threshold for [serious psychological distress] in the past 30 days,” and 32% of the women in jail did so. Among male inmates, the percentage was smaller — at 14% and 26%, respectively.
Pregnant women who are in prison deserve the level of respect, empathy, and kindness that pregnant women receive who are not incarcerated. The process of carrying and delivering a child is extremely challenging for anyone, and is made much worse if a woman does not have assistance or adequate care.
The stories of incarcerated women who have given birth in prison are chilling and heartbreaking. When a woman is in labor, she is experiencing one of the most challenging moments of her life and is incredibly vulnerable. To any woman who has given birth, the idea of doing so alone in a jail cell, without support or adequate medical attention, is a horrific thought. This is a sad reality for women who are incarcerated. Despite their actions or circumstances that aided in their incarceration, they deserve to have the same level of attention and access to care as other women. They and their children are just as valuable as anyone else, regardless of their circumstances, and the pro-life community would do well to advance the improved treatment of them.
Supporting pregnant incarcerated women and providing them with resources they need to have healthy pregnancies, deliveries, and children, is a way that pro-life communities can counter the argument that they only care about a child before birth. 
All women and their children are deserving of life, support, and celebration. Caring for pregnant women in the vulnerable state of incarceration is a way for the pro-life movement to live out this belief.

Arrested. Black woman in handcuffs

Why Supporting Pregnant Incarcerated Women Is a Pro-Life Stand

Pregnancy

Prison

Pro-Life Movement

Readers Pass

Women

Despite the Left pretending to “follow the science,” the abortion lobby hasn’t kept theirs up to date. Spurning medical research from the last several decades — which is meant to both improve standard care practices for physicians and inform policymakers — abortion supporters are sticking with the science of the 1970s. As they refuse to develop their talking points past those used to get Roe v. Wade through the federal court system, the abortion industry is propagating misinformation and harming patients through a lack of informed consent.
The <a href="https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/gestational-development-capacity-for-pain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)</a> is a particular perpetrator of this.
While the organization is meant to lead medical experts in maternal-fetal care, ACOG states, “The science conclusively establishes that a human fetus does not have the capacity to experience pain until after at least 24–25 weeks [about five and a half months].” In the same breath, however, they also maintain that “facts are important.” Which one is it exactly? Because their former claim fails to recognize the most recent developments in our understanding of fetal pain.
While there does seem to be a real consensus that fetal pain begins at 20 weeks at the very latest, some publications (including <a href="https://jme.bmj.com/content/46/1/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one written by Drs. Derbyshire and Bockmann</a> in 2020) demonstrate the high likelihood that fetal pain is possible <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8935428/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as early as 12 weeks</a>.
In studying fetal development, we know the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8935428/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">physiological pain system</a> (the cortical subplate and thalamus) is present by 12 weeks, but to study whether the preborn child actually feels pain via the developed structures this early would violate bioethical practice not only in the possible infliction of pain upon the fetus but in the invasive nature of the research upon the mother. Consequently, this is really the closest we are able to ethically get at this time.
Unfortunately, when major medical organizations like ACOG deny such research, their misinformation affects both abortion legislation and the advancement and practice of fetal surgery. While some fetal surgeries are performed <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24945-fetal-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as early as 16 weeks</a>, the myth that the preborn child cannot feel pain until 24 weeks can lead to physicians feeling they do not need to provide fetal analgesia. Even if the data on fetal pain was not as clear as it is, morality should encourage medical professionals to err on the side of caution rather than to unwittingly do harm.
But fetal pain is not the only misinformed science propagated by the abortion lobby.
Further along in pregnancy, when discussing fetal viability, abortion supporters work even harder to push the extreme and outdated viability limits under Roe, ignoring their (now reversed) victory in Planned Parenthood v. Casey which <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/505/833/#tab-opinion-1959105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least acknowledged the relativity of viability</a> to our society’s ability to advance medical technologies.
As an example, the academic spin room of the abortion lobby, the Guttmacher Institute, “updated” their <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-later-abortions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">definition of viability</a> in August 2022, stating, “A fetus generally reaches viability between 24 and 28 weeks LMP (gestational age).”
This definition could only be considered up-to-date if it was made in 1973. It’s half a century later, however, and as previously noted, viability is not a fixed gestational time point.
The Casey opinion notes fetal viability to be <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/505/833/#tab-opinion-1959105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">28 weeks when Roe was passed down</a> in 1973, but even the pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now notes the window of “periviability” where there is a chance of survival after preterm birth as early as <a href="https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/understanding-and-navigating-viability#:~:text=Later%20in%20pregnancy%2C%20a%20clinician,6%20days%20of%20a%20pregnancy." target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 weeks to 25 weeks and 6 days </a>gestation due to recent advances in the field. In fact, the <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-breakout/world-record-for-premature-birth-goes-to-alabama-baby-born-19-weeks-early/#:~:text=Nov%2011%202021-,World%20Record%20For%20Premature%20Birth%20Goes%20To%20Alabama%20Baby%20Born,only%20132%20days%20of%20gestation." target="_blank" rel="noopener">earliest premature baby to survive</a> was born at 21 weeks and 1 day.
Though viability can be a helpful tool in medicine, the legal application of viability is nothing but discriminatory. It assumes viability to be central to what determines human value, but placing any qualification on humanity creates a hierarchical and systematic oppression of the group lacking the quality&#8230;in this case, the previable preborn child.
Pro-life physicians and research professionals must continue to prioritize gaining a deeper knowledge of life in the womb for the sake of defending vulnerable preborn children from the weaponization of outdated science. It’s time the abortion lobby was pulled forward into the twenty-first century and forced to acknowledge the scientific developments that have led to our modern understanding of the preborn human as a unique, whole, and valued second patient during pregnancy.
Let’s stop stealing from the 1970s; abortion supporters, give them their science back.
Gavin Oxley is Students for Life of America’s lead operations supervisor and medical/law coordinator, as well as the founder/CEO of Future Medical Professionals for Life.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-ABORTION-DEMONSTRATION

The 70s Called: They Want Their Science On Fetal Pain And Viability Back From The Abortion Lobby

Abortion

Children

Doctors

Science

November is National Adoption Month.
One doesn’t often hear that indecisiveness can be a blessing. For me, it was the difference between life and death – and the presence of a sweet, 5-year-old boy today. 
Growing up in a Christian household that emphasized the dignity of life, I was at a loss when I discovered that I was unexpectedly pregnant as a single 23-year-old. I had just been let go from my work and didn’t know what to do.
I regretfully admit that abortion was immediately top of mind.
Thankfully, my close relationship with my mother, my confidant, led me to <a href="https://newlifeadoptionsmn.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Life Adoption</a>, where a compassionate social worker discussed all of my options with me – including adoption.
Abortion was still tempting – a seemingly quick fix – but the more I thought about it, the more that its permanence seeped into my heart. The child in my womb was here with me, right now. Abortion would not only take him away from me, but extinguish his life, forever. There would be no turning back.
Adoption, on the other hand, would allow me more time to consider my options – and still guarantee that, in the end, I wouldn’t need to embrace the parenting role I didn’t feel ready for.
It eventually became clear that adoption was the right path. Thanks to my family, New Life Adoption, and my supportive friends, I had the courage to choose it – and from that moment, everything fell into place.
After flipping through numerous family profile books provided by New Life, some close family friends — who had also previously adopted a child through New Life — asked to be considered. I agreed to interview them over coffee.
I teared up at their vulnerable story of losing twins in their last pregnancy, and their adoption journey with their first son. While I could never replace the two babies they lost, it gave me great comfort to know I could add a second, beautiful life to their family.
Every single birth mother I have encountered has told me the same thing: when they met the right family, it immediately clicked. That is how it was with our family friends: overwhelming relief, certainty, and peace.
I knew that the pregnancy journey was just as important to my son’s adoptive parents as it was to me. I wanted nothing more than for them to build special connections with him from the start, so I asked if they would choose his name – they first chose “James,” a family name for both of us, as his middle.
Deep down, I thought “Samuel” would be the perfect name for him, but never relayed it so as not to pressure them. So, when his adoptive parents came back to suggest the name “Samuel James,” my choice of them as his parents was confirmed.
Samuel’s adoptive family was with me in the hospital as I gave birth. I watched his mom’s eyes light up with tears and joy as she looked at her son for the very first time, and with my permission she snipped his umbilical cord.
For months before labor and delivery, I had feared what it would be like to place my child with someone else, and go home to an empty house. My fears were calmed, however, when I witnessed the completeness of the family in front of me – something that would not have happened if I had continued to consider an abortion.
Thankfully, the joy of that moment, accompanied by the support I had from my family, friends, and especially New Life Adoption, filled me with peace as I walked through my front door after leaving the hospital. In choosing life, and finding the perfect family for my son&#8217;s future, I felt more fulfilled than ever before.
I recently moved away to pursue work; yet, even though Samuel is thousands of miles away, I feel his joy in the world. I receive pictures almost daily from his parents, and laugh at their stories of his energy, stubbornness, and compassion – all traits they recognize from me and my family. More than anything, it brings me immense happiness to see the love between Samuel and his brother, and the amazing life they get to live together.
<div id="attachment_653335" style="width: 216px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-653335" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-653335 size-medium" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/6000EEA3-7A68-47DC-B591-99856E9739DD-206x300.jpeg" alt="" width="206" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/6000EEA3-7A68-47DC-B591-99856E9739DD-206x300.jpeg 206w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/6000EEA3-7A68-47DC-B591-99856E9739DD-395x576.jpeg 395w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/6000EEA3-7A68-47DC-B591-99856E9739DD-768x1119.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/6000EEA3-7A68-47DC-B591-99856E9739DD-1054x1536.jpeg 1054w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/6000EEA3-7A68-47DC-B591-99856E9739DD.jpeg 1284w" sizes="(max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px" />Courtesy: Sophrona Lavasseur</div>
Looking back, I know that none of this would have been possible without the tremendous support I received from my entire family and New Life Adoption – support that gave me the calm and clarity to consider the tragic realities of abortion and the joys possible through adoption.
Whether it be from family, friends, or strangers, I hope every women feels supported and empowered to choose life for her child, even if she knows she isn’t ready to be a parent. There are so many loving couples in the world who will not only embrace your child but you too. My experience with adoption has shown me that life is a precious gift worth giving.
* * *
Sophrona Lavasseur lives in Arizona and is currently working as a sales manager. As a small business owner, she spends her summer weekends in the Midwest as a wedding coordinator with Joyful Day Weddings. Any free time is spent serving on the board of her hometown community festival ambassador program, traveling, and speaking at events surrounding education on adoption.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Hand holding newborn baby’s hand

How My Unplanned Pregnancy Led To A Beautiful Adoption

Adoption

Mothers

Social Issues

Former supermodel Kathy Ireland is continuing to speak out for the unborn, sitting down with prominent pro-life activist Lila Rose to discuss the issue of life.
Ireland, a former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue model, turned her early success into a multi-billion dollar company, kathy ireland Worldwide (kiWW), and is one of the wealthiest former models in the world. At the height of her modeling days, she married physician Greg Olsen and they had three children together.
Ireland told Rose during their interview this month that the pro-life cause is backed by science. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t want to be pro-life, it wasn&#8217;t part of my plan,&#8221; she recalled, but added that &#8220;once you know the truth, and you know a human being&#8217;s life is in danger, nothing else matters.&#8221;
The mother-of-three, calling herself a &#8220;slow learner,&#8221; recalled to Rose when she first started to understand that life began at conception. Ireland, who formerly identified as a pro-choice Christian, said she called Planned Parenthood and asked them for their best arguments for abortion. She said they didn&#8217;t have any compelling argument to offer, and knew she had to fight for the most vulnerable.
&#8220;If we saw someone murdering a three-year-old on the street, we would intervene,&#8221; Ireland said. &#8220;When you recognize that this is a human being that we&#8217;re talking about, you do whatever you can to stop it.&#8221;
&#8220;Once you know the truth, it&#8217;s hard to un-know it,&#8221; she emphasized.
Rose asked Ireland what it was like to advocate for life while she was still in the Hollywood bubble. &#8220;I was told this would kill my career,&#8221; the former model explained, adding that the pushback, however, was &#8220;irrelevant&#8221; to her.
&#8220;There&#8217;s been a lot of pushback from it, yet it is so irrelevant when we&#8217;re talking about a human life,&#8221; Ireland told Rose.
Ireland said she was asked years ago to appear on Bill Maher&#8217;s former show &#8220;Politically Incorrect,&#8221; and said she would only go on if they talked about real issues, such as life, and not just &#8220;fluff.&#8221;
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&#8220;I had business colleagues say, &#8216;Just don&#8217;t even touch this subject,&#8217; &#8216;This will kill your career.&#8217; And I was like, no, if I have an opportunity to speak about life, of course I&#8217;m gonna take it, I don&#8217;t care if the career is killed,&#8221; the former model said. &#8220;We&#8217;re talking about a baby being killed!&#8221;
&#8220;If our business goes down the toilet, so be it,&#8221; Ireland recalled a conversation with a former business partner. &#8220;If one woman watching cancels her appointment, it is so worth it.&#8221;
&#8220;The Lord will provide,&#8221; Ireland added, &#8220;it&#8217;s gonna work out.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Pro-Life SUPERMODEL w/ Kathy Ireland" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jJiTbQiiSOc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anger-erupts-after-biden-doj-gets-5-pro-life-activists-convicted-thrown-in-jail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anger Erupts After Biden DOJ Gets 5 Pro-Life Activists Convicted, Thrown In Jail</a>

Celebrities Visit Build – January 29, 2020

‘This Will Kill Your Career’: Supermodel Kathy Ireland Talks ‘Irrelevant’ Pushback To Her Staunch Pro-Life Advocacy

Celebrities

supermodel

U.S.

The Satanic Temple lost its lawsuit against Indiana&#8217;s abortion ban on Wednesday when a federal judge threw out the suit.
In her decision, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson pointed out that the Satanic Temple does not run any abortion clinics in Indiana and failed to disclose any specific Satanic Temple members who are being affected by the ban.
“In sum, the Satanic Temple’s allegations fail to prove it has suffered any injury in fact,” the judge <a href="https://fox59.com/indiana-news/judge-dismisses-satanic-temple-lawsuit-that-challenged-indiana-abortion-ban/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.
The Satanic Temple sued in September 2022, alleging the abortion ban violates their members&#8217; religious rights and is unconstitutional. Indiana&#8217;s abortion ban prohibits abortion at any point of pregnancy except when the woman&#8217;s life or health is seriously at risk, in cases of rape or incest, or when there is a &#8220;lethal fetal abnormality.&#8221;
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/news/health/2023/10/26/satanic-temple-loses-lawsuit-against-indianas-abortion-restrictions/71326591007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the lawsuit &#8220;ridiculous&#8221; and said the win &#8220;sustains a pro-life law that is constitutionally and legally sound&#8221; in a statement Thursday.
“We Hoosiers continue to build a solid culture of life whether satanic cultists like it or not,&#8221; Rokita said.
Pro-life advocates quickly praised the decision as well.
&#8220;BIG win for LIFE! If your &#8216;religion&#8217; involves killing babies, you should find another religion,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/KristanHawkins/status/1717647160211353623" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America.
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The Satanic Temple&#8217;s attorney said he was disappointed in the decision. It is not clear whether the group will appeal.
“It takes a desperate and irresponsible judge to refuse to hear our case because of a baffling refusal to accept that any of our membership in Indiana may get pregnant in the future,” said Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple.
The Satanic Temple <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/news/health/2023/10/26/satanic-temple-loses-lawsuit-against-indianas-abortion-restrictions/71326591007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has</a> about 11,300 members in Indiana. Despite its name, members of The Satanic Temple do not actually believe in Satan — rather it is an atheist group that seeks to subvert Christianity’s role in American life. The group believes that “one’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone,” which includes a belief in abortion.
The Satanic Temple does not run any abortion clinics in Indiana, but it did <a href="https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/samuel-alitos-moms-satanic-abortion-clinic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launch</a> a telehealth clinic out of New Mexico last year called &#8220;Samuel Alito&#8217;s Mom&#8217;s Satanic Abortion Clinic,&#8221; a reference to the conservative Supreme Court justice.
The telehealth abortion clinic says it provides abortion medication through the mail to Satanic Temple members in New Mexico.
Last year, The Satanic Temple <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fourth-grade-teacher-owned-satanic-temple-in-indiana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sponsored</a> “After School Satan” clubs, saying the clubs were a response to the Christian Good News Clubs at public schools across the country.

US-religion-SATAN

Satanic Temple Loses Lawsuit Against Indiana Abortion Ban

Indiana

satanic

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-jersey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Jersey</a> crisis pregnancy center has responded after a Democratic lawmaker launched a campaign last week to shut down crisis pregnancy centers in the state, calling them “brainwashing cult clinics.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) <a href="https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/release-gottheimer-launches-campaign-to-shutdown-deceptive-anti-choice-clinics-posing-as-womens-healthcare-providers-in-nj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last week in front of the Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, that he would be working to shut down the “anti-choice” crisis pregnancy centers. The center responded this week, saying that they believed that Gottheimer had never visited the center and that his efforts targeting them were misguided.
“We are deeply disappointed,” Debbie Provencher, executive director of Lighthouse, <a href="https://njrtl.org/statement-in-response-to-congressman-gottheimers-attack-against-pregnancy-centers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. “I would have been happy to meet with Congressman Gottheimer and educate him on the work we do, had he reached out to me. To our knowledge, he has never visited any Lighthouse facility to learn about the services we offer to those facing unexpected pregnancies and to under-served parents.”
Provencher said that the center had provided over 5,300 women and men with help since 2011. The center provides ultrasounds and other resources to pregnant women and <a href="https://lighthouseprc.org/abortion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gives information</a> on the negative side effects of abortions.
In addition to Lighthouse, Gottheimer also criticized other centers part of the NJ Consortium of Crisis Pregnancy Centers. The Consortium is a group of “life-affirming” nonprofits that provide millions of free services every year.
“Women often go to these healthcare hoax clinics thinking they will receive real medical help, but instead they are greeted by people with no medical background whose goal is to brainwash women with their own ideological agenda,” a press release from the Democrat said.
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Gottheimer is pursuing legislation targeting crisis pregnancy centers at the national level, pushing the Stop Anti-abortion Disinformation Act in the Republican-controlled House. He has also urged New Jersey Democrat Governor Phil Murphy and the state legislature to pass laws regulating advertising for the centers.
“Attacking New Jersey’s pregnancy centers hurts – rather than helps – New Jersey women,” Provencher said. “Rep. Gottheimer is directly harming women who benefit from a safe place to think through their pregnancy decisions and obtain medical confirmation of pregnancy for presumptive Medicaid eligibility. The centers also provide women with social support, parenting education, and basic necessities to care for their newborn children. Caring for women and their families is at the heart of what we do as pregnancy centers. Attacks against us are attacks against those we serve.”

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (Democrat) speaks at a press

Crisis Pregnancy Center Responds After New Jersey Democrat Launches Campaign To Shut It Down

Democrat

New Jersey

Freedom. On the issue of abortion, only one side really uses that word with regularity – those who want to be clear about what is hurting women and pre-born infants. For those who want more of it, everything but abortion is said to be on the line. You’ve seen slogans like &#8220;My Body, My Choice&#8221; in branded <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/planned-parenthood-unveils-my-body-my-choice-plate/">Planned Parenthood messaging</a> for years. But link any word to abortion often enough, and no one wants to keep it in the mix.
Forget choice, access, and health care as the top rationales for ending innocent life in the womb. It’s all Austin Powers now; <a href="https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/d4ccdd19-3f65-478a-9aa4-9719bed6ad31">“It’s freedom baby, Yeah.”</a>  
A recent <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrats-push-abortion-rights-heart-2024-campaign-2023-09-01/">Reuters article</a> signaled that a pivot is underway on Team Abortion.
&#8220;It&#8217;s about freedom,” said Hassan Martini, who founded the No Dem Left Behind PAC.
Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrats-push-abortion-rights-heart-2024-campaign-2023-09-01/">echoed that emotion,</a> saying, “You can&#8217;t run a party talking about freedom and then base one of your major policies on taking one of the most fundamental freedoms away from half the population.” 
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-advocates-rebrand-naral-reproductive-freedom-ccd0d424a5578aad9d7ce0dc9151afc9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NARAL Pro-Choice America</a> got the message and is changing its name to Reproductive Freedom for All (all but those in the womb of course.) 
After sending some staff into a Planned Parenthood messaging training years ago in New York City, I knew “choice was on its way out as trainers admitted “choice” was associated with “abortion” and people, regardless of their labels, don’t like that word.  
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-comments-section-with-brett-cooper">WATCH: The Comments Section with Brett Cooper</a></h4>
So, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/opinion/abortion-bans-republicans.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">choice,</a> exit, stage left. It seems that abortion agitators have read Marxist activist Saul Alinsky’s &#8220;Rules for Radicals,&#8221; who wrote: <a href="https://sliwainsights.com/saul-alinskys-12-rules-for-radicals/">RULE 7:</a> “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.”  
I also wonder if part of “choice’s” unpopularity comes from the extreme lack of choice abortion-supporting legislators offered those who didn’t agree with how they wanted their bodies to be treated on other issues. Consider <a href="https://katv.com/news/nation-world/half-of-dems-believe-fines-prison-time-appropriate-for-questioning-vaccine-poll-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national vaccine mandates</a> (and jail for those who refuse); <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/21/fauci-admits-he-knew-draconian-lockdowns-would-have-collateral-negative-consequences-on-schoolchildren/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National school lockdowns</a> and violations of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/california-pastor-found-contempt-ignoring-covid-19-mandates/story?id=74623637" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the right to assembly</a>; and the sudden <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/168309/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-ruin-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disdain for free speech</a> if the Left doesn’t like what you’re saying.
My words, my choice?
Yet, for all the naked hypocrisy of the pro-abortion Left, the question of what to do with freedom matters greatly.  
This country was founded, albeit imperfectly, on the principles of freedom and liberty for all, protected by a government that was to exist only to serve people and protect their rights.  
This summer, my family has been on a history hunting road trip. My husband, a historian by training, has made sure that we see the places pivotal to our nation. I recently saw Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” paintings. They’re remarkable in-person and inspired by wartime President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s <a href="https://www.fdrlibrary.org/four-freedoms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of the Union Address</a> on January 6, 1941, where he said: 
<blockquote>“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech, and expression—everywhere in the world.  
“The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.   
“The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.  
“The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.”   </blockquote>
The spirit of freedom that FDR speaks of is one in pursuit of social harmony, peace, and the freedom to choose or express one’s deepest values or belief systems. Nowhere in that speech, or within the Constitution, do we see calls for the freedom to pursue destructive ends, such as the untimely deaths of others. 
Not even the pro-abortion Left believes or follows their own logic on this so-called freedom when talking about their own families. Kathleen Parker, op-ed columnist for the Washington Post, powerfully described how when she became pregnant with her son over a decade ago, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/03/50years-of-abortion-roe-leak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it changed her</a>, writing: “It was clear to me that I was a mere vessel for this other autonomous life growing inside me and my job was to protect him. Sure, it was my body, but it was his life.”  
The rebranding from &#8220;My Body, My Choice&#8221; to “Let American’s enjoy their freedoms” is nothing more than a subversive tactic to deal with the broken truth of choice – that it matters what you pick, because not all choices are created equal.
It’s not “freedom” to end an innocent’s life. That is the definition of tyranny.
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 * * *
Kristan Hawkins is president of Students for Life of America &amp; Students for Life Action with more than 1,400 groups on educational campuses in all 50 states. Follow her <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_kristanhawkins-3Flang-3Den&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=uw6TLu4hwhHdiGJOgwcWD4AjKQx6zvFcGEsbfiY9-EI&amp;r=WKaH1vFYj7fnFkioUplDf7eyhgA7RmadhwSCcSrc0RM&amp;m=dHI_zRo_S3dRh6O1egAGUHYM_18mGpBuGK8It87dRisKAAJrwoa3rFwiFjVpnjST&amp;s=myYGkzRy3aGLQAHFyLQS37EvikCgueFLdMXfbF_VAW8&amp;e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@KristanHawkins</a> or subscribe to her podcast, Explicitly Pro-Life.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

International Women’s Day Rally Outside Walgreens As Pharmacy Stops Selling Abortion Pills

The Pro-Abortion Movement’s Rebrand Is All About ‘Freedom’

The Pro-Abortion Movement’s Rebrand Is All About 'Freedom'

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

Planned Parenthood

A federal judge sentenced a woman to a minimum of five years in prison and an additional three years probation for breaking into and setting fire to a full-service abortion clinic in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wyoming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wyoming</a> last year.
Lorna Roxanne Green was formally charged with arson, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution fees after burning the Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper on May 25, 2022, according to a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-wy/pr/woman-sentenced-arson-wellspring-health-access-clinic-casper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a> from the Department of Justice.
Green, a 22-year-old Casper College mechanical engineering student, pleaded guilty to the charges in July before U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson.
According to court filings, Green told investigators she opposed abortion and experienced nightmares about the life-ending procedure, which “she attributed to her anxiety about the abortion clinic opening, so she decided to burn the building,” which was under construction at the time and had planned to offer OB/GYN services, &#8220;gender-affirming care,&#8221; and abortion procedures.
“No matter what an individual’s opinions or objectives may be, the use of violence and property destruction to advance them is never acceptable,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas Vassallo said. “This was a reckless and serious crime which endangered the community and caused significant financial harm to the clinic’s owner.”
Green told a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent she purchased gas cans and aluminum pans the day before the fire, drove to Casper, and brought them into the facility in a bag, according to a court filing.
Authorities said she entered the facility by breaking a window using a rock and poured gasoline inside just before escaping. Officers observed smoke coming from the east side of the building and immediately dispatched the Casper Fire Department to extinguish the fire.
Nearly a year later, Green admitted to setting fire to the facility following her arrest on March 21, 2023, by local and federal authorities who identified her through witness accounts and video surveillance. The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wyoming-abortion-clinic-fire-bf23a8e3bd37c429a274b4e16cf2607f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that investigators made progress after increasing a reward for information to $150,000.
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A federal grand jury indicted her in May.
“While I deeply regret my actions, I accept full responsibility for what I have done,” Green said during the plea hearing, adding she knew her choice was wrong “right after.”
Green set fire to the clinic weeks before it was scheduled to open, which caused almost $30,000 in damages and further delayed its opening for nearly another year. The facility performs surgical abortions and offers pill abortions to women to end their child’s life.
President Julie Burkhart of the facility reportedly said Thursday that she was “heartened” Green took responsibility.
“It saddens me that someone so young could commit such a heinous act that was so reckless and could have killed people,” Burkhart said.
Abortion is banned throughout varying stages of pregnancy in more than a dozen states, which have different exceptions depending on the state, and certain restrictions in other states are currently not in effect due to being stuck in court. Since the historic overturning of Roe v. Wade, at least 15 of the 50 states have completely banned abortion outright, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Wyoming lawmakers passed laws in 2022 and 2023 to make the life-ending procedure illegal, but a judge ruled to keep abortion legal while the state faces legal challenges.
Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-pro-life-advocates-involved-in-abortion-clinic-barricade-convicted-on-face-act-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three pro-life advocates</a> were faced with more than a decade in prison after a federal jury convicted them for conspiring to barricade themselves in a Washington, D.C.-based abortion clinic in 2020.

casperabortionclinic

Wyoming College Student Sentenced To Five Years In Prison After Setting Fire To Full-Service Abortion Clinic

Courts

Pro-Abortion

Roe v. Wade's Long And Brutal Legacy

Wyoming

Three pro-life advocates face more than a decade in prison after a federal jury convicted them on Friday for conspiring to barricade themselves in a Washington, D.C.-based abortion clinic in 2020.
The defendants – Jonathan Darnel, 41, of Arlington, Va.; Jean Marshall, 73, of Kingston, Mass.; and Joan Bell, 74, of Montague, NJ – were each convicted of a felony conspiracy against rights and a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act offense for &#8220;forcefully&#8221; entering and &#8220;blockading two clinic doors&#8221; at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C. on October 22, 2020, according to a Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/three-defendants-convicted-federal-civil-rights-conspiracy-and-freedom-access-clinic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>.
The defendants were part of a group of ten pro-life advocates who were arrested and indicted for allegedly violating the FACE Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to prevent individuals from obtaining or providing an abortion and other reproductive services.
&#8220;I am definitely not guilty of the charges leveled against me, which is rather ironic that I should find myself in this position,&#8221; Darnel <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pro-life-protesters-could-face-10-years-prison-political-witch-hunt?intcmp=tw_pols" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News Digital in an interview earlier this month. &#8220;Nevertheless, if a jury finds me guilty of FACE even erroneously, it would be an honor because the kids are worthy of protection.&#8221;
The Department of Justice said trial evidence showed the defendants conspired to create a blockage at the clinic to prevent &#8220;patients from receiving reproductive health services.&#8221;
Authorities said Marshall and Bell had traveled to the Washington, D.C. area to meet with Darnel to form the barricade and had broadcast the demonstration on Facebook at the direction of a co-conspirator.
&#8220;Marshall and Bell were among a group that forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes,&#8221; authorities said. &#8220;Once the blockade was established, Darnel – who remained outside the clinic &#8212; live-streamed their activities on social media.&#8221;
In a published <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&amp;v=420631786000084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> of the demonstration, the pro-life advocates can be seen praying and singing inside the abortion clinic and refusing to leave.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the trial, reportedly refused to allow the video as evidence and argued their actions were not protected under the First Amendment.
Kollar-Kotelly, who President Bill Clinton appointed in 1997, ordered the defendants immediately into custody.
A sentencing date is yet to be scheduled.
Each faces up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000.
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Caroline Taylor Smith, executive director of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/2023/09/15/three-pro-life-advocates-found-guilty-of-rescuing-babies-from-abortion-face-11-years-in-prison/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> LifeNews that the charges against the advocates were excessive because the demonstrations were nonviolent.
&#8220;This overreaching of power and authority by Biden&#8217;s DOJ is egregious and must be stopped. Nonviolent prolife actions should not be a federal crime, and peaceful people with a desire to save lives should not be jailed for over a decade. Some of these Rescuers could be facing death by incarceration. We must repeal the FACE Act now!&#8221; Smith said.
Five other pro-life advocates involved in the demonstration were found guilty in August on the same counts. Another co-defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten months of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release, according to authorities.
The clinic has been embroiled in controversy. Posing as a woman who wished to obtain a late-term abortion, a Live Action investigator visited Washington Surgi-Clinic in January 2022 and reported concerning comments and practices. In late March 2022, authorities were called to the home of a pro-life activist — Lauren Handy of PAAU — to recover the bodies of five premie-sized aborted babies. PAAU activists <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-went-to-the-clinic-of-the-dc-abortionist-accused-of-gruesome-crimes-heres-what-i-saw">told The Daily Wire at the time</a> that they had intercepted a box of aborted babies that was on its way from Washington Surgi Clinic to Curtis Bay Medical Waste Facility to be incinerated.
A Curtis Bay spokesman has insisted to The Daily Wire that this never happened and that the waste facility does not dispose of fetal remains.
Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report.

March for Life in Washington D.C.

3 Pro-Life Advocates Involved In Abortion Clinic Barricade Convicted On FACE Act Charges

3 Pro-Life Advocates In Abortion Clinic Barricade Convicted On FACE Act Charges 

Washington D.C.

Ever since the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision in Dobbs, America&#8217;s longstanding <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/abortion">abortion</a> debate has taken on a new tone.
The battle has moved to the states and in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington, voters are no longer asking whether there&#8217;s a right to abortion in the Constitution — the court has made it quite clear that there isn&#8217;t — but rather if their state should allow women to abort their children. 
The Left, of course, is fighting harder than ever. Planned Parenthood has even launched an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/08/22/1195142490/planned-parenthood-abortion-wisconsin-campaign-2024-gop-republican-trump-pence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ad campaign</a> aimed at fighting abortion limits on the ballot in the 2024 elections. Another tactic the Left has employed is to pair racial justice with abortion access, suggesting in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/14/1098306203/abortion-is-also-about-racial-justice-experts-and-advocates-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">popular articles</a> and even <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2209737" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scientific studies</a> that those who care about the wellbeing of racial minorities should vote for pro-abortion measures.
Mildred Jefferson, the first African American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, would beg to differ. As she put in a 1977 debate with Nicki Nichols Gamble, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts: 
<blockquote>“The abortionists have accomplished what perhaps 200 years of lynchings did not do; destroying an entire generation and crippling another.” </blockquote>
The truth that Dr. Jefferson understood and that younger generations need to know is that the abortion movement was founded as a eugenics project. Eugenics is the “science” behind the idea that there is a hierarchical ordering of the races, and it goes hand-in-hand with some of the most unethical medical practices that are part of American history.
Take the case of J. Marion Sims. He has been called the father of modern gynecology. In recent years, however, he has been rightly called out because <a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-father-of-modern-gynecology-performed-shocking-experiments-on-slaves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his research</a> was conducted on enslaved black women without anesthesia. It took decades, but the truth finally came out.
Today, in the midst of our abortion debates, Gen Z also needs to know the truth about Planned Parenthood. 
Despite being presented as a compassionate progressive leader, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was also a vicious racist. Although pro-abortion advocates have defended her for years as a product of her time (the same defense used with Sims), the truth is that Sanger was a radical, even for 1930s America. Indeed, her purpose in founding Planned Parenthood and her mission in life was to destroy the black race. As she wrote in a <a href="https://libex.smith.edu/omeka/files/original/d6358bc3053c93183295bf2df1c0c931.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1939 letter to Clarence Gamble</a>: 
<blockquote>“We don’t want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the [African American] minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”</blockquote>
Clarence Gamble spent his life and family fortune promoting eugenics. He passed his beliefs on to his son Richard Gamble, as well as his son’s wife, the aforementioned Nicki Nichols Gamble who debated Dr. Jefferson in 1977 and was even so bold as to suggest on air that abortion helps low-income women.
Then, and for the rest of her life, Dr. Jefferson stood up to the racist abortionists targeting her community and fought tenaciously for the lives of black babies. She went on to help form and lead Massachusetts Citizens for Life and found the Right to Life Crusade, Inc. She is a hero, deserves her place in history, and most importantly, needs to be remembered today.
Public pressure for change can make a difference. In 2018, for instance, the New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously to remove Sims’ statue from its prominent location in Central Park. Likewise, in 2020 Planned Parenthood of Greater New York removed Margaret Sanger’s name from its building.
And yet, the business of Sanger’s Planned Parenthood — “exterminate[ing] the Negro population”— continues. In 2016, more black babies were <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/lets-talk-about-the-black-abortion-rate-1531263697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed by abortion</a> than were born in New York City. This is no accident, of course. 
Ramona Treviño, a former manager of a Planned Parenthood clinic, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249604/reversing-roe-hispanic-pro-life-leader-ramona-trevino" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in 2021 that her former employer targets Hispanics and African Americans. Indeed, at a director’s meeting, she even discovered Planned Parenthood has abortion quotas.
So, simply removing Sanger’s name from the building is insufficient. Dr. Jefferson wouldn’t have been satisfied by the Left’s attempts to erase history. And we shouldn’t be either.
Listen to her words from 2003: 
<blockquote>“I am at once a physician, a citizen and a woman, and I am not willing to stand aside and allow this concept of expendable human lives to turn this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged and the planned have the right to live.”</blockquote>
It is time for America to put an end to Sanger’s institution of eugenics. It won’t be easy — Planned Parenthood is a well-funded force. But it wasn’t easy for Mildred Jefferson either.
As legislation on abortion continues to be on the ballot in statehouses across the counties, those who fight for life would do well to remember her example. Although the Left may label standing up for life as racist, fascist, right-wing extremism, the truth is that it’s simply the right thing to do.
Raychel Namiotka is a Digital Workplace Analyst for Information Technology at The Heritage Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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US-POLITICS-JUSTICE-RIGHTS-ABORTION

Why We Must Expose Planned Parenthood’s Racist Roots

Harvard

Margaret Sanger

New York City

The following article contains graphic elements necessary for the telling of this story.
September is Abortion Survivor Awareness Month. To understand the wide-ranging impact of abortion on society, we must also understand the trauma abortion inflicts. This trauma is shared by the mother, and the target of the abortion, the child. Most often, that child is left without a voice, but today abortion survivors are speaking out.
I was 14 years old when I learned I was an abortion survivor. I remember feeling angry and betrayed that I didn’t know about this secret of my birth. When I was 19 years old, my curiosity led me to do more research about my birth. I poured over the details of my adoption and found more information in my medical records.
By the time I was 30 years old, I finally reconnected with my biological mother. She was overwhelmed with emotion and had carried the weight of my life in her heart for years. I, too, was overwhelmed, but as she shared her experience with me, those feelings of anger and betrayal were soon replaced with gratitude, forgiveness, and empathy. I was grateful for my life and hoped she could find peace where guilt and pain had once lived in her heart.
I learned that, despite loving my birth father, she was forced to abort me. When she was 31 weeks pregnant, her mother, a prominent nurse at a local hospital, forced her to have a saline-induced abortion to end my life. For days they injected a toxic solution into the amniotic fluid, a solution designed to poison and scald me until I was delivered dead.
On the fifth day, after my birth mother was administered numerous rounds of Pitocin to induce labor, I was delivered by a nurse, alive. My birth mother was led to believe the abortion was successful.
My grandmother, however, demanded I be left to die. Despite her orders, a nurse rushed me to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). I weighed two pounds, 14 ounces, I suffered from jaundice and severe respiratory distress, and doctors believed I would suffer from many physical and emotional disabilities due to the abortion procedure and my premature birth. I remained in the NICU for 21 days and was eventually transferred to another hospital. I suffered from severe respiratory and liver problems and seizures, and the doctors worried I had a fatal heart defect.
Despite all of these serious issues, I was adopted by loving parents who nurtured and cared for me. They knew I might not survive, but if I did, I would likely be disabled. Despite the odds, my body healed, and I lived a normal childhood. I had an older sister, who was also adopted, and our parents loved us.
The abortion industry hates that I exist. Abortions fail more often than one might think. I survived an abortion and I am not afraid to tell my story. The existence of survivors like me is rarely mentioned, nor is the emotional, mental, and physical trauma we endure.
The path abortion survivors face is difficult at best. For most of us, the biggest fight of our lives began before we even drew our first breath. Our physical and emotional health are compromised, and sometimes we never understand why, until we discover our birth story. Even then, our beginnings are covered up and hidden through the laborious process of uncovering our medical records. We live in a culture that celebrates a &#8220;procedure&#8221; designed to end a life.
The abortion industry has shaped our culture. They have long argued that abortion is safe for women while suppressing the voices of survivors. They shout and insist that women should be proud of choosing abortion, that women can’t thrive without abortion as an option, and that women are made whole by their abortions. Yet, they actually force women to hide their pain, regret, and the “health care” that changed the trajectory of their lives.
Today, survivors of abortions are telling their stories as they watch our culture debate the value of their lives. Women who have experienced failed or reversed abortions have largely been unseen, unheard, and unserved, but thankfully that is changing. Together we are pushing back against the lies and efforts to hide the pain and trauma abortion causes.
Our experiences of having survived an abortion, sometimes multiple abortion attempts, color our lives and relationships. The impact ripples from our mothers and fathers to extended family members, adoptive families, and friends who have raised a survivor. Medical professionals, clinic staff, and adoption workers also feel the consequences of abortion. We know you are there, you are not alone.
Every child, born or unborn, has a purpose. These realities are why I am raising awareness about abortion survivors and the truth that abortions can fail. My hope is we can create a society where women are supported and encouraged, and where loving parents can raise every unborn baby.
Because every life matters, the mother’s and the child’s.
* * *
Melissa Ohden, is the founder and CEO of <a href="https://abortionsurvivors.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Abortion Survivors Network</a> and is a pro-life speaker, leader, and advocate who often appears on television and radio shows. She has spoken on Fox News, The 700 Club, Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), One America News (OAN), Hannity, Focus on the Family, and more. Having earned her Master’s in Social Work, Melissa is also the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/You-Carried-Me-Daughters-Memoir/dp/0874867886/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15IEJ3OBI06GO&amp;keywords=you+carried+me&amp;qid=1694023247&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=you+carried+me%2Cstripbooks%2C95&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir</a>.
If you or someone you know is an abortion survivor, please reach out to Melissa Ohden at melissa@abortionsurvivors.org
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Olohan – An Abortionist Tried To End Her Life. She Lived To Tell The Tale.

I Am An Abortion Survivor. Here’s Why My Story Matters.

The Biden Department of Justice successfully swayed a jury on Tuesday to convict five pro-life activists for demonstrating at a controversial abortion clinic, which the DOJ argued violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, also known as the FACE Act.
Conservatives quickly expressed outrage over the case, especially since the activists &#8212; Lauren Handy, 28, John Hinshaw, 67, Heather Idoni, 61, William Goodman, 52, and Herb Geraghty, 25, &#8212; face 11 years behind bars and were thrown in jail to await their sentences. The activists also each face a $350,000 fine.
&#8220;From the beginning, this trial has been a sham with a completely biased pro-abortion judge who has made a mockery of our justice system,&#8221; Live Action founder Lila Rose <a href="https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/horrific-precedent-doj-convinces-dc-jury-jail-5-pro-life-late-term-abortion-protesters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;This decision will be appealed, and we demand it be overturned. These activists are heroes, and the Department of Justice has acted capriciously and illegitimately.&#8221;
Daily Wire host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a> said Wednesday on &#8220;The Michael Knowles Show&#8221; that these five pro-life demonstrators are &#8220;political prisoners.&#8221;
&#8220;The evil apparatchiks in Washington, DC, are imprisoning these five patriots for this simple act of demonstrating against abortion,&#8221; Knowles said. &#8220;These five pro-life activists  demonstrated in defense of babies at an abortion mill, an infanticide factory, and for that they face more than a decade in prison.&#8221;
The activists engaged in a sit-in demonstration at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility in October 2020. According to reporting from CBN, the demonstrators sang songs, prayed, locked arms in front of the facility&#8217;s staff entrance, and attached themselves with ropes and chains to block doors inside the building in an effort to &#8220;delay the murder of kids,&#8221; the activists said.
The FACE Act, a Clinton-era rule, makes it a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mark-houck-catholic-pro-life-activist-facing-11-years-in-prison-acquitted-at-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal crime</a> to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone due to their status as an abortion provider.
The Surgi-Clinic is particularly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/undercover-footage-allegedly-exposes-gruesome-details-of-d-c-abortion-clinic-practices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controversial</a> due to recent undercover footage allegedly showing suspect practices by staffers, including making women take Xanax before meeting with an abortionist and giving final consent.
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Moreover, in March 2022, authorities were called to the home of Handy, one of the activists convicted on FACE act charges, to recover the bodies of five premie-size aborted babies. Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) activists told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-went-to-the-clinic-of-the-dc-abortionist-accused-of-gruesome-crimes-heres-what-i-saw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> they intercepted a box of aborted babies that was on its way from Washington Surgi Clinic to Curtis Bay Medical Waste Facility to be incinerated.
Attorneys at Thomas More Society filed an emergency motion Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking the Court to reconsider its order detaining Handy while she awaits sentencing. The attorneys maintain Handy and the other activists were peacefully demonstrating, which is a protected right.
“Ms. Handy was there to prevent these horrific live-birth abortions, which does not violate the FACE Act,” said Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Martin Cannon. “However, she has become a victim of the merciless drive by Biden’s Department of Justice to prosecute those who are trying to protect preborn human beings. To add to that injustice, she was incarcerated when the true violence continues to be committed against innocent children.”

Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising

Anger Erupts After Biden DOJ Gets 5 Pro-Life Activists Convicted, Thrown In Jail

Anger Erupts After Biden DOJ Gets 5 Pro-Life Demonstrators Convicted, Thrown In Jail 

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