Friday, April 29, 2016

Assisted Suicide


 

Why Are Suicide Rates Climbing after Years of Decline?

By Nancy Valko
suiciderate7After years of declines, the US suicide rate rose 24% over 15 years according to a new report from the national Centers for Disease on suicide rates in the US from 1999-2014. The suicide rate rose for everyone between the ages of 10-74.

National media like the Wall Street Journal and CNN speculated that the economic downturn, drugs and lack of mental health resources could be factors in the 24% increase.
However, one huge factor was totally ignored: the legalization and promotion of physician-assisted suicide.

The Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide and Suicide Contagion
It must not be dismissed as mere coincidence that the new rise in suicides correlates to the implementation of the first physician-assisted suicide law in Oregon.
A 2012 report on suicide trends and risk factors for the Oregon Health Authority found the state’s overall suicide rate had risen 41 percent higher than the national rate. This is the “regular” suicide rate. Physician-assisted suicides are not included.

Since Oregon, four more states–California, Vermont, and Washington– (1) have legalized physician-assisted suicide via legislation with a Montana supreme court ruling in favor of assisted suicide but without a regulatory framework [2]. But it is only now that the media is noticing a suicide rate that has been increasing for 15 years.

There is a well-known and recognized suicide contagion effect after reported suicides. Both national media guidelines and World Health Organization guidelines warn against media glamorization or normalization of suicide by the media that could lead to more suicides.
Yet, since the legalization in Oregon, the media has become increasingly positive in reporting on physician-assisted suicide. This reached a peak when People magazine devoted its cover story and some subsequent issues to Brittany Maynard , her impending assisted suicide, and her Compassion and Choices led foundation to raise money to promote the legalization of physician-assisted suicide throughout the US.

That’s not just glamorizing or normalizing physician-assisted suicide. That’s advertising.
And it is having an enormous effect. Now the media is bowing to the pro-assisted suicide movement’s propaganda by changing even the terminology. Instead of physician-assisted suicide, news reports now use more soothing terms like “death with dignity,” “aid in dying” or “physician-assisted death.”

Make no mistake. This is a calculated tactic to increase support of physician-assisted suicide by denying reality.

Why Don’t Physician-Assisted Suicide Laws Require Psychiatric or Psychological Evaluation?
As most of you may know, I am the mother of a physically healthy 30 year old daughter who killed herself in 2009 using a technique the medical examiner called “textbook Final Exit,” the title of a book she read by assisted suicide supporter Derek Humphry. But I am also an RN with 46 years of experience who has cared for terminally or seriously ill people considering even physician-assisted suicide who changed their minds after suicide prevention and treatment interventions.

I am appalled that no physician-assisted suicide law actually requires a psychiatric or psychological evaluation before a person is given the lethal overdose prescription. For example in Oregon, the physician-assisted suicide law only states “If in the opinion of the attending physician or the consulting physician a patient may be suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder or depression causing impaired judgment, either physician shall refer the patient for counseling.” (Emphasis added) Not surprisingly, very few such evaluations are currently done, according to Oregon’s annual reports.

That stands in stark contrast to the standard evaluations given to other suicidal patients.
There must be no medical discrimination based on a predicted prognosis when it comes to standard suicide prevention and treatment interventions. Suicide for any reason is always a tragedy to be prevented when possible.
The terrible despair that leads to suicide must not be ignored in favor of a cold piece of paper with a lethal prescription.

[1] California’s assisted suicide law takes effect June 9.
[2] The Supreme Court of Montana interpreted its law to make “consent” of the victim a defense in cases of homicide.
Editor’s note. This appeared on Nancy’s blog at nancyvalko.com.

Source: NRLC News

Abortion and College Campus

 

Group promotes abortion as “a public good” on college campus tour

By Rebecca Downs
abortionpositiveDuring the month of April, Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity (URGE), a group whose motto is “Let’s Be Bold,” embarked on their national #AbortionPositive bus tour on 10 college campuses in five states, including Alabama, Kansas, Ohio, Georgia, and Texas.

With added emphasis, URGE notes about the bus tour:
Complete with giveaways and speakers, students all over the country will get the opportunity to take action and proclaim abortion access as a public good. We don’t believe abortion is a bad word, and we know that youth everywhere are ready and willing to proactively support every healthcare option available. By taking this tour on the road, we show our supporters that they aren’t alone. Our hope is that more students, young people, and community members will express their support for the freedom to make personal reproductive health decisions.
Those statements are wrong. Access to a procedure which kills a preborn child and often scars a woman physically and/or psychologically can never be “a public good.”
Groups like URGE make broad statements about “youth everywhere,” as if youth in general were in support of abortion. Perhaps those who are members of URGE are, but the majority of young people are pro-life.

Abortion is also not healthcare. It is a procedure which directly causes the death of an innocent, defenseless and vulnerable human being. That is not “a public good,” no matter the reason for the procedure.

Another hashtag for the group is to #BeBoldEndHyde. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal dollars through Medicaid from being used to pay for abortions, with exceptions. The Hyde Amendment is credited with saving over a million lives. And, considering that Americans oppose taxpayer funded abortions, the call to put an end to it is ‘bold’ indeed.
However, as URGE is partnered with the pro-abortion group, All* Above All, which has taken out advertisements before against the Hyde Amendment and introduced legislation which would require federal funding of abortion, their stance is not surprising.

URGE’s April 21 rally at Kansas State University received coverage in the school’s newspaper, The Collegian, the school paper. A photo from the piece includes two young women – one of whom is a “gender, women and sexuality studies” major – holding signs, with one reading “Abortion: No Shame.” The young African-American woman’s shirt visibly reads “I Got Ninety Nine Problems But A Pregnancy Ain’t One.”

While the rally was meant to “promote a positive message about abortion access,” and they were “trying to keep the event as positive as possible,” according to rally organizer Abby Agnew, a shirt discussing pregnancy as a “problem” seems less than positive. And the young woman wearing the shirt represents a demographic for which the abortion rate is a problem.
More shenanigans occurred at other rallies.
Pro-aborts may feel “bold,” but their actions and words demonstrate a twisted mentality more than anything else.

Editor’s note. This appeared at liveactionnews.org and is reprinted with permission.

Life Saving Legislation


 

Taxpayer funded abortion ban, abortion facility licensing measures approved by House

Amendments to HHS omnibus bill would protect women, unborn children

abortionstopsMCCLST. PAUL —Two initiatives strongly backed by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the state’s oldest and largest pro-life organization, were approved today on the floor of the House of Representatives. A ban on taxpayer funded abortions passed on a 76-53 vote and a requirement that abortion facilities be licensed and inspected was adopted on a 76-52 vote.

Both measures were added to the Health and Human Services (HHS) omnibus bill. The taxpayer funded abortion ban was voted down 30-35 in the Senate, where a vote on the licensing measure is expected later today.

The taxpayer funded abortion ban was offered by Rep. Tama Theis, R-St. Cloud, and Sen. Lyle Koenen, D-Clara City. The licensing amendment was offered by Rep. Deb Kiel, R-Crookston.
“Taxpayer funding of elective abortions is unjust, and unlicensed abortion facilities pose many possible health risks for women,” said MCCL Legislative Director Andrea Rau. “House members did the right thing today by passing these life-affirming amendments supported by the people of Minnesota.”

After 19 years of taxpayer-funded abortions, Minnesotans are paying for 39 percent of all abortions performed in the state. Taxpayers have funded more than 73,000 abortions at a cost of $22.5 million, according to a report released this month by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). Taxpayer-funded abortions numbered almost 4,000 in Minnesota in 2014; nearly all of those abortions were elective.

Taxpayers are forced to fund abortions due to a successful 1995 court challenge to Minnesota’s law which prohibited funding of most abortions. Since then, abortion advocates have steadily marketed taxpayer-funded abortions to low-income women. Taxpayers now fund 39 percent of all abortions (up from 34.2 percent in 2013), the highest ever.
“Taxpayer funds should be used to benefit the people of Minnesota, not to kill unborn children and enrich the abortion industry,” Rau explained.

The other amendment would require the state’s five surgical abortion facilities to be licensed and allow inspections by the Department of Health as outpatient surgical centers. State law requires outpatient surgical centers to be licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health. However, abortion facilities which perform outpatient surgical abortion procedures enjoy an exemption from this safety requirement. The amendment would require facilities that perform 10 or more abortions per month to be held to the same standards as other outpatient surgical centers.
Whole Woman’s Health, which purchased and merged two abortion facilities in Minneapolis, has paid several large fines for breaking the law in Texas.

“At a very minimum, the state ought to ensure that abortion facilities offer a degree of safety to women and are not in violation of state law,” Rau said.

MCCL helped to pass a ban on taxpayer funded abortion during the 2011 legislative session; it was vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton. Legislation to require abortion facilities to be licensed and inspected was approved by the Legislature in 2012. Dayton also vetoed that bill.

Source: NRLC News

Miracle


 

“Untold:” the story of God’s miracles in the making

By Dave Andrusko
Untold82reLike most pro-lifers I believe passionately in the power of communications that touch both the heart and the head. That is why every time a particularly powerful music video comes my way, I try to share it with our readers.
Yesterday we re-posted a story from Texas Right to Life about Matthew West’s song, “Untold.”  Having watched it twice, I decided to watch and listened to the song even more carefully. It became clear (to me at least) that we’d all benefit from another look at the video.
Why? Are the images in “Untold” video lovely? Unquestionably.
Is the music itself almost hauntingly beautiful? Two thumbs up for that!
Does the combined impact of the images, the music, and the lyrics make the song irresistible? Yes, and even more.
The importance of songs like “Untold” should never, ever be underestimated. We need to be reminded, as “Untold” does beautifully, that while so many lives are tragically lost to the abortion plague, there are hundreds of thousands of “little” victories that most times we will never know about.
The other day I was browsing through some old, old editions of NRL News when I ran across a 1980 quote from the late pro-life champion, Rep. Henry Hyde. The Supreme Court had just upheld the Hyde Amendment (by the narrowest of 5-4 margins). As you recall, the Hyde Amendment is an annual appropriations rider which eliminates public funding for abortion in almost all cases.
Hyde said,
What today’s decision really means is life for countless unborn children, just as surely as unrestricted abortion means death for them. So the true victors [unborn babies] don’t even know about the battle, much less the victory.
Likewise, in most instances, when the abortion-minded woman has a change of heart, often because of the kindness of a stranger–typically people like you–she may never see them again and they will never know that she chose life.
West’s song about an unexpected pregnancy reminds us both of the fear a woman will experience and the spiritual underpinnings of why many of us do what we do to help her and her baby get through this crisis. West begins
I am the news that nobody expected.
I was never a part of your plans.
Yes, and his/her mother is scared. The life she had envisioned for herself seems like it is “slipping through your trembling hands.” And the doctors tell her this “mistake” can be erased, can be made to “disappear.”
Why not make this problem “go away”? Why not “close the book” on that baby?
Because each and every child is a gift. Each and every child is sacred. Each and every child is like a “story untold.” Those first nine months are like the preface with the “best part” yet to come.

There is a stanza that makes perfect sense to pro-lifers but is unfathomable to the pro-abortion mind. To be fair, however, it is a difficult truth; pro-lifers know perfectly well that an unplanned pregnancy can be nothing less than traumatic.
That is why support and reassurance and a strong shoulder to lean on are so important.
Here’s the stanza:
I am God’s miracle in the making.
Proof that all things can work for the good.
I am fingers and toes,
And heaven already knows,
The name you’ll pick out to me, already belongs to me.
No one, least of all me, believes that the only reason you can and should oppose the injustice of abortion is because these are God’s children. We have an increasing number of pro-life atheists and agnostics who’ve reached the same conclusion traveling down a multiplicity of different paths. Opposition to the Slaughter of the Innocents is an intuition written on every heart.
But if your resistance is grounded in the knowledge that these little ones are a miracle (“Fearfully and wonderfully made”); and (as King David said in praise to the Lord)
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
Then there is a level of moral obligation–and privilege–that we cannot shirk, or would want to.
That is why you and I cannot and will not give up until we breathe the last breath that God has ordained for us.
Thank you, Matthew West, for “Untold,” perhaps most of all for this reassurance:
When you look in my eyes,
You’ll understand why,
You’ll understand why,
Why You brought me to life


Source: NRLC News

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Abortion in Ireland


 

Political atmosphere in Northern Ireland grows more hostile to unborn children

Major vote ahead in May

Editor’s note. This comes from our friends at SPUC–the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. “MLA” refers to Members of the Legislative Assembly. “DIY” refers to Do-it-Yourself abortions.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
Statistically an unborn baby in Northern Ireland is safer than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. SPUC’s success, in union with our sister pro-life groups in Northern Ireland, in preventing the extension of the [1967] Abortion Act has meant that the law in Northern Ireland still provides a safeguard for the lives of unborn children as well as protecting women from the terrible damage which abortion can cause.
Two months ago, the Northern Ireland Assembly rejected an attempt to make it lawful to abort children diagnosed with a life limiting condition by 59 votes to 40, and also voted 64 to 30 against an amendment which would have made it lawful to abort those said to have been conceived through criminal sexual activity. There is more unity in Northern Ireland on abortion between people of different faiths than in any other part of the world in which I’ve worked.
However, all of this is now under threat as never before. Please read Liam Gibson’s message below to SPUC supporters in Northern Ireland spelling out the very immediate dangers to unborn children.
  • If you do not live in Northern Ireland and if you know no-one there – please play your part by praying every day in the run-up to next week’s election, in nine days, on 5th May.
  • If you do live in Northern Ireland or know people there – please contact Liam Gibson at liamgibson@spuc.org.uk to find out what you can – and pray, of course, especially during the next 9 days.
Unborn lives depend on our prayers and action.
Liam writes:
It is no exaggeration to say that, in terms of the right to life of unborn children, this year’s election is probably the most important there has been since the Assembly was established. How you cast your vote could help to decide whether our unborn children will continue to be protected or if abortion will be introduced to Northern Ireland.
The political atmosphere in Northern Ireland is growing increasingly hostile to children before birth. In the last six months alone the attacks on the rights of unborn babies have been on an unprecedented level:
  • November 30, 2015, the Human Rights Commission convinced the High Court that our laws violate the European Convention on Human Rights
  • February 10, 2016, pro-abortion MLAs (Sinn Fein, Alliance and some Ulster Unionists) attempted to introduce legislation which would have led to widespread abortion
  • in April 2016 abortion advocates used the case of a woman from south Belfast who aborted her baby with drugs she bought online to pressure public authorities into ignoring DIY abortions
A group of civil servants currently examining the issue of legalising abortion for babies diagnosed before birth with a terminal illness will deliver a report to the health minister later this year. There are very serious concerns over the membership of this group. If, as seems likely, it recommends a change in the law then it will be crucial that there is a majority of solidly pro-life Members of the Legislative Assembly committed to defending the lives of all children.
Sadly both the Sinn Fein and the Alliance parties are now solidly pro-abortion, as are an increasing number of the Ulster Unionists.
Next year sees the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the (British) Abortion Act 1967. In that time at least 8,400,000 babies in Britain have been killed before they could be born.
Until now Northern Ireland has rejected every attempt to introduce similar legislation. The MLAs of the next Assembly will decide whether this continues to be the case.
Election time is the only occasion when politicians can’t ignore what the people have to say.
Please encourage your friends and families to vote only for candidates committed to protecting ALL unborn children, regardless of their disabilities or circumstances of conception.
If you cannot find a candidate you wish to vote for, then mark your ballot with a pro-life slogan, such as ‘Pro-Life Republican’ or ‘Pro-Life Alliance.’ Candidates will be shown spoilt ballots and will see the message
Please ask for prayers at your church for the safe delivery of all unborn babies, especially those in danger of abortion
Finally, on May 5, please use your vote to speak up for those children who have no voice of their own.

Source: NRLC News

Miracle


 

Human Life begins in a fireworks of bright lights and sparks

By Dave Andrusko
Editor’s note. If you want to peruse stories all day long, go directly to nationalrighttolifenews.org and/or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/daveha
A fluorescent flash captures the moment that sperm enzyme enters the egg PHOTO CREDIT:NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
A fluorescent flash captures the moment that sperm enzyme enters the egg

PHOTO CREDIT:NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
A colleague was nice enough to pass along one of those stories that will just light up your day.
In your mind’s eye, have you ever thought/pictured the precise moment when sperm meets ovum and life begins? We see representations, but that falls short.
Well, what if someone told you human life begins (as Sarah Knapton, science editor for the Telegraph put it) as “An explosion of tiny sparks [which] erupts from the egg at the exact moment of conception.” The romantic in you might say, “What I always suspected.”
You can see this remarkable display of bright flashes of light–this “fireworks” here.
What explains this phenomenon which scientists had previously seen in animals and now for first time in humans?

According to Knapton
The bright flash occurs because when sperm enters and egg it triggers calcium to increase which releases zinc from the egg. As the zinc shoots out, it binds to small molecules which emit a fluorescence which can be picked up by camera microscopes.
“These fluorescence microscopy studies establish that the zinc spark occurs in human egg biology, and that can be observed outside of the cell,” said Professor Tom O’Halloran, a co-senior author and director of Northwestern University’s Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, of a study that will appear April 26 in Scientific Reports.
A companion paper was published March 18, also in Scientific Reports, Knapton explains. In that experiment
a zinc spark is shown at the precise time a sperm enters a mouse egg.
This discovery was made by Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern. Little is known about the events that occur at the time of fertilization, because it is difficult to capture the precise time of sperm entry.

Source: NRLC News

Abortion -Whose Choice?


 

When abortion is the man’s choice

By Sarah Terzo
sad_woman90Abortion is touted as a woman’s choice, but according to one study, 64% of women feel pressured into abortion by their partners. Men may pressure their partners into having abortions because they do not want a child and do not want to pay child support.

A common way that men influence women to have abortions is by threatening to leave them. Sometimes a woman is so emotionally dependent on her partner that she is willing to sacrifice her baby in order to keep his “love.” Other times, the threat of physical violence or financial dependence is a factor. But, unsurprisingly, these efforts to keep the relationship intact often fail. Many times, the man will leave the woman anyway, or resentment and regret about the abortion will drive the couple apart.
Frederica Mathewes-Green wrote a book compiling testimonies of post-abortive women. One testimony was that of a woman named Eunice. Eunice was influenced by her husband to have an abortion, but even at the last moment, she wanted him to come charging in, like the stereotypical white knight, and halt the procedure:
“When I was at the clinic waiting for the abortion, I kept hoping my husband would show up. I kept hoping he would come in and say, ‘Don’t do this! I changed my mind!’”
Several months later, the couple divorced – the emotions related to the abortion were just too much for them to deal with.
Another story in Mathews-Green’s book is that of Kate, whose husband was experiencing health problems when she got pregnant:
“Nobody asked me, ‘Is this really what you want?’… I was hoping and praying that someone, my husband, would come in and stop it from happening. But he was totally opposed to what I wanted to do. I felt like I was just being selfish, wanting the child; it was too much of a burden on his health.” I asked how her husband’s health is now; she responds that he’s fine, but he isn’t her husband anymore. He left her a few years ago.
A study done in 1985 found that 70% of relationships broke up after an abortion. [Vincent M. Rue, “Abortion in Relationship Context,” International Review of Natural Family Planning, Summer 1985, p.105.] This is an old study, but it shows that guilt and resentment can tear apart a relationship in the wake of an abortion. Perhaps this would be a good area for further research. A more contemporary study could verify the 1985 study’s conclusions.

I remember one of my friends from high school, and how she sobbed into the phone 20 years after her abortion. She had been a 16-year-old impressionable teenager when she slept with her boyfriend and got pregnant. Her boyfriend, who was several years older than her, insisted she get an abortion. His mother also put pressure on the girl, telling her that he would definitely leave her if she didn’t have the abortion. According to my friend, this woman sat her down and convinced her that her boyfriend would resent her forever if she had his unwanted child. She aborted. Within a week of the abortion, he left her. She became suicidal and depressed and spent time in a mental hospital. All the while, she kept her pregnancy and abortion a secret, even from me. Years later, she would tell people that she had suffered a miscarriage. It took her 20 years to even express what happened to her, and she still deals daily with the trauma of the abortion. She misses her child, whom she has named.
The sad truth is that a man who will pressure a woman to have an abortion against her will is not
 the type to stick around anyway. As hard as it is, women need to fight the coercion that they sometimes face from their partners. Crisis pregnancy centers and other pro-life groups need to be sensitive to the problem and be there to help and support the women to find the courage to resist.

Editor’s note. This appeared at blog.secularprolife.org. Sarah Terzo is a pro-life author and creator of the clinicquotes.com website. She is a member of Secular Pro-Life and PLAGAL.

Source: NRLC News

Obama and Hillary


 

Late to the game, Obama said to be trying to “rebuild” Democrats’ “bench”

By Dave Andrusko
barackobamaVRI like to think that even though my politics are as far away from President Obama’s is as the East is from the West, I can give him the benefit of the doubt when he deserves it.

However, this is not that time.

Mr. Obama is touring the Near East and Europe and judging by press accounts, many leaders feel about him the way many of us do here at home: this is the same man who wrote in “The Audacity of Hope” that “There are some things that I’m absolutely sure about—the Golden Rule, the need to battle cruelty in all its forms, the value of love and charity, humility and grace”?
The title, wildly overstated, if not completely misleading , of a Washington Post story that ran today is “Obama, who once stood as party outsider, now works to strengthen Democrats.”
This is one of those accounts where the copy editor must have scratched his head, trying to make the two parts of Juliet Eilperin’s story work together.
Obama has, shall we say, ran in his own lane as President. He has presided over a colossal fall from grace for his party. “Obama has presided over a greater loss of electoral power for his party than any two-term president since World War II,” Eilperin writes. “And 2016 represents one last opportunity for him to reverse that trend.”

Here’s a lengthy but important quote:
Between 2008 and 2015, Democrats lost 13 Senate seats, 69 House seats, 913 state legislative seats, 11 governorships and 32 state legislative chambers, according to data compiled by University of Virginia professor Larry J. Sabato. The only president in the past 75 years who comes close is Dwight D. Eisenhower, who saw a similar decline for the GOP during his time in office.

“The Republican Party is arguably stronger now than they’ve ever been in 80 years, despite not having the White House,” said Simon Rosenberg, a longtime Democratic operative and president of NDN [New Democrat Network], a liberal think tank.

Democrats also are concerned about whether the coalition Obama galvanized in 2008, and then reassembled in 2012, will turn out when he is no longer on the ballot. The current Democratic presidential primary contest has so far fractured that coalition, with young people flocking to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont while many voters of color — especially older ones — back former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Three points. First, Obama is an immensely polarizing figure for a hundred different reasons, many of which reflect his icy, superior–dare I say smug and condescending?–attitude. With exceptions, Obama has been a drag on the electoral prospects of many Democrats. It is no accident that Obama’s popularity numbers, which were in the tank for the longest time, have improved the closer we come to the end of his second term.
Second, who knows what will happen in November. Republicans have many problems of their own, of course, but because Obama made not the slightest effort to transfer his charisma (so to speak), the party is left with the stark choice of a Democratic Socialist and a woman who is simply deeply unpopular.
Third, let’s revisit the second half of one of Eilperin’s earliest paragraphs, “And 2016 represents one last opportunity for him to reverse that trend.” How is he doing that?
According to Eilperin
The first big tests of the rebuilding efforts come Tuesday in Pennsylvania, where Obama is taking the unusual step of wading into two contested Democratic primaries, endorsing Senate hopeful Katie McGinty and Josh Shapiro, a Montgomery County official and early supporter of his who is hoping to become state attorney general.
Obama is “rebuilding” the party by butting into two primary fights.
There are other, more plausible examples of how Obama is “rebuilding the bench,” a reference to Democrats trying to regain some of those “913 state legislative seats” and”32 state legislative chambers” lost while he was President.

And, as noted above, there are areas and there are ways Obama can be helpful to Democrats.
But should Hillary Clinton be her party’s presidential nominee, the real question is whether essentially running for Obama’s third term turns out to be a net benefit for her or a costly debit.

Source: NRLC News

Health Care


 

Rep. Cole Calls on CEO of CNCS to immediately end HealthCorps Grant Funding

Editor’s note. This comes from the office of Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)

Washington, DC – Congressman Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, sent a letter to Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), in response to troubling findings related to an investigation by the CNCS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The CNCS OIG report was released today. CNCS oversees AmeriCorps programs that operate under federal grants.
The report reveals that the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which received a grant through the AmeriCorps Community HealthCorps program, trained AmeriCorps members to act as “doulas” during abortion procedures at three community health center sites in New York and did not consult with the CNCS on this matter for two years. Allowing AmeriCorps participants to participate in such activity is prohibited by the Serve America Act. In response, Cole called on Spencer to immediately terminate and not renew HealthCorps grants to the NACHC and also initiate an investigation into all grantees and sub-grantees of AmeriCorps programs to ensure no other violations exist.

Cole also sent a letter to the HHS Office of Inspector General requesting an investigation to ensure that community health centers are abiding by federal restrictions on funding for abortion procedures.
“I am outraged by the terrible misuse of taxpayer dollars under the direction of the National Association of Community Health Centers,” said Cole. “While participating in the Community HealthCorps program, it is absolutely unacceptable that AmeriCorps members were wrongfully instructed and encouraged to assist in abortion-related procedures and services at community health centers. Such activity is expressly prohibited by federal law. Abortion-related procedures should never be funded by taxpayers. Given these disturbing developments, I believe this grantee should be immediately terminated from the HealthCorps program.”

Source: NRLC News

So Sorry No One Loved You


 

A letter to my aborted half-sibling: “Is it possible to miss someone you’ve never even met?”

Editor’s note. The following was sent a while back to National Right to Life. It speaks volumes about a part of the abortion battle that is rarely discussed: its impact on the aborted child’s siblings.
penandpaper3About a week ago my mother told me that she had an abortion before I was born. It devastated me. Mourning someone I have never met seems bizarre to me, yet I am so sad. To help me find closure I wrote my half sibling, that I will never meet, a letter.
I think there is a lot of focus on the baby, the mother, or at most the father, which is great and needed, but I also think pointing out the effects an abortion can have for future children would prove to be very impactful. I did not even exist when my half sibling was killed, yet it has affected me tremendously.

Below is the letter:

She was 15 when your life started, 16 when your life ended. She said no one told her you were more than a lump of tissue. I’m sorry for ignorance.
Your father would be 57 now. She said he doesn’t know. I wish she told him. I wish he fought for you. I wish somebody fought. I’m sorry for secrets.

You would have been my half sibling. 14 years older than me. She took you from me before I even existed…before I could do anything. I’m sorry for unfairness.
You would have been 34 years old. You would have more than likely been married and have your own children. I would have nieces and nephews, you would have a family. But you weren’t even given a name. I’m sorry for abandonment.

Maybe when my other siblings were telling me lies and devaluing me, you would have spoken truth. Maybe you would have stood up for me when no one did. I’m sorry for life being devalued.
Is it possible to miss someone you’ve never even met?…because my heart longs for you. It longs for you to have life. I’m sorry for death.
I wish you could have come to my graduation, I wish I could have gone to yours. I wish we were friends. I wish I could call you right now. I wish we could share all of our joys and griefs. I wish we were at least given a chance.
I’m sorry for selfishness.

It’s just so unfair for you…for us. How could she have killed you? How could our grandmother drive our mother to the clinic so that they could murder you? I’m sorry for silence.
I miss you. I love you.
I’m so sorry no one loved you.

Source: NRLC News

Monday, April 25, 2016

Scary

 LakishaWilson8

Abortion Clinic Killed This Woman in a Botched Abortion, Then Her Organs Were Harvested

  Cheryl Sullenger 

When Lakisha Wilson renewed her driver’s license on May 25, 2012, she checked the permission box to become an organ donor. She had no idea that she would be dead less than two years later, or that a simple flick of the pen at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would become a roadblock to preventing those responsible for her death from being held accountable.
Lakisha Wilson was a 22-year old African-American woman who died in March 2014, as the result of second trimester abortion complications at Preterm, an abortion facility located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Her death not only raised questions about patient safety at the high-volume abortion business, but also brought to light another extremely sensitive issue that has rarely been discussed — until now. That issue concerns the high-pressure tactics of organ procurement organizations to secure organ donation consent from families of women like Wilson, who die from abortion complications and other surgeries.
The news has been full of reports in recent months about organ procurement companies contracting with Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses to obtain aborted baby remains for “donation,” often to the financial benefit of both the abortion provider and the organ procurement organization. However, there is another aspect to the issue of organ procurement involving dead abortion patients, which also deserves public discussion.
Certainly, organ donation to those in need of transplants is a noble and life-saving decision under most circumstances. At any given time, there are over 121,000 people awaiting organ transplants in the U.S. It is true that some tragically die before a suitable donor can be found.
“We support those who wish to willingly become organ donors. In most cases, it saves lives and gives the families of donors comfort knowing that the death of their loved one will enable others to live,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “However, in Lakisha Wilson’s case, we have serious concerns about how the donation process was handled, and how it may have actually protected those responsible for her death.”
Second-Trimester Abortion Gone Bad
Wilson’s nightmare began on March 21, 2014, when she reported to the Preterm abortion clinic on Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, Ohio, for an abortion at 19 weeks, 4 days, according to a Preterm ultrasound report that was done about two weeks earlier. (Ultrasound results from a different facility placed her closer to 23 weeks at the time of her abortion.)
Wilson suffered almost immediate complications during her second trimester abortion, which was conducted by Preterm abortionist Lisa Perriera. Even though Wilson’s blood pressure was dropping fast, Perriera finished the abortion before tending to Wilson’s dangerously escalating medical emergency. By then, Wilson had stopped breathing and suffered cardiac arrest.
perriera-wilson-procurement
According to public 911 records obtained through open records requests and medical records leaked to Operation Rescue, it was about thirty minutes after Wilson suffered respiratory arrest that an ambulance was finally called. A Preterm employee told a 911 dispatcher that Wilson was “not breathing at all.” EMS workers arriving at the scene (after a delay caused by a malfunctioning elevator) noted that Wilson indeed was not breathing. Her pupils were fixed and dilated. They were able to restart her heart and provide oxygenation by “bagging” her.
Wilson was eventually transported to the University Hospital Case Medical Center where she was evaluated and given four units of packed red blood cells to treat an apparent hemorrhage that was the source of her cardio-respiratory failure. She was transferred to the Intensive Care unit, placed on life support, and listed in critical but stable condition.
Somewhere along the way, it was determined that Wilson was “brain dead.”
Lifebanc
At the University Hospital Case Medical Center, an organ procurement organization (OPO) called Lifebanc began evaluating Wilson for organ harvesting.
Lifebanc is a non-profit OPO based in Cleveland, which claims to work with 20 Ohio hospitals to:
• Identify donors.
• Match them to patients on the National Transplant Waiting List.
• Arrange for the harvesting of organs by teams of surgeons.
• Arrange transport to hospitals for transplantation into suitable recipients.
OPOs look for donor candidates among those who are hospitalized due to life-threatening brain injuries as the result of traffic accidents, strokes, or lack of oxygen, according to a video posted on Lifebanc’s web site, which was produced by OrganDonor.gov a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Family Approached
After Wilson’s family was notified that Lakisha had been taken to the hospital, they rushed to be by her side only to learn that their worst fears were realized. As they gathered in a hospital waiting room in shock and disbelief, a representative — allegedly from Preterm — first approached them, seeking permission to harvest Wilson’s organs.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

Wilson’s grief-stricken family looked at the Preterm representative as part of the reason why their loved one lay comatose in a hospital bed hooked to machines that artificially controlled her life functions.
There were questions about Lakisha’s death – questions that had not been answered. How could a healthy 22-year old woman die from what everyone said was one of the safest and common surgical procedures in America? What went wrong and who was responsible?
Wilson’s family refused to sign the consent forms so that the organ harvesting could begin.
Thus began a high-pressure effort to secure the family’s permission to harvest Wilson’s organs.
High Demand
Organdonor-chartWhy were Wilson’s organs wanted so badly?
Since African Americans are more prone to suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure than other racial groups, they are more prone to organ failure.
It is true that organs are not supposed to be matched to donors based on race, but there are certain important blood type characteristics and tissue markers that are shared more often between people of the same racial make-up. These markers help determine transplant compatibility.
In America, about 30% of all organ recipients are African American, making them the largest minority population in need of organs for transplant. However, this racial group comprises only about 18% of all organ donors. Therefore, there exists a critical shortage of organs compatible for transplant into those of African American heritage.
As a young, healthy African American woman, who succumbed to a lack of oxygen to the brain, Wilson’s organs would have been in high demand.
Father Adamant about Not Consenting
Over the course of the next few days, Lifebanc had a vested interest in Lakisha Wilson.
At first, all testing on Wilson was ordered by hospital physicians. But on March 26, that changed.
Lifebanc ran a search of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles Organ Donor database and discovered that Wilson had given her consent to “make an anatomical gift” of her organs upon her death.
Suspicious Circumstances2With this document in hand, Lifebanc did not need the family to consent before the organ harvesting could begin. That same day, it ordered testing to ensure that life support devices were properly placed and that Wilson’s organs were in good condition.
The next day, Wilson’s father was again approached by Lifebanc with the request to harvest Lakisha’s organs. He adamantly refused to sign any documents. In fact, Wilson’s records include a hand-written note signed by Wilson’s dad, which read:
March 27, 2014. Life banc [sic] my daughter Lakisha Wilson died under suspicious circumstances. At this time the Cuyahoga County Coroner is investigating the cause of died [sic]. I adamantly refuse to sign papers giving my consent for organ donation. Life banc [sic] personnel are strongly aware of my concerns.
Lifebanc chose to ignore Wilson’s father. Paperwork was processed that noted her father’s refusal to complete or sign any of the consent and policy forms. While Lifebanc’s actions were technically legal, they were ethically dubious.
LakishaWilson9
Organs Procured
Over the next two days, March 27 and 28, Lifebanc ordered additional testing on Wilson to make sure her organs remained disease free and in good condition for harvesting and transplant while the paperwork was processed. Wilson wasn’t treated like a person any more. She had become a commodity.
On March 28, against the expressed wishes of her family, and knowing that there were questions about Wilson’s care and treatment during her fatal abortion, Lifebanc essentially gutted Lakisha Wilson and removed nearly every basic internal organ, including her heart, lungs, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, abdominal aorta, inferior vena cava, kidneys, ureters, adrenal glands and their adjacent connective tissue.
Autopsy on Incomplete Cadaver
Thus, when the coroner, Dr. Joseph A. Felo, received what was left of Lakisha Wilson’s body, he was forced to conduct an autopsy on a partial cadaver. He also lacked the remains of Wilson’s aborted baby, and had to rely on Preterm’s medical records for certain “facts” about the supposed gestational age of her pregnancy.
Felo concluded in Wilson’s autopsy that she died from cardiac arrest resulting in brain damage from oxygen deprivation, a known complication to a therapeutic abortion. In an interview with an investigator with the Ohio Department of Health, Felo explained that because cardiac arrest is a known complication to a therapeutic abortion, Wilson death “did not indicate medical malpractice.”
However, his conclusions were based on insufficient data. Why had Wilson hemorrhaged and why wasn’t her condition treated in time by Preterm’s abortionist, Lisa Perriera? Why did she wait a half hour after Wilson stopped breathing to call 911?
Lakisha&Flowers
Without Lakisha’s organs or her babies’ remains, there was no way to determine the full extent of complications or whether Preterm staff members were telling the truth.
Just as Wilson’s father feared if organ donation were to take place, the “suspicious circumstances” under which his daughter died would never be sufficiently explained.
“This complete disregard for the wishes of the family or consideration for the circumstances of Wilson’s death make Lifebanc’s actions troubling,” said Newman. “Wilson was kept on life support for days — not to treat her, but for the sole purpose of keeping her organs viable for harvesting and transplant.”
$25 Million per Year
lifebanc logoLifebanc is a non-profit organization that takes in about $25 million each year. According the company’s 990 tax report from 2013, the most recent year available, Lifebanc ended that fiscal year with net assets totaling more than $14 million.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lifebanc is Gordon Bowen, whose salary $253,000 yearly with over $43,000 in additional compensation.
Lifebanc’s Medical Director is Dr. Daniel Lebovitz, a Cleveland-based pediatrician who to be affiliated with a number of Ohio hospitals. His annual salary in 2013 from Lifebanc alone was $101, 347.
“There appears to be good money in the organ procurement business,” said Newman. “Combine a case with high-demand organs with financial incentives, and it looks like we have a recipe for high-pressure tactics to obtain consent for organ donation that include ignoring a family’s wishes and the need for a thorough investigation into a suspicious death.”
Others Targeted
Wilson is not the only patient suffering an abortion-related death that has been targeted for organ donation.
In 2005, Christin Gilbert, a 19-year old with Down syndrome, died from complications to a third-trimester abortion in Wichita, Kansas. Since Gilbert succumbed to sepsis, an infection that caused several of her organs to fail, only her eyes were harvested for eventual corneal transplant.
Free to Kill Again
In Gilbert’s case, the abortionists involved in her death, LeRoy Carhart and George Tiller, were absolved of responsibility. This time, it was not due to the inability to reach conclusions due to harvested organs, but for politically-motivated reasons. Because he was never held accountable, Carhart was free to kill again.
On February 7, 2014, he did just that. Another of Carhart’s third-trimester abortion patients, Jennifer Morbelli, died from complications. Her organs were too compromised to be suitable for donation. Again, Carhart was not held responsible. There is a likelihood that yet another of his abortion patients will die.
It is true that donating organs saves lives, and that is indeed noble. However, abortion-related deaths pose unique situations that should be taken into consideration by organ donation companies.
When organ donation conceals the incompetency of abortionists, as may have occurred in the Wilson case, this could leave a dangerous abortionist to kill again. Lives are endangered by the inability to perform a thorough autopsy on a complete cadaver and get to the bottom of what happened to cause the deaths of otherwise healthy women.
Michael Crichton’s “Coma”
keep organs viableThe Wilson tragedy hearkens to mind the Michael Crichton’s 1978 movie “Coma.” In that story, a patient is placed under anesthesia for a routine abortion. As her vital signs began to deteriorate, the abortionist finished the abortion then tried in vain to awaken her. The anesthesiology noted that the patient’s eyes were fixed and dilated.
In the movie, arrangements were then made to place the patient on life support and transfer her to a facility where her body would be maintained indefinitely. However, when the patient suddenly dies, it prompts another physician to investigate. It was discovered that at the secondary facility, the organs of comatose patients were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Of course, in the movie, the illegal black market organ-selling scheme is uncovered and the guilty are punished.
Certainly, no one is saying that the deaths of abortion patients are on purpose or that their organs are being illegally sold.
However, there is a profit motive for organ procurement companies to ignore the unique situations posed by abortion-related deaths. When this motive hinders an investigation and allows a dangerous abortionist to go free, it poses a very real moral conflict.
“Understanding why healthy women are dying at abortion clinics and identifying incompetent abortionists can also save lives,” said Newman. “The risk of further abortion deaths should outweigh an organ procurement company’s goal of organ harvesting and the financial remuneration that accompanies it. What happened to Lakisha Wilson was wrong, and we cannot allow it to happen again to someone else.”
LifeNews.com Note: Cheryl Sullenger is a leader of Operation Rescue, a pro-life that monitors abortion practitioners and exposes their illegal and unethical practices.

Abortion Clinic Killed This Woman in a Botched Abortion, Then Her Organs Were Harvested

  Cheryl Sullenger    


When Lakisha Wilson renewed her driver’s license on May 25, 2012, she checked the permission box to become an organ donor. She had no idea that she would be dead less than two years later, or that a simple flick of the pen at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would become a roadblock to preventing those responsible for her death from being held accountable.
Lakisha Wilson was a 22-year old African-American woman who died in March 2014, as the result of second trimester abortion complications at Preterm, an abortion facility located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Her death not only raised questions about patient safety at the high-volume abortion business, but also brought to light another extremely sensitive issue that has rarely been discussed — until now. That issue concerns the high-pressure tactics of organ procurement organizations to secure organ donation consent from families of women like Wilson, who die from abortion complications and other surgeries.
The news has been full of reports in recent months about organ procurement companies contracting with Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses to obtain aborted baby remains for “donation,” often to the financial benefit of both the abortion provider and the organ procurement organization. However, there is another aspect to the issue of organ procurement involving dead abortion patients, which also deserves public discussion.
Certainly, organ donation to those in need of transplants is a noble and life-saving decision under most circumstances. At any given time, there are over 121,000 people awaiting organ transplants in the U.S. It is true that some tragically die before a suitable donor can be found.
“We support those who wish to willingly become organ donors. In most cases, it saves lives and gives the families of donors comfort knowing that the death of their loved one will enable others to live,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “However, in Lakisha Wilson’s case, we have serious concerns about how the donation process was handled, and how it may have actually protected those responsible for her death.”
Second-Trimester Abortion Gone Bad
Wilson’s nightmare began on March 21, 2014, when she reported to the Preterm abortion clinic on Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, Ohio, for an abortion at 19 weeks, 4 days, according to a Preterm ultrasound report that was done about two weeks earlier. (Ultrasound results from a different facility placed her closer to 23 weeks at the time of her abortion.)
Wilson suffered almost immediate complications during her second trimester abortion, which was conducted by Preterm abortionist Lisa Perriera. Even though Wilson’s blood pressure was dropping fast, Perriera finished the abortion before tending to Wilson’s dangerously escalating medical emergency. By then, Wilson had stopped breathing and suffered cardiac arrest.
perriera-wilson-procurement
According to public 911 records obtained through open records requests and medical records leaked to Operation Rescue, it was about thirty minutes after Wilson suffered respiratory arrest that an ambulance was finally called. A Preterm employee told a 911 dispatcher that Wilson was “not breathing at all.” EMS workers arriving at the scene (after a delay caused by a malfunctioning elevator) noted that Wilson indeed was not breathing. Her pupils were fixed and dilated. They were able to restart her heart and provide oxygenation by “bagging” her.
Wilson was eventually transported to the University Hospital Case Medical Center where she was evaluated and given four units of packed red blood cells to treat an apparent hemorrhage that was the source of her cardio-respiratory failure. She was transferred to the Intensive Care unit, placed on life support, and listed in critical but stable condition.
Somewhere along the way, it was determined that Wilson was “brain dead.”
Lifebanc
At the University Hospital Case Medical Center, an organ procurement organization (OPO) called Lifebanc began evaluating Wilson for organ harvesting.
Lifebanc is a non-profit OPO based in Cleveland, which claims to work with 20 Ohio hospitals to:
• Identify donors.
• Match them to patients on the National Transplant Waiting List.
• Arrange for the harvesting of organs by teams of surgeons.
• Arrange transport to hospitals for transplantation into suitable recipients.
OPOs look for donor candidates among those who are hospitalized due to life-threatening brain injuries as the result of traffic accidents, strokes, or lack of oxygen, according to a video posted on Lifebanc’s web site, which was produced by OrganDonor.gov a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Family Approached
After Wilson’s family was notified that Lakisha had been taken to the hospital, they rushed to be by her side only to learn that their worst fears were realized. As they gathered in a hospital waiting room in shock and disbelief, a representative — allegedly from Preterm — first approached them, seeking permission to harvest Wilson’s organs.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

Wilson’s grief-stricken family looked at the Preterm representative as part of the reason why their loved one lay comatose in a hospital bed hooked to machines that artificially controlled her life functions.
There were questions about Lakisha’s death – questions that had not been answered. How could a healthy 22-year old woman die from what everyone said was one of the safest and common surgical procedures in America? What went wrong and who was responsible?
Wilson’s family refused to sign the consent forms so that the organ harvesting could begin.
Thus began a high-pressure effort to secure the family’s permission to harvest Wilson’s organs.
High Demand
Organdonor-chartWhy were Wilson’s organs wanted so badly?
Since African Americans are more prone to suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure than other racial groups, they are more prone to organ failure.
It is true that organs are not supposed to be matched to donors based on race, but there are certain important blood type characteristics and tissue markers that are shared more often between people of the same racial make-up. These markers help determine transplant compatibility.
In America, about 30% of all organ recipients are African American, making them the largest minority population in need of organs for transplant. However, this racial group comprises only about 18% of all organ donors. Therefore, there exists a critical shortage of organs compatible for transplant into those of African American heritage.
As a young, healthy African American woman, who succumbed to a lack of oxygen to the brain, Wilson’s organs would have been in high demand.
Father Adamant about Not Consenting
Over the course of the next few days, Lifebanc had a vested interest in Lakisha Wilson.
At first, all testing on Wilson was ordered by hospital physicians. But on March 26, that changed.
Lifebanc ran a search of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles Organ Donor database and discovered that Wilson had given her consent to “make an anatomical gift” of her organs upon her death.
Suspicious Circumstances2With this document in hand, Lifebanc did not need the family to consent before the organ harvesting could begin. That same day, it ordered testing to ensure that life support devices were properly placed and that Wilson’s organs were in good condition.
The next day, Wilson’s father was again approached by Lifebanc with the request to harvest Lakisha’s organs. He adamantly refused to sign any documents. In fact, Wilson’s records include a hand-written note signed by Wilson’s dad, which read:
March 27, 2014. Life banc [sic] my daughter Lakisha Wilson died under suspicious circumstances. At this time the Cuyahoga County Coroner is investigating the cause of died [sic]. I adamantly refuse to sign papers giving my consent for organ donation. Life banc [sic] personnel are strongly aware of my concerns.
Lifebanc chose to ignore Wilson’s father. Paperwork was processed that noted her father’s refusal to complete or sign any of the consent and policy forms. While Lifebanc’s actions were technically legal, they were ethically dubious.
LakishaWilson9
Organs Procured
Over the next two days, March 27 and 28, Lifebanc ordered additional testing on Wilson to make sure her organs remained disease free and in good condition for harvesting and transplant while the paperwork was processed. Wilson wasn’t treated like a person any more. She had become a commodity.
On March 28, against the expressed wishes of her family, and knowing that there were questions about Wilson’s care and treatment during her fatal abortion, Lifebanc essentially gutted Lakisha Wilson and removed nearly every basic internal organ, including her heart, lungs, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, abdominal aorta, inferior vena cava, kidneys, ureters, adrenal glands and their adjacent connective tissue.
Autopsy on Incomplete Cadaver
Thus, when the coroner, Dr. Joseph A. Felo, received what was left of Lakisha Wilson’s body, he was forced to conduct an autopsy on a partial cadaver. He also lacked the remains of Wilson’s aborted baby, and had to rely on Preterm’s medical records for certain “facts” about the supposed gestational age of her pregnancy.
Felo concluded in Wilson’s autopsy that she died from cardiac arrest resulting in brain damage from oxygen deprivation, a known complication to a therapeutic abortion. In an interview with an investigator with the Ohio Department of Health, Felo explained that because cardiac arrest is a known complication to a therapeutic abortion, Wilson death “did not indicate medical malpractice.”
However, his conclusions were based on insufficient data. Why had Wilson hemorrhaged and why wasn’t her condition treated in time by Preterm’s abortionist, Lisa Perriera? Why did she wait a half hour after Wilson stopped breathing to call 911?
Lakisha&Flowers
Without Lakisha’s organs or her babies’ remains, there was no way to determine the full extent of complications or whether Preterm staff members were telling the truth.
Just as Wilson’s father feared if organ donation were to take place, the “suspicious circumstances” under which his daughter died would never be sufficiently explained.
“This complete disregard for the wishes of the family or consideration for the circumstances of Wilson’s death make Lifebanc’s actions troubling,” said Newman. “Wilson was kept on life support for days — not to treat her, but for the sole purpose of keeping her organs viable for harvesting and transplant.”
$25 Million per Year
lifebanc logoLifebanc is a non-profit organization that takes in about $25 million each year. According the company’s 990 tax report from 2013, the most recent year available, Lifebanc ended that fiscal year with net assets totaling more than $14 million.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lifebanc is Gordon Bowen, whose salary $253,000 yearly with over $43,000 in additional compensation.
Lifebanc’s Medical Director is Dr. Daniel Lebovitz, a Cleveland-based pediatrician who to be affiliated with a number of Ohio hospitals. His annual salary in 2013 from Lifebanc alone was $101, 347.
“There appears to be good money in the organ procurement business,” said Newman. “Combine a case with high-demand organs with financial incentives, and it looks like we have a recipe for high-pressure tactics to obtain consent for organ donation that include ignoring a family’s wishes and the need for a thorough investigation into a suspicious death.”
Others Targeted
Wilson is not the only patient suffering an abortion-related death that has been targeted for organ donation.
In 2005, Christin Gilbert, a 19-year old with Down syndrome, died from complications to a third-trimester abortion in Wichita, Kansas. Since Gilbert succumbed to sepsis, an infection that caused several of her organs to fail, only her eyes were harvested for eventual corneal transplant.
Free to Kill Again
In Gilbert’s case, the abortionists involved in her death, LeRoy Carhart and George Tiller, were absolved of responsibility. This time, it was not due to the inability to reach conclusions due to harvested organs, but for politically-motivated reasons. Because he was never held accountable, Carhart was free to kill again.
On February 7, 2014, he did just that. Another of Carhart’s third-trimester abortion patients, Jennifer Morbelli, died from complications. Her organs were too compromised to be suitable for donation. Again, Carhart was not held responsible. There is a likelihood that yet another of his abortion patients will die.
It is true that donating organs saves lives, and that is indeed noble. However, abortion-related deaths pose unique situations that should be taken into consideration by organ donation companies.
When organ donation conceals the incompetency of abortionists, as may have occurred in the Wilson case, this could leave a dangerous abortionist to kill again. Lives are endangered by the inability to perform a thorough autopsy on a complete cadaver and get to the bottom of what happened to cause the deaths of otherwise healthy women.
Michael Crichton’s “Coma”
keep organs viableThe Wilson tragedy hearkens to mind the Michael Crichton’s 1978 movie “Coma.” In that story, a patient is placed under anesthesia for a routine abortion. As her vital signs began to deteriorate, the abortionist finished the abortion then tried in vain to awaken her. The anesthesiology noted that the patient’s eyes were fixed and dilated.
In the movie, arrangements were then made to place the patient on life support and transfer her to a facility where her body would be maintained indefinitely. However, when the patient suddenly dies, it prompts another physician to investigate. It was discovered that at the secondary facility, the organs of comatose patients were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Of course, in the movie, the illegal black market organ-selling scheme is uncovered and the guilty are punished.
Certainly, no one is saying that the deaths of abortion patients are on purpose or that their organs are being illegally sold.
However, there is a profit motive for organ procurement companies to ignore the unique situations posed by abortion-related deaths. When this motive hinders an investigation and allows a dangerous abortionist to go free, it poses a very real moral conflict.
“Understanding why healthy women are dying at abortion clinics and identifying incompetent abortionists can also save lives,” said Newman. “The risk of further abortion deaths should outweigh an organ procurement company’s goal of organ harvesting and the financial remuneration that accompanies it. What happened to Lakisha Wilson was wrong, and we cannot allow it to happen again to someone else.”
LifeNews.com Note: Cheryl Sullenger is a leader of Operation Rescue, a pro-life that monitors abortion practitioners and exposes their illegal and unethical practices.

Abortion Clinic Killed This Woman in a Botched Abortion, Then Her Organs Were Harvested

State   Cheryl Sullenger   Apr 14, 2016   |   12:16PM    Cleveland, OH
When Lakisha Wilson renewed her driver’s license on May 25, 2012, she checked the permission box to become an organ donor. She had no idea that she would be dead less than two years later, or that a simple flick of the pen at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would become a roadblock to preventing those responsible for her death from being held accountable.
Lakisha Wilson was a 22-year old African-American woman who died in March 2014, as the result of second trimester abortion complications at Preterm, an abortion facility located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Her death not only raised questions about patient safety at the high-volume abortion business, but also brought to light another extremely sensitive issue that has rarely been discussed — until now. That issue concerns the high-pressure tactics of organ procurement organizations to secure organ donation consent from families of women like Wilson, who die from abortion complications and other surgeries.
The news has been full of reports in recent months about organ procurement companies contracting with Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses to obtain aborted baby remains for “donation,” often to the financial benefit of both the abortion provider and the organ procurement organization. However, there is another aspect to the issue of organ procurement involving dead abortion patients, which also deserves public discussion.
Certainly, organ donation to those in need of transplants is a noble and life-saving decision under most circumstances. At any given time, there are over 121,000 people awaiting organ transplants in the U.S. It is true that some tragically die before a suitable donor can be found.
“We support those who wish to willingly become organ donors. In most cases, it saves lives and gives the families of donors comfort knowing that the death of their loved one will enable others to live,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “However, in Lakisha Wilson’s case, we have serious concerns about how the donation process was handled, and how it may have actually protected those responsible for her death.”
Second-Trimester Abortion Gone Bad
Wilson’s nightmare began on March 21, 2014, when she reported to the Preterm abortion clinic on Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, Ohio, for an abortion at 19 weeks, 4 days, according to a Preterm ultrasound report that was done about two weeks earlier. (Ultrasound results from a different facility placed her closer to 23 weeks at the time of her abortion.)
Wilson suffered almost immediate complications during her second trimester abortion, which was conducted by Preterm abortionist Lisa Perriera. Even though Wilson’s blood pressure was dropping fast, Perriera finished the abortion before tending to Wilson’s dangerously escalating medical emergency. By then, Wilson had stopped breathing and suffered cardiac arrest.
perriera-wilson-procurement
According to public 911 records obtained through open records requests and medical records leaked to Operation Rescue, it was about thirty minutes after Wilson suffered respiratory arrest that an ambulance was finally called. A Preterm employee told a 911 dispatcher that Wilson was “not breathing at all.” EMS workers arriving at the scene (after a delay caused by a malfunctioning elevator) noted that Wilson indeed was not breathing. Her pupils were fixed and dilated. They were able to restart her heart and provide oxygenation by “bagging” her.
Wilson was eventually transported to the University Hospital Case Medical Center where she was evaluated and given four units of packed red blood cells to treat an apparent hemorrhage that was the source of her cardio-respiratory failure. She was transferred to the Intensive Care unit, placed on life support, and listed in critical but stable condition.
Somewhere along the way, it was determined that Wilson was “brain dead.”
Lifebanc
At the University Hospital Case Medical Center, an organ procurement organization (OPO) called Lifebanc began evaluating Wilson for organ harvesting.
Lifebanc is a non-profit OPO based in Cleveland, which claims to work with 20 Ohio hospitals to:
• Identify donors.
• Match them to patients on the National Transplant Waiting List.
• Arrange for the harvesting of organs by teams of surgeons.
• Arrange transport to hospitals for transplantation into suitable recipients.
OPOs look for donor candidates among those who are hospitalized due to life-threatening brain injuries as the result of traffic accidents, strokes, or lack of oxygen, according to a video posted on Lifebanc’s web site, which was produced by OrganDonor.gov a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Family Approached
After Wilson’s family was notified that Lakisha had been taken to the hospital, they rushed to be by her side only to learn that their worst fears were realized. As they gathered in a hospital waiting room in shock and disbelief, a representative — allegedly from Preterm — first approached them, seeking permission to harvest Wilson’s organs.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

Wilson’s grief-stricken family looked at the Preterm representative as part of the reason why their loved one lay comatose in a hospital bed hooked to machines that artificially controlled her life functions.
There were questions about Lakisha’s death – questions that had not been answered. How could a healthy 22-year old woman die from what everyone said was one of the safest and common surgical procedures in America? What went wrong and who was responsible?
Wilson’s family refused to sign the consent forms so that the organ harvesting could begin.
Thus began a high-pressure effort to secure the family’s permission to harvest Wilson’s organs.
High Demand
Organdonor-chartWhy were Wilson’s organs wanted so badly?
Since African Americans are more prone to suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure than other racial groups, they are more prone to organ failure.
It is true that organs are not supposed to be matched to donors based on race, but there are certain important blood type characteristics and tissue markers that are shared more often between people of the same racial make-up. These markers help determine transplant compatibility.
In America, about 30% of all organ recipients are African American, making them the largest minority population in need of organs for transplant. However, this racial group comprises only about 18% of all organ donors. Therefore, there exists a critical shortage of organs compatible for transplant into those of African American heritage.
As a young, healthy African American woman, who succumbed to a lack of oxygen to the brain, Wilson’s organs would have been in high demand.
Father Adamant about Not Consenting
Over the course of the next few days, Lifebanc had a vested interest in Lakisha Wilson.
At first, all testing on Wilson was ordered by hospital physicians. But on March 26, that changed.
Lifebanc ran a search of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles Organ Donor database and discovered that Wilson had given her consent to “make an anatomical gift” of her organs upon her death.
Suspicious Circumstances2With this document in hand, Lifebanc did not need the family to consent before the organ harvesting could begin. That same day, it ordered testing to ensure that life support devices were properly placed and that Wilson’s organs were in good condition.
The next day, Wilson’s father was again approached by Lifebanc with the request to harvest Lakisha’s organs. He adamantly refused to sign any documents. In fact, Wilson’s records include a hand-written note signed by Wilson’s dad, which read:
March 27, 2014. Life banc [sic] my daughter Lakisha Wilson died under suspicious circumstances. At this time the Cuyahoga County Coroner is investigating the cause of died [sic]. I adamantly refuse to sign papers giving my consent for organ donation. Life banc [sic] personnel are strongly aware of my concerns.
Lifebanc chose to ignore Wilson’s father. Paperwork was processed that noted her father’s refusal to complete or sign any of the consent and policy forms. While Lifebanc’s actions were technically legal, they were ethically dubious.
LakishaWilson9
Organs Procured
Over the next two days, March 27 and 28, Lifebanc ordered additional testing on Wilson to make sure her organs remained disease free and in good condition for harvesting and transplant while the paperwork was processed. Wilson wasn’t treated like a person any more. She had become a commodity.
On March 28, against the expressed wishes of her family, and knowing that there were questions about Wilson’s care and treatment during her fatal abortion, Lifebanc essentially gutted Lakisha Wilson and removed nearly every basic internal organ, including her heart, lungs, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, abdominal aorta, inferior vena cava, kidneys, ureters, adrenal glands and their adjacent connective tissue.
Autopsy on Incomplete Cadaver
Thus, when the coroner, Dr. Joseph A. Felo, received what was left of Lakisha Wilson’s body, he was forced to conduct an autopsy on a partial cadaver. He also lacked the remains of Wilson’s aborted baby, and had to rely on Preterm’s medical records for certain “facts” about the supposed gestational age of her pregnancy.
Felo concluded in Wilson’s autopsy that she died from cardiac arrest resulting in brain damage from oxygen deprivation, a known complication to a therapeutic abortion. In an interview with an investigator with the Ohio Department of Health, Felo explained that because cardiac arrest is a known complication to a therapeutic abortion, Wilson death “did not indicate medical malpractice.”
However, his conclusions were based on insufficient data. Why had Wilson hemorrhaged and why wasn’t her condition treated in time by Preterm’s abortionist, Lisa Perriera? Why did she wait a half hour after Wilson stopped breathing to call 911?
Lakisha&Flowers
Without Lakisha’s organs or her babies’ remains, there was no way to determine the full extent of complications or whether Preterm staff members were telling the truth.
Just as Wilson’s father feared if organ donation were to take place, the “suspicious circumstances” under which his daughter died would never be sufficiently explained.
“This complete disregard for the wishes of the family or consideration for the circumstances of Wilson’s death make Lifebanc’s actions troubling,” said Newman. “Wilson was kept on life support for days — not to treat her, but for the sole purpose of keeping her organs viable for harvesting and transplant.”
$25 Million per Year
lifebanc logoLifebanc is a non-profit organization that takes in about $25 million each year. According the company’s 990 tax report from 2013, the most recent year available, Lifebanc ended that fiscal year with net assets totaling more than $14 million.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lifebanc is Gordon Bowen, whose salary $253,000 yearly with over $43,000 in additional compensation.
Lifebanc’s Medical Director is Dr. Daniel Lebovitz, a Cleveland-based pediatrician who to be affiliated with a number of Ohio hospitals. His annual salary in 2013 from Lifebanc alone was $101, 347.
“There appears to be good money in the organ procurement business,” said Newman. “Combine a case with high-demand organs with financial incentives, and it looks like we have a recipe for high-pressure tactics to obtain consent for organ donation that include ignoring a family’s wishes and the need for a thorough investigation into a suspicious death.”
Others Targeted
Wilson is not the only patient suffering an abortion-related death that has been targeted for organ donation.
In 2005, Christin Gilbert, a 19-year old with Down syndrome, died from complications to a third-trimester abortion in Wichita, Kansas. Since Gilbert succumbed to sepsis, an infection that caused several of her organs to fail, only her eyes were harvested for eventual corneal transplant.
Free to Kill Again
In Gilbert’s case, the abortionists involved in her death, LeRoy Carhart and George Tiller, were absolved of responsibility. This time, it was not due to the inability to reach conclusions due to harvested organs, but for politically-motivated reasons. Because he was never held accountable, Carhart was free to kill again.
On February 7, 2014, he did just that. Another of Carhart’s third-trimester abortion patients, Jennifer Morbelli, died from complications. Her organs were too compromised to be suitable for donation. Again, Carhart was not held responsible. There is a likelihood that yet another of his abortion patients will die.
It is true that donating organs saves lives, and that is indeed noble. However, abortion-related deaths pose unique situations that should be taken into consideration by organ donation companies.
When organ donation conceals the incompetency of abortionists, as may have occurred in the Wilson case, this could leave a dangerous abortionist to kill again. Lives are endangered by the inability to perform a thorough autopsy on a complete cadaver and get to the bottom of what happened to cause the deaths of otherwise healthy women.
Michael Crichton’s “Coma”
keep organs viableThe Wilson tragedy hearkens to mind the Michael Crichton’s 1978 movie “Coma.” In that story, a patient is placed under anesthesia for a routine abortion. As her vital signs began to deteriorate, the abortionist finished the abortion then tried in vain to awaken her. The anesthesiology noted that the patient’s eyes were fixed and dilated.
In the movie, arrangements were then made to place the patient on life support and transfer her to a facility where her body would be maintained indefinitely. However, when the patient suddenly dies, it prompts another physician to investigate. It was discovered that at the secondary facility, the organs of comatose patients were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Of course, in the movie, the illegal black market organ-selling scheme is uncovered and the guilty are punished.
Certainly, no one is saying that the deaths of abortion patients are on purpose or that their organs are being illegally sold.
However, there is a profit motive for organ procurement companies to ignore the unique situations posed by abortion-related deaths. When this motive hinders an investigation and allows a dangerous abortionist to go free, it poses a very real moral conflict.
“Understanding why healthy women are dying at abortion clinics and identifying incompetent abortionists can also save lives,” said Newman. “The risk of further abortion deaths should outweigh an organ procurement company’s goal of organ harvesting and the financial remuneration that accompanies it. What happened to Lakisha Wilson was wrong, and we cannot allow it to happen again to someone else.”
LifeNews.com Note: Cheryl Sullenger is a leader of Operation Rescue, a pro-life that monitors abortion practitioners and exposes their illegal and unethical practices.

Source: LifeSite News