Four Days, $35,000 to go!
There's only four days left in the year, but we have one job left to do.
Generous support is allowing us to give you an opportunity to double the impact of your tax-deductible donations to the Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund.
Our goal for this year is $75,000, a huge increase from last year's goal of $50,000. We're still $35,000 short with less than a week to go!
Without your support, our educational work doesn't happen. That means 150,000 people wouldn't have gotten information from our website in 2018. 446,800 people wouldn't have received the Right to Life of Michigan News this year. Last month, 76,000 people would have seen a cat video instead of important prolife news and information last month on Facebook and Twitter.
There are many more ways the Educational Fund reaches people with prolife information, but all of these efforts rely on generous gifts from prolife people.
Will you help us cross the finish line? Will you help us prepare Michigan for a world without Roe v. Wade?
Michigan Legislature Paves New Way to Revive Stillborn Child Tax Credit
The Michigan Legislature has sent a bill to Governor Rick Snyder's desk that allows parents to claim a stillborn child as an exemption on their state income taxes. The bill received unanimous support in both chambers.
Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, "This bill cannot take away the grief from the loss of a child, but it will help with the financial burdens of a stillbirth."
The Stillborn Child Tax Equity bill is similar to legislation passed in 2006 that gave a tax credit to parents of a stillborn child. That tax credit was eliminated in 2011, along with many other tax credits.
HB 4522 allows families that experience a stillbirth after 20 weeks to claim the child as a deduction on their state income taxes in the year of the stillbirth. The parents will need a certificate of stillbirth provided by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The one-time deduction is intended to help families cover the costs of prenatal care or possible funeral arrangements.
Listing said, "Miscarriage and stillbirth are difficult topics for our society to address. Because they aren't discussed often, the costs associated with them can be overlooked. Parents of a stillborn child who died a day before birth should be treated the same as parents of a child who died a day after birth."
HB 4522 was passed unanimously by the Michigan House on April 11. It was passed unanimously by the Michigan Senate on December 20, and the House concurred to changes on December 21.
Michigan Legislature Passes Bills Creating Baby Boxes in Michigan
A package of bills is heading to Governor Rick Snyder's desk allowing specialized "baby boxes" for safe surrendering of a newborn. The package passed with bipartisan votes in both the Michigan House and Senate.
These bills modify the existing Safe Delivery of Newborns Law to allow the baby boxes and increase the current age of surrender from 72 hours to 30 days after birth. The baby boxes will be climate-controlled, lock upon closing, and trigger an alarm when a newborn is placed in them.
Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, "Abandoned infants are a tragedy that still happens too often. These baby boxes could make the difference between life and death for newborns in these situations."
Michigan's Safe Delivery law currently allows anonymous surrender of a newborn baby to an emergency service provider. The baby is then placed for adoption. A parent may change his/her mind and request that the infant be returned within 28 days of surrender.
Listing said, "We must help young women and teens be better informed about this law. If they think they are in a situation with no other choice, there is a confidential life-saving option for them. The baby boxes help reassure women that surrendering the newborn is confidential."
The Michigan House passed the package of bills (HB 5750, 5751, 5953 & 5954) on May 16. The Michigan Senate passed the package on December 18, and the House concurred with two small amendments on December 21.
The late State Representative Patty Birkholz played an integral role in originally crafting the Safe Delivery of Newborns Law in 2000. Birkholz served in the Michigan Legislature from 1997 to 2008.
Listing said, "Patty Birkholz was passionate about bringing this law to Michigan to help make sure no child was ever abandoned. We are happy her law is still saving lives and we'll keep building on this legacy."
The Safe Delivery law took effect on January 1, 2001. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that the 200th infant had been safely delivered under the law on June 7, 2017.
Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have laws allowing similar baby boxes.
SAFE DELIVERY OF NEWBORNS LAW
RLM Calls on Gov. Snyder to Make Webcam Abortion Ban Permanent
Right to Life of Michigan is calling on Governor Rick Snyder to sign SB 1198 to make our state's ban on webcam abortions permanent.
Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, "Governor Snyder signed our state's ban into law originally, and we hope he will now make it permanent."
A webcam abortion involves a medical abortion using the RU-486/mifepristone pill regimen. The abortionist speaks remotely with a woman using a video camera, pushes a button to open a drawer containing the abortion pills, and the woman takes the pills. The abortionist never physically examines the woman.
Right to Life of Michigan supported legislation to ban this practice in 2012. The original webcam abortion ban was signed into law by Governor Snyder. The law contained a sunset provision and will expire at the end of 2018.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, at least 22 women have died taking the abortion pill. Because of potential side effects, the FDA requires abortion pill distributors to undergo risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS). The FDA states the abortion pill may only be dispensed under the supervision of a certified healthcare provider who can diagnose ectopic pregnancies accurately and provide access to follow-up emergency care.
Listing said, "Having an abortionist talk to a woman he's never met via a webcam may save the abortion facility money, but cheap medicine is not safe medicine. Planned Parenthood should follow the FDA guidelines, not try to expand abortion by cutting corners."
FDA guidelines for the abortion pill were recently revisited in 2016, and the REMS requirements were maintained.
Planned Parenthood in Michigan claims the practice is safe and no different than other telemedicine practices, but the revised FDA guidelines reflect the continued need for a licensed doctor to be physically present and available to give adequate follow-up care.
Listing said, "Planned Parenthood in Michigan already has a poor record of follow-up care. Cree Erwin died following a botched abortion at Planned Parenthood's Kalamazoo facility in 2016. If they can't provide adequate follow-up care now, how will they do it when the woman is hundreds of miles away?"
According to statistics reported to the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, only two percent of women are referred to the abortionist by a physician. Most women meet the abortionist only briefly before the procedure. Common telemedicine consultations involve an actual relationship between the patient and the provider.
Listing said, "The abortion industry says abortion has to be legal because it's between a woman and her doctor. Now they want to make it between only a woman and a webcam."
The Michigan House passed SB 1998 on December 12, 2018, by a vote of 62 to 47. The Michigan Senate passed the bill on November 29, 2018, by a vote of 25 to 12. The Michigan Senate concurred with slight changes to the bill on December 18, 2018.
SENATE BILL 1198
WEBCAM ABORTION PROCESS
FDA GUIDELINES
CREE ERWIN CASE
MDHHS STATISTICS
37% Down, 63% to Go for Matching Gift!
Every year, generous support enables us to give prolifers an opportunity to double the life-saving impact of their resources.
Our supporters helped us met our goal of $50,000 in 2017 in year-end tax-deductible online donations to the Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund. However, 2018 showed us that we have much more educating on prolife issues to do.
We'll be facing BIG challenges in 2019, but also BIG opportunities. The U.S. Supreme Court could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade at any moment; are the citizens of our great state ready to directly deal with the issue of abortion once again?
We were able to go BIG with a goal of $75,000 in matching gifts to close out 2018. Today we are at 37% of our goal. Please help us cross the finish line!
Your support helps many of our projects and programs. Here's a new one we just rolled out that you should be aware of: HelpintheD.org.
Statistics show abortion is decline, but abortion rates are not declining as much in urban areas, particularly among minority populations. In Michigan, that means Detroit. Persistent problems fuel a cycle that pits mother against child. Each new life is an opportunity to embrace, but the overall message from our society (especially to minorities) is that every new child is just a burden to care for.
HelpintheD.org is a website to help flip the script on motherhood. In reality, the city of Detroit is home to many organizations that can offer free help to women, men, and families in need. HelpintheD.org lists a lot of places women can go for material support, which helps them to realize motherhood can work for them.
We know the talking point that "prolifers don't care about the baby after it's born" is untrue. It's especially frustrating to hear abortion supporters use that line while doing their level best to defame and even shut down prolife pregnancy help centers. HelpintheD.org is just one example of the ways we use our Educational Fund tools to connect women with people who will help them care for the baby after she or he is born.
Please help make sure our prolife information is in the hands of as many people as possible, including women about to make life and death decisions. Help us take advantage of 100% of this BIG opportunity.
The US Supreme Court and Planned Parenthood
There was news yesterday that the U.S. Supreme Court failed to take up two cases involving defunding Planned Parenthood. The cases are very complicated, dealing with Medicaid law and how someone can bring a lawsuit to decide whether or not an organization can be a "qualified" provider.
By refusing to take the cases, the different rulings in the various circuit courts are left to stand. Justice Clarence Thomas authored a public dissent criticizing the other justices for being afraid to take up the case. He wrote that they ought to be taken up because of the split decisions in the circuit courts.
Without getting too deep into the weeds of Medicaid law, what are prolifers to make of all this?
First, don't panic. We don't know why Chief Justice John Roberts and new Justice Brett Kavanaugh didn't want to take the cases. Maybe they agree with what the lower courts decided regarding Medicaid law. Maybe they don't, but thought it wasn't the right time or the right cases to decide the issue. In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the politics of abortion made the justices afraid to take the case now.
None of us know the exact reasoning behind their choice to not hear the case. Even if Roberts and Kavanaugh agree with the circuit court rulings, it has no bearing on abortion laws or ultimately even on defunding Planned Parenthood. Medicaid law is written to make it difficult for states to determine who is or isn't "qualified" to receive Medicaid funding. Right to Life of Michigan hasn't passed legislation making Planned Parenthood ineligible as a Medicaid provider, because a reading of Medicaid law indicates it's probably not something we can legally do. We continue to pursue other avenues with higher chances of success.
There is a downside to originalist judges: if the law is written in a way you don't like, good originalist judges will rule against you. The good news for us is Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton are so legally indefensible that we don't need justices to be prolife warriors; we just need fair justices. So far in their judicial careers, Roberts and Kavanaugh have sided with laws directly against abortion every time.
Here's the real question we're asking ourselves: why is defunding Planned Parenthood so frustratingly hard?
Planned Parenthood has taken a progressively larger role as both an abortion provider and as a leader within the abortion movement. As this has occurred, defunding them has become a progressively higher priority. Sadly, Planned Parenthood has spent more than a century embedding themselves in our public institutions. Their tentacles reach into a multitude of programs, as well as government and societal institutions. Dealing with each tentacle requires a different strategy at a different level.
On the state level, we've successfully defunded Planned Parenthood. We took away their ability to take taxpayer money directly for abortions with our Medicaid-funded abortion ban in 1988. Recent state budgets have zeroed out Planned Parenthood funding.
The real problems for defunding Planned Parenthood are the federal-state partnership programs like Medicaid and Title X and the morass of rules they have. Federal tax dollars flow through our state government to Planned Parenthood, and there's not a lot we can do at the state level to block that because of how the federal laws are written. The Trump Administration has a unique plan to work within the law to limit Planned Parenthood's Title X money, and we have a law to prioritize that funding for providers who don't do abortions, but enforcement is always a challenge.
The simplest solution is to rewrite Medicaid and Title X laws. It's not so easy, however, because of the Senate's filibuster rules. In order to change those laws, we need a prolife majority in the U.S. House, 60 prolife votes in the U.S. Senate, and a prolife president. Or, we need to convince 10 pro-abortion U.S. Senators not to filibuster such legislation. Or, we change the U.S. Senate rules to scrap the filibuster (a double-edged sword that could be used against us).
Senate rules do allow spending bills to avoid a filibuster. In fact, the prolife majorities tried to use those rules to make Planned Parenthood ineligible as a Medicaid provider in the annual budget, but that effort was scrapped on July 28, 2017, by John McCain at the last minute, a 49-51 vote. He objected to specifics of the plan to repeal Obamacare that was also attached to the budget.
At that juncture, the U.S. Senate had to start back at square one. After that, the unthinkable happened in a special election to fill a Senate vacancy on December 12, 2017. Alabama voters had selected a profoundly flawed candidate in Roy Moore over the prolife candidate backed by President Trump, Luther Strange, in the earlier primary. Then in the general election Alabama voters chose the pro-abortion candidate Doug Jones over Roy Moore. We went from 50 prolife votes to only 49 votes in the U.S. Senate, and the golden opportunity was gone.
What are the lessons that prolife people should take away from all this?
Elections have consequences
Whatever you think of the Alabama special election, the practical effect of the vote doomed defunding Planned Parenthood. Alabama primary voters could have chosen a far more electable candidate, but they chose a firebrand with tons of personal baggage. Several prolife pundits made the case that voting for Roy Moore would hurt the prolife movement, but some of these same pundits complained about the Supreme Court's decision yesterday and claimed the GOP didn't have the guts to defund Planned Parenthood—these pundits opposed the 50th vote necessary for it to happen.
Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world with perfect candidates. It felt good for many Alabama voters to buck the "establishment" and vote for the tougher guy. It felt good for other voters and pundits to oppose the same guy for his monumental character flaws. In the end, both groups are left bitter and disappointed. Prolife voters must always keep in mind the practical real-world consequences of their choices. Importantly, if you make a choice that results in a bad practical effect, you have to accept that consequence and move on.
We don't have a critical mass of public support yet
Polls routinely show that people oppose being forced to pay for abortions. Planned Parenthood, however, has wormed its way into many institutions, including the media. They do a great job of gaslighting even their own supporters into believing that abortion is just a minor part of their operation. While public support for defunding Planned Parenthood has grown, it needs to be higher to achieve our goal permanently. Taking away their Medicaid funding for a year or two would be outstanding, but Planned Parenthood can still achieve small pro-abortion majorities who will give the money right back to them another year.
In order to defund Planned Parenthood totally, we need otherwise pro-abortion senators to fear how voters will react if they continue giving our tax dollars to the nation's largest abortion provider. Right now, defunding is generally a 50-50 issue politically. It needs to be a 60-40 issue or better to create the best opportunities to enact prolife policy, like popular bans on direct taxpayer funding of abortion or partial-birth abortion bans.
The largest blame goes to the media
Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to take up the case, the media joyfully began reporting that they ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood. While the decision largely helped Planned Parenthood's effort to keep their funding in several states, the U.S. Supreme Court didn't rule on the merits of the case pertaining to lawsuits involving Medicaid law. The articles in many major publications didn't do a good job of explaining the issue.
When the undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood's human organ harvesting schemes debuted, the media reflexively took Planned Parenthood's side, some even denouncing their own tactic of undercover exposes as unreliable. When Planned Parenthood is revealed to be engaging in Medicaid fraud, or running a "meat market" abortion facility, or kills a patient out of negligence, they get cursory coverage by a few local sources at best.
The media fails to challenge Planned Parenthood on their false claims, and sometimes even helps spread them as the gospel truth.
When Planned Parenthood selects even a popular target for shaming, the media will shame away with glee.
Without a drastic change in how they conduct themselves, the major media institutions are never going to help the prolife movement build public support for defunding the leader of the abortion movement, much less provide neutral coverage.
If you are frustrated that Planned Parenthood is still taking your tax dollars and using it to further their abortion agenda, then it's up to you. Do the job the media won't. Talk about Planned Parenthood. Educate your friend and your neighbors. If you don't want to create opportunities to do that, find the courage to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. We have resources to help you do that.
Planned Parenthood may have a decades-long head start on us, influence amongst our elite institutions, Hollywood, big-money interests and foundations, and gobs of your own cash to use against you. However, they don't have the truth; they can only succeed by convincing people they don't support abortion as much as they do.
Keep working to spread the truth and let people know Planned Parenthood and abortion are inseparable.
Latest CDC Abortion Report Shows Further Decline
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their latest annual report on abortion statistics last week, showing that abortion rates are lower than ever. Though it is unacceptable that any number of children should die because of abortion, it is encouraging to see that the number of lives lost decreases each year—slowly but surely.
Looking at the breakdown of abortion statistics can be helpful in discerning what category of women the prolife movement needs to reach the most, but it is also important to note that the accuracy of the CDC data is not perfect. For example, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire all fail to report annual data on abortions to the CDC.
The total number of abortions reported to the CDC in the U.S. decreased 2% from 652,639 in 2014 to 638,169 in 2015. This number has been steadily dropping; it has decreased a total of 24% since 2006, when the total number of reported abortions was 842,855. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which polls abortion facilities directly, the total national figure for all 50 states was 926,200 in 2014.
The CDC also breaks down the data into important categories such as the race and age of the woman, the gestational age of the baby, and the pregnancy and abortion history of the woman. Here's some important numbers worth keeping in mind and trends in the last decade.
Age of Woman
The age distribution of women having abortions have remained similar throughout the years, always with the highest rates of abortions had by women in their 20's. In recent years, the average age of a woman having an abortion has been slowly increasing. The largest change in the age group of women having abortions are teens ages 15–19. From 2006 to 2015, the percentage of abortions accounted for by that age group decreased by 41%; their abortion rate decreased by 54%.
Ages under 15 = 0.3% of reported abortions
Ages 15–19 = 9.8%
Ages 20–24 = 31.1%
Ages 40 and over = 3.5%
Race of Woman
According to the CDC, abortion ratio decreased from 2007 to 2015 for the three largest race/ethnicity groups. The ratio is the number of abortions compared to live births, meaning more women are choosing life. There are still large disparities between these groups, however.
Non-Hispanic white women: the abortion ratio decreased 27% (from 147 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 108 in 2015).
Non-Hispanic black women: decreased 22% (from 514 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 403 in 2015)
Hispanic women: decreased 26% (from 205 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 152 in 2015)
Gestational Age of Baby
Between the years 2006 and 2015, the percentage of abortions after 13 weeks has been below 10%, and there has been an increase of 11% in abortions before 16 weeks' gestation. While 1.3% seems like a small number, using more complete figures on total national abortions gives us a figure of more than 12,000 late-term abortions every year in the U.S.
Less than 13 weeks = 91.1%
Between 14 and 20 weeks = 7.6%
More than 21 weeks = 1.3%
Pregnancy History
A majority of women having abortions already have a child, but most do not fit the stereotype of a large family that can't care for itself; only 14.2% of abortions are performed on women who have three or more previous births. These numbers indicate a significant challenge for reaching women who are already mothers who somehow believe that a second or third child is a direct threat to their future.
No previous live births = 40.7% of abortions
One or more previous live births = 59.3% of abortions
Abortion History
Like the pregnancy history numbers, the high repeat abortion rate is a tragic reminder that many women who have abortion are locked into an ugly cycle. 8.2% of abortions are done on women who have had three or more previous abortions.
No previous abortion = 56.3% of abortions
One or more previous induced abortions = 43.6% of abortions
The steady decrease in abortions is encouraging, meaning that our hard work to promote life-giving options has been effective. However, this report also indicates the extent of work left to be done, as there is still a gigantic loss of life due to abortions. Even without three states reporting their numbers, the CDC abortion total would qualify abortion as the largest cause of death in America.
Abortion? Shhh... We Don't Talk About That
The election is only days away. The candidates are working overtime in hopes of coming out on top on November 6th.
Abortion is on the front of every voter, candidate and reporter's mind, right? It's the leading cause of death in America and in Michigan—more than heart disease, cancer, or opioid abuse. A possible fifth vote in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade was added to the U.S. Supreme Court this fall. It's a big issue, right? Wrong, apparently.
If Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Michigan's law that bans abortion except to save the life of the mother could go back into effect. That is, if fair elected officials like the governor and the attorney general to uphold the law.
But even with the stakes this high, abortion has barely been discussed in the news surrounding the election since the primary.
We know that Gretchen Whitmer's record on prolife issues—even on common-sense topics like letting women see their own ultrasounds and holding abortion clinics to the same safety standards as other medical clinics—is extremely bad. She has emphatically stated that she would promote abortion as governor, but often says it without actually saying the word "abortion":
"As Governor, I will work fiercely to defend the rights of every Michigan woman, including women's access to all forms of reproductive care and contraception. I am going to fight like hell to pass state laws that will protect women's legal right to control their bodies and make their own decisions about whether and when to become a parent."
Whitmer's campaign website lists her stance on Women's Rights. After clicking the link to the page on this topic, there is another vague statement about reproductive health care inside a statement about equal rights and pay. Only after clicking another link to ""Read Gretchen's Full Plan" is there a mention of Roe v. Wade and abortion.
For someone who promises to "fight like hell" to advance abortion, even up to and during the process of birth, she seems strangely hesitant to say it outright.
The media has never done a decent job of covering prolife issues, but this election season, it seems they don't want to discuss abortion even from the "pro-choice" perspective. Pro-abortion candidates don't want to use the word "abortion" either.
The topic of abortion was not featured in either of the gubernatorial debates and has been discussed little elsewhere, even the euphemisms. Perhaps the pro-abortion candidates and media are so used to covering the topic in euphemisms, they hope that one day the debate will disappear completely. Perhaps discussing the topic at all makes it too difficult to convince themselves and others that abortion is something other than taking a human life.
For whatever reason, it seems that abortion is an "off-limits" topic in this election, when it should always be front and center.
We made this Whitmer Translate GIF as a helpful gimmick to help people understand Whitmer's (and other elected officials) euphemisms when it comes to abortion. Perhaps what we need more is a search bar to find and expose her real extreme views on the topic.
It's Raining Fetuses: Seeing a Culture of Death in Real Time
Seats at the Gosnell trial reserved for reporters
When a crime involves inappropriate treatment of dead bodies and suspicious, inhumane, and unethical behavior from the professionals involved, you would expect the story to be met with outrage and a flood of media coverage.
Sadly, there seems to be no shortage of stories like these. Though it is outrageous, it is not uncommon to hear of criminals storing or selling body parts and lying to family members, patients, and customers about what is really going on. Recently, there have been three notable cases with extreme examples of these situations.
Just last week, state investigators found remains of 11 infants hidden in the ceiling between the first and second floor of the former Cantrell Funeral Home in Detroit. The funeral home had been shut down in April due to other violations of state law. The building had new owners who had no idea how many corpses were stashed throughout the building, but an anonymous tip led investigators to the remains.
The authorities have not been able to discover the identity or families of all the bodies they found, and are hoping to discover more through investigating hospital records.
Another recent disturbing example was Arthur Rathburn, a man who ran a "body broker" business out of a warehouse in Detroit. Rathburn dismembered the corpses he received, stored them in undignified and unsanitary conditions, sold the parts of corpses with various diseases such as HIV to unknowing doctors, and lied to the family members, even giving them sand in place of ashes because he had sold every part of the body.
The bodies of four unborn babies were found in Rathburn's warehouse. Their bodies were not mentioned in his criminal case, even though selling fetal tissue is illegal. Right to Life of Michigan is still working on trying to find the source of the bodies, but the trail is going cold with a famous New York museum being the last bizarre tip.
Finally, there was the case of convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell, perhaps one of the most underreported crimes in history. Not only did the Philadelphia abortionist collect feet as trophies of the babies he killed through abortions, he also killed hundreds of babies after birth, negligently killed one woman during a botched abortion, and had absolutely zero health or safety standards in his clinic. One clinic worker testified, "It would rain fetuses. Fetuses and blood all over the place."
Gosnell's clinic had been ignored for years by health and safety regulators, and even after the death of the adult patient there was no investigation. What finally brought investigators to his clinic was a report of illegal prescription drug use.
While many have tried to ignore Gosnell—despite his status as potentially America's most prolific serial killer in history—the efforts of people who recognize that the story needs to be exposed have brought his crimes to the silver screen. The movie "Gosnell" is currently in theaters, giving the American people a front-row seat to the ways a culture of death can sow corruption.
In all three cases of Cantrell, Rathburn, and Gosnell, the criminals' shocking abuse of human life is crystal clear. What is less apparent, but still telling, is the media or investigators' tendency to too often look the other direction when it comes to the most vulnerable of lives. In a world that does not protect life in the womb, nor, in many cases, life right before death, how can we expect our culture to reflect anything other than death and the destroying of life?
"Look, in this advanced democracy, in the year 2000, is it our crowning achievement that we have learned to treat people as things? We are not debating policy options. This is a debate about our understanding of human dignity. Our moment in history is marked by a mortal conflict between a culture of life and a culture of death." - Henry Hyde
***Editor's Note**** The plot thickens... another Detroit funeral home is being investigated for mishandling the bodies of babies.
Gretchen Whitmer, Where Are the Cures You Promised?
Cure Michigan Co-Chairs Joe Schwarz & Gretchen Whitmer
During the gubernatorial debate on Friday, October 12, Gretchen Whitmer brought up her role of leading "Cure Michigan" in the effort to pass Proposal 2 in 2008. Proposal 2 amended the Michigan Constitution to specifically allow destroying human life for medical research.
The debate moderator asked a question about recreational marijuana use, and Whitmer specifically mentioned her role with Cure Michigan as proof of her commitment to helping the sick and disabled.
She said, "I was the co-chair of the embryonic stem cell initiative as well, because I took care of my mom at the end of her life and I know what the promise of cures or the promise of relief during treatment would mean."
In a later rebuttal on the same topic, she said Michigan needs a governor "who knows how to get things done."
In reality, Proposal 2 didn't get anything done; Cure Michigan delivered zero cures. It's another prime example of how Whitmer's words don't match reality.
This issue should matter a lot. Whitmer is right in that the promise of cures or relief mean a lot to ailing patients. Sadly, Whitmer and Cure Michigan sold false hope to ailing patients and their family members. Patients deserve real hope and results, not rhetoric.
Supporters of Proposal 2 touted a ready-made study showing all of the benefits that could occur if Michigan voters agreed to pass the proposal. The study said Proposal 2 could save 770,000 lives, save Michigan $80 million in health care costs, increase worked productivity by $27 million, and create a biotech revolution in Michigan.
Cure Michigan ran TV ads with patients suffering from debilitating conditions pleading for voters to help unlock cures in Michigan.
Now that 10 years has passed, what actually got done? Nothing.
Human embryonic stem cell research hasn't led to a single cure or treatment anywhere. No lives were saved in Michigan and no economic benefits have been realized. Human embryonic stem cell research has largely been passed by other promising ethical fields of research. Those facts were fairly obvious back in 2008 to those who weren't significantly invested in research on human embryos.
Why would Whitmer tout her work leading a proposal that promised cures and delivered nothing? Does she not think people will do their homework on the issue? Has she not done her homework on it? Did she have to tout it since it was one of the few things she has actually accomplished? You be the judge.
The end result of her effort is not up for debate, however. Like much of the rest of Whitmer's political career, there were a lot of words and not a lot of results.
Gretchen Whitmer's Record
Gretchen Whitmer has been a loud and vocal opponent of legal protection for the most vulnerable. Below are examples of how her voting record fails to live up the important standard that every human life has value. Click on each link to learn more about her record.
Partial-Birth Abortion - Whitmer opposed our efforts to ban the barbaric partial-birth abortion procedure. She supports abortion-on-demand through the process of birth.
Ultrasound - Whitmer believes abortionists should be able to hide ultrasounds from women seeking abortions. Every patient ought to be entitled to proper informed consent and their own medical records.
Coercive Abortions - Whitmer failed to support protecting women who are coerced into having abortions against their will. She's not "pro-choice," she's pro-abortion.
Women's Health - Despite her rhetoric, Whitmer looks the other way on numerous health and safety violations in the abortion industry. She has a financial incentive to do so, since she profits from their campaign donations and political support.
Abortion Insurance - Whitmer believes every person should be forced to pay for abortion with their insurance premiums. She opposed our legislation protecting the conscience rights of porlife individuals with with blatantly incorrect arguments.
Tax Funding of Abortion - If elected, Whitmer will lead every other Planned Parenthood-endorsed legislator to get rid of our 1987 ban on Medicaid-funded abortions. This law alone has saved more than 230,000 lives.
Gretchen Whitmer's Record on Abortion Funding
In 1987, a law was passed that saved more than 230,000 Michigan lives. Gretchen Whitmer will try to repeal this law if elected governor.
The 1987 law eliminated Medicaid abortion coverage on all abortions except those necessary to save the life of the mother (in 1993 this was amended to include cases of rape and incest because of the Clinton Administration).
This law went into effect in 1988 after facing the Michigan voters as Proposal A. 57% of Michigan voters supported the law. The very next year there was a 22% drop in Michigan abortions, saving 10,190 babies almost immediately.
Assuming a steady 22% fewer abortions per year, this law has saved about 230,000 lives in the past 30 years. It is likely that some of your acquaintances, friends, or even family are alive today because of this law. If you are under 30, consider the possibility that you may be alive today because of this law.
Planned Parenthood has long opposed our ban on Medicaid-funded abortions. Part of their endorsement requirements include supporting "access" to abortion for low-income women. Gretchen Whitmer proudly accepted Planned Parenthood's endorsement; they gave her a sole endorsement during the primary election, even though several of her opponents were also extremely pro-abortion.
Whitmer has made repealing our Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act a specific campaign promise, forcing you to pay for abortions through your health insurance premiums.
If Whitmer is elected governor and has pro-abortion majorities in the Michigan House and Senate, she will take every opportunity to advance abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy. Even if you are opposed to ending the lives of babies in the womb, you will be coerced into directly paying the abortion industry.
It is easy to see large number like 230,000 as just a number. But each number that adds up to the final total represents a unique human life saved. Gretchen Whitmer refuses to acknowledge the individual dreams, skills, and contributions that each of these lives offers us.
Gretchen Whitmer is not content to ignore the good that comes from these lives, but to also force you to help end the lives of thousands of others.
October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month
October is National Down Syndrome Awareness month.
This month, your social media feed may be filled with adorable photos and videos of Lucas Warren, the first Gerber baby with Down syndrome, and other beautiful witnesses of life with Down syndrome. Some videos may have facts about life with down syndrome; facts highlighting that their life is a life worth living and are not so different from any other life. There may be stories about individuals with Down syndrome, and reasons why they are wonderful daughters, sons, siblings, students, employees, coworkers, and even husbands and wives.
What the social media posts most likely will not highlight is the fact that for every three faces you see with Down syndrome in these pictures or in person, there are seven faces who never had a chance to live outside the womb because they were killed in an abortion. In the U.S., there is an estimated average abortion rate of 67% for babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in the womb. Other countries like Iceland and Denmark boast of eliminating Down syndrome almost completely, with abortion rates of nearly 100%.
Children's lives like the ones all over social media who smile, laugh, clap, and grow up tying their shoes, getting A's in class, succeeding at sports and jobs, living independently, and being worthy of life every bit as much as everyone else who can do these things, are being targeted for termination through abortion.
Even though an overwhelming majority of children's lives are ended because they were diagnosed with Down syndrome, the majority opinion in the U.S., according to a recent Gallup poll, is that Down syndrome abortions should not be legal. The poll shows that 51% of Americans believe it should not be legal to abort a baby with Down syndrome even in the first trimester, and 71% believe it should not be legal in the third trimester.
However, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton make it legal to abort Down syndrome babies at any point for any reason, even though a majority of Americans find that morally abhorrent.
Would more children with Down syndrome be given a chance at life if doctors weren't able to suggest an abortion after the diagnosis? What if instead they offered encouragement and support or other options such as adoption? Perhaps our social media and our daily lives would see more of these faces if 67% of them weren't missing and more were given the opportunity to live their valuable lives.
TARGETED ABORTIONS FACTSHEET
Gretchen Whitmer's Record on Abortion Insurance
Should people who disagree with abortion be forced to pay for them? This is a question that a majority of Americans consistently answer by saying, "no."
Gretchen Whitmer disagrees, believing every person should be forced to pay for abortions.
Following passage of the Affordable Care Act, prolife people faced an ugly choice. Because of the way the ACA radically changed the insurance market, we faced a situation where insurance coverage for elective abortions could become baked into every insurance plan. Instead of the government forcing you to pay for abortions with your tax dollars, the government could force you to pay for abortions with your insurance premiums. In several states, the only health insurance plans available on the exchanges had abortion coverage.
The ACA did have an escape valve in it; states could vote to opt-out of this abortion coverage. Michigan did exactly that by passing our Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act in 2013, partly via citizen petition drive. The law requires that those who want their health insurance to cover abortion must purchase a rider to their policy, ensuring that their money would be paying for abortions, not yours.
There are also secondary concerns regarding the coverage besides funding. We know of cases where children have had abortions using their parents' health insurance, and the parents were completely unaware of it at the time.
When this legislation came before the Michigan Legislature, Gretchen Whitmer led an enraged opposition to it. She called this effort to protect the conscience rights of prolife people "one of the most misogynistic proposals I have ever seen." Legislators opposing the bill called it "rape insurance," and even made ludicrous claims that women having miscarriages would have insurance coverage taken away from them.
Let's ignore the hyperventilating for the cameras and look at the facts.
The vast majority of abortions in Michigan have always been paid for with cash. That's because the average cost of a first trimester abortion (about $400-$500) is well below the average health insurance deductible. Because of the ACA, your average bronze plan deductible for a young person making little more than minimum wage is about $6,000, more than 10 times the cost of a first trimester abortion. Only late-term abortions are expensive enough to be a major consideration with health insurance.
In 2009, the year before the ACA was signed into law, there were only 222 abortions in Michigan paid for by health insurance, according to numbers from the State of Michigan. In 2012, the year before our Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act passed, there were 739 abortions paid for by health insurance. By 2017, there were 1,602 abortions paid for with health insurance.
Did you read those numbers? Our Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act didn't lower the number of women paying for abortions with health insurance at all. No woman has had her health coverage for a miscarriage taken away. It was a defensive measure to prevent abortion from being baked in to every health insurance policy in the state.
To this day, Whitmer puts opposition to our Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act at a high priority. If you look at the facts instead of her grandstanding, however, our law was preventative in nature. If elected, Whitmer would instead go on offense and force every insurance plan in the state to cover abortion.
Every time we pass prolife legislation, Whitmer and other pro-abortion legislators predict doom—this doom never happens. The bottom line in this case is that people who disagree with abortion should not be forced to pay for abortions.
Another abortion facility closes
Women's Center in Warren
In the long battle for the rights and lives of the unborn, prolifers have great reason to rejoice in the permanent closing of Women's Center of Michigan in Warren, previously owned by Jacob Kalo. With his facilities in Warren and Lathrup Village now closed, Kalo is down from five abortion facilities to three.
This closing should stand as a moment of celebration as well as a rallying point for the continued fight for life. Since our Prolife Omnibus Act passed in 2012, 16 abortion facilities in the state have closed.
Not unlike so many other abortionists and their facilities, Jacob Kalo has a terrifying track record.
In 2014, Kalo's Women's Center at Southfield had its license suspended for health and safety violations. Kalo's office completely failed to keep any medical record of the patient's condition or medical record during the abortion, and also any record of recovery, post-operative care, and the follow-up visit itself.
Just as frightening, despite the desire of the abortion industry to portray abortions as quick, safe, and easy, there are multiple records of Kalo sending women to the emergency room from botched abortions.
Back in 1984, 18-year-old Juanessa B. underwent an abortion by Jacob Kalo and experienced pain and vaginal discharge for an extended period afterward. At a two-week follow-up visit, Kalo's office sent Juanessa home apparently unworried. Eighty days (nearly three months) after her abortion, Juanessa finally went to the emergency room where doctors found a child without a heartbeat still inside her body! More real-life examples include Ms. Cummings, a 25-year-old, and Jessica D., 29, who also ended up being rushed to the ER after botched abortions by Kalo.
Also documented against Jacob Kalo are reports of biohazard waste found in dumpsters behind Kalo's clinic. In addition to patient records and bloody abortion instruments, these dumpsters held the recognizable remains of 23 babies, intermingled with other garbage such as a McDonald's bag.
Adding to the long list of horrors already stated, Kalo has been accused of multiple, specific instances of sexual misconduct, perhaps the most public of which occurred just this July! In the midst of all else happening in the lives of these patients, the vulnerable, trusting women are abused at the hands of Kalo.
When we fight for life, we are fighting not only for the life and rights of the baby, but also for the life and rights of the mother. On so many different levels, we see the horrors that abortion facilities like Kalo's are inflicting on both women and infants. At the closing of Jacob Kalo's Women's Center of Michigan, prolifers unite to rejoice and to continue passionately in the fight for life!
Gretchen Whitmer's Record on Women's Health
Gretchen Whitmer, candidate for Michigan governor, talks about women's health and protecting women. What is her actual record on that?
No, we're not talking about her failure to prosecute serial rapist Larry Nassar. We are talking about similar situations, however, where the government officials charged with protecting people fail in their duties.
We've documented years and years of abuses within the abortion industry that put women's health at risk, everything from medieval clinic conditions to abortionists with criminal histories of violence and drug abuse.
In an effort to stop the worst abuses and the worst abortionists, we passed our Prolife Omnibus Act in 2012 that reformed how abortion facilities are regulated. By simply forcing abortion facilities to follow the same rules as other outpatient surgical facilities, we forced the worst of the worst out of business. Since 2012, 14 abortion facilities have closed in Michigan.
Even with these regulations in place, there are still abortionists operating in Michigan who you wouldn't trust to operate on your cat. In 2016, a young mother named Cree Erwin died following a botched abortion at the Planned Parenthood facility in Kalamazoo. To this date, the abortionist and the Planned Parenthood facility responsible for her death has not been held accountable. Preventing and prosecuting abuses in the abortion industry is an ongoing, difficult struggle, mostly because of apathetic or rabidly pro-abortion officials who look the other way.
Will Gretchen Whitmer stand up to protect these women? No. She voted against the Prolife Omnibus Act, and would prefer it if the abortion industry were free to regulate itself. These are just simple, common-sense health and safety regulations that other outpatient facilities routinely follow.
Gretchen Whitmer receives campaign contributions directly from the abortion industry, including Planned Parenthood. She financially benefits from abortion and will never hold the abortion industry accountable, nor will she appoint health regulators and bureaucrats who care when young women like Cree Erwin die from botched abortions at Planned Parenthood or other abortion facilities.
Gretchen Whitmer's Record on Coercive Abortions
For the longest time, prolife sidewalk counselors have seen tragic situations where women are essentially dragged into abortion clinics against their will, whether it's a parent, the father, or someone else in their life. Much research backs up what prolife people have seen at Michigan abortion clinics and a large number of personal testimonies from around the country.
The abortion industry holds itself out as being "pro-choice," but in reality it profits from coercive abortions and hasn't addressed this glaring problem.
We wanted to address this problem by making coercion to abort a specific crime, to hold people accountable who force women to take the life of their own child. In 2012, the Michigan Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of two bills to make coercive abortions a crime. The votes on House Bills 4798 and 4799 where 29-8 and 29-9 in favor of the bill. These bills eventually became law.
Gretchen Whitmer voted "no" on both bills. Confronted with the issue of women being coerced into abortions against their will, Whitmer decided they didn't need additional legal protection.
Whitmer talks about "reproductive rights," "health" and "choice," but she actually means abortion. Women who are forced into having abortions deserve legal protection, not to have their stories ignored. They certainly don't deserve to be treated as collateral damage by those bent on protecting abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy at any cost.
Gretchen Whitmer's Record on Partial-Birth Abortion
There's a lot of adjectives you should use to describe partial-birth abortion: brutal, barbaric, medieval, inhumane.
Pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote in the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision Gonzales v. Carhart to uphold a ban on the procedure, also called an "intact dilation and extraction" in the euphemistic language of abortionists. In his decision, Justice Kennedy wrote, "No one would dispute that, for many, D and E is a procedure itself laden with the power to devalue human life."
Gretchen Whitmer has repeatedly voted against efforts to ban partial-birth abortions in Michigan. In 2008, she voted against a ban in the Michigan Senate, stating that, "This is a bill that is emotional, that is often argued on the basis of emotions and not always from facts."
Well, let's talk about facts. This is how a partial-birth abortion works. The woman is dilated over the course of three days. On the third day, the intact child is "extracted" via a breach birth. Before the birth process is completed, the abortionist grabs the shoulders of the child before her head is out of the birth canal. The abortionist takes a sharp instrument, and stabs the baby in the back of the head. The abortionist then uses a suction catheter to suck out the brain of the child, killing her, just mere inches before her life is considered valued and protected.
Anyone who supports that should be disqualified from holding office as a matter of basic humanity.
Gretchen Whitmer will try emotional appeals to get you to ignore the facts about this gruesome procedure, claiming it's for saving women's lives. First of all, why use a three-day-long procedure in an emergency? Second, why not just allow the baby to be born? Third, let's examine the facts. One of the pioneers of the procedure, abortionist Martin Haskell, said about 20 percent of the partial-birth abortions he performed were because the child had a disability, and 80 percent where for social or economic reasons.
Gretchen Whitmer's abortion fanaticism leads her to defend stabbing viable babies in the head during the process of birth rather than simply allowing them to be born.
If elected, Gretchen Whitmer will take the first opportunity she has to expand abortion, including making partial-birth abortions legal once again.
New Abortion Poll With Dishonest Headline
"Republicans divided over abortion," the headline reads. The Hill teamed up with a sister company of the Harris Poll for a survey on the topic of abortion.
The major takeaway in their mind is that Republicans are divided on abortion: 20% of Republicans polled said abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, 51% said it should be legal in cases of rape, incest, and the mother's life is at risk, 20% said it should be legal in the first and second trimester, and 9% said abortion should be legal at any point for any reason.
Well, they are less divided than Democrats, even though the article said Democrats are merely "somewhat divided."
How can the article so blatantly contradict the data? The authors are pulling a bait and switch using Roe v. Wade, with it being the hot topic as Judge Brett Kavanaugh inches closer to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
The only category in the poll that lines up with Roe v. Wade is those who want abortion legal at any point for any reason, an opinion shared by only 9% of Republicans and 25% of Democrats.
Because of dishonest media narratives and downright legal and historical ignorance, a lot of people believe abortions are only legal before viability/third trimester because of Roe v. Wade. Using that metric, only 29% of Republicans and 56% of Democrats agree with Roe v. Wade. When you include everyone together, only 45% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in the first or second trimester.
That ought to be the headline, right there: "55% of Americans Would Ban Most Abortions."
Sadly, many Americans don't see clearly about the issue of abortion and rape yet, but those exceptions—along with the life of the mother—count for a tiny amount of abortions. Fewer than 1 percent of abortions are because the woman is pregnant from sexual assault. Well more than 90% of abortions are for purely social and economic reasons.
Through dishonesty or ignorance, the journalists reporting on this poll are deceiving Americans about what Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton did. Even 44% of Democrats believe abortion should be entirely illegal or would ban more than 90% of abortions.
Who again is more divided?
Prolife people should be encouraged, because a majority of Americans are on their side about Roe v. Wade, and the abortion industry can only hold on to the status quo by straight-up deceiving people. They know being honest about abortion is a losing proposition for them.
Here's some other groups in the poll who would ban more than 90% of abortions:
Women: 53%
Young adults ages 18-35: 56%
Hispanics: 59%
Asians: 71%
People without high school degrees: 60%
College graduates: 53%
Independents: 51%
The only demographic groups in the poll with a majority believing abortion should be generally legal in the 1st and 2nd trimester are:
The "Silent Generation" (born before WWII): 53%
People with post-graduate education: 57%
Democrats: 55%
In other words, old college professors are abortion's key demographic, not young women.