December 23, 2019, Lansing, MI — The Michigan Values Life coalition submitted 379,418 signatures believed to be valid to the Michigan Bureau of Elections today to initiate legislation to ban dismemberment abortions in Michigan.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “This is a wonderful Christmas present to the unborn. Michigan values life, and it’s time for an end to these violent late-term dismemberment abortions.”

The legal signature requirement for citizen-initiated legislation in Michigan is 340,047, based on the total votes for governor in the previous election.

Listing said, “Our committed all-volunteer force persevered through significant obstacles that kept being put in their path this year. We’ve received more than 400,000 signatures, but after thorough checking, we’ve whittled it down to our final total of valid signatures.”

A change in the petition law in 2018 required a change in Right to Life of Michigan’s time-tested validation process. Each petition received has been checked at least four times.

Listing said, “We set a state record for the highest signature validity rate with our 2004 petition drive to ban partial-birth abortions. We hope our dismemberment ban meets or exceeds that validity rate of 97 percent.”

The Bureau of Elections will take several weeks to determine the validity of the submitted signatures, and once enough signatures are confirmed the legislation will be sent to the Michigan Legislature. The Legislature will have 40 days to consider the dismemberment ban, which after successful majority votes will become law without Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature. Initiated legislation that isn’t passed into law is placed on the general election ballot for a public vote.

Listing said, “The 379,418 people who signed their names on this life-saving dismemberment ban should be confident that our prolife majorities in the Michigan Legislature will pass the bill again, just like they did back in May.”

The dismemberment abortion procedure is the most frequently used late-term abortion procedure. The procedure works exactly like it sounds; an unborn child is dismembered and removed from her mother’s womb, one limb at a time. In 2018, there were 1,908 dismemberment abortions in Michigan reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The dismemberment ban bills include an exception if the mother’s life is in danger. However, in published research on reasons women have abortions, the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute has stated that most late-term abortions are done for economic or social reasons.

submitted by Genevieve Marnon

October 29, 2019, Lansing, MI — Today, Governor Whitmer and pro-abortion allies held a press conference to unveil what they call the Reproductive Health Act. The New York-style act would allow unlimited abortions in the state of Michigan up to the point of birth.

The act has not been introduced yet in the Legislature.

The legislation would repeal Michigan’s complete ban on abortions, which is only partially enforceable because of the U.S. Supreme Court. Michigan’s complete ban was backed by 60% of Michigan voters in 1972, but the vote was overturned by the Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton which legalized abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy.

The Reproductive Health Act would codify the Supreme Court’s decisions in state law, but it would also undo many widely supported prolife laws.

According to talking points provided by Planned Parenthood, the legislation would:
• Allow minor teens to have secret abortions without their parents’ consent—or even knowledge.
• Allow abortion facilities to ignore health and safety regulations that other medical clinics follow.
• Allow abortion facilities to refuse to provide informed consent to women.
• Allow walk-in abortions with no waiting period.

Based on the provided talking points and similar legislation in other states, the Reproductive Health Act may do the following:
• Repeal Michigan’s ban on tax-funded abortions that has saved an estimated 236,935 lives since 1989.
• Allow nurses and physician assistants to perform surgical abortions.

During her press conference remarks, Governor Whitmer also criticized Right to Life of Michigan’s petition drive to ban dismemberment abortions.

Governor Whitmer said, “They’ve already passed a bill to ban a safe procedure that has saved women’s lives. And as they know, I’m going to veto those bills if they ever have the backbone to send them to my desk.”

The following statement is from Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing:

It’s no surprise that Governor Gretchen Whitmer wants to follow New York’s lead and allow unlimited abortion-on-demand in Michigan. We know most Michiganders do not support secret teen abortions, unregulated medical facilities, or abortions up to the point of birth.

Governor Whitmer claims our petition drive to end dismemberment abortions is banning a ‘safe’ procedure. There’s nothing safe for a child during the later stages of pregnancy when her arms and legs are torn off by forceps, and her body and skull crushed and removed. The bill to end dismemberment abortions has a life of the mother exception, so her rhetoric is as empty as her compassion for viable children who can survive outside the womb.

Prolife people have plenty of backbone, which is why we continue to collect 400,000 signatures on a bill to end the dismemberment abortion procedure that rips backbones out of viable children. Most Americans do not support late-term abortions, and it’s time for Governor Whitmer to respect that Michigan values life.

RTL.org | info@rtl.org

submitted by Right to Life of Michigan

November 4, 2019, Lansing, MI — The bills making up Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Reproductive Health Act (RHA) were introduced into the Legislature on October 31, and Right to Life of Michigan staff have analyzed the changes to Michigan law.

The main bills are identical, SB 622 and HB 5179, and the other bills in the RHA remove sentencing or references to laws it would repeal.

The following are major changes to state law, and scenarios the bills would allow that are based on real events.

Major changes:
• Repeals Michigan’s complete abortion ban and codifies an unlimited health exception in state law.
• Creates an unlimited right to abortion, which could have broad implications. Allows women to sue for damages if she believes that right is being restricted in any way.
• Repeals the partial-birth abortion ban.
• Nullifies the current petition drive to enact a ban on dismemberment abortions (which amends the partial-birth abortion ban).
• Allows abortion facilities to be unregulated and never be inspected.
• Removes parental consent requirements.
• Removes waiting periods and requirements that abortionists provide women with informed consent and an opportunity to see her ultrasound.
• Removes mandated screening for abortion coercion.
• Opens the door for any medical professional to perform a surgical abortion.
• Stops local governments and schools from regulating abortion in any way, including through zoning laws.

Scenarios:
• A woman who is 30-weeks pregnant decides to have an abortion after her boyfriend abandons her. Her relationship situation qualifies as a “health” exception. Rather than completing the birth to allow the viable child a chance to survive, the child is stabbed in the head during the process of birth and her brains are suctioned out.
• A fire marshal is called after receiving an anonymous report about the poor conditions of an uninspected surgical abortion facility. The facility has water damage, rusty surgical equipment, blood spatters on walls, and garbage lying around. The fire marshal decides to let it remain open because he exposes himself to a lawsuit if he tries to close it.
• A 16-year old pregnant girl walks to the abortion facility located across the street from her school. She is given no informed consent materials, forbidden from seeing the ultrasound of her baby when she asks for it, and her surgical abortion is completed during the school day. Her parents never find out. The school can’t discipline her for skipping school because of her unlimited right to abortion.
• A sex trafficker takes his pregnant 13-year old victim to an abortion facility, no questions are asked, no medical professional is present, and the victim is sent home with her sex trafficker and abortion pills prescribed by a nurse via Skype.
• A college athlete becomes pregnant. Her coach demands she have an abortion, threatening to pull her scholarship. The athlete doesn’t want an abortion, but she knows she has no legal recourse to address her coach’s coercion. The abortion facility staff rushes to get her into the procedure room before she changes her mind.

Other changes worth noting:
• Doesn’t repeal the ban on Medicaid-funded abortions (as we speculated in our October 29 press release). However, creating an unlimited right to abortion in state law could potentially impact it.
• An unlimited right to abortion and allowing women to sue for damages could broadly impact conscience protections for healthcare workers.
• Repeals the Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act, allowing for insurance plans to have abortion coverage as a required benefit.
• Redefines fetal viability from the point a child can survive outside the womb to when a child can survive without “extraordinary” care. “Extraordinary” is undefined and could include common situations like a child sent to a neonatal intensive care unit. This ominous change could have implications for how disabled children and children who survive botched abortions are treated.
• Defines pregnancy in law at the point when the child implants in the womb, not when the child is conceived.

RTL.org | info@rtl.org

You may have heard the news that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up Alabama’s ban on dismemberment abortions. While frustrating for prolife people working on our petition drive to end dismemberment abortions in Michigan, it’s not a cause for alarm.

Right to Life of Michigan’s effort to end dismemberment amends our state’s partial-birth abortion ban; expect a process similar to the long effort to ban partial-birth abortions. That took four laws, three court cases and a petition drive. At one point the U.S. Supreme Court even ruled against a partial-birth abortion ban!

It took patience and hard work, but we achieved that goal. Now we face the next step.

The Supreme Court has the first conservative majority since 1937, but they seem hesitant to advance the prolife legal frontier in 2019. They’ve also declined to take up Indiana’s ban on abortions targeted at disabled children, and federal judges have blocked heartbeat bans and other bans in other states.

It’s tempting to give in to frustration, especially for those new to the prolife movement who have mistakenly believed prolife bans in states like Alabama and Georgia were going into immediate effect. Because of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, our judges control abortion law instead of people and their elected representatives. So far, our top judges aren’t ready to budge. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has commented on his colleagues’ lack of courage and wrote they can’t continue ignoring abortion.

Contrary to wish-casting from pro-abortion talking heads in the media, the prolife movement’s activity on the state level has not created a backlash. The latest Gallup poll even shows gains in prolife sentiment.

Prolife people can’t control Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ courage level, but we can control our effort. We must continue to press on and educate people about abortion. President Trump continues to appoint excellent judges to change the legal landscape. It’s up to us to continue prolife momentum on the ground. The way to do that in Michigan is by completing our dismemberment ban petition drive.

We’re confident someday Roe v. Wade will go, and Michigan will restore our legal protection for every unborn child. The day that happens is beyond our direct control, but prolife people will continue to clear the path forward to it.

If you’d like to walk this path with us, visit michiganvalueslife.org and help end dismemberment abortions in Michigan.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
RTL.org

September 19, 2019 – The following commentary on a Planned Parenthood organizing e-mail was posted on our website this afternoon. For some background, we don’t know what “District 9” is, since Arenac County is not in a 9th district for Congress or the Michigan Legislative. The county is very small with fewer than 20,000 people, and this Life Chain will be held in Standish, a small town with fewer than 2,000 people. Their Life Chain is being held early, so perhaps this is a trial run for wider disruptions in October.

This week a somewhat disturbing e-mail from a Planned Parenthood e-mail group was forwarded to us. Planned Parenthood sent the following message from District9@plannedparenthood.org on Tuesday, September 17, at 4:33 p.m.:

Hello,

Wanted to give you a heads up that we are organizing a stomp the bans march on Sept 29, 2019

The goal is to directly disrupt The Arenac County Right to Life, “life” chain.

Bring a lunch!!

“Stop the Bans” is Planned Parenthood’s marketing slogan for opposing recent prolife legislative efforts on the state level.

So, what does “stomp the bans” mean, then? Was it a typo? Was it a Planned Parenthood staff member taking artistic license for humorous effect? Probably.

However, there has been a recent rise in violent or criminal acts perpetrated against prolife people. “Stomp” is certainly a violent metaphor in an already divisive issue that has sadly seen violence, including abortion facility workers and prolife individuals being victimized. This has happened in Michigan, with the murder of prolife activist James Pouillon in Owosso in 2009.

As we’ve seen too many times recently, it doesn’t take much to set off a mentally unstable person. Consider some incidents in the last year, none of which are funny:

• Right to Life of Michigan’s office vandalized
• Abortion supporter round-house kicks prolife protestor in Toronto
• Pennsylvania State Rep. puts bounty on doxxing prolife teens
• 85-year-old prolife volunteer assaulted outside Planned Parenthood in San Francisco
• Prolife protester sent to hospital after assault outside Florida Planned Parenthood

While people have a right to assemble and even peacefully counter-protest, directly disrupting events of others is totally beneath civilized discourse, and violent rhetoric has no place in the abortion debate.

“Well, late-term abortions are rare!” How often have you heard that line? Usually its context is to dismiss arguments for banning late-term abortions.

Is it true, though?

Well, if late-term abortions are rare, so are many other common causes of death.

Rare is a subjective term. The best way to determine if something is rare is to compare it to related things people would say are common.

For abortion supporters, they seek to compare late-term abortions to early abortions. A familiar line you might hear is that late-term abortions are only 1% of all abortions. Because there are a massive number of abortions occurring in the United States, that 1% number is quite high.

According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, there were an estimated 926,200 abortions in the United States in 2014, the most recent estimate. The Centers for Disease Control publishes an annual report with detailed abortion statistics from most states. They routinely find that about 1.3% of abortions take place after 20 weeks of pregnancy. If you do the math, that’s 12,000 abortions after 20 weeks every year.

Are 12,000 deaths rare? In 2014, there were 11,008 homicides using a gun in the U.S. Would you describe gun violence as rare?

Often people supporting abortion make an argument like this: if prolife people cared, then they would support gun control. Right to Life of Michigan is completely neutral on issues unrelated to our mission. Gun control groups are similarly neutral on abortion. Late-term abortions are more common than gun homicides, so gun control groups should ignore their mission and help us ban late-term abortions: who would take this suggestion seriously?

Let’s look at some Michigan numbers. The most common late-term abortion procedure in our state is the dismemberment abortion procedure (D&E), used most often between 12 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. In 2017, there were 1,777 dismemberment abortions in Michigan.

In 2017 in Michigan, there were more dismemberment abortions than these all-too-common causes of death: breast cancer, car accidents, colon cancer, homicide, pancreatic cancer, Parkinson’s disease, pneumonia, and suicide.

Would you tell someone who has breast cancer that their disease is rare?

Would you say suicide is so rare that it shouldn’t be addressed as a public policy issue?

If you can’t say those things, then you can’t claim late-term abortions are rare as an excuse to ignore them—or to make a twisted moral justification for them.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
(616) 532-2300 | RTL.org

On October 1, 2019, Lansing, MI, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced she vetoed a state budget allocation for a program she voted for as a state legislator.

All of the $150,000 allocated for the Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act in the 2020 state budget was vetoed by Governor Whitmer. The Act created a fund for higher education institutions to establish offices to assist students who are pregnant or parenting children.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “Governor Whitmer is now an abortion ideologue. If this program included funding for students to have abortions instead of helping them parent through school, she would have never touched it.”

The Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act was signed into law by Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2004. It passed the Michigan House by a unanimous vote, including support from then State Representative Gretchen Whitmer.

Because of the state’s economic downturn, the program never received state funding to get off the ground. The 2020 state budget was the first to include funding.

Listing said, “Services for parenting and pregnant students on campuses are rarely even mentioned, let alone prioritized. The message our culture sends today is too often that women must choose between education and the life of their child. We can do more for mothers on campus, and at one time Governor Whitmer seemed to understand that.”

Included in Governor Whitmer’s budget line-item vetoes was the Real Alternatives program, which provides funding for organizations that help women of any age experiencing crisis pregnancies. Governor Whitmer cut all $700,000 of the funding allocated by the Legislature.

Listing said, “Governor Whitmer views even small pregnancy help programs as competition to the abortion industry that must be run out of business. Governor Whitmer will always put Planned Parenthood’s bottom line as a higher priority than women who choose life in difficult circumstances.”

Despite Governor Whitmer’s funding cuts, prolife pregnancy help and adoption organizations will continue to serve women and men in need across the state at more than 150 locations. Prolife students will continue to advocate for their colleges to do more to help pregnant college students remain in school.

Listing said, “Abortion advocates claim prolife people don’t care about women facing crisis pregnancies. But when prolife people try to help, these same abortion advocates do everything they can to shut us down.”

By Kaylee Tegethoff

On August 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood doubled down on their commitment to abortion by withdrawing from the federally-funded Title X family planning program. Planned Parenthood gave up about $60 million of your tax dollars instead of accepting the new Title X requirements implemented by the Trump Administration.

The new requirements, termed the “Protect Life Rule,” require all federal funds provided through the program be sent to organizations that do not perform or refer for abortions. These requirements uphold the intent of the original law creating the Title X program.

The estimated $60 million Planned Parenthood receives each year in Title X funds accounts for about a tenth of the total taxpayer funding the abortion giant receives. Although the Protect Life Rule eliminates just a small portion of their funding, it is still an important and influential first step in defunding Planned Parenthood.

The Protect Life Rule also demonstrates President Trump’s commitment to protecting the unborn and conscience rights. Instead of that $60 million enriching abortion providers, those funds will be redirected to non-abortion health clinics.

Even without your tax dollars, Planned Parenthood continues to profit from abortions, including late-term abortions through primarily the dismemberment procedure. Right to Life of Michigan and grassroots volunteers across the state are hard at work collecting signatures to ban the dismemberment abortion procedure in Michigan. You can learn more and join the effort at michiganvalueslife.org.

Banning dismemberment abortions in Michigan will cut the profits of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood and save the lives of vulnerable unborn children. Just as the Protect Life Rule proved Planned Parenthood’s top priority is their abortion services, the petition drive to end dismemberment abortions exposes the abortion industry and their radical commitment to ending lives through barbaric abortion procedures.

Prolife efforts are winning at the national, state and local level. We can see the progress being made on the federal level with the Trump Administration’s implementation of the Protect Life Rule. On the state level, the ongoing petition drive to end dismemberment abortions continues to receive thousands of signatures every day.

Locally, we’ve seen several recent successes. In April, Muskegon County ended Planned Parenthood’s sweetheart deal allowing them access to the county health building. The most recent numbers show their county health department is serving even more patients as a result.

Diverting taxpayer funds and banning barbaric abortion procedures are two areas of life-saving prolife progress worth celebrating.

On August 28, 2019, Grand Rapids, MI, the Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee announced 2020 election endorsements for President Donald Trump and John James.

Early endorsements by Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee (RLM-PAC) are rare. John James is the only major prolife candidate who has filed to run against U.S. Senator Gary Peters.

John James was the only U.S. Senate candidate in 2018 endorsed by the RLM-PAC.

RLM-PAC Chairman Paul Miller said, “John James is a wonderful man who will protect unborn children. He has cleared the field. He ran a strong 2018 campaign against Senator Debbie Stabenow. It was unfortunate that he had to use resources on a primary challenge from a candidate who wasn’t 100-percent prolife.”

The U.S. Senate currently has a thin prolife majority. There are 53 current senators with 100% prolife voting records, though two of those senators are not reliable prolife votes.

Miller said, “Having a prolife Senate is vital, and it may come down to John James. After the Kavanaugh nomination, it should be clear that a Senate with a pro-abortion majority will not just block nominees who don’t agree with them, but personally destroy them.”

On July 4, 2019, the National Right to Life Committee endorsed President Trump. The RLM-PAC affirmed the endorsement for his re-election campaign in Michigan.

Miller said, “Donald Trump was the first prolife presidential candidate to carry Michigan since 1988. President Trump invested in Michigan and that commitment paid off.”

President Trump’s prolife victories include nominations of two fair U.S. Supreme Court justices and numerous other judges. His administration has enforced and expanded several important regulations, making him the first president to successfully defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Miller said, “For decades, the abortion industry has relied on cheating the system, whether it’s through biased judges or ignoring laws and regulations. President Trump has made holding the abortion industry accountable an important objective.”

September 30, 2019, Grand Rapids, MI — More than 200,000 signatures to end dismemberment abortions have been received at the Right to Life of Michigan office.

Last week marked the halfway point of the Michigan Values Life petition drive, and the signatures received represent half of the 400,000 goal. 340,047 valid signatures are necessary to initiate legislation to ban the late-term dismemberment abortion procedure.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barb Listing said, “We are thankful for all the dedicated volunteers circulating petitions, and we are confident our incredible volunteers will collect the required number of signatures.”

The signature count does not include signatures thought to be invalid. The count only includes petitions received at the Right to Life of Michigan state office—not the total number of signatures gathered by volunteers. Petitions with signatures dated in July continue to be received daily.

Listing said, “We know people are holding completed petitions. Because of the time it takes to check all the signatures, we strongly encourage everyone to send in petitions as they are completed so we can count them.”

31,721 petitions have been received and counted as of Friday, September 27. More received petitions remain to be counted and more than 300,000 petitions are currently circulating in the field. Each petition has spaces for 8 signatures.

The first signatures were collected on June 26, 2019. The 180-day window to collect signatures ends on December 23, 2019.

Listing said, “Now that we are into the fall season, petitions are coming in more rapidly. We are hopeful after a strong push the signature gathering will be wrapped up before the holiday season.”

Right to Life of Michigan will give volunteers 14 days’ notice before a deadline to send in all collected signatures. Volunteers will continue collecting signatures at least through October and likely into mid-November.

More information about the petition can be found on the petition drive website, www.michiganvalueslife.org.

Grand Rapids, MI — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released the 2018 Michigan abortion report earlier this year. Michigan residents receiving abortions declined by 203, from 25,757 in 2017 to 25,554 in 2018.

Abortions performed in Michigan increased in 2018, with an additional 325 women from other states traveling to Michigan to have abortions (1,162 total).

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “It’s always good when fewer Michigan women have abortions. However, it’s tragic there are still so many children whose lives and futures are being taken from them.”

The number of dismemberment abortions (D&E) increased in Michigan by 7 percent. There were 1,908 dismemberment abortions in 2018, compared to 1,777 in 2017.

Listing said, “Our petition drive to ban the dismemberment abortion procedure is needed to help save lives. It’s wrong that a child in the womb can have their arms and legs ripped off. Such a barbaric act tarnishes the practice of medicine.”

A majority of the decline in Michigan resident abortions occurred in the city of Detroit. There were 6,061 abortions on Detroit residents in 2018, compared to 6,181 in 2017. In recent years, Right to Life of Michigan has given grants to pregnancy centers in Detroit and created a website listing pregnancy and childcare-related help organizations in Detroit: HelpintheD.org.

Listing said, “We hope our efforts have helped save those 120 lives, and we will continue to support our prolife pregnancy centers in the area as they offer women life-giving options.”

Despite the Detroit decrease, abortions performed on Black women remain tragically high. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 14.1 percent of Michigan’s population is Black, yet a majority of abortions in Michigan were performed on Black women in 2018 (50.1 percent).

Listing said, “Many people are shocked to learn that abortion has taken more Black lives than every other cause of death combined since 1973. As long as the abortion industry continues to target Black women with messages that their children are obstacles to their lives or our society, we’ll continue to offer them alternatives and hope.”

There have been 1,247,737 reported induced abortions in Michigan since 1980, when reporting first began. Abortions in Michigan have declined 45.6 percent from their high in 1987.

Right to Life of Michigan used a petition drive in 1987 to initiate our ban on Medicaid tax-funded abortions in the state. The law went into effect on December 12, 1988. Abortions decreased by 22 percent in 1989. Using that figure, our ban on Medicaid-funded abortions has saved 236,965 lives and counting since 1989.

Listing said, “Prolife laws save lives. We’re going to continue efforts to protect every unborn child’s basic human right to life. We mourn every life lost to abortion, but we celebrate every person alive today thanks to the efforts of prolife volunteers around the state and the mothers who chose life.”

Abortion is all over the news lately. Sadly, many of these stories give people an incomplete picture of abortion. Before we discuss what Americans believe, we should reflect on what they don’t know.

We must start with Roe v. Wade, which keeps abortion legal in America by blocking enforcement of any significant ban on abortion. Many people falsely believe the abortion bans recently passed in several states have gone into immediate effect. What is needed is a basic civics refresher on how our judicial system works. Roe v. Wade continues to block every significant abortion ban until the U.S. Supreme Court overturns it.

Doe v. Bolton was an abortion case decided by the Supreme Court on the same day as Roe v. Wade. The “health” exception for abortion mentioned so frequently was defined in Doe v. Bolton to include essentially everything. Thus, Roe and Doe together keep abortion legal for every reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy by blocking enforcement of abortion bans.

Few have heard of Doe, and thus most have no idea what Roe really does. Asking people what they think about Roe is about as effective as asking them what they think about admiralty law and the 2008 court case United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins (the shark fins won, by the way).

We continue to see a pattern of a woefully misinformed public. Most people think late-term abortions are performed for actual health reasons, but most are actually for economic or social reasons. Most people think millions of women died before Roe v. Wade from illegal abortions, even though the Washington Post called out Planned Parenthood recently for that data-free claim.

Truthfully, most Americans want to avoid abortion. They don’t understand it.  Most seem uncomfortable with entirely banning it, yet recoil in horror when abortion truths manage to reach them.

A clear picture emerges when polling companies like Gallup break down abortion questions by reasons and pregnancy trimesters. A majority of Americans would ban abortions for social or economic reasons, meaning more than 90% of abortions that occur today would be illegal if the views of the American people controlled our laws. An even larger majority of Americans would ban late-term abortions.

Our petition drive to ban the late-term dismemberment abortion procedure in Michigan will enjoy broad support; the procedure is so horrific that to merely describe it is to oppose it.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
(616) 532-2300 | RTL.org

Lansing, MI — On June 19, 2019, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers approved the summary and form of the Michigan Values Life petition to ban dismemberment abortions (D&E) in Michigan.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “Our affiliates and volunteers around the state are excited we’re able to begin collecting signatures to end this barbaric procedure in Michigan.”

Michigan Values Life is the name of the committee Right to Life of Michigan organized to collect signatures to initiate the legislation into the Michigan Legislature. The legislation can be passed into law by majority votes in the Legislature with no input from Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has promised to veto the legislation.

The dismemberment ban itself is the same as the bills passed by the Michigan House and Senate in May. A section has been added allowing the Michigan Legislature to intervene in lawsuits in case Attorney General Dana Nessel refuses to defend the law in court.

It will take a few weeks for the petitions to be printed and distributed to volunteers who have already expressed interest. State law requires signatures to be collected within 180 days. A petition order form, circulating instructions, and other materials are available on the Michigan Values Life website: michiganvalueslife.org.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy used the term “dismemberment” to describe dilation and evacuation abortions (D&E).

In his opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart, Justice Kennedy wrote, “The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn limb from limb. The fetus can be alive at the beginning of the dismemberment process and can survive for a time while its limbs are being torn off.”

The dismemberment abortion procedure is the most frequently used late-term abortion procedure. In 2018, there were 1,908 dismemberment abortions in Michigan reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The dismemberment ban bills include an exception if the mother’s life is in danger. However, in published research on reasons women have abortions, the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute has stated that most late-term abortions are done for elective reasons.

Since New York endorsed abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy, prolifers have been on the move. Many people who considered themselves prolife but didn’t commit themselves to regular efforts to end abortion have suddenly been awakened and activated.

Many of those people have seen prolife legislation in other states and wonder what Michigan will do. In Michigan, our focus will be a ban on dismemberment abortions (also called a D&E abortion).

Sadly, in Michigan, this prolife crescendo came at a bad time. Michigan went from having an indifferent governor in Rick Snyder to now having an actively pro-abortion governor in Gretchen Whitmer. The silver lining is Michigan voters returned prolife majorities to the Legislature.

Thankfully, Michigan’s Constitution has a provision that allows citizens to initiate legislation directly to the Legislature by collecting a large number of signatures. If the Michigan House and Senate approve the legislation, it becomes law without the governor.

Right to Life of Michigan and local affiliates have been very successful in the past using these petition drives, most recently in 2013. Such an effort requires a laser-like focus, and for the next two years our focus is on banning dismemberment abortion.

Several other states have advanced different prolife laws: bans on abortion after 20 weeks, heartbeat bans, bans on targeted abortions for reasons of sex-selection or disability, etc. Most of these laws require Roe v. Wade to be overturned to be effective.

Michigan is unique. Michigan currently has a law on the books banning abortion except to save the life of the mother. After Roe was decided in 1973, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that our law remains in legal effect, but not fully enforceable. The day Roe v. Wade is overturned, our law has an opportunity to be restored to full effect. So, Michigan law already bans abortions after 20 weeks, or after a heartbeat is detected, or abortions targeted at specific demographics; we’ve got that covered.

A ban on dismemberment abortion is different. It’s the next prolife law likely to be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court if they aren’t willing to fully overturn Roe v. Wade yet. Crucially, it allows us to educate people about abortion itself. A dismemberment abortion involves tearing the arms and legs off a child in the later stages of pregnancy.

Dismembering a human being goes against our Michigan values and it’s time for us to stop it.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education

March 12, 2019, Lansing, Mich. -– Legislation to ban dismemberment abortions in Michigan was introduced today in the Michigan House.

House Bills 4320 and 4321 would amend Michigan’s 2011 ban on partial-birth abortions by including the dismemberment abortion procedure, also known as a dilation and evacuation abortion (D&E).

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “These bills are Michigan’s response to New York’s abortion law and other states seeking to explicitly allow abortions through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason.”

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy accurately described dismemberment/D&E abortions in his opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions on partial-birth abortion in Gonzales v. Carhart (2007) and Stenberg v. Carhart (2000).

In Gonzales, Justice Kennedy wrote, “The doctor, often guided by ultrasound, inserts grasping forceps through the woman’s cervix and into the uterus to grab the fetus. The doctor grips a fetal part with the forceps and pulls it back through the cervix and vagina, continuing to pull even after meeting resistance from the cervix. The friction causes the fetus to tear apart. For example, a leg might be ripped off the fetus as it is pulled through the cervix and out of the woman.”

In Stenberg, Justice Kennedy wrote, “The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn from limb from limb. The fetus can be alive at the beginning of the dismemberment process and can survive for a time while its limbs are being torn off.”

Listing said, “In his opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy rightly said that dismemberment abortions are ‘laden with the power to devalue human life.’ Tearing the arms and legs off children in the later stages of pregnancy is not a good reflection of our Michigan values.”

The dismemberment abortion procedure is the most frequently-used late-term abortion procedure in America and Michigan. In 2017, there were 1,777 dismemberment abortions in Michigan reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Of those, 98 percent occurred in the second trimester, between 13 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.

In published research on reasons women have abortions, the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute has stated that most late-term abortions are done for elective reasons.

In a 2013 study the Guttmacher Institute published, the authors admitted, “But data suggest that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.”

Listing said, “Opinion polls routinely show a majority of Americans believe late-term abortions should be illegal. Dismemberment abortions are obvious violence and that’s not how we should be treating our own children.”

On January 22, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a horrific bill into law. On the 46th memorial of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, Governor Cuomo made several changes to state abortion law, including formally legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason.

This new law has prolife people everywhere heartbroken. On the very same day of mourning for the 59 million lives lost over tragic U.S. Supreme Court decisions 46 years ago, New York embraced abortion-on-demand with open arms. Days later, a similar bill failed to pass in Virginia. In defense of the bill’s sponsor, embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made a statement condoning infanticide, saying that disabled babies can be born alive and left to die.

Other states with pro-abortion majorities are following suit. Governor Gretchen Whitmer promised to do the same in Michigan, but our prolife majorities in the Legislature prevent that—for now.

These opinions are nothing new. Abortion through all nine months of pregnancy—until the day of birth—is what Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton originally legalized. Roe v. Wade stated that abortions in the third trimester could be banned as long as an exception existed if the woman’s health was in danger, but Doe v. Bolton defined “health” to mean whatever reasons the woman or abortionist wanted: “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the well-being of the patient.”

Put simply, the Supreme Court legalized abortion at any time and for any reason; states can ban late-term abortions as long as they allow them for any reason.

The purpose of the New York’s new law was simply to ensure that unlimited abortions will continue to be legal in New York when Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton are finally overturned. These laws are simply a defense of the barbaric status quo.

Poor media coverage, elected officials in both parties unwilling to broadly engage the abortion debate, and the refusal of most pro-abortion advocates to plainly state their radical beliefs have blinded many Americans to the gravity of the abortion issue and the extent of its grip on our culture.

How will abortion’s grip be loosened? Only when people look clearly at this life and death issue. Perhaps the silver lining in the recent events in Virginia, New York, and elsewhere is that abortion supporters now must be somewhat more honest than usual.

Women’s history month was instituted to celebrate the important role women have had in building history. This month celebrates women who have made famous impacts in fighting for justice and equality like Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman, as well as the many unrecognized efforts of women throughout history whose names are unknown.

During this month, we cannot forget the group of women who have been by far the most unrecognized and undervalued in all of history: the nearly 30 million women in America whose lives were taken from them in the womb since 1973.

Many speak about abortion as if it liberates women. In truth, abortion is a tool for discriminating against women. According to one estimate, more than 160 million women around the globe were denied the chance to impact the world because of sex-selection abortions and infanticides in recent decades. Women’s organizations should be outraged; it’s alarmingly unjust that tens of millions of women’s lives ended simply because they were female instead of male.

Sadly, this is not new. For many years before abortion became widely available, baby girls would often be tragically left to die by many parents who decided they wanted a boy instead. This still occurs in some countries today with alarming regularity. The problem has become so stark it’s a crime in some nations to use an ultrasound to learn the sex of your unborn child.

Some may see infanticide as more horrifying than having an abortion, but both options end the child’s life.

In recent weeks, many U.S. politicians including 44 U.S. Senators have sent the message that they see no difference between ending a child’s life in the womb or after birth. If the child is unwanted by the birth parents and targeted for abortion—as is the case for many millions of baby girls around the world—they would ignore infanticide through neglect if the abortion fails and results in a live birth instead.

So many politicians, celebrities—and of course, Planned Parenthood—widely praise abortion as the foundation of women’s rights, but by doing so they ignore the stories of hundreds of millions of women who were denied the most basic right to life. Abortion is a tool used over and over for discrimination and targeting of vulnerable lives deemed “unwanted.” So much more women’s history would be made if we simply valued the life of every little girl.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released their annual report on abortion statistics, showing that abortion rates are lower than ever. Though it is unacceptable that abortion should claim the lives of any number of children, it is encouraging to see this improving trend.

Looking at the CDC report is helpful for understanding the dynamics driving the abortion issue. However, it is 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 abortion data 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. According to the Guttmacher Institute—which polls abortion facilities directly—the total national figure for all 50 states was an estimated 926,200 in 2014. Both sources agree abortion is in decline.

Women in their 20s remain the largest demographic of those who have abortions. However, the average age of a woman having an abortion has been slowly increasing. Teen abortions continue to plummet, with their abortion rate decreasing by 54% since 2006.

The 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. The ratio for non-Hispanic white women is 108 abortions per 1,000 live births, 152 for Hispanic women, and 403 for non-Hispanic black women.

A majority of women having abortions already have a child. The repeat abortion rate is high, with 43.6% of abortions being performed on women who have already had at least one prior abortion.

The steady decrease in abortions is encouraging; the hard work of the prolife movement is paying off and more women are choosing life. However, the numbers paint a tragic picture of many 20-something urban minorities who already have one child and believe abortion is their only viable option. Perhaps they are at the abortion facility for the second or third time.

While the prolife movement continues to enhance legal protection for unborn children, we will continue to reach women in desperate situations or trapped in a downward spiral. In order to see a day in which abortion is both illegal and unthinkable, we must educate more people about our supreme value that every human life is valuable.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
cgast@rtl.org

February 5, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich. -– Right to Life of Michigan is calling on U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow to support S.130, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

Last night, an effort to give S.130 unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate was blocked by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).

The legislation would require that a child born alive after a botched abortion be treated with the same level of care as a premature infant born at the same stage of pregnancy, and that the child be transported to a hospital for proper care.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “It should be easy for everyone to agree that once a child is born, they deserve the same treatment as any other child. Why would anyone disagree? This isn’t about abortion, but about treating newborns with the care they deserve.”

S.130 would add protections to the existing federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002. The 2002 law defines a child born alive following a botched abortion as a person under existing federal laws. The 2002 law passed the U.S. Senate with unanimous consent.

Listing said, “Senator Debbie Stabenow was in the U.S. Senate in 2002, so we hope she won’t object to making sure the law is being properly enforced today.”

The legislation was introduced by Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) in the wake of a new abortion law in New York and legislation in Virginia. The New York law recently signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo repealed legal protection in the state for children born alive following botched abortions.

Similar legislation in Virginia was defeated after the bill sponsor publicly admitted the legislation would allow abortions through all nine months of pregnancy, even during the process of labor.

Embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam defended the legislation and third trimester abortions in a radio show where he said, “The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

Listing said, “There are examples of children just left to die following a late-term abortion. It’s clear our country’s laws need to be improved to ensure infanticide or passive euthanasia of children is not occurring. This shouldn’t be a controversial issue and we expect our Michigan Senators to stand for basic, humane treatment.”

Grand Rapids, Mich. -– Tuesday, January 22 marked the 46th year of legalized abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. The decisions allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason.

In the past 46 years, legalized abortion has ended the lives of an estimated 59 million children in the womb.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “This is an unthinkable number of deaths that continues to grow each year. We must stand firm in our opposition to this tragedy.”

Prolife people mourn the loss of life, but remain optimistic about the future. Last year saw several significant prolife victories.

President Donald Trump made another Supreme Court nomination after Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Justice Brett Kavanaugh is potentially the fifth vote on the Court needed to overturn or significantly weaken Roe v. Wade.

In May 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of prolife pregnancy centers in the case NIFLA v. Becerra , protecting their right to free speech.

The Centers for Disease Control released their annual report on the number of abortions in the U.S., showing the lowest recorded number of abortions since 1973. Abortions in the U.S. decreased 24 percent since 2006 and have been declining since 1990.

Listing said, “Now is a time to be encouraged by all the prolife movement has accomplished and to renew our determination to see an end to the millions of deaths brought about by abortion.”

On January 18, 2019, hundreds of thousands of prolife individuals traveled to the nation’s capital to show their support for the lives of unborn child in the annual March for Life. Right to Life of Michigan affiliates took 18 buses with more than 900 people to the March for Life, and hosted many local events to mark the 46th memorial of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

Background information:
Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton
Abortions Since Roe
NIFLA v. Becerra
CDC Abortion Report

From the prolife perspective in Michigan, the election results aren’t great. Gretchen Whitmer won the race for governor. She is strongly in favor of abortion, ready to pour support into Planned Parenthood, halt prolife legislation, and to fight for forcing all insurance plans to pay for abortions. If possible, she would repeal the 1987 law stopping Medicaid-funded abortions, which has saved more than 230,000 Michigan lives.

Still, we cannot give up the fight. Voters returned prolife majorities to our State Legislature. Michigan has a unique citizen-initiated legislative process, which allows Michigan citizens to directly impact our state’s laws. If a legislative proposal receives enough valid signatures, the proposal is presented to the Michigan Legislature to adopt or reject without the governor’s signature. We the people still have an opportunity to advance legal protection for unborn children.

There’s a major hurdle to passing more prolife laws, however. Dana Nessel was elected to be our next attorney general. During her campaign, she said she would refuse to enforce prolife laws. As the top law enforcement office of the state, Nessel’s job is supposed to be enforcing the laws, which are legitimately passed by our elected officials or voted on directly by the voters. Instead, she seems to view her job as a crusade against those who disagree with her politically.

She also claimed she wants to shut down prolife pregnancy care centers. Attacking these nonprofit centers for the apparent crime of providing free help and resources to women and men in need is beyond the pale.

By a small margin, prolife veteran John James lost to Senator Debbie Stabenow. Among a long list of pro-abortion votes, Stabenow voted to keep partial-birth abortion legal, voted to force taxpayers to fund abortion, and voted against a ban against smuggling minor teens out-of-state for abortions behind their parents’ backs.

While prolife people may be discouraged by results at the top of the ticket in Michigan, we can’t give up. There’s a larger prolife majority in the U.S. Senate, which means President Trump can continue to nominate fair justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts. Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton are in even greater danger, meaning voters may once again soon see their role in deciding abortion policy restored to them.

We continue working towards a day when the right to life of every human being is once again respected and protected.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
cgast@rtl.org | 616-532-2300

On the 46th anniversary of the court cases Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton that legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, we remember the 59 million lives lost to induced abortion since January 22, 1973.

Large numbers like 59 million can be difficult to wrap your brain around, because there aren’t many tangible examples of numbers that large. Let’s give it a try, though. Here’s a few examples of what the number 59 million could compare to.

If each person lost to abortion was represented by 1 second of silence, this would take 683 days— nearly two years—of silence.

If each person lost to abortion was represented by one square mile, the space needed would be 2 million square miles more than the land area of the globe.

Though 59 million people can’t realistically be in one physical place, millions can come together through the World Wide Web. Millions of people can be united in one interest or follow the same celebrity on social media. President Trump, for example, has around 57 million followers on Twitter. The missing 59 million people could double his Twitter account.

One physical space that does give a comparable example of millions of people together is large cities. On the crowded streets of a city like New York, you can barely stretch out your arm without it hitting someone else. Even then, it is impossible to visualize how many people are really in the entire city. But imagine for a moment the busy streets, packed coffee shops and restaurants, and sky-high office, hotel, and apartment buildings in some of the world’s most popular cities: Beijing, Tokyo, London, Paris, Los Angeles, and New York. Now realize: the entire population of these six famous cities combined comes to roughly 3 million people less than the missing 59 million.

If the people in these cities all disappeared from one cause, would the world pay attention? Because they had faces that were visible, and they could make sounds you might hear? Or would there still be some who made excuses, saying that the world was overpopulated anyway, or that so many of those people probably lived in poverty or with disabilities, and led worthless lives anyway?

Let us be the first to pay attention and stand up for the 59 million lives lost and be the first to recognize the sanctity of every human life.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education

www.RTL.org

The pro-abortion news website Rewire recently published an article about the Democratic primary race for Michigan governor: “Michigan Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Take Aim at ‘Zombie’ Law Banning Abortion.”

What is this “zombie law”? Since 1846, Michigan has legally protected the lives of unborn children. The most recent update of our law was in 1931. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, this law may have an opportunity to go back into effect.

Abortion supporters call this a “zombie law” because they somehow believe it’s already dead. Except that’s not true at all.

In January of 1973, Roe v. Wade and its companion case Doe v. Bolton overturned the laws of all 50 states, forcing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason on them. Several weeks prior, in November of 1972, Michigan voters had a chance to vote on our “zombie law.” Abortion supporters tried to repeal it through Proposal B of 1972, but 60 percent of Michiganders voted to keep our law.

Can you call a law that got a supermajority of support from voters “dead”? Can you call a law that’s still legally enforceable in some cases “dead”? We don’t think so.

Roe v. Wade, however, is certainly a case befitting the walking dead. Only 13 percent of Americans believe abortion should be generally legal in the third trimester, but that’s the law of the land because of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. That’s 87 percent of Americans who oppose its effects.

Abortion supporters’ use of the term “zombie” is laden with tragic irony. Roe v. Wade has the outer husk of an actual judicial decision, but it is dead inside; even pro-abortion lawyers can’t justify it on legal grounds. It’s abortion that consumes the lives of innocent human beings in apocalyptic numbers, not laws that protect them.

Once you get past the verbal smokescreen of terms like “zombie law,” you can see where Gretchen Whitmer actually wants to take Michigan if elected governor. It goes well beyond just Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, but to forcing people to pay for abortions, even bringing back partial-birth abortions.

If there is any idea in America that should be buried, yet still manages to stalk the countryside harming innocent lives, it’s the idea that we can declare a class of human beings subhuman and refuse to honor their unalienable right to life.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
cgast@rtl.org

Lansing, Mich. — On Wednesday, State Rep. Brian Elder (D-Bay City) introduced HB 6281, an unconstitutional bill attacking the freedom of speech of prolife pregnancy help centers.

Rep. Elder’s bill closely mirrors a law in California that was struck down on June 26 by the U.S. Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra.

Amy Srebinski is executive director of Beacon of Hope Pregnancy Care Center, the prolife pregnancy help center in Rep. Elder’s district. Srebinski was confused about why Rep. Elder would want to pursue unconstitutional legislation.

Srebinski said, “This doesn’t make sense. Why would he introduce a bill already struck down by the Supreme Court?”

The legislation would require prolife pregnancy help centers to display a notice in advertising larger than the text of their own message. The notice would state that they are an unlicensed facility. The purpose of the legislation is to effectively prevent prolife pregnancy centers from advertising, in order to give abortion businesses a competitive advantage.

Srebinski said, “We gain nothing financially from what we do. Nothing about what we do is deceptive. This tells me he has no idea what pregnancy centers really do.”

Organizations that support abortion frequently describe prolife pregnancy help centers as “fake clinics.” In Michigan, there are more than 150 pregnancy and adoption help centers that offer a variety of services, including pregnancy counseling, pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds, maternity and children’s clothing, formula, diapers, and other services.

Srebinski said, “We give away tens of thousands of dollars in services that help women. We see approximately 100 clients a month and give away about 72,000 diapers a year.”

The legislation represents a stunning reversal for Rep. Elder, who declared himself to be 100 percent prolife and was endorsed by the Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee (RLM-PAC) in the 2016 election.

In an April 26 article published by Gongwer, Rep. Elder announced he would not be seeking the RLM-PAC endorsement but said his views about abortion haven’t changed. He said he had “absolutely no plans to do anything substantive on the issue.”

Now four months later, Rep. Elder has introduced unconstitutional legislation targeting prolife nonprofit pregnancy help centers.

Srebinski said, “It’s very unfortunate that he’s taking this stance.”

Right to Life of Michigan is calling on Rep. Elder to withdraw his unconstitutional bill attacking prolife pregnancy centers.

Srebinski said, “I’d like to make an open invitation to Mr. Elder to visit our center and learn more about us.”

Background Information:
Rep. Elder’s Betrayal
HB 6281
NIFLA v. Becerra
April 26, 2018 Gongwer Article
Pregnancy and Adoption Help Agencies in Michigan

Lansing, Mich. — Right to Life of Michigan is supporting language in the state budget that would require the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to prioritize granting family planning funding to organizations that don’t provide abortions.

Michigan Public Act 360 of 2002 already requires those funds to be prioritized, but the state law is not being enforced.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “For 16 years the state law has been ignored. We’re happy the Legislature is taking this opportunity to make sure our law is followed.”

Currently Planned Parenthood receives federal Title X pass-through grants in seven Michigan counties where an alternative healthcare provider exists that doesn’t perform elective abortions. State law requires these non-abortion providers be given priority when the MDHHS allocates Title X funding. Planned Parenthood also receives funding in six additional counties where no alternative provider exists.

Listing said, “There’s no reason a county health department should be losing out in favor of Planned Parenthood, which performs more than 320,000 abortions annually across the country. It’s time for our state government to follow the state law and make sure our tax dollars are not helping Planned Parenthood expand abortion.”

The state budget language specifically requires MDHHS to contract with an alternative entity that applies for funding, given state law requires them to prioritize non-abortion entities. The budget language also requires MDHHS to prioritize counties where no family planning providers exist. Public Act 360 of 2002 requires MDHHS to award grants in a geographically-diverse way.

Listing said, “We should all agree that non-controversial places like county health departments should be at the front of the line. Planned Parenthood shouldn’t be able to cut the line. We also shouldn’t be duplicating services when there are counties that have no services.”

A spokeswoman for Governor Snyder’s office has said the language may violate the state constitution because it changes a state law, but the budget language doesn’t change the state law.

Listing said, “We think the governor has been given bad information. Our state’s law is clear, and the budget simply requires MDHHS to follow the law.”

Background Information:
PA 360 of 2002

There’s a growing sense that Western Civilization is in decline. Our national news and social media are choking with negative stories and expressed fears. We elevate slights to national outrages and make trends out of singular experiences.

Ireland’s recent vote to embrace legalized abortion is a perfect example of how our misplaced focus is causing people to miss the reality around them.

Ireland’s constitution specifically recognized the right to life of children in the womb. On May 25, two-thirds of Irish voters scrapped the amendment. Their decision doesn’t make sense when you examine the state of Irish society. Abortion supporters were able to distract the focus of voters.

Irish voters were told that their prolife law was oppressing women. In reality, the European Union’s European Institute for Gender Equality shows Ireland to be above the European average in their measures of equality between the sexes. Most European nations embrace elective abortion.

Irish voters were told women were dying because of their prolife law. In reality, pregnant women are nearly twice as likely to die in the U.S. than in Ireland, even with America’s extremely permissive abortion laws.

If you wanted to look throughout the planet and see the best example of a nation thriving while also protecting the right to life of every human being in their society, Ireland was that example.

While many Irish voters believe they’ve finally thrown off the yoke of Catholic oppression and struck a blow for women everywhere, in reality they have completely lost focus on one real threat to their future prosperity.

Here’s a story that received little focus in the last few days: Medicare will enter bankruptcy in eight years, even faster than projected. We have so few young people (58 million less in America because of abortion) that we can’t afford our old-age entitlements anymore—painful changes are coming.

Ireland, the rest of Europe, eastern Asia: these countries are similarly struggling with maintaining strong economic growth in the face of aging demographics. Most have embraced abortion. Most of their people focused on the population explosion in the last century as a looming disaster of epic proportions, rather than a welcome sign of technological progress and improving prosperity.

Ireland could not focus on reality, their economic future, or even on protecting the lives of their next generation. Instead, two-thirds of Irish people focused on the make-believe benefits of joining a culture of death.

On July 9, President Trump announced he would nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat following the retirement of Anthony Kennedy.

Judge Kavanaugh is undeniably qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. Yet before his nomination was even announced, criticism began. The Women’s March embarrassed itself by sending out a press release naming the nominee as “XX.” They forgot to paste in the name of the nominee before predicting a “death sentence for thousands of women.”

The potential that Kennedy’s replacement may create a majority in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade is the cause of these unhinged reactions. What would actually happen if Roe was overturned?

It’s important to note that thousands of women across the fruited plain will not die in childbirth, or however else the Women’s March expects them to brutally die at the hands of the nefarious Justice XX.

What would actually happen is the U.S. Supreme Court would correctly recognize that the U.S. Constitution is silent on abortion. Abortion laws would once again be in the hands of the voters to choose.

Letting voters choose abortion laws poses a serious problem for pro-abortion organizations. A vast majority of Americans reject the effects of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which together legalized abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy.

Gallup routinely does polling on abortion. In May, they released a detailed poll about the legality of first or third trimester abortions in specific cases. Only 29% polled believe third trimester abortions should be legal for children diagnosed with Down syndrome. An Indiana law banning abortions targeted at children with Down syndrome was recently overturned because of Roe v. Wade.

More than 90% of abortions are done purely for social or economic reasons. According to the Gallup poll, only 45% of Americans believe first trimester abortions for those reasons should be legal. Roe v. Wade takes away any opportunity to address that in any significant way.

If we want to uphold our core democratic values, we must not reject fair judges simply to disenfranchise a majority of American voters. Groups calling themselves “pro-choice” should welcome the opportunity to give voters a chance to debate abortion in the public square.

Would Judge Brett Kavanaugh potentially be the fifth vote to overturn Roe v. Wade? We won’t know until we get there. If we do, we have nothing to fear but democracy itself.

Lansing, Mich. — Today Michigan Senate Bill 1055 was introduced to require informed consent for vaccines produced using cell lines taken from aborted babies.

The bill would require the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to maintain an online list of vaccines produced using tissue from aborted babies, as well as alternative vaccines developed without using such tissue. As part of informed consent, health care providers would be required to provide that information to patients before administering vaccines produced using tissue from aborted babies.

Right to Life of Michigan Barbara Listing said, “The existence of these vaccines requires patients and parents to make important ethical decisions. Sadly, many people are unaware of these facts, including many doctors and nurses. Patients need accurate information to make informed decisions, and many are not getting that now.”

Several current vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are produced using two cells lines derived from tissue from electively-aborted babies in the 1960s: MRC-5 and WI-38. The cell lines are used to produce the viruses used in vaccines. Most abortion-tainted vaccines have alternatives that are produced using growth mediums derived from animals or other sources.

While the information on vaccine ingredients is readily available on package inserts and from the FDA website, many people are confused by the information they receive in public or from medical professionals.

Listing said, “This bill simply gives people an opportunity to access vaccine information, so they can make choices according to their conscience.”

One of the ethical considerations is that the use of aborted-tainted vaccines encourages the development of new cell lines from future elective abortions.

Listing said, “We should all agree that the existence of alternative vaccines proves it’s unnecessary to take human life to create effective vaccines. Vaccine manufacturers should only use ethical sources for future vaccine production.”

A list of vaccines produced using tissue from aborted babies and alternative options can be found on the Right to Life of Michigan website.

Background Information:
Michigan Senate Bill 1055
Abortion-tainted Vaccines and Alternatives
FDA-approved Vaccines

Grand Rapids, Mich. — Right to Life of Michigan is calling on U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Kavanaugh has 12 years of experience and a proven track record as a sitting circuit court judge. He meets the professional and judicial qualifications asked of a potential U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “Judge Kavanaugh is fully qualified to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. His record shows fairness in applying the law as written.”

Listing said, “The only reason Senators Stabenow or Peters could object to his nomination is because they don’t believe he’ll rule according to their wishes. Judges exist to interpret the law as written, not cheat voters and elected officials out of their responsibilities. The job of U.S. senators is to thoroughly vet judicial nominees, not block them because they aren’t biased enough.”

Planned Parenthood and NARAL are opposing Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, claiming he will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s unclear how Judge Kavanaugh would handle future abortion cases, as well as other sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices who haven’t ruled on Roe v. Wade.

Roe v. Wade and its companion case Doe v. Bolton legalized abortion through all months of pregnancy for any reason in all 50 states in 1973. The decision disenfranchised a large majority of Michigan voters who supported Michigan’s legal protections for unborn children in a 1972 November general election vote.

Listing said, “Groups calling themselves ‘pro-choice’ should agree with most legal scholars that Roe v. Wade was poorly decided. Anyone who respects our democratic process should also respect the proper role of judges and leave important issues in the hands of voters, not unelected officials. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, it just means voters will be able to choose once again.”

While on the D.C. Circuit Judge Kavanaugh ruled against the Obama Administration forcing the prolife group Priests for Life to purchase drugs or devices that may cause abortions. Judge Kavanaugh also ruled against the ACLU’s effort to force the Trump Administration to facilitate abortions for minors who entered the country illegally.

Background Information:
Profile of Brett Kavanaugh
Supreme Court Cases on Abortion
What Happens if Roe v. Wade is Overturned?
Latest Gallup Poll on Abortion

Grand Rapids, Mich. — Today the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law forcing prolife pregnancy centers to advertise for free abortions.

The 5-4 decision in NIFLA v. Becerra held that the California law unconstitutionally infringed on the free speech rights of prolife pregnancy centers. The law singled out prolife pregnancy centers and compelled them to speak against their own beliefs.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “This is an important decision. It’s sad that pro-abortion elected officials would target prolife organizations which provide free support to women, men, and children. Today the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that singling them out for punishment violates the U.S. Constitution.”

Had the law been allowed to stand, it would have effectively neutralized the ability for California pregnancy centers to reach women through advertising.

Listing said, “The abortion industry sees pregnancy help centers as business competitors cutting into their revenue. In reality, prolife pregnancy centers are often volunteer-run and solely dedicated to providing concerned women a path forward to keeping their child and walking with them along the way.”

Prolife organizations provide pregnancy and adoption help services at more than 150 locations in Michigan. Many of the services are free, including counseling, clothing, diapers, formula, and parenting and life skills classes.

Listing said, “Prolife people do support women and children after they are born. Planned Parenthood may call prolife pregnancy centers ‘fake clinics,’ and pro-abortion legislators may try to shut them down, but that won’t affect the good work they do that deserves more attention.”

The story of Alfie Evans in Britain shocked and captivated an international audience. His death on April 28 was tragic, leaving his parents and countless people across the globe heartbroken, including his devoted online advocates in “Alfie’s Army.”

Many things happened during his case. The medical details are complex, with Alfie perhaps suffering from a unique disease. While the details may be hard to follow, the controversy in Alfie’s care was very simple: Alfie’s medical care was forcibly removed from him because of his supposed quality of life.

Patients must always have the right to refuse unwanted burdensome medical treatment, but in Alfie’s case, he was unable to express his wishes. Normally his parents would speak for him, as they are in the best position to guard Alfie’s best interest. Instead, British courts usurped patient autonomy and parental rights to take away Alfie’s care to cause his death.

How a patient views their health is important, but it’s a subjective view. Sadly, many doctors, hospitals, academics, and government officials have come to believe that many forms of disability are so insufferable that a person is objectively better off dead. “I wouldn’t want to be hooked up to those machines” is quickly turning into, “You shouldn’t be hooked up to those machines.”

Theoretically there could have been good reasons for courts to take away Alfie from his parents. Alfie could have been older and communicated his wishes. Alfie’s parents could have been abusive or been keeping him alive for financial reasons. Alfie’s medical care could have been futile. Alfie could have been suffering. The reality is none of that occurred in this case. No evidence was presented before the courts that Alfie was physically suffering. Alfie was not brain dead.

The courts simply decided they knew better about what Alfie needed than his parents, and they decided he needed to die. This precedent should concern everyone: we may be next.

The sinister nature of a “quality of life” ethic is that those who believe people are better off dead feel morally justified in causing people to die. Removing care or giving people lethal doses of drugs is cheap, whereas caring for the sick and disabled can be very difficult. People have a habit of taking the easy route, sometimes even if it obviously harms other people. Now the easy route has a worldview that justifies forcing people to die as compassionate.

Chris Gast
Director of Communication/Education
cgast@rtl.org | 616-532-2300

www.RTL.org

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June 8, 2018 – Today the full list of Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee (RLM-PAC) endorsements has been posted on the Right to Life of Michigan website. The full list is available here.

A Personalized Prolife Ballot generator is available here for voters to find the endorsed candidates that will appear on their precinct’s primary ballot.

RLM-PAC exclusively endorsed John James in the U.S. Senate race to replace current pro-abortion Senator Debbie Stabenow. John James is the only 100-percent prolife candidate in the race.

In the gubernatorial race the RLM-PAC endorsed all four Republican candidates: Lt. Governor Brian Calley, State Senator Patrick Colbeck, Dr. Jim Hines, and Attorney General Bill Schuette.

RLM-PAC Director Casey Kreiner said, “We are thrilled to announce 267 endorsements for the August 7th primary election. The RLM-PAC endorsement process is rigorous, and we have a strong slate of prolife candidates for the primary. As we move forward we would like to encourage all Michigan voters to support these candidates. These candidates are willing and able to stand for the most vulnerable among us.”

Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee (RLM-PAC) has made early endorsements in the primary races for Michigan Governor and the United States Senate.

RLM-PAC exclusively endorsed John James in the U.S. Senate race to replace current pro-abortion Senator Debbie Stabenow. John James is the only candidate in the race who meets RLM-PAC criteria.

RLM-PAC Director Casey Kreiner said, “For more than 40 years Debbie Stabenow has been in office–from the State Legislature to the United States Senate–voting against protections for the most vulnerable among us and the value of life at all stages. John James is an excellent candidate capable of winning a tough race, and he has committed prolife positions ensuring the protection of life through all stages.”

In the gubernatorial race the RLM-PAC endorsed all four Republican candidates: Lt. Governor Brian Calley, State Senator Patrick Colbeck, Dr. Jim Hines, and Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Kreiner said, “Each of these four candidates has demonstrated a strong commitment to protection of all human life. Ensuring Michigan elects a governor who will protect and build upon our state’s culture of life is a top priority. Each of these candidates has demonstrated the strength and willingness to do just that.”

RLM-PAC endorsements in other primary races will be made at a later date as the endorsement process continues.

Background information:
RLM-PAC Criteria

Right to Life of Michigan | www.RTL.org

On Thursday, April 5, 2018, Hawaii Governor David Ige signed a bill legalizing doctor-prescribed suicide (DPS) in the state in 2019. Hawaii has joined four other states in passing legislation to allow doctors to give lethal drugs to patients.

Personal autonomy is quickly becoming the sole lodestar of society. Euthanasia and suicide advocates sell these legal efforts as the ultimate in personal autonomy: controlling your own death. Despite this seemingly natural fit of idea to ideology, DPS activists continue to face an uphill climb. Past legalization efforts in Hawaii failed, year after year, and current efforts continue to fail in other states, including Michigan.

This resistance is because even people who might otherwise support DPS understand that there are grave dangers to handing out poison to people. Many doctors and medical institutions who might otherwise embrace suicide as another step in consumer medicine share these grave concerns.

DPS advocates go to great pains to stress that “safeguards” exist to prevent potential abuses. Too often these “safeguards” are taken at face value, or aren’t thoroughly explained. Coverage of Hawaii’s bill in The Hill provides an excellent example. In an article Friday, reporter Reid Wilson puts it this way: “There are several provisions built into the law as safeguards to mollify those who worried that the system could be abused.”

What abuses? Who are the people who will be mollified by the law? We aren’t provided with those details.

The article describes these several provisions, implying all those concerned will be mollified by them. One safeguard is described this way: “Two doctors must confirm that the patient is terminally ill with less than six months to live.”

What goes unmentioned is that an easily treatable condition like diabetes qualifies as a terminal disease, under these laws, because patients who go without insulin for six months may die within six months.

Before passage several amendments were added to Hawaii’s law based on other concerns, but significant abuses remain unaddressed. Here’s a big one: when health insurance companies are faced with choosing between covering a patient’s expensive medical treatment and paying for a dose of relatively cheap barbiturates, what will they offer the patient? That isn’t just a potential concern; it has happened in Oregon, the pioneer of doctor-prescribed suicide.

Examples of unavoidable abuses involved with doctor-prescribed suicide are legion, both in America and especially overseas. These concerns go unheeded, however, when they are downplayed or ignored.

submitted by Chris Gast

Black History Month has a long and venerable tradition. It began with a press release in 1926 celebrating a week to showcase the advancement of the Black community from bondage to freedom. It was set in February to coincide with the birthdays of two great men: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. These men sacrificed much for the principle that every member of the human race enjoys the same inalienable rights.

While the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution have done much to protect the inalienable rights of every American, abortion is a gaping hole in the foundation of our inalienable right to life. Millions of lives have disappeared into this hole, and no community has been more affected by abortion than the Black community.

Since 1973 there have been more than an estimated 19 million abortions in the Black community. Today in America there are 43 million Americans who are Black. A third of Black History Month is missing because a third of the people whose stories make up that history are gone.

There are many problems facing the Black community today, but abortion is frequently overlooked. Since 1973 abortion has taken more Black lives than every other cause of death combined. Let’s repeat it, and reflect on this: if you add up every death for every reason for every member of the Black community since 1973, it doesn’t equal the amount of Black abortions.

That’s the bad news. The good news is abortion rates in minority communities are declining, though very slowly. In Michigan additional effort by the prolife movement is being focused on reaching out to communities with high abortion rates, particularly Detroit. Though they don’t get much media attention, many prolife people serve in organizations whose mission is to help women and men in crisis pregnancies.

What more can be done? This is a complex issue. Women have abortions for many reasons, including diverse issues like economics, relationships, and futures. There are many complicated reasons for high Black abortion rates, and these reasons can’t be addressed overnight.

The most important roadblock to addressing this problem is not its complicated nature; it’s the failure of many to even identify there’s a huge problem here.

Facing complex problems is difficult, especially one touching issues that already generate controversy. Yet Black History Month remains a living testament that America has the resolve to face down difficult challenges.

www.RTL.org

Grand Rapids, Mich. — Monday, January 22, 2018 marked 45 years since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing abortion in all 50 states through all nine months of pregnancy. Since those decisions, more than 58 million innocent lives have been lost to abortion.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “Abortion is failing women, it’s failing children, and it’s failing America. Abortions continue to decline slowly, but we have hope 2018 will be a pivotal year for restoring legal protection for unborn children.”

Right to Life of Michigan is beginning 2018 with a new advertising campaign featuring adoption. Two advertisements are running on statewide television throughout January.

Listing said, “The positive impact adoption can have on people is something always worth highlighting. Adoption is one important solution as we move forward to a country where abortion is both illegal and unthinkable.”

On January 19, hundreds of thousands of prolifers headed to Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual March for Life. President Donald Trump addressed the crowd via a live video stream. Right to Life of Michigan affiliates are also hosting local events to mark the memorial.

Listing said, “As we prepare to reflect back on these years and the loss of so many lives, it is important to remember the momentum the prolife movement has been able to build this past year.”

In his first year in office, President Donald Trump has fulfilled his campaign promises of protecting the unborn. One of his first acts was reinstituting the Mexico City Policy, cutting off funding for promoting abortion overseas. His most notable promise involved appointing new U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Listing said, “With another fair justice like Neil Gorsuch on the court, we could be as close as one vacancy from Roe v. Wade being overturned.”

Abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy remains highly unpopular in America. The annual Marist-Knights of Columbus abortion poll was released on January 17 and found only 12 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal throughout pregnancy.

Listing said, “The more we can educate people about the tragedy of abortion, the more successful we’ll be. Most Americans do not know that abortion is legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy.”

More information has been revealed involving tissue trafficking. In December, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Planned Parenthood for their involvement in tissue trafficking of aborted babies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating similar concerns in New Mexico. Two companies in California were convicted based on evidence collected by undercover journalist David Dalieden.

Listing said, “It remains to be seen if Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry will be held accountable for selling baby body parts, but at least we know this issue is finally being taken seriously.”

The oft-repeated narrative regarding the undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in the tissue of aborted babies is that the issue is entirely made-up—“fake news” via “heavily-edited videos.”

This narrative was aided when investigations in several states turned up no legal charges. These were states where Planned Parenthood wasn’t involved in organ harvesting or pro-abortion officials were the investigators.

Recent events have undermined this narrative, however, showing we’ve barely scratched the surface of this macabre trade in human corpses.

On December 7, news broke that the Department of Justice is investigating Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Given the evidence Congress compiled over many months—and the plain statements from Planned Parenthood leaders caught on camera—we believe there is not just smoke there, but true fire.

Another story broke two days later out of California, where officials are forcing two connected biotechnology companies to shut down for breaking laws banning fetal organ harvesting. The evidence used in the conviction came directly from David Daleiden and his Center for Medical Progress’ undercover investigation. Those videos are more properly called “evidence” than “heavily edited.”

Two days after that, yet another story broke, this time in New Mexico. It was announced that the FBI is investigating the University of New Mexico and an infamous late-term abortion clinic in Albuquerque for their fetal organ harvesting. Now we have learned that one of the researchers at the center of this trafficking case was sending body parts to a man in Michigan.

Then at the end of December, Reuters released an exclusive story regarding a 2013 raid on a “body broker” Detroit, Arthur Rathburn. Rathburn’s business was buying corpses, chopping them up with chainsaws, and selling them to medical conferences. During the raid four unborn babies were discovered by the FBI in his warehouse.

There is no evidence yet showing where Rathburn obtained these babies, or if they were aborted or stillborn.

Rathburn’s trial is now underway; he stands accused of 10 federal counts. Reuters has been pursuing Rathburn’s case as one of several in a seven-part series on the body broker industry. The parallels between the body broker industry (Rathburn’s case in particular) and the abortion industry are eerie, especially when it comes to a lack of regulatory oversight.

Where will these stories lead? We’re not sure, but they deserve more public scrutiny than they’ve received so far. Much, much more.

Lansing, Mich. — On Thursday, December 7, Michigan abortionist Michael Roth received a $798 fine and 18 months of probation for three felony convictions in Macomb County Circuit Court. The convictions stem from his suspected practice of illegal at-home abortions.

Roth pled no contest on October 16 to three counts of larceny in a building. Roth had a person steal drugs and medical equipment from his former employer Angel Ojeda, an abortionist who runs the Eastland Women’s Center in Eastpointe, Michigan.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “It’s outrageous that a man with a long record of violations can get off with so little for three felony convictions.”

In September 2015 Roth was involved in an accident when his car struck a 31-year-old man with special needs. Police found several stolen items along with tissue from aborted babies in the trunk of his car. Given Roth’s previous history of performing abortions in women’s homes in 1998 and 1999, it’s likely he was committing illegal at-home abortions.

Roth was facing other criminal charges, including identity theft and possession with intent to deliver the schedule 2 narcotic Fentanyl, but those charges were dismissed in June. The Michigan Board of Medicine suspended Roth’s license on September 13 for a year and fined him $25,000 for unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Listing said, “We hope Roth’s license to practice medicine will be permanently revoked. He should never practice medicine again, anywhere.”

Lynn Mills is a citizen journalist who attended Roth’s sentencing hearings. Mills has followed the case from the beginning, and said she was frustrated that no media outlets have sent reporters to the hearings to cover this story since Roth’s initial arrest.

Mills said, “In court this man looked oblivious. There were no real consequences, and he will not stop doing it. Where have the reporters been? I guess this story hasn’t been sensational enough.”

Listing said, “Just like the Kermit Gosnell case in Philadelphia, abortionists with long records don’t receive needed public scrutiny. It allows these abortionists to continue to get away with things others couldn’t. Roth is not an outlier, but the face of the abortion industry in Michigan and nationally.”

Right to Life of Michigan released a report in 2012, Abortion Abuses and State Regulatory Agency Failure, including details on several of Roth’s violations. In addition to his at-home abortions, Roth was disciplined in 2002 for drug-related violations, including prescribing drugs without a license. He was disciplined in 2004 for violating patient consent laws and was accused of falsifying medical records by a former employee and performing illegal late-term abortions.

In 2012 Roth received six months of probation and was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine for Public Health Code violations involving botched abortions. Roth’s most recent abortion business, the bizarrely-named Novi Laser and Aesthetic Center, was closed in 2014.

Background information:
Abortion Abuses and State Regulatory Agency Failure report
Criminal charges and case background
Other charges dismissed

In October we learned of an amazing story in Lowell, a small town outside of Grand Rapids. The small pregnancy center there, Alpha Family Center, successfully saved a life by reversing an RU-486 medical abortion.

It’s the first time we are aware of this relatively new procedure being used in Michigan. Abortion pill reversal is being pioneered by two doctors, Dr. George Delgado of California, and Dr. Matthew Harrison of North Carolina.

Both doctors independently had the same idea. RU-486 abortions work by starving a pregnant woman of progesterone. Natural progesterone is commonly used as a treatment for high-risk pregnancies. Both doctors theorized that they could offset the progesterone loss with a common treatment used for other pregnancies, thus saving the life of the child.

The doctors formed an organization called Abortion Pill Reversal, and together have been studying this off-label use of an FDA-approved treatment. So far they claim to have a success rate of more than 50 percent in saving the child’s life, as long the woman hasn’t taken the second pill of the two-pill medical abortion regimen. They are currently conducting a formal study, and hope to report a success rate between 60 and 70 percent.

Abortion supporters are intensely dismissive of research into abortion pill reversal; its existence threatens their narratives about the nature of abortion. Those who claim the mantle of choice and women’s autonomy should not try to deny women information about this new procedure. Many women find themselves in situations where they instantly regret taking the abortion pill.

The young mother in this story is a perfect example. She said when she expressed reservations about the abortion to the abortion clinic staff, they told her there were no refunds for her appointment, and instead of giving her counseling quickly ushered her into the exam room.

The abortion clinic used the appointment fee as a tool to pressure this woman, and rushed in order to shut down her thought process. Prolife groups have heard many stories from women who were cajoled into taking the abortion pill despite reservations. For abortion clinics, women who leave represent lost revenue.

Today this mother’s child is still in the womb, alive and kicking. Mom and the staff at Alpha Family Center that sprang into action are eagerly waiting to meet the child face to face.

For more information about abortion pill reversals, visit the website www.abortionpillreversal.com.

Imagine walking into a doctor’s office to get your ear looked at because you think you have an ear infection. Upon arriving, you notice stained and discolored floors. After staring at these dirty floors in the waiting room, you walk back into the exam room. After a while, the doctor comes in and asks you some basic questions. When it comes time to examine you, he uses a rusty instrument to look into your ear.

As a patient, this would be horrifying. If you were in this sort of situation, you would probably walk out and never return. It is even harder to imagine a doctor’s office with those conditions operating for years.

Picture this same situation, but now you are going there to have surgery. Would you stay after seeing rusty tools and stained floors? Would you be comfortable having a surgical procedure in a place where you wouldn’t feel comfortable having someone check your ears?

This scenario is the reality of Whole Woman’s Health, a chain of abortion clinics in Texas. Remember the name? It belongs to a 2016 Supreme Court decision, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down enforcement of several health and safety regulations for abortion clinics.

Abortion supporters hail the decision as a victory for women. In reality this ruling showed justices were willing to cover for abortion-on-demand and ignore the actual safety of women.

Recently the Washington Free Beacon teamed up with former Planned Parenthood manager Abby Johnson to release documents showing the state of the abortion industry in Texas.

The documents show that Whole Woman’s Health staff failed to disinfect and sterilize equipment. Their facilities were in disrepair, floors were stained, and the counters were so warped that they could no longer be disinfected. During one visit they didn’t have a single registered nurse on site. For years they have piled up health code violation after health code violation, along with other abortion clinics in Texas.

Time and time again, abortion businesses enjoy a double standard and receive free passes when other businesses would find health inspectors coming down on them like a ton of bricks. It’s maddening that places like tanning salons and tattoo shops are held to higher standards than abortion clinics that provide surgical procedures.

Constitutional protection for rusty medical equipment is ridiculous, but that’s the twisted logic Roe v. Wade leaves us with.