In honor of Black History Month, President Biden screened the 2022 film, “Till,” at the White House (view the trailer above). The president’s reaction was startling and demands a Black History Month reality check.
If you’re not familiar with this ugly 1955 incident, Emmett Till was a fourteen year old African American young man beaten to death by two white men for the offense of flirting with one of the assailant’s wife.
The men were acquitted of the homicide. But later, they admitted to the crime in a Look Magazine article (for which they were paid $4000) knowing that they couldn’t be tried again because of double jeopardy laws.
Mr. Till’s mother insisted on an open casket funeral so the world could see what the men did to her son. It was gruesome … and became a well-justified catalyst for civil rights reforms in the U.S.
National condemnation
The crime is universally condemned in America today, which leads us to the president’s dishonest reaction:
“Lynched for simply being black, nothing more. With white crowds, white families gathered to celebrate the spectacle, taking pictures of the bodies and mailing them as postcards. Hard to believe, but that’s what was done. And some people still want to do that.”
And some people still want to do that? Who, exactly?
Such an ugly charge demands specificity. Who are these murderer-wannabe’s to whom the president refers?
Sure, there is no shortage of deranged people living in this country who reside at both ends of the political spectrum. But President Biden’s intent was to demagogue, to further divide us along racial lines, when hard data doesn’t support his charge.
His assertion demands a Black History Month reality check. Let’s look at the data and see where, in fact, African-Americans DO face incredible discrimination, and where they don’t.
Is U.S. policing in a death spiral?
This is the question posed by Heather MacDonald in a recent essay. Unlike the president, Ms. MacDonald cites hard data to get an objective assessment of the extent of the problem when it comes to the treatment of Black men by the cops. She presented this data in the immediate aftermath of the death of George Floyd in a piece in the Wall Street Journal. Here are excerpts:
- In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous.
- African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015.
- In 2018 … African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are 13% of the population.
- The police fatally shot nine unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites in 2019, according to a Washington Post database, down from 38 and 32, respectively, in 2015.
- In 2018 there were 7,407 black homicide victims. Assuming a comparable number of victims last year [2019], those nine unarmed black victims of police shootings represent 0.1% of all African-Americans killed in 2019.
- By contrast, a police officer is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer.
When asked if he believes there is “systemic racism in law enforcement” by CBS managing editor, Nora O’Donnell, the president quickly responded, “Absolutely.”
The data refutes the president
And yet the data just doesn’t concur, as Heather MacDonald further explains in the Prager University video below:
Did you know?
A police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer.
Many have tried, all have failed, to demonstrate that the police are "racist." pic.twitter.com/MUgiKf7G1w
— PragerU (@prageru) February 3, 2020
As readers of this blog know, policing isn’t our issue, but sanctity of life issues are. So here’s where our Black History Reality Check kicks in. The most insidious form of racism affecting the Black community is indisputable: abortion.
The Black Lives Matter movement is animated by perceived racial injustice, an important issue. To pro-life groups like Pulse Life Advocates, the issue is grounded in the injustice directed toward unborn Black babies. They have been disproportionately harmed by the aftermath of the Roe v Wade decision, evidenced by a precipitous drop in the Black fertility rate.
Who are the “undesirable populations?”
Planned Parenthood founder, Margaret Sanger, believed in Eugenics to forcibly reduce “dysgenic” populations through segregation and sterilization.
Dysgenic refers to groups of people that have a detrimental effect on future generations.
The late Supreme Court justice, Ruth Ginsberg, made a telling admission in 2009:
“Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations we don’t want to have too many of.”
Think about the racist implications of that statement.
One of the attorneys who successfully argued Roe v Wade before the Supreme Court, Ron Weddington, was upfront about the desired outcome of Roe. Writing to then-president, Bill Clinton, he acknowledged the ugly bigotry at the core of abortion:
So here’s the Black History Month reality check:
The same people who foment racial division in the U.S. based on a false narrative that cops target Blacks are the same people who have successfully foisted abortion on an unsuspecting community who now abort 40% of their own babies.
At the time Roe was decided, the Black fertility rate was 2.3. Today, it’s 1.8. Replacement is 2.1, so the Black population in the U.S. is dying.
The death of Emmett Till was a tragedy.
The death of 20 million aborted Black babies is a genocide.
The 2nd reading at Catholic Masses yesterday included this passage from I Corinthians 3:16-17:
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Important insights:
These four lines offer important insights for this confused age:
- We are more than just bodies, we have a soul. In other words, our lives are not merely material, but also spiritual.
- God dwells in our body, and as a result, it is holy.
- Our body comes from God and belongs to God, a stark contrast to the godless secular religion of our age that believes we are the god of our body and can mold and subvert its form and function.
Peter Kreeft explains why sex and procreation are holy:
Catholic philosopher, Peter Kreeft, unpacks the significance of all of this in his book, “Food for the Soul, Cycle A”:
“That’s why sex and procreation are holy. They are not dirty. The old Victorianism or puritanism saw sex as something dirty and to be avoided as much as possible. The new Victorianism or puritanism today still sees sex as something dirty but to be enjoyed as much as possible — as long as it doesn’t produce that terrible accident, another person like us. Our secular culture is really much closer to Victorianism or puritanism than it thinks. It is not as sexy as God is, for God sees sex as something holy and beautiful, as a sacramental incarnation of love and life, which is the nature of God. In separating sex from procreation, by contraception, we changed the whole meaning of sex from something profoundly holy to something neither profound nor holy. Contraception separates sex from life exactly as cloning and test tube babies separate life from sex. One demands love without life and the other demands life without love.”
Gender confusion
Kreeft addresses the gender confusion which is so in fashion today:
“After God created everything else, he created us, as the Bible says, “in his own image,” and the next words are “male and female.” Sex is God’s invention. And after he created that thing, he pronounced this judgment on it: “Very good.” That’s our God-designed nature. When our culture still had wisdom, the cultural cliché said you can’t fool Mother Nature; and Christ’s Church, which still has wisdom, says you can’t fool Father God. That’s not the road to happiness.”
Which is why abortion is so awful. It subverts the work of the Holy Spirit within us, and the Spirit’s work is all about life.
If you want to suck the joy out of your life, abort your baby.
But what if you’re in a crisis situation? Let you daughter or son be adopted, and spread the joy. You will experience a special kind of joy by loving so sacrificially; your child will experience the joy of the gift of life; the adoptive parents will experience the joy of loving a baby for whom they have so desperately prayed. [Our website offers extensive resources for women in crisis pregnancies.]
Unprecedented comfort
Modern man enjoys a level of comfort unprecedented in human history, and yet seldom have we been more miserable. Our misery has spiked since abortion became so available. As Kreeft points out, Christians love life, but modern secularists do not:
“They see children as “accidents” and pregnancy as a disease that they prevent by contraception or cure by abortion. They say, “I don’t want to bring children into this terrible world.” They say that now, today, when life is longer, richer, healthier, more comfortable, less violent, less cruel, more sensitive, more under our control, and more painless and peaceful than ever before in human history! Until fairly recently, most of our ancestors could expect to experience in a single year more pain than most of us experience in a lifetime. Yet they saw life and this body and this world as good, as a blessing, and as a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved and conquered. That’s why I call the mentality that finds it “irresponsible to bring children into this terrible world” hypocrisy, and a kind of insanity. Pope St. John Paul II called it something even worse than that. He called it “the culture of death.
The culture of death does not love life
The culture of death does not love life. It does not love bodies; it does not love embodiment in this world. It is far too spiritual. It does not love objective reality, only subjective satisfaction. All it wants is psychological pleasure, control, comfort, freedom, and autonomy: personal satisfaction of spirit, a kind of retreat from nature, from the objective world, from what-is, from truth. It is addicted to sex because sex is for it like an oasis in the desert. For it, sex is not about life; it is a retreat from life. It demands protection against life and against the God of life, against the great gift that used to be loved as a blessing and is now feared as a curse. It talks a lot about social ethics and social responsibility, but it does not want to do the single most important thing we can do for society and for the human race, and also the creative thing — namely, to have children.
The culture of death lacks lasting joy
Our culture has solved many of life’s problems by its wonderful science and technology, and it has attained unprecedented power and comfort and freedom from pain. Yet is no longer loves life, no longer feels gratitude for life. Its suicide rate is far higher than it is in poor, primitive cultures. It lacks lasting joy. It is in the wilderness without a temple and without the manna from heaven, without the two temples that we know: our bodies in sexual intercourse and Christ’s Body in the Mass. They are the two holiest places in the universe and the two places where God literally performs a miracle millions of times every day around the world. Whenever we procreate mortal bodies, God creates new immortal souls, and whenever our priests echo his words of consecration, he transubstantiates our bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood.”
Don’t be a joyless pagan or puritan; be a joyful Christian!”
Christ gave us a warning when he said whatever we do to the least of his children, we do to him.
As Kreeft concludes, “And deep down, you know in your heart that he’s right.”
[Your donation helps Pulse promote a culture of life. Give today. Thank-you.]
By Karen Quiner
For 50 years we have had a primary focus – to overturn Roe v. Wade. Many said is was settled law and was here to stay. But Pulse Life Advocates never believed that and continued the fight with passion and with every tool at our disposal. We knew that we had to educate in order to change hearts and minds, to do our work in the legislature, to march in Washington D.C., and primarily to pray. We never gave up.
For as John Stuart Mill said:
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”
On June 24, 2022, Roe was overturned. Praise be to God! But what happened next was to be predicted. The powers of evil unleashed their ire in D.C. and in states from coast to coast. For abortion is the sacrament of evil and evil will not give it up without a fight.
Our work continues.
To that end we will be participating in 40 Days for Life, from February 22nd to April 2nd. This is an internationally coordinated 40-day campaign that aims to end abortion locally through prayer and fasting, community outreach, and a peaceful all-day vigil in front of abortion mills.
Please join us. Prayer works! And this is a public witness to our belief in the power of prayer.
We will be in front of Planned Parenthood on Army Post Rd. on the following dates and times. We will bring signs for you to carry. Please park in the Hobby Lobby parking lot directly to the east of Planned Parenthood.
- Feb. 22: Noon-1
- Feb. 27: 1:30-2:30
- March 1: 11-12
- March 6: 1:30-2:30
- March 8: 11-12
- March 20: 1:30-2:30
- March 22: 11-12
- March 27: 1:30-2:30
- March 29: 11-12
Pulse Executive Director Maggie DeWitte is often there praying alone. Let’s support her with our presence and prayer. It is empowering to be among others all praying for the same common mission. Put these dates on your calendar and come as often as you can.
Even better, we would love to see you organize your own group to pray any time during these upcoming 40 days. Give us a all with any questions: 515-255-4113
Here is Pulse Executive Director, Maggie DeWitte’s, testimony on a bill before the Iowa Legislature, IA HSB91, “a bill for an act relating to the health and well-being of children and families.” Maggie is also spokesperson for the Iowa Coalition of Pro Life Leaders, which supports Division Seven in the bill, except for subsection division V, which relates to self-administered contraception. She spoke before a subcommittee yesterday:
~
“HSB91: thank you for bringing this forward. The pro-life coalition worked extremely hard on educating you on the need for the MOMS bill and were thankful for the passage last session and that Governor Reynolds mentioned in her state of the state address as something she wanted to expand.
I would like to address section 5 regarding self-administered hormonal contraceptive. I don’t understand why this was put in the bill, and it does not have the support of the pro-life community. There are four major issues with this section:
- Oral contraception is dangerous. The World Health Organization has classified combined hormonal contraception as a Group 1 carcinogen. This is the same classification as tobacco, arsenic, and asbestos. Women who use contraception for 11 years or longer are at a 210% increased risk of breast cancer. Contraceptives have been proven to increase the risk of blood clots, which can be fatal. They also have increased risk of causing heart disease, especially in smokers. Lawsuits have been filed blaming the Patch for several deaths due to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned that the Patch carries a higher risk of blood clots than the birth control pill. These medications should not be prescribed by anyone except a medical doctor who has access to accurate medical records and the necessary medical tests.
- Hormonal Contraception is ineffective and gives women a false sense of security. The New York Times published an article that stated that the fail rate is 38% by year five and that by year ten, 61 out of 100 women who use the pill will become pregnant. According to a March 2017 Guttmacher Institute study, “A substantial proportion of unintended pregnancies occur despite women’s and their partners’ use of contraceptives. In 2001, some 48% of women experiencing an unintended pregnancy had been using a method in the month of conception.” In the same study Guttmacher also reported that “about half of pregnancies terminated by induced abortions in 2008 occurred during use of contraceptives.” So, you can give them the pills, but faulty or incorrect use makes them ineffective in reducing unplanned pregnancies.
- This bill states it does not include any drug intended to induce an abortion. Unfortunately, oral contraception can be abortifacient in nature. It is a medical fact that most if not all hormonal birth control drugs and devices, including the Patch and the Pill, can act to terminate a pregnancy by chemically altering the lining of the uterus (endometrium) so that a newly conceived child (human embryo) is unable to implant in the womb, thus starving and dying. This mechanism of action is termed a pre-implantation chemical abortion.
- If the intent of this section of the bill is to reduce abortions, providing OTC birth control will not reduce abortions. More contraception leads to more abortions not less. And frankly, we don’t have an access problem; birth control is readily available in the state of Iowa. This will undercut / damage the physician-patient relationship. Any prescription medication carries risks, and a doctor should be monitoring those risks- it’s not the role of a pharmacist to monitor symptoms and they do not have access to the patient’s medical history. And relying on a self-administered questionnaire is not reliable- people frequently do not remember the name or type of medication they have been on or currently on and would not know of the risks associated with that medication.”
By Tom Quiner, Pulse Life Advocates Board President
The worst Super Bowl in history was number V. And I loved it. Looking back, it reminds me of the epic battle of pro-lifers against Roe v Wade, which all happened at about the same time.
A young Baltimore Colts fan
As background, I’m a lifelong Colts fan. Back in the 1960s, the great Johnny Unitas was Colts quarterback when they played in Baltimore.
I began cheering for them in 1965, which was a frustrating year. The Colts and Green Bay Packers finished tied for first in their conference with 10-3-1 records. They met for a one game play-off to determine who would go to the championship game.
Unitas and his back-up QB, Gary Cuozzo, were both injured, so they had to move their halfback, Tom Matte, to quarterback. Matte and the Colts fought mightily only to lose at the gun to a controversial Packer field goal, which to this day I’m convinced they missed, as you can see in the video below.
In 1967, the Colts lost only one game, but missed the play-offs because they tied with the Los Angeles Rams who won the tie-breaker.
The “guarantee”
And of course, there was 1968, the year the Colts went 13-1, easily won all of their play-off games, only to lose Super Bowl III to the upstart New York Jets. You remember, that’s the one when the cocky Jets QB, Joe Namath, said he guaranteed the Jets would win.
He certainly delivered. Which brings me to Super Bowl V.
The Colts finished the season with a stellar 11-2-1 record and beat the Bengals and Raiders to earn a trip to Super Bowl V at the Miami Orange Bowl. Their rival: the formidable Dallas Cowboys who finished the regular season at 10-4.
A debacle
What unfolded on that Sunday afternoon on January 17th, 1971, before 79,204 fans and a 46 million television audience was … a debacle.
The two teams turned over the ball a record 11 times between them, 7 by the Colts! A Super Bowl record. The Cowboys set a Super Bowl record for the most penalties, with ten for 133 yards.
What a mess!
The Colts suffered one setback after another, much like the pro-life movement was experiencing at the same time. (Back in Iowa, a woman named Carolyn Thompson could see something was going to happen regarding abortion at the national level, and began working towards founding Iowans for Life.)
On the Colts first score, Unitas threw deep, the ball was tipped, eventually landing in the arms of tight end John Mackey who waltzed into the end zone for the TD.
Blocked extra point (ouch!)
Great, right? But then the extra point was blocked, a significant point wasted, and an omen of what was to come.
Later in the 2nd quarter, Unitas got hammered by the Cowboys line, sustaining a rib injury which knocked him out of the game. The Colts had to turn to veteran Earl Morrall to make something happen.
Morrall drove the Colts to the Cowboy’s 2 yard to no avail. The ferocious Dallas defense stuffed them on a 4th and goal attempt.
The Colts were down at halftime 13-6.
The third quarter was more of a mess. The Colts fumbled the kickoff, Cowboys recover.
Cowboys drive to the Colts 1, only to fumble and give the ball back to the Colts.
The Colts drive to the other end of the field, only to miss a field goal.
4 interceptions in the final quarter!
The messiness continued into the last quarter, Colts still down 13-6. Morrall threw an interception into the end zone, squandering another Colts opportunity.
The Colt’s defense again stopped Dallas, and Morrall promptly marched the Colts to the Cowboy 31. I still have nightmares about the play that came next: a botched ‘flea flicker.’ The Colt’s running back took a lateral pass from Morrall, passed downfield to his wide receiver, who caught it … BUT … as he raced towards the end zone, with no one in front of him … FUMBLES … the ball, which bounds through the end zone for a … TOUCHBACK.
Cowboys’ ball. Colts lose possession.
But, Dallas promptly threw another interception, naturally, which eventually led to a Colt’s TD. Game tied at 13-13.
After trading punts, Dallas got the ball back in Colt’s territory with less than 2 minutes left.
Final two blunders
At this point, I’ll point out that history remembers this game as the “Stupor Bowl” or the “Blunder Bowl,” and the Cowboys had not one, but two costly blunders left in their repertoire.
The first: a 15 yard holding penalty that move them back to their own 27.
The second: another Craig Morton interception (his third of the quarter!), this one intercepted by Mike Curtis who returned it 13 yards to the Cowboy 28 yard line.
The Colts ran two plays and ran the clock down to 9 seconds left in the game.
The entire game rested on the leg of rookie kicker, Jim O’Brien, who had already missed an extra point and a field goal.
The Colt’s offense had squandered so many opportunities, the question was: could they right the ship, put all of their mistakes behind them, and execute one final perfect play to win the prize?
Super Bowl V: a microcosm of the battle against Roe v Wade
Before I answer that question, let’s return to my earlier comparison of this game to the epic battle to overturn Roe v Wade.
Iowans for LIFE founder, Carolyn Thompson, with Governor Robert Ray
The Roe case was decided two years after Super Bowl V. In
Pulse Executive Director, Maggie DeWitte, with Governor Kim Reynolds
anticipation of what she saw coming, Carolyn Thompson founded Iowans for LIFE in 1972 and launched a 50 year battle against Roe and a culture of death.
IFL suffered many setbacks over the next 50 years, as did pro-life organizations throughout the country. But we all persevered, never, ever yielding an inch.
Despite mistakes, despite fighting a big bully with more money and more political clout, despite everything being stacked against our just movement, Roe … v … Wade … was … OVERTURNED!
We won that battle, just as the Baltimore Colts overcame their mistakes to win Super Bowl V when Jim O’Brien split the uprights with a game winning 32 yard field goal at the gun.
To this day, Super Bowl V is considered to be the worst Super Bowl on record. But to me, it’s the best, because my team won, just as my team won on June 24, 2022, when the Supreme Court released the Dobbs decision overturning Roe.
As the Baltimore Colts demonstrated, it pays to persevere.
[Following the overturning of Roe, Iowans for LIFE rebranded as Pulse Life Advocates to reflect our renewed commitment to informing, educating, and inspiring a new generation to value the sanctity of all human life from fertilization to natural death. Join us. Donate to our pro-life outreach today.]
“How many children have YOU adopted?!”
“Well actually, I ran the adoption program for Catholic Charities here in Des Moines for years.”
“But how many children have YOU adopted?!”
“… and my husband is adopted.”
“I think you’re asking the wrong question. I think what you’re really concerned about is whether there are enough parents willing to step forward to raise the babies who aren’t killed by abortion.
The answer is yes.
By some estimates, there are as many 35 couples waiting in line to adopt a baby for each one that is aborted.
God has blessed me with 4 four children.
It doesn’t seem fair for me to adopt a fifth when so many couples are on their knees praying to God for their first.
Wouldn’t you agree?”
Of course, her pro-life challenge is really meant to change the subject from the true object of abortion, which is the death of a unique human being.
Abortion rights advocates feel that if they can just expose pro-lifers as hypocrites, it somehow makes abortion acceptable.
It doesn’t.
Let me say it again: each abortion kills a unique human being, a person, who was human from the instant of fertilization.
Pulse Life Advocates works tirelessly promoting a culture of life in Iowa. Earlier this week, we talked to the Deputy Director of Lutheran Family Services, Kim Laube (above), who told us there just aren’t enough babies available for adoption, and abortion is a big reason.
You’ve heard of the law of supply and demand. The demand is huge. The supply is low when it comes to the Adoption Option.
Thanks to Lutheran Family Services and all of the adoption agencies that work tirelessly putting babies together with their future parents.
What rewarding work. Now, let’s end abortion and let even more love spread across this land.
Bishop William Joensen prays at the Capitol
Bishop Joensen came to the Capitol on Monday, February 6th, to participate in the 2023 Pro-Life Prayer Rally. Here is Bishop Joensen’s prayer:
“Generous Father and Creator of the Heavens and Earth: The Psalmist exclaims, “How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all—the earth is full of your creatures; Bless the Lord, O my soul!” (Ps. 104:24, 35). You have brought us into being with a natural dignity that is your founding gift to all human persons as the only creatures after your own heart. And when we lost sight of this dignity and turned our faces from you, you loved us more than ever by sending us your own Beloved Son. By the power of his own blood poured out on the Cross, he raises us to a royal dignity as daughters and sons who are redeemed and restored to your friendship. In him, the words of the Psalmist are fulfilled: “He asked you for life and this you have given; days that will last from age to age” (Ps. 21:5).
Truly, Lord God, when you love us into being, you will that we live forever. Help us to love one another as you love us: to cherish each and every human life as the bearer of a dignity that should never be distorted or destroyed. Free us to look beyond our own fears, our own self-interest, our own vulnerability and limits to behold those who have claim on our hearts, so that in mutual dependence we might support and serve one another in justice and charity. Do not let us make our own autonomy a god in itself, so that we might build communities and ensure that the State of Iowa is a place where the least among us is drawn into the center and spotlight of our concern.
As Pope Francis has enjoined, may we form a “caravan of solidarity,” where nascent persons in the womb and those in every stage and situation along the continuum of life, including persons with special needs, single parents, immigrants, and senior individuals conscious of the horizon between this world and the next, might be accompanied with all they need to realize the length of days that you in your wisdom have bestowed upon us.
May we as a people be guided by your Spirit in our selection, appointment, and support of leaders in all branches of government: women and men who likewise are in accord with your saving design, who consistently place their power at the disposal of the common good. May we transcend partisan interests and continue together on pilgrimage toward that day that never ends, where we hope to abide forever in your company, +Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”
By Maggie DeWitte, Board President
Pulse connected with William Joensen, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines, and Tom Chapman, Executive Director of the Iowa Catholic Conference this past Monday at the Pro-Life Prayer Rally at the Capitol. The subject of contraceptives, which are powerful drugs, came up.
We discussed a big bill pending before the legislature, HSB 91, which I wrote about last week. We like most of this bill, except for the piece on contraception. Tom Chapman made a key point:
“From our perspective, there’s a reason those powerful drugs need a prescription … we don’t want to break up that relationship with the doctor.”
As a reminder, I expressed these concerns in my testimony before a sub committee last week:
Maggie DeWitte testimony
- Oral contraception is dangerous. The World Health Organization has classified combined hormonal contraception as a Group 1 carcinogen. This is the same classification as tobacco, arsenic, and asbestos. Women who use contraception for 11 years or longer are at a 210% increased risk of breast cancer. Contraceptives have been proven to increase the risk of blood clots, which can be fatal. They also have increased risk of causing heart disease, especially in smokers. Lawsuits have been filed blaming the Patch for several deaths due to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned that the Patch carries a higher risk of blood clots than the birth control pill. These medications should not be prescribed by anyone except a medical doctor who has access to accurate medical records and the necessary medical tests.
- Hormonal Contraception is ineffective and gives women a false sense of security. The New York Times published an article that stated that the fail rate is 38% by year five and that by year ten, 61 out of 100 women who use the pill will become pregnant. According to a March 2017 Guttmacher Institute study, “A substantial proportion of unintended pregnancies occur despite women’s and their partners’ use of contraceptives. In 2001, some 48% of women experiencing an unintended pregnancy had been using a method in the month of conception.” In the same study Guttmacher also reported that “about half of pregnancies terminated by induced abortions in 2008 occurred during use of contraceptives.” So, you can give them the pills, but faulty or incorrect use makes them ineffective in reducing unplanned pregnancies.
- This bill states it does not include any drug intended to induce an abortion. Unfortunately, oral contraception can be abortifacient in nature. It is a medical fact that most if not all hormonal birth control drugs and devices, including the Patch and the Pill, can act to terminate a pregnancy by chemically altering the lining of the uterus (endometrium) so that a newly conceived child (human embryo) is unable to implant in the womb, thus starving and dying. This mechanism of action is termed a pre-implantation chemical abortion.
- If the intent of this section of the bill is to reduce abortions, providing OTC birth control will not reduce abortions. More contraception leads to more abortions not less. And frankly, we don’t have an access problem; birth control is readily available in the state of Iowa. This will undercut / damage the physician-patient relationship. Any prescription medication carries risks, and a doctor should be monitoring those risks- it’s not the role of a pharmacist to monitor symptoms and they do not have access to the patient’s medical history. And relying on a self-administered questionnaire is not reliable- people frequently do not remember the name or type of medication they have been on or currently on and would not know of the risks associated with that medication.”
The Iowa Catholic Conference shares our concerns on these powerful drugs
You can see in the interview above with Pulse board president, Tom Quiner, that Tom Chapman and Bishop Joensen share our concerns on this piece of the bill and the powerful drugs that compromise conception. Like Pulse Life Advocates, the Iowa Catholic Conference is a member of the Iowa Coalition of Pro-Life Leaders.
Great turnout at the Prayer Rally!
As you can see in the accompanying pic, a large crowd turned out for the Prayer Rally, including so many followers of Pulse Life Advocate’s blog and social media platforms. Thanks to you all for turning out.
Yes, we have our finger on the pulse of what is happening in the pro-life arena in Iowa. Even more, we are championing solid legislation that protects innocent human life in the womb to build on our successes in recent year.
I can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate your support. We can’t do it without your prayers, participation, and patronage. Thank-you SO much! Please, keep it coming. Our fight for the rights of the unborn doesn’t come cheap when you consider Planned Parenthood’s deep pockets. We need your financial support. Donate today and help us save more babies!
[Every dollar counts. Support Pulse. Give today.]
Friends, there is a morally outrageous bill that has now been signed into law by @GovTimWalz. This bill is the most radical abortion law in the country. We must continue to stand against this barbarism. Pray for the conversion of hearts and minds. pic.twitter.com/9A2CI3Xq5w
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) February 1, 2023
A new Minnesota abortion law strips away every single regulation on human abortion. The Protect Reproductive Options Act claims that every person has a fundamental right to make “autonomous decisions” regarding their own ‘reproductive healthcare,’ unless, of course, you’re still in the womb.
Minnesota Republican Minority Leader Mark Johnson calls the law the most extreme in the US:
“Today we are not just codifying Roe v Wade or Doe v Gomez [a Minnesota Supreme Court pro-abortion decision], as the author has indicated, we are enacting the most extreme bill in the country.”
Minnesota Republicans tried to limit 3rd trimester abortions and provide protections for babies who survive their abortions to no avail, losing the vote by a single vote, 34 to 33.
Robert Barron, Bishop of the Winona/Rochester Diocese, was even more forceful, characterizing the bill as “the worst type of barbarism.” You can hear his complete reaction in the Tweet above.
The Minnesota abortion law is the same type of law Planned Parenthood and their political allies want to enact in all 50 states, including Iowa, since Roe v Wade was overturned. In Iowa, Pulse Life Advocates and our allies in the Iowa Coalition of Pro Life Leaders stand in their way.
Help support our protection of the unborn. Donate today.
By Maggie Dewitte
I just returned from another impactful March for Life in Washington DC. I took my 14-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son with me. I brought my daughter to visit the Holocaust Museum after the March. I knew she would be just like me when I visited the first time; we spent a solid three hours in which Abi absorbed every word, picture and video.
As we whispered in-between exhibits, I talked about the many parallels between the Holocaust and the fight for our unborn brothers and sisters. I have often wondered what people will think about as they look back at this time in history as we looked back in time to the Holocaust and wondered how such an atrocity could occur.
These thoughts linger as I read a news report in Axios yesterday regarding the Biden administration and their obsession to kill unborn children. The piece reports that the president is being encouraged by his party to declare a public health emergency to get around pro-life regulations and boost abortion access.
The Twilight Zone?
Their desire to declare a ‘public health emergency’ over abortion honestly reminds me of a show I used to watch:
“A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”
The safest place in the world should be the womb; instead, it has become a battle ground in which pregnancy is seen as a disease and ‘healthcare’ has become abortion, which has nothing to do with health and everything to do with death.
A declaration of a martial law decree?
Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life assessed the move with the clarity which so defines the pro-life perspective:
“Biden’s abortion obsessed administration wants to basically declare Martial Law to take control of our society with the same health care regulations used to control Americans during the height of the COVID crisis. This is an abuse of a process that was created to SAVE lives, not end them.”
Is pregnancy a disease?
Pulse Life Advocates concurs with Students for Life that pregnancy is not a disease. Says Hawkins:
“Even so, we saw how the regulations were abused, and used against Americans, when it really was a health issue being debated. But pregnancy is not a disease and its fake cure is not abortion. The best healthcare in the world should be used to see both mother and child safely cared for and loved. Violating people’s rights of conscience to push abortion in all 50 states using the thuggish tactics of Biden weaponized HHS and DOJ will be opposed with all our resources. We are already taking steps to address this.”
The Holocaust museum showed how the Third Reich simply issued a decree to assume legislative powers following a fire which destroyed part of the German Parliament, the Reichstag, on February 27, 1933. Here is their account:
“Hitler immediately accused the Communists, an opposition party, of setting the blaze, and he issued an emergency decree that allowed him to crush political opposition. This decree became the basis of the Nazi police state, and would remain in effect until 1945.
On March 23, a Nazi-dominated parliament voted to transfer all legislative powers to Hitler’s cabinet. After this Enabling Act, the parliament would serve merely as a rubber stamp. Finally, all political organizations except the Nazi party were banned, on July 14. The one-party state was thus established within six months of Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor.”
Roe v Wade and the Holocaust
Some reading this account surely bristle at any comparison between the Third Reich and modern American politics. And yet the impact of Biden’s martial law on the rights of the unborn far exceeds the scope of the Nazi’s final solution, which killed a staggering 6,636,235 human beings for the crime of being Jews. By contrast, Roe v Wade ushered in an abortion era which killed 64 million human beings for the crime of being inconvenient.
A Biden martial law decree will ensure that the death toll from human abortion will once again spike in the U.S. after decades of decline.
“Pro-abortion extremism”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, was even more pointed in her reaction to the specter of a martial law type of decree from the president:
“They think allowing more Americans to be born is a crisis, and the only solution is ending those lives through abortion for any reason up until birth. Their latest scheme would result in taxpayer-funded abortion on demand across the country with no protections whatsoever for unborn children or their mothers – including dangerous mail-order abortion drugs that put women at risk of serious complications.
Democrats’ pro-abortion extremism knows no bounds.”
Sadly we are not living in the Twilight Zone. All of this is really happening. Pulse is fighting back in dozens of ways. Just today, I again testified at a sub committee hearing at the Capitol.
How can you help? Donate. Donate right now. Without your support, all of the pro-life initiatives you see on this website comes to a halt. We can win. We will win with your support.