Wisconsin Personhood Amendment: Front page news, along with Ryan Braun

Need I say more about the watershed moments of both Braun's achievement and the introduction of personhood legislation...

Today's Wisconsin State Journal:

Many Wisconsin abortion foes are cheering the introduction of legislation that would amend the state constitution to extend personhood to the moment an egg is fertilized, although the state's two largest anti-abortion groups are at odds over the approach.

The legislation is patterned after a similar measure that Mississippi voters rejected earlier this month.

Critics say such measures would outlaw all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest, and ban all forms of hormonal contraception, including birth control pills and intrauterine devices (IUDs).

Wisconsin's "personhood" amendment, introduced last week by Rep. Andre Jacque, R-Bellevue, would define the terms "people" and "person" in the constitution to include "every human being at any stage of development."

Matt Sande, lobbyist for Pro-Life Wisconsin, which backs the legislation and is working closely with Jacque, said the amendment "undoubtedly" would outlaw all forms of surgical and chemical abortion. On other issues, "we don't know exactly what it would mean, but our intent is to protect the preborn child at any stage of development from any violent attack, whether chemical, surgical or experimental," he said.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has concluded the proposed language would ban hormonal contraception, said Nicole Safar, public policy director. "This is way out of touch with Wisconsin values," she said.

In a twist, Wisconsin Right to Life, the largest anti-abortion group in the state, has come out forcefully against the personhood amendment strategy, calling it "just plain wrong for Wisconsin."

Read the rest here.

Telling how PPWI acknowledges the abortion-causing effect of hormonal contraceptives, no? And yet certain pro-lifers refuse to address the issue. Cardinal Burke has something to say about that.

WI Assembly Education Committee to hold public hearing on contraception madate of 2009

The Assembly Committee on Education has scheduled a public hearing for Assembly Bill (AB) 337, the "Strong Communities…Healthy Kids Act," on Wednesday, November 16, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 417 North (GAR Hall) of the State Capitol building in Madison.

Please consider attending the hearing and registering for or testifying in favor of this critically important legislation.

Assembly Bill 337 is legislation authored by State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) that reverses the contraception education/instruction mandate of 2009, giving public school districts the freedom to adopt abstinence-only human growth and development curricula. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect our children's bodies and preserve their innocence, and local school districts should be given this option. The bill also prohibits school-based volunteer health providers from providing instruction in human growth and development. Sexual development is not properly under the purview of a school health room physician or nurse, especially one from Planned Parenthood. The bill prevents Planned Parenthood nurses and physicians from teaching about abortion and contraception in our public schools. The Senate companion bill to AB 337, Senate Bill 237, passed the Senate on November 2.

Thank you for speaking up for our children!

PLW

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin rakes in $26 million from taxpayers for birth control

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:

Recently-obtained figures from the state of Wisconsin show that from 2007-2010, Planned Parenthood received $26 million from taxpayers for providing “family planning” services under the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver Program. Graph, below, breaks it down by county. Planned Parenthood operates 27 facilities across Wisconsin; two of those provide surgical abortions.


As you can see from the final total, $81.5+ million was paid out across the state from 2007-2010 under the Medicaid FPW program.

Read the rest here.

Former Planned Parenthood lobbyist appointed to WI Assembly Health Committee

Planned Parenthood lobbyist Chris Taylor

Appointed to three Committees: Health; Labor and Workforce Development; and Ways and Means

Madison, WI-Newly-elected State Representative Chris Taylor (D-Madison) has been appointed to three key legislative committees for the 2011-12 legislative session. Representative Taylor is now a member of the Assembly Committees on Health; Labor and Workforce Development; and Ways and Means.

“I am excited to get to work on these three important committees that address critical issues for my district and for people throughout the state. Many Wisconsinites are struggling to have access to affordable, quality health care. They are experiencing unfair workplace practices because of the rollback of basic workers’ rights while paying their share of the tax burden while wealthier individuals and corporations shirk their responsibilities,” said Taylor. “I welcome the opportunity to be a voice for my constituents on these important committees.”

Representative Taylor was elected to represent the 48th Assembly District in a special election on August 9, 2011. She replaced Joe Parisi who was elected Dane County Executive earlier this year.

“My agenda is to fight for working families and living wage jobs, excellent public schools, affordable and comprehensive health care, the environment, and for many other progressive policies that we need to move Wisconsin forward,” concluded Representative Taylor.

Wispolitics

Abp Vigneron of Detroit leads pro-life prayer vigil in drenching rain

Thanks to Diane M. Korzeniewski at Te Deum laudamus for sharing.  You can find all the details there.

In related news, did you know a bishop forbid his priests from participating in 40 Days for Life??

HT Mark Shea

250 people participate in Eucharistic procession in Appleton to pray for lives lost to abortion

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:

Approximately 250 people participated in a Eucharistic procession this past Saturday in Appleton. The event began with 8 a.m. Mass at St Pius X, 500 W. Marquette St., Appleton. The Knights of Columbus color guard joined Fr. Tom Farrell, pastor of St. Pius X, as he carried the host in a monstrance to Planned Parenthood, located at 3800 N. Gillett St.

Along the way, the procession stopped at three temporary roadside altars for prayers. The altars are on private property.

Busses returned participants to St. Pius after the 2 mile procession. Students in the pro-life Xavier Rock4Life group served lunch after the procession at St. Pius X.

The event, which began in 2008 when Fr. Quinn Mann was the associate pastor at St. Pius X, has grown into an annual community remembrance of the lives lost to abortion. Participation has far surpassed organizers’ original hopes for 50 people to pray with them.

View more photos on Flickr here.

Where's a communal interdict when you need one?

According to the Pew Forum, 45 percent of Catholics in the U.S. believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 40 percent of the overall population. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, evangelicals and Protestants from historically black congregations are the religious groups with the greatest opposition to abortion.

 chron

OpEd: Defunding the promiscuity of others

In The Reporter article on Aug. 14 addressing women's reproductive health care and cuts in funding to Planned Parenthood, Jessica McCardell points to Planned Parenthood as the savior that helped her prevent unplanned pregnancy.

At the age of 16 she says she began using their services. The article says women are seeking contraception and reproductive health services "at even younger ages."

So, why should the rest of us pay for programs that encourage and enable recreational sex?

At a time when working families are struggling to cover their mortgages or send their kids to college, it makes absolutely no sense to tax them to fund the promiscuity of others. And if parents are willing to turn their parenting over to Planned Parenthood they shouldn't expect the rest of us to pay for it.

Thanks to Gov. Scott Walker's biennial budget, taxpayers will no longer be funding Planned Parenthood.

continue at FDLReporter

Photo

Racial targeting and population control: How Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin fits in

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:



Life Decisions International just released a comprehensive look at Planned Parenthood facilities (those that perform abortion and/or provide birth control) and how the location of those facilities corresponds to the percentage of minorities (Black and Hispanic) in those areas.

Why is this a concern? In contemporary America, the rate of pregnancy among black women is almost three times as high as it is for white women and, though they make up less than 13% of the female population, black women have about 37% of the abortions. In Wisconsin, black babies are aborted at four times the rate of their numbers in the Wisconsin population.

Access the LDI report here [PDF]. An excerpt from the report:

As an example of how these charts work, the state of Florida shows to have a black population of 14.6%. In that state, Planned Parenthood has a facility in ZIP code 33617 which has a black population of 23.5%. This means that this facility is located in a ZIP code with an African-American population that is 187.6% that of the state.

But when those gaps are common enough or large enough that they cannot be rationally attributed to random chance, they constitute a pattern that could have only been created by design and intention.

The question then becomes: at what point does a gap stop being insignificant and start being significant? Given the subjective nature of that question, the deciding principle has to be common sense. If a ZIP code’s percentage of black or Hispanic population is 102% of the state’s percentage, no reasonable person would consider that an indicator of racial targeting.

Read the rest here.

Casting call... wherein I rant on Planned Parenthood

Author's note: Rumor has it the Badger Catholic will be on vacation for a week in the near future, so we're going to be doing the guest-posting thing again. I promise to pepper my posts with a healthy dose of polka Mass rants. - V

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:

In line with Planned Parenthood Federation of America's "Children are sexual beings" mantra, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will be holding free seminars [with your tax dollars, make no mistake about that] on child sexuality. [PDF here.]



For those who missed it, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) now describes children and infants as “sexual beings.” Story from News Busters here [warning: disturbing content.]

CHILDREN WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT SEX IF PEOPLE DIDN'T TEACH THEM ABOUT SEX!

That "workshop" smacks of pedophilia.

Casting call for anyone who wants to attend a (free) Planned Parenthood event... My contact info is to the right. I attended a PPWI event this winter, where a post-abortive college student described how she had an abortion at age 17, circumventing Wisconsin's parental consent law with Planned Parenthood's help. Planned Parenthood referred the young woman to a pro-abortion judge, who overrode the parental consent law -- the reasoning being that the girl's parents were pro-life and thereby opposed to abortion.



This round of seminars promises to be equally disturbing.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin sees 180% increase in private donations after taxpayer funding cuts

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:

In a remarkably coincidental situation as Planned Parenthood of Indiana found itself in (including sympathetic reporters), Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is claiming to see a significant increase in the size and number of donations, but — surprise, surprise! — that won’t be enough to cover the loss of taxpayer dollars.

The Oshkosh Northwestern:

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has experienced a significant increase in the number of new donors this year, but these new donors have not provided enough money to close the gap left by the state budget that slashed more than $1 million from the organization to help shore up the state’s $3 billion shortfall. [What this article fails to mention: $1 million of PPWI's $18 million in taxpayer funding was cut; hardly draconian or extensive.]

The agency that provides birth control services and health screenings — as well as abortions and abortion referrals at three of its 27 centers statewide — has experienced a 180 percent increase in new donors in 2011 [if people are so ideological and driven they will pay up for someone else's birth control, etc, why should taxpayers?].

Most of these donations are from working families in amounts between $25 and $50, said Amanda Harrington, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Read the rest from Pro-Life Wisconsin here.

FDA on contraception: We're from the government and we're here to help

Since Matt is nominated for an award, I guess that means I have to kick it up a notch as well! - Virginia



From Pro-Life Wisconsin:



The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has a chart on their website summarizing the available methods of contraception. The chart, below, reminds me of the Ronald Reagan quip, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

The chart has a rather cheery way of summarizing the risks (heart attack, toxic shock, tear in the uterus, etc) along with the expected failure rates (1 out of every 100 women will get pregnant after a failed sterilization vs. up to 32 out of 100 women will get pregnant after a condom fails). Why would any woman be sold on the idea of having menopausal symptoms for 20 years (or more, if you go on the pill at 15 as many girls do)? Read more about contraception’s risks, the abortion-contraception connection and more on our website here.

Who thought up the “Nothing to remember” line? Like, “Ain’t no big thing, snip snip, off you go!”

Access the FDA’s chart on its website here [PDF].

Madison marathon to subsidize abortionist's slush fund

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:



The 3rd Running of the Madison Mini-Marathon & 5K takes place this Saturday, August 20.

From the Madison Marathon website:

The funds raised through this event will be deposited into a fund called “Healthy Women, Healthy Babies.” This fund was created to promote awareness about healthy lifestyles of women of all ages and how their decisions to make healthy choices impact not only their own lives, but the lives of their current and future family members. The purpose of the fund is to provide discretionary support to the Chair and aid the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in its clinical, academic and public service roles with support from grateful patients, alumni, friends and the community.

For starters, Laurel Rice, chair of the UWHC Authority’s ob/gyn department, performs abortions at Planned Parenthood in Madison.

Read the rest here.

The Catholic Times interviews Sen. Dan Kapanke while Shilling refuses

Sen. Dan Kapanke

LA CROSSE – One state senator has successfully defended his seat and eight others will soon attempt to do so in special State Senate recall elections underway after the bitter battle over Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s removal of collective bargaining rights for most state workers.

In District 30, Democratic State Sen. David Hansen easily defeated Republican challenger David VanderLeest of Green Bay on July 19 in the first of the recall elections. Due to the other incumbents facing “fake” candidates in the primaries, voters elsewhere will head to the polls on Aug. 9 for seats held by Republicans or on Aug. 16 for seats held by Democrats.

The recall election that affects the biggest swath of the Diocese of La Crosse pits incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke of La Crosse against Democratic State Rep. Jennifer Shilling, also of La Crosse. They are battling for District 32, which includes La Crosse, Vernon and Crawford counties, as well as part of Richland County.

Also important for Catholics elsewhere in the diocese are the races in District 10, where Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) faces Democrat Shelly Moore, a teacher and union leader also from River Falls; in District 12, where Sen. Jim Holperin (DConover) is being challenged by Republican Kim Simac, a small business owner from Eagle River; and in District 14, where Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) is pitted against Rep. Fred Clark (D-Baraboo).

While the recall effort is being billed as a referendum on Walker’s collective bargaining law, the state’s two largest prolife organizations are sounding a note of caution because voters’ anger could catapult several pro-abortion politicians into office and put into danger a number of legislative efforts to protect human life from the first moment of conception.

“People of good will can disagree on the collective bargaining law,” Matt Sande, legislative director for Pro-Life Wisconsin, told The Catholic Times.[The Wisconsin Bishops' essentially said the same thing, even if their statement was spun like a top.] “But the life issues are paramount for Catholic voters. The right to life is the right upon which all other rights stand.”

The political action committees of both PLW and Wisconsin Right to Life have endorsed Republican candidates in all the recall elections. Sande, however, emphasized that the endorsements are not meant to be partisan, but instead an indication of the candidates’ pro-life voting records or statements. “We’re not a partisan organization,” he said. “We’ve endorsed Democrats in the past.”

Both Sande and Susan Armacost of WRTL singled out Kapanke as a particularly strong pro-life leader in the State Senate.

“Dan has been a champion for the rights of unborn children,” Armacost said in an interview with The Catholic Times. “To lose someone of his caliber would be a tragedy.”

“I’ll always be a steady vote on the pro-life issues,” Kapanke said in an interview with The Catholic Times. “Who is going to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, whether it be the poor, the elderly or the unborn? Life is a gift from God and should be treated as such.”

Sen. Kapanke, who was raised on a 200-acre dairy farm near Coon Valley, is a graduate of UW-La Crosse. He and his family attend Immanuel Lutheran Church there. The owner of the minor league La Crosse Loggers and a former Marine reservist, Sen. Kapanke was a district sales manager for Kaltanberg Seed Farms. He first took up politics as board member for the Town of Campbell and was first elected to the Senate in 2004.

Rep. Shilling, whose campaign staff ignored repeated requests from The Catholic Times to make her available for an interview, is endorsed by Planned Parenthood for the recall election, and was also endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin for her 2010 reelection to the State Assembly. She has a notable pro-abortion voting record, including, most recently, her vote to preserve funding for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. In the 2007-08 session she voted against legislation to create a state ban on partial-birth abortion. She has also voted in favor of embryonic stem cell research and against legislation to protect the conscience rights of healthcare professionals.

According to her campaign Web site, Shilling and her family are members of Wesley United Methodist Church in La Crosse. A graduate of UW-La Crosse like Sen. Kapanke, she was a legislative aid in Madison and in the La Crosse office of U.S. Rep. Ron Kind. She served as La Crosse County Supervisor before her election to the State Assembly in 2000.

In the Assembly, Rep. Shilling serves or has served on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance and the Assembly’s committees on Health and Health Care Reform and on Rules.

Her campaign literature indicates that she is running for the Senate because Sen. Kapanke “stopped listening” to his constituents in voting for Gov. Walker’s proposal.

In a letter to the La Crosse Tribune in May, Rep. Shilling highlighted a listening session she held on the state budget in La Crosse after the Joint Finance Committee moved its hearing from Arcadia to Neenah.

“While a total of six people spoke in favor of the governor’s budget,” she wrote, “the vast majority was opposed and expressed the importance of a quality education system, crucial job training programs, our natural resources and cost-saving health programs.”

Sen. Kapanke rejected the suggestion that he had stopped listening to voters in voting for the governor’s budget. “That couldn’t be more than 180 degrees from the truth,” he told The Catholic Times, listing the packed town hall meetings he attended in Viroqua, Cashton and elsewhere before the vote.

“I could have voted the other way and there would have been no recall,” Sen. Kapanke said. “But I looked at what we’ve been doing in Wisconsin the last ten years, both Democrats and Republicans. We’ve been fiscally irresponsible. Looking at the structural deficit, something had to be done.”

The Catholic Times

Shilling wants to distance herself from the reckless spending habits of Gov. Jim Doyle despite the fact she supported him 100% while on the finance committee.  The blame for the massive budget problems falls squarely on the shoulders of Jennifer Schilling who was asleep at the wheel, and now has the audacity to run against someone trying to fix the problem while presenting no alternative to the crisis she created.  Even though Shilling is a Methodist, I thought it interesting to not even issue a statement to The Catholic Times explaining her position.  I would think she would care about her Catholic constituents enough to communicate to us her message.  Maybe she just doesn't like Catholics? 

I think it says alot of Dan Kapanke that he took the time to sit down for an interview.  He has been very persecuted during his time in politics and he deserves our prayers and support.

Gwen Moore honored by Planned Parenthood of America for her commitment to the eugenicist, racist "non-profit"

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:

Last week, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) was honored for her efforts to protect taxpayer funding of the racist, eugenicist baby-killing machine known as Planned Parenthood Federation of America. PPFA awarded Moore the “Champion for Women’s Health Award.”

Read about Moore’s award here from the Milwaukee Courier.

Interestingly enough, you can’t find mention of the 2011 recipients of the annual award on PPFA’s website, nor in news outlets other than the Courier. Did the flap over last year’s recipient, Nancy Pelosi, result in a bit too much negative press for the abortion giant?

During last year’s ceremony, Moore and Pelosi were giggly as school girls about PPFA’s work [and you thought only serial killers would giggle over an organization that makes millions from aborting other girls]:

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) added comic relief to the formal presentation portion of the evening, introducing Speaker Pelosi and joking about how she was proud to be one of “Nancy’s girls.” As Pelosi took the stage, Moore even blew her a kiss.

Read the rest here.

Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost .. and a bit of estrogen

After reading about how much birth control is in drinking water I was thinking to myself; maybe I should test my water!  Turns out, it's not that easy...

Testing for estrogen in water is lengthy, and is an expensive process. Although little testing has been done, research and interest in estrogen testing and removal has grown in the past decade. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, gas chromatography-tendem mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry when used on three potent steroidal estrogens in water. These methods also work with for testing larger freshwater sources for estrogen. Out of the three methods, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was found to be the best method to analyze estrogen levels in fresh water (D.P. Grover, 2009).

A research team from the Associated Press tested sediments from a freshwater source and an estuary source. They found that estrogen levels in shallow groundwater were approximately 28.8 parts per billion. The shallow groundwater measurement was taken from 10-18 centimeters below the ground. This was much greater than the 3.3 parts per billion measurement in surface sediment. This test showed the danger of estrogen pollution in our groundwater, and documented the high concentration it has in our groundwater (Labadie, 2007).

The Associated Press released a study that they performed in March 2008 that reported finds of estrogen among more than 50 other prescription drugs in the water that goes to 41 million people. The AP also said that these drugs have been found in the water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas such as Detroit[does this now explain LarryD?], Louisville, Southern California, and Northern New Jersey. Now, these levels of the pharmaceutical contaminants are safe according to drinking water guidelines, but studies show that mutations and sexual changes can still occur in animals even at low levels (“Pink Water,” 2010).

Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science

So how much of that estrogen is taxpayer funded estrogen?  Maybe we should ask Sen. Alberta Darling?

Madison's Catholic Multicultural Center accepts grant from Susan G. Komen

Madison's Catholic Multicultural Center has been awarded a grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Madison affiliate [watch the news coverage here]. The purpose of the grant is to run workshops on breast cancer awareness for Latina women. The Catholic Multicultural Center is run by Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic parish in Madison, where former Gov. Jim Doyle, a pro-abortion Catholic, was known to receive Communion.

We are all praying for a cure for breast cancer, hoping for an end to the disease that has taken loved ones from us and made us all realize our own mortality. Catholics who choose to support breast cancer awareness organizations need to be attentive to the policies of those organizations.

Susan G. Komen has accomplished a great deal of good by taking the breast cancer issue to a national level. Unfortunately, Susan G. Komen also supports the work of Planned Parenthood, both on a national level and a state level.

Here's how Komen and PPWI are linked, courtesy of Pro-Life Wisconsin:

• The Madison affiliate of Susan G. Komen refers women to Planned Parenthood.

• Susan G. Komen of Milwaukee is listed as a major sponsor of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Click here to view on PPWI’s website.

• In 2005-06, Planned Parenthood of Madison received $30,000 from the Madison Komen Affiliate; Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin received $42,077 from the Milwaukee Komen Affiliate; and Planned Parenthood of Milwaukee received $13,143 from the Milwaukee Komen Affiliate.

• In 2009, Komen awarded the exact same grant to Planned Parenthood.

The money Susan G. Komen gives to Planned Parenthood isn’t small change, either: “For our fiscal year ’09, Komen Affiliates contributed $731,000 to Planned Parenthood programs… For the past five years, $3 million went to Planned Parenthood programs from Komen Affiliates.”

Yesterday, Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, directed that all breast cancer fundraising in his diocese be directed away from Susan Komen.

WI Planned Parenthood's lead lawyer wins Madison election

Chris Taylor defeated five other rivals to lay claim to the Democratic nomination for the state Assembly's 48th District. Taylor, a leader of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, won the six-way Democratic primary in a Madison state Assembly race where there is no opposition in the general election. She had 32 percent of the vote with 95 percent of precincts reporting in unofficial results from Tuesday's primary.

That means Chris Taylor will be the winner in the Aug. 9 general election, barring a write-in candidate.

Chan3k


By the way, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says the recall elections are all about abortion.  I agree.