From the Leader in Post-Abortion Research
Vol. 8, No. 2 -- Feb. 4, 2009
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Pro-Life Leaders Warn of New Strategy to Pass Freedom of Choice Act
Caught on Tape Again: More Evidence of Abortion Businesses Covering Up Sex Abuse
Pro-Life Leaders Warn of New Strategy to Pass Freedom of Choice Act
Abortion Advocates Not Backing Away, They Say
Abortion advocates in Congress may try to pass the Freedom of Choice Act in pieces rather than risk the controversy of trying to pass the legislation as a single bill, some pro-life leaders are warning.
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which would enshrine abortion as a national law and invalidate state and federal laws regulating or restricting abortion -- such as informed consent and parental notification laws -- has attracted particular controversy since President Obama promised during his presidential campaign to sign such legislation if it were passed.
According to LifeNews.com, some abortion advocates, including Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, have said they are not that interested in passing FOCA. Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life and Brad Mattes of Life Issues Institute say that their backing away from this legislation is merely a ruse and that Congress could instead try to pass the legislation through a series of bills, hoping pro-life advocates and the public won't notice.
"We are now seeing the abortion forces waging an incremental battle — working to pass what we have termed 'FOCA-by-Stealth,'" Yoest was quoted as saying. "They think that if they take FOCA and repackage it and pass it in pieces and under different names . . . that we won't notice."
Obama has already the Mexico City Policy, which prevented millions of dollars from flowing to groups that promote abortions overseas. He is also likely to restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which was denied funding by the Bush Administration after being linked to China's program of coerced and forced abortions.
Such laws will not only likely increase the number of abortions around the world, but also subject more women and girls to unwanted, coerced or forced abortions and increased physical and psychological harm associated with abortion.
More Evidence of Abortion Businesses Covering Up Sex Abuse
A new tape released by a pro-life group offers further evidence that Planned Parenthood affiliates are hiding cases of statutory rape and sexual abuse of young girls.
In the latest tape released by the activist group Live Action, a college student entered a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Tuscon, Ariz., posing as a pregnant 15-year-old pregnant by a 27-year-old man. The tape shows a woman identified as a nurse advising the girl not to take her “boyfriend” with her when she goes for a judicial hearing to obtain an abortion without the consent of her parents.
“Is [the father] not a minor?” the nurse asks on tape, and on being told no, says, “I wouldn’t take him with me, no. I mean, don’t take him.”
The latest video release follows the airing of two other undercover videos Live Action taped at two Planned Parenthood affiliates in Indiana.
Previously, an undercover investigation by the pro-life group Life Dynamics in 2002 found that many abortion businesses were willing to help conceal sexual abuse. A Life Dynamics staff member called abortion businesses around the country, posing as a pregnant 13-year-old girl with a 22-year-old "boyfriend." According to transcripts of the calls published by Life Dynamics, staffers at many abortion clinics told the girl to conceal her age and details of the case or gave her tips about how to circumvent authorities in order to obtain an abortion so her parents would not have to know of the sexual relationship.
These cases are especially troubling in light of a recent report on sex trafficking that appeared on MSNBC.com. The report said that victims of sex trafficking are often forced into abortion if they become pregnant.1
Last year, Consuelo Carretto Valencia pleaded guilty to trafficking women and girls from Mexico and forcing them to work in the sex industry. Investigators said Valencia was the head of a prostitution ring in which the victims were “compelled to perform sex acts 12 hours a day and subjected to beatings, rapes and forced abortions.”
Federal investigators said that sex trafficking in the U.S. likely generates more than $9.5 billion a year and that it goes on in “nearly ever Amercian city and town.” A State Department report released in 2008 said that most victims of human trafficking are women and girls and that 70 percent of them are trafficked for sexual purposes.
According to experts, most women and girls who are victims of sex trafficking are lured to the U.S. from other countries with the promise of good jobs, then forced into prostitution. Many speak little or no English and are afraid to go to authorities or try to escape because they are victims of intimidation, brain-washing and physical violence.
All the more reason why the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy at abortion businesses needs to come to an end. The Elliot Institute’s model bill would hold abortion businesses liable for failing to screen for coercion and for performing abortions when there is evidence that the woman or girl is being forced or coerced into abortion. This could help identify women and girls who are victims of sexual predators or human trafficking and would stop providing perpetrators with an easy way to cover up and continue their crimes.
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For more information on the Elliot Institute's model bill to stop coerced and forced abortions, click here.
Citations
1. Alex Johnson and Cesar Rodriquez, “Sex slavery: Living the American Nightmare,” MSNBC.com, Dec. 22. 2008. Accessed on 12/22/08.
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