Life Matters —The Newsletter of the Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Rockford
By Patricia Pitkus Bainbridge, Associate Director,
Respect Life Office
November 2002

Patricia Bainbridge is the author of a Lifelines column published the first Friday of each month in The Observer, official newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of
Rockford, Rockford, Illinois.

ABORTIONS INCREASE IN ILLINOIS

The Illinois Department of Health has released its “Reported Induced Pregnancy Terminations (euphemism for abortions) By County of Residence” for 2001. According to the report there were 46,546 abortions (up from 45,884 in 2000) committed at various locations in Illinois. Divide that number by 365 and you will find that 128 pre-borns are killed each day in the state
of Illinois.

It is important to understand that, for two reasons, these figures represent the minimum number of known abortions for the counties in Illinois. First, if a particular county had “less than or equal to 50” abortions reported, the number of abortions for that county is not included in the tally. Secondly, in the abortion industry it is not uncommon for the number of abortions to be under-reported for a variety of reasons.

Seven Killed Every Day in Our Diocese
For the eleven counties in Northern Illinois in our Diocese, the number of reported abortions for 2001 increased to 2,457 (from 2,359 in 2000). That means that each and every day at least seven pre-born babies from our very own Diocese were destroyed at the hands of an abortionist.

The breakdown of the number of pre-born babies killed in the Rockford Diocese by county of residence of their mothers is as follows: Boone—68 (down from 93 in 2000); Carroll—unknown due to the Illinois Department of Health rule that counties with “less than or equal to 50” are not reported; DeKalb—184 (up from 153 in 2000); JoDaviess—unknown due to the Illinois Department of Health rule that counties with “less than or equal to 50” are not reported; Kane—597 (up from 541 in 2000); Lee—54 (up from no report in 2000); McHenry—510 (down from 548 in 2000); Ogle—84 (down from 92 in 2000); Stephenson—98 (up from 79 in 2000);Whiteside—62 (up from 55 in 2000); and Winnebago—800 (up from 798 in 2000).

DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE?

We now know that at least seven pre-born babies from our Diocese are killed each day at the hands of an abortionist. Do we just read this and go about our daily activities? Do we just give up saying there is nothing we can do?

Would our response be different if these statistics were for one-week old infants? Or how about two–year-olds? Or five-year-olds? One can be assured that there would be intense moral outrage if these young humans were being killed at a rate of seven per day! Yet we hear little about the massacre of the most vulnerable among us that goes on each day.

Some conclude that as long as abortion is legal, it must not be wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Remember, at one time in this country slavery was legal and that was not right. Women could not vote and that was not right. And let’s not forget that Hitler acted legally in his slaughter of millions of Jews.

Are you willing to sacrifice some of your valuable time, talent, and/or money to help overturn this terrible scourge on our society and in our own Diocese? Are you willing to do something? Could you pray each day for the safety of all pre-born children? Would you join your parish respect life committee to help restore a culture of life? If you want to help but do not know what to do or whom to contact, call the Diocesan
Respect Life Office.

TRUE?

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI)—a special affiliate of the largest committer of abortions in this country (Planned Parenthood)—has released the results of its new survey on abortion. According to the AGI, the U.S. abortion rate declined—especially among teens. In explaining this decline, AGI said that that “three-quarters of the decrease was due to improved contraceptive use, while one-quarter was due to delayed sexual activity.” These conclusions are suspect for two reasons: 1) AGI’s figures include only surgical abortions, not medical abortions (such as RU-486 or other hormonal regimens); and 2) information known about the relationship between contraceptive use and subsequent abortions would suggest that if the number of abortions among teens is down, it is most likely related to increased decisions for abstinence before marriage.

Previous reports by AGI have admitted that 58% of all women obtaining abortions were using “contraception” in the month they conceived. What this figure is telling us is that the very means (increased contraceptive use) by which the number of abortions is purported to be reduced has in reality increased that number.

Strange But True
Malcom Potts, M.D., the former medical director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation predicted this very fact when, in 1973, he said, “As people turn to contraception, there will be a rise, not a fall, in the abortion rate.” How can this be? If couples use “contraception,” would not that prevent pregnancies and hence, lower the frequency of abortion?

The reality is that just the opposite happens—as the AGI figure of 58% demonstrates. Greater use of “contraception” leads to more sexual activity and knowing that abortion is available as a back-up, many couples become increasingly more careless with their “contraception” of choice which results in contraceptive failure—pregnancy. “Unwanted” pregnancies by contracepting couples usually end up in abortion.

POLITICALLY CORRECT SPIN

There is no way to know how many very young human beings were killed in 2001 by the action of so-called “Emergency Contraception (EC).” Abortion groups and the secular media continue to report that “Emergency Contraception prevents pregnancy; medical abortion terminates pregnancy.” What they are unwilling to admit is that “EC” and medical abortion kills very young human beings!

Knowing the primary action of “EC” is to prevent implantation—clearly an abortifacient action—the abortion apologists are adamant about using the politically correct definition of pregnancy when they maintain that pregnancy begins at implantation. They insist that if implantation does not take place, there is no pregnancy hence, no abortion.

It is unconscionable that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services have yielded to pressure from Planned Parenthood and its ilk to endorse the conveniently invented so-called “general medical definition” which claims that pregnancy begins at implantation.

The problem with this pretext is that it causes confusion and misunderstanding among average citizens—especially among teens and young adults. Of course, this is exactly what the abortion advocates want. If they can convince people that EC does not cause abortion, then they believe these people will be more likely to utilize it—and that is what they want.

Just Tell The Truth
The long held medical definition of pregnancy states that pregnancy (and life) begins at fertilization/conception—not implantation. A visit to the U.S. National Library of Medicine finds this, “A pregnancy begins with conception, when a sperm from a fertile male joins with an ovum (egg) of a fertile female.” The 28th Edition (1994) of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines pregnancy as “the condition of having a developing embryo or fetus in the body, after union of an ovum and spermatozoon.” The 1995 edition of Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, states that pregnancy is “the condition of a woman or female mammal from conception until birth.

Copyright, 2002