U.S. Digest

Pro-aborts admit abortion kills

In an amazingly candid set of statements contained in court papers, attorneys with two of the most zealous pro-abortion organizations in the U.,S.-the Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America - have admitted "that the physician providing an abortion by definition sets out with the purpose of performing a procedure that he knows will kill the fetus, and that does kill the fetus." The statements are contained in papers filed in the case of Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey vs. Verniero, a challenge to the constitutionality of New Jersey's ban on partial-birth abortion.

Other undisputed facts about abortion admitted by the ACLU and PP were: the fetus is almost always living at the beginning of the abortion procedure but is not living at the end of the procedure; in certain abortions, the abortionist intentionally delivers parts of the fetus while it still has a heartbeat; and in an "induction" procedure, while the fetus is often dead when delivery begins, it still has vital signs.

The admissions prompted Patrick Monaghan, general counsel for the New Hope Life Centre to observe that "to further their murderous blood sacrifice, the abortionists will either lie or be factually correct...they cooly admits that an abortionist deliberately kills the fetus...has killing lost its horror?"

RU-486 access said to be imminent

Pro-abortion advocates say they're expecting access to the RU-486 "abortion pill" early this year, and are celebrating what they see as a "revolution" to come, "America is on the brink of a historical moment," claimed Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Gloria Feldt. "Approval and availability of mifepristone (RU-486) will, I think, be comparable to the arrival of the birth control pill 40 years ago."

However, columnist and radio commentator Frederica Mathewes-Green, writing in the January issue of Citizen magazine, said American women may not love the abortion pill as much as pro-abortion activists hope they will. "Not many easy-poppin' pills induce days of bleeding accompanied by pain and nausea. RU-486 is rough on the system, because it is, after all, intended to destroy a healthy process." She also noted that the long-term effects of the pill are unknown. Even pro-abortionists worry that the pill (a powerful synthetic hormone) can damage a woman's ova and the children of future pregnancies.

Mathewes-Green also said the psychological impact of the pill will be even more distressing. "The women may find herself sitting on a bathroom floor at two in the morning cradling her tiny child in her bloody fingers." She quoted Edouard Sakiz, chairman of the company that produces RU-486 in France, who in 1989 said: "RU-486 is not at all easy to use. In fact, it is much more complex to use than the technique of vacuum extraction...(A) woman who wants to end her pregnancy has to live with her abortion for at least a week using this technique. It's an appalling psychological ordeal."

Two-parent families grow more scarce

A survey conducted by the National Opinion Research at the University of Chicago says the traditional North American household composed of a married couple with children has grown scarcer. They say it's a reflection of the view that marriage is not always desirable. The most common living arrangement in North America today consists of unmarried people and no children (one-third of all households in 1998, or double the proportion in 1972). The traditional nuclear family, meanwhile, makes up 26 per cent of households, down from 45 per cent in 1972.

Survey director Timothy Smith attributed the figures to more women in the workforce, driven there by economic necessity and a desire for a career, and a relaxation of social mores that frowned on co-habitation and having children outside marriage. "Marriage has declined as the central institution under which households are organized and children are raised." he said. Sixty-two per cent of working class adults reported being married, compared to 80 per cent in 1972.