If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention

If someone performs an illegal medical procedure on you or your child, should you be able to sue?

Kathleen Sebelius apparently doesn’t think so- at least, not when the procedure is a late-term abortion.  “Women’s rights” indeed!  This is our new Secretary of Health and Human Services.  FML.

Sexual abuse coverup- yet again!

Abortion clinic caught covering up statutory rape, this time in Memphis, TN. This is the sixth time this has been uncovered just by the Mona Lisa project; similar violations have been videotaped in Indiana and Arizona.  As much as Planned Parenthood will claim that this is an isolated problem, it clearly is not.  If you live in Tennessee, call your elected officials and ask them to investigate this!

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

Here’s part four of the Mona Lisa project.  Watch as a Planned Parenthood in Phoenix fails to comply with statutory rape reporting laws, instead enabling the abuse to continue.  This is the fourth time an abortion facility has been caught just by the Live Action group, and a fifth video is on the way.  Prior to Live Action’s project, a massive undercover investigation found statutory rape cover-up at over eight hundred abortion groups.  The news is out, and the state Planned Parenthood organization says they plan to investigate.  At best, this will end with them taking action against the specific employees, but there’s little chance they will ever address their unspoken, systemic policy of ignoring the law.

“Rapelay” Cannot be More Tasteless

I am not easily offended, but whoever came up with the idea for this video game needs a good kick in the head.  I understand that there are plenty of violent, crime-glorifying titles out there, but rape is not a game, and watching “the tears glistening in the young girl’s eyes as the player attacks her in graphic detail” is NOT entertainment.  This is an insult to rape survivors in Japan and around the world, and I’m glad that Amazon.com has decided to remove it from its stock.

NAACP Centennial

I am really bad at this posting every day thing.

Congratulations to the NAACP on its 1ooth anniversary.  The civil rights movement has come a long way in those 100 years.  I’m not saying the job is done; their new focus is on economic equality, which I think is a good move in general.  Don’t agree with the specific request to put a nine-month freeze on foreclosures, as it seems to just be an attempt to delay the inevitable.  But fighting predatory lending is definitely something we can all get behind, and the long-term goals are admirable.

Misc News

The Mona Lisa Project continues, this time showing an Arizona abortion clinic failing to report sex between a 15-year-old and 27-year-old (a felony in AZ).   The employee also tells the 15-year-old that abortion “doesn’t hurt”- yeah, right.  Watch the video.

It’s official!  The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion has been signed into law.

USA Today/Gallup Poll reports that Obama’s reversal of the Mexico City policy is the least popular decision of his early presidency, with a mere 35% approval rating.  His most popular was a tie: naming envoys to the Middle East and restricting lobbyist activity each came in at 76%.  Depressingly for me, the nation is split on Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo Bay prison, with 44% approving and 50% disapproving.

Haven’t posted in a while

I have a good reason, though- I’m actually starting the Pro-Life Union for Secularity like I said I would!  So far I’ve set up the website and I’m almost done with the first publication, “Abortion by the Numbers.”

In other news…

• the SCHIP program, which the Justice Party supports, is being expanded.
• police in Detroit are investigating a mother who abandoned her healthy newborn at a hospital.  I would say that this is exactly what safe haven is for and that they should leave her alone, except that she left the baby in the bathroom.  *Facepalm*
• on a more personal note, it is very likely that I will be attending William and Mary School of Law next year, but I have not made my final decision.

Bravo, President Obama

Obama has signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and I’m happy about it.  Finally, something we can agree on.

As Promised: My Trip to March for Life 2009

Late Wednesday night: We arrived in Washington, D.C. and settled in to our hotel.

Thursday: We woke up early and visited the Library of Congress.  Then, it was off to the march!  The attendance was huge- an estimated 300,000 marchers.  A large percentage of those were students.  The sense of community was wonderful and I wish I had attended the march sooner.  Some of the more creative slogans I saw/heard were:

• “Catholic University of America!” “Is pro-life! DUH.”
• Leave the earth for children and children for the earth
• “Pro-child/Pro-choice” = Pro-pig/pro-bacon
• Life begins at conception, not consensus

Having made our way to the Supreme Court building, the crowd dispersed and we went to eat.  We ended up at a Spanish tapas restaurant in Chinatown, which was much better than it sounds.

Friday: We visited Arlington Cemetery in the morning, and had the bizarre experience of seeing Justice Blackmun’s grave (the Roe v Wade justice for whom the Blackmun Wall is named).  Naturally we also watched the changing of the guard.  On Friday evening, we got dressed up and attended the Life Prizes ceremony, during which six pro-life activists were awarded $100,000 each.  I got to have a chat with one of the winners- Donna Harrison, the president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Saturday: The Students for Life of America conference was sold out.  It began with a talk from Steven Wagner, who gave a good talk about having productive conversations and building common ground.  There was TONS of free literature and products, and even what they did charge for was pretty cheap.  I got more brochures than I can count, fetal models, DVDs, t-shirts… enough to last our club for another five years, even though we’ll be back to the conference in just one.  I also got great tips on expanding membership, had a great conversation with representatives from Feminists for Life, and generally sucked every last molecule out of the experience.  (There’s one thing that bothered me, but that’s for the next post.)

Sunday: Although I’m not Catholic, the rest of the students in my group are, and they wanted to go to the National Basilica.  I’m glad I tagged along, because it is so beautiful.  Then it was off to the National Archives, where we stayed just long enough to peek at the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.  After days of activism, it all came back to these short founding documents, affirming our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The last event of the trip was when the D.C. metro shut down, I tried not to run around like a chicken with my head cut off in panic, and we just caught our flight home.  Good times.

Defense of Marriage Act

Tomorrow, LGBT activists around the country will be gathering in opposition to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  DOMA’s author, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, has recently opined that the act should be repealed.  He argues that, while DOMA was originally meant to preserve federalism and states’ rights, it “is not working out as planned.”

First of all, let me congratulate Bob Barr for having the courage to publicly change his mind and share his thoughts.  We need more politicians who are willing to do that.  The law isn’t working out.  But the question that needs to be addressed, is why?

I believe that whenever an issue is framed in terms of natural rights, compromise legislation is doomed to fail.  The Missouri Compromise on slavery was doomed to fail, as was “separate but equal” educational policy.  I love the Constitutional principle of federalism as much as anyone else, but nobody truly believes that the possession of a natural right is dependent on one’s state of residence.  Once the gay rights movement convinces enough people that there exists a natural right to marry the person of one’s choosing, DOMA-style federalism just isn’t going to cut it.