Abortion Information Blog

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Abortion-Rights Groups Denounce Tactics Of Operation Save America

POSTED: 8:39 am CDT July 22, 2006
UPDATED: 9:00 am CDT July 22, 2006
JACKSON, Miss. -- Representatives of several organizations gathered at the state Capitol Friday to denounce the activities of an anti-abortion group.

Michelle Colon, president of the Jackson chapter of National Organization for Women, said the news conference was held to show the solidarity of groups opposed to the "tactics" of Operation Save America.

OSA has been protesting in Jackson since July 15. The group burned a copy of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, during a gathering Tuesday at the Making Jesus Real church in Pearl. The group also allegedly attempted to destroy a rainbow flag, a symbol of the gay community.

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Anti-abortion protests to continue
From staff and wire reports

An anti-abortion group protesting in Jackson since July 15 will begin leaving this weekend, but others will arrive over the next two weeks, said the Rev. Philip "Flip" Benham.

Rick Guy/The Clarion-Ledger

Anti-abortion protesters hold signs outside the Mississippi Women’s Clinic on North State Street in Jackson on Friday. No violence was reported.

"This has been the safest week for the lives of little boys and girls in their mothers' womb since 1973," said Benham, director of Operation Save America. The group has been protesting outside the only clinic providing abortions in Mississippi for a week.

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Senate wades back into abortion debate

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press WriterFri Jul 21, 2:00 PM ET

The Senate reopened the abortion debate Friday in advance of the midterm elections, this time over a bill that would make it a federal crime to take a teenager across state lines to end a pregnancy without a parent's knowledge.

Supporters of the bill say such incidents often occur when a girl, or the man involved, wants to evade homestate parental consent laws. Opponents say the bill would make criminals of well-meaning confidants, such as relatives and clergy members, who might help a pregnant teen whose parents are abusive.

Much of the discussion Friday concerned how to balance a parent's right to know with a woman's right to end a pregnancy as spelled out by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

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Abortion Rallies Continue

Saturday should mark the last of an eight-day run of protests in Jackson by the pro-choice movement. Demonstrators have been pushing for the closing of the state's only abortion clinic on State Street.

Again Saturday morning a group gathered outside the clinic. They played music, held signs, and recited bible verses, hoping to spread their message to women visiting the center. Saturday's demonstration was low-key compared to some of the more spirited protests held over the past eight days. One man WLBT talked to says he tries to counsel women every week as they visit the clinic.


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Clinic open for business despite anti-abortion rally
By Leah Rupp
leah.rupp@jackson.gannett.com
And Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger

For the first time since anti-abortion activists began amassing in Jackson, the state's only abortion provider was open Wednesday for business while protesters rallied outside.

The Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic, located at 2903 N. State St., has opened its doors this week at 6:30 a.m. and closed by 9 a.m. to try to avoid the protesters, said Susan Hill, president of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based National Women's Health Organization, which owns the clinic.

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Man pleads guilty to breaking into Iowa City abortion clinic

IOWA CITY, Iowa A Davenport man has pleaded guilty to breaking into an Iowa City abortion clinic and assaulting a worker.
William Owens-Holst is awaiting sentencing for third-degree burglary and simple assault.

According to a police report, Owens-Holst tried to get in the Emma Goldman Clinic on May 16th to prevent abortions.

The report says Owens-Holst grabbed a female employee by her neck, pushed her against a vehicle and threw her cell phone to the ground. Owens-Holst then smashed a second-floor window to get inside administrative offices before the clinic began seeing patients.

Police say they negotiated with Owens-Holst for about five minutes before he agreed to leave the building.

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Denial by abortion accused
Geesche Jacobsen
July 21, 2006

THE doctor accused of performing an illegal abortion and killing a premature baby told a NSW Medical Board inquiry she did not do abortions beyond 20 weeks' gestation because it was not covered by her insurance.

In a document tendered at her Supreme Court trial, Suman Sood denied acting improperly when treating a 20-year-old woman.

The woman has testified that Sood had agreed to perform an abortion when she was 23 weeks' pregnant, gave her a tablet vaginally and orally, and sent her home. She delivered the baby boy in a toilet 13 hours later.

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Playwright says 'Mitzi's Abortion' focuses on the woman's feelings, not public policy

Friday, July 21, 2006

By GIANNI TRUZZI
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Elizabeth Heffron knew she was using a hazardous word in the title of her newest play. A prospective literary agent, on hearing it, yelped a cry to the heavens. She admitted the use of the "A" word -- abortion -- makes her play "a marketing nightmare."

COMING UP

MITZI'S ABORTION
PLAYWRIGHT: Elizabeth Heffron
WHERE: ACT Theatre, 700 Union St.
WHEN: Previews start tonight; opens Thursday, runs through July 9
TICKETS: $10 (25 and under) to $54

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Stem-cell divisions transcend abortion fight

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
Thu Jul 20, 8:17 AM ET

President George W. Bush may have cited his moral stance in vetoing a bill that would have expanded embryonic stem-cell research on Wednesday but the issue transcends traditional divisions over abortion rights.

Strongly conservative Republicans who oppose abortion such as Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record) have backed broader federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research for years, and more conservatives have come on board recently, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.

The embryos at issue come from fertility clinics, where eggs and sperm are united in lab dishes. But many more are made than can ever be implanted in mothers' wombs, and the leftovers are discarded.

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New and improved...and posted in the correct journal!

Are you strongly pro-choice?
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Can you follow the format laid out by yours truly?

Then I'm looking for you! I'd like to make this community a little more active. Since it is a pro-choice community, all articles posted should have a neutral or pro-choice slant to them. At this time, we are not writing editorials about the articles, just copying and pasting from various newssites. Ideally, I would like to add no more than 4-5 new maintainers to the account at this time.

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DA