Abortion Care Network
I recently received an email from a woman named Peg Johnston, an old friend up in Binghamton, New York who has been running an abortion facility for many years. She has seen it all: the murders, the bombings, the protests with hundreds of people at her front door. And, like so many of her colleagues, she has persevered.
For many years, she was one of my closest confidants when I was the Executive Director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. We went through a lot together and, yes, I was a pain in the ass to her at times (or maybe a lot of times). After I left NCAP, she helped transform the organization into what is now called the Abortion Care Network.
In the early years, NCAP was a Capitol Hill lobbying effort that represented independent abortion providers. To this day, I take pride knowing that we actually got three laws passed that provided protection to the doctors, staff and patients who use these facilities. Later, NCAP started focusing on the business side of the industry, putting together group purchasing plans, business conferences, etc. What really got my juices flowing, however, was NCAP’s effort to de-stigmatize abortion. And I was pleased when I received Peg’s email to see that the Network continues to fight to make abortion more acceptable in this country.
Abortion Care Network
It’s hard to believe that after 40 years of legal abortion, the procedure is still shrouded in mystery, spoken only in whispers. Millions and millions and millions of women have availed themselves of this procedure but so many of them still sit by in silence. And that has allowed the anti-abortion movement to fill in the blanks, to demonize abortion and to make women feel ashamed for having them.
But Peg and her group continue to press the envelope. She and her colleagues have seen women come into their facilities, leave and move on with their lives. They continue to insist that “good women have abortions” and that abortion is “okay.” They also believe – and they taught me – that the pro-choice movement needs to speak more honestly about the abortion procedure. They argue that women are not stupid, that they know exactly what goes on during an abortion and it is an insult to obfuscate. “We Trust Women,” is their catch-phrase.
Whether or not the Abortion Care Network or, for that matter, NCAP has had an impact is hard to tell. But I can tell you personally that it sure felt good not having to worry about trying to avoid the “A” word and just putting it out there. Sure, our candor pissed off our pro-choice colleagues at times, but we slept well at night knowing we were telling the simple truth and that, by doing so, we were lifting the veil of secrecy about abortion.
And now Peg and the Abortion Care Network are on to their next project in their never-ending battle to make abortion more acceptable in this country. Below is a link that announces a new video contest they are sponsoring, which speaks for itself. I encourage everyone to submit their videos, to speak out if you’ve had an abortion and, yes, to send money to the Abortion Care Network:
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e880uqfe81765aa0&llr=rrbrm5cab
Related articles
- Texas Abortion Clinics Say Court’s Ruling Is Forcing Them to Stop the Procedures (nytimes.com)
- Court reinstates most of Texas’ new abortion rules (bigstory.ap.org)
- Oklahoma Top Court Says Law Bans Pill-Induced Abortions – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Texas women turned away at abortion clinics after court ruling – Reuters (reuters.com)
Abortion - Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information 
November 9, 2013 at 4:32 pm
Linda, you said, “All right, tell me how to stop someone from growing up to be a serial killer.” Here’s how:
First of all, you wish the baby well. You put his welfare above your own. If it means not getting together with friends for eighteen years, you’ll give them up. If it means changing churches, you do it. Next, you understand the seven different developmental stages he will go through over the next eighteen years, and you adjust your mothering style accordingly. Next, you understand the difference between bad behavior and a mistake. Next, you do not punish him for bad behavior, you discipline him, and when he makes a mistake, you do not punish him, you let him learn from it. Next, you allow him to express his opinions, even when you find them obnoxious and hurtful, and you show by your response that even though you disagree, he has a right to say how he feels. Next, you encourage him to rely on his feelings. Next, you make it possible for him to understand that there is always someone who will help him when he faces a problem. Next, you make sure that the adult male role model in his life is a good one. Next, you adjust your life schedule– work, leisure, vacation, everything– to his as is appropriate.
That was the difference in nurturing between Bobby Darin and Ted Bundy, both of whom grew up believing their grandmother was their mother and their mother was their sister.
So, how do you feel about it? Ready to start?
By the way, lots of women have an abortion because the child(ren) they already have takes precedence in their life.
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November 10, 2013 at 10:06 am
I am always amazed how the anti choice pro death anti lifers always have no idea how to take care of children and how the GOP always votes against legislation that help children and the impoverished.
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November 12, 2013 at 8:10 am
Terry you believe the pro abort lies, there is a website that tells you how every congressman and senator vote on any given issue. Go look for yourself at the voting records then come back and say that again.
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November 10, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Thata all well and good, but you will never stop serial killers from being born. Evil will always exist in the heart of man. Out of the 25 worst mass murders in US history one was in 1966,1973 and the rest was from 1982 and after. Well after the “every child a wanted child” propaganda slogan.
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November 10, 2013 at 2:20 pm
Also the rate of child abuse has risen by a 1000% since 1973. RvW cheapened the value of children, they only have value now based on the whim of another person. Even the value of the handicapped has changed since RvW. At one time handicapped people were treated like animals, kept in asylums their entire lives. Then we became ‘enlightened’ and started treating handicapped people with the compassion and respect they deserved. Since RvW the winds of change are slowly shifting back in the other direction. One pro abort told me the sight of handicapped children made her physically ill and that Downs Syndrome children should be aborted out of existance. Another told me it was a persons moral duty to abort a handicapped fetus. The idea that only perfect, wanted or wealthy babies lives have value is a direct result of the RvW mentality.
Reality is far different from the mantras of the pro aborts.
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November 11, 2013 at 9:47 am
Linda, do you realize you just refused to acknowledge any responsibility for the welfare of a child you insisted be born?
In effect, you a very much like a child who wants everybody to give her a Mustang convertible for a birthday present and ignores what they might have to do in order to get her one, whether it’s going bankrupt, stealing, prostituting, starving the family or even committing suicide to avoid the obligation.
It’s one of the core traits of the so-called “pro-life” movement, focusing on abortion no matter how much pain it brings to a child, the subsequent adult or the rest of the community. And you can’t bring yourself to think about why you won’t sacrifice for a child.
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November 12, 2013 at 7:47 am
Your question was how to stop serial killers from being born. My response was that you will never stop serial killers from being born, that is not dodging responsibility, that is facing facts. Your dream of a utopian society is childish, you think killing innocent children will prevent evil from being born. Are you for the death penalty? To kill evil that really does exist, rather than evil that might exist.
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November 11, 2013 at 1:11 pm
Linda,
Responsible is correct.
You write a ridiculous message.
What cult do you belong to that fosters such bizarre thinking?
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November 12, 2013 at 7:49 am
Satanic cults believe the death of children brings the greatest power, you believe the death of children brings the greatest freedom. How are you any diff than a satanic cult?
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November 10, 2013 at 12:11 pm
Just saw a mommish [dot]com article about 10 reasons not to have an abortion—done with cats. It’s hilarious but it gets the points across.
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November 10, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Correction: Ten reasons to have an abortion.
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February 8, 2014 at 7:27 pm
I have a car with almost the same prbolem. Actually, it had the same prbolem till I decided one day to give it a good kick. Sat sideways and, pulling up the door handle, I put my feet on the door and just thumped it with both feet. Now it works sometimes, and when it doesn’t I bang my palm and thigh against it at the same time. If that doesn’t work, both feet does like above.Good luck!
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November 10, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Linda, child abuse was not even recognized as a public health problem until 1966, so it is hardly surprising that rates would have zoomed since 1973. Clerical pedophilia wasn’t even known in 1993, save for one man with a placard on 16th St. in Washington, DC, and look how it apparently “burgeoned.” Neither form of abuse increased; it was the rate of perception that increased.
So, how closely are you raising your kids according to the guidelines I laid out?
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November 12, 2013 at 8:00 am
Excuses excuses, it is you who slough off any real data on the plight of todays children while pretending to care about their well being. Even if you only start counting child abuse cases from 1982, ten years after RvW, until the present, child abuse cases have risen every year without exception. So like I said before, your mantras dont fit reality. My children are well loved and cared for. A teacher once told me, my children were the two most well behaved and and likable students in the school. Because I teach them to have respect for people and to treat people the they want to be treated. At the same time I teach them right from wrong, which a lot of parents dont do anymore. I teach human life has inherent value, not value based upon the economic or personal whim of another person.
I’ve noticed most pro aborts call pro lifers evil, satanic and anti-life. What you really mean is anti-lifestyle, most abortions are lifestyle decisions. You kill another human being, and anyone who says its wrong to do so is immediately deemed evil. “Woe to them that call evil good and good evil”……………this is you.
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November 12, 2013 at 8:12 am
So, you only have two kids??????? If you really care as much for human life as you say you do, why haven’t you adopted more? My parents had eleven– and my dad earned $100 a week. This boiled down to a per person income of $400 per year. IN 2013 dollars, that’s about $3800.
So, if you’re a family of four making the national average for that family size– $54,000– you could increase the size of your family to the point where you’d have a income of $3800 per capita, like my parents. Imagine how much joy and love you’d bring to ten unwanted children– and you’d be the talk of the town with 12 kids!
A friend of mine has actually done this for years– she usually has 10 to 12 kids in her family. It’s been a little rough, but the food stamps and other benefits have been there for her to use, and the kids love her for it.
So, what’s been holding you back?
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November 12, 2013 at 9:31 am
I didnt say I have only two kids, I said two who went to the same school at the same time.
Are you an animal lover, if so, how many animals do you have. Cant call yourself an animal lover unless you have a household full of animals right? Are you vegan, cant say you love animals unless youre vegan right?
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November 28, 2013 at 8:45 pm
So what you are saying is this that you are so perfect, that you should make decisions over everyone else´s life, And if anyone is not on the same side either belongs to a satanic cult or is just plain evil. In all your post you are just showing how much self righteous and better than everyone you think you are and makes me feel sorry for your children because they are probably just afraid of you.
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November 12, 2013 at 8:26 am
Linda, you said, “My response was that you will never stop serial killers from being born, that is not dodging responsibility, that is facing facts.”
So, if you believe that children are predestined to become serial killers, it follows that you believe other children are predestined to other fates.
So, consider this: About every seven seconds a child is born. Imagine them being carried out of the Baby Hospital, a child ever seven seconds, day in and day out, headed to their destination.
Every fourteen seconds, there is carried out the door a baby who will not be raised with the biological father in the household.
Every twenty-eight seconds, there is a baby who will be sexually abused by someone before the age of two.
Every forty-two seconds comes a baby boy who will be sexually abused.
Every 42 seconds, a baby boy who will go to jail.
Every seven minutes, a baby girl who will go to jail.
Every 28 seconds, a baby who will live in poverty.
I could go on for another 20 or so categories, but you get the idea.
So, what are you going to do to help other people’s children turn out as well as your own two?
And have you considered how people who wish they’d never been born can take it out on other people?
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November 12, 2013 at 9:49 am
You’re forgetting a thing called free will. Every person makes their decision of what they will do in this life. I never said someone was predestined to become a serial killer. Thats like saying someone is predestined to become a podiatrist. What I said is that evil will always be in the heart of man. If you dont believe thats true, turn on the news. Saying you can abort a serial killer from being born is like saying you can abort podiatrists from being born. Man is always responsible for his own actions, but you cant kill a person for what he ‘might’ do
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November 12, 2013 at 11:48 am
Linda, you can’t prevent a serial killer by having an abortion. You prevent a serial killer by raising a child properly. Ted Bundy’s legal counsel, Polly Nelson, wrote a book about her work: “Defending the Devil.” She talks about his undiagnosed ADD and other problems– including childhood sexual and other abuse– which were instrumental in him growing up to be a five-year-old who put sharp knives in his aunt’s shoes to watch her cut her feet. Another book written by a retired FBI agent who developed the serial killer profile, “Who Fights Monsters” I believe is its title, described the horrific parenting all of the serial killers suffered– being dumped in a cardboard box and tossed bags of chips for feeding, and so forth.
“Free will”– the possibility of making any choice you want– is only truly available to the insane. The rest of us make our choices based on our experiences, and when we’ve had nothing but bad experiences, we assume those were normal, and we make bad choices. Ted Bundy had little ability to make better choices.
Which is to say that you really are unaware of the very real ways that children are raised which prevent them from becoming killers of any sort. And since you COULD raise unwanted children to do well in life, my question is, “Why don’t you?” You can overcome your lack of knowledge about the subject by doing some reading. You can start with those books,
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November 12, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Ted Bundy chose his path in life. There have been many children raised under terrible circumstances that have not murdered one person, let alone dozens. TB had the ability to make better choices, but he chose evil ones. I know a man that was raised by a single mother. The mothers alcoholic boyfriend would beat and choke him to near unconsciousness. Today that man has a steady job, two boys that he adores and a third on the way. You could say his circumstances could have turned him into an abusive father or a monster like TB. But just the opposite is true, his circumstances actually motivated him to be a good father to his boys.
I know the way you raise a child has a lot to do with how and what that child becomes. The Bible says to ‘raise a child in the way it should go’………but you cant use murderers to justify abortion, that is my point.
My husband does want to adopt children, he loves children. But the cost is prohibitive right now.
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November 12, 2013 at 9:51 am
Just curious, do you consider yourself a religious person?
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November 12, 2013 at 11:51 am
Who, me, religious? I believe there is a God which does not concern itself with human matters. Therefore, it is my responsibility to make things better in this world, and if I do not accept that responsibility, when things go bad, it’s my fault, not God’s punishment on a person, community or country.
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November 12, 2013 at 12:43 pm
So you are a deist.
What do you think about Bible prophecies that have come to pass?
The Bible said the Euphrates river will dry up. NASA has said the Euphrates has been drying up for the last few years.
That Israel would return as a nation speaking the hebrew language. This happened in 1948. Even though the people came speaking a dozen diff languages, they now are united in the revived language of hebrew.
The Bible said Israel would bloom. Israel is today the garden of the middle east. Growing olives, grapes, peppers, pomegranites etc.
It says one day there will be an earthquake underneath Jerusalem and water will flow from underneath Jerusalem. Today we know that a fault line (something they did not know in bible times) runs underneath Jerusalem as well as water systems. Do you think these things are coincidences?
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November 12, 2013 at 8:36 am
God knows the preborn child. “You knit me in my mother’s womb . . . nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret” (Psalm 139:13,15). God also helps and calls the preborn child. “You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God” (Psalm 22:10-11). “God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace” (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15).
The Bible doesnt say the word abortion, but it doesnt say the word rapture either. But it gives a clear image of what is to come, and it also gives a clear image of Gods feeling toward preborn children. A fruitful womb was considered a blessing, a barren womb was considered a great shame even a great curse. To abort a child in OT times would be the same as bringing a curse to your family. Other pagan religions did this, but God was very specific in telling the jews not to follow the practices of the pagan people.
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November 12, 2013 at 9:39 am
You’re forgetting a thing called free will. Every person makes their decision of what they will do in this life. I never said someone was predestined to become a serial killer. Thats like saying someone is predestined to become a podiatrist. What I said is that evil will always be in the heart of man. If you dont believe thats true, turn on the news. Saying you can abort a serial killer from being born is like saying you can abort podiatrists from being born. Man is always responsible for his own actions, but you cant kill a person for what he ‘might’ do.
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February 8, 2014 at 12:43 pm
se5 det var ve4stra le5ngvattnet- det konstiga i det hela att jag var de4r -98 sist; samma e5r som jag tre4ffade maken – de5 hade jag en daltmain i sle4pte5g. Iallafall ha en he4rlig helg ….
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November 12, 2013 at 9:40 am
Post Birth Abortion: Planned Parenthood Rep Claims Right to Kill Babies After Birth
March 29, 2013 By Daniel Greenfield
Forget all that, “Her body, her choice” nonsense. Abortion isn’t about women’s rights. It’s about eugenics. It’s about killing unwanted children any time and any place. It’s about normalizing and making everyone complicit in mass murder of unwanted people at some level either by carrying it out, paying for it or agreeing with it.
Florida legislators considering a bill to require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion were shocked during a committee hearing this week when a Planned Parenthood official endorsed a right to post-birth abortion.
Alisa Laport Snow, the lobbyist representing the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, testified that her organization believes the decision to kill an infant who survives a failed abortion should be left up to the woman seeking an abortion and her abortion doctor.
“So, um, it is just really hard for me to even ask you this question because I’m almost in disbelief,” said Rep. Jim Boyd. “If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that is struggling for life?”
“We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician,” said Planned Parenthood lobbyist Snow.
Rep. Daniel Davis then asked Snow, “What happens in a situation where a baby is alive, breathing on a table, moving. What do your physicians do at that point?”
“I do not have that information,” Snow replied. “I am not a physician, I am not an abortion provider. So I do not have that information.”
Rep. Jose Oliva followed up, asking the Planned Parenthood official, “You stated that a baby born alive on a table as a result of a botched abortion that that decision should be left to the doctor and the family. Is that what you’re saying?”
Again, Snow replied, “That decision should be between the patient and the health care provider.”
“I think that at that point the patient would be the child struggling on the table, wouldn’t you agree?” asked Oliva.
“That’s a very good question. I really don’t know how to answer that,” Snow said. “I would be glad to have some more conversations with you about this.”
Later another representative asked Snow, “What objection could you possibly have to obligate a doctor to transport a child born alive to a hospital where it seems to me they would be most likely to be able to survive?”
Snow said Planned Parenthood was concerned about “those situations where it is in a rural health care setting, the hospital is 45 minutes or an hour away, that’s the closest trauma center or emergency room. You know there’s just some logistical issues involved that we have some concerns about.”
And those logistical issues are best resolved with a murder.
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November 12, 2013 at 9:41 am
How do you justify killing these babies once they have been born alive?
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November 12, 2013 at 11:53 am
It is a matter between the woman and her doctor; Planned Parenthood does not advocate what the writer claims it advocates.
Not that that makes any difference to a so-called “pro-lifer.” He needs someone to hate in order to give himself a sense of potency.
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November 12, 2013 at 12:45 pm
So youre saying a child born alive independant from the mother, still has no rights to life?
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November 12, 2013 at 10:26 am
Reality in the antiabortion world looks a lot different than what the majority of the world sees. Facts are distorted. LIes are manufactured. Now we have more evidence of the right wing nuts manufacturing a controversy over a Planned Parenthood lobbyist’s comments. It spread like manure from the RNC to yellow journalism hacks like Jill Stanek and embarrassingly ignorant sites like LifeNews, WashingtonTimes and The Weekly Standard. And, of course, the plebians like linda repeat and repeat without the benefit of any analysis. Just cut and paste lies.
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November 12, 2013 at 11:31 am
There is a video, type in her name and pull it up. You can watch it for yourself. Alisa Snow comments and watch her testify before the legislators. Its hard to make up ‘lies’, when a video proves the truth. It amazes me how you will deny the truth if you dont like the truth.
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November 12, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Cut and paste, ever hear about editing?
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November 12, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Parker, Well if you dont believe the video, most if not all legal proceedings have a wriitten copy of all testimony.. Go get a legal copy of the proceedings to see what she said. But of course the legal copies would be wrong to, right Parker?
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February 10, 2014 at 8:34 pm
mumu linda dis is just d begining cos both dis chick and ur so caleld agbani and genevive are no where to compare to cute girls in nigeria all hidden at home cos u see those useless forcing bueaty on d screen u tink they are d best,cm to my office and see naturall fine fine girls living low key lives.
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November 12, 2013 at 11:46 am
Heres the link to the video.
She is saying a baby, born alive, laying on a table separate from the mother, still has no right to life. But that the decision still should be that of the mother and doctor. It is NOT her body or in her body as pro aborts love to say. So what she is advocating is infanticide.
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November 12, 2013 at 11:56 am
For those of us who wish we’d never been born, Linda’s attitude is not much of a comfort. If I had a choice between living the life I’ve had and being aborted, I would go for abortion, hands down.
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November 12, 2013 at 12:47 pm
So because you are suffering from depression, that gives you a right to abort another person? I’m happy, so what does that mean. What in your life is so bad you wished you were dead?
that sounds like your projecting your emotional problems onto someone else.
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November 14, 2013 at 9:22 am
You don’t ever think about what people are capable of inflicting on other real people when they wish they’d never been born.
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November 12, 2013 at 12:54 pm
What would be a comfort?
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November 14, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Well, one of the comforts is knowing that innocent children who die go to Heaven.
Since you consider the fetus to be an innocent child, you should be happy that a child is going to Heaven as the result of an abortion. And think of how Satan grinds his teeth when that happens! For you, a double win!!
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November 28, 2013 at 8:51 pm
LMAO you just made her head explode , thank you !
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February 7, 2014 at 9:09 pm
This first bedroom is guogeros… I love those grey tonesI’m so ready for Christmas too, I’m thinking about starting to buy gifts this week end and I’ve just ordered an Advent calendar for the house 🙂 Have a lovely week end xx
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November 14, 2013 at 9:26 am
Linda, you say that although your husband wants to adopt children, you “can’t afford to.” Since my personal experience shows that per capita family income of $3800 allows sufficient income to raise a child, this means that your family of four must be living on only $15,200!!! How do you do it? Do you raid the dumpster behind the vegetable stands like my mother used to and cut out the good parts to feed the family?
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November 14, 2013 at 3:46 pm
I just love how the antis insist that it’s sooooo easy to put a child up for adoption, that there are sooooo many people waiting to adopt but this anti just can’t do it. Indeed, I’ve talked to most of the leaders in the anti movement and NONE of them have ever adopted. Hypocrites….
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February 10, 2014 at 7:50 am
Hello Mrs. Moris! My name is Callie Amond and I’m a Elementary Education major in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama and every week our professor asngsis us a different teacher’s blog site to follow! It seems that everywhere I turn there are more and more teachers that use blogging in their classroom! I couldn’t agree more that blogging is an excellent and creative way to spark students imagination and education. I definitely plan on incorporating blog assignments into my lesson plans once I become a teacher! Thank you for sharing that adorable video from Lidia Yollis.
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November 18, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Oh no! I asked Linda how she feels about innocent children going directly to Heaven when they are murdered, and she disappears!!
Some things so-called “pro-lifers” just can’t wrap their minds around….
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November 24, 2013 at 1:59 pm
It was very interesting to me to read this Forced Birth ranter (Linda) complain and accuse everyone in the world for not living and being the way she wants. She must live a very frustrated and frustrating life, floundering around in all that obsessive/compulsive need to control people, places and things…… especially when all the people will NOT cooperate with her world view. I think she must have been overwhelmed by the sanity and was forced to beat a retreat into her strange world where her wishes and wants override everyone elses’ needs and desires. I don’t miss her.
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November 25, 2013 at 10:48 am
Very few people on either side of the chasm realize just how much of the so-called “pro-life” personality she is so effective and forthright in stating. For every Linda who wears her flag on her sleeve, there are a thousand who feel exactly like her. They are just more diplomatic about expressing themselves.
However, they work and/or vote to get their prejudices, biases and ignorance made into law. They are agents of cruelty to women, families, society and children.
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March 23, 2014 at 8:35 pm
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