Free Republic

Tom Cruise has already claimed to know the history of psychiatry. Now he's working on getting acquainted with OB/GYN. The couch-jumping thesp has acquired a sonogram machine with which to personally track the progress of the fetus currently incased in his fiancee Katie Holmes' womb. Cruise revealed the purchase during an interview with Barbara Walters taped Oct. 30 for the veteran newswoman's upcoming special, Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005, scheduled to air Tuesday on ABC. "I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise told Walters. "I am going to donate it to a hospital when we are...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The front page of The New York Times may well be journalism's most prized piece of real estate. That fact makes the appearance of one particular article all the more surprising and noteworthy. In the paper's Feb. 2, 2005 edition, reporter Neela Banerjee reported on the use of ultrasound technology by crisis pregnancy centers. In an article headlined, "Christian Groups Turn to Sonogram to Turn Women from Abortions," Banerjee offered a unique glimpse into one of the most transformative developments in the struggle against abortion. The article began by introducing Andrea Brown, who at age 24, "desperate for...

BOWIE, Md., Jan. 26 - Sixteen months ago, Andrea Brown, 24 years old and unmarried, was desperate for an abortion, fearing the disappointment of her parents and the humiliation she might face. While frantically searching the telephone book one day, she came across the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center and Medical Clinic, a church-financed organization that provides counseling and education about sexual abstinence. The receptionist told Ms. Brown that the clinic did not perform abortions or make referrals but that she could come in for an ultrasound to make sure her six-and-a-half-week pregnancy was viable. When she did, everything changed. "When...