The Last Abortion Clinic (more liberal bias with taxpayers $$$ ?)

Frontline: PBS: Coming Soon: WGBH: The Last Abortion Clinic (Press Release) ^

[topher]

DOES ROE v. WADE STILL MATTER?

FRONTLINE Presents
THE LAST ABORTION CLINIC
Tuesday, November 8, 2005, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/frontline/clinic/

This November, the Supreme Court will take up its first major abortion case in five years: Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. This case will come before a changed court. But for Betty Thompson, a former abortion clinic director in Jackson, Mississippi, the concern is less about Ayotte and more that Roe v. Wade is simply becoming irrelevant as states pass hundreds of abortion regulations across the United States. "[Pro-life groups] are going to chip away at Roe v. Wade until the law is on the books, but nobody will be able to access the service," she tells FRONTLINE. According to one abortion provider in the South, who prefers to remain anonymous: "The assault on abortion rights is very clever. It's very smart. And we are losing."

In the summer of 2005 -- more than 30 years after Roe v. Wade established that access to abortion services is a fundamental right -- a FRONTLINE documentary team spent two months traveling across the South, where states have been particularly active in passing restrictions on abortion. In interviews with abortion providers and their patients, staff at a pro-life pregnancy counseling center and key legal strategists on both sides of the national debate, FRONTLINE producer Raney Aronson (The Jesus Factor) documents the success of the pro-life movement and the growing number of states restricting access to abortion.

In the last two years, Mississippi has passed legislation on fetal homicide prosecution, new clinic regulations, requirements to report abortion complications, rights of conscience, and a law that would prohibit the state's last abortion clinic from offering abortions beyond the first trimester. Americans United for Life (AUL), the nation's oldest national pro-life organization, refers to this as the "Mississippi Miracle." "We're sending a very clear message that we do want to protect the unborn," says Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck. "That's why we've passed the legislation that we have, and it's passed overwhelmingly. It's bipartisan support. It's Democrats and Republicans. ... It's the House of Representatives and the Senate. Mississippi is truly pro-life."

With an ever-increasing number of state abortion regulations and a steady decline in abortion providers, the procedure, while still legal, has become daunting and expensive in many states. In Mississippi, Medicaid offers support for women seeking to continue with an unintended pregnancy, but no state funds or facilities may be used for abortion services. In the last decade, all but one clinic providing pregnancy terminations in the state have closed. The last abortion clinic, in Jackson, is difficult to access for women outside the capital who do not own a car, who have limited funds for gas or who cannot easily take time off from work or child care responsibilities. "It's like even before Roe v. Wade for these poor women," says Pat White, a nurse-midwife who has been working in the Mississippi Delta for decades. "We are making decisions for them. These women have no option except to continue with the pregnancy, whether they can afford it, or whether or not it's wanted, or whether or not they can emotionally provide for the child."

But Americans United for Life considers Mississippi an example for the nation. In fact, the organization's motto is "Changing Law to Protect Human Life, State by State." "Mississippi has an impressive track record," AUL senior legal counsel Clarke Forsythe tells FRONTLINE. "Our goal is to see that other states pass the type of legislation that Mississippi has passed over the past decade, and we see a lot of legislative activity. Legislators and governors across the country in many different states are looking at the same type of common sense legislation that Mississippi has passed."

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The Last Abortion Clinic is a FRONTLINE co-production with A Little Rain Productions, Inc. The producer, director, and writer is Raney Aronson.

FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS.

Funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The Park Foundation and through the support of PBS viewers.

FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.

FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation.

The executive producer for FRONTLINE is David Fanning.

pbs.org/pressroom
Promotional photography can be downloaded from the PBS pressroom.
Press contacts
Diane Buxton (617) 300-5375
Andrew Ott (617) 300-5314

[topher]

I just wonder if this documentary will advocate using tax dollars to have pro-abortion people start causing violence against pro-lifers?

It does use tax dollars for the production of this and for the airing of this, so I don't see how it can be copyrighted!

[Tzimisce]

Oh, I'm sure PBS is doing it in the interest of "fairness and balance", not that they'd give pro lifers a chance to speak at all.

"more than 30 years after Roe v. Wade established that access to abortion services is a fundamental right"

Let's get one thing straight - there is NO right to abortion. No where in the Constitution does it say "and there will be a right to an abortion" I've checked. If you do have a right to an abortion, you can get one free of charge where ever and whenever you want (I'm sure MANY vegan lefties who don't wear leather would be behind this.)

You may get away with telling me someone has the right to CHOOSE to have an abortion. This tiny language change is very offensive to me.

[topher]

From the Press Release:

Betty Thompson, a former abortion clinic director in Jackston, Mississippi states:

"The assault on abortion rights is very clever. It's very smart. And we are losing."

These people seem to believe that killing babies should not have any consequences... That the fundamental right to life provided by the constitution does not apply to babies because this inconvient for liberals.

And now they complain that they are ... now losing.

My heart aches... for those little babies that are being ripped apart... not for the death movement...

[topher]

I agree with everything you posted. I spent the afternoon outside an abortion clinic... Praying for the little ones being ripped apart inside the building, as well as for other people...

[topher]

Ping - worth taping or watching Tuesday to know if there will be violence from the Death movement in the coming weeks and months. PBS show also touches on the upcoming US Supreme Court case...

[taxesareforever]

This November, the Supreme Court will take up its first major abortion case in five years: Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

Could this be why Specter put off hearings on Alito until January? If it is, it says a whole lot about the Specter, as if we didn't already know.

[Kryptonite]

My hat is off to MISSISSIPPI for being a model pro-life state.

"It's like even before Roe v. Wade for these poor women," says Pat White, a nurse-midwife who has been working in the Mississippi Delta for decades. "We are making decisions for them."

That is EXACTLY the problem.

[Kryptonite]

I have considerable hope that our new chief justice won't allow his fellow brethren to issue a mandate until Alito is confirmed and seated.

[taxesareforever]

I hope you are right. And by the way, your tagline is right also.

[bushinohio]

Excellent job, Mississippi! Hopefully many other states will follow the lead. Abortion is the single greatest tragedy in this great country of ours.

[exDemMom]

"It's like even before Roe v. Wade for these poor women," says Pat White, a nurse-midwife who has been working in the Mississippi Delta for decades. "We are making decisions for them. These women have no option except to continue with the pregnancy, whether they can afford it, or whether or not it's wanted, or whether or not they can emotionally provide for the child."

Because, as Pat White and every other pro-abort knows, there is absolutely NO WAY to PREVENT a pregnancy. None. It's impossible. Women MUST have abortions if they don't want to be baby producing machines.

< /sarcasm off >

[topher]

Ping

[GloriaJane]

I second that!

[topher]

One effect of Hurricane Katrina was pretty much shutting down the abortion mills (clinics) in New Orleans.

Now in the far Northeastern part of Louisiana, Shreveport, they have a few mills. But excluding Shreveport, Hurricane Katrina left an abortion clinic in Baton Rouge, and that meant that people in Mississippi would have to go Jackson, MS, or Birmingham. They could no longer go to New Orleans.

I find it interesting how the Gambling Industry was almost brought to its knees by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Mississippi, as well as affecting the abortion mills in New Orleans (basically, they were underwater).

And then driving a long distance to an abortion clinic was also affected by the gasoline shortage that drove prices up.

Maybe and maybe not that was intended by God (to affect the gambling and abortion industries by the hurricanes). It is interesting how sin city was shut down just before the Gay parade that was scheduled the weekend of the Hurricane (I think), as well. I forget the name of that parade, but it had some perverted, weird name...

[topher]

If PBS was fair, then they should tell the story of Delta Women's Clinic in Baton Rouge, where a woman suffered a horrible botched abortion and then nearly died from the unsanitary conditions in 1998. This abortion clinic later burned down because of an electrical fire.

In the case of this poor woman, Louisiana and its Republican Governor put a law into effect to try to raise the health standards of abortion clinics in Louisiana to that for animal clinics -- but this was blocked by legal action supported by NOW, Planned Parenthood, and especially NARAL.

This law would have made abortions safer, but if this show dwells on this issue, it will list this as an abortion restriction, not something to make abortions safer.

[/sarcasm on]
But since PBS is funded by taxpayers, we all know how fair PBS is and how balanced there reporting is! And how fairly issues like this will treated by such shows!
[/sarcasm off]

[texas booster]

I have never understood why abortion was not treated and regulated as any other medical procedure. That it requires more paperwork to get one's ears pierced than to get an abortion is an insult.

Democrats are a party of death, inconsistent beyond belief.

[Salvation]

Thanks for your ping. I'll be back after attending Mass.

[Coleus]

For your information – Please check your TV guide for program time in your area.


This program will air tonight, Tuesday, November 8, 2005.


Watch a preview here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/clinic/

The Last Abortion Clinic

(60 minutes) Today, the headlines are filled with speculation about changes in the U.S. Supreme Court and what those changes might mean for abortion -- an issue that has divided the country for over 30 years. Heated rhetoric from both sides continues to be heard in courtrooms and on the campaign trail. But while attention is often focused on the arguments, there is another story playing out in local communities.


Pro-life advocates have waged a successful campaign to reduce abortions in many places throughout the country. By using state laws to regulate and limit abortion and by creating their own clinics to offer alternatives to women, they have changed the facts on the ground.

On Nov. 8, FRONTLINE investigates the steady decline in the number of physicians and clinics performing abortions and focuses on local political battles in states like Mississippi, where only a single clinic performs the controversial procedure.

[madprof98]

Meanwhile, the US Senate wasted a day bitching and moaning about "fairness" and "balance" because an hour of Rush Limbaugh's radio show is carried on the Armed Forces Network.

[Frank Sheed]

If states had the guts to treat this as a medical procedure that requires the same parental notification protocols, insurance coverage and medical safety protocols for the "providers," medical follow up, adequate medical training for personnel, etc., this procedure would dry up in many areas of the country.

As always, follow the money. Who profits from these abortion mills? This is a mass money making scheme with millions upon millions of victims (both born and unborn).

Frank