Posted on 02/19/2003 10:57:38 PM PST by miltonim
Activists Tout Ultrasound Images to Discourage (killing babies) Abortion
(words in parenthesis are not in original article)
Gail Tierney, executive director of a pregnancy center in Rockville, Md., says ultrasound technology helps women make an informed decision about (baby killing) abortion.
BY MARK O'KEEFE c.2003 Newhouse News Service
Pregnant and distressed, 23-year-old Rebekah Nancarrow walked into a faith-based pregnancy center in Dallas "95 percent certain I was going to (kill my baby) have an abortion."
What turned her around was seeing an ultrasound. "She was moving, she was kicking, she had legs," said Nancarrow, who said she promised on the spot, "I will take care of you."
Such dramatic decisions thrill anti-abortion activists, who see detailed ultrasound images (of unborn babiesd) as a high-tech way to change minds about (baby killing) abortion. But (pro-baby-killing) abortion rights groups oppose the practice, arguing that ultrasound becomes a manipulative weapon when put in the hands of religious activists trying to persuade pregnant, vulnerable women.
The two sides are clashing over a $3 million bill, backed mostly by Republicans, that would provide up to half the cost of ultrasound equipment, which ranges from $20,000 to more than $100,000. The money would go only to nonprofit centers that do not charge for services. The vast majority of pregnancy centers that fit this description oppose (baby killing)abortion.
A similar bill went nowhere last year, but its chances are somewhat improved by Republicans controlling Congress.
Even without the funding, about 350 of an estimated 2,500 (anti-baby-killing)anti-abortion pregnancy centers around the country have ultrasound equipment. It appears to be working as intended, according to officials at several centers, who report many changes among (baby-killing minded) "abortion-minded" women once they see ultrasounds of their (babies) fetuses.
Dr. Dolores Pretorius, a professor of radiology at the University of California, San Diego, is a pioneer in developing the latest generation of ultrasound technology, which can provide moving pictures of small details such as an ear or chin.
Pretorius, who says she is (pro-baby-killing) "pro-choice," has been fascinated by (how many babies are being saved) the impact the images seem to have. She plans to conduct a study that quantifies (how many lives have been saved) the impact, but says her "gut feeling" is that the images do affect women's (baby-killing)abortion decisions. Pretorius called the use of ultrasound to persuade women "not great" because "it's a difficult decision." On the other hand, she said, "What is is. Women do have a right to know what their (babies) fetuses look like."
When used by faith-based pregnancy centers opposing (baby-killing) abortion, ultrasound "isn't a matter of providing more knowledge, but an attempt to manipulate women (by showing them the truth)," said Susanne Martinez, Planned Parenthood's vice president for public policy in Washington.
Planned Parenthood, which also sometimes provides ultrasounds and gets federal family planning funds for (killing poor people's babies) poor people, would not be eligible for assistance under the bill because it charges for ultrasound and other services(, such as baby-killing).
"They don't want women to go to Planned Parenthood, where they'll (kill their babies) get their full range of options," said Alison Herwitt, director of government relations for (NARAL Pro-baby-killing America)NARAL Pro-Choice America in Washington. "They just want them to go to crisis pregnancy centers, where women will be exposed to (the truth)this weapon at taxpayers' expense."
Said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.: "If we can get it into a woman's mind, regardless of her age, that it's standard medical procedure to have an ultrasound when you're pregnant, that in itself will change the debate on (killing babies) abortion in this country. Information is knowledge and knowledge is power and that's why this is a threat to Planned Parenthood."
Even if the bill fails, the movement to expose pregnant women to ultrasounds will continue, said Tom Glessner, president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, an organization in Fredericksburg, Va., that provides legal advice and arranges medical training for pregnancy centers wanting to provide ultrasounds.
"I'm not a prophet," said Glessner, who helped write the bill, "but I do have an educated feel for this thing and the bottom line is this: By the end of this decade, we want to have 1,000 pregnancy centers becoming medical centers with ultrasound. If those 1,000 medical centers provide, on the average, 1,500 ultrasounds for (baby-killing minded) abortion-minded women per year, we will see the number of (babies killed) abortions in this country plummeting to 500,000 a year, compared to the current 1.3 million," a figure that has been dropping over the last several years.
Among the 350 (anti-baby-killing)anti-abortion pregnancy centers already providing ultrasound, the issue of pressure and manipulation is a sensitive one.
"The ultrasound image is true," said Gail Tierney, head of the Rockville Pregnancy Center in Rockville, Md. "There's nothing manipulative about it. We're just showing a mother a window into her womb. We're educating, not manipulating, because women can figure this out when they're truly informed. It's ignorant women that can be manipulated."
Said Dr. Rhonda Kendrick, a supervising physician at the center, "There's no propaganda involved because what you see is what you get."
Kendrick says an ultrasound is medically necessary to determine if a pregnancy is still viable. Women frequently miscarry without knowing it, said Kendrick, and an ultrasound can prevent them from going ahead with (unnecessarily killing their baby) an unnecessary abortion procedure.
Kendrick said she prefers women to wait until they are at least seven weeks pregnant before having an ultrasound, so they can see "they're not just carrying around a blob of tissue. There's a child inside of them."
In most states, the main requirement for providing ultrasounds is having a physician who oversees what's happening, though some states have more stringent requirements.
After offering free ultrasound exams, some (anti baby-killing) anti-abortion pregnancy center officials say they have seen an increase in the number of women seeking help, especially those they deem (baby-killing vulnerable) "abortion vulnerable."
Take, for example, Collier Pregnancy Center of Naples, Fla., which began offering ultrasound in July. Director Beth Chase said the (pro-life) anti-abortion center saw an average of 80 women a month before ultrasound. Ten percent were identified as (baby-killing) abortion vulnerable, and of that group, only 4 percent carried their babies to term (the others killed their babies).
After ultrasound was offered, the number of women visiting jumped to 105 per month, of which 80 percent were labeled (baby-killing) abortion vulnerable. Of that group, 95 percent said they decided to (let their babies live) carry to term after seeing an ultrasound.
"What we've come down to is this: If we build it, they will come," said Chase. "I think we've hit on something that women are so hungry for and talking to other women about."
Nancarrow, whose baby girl was born last spring, said in a telephone interview that she first went to Planned Parenthood in fall 2001 when she discovered she was pregnant. Her boyfriend had told her he was not ready to be a father and would leave her if she didn't (kill their baby) abort.
She received an $80 ultrasound at Planned Parenthood, she said, but was told she couldn't see the results because "that will only make it harder on you."
Nancarrow, upset and ambivalent, visited the Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center, where she remembers saying, "I'm only here to give you one shot to get another view on this."
"I honestly have to say that had I not had the sonogram (ultrasound), I would have (killed my baby) had the abortion. But that sonogram just confirmed 100 percent to me that this was a life within me, not a tissue or a glob."
(Mark O'Keefe can be contacted at mark.okeefe@newhouse.com)
Image of baby at 7 weeks
Image of baby at 7 weeks
Ah, what miracles can be wrought by simply providing evidence. Kudos to this group...and may they convince every mother who walks through their doors to spare the life of their child.
<img src=http://www.gemedicalsystems.com/rad/us/4d/images/thennow/picture.gif>
The next time I have money to spare, it will go to one of the foundations working to put ultrasound imagers into pregnancy care facilities. This is so uniquely positive, wholesome, and unopposable an initiative that nothing ever suggested in the pro-life struggle can compare to it. It's even non-political.
Perhaps we're finally outside the box.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com
Well Duh!
Did she refer to an ultra-sound as a weapon?
As opposed to a scapal?
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