I am not sure we needed any more reasons, but the new report and the atrocious video (discussed at right) reminds us why we need to defund Planned Parenthood. More abortions, less prevention, and more tax dollars. Defund Planned Parenthood now!
All eyes are on the U.S. Senate, and Vice President Pence reminded Louisiana of that last week when he was in town. The Senate must pass the health care reform bill, and it must keep the defunding language in the bill when it does so.
I have talked to Senators Cassidy and Kennedy, and both are committed to defunding Planned Parenthood. But you should send them a reminder yourself!
For a Pro-Life Louisiana,
Benjamin Clapper
P.S. Join us next week in Metairie (June 7) for a presentation by Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo. See below!
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Register NOW for PULSE Leadership Institute!
A few spots remain for next week's PULSE Leadership Institute for high school and college students. This outstanding leadership training opportunity os June 5-9 in Baton Rouge!
PLI is also an action-packed week for students with learning opportunities, field trips, and fun.
Questions? Contact one of our Youth Programs Co-Directors Alex Seghers at alex@
prolifelouisiana.org or Krista Corbello at krista@
prolifelouisiana.org.
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Guest Speaker, Dinner for Life Planned
If you are close by, please join us at two upcoming events in the New Orleans area.
* On June 7, Bobby Schindler, the brother of the late Terri Schindler Schiavo, will speak on "Why Terri's Life Still Matters" from 6:30 - 8 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Parish's Barrett Complex, 105 Bonnabel Blvd., Metairie. The event is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by Louisiana Right to Life and New Orleans Right to Life.
* On July 29, New Orleans Right to Life and Louisiana Black Advocates for Life will host a "Dinner for Life" from 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall, 7300 Crowder Blvd., New Orleans. Dr. Kathy Allen and the Rev. Corey Hicks will speak. Dinner is $5 per person, and it's first-come, first-served.
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Gilly Wins Raffle for Torregrossa Painting
Congratulations to George Gilly of Metairie, who won this beautiful Louisiana-inspired painting by Stephanie Torregrossa in the Bowties for Babies raffle!
Stephanie painted this masterpiece live during the event. The raffle was open through May 31.
Thanks to Stephanie for her time and dedication to the event, and thanks to all of you who bought raffle tickets to support the Advertise for Life project,
which reaches women in crisis pregnancies through targeted online advertising that connects them with one of the state's pregnancy resource centers.
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Joseph Zeringue and Hunter Fontenot enjoy their crawfish.
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Acadiana's 1st PULSE Crawfish Boil a Hit!
Acadiana Right to Life's first PULSE crawfish boil last Saturday in Lafayette's Girard Park was a huge success! It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and more than 100 people gathered for great food and good company, including PULSE students, their families, and even passers-by. Most participants were from the Acadiana area, but students from the Lake Charles and New Orleans PULSE teams also joined in, including Hailey Guth and Andrew, Clare, and Matthew Seymour.
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Hailey Guth of Lake Charles joined LARTL Youth Programs Co-Director Krista Corbello at the event.
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A big thank you to Karl Simon, Steve Richard, and Cade Beller for being our volunteer cooks, Chris West for providing the crawfish, and the Lafayette PULSE Team for its support and for getting their family and friends involved.
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Planned Parenthood's Abortion Numbers Rise
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Planned Parenthood Report Shows Abortion Up, Revenue at Highest Recorded Level
New Undercover Video Also Released
Planned Parenthood's 2015-16 annual report is finally out and shows the nation's largest abortion provider saw fewer patients but performed more abortions than a year earlier. Revenues, including taxpayer funding, are also up from fiscal year 2014-15, while non-abortion services, such as cancer screenings, declined.
Abortion numbers have been declining nationwide in recent years, but at Planned Parenthood, those numbers are back up. In 2015-16 Planned Parenthood performed 328,348 abortions, up from 323,999 abortions a year earlier.
Is this what is in store for Louisiana if Planned Parenthood is able to get approval to do abortions at its New Orleans location?
Planned Parenthood affiliates reported seeing 2.4 million patients in 2015-16, while they saw 2.5 million in 2014-15. The organization received $554.6 million in taxpayer funding in 2015-16, up from $553.7 million a year earlier. Planned Parenthood's total revenue for 2015-16 was $1,354 million, up from $1,296.1 million in 2014-15 and the highest the group has ever recorded.
At the same time abortion and revenue was on the rise:
- Prenatal services dropped from 17,419 in 2014-15 to 9,419 just one year later.
- Cancer screening and prevention services dropped from 682,208 in 2014-15 to 665,234 just one year later.
- Contraception services dropped from 2,945,059 in 2014-15 to 2,808,815 just a year later.
While adoption referrals increased in 2015-16 (from 2,024 to 2,889), they accounted for just 0.8% of Planned Parenthood's pregnancy services. Prenatal care accounted for just 3% of the pregnancy services provided, while abortion accounted for 96%.
- Planned Parenthood's total services are down nearly 13%.
- Unique patients have dropped by 600,000 - a 20% decline.
- Total cancer screening and prevention services, breast exams, and pap tests all dropped by nearly 50%.
- Contraceptive services are down 18%.
- Planned Parenthood performed approximately 145 abortions (1,641,130) for every one adoption referral (11,290)
For More Details, Read:
National Right to Life News Today
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The Center for Medical Progress released a video last week that included clips from various abortion industry leaders at the National Abortion Federation conferences in 2014 and 2015.
Within the video, Dr. Ann Schutt-Aine, director of abortion services for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, the Houston-based organization that is seeking a license to sell abortions in Louisiana, said the following:
"If I'm doing a procedure, and I'm seeing that I'm in fear that it's about to come to the umbilicus (navel), I might ask for a second set of forceps to hold the body at the cervix and pull off a leg or two so it's not PBA (partial-birth abortion)."
Dorinda Bordlee of the Bioethics Defense Fund explained, "If a baby is killed after the navel is outside the body of the mother, then it meets the definition of a partial-birth abortion in violation of both state and federal law. Dr. Schutt-Aine explains in the video that if the baby is starting to exit the womb intact, then she will force the upper torso of the baby to remain in the womb with a second pair of forceps and then dismember the living baby to cause death by 'pull(ing) off a leg or two.'"
Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, said: "The comments by Dr. Schutt-Aine of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast within the new video from the Center for Medical Progress are both honest and heinous. On the video she
explains how she purposely avoids violation of the Partial-Birth Abortion law by engaging in the dismemberment of a living human being in the womb. She shows a complete and total lack of regard for the living human beings who are brutally ripped limb from limb at the hands of Planned Parenthood abortion providers like herself.
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ouisiana's 2015 Act 264, signed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, prohibits 'dismemberment' abortions, and the U.S. Supreme Court has called this act 'brutal.' Yet this is just the kind of purposeful action that awaits the women and children of Louisiana if Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast succeeds in its efforts to open an abortion business so it can sell 2,844 more abortions each year at its Claiborne Avenue location. This is more reason why Attorney General Jeff Landry's vigorous and ongoing defense of the Louisiana dismemberment ban is so vital to the common decency of our state and its citizens."
After the video's release, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered any video links and references to the identities of members of the National Abortion Federation to be taken down from the Internet. However, several copies of the video were saved and can still be seen, including here.
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No More Abortion in Bossier!
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Victory Celebration Planned Outside Closed Abortion Facility in Bossier City
The Shreveport-Bossier pro-life community is planning a Victory Celebration this month following the April closure of one of the area's two abortion facilities, the Bossier City Medical Suite.
The celebration outside the former abortion facility at 1505 Doctors Drive in Bossier will be Saturday, June 10, at 2 p.m. Shawn Carney, president of 40 Days for Life, and Lauren Muzyka, executive director for Sidewalk Advocates for Life, will be guest speakers.
Chris Davis, who leads 40 Days for Life efforts in Shreveport-Bossier, said the facility's closing is a great thing for the pro-life community.
"Tremendous gratitude goes out to everyone who has taken part in this effort in every way," he said. "Special thanks go out to all our sidewalk ministries and pregnancy resource centers throughout our area."
He urges pro-lifers to attend the celebration and bring family and friends with them.
"It promises to be a great event as we celebrate the more than 1,000 lives that will be saved each year by the closing of the facility," he said.
According to records, 7,482 abortions were performed at the Bossier City Medical Suite from 2006-2015.
The Bossier facility is the second abortion center to close in Louisiana in the past few years. The Causeway Medical Clinic, which records indicate was owned by the same Texas-based group, closed in 2016.
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