Two women admitted Tuesday to forcing turpentine down a teen's throat in 2006 in an attempt to cause an abortion. A third woman facing the same charge remains in jail. Shonda Y. Blackshire, 28, and Monica M. Johnson, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminal abortion -- a charge that netted both women two years on probation and 40 hours of community service. Police were called to investigate after the girl told her school counselor that her mother allegedly made her drink turpentine. Sgt. Debra Bohannon had said the sex crimes unit handled the case because it already was investigating a sexual assault against the three-months pregnant teen.
Read the rest of the story here.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Regional News: North Dakota Abortion Center Says It Will Do Record Number of Abortions
by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com Editor
October 2, 2008
Fargo, ND (LifeNews.com) -- There is just one abortion business in the state of North Dakota, and its director says she expects it to set a record this year for the number of abortions done. The Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo has been the subject of criticism in the past over bogus medical malpractice insurance and how abortion affects women.
The abortion center has been doing abortions for just over ten years and did a record 1,358 abortions in 2003 and another 1,238 abortions last year.
Tammi Kromenaker, Rid River's director, tells the Associated Press that the center is on pace for its highest number of annual abortions and is doing about 25 abortions a week.
She contends the number of abortions is on the rise because college students have seen funding for birth control and contraception cut.
Red River came under fire in August 2004 for refusing to divulge information about an apparently bogus malpractice insurance policy it purchased from an illegitimate Bermuda-based company.
Jim Poolman, the state's Insurance Commissioner, issued a subpoena to obtain the records when Jane Bovard, the owner of the abortion business, refused to provide them.
"All we're trying to do is help her make sure [Red River] is covered by legitimate malpractice insurance," Poolman told the Fargo Forum newspaper at the time.
The investigation set off a national scandal over whether other abortion businesses across the country have legitimate malpractice insurance.
Red River was party to a lawsuit in 2003 about whether it was misleading patients by not disclosing the fact that abortion can increase a woman's chances for contracting breast cancer.
Amy Jo Kjolsrud, a former state resident, sued for false advertising. Kjolsrud was a sidewalk counselor outside the abortion business, and she said one Red River brochure said medical research did not support any claim that abortion increased a woman's risk for breast cancer.
However, at the time, 16 out of 17 statistically significant studies reported increased breast cancer risk among women having abortions, and 7 studies reported a more than two-fold increased risk.
The North Dakota Supreme Court eventually ruled that Kjolsrud did have legal standing.
Helping Women with Sexual Sin Issues
Resource for helping women with sexual sin issues:
Women Helping Women by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Carol Cornish
Women Helping Women by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Carol Cornish
A Great Opportunity to Help A Post-Abortive Woman
The woman sitting in my office had asked for help in dealing with an abortion she had over 20 years ago. She stated that she had not been able to put her finger on the deep sadness she had carried all these years. Then she attended a women’s conference and heard about help for women who had aborted their children and thus recognized her need to talk with someone about her abortion.
She had never spoken to anyone about it before, yet she carried it in her heart all those years. Though she knew the Lord as her Savior and had confessed the abortion as a sin before Him, there remained in her a deep sadness . . . always this deep sadness overshadowing her life.
As we talked, I asked her if she had ever recognized the humanity of her aborted baby. She looked at me in shock, and then the tears came rolling down her cheeks and she said. “No, I never have.” Together we prayed and asked the Lord to help her acknowledge that her abortion had taken the life of a human being and to help her embrace the reality of her child’s humanity. As she began to consider the loss of her child – a human child – she was finally able to grieve. Later we went to a park and had a little memorial service for her aborted child – not to glorify the child, but to acknowledge that he/she was human. Over time, her sadness lifted and she was able to move forward in her walk with the Lord.
Women and men who abort their children are not encouraged to grieve the loss of their children. They are told that they are merely “making a choice” and that any sadness probably has to do with hormones. Yet the post-abortion help lines and web chat rooms are filled with individuals trying to make sense of this “deep sadness” they carry after an abortion.
The specific sin of abortion is not beyond God’s forgiveness (1 Peter 3:18), but it does bring with it certain lingering consequences that must be addressed. One of those consequences is facing the truth that, in fact, they did not abort a blob of tissue; they aborted a child, and they lost a “someone” not a “something” because of it.
Sadly, with abortion there is no body to bury or funeral to attend, and this can make it more challenging to really believe there was a life to acknowledge. When there is a death in our society in any other instance, the deceased is treated like a person, and loved ones are allowed to mourn the loss. This woman had not mourned for her child and was therefore stuck. By helping her recognize her need to grieve, she was given hope to move forward. She is now reaching out to other post-abortive women who are suffering in silence with the love of Christ.
She had never spoken to anyone about it before, yet she carried it in her heart all those years. Though she knew the Lord as her Savior and had confessed the abortion as a sin before Him, there remained in her a deep sadness . . . always this deep sadness overshadowing her life.
As we talked, I asked her if she had ever recognized the humanity of her aborted baby. She looked at me in shock, and then the tears came rolling down her cheeks and she said. “No, I never have.” Together we prayed and asked the Lord to help her acknowledge that her abortion had taken the life of a human being and to help her embrace the reality of her child’s humanity. As she began to consider the loss of her child – a human child – she was finally able to grieve. Later we went to a park and had a little memorial service for her aborted child – not to glorify the child, but to acknowledge that he/she was human. Over time, her sadness lifted and she was able to move forward in her walk with the Lord.
Women and men who abort their children are not encouraged to grieve the loss of their children. They are told that they are merely “making a choice” and that any sadness probably has to do with hormones. Yet the post-abortion help lines and web chat rooms are filled with individuals trying to make sense of this “deep sadness” they carry after an abortion.
The specific sin of abortion is not beyond God’s forgiveness (1 Peter 3:18), but it does bring with it certain lingering consequences that must be addressed. One of those consequences is facing the truth that, in fact, they did not abort a blob of tissue; they aborted a child, and they lost a “someone” not a “something” because of it.
Sadly, with abortion there is no body to bury or funeral to attend, and this can make it more challenging to really believe there was a life to acknowledge. When there is a death in our society in any other instance, the deceased is treated like a person, and loved ones are allowed to mourn the loss. This woman had not mourned for her child and was therefore stuck. By helping her recognize her need to grieve, she was given hope to move forward. She is now reaching out to other post-abortive women who are suffering in silence with the love of Christ.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
What a Blessing!
WCTS Radio recently donated books written by their radio guests to MWC to use as part of our Silent Auction on November 13th. If you love to read, this will be a great opportunity for you to pick up Christian books at rock-bottom prices, plus you will be supporting our effort to raise funds for the Amazing Grace Maternity home.
Check www.metrowomenscenter.org for more information on the fundraiser.
Speaking Up for Purity
I have several young women in my life right now who are struggling to stay on track with the Lord in the area of sexual purity. I am so thankful that they are asking for help, and I am grateful to have a resource like Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh to turn to for help in guiding them to God's truth. This book is FULL of scripture, and, along with my Bible, it is a great tool! 2 Peter 2:19 tells us that "whatever overcomes a person, to that she is enslaved." So many people become enslaved to sexual sin and are overcome by it. Not only young people but all of us need our eyes and ears fixed on the Lord in this area of our lives.
I was working on my computer on Tuesday, and when I clicked on a web address to get some information, WOW! I got more information than I wanted. My computer had taken me to a pornographic site, and it would not let me off it until I shut down my system and restarted it! It made me cringe to see that stuff, and the images stayed in my mind all day, even while I used Scripture to combat them. It made me so thankful that I am not in that lifestyle anymore, and it reminded me that teens living in this sex-saturated culture need people to show them God's plan for their bodies and intimacy. I thank the Lord for opportunities to speak up for purity in the lived of our clients at MWC!
Family News
We were excited to attend our son Lewis's college graduation last night. He received a BA in Visual Communications and Graphic Design. We praise the Lord for his accomplishment, and say thanks to all who pray for our family!
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