Pro-Abortionists: Masters of the Big Lie
CHAPTER 17 — PRO-ABORTIONISTS: MASTERS OF THE BIG LIE
American Life League
There are 'Christian Soldiers' on the loose. They assault women in front of health clinics. They claim to be the saviors of unborn babies. But they are really Christian Fascists morality police with a whole program of oppression for women and children.
Negative propaganda by the Revolutionary Communist Party of the United States.[1]
Anti-Life Philosophy.
Anti-choice people don't care about the real-life, day-to-day tragedies that poor women and women of color have to face all the time. They are intolerant and judgmental towards these women and their situations and, since they are primarily male and middle or upper class, the anti-abortionists really can't even understand the problems that these women face in the first place!
Introduction.
Propaganda is that branch of lying which often deceives your friends without ever deceiving your enemies.
American journalist Walter Lippman.[2]
The Basics.
The word "propaganda" did not always have an unfavorable connotation. As recently as 1960, the Federal highway authorities commonly referred to their 'anti-littering propaganda campaign.' However, the term is now most frequently used to describe a package of information specifically tailored to further some cause by the manipulation of emotions and the distortion of facts.
As in every other type of latter-day propaganda, Neoliberals use generous doses of illogic, half-truths, and outright blatant lies as essential ingredients in their recipe for effective propaganda.
The finest propagandists of all history are homosexuals, euthanasiasts, and pro-abortionists. Their excellence in this field is derived from long and dedicated practice. They seize any opportunity to describe historical events in such a manner as to render them unrecognizable, even to those who actually participated in them. And they use propaganda with great effectiveness against those who would dare oppose their agendas.
Types and Purposes of Propaganda.
There are basically three types of propaganda. Each is used in specific situations with a specific goal in mind, as shown below.
(1) Positive propaganda conveys a favorable impression about the propagandist and is intended to generate public support for him and his cause. Pro-abortion positive propaganda has the specific objective of making pro-aborts appear to be both 'compassionate' and 'mainstream.'
An example of positive pro-abortion propaganda is shown below.
Legal abortion will decrease the number of unwanted children, child abuse cases, and possibly subsequent delinquency, drug addiction, and a host of social ills believed to be associated with neglectful parenthood.
National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL).[3]
(2) Negative propaganda dehumanizes and vilifies the propagandist's opponent(s) and generates public hatred or distaste towards them and their position(s). Pro-abortion and pro-homosexual negative propaganda in particular has the objective of making opponents in general look like uncaring and dogmatic fringe elements. Since their positions are so very weak, most Neoliberals have very little favorable to say about their own movements. Therefore, their propaganda apparatus spends most of its energy maligning pro-lifers and other pro-family activists.
A typical example of negative Neoliberal propaganda is shown below.
The American Family Association has a 24-point political agenda it would like to see attained by the year 2000. It includes the elimination of democracy, elimination of public schools, advocates that astrologers, adulterers, blasphemers, homosexuals, and incorrigible children be executed, preferably by stoning. That's one of our enemies. This is true.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) General Counsel Julianne Ross Davis.[4]
(3) Mixed propaganda combines positive and negative propaganda for the purpose of creating a vivid contrast between the propagandist and his opponent(s).
An example of mixed pro-abortion propaganda is shown below. Notice how the 'Religious' Coalition for Abortion Rights strives to cast itself in the image of a freedom-loving group of sensitive and caring souls that is shocked to its very core by the 'visual violence' inflicted on it by those hideous 'anti-choice' thugs.
You've probably seen the garish brochures that anti-choice organizations hand out. The pictures in those brochures are designed to shock you and they do! They are designed to keep you from thinking seriously about the real issue. Sadly, they often do. THE REAL ISSUE IS FREEDOM!
'Religious' Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR).[5]
Of course, the most effective propaganda is that which contains a kernel of truth. To this end, pro-abortionists and pro-euthanasiasts in particular are very skilled at building a careful misinformation campaign around the suffering of women and families who find themselves in difficult situations. The pro-aborts invariably use mixed propaganda to cast themselves in the role of People Who Really Care About Women. The inevitable conclusion is that those "anti-choice fanatics" who oppose them "do not care about women, only the fetus."
The pro-abortionists certainly do care about poor women. They care very much. They care enough to ruthlessly milk them for all the propaganda mileage that they possibly can, with the objective of making pro-lifers look like uncaring, dogmatic creeps.
And, when the usefulness of these poor women has ended, the pro-aborts simply discard them and forget that they ever existed.
Case Studies: Introduction.
People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.
Otto von Bismarck.[2]
There are so many juicy pieces of pro-abortion propaganda available for study that it would be impossible to generate a complete list of them. But it is still useful to look at a few of the more vivid examples of pro-abortion exploitation.
This chapter describes ten examples of how the pro-abortion movement has callously used desperate women to advance its deadly cause.
Remember that the professional media of this country, with all of their experience and know-how, shape public opinion more extensively and effectively than any other entity. And they are almost uniformly pro-abortion.
These case studies are very useful to the pro-life activist. Once a person has read them, he will be more able to identify pro-abortion propaganda and the associated mechanisms employed to manipulate public sympathy.
Note that, in each case, the interests of the pro-abortion movement are absolutely paramount. The welfare of the women involved means literally nothing. Notice also the extensive use of lies, deliberate misinformation, and particularly the manipulation of incomplete information in each case.
The selected case studies are listed below along with the primary focuses of the associated propaganda;
PRO-ABORTION PROPAGANDA CASE STUDIES
• Case Study #1: Becky Bell
Anti-parental involvement laws.
• Case Study #2: Abortion death sentence
If abortion is criminalized, this will happen.
• Case Study #3: Sandra Cano
Using women as tools to legalize abortion.
• Case Study #4: Nancy Klein
Comatose pregnant woman's self-determination.
• Case Study #5: Frances Kissling and 'Rosie'
The push for mandatory abortion funding.
• Case Study #6: Spring Adams
Abortion for incest and in later pregnancy.
• Case Study #7: Barbara Dodd
Exclusion of husband from abortion decision.
• Case Study #8: Marla Pitchford
Elimination of professional standards.
• Case Study #9: Getting the laws changed
Playing on the natural fear of women.
• Case Study #10: Smearing the enemy
The systematic slander of pro-life activists.
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #1
"Freebird" Becky Bell and Her Parents.
Introduction.
A Perfect Case Study.
The pro-abortion manipulation of the facts surrounding Becky Bell's death presents an absolutely superb example of how the facts behind a tragedy can be subtly altered and parlayed into a successful multi-million dollar nationwide propaganda campaign that is carefully tailored to achieve a specific objective. This case should be studied carefully by every student of propaganda to learn how distortions, hype, psychology, and outright lies are used to achieve a major objective.
A Propaganda Dream Come True.
Becky Bell was a 17-year old Indiana girl who died on September 16, 1988. This much the public knows for certain. However, pro-abortion and pro-life groups cannot agree on anything beyond these simple facts, and nobody in the media seems to have felt the need to inform the public about the substantiated facts behind her death.
The story given by pro-abortion groups and their willing agents, Becky's parents, is as follows. She was "oppressed" by Indiana's parental consent laws, which were being enforced by the courts. She became pregnant, resorted to an illegal "back-alley" abortion, became infected, and died. Therefore, the pro-aborts allege that Indiana's parental notification and consent laws killed her, and, as a result, all such laws are "bad" and must be eliminated all over the country.
Becky Bell's death delighted pro-abortion groups, but this delight was masked by copious crocodile tears. She was a dream come true for them, because they had been trying for years to find some "wedge" with which to attack parental consent and notification laws.
Until September 16, 1988, the pro-abortion strategists were faced with a difficult dilemma. They wanted to eliminate all restrictions on abortion, no matter how trivial. They opposed even the humane disposal of fetal remains, any restrictions on third-trimester or sex-selection abortions, and any hindrance to full public funding of unlimited free abortions.
However, in the case of parental involvement laws, the pro-abortionists had a major problem. Public opinion polls consistently showed that a large majority of Americans approved of parental involvement in their minor daughters' abortion decisions.
The question was this: How could they effectively attack these laws in the face of such unfavorable conditions?
Becky Bell provided the answer to their unholy prayers.
The Campaign Kicks Off.
Pro-abortion groups immediately seized on Becky Bell's death and stated as fact that it was directly caused by Indiana's parental consent laws. Planned Parenthood, the Fund for a Feminist Majority, and other pro-abortion groups launched a massive media campaign to overturn parental notification and consent laws all over the country.
The natural advocates of this view were Becky's parents, who announced that they would use their daughter's death as a rallying cry against any and all parental involvement laws. After all, hadn't their daughter died because of such "restrictive, unjust, dangerous" statutes?
Bill and Karen Bell made a wildly distorted video targeting high schools, universities, and state legislatures. They went on the CBS Morning News and were even featured on television by that paragon of dispassionate reporting, Geraldo Rivera. They testified before the legislatures of seven states and spoke on the mall at Washington, DC, with one of the trademark National Organization for Women (NOW) cardboard temporary memorials to their daughter erected nearby to heighten the emotional impact of their appeal.[6]
The NOW and other pro-abortion groups flew the Bells all over the country and lodged them in the best hotels. In the light of this massive effort, we must wonder if the pro-aborts were trying to assuage the grief of Becky's parents at all, or were merely trying to keep the flames of anger and denial burning as long and as brightly as possible for their own purposes.
The agenda of the Bells and the pro-abortion strategists, of course, is not limited to opposing parental involvement laws. The Bells teamed up with Ellie Smeal of the Fund for a Feminist Majority to recruit one million college and high school students to fight parental involvement laws; to lobby for the wide distribution of the abortifacient RU-486, particularly to teenaged girls; to register pro-abortion voters; and to oppose any and all pro-life legislators.
And they bought an expensive 6-foot high white marble grave monument featuring a angel with Becky Bell's face, kneeling, eyes turned to Heaven, laying flowers on the grave. The letters on the grave monument read;
REBECCA SUZANNE BELL
I AM A FREEBIRD NOW.
There is even a notebook perpetually maintained on the grave for people who want to volunteer to help overturn or undermine the nation's parental involvement laws.
What would this young girl (who allegedly died to protect her privacy) think of all this publicity?
The Campaign Message.
Unwitting Tools.
The manner in which Bell's parents let themselves be used as unthinking tools in this pro-abortion propaganda campaign is truly stomach-wrenching. Imagine, if you will, a photograph of Bill Bell, gazing sadly into space as he cradles a photo of his smiling, blonde daughter in his arms. Under it, in large, bold capital letters are the words;
THE ONLY CHOICE INDIANA POLITICIANS GAVE
BECKY BELL WAS TO TELL HER FATHER.
NOW SHE'LL NEVER TALK TO HIM AGAIN.
No prizes for guessing who paid for this sickening and blatant piece of exploitation. Planned Parenthood who else?
This full-page, November 4, 1990 Parade Magazine propaganda piece states that the lives of teenaged girls are in mortal peril in the ten states that have these "dangerous" parental involvement laws, and concludes with the tear-jerking statement "Others try to end their pregnancies by themselves. Telling no-one. That's what Becky Bell did. Is it the very last thing your daughter would do?"
The August 9, 1990 issue of Rolling Stone also featured the Bells. The article, evenhandedly entitled "Teen-Abortion Laws Turn Trauma to Tragedy," featured a photograph of both Bill and Karen Bell this time. The father is wearing the same clothes and the same mournful expression, and he is holding the same photograph of his daughter as in the Parade article, leading one to speculate that the parents must have had a rather lengthy photo session on that particular day.
Conflicting Reports.
It is fascinating indeed to study the official documents describing Becky Bell's death, beginning with the Marion County, Indiana coroner's report. This document listed the cause of Becky's death as "septic abortion with pneumonia," but the manner of her death was, according to the report, "undetermined."
It is absolutely critical to this case to note that the term "abortion" includes miscarriages, which in medical parlance are "spontaneous abortions." If Becky Bell had died of an induced abortion, the coroner's report would have listed "induced abortion," not just "abortion" (for more detailed information on abortion-related terms, see the glossary in Appendix C of Volume III).
Dr. John Curry, former head of the Tissue Bank at Bethesda Naval Hospital, reviewed the coroner's pathology report. He noted that the report listed massive infection in Becky Bell's lungs and in other areas of her body, but there was no evidence of infection on the outside of her uterus or within it. He also stated that the germ that killed her was a common pneumonia germ "... which is unlikely to originate from a contaminated abortion procedure."[7]
The physician who personally examined Becky's body, Dr. John Pless, head of forensic pathology at Indiana University Medical Center, stated that "I cannot prove she had an illegal abortion. I cannot prove she had anything but a spontaneous abortion [miscarriage]."[8]
Former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson also examined the medical evidence. His conclusion was that "There is no infection in or around the uterus, no pus, no odor to the uterus, and no peritonitis. The serosa of the uterus is described as "smooth and glistening." In the case of a septic abortion, this tissue would be shaggy and discolored ... Indeed, there is no evidence for an induced abortion at all: no marks or stigmata of instrumentation in the genital tract ... In short, the cause of death here was probably overwhelming pneumonia unrelated to the abortion/ miscarriage."[9]
Finally, Dr. Curtis Harris, president of the American Academy of Medical Ethics, consulted in detail with four leading specialists in the fields of infectious disease, infertility, pathology, and obstetrics/gynecology. The opinion of these five national experts was unanimous: That Becky Bell had an incomplete miscarriage (not an induced abortion); that her uterus was not marked or infected at all; and that the cause of her death was pneumonia brought on by the aspiration of vomit, and that this pathology was not related to the miscarriage in any manner.[7]
Even Delbert Culp, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Central Indiana, said that; "I heard about Becky's death right away, but I heard conflicting opinions right away, too. I have some reservations about hyping this whole thing when it's so mixed [up] about what actually went on."[8]
Finally: The Ugly Truth.
All-American Girl?
Becky Bell was painted by her parents and the pro-abortion propagandists as an all-American cheerleader, always friendly and smiling, a wholesome girl that any Daddy and Mommy would be proud of. The reason they did this, of course, is that people probably would not be quite as sympathetic towards the death of an uncontrollable and promiscuous drug addict.
Becky Bell had been fornicating for at least two years before she died. After becoming 'hooked' on hard drugs, her parents had hospitalized her in a resident treatment program from mid-February to April of 1988. The weekend before she died, she was, according to the coroner's report, "... reportedly at a party where various drugs were being used (cocaine, 'speed,' and LSD), on the weekend of September 10-11, and later claimed that someone had put 'speed' in her drink." Apparently, Becky Bell ingested drugs, vomited, and aspirated (inhaled) some of the vomit. This is what caused the pneumonia that led to her death.[6]
In an interview by Rochelle Sharp of the Gannett News Service, Heather Clark, Becky Bell's best friend, stated that Becky had had a miscarriage. She also said that Becky had talked about getting a legal abortion up until the day before she died. This statement, in tandem with the emergency room physician's statement to Becky's parents that "We might not be able to save the baby,"[6] leads to the inescapable conclusion that Becky Bell did not die of an abortion, legal or illegal.
She died of pneumonia, most likely brought on by inhaling her own vomit at an illegal drug party.[10]
The Usual Pro-Abortion Response.
When the media campaign centered around Becky Bell first hit the road, pro-lifers were caught completely unprepared. However, they soon began to dig up the facts behind Becky Bell's death and confronted pro-abortion propagandists with the truth.
When pro-life activists asked Bill and Karen Bell the awkward questions at the few opportunities allowed them, they were met with the standard stony stare and the immediate call for "next question?"
The reason that Becky Bell's parents and the pro-abortion leaders would not answer the following questions, of course, is because truthful answers will injure their blind crusade;
• There was and is a judicial bypass provision in Indiana's parental consent law. Why didn't Becky Bell use it?
• Becky Bell had scheduled a legal abortion in Kentucky for September 17, the day after she died. Why would she kill herself with an illegal abortion the day before a "safe and legal" one had been scheduled?[10]
• Had Bill Bell pressured her into the abortion? According to Becky's friends, she was told that if she "messed up one more time," her father would "throw her out of the house."
• When Becky Bell was finally taken to an emergency room, why did the attending physician tell reporter Rochelle Sharp that "I don't know whether we're going to be able to save the baby?"[6]
• Why don't Bill and Karen Bell mention the many teenagers who have died or been crippled because they were not required to involve their parents in their decision to have a "safe and legal" abortion?
What about 16-year old Erica Richardson, who lay on a table for four hours without treatment after her bungled abortion, and then died? How about 13-year old Dawn Ravenell, who went into shock, then a coma, and died? How about 14-year old Erin Preston, whose junior high teacher deliberately deceived her parents, who only found out about her abortion when she was undergoing emergency surgery to repair the damage caused by her botched "safe and legal" abortion? What about 17-year old Rachel Ely, who sits in a wheelchair today because of her "safe and legal" abortion?[10]
None of these teenagers were required to notify their parents. What about them? Bill and Karen Bell simply act as if they don't exist, because these poor teenaged girls don't fit into their tidy little agenda.
And Still They Lie.
Make no mistake: The pro-abortionists know the truth behind Becky Bell's death as well as pro-lifers do. But still they continue to lie. Their only tactic in the face of mounting evidence that refutes their position is to 'stay the course' and doggedly insist that Becky Bell died of an illegal abortion.
This willingness to blatantly lie to the public reveals a very basic aspect of the pro-abortion mentality. It shows that pro-aborts do not trust the public with the truth if it conflicts with the pro-abortion position. It shows that pro-aborts are utterly untrustworthy, and that anything they say is not to be believed.
As the old joke goes, "How can you tell if a pro-abort is lying? His (her) lips are moving."
And finally, it tells pro-lifers what they have known for a very long time: That those who are willing and even eager to slaughter millions of babies are perfectly willing to do anything necessary to preserve this "right" to kill. After all, what is a little lying compared to genocide?
Pro-lifers must remain constantly and eternally vigilant in the face of this ingrained dishonesty, and must be willing to fearlessly and doggedly uncover the truth behind pro-abortion propaganda and expose it for what it is.
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #2
Burned at the Stake for Abortion!
Gettin' Into Gear.
After the Supreme Court's July 1989 Webster decision, the pro-abortion propaganda apparatus shifted into high gear. The most hysterical and blatant lies masqueraded as truth in stylish, glossy magazines.
Isis Must Really Be Mad!
Comic Books for Adults.
One excellent example of this hysteria was "Choices," a pro-abort fundraising comic book. It was published in 1990 by Angry Isis Press of San Francisco for the National Organization for Women (NOW). "Choices" was certainly not some local mimeographed scandal sheet; it was printed on the finest bond, with a glossy cover, introduced by Congresswoman Pat Schroeder [D.-umb], and signed by Molly Yard, then-president of the NOW.
The primary objective of negative propaganda is to dehumanize the opposition. To this end, "Choices" depicts pro-lifers as hypocritical zombies and scarcely-human animals who kill, maim, and brutalize all of those good, committed 'pro-choice' people who stand in their way.
Going Ballistic.
The entire book is hysterically funny in its blatancy, and anyone but the most committed pro-abort would have the common sense to see through its hype. This comic book is already a pro-life collector's item, along with the pro-abortion propaganda film "Holy Terror."
It is interesting that most of the really outstanding examples of pro-abortion propaganda are distributed in the form of comic books like "Choices" and "Abortion Eve." Perhaps the pro-abortionists recognize that the only people who are gullible enough to believe their nonsense operate at a comic-book level of mentality.
Killed for Her Beliefs!
The best example of heavy-handed propaganda in the book is Lamra Walsdron's "Burning Issue," billed as "a true story."
In this short piece, Alfiza Maumaud, a young Iranian woman, shares her thoughts with the reader as she aborts herself illegally, bemoans the fact that the 'conservatives' have taken over her beloved country and ruined it, and endures an oppressive husband who insists that she 'toe the line.'
Her smirking husband turns her in to the authorities because of her abortion. She is then stripped and examined, spread-legged, in front of a packed courtroom (inevitably, all of the onlookers are evil, leering old men). The (naturally) male prosecutor says that she has induced an abortion, and the (naturally) male judge instantly sentences her to death: "For offending the honor of her husband she deserves the maximum sentence!" [emphasis in original].
The last two panels show her burning at the stake as she gallantly thinks, "At least I die knowing that I didn't bring another life into such a terrible world..."
The final panel solemnly proclaims that "In 1988, ALFIZA MAUMAUD was burned to death in Bahramabad, Iran, for having an abortion. Little more than a decade ago, this would have been unthinkable. But when the forces of ignorance and intolerance gain control, history shows that ANYTHING is possible."
At the bottom of the last panel is a quote from President George Bush, in bold capital letters in case the reader doesn't get the point: "I HAVEN'T WORKED OUT ALL THE DETAILS, BUT OF COURSE THERE WILL HAVE TO BE SOME KIND OF PENALTIES."
Interesting Questions.
This little two-page piece raises some interesting questions. For example, how could Alfiza Maumaud share her thoughts with us (especially her thoughts as she was burning to death at the stake)? Did some pro-abort "New Age" practitioner "channel" her spirit? This would be the only logical explanation.
And who researched the story? At the bottom of the cartoon, credit for "research/concept" is given to someone named "Teri." She is the only person in the entire book who is cited without a last name. Repeated phone calls to the national NOW office found no such person on the staff or familiar to any other staff member.
If this bizarre story was true, one would think that "Teri" would want credit for it, and would want to make herself available to members of the press and public for comment. But she has deliberately made herself mysteriously inaccessible. Why? Could the story be a hoax, like virtually all of those presented in the "Silent No More" story-telling program?
Do you really have any doubts as to the answer to this question?
Of course, the objectives of this silly cartoon are threefold;
• to insinuate that Christians will start hunting and killing women for obtaining abortions, conveyed via the haunting image of witches burning at the stake, and by implying that such hideous and inhuman practices will happen here in the United States by quoting George Bush on his abortion penalty philosophy;
• to paint all pro-lifers as the "forces of ignorance and intolerance" in a slick and almost subliminal manner (classic transference), and;
• to paint all men as vicious, power-hungry, oppressive freaks whose primary purpose in life is to 'keep women down,' and who have no place in the abortion debate.
The comic book "Choices" is an entire self-contained short course on pro-abortion propaganda, and is heartily recommended for discussion among pro-life activists and debaters. It can still be purchased at most Neofeminist bookstores, or can be ordered from: National Organization for Women, Box 7813, Washington, DC 20044.
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #3
"I Am Mary Doe."
The Backup to Roe v. Wade.
Every pro-life activist and most members of the public have heard of the United States Supreme Court's "Black Monday" ruling of January 22, 1973, which legalized abortion in our country the (in)famous Roe v. Wade decision.
But few know that Roe was a decision that could not stand by itself. It had to be buttressed by the "logic" in the Court's Doe v. Bolton decision, which was unveiled on the same day. Doe, the inseparable companion decision to Roe, allowed for abortion up until the day of birth and also legalized the clinics that would be required to do the filthy work of child killing.
Together, these two rulings are generally referred to as the Abortion Decisions.
A Second Easy "Mark."
In the early 1970s, pro-abortion attorneys were on the lookout for a woman who could be manipulated into becoming a plaintiff due to her vulnerable situation. Sandra Kay Race Bensing Cano fit this description perfectly.
Cano was pregnant and trying to escape from her abusive husband. Her stepfather, while babysitting her previous children, had one day delivered them into the hands of juvenile authorities, who immediately classified them as "abandoned."
She had planned to remarry, but discovered that her divorce from her abusive husband was not finalized.
In desperation, she turned to the Legal Aid Services Corporation, and lawyers from the National Organization for Women (NOW) saw in her a golden opportunity.
The NOW lawyers promised Cano that they would obtain a divorce for her and regain custody of her children. In return, they asked her for the "small favor" of acting as the anonymous plaintiff in the Doe v. Bolton abortion case.
A Little Friendly Arm-Twisting.
The NOW lawyers initially assumed that Cano wanted to abort the child she was carrying without even consulting her, but when they encouraged her to get an abortion, she recalled that "I made it immediately clear I couldn't do that."[11]
Despite Cano's refusal, the NOW lawyers simply made her an appointment to abort her 25-week baby with Dr. Donald Block at Georgia Baptist Hospital. Under extreme stress, Cano said that "I know no matter what it cost I could not let them take my baby, so I ran away."[11]
Cano has since described to pro-lifers how she was viciously and relentlessly pressured to abort by the people who dishonestly refer to themselves as "pro-choice," solely because her abortion would make her much more believable as a plaintiff in the case.
The Aftermath.
It was obvious to all involved that Sandra Cano did not want to abort her child, and, in fact, was against abortion in general. Cano had been used as an ignorant tool by the abortionists to get what they wanted abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
This case helped reveal the true face of the abortionists. While they simper that they "care deeply about women," they use vulnerable women ruthlessly whenever it suits their deadly purpose.
As Cano herself stated, "I was told this suit would help me to get my children back and I signed papers as they were put in from of me with that explanation I was led by the nose and never told that the price they intended to exact from me was to legalize the murder of little children!"[11]
The NOW attorneys naturally had the records of the case sealed, allegedly to "protect their client's privacy,' but the real reason was so that nobody could research the details of their deceptive and unscrupulous practices. In 1980, Cano petitioned the Court to have the records of the Doe v. Bolton case unsealed in order to prove that she was the authentic "Mary Doe."
Upon examining the records, she found that the pro-abortion lawyers had fabricated quotes and attributed them to her. "I was in shock at what I read. The contents did not contain my words or my wants, nothing I said or felt was there." Cano eventually went public with her story and became a well-known pro-life activist.[11]
The reaction of the pro-abortionists was typical.
Cano endured dozens of death threats, and her car was even shot at twice. The car eventually was stolen, her telephone wires were cut and illegally tapped, and her home was repeatedly scrawled with pro-abortion obscenities and splattered with blood and rotten eggs.
Satan's Empty Promises ...
The NOW lawyers made lavish promises to Cano in order to get her cooperation, but never bothered to help her with a divorce or with her child custody problems. As far as the National Organization for Women was concerned, Sandra Cano was nothing more than an unwitting tool to be used and then discarded when her usefulness expired.
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #4
The 'Strangers' in Nancy Klein's Life.
The Accident.
Twenty-six-year old Nancy Klein lapsed into a deep coma after a car accident on December 13, 1988. She was five weeks pregnant at the time and had expressed many times, and in no uncertain terms, that she was overjoyed at being pregnant and that she wanted to carry her baby to term.
Martin Klein's Response.
It would seem that Nancy's husband, Martin, was not so overjoyed at the prospect of being a father, because after she slipped into a coma, he immediately began to try to get a physician to declare that the pregnancy was endangering his wife's health.
He first approached her attending physicians at the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Long Island.[12] However, the doctors refused to authorize an abortion because, in their judgment, her pregnancy was unrelated to her head injury and would not worsen it. Klein then petitioned the Supreme Court of Nassau County to have himself appointed temporary legal guardian of the child so that he could have it killed.
Enter the Pro-Lifers.
At this point, two pro-life activists intervened before the Court to save the baby's life. Among the testimony entered in favor of killing the baby was that of Dr. Joseph J. Smith, who stated as fact that Mrs. Klein's pregnancy was a threat to her life. However, cross-examination revealed that Smith had not even examined Mrs. Klein![12]
Columnist B.D. Cohen (who is himself pro-abortion) pointed out that Dr. Smith "... was not an expert on coma, had not examined Nancy, and, in fact, has not practiced for a number of years."[13]
It is significant that Klein consulted with mega-abortionist Bill Baird before he brought the case to court. Baird was described by Cohen as a man "... who will fight for any abortion, any time, any place, for any reason."[13]
The attorney for one of the pro-lifers who intervened, John Short, filed a brief in later court action that revealed "The medical report indicates that Mr. Klein threatened a media exposure against North Shore University Hospital by involving noted abortion advocate Bill Baird if the pregnancy of Mrs. Klein was not terminated."
Expert Testimony.
On behalf of her baby, no less than five physicians testified that Nancy Klein's pregnancy was not a threat to her health. New York Supreme Court Justice Bernard McCaffrey found that "based upon the credible convincing medical testimony, the Court finds that as of this time, an abortion is not medically necessary to preserve the life of Nancy Klein." He also referred during the trial to "the undisputed medical testimony as to the high risk to Nancy Klein's life in undergoing this particular type of complicated abortion procedure ..."
The press, pro-abortion as always, never once mentioned the judge's conclusions. In keeping with their usual lack of ethics, they focused entirely on the testimony of the single doctor who was in favor of the abortion. The media even deliberately twisted the facts to suit their views; they inverted the number of doctors who had testified at the hearing, reporting that five had approved of the abortion and one had not.
The Death of Baby Klein.
Unfortunately, the judge had also given Klein authority to proceed with whatever medical procedure he deemed necessary for his wife's well-being. The pro-lifers filed an appeal, but the Brooklyn Appellate Court castigated the two pro-life attorneys, John Broderick and John Short, calling them "strangers" who had "no place in the midst of this family tragedy."
Naturally, these words were ideal for the pro-abortion propaganda mills, and were therefore faithfully quoted verbatim by the press over and over and over again. With the help of abortionist Bill Baird, the pro-life movement was mercilessly pilloried in the same press that had deliberately withheld vital information on this peculiar case from the public. The press referred to John Short and John Broderick as "two vultures who swooped down upon the helpless body of Nancy Klein" (pro-abortion columnist James Kilpatrick); "lunatics" (Baltimore Sun); persons that engaged "in a fit of fanatic impropriety" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune); and puppets of the "forces of zealous self-righteousness" (Times Herald-Record).
These are yet more clear examples of media pro-abortion bias (for more detailed information and more examples, see Chapter 126 of Volume III, "Media Pro-Abortion Bias."
On Friday, February 10, 1989, Martin Klein took advantage of his new-found notoriety on Ted Koppel's Nightline as he announced to millions of Americans, "I believe they've already begun the first stage of the procedure."
Baby Klein, at one pound and 18-1/2 weeks, was dying.[14]
Klein, at the urging of pro-abortionists, filed suit against John J. Short, John J. Broderick, and the North Shore University Hospital, where Nancy Klein had been cared for. This filing was purposely blown up into a big media event.
Eventually, New York State Supreme Court Justice Harry Kutner dismissed Klein's harassment suit, calling it "without merit." According to Judge Kutner, Klein's claims against the hospital were "frivolous" and "retaliatory," and ordered him to pay legal costs and attorney fees for the defendants.
Naturally, when Klein's frivolous suit was dismissed by the Court, there was not a peep about the story in the national media.
Conclusions and Lessons Learned.
The hypocrisy of the pro-abortionists in this case is truly astounding, even in light of their own incredibly low standards. They say that the decision should rest solely with the woman and her doctor(s). Yet, in this case, both the woman and her doctors opposed the abortion. The only person who wanted the abortion was the husband, Martin Klein. In other words, this was an involuntary (forced) abortion.
The pro-abortionists usually want to shut the husband out of all such decisions, but took his side in this case because he wanted the abortion. This shows once again that the pro-abortionists are not pro-choice (or pro-woman), because they invariably side only with the person who wants the abortion, regardless of sex. This is the true meaning of "pro-choice."
There is a very sad postscript to this story. Nancy Klein first lost consciousness, then her baby, and finally her husband. Martin Klein displayed the touching depth of his concern for his wife when he dumped her on her parents in June of 1991 and filed for divorce in early 1992. Despite killing her child without her consent and then abandoning her, Klein had the colossal nerve to state that "My commitment to Nancy continues to remain as strong as ever."[15]
Perhaps he is confusing commitment to his wife with commitment to himself and his own 'quality of life.'
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #5
Kissling and Hyde.
For Rosie Jiminez, it is already too late. Working to support her young daughter and going to school to improve her life, Rosie could not afford a pregnancy. Because of congressional legislation restricting the federal Medicaid funds she depended on for her health care, she also could not afford a legal abortion. Rosie was forced to go to an illegal abortionist. Her death was tortured, bloody and unnecessary.
National Abortion Rights Action League.[16]
Introduction.
After Congress passed the Hyde Amendment (which greatly restricted Federal abortion funding), anti-life propagandists darkly and earnestly predicted that literally "tens of thousands" of women would die if this Federal Medicaid abortion funding were cut off. So Frances Kissling (president of 'Catholics' for a Free Choice) and other pro-aborts desperately searched for an illegal abortion victim to prop up their spurious claims.
The exhaustive and intensive search took several months, but they finally found "Rosie."
Rosie: Twice a Victim.
On October 3, 1977, 27-year old Rosaura ("Rosie") Jiminez of McAllen, Texas died due to complications caused by an illegal Mexican abortion. Due to the attention generated by her death, the Centers for Disease Control formally investigated the incident and issued a detailed report in December 1977.
The report found that Rosie's 1977 abortion was her third in the past five years. She had 'slept around' with literally dozens of men as her fiancee languished in jail, and even tried to conceal and deny her final abortion when dying in a hospital bed.
The report concluded that she actually possessed the money she needed to obtain a legal abortion, but had slipped across the border to Mexico for the sole purpose of preserving her confidentiality. She had done the same thing in 1975 when Federal abortion payments were still available.
Incredibly, Kissling contradicts herself and tells the true story of Rosie's death in the 1979 book entitled Rosie: The Investigation of a Wrongful Death. This book stated that local health authorities, Planned Parenthood officials, and abortion mill owners acknowledged that many women went 'over the border,' even though the illegal abortions were more expensive at $100, compared to $75 at the San Antonio Reproductive Health Services, Inc., a local legal clinic.[17]
Taking Advantage of a Death.
Despite the fact that Rosie literally gave her life to preserve her privacy, pro-aborts held a major Washington press conference in the Spring of 1979 to announce a pro-abortion funding campaign centered around Rosie.[18] Present at this orgy of pointed anger and self-righteousness were Ms. Magazine editor Gloria Steinem, National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) president Karen Mulhauser, Uta Landy of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), and Ellen Frankfort, co-author of the book about Rosie Jiminez.
All over the country, pro-aborts still talk about Rosie and dedicate marches and other events to her, not because they give a squat about her, but purely for the propaganda value and to elicit public sympathy.
One would certainly think that, with "tens of thousands of women dying every year," the pro-aborts could find a more recent and more appropriate example than Rosie, who died more than a decade ago!
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #6
Incest, Murder, and Abortionists, Oh My!
Plumbing the Depths of Sleaze.
Perhaps the tackiest, sleaziest, and most exploitative example of pro-abortion propaganda ever seen in this country originated in Oregon in mid-1989.
The details were written up in the state's largest daily newspaper, The Oregonian, under pro-abortion columnist Margie Boule's byline. The story appeared in the August 27, 1990 issue under the heading "An American Tragedy."
Background.
The story revolved around a sixth-grade Boise, Idaho schoolgirl, Spring Adams. She was 13 years old, the eldest of five children, and she alleged that her father had raped her. She became pregnant. Doctors in the Boise area refused to do abortions past 12 weeks for free (Spring was 16 weeks along), although one abortionist told her he would do the procedure for $800. Since the family didn't have that kind of money, the Idaho Health Department called an abortion mill in Portland, Oregon, that specialized in late-term abortions.
The call went out to Oregon's pro-abortion 'community' for help. Unfortunately, while this 'community' took two weeks to marshal its ballyhooed vast resources, Spring's father killed her with a shotgun and then shot himself.
Staged Reaction to the Killings.
Boule's column described in stomach-emptying detail about how members of Oregon's pro-abort 'community' cried, responded with "numbed shock," and were "absolutely, totally stunned" by Spring's death. The piece concluded by saying that the pro-aborts in Oregon immediately began to set up a trust fund for incest victims, because, as Nancy Sampson of Oregon NARAL said, "There will be another one. There always is."[19]
The purpose of Boule's sickening propaganda, of course, was to make the pro-aborts look compassionate and the pro-lifers look like unfeeling dolts.
However, her column conveniently failed to answer a few nagging questions posed by local pro-lifers. If 'pro-choice' is so much in the majority, and has so many resources at its caring and compassionate command, how come it took two full weeks for Oregon pro-aborts to scrape up the resources to 'help' just one 13-year old girl kill her preborn baby? Also, if Spring was really in such bad shape, why couldn't the 'caring' pro-abortion community find an abortionist to kill her child for free?
The answer to this last question is obvious, of course: Abortion is a business, not a public service, as any former abortionist or abortion clinic worker will testify.
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #7
Exploitation in the North.
Pro-abortionists use propaganda in every country in order to eliminate laws against abortion. One excellent example occurred in Canada in July of 1989 and involved Gregory Murphy's attempt to get an injunction to stop his girlfriend, 'exotic dancer' Barbara Dodd, from obtaining an abortion.
An Ontario court granted his injunction, but the action was overturned by the Ontario Supreme Court on July 11. Barbara Dodd who was only 22, got her third abortion that same day at the high-volume Henry Morgentaler abortion mill. Morgentaler aborted her for free, and pro-abortionists trumpeted this fact in the press all over Canada and the United States. Every pro-abort group used this single free abortion to generate just as much good will as they possibly could, portraying themselves as compassionate, caring individuals willing to help any woman in need.
But their pretty little propaganda bubble popped with a bang only a week later. On July 18, Dodd held a major press conference and announced that "I was pressured by pro-choice groups to abort ... I now profoundly regret what I did. I feel terrible. I wish I could have had the time to think about it ... No one called after it was over. No one cared."[20]
Dodd also accused pro-aborts of "... using me to promote their cause" and urged Chantal Daigle, another woman in the midst of a court battle, not to have an abortion.
This is entirely typical of pro-abortionists; they wail that they care deeply about women in trouble, kill their babies for free, milk the event for all it is worth, and finally dump them and forget them.
Perhaps the slogan of the 'pro-choice' movement should be "find 'em, pressure 'em, abort 'em, and forget 'em."
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #8
Kentucky Self-Abortion.
A series of events that made headlines all over the nation in 1978 began when Kentucky college student Marla Pitchford found herself suddenly not wanting to carry through her already-advanced 26-week pregnancy. She journeyed to a Louisville abortion mill, which turned her away because her pregnancy was too far along. In desperation, alone in a motel room, she aborted herself with a knitting needle on June 9, 1978.[21]
Amidst a splash of publicity, she was tried for 'practicing medicine without a license.'
The intent of the Kentucky law under which she was charged was to make it illegal for people other than licensed physicians to perform abortions, in order to make sure that abortions were as safe as possible.[22]
Pro-abortion groups seized on this trial as a great opportunity to overturn even the mildest restrictions on abortion; i.e., that only licensed physicians could perform the procedure. The intent of the pro-abort groups was to legalize self-abortion or to allow abortion by minimally trained personnel.
Predictably, pro-abortionists rallied to Pitchford's cause and paid her legal fees in an attempt to demonstrate the "inhumanity" of any and all abortion laws even those designed to protect the life and health of women! This support also demonstrated that the pro-abortionists do indeed vigorously lobby for third-trimester abortions (remember that Pitchford was in the early third trimester of pregnancy).
Pro-abortion attorney Flora Stuart revealed the workings behind the case at a University of Kentucky Law Month Panel. She stated that Lexington's Reproductive Freedom League (an affiliate of the National Abortion Rights Action League) was "... a far-Left group who wanted Marla to lose the case."[22] This would supposedly cast her in the role of an innocent victim, lending impetus to attempts to overturn abortion laws.
Stuart said that one pro-abortion group even paid one of Pitchford's attorneys the sum of $10,000 to 'throw' (deliberately sabotage) her case so she would be found guilty. Stuart said that "These [pro-abortion] groups did not care about Marla."[22]
Stuart had also called the National Organization for Women for support and had been told that, if NOW was going to help, the case had to be one that would cause a splash of publicity and "advance the cause of abortion rights."[22]
According to perjured testimony at her trial, Pitchford wanted to keep her baby but was forced into abortion by her fiance, Dwight Mundy. The real story was that the prosecution had threatened to charge Mundy with attempting to illegally abort her unless he testified against her.
To the disappointment of the "women's rights" groups, Pitchford was acquitted by a jury in less than an hour on grounds of temporary insanity. Assistant prosecutor Tom Lewis stated that "I am not unhappy with the verdict. I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for the defendant in this case."[21]
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #9
Terror in Italy.
In 1976, on a quiet Spring day in the manufacturing town of Seveso, Italy, villagers noticed a thin layer of extremely fine grey dust covering their homes, gardens, and cars, but ignored it and continued on with their business.
One week later, the national government revealed that a significant percentage of the dust had been the pesticide Dioxin, considered at that time one of the deadliest substances on earth.
Despite the fact that no studies had been performed on the mutagenicity (birth defect-causing potential) of Dioxin, Italian feminists saw a great opportunity to drive a wedge into their country's strict abortion laws. They had learned from the United States' Sherri Finkbine case that nothing motivates people like the fear of birth defects.
A month after the Dioxin release, a busload of Neofeminists descended on Seveso and launched a relentless propaganda campaign directed at every pregnant woman in the village, playing up the risk of birth defects and urging immediate abortion for everyone. Eventually, 36 of Seveso's women did abort more than two-thirds of the women who were pregnant in the town at the time.
34 of the 36 babies aborted were available for post-mortems, and a team of five Italian and two German doctors found no birth defects whatever among them.
One Italian woman who refused Neofeminist demands to have an abortion told reporters that they had urged her to abort "... to help the cause of the abortion bill in Parliament."[23] When the women realized they had been betrayed, they angrily sought out the Neofeminists but, upon hearing the results of the post-mortems, they had quietly vanished back into their sewers.
PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY #10
Descriptions of Pro-Lifers.
The Purpose of Negative Propaganda.
Everyone who has studied negative propaganda in any depth knows that it is usually aimed at or used to dehumanize an enemy.
The commonest and most simple type of propaganda simply slanders and smears the 'enemy.' If the enemy can be made to look subhuman, he is easier to hate and to kill.
The largest propaganda campaign of all time has been directed against the unborn in the last quarter-century. Of course, a necessary part of this strategy is to discredit the defenders of the unborn as well.
Most people have seen the products of the U.S. propaganda campaign during World War II that depicted buck-toothed, squinty-eyed "Japs;" greasy-haired, shiftless-looking "Dagos;" and menacing, sharp-toothed "Krauts." Before the War, the Ku Klux Klan circulated posters of bulgy-eyed, stupid-looking "niggers" in order to whip up prejudice. During the war, of course, the Nazis referred to Jews and Gypsies as "infections" and "infestations."
Propaganda is the language of hate. And, since pro-abortionists are filled with hatred and death to begin with, it comes naturally to them.
Prime Target: Pro-Lifers.
Anti-life forces smear pro-lifers constantly with the willing assistance of a virulently pro-abortion press. Every long-time pro-lifer has occasionally been hurt to find that his or her friends, co-workers, or even fellow churchgoers have created a stereotype in their own minds about pro-lifers a stereotype that is mindlessly and obediently applied to them as well.
The incredible descriptions of pro-life activists that the pro-aborts feed to their faithful followers are laughable. The average pro-abort, if he would only think about his rhetoric, is not actually naive enough to believe such garbage (although this question is certainly open to debate).
The pro-abortion leadership is purposely lying to their loyal minions to get them primed and fired up for action. This is necessary, because the pro-abortion movement is basically motivated by selfishness. It is hard to inspire a person who has as his or her primary motivation self-indulgence. This is why you will rarely find such nonsense written by the pro-life side.
Some of the countless thousands of examples of extreme pro-abortion propaganda directed against pro-lifers are shown below.
The forces that seek reversal of Roe v. Wade are the obvious product of religious zealotry and misogyny [hatred of women]. There is behind the sanctification of the fetus a scarifying agenda that seeks to deny women our personhood, sexuality, and power over procreation; to divert the all-too-slow march of women of all colors toward self-determination and equality; and to reestablish state power to dictate who is an eligible reproducer and sexual partner ... Thus, even with a right to abortion, women cannot have full liberty and equality without the social conditions that assure that their reproductive and sexual decisions reflect genuine and joyful choices rather than reluctant necessities or painful compromises. Roe v. Wade, therefore, does not represent the final realization of the goal of reproductive freedom, but rather a crucial step along the way.
Ms. Magazine "Special Report," April 1989, page 92.
There are "Christian Soldiers" on the loose. They assault women in front of health clinics. They claim to be the saviors of unborn babies. But they are really Christian Fascists morality police with a whole program of oppression for women and children. Not only are they against a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy they are against birth control and against sex for women who are not married. They claim that there is justification for their views in the Bible. But people who hate oppression would rise up against many things in the Bible. There are many laws and instructions and practices that even religious people consider oppressive and would never want to be enforced.
Check out some of the rules and laws written in the Bible. If these things were put into practice, the world would be a cruel and horrible place. These quotations are ammunition to be used against those who pick up the Bible to keep women down. The Christian Fascist crusaders against abortion should be forced to say whether this is the kind of world they want and the kind of morality they want to impose on the people.
The Revolutionary Communist Party's Revolutionary Worker, October 30, 1989, page 13.
In every generation there exists a group of people so filled with bigotry and self-righteousness that they will resort to any means even violence to impose their views on society. Today, such fanatics dominate a movement ironically called 'the Right-to-Life,' a movement which threatens the most basic of human rights.
Planned Parenthood pamphlet, "The Justice Fund," 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019.
Much of this negative propaganda, of course, attempts to make pro-lifers appear to be "inconsistent;" i.e., that their actions belie their words.
Perhaps the ultimate example of such 'inconsistency' propaganda is when some abortionists state to crowds that they do lots of abortions on female pro-life activists.[24] In such situations, a thinking person must ask the questions; how would the abortionists know? Do they conduct polls of women's political and religious attitudes as the vacuum machine roars away? And would they really have the public believe that some people are so schizophrenic that they would picket an abortionist and then use his services?
One classic example of this type of nonsense is presented in Rebecca Chalker and Carol Downer's recent book A Woman's Book of Choices;
The phenomenon that perhaps best exposes the underlying hypocrisy of the anti-abortion movement is the very common occurrence of women who profess to be staunchly anti-abortion yet show up on the doorsteps of clinics as clients. Variations on this theme include men who accompany their daughters, wives, or girlfriends to the same clinics they regularly picket, and female anti-abortion activists who lay down their picket signs long enough to get their own abortions.
These women can still get their abortions, but if we see them back on the picket lines, we reserve the right to release their names to the media," says [Sylvia] Stengle. "This makes them think twice about their decision ... Female anti-abortion activists who get abortions are the dirty little secret of the anti-abortion movement.[25]
Anyone with an IQ approaching that of asparagus will be able to see through Chalker's and Downer's transparent propaganda.
Pro-abortionists commonly gripe that many women are forced to travel long distances just to protect their privacy when they abort. It therefore makes no sense at all that "pro-life women" would "very commonly" just "lay down their picket signs long enough to get their own abortions."
The quote by abortuary employee Stengle is also very important: Not only does it show that the pro-abort obsession with privacy is only valid when it suits them, but the fact that no such incident of the release of a name to the media has ever occurred shows that the remainder of the quote is a lie.
References: Pro-Abortion Propaganda.
[1] Stereotypical propaganda in the Revolutionary Worker ("Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party of the United States"), October 30, 1989, page 13.
[2] Quoted in Jonathon Green. The Cynic's Lexicon. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1984, 220 pages.
[3] National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), "A Speaker's and Debater's Notebook," 1974, page 11.
[4] National Endowment for the Arts General Counsel Julianne Ross Davis, quoted in "AFA Sues NEA General Counsel." The Wanderer, December 6, 1990, page 2.
[5] 'Religious' Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR) brochure entitled "RCAR has no pictures in this brochure. You can't take a picture of freedom."
[6] J.C. Willke, M.D. "Becky Bell Did Not Die From An Induced Abortion." National Right to Life News, October 2, 1990, pages 3 and 9. This article includes an excellent, detailed, and understandable analysis of the coroner's report. If the traveling Bill and Karen [Bell] abortion show is coming to your town, get all medical documentation on the Becky Bell case from National Right to Life, 419-7th Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20004.
[7] Dave Andrusko. "They Have No Shame!" National Right to Life News, August 16, 1990.
[8] Joe Frolik. Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 9, 1990, page 1.
[9] Bernard Nathanson, M.D. "In Memoriam: The Becky Bell Story." Bernadell Technical Bulletin, November 1990, pages 4 and 5. Also see Nathanson's letter to Becky Moore, United Families of Oregon, dated September 4, 1990. This and other medical documentation regarding the Becky Bell case is available from Dr. Nathanson at 133 East 80th Street, New York, New York 10021. Telephone: (212) 737-6455.
[10] Cal Thomas. "Rush to Blame in Becky Bell's Death." Washington Times, August 9, 1990, page G1.
[11] Joan Moseley. "I Am Mary Doe." Renaissance Magazine, Summer 1989, pages 20 to 21 and 27 to 28.
[12] Dave Andrusko. "Klein Case: A Classic Example of Distortion." National Right to Life News, October 31, 1990, pages 2 and 14.
[13] Newsday, February 21, 1989.
[14] Monica Migliorino. "Martin Klein and the Ethics of Isolation." Fidelity Magazine, May 1989, pages 12 to 16.
[15] "Man Who Sued to Save Wife Files for Divorce Decree." The Oregonian, February 13, 1992, page A7.
[16] National Abortion Rights Action League. 4-page two-color 8-1/2" X 11" propaganda flyer entitled "Do You Want to Return to the Butchery of Self-Induced or Back-Alley Abortion?" Undated.
[17] Ellen Frankfort and Frances Kissling. Rosie: The Investigation of a Wrongful Death. Dial Press, 1979, reviewed by Elizabeth Moore in the December 1979 National Right to Life News, page 7. See "Further Reading" for a description.
[18] John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe. "Bigotry and Fraud." Human Life International Reports, October 1989, page 6.
[19] Margie Boule. "An American Tragedy." The Oregonian, August 27, 1989, page E2.
[20] Toronto Star, July 19, 1989. Also see Lifeletter #10, 1989.
[21] "Abortion Acquittal Praised." Pittsburgh Press, August 31, 1978, page A4.
[22] Aaron Gold. "Gold Mining." Chicago Tribune, September 4, 1978, Section 3, page 6.
[23] Donald DeMarco, Ph.D. Sex and the Illusion of Freedom. Toronto, Canada: Mission Press, 1981. 118 pages.
[24] In Brief. "Amarillo, Texas: Medical Students Get Pro-Abortion Fare." ALL About Issues, October 1981, page 18.
[25] Rebecca Chalker and Carol Downer. A Woman's Book of Choices: Abortion, Menstrual Extraction, RU-486. Four Walls Eight Windows Press, Post Office 548, Village Station, New York, New York 10014. 1992, 271 pages. Pages 28 and 32.
Further Reading: Pro-Abortion Propaganda.
All of the following books are examples of pro-abortion propaganda. Pro-life activists (especially debaters) will benefit greatly if they read two or three of these or other propaganda books and practice picking out and debunking the many cases of erroneous information and propaganda in them.
Ruth Barnett. They Weep on My Doorstep.
Halo Publishers, Portland, Oregon. May be ordered from Post Office Box 1383, Silver Springs, Florida 32688-1383. 223 pages. This is a fascinating account of a naturopath who committed illegal abortions in Portland, Oregon, with the full knowledge of the authorities, for more than 40 years. This book tells the real story of what illegal abortions were like before Roe v. Wade: Barnett describes how immaculate her clinic was, how few complications she had (no deaths in 40,000 abortions), how phony the "back-alley" abortion stories are, and how she accumulated millions of dollars and lived a lavish lifestyle. This book is a "must-read" for any pro-life activist who wants the real scoop on the days of illegal abortions, and not some weepy propaganda piece by fictionalized "brutalized" women.
Ellen Frankfort and Frances Kissling. Rosie: The Investigation of a Wrongful Death.
Dial Press, 1979, reviewed by Elizabeth Moore in the December 1979 National Right to Life News, page 7. Pro-abortion propaganda of the worst kind. This book attempts to make the case that Rosie Jiminez of Texas died of an illegal abortion because Medicaid funding was cut off. The true story is much different, and such is even admitted in this incompetent polemic.
Louise Kapp Howe. Moments on Maple Avenue: The Reality of Abortion.
New York: Macmillan, 1984. Reviewed by Jenny Westberg. The title's claim that this book presents the "reality of abortion" is either naive or deliberately dishonest. The book gives an Alice-in-Wonderland view of the industry. The abortionists wear white hats; the counselors fairly ooze compassion and understanding; and the patients undergo quick and easy "procedures," none of which results in a dead baby. And everyone lives happily ever after, especially the aborted women. This book is recommended for science fiction aficionados.
Florynce Kennedy and Diane Schulder. Abortion Rap.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971. 238 pages. In 1970, a band of Neofeminists pressed a Federal suit challenging New York State's abortion laws. The suit was never decided, because it was declared moot when the New York legislature overturned the laws in April of 1970. But the testimony obtained had so much propaganda value that excerpts compiled by two of the attorneys for the plaintiffs were published in this book. The result is a veritable text on anti-life strategy, tactics, and thinking. You will find excellent examples of aggressive compromise (incrementalism), use of the victim status, transference, and the begging of every possible question, along with accompanying abundant propaganda, outrageous levels of anti-Catholic bigotry, and quaintly archaic Newspeak.
Frederick S. Jaffee, Barbara L. Lindheim, and Philip R. Lee. Abortion Politics: Private Morality and Public Policy.
McGraw-Hill, 216 pages. Reviewed by David LaFontaine on page 6 of the April 8, 1982 National Right to Life News. Three pro-abortion activists state at the beginning of their book that their own personal views will not impact on their writing. Har har. This book is cleverly slanted propaganda that the uninformed reader may not be able to see, because it systematically precludes any discussion of the pro-life side of the issue and has literally scores of footnotes (all from pro-abortion sources, naturally).
J.A. Johnston, M.D., and D.B. Robert. Catholic Women and Abortion: A Profile, Sample and Case Study.
Sydney, Australia: Catholic Family Life Programme, 1978. 136 pages. Reviewed by Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., in the Spring 1980 issue of the International Review of Natural Family Planning, pages 74 to 81. This bizarre and muddled book shows that pro-abortionists use the same subtle anti-Catholic bias all over the world, even 'down under.' These authors present a purportedly comprehensive study whose numbers are impossible to follow because they change constantly and do not even add up! The pro-abortion bias and utter ignorance of the authors shows when they identify the Catholic Church as a "Right-to-Life Movement," and when they insist that a woman who aborts her child and sterilizes herself after using contraception during her entire period of childbearing years to cover up numerous acts of adultery is a "devout Catholic" because she occasionally attends Mass! This book, a combination of inept number-crunching and outright bigoted propaganda, is apparently what Aussie pro-aborts consider "leading-edge research."
Thomas Merton. Enemies of Choice: The Right-to-Life Movement and its Threat to Abortion.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1981. 225 pages. Reviewed by Felicia Goeken on page 6 of the April 8, 1982 issue of National Right to Life News. This delightful little work of unintentional comedy is a sure cure for the activist blues. Packed with familiar characters (be sure to check for your name!), this blend of sensationalism and fiction is what the pro-aborts apparently believe is "brilliant investigative journalism." Thrill to the realization of how little they really know about us! This book is already turning into a cult classic, in the same genre as the pro-abortion cult film "Holy Terror." If you want an endless supply of silly, inaccurate and just plain comical quotes, this is the book to read. Not surprisingly, this book is published under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association, a virulently anti-life humanistic 'church' which has made a habit of sponsoring sloppy journalism that would deeply embarrass any reputable researcher.
Ellen Messer and Kathryn E. May. Back Rooms: Voices From the Illegal Abortion Era.
St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010. 1988, 230 pages. This interesting book tells the stories of about 25 women who had abortions before it was legal in this country. Several obvious features give it away as a pro-abortion propaganda piece; all of the women are anonymous; pro-lifers and anyone who stood in the way of "progressive" abortion law repeal or reform are painted as demons; the abortionists are depicted as heroes; and there are special chapters canonizing Lawrence Lader, Bill Baird, and the "reverend" Robert Hare. Spend a rainy day counting the literally hundreds of inconsistencies and physical impossibilities.
Stephen D. Mumford. American Democracy & The Vatican: Population Growth and National Security.
The Humanist Press, 7 Harwood Drive, Post Office Box 146, Amherst, New York 14226. 1984, 265 pages. This book is praised by Larry Lader and Paul Ehrlich, which clues us in to its contents. Sure enough, it is a rather unrestrained screed, filled with great quotes demonstrating the bigotry and the totalitarian and intolerant nature of the Humanists and population controllers. Mumford's thesis is that the Vatican and the Catholic Church are attempting to destroy democracy and even the world by encouraging uncontrolled breeding. All of the old tired slogans are trotted out: The Vatican runs the United States, dissident priests are quoted as authoritative sources, and Catholics are portrayed as mindless drooling androids.
National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Legal Abortion: A Speaker's and Debater's Notebook.
71 pages, June 1978. Superb insight into the anti-life philosophy and how it shrinks from reality by using propaganda, Newspeak, and profuse slogans.
Connie Paige. The Right-to-Lifers: Who They Are, How They Operate, Where They Get Their Money.
New York: Summit Books, 1983. Reviewed by Marianne Rea-Luthin on page 7 of the November 24, 1983 issue of National Right to Life News. More execrable pro-abortion propaganda packaged in an attractive format. Read this to find out just how little the pro-aborts really know about us.
Sue Robinson. The Amendment.
New York: Birch Lane Press, 1990. This book is valuable only because it is hysterical pro-abortion fright-propaganda at its very lowliest. The story is set in the year 1998, after a Human Life Amendment has passed, First Lady Mary Holt Morgan leads an "anti-choice" group called Rights for the Unborn League, which operates heavily-armed weapons teams that roam the cities destroying illegal clinics and killing abortionists, their staffs, and women who have had abortions en masse. But wait it gets worse! After setting the stage with a couple of particularly brutal murders, the 'author' fills the rest of the book with weepy anecdotes and inept, watered-down 'logic' to support anti-life slogans. They're all here, folks; pro-lifers are rich, woman-hating, Bible-thumping creeps, and pro-aborts are peaceful little lambs. Women who have had abortions have to fearfully conceal the fact, for fear of being executed (never mind that many leaders of the current pro-life movement are women who openly acknowledge their exploitation by abortion). And it just goes on and on. Read this book on an empty stomach.
E. Dorsey Smith. Abortion: Health Care Ethics.
Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1982. 241 pages. Reviewed by Mary Kay Culp on pages 7 and 15 of the October 24, 1985 National Right to Life News. Among other gems, this rabidly pro-abortion nurse writes that informed consent is "punitive," and that all pro-life nurses should get out of obstetrics/gynecology.
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This is a chapter of the Pro-Life Activist's Encyclopedia, published by American Life League.
