Confessions of a Former Feminist

Feminism, women's liberation, and the idea that men and women are no different from each other have led many of us down dead-end roads -- often away from faith.

Read the full article here:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=869098

My trip to Sacramento went very well. After I landed in Sacramento it was off to Easter's Catholic Book Store where I gave a talk and did a book signing. We had a very lively question and answer session too. I met some very wonderful people and had a great time.
After the book signing we went to St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Roseville to have dinner with the pastor Fr. O'Reilly in the rectory. It was fabulous! Great food and great conversation.
After the dinner I did my talk in the church. Again, I met many wonderful people and I know I touched hearts. So many come up to me and tell me their stories. I'm glad that I can help even if it is in just a small way.
The next day was the Walk for Life in San Francisco. It was so heart warming and inspiring to see so many come out on a rainy day to stand for life. I firmly believe every pro-lifer should attend this event. They held a rally first and I stood on the stage holding my "I Regret My Abortion" sign in the pouring rain!
After the rally we started the walk. I walked with the Silent No More Awareness campaign. As we made our way through the streets of San Francisco we did meet up with opposition mainly in the form of feminists and their companions. At one point we saw some of the feminists had stolen a few of our signs and altered them. We had made up thousands of signs that said Women Do Regret Abortion and passed them out. They must have gotten a hold of some of them because they were holding them up with the altered version that read Women Dont Regret Abortion. We went to the police to see if we could confiscate them but they wouldn't allow us to because they said they didn't want a riot on their hands. I was ready to go to jail!
At the conclusion of the walk we all met at the Greens and had another rally. This is where we gave our testimonies and speeches. Fr. Frank Pavone came at the end and gave a magnificent speech telling the crowd that it was our stories and experiences that were going to change people's mind about abortion. I think he is right.
After the Walk I went to the Monastery of the The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration right in San Francisco. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Then we went to the Vigil Mass at the Cathedral where the deacon gave a magnificent homily on living your pro-life convictions which he illustrated by leaving a job that was asking him to support abortion.
I was so pleasantly surprised to see that San Francisco is VERY pro-life.
I'm looking forward to returning.

http://www.fightpp.org/show.cfm?page=press&action=display&ID=151

This article is about how Planned Parenthood wants to "help" the people of Haiti after the earthquake. Their idea of "help" is very disturbing. I wonder how many women who are in shock, scared, homeless, maybe lost loved ones and are pregnant. These are the women Planned Parenthood supposedly wants to help. They think the best way to help these women is to convince them to have their unborn baby sucked from their womb and thrown in the trash. They would "counsel" them that having a baby now would be disasterous; how can you take care of it? How will you both survive? Saying things like this will further traumatize these women and unfortunately some women will fall for these manipulations. The women of Haiti deserve real help, help that is life saving not destroying. Please continue to pray and consider donating to organizations that will truly HELP the women of Haiti.

My Trip To Nebraska

I went to Gering, NE this weekend. I spoke at Christ the King church. It was a great experience. Gering is a farming community in South Western Nebraska. Everyone was so nice. The parish priest and a retired priest attended my talk. I always like to see priests there. I hope I give them some insight on how to counsel post-abortive women.
I met a woman from the parish who had 20 children! An amazing story. That is the best thing about my ministry I get to talk to so many people with such interesting stories. I also spoke with many men who were very touched by my story. I like to get the male perspective.
I also met a woman, and this happens a lot, who said she was so happy that she chose to give birth to her son rather than abort him. Her son is now in his 20's and she never regretted her decision. My son would also have been in his 20's.
I'm off to California this weekend. I can't wait to go to the Walk for Life.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5lXSwzwLaAYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I get many e-mails from women who have really heart wrenching stories of their troubled pregnancies. I think this book addresses the question of When Does Life Really Begin. I have not read it yet just the overview.

I'm involved in a documentary detailing the effects of abortion on women. Here is a link to a preview of it. The finished product will be available in the spring.
http://vimeo.com/8063858
The premiere of the documentary will be shown at Operation Outcry's National Conference in Dallas in April. Here is a link for more information http://www.operationoutcry.org/
I'm thinking of going to the conference.

Men and Abortion
Men are the forgotten ones in the abortion travesty. Here is a book about men's experience with abortion. It's called: Redeeming A Father's Heart: Men Share Powerful Stories of Abortion Loss and Recovery. It is co-authored by David Wemhoff who is the attorney that represented me in the Notre Dame fiasco.

http://www.amazon.com/Redeeming-Fathers-Heart-Powerful-Abortion/dp/1434313670#noop

The feminists have done a great job marginalizing men especially when it comes to abortion. We are led to believe that men do not have any feelings about abortion but this book definitely shows that is a lie.

I know legalized abortion does releive men of their responsbility to women and many men feel they don't have to worry about getting a woman pregnant because she can just get an abortion. Also, men will get angry when a woman refuses to abort her child. Still, even though initally this may be a man's feelings for many men they do change. Men can regret abortion also.

I wish many more men would stand up and reclaim their lost fatherhood and speak out of the harm abortion causes. We need to hear from them.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/archive/2010/01/07/

The largest Abortion Center is going to open in Houston, Texas. It is a Planned Parenthood. There is a planned protest on the day of its opening, January 18th. I would love to fly down there for this protest and carry my I Regret My Abortion sign. So many women are going to be misled into believing that an abortion will help them. This is so troubling. I remember what it was like to feel so scared, to feel confused, alone and worried that my parents would kill me if they knew I was pregnant. These abortion centers prey on these emotions and tell you things like "You can't have a baby now it would ruin your plans for your education, your career etc." As if an innocent baby could do that? I have spoken to many young women who were in the same situation as me when in college but with a major difference; they chose life. All of them, and I mean all of them were so happy they chose to keep their babies instead of aborting them. They told me of the happiness and joy their child brought to their life. Yes, it was a struggle at times but they were so glad they went through what they did. It enriched their lives tremendously. Sadly, I can't say such a thing. I just pray to my two babies and ask them to help me and forgive me.

Prayer Vigil

Advocates for Life from Our Lady of Loreto Catholic Church has a monthly prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood in Denver. Deacon Dick Miller led us in praying the rosary and the chaplet of Divine Mercy. It was freezing, about 10degrees but it was sunny! The Archdiocese of Denver for the Year for Priests has monthly prayer vigils at PP led by priests and deacons. Saturday, January 3rd was the first vigil of the new year. There were about 100 people there led by a priest from St. Anthony's parish in Denver. One of the sidewalk counselors notified us that a couple who had driven in there for an abortion had changed their minds. We saw them drive out and we all cheered and waved as they drove off. The young woman smiled at us and waved back.

From: Coalition on Abortion Breast Cancer Subject: 2nd Breast Cancer Scandal: National Cancer Institute Researcher Louise Brinton Reverses Position, Finally Admits Abortion Raises Breast Cancer Risk inTo: response@abortionbreastcancer.comDate: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 8:54 AM
Dear Friends:Please send this press release to your representative in Congress (click here) and your two U.S. senators (click here) in order to educate them about the breast cancer risks of abortion and oral contraceptives (the pill). Give them this message:U.S. National Cancer Institute researcher, Dr. Louise Brinton, and her colleagues reported in their 2009 study, Dolle et al., these findings:1) A statistically significant 40% increased risk for women who have abortions; and 2) A 270% increased risk of triple negative breast cancer (an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with high mortality) among those who used oral contraceptives while under age 18 and a 320% increased risk of triple negative breast cancer among recent users (within 1-5 years) of oral contraceptives.Brinton was the chief organizer of the NCI's sham workshop in 2003 that falsely persuaded women that it was "well established" that "abortion is not associated with increased breast cancer risk."The study, Dolle et al., was published 9 months ago. Why hasn't the National Cancer Institute warned women?An abortion mandate in healthcare reform will result in an increase in breast cancer deaths.Sincerely,Karen MalecCoalition on Abortion/Breast CancerCoalition on Abortion/Breast CancerPress ReleaseContact: Karen Malec, 847-421-4000Date: January 6, 20092nd Breast Cancer Scandal: National Cancer Institute Researcher Louise Brinton Reverses Position, Finally Admits Abortion Raises Breast Cancer Risk in Study that Fingers Oral Contraceptives as a Probable Cause of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Study is 9 months old, but still no warnings from cancer establishmentLess than two months since the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force issued new guidelines recommending against routine mammograms for women in their forties, a second breast cancer scandal involving a U.S. government panel of experts has come to light which has implications for healthcare reform.An April 2009 study by Jessica Dolle et al. of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center examining the relationship between oral contraceptives (OCs) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in women under age 45 contained an admission from U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) researcher Louise Brinton and her colleagues (including Janet Daling) that abortion raises breast cancer risk by 40%. [1]Additionally, Dolle's team showed that women who start OCs before age 18 multiply their risk of TNBC by 3.7 times and recent users of OCs within the last one to five years multiply their risk by 4.2 times. TNBC is an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with high mortality."Although the study was published nine months ago," observed Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, "the NCI, the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and other cancer fundraising businesses have made no efforts to reduce breast cancer rates by issuing nationwide warnings to women."Brinton was the chief organizer of the 2003 NCI workshop on the abortion-breast cancer link, which falsely assured women that the non-existence of the link was "well established." [2]Dolle's team reported in Table 1 a statistically significant 40% risk increase for women who have had abortions. They listed abortion among "known and suspected risk factors." Brinton and Daling had previously studied this population from the Seattle-Puget Sound area in the 1990s and reported risk increases between 20% and 50% among women with abortions. [3,4] In the 2009 study, they and their co-authors wrote that their findings concerning induced abortion, OC use and certain other risk factors, "were consistent with the effects observed in previous studies on younger women.""Obviously, more women will die of breast cancer if the NCI fails in its duty to warn about the risks of OCs and abortion and if government funds are used to pay for both as a part of any healthcare bill," said Mrs. Malec.A brief analysis of the study (click here), Dolle et al. 2009, was provided by Dr. Joel Brind, professor of biology and endocrinology and deputy chair for biology at Baruch College, City University of New York.Last year, studies from Turkey and China also reported statistically significant risk increases for women who had abortions. [5,6]The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

My very dear friend, who also is chapter 9 in my book, Motherhood Interrupted was just diagnosed with breast cancer. If you read her story you will find out she had an abortion. She told me when she heard the doctor tell her she had breast cancer that was the first thing that crossed her mind; is my abortion related to this? Sadly, as I travel around the country speaking of the harm abortion causes women I hear many stories of women who have had or have breast cancer and who have had abortions. Yet, the current political powers want to add abortion as part of a "health care" bill. Do you feel sometimes like we are living in the Twilight Zone?

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!
For those of you who have been receiving my newsletter, this is my new medium to communicate everything happening in the ministry and in the battle for Life. If you are visiting for the first time, welcome. I will use this blog to update you on post-abortive issues including news, research, relevant political issues and the Catholic church, as well as the movement to end abortion altogether.

Walk for Life in San Francisco

I will be with The Silent No More Awareness Campaign at the Walk for Life in San Francisco. A second National Gathering will take place on January 23rd, after the San Francisco Walk for Life. The Walk officially begins at Noon and will leave from the Justin Herman Plaza and end at Marina Green Park where the SNMA Gathering will begin at approximately 1:45 P.M.

Recent Research on how Abortion Harms Women

From the Elliot Institute:Recent Research on how Abortion Harms Women


62% Higher Risk of Death from All Causes, 2.5 Times Higher Risk of Suicide

Compared to women who give birth, women who abort have an elevated risk of death from all causes, which persists for at least eight years. Higher risk of death from suicide and accidents were most prominent. Projected on the national population, this effect may contribute to 2,000 - 5,000 more deaths among women each year.
From the Southern Medical Journal, 2002

3.5 Times Higher Death Rates from Suicide, Accidents, Homicides (Suicide 6 Times Higher)

Researchers examining deaths among the entire population of women in Finland found that those who had abortions had a 3.5 times higher death rate from suicide, accidents, or homicides in the following year. Suicide rates among aborting women were six times higher compared to women who gave birth and two times higher compared to women who miscarried.
From the European Journal of Public Health, 2005

Abortion Deaths Underreported on Death Certificates

A study of medical records in Finland found that 94 % of maternal deaths associated with abortion are not identifiable from death certificates alone. The researchers found that linking death certificates to medical records showed that the death rate associated with abortion is three times higher than that associated with childbirth.
From the Paediatric Perinatal Epidemiology, 2004

Read more facts at the link above.