2011 March |

Are You Going to Race for the Cure and Fund Abortion?

March 31, 2011 By Jeremy Dys

Does the Komen Foundation support the abortion industry?

Last year, I ran my first 5K. At the end of May, I plan on running my first 15K. In between, I was considering running another 5K as a warm up to what will be a significantly more difficult run at the end of the month. As I looked for options in Charleston, WV, I noticed that the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is set for the first part of May.

While it is good timing to have such a race, I do not plan on running the race, but I might change my mind.

Don’t get me wrong. The goals of the Komen foundation are laudable, noble, and necessary. My wife’s grandmother battled (and won) breast cancer twice. My own mother is a survivor of breast cancer. It’s an evil reminder of our fallen world. Watching a loved one fight that battle is heartbreaking. My mother began her treatment mere days before my oldest son was born. By God’s grace, not only did she get to meet my oldest son, but was present for the births of my other two boys.

For their work to fight breast cancer, I applaud the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Unfortunately, they may have lost my trust. Why? Komen appears to be investing in the abortion industry.

In the grand scheme of Planned Parenthood’s $2 billion budget, it’s not a big deal. According to one report:

Komen’s own figures show 20 of Komen’s 122 affiliates have made donations to Planned Parenthood and, last year, those contributions totaled $731,303. Komen spokesman John Hammarley also confirmed Komen affiliates contributed about $3.3 million to the abortion business from 2004-2009.

via Komen Planned Parenthood Grants Questioned After Mammogram Expose’ | LifeNews.com.

And, I understand the rationale – I really do – that Komen has given that money so that Planned Parenthood will provide needed – and life-saving – mammography services. But, as we have repeatedly pointed out, Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry does not provide mammograms! Planned Parenthood is, first and foremost, in the business of terminating children during pregnancy.

I am forced to invest a portion of my hard-earned dollars by the U.S. Government that provides more than $350,000,000 to the abortion industry. Likewise, the State of West Virginia will arrest me if I refuse to pay my portion of the more than $300,000 tax dollars that fund the abortion industry in West Virginia. While I am working to end those subsidies, I cannot in good conscience pay even a nominal race entrance fee, let alone raise money if even a portion of that money may make it to the abortion industry’s bank account.

Still, I want to be thorough. So, I looked up the number for the chapter president of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and gave her a call.

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About Jeremy Dys

Jeremy Dys is the FPCWV's President and General Counsel. In addition to his duties of providing strategic vision and leadership to the FPCWV, Dys is the chief lobbyist and spokesman. Dys is regularly featured in local, state, and national print, radio, and television outlets. He lives close to Charleston with his wife and growing family.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: abortion, breast cancer, komenwv.org, Life, planned parenthood, Susan G. Komen

LIARS! Planned Parenthood Doesn’t Even Do That!

March 31, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/31/2011

Martinsburg, WV – Come on! Seriously? How much more of Planned Parenthood’s lies and rhetoric do we have to put up with before they finally start coming clean? This is just ridiculous. Planned Parenthood is coming under attack – once again – for lying about the fact that they offer mammograms when in fact they don’t offer the service.

Family Policy Council of West Virginia president Jeremy Dys commented on this revealing new video yesterday in his latest edition of The Engaging Essentials. But after watching the

Cecile Richards has been lying to the American public about Planned Parenthood services.

video and reading several articles I could not help but comment myself.

I find it deplorable that Planned Parenthood has been receiving millions of dollars in federal tax money each year for so-called “family planning” services; and now it’s revealed that they don’t even offer those services! Is there no accountability for who receives money from our federal government? Should I just call and ask for a few million dollars for “unspecified recreational and therapeutic visits to specifically unspecified locations around the world”? Do you think I could get some cash?

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards should be ashamed of herself for knowingly lying to the American taxpayers that have been funding her organization. I would ask for an apology but I know that would be too much for her. She has proven time and again that she is willing to say anything to get the money she wants to continue her abortion business.

Lila Rose and Live Action films are once again responsible for exposing the criminal business practices of Planned Parenthood in their latest video. The video records phone calls to 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in 27 different states asking for mammogram services. Can you guess what the answer is to every inquiry? That’s right; they don’t offer those services “whatsoever.”

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About Nathan Cherry

Nathan Cherry is the chief editor and blogger for the Engage Family Minute blog, the official blog of the FPCWV. He serves also as the Regional Development Coordinator as a liaison to the pastor's of West Virginia. He is a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-religious freedom conservative. He is also a husband, father, pastor, author, musician, and follower of Jesus Christ.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Abby Johnson, abortion, Cecile Richards, liars, Life, Lila Rose, mammograms, planned parenthood, taxpayer funded abortion

Planned Parenthood Caught in Another Lie

March 31, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/31/2011

Martinsburg, WV – As if all the negative press Planned Parenthood has been receiving isn’t enough, they are trying to lie about their own abortion statistics. Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has been caught misquoting, deceiving, lying – whatever word you choose – about her organization’s abortion numbers in a recent interview with a Texas publication.

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards

During the interview, when she didn’t really make any reference or comment about the abortion services provided by PP and the fact that they are the largest provider of abortions in the country, she was asked directly about those services. Remember, PP is on the offensive to try and keep from losing nearly $350 million in taxpayer funding that was recently revoked by the House of Representatives.

When Richards was asked about the abortion services she said “We see 3 million patients each year across the country. For 97 percent of them, we provide preventive care. Three percent are abortions. That pretty much holds true from state to state.”

The only problem with her statement is that, according to the PP fact sheet produced by her organization, she’s wrong! And not just wrong in an “oops, I was off by a percent or two,” or “I confused a decimal place.” No, she was wrong by at least 8%!

A rep for Live Action, the group that has made its mission to expose and defund Planned Parenthood, commented on Richards’ error:

“According to Planned Parenthood’s own Fact Sheet, current as of February 2011, Richards’ claim is untrue. Planned Parenthood provided 332,278 abortions in 2009, or in other words, 11% of Planned Parenthood’s three million patients got abortions.”

Of course Richards is making the case that to eliminate the nation’s largest ‘family planning’ provider would be disastrous. However, no one is suggesting that PP close their doors – okay, I am suggesting it, actually hoping for it – instead they are saying that PP continue to offer ‘family planning’ services without tax payer money. Let’s face it, many non-profit groups such as Care Pregnancy Centers offer service without receiving a single dime of Title X or other federal funds. If they can do it, surely PP can do it. Right?

The reality is that Richards and others at PP know that without offering abortions, or receiving federal money they will see such a drop in business and revenue that they will indeed be forced to close many centers. They know, and don’t want anyone else to know, that the majority of their profits come through performing abortions.

The truth is getting out and Cecile Richards and others at Planned Parenthood are scared. They know the tide is turning toward life and that life laws are being strengthened. They are desperate to cling to their blood stained clinics and continue to mislead, deceive, and put women and children in jeopardy with their misinformation and lies.

But life is winning. There’s a happy ending. (Click here to read the original article)

About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: abortion, Cecile Richards, funding, lie, Life, planned parenthood, tax money

Job Announcement: FPCWV Seeks Director of Development

March 30, 2011 By Jeremy Dys

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications for the position of Director of Development.

Qualifications for this position are described as:

The Director of Development will profess a well-developed and Biblical worldview, be of impeccable personal integrity, sense a unique calling of service upon his or her life, display a keen ability to organize and implement and manage a successful development program, be articulate in matters of public policy, evince a life of personal faithfulness to family, possess proficient technical skills, and show a commitment to promote life, marriage, and religious freedom with Truth and Grace.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in applying for this position, please go to www.FamilyPolicyWV.com/jobs to learn more and download a complete description.

About Jeremy Dys

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Engaging Essentials

March 30, 2011 By Jeremy Dys

Pro-Life Laws Result in Decrease in Abortions – Add this to the, “Duh!” file. A new, peer-reviewed study that was just released confirms that the dip in abortions is a result of laws that promote life and restrict abortion.

Abortion Alternatives? Egads! – Charmaine Yoest points out the angst of the left at a proposal by Congress to requires the abortion industry to make alternatives (like, say, child birth) available to its clients.

Marriage and Procreation, Avoiding Bad Arguments – Here is part 2 of an article linked in a recent Engaging Essentials post that argues the essential argument for marriage as one man and one woman boils down to the state’s interest in procreation. Here, the authors help us navigate away from bad arguments while making good ones.

Caught in the Act . . . Again – Planned Parenthood can’t catch a break. But, then again, I suppose my Mom was right when she told me not to lie because the truth will always haunt me. The link here links to the coverage by Jill Stanek about the video below. Here’s the truth: no Planned Parenthood clinic provides mammogram services. That is bolstered by this video where someone calls 30 clinics in 27 states and gets the same answer.

About Jeremy Dys

Filed Under: Engaging Essentials, Life, Marriage, Religious Freedom Tagged With: Charmaine Yoest, Life, mammograms, Marriage, michael j. new, patrick lee, planned parenthood, pro-life laws, Robert George

Same Sex Marriage Advocates Don’t Want You to Know This

March 30, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/30/2011

Martinsburg, WV – I can think of many reasons to oppose same-sex “marriage”. They range from my religious beliefs that God designed marriage to be between one man and one

Shows like "Sister Wives" are helping undermine marriage.

woman, to simple moral reasons, to what I consider common sense in the fact that the “plumbing doesn’t fit” between people of the same sex is an obvious boundary against same-sex relationships.

Another reason that is not being talked about much in the media is the link between the legalization of same-sex “marriage” and polygamy. But make no mistake about it, polygamy advocates are waiting with bated breath to see what happens in the ssm debate. They have every intention of fighting for the legalization of polygamy should ssm be legalized throughout the United States.

I have previously written about the danger to redefining marriage for reasons like the open door it will present to polygamy and other “forms” of marriage (read polyamory). In past articles I have stated that redefining marriage for homosexuals leaves our society no choice but to redefine it for polygamists, polyamorists, and any other group that wants to marry. (Click here for an excellent article featuring Town Hall writer Allen Hunt)

A recent blog post from Citizenlink.com writes about an article in The Washington Times that shows the link between legalizing same-sex “marriage” and polygamy.

But listen; let’s forget about the legal angle, the religious angle, and all those other things. Let’s just talk for a minute about the sheer common sense of it all. Sure, homosexuals don’t want to talk about the link, and they will deflect attention from polygamists and try to create as much space between them as they can. This is, in reality, very hypocritical of them.

For all the screaming homosexuals do about marriage “rights” and the fact that the government or society should not be telling people who they can and cannot marry homosexuals should be the biggest backer of polygamists. After all, isn’t our government and society the ones telling polygamists they cannot marry more than one person? Where’s Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the others screaming for “equality” and “civil rights?”

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About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Marriage Tagged With: citizenlink.com, homosexual, Marriage, polygamy, same-sex marriage, traditional

Red Wave Causes Wave of Life Laws

March 29, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/29/2011

Martinsburg, WV – People often call or email us and want to know what is going on in other states on particular issues. Of course abortion is one of the major issues people want to know about. At times it can be hard to h\keep up with legislation in other states, this year is no exception. There is more pro-life legislation taking place right now across America than any other time in recent history.

Record numbers of pro-life bills are being introduced into state legislatures to limit abortion, remove it from insurance coverage, and implement requirements such as ultrasounds and counseling. This is an exciting time for the pro-life movement.

An article I came across recently outlines many of the recent pro-life victories and reports on other measures taking place throughout the country. With groundbreaking legislation starting in Nebraska last year, other states, such as Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, Texas, South Dakota, Utah, Florida and Virginia are boldly pushing forward with measures that would have been difficult to pass in previous years.

It’s no secret that abortion advocates are nervous about many of the proposed laws. Many clinics recently saw their funding removed – Planned Parenthood and their affiliates for example – and new laws are causing significant legal and financial obstacles to overcome. For the abortion industry this is not a good sign of things to come.

“‘We’re seeing an unprecedented level of bills that would have a serious impact on women’s access to abortion services that very possible could become law,’ said Rachel Sussman, senior policy analyst for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.”

But Mary Spaulding Balch of the National Right to Life Committee sees the wave of legislation as a protection for expectant women:

“When a woman is pregnant and doesn’t want to be, the more information she has, the better. That’s what these laws are trying to do – give thoughtful pause so the mother can understand the options that are out there.”

The “Red Wave” that took place in last Novembers election is being credited for the many pro-life bills advancing and being signed into law. Conservative, pro-life lawmakers and governors were elected into office in unprecedented numbers that sent a clear message to the abortion industry and lawmakers alike: life is precious!

The message is gaining steam as more states follow in passing stronger life laws that seek to ensure every person born and unborn are equally protected under the law. Click here for the original article.

About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: abortion, legislatoin, Life, Mary Spaulding Balch, National Right to Life Committee, planned parenthood, Rachel Sussman, red wave

The Engaging Essentials

March 28, 2011 By Jeremy Dys

Divorce: Changing the Face of Families – The New York Times takes a look at America’s heartland, Sioux Center, IA, where the divorce rate has gone from 52 married person for every divorced person in 1980, to 14:1 in 2011.

Haley Barbour Chokes Up for Un-Born – A conservative politician tears up about a dear conservative political issue while on the stump in a must-win primary state. Heartfelt or political rhetoric? You decide.

Army Readying Chaplains Before DADT Repeal – And, while it does, it comes with mixed reviews. Unfortunately, we won’t know the final impact on religious liberty within the corps until it may be too late.

Marriage and Procreation: The Intrinsic Connection – Now, for a bit of heavy reading. Great article explaining precisely why marriage may only be reserved for that between one man and one woman. You may need to read it twice, once to understand it, twice to remember it.

About Jeremy Dys

Filed Under: Engaging Essentials, Life, Marriage, Religious Freedom

Normalization of Homosexual Lifestyle Should Begin in Kindergarten!

March 28, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/28/2011

Martinsburg, WV – Leave it to California to put the cart before the horse and run with something that has not been completely approved for implementation. In a state where political and economic upheaval is at an all-time high you would think lawmakers would be trying to find something to unite citizens rather than further divide them, but then again, it is California.

In a post by Citizenlink this week it is reported that California has decided to begin teaching specifically on the contributions of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transsexuals in their social science courses. The article said:

“The California Senate Education Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would mandate public schools teach U.S. history, California history and social science with a deliberate emphasis on the roles and contributions of gay- and lesbian-identified individuals, as well as those of transsexuals and bisexuals.”

The California Family Institute’s director, Ron Prentice commented “It seems a bit like a quota system. It’s based less on the level of contribution and more on one’s sexual orientation.”

But the real concern, at least from my perspective, is how this will affect families with religious and moral objections to the homosexual lifestyle? Is this a sort of indoctrination of affirming the homosexual lifestyle and gay agenda? Will religious and conscience rights be respected for parents that do not want their children exposed to such teaching at a young age? Why do Kindergarteners and elementary age students need to know that a person was homosexual or otherwise?

It seems everyone from public schools to the military is trying to force feed homosexuality down the throats of every person regardless of religious, moral, or other objections. The deliberate ignoring of scientific data on reparation therapy, sexually transmitted diseases among the homosexual community and other red flags are equally troubling.

Just last week Mac pulled the Exodus International app from its app store after people complained. Yet, as was documented here, the app store has dozens of apps promoting and supporting the homosexual lifestyle. This double standard is twisted.

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About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Marriage, Religious Freedom Tagged With: bi-sexual, California, DADT, gay, homosexual, Kindergarten, lesbian, Mac, normalization, transsexual

Something Good Happening in Alabama and Idaho

March 28, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/28/2011

Martinsburg, WV – Some good news came out of several state legislatures this week concerning the issue of abortion. This good news primarily deals with the age – number of weeks – a pregnant woman may have an abortion. The standard at this point for many states is up to 24 weeks. But recent studies and scientific evidence shows that an unborn child can feel pain at 20 weeks. This would make abortion more inhuman and tortuous than it already is because the child can actually feel what is happening.

This composite image shows what a baby looks like at 20 weeks development.

With that in mind it is exciting to report that Alabama is considering becoming another state to ban abortions after 20 weeks. The Health Committee chairman says they need to discuss the matter a little more before voting in order to hear from supporting and opposing parties. Rep. Kerry Rich believes this bill is needed in light of recent studies showing unborn children at 20 weeks can feel pain.

But, the Idaho Senate has passed legislation that bans most abortions after 20 weeks and will “subject abortion providers who violate the ban to criminal prosecution and lawsuits,” according to a recent report.

Even though the bill must pass the state House of Representatives, it is widely believed such passage is easily expected. From there Idaho’s conservative governor is believed to be in support and planning to sign the bill into law.

Even more exciting is the fact that Idaho is just one of 17 states considering this type of legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks unless sufficient evidence can be shown that the mother’s life is in danger; a move reminiscent of the law passed last year in Nebraska. That is the sort of gains the pro-life community were hoping for after the November 2010 elections saw massive wins for pro-life lawmakers.

Furthermore, this legislation comes just days after South Dakota signed into law a bill that requires 3 full days before a woman can have an abortion – the longest waiting period in the nation.

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