West Virginia Considered “Supportive” of Abortion

January 3, 2013 By

An article released this week discussing the upcoming 2013 legislative season with respect to the issue of life, features a graphic from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute showing where states stand on the issue. You might be surprised to find that West Virginia is considered supportive of abortion. The characterization seems to stem from the fact that West Virginia has not enacted any serious pro-life laws stemming from the last legislative session. Hey, wait a minute, didn’t most of the recently elected officials claim to be pro-life? Doesn’t our governor claim to be pro-life? Something doesn’t add up here. Click here for original article.

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.

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The Engaging Essentials

January 12, 2011 By

80th West Virginia Legislature – Today kicks off the regular session of the 2011 West Virginia Legislature.  The article linked does a fair job of highlighting the hot issues going into the session.  Later this week, we will unveil our legislative agenda.  In the meantime, please click here, enter your zip code, and wherever you keep your prayer list, write down the names of your delegation to Charleston.  Remember to pray for them.

Vanderbilt Requires Nurses to Assist in Abortions – Yep.  Vanderbilt’s nursing program is requiring applicants to agree to assist in every aspect of the abortion procedure on their admission’s application.  Don’t agree, no admission.  Here’s a snip of what our friends at ADF are saying about it:

ADF has today filed a formal complaint with the Department of Health & Human Services, asking it to enforce federal law and prohibit Vanderbilt from illegally discriminating against our client, a well qualified nursing student who happens also to be pro-life and unwilling to violate her conscience by assisting in abortions.   As another of ADF’s clients, Cathy Cenzon-DeCarlo can attest, Vanderbilt’s requirement could mean that a nursing resident must assist in preparing the woman and the implements for the abortion, assisting the physician through the abortion, and even handling and disposing of body parts of the dismembered child.

via Vanderbilt University: Pro-Lifers Need Not Apply. Will the Obama Administration Enforce Federal Law? |.

AUL Analyzes Guttmacher Report – If you’re not familiar with it, the annual Guttmacher Report is Planned Parenthood’s research arm.  It reviews the trends of the abortion industry and gives abortion providers, policy wonks, and lawmakers data for the abortion debate.  Linked above, Americans United for Life gives a thorough review of the latest report.  Their press release indicates the data can be a bit misleading.

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: Engaging Essentials, Life, Religious Freedom Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Teen Birth Rates Down – Abstinence Hopes Up

December 30, 2010 By

By Nathan A. Cherry, 12/30/2010

 Martinsburg, WV – It seems the message of abstinence is getting through to teens. Or maybe the condoms are finally working 100%of the time. It could be that abortion rates are up, or the economy is causing it all. Each of these is a possible reason for the lowest teen birth rate in 70 years; but what’s really the driving cause?

Well, we know that there is no such thing as a condom that works 100% of the time. So that silly notion as a possible cause of low teen birth rates is out.

Abortion is always a possible contributing factor to this statistic – though I certainly hope not. And while Planned Parenthood has released their annual report with no mention of abortion statistics, Lifenews.com reports:

“The National Center for Health Statistics did not compile nor release any abortion information, but the last national report was issued by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute in January 2008 and it showed abortion levels reaching historic lows in terms of the abortion rates.”

So it’s very probable that abortion is not playing a factor in this record setting statistic. And the idea that the economy is somehow responsible for low birth rates doesn’t make much sense considering the poor have always been poor and it has never stopped anyone from having kids. Though economic factors might stop families from having more kids, the idea that it plays a part in teen birth rates is erroneous at best.

[Read more...]

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.

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Analysis Shows 52 Million Abortions Since Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision

January 26, 2010 By

Staggering.  In 37 years, 104 million parents have elected to kill 52 million of their children.

What will the next 37 years hold?  208 million parents?  104 million more children?

Read any commentary on the contentious abortion debate and you’ll likely find a wide variety of numbers attempting to estimate the number of abortions that have taken place since the Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade abortion decision since 1973.

Now, a new analysis from the National Right to Life Committee based on hard data and estimates for the most recent years finds 52 million unborn children have been killed in abortion since the Roe decision.

Any analysis of abortion stats and figures starts with the understanding that the Centers for Disease Control has never tabulated accurate numbers of abortions. The CDC relies on figures from state health departments, some of which rely on voluntary reporting — and it hasn’t had data from some states such as California and New Hampshire for more than a decade.

In its survey of abortion numbers, NRLC goes to the source by relying on the Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood, which receives numbers directly from abortion centers themselves.

[Read more...]

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: , , , , ,

Why Choose Abortion? How We Can Both Directly and Indirectly Encourage Life

October 9, 2008 By

When addressing the issue of “abortion,” it is imperative for us to not only consider the act itself, but the factors that influence a woman’s decision.  For instance, we should not only be concerned with overturning Roe v. Wade, but we should concern ourselves with policies that indirectly affect a woman in choosing abortion rather than birth.  Let me explain.

Reasons for Choosing Abortion

In an article this past Sunday from the Christian Post, Joe Green related the following statistics in the reasons why women choose abortions in America:

Wants to postpone childbearing: 25.5% • Wants no (more) children: 7.9% • Cannot afford a baby: 21.3% • Having a child will disrupt education or job: 10.8% • Has relationship problem or partner does not want pregnancy: 14.1% • Too young; parent(s) or other(s) object to pregnancy: 12.2% • Risk to maternal health: 2.8% • Risk to fetal health: 3.3% • Other: 2.1% (Why I Call it Murder)

Unfortunately, I am not for certain where these statistics were specifically drawn from.  What I am aware of is that the rate of abortions has declined dramatically over the past 30 years (Decreasing 33% from a peak of 29 abortions per 1,000 women in 1980 to 20 per 1,000 in 2004) and for this we should be extremely grateful! 

However, the rate of abortions among blacks, Hispanics, lower income, and women in their 20s and 30s have increased (Guttmacher Institute, Trends in Characteristics of Women Obtaining Abortions: 1974 to 2004).  Even though the statistics alluded to by Mr. Green may be correct in many regards overall, it is important for us to consider our countries changing demographics and trends among those that do choose to end the life of their unborn child.  This is why I propose we not only consider the macro (big picture) level of the abortion debate, but that we need to address the micro (small picture) level of the abortion debate.

That is, we need to not only concern ourselves with the Roe v. Wade but with policies that may indirectly influence women in choosing to have an abortion.

[Read more...]

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: , , , ,