Feds suing more anti-abortion activists

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Feds suing more anti-abortion activists
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
The Associated Press
updated 5/4/2011 7:54:50 PM ET 2011-05-04T23:54:50

WICHITA, Kansas — The Justice Department under President Barack Obama has taken a harder line against anti-abortion activists accused of trying to block access to clinics, suing at least a half-dozen of them under a federal law that lay mostly dormant during the Bush administration.

The law, written to protect people who seek or provide abortions, was revived after Obama took office and in the wake of the 2009 slaying of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, who was shot to death moments before Sunday services were to begin at his Wichita church.

Since Obama's inauguration, federal lawsuits have been filed against a woman who blocked a car from entering a clinic in Florida; a Texas man who threw his body across the door of a patient waiting area in San Antonio; and a Pennsylvania man who posted on the Internet the names and addresses of abortion providers and extolled his readers to kill them.

Government records obtained by The Associated Press show that in slightly over two years, the Obama Justice Department has filed six lawsuits under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, mostly to seek injunctions and fines. That compares with just one such lawsuit during the entire eight years of George W. Bush.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42907075/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

[SkyDaddy7]

1. Why does this not have +200 recs &...

sitting on the Greatest Thread page? Oh well.

Thank-you Mr. President!

[robinlynne]

36. It will.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

39. well my rec was #197... almost there!

But you right, the number should be much much higher.

[SkyDaddy7]

43. Thank-you for being polite!

When I made my comment the article had been posted for an hour I think...There was several articles posted after it so I was baffled as why it had not gotten more attention. This issue is very personal to me like it is to many on this site so YES I jumped the gun. YIKES! However, I had no idea that someone would take it so personal & hammer me the way they did. Oh well.

Thanks.

[obxhead]

40. My hat is off to you!

You managed to make the very first post on this thread about recs!

Well done! I bow for your superior intellect and the deep thought put into the first kick of the thread. It has added substance and value!

K&(huge)R for the substance of the thread. I only wish I could unrec your useless 1st post on this very important subject.

From someone some of you may know (not a huge fan) gObama!

[SkyDaddy7]

42. You are so cool!

When I made my comment this post had been up for over an hour...Yes, it was early but I expected there to be more attention given to very important issue. This happens to be a very personal issue to me...Yes, I jumped the gun but why do you have to be so damn cynical? I hope you felt empowered.

[Ilsa]

2. It definitely makes a difference who occupies the WH. nt

[nonperson]

3. I'm sick and tired of arrogant, ignorant people whose idea of freedom

Is forcing their moral beliefs on everyone else.

Don't believe in abortion? Don't have an abortion. Otherwise FUCK OFF and let the rest of the world decide for themselves.

[RKP5637]

16. Well said and Agree 1000% n/t

[patrice]

19. All of which is the complete OPPOSITE of what the life of a teacher named Jesus was about.

He showed us that we are supposed to take the risk of deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong and then accept the consequences WHATEVER they are.

ChurchCo is a perversion of the teachings of Lord Jesus. They are blaspheming heretics, living off of SUBSIDIES that I/you have to support whether I agree with them or not.

................

Om namah Shivaya!

[bertman]

22. I thought Jesus said that we can do whatever we want to do, then ask him to forgive

us and everything is cool. At least that is what I was taught in Sunday School and church. No sin is too great that it cannot be forgiven--if you just profess belief in jesus as your savior.

[patrice]

25. Consequences =/= Forgiveness. Perhaps you agree with me about the

limitations of language in discussing what we refer to as divine. With that caveat . . .

Anyone can forgive anyone else, but consequences are real anyway. e.g. I/anyone can forgive soldiers who have made free, fully mature, un-encumbered moral decisions to go to war, even though I absolutely fundamentally disagree with that moral choice (as long as it is a mature/responsible decision made without any form of duress such as lies, ignorance, and economic necessity, my own claim to my own morality REQUIRES that I respect theirs too). That forgiveness does not obviate the consequences of their choices, right or wrong/true or false any decision has consequences.

[bertman]

38. Yes, I understand what you are saying about consequences vs. forgiveness, Patrice.

My point related to the fact that no "sinner" is too far gone to gain forgiveness by Jesus of his/her sins. There is no caveat regarding how heinous the sin was or what the consequences were of that sinful act--at least based on what I was taught.

Without a doubt, that is the greatest marketing coup in history.

[howmad1]

33. These people are desperately trying.......

....to insure that their priests have enough kids to sexually abuse.

[Taverner]

37. SPEAK IT BROTHA!

[Demeter]

4. So, How About Some JOBS?

So women don't have to abort?

[nonperson]

6. YES! And health care and a living wage

So people can raise their children in a good environment instead of abject poverty.

[kenichol]

7. & Access to birth control, comprehensive sex ed for our children

Our fundamentalist community had 'abstinence only' as the sole model with no comprehensive sex education and. consequently, have a high, high incidence of teenage pregnancy.

[trud]

8. or even some care for the actual environment

so they don't grow up in dust bowls, or get flooded out, or killed by tornadoes, or not be able to afford scarce food.

[Demeter]

9. Thank You All!

You three are sisters/brothers in heart for sure.

[KurtNYC]

11. I have seen no evidence tying employment to abortion rates

got any?

[Demeter]

14. Why yes! Thank you for asking!

Prolonged Decline Of Abortions In U.S. Ended With Recession

http://newsandsociety.draw-cartoon.com/uncategorized/prolonged-decline-of-abortions-in-us-ended-with-recession/

...About 1.61 million known procedures were done in 1990 which was the U.S. abortion rate. Since 1975 there have been periodic surveys of abortion survivors. It was found that the lowest numbers since 1976 were shown since there have been 1.21 million abortions in the United States since 2005. The abortion rate for ages 15-44 peaked in 1981 at 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women. The lowest rate since 1974 has happened by 2005 where the rate went to 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women. From 2005 to 2008 the U.S. abortion rate rose within the United States 0.5 % to 1.212 million according to a study released on January 11. There was a 1 % increase to 19.6 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 with the abortion rate....

Articles cited

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006587.html

USA Today

usatoday.com/yourlife/2011-01-11-abortion11_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

US News & World Report

health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/womens-health/articles/2011/01/11/decline-in-us-abortion-rate-stalls-report-finds.html


Will the global recession lead to a ‘baby bust’?

http://www.abortionreview.org/index.php/site/article/509/

...Some have gone so far as to argue that the recession is leading to a rise in the demand for abortion. In April 2009, the UK Daily Telegraph reported that vasectomies and abortions were on the rise ‘as economic meltdown hits US families’. (3) According to Barbara Zdravecky, president of a Florida wing of Planned Parenthood, in the area covered by her group abortions have risen by 14 per cent in the first two months of this year compared to the same period in 2008, and Planned Parenthood regional offices report similar figures across the country. The Telegraph also reports that Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said there had been a significant increase in calls to the organisation’s hotline because of the economy - including many from women struggling to afford the cost of a termination.

Similar concerns have recently been aired in relation to Singapore, which already has in place a national campaign to boost the birthrate through offering incentives to encourage couples to have more babies. According to AFP, government figures show 39,935 babies delivered in 2008, well below the 60,000 Singapore needs to maintain its native population. (4) Reporting that ‘Singapore has one of Asia’s most liberal abortion policies and the global financial crisis could be prompting more women to terminate pregnancies’, this article cited figures showing that there were 12,222 abortions in the city-state in 2008, compared to 11,933 in 2007 (no official figures are available for 2009)...

...It is historically the case that birth rates tend to fall during times of economic crisis and uncertainty. As Melissa Schorr notes on msnbc.com:

‘There was a dramatic decline in fertility rates following the Great Depression in the 1930s, when, for the first time in US history, women went from having an average of three children the previous decade to two.

‘In each year after the country’s last four recessions, general fertility rates — calculated as the number of women of child-bearing age per thousand who gave birth — dipped slightly. For example, in the year following the 1973-1975 recession, fertility rates dropped from 68.8 in 1973 to 65 in 1976, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similarly, following the 1980-1982 recession, the fertility rate fell from 68.4 in 1980 to 65.7 in 1983.’ (1)

An article in the New York Times back in 1991 began: ‘Five years of steady increases in the number of births in America ended abruptly this year, and many demographers and economists are blaming the recession.’ (7) ...

References

(1) ‘Shaky economy means “bye-bye baby” for some’. Msnbc.com, 14 January 2009
(2) Dreams shelved as recession forces Britons to put lives on hold. Observer, 8 February 2009
(3) ‘Vasectomies and abortions on the rise as economic meltdown hits US families’. Daily Telegraph, 4 April 2009. Also see ‘Abortion rate spikes: Some say 10% rise in Colorado may be due to bad economy’, Denver Daily News, 2 April 2009
(4) ‘Singapore sees abortions rise amid recession’. AFP, 2 May 2009
(5) Recession linked to rise in women seeking abortions. Herald, 11 December 2008
(6) Internet boom in DIY abortion pills. The Observer, Sunday 1 February 2009
(7) Drop in Births Reported, And Recession Is Blamed. New York Times, 3 November 1991
(8) ‘Second Demographic Transition.’ Ron J. Lesthaeghe.
(9) Why Have Abortion Rates Fallen? By Nancy Gibbs. Time magazine, 21 January 2008.
(10) Unintended pregnancies a sign of the times. LA Times, 7 May 2009
(11) Why don’t abortion rates decline? By Ellie Lee. Abortion Review, 10 March 2008
(12) ‘Can governments influence population growth?’, Kajsa Sundström, OECD Observer, November 2001
(13) See for example Risk Society and The Second Demographic Transition, by David R. Hall. Canadian Studies in Population, Vol. 29(2), 2002, pp. 173-193; and I Would Want to Give My Child, Like, Everything in the World”: How Issues of Motherhood Influence Women Who Have Abortions. Jones, RK; Frohwirth, LF; Moore, AM. Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 29, No. 1, 79-99 (2008). 1 January 2008

Also read:

Is the Recession Causing More Abortions? Double X, 15 May 2009.

I COULD GO ON...BUT I'D BE MUCH MORE IMPRESSED IF THE SCOFFERS PROVIDED SOME OF THEIR OWN RESEARCH...OF COURSE, EVEN A MINIMAL RESEARCH BY A SCOFFER WOULD HAVE REVEALED THERE IS NONE...

[KurtNYC]

20. Recession and employment are 2 different things

linked but different. There is data which suggests that the mother "having a job" is a reason for abortion:

Another study by International Family Planning Perspectives (1998) detailed that in 1987-1988 women reported the following reasons for choosing an abortion:

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

Age of the mother seems to be the biggest factor as it is mentioned in #1, 4 and 5 (25.4%, 12.2% + 10.8% = 48.4%).

But this is all a tangent from the OP -- the recession has nothing to do with prosecuting ant-choice activists. Nothing.

[hootinholler]

12. If you think that getting an abortion is a jobs issue

I suggest that you should rethink that position.

-Hoot

[Demeter]

13. Since I am female and have some experience in this

Yes, it definitely is.

[Akoto]

26. While jobs would be nice, there are many reasons for abortions.

They're trying to do something to those who're obstructing a woman's right to care, whatever her circumstances might be, and that's a good thing.

[JTFrog]

5. K&R!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

10. a Law is only as good as its enforcement! People should be CHEERING this!

In current U.S. atmosphere, women's welfare is on the bottom of most lists, so to see that the Obama administration puts ACTUAL FEET ON THE GROUND to enforce this law is extremely encouraging!

It's not physically possible to do everything all at the same time. Progress is incremental. This thread should have people commenting and applauding, rather than complaining about all the steps yet to be taken.

Something GOOD is happening here--pay attention, be encouraged, continue to push on other issues.

[Deep13]

15. Heh, heh. Go get 'em, Holder! nt

[rasputin1952]

17. It is one thing to go after individuals, (which I fully support)...

but they need to focus on organizations that coordinate these behaviors as well. The Feds brought the Klan down, it can do it with these people as well.

Personally, I see these people as domestic terrorists, the organizations and individuals in them do little more than deny others Rights, usually through intimidation and fear; which is the very essence of terrorism. Over the years, Ive seen an increase in people charged with, "terroristic threats", which equates to a broad range of situations not covered by other existing laws. If you say, "I'm going to mess you!" during an argument, you can have "terroristic threats" tacked on to any other charges. As soon as you are charged w/anything and "terror" is mentioned, immediately one things of vile crimes against another or society. I think it is often a spurious charge, but in the case of many anti-abortion groups, it certainly is appropriate.

Once a few individuals and groups are convicted, there will be a change in tactics for these groups...as it is, they have gotten away with many things because the thought the were invulnerable. Strip that away, and it's almost over.

[patrice]

18. K&R

[Myrina]

21. Can they also sue the ass backward IN legislature (and other states) ...

... who are foisting this 12th century bullshit on women in the name of 'budget measures' ??

[krabigirl]

23. Good. Nt

[bertman]

24. I'd like to know what they're doing about these fanatics who are saying that it's

justifiable to MURDER doctors who perform abortions. Those people seem to hang out together and idolize the murderers. Rachel Maddow has highlighted this on numerous occasions but it seems to get little notice by the PTB or the corporate media.

REC.

[iandhr]

I have seen many people on this sight

comparing Obama to Bush. THINK AGAIN.

[iandhr]

27. I have seen many people on this sight

comparing Obama to Bush. THINK AGAIN.

[JohnWxy]

28. RECOMMENDED!

[Drale]

29. That guy who told his readers to kill abortion providers

should be sitting in Gito because he's a terrorist.

[fascisthunter]

35. yes, he is...

[Raksha]

30. K & R

[defendandprotect]

31. About time -- and the White Christian groups have been heavily involved in these attacks ....

on women's clinics --

Unfortunately, the RW Supremes wouldn't go for using RICO laws against them!!

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

32. Boner didn't hire a lawyer for Congress to enforce when the shrub wouldn't?

How totally shameful of the Boner.

[Metta]

34. Mazel freaking tov. A push for us.

Lets see what becomes of this.




edited for conciseness.

[and-justice-for-all]

41. KnR