Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

Fred Thompson tripped over the abortion issue in his debut as a presidential candidate on “Meet the Press.”

Host Tim Russert read Thompson the Pro Life Plank from the 2004 Republican Party Platform, which has remained unchanged since the days of Ronald Reagan:

We say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution. We endorse legislation to make it clear that the Fourteenth amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions.

Russert then asked Thompson,

Could you run as a candidate on that platform, promising a human life amendment banning all abortions?

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Have you ever wondered why some of the most permissive countries in Europe like Holland, Denmark and France have such low teen pregnancy and abortion rates?In April, I wrote a column that provoked this e-mail:

Does abstinence education really work so well? I wondered because Holland, which does not promote abstinence education, and instead teaches fully and frankly about contraception, has only 12 teenage pregnancies per 1,000 pregnancies, while the U.S. has more than 80 per 1000. … I would be pleased if you could offer me some instances where abstinence has lowered teen pregnancy rates.

These are good questions and they deserve honest answers. However, the research was much harder than I expected because of the bias that exists in the media for abortion and the anything-goes-as-long-as-it-goes-with-a-condom (”safe sex” or “comprehensive”) brand of sex education that is so common in our schools. Read the rest of this entry »

Justice Anthony Kennedy did the unthinkable when writing the majority opinion for Gonzales v. Carhart, the 5-4 Supreme Court decision that upheld the federal partial-birth abortion ban. He described this procedure with painstaking detail, exposing this barbaric practice to the harsh light of day. Furthermore, he referred to the subject targeted for destruction as an “infant,” not a “fetus.” Read the rest of this entry »

Planned Parenthood is the most dangerous organization in America today!

In 1984, I was taken aback by those words. They were uttered by Dr. Bernard Nathanson as I was interviewing him for a documentary on abortion called “A Matter of Choice.” Nathanson once ran the largest abortion facility in the state of New York. After the development of realtime ultrasound imaging, which opened a window to the womb, he became an ardent defender of the preborn.

When Dr. Nathanson, first made that statement, I thought he was some kind of nut! What possibly could be wrong with helping married women plan their families? Read the rest of this entry »

A young woman is driven to an outpatient surgery center by an older man. She looks frail and distraught. As the two approach the reception desk, her companion takes control of the situation. “Miss Jones is here for a tubal ligation,” he says.The receptionist asks, “Do you have insurance?” He answers for her, “No, we’ll pay cash.”

“That will be $1,700. Here is the form to sign, ” said the receptionist. She slides the paper toward the woman. The young woman sighs as she nervously signs her name. He quickly writes a check.

Then the woman is ushered into a back room and given a gown. There is no explanation of what the procedure entails. Two hours later, she appears in a wheelchair, groggy from the procedure and is helped into his waiting car.

The sterilization center made a quick $1,700 sale. Her lover is now free to enjoy unprotected sex with her without the complication of pregnancy until he moves on to someone else. However, her life has been irrevocably altered. Read the rest of this entry »