Tag Archives: Guttmacher Institute

Trusting God and His Methods

God is our Creator. He knows what is best for us. But don’t you find yourself sometimes as a perpetual teenager, thinking your Creator doesn’t know best?

 

Well, here’s yet another testament that He truly knows best. Dr. Lazar Greenfield, a highly respected surgeon and inventor, published an article recently that touted the Zen-like benefits of semen on women.  He cited research that said that women who had sex without any barriers (condoms, etc.) were significantly less depressed than women who used condoms or were abstinent. Unfortunately, Dr. Greenfield resigned this week because of significant public pressure from feminist groups who aren’t happy that a high-profile medical professional was touting the benefits of male-female relations or “sexism” as they call it. Confused? So are we.

 

When married couples engage in relations as God intended, without any barriers, they get some great rewards in the mental health department. The Catholic Church has always recognized the holiness of the marital act (Genesis even says that a man should leave his family and “cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”) and in her wisdom, decidedly condemned the birth control pill when other faiths were saying that it’s fine to use for contraception, even in marriage (see Humanae Vitae).

 

Which is why it was really disappointing to see a study by the Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) say that 98% of Catholic women use birth control methods banned by the Catholic Church. 98%! In several dioceses across the country, engaged couples have to go through a Natural Family Planning course before they get married where they learn all about why the Church teaches NFP and how to go about implementing it in their marriage. What happened to them? Or their parents?

 

For those who do adhere to NFP, the benefits are immense. Not only are these couples following the Church’s teachings, but they are a reflection of Christ and his bride, the Church, in that He gave fully of himself to her, holding nothing back. Husband and wives are called to imitate that love, holding nothing back from each other, including their fertility. If used correctly, NFP has a 99% success rate in helping couples avoid a pregnancy if they are called to hold off on having kids for the time being.

 

The marital act, as God intended it to be, is something wonderful for husbands and wives and gives each of them immense benefits not only spiritually but as science has proven, physically and mentally as well.

 

Time and time again, God shows us one way or another that He knows best. Let’s stop fighting Him like teenagers and follow His will because He surely has our best interests in mind.

Share

New Abortion Clinic Opens Up in MI Because of Healthcare Law

In Bart Stupak’s home state of Michigan, a new abortion clinic is opening up as a direct result of the new healthcare bill that funds abortion on demand with government dollars. If you remember, Congressman Stupak caved at the 11th hour, providing the crucial votes needed to pass the monstrosity of a bill, delivering a huge blow to the pro-life agenda, to the autonomy of Americans and to the nation’s economy.

From the Detroit News-

An early sign of health care reform’s impact is Planned Parenthood’s decision to open a new Oakland County clinic within the next 18 months, adding to 15 locations, including Detroit, Warren and Livonia. Unlike other Detroit area centers, the new location is likely to include abortion services.

[Planned Parenthood president Cecile] Richards and Lori Lamerand, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, are ramping up for a boom in birth control and other reproductive services — what Lamerand calls “an onslaught” of women poised to gain new access to reproductive health care.

Now that women will be able to not only get access to more birth control but they will be able to finally get those free, or at least government-subsidized, abortions that so-called women’s rights groups have been clamoring for.

Planned Parenthood will say that abortions aren’t their main focus. However, Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood director at a large clinic in Texas, told ABCNews, among other outlets, that her supervisors were “pushing clinics that did have an abortion program to bring in more money.” Abortion is a money-maker, period.

And even the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, says that when abortion is subsidized, abortion rates among those women enrolled in Medicaid could increase 28%.

We predict this is only the beginning. The healthcare bill also provides $11 billion to Community Health Centers, many of which do abortions. Like we always said, the bill is the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade and the abortion industry stands to gain a huge windfall, thanks to President Obama, his allies in Congress and of course, to Bart Stupak.

Thomas Peters at American Principles Project just wrote a piece about this too titled “What the pro-life movement can learn from Planned Parenthood“.  Please spread the word that this is the first tangible evidence that the pro-life movement was right about the effects of Obamacare.

Share

The Dawn of Demonic Deception

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of “The Pill” the Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy and misleading article (“The Birth Control Riddle” April 20, 2009) by Melinda Beck, calling the arrival of The Birth Control Pill the “dawn of dependable contraception” which “ignited the sexual revolution, ended the post-war baby boom and helped millions of women enter the work force.” Ms Beck then proceeds to lament all of the “unplanned pregnancies” which still occur today before detailing for us how safe it is now to use new and improved birth control methods.

Marshall McLuhan, the late, great expert on the media, who converted to Catholicism before he died said, “The major media are engaged in a Luciferian conspiracy against the truth.” How true! Ms Beck’s column is a prime example of this conspiracy, including such blatant lies and misrepresentations as:

“the benefits outweigh the risks” when taking “The Pill”

“…the longer a woman uses the pill, the lower her risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer”, and

“…the pill does not seem to increase the risk of getting [breast cancer]“.

Beck then goes on to reassure the readers with sources such as the Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood’s own research arm) and a quote from Planned Parenthood’s VP of Medical Affairs who explains away the damaging side effects by saying, “We have to keep these things in perspective. A woman’s risk for problems is substantially higher during pregnancy.”

“The Pill” and the widespread use of other contraceptives in reality ushered in the ‘Dawn of Demonic Deception’ in America. One needs only to review some of the bitter fruits of “The Pill” to appreciate why.

  • A Mayo Clinic study said that women who use hormonal contraceptives for a minimum of 4 years prior to their first full term pregnancy have a 52% higher risk of developing breast cancer
  • Women who use a hormonal contraceptive for more then 5 years are 4 times more likely to develop cervical cancer
  • Prior to the sexual revolution and “The Pill” there were known to be 5 sexually transmitted diseases: Today there are more than 30.
  • There are over 50 medical studies which indicate that use of oral contraceptives and Depo-Provera place women at higher risk for almost all known risk factors of HIV.

As we look around today, we see how accurately Pope Paul IV predicted what would follow if contraception were adopted on a wide scale: a general lowering of moral standards, an increase in infidelity, ever-greater objectification of women, and the use of contraception as a weapon. Smaller and more broken families, rampant homosexuality, pornography, and China’s coercive one-child policy are just some of the sad and obvious reminders of Pope Paul’s wisdom in reaffirming the Church’s perennial teaching against contraception in Humanae Vitae.

Exposing the lies of contraception is, indeed, the great moral challenge of our day. It is not only a battle for life, it is a battle for souls.

When asked recently by a major publication to name her greatest regret, Martha Stewart replied, “Not having a dozen offspring.” This neatly summarizes the widespread “post-contraceptive regret” that weighs heavily on the hearts and souls of women who bought into the lies of the abortion industry. Even Catholic families have since the 1960′s dropped from 5.5 to 2.1 children today, increasingly rejecting the joys and challenges of larger families for the lesser goods of greater material comfort, “freedom,” and professional accomplishment.

The 1920′s-era story (ironically, the same time that Margaret Sanger was beginning her efforts to legalize contraception and abortion in America) comes to mind of the small boy who was peering out a window at dusk as a man came along to light the gas street lights.

His mother asked, “What are you looking at?”

As if explaining the obvious, the boy replied, “I am watching a man poke holes in the darkness.”

Today as confirmed Catholics this is all that God is asking of us – to stand in bold witness and poke holes in the spiritual darkness that surrounds us. Encountering the demonic deceptions forwarded by Ms. Beck and others who ignore the devastation wrought by contraception, we must answer with the light of truth.

Our daily faithfulness to God’s perfect plan for sexuality and marriage through the rosary and sacraments is the only way to reclaim the culture and our nation. Only by using these gifts can we help bring about a countercultural comeback of chastity and the family.

 Jenn Giroux is the new executive director of HLI America, mother of nine and a Registered Nurse.

 This article was originally written for Human Life International newsletter.

Share

One More Soul CEO Rips Hole in Guttmacher Abortion Study

Jennifer Giroux, CEO, One More Soul

Jennifer Giroux, CEO, One More Soul

Revealing and terrific piece  in Cincinnati Enquirer by Jennifer Giroux, CEO of the Catholic non-profit One More Soul, on the latest Guttmacher Institute study re: (“Unsafe abortions kill 70,000 a year,” Oct. 14).  Guttmacher is the research arm of Planned Parenthood. 

Not only does Giroux blow a gaping hole in the study, she also  outlines the devastating impact of contraception.

Read here: http://bit.ly/2PujrI

Share