Photo: Personhood USA co-founder Keith Mason (Photo: personhoodusa.com)

Via OneNewsNow:

The group submitted language for the proposal to Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, who rejected it on the basis of it being too vague. Personhood spokesman Keith Riley says that was no shock.

“They discussed several pro-life bills in the Arkansas legislature last year and he [McDaniel] sent somebody from his office to testify in opposition to every single one of them,” says Riley. “So, he’s been described in media circles as blatantly pro-abortion.”

Personhood Arkansas remains undeterred by the decision, and plans to submit a rewritten measure. Should the rewritten version be rejected, the group says it intends to file a lawsuit challenging the decision.

“Well, the next step is, we’re going to go ahead and re-file,” Riley told OneNewsNow. “The Personhood Arkansas group is trying to adopt as many of his recommendations as possible, and basically at this point we’re anticipating a second rejection of the language and what we’ll do then is file a lawsuit to challenge that second rejection.”

In October, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine rejected his state’s personhood initiative, after determining that a summary of the initiative was not “fair and truthful.” Supporters of the amendment addressed those concerns by adding language to clarify that the proposal would neither restrict the use of contraception nor affect in-vitro fertilization and, on Dec. 30, DeWine certified the rewritten ballot language.

With the beginning of session only days away, Florida legislators have been busy filing a slew of anti-abortion bills. Add yet another to the list: a measure outlawing race- and gender-based abortions. The bill was filed by state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood.

House Bill 1327, or the “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity for Life Act,” would make it a crime to have an abortion “that it is sought based on sex or race of child or race of parent of that child.” A similar bill was filed in the U.S. House by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., last month and became law in Arizona last year.

According to a summary of the bill, it:

• Requires person performing termination to first sign affidavit stating that he or she is not performing termination because of child’s sex or race and has no knowledge that pregnancy being terminated is because of child’s sex or race;
• Prohibits performing or inducing termination knowing that it is sought based on sex or race of child or race of parent of that child, using force or threat of force to intentionally injure or intimidate any person for purpose of coercing sex-selection or race-selection termination, and soliciting or accepting moneys to finance sex-selection or race-selection termination;
• Provides for injunctions;
• Provides for civil actions by certain persons; authorizes civil fines against physicians & other health professionals who knowingly fail to report known violations; provides that woman on whom sex-selection or race-selection termination is performed is not subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability.

Plakon says he did not file the bill to address any “Florida-specific” problem, but rather to address a “creeping problem” with gender- and race-based abortions worldwide. He says “we shouldn’t wait” until there is a rampant problem in order to address this.

“This is wrong,” he says. “We need to make sure this doesn’t creep into Florida from other countries.”

Plakon does, however, concede that it is hard to prove that gender- or race-based abortions are happening “on a micro-level,” which would make this law somewhat hard to enforce unless a woman were to mention the reasoning behind her abortion.

“If she volunteers that information,” Plakon says, “it would put the burden on the abortionist to not provide the abortion.”

There is no denying this is happening worldwide, Plakon says. “And you could argue that this country is a safe haven for this sort of thing.”

“At least we are doing something,” he says.

Reproductive rights and justice activists have long condemned bills like Plakon’s since Frank first introduced his measure the same week President Obama was elected.

Loretta Ross, the president of SisterSong — a reproductive justice collective for women of color — says there is no evidence that supports the need for such a bill. She believes these bills are a “blatant attempt for southern Republicans to look like they are champions of racial justice,” while they actually attacking women’s rights.

“The question to ask would be: Do you champion [racial minorities and women] once they are here?” Loretta says.

This sort of legislation has been the result of a concerted effort among anti-abortion activists to link abortion to racist aims. Groups have been touting the “black genocide” conspiracy in an effort to convince African-American communities to oppose abortion. In some cases, these arguments have taken root in the African-American community.

Ross says that painting women as propagators of genocide in this way is an “attack on women’s dignity.”

“Ultimately,” Ross says, “this shows contempt for women.”

As of now, the Legislature has filed eight anti-abortion/reproductive rights bill for the session starting next week — nine if/when this bill picks up a Senate sponsor.

Photo: Personhood USA co-founder Keith Mason (Photo: personhoodusa.com)

Arkansas is among several states to face “fetal personhood” amendments in 2012. Personhood Arkansas, an affiliate of Personhood USA, recently submitted amendment language to the state that would define life as beginning at the moment of conception.

“No innocent person shall be denied the right to life,” reads the amendment. “With respect to the right to life, the word ‘person’ shall apply to all human beings, including the unborn, at every stage of their development.”

Though these personhood bills have cropped up across the country, many have failed due to vague language — most recently in Mississippi. Simply defining life from the moment of conception could leave the door open to unintended consequences. In addition to outlawing abortion, say critics, the bills could ban birth control and affect in vitro fertilization and disease research.

Last month, a Nevada judge rewrote his state’s personhood initiative, ruling that it was too vague. The Arkansas group says it has included language intended to specify what, exactly, the bill would affect. According to a press release, the Arkansas Personhood Amendment language “clarifies the pro-life position and the true effect of personhood in that mothers will continue to have access to life saving medical treatments” and specifically states: “This Amendment shall have no effect on medical treatment for life threatening physical conditions intended to preserve life.”

“We witnessed the misinformation tactics used by those who would continue the abortion carnage. Personhood Arkansas has submitted language that is concise and effective in our goals, and it addresses important concerns Arkansas voters may have,” said Personhood Arkansas Director Preston Dunn Jr., in a press release.

Five-year-old Stanton Healthcare recently relocated to the 3000 block of North Harbor Lane, next door to Planned Parenthood’s Boise Health Center, which is one of the few places in the state where women can obtain surgical abortions (another Planned Parenthood clinic in Twin Falls, Idaho, and a few private providers across the state also offer surgical abortions).

Though Stanton Healthcare founder and Executive Director Brandi Swindell recently told local TV station KTVB that her center has no agenda or intention of competing directly with Planned Parenthood, Swindell told The American Independent that the move was strategic. She said the same thing on a video, which was uploaded to YouTube last month. Wanting to expand and provide more medical services, Stanton Healthcare was already looking to move, Swindell said. But the fact that one of the facility’s large windows looks directly into Planned Parenthood’s backyard is no accident.

“The reason we chose [this location] is that it’s significant, knowing that [we would be] right next to Planned Parenthood,” Swindell said. “[The location] will give girls immediate access. Women are already used to going to this area. Now we are there for them.”

Stanton’s goal, Swindell told TAI, is eventually to offer the same non-abortion, non-contraceptive services offered by Planned Parenthood, but for free — in other words, free pregnancy tests, free testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), free cancer screening, free well-woman exams, free counseling, etc.

Swindell refers to her clinic as a medical center, but the only medical services Stanton currently offers are first-trimester ultrasound screenings and pregnancy tests. The center also offers “pre-natal care,” which Swindell explained means vitamins, emotional support and parenting classes. All of Stanton’s services are free. Next door, Boise Health Center offers — in addition to pregnancy tests and ultrasounds –  well-woman exams, birth control, abortions, emergency birth control, cancer screenings and STD testing.

Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest spokesperson Kristen Glundberg-Prossor told TAI that at the Boise Health Center, only condoms are free, but there are discounted rates on various services, based on income level.

In terms of the facility and licensed medical professionals, Swindell said her clinic is prepared to offer more medical services, but they don’t have enough money yet. The first step in this endeavor is to offer free STD testing by 2012, she said. Currently, Stanton Healthcare is funded entirely by donations, but Swindell said her center might consider applying for state or federal grants in the future.

Swindell said that in 2010, Stanton served a little more than 300 clients, but she believes — due to their new location — that number will grow to as many as 3,000 clients in the next two or three years. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest — which operates about 30 clinics in Alaska, Idaho and Washington, including the Boise clinic — saw more than 90,000 first-time patients in 2010, according to its 2010 Report to the Community (PDF).

Sensing the competition, Glundberg-Prossor told TAI that Planned Parenthood might have to consider offering free STD testing or solicit private donations for that very purpose as a way to “even the playing field.”

Misconceptions and assumptions

The clinics have only been neighbors for less than a month, but based on accounts from both sides, already there has been some tension. Swindell told TAI that Planned Parenthood called the police after they spotted a Stanton staff member photographing Planned Parenthood’s sign to obtain measurements for their own sign. Swindell said she thought the action was “silly,” but brushed it off.

“[We do not want] to compete with them or get into debate with them or fight with them,” she said.

Glunberg-Prossor told TAI that police were called before they realized it was a Stanton staffer taking the photos.

“We are very security minded,” she explained.

In general, Glunberg-Prossor said there have not been any problems between the two centers; she did note that one woman looking for Stanton Healthcare accidentally came into Boise Health Center, but she was quickly redirected.

Hannah Brass, legislative director of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest, the Northwest affiliate’s political arm, told TAI that based on national reports on crisis pregnancy centers, she worries that women might be getting biased, inaccurate information about abortion at Stanton. She also worries that Stanton Healthcare might not be abiding by privacy laws — she said she is aware of CPCs that refuse to give patients their records or who call teens’ parents without their consent. Because all of Stanton’s services are free and they do not deal with medical insurance, they are not bound by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as Planned Parenthood is.

Swindell says because her center employs volunteer doctors and nurses, they do follow HIPAA rules and do not release patients’ information.

“I am happy to hear that Stanton says they voluntarily comply [with HIPAA regulations],” Brass said, “But they can voluntary not comply, so it is an issue.”

Brass repeatedly told TAI that Planned Parenthood provides “compassionate, confidential medical care,” while Swindell said Stanton Healthcare offers women “life-affirming, compassionate, professional care.”

Watch Stanton Healthcare’s YouTube video:

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and its political arm NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Foundation began investigating Massachusetts CPCs last summer after the state began issuing “Choose Life” license plates, thus creating a new revenue source for CPCs.

According to the resulting report (PDF), undercover, in-person visits were made to 24 of the 30 CPCs operating in Massachusetts; staff researched the centers’ advertising and counseling procedures, as well as where they were getting most of their money. Among the CPCs visited, seven of them were affiliated with two of the country’s largest CPC networks -– Birthright International and Care Net; five belong to the state-wide network Pregnancy Care Center; and four are affiliated with A Woman’s Concern Pregnancy Resource Clinic, the largest CPC network in Massachusetts, which has since 2002 received millions in federal funds to produce an abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education program called “Healthy Futures” (PDF).

What the report aims to prove is that the CPCs’ impact is to “corrupt a pregnant woman’s decision-making process and delay her access to pregnancy-related care, whether she ultimately chooses abortion, adoption, or parenthood.” Much like the 2006 congressional investigation of federally funded pregnancy resource centers (PDF) commissioned by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the Massachusetts report reveals volunteer staff at CPCs often gave women misleading or inaccurate information about pregnancy and abortion. A bulk of NARAL’s findings also deals with how these CPCs are funded and the political ties among their donors.

A snapshot of NARAL’s findings:

• CPCs outnumber women’s health care providers three to one: Western Massachusetts has at least six CPCs but one clinic that provides abortion services; Central Massachusetts has eight CPCs, one abortion clinic; Northeast and Metro Boston has five CPCs, three abortion clinics. ]

• NARAL’s undercover investigators reported that several of the CPCs used tactics to try to delay their decision regarding what to do with their unwanted pregnancies. Examples of such tactics include delaying and rescheduling appointments.

• More than one in four of the CPCs investigated, or 27 percent, told NARAL investigators pretending to be between six and 10 weeks pregnant that 50 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Some investigators reported being told variations of “just because you are pregnant, doesn’t mean you’ll stay pregnant.” (According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), among women who know they are pregnant, the miscarriage rate is about 15 percent to 20 percent, but the miscarriage rate drops after a baby’s heart beat is detected. NIH also estimates that “up to half of all fertilized eggs die and are lost – aborted — spontaneously, usually before the woman knows she is pregnant.”)

• About 46 percent of the CPC websites link abortion with a risk of future infertility. Nearly one in three of the CPC’s websites stated that women are more likely to have a premature delivery in a future pregnancy if they have had an abortion. One in five CPCs investigated the commonly unaccepted idea that abortion is a direct cause of breast cancer.

• Investigators also reported hearing misleading, inaccurate or unfounded information about the ineffectiveness of contraception.

• Two out of three CPCs visited had a “religious influence,” reported investigators.

• Some of the CPCs investigated have been accused of false advertising about what services they offer. For example, Daybreak Pregnancy Resource Center in Boston have advertised for “abortion services” in online advertising, demonstrated in the report with a screen shot.

• Some of the advice given to NARAL investigators was considered “suspect.” One investigator was told, “You don’t need money to raise a child, just time and love.” Another, who told the CPC that she had been drinking heavily throughout her pregnancy, was told “new studies prove alcohol is not too harmful to a fetus.”

According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, a “Choose Life” plate initially costs $40; $28 goes to Choose Life (there are additional costs to swap out an existing plate). The Registry of Motor Vehicles distributed approximately 2,000 plates between June 2010 and April 2011, raising approximately $80,000, according to Massachusetts Choose Life.

NARAL also points out that Natick, Mass.-based private charity Gerard Health Foundation privately funded A Woman’s Concern before the organization began receiving federal money. Gerard Health has also funded organizations that head up anti-abortion initiatives such as Focus on the Family and Live Action.

The NARAL Massachusetts report:

Naral Pcm Cpc Report 2011

On Tuesday, Senior District Judge Neal P. McCurn ruled that the state had violated the free-speech rights of the anti-abortion-rights group Children First Foundation(CFF) by refusing their request for “Choose Life” plates. CFF originally applied for custom plates with the “Choose Life” logo in December 2001 and was denied by then- Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Raymond Martinez. According to court documents, “Choose Life” plates were also denied to the group in 1998; the reason given by then-DMV Commissioner Richard E. Jackson, Jr., was “the State of New York’s policy not to promote or display politically sensitive messages on its license plates due to the potential for ‘road rage.’”

Florida's "Choose Life" license plate (Photo: kobrascorner.com)

Children First sued the state, and various officials, in 2004.

In his order, McCurn wrote the license-plate message constitutes as “private speech on government property,” but its restriction was found to be a violation of free speech.

“New York has run afoul of the First Amendment by giving the Commissioner unbridled discretion to engage in viewpoint discrimination,” McCurn wrote.

The state’s attorneys have 30 days to appeal the federal court’s decision.

According to CFF’s website, if the state finally approves their plates, the tax-deductible annual $25 membership renewal fee for each “Choose Life” plate will go “toward helping support every Pregnancy Resource Center, Maternity Home and non-profit Baby Safe Haven Program located within the Tri-State Area,” in addition to funding more than 200 “pro-life agencies” in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“Choose Life” plates are already available in New Jersey and Connecticut.

A Planned Parenthood clinic in Boise, Idaho, has a new neighbor, Stanton Healthcare, which identifies itself as a “life-affirming medical clinic … specializing in unexpected pregnancy care” but offers similar services to anti-abortion centers commonly known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” or CPCs.

Stanton Healthcare recently moved to 3684 N. Harbor Ln. in Boise, right next to Boise Health Center, a Planned Parenthood clinic located at 3668 N. Harbor Ln.

Brandi Swindell founded the nonprofit, which last month co-sponsored an anti-abortion-rights demonstration at the U.S. Capitol called “Voices From the Womb.” It was Stanton Healthcare’s portable ultrasound equipment that enabled pregnant women at various stages to undergo live public ultrasound displayed on a large screen in the Congressional Auditorium of the Capitol Visitor’s Center.

Swindell recently told local news station KTVB.com her center is not trying to compete with Planned Parenthood. The station reported “Swindell thinks this new location gives women more help for mothers and a better option for unexpected pregnancy.”

Swindell told KTVB:

“We don’t want to compete with them. We don’t want to get in a debate with them, that’s not what we’re about. We, right now, at Stanton Healthcare in this building, we’re focusing on the clients that walk through our doors. … Planned Parenthood sells one option. We’re not agenda driven. Really, we provide a lot more options that Planned Parenthood does.”

All of Stanton Healthcare’s services are free, unlike Planned Parenthood’s, though Planned Parenthood offers income assistance for various services based on need. The services themselves differ greatly.

According to its website, Stanton Healthcare offers*:

• Massage therapy for “emotional and physical well-being”
• Pregnancy testing
• “Sexual Information”
• Relationship guidance
• Legal advice
• Spiritual guidance referrals
• Hot tea, mineral water, organic snacks
• First-trimester ultrasounds
• Pre-natal services, such as vitamins, emotional support
• Parenting classes

Boise Health Center offers:

• Abortion services (medication abortion up to 9 weeks and surgical abortion up to 13 weeks)
• Birth control
• Emergency contraception
• Pregnancy testing
• HIV testing
• STD testing treatment and vaccines
• Women’s health care (checkups, cancer screenings, STD testing)
• Men’s health care (checkups, cancer screenings, STD testing, vasectomy)
• LGBT services (education and services referral)

Stanton does not offer birth control or STD-testing, but does offer advice for preventing STDs and pregnancy, known as “sexual integrity,” which involves:

• “Saving sexual relations for marriage”
• “Understanding the spiritual and emotional connection to sexual behavior”
• “Refraining from premarital sex to protect yourself from STDs like AIDS
• “Making the compassionate decision to not engage in promiscuous sexual activity, which put others in danger”
• “Promoting STD awareness”

Stanton Healthcare’s website also includes “12 considerations” when choosing an abortion provider, including asking abortion providers what their embryo or fetus looks like, what the physical and emotional complications of abortion might be and information on options other than abortion. Stanton Healthcare, unlike many CPCs, does not suggest a link between abortion and breast cancer in this section — the potential health risks they suggest include pain during the abortion, infections afterward, hemorrhaging, uterine perforation and possible complications from anesthesia. As for psychological risks associated with abortion, Stanton offers:

Research has shown that many women who have undergone abortion suffer from Post Abortion Stress Syndrome (PASS). While the American Psychiatric Association does not currently recognize PASS, this does not discount that many women suffer emotionally after experiencing an abortion. Beware of clinic workers who try to downplay the emotions that follow an abortion.

In a statement (PDF) released Nov. 2, the Catholic Conference of Illinois lambasted Gov. Quinn for agreeing to present a “Pro-Choice Leadership Award” at an upcoming event for Personal PAC, an abortion-rights political action committee. The leadership award is going to Jennie Goodman, a rape-crisis counselor, and a rape victim herself.

The statement, co-signed by five bishops and Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George, read, in part:

We deeply regret the Governor’s decision to present this award, which so closely associates him with a political action group whose purpose is contrary to the common good. With this action, Governor Quinn has gone beyond a political alignment with those supporting the legal right to kill children in their mother’s wombs to rewarding those deemed most successful in this terrible work.

Upon learning more about the event and about Goodman’s work with rape victims, the Catholic Conference released another statement (PDF) the following day, calling Quinn’s decision to present this award “irreconcilable with any honest profession of Catholic faith” while at the same time trying to offer compassion for rape victims.

Communication director Mary Massingale put it:

“Governor Quinn’s statement today that he is recognizing a rape victim for her advocacy work dodges the issue. Our hearts go out to any victim of rape, one of the most personally violent crimes against women.”

“A rape victim demands all the respect and sympathy that anybody can give,” George told the Tribune, when asked about the incident. He said he “deeply regret[s]” the statements he made about Goodman’s “terrible work” before learning who she was. He told the daily he did not regret, however, telling Quinn, who is Catholic, that participating in the even is immoral.

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Goodman described how she was violently raped 20 years ago.

From the Sun-Times:

Goodman, who is pro-choice and whose mother sits on the board of Personal PAC, never had an abortion because she didn’t get pregnant after the rape. As a counselor, she said, she never directed a rape victim to an abortion clinic. All of that makes her question why she would be the object of such charged language from the cardinal and other bishops.

“It upsets me when they kind of make me feel like I’m a baby killer,” Goodman told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“It does hurt. And it hurts for all those people who have been raped. Yeah, it definitely hit home and hurt me. You don’t know me,” she said, referring to the cardinal. “You don’t know my situation.”

In the 60-second web ad titled “Backflip,” Huntsman’s campaign provides clips of Romney “flipping” on statements he has made about the Obama administration, gun control laws and abortion, which has become one of the hottest issues in the race for the Republican nomination for president.

In one clip, Romney is quoted saying: “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.”

And in another: “I have constantly been pro-life.”

The ad ends with the camera on Huntsman: “This is a time when if you are going to be President of the United States, you show a little presidential leadership. That’s by taking a position and leading out. Sometimes there is a risk associated with taking a position, but that’s all part of leadership.”

Huntsman, like Romney and unlike most of the other candidates in the pack, has been reluctant to talk about social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. On Piers Morgan’s talk show in August, Huntsman, noting he has adopted two children, said he has always been “pro-life” but supports abortion in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

“I don’t have a lot of patience on the non-economic issues,” Huntsman told Morgan.

Abortion is absent from Huntsman’s campaign website. Under “Issues,” only “Jobs & the Economy” and “Foreign Policy” are listed.

Watch “Backflip”:

Following a speech at a Texas campaign stop Thursday night, where Cain declared he was “pro-life, no exceptions,” an unnamed campaign adviser said Thursday in a statement obtained by CNN that Cain does, in fact, believe abortion should be legal if the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life.

In response to questions about Cain’s abortion views, CNN reports that first the campaign gave the network a statement, which made no mention of rape or incest, but said simply:

“I am pro-life, and believe in advancing the culture of life. My record as a pro-life candidate speaks for itself. Anyone who says differently is simply not telling the truth. Next question.”

When pressed further, a campaign adviser told CNN that Cain’s anti-abortion policy is in line with George W. Bush’s, which allowed for exceptions to bans on abortion in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

Cain’s adviser told CNN: “He has learned more about the issue.”

A recap of Cain’s most recent statements on abortion:

Appearing on John Stossel’s Fox Business show on July 17, 2011, Cain said government should not make the decision about whether or not a woman can have an abortion — but also that abortion should not be legal under any circumstance.

On Oct. 16, 2011, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Cain said abortion should be illegal even in instances of rape and incest, but if the mother’s life is in jeopardy, “that family’s going to have to make the decision” about whether to have an abortion.

On Oct. 19, 2011, with CNN’s Piers Morgan, Cain said “no abortion under no circumstance,” but also that it’s not the government’s role or the president’s role to make that decision.

On Oct. 21, 2011, on Fox News, Cain said abortion should be illegal without exception; however, in cases of rape or incest, families should have the choice to break the law and have an illegal abortion.

“My position on abortion, on pro-life, has been the same throughout this campaign, and that is I am pro-life from conception and I don’t believe in abortion. …

A lot of families will be in that position and they’re not going to be thinking, ‘Well, what does the government want me to do.’ My position is no abortion, but all I was trying to point out was, take the typical family in this country and you don’t know what they might do in the heat of the moment. … Abortion should not be legal; that is clear. But if that family made a decision to break the law, that’s that family’s decision. That’s all I’m trying to say.”