Barbara Lyons Open Letter

Barbara Lyons and Wisconsin Right to Life have been criticized recently by some calling themselves pro-life.

Some of the attacks stem from a debate Lyons participated in on Wisconsin Public Radio.

Today, Lyons responds to the attacks with an open letter:

Barbara Lyons Comments on Personal Attacks Against Her and Wisconsin Right to Life

AN OPEN LETTER FROM BARBARA LYONS -- JULY 5, 2011


Organizations, bloggers and email commentators who say they are pro-life have recently attacked Wisconsin Right to Life and me, personally, for comments made on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) on May 25, 2011 while debating a representative of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) on a statewide program.

As everyone knows, Planned Parenthood is an abortion giant both nationally and here in Wisconsin. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) receives hundreds of millions of federal and state taxpayer dollars each year. PPWI receives millions.

That is why Wisconsin Right to Life has been at the forefront of defunding Planned Parenthood at both the national and state levels. In fact, Wisconsin Right to Life is the organization most responsible for the recent partial defunding of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in the recently signed Wisconsin state budget. On behalf of Wisconsin Right to Life, I have had numerous op ed pieces exposing Planned Parenthood published in newspapers all over the state.

So, why would I and Wisconsin Right to Life be under attack from people who are supposed to be on our side? During the course of the WPR program, Planned Parenthood tried to “sell” the idea that PPWI is a health care provider and women would suffer if PPWI doesn’t receive your taxpayer dollars. I goaded PPWI relentlessly to expose their real agenda which is abortion. I repeatedly said that if PPWI would give up performing abortions, they would be able to provide health care without controversy. The goal was to inform the audience that PPWI can choose between health care and abortion, which it will never do. Interestingly, on a recent Mike Huckabee national television show, Lila Rose of Live Action pretty much said the same thing I did to goad and expose Planned Parenthood.

Now, those organizations, bloggers and email commentators who say they are pro-life are sending out emails and blogs claiming that Wisconsin Right to Life and I are “soft” on Planned Parenthood, using the WPR debate to “prove” their claim. How disturbing that a pro-life person debating the real enemy, Planned Parenthood, is subjected to a “gotcha” mentality from people and organizations who are supposed to be on the same side.

Right-to-life people are tired of ambushes and criticism within our own ranks as they demean the great cause for which many in Wisconsin Right to Life have devoted their lives. It is my sincere hope and prayer that this open letter will cause these internal attacks to cease. Thank you for listening.

While I think it's always important for groups and individuals to hold organizations accountable, give feedback, and share concerns, the notion that WRTL is soft on Planned Parenthood is silly.

It's extremely unfortunate that WRTL finds it necessary to expend energy responding to attacks from people claiming to be pro-life proponents.

Abortion: Facts

Here are some Fast Facts on Abortion, from Wisconsin Right to Life:

•Abortion is the direct killing of a baby in a mother’s womb by ripping the baby apart, dismembering the baby, injecting a lethal substance into the baby or other similar means.


• The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision made abortion legal in all 50 states.


• Abortion is legal in all 50 states for any reason for the full nine months of pregnancy.


• Only one abortion procedure – partial-birth abortion – is prohibited in the United States.


• Over 53 million legal abortions have been performed in the United States since 1973.


• Over 3,300 unborn babies die from abortion in the United States every day. In Wisconsin, 23 abortion deaths occur each day.


• Over 92% of abortions are performed for social or “other” reasons – because the woman does not want to have the baby. Less than 1% of abortions are performed because the mother’s life is in danger or for cases of rape or incest.


•64% of women report feeling pressured into having an abortion; women also report being forced to abort.


• 48% of abortions are repeat abortions -- the woman has already had one or more abortions.


• Approximately 80% of abortions are performed on unmarried women between the ages of 18-34.


•Women experience significant psychological and physical problems post abortion.


• 36% of all abortions in the United States are of African-American babies. African-Americans comprise 13% of the American population.


• Fathers have no legal rights to prevent their unborn children from being aborted.


• Babies suffer significant pain during an abortion procedure.


• Over 2 million couples each year are waiting to adopt a baby

The numbers are horrific.

Notice how rare it is for an abortion to be performed because "the mother’s life is in danger or for cases of rape or incest." Such abortions account for less than 1 percent of the procedures performed.

The overwhelming majority of abortions, 92 percent, are performed for social or “other” reasons – because the woman does not want to have the baby.

That's not mentioned when pro-abortion proponents promoted the grisly procedure as a "health care" issue.

Another disturbing number - 48 percent of abortions are repeat abortions. Nearly half of all abortions occur when "the woman has already had one or more abortions." That's not a statistic many pro-abortion activists dare to cite.

One number I think should draw a lot of attention is this: "36% of all abortions in the United States are of African-American babies. African-Americans comprise 13% of the American population."

African-Americans babies are being killed in disproportionate numbers. Why aren't African-American leaders speaking out against this slaughter? Why isn't our first African-American president working diligently to protect the lives of these innocent African-American babies?

Why is this racial component ignored?

According to Wisconsin Right to Life, over 3,300 unborn babies will die from abortion in the United States today.

In Wisconsin, the lives of 23 unique individuals will end today.

So much death.

Every day.

The numbers are staggering.

They're heartbreaking.

Sheila Jackson Lee and Christian Militants

Sheila Jackson Lee is concerned about Christian militants.

She thinks they pose as great a threat to the security of America as Muslim radicals.

She believes that Christian militants "might bring down this country."

From CNSNews:

At a congressional hearing on Muslim radicalization in U.S. prisons, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said that investigators needed to analyze Christian militants in America because they too might try to “bring down the country.”

In an exchange with witness Patrick Dunleavy, the former deputy inspector of the criminal intelligence unit, New York Department of Correctional Services, Rep. Jackson Lee mentioned the case of a man who blew up an abortion clinic and proposed that this perhaps was an attempt to undermine U.S. law that allows a woman to procure an abortion.

Rep. Lee then said, “As we look to be informational, we should include an analysis of how Christian militants or others might bring down the country. We have to look broadly, do we not?”

Dunleavy answered: “I don’t know that Christian militants have foreign country backing or foreign country financing.”

Lee then said, “I don’t think that’s the issue. The issue is whether or not their intent is to undermine the laws of this nation. And I think it is clear that that is the case. So it’s not -- your distinction is not answering the question.”

Good grief.

Democrat Lee reveals herself to be clueless regarding radical Islam and the threat of terrorism.

Video.

No Bin Laden Death Photo

Reuters "spikes the football" for Obama, sort of.

Still no verified image of Osama bin Laden dead.

Photographs acquired by Reuters and taken about an hour after the U.S. assault on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan show three dead men lying in pools of blood, but no weapons.

The photos, taken by a Pakistani security official who entered the compound after the early morning raid on Monday, show two men dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and one in a t-shirt, with blood streaming from their ears, noses and mouths.

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, sold the pictures to Reuters.

None of the men looked like bin Laden. U.S. President Barack Obama decided not to release photos of his body because it could have incited violence and used as an al Qaeda propaganda tool.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
______________

Obama has spoken.

The American people will NOT see a photo of the dead Osama bin Laden.

Video.



WH won't release bin Laden death photo

President Barack Obama has decided not to release death photos of terrorist Osama bin Laden, he said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," amid concerns that the gruesome image could prove inflammatory.

Obama's decision was reported on the CBS News Web site Wednesday after the president sat for an interview with the news magazine program.

Releasing graphic images of bin Laden's corpse after his shooting in a U.S. raid on his compound could have dispelled doubts that bin Laden is indeed dead. The worry, though, was that it would feed anti-U.S. sentiment.

More, from CBS News:

In an interview with Steve Kroft for this Sunday's "60 Minutes," President Obama says he won't release post-mortem images of Osama bin Laden taken to prove his death.

...Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Wednesday that the Obama administration should not release the gruesome post-mortem images, saying it could complicate the job for American troops overseas. Rogers told CBS News he has seen a post-mortem photo.

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," he said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet," he continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaida has been eliminated."

What's Obama talking about?

We saw images of our troops being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. We don't have to imagine what it would be like.

What's with these Leftists?

They whined about not having images of the flag-draped coffins of our war dead.

They obsessed over body counts.

They insist on publishing all the gruesome details and images they can when it serves their purposes.

They couldn't get enough of the Abu Ghraib photos. They lusted for more.

The military be damned. The Leftists don't care.

Recently, TIME magazine put an extremely graphic photo of a young Afghan woman disfigured at the hand of her husband on its cover.



To view a larger image of the cover, click here.

Richard Stengel, TIME's Managing Editor, gives justification for publishing the cover photo:

Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years. Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.

I thought long and hard about whether to put this image on the cover of TIME. First, I wanted to make sure of Aisha's safety and that she understood what it would mean to be on the cover. She knows that she will become a symbol of the price Afghan women have had to pay for the repressive ideology of the Taliban. We also confirmed that she is in a secret location protected by armed guards and sponsored by the NGO Women for Afghan Women. Aisha will head to the U.S. for reconstructive surgery sponsored by the Grossman Burn Foundation, a humanitarian organization in California. We are supporting that effort.

I'm acutely aware that this image will be seen by children, who will undoubtedly find it distressing. We have consulted with a number of child psychologists about its potential impact. Some think children are so used to seeing violence in the media that the image will have little effect, but others believe that children will find it very scary and distressing — that they will see it, as Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston, said, as "a symbol of bad things that can happen to people." I showed it to my two young sons, 9 and 12, who both immediately felt sorry for Aisha and asked why anyone would have done such harm to her. I apologize to readers who find the image too strong, and I invite you to comment on the image's impact.

Without question, the Leftists are willing to use gruesome images.

On the other hand, these same people freak out over the images of an aborted baby. They demand that such photos never be shown. They refuse to allow people to see the reality of abortion, the dismembered, tiny bodies. No, we can't see those either.

It's all political.

I think a photo should be released. Give people the choice whether to view it or not.

I want to see a photo of bin Laden dead.

Give the American people, and history, something to go with these images:





Too gruesome?

Too inflammatory?

This from Obama, the man who undermined George W. Bush and his administration at every turn, showing no concern for how it would impact the American troops on the battlefield. This from Obama and his Democrat comrades, wanting to slash funding for our military.

Give me a break!

Obama's assertion of this notion that conspiracy theorists will just say a photo is doctored anyway is a ridiculous excuse.

Conspiracy nuts will never EVER be satisfied.

Moreover, all the fake images of the dead bin Laden floating around right now can just as easily be used as recruiting tools for terrorists and to inflame the Muslim world.

It's not as if withholding an image will prevent a backlash against the U.S., if there's going to be one.

Obama went on national TV and declared that a U.S. military operation KILLED bin Laden. I think the news of bin Laden's death is enough to inflame.

The argument that nothing good can come from releasing the photo is offset by the fact that nothing will change if it is released.

The slaughter of innocents on 9/11 and all the previous acts of war against the U.S. preceded bin Laden's death. No photo of a dead al Qaeda leader prompted these attacks.

Hopefully, Obama has the facts wrong about the photo, too. Hopefully, the White House will realize it's a mistake to fail to release a death photo of bin Laden.

Maybe this whole thing is just a dance to make it appear that Obama was forced to release a photo, even though he really didn't want to do it.

Someone will leak it and then Obama won't have to bear responsibility for making the decision to show the world.

The allegedly gutsy Obama should show some guts.

Planned Parenthood: Lawrence O'Donnell Cries

And the Oscar goes to...

Lawrence O'Donnell!

O'Donnell has had plenty of bizarre moments on TV.

Examples include:

"Creepy Liar" Meltdown

"Mitt Romney Mormon" Meltdown

"Dick Cheney" Meltdown

"George W. Bush Invited 9/11 Attacks" Meltdown

We have another O'Donnell moment to add to his highlight reel.

While on the air, he read an allegedly personal e-mail sent from a "friend." He read it off his blackberry. (How lame!) O'Donnell's buddy has had an abortion and receives birth control, all courtesy of Planned Parenthood. O'Donnell used the e-mail to decry the efforts to prevent federal funds from being used to keep Planned Parenthood in business, the nation's largest slaughterhouse of the unborn.

Then, he cried.

It's official. O'Donnell is the Left's Glenn Beck.

Video, via Breitbart.

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I wonder if O'Donnell breaks down in tears when he thinks about the tens of millions of precious lives ended by their mothers. Does he cry when he thinks about those individuals never having a chance to take their first breath because their mothers chose to kill them before they were born?

Does he shed tears when he mourns their deaths?

I'm guessing that's unlikely. That would require him to respect life.