THE RYAN REPORT

California Mother Dies After Botched Abortion at Planned Parenthood

The California Department of Health Services has cited a Los Angeles Planned Parenthood clinic for numerous deficiencies following the death of 25-year-old Diana Lopez, according to a June 19, 2003 report in The Sacramento Bee. Lopez bled to death on Feb. 28, 2002, after her cervix was punctured during her abortion, according to a deputy medical examiner at the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office. The state investigated the clinic after a pro-life watchdog group in Palm Springs filed a complaint. The Sacramento Bee said the following were among the deficiencies found:

• Failure to contact the state within 24 hours after Lopez was taken to a hospital, as required by the state. The state was notified six days after Lopez died.
• Failure to implement a policy that would have advised against an abortion for Lopez because her hemoglobin (a substance in the blood) was too low on a test.
• Inappropriate use of misoprostol, a drug used to promote contractions. Surgical abortion policy dictates that the drug may be given 90 minutes before an abortion. Records show Lopez was given the drug a day earlier.
• Failure by the clinic's board of directors to "exercise oversight responsibility for ensuring the operation of the clinic." Minutes from board meetings, for example, did not document "any adverse outcome related to patient care within the facility."
• Failure to keep a detailed health record on Lopez including her diagnoses, type of anesthesia used during the procedure, surgical findings and the procedure performed.

According to the newspaper, the state also said the clinic failed to obtain a valid informed consent from the patient prior to surgery. A "reproductive health specialist,” instead of the physician performing the procedure, had obtained the signed consent, which does not meet state requirements.

Charges of malpractice at Planned Parenthood are not new. In the May 2001 Ryan Report we told readers about two such cases. In one, Planned Parenthood agreed to pay a New York woman $1 million in 2001 because it had repeatedly insisted she did not have breast cancer when she did. That same year, a San Francisco court decision awarded $672,610 in damages to a Yugoslav immigrant whose preborn child suffered the loss of two limbs during a botched abortion at Planned Parenthood. Other cases have also been reported. In 2000, a Missouri woman went into a coma after a doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic apparently placed an oxygen tube in her stomach instead of her lungs for tubal ligation surgery (see February 2001 Ryan Report). Other charges of malpractice at Planned Parenthood are documented in The Scarlet Survey, by Kevin Sherlock (Brennyman Books, 1997).

Such stories show that Planned Parenthood is a dangerous place, not only for babies, but also for grown women. Yet, women who have been harmed by Planned Parenthood can prevail in court. STOPP supporters should encourage any woman who has been harmed at Planned Parenthood to sue. More importantly, we should encourage all women to avoid Planned Parenthood for any type of service.

Planned Parenthood claims that all of its facilities follow a set of medical guidelines imposed on them by the national office. STOPP challenges Planned Parenthood to make those guidelines public so that everyone can see what the PP facilities are supposed to be doing.

Finally, please pray, not only for Diana Lopez and her dead baby, but also for her living children, 5-year-old Frank and 3-year-old Fabian. Their father is in prison and they are now living with relatives.

See “State faults clinic in death.”

There is also a website created to document the death of Diana Lopez. The website is not affiliated with STOPP.

Planned Parenthood Applauds Pro-Sodomy Supreme Court Decision

On June 26, 2003, Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, released a statement applauding the Supreme Court’s pro-sodomy decision in LAWRENCE et al. v. TEXAS. She said, in part, “Today's Supreme Court decision striking down the Texas law making it a crime for individuals of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct is a courageous reaffirmation of the constitutional safeguards we believe are fundamental to every American…”

She then went on to remind people of the critical pro-contraception cases that formed the basis of Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion in the LAWRENCE case. Indeed, she is correct, as the following excerpts from the decision show.

"...but the most pertinent beginning point is our decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U. S. 479 (1965).

In Griswold the Court invalidated a state law prohibiting the use of drugs or devices of contraception and counseling or aiding and abetting the use of contraceptives. The Court described the protected interest as a right to privacy and placed emphasis on the marriage relation and the protected space of the marital bedroom. Id., at 485.

After Griswold it was established that the right to make certain decisions regarding sexual conduct extends beyond the marital relationship. In Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U. S. 438 (1972), the Court invalidated a law prohibiting the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried persons..."

"... The opinions in Griswold and Eisenstadt were part of the background for the decision in Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973)..."

"... In Carey v. Population Services Int'l, 431 U. S. 678 (1977), the Court confronted a New York law forbidding sale or distribution of contraceptive devices to persons under 16 years of age. Although there was no single opinion for the Court, the law was invalidated. Both Eisenstadt and Carey, as well as the holding and rationale in Roe, confirmed that the reasoning of Griswold could not be confined to the protection of rights of married adults..."

Readers should keep in mind that the Griswold case referred to above involved Estelle Griswold, medical director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut. Thus, Planned Parenthood was involved in the case that started the Supreme Court on a course that struck down anti-contraception laws, anti-abortion laws, and now, even anti-sodomy laws. When will America wake up and see the wretched nature of Planned Parenthood and all the evils it has spread, not only throughout America, but around the world? Contact your elected representatives today to demand that they stop your tax dollars from funding Planned Parenthood.

Bush’s 2004 Budget Population Control Requests: Title X $264.8 Million & USAID $425 Million

Congress will soon be making decisions about the upcoming 2004 FY budget. On the top of its list should be the elimination of the offensive population control programs that promote intrinsically evil contraception. Many of these so-called contraceptives act, sometimes, as abortifacients by preventing the implantation of human embryos in their mothers’ wombs. Unfortunately, pro-lifers who have fought these evil programs for years do not seem to be getting much help from the self-proclaimed pro-lifer in the White House.

President Bush’s budget request for the domestic population control program, Title X of the Public Health Service Act, is $264,808,000 for fiscal year 2004. That amount is actually higher than the $253,932,000 the program was appropriated during Bill Clinton’s last year in office for fiscal year 2001. Planned Parenthood expended nearly $59 million from this one program alone in fiscal year 2001. See the Office of Population Affairs listing of funding history (1971-2002) as well as the president’s budget in the upper right corner of page 403.

On the international scene for fiscal year 2004, Bush is requesting $425 million for the USAID population control program and an additional $25 million set aside to presumably be available for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) if it becomes eligible for U.S. support. During the last year Clinton was in office, USAID population control programs for fiscal year 2001 were appropriated $425 million and UNFPA was appropriated $21.5 million. Since 1965, USAID has obligated over $6.6 billion for international population planning. This abuse of our tax dollars must stop! For greater detail see the Congressional Research Service document, “Population Assistance and Family Planning Programs: Issues for Congress,” (4/17/03 update).

You can tell President Bush what you think of his funding requests for population control programs that promote contraception by contacting him at: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, 202-456-1111 (comment line). Remind him that he said tax dollars should not be used for killing embryonic human life for stem cell research and ask him to have the same concern for human embryos being killed by the anti-implantation effects of contraceptives he is promoting when he approves funding for domestic and foreign population control programs.

Rep. Paul Introduces Legislation to Defund All Federally Funded Population Control Programs

STOPP has advocated for many years that all tax-funded population control programs be eliminated. This is what the Freedom of Conscience Act of 2003 (H.R. 1548) aims to do at the federal level. Introduced on April 2, 2003 by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), H.R. 1548 states simply, “No Federal official may expend any Federal funds for any population control or population planning program or any family planning activity (including any abortion procedure), irrespective of whether such program or activity is foreign or domestic.”

When he introduced H.R. 1548, Rep. Paul said, “It is immoral to force the American taxpayers to subsidize programs and practices they find morally abhorrent.” (Republican Coalition For Life Fax Notes, 5/15/03).

First elected to Congress in 1976, Rep. Paul is an M.D. (obstetrician-gynecologist) and serves on three Congressional committees: the Committee on International Relations, the Committee on Financial Services, and the Joint Economic Committee. He left Congress in 1984 and returned in 1996. Unfortunately, as of July 7, 2003, his important H.R. 1548 has no co-sponsors in Congress. Readers are urged to spread the word about H.R. 1548 and to contact their own Congressional representatives to ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 1548 today.

New Boycott Target: Mars Company Donated to Planned Parenthood

The Spring 2003 issue of the Saint Antoninus Institute for Catholic Education in Business Newsletter announced that the National Directory of Corporate Giving 2002 listed the Mars Company as making a recent donation to Planned Parenthood. The Mars Company sells the following snacks: M&M’s, Snickers, Mars, Skittles, Milky Way, Twix, Bounty, Starburst, Maltesers, 3 Musketeers, Celebrations, Combos, Dove Chocolate, Kudos, and Ethel-M chocolates.

Mars also sells main meals such as Uncle Ben’s, and pet care products such as Cesar, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham, and Whiskas. For a complete listing of all the other products sold by Mars visit its website. As the Saint Antoninus Institute points out, when you decide to boycott a Mars product it is important for you to send a communication to Mars explaining your reason for doing so.

Boycott Victory: Berkshire Hathaway Has Been Dropped As a Target

Life Decisions International (LDI) recently announced that Berkshire Hathaway and all of its subsidiaries have been dropped as boycott targets. On July 3, 2003, this longtime boycott target, which owns Pampered Chef, Dairy Queen, See's Candies, and several other companies, announced that it will no longer allow its shareholders to designate where the corporation's donations will go. According to LDI, this will effectively cut off Planned Parenthood. LDI says it will continue to monitor the corporation's philanthropic activities to ensure that it does not resume funding Planned Parenthood or any other pro-abortion entity.

Douglas R. Scott, president of LDI, released the following statement following the Berkshire Hathaway announcement:

"It is truly unfortunate that Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway's chief executive officer and chief shareholder) has chosen to end the entire program rather than stop funding pro-abortion groups with corporate dollars. The program itself was innovative and a good idea. It merely needed some fine tuning. But Buffett has chosen to cut off his corporate nose to spite his corporate face and many groups that are not controversial will suffer due to his stubbornness. It's as if Buffett was saying, 'If we aren't going to fund abortion we aren't going to fund anything! So there!' All Buffett had to do was make pro-abortion groups ineligible for selection by shareholders, but he refused to take that step, which would have kept needed funds flowing to worthy charities."

This victory came about, in large part because Cindy Coughlon, a courageous homemaker, decided to take on Berkshire Hathaway over its support of Planned Parenthood. Once again it has been demonstrated that one person--with the help of others--can make a difference. STOPP congratulates Cindy and LDI. For detailed information on how this victory came about visit LDI’s website.

New Ohio Budget Aims Takes Aim at PP Funding

On June 26, 2003, the governor of Ohio, Bob Taft, signed the state budget (H.B. 95) into law. Included in the budget is a provision likely to eliminate or greatly reduce Ohio funding of Planned Parenthood. Currently most of Ohio’s $1.7 million in “family planning” funding goes to PP affiliates.

The new budget will replace the old family planning program with a “women’s health services” program. As of January 1, 2004, the Ohio director of health will be required to give priority for women’s health services grants to local departments of health and no local department of health will be discriminated against because it does not provide contraception. If funds remain after awarding grants to all local departments of health that qualify, the director of health may make grants to other applicants, but no applicant shall be discriminated against in the process of awarding grants because the applicant does not provide contraception.

Hopefully, the money will all be distributed to entities that don’t provide contraception and then there will be none left for Planned Parenthood. Realistically, it is likely that at least some of the local health departments, or even some of the other non-PP grants winners, will be providing contraception – which is not prohibited by the new rules. In any case, the new rules do indicate at least some de-emphasis on the necessity of providing contraceptives to women. Obviously, a better approach would be an outright ban on all contraceptive funding, but these new rules seem to be a step in the right direction.

Mark Lally, a pro-life legislative counsel in Ohio said, “Planned Parenthood’s argument that poor women would lose services was undercut by the fact that their IRS Form 990s showed that almost all of Planned Parenthood’s Ohio affiliates had more than enough money in cash and investments to continue providing their services without state funding. In fact some of their affiliates had far more in cash and investments than the state’s entire $1.7 million family planning program." Details are posted online.

As states continue to feel the effects of severe budget crunches, pro-lifers should redouble their efforts to defund PP at the state level. Population control programs promoting contraceptives are both immoral and a misuse of taxpayers’ money. If your state does not have an ongoing effort to defund such programs please start one today and please keep STOPP abreast of your activities. For a related story on how Texas voted to defund PP see last month’s Ryan Report.

Torrance, Calif., School District Kicks Out Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood fighters in Torrance California are guardedly optimistic about their school district’s decision to oust Planned Parenthood, according to an article from the Daily Breeze (6/13/03). The school district has been embroiled in a yearlong debate about the Planned Parenthood sex ed presentations being given within the district schools. Opponents of the program are outraged that Planned Parenthood was showing teens how to use condoms and how to protect themselves from disease during deviant sexual acts.

The final straw for the district came when a Planned Parenthood representative publicly accused three board members of illegally meeting to alter the sex-ed program. According to Superintendent Steven Fish, any contractor who attacks the board should not be rewarded by getting more business. “When any board member’s integrity is questioned or their activities, we just don’t think it’s appropriate to continue that relationship,” he said. Planned Parenthood had been teaching in the district for eight years.

Parents are on guard, however, for future problems. Local parent Janelle McArthur said, “We don’t want (Planned Parenthood) replaced by another group that has the same unethical philosophy.” Indeed, the district will be deciding whether to hire a health resource teacher to make biannual “safe sex” presentations to 9th and 10th graders. Furthermore, the district just released survey results that it claims show that Torrance parents overwhelmingly support in-school lessons that include condoms, “safe sex,” birth control, and abstinence.

But school board member Joe Bonanno complained about the survey, noting that many of the questions were confusing and unclear and that the survey did not consider the family’s role in sex education. He said, “I think we’re confusing teaching the biological processes of sexuality, reproductive systems and reproductive actions from the responsibility of parents to determine their own philosophical, spiritual, religious and social parameters.”

The tactic of a school district using a survey to promote sex education has been used before. Such surveys may be directed only to the parents of children in school and not to district taxpayers in general. One effective means of countering such a survey is a petition to the school board that no sex education be given in the schools. Such a petition can be signed not only by students and parents, but also by anyone who resides in the district, especially the taxpayers who are footing the bill for immoral sex ed programs against their will. For more information on how to fight sex ed in your school district see Jim Sedlak’s Parent Power. Another excellent resource for parents is "The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality - Guidelines for Education within the Family," by the Pontifical Council for the Family.

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