Last month the Daily Herald reported on the latest wacky proclamation of Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna:
“McKenna has declared there will be no ‘litmus test’ in this election season when it comes to social issues for Republican candidates. Instead, he is encouraging campaign donors and political players to back the candidates that are strongest on ethics and taxes.”
A few comments are in order. First, for the past couple of weeks, some of our Republican General Assembly members have been taking note of SB600, the bill to give Republican voters the same right that Democrat voters have – the chance to vote for their senior party leadership. McKenna is against the bill.
Many of these same legislators haven’t said a thing about McKenna’s failure as state chairman since he took over in 2005. The 2006 and 2008 election debacles came and went without a peep from those elected officials. Only now, with the prospects of SB600, do they awaken to the existence of the Illinois Republican Party. Better late than never I guess.
Second, many of those same Republican legislators, of course, are also pro-life. Well, their party chairman just told them that “ethics” and “abortion” are two different categories.
McKenna – who claims to be pro-life – should read his own party’s 2008 platform. Right there on page 4 under the heading “EMBRACING THE FIRST FREEDOM: THE RIGHT TO LIFE” is the party’s strong statement for life and against abortion. So much for the excitable Andy’s desire to ignore the issue.
Here’s the text from the State Party Platform – note the use of the word “ethical”:
“Recognizing that the rights and needs of children begin at conception, the Republican Party of Illinois embraces the Right to Life of innocent unborn children and supports reform proposals protecting that right and limiting the practice of abortion in Illinois.
We believe that all innocent human life must be respected and safeguarded from conception to natural death: therefore,
The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life, which cannot be infringed. The Party affirms its support for a human life amendment to the U.S. Constitution and we endorse making clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection applies to unborn children.
We urge the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
We affirm our support for the appointment or election of judges at all levels of the judiciary who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of human life.
The Illinois Republican Party opposes the fostering of utilitarian experiments which sacrifice human embryos in what appears to be a futile search for medical cures. Such experimentation undermines the right to life of every human being and offends the moral conscience of many taxpayers. We embrace the more fruitful – and completely ethical – avenues of research using cord blood, bone marrow and other adult stem cells, and we note the success of adult stem cell research in treating or curing more than 70 diseases, conditions and injuries.
In particular, we call on the Governor and General Assembly to:
End the taxpayer subsidy for abortion; Require a doctor to involve a minor’s parents before aborting her unborn child; Outlaw the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion; and Enact the Illinois Born-Alive infant Protection Act guaranteeing medical assessment and appropriate medical care for babies whose birth is incidental to abortion.”
It’s easy to understand why Republicans consider it ethical to support unborn life and ethical to work to outlaw abortion. What follows is one pro-life pastor’s letter to the President following Obama’s overturning of the “Mexico City Policy.” Note the ugly, evil reality that is the abortion procedure.
Fr. Richard L. Perozich, Pastor
St. Mary Catholic Church
1160 South Broadway
Escondido, CA 92025January 31, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500Dear President Obama,
Please reinstate the Mexico City Policy, and do all in your power to end the torture of killing infants in the womb and destroying the bodies and spirits of mothers who undergo these barbaric procedures called abortion described for you below.
• Menstrual extraction A very early suction abortion, often done before the pregnancy test is positive.
• Suction The abortionist first paralyzes the cervix (womb opening). He then inserts a hollow plastic tube with a knifelike tip into the uterus. The tube is connected to a powerful pump with a suction force 29 times more powerful than a home vacuum cleaner. The procedure tears the baby’s body into pieces and the hose frequently jerks as pieces of the baby become lodged. The placenta is then cut from the inner wall of the uterus and the scraps are sucked out into a bottle.
• Dilatation & Curettage (D&C) Uncommon today and used during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. This is similar to the suction procedure except that the abortionist inserts a curette, a loopshaped steel knife up into the uterus. He then cuts the placenta and baby into pieces and scrapes them out into a basin. Bleeding is usually profuse.
• Dilatation & Evacuation (D&E) Performed during the second trimester (4-6 months) of pregnancy. This method has largely replaced saline and chemical abortions, which too frequently resulted in live births, a complication from the abortionist’s perspective! A pliers-like instrument is needed because the baby’s bones are calcified, as is the skull. There is no anesthetic for the baby. The abortionist inserts the instrument into the uterus, seizes a leg or other part of the body and, with a twisting motion, tears it from the baby’s body. This is repeated again and again. The spine must be snapped, and the skull crushed to remove them. The nurse’s job is to reassemble the body parts to be sure that all are removed.
• D & X (Partial Birth) Also used for advanced pregnancies. The cervix is dilated to allow passage of a ring forceps. A foot or lower leg is located and pulled into the vagina. The baby is extracted in breech fashion until the head is just inside the cervix. The baby’s legs hang outside the woman’s body. With the baby face-down, scissors are plunged into the baby’s head at the nape of the neck and spread open to enlarge the wound A suction tip is inserted and the baby’s brain is removed. The skull collapses and the baby is delivered. Sharp and suction curettage is continued until the walls of the womb are clean.
• Hysterotomy This method is usually used late in pregnancy and is likened to an “early” Caesarian section. The mother’s abdomen and uterus are surgically opened and the baby is lifted out. Unfortunately, many of these babies are very much alive when removed. To kill the babies, some abortionists have been known to plunge them into buckets of water or smother them with the placentas. Still others cut the cord while the baby is still inside the uterus depriving the baby of oxygen.
• Salt Poisoning a.k.a. “Candy Apple Babies:” Most often used after the first trimester (first three months). The abortionist injects a strong salt solution directly into the amniotic sac (fluid surrounding the baby). The baby breathes and swallows it, is poisoned, struggles, and sometimes convulses. It takes over an hour to kill the baby. The mother delivers the dead baby in a day or two (sometimes alive!). Why “candy apple” babies? The corrosive effect of the salt solution often burns and strips away the outer layer of the baby’s skin. This exposes the raw, red, glazed-looking subcutaneous layer of tissue. The baby’s head sometimes looks like a candy apple. Some have also likened this method to the effect of napalm on innocent war victims. This technique was originally developed in the concentration camps in Nazi Germany.
• Prostaglandin Abortions Three forms, two are injected and one is a vaginal suppository. Its first approved use was for “the induction of mid trimester abortion.” The hormone produces a violent labor and delivery of whatever size baby the mother carries. If the baby is old enough to survive the trauma of labor, it may be born alive, but is usually too small to survive. In one article, among the complications listed was “live birth!”
• RU-486 A drug that produces an abortion taken after the mother misses her period. Its effect is to block the use of an essential hormonal nutrient by the newly-implanted baby, who then dies, and drops off. Note that RU-486 is not a contraceptive because it does not prevent fertilization or implantation. It is used only after the mother has missed her period and the baby is at least two to three weeks old, with a beating heart (the fetal heart begins to beat when the woman is four days late for her period). It is no longer effective after six or eight weeks. Methotrexate – one of the drugs contained in RU486 – can cause liver damage, kidney destruction, heart muscle compromise, pulmonary failure, gastrointestinal pathology, and bone marrow suppression. It has also been reported to cause loss of speech function, strokes, and convulsions.May the Holy Spirit of God be with you to lead all to truth and life.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Richard L. Perozich
