Pro-Life News: Ex Abortion Advocate Speaks, Mike Huckabee, South Africa

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 10, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life News: Ex Abortion Advocate Speaks, Mike Huckabee, South Africa Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 10,
2007

Former NARAL Member Speaks for Pro-Life Feminist Group at Princeton
Princeton, NJ (LifeNews.com) — Karen Shablin used to belong to NARAL, one of the leading pro-abortion groups in the country. Now she is a speaker for Feminists for Life of America, a top pro-woman, pro-life group that is making strides in reaching out to college students. Shablin described to students at Princeton University how she once had an abortion and favored abortion but now favors the pro-life perspective. She said she didn’t want to be the stereotypical single black mother in her 20s when she decided to have an abortion. "My decision to have an abortion in my 20s, in retrospect, was an effort to protect everything I had worked for," she said, adding that now she "oppose[s] abortion with every thread of my being." She said she was fortunate in that she would have had the support necessary to have a baby, but noted that many pregnant young women are not as fortunate and they have abortions because of it. Shablin said she became pro-life when she was the Medicaid director for the state of New Jersey and she saw how family cap rules there encouraged women to have abortions. I decided at that point that others would have the benefit of my experience without actually having to go through what I did." Now she talks about how women should be treated as potential mothers, not abortion customers. "Women deserve better," she said. "I deserve better. And certainly you, male and female, deserve better."

Mike Huckabee Says Pro-Life Background Makes it Easy to Oppose Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says it is easier for him to oppose abortion because he comes from a pro-life background, unlike some of his opponents. He told AP that pro-life advocates should "coalesce" around one candidate — him — because of his stand on social issues. "I don’t just speak to the base. I come from it. It’s easier for me to talk about those issues because I only have to talk about one side of them," Huckabee said. Asked whether he would win the Iowa caucuses Jan. 14, Huckabee said, "I think we will." "The supporters who are with me are really with me," while other candidates do not enjoy the same level of commitment, Huckabee said. A new poll released on Monday showed Huckabee gaining to take over third place away from pro-abortion ex-mayor Rudy Giuliani.

South Africa Sees Abortion Rate for Teenagers Double, Parents Not Involved
Pretoria, South Africa (LifeNews.com) — The number of women younger than 18 having abortions at state medical facilities has more than doubled since 2001, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday. "There has been an increasing trend of [abortions] requested by persons under the age of 18, ranging from 4,423 [abortions] in 2001, to 9 895 [abortions]in 2006," she said in a written reply to a parliamentary question. Part of the problem stems from the fact that the nation does not have laws in place, like most states in the U.S. that allow parents to be involved in their children’s abortion decisions. Under the nation’s Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, the teenager need only provide her own consent for an abortion. "In the case of a minor, the health care provider (medical practitioner or registered midwife) shall advise such minor to consult her parents, guardian, family members or friends before the pregnancy is terminated," the law says. However, the act provids "that the termination of the pregnancy shall not be denied because such minor chooses not to consult them."

New Zealand Woman Wants Mentally Disabled Niece Sterilized After Third Baby
Auckland, New Zealand (LifeNews.com) — A New Zealand woman wants her mentally disabled niece sterilized and put into foster care after she go pregnant with her third child. The unnamed young woman is believed to be living on the streets in Auckland and is six months pregnant. The niece is related by marriage but is said to be the woman’s only living relative in the area. The woman received a letter two weeks ago from Child, Youth & Family asking her to attend a family group conference in relation to the young woman’s unborn baby, due in January. The baby will be the niece’s third to three different fathers in the last three years. "When I opened the letter and saw the logo on the letterhead, I had a sense of deja vu. It upsets me and makes me so angry. Same letter, different date," the aunt said. "I think she needs to be sterilized," the aunt added. "I can only imagine what that’s doing to her _ getting pregnant, having a child and having him taken off her and getting pregnant again. Nothing and no one could convince me she shouldn’t be sterilized."