Dr. Nancy Fredericks, stood up for life and for medical integrity in regards to a second trimester abortion clinic.
Please take a moment to watch the following video from NARAL-Pro Choice America. Care Net Pregnancy Center of Dane County has medically licensed Doctors, Nurse Practioners and Registered Nurses who work and volunteer to offer Free pregnancy tests and verification, ultra sounds and STI testing and treatment for women. If we don’t tell our story people will simply believe what they do hear, even if it is not true.
Care Net National's Response:
"It Does Feel Like a Victory"
Medical personnel are increasingly unwilling to participate in
some or
all abortions. After the University of Wisconsin's Surgical Center in
Madison announced in early 2009 a plan to perform second-trimester
abortions, Nancy Fredericks and two of her fellow
anesthesiologists (three of the four on staff) said they would not
participate in the procedure. Fredericks then argued that it wasn't
safe to perform a procedure in a place where only
a few doctors and
nurses were willing participants. When the procedure goes wrong and
there are emergencies, other staffers would have to step in or decide
where to draw the line: Could their consciences let them assist with
the aftermath of an abortion?
While Fredericks stated her case on the inside, defending rights
of
conscience that had legal standing because pro-life legislators had
years before passed laws asserting them, pro-life activists conducted
regular protests outside the surgical center. Fredericks said she owes "a debt of gratitude" to the pro-lifers who rallied around her. Last
month the University of Wisconsin officially dropped its plan to offer
abortions, saying leaders were concerned about patient safety and
security. Fredericks says, "It does feel like a victory. It really
does. . . . The right thing happened."
Care Net National Statement on Sanctity of Human Life
CARE NET: WITH STATE BUDGETS HURTING, NON-PROFIT PREGNANCY CENTERS WILL CONTINUE TO ‘FILL IN THE GAP’ FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
“State government can’t do it anymore…It’s up to the nonprofits, it’s up to the faith community, it’s up to us. It’s up to our families and our friends and our neighbors to help out those we know, and those we don’t know or never met.” -- Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (AP, Jan. 1, 2011)
LANSDOWNE, VA – As the nation remembers the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (Jan. 22nd) and people of faith celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (Jan. 23rd), Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde issued the following remarks reflecting on the state of abortion in America:
“As Congress and state legislatures reconvene, they are faced with tough decisions about their budgets in order to keep our country and their states afloat. Many are looking to non-governmental sources to ‘fill in the gap’ for the critical services they must cut. In fact, Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire issued a clarion call to non-profits and the faith community to step up to the plate. Care Net and our network of 1,100 pregnancy centers are ready to respond to the call.
“Supported by a network of more than 29,000 volunteers, pregnancy centers offer free, practical services to women facing unplanned pregnancies – services that are essential to supporting moms and growing healthy babies. In 2009 alone, Care Net pregnancy centers provided 70,000 ultrasounds, 329,000 pregnancy tests, 305,000 clients received material support, and 144,000 received parenting education, just to name a few of the services provided. All these services help to build a culture of life in our communities and to reduce abortion – goals we all can support.
“Sadly, in Washington state and other areas around the country, there is an effort afoot by abortion advocates to shut down the work of pregnancy centers. A bill currently being discussed in Washington (H.B.1366) would cripple pregnancy centers, if passed. “With Gov. Gregoire’s call to action, it’s common sense that bills like these must be defeated. Pregnancy centers in Washington provide an estimated $18.6 million dollars of maternal and infant services to women annually. Who else would provide these services?
“As we reflect on 38 years of abortion in America, Care Net is thankful and amazed at the network of individuals who are reaching out in their own communities – without judgment and without cost – to provide support for abortion alternatives. Since pregnancy centers don’t rely on public funding, our work will continue with renewed passion.”
For more information or interviews, contact the Care Net press office at (703) 554-8742 or khansen@care-net.org. Tune in January 24th to hear Care Net's Vice President of Underserved Outreach Dean Nelson speak at the ProLifeCon, a national pro-life event streamed live on the web! Register at www.frc.org/prolifecon.
Madison Surgery Center Abortion Plans Abandoned
The Madison Surgery Center is apparently abandoning plans to offer
late-term abortions, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, on
May 5, 2010. However, officials at UW Health say
they will continue
to offer second-trimester abortions but they
are not disclosing the
location for this procedure.
In February 2009, the UW Hospital and Clinic Board of Directors made
the decision to begin offering second trimester abortions
at the
Madison Surgery Center on Park Street.
The announcement that these plans have changed first came
from Pro-Life Wisconsin, citing an April 30 letter from the state attorney general's office stating that UW Hospital no longer plans to offer
late-term abortions at the Madison Surgery Center. In
the letter from
Assistant Attorney General Kevin Potter to an Eau Claire attorney,
Potter wrote: "it is my understanding based on recent information from
the UW that they have now abandoned plans to provide late-term
abortion services at the MSC."
We are pleased that over one year later, no abortions have been
performed at the MSC and that plans to offer abortions at MSC have
been abandoned. We at Care Net are encouraged by this change and continue to pray that Madison will be a strong, healthy community
built on faith, hope, and compassion.
Care Net Pregnancy Center does not offer or refer for abortions. We believe that terminating a pregnancy is not in the best interest of the woman or family. We do, however, provide counseling and information about a woman’s pregnancy options. And we do this with unconditional care and love.
Facing an unplanned pregnancy can be very overwhelming. That is why we are here. We want to equip, empower, and support women and men to choose life for their unborn children and to make wise life choices for themselves and their families.
Women deserve a safe place to turn, one with no vested interest in the critical decision they make regarding a pregnancy or sexual health concern.
New research supports abstinence-only education as the best, effective choice for teens. For a newly released study reported in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescence Medicine, researchers found that 52% of students who were taught safer-sex education reported sexual activity while only 33.5% of those who were
taught abstinence-only education reported sexual activity. The
researchers concluded, "Theory-based abstinence-only interventions may have an important role in preventing adolescent sexual involvement."*
In another study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and
Unplanned Pregnancy, 60% of sexually active teens said they wished they had not had sex.** Locally, teens tell us they appreciate Care Net?s message of encouraging healthy life choices and abstinence until marriage. One teenage girl told us this: "[My boyfriend and I] heard your presentation at our school, and we both decided we were worth the wait."
With this in mind, we were deeply disappointed when the Legislature passed and the Governor recently signed into law a bill that creates roadblocks to teaching abstinence in public schools.
We are pleased to see the latest research showing that abstinence
education is the best choice for youth. But regardless of the latest
reported trends, Care Net is dedicated to promoting healthy
relationships and encouraging teens to save sex for marriage.
* Jemmott, JB. Jemmott, Fong, GT (2010). Efficacy of a Theory-Based Abstinence- Only Intervention Over 24 months. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010; 164(2):152- 159. Retrieved February 25, 2010 from http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/164/2/152
** Chavex. L. (2010, February 5) Abstinence education works after all. Townhall. com. Retrieved February 25, 2010 from http://townhall.com/columnists/...
Un-"Healthy" Youth Act
Wisconsin's new law, mis-named the "Healthy Youth Act," will
dramatically alter sex education programs in schools. Since Care Net
medical personnel currently offer medically accurate,
abstinence-centered presentations in area schools, we are concerned.
This new state law mandates that all schools that choose to offer a
Human Growth & Development curriculum will be required to teach a
comprehensive sex education program.
This new curriculum will not only do away with the current requirement
that abstinence must be presented as the best choice for unmarried
students, but it will also give far more credence to birth control and "?safer" sex than to abstinence.
Since this bill passed and was signed into law this spring, we have
seen an increase in concerned parents, teachers and school
administrators calling Care Net, wondering how this new comprehensive
sex education will impact their Human Growth and Development
curriculum and how Care Net can help provide an alternative.
Many parents and school districts still want the abstinence message strongly passed on to their children. While we were disappointed to
see this bill mandating comprehensive sex education pass in Wisconsin,
we are dedicated to promoting healthy relationships and encouraging teens to save sex for marriage.
Tanis Jean-Louis, Care Net's Nurse Manager, teaches about Sexually
Transmitted Infections in area public and private schools as an outreach of Care Net to teens and schools in the community. She says,
"Given the seriousness of STDs and unplanned pregnancies, it is
critical that teens receive a message grounded in primary prevention
and risk avoidance. Abstinence until marriage is the safest,
healthiest, lifestyle. Only programs that promote abstinence until
marriage discourage teens from engaging in casual sex and champion
abstinence as a worthy and attainable goal. When given skills and
encouragement, most teens today choose to be abstinent, and many who
are sexually experienced are choosing to discontinue sexual activity.
Most teens want to receive a strong message about abstinence. Most
parents want their teens to hear this message."
With the increase in concerned parents and school staff reaching out
to us, hoping we can offer help to their teens, we look forward to
moving ahead together in bringing wise life choices to area students.
Medical Facts from the CDC & the Medical Institute:
• 1 in 4 teenage girls in the U.S. has a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).
• There will be 10 million new cases of STIs among 15 to 24 year olds in the next year.
• Consistent and correct condom use during vaginal sex reduces the risk of HIV by 85%; reduces the risk of Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes and Syphilis by about 50% and reduces the risk of HPV, the only cause of cervical cancer, by 50% or less.
• 2/3 of teens who have had sex say they regret it.
• Depression is three times greater among those teens who are sexually active than among those who are not.
These statistics indicate there are serious physical and emotional
consequences associated with teen sex that cannot be dealt with by increasing contraceptive use. Abstinence centered education, that empowers teens with the knowledge that they are valuable and worthwhile people, equips them with tools to develop healthy relationships and encourages them to set goals for their future is the only method of instruction that truly prepares students to navigate their teen years in a healthy way.
