Pro-Planned Parenthood Comments & My Response

So, I've been seeing many comments on other sites regarding Susan G. Komen pulling support from Planned Parenthood. I wanted to address some of what I have seen here.


One of the most common comments I see coming from the opposition is something like: 

"Now PP won't be able to provide mammograms for those that can't afford it otherwise."

There are many things wrong with this statement. I can speak with a bit of authority on this topic due to the fact that I am the supervisor of an outpatient imaging center that includes breast imaging (screening & diagnostic mammograms and breast ultrasound) 


First off, PP does not perform mammograms, they only refer to imaging clinics & hospitals. 


Secondly, regarding the price. Virtually all insurance plans cover, in full, a screening mammogram each year. In addition, you do not need a doctor's order for a screening mammogram (only study I know of that doesn't legally require a doctor's order)...just an appointment. For those who don't have insurance, almost any place that performs mammograms provides the more than $300 exam for less than $80. The uninsured price at the place I work is about $40. Also, many imaging sites provide "fairs" periodically where they offer free screenings.


Another commenter ignorantly stated: 

"If you "pro-lifers" want to actually embrace a TOTAL pro-life mentality, start organizing free rides for women to clinics where they can have their health checked over by qualified professionals."

My response was, "Many hospitals & non-profit charities offer free rides for women to the clinics/hospitals. All you have to do is ask the clinic/hospital you are considering going to &, if they don't offer sure a service, they can probably recommend or suggest one. Most of these places & charities cannot afford to advertise these services to the general public due to many people, who are perfectly capable of performing these tasks themselves or have family who can assist, taking advantage of them."


Several commenters have said similar things to what this person said:

"Anti-abortion groups want to deny women vital health care that is 97% of what Planned Parenthood does."

If PP was so determined to provide health care to women, then why won't they just stop performing abortions. If only 3% of what they do is abortions & that 3% is what is costing them the most loss of support, then, in all logic, they should give up the 3% for the 97%. From my observation, they must care very little for the health of women due to their reluctance to cease from performing the controversial & horrific act. 


Also, this statement makes a wild jump into a bizarre conclusion, that because Pro-Lifers are against organizations that murder babies, that somehow we want to deny women healthcare. It is nothing like that. In fact, quite the opposite. We want women to receive good, life affirming medical assistance.


A Pro-Life commentator made a good analogy. She said if a wonderful surgeon was found to be molesting children, would you just ignore that fact because he has a history & gift for saving lives? 


I heard a pastor once use another story to describe how a little evil goes a long way. His children wanted to watch a "R" rated movie. They begged him & said, "But, Dad, it's just a few bad words. There is nothing else bad in it." 


So, to demonstrate how just a little goes a long way, he made them a plate full of delicious looking brownies & placed them in front of his children. He told them all about how he made them. How he used the best ingredients, the pure cane sugar, the natural vanilla, the flour, the fresh eggs. And then, he told them of the secret ingredient. He added just a pinch of dog poop. They stared at him in horror & refused to eat the brownies. He replied to them, "But, it's just a little poop. There is nothing else bad in them." The kids got the point. 


It is the same with PP. Maybe only 3% of their productivity is the murder of children but it still spoils the whole organization. Is disgusts me to even type "maybe only 3% of their productivity is the murder of children." When did our society become so numb to & accepting of the killing babies? 

*****************UPDATE*****************

Susan G. Komen has reconsidered their policy & will continue supporting Planned Parenthood.

I urge you to use the email link above to express your disappointment with this change.

Susan G. Komen pulls support from Planned Parenthood

Wonderful, wonderful news! Susan G. Komen has pulled all support from Planned Parenthood & embryonic stem cell research.

Being that I work in an imaging clinic, it has been very awkward for me for the last couple of years avoiding every mention of contributing to SGK.

Sad to say, but according to this article, SGK has been inundated with emails & calls criticizing their pull of support but very few responses of thanks from the Pro-Life community.

I encourage everyone to contact SGK & express gratitude for their removed support of the murderous group. You can email them at news@komen.org 

*****************UPDATE*****************

Susan G. Komen has reconsidered their policy & will continue supporting Planned Parenthood.

I urge you to use the email link above to express your disappointment with this change.

"Entertainment is Satan's substitution for joy."

Congressmen told not to say 'Merry Christmas' to citizens

Congressmen told not to say 'Merry Christmas' to citizens

Anthony & Kristy's Blog

So, we've created a blog.

I still plan on doing my normal blogs here (with the goal of increased frequency) but this other blog will be exclusively about our life together.

As Two Lives Become One

Big Changes Ahead

I have big changes ahead in my life.

I'm ENGAGED!!!

We are putting a website together via TheKnot.com. I'll post it here once we are ready to release it to everyone.

I think I'll start a new blog site for our wedding & future life together which I'll tell you all about & link to here once I make it official. Not sure what I'm going to call it though. Any ideas?

Anyway, below are a few pics for now. :D

Communion

Here is a video describing the Lutheran point of view on communion, or what we Baptists refer to as "the Lord's Supper."

Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalian/Anglican/Church of England, Presbyterian/Church of Scotland, from what I've studied, all kind of have a similar view of what happens to the bread and wine during consumption. There are two terms that, in my quick research, seem very difficult to differentiate. The two terms are "transubstantiation" and "consubstantiation." From what I can tell, "transubstantiation" means that once the priest blesses the bread and wine, they literally become the body and blood of Christ. "Consubstantiation" means that the spirit of Christ is in the sacraments and not his actual flesh and blood. If you have a better explanation of these two terms, feel free to let me know in the comments.

I am a Baptist and I can testify as to how we view this remembrance practice.

Many other Protestant denominations view communion the same as Baptist but may practice it a little differently. Some have communion every week while others may have it once every 3 months; some use grape juice and others use wine. There are valid arguments for every difference, however, that is not what I am here to discuss today.

 Baptists, and many other denominations, hold that the bread and wine/grape juice is symbolic representations to remind us to remember Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

This is how I view it: Jesus used parables and symbols to teach about justice, himself, and God the Father. The way I read it, Jesus took the parts of the Passover that they understood and used them to explain what he was about to do. Unleavened bread to represent his sinlessness and the wine to represent his blood that he would spill for us all.

The Passover was celebrated each year to remind the Israelites of how God rescued them from the slavery of the Egyptians. The unleavened bread was to remind them of how quickly their ancestors had to flee. They did not even have time to allow the bread to rise. I must admit that I do not have a clear understanding as to if that particular representation applied to Christ. I can only speculate that it may refer to the fact we do not have much time. Our time is fleeting and unknown so we must make a decision to follow Christ quickly. However, one should never take others or their own speculation as to compete with what the Bible is actually saying.

Another possible, and more probable, reference is to the lack of yeast in the unleavened bread representing the sinlessness of Christ. There are multiple instances where Jesus used yeast to describe sin in a visual way. Paul even used it to describe how a little sin ignored or tolerated can affect an entire congregation in I Corinthians 5. I believe this may be what Christ was referring to when he offered the unleavened bread. He then broke it to symbolize how his body would be broken for them/us.

The wine offered at passover was to represent the blood that spared the Israelites from the Angel of Death if they choose to paint it on the door posts. The wine now is to represent his blood that, if we choose, will spare us from eternal death.

In this particular video, there are a couple of other things that I would disagree on, besides what I listed above. One would be, he says that Jesus said four times that "this is my body." This isn't exactly accurate. Jesus only said it once but four people reported it.

The other issue I have is how he continuously says that they believe what Jesus said. However, he then turns around and quotes Jesus when he said he was "the door." This pastor says, "he is the door, he is the only way." Which is true, he is the only way, but I doubt very seriously that this man actually believes Jesus physically becomes a door.

The most irritating part of this video, for me, is how the pastor seems to talk down to Baptists or anyone else who might disagree with him. If he were to talk to me in this way, when trying to argue his point or convert me, it would irritate me more than want me to actually consider what he said. There is nothing wrong with arguing your beliefs and using a sure/assertive tone, but one must be careful not to sound condescending or give the impression that you think the other side is unintelligent or doesn't have an argument worth listening to as well.

This isn't one of those topics that should divide fellowship but can spur (hopefully healthy) debate.

I really want to do a similar post, more in-depth, discussing how Jews still conduct Passover and how it relates to Christ. There are some seriously interesting connections. There are some practices they perform during Passover that they do not know why they do them but if you explain them to a Christian, they immediately know what they are referring to.