Leah Winandy and her mother Sarah Winandy were outside the building as normal harassing anyone who was going into the building. In this case, the woman that Leah Winandy chose to harass was Mechelle Tallulah Hall, who brandished a knife that she carried in her purse and informed Leah Winandy not to approach or speak to her. When Ms Hall was almost beyond earshot, Leah Winandy spoke out saying “Don’t do this! Fear God!” Upon hearing this, Ms Hall turned and walked back to Leah Winandy and held the knife to the younger Winandy’s throat. At this time, Ms Hall stated that she was mentally unstable. Leah Winandy was not harmed, but only frightened.

None of the reports on this incident mention that Ms Hall is or was pregnant, nor do they mention that she worked for any of the tenants. She may have been visiting the coffee house inside the building, or one of the other services. In the wake of the murder of George Tiller, it should not be surprising that many of those who have business inside a women’s health clinic, be it for an abortion or many of the other services, may feel threatened by the very presence of often overzealous pro-life activists outside the clinics. While Ms Hall did express regret for her actions while being arraigned, she felt threatened enough at the time to snap.

According to Sarah Winandy, she and her daughter go to the Building for Women every week because “God has called us to be there to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring glory and honor to Him…We are there because it is what God wants us to do. He has sent us there, He has made the way for us to be there.” These are, of course, the sentiments of Scott Roeder who shot and killed George Tiller in his own church. Rather than devoting time and money to helping the women who feel that they need to have an abortion care for others, the Winandys spend days outside the building harassing people in a climate that is getting more and more hostile towards them. Sarah Winandy on her blog states that there were fourteen women who went into the building to have an abortion, but that would be impossible to prove since the building’s facade indicates that the entrances to each different tenant is within the building and not accessible directly from outside.

It would certainly be easy for a woman who is visiting the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault to feel further victimized by the harassment from these two. Certainly someone who has been victimized in a sexual manner might lash out and hurt the new victimizer.

The “interview” with Leah Winandy mentioned at its beginning the murder of James Pouillon. The attempt to portray the murder of Pouillon as martyrdom has not been based on reality since Pouillon was known for being overly agressive and targeting teenage girls for his harangues. His eldest son, also named James, stated that Pouillon was part of the pro-life movement in order to harass and attack women, and that he did not actually care about abortion.

“He did this to stalk, harass, terrorize, scream at, threaten, frighten, and verbally abuse women. He had a pathologic hatred of women: his mom, my mom, everyone. After my mom finally left him and he lost his favorite punching bag the violence and abuse that was always contained within our 4 walls was unleased on the people of Owosso. My dad used the pro-life movement and 1st Amendments foundations to defend him, support him, and enable him. He fooled them all. He was at the high shool because my niece was there, and female family members were always his favorite targets. Again, my dad didn’t care about abortion. He wanted to hurt people, upset people.”

This, of course, shows the danger of the pro-life movement in that it does have a large number of people who do not seem to care for the well being of women in general, and may have major issues regarding women as a whole.

Interview with Young Pro-Life Counselor Threatened with Knife to Throat
Knifing suspect: What I did was wrong
Women’s Health Center & Building For Women Duluth MN. Extraordinarily Cruel To Unborn
James M. Pouillon criticizes father, slain pro-life activist James L. Pouillon, in online post
Welcome! The Duluth Building for Women is…..
Why Do We Go To The Building For Women In Duluth MN. Weekly?

While it is often portrayed as being nothing more than an extension of the status quo, the reality of what the Stupak-Pitts Amendment would do has not really penetrated the shell that it was put into. In the end, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment would make it nigh on impossible for women to actually get coverage for an abortion. It would certainly create problems with regards to abortion coverage when it comes to terminating a pregnancy that may not be viable, but is not a threat to the mother’s health.

Currently, the Roman Catholic Bishops are hopeful that Democrat Bob Casey might be willing to sponsor the amendment, and they are hoping that language offering to beef up prenatal care and increase the safety net for women with unwanted pregnancies will draw in support. The unfortunate problem becomes that many abortions occur in the United States where it is a woman choosing to abort a feotus that is not viable, but not a threat to her life.

The decision by Pope Benedict XVI to involve the Catholic Church in politics flies in the face of his predecessors Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Pope Paul threatened to excommunicate two Catholic priests who were involved in anti-government and anti-war activities in the late 1960’s. Pope John Paul II demanded all ordained Catholic clergy either leave the Church or leave politics. In politicizing the Roman Catholic Church, Benedict has abandoned the views of both Paul VI and John Paul II. Given that John Paul II could become a saint, this creates an even trickier situation for Benedict as it could be seen as unholy.

The Bishops are willing to accept different language to that of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, but worry that could result in the Conference Committee simply removing that language entirely after the final votes are in.

In an appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Bishop Thomas Tobin refused to get into specifying what kind of punishment should be enacted to ensure that the edict against abortion be followed. Matthews, a practicing Catholic, is also pro-life, but he is also adamantly against, as can be heard in his tone, to the interference of the Catholic Church in American politics. Bishop Tobin failed to understand that Matthews’ pushing of him on the issue of what kinds of punishment the woman should face for having an abortion was central to the discussion. Bishop Tobin also failed to grasp that the reason murder and theft are part of the legal codes has to do with the writings of John Locke and are considered to be natural law. The taking away of a person’s life, liberty and property without due process is a violation of natural law. A person committing adultery is not a violation of natural law, though it is immoral. The stance that life begins with conception is also in opposition to almost 2000 years of Catholic teaching.

The lack of support in the Senate could doom the Stupak-Pitts amendment given the opposition to it, and the possibility that it could sway enough votes to end up killing reform entirely. Given that, any Senator who decided to support it could find himself out in the cold sitting on the Postal Committee listening to people complain about the US Post Office.

Politico

In brief remarks from the Rose Garden yesterday, the president said the 220-215 House vote brings the country closer than it’s ever been to a health care overhaul and stated the “historic” passage of the House version of the Health Care Bill marked a “courageous vote” for many representatives, given the toxicity of the debate surrounding the bill, and predicted that lawmakers will view the eventual signing of the legislation as their “finest moment” in public service.

“Now it falls on the United States Senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people. And I’m absolutely confident that they will,” said Obama.

Conveniently however, Obama made no reference to the Stupak-Pitts amendment in his remarks.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment will prohibit federal funds from being used for abortion services in any health exchange, public or private and prevents private insurance companies from receiving government subsidies if they cover abortions.

Many Health Care bill advocates, in an effort to bamboozle woman in to supporting this bill, are currently trying to sell a line of BULL CRAP saying that federal funding of abortion is already covered in current law and this amendment changes nothing.

But this is NOT the truth, as currently most private insurers cover reproductive health related services and that practice would cease if Stupak’s amendment remains in a finalized version of any legislation.

Those advocates are also saying that women could purchase a separate, single service rider to cover abortion related expenses. But no woman plans for an UNPLANNED pregnancy or one that has serious complications that would ultimately call for an abortion.

Under the mandates of the House version of the Health Care Bill all American citizens will be FORCED to participate, but women who are currently covered with reproductive health services under their current policies will now be FORCED to pay more for those services. This despite President Obama repeatedly saying, “If you like your health plan, you can keep it, the only thing that will change is that you’ll pay less.”

Right-wingers are hailing the passage of the Stupak measure “as a victory for the pro-life Americans across this country who have flooded Congress this week with the message that abortion does not belong in health care.”

The Human Rights Campaign is taking no notice of at all of the passage of Stupak on it web site and is saying the House Bill “a tremendous advance for the health needs of LGBT people,” conveniently ignoring the fact the “L” in LGBT are women who are being stripped of rights by this “tremendous advance.”

There are rumors on Capitol Hill that President Obama promised Henry Waxman Saturday that he will “personally” work to remove the Stupak language in conference…

From experience… I am sure Obama will “personally” work on Stupak the same way he has so far “personally” worked on the repeal of DOMA and DADT.

Over the weekend I have talked to many in the LBGT community trying to enlist their support in defeating Stupak… Unfortunately most have told me that while they don’t like Stupak and think it is wrong, they are willing to accept Stupak if it gets them a health care bill and a win for Obama ….

Many have told me I need to look at the bigger picture on this issue

Easy enough to say since many of those folks saying this will never have a need of or even the possibility to need any of the services being taken away from women by Stupak. And they need me to pay for THEIR health care.

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