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JV_COACH

Nov 7 2009, 01:55 PM

Planned Parenthood Director Quits After Watching Abortion on Ultrasound

http://www.foxnews.com/

The former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Texas says she had a "change of heart" after watching an abortion last month — and she quit her job and joined a pro-life group in praying outside the facility.

Abby Johnson, 29, used to escort women from their cars to the clinic in the eight years she volunteered and worked for Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas. But she says she knew it was time to leave after she watched a fetus "crumple" as it was vacuumed out of a patient's uterus in September.

'When I was working at Planned Parenthood I was extremely pro-choice," Johnson told FoxNews.com. But after seeing the internal workings of the procedure for the first time on an ultrasound monitor, "I would say there was a definite conversion in my heart ... a spiritual conversion."

Johnson said she became disillusioned with her job after her bosses pressured her for months to increase profits by performing more and more abortions, which cost patients between $505 and $695.

"Every meeting that we had was, 'We don't have enough money, we don't have enough money — we've got to keep these abortions coming,'" Johnson told FoxNews.com. "It's a very lucrative business and that's why they want to increase numbers."

Johnson said her bosses told her to change her "priorities" and focus on abortions, which she said made money for the office at a time when the recession has left them hurting.

"For them there's not a lot of money in education," she said. "There's not as much money in family planning as there is abortion."

Without a doctor in residence, she said, her clinic offered abortions only two days a month, but the doctor could perform 30 to 40 procedures on each day he was there. Johnson estimated that each abortion could net the branch about $350, adding up to more than $10,000 a month.

"The majority of the money was going to the facility," she said.

Johnson said she never got any orders to increase profits in e-mails or letters, and had no way to prove her allegations about practices at the Bryan branch. She told FoxNews.com that pressure came in personal interactions with her regional manager from the larger Houston office.

But she said she got involved with the clinic "to help women and ... do the right thing," and the idea of raking in cash seemed to go against what she felt was the mission of the 93-year-old organization.

"Ideally my goal as the facility's director is that your abortion numbers don't increase," because "you're providing so much family planning and so much education that there is not a demand for abortion services.

"But that was not their goal," she said.

A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood refused to answer questions about Johnson's accusations, but released a statement noting that a district court had issued a temporary restraining order against the former branch director and against the Coalition for Life, an anti-abortion group with which Johnson is now affiliated.

"We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary," said spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla.

It is unclear what made Planned Parenthood seek the restraining order. Johnson said she did not intend to release any sensitive information about her former patients at the clinic.

A hearing is set for Nov. 10 to determine whether a judge will order an injunction against Johnson and the Coalition for Life, which has led protests outside the clinic and joined her in a prayer vigil there last month.

Johnson hasn't found a job since she quit on Oct. 6, but she said she's enjoying the time off to be with her 3-year-old daughter.

"It's been great just to spend some time at home and get a break," she said.

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/November06/0683.html

JV_COACH

Nov 7 2009, 01:59 PM

Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams

http://washingtontimes.com/

A San Francisco cosmetics company has ignited an outcry among pro-lifers for including an unexpected ingredient in its anti-aging creams: skin-cell proteins from an aborted fetus.

Children of God for Life, a watchdog group that monitors the use of fetal material in medical products, called last week for a boycott of all treatments manufactured by Neocutis Inc., which acknowledges that the key ingredient in its product line was developed from an aborted boy.

"There's just no excuse for using aborted babies in skin-care products," said Debi Vinnedge, executive director of Children of God for Life, a 10-year-old organization based in Murfreesboro, Tenn. "The reaction, the shock and anger I've seen is incredible."

In a statement released Friday, in response to a wave of condemnation from pro-life and religious blogs, Neocutis defended the use of its trademarked ingredient, Processed Skin Cell Proteins, or PSP, arguing that the fetal cell line was harvested in a responsible, ethical manner for use in treating severe dermatological injuries.

The company compared its situation to that of researchers who used fetal kidney cells to develop the polio vaccine.

"Our view - which is shared by most medical professionals and patients - is that the limited, prudent and responsible use of donated fetal skin tissue can continue to ease suffering, speed healing, save lives and improve the well-being of many patients around the globe," said the statement.

The ingredient was developed at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland from proteins in the skin tissue of a 14-week-old male baby electively aborted at the university's hospital and donated to the Swiss university. The abortion was deemed medically necessary because the baby could not survive to term, according to Neocutis.

The fetal skin cell line was taken from a piece of skin the size of a postage stamp and donated voluntarily by the parents for medical research. The donation was approved by the hospital's medical ethics committee and in accordance with Swiss laws, said the Neocutis statement.

Neocutis also insisted that the one donation would be sufficient for the manufacture of its products. Critics argue that it's impossible to know how long the cell line will last, but Neocutis states on its Web site that "no additional fetal biopsies will ever be required."

"We feel we are in complete compliance with the laws of God and the laws of man," Neocutis President Mark J. Lemko said in an e-mail response to critics, which was posted on the Children of God for Life Web site.

Ms. Vinnedge accused the company of playing up PSP's medical applications in order to draw attention from its cosmetic uses. Although the company developed PSP for the treatment of skin ulcers, burns and scarring, Neocutis soon recognized the ingredient's value in restoring aging skin.

Neocutis cosmetic products using the cell line include Bio-Restorative Skin Cream, Bio-Gel Bio-Restorative Hydrogel, Lumiere Bio-Restorative Eye Cream and Bio-Restorative Serum with PSP Intensive Spot Treatment. In terms of price, they're not exactly comparable to Maybelline: A 1-ounce bottle of Journee Bio-Restorative Day Cream costs $120.

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, said that although use of aborted fetal parts is indefensible for any purpose, Neocutis' use for a product as trivial as an anti-aging cream speaks uniquely to current trends and the desire for eternal youth.

"What's new about this is our cultural attitude toward beautification and our sense of self ... and living forever," she said.

Ms. Vinnedge said she would object to the use of the fetal cell lines no matter what their use, medical or cosmetic, arguing that mature cells are just as effective. Indeed, other companies make high-end skin creams using proteins derived from postnatal placentas, which Mrs. Brown called completely morally acceptable to pro-lifers.

Even so, Ms. Vinnedge said, using fetal tissue in anti-wrinkle cream crosses moral and ethical boundaries.

"This is pure vanity," Ms. Vinnedge said. "We're talking a medical treatment versus a vanity treatment."

She compared it to the Nazis' use of the skin of Jews to make lampshades. Her Web site showed a clip from the 1973 science-fiction movie "Soylent Green," in which the "secret ingredient" in a popular wafer is found to be human flesh.

The original skin sample may have been tiny, she said, but so is a 14-week unborn baby. "They say the skin sample was the size of a postage stamp - well, something that size could mean the whole back," Ms. Vinnedge said.

Neither the Neocutis Web site nor its advertising makes any secret of the company's use of fetal cell lines.

The firm's online entries say the products were "inspired by fetal skin's unique properties" and that the technology "uses cultured fetal skin cells to obtain an optimal, naturally balanced mixture of skin nutrients."

"Neocutis means, literally, new skin. And who wouldn't like to turn back time to create flawless baby skin again?" says one ad.

Even the company's critics were surprised by its candor. For years, Ms. Vinnedge said, she has heard rumors that some beauty companies use aborted fetal cell lines in their products, but she's never been able to confirm it because the Food and Drug Administration doesn't require the listing of cosmetic ingredients.

"Usually, when people to write to us about cosmetics, we tell them it's impossible to find out," Ms. Vinnedge said. "That's why I can't believe [Neocutis] posted it."

Mrs. Brown said the company's statement struck her as morally and philosophically unmoored.

"We think the company has taken the position they have because they're trying to align themselves with the Catholic identity of some of their founders," she said. Neocutis officials "don't seem to think there's any complicity on their part" for using the products of the abortion.

"I think that many companies just say, 'Is there a good to be achieved,' and don't care how," she said.

Mrs. Brown said this development isn't especially surprising to her, recalling that her group published a book in 1981 called "101 Uses for a Dead Baby," in which author Olga Fairfax wrote that fetal tissue could be used for skin care products and even to grow new limbs.

"Now, we're more advanced than [Ms. Fairfax] could have imagined," Mrs. Brown said.

Ms. Vinnedge's organization has pushed Congress for years for more detailed labeling legislation in medicine, but she says she'll now expand her proposal to include cosmetics.

"PETA made sure we know that companies aren't testing cosmetics on animals," she said of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "We want to make sure they're not using fetal material."

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