BY SARAH TERZO

October 30, 2013 (LiveActionNews) – I recently read an account from a 17-year-old who was 24 weeks pregnant and was pressured by abortion clinic workers to abort her baby. The testimony appeared in the book Bitter Fruit: Women’s Experiences with Unplanned Pregnancy, Abortion, and Adoption. I did not find this book to be biased towards the pro-life position. The author seems to take, as far as is possible, a neutral stand. Nowhere in the book does she condemn abortion or claim that adoption or parenting are better options.

When 17-year-old Darla (last name not given) became pregnant, her mother wanted her to have an abortion. In Darla’s own words:

I didn’t want to do it, but it was like I was being dragged. The first thing they did was an ultrasound, and I think I was 24 weeks pregnant. So I had a week legally left.

At 24 weeks, the unborn baby was at the end of the 2nd trimester. At this time, the baby is fully formed. He or she reacts to sudden, loud noises, and, according to the Endowment for Human Development: “This response is very much like what adults and children exhibit in the same situation.” She can feel pain, and has a sense of taste. She breathes amniotic fluid. She also sleeps and dreams. REM sleep has been observed in unborn babies as early as 18 weeks.

33.6 % (over a third) of unborn babies born at 24 weeks survive. (Cara Acred The Abortion Debate (Independence Educational Publishers, 2012)

You can see pictures of babies aborted at 24 weeks here.

Darla goes on to say:

I saw her [the baby] actually on the ultrasound, of course. I was 17 years old, I wasn’t going to say, “Turn the machine around; I don’t want to see.” And when I saw her, I knew that I wasn’t going to do it.

Darla says that her mother and the clinic workers argued with her about her decision to have her baby.

So we spent the whole day over there, crying and arguing with the doctors and staff like that. When it came down to signing the piece of paper that said I could die during the procedure, I said no, I wouldn’t do it. We went all the way up to the director of the clinic. They were saying it was best for me, because I was young. My mom was really pushing for it too, so they stood by her. Maybe she was trying to get people to convince me. …They were trying to convince me that it was safe, that in years nobody had died or whatever, that it was relatively safe.

More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/17-year-old-pressured-by-clinic-to-have-a-late-term-abortion-refuses

BY KIRSTEN ANDERSEN

HELSINKI, Finland, October 31, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – There’s no shortage of products on themarket designed to help parents expose their unborn babies to music. Experts and savvy marketers alike have long speculated that prenatal musical exposure might make babies smarter, or at least help them develop similar tastes to Mom and Dad. Others dismiss the “Mozart Effect” as a myth and a sales gimmick.

A new study out of Finland, however, may send sales of belly-mounted headphones skyrocketing, as researchers say they have found conclusive proof infants can recognize a lullaby heard in the womb for several months after birth. Not only does this suggest babies can remember things they hear and experience prior to birth, the study’s authors say it may be an important component of speech development for infants as they grow into children.

The University of Helsinki’s Cognitive Brain Research Unit studied 24 women during the third trimester of their pregnancies. Half of the women played “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for their babies five days a week throughout the final weeks of pregnancy; the other half did not.

Researchers found that after the babies were born, the ones who had listened to the song while still in their mothers’ wombs reacted much more strongly than the others to the sound of melody when it was played, even up to four months later.

Previously, the team had studied the effects of speech on preborn babies, and found that as newborns, they showed a clear response to words they had heard repeatedly in the third trimester of their mothers’ pregnancies. But that study did not follow up to see if the babies remembered the words later on.

More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/scientists-say-babies-remember-lullabies-played-for-them-in-the-womb

‘I felt like I died’: New TV ads combat ‘happy’ abortion stories with the truth

ROSWELL, GA, October 30, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new round of television commercials seeks to counter a growing narrative that abortion leaves women feeling uplifted, empowered, and relieved.

The pro-abortion movement’s “1-in-3” campaign is asking women to share happy memories of aborting their children, scheduling abortion celebration events at 100 locations in 32 states.

Patti weeps as she remembers her lost child

But the data shows post-abortive women are actually disproportionately likely to suffer from depression, substance abuse, and other forms of trauma.

To tell their stories, VirtueMedia has released six ads featuring the testimonies of women whose experiences were anything but positive.

The series, entitled “Been There,” features five women whose grief is evident in every frame.

“I felt like I died,” said Patti, who had an abortion at age 16. “I really felt like a part of me died that day.”

“I had experienced a rape at a very young age, and I compared it very much to rape – very traumatic,” she said. Decades later, she still has tears in her eyes. The grief “compounds because of other choices you make as a result of the pain and the suffering that you’re going through,” she said.

Videos and more: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/i-felt-like-i-died-new-tv-ads-combat-happy-abortion-stories-with-the-truth

BY CHRISTINA MARTIN

October 28, 2013 (LiveActionNews) – Pregnancy Resource Centers or Crisis Pregnancy Centers are amazing. I know that firsthand because I work at one. These pro-life, non-profit organizations are safe places for women to receive information on child development, speak with supportive people and get resources they need for their families.

CareNet is one network that has over 1,000 pregnancy centers across the United States. Time magazine referred to pregnancy centers as the ‘kind, calm, non-judgmental’ face of the pro-life movement. Pregnancy Centers receive most of their resources through the generous donations of others. Here are some simple, helpful ways you can support a center in your city.

More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/10-helpful-ways-to-support-a-pregnancy-resource-center

She has every legal right to keep her baby.

Many well-kept secrets are difficult to believe, once revealed. And most Americans would assert that forced abortion does not take place in our nation. Unfortunately, the only true part of that statement is that our laws do not force abortion (unlike China’s One Child Policy). However, many women across our nation are indeed faced with forced abortion.

It’s a reality and a well-kept secret for too many women. Girls are returned to their rapists and to situations of incest because their violators force them to get abortions, and abortion clinics allow it. Boyfriends, husbands, and parents threaten harm and homelessness unless a woman consents to abortion. Abortion doctors force abortions on women even after they change their minds.

More: http://liveactionnews.org/the-reality-of-forced-abortion-in-america/#more-42462