" In this day and age you'd think woman would be smart enought to figure out how to avoid the need to have one..... "

" Ms. Lafferty is incorrect when she states "Most people don’t know that birth control pills and the morning-after pill do the same thing a surgical abortion does, only with chemicals. The baby ends up dead and oftentimes a mother grieving for the child she has killed."

Birth control pills do not kill babies. They prevent them from being created.

BIG difference.

To imply that women who take birth control pills are killing babies is irresponsible, to say the least. "

" I am - shock - with glenroy on this. I would have more sympathy for the anti-abortion crowd if they were more open to birth control. The trouble is that when birth control and sex education start to be discussed (ways to prevent abortion), we usually only hear about abstinence only and morals.

I also have to say that the first amendment protects protesters regardless of how hideous the images they use are. If the pro-choice people want to object, maybe they need to come up with a counter message. That guy in front of the Planned Parenthood is certainly dedicated. Why aren't the pro-choice people as dedicated? "

" And so therein lies the problem, "birth control pills and the morning-after pill do the same thing a surgical abortion does, only with chemicals". What??!! More lies, deception and false information.

The issue really isn't the protesters First Amendment right to protest, march, gather, etc. It does have to do with the lies and deception and in-your-face confrontation of vulnerable women that is at the heart of the problem. The protesters are preventing women from obtaining birth control, education and health care - which would prevent these women from considering an abortion in the future. You see, I don't mind that you picket - I do mind that you lie to women.

And since you feel so strongly about the PP protesters right to protest, we can count on your support of others as they exercise their First Amendment rights to protest as well, right? "

" Glenroy writes, " In this day and age you'd think woman would be smart enought to figure out how to avoid the need to have one..... "

Uh, ...woman (sic) should be smart enough to figure out...?!? It takes TWO!! Women don't get themselves pregnant. What about those men who won't use condoms? What about the women married to them who don't want yet another child? Everyone is assuming that only unmarried teenagers have abortions. While young unmarried women may be the predominent patient, there are married women who seek abortions as well. (This doesn't mean that I think married teenagers are a good idea! And married teens having babies is just as bad. I know there are exceptions, but this almost guarantees yet another kid from a broken home.) "

" I don't know anyone taking birth control pills who has ever "grieved for the child she has killed." People take birth control pills for a variety of reasons - one of them is to prevent the conception of a child she doesn't want. By that logic, every time a woman puts a birth control pill in her mouth, she could be crying over a child she's killed, when the fact is that she is trying to prevent having a child she may need to abort. "

" Birth control pills and morning after pills do not kill babies. They prevent gametes and undifferentiated cell clusters from becoming babies.

If you can't support pregnancy prevention in forms that are humane and most likely to be used effectively, and which prevent the development of an embryo, fetus and infant in the first place, then your cause is not only unrealistic, it's cruel. People will not stop having sex. Women will get pregnant if they don't have the means to prevent conception and implantation. And if they get pregnant, and they don't want a child, they will have an abortion, just as they did before Roe v. Wade was decided. "

" Absolutely right, dellasumbrella.

Of course the pictures are a tactic. Get real. All that business about lovingly and supportingly engaging women. Nonsense! You are a bunch of control freaks with a narrow view of the problem. Start handing out condoms to the men who walk past you.

Stop lying about birth control pills and the morning after pill. Only in truth will you find a solution. Find the truth. Haven't you figured it out yet? You need to help men with responsible birth control methods. Women must be given birth control methods. Both should understand a women's monthly cycle. How many of you know when a woman is fertile? How many of you ask? Education is the answer, not harrassment and bullying.

Parents of these girls who are being harrassed should be stepping up! "

" I understand that the Catholic church is researching Lesbianism as an alternative to abstinence.

Does she really believe that birth control pills kill babies?
What about condoms? Do those kill babies too? Maybe we should outlaw them and get signatures so that we could amend our constitution so that only people who are ready to have babies can be married....Who will give the first signature? "

" Right, renee, and we should police married people who have already had all the children they want or can afford, to make sure they don't have sex. Abstinence before and after marriage, unless you're willing to conceive and support all the babies you might have.

The script is beyond absurd, isn't it? It reduces women to baby making machines. I have to echo Alucawanza here: Only in truth will we find a solution. The old Catholic way (which seems to be the new fundamentalist way) is not a solution. We don't need the same incentives to increase our numbers that we once thought we needed. "

" "By wanting to deny the rights of certain groups, i.e. people prayerfully and peacefully protesting abortion, you must deny all groups that right."

Again, the commenters here are not suggesting that the protesters don't have a First Amendment right to protest. I think you'll find that most of us here believe in the First Amendment rights for all people. The problem is that the protesters are not "peacefully protesting" and acting prayerfully. They are lying and intimidating women. They are dispensing false medical information. They are assaulting innocent passerbys including small, impressionable children with their photos - which are often photoshopped (i.e. not real). By their actions, they are stopping women from getting the very care that will keep them from considering an abortion in the future. They are also keeping women from care that may save their lives. The protesters are extremists. They profess that the "rhythm method" is the only acceptable form of birth control. And for those reasons, we object to the protesters in front of the Planned Parenthood. Surely, with such a supposedly educated leader, they would realize that they are doing more harm than good - and that elephants are best eaten one bite at a time. But that's not the nature of extremists. "

" Very well said, winewoman. Fundamental! "

" Winewoman….how do you define extremists?

It seems to me a 3rd term abortion of a viable baby is pretty extreme….particularly opposed to praying protestors.

From what I’ve seen the emotional scares leftover from an abortion can be very deep and dark..….to me that's also extreme. "

" glenroy, read my statement between "The protesters are extremists" and "But that's not the nature of extremists".

I take issue with assault rifles. However, protesting in front of a civil war gun show would be meaningless. And preventing an assault victim from buying a handgun for protection would be cruel.

The protesters are preventing women from obtaining birth control that would prevent the woman from considering an abortion in the future. They are preventing women from obtaining health care and testing that would save their lives.

The protesters claim that the "rhythm method" is the only acceptable form of birth control. This is unrealistic, unobtainable, overreaching and intrusive. We all want to stop the need for abortions. It's going to take an entirely different tactic than protesting in front of a PP clinic that does not perform abortions. "

" Glenroy
Is that the only fault you find with winewoman's post? I'm glad you agree with the rest. This isn't about abortion. It's about extremists lying to and bullying women.
Extremist: One who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm, especially in politics.
What is the real agenda of these people? In another post I read a real truism. If all they want to do is stand there and pray...well....go home and pray. God can hear you from there.
Read Winewoman's post again. She explains the situation so well. She identifies and exposes the true behaviors of these fanatics.
fanatic: A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause. "