PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Members of Project Defending Life Present Concerns at UNM Board of Regents Meeting

On December 13, 2011 Fr. Stephen Imbarrato, Director of Project Defending Life and Tara Shaver, also with Project Defending Life along with several other concerned citizens spoke before the UNM Board of Regents. "Our main goal was to educate and inform the Regents about how women's lives are being placed in danger as a result of the tax funded UNM Center for Reproductive Health abortion clinic," stated Tara Shaver. Others shared their disdain regarding UNM's current participation in providing abortions as well as the fact that the majority of abortions done in New Mexico are performed on Hispanic women.

Earlier this year Project Defending Life obtained three 911 recordings documenting serious life threatening abortion complications requiring three women to be rushed to UNM Hospital. These serious complications included: vomiting, seizures, a woman not breathing, being unresponsive and turning a grayish color. Another woman endured an attempted abortion even though her 8 week old baby was not in her uterus, this is also known as an ectopic pregnancy.

Most recently, Project Defending Life has released an Exposé revealing UNM's abortion Resident Training Programs and the fact that New Mexico tax dollars are being used to fund their abortion agenda.

It is vitally important that the UNM Board of Regents know how dangerous this abortion facility is so that they will promptly act to protect the women of New Mexico. Fr. Stephen Imbarrato Founder and Director of Project Defending Life issued the following statement after speaking before the UNM Board of Regents, "We appreciate the opportunity given to us by UNM Board of Regents President, Jack Fortner to share our concerns about the safety of women as well as our desire for the University of New Mexico to protect and affirm all life. In addition, we would like to see everyone in leadership positions in the state of New Mexico, from the Governor on down, to urgently work to turn New Mexico into a safe haven for pre-born babies. New Mexico can no longer be seen as the abortion capital of the Southwest."

December Newsletter: "A Time of Refreshing and a Departure"

The end of October and first week of November for us was a time of refreshing and spending time as a family. We were blessed to spend time in both Colorado and Flagstaff, AZ. It was our first time to CO where we were actually able to do some hiking and exploring. We met some new people and Charlie and Tirzah had a great time.

In Flagstaff, we had many people to see and reconnect with. We love our church family and friends in Flagstaff and always enjoy our visits there. It was really amazing being in an abortion free Flagstaff as well. We are thankful to have had this time to spend with Charlie as well. It was his last road trip and vacation with us.

On Sunday, November 20th Charlie flew back to Texas to be reunited with his mom after living with us for one year. While it has been hard to see him go, we entrust him to God’s care and pray that this past year has blessed him as much as it has us. Please continue to lift up Charlie and Tara’s family in prayer. Our prayer will always be that Charlie grows up to be a strong man of God, never wavering from the truth set before him.

Opportunities to Share the Truth

Our outreach at two separate abortion clinic’s continue. This crucial aspect of our ministry can also be the most emotionally draining. We put so much prayer and effort into our time out at the clinics. We are always effective as we touched on in last month’s newsletter, however, our desire is that every abortion minded woman would run over to us with open arms and leave with help, hope, and her precious child. Most of the time, tragically, this is not the case.

We know that God uses our presence when these woman are dropped off, and we are still there when they come out of the clinic after their abortion. Over the past few months, we have passed out a lot of post-abortion information and resources as well as prayed with some of the friends and boyfriends who dropped off these women. Please pray that these prayers and resources will bear fruit in the lives of these wounded women!

On November 19th, we were graciously invited to set up a table at ABQ’s first Festival of Praise. This free event was held to raise money for the National Day of Prayer week in May. There were many different singing groups as well as Christians from all over the area. We set up an educational table with fetal models and information to get the word out about what is happening in ABQ.

Apart from this event Tara was interviewed on a local Christian radio station. This interview was with regard to our latest press release/expose’ on the University of New Mexico’s abortion agenda. Our press release has already bore much fruit and we hope to share a lot of good news with you next month. If you have not read our latest press release: Exposé: Tax Funded Abortion Training and the Betrayal of True Medicine at UNM, you can read it posted earlier on our blog.

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Exposé: Tax Funded Abortion Training and the Betrayal of True Medicine at UNM

By Tara Shaver, Project Defending Life



Albuquerque, NM- A recent investigation conducted by Project Defending Life with the help of Operation Rescue has revealed that tax money received by the University of New Mexico (UNM) flows freely to the university-run UNM Center for Reproductive Health (UNMCRH) abortion clinic in Albuquerque.

This money is used for the following purposes:

Finance the UNMCRH abortion clinic.

Train UNM medical residents in abortions techniques, particularly late-term abortions.

Conduct experimental research on patients with regard to abortion, contraception and sterilization.

The University of New Mexico prides itself on being a public research university. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state as well as one of the state’s largest employers. The University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) is a teaching hospital located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, north of the University of New Mexico’s main campus. It is the only Level I Trauma Center in the State of New Mexico.

Nearly $91 million poured in from state coffers in 2011

In 2008, the University of New Mexico received $344.8 million from the New Mexico state legislature, making the state contribution 17% of UNM’s total operating budget. According to the Bernalillo County Treasurer’s office The University of New Mexico Hospital receives a percentage of all property taxes paid in the county. They receive a minimum of 6.4% a year from both residential and non-residential properties in Bernalillo County. However, the percentage can go even higher than that. In 2011 UNMH received 15.51% which amounted to $90,919,020. UNMH received the 4th highest amount of property tax funds in 2011.

UNM’s dirty little secret

Since UNM receives so much tax payer money, the public should know about the programs this entity is running.

UNM’s dirty little secret is their free standing abortion clinic in Albuquerque, the UNM Center for Reproductive Health. Abortions are performed up to 22 weeks gestation and research with regard to abortion, contraception and sterilization is conducted. For these reasons this “prestigious” institution falls short in its lifesaving efforts, because not all lives are being saved. In fact, 911 emergency records recently revealed that three women have been seriously injured as the result of abortion complications at the UNMCRH.

“I call upon Governor Martinez, who has been a consistent advocate for the unborn and opponent of abortion, to investigate this misuse of NM tax dollars. It is certain that the people of NM do not want their tax dollars used to prop up the abortion industry through their state university,” said Fr. Stephen Imbarrato, Director of Project Defending Life.

Abortion business administrators

The Health Sciences Center Department of OB-GYN, and the Department of Family and Community Medicine collaborate together for patient care and educational opportunities. Their collaboration runs and oversees the UNM Center for Reproductive Health abortion clinic. The Health Sciences Center has a newly formed Board of Directors that answer to UNM’s Board of Regents. The members of the Health Sciences Center Board of Directors were announced in April of this year and include:

Carolyn J. Abeita, Chair

Don L. Chalmers, Vice Chair and also Vice Chair of the UNM Board of Regents

Ann Rhoades

Jerry D. Geist

John (Mel) Eaves

Lt. Gen. Bradley C. Hosmer, USAF (Ret.)

Ronald (Ron) James Solimon

Training grant helps keep the abortion clinic doors open

The UNM Center for Reproductive Health is funded in part by a Ryan Residency Training grant. The Kenneth J. Ryan residency training program is a national, privately funded initiative based at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco. The Ryan program was founded in 1999 with the goal of improving training in abortion and contraception for ob-gyn residents in the United States and Canada. The following quote is on the programs website, “Access to experience with induced abortion must be part of residency education.” This quote is directly from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and reveals an agenda bent on expanding abortion services. It best sums up the mission of the program. Training medical residents to kill is the worst betrayal of true medicine.

Trainers participating in the Ryan program are late-term abortionist Curtis Boyd and his wife, Glenna. Boyd has stated that he trains at UNM and other universities across the country. Documents obtained through open records requests show that Boyd’s own abortion clinic in Albuquerque has been recently responsible for eleven abortion-related medical emergencies, with life-threatening injuries occurring at the rate of one every ten weeks.

Experimental abortion, birth control, and sterilization

Apart from the Ryan Program, UNM is also offering a post graduate Fellowship in Family Planning (FFP). The FFP is also based at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health UCSF. The Fellowship in Family Planning is the only fellowship in the nation that provides the opportunity to develop high-level research and clinical skills in contraception and abortion.

According to their website the clinical training is as follows:

“Fellows are trained in abortion and contraception care, using evidence-based medical and surgical methods. The UNM Center for Reproductive Health is an off-site clinic about 6 miles from the hospital. This clinic serves the family planning and STI needs of women in the University system. Training will also be accomplished at Planned Parenthood. Later second trimester abortion will occur at UNM and with Dr. Curtis Boyd in his clinic either in New Mexico or in Dallas.
Uterine evacuations up to 22 weeks gestation are performed in the clinic with participation of medical students and residents. The medically complex and later gestational cases are performed in the main operating rooms at UNM. The UNM Family Planning Section of the Gynecology Division performs medical abortion, surgical abortions to 24 weeks, and labor induction.
Additional abortion training up to 19 weeks is available at Planned Parenthood of New Mexico in Albuquerque as well as supplemental training in 20-24 week abortion with Dr. Curtis Boyd. Dr. Boyd has a high volume clinic in Dallas, Texas and we anticipate that Fellows in their second year will complete one to three 2-week sessions in Dallas to train to competence in later abortions.
After orientation and training, the UNM Fellow will supervise residents and medical students at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health including complex contraception, miscarriage management as well as diagnosis/treatment of first trimester pregnancy complications, in-office hysteroscopy, Essure and endometrial ablation…The UNM Fellow will become expert at the range of family planning and abortion care while maintaining and promoting generalist skills.”

“Most people would be shocked to learn that women are being used as human guinea pigs at UNMCRH for the development of new ways to kill babies and sterilize women – all at taxpayer expense,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

“The number of abortion clinics has dramatically decreased by over 66% since 1991, partly because young doctors do not want to dirty themselves with the abortion business. Abortionists who quit, retire, or are stripped of their licenses are not being replaced. It is clear that, with the help of tax funding, UNM is in bed with Planned Parenthood and late-term abortionist Boyd to crank out new abortionists in order to stabilize and expand abortion services nationwide. This radical agenda must be exposed.”

Back alley abortionist embraced by UNM

It is alarming that UNM is collaborating with Curtis Boyd who openly admits to being an illegal abortionist before Roe vs. Wade. Part and parcel of the pro-abortion rhetoric is that women need open access to abortion to protect them from having to resort to seeking out “back alley abortionists.” The University uses New Mexico tax dollars to bring a confessed “back alley abortionist” to the University and thrusts unsuspecting students and vulnerable women into his hands. Boyd admits to having conducted “pain management” experiments on his patients as well as having used them to experiment new abortion methods. As previously mentioned, over the past two years alone, there have been eleven documented life-threatening injuries at Curtis Boyd’s late-term abortion mill, demanding these women be rushed to the UNMH emergency room.

UNM abortionists use tax dollars fund radical agenda

While the medical community is supposed to heal and save lives, doctors at UNM are training up the next generation of physicians to do just the opposite. Instead of serving people through the practice of medicine, these doctors are learning how to take the lives of the most defenseless of our society.
UNM physicians are determined to use tax dollars to further their pro-abortion agenda.

Eve Espey serves as the Medical Director for the Center for Reproductive Health abortion clinic. She is also Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and holds the position of Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Her main interests include family planning and medical student education. Espey is on the faculty of the Health Sciences Global Health Program (GHP). The Global Health Program has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a collaborating center on education, service and research. Espey’s focus with the GHP is family planning and abortion in Mexico and Central America. While Eve Espey deceptively claims to be helping the people of Mexico and Central America, in reality by promoting abortion Espey is really advancing a population control agenda. This begs the question: “Why is Eve Espey targeting this population for extinction?”

Larry Leeman directs the Family Medicine Maternal and Child Health service and is co-medical director of the UNM Hospital Mother-Baby Unit. Leeman is also actively studying ways to expand contraceptive availability, including studies that have been completed on oral contraceptives and breastfeeding, immediate postpartum IUD insertion, and attitudes and practices of abortion care among New Mexico Family Physicians and Ob/Gyns. He is very active at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health and performs abortions on the days he is not delivering babies at UNMH. Leeman was on the Board of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, the leading physician’s group advocating for women’s reproductive rights until June 2011 when he was appointed to the Institute of Medicines’ Standing Committee on Family Planning.

Tony Ogburn is the UNM School of Medicine OB/GYN Residency Program Associate Director, Professor. The Residency Program includes rotations in Family Planning and abortion at the Center for Reproductive Health. Ogburn is also the UNM contact for breastfeeding and emergency contraception.

Rameet Singh and Eve Espey serve as the Family Planning Fellowship Directors. Singh is also an assistant professor in the OB/GYN department at UNM.

“The residents of the state of New Mexico should not be footing the bill for UNM to train abortionists to kill babies. It is vital that the people of New Mexico be informed about where their money is going and how it is being used. Until UNM closes down their abortion clinic they should not receive any more tax funding,” stated Bud Shaver, spokesperson for Project Defending Life.

Fr. Stephen Imbarrato, Director of Project Defending Life issued the following plea, “We are calling all people of conscience in New Mexico to contact UNM President David Schmidly and the UNM Board of Regents President Jack Fortner to let them know that you want UNM and UNMH to preserve and protect all life and not destroy it by abortion.”
Contact:

UNM President David Schmidly
505-277-2626 Phone
unmpres@unm.edu
UNM Board of Regents President Jack Fortner
jack@fortnerdalley.com

November Newsletter: The Crisis Continues; “Who is My Neighbor…?”

Investigation Reveals Tax Funded Abortions

In October, Project Defending Life and Operation Rescue, launched an investigation showing that Medicaid pays not only for abortions, but completely covers third-trimester abortions for no medical reason whatsoever.

An undercover phone call was made to ABQ’s late term abortion clinic. The caller identified herself as having a healthy pregnancy in the 26th week of gestation to a Southwestern Women’s Options employee named Sue. She told Sue that the reason she wanted an abortion was because her husband had just lost his job.

We discovered that an abortion in the 26th week of pregnancy costs $9,000 and in New Mexico, is covered 100% by Medicaid. There are an additional 15 states in the country that fund abortions through state and federal tax payer dollars.

This investigation was done to help educate the public about where their tax dollars are going. It is clearly disturbing and shocking that funds are being used to take innocent human life especially when the vast majority of the American people strongly object to their tax money being used in this way.

In addition, we uncovered that Medicaid also pays for abortions done on babies diagnosed with down syndrome. October is Down Syndrome awareness Month, however, 90% of children diagnosed with down syndrome in America, are killed by abortion simply for being disabled. We found in our investigation, that an abortion performed on a child with down syndrome in the 30th week of pregnancy costs anywhere from $10,000-$16,000 and is paid for by us...taxpayers.

We’re reminded that all life is precious, sacred to God, & deserving of protection no matter what!

The Crisis Continues...

Another 911 tape revealing an additional botched abortion was uncovered this month by Tara. We released the tape to Operation Rescue and filed an additional complaint with the NM Medical Board. This latest call to 911 from Southwestern Women’s Options was placed on September 22, and makes a total of 14 life-threatening abortion complications over the past two years.

It is vital that the public as well as the Medical Board are aware of this continuing crisis. These life threatening injuries are continuing, so please pray that the doctors involved will be held accountable for their actions, legally forced to stop and surrender to Christ as their Lord!

Thankfully, the local media continues to cover this urgent crisis and Tara was able to do several interviews on local Christian radio stations.

Another Baby Born!

This month, we found out that in June of this year another baby was born into our ministry, by the grace of God. When Tara met Samantha*( not her real name) it was truly a divine appointment. Samantha had just come from a horrible interview for a job that she was trying to obtain. She was completely distraught, in fact she was physically shaking.

Tara soon found out about her situation and about the fact that she had previously had an abortion. Samantha would not recognize her baby as a person and insisted her baby was an “it.” Thankfully Samantha attended some parenting classes and Project Defending Life also provided her with maternity clothes and much needed love and encouragement. She delivered a healthy baby boy in June. We are so happy for her and rejoice in her courage to choose life for her son.

“Who is My Neighbor…?”

Recently we were asked, “Are you successful in your ministry?” That’s a great question and we know it carries some baggage since hundreds of women have abortions each month in ABQ. Our answer was an emphatic, “YES!" Here we’d like to touch the tip of the iceberg of this question. One of our goals is to simply “be there” to reach abortion minded women in order to offer life affirming alternatives. These alternatives are foreign to most of the women we speak to, they think that abortion is their only option. We can’t make the choice for them, but we can be modern day “Good Samaritan's” and offer help to our neighbors and not pass them by.

Where are abortion minded women? According to another ABQ pregnancy center Director, most of their clientele are women who want to carry their babies to term. The majority of women in ABQ, who visit pregnancy centers, have already made up their minds to keep their babies, they just need assistance. So if abortion minded women aren’t going to pregnancy centers for help, where are they going?

Everyday in America these women go to abortion clinics. At these clinics they are sold abortions and told that there is no harm in it. They go in healthy pregnant women with bright futures ahead of them, only to leave wounded, maimed and forever changed. As the body of Christ we offer hope to these women, in the last moments before they reach the point of no return. If we as Christians do not reach these women at these places of death, who will? God emphatically commands us, in Proverbs 24:11 to, “Rescue those being led away to death.” How can we do this if we refuse to be at the places where people are dying?

With God’s help and provision we are successful in offering every woman we see hope and help in her situation. Countless babies lives have been saved and women have been spared a life of regret. As Christians aren’t we called to be salt and light, aren’t we called to “go” and make disciples? How can we do that if we continue to sit in pews and expect other Christians to do all of the “work?” Choose to be obedient and a blessing for life, get involved and join us. God wants to use you and these women and their babies need you!

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Call Reveals Medicaid Paying $16,000 to Abort 30-Week Down Syndrome Baby

Written by Operation Rescue

Watch Video Here: www.youtube.com

Albuquerque, New Mexico – As Down Syndrome Awareness month concludes, Operation Rescue has released a video containing excerpts from an undercover call to a late-term abortion clinic that assured the caller that Medicaid would pay the total costs of an abortion at 30 weeks gestation on a pre-born baby diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Estimated cost of the abortion was between $10,000 and $16,000.

“We know that 92 percent of all women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome end up aborting their babies. Now we know that it is done at great expense to the taxpayer, who foots the bill for outrageously expensive abortions,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

“These precious babies do not deserve to die and certainly the taxpayers should not be paying to kill them. The fact that our tax money goes to exterminate innocent children with disabilities is abhorrent to most Americans. Cutting off the tax funding will go a long way toward ending this barbaric and intolerant practice.”

The call was placed on October 12, 2011, to Southwestern Women’s Options, a late-term abortion clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that made headlines when a similar undercover call revealed that late-term abortions are being done at tax-payer expense on healthy women with healthy pregnancies. Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life documented 15 states where Medicaid funds pay for abortions.

Southwestern Women’s Options also recently attracted attention for the excessive number of abortion complications there requiring emergency hospitalization. Operation Rescue published the 911 calls showing women suffering from various life-threatening abortion-related injuries and complications. The clinic’s abortionists, Curtis Boyd, Shelley Sella, and Susan Robinson, are currently under investigation by the New Mexico Medical Board based on complaints filed by Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life.

Please call your Senator and demand an and to ALL tax-funded abortions.

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Undercover Calls Reveal Medicaid Pays $9,000 For Late Term Abortions with Our Tax Dollars

Written by Operation Rescue

Watch Video Here: www.youtube.com/watch

Albuquerque, New Mexico – As debate over tax-funding of abortions in Obamacare is scheduled in Washington, D.C. for Thursday, an investigation conducted by Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life shows millions of tax dollars are already paying for abortions each year. Operation Rescue has released a short video containing excerpts from an undercover recording showing that Medicaid pays not only for abortions, but completely covers third-trimester abortions for no medical reason whatsoever.

The caller identified herself as having a healthy pregnancy in the 26th week of gestation to a Southwestern Women’s Options employee named Sue. She told Sue that the reason she wanted an abortion was because her husband had just lost his job.

“It’s shocking that our tax dollars would pay $9,000 for a third-trimester abortion simply because of a lost job. The vast majority of the American people strongly object to their tax money being used in this way,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Operation Rescue has identified 15 states where Medicaid funds pay for abortions. Those states are Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

The undercover caller phoned abortion clinics in 12 of those states and in every case was told that Medicaid would pay for abortions.

Medicaid is a joint government program that is funded completely by tax dollars. Up to fifty percent of the money comes from state taxes and the rest comes from the Federal tax coffers, depending on the state’s poverty level.

Federal Medicaid funds are not supposed to cover abortions, but do so in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, exceptions that have been exploited in the past to include more abortions. But it is State money that generally funds abortions to the tune of millions of dollars annually.

For example, California’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, paid out over $23.6 million to cover abortions in 2007 alone.

Abortion clinics are well aware of Medicaid funding and jump at the chance to use it. One abortion fund website coaches women how to obtain free abortions through Medicaid and the number one way is to go through the abortion clinic for assistance.

“If we are serious about stopping tax-funded abortions, then we need end it in every government program at the State and Federal levels,” said Newman. “We encourage everyone to contact their U.S. Congressman this week and demand a complete end to publicly funded abortions.”

Contact your Congressman

Click to listen:

Full, unedited recording to SWO. (18 min. 23. Sec.)
Written Transcript
Calls from Alaska, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia.

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Botched Abortion Crisis Deepens As New 911 Call Reveals Continuing Dangers at Albuquerque Clinics

Written by Operation Rescue

Listen and watch video here: 11th 911 Abortion Emergency Call from SWO
 
Albuquerque, NM – Another woman has suffered complications from a botched abortion at Southwestern Women’s Options, a late-term abortion mill in Albuquerque, New Mexico, owned and operated by Curtis Boyd.

The latest 911 call obtained by Tara Shaver of Project Defending Life and released to Operation Rescue shows a 31-year old woman who is suffering uncontrolled bleeding after an abortion. The abortion clinic worker who placed the call requested that the patient be transported to the hospital.

This is the eleventh such abortion-related medical emergency at Southwestern Women’s Options in less than two years, and the fourteenth reported abortion emergency overall in Albuquerque in that same time frame.

Both Project Defending Life and Operation Rescue filed complaints about the recent flood of botched abortions with the New Mexico Medical Board (NMMB), but received mixed signals about whether an investigation would be conducted.

Since then, the Attorney General’s office has contacted NMMB’s Executive Director Lynn Hart, regarding the incidents, requesting her “assistance in handling this matter”.

In addition, members of Project Defending Life met with Gov. Susana Martinez to discuss the dangerous conditions that have spawned so many life-threatening abortion complications.

“Our concern is for the safety of women in New Mexico. We were encouraged to hear that Governor Martinez shares these same concerns. In fact, we were thoroughly impressed that the Governor’s office not only knew about the 911 calls, but had already contacted the Executive Director of the Medical Board to insure the investigation was progressing. We now have confidence that the New Mexico Medical Board is conducting a proper investigation,” said Fr. Stephen Imbarrato of Project Defending Life after the meeting.

“This latest abortion emergency further instills a new sense of urgency to the Medical Board’s ongoing investigation,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “It is obvious that Albuquerque abortion clinics are ill-equipped to handle complications that occur on a regular basis and are using paramedics as a back-up plan for when things go terribly wrong. This presents an unacceptable risk to public health. If Boyd and other abortionists insist on running unsafe abortion mills with high complication rates and a dangerous lack of access to emergency resources, then they should not be allowed to operate at all.”

• Read written transcript of 911 call
• Read CAD transcript
• Background