March of Dimes "March for Babies" 2014 Update- Still Supporting Planned Parenthood, And Worse

A neighbor and friend of mine recently asked me to walk with her in this year's local March of Dimes, and/or to donate. One of her children had been a preemie. I care about her, she's a great neighbor and a kind, wonderful woman, and I wanted to help, but my heart sank when she asked me. This is why.
First, though, I decided to do current research, to see if maybe the MOD had changed. It was only fair to be sure.
But sadly, it seems the March of Dimes is perhaps more troubling to me now than it ever was, for four reasons. There is good news though: there still is the better alternative to support preemie babies that doesn't compromise its commitment to ALL babies' lives (more on that at the end of this post).

1) MOD gives money (grants) to the largest abortion provider in the nation, Planned Parenthood.
I'm not the only one who found this out, ten years ago or now. There are many regular folks who know this, both supporters of MOD (see the first commenter) and those who no longer can support MOD, having done their own homework, like this woman who lost a daughter, stillborn at fullterm, writing on her blog Rose and Her Lily:

I am going to share with you today the reasons why I will no longer support the March of Dimes. The reasons are probably unknown to most others who are participating, which is why I find it necessary to share...so at least people will realize what the March of Dimes supports. I in no way judge others for participating themselves, but as someone who is pro-life, I cannot participate (though I would love to walk in honor of babies both in Heaven and on Earth).
After I walked last year, my mother and grandmother both informed me that March of Dimes has been boycotted by those who are pro-life for decades. I was shocked to hear this because it seems like such a wonderful organization! After doing some research, I was very saddened to discover that they support Planned Parenthood (the nation's largest abortion provider). That in itself was enough to make me say "No, thank you." I know people think that Planned Parenthood is this amazing organization that does so much more for women than just providing abortion. Read about the 9 things you should know about Planned Parenthood - which reveals their true agenda. There are many others reasons why I do not support Planned Parenthood (such as the fact that it was founded by a racist eugenicist named Margaret Sanger), but that is another post in itself. The MOD says the money they give to PP doesn't fund abortions, but I wouldn't give money to even pay the electricity bill to keep that place operating. MOD says they are "neutral" on the abortion issue. The way I see it, not taking a stand is taking a stand. I don't see how an organization that is for babies can also be against them? Being for life should mean being for-every-life, both born and unborn, wanted and "unwanted."

Hannah Rose has many good links to articles about the not-good things MOD has supported over the decades, including "embryonic stem cell research, fetal tissue research, and abortion as an alternative to prenatal abnormalities."It's long been known, though not widely, that March of Dimes changed its original focus. This 1996 article in the Iowa Daily Reporter newspaper is explicit (CLICK THE IMAGE, THEN CLICK AGAIN TO ENLARGE):

As recently as 2002, MOD stated it only gives Planned Parenthood money "specifically for preconception health services and prenatal education services."
But Hannah Rose put it best when she wrote, "I wouldn't give money to even pay the electricity bill to keep that place operating." Her closing statements are those I echo, especially as it was Planned Parenthood that never once talked with me about my "prenatal education services" options and only steered me toward the abortion clinic:

"I am just trying to give people the truth so they can make their own decision on whether or not they want to support this organization. I also said above that I in no way judge anyone for walking or raising money because yes, it's true, MOD does do good...however, I cannot justify supporting the good they do in light of the bad...As a pro-life, post-abortive woman, this is where I stand in my beliefs and I will not make exceptions."

2) MOD denies that having had an abortion dramatically increases the risk of premature delivery:

I lost a son in 2001. He was born just a few days shy of six months gestation. After a week in the NICU, he surrendered his fight. I carry that child in my heart every day. I also carry the weight that his death was 100% avoidable. Like many doctors who continue to believe and advise their patients that abortion is a harmless procedure, my OB/GYN dismissed my concerns over my previous abortions.
It wasn’t till I became pregnant with my second son, that another doctor finally was brave enough to state the truth. My past two abortions had severely damaged and weakened my cervix. The medical term is incompetent cervix. With the proper diagnosis I was able to have a cervical cerclage and carry my second son to term. The link between abortion and incompetent cervix is not a new discovery. Anytime you forcefully dilate the cervix, you weaken the muscles. In fact, researching the causes of incompetent cervix, you’ll see these same words over and over again…

“…Caused by previous trauma to the cervix, such as a D&C (dilation and curettage) from an abortion or a miscarriage.”

How any reasonable person can ignore the obvious — abortion causes premature birth — is mind blowing. It’s unconscionable, unfathomably irresponsible, and completely unethical for organizations, like the March of Dimes, to request financial support for a medical condition they can help vastly reduce but intentionally choose not to, by refusing to acknowledge and educate women against the harms of abortion.

3) March of Dimes has long had a eugenics history, one that can't be erased, although it could have been forsaken. MOD over the decades has funded the following research:

• Peter A. J. Adam used the severed heads of live aborted babies between three to five month gestation in his fetal brain fuel metabolism experiments conducted at the University of Helsinski, Finland.
  
• Dr. John F.S. Crocker used 60 pairs of human embryonic kidneys obtained from “therapeutic” abortions after five to 12 weeks gestation in his renal research program.
  
• Dr. Stanley J. Robboy used the reproductive tracts of baby girls aborted by D&C and prostaglandin in his DES experiments.
  
• Dr. G. Cunha used the reproductive tracts of male and female aborted babies in similar experiments dealing with the teratogenic effects of certain drugs on developing human organs.
  
• Dr. A de la Chapelle of the University of Helsinki received a MOD grant to develop a non-evasive, simple and safe early prenatal test to replace mid-trimester amniocentesis, thus shifting the abortion timetable from the second trimester to the first trimester. He obtained cells sources from maternal blood samples and the open-heart puncture of healthy 10-week aborted fetuses.

During the 1970s and early 1980s it was MOD's private foundation monies that permitted these researchers and many others including Drs. Blanch Alter, David Nathan, Haig Kazazian, Yuet Wai Kan, and Mitchell Golbus to bypass the government ban prohibiting the use of federal funds for such non-therapeutic, lethal experimentation on live human fetuses. A virtual international "medical underground" was created to supply fresh human fetal tissues, blood or organs to "needy" researchers both in the U.S. and abroad.
...
On September 21, 1978 all members of the House of Representatives received a letter from NF/MOD president Charles Massey claiming that
"the financial cost of treating and institutionalizing our severely affected survivors (of genetic disorders) is staggering" and "we cannot begin to measure the cost to survivors themselves and their families."...Massey said that it was time for federal and state governments to take over the war to "prevent birth defects." He stated that the expansion of genetic service including prenatal diagnosis could help reduce the incidence of such disorders as Down syndrome and Tay Sachs. Left unsaid was the fact that since no cure exists for these disorders, this "reduction" could only be achieved eugenic abortion. [Emphasis mine]Similarly, in 1982, MOD Vice President Dr. Arthur Salisbury claimed that expanding health insurance coverage for genetic services would save the government billions of dollars in "custodial care" of "genetically handicapped children" born in the United States each year.
In the Final Report of a joint MOD-financed study (1982-1983) by the Health Services Foundation on genetic health insurance, the HSF determined that screening and prenatal diagnosis were cost-effective when compared to the high cost of caring for "blighted" children.

"Blighted" children? No parent hopes for their child to be anything less than 100% healthy and normal. But advocating to eliminate, to euthanize such children before they are born, just to save "the government" billions of dollars?Would that be the same government that lately cares nothing about throwing trillions of dollars at half the population in order to secure their lifelong and utter dependency on said government, and thus their lifelong votes, keeping said government in power in perpetuity?
Yes, it would be that same government, which only cares about you if you're already born and can vote for them. The hypocrisy is jaw-dropping.

4) Recently, MOD also signed on to obstruct Americans' right to religious freedom, as did Planned Parenthood, Easter Seals and others:

The March of Dimes, the American Cancer Society, and the Spina Bifida Association were listed in Planned Parenthood’s recent white paper, Taking Control, as being among “a wide range of health care groups” that joined the abortion giant, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in opposing the Blunt Amendment’s religious exemption from providing insurance benefits because of “moral conviction.” Easter Seals is added to the list of charities opposing religious freedom, as noted by a nationaljournal.com article.

In that nationaljournal.com article, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., hits the nail on the head succinctly,

"This is not an issue of contraception, or abortion, or sterilization...This is an issue of First Amendment rights."

RockForLife.org has a great post (with pictures) about recent protesters against religious freedom and for forcing their employers to pay for their birth control and abortifacient drugs, and the signs they created. RFL's reply? "If it’s not your boss’s business, then why are you making him/her pay for it?"Here is the simplest way to define what ObamaCare and the HHS mandate is forcing upon practicing Catholics, Christians, Jews and even some Muslims, all because they run their businesses with their religious beliefs and principles as their guides:
Our religious belief is that the loss of one's soul is worse than the loss of one's life, or of any right or freedom. Why should we be forced, by the very government founded to ensure freedom from religious persecution, to think and act as those who do not value a human being's soul?


American Life League points out there's an alternative to March Of Dimes that is without all their horrific history:

In 1978, following the Pro-Life Movement's decade-long battle with the March of Dimes, the International Foundation for Genetic Research, popularly known as The Michael Fund, was founded as the [life-affirming] alternative to the MOD.

The Michael Fund has four stated mission goals (summarized for this post): 1) to support an international genetic research program aimed at finding life-saving treatments for prenatal disorders that would otherwise risk babies' lives, 2) to help further the care and treatment of babies born with such problems, 3) to defend "the rights of physically and mentally handicapped persons – born and pre-born", and 4) to stop and even reverse the growth of "eugenic abortion of affected pre-born children and the euthanasia murder of handicapped children and adults."Sounds like a cause I'd donate wholeheartedly to (like the St. Jude Children's Hospital Warrior Dash I'm doing with my son in the state where he lives, late this year--I know, I know, I'm insane and will probably break every bone in my aged body attempting that).
The Michael Fund doesn't have the publicity or cachet of MOD, St.Jude Warriors in the Warrior Dash, or the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life (that's another one I've silently protested and boycotted for years for their support for abortion and ignoring the link between abortion and breast cancer). But The Michael Fund is where I'd donate, in my friend's name, to help at-risk babies before they're born, so they can be born.
Just like these angels:

[HT for that video to RockForLife.org which posted two weeks ago about World Down Syndrome Day being March 21.]