abortion

WASHINGTON — When a team of health officials and investigators looking into illegal drug use raided Dr. Kermit Barron Gosnell's Women's Medical Society Feb. 18, 2010, they happened upon what many are calling a "house of horrors."

"There was blood on the floor. A stench of urine filled the air. A flea-infested cat was wandering through the facility, and there were cat feces on the stairs," said a grand jury report about the conditions found in the clinic Gosnell ran in West Philadelphia.

Like many adopted children, Rebecca Kiessling wished to learn more about her biological parents. So after she turned 18, she petitioned the court to find out more.

Her mother's details were well described. But her father only had a few descriptors: "Caucasian" and "large build." Kiessling knew something was wrong. After questioning her case worker, Kiessling discovered that her mother had been raped at knifepoint by a serial rapist.

"I thought I was so ugly and unwanted," Kiessling said.

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri House has passed a bill that would reauthorize several "benevolent" tax credit programs, including one that benefits pregnancy resource centers.

A federal judge has dismissed lawsuit from the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Catholic Charities against the United States government, which challenges the constitutionality of the HHS health care mandate.

The 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade has given our local community plenty of pause to consider how we can bring an end to abortion. But the commitment to stopping this travesty -- an estimated 55 million babies have been killed since 1973 -- doesn't lie with attending the March for Life in Washington, D.C., every year. It's a commitment that requires our efforts 365 days a year.

As the parents of four children, Carrie and Marcus Bryant of Sacred Heart Parish in Florissant were able to have some time away on their own when they went to the March for Life. But their first trip to the March was also a moving one, because of a personal experience that Marcus Bryant had years ago.

During his freshman year in college, Marcus Bryant, now 36, had an abortion with a former girlfriend.

"At the time, I was scared to death. She was also scared to death, but we talked about it," he recalled. "Neither one of us felt any pressure, and we made the decision together."