This is my first work on a campaign since '96. It's good to be back in the fray of things. :)

Paging Illinois Freepers.

Some of you are in Jill Stanek's district. All of you are in O'Malley's target area. Please read.

If you know someone who'd be interested in working on Jills campaign (Orland Park, Homer Township, Plainfield area) please put them in touch with me. :)

I'm in St. Cair County...and am still pretty new to Illinois.... I can't promise you anything (money, support, or even volunteer work) at the moment. I will promise that if Mr. O'Malley is a true conservative he will have my vote.

Best Wishes!

From Crosswalk.com:

Crosswalk.com Women's Channel -

Nurse Jill Stanek was recently fired from Christ Hospital in Illinois after 2 years of speaking out against the hospital’s live birth abortion procedures. The hospital had been inducing labor for mothers who wanted to terminate their pregnancies after their first trimester and leaving the infants who survived the procedure (which happens in approximately 1 out of every 3 cases) to die alone in a room where soiled linens were stored. Stanek has since been the subject of considerable media attention and testified before Congress twice, including the hearing for the Born Alive Infant Act of 2000 which passed the Senate in an overwhelming majority.

Her Resolve

After she made Christ Hospital’s atrocious procedures known, one would have thought that Stanek would resign from her job. But she instead decided to continue working there to avoid the perception that she was simply a disgruntled former employee as she brought public attention to live birth abortions.

While Stanek was still working at the hospital, she experienced verbal persecution (she calls them barbs) as a result of her stance. Various attempts to intimidate her did not shake her conviction that God had purposely placed her there. In an interview with Beverly LaHaye Today, Stanek cited Proverbs 24:11-12 as her main motivation:

“Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let them die. Don't try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn't know about it. For God knows all hearts, and he sees you. He keeps watch over your soul, and he knows you knew! And he will judge all people according to what they have done.“ She received two “final warnings” from her employer, each one lasting a year during which time she could be terminated for any infraction. Before this dispute, Stanek’s personnel record was exemplary, including many favorable comments from supervisors and peers. Last month, one particular news story about Stanek received considerable attention and painted the hospital in a negative light. Shortly after the story was printed, Stanek’s job was terminated.

Her legal counsel plans to pursue a wrongful termination suit based upon the fact that employees are protected in their right to comment on the questionable practices of an employer.

When asked if it was worth losing her job to continue standing up for what she believed, Stanek made the poignant observation that she really had no choice. In the LaHaye interview, she said “I don’t get how people could have more fear of man than they do of God. In my lifetime, I have been disobedient just like everyone else, and I know the shame and guilt of that. I would much rather endure the pain of these little barbs than endure the guilt of disobedience. I think the barbs are much easier to live with. I’m in a war of words and that’s nothing compared to what other Christians (throughout history) have had to endure.”

Her Impact

Despite the fact that live birth abortions continue throughout the country, Stanek’s efforts have not been in vain as she has persistently chipped away at the foundations of the culture of death. The general public has become more aware over the past two years of a procedure that not even Stanek knew about until she had spent a year as a nurse at Christ Hospital. Other nurses’ stories (such as the case of Baby Hope ) indicate that many nurses across the country may be unaware of the live abortions taking place in their hospitals. Stanek is bringing attention to the matter through her Congressional testimonies and appearances on national television and radio shows.

By forcing this issue into the arena of public debate, the arguments of those who support live birth abortion have been exposed for their illogical reasoning. For example, in an article from the Daily Southtown, reporter Kristen McQueary quotes Betty V. Holcomb, co-president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice-Illinois as saying, “I find it disturbing that (Stanek) would violate patients' privacy by discussing what takes place in operating rooms in the hospital." In fact, Stanek insists that she never broke confidentiality of patients because she never gave names of parents or babies to the media. She simply explained what happened to anonymous infants. Holcomb continues, “When she states that something is alive, what does she mean by 'alive?' What is her definition of 'baby?' " Alive? Baby? Only in a world of sliding truths would the definitions of such words be questioned.

Jill Stanek’s whistleblowing has influenced Christ Hospital which – despite its persistence in this seeming infanticide -- has begun to bend under public scrutiny. The hospital has changed its policy regarding acceptable reasons for performing a live birth abortion. Before Stanek’s publicity, Christ Hospital allowed abortions for a variety of abnormalities that were not fatal, including retardation, spina bifida, and HIV infection. Now the procedure is only applied when a mother was a victim of rape or incest, when her health is threatened, or when the fetus’ abnormalities are fatal.

Her Future

Stanek’s plans for future employment are still up in the air, but her crusade is not over. On Beverly LaHaye Today she said, “I will continue to speak out against [Christ Hospital]. I believe that my firing was either engineered or allowed by God and I intend to use this … But I’m not sure I want to go back to a hospital setting [for employment.] If I do, I will only work for a Catholic hospital. I’m not Catholic, but I sure have learned that just having a Christian name on a hospital doesn’t mean much as far as being assured that your employer won’t engage in unethical practices.”

Jill's Testimony Before The House:

Whistle Blower Jill Stanek Testifies

LIBRARY

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT Rebecca Riggs (202) 488-7000 media.cwfa.org July 16, 2001 Whistle Blower Jill Stanek Testifies House Committee Hears How Newborn Infants are Being Killed Washington, D.C.—On July 12, 2001, Jill Stanek testified at a congressional hearing on the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2001 (H.R. 2175). Mrs. Stanek, a nurse at Christ Hospital in Illinois, recounted how hospital personnel deliberately allow premature babies who survive induced labor to die, a procedure known as live birth abortion. The hospital has put Mrs. Stanek on probation for her public criticism of its practices, but she continues to testify on these inhumane practices. Mrs. Stanek, who held one of these babies for 45 minutes before he died, has worked with Concerned Women for America (CWA) to introduce the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. This legislation, which states that babies born alive are persons with legal rights, is sponsored by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Rep. Sue Myrick (R-North Carolina) and Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Pennsylvania). “It is clear to all, except the most extreme and those who profit from it, that live-birth abortions are murder. Wearing a white coat does not give a person carte blanche to kill the helpless,” said Wendy Wright, Director of Communications at Concerned Women for America. Mrs. Stanek fears that live-birth abortion has become common practice. In fact, medical instruction on second-trimester labor induction refers to live births as a possible complication. She also fears for the future of medical ethics. “If we all cannot at least agree that civil rights begin at birth, then we will have to initiate the debate as to when after delivery a living person does begin to have rights, and A Pandora’s Box will have been opened, the depths of which no one can possibly ascertain today,” she said. In June, the Senate voted, 98-0, in favor of Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-Pennsylvania) Born Alive Infant Protection amendment to the Patient’s Bill of Rights. Last year, the House of Representatives passed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, 380-15. Jill Stanek said, “When I testified before you last July, another nurse who worked at Christ Hospital, Allison Baker, also testified. Allison was not asked back today due to the new limit on the number of witnesses allowed. But last year Allison described walking into the Soiled Utility Room on two separate occasions to find live aborted babies left naked on a scale and the metal counter. She told about the patient that she herself had who didn't know that her baby might be aborted alive and who did not then want to hold him. After he was taken to the Soiled Utility Room she kept asking, ‘Is he dead yet? Is he dead yet?’” About the changes in Christ Hospital's practices Jill Stanek said, “After I testified last year, Christ Hospital stopped putting aborted babies to die in the Soiled Utility Room. This past December it unveiled its “Comfort Room.” This is a small, nicely decorated room complete with a First Foto machine in case parents want pictures of their aborted babies, baptismal supplies if parents would like their aborted babies baptized, and a foot printer and baby bracelets if parents would like keepsakes of their aborted babies. There is also a wooden rocker to rock these babies to death.” These pictures were entered into the Congressional Record. E-mail a friend about this article Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 E-mail: mail@cwfa.org

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Testimony of Jill L. Stanek, RN

U. S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Hearing

"Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2001"

July 12, 2001

I am a Registered Nurse who has worked in the Labor & Delivery Department at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, for the past six years. In the year that has elapsed since I testified before your committee regarding the same bill under discussion today, I have continued to work at the same hospital in the same position.

Christ Hospital performs abortions on women in their second or even third trimesters of pregnancy. Sometimes the babies being aborted are healthy, and sometimes they are not. The abortion technique that Christ Hospital and other hospitals use, called "induced labor abortion," sometimes results in infants being aborted alive, because throughout this particular abortion procedure the fetus is not killed in the uterus. The focus of this method is to forcibly dilate a woman's cervix so that she will prematurely deliver a baby who dies during the birth process or soon afterward.

The cervix is the opening at the bottom of the uterus that normally stays closed until a woman is about 40 weeks pregnant and goes into labor. There are a few ways to cause the cervix to open early. At Christ Hospital the most common way this is done is by the physician inserting a medication called Cytotec into the birth canal close to the cervix. Cytotec irritates the cervix. The FDA does not approve Cytotec for this use. It is a drug that is supposed to be taken by mouth to help control ulcers. The manufacturer of Cytotec issued a public letter in August 2000 warning that this drug may be harmful to women if used to induce labor, up to and including causing the uterus to rupture and causing death. But Christ Hospital continues to use Cytotec for pregnancy terminations.

After the cervix is prematurely dilated, the small, preterm baby drops out of the uterus, sometimes alive. In the event that a baby is aborted alive, he or she is given what my hospital calls "comfort care." "Comfort care" involves wrapping the baby in a blanket and offering him or her to the parents to hold until the baby dies. If parents do not want to hold their baby, as I have observed is most often the case, it is left to staff to care for the baby. Up until recently, staff options were to hold the baby until death or put the baby in our Soiled Utility Room if we got busy or if the baby lingered too long. Indeed, it is not uncommon for one of these babies to live for an hour or two or even longer. Last year alone, of the 16 babies that Christ Hospital states were aborted, I am aware of four who were born alive. Each of these babies - two boys and two girls - lived between 1-1/2 and 3 hours. At Christ Hospital one of these babies once lived for almost an entire eight-hour shift. At least two of the second-trimester babies who were aborted last year at Christ Hospital were completely healthy.

One night, a nursing co-worker was taking an aborted Down's syndrome baby who was born alive to our Soiled Utility Room because his parents did not want to hold him, and she did not have time to hold him. I could not bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone in a Soiled Utility Room, so I cradled and rocked him for the 45 minutes that he lived. He was 21 to 22 weeks old, weighed about ½ pound, and was about 10 inches long. He was too weak to move very much, expending any energy he had trying to breathe. Toward the end he was so quiet that I couldn't tell if he was still alive unless I held him up to the light to see if his heart was still beating through his chest wall. After he was pronounced dead, we folded his little arms across his chest, wrapped him in a tiny shroud, and carried him to the hospital morgue where all of our dead patients are taken.

Other co-workers have told me about incidences of live aborted babies whom they have cared for. A Support Associate told me about an aborted baby who was left to die on the counter of the Soiled Utility Room wrapped in a disposable towel. This baby was accidentally thrown into the garbage, and when they later were going through the trash to find the baby, the baby fell out of the towel and on to the floor. A nurse coworker told me about an abortion she was involved in where the baby was supposed to have spina bifida but was born with an intact spine. She said that what actually happened was that there was an incompletely formed twin who appeared as a mass on his brother's back during an ultrasound. The nurse told me that the father came into the Soiled Utility Room to see his son, took one look and saw that he had been involved in aborting his completely healthy baby, and turned and left the room without saying a word. I was recently told about a situation by a nursing coworker who said, "I can't stop thinking about it." She had a patient who was just over 23 weeks pregnant, and she was not going to be able to complete her pregnancy to term. The baby was healthy and had up to a 39% chance of survival, according to national statistics. But the patient chose to abort. The baby was born alive. If the mother had wanted everything done for her baby, there would have been a neonatologist, pediatric resident, neonatal nurse, and respiratory therapist present for the delivery, and the baby would have been taken to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for specialized care. Instead, the only personnel present for this delivery were an obstetrical resident and my coworker. After delivery the baby, who showed early signs of thriving, was merely wrapped in a blanket and kept in the Labor & Delivery Department until she died 2-1/2 hours later. Just three weeks after this baby was aborted, another mother came to the hospital under similar circumstances, carrying an identically aged baby and was offered the same options. But she said that she wanted her baby. And so present at her delivery were the aforementioned NICU team, and for the two days that I tracked her, that little girl lived.

When I testified before you last July, another nurse who worked at Christ Hospital, Allison Baker, also testified. Allison was not asked back today due to the new limit on the number of witnesses allowed. But last year Allison described walking into the Soiled Utility Room on two separate occasions to find live aborted babies left naked on a scale and the metal counter. She told about the patient that she herself had who didn't know that her baby might be aborted alive and who did not then want to hold him. After he was taken to the Soiled Utility Room she kept asking, "Is he dead yet? Is he dead yet?" (This testimony is being entered today into the Congressional Record.)

Lest you think that Christ Hospital's live birth abortion practice is uncommon, I am entering into Congressional Record today literature from a March 30, 2001, symposium sponsored by Waukesha Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin that was "reviewed and is acceptable" by the American Academy of Family Physicians, wherein Dr. Washington Hill writes that a "complication" of a mid-trimester labor induction is a "live birth." The American College of Obstetricians and gynecologists also gave credit hours to physicians for taking this course.

After I testified last year, Christ Hospital stopped putting aborted babies to die in the Soiled Utility Room. This past December it unveiled its "Comfort Room." This is a small, nicely decorated room complete with a First Foto machine in case parents want pictures of their aborted babies, baptismal supplies if parents would like their aborted babies baptized, and a foot printer and baby bracelets if parents would like keepsakes of their aborted babies. There is also a wooden rocker to rock these babies to death. (Pictures entered into Congressional Record.)

When Christ Hospital opened its Comfort Room, I was honestly galled. It became clearer to me than ever that a law must be enacted that specifies that all babies born alive are indeed humans and American citizens with civil rights to equal protection. This is a point that is obviously not clear to extremists in our great country who believe that the right to obtain an abortion must be extended to include the right to commit infanticide. If a hospital named "Christ" does not willingly stop committing infanticide but handles public and legal scrutiny by merely trying to make those whose lives they're snuffing out more "comfortable," I have grave concerns about children whose lives are being ended at abortion clinics and hospitals where there is no spotlight of attention.

Once a fetus is aborted, the pregnancy has been terminated. But when what emerges on the other of the vaginal vault is alive, "it" by medical definition is no longer a fetus but is now a "neonate" or "baby," with rights as human beings and American citizens that must be zealously protected. If we all cannot at least agree that civil rights begin at birth, then we will have to initiate the debate as to when after delivery a living person does begin to have rights, and a Pandora's Box will have been opened, the depths of which none of can possibly ascertain today.

The Department of Health & Human Services wrote me that, "civil rights laws do not cover abortion procedures or the rights of newborns." The Illinois Attorney General determined that "there is no basis for legal action by this office against the Hospital… at this time" in regard to Christ Hospital's labor induction abortion practices. (Both letters entered into Congressional Record.) Alan Keyes recently observed, "If we reflect for a moment upon the example of the Declaration of Independence, we will remember that sometimes even self-evident truths need to be declared." I think it is obvious that this is one of those times.

Here's another reference for you KLT. You may want to talk to usc about working on one of these campaigns...

bump

Here's a central Illinois bump.

I'd like to see Wood and Ryan attack each other sufficiently well that O'Malley, who everyone ignores, can win. Any possibility of the "dark horse" strategy working?

On a couple related notes: (1) just about anyone will be an improvement over King George; (2) who is/are Joe Birkett's primary opponent(s)?

Thanks RedWing, appreciate the ping...checking it out!

>> (1) just about anyone will be an improvement over King George <<

Exception being Corinne Wood, of course. On the other hand, Ryan's such a corrupt socialist, he MIGHT even be worst than half the Democrats running. Blagoavich SEEMS conservative by comparsion!

>> (2) who is/are Joe Birkett's primary opponent(s)?

That would be assistant Illinois A.G. Bob Coleman. Coleman for Illinois Attoney General He's a "moderate" Republican who supports Governor RINOs indefinite "moritorium" on the death penelty and thinks his trial lawyer experiance sueing companies makes him "more prepared" than Birkett. He thought sueing tobacco and Microsoft were really good ideas.

In another words, Joe Birkett is the establishment candidate, but he's still more conservative than the other guy running. He has Jim Ryan's old job and wants his current one, but he's superior to him in many ways.

>> This will be your opportunity to meet and talk to State Sen. O'Malley, who is the only PRO LIFE candidate running for Governor. <<

I would remind freepers that Jim Ryan's "official" campaign plank states that he is OPPOSED to abortion in every circumstance except to save the mother's life. Many pro-lifers will therefore ASSUME Jim Ryan has a pro-life record. He doesn't. Pat O'Malley is the only candidate running for governor with a PROVEN record voting pro-life, but he's not the only candidate who claims to be pro-life. We must convince pro-lifers to vote for someone who can be trusted by more than their word alone.

It should also be noted that Christ Hospital is in O'Malley's district (I live rather close to it myself). Pat resigned from the Hospital's Board of Directors when he found out abortions were being performed there.

:-)

(1) just about anyone will be an improvement over King George

Exception being Corinne Wood, of course. On the other hand, Ryan's such a corrupt socialist, he MIGHT even be worst than half the Democrats running. Blagoavich SEEMS conservative by comparsion!

How could Ms. Wood be any worse than King George? Is she worse than half the Democrats also?

(2) who is/are Joe Birkett's primary opponent(s)?

That would be assistant Illinois A.G. Bob Coleman. Coleman for Illinois Attoney General He's a "moderate" Republican who supports Governor RINOs indefinite "moritorium" on the death penelty and thinks his trial lawyer experiance sueing companies makes him "more prepared" than Birkett. He thought sueing tobacco and Microsoft were really good ideas.

In another words, Joe Birkett is the establishment candidate, but he's still more conservative than the other guy running. He has Jim Ryan's old job and wants his current one, but he's superior to him in many ways.

Yes, but does Mr. Coleman believe in trying to prosecute people for transporting firearms in the manner prescribed by statute? I refuse to vote for Joe Birkett under any circumstances; if he can be knocked out in the primary so much the better. P.S. It seems like FR now closes all tags at a paragraph break. Is this new? It's really annoying.

I'd like to attend as well. . .I've met O'Malley and think he's great. I'm a conservative here in Illinois, running for the House against Rahm Emmanuel. We need to stick together. KOPROWSKI FOR CONGRESS LAUNCHES FIRST FLIGHT OF RADIO ADS CHICAGO -- The Koprowski for Congress campaign today announced that it has launched its first flight of radio commercials. The 30 second ads aired this morning on WNVR-AM (1030 AM), Polish Radio Chicago. The ads are in the Polish language, and are aimed at Chicago’s Polish-American community, which numbers more than 700,000, several hundred thousand of whom live in the Fifth Congressional District, where Koprowski is seeking the Republican Congressional nomination. “This is just the beginning of our campaign to communicate our pro-family, pro-life agenda to the district,” said Gene Koprowski, the GOP candidate. “We’ve also produced ads for conservative and Christian radio stations throughout this market.” The ads tout the pro-life and pro-family theme, and provide biographical information about the candidate, who owns a media production company and is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, who has contributed his skills to the War on Terrorism effort. Koprowski’s campaign theme is “Family, Faith, and Friendship.” Koprowski has been active in Republican politics for more than a decade, serving a a writer-producer for a conservative national network TV show, on the delegate slate for Steve Forbes for President in 1996, and as a volunteer and Precinct Captain in the Bush for President campaign in Chicago. #### Media Please Note: A copy of the broadcast script is available upon request.

Unfortunately, as always I am working that day, Thanks for putting yourself out there and doing the grassroots work, campaigns are won because of folks like you!

Will County bump.