News Release
For Immediate Release: March 29, 2012
Contact: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355
Babette Josephs Continues to Misrepresent and Distort the Facts
(Harrisburg) — State Representative Babette Josephs does not like those who hold views different from her own. This time she has attacked the female state legislators who support HB 1077 , a bill that would require a woman contemplating an abortion to not only get an ultrasound, but to see it. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a past target of Josephs, is appalled by Josephs attack on her colleagues and calls on her to immediately apologize for calling them “men with breasts” during her comments at a Capitol Rally sponsored by the Lancaster County Democratic Committee on March 26th.
“This is yet another example of Babette Josephs intolerance and hate towards those who do not side with her on an issue. Two years ago the AFA of PA was her target after we issued a news release during the so-called “Freedom to Marry” week and in response to another Capitol Rally, this one in support of a same-sex “marriage” bill which had been introduced in Harrisburg. She did not like us pointing out the dangers of engaging in homosexual acts or the dangers to society through legalizing so-called same-sex marriage. Now Josephs is attacking her fellow legislators — is it because she doesn’t want to think about the real consequences of abortion — a dead baby?” questioned Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
Interesting that the day before Josephs’ name-calling her hometown paper The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story saying laws to restrict abortions are constitutional. The article notes, “Under the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, states have a right “to ensure that a woman apprehend the full consequences of her decision” and can require physicians to provide “truthful and not misleading” information about the abortion procedure and the development of the fetus.”
Opponents of HB 1077, such as State Representative Josephs ignore the fact that ultrasounds are almost always used by abortionists to determine the age of their victim, but they never permit the mother to see them. On March 1st Carole Joffe, a professor emerita at the University of California-Davis, noted in a Slate.com article, “The reality is that most abortion patients do receive an ultrasound to date their pregnancies.”
“Josephs’ words on Monday are attacking the women legislators who are showing compassion to the mother contemplating an abortion. It is compassionate to make sure an expectant mother fully understands the consequences of her decision. To mislead them by giving inaccurate or misleading medical advice or not allowing them to see their ultrasound is a total lack of compassion. We are calling on Representative Josephs to publicly apologize to her female colleagues for her name-calling. Unfortunately, so-called pro-choice women are not known for real compassion and are prone to name-calling, so we are not expecting her to acknowledge her mistake,” Gramley concluded.
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