Calling it like it is. Photo by Marisa Kaplita.
Parent Concerned with Pro-Life “Hate Group” at BHS
Branford Seven (CT): A parent, who asked not to identify herself, spoke to the Branford Board of Education Wednesday with concerns over the formation of an anti-abortion pro-life group that she felt could impact the safety of her child at Branford High School. She asked that she not be required to state her name as she was worried the topic might result in repercussions against her daughter, a BHS student. The Board obliged, but the meeting was video recorded.
“It has come to my attention that a BHS “pro-life” club has been formed,” she said. “We all know that especially today that a pro-life/pro-choice debate is a very heated and intense topic. Whatever side students, teachers, administrators, parents and people are on, all sides are very passionate and very divided. A club that is so clearly divisive should not be permitted in the public school system. In the very least it is a topical club that is alienating. It is not a club of supported diversity. It is a distraction from what our children are really there for, an education.”
The existence of groups in Branford High is a key component to the education process. Students are encouraged to join and partake in clubs, which have a teacher assigned to them as a method of oversight. Clubs that may take ideological sides are not uncommon, clubs such as Young Republicans and Young Democrats have not been uncommon, and controversial topics are debated in many classrooms and clubs as an educational tool.
Despite the concerns, the parent went a step further, likening this “pro-life” student group to a hate group that posed a threat to the students. “At the very most, this is a club that gets its directive from an extreme base of hate and intolerance,” she continues. “Their tactics of killing doctors, assaulting women, blowing up clinics is terroristic in nature and a total disregard for law and woman at large. In short, to have such a club at BHS makes me very concerned for the safety of my daughter and for all students at Branford High School. Don’t let hate groups infiltrate our educational system,” she concluded. “Thank you.”
BOE chair explained that there is a process by which a club is identified and approved by the school district. The parent replied that the club was approved, and that it was announced as part of the morning announcements that students wished to could join. She stated that posters were placed around the school as well.
Students reported that many of the signs had been torn down throughout the day. “I feel confident that our school system is a very, very tolerant school system,” said superintendent Hamlet Hernandez, “and clearly you are bringing something forward, and part of addressing that will be open communication.”
The parent stated she had spoken to the vice principal at Branford High, who confirmed it was an approved club. Hernandez stated that he would do his due diligence in looking into the matter and then responding.
Earlier this school year, a student wrote pro-life messages in chalk on various locations on the sidewalks around the outside of the school as part of National Pro-Life Chalk Day. That student, Sam Bailey-Loomis, spoke to Marisa Kaplita, the editor of the school newspaper the Branford Buzz, on her reasons.
“All I want to do is get the message across to as many people as I can that being pro life is OK, and that I defend the rights of the unborn,” Sam told the Buzz. “It is NOT something that can be ignored, and I feel that only WE can defend the rights of the unborn, and that’s what I’m here to do: speak for those who can’t,” Bailey-Loomis said.
The chalk was washed away, as principal Lee Panagoulias stated that “we are a public building, and anything written on a public building is defacement of public property regardless of the message.”
Typical Alinsky tactic to claim this pro-life group is a “hate group” because you disagree with their opinions.
Want to talk about alienating? How about this:
Suction aspiration is the most common method of abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. General or local anaesthesia is given to the mother and her cervix is quickly dilated. A suction curette (hollow tube with a knife-edged tip) is inserted into the womb. This instrument is then connected to a vacuum machine by a transparent tube. The vacuum suction, 29 times more powerful than a household vacuum cleaner, tears the fetus and placenta into small pieces which are sucked through the tube into a bottle and discarded.
Dilation and curettage (D&C) is similar to the suction method with the added insertion of a hook shaped knife (curette) which cuts the baby into pieces. The pieces are scraped out through the cervix and discarded.
Saline injection is used after 16 weeks (four months) when enough fluid has accumulated. A long needle injects a strong salt solution through the mother’s abdomen into the baby’s sac. The baby swallows this fluid and is poisoned by it. It also acts as a corrosive, burning off the outer layer of skin. It normally takes somewhat over an hour for the baby to die from this. Within 24 hours, labor will usually set in and the mother will give birth to a dead or dying baby. (There have been many cases of these babies being born alive. They are usually left unattended to die. However, a few have survived and later been adopted.)
I have to stop there, I’m sickened. Read about the rest of the alienating abortion procedures here.
School Contact Information:
Lee Panagoulias, Jr., Principal, Branford High School, (203) 488-7291.
Hamlet Hernandez, Superintendent, Branford Public Schools, (203) 315-7809.
DCG
