Real Pro-Life Heroes: Courageous Woman Refuses Abortion | LifeNews.com
I received a moving response to my post last week and the author requested I share her story through the blog.
I hope and pray that others who read this are inspired by this young woman’s courageous choice in the face of great adversity. She is a pro-life hero and here is her story.
Hello,
I was reading your “choose life” column and I was wondering if you could post my story of choosing life.
I was 14 years old when I conceived my son. I was in a relationship with a 16 year old guy who had already had one son who he didn’t see much. I figured since he already had a child, he was mature. It turned out he was very controlling and abusive, so I decided to leave him. Two days after my15th birthday, I found out I was pregnant. I was so scared and confused but he said he’d be there and take care of everything.
Just three weeks later, he told me he wanted nothing to do with me and I haven’t seen him since. I hadn’t told my father or older sister yet, and the child’s father wasn’t my way out anymore. I had no clue what to do.
When I was about 9 weeks pregnant, my high school called my dad and told him. My sister came storming in my room telling me she’d drive me to an abortion clinic, but I refused. For the next two weeks, I was told I’d have to move and was threatened to be pushed down the stairs and beat up by my sister if I didn’t abort the baby. Finally I cracked and agreed; my sister had had an abortion and if it was so bad she would tell me and not want the same for me, right?
I spent the next couple days crying and depressed. I came to the conclusion I was in love with this little baby inside me, and he would be my whole word soon. I was scared to tell my sister so I drove to the clinic with her. They took us into an interview room and a woman who worked there asked me why I came to the clinic.
Before I could get a word out, my sister told them I wanted an abortion. I started to cry. I think the lady sensed what was going on and told my sister to leave the room. She asked me if I wanted this. I told her no, but added that I thought I had to. Then she told me that the medical staff was going to ask me if I wanted this, and if I didn’t say yes, they wouldn’t do it. I asked her if it was a baby and if the baby would feel it. She told me, no, it wasn’t really a baby yet and it would not feel pain.
I thought about it one last time, and ran out of the clinic. I told my sister she had to get over it or she wouldn’t be in my life. On November 3rd, I had my beautiful baby boy via c-section and am living with my dad with his support, and returning to school next year. I am so in love with my baby. I cry at the thought of ever even thinking about ending his life. I thank God everyday for helping me see the light through the darkness.
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
DYFS AGENT ACCUSED OF SLURS AGAINST MUSLIMS | Society, Social Assistance & Lifestyle > Religion & Spirituality from AllBusiness.com
DYFS AGENT ACCUSED OF SLURS AGAINST MUSLIMS | Society, Social Assistance & Lifestyle > Religion & Spirituality from AllBusiness.com
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PATERSON -- Muslim community leaders Tuesday demanded an investigation of a caseworker for the state's Division of Youth and Family Services who they say insulted Muslims when he allegedly hurled racial and religious slurs at them at a local restaurant.
Sandra Damrah and Mohamed Metwaly Khalil of Woodland Park filed complaints with DYFS and Paterson Municipal Court against the caseworker, whom they identified as Ezeadi Kelechi, after a Nov. 23 incident at Uncle Lou's Restaurant in Paterson.
The caseworker saw Khalil and Damrah at a table and allegedly shouted, "Terrorist!" and asked, "Do you have your bomb belt?" and "Are you going to slit my throat?" recalled Khalil, an artist who works as assistant curator at the Paterson Museum. Khalil added that the man was accompanied by a DYFS colleague, who did nothing to halt the abuse.
Khalil identified Kelechi as a caseworker who had handled his attempt to regain custody of his son, who is in the DYFS foster care system and separated from his father for a year.
Lauren Kidd, a DYFS spokeswoman, said the agency is aware of the incident and investigating but confidentiality laws prohibit DYFS from commenting on specific cases.
The restaurant owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that he didn't see the conflict on Nov. 23 because he was working in the kitchen. However, he said witnesses had told him about it. "The Muslim man started it by calling the DYFS worker the N-word and it just escalated." He added, "This wasn't the first time the guy said stuff against this DYFS worker. They had another conflict two weeks before."
At a press conference Tuesday at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, Damrah and Khalil recalled the incident as Muslim leaders expressed their anger.
"This kind of verbal assault is outrageous," said James Yee, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We call upon DYFS to address these incidents, which should not be tolerated by state agencies who are supposed to safeguard our children."
Yee said the incident increases the likelihood that Khalil's case was tainted from the start and underscores a suspicion that the agency is biased against Muslims.
Police were called to the scene by the restaurant owner after he heard yelling, said Paterson Police Lt. Alex Popov. The DYFS employee denied the allegations, while one witness at the restaurant backed Khalil's story. Popov described the incident as one of "he said, he said."
Muslim leaders said that the incident raises questions about how DYFS handles Muslim children, who, in the leaders' view, are often separated from their families and placed in non-Muslim homes by the agency. "Other families from the area have come out with complaints," Yee said.
Added Mohamed El Filali, outreach director of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, "If every Muslim child will be taken away from their family, we have a crisis."
Kidd, the agency spokeswoman, said the agency is committed to serving the Muslim community. "Religion and ethnicity are among the many important factors considered when determining the best placement for a child," she said. She also noted that the agency has scheduled cultural awareness training for selected staff to be facilitated by CAIR in January.
E-mail: yellin@northjersey.com
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PATERSON -- Muslim community leaders Tuesday demanded an investigation of a caseworker for the state's Division of Youth and Family Services who they say insulted Muslims when he allegedly hurled racial and religious slurs at them at a local restaurant.
Sandra Damrah and Mohamed Metwaly Khalil of Woodland Park filed complaints with DYFS and Paterson Municipal Court against the caseworker, whom they identified as Ezeadi Kelechi, after a Nov. 23 incident at Uncle Lou's Restaurant in Paterson.
The caseworker saw Khalil and Damrah at a table and allegedly shouted, "Terrorist!" and asked, "Do you have your bomb belt?" and "Are you going to slit my throat?" recalled Khalil, an artist who works as assistant curator at the Paterson Museum. Khalil added that the man was accompanied by a DYFS colleague, who did nothing to halt the abuse.
Khalil identified Kelechi as a caseworker who had handled his attempt to regain custody of his son, who is in the DYFS foster care system and separated from his father for a year.
Lauren Kidd, a DYFS spokeswoman, said the agency is aware of the incident and investigating but confidentiality laws prohibit DYFS from commenting on specific cases.
The restaurant owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that he didn't see the conflict on Nov. 23 because he was working in the kitchen. However, he said witnesses had told him about it. "The Muslim man started it by calling the DYFS worker the N-word and it just escalated." He added, "This wasn't the first time the guy said stuff against this DYFS worker. They had another conflict two weeks before."
At a press conference Tuesday at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, Damrah and Khalil recalled the incident as Muslim leaders expressed their anger.
"This kind of verbal assault is outrageous," said James Yee, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We call upon DYFS to address these incidents, which should not be tolerated by state agencies who are supposed to safeguard our children."
Yee said the incident increases the likelihood that Khalil's case was tainted from the start and underscores a suspicion that the agency is biased against Muslims.
Police were called to the scene by the restaurant owner after he heard yelling, said Paterson Police Lt. Alex Popov. The DYFS employee denied the allegations, while one witness at the restaurant backed Khalil's story. Popov described the incident as one of "he said, he said."
Muslim leaders said that the incident raises questions about how DYFS handles Muslim children, who, in the leaders' view, are often separated from their families and placed in non-Muslim homes by the agency. "Other families from the area have come out with complaints," Yee said.
Added Mohamed El Filali, outreach director of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, "If every Muslim child will be taken away from their family, we have a crisis."
Kidd, the agency spokeswoman, said the agency is committed to serving the Muslim community. "Religion and ethnicity are among the many important factors considered when determining the best placement for a child," she said. She also noted that the agency has scheduled cultural awareness training for selected staff to be facilitated by CAIR in January.
E-mail: yellin@northjersey.com
Belgian man alleges abuse by nuns at foster home | World | Reuters
Belgian man alleges abuse by nuns at foster home | World | Reuters
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian foster home asked potential victims of sexual abuse to come forward on Monday after a man said nuns had abused him there as a child in the 1960s.
The anonymous Belgian, now in his fifties, told local media on Monday that he was abused by nuns for several years from the age of five while he lived at the Stella Maris home in the town of Kortrijk, western Flanders.
Belgium's Roman Catholic Church has been repeatedly damaged by accusations of sexual abuse, part of a wider scandal which has shaken the Church and set off protests around the world.
The management of Stella Maris said it was aware of other allegations of abuse that occurred in the 1990s and asked possible other victims to come forward.
"The news has shocked the staff," the home said in a statement emailed to Reuters. "We have sent a letter to the parents of the children at Stella Maris asking everybody to make public any facts they are aware of.
"We hope the truth will come out and we will pass on all the information that the authorities require."
The police said they could not comment on whether anyone had registered a complaint of sexual abuse.
The man described to Belgian radio graphic abuse by several nuns from 1965 to 1970 and said the memories still haunted him. Reports of child abuse elsewhere had finally given him the courage to come forward, he added.
Elsewhere in Belgium, the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, admitted last year to sexually abusing his nephew while a priest in the 1980s. Continued...
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian foster home asked potential victims of sexual abuse to come forward on Monday after a man said nuns had abused him there as a child in the 1960s.
The anonymous Belgian, now in his fifties, told local media on Monday that he was abused by nuns for several years from the age of five while he lived at the Stella Maris home in the town of Kortrijk, western Flanders.
Belgium's Roman Catholic Church has been repeatedly damaged by accusations of sexual abuse, part of a wider scandal which has shaken the Church and set off protests around the world.
The management of Stella Maris said it was aware of other allegations of abuse that occurred in the 1990s and asked possible other victims to come forward.
"The news has shocked the staff," the home said in a statement emailed to Reuters. "We have sent a letter to the parents of the children at Stella Maris asking everybody to make public any facts they are aware of.
"We hope the truth will come out and we will pass on all the information that the authorities require."
The police said they could not comment on whether anyone had registered a complaint of sexual abuse.
The man described to Belgian radio graphic abuse by several nuns from 1965 to 1970 and said the memories still haunted him. Reports of child abuse elsewhere had finally given him the courage to come forward, he added.
Elsewhere in Belgium, the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, admitted last year to sexually abusing his nephew while a priest in the 1980s. Continued...
How to Report Unfit Foster Parents | eHow.com
How to Report Unfit Foster Parents | eHow.com
Foster parents can be a blessing for neglected children. They provide the necessities and love for these children who would otherwise not have anyone there to do that for them. But with the many happy stories about foster care comes many unhappy stories about these homes, where children deal with large bouts of abuse from foster parents and other foster children in their houses and sometimes even abuse and neglect from the very people they were placed with to get away from abuse and neglect. It then becomes vital for that child's well-being to report unfit foster parents.
Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
Contact info for the local Department of Children and Families
1
Contact the local authorities or school resource officers. If any sort of neglect or abuse is suspected, then it needs to be reported to the proper authorities so that it can be further investigated. Because this type of investigation involves children, some states have laws that only allow a limited number of adults to inquire about alleged neglect or abuse once it is suspected and any questioning period that follows that has to be with the parents. For example, in Florida, a child can not be asked about suspected neglect or abuse more than three times or by more than three adults. Once they have, the authorities are obligated to contact the child's guardian and if the child is questioned a fourth time and reveals something, that information is void. Any information you can obtain from a child about his well-being is important so this is why once abuse is suspected, those who know how to deal with it should be contacted.
2
Contact the state's Department of Children and Families (sometimes called Department Health and Human Services). The Department of Children and Families, or DCF, strives for the safety and welfare of all children within the state. They also handle all foster-care services and each foster child is given a case worker. Though there will be a report made with the authorities, it needs to also be documented with the child's case worker and the department. You want there to be multiple accounts of this neglect or abuse so that it can be dealt with sooner rather than later.
3
Make sure to receive documentation of your reports. Demand copies of your reports or put the claims in writing and keep a copy for yourself, just in case there is a claim that nothing was ever reported. With the amount of work case workers have, claims can be lost, reports misplaced or, worse yet, discarded so you want to make sure that these children's welfare is kept a top priority.
Read more: How to Report Unfit Foster Parents | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7720021_report-unfit-foster-parents.html#ixzz1A7iCDoTY
Foster parents can be a blessing for neglected children. They provide the necessities and love for these children who would otherwise not have anyone there to do that for them. But with the many happy stories about foster care comes many unhappy stories about these homes, where children deal with large bouts of abuse from foster parents and other foster children in their houses and sometimes even abuse and neglect from the very people they were placed with to get away from abuse and neglect. It then becomes vital for that child's well-being to report unfit foster parents.
Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
Contact info for the local Department of Children and Families
1
Contact the local authorities or school resource officers. If any sort of neglect or abuse is suspected, then it needs to be reported to the proper authorities so that it can be further investigated. Because this type of investigation involves children, some states have laws that only allow a limited number of adults to inquire about alleged neglect or abuse once it is suspected and any questioning period that follows that has to be with the parents. For example, in Florida, a child can not be asked about suspected neglect or abuse more than three times or by more than three adults. Once they have, the authorities are obligated to contact the child's guardian and if the child is questioned a fourth time and reveals something, that information is void. Any information you can obtain from a child about his well-being is important so this is why once abuse is suspected, those who know how to deal with it should be contacted.
2
Contact the state's Department of Children and Families (sometimes called Department Health and Human Services). The Department of Children and Families, or DCF, strives for the safety and welfare of all children within the state. They also handle all foster-care services and each foster child is given a case worker. Though there will be a report made with the authorities, it needs to also be documented with the child's case worker and the department. You want there to be multiple accounts of this neglect or abuse so that it can be dealt with sooner rather than later.
3
Make sure to receive documentation of your reports. Demand copies of your reports or put the claims in writing and keep a copy for yourself, just in case there is a claim that nothing was ever reported. With the amount of work case workers have, claims can be lost, reports misplaced or, worse yet, discarded so you want to make sure that these children's welfare is kept a top priority.
Read more: How to Report Unfit Foster Parents | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7720021_report-unfit-foster-parents.html#ixzz1A7iCDoTY
The Baby Stealer's Manual
Child Protective Services:
A Guide for
Caseworkers
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/cps/cps.pdf
A Guide for
Caseworkers
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/cps/cps.pdf
Letters to the Editor » Child Protective Services uses children as hostages | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com
Letters to the Editor » Child Protective Services uses children as hostages | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com
We have a government agency that treats American citizens like criminals.
Our city revenue gave Child Protective Services the power to make us take off from work at the drop of a dime, when I’m trying my best to support my family. During my 30-day deadline of home repair violations, this government agency threw the book at my family. Being on the People Working Cooperatively waiting list didn’t matter. Day 1 they charged me with child endangerment, but I only found out two weeks later that I’d been charged. So I can lose my job by not completing home repairs. This government agency forces me to do a “mental assessment” – how is this related to home repair?
I had no choice but to take off work to make home repairs. They’re using my daughter as leverage, the same power as a kidnapper. I have to complete my 30-day deadline of home repair violations – while being homeless.
My child endangerment charges were dropped. Child Protective Services returned my daughter back home, but to this very day is using my daughter as leverage, saying if I don’t sign myself into a mental hospital they’ll take my daughter away again. Child Protective Services has funding in that area for job security — at my family’s expense.
We as Americans wish goodwill and peace towards all during this holiday season with a prosperous new year. I’m proud to be an American with liberty and justice for all – but what are my constitutional rights when a government agency is using excessive force?
Bridget Cornett
Elmwood
We have a government agency that treats American citizens like criminals.
Our city revenue gave Child Protective Services the power to make us take off from work at the drop of a dime, when I’m trying my best to support my family. During my 30-day deadline of home repair violations, this government agency threw the book at my family. Being on the People Working Cooperatively waiting list didn’t matter. Day 1 they charged me with child endangerment, but I only found out two weeks later that I’d been charged. So I can lose my job by not completing home repairs. This government agency forces me to do a “mental assessment” – how is this related to home repair?
I had no choice but to take off work to make home repairs. They’re using my daughter as leverage, the same power as a kidnapper. I have to complete my 30-day deadline of home repair violations – while being homeless.
My child endangerment charges were dropped. Child Protective Services returned my daughter back home, but to this very day is using my daughter as leverage, saying if I don’t sign myself into a mental hospital they’ll take my daughter away again. Child Protective Services has funding in that area for job security — at my family’s expense.
We as Americans wish goodwill and peace towards all during this holiday season with a prosperous new year. I’m proud to be an American with liberty and justice for all – but what are my constitutional rights when a government agency is using excessive force?
Bridget Cornett
Elmwood
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