Minnesota Pro-Abortion Group Shuts Down Project to Recruit Abortion Practitioners
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 5, 2009
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St. Paul, MN (LifeNews.com) -- The statewide pro-abortion organization in Minnesota has shut down a project it started years ago to recruit and train abortion practitioners. NARAL Minnesota has closed its Abortion Provider Expansion Project (APEP) due to "budget constraints."
The pro-abortion group started the project in 2002 to persuade medical students, nurses and health care workers to encourage them to get involved in the abortion industry.
"Like many other nonprofits, foundations, and companies, the economic downturn is having an impact on NARAL," the group said in an announcement. "In response to the current budget constraints, NARAL made the very difficult decision to discontinue our joint program."
NARAL said the "effectiveness and impact of the APEP program has been remarkable" over the last seven years but did not say if any abortion practitioners were recruited or if any medical staff it trained would eventually do abortions or participate in them as part of their medical practice.
Scott Fischbach, the director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, told Lifenews.com he is excited about the news that Minnesota NARAL will not be aggressively recruiting more abortion practitioners.
"It is great news that the funds have dried up for this type of training for those going into the health care field," he said. "It is best if health care workers focus their training on hope and healing instead of death and despair."
The closing of the abortion practitioner recruitment program comes at a time when Positive Alternatives, the state government program to provide pregnant women with help and life-affirming options, has been credited with helping lower the number of abortions done on poor women in the state.
“Positive Alternatives is one of Minnesota’s most essential and successful programs for women,” Fischbach previously told LifeNews.com.
“This modest program offers a lifeline to women in need every day across the state, and MCCL is pleased that lawmakers—both Democrats and Republicans—agreed on the importance of keeping funding intact," he said.
Positive Alternatives was passed by the Minnesota legislature in 2005 to establish a grant program through the Minnesota Department of Health.
Grants are given to life-affirming organizations offering essential services in the following areas: medical attention for the woman and the unborn child, nutritional services, housing assistance, adoption services, education and employment assistance, child care assistance, and parenting education and support services.
A total of 37 organizations received $4.7 million in grants in 2006. The second round of grants ($4.7 million) was awarded to 31 grantees in July 2008.
More than 12,000 women were helped during the first two years of the grant program and Fischbach told LifeNews.com their stories reveal that Positive Alternatives is fulfilling a critical need in the lives of women.
Related web sites:
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life - http://www.mccl.org
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