When a representative from the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation called last year during the application process for a $42,000 grant to ask if they were an abortion clinic, a volunteer told them “no,” she said.
But they do offer the morning after pill.
And when an unidentified pastor saw that the Baptist group had awarded WOW the grant he called the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry, accusing the local clinic of providing abortions, she alleged.
On Tuesday, Ringstaff received a letter from Will Bacon, vice president of development for the ministry, officially rescinding the grant offer.
Ringstaff does not know who made the anonymous call after seeing an announcement about the grant on the Rome News-Tribune website.
The “morning after pill” is not an abortion pill, rather, it is a contraceptive that can be given to a woman after sex to diminish her chances of getting pregnant, Ringstaff said.
“It’s just like any other birth control,” Ringstaff added. “It prevents ovulation and fertilization.”
And it’s not always successful. The morning after pill has a 10-percent failure rate, she said. The morning after pill is available over the counter without a prescription, Ringstaff said.
“It’s not RU-486,” Ringstaff said, referring to the controversial abortion pill that will disrupt an already established pregnancy. “But they still believe it is.”
Ringstaff said she explained this different to officials with the ministry.
Tom Duvall, an attorney with Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry, said they don’t comment about grant awards or those who receive the grants and offered no other comment Tuesday.
Ringstaff said she was disappointed. The money would help with staffing needs for the clinic, which has been run by volunteers since it opened in 2008.
“We thought this would be an ongoing relationship,” Ringstaff said.
The ministry has asked for the money to be returned. Returning the money will not affect the upcoming free Pap smear day on April 28, she said.
“We already have appointments,” Ringstaff said. “We are not canceling it.”
Anyone who wants to make a donation to the clinic can send mail to Women of Worth, 1513 Dean St., Rome, GA 30161.
The clinic’s phone number is 706-232-3408.
When that spell is finally broken, the black magic of redemptive divinity begins to dissolve, allowing patriarchy to die of its own unnatural causes.
The most obvious, clear-cut determiner of when a new life has begun is when the child’s genetics are clearly distinct from the mother. This occurs just after fertilization, when the chromosomes from the father’s sperm join with the mother’s chromosomes to create a new combination of genes and chromosomes that never existed before. It should no longer be considered a piece of the mother’s tissue, but a separate organism, a separate life. In this view, anything that prevents normal implantation and growth of that life in the uterus could be considered an abortifacient. This is why some have objected even to the use of IUD’s as a method of birth control and object to a "morning after" pill, even though some people's definition would not include this as an abortifacient. There are scientists and doctors on both sides of the issue.
Notice that I made my statement without insulting anyone or any group.
This has not ever been an issue about abortion or whether life begins at the moment of conception vs. whenever. WORTH is being portrayed as an abortion clinic due to an act of one anonymous call from a pastor, presumably male, presumably one who has never so much as visited the clinic, let alone actually spoken with a volunteer.
WORTH stands for Women's Organization for Reproductive and Total Healthcare, and while the clinic does provide family planning services, the main function and most of the services are aimed toward the prevention of cervical and other cancers that affect women, and the loss of this funding will leave a lot of women out in the cold.
Now, on to the Shorter protest...
"How about just stop giving out the pills and try to get the funding back for the greater good of providing the preventive screenings?"
How about the so-called Baptist Health Care Ministry law off the fallacious hypocrisy and restore the grant for the greater good of providing preventive screenings?
Unfortunately, the issue isn't about affordable birth control. That is another issue entirely. However, if you are interested in that issue, you can read reports from the American Center for Progress about the high costs of birth control.
The issue is that women can't afford Pap screenings to detect Cervical cancer or medical follow-up services when their Pap results detect abnormal cell changes. Floyd County has one of the highest rates of abnormal Pap results, due to the prohibitive costs of Cervical cancer screening (the rate is 5 times the national average of 6%). The purpose of the funding from Georgia Baptist Healthcare Ministry Foundation was to provide WORTH with resources that would allow it to continue to provide low-cost and free Pap screenings and follow-up.
The WORTH clinic has received funding from other sources, as stated in the article above, and will continue to seek other funding sources. The reason that the GBHMF rescinded their funds has nothing to do with the initial reason that the GBHMF granted the funds. WORTH has fully complied with the terms in the grant award contract agreement.
Furthermore, this grant was written specifically to fund a Cervical Cancer prevention program that has been wildly successful, and has detected cervical abnormalities that could lead to cancer as well as 5 invasive cervical cancers; these women are now able to receive treatment due to the WORTH clinic's efforts. There was nothing in the grant that had to do with abortions, regardless of anyone's personal opinions on the subject.
We have had patients who have not had Pap smears in years. We have sent off hundreds of specimens this year alone. We have women who have been diagnosed in late stages of cervical cancer because they can't afford to feed their children much less go to a doctor.
We do not offer abortion services. We do provide the morning after pill which is called an emergency contraceptive,commonly called, "the morning after pill." This pill can be gotten at any pharmacy in Georgia without a prescription by any woman.
It is a method to prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse. Emergency contraception may be used after contraceptive failure, such as a woman missing too many oral contraceptives or condom failure when it breaks, or after rape.
Emergency contraceptives work by delaying or inhibiting ovulation, thickening cervical mucus, and possibly altering fallopian tube transport. Here's the most important fact about emergency contraception, "THE TREATMENT IS INEFFECTIVE IF IMPLANTATION HAS ALREADY OCCURRED, AND IT DOES NOT HARM A DEVELOPING FETUS." Information from "Foundations of Maternal-Newborn and Women's Health Nursing," 5th edition, Murray & McKinney, Saunders/Elsevier Publishers, 2010.
Contrary to popular belief, pregnancy takes quite some time to occur after intercourse. That small microscopic sperm has to travel some distance to reach the egg in the far reaches of the fallopian tube. When the woman takes emergency contraception, she is not pregnant.
I am fortunate to be able to provide care and concern for women who can ill afford health care much less an unintended pregnancy. It is an honor to work with Ms. Ringstaff and the other volunteers at the clinic. We have never held a free Pap Smear Day without someone being diagnosed with some severe illness.
Before you jump on the bandwagon of saying don't have sex if you can't pay the consequences try walking in women's shoes first. At least do the research before you speak.
Thank you, Rome for your ongoing support for the health care of uninsured women in Northwest Georgia.
As with your insurance, the morning after pill is a means of addressing an unwanted and unplanned consequence to a choice which was made.
Just wondering. Could it be that someone is misinformed?
Find some broke ass democrats to give em money. Can't find any willing? What I thought.
You might (or might not) have noticed that nobody was questioning that the money was the organizations to do with as they wish, including pull back the grant. The issue, the context of the matter, was the context under which the grant was pulled back. That context was a misunderstanding, misconception, or wilfull ignorance of the effects of the pills in question.
Got no real argument to make? What I thought.
Bottom line. Their money. You want it. Comply with their requirements. You have your principles, they have theirs. Don't like it, send em your money.
As for principles, how much is a principle based on wilful ignorance really worth?
And I don't want their money. The discussion is about the conditions under which they pulled back their grant, and the fallacious nature of their apparent reasoning. Does that context present too much difficulty to address?
Your argument seems to be they're ignorant and your not. Am I missing something? Bow down to the mighty mirage? They can't have a side. How dare them to have a different opinion or belief! And how tolerant of you!
Of course they can have a side. That side can either be in accordance with the facts, or contrary to the facts. In this case, their side appears to be wilfully ignorant of the facts. By the same token their beliefs can either be in accordance with the facts or contrary to the facts.
By their actions and statements, they've established that they aren't interested in the facts, preferring to rely on simple belief and opinion.
They're entitled to their own opinions. They aren't entitled to their own facts.
Mrs. Marilyn Drake of Ellijay on Shorter’s Board is the wife of David Drake, Vice Chair of GBHCMF; and J. Robert White of Duluth is on Shorter’s Board and is Recording Secretary of GBHCMF. Anyone surprised?
Christ wouldn't even be allowed to join a Baptist church.