Let’s start with the ridiculous first. A Republican candidate in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, running for office on a pro-life platform, is in trouble. Rather, he got a girl in “trouble.” It seems that woman he was dating several years ago has decided to discuss the abortion he paid for. Yeah, that seems a nice case of hypocrisy to me. The man’s name is Mike Erickson. And here’s the story…

From the Seattle Times:

A woman who dated congressional candidate Mike Erickson seven years ago said she asked him directly whether he wanted to have a baby. He shook his head no, she said, and paid for her abortion.

In interviews with The Oregonian newspaper, the Oregon City woman said she met Erickson in September 2000 and that she had the abortion in January 2001. They saw each other afterward, she said, even going on a trip to Mexico in March, before the relationship ended. She spoke on the condition that only her first name, Tawnya, be used.

Erickson agrees that he gave Tawnya $300 for medical help, and a ride to a doctor’s office, but said he didn’t know she was pregnant or planned to get an abortion.

Erickson, a Lake Oswego businessman, is the Republican candidate in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District and is running on an anti-abortion platform. The charge that he provided money to Tawnya nearly derailed his campaign for the May 20 primary and could hobble his chances in the Nov. 4 general election against state Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby.

Tawnya, now 34, recalled sitting with Erickson that January, parked across from the abortion clinic.

“I asked him, ‘Are you sure you don’t want a baby?’ ” she said. “He shook his head. I opened the door, got out bawling and crossed the street and walked up to the clinic.”

Erickson, like the true Republican he is, is denying everything, claiming, even though they were parked in front of an abortion clinic, according to the woman, that he didn’t know what the money was for. Let’s get it straight, though. He paid for an abortion. But and if we take him at his word, which would be foolish in the extreme, he gave the woman money for medical expenses then never even asked about what she needed them for. No, his denial seems implausible at best, and is likely a lie.

The worst story in Oregon is a few days old. Seems a family that believed in faith healing let their son, 16 year old Neil Beagley, die rather than undergo a relatively minor catheterization procedure. The same family had already had a child die because they denied medical care, and parents in that case are fighting manslaughter charges. Here’s a bit of the story from the Chicago Tribune:

He likely had a congenital condition that constricted his urinary tract where the bladder empties into the urethra, and the condition of his organs indicates he had multiple blockages during his life, said Dr. Clifford Nelson, deputy state medical examiner for Clackamas County.

“You just build up so much urea in your bloodstream that it begins to poison your organs, and the heart is particularly susceptible,” Nelson said.

Nelson said a catheter would have saved the boy’s life. If the condition had been dealt with earlier, a urologist could easily have removed the blockage and avoided the kidney damage that came with the repeated illnesses, Nelson said.

Benton said a board member of the Followers of Christ church contacted the authorities after Beagley died at his family’s home. The teen had been sick about a week, and church members and his family had gathered to pray Sunday when his condition worsened, Benton said.

In March, the boy’s 15-month-old cousin Ava Worthington died at home from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection.

Her parents, Carl and Raylene Worthington, also belong to the church. They have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminal mistreatment, and their defense attorneys have indicated they will use a religious freedom defense.

The church both families attend has 1,200 members. Two of the younger of those members are now dead due to the stupidity of the church’s teachings. Perhaps they all need to listen to God Lucky Howard. Surely God the crack dealer, who has now been arrested for the third time, would give them better advice than they are getting thus far.