The following statement was released the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), soon after today's release by the White House of President Obama's first detailed budget recommendations to Congress. The White House document is intended to guide lawmakers as they craft spending bills for the new federal fiscal year that begins on October 1.
"Some wide-eyed journalists and various political shills for the Obama Administration continue to write fairy tales about how President Obama wants to pursue policies that would reduce abortions," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). "That is a political scam. In reality, President Obama is pursuing a step-by-step strategy to expand access to abortion, and today's step is to urge Congress to authorize the funding of abortion on demand in the nation's capital, with funds appropriated by Congress."
Today's White House budget submission explicitly urges the House and Senate -- which the President's party currently controls with nearly three-fifths majorities -- to repeal a law (sometimes called the Dornan Amendment) that has prevented tax-funded abortion in the District of Columbia for many years.
Article I of the U.S. Constitution says that Congress holds complete legislative authority over the District of Columbia ("exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever"). That is why the entire budget for the District of Columbia (including revenues generated by local sources) must be appropriated by Congress through an annual appropriations bill.
For many years, the annual D.C. appropriations bill has contained a provision to prevent the use of any congressionally appropriated funds for abortions (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest). The White House budget document released today (on Appendix page 1209) asks Congress to repeal the ban on the use of congressionally appropriated funds, and replace it with a meaningless bookkeeping requirement that would apply only to funds specifically contributed for federal program purposes.
"If Congress goes along with the Obama proposal, the predictable result will be tax funding of several thousand elective abortions annually, including roughly 1,000 abortions annually that would not otherwise occur," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for NRLC. "Any member of Congress who votes for a bill that contains the White House proposal is, in reality, voting for tax-funded abortion on demand with congressionally appropriated funds."
>From 1988 until 1993, Congress annually included the ban on the use of any appropriated funds to pay for abortions (with narrow exceptions). The ban was temporarily lost early in the Clinton Administration, but it was restored in 1996 (although the city government illegally continued to pay for abortions for two subsequent years, according to press reports), and has been in continuous effect ever since.
During the period prior to enactment of the Dornan Amendment, and during the time it was suspended in the Clinton Administration, the city government paid for elective abortion on demand with congressionally appropriated public funds. During the congressional debates of that era, evidence was cited that indicated that the city's abortion-funding policy was among the most permissive in the nation, and was not even limited to Medicaid-eligible clients. Elizabeth Reveal, D.C. budget director at the time, "confirmed that the District's government has a policy of funding abortion on demand and does not attempt to determine the circumstances of the pregnancy." (Philadelphia Inquirer, August 1, 1985.) In 1994, then-Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly authorized the use of $1,000,000 from the Medical Charities fund, which was originally set up to help indigent AIDS patients, to pay for abortions.
Pro-abortion groups periodically publish academic studies that demonstrate that policies that bar tax-funded abortions actually prevent one-third or more of the abortions that would otherwise occur among the covered populations.
"The abortion industry's own studies suggest that many thousands of residents of the nation's capital are alive today because of the abortion funding ban that President Obama now proposes to repeal," said NRLC's Johnson.
"Today's White House action is one more evidence that President Obama is trying to pull off a massive policy scam -- he generates a smokescreen of soothing rhetoric about seeking 'common ground' and 'abortion reduction,' while step by step advancing concrete policies that will substantially increase the number of abortions -- and pay for abortion on demand with everyone's taxes," Johnson concluded.
The next step, Johnson suggested, would be "an attempt to smuggle vast expansions of abortion into law through health care reform legislation."
Barack Obama met with Planned Parenthood in 2007 and promised that mandatory abortion coverage would be "at the center, the heart of" his health care reform legislation. In an April 30, 2009, National Public Radio report, Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, confirmed that "health care reform is going to provide a platform" for ensuring that "all women . . . regardless of their income, can get access to the full range of health care options . . ."
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: May 7, 2009
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May 7, 2009
White House Urging Repeal of Ban on Tax-Funded Abortion-on-Demand in Nation's Capital
2009 Planned Parenthood Mother's Day fundraiser
Last year Planned Parenthood used the mother-daughter pro-abortion team of Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow as its Mother's Day
This year it's children's book author Judy Blume. Not that Judy was considered harmless and child friendly before now, despite her target audience. Wikipedia reports, "She is recognized as one of the most banned children's authors in the United States.... Forever was the second most challenged book of 2005, according to the American Library Association."
We now know Judy means to target her audience yet another way, by supporting the US's largest abortion provider.
Sometimes I think PP does these things just to aggravate us. "There is no organization that I know of that supports motherhood and all that it means more than Planned Parenthood"? This is so ridiculous I have to laugh. Click for a larger image.
Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: May 5, 2009
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Pro-Life Students Send Letter to President Obama Over Terrorist Labeling
On Wednesday, the national pro-life student organization, Students for Life of America, sent the following letter to the White House.
Dear Mr. President,
We write to you today as a collection of over 492 university pro-life organizations. We are alarmed by your administration's ignorance of who pro-lifers are and what we strive to accomplish. The recent April 7th Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assessment of "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" warned of potential right wing extremism and named pro-lifers specifically which we found extremely insulting.
Further on March 26th, in the DHS Reference Aid "Domestic Extremism Lexicon", your Administration said that pro-lifers are "A movement of groups or individuals who are virulently antiabortion and advocate violence against providers of abortion-related services, their employees, and their facilities. Some cite various racist and anti-Semitic beliefs to justify their criminal activities." This is a terribly inaccurate definition of who we really are.
We are a collection of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Our campus groups are made up of people of faith and of no faith. We come from all races, ethnic groups, social classes, and backgrounds. A May 2009 Pew Research poll has found that 48% of 18 to 29 year-olds believe abortion should be illegal. Labeling 48% of this generation as violent extremists is absurd.
Our independent university groups strive to end abortion, help women who face un-planned pregnancy, and women who are recovering from an abortion experience. Because we believe that abortion is the murder of an innocent human child and irrevocably harms the mother of the child, this does not mean that we are racist, anti-Semitic, violent, or a threat to the United States of America.
Our university groups work tirelessly every day to fulfill the following goals on campus: educate the campus body about the procedures of abortion, the risks and complications of abortion, and fetal development.
In addition, our groups work with our administrations to provide reduced-cost daycare, flexible class schedules, and student-parent housing. None of our mission statements include anything racist, anti-Semitic, violent, or disrespectful to the United States.
We believe that those individuals that you classify as "pro-life" who commit acts of violence are, in fact, not pro-life. Pro-lifers are dedicated to protecting the lives of the unborn, as well as the born.
We request that you promptly address this situation at DHS. We ask that you speak to your administration officials and educate your employees about the goals of the pro-life movement seeks and how we seek to accomplish these goals. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss our visions and goals and what we would like to see happen to America.
Sincerely,
Students for Life of America
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 6, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY
Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.
Ten Years Later, See How Samuel is Doing Now
Nearly 10 years after a stunning photograph of his tiny hand traveled the world, Samuel Armas has a firm grip on what "The Hand of Hope" means to him. "When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way," Samuel told FOXNews.com. "I feel very thankful that I was in that picture." On Aug. 19, 1999, photographer Michael Clancy shot the "Fetal Hand Grasp" — his picture of a 21-week-old fetus grasping a doctor's finger during innovative surgery to correct spina bifida. Nearly four months later, on Dec. 2, Samuel Armas was "born famous." The photo, which first appeared in USA Today on Sept. 7, 1999, quickly spread across the globe as proof of development in the womb and was later cited during congressional debates on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which passed in 2000.
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Texas bill proposes to punish infanticide with mere two-year maximum in jail
A Texas bill proposing to reduce significantly the penalty for the murder of young infants by their mothers conveys the message that newborns and infants are "less valuable people," a Texas pro-life leader warns.
The introduced version of House Bill 3318 adds the offense of "infanticide" to the Texas penal code. It defines infanticide as a state jail felony "if the person willfully by an act or omission causes the death of a child to whom the person gave birth within the 12-month period preceding the child’s death" and if the person’s judgment was impaired as a result of the effects of giving birth or the effects of lactation following the birth.
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FDA Approved Another Drug That Kills Babies in the Womb
Group Wants Boxed Warning on 'Abortion Causing' Constipation Drug
Consumer advocates are calling on the Food and Drug Administration to add stronger warning labels about risks for pregnant women related to a constipation drug. The FDA has approved Amitiza to treat chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndome, and it was prescribed more than 1 million times last year. The drug is marketed by Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. The label warns that the pills have not been studied in pregnant women and that mothers-to-be should use the drug only "if the potential benefits justify the potential risk to the fetus." But Public Citizen says that note isn't good enough. The consumer watchdog group filed a petition with the FDA on Wednesday demanding the drug receive a "black box" warning, the strongest type available. The group's petition points out that a chemically similar drug called misoprostol carries the boxed warning, stating that it can cause "abortion and premature birth." That drug, marketed by Pfizer Inc. as Cytotec, is approved to treat gastric ulcers, but is used off-label to hasten labor or cause an abortion, according to Public Citizen.
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DA Reviewing Footage of Sexual Abuse Cover up at Planned Parenthood Used in State Legislation
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office is reviewing whether to begin an investigation of a Memphis Planned Parenthood Clinic. It was recently revealed that one of the clinic employees told an alleged victim of statutory rape to hide the identity of her perpetrator. The videotape of this employee was cited by state legislators in conjunction with a proposed bill to divert taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood. The bill passed a Tennessee House of Representatives Health & Human Resources sub-Committee on Monday.
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Related News...
Planned Parenthood's Funding Questioned
Some state lawmakers are questioning whether Planned Parenthood should get federal funding to offer birth control and other services in Tennessee. Two weeks ago, a video surfaced that appears to show an employee at a Memphis clinic advising an underage girl to lie in order to get an abortion. The video appears to show a woman claiming to be 14 years old and pregnant by her 31-year-old boyfriend. She's seeking an abortion at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Memphis, and the employee tells her to lie about her boyfriend's age.
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New Kansas Governor Has a Spider's Web of Ties to Abortion Scandals
Since former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has moved on to her new post with the Obama administration, Kansas now has a new governor, Mark Parkinson, who appears to be picking up where the radical abortion supporter, Sebelius, left off.
"Sebelius has been replaced with a Sebelius puppet, at least as far as the abortion issue is concerned," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
Parkinson stated in no uncertain terms at a press conference last week that he would be carrying the pro-abortion torch in Sebelius' stead.
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Obama Supports Kidnapping
Colin Mason is back from China. His week-long undercover investigation revealed fresh abuses in China's One-Child policy and new proof of the U.N. Population Fund's complicity in these abuses. Remember that the UNFPA has been in China since 1979, helping the Beijing authorities to implement their program. Colin visited three counties where the U.N. Population Fund claims to run "voluntary" family planning programs, and found that they were anything but.
What struck me about his investigation, as someone who has been following the policy for three decades, was how the fines for "illegal" children have increased in recent years. The fines for having an illegal child are now three to five times the family's income. The equivalent fine in the U.S. would be $150,000 - $250,000. Couples have to mortgage their future for decades-literally-in order to be able to borrow enough money to pay off these fines. The government insists on calling this extortion "social compensation fees"-as if the parents were simply defraying the cost to society of another child-but in reality they are heavily punitive. Faced with the prospect of such a fine, many couples "voluntarily" submit to an abortion and sterilization.
What happens if you don't pay the fine? In Guangxi province, what reportedly happens is that illegal newborns are taken into custody by government officials, who hold the infants until the parents are able to scrape together enough money to pay the huge fine. In other words, the babies are kidnapped and held for ransom! What happens if the parents can't pay the fine? One can only imagine.
Colin's findings are consistent with the results of earlier investigations carried out by PRI. In 2001, for example, PRI sent a team of investigators into China to look into the UNFPA's "model family planning" program, specifically its claim that forced abortions and forced sterilizations are a thing of the past. While in country, we interviewed over two dozen victims and witnesses of coercion, and videotaped and audio taped their answers. Those interviewed stated that voluntary family planning does not exist in the UNFPA's "model" program and that forced abortions continue to occur.
Even the U.S. State Department, not known for its pro-life sentiments, concurred in 2002 that China's heavy fines were coercive in nature, and that the UNFPA was complicit in this coercion. Presented with our evidence, President Bush did the sensible thing and withheld funding from the UNFPA for seven years, costing the rogue agency some $200 million.
Now along comes Obama. The new President pledged during the campaign to restore funding to the UNFPA. Then on March 11 he signed the 2009 omnibus spending bill, which includes $50 million for the UNFPA. Two weeks later the State Department announced the formal resumption of contributions to the UNFPA. And only a few days ago the U.S. Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton, remember her?) appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives and, in sworn testimony, praised the U.N. agency, now flush with U.S. cash.
Can the funding be cut off again, now that new evidence of the UNFPA's complicity with coercion and kidnapping has come to light? Frankly, I don't know. The anti-life mentality that pervades the new administration may prove impervious to both facts and reason. But we at PRI will continue to demand that Americans not be forced to fund these abuses.
Furthermore, we will continue to argue that forced abortion should not merely be anathema to pro-lifers. It should be rejected by those on the other side of the abortion debate as well. Human rights groups of all stripes should be urging President Obama to zero out all UNFPA funding. American tax dollars must not be used to fund an organization that violates the basic human rights of women around the world. And apparently condones kidnapping.
Contact: Steven W. Mosher
Source: Population Research Institute
Publish Date: May 7, 2009
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May 6, 2009
"Pro-Lifers" Plan to Get Arrested -- 'Until the South Bend Jail Is Overflowing'
"Pro-life" activists plan to keep on being arrested at the University of Notre Dame in the run-up to May 17, when President Barack Obama shows up in South Bend, Ind., to deliver the commencement address and accept an honorary degree.
The Roman Catholic university has no business honoring a man who supports abortion, stem cell research and same-sex marriage, all of which defy Catholic teaching, critics insist.
Dr. Alan Keyes, a conservative Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate seat that Barack Obama ended up winning in 2004, says he plans to be among those arrested at Notre Dame.
Keyes is urging like-minded people to join him: "I will go to South Bend. I will step foot on the Notre Dame campus to lift up the standard that protects the life of the innocent children of this and every generation," he said in a statement posted at StopObamaNotreDame.
"If this be trespass, then forgive us our trespasses and join us in trespassing until the South Bend jail is filled to overflowing with witnesses to truth; filled beyond capacity; filled until we break the most onerous shackles of all -- the ones that bind the heart and mind to evil and our nation to the path of its destruction," Keyes wrote.
Keyes is asking others who have "prayed and labored for the unborn" to join him and others in the protest that is expected to culminate in mass arrests.
Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, says he is "elated" that Dr. Keyes will join the protest at Notre Dame. "Local Catholics are already planning to be arrested with him," Terry said. "Let us pray that Notre Dame will see the light after they feel the heat," he said.
Terry was arrested last Friday, after refusing an order to leave school grounds. He was part of a protest in which demonstrators pushed baby carriages with dolls covered in fake blood.
As CNSNews.com has reported, at least 19 Catholic bishops, including Cardinal Francis George, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have spoken against Notre Dame's invitation to Obama.
The Rev. Hugh W. Cleary, the head of the Catholic religious order that founded and now sponsors the University of Notre Dame, declared in an "open letter" to President Barack Obama that many good Catholics are scandalized by his pro-abortion policies, which, Cleary said, are "regarded by us as an intrinsic evil."
Contact: Susan Jones
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: May 6, 2009
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Abstinence Earns Praise at Teen Pregnancy Event Promoting ‘Comprehensive’ Sex Education
Ann Shoket, editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine spoke out about the importance of teenage girls knowing how to remain abstinence at The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
At the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy's conference on Tuesday, panelists and participants said "comprehensive" sex education for teens that includes access to contraception and abortion is needed to reverse a recent up-tick in teenage pregnancies. But some at the event said abstinence should not be overlooked as the only certain way to avoid pregnancy.
"I think one of things we haven't really talked about is abstinence," Ann Shoket, editor-in-chief at Seventeen magazine and panelist, said at the event, held at the National Press Club. "Talking about how you deal with abstinent, when you stay abstinent, when your body is saying, like, this feels right.
"It's a really important thing to girls today and for us to talk about it with girls, to talk about why it is important and how it really is the only 100 percent way not to get pregnant is not to have sex," Shoket said.
She added that giving girls the right message about how to express their desire to stay abstinent also is important.
"At the same time, when girls find themselves in this situation then you have to give her words to say," Shoket said.
Television talk show host Maury Povich was the moderator for a panel at the event that discusses how pop culture can help in the fight to reduce teen pregnancies. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)"How do you do that?" asked television talk show host Maury Povich, who moderated the pop culture panel.
"We've given these girls scripts," Shoket said. "Actually, literally, say this to your guy when you're in this situation. I think that's a really important thing. There are some things to say when you are in a certain situation."
Shoket said just as important as teens having hopes and dreams for their future, they also need a practical way to protect those plans.
"It's also important for girls to have a plan for the moment," she said.
"That's really true," Kristen Alderson, whose teen character on the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live" became pregnant after having sex once with her boyfriend. "I know in my own personal life, whenever someone says something mean to me and then I go back and tell my mom about it, she says, 'Well, you should have said this.'
"Not every teenage girl has a mom, or a parent or a guardian to say, 'Well you should have said this,'" said Alderson, 17, who has acted on the television show since she was 6.
"So I think that's really great," Alderson said. "I've seen that in Seventeen before."
One of the participants at the conference, who identified herself as an obstetrician and gynecologist, said she serves mostly poor, black teenage girls. She told the group about one 17-year-old patient who was diagnosed with a second ectopic pregnancy.
Kristen Alderson, whose teen character on the soap opera "One Life to Live" gets pregnant, spoke at the event. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
"She dropped out of school, had no aspirations for the future," the woman said. "And when I asked her if she knew about the 100 percent way to prevent pregnancy and she's like 'I don't know.'"
"I said abstinence," the woman said. "And she said, 'What's that, a shot?'"
Copies of the June 2009 Seventeen magazine were handed out at the conference. One of the articles is entitled "The Secret Life of Pregnant Teenagers" – a title that closely resembles the Disney-ABC television show "The Secret Life of an American Teenager," which was represented on the panel by Vickie Collier, vice president of digital media for the Disney-ABC Television Group.
The article profiles three teens, two pregnant and one who gave birth to her daughter more than a year ago. One of the teens is being featured on a MTV reality show this summer "16 and Pregnant." The article also mentions "options" for pregnant teens, including adoption and abortion, with Planned Parenthood named as an abortion provider.
"I love my daughter more than anything," 16-year-old Brittany says in the article in Seventeen. "But I wouldn't wish being a teen mom on anyone."
"You may love kids and think you're ready, but you're not," Brittany says. "Not by any means. We're not old enough. We're not mature enough. We don't know anything about it."
The June issue of Seventeen magazine also features the Jonas Brothers on the cover. The three brothers in the boy band told "Details" magazine earlier this year that they wore "purity" rings to show their commitment to refrain from sex until marriage.
Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: May 6, 2009
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Jack Kemp: RIP
When I learned Saturday that former pro-life congressman Jack Kemp had died of cancer, in addition to the sorrow I felt for his family, three thoughts flashed through my mind.
Jack Kemp attended several NRL Conventions, not only speaking to General Sessions, but also taking time to speak informally to young people and get acquainted with them personally. He had a profound impact on a whole generation of pro-lifer youth who came of age in the 80s and 90s. Kemp is photographed during a discussion with youth at the 1986 NRL Convention held in Denver. Photographed with Mr. Kemp are Paul Hunker (left) and Billy Gans.
First, I remembered how I had thought of the nine-term congressman from western New York almost the instant that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was added to the Republican ticket. Like the choice of Palin, Sen. Bob Dole's selection of Kemp in 1996 energized and fired up pro-lifers across the land. Kemp was not only solidly pro-life, he was handsome, charismatic, and deeply committed to making America equally hospitable to all its citizens.
Second, ebullient and enthusiastic, Kemp poured out a seemingly limitless stream of proposals. It is no exaggeration to say that he believed ideas were Archimedes' lever that could move the world.
One of those ideas was that the America taxpayer should not be forced to underwrite horrific human rights violations abroad. Kemp was the author on the house side of the Kemp-Kasten law.
The bill was first enacted in 1985. Kemp-Kasten prohibited U.S. funding of organizations that participated in programs of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. Republican Presidents looked at the facts on the ground (as opposed to the briefing books compiled by pro-abortion organizations), and concluded that the UNFPA was up to its eyeballs in both practices.
"The UNFPA is a cheerleader and facilitator for China's birth-quota program, which relies heavily on coerced abortion," NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson said several years ago. "Top UNFPA officials have been completely cozy with China's birth-quota bosses. For 20 years, top UNFPA leaders have consistently praised China's program and attacked its critics." Kemp-Kasten was part of that attempt to quarantine taxpayer dollars
Third, Kemp had an enormous impact on young pro-lifers. I remember like it was yesterday a private meeting he had with a number of pro-life teens. To say that he inspired them would be the understatement of the year.
Our prayers go out to Mr. Kemp's family.
Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: May 4, 2009
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May 4, 2009
Pushing Doctors into a "Dual Mandate" and the "Attack on Doctors' Hippocratic Oath"
Physicians are being pushed steadily into an untenable position. On one hand, they are professionally obligated to render optimal care to each patient based on individual need. On the other hand, they are increasingly being looked to by bureaucrats and bioethicists as serving another role--for society--as the rationing arms of cost control.
The effect of this would require doctors to give optimal care to some patients but not others, probably based on mandatory invidiously discriminatory categories of age, disability, perhaps even politically incorrect lifestyles such as smoking and obesity (but never, for example culturally acceptable risky behaviors like promiscuity). This dual mandate, if adopted, would place doctors and other health care professionals in a terrible conflict of interest--duty to patient versus duty to society--carrying with it the real potential to tear health care apart.
The Hudson Institute's Betsy McCaughey has noticed and raised the alarm in an important column in Investors Business Daily, entitled "Attack on Doctors' Hippocratic Oath." From the column:
Patients count on their doctor to do whatever is possible to treat their illness. That is the promise doctors make by taking the Hippocratic Oath. But President Obama's advisers are looking to save money by interfering with that oath and controlling your doctor's decisions.
Ezekiel Emanuel sees the Hippocratic Oath as one factor driving "overuse" of medical care. He is a policy adviser in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a brother of Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff. Dr. Emanuel argues that "peer recognition goes to the most thorough and aggressive physicians." He has lamented that doctors regard the "Hippocratic Oath's admonition to 'use my power to help the patient to the best of my ability and judgment' as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others."
So yet another core patient protection in the Oath is under attack. This is nothing less than the deprofessionalizing of medicine, and turning physicians into health care technocrats.
McCaughey continues:
But President Barack Obama is pledging to rein in the nation's health care spending. The framework for influencing your doctor's decisions was included in the stimulus package, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The legislation sets a goal that every individual's treatments will be recorded by computer, and your doctor will be guided by electronically delivered protocols on "appropriate" and "cost-effective" care.
Translation: Health care rationing; futile care impositions, assisted suicide--always cost effective; and a "duty to die" if your care becomes too expensive.
This is not alarmism:
Heading the new system is Dr. David Blumenthal, a Harvard Medical School professor, named national coordinator of health information technology. His writings show he favors limits on how much health care people can get. "... Now that Blumenthal is in charge, he sees problems ahead. "If electronic health records are to save money," he writes, doctors will have to take "advantage of embedded clinical decision support" (a euphemism for computers instructing doctors what to do).
At which point medicine will cease to be a profession, as I mentioned above. And it will come at a great costs to individuals:
In critiquing the Hippocratic Oath, Dr. Emanuel calls for training medical students "to move toward more socially sustainable, cost-effective care." He says the trend "from 'do everything' to palliative care shows that change in physician norms is possible." What he fails to see is that government should not be interfering in decisions about when it's time to say enough is enough to medical care.
McCaughey is spot on and her critique illustrates a truth I have only recently fully comprehended: The political Left isn't about freedom, it is about power. And what greater power is there than bureaucrats and utilitarian bioethicists deciding whether you are treated or denied care, indeed, whether you live or die?
Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: WesleyJSmith.com
Publish Date: May 4, 2009
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Chinese officials force paid surrogate mothers to have abortions
Echoing other reports of coercion in enforcement of China’s one-child policy, Chinese authorities have reportedly forced mothers to abort their children in a crackdown on the country’s underground surrogate pregnancy industry.
One U.S. investigator of China's one-child policy said the alleged coercion was “not surprising.” In the latest incident, Reuters reports that three young surrogate first-time mothers were discovered by authorities hiding in a communal flat in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. District family planning and security officers broke into the apartment, corralled them into a van and drove them to a district hospital where they were compelled into a maternity ward.
"I was crying 'I don't want to do this'," a 20-year-old woman called Xiao Hong told Reuters. She was pregnant with four-month-old twins.
“But they still dragged me in and injected my belly with a needle,” she said, reporting that the incident took place in late February.
She said the government officers had forced her thumbprint onto a consent form before carrying out the abortion.
Another surrogate mother, a 23-year-old from a village in Sichuan province, said officers made her take pills and then surgically removed her three-month-old unborn child while she was unconscious.
"I was terrified," she said to Reuters.
The official Guangzhou Daily newspaper quoted district family planning officials as saying the women were unmarried and acting as “illegal” surrogates. The paper also reported that the mothers had agreed to undergo “remedial measures” in accordance with the law.
Official media coverage critical of surrogacy has led some observers to expect more action against the practice in the future.
According to Reuters, underground networks of surrogacy agents, hospitals and doctors have grown in recent years as wealthy infertile Chinese couples hire surrogates to produce babies for them.
The surrogates are often confined to secret flats for most of their pregnancy to avoid detection. Medical staff at public hospitals and health clinics who are part of the surrogacy network discreetly perform fertility, obstetrics and childbirth procedures.
Surrogacy has been on the rise globally. India in particular has become a center of surrogacy for infertile and homosexual Western couples.
In China, prospective surrogate mothers are paid between 50,000 to 100,000 yuan ($14,460) per pregnancy by some businesses, attracting many women from poor rural areas. The average per capital income for rural households is around $600. An estimated 25,000 surrogate children have been born in China.
A March investigation by the Population Research Institute (PRI) reported that the one-child policy and coercive abortion had links to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA claimed to have mollified the one-child policy and to have “played a catalytic role in introducing a voluntary reproductive health approach in China.”
Colin Mason, Director of Media Production at PRI, had conducted the investigation. In March he told CNA that coercive measures undertaken by the government are “worse now than ever.”
"Crippling fines, intense pressure to be sterilized, the flagrant display of quota information, and even the seizure of ‘illegal children’ by the government are commonplace," Mason continued. "The UNFPA insists that its presence has led to the removal of these measures. It has not."
Under President Barack Obama’s recent omnibus spending bill, the UNFPA is slated to receive $50 million in U.S. funding.
During the George W. Bush presidency, the UNFPA was denied a reported $235 million because of investigations linking it to coercive abortion practices in China. Funding for such groups is banned under the Kemp-Kasten Amendment.
CNA spoke about coercive abortions in China with PRI’s Colin Mason in a Friday phone interview.
He reported that he didn’t run into “that many” cases of forced abortion.
“It’s not something people are willing to talk about when they think will get into trouble,” he said.
However, he said the law is clear that any couple with a child over the policy limit will be fined a certain amount, “five to seven times the yearly wage.”
The policy also encourages such couples to “opt” to be sterilized, but Mason explained “the law made it clear that that’s not really an ‘option.’”
Responding to the report about one woman being coerced to sign a consent form before her alleged forced abortion, Mason told CNA “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
“It’s entirely possible that that happened,” he said.
“The UNFPA claims that they essentially eradicated coercion. That’s clearly not the case.”
“Based on what I saw, the government will go to any length it thinks it needs to.
“The tragedy is not only that this is going on but that Americans are so ignorant about it. The Chinese are trying to keep this a well-kept secret, and to certain extent Western aid groups are aiding and abetting it by keeping it under the radar.
“They realize that if the international community is made aware of this situation, they would be horrified.
“We in the West, even in this media age, know so little about it.
“We keep hearing more stories, we keep being surprised.
“Anything at this point shouldn’t surprise us.
“The idea that things are getting better in China is complete nonsense,” he told CNA, saying his opinion was based on the ease with which he discovered cases of coercion in China.
Source: Catholic News Agency
Publish Date: May 2, 2009
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Lumping Pro-Lifers In With "Rightwing Extremism"
If you're a veteran of this the grassiest of grassroots movements, you know that part of the drill for the Pro-Life Movement is to be linked to whomever it is a given commentator is using to try to pigeonhole and marginalize us. You can't just be opposed to the wanton slaughter of defenseless unborn babies. You have to be in cahoots with [fill in the blank]. This recurrence is as predictable as swallows returning to Capistrano.
That does not mean there is an ounce of truth to it. It does mean that smear tactics are a perennial hazard that we face.
My email box is filled with links to the recently published Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report on "Rightwing Extremism" which, in an evidence-free footnote, included pro-lifers.
When you read something this stupid you are tempted either to overreact or ignore it altogether. Let me try a middle-of-the-road approach.
Just a few words about the overall report produced by DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The full title is "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."
I skimmed the report the first time through, then read it closely a second time. And then, just to be sure I wasn't missing something, I read it a third time. I needn't have put in that much time. One page into the nine-page report and a fourth-grader could have figured out that the authors had come with a pre-determined conclusion.
Its reasoning is painfully, embarrassingly shoddy and supportive evidence of actual threats non-existent. It's entirely speculative--about what might happen if "x" or "y" comes to pass. A conversation over the water cooler carries as much weight and would be much more balanced.
So how did the report arrive at the conclusion that rightwing extremism "may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration"? Let's back up a second to see how we got swept in.
The report bifurcates "rightwing extremism" into hate groups and those that are "mainly anti-government."
Do pro-lifers hate "particular religious, racial, or ethnic groups"? Of course not, and there is not a shred of evidence in the report that suggests we do. In fact, it is the Abortion Industry that targets minority communities.
How about "antigovernment"? Coursing through the veins of every pro-lifer is an abiding faith in the capacity of government to change. That's why we are active in all 50 state legislatures and in the halls of Congress.
I guess even the dim-witted authors of "Rightwing Extremism" grasped that we fit neither of these categories. So they just lumped us in by employing the all-purpose "may" word. Again, not a word to explain why pro-lifers should be tarred with the extremist brush.
>From the earliest days of the Obamamania phenomenon, the "mainstream media" has let us know in unsubtle and unmistakable ways that it is close to un-American to criticize what he proposes or what he stands for. We have never allowed that to stop us from opposing the policies of any man who carries water for the Abortion Establishment with both arms. Nor will we.
I don't do paranoia. But I do believe that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: May 4, 2009
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Doctors face orders to 'kill on demand'
New assisted suicide law requires physicians to act
Physicians in Montana could be facing "kill-on-demand" orders from patients who want to commit suicide if a district court judge's opinion pending before the state Supreme Court is affirmed.
The case has attracted nominal attention nationwide, but lawyers with the Christian Legal Service have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the pending case because of what it would mean to doctors within the state, as well as the precedent it would set.
The concern is over the attack on doctors' ethics and religious beliefs – as well as the Hippocratic oath – that may be violated by a demand that they prescribe deadly chemicals or in some other way assist in a person's death.
M. Casey Mattox, a lawyer with the CLS, told WND that states allowing a "right to die" across the country – Oregon and Washington – include an opt-out provision for physicians with ethical or religious opposition to participating in killing a patient.
Montana's situation, created late last year in a decision from First District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter in the Baxter et al. v. Montana case, is different. There is no provision for a doctor to refuse such "treatment" for a patient.
Just how did America arrive at a court case ordering doctors to help a suicide? Read it in "The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom"
In that case, Robert Baxter, 75, a retired truck driver from Billings who suffers from lymphocytic leukemia, filed the lawsuit along with four physicians in the state's district court system. They were aided in the case by the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices, formerly known as the Hemlock Society.
Baxter told the organization's magazine that society already provides death when animals are suffering.
"I just feel if we can do it for animals," Baxter said, "we can do it for human beings."
The CLS, joined by the Christian Medical Association, yesterday filed briefs asking the state Supreme Court to protect the conscience rights of healthcare professionals.
The groups, representing more than 18,000 Christian medical and legal professions, are urging the court to reverse the district court's decision and recognize a right not to participate in assisted suicide.
"The trial court's decision to create a constitutional right to 'obtain assistance from a medical care provider in the form of obtaining a prescription for lethal drugs' threatens the rights of healthcare professionals and institutions that hold sincere ethical, moral, and religious objections to participating in the intentional killing of their patients," Mattox said.
"Medical professionals should not be coerced to violate the Hippocratic Oath in order to practice in Montana," he said.
If a "right to die" is to be recognized, it should be developed from the people through the legislative process, not imposed by a single judge, the brief also argues.
The district decision, the groups also point out, would seriously undermine the relationship between doctors and patients. Patients could be uncomfortable knowing their doctor had provided a lethal dose to another patient, and doctors would have concerns about such demands from patients.
"At a time when states are experiencing a healthcare shortage, making Montana the only state in the union to coerce professionals to assist in suicides could jeopardize the state's healthcare system," Mattox said.
He told WND that the effort clearly is part of a nationwide agenda to impose and mandate ethical standards on Americans. Similar are the Obama administration's suggestions that that pharmacists may not have the right to refuse to dispense abortion-inducing medications, and doctors may not have a conscience right to refuse to do abortions, he said.
"I don't know where it's coming from, but there is certainly a push from government to tell people to set aside religious or ethical qualms and to abide by whatever the government tells you is appropriate," he said.
Mattox said the state still has several weeks to file its briefs in the Montana case, and then there will be further arguments on behalf of requiring doctors to provide terminal treatment.
"A mentally competent, terminally ill Montanan should have the right to choose a peaceful death, when confronted by death," Kathryn Tucker, Compassion & Choices director of legal affairs, told KTVQ-TV, Billings.
But Montana Assistant Attorney General Anthony Johnston disagrees.
Johnston told the television station, "The laws governing the medical profession say the medical profession is to heal, not to kill."
Contact: Bob Unruh
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: May 2, 2009
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Physicians in Montana could be facing "kill-on-demand" orders from patients who want to commit suicide if a district court judge's opinion pending before the state Supreme Court is affirmed.
The case has attracted nominal attention nationwide, but lawyers with the Christian Legal Service have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the pending case because of what it would mean to doctors within the state, as well as the precedent it would set.
The concern is over the attack on doctors' ethics and religious beliefs – as well as the Hippocratic oath – that may be violated by a demand that they prescribe deadly chemicals or in some other way assist in a person's death.
M. Casey Mattox, a lawyer with the CLS, told WND that states allowing a "right to die" across the country – Oregon and Washington – include an opt-out provision for physicians with ethical or religious opposition to participating in killing a patient.
Montana's situation, created late last year in a decision from First District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter in the Baxter et al. v. Montana case, is different. There is no provision for a doctor to refuse such "treatment" for a patient.
Just how did America arrive at a court case ordering doctors to help a suicide? Read it in "The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom"
In that case, Robert Baxter, 75, a retired truck driver from Billings who suffers from lymphocytic leukemia, filed the lawsuit along with four physicians in the state's district court system. They were aided in the case by the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices, formerly known as the Hemlock Society.
Baxter told the organization's magazine that society already provides death when animals are suffering.
"I just feel if we can do it for animals," Baxter said, "we can do it for human beings."
The CLS, joined by the Christian Medical Association, yesterday filed briefs asking the state Supreme Court to protect the conscience rights of healthcare professionals.
The groups, representing more than 18,000 Christian medical and legal professions, are urging the court to reverse the district court's decision and recognize a right not to participate in assisted suicide.
"The trial court's decision to create a constitutional right to 'obtain assistance from a medical care provider in the form of obtaining a prescription for lethal drugs' threatens the rights of healthcare professionals and institutions that hold sincere ethical, moral, and religious objections to participating in the intentional killing of their patients," Mattox said.
"Medical professionals should not be coerced to violate the Hippocratic Oath in order to practice in Montana," he said.
If a "right to die" is to be recognized, it should be developed from the people through the legislative process, not imposed by a single judge, the brief also argues.
The district decision, the groups also point out, would seriously undermine the relationship between doctors and patients. Patients could be uncomfortable knowing their doctor had provided a lethal dose to another patient, and doctors would have concerns about such demands from patients.
"At a time when states are experiencing a healthcare shortage, making Montana the only state in the union to coerce professionals to assist in suicides could jeopardize the state's healthcare system," Mattox said.
He told WND that the effort clearly is part of a nationwide agenda to impose and mandate ethical standards on Americans. Similar are the Obama administration's suggestions that that pharmacists may not have the right to refuse to dispense abortion-inducing medications, and doctors may not have a conscience right to refuse to do abortions, he said.
"I don't know where it's coming from, but there is certainly a push from government to tell people to set aside religious or ethical qualms and to abide by whatever the government tells you is appropriate," he said.
Mattox said the state still has several weeks to file its briefs in the Montana case, and then there will be further arguments on behalf of requiring doctors to provide terminal treatment.
"A mentally competent, terminally ill Montanan should have the right to choose a peaceful death, when confronted by death," Kathryn Tucker, Compassion & Choices director of legal affairs, told KTVQ-TV, Billings.
But Montana Assistant Attorney General Anthony Johnston disagrees.
Johnston told the television station, "The laws governing the medical profession say the medical profession is to heal, not to kill."
Contact: Bob Unruh
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: May 2, 2009
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National Financial Accountability Organization Announces Partnership with Care Net and Its Network of More Than 1,100 Pregnancy Resource Centers
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) today announced a new partnership with Care Net, the nation's largest network of pregnancy resource centers. The partnership gives Care Net centers free access to valuable ministry management resources on the ECFA website that are specifically created and customized for organizations seeking to meet the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of women and families facing unplanned pregnancies.
ECFA (www.ecfa.org) is a national accreditation agency dedicated to helping Christian ministries, churches, universities, colleges, schools and other organizations earn the public's trust by developing and maintaining standards of accountability. ECFA's partnership with Care Net illustrates the organization's ongoing commitment to evangelical nonprofit organizations throughout the United States.
Founded in 1975, Care Net (www.care-net.org) is one of the nation's most reputable networks of pregnancy resource centers in which its 1,160 affiliated organizations serve more than 370,000 clients each year. By partnering with ECFA to provide its centers with customized, ministry-specific resources, Care Net further strengthens its reputation as a reliable option for women in crisis and its commitment to transparency and accountability.
"Best practices, operational excellence and organizational effectiveness are all very important strategic initiatives for us at Care Net," said Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net. "We want to provide our members with the best resources and training available so they can grow and nurture their pregnancy centers in these areas. That's what this partnership is about."
In accordance with the partnership agreement, and in an ongoing effort by ECFA to support the work of Care Net and similar organizations, ECFA has customized more than 40 of its white papers and other resources specifically for pregnancy resource centers. The documents provide guidance for accounting, board governance, fundraising, human resource issues, ethics policies and other issues pertinent to the sound management of nonprofit pregnancy resource centers.
In addition to Care Net's network, ECFA currently has more than 100 pregnancy resource centers directly involved in its growing membership.
"We champion the work that Care Net is doing to achieve their vision of saving lives, healing hearts and ministering compassion," said Dan Busby, president of ECFA. "We are proud to support Care Net and its local centers. By providing them with numerous resources and tools, we hope to help them remain one of the most trusted and respected national organizations and demonstrate their commitment to responsible stewardship."
For more information on ECFA's partnership with Care Net, or to view the organization's business and legal resources customized for pregnancy resource centers, visit www.ecfa.org/CareNet.aspx.
Contact: Ty Mays
Source: In Christ Communications
Publish Date: May 4, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY
Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.
Obama's Court Pick 'Will' Ignite Abortion Fight
Obama's first Supreme Court pick could reignite the fight over abortion rights, forcing the new administration to engage on some of the thorny social issues it has largely been able to avoid during its first few months in office. Women’s and abortion rights groups began preparing for a tough confirmation fight within hours of the first reports that Justice David Souter would retire in June. “You cannot assume, and we do not take for granted, that this is going to be easy,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Anti-abortion groups campaigned against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who personally opposes abortion but vetoed a series of abortion restrictions as Kansas governor. The Senate confirmed Sebelius on Tuesday.
Click here for the full article.
New Hate Crimes Bill Criminalizes Words And Thoughts
Wednesday night, while Obama held his televised press conference marking his first 100 days in office, the federal hate crimes bill -- HR 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 -- passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 249 to 175. But not everyone believes this piece of legislation is a great idea. They are cautioning many supporters that such a law is a two-edged sword and may have unintended consequences that includes misuse by overzealous and politically motivated prosecutors.
Click here for the full article.
New Kan. Gov. Admits to Being 'Like Sebelius': A Baby Murderier
Gov. Mark Parkinson says his views on abortion are "very similar" to those held by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, but he acknowledges he hasn't studied an anti-abortion bill she vetoed before leaving office. Parkinson's comments largely confirm what groups on both sides believed about his position on abortion. They had assumed he supported abortion, like Sebelius, because he ran as lieutenant governor on her re-election ticket in 2006.
Click here for the full article.
Pro-Abort Newspaper Faces Shutdown
The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks. After down-to-the-wire negotiations did not produce millions of dollars in union concessions, the Times Co. said that it will file today a required 60-day notice of the planned shutdown under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law.
Click here for the full article.
'Faith-Based & Community Initiatives' HHS Website Lists 'Family Planning Services' for Pro-Aborts to Apply for Federal Grants
The "Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI), under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, welcomes the participation of faith-based and community organizations as essential partners in assisting our country's neediest citizens." Below the heading "Funding Opportunities", pro-abort groups can scroll down the page where it says, "Family Planning Services -- This announcement seeks applications from [public] and [nonprofit private entities] to establish and operate voluntary family planning services projects, which shall provide family planning services to all persons desiring such services, with priority for services to persons from low-income families."
Click here for the full article.
Would You Abort an Unborn Child Because it Was The Wrong Sex?
It seems hard to believe but in India an estimated 750,000 baby girls are aborted just for being female. But Kulwant Dhaliwal, of Rosemoor Gardens, Appleton, is campaigning to stop female foeticide. “Female foeticide is such a big problem in India. People think girls are a burden but I try to change their mind,” said Mr Dhaliwal, “we have no right to kill someone.”
Click here for the full article.
Families Flying Toddlers to China for Stem-Cell Treatments
Driven mostly by hope, two California families will travel more than 6,000 miles to China for an experimental stem-cell treatment for their children. Aleesha and Michael Klomp of Hanford, California, say they don't need guarantees - they're willing to take a chance so their son Gryphon Klomp, 2, might walk and grasp a spoon some day soon. Fresno, California, mother Jennifer Schmidt has the same faith about the benefits of umbilical-cord stem-cell therapy for 2-year-old daughter Brooke Schmidt-Jordan.
Click here for the full article.
Conservatives Prepare for Supreme Battle
Conservative groups worked into the night Thursday -- after news broke that Justice David Souter would announce his retirement -- to arrange a conference call early Friday morning to talk strategy with representatives of more than 60 groups. Leaders on the call, such as Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network, told colleagues that one of their first challenges would be convincing activists there is a fight to be had. The conservative coalition, which formed to support President George W. Bush's Supreme Court nominees, is already targeting three potential Obama picks: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood.
Click here for the full article.
Obama's Court Pick 'Will' Ignite Abortion Fight
Obama's first Supreme Court pick could reignite the fight over abortion rights, forcing the new administration to engage on some of the thorny social issues it has largely been able to avoid during its first few months in office. Women’s and abortion rights groups began preparing for a tough confirmation fight within hours of the first reports that Justice David Souter would retire in June. “You cannot assume, and we do not take for granted, that this is going to be easy,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Anti-abortion groups campaigned against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who personally opposes abortion but vetoed a series of abortion restrictions as Kansas governor. The Senate confirmed Sebelius on Tuesday.
Click here for the full article.
New Hate Crimes Bill Criminalizes Words And Thoughts
Wednesday night, while Obama held his televised press conference marking his first 100 days in office, the federal hate crimes bill -- HR 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 -- passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 249 to 175. But not everyone believes this piece of legislation is a great idea. They are cautioning many supporters that such a law is a two-edged sword and may have unintended consequences that includes misuse by overzealous and politically motivated prosecutors.
Click here for the full article.
New Kan. Gov. Admits to Being 'Like Sebelius': A Baby Murderier
Gov. Mark Parkinson says his views on abortion are "very similar" to those held by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, but he acknowledges he hasn't studied an anti-abortion bill she vetoed before leaving office. Parkinson's comments largely confirm what groups on both sides believed about his position on abortion. They had assumed he supported abortion, like Sebelius, because he ran as lieutenant governor on her re-election ticket in 2006.
Click here for the full article.
Pro-Abort Newspaper Faces Shutdown
The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks. After down-to-the-wire negotiations did not produce millions of dollars in union concessions, the Times Co. said that it will file today a required 60-day notice of the planned shutdown under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law.
Click here for the full article.
'Faith-Based & Community Initiatives' HHS Website Lists 'Family Planning Services' for Pro-Aborts to Apply for Federal Grants
The "Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI), under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, welcomes the participation of faith-based and community organizations as essential partners in assisting our country's neediest citizens." Below the heading "Funding Opportunities", pro-abort groups can scroll down the page where it says, "Family Planning Services -- This announcement seeks applications from [public] and [nonprofit private entities] to establish and operate voluntary family planning services projects, which shall provide family planning services to all persons desiring such services, with priority for services to persons from low-income families."
Click here for the full article.
Would You Abort an Unborn Child Because it Was The Wrong Sex?
It seems hard to believe but in India an estimated 750,000 baby girls are aborted just for being female. But Kulwant Dhaliwal, of Rosemoor Gardens, Appleton, is campaigning to stop female foeticide. “Female foeticide is such a big problem in India. People think girls are a burden but I try to change their mind,” said Mr Dhaliwal, “we have no right to kill someone.”
Click here for the full article.
Families Flying Toddlers to China for Stem-Cell Treatments
Driven mostly by hope, two California families will travel more than 6,000 miles to China for an experimental stem-cell treatment for their children. Aleesha and Michael Klomp of Hanford, California, say they don't need guarantees - they're willing to take a chance so their son Gryphon Klomp, 2, might walk and grasp a spoon some day soon. Fresno, California, mother Jennifer Schmidt has the same faith about the benefits of umbilical-cord stem-cell therapy for 2-year-old daughter Brooke Schmidt-Jordan.
Click here for the full article.
Conservatives Prepare for Supreme Battle
Conservative groups worked into the night Thursday -- after news broke that Justice David Souter would announce his retirement -- to arrange a conference call early Friday morning to talk strategy with representatives of more than 60 groups. Leaders on the call, such as Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network, told colleagues that one of their first challenges would be convincing activists there is a fight to be had. The conservative coalition, which formed to support President George W. Bush's Supreme Court nominees, is already targeting three potential Obama picks: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood.
Click here for the full article.
May 1, 2009
Support for legal abortion drops in U.S.
A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows a significant drop in Americans' support for legal abortion, with 44 percent now believing the killing procedure should be illegal in most or all cases and only 46 percent supporting it being legal.
In August 2008 only 41 percent believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, while 54 percent thought it should be legal in most or all circumstances, the Pew Research Center said on Thursday. The largest drop in abortion support was found among men. In August 2008 53 percent of men generally supported legal abortion, while in April 2009 only 43 percent did. About 46 percent of men said abortion should generally be illegal, an increase of four percentage points since August.
The percentage of women who believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases remained steady at 42 percent, but the number of women supporting legal abortion declined from 54 to 49 percent.
The picture for Catholics appeared to be mixed, with Catholics surveyed by Pew in August 2008 more likely to say abortion should be illegal than those polled in April 2009, at a rate of 47 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
The number of Catholics who said abortion generally should be legal declined by two points from 49 percent to 47 percent. However, their numbers peaked at about 56 percent in mid and late October, according to two other Pew surveys.
According to the Pew Forum, support for abortion has "steadily declined" since August among white mainline Protestants, from 69 to 54 percent. Only 23 percent of white evangelical Protestants now favor legal abortion.
College graduates were most likely to support legal abortion by a margin of 58 to 33 percent, while those with a high school education or less were most likely to think it should be illegal, by a margin of 50-38. However, college-educated supporters of legal abortion dropped from 64 to 58 percent while the similarly-minded among those with no more than a high school education dropped from 47 to 38 percent.
Those making over $75,000 a year were most likely to support legal abortion.
CNA contacted the Pew Research Center for additional details and was told further analysis on the data had not been done.
The poll, which also asked about gun rights, surveyed 2,905 people in August 2008 and 1,521 people in April 2009. Pew claims a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points for the general population surveyed in April.
Polls asking about specific cases in which a respondent would allow abortion tend to show more opposition. A Knights of Columbus-commissioned survey published in October 2008 reported that 72 percent of Catholics said they would limit legalized abortion to cases of rape or incest and to save the life of the mother, would permit it only to save the life of the mother, or do not believe abortion should ever be permitted.
The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life also released on Thursday a poll on the religious dimensions of the torture debate. Though Catholic teaching condemns torture, the survey found that slightly more than half of white Catholics thought the practice can be justified sometimes or often, while only 47 percent said the practice can be justified rarely or never.
Source: Catholic News Agency
Publish Date: May 1, 2009
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340,000 Support Doctors' Freedom of Conscience
'If the Bush regulations are reversed and the trend to discriminate continues, people of faith and strong conviction will stop going into medicine.'
Through the efforts of nearly a dozen pro-family groups — including Focus on the Family Action — more than 340,000 Americans have sent comments to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) in support of health care professionals' right of conscience.
President George W. Bush put regulations in place in December to reinforce federal laws that protect medical professionals from being forced to participate in abortion and other anti-life practices that violate their morals. President Barack Obama wants to overturn them.
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family Action, called it a serious situation.
"If the Bush regulations are reversed and the trend to discriminate continues, people of faith and strong conviction will stop going into medicine," she said. "In 20 years, you may not be able to find a pro-life doctor. Reversing the regulations puts medical professionals and patients at risk."
In a recent survey, 95 percent of faith-based physicians said they would rather stop practicing medicine than be forced to violate their consciences.
In another poll — also conducted by WomanTrend on behalf of the Christian Medical Association — nearly 90 percent of Americans said they believe it is important to "make sure health care professionals in America are not forced to participate in procedures and practices to which they have moral objections."
Contact: Jennifer Mesko
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: April 30, 2009
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Support for legal abortion drops in U.S.
A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows a significant drop in Americans' support for legal abortion, with 44 percent now believing the killing procedure should be illegal in most or all cases and only 46 percent supporting it being legal.
In August 2008 only 41 percent believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, while 54 percent thought it should be legal in most or all circumstances, the Pew Research Center said on Thursday. The largest drop in abortion support was found among men. In August 2008 53 percent of men generally supported legal abortion, while in April 2009 only 43 percent did. About 46 percent of men said abortion should generally be illegal, an increase of four percentage points since August.
The percentage of women who believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases remained steady at 42 percent, but the number of women supporting legal abortion declined from 54 to 49 percent.
The picture for Catholics appeared to be mixed, with Catholics surveyed by Pew in August 2008 more likely to say abortion should be illegal than those polled in April 2009, at a rate of 47 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
The number of Catholics who said abortion generally should be legal declined by two points from 49 percent to 47 percent. However, their numbers peaked at about 56 percent in mid and late October, according to two other Pew surveys.
According to the Pew Forum, support for abortion has "steadily declined" since August among white mainline Protestants, from 69 to 54 percent. Only 23 percent of white evangelical Protestants now favor legal abortion.
College graduates were most likely to support legal abortion by a margin of 58 to 33 percent, while those with a high school education or less were most likely to think it should be illegal, by a margin of 50-38. However, college-educated supporters of legal abortion dropped from 64 to 58 percent while the similarly-minded among those with no more than a high school education dropped from 47 to 38 percent.
Those making over $75,000 a year were most likely to support legal abortion.
CNA contacted the Pew Research Center for additional details and was told further analysis on the data had not been done.
The poll, which also asked about gun rights, surveyed 2,905 people in August 2008 and 1,521 people in April 2009. Pew claims a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points for the general population surveyed in April.
Polls asking about specific cases in which a respondent would allow abortion tend to show more opposition. A Knights of Columbus-commissioned survey published in October 2008 reported that 72 percent of Catholics said they would limit legalized abortion to cases of rape or incest and to save the life of the mother, would permit it only to save the life of the mother, or do not believe abortion should ever be permitted.
The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life also released on Thursday a poll on the religious dimensions of the torture debate. Though Catholic teaching condemns torture, the survey found that slightly more than half of white Catholics thought the practice can be justified sometimes or often, while only 47 percent said the practice can be justified rarely or never.
Source: Catholic News Agency
Publish Date: May 1, 2009
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Nominating an Abortion Extremist for Supreme Court Will Do Little to Reduce Abortion
In response to today's release of polling data from the Pew Research Center, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following statement:
"Elections have consequences, and the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation battle is likely to further entrench President Obama's dedication to the abortion agenda. The President has said he would like 'common ground' on abortion policy. This is an especially relevant objective when you consider yesterday's release of public opinion data by the Pew Research Center showing a sharp decline in support for legal abortion. Choosing a judicial nominee who wants to enshrine the right to an unrestricted abortion in the United States Constitution would certainly be a step in the wrong direction. Appointing an abortion extremist to replace Justice Souter on our nation's highest court will continue the trend of activist court decisions do little reduce abortion in our nation."
Although he is often described as a moderate, Justice David Souter opposed upholding the federal ban on partial-birth abortion, an abortion restriction supported by the majority if Americans, in Gonzales v. Carhart. During President Obama's campaign for President, he pledged he would not provide an abortion "litmus test," with regard to Supreme Court nominees but added, "I am somebody who believes that Roe versus Wade was rightly decided."
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found overall support for legal abortion is down 8% since last August. Support for abortion declined by 10% among men and 5% among women over the last eight months. This most recent quarterly poll was conducted from March 31-April 21 among 1,521 adults.
Contact: Joy Yearout
Source: Susan B. Anthony List
Publish Date: May 1, 2009
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Hardly "A New Way of Thinking About Abortion"
As I listened to pro-abortion President Barack Obama respond to a question about abortion, I immediately thought of a quote from Cardinal Francis George. After meeting with the President, Cardinal George commented that Obama will "always tell you he agrees with you." But the fact of the matter is, as Cardinal George said, "'No, Mr. President, we don't agree (on abortion).'"
What appeared to be Wednesday night's something-for-everybody answer is the kind of Obamaspeak that sends thrills up and down the spines of his media admirers. Stripped to its essence, Obama told us 1) Abortion isn't simple, but the "complex" answer is that the decision to dispatch babies is entirely up to the woman; and 2) we really ought to "reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies," but don't bother me while I reduce to rubble every legal protection built in the past 36 years--no matter how small or widely supported by the public-- and in the process greatly increase the number of dead babies. (You can read Ed Henry's question and Obama's full response in Part Two.)
As it happened I had just re-read the transcript minutes before I read (with equal parts amazement and bemusement and confusion) a piece entitled, "Safe, Legal & Early -- A New Way of Thinking About Abortion." It was authored by Steve Waldman, and appeared earlier this week on his beliefnet.com site.
Waldman has been a key player in assembling a flying wedge of religious "Third Way" blockers for Obama and other pro-abortion Democrats. Under the phony baloney guise of finding a way out of what Waldman called the "toxic" debate over abortion, their objective is to open massive holes in the pro-life community's defenses. If even some pro-lifers can be persuaded that our approach is futile (and perhaps even "immoral"!), Obama and his pro-abortion allies will not only sprint to complete their entire agenda but also do so in way advertised as "bringing together" pro-lifers and "pro-choicers."
It's a complicated piece with many working parts, but for our purposes the key is how Waldman handles survey results showing (in one poll he cites) that 69% say that abortion is the "taking of a human life," but "72 percent believe it should be legal."
His answer is that, "Most Americans believe there are gradations of life. Some living things are more alive than others, and so the later in the pregnancy it gets, the more uncomfortable people become with the idea of ending it. But in reality they believe both that a life stirs very early on and that a one-week-old embryo is more 'killable' than a nine-month-old fetus. For them, determining whether 'life' begins at conception really doesn't determine anything."
This leads him off into a lengthy discussion, the point of which is that pro-lifers and pro-choicers ought to come together not to reduce the number of abortions but to ensure that they take place earlier. "Success would be measured on the basis of moving abortions earlier in the gestational cycle--even if that conceivably means more overall abortions," he writes. "It would be not about whether, how or how many, but when. Not 'safe, legal and rare' as Bill Clinton once said, but 'safe, legal and early.'"
In exchange for giving up the core convictions that have served as our true North, pro-lifers can console themselves with the thought that there might be a "less toxic debate."
First, two background points. #1. Waldman completely misrepresents what Roe actually said, borrowing Justice Blackmun's this-is-no-big-deal spin which was blatantly inaccurate. It took 34 years for the Supreme Court to choose not to strike down a ban enacted by the Congress of the United States on a grotesque abortion technique inflicted on a mature baby inches away from a live delivery. If that expansive definition of the "right" to abortion isn't extreme, I can't imagine what qualifies.
#2. In his attempt to persuade the reader that "earlier" abortions ought not to bother anyone, Waldman says that "An embryo is a clump of undifferentiated cells." I asked Dr. Randall K. O'Bannon, NRLC's director of education, about that. He said,
"Whether intentionally or not, this reveals a real lack of appreciation for the stunning, amazing programming in each of those cells. It's because of their amazing nature and capacity that some scientists lust so thirstily after those cells -- not the egg or the sperm cells, not cells from later in development, but those right there at the beginning. 'Undifferentiated' makes them sound like an amorphous, meaningless mass. They are nothing of the sort."
And just to be clear an "embryo" is the term given the child through the eighth week. By this time (just to offer a few highlights) the child has a beating heart, brain waves can be measured, the baby is swallowing amniotic fluid, and taste and teeth buds are beginning to form. Hardly "a clump of undifferentiated cells."
Now, it is quite true that pro-lifers believe (paraphrasing Dr. Seuss) that "a life is a life, no matter how small." Pro-lifers of faith may come to this conclusion out of a recognition that God is the Author of life and therefore (to quote Waldman) that "a life that God creates on Day One is morally equivalent to a life at month one or month nine or 18 years." But people of any faith or no faith or even those who hate people of faith can and do come to the same conclusion--that this life ought to be protected--for a raft of reasons, including Ben Franklin's immortal truism that we hang together or we hang separately.
What I found most intriguing was Waldman's clumsy attempt to turn the tables on pro-lifers. Hey, you guys may believe that a very "early" abortion is as abhorrent as a much later abortion. "But if you believe that the later an abortion happens, the more fully human the fetus has become then a strategy of delay is immoral."
In other words any and all efforts that result in giving women the opportunity to make a decision after considering what she is doing and to whom--rather than out of sheer panic--is immoral, if that woman is "forced" to abort later than she would have. I suspect he is particularly unnerved by the use of ultrasounds which can have a transformative impact on whether a woman or girl aborts.
The other fascinating comment is a backhanded admission that the legal status of abortion is unconscionable. If you eliminate everything early in the pregnancy (including requiring parental notification) and kill many more kids earlier, well that helps Waldman out of a particularly troublesome corner.
"By pushing toward earlier abortions, policy could indirectly limit one of the most ethically problematic types of abortions: those done to select for factors like gender or fetal abnormalities. It's difficult to find out many characteristics of the child if it's being aborted in the first week. These policies would therefore push away from eugenically oriented abortions."
Get it? If you find it insanely inconsistent to abort females in the name of women's equality, Waldman has just the answer: obliterate her before we know she is a she. Now there's a profile in courage.
The really toxic idea is that we just ought to make our peace with the notion that many people will now and forever extend protection only to babies who most closely resemble "real" babies. With that in mind I will end with excerpts from a respondent on another blog who answered the thrust of Waldman's "new" argument in an absolutely brilliant fashion. He or she took that logic in a different direction.
Yet perhaps most Americans believe there are gradations of life. Some living things are "more alive" --- that would be the ones who are most like us…. Maybe for some people of European extraction, a really black, black person is more "killable" than a Nordic blonde. Or for some dark-skinned persons, it's more evil, more of a 'hate crime' to kill a kill of person of color than it is to kill a person of --uh, pallor.
So success in terms of "Sanctity of Life" would be measured on the basis of moving homicides more towards the other end of the spectrum from one's own complexion. It would be not about whether, how or how many, but what color. Not homicides being "safe, legal and rare" as some would have it, but "safe, legal and some other race."
Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: April 30, 2009
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Pro-lifers Put up Billboards on Indiana Toll Road Decrying Obama's Notre Dame Appearance
In response to Notre Dame University inviting President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address there May 17, the Pro-Life Action League has erected two large billboards located near the South Bend, Ind., campus.
The billboards, to go up May 4 on the Indiana Toll Road, Interstate 80/90, will read, "NOTRE DAME: Obama is pro abortion choice. How dare you honor him," along with a picture of a baby in utero sucking its thumb. They also will list a Web address, NotreDameProtest.com, where visitors can get information on the protests planned during the graduation weekend at Notre Dame.
"These billboards will be seen by hundreds of thousands of motorists, including most of the families coming to Notre Dame for the graduation exercises," said Eric Scheidler, the League's communications director. "They will help make the direct and irrefutable connection between Barack Obama and abortion."
The League and its national director Joe Scheidler, a Notre Dame alumnus and former teacher there, already have called on the university's president, Rev. John Jenkins, to rescind his invitation to Obama. They have protested at the university, and promise to return to decry Obama's appearance on May 17 if Jenkins' invite stands. More than forty Catholic bishops and scores of pro-life leaders have written Jenkins, urging him to cancel Obama's talk.
"As scandalous as the Obama invitation is, it presents us with a welcome opportunity to highlight Barack Obama's pro-abortion record--something which was largely concealed by the Obama campaign and the media during last year's campaign," Scheidler said. "Obama's extreme pro-abortion agenda is out of step with the majority of Americans, and that news is finally getting out, thanks to this controversy."
One of the League's billboards will be located on Interstate 80/90 east, half a mile east of the Elkhart exit No. 92, about 15 miles east of the Notre Dame exit, and the other on Interstate 80/90 west near Rolling Prairie, about 25 miles west of the Notre Dame exit. The League has rented the two billboards for 30 days each, so they will be in place for two weeks leading up to the Notre Dame commencement, as well as two weeks afterward.
The Michigan-based pro-life group, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, also contributed to the cost of the billboards.
Contact: Amber Dawe
Source: Pro-Life Action League
Publish Date: May 1, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY
Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.
Sex Ed Mandatory for 5-Year-Olds in UK
A new government program will require that teachers in British public schools teach sex education to students starting at age 5, according to a series of published reports. According to the Guardian newspaper, the program will include the requirement to teach teens about contraception, safe sex, homosexuality and civil partners. But the program also allows faith-based schools to apply their values and include their perspectives in the lessons.
Click here for the full article.
Parents Sue Hospital for 'Wrongful Birth'
A couple are suing Blackpool Victoria Hospital after claiming they were not given the chance to abort their severely disabled child because of a "casual and light-hearted" pre-birth scan. The parents, who have not been named for legal reasons, are taking action against the NHS over the 20-week "anomaly scan", carried out to detect any abnormalities, 14 years ago, which their lawyers say should have picked up early signals of the severe brain malformation now afflicting their son. They are suing the hospital for seven-figure damages for "wrongful birth" to cover the costs of raising such a badly disabled child.
Click here for the full article.
New Layer Of Control Over Human Embryonic Stem Cells Found
Researchers have discovered an added layer of complexity in the network that determines human embryonic stem cell fate. A report publishing online April 30th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows that a microRNA known as miR-145 lowers the activity of three key ingredients in the "recipe" for making embryonic stem cells. The discovery may have implications for improving the efficiency of methods designed to reprogram differentiated cells into embryonic stem cell-like cells and for the use of those transformed cells in replacing cells lost to disease or injury, the researchers said.
Click here for the full article.
Gardasil Vaccine Linked to Nerve Disorder
Girls and women who receive the Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer may be at increased risk of a rare but serious disorder of the nervous system in the first few weeks after getting their shots, researchers report. "There is clear evidence from our database of an increased incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome in the first six weeks, especially the first two weeks, after vaccination," says Nizar Souayah, MD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.
Click here for the full article.
Notre Dame Won't Give Top Honor Amid Obama Protest
The University of Notre Dame has decided against awarding the Laetare Medal, its highest honor, after a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican turned it down because of the school's decision to honor President Barack Obama at its commencement. Instead, the Roman Catholic[sic] school said Thursday it will have federal Judge John T. Noonan Jr. speak at the commencement, replacing one anti-abortion scholar with another. Noonan was awarded the Laetare Medal in 1984.
Click here for the full article.
Souter to quit Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term. The vacancy will give Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction. Souter was a Republican appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, largely on the recommendation of New Hampshire's former governor John Sununu, who had become the first President Bush's chief of staff.
Click here for the full article.
Pro-lifers' First Amendment Rights Lawsuits to Be Heard By Jury
Pro-life advocates John McTernan and Edward Snell were protesting outside York's planned Parenthood clinic.
A U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday reversed a federal judge's decision against two pro-life advocates, saying the two men deserve to have their lawsuits against York heard by a jury. In their lawsuits, which were previously dismissed in U.S. District Court, Edward Snell and John McTernan claim violation of their First Amendment rights. In November 2004, Edward Snell was arrested in Rose Alley, behind Planned Parenthood at 728 S. Beaver St. in York, when he tried to hand out literature and speak with people walking to the clinic. Snell, of Harrisburg, said in his lawsuit he was wrongfully arrested Nov. 3, 2004, for refusing to leave the alley. Snell alleges police used excessive force by placing the handcuffs on too tightly and chaining him to a rail at city hall for two hours as he was processed for a disorderly conduct citation. Snell was later found not guilty by York County District Justice Ronald Haskell.
Click here for the full article.
Abortion Abroad: Family-Planning Advocates Have Global Ambitions
Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the House Foreign Affairs Committee to talk about Iran, but wound up defending the Obama administration's promotion of abortion rights abroad. "We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health, and reproductive health includes access to abortion," Clinton told the committee, with considerable emotion. The exchange was yet another skirmish in what President Obama recently characterized as a "stale and fruitless debate." Stale -- perhaps for some -- but surely not fruitless. There are real winners and losers in the abortion wars. Last month at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, Clinton triumphantly announced that Washington would provide $545 million for family planning and "reproductive health" throughout the globe, while the United Nations Population Fund would receive $50 million in federal dollars for this fiscal year.
Click here for the full artricle.
Sex Ed Mandatory for 5-Year-Olds in UK
A new government program will require that teachers in British public schools teach sex education to students starting at age 5, according to a series of published reports. According to the Guardian newspaper, the program will include the requirement to teach teens about contraception, safe sex, homosexuality and civil partners. But the program also allows faith-based schools to apply their values and include their perspectives in the lessons.
Click here for the full article.
Parents Sue Hospital for 'Wrongful Birth'
A couple are suing Blackpool Victoria Hospital after claiming they were not given the chance to abort their severely disabled child because of a "casual and light-hearted" pre-birth scan. The parents, who have not been named for legal reasons, are taking action against the NHS over the 20-week "anomaly scan", carried out to detect any abnormalities, 14 years ago, which their lawyers say should have picked up early signals of the severe brain malformation now afflicting their son. They are suing the hospital for seven-figure damages for "wrongful birth" to cover the costs of raising such a badly disabled child.
Click here for the full article.
New Layer Of Control Over Human Embryonic Stem Cells Found
Researchers have discovered an added layer of complexity in the network that determines human embryonic stem cell fate. A report publishing online April 30th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows that a microRNA known as miR-145 lowers the activity of three key ingredients in the "recipe" for making embryonic stem cells. The discovery may have implications for improving the efficiency of methods designed to reprogram differentiated cells into embryonic stem cell-like cells and for the use of those transformed cells in replacing cells lost to disease or injury, the researchers said.
Click here for the full article.
Gardasil Vaccine Linked to Nerve Disorder
Girls and women who receive the Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer may be at increased risk of a rare but serious disorder of the nervous system in the first few weeks after getting their shots, researchers report. "There is clear evidence from our database of an increased incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome in the first six weeks, especially the first two weeks, after vaccination," says Nizar Souayah, MD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.
Click here for the full article.
Notre Dame Won't Give Top Honor Amid Obama Protest
The University of Notre Dame has decided against awarding the Laetare Medal, its highest honor, after a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican turned it down because of the school's decision to honor President Barack Obama at its commencement. Instead, the Roman Catholic[sic] school said Thursday it will have federal Judge John T. Noonan Jr. speak at the commencement, replacing one anti-abortion scholar with another. Noonan was awarded the Laetare Medal in 1984.
Click here for the full article.
Souter to quit Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term. The vacancy will give Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction. Souter was a Republican appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, largely on the recommendation of New Hampshire's former governor John Sununu, who had become the first President Bush's chief of staff.
Click here for the full article.
Pro-lifers' First Amendment Rights Lawsuits to Be Heard By Jury
Pro-life advocates John McTernan and Edward Snell were protesting outside York's planned Parenthood clinic.
A U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday reversed a federal judge's decision against two pro-life advocates, saying the two men deserve to have their lawsuits against York heard by a jury. In their lawsuits, which were previously dismissed in U.S. District Court, Edward Snell and John McTernan claim violation of their First Amendment rights. In November 2004, Edward Snell was arrested in Rose Alley, behind Planned Parenthood at 728 S. Beaver St. in York, when he tried to hand out literature and speak with people walking to the clinic. Snell, of Harrisburg, said in his lawsuit he was wrongfully arrested Nov. 3, 2004, for refusing to leave the alley. Snell alleges police used excessive force by placing the handcuffs on too tightly and chaining him to a rail at city hall for two hours as he was processed for a disorderly conduct citation. Snell was later found not guilty by York County District Justice Ronald Haskell.
Click here for the full article.
Abortion Abroad: Family-Planning Advocates Have Global Ambitions
Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the House Foreign Affairs Committee to talk about Iran, but wound up defending the Obama administration's promotion of abortion rights abroad. "We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health, and reproductive health includes access to abortion," Clinton told the committee, with considerable emotion. The exchange was yet another skirmish in what President Obama recently characterized as a "stale and fruitless debate." Stale -- perhaps for some -- but surely not fruitless. There are real winners and losers in the abortion wars. Last month at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, Clinton triumphantly announced that Washington would provide $545 million for family planning and "reproductive health" throughout the globe, while the United Nations Population Fund would receive $50 million in federal dollars for this fiscal year.
Click here for the full artricle.
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