June 26, 2009

Abortion and Contraception Key Tools in Black Genocide: New Film

Abortion and Contraception Key Tools in Black Genocide: New Film



Planned Parenthood and similar groups have been using abortion and artificial contraception to control and reduce the African-American population of the US in a slow but deliberate and planned "genocide" that has been ongoing for 150 years, a new documentary claims.

The recently released documentary, "Maafa 21," produced by Life Dynamics Incorporated, the Texas-based pro-life investigative group, traces the history of the contraception and abortion industry from its origins in the racist eugenics movement of the early 20th century that un-apologetically targeted the black population and other groups it regarded as inferior.

Planned Parenthood was targeted by Civil Rights movement activists in the 1960s and '70s for its involvement in a "black genocide" that had its origins in the early days of the eugenics movement in the 19th century. The film points out that since 1973, legalised abortion has been specifically aimed at the African-American population and has killed more than "cancer, diabetes, heart disease and gang violence combined."

"Every week, more blacks die in American abortion clinics than were killed in the entire Vietnam War. And the largest chain of abortion clinics in the United States is operated by Planned Parenthood." 

It quotes Frederick Osborn, a founding member of the American Eugenics Society, who said in 1973, "Birth control and abortion are turning out to be the great eugenic advances of our time."

Pastor Stephen Broden, of the Fair Park Bible Fellowship, says in the film that the first "anti-abortion groups" were started by civil rights activists who spoke out against the use of birth control and abortion to eliminate the black race "long before the contemporary pro-life groups of today existed." Support for the abortion movement among African-Americans, he said, came about in response to "powerful influentical African-Americans" who were "willing to sell out the community" and who looked the other way to "advance their own personal political agendas."

The release of the film comes at the same time as it has been revealed that racist eugenics ideas had been shared by the late President Richard Nixon, who endorsed abortion for "mixed race" babies. Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said that Nixon's comment is "one more reminder that abortion and racism are inextricably linked."

"Since its inception, the abortion movement has been eliminating people that it considers undesirable - people of colour or those with low income."
 
To watch the trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeusbhevqao (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oV5eznv6ro (Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds_VQMoD5MI (Part 3)

Contact: Hilary White
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 25, 2009
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New UNFPA Annual Report Prioritizes "Reproductive Health"

New UNFPA Annual Report Prioritizes "Reproductive Health"


Last week, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its annual report for 2008, highlighting the organization's work on maternal health and its "continued efforts to ensure the universal access to reproductive health and the right of all people to decide the number and timing of their children."

Though UNFPA refuses to subject its books to an independent audit and also refuses to share specific budget reporting to its board of directors, its annual report asserts that in 2008, almost half of UNFPA's program expenses went to "reproductive health" programs, at a cost of $165.1 million, up from $146.6 million the previous year. In all five regions, more funds were spent on reproductive health initiatives than any other program.

UNFPA's 2008 activities to help achieve "universal access to reproductive health" include family planning promotion, particularly through "securing reproductive health commodities" such as condoms. UNFPA's report claims that its work has resulted in 80 countries having national budget lines for contraceptives and other reproductive health supplies.

UNFPA steadfastly denies its programs have anything to do with abortion and its report does not mention the word. However, critics at the UN suspect that UNFPA's use of the phrase "maternal mortality" shows adoption of what some call the "motherhood and apple pie approach to abortion rights."  By focusing on creating a new "right" to maternal health, reproductive rights advocates believe they can consolidate gains while avoiding scrutiny by abortion opponents. Then, once they are confident the new right to "maternal health" is established, they can assert the claim that abortion is part of the new right.

UNFPA continued its focus on mental health as an "integral aspect of reproductive health." UNFPA and the World Health Organization published "Mental Health Aspects of Women's Reproductive Health: A Global Review of the Literature" which seek to forge linkages between the biological, psychological and social factors to push for "an integrated approach to mental and reproductive health." In the United States and elsewhere "mental health" has been used radically to expand abortion rights beyond cases where a mother's physical well-being is at issue.

UNFPA's youth advocacy includes supporting "activities that led seven countries to ratify the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth."  The Convention is a document that worries Latin American social conservatives for references to "sexual and reproductive health" as well as "sexual orientation," which they feared would be used to promote abortion and homosexuality in the region.

Even though the leadership at UNFPA has expressed support for transparency and has spoken in favor of using international accounting guidelines in response to concerns from United Nations member states, the organization has not released detailed accounting of its programs. The 2008 annual report lacks the detailed financial tables commonly found in annual corporate filings, and only provides anecdotal descriptions of agency expenditures.

While the Bush Administration withheld funding from UNFPA over the agency's support of China's population program, which includes forced abortions and sterilizations, the agency can look forward to a cash injection from the Obama administration in 2009. Earlier this year, the United States announced it would reinstate UNFPA funding and pledged $50 million dollars for 2009 -- a figure that would put the US in the agency's top five donor countries alongside the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

(This article reprinted with permission from http://www.c-fam.org/

Contact: Samantha Singson
Source: C-FAM
Publish Date: June 25, 2009
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Abortion Proponents See Red after Senator Proposes "Office of Unborn Children's Health" in Healthcare Bill

Abortion Proponents See Red after Senator Proposes "Office of Unborn Children's Health" in Healthcare Bill



Abortion proponents are reacting with fury after Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) filed an amendment this month to the President's healthcare reform package authorizing the institution of an Office of Unborn Children's Health.

The Office is one of hundreds of amendments filed so far with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee as they examine the Affordable Health Choices Act.

Abortion proponents lambasted the amendment by the "anti-choice" Coburn, who is also a medical doctor.

"With so many Americans lacking basic health care, it is unconscionable that Sen. Coburn continues to use legislation on this important issue as a means to continue his ideological attacks," wrote Molly Jackson on NARAL's "Blog for Choice." "Fascinatingly angering" was Amie Newman's description of the Office in a blog post at RH Reality Check.

Cecile Richards, the President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, referred to Coburn's proposal in venomous terms in a column for the Huffington Post last week.

"We got a small taste of how much fun is in store when more than 30 amendments were filed in the Senate this week to alter the health reform legislation, and further erode women's access to reproductive health care," wrote Richards. "There was a lot of competition for the worst one, but our office favorite was Senator Tom Coburn's amendment to create an 'Office of Unborn Children's Health.'"

"No one's totally sure who would staff it or exactly what they would be doing - but suffice it to say the perennial assault on women's health care is upon us full force."

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 26, 2009
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Huckabee Hashes Out Abortion Arguments with Comedian Jon Stewart

Huckabee Hashes Out Abortion Arguments with Comedian Jon Stewart



The June 18 episode of the Daily Show featured an unusual topic for a late-night comedy segment: abortion.  Host Jon Stewart, who said he blamed guest Mike Huckabee for the choice of topic, dejectedly pulled out a bottle of whiskey as the segment began.

But the ensuing discussion proved both civil and hard-hitting as the former Arkansas governor hashed out the logic of the pro-life position and explored common ground with his left-leaning host.

"I think sometimes this is an issue where people get, maybe - generating a lot more heat than light," said Huckabee. "And for me, the issue is so much more than about abortion, it's about the fundamental issue of whether or not every human life has intrinsic worth and value."

Stewart pressed Huckabee: "Do you think that on the side of choice, that they don't believe that every human life has value?"

"I don't think there's anybody that wakes up and says, 'I really think abortion is a wonderful, wonderful thing," Huckabee replied. "I don't truly believe that even people who would consider themselves 'pro-choice' like abortion - I think that they haven't thought through the implications and the logical conclusion."

Noting that 93% of abortions in America are elective rather than health-based, Huckabee pointed out the consequences of training future generations "that it is OK to take a human life because that life represents to us an interference, or an interruption to our lives either economically or socially."

"What happens when our children one day look at us and we're old?" he asked.  "I do not want to give my kids the opportunity to say, 'Dad, you are an interference.  Coming to see you in the nursing home is really messing up my social life. You are very expensive, Dad.'" 

Stewart, who questioned the comparison, softened his objection by admitting his affection for his own children before birth.

"Look, I have kids, and I think it is very difficult when you look at an ultrasound of your child and you see a heartbeat - you are filled with that wonder and love and all those things," he said.  "I don't just feel personally that is a decision I can make for another person."

Huckabee also pursued the question of equal rights in a parallel to slavery, asking: "Does a person have a right to own another person? ... Can the mother totally own the child?"

"I just think our culture ought to do everything it can to support and encourage her to make a life decision and to be honest with her and to explain to her: this is a heartbeat, this is a child," he said.

The host expressed openness to Huckabee's arguments, though defending the pro-choice position throughout, and said he hoped "people begin to see that both sides can come out it with good faith and good intentions."

"Out of all issues - I can be incredibly certain about so many issues and get my dander up, and self-righteousness," said Stewart.  "This is one I can't, and this is the one that I probably, in the culture, struggle with the most. I think it's a very difficult issue."

Click here to watch Huckabee's appearance on the Daily Show.

Contact:
Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 26, 2009
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Indian Women March against Sex-Selective Abortion

Indian Women March against Sex-Selective Abortion



Thousands of women marched in Coimbatore, southern India this week to protest the practice of sex-selective abortion. Ten thousand students participated in the three kilometer long march carrying signs reading "Do not kill us" and shouting, "Adoption against abortion," and "No discrimination against girl child."

The march was organised by the All India Association for Abolition of Discrimination Against the Girl Child and the Michael Job Centre for Orphan Girls in Coimbatore. It was supported by local colleges and schools as well as local and international pro-life organisations from the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Romania.

The rally was a major public witness against the commonly held idea, often supported by the media in India, that girl children are a financial burden, particularly with the problem of providing dowries.

The rally highlighted other anti-woman cultural problems, including that of "dowry deaths," murders of women whose dowries are considered too small by in-laws. According to the Michael Job Center, husbands who should be the protector of their wives turn a blind eye when their "revered" mothers and sisters and other relatives resort to murder.

According to UN reports, as many as 5 million children are aborted in India each year.  Despite laws banning ultrasounds to determine the sex of an unborn child, the abortion industry routinely targets unwanted girl babies, resulting in one of the world's worst cases of population gender imbalance.

Contact:
Michael van der Mast and Hilary White
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 26, 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.

Pro-Life Group Calls for Investigation into Death Threats Against Pro-Life Activists

An anti-abortion group is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate what it says are death threats against abortion opponents after the killing of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas.
 
Operation Rescue of Wichita, Kan., on Thursday released audio recordings and e-mails containing threats, including one that says it's "time to start killing Bible-thumping morons."
 
Operation Rescue president Troy Newman says the Justice Department dispatches federal marshals to protect abortion providers but ignores threats against abortion opponents.
 
The Justice Department declined comment.
Click here for the full article.


Program Pays Young Girls $1 A Day To Not Get Pregnant

A buck-a-day -- that's the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant. The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies. Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings. The program is funded by a four-year grant from the state.
Click here for the full article.



UNFPA Gathering of Global Experts to Address Current Crisis in 'Family Planning'

Family planning experts from around the world warn that the lack of funding for family planning is stalling development efforts in poor countries. To address these issues, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is convening a group of 30 leading family planning experts, including representatives from Bangladesh, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, India, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States. The gathering, from 30 June - 2 July, will announce new recommendations on how to increase the availability and use of voluntary family planning, particularly among vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.
Click here for the full article.


English and Welsh bishops vigorously reject abortion and condom advertising

The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales expressed its rejection of a norm that would allow the advertising of abortion and condoms on the airwaves and said such advertising would be a failure to protect young people, who are already taught an "impoverished view of sex" by society.
 
In a statement prepared by the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, the bishops said they do not believe that services which offer or refer for abortion should be allowed to advertise on broadcast media" because "abortion is neither medicine nor a consumer product. Presenting it as either of these erodes respect for life, and is highly misleading and damaging to women, who may feel pressured into making a quick decision which can never be revoked."
 
"Allowing broadcast advertising of abortion services would contribute to a further 'normalisation' of abortion and its assimilation to a consumer service," the bishops said.
Click here for the full article.


Late-term abortion ban protects 'weakest, most helpless beings,' federal court rules

The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 6-5 decision on Wednesday upheld Virginia's partial-birth abortion ban. In his concurring opinion, one judge wrote that the law protects the "weakest" and "most helpless" and condemned the use of the Constitution to justify "dismembering" a partly born child and "crushing" its skull.

In its ruling "Richmond Medical Center v. Herring," the court said the 2003 Virginia law does not unduly burden a woman's legal right to terminate a pregnancy by more conventional means. It also ruled the law is clear about the type of procedure banned and adequately protects women's health.

The decision reverses a May 2008 2-1 panel decision which struck down the law, which is similar to a federal statute prohibiting a procedure in which the baby is partially delivered and then killed.
Click here for the full article.


Letter: 'Planned Parenthood In Aurora Aftermath' Article by Mick Noppen Is Filled With Lies and Distortions

Dear Editor,

Your site seems like a very conservative news source, which was why I was surprised to see you post, without comment, the article titled:

"Planned Parenthood in Aurora: aftermath" by Mick Noppen

This article is filled with lies and distortions about pro-lifers in general and the Pro-Life Action League and its supporters in particular.

The entire effort at Planned Parenthood Aurora has been entirely peaceful and prayerful. There has been no intimidation or violence as the grossly misinformed Mr. Noppen claims there was. Furthermore, Mr. Noppen makes specific claims of violence and intimidation against Pro-Life Action League National Director Joe Scheidler which are absolutely false and completely baseless.
Click here for the full article.


Arizona Senate Approves Two Bills Related To Abortion Rights

The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved two abortion-related bills, including one that would increase requirements for obtaining abortions in the state and one that would increase penalties for performing a certain abortion procedure later in pregnancy, the Arizona Republic reports. The first bill (H.B. 2564), which passed 16-12, would impose a 24-hour waiting period before abortion procedures, require that abortion providers inform patients about risks and alternatives, and increase parental consent requirements for minors. Although the state has had a written parental consent requirement since 2003, the new measure would require that the consent form be notarized (Newton, Arizona Republic, 6/24). According to the AP/Houston Chronicle, the bill also would "allow pharmacists and other health care providers to refuse to hand out emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds" (Davenport, AP/Houston Chronicle, 6/23). The second bill (H.B. 2400) would impose a fine or two-year prison sentence for violating the state's law banning intact dilation and extraction procedures, which currently is punishable by one year in prison (Arizona Republic, 6/24).
Click here for the full article.

June 25, 2009

Coulter Mocks Pro-Abort Rhetoric: "If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot an abortionist."


Coulter Mocks Pro-Abort Rhetoric: "If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot an abortionist."

  

In an appearance on the O'Reilly Factor Monday, conservative pundit Ann Coulter took a jab at the media's white-glove treatment of Kansas late-term abortionist George Tiller following his murder last month, pointing out the ironic situation of those defending the killing of unborn children while expressing horror at Tiller's violent demise.

Click here for the video.

Providing a mock foil to host O'Reilly's unequivocal condemnation of the bloodshed, Coulter framed the death of Tiller, gunned down in a Wichita Lutheran Church May 31, with the abortion lobby's softening rhetoric.

"I don't like to think to think of it as a murder, it was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester," she said.

O'Reilly objected, "You can't diminish what that killer did, or you have anarchy."

"I am personally opposed to shooting abortionists, but I don't want to impose my moral values on others," Coulter insisted.  "If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot an abortionist."

After O'Reilly continued objecting by condemning the murder, Coulter explained that her remarks were meant to parallel the pro-abortion argument: "If you don't believe in abortion, don't have an abortion."

Citing American Liberalism's support of abortion-on-demand and euthanasia, Coulter said, "in this one case, they're finally against someone dying: a man responsible for killing 60,000 babies."

Both pro-abortion and pro-life groups issued strong condemnations of Tiller's murder immediately following the incident.  However, several liberal voices blamed pro-life and conservative groups for supposedly precipitating the murder by decrying Tiller's gruesome abortion business.

Among the most vituperated was Bill O'Reilly, whom CNBC's Keith Olbermann called "the principal perpetrator" in the murder for his earlier hard-hitting exposés of the abortionist.

O'Reilly responded by strongly condemning the "vigilantism" that took Tiller's life, and questioned the mainstream media's "glorification of Tiller" in the wake of the incident.

One of the most infamous abortionists in U.S. history, Tiller was at the time of his murder under investigation by the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts for allegedly performing illegal late-term abortions without adequate medical justification. 

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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Obama’s Plan to Fund D.C. Abortions Shows He Is Not Seeking ‘Common Ground,’ Congresswomen Say

Obama's Plan to Fund D.C. Abortions Shows He Is Not Seeking 'Common Ground,' Congresswomen Say


At a press conference urging Congress and President Barack Obama not to revise the bill that would allow federal funds to be used for abortions in the District of Columbia are, from left, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Majorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) and Rep. Virginia Fox (R-N.C.). (CNSNews.com/ Penny Starr)

Pro-life activists and members of Congress said President Barack Obama's claim that he wants to seek "common ground" with people who morally object to abortion and find ways to reduce abortions contrasts his actions, including his recommendation to revise an amendment in the 2010 budget for the District of Columbia and thus allow federal funds to pay for the procedure.
 
Under the Constitution, Congress is authorized to allocate funds for the District. The Dornan amendment, which was introduced in the D.C. budget in 1988 by then-Rep. Robert Dornan (R-Calif.) and included in the District's budget for most of the last 20 years, prohibits both federal and local funds from being used for abortions in the District.
 
The amendment allows exceptions for abortions in cases where the mother's life is at risk or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
 
"One way to reduce the number of abortions and a way that works and one that is a common ground issue for the American people is to not allow taxpayer-funded abortions, period," Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), chairwoman of the House Pro-Life Women's Caucus, said at a press conference outside of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
 
In Obama's 2010 proposed budget the Dornan amendment would be changed. Below, in brackets, is the Dornan amendment followed, in italics, by the Obama administration's proposed changes to that amendment:
 
SEC. [820]815. [None of the funds appropriated under this Act shall be expended for any abortion except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest] (a) None of the Federal funds appropriated in this Act, and none of the Federal funds in any trust fund to which funds are appropriated in this Act, shall be expended for any abortion. (b) None of the Federal funds appropriated in this Act, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which Federal funds are appropriated in this Act, shall be expended for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion. (c) The term health benefits coverage means the package of services covered by a managed care provider or organization pursuant to a contract or other arrangement.
 
SEC. 816. (a) The limitations established in the preceding section shall not apply to an abortion (1) if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed. (b) Nothing in the preceding section shall be construed as prohibiting the expenditure by a State, locality, entity, or private person of State, local, or private funds (other than a State's or locality's (sic) Contribution of Medicaid matching funds).
 
Majorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony List, said at the news conference that because Congress funds the District, the language stating "local" funds can be used for abortion means taxpayers will be paying for the procedure, and that the number of abortions will likely increase.
 
"This dramatic reversal of policy would also undermine common ground on the abortion issue if that common ground means reducing abortions," Dannenfelser said. "What would D.C. funding of abortion do? What would tax-paying funding do? It would increase abortion in the District of Columbia to at least 1,000 more abortions per year."
 
Schmidt noted that Obama said during his televised interview with the Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church during the presidential campaign and in a speech the president made at the commencement ceremony at Notre Dame that he wanted to find "common ground" with people who disagree with his pro-abortion stance.
 
"I believe in Roe v. Wade, and I come to that conclusion not because I'm pro-abortion, but because, ultimately, I don't think women make these decisions casually," Obama said when Warren asked him about abortion. "I think they – they wrestle with these things in profound ways, in consultation with their pastors or their spouses or their doctors or their family members.
 
"And so, for me, the goal right now should be – and this is where I think we can find common ground," Obama said. "And by the way, I've now inserted this into the Democratic Party platform, is how do we reduce the number of abortions? The fact is that although we have had a president who is opposed to abortion over the last eight years, abortions have not gone down and that is something we have to address."
 
Obama also talked about respecting the views of pro-life Americans when he gave a controversial commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic institution.
 
"That's when we begin to say, 'Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions,'" Obama said at Notre Dame.
 
"So let's work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term," he said.
 
"So let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women," Obama said.
 
Schmidt said by removing the Dornan Amendment, Obama would be "violating the consciences of millions of pro-life Americans to fund a procedure to which they object – based upon deeply held religious and moral belief – by allowing taxpayers to fund abortions."
 
Schmidt said such action would also likely "increase the number of abortions performed" in the District of Columbia.
 
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), also at the conference, said Obama is out of touch with the growing number of Americans who describe themselves as pro-life, as a recent Gallup poll showed.
 
"America is moving in exactly the opposite direction," Bachmann said. "America is embracing the view of life.
 
"We want to put a marker in the ground here today in our nation's capital saying, 'We're here for women, born and unborn,'" Bachmann said.
 
Keeping the Dornan Amendment "would be the common ground on the abortion debate," said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). "We hope that President Obama and the Democrats will change their mind and stand with the majority of Americans who support the Dornan Amendment."
 
Rep. Virginia Fox (R-N.C.) also attended the press conference.
 
The House Appropriations Committee will hold a full committee hearing on the Financial Services appropriations bill, which includes the D.C. funding, after the Fourth of July congressional break.

Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: June 25, 2009
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"Our Finest Hour": Chris Smith Invokes Churchill's Words in Keynote Pro-Life Address

"Our Finest Hour": Chris Smith Invokes Churchill's Words in Keynote Pro-Life Address



While the situation may look bleak for the pro-life movement, one Congressman has stated that the current time of crisis for pro-life advocates may actually be recorded in history as their "finest hour."

"You are the conscience of a nation that has lost its way," said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) in a keynote address at the 37th convention of the National Right to Life Committee last weekend.

Smith, one of the most outspoken defenders of the right to life in Congress, praised the delegates gathered for their unflagging efforts to "admonish our country to embrace life and hope." He thanked them for "devoting your lives, your talent, your time and your money to defending generations of unborn children, their moms, their dads, the frail elderly and the disabled (like Terri Schiavo), most of whom you will never meet, at least not in this life."

The Congressman then turned to address what he called the "string of setbacks" suffered by the pro-life movement in the five short months of the administration of President Barack Obama.

"With all his gifts and charisma, it is tragic beyond words that Mr. Obama has chosen to promote the culture of death, and in record time has made the White House the wholly owned subsidiary of the abortion lobby," Smith said.

But despite the adversity faced by the pro-life cause and the promise of worse to come, Smith exhorted the delegates to "resolve to stop his misguided abortion agenda."

"This can and must be our finest hour," Smith declared, evoking the immortal words of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who rallied the British people to brace themselves on the eve of the Battle of Britain to resist the indomitable forces of Nazi Germany. In that "finest hour" speech, Churchill told the British people that upon them "depends the survival of Christian civilization." The 69th anniversary of that speech, given June 18, 1940, had passed just two days before Smith's keynote address.

"At precisely the same time as President Obama continues to assiduously assure Americans, including graduates at Notre Dame last month, that he wants to reduce abortion at home and abroad, his administration is aggressively seeking to reverse virtually every modest pro-life law ever enacted or policy promulgated since Roe v. Wade," said Smith.

Smith explained that aggressive efforts to promote abortion were proceeding rapidly through the repeal of pro-life policies and laws, the refusal to renew funding for pro-life legislative riders, key personnel appointments, funding and lobbying abortion abroad, and restructuring health care to shore up a failing abortion industry.

"Personnel is policy," Smith observed, pointing to two examples that illustrate the extreme pro-abortion character of the administration: Dawn Johnson, a former NARAL lawyer, who called pregnant women "fetal containers," and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who praised the work of eugenicist and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, saying her leadership was "one of the most transformational in the entire history of the human race and that Sanger's work both here and abroad was not done."

Smith stated that he asked Clinton how she could be in "awe" of Sanger, a racist, enemy of the poor, and population control advocate, who stated, "the most merciful thing a family does for one of its infant members is to kill it," and who called maternal health care for poor pregnant women both "nearsighted" and "stupid cruelty."

Smith recounted that Clinton also expressed candidly to him that the term "reproductive health" included abortion and that the Obama administration was "entitled" to advocate abortion all over the world.

"Thus it is abundantly clear a new, dark chapter in the Global push for unfettered abortion has commenced," stated Smith pointing to statements from US representatives to the UN that the federal government would now strive to achieve "universal access to reproductive health and the promotion of reproductive rights."

Smith pointed to the plight of women in China, saying that thanks to Obama's decision to donate $50 million to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the US will begin supporting one of "the most pervasive crimes against women in human history."

"China's one-child-per-couple policy relies on coerced abortion, involuntary sterilization, ruinous fines in amounts up to ten times the salary of both parents, imprisonment, and job loss or demotion to achieve its quotes," said Smith, who also observed that these efforts were being achieved with the direct complicity of UNFPA.

"Population control blames children for bad governance and the misuse and misallocation of resources," warned Smith. "If you want to know where that worldview takes us, just look at China."

In the United States, Smith said, the upcoming battle over universal health care will also become a battle to resist the imposition of taxpayer funded abortions and the forcing of physicians to perform abortions they are otherwise reluctant to provide. Smith said that under the current legislation shaping up under the Obama/Kennedy health care plan, a presidential advisory council will determine what services will be mandated under the new law, and, without any legislative guarantees, it will most certainly include abortion.

"We know that if the children and at risk persons in America and the world are to survive the newest aggression against their lives, you and I have no other option but to fight," said Smith, explaining that efforts must be redoubled and new activists recruited, especially among the young, both in the United States and overseas.

"This is no time for quitters or the faint of heart," concluded Smith.

"I truly believe that this will someday be regarded as our finest hour, when against overwhelming odds, we stood firm and overcame evil with good."

For the full text of the address click here. (PDF)

Contact: Peter J. Smith
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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YouTube Removes New Undercover Student Video of Planned Parenthood without Explanation

YouTube Removes New Undercover Student Video of Planned Parenthood without Explanation

Without offering any specific explanation, the video-sharing site YouTube has removed a new video by the student group Live Action that shows dishonest counseling practices at Planned Parenthood. The video first plays undercover footage of a Planned Parenthood counselor from Tucson, AZ telling a patient that images of aborted fetuses "are not real" and then shows photographs of a completed abortion and documentation of their authenticity.

Lila Rose, 20-year-old president of Live Action, calls on YouTube to re-instate the video in accordance with its own guidelines: "Since the video we posted does not violate any terms of use, we expect YouTube to re-instate it immediately. YouTube's own 'Community Guideline Tips' advise that intense or disturbing imaging should be 'balanced with additional context and information,' which is exactly what Live Action has done." YouTube has removed videos posted by Live Action without explanation before, including videos showing Planned Parenthood employees caught on tape sympathizing with donors with racist agendas to encourage the abortion of black babies.

Live Action's videos use undercover tactics to expose fraudulent practices in the abortion industry and are similar to other "sting" investigations which journalists often post on YouTube. The most recent video is part of Live Action's Mona Lisa Project, which documents abusive practices in Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation. Footage released to date has caught on hidden camera six Planned Parenthood clinics in three states ignoring their mandatory reporting responsibilities for statutory rape and protecting adult-child sexual relationships. Recently the Tennessee State Legislature used undercover footage from Live Action to help divert nearly $1 million in taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood clinics, and in California, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to end a nearly $300,000 contract with the abortion provider.

"New media is vital to educating the public about the shocking realities of abortion practice in America," Rose emphasizes. "Our videos show hard truths about the abortion industry that must be seen and dealt with. Lawmakers and their constituents are recognizing this, but YouTube does everyone a disservice when they cooperate with Planned Parenthood in burying the evidence of abuse."

Click here for more information, including the censored video
.

Contact: Lila Rose
Source: Live Action
Publish Date: June 25, 2009
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Senate Vote Threatens American Sovereignty

Senate Vote Threatens American Sovereignty

Concerned Women for America Urges Senate to Oppose Harold Koh



Concerned Women for America (CWA) and its 500,000 members around the country call on every Senator to oppose the nomination of Harold Koh to be Legal Adviser to the State Department.

CWA President Wendy Wright said, "Koh's extremely radical views threaten the great 'American experiment' of a representative democracy.  He believes that foreign and international opinions take precedence over America's Constitution, laws and policies.  Koh advocates that courts and bureaucracies should integrate foreign opinions into American law.  He believes the U.S. courts must look beyond its national interest to the 'mutual interests of all nations' in what he calls an 'international legal regime.'  He has argued that the U.S. should be bound by various international treaties that the Senate has not ratified, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and rulings from the International Criminal Court.

"Koh's views undermine national sovereignty, and as the Legal Adviser at the State Department, he would be in prime position to radically alter U.S. policy, as he will be the voice of the United States around the world on international legal issues.  His beliefs are far outside the mainstream, even for a liberal nominee."

Mario Diaz, Esq., CWA's Policy Director for Legal Issues, said, "We would be hard pressed to find a more dangerous position from which Harold Koh could advocate his radical views.  Even though all powers given to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branch in our country are explicitly laid out in our Constitution, Koh believes the United States should be subject to 'customary international law' beyond the written text of the Constitution.  He has argued this principle strenuously and openly in numerous legal briefs and academic writings, and frankly, he has gained significant traction in liberal circles domestic and foreign.

"No Senator concerned with protecting our sovereignty and national security should feel comfortable with Harold Koh at the State Department."

Contact:
Kristin Dowd
Source: Concerned Women for America
Publish Date: June 24, 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.

House Hate-Crimes Bill May Target Pro-Life Servicemen and Women
 
Senate Republicans have called a hearing Thursday to discuss proposed hate- crimes legislation. The contentious language would elevate some victims of violent crimes over others.

The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a hate-crimes bill, and is trying to take the concept one step further.

Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings has added language that would ban the recruitment, enlistment or retention of military personnel affiliated with "hate groups." Just a month ago, the Department of Homeland Security issued a study listing pro-life advocates as potential national security threats.
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Tennessee Ends Planned Parenthood Funding
 
Tennessee lawmakers have decided about $1.1 million normally allocated for Planned Parenthood will now go to local health organizations.

Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly approved House Bill 1756, proposed by Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Brentwood, which removes a clause in existing law naming Planned Parenthood as the primary provider of family-planning services in the state.

The bill also adds language giving priority for funding to local community health centers. Planned Parenthood would be eligible for some of the money, but only after local organizations' needs are filled.

Tennessee Right to Life President Brian Harris praised legislators for their actions.
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Distribution of morning-after pill prohibited in Chile

The National Comptroller's Office of Chile, which oversees a wide range of government activities, issued a decree on June 16 prohibiting the distribution of the morning-after pill by all municipalities and by any private or public organization.

The decree states that municipalities are legally forbidden from implementing any policies or programs that imply the use or distribution under any title of the morning-after pill. It also ordered all public health care facilities to refrain from making the drug available through their services.
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Court Upholds VA Partial-Birth Abortion Ban - Judge Says Future Generations Will "Shudder"


The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled Wednesday to uphold the constitutionality of Virginia's partial-birth abortion ban. The full court reversed a previous decision by a three-judge panel that determined the ban was unconstitutional.

In the opinion issued Wednesday, the 4th Circuit concluded that "little or no evidence" exists to suggest the ban would prevent other types of abortions from being performed without subjecting doctors to criminal liability.

The court wrote, "To hold the Virginia Act facially unconstitutional for all circumstances based on the possible rare circumstance presented ... is not appropriate under any standard for facial challenges. Moreover, the Virginia Act ... provides sufficient clarity as to what conduct is prohibited to enable a doctor of reasonable intelligence to avoid criminal liability under it, and therefore the Virginia Act is constitutional."
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Louisiana Passes Conscience Clause Bill for ALL Health Care Workers

The LA Healthcare Workers Conscience Act, HB-517, passed late this afternoon, LARTL is reporting. Despite efforts to dilute the inevitability of the bill by pro-abortion pols, pro-life legislators fought off the attack against rights of conscience for ALL health care workers. The bill had been amended days ago so that it only applied to public employees, but Sen. Amedee was able to strip that line from the bill today.
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Another 'Supreme Court' Abortion Case Developing

Two years after the Supreme Court last ruled on abortion restrictions, a new test case is likely on its way to the Court, perhaps reaching there by next Fall. Responding to an order by the Justices to take a new look at a Virginia abortion ban, the Fourth Circuit Court on Wednesday upheld the law. The en banc Court divided, 6-5, in sustaining the law against claims that it would criminalize the most common method of abortions performed in the second trimester.
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June 24, 2009

PBS Wages War on Pro-Lifers

PBS Wages War on Pro-Lifers



The Public Broadcasting Service recently announced it will not allow new religious programming on their taxpayer-subsidized airwaves. The handful of stations that have shown a Catholic Mass or Mormon devotions will be allowed to continue, but the other 300-plus stations have been instructed to avoid any kind of evangelism.
   
Welcome to Barack Obama's new world order.
   
News reports explained that the PBS station services committee insisted on applying a 1985 rule that all PBS shows must be "noncommercial, nonpartisan and nonsectarian."
   
To everyone who's watched a pledge drive or contemplated a toy store stuffed with "Sesame Street" toys, the idea that PBS is following any "noncommercial" policy is absurd.
   
To everyone who's watched two minutes of "Bill Moyers Journal," with its panels unanimously screaming for Bush's impeachment, or more recently, for a single-payer socialist health-care system, the idea of PBS being devoted to a "nonpartisan" stance is several miles removed from ridiculous.
   
But the atheists and secularists who want all traces of sectarian "proselytizing" for Jesus banned from PBS do have something to say about PBS public-affairs programming. "Nova" creates a special to shred the authenticity of the Bible, and PBS doesn't think to assemble a committee to evaluate it. PBS stations air tax-subsidized documentaries celebrating lesbian-feminist choirs, "transgender" riots, and a liberal teenager fighting against abstinence education, and nobody inside "public" broadcasting wonders whether they're guilty of doing the very "proselytizing" they condemn.

As part of its wave of secular fundamentalism, PBS celebrates even late-term abortionists with a fanaticism that would curl the hair of any pro-lifer. On June 12, the PBS show "Now" (formerly with Bill Moyers) devoted most of its half-hour to smearing the pro-life movement as a vicious band of terrorists.

They hailed two men who abort babies into the ninth month, Dr. Warren Hern of Colorado and Dr. Leroy Carhart of Nebraska. Reporter Maria Hinojosa briefly noted at one point that pro-life groups issued press releases denouncing Dr. Tiller's murder. But those words were lies, claimed the abortionists.
   
Carhart attacked. "They may claim innocence and they may technically, under the law, be innocent, but their heart was certainly with Scott Roeder on the day that he shot Dr. Tiller."
   
Hern echoed: "The anti-abortion organizations, you know, making these statements of distress and disapproval. No, no, no, no, no. This is what they wanted to happen. And it happened."
   
Oppose abortion, even very late in pregnancy, and PBS is clear. You are a terrorist.
   
Let's go back to Hern. "This is a terrorist movement. And they instill fear in people," he said. "This is not an abortion debate. There's no debate. This is a civil war. The anti-abortion people are using bombs and bullets. And they've been doing this for 30 years."
   
"Now" host David Brancaccio began the program with a topic sentence: was Tiller's murder terrorism, and did it succeed? Hinojosa asked Hern: "Do you say they've won? They've been successful?" Hern whacked that softball question silly: "Of course, they won. But this is the consequence of this kind of violence and terrorism. Terrorism works....The message from the anti-abortion movement is, 'Do what we tell you to do, or we will kill you.' And they do."
   
On MSNBC, Hern uncorked this slur: "The main difference between the American anti-abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8,000 miles." For this, he is hailed on our taxpayer-funded airwaves as a feminist hero, a very brave provider of services for desperate women.
   
Where was the air time for the pro-lifers? Hinojosa granted a few seconds to Randall Terry -- in the familiar soundbite declaring the pro-life movement didn't cause Tiller's death, but Tiller was a mass murderer. PBS also aired a series of Bill O'Reilly segments where he referred to "Tiller the Baby Killer."

Hinojosa again set up Hern, this time to denounce O'Reilly as an accessory to murder: "It's offensive, it's vulgar, it's grotesque, it's fascist speech that's designed to get Dr. Tiller killed, and it worked."
   
Despite the noxious theme that describing abortion as the death of a baby enables terrorism, no one – not Terry, not O'Reilly, not a single professional in the pro-life movement – was granted the courtesy of an interview by PBS.
   
This story has a very disturbing ending. Ken Bode, hired by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as an ombudsman or viewer's advocate, lauded the show as "strong and convincing on this point: radical, anti-abortion opponents, including Bill O'Reilly of Fox News, are guilty of promoting domestic terrorism." Bode even said "Now" has established itself for reporting "within the boundaries of fairness and balance mandated by PBS standards."
   
That only underlines that there are no standards for balance at PBS on the issues religious Americans care about. There's only a standard of malice.

Contact: L. Brent Bozell III
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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"Eight new pro-life films shine"

"Eight new pro-life films shine"

Many excellent pro-life movies and documentaries have been recently released covering a wide spectrum of our issues. In fact, the movies seem to be coming so fast I have delayed posting this column several weeks to try to catch the latest. Even last week I read of one more but have to draw the line somewhere.
My star rating is out of four possible. Because of the volume, I am providing thumbnail reviews. Films are listed in alphabetical order....

Come What May


Stars: 2-1/2
Released Spring 2009. Dove-family approved. 93 minutes. Fiction.
Synopsis: Pro-life college law student argues against Roe v. Wade in "moot court" while pro-abortion mother argues against parental notification before US Supreme Court. Patrick Henry College student production (and school infomercial) - impressive in that regard but not up to Hollywood standards. Good information on Roe v. Wade decision; good love story role modeling. $10-15 online.

Demographic Winter


Stars: 4
Released Spring 2008. 56 minutes. Documentary.
Synopsis: Details the catastrophic social and economic consequences of the worldwide population decline. Sobering, must see - more than once. $18 online.
The follow-up to this movie, Demographic Bomb, was released June 20, but I only have seen a press release.

Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate


Stars: 4

Released June 2009. 57 minutes. Documentary.
Synopsis: First, I promise this film is not boring, making excellent use of movie clips and celebrity sound bites in combination with graphics and interviews of scientists on both sides of the debate. Covered are not only ethics but women's health as well as media, political and terminology obfuscation. Very current information provided. $20 online.
Read thumbnail reviews of 5 more pro-life films in my column today, "Eight new pro-life films shine," at WorldNetDaily.com
There is a pro-life angle to more movies than I thought. I have listed names you gave me on page 2 in alphabetical order. If you think of more, I'll add them to the list.

Mainstream films with pro-life theme

A Walk in the Clouds
Alfie (original)
Amistad
Apocalypto
August Rush
Black Snake Moan
Cabaret
Caddyshack
Cheaper by the Dozen (original)
Children of Men
Cinderella Man
Citizen Ruth
Clerks 2
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Death be not Proud
Defiance
Elephant Man
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Father of the Bride II
Finding Nemo
Follow the Stars Home
Fools Rush In
For Keeps?
Forest Gump
Gattaca
Horton Hears a Who
Idiocracy
Innerspace
It's a Wonderful Life
Junior
Juno
Kill Bill I and II
Kitty Foyle
Knocked Up
Last Chance Harvey
Les Miserables
Life Aquatic
Life is Beautiful
Look Who's Talking
Love is a Choice
Nine Months
Night Watch
North Country
Palindromes
Pan's Labyrinth
Parenthood
Rob Roy
Saturday Night Fever
Saved
Seabiscuit
Steel Magnolias
The 6th Day
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Forgotten
The Godfather
The Island - addresses impropriety of human cloning
The Island of Dr. Moreau
To Each His Own
Yours, Mine and Ours - original
Waitress
Wings of the Spirit

Mainstream films with anti anti-life theme

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Circle of Friends
Citizen Ruth
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Happy Endings
Last American Virgin
Match Point
Revolutionary Road
The Cider House Rules
Vera Drake

Mainstream films with mixed theme

Dirty Dancing
Lake of Fire

Films and documentaries produced by pro-lifers

22 Weeks
A Distant Thunder
Amazing Grace
Bella
Come What May
Demographic Bomb
Demographic Winter
Killing Girls
Lines that Divide
Maafa 21
Noelle
Silent Scream
The Terry Schiavo Story
Thine Eyes
Volition

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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Women's Group Challenges Susan G. Komen for the Cure to Debate Breast Cancer Risk -- Expects Komen to Duck the Challenge

Women's Group Challenges Susan G. Komen for the Cure to Debate Breast Cancer Risk -- Expects Komen to Duck the Challenge



"Susan G. Komen for the Cure is no friend of women," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. "Komen perpetuates the breast cancer epidemic by withholding the truth that abortion increases breast cancer risk. We have three challenges for Komen.
 
"First, we challenge Komen to debate the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) link with us at the next Catholic Health Association (CHA) meeting or another venue. Since science is on our side, we expect Komen will duck the debate, as others have. [1,2,3]
 
"Second, Komen justifies its denial of an ABC link by using studies that were severely criticized in the medical journals, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons and Ethics and Medics, for violating fundamental rules of epidemiology. [4,5,6,7] No experts have ever challenged the conclusions reached in these journals. Komen must follow customary scientific procedure by sending letters to the journals proving that their conclusions are incorrect.
 
"Third, Komen should stop giving funds to Planned Parenthood, an organization that has inflicted considerable harm on women's health through its sales of abortions and hormonal contraceptives with estrogen and progestin (acknowledged by the World Health Organization as cancer-causing)." [8,9]
Joel Brind, endocrinology professor at Baruch College, City University of New York, argued that donations to Komen may be doing more harm than good because childbearing is known to offer significant protection against breast cancer and Planned Parenthood deprives women of that protective effect. He explained:

"Since Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., and since it is clear that abortion leaves a girl or woman with a higher long-term risk of breast cancer than had she chosen not to have the abortion, it is arguable that donations to Komen may actually serve to cause more breast cancer, rather than to fight against it."

Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg reports on his blog that Komen's founder, Nancy Goodman Brinker, was the keynote speaker at the CHA's convention earlier this month. [10] Brinker, an abortion enthusiast, has served on Planned Parenthood's advisory board and is now using the unsuspecting bishop and CHA to clean up Komen's reputation among donors turned off by its gifts to Planned Parenthood.

"I suspect Bishop Lynch would not support the American Lung Association if it gave funds to tobacco companies to do lung cancer screenings on its customers," asserted Malec. "Why, then, support Komen's grants to Planned Parenthood to do breast cancer screenings on its clientele, especially when legitimate medical providers that don't damage women's health are widely accessible?"

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

Click here References

Contact: Karen Malec
Source: Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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Laws Save Lives: Obama Proposal to Weaken Existing Law Will Result in More Lives Lost to Abortion

Laws Save Lives: Obama Proposal to Weaken Existing Law Will Result in More Lives Lost to Abortion

Susan B. Anthony List President calls for woman-centered solutions that offer true support for women facing unplanned pregnancies in the nation's capital
 


Today Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser joined the House Pro-Life Women's Caucus to urge Congress to retain the Dornan Amendment, which prevents the use of federal taxpayer funds for abortion in the District of Columbia.  President Obama has proposed weakening the language to allow taxpayer-funded abortions for the first time since 1996.
 
"The Dornan Amendment is commonsense policy that should be retained by Congress.  Women facing unplanned pregnancies deserve woman-centered solutions to help both mother and child, not abortion on-demand, which pits mother against child in the most tragic of circumstances.  Common sense dictates one truism: we won't find reductions in abortion as long as we continue to subsidize and promote it at taxpayers' expense.  The Obama administration's promise to find ways to reduce abortion numbers rings hollow in such an environment.  Our country is facing an acute economic crisis.  Public support for legal abortion is on sharp decline.  It's clear that expanding taxpayer funding for abortion in our nation's capital should be the last item on Congress' agenda.  I join with the women of the House Pro-Life Women's Caucus to urge Congress to honor the women of the District of Columbia by preserving the Dornan Amendment."
 
President Obama's budget recommendations to Congress call for the weakening of the Dornan Amendment, a longstanding law that has prevented taxpayer-funded abortion in the District of Columbia.  The Constitution grants Congress the authority annually appropriate the entire budget for the District of Columbia.  Joining Dannenfelser at today's press conference on the U.S. Capitol grounds were: Chairwoman of the Pro-Life Women's Caucus Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK).
 
Susan B. Anthony List activists have also sent over 230,000 letters urging Congress to keep taxpayer funds from supporting abortion on-demand in 2009, 30,000 of which urge preservation of the Dornan Amendment
 
The latest polling data from the Gallup's Annual Values and Beliefs Survey found that a majority of Americans have identify themselves as 'pro-life' for first time since 1995.  51% of respondents identified as 'pro-life' while only 42% identified as 'pro-choice.' This followed a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found overall support for abortion down by double-digits since August of 2008.

Contact: Joy Yearout
Source: Susan B. Anthony List
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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Late-Term Abortions are Never Necessary: Former Abortionist

Late-Term Abortions are Never Necessary: Former Abortionist



A former abortionist who is now the president elect of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists has written a persuasive discourse questioning whether late-term abortion is ever necessary.

Writing in the Family Research Council's website Dr. Mary L. Davenport, M.D., FACOG, observed that following the murder of Kansas abortionist George Tiller on May 31, 2009, and the subsequent announcement of the closing of Tiller's facility, public attention has again focused on the issue of late-term abortion.

The president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion advocacy legal organization, claimed that the closing of Tiller's clinic left "an immediate and immense void in the availability of abortion." But Dr. Davenport asks if late-term abortion is ever really necessary, questioning whether the demise of a facility where late-term abortions were performed leave a "void" that is harmful to women.

Referring to a statement by Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, who admitted in 1997 that the vast majority of partial-birth abortions were performed on healthy mothers and babies, Dr. Davenport explains that "contrary to the assertion of abortion rights supporters that late- term abortion is performed for serious reasons, surveys of late abortion patients confirm that the vast majority occur because of delay in diagnosis of pregnancy. They are done for similar reasons as early abortions: relationship problems, young or old maternal age, education or financial concerns."

"Most of Tiller's abortions conformed to the generally elective character of these late-term procedures," writes Davenport. "Peggy Jarman of the Pro-Choice Action League stated that about three-fourths of Tiller's late-term patients were teenagers who denied to themselves or their families that they were pregnant until that fact could no longer be obscured."

Considering the claim that serious maternal health problems require abortions, Dr. Davenport states that "intentional abortion for maternal health, particularly after viability, is one of the great deceptions used to justify all abortion."

"The very fact that the baby of an ill mother is viable raises the question of why, indeed, it is necessary to perform an abortion to end the pregnancy. With any serious maternal health problem, termination of pregnancy can be accomplished by inducing labor or performing a cesarean section, saving both mother and baby."

Davenport points out that fetal problems "are the other serious rationale for considering abortion." However, she says, despite advances in ultrasound diagnosis, these diagnoses are not always accurate, and cases have occurred where women have declined to abort their ostensibly sick child, only for the child to be born perfectly healthy.

Even in the most serious circumstances – fatal fetal abnormalities – writes Davenport, there is no good reason to abort the child. As an alternative to abortion for fatal birth defects, Dr. Davenport proposes a perinatal hospice, which involves continuing the pregnancy until labor begins and giving birth normally, in a setting of comfort and support until natural death of the child occurs.

Dr. Davenport cites the case of Karen Santorum, a nurse and the wife of former Senator Rick Santorum, who was faced with the prospect of her own son, Gabriel, being born with a fatal birth defect.

Mrs. Santorum describes how Gabriel lived only two hours, but how in those two hours "we experienced a lifetime of emotions. Love, sorrow, regret, joy - all were packed into that brief span. To have rejected that experience would have been to reject life itself."

Dr. Davenport concludes that "although serious threats to health can occur, there is always a life- affirming way to care for mother and baby, no matter how bleak the prognosis. The elimination of late-term abortion would not create a void in medical care, but would instead result in a more humane world in which vulnerable humans would be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve."

Contact: Thaddeus M. Baklinski
Source: LIfeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 22, 2009
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FDA Records Indicate 28 Deaths in 2008 Related to HPV Vaccine

FDA Records Indicate 28 Deaths in 2008 Related to HPV Vaccine
 
  

 
Judicial Watch, a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced this week that it has obtained records from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documenting 28 deaths in 2008 that may be associated with Gardasil, the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), up from the 19 deaths in 2007.

The total number of Gardasil-related deaths is 47 since the vaccine was approved in 2006.  Overall, the FDA documented 6,723 "adverse events" related to Gardasil in 2008, of which 1,061 were considered "serious," and 142 considered "life threatening."

Of the 47 reported deaths, 41 occurred within a month of receiving the vaccine and of those deaths, 17 were within two weeks of receiving the vaccine.  In most of the deaths the cause is still unknown.

Judicial Watch released the text of several of the "adverse events" documented by the FDA's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

One case stated that, "After receiving her second dose of GARDASIL … she could crawl but … needed to use crutches or a wheel chair ... She was experienced problems breathing and had 'super migraines' that never went away … She had swelling in her face, jaw and wrists.  The patient was diagnosed with GUILLAIN-BARRE syndrome, myelin sheath degeneration and peripheral neuropathy.  Patient was hospitalized twice … patient has not recovered from symptoms."

Another had to do with a 19-year-old girl with no medical history, who immediately experienced side effects after receiving the Gardasil vaccine.  Within eleven days her symptoms included "Aggression, Arthralgia, Complex partial seizures, Confusional state, Convulsion, Crying, Dizziness, Epilepsy, Fatigue, Feeling abnormal, Grand mal convulsion, Immediate post-injection reaction, Irritability, Myalgia, Nausea, Pain, Postictal state, Somnolence, Syncope, Tremor, and Unresponsive to stimuli."

The FDA VAERS reports show that since last June, 235 cases detailed permanent disability.  There were also 29 new cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and 147 cases of "spontaneous abortions," or miscarriages, when the vaccine was given to pregnant women.

Moreover, 62 girls developed warts after receiving the vaccine.  This development is of particular concern, says Judicial Watch, because Gardasil, which is designed to prevent two strains of genital warts, is not supposed to react with other HPV strains.  However, not only did previously healthy women experience genital warts after the vaccination, but 21 girls developed warts on other areas, most commonly the face, hands and feet, and in one case, "all over her body."

"The FDA is supposed to be a guardian of public health, and yet the agency continues to turn a blind eye to what seems to be an extremely serious public health problem.  The public relations push for Gardasil by Merck, politicians and public health officials needs to pause so that these adverse reactions can be further studied," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  "The already serious problems associated with Gardasil seem to be getting worse.  No one should require this vaccine for young children."

Source:
LIfeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 24, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

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.

Caution Surrounds At-Home Gender Detection Kit

By 10 Weeks You Could Know Sex Of Your Baby, But Questions Of Accuracy, Fears Of Abortion Persist

It's the big question many parents wait until birth to find out: is it a boy or is it a girl? But for those who don't want to wait, they can now find out earlier than ever. CBS station WCBS-TV in New York reports on a new at-home gender detection kit and the controversy surrounding it. More than half of Americans say they would want to know, and for those curious soon-to-be parents, now there's a new over-the-counter test that can tell you your baby's gender at just 10 weeks. Since it's performed at 10 weeks and abortions are routinely performed until 12 weeks into the pregnancy, some worry that parents may misuse the advantage of knowing so soon. "Whenever anyone finds out the sex of the baby, but especially early, that they might choose to terminate a pregnancy because of gender," Dr. Brustman said.
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Arizona Legislature Approves Abortion Regulations

The Arizona Senate on Tuesday narrowly approved a bill to impose an array of new regulations on abortion, including a mandatory waiting period and a requirement for state-scripted disclosures by doctors. The Senate voted 16-12 to complete legislation action on the measure, which the House approved in March. The number of affirmative votes was the minimum needed for passage by the 30-member Senate. Under the bill, women seeking an abortion would have to wait 24 hours after their initial visit to the abortion provider. So-called "informed consent" provisions would require doctors to inform women specific information about risks and alternatives.
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Healthcare Bill Includes a Bigger Does of Tax Dollars for Abortionists


The Senate is now debating two healthcare bills since President Obama has made reforming the nation's healthcare system one of his top legislative priorities. Under the Miller-Waxman-Rangel healthcare bill, funding for "family planning" is mandatory, meaning more tax dollars for abortion providers. Unlike Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) plan, this bill—unveiled by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.)—includes almost everything on President Obama's wish list.
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Family Says Doctors Tried to 'Euthanize' Stroke Victim

An investigation has been launched after the family of an elderly stroke victim claimed hospital doctors tried to end his life.

John MacGillivray, 78, from Auchterarder, Scotland was admitted to Perth Royal Infirmary after suffering a stroke on May 22.

Two days later, his family was told by hospital doctors he would die within hours.

"We just couldn't believe it," his daughter Patricia MacGillivray told Sky News. "When he was admitted to the hospital on the Friday he was still able to move around and feed himself and suddenly here we all were being told 50 percent of his brain was dead and he was definitely going to die ... and to prepare ourselves to say our goodbyes. It was unimaginable. All too much, too quickly, too soon."

Unable to believe the prognosis, the family started questioning the medication.
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Swiss to Outlaw Suicide Clinics

Apparently certain elements of the Swiss Government are sick and tired of the travesty of suicide tourism. From the story:

Swiss government proposals to restrict the practice of assisted suicide in the Alpine nation could lead to greater suffering for patients and their loved ones, a group that helps people to die said. The government said last week that it wants parliament to discuss proposals including "legal barriers and a ban on organised suicide assistance."

Unsurprisingly, the organized suicide community objects...
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'Child's Rights' Forces Mobilize

The National Comptroller's Office of Chile, which oversees a wide range of government activities, issued a decree on June 16 prohibiting the distribution of the morning-after pill by all municipalities and by any private or public organization.

The decree states that municipalities are legally forbidden from implementing any policies or programs that imply the use or distribution under any title of the morning-after pill. It also ordered all public health care facilities to refrain from making the drug available through their services.Three major developments threatening parental rights have occurred in the last several days. On June 1 and 2, Georgetown University Law School hosted a two-day symposium entitled "The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): Why It Is Time to Ratify." This well-funded conference was held to organize a new coalition effort by American internationalists to seek ratification of the UN child's rights treaty.
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June 23, 2009

Senate Blocks Pro-Tiller Resolution Glorifying Abortion Industry

Senate Blocks Pro-Tiller Resolution Glorifying Abortion Industry


 
The Senate yesterday blocked a resolution praising the "crucial services" of abortionists and condemning violence against them in the wake of Kansas late-term abortionist George Tiller's murder last month.

The resolution, sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), decried violence against "providers of health care services to women" and asserted, "there is a history of violence against providers of reproductive health care, as health care employees have suffered threats and hostility in order to provide crucial services to patients."

The resolution failed to gather adequate support after Shaheen refused requests by some of her colleagues to strike the language celebrating the abortion industry. Shaheen expressed frustration at the resolution's demise.

"I realize that the issue of reproductive choice is divisive and that there are many heartfelt feelings on both sides of the aisle," said Shaheen in a press release. "However, I was hopeful that, regardless of our differences of opinion on this sensitive issue, the Senate could come together and pass a resolution that rejects the use of violence against women's health care providers.

"It is a sad day when the elected leaders of the greatest Democracy on earth can't agree to protect those exercising their constitutional rights."

The U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month unanimously passed a similar resolution condemning the Tiller killing and other murders that took place in a house of worship, without mentioning Tiller's profession. Tiller was killed May 31 at Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was serving as an usher.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Institute, praised the Senate's rejection of Sheehan's resolution.

"What an encouragement to the pro-life community that while some Senators may vote in favor of abortion, they stand strongly against any effort to glorify it," said Perkins.

"Like us, they realize that just as violence cannot be tolerated, neither can any effort to exalt those who practice it against the unborn."

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 23, 2009
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