The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released its final guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research. The rules allow the funding of research which uses stem cells harvested from fertility clinic embryos and also outline informed consent standards for women or couples who donate their embryos.
The guidelines, which implement a March 9 executive order issued by President Barack Obama, become effective July 7.
Msgr. David Malloy, General Secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has been critical of the NIH rules. In a May commentary on the guidelines, he said the rules were "broader or more permissive" than any previous research policy in key respects.
He also insisted it was a human right not to be subjected to harmful experimentation.
"As the President noted," Msgr. Malloy said, "we must not make 'a false choice between sound science and moral values.' In fact, these sources of guidance both point in the same direction, away from destructive embryonic stem cell research. His executive order and these Guidelines nonetheless insist on a course of action that is both morally objectionable and, increasingly, scientifically obsolete."
"This is not merely a political or ideological problem, or a problem of religious dogma, but a deeply human problem: We are testing the limits of our obligation to treat all fellow human beings, of every age and condition, with basic respect," Msgr. Malloy wrote.
There was doubt about whether the new NIH requirements for informed consent would have disqualified some existing stem cell lines, the Associated Press says. The NIH now requires documentation of voluntary informed consent from a woman or couple who donate the original embryo. They must have been told of other options for "leftover" embryos, such as donating to another infertile woman.
The NIH designed a compromise which deems old stem cell lines eligible for government research dollars if scientists can prove they met the spirit of the new ethics standards.
An NIH registry will list all cell lines that qualify.
Acting NIH Director Raynard Kington portrayed the informed consent guidelines as a "reasonable compromise" which will achieve President Obama's stated goal of "advancing science while maintaining rigorous ethical standards," the Associated Press reports.
Stem cell research hopes to harness the power of adult or embryonic stem cells to create better treatments for ailments ranging from diabetes to spinal cord injuries. Embryonic stem cells are harvested by destroying human embryos.
Source: CNA Publish Date: July 6, 2009
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Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (AP Photo)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said President Barack Obama supports existing federal laws that prevent federally funded health care providers from forcing doctors and pharmacists who morally oppose abortion from either performing the procedure or providing abortion-inducing medication.
But Obama opposes a regulation put into place by the Bush administration that would require those federally funded providers to certify compliance with the law, Sebelius said.
On March 10, the Obama administration submitted to the Federal Register a proposal to rescind the "conscience clause" rule entitled "Ensuring That Department of Health and Human Services Funds Do Not Support Coercive or Discriminatory Policies or Practices in Violation of Federal Law."
"There really hasn't been a change in status of what the president proposed," Sebelius told CNSNews.com during a conference call with reporters on Monday. "The president continues to support the underlying law.
"He felt the regulation issued in the final days of the Bush administration was overly broad and jeopardizes critical health services for women," she said.
The March 10 proposal states: "The department believes it is important to have an opportunity to review this regulation to ensure its consistency with current Administration policy and to reevaluate the necessity for regulations implementing the Church Amendments, Section 245 of the Public Health Service Act, and the Weldon Amendment."
The Church Amendments are conscience clauses of the Public Health Service Act, enacted at various times during the 1970s, which prohibit the use of federal funds going to health care entities that discriminate against health care professionals who morally object to abortion or sterilization.
In 2005, the Weldon Amendment was adopted as a section of the Consolidated Appropriations Act and re-adopted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2009. The amendment does not allow federal funding of entities if "such agency, program, or [state or local] government subjects any institutional or individual health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the health care entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions."
In explaining its proposed rescinding of the Bush administration rule, then-acting HHS Secretary Charles E. Johnson cited the public comments collected during the 60-day comment period that expired on Feb. 27, 2009.
"Commenters asserted that the rule would limit access to patient care and raised concerns that individuals could be denied access to services, with effects felt disproportionately by those in rural areas or otherwise underserved," the acting secretary wrote.
"The Department believes that the comments on the August 2008 proposed rule raised a number of questions that warrant further careful consideration," Johnson wrote.
In his summary of the rule, then-HHS secretary under the Bush administration, Michael Leavitt, wrote that the regulation was meant to ensure that pro-life health care professionals were protected and that federally funded health entities were following the law.
"The Department of Health and Human Services proposes to promulgate regulations to ensure that Department funds do not support morally coercive or discriminatory practices or policies in violation of federal law, pursuant to the Church Amendments (42 U.S.C. § 300a-7), Public Health Service (PHS) Act §245 (42 U.S.C. § 238n), and the Weldon Amendment (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-161, § 508(d), 121 Stat. 1844, 2209)," reads the summary.
"This notice of proposed rulemaking proposes to define certain key terms. Furthermore, in order to ensure that recipients of Department funds know about their legal obligations under these nondiscrimination provisions, the Department proposes to require written certification by certain recipients that they will comply with all three statutes, as applicable," the summary added.
Sebelius refused to answer a follow-up question about if and when the "conscience clause" rule would be officially rescinded by President Obama.
Contact: Penny Starr Source: CNSNews.com Publish Date: July 7, 2009 Link to this article.
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The National Education Association, the nation's largest labor union, voted July 5 to reject a proposal officially to remain neutral on the issues of abortion and family planning.
Also during its annual meeting in San Diego July 1-6, the NEA went on record as supporting laws legalizing civil unions and "gay marriage" -- it said either are acceptable -- and it backed efforts to repeal federal legislation that "discriminates" against same-sex couples, which presumably could target the Defense of Marriage Amendment.
The proposed bylaw amendment regarding abortion would have invalidated NEA Resolution I-16 on family planning, which says NEA "supports family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom."
The defeated proposal said the NEA takes "no position" on the issues of abortion and family planning. It would have prohibited the NEA from filing a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in litigation seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, and it would have kept the NEA from "lobbying for or against legislation regarding the dissemination of birth control information, the funding of birth control procedures, or the sale of birth control products."
"Right now they say they have a neutral position on abortion, which means let the woman choose," Jeralee Smith, cofounder of the Conservative Educators Caucus within the NEA, told Baptist Press.
"'No position' means that they could be sued if there was any evidence that they were spending any money or making any effort to help the Roe v. Wade decision. So 'no position' is a much stronger retreat from the current position," she said.
Debate over the issue was significant, Smith said, and a representative from the conservative caucus appealed to the union's local leaders who have been losing members who opt out as religious objectors.
"He said the union just shouldn't be involved in this, and there were a lot of people who agreed with him," Smith said of the delegate.
In a ballot vote, 61 percent were against the bylaw amendment and 39 percent were for it in what Smith described as a no-win situation for the liberal NEA leadership.
"If they had voted for it, they wouldn't have been able to spend any money on abortion," she said. "But since they voted against it, it's a much clearer case for anyone who wants religious accommodation, that the union supports abortion."
Teachers who have religious objections to paying NEA dues -- which can be used to fund the pro-choice and homosexual agendas -- have the right in some states to give money to a charity instead, Smith said. Information is available from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation at nrtw.org.
"People don't realize -- because they're told otherwise -- that they have a right to get out of the union," Smith said.
A loss of membership dues also played into the discussion over "gay marriage" when one state leader got up and said he's a liberal who supports "gay rights" but doesn't believe the NEA should be involved in the issue because they're losing members over it.
Smith said the executive committee, one of NEA's two top decision-making bodies, drafted the same-sex proposal because the committee expected proposals to come from the delegates on the floor and it wanted to preempt them with language that wouldn't be as divisive.
At previous meetings, the NEA has supported "obtaining, preserving, and strengthening basic civil and human rights under law" and specifically called for "passage of a federal statute prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression."
By voice vote delegates in San Diego adopted the following action plan July 3:
-- "NEA will support its affiliates seeking to enact state legislation that guarantees to same-sex couples the right to enter into a legally recognized relationship pursuant to which they have the same rights and benefits as similarly-situated heterosexual couples, including, without limitation, rights and benefits with regard to medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption and immigration.
-- "NEA does not believe that a single term must be used to designate this legally recognized 'equal treatment' relationship, and recommends that each state decide for itself whether 'marriage,' 'civil union,' 'domestic partnership,' or some other term is most appropriate based upon the cultural, social, and religious values of its citizenry.
-- "NEA will support its affiliates in opposing state constitutional and/or statutory provisions that could have the effect of prohibiting the state and its political subdivisions from providing the same rights and benefits to same-sex couples as are provided to similarly-situated heterosexual couples.
-- "NEA will take such actions as may be appropriate to support efforts to (a) repeal any federal legislation and/or regulations that discriminate against same-sex couples, and (b) enact federal legislation and/or regulations that treat same-sex couples and similarly-situated heterosexual couples equally with regard to social security, health care, taxation, and other federal rights and benefits.
-- "NEA recognizes that the term 'marriage' has religious connotations and that same-sex marriages may not be compatible with the beliefs, values, and/or practices of certain religions. Because of its support for the separation of church and state and the right to religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, NEA supports the right of religious institutions to refuse to perform or recognize same-sex marriages."
The fourth bullet has been interpreted by some conservatives as aiming at the Defense of Marriage Amendment, Smith said. Signed into law in 1996, DOMA gives states the option of refusing to recognize "gay marriage" from other states.
"It was implied at both the state and the federal level that they would be interested in overturning DOMA, but they didn't say that directly. The way they described it, it was pretty clear that's what they had in mind," she told BP.
During discussion preceding the vote, a representative from the gay and lesbian caucus wanted to remove the fifth bullet protecting churches, but "the Representative Assembly very definitely refused to do that," Smith said.
Also during debate, a representative from the conservative caucus spoke against the action plan.
"As soon as she mentioned the words 'marriage should be between a man and a woman,' she got booed," Smith said. "The chair stopped the booing and reminded everybody that in a democracy everyone gets to have their say."
After about five speeches on each side of the issue, the assembly voted to end debate despite 20 or 30 more people lined up to speak on each side, Smith said.
"They did a voice vote and the nays were pretty strong, but you could tell that they weren't winning. It was probably again around that 60/40 split, I would imagine," she said.
NEA's executive committee will monitor the implementation of the action plan on "gay marriage" and will keep NEA affiliates informed of actions taken to achieve its objectives, the organization said.
Smith said the conservative caucus was prepared to speak further against the action plan but didn't get the opportunity.
"People don't recognize that this issue goes way beyond both equality and religious liberty," she said. "It has to do with what the next generation of children will face as far as stability and nurturing.
"The French government, a very secular government, spent a whole year studying it and decided not to grant 'gay marriage' because of the children," Smith said. "Our speech was to get away from the tug-of-war between equality and religious liberty and say it's really all about the kids and can't we all be adults and do what's best for them."
Also of interest, she said, is that for the second year in a row someone from the floor moved that a creation science exhibit not be allowed at the NEA convention.
"It lost again big time," Smith said. "Last year when they brought it up, they wouldn't even allow discussion on it. But this year, they did allow discussion, and there was one lady who got up and said, 'What is this? Christians are now the enemies of the NEA?' Some people clapped. It failed because I think the membership at large believes that people should have their say."
NEA's 3.2 million members work at every level of education, from preschool to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.
Contact: Erin Roach Source: BP Publish Date: July 6, 2009
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In a meeting with several members of the Catholic media Thursday, President Obama insisted that pro-life Catholics' fears over the new administration's abortion agenda was "not based on anything I've said or done." The president also said he embraces the so-called "seamless garment" moral theory of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, which he said he feels has been "buried under the abortion debate" in recent decades.
The president called for the brief round-table meeting with Catholic media to discuss his upcoming meeting with Pope Benedict XVI July 10, but addressed the rift between his stance on abortion and the Catholic Church's moral teaching in response to questions.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Catholic News Service, the National Catholic Reporter, National Catholic Register, America magazine, Commonweal magazine, Catholic Digest, Vatican Radio, and a Washington Post religion writer.
According to the Catholic Digest report, one member asked for more information on President Obama's stance on conscience protection for doctors objecting to abortion.
President Obama said that the expectation of heavily pro-abortion policy from his administration "is not based on anything I've said or done, but is rather just a perception somehow that we have some hard-line agenda that we're seeking to push."
Obama, who in February began repealing a Bush regulation strengthening doctors' conscience rights, said he favors a "robust" conscience clause. However, he did not elaborate on what aspect of the Bush regulation he considered flawed and did not give a compelling reason for why his administration is repealing the regulation.
"[The new conscience clause] may not meet the criteria of every possible critic of our approach," he said, "but it certainly will not be weaker than what existed before the changes were made."
Despite Obama's claim that pro-life fears are "not based on anything I've said or done," a steady stream of pro-abortion policy since his inauguration has left the pro-life community little room to doubt the President's devotion to the abortion agenda. These policies include abolishing the Mexico City Policy, funding the United Nations Population Fund, unleashing federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research, and calling for taxpayer-funded abortion in Washington, D.C.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in April confirmed that the Obama administration would work to dismantle pro-life laws around the world as part of its policy of promoting "reproductive health."
In terms of Obama's personal stance on abortion, pro-lifers have pointed to a July 2007 speech in which Obama told Planned Parenthood that the "first thing" he would do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Because FOCA would establish abortion as a "fundamental right" for women, the legislation would effectively eliminate all state and federal bans on abortion, as well as the rights of medical professionals to deny to perform or refer for abortions.
"I am absolutely convinced that culture wars are so nineties; their days are growing dark, it is time to turn the page," Obama had said. "We want a new day here in America. We're tired about arguing about the same ole' stuff. And I am convinced we can win that argument."
In addition to his statement on FOCA, Obama had a 100% pro-abortion voting record as a U.S. senator, including voting against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which would have mandated that babies that are born alive after failed abortions receive normal medical care.
In Thursday's meeting, President Obama mentioned more than once his attraction to Cardinal Bernardin's consistent life ethic or "seamless garment" theory of social justice, which advocates a holistic approach to the sanctity of human life by opposing abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and economic injustice.
However, Obama said, that theory has been "buried by the abortion debate" in recent years, and he expects to advance a "broader set of values" than those espoused by pro-life Catholics.
"It's not up to me to try to resolve those tensions [among Catholics]. All I can do is to affirm how that other tradition has made me, a non-Catholic, reflect on how I can be a better person and has had a powerful influence on my life," said the president. "And that tells me that it might be a powerful way to move a broader set of values forward in American life generally."
Although President Obama has more than once called upon the theory to downplay his disagreement with the Church on abortion, including in his speech at Notre Dame, Cardinal Bernardin himself strongly condemned the use of the consistent life ethic to dismiss the centrality of the abortion debate.
In 1988, Bernardin told the National Catholic Register: "I know that some people on the left, if I may use that label, have used the consistent ethic to give the impression that the abortion issue is not all that important anymore, that you should be against abortion in a general way but that there are more important issues, so don't hold anybody's feet to the fire just on abortion. That's a misuse of the consistent ethic, and I deplore it."
Thursday's discussion also touched on the "common ground" the administration is avowedly seeking on abortion when one journalist asked about the president's expectations for the initiative.
Obama responded that he awaits a memo from his task force mapping out common ground, and said he expected to find agreement on advancing sex education and reducing "the circumstances in which women feel compelled to obtain an abortion."
Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, has criticized Obama's emphasis on reducing the "need" for abortion while staunchly refusing to support reducing the number of abortions.
Wright recounted her experience at a May meeting of the abortion "common ground" task force in which Melody Barnes, the Director of Domestic Policy Council and a former board member of Emily's List, corrected Wright for stating that the administration wished to reduce abortions.
"It is not our goal to reduce the number of abortions," said Barnes, but rather only to "reduce the need for abortions."
"Obama needs to be honest with Americans," said Wright. "Is it true that it is not his goal to reduce the number of abortions?
"More importantly, will he do anything that will reduce abortions? Actions are far more important than words."
Contact: Kathleen Gilbert Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: July 6, 2009 Link to this article.
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From Fox News, July 6 (Can't believe Fox called these images "graphic."):
Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb....
The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, CA. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.
"Before Plaintiff could eat [breakfast] she was ordered by a school staff member to throw her food out and report immediately to Defendant Smith's office...," the complaint reads.
"Upon arriving at the main office, Defendant Hernandez, intentionally and without Plaintiff's consent, grabbed Plaintiff's arm and forcibly escorted her toward Smith's office, at all times maintaining a vice-like grip on Plaintiff's arm. Hernandez only released Plaintiff's arm after physically locating her in front of Smith and Defendant Rohrer...
"Smith and Rohrer ordered Plaintiff to remove her pro-life T-shirt and instructed Plaintiff to never wear her pro-life T-shirt at McSwain Elementary School ever again...
"Completely humiliated and held out for ridicule, Plaintiff complied with Defendants' directives and removed her pro-life T-shirt, whereupon, Defendants seized and confiscated it. Defendants did not return Plaintiff's property until the end of the school day."
The school administrators dispute some of the allegations, said Anthony DeMaria, attorney for... McSwain....
He said he was unable to reach the administrators to determine which parts they say are incorrect, because school is out for the summer....
The school district sought to get the case thrown out due to "failure to state a cognizable claim," but a U.S. Eastern District Court judge ruled last month that all but one of Amador's claims could go forward.
The complaint quotes school district officials saying that they ordered Amador's daughter to remove the shirt because it constituted "inappropriate subject matter" in violation of the school's dress code, which bans clothing with "suggestion of tobacco, drug or alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, profanity, vulgarity, or other inappropriate subject matter."
Amador claims in the legal complaint that other students at the school have been allowed to wear expressive shirts, and she blames the school for "inconsistently applying their Dress Code based upon subjective determinations as to which messages are acceptable and which messages are not."
One of the girl's lawyers, Mark Thiel, said that the images on her shirt of a fetus in the womb were same as those in her science textbooks. He said no student had complained about the shirt, and he said the girl's parents were not called when the incident took place....
A spokeswoman for the local Planned Parenthood chapter declined to take sides in the case.
"Even offensive speech is protected as long as it doesn't impinge upon the rights of others," said Deborah Ortiz, vice president of public affairs for PP Mar Monte....
UCLA law professor and First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh said Supreme Court precedent appears to support the girl's case.
"During the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court ruled that wearing black arm bands [at school, to protest the war] was OK," Volokh said. "If students can wear armbands in protest, why can't they wear a pro-life shirt?"
He said the case would be different if there was evidence that the shirt could have led to disruption or fighting....
But the fact that it's a K-8 school with very young children could change things, said Brooklyn Law School professor William Araiza. He pointed to the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Morse v. Frederick, where the court allowed a high school to suspend students in Juneau, AK, who waved a banner that read "Bong hits 4 Jesus" from across the street during an Olympic torch relay, because it was seen as promoting illegal drug use.
"[The school] could almost use a "bong hits" kind of rationale about protecting students from inappropriate messages," Araiza said. "For instance, would you allow a 4th grader to wear a gruesome picture of a bomb scene? You probably wouldn't."
First Amendment attorney William Becker, who represents Amador, disagreed that the shirt could be seen as containing inappropriate messages.
"The message of the T-shirt is that life is sacred," he said. "One would be very hard pressed to find anything wrong with that particular idea, except that some people do object to the political message."
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: July 6, 2009
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Fetal Tissue in Vaccine Production May be Linked to Autism in Children Claims Campaign Group
Increased rates of regressive autism in children in the US and UK can be historically associated with the switch by pharmaceutical companies from the use of animal cells to produce vaccines to the use of aborted human fetal cells, a campaign group is claiming.
"Now when we vaccinate our children, some vaccines also deliver contaminating aborted human fetal DNA. The safety of this has never been tested," says Dr. Theresa Deisher, President of the Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute (SCPI).
SCPI, a group that educates the public on the use of aborted human fetal material for drug production, warns that the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccines introduced to the US and UK in 1979 and 1988 respectively, were produced using aborted fetal cells, while previous versions were made using only animal cells. This switch coincides with what SCPI says are "dramatic" increases in the rates of regressive autism in children, in which the child's social and verbal development halts.
The warning comes in response to the recommendation in June by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services for further study into vaccine safety with relation to autism. Some concerned parents of children with autism maintain that there is a link between childhood vaccinations and autism.
Despite assurances from health agencies and the scientific community disputing this, a growing number of parents have opted out of national vaccination programs. This has prompted the Centers for Disease Control to convene a Vaccine Safety Working Subgroup. A report by the NVAC recommended further study of the potential for vaccines to contribute to regressive autism in children.
SCPI points to studies showing an environmental factor, "a trigger," that brings on the disorder. But while scientists pointed to the presence of mercury in the MMR vaccines, SCPI says that autism continued to rise after mercury was removed.
"The early vaccines produced using aborted fetal cells, such as MMRII, don't even inform consumers that residual aborted fetal DNA is injected with each vaccine," SCPI said in a media release. More recently introduced vaccines, the group says, do inform consumers that they contain contaminating residual DNA from the "human diploid cell" but do not say that this cell is from an aborted human fetus.
"The safety of injecting our children with aborted human fetal DNA has been debated for over 40 years, but has never been studied," SCPI said.
Contact: Hilary White Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: July 6, 2009 Link to this article.
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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.
IRS Demands that Coalition for Life of Iowa Swear It Will Not Oppose Planned Parenthood
Thomas More Society Attorneys Request that IRS Stop the Harassment and Violation of Coalition's Constitutional Rights to Prayer and Legal Protests Outside Planned Parenthood
Today, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was put on notice that the Thomas More Society in Chicago stands ready to defend the Coalition for Life of Iowa against the prejudicial questioning by the IRS, which has delayed granting tax exemption to the non-profit religious organization. After questioning the "educational" nature of the Coalition's materials, prayer meetings, talks and other Pro-Life activities, the IRS stated that it would not grant tax exemption until the Coalition swore to limit its "picketing" and "protesting" of Planned Parenthood.
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Alabama Attorney General Calls Undercover Video of Planned Parenthood Ignoring Statutory Rape 'Extremely Troubling', Seeks Investigation
Alabama Attorney General Troy King has called a new undercover video released last week showing Planned Parenthood of Alabama apparently breaking state mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse "extremely troubling" and requested the full recordings. The student-led nonprofit responsible for the recordings, Live Action, immediately sent the full footage, which the Attorney General's office received yesterday.
The video shows a Planned Parenthood staffer, identified as "Tanisha," telling a purportedly 14-year-old girl with a 31-year-old "boyfriend" that Planned Parenthood "does sometimes bend the rules a little bit" when it comes to reporting statutory rape to state authorities. Despite strong parental consent laws in Alabama, "Tanisha" also explains that a person with the "same last name" as the 14-year-old would suffice as a guardian or parent to sign off for the minor's abortion. In an interview last week, King said, "If that tape is an accurate depiction of what's happening, that's very troubling," and "if that video is true and accurate and correct, it's extremely troubling from a legal and moral point of view."
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ACLU Challenges Arizona Over Sheriff Preventing Inmates' Abortions
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is again asking an Arizona court to stop Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio from preventing female inmates from accessing abortion services. A 2005 lawsuit struck down the Sheriff's policy of prohibiting jail officials from transporting a prisoner for an abortion without a court order. However, Arpaio allegedly began requiring women to pre-pay for security and transportation costs associated with acquiring an abortion.
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Wisconsin Gov. Signs Bill to Expand Birth Control, Chemically Induced Abortions 'At Taxpayer Expense'
Not many people seem to have noticed yet, but buried among the new measures signed into law last week as part of Gov. Jim Doyle's budget is a trio of family planning initiatives that are expected to expand access to birth control and contraceptive education in Wisconsin. Advocates who had fought for previous versions of the controversial measures over the past years, only to see them get beat back repeatedly by the Republican-controlled Legislature, are thrilled at the relative ease with which the measures passed this year.
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Pro-life pamphlet series provides plain talk in defense of life
The pro-life group Human Life International (HLI) has introduced a new series of online pamphlets titled Pro-Life Talking Points (PLTP) addressing claims about the necessity of abortion, the effect of welfare on the abortion rate, and the distorted claims surrounding abortion-related violence and the promotion of condom use.
PLTP titles also discuss the beginning of human life and the issue of men and abortion.
"From fertilization to natural death, there exists an unbroken and smooth continuum of human development during which the person needs only oxygen, water, and nutrients to live and develop physically," says HLI's pamphlet on fetal development.
Click here to view or download the pamphlet series.
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Dems' Health Care Reform Plans Would Include Abortion Coverage, Washington Times Opinion Piece States
As lawmakers work to pass health reform legislation, "few are talking about" the "essential question" of whether "health reform will force taxpayers to pay for abortions for the first time in 30 years," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. According to Perkins, "the short answer is yes" because there is no "explicit provision" in any Democratic health plan that would "[p]revent taxpayer funding of abortions as part of the health care benefit Congress is considering"; avert "delays in health care services that result in the death of the patient waiting for care"; or allow health care providers "to refuse to participate in health care-related action that violates their conscience." Perkins continues that the House's reform proposal would provide federal coverage for "'family planning,' the well-worn buzz word that includes abortion unless specified to the contrary." He adds that "it would be naive to assume, unless there is an explicit prohibition in the bill, that [HHS] Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will not use her discretion to fund abortions with taxpayers' money." Perkins also writes that the Democratic reform plans, "in short, ... attempt to be silent on the key question of whether or not to allow the U.S. government to fund abortions with taxpayers' money," and also give the HHS secretary "the power to allow taxpayer-funded abortions."
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Abortion Has Greater Impact on Parenting than Other Forms of Pregnancy Loss, New Review Finds
A new review of studies examining various types of prenatal loss and the effects on subsequent parenting has concluded that abortion may be "particularly damaging to the parenting process."
The article, published in Current Women's Health Reviews, looks at already published studies on miscarriage, induced abortion and adoption. The author, Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State University, focuses on psychological reactions to these various types of loss and discusses how they might affect a mother's relationship with children born after the pregnancy loss.
It is now known that women usually begin feeling maternal attachment in the early stages of pregnancy. The paper notes that despite the increased responsibilities and stress involved in raising children, "numerous studies have documented positive psychological characteristics associated with motherhood including increases in life satisfaction, self-esteem, empathy, restraint, flexibility and resourcefulness in coping, and assertiveness." Losing a child before or at birth, for any reason, however, "can be a profound source of suffering."
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Commentary: How the WHO Skewed Maternal Mortality Data to Advance Abortion Agenda
In its recently released annual report on the state of global health, the World Health Organization (WHO) presents statistics that misleadingly appear to place maternal mortality on par with other global killers like malaria and HIV/ AIDS. This new approach contradicts other WHO reports where maternal mortality does not even make the top ten of global killers, ranking somewhere lower than car accident fatalities.
The confusion first arises in the second table of the new report, which provides data about mortality due to maternal causes, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and injuries. All of these causes of death, except maternal mortality, are among the top ten causes of death globally; yet maternal mortality is shown in the same statistics table, as if it were comparable to the others.
Even more confusing to the casual reader is that the statistics in the table for maternal mortality actually appear to be a greater cause of death than the others. The table shows that maternal mortality has a "mortality rate" of 400 while coronary heart disease, considered the number one killer in the world, has a mortality rate of 301. While the WHO itself says maternal mortality kills 536,000 per year and coronary heart disease kills 7.2 million, this seeming parity is achieved by showing maternal mortality numbers as a function of total live births while the others are shown as a function of total population - a mixing of apples and oranges.
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Operation Rescue declares abortionist Hodari a "Public Menace" and demands meaningful discipline for his reckless conduct.
Abortionist Alberto Hodari has been fined $10,000 by the State of Michigan for the 2003 abortion death of Regina Johnson. The consent order, which recently became public, was issued on March 4, 2009, over five years after Ms. Johnson's death.
"Now we know what a woman's life is worth in the State of Michigan once she walks into an abortion clinic," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "This paltry fine has reduced Ms. Johnson's life to that of chattel. Animals are bought and sold for more than this."
In exchange for the consent agreement, counts of negligence and incompetence against Hodari were dismissed, leaving only the charge that his conduct constituted a "lack of good moral character."
"Hodari was given a slap on the wrist for his part in Regina Johnson's death, even though he has been involved in the deaths of at least three additional women since 2004," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The Board's finding that his conduct lacks 'good moral character' is a gross understatement. The man is a public menace. "
Hodari has had other problems with the law. Citizens for a Pro-Life Society discovered illegally dumped private medical records in open dumpsters behind several of Hodari's Detroit-area abortion clinics. He was charged with 12 counts of illegal record dumping, but another agreement allowed him to plead "no contest" to a single count, for which he remains on probation.
More shocking was the discovery of the bodies of aborted babies that had been illegally dumped in the same trash receptacles. Hodari was never charged with any crime related to the dumping of human remains. The babies were later given a proper burial.
One of Hodari's former patients came forward in February, 2009, and told of her traumatic forced abortion when she was 16-years old. She has since filed a formal complaint against Hodari with the health board in Michigan.
But Hodari appears to be so confident that he is above the law that he has given interviews and speeches bragging about his appalling abortion practices. He says that he believes abortionists have a "license to lie."
"In addition to his part in four abortion deaths, Hodari has openly admitted that he purposely places women's lives and health at risk. The fact that he is still allowed to continue his reckless behavior is inexcusable," said Newman. "The Health Department's coddling of Hodari completely unacceptable. We plan to formally demand that they take meaningful disciplinary action before he kills anyone else."
Click here for the Complaint
Click here for the Consent Order
Contact: Troy Newman, Cheryl Sullenger Source: Operation Rescue Publish Date: July 6, 2009 Link to this article.
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Orlando, FL, late-term abortionist James Pendergraft has lost his appeal in the 5th District Court of Appeal, and the suspension of his license by the FL Board of Medicine stands.
According to a court document filed, "Dr. Pendergraft violated sections 456.072(1)(k) and 458.331(1)(g) when he performed a third trimester abortion in his clinic, which is not a hospital."...
pendergraft.jpgNext, Pendergraft "violated section 390.0111(1)(a)... which prohibits third trimester abortions unless two physicians certify in writing to the fact that, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to save the life or preserve the health of the pregnant woman."
Third, Pendergraft violated "section 390.0111(1)(b)... because he did not certify in writing "to the medical necessity for legitimate emergency medical procedures for termination of pregnancy in the third trimester, and another physician is not available for
consultation."
Finally, "the [Administrative Law Judge] found that there was clear and convincing evidence that Dr. Pendergraft committed medical malpractice."
There are no details on the news yet. Unknown is whether any or all of Pendergraft's 5 clinics will have to close during his suspension. Also unknown is whether criminal charges will be filed.
Baby Rowan, the subject of the movie 22 Weeks, was aborted alive in 2005 at 1 of Pendergraft's mills. Workers refused his mother's pleas for help.
Pendergraft's license was suspended in 2006 for the same reason.
In 2001, Pendergraft was convicted of extortion and spent 46 months in prison.
Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: July 2, 2009
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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.
Taxpayer Funded Abortion Referrals
Along with a "universal health care" experiment in the form of the taxpayer-funded Ennis Regional Medical Center and the Ennis Independent School District's Early Childhood Center for students' babies (EISD property taxes pay for that one) nearby, the City of Ennis is about to welcome a labratory in population control: Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood was approved by city officials and the elected representatives (the city commission) voters helped elect to office to be placed in dangerous proximity to the Early Childhood facility and the hospital. This paper Defends Truth and Freedom, and the truth is, life is a gift and abortions destroy life.
Click here for the full article.
Abortion Clinic 911 Emergency Calls: 'No lights and sirens, please!'
This is a composite of ambulance calls to Aware Woman abortion clinic in Melbourne, Florida. It shows the tragic results of botched abortions. Countless women have been injured at Aware Woman and other abortion clinics throughout the United States where abortion is legal but not safe.
Click here for Video 1
Click here for Video 2
Click here for the full article.
Obama Calls for Universal Access to Abortion at UN Meeting
At United Nations (UN) headquarters this week, the Obama administration continued its push for ever increasing access to legal abortion around the world. The Obama team has introduced language that has thrown a high level negotiation into a roil. The US proposal calls for "universal access" to "sexual and reproductive health services including universal access to family planning." The document under consideration will culminate in the 2009 Annual Ministerial Review, which convenes next week in Geneva.
Click here for the full article.
Alaska Proposal That Requires Parental Consent for Abortion Is Certified
A proposal to require parental notice or consent before a female younger than 18 could have an abortion was certified Thursday by the state so that its backers can seek enough signatures to get the initiative before voters next year. The proposed law would require the parental notice or consent except in these circumstances: -- The teen submits a notarized statement that she is a victim of abuse by a parent or guardian. -- The teen persuades a court to let her bypass notification. -- A doctor declares a medical emergency. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell certified the initiative. If its backers get at least 32,734 Alaskans from across the state to sign the initiative in the next year, the proposal will go on a statewide ballot for a public vote next year.
Click here for the full article.
Parents Denied Abortion Clinic Records
The Ohio Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a request from the parents of a girl who obtained an abortion for access to records from the clinic. The parents filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio in Cincinnati after their 14-year-old daughter's abortion in 2004. They say the clinic ignores evidence of sexual abuse, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reported. The girl allegedly was impregnated by her 21-year-old soccer coach, who posed as her father to get her an abortion and gave his "consent," the Dispatch said.
Click here for the full article.
SC GOP Official Sues City over Abortion Protest
A state Republican Party official has sued the city of Orangeburg for a second time, saying a police officer prevented him from participating in an abortion protest. The (Orangeburg) Times and Democrat reports that the Rev. Charles Butler's lawsuit involved a January protest about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's stance on abortion. The lawsuit says an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officer told Butler, the second vice chairman of the S.C. Republican Party, that he couldn't protest without a permit.
Click here for the full article.
Anger At Abortion Increase
Sexual health campaigners have blasted government policy after Wales' teen abortion rate rose for the third year running. Latest figures from the Department of Health show the total number of abortions for under 18s across the nation rose from 894 in 2005 to 1,048 in 2008. Vivienne Rose, a clinic manager for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) – which runs Wales' only dedicated abortion clinic in Cardiff – said: "The Assembly Government (WAG) have all these initiatives but, at the core, what is happening?
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Planned Parenthood is facing criticism for alleged false advertising.
The organization has been running ads in Washington, DC, claiming that 90 percent of its services are preventive and primary care, just like going to a doctor's office. Jim Sedlak of American Life League disagrees. With Obama's healthcare program, Sedlak contends Planned Parenthood is just trying to position itself to be in the mainstream of healthcare.
"The problem is that according to its last annual report, Planned Parenthood...primary care patients account for only seven-tenths of one percent of its total number of customers," he says.
Sedlak was asked if Planned Parenthood's recent report was designed to get more government money.
Jim Sedlak 1"Absolutely! They're trying to set the stage so that they get recognized as an entry point into the healthcare system, and that people don't have to go to another primary care physician, and they can get referenced to Planned Parenthood, that they can just walk in the door at Planned Parenthood and that will result in millions of more dollars to Planned Parenthood," he points out.
According to Sedlak, abortion accounts for about one-third of Planned Parenthood's income -- and government-funded abortion is likely to be a part of the Obama healthcare plan.
Click here to view Planned Parenthood's TV commerical.
Contact: Charlie Butts Source: OneNewsNow Publish Date: July 3, 2009
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"Dealing With An Unwanted Pregnancy" blares the title of the article on AskMen.com, a website which claims 7 million readers a month.
AskMen.com has been criticized for the way it objectifies women with its "Top 99 Women" poll among other unfavorable facets of the site.
This particular article lays out a guide for men who don't want their partners to give birth to their preborn children. Written by a woman, Isabella Snow, it purports to be an inside look at how women think and act in such situations.
happy pregnant.jpg"For some women, getting pregnant can start clocks ticking and make them suddenly want to be mothers, despite previous agreements," warns Snow. In other words, she's not in her usual state of mind: you are going to have to do your utmost to convince her to deny new maternal feelings.
The entire article is geared against innocent preborn life and instead focuses on wants and lifestyles, primarily of the father....
Copious hints and suggestions are given to help the man make his partner feel relaxed and comfortable as he attempts to convince her that an abortion is the most favorable option. It's for a purely selfish motive: becoming a father could "put tremendous stress on a relationship, particularly if [he doesn't] want to have a child, but [doesn't] want to lose the girl, either."
harley.jpgThe third person in the relationship is brushed aside as a mere "issue of an unwanted pregnancy" which encourages men to treat the situation as if it is only themselves and their partner that need consideration: "Will you have to sell your Harley and get a station wagon?" asks the author.
Oh, what a terrible thought! Yes, clearly ending the life of your unborn child is more preferable!
Ultimately, according to Snow, if a man has made it clear he has no desire for the pregnancy to continue, he is freed from any obligation to stick with the relationship.
The only redeeming factor to the article is it suggests if mothers insist on allowing their preborn children to live, men should feel free to change their minds and embrace their future roles as fathers.
Contact: Andy M. Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: July 3, 2009
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I was away and completely off the grid when President Obama made his health care pitch. But several people sent me e-mails questioning whether he pushed futile care theory as a method of cost containment and health care reform. As usual with our president, it is hard to tell exactly what he wants as he tends to speak in overly broad generalities or take both sides of an issue at the same time. Here is the report from the LA Times:
President Obama suggested at a town hall event Wednesday night that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care. In a nationally televised event at the White House, Obama said families need better information so they don't unthinkingly approve "additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care." He added: "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."
It all depends on who gets to decide, doesn't it? If people are to be educated about these matters, it is one thing. If they are going to be coerced, as in Futile Care Theory and rationing, it is quite another. The devil will truly be in the details–especially with this president.
By the way, this isn't the first time Obama has a point about end-of-life care that is similarly wide-open to interpretation–as dutifully reported here at SHS.
Contact: Wesley J. Smith Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: July 6, 2009 Link to this article.
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Dr. Monica Miller, Director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, issued a statement today revealing newly discovered information that MI late-term abortionist Alberto Hodari, pictured left, was fined $10k four months ago for his role in the 2003 death of 32-year-old Regina Johnson.
Johnson died from complications after a first trimester abortion committed at Hodari's Womencare abortion mill in Lathrup Village....
According to court documents (here and here), the abortion was committed September 17, 2003, by abortionist Milton Nathanson, then employed by Hodari.
Johnson died September 18 from "anoxic encephalopathy due to cardiac arrest." According to CPLS's statement:
In addition to Hodari and Nathanson, anesthesiologist Barry Thompson and the abortion clinic's nurse, Cathy Litchig were also implicated in Ms. Johnson's death.
The Attorney General's office... imposed the fine on Hodari March 4, 2009 - but the penalty only recently became publicly known. The complaint against Hodari found him guilty of "negligence," "incompetence" and lacking in "good moral character." Hodari paid the fine without contesting....
Nathanson submitted to retraining. Thompson and Litchig were both placed on probation for a period of time and also subjected to fines.
There was not that much more value placed on Johnson's life than late-term abortionists charge to kill almost full-term babies.
hodari baby.jpgIf Hodari's name sounds familiar, it's because only 16 months ago members of CPLS found multiple remains of aborted babies as well as hundreds of medical records of aborting mothers in 2 of Hodari's dumpsters.
For that, Hodari got a warning and is on probation.
In January 2008 Hodari garnered national attention for being caught on tape bragging during a lecture at Wayne State University in November 2007 that he didn't wash hands between patients and had a "license to lie."
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: July 3, 2009
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Taxpayer money should be spent to "compare the effectiveness of innovative strategies for preventing unintended pregnancies," according to a federal advisory committee. The "innovative strategies" to be studied include over-the-counter access to oral contraceptives and providing free contraceptive methods at public clinics and pharmacies.
Background
The Democrat-passed stimulus bill includes $1.1 billion to be spent on comparative effectiveness research, which a federal advisory panel defines as a way to identify "what works for which patients under what circumstances."
Specifically, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 called on the Institute of Medicine – part of the National Academy of Sciences -- to come up with a list of topics that will serve as a starting point for deciding which health care approaches work best.
A committee convened by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) says it received 1,268 unique topic suggestions from health professionals, consumer advocates, policy analysts, and others who submitted nominations through an online form.
That list has now been narrowed to 100 topics, divided into four quartiles (groups of 25).
Included in the highest priority group – the first quartile – is pregnancy prevention. The sentence reads as follows:
"Compare the effectiveness of innovative strategies for preventing unintended pregnancies (e.g., over-the-counter access to oral contraceptives or other hormonal methods, expanding access to long-acting methods for young women, providing free contraceptive methods at public clinics, pharmacies, or other locations)."
The complete list of national priorities for comparative effectiveness research can be found here.
Advocates say comparative effectiveness research will improve the quality and efficiency of health care.
"Health care decisions too often area matter of guesswork because we lack good evidence to inform them," said Harold C. Sox, editor of Annals of Internal Medicine, who co-chaired the IOM committee. "For example, we spend a great deal on diagnostic tests for coronary heart disease in this country, but we lack sufficient evidence to determine which test is best."
Critics, however, warn that comparative effectiveness research will be used to ration health care and minimize costs.
As CNSNews.com previously reported, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has pledged to take those rationing concerns seriously.
"We need to address the very real concern that this research (comparative-effectiveness) might be used to quote 'ration health care,'" Baucus told a Brookings Institution audience last month. "This is serious and needs to be addressed with integrity," he added.
In its report, the Institute of Medicine committee said comparative effectiveness research will fall short of its potential without vigorous efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote adoption of the findings by health care providers and organizations.
The IOM study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine is a nongovernmental agency that provides "independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector and the public."
Contact: Susan Jones Source: CNSNews.com Publish Date: July 2, 2009
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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.
Taxpayer Funded Abortion Referrals
Along with a "universal health care" experiment in the form of the taxpayer-funded Ennis Regional Medical Center and the Ennis Independent School District's Early Childhood Center for students' babies (EISD property taxes pay for that one) nearby, the City of Ennis is about to welcome a labratory in population control: Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood was approved by city officials and the elected representatives (the city commission) voters helped elect to office to be placed in dangerous proximity to the Early Childhood facility and the hospital. This paper Defends Truth and Freedom, and the truth is, life is a gift and abortions destroy life.
Click here for the full article.
Abortion Clinic 911 Emergency Calls: 'No lights and sirens, please!'
This is a composite of ambulance calls to Aware Woman abortion clinic in Melbourne, Florida. It shows the tragic results of botched abortions. Countless women have been injured at Aware Woman and other abortion clinics throughout the United States where abortion is legal but not safe.
Click here for Video 1
Click here for Video 2
Click here for the full article.
Obama Calls for Universal Access to Abortion at UN Meeting
At United Nations (UN) headquarters this week, the Obama administration continued its push for ever increasing access to legal abortion around the world. The Obama team has introduced language that has thrown a high level negotiation into a roil. The US proposal calls for "universal access" to "sexual and reproductive health services including universal access to family planning." The document under consideration will culminate in the 2009 Annual Ministerial Review, which convenes next week in Geneva.
Click here for the full article.
Alaska Proposal That Requires Parental Consent for Abortion Is Certified
A proposal to require parental notice or consent before a female younger than 18 could have an abortion was certified Thursday by the state so that its backers can seek enough signatures to get the initiative before voters next year. The proposed law would require the parental notice or consent except in these circumstances: -- The teen submits a notarized statement that she is a victim of abuse by a parent or guardian. -- The teen persuades a court to let her bypass notification. -- A doctor declares a medical emergency. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell certified the initiative. If its backers get at least 32,734 Alaskans from across the state to sign the initiative in the next year, the proposal will go on a statewide ballot for a public vote next year.
Click here for the full article.
Parents Denied Abortion Clinic Records
The Ohio Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a request from the parents of a girl who obtained an abortion for access to records from the clinic. The parents filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio in Cincinnati after their 14-year-old daughter's abortion in 2004. They say the clinic ignores evidence of sexual abuse, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reported. The girl allegedly was impregnated by her 21-year-old soccer coach, who posed as her father to get her an abortion and gave his "consent," the Dispatch said.
Click here for the full article.
SC GOP Official Sues City over Abortion Protest
A state Republican Party official has sued the city of Orangeburg for a second time, saying a police officer prevented him from participating in an abortion protest. The (Orangeburg) Times and Democrat reports that the Rev. Charles Butler's lawsuit involved a January protest about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's stance on abortion. The lawsuit says an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officer told Butler, the second vice chairman of the S.C. Republican Party, that he couldn't protest without a permit.
Click here for the full article.
Anger At Abortion Increase
Sexual health campaigners have blasted government policy after Wales' teen abortion rate rose for the third year running. Latest figures from the Department of Health show the total number of abortions for under 18s across the nation rose from 894 in 2005 to 1,048 in 2008. Vivienne Rose, a clinic manager for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) – which runs Wales' only dedicated abortion clinic in Cardiff – said: "The Assembly Government (WAG) have all these initiatives but, at the core, what is happening?
Click here for the full article.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a self-proclaimed pro-life Democrat who now embraces President Barack Obama's call for "common ground," said Wednesday that the issue of abortion should not bog down passage of a health-care reform bill.
"It hasn't been an impediment, and I don't expect it to be and it shouldn't be. There is no reason why in a health-care bill we have to have another debate about that issue (abortion)," Casey told CNSNews.com in a conference-call discussion about health-care reform in the Senate.
"I think it is abundantly clear what my position is on the issue of abortion," he added.
Casey has been clear about his opposition to abortion. The son of the late pro-life Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey, Sen. Casey has held that while the Constitution protects the right to privacy, it does not trump the rights of the unborn.
Yet Casey's statement that abortion should not impede health care reform flies in the face of 19 pro-life Democrats in the House, who recently sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insisting that abortion funding should not be included in any health-care reform bill.
In fact, CNSNews.com specifically asked Casey about the House members' pledge to oppose any health-care bill that contains abortion funding: "Nineteen pro-life House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi saying they would only support a health care package that 'explicitly excludes' abortion from the scope of the plan. Do you agree? And will you also only support a health reform plan that explicitly excludes abortion coverage?"
"I can't speak for what the House is doing and what members are doing in the House, but in the Senate, I don't think that it (the abortion issue) is going to be an impediment to getting this legislation passed," Casey told CNSNews.com
In their letter to Pelosi, the pro-life House Democratic claimed that a health-care plan that mandates coverage for abortions would be an "unacceptable" option.
The congressmen explained that without an explicit exclusion, abortion could be federally funded as part of a government-subsidized health care plan. "We want to ensure that the Health Benefits Advisory Committee cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package," the House Democrats wrote.
"The health-care reform package produced by Congress will be landmark, and with legislation as important as this, abortion must be addressed clearly in the bill text," the letter continued. The pro-life Demcrats further explained that congressional funding restrictions on abortion have "saved lives by reducing the number of abortions."
'Common-ground' guy
While campaigning for his Senate seat, Casey supported overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand.
But more recently, Casey also supported then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights.
As Casey told the Democratic National Convention last summer, "Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion. But the fact that I'm speaking here tonight is testament to Barack's ability to show respect for the views of people who may disagree with him."
In January, Casey re-introduced the Pregnant Women Support Act (S.270), which would provide assistance to pregnant women both before and after delivery.
"I introduce this bill with the deepest conviction that we can find common ground," Casey said at the time. "I believe that we can transform this debate by focusing upon the issues that unite us, not the issues that divide us."
Obama also has called for "common ground" in the abortion debate, but many pro-life conservatives reject the notion.
"Over the years, we have come to understand that a desire for common ground translates into the view that principle must yield to pragmatism, and after that, to acceptance of abortion in some cases and after that, to abysmal defeat," wrote American Life League president Judie Brown in a May 29 column. "The common ground theory and those who advocate it remind me of quicksand … the slow, certain sinking of truth into the sands of deceit that clearly represent, among other things, Obamaland."
Source: CNSNews.com Publish Date: July 2, 2009
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Having an abortion is dangerous for subsequent children, an international team of researchers has concluded. The team, led by Dr. Robbert van Oppenraaij of Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, presented their findings on Monday to the 25th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Amsterdam.
In his presentation, Dr. van Oppenraaij reported that one abortion increases the risk of premature birth in a next pregnancy by 20 percent. With two or more abortions, the risk is raised by 90 percent, and the risk of a very premature birth - meaning 34 weeks or less - is doubled.
"It can be concluded," said Dr. van Oppenraaij, "that a history of abortion is associated with an increased risk for premature delivery and very premature delivery."
The conference presentation was based on a March 2009 article published by the team in the ESHRE's Human Reproduction Update. The research consisted of a literature review of over 75 investigations conducted between 1980 and 2008, focusing on predicting the health of pregnancies based on early pregnancy complications.
The article admits the difficulty of predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes after abortion because of the many variables, such as different abortion methods and gestational age. Nevertheless, they say, "it can be concluded that a history of TOP [termination of pregnancy] is associated with an increased risk for PPROM [preterm premature rupture of membranes], PTD [preterm delivery] and VPTD [very preterm delivery]. These risks depend on the number of TOP."
Numerous independent studies have found this link between abortion and premature births in subsequent pregnancies, as LifeSiteNews.com has reported. Most significantly, LSN reported in February this year on the findings of a German team who evaluated over two million pregnancies between 1995 and 2000. According to this study, the risk of very premature birth is increased by 30 percent after one abortion, and by 90 percent after more than one.
Contact: Patrick B. Craine Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 29, 2009 Link to this article.
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With school physicals right around the corner, parents should be cautious about allowing their daughters to receive the vaccine called Gardasil, a yet unproven vaccine for HPV, a disease only transmitted by sexual activity. The vaccine is pushed as a means to prevent cervical cancer, which has been connected to HPV, but Gardasil does nothing to prevent HPV strains causing 30% of cervical cancers.
Gardasil has developed a track record of unusual and dangerous side effects. The death toll from the drug has reached at least 47. There were also 1061 "serious" reports of complications including 142 classified as life-threatening, 147 spontaneous abortions, and 29 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Is use of this vaccine really worth the risks?
More specifics on complications should really raise questions about the risk versus benefit of this vaccine. Reports indicate that 62 girls developed warts after receiving the vaccine, even though Gardasil is designed to prevent two strains of genital warts and 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."
Situations like this must be devastating to teenage girls and their parents, who were just following their doctor's recommendation and had no idea there were any risks of note. FDA's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports show that since June 2008, 235 cases have involved permanent disability. Just say no to Gardasil!
Source: Illinois Right to Life Publish Date: July 2, 2009
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General Electric has announced that it will use embryonic stem cells provided by Geron Corporation for the purpose of testing toxic effects of drug treatments.
GE issued a statement, attempting to preempt criticism over the decision, saying, "We acknowledge the considerable debate and take very seriously the ethical and societal issues associated with research using stem cells derived from embryonic or fetal tissue."
"We conduct our research in an ethically and scientifically responsible manner," the statement said.
However, embryonic stem cells have been the center of heated controversy since harvesting the cells requires the destruction of embryonic human beings.
But Geron Corporation indicates that in this case it believes that the ends justify the means.
"Up to three quarters of toxicity problems are not detected until preclinical or later stages of drug development and this significantly increases the cost of developing new drugs," Geron Corporation said in a press release, "Earlier detection of toxicity problems could reduce both overall drug development costs and potentially harmful patient exposure in clinical trials."
Konstantin Fielder, General Manager of Cell Technologies at GE Healthcare said that stem cells harvested from human embryos could even replace lab rats as the primary scientific testing method.
"Once you have human cells and you can get them in a standardized way, like you get right now your lab rats in a standardized way, you can actually do those experiments on those cells," he said.
Both GE and Geron have said that the stem cells to be used are listed on a National Institutes of Health registry, making them eligible for use in the United States.
Click here for contact Information for General Electric.
Contact: Alex Bush Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: July 1, 2009 Link to this article.
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