The congressman leading an investigation of Planned Parenthood wants it
to testify at a Capitol Hill hearing after the post-abortion death of
one of its clients and the organization's failure to answer his
questions the last 10 months.
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R.-Fla., told Fox News July 24 he has received
massive amounts of information with no answers since he launched an
investigation in September 2011 of Planned Parenthood Federation of
America (PPFA) and its affiliates. Planned Parenthood is the country's
leading abortion provider.
"I would like to put them under oath," said Stearns, who is chairman of
the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House of
Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. "I would like to find out
how they spend our half a billion dollars, and I would also like to
explore some of the safety aspects, particularly in light of this death,
of this tragedy."
Tonya Reaves, 24, died July 20 after undergoing an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Chicago.
In a written statement for Baptist Press Friday (July 27), Stearns said,
"Although Planned Parenthood has provided some 8,000 pages of
documents, they have not provided some of the records requested such as
internal audits and audits by state agencies.
"For far too long, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates have operated
with near immunity from Congressional oversight, gladly accepting over
$1 million per day in taxpayer support while claiming an exemption from
the normal standards of accountability that every other recipient of
public funds is expected to meet," said Stearns, who described his
investigation as the first congressional effort to hold PPFA accountable
for its use of government funds. "State audit reports and admissions by
former Planned Parenthood employees detail a pattern of misuse of
federal funds by some Planned Parenthood affiliates, as well as ignoring
state reporting laws designed to protect women and minors from sexual
abuse."
In September, Stearns wrote PPFA President Cecile Richards to request
information about the organization's use of federal funds and compliance
with federal law. He asked Richards to provide audits, documentation,
policies and procedures regarding such issues as improper billing,
segregation of federal funds from abortion services and reporting of
suspected sex abuse and human trafficking.
PPFA and its affiliates received $487.4 million in government grants,
contracts and reimbursements in 2009-10, the most recent year for which
statistics are available. That total is for all levels of government --
federal, state and local. That money helps support an organization with
clinics that performed 329,445 abortions in 2010. That was more than
one-fourth of the abortions in the United States for the year.
Various scandals have plagued Planned Parenthood in recent years, and a
growing number of former clinic directors and other workers have made a
variety of charges against the organization.
Sue Thayer, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director, charged the
abortion giant's Iowa affiliate with filing nearly 500,000 false
Medicaid claims over a seven-year period, according to a federal lawsuit
unsealed July 9.
Hidden camera investigations conducted by the pro-life organization Live
Action have uncovered PPFA workers demonstrating a willingness to aid
self-professed sex traffickers whose prostitutes are in their early
teens and seeking to cover up alleged child sex abuse. Other undercover
videos released in May and June by Live Action showed Planned Parenthood
employees in four states -- Hawaii, New York, North Carolina and Texas
-- seeking to help women who indicated they wanted sex-selection
abortions.
Last July, Americans United for Life (AUL) documented in a 181-page
report of known and alleged abuses by PPFA over a 20-year period and
called on Congress to investigate it for misuse of government funds and
circumvention of state laws.
Reaves' death is the latest in this ongoing series of scandals and negative reports.
Documents show Reaves underwent a dilation and evacuation abortion at 11
a.m. July 20 at the Loop Health Center Planned Parenthood, CBS Radio
affiliate WBBM reported. A dilation and evacuation abortion typically
takes place in the second trimester of a pregnancy and normally involves
the use of a suction tube and/or forceps to remove the unborn child's
body in pieces.
Bleeding ensued, but she was not taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital
until 4:30 p.m., according to the report. An hour later, the hospital
performed a second abortion procedure because the first was incomplete.
Further tests revealed a perforated uterus. Doctors performed surgery on
Reaves at 10:12, when an "uncontrollable bleed" was discovered, and she
was pronounced dead at 11:20, WBBM reported.
Illinois pro-life organizations called on state legislative leaders to
act to regulate Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics in the
wake of Reaves' death. Illinois does not require such clinics to undergo
inspections, according to a July 26 letter from the Life Education and
Resource Network and other organizations.
"A woman who goes to an abortion provider naturally assumes that she is
going to a medically approved facility and not to a company that is
operating an unlicensed, uninspected, and unregulated surgery," the
letter said.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has acted three times this month
alone to circumvent state or local decisions and aid PPFA affiliates
that have lost government funds.
On July 25, a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Durham, N.C., received
$426,000 in Title X family planning funds from the federal Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS). The North Carolina legislature had
voted July 2 to override Gov. Bev Perdue's veto and defund Planned
Parenthood and other private family planning providers.
Earlier in July, HHS made similar grants to Planned Parenthood
affiliates in New Jersey and Memphis, Tenn., after their funds were cut.
Federal family planning funds may not be used for the performance of
abortions, but pro-life advocates point out the government grants free
up other funds for use in Planned Parenthood's abortion business.
When the Stearns-led congressional investigation was announced in
September, Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land said he could think of
"very few organizations that are more deserving of a thorough federal
investigation than Planned Parenthood."
PPFA "should not be getting any government funding, period," said Land,
president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "But as long
as they are getting government funding, they should be the subject of
aggressive congressional scrutiny."
Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Operation Rescue releases a video illustrating the timeline leading to Tonya Reaves Death
Operation Rescue stands in solidarity to statements released today by
the Black Prolife Coalition and Mark Crutcher of Life Dynamics, Inc.
related to the death of Tonya Reaves from hemorrhage following a second
trimester abortion she received at a Planned Parenthood clinic in
Chicago on July 20.
Video: Timeline in the Abortion Death of Tonya Reaves
Operation Rescue joins Mr. Crutcher in calling on Cook County Illinois
State's Attorney, Anita Alvarez, to immediately launch an investigation
into the death of Tonya Reaves under the state's "depraved indifference
murder" statutes.
Planned Parenthood waited over 5 hours to call for emergency assistance
after Reaves suffered uncontrolled bleeding after her abortion at the
Loop Health Center Planned Parenthood office on Michigan Avenue. She
died later that day at a local hospital.
"If it can be found that Ms. Reaves would have survived if paramedics
had been called earlier, then Planned Parenthood could be criminally
culpable," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-Life
Nation.
Operation Rescue has released a short video illustrating the timeline
that lead to Reaves death as reported by Steve Miller of News Radio
WBBM.
Watch the Video
Contact: Troy Newman, Cheryl Sullenger
Source: Operation Rescue/Pro-Life Nation
But 154 Lawmakers vote to Defend Current D.C. Policy of Legal Abortion for any Reason Until Birth
In a landmark vote, a solid majority of the U.S. House of
Representatives today voted to reject the current abortion policy of the
District of Columbia, which permits legal abortion for any reason until
birth, and to replace it with a law that would generally prevent
abortion after 20 weeks fetal age.
The legislation is the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child
Protection Act (H.R. 3803). The vote was 220-154 in favor of the bill – a
strong majority (a 66 vote margin), although short of the two-thirds
vote required under the fast-track procedure utilized today (“suspension
of the rules”).
“Today’s groundbreaking majority vote constitutes a giant step towards
this bill ultimately becoming law -- perhaps after the replacement of
some of the lawmakers who today were unwilling to protect pain-capable
unborn children in the sixth month of pregnancy and later,” said Douglas
Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee
(NRLC), the national federation of state right-to-life organizations.
“154 House members will have to explain to their constituents why they
voted to endorse a policy of legal abortion for any reason, until the
moment of birth, in their nation’s capital.”
H.R. 3803 contains findings that by 20 weeks after fertilization (if not
earlier), the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain.
(This is equivalent to 22 weeks in the alternate “LMP” or “weeks of
pregnancy” dating system used by ob-gyns and abortion providers.) The
bill prohibits abortion after that point, except when an acute physical
condition endangers the life of the mother. Nine states have already
enacted abortion limitations based on the pain suffered by unborn
children; no court orders have blocked enforcement of any of those laws.
The District Clause of the U.S. Constitution (found in Article I,
Section 8) provides that “Congress shall . . . exercise exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District . . .” Like any
other “legislation,” of course, laws pertaining to the federal district
are subject to the president’s review. Asked about H.R. 3803 today,
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded, “The president’s
position on a woman’s reproductive freedom is well known,” and went on
to refer to the legislation as “controversial, divisive social
legislation.”
On July 30, a federal judge in Arizona upheld as constitutional a new
state law that generally prohibits abortion after 18 weeks fetal age (20
weeks of pregnancy) – two weeks earlier than H.R. 3803. U.S. District
Judge James A. Teilborg, a Clinton appointee, found that “by 20 weeks,
sensory receptors develop all over the child’s body” and “when provoked
by painful stimuli, such as a needle, the child reacts, as measured by
increases in the child’s stress hormones, heart rate, and blood
pressure.” Judge Teilborg also noted, “Given the nature of D&Es and
induction abortions . . . this Court concludes that the State has shown a
legitimate interest in limiting abortions past 20 weeks gestational
age.”
Also today, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), the prime sponsor of the Senate
companion bill (S. 2103, which has 30 cosponsors), filed the bill as an
amendment to an unrelated bill that is currently pending on the Senate
floor, S. 3414.
Source: National Right to Life Committee
The death of 24 year-old Tonya Reaves on Friday, July 20, following an
abortion at the Chicago Loop Planned Parenthood has prompted a renewed
call for accountability in Illinois' currently unregulated abortion
industry.
Pastor Ceasar LeFlore, Midwest Director of Life Education and Resource
Network (L.E.A.R.N.), appealed via letter to Illinois' President of the
Senate John Cullerton, Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, and House
Republican Leader Tom Cross to increase abortion clinic regulation.
Reaves' death following her abortion in a facility not regulated by the
State of Illinois is a tragedy, but the letter to Illinois' legislative
leaders points out that "this state's lack of even the most basic health
regulation of abortion providers and clinics is setting the stage for
it to happen again."
Illinois law does not require Planned Parenthood's clinics to be
inspected by the state's Department of Public Health. This lack of
oversight is particularly negligent in light of the fact that Reaves'
second trimester abortion was performed in Planned Parenthood's Loop
Health Center in Chicago, a facility that, according to its own website,
refers all surgical procedures to two other abortion clinics, only
offering "medication abortion," commonly known as the "abortion pill,"
at the downtown site.
LeFlore's missive implores the lawmakers to join the twenty other states
that mandate counseling for women who are scheduled to undergo an
abortion. Often referred to as "Informed Consent" laws or "Women's Right
to Know" laws, these measures require the physician to inform the
pregnant woman of the many risks involved in an abortion. More than half
of the states require at least a 24-hour waiting period between
receiving counseling for the abortion and completing the procedure.
"Planned Parenthood's Loop Health Center is clearly not equipped to
provide a second trimester abortion or to respond to an emergency
situation such as the one that resulted in the tragic death of an
otherwise healthy young woman," explains LeFlore. "A woman who goes to
an abortion provider naturally assumes that she is going to a medically
approved facility and not to a company that is operating an unlicensed,
uninspected, and unregulated surgery."
L.E.A.R.N. is the nation's largest black pro-life organization and its
Midwest Director is not alone in sounding this clarion call for
increased abortion clinic regulation. The letter is cosigned by leaders
from the Illinois' broader pro-life community, including Aid for Women
of Northern Lake County, Belleville Area Right to Life, Catholic
Citizens of Illinois, Concerned Women for America of Illinois, Illinois
Citizens for Ethics PAC, Illinois Family Institute, Illinois Federation
for Right to Life, Illinois Review, Illinois Right to Life Committee,
Knox County Right to Life, Lake County Right to Life. Life Advocacy
Resource Project, Lutherans for Life, McHenry County Right to Life,
Professional Women's Network, Pro-Life Action League,
Pro-Life/Pro-Family Coalition, Students for Life of Illinois, Tradition
Family and Property, and Word of Hope.
The coalition insists that, "The Illinois General Assembly must take
seriously the health and safety of the women of Illinois... [and]
immediately enact laws and policies that insure the protection of
women."
It is noteworthy that in the last legislative session, the Illinois
legislature failed to call for a vote on H.B. 4117 which would have
required all abortion clinics to meet the same health and safety
standards as all other ambulatory surgical treatment centers, including
those run by Planned Parenthood.
Source: Illinois Review
One day before the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on
a bill to overturn the current policy in the District of Columbia of
allowing legal abortion, for any reason, until the moment of birth, a
federal judge in Arizona today upheld a new state law generally
prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy (18 weeks fetal age),
based primarily on “the substantial and well-documented evidence that an
unborn child has the capacity to feel pain during an abortion by at
least twenty weeks gestational age.”
The ruling by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg came in a legal
challenge brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU on
behalf of abortion providers, which asserted that the law was
unconstitutional because it restricted abortions prior to “viability.”
The Arizona law generally allows abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy
(18 weeks after fertilization) only when necessary to prevent the
mother’s death or “serious risk of substantial and irreversible
impairment of a major bodily function.”
Judge Teilborg specifically found that “by 20 weeks, sensory receptors
develop all over the child’s body” and “when provoked by painful
stimuli, such as a needle, the child reacts, as measured by increases in
the child’s stress hormones, heart rate, and blood pressure.” Teilborg
quoted a U.S. Supreme Court decision describing the D&E method of
abortion used at this age: “[F]riction causes the fetus to tear apart.
For example, a leg might be ripped off the fetus . . .” He described
another method also used: “In an induction procedure, the fetus is
injected with a medication that induces a heart attack.’”
Judge Teilborg continued, “Given the nature of D&Es and induction
abortions, . . . this Court concludes that the State has shown a
legitimate interest in limiting abortions past 20 weeks gestational
age.”
“This recognition by a federal court that a general prohibition on
abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy is constitutional, based chiefly on
‘substantial and well-documented evidence that an unborn child has the
capacity to feel pain during an abortion,’ makes it even more
indefensible for any House member to vote to continue the current policy
of legal abortion for any reason until the moment of birth in our
nation’s capital,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the
National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).
The bill to be voted on Tuesday by the U.S. House, the District of
Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 3803), is
strongly backed by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the
nationwide federation of state right-to-life organizations.
The Council of the District of Columbia, employing authority delegated
by Congress, repealed the entire D.C. abortion law. Thus, in the
nation’s capital, abortion is currently legal for any reason through all
nine months of pregnancy. (See confirmation by the Associated Press, here.)
H.R. 3803, sponsored by Congressman Trent Franks (R-Az.), was approved
by the House Judiciary Committee on July 18, and is being brought to the
House floor on a fast-track procedure. In the bill, Congress adopts
findings that by 22 weeks of pregnancy (20 weeks after fertilization),
the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain. (Note that
this is two weeks later than the line established in the Arizona law
upheld today.) The bill prohibits abortion after that point, except when
an acute physical condition endangers the life of the mother. Seven
states have already enacted legislation very similar to H.R. 3803
(Nebraska, Kansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana); no
court orders have blocked enforcement of any of those laws.
“This roll call will be a landmark – the House has never before voted on
the question of whether to endorse legal abortion for any reason until
birth,” said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. “Under the
Constitution, members of Congress and the President are ultimately
accountable for the current abortion-until-birth policy. Any lawmaker
who votes against this bill is voting to ratify the extreme policy
currently in effect in the nation’s capital, where abortion is perfectly
legal for any reason until the moment of birth.”
"If we can achieve a big majority on this groundbreaking initial vote,
it will lay the foundation to achieve legal protection for pain-capable
unborn babies in the not-distant future,” Johnson said.
The District Clause of the U.S. Constitution (found in Article I,
Section 8) provides that “Congress shall . . . exercise exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District . . .” Like any
other “legislation,” of course, it is subject to the president’s review.
The White House has not yet taken any position on H.R. 3803, although
it has 223 House cosponsors.
According to a nationwide live telephone poll of 1,000 adults (MOE
+/-3.1%), conducted July 12-15, 2012 by The Polling Company,
Inc./WomanTrend, 58% of American adults would be more likely to vote for
lawmakers who support this legislation (62% of women were more likely).
In a separate question, 63% favored a policy of not permitting abortion
anywhere "after the point where substantial evidence says that the
unborn child can feel pain unless it is "necessary to save a mother's
life." (The questions and response totals are available in a document here.)
The NRLC website provides links to abundant documentation on the
scientific authorities that support the bill’s findings that unborn
children, by 20 weeks fetal age if not before, have the capacity to
experience great pain, here. A compilation of citations to medical journal articles on the subject is posted here. The abortion method most often used at this stage, the "D&E," is depicted in a medical illustration, here. The poll results and other information on the legislation is also posted at http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/Fetal_Pain/index.html
Source: National Right to Life Committee
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday, July 31, 2012,
on legislation that would end the current legal policy allowing
abortion, for any reason, until the moment of birth in the nation's
capital.
The legislation, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child
Protection Act (H.R. 3803), is strongly backed by the National Right to
Life Committee (NRLC), the nationwide federation of state right-to-life
organizations.
The Council of the District of Columbia, employing authority delegated
by Congress, repealed the entire D.C. abortion law. Thus, in the
nation's capital, abortion is currently legal for any reason through all
nine months of pregnancy. (See confirmation by the Associated Press, here.)
"This roll call will be a landmark - the House has never before voted on
the question of whether to endorse legal abortion for any reason until
birth," said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "Under the
Constitution, members of Congress and the President are ultimately
accountable for the current abortion-until-birth policy. Any lawmaker
who votes against this bill is voting to ratify the extreme policy
currently in effect in the nation's capital, where abortion is perfectly
legal for any reason until the moment of birth."
"If we can achieve a big majority on this groundbreaking initial vote,
it will lay the foundation to achieve legal protection for pain-capable
unborn babies in the not-distant future," Johnson said.
The bill, sponsored by Congressman Trent Franks (R-Az.), was approved by
the House Judiciary Committee just last week, and is being brought to
the House floor on a fast-track procedure. In the bill, Congress adopts
findings that by 20 weeks after fertilization (if not earlier), the
unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain. (This is
equivalent to 22 weeks in the alternate "LMP" or "weeks of pregnancy"
dating system used by ob-gyns and abortion providers.) The bill
prohibits abortion after that point, except when an acute physical
condition endangers the life of the mother. Seven states have already
enacted very similar legislation; no court orders have blocked
enforcement of any of those laws.
The District Clause of the U.S. Constitution (found in Article I,
Section 8) provides that "Congress shall . . . exercise exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District . . ." Like any
other "legislation," of course, it is subject to the president's
review.
H.R. 3803 currently has 223 House cosponsors. (218 constitutes a House majority when all seats are filled and all members vote.)
According to a nationwide live telephone poll of 1,000 adults (MOE
+/-3.1%), conducted July 12-15, 2012 by The Polling Company,
Inc./WomanTrend, by more than a 2-to-1 margin (58-27%), American adults
would be more likely to vote for lawmakers who support this
legislation. Women were more likely by 62-27%, and men more likely by
53-27%. (The questions and response totals are available in a document here.)
In response to a separate poll question, respondents favored, by a
3-to-1 margin (63-21%), a policy of not permitting abortion anywhere
"after the point where substantial medical evidence says that the unborn
child can feel pain," unless it is "necessary to save a mother's
life." Women said "should not be permitted" by a margin of 70-18%
percent. Men said "should not be permitted" by a margin of 55-25%.
The NRLC website provides links to abundant documentation on the
scientific authorities that support the bill's findings that unborn
children, by 20 weeks fetal age if not before, have the capacity to
experience great pain, here. The abortion method most often used at this stage, the "D&E," is depicted in a medical illustration, here. The poll results and other information on the legislation is also posted at www.nrlc.org/abortion/Fetal_Pain/index.html.
Contact: Megan McCrum, Jessica Rodgers
Source: National Right to Life Committee
A federal court ordered an injunction Friday halting the implementation
of a mandate that would require a Catholic-owned business in Denver to
offer insurance coverage for contraception and potential
abortion-inducing drugs as a federal court case proceeds.
The Newland family owns a private company that makes heating and air
conditioning units. The Obama administration has given all secular
businesses a deadline of Aug. 1 to begin offering the insurance when
their next enrollment period begins, which people of faith say violates
their consciences. Faith-based groups, such as Catholic hospitals,
universities and nonprofit ministries, have until August 2013 to comply.
“Every American, including family business owners, should be free to
live and do business according to their faith,” said Alliance Defending
Freedom Legal Counsel Matt Bowman, who is representing the Newland
family. “For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just
that.”
Bowman said the mandate could harm the Newland family business.
“The cost of freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per
year in fines that will cripple their business if the Obama
administration ultimately has its way,” Bowman said. “This lawsuit seeks
to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon
their faith just to earn a living. Americans don’t want politicians and
bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and
how that faith may be lived out.”
A trial date has not been set.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read the judge’s order in Newland v. Sebelius.
Contact: Bethany Monk
Source: CitizenLink
National pro-life leaders are calling on fellow pro-life believers to
join them in Washington, DC, next year for the National Memorial for the
Pre-Born. It will be the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme
Court decision that legalized abortion.
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life explains that the 2013 event in January will focus on prayer and repentance.
"Repentance has to come to us as a nation for all that we have failed to
do to protect our unborn brothers and sisters in these 40 years of
legalized killing," he says. "Prayer, of course, that we not go too much
longer in this state and that the healing begin. So much healing has to
take place and in so many ways."
Pavone tells OneNewsNow there is nothing that takes more life than abortion.
"No crime or disease, no national disaster or war, not terrorism, not
AIDS, not poverty, not drug abuse -- it [abortion] has taken and
continues to take more life than anything else precisely because Roe v.
Wade allowed it throughout all nine months of pregnancy," he declares.
"It's an incredible thing."
Pavone points out the January observance of the 40th anniversary will
launch a full year of activities related to ending abortion and a
special website has been set up to draw attention to it.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
National pro-life leaders are calling on fellow pro-life believers to join them in Washington, DC, next year for the National Memorial for the Pre-Born. It will be the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life explains that the 2013 event in January will focus on prayer and repentance.
"Repentance has to come to us as a nation for all that we have failed to do to protect our unborn brothers and sisters in these 40 years of legalized killing," he says. "Prayer, of course, that we not go too much longer in this state and that the healing begin. So much healing has to take place and in so many ways."
Pavone tells OneNewsNow there is nothing that takes more life than abortion.
"No crime or disease, no national disaster or war, not terrorism, not AIDS, not poverty, not drug abuse -- it [abortion] has taken and continues to take more life than anything else precisely because Roe v. Wade allowed it throughout all nine months of pregnancy," he declares. "It's an incredible thing."
Pavone points out the January observance of the 40th anniversary will launch a full year of activities related to ending abortion and a special website has been set up to draw attention to it.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
