NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information. Woman Told To Remove 'Obama Is Pro-Abort' Yard Sign A new political yard sign is stirring up controversy in an Ankeny neighborhood. Michelle Schadler said she posted the sign to criticize Sen. Barack Obama's "pro-choice" stance on abortion and she said she has every right to do so. "Nerves are very raw right now about the election, and I think that's why they got upset," said Schadler. Schadler used her computer to doctor an Obama sign. She said the president of the WaterCrest Homeowners Association told her to take them down because signs aren't allowed. "There are many other signs in the neighborhood," Schadler said. "They have not been asked to take theirs down. So it's obvious they find mine offensive. They're asking me to take it down." Click here to read the entire article online Abortion Provider Sues to Halt Ultrasound Law A Tulsa abortion provider has sued the state to halt a controversial law requiring a woman to undergo an ultrasound within one hour of the procedure and to be advised about what it shows. Nova Health Systems, the parent group of Reproductive Services in Tulsa, filed the suit late Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court. The clinic is seeking an injunction to prevent Senate Bill 1878 by Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, from taking effect Nov. 1. The clinic is also asking the court to toss out the law. Click here to read the entire article online J&J Paid $68 Million to Settle Birth-Control Cases Johnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company's Ortho Evra birth-control patch, court records show. J&J, the world's largest maker of health-care products, avoided trials through the confidential settlements and hasn't released the financial details to investors. Of 562 complaints reviewed by Bloomberg News, the vast majority of users alleged the patch caused deep-vein thrombosis, or blood clots in the legs, and pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in the lungs. Some blamed it for heart attacks or strokes. The complaints blamed Ortho Evra for the deaths of 20 women. Click here to read the entire article online SBA List Voter Contact Efforts to Reach 1.3 Million Pro-Life Voters 'American voters deserve to know the truth about who really is – and isn't – on the side of unborn children' SBA List Launches Voter Education and Mobilization Program, Targets 1.3 Million Pro-Life Voters in Battleground States Today, the President of the Susan B. Anthony List offered the following statement about the organization's recent efforts to educate pro-life voters in battleground states across the country: "Today the Susan B. Anthony List's efforts to educate and mobilize over one million pro-life voters have kicked into high gear," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "The Susan B. Anthony List's efforts will play an invaluable educational role over the next few weeks. While Barack Obama avoids his legislative record of opposing protections for abortion survivors, we are there to stand up for the truth. While Senate candidates like Al Franken in Minnesota and Kay Hagan in North Carolina hide their extreme support for abortion on-demand from the voters, we are there to expose it. American voters deserve to know the truth about who really is – and isn't – on the side of unborn children." Click here to read the entire article online
After Two Weeks of 40 Days for Life - 114 Babies Saved from Abortion Excitement continues to rise among pro-lifers across North America -- and distress among Planned Parenthood advocates -- as the number of rescued babies rises to a total of 114 throughout the 170 communities participating in the 40 Days for Life. David Bereit, national campaign director for the 40 DFL, writes that peaceful protesters with California's San Fernando Valley chapter of the 40 DFL had some "very encouraging news" to relate. An absent abortionist, unusually low numbers of scheduled abortions, and 40 DFL pilgrims from far and wide were mere preliminaries to the day's excitement, during which at least one woman "changed [her] mind" and left the abortuary smiling. "When one woman changes her mind about abortion, it creates a ripple [effect]. Heartbreak is replaced by joy -- many times over," says Bereit. Similar stories are starting to emerge in Canada, where two cities, Ottawa and Halifax, are participating in the 40 DFL. Suzanne Atkinson, a peaceful protester outside the Morgantaler abortion center, records that on Wednesday October 8 she "looked up to see [a] young girl going into 65 Bank St." Reliving the moments intensely, Atkinson says, "My heart sank. I prayed that the Lord would move in her heart... that the guardian angels of her and her unborn baby would intervene." Some time passing before the young woman emerged, Atkinson "assumed that she had had an abortion," but in a brief conversation with the protesters, the young woman admitted to having "changed her mind." She looked "quite happy," said Atkinson. The widespread success of the 40 DFL is proving a threat to abortion providers, who run a multi-billion dollar industry in North America. (The first half of the 40 DFL has seen successes in more than 50 cities. Find their stories here: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=25.) "Despite the increasingly shrill rhetoric of the abortion industry, the simple truth is that business is off," says Bereit. "Abortion numbers have dropped so significantly that several states are now down to only one or two remaining abortion centers." Planned Parenthood, which, as the largest supporter and provider of abortion, is a special target for the 40 DFL, is particularly anxious. "Emily X," a Planned Parenthood activist, writes "the things we take for granted - that you can afford to get your birth control each month, or that your doctor will give you all your options when you come to him or her in need - are quietly slipping away. It's an important time. And it's not the time to sit idly by." Emily X attempts to compensate Planned Parenthood for its financial loss throughout the 40 DFL campaign by gaining sponsors for each encounter she has with a 40 DFL protester. Clearly, Planned Parenthood is feeling a pinch. In anticipation of this autumn's 40 DFL last August 25, Bereit said "We may be on the verge of a turning point in the battle against abortion," and "response to our call for communities to participate in this fall's 40 Days for Life has exceeded our wildest expectations...The growth of this outreach is a reflection of the excitement that people are expressing about the many ways 40 Days for Life impacts a community." The 40 DFL closing rally is on Sunday, November 2. To participate, go to http://www.40daysforlife.com. Contact: Jonquil Frankham Source: LifeSiteNews.com Source URL: www.lifesitenews.com Publish Date: October 10, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
Palin Attacks Obama's 'Appalling' Refusal to Defend Babies Who Survive Abortion Three times over the last several days, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has focused her attention on what she described as Sen. Barack Obama's "appalling" and "absolutely atrocious" refusal to support legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would have required medical care for a baby who survived an abortion and would have defined such a baby—alive and fully outside its mother's womb—as a person. Palin's focus on the issue began with her appearance Thursday on Laura Ingraham's nationally syndicated talk radio show. It then continued later Thursday at a joint rally with Republican presidential candidate John McCain in Wisconsin, and culminated in Johnstown, Pa., on Saturday, with a sustained and personalized defense of the right to life. On Thursday morning, Ingraham presented Palin with a quote from a speech Obama gave on the Illinois Senate floor on March 30, 2001. As reported by CNSNews.com last Wednesday, Obama was the only member of the Illinois Senate who rose that day in 2001 to speak against a package of three bills designed to protect babies who survived late-term abortions. "Back in March of 2001, when he was an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama was one of--actually the only--senator to speak against legislation to protect infants who were born alive after an abortion," Ingraham said to Palin. "He called them 'pre-viable fetuses' because if you call them people, he said directly, 'I mean, it would essentially bar abortions because the equal protection clause doesn't allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute.' Governor, what is your reaction to that?" "It is absolutely atrocious," said Palin. "And, you know, as we go around in our rallies and when I talk about John McCain and me and our desire for, and our commitment to, a culture of life and we are interrupted with huge applause, I think, you know, I wish I had more time to explain to people what Barack Obama's position has been on this. Because I think, Laura, it has been missing out there in the discussion, in the debate, about the choices that they have in candidates on November 4th. Noting first that Obama has said abortion is "a fundamental right" and that he "opposes banning partial-birth abortion," Palin said that "more telling … has been his vote against legislation--three times voting against legislation--that would provide medical care to a baby born having been a survivor of a abortion. It is very appalling. And I think that if more Americans could understand how absolutely extreme that position is, there would be a heck of a lot more outrage than we already see." A moment later on the Laura Ingraham show, Palin returned to the issue. "Again, let me go back to this Born Alive legislation that Barack Obama could not support," said Palin. "It is appalling enough, I think, even for those who are pro-abortion to understand that Barack Obama opposes banning partial-birth abortion--because that is quite extreme. But for him to have had an opportunity to vote to allow a child born as a result of a botched abortion to receive the medical care that he or she deserves--born with that inalienable right to life--and yet, he has sided on the wrong side three times, voting against legislation that would provide that medical care to the baby -- is the extreme position on abortion. Americans need to know that." In 2001, then-Illinois state Sen. Patrick O'Malley proposed three bills in the Illinois Senate to protect babies who survived abortions. O'Malley's legislation was inspired by nurse Jill Stanek, who went public about the "induced-labor abortions" that were taking place at the Chicago-area hospital where she worked. These abortions, often done on babies with Down syndrome, involved a mother who was medicated to induce premature labor. At Stanek's hospital, when a baby was born alive as a result of this induced premature labor, Stanek testified before the U.S. Congress, the baby was often placed in a laundry room to die without care. When O'Malley was told by the state attorney general's office that no existing state laws protected these babies as citizens of the State of Illinois and the United States, he drafted a set of bills. One mandated that any time a doctor performing an abortion believed there was a reasonable likelihood that a baby might be born alive as a result of the abortion, a second physician had to be present to assess the viability of the baby and provide medical care for him or her. A second bill gave the parents of the baby or a state-appointed guardian the right to sue to protect the baby's interests. The third bill defined any baby who had fully emerged alive from his mother's womb as a "person," "child," "human being," and "individual." Obama voted present--which in the Illinois senate has the same effect as a "no" vote--on all three bills in 2001. In 2002, he opposed them again. In 2003, the bill defining a baby born alive as a "person" came up in the Illinois Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which Obama then chaired. The year before, an identical bill had been enacted into federal law along with an amendment that pro-abortion members of the U.S. Senate, led by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), said protected Roe v. Wade from being abridged in any way because of the bill. In his Illinois committee, Obama first voted to add the language of this Roe-v-Wade-protecting amendment to the Illinois bill. Then he voted against the amended bill, which was defeated 6-4. After appearing on Laura Ingraham's show last Thursday, Palin appeared with Republican presidential candidate John McCain in Waukesha, Wisconsin. An audience member at this town hall gathering brought up the fact that NBC's Tom Brokaw had asked no questions about abortion in last Tuesday's debate. "I wanted to ask you about the issue of abortion and specifically about the debate a couple of nights ago," the audience member said to McCain. "The moderator cleverly never brought this--the question up. And with the debate coming up again, I would ask if you're going to find a way to bring the subject up, even if it's not asked about, because I firmly believe it's an issue which you have the advantage." "I am proud of my pro-life record for many years. I believe that life begins at conception. And I don't know if you heard Senator Obama when Rick Warren asked him and he said, quote, 'It's above my pay grade.' It's above Senator Obama's pay grade, the issue of the rights of the unborn. Remarkable," said McCain. "So I believe that the most noble words ever written are that all of us are 'created equal and endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights; among these are life'--and that means the unborn child as well as the born child," McCain continued. "Now Senator Obama has a clear, radical, far-left pro-abortion record--and you should examine it and his votes." McCain then talked about how he and his wife had adopted their daughter Bridget from Mother Theresa's orphanage in Dhaka, Bangladesh. When McCain was done, Palin added her own comments on the issue. "And John, may I add also, too, as someone who believes that the most promising and precious ingredient in this sometimes mixed-up world of ours is a child. And I appreciate your reminder of the compassion needed in this issue," said Palin. "What I don't find compassionate is Barack Obama's vote, as an Illinois senator, when three times he had the chance to vote to be able to provide health care for a child who was born alive as a result of a botched abortion. I would just ask you, sir, to go online and look at his record on that one, also," said Palin. "Thank you for the question." In Johnstown, Pa., on Saturday, Palin again brought up Obama's unwillingness to support legislation that would protect babies who were born alive after botched abortions. This time, she went on at length, framing the issue in terms of her personal experience with her baby son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. "When I learned that my son Trig would have special needs, to be honest with you, I had to pray that my heart would be prepared for the challenges to come. It was a shock, I wasn't ready for this. I had to ask for that strength. And at first I was very scared, and Todd and I we did have to ask for that strength and understanding. But let me tell you a few things that I've learned already," said Palin. "Yes, every innocent life does matters. And everyone belongs in the circle of protection. And every child has something to contribute to our world if we give them that chance," she said. "Now, there are the world's standards of perfection, and then there are God's standards, and these are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for their own sake. "And as for our beautiful baby boy, for Todd and for me, he is only more precious because he is vulnerable," said Palin. "And in some ways, you know I think we stand to learn more from him than he does from us. So, when we hold Trig and when we care for him, we don't feel scared anymore, we feel blessed. "It's hard to think of many issues that could possibly be more important than who is protected in law and who isn't, who is granted life and who is denied it. So, when our opponent speaks about questions of life, I listen very carefully," she said. After discussing Obama's position on partial-birth abortion, and citing his remark that a woman should not be "punished" with a baby, she moved back to his opposition to the Illinois born-alive legislation. "Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, had described partial-birth abortion as 'too close to infanticide.' Senator Obama thinks it's a constitutional right, but he is wrong," said Palin. "Most troubling even is as a state senator, Barack Obama wouldn't even stand up for the rights of infants born alive during an abortion. These infants, these infants, often babies with special needs, they're simply left to die," said Palin. "In 2002, Congress unanimously passed a federal law to require medical care--imagine that, requiring a law to require medical care for those babies who survive an abortion. They're living, breathing babies, but Senator Obama describes them as 'pre-viable.' Now, this merciful law was called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, and Illinois had a version of the same law. And Obama voted against it," said Palin. "Asked about his vote, he assured a reporter that he'd have voted yes on that bill if it had contained language similar to the federal version of the Born Alive Act. There's just one little problem with that story though: the language of both the state and federal bills was identical," said Palin. "So, in short, Senator Obama is a politician who has long since left behind even the middle ground on the issue of life. He's sided with those who won't protect a child born alive. And this exposes the emptiness of his promise to move beyond the old politics," said Palin. "So, ladies and gentlemen in both parties, Americans have many concerns to be weighed in the votes they cast on November fourth. In times like these, with wars and financial crisis, I know that it may be easy to forget even as deep and abiding a concern as the right to life. And it seems that our opponent kind of hopes that you will forget that. Like so much else in his agenda, he hopes that you won't notice how radical--how absolutely radical--his ideas on this and record is until it's too late," said Palin. Contact: Terry Jeffrey Source: CNSNews.com Source URL: www.cnsnews.com Publish Date: October 13, 2008 Click here to view this article
Oregon Court Orders Frozen Embryos Destroyed, Considered "Property Rights" Issue The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied a father's appeal to keep his six frozen embryos alive, and ordered that the embryos be destroyed by thawing, as ordered by his ex-wife. The court also ruled that the embryos' fate fell under the issue of "property rights." The court unanimously agreed that the father, orthodontist Dr. Darrell Angle, had no right to "impose a genetic parental relationship" on his ex-wife, pediatrician Dr. Laura Dahl, who did not wish to be considered the mother of the preborn children in the event that they were carried to term. Angle, on the other hand, insisted that the embryos were alive and deserved to be protected from destruction. In 2000, Drs. Angle and Dahl had married and given birth to a son, and in 2004 decided to conceive again via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The treatment failed, and six embryos were frozen for indefinite preservation. The agreement signed by both parties named Dahl as the default decision-maker concerning the fate of the embryos, should the couple separate. When the couple divorced soon after, Dahl indicated that she wished to destroy the embryos because she "did not want anyone else to raise her child," and also feared that the child might one day contact his or her sibling, Dahl's naturally-conceived son. Angle urged the court to reconsider, and said he could not stand to let the small human lives he had fathered be destroyed. "There's no pain greater than having participated in the demise of your own child," said Angle. The court nonetheless ordered that the embryos be killed. Dr. Angle then appealed to a higher court to overrule the decision as an unfair distribution of property. Angle argued that the OHSU agreement should be considered null and the embryos rightfully his, as his desire to save their lives was more valid than the wife's desire to avoid the birth of another child belonging to her. On the contrary, Dr. Dahl argued that the court should not favor Angle "in a way that could result in the birth of a child over the objections of a source of the genetic material," as stated by the court document. The court, while narrowly avoiding calling embryos "property," decided that authority over the embryos did constitute a matter of private property, as Dr. Angle had argued. However, the court ultimately ruled in favor of Dahl, and saw insufficient reason to override the OHSU agreement giving Dahl primary decision-making powers in regards to the fate of the embryos. The court appealed to several related state appellate court rulings as precedent, including Tennessee's Davis v. Davis, which ruled "the husband's interest in not procreating outweighed the wife's interest in donating the eggs to another couple." The bizarre circumstances of the Oregon case are becoming commonplace, as more and more divorcing couples bring their battle over the possession or destruction of frozen embryos to U.S. courts. According to some estimates, over 100,000 frozen embryos await either implantation or destruction in cryo-banks throughout the country, the leftover products of an exploding IVF industry. To see the full Oregon Appeals Court document: http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A133697.htm Contact: Kathleen Gilbert Source: LifeSiteNews.com Source URL: www.LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: October 10, 2008 Click here to view this article
Grandmother, 72, Violently Attacked Outside Nebraska Abortion Mill Attacker simply ticketed while daughter gets coerced abortion Omaha, NE - On Saturday, October 11, 2008, Mary Adam, 72, was knocked to the ground and injured outside a Bellevue, Nebraska abortion clinic by the angry mother of a woman who Mary had turned away from the clinic the previous day. The woman had returned with her daughter to insure that she received an abortion, even though the daughter expressed hesitancy to Mary on Friday and indicated to her an interest in placing her baby for adoption. Mary was rushed to a nearby hospital and was treated for a bump on the head and other minor injuries for which she is still suffering pain. She is recovering at home. The incident began on Friday, when two sisters arrived at the abortion clinic owned by the infamous partial-birth abortionist LeRoy Carhart. They were given literature, and Mary spoke to them about the abortion and some of the problems that Carhart has had, including his involvement in the third-trimester abortion death of 19-year old Christin Gilbert in 2005, at George Tiller's late-term abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas. The two girls questioned a clinic worker about the Gilbert death before they were hustled into the clinic. The girls later left the clinic without having gotten the abortion. Police were summoned by the abortion clinic staff, who told the police that Mary and another pro-lifer, Larry Donlan, were "screaming" at the girls. Donlan had videotaped the encounter and told the officers that the accusations were absurd, and the video would prove it. The police then threatened Mary and Donlan with arrest. Mr. Donlan, head of Rescue the Heartland, and a Truth Truck driver for Operation Rescue, gave the following report about what happened the following day: Apparently after we had gone [on Friday], the girls left the mill only to return the next morning, this time with their mother who was furious that her daughter didn't have the abortion. She hurled threats and curses at the pro-lifers as they got out of the car. Mary was at the top of the stairs as usual, but because of the high fence, she couldn't see who it was that was coming. As the three women walked up the stairs from the parking lot, she said, "This is the worst thing you will do in your whole life. Your baby's heart is beating right now." Upon hearing this the mother, went ballistic. Cursing and screaming, she rushed Mary, shoving her and knocking her down into the street. Mary fell backwards hitting her head on the concrete. The woman then went inside the mill leaving Mary lying in the street. Being in intense pain and barely able to move, pro-lifers who witnessed the attack helped pull her to the side of the road so as to be out of the way of traffic and called 911. Both a rescue squad and police arrived at the scene and Mary was taken to the hospital. After almost two hours of "investigation" the woman was ticketed with a class-three felony assault, but was not arrested. This is a serious offence. There can be no question that if any of us had done something similar, we would surely have been arrested and jailed. Mary is the mother of 11, grandmother of 21, and great grandmother of 3. She regularly offers help to abortion bound women in Bellevue. The name of her attacker has not been released. "We are concerned that this was a coerced abortion. If the woman who attacked Mary would so easily resort to violence against a frail woman in full view of numerous witnesses, we can only wonder what she has done to her daughter in private," said Newman. "But with the obvious police corruption in Bellevue, there is no where to turn to get help for that poor girl. The Bellevue Police Department needs a wake-up call to the reality of what is happening in their community. It is not the pro-lifers who are the problem there, but the abortion mill staff who are making false statements to the police and apparently covering for coerced abortions and God knows what else." Contact: None Source: Operation Rescue Source URL: www.operationrescue.org Publish Date: October 13, 2008 Click here to view this article
Foul!: ABC Says Hannity Listeners Can't Hear NRL PAC Message National Right to Life PAC ad rejected for being "too political" Today, National Right to Life received notice from ABC Radio Network that it would not air National Right to Life's ad entitled "Waiting for Obama's Apology," during Sean Hannity's radio program. In an email to National Right to Life, ABC Radio Network executives claimed the ad, "while supporting aspects of a Pro-Life position, weighs more heavily toward electioneering." The ad, the text of which appears below, was to be paid for by National Right to Life Political Action Committee (NRL PAC), which is allowed to do "electioneering" under federal law. "ABC's rejection smacks of being a politically motivated gag order," said Derrick Jones, NRLC Communications Director. "It seems that the pro-Obama leanings of the mainstream media have overflowed into their sales departments as well. To reject a political action committee's ad because they think it is too political, borders on the absurd." The ad focuses on NRL's role in revealing that Obama had for four years misrepresented his record on the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA). "Four years ago, NRL PAC ran electioneering ads supporting George W. Bush. ABC's lame excuse this year fails to hide their true motivation of helping Barack Obama conceal his extreme pro-abortion position from the American public," Jones added. On August 11, NRLC released recently uncovered documents proving that Obama in 2003 had presided over a committee meeting at which he killed a version of the BAIPA that was virtually identical to the federal BAIPA that Congress had enacted, without a dissenting vote, in 2002. This contradicted four years of statements by Obama on the matter. When Obama was asked about NRLC's charges in a televised interview on August 16, he said that NRLC was "lying." Independent investigations by FactCheck.org and Politifact.org have since concluded that NRLC's claim was accurate and that Obama's denial was not. The ad refused by ABC quotes the FactCheck.org conclusion that "Obama is misrepresenting the contents of" the bill that he killed. "The ABC gag rule is part of a broader pattern of behavior in which the mainstream news media filter out or distort the extremes of Obama's pro-abortion record, including his actions to block legislation to protect infants born alive following abortions in Illinois, his commitment to enact the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act," which would make partial-birth abortion legal again and nullify all parental notification laws, and his support for requiring taxpayer funding of abortion," said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, author of an article on the Obama abortion agenda published this week by National Review Online and posted at www.nrlc.org. The ad is currently posted as a web ad on National Right to Life PAC's YouTube channel.. The text of the ad is below. "Waiting for Obama's Apology" Male: The following is paid for by National Right to Life PAC at nrlpac.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee, NRLPAC is responsible for the content of this advertising. Female 1: In August, National Right to Life released documents proving that in 2003, Barack Obama was responsible for killing a bill to provide care and protection for babies who are born alive after abortions, and that he later misrepresented the bill's content. Male: When Obama was asked about National Right to Life's charges in a televised interview, he replied: (quote) "...I hate to say that people are lying, but here's a situation where folks are lying." Female 1: We challenged Obama to admit that the documents are genuine, and admit to his previous misrepresentations. FactCheck[dot]org then investigated, and concluded: Female 2: (clinical, detached tone): "Obama's claim is wrong . . . The documents . . . support the group's claims that Obama is misrepresenting the contents of [Senate Bill] 1082." Female 1: Was Obama afraid that the public would learn about his extreme position -- that he opposed merely defining every baby born alive after an abortion as deserving of protection? Will Obama now apologize for calling us liars when we were the ones telling the truth? Barack Obama: a candidate whose word you can't believe in. Contact: Derrick Jones Source: National Right to Life Source URL: www.nrlc.org Publish Date: October 10, 2008 Click here to view this article
Don't Be Deceived! The Pro-Life Movement has never put a woman in jail Personal PAC, the pro-abort political action committee, has been sending lies through the mail about the pro-life movement and the pro-life candidates in Illinois. Recently, a mailing was discovered spreading the lies that the pro-life candidates in Illinois are trying to place women in jail for having abortions. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Pro-Lifers don't want to criminalize women, they want to save women; Save them from making a terrible mistake that they will regret for the remainder of their lives; The mistake of aborting a baby and ending a human life. These accusations sent by Personal PAC are just propaganda, tools being used to try to scare off pro-life candidates and voters. Don't be deceived by these lies. We need to combat this, we need pro-lifers to react and correct the image of our pro-life candidates. Personal PAC seems to have endless funding when it comes to pushing lies, we however do not have this luxury, but we do have one thing, we have grassroots that can overcome and defeat this pro-abort propaganda. Spread the word! Call your neighbors, notify your friends, educate your church congregations. Pro-Lifers SAVE LIVES, not criminalize them. Contact: None Source: Illinois Federation for Right to Life Source URL: www.ifrl.org Publish Date: October 13, 2008 Click here to view this article
FRC Discusses Post-Abortion Effects The Family Research Council (FRC) hosted a panel today to discuss the mental-health effects of abortion. The discussion was in response to a recent study by the American Psychological Association (APA) that claimed one abortion does not cause significant mental-health problems for women. Panelist Vincent Rue, director of the Institute for Pregnancy Loss, said the false claims and inaccuracies of the APA report are detrimental to women and to society. "For women who are considering abortion, these women are now unlikely to receive sufficient information to enable informed consent," he said. "They will be lulled in to a false sense of emotional security that the psychological effects of abortion are minimal to nonexistent. "For many women who proceed with the abortion, this will make their recovery more difficult. They will likely feel an increased sense of isolation, stigma, depression and dramatization, being entirely unprepared for these feelings and symptoms." Other panel experts included Catherine Coyle, with the Alliance for Post-Abortion Research and Training; and Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs for FRC. Contact: Devon Williams Source: CitizenLink Source URL: http://www.citizenlink.org Publish Date: October 9, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
Missouri college students disrespect pro-life memorial Students at Missouri State University in Springfield have vandalized a pro-life cross memorial on school property. The student group Bears for Life (BFL) hosted the "Graveyard of Innocents" display, which consisted of 4,000 popsicle-stick crosses to represent the number of babies killed by abortion each day. BFL had obtained the necessary paperwork from the university for the display, but a group of student vandals destroyed the crosses nonetheless. One student -- a member of the university's bi-sexual and homosexual association -- reportedly rode his bike through the display in order to cause maximum damage. Ian Ivey of the Leadership Institute in Washington, DC, was surprised that the incident happened in Springfield, Missouri, a community he says tends to lean toward the conservative side. "It tells you something about the culture on college campuses, and I think that culture is true virtually nationwide," Ivey contends. "Regardless of the standards and the values of the community in which a college is situated, most of these ivory tower institutions harbor leftists who are in power and will remain in power and are going to allow and foster a culture that basically attacks and undermines our traditional values." When BFL confronted the student vandals, one of the vandals responded that because the display was on campus property, they could walk where they please. Ivey contends it is not likely action will be taken against the students by the administration because their political viewpoints align with the student vandals. According to a Leadership Institute news release, some of the vandalism at the pro-life display was captured on video. Contact: Pete Chagnon Source: OneNewsNow Source URL: http://www.OneNewsNow.com Publish Date: October 10, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
'Pregnancy Pact' Prompts High School to Hand out Birth Control A Gloucester, Mass., school committee voted Wednesday to allow contraceptives to be distributed at the high school after reports that several female students entered a "pregnancy pact" earlier this year. Contraception will be available — with parental consent — at the school's health clinic. Time magazine reported in June that 17 Gloucester teens got pregnant and agreed to raise their babies together. The mayor later denied the pact. Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said she has concerns about the new plan. "Contraceptives may decrease pregnancies if teens use them consistently and correctly, but they may encourage more teens to become sexually active," she said. "Teens need to be taught the truth — that only by remaining abstinent will they avoid pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and the emotional consequences of sexual activity." Contact: Devon Williams Source: CitizenLink Source URL: http://www.citizenlink.org Publish Date: October 9, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
Planned Parenthood investigation suggests rape cover-up An undercover investigation of two abortion clinics in North Carolina has resulted in a call to action. Two older girls posed as 14- and 15-year-olds and visited Planned Parenthood clinics in Charlotte and Winston-Salem. Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life explains what happened when the two visited the clinics. "They told the Planned Parenthood staffers that they had just had sex with their mother's live-in boyfriend who was in his 30s, and they said the man told them to come to Planned Parenthood and get on this 'morning-after pill.'" Hawkins says they have the evidence on video (view YouTube video)-- and now they want an investigation. "We got Planned Parenthood [personnel] on tape, in both cases, saying [that] what happened...is statutory rape and it is illegal," she relates. "However, they told them anyone over the age of 18, including [the] rapist, could go to [a drug store] and purchase the morning-after pill to cover up his crimes -- and both clinics were willing to get the girls on birth control." According to Hawkins, the evidence is enough to trigger the North Carolina reporting law, but a check reveals that neither incident was reported. She laments that this is another example in which it has been established that abortion clinics are not fulfilling the law by reporting child molestation cases to authorities, as required by law. Contact: Charlie Butts Source: OneNewsNow Source URL: http://www.onenewsnow.com Publish Date: October 10, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
PRO-LIFE EVENTS Right to Life of Adams County Respect Life Dinner Right to Life of Adams County cordially invites you to our RESPECT LIFE DINNER Where: Knights of Columbus/Fr. McGivney Hall 700 South 36th Street Quincy, Illinois When: Monday, October 20, 2008 - Reception: 6:00 p.m. - Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Scott Klusendorf, President of Life Training Institute presents: “The Art of Pro-Life Persuasion” This year's dinner promises to be an evening of good food and camaraderie, coupled with a very valuable pro-life presentation by our guest speaker. We are proud to announce that we have booked Scott Klusendorf of Atlanta, GA, President of the Life Training Institute, as our main speaker. Acknowledged to be one of the best pro-life presenters in the United States, Mr. Klusendorf has a long and successful record of challenging all in his audiences to defend the sanctity of human life, and of preparing them to persuasively defend their views to others. $10.00 per person, $17.00, 2 persons, $65.00 table of 8 All proceeds to benefit Right to Life Programs For more information, please call: 217-224-5483 Arms of Love Pregnancy Resource Center Walk for Life The Arms of Love Pregnancy Resource Center in Alton, IL is having their Walk for Life event on Sat. Oct. 25 beginning at 9 a.m. at Haskell Park on Henry and 12 Streets. For more information, please call Ron Wenzel (Walk Director) at 618-466-1690 Pro-Life Pastors Dinner Knox County Right to Life will honor Pro-Life Pastors and other dedicated pro-lifers at this dinner on October 25. It will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Corpus Christi Parish Center. The evening will include a dinner and a short presentation by Kenneth McCaughey, who is the father of the Iowa Septuplets. Many pro-life materials and information will be available that evening. Reservations are necessary for this dinner. For more information, please call Pat at 309-343-2852 or Helen at 309-342-4383. Festival of Life featuring Kenneth McCaughey Father of the Iowa Septuplets “The Seven from Heaven” Come early to see the presentation by Galesburg Christian School at 6:30 p.m. Sunday October 26, 2008 Bethel Baptist Church 1196 N. Academy St., Galesburg, IL *Admission is Free and Refreshments will be served Sponsored by Knox County Right to Life Click here to download a flyer If you know of, or are part of a pro-life organization having an event or attending an event including county fairs, please let us know about it and we will post in this newsletter and our website reaching over 250,000 people a month. Just click here to e-mail us
NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information. Woman Told To Remove 'Obama Is Pro-Abort' Yard Sign A new political yard sign is stirring up controversy in an Ankeny neighborhood. Michelle Schadler said she posted the sign to criticize Sen. Barack Obama's "pro-choice" stance on abortion and she said she has every right to do so. "Nerves are very raw right now about the election, and I think that's why they got upset," said Schadler. Schadler used her computer to doctor an Obama sign. She said the president of the WaterCrest Homeowners Association told her to take them down because signs aren't allowed. "There are many other signs in the neighborhood," Schadler said. "They have not been asked to take theirs down. So it's obvious they find mine offensive. They're asking me to take it down." Click here to read the entire article online Planned Parenthood Still Planning for New Entrance Five years after planning began for renovations to the Utica branch of Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson, costs have nearly doubled and work remains to be completed. Co-president and CEO of the organization, Margaret Roberts, said the parking lot was made larger, tripling the space for staff and patients. Work was also done to piping in the basement to avoid flooding, she said. Because of increased construction costs and additions to the original plan, costs have risen from $600,000 to more than $1 million, according to the organization. Plans are still in the works for additions to the reception area, waiting room and clinical space as well as a new entrance that Roberts said is much needed. “The patients need access without having to come in contact with picketers out front,” she said, “Some of whom harass them.” Click here to read the entire article online Stem-cell Science an Election Issue in 3 States While the ongoing Wall Street rescue has riveted much of the country's attention, voters in three states - Michigan, North Carolina and Washington state - are being asked to consider a different controversial issue: whether potential cures for millions of Americans are worth the moral cost of destroying human embryos. This year, both Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain say they support federal funding of the science. Political experts say stem-cell research is a surrogate for the abortion debate and serves as a litmus test of a candidate's liberal or conservative credentials. Click here to read the entire article online Nebraska's Child Dumping Law: Teens Being Abandoned At Hospitals Frustrated parents are dumping their teenagers at Nebraska hospitals -- even crossing state lines to do it -- and the state Legislature has scheduled a special hearing to try to stem the tide. Nebraska's "safe haven" law, intended to allow parents to anonymously hand over an infant to a hospital without being prosecuted, isn't working out as planned. Of the 17 children relinquished since the law took effect in July, only four are younger than 10 -- and all four are among the nine siblings abandoned by a man September 24 at an Omaha hospital. Click here to read the entire article online
SBA List President Praises President's Signature of Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act Today, in response to the President's signing into law S.1810 the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act, the President of the Susan B. Anthony List offered the following statement: "This law is a great victory for parents of disabled children nationwide,'" said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "Ninety percent of unborn children diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted in this country. All too often, the road to abortion is paved with the negative words of medical providers who sell it as the 'compassionate' choice. There is nothing compassionate about eliminating entire categories of human beings. As the parent of five children, one with a disability, I can vouch for the fact that no child is a mistake. The transforming effect of children with special needs is what this culture needs more of - not less." The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act will advance national efforts to educate and support parents of children with disabilities. The bill also calls for the creation of a national registry of families willing to adopt children with prenatally or postnatally diagnosed conditions. S.1810 was sponsored by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Since its founding, the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund has helped elect 75 pro-life candidates to the House, seven to the Senate, and seven to other statewide offices across the country. The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of Americans, over 148,000 residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process. Contact: Joy Yearout Source: Susan B. Anthony List Source URL: http://www.sba-list.org Publish Date: October 9, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
Unapologetically Pro-Life As someone who has faithfully watched presidential debates since 1960, I have come to the conclusion that the worst thing that can happen is for a moderator's opinion of himself to be so bloated it makes a revealing exchange of opinions and ideas nearly impossible. That happened in Tuesday night's second presidential debate between pro-life Sen. John McCain and pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama. It's fine to be low-key, measured, and restrained. But moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC News was positively tedious. He came across as a schoolmarmish scold, more concerned with getting to his own deadly dull questions than drawing out who these two men actually are. Is it an accident that we are now three debates in (two for the presidential candidates and one for the vice presidential candidates) and no question about abortion? No, of course not. For all the bravado from pro-abortionists (aka they hold the upper hand on the issue), do they really want Barack Obama defending his straight-ticket pro-abortion voting record? His enthusiastic support for the "Freedom of Choice Act" which would nuke every protective law passed over the past three decades and embed "abortion in all public programs affecting pregnant women," as Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia and chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-life Activities, explained it in a letter sent to every congressional office in September? Or Obama's resolute role in scuttling legislation to provide legal protection for babies who are born alive during abortions? Or (from the man who keeps insisting he wants to "reduce" the number of abortions) his unwillingness to fund crisis pregnancy centers? On the other hand, when someone like CBS's Katie Couric interviews pro-life vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin she is quite free to frame her questions in the most difficult manner. There is no Obama on set to question about the positions he has taken (see above). She is also free to edit. In other words, a lot of the context can be conveniently not shown on television. I re-read the "unedited" CBS transcript this morning. Not only did Couric ratchet up the "gotcha" question quotient in her second interview with Gov. Palin, Couric shortchanged the audience by omitting the wider setting in which Palin framed her responses. Palin answered honestly, forthrightly, and compassionately. And, although the questions were intended to make her uncomfortable, Palin's demeanor never comes across as the least bit defensive Palin immediately acknowledged that people have a different position than she does. "I am pro-life. And I'm unapologetic about my position. And I understand good people on both sides of the abortion debate. In fact, good people in my own family have differing views on abortion and when it should be allowed. So … I respect people's opinion on this. "Now, I would counsel to choose life. I would like to see a culture of life in this country. But I would also like to see taking it one step further. Not just saying I am pro-life, and I want fewer and fewer abortions in this country, but I want, then, those women who find themselves in circumstances that are absolutely less than ideal, for them to be supported; for adoptions to be made easier; for more support given to foster parents and adoptive families. That is my personal opinion on this." As a pro-life feminist Gov. Palin brings a perspective not often heard--and definitely not heard on the CBS Evening News. None of the following quotes from the transcript made it on the air. At one point she told Couric, "I want women empowered to know that we can help them. They can be strong enough, and they can have the resources provided them to give that child life." Later she added, "When you consider what's going on in this world, the most promising and good ingredients in this world … is a child, the hope that a child brings. And just understanding that, being near and dear to my heart, I want to do all that I can to reduce the number of abortions. And to usher in that culture of life." Then at the end of this line of questioning, Palin said (in her role as vice president) that, "I will do all that I can personally to encourage that culture of life, to remind women that I believe with more empowerment, they--more and more women will realize that they are strong enough--[to be] able to carry a child and still continue a career, still continue education opportunities, all with the goal being fewer and fewer abortions in this world." Well said, Gov. Palin. Too bad more people couldn't have heard it. Contact: Dave Andrusko Source: National Right to Life Source URL: www.nrlc.org Publish Date: October 8, 2008 Click here to view this article Click here for more articles like this one.
