Blackmun: If this is established, abortion 'rights' would, of course, 'collapse'
At the annual March for Life Jan. 22, pro-life groups will use the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision to raise the profile of "personhood."
The term is used by a movement in state legislatures to define unborn babies as persons, affording them the same guaranteed right to life as all other Americans.
Probably the first definitive statement on the idea came from Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote the majority opinion for Roe v. Wade, when he said:
"The appellee and certain amici [pro-lifers] argue that the fetus is a 'person' within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well-known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."
"The is the first real movement in 37 years since Roe that has got the abortion lobby on its back foot," Shaun Kenney, executive director for the American Life League, told WND today.
His organization's Training and Activism Week is among many events already assembled by pro-life organizations to promote life for the unborn.
"Folks are going out and putting referenda, or bills in state legislatures, that an [unborn baby] is, in fact, a human being," he said. "Currently Roe v. Wade set the bar [for being human] at the moment of birth."
He cited as an accomplishment Personhood USA's nomination by one of the nation's leading abortion industry advocates to its 2009 "Hall of Shame," for those who pose the greatest threat to abortion.
"We at Personhood USA are honored to be considered one of the top four threats to abortion in America," Keith Mason, co-founder of the organization, said after the National Abortion Rights Action League made the selection.
"Preborn babies are human beings with a God-given right to live. NARAL is a greedy, bloodthirsty organization, but they have pegged us correctly – Personhood USA is working to outlaw abortion, recognizing the Personhood rights of every child in America," Mason said.
He said NARAL described Personhood USA as: "The group behind the anti-choice 'personhood' measures, Personhood USA, exists solely to establish legal rights for fertilized eggs and trigger legal battles over abortion that could go all the way to the Supreme Court. Not only could the strategy outlaw abortion, but it could even threaten birth control, stem-cell research, and in-vitro fertilization. Working to outlaw abortion makes Personhood USA a strong candidate for Hall of Shame of the year."
The group, a grassroots Christian coalition, was founded to establish personhood efforts across the nation.
WND reported earlier that the movement already has reached into 32 states, where citizens are working now to find sponsors for statutes or constitutional amendments.
The Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 28 that while personhood measures failed in Montana and North Dakota legislatures earlier this year, "the close votes alarmed supporters of legal abortion."
According to WND columnist Jill Stanek, pro-life legislators in Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas have also signaled their intent to introduce personhood statutes.
Kenney told WND, "This is a movement that's catching fire very quickly."
And it's the simplest strategy he's seen for ending abortion in America.
"The personhood amendment says there is a right to exist," he said. "There's very little else to be said."
The problem with the current definition promoted by abortion interests, that life begins at birth, is that it's a slippery slope, he said. He cited the issues of women's suffrage, slavery and even the eugenics laws of the early 1900s with which the U.S. has dealt.
"America's always been on the side of civil rights and justice," he said. "This has occurred for African-Americans, women, the underprivileged, those with mental disabilities. We're confident this will occur [again]."
He said his organization is focusing on education on the issue. But he also noted supporters are setting a goal of having more than 35 states either with referenda or legislative proposals for the concept of "personhood."
"The status quo certainly isn't working for the 51 million babies who have been aborted in the United States," he said.
Wow, it can't get any more pro-life than this, the new In Touch magazine cover...
The tease, posted on the magazine's website today...
Bristol Palin didn't know what she was in for when she made the life-changing and controversial choice to have a baby at the young age of 18. But after she gave birth to her son, Tripp, in December 2008 - and broke up with her boyfriend, Levi Johnston - the reality of single motherhood quickly set in.
"I remember sitting on a black recliner, just bawling my eyes out," Bristol tells In Touch. "I was just rocking Tripp to sleep because he had been screaming for so long. I was just like, 'What am I going to do? This is as bad as it gets."
Though raising an infant has been challenging, Bristol has the unconditional love and support of her family - especially her mother, Sarah Palin.
After all, no one can better understand the complicated decision to have a baby under difficult circumstances. Just a year earlier, at the age of 44, Sarah carried her son Trig to term, even though she was told during a sonogram that he would be born with Down syndrome.
Now, the mother and daughter are sharing a unique experience - raising baby boys together under the same roof. In an exclusive interview at the family's home in AK on January 10, Sarah and Bristol plopped down on the teenager's bed and opened up about the joys and challenges of raising Tripp and Trig. With Trig's birth, Sarah's vice presidential run and Bristol's very public pregnancy during the campaign, "The last few years have been unreal and surreal," Sarah tells In Touch.
For the full exclusive, including heartwarming photos of the family and complete interview, plus the Palins' joys and challenges of raising their sons, check out this week's issue of In Touch, on newsstands Friday.
Of course, libs are aggravated...
But hey, Air America, "Pro-Life"? You're slipping. And it's always funny how "choice" is great unless it's the "choice" for life.
GOD TV is to break with its regular schedule on Sunday to air 'TheCall Crisis' LIVE from Houston, TX, where one of the largest abortion facilities in the world, is being built. Hosted by Lou Engle, the four-hour program will focus on prayer for the right to life and the prevention of this 'super center' opening.
Thousands of Christians will be gathering to fast and pray in Texas over the next few days and GOD TV founders Rory & Wendy Alec are encouraging the GOD TV family across the globe to join them in intercession via GOD TV on Sunday January 17th at 7pm (Eastern) with a replay on Monday January 18th at 2pm (Eastern).
Broadcast direct from Grace Community Church in Houston, TheCall Crisis will feature various speakers. In addition to Lou Engle, these include: Sammy Rodriguez, Tony Perkins, Mathew Staver, Dr. Richard Land, Ken Blackwell and Bishop Harry Jackson.
"Thirty-seven years ago abortion was legalized in Texas; now let it begin to be reversed there," said Lou Engle, the founder of TheCall. "Who ever heard of such a thing as an 'abortion super center', God wants to raise up a massive prayer movement that will say 'No,' and who will be part of the answer as we fast and pray."
According to CBN News, Planned Parenthood is set to open the super clinic in April, this year. It reports that this, the largest abortion facility in the USA, will comprise of a 78,000 square foot, six-floor building that includes a surgical wing equipped to provide late-term abortions. CBN also quotes Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director turned pro-life advocate, as saying that the new clinic will target minorities.
"We are a voice rising out of Houston declaring that we don't want this'," says Lou Engle. "It's time to let the unborn go free and spare pregnant mothers the agony of guilt. US public opinion over abortion is shifting radically to pro-LIFE and we have to continue to stand against abortion and support adoption.
"May a great demonstration of compassion rise up in Houston which will launch a mass movement of pregnant mother care and adoption. God has a dream for every mother and child and a six-story massive abortion facility has never been a part of that dream. Let's end the nightmare and let the dream live."
GOD TV has previously aired many mass gatherings of TheCall from cities across America. TheCall Crisis now focuses on historic moments when believers have a brief window of time to mobilize.
GOD TV can be seen from coast to coast across the USA on channel 365 of DIRECTV as well as on select local cable stations in cities such as San Francisco. Online viewers can watch at www.god.tv, where many of GOD TV's programs are also available for video on demand viewing.
Rockford, Illinois - The January Life Breakfast group in Rockford, Illinois will hold a Respect Life Dinner on Friday to benefit the local 40 Days for Life campaign. Several local pro-life leaders will receive awards at the Friday evening event.
The White Rose Award for students or teens who demonstrate "outstanding activism" on pro-life issues will go to Jessica Foti and Theresa Gwardys, a press release from the January Life Breakfast (JLB) reports. The two serve as co-presidents of Voice for the Unborn, the pro-life student club at Boylan Catholic High School.
The Breakfast will bestow on Dr. Brian and Sandra Knabe and the Knabe family the Family Heritage Award, which recognizes families who reflect the "life ideal" by "opening their hearts to children."
The JLB was founded 14 years ago by Lutherans for Life and Kent and Jean Heise. Mrs. Heise is President of the Haven Network for Perinatal Death and Bereavement and a leader, speaker and activist in the pro-life and pro-family movement, a JLB press release says.
The Friday dinner is sponsored by the Respect Life Office of the Catholic Diocese of Rockford, Rockford Area Lutherans for Life, the World Congress of Families and The Howard Center for Family Religion & Society.
The JLB has scheduled next year's event for Jan. 13, 2011.
Additionally, the JLB announced an upcoming roundtable lunch with Nigerian pro-life leader Dr. Theresa Okafor. The lunch, presented by the Howard Center, will be held on Feb. 11 at Rockford's University Club. Its topic will be "Pro-Life Lessons that Africa Can Teach America."
Operation Rescue launches the Abortion Whistleblower campaign, seeking information that leads to the arrest and conviction of abortionists who are breaking the law
Operation Rescue announced today that it is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of abortionists who are breaking the law.
The campaign, known as Abortion Whistleblowers, is encouraging abortion clinic workers and others to come forward and tell what they know about abortion clinic abuses.
The Abortion Whistleblowers campaign will include a series of ads on the radio and on sites like Craig's List, Facebook, Youtube, and other social networking sites. It will also include direct mailings to each abortion clinic in the nation encouraging workers to come forward.
Last year, several former employees of late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart came forward to tell media and pro-life groups of illegal activity at Carhart's Bellevue, Nebraska clinic. Three of them filed affidavits with the State Attorney General's office and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, resulting in investigations of Carhart.
Other whistleblowers, including former clinic patients, have successfully come forward to tell of illegal acts, resulting in the following:
After years of exposure by Operation Rescue, at least nine victims of illegal abortionist Bertha Bugarin came forward. Bugarin is currently serving 6 years, 8 months for committing illegal abortions in two California counties. Three of her accomplices were also convicted. Bugarin had preyed on vulnerable women in Hispanic neighborhoods. Her chain of six abortion clinics is closed.
Employees of a business next door to a San Ysidro, CA, abortion clinic operated by Suresh Gandotra tipped off a newsman about an ambulance that had come to the clinic to transport an injured women. She later died injuries so horrific that the abortionist fled the country fearing murder charges. His dangerous abortion clinic closed.
Thirty-five women were involved in bringing 65 charges sexual abuse against Phoenix abortionist Brian Finkle. Seventy additional women came forward but were not part of the prosecution. Finkle, who was responsible for 20% of all abortions done in Arizona, is currently serving 35 years in prison for his crimes.
"We have yet to find an abortion clinic that complies with all laws," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We are encouraging clinic workers, former abortion patients, or anyone else who has knowledge that crimes have committed been at abortion clinics to contact us immediately. Their information could literally save lives and earn them a $10,000 reward."
Men and women who felt they had inadequate counseling before an abortion, as well as those who disagreed with their partners about the decision to abort, were more likely to experience personal and interpersonal problems following the procedure, according to a new paper published in the medical journal Traumatology.
Researchers Catherine T. Coyle, Priscilla K. Coleman, and Vincent M. Rue - all experts in the after-effects of abortion - collected data via online surveys from 374 women who had a prior abortion and 198 men whose partners had experienced elective abortion.
The results found that women who expressed dissatisfaction with their pre-abortion counseling tended to have relationship problems, such as obsessive intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal - and also tended to describe the full diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Men with the same pre-abortion experience reported similar interpersonal trauma.
When the individuals reported that their partner disagreed with the decision to abort, women were more likely to report PTSD and intrusion tendencies, while in men such disagreement was linked with PTSD, intrusion, hyperarousal, and other relationship problems.
The researchers pointed out that few studies have examined men's psychological responses to elective abortion, although the procedure has been commonly linked to subsequent feelings of anger, anxiety, guilt, grief, and powerlessness in men.
"Although men are involved with conception and abortion, they are not routinely offered abortion counseling," they write. "Despite the call for greater inclusion of and attention to males in abortion clinics, little has changed. Most men who accompany women for abortion do not receive counseling and are left alone to wait."
David Reardon, Executive Director of the Eliott Institute, told LifeSiteNews.com in an email Wednesday that the results of the study confirmed the importance of legislation to enforce better regulations on abortion, such as Missouri's Negligent Screening Act (HB1236). HB1236, sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Davis, would mandate that women seeking abortion be evaluated for risk factors for adverse psychological effects following an abortion, such as whether she is being coerced or pressured into the procedure.
"Without such legislation, it is nearly impossible for women who suffer psychological injuries from a coerced or unsafe abortion to hold the abortionist liable for even gross negligence in regard to pre-abortion screening and counseling," said Reardon.
"Proper screening and counseling will reduce abortion rates, especially among women being pressured into unwanted or unsafe abortions, and will also reduce the rate of psychological illness associated with abortion," he continued. "But the only way to that goal is to remove the barriers which prevent women from holding abortionists liable for negligent screening and counseling."
NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY (Referral to Web sites not produced by The Illinois Federation for Right to Life is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
I just received private word that the New Hampshire Legislature rejected assisted suicide 242-113. Excellent. Let's keep holding the line as we push back with medical non cooperation in Washington, Montana, and Oregon. The battle continues. Click here for the full article.
Abortion Coverage Remains Among Major Questions In Health Reform Talks Although more extensive negotiations on abortion coverage issues likely will not occur until more is known about a final health reform bill, opposition to the Senate bill (HR 3590) from antiabortion-rights House members, Roman Catholic bishops and other groups threaten to put House leaders in a "jam," Roll Call reports. Coverage of abortion in health plans that receive federal subsidies is among several unresolved differences in the House (HR 3962) and Senate versions of the legislation. A group of antiabortion-rights House members led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) are opposed to allowing insurance plans that receive federal subsidies to cover abortion services, while abortion-rights supporters are threatening to vote against any bill that includes Stupak's language. Click here for the full article.
At age 80, abortionist Eugene Glick died on January 10 in Chico, CA.
Glick segued from obstetrician to abortionist in part, according to the New York Times, after watching his then girlfriend, now widow, get an infection after illegally aborting their baby in 1951.
Glick started by committing illegal abortions in the 1960s after graduating medical school, as quoted from Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health...
In a 2003 PRCH documentary, Glick described a patient he saw after she attempted to self-abort...
I started looking for ways to circumvent the law. When I first got involved, it was for personal friends or people I knew who were having a problem. The first abortion that I remember performing was on a woman who was a girlfriend of my best friend. She was able to walk out about an hour later. They were both desperate not to be pregnant. Click here for the full article.
Errol Southers, who President Barack Obama has nominated to head the Transportation Security Administration, described groups that were a domestic security threat as being "anti-abortion" and "Christian-identity oriented."
The TSA, an element of the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for the security of the nation's transportation systems, including commercial air travel. Southers made the remarks in question in a 2008 video interview with the Videojug.com Web site.
UN: Elderly to Outnumber Children for First Time in 2045 A new report from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs concludes that the number of elderly people worldwide will outnumber children for the first time in 2045, forecasting the start of a "demographic winter" some experts say could constitute the biggest international crisis in the coming century.
According to the report, "World Population Ageing 2009," 22% of the world's population will be older than 60 years within forty years - a jump from 11% in 2009, and 8% in 1950.
A trend of low birth rates perpetuated worldwide with the ascendancy of contraception and abortion has caused the elderly population to increase by 2.6% per year - three times faster than the overall world population growth. The 60+ age group will triple its size at the beginning of the millenium, reaching 2 billion by 2050. Click here for the full article.
Christendom College, a private Catholic college located in Virginia, says that it will close its doors on Friday, January 22 and its Student Activities Council will charter busses enabling the entire student body to attend the 2010 March for Life in Washington D.C.
"This is one of my favorite things about Christendom," said Cyrus Artz, a senior and President of Students for Life. "This college recognizes our responsibility to the unborn and enables the entire College community to participate each year in one of the most important witnesses to the value of human life." Click here for the full article.
So far this year, healthcare reform dominates the news as it did in 2009. And while pro-lilfers have had their share of victories, one leader in that movement encourages them to remain attentive to the battle against abortion.
Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life tells OneNewsNow the pro-life community definitely has a challenge ahead and members need to stay alert and engaged.
She adds, however, that pro-life advocates "have to avoid feeling discouraged because we've had such remarkable victories. Just the very fact that we've managed to push the vote on healthcare reform into the New Year was a remarkable achievement," she says.
If the Senate version of healthcare reform is passed, Yoest notes it would be the greatest advancement for abortion in society since Roe vs. Wade.
"The challenge for us all is that in terms of what it is right now, there still isn't a final bill -- and that's what people have to stay focused on," she comments. "We have a House version and we have a Senate version, and they have to be reconciled. So the fight right now is over what that final bill is going to look like."
Pro-abortion factions have said they will bypass the conference committee in which House and Senate representatives hammer out a compromise and develop their own version to submit to both houses.
Wichita, Kansas - The trial of the man charged with killing one of the nation's few late-term abortion doctors begins Monday with lawyers trying to pick unbiased jurors in a widely publicized case set amid the backdrop of the abortion debate.
By the time Scott Roeder shows up at the Sedgwick County courthouse for the start of his murder trial, the court would have summoned 300 prospective panelists. A group of 61 is expected to report Monday.
The lawyers will winnow the pool to 12 jurors and two alternates who will hear an expected two weeks of testimony. Click here for the full article.
A man accused of killing one of the nation's few [sic] late-term abortion providers can try to build a case that the slaying was voluntary manslaughter because he sincerely believed it was necessary to save unborn babies, a Kansas judge ruled Friday. Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., is charged with one count of first-degree murder in Dr. George Tiller's death and two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers who tried to stop him during the May 31 melee in the foyer of the doctor's Wichita church. Roeder has pleaded not guilty and his trial begins Monday. Click here for the full article.
As the murder trial gets under way Monday for the man accused of gunning down Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, the world will be watching. “This is a very, very high-profile trial,” said Kirk Longhofer, media coordinator for Sedgwick County District Court. “We’ve had as much, if not more, inquiry from national and even international media as any of the other big cases that have been tried here in the past 10 years.” Remember, that includes the trial of the BTK serial killer. Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, is charged with first-degree murder in the May 31 shooting death of Tiller inside his church. Roeder also faces two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers. Jury selection begins Monday and is expected to take from two days to a week. More than 60 prospective jurors will show up in court Monday. Click here for the full article.
Mexico City, Mexico - Archbishop Emeritus Carlos Quintero Arce of Hermosillo in Mexico encouraged the use of adult stem cells in medical research last week, underscoring that such a practice does not violate the right to life of embryos and respects the integrity of human life.
In a statement, the archbishop recalled that the use of embryonic stem cells raises “moral and ethical problems” because embryos are destroyed in the process. He then pointed to scientific studies which have shown that such cells are often rejected by the immune system when transplanted into patients.
In contrast, he continued, adult stem cells are often not rejected by the patient's immune system and they do not pose any ethical or moral issues. However, adult stem cells “do not proliferate in abundance and cannot be applied to all the cells of the body. For this reason, some scientists use embryonic stem cells more” despite the inconveniences.
For this reason, Archbishop Quintero praised the discoveries by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who announced he had successfully reprogrammed ordinary cells from the tips of mouse tails to make them virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells. He later carried out new re-programming experiments using human skin cells.
“American researcher James Thompson achieved similar results in cellular re-programming,” the archbishop noted, “and thus we can say that these studies are ‘the most significant step’ of our era.”
Archbishop Quintero expressed hope that the upcoming Second International Congress on Adult Stem Cells, organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, will further advance research with adult stem cells,” and thus “make us capable of effectively responding to the urgent therapeutic need that exists today.”
NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY (Referral to Web sites not produced by The Illinois Federation for Right to Life is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
Mississippi may be in line to set legal precedent if a grassroots effort to define "personhood" is approved by state voters. The definition would be used by abortion foes in their fight against legalized abortion. Personhood Mississippi is aimed at amending the Mississippi constitution to define life, or "personhood," as beginning at fertilization or the "functional equivalent thereof." The group needs 90,000 certified signatures to have the proposed wording put on the 2010 statewide ballot. Les Riley of northeast Mississippi and a father of nine, started the effort about five years ago. Click here for the full article.
We believe a law needs to be enacted that will protect the interest of parents, and also to ensure that teenage girls receive wise parental counsel and support at a time when it is most desperately needed. The group Alaskans for Parental Rights is working through the initiative process to place a parental rights measure on the ballot in the August 2010 statewide election. This measure, if enacted, will require that a parent be notified before their child has an abortion. In order to place this issue on the 2010 ballot, the initiative sponsors need to gather just under 33,000 signatures from registered voters prior to Jan. 15. Click here for the full article.
Most of us know this, but here is proof for the rest.
HOUSTON - Women who smoke or drink while pregnant might want to consider what Houston mother Yolanda Ross can tell them about her daughter. "When I saw her, I knew something was wrong," said Ross about getting her first look at her newborn. As her baby daughter grew, she showed signs of impaired mental development, commonly called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Her doctors said it very likely could be linked to Ross’s drinking and possibly her drug use. "I was in denial because I didn’t drink every day," Ross said of how she rationalized her binge drinking.
Low birth rates of women in China may be to blame for some 24 million men failing to find a spouse in 2020, according to a report of the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), cited by china.com.cn. More inter-generational marriages with wives being older than their husbands' families will emerge due to a large proportion of men born since the 1980s. "People's minds have changed a lot during recent twenty years. Young couples don't want to have a second child, or just live a DINK life," said Yan Hua, sociology PHD of CASS. Some people's preference of wanting a boy to continue the family line also leads to the abortion of girls in rural China, the report said. Click here for the full article.
San Diego, CA - Abortionist Andrew Rutland has been ordered by a judge to stop doing abortions and delivering babies until the California Medical Board and determine whether his medical license should be permanently revoked.
The CMB asked for an emergency suspension of Rutland's license after he killed a woman during a botched abortion in San Gabriel and violated his probation by doing abortions without the supervision of a second physician in Chula Vista and Santa Ana.
Administrative Judge James Ahler allowed Rutland to keep his license so he could continue to see patients for consultations. However, Deputy Atty. Gen. Douglas Lee questioned Rutland's professional judgment, noting repeated negligent acts committed by him that led to the death of 30-year old Ying Chen during a second trimester abortion.
Judge Ahler agreed that if Rutland continued to do surgeries and deliveries, he "presents a risk of danger and there is a likelihood of injury to the public."
Lee pointed out that Rutland has a history of dishonesty and corruption. He has lied to patients and authorities repeatedly, according to the formal revocation petition filed against him on Christmas Eve.
"Rutland is a proven liar. How do we know he will comply with the judge's order to stop doing abortions? Who is going to enforce this order? Are the authorities simply going to take him at his word?" said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We are outraged that Rutland's license was not fully suspended. This decision places women's lives at risk."
Also present during yesterday's hearing were Scott and Kathy Broussard of San Juan Capistrano, whose daughter, Jillian, died as a result of a forceps delivery by Rutland. That incident led to the revocation of Rutland's license in 2003. They expressed disappointment at the reinstatement of his medical license in 2007 and at yesterday's decision.
"I think his victims and the public needed to get full peace of mind today, and they didn't," Kathy Broussard told the Orange County Register. "He still has a practice in Anaheim. He's still allowed to do gynecological exams and consultations. It's appalling."
The California Medical Board will meet at a later date to determine if Rutland's license should be permanently revoked.
CARSON CITY, NV - The ACLU has joined forces with abortion giant Planned Parenthood to stop the initiative process of Nevada citizens. The simple, one sentence amendment reads: "In the great state of Nevada, the term 'person' applies to every human being."
The hearing on this matter, in the First Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, will take place at 9 a.m. Friday morning, January 8, 2010 in Carson City, the state's capitol.
Personhood Nevada is a citizen-led initiative to amend the Constitution of the State of Nevada.
Olaf Vancura, PhD, President of Personhood Nevada, stated "The right to live is God-given and the most precious of all civil rights," stated Olaf Vancura, PhD, President of Personhood Nevada. "Absent government leadership in protecting our most vulnerable persons, we the people are expressing our 1st Amendment rights with this historic civil rights initiative."
On November 12, 2009, the ACLU and billion-dollar-per-year abortion profiteer Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit challenging the amendment wording and summary. Similar legal challenges have been dismissed in other states attempting Personhood initiatives.
In commenting on the legal challenge, Vancura continued, "The abortion lobby's plan is clear -- delay, delay, delay. They are trying to run out the clock so that Nevadans cannot vote on this historic civil rights initiative. Their notion that this proposed Amendment violates the single-subject rule is absurd. This initiative is the epitome of a single subject. The last citizen-led initiative to successfully amend the Nevada constitution comprised over 400 words. Our proposed Amendment has only 14 words, the first 6 of which affirm that Nevada is a great state, the remaining 8 of which clarify 'the term person applies to every human being.' The Personhood Nevada language is simple enough that a child could explain it to an attorney."
Today's hearing will determine whether the citizen-led initiative can continue.
Well, this certainly cuts to the chase. From Forbes.com, yesterday:
Abortion has emerged again as a key sticking point in negotiations over healthcare reform....
The fuss has exposed what's been a fairly quiet practice: most health plans now pay for abortions, no questions asked. Why? It saves lots of money....
Insurance companies are loathe to comment on why they pay for the controversial procedure but if you're running the business by the numbers, it's fairly obvious. An unwanted pregnancy is much more inexpensive to terminate, compared to the cost of a delivery.
"A first trimester abortion is $300 to $450," [John] Nugent [CEO of Planned Parenthood of MD] says. "But if the gestational age is higher you're paying for a surgical suite. That's why the insurance companies think they should be offering it. It's cheaper to terminate an unwanted pregnancy rather than taking it to term."
Health Care Blue Book confirms the price difference. An abortion performed in an physician's office typically costs $397. A vaginal delivery costs $5,992, while a c-section is $8,558....
Don't expect the money arguments to get much airtime in Washington, even if the insurance companies have a financial stake in the outcome. "They won't talk about it," Nugent says.
One more point not covered: The push to abort babies who are handicapped, have birth defects, or are fatally or nonfatally ill is largely for the same reason.
I'm also sure the bottom line is is in the back of every pro-abort politicians mind. It's cheaper to off preborn babies than have Medicaid pay for deliveries and well baby care - or worse, sick baby care.
Left to Right: Senators Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Three Democrat politicians who have significant records against life and family values, two of whom are Catholic, have announced this week that they won't run for reelection in 2010.
Senators Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, as well as Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, say they will not attempt to win voter approval in a campaign climate that has grown decidedly unfavorable towards the Democrat party in the wake of prolonged unrest over the health care overhaul. All three men are trailing in polls tracking constituent approval compared to opponents or prospective opponents.
Democrats are expressing little concern about the loss of Dodd, who has been embroiled in a number of steep corruption scandals, as the popular Democrat state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has strong chances of overtaking the seat. Explaining his reason for leaving, Dodd simply told reporters it was time for a change.
Praising the senator's "long and distinguished record of protecting and defending a woman's right to choose," NARAL donated the maximum amount of $10,000 to Dodd's campaign last October. The senator also received strong endorsement by President Obama in April.
Leadership was more concerned with Dorgan's retirement, as his GOP opponents stand a strong chance of winning the seat - and robbing a precious 60th vote from the party's filibuster-proof majority. Dorgan, who has a 25% pro-life voting record according to National Right to Life, said he would not seek re-election in order to write books.
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's Wednesday announcement, like Dodd's, is generally seen as opportune for Democrats seeking a stronger member of their party to compete in the elections.
In 2007, Ritter signed bills legalizing homosexual adoption and banning abstinence-only sex education, and proposed restoring government funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, moves that sparked criticism from Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput.
Washington D.C..- Former President George W. Bush will be presented with an award by the lay group Legatus, for his work in advancing the pro-life cause. The ceremony will be held at the annual Legatus Summit Feb. 5-6 in Dana Point, Calif., where Bush will address the business group for the first time since leaving office a year ago.
The prestigious Cardinal John J. O'Connor Pro-Life Award is being given in response to the former president's eight years of pro-life legislation. Legatus cites his administration's opposition to embryonic stem cell research, an executive order barring federal funds from being used for abortion related projects abroad, the appointment of two pro-life Supreme Court Justices and a rule protecting federally funded health employees from taking part in abortion or practices that conflict with their faith as policies that Bush helped enact during his presidency.
The group of Catholic business professionals also noted that one of the former president's last efforts while in office included a declaration of Jan. 18, 2009 as “National Sanctity of Human Life Day,” along with a statement that “the most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent.”
The former president will be a accompanied by a host of other speakers at the event, including Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, actress Patricia Heaton, entrepreneur Frank J. Hanna III, Fr. Robert Spitzer, Newt and Callista Gingrich, and Thomas Donahue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“I’ve been speaking to a number of Legatus chapters about the Summit, and people are really excited,” said Kathleen Eaton, the event chairperson, on Thursday. “It’s been a rough year on a number of fronts, and they really need this shot in the arm. They want to come together to pray and learn more about what the Church is saying on different issues.”
Previous recipients of the Cardinal John J. O'Connor Pro-Life Award have included Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Fr. Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International, Judie Brown of the American Life League, Sen. Rick Santorum, Sen. Sam Brownback, and Rep. Henry Hyde.
However, numbers of deaths likely much higher than "official" number.
AMSTERDAM - The official euthanasia monitoring body in the Netherlands has reported a significant increase in "mercy killing" deaths in 2009 compared to the previous year.
An article in the Dutch News reports that the number of registered cases of euthanasia rose by 200 to some 2,500 in 2009. The article also reports that, "It is not known how many cases of mercy killing there actually are in the Netherlands," because only about "80% of instances are registered with the monitoring body."
The figures for 2009 include six registered cases of euthanasia on elderly patients with senile dementia which the report says were "in the early stages and able to make their wishes known."
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, commented on the new Dutch euthanasia figures, observing that the actual number of deaths is substantially higher because assisted suicide is a "separate category" in the Netherlands, as is euthanasia without explicit consent from the patient, such as infant euthanasia and terminal palliative sedation.
"In order to have an accurate picture of the number of deaths that are directly and intentionally caused by physicians in the Netherlands, you need to know that assisted suicide is a separate category in the Netherlands. Therefore you need to add the assisted suicide deaths to the number of euthanasia deaths. The number of assisted suicide deaths was not reported in the article but it is approximately 400 deaths each year," Schadenberg explained.
"Another category of deaths is deaths without explicit consent. The most recent government report (2005) showed that the number of deaths without explicit consent was approximately 550. Many of the 550 deaths are directly and intentionally caused by the physician but not reported as euthanasia because they lacked consent."
Dutch law requires that patients asking to be killed must be suffering unbearable pain, the doctor administering the lethal dose must be convinced the patient is making an informed choice, and a second doctor must concur with the opinion of the first.
Schadenberg points out that figures from 2007 indicate approximately 10% of all deaths in the Netherlands were connected to the practice of terminal sedation.
"Many of those deaths were caused by dehydration, by the physician sedating the patient and then withholding hydration until death occurs, which usually takes 10 - 14 days," he said.
Schadenberg said the Netherlands does not collect information on how many people with disabilities die by euthanasia, nor was information provided in the government report on how many infants born with disabilities are euthanized based on the request of the parents and the agreement of the physician.
The Dutch News report "acknowledged that people with dementia are dying by euthanasia in the Netherlands, but the article didn't mention how many infants died by euthanasia in 2009."
"The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is wondering how many people with disabilities are coerced into death by euthanasia based on a false concept that living with a disability is a life of suffering," Schadenberg said.
Euro Court Cannot Enforce Its Decisions Here, Says Ireland’s Chief Justice. Irish courts are entitled to ignore decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unless the Oireachtas votes to change Irish law, according to the Chief Justice. In a ruling as part of the Supreme Court’s unanimous pre-Christmas decision in a case involving a sperm donor, Mr Justice John Murray stated, ‘‘Orders or declarations of the [European Court of Human Rights] are not enforceable at national level unless national law makes them so”. Click here for the full article.
PARSIPPANY, New York - The obituary for Cathie Doroshenko, who died in her home on Sunday December 17, 2006, 3 ½ years after giving birth to her daughter Victoria Faith, said she "cherished motherhood" - a statement that was proved in a striking way by the unusual way she brought her daughter into the world.
While Cathie died over three years ago, her story has been given fresh life by photojournalist Bob Karp, who documented Cathie's pregnancy, illness, childbirth, and death, and in the process became a close friend of Cathie and her family. This past Dec. 30, Karp reminisced about his experiences with Doroshenko on his blog at the Daily Record, recounting the story that he said "would become the most influential assignment of my 25 year career in photojournalism." Click here for the full article.
Defense attorneys for Scott Roeder, the man accused of fatally shooting abortion provider George Tiller in the doctor's Wichita church, have subpoenaed two state prosecutors who tried unsuccessfully to convict Tiller on criminal charges, the AP/Miami Herald reports.
Defense attorney Mark Rudy said on Tuesday that misdemeanor charges brought against Tiller by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R) and separate charges prosecuted later by Deputy Attorney General Barry Disney (R) demonstrated that they both thought Tiller's actions had been lawless. Click here for the full article.
All of the Democrats vying for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat say they support abortion rights, while all but one of the Republicans who responded to a candidate questionnaire say they support more restrictive policies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Democrats include state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias; David Hoffman, a former Chicago inspector general; Cheryle Jackson, a former president of the Chicago Urban League; physician Robert Marshall; and attorney Jacob Meister. The Republicans who oppose abortion rights include developer John Arrington, Pat Hughes and historical researcher Kathleen Thomas. Five-term Republican Rep. Mark Kirk (Ill.), another candidate, said he is "pro-choice and opposes federal funding of abortion." Republican candidates Donald Lowery and Andy Martin did not respond to the Tribune's questionnaire. Click here for the article from the Chicago Tribune. Click here for the full article.
I have to admit that when I hear the name Jennifer Lopez, traditional morality is not the first thing that springs to mind. Perhaps I'm being too hard on the girl, but I'm afraid the first thing I usually think of is the rather succinct but apt expression of a friend of mine: "pop-tart".
And certainly, for a young woman who spent, as she says, all her school years going through the New York City Catholic education system, one has to wonder if she skipped school every time the issue of modesty was discussed. So it was a pleasant surprise to see today that she refuses to participate in one of the greatest moral disasters of the modern era.
Today Elle magazine issued an interview with Mrs. Marc Anthony in which she avers her moral objection to artificial methods of procreation. Jennifer told Elle, "When it comes to family and relationships, I'm quite traditional. Just because of the way I was raised ... And I also believe in God and I have a lot of faith in that, so I just felt like you don't mess with things like that." Click here for the full article.
Despite requests from the media, Democratic leadership refuses to publicize the reconciliation process.
As House and Senate committee members prepare to possibly sit down and reconcile the two versions of health care reform, it appears Democrats will move to close the meetings to the public.
That's despite rules in both the House and Senate that ensure conference committee meetings be open to the public — and multiple promises made during the presidential campaign by President Obama that negotiations on health care would be an open process and televised.
After a meeting with her leadership team Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the promise of transparency, "there were a number of things (Obama) was for on the campaign trail." The comment was seen as further proof she has no intention of opening the process to public scrutiny.
C-SPAN sent a letter on Dec. 30 to the House and Senate asking to televise the reconciliation negotiations. When asked about that letter during a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Pelosi bristled:
"There has never been a more open process for any legislation," she said.
Democrats could revise the rules by a simple vote among committee members. Republicans are speaking out against such a move.
In a response to C-SPAN, Republican Minority Leader John Boehner said secret deliberations are a "breeding ground for shady deals that have become business as usual in Washington."
"As House Republican leader," he wrote, "I can confidently state that all House Republicans strongly endorse your proposal and stand ready to work with you to make it a reality."
The Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life group, is organizing news conferences next week targeting 14 members of Congress in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana in an effort to urge lawmakers to vote against the final bill if it includes funding for abortion.
Focus on the Family Action is joining in the effort and encouraging constituents to attend a press conference or set up office visits with their lawmakers in those areas sometime between Jan. 11-13.
Negotiations Resume Tuesday between Democrat leaders and White House - Republicans, Stupak Dems shut out
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As Democrat leaders commence their final round of negotiations on the health care bill in secret meetings following the Christmas holiday, C-SPAN has issued a letter to the president and lawmakers challenging them to live up to their promises of transparency and allow the network to cover the proceedings.
"President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation's editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation's health care system," wrote C-SPAN's Brian Lamb to congressional leaders in a letter dated December 30.
"Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American."
House Minority Leader John Boehner responded promptly to C-SPAN's letter, stating that "all House Republicans strongly endorse your proposal and stand ready to work with you to make it a reality." Unfortunately, he said, "the President, Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Reid now intend to shut out the American people at the most critical hour by skipping a bipartisan conference committee and hammering out a final health care bill in secret."
A handful of Democrat chamber and committee leaders today are meeting with the White House to hash out how to surmount the final hurdles facing the abortion-expanding health care legislation crafted separately in both House and Senate. Those versions, which pose significant differences on some contentious points, must be ironed out in a final version for President Obama to sign. Leaders hope to get the bill on the President's desk by the State of the Union address - but previous deadlines on the bill have consistently slipped.
Instead of an even-handed merge, leaders are expected to expedite passage by sending the Senate health bill to the House, which will amend the bill and send it back to the Senate for approval.
The process, known as the "ping-pong" option, largely throws out the hard-won language contained only in the House version of the bill - including the Hyde amendment restriction on abortion funding. While pro-life and conservative leaders have heavily criticized the bill on a number of aspects, including its propensity to promote health care rationing and doctor-assisted suicide, the bill's vast expansion of federal abortion funding has earned it the title of the greatest threat to the unborn in America since Roe v. Wade.
Such merging is usually conducted in full view in the chambers of Congress. Although skipping the formal committee meetings is not without precedent, critics are angry at Democrats for choosing the secretive route in the final round of the bill, which many consider the most significant social policy legislation in a generation.
Fueling the criticism are reports from lawmakers and aides who say Republican and conservative Democrat lawmakers have been entirely shut out of the negotiations. House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said leaders would skip the committee because motions to select and instruct conferees in the Senate "would need 60 votes all over again."
"This process cuts out the Republicans," said a House Democratic aide, according to a Talking Points Memo report, adding that Democrats intended to ensure the minority party would "not have a motion to recommit opportunity."
Leading conservative Democrats such as Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) have confirmed that leadership has kept them away from the negotiating table as well. Stupak is the leader of a handful of conservative Democrats who have promised to vote against the bill if it does not contain Hyde-amendment restrictions on abortion funding.
After federal abortion funding became the top sticking point in both the House and Senate bills, it could remain the clearest block to the measure's final passage if Stupak's company holds strong.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) continues to face the after-effects reneging on his promise in December to filibuster the bill if it contained federal abortion funding: protesters with Rescue the Heartland and Operation Rescue braved a -9 degree wind chill on New Year's Day to demonstrate outside the senator's home.
The full House does not reconvene until next week, and the Senate will return in two weeks. Meanwhile, majority leaders in both chambers will meet with President Obama Tuesday evening to discuss the final bill, before a caucus meeting via conference call scheduled for Thursday.
The White House's health reform campaign also continued in aggressive tones this week, reminding followers of its "reality check" series on health care to dismiss criticism of the bill.
"This isn't fear-mongering based on some deceptive distortion as we so often hear from those opponents, it's cold hard facts," wrote Nancy Ann DeParle in a Tuesday post highlighting the negative aspects of the current health care situation.
A Washington Times editorial Tuesday blasted the Obama administration for the overtly furtive tactics propelling the sweeping health measure to the finish line.
"By now it's almost trite to complain that President Obama repeatedly has broken his campaign pledge to 'broadcast [health care] negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are.' That doesn't make the complaint invalid," it notes.
"For legislation that could so profoundly and personally affect the daily lives of every American, Congress and the White House should be more transparent and more accessible than ever before. Instead, the process has been secretive and sordid throughout.
"Back in October, Rep. Vern Buchanan, Florida Republican, offered this simple resolution: 'Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that any conference committee or other meetings held to determine the final content of sweeping national health care legislation be held in full public view and not behind closed doors.' If congressional leaders do not abide this simple request, Republicans should bring the whole Senate to a halt."
A fresh effort is under way in hopes of defunding Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas.
Last year's drive was spearheaded by Republican State Senator Tim Huelskamp, who explains that the effort met an obstacle. "Last year we came very close to defunding Planned Parenthood in the state of Kansas, but the governor vetoed that effort," Huelskamp explains. "Currently we spend a third of a million dollars to fund the largest abortion-provider in the United States."
Tim HuelskampThe state senator says while those funds are not used directly for abortions, they do subsidize an organization that provides them. According to Huelskamp, this monetary support has been extended even though Planned Parenthood failed in its legal obligation to report abortions on underage girls.
"Currently in Kansas City there are more than a hundred charges against Planned Parenthood -- and for some reason unknown to anybody, the Kansas Supreme Court has gagged a judge who has evidence that they falsified abortion reports," Huelskamp reports. "Those charges have been sitting there for more than a year now, and we are hoping they will bring those charges up again."
The senator believes the bill will pass again, but remarks that the governor's veto is not so certain because of the state's economic needs.
SAN DIEGO - California abortionist Andrew Rutland faces an emergency suspension hearing today in San Diego based on a nine-count accusation filed on Christmas Eve by the California Medical Board for multiple legal violations associated with the death of an abortion patient in July, 2009.
Rutland had committed a second trimester abortion on an Asian woman at an unlicensed office in San Gabriel, CA, during which he administered an overdose of lidocaine. He failed to recognize the symptoms of the overdose and the patient went into cardiac arrest. He and his staff were untrained and unequipped to handle the medical emergency. After a 'significant delay' in contacting 911, the woman was transported to a local hospital where she died.
Rutland failed to report the emergency transport, hospitalization, and patient death as required by law.
Rutland has a long history of licensure problems. His medical license was revoked in 2003 for severing a baby's spinal column during a forceps delivery, then lying to the parents by telling them that their baby suffered a stroke. The baby later died. His license was reinstated in 2007, and Rutland was placed on 5 years probation with the restriction that he operate under the supervision of another physician.
Last October, Operation Rescue reported that Rutland was violating his probation by engaging in the solo practice of medicine at an abortion clinic in Chula Vista. We asked our supporters to contact the California Medical Board and demand that his medical license be revoked.
On November 3, 2009, an Inspector from the California Medical Board attempted to inspect Rutland's stock of drugs and his records at his Chula Vista clinic, none of which were made open to him at the time of his inspection.
The Medical Board asked for an emergency suspension of Rutland's license until the Board can work through the lengthy process to finalize revocation.
"This is yet another example of a dangerous abortionist in trouble with the law. It is a shame that a woman had to die before this man could be permanently banned from the medical field," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We commend the pro-life activists on the ground in California for their vigilance in monitoring and reporting this abortionist. We pray Rutland's abortion mills will now permanently close."
Ironically, Rutland took over at least two abortion clinics from the notorious abortionist Nolan Jones who had his medical license revoked in 2009. Jones had taken the clinics over after illegal abortionist Bertha Bugarin was arrested 2008. Bugarin is currently serving a prison sentence of 6 years, 8 months.
We encourage pro-life supporters to monitor and report abortion clinic abuses in their areas. View a full listing of abortion clinics in America.
