Most US abortions involve coercion or pressure, group says

Most US abortions involve coercion or pressure, group says          20-year-old Caitlin Bruce wanted to      keep her child after seeing its ultrasound      image. The Elliot Institute, an Illinois organization dedicated to helping women recover from the aftermath of abortions, suggests that "probably the majority of abortions in the United States are unwanted or coerced in one way or another." The group cites studies that show many women procure abortion under pressure from their families or boyfriends, while some feel pressure from their employers to end their pregnancies. More ominously, the group notes that homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women in the US. The Elliott Institute made its findings public as an abortionist in Michigan admitted that he had forcibly restrained a woman who tried to leave his operating room after he began an abortion. Dr. Abraham Alberto Hodari said that although Caitlin Bruce told him she had changed her mind about the procedure after seeing an ultrasound image of her unborn child, he could not stop the procedure safely. Michigan Abortionist Admits to Forcing Client into Abortion Michigan abortionist Abraham Alberto Hodari has admitted to having an assistant forcibly restrain a woman who changed her mind about having an abortion, claiming he had already begun the procedure and wanted to guarantee a "safe abortion." Local station NBC 25, which has determinedly pursued this story of forced abortion at Hodari's Flint's Feminine Health Care Clinic, reports that 20-year-old Caitlin Bruce wanted to keep her child after seeing its ultrasound image. Bruce said that Hodari was in the midst of inserting a speculum, a medical tool used for the dilation and examination of the vagina and cervix, when she pleaded with him to stop the abortion. "I just told him stop please," she told the news station.  "I'm really nervous and I don't want to do this anymore." Hodari insisted to NBC 25 that it was "too late" for him to stop. The abortionist, who was vacationing in Italy at the time of the interview, told the station that "there was blood and tissue on [his instruments] from pregnancy." He thought Bruce would have suffered complications, such as infection or severe bleeding, if he had listened to her. However, the trustworthiness of the Michigan abortionist has been called into question by comments he made at Wayne University in 2007, where he told medical students that doctors have a license to "lie" to their patients. Flint obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Mona Hardas, M.D., found Hodari's medical ethics abhorrent. She told NBC 25 that Hodari had an obligation to stop the abortion, and could have had Bruce transported to the emergency room for a second opinion as to whether the fetus could be saved. "I am shocked," Hardas said. "I can't believe this is still happening in this day and age." Hodari faces civil charges over the alleged forced abortion. Although Bruce filed a police report, the Genesee County prosecutor has yet to press criminal charges against the abortionist. Bruce's story aligns with testimonies from other women who have described similar horror stories of coerced abortions at Hodari's hands.  A report by Operation Rescue shows Hodari has a record of 49 documented lawsuits over a span of decades. The history of Hodari's abortion practice also does not fit in with the story he told NBC 25 that he provides women "safe abortions." The abortionist has been implicated in the deaths of at least four women from abortion-related complications.  In June 2009, the Disciplinary Subcommittee of Michigan's Board of Medicine fined Hodari $10,000 for negligence in connection with the botched abortion death of Regina Johnson.  Numerous complaints have been filed against the abortionist for improper disposal of human remains and abortion records found in Hodari's dumpster.  Hodari received a sentence of six months' probation on one such count in February. In November, Hodari put his abortion clinics on the market along with his collection of expensive classic cars and hastily filed for divorce from his wife of 29 years. Local activists told Operation Rescue that it appeared that he was attempting to liquidate his assets so he could flee the country, possibly to his former home in Argentina. Source: CWNews  LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 2, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Mexican Supreme Court: Distribute Morning After Pill, or Go to Prison

Mexican Supreme Court: Distribute Morning After Pill, or Go to Prison           The Supreme Court of Mexico Building The Supreme Court of Mexico has ruled that the abortifacient 'morning after pill' must be distributed by all hospitals in Mexico, public and private. A Supreme Court Minister stated that officials who refuse to comply with the ruling may be removed from their positions, prosecuted, and imprisoned. Doctors universally acknowledge that the pill can take the life of the zygote, which is a human life at the earliest stage. But the court ruled on Friday that it does not cause abortions, and therefore is compatible with the right-to-life amendments recently passed by the states of Mexico. "We have finished with a matter that is very debatable and probably our decision is not universally convincing, but it is the product of the personal conviction of each one of the ministers, of our personal juridical knowledge and of our faithful knowing and understanding," said Supreme Court President Guillermo Ortiz. Minister José Ramón Cossío authored the court's decision and said that those who refuse to comply "could be subject to very severe consequences, because noncompliance is one of the gravest points that the Constitution addresses." "If at the end of the day there were defiance of the sentence, [an official] can be removed from his office and be subject to a penal process for committing a crime against the administration of justice," he added. According to Cossío, doctors would not be given the privilege of conscientious objection. "If the general authorities of the government have the pill, and some doctors don't wish to give it, there are also sanctions against them contained in the Official Norm and the General Law of Health," he said, claiming that "we're not talking about an abortive process, and therefore there is no objection of conscience.  The doctor must offer [the morning after pill]." Emilio González, governor of the state of Jalisco and author of the suit challenging the directive, said that he would comply with the Supreme Court decision. Although the court's decision theoretically applies also to Catholic hospitals, the bishops of the country have yet to comment on the decision. Contact: Matthew Cullinan Hoffman Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: May 31, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY Planned Parenthood Pushes for Free Birth Control Under Obamacare      As health reform regulations begin to take shape, Planned Parenthood has begun a quiet campaign to ensure that birth control is counted among the free preventive services that health insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act. Birth control barely came up in the health care reform debate, brushed aside by the more heated debate over abortion language and coverage. But with numerous religious groups opposed to contraceptive use, this issue is all but certain to become a flash point as implementation moves forward. Beginning Sept. 23, six months after the reform law passed, many health insurance plans will be required to provide free preventive services coverage, with no co-pays or out-of-pocket costs. During the reform debate, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) added an amendment that specified guaranteed "additional preventive care and screenings" specific to women's health would also receive coverage. Click here for the entire article. SC House-Senate Budget Conference Committee Abandons Unborn Babies In State Budget Compromise           South Carolina House       of Representatives The six-man (FOUR REPUBLICANS, two Democrats) House-Senate Budget Conference Committee *** agreed to throw out the SC House-passed amendment (March 17-18) banning state-funding of abortions in the State Health Insurance Plan for rape, incest, and unrestricted life of the mother "abortions", in the FY 2011 State Budget compromise [ FY 2011 State Appropriations (Budget) Bill - H 4657 ]. The Republican-majority SC Senate had earlier (April 28) refused to pass the same amendment. Click here for the entire article. Women in Italy to Be Offered $5,514 to Not Have Abortions           Roberto Formigoni In a policy welcomed by anti-abortion campaigners but dismissed by critics as propaganda, women in northern Italy who cannot afford to have their babies are to be offered €4,500 (£3,700; $5,514) not to have an abortion. Roberto Formigoni, the centre-right governor of the Lombardy region, said that the offer was to fulfil his pledge in regional elections in March that no woman should have to have an abortion because of economic difficulties. During the regional poll the ruling centre-right coalition, led by Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, made a pitch for the Catholic vote by supporting Vatican policies on issues such as abortion and birth control. Click here for the entire article. 26 Pro-Life Groups Unite in Nationwide Protest Against Birth Control Pill           Protest the Pill Day American Life League and 26 other pro-life organizations have joined together for "Protest the Pill Day: The Pill Kills the Environment" on June 5. At the national event launch at 11 a.m. outside of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Dr. James Joyce, M.D., Jennifer Giroux, R.N., and pro-life activists Marie Hahnenberg, Michael Hichborn and Katie Walker will testify to the harmful effects birth control has on our environment and our health. The event will draw attention to the environmental and health hazards of the nation's most commonly used contraceptive method – the birth control pill – which turns 50 years old this year. Click here for the entire article. Pro-abortion Speaker Pelosi says public policy should line up with Christian teachings           Speaker Nancy Pelosi House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, addressing a May 6 Catholic conference on Capitol Hill, said she believes Catholics must pursue public policy in keeping with the values of "the Word made flesh" and must be prepared to answer to Jesus Christ for how their actions "measured up." Pelosi, a pro-abortion rights Catholic, has been rebuked for her statements supporting abortion. Her recent comments on religion came at the event "A Washington Briefing for the Nation's Catholic Community," sponsored by the National Catholic Reporter and Trinity Washington University. Click here for the entire article.

Illinois Planned Parenthood to face the music

Illinois Planned Parenthood to face the music      A Dupage County judge has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Illinois. In 2006 and 2007, plans were under way for what was originally described as a medical facility for doctors. But Peter Breen, executive director of the Thomas More Society, explains that it appears officials were trying to bring a 22,000-square-foot, $7.5-million abortion facility in under the radar. Peter Breen (Thomas More Society)"There were several surgical rooms, a number of examination rooms, and after about a year in the development process, it was finally uncovered and laid out in the major newspapers here in Chicago that this was intended to be a mega-abortion facility for Planned Parenthood, which at the time was their largest in the country," Breen reports. Since the city of Aurora and the Zoning Building Board of Appeals have been turning a blind eye to the abortuary's violations, he is pleased that the court will allow the case to proceed. "We've been pursuing a suit for over two-and-a-half years now, and we've been trying to get the zoning laws of Aurora and the building code laws of the city of Aurora imposed on the Planned Parenthood....The political leaders in Aurora are friendly to the Planned Parenthood message and have ignored the cries of their citizens to have the laws equally enforced against Planned Parenthood," the executive director laments. Several remaining procedural actions need to be addressed before the case goes to trial. Contact: Charlie Butts Source: OneNewsNow Publish Date: June 1, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Thomas More Society appeals in effort to end delay of IL Parental Notice of Abortion Act

Thomas More Society appeals in effort to end delay of IL Parental Notice of Abortion Act      Today, attorneys from the Thomas More Society filed an appeal in an effort to vacate the stay Judge Daniel Riley imposed on the implementation of the IL Parental Notice of Abortion Act, arguing that there is no legal basis to further delay the law. "The IL Parental Notice of Abortion Act has held up numerous times against attacks by the ACLU and other opponents, and we believe there is no legal reason to prevent implementation of this long-overdue and much- needed law in Illinois," said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. "It is time to enforce this law and put an end to secret abortions in Illinois." Earlier this spring, Judge Riley dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union that challenged the constitutionality of the Act and imposed a stay of his decision until the ACLU's appeal of that decision is complete -- a process that could take years. The Thomas More Society has argued that the continuation of the temporary restraining order via Judge Riley's indefinite stay violates Illinois law and contradicts the will of the people, particularly after the law had been found constitutional and valid. Source: Pro-Life Blogs Publish Date: May 31, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

FDA Urged to Reject Dangerous Over-The-Counter Abortion Drug

FDA Urged to Reject Dangerous Over-The-Counter Abortion Drug      Today, Americans United for Life filed testimony with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs, urging the FDA not to approve the abortion drug Ulipristal or make it available over-the-counter. "The FDA and abortion proponents are misrepresenting Ulipristal as an 'emergency contraception' drug -- it's simply the next generation of RU-486," said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life. "The American people need to know that Ulipristal is a dangerous drug that will place women's lives in danger." The abortion drug RU-486 is the parent compound of Ulipristal. RU-486 subjects women to drastic health risks, including risks of bacterial infection and hemorrhage. To date, at least 13 women have died after using RU-486. Ulipristal is subject to similar risks, and unsupervised, over-the-counter access would put countless women's lives in danger. Click here to read the  testimony filed by Americans United for Life with the FDA Advisory Committee. Contact: Matthew Faraci Source: Americans United for Life Publish Date: June 1, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Burris pushes for military abortions

Burris pushes for military abortions If you thought Roland Burris was a harmless lame duck filling Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat until next January, you were mistaken.  Burris has taken advantage of his lack of accountability to try and overturn a longstanding military policy that would cause U.S. taxpayers to pay for military abortions -- both overseas and in the states.  Thursday, Burris' amendment striking the current restriction on military abortions passed out of U.S. Senate Armed Service Committee in a 15 to 12 vote. If Burris' amendment becomes law, all military medical facilities will be required to provide unrestricted abortions, including for the purposes of sex selection as well as anytime in the pregnancy, from conception to baby's birth.      Mississippi Senator Wicker led the discussion in opposition to Burris amendment:     The committee yesterday decided to reverse this long-standing policy and to say that indeed abortions, for whatever reason, will be performed in these facilities that are paid for by taxpayer expense that are there for the care of our service members to keep them healthy and to repair their injuries. We're going to use those facilities for elective abortions. If this amendment stands -- and I guarantee you it will be challenged on the floor of the House and Senate, with separate amendments -- Members will be given a chance to vote on this separate issue.     But if this stands, our military installations, Fort Bragg, Columbus Air Force Base, Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, their medical facilities will be able to be used for abortions, performed late term, abortions performed for purposes of sex selection, abortions performed for any reason. Abortion-at-will will be the requirement for our military installations and the medical facilities on those installations. Click here for Senator Burris' website response section.  Let him know what you think -- after all, he still represents Illinoisans, whether he acknowledges it or not. The bill number is HR 5136, entitled: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 Source: Illinois Review Publish Date: May 28, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Rockford Abortion Mill Hits New Low In Grotesque Window Dressing

Rockford Abortion Mill Hits New Low In Grotesque Window Dressing      Grotesque "decorations" in the windows of the notoriously bizarre Northern Illinois Women's Center abortuary in Rockford, featuring such things as rubber chickens hanging from nooses, a nun in a coffin, and posters taunting the pro-lifers who regularly keep vigil outside with mocking and hateful messages, has hit a new level of offensiveness. A sign, located a few feet away from a door to the abortion mill marked "main entrance" has a picture of Jesus sticking up his middle finger at passers-by with the words "Even Jesus Hates You." Rockford Pro-Life said in their newsletter that pro-life sidewalk counselors were shocked, that, even considering this abortion mill's history of bigotry, they would place a sign with this message near their new main clinic entrance. One sidewalk counselor was quoted to say, "What are they trying to do to these women, break their spirit?" Another pro-lifer commented, "it looks like their message to a woman facing the most difficult decision she will ever make in her life is Jesus hates you, go ahead and kill your baby." Another angle the abortion mill has taken is to post signs that personally attack the Catholic priests who gather every week to pray at the abortuary. "An unofficial count of mothers entering the mill within a month of these devout priests praying showed the abortion totals to be cut at least in half. This is also when signs started appearing in the mill windows attacking Catholic Priests," a spokesman for Rockford Pro-Life observed. "On Friday May 28th, the abortion mill sank to a new low even for them," the pro-lifer said. "As a priest was quietly praying the prayers of the Church accompanied by a seminarian, someone inside the building that houses the Northern Illinois Women's Center put a sign that clearly stated, "F.... Your Perverted Priests." It was reported that Catholic priests have also had to endure personal insults from the abortion mill landlord and security guard. The car of one priest has been egged by an abortion supporter at this mill. A priest has also had a hand-written sign taped to his car while he was quietly praying on the sidewalk in front of the mill. The sign read, "I Rape Children." As one Rockford area pro-lifer said, "This group of priests has prayed at this mill no matter the weather, intimidation, and mocking threats they have faced. In the spirit of Jesus Christ, they have responded to these attacks with prayer, humility, and love." The response of the pro-life community in the face of these attacks has been both prayerful and hopeful. "It is the hope of the Rockford Christian community that Rockford city officials will look into the long and hate-filled history of the abortion mill and come to a decision that this kind of bigotry is not acceptable in our city," the group said in a statement.   "As for these holy men who pray and work for life and for an end to the demonic inspired culture of death in Rockford, we owe them our support, prayers, and grateful thanks for leading us in this battle against sin, Satan, and death." Contact: Thaddeus M. Baklinski Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: May 31, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Abstinence message - teachers wrong, student right

Abstinence message - teachers wrong, student right A middle-school student in Minnesota has regained his right to wear at school a T-shirt bearing an abstinence message.       Virginity Rocks t-shirtOfficials at Hastings Middle School had initially prohibited seventh-grader Johnathon Kinney from wearing the T-shirt with the message "Virginity Rocks!" On April 26, two school teachers confronted Kinney about the shirt, informing him that it was offensive and should be covered up. School officials also warned Kinney against wearing the shirt again.   After contacting the principal about the incident -- and finding he supported the teachers' decision -- Kinney's parents contacted The Rutherford Institute. John Whitehead, president of the Institute, explains the sequence of events that followed.   "We sent a very strong legal letter saying we're going to sue the school district because this is a First Amendment right of school students," says the attorney.   John Whitehead"In order to prohibit students from doing anything at schools, you have to show that somehow it's going to cause disruption or reasonably forecast it's going to cause disruption," he explains. "They couldn't show that here -- so once the lawyer for the school board looked at the issue, they knew that school officials were wrong."   Whitehead tells OneNewsNow that wearing the T-shirt is one way for students who agree with Johnathon Kinney to express their free-speech rights.   "On the front it says 'Virginity Rocks!' -- and on the back it says 'I'm loving my wife and I haven't met her yet,'" he shares. "It's a pretty radical message in a school system where there are virtually no morals."   Whitehead says he is pleased that school officials have recognized their error and have agreed to respect the student's First Amendment rights by allowing him to wear his T-shirt to school. Contact: Bill Bumpas Source: OneNewsNow Publish Date: May 31, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY Futile Care Theory: Bioethicists Should Stop Pretending They Are Doing Patients a Favor      Allowing people to make their own informed decisions regarding the extent of end-of-life medical treatment is crucial to respecting all people as persons.  Indeed, that view was first promoted by the late great Paul Ramsey, the Christian theologian/bioethicist, in his pioneering lectures and subsequent book, The Patient as a Person. Today, many bioethicists push to treat some patients as unpersons. One form of this assault is futile care theory–which presumes to give doctors and bioethicists the right to refuse wanted life-sustaining treatment based on their personal values–rather than those of patients and families. Click here for the entire article. S.C.'s Vote On Baby Abortion Regulations Could Come Next Week      A House lawmaker who authored a bill to extend the waiting period for abortions to 24 hours from the time of an ultrasound says he is not interested in any Senate proposals that would amount to "backing up" from gains won in recent years by pro-life legislators. House and Senate lawmakers who have stalled in working out a compromise on the bill will meet next Wednesday and be asked to vote on several new proposals, said Sen. Kevin Bryant, an Anderson Republican who chairs the conference committee. Click here for the entire article. Hearing to revoke license of MD late-term abortionist who OD'd and killed patient      He's flown under the radar for decades, but tomorrow MD late-term abortionist Romeo Ferrer will get his day in court, so to speak. For 3 long years the MD State Board of Physicians has allowed the 70-year-old Ferrer to continue slicing and dicing at his Gynecare Center at 877 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. in Severna Park after knowing a claim of malpractice had been filed against him by a dead mother's estate.... Click here for the entire article. Pope's Prayer for June: 'Respect for Human Life from Conception to Natural Death'      Catholics around the world have been asked by the Pope to join him in prayer for life during the month of June. Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for June is: "That every national and trans-national institution may strive to guarantee respect for human life from conception to natural death". Pope, Benedict XVI has often requested the faithful to join him in prayer for life and family via monthly prayer intentions. Click here for the entire article. Sex Health Charity Opens Abortion Clinics in China      MARIE STOPES, the British birth-control charity, has sparked anger from women's rights campaigners by setting up a chain of abortion clinics in China, where the country's population control policies routinely pressure women into terminating their pregnancies. Marie Stopes International (MSI) has opened five outlets in China's eastern province of Jiangsu. Here the selective abortion of girls has led to a gender imbalance of up to 131 boys for every 100 girls. The closeness of MSI's relationship with the Chinese government was shown earlier this month when Li Bin, its population minister, visited the MSI offices in London and an abortion clinic in Bristol. Click here for the entire article. Louisiana Pro-Life Bills Move Forward        The Louisiana Legislature is taking up two pro-life bills. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved one measure that empowers the Department of Health and Human Services to close abortion facilities that are out of compliance with regulations.  The committee advanced another bill prohibiting plans in the federal health care network from paying for elective abortions.  Gene Mills, executive director of the Louisiana Family Forum, said both are expected to be approved in the state House. Click here for the entire article.

National Right to Life Committee Urges U.S. House to Reject 'Disclose Act' as 'A Corruption of the Lawmaking Power'

National Right to Life Committee Urges U.S. House to Reject 'Disclose Act' as 'A Corruption of the Lawmaking Power'      The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in all 50 states, today urged the U.S. House of Representatives to reject the "DISCLOSE Act" (H.R. 5175), which it called a "bullying political power grab," which is "not a curb on corruption, but itself a type of corruption -- a corruption of the lawmaking process, by which incumbent lawmakers employ the threat of criminal sanctions, among other deterrents, to reduce the amount of private speech regarding the actions of the lawmakers themselves."  NRLC said that it would include the dispositive roll calls on the measure in its scorecard of key votes for the current Congress. The four-page letter, signed by NRLC Executive Director David N. O'Steen and Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, said that the bill "has been carefully crafted to maximize short-term political benefits for the dominant faction of one political party, while running roughshod over the First Amendment protections for political speech that have been clearly and forcefully articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court."  The letter discusses a number of ways in which the legislation is designed to "to discourage, as much as possible, disfavored groups (such as NRLC) from communicating about officeholders, by exposing citizens who support such efforts to harassment and intimidation, and by smothering organizations in layer on layer of record keeping and reporting requirements, all backed by the threat of civil and criminal sanctions."  The letter suggests that the bill be amended to clarify that "DISCLOSE" actually stands for "Deterring Independent Speech about Congress except by Labor Organizations and Selected Elites." The House Democratic leadership had apparently intended to bring the bill to the House floor tomorrow (May 28), but -- faced by a rising chorus of protests from a broad array of organizations -- has now postponed floor action until the week of June 7. Click here for the Letter   Contact: Derrick Jones Source: National Right to Life Committee Publish Date: May 27, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Gallup's 2010 Values and Beliefs survey: Majority say abortion is immoral

Gallup's 2010 Values and Beliefs survey: Majority say abortion is immoral I don't know if there's much to take from Gallup's 2010 Values and Beliefs survey except, perhaps, that 37-1/2 years after abortion was legalized and supposedly legitimized, followed by constant liberal cheers of approval, Gallup found the majority of Americans still believe it is morally wrong. And abortion remains one of the "four moral issues [that] sharply divide Americans." But the major leap in opposition abortion took last year was apparently a blip.      Still, as I said about Gallup's previous abortion poll, I'd rather be us than them in this survey. Opposition to human cloning remains high but to embryonic stem cell research not so much. If only people understood cloning is critical to escr's success, if there is to be any success. Sad that so many support physician assisted suicide. Don't get it.      No surprise, Gallup found that "political divisions [are] greatest on gay relations and abortion." I've been searching and can't find whether Gallup divided the abortion question by party in its 2008 or 2009 Values and Beliefs survey to know if these numbers are changing. But politically abortion support is getting slammed. Almost half of Democrats think it's wrong (49%!), 61% of Independents, and 74% of Republicans. I acknowledge this is not the same as asking whether it should be legal, but still.      Contact: Jill Stanek Source: jillstanek.com Publish Date: May 28, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Pro-life Activists to Challenge Planned Parenthood Ban on the First Amendment in Washington, D.C.

Pro-life Activists to Challenge Planned Parenthood Ban on the First Amendment in Washington, D.C. Activists to hold a prayer vigil on the public sidewalk that Planned Parenthood has fenced in and called "private property."      Planned Parenthood has put up a fence around public property and threatened to arrest  members of the pro-life community who attempt to pray and counsel on the public sidewalk and property.   For years, people were allowed to pray, counsel and maintain a pro-life witness on the public property and sidewalk surrounding Planned Parenthood.   The Christian Defense Coalition has applied for a permit to hold a prayer vigil on the public sidewalk leading to the entrance of  Planned Parenthood. The date for that prayer vigil is, Tuesday, June 8 at 11:00 A.M. at Planned Parenthood 1108 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C.   The activists would rather risk arrest than surrender their First Amendment rights and they want to make it clear they will not be bullied into silence.   Sadly, the actions of Planned Parenthood show they have no respect for the law, the First Amendment or social justice.   The activists are being represented by the American Center for Law and Justice. Contact: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney Source: Christian Defense Coalition Publish Date: May 28, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Human-animal hybrids in life vs. death struggle

Human-animal hybrids in life vs. death struggle Science-fiction fantasy becomes reality in labs      In what may seem more like a Hollywood science-fiction plot, as in the forthcoming movie "Splice," lawmakers are trying to prevent scientists from combining human and animal embryos to make "human-animal hybrids." In "Splice," two scientists defy ethical boundaries and splice together human and animal DNA to create a new organism, also known as a chimera. At what price? While the idea of such an experiment may seem far-fetched, scientists around the world have been dabbling in creation of human-animal hybrids for years. Today, Ohio's Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee passed S.B. 243 – a ban on human-animal hybrids. The bill prohibits "human cloning, the creation, transportation, or receipt of a human-animal hybrid, the transfer of a nonhuman embryo into a human womb, and the transfer of a human embryo into a nonhuman womb." Mark Harrington, executive director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Midwest and president of the Pro-life Institute, presented expert testimony. Will the elites control life itself? 'The Emerging Brave New World' documents the battle against the sanctity of life ethic. "We all want to see treatments for sickness," he said. "We all want to see cures for disease. But the question is at what price?" He added, "I am becoming more and more convinced when it comes to emerging bio technologies like human-animal hybrids that many of these researchers do not believe in any limits on research as long as it has the possibility to produce an economic end that suits their agenda." The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform is urging citizens to call Ohio State senators and ask them to support S.B. 243 with a vote on the Senate floor.         Human-animal hybrid experimentation Scientists have had some success with human-animal hybrid experiments. In 2003, Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University fused human cells with rabbit embryos, according to National Geographic News. The embryos were given several days to develop before the scientists destroyed them to harvest stem cells. According to the report, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota were able to create pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies in 2004. "Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing 'spare parts,' such as livers, to transplant into humans," National Geographic reported. "Watching how human cells mature and interact in a living creature may also lead to the discoveries of new medical treatments." Biotechnology activist Jeremy Rifkin told the magazine, "One doesn't have to be religious or into animal rights to think this doesn't make sense. It's the scientists who want to do this. They've now gone over the edge into the pathological domain." In 2005, New York scientist Stuart Newman sought a patent on a on a process to combine human embryo cells with cells from the embryo of a monkey, ape or other animal. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected his request, according to the Washington Post, because the hybrid "would be too closely related to a human to be patentable." However, the decision was a victory for Newman, who reportedly had no intention of creating the hybrids. He simply sought a legal precedent to stop others from obtaining patents on living things. The Post reported Stanford University biologist Irving Weissman helped other scientists make hybrid rodents, including mice that have up to 1 percent human brain cells in their skulls. Also, a researcher at the University of Nevada at Reno, Esmail Zanjani, successfully grew mostly human livers in sheep. His goal was to make the humanized livers available for transplant in people. In 2008, British scientists produced human-animal hybrid embryos by inserting human DNA from a skin cell into a hollowed-out cow embryo. "An electric shock then induced the hybrid embryo to grow," London's Guardian reported. "The embryo, 99.9 percent human and 0.1 percent other animal, grew for three days, until it had 32 cells." Likewise, Eugene Redmond, professor of psychiatry and neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine, worked on adding human nerve cells into monkeys as part of the search for a cure for Parkinson's disease. "We find that we can get stem cells to survive for long periods of time in the brain," Redmond told PBS in a 2005 interview. "They make into different types of cells, and we have some preliminary results in functionally impaired animals that the stem cells improve their Parkinsonism and make them better." He added, "What we're doing, however, is something that's been done for years and there was not a lot of interest in it." Legal or illegal? The Arizona state Senate passed a bill just last month making it illegal for a person to "intentionally or knowingly creating a human-animal hybrid." Louisiana passed a similar law in 2009. Currently, there is no U.S. law banning human-animal hybrid research. In 2006, then-President George W. Bush used his State of the Union address to urge Congress to pass legislation prohibiting "egregious abuses of medical research," including "creating human-animal hybrids." The National Academy of Sciences, which advises the U.S. government, has issued its own guidelines on chimeras. A summary of those guidelines states: The Academies' guidelines also address how far scientists should go in mixing human and animal cells to create so-called chimeras, which researchers may need to do in order to test the therapeutic potential of human stem cells in animal models. ... [N]o animal embryonic stem cells should be transplanted into a human blastocyst, and approval by an ESCRO [Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight] committee should be secured before any human embryonic stem cells are put into an animal. Also, no animal into which human embryonic stem cells have been introduced should be allowed to breed. In addition, no human embryonic stem cells should be put into nonhuman primate blastocysts." Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., introduced S. 1435, the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009 in the U.S. Senate last year. The bill stated: It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly, in or otherwise affecting interstate commerce – 1) create or attempt to create a human-animal hybrid; 2) transfer or attempt to transfer a human embryo into a non-human womb; 3) transfer or attempt to transfer a non-human embryo into a human womb; or 4) transport or receive for any purpose a human-animal hybrid. Penalties included up to 10 years imprisonment and civil fines of at least $1 million. The legislation had 20 co-sponsors, but it died in committee. Contact: Chelsea Schilling Source: WorldNetDaily Publish Date: May 27, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Doctors see adult stem cell milestone

Doctors see adult stem cell milestone      British and Indian doctors have achieved a milestone in stem cell research, transplanting a new windpipe, or trachea, into a 10-year-old boy using his own non-embryonic, or adult, stem cells. It marked the first time such a procedure has been performed in a child and the initial case of an entire trachea being transplanted, the UCL Institute of Child Health in Great Britain reported. The transplant was conducted for a boy who has a rare congenital condition named Long Segment Tracheal Stenosis, which refers to a diminutive windpipe that will not develop. "It is like breathing through a straw and is a life threatening condition," according to the institute. Doctors stripped a donated trachea of the donor's cells and injected stem cells from the boy's bone marrow into the trachea shortly before implanting it in the boy, the institute reported. Using the boy's own stem cells prevents possible problems with transplant rejection. The case, reported in mid-March, is another success for non-embryonic stem cells, which have produced therapies in trials for at least 73 ailments in human beings, according to Do No Harm, a coalition promoting ethics in research. Embryonic stem cell research, which results from the destruction of human embryos, has yet to generate successful treatments in human beings. Contact: Tom Strode Source: Baptist Press Publish Date: May 27, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

'Stealth' Abortion Guidelines for N. Ireland to see Full Legal Challenge

'Stealth' Abortion Guidelines for N. Ireland to see Full Legal Challenge      Efforts by the British government to bring legal abortion by "bureaucratic stealth" into Northern Ireland will be met with a full legal challenge by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). The High Court in Belfast has granted leave to SPUC to launch a challenge after the Department of Health, without explanation, reissued medical practice guidelines that had been rejected by the High Court for violating the province's abortion laws.   For three years the guidelines have been the focus of an intense battle in Northern Ireland, where abortion remains a crime, between the pro-life movement and pro-abortion forces in the British government.   SPUC's Liam Gibson told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) today, "At present it's difficult to tell whether our case will be overtaken by events, but the department is hellbent on pushing its abortion guidance forward no matter what happens."   Gibson said that the department has maintained from the beginning an attitude of "belligerence," and "followed a fixed agenda regardless of demonstrated public opinion, the representations of pro-life medical and legal professionals, and elected politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Assembly's health committee."   The guidelines saga that has been ongoing since 2007 when then-minister for Northern Ireland, Paul Goggins, promised that the British government would not interfere with the province's abortion laws. Later that year, the department issued the draft guidelines that were identified by pro-life groups and MLAs as an attempt to bring legal abortion into Northern Ireland by the back door.   These were first beaten back in October 2007 by a motion passed in the Assembly by MLAs Jeffrey Donaldson and Iris Robinson. The department responded by bringing the same guidelines back in 2008, after which SPUC took the department to court.   The High Court's Justice Girvan issued a ruling in November 2009 that the guidelines violated Northern Ireland's law and must be withdrawn. In February the next year, the department ignored the ruling and brought the guidelines back again, with two sections on "non-directive counselling" and consent "temporarily" removed - a move called "baffling and bizzare" and "deceitful" by SPUC and other pro-life groups.   "The bitter determination of the health department to reject any input from the pro-life movement underlines just how important these abortion guidelines are," Gibson said today.   "Even when the SPUC was successful in court," he said, "the department took the unusual step of asking for a second hearing in an attempt to convince the the judge to change his mind on the withdrawal of the entire guidance document."   When this effort failed, the department responded by ignoring the ruling and re-issuing the document that Gibson said is "in precisely the form the court said would be inappropriate". When SPUC returned to court to force the department to comply, the department asked for a four-week adjournment, refusing to give a reason for the request.   "It appears that the department intends to issue a new consultation document in the near future, but it is not clear how this will affect the current version of the guidance, which we believe should be withdrawn at once," Gibson said.  Contact: Hilary White Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: May 28, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY Bill Gates funds covert vaccine nanotechnology      The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is gaining a reputation for funding technologies designed to roll out mass sterilization and vaccination programs around the world. One of the programs recently funded by the foundation is a sterilization program that would use sharp blasts of ultrasound directed against a man's scrotum to render him infertile for six months. It might accurately be called a "temporary castration" technology. Now, the foundation has funded a new "sweat-triggered vaccine delivery" program based on nanoparticles penetrating human skin. These are both part of the Gates Foundation's involvement in the "Grand Challenges Explorations" program which claims to be working to "achieve major breakthroughs in global health." ...breakthroughs like mass sterilization and nanoparticle vaccines that could be covertly administered even without your knowledge, it turns out. These nanoparticles could be used in a spray mist that's sprayed on to every person who walks through an airport security checkpoint, for example. Or it could be unleashed through the ventilation systems of corporate office buildings or public schools to vaccinate the masses. You wouldn't even know you were being vaccinated. Click here for the entire article. Corrupting Science in Law and Politics: Korean Court Rules Embryo is Not A Life Form      Science capabilities are taking us into ethical conflicts because we are at the place where the most helpless human beings are being coveted for use as objects to be exploited like any other natural recourse.  Adding insult to injury, many justify this approach by resorting to junk biology–redefining scientific terms, for example, in order to justify doing to human life what many would otherwise consider to be unacceptable. Example: Arguing that people in a persistent unconscious state are really dead so their organs can be taken. Click here for the entire article. City of Pittsburgh Told to Pay Legal Fees to Abortion Protester      The city of Pittsburgh could be on the hook for $338,000 in legal fees resulting from an Indiana Township woman's successful challenge of a city ordinance limiting protests at abortion clinics. U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer on Thursday granted a request from Mary Kathryn Brown and ordered the city to pay $209,276 in attorney fees and costs, mostly to attorneys from The Alliance Defense Fund, for representing Brown in federal court. The Alliance Defense Fund is a Christian legal organization. Fisher reduced the amount requested from Brown's attorneys by $48,272. Click here for the entire article. Embryonic Neural Development      How the Brain Forms During the Earliest Days of Development -- Scientists have wondered for centuries at what point in human development does the person develop its mind. While neuroscience is still a relatively young science, its discoveries have already shed light on the development of the human nervous system. As an embryo develops, it forms distinct cells that become neurons that then form a complete system. By the eighteenth day of development, the gastrula has formed. This refers to the three basic cell layers (or germ layers) that serve as the basis for further development. Click here for the entire article. Mexico Upholds Bush's Plan B Abortion Pill For Rape Victims      Mexico's Supreme Court has upheld a law requiring hospitals to offer rape victims a morning-after birth control pill, rejecting an appeal that argued the pill's effect constitutes the equivalent of an abortion. Abortion is regulated under state laws in Mexico, and most of the 31 states outlaw elective abortions. An appeal filed by the Jalisco state government says the federal morning-after law is an intrusion on states' rights. But justices disagreed in an 10-1 vote Thursday. The majority ruled that use of the pill is not the equivalent of abortion, but rather is part of a public health policy. Click here for the entire article. Austrian Abortion Museum (glorifying baby killing) Wins European Prize      A Vienna museum dealing with contraception and abortion received a special prize from a European body Thursday for raising public awareness of both issues. The Museum of Contraception and Abortion, the only one of its kind in the world, was given the European Museum Forum's new Kenneth Hudson award, named after the forum's founder. "This shows a strong recognition for the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, which are still scandalously ignored in Austria," said Christian Fiala, a gynaecologist who set up the museum. Click here for the entire article.

New commerical video from Heroic Media...

New commerical video from Heroic Media...

    

Click here to watch the commercial on Youtube.

On the path to over-the-counter abortions

On the path to over-the-counter abortions

    

On June 17, the FDA's Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health will hold a public hearing to begin the approval process of a new abortion pill, Ulipristal acetate, to be marketed by the brand names ella® or ellaOne®.

ellaOne can be taken up to five days after unprotected sex, as opposed to emergency contraception, which can be taken up to three days after unprotected sex.

ellaOne has been marketed in the United Kingdom since September 2009 as an emergency contraceptive, but it does not chemically work the same in a woman's body as an EC.

In fact, ellaOne works the same as mifepristone, or RU486, also known as the abortion pill, which can be taken up to 49 days after the first day of a woman's last period.

While ellaOne and RU486 are composed of different chemical compounds, they are both progesterone blockers, while the EC is a progesterone.

A "fact sheet" by the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, which is pushing FDA approval of ellaOne, confirms "mifepristone [RU486] and ulipristal acetate [ellaOne] are both selective progesterone modulators."

ellaOne blocks progesterone from reaching the cushiony lining of a mother's uterus, the endometrium. ellaOne causes the endometrium to degrade and her days-old embryo to die.

Since RU486 is taken later in pregnancy, it blocks progesterone from reaching a mother's placenta, thereby causing it to degrade and her weeks-old embryo to die.

According to a 2009 report from the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, quoted by Wikipedia, "like mifepristone [RU486], ulipristal acetate [ellaOne] is embryotoxic in animal studies."

All of this is not to say the EC cannot be "embryotoxic" as well. It just kills differently by either slowing the embryo down from reaching the uterus alive or by making the uterus impermeable to implantation by the embryo.

The EC and ellaOne may also work by delaying ovulation or making it difficult for sperm to reach egg.

Bottom line: While in actuality the EC and ellaOne may cause abortions, and RU486 certainly does, ellaOne is admitted to be "embryotoxic" and works chemically the same as RU486, so it should not be classified as an emergency contraception.             

Let me back up and say the labeling for ECs (and birth-control pills, which work chemically the same as EC) and ellaOne falsely state they do not cause abortions.

This is only because the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology changed the definition of "pregnancy" in the 1970s to state it did not commence at conception but at implantation, which "can be completed as early as eight days or as late as 18 days after fertilization, but usually takes about 14 days."

So, quoting the Guttmacher Institute, "[a] pregnancy is considered to be established only after implantation is complete."

This means, absurdly, a preborn human can live up to two and a half weeks inside his or her mother, but she is not considered pregnant.

Aside from preborn humans, the other losers in all this confusion are women who are not being properly informed about the possible consequences of ingesting any of these pills.

It is a travesty that liberal ideologues and feminists are leading women to believe these pills prevent pregnancy when, in fact, they may kill newly conceived offspring.

Meanwhile, since ellaOne works the same as RU486, the Family Research Council asks good questions:

    Why is ellaOne limited to five days post-intercourse? Wouldn't it cause the demise of a post-implantation embryo well beyond five days, even up to 40 days like RU486?

In fact, according to CHMP, six of 29 women studied who were found to be pregnant after taking ellaOne went on to spontaneously miscarry. That's 20 percent.

ellaOne is an abortion pill. Backers want it considered an EC to make it available first by prescription and then over-the-counter, as was the EC.

If the FDA approves ellaOne as an EC, the day draws closer when abortion proponents push to make RU486 available first by prescription and then over-the-counter.

We just learned Planned Parenthood is already experimenting with distributing RU486 via webcam. "Telemed" abortions allow an abortionist to dispense RU486 and its companion drug misoprostol to patients hundreds of miles away by simply touching a computer screen button.

Imagine one abortionist in an unidentified office with five or 10 or more computer screens from which s/he dispenses abortion pills on a rotating basis to every "family planning office" in every nook and cranny of the U.S.

Can't get much closer to writing abortion prescriptions than that, which will be next.

Medical abortions are radically altering the abortion landscape.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: May 26, 2010
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Rep. Smith: US may be spending $10 million on pro-abortion Kenyan constitution

Rep. Smith: US may be spending $10 million on pro-abortion Kenyan constitution

    
      Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.)

Washington D.C.,  / 06:18 am ().- Following calls for a federal probe into U.S. funding to support Kenya's proposed constitution, which would permit abortions in the country, investigations suggest that the funds used may have totaled over $10 million instead of the $2 million initially suspected. One congressman called the funding "a clear violation of federal law."

Earlier this month three leading U.S. congressmen made public a letter requesting a federal probe into whether the Obama administration broke federal laws by promoting a proposed Kenyan constitution that "radically" changes abortion policy.

The Siljander Amendment, annually included in the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, prohibits lobbying for or against abortion using the funds made available in the act.

Initial reports said that the Obama administration had pledged $2 million to help promote the new constitution.

However, in a May 26 press release one of the Congressmen, Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), said he has learned from investigators that U.S. taxpayer expenditures in support of the Kenyan proposal "may exceed $10 million – five times the level we originally expected."

"This massive spending will undoubtedly be directed to those entities that are pressing for ratification of the proposed constitution," he continued.

"Such support will further enable passage of a constitution that is opposed by many pro-life leaders in Kenya, because it enshrines new rights to abortion. As such, the funding is a clear violation of federal law against use of U.S. taxpayer funds to lobby for or against abortion," Rep. Smith charged.

According to the Congressman, the new information about the size of the funding gives "even more urgency" to the request for investigations into all U.S. State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) activities related to the proposal.

"I hope that all investigative agencies will take our request seriously and act swiftly in this matter," commented Smith.

The Catholic bishops of Kenya have said the proposed constitution is "fundamentally flawed" because it paves the way for abortion on demand and also specially recognizes Muslim civil courts.

At present Kenyan law allows abortion only to save the life of the mother. The proposed new constitution would allow abortion in cases where health care professionals believe a mother's "health" is endangered, an exception which has been broadly interpreted in many countries.

The bishops have called for the removal of the clause from the draft constitution.

Source: CNA
Publish Date: May 27, 2010
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G8 Abortion Push Weakened as Study Finds Newborn Mortality at All-Time Low

G8 Abortion Push Weakened as Study Finds Newborn Mortality at All-Time Low

    

A new report released yesterday demonstrates that worldwide mortality for children under age 5 has dropped at a rate faster than expected and shows that child mortality is falling in every region of the world - a 35% reduction since 1990. The same prestigious institute that reported a significant drop in maternal mortality last month, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, today reported great progress in saving the lives of young children around the world.
 
The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI) believes that the study will help lawmakers globally advance life-affirming health policies as they work to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4 which calls for a two-thirds reduction in mortality in children under 5 years of age by 2015.
 
According to PNCI Director, Marie Smith, "This study is welcome news to all those who labor to save the lives of children, born and unborn, around the world.  It clearly documents that more newborns are surviving, including in developing countries. The overall number of children under five receiving critical health care to treat and prevent disease and illness shows the importance of access to life-affirming health care to achieve MDG 4."
 
"The push to integrate efforts to reduce child and newborn mortality and the reduction of maternal mortality with the full gamut of so-called reproductive health services, including abortion, has been set back once again by reliable data and facts. This is critically important as world leaders prepare to meet at G-8 Summit in Canada and debate ways to improve maternal and child health.

"Canadian Prime Minister Harper should be heartened by this study which supports his bold stand against inclusion of abortion in a new global initiative on maternal and child health. The data from countries which protect unborn children from the violence of abortion clearly shows significant progress in reducing child mortality through practices which save lives."
 
The study published in Lancet, Neonatal, postneonatal, childhood, and under-5 mortality for 187 countries, 1970-2010: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4, shows worldwide mortality dropping from 11.9 million deaths in 1990 to 7.7 million deaths in 2010 and includes all regions of the world.
 
Smith adds, "This study shows a decline in child mortality within sub-Saharan Africa including in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and The Gambia. Many of these countries have been facing international pressure to legalize abortion."
 
The lead author of the study and Assistant Professor of Global Health at IHME Julie Knoll Rajaratnam stated, "Previous estimates had shown child deaths falling slowly and neonatal deaths nearly at a standstill. We were able to double the amount of data and improve the accuracy of our estimates to find that children are doing better today than at any time in recent history, especially in the first month of life."

This new data demonstrates that 31 developing countries are on pace to meet Millennium Development Goal 4 by 2015 including Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, and Egypt--all of which have laws restricting access to abortion. The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
 
PNCI believes this new data will assist elected officials devise policies that build on proven methods that save and protect the lives of all children, born and unborn.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 26, 2010
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Woman Dies in Marie Stopes Abortion Facility in Nepal as Controversial Ads Air in UK

Woman Dies in Marie Stopes Abortion Facility in Nepal as Controversial Ads Air in UK
 
    

The day before Marie Stopes International abortion advertisements began airing in the UK, a woman died in one of their overseas abortion facilities in Nepal. Nepalese media reported this week that Durga Devi Khadka died on Sunday at the Marie Stopes Center in Damak, a municipality in the southeast.

Khadka was 10 weeks pregnant, according to the Nepalese newspaper Republica. Police are investigating and have detained the facility owner, Chitra Bahadur Karki.

By its own admission, Marie Stopes International was responsible for the deaths of at least 920,000 unborn children by abortions, both surgical and drug induced, around the world last year - a massive increase of 56 per cent since 2008. Marie Stopes, with such abortion giants as International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Population Fund, is a major player in the international population control movement that is targeting poor countries in Asia, including Nepal.

In 2001, Nepal gave in to pressure from the United Nations and legalized abortion in cases of pregnancy due to rape or incest up to ten weeks after conception, and at any time "where pregnancy poses any danger to the physical or mental health of the mother or if the child will be disabled." In 2009, Marie Stopes International, active in Nepal since 1994 with 61 facilities, boasted that its presence in the country had reduced the fertility rate between 2001 and 2006, from 4.1 to 3.1 births per woman.

Sunaolo Parivar Nepal (SPN), the local Marie Stopes affiliate, committed 70 per cent of all abortions between 2004 and 2007, making it the largest abortionist group in the country. Between 2001 and 2006, SPN had also conducted 50 per cent of all female sterilizations and 45 per cent of all (male and female) sterilizations in Nepal. Overall, the group said, sterilizations have risen in Nepal from 11,453 to 35,278 during those years.

The ready availability of abortion, however, has started to come under scrutiny for its role in the massive gender imbalances in many Asian countries. In 2000, Nepal was named in a UN report on the Asian gender imbalance caused by sex-selective abortion.

The easy availability of abortion has also been identified as a key link in the trafficking of Asian women for sexual slavery in India, a problem that is especially acute in Nepal. Tara Bhattarai, writing in 2007 for the Press Institute for Women in the Developing World, relates the story of a Nepalese woman, Geeta Tamang, who was sold into sexual slavery in India at the age of ten.

Tamang said that the pregnant women in her brothel were routinely taken by the brothel owner to a local abortion facility in Pune, the city where she was enslaved. After an abortion in the morning, Tamang said, "it was common for those women to be forced to take clients by the evening."

The kidnapping and trafficking of women for forced prostitution in India is rampant in Nepal where poverty will sometimes drive relatives to sell young girls over the open Indian border. Local anti-trafficking NGOs estimated in 2007 that 7000 girls between the ages of 10 and 16 were trafficked into the Indian sex trade annually.

This week, while the Marie Stopes ads were airing on British television, the advocacy group Tibet Truth blasted the group for ignoring the "medical atrocities," including forced abortion and sterilizations, committed against Asian women in the name of "family planning." Tibet Truth participated in a demonstration against Marie Stopes at their London headquarters where the group was hosting Li Bin, the official responsible for enforcing China's coercive one child policy.

Marie Stopes maintains five facilities in China, and lists the country's various local "Family Planning Commissions" as partners in their work.

Tibet Truth said, "Like its 'sister' organizations the United Nations Fund for Population and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, [Marie Stopes International], though acutely aware of China's program of forced sterilizations and forced abortions, which have traumatized countless women in China and occupied regions such as Tibet and East Turkestan, seems unable to offer a word of public condemnation, concern or opposition to such medical atrocities."

Contact: Hilary White
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 26, 2010
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Pro-lifers urge block on Brit TV abortion ad

Pro-lifers urge block on Brit TV abortion ad

    

British television's first commercial for abortion services -- sponsored by Marie Stopes International -- drew calls from pro-life organizations for the government to block the advertisement after it aired for the first time.

    
Click here to view the commerical

The controversial ad was telecast May 24 -- a day after a woman died while undergoing an abortion at a Marie Stopes clinic in Nepal and five days after the head of the ministry responsible for China's coercive population control policy spoke at Marie Stopes' London headquarters.

Channel 4 of the British Broadcasting Corp. aired the 30-second ad after 10 p.m. in the United Kingdom, although it was not shown in Northern Ireland, where abortion is illegal.

The commercial, which BBC News says is to run until the end of June, does not use the word "abortion." Instead, it consecutively shows three women who are described as being "late" for their periods. The off-camera narrator says, "If you're pregnant and not sure what to do, Marie Stopes International can help." The ad closes with the words "Are you late?" and a phone number displayed.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) urged Britain's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to instruct Ofcom, the regulator of the UK's communication industries, to block the ad.

"The advertisement is deceptive, in that it doesn't explain what Marie Stopes is and what Marie Stopes does," SPUC communications manager Anthony Ozimic said in a written release after the commercial was shown for the first time on the Internet. "Marie Stopes' main business is the killing of unborn children. Its telephone consultation line is an abortion booking service which puts women on a fast-track to abortion.

"Marie Stopes advertises itself as an abortion provider on the London Underground but has soft-soaped its image in this Channel 4 advertisement. We can only conclude that this is a way for Marie Stopes to evade restrictions on advertising.

"Women deserve better than abortion," Ozimic said. "We want the government to ensure that women are not misled by this kind of deceitful propaganda."

In describing the ad on its website, Marie Stopes said, "The time has come to talk more openly and honestly about abortion and we hope that the TV commercial will help to break down the taboos that persist around this issue."

The ad serves as the launch of its "Are you late?" campaign, according to Marie Stopes.

Marie Stopes, which describes itself as a "not-for-profit sexual and reproductive health" organization, provided 920,000 abortions internationally last year. That was an astonishing 56 percent increase over 2008. That total included abortions by both surgery and drugs, such as RU 486.

In Nepal, Durga Devi Khadka died May 25 at the Marie Stopes Center in Damak, a municipality in the southeastern part of the Asian country. She was 10 weeks pregnant, according to the Nepali newspaper Republica. Police are investigating and have detained the clinic owner, Chitra Bahadur Karki.

Marie Stopes hosted Li Bin, the minister of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, for a May 19 speech at its London office, Tibettruth reported. Supporters of Tibet organized a protest of Li's speech, according to Tibettruth, a network that advocates for human rights and independence for Tibet and East Turkestan.

The National Population and Family Planning Commission oversees China's population control program, which has been commonly referred to as a one-child policy since its implementation in 1979. The policy generally limits couples in urban areas to one child and those in rural areas to two, if the first is a girl. Parents in cities may have second babies if the husband and wife are both only children.

Forced abortions and sterilizations have been used to enforce the policy, and infanticide, especially of females, also has been reported.

Pro-life and human rights advocates have charged Marie Stopes with collaborating with the Chinese government in its coercive population control policy. Marie Stopes operates five clinics in China, according to its website.

In 2008, the Bush administration cut off United States aid to Marie Stopes because of its alleged support of China's program. The administration described Maries Stopes as "the major implementing partner" of the program in China operated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Bush administration refused during its last seven years to forward $235 million in federal money to UNFPA because it concluded the organization's work in China violated the 1985 Kemp-Kasten Amendment. That law prohibits funds for any entity that, as decided by the president, "supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization."

The Obama administration restored funding to UNFPA in 2009.

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: BP
Publish Date: May 26, 2010
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