"Obama 2.0"? On Abortion, More of the Same

    

January 1 may be the day for New Year's Resolutions, but December is the time where politicos and think tanks and activists start planning their new initiatives in a big way.

Having watched his own party take it on the chin--both at the federal AND state levels--you would anticipate that pro-abortion President Barack Obama is in the uncomfortable position of having to do some serious re-evaluation. Or, perhaps not, judging by a piece that ran in Politico--"President Obama 2.0: Becoming 'CEO of America'," by John Harris and James Hohmann.

They argue, convincingly, that it's not just that Team Obama has a weak bench. The first-string lacks many of the skill set successful White House teams have possessed before. (And Obama, himself, has very little real legislative experience and is learning executive skills on the fly.)

Given all that, the advice is to "discard the Congress-focused strategy of the first two years and coming up with new and more creative ways to exercise power and set the national agenda." Where to look for guidance?

"Presidential scholars and veterans of previous administrations from both parties point to five strategies past presidents have used to meet the challenge Obama is confronting now," write Harris and Hohmann. Let's look at three. Trust me, it's essentially blue smoke and mirrors--and executive orders.

On the one hand Obama is being counseled to avoid Capitol Hill/the legislative process by issuing executive orders. It cannot be good for us, or the babies, or the medically vulnerable when Obama is following his instincts which include enthusiastically advancing the agenda of his many pro-abortion allies.

On the other hand, he is advised to "co-opt" the GOP opposition by adding some token Republicans to his Administration. ("Obama's challenge is to make sure that wave [of "conservative anger and energy"] is a spent force by 2012 -- in part by letting conservatives think they have achieved some of what they want"). Obama may think the public is an unsophisticated as this recommendation assumes, but in an era of limitless communication, meaningless gestures have short shelf-lives.

He's also advised to follow in the footsteps of Bill Clinton and use the powers of the executive branch (in "legitimate ways," of course) to expressly serve his own political ends--aka make use of the two million people who serve the Executive Branch. This is just another way of saying take credit for everything under the sun that is good, a strategy that Clinton excelled at.

And, I almost forgot, Obama should also "Draw new lines -- with new ideas." Put another way, "focus on issues for which debate transcends traditional partisan terms."

But this is the same rigmarole that Obama served up running for the Presidency--and ever since. For us in particular, all we EVER hear is that if were "really pro-life" or "really concerned about reducing the number of abortions," we'd buy into one or another bogus "compromise." Or we would accept Obama's assurances that an executive order can neutralize/obviate/eliminate all the provisions of ObamaCare that promote abortion.

So, we may hear that Obama is re-tooling, but there is zero reason to believe that means he will take his foot off the abortion-enhancing accelerator.

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 20, 2010

Court says 'no' to nurse's conscience rights

    

A New York nurse has lost her appeal of a court decision involving a work incident that she believes violated her conscience rights.

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused Nurse Kathy DeCarlo the right to sue for enforcement of the Church Amendment -- the federal law that protects healthcare workers against discrimination for their beliefs -- after she was threatened with disciplinary measures if she did not assist in a late-term abortion.

"Nurse DeCarlo had been forced by Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, her employer, to assist with a 22-week abortion -- a horrific experience which gives her nightmares to this day," reports Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Steven F. Aden.

Steven Aden (ADF)Hospital administrators also attempted to coerce her into signing an agreement that she participate in future abortions, but the court has refused to apply the conscience-protection amendment, ruling that only the federal government has the right to do so.

"Unfortunately, the Obama administration has now taken the position that it will not enforce rights under the Church Amendment and has tried to set aside regulations passed in the Bush administration to give the Church Amendments more teeth and to protect pro-life healthcare workers," the attorney laments.

Meanwhile, a state court lawsuit in which DeCarlo requests damages is still pending. Aden says ADF will back the nurse until she and other pro-life healthcare workers are vindicated and their right of religious conscience is protected.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 21, 2010

Univ. of Wisconsin aborts abortion plans

    

A campaign against late-term abortions in Wisconsin has proved victorious, and one supporter of the effort feels it should be an encouragement to the rest of the country.

After an almost two-year struggle to convince the University of Wisconsin to drop its plans to perform late-term abortions at a medical center in Madison, the school agreed and now says it will also refrain from doing them elsewhere. Virginia Zignego of Pro-Life Wisconsin tells OneNewsNow it took a number of approaches to convince the school, including the participation of thousands in prayer vigils during that period.

Virginia Zignego"We have aired hundreds of pro-life television commercials in the Madison area, which emphasized the humanity of the pre-born," she reports. "Tens of thousands of people signed a pro-life petition, and hundreds of people boycotted the Madison Surgery Center."

She believes the success in Madison should warm the hearts of pro-life individuals throughout the rest of the country.

"Overwhelmingly, Americans have shown that they are more and more pro-life, and this really shows the impact that average people can have when they stand together," the Wisconsin pro-lifer notes.

After much success for the pro-life cause throughout the state, Zignego reports that only one late-term abortion center remains in Milwaukee and continues to kill viable babies.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 21, 2010

Woman sues for 'exit guide' in suicide

    

A Georgia woman has filed suit in federal court for the right to assisted suicide.

The New Jersey-based Final Exit Network, which is alleged to have helped people commit suicide, stopped its activities in Georgia when four members were arrested in connection with a June 2008 suicide. The four are charged with violating Georgia law in the death of John Delmer, 58, of Cumming, who died of asphyxiation after inhaling helium in the presence of two of them.
 
Rita Marker, an attorney and founder of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, now tells OneNewsNow that 43-year-old Susan Caldwell, who has a serious medical issue, wants the help of the Final Exit Network as she seeks to die.
 
"The woman...has Huntington's Chorea -- which is really a devastating illness, without question," she acknowledges. "But she has now filed suit in federal court asking that an 'exit guide' can be assigned to her."
 
Rita Marker (International Tasf Force on Euthanasia and Assited Suicide)According to the Final Exit Network, exit guides assist people through suicides. The arrests of the four Network guides two years ago prevented Caldwell from proceeding with her plans.
 
Marker says the lawsuit is dangerous -- and not just because it is filed in federal court. "This makes it clear that if indeed the court were to agree with her, this would permit anybody, anyplace, anytime to be involved in someone else's suicide just saying it's a compassionate thing to do," says the Task Force spokeswoman.
 
The court could dismiss the case -- or it could issue a ruling, which would send it on a path to the U.S. Supreme Court. Whether that court would accept it, of course, would be a totally different matter since it usually rules on only a handful of cases each year.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 21, 2010

Report links hospital chain to sterilizations

     

The American Life League (ALL) has issued a report linking one of the nation's leading Catholic hospital chains with sterilization. Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) is the parent company of St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, where an abortion took place late 2009.

The ALL report was made public as Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix awaited an assurance from CHW officials that the Arizona hospital would never again perform a direct abortion, and that the institution would comply with Catholic moral teachings. Bishop Omsted has threatened to withdraw the "Catholic" designation from St. Joseph hospital if he does not receive such assurances by December 21.

In addition to the hospital in Phoenix, CHW operates institutions in Arizona, California, and Nevada. In researching CHW, the ALL found that:

    * CHW institutions have provided referrals for tubal ligations and vasectomies;
    * Health-care coverage at CHW institutions include provisions for contraception;
    * and CHW institutions have provide grants to organizations that promote abortion, homosexuality, and contraception;

"At least one CHW member hospital promotes the nation's largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood, on its web site, and another lists the provision of contraceptives as a service," the report states. "Twelve CHW members (as of 2001) performed tubal ligations," and "20 members currently refer for vasectomies by staff physicians on their web sites."

Planned Parenthood’s new rule: All affiliates must commit abortions

    

A story in Corpus Christi's Caller.com yesterday about a Planned Parenthood breaking ties with the national organization dropped an abortion bomb:

    The local chapter of Planned Parenthood will drop its affiliation with the national organization and take a new name beginning Jan. 1.

    Clients shouldn't notice any changes in prices or services other than the office changing its name to Family Planning of the Coastal Bend, CEO Amanda Stukenberg said.

    Planned Parenthood wanted to standardize its operations at all of its agencies nationwide, Stukenberg said.

    That included a new requirement for all affiliates to perform abortions, something the Coastal Bend office didn't see as necessary because of abortion services offered by local doctors, Stukenberg said.

    "We have never provided abortions," she said. "Our position is that if that is a need in your community, fine. There are far greater needs in our area than abortion. We feel that women here have options. We don't need to duplicate services."

    It's unclear how many Planned Parenthood affiliates are following the local chapter's lead. National officials couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

There's no reason to think the affiliate misunderstood PP's mandate, or else the separation would not have gotten this far.

This news has major ramifications across the United States.

RU486 medical abortions will skyrocket, for starters, particularly in PP locations not zoned for in- or out-patient surgery, and along with them webcam (telemed) abortions – if those aren't stopped on the state or federal level.

All nonaborting PPs previously considered "feeders" will now become stopping places.

I imagine that inside the industry, abortion wars are breaking out even as I type, as PP makes a major power play to wipe out independent abortion mills.

This is huge, devastating for babies. Statistics bear out that the more abortion mills there are, the more abortions there are.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: December 21, 2010

Planned Parenthood Annual Report Fleshes Out September "Fact Sheet"

PPFA received $363 million in government grants and contracts

    

As dreadful as the contents are, Planned Parenthood's 2008-2009 Annual Report makes for compelling reading. [http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/PPFA_Annual_Report_08-09-FINAL-12-10-10.pdf]

Having gone through it twice, and aided immeasurably by the work of people who are far more knowledgeable about PPFA than I am, let's see what can be said about "The Promise of Change: Planned Parenthood Federation of America Annual report 2008-2009."

Some of the highlights, so to speak, include…

What is missing--the number of abortions (and the number of adoption referrals and prenatal clients), customary in prior years. Perhaps that's because, as we reported back in September, PPFA's Factsheet's revealed that abortions had jumped a whopping 6% to 324,008 while the number of adoption referrals had dropped by more than 10%.  We don't have reliable national count yet for 2008, but considered as a percentage of the latest national annual abortion figure the Guttmacher Institute reported for 2005, this would make Planned Parenthood responsible for 26.8% of all abortions performed in the U.S. This easily cements their place as America's top abortion chain. [See pie charts below.]

    
*The massive amounts of money PPFA receives from the government (in the form of grants and contracts): $363 million. While PPFA's 2008-2009 Annual Report does not break out  what portion of that $363 came from the FEDERAL government, the attached chart does show the correlation between increased government funding to PPFA and increased abortions conducted by PPFA.
   
*We see that PPFA was energized by the results of the November 2008 elections. "With the election of President Barack Obama, a self-described pro-choice President, Planned Parenthood launched reinvigorated advocacy campaign for ambitious policies" to…
   
"achieve affordable, quality, comprehensive reproductive health care as part of health care reform" ; "expand access to reproductive health care through Medicaid in advance of health care reform"; "increase government funding for family planning programs": and [my description] stifle the conscience right of health care workers who oppose (among other things) abortion.
   
*Many pro-lifers may not realize the determination with which PPFA seeks to massively expand abortion internationally, particularly in countries that have protective laws. In the Annual Report we read (to pick four examples)

(1) "In Kenya, we worked with advocates who developed a grassroots campaign to increase public support for decriminalizing abortion."

(2) "Latin America and the Caribbean, we offered training for health center security and tracking groups hostile to women's health and family planning."

(3) "In northern Nigeria, we overcame the reluctance of a large religious organization to introduce basic reproductive health care through its more than 100 health centers.  Now, more than 60 of those centers offer birth control and refer women to private medical providers if they need a safe abortion."

(4) "We worked with the Obama administration to protect women's health and promote sexual and reproductive rights around the world, including overturning the global gag rule [Mexico City Policy] and restoring U.S. reproductive health and safe motherhood funding to the United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA].

There's much more that you can read at http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/PPFA_Annual_Report_08-09-FINAL-12-10-10.pdf, so let's finish up with two other salient points.

First, under the category 'Agents," the report lists Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who received the PPFA Margaret Sanger Award (named after its founder). "You may remember that under persistent questioning from pro-life Rep. Chris Smith Clinton finally admitted the truth. "We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health," Clinton told Smith. "And reproductive health includes access to abortion that I believe should be safe, legal, and rare."

Second, PPFA's power within pro-abortion circles grows and grows. After a series of recent mergers and disaffiliations, the group now has 95 affiliates. The group is said to have had more than double that number in 1979. Many of the larger, more profitable affiliates have gobbled up the smaller ones as the organization becomes leaner and quite literally, as the record number of abortions shows, meaner.

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 18, 2010

Planned Parenthood violated 'informed consent' law

Failed to meet with young teen 24 hours before performing abortion

    

Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region violated a state law requiring "informed consent" before performing an abortion on a 14-year-old girl in March 2004, according to an Ohio court.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins says the ruling by Judge Jody Luebbers shows why the American taxpayers should stop funding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider.

"Judge Jody Luebbers stood up to the nation's largest abortion provider, ruling that Planned Parenthood defied state laws by not reporting suspected child abuse and not providing a mandatory counseling session – including offering pregnancy options – 24 hours prior to the abortion. Despite these kinds of abuses, Planned Parenthood is a billion-dollar-a-year organization, raking in approximately $350 million annually in state and federal grants," said Perkins in a news release.

"Once again, we see how Planned Parenthood has failed to protect the health and safety of women. And as we can see from this case, procuring an abortion is more important to Planned Parenthood than following the law on something as important as protecting young women from sexual predators," Perkins continued.

"Isn't it time to stop taxpayer funding of such a group? We call on the new Congress to act quickly on legislation introduced by Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, a bill that would prohibit Title X family planning dollars being awarded to groups that provide abortion as family planning, such as Planned Parenthood," said Perkins.

The ruling is the latest development in a civil suit brought by the parents of the girl, who became pregnant by her 22-year-old soccer coach. The coach then brought the girl to the Planned Parenthood clinic to abort the baby.

The coach, John Haller, was later convicted of sexual battery and served three years in prison.

According to a Dec. 10 news release from the Alliance Defense Fund, the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas ruled that Planned Parenthood failed to meet with the underage mother at least 24 hours before performing the abortion. The clinic performed the abortion the day the girl came to the clinic.

According to the decision, Planned Parenthood, "breached their duty…to have a physician, at least 24 hours prior to Plaintiff Jane Roe's abortion, meet with Plaintiff Jane Roe in a private setting to be certain that Plaintiff Jane Roe understood the information necessary for her to make an informed decision about whether to have an abortion."

"The court made the right decision at this point in the case, and we look forward to ultimate success once the trial is over," said Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Matt Bowman in the news release.

"The health and safety of young girls is more important than Planned Parenthood's desire to perform an abortion," said the ADF-affiliated attorney, Brian Hurley, representing the parents. "Ohio law mandates that Planned Parenthood meet with someone seeking an abortion in advance to be certain that she has all the information she needs to make a decision. That didn't happen."

In their civil suit, the parents also allege that Planned Parenthood failed to inform them, or notify civil authorities, as state law requires in cases of statutory rape.

An issue raised by the case reached the Ohio Supreme Court in 2009. The court ruled that the parents did not have the right to obtain the clinic's records of "confidential child abuse reports or medical records of other minors" during pre-trial discovery.

According to the supreme court's opinion summary,  "a police investigation revealed that the teen had been sexually abused and impregnated by her soccer coach, John Haller; that the phone number provided to Planned Parenthood by Jane had been Haller's cell phone number; and that the person from whom the clinic had obtained consent for the abortion was Haller, not Jane's father. Haller was later convicted on multiple counts of sexual battery."

The case, Roe v. Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region, is scheduled to be tried on Feb. 7.

Contact: Brian Fitzpatrick
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: December 18, 2010

Another victory against ObamaCare?

    

Attorneys are expecting a Florida judge to contribute another favorable ruling in their fight against Barack Obama's healthcare reform law.

Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University's Law School, says Judge Roger Vinson of the U.S. Northern District Court has indicated he is likely to reject the law and "even the scorecard" on legal challenges to the law.

Matt Staver"Based upon what the judge in Florida has written before, he was pretty sarcastic and critical of the administration and how this healthcare bill came about," Staver accounts. "Some of the comments that he's made during this argument lead me to [believe] that he's going to rule the same way that the recent ruling came down in Virginia,." In that case, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson decided Congress has no authority to force people to purchase health insurance. (See earlier story)

The Liberty Counsel founder suggests that forcing the nation's citizens to purchase healthcare is equivalent to a government-issued mandate that its citizens purchase broccoli because it is a healthy food.

But several of the cases that are being presented against ObamaCare are headed to the Supreme Court, where "they may be ultimately argued together on the same day," Staver explains. "They're not going to be consolidated because each case has something different."

He believes the Supreme Court will ultimately decide to strike down the healthcare reform law enacted earlier this year.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 20, 2010

Authorities monitoring abortuary via video in Rockford

    

Police have posted a surveillance camera at a notorious abortion clinic in Rockford, Illinois.

Local pro-life warrior Kevin Rilott tells OneNewsNow it was pro-life demonstrators who requested that the city set up the camera.
 
"There have been a number of incidents happen at this abortion clinic," he shares. "[In one] a pro-lifer was assaulted -- and the abortion clinic itself has 12 video cameras covering every square inch of the block around there. But when the police went to get the video from the clinic, for some reason they [claimed they] just forgot to start all 12 of their cameras that morning."
 
Kevin Rilott 2In another incident, says Rilott, two men with a woman entering the clinic grabbed the woman, knocked her to the ground when she sought out pro-life counselors, and dragged her several feet into the clinic. Police were called.
 
"The young woman was afraid to talk," says the pro-life activist, "and they asked the clinic for the video of what happened -- and of course, that morning they forgot to start their video cameras again."
 
Rilott contends that in that process, the abortion clinic is covering up crimes. He adds that abortion clinic workers have accused pro-lifers of doing things Rilott claims they have not done.
 
The police surveillance camera is mounted high on a pole and will be operated 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 19, 2010

Abortionist misleads medical board

 

    

Operation Rescue has uncovered questionable information about a late-term abortionist's medical license application in Maryland.

LeRoy Carhart recently opened a late-term abortuary in Maryland -- though he neglected to mention in his application last September the true nature of his medical practice and his two-decade-long association with abortion clinics.

Cheryl Sullinger of Operation Rescue tells OneNewsNow information has surfaced showing the abortionist identifies his medical practice in Nebraska under a different title -- "Bellevue Health/Emergency Clinic, Inc." In fact, according to the pro-life activist, Carhart does not even mention abortion and leads one to believe he is an emergency room physician and a university professor.

"So we believe that he has sanitized his application in order to obscure from the medical board the true nature of his abortion business," she suggests.

Cheryl Sullinger (Operation Rescue)Sullinger says the abortionist omitted from his application the work he did for Wichita late-term abortionist George Tiller, as well as other fragments of his work history at abortion clinics in eight states. So Operation Rescue has documented five of Carhart's Wichita patients who had to be hospitalized within one year following an abortion procedure.

"We also documented the death of Christin Gilbert, who was also a Carhart patient who unnecessarily died because of inadequate care that was given her during a third-trimester abortion," the pro-lifer adds.


Her group has filed a complaint with the medical licensing board in Maryland, asking its members to reconsider licensing LeRoy Carhart to continue his practice.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 20, 2010

More Faulty Research on the Mental-Health Effects of Abortion

    

Earlier this week, the Washington Post ran an article about a new study disputing the contention that abortions increase the risk of mental-health problems among women. This study, conducted by Julia Steinberg of UC–San Francisco and Lawrence Finer of the Guttmacher Institute, appeared in the October 2010 issue of Social Science and Medicine. It is somewhat surprising that the authors decided to publish this study in an independent, peer-reviewed journal.

All too often, researchers who support legal abortion are content to have their analyses appear in the Guttmacher Institute's own publications.

The primary purpose of this particular study was to discredit a previous study conducted by Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green University. Coleman used the same dataset -- the National Comorbidity Study -- to document that women who reported having had an abortion were at increased risk for anxiety, mood disorders, and substance abuse. In their report, the authors claim Coleman's study had methodological problems, and that they were unable to replicate her findings.

Unfortunately, the Post failed to report that Steinberg and Finer's study has some methodological shortcomings of its own. Most importantly, Steinberg and Finer use a much shorter time frame with which to analyze women's psychological health. Coleman's study reflected twelve-month prevalence of mental-health effects; Steinberg and Finer's looked at 30-day prevalence. This poses two problems. First, it reduces the number of data points in the study and therefore makes it more difficult to obtain a statistically significant finding. Second, a significant percentage of women may not suffer psychologically until months after the abortion has taken place.

This is the second time in two months that the Washington Post has given a prestigious platform to research calling into question whether obtaining an abortion increases a woman's risk of psychological problems. But interestingly, during this past year alone, studies finding evidence that women who have had abortions are at greater risk for a range of mental-health problems -- including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcoholism, and drug abuse -- have appeared in such journals as The Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Journal of Pregnancy, and The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Beyond this, there is a substantial body of peer-reviewed literature about the negative impact that abortion has on the health of women. Unfortunately, this research has been all but ignored by the Post -- and the rest of the mainstream media.

Editor's note. The previous appeared at National Review Online's "The Corner"

Michael J. New is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama and a fellow at the Witherspoon Institute.

Contact: Michael J. New
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 18, 2010

Pro-lifers warn about spending bill

    

Pro-life advocates are warning an omnibus spending bill of more than $1.2 trillion would expand federal funding of abortion.

Congress has failed to pass appropriations legislation for the various federal agencies in 2011, so the Democratic leadership in the Senate is pushing adoption of the all-encompassing spending measure before the end of the lame-duck session. Republicans, who will take control of the House of Representatives and have a stronger minority in the Senate when the new Congress convenes Jan. 4, are promoting what is known as a continuing resolution that would extend funding for government operations through Feb. 18.

The Family Research Council pointed to several provisions in the Senate's omnibus proposal it says would increase government support of abortion. At his weblog, Tom McClusky, vice president of FRC Action, included the following among pro-life concerns in a bill of more than 1,900 pages:

-- There will be $750 million in the Prevention and Public Health Fund for what McClusky describes as a "slush fund" that can be dipped into by organizations that do abortions.

-- Funding for "international population programming" will increase by $62 million under a presidential administration that rescinded the ban on funds to overseas groups that perform or promote abortions.

-- Money for Title X, the federal government's family planning program, will grow by $10 million from last year. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the country's leading abortion provider, is the No. 1 recipient of Title X funds.

-- Government money will continue to be used to underwrite abortions in the District of Columbia.

In addition, McClusky said there will be more than $1 billion in funding for the new health-care reform law, which will permit subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortions.

Pro-lifers received some encouraging news Dec. 15, when it was announced Democrats and Republicans had agreed on a Department of Defense authorization bill that would exclude a section allowing privately funded abortions to be performed in military hospitals in this country and abroad. A prohibition on such abortions has been in place for 14 years.

Republicans in the Senate had twice blocked floor action on the Defense authorization measure when it included the abortion provision and repeal of the ban on open homosexuals serving in the military. Opponents of the homosexual prohibition -- which is known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- are seeking to rescind it in a free-standing bill.

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: December 16, 2010

Planned Parenthood’s Revealing Report

    

The latest annual report from Planned Parenthood (PP) for 2008-2009 is revealing on several fronts.

One, it's the first annual report in recent years not to include actual numbers in several key categories: number of abortions, adoption referrals and prenatal services. 

PP released a fact sheet on its 2008 activity in September showing an increase in abortions (from 305,310 in 2007 to 324,008 in 2008) and a sizable drop in adoption referrals (from 4,912 in 2007 to 2,405 in 2008).  The 2007 report is found here.

Why PP would change reporting formats now is open to speculation. Perhaps the abortion numbers for 2009 were even higher, and the adoption referrals even lower. Unless it releases a fuller report in the future, we won't know.

One trend worth noting is that in recent years as the amount of government money going into PP's coffers increases (i.e. taxpayer funding), so does the number of abortions.  Members of Congress are absolutely right to pursue a bill defunding  this group, which is one of the nation's leading  perpetrators of abortion.

The 2009 report also highlights PP's involvement in promoting sexually graphic sex education.

Page 7  features two high school-age students, one male and one female, putting a condom on a fake penis.  Page 10 shows a coed high school-age class listing combinations of how different body parts can unite in intimacy.  And, Page 6 promotes the work of two fashion designers who created designer condoms for a New York City premiere, sponsored by PP.

That's what your tax dollars are supporting at Planned Parenthood.   It's time to defund.

Contact: Carrie Gordon Earll
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: Decmeber 16, 2010

Ireland's pro-life law takes a hit

 

The European Court of Human Rights has struck a blow to Ireland's law against abortion.

    

The complaint, which has been dubbed the "Roe v. Wade of Europe," was filed by three Irish women -- identified as "A," "B," and "C" -- who sued to abolish the country's constitutional amendment that protects innocent life. The court ultimately ruled that A and B's rights were not violated, but the rights of C were because doctors had said she would die without an abortion.

Joseph Meaney (Human Life International)"Basically, it's the European Court of Human Rights trying to impose the permission of abortion on Ireland, which is another case of European institutions trying to trample on local laws when they tend to be pro-life," contends Joseph Meaney of Human Life International (HLI).

The court decided that Ireland should provide a more clear procedure to determine the risk of a mother's life and her access to abortion, but Meaney believes that decision is wrong as it ultimately says Irish law provides for abortion to save the life of the mother.

"It's actually a misinterpretation because...the Irish constitution says...that both the child and the mother have an equal right to life. Therefore, one has to try and save both," the pro-lifer explains. "It does not give any permission for abortion because abortion is never a treatment."

Meaney goes on to suggest that Ireland ought to ignore the court's ruling, just as Italy did when the court ordered that crosses be removed from school classrooms. In addition, he points out that the European Convention on Human Rights contains no right to abortion.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: December 17, 2010

Under the Radar: "Selective Reductions"

    

So much of what we report on is because our kindly readers forward me stories. "When is twins too many" appeared last Friday in Canada's National Post, and it is a sobering reminder that just because we haven't read a lot about something, that doesn't mean it's not taking place.

"Fetal reductions are most commonly conducted by inserting an ultrasound-guided needle through the mother's abdomen and into the uterus, injecting a potassium chloride solution into the chosen fetus or fetuses, stopping their hearts," writes Tom Blackwell of the National Post. "They are typically performed between the ninth and 12th week, often with the most accessible or smallest fetuses marked for reduction, unless one is abnormal."

The difference now a days appears to be that the old justification--a woman carrying many babies is more likely to lose them all, so "reducing" the number is not as awful as pro-lifers say it is--is long gone. In classic slippery slope fashion,

Increasingly twins are being "reduced" to singletons, something that formerly was almost unheard of.

The number of such "selective reductions" is growing, not for medical reasons, but for socio-economic/lifestyle reasons.

Blackwell's story uses the pregnancy of a Toronto-area business executive and her husband as the hook for his story. When she subsequently aborts, she makes no apologies.

"I'm absolutely sure I did the right thing," she said. "I had read some online forums; people were speaking of grieving, feeling a sense of loss. I didn't feel any of that. Not that I'm a cruel, bitter person ... I just didn't feel I would be able to care for (twins) in a way that I wanted to."

The most interesting comments come two sources. One is a woman whose support group counsels couples over the loss of their unborn babies.

"She said she has heard from a number of people in the past several months who were seeking twin reductions to lessen their burden as parents, something she had never encountered before," Blackwell writes. "Though she strives to help them in a nonjudgmental way, she admits the trend 'saddens and scares' her. 'Is this a healthy thing? We have to ask these questions: Where does it stop? When do children become a commodity?'

The other is from Mark Evans, whose involvement goes back to the early days of "fetal reduction." Once upon a time he "believed reductions were ethically warranted only for triplets or higher-order multiple pregnancies," Blackwell writes. But now "he said the evidence now suggests that reducing twins to a singleton leads, on average, to better outcomes."
Better outcomes?

According to Evans, aborting one of the two twins now makes up 5% to 7% of the total "reductions," a percentage that can likely only increase "especially among the 40-somethings."

Evans uses the same defense of eliminating one of two unborn babies as when he justified selectively aborting a number of children: "In North America, couples can choose to have an abortion for any reason," he noted.

If there is any good news in this story, it is that when the Toronto-area couple decided to selectively abort, "Most obstetrician-gynecologists she and her husband contacted wanted no part of a twin reduction."

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 16, 2010

National Pro-Life Youth Rally following the March for Life

    

Participate in the world's LARGEST pro-life youth rally in our nation's capitol featuring award-winning Christian Rock Band, Barlow Girl!

Come to this FREE rally to hear Barlow Girl and national leaders like Eduardo Verastegui, actor and star of the award-winning movie, Bella; Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King; Abby Johnson, former Director of Planned Parenthood; David Bereit, 40 Days for Life; Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life of America; Erik Whittington, Rock For Life; Lila Rose, Live Action, and Ryan Bomberger, Radiance Foundation.

Any pro-lifer can register for this FREE event. The National Pro-Life Youth Rally will take place after the annual pro-life March in Washington, D.C. on Monday, January 24, 2011. Shows will be from 2:00 to 3:20pm and 3:30 to 5:00pm.

Pre-Register now for the Rally and you will be mailed your own Abolish Abortion, National Pro-Life Youth Rally bracelet that will guarantee you that you will get you into the event! Please note, space will be limited at the Rally, pre-registration is highly recommended.

Free Action Kits stuffed with pro-life literature, music download cards, and action materials will be be provided at the Rally to the first 5,000 participants.

*To register a group, download and fill out this group pre-registration form and e-mail it to us.*

The National Pro-Life Youth Rally is in complement to the annual March in Washington, D.C. on the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions which legalized abortion-on-demand in all nine months of pregnancy.
 
 This is your opportunity to gather with other young people from across America, take a stand for Life, and learn how to save lives in your schools and communities.

Click here to get directions to the Rally!

Source: National Pro-Life Youth Rally
Publish Date: December 17, 2010

Even More Adult Stem Cell Advances

    

Work Out, Pump Up Your Adult Stem Cells

Scientists at Tel Aviv University have found what they called a "fountain of youth" for aging muscles–exercise. They showed that endurance exercise can increase the number of muscle adult stem cells, and enhances their ability to rejuvenate old muscles. In a lab version of the rat race, young and old rats ran on a treadmill for 20 minutes a day for a 13-week period (can't you picture them working out in little sweat pants and head bands?) Younger animals showed a 20-35% increase in muscle adult stem cells retained, while older animals showed an even greater benefit, with a 33-47% increase in muscle stem cells, compared to sedentary controls. Endurance exercise also improved the levels of "spontaneous locomotion" in older animals, what the researchers called the feeling that tells our bodies to just get up and dance.

Prof. Dafna Benayahu and her team say their findings, published in PLOS One, explain for the first time why older people who have exercised throughout their lives age more gracefully. As we age, there is a decline in muscle mass and function as well as bone mass; this explains the increased risk of falling in the elderly. She hopes eventually to find a method to ameliorate the negative effects of aging by stimulating adult stem cells in the muscle.

Other studies have shown that exercise can stimulate production of new neurons and new brain cells from adult neural stem cells.

So get up and dance!

Adult Stem Cells Repair Damaged Facial Tissues

Spanish surgeons have reported pioneering work using a patient's own bone marrow adult stem cells to repair craniofacial damage. The group has recently published their results in the journal Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery for their first three patients.

One patient suffered from nerve impairment, a pathological fracture, and complete wasting of bone, muscle and skin, leading to life-threatening problems. At 12 months after the adult stem cell treatment, the patient had new blood vessel formation, bone regeneration, fracture consolidation and total nerve function recovery. Muscles later resumed function, and a destroyed salivary gland soon reactivated. Two other patients with advanced disease involving bone loss and other nerve defects were also treated. After adult stem cell treatment, bone formed rapidly and nerve function fully recovered. All patients also underwent minor surgery to receive dental implants in their newly-regenerated jawbones, and eight weeks later, doctors attached the dental prosthesis (teeth) to the implants, restoring oral function.

Paco Vidal, who was involved in the design of the stem cell production, said:

    "The outcome of these treatments with the stem cells has surpassed our wildest expectations. The surgeons observed early bone formation in the afflicted areas that eventually resulted in complete healing."

Adult stem cells continue to provide real treatments for real patients, now.

Contact: David Prentice
Source: FRC Blog
Publish Date: December 17, 2010

Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network Wins Well Deserved Life Prize

     

The Schindler Family–Terri Schiavo's mother and siblings–are some of the finest people I know. Their indomitable fight to save Terri from a cruel and medically unnecessary slow dehydration–in the face of media smears and fury among some who went berserk over their desire to save Terri's life–epitomized familial unconditional love and stalwart courage in the face of great adversity. That several year struggle destroyed father Bob Schindler's health, and her death broke his heart. He died a few years ago.

But the family continues on, working quietly behind the scenes individually–and through their foundation, the Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network–to help people who are fighting against a loved one suffering a similar fate. They remain white hot controversial figures in some quarters, but the pro life movement has now stepped forward with a big $100,000 Life Prize" award to the foundation. From the press release:

In 2005, the world watched as a young woman with disabilities was deprived of food and water by order of a judge. Her family has vowed to fight for the right to life of those vulnerable individuals with disabilities and as a result, "Terri's Network" has become their safe haven amidst the pressures of the so-called "right to die" movement. More than 1,000 families have been helped by the organization through their national network of resources, support and medical facilities for the medically-dependent and now they are among the six recipients of $600,000 in prizes awarded for achieving significant progress in promoting the sanctity of human life and working to protect and preserve it…The Life Prizes winners were measured by their success in saving lives and selected for best demonstrating their leadership and progress in pro-life achievements through public advocacy, scientific research, legal action, outreach and public discourse activities.

What a splendid recognition of selflessness. Congratulations to all who contribute to the Network–and to Bobby, Susanne, Mary, and the abiding memory of Bob.

Click here to view the details about other recipients.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

Predictions in Bioethics for 2011

     

Each year, the Center for Bioethics and Culture asks me to prognosticate about the coming 12 months in bioethics.  My record was pretty good for 2010. But the CBC refuses to let me rest on my laurels.  So, once again, I enter the prognosticating fray–stating what I think will happen, not necessarily what I want to happen.

First: Obamacare.  From my predictions:

 - A bill repealing Obamacare will pass the House of Representatives, but will go nowhere in the Senate;
At least one court will declare the individual purchase mandate unconstitutional, probably two. (Two judges have already ruled that the law is constitutional.) All cases will be appealed. At least one appellate court will find the individual purchase mandate unconstitutional, setting up a decision by the Supreme Court in 2012. (After this article was written, this prediction came true: A Virginia federal judge ruled against the individual purchase mandate, stating that it "exceeds the Commerce Clause powers vested in Congress under Article I [of the Constitution.]")

 - Even though the law does not have a severance clause keeping it in effect even if part of the statute is found to be unconstitutional, since the mandatory purchase provision does not go into effect until 2014, the courts will permit the government to enforce other Obamacare provisions and prepare regulations for the individual mandate during the appeal process.

 - The House of Representatives will refuse to fund the regulatory process needed to implement the law. That will spark a huge political fight when the Senate refuses to go along. The president will threaten to veto any bill that inhibits the law's implimentation. This could lead to a government shutdown. In the end, the parties will compromise, which will slow down, but not prevent, Obamacare from moving forward.

 - Certain changes will be made to Obamacare around the edges. But these will not be substantive.

 - The ultimate fate of Obamacare will be decided in 2012. First, by the Supreme Court's decision regarding the individual purchase mandate—without which the economics of the law won't work. 

 - Second, Obamacare will also be a prime issue in the 2012 presidential election, its ultimate fate decided by which candidate wins. But you'll have to wait for next year's prediction to see how that all will turn out.

What about stem cell research?

The Court of Appeals will reverse the trial court and allow Obama's ESCR funding policy to remain in place. The Supreme Court will not take the case. However, if I am wrong (yes, it happens), and the Court of Appeals affirms the trial court, the Supreme Court will take the case.

The Dickey-Wicker Amendment that forbids federal funding of destructive embryo research will be renewed for 2011. However, that prediction is predicated on the Court of Appeals ruling as I predicted above, or if the ruling has not been issued when it is before Congress. If the Court of Appeals overturns Obama's funding policy, there will be a big fight. In that event, either Dickey will not be renewed or ESCR will be exempted from its provisions.

The Human ESCR Trials Will Show No Dramatic Results: These are small safety studies and there will neither be a big breakthrough nor a catastrophe resulting from the experiments.

Scientists will announce success in their ongoing attempts at human cloning. This will spark a demand for federal funding of human cloning research. A bill will be so introduced, but it will not pass.

Induced pluripotent stem cell research will move away from creating stem cells and to "direct reprogramming," that is, turning one kind of cell into another without requiring the stem cell stage. This has been done with animal cells, and will also succeed in human cells. This success will blunt the fervor for ESCR.

Adult stem cell success will mount. But you didn't need me to tell you that.

Assisted suicide?  The professional fate of Medicare head, Donald Berwick?  Octomom? If you want to know what 2011 will bring, you will have to hit the link above to find out.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

More Adult Stem Cell Advances

     

Reattaching Teeth with Adult Stem Cells

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have shown that they can anchor teeth back in the jaw using adult stem cells. The technique could be widely applicable for replanting teeth lost through gum disease or an accident.

The scientists used adult stem cells obtained from the periodontal ligament of molars extracted from mice. The cells were grown in culture and then seeded onto clean rat molars, then the molars were placed into the tooth sockets of rats. After two to four months, the stem cells aligned and formed new fibrous attachments between the tooth and bone, firmly attaching the replanted tooth into the animal's mouth. Molars that were replanted without adult stem cells were either lost or loosely attached and were reabsorbed by the jaw.

According to senior author Thomas Diekwisch:

"Our strategy could be used for replanting teeth that were lost due to trauma or as a novel approach for tooth replacement using tooth-shaped replicas."

The study was published recently in the journal Tissue Engineering.

Reversing Aging of Muscle Adult Stem Cells

A Joslin Diabetes Center team has shown that treatment of aged mice with a compound can rejuvenate their muscle stem cells. The lab of senior author Amy Wagers developed a way of screening chemicals that would promote regeneration in muscle stem cells from older mice, and identified a compound, A25, that selectively blocks a protein involved in TGF beta signaling, a cellular signaling pathway important to stem cell growth.

The drug had no effect on muscle stem cells in young mice, but in older mice the compound gave old muscle stem cells the regenerative ability of cells from young mice. Because this compound would stimulate cells throughout the body, it would not be useful in humans, but the results do show that stimulation of old muscle adult stem cells is possible. An appropriate compound could potentially be useful to repair wasted or damaged muscle in older people.

The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in Philadelphia.

Adult Stem Cell Protein Improves Hearts

Duke researchers have shown that applying a protein secreted by adult stem cells can repair heart function and reduce scarring. The group had previously shown that adult mesenchymal stem cells could reduce heart and restore function in rodent hearts. Their newest study looked at the mechanism behind the success of adult stem cells in treating heart damage.

They found that a natural protein, called "secreted frizzled related protein 2 (sfrp2)", was a key factor in the heart repair seen with adult stem cells. In a rat model, they found that application of the protein after heart attack prevented fibrous scarring within two weeks, and began to restore heart function within four weeks.

Dr. Victor Dzau, senior author of the study, said:

"We found that giving the study rats the protein sfrp2 strongly improved heart function in the critical pumping chamber, the left ventricle, after a myocardial infarction. We observed that sfrp2 at therapeutic doses reduced heart muscle death and also directly prevented deposits of collagen, and thus reduced the scarring that can affect heart function."

The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A Perpetual Adult Stem Cell?

Scientists at the University at Buffalo have engineered adult stem cells that can grow continuously in culture. Normal adult stem cells have a limited lifespan in the laboratory, which frustrates scientists who want to study them over the long term, but does not prevent their being grown and used for current adult stem cell transplants.

The scientists developed the new cell lines by genetically engineering mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell from bone marrow that can form other cell types and repair various tissues. They named the new cells "MSC Universal". The new adult stem cells show no evidence of aging in culture, function as normal mesenchymal stem cells, and do not form tumors in animal testing (unlike embryonic stem cells).

According to the project leader, Dr. Techung Lee, an MSC-Universal cell line could be generated from any donor.

"Our stem cell research is application-driven. If you want to make stem cell therapies feasible, affordable and reproducible, we know you have to overcome a few hurdles. Part of the problem in our health care industry is that you have a treatment, but it often costs too much. In the case of stem cell treatments, isolating stem cells is very expensive. The cells we have engineered grow continuously in the laboratory, which brings down the price of treatments."

One of the mechanisms by which adult stem cells help regenerate or repair damaged tissues is by releasing growth factors that encourage existing cells in the human body to function and grow. Lee has previously published evidence showing that injecting adult stem cells into skeletal muscle can stimulate repair of the heart. More recently his lab has identified some of the factors involved in the stimulation of repair, published in the journal Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

The University of Buffalo has applied for a patent to protect Lee's discovery, so there is as yet no publication about the new cells.

Contact: David Prentice
Source: FRC Blog
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

Thomas More Society Lends its Voice to Silenced Pro-Life Sidewalk Counselor

Society Defending Detroit Man Accused of 'Stalking'

     

Today in Wayne County Circuit Court, the Chicago-based Thomas More Society appeared with veteran sidewalk counselor Chris Coatney to seek dismissal of a personal protective order against him. The order was entered after the manager of the Summit Women's Center, a Detroit abortion clinic, alleged Coatney was stalking her by following and threatening her, an assertion he denies. The motion to dismiss the personal protective order was denied, and the Society will now try to overturn it on appeal or in the trial court.

"This is a gross abuse of the stalking law to suppress the free speech of a 9-year sidewalk counseling veteran," said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society. "It's a travesty that one of the best sidewalk counselors in Michigan is now prohibited from doing what he is called to do -- peaceably and persuasively speaking the message of life to abortion-bound women."

The alleged incident occurred in September, although Coatney says he has video evidence to prove these allegations are false. Under the current personal protective order, Coatney is required to stay at least 100 feet away from the abortion clinic, thereby prohibiting him from sidewalk counseling, which he has done every day at the abortion clinic since April. 

Contact: Stephanie Lewis
Source: Thomas More Society
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

Using Chemicals to Reprogram iPS Cells

     

The field of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells continues to move rapidly. It was only 2006 when Yamanaka published the first paper showing that a normal cell, such as a skin cell, could be reprogrammed to behave like an embryonic stem cell, by adding four genes through the use of viruses. In 2007, Yamanaka's lab and Thomson's lab independently showed that the technique could work with human cells. Since that time there have been numerous reports of different tissues, different species, and variations on the reprogramming (here is a brief review.) One goal has been eliminating use of DNA as a tool for the reprogramming, eventually using only simple chemicals.

Recently a Scripps lab has come close to using only chemicals for reprogramming normal cells to iPS cells. The report, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, describes the use of a few drug-like chemicals to replace all but one (Oct-4) of the added genes. A future goal is to replace Oct-4, a master regulator of pluripotency, in the chemical cocktail.

Senior author Sheng Ding says:

"That would be the last step toward achieving the Holy Grail. Our latest discovery brings us one step closer to this dream. We are working toward creating drugs that are totally chemically defined, where we know every single component and precisely what it does, without causing genetic damage."

Because iPS cells can be made without the use of embryos, eggs or cloning, the technique provides an ethical route to pluripotent (embryonic-like) stem cells. Using only a chemical mixture would eliminate one other ethical problem–some of the tools used (some genes, viruses, and cell lines used) are derived from human tissue. This leaves some of the tools as ethically-tainted, even if the technique itself is not problematic.

Still, there remains a problem with any pluripotent stem cell–their propensity to grow, leading to tumors. Meanwhile, adult stem cells are already treating thousands of patients now.

Contact: David Prentice
Source: FRC Blog
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

Disappointing Bioethics Commission Report Punts on Regulating “Synthetic Life”

     

President Obama's bioethics council, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, has been kept out of the most intense bioethical controversies, such as the Obamacare debate.  But, after scientists announced the creation of the first "synthetic life," Obama wisely tasked his commission with investigating the field's ethics, promise, and perils

I commented on this story for the CBC at the time.  I noted it wasn't really synthetic life, and more to the point, that rather than let the nascent field just bust loose without oversight like we did with IVF, regulatory mechanisms should be erected now.  This would encourage the science to proceed, but ensure that researchers navigate it into proper channels.  From my piece:

The good news is that unlike IVF, concerns over the impact of synthetic life could become a rare field about which the political left and right, so often at loggerheads, could agree. Thus, we should applaud President Obama for directing his new bioethics advisory panel (Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues) to investigate the implications of this field and report back to him with proposed societal responses…This is not to say that the science should be wholly stifled. But it is to say that we should refuse to assume the posture of mere flotsam and jetsam floating on the currents. For once, as a powerful new science emerges, let's control our own destiny. The last thing the world needs is a synthetic life science sector Wild, Wild, West.

Alas, the Obama ethics panel generally recommended a more passive approach.  First, it agreed with me that the breakthrough didn't really create synthetic life.   From the Commission's Q and A document on their conclusions:

In our deliberations, we heard that while Venter's achievement marked a significant technical advance in demonstrating that a relatively large genome could be accurately synthesized and substituted for another, it did not amount to the "creation of life."… The technical feat of synthesizing a genome for its chemical parts so that it becomes self-replicating when inserted into a bacterial cell of another species, while significant, does not represent the creation of life from inorganic chemicals alone.

Still, this is a potentially powerful technology. So what should be done now to keep it within proper parameters?  Disappointingly, not a lot:

Our major recommendation is that the federal government, through the Executive Office of the President, start to coordinate and oversee what all Federal agencies are doing in the field of synthetic biology. We do not recommend that additional agencies or oversight bodies need to be created to oversee synthetic biology. But we do recommend that the government stay current on the advances with the science and remain forward looking about the potential benefits and risks to the public. We want all researchers – from clinical researchers to engineers – to go through ethics education. And we want to find ways to better educate the public about synthetic biology. One idea is to create a biology version of FactCheck.org, which would let the public sort through claims made about the science in order to figure out what is true and what isn't.

Talk about a punt!  There is no reason to wait before beginning to regulate the field. Indeed, when better to do it than before before anyone has a vested interest in crossing reasonable boundaries?  For example, I think the government should outlaw using this technique on sentient life.  It can't be done now, but so what? Why not ensure that it won't be until and unless scientists prove that such experiments should go forward from both an ethical and safety standpoint?

I do agree, however, with the general philosophical approach toward regulating should be "prudent vigilance:"

We promote the idea of "prudent vigilance," advocating reasonable risk assessment strategies and charting a middle ground between extreme demands for complete proof of safety before permitting research, an idea often referred as "the precautionary principle," and calls for unfettered and laissez-faire scientific freedom in the absence of proven risks.

Prudent vigilance, yes: Hands off, no.  That means start regulating now while there is time to carefully deliberate.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: December 16, 2010

Another Pro-Abortion Attack on Research Documenting that Abortion Hurts Women

Among the strongest pillars upholding the continued viability of legalized abortion is the faulty conclusion (as expressed in 2008 by the pro-abortion American Psychological Association) that "There is no credible evidence that a single elective abortion of an unwanted pregnancy in and of itself causes mental health problems for adult women." So as the number of studies mount showing that many women (at least 30%) suffer from serious physical and/or mental health aftereffects from their abortion, you could be sure pro-abortionists would unload a withering barrage of criticism.

The latest round of scholarly putdowns--in this case against an important study published by Coleman et al. in 2008 in the Journal of Psychiatric Research-- was unleashed this week by researchers with obvious connections to the Abortion Establishment. Indeed it would harder to get better anti-life credentials than Julia Steinberg of the University of California, San Francisco, and Lawrence Finer of the Guttmacher Institute

[Is it an accident that their stinging critique comes on the heels of an op-ed written by Dr. Brenda Major published last month in the Washington Post, charging that "Rigorous U.S. scientific studies have not substantiated the claim that abortion, compared with its alternatives, causes an increased incidence of mental health problems"? It certainly is no coincidence that Dr. Major chaired the American Psychological Association's highly biased Task Force which produced the APA's Report on Abortion and Mental Health.]

Writing in Social Science & Medicine, Steinberg and Finer brusquely dismiss the results of the 2008 study. In a statement dripping with condescension and released with their paper, Steinberg wrote, "We were unable to reproduce the most basic tabulations of Coleman and colleagues," adding, "Moreover, their findings were logically inconsistent with other published research." For good measure, Steinberg writes, "This suggests that the results were substantially inflated" (emphasis added).

So what was it that Coleman, Coyle, Shuping, and Rue found? Let's begin with the purpose of their study--"To examine associations between abortion history and a wide range of anxiety (panic disorder, panic attacks, PTSD, Agoraphobia), mood (bipolar disorder, mania, major depression), and substance abuse disorders (alcohol and drug abuse and dependence) using a nationally representative US sample, the national comorbidity survey." [The NCS is "widely recognized as the first nationally representative survey of mental health in the United States."]

The most notable conclusion of "Induced abortion and anxiety, mood, and substance abuse disorders: Isolating the effects of abortion in the national comorbidity survey" was, "The strongest effects based on the attributable risks indicated that abortion is responsible for more than 10% of the population incidence of alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, drug dependence, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and bipolar disorder in the population. Lower percentages were identified for 6 additional diagnoses."

Given the personal nature of Steinberg's and Finer's attack--"Antiabortion activists have relied on questionable science in their efforts to push inclusion of the concept of 'post-abortion syndrome' in both clinical practice and law"-- there is great irony in the concluding paragraph to Coleman et al.'s paper.

"The academic debate [over abortion and mental health] was fueled by socio-political agendas that impeded and at time contaminated scientific efforts," they wrote. "Recent years have however ushered in large scale, methodologically sophisticated studies…"

The Steinberg/Finer paper is 45-pages long, but the core of their critique is simple. There is no significant relationship between abortion history and substance abuse or mood and anxiety disorders once you look at "other factors, such as preexisting mental health disorders and sexual or physical violence before the abortion," as the Washington Post's Rob Stein summarized the argument. "[T]hey found that women who had had multiple abortions were more likely to have those risk factors before the abortion compared with women who had had one or no abortions."

This is the most common pro-abortion response--indeed, in some ways it is the only pro-abortion response: Women who have post-abortion difficulties came to their abortions with emotional baggage.

As Steinberg and Finer wrote, "Women likely to have negative psychological outcomes following an abortion are those least apt to cope with any stressful life event including giving birth to an unwanted pregnancy" (italics in the original). It is not a consequence OF the abortion.

In response to an inquiry, Prof. Coleman wrote back, "Despite their many claims to have conducted a 're-analysis' of our study, Steinberg and Finer have conducted a very different set of analyses. The critical distinction is in how the psychological disorders were defined. Our analyses reflected 12-month prevalence and their analyses reflected only the 30-day prevalence. Our results are quite similar to those reported by pro-choice researcher David Fergusson and many others. There are additional differences between the two sets of analyses, most notably related to the choice of potential confounding variables and the methods used to control them in the analyses."

Coleman continued, "Do these authors have plans to 'replicate' the 2010 study by Mota and colleagues published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry? These authors also used the National Comorbidity Survey Replication data and their results were quite consistent with ours.

"I find it hard to imagine that Steinberg and Finer believe a journal as reputable as the Journal of Psychiatric Research--edited by Alan Schatzberg, M.D., president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association--would publish an article indicating that abortion poses psychological risks to women independent of other stressors without scrutinizing the methodology carefully."

There are a number of other weaknesses.

First, Finer has worked for years for Guttmacher, the intellectual arm of the Abortion Establishment. Steinberg works at the University of California at San Francisco.

It would be difficult to exaggerate how prominent an abortion proponent UCSF has been over the decades. Carol Joffe, a prominent abortion activist who is one of the professors at UCSF's Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health and helped put together the "Abortion Pioneers" booklet [featuring UCSF faculty], outlined the place of UCSF in the abortion movement:

"What UCSF has done, more so than any other medical institution I can think of, has been to integrate abortion into mainstream medical care," she said. "The message that this medical school gives the rest of medicine is that abortion is a normal part of women's reproductive health" (p. 17) [See http://www.nrlc.org/NewsToday/HighPowered.html].

Second, the result of the research of Coleman et al. is not an isolated outlier. It is part of a wave of research--including by self-described "pro-choicers" such as Prof. Fergusson--that has reached the same conclusion: there are serious mental health consequences associated with having an abortion.

For example, writing in the December 2008 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, Prof. Fergusson, John Horwood, and Dr. Joseph Boden from New Zealand's Otago University reported a 30% higher rate of mental health problems among women who had aborted. The conditions most associated with abortion included anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.

The study ("Abortion and mental health disorders: evidence from a 30-year longitudinal study") was of over 500 women born in one city, who were interviewed six times between the ages of 15 and 30.

The trio of researchers estimated that between 1.5% and 5.5% of the overall rate of mental disorders in this group of women could be accounted for by their abortions.

There were two other inter-related considerations. To begin with, "none of the other pregnancy outcomes [other than abortion] were consistently related to significantly increased risks of mental health problems."

Moreover, the evidence "clearly poses a challenge to the use of psychiatric reasons to justify abortion," Fergusson told the Daily Mail. "There is nothing in this study that would suggest that the termination of pregnancy was associated with lower risks of mental health problems than birth."

Third, in Prof. Coleman response to Dr. Major's Washington Post op-ed, she pointed out, "Over 30 studies have been published in just the last five years and they add to a body of literature comprised of hundreds of studies published in major medicine and psychology journals throughout the world." She added, "No lies, just scientifically-derived information that individual academics, several major professional organizations, and abortion providers have done their best to hide and distort in recent years."

The conclusion that abortion has a devastating aftermath for women "has been voiced by prominent researchers in Great Britain, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the U.S., and elsewhere," Coleman wrote. Major's "op-ed provides another illustration of the dishonesty permeating the scientific study and dissemination of information pertaining to abortion and mental health"

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 14, 2010

--  Illinois Federation for Right to Life 2600 State Street, Suite. E Alton, IL  62002  Phone: 618.466.4122 Fax: 618.466.4134 Web: www.ifrl.org E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

Adult Stem Cell Transplant Helps Cure HIV?

A German HIV and leukemia patient, who recovered from leukemia plus HIV after adult stem cell therapy, made headlines some two years ago. The then-anonymous patient–diagnosed with HIV in 1995–had contracted life-threatening leukemia. In 2006, Berlin doctors applied a standard therapy for leukemia–transplantation of donated bone marrow adult stem cells that reconstitute the patient’s blood and immune system (Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas received the 1990 Nobel Prize for their discoveries that led to such transplants.) But the German doctors did even more: Knowing that some people are genetically resistant to HIV, they looked for a matched bone marrow donor with this special feature–cells that lack . And they found the desired donor. The patient went into remission both from leukemia and from the HIV infection. The case made international headlines in 2008.

Now, the anonymity of the “Berlin patient” has been lifted by the German weekly magazine “Stern” (“The Star”). He is an American citizen who lives in Berlin, 44-year-old Timothy Ray Brown. He has survived leukemia and he has defeated HIV, through a selective adult stem cell transplant. The adult stem cell donor was carefully selected by the doctors–the donor cells lacked a molecule called CCR5; the cell-surface receptor that acts as an attachment factor for the HIV virus, making the donor cells resistant to HIV infection.

The doctors are now claiming that there is evidence in this patient for a “cure” for HIV infection using the selective adult stem cell transplant. The published evidence seems sound, but caution should be exercised. This is not a gentle procedure. Moreover, it relies on finding a bone marrow adult stem cell donor with the particular mutation, so that their donated cells lack the CCR5 receptor.

Click here to read the new report (“Evidence for the cure of HIV infection by CCR5{Delta}32/{Delta}32 stem cell transplantation”) is published online in the journal Blood.

Contact: David Prentice
Source: FRC Blog
Publish Date: December 14, 2010

--  Illinois Federation for Right to Life 2600 State Street, Suite. E Alton, IL  62002  Phone: 618.466.4122 Fax: 618.466.4134 Web: www.ifrl.org E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

Alaska Judge Guts Parental-Notification Law

Planned Parenthood won a partial victory today as Alaska’s parental-notification law took effect without key provisions included.

Superior Court Judge John Suddock refused a request from the abortion giant to block the entire law, but ruled that abortionists will not face fines or prison time if they fail to notify parents before a minor gets an abortion. He also ruled that “designees,” instead of physicians, can notify parents.

The law passed in August with 55 percent of the votes.

Jim Minnery, president of the Alaska Family Council, told NBC’s KTUU that Suddock’s ruling has made the law useless because abortionists will not be held accountable.

“What’s the incentive for a physician?” he said. “It’s basically a suggestion.”

Minnery also pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld similar laws on nine occasions.

Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: December 14, 2010

--  Illinois Federation for Right to Life 2600 State Street, Suite. E Alton, IL  62002  Phone: 618.466.4122 Fax: 618.466.4134 Web: www.ifrl.org E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

Carhart Deceives MD Board About Late-Term Abortion Involvement

Complaint filed with Maryland Board of Physicians highlighting the truth behind Carhart's "sanitized" medical license application.
 
LeRoy Carhart is perhaps the best known abortionist in the nation, yet when he applied for a license to practice medicine in Maryland in September, Carhart intentionally concealed the true nature of his risky late-term abortion practice from the Maryland Board of Physicians.

"Looking at his Maryland medical license application, there is no mention of abortion anywhere. One is lead to believe that Carhart is an emergency room physician and university professor. There is no indication on that application that he is the most notorious late-term abortionist in the nation," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Operation Rescue recently received a redacted copy of Carhart's application for Maryland licensure, which was obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act request.

On page two of the application, Carhart lists his current position as Medical Director and Staff Physician of "Bellevue Health/Emergency Clinic, Inc." located at 1002 West Mission Avenue in Bellevue, Nebraska, which is actually the address of his infamous abortion mill, better known as the Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska.

"Why use a dummy corporation instead of the actual name of his abortion business? It is obvious that Carhart attempted to deceive without technically lying. It shows a devious attitude that poses a danger in the field of medicine," said Newman.

Nowhere on Carhart's application does he mention that he was an employee for over a decade of George Tiller's now-closed Women's Health Care Services, the largest free-standing late-term abortion mill outside of Communist China. That omission, as well as the omission of other abortion clinics that Carhart has worked at in the past 20 years in eight states, helps to conceal the truth about the nature of Carhart's late-term abortion business.

"When the most notorious abortionist in the world tries to cover up what he does for a living, you know he has something to hide," said Newman.

Operation Rescue has submitted to the Maryland Board of Physicians documentation on Gilbert's avoidable death and the numerous botched abortions with which Carhart was involved in Kansas. The complaint is demanding that the Board reconsider Carhart's license.

"We intend to press the issue with the medical board and other authorities until women are safe from Carhart's deceptive and exploitive abortion practices," said Newman.

Contact: Troy Newman
Source: Operation Rescue
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

--  Illinois Federation for Right to Life 2600 State Street, Suite. E Alton, IL  62002  Phone: 618.466.4122 Fax: 618.466.4134 Web: www.ifrl.org E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

Adult Stem Cell Advances

Sewing in Healing Adult Stem Cells

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have developed biological sutures that could be used to sew adult stem cells into various parts of the body, including heart muscle. The technique used biopolymer microthreads made of fibrin, a type of protein that forms in clots; the fibrin microthreads can be engineered with various tensile strengths and seeded with adult stem cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow.

In a paper published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials, the team showed that the adult mesenchymal stem cells would grow on the microthreads and still maintain their ability to differentiate into various cell types.

Studies by senior author Dr. Glenn Gaudette as well as others have shown that mesenchymal stem cells can improve cardiac function, but that it is a challenge to deliver sufficient numbers of the cells to the damaged heart tissue. Students at Johns Hopkins had previously embedded adult stem cells in regular surgical thread. One of Dr. Caugette’s colleagues, Dr. George Pins, developed the special biopolymer microthread technology as a “scaffold” to attach cells for applications in wound healing and cellular therapy.

Dr. Gaudette said:

    “This technology is developing into a potentially powerful system for delivering therapeutic cells right to where they are needed, whether that’s a damaged heart or other tissues.”

Sew there you have it, more potential uses of adult stem cells.

Gone to the Dogs: Adult Stem Cells Help Pets

While real treatments with adult stem cells for people continue to be overlooked as they hype pushes resources towards embryonic stem cells, animals are benefitting from adult stem cells. Previous stories have noted that numerous animals have received adult stem cell treatments.

Now two more dogs from Topeka, Kansas take center stage in the success stories.. Gunner and Sherman had their own adult stem cells injected. The results have been impressive, and their owners say it’s almost like their dogs are aging backwards.

Gunner used to drag his feet when he walked from pain in his joints. His owner says, “Our fourth day after the procedure, he picked his feet up and he was prancing and later on that evening he decided to jump up on the sofa.” Sherman had terrible arthritis that made it painful for him to move. About ten days after his treatment, Sherman was also much improved and moving freely.

Veterinarian Larry Snyder of University Animal Clinic, who treated the dogs, couldn’t be more pleased. Snyder says:

    “We’ve been very impressed with what these dogs are doing. Neither dog seems to be in any pain, they’re moving well. It’s almost like somebody turned back the hands of time.”

It’s about doggone time that people realized the actual success of adult stem cells for people, too.

Quadriplegic Donkey Walks Again with Adult Stem Cells

Eli the donkey provides another example from the animal world of the success of adult stem cells. On May 13, 2010 Eli was attacked by a stablemate twice his size. The trauma led to swelling of his spinal cord, and rapid progression of weakness in his front end and hindquarters. The veterinarians treating Eli also got the opinion of Dr. Mike Kistler of Cortez, Colorado, a senior member of the American Society of Neuroradiology with more than 25 years of experience in human spinal trauma. Dr. Kistler noted that “In a human, a comparable injury would have been sustained by diving into shallow water, and the majority of those injuries would have a poor prognosis, with paralysis.” Kistler’s interpretation of the MRI results was that Eli’s spinal cord had suffered significant bruising and circulation damage, and that the prognosis was poor. Because an equid’s overall health declines when it cannot stand, he felt Eli most likely would not survive his injury or its complications. By May 24, Eli lay paralyzed in all four limbs and could not lift his head; he’d developed pneumonia and was unable to maintain his body temperature, even with supportive care, and was on the verge of death.

But Eli was under the care of Doug Herthel, D.V.M., who is a pioneer in the veterinary use of adult stem cells. He has treated more than 5,000 horses with good results, though the majority have been for tendon and ligament injuries. He opted to treat Eli with adult mesenchymal stem cells. With the little donkey’s life hanging by a thread, there was no time to harvest and process stem cells from Eli’s own bone marrow, so Herthel used donor adult stem cells that had been banked from the bone marrow of a Thoroughbred racehorse. Within 48 hours, Eli improved and began to show some movement. Eli received additional treatments of the adult stem cells.

Herthel says:

“Mesenchymal stem cells can selectively target injured tissue and promote functional recovery. They can be attracted to damaged tissue by chemical signals released from damaged cells.”

On July 31, attendants found Eli standing in his stall. According to Herthel:

    “We couldn’t figure out how he got up. So we went back and looked at the [intensive care unit] video, and we saw him get up on his own. It wasn’t pretty, but he got up, and that’s what counts. After that third treatment, he just got better and better, and his muscle mass came back.”


Click here for the video.

Eli was released to his owner on September 15. Herthel said he expects Eli to enjoy a normal existence, barring unanticipated complications later in his life.

While this is only one case, Herthel says he won’t hesitate to use the adult stem cell procedure again. Maybe if some politicians and scientists weren’t such… donkeys ideologically lusting for embryonic stem cells, people could experience some of the same benefits.

Contact: David Prentice
Source: FRC Blog
Publish Date: December 15, 2010

--  Illinois Federation for Right to Life 2600 State Street, Suite. E Alton, IL  62002  Phone: 618.466.4122 Fax: 618.466.4134 Web: www.ifrl.org E-mail: mail@ifrl.org