Illinois Federation for Right to Life

January 20, 2011

Evidence against abortionist 'overwhelming'

Questions are being raised about Pennsylvania abortion clinics after the arrest of an abortionist and nine employees. The abortionist and four of those employees now face murder charges.

Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell is accused in the death of one adult patient, as well as the deaths of seven viable babies born alive during abortions and stabbed to death with scissors. National Right to Life executive director Dr. David O'Steen calls the reports surrounding the case a reminder that the purpose of each abortion -- no matter how it is performed -- is to "deliberately and brutally take at least one innocent human life."

"The victims are helpless little members of the human family," he continues, "and this is equally true whether the killing is completed inside or outside of the womb." He is calling for Gosnell to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if the reports prove true.

Diane Gramley, who heads the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, has little doubt police did "the right thing" in arresting Gosnell. "...Because the evidence is overwhelming when the brother of one of the adult victims said that the -- quote, unquote -- 'clinic' was filthy and bloody," she laments.

Gramley says one particularly appalling aspect of the case is that the state had not investigated the clinic since 1993, despite numerous complaints being lodged. "There needs to be review of the regulations," she remarks. "And if they need to be tightened, that's definitely something that should be addressed in light of this case -- and that should be addressed in the new legislature."

When investigators finally checked the facilities at Gosnell's Women's Medical Society early last year, they found numerous containers with the preserved remains of aborted babies. None of Gosnell's employees had medical training yet were apparently administering drugs to patients. The indictments also allege a high school student administered intravenous anesthesia with drugs that could have been lethal.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow

Obamacare repeal could trim taxpayer funding of abortions

Those who value life are hopeful that the Obamacare repeal that passed the U.S. House Wednesday could spark another effort to stopping taxpayer-funding of abortions. But since in Illinois there are absolutely no restrictions on abortion, no parental notification law enforcement, and generous state funding of abortions, the effort may have minimal effect if passed, except for any federal funding that goes to health care clinics:

It was an issue that nearly derailed President Obama's national health care law: whether the plan would provide any federal funds for abortion. Now, as Republicans have taken up the effort to repeal the law, the issue has returned to the forefront.

Before the law was passed, pro-life advocates argued that nothing would stop taxpayer dollars from being used to finance abortions through insurance subsidies. Obama and his congressional allies struck a compromise with pro-life Democrats to get the law passed. In return for their support, the president signed an executive order restating his promise to use no federal monies for abortion.
But now, activists see a chance to tighten restrictions.

But didn't the Obama executive order restrict funding of abortions? Prolife lawmakers and activists are skeptical, and suspect the money is being funneled for the same use under another guise:

"One way or another, taxpayer money will help and assist abortions that will occur as a result of Obamacare," said Rep. John Fleming, a Louisiana Republican who is also a physician.
Fleming says he's concerned about $11 billion slated to fund community health centers.

Pro-Life Conference Brings Together Illinois Activists, National Speakers

SpeakOut Illinois Program Aims to Equip Attendees to Defend Life and Family

A coalition of nearly 40 pro-life organizations will host its annual conference on January 29 in Oak Brook, Ill. The SpeakOut Illinois conference, led by the Pro-Life Action League, is in its twentieth year, and welcomes Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council as its keynote speaker.

SpeakOut Illinois is a unique coalition of 37 pro-life organizations from across the state, including the Pro-Life Action League, crisis pregnancy centers, a pro-life law firm the Thomas More Society, politically active pro-life groups and religiously affiliated organizations such as Lutherans for Life and Catholic Citizens of Illinois. No other state can boast such a broad pro-life coalition.

"Although we operate under different names on a daily basis, all of our participants and sponsors are united under the banner of life," said Ann Scheidler, Vice President of the Pro-Life Action League and chair of the SpeakOut Illinois committee.

Concurrent with SpeakOut Illinois is TeenSpeak, a conference for teens designed to help them put their pro-life convictions into action. The teen program will feature Linda Courie, a former employee of Planned Parenthood who is now a pro-life advocate. TeenSpeak is sponsored by Generations for Life, the youth outreach division of the Pro-Life Action League. This year's breakout session topics include:

Sharing the Pro-Life Message, led by Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League
In God's Hands: End of Life Issues
Equipping Your Church as a Gospel-Driven Champion of Life
How to Influence Public Policy for Life

The Henry Hyde Life Leadership Award will be presented to David Bereit of 40 Days for Life. "This annual gathering of individuals and organizations committed to life at every stage is essential to strengthen the pro-life voice in Illinois and make an impact on the movement for life," said Scheidler. For more information, the day's schedule, and to register, visit theSpeakOut Illinois website.

Contact: Tom Ciesielka
Source: SpeakOut Illinois

House passes repeal of health care law

The House voted 245-189 for the Repealing the Job-killing Health Care Law Act, H.R. 2., with all 242 Republicans joining three Democrats -- Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Mike Ross of Arkansas -- in voting for the bill and 189 Democrats opposing it.

Foes of the 2010 law -- dubbed "Obamacare" by critics -- have consistently called for its repeal since its enactment.

The opposition has been based on a variety of concerns.

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and other pro-life organizations oppose the health-care reform law because it authorizes subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion. Additional reasons for the strong disapproval by the ERLC and others of the law include its mandate that Americans purchase health insurance, the greater government involvement in medical care, and what they say is the likelihood of an increase in both the federal deficit and taxes.

ERLC President Richard Land applauded the House's vote Wednesday.

"The vote in the House today to repeal Obamacare is a major step in the direction of restoring the American people's trust in their government," Land said. "The Republicans promised that if elected they would do this, and they have done it within a fortnight of becoming the majority.

"This is a significant first step toward total repeal of Obamacare and its replacement with the health-care reform that we truly need and will serve our country and its highest ideals," he said.

The victory appears certain to be short-lived. The Democratic leadership is committed to blocking repeal in the Senate. Obama would veto the bill if it were to reach his desk.

House Republicans, however, have indicated they will target specific provisions in the health-care reform law for change if their repeal effort fails.

In March, the health-care law cleared its last major hurdle when the House voted 219-212 for one of the two bills that made up the reform package. The clinching votes for the massive bill were gained when a group of avowedly pro-life Democrats withdrew their opposition, which previously had been based on abortion-funding concerns, in exchange for an Obama executive order that supposedly would have prevented federal support for the procedure.

Pro-life advocates inside and outside the House, however, rejected the proposed executive order as ineffective. They pointed out the president could rescind his order at any time and contended the federal courts would rule in favor of the language in the law, not that in the executive order.

On Jan. 18, Land wrote Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor in support of the repeal attempt. He said Obama's executive order "is insufficient to block federal funding of abortion under health care."

The ERLC supports "health care reform that would preserve the private nature of our health care system while reducing costs, maintaining the highest possible standard of care, and ensuring that federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortion," Land wrote. "Unfortunately, the [health-care reform] enacted last year fall[s] well short of these ideals."

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives kept a promise Wednesday they made before the November election, voting to repeal the health-care reform law enacted last year.

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press

January 19, 2011

Today's Newslinks

Kentucky Appeals Court Will Allow Abortions on Out-of-State Girls
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has reversed a district court ruling and will allow girls to travel to the state to receive an abortion without their parents' knowledge. Under state law, minors can petition a judge to grant an abortion.

Abortion 'the most horrendous taking of human life in history'
In a column preceding the January 22 March for Life, Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City - St. Joseph observed that "almost 60 million surgical abortions have been recorded in the United States" since Roe v. Wae-- "the most horrendous taking of human life in history." "No elected official or appointed judge is worthy of our support, if among their many acts of just advocacy they will not support the most vulnerable of our human race," he added.

Women 'Accessing Abortion Pills Online'
Irish women are accessing abortion pills over the internet without the benefit of medical support or guidance because of Ireland's failure to face up to the reality of unplanned pregnancies, Dr Mary Favier of Doctors for Choice told a meeting of the UCC Philosophical Society in Cork last night.

Banned Toxic Chemicals Found In 100 Percent Of Pregnant Women - Study
A new study from the University of California, San Francisco reveals that 100 percent of expectant mothers (sample size = 268) are contaminated with highly toxic synthetic chemicals. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, concluded, "Certain PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, PFCs, phenols, PBDEs, phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and perchlorate were detected in 99 to 100% of pregnant women."

Court Opinion: Pro-Abort Judges Can Give Under Age Girls 'Abortion parental Consent
Minors from other states may ask Kentucky judges to give them permission to have abortions without their parents' knowledge or consent, a state appeals court has ruled.

U.S. Passes 53 MILLION Children Killed By Abortion In 2010
At some point in 2010 -- 37 years removed from the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision -- a doctor in the United States performed the nation's 53 millionth legal abortion, a sobering stat that ethicists say should drive the public to speak up for the unborn.

Breaking: Abortionist arrested on 8 counts of murder, 7 for killing aborted alive newborns

Dr. Kermit Gosnell and several of his alleged colleagues was arrested overnight…. Last April, the FBI and Drug enforcement agents raided Dr. Gosnell's 38th and Lancaster Clinic. Inside, they found jars packed with pieces of aborted fetuses and recliners used in a recovery area for women who had abortions.
Dr. Gosnell's medical license was been suspended because of the conditions at his clinic. He has also been targeted in multiple lawsuits, at least one charging that a woman died from a botched abortion.
Dr. Gosnell is named in nearly four dozen civil suits going back 20 years. Ten of those are malpractice suits, including one by the family of a young woman who died after a March 2000 abortion at Gosnell's office.

And much more in a MyFoxPhilly tv news report this morning…

Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Arrested: MyFoxPHILLY.com

9:22: From CBS, this morning, also up now on Drudge:

PHILADELPHIA – Eyewitness News has learned that a West Philadelphia doctor, his wife and eight other suspects are now under arrest following a grand jury Investigation.

Sources say Dr. Kermit Gosnell faces eight counts of murder in the death of a woman following a botched abortion at his office at 38th and Lancaster Avenues, along with the deaths of seven other babies who, prosecutors allege, were born alive following illegal late-term abortions.

Four of the suspects, some improperly licensed, also face multiple counts of murder for allegedly killing the newborns.

All of the suspects are now behind bars after warrants were served overnight.
Dr. Gosnell [pictured left], who has practiced in the West Philadelphia neighborhood for decades, is also the target of a federal grand jury investigation into illegally prescribing prescription drugs.
Investigators say during a search of his home, they found $240,000 in cash.

The doctor, in past interviews with CBS 3, has proclaimed his innocence, predicting if charged, he will be acquitted.
The Philadelphia District Attorney has scheduled a press conference for 10:30 a.m. to officially announce details of the arrests and the grand jury presentment.

The Born Alive Infants Protection Act should finally come to the fore in prosecuting murders of newborn survivors of abortion that we know is being committed.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: January 19, 2011

Asking the Tough Questions on Abortion

Are babies better than abortions?

That's the question poised at the beginning of a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) opinion piece examining one of the tough questions that should be raised about abortion.

The editorial points to New York City, where a recent report found 41% of pregnancies in the Big Apple ended in abortion.

As the nation prepares to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton US Supreme Court rulings, there are other questions worth pondering, as well.

Does abortion hurt women?

Can viewing an ultrasound image before abortion change a woman's mind?

Over the last 38 years, an estimated 48 million preborn children have been aborted in the U.S., which doesn't include an untold number of mothers, fathers and other family members negatively affected by an abortion decision.

A recent poll shows Americans are becoming more pro-life. Asking the tough questions is an important tool in keeping that momentum moving in a pro-life direction.

Contact: Carrie Gordon Earll
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

Book by former clinic worker indicts Planned Parenthood

Abby Johnson is a former director of a Texas abortion clinic who is now strongly pro-life. She has written a book called unPLANNED, in which she contends people need to understand the abortion mentality, what goes on inside abortion clinics, and how to reach out to others on the abortion issue.

unPLANNED (book by Abby Johnson) In October 2009, she quit her job at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas shortly after assisting in an actual abortion procedure for the first time. Johnson then joined forces with the Bryan, Texas-based pro-life group Coalition for Life. Her actions -- and her story of transformation -- made national headlines.

Johnson's perspective is unique in that she has witnessed the abortion issue from both sides of the debate. OneNewsNow asked her about the importance of pro-lifers praying on the sidewalks outside abortion clinics.

"Basically, it's showing the community -- and showing these women and men going in -- that what they're doing is morally objectionable," she responds, "and you're bringing that to light. And every time they drive in, every time they drive by, you are pricking their conscience." But people are also impressed that sidewalk counselors are there to help them, she adds.

While Johnson is hopeful pro-lifers will be encouraged by the book, she also challenges abortion supporters read it. "Try to find something that's incorrect," she advises. "Try to critique it -- because everything that I have put in [the book] about Planned Parenthood, we have cited with evidence."

The pro-life activist stresses she is not waging war with abortion clinic workers, but is seeking a way to reach them with Christ. That, she says, is through love and compassion and reaching out to them with mercy.

unPLANNED is published jointly by Tyndale House Publishers, Focus on the Family, and Ignatius Press. In its first 24 hours, the book climbed to the top of several bestseller lists, including Amazon (#8) and Barnes & Noble (#3).

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

Parents Want to be Primary Sex Educators

Most parents (regardless of individual and household characteristics) want parents of young people to be the primary communicators of sex-related information. This is what more research, published in the January 2011, Journal of Adolescent Health, confirmed among almost all parents interviewed in a Minnesota study. Such findings remain consistent throughout the past two decades – parents want to be the primary educators of their children on the topic of sex.

The article, "Parental Perspectives on Sources of Sex Information for Young People,"

is available in the January 2011, Journal of Adolescent Health (K.A. Lagus, et al.) online.

The results from more than 1,600 parents in Minnesota found that nearly all parents (97.9%) believe they should be the primary communicators and teachers of sex and sexuality to young people. But less than a quarter of all parents (24.2%) believed kids received information from parents. They also believed that friends and classmates were the primary sources of information (77.7%), along with media sources (60.3%). Click the graphic at the end of this blog to see an expanded chart.

"The study underscores discrepancies between where parents think youth should and actually do receive information regarding sex and sexuality," according to the article discussion, which goes on to note, "In a recent study, youth reported actually obtaining most of their sex-related information from friends, teachers, mothers, and media. However, our study indicates that parents think that youth obtain most of their information from friends, classmates, and the media."

The article goes on to emphasize previous research showing that parents actually have the most influence on young people's decisions with respect to sex and delaying the onset of sexual activity. Surprisingly, youth also want parents to be the primary sex educators.

Parents, are you listening?

Regardless of the avoidance techniques often practiced by your teens or children when the topic of sex comes up, you remain the single most important influence in your child's life regarding sexual decisions. Open those doors of communication, and speak up on this issue. If you don't, something or someone else will, and they probably won't be offering the same sound advice you can provide.

Here are several resources to help you begin talking with your children about sex and encouraging them to remain informed and sexually abstinent until they are married:

CHART BELOW

Contact: Chad Hills
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

Life Advocates Remember Millions Lost to Abortion

In the 38 years since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade, an estimated 48 million preborn babies have lost their lives. This weekend, hundreds of thousands of life advocates will take part in events across the nation to mark the anniversary.

The national March for Life, which first took place in January 1974, is scheduled for Monday on the National Mall.

March for Life founder Nellie Gray said the goal is simple: "To overturn Roe versus Wade, no exception, no compromise."

President Ronald Reagan and both George H.W. and George W. Bush addressed the attendees by phone. President Barack Obama has been invited to do the same.

The weekend events will culminate with the 29th annual Rose Dinner on Monday night. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., will be the keynote speaker.

Also taking place in Washington on Monday will be Faith and Action's National Clergy Conference for the Pre-born. The special clergy meeting is held on Capitol Hill in remembrance of the victims and in celebration of life.

Elsewhere, Missouri's first March for Life is set for Saturday. Nebraska's Walk for Life is Jan. 29.

Walk for Life West Coast takes place Saturday in San Francisco and will feature former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson.

"Five years ago, if you had told me we would have 35,000 pro-lifers walking in San Francisco, I would have said you were crazy," said Eva Muntean, co-founder of the West Coast event. "Now I look out at the thousands of young people who eagerly listen to our message every year, and I see real and concrete hope for the future of our country."

Life advocates across the country can tune in online to the Life and Justice conference in Colorado Springs on Saturday. The event will raise a greater awareness of the sanctity of human life and biblical justice as they relate to the preborn child, orphan care, those living with a special need, the elderly, human trafficking and genocide.

Focus on the Family is co-sponsoring the all-day event.

"We're going to go back to the beginning, with the biblical roots and our admonition from the Scripture to speak up for those who can't speak for themselves," said Kelly Rosati, vice president of Community Outreach at Focus on the Family.

Contact: Jennifer Mesko
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

The pro-abortion lobby's own data shows that more contraception is counter-productive

Earlier this week the Guttmacher Institute released its abortion figures which revealed that, after years of decline, the abortion rate in the United States rose very slightly between 2005 and 2008.

Sharon Camp, President and Ceo of the Guttmacher Institute, said that this increase indicated an urgent need to make contraceptives more widely available:

"our stalled progress should be an urgent message to policymakers that we need to do more to increase access to contraceptive services to prevent unintended pregnancy, while ensuring access to abortion".

This sentiment was echoed in a press release by Planned Parenthood, one of the world's major abortion providers, which said that:

"[t]he first step we can take as a nation is to increase access to affordable contraception".

However, according to the report 54% of the women who had abortions had used contraception in the month that they became pregnant and only 8% of women had never used any form of contraception.

This is an all too familiar script. In the UK we know that abortion rates for under-16s are higher now than when the British government's strategy to cut abortion rates was introduced in 1999. A major focus of that strategy was to inform children about contraception and to make contraception easily available to school children. Professor David Paton of Nottingham University has studied in detail the depth of the strategy's failure.

That contraception does not prevent either unintended pregnancies or abortion is evident from the Guttmacher report. As I blogged earlier this month, there is growing evidence of the close association between contraception and abortion. Abortion follows in the wake of contraception. The provision of contraception not only fails to prevent unplanned pregnancies but results in unborn children being victimised to death as the unwelcome consequences of so-called contraceptive failure.

Contact: John Smeaton
Source: SPUC
Publish Date: January 19, 2011

Scientist: Abortion Caused Over 300,000 Additional Breast Cancer Deaths Since Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade Decision

Experts privately acknowledge abortion-breast cancer link, but say it's too political to discuss publicly

Abortion Caused Over 300,000 Additional Breast Cancer Deaths Since Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade Decision

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer announced that three experts will be available for interviews to discuss the impact of the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) link on the Roe v. Wade generation during the month of January. Their contact information and their quotes are available below.

Karen Malec, the Coalition's president, said, "During the last 21 months, four epidemiological studies and one review reported an ABC link. [1-5] One study included National Cancer Institute branch chief Louise Brinton as co-author. [3] We count nearly 50 published epidemiological studies since 1957 reporting a link. Biological and experimental studies also support it.
"Experts proved in medical journals that nearly all of the roughly 20 studies denying the link are seriously flawed (fraudulent). Like the tobacco-cancer cover-up, these are used to snow women into believing abortion is safe." [6-16]

Professor Joel Brind and his colleagues reported a "30% greater chance of developing breast cancer" in their 1996 review and meta-analysis of worldwide data. [17] He said recently:

"If we take the overall risk of breast cancer among women to be about 10% (not counting abortion), and raise it by 30%, we get 13% lifetime risk. Using the 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade figure, we get 1.5 million excess cases of breast cancer. At an average mortality of 20% since 1973, that would mean that legal abortion has resulted in some 300,000 additional deaths due to breast cancer since Roe v. Wade."

Brind said his estimate excludes deaths from the use of abortion to delay first full term pregnancies - a recognized breast cancer risk.

In 2002, Angela Lanfranchi, MD testified under oath in a California lawsuit against Planned Parenthood that she had private conversations with leading experts who agreed abortion raises breast cancer risk, but they refused to discuss it publicly, saying it was "too political."

Contact information:

Karen Malec - (847) 421-4000 (Available through January 23 only)

Joel Brind, Ph.D. - (914) 805-9215

Angela Lanfranchi, MD - 1-86-NO-CANCER

Contact: Karen Malec
Source: Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Publish Date: January 19, 2011

January 18, 2011

Ask House Members to Co-Sponsor Pro-Life Bill

Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., — who co-chair the Pro-Life Caucus — are planning to introduce the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act this week.

Under current law, funding for abortion is prohibited through a patchwork of policies, most of which must be approved annually in appropriations bills. The Smith-Lipinski measure would make most of the pro-life riders permanent.

In the last Congress, 185 members joined Smith and Lipinski in sponsoring this legislation. They are looking to add even more this time around. The deadline to add members is Wednesday.

"The bill will establish a government-wide statutory prohibition on abortion funding," the congressmen wrote to their colleagues. "This comprehensive approach will reduce the need for the numerous separate abortion funding policies and ensure that no program or agency is exempt from this important safeguard."

Click here to contact your U.S. Representative.

Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 17, 2011

Planned Parenthood an 'absolute farce'

As an exploratory committee looks into the possibility of a conservative radio commentator running for president in 2012, the prospective candidate is sharing his thoughts on social issues.

Herman Cain explains that the committee is considering the amount of support he is likely to receive -- including financial support. Meanwhile, the businessman and radio host is sharing his thoughts on social issues, including whether he would work with Congress to defund Planned Parenthood.

"I absolutely would defund Planned Parenthood -- not because I don't believe in planning parenthood, [but because] Planned Parenthood as an organization is an absolute farce on the American people," he notes. "People who know the history of Margaret Sanger, who started Planned Parenthood, they know that the intention was not to help young women who get pregnant to plan their parenthood. No -- it was a sham to be able to kill black babies."

He points out that anyone who needs more proof on that truth should look no further than where Planned Parenthood clinics are located, as "75 percent of all Planned Parenthood facilities are located in black neighborhoods."

Aside from the abortion issue, Cain has supported the military's ban on homosexuals and says he would have never repealed it as president. As for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA - a proposed bill that would prohibit "discrimination" against workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity), the conservative commentator explains that he "would veto that relative to special rights to homosexuals."

Cain made his comments Monday afternoon on American Family Radio's Focal Point program.

Contact: Chris Woodward
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

Dropped lawsuit doesn't appease pro-life group

A probe of Planned Parenthood continues in Iowa, even though the abortuary chain has dropped its lawsuit against Operation Rescue.

About three months ago, Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullinger asked the Iowa Board of Medicine to release the public records of several employees and abortionists involved with Planned Parenthood in in the state. The abortion provider then sued to block access, even though the records are public. But just before the discovery phase was to begin, it withdrew the lawsuit.

"That means that we can ask them questions and they can ask us questions, and it appeared to us that they were more afraid to answer our questions," Sullinger accounts. "They came to the conclusion [that] it was better just to let the public records be released, rather than answer the questions."

But she points out that the flow of records to Planned Parenthood, including information from the attorney general's office, has yet to be resolved.

"We know that the attorney general has very, very close ties with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and that he has actively acted to block independent investigations into what we believe is criminal activity on their part," the Operation rescue spokesperson notes.

That is a reference to the clinic's "telemed" abortion method, which dispenses RU-486 to patients without a doctor present. Meanwhile, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is currently under an ethics investigation.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

‘A Banner Year’ for Pro-Life Bills

Lawmakers in Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky are drafting bills similar to Nebraska's to protect preborn babies starting at 20 weeks gestation.

The statehouses in New Hampshire, North Carolina and Ohio added to their pro-life ranks in November, which could mean greater protection for preborn life.

"State pro-life legislation represents our best present opportunity to reduce the number of abortions and limit access to it," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst at CitizenLink. "Moving the legal ball forward for the pro-life cause requires pro-life majorities in state legislatures because that's where the action is."

Even abortion activists were forced to agree that this will be an important year.

"Thanks to the gains by conservatives in the Nov. election, 2011 will be a banner year for anti-choice legislation in the states," Donna Crane, policy director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told Women's eNews.

* New Hampshire: Republicans, who enjoy a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate, plan to introduce parental-notification legislation. In 2007, Gov. John Lynch repealed the state's parental-notification law.

* North Carolina: Incoming House Speaker Thom Tillis has pledged to pursue legislation to limit the number of abortions performed in the state, specifically through an informed-consent requirement.

* Ohio: With huge Republican majorities in both chambers, pro-life members have placed priority status on legislation to ban late-term abortions.

* Maryland: Despite heavy Democratic majorities in the Senate and House, Republican Rep. Michael Smigiel is working to outlaw interstate abortions — in which an abortion could be initiated in a neighboring state and be completed in Maryland.

Earll concluded: "Polls find Americans are supportive of these incremental laws as a way to reduce the number of abortions, a reflection of increasing pro-life sentiments among the public."

Contact: Jennifer Mesko
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 17, 2011

Roe vs. Wade: Day of Infamy

The following is submitted by Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas:

January 22, 1973 is another day besides December 7, 1941, that shall live in infamy in American history. On this day, 38 years ago, the Supreme Court decriminalized the sin and crime of abortion. Tragically, they struck down every law in America that protected preborn children from those who would arbitrarily harm them in the sanctity of their mother's womb. With a stroke of the pen, the safest place for a child waiting to be born, instantly became the most dangerous. For nearly sixty million American children, the womb, which God created to nurture life became the tomb in which they died.

Roe vs. Wade is not only a bad legal decision that codified evil into law, but stands as a tribute to the basest aspects of our fallen human nature. It enhances the life of the strong at the expense of the weak. It protects large people as they victimize little people. With impunity, it allows parents to do the unspeakable to their own offspring. In the name of law, Roe vs. Wade established the foulest injustice in American history.

Roe vs. Wade not only violates God's Law, "Thou Shalt Not Murder," but also betrays our national covenant which states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

For 38 years and counting, America has refused to uphold our first and foremost fundamental right, which is the right to life. No other rights as Americans are secure, if this right is denied. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press are of no consequence to a dead baby.

Roe vs. Wade is a national tragedy that far exceeds the abominable practice of slavery. It should remind every American that we are failing once again to live up to our own creed. As a result, millions of little American citizens waiting to be born are finding to their horror that the "American Dream" has turned into a deadly nightmare.

Moreover, Roe vs. Wade raises a question that must be urgently answered in these tumultuous times. Can a nation that denies life and freedom to its most vulnerable citizens be worthy of life and freedom themselves?

Lastly, Roe vs. Wade is above all an urgent call to our blood-stained nation to repent of this national sin. Keep in mind that national sin brings national calamity. The many woes suffered by our nation today can be attributed to this spiritual reality. Therefore, to secure a future and a hope, the American holocaust must end. It is my sincere prayer that abortion not only become illegal once again, but like slavery before it, may it become unthinkable in the United States of America.

Contact: Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas
Source: Elijah Ministries
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

It's good news that the over-population myth is crumbling

Dominic Lawson of The Independent newspaper has written an excellent article using the latest information to debunk the over-population myth (about which I blogged several times in 2009: 15 Jan, 30 May, 1 June, 28 Aug, 20 Nov, 29 Dec). Do read his article in full. Mr Lawson writes:

"the experts are coming round to the view that it has all been one giant false alarm".

He cites a number of useful new sources, including:

* Dr Tim Fox, Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 'We can meet the challenge of feeding a planet of 9 billion people through the application of existing technologies'

* "[D]etailed report on "sustainability" published last week by the French national agricultural and development research agencies came up with the same answer."

* "Joel Cohen, the professor of populations at Columbia University's Earth Institute, told National Geographic: Those who say the whole problem [of climate change] is population are wrong. It's not even the dominant factor.'"

Mr Lawson argues cogently that fear of the earth being over-populated is based on misanthropy and hype. This is good news, because that misanthropy and hype will eventually crumble, giving way to what Lawson calls "rational optimism" and thus to protection of the unborn, the disabled and the elderly. The culture of death is narrow, negative and dangerously foolish. The culture of life is open, positive and confidently real. The pro-life movement, the planet and its peope have a bright future - however dark the passing cloud of the over-population myth.

Contact: John Smeaton
Source: SPUC
Publish Date: January 18, 2011

January 17, 2011

Abortion - an issue of the unborn's civil rights

In observance of Martin Luther King Day, pro-lifers are focusing in part on a major civil rights issue.

Joseph Parker (right), pastor of two African-Methodist-Episcopal churches in Mississippi, says today's culture often overlooks the critical questions and issues related to life and the unborn. Instead, he says, people tend to avoid pushing their moral views on others or agree that it is up to a woman to decide what she should do with her body.

"Tragically, this kind of argument has become just a smokescreen that has kept too many from really seeing the true issue at hand," Parker laments. "The false claim has been that the abortion issue is about women's rights and reproductive freedom, but this is simply marketing hype and lies. In reality, it was racism and eugenics that drove the legalization of abortion."

More than 30 percent of abortions that take place in the U.S. involve the killing of black babies -- a truth clearly portrayed in a documentary called Maafa 21, which was produced by Life Dynamics. A group of black pastors will show that film today at its "Festival for Life" at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi.

"One of the great needs in our society is to recognize that there's a huge need for us to take a stand for the civil rights of the unborn child [and] that the civil rights of the unborn need to be respected and protected," Parker concludes.

Click here for the video.

He goes on to point out that Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., describes standing up for the rights of the unborn as one of the most serious civil rights issues of our time. The Mississippi pastor recently spoke at a rally in Jackson, where he voiced his agreement with that statement. (View YouTube video above)

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 17, 2011

Teens taking the torch in crusade for life

The teen division of a national pro-life group plans to have a strong presence at the March for Life in Washington later this month.

More and more young people participate in the annual event every year, which takes place around the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. This year's event is scheduled for January 24.

Jake Dagel, international youth director of Pro-Life Unity's Teen Defenders project, explains why young people have gotten so focused on the issue. "Oftentimes in the movement, we as teenagers are going to end abortion -- not necessarily the adults," he notes. "And so we are looking at a way to make teenagers feel empowered and to let them know through the power of Christ how possible it is for them to end abortion. So we are taking all of our initiative through the power of Christ in helping teenagers help end abortion."

He says Teen Defenders has already received endorsements from major organizations for this year's march.

"We're hoping to pull in at least 15,000 teenagers, rally them up, [and] let them know how empowered they are, and we're going to walk them into the March for Life area," Dagel reports. "We're going to do our best to get everyone informed about this and make a big statement that the teenagers are the face of the movement and it's the teenagers who are going to end abortion -- not necessarily overnight, but hopefully really, really soon."

He goes on to point out that the abortion movement continues to tell teenagers lies, but young people are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that one-third of their generation has been lost to abortion.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 17, 2011

Fighting to restore a culture of life

A campaign launched in Los Angeles this week seeks to raise awareness to what is becoming known as "black genocide" -- the devastation occurring in black America as result of abortion.

It's modeled after a highly successful similar campaign conducted in Atlanta earlier this year by Georgia Right to Life and the Radiance Foundation.

According to just released data from the Guttmacher Institute, 1.21 million abortions were performed in the United States in 2008. Some 30 percent of these abortions were performed on black women. With blacks accounting for about 12 percent of the U.S. population, the tragic disproportionate rate of abortion in this community is clear.

Seventy billboards will be posted around Los Angeles, with focus on neighborhoods with high percentage black population. The billboards show the face of a beautiful black child with a headline that says: "Black Children are an Endangered Species."

The campaign is timed to coincide with March for Life, which notes the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and with black history month in February.

Abortion, of course, is a plague on the whole nation. But, as with all problems, the most vulnerable communities get hit the hardest.

A widely held assumption in our national discourse today is that there are "economic issues" and "social issues" that are separate, unrelated concerns. The fact that many actually believe that our nation's economic vitality has nothing to do with the condition of the American family or our general attitudes toward life and personal responsibility is a symptom of rather than an answer to our problems.

Realities in black America speak to this issue. The 25 percent of this population in which poverty is entrenched and passed on from generation to generation is the portion of the population in which traditional family structure has been most broken and lost.

Study after study, for instance, shows that the biggest factor in earning power is education and the biggest factor in educational success is family background and the values prevailing in the home of the child.

A Rand study concluded that $500 billion would be added annually to our GDP if test scores of black and Latino children reached national averages.

Anyone who has overcome a personal background of a broken and dysfunctional family can testify to how important family is in a child's life. Often those who dismiss its central importance take for granted the values transmitted to them from their families and arrogantly take complete personal credit for their success.

Personal responsibility is central to a functioning free society. The Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, enshrining sex for amusement and the illusion of sex without consequences, was a frontal assault on our culture of personal responsibility.

In 1969, three years before Roe v. Wade, 68 percent of Americans said premarital sex is wrong. Today 32 percent say it is wrong.

Removing marriage as the framework for sex and children has produced results that don't surprise. There have been 50 million abortions since 1973. And we've gone from 10 percent of American babies born to unwed mothers in 1970 to 40 percent today.

A black child has a 50-percent chance of being aborted and, if born, a 70-percent chance of living in a single-parent home.

Planned Parenthood, which provides a third of our nation's abortions, gets $300 million annually from the federal government that they use to set up in black neighborhoods to perpetuate this dismal reality.

The Issues4Life Foundation and the Radiance foundation are fighting back. The idea is that the beginning of solving any problem is building awareness.

The goal for the billboard campaign is to plant seeds in the minds of blacks and all Americans that the future for all of us can only be in a culture of life, family, and personal responsibility.

Contact: Star Parker
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 17, 2011

'Morning-after' pill blamed for upswing in abortions

The American pro-life community is looking to future challenges after a recent Guttmacher report on abortion.

The report for 2008 shows a slight increase in the number of abortions in the U.S. up to about 100,000 per month. Jeanne Monahan of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow that RU-486, the abortion pill, played a role in the totals.

"Interestingly, [chemical abortions are] more expensive than surgical abortions," she notes. "So I find that fascinating just in as much as they're touted as being easier on women, which is absolutely not true."

She cites a study showing that emotionally and physiologically, chemical abortions are actually harder on women. "But you know, of course, [when] a woman thinks of taking a pill...that sounds sort of more attractive [and] easier to her," she adds, suggesting a possible financial incentive as well for the manufacturers of the more costly abortion regimens.

Monahan comments on another area -- the ban on partial-birth abortions, a method of late-term abortions, that was outlawed but that continue to be done by abortionists using other methods. The report shows 23 percent of abortionists offered the terminations after 20 weeks of pregnancy -- three-percent increase -- and 11 percent offered abortions after 24 weeks.

"I guess the work to be done specifically in that area would be stricter state laws on gestational ages," she remarks.

In addition, many states are considering passage of a Nebraska-type law that bans abortion after 20 weeks on the basis of proven fetal pain. The battle lines have already been drawn, and the pro-life movement is gearing up to meet those challenges.

Abuse, after-effects of 'morning-after' pill in U.K.
Statistics in Great Britain show a growing dependence on the "morning-after" pill.

The poll found 20 percent of women using the pill in the past year, and a quarter-million women using the so-called "emergency contraceptive" two or more times during the reporting period. In addition, some 18- to 21-year-olds use the morning-after pill as their normal form of contraception.

Proponents had claimed, before its approval, that the pill would only be used as an emergency, according to Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America. (Listen to audio report)

"Sadly, women are unwittingly taking this drug, assuming that it would be safe and would have no detrimental effects on them or their possible unborn child," he shares. "But it's simply unknown what kind of effects it could have."

Wright suggests that women and young girls have been victimized by turning them into the equivalent of human guinea pigs.

"And there isn't full knowledge [about the pill] because there's not been adequate testing to find out what kind of effects it will have on women," laments the family advocate. "So the abortion proponents are using women to promote their own political agenda."

And that agenda, she explains, is to promote drugs and devices that can cause abortion and blur the line between contraception and abortion, the objective being to cause more people to accept abortion.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 16, 2011

Twenty-somethings taking the pro-life reins

Tweeting and texting, the Echo Boomers are taking the reins of the decades-long effort to restore legal protection to the unborn across the U.S.

These 20-somethings – children of Baby Boomers and Generation Xers – were born and raised after the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade. They are survivors of the era of legalized abortion in America. But a full third of their generation did not survive – 26 million of their brothers, sisters and friends have been aborted.

For those who made it, like 28-year-old Christine Kurka of Eagle River, Alaska and 22-year-old Windy Thomas of Anchorage, the abortion debate is about human rights – rights they believe should be equally applied to all members of the human family, including the very youngest.

At age 18, Kurka was motivated to speak up for the unborn. Her awakening came during a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., where she heard recordings of the Nuremberg trials. She understood that apathy, silence and the deflection of responsibility were no defense in the face of evil.

"If we say nothing, we are acquiescing," Kurka told the Catholic Anchor in a recent interview.

Kurka began to see a correlation between the destruction of the Jewish people behind the walls of concentration camps and abortion.

"It's a quiet thing, people don't see it," she explained.

She realized "it wasn't going to be enough to just personally stay away from abortion or not to have one myself. I was going to have to be actively speaking and doing something."

As the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches on Jan. 22, the faces and voices of the pro-life movement are changing. But in terms of political action, charity towards mothers and babies and efforts to educate the public on the facts of prenatal life, Kurka's generation is following a well-proved path.

Pro-life predecessors

While a growing number of Alaska's pro-life activists aren't out of their 20s, they have four decades of experience behind them.

Anchorage Catholic Pam Albrecht has been at the forefront of the abortion debate since 1969, when Planned Parenthood first lobbied Alaska's legislators to legalize abortion. With help from local attorneys Wayne Ross and Bob Flint, Albrecht produced flyers opposing the legalization and urged Alaskans to write their legislators.

However, the legislation passed, and in 1972 Alaska amended its constitution to become one of the first states to explicitly recognize a so-called right to "privacy," interpreted by some to mean a right to abortion on demand.

Meanwhile, Albrecht began to appreciate how women were being pressured into abortion.

"I could see this problem was more than just 'this baby'," said soft-spoken Albrecht.

So she and fellow Catholic Kim Syren founded Birthright – to help expectant mothers in crisis choose life for their babies by providing friendship and material support, like housing and clothing.

Eventually, Birthright was folded into Catholic Social Services' Pregnancy Support program. And Albrecht continues on with Project Rachel, helping mothers suffering after abortion.

Mirroring the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, other early pro-life advocates took the abortion debate to Anchorage clinic doors in the 1980s. Local pro-lifers organized peaceful sit-ins to slow the abortion business in Anchorage and raise awareness of what was going on inside. Ninety-two people joined the first sit-in, making it the largest civil disobedience event in the history of Alaska. A photo of the arrest of Jesuit Father George Endal, in his 80s at the time, made the front page of the Anchorage Times.

On the sidewalks were "sidewalk counselors," pro-lifers specially trained to engage with the abortion-minded and help them find life-affirming options.

Still, today, members of the Legion of Mary, a Catholic lay apostolate, continue to pray on the sidewalks several times a week and offer help to women outside Alaska Women's Health, P.C. – an abortion facility on Lake Otis Parkway.

Most young adults are pro-life

Thirty years later, in an age where the term "partial-birth abortion" is familiar and where prenatal ultrasounds are commonplace, the American people — including young adults — are increasingly pro-life.

A 2010 Marist College poll showed that nearly 60 percent of the nation's 18-to-29-year-olds consider abortion morally wrong. Just 20 percent of that group thinks abortion is morally acceptable.

Thousands of pro-life young adults demonstrate against Roe v. Wade in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Their numbers impress even Nancy Keenan, president of the pro-abortion advocacy group NARAL, who in Newsweek Magazine observed, "There are so many of them, and they are so young."

These youth are founding and running groups like Live Action, the undercover investigative group that films exposés on Planned Parenthood, the nation's billion-dollar abortion business. Its now famous director Lila Rose, who delivered the keynote address for this past November's Alaska Right to Life fund-raiser, is just 22 years old.

There are Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust; Medical Students for Life; and Stop the Abortion Mandate Coalition, a national coalition organized to stop government funding of abortion in health care.

In Anchorage, Christine Kurka initiated a local chapter of 40 Days for Life. The campaign is a biannual, international event in which participants stand vigil in front of abortion clinics across the country and pray and fast for the end to abortion. Since its 2007 start, the group's headquarters reports 3,592 unborn babies saved from abortion as a result.

Kurka also is volunteer coordinator for Alaska Right to Life. She organizes the group's activities at the Alaska State Fair and its annual fund-raiser. And she has been on the board, which consists mostly of young adults, including her 23-year-old brother Christopher.

Changing hearts and minds

Kurka appreciates the courage and devotion of her pro-life predecessors. And she agrees that a presence outside abortion clinics keeps the focus on "real issues."

"Yeah, there are some issues of law," she said, "but there's also an issue of people's hearts – everybody who's driving by, the people who are working in the clinics, the women who are potentially seeking abortions, the rest of society that condones it or pressures them to have abortions."

Kurka believes praying and counseling outside the abortion facilities is "very effective at bringing people together to really focus on what's true — that human life is valuable and it's valuable because we're created in the image of God — and we need to express that in our community."

Education is a critical part of the process, believes 22-year-old Windy Thomas. She helped found the student pro-life group at University of Alaska, Anchorage, and she is currently the communications director at Alaska Right to Life.

Thomas takes a lesson from Martin Luther King Jr.

African Americans had been "tortured and killed and treated so terribly," said Thomas. "The (Civil Rights) movement just brought it out into the open and showed people, 'This is how it is. This is not okay.'"

Thomas believes she has a responsibility to do the same for the unborn. "Twenty or thirty years ago, we didn't have the scientific evidence that we have now," she said. Sharing the facts about prenatal development — that each unborn baby, from the moment of conception, is distinct and irreplaceable — is essential, she believes.

"This battle is going to be won in people's hearts first, but people really have to believe abortion is murder. People really have to see it as it really is."

Education can be a long process. But in the meantime – and facing 1.2 million abortions in the U.S. each year – Thomas is confident.

"You can really make a huge difference if you just, like, speak up," she said. "And if you're faithful and dedicated, you can change the world."

Contact: Patricia Coll Freeman
Source: CatholicAnchor.org
Publish Date: January 16, 2011

Abortion Lobby Gives America a ‘D’ Grade for ‘Reproductive Rights’

The United States earned a "D" grade for women's "reproductive rights" by the pro-abortion advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America in its annual report, released on Friday.

In the report, The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States, is a "report card" where each state and the nation as a whole are graded using a point system based on "anti-choice" and "pro-choice" governors, laws, access to contraceptives and abortions, spousal and parental consent and "post viability abortion restriction" on abortion.

States receiving the highest grades include an "A+" for California, which NARAL says has a pro-choice governor, senate and assembly. The state was also lauded for giving low-income women access to abortion.

The state of Washington also got an "A+", while Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, and Oregon received an "A."
States given an "A-" were Alaska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Vermont. The District of Columbia also got an "A-."

The states receiving an "F" in the report are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

The states are also ranked according to the point system, with California ranking No. 1 for "reproductive rights" and North Dakota earning the No. 50 spot.

The report methodology explains that the nationwide score is based on both state restrictions and federal "anti-choice" laws, such as the Federal Abortion Ban, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003; the Federal Refusal Clause of the 2004 Abortion Non-Discrimination Act that protects health professionals who are opposed to abortion; and restrictions on abortions for women in the U.S. military.

The 109-page report's "key findings" section shows what NARAL considers the increase of "anti-choice" laws that have been enacted over the years. In 1995 (the earliest year reported) there were 18 "anti-choice" measures enacted. In 2010 (the last year reported), there were 644 measures enacted nationwide.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL, cites the negative effects of the mid-term elections in the report's "From the President" letter.

"It is clear that the results of the 2010 elections could pose serious threats to the progress we celebrated in previous years' reports," Keenan says. "Some of our key pro-choice champions in Congress and in the states are not returning to their positions.

"Some of their successors hold the most extreme anti-choice views ever seen," said Keenan. "And these changes mean women's access to safe, legal abortion and other reproductive-health care could be further jeopardized. Our opponents will attempt to equate their election with presumed public support for anti-choice policies."
"They are wrong," she said. "Americans are focused on our nation's economic challenges."

"We all know friends and family members who are struggling -- and we also know these individuals do not want politicians to wage a divisive war on choice when they are facing such financial hardships," Keenan said.
This is the 13th year that NARAL's publication has included a report card on the states and the nation.
NARAL's 2011 "Report Card on Women's Reproductive Rights," by grade, is presented below.

A+
California
Washington

A
Connecticut
Hawaii
Maine
Maryland
Oregon

A-
Alaska
District of Columbia*
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Vermont

B
West Virginia

B-
Illinois
Massachusetts

C+
Colorado
Delaware
Iowa
Minnesota

C-
Wisconsin

D+
North Carolina
Rhode Island
Wyoming

D
Arizona
Florida
Georgia
Tennessee

D-
Kansas

F
Alabama
Arkansas
Idah
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Virginia

* The District of Columbia is the capital city of the United States overseen by the federal government.

Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: January 14, 2011

January 14, 2011

Commemorating Anniversary of Reagan's Personhood Proclamation

"...the inalienable personhood of every American from the moment of conception until death." - President Ronald Reagan

23 years to the day after President Ronald Reagan released his Personhood Proclamation, Personhood USA is unveiling a pivotal new video echoing Reagan's call for Personhood rights for all human beings.

Reagan's Personhood Proclamation was made on January 14, 1988, and declared that "... protection of the innocents must be guaranteed and that the personhood of the unborn be declared and defended throughout our land."

Personhood USA's new video decries the evil of abortion and uses President Reagan's own words to affirm the personhood rights of unborn children. The video can be viewed atwww.personhoodusa.com. Now in all 50 states, Personhood USA is seeking to recognize the Personhood rights of every innocent human being.

"President Ronald Reagan understood the simple truth that all human beings are persons," explained Keith Mason, cofounder of Personhood USA. "It is basic science that tells us that the child in the womb is a human being, and all human beings are persons with a right to life. Reagan knew in 1988 what we still know now -- that abortion stops the beating heart of a living human being. This new video was produced to bring awareness to the critical need for Personhood Amendments in every state."

Contact: Keith Mason
Source: Personhood USA
Publish Date: January 14, 2011

Commentary: ‘My Preborn Baby is a Living, Breathing Human Being’

Nebraska broke new ground on the pro-life front when its fetal-pain law went into effect in October. The law protects babies after 20 weeks unless the mom's life is in danger. And it has been successful in forcing notorious late-term abortionist Leroy Carhart to leave the state.

Lawmakers in Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky are drafting bills similar to Nebraska's to keep Carhart from moving in. Most states ban abortions after 24 weeks, with narrow exceptions.

At the center of the debate is the issue of when a preborn baby begins to feel pain.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says it has no evidence that preborn babies experience pain at 20 weeks.

Dr. Paul Ranalli, a neurologist at the University of Toronto, disagrees.

"At 20 weeks, the fetal brain has the full complement of brain cells present in adulthood," he says, "ready and waiting to receive pain signals from the body, and their electrical activity can be recorded."

Baby Schleicher at 19 weeks.

Monica Schleicher, director of media and public relations for CitizenLink, knows firsthand how preborn babies react to stimuli: She is 25 weeks pregnant.

My husband and I have marveled at the miracle of life unfolding before our eyes. No longer do I theoretically talk about a child developing in the womb; I now feel life quicken and move inside of me. This new dimension of reality is one that has had far-reaching implications for me as a Christian, a voter and an advocate of life.

As I fall deeper and deeper in love with our preborn daughter, the tragedy of abortion has also been made more real. To think that, at 25 weeks along, I would still be able to get an abortion breaks my heart — after all, she is not just "a clump of cells" or "pregnancy tissue."

No, my preborn baby is a living, breathing human being who I know and love. She helps her "not-a-morning-person" momma wake up at 6 a.m. by doing a little dance. She naps while I sit at my computer during the work day, but loves to deliver well-placed kicks and punches during management staff meetings.

Monica at 20 weeks.

Baby Schleicher made me laugh over Christmas break when she got the hiccups after experiencing her daddy's spicy gumbo, and she's been entertaining us by making my belly twitch with her increasingly strong movements.

Science and technology bear out what I know to be true: My daughter can react to and interact with the outside world. If I drink a cold beverage, I can expect her to wake up and move about. She's been able to sense light since 15 weeks, moving away from a flashlight shining at mom's tummy. Some research suggests she's been hearing my voice since about 19 weeks. While loud noises have been startling her since about 17 weeks, once she's born she shouldn't be fazed by sounds she hears regularly, like a vacuum cleaner.

I have chronicled some of these developments on Facebook:

Oct. 1 (10 weeks): The baby was super active during the ultrasound, wiggling around and "dancing." Also, during the first part of the ultrasound, the baby had the hiccups so it was cute to see his/her whole little body "jump" up.

Nov. 1: All pants should have elastic waistbands.

Nov. 4 (15 weeks): We had an ultrasound today … and the technician was more than 90 percent sure IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

Nov. 22: (18 weeks): OK, so more and more I am believing that what I feel is the baby moving!! Such delicate little "flutters" made me second-guess myself numerous times, but it is happening too much for it not to be her. I'm completely in love! ♥

Nov. 30: Confirmed — it's most definitely a girl! Bill and I praise the Lord for a wonderful, perfect 20-week ultrasound with everything going as it should be.

Dec. 6: Our sweet baby girl is starting to get so active! More and more, I feel her moving around.

Dec. 13: 21 weeks this Wednesday, and (she) is making her presence more and more obvious with stronger kicking movements that are happening more and more often a day.

The iPad application "Hello, Baby"
provides a window to the womb at 21 weeks.

Dec. 15: A 21-week-old preborn baby moves about 50 times an hour, even when s/he is asleep! Awwww…

Dec. 20: Bill felt the baby kick for the first time a few minutes ago!!! She totally bonded with her daddy :-)

Dec. 30: Apparently, leftover gumbo gives the baby hiccups …

Jan. 3: Bill and I SAW the baby move for the first time!!!!!! How awesome to SEE my belly "twitch" and to know it's our little baby girl!!!! Every day I fall more and more in love with her.

Jan. 5: 24 weeks today! Baby Schleicher continues to grow, and all the books say my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball. Niiiiiice.

Jan. 9: Washing Baby's clothes, blankets and bed linens and putting them in storage. I love preparing for her!

Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 13, 2011

Captain America Anti Suicide Campaign Undermined by American Culture

I am all for trying to prevent suicide. Apparently the comic book character Captain America is on the case in a story called "A Little Help." From the story:

Captain America's latest foe is deadlier than the Red Skull: suicide. The character armed with his trademark shield faces off against suicide in a new story that publisher Marvel Entertainment has released Wednesday for free through its website and app. The toll-free hotline for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is featured in the work, too. Entitled "Captain America: A Little Help," the 11-page story is written by psychologist Tim Ursiny, and illustrated by Nick Dragotta. In it, a despondent youth is poised to jump off a building when he spies Captain America facing a bevy of villains on a nearby roof. The fracas keeps him from going over the edge, literally and figuratively.

There is no dialogue, save for the end, which ends with the boy both saving the hero and, in the process, himself.

That's good. But we have, shall we say, a societal disconnect–a paradoxical message sent like unremitting tinnitus with much more force than a laudable comic book story. On television, in the movies, and in the news, pro suicide advocacy is ubiquitous–including in some of the publications praising the Captain America campaign. Million Dollar Baby comes to mind. The drive to legalize assisted suicide is all the rage in the media. Giving Jack Kevorkian hero status with a puff bio-pic, starring an A-list movie star as K can't be helpful to turning people away from self destruction. Many crime and medical dramas promoting assisted suicide and euthanasia. And that doesn't include the nihilism that permeates youth culture.

So you go Captain America! Too bad you have so many others putting cultural impediments in your way.

For those interested, here's the actual comic that is accessible to all without charge.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: January 13, 2011

Study: Contraceptives raise abortion rate

A newly published study in Spain shows increased use of contraceptives did not result in a decrease in abortions.

The report in the January issue of the medical journal Contraception showed contraceptive use in women of childbearing age rose by 30 percent -- 49.1 percent to 79.9 percent -- from 1997 to 2007. The rate of elective abortions, however, more than doubled from 5.52 to 11.49 per 1,000 women.

The results fly in the face of the conventional wisdom espoused that greater use of contraceptives reduces the abortion rate.

The study authors offered some possible explanations for this apparent incongruity, including improved abortion reporting, but said in conclusion, "The reasons for the increasing rate of elective abortion warrant further investigation."

Pro-lifer Christina Dunigan wrote about the results at her blog RealChoice: "Researchers scratched their heads in bewilderment, likely because they don't understand risk compensation. If you reduce the perceived risks of a behavior, people will compensate by behaving in higher-risk ways.

She added, "The Pill Pushers have chosen to ignore the data, and the reality of how human beings work. The more you create an environment in which people perceive sex as low-risk, the more people will engage in risky sex."

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: January 13, 2011

The Lessons Learned from Passage of the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act"

     NRLC Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch (left)
       and Julie Schmit-Albin, Nebraska RTL Executive Director

Pro-lifers will remember 2010 for many reasons. Legislatively, at or near the top of the list of accomplishments was passage of Nebraska's "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" (LB 1103). This historic Nebraska law prohibits elective abortion at and after 20 weeks of pregnancy, at which time there is substantial medical evidence that the unborn child can feel pain. Key to its passage was the combined diligence and expertise of Nebraska Right to Life Executive Director Julie Schmit-Albin and NRLC Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch. The following is a Q & A with Julie.

Q: What are the lessons you took away from your experience passing the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act?

A: When you have a concept and you know what the end goal is, don't deviate from the language of the original draft, if at all possible. Fortunately we had the best sponsor--our Speaker, Mike Flood--who is an attorney and knew the case law in and out. Speaker Flood led the way in laying down the best possible legislative record in both committee and in floor debate, which is key in case your legislation is legally challenged. And a legal challenge of innovative abortion law is almost a given. However, the fact that LB 1103 has not yet been challenged speaks to the solid record laid down by Speaker Flood and his fellow pro-life senators--and how seriously worried pro-abortionists are that a legal challenge might boomerang.

Q: You attended NRLC's State Legislative Strategy Conference. We heard that one of the principal state legislative initiatives will be laws modeled on LB 1103. What did you come away from that December 7 conference thinking?

A: It solidified my belief that Mary Spaulding Balch is one of the very top legal minds in the country working on pro-life legislation. You can't go wrong sticking with Mary's guidance and the tremendous assistance provided by NRLC staff. Over the years legislators in Nebraska have come to realize that Mary knows her stuff, and that NRLC will back them up all the way. The fact that our "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" sent abortionist LeRoy Carhart [who specializes in performing abortions late in pregnancy] packing ought to cement in peoples' minds that Mary is a brilliant strategist.

Q: Was there ever a point where you felt that LB 1103 was in mortal danger?

A: There were several attempts to weaken the bill which would have changed the whole essence of what we were trying to accomplish. This is something we always have to guard against. Sometimes the most well-intentioned amendments can effectively neutralize the bill and you don't want to be in the position of not realizing this until after the fact. In many ways legislation passed in the states is driving the public debate. Each legislative debate potentially means the real facts about abortion get clearly laid out. And because the truth is being revealed, public opinion is shifting to the pro-life side.

Q: Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is behind so-called "web-cam" abortions which are currently being performed in Iowa. Based in Iowa, it also operates abortion clinics in Nebraska.

A: We will fight its spread to Nebraska. With web-cam chemical abortions they hope to overcome two of their biggest obstacles: access and lack of abortionists who are willing to do surgical abortions. The abortionist is not in the same room with the woman; he could be hundreds of miles away. He opens a drawer electronically from which the woman takes misoprostol and mifepristone--the two drugs that make up the RU486 chemical abortion technique. PP of the Heartland is polluting a legitimate form of health care delivery--consultations over web cams--to increase access, especially in geographically rural states. This ties into PPFA's new national business model. They want to spread their tentacles reaching into counties which have never seen a Planned Parenthood clinic. They hope that if they increase the numbers of chemical abortions done through a video conferencing system, it will further corrupt the practice of medicine and "mainstream" abortion as just another "service."

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: January 13, 2011