Planned Parenthood moves to Springfield's West Side

From the State Journal-Register...

The move to 601 N. Bruns Lane, after $220,000 in renovations in recent months, surprised residents and business owners who learned they would be neighbors of Planned Parenthood only after signs were posted this past weekend.

Some residents said they oppose Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions. And some members of Springfield Right to Life protested on the sidewalk outside the new facility, which was built in 1988 and formerly housed a cell phone retailer, a Republican Party call center and a private business college.

The new site, like the now-vacant health center at 1000 E. Washington St., provides the abortion pill, known as “medication abortion,” to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester.

Click here for more from the State Journal-Register.

Planned Parenthood’s deep-seated need to try to coopt Mother’s Day

Each year it’s only a matter of how Planned Parenthood mangles the beauty of Mother’s Day, not whether. So what did have to say about Mother’s Day, 2016? As you can see below, that PPFA is “committed to building a world that values, respects, and supports safe and wanted motherhood #MomsMatter”

PPFA’s mission statement (and its mission) can be taken in a lot different directions. Suffice it to say, that the “world” to which PPFA says it is committed to has no room for the over 500,000 females aborted annually (over a third at PPFA clinics) in the United States alone.

That whenever PPFA is involved, the single most dangerous place for a yet-to-be-born female is her mother’s womb.

That “wantedness” is a dicey qualification for an organization that rightly laments how historically so many women were unwanted and powerless. PPFA is simply oblivious to the incredibly dangerous ripple effect of grading life on a wantedness curve–see every attack on the vulnerable who are not unborn babies, particularly those who are old and/or cognitively weakened by disease.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

‘Scandal’ Lead Character on Abortion: ‘I’m Not Ashamed at All’

Since ABC’s Scandal’s winter finale in November ended with lead Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) heartlessly killing her unborn baby to the tune of the Christmas hymn “Silent Night,” the abortion has not been mentioned on the show. In fact, creator Shonda Rhimes was undecided about if she would bring it up again.

When asked when President Fitzgerald Grant would find out Olivia aborted their baby, Rhimes responded, “My question is, does he have to? A woman made a choice about her body that she legally has the right to make. I haven’t actually decided, but I wonder sometimes.” Well, Fitz still doesn’t know, but now, finally, someone else does and the revelation of the abortion became a major plot point in [last night’s] episode “Trump Card.”

Olivia and her former-employee-turned-campaign-nemesis, Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield), are discussing the oppo[sition] research they have on each other’s candidates. Abby found out about the abortion, but didn’t want to share that information to protect her friend, going so far as to let her candidate drop out of the race.

Olivia is unapologetic about the abortion, declaring she’s “not ashamed at all” and wouldn’t have been hurt by the revelation. And she doesn’t even seem all that upset about how much it would hurt Fitz to know the truth.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Erasing the Truth About Planned Parenthood

To The Source asked me to give my impressions of the Planned Parenthood “fetal parts for sale” imbroglio. I was happy to oblige.

Sadly, I am not surprised that the scandal–and that’s what it is–has been forcibly erased by the media from the public’s consciousness. From, “Erasing the Truth About Planned Parenthood:”

When videos were released of Planned Parenthood executives apparently admitting that fetuses are harvested for their body parts for pay after abortions, many pro-lifers were hopeful that—at last—a tipping point had been reached that would discredit the organization responsible for more than 300,000 feticides in the United States each year. 

Dream on. As I wrote elsewhere at the time, a nation that embraced Jack Kevorkian as a “compassionate” crusader—even though his stated goal was to conduct experiments on living people he was euthanizing—and that also supported the cruel intentional dehydration death of Terri Schiavo at the orders of her husband—living at the time with his “fiancé” by whom he had sired two children—was unlikely to remain upset for long by the utilitarian use of fetal parts obtained in an abortion. 

Click here for more from National Review.

International campaign launched asking UN to protect babies with a disability from abortion

Disability rights groups have launched a campaign asking The United Nations and other organisations to protect babies with Down syndrome from being aborted.

The #StopDiscriminatingDown campaign is being spearheaded by The Jerome Lejeune Foundation in France, USA and Spain and Downpride in the Netherlands and Canada.

The campaign follows news that several countries have introduced, or are about to introduce [new] prenatal screening tests for Down syndrome. These tests could result in a rise in the number of babies with Down Syndrome who are aborted, campaigners said.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Congressman: Abortion is not healthcare

In 2010, the Association told Congress that federally qualified centers don't provide abortions to their patients. Because of this, lawmakers wanting to take funds away from Planned Parenthood were directing people to local health clinics. Either things have changed - or someone wasn't telling the truth.

"We learned that some health center clinics in New York have been performing abortions," Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Pitts recently told Congress. "The National Association of Community Health Centers has egregiously violated our trust."

The Republican representative went on to say that the fact that abortions are performed at these federally funded community health center clinics is astonishing. That's because of the Weldon Amendment, which specifically forbids the use of federal tax dollars for abortions.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Illinois Legislative Update - Insurance Contraception Coverage (HB5576)

Insurance Contraception Coverage - UPDATE AND ALERT

HB5576

PASSED THE HOUSE 61-52 is now in the IL SENATE, it has been assigned to the Executive Committee  HB5576 is now scheduled for the Senate Executive Committee hearing on May 11th at 2:00 p.m.

This bill provides that an individual or group health policy shall provide coverage for all contraceptive drugs, devices, and other products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, including over-the-counter contraceptive drugs, devices, and products; voluntary sterilization procedures; contraceptive services, patient education, and counseling on contraception; and follow-up services related to their use.

This bill requires insurance coverage of over-the-counter drugs such as Plan B and Ella.  These drugs prevent a fertilized egg  from implanting to the uterine wall and therefore cause a chemical abortion.

You can call the members of the Executive Committee (below) and urge them to vote 'NO' on HB5576.

Members of the Executive Committee are...

Chairperson: Don Harmon (D) (217) 782-8176
Vice-Chairperson: Ira I. Silverstein (D) (217) 782-5500
Member: James F. Clayborne, Jr. (D) (217) 782-5399
Member: John J. Cullerton (D) (217) 782-2728
Member: Mattie Hunter (D) (217) 782-5966
Member: Kimberly A. Lightford (D) (217) 782-8505
Member: Terry Link (D) (217) 782-8181
Member: Antonio Muñoz (D) (217) 782-9415
Member: Kwame Raoul (D) (217) 782-5338
Member: Heather A. Steans (D) (217) 782-8492
Member: Donne E. Trotter (D) (217) 782-3201
Minority Spokesperson: Matt Murphy (R) (217) 782-4471
Member: William E. Brady (R) (217) 782-6216
Member: David S. Luechtefeld (R) (217) 782-8137
Member: Christine Radogno (R) (217) 782-9407
Member: Sue Rezin (R) (217) 782-3840
Member: Dave Syverson (R) (217) 782-5413

Click here for more information on this bill.

Recycled pro-abortion talking points don’t change the truth of fetal pain

There are certain “givens” that pro-abortionists will defend with the unborn child’s dying breath. They constitute such a key component of the pro-abortion narrative that there is no amount of evidence that can be allowed to cast even the slightest doubt on their authenticity.

Such is fetal pain—the capacity of the unborn child to experience unfathomable agony as she is ripped apart. That cannot be true lest that “tissue” or that “pregnancy” or that “uterine content” take on human qualities that gives pause to all but the hardest heart.

Of course it is true; it is just an inconvenient truth for the Abortion Industry. National Right to Life has produced model legislation that is on the books in thirteen states—The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. (The bill has been introduced in other states as well.) It has also passed the U.S. House of Representatives before being waylaid by pro-abortion Democrats in the Senate.

In a word, the law forbids such brutal inhumanity by extending general protection to unborn children who are at least 20 weeks beyond fertilization (which is equivalent to 22 weeks of pregnancy — about the start of the sixth month).

It is ethically and strategically an approach that public opinion polls show a sturdy majority of the public agrees with.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Very helpful primer on “Abortion Pill Reversal”

Tip of the hat to Live Action News for posting on its Facebook page a link to brief video describing how this technique works. The narrator is Dr. Anthony Levatino, who (he tells us) earlier in his career performed over 1,200 abortions.

For those new to the discussion, this is a technique that in some circumstances (depending mostly on very early intervention), a chemical abortion is not so much reversed as neutralized. How does it work?

The one, very small saving grace of all the publicity surrounding the FDA’s new protocol on “RU-486” is that the public is learning that this chemical abortion technique actually involves not one but two drugs, and if a doctor intervenes before the second set of pills are given, there may be a chance to save the baby.



Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Constitution makes injunction against Daleiden invalid

David Daleiden, who heads The Center for Medical Progress, videoed Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation officials as they chatted about harvesting and selling organs and other tissue from aborted babies, allegedly for profit. Thomas More Society founder and attorney Tom Brejcha tells OneNewsNow the Federation sued Daleiden in federal court and obtained an injunction against him.

“It's really a gag order that says he cannot divulge to anybody outside of court the contents of his recordings at the annual conventions of the National Abortion Federation, at which these videos were taken undercover in 2014 and 2015,” Brejcha says.

The case is before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Thomas More is arguing that the gag order conflicts with a First Amendment free-speech clause in what is called a prior restraint on speech. According to that clause, the court’s injunction against Daleiden is presumptively invalid under U.S. constitutional law.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Newsweek Advocates for Patients Like Terri Schiavo, on 'Edge of Consciousness'

In the latest issue of Newsweek, Aimee Swartz contributes her startling and welcome voice in reporting on medically vulnerable patients "living on the edge of consciousness."

In her reporting, Swartz tells the story of Maggie Worthen -- a young college-aged woman whose story is so similar to Terri Schiavo's as to be uncanny. Like Terri, Maggie collapsed and became unconscious, unable to speak or move. Like Terri, Maggie initially recovered with the assistance of a ventilator and the benefit of time. Like Terri, Maggie relied on a feeding tube after recovering the ability to breathe naturally, without machines.

Like Terri, Maggie was given very little rehabilitation before being called "vegetative," resulting in her disqualification from further insurance. Like Terri, Maggie was sent to a nursing home where she continued to show signs of life and consciousness.

Unlike Terri, Maggie's supportive physician had her transferred to a facility where she was deemed "minimally conscious." Unlike Terri, Maggie benefited from aggressive rehabilitation that let her regularly communicate with family, friends, and medical staff before she died in 2005 after an illness.

What is most remarkable about Newsweek's feature on these medically vulnerable Americans is the absence of any mention of Terri Schiavo, whose own struggle for rehabilitative services and basic care and against premature death at the hands of an unsupportive husband dominated the attention of the nation in 2005, the same year that Maggie died.

Click here for more from Christian Newswire.

Mom in her 39th week captures baby’s “rolling in her womb”

As it turns out, this video has been on the Internet since last October. But that doesn’t make viewing it any the less stunning.

Tip of the hat to the British publication, The Daily Mail for alerting readers to what it describes as “A 39-weeks-pregnant woman [who]has captured her baby rolling in her womb; The video shows the baby start to wriggle around before flipping over.”

It’s easy to exaggerate, I suppose, but in this case the use of the term “amazing” is utterly justified.

If you watch–and you don’t even have to watch closely–you can see the baby’s movements as he/she pushes up against their mother’s stomach.


Click here for more from National Right to Life.

A candid admission that abortion clinics are declining in blue states as well as red states

In pro-life circles, no one has documented and explained the depletion–the shrinking number –of abortion clinics more thoughtfully and more thoroughly than NRLC’s Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, director of education and research. That is why it is appropriate that this morning Randy would forward me a story by Madeleine Schwartz, “Abortion Clinics In Blue States Are Closing, Too.”

That headline speaks volumes and is a necessary corrective to the endless supply of superficial stories about how/why the number of abortion clinics is dropping.

The abortion industry and its hordes of media apologists spend most of their time lamenting how “red states”–which is code for them for conservative Republican statehouses–are “closing down” abortion clinics. We hope and believe that laws are having an effect closing down dangerous and substandard facilities, helping women consider life affirming alternatives to abortion. But Ms. Schwartz’s larger observation, one rarely acknowledged outside of NRL News Today, is that abortion clinics are closing everywhere for reasons that go far beyond changes in the law.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Video gone viral celebrates motherhood

Christian artist, Nichole Nordeman, is out with a new music video that is already going viral, a mere three days after “Slow Down” was released. While the video has over 17,000 views on YouTube, its Facebook total has already hit 2.5 million.

The song celebrates the preciousness of children, calling them “everything I wanted” even in the unexpected and tearful moments.

This video was personal for Nordeman, as she tweeted that “lots of people I love” are in “Slow Down” and explained that she wrote it for her son’s fifth grade graduation.



Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Why Are Suicide Rates Climbing after Years of Decline?

After years of declines, the US suicide rate rose 24% over 15 years according to a new report from the national Centers for Disease on suicide rates in the US from 1999-2014. The suicide rate rose for everyone between the ages of 10-74.

National media like the Wall Street Journal and CNN speculated that the economic downturn, drugs and lack of mental health resources could be factors in the 24% increase.

However, one huge factor was totally ignored: the legalization and promotion of physician-assisted suicide.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Police investigating “murder-suicide” of Board Member of Final Exit and his wife

The case being investigated as a murder-suicide by local police illustrates just how far assisted suicide advocates are willing to go and how much violence they can rationalize away. The case also is a textbook example of the media’s whole-hearted cooperation in overturning laws that ban assisted suicide.

The Washington Post and other media outlets have reported that Frank Kavanaugh — who served on the national advisory board for the Final Exit Network —was discovered last week alongside his wife, Barbara Kavanaugh, at the Solaris HealthCare Charlotte Harbor center in Port Charlotte, Florida.

A local ABC affiliate reported, “Both died from gunshot wounds, authorities said.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Network news ignores congressional hearing

The recent congressional hearing into the pricing of fetal tissue by the abortion giant was censored in the morning and evening newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC, the Media Research Center found.

In fact, says MRC spokesperson Katie Yoder, they didn't cover the April 20 House hearing for a second. That's in contrast to last fall's hearings, she says.

"When the hearings featured and starred Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, then they paid attention," Yoder observes. "But when it goes into investigating the abortion businesses and making abortion look bad, the networks won't say a word."

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Rep. Cole Calls on CEO of CNCS to immediately end HealthCorps Grant Funding

The report reveals that the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which received a grant through the AmeriCorps Community HealthCorps program, trained AmeriCorps members to act as “doulas” during abortion procedures at three community health center sites in New York and did not consult with the CNCS on this matter for two years. Allowing AmeriCorps participants to participate in such activity is prohibited by the Serve America Act. In response, Cole called on Spencer to immediately terminate and not renew HealthCorps grants to the NACHC and also initiate an investigation into all grantees and sub-grantees of AmeriCorps programs to ensure no other violations exist.

Cole also sent a letter to the HHS Office of Inspector General requesting an investigation to ensure that community health centers are abiding by federal restrictions on funding for abortion procedures.

Congressman Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, sent a letter to Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), in response to troubling findings related to an investigation by the CNCS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The CNCS OIG report was released today. CNCS oversees AmeriCorps programs that operate under federal grants.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Members of House and Senate ask for documents behind FDA change in FDA protocol

If you click here, you can read the entire letter sent by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator James Lankford (R-OK), joined by 73 of their colleagues, to Dr. Robert M. Califf, M.D., the FDA’s Commissioner, “requesting information about the agency’s recent decision to change its policies regarding the abortion drug mifepristone.”

The letter is respectful and courteous, but asks for data that was not forthcoming last month when the FDA relaxed safety standards and modified the protocol for mifepristone/misoprostol chemical abortions that had been in place since September of 2000.

This was a great coup for the Abortion Industry, particularly Planned Parenthood. The FDA was retroactively giving its seal of approval to various important changes the Abortion Industry made unilaterally.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Life Legal Files New Motions in Planned Parenthood Lawsuit

Life Legal has filed two new motions in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and David Daleiden. In addition, six amicus—or "friend of the court"—briefs were submitted on behalf of Daleiden in the National Abortion Federation's lawsuit against CMP. A seventh, neutral, brief filed by a diverse group of constitutional scholars discusses the critical First Amendment issues at play.

The amicus briefs were provided by the following organizations: American Catholic Lawyers Association, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Justice and Freedom Fund, the law firm of Peace | Crowell, the Attorney Generals of 14 states, and several Members of Congress.

The briefs cover a diverse range of issues, including the American public's "unfettered right in our society to have access to important information about controversial matters," such as abortion. Judge William Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California recently granted NAF's request for an injunction to prohibit public access to hundreds of hours of video evidence of NAF's trafficking in fetal body parts.

Click here for more from Christian Newswire.

Pro-lifers will gather in Kansas to remember 'Mercy'

July is the 25th anniversary of the "Summer of Mercy" in Wichita.

Rusty Thomas of Operation Save America remembers what happened when an event planned for one week grew into two and a half months of revival.

"It was at that point in 1991," he says, "that the paradigm shift took place in this battle to end the American holocaust," referring to abortions in the United States that are estimated at 57 million.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Restricting abortion is a form of torture: UN bureaucrat

Abortion groups have found a new champion. His name is Juan Mendez, and he is a UN expert on torture. In his latest report to the UN he goes out of his way to characterize protective abortion laws as a form of torture.

Laws against abortion are directly responsible for “prison overcrowding”, “tremendous and lasting” physical and emotional suffering, and subject women and girls to “humiliating and judgmental attitudes”, according Mendez’s’ latest report to the Human Rights Council.

This isn’t the first time the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has issued outlandish recommendations. What is perhaps surprising is how insistently Mendez makes his claims this time around.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Panel on body parts urged to dig deeper

On Wednesday the U.S. House Select Panel on Infant Lives held its second committee hearing with testimony about revelations from undercover videos by The Center for Medical Progress. The videos show Planned Parenthood and other abortion officials discussing the sale of the body parts.

Attorney Catherine Glenn Foster of the Charlotte Lozier Institute explained to the panel that federal law bars profiting from the harvesting and selling of the body parts and tissue.

"Indeed the trade in fetal body parts is a business," Foster stated. "As demonstrated by the evidence presented by this panel, clinics and procurement companies have been getting away with charging far more than the allowed costs for harvesting, transporting, and warehousing body parts as they wait for customers."

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Illinois House passes expanded insurance coverage for contraceptives

After a lengthy debate over an array of issues concerning the beginning of life, contraception, abortifacients and whether employers should be required to provide insurance coverage for all forms of prescription contraceptives, the Illinois House voted to pass HB 5576 with a 61 to 52 Thursday morning.

The sponsor and supporters pointed to the insensitivity of "white men" who opposed the legislation in House committee testimony because of the costs HB 5576 would add to employers' health care requirements. Both the state's Chamber of Commerce and several insurance companies opposed the legislation.

The McHenry County Right to Life said that HB 5576 greatly expands the definition of "contraceptives" and reproductive" medical procedures and will force employers and individual health insurance policy holders to pay for abortifacients (abortion-inducing drugs) and interfere with religious liberties as in the cases of Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor.

Click here for more from Illinois Review.

Legislative Update - HB 5576 Insurance Contraception Coverage Bill

Insurance Contraception Coverage Bill - HB5576

PASSED THE HOUSE 61-52 it now goes to the IL SENATE

This bill provides that an individual or group health policy shall provide coverage for all contraceptive drugs (including abortifacients), devices, and other products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, including over-the-counter contraceptive drugs, devices, and products; voluntary sterilization procedures; contraceptive services, patient education, and counseling on contraception; and follow-up services related to their use.

This bill now goes to the Illinois Senate.

Click here for more information on this bill.

Obama Administration ramps up pressure on 10 states to restore PPFA Funding

As anticipated, the Obama administration yesterday made it official: it is pressuring states to restore Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.

Six states–Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas–have notified Planned Parenthood they were terminating Planned Parenthood’s participation in their states’ Medicaid program. Four other states have or addressing the issue in various manner. All ten received letters from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS].

Stories in publications such as the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal explain that the CMS sent a letter to state Medicaid directors stating, “Providing the full range of women’s health services [abortion] neither disqualifies a provider from participating in the Medicaid program, nor is the provision of such services inconsistent with the best interests of the beneficiary, and shall not be grounds for a state’s action against a provider in the Medicaid program,” the letter said.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Pro-abortion Schakowsky to lead Dems on panel investigating Planned Parenthood

A member of Illinois Democrat delegation has been appointed to act as ranking member of a congressional committee to investigate Planned Parenthood. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) is leading the Democrats' effort.

Despite receiving over $11,000 in campaign contributions from the group she's investigating,  Schakowsky has not publicly declared a conflict of interest.

The House panel is investigating allegations that Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, is selling the body parts of aborted babies to researchers for profit. The allegations were raised by a series of undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress.

Click here for more from Illinois Review.

Nationwide #ProtestPP April 23 to Tell Voters: Planned Parenthood is Bad for America

On April 23, nationally coordinated protests will be held at over 200 Planned Parenthood centers throughout the United States, drawing voters' attention to the ugly side of the nation's largest abortion chain. These protests are being organized by the #ProtestPP coalition, formed in response to the undercover videos released last year showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the harvesting and selling of body parts from aborted children.

Protesters throughout the country will also be standing in solidarity with David Daleiden, the pro-life whistle-blower who is facing baseless civil and criminal charges for conducting a 30-month undercover investigation of the abortion industry's trafficking in fetal tissue. "Planned Parenthood and their powerful allies in government are trying to discredit and silence pro-lifers who are guilty of nothing more than exposing the shocking truth about their abortion practices," said protest co-director Mark Harrington, executive director of Created Equal. "As an investigative journalist, Mr. Daleiden's protected free speech is being criminalized while Planned Parenthood's criminal behavior is being entirely overlooked. On April 23, we'll be setting the record straight in communities all over the country."

The protests will also highlight the gap between Planned Parenthood's claims about their role in women's healthcare and the documented reality. "Planned Parenthood insists that poor women depend on them for basic healthcare," said Monica Miller, protest co-director and head of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, "but in fact they provide fewer and fewer services, to fewer and fewer women every year—except abortion. Planned Parenthood's abortion numbers keep going up. They're now responsible for nearly a third of all abortions in our country."

For more information, please contact:

Monica Miller, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, 248-444-9096, mmmillerlife@gmail.com

Mark Harrington, Created Equal, 614-419-98000 mark@createdequal.org

Eric Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League, 773-251-8792, eric@prolifeaction.org

See also ProtestPP.com.

Medical Students for Choice desperate to increase numbers of abortionists

According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortion clinics in the United States has declined by nearly 40%, after peaking in 1982. Recent years have seen abortion clinics continue to shut their doors after the passing of pro-life laws around the nation. As clinics continue to close, as abortion rates continue to drop, and as organizations such as Planned Parenthood continue to be exposed, times are looking tough for big business abortion.

But Medical Students for Choice is fighting to continue big business abortion, with the help of private funding including grants from the Rockefeller Family Fund, a non-profit group that, according to their website, seeks to find the leverage points of key societal and political issues and which “seeks to improve the quality of life for working women and their families.” Sadly, it appears that the group views abortion as a way to help achieve this goal.

According to Reuters, the Rockefeller Family Fund sent 137 students for abortion training at its Abortion Training Institute, more than twice as many as in 2010. The Kenneth J. Ryan Residency Training Program has also increased abortion training around the country.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

26 Organizations Urge Passage of Conscience Protection Act of 2016 in Joint Letter to Congress

Today the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) joined with twenty-five other major pro-life, religious, and health care organizations urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Conscience Protection Act of 2016 (H.R. 4828). Signatories include ten medical groups representing tens of thousands of health care professionals who object to abortion and are seeking legal protection to serve their patients in good conscience.

“Federal laws protecting conscientious objection to abortion have been approved for decades by Congresses and Presidents of both parties. Even many ‘pro-choice’ Americans realize that the logic of their position requires them to respect a choice not to be involved in abortion,” they wrote. “Yet it is increasingly clear that the current laws offer far less protection in practice than in theory.”

The Conscience Protection Act (H.R. 4828), introduced on March 22 by Reps. John Fleming, M.D. (R-LA) and Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), addresses several “loopholes” in current federal laws that have allowed violations of conscience rights to continue. The letter cites a recent California mandate for almost all health plans in the state to pay for elective abortions, and the government’s failure to vindicate the rights of New York nurse Cathy DeCarlo after she was pressured to assist at a late-term abortion.

The joint letter highlights the modest nature of the bill, explaining that it “would mean almost no change in the substantive policy of Congress” but “would be an enormous step forward in assuring Americans who serve the sick and needy that they can do so without being forced by government to violate their most deeply held convictions on respect for innocent human life.”

For the full text of the letter and more on the bishops’ promotion of conscience rights, click here.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

The Big Bang Theory celebrates the humanity of unborn children

The Big Bang Theory is one of the biggest sitcoms currently on TV – maybe not where you’d always expect to see a strong pro-life statement!

And yet in last week’s episode, the series managed to capture an adorable, life-affirming moment pivoting around the unborn child of two of the main characters, Howard and Bernadette.

The 7 April episode showed both the expectant parents sitting together on the sofa with Howard’s best friend Raj. Howard moves a special microphone over his wife’s stomach that allows them to hear the baby’s heart beating.

The three friends sit in awe as they listen to the unborn baby’s heart thump through the speaker.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Mosquitoes taking priority over the unborn

A pro-life leader insists the latest declaration about the Zika virus from the Centers for Disease Control only underscores the need for a change in the culture.

The CDC has announced that the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease, causes microcephaly and other birth defects, although America's health protection agency says much more research must be done just to be sure. In the meantime, says Judie Brown, founder of American Life League, the stance taken by prominent health organizations is decidedly anti-life.

"The problem with the CDC's announcement – and the position taken by the World Health Organization – is that their ultimate solution to this problem is killing the babies of women who've become pregnant and have acquired the Zika virus," she states. "And that is, of course, the wrong response."

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

A changing Supreme Court: the legalization of euthanasia could hang in the balance

While four states have affirmatively legalized the dangerous practice of doctor-prescribed suicide, and legislative efforts continue to expand that number, an even greater threat may be posed by the United States Supreme Court. We are in a situation, with the current Supreme Court vacancy, under which whoever gets to appoint the new justice can definitively shift the High Court’s ideological balance.

Before Justice Antonin Scalia’s untimely death, it was widely recognized that on many issues, including abortion, the Court had been divided 4-4 with Justice Anthony Kennedy often providing the deciding vote. Replacing Scalia with a justice holding an opposite perspective would typically lead to either 5-4 or 6-3 rulings on such issues.

Euthanasia could be among them.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Guttmacher report finds teen abortion rate in 2011 lowest since abortion legalized

The headline is hugely encouraging, and in line with other data both from Guttmacher and from the Centers for Disease Control: “U.S. Teen Pregnancy, Birth and Abortion Rates Reach the Lowest Levels in Almost Four Decades.”

In 2011, the abortion rate for teenager s (15-19) was 13.5/1,000 women, the lowest since abortion was legalized in 1973. The peak was in 1988–44/1,000–meaning a decrease of 69%.

The teenage pregnancy rate–52.4/1,000– was the lowest in more than 30 years, according to Guttmacher.

The teenage birthrate–31.3/1,000–was roughly half the 1991 high point of 61.8/1,000, according to the report [www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2016/us-teen-pregnancy-birth-and-abortion-rates-reach-lowest-levels-almost-four-decades].

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Court dismisses ACLU suit that sought to force Catholic hospital, staff to commit abortions

A federal court Monday threw out an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that sought to force a Catholic hospital system and its staff to commit abortions regardless of their religious and pro-life objections.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent the Catholic Medical Association, the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which the court allowed on March 10 to intervene in the case in defense of Trinity Health Corporation. Trinity Health operates 86 facilities in 21 states.

“No American should be forced to commit an abortion—least of all faith-based medical workers who went into the profession to follow their faith and save lives, not take them,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “No law requires religious hospitals and medical personnel to commit abortions against their faith and conscience, and, in fact, federal law directly prohibits the government from engaging in any such coercion. As we argued in our brief to the court, the ACLU had no standing to bring this suit and demand this kind of government coercion.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Which path will our nation follow?

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, recently tweeted, “43 years after Roe v. Wade, 90% of American counties have no abortion clinics at all.” #StopTheSham #WeWon’tGoBack

She was quoting from a recent article in the Huffington Post, by novelist Richard North Patterson, which began, “Whether you support Bernie or Hillary, how many of you want Republicans to abolish freedom of reproductive choice? I thought so. But here’s the kicker — in much of the country, the GOP already has. For millions of American women, freedom of choice is writ on water. And if you abandon your party’s nominee, whoever that may be, millions more may suffer.”

The old guard in the abortion movement is so deathly afraid they will lose this election they are trying to scare their supporters into working harder and voting for Hillary Clinton to ensure their “right” to kill unborn children. Patterson’s point is that it doesn’t matter which candidate is nominated by the Democrats, Clinton or Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders– that candidate will be better than any Republican. (Richards would disagree; PPFA’s political action arm endorsed Clinton.)

By 2014, Planned Parenthood understood they needed to retool their “message.” PPFA announced they were no longer going to use the label “pro-choice” and would prefer people to start talking about “women’s health.” Richards told The New York Times, “I just think the ‘pro-choice’ language doesn’t really resonate particularly with a lot of young women voters.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Adorable twins don’t realize yet they’ve been born

This beautiful video was taken just minutes after a set of twins’ birth by French nurse Sonia Rochelle, demonstrating her signature bathing technique for newborns called “Baby Spa.”

And while the 10- to 15-minute soapless massage bath is displayed in the video (below), it’s the intimate interaction between the twins that’s enough to melt your heart.

The twin infants have their eyes closed and appear to be peacefully sleeping and enjoying the warm bathwater. The twin babies finally begin to move and, when they do, they hold each other and snuggle closer.



Click here for more from Society for the Protection of Unborn Children

Obama’s with Hillary: No rights for preborns

President Barack Obama is reportedly on board with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's aggressive pro-abortion stance, which contends that preborn children have no constitutional rights, including the right to life guaranteed to all Americans.

The former secretary of state who served under Obama's first term told The View during an interview this week that preborn children -- just hours before delivery -- should have absolutely no rights guaranteed to them by the United States Constitution.

Her insistence that babies in the womb  -- at just about any stage in a pregnancy -- should not have any constitutional rights followed her statement earlier in the week that preborn children simply do not have any constitutional rights at all. Therefore, Clinton holds to the belief that the sanctity of human life does not apply to children in the womb, and by her interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, they can be denied the right to life.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Illinois Court Rejects Temporary Restraining Order: Campaign to Expose Planned Parenthood's Waste Disposal Company Will Proceed

Today, arguments were presented in a lawsuit by Stericycle, Inc. against the pro-life group Created Equal. The Thomas More Society, a national non-profit law firm, represented Created Equal and its Executive Director Mark Harrington, against a temporary restraining order. This order intended to stifle their first amendment protected message that Stericycle is "enabling" abortion giant Planned Parenthood to kill preborn children.

The temporary restraining order was rejected; however plaintiffs have two weeks to amend the original complaint.

Read Judge Marcoullier's decision in favor of Created Equal HERE.

Click here for more from Christian Newswire.

‘Duck Dynasty’ stars to highlight the beauty of adoption during NASCAR race

Adoption will be the theme during NASCAR’s third-largest paying race slated for April 9, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas.

During the Duck Commander 500, the stars of the famous A&E “Duck Dynasty” show are partnering with Texas Motor Speedway to launch an adoption awareness campaign.

“Drive Adoption,” as the campaign has been dubbed by Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway, has partnered with race entitlement sponsor, Duck Commander, to raise awareness and funds for adoption.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Planned Parenthood undercover videographer's home raided by California AG

Within hours of releasing an explosive video revealing recent congressional testimony concerning Planned Parenthood's patient consent form to use aborted baby parts for medical research, the Center for Medical Progress' head David Dalieden's home was raided by California's Attorney General Tuesday.

A statement posted Tuesday evening on the Center's Facebook page said the California Attorney General's office seized all undercover video footage involving Planned Parenthood plus personal information. The statement called the raid as a bid "to harass and intimidate citizen journalists":

Today, the California Attorney General's office of Kamala Harris, who was elected with tens of thousands of dollars from taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood, seized all video footage showing Planned Parenthood's criminal trade in aborted baby parts, in addition to my personal information. Ironically, while seizing my First Amendment work product, they ignored documents showing the illicit scheme between StemExpress and Planned Parenthood. This is no surprise--Planned Parenthood's bought-and-paid-for AG has steadfastly refused to enforce the law against the baby body parts traffickers in our state, or even investigate them--while at the same time doing their bidding to harass and intimidate citizen journalists. We will pursue all remedies to vindicate our First Amendment rights.

Click here for more from Illinois Review.

Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori to Congress: Support the Conscience Protection Act

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan (pictured) and Archbishop William E. Lori–as chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, respectively–wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives, March 31, urging support for the Conscience Protection Act of 2016 (HR 4828).

The Conscience Protection Act, they wrote, is “essential legislation protecting the fundamental rights of health care providers…to ensure that those providing much-needed health care and health coverage can continue to do so without being forced by government to help destroy innocent unborn children.”

HR 4828 has a “modest scope,” they noted. “While existing federal laws already protect conscientious objection to abortion in theory, this protection has not proved effective in practice… The Conscience Protection Act will address the deficiencies that block effective enforcement of existing laws, most notably by establishing a private right of action allowing victims of discrimination to defend their own rights in court.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Are aborted baby body parts really necessary?

According to medical experts, there is no need to use organs or tissue from aborted babies to do research to cure diseases.

Recent editorials in numerous media sources have quoted scientists as saying that laws being passed in states to ban the use of aborted baby tissue is hurting their effort to develop cures and vaccines for diseases. But this claim is highly contested by many in the field of medicine.

Dr. David Prentice of Charlotte Lozier Institute maintains that many contentions are being made to justify using aborted baby body parts, especially with the latest Zika outbreak.

This is not true, according to Prentice, who says it is hard to believe that some scientists are making the statements about aborted fetal tissue — especially because there is no evidence fetal tissue is needed.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Is Hillary Clinton becoming 'more extreme' on abortion?

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has long been known for supporting legal abortion. But her comments in this election year have some pro-life critics saying that she is becoming more radical.

“She is publicly signaling to the abortion lobby that she backs abortion on demand and won’t support any restrictions,” said Mallory Quigley, communications director for the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life political advocacy group.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Clinton was asked when, or if, an unborn child has constitutional rights.

“Well, under our laws currently, that is not something that exists,” she said. “The unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights.”

Click here for more from CNA Daily News.

“Abortion is what my generation did”

What would you think might be the perspective of a woman who wrote a story whose title is “The Abortion I never had”?

I didn’t know either, so, intrigued, I read it. I’m glad I did.

The author begins by talking about a powerful story written by Christina, a woman who did have an abortion. Her account made the author think about her own “scare.”

The headline gives away that she did not have an abortion, but, she tells us, she surely could have. “[A]bortion is what my generation did,” she writes. And while the overall message of her essay on one level is “that could have been me,” there is much more.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Josie Cunningham: I regret having an abortion so I could get a nose job

Josie Cunningham broke down in tears on daytime TV, saying that she regrets her abortion

Josie Cunningham aborted her fourth child last year so that she could get plastic surgery–in order to pursue a career in pornography. She had also threatened to get an abortion in 2014 in order to appear on [the reality television program] Big Brother, but cancelled her appointment at the last minute.

Ms. Cunningham said at the time that the experience had made her opposed to abortion, but tragically she ended up having an abortion just one year later anyway.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

'Batman v Superman' star Jeremy Irons attacks abortion

After his key role in one of this year’s biggest films, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons took the opportunity to publicly condemn abortion.

Playing Batman’s butler, Alfred, in the box office smash that took in more than $209 million on its first week alone, Irons has attracted much attention for his role in his latest action thriller as a superhero’s right-hand man, but his recent comments about abortion have also turned many heads.

During an interview last week when the blockbuster hit the big screen, Irons was quite candid about his stance in the abortion debate.

“I think the Church is right to say [abortion is] a sin,” Irons told The Guardian. “Abortion harms a woman.”

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.com

National Right to Life: Punish abortionists, not women

The National Right to Life Committee, the federation of 50 state affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters today restated its position that, should abortion once again become illegal in the United States, penalties should be imposed against the abortionist himself, not the woman who has the abortion.

The following statement may be attributed to National Right to Life President Carol Tobias:

The National Right to Life Committee unequivocally opposes the killing of innocent unborn children and works unceasingly to have them protected in law. Unborn children and their mothers are victims in an abortion. In adopting statutes prohibiting the performance of abortions, National Right to Life has long opposed the imposition of penalties on the woman on whom an abortion is attempted or performed. Rather, penalties should be imposed against any abortionist who would take the life of an unborn child in defiance of statutes prohibiting abortions. National Right to Life-backed state and federal legislation, such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Dismemberment Abortion Ban, is targeted at stopping abortionists.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Unanswered questions in light of FDA changing its RU-486 protocol

Both Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., NRL Director of Education & Research, O’Bannon and myself wrote about the decision, which came at the behest of Danco, the U.S. distributor. Reuters paraphrased Abby Long, a spokeswoman for Danco, as saying

The FDA update reflects data from 22 studies including almost 31,000 women that showed the existing information is out of date.

Dr. O’Bannon succinctly summarized the alteration in the two-drug abortion technique known as RU-486.

The FDA, responding to a request by the U.S. distributor of the drug, has modified dosages [more of the cheaper misoprostol , less of the more expensive mifepristone ], changed the administration, reduced the number of visits, expanded the prescriber pool, and extended the time frame where the drugs may be used. Though applauded by the abortion industry, the documentation demonstrating the impact on women’s safety has not been made publicly available.

Let’s think about this for a while.

Obviously the Abortion Industry is ecstatic. It can make more money off the altered dosages and attract women who may be wary about a surgical abortion (not knowing how bloody and excruciating painful these chemical abortions are). More to the point the FDA gave its after-the-fact support for what abortionists had decided to do on their own going back years and years.

But what don’t we know? Here are just a few items.

Danco spokeswoman Long told Reuters it has been “has been used by more than 2.75 million women in the United States since it was approved in 2000,” but (interestingly) “declined to provide sales data for the pill.” We don’t know how many women have died after taking RU-486 or suffered “adverse events.”

Or, more specifically, we don’t know anything more than what we learned five years ago! At that juncture, the FDA reported that the deaths of 14 women were associated with the use of RU-486 and that there had been 2,209 “Adverse Events.” Adverse events is a blanket term that covers everything from the need for blood transfusions to endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and pelvic infections with sepsis (“a serious systemic infection that has spread beyond the reproductive organs,” according to the FDA).

Click here for more from National Right to Life.