Objections from pro-life advocates have prompted Rockford, Illinois city officials to reconsider a proposed abortion clinic "bubble zone" ordinance. The critics cited free speech concerns and argued the ordinance would defend the anti-Christian "bigotry" displayed by clinic staff.
The Chicago-based Thomas More Society had sent a letter to Rockford's mayor and aldermen which argued the law was an unconstitutional violation of protesters' free speech. The letter also claimed the proposal was "anti-choice" because it would deprive expectant mothers of a genuine chance to make a fully informed decision.
The Society noted that Illinois' Labor Dispute Act precludes municipal regulation of labor picketing and would render the "bubble zone" discriminatory on the basis of viewpoint and thus illegal.
Local pro-life advocates argued the ordinance would overlook and validate the display of obscene images and harassment of protesters at the Northern Illinois Women's Center.
The abortion clinic's window has shown anti-Christian symbols including images of Jesus Christ making an obscene gesture with the words "Even Jesus Hates You." The clinic has also shown a nun doll in a miniature casket, along with hand drawn signs attacking priests and other pro-life sidewalk counselors as HIV-positive child molesters.
Pro-life advocate Kevin Rilott in a letter to the city asked whether the clinic's "bigotry" is the kind the Rockford city council wants to "protect, promote, and defend" with its bubble zone ordinance.
His pending civil lawsuit, Rilott v. Rockford et al, alleges hate crimes by the abortion clinic proprietor, Wayne Webster, and his ally, Keith Sterkeson. The suit also alleges defacement of a pro-life "bus bench" ad by a Rockford bus driver.
Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, reported that pro-life advocates had been involved in federal litigation with the clinic proprietor for two years. The proposed ordinance represented a "major setback" but his organization was "pleased" that discussions about its "patent illegality" and negative impact are proceeding.
"This two month delay is a legal victory, albeit a modest one, as prospects for passage of the bubble zone proposal have been dimmed, if not wholly curtailed. We trust that City council members will carefully reconsider this unwise, unwelcome, ill-timed and illicit proposal."
Group demands California implement programs promoting abstinence
A leading pro-family organization is demanding that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state superintendent of public instruction abandon a California ban on abstinence-only education in public schools.
SaveCalifornia.com pointed to a landmark study, titled "Effectiveness of an Abstinence-Only HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Risk-Reduction Intervention for Young African-American Adolescents," showing that abstinence education protects two-thirds of young teenagers from STDs and unwed pregnancies. The study was published Feb. 1, 2010, in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Now the group is sending an unwavering message to Schwarzenegger and California state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
"It's time to respect science and employ abstinence education to help save teens and pre-teens from sexually transmitted diseases that are at unacceptable levels," SaveCalifornia President Randy Thomasson said in a statement. "In light of these facts, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack O'Connell should immediately drop their out-of-date prohibition of abstinence-only education in California public schools."
The group is challenging policymakers to put aside their own opinions and biases and acknowledge that empirical research shows abstinence education plays an essential role in helping teens remain healthy.
"Children are not sexual animals, but are precious human beings created in the image of God with the ability to think and make healthy choices," Thomasson said.
Angela Griffiths, a professional health educator in the San Francisco Bay Area, added, "We've always known that quality, whole-person health education is the most effective way to promote all healthy behaviors, including pregnancy prevention. The problem has been blanketly labeling programs without looking at what they really promote. This study clears up numerous fallacies about the relative effectiveness of abstinence-only, safer-sex-only or combining the two approaches."
Luis Galdamez, chairman of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse and executive director of La Familia Hispana in Southern California, took her demands a step further – suggesting President Obama and Congress restore funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education and Abstinence Education under Title V.
"Children deserve the best," Galdamez said. "We should teach them the truth, not lies. Abstinence-until-marriage education is the only 100 percent way to avoid teen pregnancy, STDs and many other unwanted consequences."
SaveCalifornia noted that O'Connell and the governor's teen pregnancy program have banned abstinence-only education in California public schools.
O'Connell has ordered that, "Abstinence shall be taught within the context of HIV/AIDS prevention education EC 51934 (3), however, abstinence-only education is not permitted in California public schools" (bold in original text).
SaveCalifornia warns, as of July 1, California's teen pregnancy prevention program will teach "risky, pro-condom education to children as young as kindergarten, yet completely prohibit abstinence education."
The recent peer-reviewed study proving the effectiveness of abstinence education was compiled and released by Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott from the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Geoffrey Fong from the University of Waterloo and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Waterloo, Ontario. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and involved 662 black children in Philadelphia.
After sixth and seventh grade students received eight hours of abstinence-only education, 66.5 percent of the students avoided sexual intercourse for two years following the instruction. By contrast, nearly half of students who received classes combining both abstinence education and safe sex said they had sex within the two-year period.
Commentary by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President, Human Life International
Honestly, the last place I ever imagined seeing my face was on the big screen at the Sundance Film Festival. But I actually appeared in a documentary film last week called "12th and Delaware," which attempts to show the struggle between life and death in the real-life scenarios of abortion-minded women.
The name of the film derives from the street names on an ordinary corner in Ft. Pierce, FL where extraordinary things happen every day. On one side of the street is a death camp (i.e., an abortion mill) and on the other side is a center of life, the Pregnancy Care Center (PCC), which I helped found in 1999. I still serve on the Board of the PCC, and my greatest privilege is listening to the first-hand accounts of the miracles that happen there everyday. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of babies have been spared from a violent death at that abortion mill - and their mothers spared the agony of suffering from an abortion because of the work of Pregnancy Care Center.
The film did not win any Sundance honors or Academy nominations, but then again, the greenie avatars that frequent these rarified environments were not likely to be thrilled with a subject that most of them just want to go away. After all, abortion is an ugly business and even the most avid abortionists and left-wing radicals don't want to draw too much attention to it.
We agreed to do the documentary for the purposes of telling the story of the heroic work of crisis pregnancy centers all over the world. As in all dealings with those who favor abortion, however, a cloud of deceit blanketed the film project right from the very beginning even though the directors came dressed as "objective" reporters. They promised us that the film was to center solely on the ministry and good work of the Pregnancy Care Center, but they began secretly filming at the abortuary across the street in order to get a "balanced" perspective, and of course they did not tell us of it until the movie actually premiered.
Since the abortion center and its workers knew from the beginning that the PCC was being filmed, their responses, attitudes and actions were of course well-constructed to present a Hollywood-type view of abortionists as compassionate helpers of women. In one scene, for example, the abortion clinic owner hastily decides on camera to give one of her clients a $50.00 discount on her abortion. Can you imagine an abortionist giving away her profits? Now that is genuine acting.
Despite the mendacity of the pro-abortion media, the story of the heroism of the women who work in pregnancy care centers needed to be told. The extraordinary commitment of the women in the crisis pregnancy ministry undoubtedly makes them the unsung heroes of the pro-life movement. Best of all, the film highlights the uniquely creative and positive response of the movement that loves both the woman and the baby but does not make a single cent helping them. No one in the abortion business can say that - something else curiously left out of the film!
Anne Lotierzo, the director of the Pregnancy Care Center was the protagonist of the story and could not have given a better example of the profound zeal for the welfare of the abortion-minded women and their babies that is typical of pregnancy center directors. She told me once about a young woman who came into the PCC in error, thinking it was the abortion clinic where she had an appointment to abort that very morning. When Anne told her it was not, she began to sob. Through her tears she looked up and cried, "I was up all night talking to God. I haven't lived a good life, I have ignored Him but I knew He would listen. I said, 'God, give me a sign, just give me just one sign that you want this baby!' This is it, this is the sign." The young woman went on to make a complete change of life, returned home to another state into the loving embrace of her parents who were thrilled with their new grandson.
Anne and her team are there on the front lines of the battle between life and death, and they meet women in the last desperate moments before an abortion to let them know that it's not too late to choose life. That's reality, not a reality show. The pregnancy care ministry is a real-life drama, not a documentary, and I know that God rewards them for all their heroism.
By the way, I forgot to tell you about my scenes in the film. The filmmakers came to a pro-life Mass and talk I did in IL last year and filmed me giving my main stump speech about the role of the devil in the grisly abortion business. I can only imagine the faces of the movie industry big-wigs when they were forced to listen to one of my homilies at Sundance! Come to think of it, maybe that's why the documentary didn't win any awards: the people in the rabidly pro-abortion movie industry don't like anyone saying bad things about their boss.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted a “threat assessment” of a pro-life and pro-abortion activists before a planned Wisconsin rally last year, yet later admitted that the groups in no way threatened national security.
Although the DHS has since destroyed its copies of the assessment, a local Wisconsin pro-life leader is criticizing the DHS effort as “an attempt by the Obama administration to silence pro-lifers.”
The “threat assessment” was issued by the DHS in Feb. of 2009 when Pro-Life Wisconsin planned a rally to protest the University of Wisconsin's proposition to build a late-term abortion clinic in Madison.
An internal review of the assessment found, however, that it violated intelligence-gathering guidelines. Since the protest groups on both sides of the abortion debate “posed no threat to homeland security,” collecting and sharing information regarding group participants was a breach of protocol, said a 2009 department memo obtained by the Associated Press.
Although the DHS has since deleted its assessment, the Middleton Police Department still has a copy of the report and has refused to release it, says Pro-Life Wisconsin.
According to a letter sent to Pro-Life Wisconsin by Capt. Noel Kakuske of the Middleton Police Department, the Wisconsin Dept. of Justice similarly refused to give the local police permission to release the assessment. Capt. Kakuske cited the possibility that individuals named in the report on both sides of the issue could be endangered by “opposing radical extremists” as another reason for not releasing the report.
According to the Associated Press, the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinic authority board voted 11-3 to approve the plan for an abortion clinic at the Madison Surgery Center in Feb. of 2009. Though board members participating in the meeting went through police checkpoints, both sides of protests groups at the meeting site acted peacefully and did not cause any disturbances.
The state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, Peggy Hamill, has condemned the DHS's actions and said that her group is considering appealing to the district attorney or suing for the release of the documents.
“This move by DHS illustrates the Obama administration’s goal of silencing pro-lifers,” Hamill charged on Feb. 8 in a Pro-Life Wisconsin press release. “It is disturbing that a local police department has apparently tapped into the security apparatus of the federal government to potentially obstruct free speech.”
Hamill also spoke out against what she believes to be a violation of free speech rights.“The majority of Americans identify themselves as pro-life, and the Middleton Police Department has shown they are out of touch with this peaceful majority,” stated Hamill. “Pro-lifers are not a minority of the population, nor are they second-class citizens. We refuse to let our First Amendment rights be silenced.”
A Rasmussen Reports Survey released Tuesday found that half of American respondents consider abstinence-only sex education effective, while only 42% consider it ineffective.
The survey was conducted a week after the release of a landmark U. of Pennsylvania study published by the American Medical Association, linking abstinence-only education to a significant decrease in promiscuity among high-risk teens.
The pollster also reports that respondents who had children at home were "slightly less supportive" of sex education than those without children. Black Americans were "much more likely" than whites to support abstinence-only education in the poll.
80% of the respondents said it was the parents' responsibility to teach their children about sex.
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, commented today on a Birmingham, Alabama Planned Parenthood clinic being placed on probation by state health authorities for performing abortions on minors without parental consent in clear violation of the law and ignoring cases of possible child abuse.
"This may be news to many, but it's not news to us," Fr. Pavone said. "This is par for the course and we've been tracking it for years.
The government is harvesting samples of DNA from every newborn child in the country, storing them in monolithic bio banks and providing them to outside researchers and other agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, all without the consent or knowledge of parents. It sounds like the stuff of dystopian nightmare, and it is, but it is also reality. At Infowars we have been tracking and reporting the story for years, now it has hit the headlines once again this week with CNN probing the issue via the case of Isabel Brown from Florida. Isabel’s mother Annie Brown was confused when she was told by health authorities that her daughter had a gene that put her at risk for cystic fibrosis, because she had never consented for genetic testing to be carried out on her child. Click here for the entire article from Prison Planet.
Marlon Bertram, with the Kelowna Right to Life Society and the protest co-organizer, said the station has been running the organization's ads for the past two years. "They have made a wrong decision in pulling the ad." Bertram said. Bertram said the fundamental purpose of the media is to find and expose the truth, and CHBC is going against that ideal by not running the ad. He said mainstream media has often not been friendly to the pro-life movement. "Our goals and purposes are often misrepresented." Click here for the entire article from BCLocalNews.com.
Pro-life advocates in Northern Ireland may have cheered too soon when in November of last year a court ordered the recall of health guidelines that threatened the province’s pro-life laws. The U.K. government now is being called “deceitful” for re-issuing the same guidelines that were rejected last year.
Bernadette Smyth, the director of Northern Ireland’s leading pro-life group Precious Life, called the re-issuing of the same guidelines, for the third time, “arrogant and deceitful.” In a press statement the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) said they have withdrawn their guidelines, but Precious Life called this “a blatant lie.”
Amidst protests from pro-abortion groups in Mexico over recent initiatives to protect the unborn at the state level, Carmen Alba, director of the Institute for the Rehabilitation of Women and the Family (IRWF), cautioned that abortion is neither a “solution” nor a definitive end to a woman’s “problem.”
In a column published by the Mexican daily “El Grafico,” Alba explained that since Mexico City legalized abortion up until the 12th week of pregnancy, she has “seen a greater number of young women at the IRWF considering ending the lives of their babies than we have in the past ten years.” She added that the “girls are mainly between the ages of 14 and 25.” Click here for the entire article from the Catholic News Agency.
A well-known Michigan abortionist has been sued once again.
Marcia Lanqua has filed suit against Alberto Hodari, claiming he performed an abortion on her even though her ultrasound did not reveal an intrauterine pregnancy. She did, however, have an ectopic pregnancy -- but because of Hodari's failure to diagnose it, Lanqua's Fallopian tube had to be removed later at a hospital.
Another revelation comes from Judy Climer, director of Flint Right to Life, who says that a former clinic worker who kept a journal recently turned it over to her. "In it, it was discovered that a lot of these employees that he had working for him were not licensed, were not credentialed," Climer notes. "They were people who had personal relationships with him, but they didn't have any authority within the medical community to perform the services that they were performing."
According to Climer, this occurred at the same clinic where aborted body parts and medical records were found in a dumpster.
"You would think that after five women died, and I believe 17 lawsuits were filed against him where very serious injuries have resulted in these women, you would just think that something would happen," the Flint Right to Life director comments.
Hodari's medical license was renewed in January through 2013, but the attorney general and Medical Board are investigating. Meanwhile, Climer plans to submit the recently obtained journal as additional evidence.
The Illinois Federation for Right to Life Legislative Day is March 9, 2010 in Springfield! Don't miss this opportunity to spend the day with your fellow pro-life activists from all over the State of Illinois. We need to meet, unite and fight for life! This is the year to come together to turn the State of Illinois around. It's happening all over this nation, and we can make it happen here! Join us as we begin the victory of 2010! Click here to download our flyer with more details and mark your calendar, start your prayers and plan to attend!
A new report by the International Planned Parenthood Federation is recommending that children as young as 10 years old receive mandatory graphic sex education, which includes teaching them the "pleasures of sex."
The report, "Stand and Deliver" (click here to view the report in PDF) recommends -- in fact, demands -- that children as young as 10 should be seen as "sexual beings." Further, the report criticizes religious institutions such as Catholicism and Islam for placing tremendous barriers on the ability of young people to receive information and services related to sex and that these teachings "deny the pleasurable and positive aspects of sex."
Leslee Unruh, spokesperson for the Abstinence Clearinghouse, said, "They are intentionally ignoring the role of parents in this report. Parents have and should always be the primary sex educators of their children. However, Planned Parenthood knows that the earlier they capture the children's minds, the greater the odds the children will adopt their secular world view. Further, coming from a group whose future relies on funding from failed contraception and abortions, the connection isn't hard to make," she said. "This is an aggressive political agenda, meant to make Planned Parenthood a lot more money."
Lastly, Unruh stated, "Early graphic sex education is a proven failed strategy that only molests the minds of the children who experience it. We are committed to ensuring our nation's greatest resource, our youth, is protected. Parents, will you stand with us to prevent this sexualization of our children from happening?"
The Abstinence Clearinghouse, with offices in Sioux Falls, SD and Washington, DC, was built on the foundation that parents are the primary sex educators of their children. The mission of the Abstinence Clearinghouse is to promote the appreciation for and practice of sexual abstinence until marriage through the distribution of age appropriate, factual and medically-referenced materials.
College students travel to Springfield to lobby against "The Reproductive Health and Access Act", deemed "Illinois FOCA"
On Thursday February 11, Illinois Students will converge in Springfield for a lobby day hosted by Students for Life of Illinois: “Cupcakes at the Capital”. Their lobbying efforts will focus on dissuading the Illinois General Assembly from passing "The Reproductive Health and Access Act". The bill has been called the “Illinois Freedom of Choice Act,” due to its radical agenda to remove commonsense restrictions on abortion ranging from parental notification to right of conscience laws for health care providers.
Students will give cupcakes to the legislators with the message “Life is Sweet” written in the icing. "So often, people go into lobbying with a demanding spirit. We want to show our appreciation for our representatives, while at the same time boldly informing them of our stance on this crucial issue," said John-Paul Deddens, Executive Director of Students for Life of Illinois. "Nothing in last year's Illinois FOCA or what we expect to be introduced this year is meant to help women in need. It only tears down what few protections we have in Illinois."
Students from over 13 different schools including University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Loyola University Chicago, Lewis University, Bradley University and Northern Illinois University will be lobbying Thursday in Springfield.
Students for Life of Illinois is an umbrella organization that exists to help college students bring about a culture of life on their campuses by providing resources, training and support. More on Students for Life of Illinois at www.ProLifeIllinois.com
Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beechwood) has reversed a decision to disallow the presentation on the House floor of a routine legislative honor to a local pro-life teen, and will make room in the Ohio General Assembly's schedule for the honor, according to the speaker's office.
Ohio teen Elizabeth Trisler had been set to be presented on February 3 with an honorary legislative resolution, authored by Rep. John Adams, which recognized her accomplishment as the winner of the 2009 National Right to Life Oratory Contest. However, as LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) reported yesterday, the planned presentation was scuttled by Speaker Budish, apparently because Budish disagreed with Trisler's pro-life values.
But Keary McCarthy, communications director for Speaker Budish, contacted LSN today to say that "the Speaker has reconsidered the request and will allow for the resolution presentation to occur at the next general assembly session or whenever they can schedule it."
McCarthy said the Speaker nonetheless plans to "tighten and clarify" parameters for such honors in the future to ensure that the opportunity is not used as a political platform.
"We're pleased that the speaker saw the error of his ways," Mike Gonidakis, the executive director of Ohio Right to Life, told LSN. Gonidakis praised the decision, which he said will allow the recognition of of Trisler's "enormous accomplishment" in winning the national competition.
"It's really unfortunate that it had to come to this, but at the end of the day it's a victory for Miss Trisler, her family, and for free speech," said Gonidakis.
Last April abortionist Laurent Delli-Bovi attempted to quell concerns of prospective new neighbors on Harvard St. in Brookline Village, MA.
Delli-Bovi (pictured above at a 2009 "Champions for Choice" MA NARAL event) owns the last of 3 abortion mills in town since their heyday in the '90s.
"Lolly," as Delli-Bovi is known to friends, said she had to move from a more isolated location to the Harvard St. spot - which is next door to a day care center, and near an elementary school, other day care centers, grocery store, dry cleaner, other small businesses, and homes - or close.
"If it doesn't work out, we won't exist," said Delli-Bovi according to WickedLocal.com, to which neighbors said fine but town officials didn't....
I'm sure the presence of Jesse Mermell on Brookline's Board of Selectmen (executive officers of the town), also the VP of Planned Parenthood of MA, had nothing to do with anything. (Mermell is pictured right at a 2008 "Champions for Choice" MA NARAL event.)
To assurances that MA has a buffer zone law prohibiting protests within 35 feet of an abortion mill, neighbors said so what? Protesters will only stand in front of our shop, not yours.
Not to worry. According to WL.com, "Belli-Dovi... said fears about protestors were overblown, insisting that her Chestnut Hill location only sees 2 or 3 protestors on occasion.... 'I don't think we have any reason to think our experience [in Brookline Village] will be different,' she said."
Neighbors went on to sue Brookline Village officials for not looking out for their best interest when approving Delli-Bovi's request for a zoning change. They lost on a technicality but are appealing.
Which brings us to yesterday, the grand opening of Belli-Dovi's Women's Health Services on Harvard St. According to WL.com...
Though today's crowd appeared to peak at about 20 protesters, [Police Chief Daniel] O'Leary said he expects a larger group to show up on Saturday, when anti-abortion protesters regularly gather to picket a Planned Parenthood on Commonwealth Avenue.
According to the Boston Globe...
Businesses nearby on Harvard St. felt the presence of the protesters yesterday, as well.
Several demonstrators ended up standing in front of Williams Piano on Harvard St. yesterday because a state-mandated buffer zone requires protesters to stand at least 35 feet away from entrances to abortion clinics.
Earlene Williams, president of Williams Piano, said she is hoping the antiabortion protesters do not hurt her business.
"We're coping for the moment,'' she said.
Also according to the Boston Herald...
When he walked his child to preschool yesterday morning, Brookline resident David Gray passed several antiabortion protesters... who had signs with photos of fetuses and one that said, "Thou shall not kill.''
So after Gray left his child at school for the day, he walked up to the demonstrators and asked that they refrain from holding up signs with graphic images that could scare young children....
But Gray and dozens of other parents who can be seen walking hand-in-hand with their children on the way to school... every morning might have to get used to the sight of antiabortion demonstrations.
Protesters said they plan to be outside 111 Harvard St. every day now....
A couple points.
1st, no justice, no peace. Disturbance and civil unrest follows abortion, and it always will. Bravo to the pro-life protesters. They are adversely impacting abortion not only in their town but around the country, cementing concerns communities everywhere should have about murderous abortion mills attempting to locate in peaceful neighborhoods.
2nd, parental anger is misplaced. Abortion protesters are only showing photos outside of what the abortionist is doing inside. It is too bad small children must be exposed to the reality of abortion in the crossfire, but I'd rather they see a picture than be one.
Here was a hoot of a headline and opening blurb from the pro-abortion blog, RH Reality Check...
Those that work clinic defense know that abortion protesters, who sometimes bring children with them, often seem to care more for what's in other women's bodies than the needs of actual children. At [sic] the new clinic in MA, located close to a school, is no exception. On day one of the new health care clinic in Brookline, and the anti-abortion protesters show up with gruesome signs.
Let's get this straight. While RH Reality Check promotes the murder of preborn children it dares to call pro-lifers showing photos of the murders of preborn children the ones who show "callous disregard for children." Got it.
City of Rockford officials have tabled its recently proposed "bubble zone" ordinance for two months as they consider new objections from the Chicago-based Thomas More Society and local pro-life activists. Yesterday, attorneys from the Thomas More Society sent a letter to Rockford's mayor and aldermen respectfully urging them to reject the bubble zone measure as ill-advised and unconstitutional. Additionally, pro-life activists assert that enacting the bubble zone ordinance would overlook and validate the grossly objectionable activities on the part of the Northern Illinois Women's Center, Rockford's abortion clinic with its notorious history of displaying obscene images and harassing protesters. Clinic window displays feature a host of anti-Christian symbols including a rubber chicken covering the body of Jesus Christ on a crucifix, images of Jesus Christ making an explicit gesture with the words "Even Jesus Hates You," and more rubber chickens dangling from nooses. A nun doll in a miniature casket appears in another window, along with crudely hand-drawn signs slandering priests and other pro-life sidewalk counselors as HIV-positive perverts and child molesters.
"We've been involved in federal litigation with both the clinic proprietor, his thug ally, and Rockford for two years now, and while we had hoped to settle and compromise with the city, this proposed 'bubble zone' ordinance represented a major setback. Yet we're now pleased that, at least, discussions about the negative impact and patent illegality of the ordinance are moving forward," said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society. "This two month delay is a legal victory, albeit a modest one, as prospects for passage of the bubble zone proposal have been dimmed, if not wholly curtailed. We trust that City council members will carefully reconsider this unwise, unwelcome, ill-timed and illicit proposal."
In the law firm's letter to Rockford officials, Brejcha detailed how this new ordinance, if adopted, would infringe the free speech rights of peaceful sidewalk counselors. Moreover, it is really "anti-choice," as it deprives expectant mothers of any genuine chance to make free, fully informed choices. Finally, Illinois' Labor Dispute Act, which precludes municipal regulation of labor picketing, would render Rockford's bubble-zone "viewpoint-discriminatory" and illegal.
Pro-life advocate Kevin Rilott sent another letter to the city stating that its officials should refrain from putting their stamp of approval on the hateful, obscene and intimidating images displayed by the abortion clinic. Rilott wrote, "Is this really the type of bigotry...the Rockford City council wants to protect, promote, and defend with it's [sic] bubble zone?"
The Thomas More Society has represented pro-life activists in Rockford for several years in both federal and state courts. The pending civil rights lawsuit Rilott v. Rockford et al (No. 08 CV 50045) alleges hate crimes by the abortion clinic proprietor, Wayne Webster, and his ally, Keith Sterkeson, as well as defacement of a pro-life "bus bench" ad by a Rockford bus driver.
A late-term abortionist in Florida has temporarily lost his medical license.
The State Medical Board has suspended the license of James Pendergraft for two years and is requiring him to pay $20,000 in administrative costs. In addition, Pendergraft will be under three years' probation when his license is restored and under the direct supervision of a board-certified OB-GYN.
Cheryl Sullinger, spokesperson for Operation Rescue, indicates that in the latest case, the abortionist perforated the uterus of a woman and gave her an overdose of drugs.
"The Florida Board said that he had a flagrant disregard for the laws of the state of Florida and a willingness to endanger the lives and health of his pregnant patients," Sullinger reports. "I think that's a pretty strong condemnation of him and his lack of medical skills," she adds.
Operation Rescue is shocked that Pendergraft did not receive a permanent revocation of his license because of his history, and Sullinger believes Pendergraft will not abandon the abortion business because he owns five clinics with others performing abortions.
"So there's no incentive for him really to get out of the abortion business as long as his clinics remain open and the money keeps flowing into his pockets," the spokesperson notes.
The pro-life spokeswoman says Operation Rescue will continue to keep Pendergraft under a microscope as activists are encouraged to monitor his clinics and report suspicious goings-on.
A group of older Dutch academics and politicians have launched a petition in support of assisted suicide for the over-70s. They hope to attract over 40,000 signatures, enough to get the issue debated in parliament under citizens' initiative legislation. Under Dutch law, euthanasia can only be practised if the patient is suffering 'unbearable pain'. The doctor must be convinced the patient is making an informed choice and a second doctor must also give his or her opinion. But the new lobby group say people aged over 70 who are tired of life should also have the right to professional help in ending it. Click here for the entire article from the Dutch News.
An anti-abortion group that wants life defined in Mississippi as beginning at fertilization said it intends file a federal lawsuit today to protect a yearlong effort to get the measure on a statewide ballot. Volunteers for Personhood Mississippi have been gathering signatures on petitions to try to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would define "personhood" as beginning at the "moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof." Under Mississippi law, a person or group has one year to gather the required number of valid signatures -- about 89,000 in this case -- to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Personhood Mississippi's deadline is Feb. 13. The group says it has more than 80,000 signatures and is on track to meet the requirement. Click here for the entire article from the Hattiesburg American.
The nation of Costa Rica has elected a new president who has successfully positioned herself as the "pro-life" candidate in the elections. But some are questioning if the president-elect really meets the the pro-life standard.
Laura Chinchilla, who is a Catholic, is famously opposed to relaxing the nation's abortion laws. She also rejects the creation of homosexual "marriage."
However, Chinchilla has made it clear that she supports the current laws of Costa Rica, which permit women to procure an abortion in cases of rape, and says she also supports "therapeutic" abortions in cases in which the mothers life is at risk. Click here for the entire article from LifeSiteNews.com.
The “resource toolkit” of a handbook published by a Catholic college in California includes only one pregnancy-related resource: the Planned Parenthood Kearny Mesa Clinic in San Diego. According to the University of San Diego, “The ‘Youth to College’ program is designed to address the important issue of students from underrepresented groups who do not know that higher education can be a viable option for them.” Click here to view the handbook. Click here for the entire article from Catholic World News.
An Australian man faces criminal charges in connection with an assisted suicide. Merin Neilsen was arrested and charged with importing a controlled drug to help Frank Ward end his own life last October. The arrest comes after an investigation that included a police search of the offices of Exit International, a group that promotes assisted suicide. Dr. Phililp Nitschke, a leading Australian spokesman for the "right to die" movement, had disclosed that Ward spoke with members of Exit International shortly before his death. Click here for the entire article from Catholic World News.
While a bipartisan meeting on health care is scheduled for Feb. 25, it appears that Republican leaders and President Barack Obama have already hit a snag: whether to start over with entirely new legislation.
Standing in front of the White House on Tuesday, congressional Republican leaders called for scrapping the partisan bills that passed the House and Senate last year and replacing them with new, bipartisan legislation to reform health care.
“We need to start over,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), shortly after he and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) met with President Obama in the White House. Click here for the entire article from CNSNews.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted and shared with local police a "threat assessment" last year against pro-lifers for a peaceful demonstration in Wisconsin before abandoning the project, it has been revealed. The Middleton Police Department refused to release the assessment in response to an open records request in January, several months after the DHS ruled that the investigation was an improper use of resources directed against legitimate First Amendment activity.
“The majority of Americans identify themselves as pro-life, and the Middleton Police Department has shown they are out of touch with this peaceful majority,” said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin.
“Pro-lifers are not a minority of the population, nor are they second-class citizens. We refuse to let our First Amendment rights be silenced.”
The assessment concerned a non-violent pro-life demonstration at a February 2009 University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics meeting, in which late term-abortions were approved to begin at the Madison Surgery Center. It was shared with the Middleton Police Department (MPD) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the same month.
A few months later, the Office for Civil Rights of the DHS concluded that this activity required the "collection, retention, and dissemination of U.S. person information regarding protest groups which posed no threat to homeland security" and was therefore "outside of [the Office of Intelligence and Analysis'] authorized mission" and violated its own guidelines.
The DHS destroyed its copy of the report; the MPD, however, reportedly kept its copy.
Last month the Alliance Defense Fund, acting on behalf of Wisconsin pro-life advocates, requested a copy of the report through Wisconsin's open records laws. The MPD denied the request, stating that "granting requests such as yours could result in the identification ... of groups or individuals who may constitute a security threat. ... Disclosure of this information could compromise individual sources and jeopardize law enforcement's ability to effectively protect its citizens in the future."
“This move by DHS illustrates the Obama administration’s goal of silencing pro-lifers," Hamill said. "It is disturbing that a local police department has apparently tapped into the security apparatus of the federal government to potentially obstruct free speech.”
“Last year, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano unjustly included pro-lifers in a report on domestic terrorism," Hamill concluded, "and here we see her words in action.”
Humorous Super Bowl commercial shines light on pro-abortion groups that objected to its airing.
The much-anticipated and maligned Focus on the Family ad featuring Tim and Pam Tebow aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
For weeks, pro-abortion groups had made the media circuit complaining about the "anti-abortion" ad and calling on CBS to pull it from its Super Bowl lineup. This, in spite of the fact that none had seen the ad.
When the commercial finally made its debut, Gary Schneeberger, vice president of ministry communications for Focus on the Family, said the critics were nearly silenced.
"The buzz since the ad aired has been nothing but, 'What was all the controversy about?,'" he said. "This wasn't political. This wasn't advocacy. This wasn't controversial. It's an inspirational story about a mother and son who love each other."
Jehmu Greene, president of The Women's Media Center, admitted the commercial was "benign," but expressed surprise at the humorous addition of Tebow tackling his mother.
"Some groups like the National Organization for Women have actually decried the ad for promoting violence against women," Schneeberger said. "We don't know how to respond to that, except to say that right before our ad aired Snickers had an ad in which 88-year-old Betty White got fake-tackled in a pool of mud, and there's no news release condemning that.
I was at the filming of the Focus ad, and I can assure everyone that no mothers of Heisman-winning quarterbacks were harmed in the making of our commercial."
There was no shortage of questionable advertising during the big game. GoDaddy, the Web hosting company, aired its usual over-sexualized fare, with no objection from women's groups.
"Those kinds of portrayals," said Schneeberger, "really can lead to violence against women."
Dan Gainor, vice president for business and culture at the Culture and Media Institute, said the Tebow ad was one of the more amusing offerings.
"The content wasn't the least bit offensive," he said. "(Tebow's) mother didn't even utter the word 'abortion.' She celebrated life. Yet supposed 'women's' groups were up in arms about the ads. The fact that those same groups essentially ignored the sexist Go Daddy ads shows their hypocrisy."
Late-term abortionist Alberto Hodari has had 3 of his 6 MI abortion mills up for sale for some time.
The other day pro-life supersleuth Lynn Mills thought the property not only looked like a dump, which would be normal, but also vacant. Here's a photo Lynn took this morning. The "For Sale" sign has been blown down for some time, she says, although the place is apparently still listed....
Lynn called and got confirmation. Then I called this morning and was told Hodari periodically closes the place for months when business is down....
Lynn told me it has been "hit and miss" at the Livonia location for 5 years. They used to say the place was closed for remodeling, but that no longer passes the smell test, perhaps literally.
Receptionist Kimberly told me employees have been dispersed to other mills but strangely, as usually happens, women have started calling for appointments - when there were "zero patients" when the doors were open.
Lynn and I agreed the callers must be pro-life posers like us, checking up on the quack by pretending to want an exam. (Perish the thought.)
While perusing the place today Lynn also noticed some wires were down over one of the mill's entrances...
Lynn has notified Livonia's fire chief of the fire and safety hazard.
A new country music star has been born - and with a pro-life ballad, no less, that is steadily climbing the country music charts.
Matt Kennon’s debut hit single “the Call” has risen to No. 39 on the Billboard 200 list of top country music hits and packs a compelling pro-life, or what some may call a “whole life," message.
Accompanied by his guitar, Kennon sings about the lives of two individuals that would have ended very differently without the timely intervention of a phone call. The music video for “The Call” – already played on Country Music Television – captures even better the happiness in so many lives that would never have happened without “the call.”
The first part of the song focuses on a young man – a despairing U.S. Marine in the music video – on the cusp of pulling the trigger of his gun to take his own life. Just then, a friend calls his cell phone and asks him to come along for a motorboat outing. The friend tells him that the girl he likes will be there, and that she was excited to learn that he might join them. The friend says, “You better not miss it ´cause buddy I swear / It won´t be the same / If you ain’t there.”
The next part tells the story of two 18-year-olds that “had let a kiss go to far” in the backseat of a car. Believing the unplanned pregnancy would spoil their plans to go off to college, the baby's father pressures his girlfriend into scheduling an abortion. But while she is sitting in the waiting room – a “family planning clinic” in the music video – her phone rings, and the boyfriend asks her not to go through with the abortion saying, “baby I was wrong about everything.” Instead, he tells her that he bought a ring, and asks her to marry him, saying “we’re gonna start a life” with the baby “boy or girl; pink or blue.” Crying she replies, “I’m glad you called.”
The music video illustrates what happens as a result of these two last-minute interventions: the Marine is happy, boating with his friends and his new-found love on a bright sunny lake. The two 18-year-olds are picnicking nearby in the woods, beaming with smiles at the sight of their baby, cooing in his mother’s arms.
Kennon concludes the heart-warming song by singing, “If someone you know is waiting on your mind / And needs a friend on the other end line / Don´t hesitate what you say may seem so small / But who knows / They might be glad you called / So make the call.”
The song’s pro-life message is also personal to Kennon, a Georgia native whose real name is Matt Ferguson. In an interview with The Boot, AOL’s music blog, Kennon revealed that he was adopted by two loving parents, who tragically had lost three out of four of their own children in a house fire.
Kennon’s birth mother, on the other hand, actually had made plans to abort him. But unlike the story Kennon sings about in “The Call”, his own birth-father never intervened. Kennon’s mother did not go through with the abortion only because her doctor said she was two weeks past the legal limit.
Fortunately, the same doctor helped arrange the at-birth adoption, guaranteeing that the baby – the future rising country music star – would find a loving, stable home.
Later in life, Kennon sought out his birth mother and biological father, but the details of his natural family's chaotic life proved very disturbing: his natural father, he learned, had attempted to sell him for adoption on the black market for $10,000.
But instead of discouraging him, said Kennon, the knowledge “gave me the drive to succeed and let [his biological parents] know I was more than just a price tag.”
Kennon says today that he only considers his adoptive parents to be his real parents, and that he has been very blessed from the day they welcomed him into their lives.
"I've only got a mom and a dad and they're both alive and well, and they've always been there and they always will be there," said Kennon.
According to the Newton Citizen, Kennon grew up a Christian playing drums and singing at Bethel Christian Church in Conyers, Georgia, and participated in Salem High School’s jazz band until graduating in 1995. For the past six years, Kennon had been practicing his guitar, writing songs, and performing in showcases in the country music capital of Nashville before finally getting name recognition for “The Call.”
Kennon is finishing the final touches on an album which should hit stores later this year.
Matt Kennon will join music stars Dierks Bentley, Randy Houser, and Jamey Johnson in the lineup for the BamaJam Music and Arts Festival taking place June 3-5 in Enterprise, Alabama.
"The foetus is another life in a woman and loss of the foetus is actually loss of a child"
The Delhi High Court has ruled that an unborn child can be considered equivalent to a minor child and has directed an insurance company to pay compensation of 250,000 rupees (about $5750 Canadian) to a man who lost his pregnant wife in a road accident a year and half ago.
Justice J R Midha allowed an appeal filed by a Mr. Prakash seeking compensation for the death of his unborn child when his plea was ignored by the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT), which rules on insurance claim disputes in India.
"This court holds that an unborn child — aged five months onwards in the mother’s womb till its birth — is treated as equal to a child ... the fetus is another life in a woman and loss of the fetus is actually loss of a child in the offing," Justice Midha stated.
The Delhi High Court ruling followed a precedent set by the Kerala High Court’s verdict of October 2008 involving an identical issue, when it had ordered the payment of separate compensation for the death of an unborn child to the husband of a pregnant woman, who died in a road accident.
Prior to the Kerala High Court’s verdict, courts in India generally held that compensation for the death of an unborn child could only be paid in case of a miscarriage by the mother who survived an accident - but no separate claim was allowed for an unborn child if the mother had died.
The Delhi court heard that the MACT had already awarded 611,000 rupees to Mr Prakash for the accident in which his wife died with their seven-month-old child in her womb, but refused to take into account the death of the child.
Counsel for MACT said that the "post-mortem report did not mention anything about the presence of a fetus."
Clarifying that the unborn child was absent at the time of the victim’s death, counsel for Mr. Prakash explained to the court that as a result of the accident that took place on June 8, 2008, the child Mrs Prakash was carrying died and was removed from her womb by Caesarean section on June 17. Following this Mrs. Prakash died from her injuries on August 14.
"The appeal is allowed and the compensation of 250,000 rupees along with interest at 7.5 per annum...is awarded to the appellant (Prakash) towards the death of a seven month-old foetus on June 17,2008," the Court judgment said.
