NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

Abortion becoming more common among poor women, racial minorities in US



Among American women who obtain abortions, the proportion living under the federal poverty level has jumped from 27% in 2000 to 42% in 2008, according to a new study.

The study by the Guttmacher Institute, which is an affiliate of Planned Parenthood, suggests that tight economic circumstances may contribute to the increase in the number of poor women seeking abortion. The report does not analyze the campaign by Planned Parenthood to encourage abortion among impoverished women and members of racial minority groups. It does note, however, that just 36% of the women procuring abortions were white.

Regarding payment for the abortions, the Guttmacher study found that roughly one-third of the women had private insurance, one-third had no insurance, and one-third of the abortions were covered by the federal Medicaid program.
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Most Women Pay For Abortions Out Of Pocket, Guttmacher Survey Finds



Fifty-seven percent of women who obtained abortions from April 2008 through May 2009 paid for the procedure out of pocket, while Medicaid paid for 20% of the procedures and private insurers paid for 12%, according to a new survey by the Guttmacher Institute, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thirteen percent of the 9,493 women surveyed reported receiving financial assistance, such as support from a not-for-profit group. One-third of respondents were uninsured, one-third received health coverage through Medicaid and one-third were privately insured.

Among women with private insurance, 63% paid for the procedure out of pocket. Rachel Jones, a senior research associate at Guttmacher, said those women might not have wanted abortion care to appear on their health insurance records, or they might have been unaware that their health plan provided abortion coverage.
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Several House Dems Plan To Support Bill To Increase Abortion Restrictions In Health Reform Law



Seven House Democrats in the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus say they will support a bill (HR 5111) by Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Pa.) that includes language similar to an antiabortion amendment that caucus Co-Chair Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) attached to the House health reform bill (HR 3962), CQ Today reports. Pitts said he might offer the measure as a stand-alone bill or try to add it to an unrelated bill on the floor, which could prompt a divisive vote during an election year.

The abortion-related provisions in the health reform law (PL 111-148) reflect the Senate's version of the legislation. Under the law, to ensure that no federal funds are used to pay for abortion in plans sold through the health care exchanges, customers purchasing health plans that offer abortion coverage are required to write two checks each month: one for abortion coverage and another for all other coverage. The law also requires insurance companies to keep the payments in separate accounts.
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Abortion providers challenge Oklahoma ultrasound requirement



Abortion providers in Oklahoma have won a delay in the implementation of a new law requiring an ultrasound examination before abortions. Attorney General Drew Edmondson accepted a court order blocking the enforcement of the law while the Center for Reproductive Rights makes a court challenge. The pro-abortion Center argues that the requirement for an ultrasound is intrusive, and a doctor's description of the unborn child may include information that the abortion-minded woman does not want to hear.
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Child Vaccine Refusals Increase in U.S.



More parents in the U.S. are refusing or delaying the vaccinations for their babies, a study suggests. Between 2003 and 2008, the percentage of parents who refused or delayed vaccination doses "increased significantly from 22 per cent to 39 per cent," according to a study presented Tuesday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver. Philip Smith of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and his colleagues analyzed data from the 2008 National Immunization Survey, which asked parents if they had delayed or refused a vaccine, and if so, why. The child's health-care provider reported whether the patient was up-to-date on six vaccines.
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Kansas Senate Fails to Override Abortion Bill Veto



The Kansas Senate has failed to override Gov. Mark Parkinson's veto of a bill rewriting the state's late-term abortion laws.
 
The vote Wednesday was 26-14 to override, one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn Parkinson's veto. Abortion rights opponents have said they did not expect to ask the Senate to reconsider its action.
 
The bill would have required doctors to report more detailed information to the state about the late-term abortions they perform.
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Aborting Facts for Political Purposes

Aborting Facts for Political Purposes


A couple of recent studies that reflect negatively on abortion have come to our attention. We in turn want to make you are aware of them—not because they are shocking, but rather because the secular “news” media has once again found it not in their best pro-death interest to report them objectively. For the most part, there has been no mention of them.

The first deals with the congressional briefing hosted by Congressman Chris Smith this past week, a well-known advocate for human rights, truth and life. The purpose of the Smith briefing was to discuss the global decline in maternal death rates and the reasons why improved prenatal care, rather than abortion, holds the key to continued success in this area.

During the briefing, Dr. Donna Harrison, president of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), focused attention on a recent study published in the British medical journal, Lancet, entitled “Maternal mortality for 181 countries, 1980—2008: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5.”

It credits these four reasons for the improvement in maternal health: declining pregnancy rates in some countries, higher per capita income, higher education rates for women and the increasing availability of basic medical care including “skilled birth attendants.” 

As Dr. Harrison explained, the Lancet report “never mentioned legal abortion as a factor in bringing down maternal mortality ratios. In fact, pro-life nations such as Poland, Malta and Ireland had just as low or even lower ratios of maternal mortality than the United States, Norway, and Canada, which all have very liberal abortion laws.”

Harrison pointed out that induced abortion actually puts women in danger of bleeding/hemorrhage, infection, and damage to reproductive organs, especially if not all the pieces of the destroyed unborn child are completely evacuated. The risks are even greater for medical abortion, Harrison said, highlighting a study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, which found that women having a medical abortion had an eightfold risk of bleeding, fivefold risk of incomplete abortion, and twofold risk of (re)evacuation than surgical abortion. The study concluded that medical abortion was likely “to result in an elevated incidence of overall morbidity related to termination of pregnancy.

While this comes as no surprise to anyone involved in the pro-life apostolate, it is not us who need to hear these facts, but rather the general public who is still being spoon-fed the lie that abortion is “safe and legal” and childbirth can be deadly for the mother. So where is the media, you might ask?

Well, as the New York Times reports:

[S]ome advocates for women’s health tried to pressure The Lancet into delaying publication of the new findings, fearing that good news would detract from the urgency of their cause, Dr. Horton said in a telephone interview.

“I think this is one of those instances when science and advocacy can conflict,” he said.

Dr. Horton said the advocates, whom he declined to name, wanted the new information held and released only after certain meetings about maternal and child health had already taken place.

He said the meetings included one at the United Nations this week, and another to be held in Washington in June, where advocates hope to win support for more foreign aid for maternal health from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Other meetings of concern to the advocates are the Pacific Health Summit in June, and the United Nations General Assembly meeting in December.

“People who have spent many years committed to the issue of maternal health were understandably worried that these figures could divert attention from an issue that they care passionately about,” Dr. Horton said. “But my feeling is that they are misguided in their view that this would be damaging. My view is that actually these numbers help their cause, not hinder it.”

All I can say to that is, Dr. Horton, GIVE ME A BREAK! Who do you think you are kidding? Or are you so naïve you do not understand that those who equate maternal health with killing preborn children before birth don’t want any kind of good news being touted in the media that will undermine their heinous agenda.

If it were truly the case, that advocates for maternal health were committed to protecting expectant mothers and their babies from dreadful disease, difficulties, birth anomalies and death, they would be staunch advocates for both patients and never recommend killing as a healthy response!

However, as we know, such is not the case here or in any of the developing nations where the United States has been funding the culture of death for so many years.

Further, these very same advocates, if they were honestly committed to women and children, would have been first in line with the news that researchers at the University of Manitoba have shown a distinct link between abortion and mental illness including thoughts of suicide: 

The researchers, from the departments of psychology and psychiatry, as well as obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, found that abortion was associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and suicide attempts.

They report that depression and drug dependence followed abortion in about half of the women studied. Additionally, women with a household income of $75,000 or more were more likely to report an abortion than those with household incomes under $25,000.

They used data from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Drug Abuse to look for correlations between a number of factors, including abortion, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders, disruptive behavior and suicide attempts. They then checked for evidence of mental disorders following abortions.

“This was the first study to examine associations between abortion and several mental disorders,” says Dr. Jitender Sareen, psychiatry. “We found a higher likelihood of lifetime mood disorder in women who had experienced an abortion compared with those who had never had an abortion.”

But even those involved with this study were rather hasty to tell the secular media no conclusions can be drawn linking abortion to mental illness! The Canadian news agency reports that “[a]bortion providers worry the study's findings could be misinterpreted and become fodder for anti-abortion groups.”

In other words, regardless of the actual clinical information that exposes the deleterious effects of abortion on the mother, let alone the child, the political advocacy of abortion is what is most important.

Rather than being objective, the news media must rush to see what those negatively affected by such studies have to say because, as far as I can tell, the act of abortion is not in the same category as other surgical procedures when it comes to telling the truth to the public.

The protection of the sacred act of abortion is clearly what is most important to far too many who should be dedicated to honest and fair reporting.

For many years, I have known that the relatively naïve pro-life activities of the late seventies and early eighties that ultimately put abortion into the framework of “political issues” were bound to backfire.

Today, as these two studies and the public reaction affirms, this is in fact the case. We are not dealing with honesty in the media or the medical profession when we discuss abortion today. No, it is all about politics. 

And frankly, the only solution for all this is an ongoing discussion about the humanity of the preborn child with a specific focus on his human personhood.

As advocates for these people, we are not and should not be involved in a partisan political discussion. Nor will we patiently wait for the medical world to own up to the truth and admit that those who commit abortion are committing murder.

We are the ones who are going to repeat the truth about what abortion really is, regardless of our popularity, our social status or our opportunities to be welcomed into the wider community of secular thoughts and ideas.

We know that abortion is evil. We know that those who advocate it are literally working for the father of lies, and we will continue to say it. Abortion is an act that takes the life of a person and the antidote is human personhood. A focus on that child’s humanity is the only educational tool that has lasting power to turn the tide. 

God does not expect us to engage in political bickering, nor does His Word give us permission to relegate His babies and their fate to nothing more than a mere political issue! God expects us to tell the truth. If not us, who? Personhood now!

Contact: Judie Brown
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: May 4, 2010
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'Telemed' Abortions Under Investigation in Iowa

'Telemed' Abortions Under Investigation in Iowa



 The Iowa Medical Board is now investigating the "care and treatment" practices of abortionist Susan Haskell and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, who have been accused of conducting medical abortions without a physician present, reports Operation Rescue.

The investigation, which Operation Rescue (OR) said it was notified of in writing, is in response to complaints filed by OR Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger concerning "Telemed" abortions.

"Telemed" is short for telemedicine, a practice in which the patient consults with a physician over the Internet via Skype or other teleconferencing hook-up.

OR investigators found that a dozen small Planned Parenthood offices in Iowa were administering the dangerous abortion drug, RU 486, without the patient ever having been personally examined by a physician.

Instead, an abortionist briefly addresses abortion patients from a teleconferencing hook-up from her office in Des Moines. After explaining the medical abortion process, a button is pushed and an electronic drawer opens that contains the drugs.

"We believe that this practice is illegal and violates Iowa law that requires that a licensed physician perform abortions in that state, and increases the serious dangers to the public," said OR President Troy Newman.

The pro-life organization also reported that Planned Parenthood deviates from the FDA protocols in both dosage and number of recommended office visits. The abortion patient never has personal access to a licensed physician, even for a follow-up examination, according to the pro-life group.

They also point out that insurance companies are charged $1,000 for the procedure, twice the cost of cash patients and over 2 1/2 times the national average cost for such abortions, a practice that could drive up insurance costs across the board.

Concerns about the practice of telemed abortions are exacerbated by the fact that at least 13 women have died from medical abortions and over 1,100 have suffered serious complications.

"Planned Parenthood has come up with a dangerous scheme to peddle abortion pills to women without the cost of transporting a licensed physician to each clinic. Without enough abortionists to staff all of their clinics, this 'telemed' scheme is the goose that laid the golden egg for them. Never mind that it is a serious danger to women and to the economics of this country, especially if it expands nationally," said Newman.

"We pray that the Iowa Board of Medicine will bring this outrageous abortion abuse to an end."

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 4, 2010
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Just in Time for Mother's Day

Just in Time for Mother’s Day



Last Wednesday, April 28th, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continued to use her favorite line at an Emily’s List Fundraiser, “being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.” In doing so, not only is she openly and directly contradicting any credibility of the President’s Executive Order, but also her own words to Leader Boehner at the healthcare summit. “I want the record to show that two statements were made that are not factual in relationship to these bills…My colleague Leader Boehner, the law of the land is that there is no public funding of abortions and there is no public funding of abortion in this bill and I don’t want our listeners or viewers to get the wrong impression from what you said.”

In addition to revealing the real story about taxpayer funding of abortion in healthcare, Speaker Pelosi is also making the unfortunate and inaccurate claim that the ability to have a tax payer funded abortion is a right and honor as a woman. I (and many others) would argue that having an abortion is the complete antithesis of what it means to be a woman.

Across the country, and perhaps at least indirectly related to the boost the abortion business will receive from the new healthcare law, tomorrow, May 4th, Planned Parenthood celebrates the grand opening of their new headquarters in Houston, Texas. The building is twice as large as their last headquarters and is proud to boast the ability to perform late term abortions on children who have developed in their mother’s womb for up to twenty-five weeks.

In the words of Peter Durkin, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood for Southeast Texas, Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, the building’s architecture (which has been likened to a giant cash register) is most accurately described as a “giant staircase, leading upward in the prevention of unwanted and teen pregnancies.”

On Friday night, over 2000 peaceful protesters participated in a prayer vigil outside of a party in honor of the new building. The vigil was organized by Houston Coalition for Life and Life Advocates and seemed to attract the attention of Planned Parenthood party-goers.

Contact: FRC Blog
Source: Jeanne Monahan
Publish Date: May 3, 2010
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Human Services Dept. Allegedly Pressured Teen to Get Abortion

Human Services Dept. Allegedly Pressured Teen to Get Abortion

             

A caseworker with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) allegedly pressured a pregnant teenager in foster care into a late-term abortion by threatening to take away her toddler or her yet-unborn baby.  Additionally, Marisol Rivera, the girl's social worker, said that she was fired for refusing to take the teen to a late-term abortion clinic.

"They hired me to work in child protection, not to kill children," Rivera told the Philadelphia Daily News.

According to the newspaper, the girl's foster mother said that the 16-year old was excited about having the baby and had already told her 1-year-old child that she would have a little brother.  The teenager's birth mother, identified only as Deborah M., also said the girl was excited.

But this all changed, according to the teenager's foster mother, after the DHS worker Cynthia Brown threatened to take away her children.

"She said that if she decided to have the infant she wasn't going to let her have both babies, that I know," the foster mother said. "They wouldn't be together."

Another source, however, insisted that the girl's foster mother, whose first language is Spanish, did not understand the conversation between the girl and Cynthia Brown.

Yet Deborah M. said that she believed the foster mother's allegations, because she had witnessed Brown bullying her daughter before.  She said Brown threatened to take away her one of her children unless the teen began taking her older child to daycare.

The DHS reportedly procured a judge's order allowing an abortion; Pennsylvania state law requires parental consent for abortion, but this may be bypassed by court approval.

Brown said she drove the teen to get an abortion in New Jersey at the Cherry Hill Women's Center, because abortions in Pennsylvania are illegal at 24 weeks.  There, her infant was killed by the injection of a feticide.

Marisol Rivera initially refused to drive the girl to the abortion mill for the second appointment, scheduled to remove the baby's body, but did so after she learned that the baby had already been killed.

"That baby had to be taken out of her," Rivera said. "It couldn't stay in there much longer. It was against my will, but I had no other option. Instead of one dying, two were going to die."

Rivera worked for Concilio, which performs subcontract work for the DHS.  She says her supervisor threatened to fire her when she initially refused to take the teenager to the clinic; after she complained to Concilio's human-relations director about the threat, Rivera says she was fired.

The Philadelphia Daily News claimed that the DHS and Concilio have tried to suppress the publication of the affair.

The DHS had not returned LSN's request for comment at press time.

Contact: James Tillman
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 3, 2010
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Oklahoma Ultrasound Law Temporarily Suspended

Oklahoma Ultrasound Law Temporarily Suspended



Any notion that abortionists routinely give women accurate medical information about their pregnancy received a serious blow in recent months, after the release of a series of undercover videotapes by Live Action showing abortion clinic employees misleading young girls about the development of their unborn child, apparently in an effort to pressure them to go through with an abortion.

Now one groundbreaking, but controversial, Oklahoman law that tackles the issue head-on by requiring abortionists to give women all the facts before they undergo an abortion, has been temporarily suspended by Oklahoma County District Judge Noma Gurich.

The law mandates that women receive an ultrasound within an hour of undergoing an abortion, and that the ultrasound technician turn the monitor towards the mother so she can see, and describe the unborn child.

"We're sorry to see implementation of the law delayed," said Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans for Life and vice president of the National Right to Life Committee. "This has been a long process and apparently it will be a little longer."

"The abortion industry would like to hide the truth from women about their unborn children."

The temporary restraining order was put in place pending the outcome of a legal challenge to the law.

The pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which is leading the charge against the law, has labeled it as  “extreme” and “unconstitutional.” CRR claims that the law “forces” a woman to hear information that she may not want to hear and that may not be relevant to her medical care.

CRR had successfully challenged an abortion-related omnibus bill that included the ultrasound language and that was passed in 2008, but that was later struck down by the state Supreme Court for violating the single-issue rule.

The ultrasound law has touched a nerve with pro-abortion forces, evoking impassioned opposition. Brittany Novotny, a Democrat running for State House, has labeled the required ultrasounds state-mandated “rape by instrumentation.”

But supporters of the law say that it simply ensures that women are able to give their informed consent. "It’s part of the informed consent before she makes an irrevocable decision,” said the law’s author, Rep. Lisa Billy, R-Lindsay, according to NewsOK. "Why wouldn’t we allow her all that information?”

“We believe the ultrasound bill will provide much needed information to women in advance of an irrevocable, lethal decision, and that both she and her baby will benefit from her having that information,” Tony Lauinger had told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) late last month.

Despite overwhelming support for the law in the state legislature, the legislation has travelled a long and rocky road. After being passed as part of the omnibus bill in 2008, and then challenged in court and defeated, the ultrasound language was re-introduced into the legislature as a separate bill. That bill passed both Houses last month, but was then vetoed by Governor Brad Henry.

Only three days after the veto, however, the House overwhelmingly voted to override the veto, and the Senate followed suit the next day.

Nevertheless, it appears that the battle over the legislation may just be beginning. While the Center for Reproductive Rights seems determined to ensure that the law does not remain on Oklahoma’s books, pro-life forces say they are convinced that the law will withstand any legal challenge that is thrown at it.

Tony Lauinger told LSN that his organization believes that the law is constitutional and stands well with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

Contact: John Jalsevac
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 4, 2010
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Rape by instrumentation?

Rape by instrumentation?

Yesterday an OK judge delayed for 45 days enactment of a new law mandating that mothers get ultrasounds before abortions. This will allow the 2 sides to get their arguments in order to defend or oppose it.

OK's ultrasound law goes farther than others. According to the Associated Press...



The law requires doctors to use a vaginal probe, which provides a clearer picture of the fetus than a regular ultrasound, and to describe the fetus in detail, including its dimensions, whether arms, legs and internal organs are visible and whether there is cardiac activity.

That's sloppy journalism, if not intentionally biased. The law actually requires either the abortionist or "certified technician" to "[p]erform an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant woman, using either a vaginal transducer or an abdominal transducer, whichever would display the embryo or fetus more clearly...."

The "vaginal transducer" distinction is what drives this legislation further than others, making it critical to this conversation. It is different in probe placement than abdominal ultrasounds of which we're all aware:

Creative Minority Report adds, "I've seen the term 'invasive' used to describe the ultrasounds dozens of times in the past few days." Yes, and here the AP calls it "intrusive."

The other side is arguing this is "rape by instrumentation." At least one argues the new ultrasound law is literally "legaliz[ing] rape" by countermanding OK's rape statute that indeed includes "rape by instrumentation."

Gov. Brad Henry originally vetoed the law (which was overridden) stating, according to the AP, "'it would be unconscionable to subject rape and incest victims to such treatment' because it would victimize them again."

Of course, pro-lifers have argued forever that abortion is violent and akin to rape. Dr. David Reardon writes (in the best article on rape and abortion ever):

Abortion is not some magical surgery which turns back time to make a woman "un-pregnant." Instead, it is a real life event which is always very stressful and often traumatic....

[M]any women report that their abortions felt like a degrading and brutal form of medical rape. This association between abortion and rape is not hard to understand.

Abortion involves a painful examination of a woman's sexual organs by a masked stranger who is invading her body. Once she is on the operating table, she loses control over her body. If she protests and asks for the abortionist to stop, she will likely be ignored or told: "It's too late to change your mind. This is what you wanted. We have to finish now." And while she lies there tense and helpless, the life hidden within her is literally sucked out of her womb. The difference? In a sexual rape, a woman is robbed of her purity; in this medical rape she is robbed of her maternity.

This experiential association between abortion and sexual assault is very strong for many women. It is especially strong for women who have a prior history of sexual assault, whether or not she is presently pregnant as the result of an assault. This is just one reason why women with a history of sexual assault are likely to experience greater distress during and after an abortion than other women.

The difference, according to Oklahoma Voice of Reason, is that a mother doesn't give consent to the former but does the latter.

But there is no comparison between a benign ultrasound probe and a painful abortion that is actually akin to rape on so many levels, as Dr. Reardon described.

Pro-aborts trivialize rape by making such a comparison, and they also draw attention to that which is actually "rape by instrumentation," the invasive and violent abortion procedure.

Giving one's consent to abortion does not erase its trauma. Women with breast cancer may give consent to have a breast removed, but that doesn't erase their trauma.

It is shameful for the other side to consider abortion a panacea for traumatized and vulnerable rape victims.

This is another losing argument for the other side.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: jillstanek.com
Publish Date: May 4, 2010
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Kansas House Overrides Veto of Late-Term Abortion Restriction Law

Kansas House Overrides Veto of Late-Term Abortion Restriction Law



Kansas House of Representatives this morning overturned Governor Mark Parkinson's veto of legislation requiring late-term abortionists to report the medical justification for performing the procedure.

The 86-35 overturn came Monday, after an initial attempt on Friday fell short of the 84-vote minimum by two votes. Parkinson had vetoed the legislation April 16.

The measure was crafted in response to the vague reporting methods that investigators say supported the decades-long business of slain late-term abortionist George Tiller. Nebraska late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart had vowed to continue Tiller's late-term abortion spree where he left off at his Wichita clinic when Tiller was fatally shot last May.

The Senate is expected to take up the decisive vote on the veto override as early as Tuesday.

"It's good news," Operation Rescue president Troy Newman told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) Monday afternoon. Newman said he was not expecting that a second vote would be successful, and attributed the legislature's reversal to pressure from pro-lifers lobbying lawmakers with "a lot of phone calls."

"Clearly this is a good law: what it means is that the abortionists aren't going to be able to drive a Mack truck through the mental health exception any longer," he said. "The law will be the law, and it will be enforced as such.

"It's more of a clarification as to what the legislature's intent was all along: that women can't have late-term abortions for trivial reasons."

The pro-life leader said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the Senate would find the 27 votes needed to secure the House's veto override. The Senate had originally passed the law with 24 votes.

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 4, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

Long Island Hospital Issues Abortion Apology To Nurses



A New York hospital has admitted it was wrong when it disciplined eight nurses for refusing to participate in an abortion. Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island apologized to the nurses and said they did nothing wrong. The nurses cited moral reasons for not taking part in the procedure involving a patient whose water broke prematurely on March 31.
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Study Links Abortion and Addiction



Women who have had an abortion are nearly four times as likely to have problems with drugs and alcohol as women who have not, according to a study conducted by University of Manitoba researchers. The authors of the study caution though, that their research shows only that abortions and substance use disorders are linked; they have not established any causal relationship. The study did not demonstrate whether women who have abortions are more prone to develop substance abuse problems or whether women with such problems are more likely to have abortions. "These are associations only," said Natalie Mota, a PhD student in the U of M's clinical psychology department who co-authored the study along with Margaret Burnett and Jitender Sareen. "Further research needs to look at the different factors that might be playing a part."
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Planned Parenthood Sees Increase in Profits During the Obama Administration



In the first public records marking any fiscal change since the Obama Administration began, Planned Parenthood’s most recent 990 tax forms show a significant increase in revenue during fiscal year 2009, half of which time Obama was in office. In fiscal year 2008, the nonprofit claimed revenue of $85,758,316. In fiscal year 2009, that amount increased to $106,357,796, marking an increase of over twenty million dollars. This was during the same time frame that unemployment rose as high as 9.5%.
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Doctors At Religious Hospitals Face Ethical Conflicts Over Care



Most physicians in a recent survey said they would refer their patients elsewhere for barred services, but 4% would violate hospital policy to provide "care." . . . One in five primary care physicians working in religiously affiliated health care organizations has experienced a conflict over faith-based patient care policies, according to a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The findings, based on a nationwide survey of 446 family physicians and internists, appear to be the first to document how frequently doctors disagree with institutional policies in areas such as reproductive and end-of-life care, said Debra B. Stulberg, MD, the study's lead author.
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Nurse Sues Hospital Over Forced Abortion Assist



A Catholic nurse was "forced?" to assist in an abortion at Mount Sinai Medical Center over her strenuous objections, a lawsuit filed Friday charges. Catherina Cenzon-DeCarlo, who works in the operating room at the Manhattan hospital, contends that her boss ordered her to assist in the May 2009 abortion of a 22-week-old fetus or face charges of "insubordination and patient abandonment." "They knew her objections on the day she was hired," said lawyer Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian organization that filed suit in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Cenzon-DeCarlo's behalf.
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Stem Cell Research A Reality, For Now



The light could stay green for University of Nebraska researchers to pursue expanded embryonic stem cell research at least through the 2012 elections. Representatives of Nebraska Right to Life and other anti-abortion groups say their best chance of stopping the research appears to be electing supportive candidates to the Legislature and the NU Board of Regents. But this year's elections offer little opportunity to significantly alter the makeup of either entity. The NU Medical Center announced Friday that scientists are moving ahead with research on a newly obtained embryonic stem cell line. The push comes a year after President Obama lifted federal restrictions on such work.
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618.466.4122

Web: www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Pro-Lifers to Protest Largest Planned Parenthood Facility in Western Hemisphere

Pro-Lifers to Protest Largest Planned Parenthood Facility in Western Hemisphere

 

Houston Pro-life groups are planning a huge prayer vigil today (Friday, April 30) in protest of Planned Parenthood's Gala celebration of the completion of the largest abortion facility in the western hemisphere.  The 78,000-square foot facility, which has been constructed to perform late-term abortions, is scheduled to open on May 11.

In a press release the Houston Coalition for Life notes that the new facility will make Houston "the abortion capital of the southern part of the United States and South America. Viable unborn children will die in this facility with Planned Parenthood performing abortions through 25 weeks gestation (that's six months). Unborn children as early as 22 weeks gestation have been born and survived."

At 5:45pm on Friday a march will ensue from Annunciation Catholic Church at 1618 Texas St. to The Corinthian at 202 Fannin. Participants will gather around the outside of The Corinthian in prayer and leaders of local pro-life groups will speak about the deadly effects this huge expansion will have on Houston families.

"With the opening of this late-term abortion center in Houston we will see the numbers of innocent unborn children who die through abortion dramatically rise, more mothers will be hurt psychologically, spiritually and physically and more families will be destroyed," said Christine Melchor the Executive Director of the Houston Coalition for Life.

"We will continue will our campaign to witness to the value and dignity of every human life by having people in prayer and offering of alternatives to abortion outside of Planned Parenthood's new facility. We will stand witness to our commitment to value those who are most vulnerable in our nation, the unborn," said Melchor.

 

Click here for the video.

Contact Information:

Christine Melchor
Executive Director
Houston Coalition for Life 28 April, 2010
Office: 713.395.1330
Christine@houstoncoalition.com

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 30, 2010
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YouTube Cartoons Teach Hundreds of Thousands About Population

YouTube Cartoons Teach Hundreds of Thousands About Population



The Population Research Institute (PRI) has just released the third video in its YouTube cartoon series, designed to refute the idea of overpopulation with science--and stick figures. To date the series has garnered well over 200,000 views on YouTube, and has made PRI one of the more popular non-profit channels on the video channel.
 
This latest video is available online by clicking here, or by visiting PRI's web site: www.pop.org.  Just under two minutes long, the video uses data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Food Program to explain world hunger and reveal how overpopulation is not causing it. All this, while at the same time remaining simple, humorous and--most importantly--geek-friendly.
 
"We're excited to offer another great installment of our highly popular YouTube series," says Steven Mosher, PRI's president. "We can help educate young and old alike through this online video medium in the blessings of people, and do an end run around the 'lamestream' media's fixation on the outdated theory of overpopulation."
 
"We also have a web site devoted solely to these videos: www.overpopulationisamyth.com," says Colin Mason, Director of Media Production at PRI. "The site retains the aesthetic of the videos, while getting into a little more detail of the science itself."
 
"We're very excited about the site," explains Joel Bockrath, PRI's Vice President for Operations. "All of our content is downloadable. We think this could be a valuable resource for students and teachers especially, who may feel alone defending a sometimes unpopular position."



Contact: Colin Mason
Source: Population Research Institute
Publish Date: May 3, 2010
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Dutch Pro-Lifers Erect Display with 30,000 Unborn Baby Models

Dutch Pro-Lifers Erect Display with 30,000 Unborn Baby Models


On the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the decriminalization of abortion in the Netherlands, the Dutch Pro-Life organization Cry for Life laid down 30,000 models of a 10-week-old unborn child. The display was erected in the Square next to the government buildings in center of The Hague, the Netherlands, on Wednesday, April 28.


On that date in 1981, the Dutch Senate approved the Pregnancy Termination Bill, by the narrowest possible margin of thirty-eight votes in favor to thirty-seven against. The bill had been adopted earlier by the House of Representatives.

In the Netherlands, which is well known for its liberal views, each year the lives of approximately 30,000 unborn are terminated in the womb and discarded as medical waste. Abortion is possible up to the 24th week, with the result that foreign women often visit Holland for late-term abortions not allowed in the countries of their origin.

Many tourists paused and watched the growing field of models, while expressing their approval. People attracted by the beautiful spring weather left the Square after pausing and listening to explanations as to what effect abortion has on mothers, fathers and children.

However, as a pro-life representative attempted to explain the issue to a group of forty junior students, he was interrupted by their teacher, who ordered her students to continue their walk.

Prayer and worship was lead by Cry for Life President, Dr. L.P. Dorenbos. He said that he is convinced that the blood of the aborted lives cries out for vengeance and is determined to see an end to abortion by prayer and fasting. Later Astrid Mechielsen gave her testimony of how her abortion affected her life and the life of her six-month-old son Daniel.

During the demonstration police removed a small group of pro-abortion counter-protesters, who shouted slogans against Cry for Life.

Contact: Michael van der Mast
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 30, 2010
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I Stand in Solidarity With the Schindlers Against Sleazy Media Attack

I Stand in Solidarity With the Schindlers Against Sleazy Media Attack



Michael Schiavo has threatened to sue Terri Schiavo's family because they named their non profit after her–the "Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation."  (MS claims he owns the name. ) And, true to form, an ever compliant media fronted his cause with an unfair attack on the family.  From the story:

    Schiavo's widower, Michael Schiavo, says the family should be ashamed of what they are doing. He adds if Terri ever knew this was happening she'd be horrified. Michael Schiavo is talking about the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. While Terri Schiavo's brother Bobby says the organization is set up to help families in similar situations, Michael Schiavo says he doesn't believe it. Instead Schiavo says they are using their deceased sister's name to make money.

What Michael Schiavo "believes" is irrelevant and beside the point.  Had the reporters wanted to find out the kind of help the foundation offers others, producers could have called me or a myriad of others active in this field, who are quite aware of the selfless giving and effort each surviving member of Terri's family offers to others.  Indeed, I have personal knowledge of case after case in which the Schindlers worked selflessly–and without financial compensation of any kind–to assist family members save their cognitively disabled loved ones from suffering the same dehydration fate as Terri.  The Lauren Richardson food and fluids dispute and the Andrea Clarke futile care case are just two that come to mind.

And as for profiteering–Bobby Schindler's salary is $37,500 annually, and all speaking fees he receives go to the foundation.  His sister Suzanne, makes less and is 14 months in arrears in receiving her compensation.  It is also worth noting, that after receiving complaints, the IRS investigated the foundation and gave it a clean bill of health in 2008.

The hatred of this family is pathological and obsessive.

On a personal note: I know Bobby Schindler very well and consider him one of the most decent human beings I have ever met.  His sister Suzanne is a peach, and mother Mary doesn't have a vindictive or nasty bone in her body.  Father Bob gave everything he had to save his daughter's life, and seeing her die slowly by intentional dehydration when the family was prepared to love and care for her the rest of her life, destroyed his health and eventually took his life.  I stand wholeheartedly and unreservedly with the Schindler family and against the continual calumny mounted against them.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: May 1, 2010
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Study Links Abortion and Mental Illness/Suicide

Study Links Abortion and Mental Illness/Suicide



Researchers have published findings of a study showing a link between abortion, mental illness and suicide.

The researchers, from the departments of psychology and psychiatry, as well as obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Manitoba, found that abortion was associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and suicide attempts.

They report that depression and drug dependence followed abortion in about half of the women studied.  Additionally, women with a household income of $75,000 or more were more likely to report an abortion than those with household incomes under $25,000.

They used data from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Drug Abuse to look for correlations between a number of factors, including abortion, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders, disruptive behavior and suicide attempts. They then checked for evidence of mental disorders following abortions.

"This was the first study to examine associations between abortion and several mental disorders," says Dr. Jitender Sareen, psychiatry.  "We found a higher likelihood of lifetime mood disorder in women who had experienced an abortion compared with those who had never had an abortion."

Sareen pointed out, however, that the data, while identifying a correlation, was unable to speak to the question of causation. "A woman with a mood disorder might be more inclined to have an abortion, while conversely, an unplanned pregnancy and abortion could precipitate a mood disorder," he said.

"Studies like this are so validating for men and women who are suffering," said Angelina Steenstra, national coordinator of Canada's Silent No More Awareness Campaign, who indicated that, based upon her experience, the disorders identified by the researchers are the direct result of abortion.

Silent No More Awareness has brought together countless men and women, who have shared their personal stories about their abortions and how they negatively impacted their lives.

Steenstra, who obtained an abortion when she was 15 after being date-raped, and has since suffered from infertility, said she certainly experienced the effects identified by the study.  "At the moment the baby died through abortion, I knew something terrible happened and I was never going to be able to undo it," she told LifeSiteNews.  "I knew that I had participated in the taking of another human life."

"I was plummeted into a depression that lasted for years, until I actually started making the connection that the depression was related to the aftermath of abortion," she said.  "I didn't deal with it, I avoided the truth."

Following the abortion, she says, her "lifestyle became corrupted," including involvement with drugs, partying, and promiscuous behavior.  "I tainted my behavior to, really, cover up the pain of the abortion," she added.

She was only able to move out of the depression, she said, "by seeing the truth" in an image of an aborted baby.  "I came out of the depression when I started grieving my lost child," she added, explaining that she only did so after losing a second child through an ectopic pregnancy, which was connected to her abortion.

"The claim that abortion is safe is not true.  Women are still dying from abortion, even though it is supposed to be legal and safe," she said.  "It's dangerous for women psychologically. … It's dangerous on the level of relationships.  It was dangerous for me physically."

"I think that information like this is so helpful to men and women who are suffering, as I suffered, because it's a name," she said.  "Once you name something, that's the first step of healing, to acknowledge, to accept, to become aware of what you're suffering."

Once people become aware of the negative effects of abortion, she said, they can begin the journey towards healing through such after-care programs as Rachel's Vineyard or Entering Canaan, which is run by the Sisters of Life.  "When people plug in to those after-care programs, they actually move on and can turn the other page, and integrate the experience into their life," she explained.

The University of Manitoba study, entitled 'Associations Between Abortion, Mental Disorders, and Suicidal Behavior in a Nationally Representative Sample', was published this month in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Click here for information about post-abortion healing through Rachel's Vineyard.

Contact: Patrick B. Craine
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 30, 2010
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At only 14 Months of Age, Boy Towers Over Mother

At only 14 Months of Age, Boy Towers Over Mother

   

Amanda Moore, a twenty-five year old woman who suffers from a crippling bone disease, was advised by her physicians to get an abortion when she became pregnant in 2008.  She stands only three feet tall, and was told that her body could not sustain a child.

However, Moore said her love of her child was stronger than her fear of death, and she decided to continue with the pregnancy.

Today, only 14 months after his birth, her son looks down at her.  At 2 feet, 6 inches tall he is only 6 inches shorter than his mother.  However, because she can no longer stand, she actually finds her child looming over her.

''Doctors advised me to have a termination and we did think about it," Moore told the Telegraph in a recent interview.  "I didn't want to die and there was a real and likely possibility that the baby growing inside me would kill me.

''But at the same time I felt a strong love developing for our unborn child I just couldn't dismiss. We both wanted this baby so much.''

Although her pregnancy was difficult, Moore's son was born healthy at 5 pounds, 5 ounces in February 2009.

Moore's case is not unique.  Many children have been born to very young mothers, whose short stature has not prevented them from successfully giving birth.

The youngest girl known to have given birth was Lina Medina, a girl of five years of age, in Lima, Peru, in 1939.  When Medina's case was initially reported by Peruvian doctors, U.S. physicians expressed skepticism, but today her case seems to have been accepted by the American medical establishment as well.  Medina's son was born healthy by caesarean section, and lived to the age of 40, when he died of an unrelated illness.

Contact: Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 30, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

Second Annual Pro-Life Campus Activism Winners Announced



 

Human Life Alliance (HLA) and Students for Life of America (SFLA) announce the winners of the second annual Campus Impact Award.

Designed to encourage students to develop pro-life activism on campus, this year's award winners include clubs that sponsored a major first time event and two unique African American student outreach projects.

"It was difficult to select a winner this year," stated HLA Executive Director Jo Tolck. "Student clubs from around the country worked on a variety of projects -- many faced great opposition. We're proud of each and every one of them."
Click here for the entire article.


Attorneys Agree to Block on Oklahoma Abortion Law



Attorneys for Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson have agreed to a court order requested by abortion providers to temporarily block enforcement of the state's new abortion law.
 
The law requires pregnant women to have an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of the fetus before they can get an abortion.
 
The agreement stopped a scheduled hearing Monday in Oklahoma County District Court on the request for a restraining order by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights. District Judge Noma Gurich said she was notified by attorneys for both sides that they would accept the temporary restraining order.
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Teen Girls Bribed to Get Gardasil Vaccine With Shopping Vouchers



The British National Health Service (NHS) has begun bribing teenage girls between the ages of 16 and 18 to get Gardasil vaccines. Officials are giving shopping vouchers worth the equivalent of roughly $70 to girls who agree to get jabbed with the vaccine, which has been implicated in numerous cases of severe harm and death. Officials from NHS Birmingham East and North have initiated the pilot program which is costing taxpayers the equivalent of about $35,000. No parental consent is required in order for young girls to participate in the program.
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Unborn babies seized from 'unfit' Perth mothers



Under a new radical government policy, expectant mothers have to show that they are fit to care for their baby.

If expectant mother fails to satisfy child-protection officers, the officers will immediately arrange for a removal procedure. The procedure will mean that as soon as the baby is born, the baby will be put under the state care.

Expectant mothers who are 20 weeks or more pregnant will have to go through drug tests to ensure that they don't abuse drugs and to prove having a permanent accommodation.

Abortion Grief Australia is concerned the scheme could lead to a rise in early abortions and expectant mothers committing suicide.
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If Nominated To Supreme Court, Wood Would Bring Record Of Support For Abortion Rights



In her 15 years on the federal bench, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Wood -- a contender to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens -- "has pleased abortion-rights supporters with several opinions," the Wall Street Journal reports. The fact that Wood has ruled on multiple abortion-related cases contrasts with the "less well-defined views" of two other contenders -- Solicitor General Elena Kagan and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland. As a result, Wood's nomination might be more likely to prompt objections from conservatives, according to the Journal.

Wood expressed support for the philosophical underpinnings of the court's decision in Roe v. Wade before joining the federal bench, the Journal reports. In 1993, Wood praised Justice Harry Blackmun -- her former boss and author of the Roe decision -- in the Dickinson Law Review, stating, "Blackmun articulated in Roe ... the important insight that a core set of individual rights exists that neither the states nor the federal government may trample."
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Florida the Latest State to Opt Out of Taxpayer-Funded Abortion with Help from Americans United for Life



Florida just became the fourth state to pass legislation opting-out of taxpayer-funded abortion provisions established by the new federal health care reform law.

Florida's legislation ensures that insurance plans that cover abortions and participate in new health care exchanges cannot receive tax dollars.

"The right to life is fundamental to all that we do, and this ensures that taxpayer dollars are not hijacked to fund abortions. Thanks to Americans United for Life for helping to make this a reality," said Florida State Representative Matthew Gaetz.
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President Ronald Reagan PERSONHOOD PROCLAMATION - January 14, 1988

President Ronald Reagan PERSONHOOD PROCLAMATION - January 14, 1988



President of the United States of America, Proclamation 5761, National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 1988

- "The unalienable right to life is found not only in the Declaration of Independence but also in the Constitution that every President is sworn to preserve, protect, and defend. Both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law."

- "NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death, ..."

Source: http://www.personhoodamendments.com/reagan/index.php
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NY Nurse Forced to Help with Abortion Files Another Suit against Hospital

NY Nurse Forced to Help with Abortion Files Another Suit against Hospital

 

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Friday against Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York state court, on behalf of a nurse forced to participate in a late-term abortion procedure under threat of disciplinary action, including possible termination and loss of her license.

The state suit was filed in addition to pro-life nurse Cathy Cenzon-DeCarlo's federal lawsuit, which is on appeal, because her rights of conscience are also protected by New York law.

"Pro-life nurses shouldn't be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs," said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. "It is illegal, unethical, and a violation of Cathy's rights of conscience as a devout Catholic to require her to participate in terminating the life of a 22-week pre-born child.

"It was not only wrong, it was needless."

Administrators at Mt. Sinai Hospital threatened DeCarlo with disciplinary measures in May 2009 if she did not honor a last-minute summons to assist in a scheduled late-term abortion. Despite the fact that the patient was apparently not in crisis at the time of the surgery, the hospital insisted on her participation in the procedure on the grounds that it was an "emergency," even though the procedure was not classified by the hospital as such.

The hospital has known of the Catholic nurse's religious objections to abortion since 2004.

In the newly filed state suit, ADF attorneys allege that Mt. Sinai is violating state conscience laws, as well as state laws against religious employment discrimination and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on an individual—along with five other claims based on DeCarlo's coerced participation in the abortion.

"An individual's conscience is often what brings health care workers into the medical field," said lead counsel Joseph Ruta, one of more than 1,600 attorneys in the ADF alliance. "Denying or coercing their conscience will likely drive them right out."

The attorneys filed the state lawsuit Cenzon-DeCarlo v. Mt. Sinai Hospital with the Kings County Supreme Court.

ADF attorneys filed the federal suit in July 2009, claiming Mt. Sinai ignored federal laws prohibiting such coercion while receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. Mt. Sinai responded by saying Cenzon-DeCarlo had no right to sue.

The ADF also sent a letter in March urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to take action against the hospital for its unlawful coercive treatment of DeCarlo.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 30, 2010
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