US abortions up for first time since 1990

    

The other side admits abortion is wrong simply by its aversion to publicizing its proliferation. Do we say, "We regret to inform you more and more women are voting"? Or, "We have a dream, that black civil rights will be safe and legal but rare"? No, those freedoms are celebrated.

Likewise, those insisting abortion is a constitutional right should cheer when it increases, right? But you wouldn't know by MSM's headlines that the US abortion rate, after almost 20 years of decline, is on the rise….

Actually abortion hasn't "stalled" or "leveled off." It's up. Here are the numbers, quoting the Wall Street Journal…

    After dropping for more than a decade, the US abortion rate has begun to rise slightly, according to an extensive new survey of providers by the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute.

    The increase was just 1%, to 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age in 2008, from 19.4 in 2005, the last year captured by the group's previous survey.

    The actual number of abortions performed also rose slightly in that period, to 1,212,350 from 1,206,200 – the 1st increase since a steady march downward that began in 1990, the peak year for total abortions in the US since the survey began tracking them in 1973.

Both sides blamed the economy. Their side also insisted that there are not yet enough condoms on every corner or Pill pack in every purse. Increased access to RU486 most certainly also played a part. According to CNN:

    Of the 1.21 million abortions performed in 2008, 17%  were early medication abortions. Jones found a 24% increase in the number of these procedures being conducted at nonhospital facilities…. Indeed, the number of providers offering this service also increased.

    "Heavy promotion of RU-486 and chemical abortions has really had an impact," said Randall O'Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research with the National Right to Life Committee. "[Women] would consider abortion when they might not consider it before, and they would take this pill."

The number of abortion clinics overall continued to decline – slightly – although big box mills are way up. (Pictured right is Planned Parenthood's new Houston mill, at 78,000 sq the largest abortion mill in the Western Hemisphere.) Again quoting WSJ…

    The number of abortion providers remained virtually identical, at 1,793 in 2008 compared with 1,787 in 2005 – the first survey since 1982 that showed no decline. The flat result partly reflected a fuller count of certain facilities in CA that weren't captured in the 2005 total. Without them, there would have been a 3% drop-off.…

    [T]he data showed the growing role of large abortion providers, with the number providing 5,000 or more procedures per year up by more than 50% since the last survey….

USA Today has a helpful graph showing the rate of abortion from state to state. Wyoming earns pro-life praise for having only 0.9 abortions per every 1,000 women, followed by Mississippi (4.6), Kentucky (5.1), and South Dakota (5.6).

The pro-abort industry is certainly celebrating the bicoastal abortion extravanza, led by Delaware (40), New York (37.6), New Jersey (31.3), District of Columbia (29.9), Maryland (29), California (27.6), and Florida (27.2).

I think one of the messages in all this is the pro-life movement has to place greater emphasis on abstinence education. Abortion is majorily just an outcome of prolific wanton sex.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com   
Publish Date: January 11, 2011

Eggsploitation Continues to Make Waves

    

I am a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture–but had nothing to do with the creation of the important documentary Eggsploitation (although I do have one line in it).  The movie deals with the dangers of egg donation, and is now being shown at film festivals.  Jennifer Lahl, the CBC's head and driving force behind its production, has been promoting the movie. Some media are taking notice.  From a column by Rebbecca Hagelin:

    Jennifer Lahl is a kind, deeply caring woman. A health care worker for 25 years, she has seen medical care at its best — when it gives fresh hope and renewed health to suffering patients. These days, Ms. Lahl is a passionate advocate on behalf of young women who've experienced medical care at its worst. In the upside-down world of assisted reproduction, too many fertility specialists have dashed the hopes and compromised the health of previously healthy young women — egg donors.

All true. Jennifer rocks and rolls. But to the point of the movie:

    Our young women need to know the truth. Egg donation exploits young women for the benefit of older women. The fertility business needs an increasing supply of "donor eggs" from healthy, fertile young women. The pitch? Money. Students and young women don't have much, but many older infertile couples do. Donor agencies place ads in university newspapers or on craigslist.com, promising anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 to women who donate eggs. Repeat donations (up to six) are encouraged. Economically vulnerable young women face an undue temptation to trade their eggs for money.

    Egg donation itself carries significant risks because it requires fertility drugs, anesthesia, and invasive egg retrieval. Donors take drugs first to induce temporary menopause, then to hyperstimulate the ovaries so they'll produce from 16 to 35 eggs in one cycle. Worse, doctors really don't know the long-term risks to egg donors, because so few studies have been done. And fertility specialists are in no hurry to find out.

    Fertility treatments are big business, generating layers of people who depend on its expansion: Doctors who retrieve, fertilize, and implant eggs; pathologists and lab technicians who grade, sort, store, and test eggs and embryos; agencies that match donors and parents; lawyers to write contracts; counselors to screen donors and parents. There's money to be made — and the easiest, cheapest payoff goes to egg donors. Women's bodies become mere commodities in a larger business.

Human eggs are probably–ounce for ounce–the most valuable commodity on the planet, grasped for by the infertile and bioscientists for use in cloning.   Where great money can be made, industries easily follow.  And that can threaten young women with being turned into commodities.

Eggsploitation is non partisan, by which I mean, it unites Left and Right in joint concern for the health of young women–and the destitute overseas–too easily targeted for harvesting.  I am very pleased that Jennifer's movie is making waves. It should.

Contact: Secondhand Smoke
Source: Wesley J. Smith
Publish Date: January 10, 2011

Emphatically and Without Fear

    

"Shortly after November's electoral defeat for the Democrats, pollster Mark Penn appeared on Chris Matthews's TV show and remarked that what President Obama needed to reconnect with the American people was another Oklahoma City bombing. To judge from the reaction to Saturday's tragic shootings in Arizona, many on the left (and in the press) agree, and for a while hoped that Jared Lee Loughner's killing spree might fill the bill."
     -- From "The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel," by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, that appeared in today's Wall Street Journal.

There can't be higher priority right now, I would think, than praying that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords makes a complete recovery from the assassination attempt of her alleged attacker and that the families of the six people who died and the 14 injured in the senseless shooting spree are comforted by family members, friends, and faith.

I am old enough to vividly remember the assassination of President Kennedy and the attempted assassination of too-many other prominent American politicians in the years since. Thus when I heard the news of the massacre in Arizona, I experienced an all-too familiar nauseous feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.

I write about this tragedy for two reasons. First, as my brother put it, one of the principal differences between us and some banana republic is that we protect our public servants. House Speaker John Boehner quite correctly said, "An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve." But I would extend that to say it is an attack on an elected official is an attack on all Americans.

The other reason is that when some people aren't fabricating imaginary links between Jarek Lee Loughner and prominent pro-life politicians and/or talk radio hosts who also happen to be sympathetic to the case for unborn babies, they are lecturing us that this is a 'teachable moment' that President Barack Obama should utilize. Both are seriously wrong on multiple levels.

I won't belabor the obvious--at least obvious to anyone who is not a graduate of the Rahm Emanuel School of Demagoguery. (The former White House Chief of Staff once famously said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.") As details have poured in filling out the initial sketchy portrait, they confirm what seemed to be clear from early on: the alleged killer is a deeply disturbed young man with no discernible politics.

Smearing, for example, Sarah Palin and Russ Limbaugh is not only ugly in itself, such guttersnipping also represents an increasingly ominous attempt to stifle criticism of a notoriously thin-skinned President by whatever means necessary.

I began with the quote from Glenn Harlan Reynolds because the parallel to President Clinton was one that crossed my mind two days ago. I remember like it was yesterday how Clinton, a demagogue's demagogue, unleashed an unabashedly partisan attack soon after the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that to this day was among the ugliest I have ever seen in public life.

As a POLITICO story that is very sympathetic to both Clinton and Obama noted today, "It was nearly a week after Timothy McVeigh plowed his truck into the building when Clinton blamed conservatives for poisoning the political atmosphere by spreading 'hate' and '[leaving] the impression…by their very words, that violence is acceptable.'" Meanwhile, "behind the scenes," a Clinton adviser "was calculating the political advantages six months after humbling losses in the 1994 midterms, issuing a memo that predicted Clinton could leverage the crisis into a 'permanent gain' in voter perceptions," according to Glenn Thrush and Carol E. Lee. That included use of "the 'Extremist Issue vs. Republicans.'"

Last April, fifteen years later, Clinton recycled that odious line in an attempt to marginalize critics of Obama in general, ObamaCare in particular. Indeed he told the New York Times, the potential for violence may be worse today because of the Internet! The man has no shame.

Turning to Obama, there is something about Obama as lecturer-in-chief that has an irresistible appeal both to the President himself and to many journalists.

"Of all the unfulfilled campaign promises President Barack Obama made in 2008, the one that bothers the president most isn't any squandered policy priority – it's his failure to re-civilize what he views as an increasingly savage partisan climate," Thrush and Lee write.

It isn't necessary to reiterate the President's own habit of attacking opponents in deeply personal language, language which strongly suggests that the opposition of his critics is beyond the pale. President Obama gives every bit as good as he gets, and often then some. "Re-civilizer-in-chief"? I think not.

My point is a simple one. What is there about this President that would lead any neutral observer to believe he would not use this "moment" in a straightforwardly partisan manner? Why wouldn't an unbiased observer conclude that Obama would attempt to silence the overwhelming resistance to his policies--particularly ObamaCare--that was at the engine that drove the November 2 elections--all in the guise of "quieting" or "tamping down the rhetoric"?

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: January 10, 2011

'End-of-life options' = death panels

    
    

A healthcare expert says he's appalled at how the Obama administration tried to hide a Medicare regulation that would have had the government pay doctors to advise patients on end-of-life options during their annual visits.

Medicare coverage for voluntary end-of-life planning was put in the original House version of ObamaCare by Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), but was dropped after Sarah Palin and other Republicans raised the specter of "death panels" deciding the fate of vulnerable seniors. But the end-of-life counseling surfaced again right before Christmas in a Medicare regulation, nearly going unnoticed.
 
John R. Graham, director of healthcare studies at the Pacific Research Institute, explains what happened.
 
"The New York Times actually exposed emails from Representative Blumenauer's office saying [paraphrased] 'Don't let this get out there; people will freak out again. So let's keep it quiet and just hope that it's buried in this 134-page regulation, nobody will know about it and we'll get the job done quietly,'" states Graham. "Well, this came out in The New York Times -- and of course, it all blew up very quickly."
 
Graham says he is "appalled" at the way the administration is handling the matter.
 
"They try to keep things secret, hidden in the dark -- things that they know are obnoxious and repellent to many people," he laments. "And we've just got to keep on top of this because they're going to try and sneak it in again in the weeks and months to come."
 
Graham argues that while the Obama administration may not refer to "death panels," that is exactly what the administration wants.

Contact: Bill Bumpas
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 10, 2011

Former exec: Here's how to defeat Planned Parenthood

 

Abby Johnson says Americans have the power to 'reshape the brand'

    
     Abby Johnson

Planned Parenthood is the big gorilla in America's abortion industry, the billion dollar a year operation that gets some $300 million plus annually from taxpayers, the nightmare for pro-life activists that is responsible for a sizeable number of the million-plus abortions done every year in the nation.

Now a former executive for the operation says there is a way to defeat the behemoth: Convince the workers, clerks, receptionists, nurses, even doctors, that what they are doing is wrong. And do it without arguing.

The words of advice come from Abby Johnson, whose new book "unPLANNED" is launching on Tuesday. And she knows. She was a PP executive, and suddenly realized she no longer could do what she had been doing.

She holds a B.S. in psychology from Texas A&M University and an M.A. in counseling from Sam Houston State University. She works now with the national 40 Days for Life pro-life campaign and lives with her husband, Doug, and young daughter in Texas.

It was her work for years for Planned Parenthood, however, that gives her credentials to talk about the abortion industry leader.

She was hired by Planned Parenthood in 2005 and progressed to the position of community services director and health educator, where she served as liaison between the community and Planned Parenthood as media correspondent. Later promoted to health center director, Johnson ran both the family planning and abortion programs.

In 2009, however, she suddenly left Planned Parenthood and joined the local Coalition for Life as a volunteer.

"For whatever reason I was called in to help. My job was to hold the ultrasound probe on the abdomen," she said at the time. "When I looked at the screen, I saw a baby on the screen. She was about 13 weeks pregnant at the time. I saw a full side profile. I saw face to feet on the ultrasound.

"I saw the probe going into the woman's uterus. At that moment I saw the baby moving, trying to get away from the probe," she continued.

"I thought, 'It's fighting for its life.' I thought, 'It's life. It's alive.'

"I dropped the ultrasound probe. I scrambled and put [the probe] back in place. So many things were going through my mind. I was thinking about my daughter, who's three," she said at the time.

"I was just thinking, 'What am I doing here? What am I doing here? There was life in here and now there's not.'"

Johnson later was mentioned by name during the U.S. House debate over an amendment designed to limit taxpayer funding of abortions.

In remarks on the House floor, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said, "Self-described as 'extremely pro-choice,' but now pro-life, Abby Johnson said she watched an unborn child 'crumple' before her very eyes as the infant was vacuumed and dismembered by a suction device 20-30 times more powerful than a household vacuum cleaner. 'I could see the baby try to move away … I just thought what am I doing … never again.'"

Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson with Coalition for Life Director Shawn Carney (photo: Coalition for Life)

She then was sued by Planned Parenthood over information she allegedly had, but the case later was dropped.

Her book talks about the heart-stopping personal drama and the spiritual transformation that happened. It tells her story from both sides of the abortion clinic property line.

She told WND in an interview that she hopes people who fight for the lives of the unborn will be encouraged by her words.

"For people who have done this for many years, it can be discouraging. People go off to the sidewalks; they may go out there for years and think they maybe are not making a difference," she said.

"I want them to put that book down [after reading it] and have them feel like they are making a difference. Their work does make a difference, even though they may not see it until later," she said.

She said her own realization that she no longer could work with the abortions of Planned Parenthood came not in an instant, but over the course of a period of time.

"It was all very shocking," she said. "The fact that everything I had believed was being turned on its head… I was figuring out that so many things I had believed were, in fact, a lie."

She said she had to recognize her livelihood had to be changed, she had to give up that income, that she needed to relearn a lot.

And that is the key to changing Planned Parenthood, she said.

"I think that the people who work in the abortion industry, I think they're good people inside. I think I was a good person. I think that people are just incredibly misguided. They believe they are helping women. Doctors believe they are helping women, they believe they are saving the lives of women," she told WND, "by providing safe and legal abortions.

"Many of the people who work in the movement go to church every Sunday," she said. "It's so easy to justify sin. We do it all the time. None of us is immune. It's Satan's deception, I believe."

So undermining abortion, and Planned Parenthood, takes a relationship with those workers, she said.

"We cannot come at them with a spirit of debate or argumentation," she said. "Someone told me, 'win an argument, lose a soul.' That's absolutely true. They believe they are doing the right thing in their heart. So we have to be sensitive when we're talking to them."

And she said people need to be ready to respond, because those workers who eventually decide to abandon abortion will need other employment, other goals.

She said it is the agenda of Planned Parenthood: to reach out to children and develop a relationship so they later seek contraception, and eventually abortion, that is the enemy.

"That's what we want to fight against. We want to be reshaping that brand so that Planned Parenthood is not the first thing that pops into their mind," she said.

Johnson earlier talked about her experiences on the TV show "Facing Life Head-on," an episode that also featured WND Managing Editor David Kupelian, author of the "Marketing of Evil" as well as "How Evil Works."

Johnson actually may be getting some help with her work, too, as U.S. Rep. Mike Pence just this week proposed a bill that would revoke federal taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act would make certain taxpayer money from the federal government for family planning wouldn't be used for abortions.

"It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion. It is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion at home or abroad," said Pence, who has been joined by more than 100 other House members in support of the plan.

Johnson's book is getting unqualified praise from many leaders of the pro-life effort.

"Think love and kindness can't make a difference in the abortion debate? Read Abby Johnson's story and find out how a pro-life ministry's peaceful and respectful witness forever changed the heart of this former Planned Parenthood clinic director," said Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family.

Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "'Unplanned' is a powerful and compelling testimony of the power of prayer and love. A story of courage, conviction, and conversion, the book will draw you into Abby's life and her journey as her eyes are opened to the truth."

"In 'Unplanned,' Abby shares intimate details of the happenings that ultimately led her to leave her career as a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director for 'the other side of the fence,' where she now ardently advocates for the rights of the unborn. If you have ever peacefully protested and prayed for an end to abortion, Abby's story will provide tremendous insights – and encourage you never to give up," said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.

Read more: Former exec: Here's how to defeat Planned Parenthood

Contact: Bob Unruh
Source: WorldNetDaily.com
Publish Date: January 8, 2011

Personhood USA Unveils Petitions in all 50 States, Approaches 1 Million Signatures So Far

    

Personhood USA, a national prolife organization dedicated to legal recognition of the personhood rights of all innocent human beings, has announced personhood efforts underway in all 50 states.

 

Personhood USA formed two years ago with the intent to assist and empower grassroots volunteers across the USA, helping them to start and coordinate efforts in their own communities to defend the personhood of the preborn human. Exemplifying the passion that exists in America to affirm the basic rights of the preborn child and to stop abortion, Personhood USA has assisted volunteers and helped to gather over 919,000 signatures so far.

 

In addition to the staggering number of signatures gathered primarily on legal petitions, Personhood USA is assisting volunteers in all 50 states.

 

"Now in every state in America, prolife volunteers are engaging their communities with the truth of personhood, and are working to change the laws as citizens or lobbying the lawmakers in their state to do their job and protect every person by love and by law, " stated Keith Mason, cofounder of Personhood USA. "We are thrilled to have met our goal to be in all 50 states in just two years, and we are so thankful to be closing in on 1 million signatures defending the personhood of the preborn child."

 

Personhood USA has proven itself to be a necessary component to winning the abortion battle – in every state in a personhood amendment is attempted, Personhood USA sees victory in thousands of hearts and minds changed, and babies' lives saved. The educational efforts of Personhood USA's undertakings are massive as they have been overseeing the largest prolife educational campaign some states have ever seen, at the lowest cost.

 

"Personhood USA functions as a support system, giving as little or as much help as needed, and we have truly been blessed by Jesus Christ as He is accomplishing so much through us in just the past two years. We can't wait to see what He does, in all 50 states, in 2011," added Cal Zastrow, cofounder of Personhood USA. "We will keep working hard for the rights of preborn children, knowing that this is the best chance we've ever had to end abortion in America."

Contact: Jennifer Mason
Source: Personhood USA
Publish Date: January 10, 2011

Pence Introduces Bill to Deny Federal Funding to Planned Parenthood with 122 Cosponsors

"The Largest Abortion Provider in America Should Not Also be the Largest Recipient of Federal Funding Under Title X"

    

U.S. Congressman Mike Pence issued the following statement today after introducing the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act.  The bill currently has 122 cosponsors.

      "It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion.  It is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion at home or abroad.

      "Last year, Planned Parenthood received more than $363 million in revenue from government grants and contracts.  During that same time, they performed an unprecedented 324,008 abortions.

      "The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X.

      "The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act will prevent any family planning funds under Title X from going to Planned Parenthood or other organizations that perform abortions.  It will ensure that abortion providers are not being subsidized with federal tax dollars.

      "I am grateful for the support of more than 122 original co-sponsors of this important legislation and look forward to voting to enact the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act."

BACKGROUND: The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act would not reduce the total amount of funds available for family planning; it would simply block funding to organizations that perform abortions.  Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing comprehensive family planning and related preventative health services, and there are a number of federally funded clinics across the nation that offer beneficial services including patient counseling, breast cancer screenings, HIV prevention education and more.

Last year alone, according to Planned Parenthood's own annual report, it received more than $363 million in revenue from government grants and contracts.  During that same time frame, they performed an unprecedented 324,008 abortions, a 5.8 percent increase from the previous year.  The nation's largest abortion provider is also under investigation in multiple states including Indiana, California, Alabama and Tennessee for allegations of fraudulent use of Title X funding.

Contact: Matt Lloyd
Publish Date: January 7, 2011

Thomas More Society Presses for Answers in Notre Dame 88 Case

     

This week in St. Joseph County Criminal Court, the Thomas More Society filed a motion to compel answers in a pretrial deposition of a former University of Notre Dame official in the case of the 88 pro-life demonstrators who were arrested on the University's campus before the 2009 Commencement ceremonies as they protested the honoring of President Barack Obama. Thomas More Society special counsel Thomas Dixon will soon present the motion to compel former associate vice president of residence life before Chief Judge Michael Scopelitis, who may take it under advisement or rule from the bench.

"We believe that the questions Mr. Kirk has declined to answer are pertinent to the case of the ND 88," said Thomas Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society. "No lawful basis was given for Kirk's declining to answer specific questions, and no attorney-client privilege or privilege against self-incrimination was invoked."

Among the questions Kirk declined to answer are:

• Nature of his employment relationship with the University
   
• Reason why Kirk was fired from his position of Associate Vice President for Residence Life
   
• Whether declining to answer specific inquiries relates to a severance agreement of its terms
   
• Nature of and participants in a security committee former prior to the 2009 commencement
   
• Type of guidance Kirk provided to the University's president prior to President Obama's visit at Notre Dame
   
• Whether or not Notre Dame and its police officers treated other demonstrators similarly or differently than the "ND 88"

"If the prosecution of these courageous pro-lifers must continue, then we believe that the ND 88 deserve answers to these questions," said Brejcha.

The full list of issues in question can be found here. The text of pertinent sections of Kirk's deposition can be found here.

Contact: Stephanie Lewis
Source: Thomas More Society
Publish Date: January 7, 2011

Newly empowered House pro-life leader calls for investigations of Obama/Clinton for exporting abortions worldwide

    
     Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ)

On December 21 the "worst nightmare" of abortion proponents was realized when pro-life leader Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) was named chairman of a House subcommittee that is very important to pro-lifers.  I'll let pro-abort Jane Roberts explain their fears, who wrote at RH Reality Check right after the November election:

    And if Chris Smith (R-NJ), an arch enemy of reproductive health and family planning, chairs one of the subcommittees – the Africa and Global Health Subcommittee that has jurisdiction over FP/RH [family planning/reproductive health], our worst nightmare will be realized. He was the one under George W. Bush who engineered the false charges against UNFPA which resulted in 7 years of the U.S. refusal to release funding….

President Bush did indeed cut off funding to the United Nations Population Fund from 2002-08 for its support of forced abortions and sterilizations in China.

But within 2 months of taking office President Obama restored UNFPA's funding, and the Democrat-controlled Congress gave it a nice little $50 million bonus.

And so UNFPA has enjoyed a sweet ride on the backs of American taxpayers the last 2 years. But those days are over. Congressman Smith is coming out swinging. According to the upcoming January issue of National Right to Life News:

    Smith, a 30-year House veteran, co-chairs the Bipartisan Pro-Life Caucus in the House, and is recognized by all as the leader of pro-life forces in the chamber….

    Smith also has been awarded an important new post: He will chair a Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee with jurisdiction over global health issues and human rights issues.

    The new chairman of the full Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), also has a strong pro-life record….

    Smith told NRL News that his goal as subcommittee chairman would be "to promote a consistent culture of life in all aspects of U.S. foreign policy and international healthcare funding." He added, "Tragically, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have misused taxpayer funds to aggressively export abortion around the world. It is time to investigate, expose, and end this complicity with procuring death to children and harm to their mothers."

I hope one of the investigations Smith undertakes is of the Obama administration's allegedly illegal meddling in the passage of Kenya's pro-abortion constitution last year. Smith said the USAID investigation clearing Obama was "poorly researched, superficial, incomplete and a whitewash" and called the audit "incomplete." Now Smith has the power to order an audit that is complete.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: January 10, 2011

GOP Reps. Fitzpatrick, Dold Won’t Say if They Support Defunding Health Care Law

    
     Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick and Rep. Robert Dold

Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Robert Dold (R-Ill.) have not committed to defunding the health care law, under a plan by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who supports putting specific language in every appropriations bill the House passes to prohibit the funding of the health care law.

"I haven't seen the proposal. I'll certainly take a look at it. It's intriguing but I think the focus really needs to be for the next week on Representative, I believe it's Representative Cantor's repeal resolution, which hopefully will pass," Rep. Fitzpatrick told CNSNews.com on Wednesday at the Capitol.

"I think it will pass and I suspect it will pass with a good, strong, bipartisan majority. If the Senate refuses to act or the President refuses to sign, we'll take it to the next step."

Rep. Fitzpatrick added, "I think everything should be on the table. I'll take a look. I mean, Representative King is a good man; is a thoughtful person. I'll take a look at his proposal and give it absolute due consideration, yeah, but it should be on the table."


Click here for the video.

When asked if he supports defunding the health care law, Rep. Robert Dold said he is focused on repealing the 1099 aspect of the law.

"I really support trying to find solutions and I think the way we're going to find solutions is put things in place that are going to move the needle forward and if it's going to be gridlock, let's start going after the areas that we know are going to be problematic," Dold told CNSNews.com on Wednesday at the Capitol.

Dold argues that the 1099 provision of the bill is "going to be a significant burden on small businesses" and "medium size businesses" because they will have to file a 1099 form for every business they "deal with or have a relationship with."

If legislation to repeal the health care law passes the House but fails in the Senate or is vetoed by the President, the GOP majority House could defund the health care law through specific language in appropriations bills, as Rep. King has suggested.

"I think we've got to cross that bridge when we come to it," said Dold.

In September of last year, then-Minority Leader John Boehner was asked if he supports defunding the health care law considering that the President will likely veto any attempt to repeal the law.

"I am committed to doing everything that I can do and our team can do to prevent Obamacare from being implemented. I believe that this bill will ruin the best health care system in the world and I believe that it will bankrupt our country. Now, when I say everything, I mean everything," Boehner responded.

Contact: Nicholas Ballasy
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: January 6, 2011

'Subjective' definition should be revised

    

A backer of abstinence education says the government is funding a message that attempts to redefine the meaning of "abstinence."

Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA), tells OneNewsNow that Planned Parenthood received $20 million of the $100 million in government funding for teen pregnancy prevention in 2010. An example of how the organization is using the money, she explains, can be found in its Making Sense of Abstinence curriculum.

"One of the very first activities they have for young people is 'define abstinence for yourself so that you understand the decisions and then can make boundaries and decisions clear to your partner,'" Huber reports. "Well, when you have such a subjective manner of defining a word that has real health consequences, it's kind of crazy."

Valerie HuberShe says this kind of message, which is being pushed by Planned Parenthood and other organizations, is now being implemented from the federal level down to the community level. And as discussed previously on OneNewsNow, she believes that is why many teens who claim to be abstinent have STDs.

"The new teen pregnancy prevention funding that the Obama administration implemented with the blessings of Congress is actually funding curricula that are continuing this subjective, medically inaccurate discussion and definition of abstinence," the NAEA executive director contends.

So she is hopeful the arrival of the new Congress in Washington will bring a revision of the current sex education policies.

Contact: Bill Bumpas
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 7, 2011

Pro-lifers encouraged by new Congress

 

    
     Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner

Another pro-life group has set its sights this new year on repeal of ObamaCare and federal funding of abortion.

Americans United for Life sees opportunities for the pro-life movement with conservative leadership returning to the U.S. House of Representatives. So does the group Susan B. Anthony List. Former Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave of Votes Have Consequences, a division of the Susan B. Anthony List, tells OneNewsNow that voters spoke loudly last November.
 
"Well, everybody's been sworn in [for the 112th session of Congress], and I think the message that was sent by the American people in the election of 2010 ought to be remembered as these folks get to work," says Musgrave.
 
The first message sent to Congress by the people, says the former member of the House, is repeal of the healthcare reform law. "[Along with passage of] two signature pieces of legislation carried by pro-life heroes Chris Smith [of New Jersey] and Dan Lipinski [of Illinois] and Mike Pence [of Indiana] that would stop government funding of abortion," she adds. [Editor's note: Smith and Lipinski are sponsors of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act; Pence is sponsoring the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act.]
 
The pro-life spokeswoman explains that repeal of the healthcare law, Barack Obama's signature piece of legislation from his first two years in office, would mean restoration of conscience protections for people in the medical health field, including pharmacists.
 
The House is expected to vote today (Friday) on a resolution to move forward with repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the formal name for the healthcare bill. If that passes, a vote on the law's repeal is expected as soon as Wednesday next week.
 
Musgrave contends it is time for pro-life voters to contact their elected representatives. "Everett Dirksen once said: 'When I feel the heat, I see the light,'" she quotes. "And we want this 112th Congress to feel the heat of pro-life Americans around this country."
 
Dirksen served the state of Illinois in both houses of Congress -- 16 years in the House, then 19 years in the Senate. In 1966, he introduced a constitutional amendment that would have permitted public school administrators to provide for organized prayer by students. It fell far short of the two-thirds vote needed.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 7, 2011

Pro-life angle of 'No Easy Decision'

    
     Markai Durham from "No Easy Decision"

Critics continue to focus on an MTV show that features a pregnant girl who has an abortion.

Georgette Forney of Anglicans for Life and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (SNMAC) thinks it is good that No Easy Decision looked at the issue realistically and from a woman's perspective, "but what they missed is they didn't go back and talk to her a week later, six months later, six years later [or] sixteen years later," she notes.

The young mother featured in the program was only spoken to immediately after she underwent the procedure, but Forney contends her reaction should have been followed up more extensively because of psychological ramifications that are often manifested much later. Most states have legislation that recognizes a woman's "right to know," which requires that pregnant women or girls be fully informed of the consequences of and the alternatives to abortion. But as Forney explains, that was not done in this case.

Georgette Forney"What that reflects is the fact that the theory of a woman's right to choose is sadly being usurped in the first point in that she is not being fully informed about her choices," the SNMAC co-founder suggests.

She goes on to argue that a problem with television is the fact that it is agenda-driven, which does not help people think critically. So that is one reason the pro-life movement must get in gear, states Forney.

"It's our responsibility to help people think through these types of shows and ask some more critical questions and think about this from a more 'well, what was missing from the show' [perspective] instead of accepting what was fed to us in the show," Forney explains.

She says the MTV program slightly opens the door for discussion about the psychological ramifications of abortion, but she thinks that door should be wide open.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 7, 2011

Ethicist says 'twiblings' infertility treatment reflects 'consumerist culture'

    

A newly published account of the creation of two siblings born five days apart by means of sperm and egg donation, plus separate surrogate mothers, is proof of unfettered consumerism in human reproduction, a Southern Baptist bioethicist said.

The cover story of the Jan. 2 issue of The New York Times Magazine is Melanie Thernstrom's chronicle of how her husband, Michael, and she became parents to Kieran and Violet -- "twiblings," as she describes them, since they are not twins but were born almost at the same time.

In the account titled "Meet the Twiblings," Melanie, who married in her early 40s, writes in a deeply personal way of her infertility and the six rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF) that failed. Based on the desire for their children to be "same-age companions," Michael suggested they find two women to carry their implanted embryos at the same time.

Embryos created by sperm from Michael and eggs donated by a young California woman they interviewed were transferred to Melissa, then 30, and Fie, then 34, at the same time. The "gestational carriers," as Melanie called them, lived in Oregon, as did Melanie and Michael.

"We were careful to refer to the fetuses as the 'drafts' rather than our chosen names to remind ourselves that they were notes toward the children we wanted, but if they died, they were just beginnings like all the embryos had been, and we would start again," Melanie wrote.

Melissa gave birth to a boy, Kieran, and Fie to Violet five days apart.

While Melanie acknowledged she "can count the ways Plan B is a less-desirable way to have children," it "became the best plan, because Plan B created the children that we have and are convinced we had to have."

Bioethicist C. Ben Mitchell said the account points to a wider cultural problem.

"This kind of boutique baby making is incontestable evidence of a consumerist culture run amok. And it's going to get worse before it gets better, I'm afraid," said Mitchell, professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and a consultant to the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

"The desire to have children is good. But even good desires can become disordered, and disordered desires can become pathological," he said in a statement to Baptist Press. "Ms. Thernstrom would not be denied her desire no matter what the cost. By her own admission, she spent a small fortune, rejected every ethical caution and was complicit in the death of dozens of human embryos through failed IVF procedures -- all in her quest to make her own dream come true. The narcissism in her essay is simply breathtaking."

In a Jan. 3 blog post, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said the article illustrates the revolution that has taken place because of reproductive technologies.

"It is as if we are now living on a new planet -- one in which all the natural boundaries of sex and reproduction have been left behind," wrote the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. "The technologies of reproduction are redefining sex, marriage, relationships, family, and the human story. Humanity is rushing headlong into a world in which the answer to the question, 'Where did I come from?,' can be endlessly complicated. We have no adequate categories for explaining the relationship of little Kieran and Violet and all those who 'conspired' to bring them to be. ...

"The theological and moral implications of all this are endless and urgent, but the technologies rush ahead. For Christians, the most urgent issue is the total separation of natural marriage from the process of human reproduction that is made possible by these technologies. The moral complexities surrounding Kieran and Violet Thernstrom and their 'extended family' are vexing."

Mohler added, "An entire industry now operates with a global reach, offering these reproductive technologies to virtually anyone with the cash to pay. You can count on reproductive technologies expanding as a growth industry."

The New York Times Magazine article may be accessed online at http://nyti.ms/gdpCVl.

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: BP
Publish Date: January 6, 2011

Abortion cases to watch In 2011

    

A popular t-shirt often seen at abortion protests reads "Visualize Abortionists On Trial." Today, pro-life supporters no longer have to visualize this since abortionists who are breaking the law are being brought to justice like never before.

In fact, Operation Rescue has yet to find an abortionist who is in full legal compliance. Because of that Operation Rescue is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of abortionists who are breaking the law. (Click here to learn more.)

Listed below are some cases against abortionists that are worth watching over the coming year. Some cases hang in limbo while other cases are being aggressively pursued.

There is saying that notes that the wheels of justice grind slowly. That is most apparent in cases involving abortion. Public pressure on public officials has proven to be successful in persuading them to act. We have provided contact information, where appropriate, for the public to voice their concerns about a particular case.

1. Kansas v. Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood:

This is a 2007 criminal case that involves 107 charges against Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas, related to illegal late-term abortions and falsifying documents. The case was tied up at the Kansas Supreme Court for years until last September when the court allowed the case to be sent back to the District Attorney for prosecution. However, the new District Attorney Steve Howe has dragged his feet and the prosecution is stalled.

• Read more about this case.

Contact District Attorney Steve Howe: Voice (913) 715-3000; E-mail district.attorney@jocogov.org

2. Petition to Revoke Andrew Rutland:

This California abortionist faces revocation of his medical license for the death of patient Ying Chen during an abortion at a filthy acupuncture clinic in San Gabriel. Rutland was eventually charged by the Board with homicide. The California Medical Board attempted to have his license immediately suspended, but was blocked from doing so by Administrative Judge James Ahler. Instead, Judge Ahler banned Rutland from doing abortions. Operation Rescue caught Rutland continuing to work at an abortion mill in Chula Vista, California, and reported him, but Ahler simply amended his ruling to allow Rutland to continue to do medical (RU486) abortions. Rutland is scheduled for a revocation hearing in February 2011.

• Read more about this case.

3. In the Matter of Ann K. Neuhaus:

A disciplinary petition is pending against this Kansas abortionist who provided the mandatory second referral for post-viability abortion patients for George Tiller. The case against Neuhaus dates back to abortions done in 2003. The Kansas Board of Healing Arts filed the disciplinary petition against Neuhaus last year, validating Operation Rescue's claims that illegal and negligent activity was occurring at Tiller's now closed late-term abortion mill in Wichita, Kansas. Operation Rescue filed the original complaint against Neuhaus, which contributed to these charges. Formal hearings are scheduled to begin on May 3, 2011.

• Read more about this case.

4. Florida v. Belkis Gonzalez:

In 2006, Florida's Belkis Gonzalez, an unlicensed abortion clinic worker, attended the birth of baby Shanice Denise Osbourne, who was born at a Hialeah abortion clinic after a failed abortion attempt. Gonzalez then cut the baby's umbilical cord, shoved her writhing body into a plastic bag, and tossed her body on the roof of the abortion clinic. After a lengthy investigation, pro-life pressure finally brought criminal charges against Gonzalez in March of 2009 for the unlicensed practice of medicine and evidence tampering. Since then, the case has languished. Every month a hearing is scheduled and every month the hearing is continued. It is long past time for this case to go to trial.

• Read more about this case.

Contact Judge John W. Thornton, Jr.: Voice (305) 548-5110; E-mail his office at tsmith@jud11.flcourts.org

5. The case against Steven Chase Brigham:

Last year New Jersey abortionist Steve Brigham was caught operating an illegal late-term abortion scam that spanned two states. His medical license was suspended in New Jersey and he was ordered to cease the unlicensed practice of medicine in Maryland. So late were some of the babies Brigham aborted that Maryland law could allow homicide charges. At the very least, he should be criminally charged with the unlicensed practice of medicine. The case is still under investigation by the Elkton Police Department.

• Read more about this case.

Contact the Cecil County State Attorney's office: Voice (410)996.5335

6. The Case against Nicola Riley:

One of Brigham's hired abortionists, Riley flew in from her home in Utah to do abortions for Brigham in Maryland. After botching a late-term abortion, her part in Brigham's illegal late-term abortion scheme was revealed and her Maryland license was suspended. Riley presents so serious a danger to the public that Utah should suspend her medical license there based on Maryland's actions. A complaint has been filed, by Utah has been slow to act. Meanwhile Riley continues dangerously to do abortions in Salt Lake City and now outrageously is attempting to pre-sell copies of a book about her Maryland misadventures.

• Read more about this case.

Contact Neena Bowen, Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing Compliance Specialist: Voice (801) 530-6495; E-mail Form

7. Grand Jury Investigation of Kermit Gosnell:

Gosnell's recent troubles began when he killed Karnamaya Mongar, 41, on November 20, 2009, after she was overdosed on painkillers during an abortion in her 18th or 19th week of pregnancy. Mongar's brother, told reporters that Gosnell's abortion clinic was "dirty and bloody." Gosnell's license was suspended and his clinic closed, but that wasn't the end. A grand jury was convened in May, 2010, to investigation the possibility of criminal charges. There has been no word since. It is high time that Gosnell should be brought to justice for Mongar's death.

• Read more about this case.

Contact District Attorney R. Seth Williams: Voice 686-8701 or 686-8703

Source: ProLifeBlogs
Publish Date: January 6, 2011

There is a paradox in society's attitude to infertility and child destruction

    

Wesley Smith has picked up on an interesting article by Ross Douthat of the New York Times called The Unborn Paradox. Douthat explores the tragedy of human life being readily discarded through abortion, but Smith rightly extends the discussion to account for those lives destroyed in IVF procedures. However, at the same time there remains a desperate longing for human life in society. Douthat insightfully comments that:

    In every era, there's been a tragic contrast between the burden of unwanted pregnancies and the burden of infertility. But this gap used to be bridged by adoption far more frequently than it is today. Prior to 1973, 20 percent of births to white, unmarried women (and 9 percent of unwed births over all) led to an adoption. Today, just 1 percent of babies born to unwed mothers are adopted, and would-be adoptive parents face a waiting list that has lengthened beyond reason.

It is natural for human beings to long to raise children. However, there's an important distinction to be made between the exercising of that longing through applying for adoption and between undergoing IVF treatment. IVF procedures lead to the destruction of innocent human life. 2,137,924 human embryos were created by specialists while assisting couples in the UK to have babies between 1991 and 2005, according to BioNews. During this period, the HFEA informs us that the total of live babies born through IVF procedures was 109,469. IVF treatment disregards the worth of numerous lives while desperately seeking babies for couples unable to conceive. The disregard for life inherent to IVF procedures was made all the more evident last year when it was reported that many women choose to abort their children after conceiving through IVF.

I have said before that amidst all the challenges faced by the pro-life movement, we must continue to work openly and courageously for a ban on all IVF procedures. Opposing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) does not imply denying babies, conceived by IVF, their humanity. However, it's vital to oppose IVF as a way of conceiving children since it turns human beings into commodities to be brought to birth or discarded at will.

Douthat offers a powerful perspective into the plight of unborn children today. He says:

    "This is the paradox of America's unborn. No life is so desperately sought after, so hungrily desired, so carefully nurtured. And yet no life is so legally unprotected, and so frequently destroyed."

We must continue to work for a society where all human life is respected and legally protected.

Contact: John Smeaton
Source: SPUC
Publish Date: January 6, 2011

TV Actress Promotes Casual Sex, Planned Parenthood

    

"Abstinence is one aspect of sex education, but it is not the complete aspect," she told The Early Show. "And to expect, I think, everybody to remain abstinent is just — it's like asking them not to grow. It's like we don't ask people to not try out for sports." – Kate Walsh, actress in Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

I didn't know that having sex was a prerequisite for growth. And sex, apparently, is all about performance – like "trying out for sports."

After all, sexual liberation and pleasure are the chief objectives in life, right? At least that's how Planned Parenthood advocate and actress Kate Walsh seems to view sex.

Let's step out of the TV world for a moment and enter reality. Since Ms. Walsh thinks sex is like "trying out for sports" …

Do you think Tiger Woods feels the same way as Kate Walsh, after his numerous extramarital sexual encounters? Think about it. Casual sex destroyed his marriage,  split his family, hurt his reputation, tainted his golf career, and the media made a national spectacle of his sexual escapade. Ouch.

Do you think Magic Johnson would agree with Kate Walsh's promotion of anything-goes sex? Johnson announced the end of his professional basketball career in 1991 when he tested positive for HIV, citing multiple sexual partners.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that roughly 1 in 5 people  infected with HIV in the United States is unaware of his or her infection and may be unknowingly transmitting the virus to others. The CDC also estimates nearly half of all young people under the age of 25 will be infected by one or more sexual diseases.

Back in Hollywood, Kate Walsh plays the role of a sexually-charged doctor. On TV, she never really experiences the health consequences of her sexual endeavors. It almost makes television viewers believe that they, too, can be sexually promiscuous with complete immunity. It makes having casual sex seem normal – or even expected – with whomever, whenever and however. Kate's TV world removes sex from any context of commitment and marriage.

Here's the irony: Although Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice are  television shows, Kate Walsh plays the main role of an obstetric and gynecological "medical expert," who betrays her own profession by being sexually promiscuous.  And now, in real life, she is promoting Planned Parenthood's false notion of anything-goes sex without consequence.

Walsh plays the role of "medical expert," but in reality, her "truth" is fiction. It seems like the best advice comes from  real doctors – not abortion-driven Planned Parenthood or one of  Hollywood's television "doctors."

Contact: Chad Hills
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: January 5, 2011

Medicare End of Life Counseling Now to be Removed From Regulations!

    

I'm getting whiplash. First,they are in, then they are out, then they are in–and now, after all the yelling and defending, they are out again.  What?  Payment for doctors to provide end of life counseling.  From the NYT story:

    The Obama administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law, administration officials said Tuesday.  The move is an abrupt shift, coming just days after the new policy took effect on Jan. 1. Many doctors and providers of hospice care had praised the regulation, which listed "advance care planning" as one of the services that could be offered in the "annual wellness visit" for Medicare beneficiaries.

Don't blame me: I said the rule was different from the original legislative proposal–and therefore not a real problem.  Blame incompetence–apparently Donald Berwick promulgated the regulation when the proposal had not been included in the original Notice of Proposed Rule Making–which is required so interested parties can comment before the rule is finalized.  Duh.  But the Times reports the administration is also walking on some chicken feet:

    While administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor. The renewed debate over advance care planning threatened to become a distraction to administration officials who were gearing up to defend the health law against attack by the new Republican majority in the House.

They'll be back, the administration claims.  Hopefully, Berwick won't be once his recess appointment expires at the end of the year.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: January 5, 2011

AUL's major goal - repeal healthcare reform

    
     Charmaine Yoest,  president of AUL

Pro-life organizations are preparing to deal with major issues before Congress this year.

2010 was a year full of full-armor battles for life, and pro-life groups expect to see more of the same this year.

"We're very excited about the opportunities we see opening up in front of the life movement, because with the change in the United States Congress and seeing pro-life leadership come back to the House side, there are now opportunities to defend life that we have not seen in a very long time," notes Charmaine Yoest, CEO and president of Americans United for Life (AUL).

She says one of her group's major goals is to repeal healthcare reform, so AUL will be working to make that happen, especially when it comes to gaining passage in the Senate.

"It is doable because the polling data is really clear that the United States Congress really overreached and President Obama did not have the support that he thought that he did for passing this really, really big piece of legislation that included so much subsidies and a change in federal policy towards abortion," Yoest contends.


She is confident passage will take place in the House, but she expects the task to be more difficult in the Senate. If accomplished, the repeal bill will go to the president. And if he vetoes it, Yoest believes that will create another campaign issue for 2012.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: January 6, 2011

Pro-Life John Boehner is now Speaker of the House

    
     New Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio)

"Rep. John Boehner has launched the biggest day in his political career with a private prayer service, a simple Ohio-themed lunch party and humble speech before the House he now controls."
     -- From Today's POLITICO.

242 Republicans have elected John Boehner Speaker of the House. I do not know this man personally, but people who I know who do praise him effusively for his modesty, kindness, and humility. Not to be overly blunt, those are not characteristics typically associated with the lady who served as Speaker the last two years.

I'm attaching a link to Speaker Boehner's remarks today following his election as Speaker (click here). I would encourage you to read them.

I've also attached a link to the speech he delivered last summer to the National Right to Life Convention, where Speaker Boehner received the National Right to Life Legislative Leadership Award for outstanding pro-life leadership in Congress. I would strongly encourage you to read them. They tell you a lot about him and the roots of his pro-life convictions (click here).

I'd like to quote two paragraphs from his remarks this afternoon. Speaker Boehner said, "Above all else, we will welcome the battle of ideas, encourage it, and engage in it – openly, honestly, and respectfully. As the chamber closest to the people, the House works best when it is allowed to work its will. I ask all members of this body to join me in recognizing this common truth.

"To my colleagues in the majority, my message is this: we will honor our Pledge to America, built through a process of listening to the people, and we will stand firm on the Constitutional principles that built our party, and built a nation. We will do these things, however, in a manner that restores and respects the time-honored right of the minority to an honest debate and a fair, open process."

Why quote these two paragraphs? For the past two years pro-abortion Democrats controlled both Houses and the presidency. It is simply to state the truth that they gleefully ran rough-shod over Republicans. Nowhere was this hubris more in evidence than in the debate over "health care reform"--the abortion-ridden, rationing-promoting mess known as ObamaCare.

Only there was precious little debate, because the voices of pro-life Republicans (and some pro-life Democrats) were stifled, or, in some ways worse, mocked. For example, while the topic was the stimulus package and not healthcare, Obama's response on January 24, 2009 perfectly illustrated the arrogance of unchecked power. Republicans tried to get their two cents worth in on the specifics which Obama waved them off: "I won."

As we talked about yesterday, the pro-life GOP House Leadership has started the process which will culminate next week in a vote to repeal ObamaCare. Nobody is so foolish as to think Senate Democrats and/or President Obama will suddenly see the light. But this vote is an important first step--a planting of the flag--signifying that Republicans will assiduously attempt to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with something better and free of abortion and rationing.

All this was made possible because of the heroic work of pro-lifers across this land. Never, ever forget that twenty-six months ago we were lectured that Democrats--overwhelmingly pro-abortion--had become a permanent majority party and that pro-lifers ought to be smart enough to fold up their tents and go home.

You didn't, and the November 2 results have been documented over and over.

Contact: Dave Andrusko   
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: January 5, 2011