HHS: California is permitted to force insurers to cover abortions

The US Department of Health and Human Services has determined that California’s decision to force insurers to cover abortions does not violate federal legislation designed to protect conscience rights.

The Weldon amendment, which protects the rights of health-care officials to avoid involvement in abortion, applies “only to health care entities and not to individuals who are patients of, or institutions or individuals that are insured by, such entities,” stated the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Catholic colleges in California had invoked the Weldon Amendment to justify excluding aboriton coverage from their employees' health-care plans. That policy was challenged by faculty members at two Catholic universities: Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara University. Under the new HHS ruling, all religious institutions would appear to be legally required to offer abortion coverage.

Click here for more from Catholic World News.

Action Alert - SB1564 & HB5576 - Call the Gov. tell him to veto these bills.

SB1564 - Health Care Right of Conscience Act - UPDATE - ACTION ALERT

This bill is currently on the Governor's desk for his signature.

This bill amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act  The Act provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection.  

This bill now undermines Healthcare Right of Conscience by requiring pro-life facilities to refer pro-abort services to other facilities thus violating their morals or beliefs.

Although an amendment has been added to bill, the Federation for Right to Life still opposes this bill.

Please call the Governor's office at 217-782-0244, or click here to go to his website and send an email asking him NOT to sign SB1564 and veto the bill.

Click here for more information on this bill.

Click here for the full bill text.

HB5576 - Insurance Contraception Coverage - UPDATE - ACTION ALERT

This bill is currently on the Governor's desk for his signature.

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

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

Please call the Governor's office at 217-782-0244, or click here to go to his website and send an email asking him NOT to sign HB5576 and veto the bill.

Click here for more information on this bill.

Planned Parenthood Awards 13 Journalists at 100th Anniversary Gala

Planned Parenthood doesn’t need a PR firm when it has the media who do just as well – if not better – at pushing the abortion giant’s agenda: death.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America bestowed Media Excellence Awards to 13 journalists during its 2016 National Conference Gala earlier this month in Washington, D.C. Since its founding, the taxpayer-funded organization has recognized a total of 270 media outlets and journalists for doing its bidding.

Of the media awarded, Democracy NOW! host and executive producer Amy Goodman received the “highest honor,” according to Planned Parenthood. Goodman repeatedly used her platform to defend Planned Parenthood following the release of the Center for Medical Progress videos last summer that showed, among other things, clinic workers picking apart aborted baby limbs in a dish with tweezers.

Planned Parenthood listed the other eight winners of the 2016 Media Excellence Awards. …

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Disability author angry with being associated with movie “Me Before You”

EW News reported that Francesco Clark, an ambassador for the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation and an entrepreneur who founded a skincare line for people with disabilities, is angry that his memoir, Walking Papers, is referenced in the film Me Before You.

Walking Papers tells the story of Clark’s life after he experienced an accident in his early 20’s that resulting in him living with quadriplegia.

EW News reported Clark as saying:

“I’ve worked tirelessly to show people that being quadriplegic isn’t the end of your life, it’s another beginning,”

“While I am by no means taking a stance on the issue of assisted suicide, I feel compelled to express that I am angry to be unwittingly associated with a storyline that suggests the only option for those who sustain injuries like mine is death.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Pro-life training in the college classroom

Only one collegiate-level school is offering pro-life courses that could potentially lead to career opportunities in the movement.

The only school, so far, providing formal pro-life training is Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Scott Klusendorf of Life Training Institute is teaching part of the course work. He says the issue at stake is that America needs a movement of pro-lifers who are professionally trained.

“We need to have them equipped to make a persuasive case in the public square using arguments that resonate with a secular culture,” he tells OneNewsNow. “And if you look at the pro-life movement today, it's led by hardworking, part-time volunteers. To flip the equation, we need equipped pro-lifers who can do this for a living full-time.”

OKWU's Department of Applied Bioethics offers four core courses

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Actress Connie Britton Praises Planned Parenthood Prez As ‘Legendary,’ ‘My Hero’

Besides the liberal media, Planned Parenthood’s biggest fans come from Hollywood– and actress Connie Britton is no exception.

Last week, Nashville actress Connie Britton introduced Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards at the White House’s The United State of Women Summit. Before describing Richards as her “hero” as well as a “thinker” and “visionary,” Britton made her own comments on “reproductive rights.”

The 49-year-old star began her speech by claiming that “there’s nothing really that’s more important” than “women’s health.”

“We’ve got a lot to do, guys. We really do,” she cheered. “And we certainly don’t have time to deal with interference from anyone else about the choices that we make about our own bodies.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

MCCL GO speaks in defense of life at the U.N.’s Human Rights Council

The Human Rights Council, an inter-governmental U.N. body founded to promote and protect human rights worldwide, is holding its 32nd session this month. A Working Group report on the subject has called for the legalization of abortion around the globe, even condemning so-called “barriers to access” such as waiting periods prior to abortion.

Today Mary Langlois, representing Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life’s Global Outreach program (MCCL GO), made the case at a session of the Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland that legalized abortion is neither necessary to ensure women’s health nor required under international law.

“Legalized abortion is not required by the right to health. Maternal health depends on the quality of medical care, not on the legal status or availability of abortion,” Langlois said. “We can save women’s lives in the developing world by ensuring proper care before, during, and after childbirth, including adequate nutrition, prenatal care, skilled birth attendants, emergency obstetric care, clean water, and sanitation.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

“Life on Mars” is a powerful new pro-life video

What I know about rap, Christian or otherwise, you could summarize in a nanosecond or two. But the lyrics to Je’kob’s just released music video are not only catchy and infectious, they are powerfully ironic.

Less than four minutes long, the video starts with the premise that scientists and, by extension, the rest of us, go gung-ho when there is the slightest evidence there may be, might have been, or could someday be “life” on the planet Mars. But what about recognizing the life of the unborn on earth?

Or, as Justin Sarachik wrote earlier today...

The concept of the song touches on the paradox of science seeing bacteria on Mars as signs of life, but won’t acknowledge a baby in a womb as a living thing.



Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Hey docs, are you healers or death dealers?

Reports that the American Medical Association will consider changing its policy on doctor-assisted suicide are not fully accurate.

Despite some reports coming from its recent convention in Chicago, the American Medical Association ethics standards stand against participation in assisted suicide.

Dr. Thomas Eppes of Forrest, Virginia, a member of the Christian Medical Association, was a Virginia delegate to the convention. He tells OneNewsNow that AMA members actually approved an "eloquently stated position" that the physician is a healer.

"And that if you're in the business of doing that type of thing," says Eppes, referring to assisted suicide, "you're violating the code of ethics."

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Abortion in America robs black mothers most

New statistics clearly show the impact of abortion on the black community and the picture is not pretty.

The Issues 4 Life Foundation took a look at data from the U.S. Statistical Abstract and the National Vital Statistics Report analyzed by expert Dennis Howard.

Citing the data, foundation president Walter Hoye says 20 million black Americans have lost their lives through abortion since it was legalized, and that represents about 48 percent of the total black population.

Among black women who are child-bearing age, they are responsible for 28 percent of all abortions in the United States. 

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Men, Father’s Day, and Abortion

June 19 is Father’s Day, where children (occasionally with assistance from their moms) will splurge on their dads. Personally, if each of my kids gave me the same exact tie, I would treasure each one of them just because I love being a dad.

But there will be many men who are not fathers because of their role in an abortion. They will not experience the joy of fatherhood, only the guilt, remorse, and pain that so often accompanies a decision they either acceded to, did not oppose, or, worst of all, coerced the woman in their life into making.

The last thing the abortion industry wants is more players in the decision-making process. Expanding the range of what is possible is our goal, not theirs. They are one-trick ponies–they want women (and girls) to be placed on a conveyor belt which moves without interruption until she reaches the destination that will “solve” her “problem.” They want their finely tuned propaganda engine running smoothly. A father’s involvement risks throwing sand in the gears.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

A Tribute to Fran Fortier

Fran Fortier passed from this life on June 9, 2016

Fran Fortier lived her Catholic faith as a wife, mother and a defender of unborn babies.  Fran was the former Director of the Joliet Diocese Life Office.  I first met Fran in the early 1980's when we both served on the Board of the Illinois Federation for Right to Life.  I represented the 10th Congressional District and Fran represented the 6th Congressional District.  There wasn't a politician Fran did not know personally.  Through her strong pro-life commitment, everyone she met knew about the sanctity of human life and our obligation to defend that life in the public square.

It was shortly after my meeting Fran that I discovered that she was the Director for pro-life in Joliet.  In fact, if the truth be known, Fran laid the groundwork for the ministry to continue even after she retired from her office.  Fran's Catholic faith led her to stand tall in the public square when the Roe v Wade Decision in 1973 legalized abortion on demand in the U.S.  Fran did what all Catholics (and people of good faith) should have done.  She rolled up her sleeves and went to work to restore respect for innocent human life.  She never tired, and I know that many times she was in the office until 1AM or 2AM in the morning.  These hours led to her son, Dr. Martin Fortier, to insist that Fran drive her Lexus that he bought so she would be safe.

Fran Fortier died as she lived faithful to the pro-life movement, her Catholic faith and her family.   It was God's gift to me to know and work with Fran.  I am humbled by her consistency and strong devotion to life and family.

by Bonnie Quirke

American Medical Association To Explore Policy Change on Assisted Suicide

Yesterday, at its annual meeting in Chicago, the American Medical Association (AMA) rejected a Louisiana State Medical Society proposal to reaffirm the AMA’s long-standing policy against physician assisted suicide. Instead it approved a study-resolution to explore AMA adoption of a neutral position on physician assisted suicide, which was often referred to as “aid-in-dying” in the debate.

The study will be led by the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, which will study a possible change to the AMA policy and report back with recommendations to the AMA Annual Meeting next year.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

More free publicity from PBS for the Abortion Industry

Nancy Northrop, the President & CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights was celebrating that next week one of the Abortion Industry’s most reliable friend–PBS–would be broadcasting “Trapped.” As you’ll recall, this ridiculously misleading pro-abortion acronym stands for Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers.

In English that means any regulation which does not allow the Abortion Industry to do exactly what it wants to do with no oversight, is “targeting” abortion clinics.

The documentary will be aired right around the time the Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision in a case that director Dawn Porter no doubt would hold up as a classic example of Trapped: Texas’s pro-life 2013 HB 2.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

Illinois breaks its own law protecting religious freedom

Sandra Mendoza was a nurse in Rockford, Illinois, in Winnebago County's Health Department where she served in the pediatric clinic and also in a children's home in Rockford. Noel Sterett, an attorney with the Chicago-based law firm Mauck & Baker, tells OneNewsNow a change came about that forced Mendoza out of her job.

“A new public health administrator was hired by the Health Department, and Mendoza was informed that as a result of the mergence of the Women's Health Clinic and Pediatric Clinic she was going to have to be involved in the provision of abortion referrals and abortifacients,” Sterett explains. “And according to her beliefs, both religious and moral conscientious objections, she couldn't participate.”

Mendoza was then informed she would have to take a job as a temporary food inspector and then was forced out of her job for standing for life and for her convictions, the attorney explains.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow.

Judge drops charge against Planned Parenthood investigator

A county court on Tuesday dismissed a misdemeanor charge against the man responsible for undercover investigations of Planned Parenthood, although a related felony charge is still pending.

“The dismissal of the first indictment today sends a strong message to Planned Parenthood and their political cronies that colluding to suppress the First Amendment rights of citizen journalists will never work,” said the Center for Medical Progress, the group founded by David Daleiden.

The “swift dismissal” of the charge against Daleiden is evidence that “the indictments from a runaway grand jury in Houston were a politically-motivated sham all along,” the statement went on to say.

Click here for more from CNA Daily News.

Mom’s tearful response convinces teenager not to abort

They don’t call them “reality TV” shows for nothing. Some readers may recognize the name Stacey Solomon. A while back, as a singer, she finished third in the sixth season of the British program “The X Factor.”

Nowadays Solomon is a singer, panelist on television programs, and a reality television star. Appearing on the daytime show “Loose Women,” Solomon talked about how as a teenager she was literally on the table about to have an abortion when she changed her mind.

Why? Her mother’s unspoken response to the ultrasound.

Click here for more from National Right to Life.

The Dignity of Unborn Children Goes On Trial Today in United States District Court

Tuesday marks a historic day for Indiana and the nation as the dignity of unborn children goes on trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The core issues to be argued before Judge Tonya Walton Pratt revolve around the humane disposal of aborted babies in Indiana, as well as Indiana’s new protections, established in civil rights code, preventing unborn children from being aborted for the sole purpose of gender, race, national original, Down syndrome or other disability.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood are once again teaming up in hopes of blocking Indiana’s new protections from going into effect on July 1. The expected ACLU argument will be that the free speech rights of abortion facility workers, who profit from the act of dismembering unborn children, outweighs the basic right to live for a baby with Down syndrome, or for the little girl whose parents would rather have a boy, or for the little boy whose life is being terminated for no other reason than the color of his skin. These are the children whose civil rights the ACLU is hoping to deny. What a strange contradiction for an organization with “civil liberties” incorporated into its name.

Regarding the humane disposal of aborted babies, the ACLU will argue that it is nonsense to require that aborted babies be treated any differently than any common medical garbage. Just months ago Indiana learned that the bodies of aborted babies were being shipped in 31-gallon drums to a medical waste plant in Indianapolis to be ground up with other garbage, and even persons with no interest in the abortion debate were horrified.

Click here for more from National Right to Life

UN has trampled on rights of people with disabilities in its rush to push abortion

Life Institute spokeswoman Niamh Uí Bhriain said that the case had been brought before the United Nations by the US-based Centre for Reproductive Rights, a massively wealthy pro-abortion outfit who were persistently attacking Ireland’s pro-life laws. She said the UN Committee ruling contradicted international human rights law, and trampled on the rights of people with disabilities.

“What is really disgusting here is that this US-based organisation used the most vulnerable children of all, unborn babies with severe disabilities, to try to drive a wedge in Ireland’s abortion laws. These are the most vulnerable, most helpless unborn babies, they are sick and need support and protection, but these abortion campaigners cynically use their disability to attack their right to life, and to try to push abortion,” said Ms Uí Bhriain.

“Instead of protecting the most vulnerable, the UN has chosen, yet again, to champion abortion, and has trampled on the right of people with disabilities,” she added.

Click here for more from National Right to Life

The Culture of Death’s Love Story

It’s maddening to watch a movie trailer resplendent with engrossing and alluring screen shots projecting a terrific flick, only to learn after paying the price of admission that you’d watched the totality of the movie’s value. That’s not misleading; it’s good advertising.

But sometimes movie studios are just plain guilty of false advertising.

The new movie Me Before You looks to be an inspirational love story. A lower-class woman in England is hired to take care of a young man who recently became a quadriplegic after being hit by a car. He inspires her to live a fuller life; she inspires him to find the joys he can still realize from his wheelchair.

That’s the commercial, but that’s not the actual plot. Spoiler alert: this isn’t a love story, it’s a story of a man’s self-love leading to assisted suicide. Girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, girl holds hand as boy kills himself.

As Eric Henderson wrote for Slant magazine: “Me Before You is some kind of twisted reversal of those expectations, punking its impressionable audience into believing the lie and then punishing them for their foolishness.”

Click here for more from National Right to Life.