June 6, 2018
More people still consider abortion morally wrong than morally acceptable
Each year Gallup conducts what it calls its annual “Values and Beliefs survey,” typically conducted in early May. Over the course of the year Gallup will filet those numbers every which way.
The first iteration, which came out yesterday, addressed the question of how people evaluated 22 different “behaviors and practices”—whether they are “morally acceptable” or “morally wrong.”
On abortion, we learn from Jeffrey M. Jones, that 49% said abortion was morally wrong, while 43% said it was morally acceptable.
The year before that 47% said abortion was morally wrong, the same 43% morally acceptable. Only once in 17 years (2015) have the percentages been the same.
“Gallup’s trends on many of these items date back to 2001,”Jones writes. “On most, Americans have adopted more permissive views over time. “
This is not true on abortion, in spite of a 24/7 campaign by the major media to tell us abortion is as no different than filling (or extracting) a tooth.
Click here for more from NRL News Today.
June 5, 2018
Against current U.N. law, Office of Human Rights tries to strip preborn of human rights
In blatant violation of international law, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has unveiled a startling new campaign that claims “you have human rights since birth.” The unsettling image, which depicts a baby’s arm with the statement written on a hospital bracelet, makes clear the position of this U.N. body—human rights should not be afforded to human beings until after they are born.
Abortion advocates might applaud this claim, but the position of the body flies in the face of established, and binding, international law on the rights of the unborn.
Click here for more from Live Action News.
Abortion advocates might applaud this claim, but the position of the body flies in the face of established, and binding, international law on the rights of the unborn.
Click here for more from Live Action News.
VIDEO: Actress Sandra Bullock on being an adoptive mom: It’s ‘my purpose’
Actress, adoptive parent, and single mom Sandra Bullock opened up recently to TODAY’s Hoda Kotb, a fellow adoptive mother, explaining how becoming a mother made her realize that it was not her career as an actress that gave her purpose in life, but her children.
“It’s just like being a mom, I finally realize, ‘Oh, this is what I was supposed to do when I grew up,” she said. “Not be an actress; to be a mom. … This is my purpose.”
Bullock, 51, adopted her children when she was in her 40s. Son Louis (8) was adopted as an infant in 2010, and daughter, Laila (5) was adopted in 2015 at age 3 1/2 after being in foster care. Bullock told Hoda Hotb that her priorities in life are “my kids, my kids, my kids. My family. My family. That’s it,” adding that she doesn’t work as much anymore because her family is what’s most important, and she wants to be there for her children’s big moments.
Click here for more from Live Action News.
Without dissent, Supreme Court dismisses lower court decision granting undocumented teen an abortion
In a five page unsigned opinion filed without noted dissents, the Supreme Court today dismissed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit which allowed an undocumented 17 year girl to abort.
While the particulars of the case of the girl from Mexico who entered the country through Texas apply only to her, the importance is that the High Court’s decision means no precedent has been set that would allow other similarly-situated teenagers to obtain an abortion.
Click here for more from NRL News Today.
June 4, 2018
Judge Blocks Iowa’s heartbeat Abortion Ban
A judge has granted the abortion lobby’s request to temporarily block enforcement of Iowa’s new ban on aborting babies with detectable heartbeats, pending a final verdict on the law’s constitutionality.
Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert made the decision Friday in a brief hearing, the Des Moines Register reports. Attorneys representing the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Iowa City’s Emma Goldman Clinic claim the law violates both Roe v. Wade and the Iowa Constitution. They requested the temporary injunction to resolve the “uncertainty” of women seeking abortions.
Click here for more from Life Site News
Illinois ProLife groups vow to withhold Endorsement for ERA-supporting Lawmakers
On May 30, 2018 the Illinois House passed the Equal Rights Amendment as Senate Joint Resolution Constitution Amendment 4 (SJRCA4). The ERA was introduced to the states in 1972. An objective reading of the language and history of the ERA makes clear that expansion of abortion rights has always been a principle objective of the ERA proponents. In 1983 when Congress attempted to re-introduce the ERA to the states, the proponents of the ERA rejected proposed abortion neutral language. The writings of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reveal the intended scope of the ERA is to greatly increase the scrutiny of pro-life legislation.
A vote for the ERA is a vote for overturning abortion restrictions and enshrining abortion rights in the U. S. Constitution. A vote for the ERA is a vote against the unborn child. State court judges have held that their state ERAs mandate “HB40” style taxpayer funding of elective abortions. The ERA further threatens parental notification and consent laws throughout the country, along with every reasonable regulation on abortion.
The ERA has now been ratified by the Illinois General Assembly. The Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC, Illinois Citizens for Life PAC, Illinois Family Action PAC, and Lake County Life PAC will not endorse or support any legislator that voted for such a sweeping pro-abortion piece of legislation as the ERA.
On May 30, 2018am, 11 Legislators who claim to be pro-life voted for the pro-abortion ERA. Steven Andersson (R), Dan Brady (R), Jim Durkin (R), David Harris (R), Chad Hays (R), David Olsen (R), Robert Pritchard (R), Sue Scherer (D), Grant Wehrli (R), David Welter (R) and Christine Winger (R) all voted for the ERA. While we are disappointed with all 72 Representatives who voted for abortion, we are gravely disturbed by those who solicited pro-life support and/or presented themselves as pro-life but voted for the ERA. Their vote was a vote in opposition to life and will not be ignored by the undersigned.
Dawn Behnke, Chairman
Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC
Ralph Rivera, Chairman
Illinois Citizens for Life PAC
Bonnie Quirke
Lake County Life PAC
David Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Action PAC
Elise Bouc, State Chairman
Illinois-Stop ERA
Reverend Robert Vanden Bosch
Concerned Christian Americans
June 1, 2018
Pro-lifers to SCOTUS: Honor the unborn, states' rights
No special treatment for Planned Parenthood – that's what pro-family organizations are telling the U.S. Supreme Court.
Amid concerns that the taxpayer-funded abortion giant was illegally selling baby body parts for profit, Louisiana terminated its Medicaid provider agreement with Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast in 2015. Rather than follow the appeals court procedure that Congress mandates, the Planned Parenthood affiliate and three unidentified supporters filed suit in federal court.
In a brief filed Thursday on behalf of Louisiana Family Forum and 26 other family policy councils, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) explains that Medicaid providers – Planned Parenthood or otherwise – can't use the courts to challenge the removal of those agreements in an attempt to evade the established administrative appeals process that federal law requires.
Congress has made it very clear that Planned Parenthood has to follow the administrative process to challenge its disqualification from Medicaid – just like everyone else," says ADF legal counsel Elissa Graves.
Click here for more from OneNewsNow.
Amid concerns that the taxpayer-funded abortion giant was illegally selling baby body parts for profit, Louisiana terminated its Medicaid provider agreement with Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast in 2015. Rather than follow the appeals court procedure that Congress mandates, the Planned Parenthood affiliate and three unidentified supporters filed suit in federal court.
In a brief filed Thursday on behalf of Louisiana Family Forum and 26 other family policy councils, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) explains that Medicaid providers – Planned Parenthood or otherwise – can't use the courts to challenge the removal of those agreements in an attempt to evade the established administrative appeals process that federal law requires.
Congress has made it very clear that Planned Parenthood has to follow the administrative process to challenge its disqualification from Medicaid – just like everyone else," says ADF legal counsel Elissa Graves.
Click here for more from OneNewsNow.
Planned Parenthood attacks report showing how they enabled sexual assault
The pro-life group Live Action is standing by bombshell allegations that Planned Parenthood enabled numerous instances of sexual assault, as the abortion giant claims the revelations have already been “discredited.”
Yesterday, Live Action released the first installments of its “Aiding Abusers” video series, which relies on news reports, eyewitness testimony, and undercover video to expose Planned Parenthood employees’ willingness to provide abortions to girls as young as twelve without reporting signs of statutory or forcible rape to law enforcement.
Click here for more from Life Site News.
2018 National Pro-Life Bridges Day, June 22nd
Over the last year a small group of pro-lifers to display very simple pro-life banners, "ABORTION TAKES HUMAN LIFE," in very readable font on a plain blue background from a pedestrian overpass over the south end of the Dan Ryan Expressway, I-94, leading into and out of downtown Chicago. On Saturday mornings or early afternoons every month we reach just about 20,000 people every hour for two or three hours. Two or three other similar locations around metropolitan Chicago average upwards of 15,000 people per hour at a variety of days and times.
Chris Iverson, who has spearheaded these pro-life bridges in the Chicago area, is a director of Pro-Life Action League. The League is promoting the project nationally with an effort to have bridges manned in 50 cities during either the morning or the afternoon rush on June 22nd.
So far the only Illinois locations are the ones which are done regularly in Chicagoland. Other Illinois sign-ups would be most welcome! Also, Illinoisans might have an interest in efforts to plan an overpass in the St. Louis area, the Quad Cities, the Borman Expressway in northwest Indiana, or elsewhere on or near Illinois's borders.
Click here for contact information or to register to host or participate on one of the bridges in your area.
For further help on organizing a pro-life bridge in your area, contact John Ryan by voice or text at 708.945.8247 or by e-mail at domer_10305@yahoo.com.
Registration closes next week in order to get the materials to all coordinators on time.
May 31, 2018
ERA Ratified by Illinois with a vote of 72-45
After a long hard battle, the ERA passed in the Illinois House. The vote came shortly after 8 pm on May 30th. The Equal Rights Amendment passed it's final stage in Illinois with the vote of 72-45 with only needing 71 to pass.
We are grateful for all those legislators who voted against the ERA. Their votes show them for the principled legislators that they are.
We have been successful for a very long time in preventing the ERA from being ratified in Illinois (over 25 years - from 1972 - 1982 and 2003- 2018). Thank you for all you have done through the years to protect women, the unborn child, our families, our religious freedoms, and our society.
Leading pro-abortion groups – including NARAL, the ACLU, and Planned Parenthood -- have strongly urged state courts to construe state ERAs, containing language virtually identical to the language of the 1972 federal ERA proposal, to invalidate laws that treat abortion differently from other “medical procedures,” including laws restricting tax-funding of abortion and laws requiring parental notification or consent for minors’ abortions.
This could be all moot. Some people now argue that the federal ERA proposed in 1972 can be resurrected by state legislatures (the so-called "three-state strategy"). However, in 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the federal ERA sent to the state legislatures by Congress in 1972 was legally dead.
Illinois Federation for Right to Life, strongly urged legislators to oppose this resolution for two reasons: (1) The language of the proposed 1972 ERA, which cannot now be revised, is virtually identical to language that the major pro-abortion groups have used in other states (including New Mexico) for highly successful legal attacks on laws protecting unborn children and limiting tax funding of abortion. (2) The Illinois resolution is part of an effort to evade the federal constitutional amendment process spelled out in the U.S. Constitution itself. When Congress proposed the ERA to the states in 1972, it attached a deadline — a deadline that most of the ratifying states explicitly referred to in their ratification resolutions, and that expired decades ago. In 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court explicitly declared that all legal issues surrounding the 1972 ERA resolution (including the validity of rescissions passed by five ratifying state legislatures prior to the deadline) were “moot” because this ERA was already dead.
In more recent years, ERA supporters in Congress have repeatedly introduced new ERA proposals, implicitly recognizing that the 1972 ERA is long dead. For example, such new ERAs were introduced in January, 2017, for the current 115th Congress, as S.J. Res. 6 and H.J. Res. 33.
Pro-life members of Congress have proposed the addition of a simple “abortion-neutral” clause before any such new ERA is sent out to the states for possible ratification – a proposal so far rejected by the leading advocates of the ERA.
It should be obvious that limits specific to abortions are by definition a form of sex discrimination and therefore impermissible under ERA – can be used to invalidate any federal or state restrictions even on partial-birth abortions or third-trimester abortions (since these are sought “only by women”); the federal and state “conscience laws,” which allow government-supported medical facilities and personnel — including religiously affiliated hospitals — to refuse to participate in abortions; and parental notification and consent laws. Indeed, the ACLU “Reproductive Freedom Project” has published a booklet that encourages pro-abortion lawyers to use state ERAs as legal weapons against state parental notification and consent laws.
Our fight is not over. We will educate our elected officials in Congress so that they will be prepared if and when the supporters of the ERA ask them to retroactively extend the time deadline of the ERA. These are vitally important issues that we must continue to protect. We may have lost this battle, but the war is not over.
For more information about the ERA visit: http://eagleforum.org/topics/era.html
For additional documentation on the ERA-abortion connection, see the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/federal/era.
Roll Call on the ERA vote: (click image to enlarge)
Louisiana’s Democrat governor signs 15-week abortion ban into law
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, signed legislation today banning abortions on babies 15 weeks or older, pending the outcome of a legal challenge.
The law, SB 181, would sentence any abortionist who commits an abortion beyond that date to a prison sentence of up to ten years and a fine between $10,000 and $100,000, though it expressly exempts the woman seeking the abortion from punishment - The law does not contain an exception for babies conceived in rape, and only allows exceptions for abortions deemed necessary to save a woman’s life from physical danger.
Click here for more from Life Site News.
Abortion lobby attacks Pro-Life lawmakers' effort to stop taxpayer funding of abortions
The idea of standing firm against Illinois' latest taxpayer subsidy for women on Medicaid and state employee health care plans is meeting angry resistance from the abortion lobby in Springfield.
State Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard) suggested earlier this week that taxpayer funding of abortions be separated out of the state budget for a vote on its own. The amount that has not yet been appropriated by the currently negotiated state budget would pay for approximately 30,000 abortions. The idea to block the funding was backed by fellow House members Tuesday while it was blasted by the abortion lobby - which attacked Rep. Breen on Twitter.
Personal PAC, the pro-abortion political action group that financially supports radical pro-abortion lawmakers and candidates, said women are not Breen's "bargaining chips" and called on lawmakers to #SAVEHB40. HB 40 is the measure Democrats alone passed to Governor Rauner's desk, were he signed the bill into law setting women on Medicaid and state employee health plans for free, unrestricted abortions.
Tuesday, Rep. Breen was joined by Republican House members Tom Morrison (R), Jeanne Ives (R) Allen Skillicorn (R), Mark Batinick (R), Margo McDermed (R), C.D. Davidsmeyer (R), Sheri Jesiel (R) and Jerry Long (R), as well as three Democrat House members Jerry Costello (D), Monica Bristow (D) and Natalie Phelps-Finnie (D), to state their united opposition to the inclusion of taxpayer funds for elective abortion services in the FY 2019 budget.
Click here for more from Illinois Review.
May 30, 2018
ILLINOIS RATIFIES THE EQUAL RIGHT AMENDMENT
The vote taken shortly after 8pm on May 30th ratified the Equal Rights Amendment in Illinois. The vote was 72-45. This leaves just one more state to ratify the ERA and amend the U.S. Constitution and is one more step to further endangering the unborn.
Leading pro-abortion groups – including NARAL, the ACLU, and Planned Parenthood -- have strongly urged state courts to construe state ERAs, containing language virtually identical to the language of the 1972 federal ERA proposal, to invalidate laws that treat abortion differently from other “medical procedures,” including laws restricting tax-funding of abortion and laws requiring parental notification or consent for minors’ abortions.
For more information about the ERA visit: http://eagleforum.org/topics/era.html
For additional documentation on the ERA-abortion connection, see the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/federal/era.
U.S. delegation tells World Health Assembly “We do not recognize an international right to abortion”
This past week the World Health Assembly was held in Geneva. It’s the annual meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO). During the event, the United States delegation spoke up clearly and strongly in defense of unborn children and in opposition to abortion.
Commenting on a report on women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health, the U.S. called for improved health care, especially during the first 1,000 days of life, but rejected the report’s favorable statements toward abortion.
“The term ‘sexual and reproductive health’ does not include the promotion of abortion, nor do we recognize an international right to abortion,” the U.S. statement read.
The statement further emphasized: “We have stated clearly, and on many occasions, consistent with the International Conference on Population and Development’s Programme of Action, that we do not recognize abortion as a method of family planning, nor do we support abortion in our reproductive health assistance.”
Click here for more from NRL News Today.
Father Pavone warns Illinois lawmakers of ERA's ultimate result: Not equality, but unrestricted abortion
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, Tuesday issued the following statement on SJRCA 4, the bill pending in the Illinois House that would purport to ratify the proposed, long-dormant federal Equal Rights Amendment:
“Why, more than 55 years after Congress passed the so-called ERA and more than 35 years after the deadline for states to ratify the measure expired, is there an attempt to revive the long-dead ERA today? There is only one answer – abortion.
“The ERA as written, and as contained in SJRCA 4, would be the most pro-abortion legislation ever adopted by any American legislature. Cloaked in language of equality, it would, in fact, remove all state and federal regulations and safeguards regarding abortion. It is this indisputable fact that, once publicized, stopped ratification of the ERA in its tracks in the last century.
“Do you favor parental notification before a 13-year-old girl has an abortion? Do you believe that partial-birth abortion, which amounts to infanticide, should remain illegal? Do you think that it’s wrong to force Americans to pay for others’ abortions? If so, you cannot support SJRCA 4. These restrictions, overwhelmingly supported by the American public, would be deemed discriminatory on the basis of sex under the ERA.
Click here for more from Illinois Review.
May 29, 2018
Wendy Vitter, Pro-Life Trump judicial nominee, clears Senate committee vote
The Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly voted to approve one of President Donald Trump’s latest judicial nominees on Thursday, bringing her one step closer to becoming a federal judge.
The committee voted 11-10 along party lines in favor of Wendy Vitter serving on the U.S. District Court in New Orleans, NOLA reported. Vitter is an attorney for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and the wife of former Republican Sen. David Vitter.
Click here for more from Life Site News.
NARAL pledges $5 million to elect abortion advocates to U.S. House
The pro-abortion lobbying group NARAL has announced plans to spend $5 million dollars to return the U.S. House of Representatives to Democratic hands.
Their largest campaign spending plan yet is targeting the battleground states of California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, the Washington Post reports.
Click here for more from Life Site News.
Ireland has fallen to abortion
The Republic of Ireland has fallen. A coalition of the powerful – Irish politicians who ran on pro-life platforms a few short years ago before abruptly betraying their supporters, the international abortion industry, the media, much of academia, a gaggle of celebrities, and the European elites – have finally prevailed in their relentless efforts to persuade the Irish people to become the first to bring in abortion on demand by popular vote. They voted for abortion in wide margins, and many, if not most, did so with their eyes wide open. There was scarcely a lamppost in the country that did not feature a sign warning them that nearly all abortions would be perpetrated against healthy children, and that Ireland’s abortion regime would permit feticide up until six months, and that voting “Yes” would be granting the abortion industry a license to kill.
Ireland had achieved something truly remarkable: A nation in which the laws protected every right to life equally, a country which the World Health Organization listed as one of the safest for a pregnant woman. The abortion activists abhorred Ireland’s shining example, a nation that illustrated so clearly that the idea of abortion as healthcare is an ugly lie. They showed that it is truly possible to love both women and their children, and the abortion activists could not forgive them that. It is a sad irony that thousands who voted to repeal the 8th Amendment probably do not realize that they are only alive today because they were protected by the 8th Amendment in the womb.
Click here for more from Life Site News.
May 25, 2018
World abortion numbers? Don’t trust Planned Parenthood’s favorite research org
This spring, the Guttmacher Institute released a study on global abortion rates. It analyzes abortion data from 193 countries and six territories between the years 2010 and 2014. The study finds that global abortion rates have declined since the early 1990s and that the declines in developed regions of the world have been considerably larger than declines in developing countries. This study has been covered by a number of media outlets including NBC News, U.S. News and World Report, and CNN.
Much of the attention has been focused on the cross-country comparisons. This study purportedly finds that abortion rates in countries with legal protections for the unborn are similar to abortion rates in countries where abortion is legal. Studies like this are very common. The medical journal The Lancet released similar studies in 2012 and 2016. The authors never explicitly state that pro-life laws have no impact. However, that is the spin the mainstream media eagerly applies while omitting any commentary from pro-life researchers.
In reality, these studies are very misleading.
Click here for more from Life Site News.
May 24, 2018
China may lift its two-child policy - here's what that could mean
Amid reports that China may be considering putting an end to its two-child policy, experts are questioning the extent of a possible law change, and the effects it would have.
According to Bloomberg, the Chinese government had commissioned research on the childbirth restrictions in the country, and on the potential effects of lifting them. An announcement on the removal of the policy could come by the end of the year, or next year, the outlet reported, citing anonymous sources.
Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, said that removing the policy “would be a momentous victory for human rights and a vindication of the application of international pressure as a strategy to affect change within that totalitarian regime.”
“But I am holding off on this celebration,” she told CNA, noting that “the Chinese government just commissioned a study. It has not yet enacted the new law.”
Click here for more from Catholic News Agency.
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