Operation Rescue says Tiller murder suspect not connected with group

Operation Rescue says Tiller murder suspect not connected with group


Operation Rescue President Troy Newman

The pro-life group Operation Rescue, responding to the murder of Kansas abortionist Dr. George Tiller, said his alleged killer had posted comments to their public blog site but had no connection with the group.

Operation Rescue added that it deplores the “criminal actions” of Scott P. Roeder, Tiller’s alleged murderer.

The New York Times reported that a Scott Roeder had made comments on Operation Rescue’s blog in the past. One post compared Tiller to the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, saying Tiller “needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation.”

On Monday Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said:

“Scott Roeder has never been a member, contributor, or volunteer with Operation Rescue. Mr. Roeder may have posted to our open blog web site, as have thousands of members of the public, including those with pro-abortion views, but he is not affiliated with this organization.”

“The pro-life ethic is to value all human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Operation Rescue has diligently and successfully worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see to it that abortionists around the nation are brought to justice. Without due process, there can be no justice.”

“In spite of these horrific events, we remain dedicated to working through all peaceful and legal means available to bring an end to the killing of innocent children through abortion,” Newman’s statement concluded.

Source: Catholic News Agency
Publish Date: June 1, 2009
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NRLC Unequivocally Condemns Slaying of Abortionist Dr. George Tiller

NRLC Unequivocally Condemns Slaying of Abortionist Dr. George Tiller



"Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said the assailant apparently acted alone. The FBI and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are trying to determine whether others were part of the attack and whether the suspect had any connection to antiabortion groups."
     From today's Washington Post, "Suspect Held in Kansas Abortion Doctor's Slaying."

"Late-term abortion doctor killed in Church"
     Headline in this morning's USA Today.

"A Timeline of Related Attacks"
     Headline over a USA Today chronology of violence against abortionists, abortion clinic personnel, and abortion clinics since 1993.

"National Right to Life extends its sympathies to Dr. Tiller's family over this loss of life. Further, the National Right to Life Committee unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence regardless of motivation.  The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life.  The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal."
     From a statement issued Sunday by NRLC.

My entire family was upstairs yesterday afternoon, enjoying a casual conversation around our kitchen table. Our kids had feted us after church, the day after my wife and I had celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. Sentimentalist that I am, this time together is something I will long remember and always treasure.

After awhile our youngest went downstairs to check her email.  Within a minute I heard her voice. "You didn't kill an abortion doctor in Kansas."

This was her insightful way of communicating a truism that has been largely muted in the day since abortionist Dr. George Tiller was killed but won't be forever. No matter how much we abhor this act of violence; no matter if we were hundreds or even thousands of miles away from Wichita; no matter how antipathetic to everything we stand for this action was, the temptation will prove irresistible to those in the media who hate us to sooner or later tar all pro-lifers with the same extremist brush.

NRLC responded in the way you would expect from the preeminent single-issue pro-life organization in the world. First, we extended our sympathy to Dr. Tiller's family. I cannot even begin to imagine what his wife is going through, her husband gunned down in church. Then--with no ifs, ands, or buts about it--NRLC unequivocally condemned the slaying of Dr. Tiller.

But there will be an array of people--cynics, and those who simply don't know pro-lifers--who will dismiss the universal condemnation by all responsible pro-life organizations as a mere pro forma response. They will find it difficult to believe that we are sincere.

They shouldn't. They should look at the record.

Over the years NRLC has taken more than a few hits for its by-the-book, use-the-law-to-change-the-law "incremental" approach. That has never deterred us for a single moment. NRLC's approach is grounded in an abiding commitment to the principle of non-violent change, knowing that America is a representative democracy, which gives us the right to petition and persuade freely.

And those patient, unglamorous efforts are paying off. In the final analysis, we will carry the day for unborn babies when the scales fall from enough eyes. What is every recent piece of polling data telling us? That ears are being unstopped and hearts softened.

There is nothing more upsetting to pro-abortionists than the growing success of this clarion call to conscience. For 40 years, their counter-strategy has not changed: change the subject.

Talk about anything--anything--but what has happened to over 50 million unborn children. At the heart of that diversionary strategy is to switch the subject, often by smearing the character of those who believe there has to be a better solution to a crisis pregnancy than death.

When some deranged person talks him- or herself into believing that an act of violence is justifiable, it not only plays into the hands of abortion advocates, it also does untold damage to the cause of life to which so many of us have dedicated our lives.

First and foremost, it does so because they have taken a human life. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. That Dr. Tiller was killed in a church while his wife sang in the choir only makes a horrific act even more outrageous.

It has been said by people I respect that the flurry of violence against abortion clinic personnel and abortionists in the 1990s set our Movement back the better part of a decade.  In much of the media coverage, the image of pro-lifers as crazed militants was at the expense of much of the work that 99.999999% of us were doing in the legislatures, in the courts, and in crisis pregnancy centers.

Will this abhorrent act deflect any of us from our appointed tasks? No. The cause of defenseless unborn children is the social justice issue of our day. Like you, I will roll up my sleeves and get to work today, as I have for 30+ years.

But I will also be praying for Dr. Tiller's family, praying that they might be given strength to endure this terrible time of sadness and grief. 

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: May 31, 2009
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Recollections of a Taxi Cab Ride with Abortionist George Tiller

Recollections of a Taxi Cab Ride with Abortionist George Tiller



Joe Scheidler, the founder of Pro-Life Action League and longtime pro-life activist, today issued a statement denouncing the slaying of Kansas late-term abortionist George Tiller. Tiller was shot dead Sunday morning as he was serving as an usher at his church.

In condemning the murder Scheidler also recalled a chance encounter he had with the abortionist, in which he shared a taxi-cab ride with him on the way to a pro-abortion conference.

“We deplore the killing of George Tiller on Sunday morning," said Scheidler.

"It has always been my philosophy that we convert abortionists. As activists committed to saving lives, we vigorously oppose violence."

Scheidler recalled how he once shared a taxi with Dr. Tiller as both were headed from the airport in New Orleans to the National Abortion Federation Convention.  Scheidler was attending in order to gather information about the pro-abortion movement.

"Tiller apparently recognized me, but did not recall that I was a pro-life activist. He assumed I was another abortionist attending the conference," said Scheidler. "He enthusiastically extolled the value of the ultrasound in performing abortions, and invited me to visit his clinic in Wichita."

The following day Scheidler attended Tiller's presentation on the use of ultrasound. By then the doctor had realized that Scheidler was a pro-life leader, and refused to proceed with his presentation until Scheidler left the room.

"Having sat and talked with George Tiller, I probably feel a little more connection with him than many other pro-lifers might," said Scheidler. "I am adamantly opposed to what he did for a living. But I believe that anyone can come to the truth. Tiller deserved the chance to turn away from the evil of abortion. I cannot condone the taking of his life."

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 1, 2009
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Catholic Obama Adviser Chides Archbishops for Not Taking a 'Catholic Approach' Toward Pro-Abort Politicians

Catholic Obama Adviser Chides Archbishops for Not Taking a 'Catholic Approach' Toward Pro-Abort Politicians


Pepperdine University law professor Douglas Kmiec.
(Photo courtesy of Pepperdine Law School)

A prominent Catholic academic and supporter of President Barack Obama says that Roman Catholic Archbishops Raymond Burke and Charles Chaput and Bishop Joseph Naumann did not take a "Catholic approach" when they insisted that prominent pro-abortion Catholic politicians should not take communion.

He also said bishops and priests who deny communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians are engaging in “intimidation.”
 
“Let me tell you that to be separated from the body of Christ even once is intimidation,” said Douglas Kmiec, professor of constitutional law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

Kmiec--a campaign advisor to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008--was barred from communion by a priest in California last year. Kmiec wrote a book, “Can a Catholic Vote for Him?” which promoted the idea that pro-life Catholics could support Obama, who supports legalized abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and same-sex unions.
 
“But it is not just an isolated case of a mistaken priest who thankfully, with the discipline of the local archbishop (Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles), wrote a letter of apology, which of course, is accepted," said Kmiec, speaking of his own case, on a panel at the National Press Club last week.
 
“It is instead that since 2004, it has been the teaching of at least some bishops that this is something that should be readily advertised and pursued,” said Kmiec.

Kmiec, a former dean of the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America, cited these examples:
 
“‘Mr. Kerry, don’t come to St. Louis.’ ‘Mr. Biden, if you’re in town, in Denver, and you’re attending mass, you should think twice about coming to the altar rail.’ ‘Kathleen Sebelius, because we disagree with how you have discharged your responsibilities as you’ve been advised by your legal counsel, stay away. Publicly confess.’
 
“I suggest that is not either an effective or a Catholic approach,” Kmiec added.

Kmiec was referring to the actions of three bishops:
 
-- In 2008, Archbishop Raymond Burke, who was then the archbishop of St. Louis, Mo., warned Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004 that he would deny communion to Kerry if the abortion-rights Catholic showed up at mass in St. Louis.
 
In 2007, Burke indicated he would do the same to pro-abortion Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.  Burke is now the head of the Vatican's Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial body in the Catholic Church.
 
-- In 2008 in Denver, Archbishop Charles Chaput said Catholics who disagree with the church on "serious, sanctity of life issues" should not present themselves for the Eucharist--and called on the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), not to partake of communion when he was in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.
 
-- Former Kansas Gov. Sebelius, the new U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, was instructed by her bishop in Kansas, Bishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., not to go to the communion rail because of her public support for abortion and her opposition to pro-life legislation.

A conservative Catholic group, meanwhile, challenges Kmiec’s assessment that requests to refrain from partaking the Eucharist amount to intimidation.
 
“When the church properly and justly instructs a Catholic to not receive Holy Communion, it is a very serious matter--but it's not intimidation,” Joshua Mercer, communications director at Catholicvote.org, told CNSNews.com.
 
Mercer said that the Church occasionally refuses to grant access to communion for many reasons, including promoting assisted suicide.
 
“The church likewise asks people to not receive communion if they publicly support intrinsically evil policies like abortion, euthanasia, or counterfeit marriages,” Mercer said.
 
In 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a policy statement-“Catholics in Political Life”--which directly condemned support for abortion and attempts to make abortion legal.
 
“It is the teaching of the Catholic Church from the very beginning, founded on her understanding of her Lord’s own witness to the sacredness of human life, that the killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be justified,” the bishops wrote.
 
“If those who perform an abortion and those who cooperate willingly in the action are fully aware of the objective evil of what they do, they are guilty of grave sin and thereby separate themselves from God’s grace,” they added.
 
“To make such intrinsically evil actions legal is itself wrong,” the document says. “The legal system as such can be said to cooperate in evil when it fails to protect the lives of those who have no protection except the law.”
 
The Catholic bishops took note of the fact that, in the U.S., “abortion on demand has been made a constitutional right by a decision of the Supreme Court.”
 
“Failing to protect the lives of innocent and defenseless members of the human race is to sin against justice,” the bishops added. “Those who formulate law therefore have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good.”
 
Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, wrote:
 
“I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being,” the pope said.

“This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church's Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium," John Paul wrote.
 
Mercer, meanwhile, challenged Kmiec’s assertion that safeguarding the Eucharist is a “Catholic approach.”
 
“These Catholic officials have created confusion among Catholics by claiming it's permissible to be Catholic and support legal abortion,” he added. “The bishops are right to counter this lie.”
 
The May 28 discussion, which was sponsored by the Catholic University of America, was designed to “explore common ground” between the church’s position on the sanctity of life and the positions of the Obama administration.
 
Participants included Kmiec and Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University. Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, was the moderator.

Contact: Monica Gabriel and Edwin Mora
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: June 2, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.

Dr. George Tiller: A tragic way to live and a tragic way to die.

I join other truly pro-life people who believe it was wrong for someone to take on the role of judge, jury, and executioner of abortionist George Tiller. All life is precious. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Even while condemning this tragedy, I cannot forget that George Tiller killed 60,000 unborn human beings. Last night, I dreamed about the babies. I dreamed about the baby funerals and baptisms that Tiller arranged for his patients. I knew I had to share these links with you.

Wichita Memorial [GRAPHIC]

What Does Tiller Do With The Dead Babies? [This site also documents Tiller’s career.]
Click here for the full article.


Tiller's Wichita Clinic to Reopen Next Week

The clinic of slain Kansas abortion provider George Tiller will reopen after a week of mourning. One of four doctors who performed abortions at Tiller's clinic in Wichita said Monday that its operations will resume next week. Flowers were placed outside and the clinic flag flew at half staff. An anti-abortion group's sign said members prayed for Tiller to change his views but not for his murder. Dr. LeRoy Carhart, of Bellevue, Neb., has worked at Tiller's clinic for 10 years. He said Tiller set up a rotation schedule with three other doctors so the clinic could continue "whether he is there in person or in spirit."
Click here for the full article.


Spaniards reject abortion without parental consent

New polling data shows that almost two-thirds of Spaniards reject the government’s proposal to reform the country's existing abortion law to allow minors to undergo the procedure without parental consent.
 
According to an article in El Pais, a poll carried out on May 27 and 28 revealed that “64 percent of Spaniards oppose abortion for minors without the consent of an adult.”
 
“Sixty seven percent of female respondents said they were against allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to obtain abortions without the knowledge of their parents,” the article added.
Click here for the full article.


Clinic Worker Chased Off Suspect Before Tiller's Slaying

The day before a Kansas abortion provider was gunned down at his church, the suspect in his slaying was chased off from another clinic he tried to vandalize, a worker there said Monday. Scott Roeder faces a scheduled court hearing Tuesday in the weekend slaying of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few U.S. doctors who still performed late-term abortions. Associates described Roeder as a regular participant in anti-abortion demonstrations in Kansas City and Wichita, where Tiller's practice was located, but most abortion opponents disavowed him Monday.
Click here for the full article.

Pro-life movement decries murder of Kansas late-term abortion provider

Pro-life movement decries murder of Kansas late-term abortion provider


Dr. George Tiller, killed on Sunday morning in Wichita, Kansas

Prominent voices of the pro-life movement have repudiated the murder of the late-term abortion provider George Tiller, who was shot and killed Sunday morning at a Wichita Lutheran church.

Tiller was shot dead by an unidentified assailant shortly after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Wichita. The 67-year-old was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions in the country.

Troy Newman, President of the Kansas-based Operation Rescue said in a statement that his organization "has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List -a nationwide network of Americans dedicated to representing pro-life women in politics-  also condemned "this anti-life act in the strongest of terms."

"The heart of the pro-life movement is one founded in love. Without this driving powerful center no justice can possibly be achieved. Authentic progress in women's rights has always encompassed the protection of human rights of every person across the board. The rights of one human being can never be honored by diminishing or ignoring the rights of another. This week as we gather for our annual June Tea event, themed Love Lets Live, we will lift up George Tiller's loved ones in prayer," Dannenfelser said.

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, expressed his sadness at hearing of George Tiller's murder.

"At this point, we do not know the motives of this act, or who is behind it, whether an angry post- abortive man or woman, or a misguided activist, or an enemy within the abortion industry, or a political enemy frustrated with the way Tiller has escaped prosecution. We should not jump to conclusions or rush to judgment."

"But whatever the motives," Pavone emphasized, "we at Priests for Life continue to insist on a culture in which violence is never seen as the solution to any problem. Every life has to be protected, without regard to their age or views or actions."

Shaun Kenney, executive director of American Life League, explained that leaders within the pro-life movement "often discuss justice in connection with our mission to end the tragedy of abortion. Today, Dr. George Tiller's life ended in an act defying those principles."

"With genuine sorrow, we reflect on today's events in prayer. Justice for all human beings includes the lives of those with whom we fundamentally disagree as well as the victims of abortion. We firmly hope the perpetrators of this act are apprehended, that the facts be made known, and that justice according to the law is preserved and dispensed," Kenney said.

Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a former national spokesperson for Operation Rescue  who had just completed leading two weeks of prayer vigils in Wichita during the latest trial of Dr. Tiller, also denounced the shooting, and said that he and other pro-life leaders will hold a news conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday "to discuss the impact the shooting of Dr. George Tiller will have on the pro-life movement and the Supreme Court."

Tiller began providing abortion services in 1973 but during the 80's became one of the most prominent and vocal late-term abortionists.

In 1991, his abortion clinic was the center of the "Summer of Mercy" protests organized by Operation Rescue. The protests drew thousands of pro-life  activists to Wichita for peaceful demonstrations marked by civil disobedience and mass arrests.

After the protests, Tiller kept mostly to his heavily guarded clinic, but remained prominent in the news. In 1993, Tiller was shot in both arms by a protestor.

Tiller was a significant donor to the political campaigns of the former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius, the  pro-abortion Catholic recently appointed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Tiller contributed to Sebelius directly and to political action committees that he controlled. During Sebelius' tenure as governor, Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann declared that Kansas had become "infamous for being the late-term abortion center for the Midwest."

Sebelius repeatedly vetoed legislation that would have affected Tiller's business.

According to the Wichita Police Department, a 51-year-old suspect was arrested three hours after the shooting about 170 miles from Witchita. 

Comment posted on IllinoisReview by Sam Pierce...

This killing is unfortunate on several levels. While I must admit that I feel relief on behalf of the babies who might be spared Tiller's brutality, a person cannot decide to exert his or her own idea of justice (again assuming that is a factor.) A man (granted, a vile killer) has been murdered. This man has a family and this should not have happened. The pro-life community (a.k.a. decent human beings) must now expect an onslaught of hateful attacks and accusations from the type of person that has no problem with a baby being partially delivered, his skull punctured, and his brain sucked out of his cranial cavity.

Given the current political landscape and the numbness of the nation as evidenced by the election of the most radically pro-abortion candidate in history to the office of President, there is little doubt that the Axis of Abortion and their willing accomplices will be able to make something of a martyr out of this horrid excuse for a doctor.

Source: Catholic News Agency
Publish Date: May 31, 2009
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Pro-Lifers Say Abortionist's Murder Undermines the Right-to-Life Movement

Pro-Lifers Say Abortionist's Murder Undermines the Right-to-Life Movement


Dr. George Tiller, killed on Sunday morning in Wichita, Kansas

Pro-life groups say murder is incompatible with their beliefs, and they are condemning the shooting death of Kansas abortionist George Tiller.
 
Tiller, one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions, was killed Sunday at the Wichita church where he was serving as an usher.
 
A suspect identified by authorities as Scott Roeder was booked into Wichita's county jail on a charge of first-degree murder, the Associated Press reported.
 
Tiller's family called his murder "an unspeakable tragedy."
 
"This is particularly heart-wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace," Tiller's widow, four children and 10 grandchildren said in statement.
 
Many pro-life activists agree: Operation Rescue said it has "worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him (Dr. Tiller) brought to justice." The group said it denounces the "vigilantism and the cowardly act" that took place Sunday morning, and it prayed that Tiller's family "will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said he was stunned.
 
"As Christians we pray and look toward the end of all violence and for the saving of souls, not the taking of human life. George Tiller was a man who we publicly sought to stop through legal and peaceful means. We strongly condemn the actions taken today by this vigilante killer and we pray for the Tiller family and for the nation that we might once again be a nation that values all human, both born and unborn."
 
CatholicVote.org also condemned Tiller's murder and expressed hope that his killer will be brought to justice. "We cannot create a Civilization of Love with such violence," said Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org.
 
"We call upon all people of good will to pray this week for the soul of Mr. Tiller and to pray that our society will abandon every form of hatred and violence. This senseless act of violence represents the utter antithesis of a people of life.  The tens of millions of Americans who peacefully pray and work every day for the protection of all human life are rightfully grieved by this news."
 
Burch also said Tiller's murder "discredits the right-to-life movement. Murder is murder. It's madness. You cannot prevent killing by killing."
 
Randy Thomasson, president of SaveAmerica.com, said it's important for everyone, including pro-abortion media representatives and pro-abortion politicians, to know that pro-life Americans stand against murder.
 
"Although Tiller killed thousands of unborn babies through late-term and partial-birth abortions, murder is murder and wrong is wrong. Abortion and murder are both unacceptable. Pro-life Americans are peacefully representing unborn babies through sidewalk counseling, public education, and legislative efforts. Murder is against pro-life values," Thomasson said.
 
Dr. Alveda King, pastoral associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said she visited Tiller's clinic two years ago, in the hope that she could change his mind about abortion:
 
"I wanted to share with him the harm I experienced from abortion," King said. My prayer was that one day he would join me in repentance. I am deeply sorry that his life was taken before that could happen."
 
King called it especially horrifying that Tiller was shot in church: "Just as the womb should be a safe haven, so should church. I condemn this murder in the strongest possible terms."

Contact: Susan Jones
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: June 1, 2009
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The PBA president "outraged" by Tiller's death

The PBA president "outraged" by Tiller's death



THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2009
STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT ON THE MURDER OF DR. GEORGE TILLER

I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.
Pro-lifers are consistent. They are shocked and outraged by the vigilante murder of George Tiller as well as the thousands of children he murdered.

Obama, on the other hand, supports as a "legitimate medical procedure" the type of abortion wherein the abortionist stabs a half-delivered breech baby in the nape of her neck, suctions her brains out, collapses her skull, and then completes the delivery.

Obama, on the other hand, supports letting abortion survivors die of asphyxiation with no medical intervention.

Obama, on the other hand, thought so highly of KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who was central to averting justice of Tiller and thereby increased the odds of senseless vigilantism, he promoted her to a federal position.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: June 1, 2009
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Demand: Root out pro-life 'terrorists'

Demand: Root out pro-life 'terrorists'

'Bringing killer to justice not enough' claims group calling for DHS action


NOW President Kim Gandy

The murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller in Kansas has prompted a call upon the Department of Homeland Security to crack down on pro-lifers as just the kinds of "right-wing extremists" that the government identified earlier in a controversial report that sparked outrage across the country.

As WND reported, the DHS report defined Americans dedicated to typically conservative causes, such as gun rights, immigration enforcement and illegalizing abortion, as "extremists" that might carry out terrorist acts.

Now, the National Organization for Women, citing "a string of murders in the service of the anti-abortion cause" and referring to the Tiller murder, released the following statement:

"Bringing the killers to justice is not enough – the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security must root out and prosecute as domestic terrorists and violent racketeers the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades," said the statement, attributed to NOW President Kim Gandy. "We call on the new attorney general, Eric Holder, and head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to treat these murders in the same way they would treat politically-motivated domestic terrorism of any other kind and put the full resources of their two departments behind that effort."

Discover why Americans so quickly believe the lies with "The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom" from the WND Store.

Attorney General Eric Holder has already taken action, directing U.S. Marshals to protect "approprite people and facilities around the nation," according to a statement, in order to "help prevent any related acts of violence from occurring."

And even though the last killing of an abortion doctor was over ten years ago, in 1998, others have joined NOW in taking this opportunity to cast the pro-life cause as an inherently violent movement.

"It is abhorrent that once again, individuals who oppose the right to choose have used violence to try to advance their extreme anti-choice agenda," said Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, in a statement.

"People have a right to disagree about abortion," said a statement from Michael B. Keegan, president of People for the American Way, "but it's impossible to separate today's tragedy from the violent language that has been directed for years at doctors like George Tiller."

Columnist Mike Hendricks on a Kansas City Star website writes, "The motive for the crime we can all surmise in light of the vitriolic campaign that has been waged against Tiller for more than two decades by anti-abortion groups."

Hendricks further lists as "accomplices" to Tiller's murder "everyone who has ever called Tiller's late term abortion clinic a murder mill ... the groups who spent decades fomenting hate toward a man who simply believed that he was serving a purpose by being one of the few doctors in the country performing late-term abortions. Hate. Not heated opposition. Not strong disagreement. But blind hatred. The kind of hate that would prompt some maniac to take a gun into a church and shoot a man to death in front of friends and family."

Several pro-life groups, however, immediately condemned the murder as counter to their cause.

"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down," said a statement on the website of Wichita-based Operation Rescue. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."

Kansans for Life joined the condemnation, telling LifeNews.com that it "deplores the murder of Dr. George Tiller."

"Our organization has a board of directors and a 35-year history of bringing citizens together to achieve thoughtful education and legislation on the life issues here in Kansas," said Mary Kay Culp, director of Kansans for Life. "We value life, completely deplore violence and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today."

Nonetheless, pro-life groups have been criticized even for their condemnation.

Kansas City Star editorial page columnist Yael T. Abouhalkah writes, "The outspoken leaders of anti-abortion groups can save their feeble 'we're shocked and saddened' statements. They are privately pleased at George Tiller's murder on Sunday."

"His accomplices know they have blood on their hands," continued Hendricks, "which might explain why they were quick to issue statements today expressing disapproval of Tiller's murder."

Among the many pro-life voices condemning the murder, a statement from the Kansas Coalition for Life specifically addressed the association drawn between the pro-life movement as a whole and Tiller's murderer.

"Although at the time of this writing, it is not known who killed Abortionist Tiller, we do know for certain that this crime was not the work of any true pro-life person," the statement reads. "A true pro-life person respects human life as a gift from God and leaves all life and death decisions to God himself."

The statement continues, "The Kansas Coalition for Life asks all reporters and commentators to make a clear distinction between lawless thugs who act on their own accord and the good pro-life people who obey the law, seeking a change in abortion laws via peaceful means and the legislative process.

"It is completely misleading," the statement concludes, "for the media to imply, in any way that this is the work of the pro-life movement. We urge the media to report responsibly and truthfully in this regard."

As WND reported, Tiller was shot and killed as he walked into his Wichita, Kan., church to attend Sunday services.

Tiller was a controversial figure in the abortion debate, accused on 19 counts of illegally aborting viable babies in violation of a state law that requires a second physician – without legal or financial ties to the abortionist – sign off on the procedure once the unborn child reaches a state in which it could survive outside the womb.

Tiller was acquitted of the charges in March but still faced potential disciplinary measures from the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.

Contact: Drew Zahn
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: May 31, 2009
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Keep Abortion Out of Health Care Reform Says Head of USCCB Committee

Keep Abortion Out of Health Care Reform Says Head of USCCB Committee



Since his inauguration President Barack Obama has made clear that achieving universal health care this year is his top priority, prompting a warning from the US Catholic bishops that any proposal for reform must exclude abortion.

"While we support reforming our nation's health care system, we must also be clear in strongly opposing inclusion of abortion as part of a national health care benefit," states Bishop William F. Murphy, Chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

In a letter submitted to the US Senate Committee on Finance, and circulated by the USCCB to members of Congress and the White House, Murphy stated the Catholic Church would also not tolerate the "inclusion of other procedures or technologies that attack or undermine the sanctity and dignity of life."

"No health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for or participate in the destruction of human life. To preserve this principle is morally right and politically wise as well," continued Murphy. "No health care legislation that compels Americans to pay for or participate in abortion will find sufficient votes to pass."

Murphy offered the following as guidelines for health care reform on behalf of the bishops: "1) a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity; 2) access for all with a special concern for the poor; 3) pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism, including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and 4) restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers."

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama's staff made clear to abortion advocates that he believed "reproductive health services," a term which includes abortion, belongs among basic health care services.

"Senator Obama believes that reproductive health care is basic health care. His health care plan will create a new public plan, which will provide coverage of all essential medical services," reads a response from campaign staffers to an RH Reality Check survey.

"His health care plan will create a new public plan, which will provide coverage of all essential medical services," the campaign added. "Reproductive health care is an essential service - just like mental health care and disease management and other preventive services under his plan."

Contact: Peter J. Smith
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 29, 2009
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Al Pacino Set to Play "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian

Al Pacino Set to Play "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian



Variety magazine reports that director Barry Levinson has chosen Pacino to play Kevorkian, 81, who killed more than 130 persons through lethal injection administered by what he called his "Mercy Machine," between 1990 and 1999, when the Michigan justice system put his macabre death-dealing career to an end.

The planned HBO biopic is based on literary paean, "Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Assisted Suicide Machine and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia" written by Kevorkian friends, Harry Wylie and Neal Nicol. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series has the tentative title, "You Don't Know Jack," but given the unapologetically laudatory nature of its source, critics are questioning whether viewers will really know Jack by the end of it.

Bioethicist Wesley J. Smith notes in his blog that besides a legacy of assisted suicide, Kevorkian "ripped out the kidneys of one of his victims after death" and had a penchant for "obitiatry, that is, experimenting on living human beings before they were euthanized."

Ever on a quest to find live patients for his studies on the physiology of death, Kevorkian had also experimented on dying cancer patients, forcing their eyes open and taking photographs as they expired, before turning to assisted suicide. He also sought out death row inmates who would permit him to study them as they were executed, which prompted his dismissal from his hospital residency in 1958.

Kevorkian also proposed, in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, establishing a series of euthanasia clinics, which he called "obitoria," where physicians could terminate people who requested death, beginning with the terminally ill and then culminating with anyone who felt afflicted.

"You could not get a more ghoulish, solipsist public figure than Kevorkian," said Smith. "Yet, he is to be beatified, Hollywood style. Color me absolutely disgusted."

Executive producers of the HBO biopic are Levinson, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Glenn Rigberg, and Steven Lee Jones. Jones obtained the movie rights to the Wylie-Nicol book, and completed a feature-length documentary on Kevorkian's 2008 run for Congress, where he gained just 2.8% of the vote for Michigan's 9th District.

Kevorkian's sordid career finally came to an end when he videotaped and aired his 1998 killing of Michigan resident Thomas Youk, 52, on CBS' "60 Minutes" show. Since Michigan had banned assisted suicide, prosecutors had the evidence they needed to convict Kevorkian in 1999 of second-degree murder with a 10- to 25-year sentence.

However, Kevorkian was released on parole after only serving eight years behind bars amidst pleading from his lawyer that the former pathologist had less than a year to live.  However, since his release Kevorkian has pursued a variety of routes to promote assisted suicide (although his parole forbids him to describe how to kill someone), has run for Congress, and gives speeches that cost anywhere between $50,000 – $100,000 per speaking engagement.

In a speech last year at the University of Florida in Gainsville, Kevorkian lectured students that every "law is an infraction of liberty" and said that the legislative branch was in the hands of "the tyrant," who was blocking his rights to not only carry out assisted suicide, but to smoke marijuana and carry cocaine.

Contact: Peter J. Smith
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 29, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.

Abortion Foes Fear Backlash to Tiller's Murder

Anti-abortion leaders voiced concern Sunday that the Obama administration and other Democrats may try to capitalize on the murder of Dr. George Tiller to defuse the abortion issue in upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Many anti-abortion groups condemned the killing of Tiller, a prominent abortion provider who was shot dead at his church in Wichita, Kan. But they expressed concern that abortion-rights activists would use the occasion to brand the entire anti-abortion movement as extremist.
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Pro-Life Leaders Denounce Murder of Abortion Doctor George Tiller

Leaders of the anti-abortion movement gathered in front of the Supreme Court Monday morning to denounce the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller, who was gunned down Sunday while attending church in Wichita, Kan.

"It is immoral and it is unchristian," Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council said of Tiller's murder. He said the reaction to it "becomes a greater setback to the pro-life movement than anything the so-called pro-choice movement could do."

"We call on President Obama and the [congressional leaders] not to use this tragedy for political gain," added Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalitions.
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No Defaming Pro-Lifers to be Tolerated in the Wake of Tiller's Death
 
"The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission will not allow pro-abortionists or their accomplices in the media to exploit the cowardly act of one misguided individual in order to defame millions of peaceful pro-lifers," said Dr. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. "Day and night millions of peaceful pro-lifers sacrificially serve women and their unborn babies. We will not tolerate any attempt to exploit this terrible event in order to further restrict pro-life activities or silence pro-life speech or reverse the gains pro-lifers have achieved in the law."
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Ga. set to become 1st state with embryo adoption law

Ga. set to become 1st state with embryo adoption law



The nation's first law governing the adoption of embryos is set to take effect in Georgia after being passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.

The "Option of Adoption Act," which will go into effect July 1, will provide safeguards for both parties involved in an embryo adoption, which is a unique form of adoption in which a couple -- often an infertile one -- adopts one or more surplus embryos from a couple who has undergone in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

Embryo adoption allows the adopting mother to experience pregnancy and has been promoted by pro-lifers for years but, until now, has not been governed by the laws of any state. Significantly, the Georgia bill amends Georgia's adoption laws to make clear that embryo adoption in fact is a form of adoption. The law also allows adoptive parents to file in court for a final order of adoption (for the child who is born as the result of the embryo adoption), which supporters of the new law say clarifies that the adopting parents are eligible for claiming some but not all of their expenses for the federal adoption tax credit, which this year is more than $11,000.

Although embryo adoption tends to be cheaper than traditional adoption it nevertheless can still cost several thousands of dollars.

Couples who undergo an embryo adoption in a state without such a law as Georgia's must sign private legal contracts that treat the embryo as property. The new Georgia law defines an embryo as "an individualized fertilized ovum of the human species from the single-cell stage to eight-week development."

The law has the support of the nation's embryo adoption programs, including Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which runs the nation's oldest embryo adoption program -- the Snowflakes program.

"Science has outpaced our legislation in clarifying the rights of the parties in potential disputes involving embryo transfer between families," Ron Stoddart, executive director of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, previously told Baptist Press. "There needs to be certainty, particularly before an embryo is thawed and implanted in the womb of an adopting mother."

The law makes clear that once the biological parents of the embryos and the adoptive parents have entered into a written contract, "the legal transfer of rights to an embryo shall be considered complete."

"A child born to a recipient intended parent as the result of embryo relinquishment ... shall be presumed to be the legal child of the recipient intended parent," the new law states.

Dan Becker, the president of Georgia Right to Life, said the law is noteworthy not only because of its first-in-the-nation status but also because of the way it defines an embryo.

"We became the first state in the nation to, in our code, define an embryo as beginning at the single stage," he said. "... That's a huge move forward and one that was fought quite aggressively by the pro-abortion side of the equation."

Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the bill into law May 5. It passed the House 108-61 and the Senate 45-9. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans.

Contact: Michael Foust
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: May 28, 2009
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Obama's Own Words Indicate Sotomayor is Radically Pro-abortion

Obama's Own Words Indicate Sotomayor is Radically Pro-abortion

Many questions have been swirling since the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court about her views on abortion.



"Those questions can be easily answered by looking at Mr. Obama's own words. He is unequivocal in his vows to appoint a radical abortion supporter to the bench," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Don't be fooled by a few of Sotomayor's decisions that seemed favorable to the pro-life cause. Those decisions were based on rules of law unrelated to the issues of personhood for the pre-born or if Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided."

Operation Rescue has released a video that shows Obama's determination to appoint an abortion extremist to the nation's highest court.

Obama is seen stating in reference to a potential Supreme Court nomination, "There will always be people, many of good will, who do not share my view on the issue of 'choice.' On this fundamental issue, I will not yield and Planned Parenthood will not yield."

"There's no doubt that Sotomayor has been hand-picked by President Obama to rubberstamp his abortion policies that are way out of step with the American people's position on abortion," said Newman. "If she did not share his radical abortion views, you can bet she would not have been nominated."

Recent polls show that only 7% of the American people agree with Obama's support for late-term, third trimester abortions.

"Americans must begin to contact their senators now and oppose Sotomayor and her far left legal agenda," said Newman.



Click here to watch the video online.

Click to contact your senator.

Contact: Troy Newman, Cheryl Sullenger
Source: Operation Rescue
Publish Date: May 29, 2009
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New Approach to Abortion Rights at UN: “Motherhood and Apple Pie”

New Approach to Abortion Rights at UN: "Motherhood and Apple Pie"



Abortion rights advocates at the United Nations (UN) are pursuing a new approach – one that avoids mention of abortion, promotes a right to maternal health, and seeks to enforce "reproductive rights" norms among UN member States.

The reason for the shift seems to be an increased confidence among activists and UN officials that they have secured or are close to securing a new international right to abortion. According to statements by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others, their confidence has been boosted by winning legal cases, most notably in Colombia where the 2006 constitutional court's decision to liberalize abortion was based upon the activists' interpretation of UN treaties.

By creating a new "right" to maternal health over the next several years, advocates can consolidate gains while avoiding scrutiny by opponents. Then, once they are confident the new right is established, they can assert the claim that abortion is part of the new international obligation. A blueprint for the legal dimension of the approach is the "International Initiative on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights." The initiative was launched in 2007 at a UN conference sponsored by the UN Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, which includes the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and various abortion rights organizations.

Indicative of the new approach is a recent "shadow report" on Brazil submitted to the committee that monitors the International Convention on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights (ICESCR). Prepared by the abortion rights law firm Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the report focuses on basic maternal health care such as skilled birth attendants. One UN delegate described the new effort as "the motherhood and apple pie approach to abortion rights." CRR recently backed its first model "case" in Brazil, sponsoring a complaint brought to the committee that oversees the Women's Convention (CEDAW) by the family of a woman who died in childbirth which was unrelated to abortion.

In adopting the maternal health approach to abortion rights, advocates rejected more open approaches, such as the pursuit of a new UN treaty. A 2003 internal memo outlining CRR's legal strategy for the next 5 years stated that, "If, at the end of 2007, we determine that the existing norms are proving inadequate (as evidenced by the interpretations we seek) then we would reconsider whether to undertake a concerted effort to secure a new international treaty or addendum to address this gap." The memo, obtained by the Friday Fax and published in the U.S. Congressional Record, also stated that this should signal a shift from creating new norms on abortion rights to focusing on "enforcement mechanisms" at the international, regional and national level.

An important part of enforcement is linking reproductive rights to maternal health in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a link UNICEF and UNFPA claim already exists but which UN member states refute. According to UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid, obtaining a "reproductive health" target under the maternal health MDG 5 is essential to increasing global legitimacy and funding for the reproductive rights agenda.

Contact: Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D.
Source: C-FAM
Publish Date: May 28, 2009
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Assisted suicide claims 1st victim in Wash.

Assisted suicide claims 1st victim in Wash.

Washington state has its first legal death by physician-assisted suicide since the state's voters approved the practice in November.



Linda Fleming, 66, died May 21 after taking a lethal dose of drugs prescribed for her under Washington's Death With Dignity Act, according to Compassion and Choices, a pro-assisted suicide organization. Fleming had been diagnosed only a month earlier with pancreatic cancer.

"The pain became unbearable, and it was only going to get worse," Fleming said, according to a release from Compassion and Choices. "I am a very spiritual person, and it was very important to me to be conscious, clear-minded and alert at the time of death.... The powerful pain medications were making it difficult to maintain the state of mind I wanted to have at my death."

The head of an organization opposed to assisted suicide said, however, that people with terminal illnesses "need competent, supportive care, not lethal drugs." Eileen Geller, president of True Compassion Advocates, said she is "deeply concerned that vulnerable ill people's fears not be exploited. Excellent comfort care, pain control, symptom management and support are available through hospice and palliative care."

"Assisted suicide is a tragedy which heightens fear and increases misinformation about living and dying," said Geller, a hospice nurse for more than 25 years. "We need to advocate for truly compassionate care, not false and misleading choices."

The Washington law is patterned after one in Oregon, which has had 401 deaths by assisted suicide reported to the state since the practice became legal in 1997. Oregon set a record in 2008 for most assisted suicides in a year with 60.

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: May 28, 2009
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Life Advocates Step in to Help as Abortion Numbers Rise

Life Advocates Step in to Help as Abortion Numbers Rise



'Our goal is to emphasize that there are resources available, and there are better answers than abortion.'

As the economy continues to struggle, some Planned Parenthood clinics are reporting a record number of abortions, according to a recent Los Angeles Times article.

An Oakland, Calif.-based group that claims to help poor women seeking reproductive health care reports about 72 percent of its calls are from women considering abortions, up from 60 percent last year, the Times reported.

A year ago, abortions accounted for 1 percent of business at Planned Parenthood clinics in Fresno, Calif. Now, it's about 3 percent.

And California taxpayers funded 94,600 abortions for poor women in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available.

Brian Johnston, executive director of the California ProLife Council, said abortion clinics exploit a woman at her most vulnerable point.

"If she knows she has people who are willing to help her, that greatly impacts her decision," he said. "Our goal is to emphasize that there are resources available, and there are better answers than abortion."

Johnston said life advocates have more to offer than "15 minutes on the table."

"The pro-life movement is made of people who are opening their homes and pocketbooks," he said. "They are genuinely involved in these women's lives."

Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family Action, said the pro-life community has a unique opportunity in this economy to step up and support these women.
 
"Unexpected circumstances always present opportunity, and this is an ideal time for local pregnancy centers to increase outreach to women in unexpected pregnancies," she said. "

"We'd encourage CitizenLink readers to check with their local pregnancy center to see what they can do to lend additional support during this time of economic strain." 

On the plus side, one of the country's oldest "feminist" health (and abortion) clinics — Women's Choice Clinic in Oakland — closed last month because it couldn't pay its bills.

Contact: Jennifer Mesko
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: May 28, 2009
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Okla. enacts sex-selection, cloning bans

Okla. enacts sex-selection, cloning bans

Oklahoma Democratic Gov. Brad Henry has signed into law bills banning sex-selection abortions and human cloning.



The sex-selection prohibition also requires doctors to report to the state the reasons women choose abortion and complications that occur as a result of the procedure, according to The Daily Oklahoman.

The anti-cloning measure prohibits both therapeutic and reproductive cloning, and according to bioethicist Wesley J. Smith, "is the first true human cloning ban to pass in a long time." Pro-lifers have pushed for passage of a true cloning ban at the federal level but have been unable to find enough support to ban therapeutic (or research) cloning, which involves cloning an embryo in order to harvest its stem cells. The extraction of stem cells from an embryo for research purposes destroys the days-old human being. Therapeutic cloning supporters sometimes call the procedure "somatic cell nuclear transfer," which simply is the scientific name for cloning.

"[I]t looks like Oklahoma has pushed back against brave new world," Smith wrote previously on his blog.

Both houses of the legislature passed the comprehensive cloning ban unanimously.

Mary Spaulding Balch, the National Right to Life Committee's director of state legislation, commended Oklahoma for its "courageous stand" on sex-selection abortions.

"It is unfortunate, even in this enlightened age of women, that many cultures here and abroad favor males over females," she said in a written statement. "All over the world, millions of females are missing due to sex selection abortions."

Balch described the new law on abortion reporting as "the most comprehensive reporting law in the nation."

"Hopefully the information gleaned from this reported information will help us determine some of the reasons women think they need to kill their babies so that we might address those needs and save lives," she said.

Henry signed the bills into law May 21.

Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: May 28, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.

Advocates Eager To Learn More About Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor's Abortion-Rights Views

Abortion-rights groups on Wednesday offered their support for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor but said that they were eager to learn more about her views on abortion rights, an issue on which she has made few major rulings in her time as a judge, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, groups on both sides of the abortion-rights debate tend to believe that Sotomayor would uphold Roe v. Wade because she was nominated by President Obama, who supports abortion rights. However, when asked on Tuesday if Obama questioned Sotomayor about her views on abortion rights before the nomination, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that the president "did not ask that specifically." In addition, none of her rulings has directly dealt with the underlying issues of constitutional privacy that are the foundation for the Roe decision, according to the Times.
Click here for the full article.


Pro-Abortion Group Funded by Development and Peace Removes Evidence from Website

A pro-abortion organization funded by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) has removed statements from its website expressing enthusiastic support for Mexico City's law permitting abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The statements were originally reported by LifeSiteNews in March of this year as part of ongoing coverage of CCODP's support for pro-abortion organizations worldwide, The CCODP is an arm of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and claims to oppose the legalization of abortion.

Although the organization, the All Rights for Everyone Network (Red Todos los Derechos para Todos - TDT) has eliminated the material from its website, LSN has saved copies of the web pages, which also remain in the cache of the world's largest search engine, Google. LSN is also obtaining signed affadavits from witnesses who attest that they have viewed and printed out the pages in question from the internet.
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Pro-Life Protesters Arrested on ND Campus to Return to South Bend to Face Charges

Dozens of pro-life protesters arrested at the University of Notre Dame on May 17 for protesting President Obama's commencement speech will be heading back to Indiana in coming weeks from all across the country to stand trial.  While Notre Dame had pro-life demonstrators summarily arrested for "criminal trespassing," witnesses say that pro-Obama demonstrators were given free roam of the campus - a fact that the pro-lifers' attorney says violated the Equal Protection clause.
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Is Sotomayor a "Souter" on Roe v. Wade for the Abortion Movement? All Signs Point to No

A flurry of media coverage in recent days has reported on the unease among some pro-abortion constituencies that Obama's Supreme Court nominee could turn out to be a "David Souter" for the pro-abortion movement.  Justice Souter was famously nominated by George H.W. Bush in 1990 and highly feted by conservatives as an anti-Roe justice. However, the Supreme Court judge has disappointed conservatives by consistently casting a pro-abortion vote on the Supreme Court ever since.

Sotomayor, a federal judge serving on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, has been nominated by President Obama to replace Souter, who is retiring from the court this summer. 

However, despite reported pro-abortion concerns a number of signs contradict the possibility that Sotomayor would ever rule against the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The latest comes in the form of Planned Parenthood's wholehearted endorsement on Wednesday of Sotomayor as a judge who "respects precedent." 
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Ultrasound of Unborn Child Must be Made Available to Women Seeking Abortion: Nebraska Legislature
 
The Nebraska Legislature has passed a bill, introduced by Senator Tony Fulton, that requires abortionists to make an ultrasound of the unborn child available to a woman seeking an abortion if she requests it. 
 
Furthermore, if the woman asks for a detailed medical analysis of the ultrasound, she must be given information detailing the size of the child, any cardiac activity, and information regarding "external members and internal organs, if present and viewable."
 
Supporters of the bill say that this will enable women to make a more informed decision.
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No common ground

No common ground



In his letter to the church at Colosse, the Apostle Paul warned the faithful believers to be on guard for those who speak with eloquence, but whose message is corrupt and evil.  His purpose was "so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments."  It is becoming increasingly clear that as our country has lost its grip on its Godly underpinnings and has forsaken a solid biblical worldview, our ability as a people to resist this trap has greatly deteriorated.
 
Consider as evidence the reaction of many Americans to our president's recent remarks on the most crucial human rights issue of our time.  In addressing abortion during a commencement speech, President Barack Obama appeared to humbly propose attempting to find common ground.

"Remember that each of us, endowed with the dignity possessed by all children of God, has the grace to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we all seek the same love of family and the same fulfillment of a life well-lived."  Does President Obama not realize how twisted of a statement that is for him to make, given that his policies facilitate the destruction of human dignity in the womb?  If we are all endowed by God with the right to experience the fulfillment of a life well-lived, Mr. President, why do you continue to advocate limiting that right to merely those who are convenient?
 
Yet media sources across the country had high praise for Obama's "eloquence" on the issue.  To them I would simply point out that a steaming pile of excrement, eloquently presented, is still a steaming pile of excrement.
 
To illustrate, let's suppose I made the audacious suggestion that we begin allowing families to choose the execution of their dependent great-grandparents.  These elderly folks are not productive members of society, they are a financial and emotional drain on a family's resources, and they drive big cars with large emissions, making our planet less livable.  Or perhaps I suggest allowing families to choose the execution of their physically or emotionally handicapped children.  They tried their best to provide for these kids, but they had no idea the burden they would end up being.  Financially, emotionally, it's just too much for them.
 
Though I would be using the same logic as the abortion crowd, you would hopefully recoil in disgust at my depraved and inhuman proposals.  So in response, suppose I offered to "find common ground" with you.  How about a waiting period?  You have to wait 30 days after your initial decision to kill your grandparents.  That's more reasonable, right?  Or we could have a familial consent law?  You must have unanimous approval from your immediate family to go through with the execution.  Better yet, a post-birth version of the ultrasound law: you have to watch a 30-minute video of your grandparents knitting, crocheting, and watching TV before you have them exterminated.
 
Do these compromises make my suggestion more agreeable to you?  Of course not.  And why?  Because you recognize that life itself is worth protecting, not because of what it can do, or how easy it is to deal with, or whether it's "wanted," or whether it's financially independent.  It's worth protecting simply because it's life...and there is intrinsic worth in every human being.
 
That is why there is and can be no "common ground" on the issue of abortion.  Waiting periods, parental consent, ultrasound laws...they all end up with the same result: "Do these things, and then you can kill the baby."  To Americans who have grown up in a country predicated upon defending the defenseless and recognizing what even Barack Obama himself calls the dignity of life given to us by God, this is unacceptable.
 
Scientifically, medically, spiritually, there is no longer any question that human life begins at the moment of conception.  And therefore we are compelled to defend it from that point, not find common ground with those who wish to allow its destruction...even if they make their proposals with what Paul called "fine-sounding arguments."
 
Obama may speak with high platitudes and with soaring rhetoric.  But if we as a people lack the ability to see through such eloquence and examine the content of what is being said, rather than the mere presentation of how it is said, God help us.

Contact: Peter Heck
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: May 28, 2009
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