Pro-life medical expert tells Congressional panel aborted baby tissue isn’t necessary for research

A pro-life medical scholar appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform this week to explain that tissue from aborted babies is not only unnecessary for researching new medical treatments, but has never been necessary.

Dr. Tara Sander Lee is an Associate Scholar with the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. She holds a PhD in biochemistry, studied molecular and cell biology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and has 20 years of experience with both academic and clinical medicine.

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These Baby Shower-Style Workshops Are Empowering Illinois Women to Choose Life

Earlier this year, the Family Life Center of Illinois added a fun new component to its prenatal program: baby shower-style workshops that educate and celebrate clients through each trimester of pregnancy.

Kathy Potter, R.N., (pictured) who serves as the center’s nurse manager and sonographer, oversees the prenatal program and its new set of workshops, an idea which she implemented after learning about a similar program in another state. The sessions consist of three group classes in which participants watch videos that teach them about pregnancy, and in the spirit of a festive baby shower, include games, snacks, and prizes. The women can even bring a guest.

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Bill recognizing 'reproductive rights' as human rights introduced in US House

A bill was introduced Monday in the US House of Representatives to require that the State Department include “reproductive rights” in its annual human rights report.  The Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2018 was introduced Dec. 10 by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA-5), and was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“‘Reproductive rights’ has long been a euphemism for destroying human life in the womb,” said Lila Rose, founder and president of the pro-life group Live Action, said when the report was released in April.

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Scientific experts tell House subcommittee there are many proven alternatives to using tissue from aborted babies for research

A congressional subcommittee heard testimony yesterday from three experts on the now-more-important-than-ever issue of ethical alternatives to scavenging fetal tissue from aborted babies.

Tara Sander Lee, Ph. D., an Associate Scholar with Charlotte Lozier Institute, told the subcommittee

I stand before you today with a message of hope. We do not need fetal body parts from aborted babies to achieve future scientific and medical advancements. … [S]cience speaks for itself. After over 100 years of research, no therapies have been discovered or developed that require aborted fetal tissues.

David Prentice, Ph.D, an advisory board member and Chair for the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, talked specifically not only about the ethical issues raised, the importance of federal funding going to therapies that work, but also a number of alternatives:

There is no scientific necessity for the continued taxpayer funding of fresh fetal tissue, organs, and body parts from induced abortion. Ample scientific alternatives exist, and modern alternatives have overtaken any need for fresh fetal tissue. Moreover, the practice of using fetal tissue from induced abortion raises significant ethical problems, not least of which is the nebulous interpretation of the term “valuable consideration” or compensation for expenses in the harvest and processing of fetal organs and tissues. Taxpayer funding, which is what this discussion is really about, should go to successful, patient-focused.

In his written testimony, Prentice offered a detailed overview of alternatives to fetal tissue. He began with adult stem cell transplants about which NRL News Today has written frequently:

A 2015 review found that as of December 2012, over one million patients had been treated with adult stem cells. The review only addressed hematopoietic (blood-forming) adult stem cells, not other adult stem cell types, so this is a significant underestimate of the patients who have benefitted from adult stem cell therapies.

A public face for such patients can be found at the educational website stemcellresearchfacts.org, where patients successfully treated with noncontroversial adult stem cells tell their stories in short video vignettes, backed by peer-reviewed publications.

There are at present at least 3,500 ongoing or completed clinical trials using adult stem cells listed in the NIH/FDA-approved database, with over 70,000 people around the globe receiving adult stem cell transplants each year for different conditions. Use of adult and cord blood stem cells in clinical therapy is growing rapidly.

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Ohio Senate passes bill banning abortion after detectable heartbeat

A bill banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected has passed the Ohio Senate by an 18-13 vote. Last month, the Ohio House also voted in favor of the bill 58-35, but the Senate did make some changes, meaning the bill will now have to be approved by the House again before Governor John Kasich can sign it or veto.

The Senate removed the mandate for transvaginal ultrasounds, which can pick up a heartbeat as early as six weeks, and instead merely requires abdominal ultrasounds, which some see as less invasive for women. “We found that (a transvaginal ultrasound) process is possibly intrusive and we wanted to protect the rights of women who didn’t wish to have that done to them,” Senate Health Committee Chairman Dave Burke said.

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Teen says he killed pregnant cheerleader because she didn’t abort baby

16-year-old Indiana high school student Aaron Trejo has been arrested after he admitted to killing 17-year-old Breana Rouhselang and their preborn baby by stabbing her in the heart after learning she hid her pregnancy from him until she was six months pregnant. Her body was found over the weekend in a trash bin behind a restaurant in Mishawaka, Indiana, a town about 80 miles east of Chicago.

Detective Gery Mullins said, “[Trejo] explained that Breana waited too long to tell [him] about the pregnancy to get an abortion. I asked Aaron what he did about that, and he replied, ‘I took action… I took her life.'” Despite this confession, Trejo has entered a plea of not guilty.

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Cook had highest abortion rate among largest Illinois counties in 2017

In a list of the 30 most populous counties in Illinois, Cook County ranked No. 1 for the rate of abortions performed there in 2017, according to an Illinois Department of Public Health report issued in December, which tracks abortions performed on an annual basis.

The abortion rate for Cook County was 0.41 percent. Peoria had the second highest abortion rate in Illinois in 2017, the department reported.

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Trump administration to fund ethical, pro-life alternatives to fetal tissue research

The Trump administration is investing up to $20 million for the next two years to determine effective alternatives to using tissue from aborted babies for research.

The announcement Monday from the Department of Health and Human Services comes after the administration in September terminated a government contract with California-based Advanced Bioscience Resources Inc. to provide human fetal tissue research.

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Human Rights Day: Pope Francis Calls for Action to Protect the Unborn

“Human rights must at the center of all policies even when it means going against the grain,” Pope Francis exhorted.

In reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on its the 70th Anniversary, Pope Francis noted that “the Family of Nations wished to acknowledge the equal dignity of every human person, from which fundamental rights and freedoms derive that, in as much as rooted in the nature of the human person — inseparable unity of body and soul — are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interconnected.”

Pope Francis stated that as the anniversaries of the UDHR and the 25th Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action are celebrated this year, it is his hope that an in-depth reflection on the current state of human rights will “be harbinger of a renewed commitment in favor of the defense of human dignity, with special attention to the most vulnerable members of the community.”

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Supreme Court declines opportunity to determine whether states can defund abortion businesses from Medicaid

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined the opportunity to determine whether states are required to fund abortion businesses under the Medicaid Act. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented and would have agreed to hear the cases because they present a question that “is important and recurring.”

Currently, there is a split in lower courts over whether the Medicaid Act grants individual Medicaid patients a private right of action to sue in federal court in order to challenge a state’s disqualification of their preferred Medicaid provider. Two states, Kansas (Andersen v. Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri) and Louisiana (Gee v. Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast), asked the Supreme Court to resolve this conflict.

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Heartbeat bill on trial in America's Heartland

Thomas More Society is representing Governor Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) and others who, through the legislature earlier this year, passed a heartbeat bill that not only prohibits abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected but requires efforts to detect it.

The law was predictably challenged by Planned Parenthood on the grounds it conflicts with Roe v. Wade and the Iowa state constitution, which they feel gives a woman a right to an abortion.

The arguments are scheduled to start last Friday at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines. The attorney says Planned Parenthood chose to file their case at the state level to avoid the federal court system – which Cannon notes is becoming "more favorable" to pro-life arguments.

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Trump nominates attorney general with anti-Roe v Wade past

After a month of speculation, President Donald Trump has selected William Barr to be his new permanent attorney general.  Barr is a conservative who declared during his previous confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.

At the time, Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee that, however broad a constitutional right to privacy may be, "I do not believe it extends to abortion." Then-Sen. Joe Biden, who went on to become President Barack Obama’s pro-abortion Vice President, complimented Barr for bucking tradition and giving a “candid answer” on the subject.

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Tiny one pound, one ounce baby overcomes grim prognosis, will be home with her family to celebrate her first Christmas

Born in June, four months early, Sussie has left the Neo Natal unit at Arrowe Par hospital in Northwest England and will celebrate her first Christmas at home with mother Jodie Marrin and her dad Lee Patrick.

When Sussie was born at 22 weeks she was so tiny doctors said she was the size of a chocolate bar. One pound, one ounce to be exact.

As is always the case with extreme preemies, the circumstances were harrowing and doctors immediately told the parents Sussie’s survival chances were “non-existent.” Medics added, if somehow she did survive, Sussie’s life would be bleak.

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Life Legal Seeks to Dismiss Claims in Planned Parenthood Baby Parts Case

Life Legal Defense Foundation has filed a motion to dismiss all racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud claims in Planned Parenthood v. Center for Medical Progress (CMP). Planned Parenthood sued CMP and its board of directors shortly after CMP released a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of baby parts for profit.

Planned Parenthood Federation of American and nine of its largest affiliates alleged that they had to implement exorbitant security measures following the release of the CMP videos. However, the court has already ruled that Planned Parenthood may only recover for damages caused directly by CMP defendants, not those caused by third parties.

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Facebook cracks down on pro-life viral video creator, says ad violates ‘discrimination’ policy

The Ontario-based nonprofit Choice42 (Choice for Two) is perhaps best known for a series of satirical videos in which founder and director Laura Klassen dons a pink wig and sarcastically spouts pro-abortion talking points for the purpose of dismantling them. The group also connects women to crisis pregnancy resources, and publishes more serious videos on topics such as the firsthand accounts of women who choose life in difficult circumstances.

On Tuesday evening, Choice42 posted a notice they received from Facebook over one of their most recent ads, which was promoting their video taking aim at the pro-abortion claim that men shouldn’t discuss abortion because they can’t get pregnant. “We find this pretty ironic” that Facebook found the video highlighting a pro-abortion argument “to be discriminating,” they said.

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How Project Rosie helped a pregnant college student to choose life

A pregnant Rosie the Riveter is the mascot for Project Rosie, a pro-life campaign dedicated to assisting pregnant and parenting college students in Michigan. Project Rosie is a nonprofit group created by Protect Life Michigan, and it travels to different colleges all across Michigan in an attempt to help pregnant college women choose life.

Project Rosie has three main goals: to reach, to empower, and to support. Project Rosie reached out to me, empowered me, and continues to support me and countless other girls to this day. Project Rosie’s website provides information to resources available at or around every college in Michigan. They don’t just care about saving a baby’s life, they care about saving the woman as well.

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This is what Planned Parenthood calls ‘healthcare’

With new president Leana Wen at the helm, Planned Parenthood is advertising itself as a healthcare provider. A new campaign, called “This is Health Care,” shows celebrities and other women discussing how Planned Parenthood provided them with necessary health services. But Planned Parenthood has a tendency to fudge statistics and bloat the facts about the provision of health care that women need — and fails to give accurate details about some of the procedures it most commonly performs. Namely, abortion.

Below, Planned Parenthood describes a D&E abortion, the most common abortion in the second trimester in the United States:

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Note this phrase: “gently take the pregnancy tissue out of your uterus.” Just before that, Planned Parenthood mentions that a “combination of medical tools and a suction device” will be used to do this. The medical tool used is a sopher clamp as used below...

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GOP gives up trying to defund Planned Parenthood in lame-duck session

With only four weeks left until Democrats assume control of the House of Representatives, pro-lifers had hoped for congressional Republicans to make one final push to defund Planned Parenthood before losing their majority. But GOP leaders have already thrown cold water on those hopes.

Trump has once again floated threats to veto a budget that doesn’t reflect his priorities, but most Republicans are unwilling to draw a line in the sand on Planned Parenthood, Politico reports. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, attempted to rally support for another defunding effort, but his colleagues rejected it over fears of a potential government shutdown. A Cruz spokesperson says the senator will continue fighting to defund Planned Parenthood in the next session.

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Yale University plans to offer morning after pill in vending machines

The Yale Daily News has reported that Yale University will be supplying Plan B — also known as the morning-after pill — to students through a vending machine for a price of about $50. The vending machine, which will also be equipped with condoms and sexual lubricant, will be located at Silliman College, a residential college at Yale, in the Good Life Center. Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart has said that the morning-after pill is already available free of charge to any student at the Yale Health Pharmacy or at Acute Care twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

“The point of this is to make Plan B more accessible and to make medications in general more accessible,” said Ileana Valdez, a Yale College Council representative who oversaw the project. “Hopefully this will set a precedent for more machines to show up around campus that contain other things so Yale students don’t have to go out of their way to go to CVS, especially students from the new colleges.”

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Study: Most people don’t know what ‘assisted suicide’ actually means

As legislatures around the world grapple with the question of assisted suicide, proponents often claim majority support for legalizing it. But a study from New Zealand reveals that many people do not actually know what legalized assisted suicide entails.

The study from Curia Market Research surveyed 894 New Zealanders and found that many people confuse assisted suicide with medical practices that are already legal and widely available. For example, news outlet Scoop notes, “66% of respondents thought assisted dying includes the removal of life support,” and “only 68% thought that ‘assisted dying’ includes receiving deadly drugs by injection.”

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