Supreme Court to Hear Louisiana Law Requiring Abortionists to Have Admitting Privileges in Nearby Hospital

State Rep. Katrina Jackson and the Executive Director
of Louisiana Right to Life Benjamin Clapper

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this winter regarding Louisiana Act 620, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. The law requires that all abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital. As part of this case, the Supreme court will also consider the issue of third-party standing, which an abortion clinic is using to claim they are representing their patients even when no women have stepped forward to challenge this law.

Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director for Louisiana Right to Life, had this to say:

“We look forward to the Supreme Court reviewing Louisiana’s 2014 Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. Abortion facilities should not be provided loopholes when it comes to health and safety standards that apply across the board to outpatient surgical facilities. We are also pleased that the Supreme Court has accepted Louisiana’s challenge on third-party standing. Substandard physicians and for-profit providers unable to meet health requirements should not be able to hide behind their supposed patients when making legal claims against a law.”

Click here to read more.

Jackson, Mississippi Enacts Restrictions on Protesting Outside Medical Facilities

The Jackson, Mississippi city council voted 3-1 to create 15-foot "buffer zones" around medical facilities, including the town's abortion clinic. The new ordinance would have police officers enforce restrictions on noise near medical facilities and also prevents approaching patients while they are within 100 feet of the facility. Violators could spend up to 90 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy said this in response to the ordinance: “the noise is often escalated by the abortion center who will turn up music while sidewalk participants attempt to speak with those around the abortion center and that the regulation curtails their free speech rights.” Click here to read more.

New Bill Would Require States to Report When Babies Survive Abortions

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas recently introduced the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019 which, if passed, would require states to report when a child survives and is delivered after an attempted abortion. This data would then be publicly available and would serve as an additional resource to the Guttmacher Institute reports, which are biased in favor of abortion and only collect information on a voluntary basis.

Other organizations attempt to report statistics regarding abortion, but they have difficulty collecting information. The United States Center for Disease Control also only collects information submitted voluntarily by states. States report various amounts of information that is dependent on each state's individual reporting requirements. California, Maryland, and New Hampshire report no information whatsoever. Click here to read more.

Students for Life of America Schedules Rally at Planned Parenthood's New Fairview Heights Clinic

In response to the construction of a new Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights, Students for Life of America will be holding a rally in conjunction with the dioceses of Saint Louis, Belleville, and Springfield in front of the facility. Everyone is invited to come and protest the construction of this mega-clinic and listen to the many speakers scheduled.

Date: Wednesday, October 9th
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 317 Salem Place, Fairview Heights, IL
Click here to view the Facebook event

Following the rally, Students for Life of America will also be holding a prayer vigil for those who choose to stay.

Planned Parenthood's Fairview Heights mega-clinic was constructed in secret by the use of a shell company to prevent protestors from coming and delaying its completion.

UK Child's Parents Win Fight to Transport Daughter to Italian Hospital

Tafida Raqeeb

Tafida Raqeeb, a five-year-old girl from the United Kingdom, was recently transported to an Italian hospital after a hard-fought legal battle. Tafida Raqeeb was going to be taken off life support by Barts Health NHS Trust because they believed that action was in the child's best interest. Shelina Begum and Mohammed Raqeeb, Tafida's parents, are relieved that they are allowed to continue to make decisions that protect the life of their child.

Barts Health NHS Trust lawyers stated that the hospital was considering appealing the court's ruling. If this is successful, then the UK will have created a right for doctors to decide when a patient is ready to die. Click here to read more.

Mother Learns School Nurse Put Birth Control Implant in Daughter Without Notification

Screenshot from video explaining the Nexplanon implantation process.
Credit: Design Science / YouTube

Nicole Lambert, a mother in Baltimore, Maryland, learned that a school nurse put a birth control implant in her 16-year old daughter without asking for the mother's consent. Her daughter was experiencing headaches, so they visited her pediatrician and learned that a contraceptive tube had been improperly implanted in her daughter's arm without the mother's knowledge, let alone consent. The doctor recommended its removal to alleviate the discomfort and any further side-effects.

“Ms. Lambert wasn’t given the choice to pick the medical provider where her daughter would feel comfortable going and receiving these services, who she knew did a comprehensive medical exam, who she knew knew her medical history,” said David Ledyard, her new attorney.“Are they looking at the medical history of the students and doing a full workup before implanting these devices? What is the certification process and training of the nurses?” Birth control in this situation was seen as a right that surpassed even this mother's right to care for her child by taking her to a medical professional she trusted.  Click here to read more.

Jury Selection for Daleiden Trial Began Tuesday

David Daleiden

The highly-anticipated legal battle reached an important checkpoint on October 2 when jury selection began for the trial. Undercover journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merrit are facing charges for recording supposedly confidential conversations while exposing Planned Parenthood for selling baby body parts. The journalists are defending themselves mostly through a clause that states situations in which the recorder has a reasonable belief that they are investigating violent acts are an exception to the law. If they successfully convince the jury that altered abortion practices designed to collect intact body parts are more risky to women, the undercover journalists can defend their innocence. If not, the journalists face jail time and the Center for Medical Progress will be forced to pay millions of dollars in damages to Planned Parenthood.

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. Click here to read more.

Federal Judge Blocks Georgia Heartbeat Law

On Tuesday, District Judge Steve C. Jones blocked a Georgia heartbeat law from going into effect next year. The bill would have banned abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. To explain his reasoning for blocking the law, Judge Jones wrote, “By banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, HB 481 prohibits women from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy at a point before viability.”

Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for Georgia Governor Kemp issued a response to the judge's ruling, saying, “Despite today’s outcome, we remain confident in our position. We will continue to fight for the unborn and work to ensure that all Georgians have the opportunity to live, grow and prosper.” Click here to read more.

New Planned Parenthood Clinic Secretly Constructed in Southern Illinois

CBS News Screenshot

CBS News reported Wednesday that Planned Parenthood secretly completed construction on a new facility in Fairview Heights, Illinois by using a shell company to hide the building's purpose. Fairview Heights was chosen to provide abortion services to Missouri residents since Missouri only has one remaining abortion clinic which is struggling to maintain its license. Planned Parenthood hid the true purpose of the facility via a shell company to prevent protestors from slowing down its construction and ensure that it hit its deadline.

Missouri residents will be more able to take advantage of Illinois' more relaxed abortion laws to obtain services that legislators fought against in their own state. The facility expects to be operational later this month. Click here to read more.

Pro-life Title X Clinics and Pregnancy Centers to Receive Funding Turned Down by Planned Parenthood

Health and Human Services announced Sept. 30th that $33.6 million will be used to help fund 50 organizations that receive Title X funding. This is as a direct result of Planned Parenthood and other organizations voluntarily rejecting funding due to a rule requiring Title X recipients to stop providing abortions, colocating with abortion facilities, or sending clients to abortion facilities. These organizations will be more empowered to provide life-affirming family-planning services to more women than they were ever able before.

Click here to read the HHS statement, which includes a full list of benefitting organizations.

New Illinois Bill Would Ban Government Officials from Travelling to Pro-Life States

Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove) introduced a bill in the Illinois House of Representatives last week which would ban state government agencies from requiring employees to travel to states with certain types of pro-life legislation. This would include states which ban abortion at 8 weeks of pregnancy, ban abortion upon detection of a heartbeat, don't have exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, and states that require investigations when a child is miscarried.

Rep. Didech said, “The purpose of the bill is to protect women who may not be able to get the health care they may need when they’re traveling on official state business.” The bill includes an exception for travel that a government agency deems necessary, which makes the law little more than a ridiculous political statement. Click here to read more.

ALERT! PLEASE TAKE ACTION!

The July 12, 2019 issue of The Flinn Report revealed that The Department of Healthcare and Family Services has proposed an amendment (“proposed rule change”) to the Medical Assistance Programs (89 IAC 120; 43 ILL Reg 7599). The proposed rule change will “expand the type of providers who can presumptively enroll pregnant women in the Medicaid program.” (See The Flinn Report, dated 7/12/19, Vol. 43, p.2).

If this proposed rule is approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, (JCAR), Planned Parenthood, and other abortion providers will have the authority to determine independently if a pregnant woman qualifies for Medicaid benefits.

The ability to conveniently approve women for Medicaid benefits at their site and then immediately provide an abortion will encourage women to use their services. There is also financial incentive to find all women eligible for Medicaid benefits.

JCAR is the legislative committee that reviews rules that are proposed by State agencies. It is composed of 12 legislators. It is bipartisan. The committee members will vote on this proposed rule and determine if it will go forward.

The current members of JCAR are:
Sen. Don Harmon, D-39, Co-Chair 

Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-50, Co-Chair 

Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-4 

Sen. Tony Munoz, D-1 

Sen. Sue Resin, R-38 

Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-58 

Sen. Chuck Weaver, R-37 

Rep. Tom Demmer, R-90 

Rep. Mike Halpin, D-72 

Rep. Frances Ann Hurley, D-35 

Rep. Steven Reick, R-63 

Rep. Andre Thapedi, D-32

PLEASE contact these legislators ask them to exempt Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities from this rule change. 

Representatives Push to Repeal Hyde Amendment

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. appeared in a video published on Monday which advocates for the passage of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act (EACH Woman Act), a bill that would repeal the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment was passed in 1976 and bans Federal funds from being used for abortions except in cases of rape and incest.

Proponents for the amendment claim that the Hyde amendment is harmful to women's health because it makes access to abortion income-based rather than a human right. Repealing the Hyde amendment could easily open the door to government-funded abortion in all states. Click here to read more.

Report Says 22% of Undergraduate Students are Parents, But They Have Less Access to Financial Resources

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report in August stating that 22% of undergraduate students are also parents, but over half of them didn't leave school with completed degrees. The report also stated that these students had less access to financial aid than students who didn't have children. This is especially troubling when the U.S. Dept. of Education has a program created specifically to empower students who need financial assistance to pay for childcare.

CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in School) does help many parents pay for childcare while they receive college educations, but even more parents were waitlisted between 2016 and 2017 and never received any assistance. Furthermore, the GAO study reviewed college websites for mentions of CCAMPIS, but only one-third of the websites visited referenced the program. Click here to read more.

Woman with Disability Says Culture Criticized Her Giving Birth but Accepted Abortion

In a Quartz article entitled "As a disabled woman, my abortion wasn’t questioned—but my pregnancy was", Australian feminist and disability activist Nicole Lee wrote about her treatment during two different pregnancies. In one she chose to abort her child, and in the other she chose to keep them. In the instance where she chose to abort the child, nobody questioned her decision or gave her support before or after the procedure. When she chose to complete a later pregnancy, she was often questioned for her decision. Through these experiences, Lee came to the conclusion that the culture surrounding her either did not want her to give birth or simply didn't believe she was physically capable, even though her disability did not prevent her from doing so.

“Imagine you are about to welcome your second child into the world, and everyone is expecting you to fail. This is vastly different to how other women are treated. It was certainly vastly different to how my older (able-bodied) sister was treated while pregnant: I wasn’t showered with congratulations from shop assistants when shopping for baby gear the way my sister was.”

Click here to read more. 

Indiana Senators Introduce the Dignity for Aborted Children Act

In response to the 2,246 bodies of aborted children found in abortionist Ulrich Klopfer's home, Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) have introduced the Dignity for Aborted Children Act. This bill, if passed into law, would require that women who undergo abortions would be given the option to keep their aborted child's body or give the abortion facility permission to dispose of the remains. Abortionists who did not bury or cremate the remains of aborted children would face a fine and up to five years in prison.

In response to the introduction of this legislation David N. O’Steen Ph.D., executive director of National Right to Life, stated, “The Dignity for Aborted Children Act addresses the need to treat the remains of an aborted child with the dignity she deserves.” Click here to read more.

Man Who Admitted to Killing His Mother Cleared of Murder Because He "Acted Out of Love"

Langley Lodge care home in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
Credit: East News Press Agency

Robert Knight was cleared of murder after he admitted to pushing his 79-year-old mother off a balcony. The 53-year-old son was visiting his mother at a nursing home in the United Kingdom when he pushed her off a balcony, giving her brain damage and causing her death not long after. He immediately called the nursing home staff and admitted to killing his mother, and did not resist police when they arrested him. He told authorities that he couldn't stand to watch his mother deteriorate due to her dementia, so he spent several days planning what he might do to end his mother's life.

Judge Samantha Leigh described Knight's actions as "mercy killing" and sentenced him to 60 days of rehabilitation with no jail time. He spent 9 months in jail awaiting his trial but is seemingly getting away with murder because of his mother's medical condition. Click here to read more.

House Members Warn Against Relaxing Restriction on Abortion Drug Mifepristone

Fifty-three members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the FDA to argue against Planned Parenthood's request that restrictions be removed from the distribution of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. The drug has been linked to thousands of complications and 24 deaths in the United States alone, and a generic version of mifepristone, which up to this point had only been sold under the name Mifeprex, has been approved by the FDA.

An excerpt from the representatives' letter states, “We vigorously opposed calls by Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion advocates to remove the REMS [Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy] for mifepristone. Allowing the drug to be available without medical supervision will have dire consequences for women and children.” Click here for more.

Former Klopfer Patients Who Regret Abortions Seek to Identify Their Children

Former Klopfer patient Trenevia Ivory attends a press conference
. Screenshot KMOV4 / WSBT.

After 2,246 bodies of aborted children were found in the garage of deceased abortionist Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, former patients are reaching out to find if their children are among them. When going over Klopfer's estate, his lawyer found Klopfer's collection of bodies and contacted authorities, who are now conducting an investigation. Right to Life South Bend says that a growing number of women who were patients of Dr. Klopfer have been contacting them wanting to know if their children are among them. They want DNA testing to be performed on the bodies so that they can be identified.

Authorities have determined that the remains are over two decades old, and the investigation is ongoing. Click here to read more.

Abortion Decriminalized in Australian State of New South Wales. Remains Illegal in Only One State.

The New South Wales Legislative Assembly voted to approve the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill Thursday Morning; legalizing abortion up to 22 weeks for any reason. Additionally, late-term abortions will be legal as long as they have the approval of two medical specialists.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher stated in response to the bill's passage, 

"The Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 may be the worst law passed in New South Wales in modern times, because it represents such a dramatic abdication of responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our community. Since the abolition of capital punishment in New South Wales in 1955, this is the only deliberate killing ever legalised in our state.”

South Australia is the only remaining state in Australia in which abortion is a criminal act. Right to Life Australia warns that the state is considering legislation that is even more progressive. Click here or here to read more.