IFRL NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

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. Philadelphia Cardinal Rigali Warns of "Eternal" Consequences of Abortion at March for Life Mass   Speaking to some 16,000 in attendance at the Vigil Mass for the March for Life this evening, principal celebrant Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia gave a stirring homily, rousing the massive crowd to applause at several points.    After a quote from the late Rev. John Neuhaus on the vitality of the pro-life movement, Cardinal Rigali expressed on behalf of the US Bishops "deep admiration" for the efforts of pro-life activists. http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012201.html New Archbishop of Detroit Calls for Opposition to Obama Abortion Agenda The newly appointed Archbishop of Detroit, Allen Vigneron, has wasted little time in confronting President Barack Obama's notorious support of abortion, calling for forceful opposition of the new government's anti-life agenda. In an interview with The Detroit News, Vigneron addressed several current issues, such as Catholic higher education and the failing economy's impact on the Church's social ministries, but indicated that challenging the new US government's radical anti-life positions is of the highest priority. "I share the concern of all of the bishops of the United States that the administration has, at least prior to the election, given us indications that they are going to rescind some of the protections of the unborn," Vigneron said. "And I am very disappointed in that." http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012202.html Troubled Ind. Clinic Had Holes In Abortion Records A Planned Parenthood clinic where an undercover video exposed workers failing to report an alleged statutory rape also received a state reprimand last year for sloppy abortion record keeping. Indiana Health Commissioner Judith Monroe threatened to go to prosecutors if the clinic kept filing official "terminated pregnancy reports" without such required information as the types of procedures and the medications it used. A copy of the Aug. 27, 2008, reprimand said a 2007 state audit found 278 of the clinic's abortion records were incomplete. Last month, an anti-abortion group released an undercover video that showed a 20-year-old woman posing as a 13-year-old who had been impregnated by a 31-year-old man. A counselor at the clinic said the age of the father did not concern her. Indiana law requires anyone learning of sexual acts between an adult and a child under 14 to report them to police or child welfare authorities. http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/996303.html FDA Grants 1st Study to Inject Patients With Human Embryo Stem Cells A U.S. biotech company says it plans to start this summer the world's first study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem cells - a long-awaited project aimed at spinal cord injury. The company gained federal permission this week to inject eight to 10 patients with cells derived from embryonic cells, said Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of Geron Corp. (GERN) of Menlo Park, Calif. President Barack Obama has promised to relax the Bush administration's restrictions on federal financing for such research. But Obama's ascent to the White House had nothing to do with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's granting permission for the new study, Okarma said in a telephone interview Thursday. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090123/D95SL1H80.html Lawmakers Protest 'Late-Term' Abortions at U. of Wisconsin Nearly one-quarter of Wisconsin lawmakers asked the University of Wisconsin Hospital on Thursday to back off a plan to provide late-term abortions at a private clinic. In a letter to Hospital CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky, 28 Republican senators and representatives and the Legislature's one independent called second-trimester abortion a barbaric procedure that kills viable babies. Physicians from UW and Meriter hospitals have proposed performing abortions for patients between 13 and 22 weeks pregnant at the Madison Surgery Center, which the hospitals jointly operate. The UW Hospital's board of directors will discuss the plan in an open meeting on Feb. 4. The plan's supporters say a Madison doctor's December retirement has left the area without a second-trimester abortion provider and there's a public health "need" for the service. http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1392808,w-abortion-late-term-university-wisconsin012209.article