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.
Pro-Life Group Calls for Investigation into Death Threats Against Pro-Life Activists
An anti-abortion group is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate what it says are death threats against abortion opponents after the killing of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas.
Operation Rescue of Wichita, Kan., on Thursday released audio recordings and e-mails containing threats, including one that says it's "time to start killing Bible-thumping morons."
Operation Rescue president Troy Newman says the Justice Department dispatches federal marshals to protect abortion providers but ignores threats against abortion opponents.
The Justice Department declined comment.
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Program Pays Young Girls $1 A Day To Not Get Pregnant
A buck-a-day -- that's the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant. The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies. Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings. The program is funded by a four-year grant from the state.
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UNFPA Gathering of Global Experts to Address Current Crisis in 'Family Planning'
Family planning experts from around the world warn that the lack of funding for family planning is stalling development efforts in poor countries. To address these issues, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is convening a group of 30 leading family planning experts, including representatives from Bangladesh, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, India, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States. The gathering, from 30 June - 2 July, will announce new recommendations on how to increase the availability and use of voluntary family planning, particularly among vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.
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English and Welsh bishops vigorously reject abortion and condom advertising
The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales expressed its rejection of a norm that would allow the advertising of abortion and condoms on the airwaves and said such advertising would be a failure to protect young people, who are already taught an "impoverished view of sex" by society.
In a statement prepared by the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, the bishops said they do not believe that services which offer or refer for abortion should be allowed to advertise on broadcast media" because "abortion is neither medicine nor a consumer product. Presenting it as either of these erodes respect for life, and is highly misleading and damaging to women, who may feel pressured into making a quick decision which can never be revoked."
"Allowing broadcast advertising of abortion services would contribute to a further 'normalisation' of abortion and its assimilation to a consumer service," the bishops said.
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Late-term abortion ban protects 'weakest, most helpless beings,' federal court rules
The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 6-5 decision on Wednesday upheld Virginia's partial-birth abortion ban. In his concurring opinion, one judge wrote that the law protects the "weakest" and "most helpless" and condemned the use of the Constitution to justify "dismembering" a partly born child and "crushing" its skull.
In its ruling "Richmond Medical Center v. Herring," the court said the 2003 Virginia law does not unduly burden a woman's legal right to terminate a pregnancy by more conventional means. It also ruled the law is clear about the type of procedure banned and adequately protects women's health.
The decision reverses a May 2008 2-1 panel decision which struck down the law, which is similar to a federal statute prohibiting a procedure in which the baby is partially delivered and then killed.
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Letter: 'Planned Parenthood In Aurora Aftermath' Article by Mick Noppen Is Filled With Lies and Distortions
Dear Editor,
Your site seems like a very conservative news source, which was why I was surprised to see you post, without comment, the article titled:
"Planned Parenthood in Aurora: aftermath" by Mick Noppen
This article is filled with lies and distortions about pro-lifers in general and the Pro-Life Action League and its supporters in particular.
The entire effort at Planned Parenthood Aurora has been entirely peaceful and prayerful. There has been no intimidation or violence as the grossly misinformed Mr. Noppen claims there was. Furthermore, Mr. Noppen makes specific claims of violence and intimidation against Pro-Life Action League National Director Joe Scheidler which are absolutely false and completely baseless.
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Arizona Senate Approves Two Bills Related To Abortion Rights
The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved two abortion-related bills, including one that would increase requirements for obtaining abortions in the state and one that would increase penalties for performing a certain abortion procedure later in pregnancy, the Arizona Republic reports. The first bill (H.B. 2564), which passed 16-12, would impose a 24-hour waiting period before abortion procedures, require that abortion providers inform patients about risks and alternatives, and increase parental consent requirements for minors. Although the state has had a written parental consent requirement since 2003, the new measure would require that the consent form be notarized (Newton, Arizona Republic, 6/24). According to the AP/Houston Chronicle, the bill also would "allow pharmacists and other health care providers to refuse to hand out emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds" (Davenport, AP/Houston Chronicle, 6/23). The second bill (H.B. 2400) would impose a fine or two-year prison sentence for violating the state's law banning intact dilation and extraction procedures, which currently is punishable by one year in prison (Arizona Republic, 6/24).
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