FDA OKs generic 'morning-after' pill

FDA OKs generic 'morning-after' pill



Another "morning-after" pill with abortion-causing qualities will soon be for sale in stores.

Watson Laboratories has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market a generic version of Plan B, a post-intercourse "emergency contraceptive," as it is commonly known, that can cause an abortion.

The new generic drug will be marketed under the name "Next Choice." Like Plan B, it will be available for purchase without a prescription for women 17 years of age and older and for prescription use by girls younger than 17.

Next Choice works, like Plan B, to restrict ovulation in a female. It also can act after conception to block implantation of a tiny embryo in the uterine wall, thereby causing an abortion.

The drug regimen for the "morning-after" pill is basically a heavier dose of birth control pills. Under the regimen, a woman takes two pills within 72 hours of sexual intercourse and another dose 12 hours later.

Plan B, which is produced by the Duramed division of Barr Pharmaceuticals, had American sales of $135 million in the 12-month period ending June 30.

The FDA added its approval of Watson Laboratories' Next Choice on Aug. 28.

When the FDA approved the non-prescription use of Plan B in 2006, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, described it as a "sad day for America."

"Allowing drugs with such powerful physiological and emotional effects to be sold over the counter to adults without a prescription will have significant consequences, none of them good," Land said.

"It will certainly result in the pharmacological, spontaneous abortion of large numbers of babies, who will be conceived but known only to God.... This decision will lead to increased rates of sexual activity for younger women outside of wedlock, resulting in physical, emotional and spiritual consequences, including increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases, against which Plan B offers no protection," he said.

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: September 9, 2009
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"Dem: Prevent abortion funding, or I'll block healthcare"

"Dem: Prevent abortion funding, or I'll block healthcare"

Democrat Congressman Bart Stupak is not going away.



    A leading pro-life Democrat in the House is threatening to block healthcare reform if Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) doesn't allow a vote that would prevent the bill from funding abortions.

    Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, says the Democratic leadership must allow a vote adding the "Hyde Amendment" to the bill. That amendment prevents federal dollars from going to abortion funding.

    "First of all, you have to give us our vote," Stupak told CBN News, repeating the message he's relaying to the Democratic leadership. "If you don't give us our vote, everything's off the table."...

    Stupak said he has enough votes to block the legislation in the House if... Pelosi... prevents a vote on the pro-life proposal.

    Stupak added that he's particularly "cautious" about the Hyde Amendment language because the Obama administration has helped beat back previous pro-life efforts this year....

    Republicans and pro-life Democrats tried to add an amendment preventing abortion funding when healthcare legislation was working it's way through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Pro-choice Democrats successfully blocked it.

As an aside I note the reporter called each side by its preferred term.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: September 9, 2009
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Mother says doctors refused to treat infant because of U.K. health rules

Mother says doctors refused to treat infant because of U.K. health rules


Baby Jayden and his mother Sarah Capewell

Doctors in England ignored a mother’s pleas for help and left her extremely premature baby to die because he was born two days before a hospital guidelines’ recommended cutoff age for providing medical treatment.

In October 2008 Sarah Capewell, 23, gave birth to her son just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy, almost four months early.

She told the Daily Mail that doctors ignored her pleas to save Jayden, her newborn son. They said they were following national guidelines which say babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment.

Capewell said doctors refused even to see her son, who lived for almost two hours without any medical support. She reported that he was breathing unaided, had a strong heartbeat and was moving his arms and legs. However, medics refused to admit him to a special care unit.

They said they would have tried to save Jayden if he had been born two days later, at 22 weeks into pregnancy.

“When he was born, he put out his arms and legs and pushed himself over,” Capewell reported. A midwife said he was breathing and had a strong heartbeat and described him as a “little fighter.”

“I kept asking for the doctors but the midwife said, ‘They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him’,” Capewell told the Daily Mail.

She cuddled her son and took photos of him. He died in her arms less than two hours after his birth.

Capewell also reported that during her premature labor with Jayden she was told that she was not allowed injections to try to stop the labor or a steroid injection to help strengthen her baby’s lungs because she had not reached 22 weeks into pregnancy.

Doctors told Capewell, who has had five miscarriages, to treat the labor as a miscarriage, not a birth. They advised that she expect her baby to be born with serious deformities or stillborn.

After Jayden’s death she had to argue with hospital officials for her right to receive birth and death certificates to allow her son a proper funeral.

The medical guidelines for Health Service hospitals state that babies should not be given intensive care if they are born at less than 23 weeks.

The guidelines were drawn up by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and are not compulsory. They advise doctors that medical intervention for very premature children is not in the best interests of the baby and is not “standard practice.”

A trust spokesman from James Paget Hospital in Norfolk said the hospital follows national guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine regarding premature births.

Capewell has since discovered that a prematurely born child has survived after being born 21 weeks and six days into her mother’s pregnancy. Amillia Taylor was born in Florida in 2006 and was treated because doctors mistakenly believed she was a week older.

Amillia celebrated her second birthday last October. She is the youngest premature baby to survive.

“Thousands of women have experienced this,” Capewell said. “The doctors say the babies won't survive but how do they know if they are not giving them a chance?”

Also read...

Would you believe... 'Before Birth' Panels?

Those "progressive" Brits are at it again. Here’s an interesting horror story from the folks whose Single-Payer Health System is what many sheeple in this country are clamoring for: Doctors left a premature baby to die because he was born two days too early, his devastated mother claimed yesterday. Sarah Capewell begged them to save her tiny son, who was born just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy – almost four months early. They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment. She said he was breathing unaided, had a strong heartbeat and was even moving his arms and legs, but medics refused to admit him to a special care baby unit.
Click here for the full article.

Source: CNA
Publish Date: September 10, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY

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.

Personhood Florida Submits Personhood Amendment to Florida State Constitution

God is the author of all human rights -- mine, yours -- every human being's from their very beginning. First among these, and upon which all others stand, is our right to be recognized as persons -- as children of God, made in His image and likeness.

Our Floridian Founding Fathers laid upon our shoulders the right, better yet the responsibility, to defend life -- of every human being.

"We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, in order to secure its blessings and to form a more perfect government, insuring domestic tranquility, maintaining public order, and guaranteeing equal civil and political rights to all, do ordain and establish this Constitution.  All men are equal before the law, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life." Florida State Constitution 1885.
Click here for the full article.


Children As Young As Five to Learn About Abortion Under New UN guidelines

Children as young as five should be taught about abortion, according to controversial new guidelines issued by the United Nations. The advice also calls for youngsters to learn about same-sex relationships and sexually transmitted diseases. The draft report on sex education has been compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Click here for the full article.


British Abortion Ad Rules Review Delayed

Regulators have delayed publication of the results of a controversial review of the UK advertising code, which includes proposals that could allow abortion clinics to run TV commercials, until next year after receiving around 4,000 submissions. A public consultation, which was kicked off by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice in March, sparked mass media coverage as anti-abortion groups and sexual health campaigners moved quickly to criticise some of the proposals.
Click here for the full article.


Daughter Claims Father Wrongly Placed On Controversial NHS End Of Life Scheme

Rosemary Munkenbeck says her father Eric Troake, who entered hospital after suffering a stroke, had fluid and drugs withdrawn and she claims doctors wanted to put him on morphine until he passed away under a scheme for dying patients called the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). Mrs Munkenbeck, 56, from Bracknell, said her father, who previously said he wanted to live until he was 100, has now said he wants to die after being deprived of fluids for five days.
Click here for the full article.


'Misunderstandings' and 'Bogus Claims' on Abortion Funding in Health Care Legislation Come from the White House, Not Pro-Lifers

In response to President Obama's speech to Congress last night, Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, stated, "If there are 'misunderstandings' or 'bogus claims' about abortion funding in pending health reform legislation, as the President claimed in his speech, they are coming from the White House, not pro-lifers."
Click here for the full article.


Obama Adviser Hopes Catholic Bishops Will Find A Way to Support Democrats’ Health Care Reform Legislation, Despite Abortion Concerns

A top adviser to President Barack Obama told CNSNews.com the White House hopes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will come to understand that the Democrats’ health care reform legislation does not cover abortion.
 
“I think the church has been a great progressive force on issues like this. Hopefully, bishops will see a way to support this (health care reform legislation),” David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, told CNSNews.com Wednesday night.
 
Axelrod said he does not believe the Catholic Church is intentionally spreading misinformation, as the White House says other opponents of the legislation are doing.
 
“I think that they are earnestly trying to work their way through this issue,” Axelrod told CNSNews.com on Wednesday night, shortly after Obama addressed a joint session of Congress.
Click here for the full article.

STOP THE ABORTION MANDATE ALERT

Last night, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress -- and the nation -- about his plan for a national, government-run health care system, stating: "One more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions."

This simply IS NOT TRUE! Even the mainstream media and respected fact-checking organizations are calling out the President on this misinformation.

Make no mistake about it: Abortion WILL be funded by the government through the proposed health care plan.

For years, Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby have been working towards the day when abortion would be included in comprehensive health care reform -- the day when abortion coverage would become mandatory and paid for with your tax dollars.

Unless we act NOW, that day is here!

If President Obama's proposed health care legislation passes, abortion providers will get their wish -- a multi-billion-dollar bailout, funded by the federal government through your tax dollars.

Even as national polls reveal growing opposition to the abortion-laden health care reform proposals, new polling results released today show that the majority of Americans think it is WRONG for the government to pay for abortions and DO NOT want the government to fund health plans that fund abortions.

We must redouble our efforts to stop the abortion mandate in proposed health care reform legislation.

That's why we're inviting you to join pro-lifers across the country TODAY in the "VOID THE ABORTION MANDATE" virtual rally and grassroots campaign. 

President Obama and your representatives in Congress need to hear from you TODAY.

Here's what to do right now:

 * CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMAN: Visit http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com and click on the "voided check" image to send a clear message to your elected representatives that you don't want the government funding abortion:

 
 * SOCIAL NETWORKING ACTIVISM: Download the new "Void the Abortion Mandate" voided check logo and sample status message and post them on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social networking web sites. Click here and get them.

 * GET THE FACTS -- HEALTH CARE REFORM FUNDS ABORTION: Having a hard time explaining how the proposed health care plan forces taxpayers to subsidize abortion? Click here, get the new chart revealing the exact money trail.

 * SEE THE LATEST POLLING RESULTS: The majority of Americans think it is wrong for the government to pay for abortions and do not want the government to fund health plans that fund abortions. Click here to see the polling results released today.

 * SPREAD THE WORD: Forward this e-mail to every person  you can, encouraging them to take action at http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com

Student Activism Day September 16th: Stop The Abortion Mandate!

The first Students for Life of Illinois Activism Day is "Stop The Abortion Mandate" on Wed, September 16th.  We are hard at work creating materials for you to spread the word, these include:

    * Fliers and handouts for your campus!
    * Educational Links, audio and videos to educate yourself to speak inteligently!
    * Activism Day Checklist to help you spread the word in every way!

These materials will be posted online in the next few hours or days. We will notify you by email when they are up so you can get started.
 
With this Activism Day you will work with the Stop The Abortion Mandate Coalition to educate your campus and community about abortion in healthcare reform and get your peers, family and friends to contact their representatives asking for an explicit exclusion of funding abortion.

Click here for more information.

Religious left now speaking up against abortion in healthcare plan

Religious left now speaking up against abortion in healthcare plan



Without abortion, nationalized healthcare is doomed. The abortion industry will drop support quicker than it can abort a baby.

But it appears increasingly clear it is doomed with abortion. Here's another nail, supplied by Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News & World Report, this afternoon:

Conservative Christians have spent weeks decrying Democratic plans for healthcare reform over allegations that the proposals will increase abortion coverage, but recent days have seen a different camp raising abortion-related concerns in the healthcare fight: left-leaning religious activists....

Progressive faith leaders and organizations are pushing hard for healthcare reform along the lines that President Obama has articulated, but some of the most prominent have grown concerned with the House healthcare bill's provisions for abortion coverage in the public health insurance plan.

They object to pooled premiums of those participating in the public plan going to abortion coverage for others in the plan, as laid out in the House healthcare bill. Americans who are opposed to abortion, the activists say, shouldn't be forced to pay for abortion procedures for others with their premiums.

Other faith-based liberals object to the House bill's authorization of the Dept. of Health and Human Services to decide which types of abortions are covered by the public option.

These religious activists, while opposed to much of the religious right's agenda, are pressuring the White House and Capitol Hill Democrats to revise the amendment to the House bill that deals with abortion, authored by California Rep. Lois Capps. One idea is to offer a second public option that excludes abortion coverage. Another is to offer a supplemental insurance rider for those who want abortion coverage.

"The Capps amendment successfully addresses the vast majority of concerns the moderate pro-life community has raised regarding conscience protections and abortion funding in healthcare reform," says Chris Korzen, executive director of the influential progressive group Catholics United. "The question of how to handle abortion coverage in the public option has proven more difficult to answer."

Stephen Schneck, a Catholic University of America professor who has advised the WH on Roman Catholic issues, is also urging Democrats to revise the House bill....

But left-leaning activists are worried that without revising abortion provisions in the public option, the debate over abortion can bring down the whole healthcare reform effort. "As Catholics, we recognize that dramatically shifting the way we fund abortion is problematic not only for us, but also is the wrong way to go politically in terms of reaching consensus with pro-life members of Congress," says John Gehring, deputy communications director for the liberal group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. "It's definitely a sticking point, and it would be unfair to characterize it only as a conservative concern."

Progressive faith groups have been an important part of the Democratic coalition pushing for healthcare reform....

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: September 9, 2009
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Preemie "left to die" by doctors after mother gives birth just 2 days before 22-week care limit

Preemie "left to die" by doctors after mother gives birth just 2 days before 22-week care limit

I love the British press. The following sorts of stories could and should be published by MSM every day in America, because very young preemies are being shelved to die every day in America without being assessed for viability. The line is arbitrarily drawn.

But humanizing very young preemies would be anathema to the abortion industry. And so we latch on to honesty from across the pond. This just posted by the Daily Mail:



A young mother's premature baby died in her arms after doctors refused to help because it was born just before 22-week cut-off point for treatment.

Sarah Capewell, 23, gave birth to her son Jayden when she was 21 weeks and 5 days into her pregnancy.

Although doctors refused to place the baby in intensive care, Jayden lived for 2 hours before he passed away at James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk, last October....

Miss Capewell's desperate pleas for her tiny son to be admitted to the hospital's special care baby unit were rejected.

She is now fighting to establish radical new guidelines on when infants should be given intensive care and has created a website called Justice For Jayden.

Since the site was set up in January, Miss Capewell has received messages of support from 260k women from around the world.

Miss Capewell... said: "When I asked about my baby's human rights, the attitude of the doctors seemed to be that he did not have any.

"They said before 22 weeks he was just a foetus."

Her campaign is being backed by local MP Tony Wright.

He said: When a woman wants to give the best chance to her baby they should surely be afforded that opportunity."...

[Isn't that a "pro-choice" position?]

Miss Capewell, who has a 5-year-old daughter, has a history of miscarriages and after bleeding heavily 12 weeks into her pregnancy with Jayden, she was closely monitored by doctors.

She was rushed to a hospital by ambulance at 21 weeks and her waters broke at 21 weeks and 3 days.

She said: "Because I had not reached 22 weeks, they did not allow me injections to stop the labour or steroid injections to help mature the baby's lungs."

[American doctors would typically try to stop labor if it hadn't gone too far, give steroid shots, and take precautions to stop infection. They wouldn't rely on arbitrary dates. I wonder if this is an outcome of socialized medicine.]

Miss Capewell was told the baby was likely to be stillborn and as her contractions continued, a chaplain arrived to discuss bereavement and planning a funeral.



"When he was born, he put out his arms and legs and pushed himself over," said Miss Capewell.

"A midwife said he was breathing and had a strong heartbeat and described him as a 'little fighter.'"

"I kept asking for the doctors but the midwife said, 'They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him.'

Miss Capewell said she had to argue her right to receive birth and death certificates which meant she could have a proper funeral.

The medical guidance for NHS hospitals, limiting care of the most premature babies, was drawn up by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in 2006.

The guidelines are clear: no baby below 22 weeks gestation should be resuscitated.

[I think babies born alive should be assessed immediately at birth for viability, and not sentenced to death just because of the usually approximated age determined prebirth.]



The latest major study on survival of premature babies shows that at 23 weeks, just 16% will survive - a statistic which has barely changed in a decade.

But Miss Capewell said: 'After Jayden's death, I looked into other cases and I could not believe that one little girl, Amillia Taylor, is perfectly healthy after being born in FL in 2006 at 21 weeks and six days - and Jayden was heavier than her.

'There are thousands of women who have experienced this.

'The doctors say the babies won't survive but how do they know if they are not giving them a chance?'

She said she had heard heartbreaking stories of babies who lived as long as 5 days in such circumstances.

'Women who went through it 10 years ago have phoned me up in tears. You can't get past it because no one tried.

'You feel you let your baby down and you are left with that guilt every single day. You feel you should have got out of that bed, you should have gone to another hospital.'...

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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Prayer vigil seeks to keep abortion funding out of health care reform

Prayer vigil seeks to keep abortion funding out of health care reform


Rev. Patrick Mahoney

A 27-hour prayer vigil will be held on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol this Sunday to pray that no taxpayer money will be used to pay for abortions as part of health care reform legislation.

The vigil will begin on Sunday September 13 at 7 p.m. and will end the following day at 10 p.m., a press release from vigil organizers reports.

Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the group Faith and Action, said the nation was not only in an economic crisis or a health care crisis but “a spiritual crisis.” He said that the only way to address that crisis is through prayer.

“Every American, no matter how young or old, can and must pray,” he added.

Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said that Americans have always turned to God in prayer at times of great challenge and crisis.

“We have set these 27 hours apart to seek God for his wisdom, direction and counsel for our nation. This is especially true concerning the national debate on health care.”

Those gathered at the Capitol vigil, he said, will “humble ourselves and cry out to God for social justice and human rights.”

“We will be specifically praying that no public monies are used in any way to pay for abortions as part of health care reform.”

According to Rev. Mahoney, participants will be a “bold public and prophetic witness” that abortion is not health care and that health care reform should bring “healing and compassion” and not “violence and brokenness.”

“As people of faith, we do not have to sit on the sidelines and watch as events unfold on the world state. Rather, through prayer, fasting and repentance we can help shape history."

Source: CNA
Publish Date: September 9, 2009
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No atheists in birthing centers

No atheists in birthing centers



It has often been said that there are no atheists in foxholes.  Having never been in combat, I can't speak to that.  But having just been present for the birth of my first child, I feel quite comfortable saying without equivocation there are no atheists in birthing centers...at least not ones with a lick of sense.
 
To call the birth of a human baby a miracle is the understatement of the millennia.  It is either the height of arrogance or ignorance (perhaps both) to believe that such an event could have ever happened spontaneously and without intentional design.

Please understand that I mean no deliberate disrespect to those who have made the decision to live in rebellion to that which is patently obvious.  I truly believe that many professing atheists are some of the most educated people on the planet.  But an old boss I used to work for ingrained a phrase in my head that finds perfect application with these very nonbelievers: "Educated don't mean smart."
 
I remember visiting my dad on various Air Force bases when I was younger and he was in the active duty.  We would walk around and be amazed at the massive size and incredible intricacies of the jets assembled on the tarmac.  And I remember thinking to myself while I gazed at those technological masterpieces, "I'd love to meet the person who built this thing...they must be the smartest person in the world."
 
Surely I wasn't too far off in that assessment.  The complex systems that are required to all function in just the perfect manner at just the perfect time with just the perfect result could have never been the product of spontaneity or artless chance.  No one – especially the educated – would ever suggest that an F-16 was assembled by mixing up bolts, rods, and metal scraps together in a cement mixer and dumping them out all at once.  No matter whether a person concocted the most elaborate and detailed explanation of how these random processes might have occurred, used the most extensive vocabulary, and bolstered their theory by getting like-minded academics to concur, the proposition would still defy common sense and all rationality.
 
One of the famous atheist minds of our time, Carl Sagan, agreed.  For decades, Sagan was involved in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project out in the American southwest.  His team of scientists beamed powerful satellite dishes into the sky and listened intently to the furthest reaches of space to see if they could detect any sign of intelligent life.  When Sagan was asked what exactly they were listening for, he responded by stating that if in the noise of space they could find a pattern of any sort, they would conclude life must exist somewhere else in the cosmos.  Why?  Because, Sagan said, a pattern always indicates intelligent design.
 
How then men like Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Sam Harris, and others – truly gifted intellects – can look at the DNA code and maintain their arrogant disbelief is mind boggling.  Further, one must wonder if they have ever set foot in a birthing center.
 
When our little girl was born, I watched her tiny eyes dart back and forth, squinting from the bright lights.  I asked one of the nurses whether she was seeing okay or not.  Instead of a simple yes or no, I got a full explanation of the workings of the inner eye...and I was dumbfounded.  From that first moment her eyes opened, her cornea was taking the widely diverging rays of light and bending them through the pupil.  There, the lens focused light to the back of the eye chamber where the retina layer takes over.  The retina is a membrane containing photoreceptor nerve cells that lines the inside back wall of the eye. It changes the rays into electrical impulses and sends them through the optic nerve to the brain where an image is perceived.
 
Stunned, I asked about the ears...could she recognize my voice?  Even when she was in the womb, sounds from the outside world came in through the outer ear canal which amplified the vibrations and sent them across the eardrum.  The eardrum transmitted these vibrations on to the inner ear through the oval window and into the cochlea.  There the sound waves cause fluid to begin to move, setting tiny hairs into motion which transform the sound vibrations into electrical impulses which travel through the auditory nerve to the brain.  There, somehow – though science still doesn't understand how – the brain translates those sound pulses into recognizable information.
 
After hearing that, Paul's words in Romans took on all new meaning for me as I thought of the intellectual elitists who for the sake of pride deny the existence of our Creator: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."  Anyone who denies the obvious conclusion that comes from such magnificent and unimaginable design, no matter how educated, is a fool.
 
As I held my little Addison that first night, I couldn't help but think back to walking around those Air Force bases as a child.  And in the stillness of the hospital room, I found myself speaking the same words all over again: "I'd love to meet the one who built this masterpiece."

Contact: Peter Heck
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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Federal probe should include Planned Parenthood

Federal probe should include Planned Parenthood

A prominent pro-life leader has some advice for the Justice Department in a probe of racism.



Dr. Alveda King -- niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and head of African American Outreach -- points to the DOJ's new drive to probe possibly racist policies of federal fund recipients. She believes the agency's investigation ought to include Planned Parenthood, which she calls the biggest abortion provider and referral service in the U.S. and that receives a huge annual federal tax subsidy.
 
"That can certainly be considered racial and discriminatory against people of color and against the poor because Planned Parenthood puts most of their clinics in urban areas and in African-American areas, and now Hispanic areas," King points out.
 
Dr. Alveda King (King for America)King contends it is difficult to get Washington's attention to look into the problem on the basis of discrimination.
 
"Planned Parenthood has a history of deception, fooling leaders like my uncle, Dr. King; fooling susceptible, abortion-vulnerable women like me. Fifty-million babies have been aborted in America, and many of the women who receive those abortions have been abortion-vulnerable," the pro-life leader notes. "We've been lied to. Many of our leaders have been lied to."
 
King points out that 36 percent of abortions performed in the U.S. kill African-American babies, while African Americans only represent about 11 percent of the population.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: September 9, 2009
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New BarlowGirl Post-Abortion Song

New BarlowGirl Post-Abortion Song



Following are the lyrics to the post-abortion song, "Tears Fall," by BarlowGirl, from the album Love & War, being released today. According to CMSpin:

"Tears Fall," is without a doubt the most powerful song found on Love & War. This powerful piano ballad is a pro-life song that deals with the issue of abortion straight on. The band worked on this song for two and a half years to get its message just right.

Click here to hear a snip of the song. (Click on the 10th track.) The lyrics...

I have had the same dreams many times it haunts my mind
It starts with a light but it ends every time
Oh so many faces that this world will never see
A reason for your life but your heart will never be

May our tears fall down
Let them soften this ground
May our hearts be found
God forgive us now

Oh what have we lost because we chose we'll never know
And loving you is better than feeling alone
And all our claims to freedom have become these heavy chains
And in the name of rights we keep filling nameless graves

Let the tears fall down
Let them soften this ground
Let our hearts be found
God forgive us now

Oooh

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: JillStanek.com
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

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-Lifers to Spend Two Weeks Protesting Health Care Bill
 
Mounting concern over the possibility of taxpayer-funded abortions in health-care reform has prompted Christians to pray and protest in Washington, D.C.

The "Kill the Bill" protests will take place Sept. 9-23 on Capitol Hill.  Pro-life advocates will pray and hand out leaflets to staffers.  Others will lobby members of the House and Senate to oppose any bill that would include abortion.

Charmaine Yoest, president and chief executive officer of Americans United for Life, said some lawmakers claim the health care plan wouldn't cover.

"Unless they pass an explicit ban on abortion funding," she said, "then it's in there."
Click here for the full article.


Largest Network of Priests against Abortion Weighs in on Health Care Debate

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, the largest network of clergy and lay people dedicated to ending abortion, announced today two special initiatives regarding the Church's call for authentic health care.  First, Priests for Life has created a special website at www.PrayerCampaign.org which features a daily Prayer to End Abortion as well as a Prayer for Our Nation's Health Care Reform.   A second site, ProLifePrayers.org, serves as a special Facebook cause that is quickly becoming the largest pro-life prayer group in history.  Fr. Pavone asks all priests to encourage their parishioners to join Facebook and sign up on this urgent cause.
Click here for the full article.


Pregnancy Centers Get Boost with New Partnership at Care Net National Conference

Christian Leadership Alliance and EvanTell come alongside movement with new resources, programs, and training

Care Net will celebrate its 26th National Pregnancy Center Conference on Sept. 9-12, 2009 in Baltimore, MD, attracting more than 900 individuals from across North America for training, worship, inspiration, and encouragement. Despite a down economy and a changing political climate, the pregnancy center movement is alive and well, thanks to the support of individuals, foundations, and organizations providing new partnerships and resources to support its critical work.
Click here for the full article.


Planned Parenthood to Close 5 Clinics

Planned Parenthood's 29 Other Clinics To Stay Open Across Indiana

Planned Parenthood of Indiana is closing five (of its 34) clinics, including one in Indianapolis, because of a loss of funding. Planned Parenthood's 29 other centers, including several in Indianapolis, will remain open. Planned Parenthood is losing some of the funding it receives through the Indiana State Department of Health-administered Title XX grants. The grants were used to help pay some of the costs for patient treatment. Starting in October, the Indiana Family Health Council, a nonprofit corporation, takes over administration of about $2 million in Title XX funds. The Indiana Family Health Council funds a number of health centers that treat low-income patients. Those clinics include Wishard and HealthNet, as well as a number of federally funded health centers.
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Hundreds of Pro-Life Demonstrators Converge on Vienna City Hall to Protest Abortion Party

This past Friday several hundred pro-life demonstrators in Vienna protested the decision of the city's mayor to host a party celebrating the anniversary of a notorious abortion facility.

The demonstration outside city hall marked a party hosted by Mayor Michael Häupl to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Austria's first legal abortion facility, the Pro-Woman Clinic, which operates according to the guidelines of Marie Stopes International (MSI), and claims to have killed over 300,000 babies since its founding.

The 500-strong coalition of pro-life Austrians and others included representatives of Human Life International, Tradition, Family and Property, Doctors for Life, and the Austrian political party Die Christen. They were joined by over a hundred members of Youth for Life who travelled across Austria to attend the event, and by the Centre for Bioethical Reform (Europe), based in neighboring Slovakia.
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Largest Pro-Life TV Show Starts 15th Consecutive Year with Brand New Series

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, the largest network of clergy and lay people dedicated to ending abortion, announced today the new season of Defending Life, the largest and longest running pro-life TV show in the world.  The show began in 1995 after Mother Angelica personally asked Fr. Pavone to do a series on abortion.  EWTN recently doubled the production of the series to 26 new episodes per year. 

The new season features 13 brand new episodes.  It will run on the EWTN Global Catholic Network on Fridays at 10pm and Saturdays at 2 am as well as on EWTN Global Catholic Radio on Fridays at 1am, Saturdays at 6:30pm and Sundays at 5am (All times Eastern). 
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Study: Pregnancy Outcomes Influence Breast Cancer Risk

Study: Pregnancy Outcomes Influence Breast Cancer Risk

"[A]fter the Hiroshima atomic bomb exposed women to high doses of radiation, it was young, nulliparous (childless) women who later developed breast cancer while the older parous (with children) women did not." Angela Lanfranchi, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and President, Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.

A paper published this week in the journal, The Linacre Quarterly, by Angela Lanfranchi, MD shows how different pregnancy outcomes influence breast cancer risk. She explains, in simple terms, the biological reasons for each risk. [1] Citing 52 years of research, she said the evidence shows that:

• "In utero, (the mother's) offspring produce hormones that mature 85 percent of the mother's breast tissue into cancer-resistant breast tissue." This accounts for the protective effect of full term pregnancy (FTP) that experts universally recognize.
   
• Delayed first FTP is associated with a temporary risk increase because it lengthens the period during the reproductive years when nearly all of the breast lobules are immature and cancer-susceptible and exposed to the cancer-causing effects of estrogen during menstrual cycles. However, in terms of lifetime risk, the mother will eventually benefit from the protective effect of FTP, provided it lasted at least 32 weeks.  
   
• Short pregnancies that end before 32 weeks (except for first trimester miscarriages) leave the breasts only "partially matured" and "with more places for cancers to start." 
   
• "Induced abortion is a recognized cause of premature birth.... and prematurity more than doubles breast cancer risk if it is before 32 weeks." 
   
• Most first trimester miscarriages do not raise risk because "inadequate levels of the pregnancy hormones" during an abnormal pregnancy do not stimulate breast growth and "leave the mother's breasts unchanged."
   
• Among women experiencing breast cancer during pregnancy, those who had FTPs had the longest survival rate in comparison to women who miscarried and had "slightly shorter survivals," and those who chose abortion and had the "shortest survivals."
   
• "There is data that suggests that a woman who has a complete pregnancy and lactates within five years of an abortion has a lower risk of breast cancer than if a woman waits more than ten years before her first child is born."
   
• Hormonal contraceptives containing "estrogen-progestin combination drugs prescribed in any manner of delivery: orally, transdermally, vaginally, or intrauterine, increase risk."
   
• Breastfeeding reduces risk "in proportion to the length of breastfeeding."

Experts concede that an independent link between abortion and breast cancer makes good biological sense. [2]

"Women suffer tremendously when 'breast cancer awareness groups' keep us in the dark about breast physiology, especially when millions unwittingly damage their health by choosing abortion and combined hormone replacement therapy," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer.

"We encourage the public to send Dr. Lanfranchi's paper to the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Ask them if they can find any inaccuracies concerning the physiology presented in her paper. Challenge them to defend their position in the customary way - before their peers - by stating their objections in a letter to the editor of the medical journal."

Lanfranchi's paper is entitled, "Normal breast physiology: The reasons hormonal contraceptives and induced abortion increase breast cancer risk." She is available for interviews at 1-86-NO CANCER.

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

References:

1. Lanfranchi, A. Normal breast physiology: The reasons hormonal contraceptives and induced abortion increase breast cancer risk. The Linacre Quarterly 2009;76:236-249. Available at: www.abortionbreastcancer.com/download/LQ_76_3_2_Lanfranchi.pdf

2. Endocrinology professor Joel Brind (Baruch College, City University of New York) wrote in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons in 2005: "Researchers also widely admit to the biological plausibility of abortion as an independent cause of breast cancer through the estrogen-mediated stimulation of breast growth in the absence of differentiation." [2] Brind J. Induced abortion as an independent risk factor for breast cancer: A critical review of recent studies based on prospective data. J Am Phys Surg Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter 2005) 105-110. Available at: www.jpands.org/vol10no4/brind.pdf.

Contact: Karen Malec
Source: Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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The Creeping Culture of Euthanasia

The Creeping Culture of Euthanasia



I was asked by the National Review to write a story for the magazine on the recent advances made by the assisted suicide movement.  It is the cover story.  There is no link, but here are few excerpts:

The assisted-suicide movement has come a long way in just a couple of decades. Consider, for example, this recent item from the San Francisco Chronicle: “Charlotte Shultz [the wife of former secretary of state George Shultz] accepted the invitation to be honorary co- chair (with Dianne Feinstein) at a Nov. 5 luncheon and program for Compassion & Choices of Northern California, saying, ‘I’m glad to support the cause, but I’m in no hurry to use the services.’”

Compassion & Choices used to be called the Hemlock Society. It is the nation’s premier assisted-suicide advocacy group.

When members of the social and political elite — people like Senator Feinstein and Mrs. Shultz — associate themselves with assisted-suicide groups as openly as they would with charities like the United Way, we have reached a new cultural moment.

There are some on my side of the fence who criticize me for conceding too much.  But I believe that “spin” is the last thing that works, particularly when you are on the politically incorrect side. After Washington and Montana last year, to say that the movement hasn’t advanced is to lack credibility by denying the obvious.

The question is why: I blame the “Oregon Myth,” the false assertion that assisted suicide in Oregon has essentially been problem free.  I spend some time demonstrating that it isn’t true, with examples of abuses–such as the Barbara Wagner/Randy Stroup travesty–and I illuminate the joke that is the Oregon oversight system:

These advances would not have happened but for a powerful myth promoted by assisted-suicide advocates and helped along by a compliant media: the notion that Oregon’s experiment with legalized assisted suicide has been a success, in which problems and abuses are rare or nonexistent. It is true that the annual statistical reports published by the Public Health Division (henceforth OPHD) of Oregon’s Department of Human Services have revealed very few problems. But there’s a reason for that: The reporting system was designed by the authors of the assisted-suicide legislation to be incapable of vigorous policing and in-depth data gathering.

As a result, nobody knows precisely what is going on in Oregon. The data in the state-published reports are based overwhelmingly on self- reporting by death-prescribing doctors — who are as likely to admit violating the law on this matter as they are to tell the IRS that they have cheated on their taxes. Indeed, as the bureaucrats charged with publishing the annual report admitted to an investigative committee from the British House of Lords, the OPHD engages in only very limited and random checking of the information it receives. Moreover, the department has no budget or authority to investigate apparent violations of the law, and all documentation relied upon in writing the annual report is destroyed once the report has been published.

Dr.Kathleen Foley, perhaps the nation’s premier palliative-care doctor, and suicide-prevention expert Dr. Herbert Hendin wrote in the Michigan Law Review last year that the OPHD “does not collect the information it would need to effectively monitor the law and in its actions and publications acts as the defender of the law rather than as the protector of the welfare of terminally ill patients.”

I discuss the reasons for the loss of I-1000 in Washington and the Montana court imposition of assisted suicide as a constitutional right. I get into the role of Compassion and Choices in Obamacare and its attempt to change its image into what could be called the Planned Parenthood of death.  I conclude:

Two thousand and eight was a banner year for the assisted-suicide/ euthanasia movement. It’s likely that no new states will legalize assisted suicide this year. But if the last 20 years prove anything, it is that euthanasia advocates are passionately committed, work hard, and feel that time is on their side. Are their opponents equally committed?

I hope the article will educate people who don’t pay close attention to this issue about the myth of Oregon. Even more importantly, I hope it will be a wake up call for all of those who oppose assisted suicide–but consider it a bit of a back burner issue because it can’t happen here. The year 2008 proved that they are wrong.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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Court rules in favor of 'endangering' minors

Court rules in favor of 'endangering' minors



A New York federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the FDA, challenging the sale of the Plan B "morning-after" pill to 17-year-olds.

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) represented Concerned Women for America, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, and Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International in the case. Steve Aden is an ADF attorney.
 
"The judge said that the plaintiffs didn't have the legal right to bring a lawsuit to challenge the over-the-counter switch for Plan B, even though they were comprised of doctors' groups, pharmacists, and parents whose interests were directly tied to the availability of Plan B over the counter," he explains.
 
The lawsuit was filed because Aden's clients believed that a female's life and health are worth more than Planned Parenthood's bottom line or the political agenda of pro-abortion groups.
 
"And that a drug that can be dangerous if not used properly, or if indications of labeling are disregarded, as they could very well be by minors who are not mature in judgment, could be dangerous to the young woman," he notes. "But all this didn't matter to the court."
 
Aden is considering options, and only one of them is an appeal.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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Obamacare: Assisted Suicide Promoting Congressman Behind End of Life Counseling Provision

Obamacare: Assisted Suicide Promoting Congressman Behind End of Life Counseling Provision



The brouhaha over end of life counseling that caused the first of many leaks that have begun to sink the Obamacare boat was written by an assisted suicide advocate Congressman from Oregon named Earl Blumenauer–working in close association, with–surprise, surprise!–the assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion and Choices.  Rita Marker traces the history of the clause in an important piece in the American Thinker. From her column:

Blumenauer’s “end-of-life” terminology is part and parcel of Section 1233.  Clearly expressing his ownership of the section, he described an incident that took place when he was presiding over House proceedings.  Writing about Section 1233 in the Huffington Post, Blumenauer stated, “Actually, I know a little bit about this section because it’s a bill that I wrote which was incorporated into the overall legislation.”called the “Advance Planning and Compassionate Care Act.”

In fact, a portion of that bill, (Sec. 211, p. 50) makes up almost the entirety of Section 1233. Although Blumenauer and other defenders of Section 1233 vociferously deny that it could have anything to do with assisted suicide, his earlier bill acknowledged that assisted suicide would be included in such consultations.  Since federal law currently prohibits federal funding from being used for “items and services” related to assisted suicide, Blumenauer inserted language into HR 2911 (Sec. 111, p. 19) stating that advance care planning “shall not be construed to violate the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997.”   That exception did not make its way into HR 3200, probably because any reference to assisted suicide would raise red flags.

That’s very interesting to know, isn’t it?  Supporters of the section have been shocked, shocked, that anyone could think that there was an agenda at work. And wait, there is another bill in the Senate that would apparently make end of life counseling anything but voluntary for the physicians:

Blumenauer is not the only lawmaker to propose advance care planning consultations.  Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced a similar bill, curiously called the “Senior Navigation and Planning Act of 2009″ (Warner told Medical Futility that he submitted the legislation because Congress is considering health care reform and he would like to see some of his ideas incorporated into that legislation.   His bill (Sec. 6, p. 14) would force doctors to provide information on advance directives and other end-of-life planning tools in “a form and manner, and at a time, determined to be appropriate by the Secretary [of Health and Human Services].” The consequence for not doing so would be severe.  No payment would be made to physicians for any items and services furnished after January 1, 2014,  unless they agreed (under a process established by the Secretary) to provide individuals with information on advance directives and other end-of-life planning tools.

Technically, a patient would not be forced to have an advance care planning consultation. However, physicians would be unlikely to treat them unless they agreed to do so since doctors who didn’t provide the end-of-life talk would not be paid for any other services.

Hmmm.  Now perhaps we know why an explicit voluntary clause for both patient and doctor was not put into HB 3200.  Remember what I have been saying: It’s not the bill you have to worry about as much as the regulations.

Oh, and guess what, SB 1251 creates an advisory panel that would have bioehticists and other assorted people with a special interest in the field as members. From the legislation:

SEC. 5. SENIOR NAVIGATION ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) Establishment- The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish the Senior Navigation Advisory Board (in this section referred to as the `Advisory Board’).
(b) Membership- The Board shall be comprised of advocates, researchers, government officials, health care providers, ethicists, caregivers, and other individuals with expertise in issues related to end-of-life care.

We know in which direction that boat would sail!

I don’t see why anyone would be surprised. This entire area of controversy is primarily about cutting costs. And many think the best way to do that is to tilt the playing field toward self rationing by seniors. And if that doesn’t work, futile care theory will finish the job.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: September 8, 2009
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Attorney general hears allegations against abortion biz

Attorney general hears allegations against abortion biz

Former employees claim non-certified personnel did medical procedures


Troy Newman at news conference regarding
allegations against abortion LeRoy Carhart

Three former employees of Nebraska late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart have submitted affidavits to state Attorney General Jon Bruning alleging a pattern of illegal activity in the abortion business dating back years.

The report comes from officials with Operation Rescue, a pro-life activist organization that set up headquarters in a former abortion business it purchased in Wichita, Kan., and worked for years to expose the activities of George Tiller, that city's late-term abortion.

Tiller was killed by a murderer's bullet earlier this year and a suspect taken into custody.

According to Operation Rescue, members of pro-life groups met with Bruning this week to present to him the signed affidavits from former Carhart employees.

OR President Troy Newman said, "For the first time, we have sworn statements from women who have admitted that they were instructed to commit illegal activity at Carhart's abortion clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska. That makes their allegations compelling and convincing.

"These women came forward on their own to blow the whistle on Carhart out of concern for the safety and well-being of women. These are not pro-life activists by any stretch of the imagination," he said.

Bruning took the documents and assured activists that the documents also would be forwarded to the state Department of Health and Human Services, which earlier launched an investigation of Carhart at the request of Operation Rescue, Nebraskans United for Life and Rescue the Heartland.

"We emphasized to the attorney general that many of the allegations being made violate criminal statutes and we requested an investigation by his office in addition to whatever the Department of Health was doing," said Newman.

"Mr. Bruning assured us that he would use all due diligence to review the matter, and if he finds that the laws of Nebraska have been broken, he would do his duty within the confines of the law. Mr. Bruning is an honorable man who we believe will not hesitate to enforce the law. Now we must allow time for the process to work," Newman confirmed.

The former employees were not identified immediately. But Newman said they have made allegations that Carhart had workers without proper licensing and training performing medical tasks that were illegal for them to do, such as starting IVs and dispensing medications.

Among other allegations: Illegal post-viability abortions were performed, drugs went missing, there were unclean conditions and poor hygiene and Carhart himself was chemically impaired on duty.

According to a report in the Omaha World-Herald, Carhart denied any improper activities.

The newspaper also reported it interviewed some of the former workers in confidence, getting the same allegations as Operation Rescue.

"Two of the women said they routinely started IVs at Carhart's clinic though they weren't registered nurses or certified licensed practical nurses, as required in Nebraska," the report said.

Another worker "said she frequently administered medication intravenously although she wasn't a certified LPN," the newspaper confirmed.

The newspaper also reported several of the witnesses it interviewed have drug convictions, including two who had criminal records before they were hired.

At Tiller's death, Carhart promised he would do some of the late-term abortions Tiller would have provided at his now-closed business.

"The situations described by the brave women who have come forward prove that Mr. Carhart lacks sound medical judgment and is incompetent to continue the practice of medicine," said Newman. "The allegations made transcend standard of care issues. They show a pattern of criminal conduct that has endangered the lives and safety of women over a period of several years."

Contact: Bob Unruh
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: September 5, 2009
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Despite disavowal of radical sex ed guide, UNFPA continues activist training

Despite disavowal of radical sex ed guide, UNFPA continues activist training


UNFPA director Thoroya Obaid

While criticism has caused the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to pull its name from a graphic sex ed guide, the organization has just completed a conference in Berlin to train 400 activists to demand countries fund and provide similar programs and abortions.

The Non-Governmental Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development met from September 2-4. The German government co-sponsored the forum with the UNFPA.

Wendy Wright, president for Concerned Women of America, and Samantha Singson, Director of Government Relations at the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), were at the conference and reported on it in a C-FAM press release.

Sessions at the conference trained activists to agitate for more money from countries and foundations. They were taught how to pressure governments to provide sex education and abortion and how to train youth to advocate for abortion and “sexual rights,” C-FAM says.

Materials titled “Ensuring Women’s Access to Safe Abortion” and “I Need an Abortion” were distributed to attendees.

A statement to be released at the end of the conference tells countries to provide abortions through public health systems and to guarantee “sexual and reproductive rights as human rights.”

It also calls for the elimination of parental and age restrictions for youth access to “the full range of sexual and reproductive health information and services.”

Further, the conference statement calls for increased funding for non-governmental organizations to expand advocacy.

UNFPA director Thoroya Obaid told the conference: "Unlike us at the U.N. who are held accountable by intergovernmental mechanisms, you as NGOs have more freedom and space to push the agenda ahead."

In related news, CNSNews.com recently broke a story on a sex ed guide titled, “International Guidelines on Sexual Education,” and put out by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in cooperation with the UNFPA. The guide, published in June, advocates teaching 5 to 8 year olds about self-abuse. It calls for children ages 9 to 12 to be taught about abortions, while by age 15 it recommends teaching them about “advocacy to promote the right to and access to safe abortion.”

According to C-FAM, the guidelines are identical to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) and one of the guide authors is a former SIECUS employee.

Samantha Singson commented on the controversy, saying “In the same week that UNFPA backtracked on putting its name on the sex ed manual, it trained activists to demand ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ and access to abortion for all youth."

Wendy Wright was also critical:

"UNFPA tells people to 'create a need' for reproductive health care. Now we can see that UNFPA creates the need for abortion, HIV/AIDS treatments and other health care by teaching kids as young as five to be sexually active.”

Source: CNA
Publish Date: September 5, 2009
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NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

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.

Multipurpose Stem Cells From Human Fat

You know that fat in your body you wish you didn't have? It turns out those cells could be used to create stem cells that one day may be able to cure disease. Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that the millions of fat cells removed during liposuction can be easily and quickly turned into induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, more easily than the skin cells that researchers used when the first iPS cells were created in 2007.
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Healthcare Bill Would Reduce Abortion

Democrats and liberal activists have begun pushing back on conservative charges that Democrat healthcare reform plans would increase access to abortion with a novel argument: that extending health insurance would actually reduce the number of abortions by extending access to contraception. Third Way has just sent Capitol Hill aides its analysis of the House healthcare bill's implications for abortion. The influential progressive think tank argues that the bill will "have the ultimate effect of reducing the number of abortions in America."
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Washington Post: Debate Over End-of-Life Care Began in Small Midwestern Town

This city (LA CROSSE, Wis.) often shows up on "best places to live" lists, but residents say it is also a good place to die -- which is how it landed in the center of a controversy that almost derailed health-care reform this summer. The town's biggest hospital, Gundersen Lutheran, has long been a pioneer in ensuring that the care provided to patients in their final months complies with their wishes. More recently, it has taken the lead in seeking to have Medicare compensate physicians for advising patients on end-of-life planning.
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Lawmaker Hopes to Make Killing Unborn Babies a Crime?

The murder of a pregnant teenager in Santa Fe this spring has some state lawmakers asking why our state laws against murder don't include unborn babies. Most states call it murder, but New Mexico is one of 14 states where there is no punishment for killing an unborn baby—no matter how far along the pregnancy is. Marino Leyba Jr. is accused of killing his 17-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Lovato, her unborn baby boy, and her father, Bennie Lovato. Sarah was nine months pregnant. His lawyer says he was insane when he hauled out the 9 millimeter pistol and started shooting.
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U.N. Calls for Global Abortion Funding

The executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently gave a speech at an international conference calling for a $23 billion dollar budget to fund abortions worldwide. "It would cost the world 23 billion dollars per year to terminate undesired pregnancies and deaths during delivery," said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, leader of the organization, before over 400 "reproductive rights" advocates at the Berlin meeting, which was co-sponsored by the German government. She also called for a redoubling of efforts related to contraceptives, despite increasing evidence that such programs actually encourage extramarital sexual intercourse and the spread of disease.
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Stem cell successes go unreported

The Culture and Media Institute believes the media is biased in favor of research on human embryos, but that there is scant coverage of successful work with adult stem cells.

CMI's Colleen Raezler says the media is playing upon emotions in its promotion of embryonic stem-cell research. "Reporter after reporter keeps touting the line that scientists believe that by turning embryonic stem cells into cells damaged by injury or disease, they can treat or even cure everything from spine cord injuries to Alzheimer's disease to diabetes," she notes.
 
She contends the media fails to mention that such research has proven nothing and has been scientifically ineffective.
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Czechs practicing euthanasia, doctors say

Euthanasia is being practiced in the Czech Republic, even though it is against the law, some doctors have acknowledged.

At a recent meeting of the Czech Doctors' Academy, no physician raised his hand when a speaker asked if anyone is convinced euthanasia is not used in the country, according to an Aug. 26 Czech News Agency report on an article in the daily newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes.

Euthanasia involves the deliberate administration of drugs to cause a person's death rather than to relieve his suffering.
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Question a doctor and lose your child

PARENTS are being threatened with having their children taken into care after questioning doctors’ diagnoses or objecting to their medical care.

John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, who campaigns to stop injustices in the family court, said: “Very often care proceedings are used as retaliation by local authorities against ‘uppity’ people who question the system.”

Cases are emerging across the UK:

The mother of a 13-year-old girl who became partly paralysed after being given a cervical cancer vaccination says social workers have told her the child may be removed if she (the mother) continues to link her condition with the vaccination.

A couple had all six of their children removed from their care after they disputed the necessity of an invasive medical test on their eldest daughter. Doctors, who suspected she might have had a blood disease, called for social services to obtain an emergency protection order, although it was subsequently confirmed that she was not suffering from the condition. The parents were still considered unstable, and all their children were taken from them.

A single mother whose teenage son is terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair has been told he is to become the subject of a care order after she complained that her local authority’s failure to provide bathroom facilities for him has left her struggling to maintain sanitary standards.
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Youth pro-life groups ask teens to protest Obama on abortion in health care Tuesday

Youth pro-life groups ask teens to protest Obama on abortion in health care Tuesday Much has been on the news about Barack Obama's plan to address America's public school students, K-12, next Tuesday, September 8. CBS News reported yesterday conservatives are "revolt[ing]" at what they saw clearly as an indoctrination attempt, reflected by such writing projects recommended following Obama's speech as, "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president," which following the uproar has been changed to "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals." Clearly the White House's Department of Education surrogate planned a not so subtle indoctrination campaign, which they've now had to subliminalize. Now 3 youth pro-life organizations are planning an indoctrination push-back. Students for Life of America, Stand True Ministries, and Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust have joined forces and are encouraging high school students "to make their voices heard and take action," according to a press release. The groups are asking pro-life students to on Tuesday wear plain, white t-shirts with "Abortion Is Not Health Care" written in large letters across the front, "to protest the President's current support for nationalized health care that will include government funded abortions," states the press release. Some great statements by organization leaders: Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of SFL, remarked, "Students for Life acknowledges the very real danger in passing a nationalized health care plan, and we are doing everything we can to raise awareness about the dangers in this bill. On Tuesday, high school students will show that they do not support any health care legislation which proposes government funded abortions." Bryan Kemper, President of ST, has similar sentiments: "By very virtue of Obama addressing our students in the classroom at such a critical time when he is dropping in the polls for his radical healthcare reform policies, it is important that students understand that this will be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. Students need to wear their homemade shirts and show school administration, staff, and faculty that indoctrination stops with them." Jeff White, Co-Founder of Survivors, remarked, "I saw recently President Obama in a 2nd grade class on a little chair talking with the students. I wonder if he told them that just 8 years ago he advocated the right to kill them." Go, pro-life students! Contact: Jill Stanek Source: JillStanek.com Publish Date: September 4, 2009 Link to this article.   Send this article to a friend.