WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson rejected a proposal Thursday that was billed as a compromise on federal funding of abortion, easing concerns by pro-lifers while also casting further doubt that a health care bill can pass the Senate before Christmas.
A pro-lifer from Nebraska, Nelson is facing increasing pressure to fall in line with his Democratic colleagues and allow a floor vote on the bill. But Nelson has rejected such calls, and even said Thursday that the abortion language isn't the only problem he has with the bill.
"There are other substantive issues" that would lead him to filibuster, he told KLIN-AM in Lincoln, Neb.
As it stands now, the bill allows federal subsidies for lower income people to go toward purchasing insurance plans covering abortion. It would be a departure from current policy that, for instance, prohibits insurance plans for federal employees from covering abortion.
If the bill is not changed, pro-lifers say, then the abortion rate could skyrocket. The pro-choice Guttmacher Institute this summer reported that about 25 percent of the women who would have had Medicaid-funded abortions chose instead to give birth when they were barred from using public money. Medicaid does not cover elective abortions.
With Sen. Joe Lieberman, I.-Conn., having had his concerns with the bill met -- a public option and Medicare buy-in apparently have been stripped -- Nelson seemingly is the lone holdout keeping Democratic leaders from reaching the crucial 60th vote to block a filibuster. There are 60 members of the Democratic caucus.
Sen. Bob Casey, D.-Pa., who votes with pro-lifers on some issues, had presented Nelson with compromise language Wednesday that National Right to Life nearly immediately rejected. Although the language was never released publicly, National Right to Life's Douglas Johnson said in a statement the proposal would have allowed federal subsidies for lower income people to be used for purchasing health care plans that cover abortion while somehow permitting "individual citizens to apply for conscientious objector status."
Said Nelson, "As it is right now, without further modifications, it isn't sufficient."
Nelson reiterated that he would support a filibuster if the abortion language doesn't meet his standards. He proposed a pro-life amendment to the health care bill that was defeated Dec. 8. It was similar to an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D.-Mich., in the House. The Stupak amendment, Nelson said Thursday, "is the right language."
Nelson did say Casey's language had some victories for pro-lifers, such as boosting the adoption tax credit and helping unwed mothers who want to choose an alternative to abortion.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, urged pro-lifers to pray for Nelson.
"Unless and until language in the Senate bill bans the use of public funds to underwrite the killing of our unborn citizens, pro-lifers will remain adamantly opposed to it," Land told Baptist Press. "I encourage all pro-life Americans to pray that God will give Sen. Ben Nelson courage and steadfastness as he stands for our country's unborn citizens."
Despite being a member of a pro-choice party, Nelson has a strong pro-life record, all the way back to his two terms as governor in the 1990s. It was Nelson who signed the ban against partial-birth abortion that eventually was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. (The court later allowed a federal ban to stand.) He was endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life when he ran for re-election for the Senate in 2006 and has a 100 percent pro-life record in the current Congress, according to National Right to Life.
"We have a long relationship with him, dating back to when he was governor," Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, told Baptist Press. "So we acknowledge and recognize that [the health care/abortion divide is] not an easy task. He's a pro-life Dem. It can't be easy."
Schmit-Albin was among the pro-life leaders that Nelson's office called Wednesday to get her thoughts on the Casey proposal.
"I called them back and very forcefully said that it wasn't acceptable, it wasn't Stupak," she said.
Nebraska Right to Life is running ads on the state's two largest Christian radio stations, in Lincoln and Omaha, thanking Nelson for sponsoring his amendment and asking listeners to call him and urge him to stand his ground.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, said she "wouldn't want to be in Sen. Nelson's shoes," facing pressure from both sides.
"We really appreciate all he's done on behalf of pro-life Democrats," Day told Baptist Press. "... He's so solid on these issues."
The Nelson amendment would have done two things: 1) prevent a government-run public option from covering abortion and 2) prohibit federal subsidies for lower-income people from purchasing private plans that cover abortion. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and to save the mother's life. A woman would be permitted to use her own money to purchase a "rider" that covers abortion.
A CNN poll in November found American adults are against "using public funds for abortions when the woman cannot afford it" by a 61-37 percent margin.
As this is being composed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.) is attempting to tie up a number of critically important loose ends without which immediate prospects for passing his "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" are substantially reduced. Abortion is, if not at the top of that list, darn close.
As we head into the homestretch of this phase of this protracted battle, two of the key players to emerge are Democratic Senators Bob Casey (Pa.) and pro-life Ben Nelson (Neb.)
Pro-life Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)
Sen. Nelson "wants an ironclad ban on using subsidies to buy policies that include abortion coverage," as the Washington Post observes. That would be language which tracks the pro-life Stupak-Pitts amendment, adopted by the House November 7, on a vote of 240-194.
Reid, of course, wants none of that. But he does want to be credited with finding "compromise" language. Sen. Casey has been his envoy, but pro-lifers are not buying what Casey is selling.
"This is far cry from the Stupak Amendment," NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson told reporters, referring to Casey's language. "This proposal would break from the long-established principles of the Hyde Amendment by providing federal subsidies for health plans that cover abortion on demand. This is entirely unacceptable."
He added, "It is particularly offensive that the proposal apparently would make it the default position for the federal government to subsidize plans that cover abortion on demand, and then permit individual citizens to apply for conscientious objector status."
Johnson's characterization of the Casey proposal is fully justified: "This is an exercise is cosmetics--like putting lipstick on a legislative warthog."
Sen. Nelson agrees the new language is insufficient. Asked this morning by KLIN radio in Lincoln, Nebraska, "Has the federal funding for abortion language been changed enough to satisfy you?" Nelson replied, "No."
Two other quick points.
First, the more desperate the pro-abortion Senate leadership becomes, the more it and its allies in the media will denounce pro-lifers for an entire litany of "sins." There will be many components but the glue that holds these complaints is the wholly fallacious contention that Senate pro-abortionists are merely trying to maintain the "status quo."
Second, public opinion has turned dramatically against health care restructuring. Understandably, President Obama and his fellow pro-abortionists assume that the longer the debate goes on, the more and more the American people will vocally oppose their ideas about transforming a sixth of the entire American economy. Thus, there will be wheeling and dealing in a frantic effort to get something passed by Christmas.
You must continue to voice your opposition. Regularly visit http://nrlactioncenter.com. There you will read "Time is short! Please telephone the offices of your two U.S. senators. Urge them to oppose the Reid health care bill (H.R. 3590), and to oppose "cloture" (ending debate) on the bill. The Washington offices of all U.S. senators can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121 (just tell the operator the name of your senator OR the name of your state). If you scroll to the bottom of this alert, you will find additional suggestions for ways to communicate with your senators on this issue.
BRISTOL, TN - Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the 17,000-member Christian Medical Association, the nation's largest faith-based association of doctors, today announced that he is canceling his membership in the American Medical Association as a way of publicly protesting what he says is the AMA's control by special interests that do not represent most physicians. The AMA has come under fire for endorsing healthcare overhaul legislation after closed-door negotiations with legislators.
"I can no longer associate with or support an organization that is unscientific, unprofessional and controlled by special interests," Dr. Stevens asserted in a letter sent earlier this week to the AMA. Dr. Stevens is also advising the organization's 17,000 members to "carefully consider if they should continue their memberships in the AMA."
Dr. Stevens noted in his letter, "The AMA claims to put the needs of patients first and then meets with Senate leaders to bargain for higher physician Medicare reimbursement in exchange for support of healthcare reform legislation. This unseemly, behind-closed-doors session trades the future welfare of our patients away for physicians' personal gain. It is a violation of the doctor-patient covenant and sells out our professional heritage.
"The AMA has even violated its own ethical statements in political advocacy at the behest of a vocal pro-abortion faction within AMA. Your resolution on right of conscience states that the 'AMA reaffirms that neither physician, hospital, nor hospital personnel shall be required to perform any act violative of personally held moral principles.' Yet you have worked vigorously at the federal level to overturn the only federal regulation that protects your members from this type of discrimination."
Dr. Stevens also cited the AMA's support of abortion and embryonic stem cell research, same-sex marriage and medical marijuana as examples of policies that contradict and undermine the positions of many physicians.
Dr. Stevens concluded, "In light of radical policies, it is no wonder that AMA's membership has dropped since the 1960's from nearly three of four practicing doctors to closer to one in five. Personally, I no longer see any hope of changing your radical positions by working from the inside."
Photo above is the Duggar 2009 family portrait via the Duggar family website.
It was reported a week ago today that super mom Michelle Duggar had given birth prematurely, at 25 gestational weeks, to her 19th baby, Josie Brooklyn.
Digital Spy reports today...
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have provided fans with an update on the health of their premature baby daughter.
The 18 Kids And Counting stars welcomed Josie, their 19th child, on December 10. She was 3 months premature and weighed 1lb 6oz.
Michelle is [recovering] from the emergency c-section
In an email to ABC News, Jim Bob said: "We are so grateful for all of the prayers and emails of support for our family since Josie Brooklyn Duggar was born.
"Michelle is [recovering] from the emergency c-section and is doing [a lot] better. Josie is beautiful and in stable condition."
Freda Ruark, the sister of Michelle, continued to say that the new arrival is now taking breast milk and "holding her own", adding: "As long as she can get some of that breast milk, that will help build up her immune system."
Ruark also said that she expects Michelle to remain in hospital "for a while".
Some of the other Duggar children are reportedly being cared for by their grandmother, who lives with them at the family home, while some are on a mission in El Salvador but keeping in contact with their parents every day.
Additional info on Josie's nutritional/immune system progress for breast feeding advocates in the crowd, from ABC: "[A]fter 3 breast milk feedings, Josie Brooklyn was able to keep down 2."
Turns out Michelle had pre-eclampsia. According to People:
Michelle Duggar's 19th baby was born prematurely... because Michelle suffered a rare condition during pregnancy that causes high blood pressure, her doctor says.
The condition, preeclampsia, which affects 5 to 8% of pregnancies, was discovered when Michelle was admitted to the University of AR for Medical Sciences to evaluate pain related to a gall bladder problem, says Dr. Paul Wendel, director of the hospital's Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
"The obstetrical and neonatal teams reached the collaborative decision... that Mrs. Duggar needed an emergency C-section to ensure the blood pressure problem would not be detrimental to her or the baby," says Wendel.
Each bassinet in the neonatal intensive care unit... is equipped with "angel-eye cameras," according to the hospital spokeswoman, which allows family, via a password, to view the baby from their home computers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As even more new language continues to pile up in Sen. Harry Reid's massive manager's amendment to the health care bill, which is being constructed behind closed doors, the leader of the Senate Republicans slammed the Democrats for planning to hold a vote on a bill no one has seen yet.
"Here's the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader's conference room has even seen," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a release Thursday. "That's right. The final bill we'll vote on isn't even the one we've had on the floor. It's the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private."
McConnell questioned the Democrats' motives for continuing to rush "one of the most significant, far-reaching pieces of legislation in U.S. history" in an effort to have it passed by Christmas. "This entire process is essentially a charade," he said.
"The only conceivable justification for rushing this bill is the overwhelming opposition of the American people. Democrats know that the longer Americans see this bill the less they like it."
McConnell pointed to recent poll results, consistent with the broad spectrum of data in recent weeks, showing that Americans in opposition to the current attempt at health reform vastly outnumber those in favor. A Pew poll released Wednesday found that 58% of Americans who have heard a lot about the bills oppose them, while only 32% favor them.
The minority leader also compared the timeline of the massive 2,000+ page bill to other, more minor pieces of legislation, many of which had far more amendments offered and were granted more time for consideration. One example he gave was a 2002 energy bill that was considered over a period of 8 weeks with 158 amendments offered.
The current health care bill has been considered by the senate over 4 weeks, with only 21 amendments and motions offered. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring the bill to a vote by this weekend.
"This isn't an energy bill. This is an attempt by a majority to take over one sixth of the U.S. economy - to vastly expand the reach and the role of government into the health care decisions of every single American - and they want to be done after one substantive amendment," he said. "This is absolutely inexcusable."
Senate Republicans yesterday launched the beginning of what they openly call a series of stall tactics to grind President Obama's health care juggernaut to a halt. One of these involved forcing a read-through of a 767-page proposed piece of legislation. However, Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin allowed an objection by Senator Bernie Sanders (I - VT) to cut off the effort, despite the fact that Senate rules grant only a unanimous vote the power to end the reading.
Republicans resorted to the tactic after health bill author Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) refused GOP Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) request to require that any amendment considered by the Senate be offered 72 hours ahead of any vote, with a full cost report.
Senator DeMint (R-SC) told the Washington Times that the GOP's motives were founded in the belief that they are no longer able to work with Senate Democrats in good faith, and that Frumin's ignoring of Senate rules gave Democrats an unfair advantage.
"The problem we have, I think if you look at the last couple of weeks, we were working in good faith and the strategy they were using was one of bait switch," said DeMint.
"While we were debating a decoy on the floor, while they were developing another one in secret, so to continue to play along with this as if it's a legitimate process makes no sense."
In a November speech, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-ME, expressed disgust with the Democrats' strategy of "artificially generated haste" over the health bill, to "ram it, to jam it" through the chamber. Snowe, who has been known to side with Democrats on many issues, pointed out that solid social reform in America has always been a bipartisan effort.
"Every line and every word in this 2,000-page document matters. ... When it comes to the subject at hand, the most consequential health-care legislation in the history of our country and reordering $33 trillion in health-care spending over the coming decade, surely, we can and must do better," said Snowe.
NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY (Referral to Web sites not produced by The Illinois Federation for Right to LIfe is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
A federal lawsuit has been filed against pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for its role in paying Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein nearly $500,000 over the course of a decade to conduct research and to promote its anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel. Reinstein is being accused of wrongfully preying on thousands of mentally-ill patients in order to rake in profits for AstraZeneca. Reinstein has a long history of working with AstraZeneca, receiving regular payments for speeches he would make across the country promoting the drug. AstraZeneca was also paying a for-profit research company, Uptown Research Institute, who in turn was paying Reinstein consulting fees for his services. Click here for the full article.
"IOTC" Senior Instructor Pastor David Whitney On Obama "Health Care" Plan -- Death Panels For All, The Born And Unborn. That is the topic on this "The American View" radio program which broadcasts live, daily, from 11 am to Noon (EST) and is now on the Liberty News Radio Network. Our call-in phone number is 1-866-986-6397. Do listen, please, and give us a call. The Liberty News Radio Network site is LibertyNewsRadio.com. Click here for the full article.
Woman Pleads NOT GUILTY in Assault on Pro-Lifer DULUTH, Minn. - A woman accused of holding a knife to the throat of an anti-abortion demonstrator in Duluth has pleaded not guilty to an assault charge. Twenty-six-year-old Mechelle Tallulah Hall of Superior, Wis., told a judge in St. Louis County District Court Wednesday that she was wrong in threatening the demonstrator outside a women's clinic last month. Hall is accused of holding the knife to the neck of a 21-year-old woman who was handing out pamphlets outside the Building for Women. The woman was not injured. Click here for the full article.
Doctors in the U.K. have used a man's own adult stem cells mixed with a collagen paste to repair his fractured leg. Andrew Kent broke his leg in five places including a compound fracture, while rock climbing, when a large boulder fell on his leg. After three operations, the bones were still not setting and the wound became infected. Mr. Kent was told that he was likely to lose his leg. The bones were broken so badly that traditional surgery failed. Orthopedic surgeon Anan Shetty offered an alternative. He took some of Mr. Kent's bone marrow adult stem cells, mixed them with a new collagen gel called Cartifill to make a paste, and caulked the fractures with the mixture. Then the leg was fixed in a metal cage to gently squeeze the bones together. Six months later, the leg can hold weight and the fractures are healing. Click here for the full article.
Anchorage, Alaska, - An Alaskan petition initiative to place a measure requiring parental notification for an underage girl seeking an abortion has collected 31,000 signatures. Organizers credited the efforts of Catholics like Archbishop of Anchorage Roger Schwietz, who asked Catholics to sign the petition and encouraged parishes to support the proposal.
The parental notification initiative must secure 32,734 signatures to place an initiative on the ballot. Organizers are seeking another 11,000 signatures to make up for any invalid signatures. Click here for the full article.
Police cars outside Planned Parenthood Aurora [Photo by Eric Scheidler]
Wednesday, December 16, pro-lifer Rachelle Crile went to the Planned Parenthood facility in Aurora, Illinois at 8 a.m. to sidewalk counsel as she has done on regular basis since attending a Pro-Life Action League sidewalk counseling seminar in September. After about 45 minutes in temperatures below 20 degrees, Rachelle went to her car in an adjacent parking lot to warm up before returning to the her sidewalk counseling post.
As Rachelle sat in her car, a couple in a white SUV pulled into the lot a couple rows behind her. Rachelle had a feeling the people might be headed to Planned Parenthood. Since Wednesday mornings are a prime time abortions there, Rachelle knew a life could be on the line, so she said a prayer, grabbed her literature and approached the car. Offer of Help Met With Threat of Violence
Rachelle was approaching the car when the driver, a middle-aged man, waved a silver handgun at Rachelle from inside the car. Terrified, Rachelle put up her hands and went back to her car. A little bit later, the SUV pulled into Planned Parenthood's parking lot and the man and a woman got out of the car and entered the facility. Jim and Rachelle Crile talk with police
Rachelle Crile and her husband Jim talk with Aurora police [Photo by Matt Yonke]
Sidewalk counselor Marie Sulita was also at Planned Parenthood at the time and helped Rachelle contact the police. Within minutes, several squad cars arrived along with a paddy wagon and several unmarked police cars. Officers asked Rachelle for her story and entered Planned Parenthood to interview the man.
Meanwhile, Pro-Life Action League executive director Eric Scheidler arrived at the scene as well as reporters from several local media outlets. It was eventually uncovered that the man was a 41-year-old off-duty Chicago police officer whose identity the police would not divulge. He was at the clinic with a 30-year-old "female companion" according to City of Aurora spokesman Dan Ferelli.
The off-duty cop claimed that he had showed Rachelle his badge, not his gun, but Rachelle was absolutely certain about what she saw. In the end, Ferelli said it was the cop's word against Rachelle's and if she wanted to press charges, she would have to go through the State's Attorney's office, which she is planning to do. The police filed a "disorderly conduct report" to document the situation, but no arrests were made.
FRONT ROYAL - Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, today responded to the U.S. Senate's passing of a massive $447 billion omnibus spending bill, within which lies almost $700 million for abortion and other population control measures.
"The United States Congress has just signed millions of death warrants," said Rev. Euteneuer. "They have opened up the floodgates for murderous population controllers to use every means necessary to eliminate the weakest and poorest in developing nations."
On Sunday, December 14, the omnibus bill, which had already been approved by the House, passed the Senate by a wide margin, funding a wide variety of federal government initiatives and projects. Among the funds approved were $648.5 million for "international family planning" (including abortion and contraception) and $55 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has been exposed as having collaborated with China's destructive and coercive "one child policy". With President Barack Obama's January 2009 reversal of the Mexico City Policy, federal funds are again permitted to be funneled toward groups that perform and promote abortion worldwide--permission that had been denied by the previous Bush administration. The bill is expected to be signed by President Obama soon.
"Our country is broke. We keep having to increase our debt limit so we can borrow more money. And we are now borrowing money so that our government can fund the killing of unborn children. I cannot imagine a scenario more shameful than that which we are now witnessing," said Rev. Euteneuer.
"When ours was a saner nation, we used to decry the exploitation and destruction of God's weakest children around the world. In many cases we would even risk our own lives to defend them. Now we are collaborating with those who think that there are too many Africans, too many Asians and Latinos, too many unwanted human beings," said Rev. Euteneuer. "May God have mercy on us as a nation and our world, and may He defend those who now stand in the crosshairs of the anti-life extremists, including those extremists in our own government."
Doctor: 'To the outside observer, nothing looks more peaceful'
(Warning: This story contains content that may offend some readers.)
Elderly people are now buying their loved ones suicide kits as Christmas gifts, according to a prominent euthanasia physician nicknamed "Dr. Death."
Dr. Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International and author of "The Peaceful Pill Handbook," has explained the use of legal drugs, inert gases, plastic bags and other methods for committing suicide to audiences all over the world, including in U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Calif., and Anaheim, Calif.
He told Australia's Herald-Sun a so-called "peaceful pill" is being developed from Nembutal, the favored drug for ending life. Nembutal is the same drug that killed famous actress Marilyn Monroe. It's mostly used by veterinarians as an anesthetic and euthanasia drug for animals.
The drug is widely available in Mexico for around $30 a bottle, and Nitschke told ABC News in September he has accompanied terminally ill patients to buy the drug.
"You pour it into a glass. You drink it. You follow that with your whiskey, and I've never seen anyone finish their whiskey," he said. "They put the glass down, and they're gone – gone to sleep, and death follows shortly thereafter. To the outside observer, nothing looks more peaceful."
Nitschke conducts closed workshops around the world, open to people older than 50 who pay $40 and are of "sound mind." He also sells testing kits that detect levels of Nembutal.
According to his biography, in 1996, Nitschke "became the first physician to administer a legal, lethal voluntary injection, under the world's first assisted-suicide law – the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act of Australia."
Nitschke told ABC News, "I bought a machine. They pressed a button on the machine. The machine delivered the drugs, and they died in the arms of the persons they loved. … I knew I was doing the right thing."
He helped four people kill themselves before the law was overturned. Nitschke argued that if he weren't providing the information, people "would probably go out and hang themselves."
"This is peaceful. It's quick. It works," he said of one suggested inert gas method.
Nembutal pills (photo: Exit International)
Asked why he was promoting the "peaceful pill" for Christmas, Nitschke told the Herald-Sun his methods would always attract criticism.
"Our main opposition is from religious groups who would still be getting outraged at Easter, or any other time of year for that matter," he said in a "peaceful pill" seminar Dec. 16. "There are people here in this room who I know have bought that (euthanasia medication) for their loved ones as Christmas presents."
Right to Life Australia Queensland coordinator Graham Preston said, "A pill to kill yourself and your loved one as a Christmas present is absolutely reprehensible."
Nitschke's "The Peaceful Pill Handbook" also includes information on the use of an "exit bag." His website features a video called "Doing it with Betty," in which a nurse explains how to assemble a plastic hood used to place over a suicidal person's head.
She even suggests people get their hair done if they "want to look nice."
"At Exit International, we believe that with knowledge comes self-determination," Nitschke's website states, "and that means a good life and good death."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Although the full text of Sen. Bob Casey's (D-PA) proposed abortion-funding health bill compromise has not yet been released, major pro-life organizations have already called the new funds-segregation scheme "completely unacceptable" and a violation of the Hyde amendment.
Because Casey is widely regarded as one of two pro-life Democrat Senators with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), his amendment might be seriously considered by Nelson, who has been holding out against the bill because of its violation of the Hyde amendment. If Nelson agrees to the compromise language, it may be the magic bullet Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been looking for to win the last vote needed to overcome a GOP filibuster of the bill.
"I don't know at this point in time. Constituency groups haven't responded back yet," Nelson said when asked early on whether the new language was satisfactory, according to the Associated Press.
National Right to Life Committee legislative director Douglas Johnson said today in an e-mail to reporters that the new amendment was a "far cry from the Stupak amendment."
"This proposal would break from the long-established principles of the Hyde Amendment by providing federal subsidies for health plans that cover abortion on demand. This is entirely unacceptable," he said. "It is particularly offensive that the proposal apparently would make it the default position for the federal government to subsidize plans that cover abortion on demand, and then permit individual citizens to apply for conscientious objector status.
"This is an exercise is cosmetics - like putting lipstick on a legislative warthog."
In an interview with the New York Times, USCCB Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities Richard Doerflinger said that, while the bishops appreciated the goals of some of Casey's proposals, none of the proposals addressed the bill's use of taxpayer money to fund abortion-covering insurance plans.
The bishops have vigorously and consistently rejected such funding regardless of the use of segregation schemes, as Pro-Life Chairman Cardinal Daniel DiNardo affirmed in a Dec. 13 letter to senators. "Attempts to achieve such segregation are irrelevant to current policy, which bars federal funds from being used for any part of a package that covers elective abortions," he wrote.
In a very similar scenario, the same pro-life leaders bluntly rejected a last-minute attempt at a funds-segregating compromise in the House of Representatives offered by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) last month. When Ellsworth failed to find support from conservative Democrats, House leadership was forced to capitulate to the full Hyde-amendment protections presented by the Stupak amendment.
Meanwhile, Sen. Ben Nelson continues to buck immense pressure from party leadership to vote for the bill despite the abortion funding. Unlike the House's Rep. Stupak, who had the backing of 39 other legislators, Nelson appears to be entirely alone among Democrats in holding out for Hyde-amendment restrictions.
Following a private meeting with President Obama on Tuesday, Nelson stated that he was sticking to his guns against the bill's abortion funding, as well as other issues. He said the meeting was his third in eight days with the President, who has tirelessly lobbied Congress to pass his health care overhaul as soon as possible.
While Obama "made a strong case for passing health care reform now," Nelson said, "I think it still remains to be seen if it was compelling."
"I do say if nothing is done, I'm not sure what Plan B is," he said. "If Plan B is start over...it's quite possible that it just won't happen. It seems to me that we have a chance right now to fix a flawed bill."
A healthcare reform expert says even though some liberals are wavering in their support for the current Senate healthcare bill, the modified measure is still extremely dangerous.
Senate Democrats are bent on passing a healthcare bill before Christmas, but they still lack the 60 votes necessary to get the job done. They have scrapped the "public option" and their alternative to that, a Medicare "buy-in" for people 55 and older, leading many liberals to complain that the bill was gutted to appease insurance companies.
Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, says she believed all along that Democrats' promotion of the public option was merely a smokescreen to divert attention away from other disturbing aspects of the bill.
"This bill still has huge, huge problems," says Turner. "It still is going to increase healthcare costs for not only the federal government, but for the average American family." She explains that "it's going to put huge new requirements on businesses to go through an amazing number of hoops and hurdles, regulatory requirements, new fines and penalties on business."
And as far as individuals are concerned, the healthcare expert says "they're not only going to be required to buy this expensive new government health insurance, but they're going to be fined on their taxes if they don't -- and in the House bill, they can be thrown in jail."
Turner notes that in addition to taxpayer funding of abortion, the bill also includes half-a-trillion dollars in new taxes on businesses and individuals, and half-a-trillion in cuts to the Medicare program.
NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY (Referral to Web sites not produced by The Illinois Federation for Right to LIfe is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
Second in a series of excerpts from the pro se brief being submitted by Scott Roeder to answer how the Necessity Defense justifies his shooting of Wichita's late term abortionist, George Tiller, May 31. Slight changes are made to make the excerpt more readable to non-lawyers. Technical citations are simplified or omitted. Click here for the full article.
During Advent, Christians love to tell their children the story of Mary, great with child, arriving in Bethlehem to give birth to her Son. It's a heartwarming image. But for many Chinese women, it's one that brings back horrible memories. Memories of their own pregnancies that ended, not in birth, but in the death of their babies through forced abortion. A Chinese woman called Wujian—not her real name—recently testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission about China's brutal one-child policy. Four years ago, Wujian became pregnant with an "illegal" baby—one conceived without a birth permit. Click here for the full article.
Democratic majority leaders in the US Senate have presented a new amendment to the proposed health-care reform bill, hoping to satisfy concerns about abortion subsidies. But pro-life leaders said the proposal is "unacceptable," and a Democratic lawmaker who might hold the deciding vote said that the new language "isn't sufficient." Click here for the full article.
The new law would replace a policy that allows abortion only in cases involving rape, fetal deformity, or a danger to the health of the mother. Although in practice that last provision has been interpreted to allow early abortion in nearly all cases—with thousands of women saying that a continued rregnancy would endanger their emotional welfare-- the new bill formally embraces a policy of abortion on demand. Click here for the full article.
Billions will be spent on government services, but little if any of the money will go to family-friendly causes.
Both the House and Senate have passed an omnibus spending bill totaling more than $1.1 trillion. Family advocates are concerned because it contains more lenient policies on money for abortion services, but pulls funding from family-friendly programs like abstinence education.
Max Pappas, vice president of public policy for Freedom Works, said it increases federal spending by 25 percent.
"A staggering increase," he said, "especially at a time when the economy is struggling and every taxpayer out there is trying to find a way to save money."
Along with the $2 trillion in the Department of Defense bill, which is expected to pass, this makes the debt ceiling about $14 trillion – a 55 percent increase since 2007.
"If there was such a thing as a thousand-dollar bill," Pappas said, "the stack you would need to reach a trillion dollars would reach into outer space."
U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran said the bill is full of problems.
"There is no ban in this bill on the funding of abortions in the District of Columbia," the Kansas Republican said. "It phases out the voucher system in the D.C. school districts and increases family planning money internationally by 20 percent."
That's $648.5 million going to fund international abortions.
The spending bill also cuts funding for abstinence-education programs.
Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said the measure creates a new funding stream for teen pregnancy prevention and moves the oversight of that program to the secretary of Health and Human Services, a highly political office.
"While they're creating a new teen pregnancy prevention program," she said, "they're creating a new office of adolescent health, and there is not one penny devoted to primary prevention or risk avoidance for teens."
Our message is clear. You cannot vote for cloture and consider yourself pro-life.
WASHINGTON - Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, will join Pennsylvania pro-life leaders in a "pray-in" at the office of Senator Casey this afternoon in Washington DC.
Activists also plan a series of public events around the state of Pennsylvania over the next two weeks to encourage Senator Casey to embrace human rights and refrain from voting for cloture on the Senate health care legislation.
Cloture is a parliamentary procedure in the Senate where debate is ended and an immediate vote is taken on the matter being discussed.
A cloture vote in the United States Senate needs 60 votes.
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states,
"The pro-life community wants to make it clear to Senator Casey and Senator Nelson that a vote for cloture is a vote for abortion. Since the United States Senate has enough votes to pass health care reform in it's final version, a cloture vote is a final vote. It is a vote to support the bill.
"Even if Senator Casey and Senator Nelson vote against the bill in it's final passage, they cannot make the claim that they are pro-life or they are interested in protecting the rights of America's children.
"It is hard to imagine that Senator Casey and Senator Nelson would sponsor an amendment prohibiting public money from being use to pay for abortions and then turn around and vote for cloture which guarantees that the health care bill would include taxpayer funded abortions.
"I will be joining with pro-life activists from Pennsylvania today in a 'pray in' at the office of Senator Casey. I will also be working with them over the next two weeks in a public campaign around Pennsylvania challenging Mr. Casey to embrace human rights and social justice and protect America's children.
"Our message is clear and unambiguous. You cannot vote for cloture and consider yourself pro-life."
Melissa Ohden's 19 month old daughter, Olivia, was not supposed to have a chance at life because of abortion. Not because Melissa ever considered aborting her, but because Melissa, herself, was aborted at approximately 24 weeks of gestation and survived.
Abortion attempt survivors, in and of themselves, are rare in our society. Having an abortion attempt survivor become a mother, herself, and speak out against the intergenerational impact of abortion, is certainly even more of a rarity. But by all appearances, Melissa is up for the challenge that faces her in her ministry. "It's my calling," states Melissa. "This is who I am; I wouldn't change a thing."
Although adoption was an intrinsic part of her family and life, Melissa didn't learn that she was the survivor of a failed saline infusion abortion attempt until she was in the 8th grade. Finding out the painful reality of how she entered the world truly changed her life and the lives of all of those around her forever, and understandably, it hasn't always been easy.
"Ashamed, guilty, and embarrassed," is how Melissa describes the predominant feelings she had for many years after finding out about surviving the abortion attempt. Even though Melissa felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being saved from certain death, for many years shame and embarrassment at being "so unwanted," and guilt for growing up to be perfectly happy, healthy and successful rendered her silent.
After a long journey of healing, and a decades-long, but successful search for her birth records and biological family, however, Melissa came forward publicly in 2007 to share her story with the world and provide a voice to the millions of voiceless, aborted children just like her. Since that time, Melissa's life has come full circle, as she gave birth to her first child, Olivia, at the very same hospital where her own life was supposed to end.
In spite of all the blessings that Melissa has received in her life, her search for the truth has not been painless, and many of her experiences have been emotionally and spiritually challenging. Sadly, even though Melissa had discovered that she was living in the same city as her biological father in 2007, he passed away in 2008, prior to ever meeting her. With his passing, however, many gifts have come. Although her father had never told anyone about Melissa, after discovering a letter that she had sent him months prior to his passing, her biological father's family contacted her after his death.
"There's still so much grief," Melissa says about her father's passing. Since initially being contacted by the paternal side of her family, Melissa has now met her grandfather and great-aunt, whom she sees on a regular basis. She has also spoken to her grandmother by phone and her father's wife by email. The pain of losing her father and discovering that he carried the secret of Melissa with him all of his life, and ultimately to his death, is still too much for many in his family to handle, yet Melissa hopes that she will someday meet other family members, including a younger half-sister, that is unknowingly living in the same city as her currently.
Although Melissa has never had the opportunity to meet her biological mother, she has communicated with her maternal grandparents by letter, and she hopes to someday have contact with her mother, also. She is grateful that she has been given the opportunity to reach out to both of her biological parents and their families to let them know that she has forgiven them for the decision that was made to end her life, and has lived a full, blessed life.
"One decision, one single moment, can have such a detrimental impact on so many people, living and dead, born and yet to be conceived," is the driving point of Melissa's message. Melissa's life and her ministry speaks to the true reality of abortion and the impact it has on not just women and children, but men, grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, cousins, friends, and communities. Yet it is also about so much more.
Melissa shares her inspiring story of survival and the awesome power of faith, hope, love and forgiveness in by speaking at Christian and pro-life events across the U.S. and Canada, through radio and TV interviews, and through her website-- www.melissaohden.com. Previously a speaker with Feminists for Life's College Outreach program, Melissa is now a member of the Ambassador Speaker's Bureau-- www.ambassadorspeakers.com.
Earlier this year, Melissa spoke at the fundraiser and Day of Prayer for the International Week of Prayer and Fasting in Washington, D.C. She also spoke at fundraising events for Right to Life groups and pregnancy resource centers and also at colleges and various religious events. Melissa has been a guest on Gus Lloyd's Seize the Day, and will be a guest on Daily Life News, a National Pro-Life Radio program, with Day Gardner on December 16th, 2009. Melissa's ministry will be featured on Phil Waldrep's Living with Joy radio show in January 2010.
APPLETON, WI, - Following the release of an undercover video revealing Appleton Planned Parenthood employees giving information called "absurd and scientifically erroneous" by two medical doctors, the organization has released a statement claiming that "Planned Parenthood's standard is to provide honest, medically accurate information" and calling Live Action's claims "false and inflammatory."
On December 9th, Live Action Films released a video showing a Planned Parenthood counselor claiming that fetal heartbeats begin at 17-18 weeks, over twelve weeks later than heartbeats in fact begin. Wisconsin informed consent law requires that women receive medically accurate information before undergoing an abortion.
The counselor's claim and others like it led Dr. Dianne Irving of Georgetown University and Dr. Ward Kischer of University of Arizona to conclude that Appleton Planned Parenthood counseling practices "would violate the legally valid 'informed consent' on both the 'information' level and on the 'consent without duress or pressure' level." They called for the parties involved to "be held accountable for their inherently unethical and destructive lies and procedures."
In a response to the video, Teri Huyck, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said that Live Action "has made false and inflammatory claims about our services" and that "we cannot verify the accuracy of these edited tapes." She said that all Wisconsin Planned Parenthood "patients receive the legally mandated information about fetal development as well as medically accurate answers to questions."
She also stated that the organization has "reviewed and reinforced organizational protocol regarding answers to pregnancy-related questions with staff members at this facility."
David Schmidt of Live Action argued that such a response "makes no sense."
"Either Planned Parenthood gave women false counsel and needs to be investigated, or they didn't and they don't need a review of protocol," he continued. "They can't have it both ways. There is a growing gap between what Planned Parenthood says and the truth, and their credibility is quickly slipping away."
The undercover video also shows Planned Parenthood employees variously claiming that a fetus becomes a baby only at birth or at six to seven months of pregnancy.
"Two people both confidently answer the same question with different answers and we are supposed to believe that they are both right?" Schmidt asked. "If this is 'accuracy' from Planned Parenthood, I can't imagine what inaccuracy is like."
The film is the first from Live Action's newly launched "Rose Acuna" project. Previous Live Action films have revealed Planned Parenthood accepting donations to abort black babies, covering up apparent statutory rape, and claiming that images of aborted babies found online were "not real"; the Rose Acuna project aims to uncover Planned Parenthood abortion counseling practices.
Judie Brown of the American Life League complimented Live Action for their latest video. "Planned Parenthood has spent years crafting a shiny public relations veneer to cover up the abuse of women and babies," she said. "Piece by piece, that veneer is being shattered with the help of a small student group in California dedicated to exposing the truth."
Peggy Hamill, of Pro-Life Wisconsin, similarly told WBAY news that "Pro-life Wisconsin has known for years, and this video proves, that Planned Parenthood cares to ignore the basic facts about human development and worse yet, refuses to relay the truth about that development to vulnerable patients in their clinics."
"Live Action is very credible. The videos that they have done are very effective, and they're very well documented. They reveal that Planned Parenthood is completely unscrupulous."
Population control groups have been using the hype surrounding the Copenhagen climate change conference to promote their solution to hypothetical impending environmental catastrophes. Earlier this month, two pieces appearing in the same edition of the Guardian revisited a report by Britain's Optimum Population Trust (OPT) that suggests that people in wealthy first-world countries should "offset" the carbon cost of their jet-setting lifestyles by paying to prevent the births of poor children in the developing world.
John Vidal, the Guardian's environment editor, wrote that the OPT's report suggesting a "radical" plan to cut carbon emissions was the "best bet" to reduce global warming trends. In August, the OPT issued a report claiming to have made a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to work out exactly how much "carbon emission" a child born in the developing world costs.
Vidal pointed to the claim in the OPT report that the 10 metric tons of carbon emitted by a single return flight from London to Sydney could be "offset" by "enabling the avoidance of one unwanted birth in a country such as Kenya."
In the same issue of the Guardian, David Burton wrote in an editorial that the OPT offset scheme, called "called PopOffsets," could be used to save the environment and "to help the world's poorest women."
The OPT scheme, Burton wrote, "will give practical help: both to the poorest women in the world to enable them to control their own fertility and to humanity by tackling the threat posed by human-induced climate change."
The report, published in August and titled, "Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost: Reducing Future Carbon Emissions by Investing in Family Planning," said that "family planning" is cheaper than low carbon technologies like windmill power generators and low-consumption light bulbs.
"Based on the study's findings, it is proposed that family planning methods should be a primary tool in the optimum strategy for reducing carbon emissions," the report said.
OPT insisted that only "unwanted" children would be targeted for elimination by the scheme that would provide artificial contraception to those who currently cannot obtain it.
The OPT scheme has been blasted, however, even by some on the far left, as a manifestation of a "crusade against the unique quality of human life" that typifies the environmentalist movement.
Frank Furedi, a secular humanist, author and professor of sociology at the University of Kent, and a noted climate change skeptic, minced no words in his assessment of the OPT's suggested scheme.
Calling them a "zombie-like Malthusian organisation devoted to the cause of human depletion," Furedi wrote in Spiked that he was shocked by the lack of outrage at the suggestion from humanists and religious leaders alike.
"There was a time when people who measured the value of human life through sombre calculations based on cost-benefit analyses were regarded with suspicion and contempt."
"Why is it that, today, the provision of contraception can be promoted as a sensible way of reducing carbon emissions? How do we account for the silence of religious movements whose theology still upholds the unique status of human life?" Furedi added.
The human population is now about 6.8 billion and world population is expected to peak at about 9 billion in 2050 and then begin to decline. In many countries, particularly in the developed west, the process of de-population is already well under way, with negative fertility rates and rising median ages.
Duncan Green, head of research at Oxfam, wrote in an op-ed in the New Statesman that assumptions such as those in the OPT report equating population growth and environmental degradation are a "gross oversimplification."
Green points to the rapid slowing of population growth around the world and fears by some governments, like South Korea, that diminishing population will lead to economic slow-downs. In one sense, he said, "the 'problem' is self-solving, and indeed, if the transition gets any faster, the world could be faced by a serious shortage of working age people to look after the rising numbers of elderly."
"If their arguments were based on logic alone, the population control lobby would probably be advocating compulsory euthanasia rather than birth control, but its preponderance of elderly white male members makes that pretty unlikely," Green added.
NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY (Referral to Web sites not produced by The Illinois Federation for Right to LIfe is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
CARSON CITY, NV - Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have filed a lawsuit against the sponsors of a Nevada ballot initiative defining the term "person." The simple, one-sentence amendment states, "In the great state of Nevada, the term 'person' applies to every human being." . . . "This is now the third time that the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have ganged up to silence the voice of the people, and their right to ballot initiatives," concluded Keith Mason. "In Colorado, they failed. They are trying to silence us, and to keep the vote away from the people. The citizens have a right to ballot initiatives, and human beings have a right to live." Click here for the full article.
On December 10th, the House of Representatives debated and passed an omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2010 containing a significant funding increase for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs. . . . Funding: The bill includes a total of $648.5 million for bilateral and multilateral FP/RH programs, an increase of more than $103 million or 19 percent above the FY 2009 enacted level and $55 million more than the President’s budget request. Of the $648.5 million total, $593.5 million is provided to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for bilateral field and centrally-funded programs and $55 million is earmarked for a U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The $593.5 million allocated for bilateral programs represents an increase of about $98.5 million above the comparable FY 2009 level of $495 million. FP/RH programs fared well compared to other non-HIV/AIDS global health programs, which nevertheless enjoyed modest increases such as $54 million more for maternal and child health. Click here for the full article.
ST. LOUIS - Missouri's Secretary of State and Auditor manipulated ballot language to prejudice state voters against a proposed constitutional amendment by a group that opposes stem-cell research, the group claims in Federal Court. The Missouri Roundtable for Life claims Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and Auditor Susan Montee intentionally manipulated ballot language to prejudice voters against their proposal. The group and its director and co-plaintiff Frederic Sauer want voters to approve a state constitutional amendment that would require that in any fiscal year the first $200 million disbursed from the Life Sciences Research Trust Fund be spent on primary health care for poor Missourians, but not for abortion services or human research, which includes stem cell research. Click here for the full article.
Eco-socialists have devised a system called “cap-and-trade,” in which businesses are required to buy permits to cover so-called greenhouse emissions, with the option of selling permits they don’t use. Human population growth may eventually be regulated in much the same way. In a December 8 editorial prompted by the UN global warming summit in Copenhagen, Canada’s National Post insisted that “A planetary law, such as China’s one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate.” The Chinese government used the Copenhagen conference to extol the supposed virtues of their totalitarian program. Click here for the full article.
The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data. Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted. Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time -- in pay and hiring -- during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector. Click here for the full article.
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