NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

New Missouri Death-Bill would Create 24-Hour Waiting Period Before The Killing Starts



Women seeking abortions in Missouri would have to receive information about the fetus and wait 24 hours before murdering their babies under a bill in the state Senate. Republican Sen. Rob Mayer of Dexter is the sponsor. The bill would require that women be given information on emotional and physical risks of abortion and on fetal pain at least 24 hours before the procedure. They would also have to be given the choice of seeing an ultrasound and hearing the fetal heartbeat.
Click here for the entire article from KSDK.


'No Place to Hide' - Texas County Receives Informative Postcards about Baby Killers



 A gynecologist who performs abortions in Tarrant County is the target of a postcard campaign which lists his home and work addresses along with names of five of his staff members. The postcard is printed in black-and-white and it is unsigned. On the front is a picture of Dr. Michael S. Phillips next to the question: "Have you seen this person?" When it's flipped over, the postcard lists the doctor's name, and three addresses — including his home. It goes on to reveal names of five staff members. When reached at his home, Dr. Phillips said he wouldn't talk about it. "I've been dealing with it for 35 years, that's all I can say."


Click here for the video.
Click here for the entire article from WFAA.


Vulnerable Need Reason to Life, Not Right to Die



Two high-profile cases of mothers helping their children to die have renewed the debate on assisted suicide. But the coverage threatens to skew public opinion dangerously in favour of a change in the law. When one person is found to have had a hand in the death of another, that person should be investigated and made to account for their actions in court, in accordance with the law that protects us all. The death of a disabled person should be investigated with the same vigour as a non-disabled person.
Click here for the entire article from the Times Online.


Tiger Woods' Mistress Reveals Pregnancy and Abortion



Tiger Woods allegedly impregnated his porn star mistress twice, both times when his wife was also pregnant, according to an interview with the woman set to air Monday. Joslyn James said her lengthy and steamy affair with Tiger Woods always involved unprotected sex. Using protection "was never talked about," the actress told U.S. television show "Inside Edition." "It was never protected." James, 32, who carried on an affair with Woods from 2006 to 2009, said she miscarried in her first pregnancy at about the same time his wife, Elin Nordegren, gave birth to daughter Sam Alexis on June 18, 2007. James said she aborted her next pregnancy close to the Feb. 8, 2009, birth of Woods' son Charlie Axel.
Click here for the entire article from FoxNews.

Freedom Of Choice Act introduced in Illinois again!

Freedom Of Choice Act introduced in Illinois again!

HOUSE BILL 6205 - The so-called Reproductive Health and Access Act (disguised Freedom Of Choice Act - FOCA) has been introduced in Illinois.

This bill will STOP the Parental Notice of Abortion Law and Greatly Expand Taxpayer Funding in Millions of Dollars for Abortions and much more!

Remember, this bill is just another version of HB 2354 from last year's FOCA bill.  Pro-Lifers strongly opposed and stopped that bill last year!

Click here to contact your Representatives, urge them to vote NO on HB 6205!

 

What HB 6205 Will Do...

 

HB 6205 WILL “GUT” THE ILLINOIS PARENTAL NOTICE OF ABORTION ACT

HB 6205 will establish a “fundamental right” to abortion more restrictive than Roe v. Wade. The bill would “gut” the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act so that no parental notice will be allowed, because under HB 6205, notice would be considered to “interfere with a pregnant woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.” [Section 15 (a)(3)] This is regardless of age!

Trying to hide this fact, HB 6205 says it is not meant to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. However, you don’t have to be a seasoned legislator to know that often a statute is amended by a bill that substantially changes and alters the statute without repealing it. HB 6205 clearly says in Section 15, and in a number of other sections, “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other law to the contrary” which all legislators should know means that the section “trumps” any existing part of the Act and any other statute enacted before the Act.

The language purports to allow for regulation after viability but the too broad “health” exception undermines even that. In Doe v. Bolton, the U.S. Supreme Court companion decision with Roe v. Wade, “health’ was to be considered in “light of all factors – physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman’s age”, in other words, abortions must be allowed for virtually any reason throughout the full nine months of pregnancy!

TAXPAYER FUNDING OF ABORTIONS UNDER MEDICAID AND STATE EMPLOYEE HEALTH POLICIES MUST PAY FOR ALL ABORTIONS FOR ANY REASON.

Illinois’s ban on taxpayer funded abortions was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980. Before the ban, Illinois paid for 12,738 abortions [1977-1978 fiscal year], as opposed to a few hundred today. Under Section 20 in HB 6205, this bill will force taxpayers to pay for abortions for any reason! At a Medicaid rate of around $180 per abortion, that would cost the State of Illinois about $2.3 million.

Section 20 “Non-discrimination in funding.” states “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other law to the contrary, the State shall ensure that individuals eligible for State Medicaid assistance, or other State medical assistance, receive financial assistance for reproductive healthcare at least to the same extent as other comparable services.”
Additionally, “reproductive health care” is undefined in the bill but can be presumed to include abortion, Plan B, and the morning after pill, even sterilizations for all ages.

HB 6205 MANDATES ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO OFFER “COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION PROGRAMS”
MOST OF WHICH PROMOTE AND FOSTER CONDOM TRAINING AND ABORTION FOR STUDENTS AS YOUNG AS NINE YEARS OLD!

Section 30 “Sexual health education.” states “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other law, ALL Illinois public schools shall offer medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sexual health education as a part of the Comprehensive Health Education Program…”

No longer would local school districts be able to determine their curriculums in this area; every public school student in the state would have to be enrolled in “comprehensive” sex education. What proponents of “comprehensive sex education’ consider “age appropriate” is not what most of us would consider so!

Additionally, HB 6205 removes, under the State’s “Comprehensive Health Education Program” the long-standing public policy of Illinois in teaching that “sexual abstinence until marriage” should be taught to our children in schools.

For these reasons please urge your Illinois House Representative to Vote NO on HB 6205 now!

Contact Information...

Click here to contact your Representatives NOW

Click here to view the HB 6205 Fact Sheet

 

 

Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

What is Planned Parenthood really doing in Haiti?

What is Planned Parenthood really doing in Haiti?

International Planned Parenthood has focused on the earthquake in Haiti to raise funds -- but for what purpose?



While aid workers continue the hard work of meeting the basic needs of Haitians, International Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups are making their presence known. Paul Tuns is editor of The Interim, which bills itself as "Canada's Life and Family Newspaper."
 
"When you dig around and look at [their] website and look at the medical services that they are providing, the priorities that they give are to -- quote -- "low-cost, quality sexual and reproductive healthcare," he states.
 
The pro-life journalist says while Planned Parenthood does not further define on its website and in its literature what that entails, "we know from experience [that it] includes contraceptives, birth control and condoms -- and often, but not always, abortion."
 
According to Tuns, there has been a call from pro-abortion sources -- mostly in Florida -- to increase abortion facilities at this time of need. But what Haitian women really need, he explains, is food, water, and shelter, as well as prenatal care, quality delivery services, and post-natal care. He cautions people about the groups they give money to for aid and relief.
 
"Groups such as UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Committee of the Red Cross are all clearly involved with either doing abortions, promoting sterilization, or working with groups that do abortions," he shares.
 
Tuns says Samaritan's Purse and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief are just two of the Christian-based relief organizations that merit pro-life support.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: February 14, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Cutting Edge Media Campaign in Georgia Links Abortion to Racism

Cutting Edge Media Campaign in Georgia Links Abortion to Racism



A controversial new media campaign in Georgia links the racism of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, with the disproportionate numbers of African-American abortions performed in the United States every year.

The campaign features billboards stating that "Black Children are an Endangered Species," and which direct viewers to the website toomanyaborted.com.

"Women are being lied to by ... Planned Parenthood," said Ryan Bomberger, founder of the Radiance Foundation, which is sponsoring the ads.  "And that's what toomanyaborted.com is about.  It’s about exposing these things; using the facts; using Margaret Sanger's own word's."

The Radiance Foundation’s aim is “inspire people to live a life of meaning” by helping people realize that all are created with a God-given purpose.

Their website outlines how Margaret Sanger founded the “Negro Project” to reduce the number of African-American births.  It also links her to the eugenics movement, which advocated the sterilization of the unfit and was closely related to racist Nazi ideology.

“Abortions increase where clinics are located and where are those clinics located?" asked Dr. La Verne Tolbert, former board member of Planned Parenthood.  "Ninety-four percent of the clinics are located in urban areas where blacks reside. In my own neighborhood which is an African-American neighborhood in California, there are three abortion clinics strategically located all in the same area.”

Some have accused the ad’s sponsors themselves of racism for targeting a specific demographic group in their attempts to reduce abortions.

"The language in the billboard is using messages of fear and shame to target women of color," said Leola Reis, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Georgia.

"It's incredibly offensive," said Heidi Williamson of SisterSong, a pro-abortion health group for African-Americans. "And it's just horrific to have to drive by it everyday.”

But Bomberger responded that, “This is not a campaign that targets black women. It’s a campaign that exposes an industry that we believe targets African-Americans.”

"We emphasize how abortion is a tragedy, it’s a human issue, it’s not race-specific,” he said on the Laura Ingraham show.  "This campaign was launched, however, because of the extreme disparity in the numbers."

African-Americans accounted for the majority of abortions in Georgia in 2006, although they make up just a third of the state's population.  Roughly 40% of African-American pregnancies in the United States end in abortion.

“Black children are aborted at three times the rate of all other populations,” said Catherine Davis, Director of Minority Outreach for Georgia Right to Life, which is also sponsoring the ads.  “Georgia leads the country in the number of reported abortions performed on black women, 18,901 in 2008 alone.”

The campaign began with billboards in Dekalb and Fulton counties; according to Catherine Davis, over two-thirds of the abortions in Georgia occur in those two counties.

In related news, last Tuesday Georgia representative Barry Loudermilk introduced the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act.

“This legislation would make it illegal to conduct selective human abortions based on the sex, race or color of a child,” he said.  “It applies the same standards of non-discrimination that is current law regarding employment, education, government and housing, to the practice of human abortion. It also gives the mother the right to seek civil damages against any abortion doctor or clinic who conducts an illegal abortion in the state of Georgia.”


Click here for the video.

Contact: James Tillman
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: February 15, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Sen. Bayh Announces He Will Not Seek Third Term

Sen. Bayh Announces He Will Not Seek Third Term

Well, when it rains, it pours. In an announcement that nobody saw coming, Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh announced today that he is hanging up his senatorial cleats. A man who has never lost an election attributed his decision not to an increasingly volatile political climate--"Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for re-election"--but to a waning desire to serve in Congress.


 
However it is also true that Bayh's decision comes less than two weeks after former Indiana Republican Senator Dan Coats indicated he would be running. While unnamed aides told any reporter who would listen that Bayh was comfortably ahead of Coats, Chuck Dodd, NBC News Chief White House correspondent, remarked, "it's not going unnoticed that Coats ducked Bayh in '98; Now Bayh ['s] ducking Coats."

As is always the case, context is everything--in this case a trifecta of bad news for pro-abortion Democrats over the last month.

The 54-year-old Bayh, a former Indiana secretary of state and two-term governor, dropped his surprising news only a month after the even more surprising election of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Not only did this deprive Senate Democrats of a filibuster-proof majority, adding insult to injury for Democrats, Brown was replacing the late Sen. Teddy Kennedy.

Bayh's announcement also follows on the heels of the not-unexpected retirement of scandal-ridden Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and the largely unexpected retirement of Sen. Byron Dorgan(D-N.D.).

Indiana is considered a Republican-leaning state, a handicap which Bayh overcame with a reputation as a "moderate" and initially by being the son of former Indiana Senator Birch Bayh.

To retake control of the Senate, Republicans would need a net gain of ten seats in the November 2010 elections.

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: NRLC
Publish Date: February 15, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Abortion Cartel Continues to Implode as Number of Abortion Clinics Drops

Abortion Cartel Continues to Implode as Number of Abortion Clinics Drops



New research shows the number of abortion facilities in America continues to decline, reports Operation Rescue.

That trend, says the pro-life group, is evident in data collected in the past two months since Operation Rescue released a report that showed that over two-thirds of the nation's abortion clinics have closed in the past 18 years. 

During the past two months, the group reports that five more abortion clinics have closed.
 
When Project Daniel 5:25 was released last December listing every abortion clinic in the United States, records showed 713 locations. Since then five abortion facilities have closed, although two more have opened, bringing the number down to 710.  
 
Both of the new abortion mills are Planned Parenthood "super-centers" built with the help of state and federal tax dollars and located in Houston, Texas, and Portland, Oregon.

"It is very clear that the only abortion group expanding its business is Planned Parenthood, and the only reason it can do so is with the help of our tax dollars," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
 
Newman said the news "emphasizes the need to defund Planned Parenthood nationwide."  "Without being artificially supported with our tax dollars, Planned Parenthood would be closing clinics, not building new ones," he said.
 
The protests directed at the new facilities suggest that they enjoy little support in their respective communities. When the Houston clinic opened last month, it was to a massive protest of several thousand of pro-lifers. Also last month, over 3,000 pro-life supporters gathered in the rain to protest at the new Portland office and were countered by a mere 125 abortion supporters.
 
While recent pro-life efforts have at least temporarily blocked tax-funded abortions in the health care system, Planned Parenthood alone receives over $336.7 million dollars each year in federal tax money through other programs. And that figure does not count funding its affiliates receive from the states.
 
In recent months Planned Parenthood has come under fire for illegal activity exposed by undercover sting operations in several states. Just last week, a Planned Parenthood in Birmingham, Alabama, was placed on probation for violations discovered and reported by Live Action Films. In Kansas, the Planned Parenthood affiliate faces 107 criminal charges for illegal abortions and falsifying records to cover them up.
 
"It is despicable that at a time of economic instability, when 71% of the American people oppose tax-funding of abortion, that millions and millions in public funds are going to bolster the bottom line of abortionists, many of which are violating the law," said Newman.
 
"Once Planned Parenthood is stripped of its tax funding, we will see their abortion clinics close down like a row of falling dominoes. That is a short-term goal for the pro-life movement that is completely doable and will save countless lives," said Newman.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: February 15, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Personhood Colorado Announces Successful Signature Campaign

Personhood Colorado Announces Successful Signature Campaign


   
Personhood Colorado submitted signatures to the Secretary of State's office Friday for the Colorado Personhood Amendment. The signatures submitted totaled 79,817, although only 76,047 were required. All signatures are pending validation by the Colorado Secretary of State's office.

"We are thrilled with these results. These signatures represent thousands of hours of hard work," remarked Gualberto Garcia-Jones, co-sponsor of the amendment. "All of our volunteers are 100% committed to seeing that the dignity and personhood of preborn babies is recognized in Colorado, and it shows."

The proposed amendment states, in part, that "the term 'person' shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being."

The signature campaign included hundreds of churches, as well as over 1,000 petition circulators, and other volunteers. All signatures submitted were gathered by volunteers, and the campaign was 100% volunteer-run, with no paid petitioners or staff.

"Colorado is paving the way for personhood," commented Keith Mason, co-founder of Personhood USA. "Hundreds of thousands of Americans are catching the vision of personhood, and we expect that several other states will soon follow Colorado in putting personhood on the ballot."

Once the signatures are verified by the Colorado Secretary of State, the amendment will be placed on the 2010 ballot and put to a vote.

"Our grassroots, volunteer campaign will continue to be a success, because we are working towards a very worthy cause -- protecting the lives of innocent Colorado citizens," Garcia-Jones continued. "The 79,817 signatures are an indicator that the people of Colorado are determined to protect innocent life; we will not rest until every child is protected by love and by law."

A similar amendment sponsored by Colorado for Equal Rights was defeated on the November 2008 ballot.  Since Colorado's first attempt, personhood movements have sprung up in several states, including Kansas, Montana, Florida, Nevada, Alaska, and Mississippi.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: February 14, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Ultrasound Use as Late Abortions Skyrocket

Ultrasound Use as Late Abortions Skyrocket



Because late abortions have doubled since the government began offering ultrasound screenings to pregnant women at 20 weeks, some Dutch lawmakers are hoping to change the standard use of the tool, according to the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad.

Gynecologist Hajo Wildschut told the paper that many women decide to abort their child after the 20-week ultrasound because it is at that stage that defects such as Down syndrome and spina bifida can be observed.  That leaves women four weeks to decide whether to have the child killed before the legal cutoff for abortion at 24 weeks.

The Dutch government introduced the 20-week ultrasound for all pregnant women in 2007.  Since then, the number of abortions between weeks 20 and 24 have doubled, according to data published by the Netherlands Health Care Inspectorate Thursday.

"Most of these children are wanted," said Wildschut. "But then the pregnancy takes such a tragic turn. The parents are struggling terribly with the questions: can we raise a child who has spina bifida or Down syndrome? Can we live with the decision of ending this pregnancy?"

Some lawmakers are pushing to delay the ultrasound: members of parliament with the pro-life Christian party, ChristenUnie, want to postpone the official ultrasound to the 24th week.

"The life of a person with disabilities is a valuable life," ChristenUnie MP Esmé Wiegman said last Tuesday.  "We should be able to count on a careful approach when the life of an unborn child with a disability is involved."

If her proposal to move the ultrasound fails to get support, Wiegman said she would work to cap legal abortion at 18 weeks.

Experts have also concluded that the ultrasound was one reason there were no reports of euthanizing newborn babies in 2008, as children who would have been euthanized for severe birth defects instead were killed in the womb. The euthanasia of newborn infants is permitted in the Netherlands under certain conditions set forth in the so-called Groningen Protocol. 

Some have also complained that the ultrasound was leading parents to kill children with minor defects, such as cleft lip, that could be corrected with a just few surgeries.

"We explain the child can be helped by undergoing three or four operations. And we will supervise the child for years, watch it grow up. We will never tell the mother: ‘this life is not worth it,'" said Marjan Nijhuis-Kloen, a nurse and cleft lip expert at a hospital in Nijmegen.

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: February 15, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

Stalemate on fetal homicide issue



The legislation was proposed in the aftermath of a car wreck in which Patricia Blair's minivan was struck head-on by a car driven by a 22-year-old woman who was under the influence of prescription drugs. Blair was pregnant and lost the twins she was carrying, but because there is no Vermont law to prosecute someone for killing an unborn baby, the woman faced lesser charges. (See earlier article)
 
Mary Hahn Beerworth, executive director of Vermont Right to Life, reports the problem in the legislature revolves around one senator. "That senator has refused now to let Patricia Blair, the mom of the twins, have so much as five minutes before his committee -- and he has decided he's not going to take up the issue after all," Beerworth explains.
Click here for the entire article from OneNewsNow.


AZ pro-life laws currently in limbo



Arguments have been held in state and federal courts over two pro-life laws in Arizona that are designed to protect the health and safety of women.

Planned Parenthood filed suit blocking implementation of the laws until the courts rule. One law deals with informed consent; the other with licensure to perform abortions.
 
Deborah Sheasby, who is legal counsel for the Center for Arizona Policy and an Alliance Defense Fund-allied attorney, defended the statutes.
Click here for the entire article from OneNewsNow.


Bioethics Must be Guided by Natural Law Principles of Human Dignity



A bioethics not founded in the “foundational principle of human dignity” is unable to respect human rights, the pope said on Saturday. In his address to the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), a meeting of philosophers and scholars held annually in Rome, the pope said that with the rapid advance of technology, it is more imperative than ever that bioethics be guided by the Natural Law that is “inscribed by God the Creator in the heart of man.”

“When respect for the dignity of the person is invoked it is fundamental that it be complete, total and with no strings attached,” he said. Without the “universal principles” of the fundamental right of all human beings to have their inherent dignity regarded – a “common denominator for the whole of humanity” – the result will be a “relativistic drift at the legislative level.”

Every law in every society, said the pope, “is called to recognize this right as inviolable and every single person must respect and promote it.”
Click here for the entire article from LifeSiteNews.com.


Personhood Nevada Files Appeal in State Supreme Court to Keep Personhood Alive



Personhood Nevada appealed to the State Supreme Court today, calling for the overturning of Judge James Russell's opinion against the Nevada Personhood Amendment. On Friday, January 8, Judge Russell ruled that the fourteen word amendment did not encompass a single subject, although it is comprised of merely a handful of words and one of the most succinct ever to be filed in that State. "It's a civil rights initiative by and for the people. By the logic of First District Court Judge James Russell, the people of Nevada would never be allowed to bring forth a civil rights initiative," observed Personhood Nevada President Olaf Vancura. "Such denial is unconstitutional. We're appealing to the Supreme Court in hopes that they will recognize the voters' rights in the State of Nevada."
Click here for the entire article from CovenantNews.


New Planned Parenthood Headquarters Opens With Party



Amid tight security and a vocal group of anti-abortion protesters, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette celebrated the opening of its $12.5 million headquarters Sunday afternoon with rousing rhetoric and a brief plea for more funding. Inside the new building, supporters munched on cookies, listened to music and framed the opening of the new facility in Northeast Portland as another step in the fight for expanded health care. The new headquarters could provide services to twice as many people as the old facility, according to a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman. Outside, pickets carried signs, prayed and spoke for the unborn. Abortions will be performed at the clinic. The site of the new headquarters, at Northeast Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Beech Street, has been a magnet for controversy since the groundbreaking in October of 2008. Protesters have been regular visitors. And some opponents have accused Planned Parenthood of targeting the African American community by putting the new building in a neighborhood that is home to many black residents.
Click here for the entire article from Oregon Live.

 

Illinois Federation for Right to Life

2600 State Street, Ste E

Alton, IL  62002

 

Phone: 618-466-4122

Web: http://www.ifrl.org

E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

 

Feds admit they wronged pro-lifers

Feds admit they wronged pro-lifers

Pro-life Wisconsin is raising serious questions about information gathered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since information was inappropriately shared with the Middleton (Wisconsin) Police Department.



Peggy Hamill, director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, tells OneNewsNow the federal agency has acknowledged the "threat assessment."
 
"The Homeland Security Civil Rights Department concluded that the investigation had been an improper use of department resources and also inappropriately directed against activities protected by the First Amendment," she reports.
 
The agency concluded law enforcement inappropriately engaged in the collection, retention, and sharing of information on groups protesting a University of Wisconsin abortion facility.
 
"It definitely creates a chill to the confidence of peaceful, prayerful pro-life activists who speak out at different hearings and speak out publicly outside abortion mills and pray outside different facilities that are engaged in anti-life activities," the Pro-Life Wisconsin director notes.
 
The additional problem is that the federal agency destroyed their copy of the report while Middleton police kept theirs, and the latter refuses to release it. Hamill says Pro-Life Wisconsin is considering its next move with attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: February 12, 2010
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Personhood Mississippi Required to Submit Signatures in State of Emergency

Personhood Mississippi Required to Submit Signatures in State of Emergency



The state of Mississippi has insisted that Personhood Mississippi volunteers turn in petitions today, one day before their one year deadline, despite a recently declared state of emergency.

Governor Barbour has declared a state of emergency, and ordered that all government offices and buildings be closed. "I urge everyone to exercise caution in this winter storm, and travel only when necessary," the Governor stated on his website. The executive order was also signed by Secretary of State Hosemann.

Despite the terrible weather and dangerous road conditions, Personhood Mississippi Sponsor Les Riley has been directed to submit the signatures today, and was told that regardless of the weather, the Secretary of State's office is expecting the signatures by 5pm -- yet no one is answering the phone at the Secretary of State's office, and it appears that the office is closed.

"The Governor warned everyone in the state only to travel when necessary, except for those working on the Personhood Amendment," observed Attorney Stephen Crampton. "Personhood Mississippi has been singled out, and it is putting undue hardship on its volunteers. I would never have expected the State of Emergency to apply to everyone but those working for Personhood."

Personhood Mississippi's 10am court hearing this morning was delayed because of the weather. The hearing was for the recently filed a lawsuit in an attempt to clarify the intent of the law, giving volunteers the full twelve months to circulate petitions as outlined by statutes and the County Circuit Clerk the time needed to correctly validate the signatures.

"We have over 114,000 signatures, with over 95,000 certified," announced amendment sponsor Les Riley. "Our volunteers have already gladly sacrificed countless hours getting signatures. Now they are asking us to sacrifice our safety to turn in these signatures. I am willing to make the trip because this is a life and death issue. We know that all human beings are people, from the moment of their biological beginning, and we are willing to do whatever we are able to see that all human life is valued and protected."

Personhood Mississippi is a grassroots organization comprised of Mississippi citizens who value all human life, from biological beginning to natural death.

Contact: Les Riley
Source: Personhood Mississippi
Publish Date: February 12, 2010
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Sex Valentines issued by Planned Parenthood

Sex Valentines issued by Planned Parenthood

Cards feature condoms, genitalia and 'I love pro-choice doctors'



Planned Parenthood Valentine features condoms and says inside, "I like playing with you!"

Planned Parenthood is giving out free Valentine's Day cards – with depictions of pants on the ground, condoms and genitalia and special messages such as, "I like playing with you!"

"If Planned Parenthood's honest goal is to help women control their procreation – to plan their parenthood – why does it expend so much energy promoting sexual titillation and promiscuity?" WND columnist Jill Stanek asked on her blog.

"Obviously the organization has become financially dependent on selling contraceptives and abortion, and what better way to increase sales than promote rampant sex?" Stanek added.

LifeNews reported Jodi Magee, the head of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, e-mailed supporters of pro-abortion doctors to promote their special Valentine's Day cards.

"Let pro-choice physicians know that you appreciate them. With the stigma and harassment our doctors face, they deserve to know that they make us proud," she said.

The cards Magee referenced featured a large heart and the message: "I love pro-choice doctors."

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, serving Iowa and Nebraska, has made its own selection of Valentine's Day cards, ready to print and send give away to a special friend this Sunday.

The first selection features a pair of jeans of the front of the card. The message on the inside reads: "I always stay safe with my pants on the ground" – a spoof on the widely popular "American Idol" jingle.





Inside caption of Planned Parenthood Valentine's Day card. Card also includes area for attaching condom.

A second card features a cartoon penis ogling a female condom and saying, "Looking good sexy thing!" The inside states, "We were made to be together."

Yet another card shows a tic-tac-toe game with condoms as the "O." The condoms score a win. Inside, the card says, "I like playing with you!"

The inside of each card contains a square box that says "Place condom here."

Planned Parenthood invites the public to, "Surprise your sweetie with a one-of-a-kind Valentine's card," and encourages patrons to "top off your Valentine's Day card with a condom by stopping in at your local Planned Parenthood of the Heartland clinic."

Contact: Chelsea Schilling
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: February 12, 2010
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Majority Oppose Euthanasia in USA

Majority Oppose Euthanasia in USA



Honestly calling euthanasia, “euthanasia,” reveals that most Americans oppose legalization.  From the story:

    A new Angus Reid poll find that 42 percent of American adults are in favor of making euthanasia legal in the United States, although 52 percent feel legalizing induced death would leave vulnerable people without sufficient legal protection. The survey steered clear using such deliberately non-threatening terms as “Death With Dignity” favored by supporters of assisted suicide. In the 2008 election, by a 58 percent to 42 percent vote, Washington became the second U.S. state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. In its poll of 1,001 American adults, taken Feb. 4 and 5, Reid asked: “Generally speaking, do you support or oppose legalizing euthanasia in the United States?” The results: 14 percent answered “Strongly Support,” 28 percent “Moderately Support”, 14 percent “Moderately Oppose,” and 23 percent “Strongly Oppose.” A total of 22 percent were not sure.

The results were more evenly split about whether assisted suicide “should be prosecuted,” with a plurality saying yes:

    “Do you think people who help a person to commit suicide should be prosecuted?” Reid asked. Thirty-seven percent said “Yes,” 34 percent answered “No,” with 28 percent “Not Sure.” Independent voters were strongest in saying those who assist suicide should not be prosecuted.

This is why euthanasia/assisted suicide advocates use euphemisms to sell the hemlock: They think that with gooey phrases, they can fool enough of the people, enough of the time to get their agenda through.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Publish Date: February 11, 2010
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Probation levied against abortion clinic

Probation levied against abortion clinic

A Planned Parenthood clinic in Alabama has been placed on probation after an undercover probe by the student-led pro-life group Live Action.

 

The investigation -- prompted by one of Live Action's video "stings" over the last year -- revealed that the Birmingham facility was encouraging minors to have abortions and not turning over information to authorities identifying the abuser, as required by law. Eric Johnston of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition tells OneNewsNow that the state conducted its own probe of the clinic.
 
"The Alabama State Department of Health put them on probation and set up, I think, some mechanisms that would keep that from happening in the future and would be sure that Planned Parenthood was not doing this," he explains.
 
Johnston says he is satisfied with the state's action -- for now. But he says Live Action's efforts have revealed that the problem spreads beyond the Birmingham Planned Parenthood clinic.
 
"It's been a problem that we've always had suspicions of virtually all abortion clinics," he laments, "that they would take in minors, do the abortions, and not report that it was probably statutory rape -- which would be an older individual sexually abusing the minor girl."
 
Johnston notes that no men are apparently to be prosecuted in the Birmingham cases discovered so far, but urges that laws be enforced for the protection of minors. The Planned Parenthood facility has until next week to present an acceptable plan to resolve the situation.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: February 12, 2010
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NARAL Dedicates Annual Report to Late-Term Abortionist Who 'Compassionately and Heroically Served Women'

NARAL Dedicates Annual Report to Late-Term Abortionist Who 'Compassionately and Heroically Served Women'



In a new status report on women’s reproductive rights, a pro-abortion group gives the nation a cumulative grade of “D,” based on state and federal legislation it sees as “pro-choice” or “anti-choice.”
 
NARAL Pro-Choice America dedicated its 2009 report, "Who Decides: The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States," to the late George Tiller, the abortionist who was shot and killed last year by a man with a history of mental problems.
 
Praise for late-term abortionist
 
"Through his life's work, Dr. George Tiller compassionately and heroically served women from all across the country in order to ensure their right to reproductive-health services," the report says. "Dr. Tiller often spoke of his values – kindness, courtesy, justice, love, and respect – which he brought with him to work everyday."
 
Tiller, one of the few doctors to perform late-term abortions in the U.S., was acquitted last year in Kansas on charges of performing illegal abortions – late-term procedures that were not medically necessary to save the mother's life. The state was still investigating his abortion practice at the time of his death.
 
NARAL also dedicated the report to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is praised for authoring a 1994 law limiting pro-life activists’ access to abortion clinics.
 
Pro-life activists say the report – and the decision to honor Tiller -- makes NARAL’s pro-abortion agenda clear.
 
"With the pro-abortion movement continuing to decline in this country, they are becoming desperate for heroes," Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, told CNSNews.com. "Any organization that advocates for women's health would be opposed to abortions and all its consequences."
 
"This is, of course, consistent with their continuing efforts to portray abortionists as heroes," the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life told CNSNews.com, adding that at the same time pro-life activists are portrayed as “dangerous or fanatical.”
 
Brown described Kennedy as “the most pro-abortion figure in the country’s history.”
 
Good news for pro-life movement?
 
But pro-life activists also say the report contains some good news for organizations that have been fighting for the rights of the unborn since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973.
 
Pavone noted that NARAL’s report reflects the dwindling number of abortion providers in the country -- showing that NARAL’s efforts to make abortion an acceptable practice are failing.
 
"They can't take the stigma out of abortion, even if the legality of it is protected," Pavone said. "As a result, they face a shortage of practitioners."
 
Pavone said the NARAL report also shows the importance of fighting abortion on the state level. According to NARAL, in 2009, various states enacted 29 pro-life laws compared with 21 "pro-choice" bills.
 
The report shows states are pro-life by a 2 to 1 margin, based on whether the governor and state legislators are pro-life or pro-abortion.
 
Praise for Obama's pro-abortion stance
 
In her introduction to the report, NARAL President Nancy Keenan praises President Barack Obama for his pro-abortion policies and for choosing pro-abortion people to serve in his administration, including NARAL’s former legal counsel, Dawn Johnsen, who has yet to be confirmed for a senior Justice Department post.
 
The report also hails Obama's appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.
 
"After eight long years of a White House that relentlessly attacked a woman's right to choose, the pro-choice American majority finally said, 'Enough,' Keenan wrote in the introduction. "And within days of that swearing-in ceremony, President Obama began to undo eight years of damage.
 
"He repealed the global gag rule, fixed the birth-control price crisis, re-funded the U.N. population program, and took steps to repeal Bush's eleventh-hour attack on reproductive rights, the Federal Refusal Rule," Keenan wrote.
 
Fifteen states got an A grade from NARAL -- Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
 
NARAL praised California for passing a law that would make some abortions legal even if Roe v. Wade is overturned. In New Mexico, NARAL touted state funding of family planning for low-income women, including "emergency contraception."
 
NARAL gave 19 states a failing “F” grade. They include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
 
Those states have abortion restrictions including parental and spousal notification and they bar state-funding of abortions. Virginia got low marks for allowing drivers to purchase a "Choose Life" license plate.
 
NARAL also criticizes federal "anti-choice" legislation, including the ban on partial birth abortion signed into law in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush; and the Stupak-Pitts amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion, which was included in the House-passed health care bill.
 
The Bush administration's efforts to protect health care professionals from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs or providing abortions or referrals for abortion also is targeted in NARAL’s report.
 
Crossroads for abortion advocates
 
"We are at a historic moment," Keenan said of the pro-choice movement in NARAL’s status report.
 
In light of Tiller’s murder, she says her group stands by abortion providers – “whose numbers are diminishing across the country in the face of restrictive laws and outbreaks of violence at health centers. And we celebrate each policy victory – whether at the state or federal level – as a win for women everywhere.”
 
Keenan says the “pro-choice” movement cannot take anything for granted. She complained that “opponents of freedom” are trying to “construct roadblocks on our path to progress,” and she uses the recent battle over health care as an example.
 
She also discusses the need to “act on our values and build the collective strength of America's pro-choice majority for generations to come."

Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: February 12, 2010
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Interview: Cut from American Idol, but Thrilled for Chance to Spread Pro-Life Message

Interview: Cut from American Idol, but Thrilled for Chance to Spread Pro-Life Message

 

 In this week’s episode of American Idol it was revealed that Maddy Curtis, the 16-year-old who endeared Idol viewers with her winning personality and who advanced to the second round of the show on the merits of a soulful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” was cut from the show. But, says Maddy, from her perspective her American Idol adventure was the furthest thing from a failure.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” she said in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) this week. Being given the opportunity to sing on the stage of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood – the theatre where the Academy Awards take place – was an “amazing” opportunity, she said.

But, she continued, “What was so great about [the experience] was not necessarily making it that far, but the story that got out about our family, and the pro-life message that was shown to the world.”

Curtis’ January debut on American Idol won her more than a few fans, not only because of her powerful voice and simple charm (Simon Cowell famously complemented her on not being “annoying,” unlike other contestants her age), but also because of her unusual story: Maddy is from a family of 12 children, four of whom have Down syndrome.

The Idol episode where Maddy first auditioned gave prominent play to Maddy’s home life, featuring footage of her playing with her siblings (three of whom were adopted), and airing her comments about what life is like with siblings with Down syndrome.

“I think some people are a little sceptical of Down syndrome,” she said in that episode, as tears welled up into her eyes. But, she said, “Those four boys bring out the best in every person they meet.  They see the world in colors, and we need to see the world that way.”

When asked why she thought people were so moved by her family's story, she responded, “I feel like it’s probably because kids with down syndrome sometimes aren’t given the chance – like 90% of kids with down syndrome are aborted.”

In fact, it was only a year ago, she said, that her mom first told her about the high abortion rate for babies with Down syndrome. “I couldn’t stop crying,” she said, “because I couldn’t believe it.”

“I guess it’s just a really hard concept for me to grasp.  Kids with Down syndrome are so special and people don’t seem to get it I guess.”

In addition to being one of the youngest in a family of 12, Curtis is the daughter of award-winning pro-life blogger and writer Barbara Curtis, who writes the MommyLife blog.

Barbara told LSN that she was surprised at how much coverage the producers of the show gave to Maddy’s unusual life story. She concurred with her daughter that, if getting that story out was “all God wanted to do, that was a lot.” After Maddy was cut in Hollywood, she said, “We came home really not disappointed.”

When asked why she thought people were so drawn to Maddy, and so touched by her story, Barbara answered: “She is a pure, joyful person. What you see is what you get. That was not a show, that’s how she is.”

Right now, said Barbara, their home life consists of four kids with Down syndrome, and Maddy. “She’s naturally just more selfless because she’s looking out for them,” she said. “I think people were intrigued because they might not put that idea together logically, but there was something very intriguing about her because she was so in love with life and with the situation that God put her in.

“Maddy is who she is because she grew up in a certain kind of family and if people understood how wonderful kids with Down syndrome are and the transformative power that they have in a family, everyone would want one.”

The question that remains for Maddy and for the Curtis family, then, is what lies ahead for their blossoming music star.

Maddy told LSN that she doesn’t intend on trying out for American Idol in the future, even though she is only sixteen years old. While she said she enjoyed the experience, she added, “I think I’m much more of a low-key person. I’m not really that much of a camera person. I’m not into the whole five cameras on you all the time.”

Barbara said that since her appearance on American Idol, her daughter has been receiving quite a few invitations, many of which are to perform for or speak at pro-life events.

When asked whether this is something she would consider, Maddy responded, “I think it’s amazing. I don’t know, I guess that would be a lot bigger to me than the American Idol thing, because of the message that goes along with it.”

To her new fans Maddy said she would like to say, “Just that I completely love and I am totally feeling their support … I guess just that I’m really grateful that they would be so supportive and loving.”


Click here for the video.

Contact: John Jalsevac
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: February 11, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

Pro-Life Attorneys Want City to Pay $360,000 in Legal Fees After Winning Court Battle Over Buffer Zones



A Christian legal group that successfully overturned a Pittsburgh law restricting protests near abortion clinics and health facilities wants the city to pay $360,000 in legal fees. City Solicitor Dan Regan says the fees sought by the Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Ariz., are "excessive" and is challenging the request. The group sued saying a 2005 law denied free speech rights to Indiana Township nurse and abortion protester Mary Kathryn Brown. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October overturned the Pittsburgh law which banned protesters from standing within 15 feet of entrances but also kept protesters 8 feet from clients in a 100-foot buffer around entrances.
Click here for the entire article from The Associated Press.


NH House Delays Bill Treating Fetus As Person



The New Hampshire House has postponed voting whether to allow prosecutors to charge people who kill a fetus with murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. The House decided Wednesday to delay action a week. Opponents say the bill is an attempt to define an unborn child in statute. Supporters say it has nothing to do with abortion and is in response to a 2006 case where a speeding driver slammed his car into a cab, killing a passenger. The cab driver was pregnant and delivered a baby who wasn't breathing, but was kept alive temporarily on life support.
Click here for the entire article from Fosters.com.


Oklahoma Senate Panel Approves 3 Abortion Regulations



A slate of bills targeting women seeking an abortion in Oklahoma have been approved by a Senate committee. The Senate Health and Human Services committee on Thursday passed three abortion-related measures. A fourth abortion bill was laid over and can be reconsidered by the panel next week. The bills dealt with the use of the RU-486 "abortion pill," prohibited abortions based on the gender of the fetus and prevented discrimination against medical employees who refuse to participate in abortions. All of the provisions were included in omnibus abortion bills approved in previous sessions that were tossed out in separate court cases.
Click here for the entire article from ConnectArmarillo.com.


Kansas Bill Would Require Special Insurance For Abortions



A House committee has heard testimony on a bill to remove abortion coverage from most insurance policies and require Kansans to purchase extra coverage for the procedure. Supporters of the bill told the House Insurance Committee on Thursday they believe Kansans abortion morally offensive and do not want to pay insurance premiums for the procedure. The committee's chairman, Republican Rep. Virgil Peck of Tyro, says the bill would require women to purchase a rider from their insurance carrier for elective abortions. Insurance policies could still cover abortion if a pregnancy endangered a woman's life or resulted from incest or rape. The committee took no action and plans to work the bill next week.
Click here for the entire article from KAKE.com.


Coalition Launches Petition Asking Bishops to End Grants to Pro-Abort Groups

 

A petition was launched on Wednesday, which asks the U.S. bishops to suspend Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) grants. The petition is sponsored by American Life League, Human Life International, Catholic Advocate, Bellarmine Veritas Ministry and Real Catholic TV, members of the Reform CCHD Now coalition (RCN).
 
The effort comes after repeated calls over the past three months for explanations from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in response to the discovery that CCHD money is being used to support organizations that promote abortion and same-sex “marriage.”
 
American Catholics are asked to sign the following at http://www.reformcchdnow.com/
Click here for the entire article from LifeSiteNews.com.


Dutch Call for Suicide Availability for the Elderly



I have said it until I am blue in the face and I will continue saying it: Once a society decides that killing is an acceptable answer to human suffering, that which is deemed “acceptable suffering” will continue to expand until just about any category of suicidal person will eventually qualify.  The Netherlands shows again that it is true. Despite the most liberal euthanasia/assisted suicide culture in the world–the loose laws aren’t even really enforced–it is still not enough. Now, there is a call to help the elderly commit suicide who are “tired of life.”
Click here for the entire article from Secondhand Smoke.

Illinois city reconsiders proposed ‘bubble zone’ after pro-life objections

Illinois city reconsiders proposed 'bubble zone' after pro-life objections



Objections from pro-life advocates have prompted Rockford, Illinois city officials to reconsider a proposed abortion clinic "bubble zone" ordinance. The critics cited free speech concerns and argued the ordinance would defend the anti-Christian "bigotry" displayed by clinic staff.

The Chicago-based Thomas More Society had sent a letter to Rockford's mayor and aldermen which argued the law was an unconstitutional violation of protesters' free speech. The letter also claimed the proposal was "anti-choice" because it would deprive expectant mothers of a genuine chance to make a fully informed decision.

The Society noted that Illinois' Labor Dispute Act precludes municipal regulation of labor picketing and would render the "bubble zone" discriminatory on the basis of viewpoint and thus illegal.

Local pro-life advocates argued the ordinance would overlook and validate the display of obscene images and harassment of protesters at the Northern Illinois Women's Center.

The abortion clinic's window has shown anti-Christian symbols including images of Jesus Christ making an obscene gesture with the words "Even Jesus Hates You." The clinic has also shown a nun doll in a miniature casket, along with hand drawn signs attacking priests and other pro-life sidewalk counselors as HIV-positive child molesters.

Pro-life advocate Kevin Rilott in a letter to the city asked whether the clinic's "bigotry" is the kind the Rockford city council wants to "protect, promote, and defend" with its bubble zone ordinance.

His pending civil lawsuit, Rilott v. Rockford et al, alleges hate crimes by the abortion clinic proprietor, Wayne Webster, and his ally, Keith Sterkeson. The suit also alleges defacement of a pro-life "bus bench" ad by a Rockford bus driver.

Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, reported that pro-life advocates had been involved in federal litigation with the clinic proprietor for two years. The proposed ordinance represented a "major setback" but his organization was "pleased" that discussions about its "patent illegality" and negative impact are proceeding.

"This two month delay is a legal victory, albeit a modest one, as prospects for passage of the bubble zone proposal have been dimmed, if not wholly curtailed. We trust that City council members will carefully reconsider this unwise, unwelcome, ill-timed and illicit proposal."

Source: CNA
Publish Date: February 10, 2010
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Memo to public schools: Stop pushing sex!

Memo to public schools: Stop pushing sex!

Group demands California implement programs promoting abstinence



A leading pro-family organization is demanding that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state superintendent of public instruction abandon a California ban on abstinence-only education in public schools.

SaveCalifornia.com pointed to a landmark study, titled "Effectiveness of an Abstinence-Only HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Risk-Reduction Intervention for Young African-American Adolescents," showing that abstinence education protects two-thirds of young teenagers from STDs and unwed pregnancies. The study was published Feb. 1, 2010, in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Now the group is sending an unwavering message to Schwarzenegger and California state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

"It's time to respect science and employ abstinence education to help save teens and pre-teens from sexually transmitted diseases that are at unacceptable levels," SaveCalifornia President Randy Thomasson said in a statement. "In light of these facts, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack O'Connell should immediately drop their out-of-date prohibition of abstinence-only education in California public schools."

The group is challenging policymakers to put aside their own opinions and biases and acknowledge that empirical research shows abstinence education plays an essential role in helping teens remain healthy.

"Children are not sexual animals, but are precious human beings created in the image of God with the ability to think and make healthy choices," Thomasson said.

Angela Griffiths, a professional health educator in the San Francisco Bay Area, added, "We've always known that quality, whole-person health education is the most effective way to promote all healthy behaviors, including pregnancy prevention. The problem has been blanketly labeling programs without looking at what they really promote. This study clears up numerous fallacies about the relative effectiveness of abstinence-only, safer-sex-only or combining the two approaches."     

Luis Galdamez, chairman of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse and executive director of La Familia Hispana in Southern California, took her demands a step further – suggesting President Obama and Congress restore funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education and Abstinence Education under Title V.

"Children deserve the best," Galdamez said. "We should teach them the truth, not lies. Abstinence-until-marriage education is the only 100 percent way to avoid teen pregnancy, STDs and many other unwanted consequences."

SaveCalifornia noted that O'Connell and the governor's teen pregnancy program have banned abstinence-only education in California public schools.

O'Connell has ordered that, "Abstinence shall be taught within the context of HIV/AIDS prevention education EC 51934 (3), however, abstinence-only education is not permitted in California public schools" (bold in original text).

SaveCalifornia warns, as of July 1, California's teen pregnancy prevention program will teach "risky, pro-condom education to children as young as kindergarten, yet completely prohibit abstinence education."

The recent peer-reviewed study proving the effectiveness of abstinence education was compiled and released by Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott from the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Geoffrey Fong from the University of Waterloo and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Waterloo, Ontario. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and involved 662 black children in Philadelphia.

After sixth and seventh grade students received eight hours of abstinence-only education, 66.5 percent of the students avoided sexual intercourse for two years following the instruction. By contrast, nearly half of students who received classes combining both abstinence education and safe sex said they had sex within the two-year period.

Contact: Chelsea Schilling
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: February 11, 2010
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