April 13, 2010

Pro-abort supports National Safe Haven Day: "Show your concern over real babies"

Pro-abort supports National Safe Haven Day: "Show your concern over real babies"

Pro-abort Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg wanted to promote National Safe Haven Day, today, which "raise[s] awareness of... local Safe Haven laws, with the intention of saving the lives of mothers and babies."

Pro-abort Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg ran into a problem yesterday.

Steinberg wanted to promote National Safe Haven Day, today, which "raise[s] awareness of... local Safe Haven laws, with the intention of saving the lives of mothers and babies," according to its website.

Safe haven laws allow mothers to abandon their newborn babies (in IL up to 30 days old), no questions asked, at specified safe havens like fire stations and hospitals.

Why Steinberg supports safe haven laws:

    You never forget seeing a dead baby. This one was maybe a month old, perfect features, mouth slightly open, bluish skin, swaddled in a blanket, waiting its turn on a stainless steel table at the Cook Co. Medical Examiner's office....

    Nearly 20 years later, I can see the baby as if it were in front of me now. My buddy... and I were doing a profile of the first Cook Co. medical examiner, Dr. Robert Stein....

    I mention this, because when young women abandon their babies, it often means not only a slow, painful death for the baby - which would be bad enough - but also a grisly discovery for whatever poor person stumbles upon the baby too late. A dead baby is hard enough to see in the morgue, where you expect it. I can't imagine what it does to a person who opens a trash can and finds one.

Stein realized his rationale for supporting safe haven laws for born babies was inconsistent with his opposition to safe haven laws for preborn babies, so he tried to shut pro-lifers up at the pass...

    The clattering sound you hear is dozens of anti-abortion activists pounding away at their keyboards. "Dear Stinkberg," they write, "how can you even pretend to care about babies when you approve of women murdering their children in the uterus?? Please see the attached 12 color photographs of aforementioned diced children...."

8 week old aborted baby, center for bio-ethical reform.jpg

    And the answer - not that they are interested in an answer, but let's pretend - is that I, like most Americans, differentiate between actual, born-and-alive-in-the-real-world-now babies and the fertilized egg the size of the period at the end of this sentence that typically gets aborted.... [JLS note: Photo of 8-wk-old aborted baby at left.]

    Caring for actual babies is hard, and the state struggles to find enough foster homes to park them in. That's another reason why people gin up this outsized concern for other people's non-babies: It's easy. You can stand in the street holding a 5-foot photo of a tiny bloody foot, call it a day, tell yourself you've saved a lot of babies, when in reality you haven't changed one diaper. Merely professed your undying concern for proto babies, which hardly exist, and ignored a bunch of baby babies, who most certainly do exist and could use your help. And you felt morally superior to boot. Congrats.

    Just wanted to put in my two cents, because these people act as if nobody else thinks about these things except them. Most people give this matter careful consideration, even those who are dismissed as hell-bound whores murdering their infants.

    Respect for life means respecting those who are actually alive, even if they make decisions that go contrary to your personal religious scruples. It's a tough-to-grasp concept, I know, particularly if you don't even try to understand.

Jill Stanek responded to Steinberg in a comment:

    You never forget seeing a dead baby. This one was maybe 21-22 weeks old, perfect features, mouth slightly open, bluish skin, swaddled in a blanket, in my arms in a soiled utility room in the labor and delivery department at Christ Hospital on the southwest side.

    This baby had been aborted and survived. He was fully formed but his lungs weren't mature, so he died a slow, painful, 45-minute death of asphyxiation, while I held him and helplessly watched.

    Neil, you couldn't imagine what finding a dead baby does to the person who opens a trash can and makes the discovery. Imagine what it does to the person who witnesses the death.

    That was me, as I'm sure you've figured out by now. I'm a registered nurse who stumbled on the late-term abortion procedure called induced labor abortion at Christ Hospital in 1999.

    The abortion procedure, still practiced there and in many other hospitals and abortion clinics throughout the country, sometimes results in babies being aborted alive. Survivors are shelved to die or outright killed (click here) in such cases.

    State and federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act laws are meant to protect them, like Safe Haven laws, but they aren't being enforced. Will you help, Neil?

    I expect you won't. And that's ok. Just be honest with yourself, because you haven't been thus far. If you had actually ever looked at a photo of an aborted baby you couldn't possibly dismiss her as "the fertilized egg the size of the period at the end of this sentence that typically gets aborted." You're frankly ignorant, Neil.

    Since visuals appear to impact you so much, take time to educate yourself.

    Click here to watch beautiful videos of babies the age that are often aborted, 6-8 weeks, at the Endowment for Human Development website, which has been approved by National Geographic.

    Click here for a dose of reality, view photos of 7-week-old aborted babies.

    The photos of aborted babies look an awful lot like the dead born baby you saw, Neil - hands, fingers, feet, toes.

    The videos show babies this age have beating, 4-chamber hearts. They've had detectable brainwaves for a week.

    Be my guest to continue to spout pro-abort rhetoric, Neil.

    But debate the topic from an informed viewpoint, not one so obviously obtuse.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: jillstanek.com
Publish Date: April 13, 2010
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Pro-Life Group Marks 40th Anniversary of Earth Day with Campaign Celebrating Life

Pro-Life Group Marks 40th Anniversary of Earth Day with Campaign Celebrating Life

Encourages Americans to celebrate nature's greatest gift - human life

The pro-life group CatholicVote.org says it's time to use Earth Day to celebrate nature's greatest gift – human life. 

The pro-life group CatholicVote.org says it's time to use Earth Day to celebrate nature's greatest gift – human life.

With bus ads starting today in Chicago and next week in San Francisco and Seattle, CatholicVote.org is encouraging Americans to rethink how they celebrate Earth Day, and how to go about building a culture that respects the environment.  This April 22nd will mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

"Our goal is to use Earth Day to get Americans to think more deeply about what it means to truly respect the Earth and creation," said Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org Education Fund.

"Prevailing environmental attitudes too often view humans as the enemy of nature. We believe the human person is God's greatest creation, and the Earth's greatest resource. Building up a culture of life is the single most important way to build a culture that respects the environment."

Burch said that, in order to "bring this balanced Catholic view of the environment to the streets," the group purchased ads broadcasting their message on over 50 buses in Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle.

"Respect for the God's creation has a long history in Catholic teaching, long before it became popular with our secular culture," said Burch.

Pope Benedict XVI has been very vocal in support of proper stewardship of natural resources. Newsweek even dubbed him "the green pope."

Earlier this year, in his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict said: "If we wish to build true peace, how can we separate, or even set at odds, the protection of the environment and the protection of human life, including the life of the unborn?"

The pope has repeatedly emphasized that respect for the environment must be tied to a larger framework, with respect for the human person at its core.

In his recent encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: "If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology.

"It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves."

The bus ads, which can be downloaded at CatholicVote.org, will run for four weeks.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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Group Sues Administration on Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Expansion

Group Sues Administration on Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Expansion
 
Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys were in court today for oral arguments in a suit (Sherley v. Sebelius) alleging the Obama administration's embryonic research policy violates federal law

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys were in court today for oral arguments in a suit (Sherley v. Sebelius) alleging the Obama administration's embryonic research policy violates federal law.

The Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which must be passed by Congress each year, prohibits federal funds from being used to destroy human embryos for research purposes.  President Obama has opened up new stem cell lines which will mean the destruction of human life.

Steven H. Aden, senior legal counsel for ADF, said no one should be allowed to decide that life is worthless.

"Innocent life should not be treated like a commodity," he said.  "Although private sector funding of embryonic stem-cell research has been practically unlimited, it has failed to produce results.  In economic times like we are in now, why should the federal government use precious taxpayer dollars for this illegal and unethical purpose?"

Contact: Roger Greer
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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Pro-abortion nominee Dawn Johnsen withdraws bid for Office of Legal Council

Pro-abortion nominee Dawn Johnsen withdraws bid for Office of Legal Council

Dawn Johnsen announced her decision last Friday to withdraw her bid for the White House Office of Legal Council

Dawn Johnsen announced her decision last Friday to withdraw her bid for the White House Office of Legal Council, citing political delays and opposition. The law professor was outspoken in her advocacy for legalized abortion, including partial-birth abortion.

"Unfortunately, my nomination has met with lengthy delays and political opposition that… prevent OLC (the Office of Legal Counsel) from functioning at full strength," Johnsen said in a statement April 9. "I hope that the withdrawal of my nomination will allow this important office to be filled promptly."

Johnsen, who has faced criticism in the past for her strong pro-abortion stance, was nominated the first time by President Obama in 2009. Though her nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in an 11 to 7 vote, it eventually expired. Due to bureaucratic maneuvering, she never officially served in that position.

According the California Catholic Daily, the nomination has held back in the Senate Judiciary Committee four times due to a lack of consensus on a date for the full Senate to take up confirmation.

Because of the repeated delays, a letter from hundreds of law professors was signed on Feb. 1 and sent to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), urging him to speed along Johnsen's nomination. Signatories of the letter included professors from Catholic universities, such as Santa Clara University, the University of San Francisco, and Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

The Associated Press reported on Saturday that Johnsen's nomination had been stalled so long that she resumed teaching at Indiana University while commuting back and forth between Bloomington, Ind. and Washington D.C.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, in April 2009 called Johnsen's view on abortion  "bizzare."

"Dawn Johnsen does not represent mainstream America or the type of common ground abortion policy President Obama promised this nation," Dannenfelser said last April.

"Her bizarre characterizations of pregnancy as 'slavery' and mothers as 'losers in the contraceptive lottery' expose an unacceptable disdain for commonsense abortion restrictions and motherhood in general. Furthermore, Johnsen's opposition to existing federal restrictions like the ban on partial-birth abortion casts doubt on her ability to perform her duties faithfully as the head of the Office of Legal Counsel."

Source: CNA
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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Josie Duggar Released from, then Readmitted to Hospital

Josie Duggar Released from, then Readmitted to Hospital

Michell and Jim Bob Duggar with their 19th child, Josie 

Josie Brooklyn Duggar, the preemie baby born at 25 weeks gestation to the Duggar family of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," was released from the Arkansas Children's Hospital neonatal intensive care unit last Tuesday before being re-admitted on Thursday when her vital signs began to drop.

"Dr. Arrington told us to never trust a preemie," said Jim Bob Duggar, according to People magazine; Dr. Arrington is co-director of the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. "That is really true."

Fortifiers had been added to the breast milk Josie drank to help spur her growth; these caused minor stomach issues.

"We realized early that it would be a long, unpredictable recovery," Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar wrote on their blog, "which is why we opted to stay in Little Rock close to the expert staff at Arkansas Children's Hospital."

"Currently, Josie is healthy and in stable condition; we hope to have her back with the family in the next few days. As always, our entire family is grateful for the continued prayers and support."

Josie Duggar was delivered prematurely by emergency c-section on December 10th, 2009, after doctors discovered that Michelle had preeclampsia, which can cause serious complications for both the baby and the mother.

She weighed approximately 1 pound and 6 ounces at birth; she now weighs approximately 4 pounds and 12 ounces.  Babies born at 25 weeks have about a 4 out of 5 chance of survival.

Most of the Duggar family is staying in a rental house in Little Rock until Josie is ready to go to their home in Tontitown, Arkansas.  Ironically, the home they are renting was once owned by the eugenicist founder of Planned Parenthood in Little Rock.

The Duggar family is well-known for their belief, as their website proclaims, that "children are a heritage of the Lord."  They have written a book about their experiences, including their decision to stop using artificial birth control.

Contact: James Tillman
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

Tennessee House Strikes Blow to ObamaCare Abortion Coverage

A strong bipartisan majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives voted to exercise its right to opt the state out of the abortion mandate in the new national health care reform law.

A strong bipartisan majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives voted to exercise its right to opt the state out of the abortion mandate in the new national health care reform law. The measure approved by the House forbids insurance companies receiving public subsidies in the state-run health exchange from offering or requiring abortion coverage.

The House passed HB 2681 on the floor Monday by an overwhelming 70 votes in favor, with 23 against. The legislation states: "No health care plan required to be established in this state through an exchange pursuant to federal health care reform legislation enacted by the 111th Congress shall offer coverage for abortion services."
Click here for the entire article.


Support for Repealing Health Care Law Rises to 58%: Rasmussen

Nearly three weeks after President Obama signed the federal health care bill into law, more U.S. voters hope to see it repealed than not, according to a Rasmussen poll. 

Nearly three weeks after President Obama signed the federal health care bill into law, more U.S. voters hope to see it repealed than not, according to a Rasmussen poll.

58% of respondents in the telephone survey said they favored repeal for the measure, including a solid half of U.S. voters who "strongly favor" repeal, reported the pollster Monday morning. Thirty-eight percent of voters oppose repeal, with 32% strongly opposing it.

In surveys conducted in the first two weeks following the bill's passage, 54% of voters favored repeal while 42% opposed it.
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Warning: The Danger of People

In a recent article entitled "Say it loud: I'm childfree and I'm proud," author Lisa Hymas suggests that the population of the United States must be controlled -- through what means, she does not say.

In a recent article entitled "Say it loud: I'm childfree and I'm proud," author Lisa Hymas suggests that the population of the United States must be controlled -- through what means, she does not say. In the article, Hymas refers to the amount of carbon dioxide each American person causes to go into the Earth's atmosphere, which she alleges contributes to the destruction of the Earth's environment and atmosphere. To Hymas, the best solution is for people to stop having children: "A person who cares about preserving a livable environment has lots of options for doing her bit, and you've heard all about them.... But even in aggregate, all of these moves don't come close to the impact of not bringing new human beings -- particularly new Americans -- into the world."
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Planned Parenthood Office Overreacts to Package That Turns Out To Be Mail

Planned Parenthood Office Overreacts to Package That Turns Out To Be Mail

A package left at the Planned Parenthood offices on East Genesee Street in
Syracuse this morning brought a quick response from police. Authorities were called about 9:55 a.m. about the box. Police X-rayed the box, which turned out to be filled with mail, Sgt. Tom Connellan said. It turns out the mail was delivered to the wrong address, Connellan said. The people who received the mail by mistake delivered it to Planned Parenthood in the package that they left at the door, Connellan said.
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Birth Control Pills Kill Bank Worker

Birth Control Pills Kill Bank Worker

Jenna Morris, of Poulton, Wirral, died after a deep vein thrombosis developed in her legs and spread to her lungs. Before she collapsed Miss Morris complained of shooting pains in her legs and within hours her mother Christine found her daughter's body at her home in Merseyside. A post mortem revealed she died of a blood clot, possibly caused by the contraceptive pills which she had been taking since she was a teenager. At the time of her death Jenna was planning a wedding to her fiance, Luke Hawson. who proposed to her on her 28th birthday in November last year.
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Black Pro Life Activists Picket Planned Parenthood's Chief Fundraiser

Move-On-Up.org and St. Louis area pro life activists, picket the luncheon speaker for the The Saint Louis Planned Giving Council.

Move-On-Up.org and St. Louis area pro life activists, picket the luncheon speaker for the The Saint Louis Planned Giving Council. The SLGC was holding a workshop for charitable gilt planners. According to the (SLPGC) website, the organization is the 'professional association for charitable gift planners in the greater metropolitan St. Louis region." The luncheon speaker was Dianne Armstrong, CFRE, of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. The topic of her talk was: "Best Practices in Donor Visits.


Click here for the video.

April 12, 2010

A Second Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Giving Misleading Medical Information

A Second Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Giving Misleading Medical Information

Lila Rose, UCLA student and president of Live Action

A new undercover video reveals medically inaccurate abortion counseling at a tax-funded Milwaukee Planned Parenthood clinic. The video, released by youth-led pro-life group Live Action, records Planned Parenthood staff distorting basic facts of fetal development and pressuring a woman to have an abortion.
 
In the video, a staffer tells a woman who is reportedly 6 to 8 weeks pregnant that at this stage her baby has "no arms, no legs, no heart no head, no brain." The staffer emphasizes the difficulties of adoption, urges the woman to obtain an abortion as soon as possible, says that images of abortion are fabricated, and states that the unborn child at 6 to 8 weeks has no "identifiable parts" and is just "fetal matter."
 
A similar video released in December from an Appleton, WI abortion clinic prompted state senator Glenn Grothman to call for an investigation of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Two leading embryologists also denounced Planned Parenthood's counseling, calling it "absurd and scientifically erroneous." Live Action also released a video last February catching Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin failing to comply with mandatory reporting laws for the sexual abuse of a 14 year old girl.
 
Wisconsin law requires women to receive medically accurate information before obtaining an abortion. The America Medical Association indicates in its Code of Ethics that "the physician's obligation is to present the medical facts accurately to the patient."
 
Lila Rose, UCLA student and president of Live Action, says the new footage further confirms the deceptive and manipulative practices of Planned Parenthood: "Planned Parenthood has an abortion-first mentality that is driven both by ideology and the desire for money," says Rose. "Since women will often choose against abortion if they learn the scientific facts about the unborn child inside the womb, Planned Parenthood distorts basic facts in an attempt to perform more abortions."
 
The video is the second in Live Action's "Rosa Acuna Project," a multi-state undercover investigation documenting Planned Parenthood's deceptive abortion counseling. Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion chain in the U.S., has come under fire recently after Live Action's previous investigations found the abortion giant willing to conceal sexual abuse of young girls and accept racist donations earmarked to abort African-American babies.
 
Click here to watch the undercover video.

Contact: Lila Rose
Source: Live Action
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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Government vs. Family in Teaching About Sex

Government vs. Family in Teaching About Sex

The child's sex education is at the very core of parents' right to preside over the intellectual and spiritual formation of their children.

The American Principles Project just published an Innocence Report in February which isn't online yet.  These papers are part of the Preserve Innocence Project of which an Iowa Chapter has just started, and one of our contributors, Eric Goranson, has been named the State Director.  I will be serving on the advisory board.

But I digress, this paper was on the history of sex education.  It was eye-opening, and I think if most people really looked to see what was taught in a sex ed class, they'd be surprised.

Mentioning that throughout the 20th century the federal government has played an increasingly larger role in sex education, and funding has increased.  Two major recipients of this funding are Planned Parenthood and SIECUS.  Noting that they listed some notes at the end of the paper and I would like to highlight some of those.  They write:

    With respect to government-sponsored sex education, an uncontested common ground is the relationship between the government and the people.  Our founding rests on the "self-evident" truths that sovereignty flows from the Creator to all individuals equally – that is all people are created equal and "endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights."  If further rests on the principle that government, in turn, derives its soverignty from "the consent of the governed" in order "to secure these rights."

    Among the most sacred and fundamental of rights is that of parents to associate with their children and to be principally and primarily responsible for the formation of their world view, their spirituality, their values and their beliefs.  The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that right.  That family sovereignty clearly goes to the essence of the Declaration.  And is well recognized by other natural law sources.

    The child's sex education is at the very core of parents' right to preside over the intellectual and spiritual formation of their children.  That education invokes the parents' act in bringing their children into the world and is profoundly connected to the expression of religion within the home.  Parents view children as a blessing, and children are one of the greatest gifts parents can hope for their children.  For these reasons, the family home has been called "'the domestic church,' a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian Charity," (Catechism of the Catholic Church at 1666).

The paper then goes on to makes points about the State's role in sexual education.

    The state must tread very lightly when it ventures into areas that implicate family sovereignty, especially in deeply personal matters such as instruction in spirituality and sex.  Specifically, the state should respect the primacy of the parent and — except where parents have been adjudged as incompetent – should provide full prior disclosure to parents of all outreach and educational materials directed at their children.

    The state should refrain from outreach directly to the child and must not provide indicia of approval to third parties that engage in such outreach, including outreach on the Internet that targets children (my notes: note exhibit A and exhibit B).

    With respect to sex education, the state should favor information dissemination directly to the parents.

    The federal and state governments should repudiate the sex education profession's history of denigrating the abilities of parents to their children about sex.

    Teaching children about sex is an important facet of parenthood.  Sex education programs should recognize the primacy of the parent.  To do otherwise degrades parents and parenthood.

    Sexual relations are profound inter-personal interactions, and thus implicate fundamental ethical issues and values.  This point seems largely uncontested.  The inherent problem, though, is that governmental entities – such as schools – are incapable of discussing the deepest implications of ethical issues and values because it would immediately implicate an individual's spiritual thoughts.  Ironically, government's limited ability to act in this regard means that it – rather than the parent – is incapable of fully teaching about sex.

    Government should always be wary of unintended consequences of the exercise of its authority.  To the extent that government does engage in outreach directly to children on sexual matters, it should carefully study and consider whether discussion of such deeply personal matters in group settings (e.g., the classroom) and in mixed gender settings degrades the topic or the audience.

In a nutshell, APP claims that history has shown that our government's sex ed efforts have been built on the premise that parents are unable or unwilling to educate their children.  Currently it's direct-to-child outreach efforts are an intrusion on the parents' prerogatives, the parent-child relationship, and the sovereignty of the family.

They say government's sexual education efforts should center of the parent.  What say you?

Contact: Shane Vander Hart
Source: Caffeinated Thoughts
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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The 'pro-choice' fraud exposed

The 'pro-choice' fraud exposed

Who knew the most pro-abortion president in the history of the United States would so effectively obliterate the deceptive front the abortion movement has been able to sustain for nearly 40 years?

Who knew the most pro-abortion president in the history of the United States would so effectively obliterate the deceptive front the abortion movement has been able to sustain for nearly 40 years?  But hats off to Mr. Obama for a job well done.

First of all, I have to admit that I find it appalling that we can be living in the 21st century, living in a country whose creed espouses the unalienable right to life for all people, living in a nation that has spent over 200 years struggling to extend the blessings of liberty to all men -- and yet there are still those who are so backwards in their thinking and so void of moral conscience that they can actually advocate a supposed right to dismember infants in the womb.
 
Scientifically, medically, constitutionally, morally and ethically, the case for abortion rights is so intellectually bankrupt it is a national embarrassment that we take those who argue it seriously.  Moreover, the fact that any individual who espouses a right to kill children cannot only escape the loony bin, but actually be elected to a position of authority in our society is a devastating commentary on our people's commitment to human rights.
 
Nevertheless, I must also admit to finding great satisfaction in finally being able to lay to rest one of the most offensive, hollow, and illogical arguments of the pro-abortion lobby.  The euphemistic label of not being pro-abortion, but rather "pro-choice" has plagued this debate for decades.  Intellectually speaking, this argument has always been beyond silly.  To say that you're pro-choice is absolutely meaningless unless you acknowledge what act you believe people should have a choice in doing.  The question has always been, "choice to do what?"
 
What's interesting is that through the years of engaging those who claim this label of "pro-choice," I've found that they are many times the most anti-choice people you could imagine.  Whether it is their insistence on carbon regulation that limits our travel choices, their forbiddance of private investment of our own Social Security deposits, or their refusal to allow school choice for those trapped in failing educational environments, if theirs is the face of choice, the word has no meaning.
 
Yet despite this reality, these anti-human rights activists on the left have been successful at tempering the inherent evil of their position by falsely representing themselves as fierce defenders of "a woman's right to choose."  No matter how many times this fraud was exposed, the myth perpetuated thanks to a complicit media that refused to acknowledge how barbaric one's mindset must be to – in this enlightened age – still believe in the savage ritual of human sacrifice.  But no more.
 
Those iconic placards carried by NARAL and Planned Parenthood agitators that proudly declared "My Body, My Choice" and "Keep Your Government's Hands Off My Body" must be officially retired.  Though it was always an empty, irrational argument (sure we all have a right to control our bodies – but not in a way that results in the slaughter of another human being), we can now know for certain that they never meant it anyway.  All the overblown rhetoric about privacy rights and how the government should never interject itself between a woman and her doctor was nothing more than a public relations cover for their true fascination.
 
How can we know?  Because the great champions of "choice" themselves – Obama, Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein, et al. – just crammed through a healthcare bill that intentionally thrusts the government directly between every woman (as well as man and child) and their doctor.  And they did this with the blessing of the criminally misnamed "choice" lobby!
 
ObamaCare opens the door to government access of your most personal medical records.  It mandates government-enforced purchase of government-approved health insurance that will cover government-permitted procedures.  It stands to take the most critical and private decisions about your well being and place them in the hands of a faceless bureaucratic board that is more concerned with cutting costs than extending your life.  They will determine whether you need the pacemaker, the bypass or the stint.  You, meanwhile, are left with no...choice.
 
So if nothing else, Barack Obama and company just accomplished proving something pro-lifers have been fighting to demonstrate for 40 years.  The abortion movement has never been about choice.  It's never been about privacy.  It's never been about personal liberty.  It's always been about a macabre obsession with advancing a legal right to kill kids for convenience.  That's pure, unadulterated evil.

Contact: Peter Heck
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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Justice Stevens, Congressman Stupak to Retire

Justice Stevens, Congressman Stupak to Retire

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced he is retiring at the end of the current term in June.

One retirement notice Friday was almost universally expected--pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens made it official that he was stepping down after the current term ends in June. The other--the announcement by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) that he would not seek re-election this fall--was more of a surprise.

But there are some interesting similarities and contrasts. When he was chosen by President Gerald Ford (Ford's only Supreme Court nominee), Stevens, now almost 90, was seen as a middle of the roader. Over the years he "became leader of the liberals on the Court," according to CNN's Jeffrey Toobin, a "staunch defender of abortion rights."
(Toobin argues that Stevens became "an unexpected liberal -- someone who moved to the left as the court moved to the right." In fact, Stevens lurched left long before some additional "conservative" justices took their seats on the bench.)

If conservatives became gradually (and then totally) disillusioned with Stevens, pro-lifers believed unswervingly in Rep. Stupak until late in the afternoon of March 21. That was the fateful moment when Stupak announced that all the pro-life concerns he had about the Senate bill the House was about to vote on had suddenly been allayed.

How had that happened? Because pro-abortion from head to toe President Barack Obama had issued an executive order.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.). holding up the executive order President Obama later signed as justification for his voting for ObamaCare.

"I'm pleased to announce that we have an agreement, and it's with the help of the president and the speaker we were able to come to an agreement to protect the sanctity of life in the health care reform," Stupak said. "There will be no public funding for abortion in this legislation."

Collectively, our heads snapped back in disbelief and sadness.

Pro-lifers were supposed to accept (a) that an essentially meaningless executive order could trump a law; (b) that Obama would monitor the way the law played out to ensure that abortions would not be funded; and (c) that even if the executive order meant something and could be enforced Obama wouldn't simply deep-six the executive order the instant it suited his purposes.

Pro-life Congressman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) put it well: "This puts the fate of the unborn in the hands of the most pro-abortion president in history."

Who knows how the election would have played out had Stupak run again--whether he would have defeated a staunch pro-abortionist in the Democratic primary and, if so, gone on to defeat pro-life Republican Dr. Dan Benishek in the general. He had lost the endorsement of Right to Life of Michigan PAC.

What we do know is that the man who has co-piloted the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus with Republican Chris Smith parachuted out before he had a chance to crash electorally. Now in the wake of his deeply regrettable actions--and that of a number of other erstwhile pro-life Democrats who also flip-flopped-- it's up to everyone who is appalled by the greatest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade to challenge ObamaCare in Congress, in the Courts, in the state legislatures, and at the ballot box.

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: NRLC
Publish Date: April 9, 2010
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Abortion Clinic Anesthetist Accused of Intentionally Infecting 12 Women with Hepatitis C

Abortion Clinic Anesthetist Accused of Intentionally Infecting 12 Women with Hepatitis C

At least twelve women have been infected by Hepatitis C after being treated by the same anesthetist in a suburban Melbourne abortion facility

At least twelve women have been infected by Hepatitis C after being treated by the same anesthetist in a suburban Melbourne abortion facility. The Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria and the police are investigating to see whether the anesthetist deliberately infected the women.

Dr. John Carnie, Victoria's chief health officer, said that it was difficult to imagine how so many patients could be accidentally infected.

"Needle stick injuries are one method of possible transmission," he said. "It is difficult to identify how this could happen with more than, say, one or two patients."

The infections occurred at Croydon Day Surgery, Victoria's only late-term abortion facility, between June 2008 and December 2009.  The state Department of Health initially noticed a cluster of three Hepatitis C-infected women who had attended the clinic, and found the others after further investigation.

The Department of Health investigated the clinic's infection control procedures, but found no problems.  After staff members were tested for the virus, however, all were found to be negative, except for an anesthetist, Dr. James Latham Peters. Tests confirmed that his hepatitis C strain matched the strain of the 12 infected women.

The Board had previously placed restrictions on Dr. Peters' license, limiting Dr. Peters' access to various drugs, after it found that he had a substance-abuse problem.  After placing Dr. Peters on its program for substance-abusing doctors and making him submit to drug tests for a year, however, it removed these restrictions and also concealed any publicly accessible record to protect his privacy.

Croydon Day Surgery is part of Planned Parenthood of Australia Group.

Dr. Peters worked at two other clinics in Melbourne during the same period that the twelve women were infected.  The Medical Board suspended him from practice on February 15.

Dr. John Carnie said that there was good reason to believe no infections had stemmed from any of Dr. Peters' work outside of Croydon Day Surgery.  Investigators are attempting to contact those whom he treated in Croydon Day Surgery, however.

Hepatitis C tends to be spread by blood-to-blood or sexual contact and attacks the liver, in some cases causing cirrhosis and liver cancer.  The most common way it is spread is by the sharing of needles. All cases of Hepatitis C must be reported to Victoria's communicable disease register, due to its infectious and dangerous nature.

In the last three days, more than 700 women who have been to Croydon Day Surgery have called a Department of Human Services hotline for those who may have been infected.  It remains uncertain how many people may have been infected.

"This whole episode is going to clearly cause a great deal of concern and distress in the community," said Dr. Carnie.  "I don't want to add to that concern by starting to speculate on total numbers."

Contact: James Tillman
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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50 Year Sentence for Murderer of Unborn Baby

50 Year Sentence for Murderer of Unborn Baby

Danny Poplin Jr., who is deaf, raises his right hand and signs with his left as he is sworn in before testifying at his sentencing hearing on Friday in Sacramento Superior Court.  

Last Friday, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Greta Curtis Fall sentenced a 32-year-old man to 50-years-to-life imprisonment for killing his girlfriend's unborn baby by stabbing her in the stomach with a 13-inch butcher knife.

On December 31, 2006, Danny Ray Poplin Jr. attacked his girlfriend, Vanessa Roberts, thinking that her six-month old unborn child was the child of another man. DNA tests later confirmed the child was his own. He will serve the sentence for murder only after serving 12 years for injury and assault.

"The jury spoke," said Deputy District Attorney Noah Phillips. "It was the appropriate sentence."

Poplin had been convicted of domestic violence three times prior to this assault; in each case he  had beaten Roberts.  A 1996 guilty plea in a first-degree burglary case doubled the sentence he received for this murder, from 25 to 50 years.

California is one of more than two dozen states that have fetal homicide laws.  California's statute was enacted in 1970 after the murder of an eight-month old unborn baby.  Prosecutors were unable to charge the perpetrator with murder, and public resulted in a change to the law to include the murder of unborn children.

Contact:
James Tillman
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 12, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR MONDAY

New Bioethics Commission Gets Members

The new Presidential Commission chairperson: Amy Gutmann

The new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, first announced over four months ago, is finally getting its members. HHS published the official announcement of the commission's establishment on March 31, and on April 7 ten Members were announced by the White House (the two co-chairs were announced previously; the Executive Order also provides for the possibility of one more member.)
Click here for the new commission website .
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Organs 'removed without consent'

Organs may have been removed from deceased people without their consent after a data-handling error by the NHS.

Organs may have been removed from deceased people without their consent after a data-handling error by the NHS.

The blunder meant 800,000 people on the UK donor register may have had their wishes about the use of organs for transplant wrongly recorded.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that 45 of them have now died - and 20 families let organs of relatives be taken based on incorrectly stored information.

NHS Blood and Transplant said it was urgently investigating.

Many donors give consent for some organs to be used for transplant but not others, such as eyes.

But the details of many donors' preferences were accidentally deleted in 1999.
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Planned Parenthood In Illinois Celebrates 70 Years of Killing Babies

Planned Parenthood Illinois: When it started in 1940, it was denied recognition by the Champaign Medical Society. Patients had to be "poor and married" to access its services. In its first year, what was then called the Champaign County Family Planning Center, saw 39 patients.

When it started in 1940, it was denied recognition by the Champaign Medical Society. Patients had to be "poor and married" to access its services. In its first year, what was then called the Champaign County Family Planning Center, saw 39 patients. Seventy years and tens of thousands of patients later, the organization is the local office of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, 302 E. Stoughton St., Champaign. The organization will be celebrating its 70 years in Champaign with a dinner Friday at 6 p.m. at the I Hotel. When oral contraceptives were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1960s, Kanter said Planned Parenthood was allowed to offer the pill to patients who had a prescription from a private physician and could pay $2 per month – as long as the clinic did not publicize the service.
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New Safety Label For Birth Control Pills

Bayer HealthCare said Friday it has added new information about the risks of blood clots to its contraceptive pills Yaz and Yasmin

Bayer HealthCare said Friday it has added new information about the risks of blood clots to its contraceptive pills Yaz and Yasmin. In cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said it added new labeling stating that the risks of blood clots with Yaz and Yasmin are similar to those with other oral contraceptives. The statements are based on two large, multiyear studies of more than 120,000 women taking contraceptives in the U.S. and the U.K.
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Sarasota Baby Killer's License Revoked for Aborting Wrong Baby

Image of an ultrasound of twins

A Florida OB-GYN who was supposed to abort a deformed fetus in a twin pregnancy but leave the normal one alone made the worst kind of mistake. Dr. Matthew J. Kachinas got the twins mixed up and injected a killing chemical into the wrong one, records show. At a weekend meeting in Tampa, the Florida Board of Medicine revoked Kachinas' license for that and a series of other pending cases, according to Florida Health News. Kachinas, who practiced in Sarasota, was one of the few OB-GYNs in Florida who accepted abortion patients in late second trimester, records show. The ``selective reduction'' in the twin pregnancy was not considered a late-term procedure. The parents of the twins, who had achieved the pregnancy through in-vitro fertilization with an egg donor, were not identified and were not at the hearing. Records show that after the normal fetus was inadvertently killed, they ended the pregnancy altogether the following week. Records show the fetal twins were at 15 weeks' gestation when the botched ``feticid'' took place. The "normal" baby was a girl; the twin with anomalies -- Down syndrome and a possible heart defect -- was male.
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Woman rejects pressure from employer to have abortion

According to the court, the restaurant owner insisted the waitress have an abortion after learning she was pregnant.  The woman refused and decided to keep her baby.
A criminal court in the Spanish city of Gerona has sentenced a restaurant owner to 19 months in prison and ordered him to pay over $6,000 for pressuring a waitress to undergo an abortion in order to keep her job. The woman refused and decided to keep her baby.

According to the court, the restaurant owner insisted the waitress have an abortion after learning she was pregnant.

Europa Press reported that the ruling said the woman was "about to interrupt" her pregnancy but that after "many doubts," she decided to carry her child to term.  When her employment contract was not renewed, she was presented with a pink slip without severance pay.
Click here for the entire article.

April 9, 2010

Stupak to Retire -- Will His Turncoat Gang Follow

Stupak to Retire -- Will His Turncoat Gang Follow

News reports indicate Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), whose last-minute betrayal secured the passage of Obama's health care takeover, will retire and not seek another term

News reports indicate Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), whose last-minute betrayal secured the passage of Obama's health care takeover, will retire and not seek another term. Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee's CEO, Penny Nance, released the statement below in response:

"Congressman Stupak will forever be remembered as the man whose spine cracked at the last minute. He betrayed millions of Americans who trusted he would live up to his word and oppose government funding of abortion. He saw his coming defeat and decided to cut his losses. Now the question is: How many more from his turncoat gang will follow?
 
"Stupak's retirement will free up pro-lifers to repeal and replace the others in his bloc who caved along with him and voted to fund abortion with government dollars. We urge those Congressman who blindly followed Mr. Stupak into voting for government-funded abortion to follow him again now into their own retirement so that men and women of integrity may take their places in Congress.  We are committed to informing voters and will work hard to ensure citizens have the resources they need upon which to make educated choices."

Contact: Demi Bardsley

Source: Concerned Women for America
Publish Date: April 9, 2010
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Planned Parenthood Guide Tells HIV-Infected Youth to Enjoy Sex, Denounces Laws on Disclosure of HIV/AIDS to Sexual Partners

Planned Parenthood Guide Tells HIV-Infected Youth to Enjoy Sex, Denounces Laws on Disclosure of HIV/AIDS to Sexual Partners

    
Planned Parenthood Guide Tells HIV-Infected Youth to Enjoy Sex, Denounces Laws on Disclosure of HIV/AIDS to Sexual Partners

In a guide for young people published by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the organization says it opposes laws that make it a crime for people not to tell sexual partners they have HIV. The IPPF's “Healthy, Happy and Hot” guide also tells young people who have the virus that they have a right to “fun, happy and sexually fulfilling lives.”

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
 
“Some countries have laws that say people living with HIV must tell their sexual partner(s) about their status before having sex, even if they use condoms or only engage in sexual activity with a low risk of giving HIV to someone else,” the guide states. “These laws violate the rights of people living with HIV by forcing them to disclose or face the possibility of criminal charges.”
 
Under the heading “Sexual Pleasure and Well-Being,” the guide declares that it is a human right and not a criminal issue as to whether a person decides if or when to disclose their HIV status, even if they engage in sexual activities.
 
“You know best when it is safe for you to disclose your status,” the guide states. “There are many reasons that people do not share their HIV status. They may not want people to know they are living with HIV because of the stigma and discrimination within their community.”
 
The guide continues: “They may worry that people will find out something else they have kept secret, like that they are using injecting drugs or, having sex outside of marriage or having sex with people of the same gender. People in long-term relationships who find out they are living with HIV sometime fear that their partner will react violently or end the relationship.”
 
“Young people living with HIV have the right to sexual pleasure,” the guide states under the heading “Sexual Pleasure; Have Fun Explore and Be Yourself.”
 
“Sex can feel great and can be really fun!” the guide says. “Many people think sex is just about vaginal and anal intercourse …. But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex.”
 
“Sex can include kissing, touching, licking, tickling, sucking and cuddling,” the guide states. “Some people like aggressive sex, while others like to have soft and slow sex with their partners (sic).”
 
“It’s a vile and vulgar brochure,” Austin Ruse, president of the United Nations watchdog group Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, told CNSNews.com.
 
Ruse’s group has been reporting on the “Healthy, Happy and Hot” guide in recent weeks after Sharon Slater, president of Family Watch International, attended an event for the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women and found copies of the guide in a room where Girl Scouts were meeting.
 
The Girls Scouts of the USA released a statement denying they were distributing the guides and suggesting the guides may already have been in the room they were using.
 
Ruse said that aside from the graphic promotion of sex for young people with HIV, the guide also falsely claims that there are international laws to protect their “human rights.”
 
“There is no such international right that says that you are not required to reveal your HIV status before having sex,” Ruse said. “There’s no such thing.”
 
“It is a flat-out lie to say otherwise, and in this brochure it is lies from stem to stern,” he said.
 
Peter Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies at the Family Research Council, told CNSNews.com:  "To the extent that 'sexual rights' and 'reproductive rights' are mentioned in documents of the U.N. or other international agencies, even informally, these terms often have a meaning contrary to that which IPPF gives them. For example, 'sexual rights' usually means the right to say NO to unwanted or coerced sex -- not a right to HAVE sex under almost any circumstances.”
 
"By the same token, 'reproductive rights'  usually involve the right to have children -- not the right to destroy them through abortion," Sprigg said, adding that laws requiring people to disclose to sexual partners that they have HIV protect people and promote sexual health.

IPPF defends its position, saying laws aimed at people with HIV hurt efforts to prevent the spread of the disease and discriminate unfairly against people who have the virus.
 
"Punitive laws that criminalise HIV transmission will jeopardise global HIV prevention efforts by acting as a disincentive for knowing one's HIV status and by incorrectly placing an undue burden of responsibility for all safe sex behaviour on people living with HIV (who in many societies are already marginalised and stigmatised)," Kevin Osborne, IPPF senior advisor on HIV told CNSNews.com. "Alternatives to the criminal law must be used to foster increased HIV prevention efforts and behaviours."
 
The guide also makes a plug for Planned Parenthood’s profitable “reproductive services.”

“Your local family planning clinic can help you create a plan, whether it is for having children safely, preventing or terminating unplanned pregnancies, or figuring out how to start a family if you are single or in a same-sex relationship,” the guide states.
 
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America receives more than $350 million of taxpayer funding annually, although federal law prohibits those funds from being used for abortion.
 
In his early days in office, President Barack Obama signed an executive order reversing the Mexico City Policy that prohibited the use of taxpayer funds to promote or provide abortions abroad, opening the way for U.S.-funded abortions around the world.

Contact: Penny Starr

Source: CNSNews.com
Publish Date: April 9, 2010
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Nebraska Legislature Passes Historic Fetal Pain Bill

Nebraska Legislature Passes Historic Fetal Pain Bill

The Nebraska legislature on Friday gave its second approval to a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation, when pre-born babies are known to feel pain 

The Nebraska legislature on Friday gave its second approval to a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation, when pre-born babies are known to feel pain. The bill will now go to the governor's desk for his signature.

The bill provides what may be the first direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 established a "right" to unrestricted abortion until fetal viability at about 22 weeks.

This bill, which is expected to be signed into law, would severely hamper the late-term abortion business of LeRoy Carhart, and could force him to relocate his late-term abortion business to another state, or close it altogether. 

Carhart is known for performing abortions through 24 weeks in Nebraska.

Julie Schmit-Albin, Executive Director of NE Right to Life, has said that Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has stated support for the legislation and is expected to sign it into law.

Source:
LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 9, 2010
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Austin becomes second city to pass ordinance targeting pregnancy care centers

Austin becomes second city to pass ordinance targeting pregnancy care centers

Pregnancy centers that don't offer or refer clients to abortion services or birth control services will now have to say that on signs posted at their facilities

Pregnancy centers that don't offer or refer clients to abortion services or birth control services will now have to say that on signs posted at their facilities, the Austin City Council decided in a unanimous vote this morning.
 
Council Member Bill Spelman [pictured left] proposed the idea because he said it can be unclear to visitors to the centers what services they offer. The centers are not medical clinics and typically offer adoption counseling, pregnancy tests and financial assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies, but not other services, Spelman said.
Baltimore is the only other city in the nation that has passed a similar law.... It won't affect Planned Parenthood clinics or local or state health clinics that provide or refer clients to abortion and birth control services....

[C]enter operators won't be arrested if they violate the law. They could be cited for a code violation - a Class C misdemeanor that would be handled through municipal court - and face fines of up to $450 per offense.

What Class A jerks. How much clearer can it be that pro-aborts have a preborn death wish?

Meanwhile, bravo to Baltimore's Catholic Church leadership. Reported the Washington Times today:

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the country's oldest crisis pregnancy center, claiming the city has enacted a biased ordinance that discriminates against pro-life organizations.
 
In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court, the archdiocese took on a new city ordinance - which had heavy backing from pro-choice and feminist groups - that requires crisis pregnancy centers to post prominent signs stating they do not dispense contraception nor perform abortions....

The archdiocese calls the ordinance a violation of free speech and exercise of religion and calls the language on the sign a "government-mandated disclaimer." The lawsuit claims that pro-life groups are targeted by this ordinance which "targets for speech regulation only one side of a contentious public, political debate."...

"Filing a federal lawsuit against the city is a big step and we wish the city had not put us in this position," [archdiocesan spokesman Sean] Caine said. "However, the principles at issue are so important and the ordinance so clearly violates the law that we felt we needed to file the lawsuit. We believe the ordinance targets these centers because of their pro-life mission."

The archdiocese also asserts the signs are forcing the CPCs to lie. The CPCs do provide birth control - in a fashion - it said in the lawsuit, in terms of abstinence and natural family planning, a system by which couples time their sexual intimacy according to a woman's monthly cycle. It quotes a federal DHHS Web site as asserting that NFP and abstinence both constitute birth control.
Interesting last paragraph. I hope Austin pccs sue, too, and these cases are fast-tracked to the US Supreme Court to nip these unconstitutional pro-abort ordinances in the bud.

As a commenter wrote at Statesman.com, "Does this city council have any common business sense? Next they'll be requiring McDonald's to post signs that they don't serve pizza."

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: jillstanek.com
Publish Date: April 8, 2010
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Abortion Recovery Awareness Month Founder Speaks Out

Abortion Recovery Awareness Month Founder Speaks Out

Stacy Massey is excited to hear the "buzz" regarding Abortion Recovery Awareness Month go around the globe

Stacy Massey is excited to hear the "buzz" regarding Abortion Recovery Awareness Month go around the globe.

"Back in 2005 when Christine Jackman and I founded Abortion Recovery Awareness Month... we had no idea that so many people would wish to be involved. It's such a blessing to see Christians reaching out to those hurting and provide healing resources for women and men impacted by an abortion experience. Each one abortion, through a ripple effect, can touch the hearts of 40-50 people. That's a lot of pain for individuals and families!"

Abortion Recovery Awareness Month (ARAM) was established in April 2005 by Abortion Recovery InterNational, Inc. (ARIN) as a community event for their Affiliates. The month has two goals:

1) to encourage and extend healing opportunities to those hurting after an abortion.

2) to enlighten society to the effects of abortion on individuals and families.

Co-founders Stacy Massey and Christine Jackman believed abortion recovery was just as significant as other awareness efforts.

During the month of April, ARIN Affiliates and Advocates enlighten society by reaching out to others in their community through many different venue.

An Abortion Recovery Awareness Calendar for the month of April is established each year providing ideas and resources.

Abortion Recovery Awareness Month is secular-friendly. It is free of condemnation, judgment or negative connotations.

Although Abortion Recovery Awareness Month is not a political event, ARIN has had amazing support from elected officials, pastors, community leaders and others commending our efforts and encouraging our affiliates around the globe.

Here's just a few of those supporting Abortion Recovery Awareness Month.

Endorsements:

1.Governor Rick Perry, Texas
2.Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana
3.Governor TIm Pawlenty, Minnesota
4.Senator A.G. Crowe, Louisiana
5.Senator David Vitter, Louisiana

The ultimate goal is to share compassionate abortion recovery efforts with others and offer help, healing and hope!

If you are interested in sharing the goals of Abortion Recovery Awareness Month, please visit the Abortion Recovery Awareness Month website and sign the Principles of Participation guidelines.

To assist ARIN Affiliates, Advocates and others participating, Abortion Recovery InterNational has produced a line of awareness materials which help to promote and encourage healing.

Abortion Recovery Awareness Month: www.abortionrecoveryawarenessmonth.org

Contact: Stacy Massey

Source: Abortion Recovery InterNational
Publish Date: April 9, 2010
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Liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens to Retire

Liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens to Retire

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who became known as the leader of the left-leaning judges on the court during his 34 years of service, has announced that he plans to retire at the end of the current term in June.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who became known as the leader of the left-leaning judges on the court during his 34 years of service, has announced that he plans to retire at the end of the current term in June.

Stevens, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1975 by Gerald Ford, voted to uphold Roe v. Wade in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and supports the notion that the U.S. Constitution supports a woman's "right" to abort her child.

News outlets are reporting that Stevens, 89, sent a letter to President Obama Friday saying he will step down.

Nancy Keenan, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, lauded Stevens as "among the strongest supporters of the right to choose currently serving on the Supreme Court, and his retirement serves as yet another stark reminder of the important role the court plays in our everyday lives."

Commenting on the retirement, President Obama lauded Stevens for having "worn the judicial robe with honor and humility." "He has applied the Constitution and the laws of the land with fidelity and restraint," said Obama.

"Even if Justice Stevens' liberalism has led to many decisions I oppose, I respect his devotion to the institution and the gentlemanly manner in which he always carried out his work," commented Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

An announcement is expected from the White House soon regarding a nomination to replace Stevens. Several observers expect President Obama to be considering a relatively short list of likely candidates: Elena Kagan, solicitor general of the United States, Diane Wood of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, and Merrick Garland of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Kagan is a strong supporter of partial-birth abortion and abortion on demand.

Other possibilities include: Cass Sunstein, a former Harvard Law professor and current administrator of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; Kathleen Sullivan, a constitutional law professor at Stanford University and open lesbian; Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano; Yale law professor Harold Koh; and Stanford Law professor Pamela Karlan.

Liberty Council founder Matthew Staver commented that, "As Chief Justice John Roberts said during his confirmation hearings, judges ought to be umpires who simply call the balls and strikes. They ought not play in the game or change the rules."

"The American people deserve a Supreme Court nominee who respects the rule of law and who will set aside personal bias in order to be faithful to the Constitution," said Staver.

The retirement presents President Obama with a second opportunity to craft the membership of the Supreme Court: last year, following the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Obama appointed pro-abortion justice Sonia Sotomayor to fill the spot.

Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life warned of yet another battle over abortion looming with the open Supreme Court seat.

"The opening of a Supreme Court seat will again open the ongoing debate in our nation over abortion -- and it well should, not because Justices are supposed to shape public policy, but because the very purpose of government is the protection of human rights, starting with life," said Pavone. "Anyone who fails to affirm that does not belong in any public office, much less the US Supreme Court."

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 9, 2010
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