Tennessee Becomes First to Opt Out of Abortion Mandates in Federal Health Care Bill

Tennessee Becomes First to Opt Out of Abortion Mandates in Federal Health Care Bill
 


Monday, April 19, marked an extraordinary day for pro-life Tennesseans as Governor Bredesen defied expectations and signed into law Tennessee's Freedom from Coercion Act, a protective bill sponsored by state Rep. Susan Lynn and Sen. Jack Johnson which passed overwhelmingly by both the state House (87-8) and state Senate (29-2.)

The Act requires abortion providers throughout the state to post Tennessee's non-coercion policy and provides for fines against those medical facilities which do not comply. Among those required to post the signage are abortion facilities, hospitals, and offices of private physicians who perform abortions.
 
In addition, Tennessee's state Senate joined the House on Monday evening in easily passing legislation which bans the inclusion of abortion as a benefit within health exchanges required by the recently passed federal health care plan.  Tennessee becomes the first state to opt out of the abortion mandate with similar bills pending in Missouri and Louisiana.
 
The senate bill was sponsored by pro-life state Senator Diane Black (R-Gallatin.) "We must take every action possible to protect Tennessee from being a part of a plan that allows for funding abortions," Black said prior to the Senate vote.  "We have worked for years to ensure that taxpayer money is not used for abortion services in Tennessee," added Black,  "and we must fight back against this overreach of federal power."
 
Tennessee Right to Life expresses great appreciation to the following members of the state Senate who voted to protect human life and Tennessee's tax payers.  In particular, the leadership of Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey combined with the work of pro-life stalwarts Diane Black and Jack Johnson has resulted in enormous gains for Tennessee's pro-life movement this legislative session.
 
"Despite the challenges of Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist, Tennessee's pro-life leadership is working creatively to represent the state's pro-life majority and to restore as much protection as the state Supreme Court's terrible 2000 decision currently allows," said Brian Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life.

"This session's victories demonstrate the importance of pro-life leadership and the necessity for pro-life voters to make sacrificial efforts this fall to continue electing candidates with a demonstrated commitment to the protection of human life," Harris said.

Source: NRLC
Publish Date: April 20, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002

Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
Web: www.ifrl.org
E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

Obama Vows No Litmus Tests on Abortion for Supreme Court Pick



President Barack Obama, left, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., discuss the Supreme Court vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Stevens in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington Wednesday, April 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Washington (AP) - President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he will not insist that his Supreme Court nominee pass any "litmus tests" over supporting abortion rights, but made clear he will choose a candidate who will consider personal privacy and women's rights when ruling on cases.
 
"That's going to be something that's very important to me," Obama said in response to a question about a woman's right to choose.
 
"I think part of what our constitutional values promote is the notion that individuals have protection in their privacy, and their bodily integrity, and women are not exempt from that," Obama said.
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Pro-Life Group Questions UW, Planned Parenthood Relationship



A Wisconsin pro-life group is questioning the legality of using state funds to train state-employed physicians at Planned Parenthood, saying it violates state law because training involves performing abortions. Pro-Life Wisconsin sent a formal request to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen last Friday to determine if it is illegal for the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority to train the residents there. Currently, the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and Planned Parenthood have an agreement for the interchange of employees. UW Medical students and UWHC residents can gain training experiences at Planned Parenthood’s site in Madison, including family planning, colposcopy and abortions.
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Closing 'anchor baby' loophole



An immigration reform think tank is praising a bill introduced in the U.S. House that would close a loophole that allows foreign women who are pregnant to come to the U.S. as "tourists" long enough to have their babies, who are then granted American citizenship automatically.

Because of that loophole in the 14th Amendment, foreign nationals are in essence permitted to unilaterally decide who can be a citizen of the U.S. That amendment was ratified in 1868 to make sure that citizenship rights were guaranteed to the children of freed slaves after the Civil War. But in recent years it has been misinterpreted and used as an incentive to illegal immigration and violation by those already in the country illegally.
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Oklahoma Legislature Works on Pro-Life Bills
 


The Oklahoma Senate advanced five pro-life bills on Monday, ranging from mandating signage in abortion clinics to one that exempts the state from paying for abortions under the federal health care reform law.

The five bills that passed the state Senate this week:

    * A bill requiring an ultrasound image be offered to abortion-minded women.
    * A bill requiring women to complete a questionnaire before receiving an abortion.
    * A bill mandating certain signs be posted in abortion clinics.
    * A bill to prevent "wrongful-life" lawsuits, where a parent could argue that a child with birth defects would have been better off aborted.
    * A bill prohibiting state insurance exchanges, created under the new federal health care law, from covering abortions.
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Obama hints that Supreme Court pick will back abortion



President Obama said April 21 he won't have a litmus test for his next Supreme Court nominee but strongly hinted he wants the person to uphold Roe v. Wade and legalized abortion.

Obama made the remarks prior to a meeting with bi-partisan members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on the president's pick to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Asked if he would be willing to nominate someone who did not support legalized abortion, Obama restated his pro-choice views.
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Heartbeat Joins with State Groups to Host Ohio Legislative Day for Life

Moms and Babies Rescued by Pregnancy Help Centers Share Their Gratitude with Legislators



Women, who received the emotional support and practical help they needed when faced with an unexpected pregnancy, have brought their children to the Ohio Statehouse to tell elected officials how grateful they are for the life-saving work of pregnancy help centers.  They come with one simple message: "Pregnancy Help Centers are good for Ohio."

Heartbeat International joins with Ohio Right to Life and Ohio Adolescent Health Association for Ohio Legislative Day for Life to provide an opportunity for compassionate people with a passion for life and former pregnancy center clients to share about the good work of pregnancy help ministries here in Ohio.
Click here for the entire article.

Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002

Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
Web: www.ifrl.org
E-mail: mail@ifrl.org

Abortion Survivor - Claire's Incredible Story Of Life

Abortion Survivor - Claire's Incredible Story Of Life

Putting a Face To What You're Fighting For



A year ago, when I was 21 years old, I met the woman who gave birth to me. I had always dreamed about the day I would meet her, and it NEVER involved the most significant part of it all...learning that I was an ABORTION SURVIVOR. She was 13 years old when she became pregnant with me and the only option she knew of (according to her mother) was abortion. She proceeded to go to an abortion clinic nearby where she had an abortion. A few weeks later she realized she was still pregnant and decided to go to an out-of-state late-term abortion clinic to have a second abortion. During her examination at the late-term abortion clinic, she was told that she had been pregnant with TWINS. One was aborted, and one survived. She was also told that it was too late to have even a late-term abortion. She decided to give me up for adoption when I was born two weeks later. If you ask her now, she will tell you that if she had known the results of abortion vs. adoption, she would have gone straight to the adoption agency instead. Putting me up for adoption (and giving me the best family I can imagine) was a life-changing decision for all of us.

Because of the abortion, I was born 2 ½ months premature and weighed 3 lbs 2 oz. I was on life support and had to stay in the hospital for 2 ½ months until I could be brought home. My hips were dislocated and my feet were turned (because during the abortion, the sac that held my body together was broken) and when I was brought home I had 2 casts on my feet and a harness. I was put in a body cast for 4 months, and I didn't walk until I was over 2 years old. It still affects me even today.

It's hard for me to even grasp the fact that I survived and my twin didn't. I also know that I'll never know what I'm missing because my twin didn't make it into this world and what the world's missing because of ALL the babies that don't receive the same GIFT of life that you and I have. But it shows me the magnitude of life. Life was not meant to be taken for granted or played around with. Life is the greatest gift you can receive and give. The hard part is that so many of us (myself included) just go about our lives not realizing what a GIFT we've been given and forgetting about how many babies are not given this gift and opportunity of LIFE.

The last year has been the most amazing year of my life. Finding out I'm an abortion survivor has NOT been a curse, but rather a HUGE blessing. I now see how wonderful and beautiful life really is. If you are reading this article because you join me in the fight for life and you truly know that life is precious, I want to thank you! And I hope that it is helpful to put a face with what you are fighting for! My birth mother, Tonya, my twin and I were once in the same messy situation as each of the women walking into the clinics across the nation. I hope that you will fight for the babies' lives with LOVE because love (and grace) are the only reasons that I am here today after an abortion that was supposed to take my life and a second attempted abortion. I encourage you in your fight for the precious gift of life.

"Before you were born, I knew you...every day of your life was written in my book." Psalm 139

Click here to read more about Claire's story or to request for her to share her story at your organization.

Contact: Claire Culwell
Source: ProLifeBlogs
Publish Date: April 18, 2010
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Newsweek: Pro-aborts worry about next generation

Newsweek: Pro-aborts worry about next generation



Newsweek posted an interesting piece on April 16, "Remember Roe!", with the byline, "How can the next generation defend abortion rights when they don't think abortion rights need defending?"

How ironic. As I commented to a millennial who wrote an article at RH Reality Check attempting to refute Newsweek, "Elise, just one question: What in the world draws you to join a movement that tried every way possible to ensure your mother could kill you, unrestrained by any law or regulation whatsoever?"...

The entire Newsweek article was interesting, albeit slanted left. For instance the author, when assessing why young people aren't enthusiastic about legalized abortion, failed to note that one reason may be they themselves are abortion survivors, which obviously changes the dynamic.

I've pulled several key excerpts...

        When the history of the 21st century is written, March 21, 2010, will go down as the day Congress cleared the way for health-care reform. Yet for those in the abortion-rights community, March 21 will mark a completely different turning point: the day when they became acutely aware of their waning influence in Washington....

        Rep. Bart Stupak pressed for stringent abortion restrictions. While Stupak's desired language did not ultimately survive, the final health-care law was more than a psychological setback: it requires separate payments for abortion coverage on the public exchange. The strict accounting rules could well prove so onerous that insurers drop abortion coverage altogether.

        So if Democrats won't stand strong for abortion rights, who will? The predicament weighed particularly heavily on NARAL....

    NARAL president Nancy Keenan had grown fearful about the future of her movement even before the health-care debate. Keenan considers herself part of the "postmenopausal militia," a generation of baby-boomer activists now well into their 50s....

        Today they still run the major abortion-rights groups, including NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the National Organization for Women....

        [W]hat worries Keenan is that she just doesn't see a passion among the post-Roe generation - at least, not among those on her side.

    This past January, when Keenan's train pulled into Washington's Union Station... she was greeted by a swarm of anti-abortion-rights activists. It was the 37th annual March for Life, organized every year on Jan. 22, the anniversary of Roe. "I just thought, my gosh, they are so young," Keenan recalled. "There are so many of them, and they are so young." March for Life estimates it drew 400k activists to the Capitol this year. An anti-Stupak rally two months earlier had about 1,300 attendees.

        New NARAL research, conducted earlier this year and released exclusively to NEWSWEEK, only amplified Keenan's fears....

        Millennials are more likely than their boomer parents to see abortion as a moral issue....

        Certainly, the anti-abortion movement helped fuel this shift in the attitudes of the young by reframing the abortion debate around the fetus rather than the pregnant woman. Millennials also came of age as ultrasounds provided increasingly clear pictures of fetal development. "The technology has clearly helped to define how people think about a fetus as a full, breathing human being," admits former NARAL president Kate Michelman. "The other side has been able to use the technology to its own end."...

        So what might prompt the next generation to take up the cause? "If Roe were overturned, that would certainly be a game changer," NARAL pollster Anna Greenberg mused at a recent meeting. Of course, no one in NARAL wants it to come to that. Instead, within the abortion-rights community there's a growing consensus on a promising path forward: start an open discussion about the moral, ethical, and emotional complexity of abortion that would be more likely to resonate with young Americans. "It's a morally complex issue that both sides have tried to make black and white," says Greenberg. "We have to recognize the moral complexity."

        Abortion-rights activists have traditionally hesitated on this front, viewing it as a slippery slope toward their own defeat. Instead, they often go to extremes to fend off even the smallest encroachments, opposing popular restrictions like parental-notification laws and bans on late-term procedures. Lately, though, Keenan has been more convinced that NARAL must adopt a more nuanced stance. On the 35th anniversary of Roe... she bluntly told a crowd... in Austin, TX... that "our reluctance to address the moral complexity of this debate is no longer serving our cause or our country well. In our silence, we have ceded moral ground."

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: jillstanek.com
Publish Date: April 20, 2010
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Michelle Duggar to Receive 'Mother of the Year Award' at Historic Baby Conference

Michelle Duggar to Receive 'Mother of the Year Award' at Historic Baby Conference



Michelle Duggar, mother to 19 and star of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" has been selected to receive the "Mother of the Year Award" as part of a special ceremony at the Baby Conference: A Historic Family Summit on the Triumph of Life Over the Culture of Death, to be held July 8-10 in San Antonio. Michelle and her husband Jim Bob are featured speakers at the event, sponsored by Vision Forum Ministries, which is expected to draw more than 2,000 to the Alamo City.

"Michelle Duggar is the real deal," noted Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum Ministries. "She embodies the very best of a Christian role model for women. She is a highly intelligent and gracious woman of God and a capable and faithful helpmeet to her husband Jim Bob. As a mother, Michelle is singular. She has modeled for millions a passion for God's gift of the fruit of the womb and a tenderness and wisdom in raising her 19 children that have been downright inspiring."

Phillips added: "Michelle's love for life and the blessing of childbearing has been an integral part of their family's uplifting witness. She is clearly a mother deserving of this award, and we are excited to honor her as 'Mother of the Year.'"

The Baby Conference will feature encouraging messages on the blessing of children and the culture of life, special lectures and panel discussions for mothers, forums on child-training, and presentations for the whole family that explore the wonder of God's creation through the intricacies of the womb. It is also expected to bring out a large number of families that have adopted children as well as many who are considering adoption. The event will address the "who, what, where, why, and how" of adoption, and featured experts will address the plight of the Haitian orphan, as well as other international adoption priorities.

Jim Bob and Michelle will share their story together, and Michelle will also be hosting a separate Ladies Tea Time, which is close to selling-out in the two weeks since the event was announced.

"The hard-heartedness of the pro-abortion, statist Left toward life is really highlighted by the contempt and scorn shown toward the Duggars," Phillips observed. "Liberal commentators and leftist activist groups such as PETA have viciously mocked the Duggars for having a large family, often using language too obscene to repeat.

"The remarkable success of their television show, as well as their widespread popularity within mainstream America, points to the fact that there is still a significant part of the American culture that view children as a blessing," remarked Phillips. "We rejoice in the Duggars' outspoken testimony in favor of fruitfulness. The Bible calls the fruitful womb a blessing, and we support the Duggars in their defense of this proposition."

The Baby Conference will also engage hard-hitting, but pertinent bio-ethical issues ranging from abortion to human cloning, from surrogacy to genetic engineering, from brain death to the use of abortifacient technology like "the Pill." Featured speakers at the summit will address these and other pertinent topics in a way that edifies and equips families to have a joyful and triumphant outlook toward the blessing of children.

"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of 'the Pill'," Phillips concluded. "And as media attention centers on the victory of selfishness and the defeat of the biblical family that has followed in the wake of the contraceptive movement, we are committed to defending and celebrating life -- in particular, the blessing of children and their role in building healthy cultures and vibrant households. Our unequivocal counsel is this: We must preserve and celebrate life amidst a culture of death."

The Baby Conference from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

Click here for the video.

Click here to visit The Baby Conference homepage and to learn more about the event.

Contact: Wesley Strackbein
Source: The Baby Conference
Publish Date: April 19, 2010
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Crouse Clarifies Birth Rate Data

Crouse Clarifies Birth Rate Data



Some commentators suggest that the increase in the percentage of all births accounted for by unmarried women is due to the decrease in married birth rates.  Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of Concerned Women for America's (CWA) Beverly LaHaye Institute (BLI), reports, "The data does not support this.  Two facts are important in understanding the increase in the percentage of unwed births: the birth rate of married women has been very stable over the last 10 years, but the number of married women of childbearing age is declining.  By 2002 the number of unmarried women ages 15 to 44 eclipsed the number of married women. By 2008 it was 13 percent larger.  It is an increase in the number of unmarried women at the same time as a decrease in the number of married women that accounts for the increase in the percentage of births to unmarried women."

Dr. Crouse reports on the trends in BLI's just-released Data Digest, titled, "What We Can Learn from Marital Birth Rate Trends."  The Data Digest can be downloaded from CWA's website.

Dr. Crouse explains, "If you fill a bathtub and the hot water remains constant while you turn up the cold water, the water will to turn colder.  So it is with the birth pools in the U.S.  As the number of unmarried women increase, their number becomes a bigger percentage of the total births in the nation."

She continues, "Unwed births as a percentage of all births increased from 39.7 percent in 2007 to 40.6 percent in 2008.  The married birth rate rose by close to seven percent from 1996 to 2008, but because of the decrease of three million in the number of married women ages 15 to 44, both the number and percentage of married births decreased while the number and percentage of births to unmarried women increased."

Another problem is the "too-little information myth."  Some experts claim that teen pregnancy results from a "lack of information and tools."  Crouse reports that the dramatic decline since 1990 in the married teen birth rate (married 15- to 17-year-olds) indicates that in our "sex-ed saturated society" teens are not suffering from an information shortage.

Contact: Demi Bardsley
Source: Concerned Women for America
Publish Date: April 19, 2010
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How Exactly Will the Government Fund Abortion Under the New Health Care Law?

How Exactly Will the Government Fund Abortion Under the New Health Care Law?


 
Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst with Focus on the Family Action, provides an in-depth look at health care and federal funding of abortion.

Let's be honest, the health care debate was not only exhausting, it was confusing. Perhaps even more confusing to Americans was the president's claim that his last-minute "pro-life" executive order fixed the abortion funding concerns in the health care bill.  The truth is that even with the executive order in place, the government will still subsidize abortions under the new health care law.  Here's how:
 
Starting in 2014, if a qualified person enrolls in a state-based private health insurance exchange that offers abortion coverage, the federal government will send tax dollars to that insurance provider to help offset the cost of the insurance coverage – coverage that includes abortion.
 
If you enroll in a taxpayer-subsidized health plan that covers abortion, the law requires you to make a separate payment of no less than $1 per month (an "abortion premium") to the insurance company for abortion services.  It doesn't matter that you may object to the practice of abortion.  It doesn't matter that you may never actually have an abortion. You pay anyway. In fact, everyone who enrolls in a taxpayer-subsidized health plan that covers abortion will be paying into a pool of money – money which can only be used by the insurance company to pay out for abortion services. 
 
The abortion premium you pay to the health insurance company must be kept in an account that is separate from any tax dollars that are paid to the insurance company as a subsidy for the plan you enrolled in.  (President Obama's executive order mandates "strict compliance" with the segregation of funds scheme in the health care law. See Section 2.) That's one reason why he thinks he can get away with saying that the executive order alleviates pro-life concerns.
 
Segregating the "abortion premium" doesn't mean that federal dollars aren't going toward abortion.  Why?  Because your tax dollars were already used on the front end to help someone else purchase a health insurance plan that covers abortion.  So, by extension, the government is subsidizing abortion coverage – even though the abortion premium is paid out of pocket. 
 
It's important to note that the government has had a longstanding policy (known as the Smith Amendment) of not subsidizing federal employee health plans that cover abortion. If federal employees want abortion coverage, they can pay for it with their own money. But tax dollars have been historically sheltered from subsidizing health plans that cover abortion. 
 
And this life-affirming policy should remain in place. Focus on the Family Action supports the government's longstanding policy of not subsidizing abortion with tax dollars.  The government should not give women more incentive to make the difficult choice of abortion but rather encourage positive alternatives like adoption. 
 
Thankfully, the health care law allows states to "opt out" of offering taxpayer-subsidized insurance plans that cover abortion. In fact, Tennessee is in the process of passing legislation that would prevent the state from allowing health insurance providers that participate in their exchange to offer abortion coverage.  But it's unlikely that all states will take that extra step.

Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: April 16, 2010
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Eleven-year-old girl refuses abortion, understands a 'life is growing in her womb'

Eleven-year-old girl refuses abortion, understands a 'life is growing in her womb'



Despite protests and pressure from feminists and pro-abortion groups, an 11-year-old girl in the Mexican city of Chetumal has refused to undergo an abortion.  The young girl explained her decision saying that she understands, "a life is growing in her womb."

The girl is receiving medical attention at a local clinic, where doctors say the results of psychological tests have been positive.  The recent tests, said Lizbeth Gamboa Song, director of the National System for the Comprehensive Development of the Family, show the girl has a proper understanding of the new life within her and of what to expect during the pregnancy.

Dr. Juan Carlos Navarrete Jaimes of the Merida Clinic performed an ultrasound on the girl and found the mother and child to be in excellent health.  He also provided guidance on the prenatal care she needs during the coming months to ensure the pregnancy proceeds without complications.

Gamboa said that while the girl understands she is carrying a new life within her, "She does not yet fully realize the consequences of what it will mean to raise and care for a child" because of her young age.

"She understands what happens before a pregnancy, she knows her womb will grow, she knows at some point her water will break, and she knows how the baby will be born," Gamboa said.

Source: CNA
Publish Date: April 19, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

Bill Introduced In Congress to Repeal Forced Insurance Mandate



Last week I (Ron Paul) introduced a very important piece of legislation that I hope will gain as much or more support as my Audit the Fed bill. HR 4995, the End the Mandate Act will repeal provisions of the newly passed health insurance reform bill that give the government the power to force Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance. The whole bill is rotten, but this provision especially is a blatant violation of the Constitution.
Click here for the entire article.


Neb. Antiabortion Law Expected To Face Long Legal Battle



Expected legal challenges could mean that a new Nebraska law (LB 1103) banning abortion beginning at 20 weeks' gestation "won't go into effect anytime soon, if ever," the AP/Miami Herald reports.

According to AP/Herald, although the law is scheduled to take effect in October, supporters acknowledge that it likely will not take effect unless the U.S. Supreme Court deems it constitutional. Because of the time it takes for a case to reach the Supreme Court and for the court to rule, "a final decision on the law is several years away," the AP/Herald writes.
Click here for the entire article.


Youths Rally Against Abortion



Young people from throughout the area on Sunday evening listened to pro-life messages during the third annual Youth Rally for Life at John Hardin High School in Radcliff. Church youth ministers brought their members to the evening rally, and others showed up on their own. Informational booths were set up and, during a mingling time, a video on a large screen showed fetuses at various developmental stages. Other events scheduled for the evening included an opening skit featuring a boxing theme with pro-life youths "knocking out" grim reapers; a rap song; a representative of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, which is made up of women who regret having an abortion; prizes; pizza; and other speakers.
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USA Today: Embryo Genetic Screening Controversial



A "slippery slope" to "a world of eugenics," as bioethics authorities once worried, or a healthy life for a teenage girl? Once at the center of a science controversy, Molly Nash, 15, represents the human answer to the debate over a genetic screening technique, " pre-implantation genetic diagnosis," (PGD) that made headlines a decade ago. In Molly's case, her mother and father turned to PGD to pick out the embryo implanted to give birth to her brother, Adam, in an effort to save Molly's life. "She's a typical teenage girl, she loves to dance, loves the theater," says nurse Lisa Nash of Denver, Molly's mom. "We never thought she would live to see 15."
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Wisconsin stands on 'slippery slope'



The Wisconsin Department of Justice has again denied an open records request for a threat assessment on pro-life activity in Wisconsin.

In February 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Middleton Police Department improperly shared a Homeland Security assessment prepared by the federal agency that targeted pro-life activities in Wisconsin.

"The threat assessment concerned free speech at a University of Wisconsin hospitals and clinics meeting in Middleton, Wisconsin, at which a vote was taken to approve a late-term abortion facility at the Madison Surgery Center on the UW-Madison campus," explains Peggy Hamill, state director for Pro-Life Wisconsin.
Click here for the entire article.


Executive order less than lawful?



A lawsuit against a presidential edict to use federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research has gone to an appeals court.
 
On March 9, 2009, President Obama issued an executive order, rescinding an order from former President George W. Bush that prohibited federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. Steven H. Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) argued in court that the Obama administration is violating federal law.

"In the Dickey/Wicker Amendment, Congress prohibited federal funding for destructive embryonic stem-cell research," the attorney explains. "That didn't matter to the Obama administration, which issued the executive order allowing the funding of research on lines that had been derived from the destruction of human embryos."
Click here for the entire article.

 

Action Alert HB 5428 Adoption Anonymity Bill

Action Alert HB 5428 Adoption Anonymity Bill

The Illinois General Assembly certainly keeps us on our toes...

Hot on the heels of our defeat of "Illinois FOCA," there is a new bill in the Illinois Senate that is threatening adoption in our state. We need your help fighting this bill NOW.

The bill, HB5428, strips parents of the anonymity they were promised when they gave up their babies for adoption.

For decades, it was understood that records like original birth certificates containing the names of birth parents were "sealed" by the courts to protect the parents' confidentiality.

HB5428 would allow adult adoptees to obtain their original birth certificates without the consent of the birth parents.

Why is this such a bad idea?

It's simple: without that guarantee of anonymity, many parents will decide against adoption and choose abortion instead.

Illinois pregnancy resource centers have stated that anonymity is one of the biggest worries for mothers considering adoption. They want to know that once they choose adoption, they can move on with their lives.

In states and countries that have stripped away this guarantee of anonymity, adoption rates have plummeted. We can't let that happen here in Illinois!

But we have to act TODAY. You can help by doing TWO THINGS:

1. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW to send a message to your state senator, urging a NO vote on HB5428:

     http://tinyurl.com/StopHB5428

2. CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR at his or her Springfield and district offices with the message "Protect adoption in Illinois: Vote NO on HB5428!" Get the phone numbers here:

     http://tinyurl.com/FindStateSen

If we act now, we can stop this bill and score another victory, just like we did with "Illinois FOCA." Thanks for taking the time to do your part.

Publish Date: April 16, 2010
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--
Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002

Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
Web: www.ifrl.org

Abortion, suicide often hand-in-hand

Abortion, suicide often hand-in-hand

Mental health risks are becoming increasingly associated with women who have had an abortion.

 

According to Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, a number of studies indicate an elevated risk of suicide following an abortion. "About [one]-fourth of women who report having negative reactions to abortion will also report that they attempted suicide at least once, and suicidal thoughts are even more common," Reardon reports.

Studies from Finland indicate women who have had an abortion are six-and-a-half times more likely to commit suicide the first year after the pregnancy termination. A recent case is that of British actress Emma Beck who committed suicide in 2007 and left a note directly relating it to aborting her unborn twins. Her note read: "I should have never undergone the abortion...I want to be with my children, they need me more than anyone else in the world."

Even so, abortion proponents refuse to acknowledge the connection; and rather than using mental health as a reason to decide against the procedure, it is usually the justification for a majority of the performed abortions.

worry worried woman mom"They always can argue that...it could have been something else," the Elliot Institute director laments. "And so that's been their basic argument...that even though statistical studies show a higher rate and women themselves report abortion being the cause of suicidal feelings, they're still in denial."

Reardon says even those with the most stringent arguments against it admit there is a link between abortion and post-traumatic stress disorder. But he explains that most states with women's right-to-know laws do not adequately inform women seeking to terminate a pregnancy of the potential psychological price they might pay. Accurate information can be found on the Elliot Institute website.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: April 16, 2010
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Head of WHO Backs U.S. Over Canada: Pushes Abortion in ‘Maternal Health’

Head of WHO Backs U.S. Over Canada: Pushes Abortion in 'Maternal Health'



The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has come out in favor of the U.S.'s approach to maternal health, which includes the promotion of abortion, over that of Canada.

At a UN news conference Wednesday, WHO's director-general Dr. Margaret Chan praised U.S. President Barack Obama's promotion of the legal "right" to abortion.

Dr. Chan sat next to Canada's Minister for International Cooperation Bev Oda. Both of them were joining UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as he announced the UN's new effort to curb maternal deaths during childbirth and pregnancy.

Chan said abortion is a "very complex, difficult and sensitive" issue, according to the Vancouver Sun.

"In the case of Canada, I think I respect the government and its people to decide what is their right investment — and I am sure that this is the discussion that is going on," she said.

Regarding Obama, she said, "I am very pleased to see the change in President Obama — this is really wonderful; sometimes ... it is not easy for outside people to tell them what to do."

The comments are being taken by some as a shot aimed at Canada's Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as it makes plans to promote the cause of maternal and child health care in the developing world as president of this year's G8 summit in June.

The Conservative government initially had refused to support contraception and abortion in their plan, saying that they intended to promote maternal and child health through such things as clean water, inoculations, and good medical care. The government has since backed down on contraception. Leaders of the party have, however refused to answer whether their plan includes support for abortion or not, sticking with the line that they "do not wish to debate abortion."

The Conservatives have received intense pressure from the opposition parties to back down on abortion as well. Last month a motion was introduced by the opposition Liberals demanding that the government's G8 plan "include the full range of family planning, sexual and reproductive health options."  The inclusion of abortion within these euphemisms was clear from the fact that the motion also condemned George W. Bush's Mexico City Policy, which was a ban on the use of federal funds to support groups that promote or provide abortions overseas.

In a surprise victory for the pro-life cause, the Liberals' motion was defeated 138-144, with three Liberal MPs – Paul Szabo, Dan McTeague, and John McKay – defying their party's whip and voting against it; fourteen other Liberals were missing or abstained.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heaped more pressure on the government late last month during a trip to Canada, when she insisted that "you cannot have maternal health without reproductive health."

"Reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion," she said.

David Milibrand, the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, stated at the time that he agreed with Clinton.

Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda told reporters, according to the Vancouver Sun, that Canada does not expect the other G8 countries to follow Canada's approach to promoting maternal health.  "I've just told my colleagues that every country has experience, and we're asking them all to focus within a framework," she said. "However, they will be free and flexible to choose the best way that they will contribute to the effort."

Contact: Patrick B. Craine
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 15, 2010
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CEDAW to Elect New Members in June - Campaign for Pro-Abort Members Begins

CEDAW to Elect New Members in June - Campaign for Pro-Abort Members Begins


The controversial compliance committee for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is preparing to hold elections to fill almost half of its seats. Pro-abortion groups like the International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) are calling on their members to start lobbying their national governments in an attempt to ensure that only those sympathetic with their views are voted in.

On June 28, States Parties to CEDAW will elect eleven members of the Committee that will serve four-year terms starting in January 2011. The IWRAW has launched a campaign urging their members to contact member states and United Nations missions to lobby for their candidates. The IWRAW campaign stresses that each CEDAW Committee member "has the potential of advocating for women's rights at many levels" including to "expand and further rights contained in the CEDAW Convention along feminist principles."

The CEDAW committee is charged with monitoring governments on their compliance with the treaty. According to the convention, committee members are elected by States Parties from among their nationals, but these members serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of any particular State Party. Members of the committee should be "independent" and "of high moral standing and competence."

Despite the requirement that CEDAW committee members remain "independent," many past and current members of the committee are direct employees or hold advisory positions at such radical non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as the Latin America and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights, the International Council of Women and the Global Fund for Women.

There are 24 candidates up for election to the committee in June. Nine of the nominees are past or current committee members who are seeking reelection, including three former CEDAW Committee chairs from Turkey, Croatia and Egypt.  Other nominees include activists with ties to pro-abortion NGOs including Philippine nominee Amaryllis Torres, a board member of EnGendeRights, and Nepalese candidate Sapana Pradhan-Malla, a board member of the IWRAW.

CEDAW critics have become increasingly concerned about the work and composition of the committee. With regularity, the committee has taken it upon itself to pressure nations to liberalize their abortion laws, even though abortion is not mentioned in the CEDAW treaty. The CEDAW Committee created their own "general recommendation" that reads abortion into the text, and in recent years CEDAW committee members have pressured more than 75 nations on their abortion laws.

Just last week C-Fam's Friday Fax reported on a speech given by Janet Benshoof, one of the co-founders of the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights, on CEDAW as "radical international law." Benshoof characterized the CEDAW treaty and committee recommendations as "tool[s] for power" which could be used to overturn any abortion restrictions.

The new members will make their debut at the January CEDAW session in Geneva where they will join colleagues from France, Cuba, Kenya, Jamaica, Finland, India, Spain, Brazil, Romania, Afghanistan and China.

This article reprinted by LifeSiteNews.com with permission from www.c-fam.org

Contact: Samantha Singson
Source: C-FAM
Publish Date: April 15, 2010
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Pro-Life Bill Hits Snag in Georgia House

Pro-Life Bill Hits Snag in Georgia House
 


The Georgia Senate has passed a bill banning abortion in cases of coercion, gender selection and racial discrimination. But the landmark legislation has encountered problems in the House of Representatives.

Catherine Davis, director of minority outreach for Georgia Right to Life, said she was convinced SB 529 was near the finish line

"We are now being told that the speaker of the House feels the bill goes too far because it will challenge Roe v. Wade," she said.  "That's an amazement to me, since most of the people of Georgia have indicated that they don't have a problem with the bill."
 
Of the 38 states that report abortion statistics, Georgia leads the country in pre-born lives ended in the black community. SB 529 would likely have an effect on those numbers. Davis is convinced the pro-abortion community is worried.
          
"They have committed all their resources to stopping this bill," she said, "because, as they put it, if it passes Georgia, it will change abortion in the nation."

Contact: Karen Johnson
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: April 15, 2010
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Contraceptive Culture Shifts Economic Power away from Women

Contraceptive Culture Shifts Economic Power away from Women



The contraception revolution has, contrary to its image, shifted wealth and power away from women and is in effect "deeply sexist," according to one economist's analysis.

In the essay, entitled "Bitter Pill" and appearing in the latest edition of First Things magazine, economist Timothy Reichert argues that the case against contraception can be effectively articulated "using the language of social science, which is the language of the mainstream." Rather than framing the debate as "a case of faith and reason talking past each other," those who oppose contraception can frame the debate in terms of the objective societal damage contraception causes.

According to Reichert, a major source of the problem is that contraception separates the traditional mating "market" into two separate markets: a market for marriage, and a market for free sex, created thanks to the significant cost reduction of sex uncoupled from pregnancy. But, he says, while this situation is not intrinsically bad from an economic standpoint, if there are “imbalances” in the two markets then “the 'price' of either marriage or sex tilts in favor of one or the other gender."

Whereas in the past, he says, "the marriage market was, by definition, populated by roughly the same number of men as women, there is no guarantee that once it has been separated into two markets, men and women will sort themselves into the sex and marriage markets in such a way that roughly equal numbers of each gender will inhabit each market."

As it turns out, Reichert maintains, women end up entering the marriage market in greater numbers than men, due to their natural interest in raising children in a stable household. Meanwhile, the economist notes that men, who can reproduce much later in life than women and are required by nature to invest much less in the childbearing process, face far fewer incentives to move from one market to the next.

"The result is easy to see," writes Reichert. While women have higher bargaining power in the sex market as the "scarce commodity," he writes, "the picture is very different once these same women make the switch to the marriage market": "The relative scarcity of marriageable men means that the competition among women for marriageable men is far fiercer than that faced by prior generations of women.

"Over time, this means that the 'deals they cut' become worse for them and better for men."

Marriage as an institution, he writes, subsequently loses its contractual character to foster women and their children, becoming instead something that is "more frail and resembles a spot market exchange." The result is that "men take more and more of the 'gains from trade' that marriage creates, and women take fewer and fewer."

Reichert enumerates some of the damaging fallout of this redistribution, including higher divorce rates, a housing market driven up by two-earner households, easier infidelity, and an increased demand for abortion.

Regarding the abortion increase, Reichert says that women who have invested in a future career will predictably "demand abortions" if contraception happens to fail.

"The cost today of an unwanted pregnancy is not a shotgun wedding," he writes. "Rather, the cost is the loss of tremendous investments in human capital geared toward labor-market participation during the early phases of one’s life. This increases the demand for abortions (which prevent the loss of that human capital)."

The impact on children, he contends, inevitably mirrors the impact on their mothers: "Given that women’s welfare largely determines the welfare of children, this redistribution has in part been 'funded' by a loss of welfare from children," writes the economist. "In other words, the worse off are women, the worse off are the children they support. On net, women and children are the big losers in the contraceptive society."

Reichert concludes that contraception's redistribution of welfare is "profound—and alarming."

"Societies are structured around many objectives, but one of their chief reasons to be is the protection of the weak," he writes. "This means the old, the young, and childbearing and childrearing women. Contraception undermines this fundamental imperative, and, in so doing, undermines the legitimacy of the social contract.

"When the social fabric of a society is geared to move welfare from the weak to the strong, rather than the other way around, it cannot survive in the long run."

The essay will be available online at a later date.

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
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T-shirts spread pro-life message

T-shirts spread pro-life message

National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week is approaching as students prepare to educate and inform their peers about abortion.

 

Tuesday, April 27, begins the week-long project in which young people will wear pro-life T-shirts wherever appropriate, including middle schools, high schools, and college campuses. Erik Whittington of Rock for Life, a division of the American Life League, tells OneNewsNow that studies continue to show Americans are becoming more pro-life, so the organization is taking advantage of that statistic.

Erik Whittington"We're going to sort of ride that train and gain more recruits and just keep spreading the pro-life message that a person begins at their biological beginning and that we should be protecting all human life," he explains.

He sees this as an opportunity for youth who believe in that concept to spread the message to their peers, and believes that the current state of school environments makes the need for it even greater.

"When you have Planned Parenthood in all of our public schools promoting their sexual, immoral, and so-called 'sex-ed classes,' there's unfortunately a high rate of teen sexual activity and teen pregnancy," he notes. "So we want the pro-life message to be in that arena as well."

Each year brings reports of school officials harassing teens for wearing the T-shirts, but under most circumstances, they have the right to wear them. Whittington says Rock for Life stands ready to refer students to legal help if needed.

Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: April 16, 2010
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NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

Texas-Produced Film Links Eugenics, Abortion, and Targeting of Blacks



The window dressing may be benign, but behind the curtain remains the dark elitism of the eugenics movement, which continues to flourish in the 21st century with a disproportionate focus on black Americans. That's the message of a relatively new video documentary, “Maafa21: Black Genocide in 21st Century America, (click here for video)” from Denton-based Life Dynamics Inc. The group’s president, Mark Crutcher, wrote and produced it and is featured numerous times in the film. Maafa (pronounced Mah-off-ah) is a Swahili word for tragedy, in this case the continued repercussions of Western slavery that Crutcher argues led to the eugenics movement and specifically to the government’s role in funding family planning, birth control and abortion aimed at minority groups and especially blacks. The end result: a disproportionate percentage of “family planning” clinics in black neighborhoods and an African-American abortion rate that has skyrocketed in the last 40 years.
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Kansas Gov Vetoes Abortionists Regulation



A bill requiring doctors to give the specific diagnosis justifying a late-term abortion was vetoed by the governor Thursday. Gov. Mark Parkinson called abortion a "tragedy" but said it "is a private decision and should not be dictated by public officials." He said he thought the state's current late-term abortion law struck a reasonable balance and that an annual legislative battle on the issue was not in the public's best interest. The vetoed bill was similar to bills vetoed more than once by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
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S.C. Senate Restores Some Abortion Coverage

"Allowing abortions for rape or incest would put blood on every taxpayer's hands"



Budget writers in the South Carolina Senate have nixed House plans to end state health insurance plan coverage for abortions stemming from rape or incest. The 12 to 6 vote on Thursday came as the Senate Finance Committee resumed work on what's become a $4.9 billion state spending plan. The House in a marathon session last month ended state health insurance plan for abortions unless they are needed to protect a mother's health. Republican Sen. Kevin Bryant, of Anderson, voted against the change and said allowing abortions for rape or incest would put blood on every taxpayer's hands.
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Missouri Senate Backs 24-Hour Abortion Consent Regulation



Missouri senators have endorsed legislation increasing the information that women must receive from medical professionals at least 24 hours before the killing starts. The bill given first-round approval Thursday by the Senate would require that a woman be told about the physical characteristics of fetuses and be given the chance to view an ultrasound and listen to the heartbeat. Missouri already has a 24-hour informed consent law requiring women to be told of the physical and psychological risks of having abortions.
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Child Sacrifice In India Targets Girls: Female infanticide tells on sex ratio in Punjab



"She was thrown in the garbage dump outside the village for dogs that ate her. Her only fault — she was the fourth girl born in a poor family," said Harshinder Kaur, paediatric doctor here, recalling the first time she witnessed discrimination against female infants in Punjab's rural side. "Over a decade ago, I couldn't save that infant and ever since I try to speak for the girls who never lived," said Dr. Kaur, who has been awarded by numerous governments across the globe for her work in eradicating the evil. Rampant female foeticide continues to push the sex ratio of Punjab against females; unfortunately, the evil is more prevalent among the educated, the rich and the urban bred.
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Want an abortion? Get prescreened



Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman has signed a bill requiring doctors to prescreen women for potential medical and psychological problems before performing an abortion.

State senators voted 37-7 to pass LB 594, the primary purpose of which is to require abortionists to screen women for risk factors that are well-documented and established as predicting post-abortion complications. It mandates that women be notified about the risks that accompany abortion 24 hours prior to the procedure, and that they know it is unlawful that others coerce them into going through with the pregnancy termination. And as a follow-up, at least one hour prior to the procedure, a mental health professional is required to assess and determine if the patient was pressured into having an abortion.
Click here for the entire article.

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Legislative Wake-up Call in the States

Legislative Wake-up Call in the States



If you think legislation on the federal level has gone haywire, take a minute to check out what’s going on in state governments through FRC’s State Legislation Tracker. The present 38 issue “profiles” currently track 7469 bills of concern. A breakdown of the results (listed below) provides a telling glimpse into the “state of the states” and the subsequent health of our nation. That the top five profiles include domestic violence (2146), gambling (1346), divorce reform (827), and pornography (728 total, 325 dedicated to child pornography alone) should be a serious wake-up call for all Americans.

Whether or not current liberals and “progressives” approve, America’s Founders understood from historical perspective that their new government must be rooted in Judeo-Christian tenets. Nothing less resilient and enduring could contribute the ongoing stability required for individuals, families and national industry to flourish in the long term. The following contemporary indicators mandate that we re-examine those pro-family factors that precipitated America’s success, and work aggressively at the state and local level to re-introduce and re-implement them.

Numbers of bills (click here to see a drill-down on each issue):

    * Abortion – Fetal Pain – 5
    * Abortion – Parental Notification – 38
    * Abortion – Ultrasound Bills – 60
    * Abortion Alternatives – Pregnancy Care Centers -18
    * Adoption – By Traditional Family – 551
    * Adoption – By Unmarried or Same-Sex Couples – 44
    * Bathroom Bills – Gender Expression & Same-Sex Issues – 185
    * Conscience Regulations – 4
    * Cord Blood – 62
    * DADT – Military Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ – 13
    * DOMA – Defense of Marriage Act – 2
    * Domestic Violence – 2146
    * Eminent Domain – 1340
    * ENDA – Employment Non-Discrimination Act – 3
    * Gambling – 1346
    * Hate Crimes – 27
    * Health Care – States’ Response to Obamacare – 176
    * Homeschool – 341
    * Human Cloning – 149
    * Human Eggs – 8
    * Human Trafficking – 255
    * Jessica’s Law – 5
    * Life Issues – 23
    * Marriage – Divorce Reform – 877
    * Marriage – Marriage Protection Amendments -12
    * Pornography: Child – 325
    * Pornography: General – 403
    * Public Education: Bullying Bills – General – 28
    * Public Education: Bullying Bills – Pro-Homosexual Agenda – 41
    * Public Education: Discrimination Free Zones – 1
    * Public Education: Sex Education – 7
    * Religious Liberty – 29
    * Reproductive Health – 9
    * Same-Sex Marriage – 493
    * Sexual Predators – 60
    * Statutory Rape – 69
    * Stem Cell Research – Adult – 17
    * Stem Cell Research – Embryonic – 37

Contact: Cynthia Hill
Source: FRCBlog
Publish Date: April 14, 2010
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