Abortion Survivor Jessen Releases Second Ad Criticizing Obama on Infanticide
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A woman who is a rarity -- having survived a failed abortion procedure -- has released a second television ad criticizing Barack Obama. Gianna Jessen responds to Obama's response to her first ad in which he called her "sleazy" for promoting a "despicable lie." The original ad features Jessen, a young woman who survived a failed saline abortion in the late 1970s, as she chides Obama for voting repeatedly against bills in the Illinois legislature to stop infanticide. Obama responded with his own ad that nonpartisan analysis from two fact checking groups called inaccurate. The new Jessen ad addresses Obama's attacks and says that she has, in fact, dealt with worse: she survived an abortion. "Seen this ad? In it, Senator Obama personally attacks me," Jessen says, according to a script provided to LifeNews.com. "I've dealt with worse; I survived an abortion." The ad goes on to convey the information about Obama's votes against the anti-infanticide bills. "State Senator Barack Obama voted 4 times against laws to protect babies who survive abortions," it explains. "Meanwhile, U.S. Senators voted 98-0 for Born Alive Infant Protections." Full story at LifeNews.com
Poll: Weak Christian Support Could Enable Pro-Abortion Obama to Beat McCain
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- If Barack Obama, described by pro-life groups as the most pro-abortion presidential candidate since the 1973, becomes president pro-life voters may have themselves to blame. New polling data shows evangelical Christian voters, typically the most pro-life voting group, failing to strongly support John McCain. A new survey from the Barna Group, a Christian research firm, finds evangelical voters preferring McCain over Obama by a 63 percent to 23 percent group. While that's a strong lead, President Bush pulled in 85 percent of those voters in 2004 when he won a narrow victory over pro-abortion candidate John Kerry. Barna looked at self-identified born-again Christians, who do not describe themselves as evangelical. The support McCain over Obama by a scant 45 percent to 43 percent margin, which is within the survey's margin of error. In 2004, 62% of this category voted for Bush. Overall, the Barna survey shows 60 percent of faith voters support Barack Obama while only 49 percent backed Kerry in 2004. The lack of support for McCain's candidacy from these voters who compose a large segment of the Republican base helps explain why McCain has been unable to have a more solid hold on states Bush won in the last two elections. Full story at LifeNews.com
Matthew 25 Network's Christian Radio Ads Mislead Voters on Obama, Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A national group that has routinely misled evangelical Christian voters on Barack Obama's pro-abortion position is running a last-minute set of ads on Christian radio stations hope to mislead voters into thinking Obama's views are compatable with Christian values. The set of radio ads includes one featuring clips from an Obama speech in a church setting where the pro-abortion candidate describes his Christian faith and Jesus as his "hope." A second features Catholic attorney Douglas Kmiec, who claims to be pro-life but recently said America should settle for legal abortions. He has been frequently rebuked by pro-life leaders and Catholics for ignoring the extreme pro-abortion positions Obama takes. "Can you be pro-life and vote for Senator Obama," Kmiec asks in the opening of the ad. "As I lay out in a new book, the answer is unequivocally, yes." Kmiec claims that it's not enough to be pro-life on the issue of Supreme Court judges, even though the high court has held the fate of legal abortions in its hands for 35 years and could keep unlimited abortions legal throughout pregnancy for another 35 if Obama becomes president. Kmiec claims Obama has a "bottom-up, faith based approach" that will provide pre-natal care, pregnancy support and adoption for pregnant women and that that approach will "drastically reduce the number abortions." However, Obama has no tangible plan on his web site, nor has he discussed any such plan during the presidential campaign. In fact, Obama voted in the Senate against an amendment to extend the SCHIP program to pregnant women and unborn children who are below poverty. Full story at LifeNews.com
Sarah Palin's Record as Alaska Gov Showed Support for Special Needs Kids
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Sarah Palin gave a major policy address last week on how she will be an advocate for special needs children should she become the nation's next vice-president. But, does her record as the governor of Alaska demonstrate that support or is it merely an election ploy to gain votes? The answer appears to be a resounding yes -- as the Palin administration put more money behind education and support services for disabled children and their families. During her speech Palin said, "as governor, I've succeeded in securing additional funding and assistance for students with special needs. By 2011, I will have tripled the funding available to these students." That appears to be the case. Overall funding for special needs students has increased every year since Sarah Palin entered office as governor. Palin increased the amount from $219 million in 2007 to a projected $276 million in 2009. In March, Palin signed a bill that will nearly triple per-pupil funding over three years for special needs students with high-cost requirements. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Laws and Politicians Reduce Abortions Contrary to Pro-Obama Claims
by Dr. Michael New
During the past 35 years, the pro-life movement has made real progress. The number of abortions has fallen in 12 out of the past 14 years and the total number of abortions has declined by 21 percent since 1990. These gains are largely due to pro-life political victories at the federal level in the 1980s and at the state level in the 1990s which have made it easier to pass pro-life legislation. As Election Day approaches, the mainstream media is, as usual, showcasing self-identified ''pro-lifers'' who are supporting the Democratic Party's pro-abortion presidential nominee. In 2004, a number of media outlets cited an analysis by ethicist Glen Harold Stassen which claimed--wrongly--that the number of abortions had increased slightly since President Bush's inauguration in 2001. The New York Times published an op-ed by Dean Mark Roche of Notre Dame encouraging pro-life Catholics to vote for John Kerry. This year the story is similar. Former Reagan administration Assistant Attorney General Doug Kmiec and Duquesne University Law Professor Nicholas Cafardi, both of whom claim to be opponents of abortion, have received plenty of media attention for their support of Barack Obama. Their arguments are the same ones put forward in 2004. They have not improved with age. Full story at LifeNews.com
Joe Biden's Bishop: He's Wrong on Catholic Church and Abortion Teaching
Wilmington, DE (LifeNews.com) -- Joe Biden's own bishop has had to correct the pro-abortion vice-presidential candidate again on his misstating the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church. In an interview last week, Biden claimed Catholics can support abortion and he understated the far-reaching effects of the Roe v. Wade decision. In the interview with the Delaware News Journal, Biden continued to misrepresent the position of the Catholic Church on abortion in a way that has gotten him in trouble recently. "But throughout the church's history, we've argued between whether or not it is wrong in every circumstance and the degree of wrong. Catholics have this notion, it's almost a gradation," Biden claimed. Not so says Rev. W. Francis Malooly, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington. He writes in a new letter to the editor that Biden "presents a seriously erroneous picture of Catholic teaching on abortion." "This is simply incorrect," he says of Biden's interpretation. "The teaching of the Church is clear and not open to debate. Abortion is a grave sin because it is the wrongful taking of an innocent human life." Full story at LifeNews.com
Open Letter Challenges Pro-Abortion Candidates to Explain What They Support
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new open letter from a top pro-life Catholic leader is challenging pro-abortion political candidates to make it clear what they support when they say they are "pro-choice" on abortion. Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life relies on descriptions from abortion practitioners to show how abortion is repugnant. The letter is part of Pavone's campaign this election season to call pro-abortion politicians on the carpet and make them speak candidly about the brutality of abortion. He cites quotes from abortion practitioners themselves -- such as partial-birth abortion inventor Martin Haskell saying a baby's "skull is brought out in fragments rather than as a unified piece" during an abortion. "When you say the word 'abortion,' is this what you mean? When you say it should be legal, are you willing to quote those who explain what it is?" Pavone asked in the letter. In the letter he provided to LifeNews.com, Pavone also quotes from Mother Teresa in her speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994. The respected public servant asked: "And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?" Full story at LifeNews.com
Cardinal Egan Complains to Fordham University for Awarding Pro-Abortion Judge
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The leading Catholic official in New York is coming down hard on Fordham University officials for bestowing an award on pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. A protest against the Catholic college began earlier this month and saw more than 1,100 Fordham University alumni and students upset. Fordham is scheduled to present its Fordham-Stein Ethics Prize to Justice Breyer at a dinner in New York City on Wednesday. In addition to the thousands from the Fordham community who have complained, a spokesman for the New York Archdiocese says Cardinal Edward Egan was upset to learn Breyer would get an award. Joseph Zwilling said Monday that Cardinal Egan has spoken to Fordham officials to ensure "that a mistake of this sort will not happen again." Egan joins pro-life advocates in saying Breyer violated pro-life Catholic teachings with key opinions. Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion in the 2000 case striking down state laws banning partial-birth abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
