Monday, November 17, 2008

FROM LIFENEWS.COM

Pro-Abortion Group Sets Up Obama, Congressional Attack on Pregnancy Centers
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading pro-abortion group sent out a press release to mainstream media outlets on Monday with an attack on pregnancy centers that could be a harbinger of things to come. The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) attack could set up actions by incoming president Barack Obama or Congress. As LifeNews.com reported during the presidential campaign, millions of Americans who are involved with or aided by the thousands of pregnancy centers across the nation are worried. They believe Obama will likely revoke the funds the Bush administration has given the centers or could go further by signing a Congressional bill that could shut them down. The FMF said in its media release that it has released the results of a new "study" that shows half of college health centers refer students seeking reproductive health care to crisis pregnancy centers. The "study" surveyed 398 campus health centers at four-year colleges that responded to the pro-abortion group and supposedly accounted for 34 percent of the total student population in the country attending four-year schools. The survey found 48 percent routinely refer women who might be pregnant to crisis pregnancy centers. FMF claims the centers "pose as comprehensive health clinics" and are "luring women" with free pregnancy tests or information about sexual health or abortion decisions.
Full story at LifeNews.com

Catholic Bishop: Pray for Obama to Convert From Pro-Abortion to Pro-Life
Fargo, ND (LifeNews.com) -- With the presidential election unable to keep the White House in pro-life hands, a Catholic bishop is turning to a more powerful force: prayer. Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, in his latest column in his diocesan newspaper, says he is praying for incoming president Barack Obama to experience an abortion conversion. Aquila congratulated Obama on his victory, but he promised he will be praying for Obama to change his mind on abortion and urged Catholics in North Dakota to do the same. He urged prayers for "the conversion of his heart and mind to recognize the dignity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death and the truth that no government has the right to legalize abortion." Bishop Aquila says that not only is Obama's current pro-abortion view opposed to the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church but he stands at odds with the overwhelming majority of Americans who are uncomfortable with abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com

Ron Paul: Obama's Pro-Abortion Policies May Ruin, Not Help, Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former presidential candidate Ron Paul is the latest to highlight the damage incoming president Barack Obama could do if he promotes abortion the way he promised during the campaign. Paul says Obama's policies could easily ruin the health care industry rather than improve it. Citing Obama's "strident rhetoric" in favor of promoting abortion Paul says his first concern is that Obama would overturn protections that make it so Americans aren't forced to fund abortions. Paul also says he's greatly concerned by the recent news that "many health care facilities under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church may be shut down as a result of the FOCA for refusal to perform abortions." "Not only does this Act seem to have growing support in Congress, the President-elect and his Administration have indicated support for this legislation. Since many people cast their votes in a way that they believed would help to improve and increase availability of health care, this is an ironic twist," Paul says. Full story at LifeNews.com

Long Live the Chickens, How California Voters Hurt Girls and Parents on Abortion
by Laura Echevarria

The chickens won. Really. They did. California passed legislation regulating the conditions of egg-laying chickens so the chickens won. And the children of California lost because California's proposed parental involvement law failed to pass. Don't get me wrong. I sympathize with the chickens. I saw the hidden-camera videos posted on various web sites of chickens with barely any room to move and chickens injured by other chickens that were crammed in beside them. I truly sympathized. But I wonder where the priorities are. Was it the videos of chickens in distress that swayed people? Was it the sheer number of chickens involved? What was the deciding factor for people when they pulled the lever for chickens? Do young women have to die at the hands of an abortionist before parental involvement laws can be passed? If so, how many? Full story at LifeNews.com.

Ireland Abortion Ban Gets Legal Help From American Pro-Life Organization
Dublin, Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- A leading American pro-life organization has filed a legal brief with the European Court of Human Rights in defense of Ireland's ban on abortion. The Family Research Council, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund pro-life law firm, filed papers supporting the ban with the court.The European Court of Human Rights will hold a hearing likely in early 2009 on a case involving three women who traveled to Britain to obtain abortions. Bill Saunders, the Human Rights Counsel at FRC, told LifeNews.com on Monday that the legal papers make it clear to the court that it should not confirm an international right to abortion. Such a ruling could have a bearing beyond the Ireland case and extend to other nations.
"There is no international 'right' to abortion, and it is important to defend the right of countries to restrict abortion," Saunders said. "Courts must respect the right of the people to decide this issue without judicial interference." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Man Deported From U.S. to Mexico Despite Grim Comatose Status, Now Awake
Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) -- When Antonio Torres, a farm worker in Phoenix, Arizona, had a catastrophic car accident that left him in a coma, the local hospital deported him to Mexico despite status as a legal resident of the United States. While Torres was still connected to a ventilator, suffering from pneumonia, and had an elevated white blood cell count indicative of pneumonia, St. Joseph's Hospital dispatched him on a life-threatening 4-hour ambulance ride to a hospital in Mexico after he had been in their care for only a few weeks. Fortunately, his parents were able to get their son admitted to El Centro Regional Medical Center in California, and within weeks Torres was back in the United States, though now with septic shock. Eighteen days after his arrival at El Centro, he awoke from his coma and is now able to walk with the assistance of a cane.
Full story at LifeNews.com.

Jamaica Government Continues Hearings on Measure to Legalize Abortions
Kingston, Jamaica (LifeNews.com) -- The Jamaica governmental committee considering the legalization of abortion heard from advocates on both sides of the issue last week during a public forum. Pro-life advocates presented tens of thousands of signatures from residents opposed to a measure allowing abortions. The government is considering a proposal to legalize abortions for any reason up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. Dr. Doreen Brady-West, chair of the Coalition for the Defence of Life gave a compelling presentation that included signatures of 87,000 Jamaicans opposed to legalizing abortion. She also showed a graphic video that depicted several abortion procedures, which few of the committee members could watch without averting their eyes.
Full story at LifeNews.com.