Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama has put more abortion advocates on his White House advisory council for faith-based issues. The new pro-abortion activists join the abortion advocates the president already placed on the panel, which is supposed to help lead the way in reducing abortions. On Monday, Obama also announced that Bishop Charles E. Blake and Harry Knox will fill out the roster of 25 people on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox is the director of the religion and faith program at Human Rights Campaign, a Washington gay rights group that also strongly supports abortion. Frances Kissling, the former president of the so-called "Catholics for a Free Choice" group that backs abortion, applauded the decision and called it "a good choice." Obama also appointed Rev. Peg Chemberlin, the president-elect of the National Council of Churches USA, a collection of mainline Protestant church -- many of which hold pro-abortion positions. Nancy Ratzan, board chair of the National Council of Jewish Women, has also been named to the White House office and her group is a longtime abortion supporter. Full story at LifeNews.comPresident Obama Picks Pro-Abortion Harold Koh as Top State Department Atty
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama has named a pro-abortion law professor as the top lawyer for the State Department. Obama's decision to select Harold Hongju Koh, the dean of Yale Law School, is a concern not only because he is pro-abortion but because he thinks it should become an international right. Harold Koh, the leading attorney for the State Department, could urge the Secretary of State and other officials to press for a new standard beyond the so-called privacy basis to justify keeping Roe and its ruling that unlimited abortions should be legal throughout pregnancy for any reason. Koh has pressed for the importation of 'transnational' social norms on contentious issues like abortion. His writings have redefined sovereignty as "a nation's capacity to participate in international affairs," and have blurred any distinctive national identity. That's important because abortion advocates at the international level want to make abortion a right and use international documents to trump national laws of pro-life nations. Austin Ruse, the president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, a pro-life group that lobbies at the United Nations, points out the problems with the Koh nomination in a new editorial for Human Events, a conservative newsweekly. "Pro-life and pro-family activists know the system Koh promotes very well," Ruse says. "Social conservatives, almost alone on the center right of American politics, have spent years at the United Nations fighting back against the encroachment of international bureaucrats upon the decisions properly left to the democratic process." Full story at LifeNews.comPro-Life Response Needed Soon to Obama Axing Abortion Conscience Protections
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama has proposed overturning the conscience protections the Bush administration put in place and pro-life advocates have until Thursday to respond. Prominent pro-life groups are urging every pro-life advocate to issue a public comment by this week's deadline. Three different federal laws provide legal protections for medical professionals. After determining those laws were not always followed by local governments and some medical centers, the Bush administration sought to strengthen them. The Bush administration put the rules in place to require a written agreement to follow the conscience laws and gave victims better access to federal employment discrimination agencies to consider legal action if their rights were violated. Relying on claims from leading pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood, Obama instructed his administration to overturn the new rules. Pro-life advocates can express their opposition to the Obama proposal by emailing proposedrescission@hhs.gov. The deadline for submitting comments is April 9. Comments may be submitted electronically on the Web site www.Regulations.gov (by entering 0991-AB49 in the search box). Several pro-life groups have also banded together to offer freedom2care.org, a web site with tools to make it easy for pro-life people to respond to Obama's likely decision to rescind the medical protections. http://www.freedom2care.org / Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama has proposed overturning the conscience protections the Bush administration put in place and pro-life advocates have until Thursday to respond. Prominent pro-life groups are urging every pro-life advocate to issue a public comment by this week's deadline. Three different federal laws provide legal protections for medical professionals. After determining those laws were not always followed by local governments and some medical centers, the Bush administration sought to strengthen them. The Bush administration put the rules in place to require a written agreement to follow the conscience laws and gave victims better access to federal employment discrimination agencies to consider legal action if their rights were violated. Relying on claims from leading pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood, Obama instructed his administration to overturn the new rules. Pro-life advocates can express their opposition to the Obama proposal by emailing proposedrescission@hhs.gov. The deadline for submitting comments is April 9. Comments may be submitted electronically on the Web site www.Regulations.gov (by entering 0991-AB49 in the search box). Several pro-life groups have also banded together to offer freedom2care.org, a web site with tools to make it easy for pro-life people to respond to Obama's likely decision to rescind the medical protections. http://www.freedom2care.org / Full story at LifeNews.comPew Poll Finds President Barack Obama Turning Off Catholic Voters Over Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama made it to the White House in part because of Catholic voters. While they backed pro-abortion John Kerry with 47 percent of the vote, they provider a larger 54 percentage-point clip to Obama, who has rewarded them with a laundry list of pro-abortion decisions. While Obama attempted to convince Catholic voters of his consanguineous relationship with them by saying he wanted to reduce abortions and advocating social justice positions, he's only turning them off a Pew poll shows. The Pew poll, which showed the most partisan divides between Republicans and Democrats over Obama's approval rating since President Richard Nixon, also took into account Catholic opinion. Between February and March of this year, Obama's disapproval rating among all Americans rose from 17 to 26 percent. But, among Catholics, the figure shot up from 14% to 28% and from 20% to 41% among white Catholics. Full story at LifeNews.com
White House Staffer: Two Million Red Envelopes Came to Obama Against AbortionWashington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama made it to the White House in part because of Catholic voters. While they backed pro-abortion John Kerry with 47 percent of the vote, they provider a larger 54 percentage-point clip to Obama, who has rewarded them with a laundry list of pro-abortion decisions. While Obama attempted to convince Catholic voters of his consanguineous relationship with them by saying he wanted to reduce abortions and advocating social justice positions, he's only turning them off a Pew poll shows. The Pew poll, which showed the most partisan divides between Republicans and Democrats over Obama's approval rating since President Richard Nixon, also took into account Catholic opinion. Between February and March of this year, Obama's disapproval rating among all Americans rose from 17 to 26 percent. But, among Catholics, the figure shot up from 14% to 28% and from 20% to 41% among white Catholics. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A White House mailroom staffer has confirmed that nearly 2.5 million red envelopes have made their way to President Barack Obama to protest his pro-abortion record. The staff member says the campaign is one of the largest efforts he can recall in his 35 years working at the White House. The mailroom worker, identified in a WorldNetDaily interview as Steve, helps oversee the mail destined for the president. Asked if he had seen a deluge of red envelopes in recent weeks, Steve responded: "Uh, yes. Believe me, they made it here." "Quite frankly, there was definitely a deluge of mail coming through," he laughed. "I had to handle them all." Though President Obama is in Europe on a foreign trip, the White House worker said the Obama administration has noticed the flood of red envelopes against abortion. "I've been here 35 years, so I've seen presidents come and go," he said. "This campaign ranks up there with the big ones." Full story at LifeNews.comGroups Partner After Terri Schiavo Death Anniversary for Pro-Life Living Wills
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Following the death of Terri Schiavo, the mainstream media and community groups like AARP promoted the signing of living wills. On the heels of the fourth anniversary of Terri's husband subjecting her to a painful euthanasia death, two pro-life groups are working together to promote a pro-life advanced directive. The National Right to Life has championed the Will to Live since 1992 and now the Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group, has climbed on board to help promote it. As part of the project, thousands of attorneys allied with ADF across the country will make themselves available to provide free legal advice to assist individuals to fill out the proper will to live documents for their state of residence. The Will to Live is a legal document anyone can sign that starts from the medical principle that patients desire to live and don't want lifesaving medical treatment, or basic food and water -- as in Terri's case -- denied to them. Jennifer Popik, an NRLC attorney, explains the benefit of the Will to Live compared with other traditional documents. "There is a growing danger that you may be denied necessary medical treatment or even starved or dehydrated should you become unable to speak for yourself," she explains. "If you have or have thought about filling out other living will documents, it is important to be aware of the danger that they are often insufficiently protective." Full story at LifeNews.comNation's Oldest Abortion Business Closes After Doing Abortions for 36 Years
Oakland, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The bad economy has been blamed for potentially driving up the number of abortions, but it is also responsible for closing abortion centers. An abortion business in Oakland, California that has done abortions for 36 years is closing because it can no longer afford to operate. The Women's Choice Clinic of Oakland, considered by some to be the oldest abortion business in the nation that still exists, is closing its doors. Linci Comy, WCC's executive director and a staff member of the abortion facility since 1977, says the economic crunch and the hurt it has caused for the state budget is the culprit. WCC has not been able to receive MediCal reimbursements from the state to pay for abortions it does on poor women. "We haven't been able to make our rent payments," as a result, Comy said. "We've been waiting for the checks from MediCal and they're not forthcoming. To balance the state budget California has frozen payments for services already provided, and for us, that is a fatal decision," she added. "With that and issues of the economy, it all came down on us in March. Our landlord let us know we have to be out in a couple of weeks. We're looking at bankruptcy." In more than three decades Comy estimates that WCC has seen 64,000 customers and about 2,000 customers on an annual basis. Full story at LifeNews.com
Oakland, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The bad economy has been blamed for potentially driving up the number of abortions, but it is also responsible for closing abortion centers. An abortion business in Oakland, California that has done abortions for 36 years is closing because it can no longer afford to operate. The Women's Choice Clinic of Oakland, considered by some to be the oldest abortion business in the nation that still exists, is closing its doors. Linci Comy, WCC's executive director and a staff member of the abortion facility since 1977, says the economic crunch and the hurt it has caused for the state budget is the culprit. WCC has not been able to receive MediCal reimbursements from the state to pay for abortions it does on poor women. "We haven't been able to make our rent payments," as a result, Comy said. "We've been waiting for the checks from MediCal and they're not forthcoming. To balance the state budget California has frozen payments for services already provided, and for us, that is a fatal decision," she added. "With that and issues of the economy, it all came down on us in March. Our landlord let us know we have to be out in a couple of weeks. We're looking at bankruptcy." In more than three decades Comy estimates that WCC has seen 64,000 customers and about 2,000 customers on an annual basis. Full story at LifeNews.comVatican Rejects Three Potential Obama Ambassadors Over Pro-Abortion Views
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The decisions haven't received much attention, but the Vatican has quietly and informally rejected three potential ambassadors for pro-abortion President Barack Obama. The potential diplomats reportedly were rejected because of their pro-abortion views and inability to improve relations with the Holy See. The inability of President Obama to appoint an ambassador who will meet with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials could cause a problem when he is scheduled to make a July trip to Rome. Italian journalist Massimo Franco reported on the impasse in the Corriere della Sera (Evening Courier) newspaper. He talked with the Washington Times about the rejections and said they were done informally with Papal staff telling Obama aides that the potential ambassadors were unsuitable because of their abortion views. "The informal dismissal of the first names whispered in the Obama inner circle is a signal," he said. Franco also said the Vatican understands that, as a recognized foreign nation, it is free to reject a proposed envoy if it believes the potential diplomat would fail to improve its relations with the United States. Full story at LifeNews.com
Doctor Mehmet Oz Tells Oprah's Audience Embryonic Stem Cell Research Debate is DeadWashington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The decisions haven't received much attention, but the Vatican has quietly and informally rejected three potential ambassadors for pro-abortion President Barack Obama. The potential diplomats reportedly were rejected because of their pro-abortion views and inability to improve relations with the Holy See. The inability of President Obama to appoint an ambassador who will meet with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials could cause a problem when he is scheduled to make a July trip to Rome. Italian journalist Massimo Franco reported on the impasse in the Corriere della Sera (Evening Courier) newspaper. He talked with the Washington Times about the rejections and said they were done informally with Papal staff telling Obama aides that the potential ambassadors were unsuitable because of their abortion views. "The informal dismissal of the first names whispered in the Obama inner circle is a signal," he said. Franco also said the Vatican understands that, as a recognized foreign nation, it is free to reject a proposed envoy if it believes the potential diplomat would fail to improve its relations with the United States. Full story at LifeNews.com 
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A recent appearance by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiovascular surgeon at Columbia University and a regular on Oprah Winfrey's popular eponymous television program, is generating buzz within pro-life circles. During the program, Oz told Americans the truth about embryonic stem cell research. Oz made it clear that the "stem cell debate is dead" mostly in part because embryonic stem cells have yet to catch up to their adult stem cell and iPS cell counterparts. The comments are drawing interest because Oz made them in front of the iconic television personality and embryonic stem cell research advocate Michael J. Fox who has warped and twisted the positions of pro-life advocates during previous elections. "The problem with embryonic stem cells is that embryonic stem cells come from embryos, like all of us were made from embryos, and those cells can become any cell in the body," Oz explained. "But it's very hard to control them and so they can become cancer," Oz added, pointing to the efficacy problems of the cells causing tumors after injection into animals during experiments. Full story at LifeNews.comTennessee House Panel Passes Amendment to Limit Court Decision on Abortion
Nashville, TN (LifeNews.com) -- A Tennessee state House committee today approved a state constitutional amendment that would make the Tennessee Constitution abortion-neutral. The amendment is necessary because the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled 4-1 in 2000 that the state constitution allows unlimited abortions. The ruling claimed the Tennessee Constitution contains a fundamental abortion right even broader than Roe v. Wade or the federal constitution. The decision resulted in the striking down of numerous pro-life Tennessee laws that were helping women and limiting abortions. The House Health and Human Resources Committee after the amendment after failing to get the bill out of committee in previous legislative sessions. Full story at LifeNews.comOhio Law to Stop Pressuring Women Into Having Abortion Goes Into Effect Today
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) -- A new Ohio law that will help stop women from being pressured or forced into a decision to have an abortion goes into effect today. The Protecting Pregnant Women from Coercion & Violence Bill received lopsided bipartisan support in the state legislature. The measure would require abortion facilities to display a poster in their waiting areas making it clear to women that no one can coerce or pressure them into having an abortion they really don't want. This notice would indicate that, under Ohio law, an abortion can only be performed if the woman signs a consent form indicating she is consenting voluntarily and without coercion. It would also inform the woman that, if she is coerced into having an abortion, she should not sign a consent form and should inform abortion center employees. Full story at LifeNews.comNotre Dame Pro-Life Students Stage Successful Rally Against Coming Obama Speech
South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Over the weekend, hundreds of students at the University of Notre Dame staged a successful rally in opposition to the college's decision to invite pro-abortion President Barack Obama to give its commencement address. On the steps of Notre Dame's famed Golden Dome, the students made their views known. Harold Cassidy, a respected pro-life attorney, and UNF professor Alfred Freddoso, gave keynote speeches to a crowd of over 400. Cassidy gave a stirring speech in which he spoke to women's liberties, President Obama's actions, the example of Mother Teresa, and he highlighted the misleading speech by Mario Cuomo given at Notre Dame in September of 1984. Alfred Freddoso said the protest of UND's decision was meant to highlight Obama's pro-abortion decisions and record. "Make no mistake, this protest has to do with President Obama's actions and with his intentions regarding future actions, and not merely with his beliefs," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com 
