President Barack Obama Picks Pro-Abortion NYC Health Head Frieden for CDC
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Add another abortion advocate to list of the people President Barack Obama has chosen for key health positions. Following pro-abortion ex-Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius becoming his health secretary, Obama named New York City's health commissioner Thomas Frieden as head of the CDC. Frieden, who was controversial during his time in New York, which has long has the highest abortion rate of any major city, was named director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New York City has paid millions of dollars over the years for abortions for poor residents and required medical students there to lean how to do abortions. Frieden, who will take over the CDC in June, feuded with pro-life advocates by distributing millions of free condoms in 2007. New York City's bishops issued a scathing denunciation at the time. Full story at LifeNews.com Pro-Life Advocates Arrested at Notre Dame Protesting Pro-Abortion Obama Visit
South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- With just two days left before pro-abortion President Barack Obama gives the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, a group of 20 pro-life advocates were arrested. Alan Keyes, two Catholic priests and about two dozen supporters were arrested for walking onto the Notre Dame campus. According to pro-life activist Randall Terry, the group of pro-life advocates were arrested for disobeyed an order not to trespass on the Notre Dame grounds. They had been asked to keep their protests outside the campus grounds, as many other pro-life advocates are doing. In an email to LifeNews.com Terry said he was disappointed that bail was not set for Keyes, a former presidential candidate. "The authorities have suddenly - without legal right - decided to not set bail for Dr. Keyes, and anyone else who was arrested last Friday," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Pregnant Women Support Act Reintroduced, Catholic Bishops Give OK
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, has reintroduced the Senate version of the Pregnant Women Support Act, a bill sponsored by Democrats for Life of America. The legislation is a combination of abortion limits and funding for programs to help pregnant women. DFLA hopes the bill will reduce abortions by 95 percent within 10 years if it became law and Casey, who has come under fire for a couple of pro-abortion votes, has been the lead sponsor in the Senate. Casey reintroduced the Senate version of the bill on Thursday and it quickly received the backing of the nation's Catholic bishops, who sent a joint letter to members of the Senate urging lawmakers to support it. Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the members to back the bill, S. 1032 saying it resources and support for pregnant and parenting women and their families. Full story at LifeNews.com
Texas Medical Groups Halting Reform Bill to Stop Pro-Euthanasia Futile Care Law
Austin, TX (LifeNews.com) -- Medical groups in Texas are drawing the ire of pro-life advocates because they are pushing a phony bill that is holding up legislation that would reform the futile care law that is pushing euthanasia. The statute allows hospitals and other medical facilities that believe a patient is too far gone to help to give their families just 10 days to find another facility that will offer the treatment or lifesaving medical care. As a result, patients like Emilio Gonzales and Andrea Clark are making headlines because they became potential euthanasia victims. Rep. Bryan Hughes, a Republican, is working with pro-life groups and disability rights advocates for a bill to repeal the law and replace it with one requiring medical centers to provide lifesaving medical treatment until the patient can be transferred to a medical facility that will provide appropriate medical care for the patient. ACTION: Contact members of the Texas state House and urge strong support for the Hughes bill, HB 3325. Go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us / Full story at LifeNews.com
Tennessee House Debate Coming on Amendment to Limit Pro-Abortion Court Ruling
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Tennessee state House will hold a debate and vote soon on a constitutional amendment that would limit the reach of an aggressive pro-abortion ruling almost a decade ago from the Tennessee Supreme Court. When the debate occurs, a pro-life groups hopes the amendment is approved with no changes. 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 and it resulted in the striking down of numerous pro-life Tennessee laws that were helping women and limiting abortions. The Senate has signed off on the amendment as have two House committees. If passed by the House this session, SJR 127 would be brought back to the next General Assembly in 2011-12 for a required two thirds vote before being placed on the ballot for voters to decide in the next governor's race in 2014. ACTION: Click here to contact your state lawmakers and urge support for the amendment. Full story at LifeNews.com
Report Shows WHO Falsifying Maternal Mortality Numbers to Promote Abortion
New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- A newly released research paper identifies structural flaws in United Nations (UN) data collection and analysis of global maternal health, finding that UN maternal heath policies based on the bad data are jeopardizing women's health in the developing world. The paper, "Removing the Roadblocks from Achieving MDG 5 by Improving the Data on Maternal Mortality," by Donna Harrison, M.D., was published by the International Organizations Research Group (IORG). The paper shows how the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines to UN member states require nations to collect faulty data while at the same time pressuring them to enact UN policies such as liberalizing abortion laws based on that data. Harrison finds that the WHO's Reproductive Health Indicators are flawed because of "quasi-legal, rather than scientifically-based definitions used to define maternal health." Specifically, she examines WHO documents that equate "safe abortion" to legal abortion, and "unsafe abortion" to illegal abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com
South Carolina Senate Kills Abortion Waiting Period, Advances Born Alive Bill
Columbia, SC (LifeNews.com) -- The South Carolina state Senate on Thursday refused to set a special order consideration of the bill that requires abortion businesses to give women a 24-hour reflection period before an abortion. The bill had advanced most of the way through the legislature and would have been signed by the governor. The current waiting period before an abortion is just one hour and state legislators believe 24 hours gives women considering an abortion more time to reflect on its risks and alternatives and will lower the number of abortions. Although the vote was 25-16 in favor of special order, it fell short of the two-thirds vote required to remove legislation from the contested calendar so that it could be debated and voted on by the full Senate. Holly Gatling, the head of South Carolina Citizens for Life, lamented the results of the vote in an email to LifeNews.com. "Essentially this means the 24-hour waiting period that protects the health and dignity of women and protects their right to choose life for their unborn child will not become law in 2009," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Ireland Pro-Life Group Raises Abortion Before Election, Poll Has Pro-Life Majority
Dublin, Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- A leading pro-life group is raising the issue of abortion before the June elections. Meanwhile, a January poll, the results of which are only becoming available now, shows a pro-life majority when it comes to both abortion as well as destroying unborn children in scientific research. The Pro-Life Campaign is calling on both the government the main opposition parties to make clear their legislative intent on abortions prior to the June 5 elections. During a press conference on Thursday, Pro-Life Campaign medical advisor Berry Kiely said Irish political leaders need to do more to protect unborn children subjected to harmful experiments. "The Government's record in protecting embryos both in Europe and Ireland has been unhelpful," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Minnesota Legislature, Governor Pawlenty Commit to Funding Abortion Alternatives
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Thanks to the Minnesota legislature and pro-life Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, the state's Positive Alternatives program remains fully funded for the 2009-2010 biennium. The program has been credited with helping lower the number of abortions done on poor women in the state. Positive Alternatives funding was expected to be cut due to the state budget shortfall. However, both the state House and Senate recommended full funding for Positive Alternatives in their Health and Human Services bills and Pawlenty signed the bill into law Thursday night. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life worked tirelessly with legislators of both parties to ensure that pregnant girls and women would continue to find the help they need to bring their pregnancies to term through organizations funded by the Positive Alternatives grant program. "Positive Alternatives is one of Minnesota's most essential and successful programs for women," MCCL director Scott Fischbach told LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Testifies in Pregnancy Discrimination Case
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg testified on Thursday in a case where his company is accused of fostering a climate of pregnancy discrimination. Bloomberg has long been one of the most staunch abortion advocates in the country, going as far as requiring all medical students there to learn how to do abortions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against his company, Bloomberg News, in October 2007. The suit says Bloomberg condoned "systemic, top-down discrimination against female employees." Three women who are high-level executives at Bloomberg brought the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against the mayor. Tanys Lancaster, Janet Loures and Jill Patricot said they were subjected to unfair demotions and decreased compensation and were denied advancement after becoming pregnant. In one complaint, Bloomberg allegedly told a leading saleswoman, "Kill it" when he found out she was pregnant. Full story at LifeNews.com
EU, UNFPA Pressuring Philippines to Pass Bill That is First Step to Legal Abortions
Manila, Philippines (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- The head of the delegation of the European Commission in the Philippines, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, has vocally intervened in a contentious legislative debate in that nation, pushing legislators to pass a controversial "reproductive health" bill while linking increased foreign aid to passage, according to critics. Speaking at a forum sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to promote the Reproductive Health Care Act of 2008 in Manila last week, MacDonald chided Filipino legislators for failing to pass the bill, calling the "provision of effective and accessible" reproductive health services "a responsibility of the State towards the people of the Philippines." Australia's Agency for International Development and Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, the international aid agency of Spain's socialist government, also called for passage of the bill at the UNFPA forum.
According to news reports, MacDonald noted that 60 percent of European Union (EU) aid is already channeled to reproductive health programs. He hoped to link increased direct aid at the provincial level to increased contraceptive usage, rewarding those provinces that most effectively promoted contraception. Full story at LifeNews.com
