FROM LIFENEWS.COM: TODAY'S PRO-LIFE HEADLINES (Tuesday)

Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Staffer: We Bend the Rules on Sexual Abuse
Birmingham, AL (LifeNews.com) -- A new undercover video shows what others have when it comes to Planned Parenthood and how it handles potential cases of sexual abuse. New footage shows a staffer at a Birmingham, Alabama abortion center telling a woman who appears to be a victim of statutory rape that "we bend the rules." The video is the latest from Lila Rose, a UCLA student who has become a muckraker for her series of videos exposing the nation's largest abortion business. In this new video, the Birmingham Planned Parenthood counselor tells Rose, who pretends to be a 14-year-old statutory rape victim that it "does sometimes bend the rules a little bit" rather than report sexual abuse to state authorities. Rose told the staffer that she was 14 and had been impregnated by a 31-year-old boyfriend. She told the Planned Parenthood official she needed a secret abortion so her parents would not find out about her sexual relationship with the older man. Rose asks, "Is it a problem about my boyfriend?" The counselor, identified as "Tanisha" in the video, responds, "As long as you consented to having sex with him, there's nothing we can truly do about that." Rose then says that her boyfriend "said he could get in big trouble," and Tanisha acknowledges that "he could, especially if your parents find out that he's 31." Full story at LifeNews.com

Catholic Bishops to House: Keep Ban on Tax-Funded Abortions in Nation's Capital
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A House committee is set to vote next week on legislation that President Barack Obama requested which could result in spending taxpayer funds on abortions in the nation's capital. When it votes, the nation's Catholic bishops have asked that the House support keeping the Dornan Amendment in place. Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government obliged and marked up the District of Columbia budget to include Obama's request for tax-funded abortions. The measure now heads to the full House Appropriations Committee, where it will be considered on Tuesday, July 7. There, pro-life advocates will likely try to offer an amendment to restore the Dornan Amendment and stop Obama's abortion funding agenda. The chairman of the pro-life activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wants House members to restore the Dornan amendment. Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia sent a letter to members of the panel today urging them not to fund abortions in the District of Columbia. The USCCB provided a copy of the letter to LifeNews.com. Cardinal Rigali said that the subcommittee’s action “effectively nullifies the Dornan amendment,” which for a total of 18 years has prevented public funding of elective abortions in the nation's capital. Full story at LifeNews.com

Poll Shows Obama's Approval Rating at Lowest Point of His Pro-Abortion Presidency
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Rasmussen poll not only shows pro-abortion President Barack Obama's approval rating at the lowest of any point during his presidency, but it has Obama with a net negative for the first time among voters with the most intense support or opposition of his tenure. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll now shows 31 percent of the voters nationwide strongly approve of Obama's presidency. Conversely, 33 percent of voters strongly disapprove of his presidency. Rasmussen calls the net negative of 2 percent the Presidential Approval Index and it has stayed in a narrow range between +2 and -2 for the last few weeks with the current rating his lowest. The poll found the typical partisan divide that has been a feature of opinion polls covering the Bush and Clinton administrations. Some 57 percent of Democrats strongly approve of Obama's record thus far while 60 percent of Republicans strongly disapprove. Looking at a more traditional approval rating, including voters who somewhat approve or disapprove, 54 percent of Americans say they at least somewhat approve of Obama's performance so far while 46 percent disapprove. Full story at LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Advocate Takes Issue With Secretary Sebelius Over Health Care Rationing
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life advocate who is considered one of the foremost experts on health care is taking issue with weekend comments from pro-abortion Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The Obama administration official claimed that the governmental health care plans in Congress won't lead to rationing. Sebelius, the pro-abortion former Kansas governor who now heads the Health and Human Services Department, told Fox News Sunday, “I don't think there’s anything about the public option that would ration care." But Burke Balch, an attorney who is the head of the medical ethics department at the National Right to Life Committee, tells LifeNews.com that Sebelius was misleading. "It is not the presence or absence of a public option that will cause rationing, but the fact that the financing proposed will be wholly inadequate to extend health insurance to the uninsured," he told LifeNews.com. "Under the bill now under consideration by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Finance Committee, all qualified health insurance plans would have to follow payment policies of Medicare and Sebelius would be empowered to require all doctors and hospitals to follow essential whatever treatment regulations she might impose, on pain of being unable to be reimbursed by any of the qualified plans," Balch explained. Full story at LifeNews.com

Thanks to President Obama Federal Abstinence Education Funding Expires Today
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Today marked the end of federal funding of abstinence education under the Title V Abstinence Education Program and the CBAE (Community Based Abstinence Education). Before he took over the White House, President Barack Obama made it clear he would cut abstinence funding. In Obama's FY 2010 Proposed Budget, the president called for eliminating the funding for abstinence education, which has been successful in helping teenagers make positive decisions. Instead, Obama called for at least $164 million in funding for contraceptive-only education, which will likely go to pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood. Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, told the Washington Times that abstinence groups were not giving up. "Defeat? We don't know the meaning of that word," she said. Another prominent abstinence educator said some programs will find a way to operate their established programs with a smaller budget.Full story at LifeNews.com

Senate Democrats Get 60 Votes for Abortion, Sotomayor With Al Franken Aboard
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, a pro-life advocate from Minnesota, conceded his re-election bid to pro-abortion Senate candidate Al Franken. His decision paves the way for the abortion advocates who already control the Senate to have 60 votes to promote abortion and health care rationing. Coleman originally held a lead over Franken at the end of the November 2008 election, but a recount put Franken ahead by a few hundred votes. Despite numerous legal claims that the recount was not properly conducted, state courts sided with Franken and dealt Coleman a blow when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Frank won the election. Coleman conceded the race today and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, himself a pro-life advocate who has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2012, must now sign the certification allowing Franken to represent the state in the Senate. With Frank in the Senate, the Democratic Party now has a supermajority with which is can stop filibusters against promoting abortion or confirming pro-abortion judicial nominees like Sonia Sotomayor. Full story at LifeNews.com

National Education Association to Vote on Taking Neutral Stance on Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- When thousands of teachers and educators meet this week in California for their annual convention, they may vote on a measure to have the National Education Association take a neutral stance on abortion. Outside the convention hall, dozens of pro-life teachers will share their views. The NEA has long been a thorn in the side of the majority of Americans who take a pro-life stance on abortion and are involved in educating America's children. Using their union dues, the NEA has funded pro-abortion candidates and has gone as far as holding an event with a late-term abortion practitioner. Jeralee Smith, a co-founder of the NEA Conservative Educators Caucus, says a vote on abortion could open the door for positive change. She says a special vote is slated for the July 1-6 convention that could have members voting on the NEA taking a neutral abortion position. That could help stop some of the pro-abortion activities the NEA undertakes. "The union contributes to candidates who will maintain the current Roe v. Wade decision and make sure that the abortion industry is alive and well," she told OneNewsNow. "And this supposedly is done with the portion of union dues that...is optional. But a lot of times we found sneaky ways that the union supports things that we don't believe in." Full story at LifeNews.com

GE Teams With Cloning Company Geron for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- General Electric Company is teaming up with Geron, a biotech firm that engages in human cloning, to form what could be the largest embryonic stem cell research conglomerate. The team wants to use the controversial research to determine whether some medicine are toxic. Embryonic stem cells can only be obtained by destroying human life and pro-life advocates oppose that. They also point to the successes seen in adult stem cell research and iPS cells, adult stem cells which are reverted to an embryonic-like state. Unlike embryonic stem cells, these cells have been successful in helping patients with a myriad of conditions. GE and Geron will use existing embryonic stem cell lines to develop sample human cells that drug companies can use to test the toxicity of new drugs in the development process before animal testing or human trials. "This could replace, to a large extent, animal trials," GE spokeswoman Konstantin Fiedler told Reuters. "Once you have human cells and you can get them in a standardized way, like you get right now your lab rats in a standardized way, you can actually do those experiments on those cells." Full story at LifeNews.com

New York Times Blasted for Playing Down Poll With Pro-Life Majority on Abortion
by Colin Mason 
According to the Times the recent Gallup Poll showing that a majority of Americans are pro-life is faulty at best, and downright sinister at worst. According to the New York Times, it doesn't really matter, because you probably don't understand the terms anyway. The poll, conducted May 7-10, found that 51% of Americans are now “calling themselves ‘pro-life’ on the issue of abortion and 42% ‘pro-choice.’ According to Gallup, this is “the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.” Not only did Gallup find these results to be consistent in two other surveys, they also gave a rather forthright opinion as to why they thought this shift was occurring. President Obama’s radical policies, Gallup said, are actually alienating many Americans who would consider themselves to be “pro-choice,” causing them to shift over toward the pro-life position: It is possible that, through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public's understanding of what it means to be "pro-choice" slightly to the left, politically. While Democrats may support that, as they generally support everything Obama is doing as president, it may be driving others in the opposite direction. This sounds quite reasonable to me. Having a president who is radically pro-abortion might well cause the significant shift in opinions concerning abortion that Gallup detected. Liberal opinion leaders, however, have been quick to condemn the poll as faulty, irrelevant, or simplistic. Full story at LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Advocates Launch Abortion-Personhood Campaigns in Colorado, Montana
Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- Although they were not successful in getting their states to sign off on state constitution amendments for personhood for unborn children, pro-life advocates in Colorado and Montana are giving the effort another try. A large majority of Colorado voters rejected one amendment while Montana voters never had a chance to vote on the proposal there. Backers of the amendments will host kickoffs in both states on measures they say will recognize the rights of all citizens, including children who haven't been born. In Montana, pro-life state Rep. Wendy Warburton is working with the Montana Pro Life Coalition and Personhood USA to organize a petition gathering campaign. The groups plan a rally on the steps of Montana's state capitol on Wednesday morning. Full story at LifeNews.com

National Pregnancy Center Group: Connecticut Ultrasound Bill Doesn't Affect Us
Hartford, CT (LifeNews.com) -- Now that Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell has signed a bill into law that would ban ultrasounds not done for medical reasons, some pro-life advocates are concerned about the effect it will have on pregnancy centers, which rely on ultrasounds to help women consider abortion alternatives. Kristin Hansen, the vice president for communications at Care Net, a national organization with more than 1,100 affiliated centers, says the bill doesn't adversely affect its affiliates. Hansen says abortion advocates sometimes wrongly believe that pregnancy centers perform ultrasound for non-medical reasons. "Care Net pregnancy centers follow all FDA guidelines related to ultrasounds and all ultrasounds are performed by trained medical professionals under the direction of a licensed physician," she told LifeNews.com late Monday. Full story at LifeNews.com

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man arrested on assault charges after allegedly trying to run down sidewalk counselor with vehicle outside Planned Parenthood facility

Clearly shaken by the experience

Chico man arrested on assault charges after allegedly trying to run down sidewalk counselor with vehicle outside Planned Parenthood facility

A Chico man is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly trying to run down a sidewalk counselor with an SUV outside a Planned Parenthood abortion center in Chico.

Police said Matthew Reid Haver, 40, of Chico was charged with assault and other lesser crimes, including driving with a suspended license and using license plates from another vehicle on the SUV he used during the Wednesday, June 24 incident. The man Haver allegedly tried to run down was able to jump out of the way and was not seriously hurt, police said.

“According to witness statements gathered by police, Haver allegedly tried to strike 60-year-old protestor James Canfield with a 1991 GMC sports utility vehicle at the Planned Parenthood office on Vallombrosa Avenue,” reported theParadise Post. “Canfield moved out of the way and was not seriously injured during the incident, but clearly shaken by the experience, Chico Police Lt. John Carrillo said.”

With the help of witnesses, who took down the license plate number of the SUV, a Chico police officer was able to identify the suspect and track down his address, the newspaper reported. “Officers detained, interviewed, and arrested Haver at his home,” said the Post. “Haver was transported to the Chico Police Department Holding Facility for prisoner intake. At the holding facility, however, Haver had a medical emergency which required him to be transferred to Enloe Medical Center for treatment.”

Police would not give details of the “medical emergency,” but said it required them to call an ambulance, the Post reported. “Officers decided the best course of action would be to release Haver on a citation to appear in court. Had the medical emergency not occurred, Haver would have been booked in the Butte County Jail,” said the newspaper.

Canfield is a regular sidewalk counselor outside the Planned Parenthood facility and at another abortion center in Chico, the Women's Health Center, just across the street from the police department, according to the Post.

“He (Canfield) reportedly has a large sign with a graphic photo of an aborted fetus, and it receives attention as people drive by,” said the Post story. “The investigation revealed that Haver had a child with him in the vehicle, and as they drove by the demonstration, the child asked what was on the sign.”

Lt. Carrillo, the Post reported, “said it appears Haver became enraged over the picture of the aborted fetus, lost control of his emotions and tried to strike Canfield with his vehicle.” 

From http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=ad0d3966-de03-41c9-ab92-01860a4f5cdd

Federal appeals court upholds Virginia’s ban on partial-birth abortions

"Dismembering a partly born child and crushing its skull"

Richmond, Va., Jun 26, 2009 (CNA) -- The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 6-5 decision on Wednesday, June 24, upheld Virginia’s partial-birth abortion ban. In his concurring opinion, one judge wrote that the law protects the “weakest” and “most helpless,” and condemned the use of the constitution to justify “dismembering” a partly born child and “crushing” its skull.

In its ruling in the case of Richmond Medical Center v. Herring, the court said the 2003 Virginia law does not unduly burden a woman’s legal right to terminate a pregnancy by more conventional means. It also ruled the law is clear about the type of procedure banned and adequately protects women’s health.

The decision reverses a May 2008 2-1 panel decision that struck down the law, which is similar to a federal statute prohibiting a procedure in which the baby is partially delivered and then killed.

According to the Alliance Defense Fund, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Fourth Circuit panel to revisit its original September 2007 decision that the ban was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had upheld a partial-birth abortion ban in the case Carhart v. Gonzales.

Judge Paul V. Niemeyer authored the majority opinion in Wednesday’s decision, which won the concurrence of Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III.
"A partially born child is among the weakest, most helpless beings in our midst and on that account exerts a special claim on our protection," Judge Wilkinson wrote. “The fact is that we -- civilized people -- are retreating to the haven of our Constitution to justify dismembering a partly born child and crushing its skull,” his opinion continued. “Surely centuries hence, people will look back on this gruesome practice done in the name of fundamental law by a society of high achievement. And they will shudder.” 

Continue reading this article here: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=2b20b428-89a0-4b0e-a6d6-03cf7c6e1fed

Press Conference Announcing Colorado's 2010 Personhood Initiative

Denver, June 29, 2009 -- Colorado Right To Life and Personhood USA will submit language for a new Personhood initiative to the Colorado Legislative Council Staff on Thursday, July 2, 2009, marking the beginning of the 2010 Colorado Personhood Initiative. The state's largest pro-life organization joins with this national political action group based in Denver to fight for the affirmation of the rights of all humans from the beginning of their biological development.


"Over half-a-million Coloradans voted for personhood in 2008. Their votes acknowledging the God-given right to life of the preborn revolutionized the pro-life movement and they encourage us toward victory," stated Gualberto Garcia Jones, one of the initiative's sponsors. "Personhood USA's volunteers plan to work around the clock to keep the momentum going in order to ensure that all humans are protected in Colorado."


The initiative has been endorsed by eminent Georgetown University medical ethicist Dr. Dianne N. Irving. Once approved by the Secretary of State, grassroots volunteers will begin collecting signatures to place the Initiative on the 2010 ballot.


"In 2008 our state's Personhood Initiative demonstrated an unparalleled grassroots effort, with more signatures gathered by volunteers than any other ballot initiative in the state's history, and 1,300 petition circulators," said Leslie Hanks, the 2010 co-sponsor and long-time vice president of Colorado Right To Life. "Abortion is wrong because it's a baby; it's always wrong to intentionally kill a baby."


What: CRTL and Personhood USA submit language for new Personhood Initiative to Colorado Legislative Council Staff.

When: Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 a.m.

Where: Denver, Colorado - Colorado State Capitol in front of the west steps.



Contact:

Donna Ballentine
Colorado RTL
office@ColoradoRTL.org
303 753-9394 or 720-394-8946



Gualberto Garcia Jones J.D.
Personhood Colorado
director@personhoodcolorado.com
202-595-3500

Pope: It is a Childish Faith to Oppose the Church Teaching on Life and Family

ROME, June 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Closing the Year of St. Paul yesterday evening, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the writings of the famed convert to Christianity. With reference to Paul's letter to the Ephesians (4:14), the Pope explained what Paul meant by his statement that Christians should not remain "children at the mercy of the waves, transported here and there by every wind of doctrine."

"Paul wants the Christian faith have a 'responsible', an 'adult faith," said the Holy Father. "The word 'adult faith' has in recent decades become a popular slogan. It is often used to refer to the attitude of those who no longer adhere to the Church and her pastors, but choose for themselves what they want to believe and not believe - a kind of do-it-yourself faith."

Benedict XVI continued: "Speaking against the Magisterium of the Church is presented as courageous.  In reality, however, it does not take courage for this, since you can always be sure of audience applause."

"Rather it takes courage to adhere to the faith of the Church, even if it contradicts the 'scheme' of the contemporary world," said the Pope. "It is this non-conformism of the faith that Paul calls an 'adult faith.'"

The Holy Father gave two examples of an 'adult faith'. First, "to commit to the inviolability of human life from the very beginning, thus radically opposing the principle of violence, in defense of the most defenseless humans." And second, "to recognize marriage between a man and a woman for life as a law of the Creator, restored again by Christ."

For Paul, said Benedict XVI, "following the prevailing winds and currents of the day is childish."

See the full homily in Italian here: 
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/24071.php?index=24071&po_date=28.06.2009&lang=en

FROM LIFENEWS.COM: TODAY'S PRO-LIFE HEADLINES (Monday)

House Health Care Bill Gets More Criticism for Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Coverage
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House version of the governmental health care bill, put together by three chairmen of key Congressional committees, is drawing more opposition. A top pro-life group has already issued a letter strongly opposing the measure and now leading pro-life Congressman Chris Smith has joined it. The bill numbers 850 pages and it is still under review by leading pro-life advocates. However, the current drat would result in mandated abortion coverage, paid for at taxpayer expense, nationwide. In addition, poor Americans would receive a taxpayer subsidy to purchase health care plans that pay for abortions. Under the proposed House bill, all Americans will be required to have a plan that provides government defined minimum health benefits coverage. Such coverage is defined in very broad terms in the legislation and a “Benefits Advisory Committee,” in conjunction with pro-abortion Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, would further define the benefits under the plan. Pro-life advocates are concerned that the federal government, or the courts, would define abortion into the plan unless a clear exception is included. In a letter written to every member of the House, Smith explains the problem further. 'I am deeply disappointed that the health care reform package unveiled last week poses a grave threat to the unborn in our nation," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com

Obama Health Secretary Sebelius Claims Govt. Health Care Won't Include Rationing
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama's health secretary claimed in a weekend interview that a government health care plan wouldn't include rationing. That a governmental health care plan could lead to euthanasia and assisted suicide is one of the top concerns of pro-life advocates. Kathleen Sebelius, the pro-abortion former Kansas governor who now heads the Health and Human Services Department, made the claims on Fox News Sunday. “I don't think there’s anything about the public option that would ration care," she said. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, on the same Fox program, rebutted Sebelius' remarks and focused on the cost of the program in terms of how it could ration care. “What they really have in mind, Bret, is to create a government-run plan after which there won't be any private insurance companies,” he said. "When you get to the question of paying for it, it appears as if they want to pay for it on the backs of seniors through Medicare cuts and raising taxes. All of this in an effort to have a massive takeover of [16 percent] of our economy -- it strikes us that a better way to go is to deal with the equalization in the tax code." Full story at LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Group Challenges Federal Order to Sell Morning After Pill to Minor Girls
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life legal group has filed the papers necessary for a pro-life organization to challenge a federal court order that required the Food and Drug Administration to allow the Plan B drug to be sold to minor girls. The Alliance Defense fund filed the papers to intervene in the case. The group is acting on behalf of Concerned Women for America, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, and Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International. The pro-life organizations contend that the order disregards parental rights and the safety of teenage girls. Matt Bowman, a top attorney with ADF, talked with LifeNews.com about the challenge. “The life and health of women, especially minors, is more important than the political agenda of pro-abortion activist groups," he said. "Minors are least of all in a position to make an informed decision about the life or death of a child, or even about their own safety. It is a lie that over-the-counter sales of this drug increase safety for women, including minors." Full story at LifeNews.com

New Technology Allows Parents to Hold Life-Size Model of Their Unborn Child
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Stunning new technology is allowing parents to go beyond a 3D or 4D ultrasound to bond with their unborn child in ways never imaginable. A student at the Royal College of Art in Britain has created life-like models based on pictures of unborn children that are the exact shape and size of the baby in the womb. Fetal models have long been a staple of county fairs and health education classes across the country, but one student has gone further. Brazilian student Jorge Lopes is a PhD. student at the college and he has pioneered the use of converting data from ultrasounds and MRI scans to form life-size plastic models in a process called rapid prototyping. "It’s amazing to see the faces of the mothers. They can see the full scale of their baby, really understand the size of it," Lopes said. One way to conceive of the idea behind the new process is to imagine a printer that relies on plastic powder instead of the ink that normally goes on a sheet of paper. As the plastic builds up, it creates a 3D model instead of a flat image on paper. Full story at LifeNews.com

Planned Parenthood Concludes TV Ad Campaign on Health Care, Ignores Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood has been the nation's number one abortion business for years, but Americans wouldn't be able to tell by a television ad campaign that it is about to conclude. The ad is promoting the role it plays in health care and says government funding for its programs must continue. The Planned Parenthood spot never mentions abortion, even though it did over 300,000 abortions last fiscal year. That Planned Parenthood does 10 times more abortions than it provides prenatal care didn't warrant mention in the commercial. Instead, the commercial, which has been playing throughout the month of June in Washington, as an attempt to get the attention of lawmakers and their staff, claims 90 percent of what they do focuses on preventative or primary care services. The commercial features an image of an animated woman named Jane who goes to Planned Parenthood "for essential health care—cancer screenings, immunizations and contraception. And Jane's not alone." Full story at LifeNews.com

Catholic Caritas Christi Withdraws From Pro-Abortion Celticare Health Care Plan
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- After months of intense lobbying from pro-life advocates, Caritas Christi Health Care has withdrawn from the new state health plan Massachusetts state officials awarded it. The plan, a cooperative with Centene Corporation called the Celticare Health Plan of Massachusetts, included abortions. Because the plan included abortion coverage, the six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston under Caritas Christi would have been making abortion referrals. Leading pro-life groups in the state had called on Cardinal Sean O'Malley to withdraw Caritas Christi from the CeltiCare partnership. With pressure from Cardinal O'Malley, Caritas withdrew from the new plan. "I am happy to share with you the following statement issued this evening by Caritas Christi concerning its decision to withdraw its membership in the CeltiCare Health Plan while continuing its commitment to serve the needs of the poor among us,'' he wrote. Full story at LifeNews.com

Appeals Court Judge Takes Pro-Life Stance in Virginia Partial-Birth Abortion Ruling
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- It is only on a very rare occasion that a federal appeals court judge lays out a clear and passionate case for defending the human rights of unborn children. But, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III did just that when he joined the majority of judges who recently upheld a Virginia ban on partial-birth abortions. In a 6-5 decision last week, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Virginia’s partial-birth abortion ban. It reversed a 2-to-1 decision last year from a three-judge panel of members of the appellate court which struck down the ban last year. In the majority opinion, Judge Wilkinson wrote, “A partially born child is among the weakest, most helpless beings in our midst and on that account exerts a special claim on our protection." "The fact is that we -- civilized people -- are retreating to the haven of our Constitution to justify dismembering a partly born child and crushing its skull,” his opinion continued. “Surely centuries hence, people will look back on this gruesome practice done in the name of fundamental law by a society of high achievement. And they will shudder.” Full story at LifeNews.com

Connecticut Governor Rell Signs Bill Banning Ultrasounds Without Medical Reason
Hartford, CT (LifeNews.com) -- Under a new bill pro-abortion Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell signed into law last week, an ultrasound of an unborn child can't be done without a medical reason or authorization from a physician. Rell claimed she signed the bill because she is concerned about the health and safety of mothers and unborn children. However, no studies have revealed any negative health affects for either by viewing an ultrasound. The bill is also an effort to target the new ultrasound "boutiques" that allow parents of unborn children to view an ultrasound and take home their children's first baby pictures of them moving around in the womb. The new law will take effect on July 1. Full story at LifeNews.com

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Defending Those Who Defend Life

Dear John,

This past week 19 pro-life Democrats, including Pro-Life Women’s Caucus member Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi  to call for an explicit ban on taxpayer funding for abortion in health care reform legislation.

These pro-life leaders need our support and gratitude. Please write them today and thank them for standing up for the cause of Life, against their own party leadership. 

With a pro-abortion majority in the House and Senate, we need the votes and voices of every pro-life Member of Congress, regardless of party. Their leadership is needed in the debate over health care reform to ensure that our tax dollars do not pay for abortions through government-run health care.

Protecting women and the unborn should not be a partisan issue – it’s a matter of basic human rights.  That’s why its so important to support those pro-life leaders who boldly place principle before politics.

Please join me in thanking the Pro-Life Democrats who are leading the fight to protect unborn boys and girls from Nancy Pelosi’s pro-abortion agenda. 

Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of the unborn boys and girls!

For Life,

Marjorie Dannenfelser
Susan B. Anthony List President
703-875-3370
www.sba-list.org

Study: Abortions Double Risk of Premature Birth in Subsequent Pregnancies

 Researcher: Abortions Double Risk of Premature Birth in
 Subsequent Pregnancies
 
 Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Having an abortion doubles the  risk of having a premature birth in a subsequent pregnancy -- that is the conclusion of a European researcher at a medical conference. Several previous studies have shown that abortion hurts women and future children by upping the chance of premature
 delivery.
 
 Full story at http://www.LifeNews.com/int1246.html
 
 
 Obama Health Secretary Claims Govt Health Care Bill Won't Ration Care - http://www.lifenews.com/nat5173.html
 
 Health Care Bill Criticized for Tax-Funded Abortion Coverage - http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5174.html
 
 Man Vandalizes Pro-Life Group's Office, Tries to Disable Security System - http://www.LifeNews.com/state4261.html
 

Pro-Life Youth to Picket Office of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

LOS ANGELES, June 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- Youth activists will demand that not penny of taxpayer funds be used to pay for abortions while teachers and community services are being cut in California due to budget concerns.

The demonstration will take place on Tuesday, June 30 at 11:00 A.M.

The location will be at 300 South Spring St., Los Angeles

The 65 youth activists will be carrying large signs and banners.

This event kicks off a national campaign by Survivors called "Teachers not Abortions."

Sarah Massell, a member of Survivors, states, "The pro-abortion movement is always telling us that we cannot force our morality on them. If abortion is a moral issue, why are taxpayers being forced to pay for abortions rather than fund education?

"Public funds that should be going to ensure our teachers are properly compensated are now going to fund unlimited and unrestricted abortions. The more we cut resources to our educational system the more it will have a negative impact on future generations."

Timmerie Millington adds, "We have become a society that kills its own children with unlimited public funds. Yet, firefighters and police officers who have laid down their lives to protect our nation are losing their jobs because our tax dollars are being spent on the killing of America's children."

Survivors is one of the leading pro-life youth activist organizations in the nation and they are sponsoring their annual 10 day leadership training and camp in Southern California.

One Solitary Child

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life 

I recently had a conversation with a woman named Laura, who volunteers in the mail room at Priests for Life. She told me an interesting story about her son, Salvatore, who was born in 1973, the year Roe. Vs. Wade legalized abortion. 

After she had given birth and was in the hospital recovering from her caesarian section, she was struck by the fact that even though the maternity ward seemed to be full of women, there were no other newborn babies around except hers. In fact, her infant son was all alone in a room full of empty incubators. It was a strange and almost eerie site. 

One morning, Laura was awakened by screaming and moaning coming from down the hall. Thinking it was simply the labor pains of other women giving birth, she asked the nurse why someone didn't help them. The nurse replied matter-of-factly: "Oh they're not in labor. They're having abortions. They didn't think it would hurt."

It turned out that the hospital Laura was in specialized in providing abortions, and following the 1973 Supreme Court decision, their business was booming.

The image of that ghostly maternity ward, devoid of all but one, solitary child; devoid of all the happy sounds of crying, newborn babies, with only the agonized sobbing of post-abortive mothers echoing through the empty corridors, reminded me again of how much emptier our world is because of all the abortions that have taken place since this most horrible of all atrocities was legalized.

And make no mistake, it is the most horrible of all atrocities. Sometimes people in our own Church attempt to trivialize abortion by lumping it together with the other evils of the world - by comparing it with poverty, disease, war, etc. But as the numbers clearly demonstrate, there is no comparison. Since 1973 there have been 50 million abortions in the United States alone. Worldwide, there are 42 million abortions every year. That means that in the last thirty years, there have been over 1.5 billion abortions! 

1.5 billion! That's the equivalent of approximately one quarter of the entire population of the planet! One quarter of the earth's population, murdered; snuffed out; gone.

There's a famous poem about Jesus that concludes with the memorable lines: "All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that One Solitary Life."

Unfortunately, we can say about abortion:

All the wars ever fought,
All the holocausts ever perpetrated,
All the plagues that ever raged,
All the bombs that ever dropped,
All the famines that ever laid waste to the land, put together, have not killed the number of human beings wiped out by abortion. 

And yet, hope endures, because God's grace abounds, even amidst such devastation. 

And what ever happened to Laura's baby? As she proudly related to me, her son, Fr. Sal, just celebrated his one year anniversary as a priest of the Catholic Church!

Comments on this column? Go to www.askfrfrank.com 
This column can be found online at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2009/09-06-29-one-solitary-child.htm 
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Diocese Paper Editor with Guts

Kansas City Takes on Jesuits

(Editor’s note: Jack Smith, who sent out this blog from the Kansas City Key, that diocese’s newspaper, gives an example of how the bishops can fight a good fight.)

Thursday, June 25, 2009
America Mag's Calumny in Service of a Human Master
A number of recent editorials by Catholic Obama partisans have sought to discredit the U.S. Bishops and the pro-life movement as a whole by grossly misappropriating the words of Kansas City – St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn.

Sometimes with attribution, sometimes without, but never in context, they have ripped four words, “We are at war,” from a 3,981 word address Bishop Finn made to a pro-life convention April 18, and given it meaning and context of their own making.

None have been so egregious as the Jesuit editors ofAmerica. This week’s Current Comment editorial in Americadisgraces the paper and the Society. It is vicious calumny in service to wicked ends.

Here it is:

A Higher Righteousness

Over the course of his career, George Tiller, M.D., performed over 60,000 abortions, specializing in what are euphemistically called “late-term” abortions. His murder at Wichita’s Reformation Lutheran Church on Sunday, May 31, has sparked soul-searching among some pro-life advocates. Did incendiary speech against brazen abortionists contribute to an overheated environment that then led to the doctor’s murder? Was Scott Roeder, the unstable man who allegedly killed Tiller, egged on by “hate speech”? What moral responsibility do activists and church leaders bear to prevent moral and political criticism on both sides of the abortion divide from escalating into hate speech?

It is not hard to find examples of incendiary speech. Tiller’s critics were wont to step up to the line of incitement and then draw back. Bill O’Reilly regularly called the Kansas doctor “Tiller the baby killer” and devoted 29 segments of his Fox television show to vilifying him. “If I could get my hands on Tiller...” he threatened. “Well, you know. Can’t be vigilantes.... It doesn’t get worse. Does it get worse? No.” Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City is now best known for his proclamation to the Gospel of Life Convention in April: “We are at war!” Though the bishop went on to explain that the struggle is a spiritual one and the means nonviolent, he announced an apocalyptic struggle against evil “that may rival any in time past.”

Defenders of life must recall the warning of the Sermon on the Mount: “If a man calls his brother ‘Fool,’ he will answer for it...; and if he calls him ‘Renegade,’ he will answer for it in hell fire.” For the Gospel of Life to be good news, it must reflect a higher righteousness.


Of course, in the convoluted (nuanced) style America’s editors are adept at, there is enough plausible deniability built into their argument to render the piece content-free on defense.

But the message is clear – Bishop Finn’s comments are to be identified with O’Reilly’s, and whether or not they are responsible for Tiller’s murder, they and all pro-life people who speak forcefully in defense of life will find themselves in hell.

So what’s wrong with that?

1. Bishop Finn did not even remotely refer to Dr. Tiller in his talk at the Gospel of Life Convention. He did not say “We are at war with Dr. Tiller” or any other abortionist, but rather with “Satan, with the glamour of evil, and the lure of false truths and empty promises.” A week after Easter, when the talk was given, Catholics might have recognized these words from the renewal of Baptismal Promises. This war the Bishop said, “is ultimately a spiritual battle for the eternal salvation of souls – our own and those of other people.” And further, in the conduct of this spiritual battle “We are not engaged in physical battles in the same way military soldiers defend with material weapons. We need not – we must not – initiate violence against other persons to accomplish something good, even something as significant as the protection of human life.”

2. Bishop Finn’s talk was a challenge to committed people who defend life through charitable and political activity: “peacefully, prayerfully, and legally.” It stood as a warning to those people to get their own spiritual house in order in the still authentic Catholic tradition of recognizing the true nature of what we fight against. The Bishop’s stated reference point was St. Paul who teaches “Put on the armor of God, in order that you can stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For, our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the rulers of this darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.” (Eph 6:10-12).

3. Bishop Finn has never publicly addressed the subject of Dr. Tiller.

4. Even assuming the editors’ ridiculous use of the Sermon on the Mount, Bishop Finn did not call any of his brothers fools or renegades.

5. Whatever monsters inhabit the mind of the disturbed Protestant Scott Roeder, traditional Catholic notions of the divisions of the Church Militant or the Communion of Saints are certainly not among them.

6. There is nothing “incendiary” about Bishop Finn’s words in the context in which he used them. They can only be interpreted as incendiary in the false context that has been manufactured by numerous Catholic Obama partisans, including the Jesuit editors at America.

So why would the editors at America, NCR, and Commonweal, who all got on this anti-bishop bandwagon, attempt to associate Bishop Finn and by extension other outspoken bishops and the pro-life movement as a whole with murder and truly incendiary speech and threats? Why would they seek to make those who have consistently at personal cost defended human life, the enemies of life?

Is it because the ultimate strategy for them to “Sing a New Church Into Being,” is to alienate the Faithful from their Shepherds? Is it because the defenders of life have criticized their master? They will muster any excuse for him, praise him immodestly for actions he has not taken, and destroy the reputations of any who dissent from him.

That is not the way a Christian works for the Risen Lord. But their master is not Risen. He resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And serving a man this way is idolatry.

Ed. Note – I am partially responsible for the popularization of “We are at war” since I titled the blog post containing Bishop Finn’s address by that name. It was not the name he gave his address. I chose that title in the convention of blog posts in order that it be read. For that, I apologize to Bishop Finn and the Catholic and pro-life community at large. Certainly however, the editors of America, NCR, andCommonweal read and understood the context.

Second, while this blog carries the name of the diocesan newspaper and is written by its editor, this post is mine alone. -JS
The Catholic Key Blog Main Page
Posted by Jack Smith at 8:29 AM

Reposted from http://www.calcatholic.com/

Supreme Court Confirms: Sotomayor was Wrong

Sanctioned discrimination against firefighters for color of skin

Image via Wikipedia

WASHINGTON, June 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- The United States Supreme Court reversed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in the now-famous New Haven firefighters case. Although Judge Sotomayor and two of her colleagues did not even think the case worthy of a published opinion, the Supreme Court said the case presented "two provisions of Title VII to be interpreted and reconciled, with few, if any, precedents in the courts of appeals discussing the issue."

Concerned Women for America (CWA) President Wendy Wright said, "This decision sends a disturbing message that Sonia Sotomayor, as a judge, sanctioned discrimination against people because of the color of their skin. This validates concerns that Judge Sotomayor's judicial philosophy reflects her personal bias, as expressed in speeches and the controversial groups to which she has belonged, that people should be discriminated against based on their ethnicity or sex. No one in a burning building cares if their fire chief is a minority. A firefighter's qualifications can determine if innocent people will live or die. Yet Judge Sotomayor denied qualified firefighters a promotion in order to advance her ethnic politics. Judge Sotomayor's decision in the Ricci case proves that questions about her fitness to serve at the Supreme Court are legitimate. Her decisions suggest such an enormous bias in her philosophy that we could not fault anyone in her courtroom for questioning her impartiality

Image by Jay Tamboli via Flickr

."

"In choosing a Supreme Court nominee, President Obama said 'I will seek someone who understands that justice ... is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives, whether they can make a living, and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes, and welcome in their own nation. I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with peoples hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes.' Judge Sotomayor's unjust decision in the Ricci case shows that she does not fit that description. She denied firefighters the well-deserved promotions and, by doing so, was willing to make people unsafe in their homes."

Mario Diaz, Esq., CWA's Policy Director for Legal Issues, said the Ricci case "exposes not only bias, but arrogance on the part of a judge at the brink of getting a lifetime appointment to the highest court of the land. How she thought this case did not even deserve a published opinion is beyond comprehension. It seems ethnicity and gender not only 'play a role' in her judgment as she has said, but they actually control her judgment to the point where she can no longer look at the facts of a case impartially. Looking at her record, it seems her passion for minorities is such that she would need to recuse herself from any case involving a minority party in litigation.

"Unless she renounces her own statements and has some strong explanation for her actions in cases like Ricci at her hearings, I don't see how any Senator, or even the President himself, can feel confident about her fitness to serve at the Supreme Court."

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.