Senate Republicans Begin Criticism of Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- After taking a conciliatory, and possibly foozled, approach to pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Republicans took to the floor on Tuesday to begin what appears to be a more concerted effort to criticize her record and comments in advance of Judiciary Committee hearings. The lawmakers transitioned from the meet-and-greet portion of the Supreme Court confirmation process to castigating Sotomayor for her comments favoring judicial activism. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and top Judiciary Republican Jeff Sessions, all pro-life, began critiquing Sotomayor in consecutive floor speeches. Cornyn talked about Sotomayor's comment in which she said that courts make policy -- which observers are concerned highlights her possible penchant for judicial activism. “The American people, I don't think, want judges who believe that they have been endowed with some power to impose their views for what is otherwise the law,” Cornyn said. “Americans believe ... that judges should by definition show self-restraint and respect for the other branches of government.” McConnell agreed, and said "Judges are supposed to be passionate advocates for the evenhanded reading and fair application of the law, not their own policies and preferences." Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- After taking a conciliatory, and possibly foozled, approach to pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Republicans took to the floor on Tuesday to begin what appears to be a more concerted effort to criticize her record and comments in advance of Judiciary Committee hearings. The lawmakers transitioned from the meet-and-greet portion of the Supreme Court confirmation process to castigating Sotomayor for her comments favoring judicial activism. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and top Judiciary Republican Jeff Sessions, all pro-life, began critiquing Sotomayor in consecutive floor speeches. Cornyn talked about Sotomayor's comment in which she said that courts make policy -- which observers are concerned highlights her possible penchant for judicial activism. “The American people, I don't think, want judges who believe that they have been endowed with some power to impose their views for what is otherwise the law,” Cornyn said. “Americans believe ... that judges should by definition show self-restraint and respect for the other branches of government.” McConnell agreed, and said "Judges are supposed to be passionate advocates for the evenhanded reading and fair application of the law, not their own policies and preferences." Full story at LifeNews.comPro-Life Women in Congress Want to Stop Obama's Bid for Tax-Funded Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Leading pro-life women in Congress held a press conference today asking for the House of Representatives to reject President Barack Obama's bid to make taxpayers fund abortions in the nation's capital. Obama's national budget recommendations include removing a longstanding pro-life provision. Obama wants to repeal a federal law called the Dornan amendment that has prevented tax-funded abortion in the District of Columbia for many years. Congress, as authorized by the U.S. Constitution, holds complete legislative authority over the District of Columbia and, therefore, determines whether taxpayer dollars will be used to fund abortions for poor women there. Rep. Mary Fallin, an Oklahoma Republican, said Obama's proposal "represents a gigantic step in the wrong direction" and "will increase the total number of abortions performed in our nation’s capitol." She said it would also "allow minors to receive federally funded abortions without their parents' consent" and would "violate the consciences of millions of pro-life Americans who do not want their money used to fund procedures they find morally unacceptable." Fallin is calling on the House Financial Services Committee to reject the Obama plan to overturn the Dornan amendment. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Leading pro-life women in Congress held a press conference today asking for the House of Representatives to reject President Barack Obama's bid to make taxpayers fund abortions in the nation's capital. Obama's national budget recommendations include removing a longstanding pro-life provision. Obama wants to repeal a federal law called the Dornan amendment that has prevented tax-funded abortion in the District of Columbia for many years. Congress, as authorized by the U.S. Constitution, holds complete legislative authority over the District of Columbia and, therefore, determines whether taxpayer dollars will be used to fund abortions for poor women there. Rep. Mary Fallin, an Oklahoma Republican, said Obama's proposal "represents a gigantic step in the wrong direction" and "will increase the total number of abortions performed in our nation’s capitol." She said it would also "allow minors to receive federally funded abortions without their parents' consent" and would "violate the consciences of millions of pro-life Americans who do not want their money used to fund procedures they find morally unacceptable." Fallin is calling on the House Financial Services Committee to reject the Obama plan to overturn the Dornan amendment. Full story at LifeNews.comPresident Barack Obama to Meet Pope Benedict XVI in July, May Discuss Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama is now scheduled to have his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI next month. Although the July 10 meeting date is known, it is unclear is whether the Catholic Church leader will encourage Obama to revise his position in favor of abortion. Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said Wednesday that he informed the White House that the pontiff is available to meet that afternoon. Typically, the Pope meets with dignitaries during the middle of the day, so a proposed afternoon meeting appears to indicate Benedict wants to meet with Obama. The pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church and Obama's pro-abortion views have been at odds since the beginning of his presidency. Before Obama took over the White House, the nation's Catholic bishops warned him not to aggressively promote abortion and not to include abortion in his health care restructuring proposal. He upset pro-life Catholics immediately with his overturning of the Mexico City Policy and allowing taxpayer dollars to go to pro-abortion groups that promote and perform abortions overseas. Full story at LifeNews.comTri-Committee Health Care Reform Bill Would Have Government Cover Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A top pro-life organization is asking members of Congress to oppose the Tri-Committee Health Reform bill in the House because it will cover abortions. The National Right to Life Committee says it opposes the legislation released June 19 and wants an abortion neutralizing amendment. "The legislation would also authorize massive new subsidies for health coverage, without any language to prevent these subsidies from being used to fund abortion," Douglas Johnson told members of Congress in a letter LifeNews.com obtained. "A vote for this legislation, as drafted, is a vote for tax-subsidized abortion on demand," he added.Johnson explains that the bill would create a so-called Health Benefits Advisory Committee, with sweeping authority to determine, along with pro-abortion HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, what services must be covered in both private and government health plans. "Unless the legislation is amended to explicitly exclude abortion (as Congress did, for example, when it created the S-CHIP program in 1997), there is not the slightest doubt that this statutory language would result in mandatory abortion coverage," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A top pro-life organization is asking members of Congress to oppose the Tri-Committee Health Reform bill in the House because it will cover abortions. The National Right to Life Committee says it opposes the legislation released June 19 and wants an abortion neutralizing amendment. "The legislation would also authorize massive new subsidies for health coverage, without any language to prevent these subsidies from being used to fund abortion," Douglas Johnson told members of Congress in a letter LifeNews.com obtained. "A vote for this legislation, as drafted, is a vote for tax-subsidized abortion on demand," he added.Johnson explains that the bill would create a so-called Health Benefits Advisory Committee, with sweeping authority to determine, along with pro-abortion HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, what services must be covered in both private and government health plans. "Unless the legislation is amended to explicitly exclude abortion (as Congress did, for example, when it created the S-CHIP program in 1997), there is not the slightest doubt that this statutory language would result in mandatory abortion coverage," he said. Full story at LifeNews.comACTION: Contact your member of the House at http://www.House.gov and urge opposition to the pro-abortion and rationing portions of the Tri-Committee Health Care Reform bill. Urge a vote to make sure the measure can't cover abortions with taxpayer dollars.
Pro-Life Senator Warns Obama State Department Nominee Koh Backs Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life advocate warned members of the Senate yesterday that, if confirmed, Harold Koh could use his position as the top attorney at the State Department to push for an international right to abortion. Sen. Jim DeMint also warned that Koh would allow international law to trump the Constitution. "His nomination to this important position requires some scrutiny about what his philosophy is when it comes to the United States and our international agreements and the sovereignty of our country," DeMint said. He worried Koh "will work to greatly undermine the principles of sovereignty that I believe all Americans expect of our federal government." According to the State Department's Web site, the legal adviser would furnish ``advice on all legal issues, domestic and international, arising in the course of the department's work and negotiate, draft, and interpret international agreements." Koh's supporters claim that the allegations that have been voiced against him, such as undermining the Constitution, are unjustified. However, Koh's own writings suggest otherwise. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life advocate warned members of the Senate yesterday that, if confirmed, Harold Koh could use his position as the top attorney at the State Department to push for an international right to abortion. Sen. Jim DeMint also warned that Koh would allow international law to trump the Constitution. "His nomination to this important position requires some scrutiny about what his philosophy is when it comes to the United States and our international agreements and the sovereignty of our country," DeMint said. He worried Koh "will work to greatly undermine the principles of sovereignty that I believe all Americans expect of our federal government." According to the State Department's Web site, the legal adviser would furnish ``advice on all legal issues, domestic and international, arising in the course of the department's work and negotiate, draft, and interpret international agreements." Koh's supporters claim that the allegations that have been voiced against him, such as undermining the Constitution, are unjustified. However, Koh's own writings suggest otherwise. Full story at LifeNews.comMother of Disabled Child Launches New Web Site to Highlight Health Care Rationing
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The head of a national pro-life college student group who is the mother of a disabled child has launched a new web site to highlight the rationing problems in national health care reform plans. Kristan Hawkins is the director of Students for Life of America and the mother to 5-month-old Gunner. Hawkins told LifeNews.com on Wednesday that she has launched HealthcareforGunner.com, designed to highlight the reasons why a nationalized health care plan would hurt her infant son. Gunner was diagnosed with the deadly genetic disease, cystic fibrosis in March. The web site walks readers through Gunner's disease, his current health care plan, and President Obama's proposed nationalized health care system changes. It also shows proof of how nationalized health care fails cystic fibrosis patients in countries like Britain. "Jonathan, Gunner's father, and I created this web site because we want people to understand what we are talking about when we talk about health care reform," she told LifeNews.com. "We hear politicians and policy makers reference rationing care but there is never a face to rationing. Gunner can be that face. We want people to know."Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The head of a national pro-life college student group who is the mother of a disabled child has launched a new web site to highlight the rationing problems in national health care reform plans. Kristan Hawkins is the director of Students for Life of America and the mother to 5-month-old Gunner. Hawkins told LifeNews.com on Wednesday that she has launched HealthcareforGunner.com, designed to highlight the reasons why a nationalized health care plan would hurt her infant son. Gunner was diagnosed with the deadly genetic disease, cystic fibrosis in March. The web site walks readers through Gunner's disease, his current health care plan, and President Obama's proposed nationalized health care system changes. It also shows proof of how nationalized health care fails cystic fibrosis patients in countries like Britain. "Jonathan, Gunner's father, and I created this web site because we want people to understand what we are talking about when we talk about health care reform," she told LifeNews.com. "We hear politicians and policy makers reference rationing care but there is never a face to rationing. Gunner can be that face. We want people to know."Full story at LifeNews.comArizona Legislature Sends Pro-Life Bills on Abortion to Governor Jan Brewer
Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) -- The Arizona legislature has sent a package of pro-life bills to Governor Jan Brewer and she is expected to sign them into law. That would be a departure from pro-abortion former Gov. Janet Napolitano, who signed up for President Barack Obama's administration after vetoing numerous pro-life bills over the years. The first measure, HB 2400, creates a state ban on partial birth abortions so local prosecutors can make sure the federal partial-birth abortion ban can be better enforced. The second bill, HB 2564, would protect women, parents, children, and the civil rights of health care providers. That legislation calls for informed consent before abortions along with a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent requirements, a prohibition on non-doctors doing surgical abortions, and of conscience for all health care providers, including pharmacists, on abortion and abortion drugs. Full story at LifeNews.comACTION: Contact Governor Brewer at (602) 542-4331 or (800) 253-0883 or email her atazgov@az.gov and ask her to sign these two pro-life bills into law.
Switzerland Govt May Ban Assisted Suicide Clinics, Would Affect Suicide Tourism
Zurich, Switzerland (LifeNews.com) -- The Switzerland government is considering a proposal that would ban the assisted suicide clinics run by the pro-euthanasia group Dignitas. The move would end the practice of so-called suicide tourism and move the European nation out of the category with Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The 1942 Swiss law allowing assisted suicide has led to a practice where residents of other nations, especially England and Germany, travel to the country to end their lives. Federal government officials said last week that they want to discuss "legal barriers and a ban on organized suicide assistance." The proposal would limit who could use assisted suicide such as limiting it to those who are close to death. Full story at LifeNews.comVirginia Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Receives OK From Federal Appeals Court
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- A federal appeals court issued a 6-5 decision on Wednesday upholding a state ban on partial-birth abortions. The full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing late last year in the case after a three judge panel struck down the law as unconstitutional even though the Supreme Court has upheld a federal ban. Former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, now a pro-life gubernatorial candidate, asked for the hearing after a pro-abortion legal group filed suit to overturn the ban on the gruesome abortion procedure. Current Attorney General Bill Mims applauded the ruling in a statement LifeNews.com received. “I am pleased that the Fourth Circuit has upheld the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on partial-birth infanticide," he said. "Attorneys General Kilgore, Jagdmann, McDonnell and I have defended this statute over the last six years. This is a law that passed both houses of the General Assembly with bi-partisan support," he added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- A federal appeals court issued a 6-5 decision on Wednesday upholding a state ban on partial-birth abortions. The full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing late last year in the case after a three judge panel struck down the law as unconstitutional even though the Supreme Court has upheld a federal ban. Former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, now a pro-life gubernatorial candidate, asked for the hearing after a pro-abortion legal group filed suit to overturn the ban on the gruesome abortion procedure. Current Attorney General Bill Mims applauded the ruling in a statement LifeNews.com received. “I am pleased that the Fourth Circuit has upheld the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on partial-birth infanticide," he said. "Attorneys General Kilgore, Jagdmann, McDonnell and I have defended this statute over the last six years. This is a law that passed both houses of the General Assembly with bi-partisan support," he added. Full story at LifeNews.comMissouri Pro-Life Advocates Back Roy Blunt Over Robin Carnahan for Senate
Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Next year, Missouri will have one of the most competitive mid-term elections as it appears a strong pro-life advocate will face a pro-abortion activist. The most likely matchup appears to be pro-life Rep. Roy Blunt taking on pro-abortion Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. Although the Republican primary will decide the nominee, Blunt is getting backing from leading pro-life advocates for his bid to face Carnahan. Missouri Eagle Forum, the state affiliate of the national pro-family group Eagle Forum, is in Blunt's column now. The group's president, Joan Langenberg, called Blunt "the conservative candidate for United States Senate" and the endorsement follows ones from Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and former Sens. Jim Talent, Jack Danforth and John Ashcroft. Full story at LifeNews.com
Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Next year, Missouri will have one of the most competitive mid-term elections as it appears a strong pro-life advocate will face a pro-abortion activist. The most likely matchup appears to be pro-life Rep. Roy Blunt taking on pro-abortion Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. Although the Republican primary will decide the nominee, Blunt is getting backing from leading pro-life advocates for his bid to face Carnahan. Missouri Eagle Forum, the state affiliate of the national pro-family group Eagle Forum, is in Blunt's column now. The group's president, Joan Langenberg, called Blunt "the conservative candidate for United States Senate" and the endorsement follows ones from Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and former Sens. Jim Talent, Jack Danforth and John Ashcroft. Full story at LifeNews.comEncourage Friends to Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
