LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, August 17, 2009
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• House Dems to Keep Public Option in Health Care Bill, Have Sept Vote
• Health Care Bill Would Allow Abortion Business in Public School Clinics
• White House Disables Email to Snitch on Health Care Bill Opponents
• White House Blames Political Groups for Spam Emails on Health Care
• Obama Official Sebelius Wants End-of-Life Counseling in Health Care
• Obama Advisor Emanuel: I Don't Favor Rationing (Most) Health Care Now
• Pro-Abortion Obama Pick Johnsen to Teach Class, Confirmation Waits
• New Gallup Poll Shows More Conservatives Than Liberals in Every State
• Fake Pro-Life Catholic Group Withdraws Study Blasting Pro-Life Laws
• Pro-Life Blacks, Democrats, Doctors Head to Congress on Health Care
• Australia Man Wins Right to Starve Himself, Assisted Suicide Next
• Catholic Belmont Abbey College Would Close Before Giving in to Obama
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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Responding to President Barack Obama and top Obama officials, House Democrats say they will keep the public option, the government-run health care system that will fund abortions and abortion coverage, in the health care bills. They also don't expect a vote on the House floor until September. A House leadership official told Politico that the Obama administration's concession on the public option is "just for the Senate." “There is no way it passes the House the first time around without a public option," the aide added. "The liberals (around 100+) won't allow it." The House and Senate could wind up passing differing bills and the public option could be removed in a conference committee to come up with a final bill that fuses the two pieces of legislation together. The aide suggested House Democrats would likely vote for the bill if the Obama administration persuades them to do so. "It if comes back from conference committee without public option and there is the right pitch that it is this or nothing, then it may pass the House," the top official said. A September vote on the pro-abortion health care bills is likely in order to allow some time following the contentious August and town hall forums with millions of Americans objecting to the bills. The delay would also give the House more time to see what the Senate will do. Full story at LifeNews.com.ACTION: Contact members of the House and Senate and urge strong support for any amendment to exclude abortion and rationing from their health care bills. Ask them to oppose any health care bill that allows abortion funding or rationing. Call 202-224-3121 or go to http://www.House.gov and http://www.Senate.gov for specific contact information.
Health Care Reform Bill Would Allow Abortion Business in Public School Clinics
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Most of the focus on the pending bills in Congress for a government-run health care system focus on either the abortion funding and coverage or the rationing aspects of the legislation. But, the bills also contain a section allowing the nation's biggest abortion business to enter public schools. In Title V of H.R. 3200, Subtitle B, called School-Based Health Clinics, outlines a new federal program where the government would fund health clinics near or in the nation's public schools. However, Section 399Z indicates that school officials won't be responsible for administering the clinics. Instead, that responsibility falls to the clinic sponsor, which could be Planned Parenthood -- the nation's largest abortion business which does more than 350,000 a year. The section says "the SBHC sponsoring facility assumes all responsibility for the SBHC administration, operations, and oversight." Under the bill, a "sponsoring facility" is "a hospital, a public health department, a community health center, a nonprofit health care agency, (or) a local educational agency." Victor Medina, writing in an opinion column for the Dallas Republican Examiner, is worried about the practical effect of the language. "Such broad wording outlining the qualifications for government funds and access to schoolchildren could open the door for groups like Planned Parenthood to operate the clinics in schools with no oversight and full federal government support," he says. Full story at LifeNews.com.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Most of the focus on the pending bills in Congress for a government-run health care system focus on either the abortion funding and coverage or the rationing aspects of the legislation. But, the bills also contain a section allowing the nation's biggest abortion business to enter public schools. In Title V of H.R. 3200, Subtitle B, called School-Based Health Clinics, outlines a new federal program where the government would fund health clinics near or in the nation's public schools. However, Section 399Z indicates that school officials won't be responsible for administering the clinics. Instead, that responsibility falls to the clinic sponsor, which could be Planned Parenthood -- the nation's largest abortion business which does more than 350,000 a year. The section says "the SBHC sponsoring facility assumes all responsibility for the SBHC administration, operations, and oversight." Under the bill, a "sponsoring facility" is "a hospital, a public health department, a community health center, a nonprofit health care agency, (or) a local educational agency." Victor Medina, writing in an opinion column for the Dallas Republican Examiner, is worried about the practical effect of the language. "Such broad wording outlining the qualifications for government funds and access to schoolchildren could open the door for groups like Planned Parenthood to operate the clinics in schools with no oversight and full federal government support," he says. Full story at LifeNews.com.White House Disables Email to Snitch on Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill Opponents
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The White House has quietly disabled the email address it promoted for backers of the pro-abortion health care bills pending in Congress to tattle on opponents of the legislation. Without fanfare, the White House has disabled the email address and is asking people to visit the main web site instead. Following a huge negative public outcry, Obama administration officials have apparently taken down the flag@whitehouse.gov email address meant for "fishy" claims about the president's health care proposal. “The e-mail address you just sent a message to is no longer in service. We are now accepting your feedback about health insurance reform via http://www.whitehouse.gov/White House Blames Political Groups for Spam Emails on Health Care Bills
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The White House is blaming political organizations like pro-life groups for the unsolicited emails people have ben receiving promoting the pro-abortion health care restructuring bill. Thousands of people have emailed LifeNews.com and other media outlets complaining about the spam emails from the Obama administration. In a statement released on Sunday night after Fox News challenged White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on the emails, spokesman Nick Shapiro blamed citizens groups saying that the Obama administration likely emailed people who signed petitions on issues, such as asking Obama to stop funding abortions. “If an individual received the e-mail because someone else or a group signed them up or forwarded the email, we hope they were not too inconvenienced," he said. "Further, we suggest that they unsubscribe from the list by clicking the link at the bottom of the e-mail or tell whomever forwarded it to them not to forward such information anymore.” “The White House e-mail list is made up of e-mail addresses obtained solely through the White House web site. The White House doesn't purchase, upload or merge from any other list," Shapiro claimed. "[A]ll e-mails come from the White House website as we have no interest in emailing anyone who does not want to receive an email."Full story at LifeNews.com.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- During a weekend interview, a top Obama official said she wants the controversial end-of-life counseling proposal to remain in the final version of the health care bill Obama may receive. The counseling, which skeptics say amounts to "death panels" could promote assisted suicide and health are rationing. The sections are found in the House version of the health care bills and they call for giving doctors financial incentives to discuss end-of-life issues. Critics complain that doctors should not be paid to have the discussions and worry that they will promote assisted suicide in states where the practice is legal and promote rationing such as the denial of lifesaving medical treatment or food and water. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week" that, "I'm hoping that at the end of the day it will be part of the overall the package." Sebelius explained the reasons for including the language, which was written in the House by a pro-euthanasia group. "We wanted to make sure doctors were reimbursed for that very important consultation if family members chose to make it, and instead it's been turned into this scare tactic and probably will be off the table," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com.Obama Advisor Ezekiel Emanuel: I Don't Favor Rationing (Most) Health Care Now
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As the health care debate has intensified, Ezekiel Emanuel has become one of the most well-known, perhaps infamous, of President Barack Obama's advisors. Emanuel, the chief architect of the reform bills who was pegged as backing rationing, now says he has reformed his views. What concerns pro-life advocates are his comments through the years that raise eyebrows -- such as one from 1996 in which he said medical benefits of a government-controlled healthcare plan would not be given to “individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens.” But he told the Washington Times on Friday that his "thinking has evolved" and he no longer supports rationing, or as much rationing. "When I began working in the health policy area about 20 years ago ... I thought we would definitely have to ration care, that there was a need to make a decision and deny people care," he said. "I think that over the last five to seven years ... I've come to the conclusion that in our system we are spending way more money than we need to, a lot of it on unnecessary care," he said. "If we got rid of that care we would have absolutely no reason to even consider rationing except in a few cases." Full story at LifeNews.com.
Pro-Abortion Obama legal Pick Dawn Johnsen to Teach Class, Confirmation Waits
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With pro-abortion advocates dominating Congressional decision-making, pro-life advocates have scored a rare, albeit limited, victory. It appears they have successfully delayed a confirmation vote on Dawn Johnsen to the point that she is heading back to Indiana to teach a class. Johnsen is the former NARAL legal director who is so radically pro-abortion that she has called women "fetal containers" and compared pregnancy with slavery. She has also come under fire for labeling pregnant women "losers in the contraceptive lottery" and comparing pro-lifers to the Klu Klux Klan. In May, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said President Barack Obama's pro-abortion selection to head the Office of Legal Counsel does not have enough votes to be confirmed. In that position, Johnsen would provide legal advice to Obama and administration officials. Johnsen is a professor at the Indiana University School of Law and because Reid can't find 60 votes to stop a filibuster of her nomination, she is returning to the Hoosier state to teach a course. She will teach a seminar this fall at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law and will commute weekly from Washington to Bloomington, Indiana while she awaits confirmation. Full story at LifeNews.com.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Gallup poll shows, in all 50 states, more Americans identify themselves as conservative than liberals. Although there are many pro-life liberals, the poll is good news for the pro-life movement as it confirms several recent polls showing a majority of Americans pro-life or movement in the pro-life direction. The most conservative states are found primarily in the South, led by Alabama and Mississippi. Most of the top 10 conservative states are regarded as some of the most pro-life -- in terms of the candidates they elect or the laws the state legislature passes. They included Utah, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, North and South Dakota, Idaho and Wyoming. In those states, a plurality of 44-49 percent of voters call themselves conservative, according to the Gallup survey released August 14. The top 10 states where residents call themselves liberals includes pro-abortion and pro-assisted suicide bastions like Massachusetts, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii and Connecticut. Full story at LifeNews.com.Fake Pro-Life Catholic Group Withdraws Study Blasting Pro-Life Laws on Abortion
by Dr. Michael New
It is not a surprise that pro-choicers would vigorously deny the obvious-–that pro-life legislation results in many fewer abortions. Nor would anyone doubt that pro-choicers would strive to come up with what they insist is a superior way to lower the number of abortions. By having the effect of doing both, an August 2008 study released by the group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good had Obama supporters (and some editorial boards) swooning. The far greater media attention was paid to the group's analysis of state-level abortion data from 1982 to 2000, where it purported to have found evidence that increased spending on various welfare programs resulted in substantial reductions in state abortion rates. But the study pulled double duty by also contending that many pro-life laws, such as those requiring parental notification for abortions performed on minor girls, had little effect. So the paradoxical message to pro-life voters was that they could best advance their interests by electing pro-choice Democrats instead of pro-life Republicans!Full story at LifeNews.com.Pro-Life Blacks, Democrats, Doctors Head to Congress to Oppose Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A coalition of pro-life blacks, doctors and Democrats are headed to Capitol Hill tomorrow to press the case for getting abortion out of the Congressional health care bills. They will be joined by Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who will ask that Congress not expand abortions. The participants will host a press conference and then take their case to the halls of Congress to meet with members of the House and Senate and their staff. In a statement, King tells LifeNews.com that the health care legislation takes the wrong approach by targeting unborn children with abortion instead of assisting them with health care. “The unborn and elderly should be included in health insurance reform as recipients of care, not victims of genocide,” King said. She said pro-life advocates have no problem with promoting better legitimate health care, but can't support bills that open the door for more abortion funding. Full story at LifeNews.com.
Australia Man Wins Right to Starve Himself to Death, Could Lead to Assisted Suicide
Perth, Australia (LifeNews.com) -- An Australian man has won the legal right to starve himself to death in a court decision that could someday lead to making the nation the next to legalize assisted suicide. Christian Rossiter became a quadriplegic after an automobile accident and now he wants to end his life. Rossiter was an active sportsman before the accident and now he says he finds life unbearable and says he can't wipe away his tears or blow his nose. His attorneys filed a lawsuit in court in the state of Western Australia asking to be given permission to have all food and water stopped at the nursing home where he is currently receiving care. He said his last wish is to be given painkillers and a sleeping pill and to be able to watch television so "time would pass" as his life faded away. "I want to say that the painkillers make me drowsy and I would like to be made drowsy in my final moments so the time would pass more quickly," he said . Full story at LifeNews.com.
Perth, Australia (LifeNews.com) -- An Australian man has won the legal right to starve himself to death in a court decision that could someday lead to making the nation the next to legalize assisted suicide. Christian Rossiter became a quadriplegic after an automobile accident and now he wants to end his life. Rossiter was an active sportsman before the accident and now he says he finds life unbearable and says he can't wipe away his tears or blow his nose. His attorneys filed a lawsuit in court in the state of Western Australia asking to be given permission to have all food and water stopped at the nursing home where he is currently receiving care. He said his last wish is to be given painkillers and a sleeping pill and to be able to watch television so "time would pass" as his life faded away. "I want to say that the painkillers make me drowsy and I would like to be made drowsy in my final moments so the time would pass more quickly," he said . Full story at LifeNews.com.Catholic Belmont Abbey College Would Close Before Giving in to Obama Admin
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The president of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic school, says he will close the college before it gives in to an Obama administration ruling forcing it to provide contraception coverage in its insurance plans for employees. The EEOC ruled the school must provide the coverage, even though it violates Catholic teachings. As LifeNews.comfirst reported last week, Belmont Abbey College removed coverage for abortion, contraception and voluntary sterilization in 2007 after learning that its plan had accidentally included them.
Responding to the decision, eight faculty members filed complaints with the EEOC and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. The EEOC determined that Belmont Abbey discriminated against women by denying coverage of contraception. Now, BAC president William K. Thierfelder tells The Washington Times he would rather see the school shut down than violate its moral precepts. "I hope it would never get this far but if it came down to it we would close the college before we ever provided that," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The president of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic school, says he will close the college before it gives in to an Obama administration ruling forcing it to provide contraception coverage in its insurance plans for employees. The EEOC ruled the school must provide the coverage, even though it violates Catholic teachings. As LifeNews.comfirst reported last week, Belmont Abbey College removed coverage for abortion, contraception and voluntary sterilization in 2007 after learning that its plan had accidentally included them.Responding to the decision, eight faculty members filed complaints with the EEOC and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. The EEOC determined that Belmont Abbey discriminated against women by denying coverage of contraception. Now, BAC president William K. Thierfelder tells The Washington Times he would rather see the school shut down than violate its moral precepts. "I hope it would never get this far but if it came down to it we would close the college before we ever provided that," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com.
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