LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, September 3, 2009
| For news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. |
Current Headlines
• Obama Revamps Strategy on Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Speech Soon
• Speculation: Pro-Abortion Justice John Paul Stevens May Leave Court
• Catholic Bishops Urge Congress to Not Fund Abortion in Health Care
• Pro-Life Women's Group Announces Top Pro-Abortion Election Targets
• Pro-Abortion Group Names Top 5 Candidates It Supports in 2010 Election
• British Experts Say Terminally Ill Patients Pushed by NHS to Die
• Pro-Lifers to Meet Nebraska Attorney General to Discuss LeRoy Carhart
• Effort to Manipulate Science, Dismiss Women's Post-Abortion Problems
• Jack Kevorkian Promotes Euthanasia Again, Al Pacino Movie Next Year
• First Baby Born From New In-Vitro Fertilization Egg-Screening Technique
• Montana Supreme Court Holds Hearing to Allow Assisted Suicide
• Polls in New Jersey, Virginia Show Abortion Advocates Still Behind
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Obama Revamps Strategy on Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, May Cut Public Option
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama appears to be retooling his strategy on promoting the pro-abortion government-run health care bill that has fallen out of favor with the American public. Obama is detailing what he wants in a health care proposal in a speech next week and the public option may be out. The speech will involve Obama addressing a joint session of Congress next Wednesday night and he will have pro-abortion congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid at the White House for a strategy session the day before. The address is a way for the Obama administration to jump-start its campaign to pass the pro-abortion health care bills in Congress that have stalled and hurt Obama's polling numbers. Congress returns to session on September 8 and the speech is timed to kick off a new campaign for the bills or a revised version of them. Aides to Obama say that he may not insist on the public option -- the national health insurance plan run directly by the federal government that would open the door for massive abortion funding. Obama would have to battle with members of the House, who are demanding the government-run system be kept in HR 3200. Even if the scheme is dropped, the second portion of the health care proposal, which would provide subsidies to help tens of millions of people buy health insurance, also includes abortion funding. 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.
Speculation Suggests Pro-Abortion Justice John Paul Stevens May Leave Court
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Justice John Paul Stevens could become the next Supreme Court justice to retire if the speculation that has started today is correct. Stevens has hired just one law clerk for an upcoming Supreme Court session, which observers say is an indication he could be considering a retirement bid. Stevens confirmed through a spokesman today that he will have just one law clerk for the session that begins in October 2010. Typically, members of the court have four attorneys who work for them whereas retired justices hire only one. A spokesman would not confirm whether Stevens would eventually hire the three additional clerks or if he would step down after the next high court term, which begins next month. Since law clerks are normally hired during the summer months of the year preceding the term in which they will work, Stevens' move to hire just one is being taken by many political had a notable absence of law clerks before he announced his retirement. Should Stevens announce his retirement, pro-abortion President Barack Obama would have another opportunity to shape the court on the issue of abortion for decades to come. The Senate recently confirmed new Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whom pro-life advocates expect to replace Souter as a part of the pro-abortion majority on the high court. Full story at LifeNews.com
Catholic Bishops From Kansas Urge Congress to Not Fund Abortion in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two Catholic bishops from Kansas have become the latest to specifically speak out against taxpayer-funding of abortion in the government-run health care bills pending in Congress. Archbishop Joseph Naumann and Bishop Robert Finn, both of Kansas City, are behind a new pastoral letter. Their statement calls on Congress not only to exclude abortion funding and mandates from the legislation, but also asks for excluding rationing of care and end-of-life mandates as well. "We urge the president, Congress, and other elected and appointed leaders to develop prescriptions for reforming health care which are built on objective truths: that all people in every stage of human life count for something; that if we violate our core beliefs we are not aiding people in need, but instead devaluing their human integrity and that of us all," the bishops write. "We have listened to current debate with great attention and write now to contribute our part to ensure that this reform be an authentic reform taking full consideration of the dignity of the human person," they say. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Women's Group Announces Top 12 Pro-Abortion 2010 Election Targets
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- On the same day a pro-abortion group announced its top five candidates to support in next year's elections, a pro-life women's group announced its Top 12 list. The Susan B. Anthony List is a pro-life women's groups that supports pro-life women for Congress and targets Emily's List candidates. SBA started a "Votes Have Consequences" campaign months ago to highlight some of the most pro-abortion members of Congress in districts where pro-life candidates have good chances to win. The campaign is headed by Marilyn Musgrave, a former member of Congress from Colorado whose Fort Collins-based district was taken over by pro-abortion Rep. Betsy Markey last November. Today, SBA announced the twelve pro-abortion members of Congress that will be included in the campaign and where pro-life candidates will be supported to vote them out of office. Three senators make the list, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion Group Names Top 5 Candidates It Supports in 2010 Elections
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading pro-abortion organization has released a list of its top five candidates it will be supporting in the 2010 elections. Emily's List, which only supports pro-abortion candidates who back taxpayer-funded abortions and oppose a ban on partial-birth abortions, is helping bankroll their campaigns. In an email LifeNews.com obtained, Emily's List president Ellen Malcolm says the five candidates need support from abortion advocates because pro-life groups are eager to rebuild following losses in 2006 and 2008. "They're spreading bold-faced lies and running attack ads against members of Congress, including many of the women we helped elect. But we can stop them," she says, adding that pro-life advocates are "desperate to regain power." First on the list is pro-abortion Rep. Betsy Markey, who represents a northern Colorado congressional district that leans Republican. She defeated pro-life Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who has since gone on to work with the Susan B. Anthony list, Emily's List's main competition. Full story at LifeNews.com
British Experts Say Terminally Ill Patients Pushed by NHS to Die Prematurely
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A group of experts in England have published a letter to the London Telegraph newspaper saying that terminally ill patients are being pushed by the nation' government-run health system to die prematurely. The letter is already being used to talk about the problems of the U.S. moving in the same direction. The letter says some patients wrongly have food and water taken away are placed on terminal sedation until they are dead. They say the approach masks the improvement some patients show and that they should be given proper medical care and treatment. The letter, they say, is meant to spotlight what they consider a "national crisis." Professor Peter Millard, an Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics at University of London, and Dr. Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke's cancer center in Guildford, wrote the letter with four others. "Forecasting death is an inexact science,"they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death "without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong. "As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients," they write. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Lifers to Meet Nebraska Attorney General to Discuss LeRoy Carhart, Abortion
Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Several pro-life advocates have scheduled a meeting with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on Thursday to discuss allegations of illegal and unsafe activities taking place at the abortion business of LeRoy Carhart. He does early and late-term abortions at his business in Bellevue, outside Omaha. This week, a handful of employees who were laid off from Carhart's abortion business have come forward. Independently, they each noted what they called illegal an unsafe conditions taking place at his abortion business. The former abortion facility employees say they participated in abortions that were done without proper licensing. Two of the unnamed women who assisted in Carhart's abortions say they started IVs for him even though they are not registered nurses or certified licensed practical nurses, as required by state law. A third former employee, who was fired about six years ago, also confirmed that she frequently administered medication intravenously although she wasn't a certified LPN. Full story at LifeNews.com
Effort to Manipulate Science, Dismiss Women's Post-Abortion Problems Continue
by Priscilla K. Coleman
Robinson, Stotland, Russo, Lang, and Occhiogrosso recently published a paper in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry entitled "Is there an 'Abortion Trauma Syndrome?' Critiquing the Evidence." This is the latest in a series of attempts to review the world literature on abortion and mental health in an effort to "substantiate" the claim that abortion does not carry risks for psychological harm. Prior efforts included the American Psychological Association's Task Force Report and a review piece published by Johns Hopkins University researchers in the journal Contraception. In the most recent review, the authors' primary conclusion that "the most well-controlled studies continue to demonstrate that there is no convincing evidence that induced abortion of an unwanted pregnancy is per se a significant risk factor for psychiatric illness" is entirely unfounded for serious scientifically-based reasons. Full story at LifeNews.com
 Join the greatest network of life-saving help since the Underground Railroad. Put this sign in your car and help connect women to the FREE help they need. The back lists numerous life-affirming resources so they don't have to choose between their life and their baby's. www.CandleInTheWindow.org |
Jack Kevorkian Promotes Euthanasia Again, Al Pacino HBO Movie Out Next Year
Detroit, MI (LifeNews.com) -- In one of his first lengthy interviews following eight years in prison for murdering a disabled patient on national television, Jack Kevorkian is at it again promoting euthanasia. Meanwhile, the movie that will glorify his life and his killing of dozens and dozens of people will debut next year. The retired pathologist became the scourge of the nation when he embarked on a campaign claiming to kill more than 125 people in assisted suicides. Kevorkian took advantage of the state of Michigan not having a direct assisted suicide ban and never served a day in jail until he went further by killing a patient. Kevorkian talked with FOX2 in Detroit about the kind of euthanasia he recommends. "It's got to be quick, certain, painless and humane," he says, and he recommends a type of barbiturate that can kill someone in as little as eight seconds. Kevorkian also told FOX that he would still assist someone in killing himself, even if the person was a close friend like his longtime lawyer and friend Mayer Morganroth. Full story at LifeNews.com
First Baby Born From New In-Vitro Fertilization Egg-Screening Technique
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Scientists in England report that the first baby has been born from a controversial new egg-screening technique that has its basis in in-vitro fertilization. Baby Oliver was born to a woman who had failed on 13 occasions to have a child using conventional in-vitro procedures. The new technique, called array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), reportedly doubles the odds of an unborn child at conception being able to implant in the uterus so the pregnancy can continue to birth. The process makes it so the eggs involved in the pregnancy have the normal number of chromosomes, thus increasing the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. "Chromosomal abnormality plays a major part in the failure to establish a pregnancy," Simon Fisher, managing director of the CARE Fertility Group, which oversaw the procedure, told AFP. "Full chromosome analysis may double the chance of success in couples who have a poor chance of conceiving or a history of failed treatments and miscarriage." Full story at LifeNews.com
Montana Supreme Court Holds Hearing on Case to Allow Assisted Suicide
Helena, MT (LifeNews.com) -- The Montana Supreme Court held a hearing today on a case that could make the state the third to allow assisted suicide. The state's high court could open the door for a more permissive allowance of the grisly practice than either Oregon or Washington, which currently allow doctors to help patients kill themselves. The case is an appeal of a ruling District Judge Dorothy McCarter issued last December misusing the privacy clause of the state constitution to allow people to kill themselves with the help of a physician. Acting Chief Justice William Leaphart indicated the court would take the case under advisement and it did not issue a decision. During the arguments, Anthony Johnstone, the state solicitor at the Montana attorney general's office, opened the case for the state. He said that if assisted suicide was a constitutional right it would not be limited to only the terminally ill and that no limits would be in place to prevent abuses, as there are in Washington and Oregon. Even then, pro-life advocates have noted several problems that have occurred following allowing it there. Full story at LifeNews.com
Polls in New Jersey, Virginia Show Abortion Advocates Still Behind for November
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- Labor Day is typically crunch time for election contests and as the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New jersey approach the two-months-left mark, abortion advocates are still behind. In Virginia, pro-life advocate Bob McDonnell has the lead while Chris Christie is ahead in New Jersey.McDonnell, who has strong support from pro-life advocates in the state, holds a lead of nine percent, according to a Rasmussen poll. The survey is the first since the Washington Post went after McDonnell for the content of his college thesis promoting conservative values. The automated telephone poll, conducted on Tuesday, shows McDonnell still leading pro-abortion Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds 51 to 42 percent. That shows little change from the 49-41 percentage point lead he had in the Rasmussen poll last month. Meanwhile, despite bad news for his campaign, two separate polls show Christ ahead of pro-abortion Gov. Jon Corzine in the Garden State. Christie has actually expanded his lead to 10 percent, according to a new poll conducted by the polling institute at Quinnipiac University. It shows Christie leads Corzine among likely voters 47 percent to 37 percent after having a 6-point lead earlier in the month. Full story at LifeNews.com
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