LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, September 4, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Bob Casey Claims No Abortion Funding in Senate Health Care Bill, Draws Rebuke
• Black Pro-Life Advocates Say Obama's Abortion Support Has Racist Outcome
• Catholic Experts Agree: No Government-Run Health Care Promoting Abortion
• Another Pro-Life Day of Student Solidarity Draws Attention to Abortion
• Obama-Funded UNFPA Promotes Conference of Pro-Abortion Activists
• Anniversary of Mother Teresa's Death Good Time to Take Up the Pro-Life Mission
• Nurse Suspended in India After legal Abortion Kills Woman, Investigation Started
• Nebraska Pro-Life Advocates Meet With Atty General on Abortion Practitioner
• Montana Attorney General OKs Language for Personhood-Abortion Ballot Prop
• Queensland, Australia Parliament OKs Amendment to Say Abortion Drug Legal
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Bob Casey Claims No Abortion Funding in Senate Health Care Bill, Draws Rebuke
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- One of the two Democrats in the U.S. Senate to claim a pro-life position on abortion is drawing fire from pro-life advocates today for a comment he made in a recent town hall. Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey told constituents that the Senate version of the government-run health care bill doesn't fund abortions. Ironically, Casey serves on the same Senate committee that opened the door for taxpayer-funding of abortions and voted down abortion funding limits he supported. In a Wednesday forum at East Stroudsburg University, Casey predicted that a government-run health care bill will go the Senate floor but will not fund abortions. When a constituent told Casey she is worried the bill will allow the federal government to pay for abortions, according to the Pocono Record, he told her, "The concern you have is well placed." Then Casey said, "There's nothing in this bill that speaks to abortion." As Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, tells LifeNews.com, "it is folly to pretend otherwise" -- especially for Casey. "As a member of Senate HELP Committee, Senator Casey actually voted for amendments to fix these problems, but every other Democrat on the committee voted against" amendments designed to stop the 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.
Black Pro-Life Advocates Say Obama's Abortion Support Has Racist Outcome
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama supports abortion and has done everything possible to expand the number of abortions during his brief tenure as president. While Obama may not have racist motivations for backing abortion, black pro-life advocates are saying that is the outcome. Two African-American pro-life leaders are saying that, because abortions disproportionately target the black community, expanding abortions brings a racial result. Day Gardner, the president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, tells LifeNews.com that Obama's abortion promotion is evident. "In less than nine months he has overturned the Mexico City policy -- which means American tax dollars will be used to pay for foreign abortions. Most of those killed will be the children of my beautiful brothers and sisters in Africa," she explained. 'President Obama's most recent effort is to push a health care bill that will mandate taxpayer funding of abortions. He has gone on record to deny this fact, which leaves many Americans wondering if he has bothered to read the 1000 plus-page monster circulating Congress," she says. Gardner points out that, since the 1973 Supreme Court decision allowing the destruction of more than 50 million unborn children, 17 million of them were black. That represents a larger percentage of the abortions than black Americans as a portion of the American population. Full story at LifeNews.com
Catholic Experts Agree: No Government-Run Health Care Promoting Abortion
by Deal Hudson 
As the White House backs away from the so-called public option in health care reform, Catholic experts are hopeful that the proposed government control of the nation's medical care will be put aside. They argue that rejecting the public option will better serve a culture of life, maintain the present high quality of health care, serve economic sustainability, and respect the Catholic teaching on subsidiarity. Though the bishops have spoken out collectively against abortion coverage, only a handful have issued specific warnings against government-run medical services. Two of those are Bishop Robert W. Finn and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, who wrote recently, "The right of every individual to access health care does not necessarily suppose an obligation on the part of the government to provide it." Bishop R. Walter Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, stated, "The Church does not teach that government should directly provide health care." The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is on record arguing that, while health care reform is needed, it should be "achieved by legislation that empowers people to own their health insurance policies (as contrasted with government, or employer controlled healthcare insurance) and using targeted measures to help people who cannot afford the entire cost of their insurance premium." Dr. Steven White, a former president of the CMA, currently has a private practice in pulmonary medicine and is medical director of respiratory care and pulmonary rehabilitation services at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. He applauds the bishops for their outspoken defense of human dignity in health care, but said, "Informed members of the laity need to help devise a system based upon Catholic moral principles and apply them in the marketplace." Full story at LifeNews.com
Another Pro-Life Day of Student Solidarity Draws Attention to Abortion Killing Kids
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Students in all 50 states and from nations across the world are eagerly awaiting the next Pro-Life Day of Student Solidarity. Sponsored by the pro-life youth organization Stand True, the ironic day gives students a chance to tape their mouths shut to speak up for unborn children who can't speak for themselves. The sixth annual day will take place on Tuesday, October 20. Students of all ages from junior high to college will be taking a vow of silence to stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters who are permanently silenced by abortion. They will not only remain silent but will also wear red armbands or red duct tape on their mouths, and distribute educational flyers to anyone who asks why they are silent. Last year, students from more than 4,800 campuses in 25 countries took part in the special day and Bryan Kemper, the director of Stand True and the day's organizer, tells LifeNews.com it has made a difference. "We have heard of hundreds of girls who have canceled abortions because of this day every year," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama-Funded UNFPA Promotes Conference of Pro-Abortion Activists in Germany
Berlin, Germany (LifeNews.com) -- This week in Berlin, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the German government are hosting a meeting that brings together 400 "reproductive rights" activists from across the globe to discuss strategies to push "sexual and reproductive health and rights" – including abortion – at the local, national and international level. The conference is billed as an event for non-government organizations to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) that was held in Cairo in 1994 and touted as the "world's most comprehensive blueprint for sexual and reproductive health." Organizers such as Dr. Gill Greer of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) are hoping the Berlin conference will serve as a "clarion call" to activists to reinvigorate the ICPD program of action, which they believe has suffered from a lack of political leadership and financial commitment. At the opening plenary, Adrienne Germain, President of the International Women's Health Coalition, reflected on the challenges posed to the agenda since the ICPD was adopted in 1994, particularly during the Bush Administration. Full story at LifeNews.com
Anniversary of Mother Teresa's Death Good Time to Take Up the Pro-Life Mission
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Saturday is the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, long regarded as the unofficial patron saint of the pro-life movement. As Catholics remember the sister whose selflessness and sacrifice for unborn children and others became an international model, Father Frank Pavone says now is a good time to take up her pro-life mission. "Mother Teresa of Calcutta was called from this world on September 5, 1997," Pavone, the head of Priests for Life, recalls. "In my many conversations with her about the pro-life movement, it was very clear that she expected us not simply to pray but to intervene," he explained. "She told me about how she went to the places where abortions were performed and took the women by the arm, away from that place of death and to her communities where they would find hope and life for themselves and their children," Pavone said. Although many pro-life advocates will remember her life in many ways, Pavone says their is one way that is the best: "Above all, honor her by imitating her." Full story at LifeNews.com
Nurse Suspended in India After legal Abortion Kills Woman, Investigation Started
Varanasi, India (LifeNews.com) -- A health visitor (registered nurse) in India has been suspended and local officials have launched an investigation after an abortion killed a woman who was three months pregnant. The abortion death points to the very real consequences of legal abortions for women and shows that attempts by abortion advocates to allow nurses to do abortions puts women's health at risk. The abortion was done on a woman at the Araziline CHC on Wednesday, according to the Times of India, and the health visitor who reportedly did the abortion has been suspended. Local police have indicated they have filed complaints against the nurse under two sections of criminal code after Mahendra Bind, the husband of the deceased woman, Rajkumari Bind, filed a complaint. The newspaper indicates a nurse doing an abortion at a medical center violates the nation's termination of pregnancy (MTP) Act and the district health administration is looking into the case. Full story at LifeNews.com
Nebraska Pro-Life Advocates Meet With Attorney General on Abortion Practitioner
Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Representatives of a handful of pro-life advocates met with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on Thursday to discuss their concerns about abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart. Former members of his staff have come forward saying he engaged in illegal and unethical activities. They say they participated in abortions that were done without proper licensing and that started IVs for him even though they are not registered nurses or certified licensed practical nurses, as required by state law. Julie Schmit-Albin, the director of Nebraska Right to Life, talked with LifeNews.com about today's meeting. "Serious allegations of criminal activity were presented to Attorney General Jon Bruning this morning via sworn affidavits of three former employees of LeRoy Carhart's abortion facility," she said. "We are hopeful that the AG will pursue a criminal investigation of Carhart and that other information turned over to the Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services will also work towards shutting down Carhart's abortion facility," she added. Full story at LifeNews.com
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Montana Attorney General Approves Language for Personhood-Abortion Ballot Prop
Helena, MT (LifeNews.com) -- The attorney general's office in Montana has approved the ballot language some pro-life advocates are supporting that would define unborn children as persons under the state constitution. Some pro-life groups are not on board because they say the measure would be declared unconstitutional and that the focus should be on changing the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be overturned. Constitutional Initiative 102 would define a human "person" under the scientifically accurate notion of the beginning of human life taking place at conception, or fertilization. The measure, meant for the 2010 elections, is the second effort to get a personhood proposition on the ballot and it requires 40,000 signatures from state residents. The first measure, in 2008, failed to get enough to qualify. Full story at LifeNews.com
Queensland, Australia Parliament OKs Amendment to Say Abortion Drug Legal
Brisbane, Australia (LifeNews.com) -- The parliament in Queensland, Australia has approved an amendment to its criminal code saying the dangerous abortion drug Ru 486 is legal. The drug has killed more than 13 women worldwide and injured 1,300 in the United States alone according to government figures from a few years ago. Although the Australian government has allowed the sales of the mifepristone abortion drug, because Queensland still has laws on the books banning abortions, abortion practitioners were concerned about being prosecuted for distributing the drug. They called on the state parliament to approve changes to the laws making it clear the drug can be given to women without facing prosecution. Premier Anna Bligh told MPs that the amendments merely make it clear that drug-induced abortions cane be done in Queensland along with surgical abortions, with also pose numerous medical and mental health risks for women. Full story at LifeNews.com
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