LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Reid and Pelosi Tell Obama They Have Votes for Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
• House Democrats Key to Future of Pro-Abortion Government-Run Health Care
• Pro-Abortion Surgeon General Pick Unconfirmed as Health Care Debate Looms
• Surgeon: Abortion Ups Breast Cancer Risk, Full-Term Pregnancy Lowers It
• Los Angeles Times: Massive Tax-Funding of Abortion a Reasonable Compromise
• Christian Band BarlowGirl Hits on Post-Abortion Pain in Song Tears Fall
• Care Net Pregnancy Center Conference to Give Boost to Groups Helping Women
• Pro-Life Advocates to Pray at White House Against Abortion Funding
• British Regulators Delay Releasing Rules That Could Allow Abortion Ads on TV
• Missouri Pro-Life Group's New Amdt Stop Funding for Abortion, Human Cloning
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Reid and Pelosi Tell Obama They Have Votes for Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama met with the pro-abortion leaders of the House and Senate, Nancy Pelosi and harry Reid, today. The meeting came in advance of his major speech tomorrow urging Congress to approve a pro-abortion health care "reform" bill.
According to an ABC News report, during the meeting Pelosi and Reid told Obama they have the votes in their respective chambers for the bills.
The comments are interesting given that, in the House, a group of 40 Democrats could join Republicans in opposing a bill because of abortion funding. In the Senate, there are not enough votes to approve the bill with a government-run option.
Reid addressed that and said he may be looking to a compromise measure to get enough votes, telling reporters "we're going to do our very best to have a public option or something like a public option before we finish this work."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a pro-abortion Montana Democrat, has already crafted a compromise he hopes will be approved by his committee soon.
He had been working with six members of his panel, three Republicans and three Democrats, to fashion a compromise bill but went at it alone and came up with a measure that he hopes will get the support of at least one of the three Republicans. 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.
House Democrats Key to Future of Pro-Abortion Government-Run Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As members of Congress return from their summer recess and meetings with millions of Americans are who are upset that a massive pro-abortion government-run health care bill is in the works, pro-life and moderate House Democrats appear to be the key to the future of any legislation.
With Republican lawmakers opposing the pro-abortion bill unanimously, Speaker Nancy Pelosi can only afford to lose 38 members of the 256-member Democratic caucus and still get a bill through the House.
However, a report in today's The Hill, a newspaper that focuses on Congress, shows 23 members have already said publicly in town hall forums or to their local media that they will not vote for HR 3200, the current House bill that includes abortion funding.
They include Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi who has said, "I would hope by now that everyone in this room knows that I am not going to vote for the healthcare plan."
Rep. John Adler, a Democrat from New Jersey, is also a member of the group and he has said "The bill that's coming through the House, with or without the public option, isn't good for America."
Others, such as Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Rep. Tom Perriello are also listed as likely no votes but are hoping the bill is changed in a way that can earn their support. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion Surgeon General Pick Unconfirmed as Health Care Debate Continues
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The debate over a pro-abortion, government-run health care bill is continuing but someone who could be a major player in the discussion remains outside of it. President Barack Obama's nominee for Surgeon General, pro-abortion Alabama physician Regina Benjamin, remains unconfirmed for the post.
Benjamin serves on the board of directors of a pro-abortion organization and appeared to support an American Medical Association vote asking colleges to teach more about abortions.
She has been on the board of Physicians for Human Rights, an organization which has spoken out against illegal abortions in many nations across the world.
The group also called on President Bush not to expand the Mexico City Policy, which President Obama overturned in January, that stops sending taxpayer dollars to groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations.
It also asked President Bush to ratify the CEDAW treaty that does not include abortion promotion but has been used by the United Nations to pressure numerous countries to legal abortion or expand abortions further.
Following her nomination, White House spokesman Reid Cherlin confirmed that Benjamin's position on abortion matches the radical pro-abortion position taken by Obama. Full story at LifeNews.com
Surgeon Says Abortion Ups Breast Cancer Risk, Full-Term Pregnancy Helps Lower It
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A prominent breast cancer surgeon and professor has written a new article for a medical publication saying that abortion increases a woman's risk of contracting breast cancer. On the other hand, miscarriage has no effect while a full-term pregnancy lowers the breast cancer risk.
Dr. Angela Lanfranchi is a surgeon who deals with breast cancer and is also a Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.
She published a paper this week in the medical journal Linacre Quarterly that shows how different pregnancy outcomes influence breast cancer risk.
Citing 52 years of breast cancer research, she said the evidence shows that, during pregnancy, unborn children "produce hormones that mature 85 percent of the mother's breast tissue into cancer-resistant breast tissue."
This accounts for the protective effect of full term pregnancy (FTP) that experts universally recognize.
According to Lanfranchi, a delayed first FTP is associated with a temporary risk increase because it lengthens the period during the reproductive years when nearly all of the breast lobules are immature and cancer-susceptible and exposed to the cancer-causing effects of estrogen during menstrual cycles.
However, in terms of lifetime risk, the mother will eventually benefit from the protective effect of FTP, provided it lasted at least 32 weeks.
At the same time, the physician says short pregnancies like abortions that end before 32 weeks, except for first trimester miscarriages, leave the breasts only "partially matured" and "with more places for cancers to start." Full story at LifeNews.com
Los Angeles Times: Massive Tax-Funding of Abortion a Reasonable Compromise
Los Angeles, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The Los Angeles Times is the latest mainstream media outlet to misrepresent the health care overhaul legislation in Congress. The Times suggests language in the bill paving the way for funding hundreds of thousands of abortions annual is a "reasonable compromise."
With the false headline "Healthcare reform bill doesn't cover elective abortions," the Times' editors wrote on Friday that the opposite of what pro-life groups are warning about is true.
"But the provision that antiabortion groups find so objectionable would actually have the opposite effect, forcing private insurers to go further to fund and account for abortion coverage separately from federally subsidized services," the Times claims.
The Times cites the Hyde amendment and other federal laws that prohibit abortion funding in various circumstances, but none of those laws would apply to either the government option or the subsidies the government would give to people to purchase health insurance.
To further support its arguments, the Times cites the Capps Amendment, which pro-abortion lawmakers added to HR 3200 during committee consideration and claims it "would prohibit the basic plans offered through the exchange from covering elective abortions." Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The popular all-girl Christian rock band BarlowGirl hits on the emotional pain women frequently experience following in an abortion in a new song. The track "Tears Fall" off of their new album "Love and War" is a reminder that abortion hurts women as well as unborn children. The piano-based ballad is written from a post-abortive woman's perspective and shares her painful memories and dreams of children who will never experience life.
"I have had the same dreams many times it haunts my mind, It starts with a light but it ends every time, Oh so many faces that this world will never see, A reason for your life but your heart will never be," the song begins.
"Oh what have we lost because we chose we'll never know, And loving You is better than feeling alone, And all our claims to freedom have become these heavy chains, And in the name of rights we keep filling nameless graves," the verse continues. Full story at LifeNews.com
Care Net Pregnancy Center Conference to Give Boost to Groups Helping Women
Balitmore, MD (LifeNews.com) -- The economic downturn has been difficult for nonprofit groups like the crisis pregnancy centers that are helping women with abortion alternatives. But representatives at Care Net tell LifeNews.com that pregnancy center leaders are energized as they head to the group's annual national conference.
Care Net will celebrate its 26th national conference starting from tomorrow through the rest of the week in Baltimore, Maryland.
The event is attracting more than 900 pregnancy center staff and volunteers from across North America for training, worship, inspiration, and encouragement.
Care Net president Melinda Delahoyde says the pregnancy center movement is alive and well thanks to the support of individuals, foundations, and organizations providing new partnerships and resources to support its critical work.
"Care Net could not be more thrilled to see such amazing organizations come alongside our nation's pregnancy centers, providing organizational excellence and mission-critical resources," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Advocates to Pray at White House for 27 Hours Against Abortion Funding
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A group of pro-life advocates will spend 27 hours praying at the White House against health care "reform" bills that would make Americans fund hundreds of thousands of abortions. The 27 hour prayer vigil is part of a national campaign called "Abortion is Not Health Care."
Rev. Rob Schenck, the president of the pro-life group Faith and Action says the people involved in the event will be praying for social justice and human rights and that no taxpayer funds will be used to pay for abortions in the current congressional health care plan.
The 27 hours of prayer will begin on Sunday, September 13 at 7:00 P.M. and will end on Monday, September 14 at 10:00 P.M.
"Our nation is in more than an economic crisis or a crisis over health care. We are in a spiritual crisis and the best way to address it, in fact the only way to address it is through prayer," Schenck said in a statement to LifeNews.com.
"Every American, no matter how young or old, can and must pray," he added.
British Regulators Delay Releasing Rules That Could Allow Abortion Ads on TV
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- In the wake of massive opposition, British regulators have delayed releasing the rules that could result in allowing advertisements for abortion on television. A national pro-life group is celebrating the fact that Britons have strongly opposed allowing abortion businesses to appear on television.
The Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) received about 4,000 letters and other communication from UK residents after announcing in March that it would consider watering down the rules to allow the abortion ads.
Some of the letters included petitions with either hundreds or thousands of signatures from British people opposed to the idea.
"The volume of responses, around 4,000, to the Cap and Bcap code consultation was significant and greater than anticipated. This is perhaps due in part to widespread media coverage around the consultation launch," a BCAP representative told the London Guardian newspaper.
The spokesman said the agency is "currently carefully assessing all the responses and anticipate publishing their evaluation of the consultation along with the new advertising codes in the first quarter of 2010." Full story at LifeNews.com
Missouri Pro-Life Group's New Amdt Stop Funding for Abortion, Human Cloning
Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- A Missouri pro-life group is submitting language for a new amendment that would stop the state from using taxpayer dollars to finance abortion and human cloning. The is the Missouri Roundtable For Life's second attempt to get its constitutional amendment before voters.
The group filed language with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan on Friday to put a citizen initiative on the November 2010 ballot.
The initiative, called the Missouri Taxpayer Protection Amendment, "protects Missourian's hard-earned tax dollars" from being used for abortions not medically necessary to save the life of the mother, abortion services, human cloning and other controversial human research.
Missouri Roundtable For Life director Todd Jones told LifeNews.com about the latest effort.
"This amendment, which is a modified version of the Taxpayer Protection Amendment we filed late last year and litigated with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan over her highly prejudicial ballot language," he said. "[It] would simply clarify what Missourians already believe to be true: that tax dollars should never be spent for [those practices]."
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