LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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Current Headlines
• White House, Senate Leaders to Craft Next Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
• Study Claiming 70,000 Women Die From Illegal Abortions Relies on Myths
• Pro-Life Groups Call Guttmacher Study on Illegal Abortions a Propaganda Piece
• Trial Postponed for Belkis Gonzalez in Florida Botched Abortion, Born Alive Case
• Vatican Rejects Abortion "Right" at United Nations, Says People a Resource
• Girl Who Paid Man to Cause Abortion Avoids Punishment, Condemned
• Survey Shows Americans Prefer Embryo Adoption to Destroying Them
• Montana Abortion Biz Closes Planned Parenthood in Kalispell Over Economy
• New York Lawsuit Would Stop Paying Women for Donating Eggs for Research
• Sandra Day O'Connor to Exit Retirement to Hear Arizona Pro-Life Student Case
• Belmont Abbey College Retains Beckett Fund to Help Lawsuit Against EEOC
LifeNews.com editor Steven Ertelt will be the keynote speaker at the annual Springfield, Illinois Right to Life banquet this Saturday. If you live in the area, make plans to attend and introduce yourself to him. Click here for tickets.
White House, Senate Leaders to Craft Next Version of Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- White House and Senate leaders are meeting today to craft the final Senate version of the pro-abortion health care reform bill. All of the leaders participating in the process are abortion advocates and they are combining two bills, both of which contain taxpayer funding of abortions. With the Senate Finance Committee having signed off on the Baucus measure, the next step is to combine it and the Kennedy bill that already passed the Senate HELP committee. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is headed to Capitol Hill today to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Finance chairman Max Baucus and HELP chairman Chris Dodd. The final product would liekyl be the first bill that pro-abrotion President Barack Obama may officially endorse. He has yet to put his name behind any of the five Congressional bills. All of them promise abortion funding, but Obama has pledged to exclude such funding in "his" plan. Yet, Emanuel told PBS NewsHour correspondent Judy Woodruff Tuesday that Baucus's health care reform bill meets the administration's key goals for a health care overhaul. "This is not the more important bill as compared to any other bill," Emanuel cautioned. "It is a bipartisan bill, achieves the objectives. That's also true of what Sen. Dodd did in his committee. The House is now going to merge those three bills." Should Obama sign onto any of those bills or a merged version in either chamber that includes abortion funding, he will have officially gone back on his promise to support health care reform without abortion funding. Full story at LifeNews.com
Study Claiming 70,000 Women Die From Illegal Abortions Relies on Dubious Facts
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The Guttmacher Institute released a study on Tuesday claiming 70,000 women die from illegal abortions every year worldwide. However, the statistics appear to be based on disputed figures and claims from pro-abortion groups and abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood. As LifeNews.com reported yesterday, the Guttmacher Institute study is based on the work of numerous organizations that have as their main agenda promoting the legalization of abortion on a global scale. Today, pro-life advocates analyzed and commented on the report and found it to be so polemic that they referred to it as a propaganda piece. Still, the mainstream media is taking the Guttmacher report as gospel and showering it with headlines proclaiming the 70,000 figure. However, it appears the number is based on very sketchy reports. According to Guttmacher, the claim of 70,000 illegal abortion deaths comes from WHO guesses of the number of illegal abortions as old as 1998 and not any new corroborating information. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Groups Call Guttmacher Study on Illegal Abortions a Propaganda Piece
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates are responding to the new study disseminated by the Guttmacher Institute claiming that abortions should be legalized worldwide because of a supposed epidemic of unsafe abortions killing women. They say the study is nothing more than a propaganda piece by a group that supports abortion. Guttmacher is formerly known as the Alan Guttmacher Institute and was an official affiliate of Planned Parenthood, where Guttmacher was a former president, until it disassociated itself with the abortion business to gain mainstream credibility. The organization, which still advocates legalizing abortions on a global scale, issued a report yesterday claiming as many as 70,000 women die from illegal abortions. Anthony Ozimic, the communications director for SPUC, the British pro-life group, says the Guttmacher study is false. "The Guttmacher report is not independent academic research but propaganda from the pro-abortion lobby," he told LifeNews.com today. "The Guttmacher Institute was set up to promote abortion and contraception. The report's acknowledgments are a roll-call of the pro-abortion lobby." Ozimic says "Guttmacher's figures are based on highly spurious guesstimates, which even the report itself is forced to admit." "The pro-abortion lobby has a proven track record of exaggerating illegal abortions numbers. Abortion numbers in Britain today are many times higher than before the 1967 Abortion Act, despite ever-increasing access to birth control drugs and devices," he added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Trial Postponed for Belkis Gonzalez in Florida Botched Abortion, Born Alive Case
Miami, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The trial of Belkis Gonzalez, who was arrested on two felony counts related to the death of a baby in a botched abortion case, was slated to begin Friday but has been postponed. In the botched abortion incident, a young woman named Sycloria Williams went to the GYN Diagnostic Center abortion facility in Hialeah, outside Miami, for an abortion. She had laminaria inserted and went back the next day for the abortion but, instead, gave birth to a baby named Shanice. Abortion practitioner Pierre Renelique did not show up for a scheduled abortion, causing Shanice to be born alive. When that happened, Gonzalez allegedly stuffed the baby's body in a biohazard bag and tossed the bag on the roof when local officials stopped by to investigate after they received a tip. Gonzalez was charged with the unlicensed practice of a health care profession resulting in serious bodily injury, a second degree felony, and with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a third degree felony. Officials at the pro-life group Operation Rescue have been closely following the case and informed LifeNews.com today that the trial had been postponed. Full story at LifeNews.com
| Medical professionals are on the frontlines of battle in life issues. From abortion to assisted suicide and euthanasia and all issues in between we are challenged in the workplace to defend our beliefs and risk our employment. The National Association of Pro-life Nurses has been here for nurses since the beginning of this battle. Join with us in our efforts to protect those voices at www.nursesforlife.org |
Vatican Rejects Abortion "Right" at United Nations, Says People a Resource
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The Vatican ambassador to the United Nations told the international body on Monday that there is no international "right" to abortion. Its ambassador told UN delegates on Monday that people should be considered the world's greatest resource instead of the pro-abortion notion that there are too many. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations, presented the position in an address on population and development at the 64th session of the U.N. General Assembly. According to a Zenit report, he said abortion advocates were wrong to conclude at the Cairo conference 15 years ago "that a population explosion was going to occur and hamper the ability to achieve adequate global economic development." Now, "we see that this perception was unfounded," he said. Zenit also indicates that Migliore observed how, in many nations, "legislators are now encouraging an increase in birth rates to assure continued economic growth" because of severe problems accompanying underpopulaton. Full story at LifeNews.com
Salt Lake City, UT (LifeNews.com) -- A Utah girl who paid a man to hit her in the stomach in an attempt to cause a miscarriage-abortion has been declared by a judge to not be guilty of violating any state law. The judge used a state abortion law that one state legislator was applied wrongly to absolve her of any responsibility. The case involves 21-year-old Aaron Harrison whom the unnamed 17-year-old girl asked in May to help her cause an abortion to kill her seven-month-old unborn child. The court documents show the girl's boyfriend had threatened to leave her if she did not get an abortion. Harrison, a friend of the girl, reportedly struck and bit her and she paid him $150 to do so. The unborn baby survived the attack and doctors induced labor so the baby could be born. Eighth District Juvenile Court Judge Larry Steele sided with the young woman's defense lawyer Rich King, who argued that, under Utah law she could not be held responsible. Judge Steele issued a four-page opinion last Thursday describing the actions as "shocking and crude" but saying her actions "fit the definition for an abortion. As such, she cannot be held criminally liable for her actions pursuant to the Utah abortion statutes." Full story at LifeNews.com| It's for young women and them only. |
| If you can't conceive and abort this isn't for you. Having a Choice sounds cool until you have to make it -- then it sucks. Choicekills.com, It's a quick read on a big issue, You'll feel better for having read it. http://www.ChoiceKills.com |
Survey Shows Americans Prefer Embryo Adoption to Destroying Them in Research
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In a recent national public opinion survey, a significantly higher proportion of American adults would choose to place frozen human embryos with infertile couples for the purpose of bearing a child. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that twice as many Americans read or heard about human embryos in connection with stem cell research than in connection with embryo donation or adoption. Conducted in May and June 2009, the survey, "Public Opinion Regarding the Disposition of Frozen Human Embryos," found that a significantly higher proportion of American adults (68.8 percent) prefer frozen human embryo placement with other families, but less than one out of five (19.5 percent) prefer donation of the embryos for research. Although 88 percent surveyed had heard about human embryos in the past 6 months, less than half (37.1 percent) heard about them in connection with donation or adoption. More than twice as many Americans (82.2 percent) heard about human embryos in connection with stem cell research. Even the sub-group "very liberal" preferred donation to an infertile couple (49.1 percent) over donation for research (43.4 percent) the Nightlight Christian Adoptions survey found. When asked the question, "How do you characterize your personal belief or philosophy regarding the point at which embryos are thought of as human lives," the largest proportion (42.6 percent) chose conception, followed closely by viability of pregnancy (30.4 percent). Fewer respondents chose the point when an embryo was transferred to the woman's womb (13.8 percent) and after the birth of the child (13.2 percent).
Montana Abortion Biz Closes Planned Parenthood Center in Kalispell Over Economy
Kalispell, MT (LifeNews.com) -- One of the state's five Planned Parenthood centers in Montana is closing due to poor economic conditions. Officials say the Kalispell clinic will shut down, due to a decline in patients. The center plans to close on November 20th and Stacy James of Planned Parenthood of Montana says the people are losing their health insurance, postponing care, and turning to public clinics. "We've not had the patient numbers to keep the doors open," she said. The closure leaves open locations in Missoula, Helena, Billings and in Great Falls. The Kalispell clinic opened four years ago, and joins several Planned Parenthood locations nationwide that have closed since the economic recession. Planned Parenthood of Montana has set up a travel fund for patients who need to travel to the Missoula center, which does abortions. The staff of four in Kalispell included a family nurse practitioner. One of the staff members will join the Planned Parenthood clinic in Missoula. James Compton, the president of Flathead Pro-Life emailed LifeNews.com about the closing. "We made the news on Monday, following the public announcement that Planned Parenthood in Kalispell is closing," he said excitedly. "I just spoke with Jim Sedlak, Executive Director of STOPP International, who congratulated all of our hard work."
New York Lawsuit Would Stop Paying Women for Donating Eggs for Research
Albany, NY (LifeNews.com) -- Feminists Choosing Life of New York (FCLNY) filed suit Friday in New York State Supreme Court in Albany to block the use of taxpayer funds to pay women recruited to "donate" their eggs for embryonic stem cell research. FCLNY director Wendy McVeigh told LifeNews.com Wednesday, "New York State has the responsibility to protect women. Instead, the state is using taxpayers' dollars to entice young, economically vulnerable women to experiment in this medically risky procedure." New York State is the first governmental entity anywhere in the U.S. to approve taxpayer money to pay women to undergo an invasive procedure to harvest eggs for embryonic stem cell research. The legal complaint was filed on October 9, 2009 in Feminists Choosing Life of New York v. Empire State Stem Cell Board. In part, the complaint states, "The Payment for Eggs Program provides significant monetary inducements to women to engage in this painful and risky procedure, which in part disproportionately appeals to economically vulnerable women.... (it)… fails to satisfactorily provide for informed consent and other safeguards to ensure adequate disclosure to women of the risks of egg harvesting." On June 11, 2009, the Empire State Stem Cell Board (ESSCB), which was given the responsibility for administering the funds, passed a resolution authorizing significant taxpayer monies of up to $10,000 per donation to be used to compensate young women who donate their eggs for research. FCLNY also argues that research on adult stem cells, which are plentiful and don't involve the ethical and medical concerns of embryonic stem cell research, have produced positive results that make the egg donation program funded by taxpayer monies excessive spending.
Sandra Day O'Connor to Exit Retirement to Hear Arizona Pro-Life Student Case
Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) -- Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be hearing cases once more, sitting in for two days on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. One case involves a right-to-life group that operates at Arizona State University. On Oct. 19, O'Connor will be part of a three-judge panel that will hear appeals from courts in Arizona and Nevada. The hearings will take place at Arizona State University's College of Law, for which O'Connor is the namesake. She will be joined by 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta, both from Pasadena, California. One of the cases to be heard at the UofA law school, ASU Students for Life v. Crow, deals extensively with the rights a university has to place insurance limits on off-campus groups. Members of the ASU Students for Life attempted in December 2005 to reserve several speech zones on campus to display a pro-life exhibit, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, which has been defending ASU Students for Life. ASU granted the group only one zone and required the group to show proof of insurance, an order not found in written policy. Heather Gebelin Hacker, staff counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, will present oral arguments Oct. 20. Hacker said, "Pro-life student groups shouldn't have a price tag placed upon expression of their beliefs. Forcing any student group to pay for insurance in order to exercise their right to free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment is unconstitutional." The case was heard originally in March 2008 by an Arizona district court. The court did not support the ASU Students for Life's claims, noting that the group was required to have insurance. It also found that the regulation was not viewpoint discrimination.
Belmont Abbey College Retains Beckett Fund to Help Lawsuit Against EEOC
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Belmont Abbey College has retained The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty to aid in its appeal of an U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruling that the school's health insurance policy constitutes gender discrimination. We reported the ruling change in August, when the national EEOC reversed a local EEOC decision to dismiss the claims of gender discrimination. Six male and two female faculty members at Belmont Abbey filed a complaint with the EEOC, claiming that the school's employee health insurance plan violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The plan had changed in December 2007 after it was discovered that the previous plan potentially covered artificial contraception, abortion, and voluntary sterilization. North Carolina exempts religious institutions from a state law that requires employers to cover contraception in health insurance plans. "As a Roman Catholic institution, Belmont Abbey College is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that contradict the clear teaching of the Catholic Church," said Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey, in a statement. The Benedictine monks founded the Catholic college, which is located just outside of Charlotte, in 1876. Today, the school employs 120 faculty members and enrolls 1,200 students.
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