LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, November 12, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Abortion Advocate: Senate Has Votes to Block Stupak Amdt, Could Kill Bill
• Stupak Warns Abortion Advocates Not to Remove Amendment From Bill
• Study: 20 Percent of Women Using Abortion Drug Face Medical Complications
• Senate Will Vote on Obama Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick David Hamilton Next Week
• Lawmakers Won't Say if They Signed Letter for Abortion Funds in Health Care
• Abortion Advocates Team Up With Labor, Gay Groups For Abortion Funding
• Abortion Centers in Michigan Run by Embattled Albert Hodari May Close Down
• Unborn Child Was Fort Hood Shooting's 14th Victim, Obama Should Prosecute
• Planned Parenthood Doctor Misleads Teens, Women on Sexual Education, HPV
• Patrick Kennedy Swings Back at Catholic Bishop Tobin Over Abortion Rebuke
• British Pro-Life Group Upset Government Promoting Pro-Abortion Sex-Ed Strategy
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Abortion Advocate: Senate Has Votes to Block Stupak Amendment, Could Kill Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A different scenario could play out when the Senate considers its version of the government-run health care bill. The House approved its version of the legislation only after adding the pro-life Stupak amendment to make sure it did not funds abortions, but the Senate may not have enough votes for a similar amendment.
The Stupak amendment was said to have given Speaker Nancy Pelosi enough votes to get the health care bill passed, but a lack of votes for an amendment could kill the bill in the Senate.
Even though Harry Reid has promised no abortion funding in the bill, Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who has long been the leader of abortion advocates in the Senate, tells the Huffington Post that there are not 60 votes to beat a filibuster against a Stupak-type amendment.
"If someone wants to offer this very radical amendment, which would really tear apart compromise, then I think at that point they would need to have 60 votes to do it," Boxer said. "And I believe in our Senate we can hold it."
"If they try to add the language we would try to stop them," she told the pro-abortion web site. "If somebody wants to take it out they are going to need 60 votes to take it out... And my view is that we do have the numbers. It is a much more pro-choice Senate than it has been in a long time. And it is much more pro-choice than the House." Full story at LifeNews.com
Stupak Warns Abortion Advocates Not to Remove Amendment From Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Bart Stupak is now a household name thanks to the amendment he sponsored to the House health care bill that bears his moniker. The House approved his amendment to de-fund abortions in the government-run health care program and he is warning abortion advocates not to remove it.
Pro-Life lawmakers teamed up with Stupak, a Michigan Democratic congressman, for the amendment to stop abortion funding in the public option and affordability credits.
However, as they and pro-life groups expected beforehand, abortion advocates have threatened to remove the amendment in the conference committee that produces the final bill both the House and Senate will eventually have to approve.
Stupak warns them not to do that. "We are in contact with senators to make sure our language holds," Stupak told the Detroit News. "The other side is playing with fire."
"We won because [the Democrats] need us," says Mr. Stupak. "If they are going to summarily dismiss us by taking the pen to that language, there will be hell to pay. I don't say it as a threat, but if they double-cross us, there will be 40 people who won't vote with them the next time they need us—and that could be the final version of this bill." Full story at LifeNews.com
Study: 20 Percent of Women Using Abortion Drug Face Medical Complications
by Dr. Randy O'Bannon
Planned Parenthood says "Our monitoring shows that mifepristone medication abortion continues to be a safe abortion option." The distributor of Mifeprex (the trade name for RU 486) says that "Mifeprex is 92-95% effective for safely ending early pregnancy."
But a new study from Finland says that 20% of the women using the abortion pill suffer at least one significant complication. Nearly 4% reported two or more complications or "adverse events."
The study, "Immediate Complications After Medical Compared with Surgical Termination of Pregnancy," appeared in the October 2009 issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A team of Finnish Researchers headed by Maarit Niinimi of the Oulu University Hospital looked at all abortions, surgical and chemical, performed up to 63 days after gestation, in Finland between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2006.
To identify and tally the complications, researchers looked at all abortion patient inpatient and outpatient visits occurring within 42 days after the abortion. A national health records system enables researchers to track the medical outcomes with individual patients over time.
Researchers found that 15.6 % percent of those undergoing chemical abortions hemorrhaged, 1.7% encountered infection, and 6.7% had incomplete abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Will Vote on Obama Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick David Hamilton Next Week
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Senate will finally hold a vote on pro-abortion appeals court nominee David Hamilton, the first person President Barack Obama nominated for any court vacancy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will call for a vote next week on the pro-abortion 7th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee.
Reid said on Monday that he will call for a cloture vote to cut off debate and end the filibuster-hold that has been placed on Hamilton's nomination.
That will require 60 votes and Reid has little margin of error as Hamilton will likely be opposed by all or almost all of the 40 Republicans (except Hamilton Indiana's Republican senator, Dick Lugar) and pro-life Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson -- who will oppose him as well, possibly along with a handful of other Democrats.
Looking ahead to the vote, a coalition of pro-life and conservative activists have released a new statement calling on lawmakers to oppose Hamilton.
"Judge Hamilton fails to meet the qualifications for the high office to which he has been nominated, and his record demonstrates that he would decide cases on the basis of his politics and personal agenda instead of the Constitution," they say. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact your members of the Senate and express your opposition to Hamilton's nomination. You can find contact information for any senator at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Lawmakers Won't Say if They Signed Letter for Abortion Funding in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In response to passage of the Stupak amendment preventing abortion funding in the House health care bill, 40 pro-abortion lawmakers signed a letter saying they won't vote for the final bill if the amendment remains. Now, the sponsor of the letter won't reveal the names of those members of Congress.
On Monday, Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who leads the pro-abortion forces, gathered signatures from 40 members for the letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But, the list of signatories, according to a report in the blog The Daily Beast "remains closely guarded" as even top pro-abortion activists "are refusing to say whether they've signed."
The blog suggests that may be "reflecting a last-ditch willingness to accept the Stupak amendment, as a means to pushing through the president's top domestic policy priority."
"I'm not going to prejudge an outcome," said pro-abortion Rep. Laura DeLauro of Connecticut, a pro-abortion activist so polemic she was once the director of Emily's List and got into a shouting match with a top lieutenant of Speaker Nancy Pelosi for allowing a vote on Stupak. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Advocates Team Up With Labor, Gay Groups For Abortion in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Passage of the Stupak amendment in the House health care bill has riled abortion backers and they are pulling out all the stops to remove it or defeat the bill. Top pro-abortion activist groups are so worried about the pro-life measure they are enlisting help from labor unions and gay rights organizations.
A Politico report indicates as many as 80 groups that support abortion were asked by Planned Parenthood to join forces to torpedo the abortion funding limits.
Laurie Rubiner, vice president of policy for the abortion business, told the political web site that adding Stupak to the health care bill "has completely galvanized" the pro-abortion movement.
Politico indicated the meeting yesterday included a who's who of the abortion industry, with NARAL, MoveOn, and the American Civil Liberties Union attending. But it also included unrelated groups that have also supported abortion such as the Service Employees International Union and the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group.
Should the coalition of groups not get the Stupak amendment out of the health care bill, Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, told Politico they would urge a no vote on the bill itself. "We will oppose any health care bill that includes anything like Stupak/Pitts," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Centers in Michigan Run by Embattled Albert Hodari May Close Down
Flint, MI (LifeNews.com) -- An abortion center in Flint, Michigan run by the notorious abortion practitioner Albert Hodari may be closing -- if a sign on the building announcing it as available for purchase is any indication. Hodari runs the Feminine Health Care Clinic in Flint and other area abortion centers.
The Feminine Health Care Clinic does abortions through 24 weeks of pregnancy and local pro-life advocate Judy Climer of Flint Right to Life informed LifeNews.com of a sign showing it available for sale.
LifeNews.com contacted the abortion business and was not able to connect with anyone for comment on this story.
Climer told LifeNews.com, she believes Hodari is behind on the taxes and could possibly be facing a lawsuit that could prompt him to sell the abortion business and leave the country. "I checked the city files last night, and there are two parcels of land registered to him - both show real estate taxes owing on them," she indicated.
"There is, also, a fresh lawsuit against him, the clinic and former employee(s)," Climer added. "It was filed in June by a man named Bruce Caitlin. I know his attorney, and he never takes a case unless there are potential millions to be won." Full story at LifeNews.com
Unborn Child Was Fort Hood Shooting's 14th Victim, Obama Should Prosecute
by Maria Vitale
It was beyond heartbreaking, seeing a young widow pausing before a picture of her beloved soldier, killed not on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, but on the presumably safe spot of Fort Hood, Texas. I had to turn away from the television screen, the pain on her face was so great.
In the massive media coverage following Major Nidal Hasan's killing spree at the military post, I have heard over and over again about the death toll from the tragedy.
But seldom mentioned is the most hidden victim -- soldier Francheska Velez's unborn baby. Velez was on maternity leave when she stopped at Ft. Hood, where she and the child she carried in her womb fell victim to Hasan's bullet.
In the interest of true justice, Hasan should be prosecuted under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as Laci and Conner's law, named for the pregnant woman and unborn baby who were murdered in California by Scott Peterson, the baby's father. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Doctor Misleads Teens, Women on Sexual Education, HPV
by Dr. Miriam Grossman, M.D.
In the battle over sex education, Planned Parenthood claims the high ground in providing accurate information and protecting reproductive health. Their homepage states, "We deliver comprehensive and medically accurate information that empowers women, men, teens, and families to make informed choices and lead healthy lives."
As a physician who has spent hundreds of hours with young people with sexually transmitted infections, I'm on a one-woman mission to expose the falsehood of those claims. Planned Parenthood's sexual health education is not comprehensive or medically accurate; to the contrary, this eminent, federally funded organization endangers lives by withholding critical biological truths.
Consider the advice given young people by their VP of Medical Affairs, Vanessa Cullins.
Dr. Cullins, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has gone on YouTube to declare, "Expect to have HPV once you become sexually intimate – all of us get it." So make sure you're vaccinated, she advises kids, and get screened for cervical cancer.
How can a medical doctor, an expert in women's health, make this preposterous assertion? Full story at LifeNews.com
Patrick Kennedy Swings Back at Catholic Bishop Tobin Over Abortion Rebuke
Providence, RI (LifeNews.com) -- Rep. Patrick Kennedy is swinging back at his Catholic bishop, who rebuked him for comments he made saying the Catholic Church is not pro-life because it opposes the health care bills over abortion funding. Bishop Thomas Tobin also criticized Kennedy for canceling a meeting to discuss the situation.
When Kennedy canceled, Bishop Tobin decided to write a letter for the local Catholic newspaper saying Kennedy's pro-abortion stance puts him at odds with the Catholic Church.
Kennedy said he was "not going to dignify with an answer" Tobin's assessment that Kennedy could not be a good Catholic and still support abortion. In remarks to the Providence Journal newspaper, he called those comments "unfortunate," and said, "I'm not going to engage [in] this anymore."
He also said he found it "very disconcerting" that Bishop Tobin would not meet with him to have a private discussion of his pro-abortion views and Catholic faith, even though it appears Kennedy is the one to have postponed their planned meeting. Full story at LifeNews.com
British Pro-Life Group Upset Government Promoting Pro-Abortion Sex-Ed Strategy
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A British pro-life group is upset the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is adopting a sexual education strategy that has resulted in more abortions. The government has accepted all the major recommendations of the latest report by the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group.
The decision comes on the heels of the government's own data showing that its significant financial investment in aggressive sexual education and promotion of birth control has increased, not reduced, abortions.
As the British pro-life group SPUC Pro-Life tells LifeNews.com, the new report's major recommendations include teaching children about abortion and removing the 9 p.m. television watershed on condom promotion.
John Smeaton, director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), complained that the "report accepted by the government contains several appalling major recommendations."
"The government is trying to suppress the right of parents to be primary educators of their children, a principle enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The state is also attempting to make parents and schools complicit in introducing children into an adult culture of sexual activity and abortion," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
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