LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Catholic Bishops Seek Sponsor for Stupak Amdt to Senate Health Care Bill
• Senate Health Care Bill Contains Rationing Provisions, Pro-Life Group Says
• Pro-Abortion President Obama Sees Ratings Slide Again to New Lows
• Victim of Forced Abortion Says Practitioner "Ripped the Life" Out of Her
• MSNBC Attacks Catholic Bishop in Pat Kennedy-Abortion-Communion Row
• Sarah Palin is Dangerous? Only For The Pro-Abortion Status Quo
• Republican Party May Vote on Resolution De-Funding Pro-Abortion Candidates
• Coalition Will Flood Congress With Pro-Abortion Funding Message
• Baltimore City Council OKs Bill to Attack on Pregnancy Centers
• Arizona Laws to Reduce Abortions Can Get Pro-Life Legal Group's Help
• Oakland Bubble Zone Law Targeting Pro-Lifers Subject of ACLJ Court Brief
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Catholic Bishops Seek Sponsor for Stupak Amendment to Senate Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's Catholic bishops are looking for a Senate sponsor for an amendment that would duplicate the Stupak amendment added to the House version of the health care restructuring bill. The amendment cut off funding for virtually all abortions under the public option and affordability credits.
The House ultimately approved its version of the government-run health care bill but not before adding the Stupak amendment on a lopsided bipartisan vote.
Now, with the Senate having voted for the Motion to Proceed, which allows the chamber to start debate on the bill and potentially hundreds of amendments, the bishops are seeking a sponsor for the amendment.
"We're talking with any number of senators," Richard Doerflinger, of the pro-life office at the USCCB, told Politico. "We don't have a Senate name on the amendment yet."
Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat who voted for a similar amendment to the Senate bill to de-fund abortions that failed in committee, is considered a prospect for putting the amendment forward. That's because Casey said over the weekend that the bill, sponsored by Senate leader Harry Reid, needs "more work" to the current language, which allows massive abortion funding. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Health Care Bill Contains Rationing Provisions, Pro-Life Group Warns
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The health care bill that Senate leader Harry Reid introduced, and that the chamber will begin debating next week, contains massive abortion funding. But a leading pro-life group says the measure also contains provisions that threaten to ration lifesaving medical treatment for seniors.
The National Right to Life Committee released to LifeNews.com its analysis of the Reid health care bill.
The group says if senior citizens' ability to use their own money, if they choose, to avoid involuntary denial of medical treatment under Medicare could be severely limited.
NRLC says state commissioners of the new health insurance exchanges created by the bill would be given significant power. They could deny people who are trying to obtain policies in the exchange the option of choosing health plans less likely to deny treatment, by limiting what they would be allowed to pay for such policies.
National Right to Life also weighs in on the "death panels" debate that received intense media coverage this summer when the House bill was under scrutiny. The panels would encourage patients to agree to reject treatment as a way of saving costs.
NRLC indicates the Senate avoided including the "advance care planning" provisions still in the House bill. Instead, it has sought to achieve a similar result under a different name: under the title "Shared Decisionmaking," the bill funds and promotes "patient decision aids" to "help" patients make treatment decisions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion President Barack Obama Sees Ratings Slide Again to New Lows
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Just when Americans thought pro-abortion President Barack Obama's ratings couldn't slide any lower due to the health care bill he supports, they continue moving downwards. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll released Tuesday shows the lowest rating yet for Obama.
The new poll finds just 27% of the nation's voters strongly approve of Obama's job performance compared with 42 percent who strongly disagree.
That -15 percentage point index of the most passionate voters one way or the other is the lowest rating for Obama since Rasmussen began polling after he took over the White House.
The poll finds 52% of Democrats strongly approve of Obama's performance while 68% of Republicans strongly disapprove. Among those key independent voters not affiliated with any party, just 16 percent strongly approve while 51 percent strongly disapprove.
Looking at the more traditional approval rating assessment, instead of those voters most passionate about Obama either way, the Rasmussen poll also shows a historic low for Obama. Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That matches the lowest level of total approval yet measured for this president. Among all voters, 54% now disapprove of his performance. Full story at LifeNews.com
Victim of Forced Abortion Says Practitioner Hodari "Ripped the Life" Out of Her
Flint, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Caitlin Bruce is the victim of a forced abortion that saw abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari and a staffer forcibly restrain her as she screamed no. Now, Bruce has given an interview to a local television station where she describes how Hodari and his associate "ripped the life" out of her.
Bruce told WJRT-TV about her lawsuit she has filed against Hodari and said that she changed her mind and withdrew her consent for the abortion after seeing an ultrasound of the unborn baby. Despite her subsequent decision, Hodari held her to her original one.
"He told his assistant, you know, 'Hold her down.' You know? They had my arm pinned, his weight was all on my chest, and then he took his hand and he had it so tight on my mouth that it was muffled," she told WJRT. "I was screaming and crying." "It felt like they were ripping a life out of me," she said.
Bruce described how she was just 18-years-old at the time of the abortion and six months pregnant when she went to Hodari's Feminine Health Care Clinic abortion center in Flint last year.
"I was nervous and I really didn't have the moral support I needed. And I just didn't know what to do," Bruce told the ABC television station. Full story at LifeNews.com
MSNBC Attacks Catholic Bishop Tobin in Pat Kennedy-Abortion-Communion Row
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- MSNBC is coming under fire from pro-life Catholics upset about the way two of its show hosts treated Bishop Thomas Tobin. The Rhode Island bishop received national attention the last few days as pro-abortion Congressman Patrick Kennedy made public a private letter admonishing him on abortion.
The letter asked Kennedy to voluntarily agree to not receive communion because his pro-abortion views are out of line with Catholic pro-life teachings.
Tobin appeared on MSNBC's Hardball program with pro-abortion Catholic host Chris Matthews, who doesn't merely interview the bishop but appears to rant at him in a disrespectful manner with constant interruptions.
Matthews said Tobin was "punishing" Congressman Kennedy for supporting "abortion rights" and he feigned respect by repeatedly calling the Bishop "Your Excellency." Bishop Tobin tried to help Matthews understand that opposition to abortion is part of "natural law" and not merely a "religious" view.
During the interview, Matthews asked Tobin what kind of abortion laws he would write were he a member of Congress. "I am not a member of Congress, but if I were, I would never be in a position of supporting any abortion legislation that encourages abortion," Tobin replied. Full story at LifeNews.com
Sarah Palin is Dangerous? Only For The Pro-Abortion Status Quo and Its Backers
by Maria Vitale
"Is she dangerous?" The headline blared from "Entertainment Tonight," and referred to hockey mom-turned-political star Sarah Palin. The theme was repeated in a fundraising e-mail from the Democratic National Committee. What exactly is so dangerous about a woman who, at the present time, holds no political office and has none of the visible trappings of national power?
Palin poses a threat to the status quo because she is a woman with high name recognition who dares to go against the abortion establishment. She is pro-life to the core, both in word and in deed. And, even though Roe v. Wade has been on the books now for close to 37 years, she is the woman who could bring it down.
A Palin Administration would no doubt appoint justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who believed in a strict constructionist view of the Constitution. They would be the kind of men and women who wouldn't see entitlements where none exist, including the so-called "right to abortion."
But even if she never won the White House, Sarah Palin could help bring down the Berlin Wall known as Roe. Celebrity is a powerful spokesman, and Palin has achieved rock star-like status among ordinary folks. By giving bi th to a child while Governor of Alaska, Palin showed that women don't have to sacrifice their children in order to have a career. Full story at LifeNews.com
Republican Party May Vote on Purity Resolution De-Funding Pro-Abortion Candidates
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- National Republican Party leaders may vote on a purity resolution at their January meeting that would prevent the party from funding candidates that did not adhere to a set of GOP principles, one of which includes opposing abortion. The resolution is sparking an internal party debate on the best way to advance pro-life principles.
The resolution is sponsored by Jim Bopp, a prominent pro-life attorney who is the legal counsel for the National Right to Life Committee and a longtime Republican committeeman from Indiana.
Bopp's measure makes it so the Republican Party can't provide funding to any candidate that opposes more than three of the ten established principles on fiscal and social issues. The idea is that Republican candidates in good standing must adhere to Ronald Reagan's philosophy of supporting GOP candidates who agree with the party 80 percent of the time.
A candidate who disagrees, "as identified by the voting record, public statements and/or signed questionnaire of the candidate, shall not be eligible for financial support and endorsement by the Republican National Committee," the resolution says. Full story at LifeNews.com
Coalition Will Flood Congress Next Week With Pro-Abortion Funding Message
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The coalition of pro-abortion organizations planning to flood Congress with people and phone calls next week to ask for abortion funding is growing. Led by pro-abortion stalwarts Planned Parenthood and NARAL, they plan to hold protests on December 2 and spend all next week lobbying.
The organizations hope thousands of people will turn up for their rallies and that thousands more will send emails or make phone calls for abortion funding.
Since the House adopted the Stupak amendment to strip the massive abortion funding from its health care bill (funding remains in the Senate version), the pro-abortion movement has seen a huge spark in activism.
Spurred on by new donations and anger that the House would dare to oppose forcing taxpayers to fund abortions, the typical list of pro-abortion groups and allied organizations has banded together to form the Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak.
"The coalition's goal is to ensure that health care reform is passed and does not restrict women's ability to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion," one pro-abortion activist said of the group. Full story at LifeNews.com
Baltimore City Council OKs Bill to Attack on Pregnancy Centers Over Abortion
Baltimore, MD (LifeNews.com) -- The Baltimore City Council last night gave its final approval to a bill that is an attack on pregnancy centers that help women find abortion alternatives. City Council Bill 09-0406 would fine pregnancy centers $150 per day if they don't post a sign saying they do not provide abortions.
The bill is City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's way of trying to cut back on the number of clients who go to pregnancy centers instead of local abortion businesses.
Following the 12-3 vote, Mayor Sheila Dixon can either sign or veto the measure or allow it to become law without her signature -- and she has not said what she will do.
Should Dixon allow the measure to become law, Baltimore will be the first city in the nation to target pregnancy centers in what could become a growing phenomenon. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact the Baltimore City Council at http://www.baltimorecitycouncil.com/members.htm and Mayor Sheila Dixon at http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/mayor
Arizona Laws to Reduce Abortions Can Get Pro-Life Legal Group's Help, Court Says
Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) -- A federal court ruled Tuesday that attorneys from two pro-life organizations can help legislation passed in Arizona this year to protect pregnant women and their unborn children. An abortion business has challenged a bill the legislature approved with several new pro-life laws contained in it.
As LifeNews.com reported, the omnibus pro-life bill faces two legal challenges -- including a federal lawsuit from the Tucson Women's Center, abortion center.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued an order in September denying its request for a preliminary injunction to stop the pro-life measures.
Today, that court issued its order granting intervention in the case to allow attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund and Center for Arizona Policy to represent the Crisis Pregnancy Centers of Greater Phoenix and the Arizona Catholic Conference in their efforts to defend the law.
One of the parts of the omnibus bill is an informed consent measure that says, if abortion remains legal, women ought to be informed of its risks and alternatives so they can find better options. Full story at LifeNews.com
Oakland Bubble Zone Law Targeting Pro-Lifers Subject of ACLJ Appeals Court Brief
Oakland, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The American Center for Law and Justice has filed a new legal brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the bubble zone law implemented by the city of Oakland. The law targets pro-life advocates who help women outside abortion centers find alternatives.
Pastor Walter Hoye has been fighting with the city over the black minister's efforts to reach out to local women. Hoye had appeared outside the Family Planning Specialists abortion center until the city council approved an ordinance that targets the free speech rights of pro-life advocates.
It places a "bubble zone" in place within eight feet of women entering any local abortion business and no one can come up to them to present them educational information and it also places a limit of appearing within 100 feet of the abortion center entrance.
Attorneys from the Life Legal Defense Foundation, a pro-life legal group, challenged the law in court as an unconstitutional infringement on the First Amendment rights of Hoye and other pro-life advocates.
In August, Judge Stuart Hing denied the Alameda County District Attorney's motion for an injunction against him. Now, the ACLJ has filed an amicus brief calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to declare the bubble zone unconstitutional. Full story at LifeNews.com
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