LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, November 29, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Bishop: Pro-Abortion Catholic Pols Should Worry About Souls, Not Job
• Pregnant Pro-Life Advocate Attacked by Abortion Ctr Worker in Kansas City
• CDC Task Force Promoting Sex Ed Over Abstinence Won't Release Report
• National Night of Prayer for Life Will See Pro-Life Advocates Offer Prayers
• Court: No Review of Order of Canada Award for Abortionist Morgentaler
• The Rationing Commission: Unelected Body Will Make Medical Decisions
• Mexico Sees Another State Protect Human Life, Wants Natl Abortion Ban
• European Pro-Life Group Submits Papers Supporting Ireland Abortion Ban
• France Parliament Rejects Legislation Allowing Legalization of Euthanasia
• South Korea Will Enforce Abortion Ban, Response to Population Decline
• Uruguay Could Elect Jose Mujica President, Open Door for Legal Abortions
• Minnesota Woman's Unborn Baby Has Surgery While Still in the Womb
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Bishop Tobin: Pro-Abortion Catholic Pols Should Worry About Their Souls, Not Job
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island, who has been involved in an exchange on abortion and communion with pro-abortion Congressman Patrick Kennedy, gave an interview this week to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. On the program, he said pro-abortion Catholic politicians need to be more worried about their souls than their jobs. "The most important commitment we can make is our faith, because that defines our relationship with God. Nothing is more important than that. And if your job, your profession, your vocation gets in the way of that, you have to quit your job and save your soul," Tobin said. Tobin also said on the show that his 2007 decision to ask Kennedy to voluntarily stop receiving communion because of his pro-abortion stance was not a "punishment." "Every Catholic has certain obligations, it means something to say you are a Catholic. No one is forced to be a Catholic," he said. "If you choose freely to be a Catholic it means you do certain things, and you believe certain things, and I think all I'm trying to say to Congressman Kennedy and others who might be involved, say: if you're a Catholic, live up to your faith. Understand what the Church teaches, accept those teachings, and live that faith. If the church, not just the Catholic Church, but the religious community - if we don't bring these values, this spiritual vision to these discussions, who else will do that?"
Pregnant Pro-Life Advocate Attacked by Abortion Center Worker in Kansas City
Kansas City, KS (LifeNews.com) -- An abortion center employee attacked a pregnant pro-life volunteer outside the Central Family Medicine abortion business in Kansas City, Kansas, while she was outside it. On November 14, 2009, an unidentified abortion center employee came out of the Central Family Medicine abortion facility and began to taunt the pro-lifers who had gathered outside. Her verbal abuse escalated into violence as she rammed her shoulder into sidewalk counselor Jennifer McCoy, who is noticeably six months pregnant. A photograph taken by protest leader Mark Gietzen of the Kansas Coalition for Life shows McCoy recoiling and bracing for the hard impact that occurred a split second later. Police were summoned, but the abortion worker attempted to flee the scene before they could arrive. McCoy followed the woman to keep her from evading the police. After realizing that she could not get away, the worker returned to the abortion center where she hid behind locked doors. Police attempted to enter the abortion center to arrest the woman for battery, but they were denied access by another worker who demanded that the police get a search warrant, then lied to them saying that the woman was not there. McCoy has since been in contact with police, who are pursuing the case. There remains the possibility that the second abortion worker could face criminal charges for impeding a police investigation. "This is yet another example of abortion workers engaging in violent or criminal acts, then acting as if the laws don't apply to them," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We look forward to this woman's impending arrest and conviction with the hope it will serve as a lesson that abortionists and their collaborators are not above the law."
CDC Task Force Promoting Sex Ed Over Abortion Won't Release Report Details
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- An independent task force gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recently issued a report favoring sex education over abstinence is not publicly releasing the data used to generate its conclusion. According to a new CNS News report, a list of the studies the task force examined is available on the CDC web site but the analysis of the studies is not. Irene Ericksen, a member of the review team and researcher with the Institute for Research and Evaluation who issued her own minority report disagreeing with the task force, told the news web site the analysis should be made public. "The Task Force has made public its recommendation statements without also making available to the public the full set of study findings upon which the recommendations are based – both supporting and otherwise," she said. "This prevents the public from scrutinizing the body of evidence underlying the CDC Task Force Recommendations in the same time frame in which the CDC recommendations will influence the decisions of policymakers and public health professionals." They reviewed an analysis of 83 studies of sexual education programs run between 1980 and 2007 and, according to CDC official Randy Elder, determined there "was insufficient evidence" about whether abstinence programs work. Two members of the panel of consultants for the analysis reported that the abstinence education programs in the study produced a statistically significant reduction in teen sexual activity for periods averaging about one year. They produced a minority report saying the majority of the panel dismissed these studies showing positive results for abstinence education.
National Night of Prayer for Life Will See Pro-Life Advocates Offer Abortion Prayers
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Thousands of people in hundreds of locations throughout the nation will unite in prayers for life on December 8 as part of the National Night of Prayer for Life, an effort that is marking its 20th year. Through these pro-life prayers, participants hope to help bring about a conversion of hearts from a pro-abortion to a pro-life mindset. Larry Walsh, a member of the spiritual life committee at Trinity Heights Catholic Church in Sioux City, Iowa, is one of the local coordinators of the event. "The prayers are needed this year more than ever," said Walsh, who cited the call of the U.S. bishops to remove abortion funding and mandates from all health care reform plans. "As our bishops say, 'Abortion is murder. Abortion is not healthcare.' We are not only joining our bishops in their call to end abortion, especially in our healthcare bill, but we are joining with convents, monasteries and parishes – over 700 across the United States - in prayers for life." Walsh continued: "Aborting a child in the womb is wrong. It's murder. We are praying for a change in this culture of death that exists in this nation of ours. Our nation has abundance and prosperity like none other and with that prosperity we have an obligation to help those who cannot help themselves. Who has less of a voice than a child within the womb? I believe the only way we can truly help these innocent, pre-born children is through prayer."
Federal Court: No Review of Order of Canada Award for Abortionist Morgentaler
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- The Federal Court issued a decision this past week striking the application of Frank Chauvin for judicial review of the decision awarding the Order of Canada to abortion practitioner Henry Morgentaler in 2008. Chauvin won the award in 1987 and he took issue with the secretive process by which Morgentaler had been recommended by the Order's Advisory Council. Morgentaler's appointment led to numerous previous recipients returning their honors, several petitions against his conferral, and a national outcry. He pointed out that Morgentaler won the award on a majority vote on the council rather than a unanimous one as is typically the case and that the chair, Justice Beverley McLauchlin, did not recuse herself even thought a Morgentaler lawsuit to make New Brunswick pay for abortions at his center is before her court. Federal Court Prothonotary Kevin Aalto, in the written decision, overturned the lawsuit. "I have been quoted in the media as intending to return my award," said Mr. Chauvin. "I may yet do so, but I first wanted Canadians to have a chance to take a close look at what can happen when an Advisory Council abandons a consensus model and uses the award to advance a highly divisive view, in this case the effective promotion of the tragedy of abortion in Canada." He has not yet decided on whether to appeal.
The Rationing Commission: The Unelected Body That Will Make Medical Decisions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The following is an excerpt from a November 15 Wall St. Journal editorial on the rationing problems with the Senate health care bill: As usual, the most dangerous parts of ObamaCare aren't receiving the scrutiny they deserve—and one of the least examined is a new commission to tell Congress how to control health spending. Democrats are quietly attempting to impose a "global budget" on Medicare, with radical implications for U.S. medicine. Like most of Europe, the various health bills stipulate that Congress will arbitrarily decide how much to spend on health care for seniors every year—and then invest an unelected board with extraordinary powers to dictate what is covered and how it will be paid for. White House budget director Peter Orszag calls this Medicare commission "critical to our fiscal future" and "one of the most potent reforms." On that last score, he's right. Prominent health economist Alain Enthoven has likened a global budget to "bombing from 35,000 feet, where you don't see the faces of the people you kill." As envisioned by the Senate Finance Committee, the commission—all 15 members appointed by the President—would have to meet certain budget targets each year. Starting in 2015, Medicare could not grow more rapidly on a per capita basis than by a measure of inflation. After 2019, it could only grow at the same rate as GDP, plus one percentage point. The theory is to let technocrats set Medicare payments free from political pressure, as with the military base closing commissions. But that process presented recommendations to Congress for an up-or-down vote. Here, the commission's decisions would go into effect automatically if Congress couldn't agree within six months on different cuts that met the same target. The board's decisions would not be subject to ordinary notice-and-comment rule-making, or even judicial review. Read the full editorial here.
Mexico Sees Another State Protect Human Life, Wants National Abortion Ban
Veracruz, Mexico (LifeNews.com) -- Another Mexican state has adopted language to protect unborn human life as a response to the Mexico City legislature approving legal abortions in the nation's capital city. Veracruz, Mexico, on Wednesday became the 17th of the country's 32 states to enact a law defining human life beginning at conception. States began adopting such laws -- most of which make abortion a crime -- in 2008 after Mexico City enacted a law legalizing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Veracruz lawmakers also adopted a proposal requiring the Mexican Congress to consider a constitutional amendment to prohibit abortion that could trump the Mexico City federal district law. Mexico allows any of its states' legislatures to propose a constitutional amendment. If the bicameral Congress and a majority of states support the measure, the amendment is added to the national constitution. Abortion supporters said Wednesday that the amendment stands a good chance of passing because both the majority National Action Party and the Institutional Revolutionary Party supported the state law. The Roman Catholic Church is expected to lobby heavily for the amendment. Noemi Ramirez, director of the Mexican Academy of Human Rights, said that "it is quite probable" that Congress will support the measure. The Veracruz law includes a clause that allows alternative sentencing options, such as mandatory "education programs" rather than jail time, for women convicted of violating the abortion ban.
European Pro-Life Group Submits Legal Papers Supporting Ireland Abortion Ban
Strasbourg, France (LifeNews.com) -- The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) is providing a legal analysis defending the sanctity of human life as the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights prepares to hold a hearing on December 9th in a very closely-watched case (A.B.C. v. Ireland). In this case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will have to decide whether the Irish Constitutional ban of abortion respects the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. Beyond this issue, the Court will have to decide whether an "easy" and "legal" access to abortion can be considered as a "human right" in the Council of Europe's 47 Member States. The ECLJ, which is a third party in this case, filed an amicus brief in November 2008 along with two other pro-life organizations. In October 2009, the ECLJ published a new legal analysis urging the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to protect the rights of the unborn. In this new analysis, the ECLJ insists on the primacy of the right to life within human rights and on the need of respect for national sovereignty. The analysis demonstrates that member States have the sovereign authority to prohibit abortion as a competency stemming from their original responsibility to protect the right to life. The ECLJ contends that it is the natural purpose and duty of the State to protect the life of its people; the people, consequently, hold the right to have their lives protected by the State. Finally, the ECLJ analysis invites the ECHR to consider the protection of the life of the unborn under the fundamental and objective "right to life" perspective, and not within a subjective and varying concept of "privacy."
France Parliament Rejects Legislation Allowing Legalization of Euthanasia
Paris, France (LifeNews.com) -- French parliamentarians rejected the draft of law to make euthanasia legal. Some 326 French deputies voted against the draft and 202 – for. The recommended draft of law defines that any adult having serious health conditions can apply to medical service to having a euthanasia death with a doctor's help. Currently few European states have adopted assisted suicide or euthanasia laws, including Benelux countries, Switzerland; while France, Italy and the UK allow sick people to refuse medical service. The Alliance for Human Life released a statement applauding the vote. The French do not want aggressive treatment. When they understand that aggressive treatment does not include euthanasia, most of our citizens are reassured. We therefore ask that the Leonetti law be known and more fully implemented, which requires a more proactive promotion of palliative care," it said.
South Korea Will Begin Enforcing Abortion Ban in Response to Population Decline
Seoul, South Korea (LifeNews.com) -- South Korean officials may begin to enforce the nation's ban on abortions thanks to a significant population decline taking place there and in other Asian nations like Japan. A demographic implosion now threatens the country's economic stability and is producing worker shortages and concerns that elderly Koreans will not be able to be supported. On Wednesday, the Presidential Council for Future and Vision announced new efforts to increase births "We have been a society that promoted abortion," Kwak Seung-jun of the Presidential Council said. "There are few people who realize abortion is illegal. We must work to create a mood where abortion is discouraged." The government plans to encourage fathers to take child care leave, campaigning against abortion and providing incentives to families with three or more children. The council is focusing on reducing child-rearing expenses, broadening society's acceptance of working and single mothers and increasing the number of people who can become Korean citizens. Korea posted the second-lowest fertility rate in the world, according to the 2009 report by the United Nations Population Fund. The rate was 1.22, just behind Bosnia and Herzegovina's 1.21. Health Minister Jeon Jae-hee talked about the educational campaign that may be undertaken against abortion. "As a minister in charge of the matter, we will sternly crack down on illegal abortions after a grace period," the official said.
Uruguay Could Elect Jose Mujica President, Would Open Door for Legal Abortions
Montevideo, Uruguay (LifeNews.com) -- The people of the South American nation of Uruguay are heading to the polling booths on Sunday to elect a new president and polls show that former radical Jose Mujica is the leading candidate. That's bad news for pro-life advocates in this Catholic nation because Mujica has promised not to veto legislation in Congress that would legalize abortions. The situation is so desperate for pro-life campaigners there that Uruguayan affiliates of Human Life International are asking for prayers before the election and support for his rival Luis A. Lacalle, a former president with the center-right National Party who has been unable to convince voters of the problem. The country's current center-left president, Tabare Vazquez, pleased pro-life advocates by vetoing a bill that would have legalized abortions. Vázquez defied the votes of his party in the Uruguay Congress to expand the nation's abortion law, which currently only allows abortions in cases of protecting the mother's life, rape or extreme poverty. Shortly after his election in 2005, the president said he would veto a bill to legalize abortion despite the fact that members of his own party are the ones behind it. The Senate initially tied on a 15-15 vote in approving the bill but eventually approved it on an 18-13 vote. HLI sent LifeNews.com the following earlier this week, "If the people vote for the Frente Amplio or Broad Front candidate for president, he has promised to legalize abortion-on-demand in Uruguay and will have the votes to do it. If the National Party candidate wins, abortion will be blocked. It is a thousand times easier to prevent legal abortion than it is to reverse it once it has taken root."
Minnesota Woman's Unborn Baby Has Surgery While Still in the Womb
St. Paul, MN (LifeNews.com) -- A Minnesota woman's baby is recovering after doctors performed a rare surgery while the baby was still half in the womb. Jennifer Kuklok calls her daughter Lilyana "a trouper." Lilyana is now 6 weeks old. When her mother had an ultrasound at 20 weeks, doctors discovered a tumor that could kill the baby. The noncancerous tumor stretched through the mouth and connected to the skull base. Once the baby was full-term, doctors partially delivered Lilyana, only pulling her head and shoulders out of the womb. Doctors kept Lilyana attached to the umbilical cord, allowing her to breathe during the procedure. Doctors later did a tracheotomy, so the baby could continue to breathe. They also removed the tumor a couple days later. Lilyana spent another four weeks in the hospital before going home.
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