LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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Current Headlines
LATE-BREAKING NEWS:
Pro-Life Advocates Win Big on Election Night With Virginia, New Jersey Victories
• House Dems' Phony Amendment Claims to Remove Abortion From Health Care
• Vote on Health Care Likely Next Week With Fake Abortion Compromise
• New Study: 85 Percent of Women Say Abortions Cause Mental Health Issues
• Senate May Vote This Week on Pro-Abortion Obama Judge David Hamilton
• Pro-Lifers Spent Years Lobbying Director Who Quit Planned Parenthood
• Planned Parenthood Bashes Bishops for Opposing Pro-Abortion Health Care
• Company Basing Wrinkle Cream on Abortion Reportedly Misleads Critics
• Americans Would Vote Against Obama Now, Health Care Rating Down
• Liberal Groups Pressure Reid to Allow Vote on Pro-Abortion Dawn Johnsen
• Canadian Poll Shows Concerns of Hurting Disabled by OKing Assisted Suicide
• Abortion Activist Accepts Probation for Assaulting Pro-Life Advocate
• British Parents Battle at Court Over Disabled Boy, May be Denied Treatment
House Democrats' Phony Amendment Claims to Remove Abortion From Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- House Democrats are working on yet another phony amendment that they claim will remove government funding of abortions from the health care reform bill. However, it appears the Ellsworth amendment does nothing to remove the massive new abortion-funding program in H.R. 3962. The new bill that Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled last week and that the House is expected to vote on later this week funds abortions with taxpayer dollars in two ways. First, it sets up the public option -- a government-run health care plan that will pay for abortions -- and it funds abortions by giving members of the public affordability credits that can be used to pay for abortions. Led by Rep. Bart Stupak, a pro-life Democrat from Michigan, pro-life groups were hoping Pelosi would allow a vote on an authentic amendment that would curb all abortion funding in the bill. Pelosi has proposed rules for debate on the health care bill that prohibit Stupak from offering his amendment. Instead, Democratic leaders will put forward a manager's amendment that will contain language crafted jointly by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a pro-abortion stalwart from Connecticut, and Rep. Brad Ellsworth, a pro-life Democrat from Indiana who is in jeopardy of losing that descriptor. At a caucus meeting on Monday night, Democratic leaders presented the draft text of Ellsworth-DeLauro amendment and the changes it makes in the abortion-funding provisions of the bill are strictly cosmetic. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact Rep. Ellsworth at 202-225-4636 and urge him to not participate in creating a phony amendment that does not stop abortion funding in health care. Also, contact your member of Congress and urge opposition to the Ellsworth amendment (or the manager's amendment) and ask for a vote on the Stupak amendment to truly ban abortion funding. Find contact information at http://www.House.gov
Vote on Health Care Likely Next Week With Fake Last-Minute Abortion Compromise
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A top House leader said today that lawmakers will likely push back a vote on the pro-abortion health care bill from Thursday or this weekend into the beginning part of next week. When the vote, members of the House will likely be considering a last-minute phony compromise on abortion funding. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer predicted today that the House will approve a health care bill by next Wednesday, with a vote likely coming on Tuesday. "I'm confident of prevailing and I'm confident of prevailing before Veterans Day," the pro-abortion Maryland Democrat told reporters today, according to Politico. However, in order to obtain enough votes -- because the legislation is short by as many as seven votes due to abortion funding -- Democratic leaders are working to craft a last-minute compromise to peel off enough pro-life Democrats. As LifeNews.com reported earlier today, pro-abortion Democrat Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and pro-life Democrat Brad Ellsworth of Indiana are working on phony language that claims to ban abortion funding but doesn't. In comments late today, Hoyer said he's "reasonably confident" that these phony changes to the bill will make it "very clear that any money spent on the issue of termination of pregnancy will be spent not by the government but by individuals." But Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, who already broke down the sham Ellsworth compromise amendment for LifeNews.com earlier in the day, says the amendment will be an eleventh-hour fraud. Full story at LifeNews.com
New Study Shows 85 Percent of Women Say Abortions Cause Mental Health Issues
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new report from researchers at a university in New Zealand indicates 85 percent of women who had abortions report negative mental health issues as a result. The report is the latest from professor David Fergusson and his team showing abortions cause problems for women. The University of Otago team examined the medical history of over 500 women and concluded having an abortion generally "leads to significant distress in some" women who have them. It noted women reporting adverse reactions to their abortions were up to 80 percent more likely to have mental health problems and risk of mental illness was "proportional to the degree of distress" associated with the abortion. The study, which appears in the latest issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, examined data from women who had been interviewed six times between the ages of 15 and 30 and who were asked if they were pregnant and, if so, the outcome of the pregnancy. More than 85 percent of women reported negative reactions to their abortions including sorrow, sadness, guilt, regret, grief and disappointment. The study revealed that women who have abortions face more negative mental health problems resulting from that pregnancy outcome as compared with women who keep their baby and carry to term. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate May Vote This Week on Pro-Abortion Obama Federal Judge David Hamilton
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- While its work on a pro-abortion health care bill drags on and on, the Senate may vote this week on President Barack Obama's first judicial pick. Senate Democrats may open the debate on the nomination of pro-abortion federal judge David Hamilton for a spot on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Anticipating a vote, pro-life Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on Friday to fellow lawmakers about his opposition to Hamilton. He said he opposed Hamilton's belief that judges should effectively amend the Constitution - "writing footnotes to the Constitution," as Hamilton calls it -- through evolving case law. In June, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to approve Hamilton with Democrats voting yes and Republicans no. The appeals court handles cases involving pro-life issues from Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, which is important because Hamilton has upset pro-life advocates with his pro-abortion decisions. That includes a series of rulings over seven years that prevented Indiana from implementing its informed consent law that would give women information about abortion's risks and alternatives. 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
Pro-Lifers Spent Years Lobbying Abortion Activist Who Quit Planned Parenthood
Bryan, TX (LifeNews.com) -- News that the director of a local Planned Parenthood abortion business has drawn national interest and encouraged members of the pro-life community. With the "rest of the story," a pro-life leader tells LifeNews.com that the decision to quit Planned Parenthood wasn't a sudden reversal for Abby Johnson. Johnson had been the director of the Planned Parenthood center in the city that is home to Texas A&M University -- until she turned in her resignation on October 6. She says she ultimately had a change of heart after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure and realizing that abortion destroyed the life of the baby. But David Bereit, the national director of the 40 Days for Life pro-life prayer campaign, told LifeNews.com on Monday that there is more to the story -- that he and local pro-life advocates had been doing the legwork for years to set up Johnson's ultimate decision to leave the abortion business. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The president of Planned Parenthood has a bone to pick with the nation's Catholic bishops: she is upset they would urge Catholics to oppose the House health care reform bill because it includes abortion funding. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood essentially admits that abortion funding is in the bill. In two emails to supporters in recent days, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards admits that the bills in Congress all contain taxpayer funding of abortions. "Because of relentless pressure from dedicated supporters like you, every version of the bills out there right now is free of the dangerous amendments anti-choice members of Congress tried to attach to health care reform," she says. "We've worked closely with pro-choice lawmakers to defeat dozens of proposed amendments." She said as many as 220,000 abortion advocates wrote to Congress based on action alerts in its emails urging for abortion funding to remain in the bills. Congressional offices also received another 18,000 phone calls from the Planned Parenthood system for abortion funding. However, after learning that the nation's Catholics bishops are making good on their promise to wage an all-out campaign against the bills because they fund abortions, Richards is hopping mad. Full story at LifeNews.com
Company Basing Wrinkle Cream on Cells From Abortion Reportedly Misleads Critics
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The company that makes a cream to combat wrinkles that was created using cells from the tissue of at least one baby killed in an abortion is facing accusations of misleading critics upset about it. Neocutis, a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on dermatology and skin care, has come under fire. The pro-life group Children of God for Life, whose mission is to monitor the use of tissue from babies victimized by abortions in products like the Neocutis wrinkle cream, exposed the company last week. Neocutis' key ingredient known as "Processed Skin Proteins" was developed at the University of Luasanne from the skin tissue of an unborn baby who was killed in an abortion at 14 weeks gestation. Subsequently, a working cell bank was established, containing several billion cultured skin cells to produce the human growth factor needed to restore aging skin. Debi Vinnedge, the head of the pro-life organization, tells LifeNews.com today she is dismayed by Neocutis' response to the criticism. She says thousands of angry consumers have begun taking action by contacting the company and saying they will no longer purchase its products. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact Neocutis at Neocutis Inc., 3053 Fillmore Street # 140, San Francisco CA 94123 and call 866-636-2884 or see http://www.neocutis.com
Americans Would Vote Against Obama Now, Health Care Rating and Approval Down
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll shows that, on the day voters head to the polls in several states for off-year elections, Americans would vote against pro-abortion President Barack Obama for president. Another survey shows his approval rating down as well as his rating on handling health care. Americans are a little less enthusiastic about another presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds 45% of adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to vote for Obama if he was up for reelection now as opposed to 2012. But 49 percent say they would be unlikely to vote for Obama now. The results are interesting, especially given that they don't come from only registered or likely voters -- which would likely show worse numbers for the pro-abortion president. Thirty-four percent of adults would be very likely to support Obama, while 40% say they would be very unlikely to do so. The question did not specify whom the president would be running against and the results contrast with the 53 percent who voted for Obama in the 2008 presidential election (46 percent voted for his opponent John McCain). Full story at LifeNews.com
Liberal Groups Pressure Harry Reid to Allow Vote on Pro-Abortion Dawn Johnsen
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Liberal groups are putting pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow a vote on embattled Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen. The Obama administration said last month it has no plans to withdraw the nomination and liberal groups want Reid to schedule a vote. Johnsen, if approved by the Senate, would serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel in the Obama administration. She is a professor at the Indiana University School of Law, but she is also a longtime abortion advocate and worked for one of the leading abortion advocacy groups and her radical pro-abortion stance has held up her selection. The pro-abortion activist has come under fire for calling women "fetal containers" and comparing pregnancy with slavery. She has also come under fire for labeling pregnant women "losers in the contraceptive lottery" and comparing pro-lifers to the Klu Klux Klan. Last week, a report in The Hill indicated 40 organizations have called on Reid to schedule a vote and they are upset Johnsen's nomination has waited for eight months even with 60 Democrats controlling the chamber. Full story at LifeNews.com
Canadian Poll Shows Concerns of Hurting Disabled by Legalizing Assisted Suicide
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll conducted by the polling firm Environics for a Canadian pro-life group shows residents of Canada support legalizing assisted suicide, but do so with considerable reservations. The poll finds 61% said they favored legalization if a patient consents but large majorities also have concerns. Support for assisted suicide included 75% of Quebecers but that support drops to 56% in Ontario, 52% in Atlantic Canada and 51% in Saskatchewan. However, the poll also found 70% of Canadians worried that if legalization occurs, sick, disabled, or elderly persons would be euthanized without their consent. In addition, 56% were concerned that elderly persons would be pressured to accept euthanasia due to rising health care costs. "Outside of Quebec support drops dramatically and is tempered by fears about how vulnerable groups will be affected," says Delores Doherty of LifeCanada, the pro-life group that commissioned the survey. "The idea that Canadians are clamoring for euthanasia is not accurate, despite the impression that may have been left from some polls." Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Activist Accepts Six Months' Probation for Assaulting Pro-Life Advocate
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- An abortion activist has accepted a sentence of six months probation for her part in an attack on a pro-life man in Arizona who was holding a pro-life sign that apparently upset her and another pro-abortion women. In the September incident, 69-year-old Johnny Wallace was attacked by two women as he held two pro-life signs condemning the racist undertones of abortion and Planned Parenthood. Wallace was alone in front of City Hall on the busiest street in town at the time of the attack. He was known to take up position at the spot most every day to make sure members of the community were reminded of the problems associated with abortion. His two signs read "Abortion kills more black Americans in four days than the Klan killed in 150 years," and "Life begins at conception and ends at Planned Parenthood." Wallace was approached from behind by two women who began by yelling profanities at him. One then attempted to take away and destroy his sign. After Wallace was wrestled to the ground, the other woman joined the attack. Full story at LifeNews.com
British Parents Battle at High Court Over Disabled Boy, May be Denied Treatment
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Parents in Britain are battling at the nation's high court in the case of Baby RB, a disabled boy whose father is opposing attempts by a hospital trust to deny him life-sustaining treatment. The trust argues that Baby RB's quality of life is so low due to congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS) that it is not in his best interests to stay alive. The mother in the case is defending her decision in court to supporting the doctors' recommendation to terminate the one-year-old baby's life support. The boy has CMS, a condition that severely limits limb movement and the ability to breathe independently and he has been hospitalized since birth. His father, who is separated from the boy's mother, opposes taking his life by removing the life support. The hospital trust which provides his care has taken the case to the High Court and, if the lawsuit is successful, it could be the first in which a hospital is allowed to remove life support over a parent's objections for someone who is not brain damaged. Full story at LifeNews.com
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