LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, November 6, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Obama Violates Pledge, Heads to House to Promote Pro-Abortion Health Care
• House GOP Leader Says Health Care Bill Requires Monthly Abortion Premium
• Pelosi Hedges on Votes on Amendments on Abortion Funding in Health Care
• AARP Backs House Health Care Bill Despite Death Panels, Assisted Suicide
• Planned Parenthood Director Who Quit Pressured to Meet Abortion Quotas
• New Boycott List Shows Companies Backing Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz
• Abortion Practitioner Admits "Yes I Am" Killing Unborn Children in Abortions
• Huckabee Tops Palin and Romney for Republican Presidential Nod in 2012
• Post-Abortion Women Say Abortion-Mental Health Risk Link Needs Attention
• NBC's Surprising Law and Order Show Brings Some Order to Abortion Debate
• Baltimore City Council Takes Step to Target Pregnancy Centers Over Abortion
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Obama Violates Pledge, Heads to House to Promote Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama told Congress and the American people in September that his "plan" for health care reform didn't include abortion funding. Yet, Obama is headed to Capitol Hill tomorrow to push the House health care reform bill that includes massive abortion funding.
The White House has yet to confirm the details of the Friday meetings that were initially reported by the Associated Press.
However, it appears Obama will meet with House Democrats who have reservations about the bill -- which means Obama will meet with pro-life and moderate Democrats who need more arm twisting because they oppose the abortion funding in HR 3962.
That would appear to run counter to Obama's pledge to support a health care reform bill that did not force Americans to pay for abortions with government funds.
During an address to Congress in September, Obama said, "One more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions." Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact your member of the House immediately and urge a no vote on the Rule and HR 3962 because the health care bill contains massive abortion funding. Get contact information at http://www.House.gov.
House GOP Leader Says Health Care Bill Requires Monthly Abortion Premium
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- House Republican Leader John Boehner has found another way to alert people to the abortion funding found in the House health care reform bill that will receive votes Friday and Saturday. Boehner says the bill will results in a monthly abortion premium that taxpayers will be forced to pay.
"Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life - not end it," he says in a widely-distributed press release today.
Boehner points out that, on line 17, p. 110, section 222 under "Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed," the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan.
"The Speaker's plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions," he notes.
"What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan," Boehner says, noting that it appears on 16, page 96, section 213, under "Insurance Rating Rules."
"The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services," he says. "Section 213 describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run plan. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month." Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Advocates Excited by Defeat of Abortion Backers in Virginia, New Jersey
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- After three days of machinations on a fake amendment that pro-life advocates are concerned will be added to the House health care reform bill that claims to -- but won't -- ban abortion funding, now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggests there may be no vote on any amendments.
LifeNews.com has focused on the new Ellsworth amendment that pro-life groups say is a fraud because it employs accounting gimmicks to make it appear taxpayer dollars won't be used to pay for abortions.
Pelosi hinted today at her weekly press conference that there may be no vote on the Ellsworth amendment or on the authentic amendment from pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak, which would truly ban abortion funding.
"How do you know that? No. We may not have any amendments," Pelosi said, according to The Hill, when asked about the amendment from Brad Ellsworth, a pro-life congressman from Indiana who is losing favor with pro-life groups because of the sham. "That decision has not been made. You may know something I don't know." Full story at LifeNews.com
AARP Backs House Health Care Bill Despite Death Panels, Assisted Suicide Issues
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's most prominent organization for seniors is expected to formalize its endorsement of the House health care reform bill today. The backing from AARP for the bill, which includes massive abortion funding, comes despite concerns about death panels and assisted suicide.
The House is expected to vote Saturday on the bill and, when it does, it will have the backing of the powerful seniors group.
"We started this debate more than two years ago with the twin goals of making coverage affordable to our younger members and protecting Medicare for Seniors," said AARP CEO Barry Rand in a written statement.
"We've read the Affordable Health Care for America Act and we can say with confidence that it meets those goals with improved benefits for people in Medicare and needed health insurance market reforms to help ensure every American can purchase affordable health coverage," Rand added.
But, pro-life advocates can say with confidence that the bill also presents a myriad of concerns for seniors.
The new bill, H.R. 3962, contains the controversial "death panels" panned in the previous legislation and direct taxpayer-funded promotion of assisted suicide in the states where it is currently legal.
HR 3962 contains two clear end-of-life provisions -- including one that requires insurance companies to distribute advance directives and other planning tools to all who are insured on the new government-run exchange.
The other allows Medicare reimbursement for optional end-of-life planning consultation.
Both provisions appear to exclude assisted suicide from the consultations and advance directives, but those exclusions have no meaning in the Washington and Oregon (and possibly soon in Montana) where assisted suicides are legal. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Director Who Quit Was Pressured to Meet Abortion Quotas
Bryan, TX (LifeNews.com) -- The former Texas-based Planned Parenthood director who recently quit after seeing an ultrasound video of an abortion says high Planned Parenthood officials wanted her center to meet quotas for the number of abortions done. Abby Johnson had been the director of the Planned Parenthood in Bryan/College Station.
She turned in her resignation on October 6 and watching an ultrasound of an abortion capped off years of pro-life advocates urging her to quit.
Now, Johnson tells WorldNetDaily that Planned Parenthood officials were pushing her to keep abortion numbers high and that she, in turn, pushed employees to meet abortion goals as well.
"There are definitely client goals," she said. "We'd have a goal every month for abortion clients and for family planning clients."
She said her facility did abortions every other Saturday but began increasing the number of abortions in order to increase revenues. One method involved increasing the number of abortions done with the dangerous mifepristone abortion drug.
"One of the ways they were able to up the number of patients that they saw was they started doing the RU-486 chemical abortions all throughout the week," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Planned Parenthood watchdog has released an updated list of the corporations and companies that provide direct funding for the abortion business. Life Decisions International identifies corporations that are boycott targets due to their support for the biggest abortion company in the world. The group's chairman, Thomas Strobhar, tells LifeNews.com today that boycotts work as at least 231 corporations have stopped funding Planned Parenthood as a result of LDI's boycott project.
It is estimated that the boycott has cost Planned Parenthood more than $40 million since LDI started its campaign nearly 17 years ago.
"This should serve as a testament to those who thought it impossible to change corporate philanthropic behavior," he said.
New boycott targets, appearing on the pre-Christmas 2009 edition of the Planned Parenthood boycott list include Buffalo Wild Wings (restaurants), Estée Lauder (cosmetics/personal care products), Computer Sciences Corporation (information technology), and United Parcel Service (shipping services).
Companies that continue as subjects of the pro-life boycott include EBay, Wells Fargo (including Wachovia), Nike, Time Warner (HBO, AOL, etc.), Bank of America, Walt Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Lost Arrow (Patagonia, etc.), Chevron, and Nationwide Insurance, and Sonic (restaurants), among others. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Practitioner Admits "Yes I Am" Killing Unborn Children During Abortions
Dallas, TX (LifeNews.com) -- The late-term abortion practitioner at the new abortion center in Dallas has admitted in a shocking interview that he kills unborn children during abortions. Curtis Boyd is one of the few abortion practitioners to admit what he is doing, but he has no qualms with his job.
Boyd opened the first abortion center in Dallas in 1973 after the Supreme Court handed down the roe v. Wade decision allowing virtually unlimited abortions.
In an interview with WFAA yesterday after news surfaced that he re-opened his late-term abortion center, Southwestern Women's Surgery Center, in the huge metro area last week after more than a year following the closure of the Aaron's abortion facility, he makes a startling admission.
"Am I killing?" Boyd said. "Yes, I am. I know that."
He told WFAA that he is a former Baptist ordained minister who is now a part of the pro-abortion Unitarian Universalist church who says he prays often about the abortions he does.
"I'll ask that the spirit of this pregnancy be returned to God with love and understanding," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Huckabee Again Tops Palin and Romney for Republican Presidential Nod in 2012
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Another new poll has pro-life former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee leading both former governors Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney for the 2012 Republican nomination to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama. Huckabee led the way in a previous poll sponsored by Rasmussen Reports.
The new Gallup survey, released today, asked Republicans to say whether they would like any of several potential presidential candidates.
Some 71 percent of Republicans say they would seriously consider voting for Huckabee while the same 65 percent say they would consider Romney or Palin, both of whom were pro-life candidates in 2008.
A majority of Republicans also say they would seriously consider voting for Newt Gingrich, but far fewer say they are currently ready to support the lesser-known Tim Pawlenty or Haley Barbour, all of whom are pro-life.
Just 25 percent of Republicans said they would not consider supporting Huckabee, compared with 31 percent who said that of Romney, 33 percent of Palin, 35 percent of Gingrich, and a larger 48 percent of Pawlenty and 52 percent of Barbour.
Among all Americans, the lineup is exactly the same with Huckabee leading Romney, Palin coming in third and Gingrich fourth of the candidates all Americans would favor regardless of party. Full story at LifeNews.com
Post-Abortion Women Say Abortion-Mental Health Risk Link Study Needs Attention
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A national organization for women who regret their abortions says a new study showing a link between abortion and adverse mental health issues needs more publicity. The Silent No More Awareness campaign is responding to the latest New Zealand study showing 85 percent of women having adverse effects.
As LifeNews.com reported earlier this week, the new 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.
The report indicates that 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. Women having abortions had rates of mental health problems "approximately 1.4 to 1.8 times higher than women not exposed to abortion."
That information, says George Forney, the co-director of Silent No More and a post-abortive woman herself, needs more publicity.
"The New Zealand study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, in its own words calls into question whether abortions can be justified for mental health reasons," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
NBC's Surprising Law and Order Show Brings Some Order to the Abortion Debate
by Father Frank Pavone
If you are tired about how the secular media and entertainment industry always slant anything that has to do with abortion in a pro-abortion direction, take 42 minutes and click on www.priestsforlife.org/tv/lawandorder.htm.
You'll see an episode of "Law and Order" that aired in the Fall and that delighted pro-lifers and upset pro-aborts.
The episode was based on the killing of abortionist George Tiller. But unlike many news reports, which go from there to simply paint the killer as a "pro-life fanatic" and the pro-life position itself as fanaticism leading to violence, the "Law and Order" episode actually brought some balance into the debate.
First of all, in the episode, the killer is permitted to make a defense based on the intention of saving a life. Now pro-life people rightly proclaim that unborn children are real lives, and they also know that this fact doesn't justify killing an abortionist. Yet the fictional courtroom in this episode allowed more than real courtrooms normally do when it comes to the abortion debate.
And as the courtroom drama unfolds, we catch a glimpse of the ambivalence of the American people when faced with the reality of abortion. Moreover, we catch a glimpse of the extremism of abortion itself and of the movement that supports it. Full story at LifeNews.com
Baltimore City Council Takes First Step to Target Pregnancy Centers Over Abortion
Baltimore, MD (LifeNews.com) -- The Baltimore City Council has taken the first step in favor of a proposal that would target pregnancy centers by making them post a sign saying they do not offer abortions or provide contraception. It contains no stipulations for abortion centers saying they don't provide alternatives.
City Council Bill 09-0406 would fine pregnancy centers $500 per day if they do not comply with the city ordinance.
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and 10 members of the council are sponsoring a measure that pro-life advocates say is at the behest of Planned Parenthood and NARAL and is in the council's judiciary committee.
Rob Warlick of the Family Protection Lobby writes that the bill 09-0406 passed the city's Judiciary and Legislative committee this past Monday and now moves to second reading before the entire City Council, which is slated for November 16.
"A public hearing was held Tuesday October 27th in the Judiciary and Legislative Committee at City Hall. Representatives from NARAL and Planned Parenthood testified in support of the Harassment Bill (groups that are protected from any effect of the legislation)," Warlick writes. Full story at LifeNews.com
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