LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, December 7, 2009
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Current Headlines
• Senate May Vote Monday on Amdt to Cut Health Care Bill Abortion Funding
• Pro-Life Groups Concerned by Mikulski Amendment to Health Care Bill
• Pro-Life Leader Skeptical of Obama's Intentions for Bioethics Commission
• Judge in Notre Dame-Obama Case Allows Appeal Over Pro-Abortion Bias
• Manhattan Declaration Organizer Talks About Statement Against Abortion
• Scientists Publish Study Showing Adult Stem Cells Help Heart Attack Patients
• Catholic League Leader: Pro-Abortion "Catholics for Choice" Should Convert
• Paralyzed British Rugby Player Offers Courageous Example to Disabled
• Pro-Life Women's Group Runs Advertising to Thank Bart Stupak for Amdt
• Former Netherlands Health Minister Says Nation Wrong to OK Euthanasia
• Family Research Council Call Every House in Louisiana Against Abortion Bill
• Michigan Pro-Life Group Becomes National Org Touting Pro-Life Message
• Alaska Abortion Advocates File Lawsuit to Stop Personhood-Abortion Amdt
Don't forget to make a year-end donaton to LifeNews.com. You can click the donation button below to make a donation via PayPal or to use a credit card online.
 Is a Brave New World Upon Us? Attorney and pro-life leader Thomas A. Glessner provides a provocative discussion on this question in light of the direction this nation has taken since Roe v. Wade. Under Roe the ethical concept of personhood was divorced from the humanity of the unborn. To order: www.Amazon.com. |
Senate May Vote Monday on Amendment to Cut Health Care Bill Abortion Funding
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Senate may vote on Monday on an amendment to cut the massive abortion funding found in the Senate's version of the government-run health care bill. With two pro-abortion Republicans expected to defect and not enough Democrats to back the amendment, it is expected to fail.
Sen. Ben Nelson, a pro-life Nebraska Democrat, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, are behind the amendment, which is very similar to the Stupak amendment the House added to its bill.
Senate leader Harry Reid announced today that the Senate will vote on the Nelson amendment on Monday.
Under the terms of the debate on amendments to the government-run legislation, all amendments need 60 votes to receive approval. As a result, most political observers do not expect the Nelson-Hatch amendment to pass.
Just three Democrats -- Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Kent Conrad of North Dakota -- are on record so far supporting an abortion funding ban. Joined by most of the Republican conference, but offset by pro-abortion Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, the combined bipartisan pro-life forces do not appear to have the strength to get to enough votes for the amendment.
Should the Senate defeat the Nelson amendment, that could have implications for passage of the pro-abortion health care bill itself. Last week, Nelson renewed his pledge to filibuster the Senate bill if Stupak-like language isn't included. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Groups Concerned by Reach of Mikulski Amendment to Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Leading pro-life groups are very concerned about the reach of the Mikulski amendment that was recently added to the Senate health care bill. Here is what they told LifeNews.com: The Family Research Council said the amendment authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to include abortion as a "preventive care" in their guidelines. Under the amendment, if the Obama administration or a later administration "decided to include abortion in their guidelines, then all group and individual health plans would be required by law to cover abortion." "Sadly, the Senate voted today to further mandate inclusion of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest network of abortion, in a national health care scheme," said FRC President Tony Perkins. "This is a breach of faith with the American people, roughly 70 percent of whom oppose federally-funded or -subsidized abortion. Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest said, ""Abortion is not 'preventive care.' In this amendment, Sen. Mikulski apparently intends to expand abortion services under the guise of mandated preventive care. This deceptive tactic underscores the need for an amendment that explicitly prohibits the government from mandating that private insurance companies cover abortion under the guise of "preventive care." For the first time in history, the federal government could mandate that private insurance companies cover abortion."
Pro-Life Leader Skeptical of Obama's Intentions for Bioethics Commission
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, last week called on the pro-life majority of Americans to pay close attention to the new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues created by President Barack Obama. "The debate over health care reform has opened many people's eyes to the true nature of President Obama's views on the value of human life," said Rev. Euteneuer. "His plummeting poll numbers are an indication that the more Americans see what he really thinks, the more concerned they are." On December 2, Obama created the new commission, appointing Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania to serve as chair and James W. Wagner, president of Emory University, to serve as vice chair. It is believed that the commission will eventually be composed of 13 members, but it is unclear when the other members will be appointed. "Does anyone think that even one person on this commission will strongly represent the majority of Americans' pro-life views?" said Rev. Euteneuer. "We saw what the president thinks of bioethicists who disagree with him when he fired the previous presidential bioethics commission the day after they lodged a complaint about his policies." "We already know what the president is going to do. He is going to find eleven utilitarians who will carefully furrow their scholarly brows as they tell us that we just have to get used to the idea that some lives aren't worth as much as others. Then he is going to find two 'pro-life Christians' or other religious types who provide religious-sounding rationalizations for this assault on life," said Rev. Euteneuer. "Look at his advisors! Every one who has written on the relevant subjects is pro-abortion, pro-embryonic stem cell research, pro-euthanasia, pro-assisted suicide."
Judge in Notre Dame-Obama Speech Case Allows Appeal Over Pro-Abortion Bias
South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Chicago-based Thomas More Society attorneys appeared in St. Joseph County Criminal Court late last week to argue for dismissal of trespass charges against pro-life advocates because campus police acted improperly. The charges were brought by local prosecutors based on complaints by University of Notre Dame security police during Obama protests last May at the University. In addition to the motion to dismiss, Thomas More Society attorney Tom Dixon argued that Judge Jenny Pitts Manier had an actual or perceived bias based on her prior rulings, her husband's outspoken criticism of Catholic pro-life teachings as a philosophy professor at Notre Dame and other factors. Judge Manier, while denying the bias charges, ruled the prosecution should be halted to allow for an immediate appeal as to whether she should be disqualified from ruling on the merits of the 88 cases. "We're very pleased that Judge Manier has allowed this immediate appeal as it is critical that these vital issues be heard before a fair and impartial tribunal," said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society. "We expect that these charges will be dismissed, if and when the cases go forward, because the Notre Dame security police engaged in blatant viewpoint discrimination, arresting pro-lifers while ignoring demonstrations by Obama supporters. We sincerely hope that Notre Dame will intervene and ask that the charges be dropped." "Universities are supposed to be a place where free speech is welcomed and not silenced," Brejcha continued. "The pro-life movement is the next stage of America's civil rights movement. Notre Dame should not go down in history as another Birmingham, infamous for suppressing demonstrators for exercising their Constitutional rights."
Manhattan Declaration Organizer Talks About New Statement Against Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Princeton professor Robert P. George, talked to National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez recently about the Manhattan Declaraton he helped organize. It promotes the pro-life view and conscience rights on abortion and bioethics issues for medical professionals. "Beginning at a meeting in New York in late September, Christian leaders came together across the historic lines of ecclesial difference — Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox Christians — to bear witness to three foundational principles of justice and the common good," he said. "With respect to each of the foundational principles of justice and the common good addressed in the Manhattan Declaration, important decisions are now being made or soon will be made. These decisions will either uphold or undermine what is just and good. There is no avoiding the issues or evading the decisions." He added: "Forces favoring abortion, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, the redefinition of marriage, and the like see this as a critical moment for advancing their causes. The Obama administration is explicitly with them on some issues and is at least broadly sympathetic on others. Moreover, in the aftermath of the 2006 and 2008 elections, their causes have unprecedented strength in both houses of Congress as well as in many state legislatures. Obviously, they also have great support in the mainstream media and the elite sector of the culture more generally. For too long, the historic traditions of Catholicism, Evangelical Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy have failed to speak formally with a united voice, despite their deep agreement on fundamental questions of morality, justice, and the common good. The Manhattan Declaration provided leaders of these traditions with an opportunity to rectify that."
Scientists Publish Study Showing How Adult Stem Cells Help Heart Attack Patients
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Scientists have published a new study showing even more evidence of the benefits of adult stem cells for heart attack patients. In a newly-published study, scientists from several institutions across the country report that use of adult stem cells can repair hearts damaged from heart attack. The researchers say that it's some of the strongest evidence yet that adult stem cells can turn into new heart cells to repair damaged tissue. The study suggests that adult stem cells, in this case derived from bone marrow, are more flexible than previously thought. The published study looks at 53 patients who had heart attacks within the previous ten days. Patients were injected intravenously with mesenchymal adult stem cells; the cells migrated to the damaged heart and began repair. Patients who received the adult stem cells showed improvement over those who did not receive the cells. According to Dr. Joshua Hare, a University of Miami cardiologist and lead author of the 10-university study: "This clearly did help heal the human heart." The adult stem cells seem to repair heart damage by several mechanisms. Besides forming new heart cells, another cardiologist on the project, Dr. Alan Heldman, notes: "The stem cells take part in the growth of new blood vessels to bring more oxygen to the heart. They help modulate the scarring from the heart attack. They fight inflammation. There's a lot going on." This is just the latest of many published results showing the efficacy of adult stem cells in repairing heart damage. The paper is published in the 8 December 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Catholic League Leader Says Pro-Abortion "Catholics for Choice" Needs to Convert
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued the following remarks to LifeNews.com about a recent ad by Catholics for Choice in the Washington Post: "Last week on MSNBC I debated David Nolan, communications director of Catholics for Choice. At one point, I told him straight out that he wouldn't know what a practicing Catholic was. Then I got specific: his cluelessness was a function of his working for an anti-Catholic organization. When asked to reply, he sheepishly said that he was not the issue. A real man would have taken me on, but only phonies work for this anti-Catholic front group. Funded by the likes of George Soros and the Ford Foundation, Catholics for Choice has twice been condemned as a fraud by U.S. bishops. So when it purports to speak for Catholics, its credibility is on a par with Jews for Jesus speaking for Jews. Yesterday's ad tried to scare the public into thinking that if the health care bill that the bishops want goes through, the sky will fall on women. Catholics for Choice is good at that—always exploiting women to make a cheap political point. The truth is that Catholic-bashing groups cannot believe the clout that our bishops have recently exercised. As a result, they are desperately resorting to demagogic measures, all designed to frighten the uninformed. Christmas is coming. Time for Catholics for Choice to convert."
Paralyzed British Rugby Player Offers Courageous Example to Disabled
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- The London Daily Mail newspaper offered a recent story that tugged at the heartstrings. It reported on the story of Matt King, 22, who was left paralyzed after a spinal injury during a rugby match. The Mail reported, "[F]ive years on, the 22-year-old has graduated with a first-class law degree and won a training contract with a top London firm of solicitors ... Mr King's injuries are even more severe than those of Daniel James, 23, who ended his life at the Swiss Dignitas clinic after being paralyzed in a rugby training session ... In 2007 he became the first quadriplegic to complete the New York Marathon in 2007, using an electric wheelchair controlled by a joystick device that he moved with his chin. He took six and a half hours to complete the course and raised £10,000 for charity." According to SPUC director John Smeaton, Janet Thomas of No Less Human, a group within SPUC which represents people with disabilities, gave her reaction. "This story gives a most encouraging alternative to the other story of Daniel James, a paralyzed rugby player who found life so hopeless that he went to Switzerland to commit suicide. It is a joy to read that Matt King has found a career, which is not only a positive outcome for him but in which his experience of disability will be a positive help to others in his professional work. Matt King's story shows that society should offer positive help to live to those who have severe, or terminal, illnesses, disabling accidents and genetic disabilities. Life can still be sweet even under the most severe difficulties. There is light at the end of the longest tunnel."
Pro-Life Women's Group Runs Advertising to Thank Bart Stupak for Amendment
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life women's group, has raised tens of thousands of dollars so they could put up radio ads thanking Democrat Bart Stupak and Republican Joe Pitts for their pro-life amendment to the House health care bill last month to remove abortion funding. The ads say: "This holiday season, the people of Northern Michigan can be thankful that they are represented by a principled and effective congressman: Bart Stupak. Congressman Stupak had the courage to lead the fight in the House of Representatives to stop federal dollars from being spent for abortions. We can trust Bart Stupak to protect unborn children and women. And for that, we can be thankful. Paid for by Susan B. Anthony List, inc." Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the group, emailed LifeNews.com about the ads and those from NARAL attacking him. "Unfortunately Stupak's leadership did not come without a price – since his pro-life legislative success, abortion advocates have sought to tear him and his pro-life allies down. They resorted to campaigns of intimidation, including a effort to send coat hangers to Democratic supporters of the Stupak amendment. I urge pro-life members to stand strong against the desperate tactics of the abortion lobby. Members who support Stupak also represent the majority of their constituents. Americans – women included – reject the radical feminist vision of an abortion for every home, at government expense."
Former Netherlands Health Minister Says Nation Was Wrong to OK Euthanasia
Amsterdam, Netherlands (LifeNews.com) -- In a recent interview, the former health minister in the Netherlands says the nation was wrong to have legalized euthanasia. Els Borst, the Dutch Health Minister from 1994 to 2002, was the original sponsor of the nation's euthanasia bill that received approval in 2001. By 2008, some 2,331 cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide were reported. According to the NRC newspaper, "Els Borst, the health minister at the time the euthanasia law was adopted and a doctor herself, confided in The [a writer] that she too thought it was wrong to put euthanasia before palliative care." The newspaper also indicated, "Among the general practitioners, who are on the front-line of euthanasia, a reluctance against assisted suicide began to take root. One of them was Amsterdam general practitioner Joke Groen-Evers. A long-time supporter of euthanasia, Groen-Evers changed her mind after 2001 and began to advise patients and colleague against euthanasia. She hoped good palliative care would make euthanasia obsolete."
Family Research Council Will Call Every House in Louisiana Against Abortion Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As Congress prepares to vote on a health care overhaul plan that promotes and funds abortion, the Family Research Council announced last week an eight week campaign to call all household phones in Louisiana to survey each household on provisions of the Senate health care bill. These include abortion funding, rationing, higher taxes, and government-run health care, or the public option. Survey participants who express opposition to the so-called health care reform will be given contact information for the office of Senator Mary Landrieu. The full survey results will be released at a later date. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement to LifeNews.com: "Senator Mary Landrieu continues to waver between the arm twisting party bosses in Washington and her constituents who overwhelmingly oppose this government takeover of health care. The preliminary early results of our phone call campaign indicate that Senator Landrieu should take seriously the intense opposition that her constituents have to abortion funding, rationing, and higher taxes within the Senate health care bill."
Michigan Pro-Life Group Becomes National Organization Touting Pro-Life Message
Dexter, MI (LifeNews.com) -- After almost a decade of success bringing the pro-life message to Southeast Michigan through the initiative of youth, Pinckney Pro-Life (PPL) is taking its message of hope across the nation under a new name - Impact73.org. "This change in name and logo stems from PPL's longstanding goal of sharing our message with a wider audience," PPL Director Kathy Hastings told LifeNews.com. Impact73.org refers to the group's mission to impact changes in the hearts and minds of Americans in the aftermath of the 1973 court case of Roe v. Wade by empowering youth to build a culture of life. While many pro-life organizations work in the political arena, Impact73.org's goal is to directly reach the "Roe v. Wade" generation. It is the belief of Impact73.org staff and supporters that it is people under the age of 35 that are going to end abortion. Impact73.org franchises PPL's three largest projects - Project Lifeboard; LIFEtalks; and participation in the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. Experiencing significant success with these projects, PPL has already been able to duplicate that success in many areas including Nashville, Tennessee where eight Lifeboard billboards have gone up in high-traffic areas. Rachel's Vineyard, an organization that assists post-abortive men and women, and crisis pregnancy hotlines frequently report that they receive calls from people who have seen the Lifeboards and that these people want help and information.
Alaska Abortion Advocates File Lawsuit to Stop Personhood-Abortion Amendment
Juneau, AK (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates have recently filed a lawsuit to challenge the personhood amendment some Alaska pro-life advocates hope to get on the state ballot. The suit charges that the measure's language is too broad and could have significant unintended legal consequences if enacted. It argues that the ballot measure should not have been certified by state Lieutenant Governor Craig Campbell and seeks to halt the collection of signatures to place the measure on the ballot. The suit is supported by the ACLU of Alaska and plaintiffs include Vic Fischer, who is a former Alaska state legislator and delegate to the state constitutional convention. The proposed language of the initiative states that "all human beings, from the beginning of their biological development as human organisms, including the single-cell embryo, regardless of age, health, level of functioning, condition of dependency or method of reproduction, shall be recognized as legal persons in the state of Alaska." The Associated Press reported that state Attorney General Dan Sullivan suggested that the petition to be circulated in support of the proposed initiative include a disclaimer stating that the measure "would not amend or repeal existing state law regulating abortion, but could impact some areas of the law, including criminal law, to extend rights and protections prior to birth." The Alaska initiative's supporters must gather 32,734 valid signatures in order for it to be certified for the state's ballot.
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