LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Obama Meets With Dems to Map Strategy for Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
• Democrats Facing Backlash for Hiding Talks on Pro-Abortion Health Care
• Pro-Life Groups: Contact Congress in Person to Stop Abortion/Health Care
• Evangelical Leaders Place Abortion Atop List of Moral Concerns Facing US
• Mitt Romney Will Decide on 2012 Run After Congressional Elections
• Pro-Life Group to Pressure Pro-Life Democrats to Hold on Abortion
• New Book: Pro-Life Movement Won't Stop Abortion Without Leaders, Unity
• Senate Race Sees Brown Pull Close in Massachusetts, Impacts Health Care
• Christian Group: Pro-Life Advocates Faced Attacks, Discrimination in 2009
• British Doctor Faces Hearing for Illegal Late-Term Abortion in Spain
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Obama Meets With Democrats to Map Strategy for Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama met with top Congressional Democrats today to iron out the strategy to merge the House and Senate health care bills and get a final measure approved. Meanwhile, the White House defended a plan to merge the bills behind closed doors instead of an open conference committee process.
Obama met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in the Oval Office and with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin joining via telephone.
Although they did not share the details of the meeting, Obama and top Democrats are expected to use informal, back-room negotiations to get a final bill without using the conference committee process.
That's because the process opens up the pro-abortion health care bill to more filibuster attempts in the Senate that could see the defeat of the legislation or postponing it long enough that it can't be approved. The process has come under fire from Republicans and pro-life advocates and even CSPAN got involved in the debate by sending a letter asking to cover the conference committee.
As a candidate, Obama pledged during a presidential debate in January 2008 that he would be "bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are." Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats Facing Backlash for Hiding Talks on Pro-Abortion Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Congressional Democrats are facing a backlash after news broke yesterday that they intend to move forward with plans to ditch a formal conference committee. Today, CSPAN, the cable network that covers Congress, urged Democrats to open the process to public scrutiny.
The conference committee process is important because it will determine the wording of the final bill the House and Senate will consider and whether or not it will force taxpayers to fund hundreds of thousands of abortions.
As LifeNews.com reported, House and Senate Democrats are expected to use a "ping-pong" strategy that has them informally working on a final bill that can get enough votes in each chamber instead of publicly hammering out the final bill.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Harry Reid, CSPAN represents the views of most Americans who don't want to see the process become a backroom deal behind closed doors.
C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb asked them to "open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage."
"Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American," Lamb added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Groups: Contact Congress in Person to Stop Abortion in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Busy signals, full voicemail boxes and bounced emails -- those are some of the responses pro-life advocates are getting when contacting Congress to urge a health care bill free from abortion funding. After weeks of attempting to get through, pro-life groups are urging people to rely on personal contacts.
Frustrated by their inability to connect via phone and email with members of the House and Senate, some pro-life advocates have given up hope in getting their message heard.
But leading pro-life groups say there are other ways.
Members of the Stop the Abortion Mandate Coalition (of which LifeNews.com is a member) are now urging pro-lifers to visit district offices while their elected officials are in town for holiday recess.
Since Congress is so overwhelmed by the negative response to current healthcare legislation that funds abortion and lines of communication have been shut down, we are urging our own members to visit their district offices while their Members of Congress are at home during the winter recess, Kristan Hawkins, the director of Students for Life of America, told LifeNews.com today. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new internal survey of evangelical pastors and leaders across the country reveals that they place abortion at the top of the list of moral issues facing the nation. The National Association of Evangelicals released the results of its internal issues survey on Monday.
The Evangelical Leaders Survey is a monthly poll of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals.
The board includes the heads of Christian denominations, pastors and representatives of a wide array of evangelical organizations that include missions groups, colleges and universities, and book and literature publishers.
The poll found abortion in a three-way tie for the top issue along with moral relativism and mistreatment of others.
While there were some responses that specified secularization, homosexuality, pornography and other concerns, they were not at the top of the list, Leah Anderson, president of the NAE, told LifeNews.com today. "The top three reflected a majority of responses and were themselves almost a three-way tie. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mitt Romney Will Decide on 2012 Presidential Run After Congressional Elections
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he will decide after the 2010 Congressional elections whether to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, ran as a pro-life candidate against eventual nominee John McCain.
Romney is one of several Republicans considering a bid against Obama and consistently polls in the top three in most surveys of Republicans and American voters.
He has ranked as one of the top potential candidates along with pro-life former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
In a new interview with Fox News slated to air Wednesday, Romney discusses his plans.
"It's always a possibility, and you keep the options open, but, you concentrate on the task ahead, for me that's trying to get some good people elected in 2010," he says on the Fox News program "Fox and Friends." "And, I know once that's done the next item on the agenda is what's 2012 going to be; and, Ann and I will give that some thought and make the decision then," he added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Group to Pressure Pro-Life Democrats to Hold on Abortion, Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life group says it will think outside the box for ways to pressure pro-life Democrats in the House to hold firm against the pro-abortion health care bill in Congress. The organization plans a slate of billboards and mobile trucks to remind lawmakers what's at stake in the monumental debate.
With the House and Senate passing two very different bills when it comes to health care and funding hundreds of thousands of abortions, Democrats must merge the bills.
If they retain the abortion funding in the Senate bill, pro-life Democrats in the House, known as Blue Dogs, will be counted on to hold fast to their promise to change their vote from yes to no if abortion funding is included.
The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform will begin to operate graphic billboard trucks in the congressional districts of specially selected members of the House this week. The tour will end when both chambers vote on the final version of the health care bill.
The billboard trucks will display large abortion photos in a campaign to remind voters that abortion is not health care and consequently should not be federally funded as an element of health care reform, the group informed LifeNews.com today. The pictures will appear next to a photo of the lawmaker in question. Full story at LifeNews.com
New Book: Pro-Life Movement Won't Stop Abortion Without Leadership, Unity
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The president of Indiana Right to Life has written a new book that describes what the pro-life movement must do to stay viable in the coming decade and to stop abortion. Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter today announced the release of "Viability: What the Pro-Life Movement Must Do to Survive and Thrive."
Fichter's book explores the status of the pro-life movement as it enters its fifth decade in the United States.
A leader in the pro-life movement for more than 25 years at college, local and state levels, Fichter draws from years of observation and experience when he asserts in his book that the pro-life movement must renew strategic efforts to build toward long-term viability in the wake of extreme challenges posed by the Obama Administration and Democratic leaders in Congress.
He told LifeNews.com he hopes the book "is a conversation starter and catalyst for growth in the movement" because the pro-life community "can't plod through a new decade doing business as usual."
Comparing current life movement challenges to those faced by Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery when it reached the Bitterroot Mountains on today's Montana-Idaho border, Fichter calls these challenges a "gut check" for the entire movement.
"My purpose in writing this book is to issue a challenge to pro-life leaders nationwide to begin taking seriously our need to strategically plan to stay in this fight to the finish," Fichter told LifeNews.com today. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Race Sees Scott Brown Pull Close in Massachusetts, Impacts Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown has pulled within a 10 percentage point lead in the special election in Massachusetts to replace the late pro-abortion Sen. Ted Kennedy. The race could have a dramatic effect if brown pulls out the upset because it could impact the health care debate.
Brown faces pro-abortion Democrat Martha Coakley who already has the endorsement of Emily's List, a top pro-abortion organization.
But Brown is getting backing from those who oppose the health care bill and want him to be elected to become the 41st vote against it -- supporting the Republican filibuster that has been unable to stop the bill so far because all 60 Democrats backed the pro-abortion bill.
Brown and Coakley clashed in their first debate on Tuesday that featured a contentious time on abortion.
Coakley spent time explaining how she would support a final federal health care overhaul bill that contains some abortion funding limits even though she already promised to vote for a pro-abortion health care bill. Full story at LifeNews.com
Christian Group: Pro-Life Advocates Faced Attacks, Discrimination in 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Christian group that advocates for the free speech and other rights of Christians says pro-life advocates were among the victims of attacks and violence during 2009. Two specific incidents made the top 10 list the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (CADC) compiled.
The group released its list of the top ten incidents of anti-Christian defamation, bigotry and discrimination in the US from last year. The subscribers to CADC's e-mail list compiled the list from among 20 top stories.
"It is arguable that anti-Christian hatred has spilled over into material forms of persecution in 2009," said Dr. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.
"Christians were killed and bullied for their witness, ministers and churches threatened with violence and vandalized," Cass told LifeNews.com on Tuesday. If these are not bona fide examples of persecution, than I wonder what more it might take?"
The Christian group placed the murder of pro-life advocate James Pouillon at number five on its top 10 list of discrimination and violence. Full story at LifeNews.com
British Doctor Faces Hearing for Daughter's Illegal Late-Term Abortion in Spain
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A British doctor who evaded the law by arranging an illegal late-term abortion in Spain for her 31-week pregnant daughter is facing a medical hearing. Saroj Adlakha reportedly paid a Barcelona, Spain abortion business 3,200 euros for her daughter's 2003 abortion.
Adlakha was charged in December 2005 of evading British law restricting late-term abortions to 24 weeks by sending her teenage daughter Shilpa Abrol for the abortion.
The physician admitted she coordinated an abortion for Abrol in Barcelona, Spain on the advice of British Pregnancy Advisory Service officials. Yet, she was never convicted because the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges after not being able to prove they were valid.
Adlakha faced a GMC hearing yesterday on professional charges of irresponsible, inappropriate and dishonest misconduct.
The London Telegraph indicates Adlakha bought airline tickets to Barcelona days after her daughter was turned away from the Calthorpe Clinic for an abortion. The hearing also heard how she told her receptionist that she understood she could lose her medical license for evading the law. Full story at LifeNews.com
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