LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, January 8, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Pro-Abortion Language in Senate Health Care Bill Will Make Final Bill, Casey Says
• Bart Stupak Won't Back Down on Killing Health Care Bill Over Abortion Funding
• Ben Nelson Calls Health Care Bill a "Mistake" as Abortion Deal Backlash Continues
• President Barack Obama to Re-Nominate Pro-Abortion Dawn Johnsen to Top Post
• Justice Antonin Scalia: Advocates of Using Foreign Law Ignore Abortion Decisions
• Abortion Has Considerable Negative Impact on Economy, African-Americans
• Indiana Lawmaker Files Bill to Revoke Taxpayer Funding for Planned Parenthood
• Georgia Abortion Business Cuts Office Hours After 40 Days for Life Event
• Pro-Abortion International Women's Group IWHC Marks 2009 "Victories"
• Florida Navy Officer Charged With Killing Pregnant Woman Who Refused Abortion
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Pro-Abortion Language in Senate Health Care Bill Will Make Final Bill, Casey Says
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- When House and Senate Democrats meet behind closed doors to iron out the final abortion funding language in the government-run health care bill, one prominent senator says they will likely keep the Senate language that allows states to force taxpayers to fund abortions.
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey says in a new interview that the merged bill will contain the Nelson-Reid abortion funding language instead of the Stupak amendment.
While the Stupak amendment, which he House added to its legislation, prohibits abortion funding, the Nelson-Reid language does not.
Casey tells the Morning Call newspaper in an interview today that the discussion over which language to use "will be part of the debate in the conference."
"I thought we made, individuals like me and a few others made a lot of progress taking us from where we were in the original base bill to where we are today. For some, it is not good enough for some, and it will be a continual source of debate," Casey said.
Casey admitted that there is a danger that the Nelson language would result in losing the votes of pro-life Democrats in the House, led by Rep. Bart Stupak, who oppose the pro-abortion compromise he says will be included in the final bill. "There is a concern about that, but I think we can reach an agreement between the two houses and get it passed," he told the Morning Call. Full story at LifeNews.com
Bart Stupak Won't Back Down on Killing Health Care Bill Over Abortion Funding
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama and Democrats are doing everything possible to railroad the pro-abortion health care bill through Congress. As he has so many times before, Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak promises he and his colleagues will stop their efforts to keep abortion funding in the legislation.
Stupak isn't backing down from his pledges to sink the government-run health care bill if it contains funding for hundreds of thousands of abortions.
He added an amendment with his name on it to the House version of the bill to stop abortion funding but the Senate version contained language that allows states to force taxpayers to fund them. Stupak says he will derail the merged bill in the House if they use the Senate language.
With national pro-abortion groups chanting the rallying cry, "Stop Stupak" and facing hatred and animosity from many of his fellow Democrats, Stupak has become a household name for keeping abortion out of the health care bill.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Stupak wears his opposition like a badge of honor. It s not the end of the world if it goes down, he told the Times about killing the health care bill over abortion.
Stupak said Obama and Democrats may need to experience defeat in order to see how important it is to Americans that they not be forced to pay for abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Ben Nelson Calls Health Care Bill a "Mistake" as Abortion Deal Backlash Continues
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the 60th vote for the pro-abortion health care bill in the Senate, now says it was a "mistake" for the Obama administration and Democrats to push the bill at a time when the nation is facing a gigantic financial crisis.
Nelson has come under intense criticism from pro-life advocates after compromising his long-held pro-life views to okay abortion funding under the Senate measure.
Initially, Nelson defended his decision -- bashing pro-life groups in the process by saying they opposed his pro-abortion language because they didn't have any input.
Now, Nelson appears to be changing his tune in the face of local rallies and opposition from local Nebraskans and polls showing him badly trailing a potential 2012 re-election opponent.
In an interview with the Fremont Tribune newspaper that it says Nelson requested, he appears to back down from the bill for the first time since his landmark vote for it. I think it was a mistake to take health care on as opposed to continuing to spend the time on the economy, he said.
He complimented President Barack Obama on his handling of other issues but said those successes are minor in comparison to health care. I would have preferred not to be dealing with health care in the midst of everything else, and I think working on the economy would have been a wiser move, he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama will re-nominate pro-abortion attorney Dawn Johnson to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University, is a former legal counsel for the pro-abortion group NARAL who has made several controversial remarks. Her nomination has been delayed by Republicans who oppose her because she is strongly pro-abortion -- going as far as saying pregnant women are subjected to a form of slavery -- and because of other political reasons.
If confirmed, Johnsen would be in charge of the office that formulates the attorney general's formal opinions and provides counsel on the thorniest legal questions. White House officials today confirmed that Obama will renominate Johnsen, along with other nominees whose nominations expired this year, when the Senate reconvenes later this month following its Christmas recess.
The news drew support from abortion advocates with Marge Baker, vice-president of People For the American Way, applauding the decision and attacking her opponents. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact your senators at http://www.Senate.gov and urge strong opposition to the Johnsen nomination.
Justice Antonin Scalia: Advocates of Using Foreign Law Ignore Abortion Decisions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently spoke at a conference sponsored by the Mississippi College School of Law. There, he said activists who back the use of international law in the U.S. legal system are selective when they want to use it.
Scalia oppose the use of international law and decisions by foreign courts to interpret the Constitution.
"If there was any thought absolutely foreign to the founders of our country, surely it was the notion that we Americans should be governed the way Europeans are," he said, according to the Jackson Free Press newspaper.
"I dare say that few of us here would want our life or liberty subject to the disposition of French or Italian criminal justice not because those systems are unjust, but because we think ours is better," the pro-life jurist added.
But Scalia says those who advocate using foreign law do so selectively and ignore how many foreign laws oppose abortion and foreign courts have issued decisions allowing pro-life laws and abortion restrictions. "I will become a believer in the ingenuousness, though never the propriety, of the Court's newfound respect for the wisdom of foreign minds when it applies that wisdom in the abortion cases," Scalia said, according to the Free Press. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Has Considerable Negative Impact on Economy, African-Americans
by Mychal Massie
There is a real economic toll related to abortion, but it's not something Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or the Congressional Black Caucus complains about. In fact, they all support abortion.
To hear abortion proponents talk about it, infanticide is an economic boon. In 1998, a U.S. News and World Report article called a child "a high-priced consumer item with no warranty."
Less children supposedly means less welfare spending, less unemployment and generally more money to spread around. Actually, the opposite is more likely to be true.
In a telephone interview, Mark Crutcher, president of Life Dynamics Inc., said, "The cost [of abortion to society], if calculable, would be astronomical to the point of the average person being incapable of comprehending it." While Crutcher correctly notes one cannot accurately put a price on the opportunity costs of abortion, its effects are apparent.
In fact, abortion may play a key factor in fixing our nation's current economic crisis. Consumer spending is the dominant facet of our economy. With the economy needing a boost and job creation jolted, a baby is a true stimulus plan.
Forget TARP and the Keynesian spending schemes promoted by the Obama Administration. A baby necessitates diapers, toys, food, books, clothing and more. Meeting those needs creates jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors. Children also create jobs in the medical and educational sectors. Full story at LifeNews.com
Indiana Lawmaker Files Bill to Revoke Taxpayer Funding for Planned Parenthood
Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) -- An Indiana state senator has filed a bill that would cancel all state contracts and grants for Planned Parenthood of Indiana, the state's largest abortion business. The move comes at a time when Planned Parenthood has been criticized for concealing potential cases of statutory rape.
Senator Greg Walker has introduced SB 198, a bill that would get the state government out of the business of funding an abortion organization.
Most recently, Planned Parenthood of Indiana accepted $150,000 in federal grant funding from the Indiana State Department of Health to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
Though the grant didn't have to do with abortion, pro-life advocates say the money is fungible and that the abortion business would have to spend money it uses to promote and perform abortions on more legitimate services if not for the taxpayer funding.
Planned Parenthood indicated that the most recent grant would be used for salaries of staff members who will build relationships with state residents that could later prompt them to purchase abortions.
Mike Fichter of Indiana Right to Life, says his group supports the legislation. "Planned Parenthood of Indiana does over half of Indiana's 10,000 abortions each year at its Indianapolis, Merrilville, and Bloomington abortion sites," he said. "With Indiana in massive revenue deficit, now is the time for the state to withdraw funding for Indiana's largest abortion business." Full story at LifeNews.com
Georgia Abortion Business Cuts Office Hours After 40 Days for Life Event
Augusta, GA (LifeNews.com) -- The Planned Parenthood abortion center in Augusta, Georgia has cut its office hours in the wake of the 40 Days for Life prayerful pro-life event. With the national abortion business closing 38 centers in 2009, news of the cutback in hours doesn't get Planned Parenthood off to a good start this year.
Leola Reis, the vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Georgia, blamed the economy for the cutback.
"Women have been changing their consumption of health care because of the economy," she told the Augusta Chronicle newspaper. "We're seeing a lot of women giving up preventive care. Their priorities are keeping the bills paid, putting food on the table, and their kids' health before their own."
Reis said current staff was "somewhat" affected but she doesn't think anyone will be laid off because of the decision.
With the 2009 closings, the total number of non-express centers Planned Parenthood operates nationwide stands at 797.
Jim Sedlak of STOPP International, which monitors the abortion business, says cutting back hours is the first step to closing. "We have observed that often the first sign that a clinic is in trouble is that it cuts its operating hours in order to save money," he says in a Thursday email to LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion International Women's Group IWHC Marks 2009 "Victories"
New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- The abortion advocacy group, International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC), capped off 2009 by releasing its list of top ten "wins" on "women's health and rights." Apart from "reproductive rights" gains, the IWHC list also heralds victories on gay rights and the decriminalization of prostitution.
IWHC's definition of "reproductive rights" includes abortion, which the organization claims is "fundamental" to a woman's "ability to exercise her rights to control her body, to self-determination, and to maintain her health."
IWHC boasts of the new Obama administration's early actions on "sexual and reproductive rights" as one of 2009's biggest victories.
Specifically highlighting Obama's repeal of the Mexico City policy, the restoration of funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the creation of a new United States (US) office for Global Women's Issues, the organization intends to capitalize on these policy changes in the coming year, working with a coalition of over fifty other "reproductive rights" groups to advise the Obama administration on developing foreign assistance policies and funding. Full story at LifeNews.com
Florida Navy Officer Charged With Killing Pregnant Woman Who Refused Abortion
Pensacola, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A Florida-based Navy officer has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of a pregnant woman. Zachary Littleton, a 25-year-old petty officer third class is accused of killing Samira Watkins, also 25, because she refused his request to get an abortion.
The case has a similar ring to it as it reminds officials of the killing death of Laci Peterson and her unborn child Conner.
Littleton has been indicted on a first-degree premeditated murder charge. According to the Pensacola News-Journal, Watkins was last seen alive by her family on October 25 when she left her grandmother's home. Officials say they believe Watkins went to see Littleton, who then took her life.
Littleton is married and has another child but was reportedly having an affair with Watkins, whom he got pregnant. Wanting to keep the pregnancy a secret, Littleton asked Watkins to get an abortion, but she refused.
The newspaper indicates Watkins' body was discovered by two men riding a personal watercraft in Bayou Grande on November 3. They found her body washed ashore in luggage near a scenic overlook. The paper did not indicate how far along in pregnancy Watkins' baby was at the time of their death.
Now, Littleton is being held without bond at Escambia County Jail and he faces a bond hearing on January 15. Full story at LifeNews.com
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