LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, February 1, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Gallup Poll Shows Barack Obama Got No Bump Following State of the Union
• New York Times Defends Pro-Life Ad Featuring Tim Tebow, Mom's Non-Abortion
• Scott Brown Says He Supports Abortion, Limits, and Opposes Health Care Bill
• Senator Says Deal Was Reached on Pro-Abortion Health Care Before Brown Win
• Emily's List President Still Shocked by Defeat of Pro-Abortion Zealot Martha Coakley
• Atheists Attack Post Office Honoring Mother Teresa on Postage Stamp
• Abortion Advocates Criticize Each Other, Say Wrong Strategy Used on Health Care
• Abortion, Obama and the Partisan Divide: Why We Can't Let Him Win
• Texas' Kay Bailey Hutchinson Again Endorses Roe Abortion Case in Debate
• Virginia House Passes Bill for Better Regulations of Abortion Centers
• Bill to Repeal South Dakota Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ban Involves Deception
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Gallup Poll Shows Barack Obama Got No Bump Following State of the Union
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Gallup daily presidential approval tracking poll shows pro-abortion President Barack Obama received no bump in his approval ratings following his State of the Union speech. In the three days following the speech, Gallup shows Obama with a 48 percent approval and 46 percent disapproval rating -- unchanged from before the address.
Philip Klein, a writer at the conservative magazine American Spectator gives his insight on the poll.
"Going into President Obama's first State of the Union speech, Gallup noted that annual speeches to Congress rarely affect presidential approval ratings (in large part because the audience tends to be skewed toward those who already support him). It turns out that despite his oratorical skills, our current president is not different in this respect from his predecessors," he writes.
The new Gallup poll shows Obama is "exactly where he was in the three days of polling proceeding the speech," he said.
Klein continues, "What this tells us is that Obama has reached the point in his presidency at which he'll no longer be able to boost public opinion through talking -- he's being judged based on his objective performance. Monthly job reports will have much more impact on public perception than anything he can say or proposal he could make."
Another poll, from Rasmussen, shows Obama got a slight bump but only from Democrats. Full story at LifeNews.com
New York Times Defends Pro-Life Ad Featuring Tim Tebow, Mom's Non-Abortion
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The New York Times is no bastion of pro-life thought and has taken a consistently aggressive pro-abortion stance over the years. In what may come as a shock to pro-life advocates, the liberal newspaper issued an editorial today taking abortion advocates to task for blasting an ad featuring Tim Tebow.
As LifeNews.com has reported, the ad, sponsored by Focus on the Family, will reportedly focus on the story of Tebow's birth.
Tebow's mother, Pam Tebow, rejected a doctor's suggestion to get an abortion when she became ill on a missions trip to the Philippines during her pregnancy with Tim. Tebow gave birth to Tim and he famously won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and led the Florida Gators to a college football championship.
The Focus on the Family ad has drawn attacks from abortion advocates, who have called on CBS to cancel its plans to allow the ad to air before and after the Super Bowl, and feminist attorney Gloria Allred has made the claim Pam Tebow made up her story about rejecting an abortion.
The New York Times weighed in on the debate in an official editorial titled "Super Bowl Censorship."
"The National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice America and other voices ... have called on CBS to yank it," the Times editorial board wrote. "Their protest is puzzling and dismaying." Full story at LifeNews.com
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Scott Brown Says He Supports Abortion, Limits, and Opposes Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Scott Brown was hailed as aiding the pro-life cause by becoming the 41st vote for the filibuster against the pro-abortion Senate health care bill. While Brown's surprising victory in Massachusetts helped stall or possibly defeat the bill Brown confirmed today that, unlike most Republicans, he backs abortion.
Brown's comments are not surprising since his support for Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that allowed more than 52 million abortions, was already part of the discussion during the special election.
But, pro-life advocates noted he faced an even more aggressive supporter of abortion in Martha Coakley who would have supported the bill and its funding for perhaps hundreds of thousands of abortions.
In a new interview with ABC's "This Week" program, Brown says he supports abortion but opposes forcing taxpayers to fund it.
"Yes, I feel this issue is best handled between a woman and her doctor and her family," he said when asked if he is "pro-choice."
While he backs abortion he said he would side with pro-life advocates on limits such as parental involvement and a partial-birth abortion ban, which was already signed into law under President George W. Bush.
"And, you know, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, but I think we need to do more to reduce the amount of abortions. And the difference between me and maybe others is that I'm very -- I'm against partial-birth abortions. I'm against federal funding of abortions. And I believe in a strong parental consent notification law," Brown added. "And we should do more for adoptions." Full story at LifeNews.com
Senator Says Deal Was Reached on Pro-Abortion Health Care Before Brown Win
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In one of the first concrete confirmations that the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts disrupted the effort to approve the pro-abortion health care bill, a top senator says a deal was in place to approve it but Brown's election prevented it from going forward. Sen. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said negotiators from the White House, Senate and House reached a final deal on healthcare reform days before Scott Brown s victory.
But with Brown becoming the 41st vote in the Senate against the bill and for a filibuster, the latest revelation shows how agonizingly close Democrats came to passing a final healthcare bill in time for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
Harkin, who was present for the talks, told The Hill we had an agreement, with the House, the White House and the Senate. We sent it to [the Congressional Budget Office] to get scored and then Tuesday happened and we didn't get it back. He said negotiators had an agreement in hand on Friday, January 15. Harkin made clear that negotiators had reached a final deal on the entire bill.
Now, Democratic lawmakers have since turned their attention to passing a comprehensive -- instead of a scaled-down -- healthcare bill, using the reconciliation process to make changes and approving smaller bills as a lead-in to that controversial idea.Full story at LifeNews.com
Emily's List President Still Shocked by Defeat of Pro-Abortion Zealot Martha Coakley
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Outgoing Emily's List president Ellen Malcolm is still shocked by the defeat of pro-abortion stalwart Martha Coakley in Massachusetts of all states. As Malcolm concludes her tenure with the large pro-abortion group, she talked about the shocking defeat with CQ.
I think the low point was this week, Malcolm said of her involvement with the group since 1985. The high points? Oh my gosh, we've had so many hard-fought victories that we're so proud of. Obviously, the year of the woman in 1992 was historic. It s all hindsight, Malcolm said after the loss. When there was a 19-point lead on Dec. 22, did we think it was going be in free-fall in the second week of January? Absolutely not. And nobody else did, either. And anybody who says it is blowing smoke.
Malcolm bragged that Emily's List was the first to rally behind Coakley when her numbers began dropping but her group's efforts were obviously not enough to help her win. When we did see the problem, we were the first off the mark trying to solve it. We were the first independent group on our side to go up with a media buy," she claimed.
Malcolm also confessed she hid a photo of her grandson posing with then-Sen. Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary while her group failed in its bid to get Hillary Clinton the nomination. Full story at LifeNews.com
Atheists Attack Post Office Honoring Mother Teresa on Postage Stamp
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Honoring pro-life champion Mother Teresa on a postage stamp shouldn't be a big controversy given her highly-respected work for the poor. But not when it comes to atheists who are upset that the Post Office would dare honor a religious figure. As LifeNews.com reported, the USPS Mother Teresa stamp is one of 23 new issues the United States Postal Service recently unveiled for 2010.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation complains that the USPS is ignoring its own stamp honoree rules which prohibit honoring people for their direct religious work. As FFRF leader Annie Laurie Gaylor told FoxNews.com, "Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure who ran a religious institution. You can't really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did."
USPS spokesman Roy Betts responds, "This has nothing to do with religion or faith. Mother Teresa is not being honored because of her religion, she's being honored for her work with the poor and her acts of humanitarian relief." (Actually, the Postal Service press release notes that she followed "a divine inspiration."
At First Things, Joe Carter goes further and says "Mother Teresa should certainly appear on a stamp -- but only after we change the law. We shouldn't look for loopholes that require denying the importance of her faith in order for her to qualify. Mother Teresa should be honored for who she really was -- a Catholic nun motivated by the love of Christ -- and not as a faux, secular saint." Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Advocates Criticize Each Other, Say Wrong Strategy Used on Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates are now criticizing each other in a rare expression of public disagreement. American Prospect senior correspondent Michelle Goldberg has written a column where some pro-abortion activists are criticizing members of Congress and pro-abortion groups for saying the compromise language in the health care bills backs up the Hyde amendment that stops abortion funding. They are upset that the pro-abortion movement would yield any ground on abortion funding, which it zealously supports.
Goldberg writes "the pro-choice movement loses" because it "can't rally behind the existing legislation," but "[a]t the same time, because the future of abortion rights in America is deeply entwined with the future of the Democratic Party, the failure of health care reform, and the consequent weakening of the Democrats, would ultimately be disastrous for choice."
Goldberg questions whether the current health reform situation was "inevitable," noting that it is "increasingly clear" that the pro-abortion movement "made a mistake going into health care reform" because it "compromised too soon and underestimated the implacability of the opposition." The movement "didn't demand enough and ended up with less than nothing" when leaders "decided to try to take abortion off the table" with an amendment "aimed to preserve the status quo while avoiding new restrictions on abortion funding."
Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup said, "I think without question it was a mistake to begin in a compromised position."Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion, Obama and the Partisan Divide: Why We Can't Let Him Win
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The following remarks were delivered by pro-life Princeton Professor Robert George at the annual Rose dinner associated with the March for Life:
"The Republican Party's support for the unborn has brought into its ranks many disaffected rank-and-file Democrats, including a large number of Catholics and Evangelicals. I am one. Indeed, it overstates the matter only a bit to say that, as a result of the conflict of worldviews that began with abortion, the Republicans have become the party of the religiously engaged, while the Democrats have become the party of liberal secularists. Barack Obama is trying to win over religiously serious Catholics and Evangelicals, without altering in the slightest his support for abortion, including late-term and partial-birth abortions, the funding of abortion and embryo-destructive research with taxpayer dollars, the elimination of informed consent and parental notification laws, and the revocation of conscience and religious liberty protections for pro-life doctors and other healthcare workers and pharmacists.
He will ultimately fail. We must see to it that he fails. In this project, Obama is being served and abetted by a small number of Catholic and Evangelical intellectuals and activists who have been peddling the claim that Obama, despite his pro-abortion extremism, is effectively pro-life because of his allegedly enlightened economic and social policies will reduce the number of abortions. This is delusional. The truth is that Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to serve in the United States Senate or seek the Office of President of the United States." Read the full remarks here.
Texas' Kay Bailey Hutchinson Again Endorses Roe Abortion Case in Debate
Austin, TX (LifeNews.com) -- In the second Republican gubernatorial debate, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was once again asked explicitly whether she supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. She answered, "No." Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, told LifeNews.com last week that that separates her from pro-life Gov. Rick Perry. "At the gubernatorial debate, Senator Hutchison contradicted herself. You cannot be pro-life and support Roe v. Wade," he said.
Pojman pointed out how, in 2003, Hutchison showed her support for legalized abortion by voting for a resolution that stated, "It is the sense of the Senate that the decision of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade was appropriate and secures an important constitutional right; and such decision should not be overturned."
Gov. Rick Perry, on the other hand, is on the record as both supporting limits on abortion and supporting overturning Roe. "Texas needs a leader who is consistently pro-life," continues Pojman. "Unlike Hutchison, Governor Rick Perry has never given an inch to the life-threatening precepts of Roe v. Wade."Full story at LifeNews.com
Virginia House Passes Bill for Better Regulations of Abortion Centers
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- The Virginia House has approved a bill that would put better regulations of abortion centers in place and could result in closing abortion facilities that don't meet the standards. Last week, the House of Delegates passed by a vote of 72-25 HB 393, patroned by Delegate Matt Lohr.
The measure would put unregulated abortion centers under three simple regulations: licensure, an annual inspection, and to have life saving equipment on premises, such as defibrillators. During debate, opposition came from one of the General Assembly s biggest pro-abortion advocates, Delegate David Englin. He tried to make the case that unregulated abortion centers are regulated. But Delegate Lohr correctly replied that, if so, then the simple requirements in the bill would not be cause for concern to the abortion centers.
Delegate Englin then tried to paint a picture of hypocrisy by stating that doctors offices of various specialties are not regulated by the state. However, as Delegate Lohr responded, specific boards govern each medical specialty. But there are no recognized boards that institute standards for abortionists.The bill now goes to the Senate where it most likely will be referred to the Education and Health Committee. Although pro-life bills typically meet a dismal fate there, pro-life groups say they will fight for it.Full story at LifeNews.com
Bill to Repeal South Dakota Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ban Involves Deception
by Bob Ellis
Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) -- A bill has been introduced in the South Dakota legislature to repeal the state ban on embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). We knew this was coming because a few months ago a group led by David Volk announced they were planning to seek a repeal either through a petition effort or through the legislature. In fact, this is something that is beginning to take place in several states across the country.
On January 21, SB 74 was introduced in the South Dakota Senate. Of course, it makes no mention of embryonic stem cell research or a different, non-destructive type of stem cell research called adult stem cell research; it lumps stem cell research into one disingenuous lump.
The Rapid City Journal features an opinion piece today from Volk, arguing for passage of the bill. Volk makes the typical emotional appeal about suffering people who could be cured, if only the public would get over it s archaic value of forms of human life that others don't consider worthy of protection. Putting aside for a moment some very real practical problems with embryonic stem cell research (such as problems with tissue rejection and with tumor generation in the recipient), and the benefit of the newly discovered ability to program adult stem cells to act like embryonic ones, Volk tells some real whoppers in this opinion piece. More at http://bit.ly/bkbi4T
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