LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Republicans Skeptical of Obama Summit for Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
• Super Bowl Ad Gets Focus on the Family Big Traffic for Tebow Story
• Newspapers Blast NOW for Saying Tebow Ad Promotes Domestic Violence
• Pro-Abortion License Plates Unpopular as Virginia Legislature Considers One
• Planned Parenthood Report Pushing Sex, Abortion for Children Draws Fire
• Day of Purity Urges Youth to Take Abstinence Pledge Before Valentine's Day
• Google's Parisian Love Story Conveyed a Pro-Life Message at the Super Bowl
• Atlanta Billboards Educate Motorists on How Abortion Targets Black Americans
• Abortion Practitioner Alberto Hodari's Livonia, Mich Abortion Center Closed
• Costa Rica Elects Pro-Life Laura Chinchilla as its First Woman President
• Northern Ireland Health Dept Re-Issues Abortion Rules Despite Losing Case
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Republicans Skeptical of Obama Summit for Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Republicans in Congress are skeptical of the newly-announced health care summit, which they view as a televised lobbying campaign for the pro-abortion health care bill. Obama is says he is putting his best bipartisanship foot forward, but republicans want the current legislation thrown out. Top Republicans raised the possibility late Monday that they may not participate in the summit, since they view it as a publicity stunt rather than an attempt a real health care reform.
In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor expressed their frustration that the Obama administration wants lawmakers at the summit to talk about the Senate health care bill that funds abortions and has other pro-abortion problems.
"If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate," Boehner and Cantor wrote. "'Bipartisanship' is not writing proposals of your own behind closed doors, then unveiling them and demanding Republican support.Bipartisan ends require bipartisan means."
The letter also called on the Obama administration to ask the Senate to reject the idea of using the controversial reconciliation process to railroad a pro-abortion health care bill through the Senate without filibuster rights. Full story at LifeNews.com
Super Bowl Ad Gets Focus on the Family Big Traffic for Tebow Non-Abortion Story
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The initial numbers are in and they reveal the Super Bowl commercial featuring Tim Tebow and his mother Pam Tebow exposed large numbers of people to the pro-life message. The ad alone reached a record number of people who watched the football and large numbers of people followed up online.
The new figures are out and they show Super Bowl XLIV was the first sporting event to ever exceed 100 million viewers.
That means 106.5 million people watched the pro-life commercial Focus on the Family ran during Sunday's game -- which bested 1983's M*A*S*H finale and its old record of 105.97 million viewers.
That alone, or combined with the estimated $10 million in free publicity the ad generated before the Super Bowl, would be enough of a justification to say it was a smashing success in getting the pro-life message to the masses.
But Focus on the Family officials say they received considerable traffic on their web site by people following up from the ad and watching a longer video with the Tebow family that is much more explicit in terms of the conversation about Pam Tebow's decision to not have an abortion during a crisis pregnancy situation.
The Focus web site logged 500,000 hits and 50,000 unique visitors just during the hour the Super Bowl ad aired. Traffic was also up considerably during the pre-game show when a different version of the commercial aired. Full story at LifeNews.com
Newspapers Blast NOW for Saying Tim Tebow Ad Promotes Domestic Violence
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Just as they defended the pro-life Tim Tebow commercial before it aired during the Super Bowl, newspaper columnists are defending the commercial from the latest attack by the pro-abortion National Organization for Women (NOW) claiming it promoted domestic violence.
The ads feature Pam Tebow sharing her story of how Tim Tebow "almost didn't make it into this world" because of her tough pregnancy. Tebow was advised by her doctors to consider an abortion, but she refused.
In an attempt to mirror the humorous nature of most Super Bowl commercials, the Focus on the Family in-game ad shows Tebow tackling his mom and his mother playfully scolding him for interrupting her.
That was too much for NOW president Terry O'Neill, who told the Los Angeles Times the ad glorified violence against women: "I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it. That's what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don't find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself."
Several newspaper columnists are taking issue with her response and Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune said it "trivializes real problems" women face with authentic domestic violence. 'No, Terry O'Neill is the one who should be ashamed," he writes. "A statement like this actually hurts women's causes because it comes across as irrational wide-eyed rhetoric, especially when you consider the timing." Full story at LifeNews.com
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- The Virginia legislature could vote this week on a proposal by abortion advocates for a pro-abortion license plate. But if the numbers from other states are any indication, pro-abortion license plates are an abysmal failure compared to the popularity of Choose Life license plates nationwide. Unable to put a halt to the Choose Life license plates in dozens of states, abortion advocates are putting their own plate together hoping to reap the same financial windfall that pregnancy centers and adoption agencies have. They are pushing a bill in Virginia to create Trust Women/Respect Choice license plates and they are threatening to file a lawsuit against the legislature if they don't get their way.
"We really don't feel like a license plate is the place to be promoting a political agenda," Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL's Virginia group told the Los Angeles Times, but the organization is promoting one anyway because pro-life advocates have one.
But the Times indicates pro-abortion plates in other states are not selling well.
Hawaii was the first state to have a Respect Choice" decal for plates in 2003 but the Times says there is so little interest the state may consider scrapping the decal. Montana and Pennsylvania have pro-abortion license plates but just 22 people out of millions of residents of Pennsylvania have purchased one sponsored by Planned Parenthood.
Those figures compare poorly with the 520,000 Choose Life plates sold nationwide since 2002 that have raised an estimated $11 million for pregnancy centers and adoption agencies. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Report Pushing Sex, Abortion for Children Draws More Fire
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A recent Planned Parenthood report pushing sex and abortion for children is drawing more fire from pro-life advocates. Now, Catholic League president Bill Donohue is attacking the document because he says it rips Catholicism and promotes "sexual engineering" by "smearing religious conservatives, especially Catholics."
The new report, titled Stand and Deliver," sees the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) demanding that governments, religious institutions and society at large provide "comprehensive sexuality education" for children as young as ten years old.
According to IPPF, as "young people are sexual beings," it should be self-evident that "sexuality education promotes individual well-being and the advancement of broader societal and public health goals."
Naturally, once children are enabled to have sexual relations, they will eventually need the contraception, birth control and abortions that Planned Parenthood sells.
IPPF uses the terms young people, youth and adolescents interchangeably to refer to people who are between 10 and 24," Donohue notes in a statement sent to LifeNews.com today. "In other words, 5th graders should be treated the same way graduate students are when it comes to their 'sexual and reproductive health and rights.'" Full story at LifeNews.com
Day of Purity Urges Youth to Take Abstinence Pledge Before Valentine's Day
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As Valentine's Day approaches and many youth and young adults decide whether or not have to have sex for the first time, the Day of Purity presents a pro-abstinence response. A project of the Liberty Counsel, the projects asks youth to make an abstinence pledge on February 12.
The Day of Purity marks its seventh year this year with its calls for youth of all ages to remain sexually pure until marriage.
The Day of Purity gives the youth of our nation an opportunity to stand against cultural expectations shoved on them through the media. We are encouraging youth to respect themselves and their friends," says Amber Haskew, the Day of Purity national coordinator.
She says the response every year from young adults and youth is phenomenal.
"We've received thousands of e-mails from students around the world who want to make a public commitment for sexual purity and to share that choice with their friends," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Google's Parisian Love Story Conveyed a Pro-Life Message at the Super Bowl
by Troy Newman
Although it was no game changer I believe the best family-friendly and cutting-edge Super Bowl commercial was done by Google. The Tim Tebow ad was good but like many things Super Bowl related, it didn't live up to all the pre-game hype. Its message was so subtle that many may have missed the point.
All good advertising must mirror everyday circumstances. And who hasn't used Google to make travel plans, find restaurants, or define an unknown word? But Google's ad went a step further than just random searches; it told a love story that surprised me by its overt pro-life message. Click here to watch the ad.
With the popular Google search engine as the sole backdrop to the story, a man looks to Paris as place to go to school, and by way of an Internet search, he finds a café near the famous Louver. A French girl tells him he is cute, but of course the expression of amore must first be sent through Google for the English conversion. But the language of love is not lost in translation.
After a quick Internet search for chocolates and poetry, the long distance relationship culminates with wedding in a French church - yes church! But wait! There's more. Full story at LifeNews.com
Atlanta Billboards Educate Motorists on How Abortion Targets Black Americans
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) -- Atlanta drivers will soon see billboards all over the city that educate them about the racist component of abortions -- that pro-life advocates point out target black Americans. In a city with a large African-American population, the billboards are already sparking controversy and they've not been put up yet.
The Radiance Foundation is sponsoring a campaign of 65 billboards across town and they should be visible starting on February 15.
We're aiming for a lot more, but that s where we're at, Ryan Bomberger, co-founder of the group, recently told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. This is not a campaign that targets black women, Bomberger said. It s a campaign that exposes an industry that we believe targets African-Americans.
There may be 80 such billboards around the Atlanta metro area by the time sponsors purchase them all with the funds available.
The billboards were announced at a news conference at the state capitol recently, where Georgia Right to Life officials indicated they would sponsor a bill making race-based abortions a crime in the state. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Practitioner Alberto Hodari's Livonia, Michigan Abortion Center Closed
Livonia, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Embattled abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari has at least temporarily closed his abortion center in Livonia, Michigan. Hodari is the abortion business owner who has been disciplined by the state, faces multiple lawsuits, and has killed at least three women in botched abortions.
Local pro-life advocate Lynn Mills notified LifeNews.com over the weekend that it appeared the abortion center had closed. "They have been for a month. There were not enough patients to keep it opened," she said.
Mills says the Livonia abortion facility is the one owner by abortion practitioner Julio Acosta "ho had his own set of troubles and ended up taking off for Walnut Creek, California back in the late 80's."
"In steps Hodari who had at that time been financially hurt when the Medicaid ban took effect," Mills told LifeNews.com. "Most of his abortion mills were carefully placed in low income sites and hospitals that would allow this, especially in Detroit."
Mills says Hodari's abortion practice is a shadow of its former self thanks to the state ban on Medicaid-funded abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Costa Rica Elects Pro-Life Laura Chinchilla as its First Woman President
San Jose, Costra Rica (LifeNews.com) -- The central American nation of Costa Rica elected its first female president in Laura Chinchilla and she is a pro-life advocate. Chinchilla received 47 percent of the votes from Sunday's election and a top pro-life Hispanic activist tells LifeNews.com that her election is good news.
Costa Rica has long been one of the top pro-life countries by virtue of its prohibiting abortions and its pro-life advocacy at the United Nations.
Chinchilla is a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN) and she defeated her two main rivals, Otton Solis and Otto Guevara, to win the election. She previously served as vice-president under her predecessor Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
She campaigned as a pro-life candidate during the election and talked about advancing the interests of women in her victory speech. She thanked those who shepherded through the cause of equal opportunities for women and opened up spaces for women in the government."
Raimundo Rojas, the Hispanic outreach director for the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com that Chinchilla's win "wasn't just a victory for the ruling party, this was a victory for women's lives and this was a victory for the unborn children of Costa Rica." Full story at LifeNews.com
Northern Ireland Health Dept Re-Issues Abortion Guidelines Despite Losing Case
Belfast, Northern Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- Although the Northern Ireland health department lost its case in court after pro-life groups challenged its abortion rules, the department has released them again. The pro-life group Precious Life today condemned he Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) for re-releasing the guidelines.
The decision comes after the High Court had ordered the health department late last year to withdraw them. Precious Life said the DHSSPS' actions were "arrogant and deceitful."
The organization says the guidelines, which explain the rare circumstances when abortions can be legally done, could be used to legalize abortion through the back door.
After a legal challenge to the guidelines in October 2009, the High Court in Belfast ruled that two sections were misleading and ordered the guidelines be withdrawn. In December, lawyers for the DHSSPS went back to court to argue that only the two sections should be reconsidered.
However, Lord Justice Girvan again said the entire guidelines were misleading and that he would not vary his order requiring the guidelines to be withdrawn. Full story at LifeNews.com
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