LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Frisday, February 19, 2010
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Current Headlines
• White House May Unveil Pro-Abortion Health Care Proposal Before Summit
• Obama Pro-Abortion Pick Dawn Johnsen May Have Worked Without Senate OK
• Pro-Life Groups Launch New Church Voter Registration Campaign for 2010 Election
• Romney, Cheney Get Digs in at Obama's Expense at National CPAC Conference
• Canada Curling Team Member Just the Third Pregnant Athlete in Olympics History
• Medical Board Wants License of Abortionist Who Killed Woman Suspended
• Pro-Life Group Wants Court Action on Illegal Abortions at Kansas Planned Parenthood
• Canada Government Refuses Liberal Leader's Demand to Promote Abortion
• European Parliament: Women Must Have Access to Abortion and Contraception
• International Planned Parenthood Pushes Abortion, Child Sex at African Conference
• Wyoming House Panel OKs Bill Ignoring Death of Unborn Children in Crimes
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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration is supposedly fostering bipartisanship at next week's White House health care summit, but it will likely be floating its version of the pro-abortion health care bill this weekend. The proposal will likely be designed to guide the House and Senate in the controversial reconciliation process. John Rother, director of policy for the AARP, which is working closely with the White House on the proposal, says it could be unveiled this weekend.
That s going to be the White House version of the deal between House and Senate leaders on what they think the bill should look like, he told CQ. That will in effect be the starting point for the conference on the 25th."
The summit will supposedly give Republicans a chance to participate because Congress moves ahead with reconciliation, but it appears more likely each day that Democrats will attempt to railroad the pro-abortion health care bill through Congress.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a top Democrat who is an assistant to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted to CQ that, The House and the Senate have been very close to completing an agreement." But he also said, I don't know whether the president is going to put one particular piece of legislation on the table" -- casting some doubt on whether Obama can get the proposal done in time for the summit.
The idea behind reconciliation is for the House to approve the Senate bill, which contains massive abortion funding and other pro-abortion problems. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama Pro-Abortion Pick Dawn Johnsen May Have Worked Without Senate OK
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration is facing accusations that pro-abortion Justice Department nominee Dawn Johnsen has been doing the work at her powerful potential post without Senate approval. And an organization hoping to find out if that is the case has seen its FOIA requests refused.
Johnsen is the radical pro-abortion activist President Barack Obama named to head up the Justice Department s Office of Legal Counsel.
The post is one of the top legal positions in the federal government and frequently a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.
Johnsen's nomination has been stalled by Republicans and at least one Democrat who are filibustering her nomination because of her out-of-the-mainstream pro-abortion views and on other political issues.
During the year that Johnsen's nomination has languished, some political observers say she may have already engaged in some of the duties of the office despite a lack of authorization to do so.
Ed Whelan, a conservative writer at National Review, first alleged last October that Johnsen was getting involved where she shouldn't. "From what I hear from reliable sources, Johnsen has been involving herself in OLC s decisions on hiring junior lawyers," he wrote at the time.
To find out of the accusations were correct, Americans for Limited Government filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Justice Department. ALG indicated this week that the October 26 request has gone unheeded in spite of a 20-day statutory requirement. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Groups Launch New Church Voter Registration Campaign for 2010 Election
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Building on the idea that pro-life candidates can't win in the November 2010 elections if pro-life people are not registered to vote, a coalition of pro-life groups have launched a new campaign to call on churches and pastors to promote voter registration drives led by pro-life advocates.
The nonpartisan coalition of pro-life groups, of which LifeNews.com is a member, say they are dedicated to fostering active participation of citizens in the political process.
Today, the Vote Pro-life Coalition" announced a series of Voter Registration Sundays for 2010 urging pastors of all denominations, as well as leaders of other organizations, to provide an opportunity to register to vote at church services and other gatherings.
The designated weekends are March 14, May 23, July 4, and September 12.
Enabling people to register to vote is a noble way to exercise and foster responsible citizenship, Father Frank Pavone, the head of Priests for Life, the lead group of the coalition, told LifeNews.com yesterday. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and former Vice President Dick Cheney got in their digs at pro-abortion President Barack Obama at the CPAC 2010 conference today. The conference featured an enthusiastic crowd of thousands who appeared excited about the prospects of the 2010 and 2012 elections. Last year s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) had a negative tone that was a result of Obama's election victory. But the conservatives and pro-life advocates at this year's affair celebrated the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts -- which has made it extremely difficult for Democrats to move their pro-abortion health care bill in Congress.
And for Romney and Cheney, it meant a great place to get in comments predicting the demise of the political future of Obama and his allies.
"You might not have heard the news this morning," he said, setting up a joke about the Winter Olympics. "The gold medal Lindsey Vonn won last night has been stripped. It was determined President Obama has been going downhill faster than she is."
Cheney, who wasn't officially on the agenda but appeared as a surprise speaker, rallied conservatives by telling them that Obama will be a "one-term president." Full story at LifeNews.com
Canada Curling Team Member Just the Third Pregnant Athlete in Olympics History
Vancouver, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- The Winter Olympics isn't typically a place where pregnant women are involved in competitions, but the 2010 games in Vancouver is an exception. Kristie Moore, an alternate on the Team Canada curling team, is just the third pregnant athlete to compete in the modern-era Olympics.
And Moore has a distinction that the other former competitors did not have -- she is well into the second trimester of pregnancy.
Moore, who is 30 years-old, is five-and-a-half months pregnant -- which puts her well past Swedish figure skater Magda Julin, who won a gold medal at the Antwerp Games some 90 years ago while in her first trimester.
And Diana Sartor of Germany finished in fourth place in the skeleton in 2006.
In a new interview, Moore says her visible pregnancy hasn't impaired her ability to participate on the team, but she says that may not be the case if she were closer to her due date. [In] the eighth month or so, that might be an issue, she told Yahoo Sports.
Moore didn't find out about her pregnancy until just weeks before officials with Team Canada invited her to join the team. Her coach has been very supportive and says her baby will have no adverse effect on her ability to help the team. Full story at LifeNews.com
Medical Board Wants License of Abortionist Who Killed Woman Suspended
San Diego, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The California Medical Board is looking to a court hearing today to suspend the medical license of embattled abortion practitioner Andrew Rutland. He faced a medical board hearing earlier this month documents showed he killed a woman during an abortion by administering anesthesia to her and not knowing the proper dosage.
Rutland, of Chula Vista, is slated to appear in a San Diego court today.
The case concerning the woman's legal abortion death is pending and the medical board and a Administrative Law Judge James Ahler told Rutland to stop doing abortions until its conclusion.
However, The Los Angeles Times indicates Rutland was caught in an undercover sting operation scheduling an abortion in violation of the order to stop doing them while his disciplinary case proceeded.
Two weeks after the court order, a medical board examiner called Rutland with a request for an abortion at his Women's Choice Family Planning Clinic in Chula Vista. Rutland suggested she allow him to give her the dangerous abortion drug RU 486, which has already killed more than a dozen women and injured thousands of women in the United States alone.
When the medical examiner declined and suggested a surgical abortion, Rutland immediately scheduled one for the next day. Full story at LifeNews.com
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Pro-Life Group Wants Court Action on Illegal Abortions at Kansas Planned Parenthood
Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life group is calling on the Kansas Supreme Court to get moving on 107 charges Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri is facing that it potentially engaged in illegal abortions. Operation Rescue says the state's high court has stalled on the case for months.
Former state attorney general Phill Kline, as the then Johnson County District Attorney, filed 107 charges, including 23 felonies, against the abortion business for allegedly violating state law.
The Kansas Supreme Court held a hearing in the case involving the Overland Park Planned Parenthood abortion center last May.
The hearing covered disputed subpoenas filed by Kline and the high court will eventually determine whether subpoenas Kline issued for medical records from the Planned Parenthood facility can be enforced.
Operation Rescue, which is still waiting for the verdict, today launched a petition to send the illegal late-term abortion case to trial.
"Planned Parenthood has been investigated. A judge has found that there is probable cause to believe that it has broken the law," the group's president, Troy Newman, told LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com
Canada Government Refuses Liberal Leader's Demand to Promote Abortion
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- The Canadian government will not add the promotion of abortion to the list of initiatives designed to promote women and children's health. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to include abortion promotion as part of an initiative with G8 countries.
International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda told CP today that the Harper government has no plans to change the policies it plans to advocate.
"Canada is not currently going to be changing its approach to improving maternal and infant health," Oda said about the upcoming April meeting. "The prime minister has been clear since we became government that there's no intention on regenerating any debate on abortion."
Earlier this month, Ignatieff, the leader of the Liberal Party in Canada, called on Harper to promote abortion, saying, women "are entitled to the full gamut of reproductive health services and that includes termination of pregnancy."
Abortion advocates are also concerned that the Harper government will not include pro-abortion groups in his funding plan for groups providing for women's maternal health.
CP indicates that a spokesman in Oda's office said Harper never intended to provide the pro-abortion groups with family planning funds and that his proposals are focused on legitimate women's health concerns like immunization, access to clean water, better nutrition and training health care workers. Full story at LifeNews.com
European Parliament: Women Must Have Access to Abortion and Contraception
Strasbourg, France (LifeNews.com) -- The European Parliament last week adopted a new report on the equality of men and women that says women must have access to abortion and contraception. Leading pro-life international campaigners say the EP has overstepped its bounds because it has no purview on abortion.
In the report, the European Parliament says "women must have control over their sexual and reproductive rights, notably through easy access to contraception and abortion."
But attorney J.C. von Krempach, writing on the blog of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, condemned the adoption of the document.
"Once more, a thin minority of the EP has adopted a text that glorifies abortion as a 'right' and that, in doing so, reaches far outside the European Union's competences. The European Union has no competence on abortion. This was clarified at countless occasions in the past," he said.
He pointed to a quote from Paula Lehtomäki, President-in-Office of the Council, in December 2006, who said, "The European Union treaties have not bestowed on the Community or the Union the competence whereby the Union could regulate on abortions." Full story at LifeNews.com
International Planned Parenthood Pushes Abortion, Child Sex at African Conference
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- Last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) hosted the 4th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights.
Plenary speakers included a United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary General, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Chief of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Africa Section, and the director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Liaison Office, as well as Dr. Jacqueline Sharpe, IPPF's President.
Major conference themes included promoting sexual education and sexual rights for young people, establishing closer links between sexual rights and reproductive health rights, transforming traditional cultural and religious norms about human sexuality, and advocating for legal abortion on demand throughout Africa. Full story at LifeNews.com
Woman Who Threatened Pro-Lifers With Knife at Abortion Center Keeps Baby
Cheyenne, WY (LifeNews.com) -- A Wyoming state House committee approved a bill Thursday morning that pro-life groups point out ignores the death of unborn children in violent crimes committed against pregnant women. The bill would only hold criminals accountable for killing the mother, but not the unborn child.
The House Judiciary Committee signed off on HB 132, a bill sponsored by Rep. Kathy Davison, whose pregnant 33-year-old daughter Kelly Burgess was shot and killed in Colorado last year.
While Davison and the state legislature voted for a two-victim bill the legislature approved in 2007 -- that pro-abortion Gov. Dave Freudenthal vetoed -- HB is nothing like the previous measure.
The former bill, sponsored by then state Sen. John Barrasso, called for allowing prosecutors to bring two charges for criminals who kill mothers and their unborn children but HB 132 only adds an additional sentence for killing the mother.
The current legislation does not apply to cases when unborn children survive the attack and may be injured as a result of it. That was the situation with the child of former NFL football player Rae Carruth, whose son Chance was left physically disabled after Carruth and friends killed the unborn child's mother.
Wyoming pro-life groups, including Right to Life of Wyoming and WyWatch Family Institute, have been urging legislators to wait until after the November elections, where they hope a new pro-life governor will be elected, and to work on a pro-life bill that protects women and unborn children both.
They also say passing the single victim bill takes the focus off of Fruedenthal's veto. Full story at LifeNews.com
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