LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Stupak Opposes Obama Health Care Plan Over Its Massive Abortion Funding
• Video Shows Tenth Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Hiding Sexual Abuse
• Obama's Government-Run Health Plan Still Requires a Monthly Abortion Fee
• Officials Find Dozens of Frozen Dead Babies After Legal Abortion Death Probed
• Polls: Obama's Approval Dropping, Opposition Up to Pro-Abortion Health Care
• Health Department Probes NY Abortionist Who Killed Woman in Failed Abortion
• The Pelosi Doctrine: Claiming Good Catholic Status While Promoting Abortion
• Mom of Disabled Child: Pre-Natal Genetic Testing Can Lead to More Abortions
• Catholic University in Florida Holds Mass Next Month To Honor Terri Schiavo
• ABC News Gives Rare Attention to High Rate of Abortions on Black Women
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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Congressman Bart Stupak, the Michigan lawmaker whose group of pro-life Democrats could decide the fate of the pro-abortion, government-run health care bill in the House, says he doesn't like the new health care plan President Barack Obama unveiled yesterday because it funds abortions. With the House barely passing the bill the first time, thanks to votes from Stupak and 10-12 pro-life Democrats who were pleased Stupak's abortion-funding ban was a part of it, where the lawmaker stands is important.
With the Senate bill having no ban, and Obama's plan for changes adding more abortion funding to the mix, Stupak and his colleagues have promised to vote no if the final version of the bill funds abortions, as will likely be the case.
Stupak released a statement that American Spectator reporter Philip Klein posted on the conservative web site.
"Unfortunately, the President's proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion," Stupak says. "The Senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable."
"While the President has laid out a health care proposal that brings us closer to resolving our differences, there is still work to be done before Congress can pass comprehensive health care reform," Stupak adds. Full story at LifeNews.com
Video Shows Tenth Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Hiding Sexual Abuse
Milwaukee, WI (LifeNews.com) -- New undercover video footage shows the tenth Planned Parenthood abortion center across the nation engaged in covering up a potential case of sexual abuse of a minor. The video shows staff at a Wisconsin facility counseling a purportedly 14-year-old girl to not divulge how a 31-year-old man impregnated her.
The video also shows Planned Parenthood staff coaching the girl on how to obtain an abortion without her parent's consent -- in violation of Wisconsin state law.
The new video is the latest from Live Action, a group of college students dedicated to exposing illegal and unethical practices at Planned Parenthood abortion centers. Their investigative work has exposed Planned Parenthood facilities in five other states resulting in firing staff, attempts to cut Planned Parenthood government funding, and investigations from the state health department.
After hearing the girl is allegedly 14 and her boyfriend is "much older," the new video shows the Planned Parenthood counselor saying whether the statutory rape will be reported to authorities "depends on the person you're disclosing that information to."
When the girl says that her boyfriend is 31, the counselor tells her, "You don't have to say anything" about the statutory rape and instructs her, "Just give them the information that's needed." The counselor also confirms that the 31- year-old "boyfriend" will be paying for the abortion the actor posing as the underage minor is allegedly seeking. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama's Government-Run Health Plan Still Requires a Monthly Abortion Fee
by Rep. John Boehner
President Obama's "new" health care proposal would still levy a new "abortion premium" fee and use government funds to subsidize elective abortion.
Just like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid s (D-NV) 2,074-page health care manager s amendment, that passed the Senate in December, and just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi s (D-CA), the President s new proposal levies an abortion premium and does not fix the problem of government funds being used to subsidize elective abortions.
Under the President s proposal - modeled after Senator Reid s plan that passed the Senate, according to ABC News - there is no prohibition on abortion coverage in federally subsidized plans participating in the Exchange.
Instead, the proposal includes layers of accounting gimmicks that demand that plans participating in the Exchange or the new government-run plan that will be managed by the Office of Personnel Management must establish allocation accounts when elective abortion is a covered benefit (p. 2073-2074). Everyone enrolled in these plans must pay a monthly abortion premium (p. 2072, lines 18-21), and these funds will be used to pay for the elective abortion services.
The Obama proposal directs insurance companies to assess the cost of elective abortion coverage (p. 2074-2075), and charge a minimum of $1 per enrollee per month (p. 2075, lines 8-10). Full story at LifeNews.com
Philadelphia, PA (LifeNews.com) -- Officials investigating an abortion business in Philadelphia after a woman died from a botched legal abortion last November have made a grisly discovery. The found dozens of apparently late-term unborn children who were killed in abortions as long as 30 years ago. The "Shop of Horrors" case involves the West Philadelphia abortion center Women's Medical Society run by Kermit Gosnell.
Authorities were prompted to investigate Women's Medical Society after an abortion patient died last November. Massive amounts of drugs found in the victim's system led authorities to suspect Gosnell was illegally prescribing pain-killers. Officials also suspected the woman died from the botched abortion in part because she had been treated by unlicensed personnel.
The State Board of Medicine says Gosnell had the unlicensed staff member vaginal exams and administer the drugs Demerol, Promethazine and Diazepam. He was eventually fined $1,000 for the violations.
Yesterday, for the second time in four days, according to a CBS 3 report, local police along with State Licensing officials and DEA agents, searched the Women's Medical Society. They found the dozens of unborn children killed in abortions who were frozen for decades. CBS 3 indicates they are now determining whether or not they may have been victims of illegal late-term abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Polls: Obama's Approval Dropping, Opposition Up to Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New polls show President Barack Obama's approval ratings continue dropping to historic low levels. This comes as the latest poll shows Americans still strongly opposed to the pro-abortion health care bill Obama and his allies want to railroad through Congress.
Obama s approval ratings have hit an all-time low according to a new survey produced by Rasmussen Reports.
The latest automated tracking poll yesterday showed the number of people who strongly approve of Obama's performance reached a new low of 22 percent down from a high of 45 percent when he took over the White House last year.
At the same time 41 percent strongly disapprove of his performance -- showing the most passionate voters disapprove of Obama by a 19 percent margin.
Overall the president s numbers have been between the mid and upper 40s since around Thanksgiving they tend to get a little lower when health care becomes the primary focus, as it is now, said Scott Rasmussen, the pollster. Full story at LifeNews.com
Health Department Probes NY Abortionist Who Killed Woman in Failed Abortion
Queens, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The New York state health department has indicated it has begun an investigation into abortion practitioner Salomon Epstein, who recently killed a Hispanic woman at his New York City abortion center.
Last month, 37-year-old Alexandra Nuñez died after a botched abortion claimed her life at the A-1 Women's Care abortion center located in Jackson Heights.
Now, the pro-life group Operation Rescue tells LifeNews.com that it has been notified by the State of New York Department of Health that Epstein is now under investigation for his part in the abortion.
The investigation, conducted by the Office of Professional Medical Conduct, is the result of a complaint filed by Operation Rescue staffer Tara Shaver and the case is OPMC #10-02-0688.
A-1 Women's Center is located in a run-down building in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood of Jackson Heights and it was only recently licensed in July of last year to do surgical procedures that required anesthesia.
In the botched abortion, emergency officials responded to an emergency call from the A1 Medicine facility at 95-45 Roosevelt. There, they found Alexandra Nuñez bleeding very heavily following an abortion procedure and she was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center where she was later pronounced dead. Full story at LifeNews.com
The Pelosi Doctrine: Claiming Good Catholic Status While Promoting Abortion
by Paul Kengor
Perhaps it's old hat. Maybe we're dead to it now, inured from continued shock --chastened, numb.
In a recent interview that received surprisingly little attention even from Catholics, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a Catholic, talked to Newsweek s Eleanor Clift. Pelosi was asked about her brushes with the [Catholic Church] hierarchy.
Madam Speaker knew what that meant: abortion.
I have some concerns about the Church s position respecting a woman s right to choose, she shared, as if endeavoring to correct the Church s errors -- but not without a heavy heart: I practically mourn this difference of opinion.
This difference of opinion was most lamentable, added the lifelong Catholic who attended Catholic private school, Catholic colleges (Trinity College in Washington, D.C.), and Mass in the San Francisco (St. Vincent de Paul Church) and Washington dioceses for a couple of reasons. First, because she was raised to believe what I profess, and, second, because, we are all endowed with a free will. Indeed, insisted Pelosi, women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will.
It is the second part of Pelosi s because that concerns me here. It is consistent with what she has stated for years, including in previous interviews with Clift. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mom of Disabled Child: Pre-Natal Genetic Testing Can Lead to More Abortions
by Kristan Hawkins
On March 17, 2010, it will be exactly one year that my husband and I first learned that our infant son, Gunner, had cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-threatening genetic disorder.
When I look back on this year, it has been an exhausting, emotional roller coaster. One that has tested myself, my husband, and my family spiritually, emotionally, and financially. There are so many unknowns still as to how severe Gunner s disease will be, how he will respond to treatments and if he will need that feeding tube in a couple months, and how my marriage will endure.
However, one thing is absolutely certain, I have the most beautiful, loving, and wondrous child. I couldn't help but include a picture for you to see just how perfect he is.
As I have written before, I have become deeply involved with the current healthcare reform debate arguing that the system desired by the President and Democratic Congressional leaders will lead to rationing of care and slower development of potential life-saving treatments for children like Gunner. Recently my research into this issue has led me down another path: pre-natal genetic testing.
Doing a simple Google search you can find dozens of articles and medical journal reports discussing the use of pre-natal genetic testing and debating the morality of the issue. Ethicists and physicians perform cost-benefit analysis of expensive yet exhaustive pre-natal testing compared to bringing a child into the world who will have a challenging life and cost thousands in medical care. Full story at LifeNews.com
 Got $1? Help a pro-life activist take on a pro-choice Blue-Dog! Scott Folkens is a pro-life activist! Pregnancy Center Board Chairman, local coordinator for Life Chain and 40 Days for Life events and coordinator for Roe v. Wade Prayer vigil. Box 2102 San Bernardino, CA 92406. http://www.folkens4congress.com |
Catholic University in Florida Holds Mass Next Month To Honor Terri Schiavo
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Ave Maria University, a Florida Catholic college, will again host the annual mass in remembrance of Terri Schiavo. She is the disabled woman who gained national and international attention when her estranged husband won a court order to take her live by denying her food and water.
AMU will host the The National Mass for Terri's Day in Naples, Florida at 5 PM on Wednesday, March 31.
Father Frank Pavone, the national director of Priests for Life, and Father Thomas Euteneuer, the president of Human Life International, will be joined by other Catholic priests, and pro-life advocates supporting Terri and her family at the event.
The event is the main one associated with the "International Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Terri Schindler Schiavo, and All of Our Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters," known as Terri's Day, two years ago.
March 31 is the day on which Terri died, after a painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death. Full story at LifeNews.com
ABC News Gives Rare Attention to High Rate of Abortions on Black Women
by Brad Wilmouth
On Monday s World News on ABC, correspondent Steve Osunsami filed a report that gave rare attention to the high abortion rate among the black population, as he focused on billboards in Atlanta.
They are put up by black members of the pro-life movement as they try to draw attention to the issue.
He began the report on a negative note by referring to the pro-life billboards as "causing trouble," and called those who created the signs "anti-abortionists," instead of using the term "pro-life."
Osunsami: "In the heart of black neighborhoods across Atlanta, these are the billboards causing the trouble. The message is simple that black children are an endangered species because of too many abortions in the black community. The anti-abortionists behind the billboards are black themselves."
After playing a clip of one of the billboard designers who asserted that "we're trying to raise awareness" of the dire statistics, Osunsami recounted the high numbers of black women who have abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
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