LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, March 11, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Senate Republicans Won't Let Democrats Use Abortion to Pass Health Care Bill
• Democrats Take Issue With March 18 Date for Pro-Abortion Health Care Vote
• White House Faith Council Releases Final Report, No Plan to Reduce Abortions
• Catholic Bishops: Politico Wrong on Its Position on Health Care Bill, Abortion
• Pro-Abortion Groups Send Congress Letter, Want More Abortion Funding in Bill
• Pro-Life Democrats Joe Donnelly, Dale Kildee Oppose Pro-Abortion Health Care
• National Day of Appreciation of Abortion Providers Ignores Hurting, Killing Women
• Mitt Romney Says He Was Never Pro-Choice on Abortion as Mass Governor
• Day to Honor Abortion Practitioners an Oxymoron as Patients Killed, Injured
• Georgia Bill Banning Race-Based, Sex-Based Abortions Draws National Attention
• Illinois House Panel Passes Pro-Abortion Reproductive Health and Access Act
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Senate Republicans Won't Let Democrats Use Abortion to Pass Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- If Democrats in Congress think they can rely on an appeasement strategy on abortion to pass the health care bill through the Senate via reconciliation, Senate Republicans say they are misled. In the latest turn of events in the ongoing abortion-health care debate, Senate Republicans have upped the ante.
The current status of the pro-abortion health care bill has Democrats attempting to pass it in the House and then using reconciliation to stop a filibuster and get a bill with changes -- designed to secure House votes for the Senate bill -- through both chambers.
The reconciliation bill with the changes will not likely be able to fix the abortion funding problems in the Senate bill.
But if Democrats try to include abortion language in the reconciliation package, Republicans will object -- even if the changes are pro-life -- because they want to force pro-life Democrats in the House to defeat the overall health care bill.
Hoping to get Rep. Bart Stupak and his colleagues to hold their ground against the Senate bill, Republican officials told Roll Call magazine late Tuesday that they will raise procedural points of order on all changes, including abortion.
If there is anyone left in the House who believes Senate Republicans will help carry their water on abortion or anything else so they can vote in favor of the health bill, they are radically misreading our Conference, a senior Republican Senate aide told the Congressional newspaper. . Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats Take Issue With March 18 Date for Pro-Abortion Health Care Vote
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A dustup took place yesterday on Capitol Hill as a top Democratic leader took issue with President Barack Obama's spokesman over the projected date for the House vote on the Senate health care bill. Now, more Democrats are revolting against what they see as a White House mandate for a vote date.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad told reporters yesterday, "I've said for years, any talk of deadlines is an absolute waste of time...Deadlines just don't work, because you have so much that is out of your control."
Sen. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus also complained.
"We all agreed, all of us in the room agreed we have to move as expeditiously as we can, but there are a lot of hoops, a lot of hurdles, a lot of matters we have to deal with. But we all want to do it together," Baucus told reporters as he left a Tuesday meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "We all want to work as quickly as we can without setting a deadline," Baucus added.
And House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman told The Hill that Democrats told the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to back down. "He was certainly informed that we don't feel we want any deadlines assigned to us," he said.
Two top Democratic aides told Fox News they are upset by the artificial vote dates and deadlines from the White House on a bill that likely lacks the votes in the House to get approved. Full story at LifeNews.com
White House Faith Council Releases Final Report, No Plan to Reduce Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships presented its policy recommendations to President Barack Obama. The plan failed to include any proposals on reducing abortions or helping pregnant women find abortion alternatives.
Obama appointed 25 prominent religious and community leaders 13 months ago to the panel charged with providing him with faith-based policy suggestions.
Though the group includes some like Jim Wallis of Sojourners who claim to be pro-life it also included pro-abortion activist Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Ashley Horne, federal issues analyst with Focus on the Family Action, said the Obama panel missed an opportunity to present him with concrete ideas on reducing abortions.
"The president said he wanted to reduce the need for abortions," she said. "So, that topic would have been a natural fit for this group. It's one more strike against a president who, so far, has catered only to the pro-abortion agenda."
CBN White House Correspondent David Brody suggests the faith-based group did not suggest abortion reduction plans because it has turned over responsibility for them to the Domestic Policy Council, headed by abortion advocate Melody Barnes. Full story at LifeNews.com
Catholic Bishops: Politico Wrong on Its Position on Health Care Bill, Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new reports earlier this week in the political web site Politico caused a stir in the pro-life movement. Politico's report made it appear the nation's Catholic bishops would lend their voice to the Senate health care bill should its provisions funding abortion be removed.
The story quoted Richard Doerflinger, an associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who is a pro-life policy expert.
Doerflinger said the bishops would support a move either in the reconciliation or in a separate bill to insert the Stupak amendment banning abortion funding into the Senate health care bill.
The question at the time was whether Republicans and Democrats would come together to allow a vote (Republicans have since said they will not).
If the Stupak amendment or something equivalent to it were in the reconciliation package on the Senate floor and it was necessary to get 60 votes to waive the point of order, Doerflinger told Politico. "We would strongly urge everyone, Democratic and Republican, to vote to waive the point of order.
What caused confusion was additional verbiage from Politico saying the bishops would "advance the shared goal with Democrats of health care reform." Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion Groups Send Congress Letter, Want More Abortion Funding in Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates are not content with the massive abortion funding and promotion of abortion in the Senate health care bill the House may soon consider. More than 50 groups that back abortion combined forces for a new letter to members of Congress demanding more.
The Tuesday letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama, asks for major revisions to the pro-abortion language in the Senate bill.
The groups call the current language funding abortions unacceptable obstacles for women who wish to purchase insurance that includes abortion coverage and for plans that wish to offer it.
Pro-abortion groups don't like the fact that states could opt out of abortion funding, though residents of other states could still be forced to pay for abortions under the bill.
We are calling on you to make improvements that would ensure that under reform, women will not lose the private health insurance coverage for abortion that they now have, the groups wrote. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Democrats Joe Donnelly, Dale Kildee Oppose Pro-Abortion Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two key pro-life Democrats in the House whose votes could determine the fate of the pro-abortion Senate health care bill have come down on the measure.
Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana says he will vote no because of the abortion funding and Michigan's Dale Kildee, thought to be a yes vote, has not taken a position for the bill.
Donnelly, who originally voted for the House version of the health care bill that contained the Stupak amendment, called the abortion language in the Senate bill a "fatal flaw" and said "I would not vote for it."
The congressman stated his objections to the Senate bill's language in an interview with the Rochester Sentinal newspaper.
"Contrary to the language governing existing programs such as SCHIP and Medicaid, under the Senate bill the federal government will subsidize insurance policies that cover elective abortion," Donnelly said. "Under the new Office of Personnel Management program all but one plan could pay for abortion."
Donnelly said the Senate bill makes it so "authorities granted to federal officials could be used to mandate abortion coverage" -- pointing out that the "Federal Indian health program is reauthorized without the Vitter amendment against funding for elective abortion" and "federal funds can pay for elective abortions at Community Health Centers." Full story at LifeNews.com
National Day of Appreciation of Abortion Providers Ignores Hurting, Killing Women
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Today is National Day of Appreciation of Abortion Providers, the annual celebration by pro-abortion activists of abortion practitioners. Groups like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU sent their members messages today honoring abortion practitioners but they ignored how they have killed and injured women.
ACLU officials released a statement saying one quote from an unnamed abortion practitioner "sums it all up."
"We are just trying to do what Dr. Tiller would want us to do: help women," the abortion "doctor" said.
"Without their courage, commitment, and skill, the legal right to abortion in this country would be meaningless. So in addition to thanking abortion providers today, we should thank them every day," the ACLU said.
But the statement ignores a plethora of problematic abortionists who not only kill unborn children in abortions but kill and injure women as well.
Just this year, several had made the news because of their illegal or unethical activities. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mitt Romney Says He Was Never Pro-Choice on Abortion as Mass Governor
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Mitt Romney is likely one of several Republican candidates who will vie for the GOP nomination and the right to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama. For his 2008 attempt at representing Republicans, Romney caused consternation by talking about his position change on abortion and he is doing it again.
Appearing on the "Imus in the Morning" radio program with Don Imus this morning, Imus asked Romney to revisit his position change.
"Well, you know, I never really called myself pro-choice, but I did say when I was running for governor that I would keep the law as it was," Romney said.
But that appears to contradict what he said at the 2007 GOP Iowa straw poll debate.
"Look, I was pro-choice. I am pro-life. You can go back to YouTube and look at what I said in 1994. I never said I was pro-choice, but my position was effectively pro-choice. I changed my position. And I get tired of people that are holier-than-thou because they've been pro-life longer than I have," he said then. Full story at LifeNews.com
Day to Honor Abortion Practitioners an Oxymoron as Patients Killed, Injured
by Cheryl Sullenger
Every year on March 10, abortion groups promote giving thanks for the dwindling number of abortionists in America, but could there be a bigger oxymoron than Abortionist Appreciation Day?
I don't think that Eileen Smith has much appreciation for abortionist Rapin Osathanondh, who is set to stand trial in September for manslaughter in the death of her daughter, Laura. Osathanondh killed Laura when he gave her an abortion in September, 2007, without having proper staffing or emergency protocols in place. Smith suffered life-threatening complications from the same drug that killed Michael Jackson, Propofol, and died on the abortion table.
We won't find many "thank you" letters from the patients of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, either. The State of Pennsylvania recently closed Gosnell's abortion mill and suspended his medical license after the death of a patient from an apparent drug overdose administered during an abortion. Inspectors found "deplorable and unsanitary conditions" at Gosnell's Philadelphia abortion mill along with a grisly collection of aborted baby remains dating back 30 years. Full story at LifeNews.com
Georgia Bill Banning Race-Based, Sex-Based Abortions Draws National Attention
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) -- Following up on a billboard campaign throughout Atlanta saying there are too many abortions done on black unborn babies, a statewide pro-life group is getting national attention for a bill it is supporting in the state legislature that would ban abortions done specifically because the child is African-American.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican who introduced the bill last month with the support of both parties, says the bill is meant to target discrimination.
The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act would apply to abortion "the same standards of nondiscrimination" that govern employment, education, government and housing, he says.
The measure is getting a hearing today in the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee but also drawing nationwide attention and news stories from several media outlets.
Earlier, Georgia Right to Life worked with the Radiance Foundation to promote billboards with the message "Black Children Are An Endangered Species" featuring a picture of a black baby. Full story at LifeNews.com
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Illinois House Panel Passes Pro-Abortion Reproductive Health and Access Act
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) -- An Illinois House committee on Wednesday passed the Reproductive Health and Access Act, a bill that would aggressively promote abortion. The Illinois House of Representatives Human Services Committee passed HB 6205 on a 5-2 vote despite opposition from pro-life groups.
The legislation would make abortion a fundamental right in Illinois -- meaning abortion would stay legal in Illinois even if Roe v. Wade is someday overturned in the Supreme Court.
The bill also would require taxpayer funding of Medicaid abortions and is similar to the federal Freedom of Choice Act that pro-life advocates have fought for two decades in Congress.
Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, which has been helping lead the battle against this legislation along with state pro-life groups and Americans United for Life, told LifeNews.com he is disappointed by the vote.
"HB 6205 would be a massive expansion of abortion in our state, and the people of Illinois won't stand for it. We are ready to fight this bill, and we will defeat it," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
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