LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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Current Headlines
• President Obama Signs Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Ignores Executive Order
• States Sue Over Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Poll Has Americans Supportive
• Stupak: Pro-Life Congressman Who Called Bill a Baby Killer "Tarnished" House
• Polls Find Majority Oppose Barack Obama, Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
• Health Care Bill Will Fund Abortions Despite Promised Obama Executive Order
• Ben Nelson, Bob Casey Defend Stupak Deal for Abortion Executive Order
• Barack Obama Putting Politics Over Patients on Stem Cell Research Funding
• Women, Medical Workers Ask Court to Protect Conscience Rights of Pro-Lifers
• Fox's Family Guy Engages in Despicable Attack on Terri Schiavo, Her Family
• Georgetown University Student Government Votes to Fund Pro-Abortion Panel
• Father Paul Marx: The Passing of the Patriarch of the Pro-Life Movement
• New York's Kingsborough Comm College Flips, Backs Pro-Life Free Speech
--> ACTION: The next battle of the pro-life movement has begun to replace the members of Congress who gave us the pro-abortion health care bill. Please urge people to sign up for news from LifeNews.com to join this fight. People can sign up for LifeNews.com pro-life news, daily news at http://www.Lifenews.com/digest and weekly at http://www.Lifenews.com/weekly
President Obama Signs Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Ignores Executive Order
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama signed the pro-abortion government-run health care bill into law today but did not sign an executive order that would supposedly nullify the abortion funding. Leading pro-life and pro-abortion groups are in rare agreement as they say the order is virtually meaningless.
Obama did not sign the companion executive order that Congressman Bart Stupak negotiated to supposedly ban abortion funding under the bill in exchange for several votes that led to passage of the legislation.
During his address to members of Congress before signing the bill, Obama made no mention of the executive order, abortion, or the arrangement he made with Stupak and other Democrats who had been waiting until the last-minute to determine their stance on the bill.
Yesterday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius told the "Early Show" on CBS that Obama would "keep his word" on signing the order. She did not provide a date by which he would sign it.
"Clearly, he intends to keep his word," she said.
Congressman Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican who is one of the most prominent pro-life advocates in the House, said what many pro-life groups have explained about the uselessness of the executive order in combating the abortion funding and promotion in the bill.
From a pro-life perspective, I find absolutely no comfort in this executive order. This puts the fate of the unborn in the hands of the most pro-abortion President in history, Pitts said. He pointed out that an executive order issued by Obama can't trump a law passed by Congress. Full story at LifeNews.com
States Sue Over Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Poll Shows Americans Supportive
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The attorneys general of 13 states immediately filed lawsuits against the pro-abortion health care bill President Barack Obama signed Tuesday morning. They include 12 Republicans and one Democrat, of Louisiana, and a Rasmussen poll finds Americans supportive of their actions.
Just seven minutes after Obama signed the measure into law, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum took the lead and filed the suit for his colleagues in court in Florida.
"The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage," the lawsuit says, according to an AP report.
McCollum, who is pro-life, is joined by attorneys general from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Colorado and Louisiana.
Some states are looking at other ways of getting out of participating in the pro-abortion health care bill as Virginia and Idaho have passed legislation to do that.
Portions of the bill begin in six months while other provisions don't kick in until 2014, so courts have time to consider the constitutional challenge before the legislation takes effect.
The lawsuits enjoy the support of the American people according to a Rasmussen poll. A new survey it released today finds 49 percent of Americans favor their state suing the federal government to fight the requirement in the new national health care plan that every American must obtain health insurance. Just 37 percent disagree and 14 percent are undecided. Full story at LifeNews.com
Stupak: Pro-Life Congressman Who Called Bill a Baby Killer "Tarnished" House
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Congressman Bart Stupak has issued a response to the pro-life Texas Republican lawmaker who shouted during his comments on the House floor that the pro-abortion health care bill was "a baby killer." Stupak says Rep. Randy Neugebauer's shout "tarnished" the reputation of the House.
Stupak also says he has accepted the congressman's apology.
"I did receive an apology call from Congressman Neugebauer this afternoon. I accepted his apology," Stupak said.
"I also let him know that, while we all have had a very long week and tensions were high leading up to the vote Sunday night, I feel it is important for Members to maintain decorum of the House," he added. "Over the past year there have been a couple of incidents on the House floor where outbursts have tarnished Congress s reputation and I hope there are no further incidents.
Stupak also said he should apologize on the House floor. Full story at LifeNews.com
Polls Find Majority Oppose Barack Obama, Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As President Barack Obama signs the pro-abortion health care bill into law, a CNN poll conducted just before the House passed it finds a majority of the American people oppose both Obama's job performance and the bill itself. And a CBS News poll provides similar results.
The health care measure funds and promotes abortions and a disputed executive order may come from Obama that will supposedly nullify the abortion funding.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, 51 percent of respondents disapprove of Obama's job performance and 46 percent approve of it. This is the first time CNN has shown a majority of Americans disapproving of his job performance.
Obama's approval raring has dropped steadily since December when it stood at 54 percent, and that was down from the 76 percent he had in February shortly after he took over the White House.
Of the various policies in the national debate today, according to the CNN poll, health care was the policy area that drew the second highest negative rating for Obama in terms of his job performance, with 58 percent registering disapproval.
The poll also found 59 percent of Americans oppose the pro-abortion health care bill itself, that the House approved along party lines. Full story at LifeNews.com
Health Care Bill Will Fund Abortions Despite Promised Obama Executive Order
by David Christensen
You probably heard that Rep. Bart Stupak who had fought valiantly to keep abortion out of the health care bill has now agreed to support the bill with no amendments, no corrections, but merely because the President will issue an Executive Order (EO) purportedly keeping abortion out of the Senate bill. The fact is that the EO would do nothing of the sort.
In fact, and EO simply cannot trump statutory law. If the Senate bill passes, the various abortion funding provisions in it will become the law of the land unfettered by this EO for reasons explained in FRC Action s score letter.
But assuming the EO had some legal weight, or assume that the Administration really was determined to follow it, several problems would still exist. First, Section 1 of the EO claims to extend the Hyde amendment abortion funding restrictions to the health exchanges that would be created under the Senate bill.
It also claims to ensure that conscience protections under the Church amendments (long-standing statute) and the Weldon appropriations provision remain intact. The problem is the Senate bill is not bound by the Hyde amendment restricting abortion funding or the Weldon nondiscrimination provision because those only apply to funds appropriated under the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) appropriations bill.
These provisions of law do not constrain the funding under the Senate bill because it directly appropriates funds for new programs that would fund abortion. Moreover, Congress could simply decide not to renew either the Hyde amendment or Weldon amendment this year. What then? Full story at LifeNews.com
Ben Nelson, Bob Casey Defend Stupak Deal for Abortion Executive Order
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Bart Stupak is in good company when it comes to defending his deal to pass the pro-abortion health care bill in exchange for an executive order that pro-life groups explain and pro-abortion groups admit is meaningless. Two pr-life Democrats seen by pro-life advocates as compromising their principles support it.
Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who preceded Stupak by agreeing to the pro-abortion language in the Senate bill after his own attempting at banning abortion funding failed, told National Review he supports the deal.
He says sees Stupak s executive order as something made in good faith, at the very least but unnecessary.
He told NR that he would absolutely be comfortable if Obama never issued the executive order, since he believes the Senate s language is enough to stop abortion funding.
It is a good faith showing by the administration that it doesn't plan to change. That s helpful," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Barack Obama Putting Politics Over Patients on Stem Cell Research Funding
by David Prentice and Rep. Randy Forbes 
As spiraling health care costs increase and public debate over health care collide in the headlines, it s time to question the value that Americans have received for their tax dollar investment in some medical research. Specifically, how are health dollars being allocated regarding actual promising treatments for patients versus speculative, controversial research?
Last March, President Barack Obama opened more taxpayer funding for stem-cell research and authorized use of virtually any embryonic stem cells for research. As a result, the National Institutes of Health has approved 43 new embryonic stem-cell lines for taxpayer-funded experiments, but that is not necessarily good news for sick people.
The only approved experiment for embryonic stem-cell injections into humans, for newly injured spinal cord patients, is on hold by the Food and Drug Administration because of safety concerns. Those concerns include the fact that in animal experiments, embryonic stem cells can lead to cancer or misplaced tissue formation. These are not minor side effects, but potentially fatal in their own right.
In the meantime, noncontroversial adult stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and other tissues are treating thousands of patients around the globe right now. It s estimated that more than 50,000 adult stem-cell transplants occur annually worldwide. Full story at LifeNews.com
Women, Medical Workers Ask Court to Protect Conscience Rights of Pro-Lifers
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Representing Concerned Women for America and four other groups of pro-life medical professionals, attorneys with Advocates International filed a joint motion to lift stay and at last permit their intervention in three lawsuits.
The suits, commenced on January 15, 2009, seek to invalidate a final federal regulation protecting medical professionals from discrimination because they refuse to participate in abortions.
Advocates International is seeking to defend the law against challenges by some state officials, Planned Parenthood, and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
A stay of the action was issued last year by the Court when the pro-abortion Obama Administration issued its notice of rulemaking to rescind that regulation year ago and also asked the court for time to consider whether it shouldn't rescind the challenged regulation that denies federal funding to any federal grantee who discriminates against any health care providers for exercising their constitutionally and statutorily protected rights of conscience. Full story at LifeNews.com
Fox's Family Guy Engages in Despicable Attack on Terri Schiavo, Her Family
by Colleen Raezler 
Seth MacFarlane marked the five-year-anniversary of Terri Schiavo's court-ordered death by staging a preschool musical about it in his crass FOX cartoon, "Family Guy."
MacFarlane denied Schiavo human dignity in the March 21 episode by referring to her in lyrics sung by cartoon preschoolers as "the most expensive plant you'll ever see" and a "vegetable," and noted "her mashed potato brains."
The child who played the role of Schiavo's husband, Michael, ultimately concluded, "There's only one solution, it's in the Constitution, we've got to pull the plug."
Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after her parents fought numerous legal battles, appealing to the United States Congress and Supreme Court, to keep her alive, against the wishes of her husband.
A chorus representing pro-life protesters sang in the show, "Terri Schaivo is kind of alive-oh. What a lively little bugger ... Terri Schiavo is kind of alive-oh, the most expensive plant you'll ever see." A "doctor" sang, "Maybe we should just unplug her." Full story at LifeNews.com
Georgetown University Student Government Votes to Fund Pro-Abortion Panel
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In early March, the Student Activities Commission (SAC) of Georgetown University, a Jesuit, Catholic university, voted in favor of funding an abortion rights panel on campus, according to The Hoya. Earlier the university partially funded "Sex Positive Week" and held performances of "The Vagina Monologues."
While Catholics the world over are engaged in penance, prayer and alms giving during this Lenten season, students at America's oldest Catholic university have participated in a perverse series of events that vividly reminds us why our culture is in such trouble said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.
The Hoya article said the pro-abortion event would feature three male panelists in favor of abortion rights speaking on the role of men in the pro-abortion movement. It would be sponsored by a new coalition recently formed by United Feminists and H*yas for Choice called Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice .
The Plan A event was initially denied a request for University support in a Feb. 24 letter from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olsen. Full story at LifeNews.com
Father Paul Marx: The Passing of the Patriarch of the Pro-Life Movement
by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
Abbot John Klassen, OSB of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota, informed me personally Saturday that the venerable founder of Human Life International, Fr. Paul Marx, went to his eternal reward peacefully at 8:10 that morning.
According to eyewitness accounts, Father raised his hands as he died and said, "Take me home." Fittingly, he passed away in the Year for Priests, just short of his 90th birthday. Needless to say, he will be sorely missed!
Fr. Marx founded HLI as the Human Life Center in 1972 as a priestly response to what he saw was the global anti-life onslaught that was beginning to wash over the world with oceans of the blood of innocents. As a strong spiritual father, he could not stand by and watch this evil threaten the lives of God's precious children and the sacred institution of marriage.
He infiltrated a pro-abortion conference in California in 1971 as Dr. Paul Marx (correctly so, as he had a PhD in Sociology) and taped all the proceedings of the abortion-promoters so that he could expose their evil. He did this in the book, The Death Peddlers, which was the first major work of his many writings bringing the profound evil of the abortion industry to the light. Full story at LifeNews.com
New York's Kingsborough Community College Flips, Backs Pro-Life Free Speech
Brooklyn, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A student told he could not distribute a pro-life newsletter on the campus of Kingsborough Community College will be allowed to do so as a result of a letter sent to the school by the Alliance Defense Fund.
Pro-life students shouldn't be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs, said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham.
He added: In this case, campus security officers and several administrators tried to stop a student from passing out pro-life fliers even though no campus policy prohibited him from doing so. We commend the college for quickly rectifying this situation and affirming our client s rights protected by the First Amendment.
On Sept. 24, Joseph Hayon was distributing copies of a pro-life newsletter to passersby outside the KCC cafeteria. He was approached by a campus security officer who told him that he could not give out fliers on campus because they did not have an official stamp from the Office of Student Life. However, no school policy even discusses students distributing literature on campus. Full story at LifeNews.com
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