LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Obama, Democrats Make it Official: Reconciliation to Push Pro-Abortion Health Care
• Democrats Scrambling for Votes for Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care Bill
• Pelosi Again Denies Abortion Funding in Health Care Bill: I Talked With the Bishops
• Bart Stupak: Sidebar Bill Could Cut Abortion in Health Care, Prospect Unlikely
• Top House Democrat Falsely Claims Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Fund Abortions
• Poll Will Show Voters in Pro-Life Democrat Districts Oppose Abortion in Health Care
• Pro-Abortion, Pro-Life Groups Take Opposite Sides on Senate Health Care Bill
• Pam Tebow Shares Story of Non-Abortion of Tim Tebow at Pregnancy Center Event
• Pro-Life Group: Abortionist Can't Do Abortions Elsewhere With Suspended Licenses
• Bioethics Expert Suggests Women Reconsider Plan to Donate Eggs to Clinics
• Kenya Constitution Revisions Weaken Protection for Women, Unborn on Abortion
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Obama, Democrats Make it Official: Reconciliation to Push Pro-Abortion Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress made it official today -- saying they will use the controversial reconciliation process to railroad the pro-abortion health care bill through Congress. Under the process, the House will attempt to pass the pro-abortion Senate health care bill.
Then, both the House and Senate will go back and approve the reconciliation bill that will make changes to the Senate measure designed to ensure House Democrats will support the bill. In the Senate, Republicans will not be able to filibuster it.
The reconciliation bill will not revoke the massive abortion funding under the Senate measure and will not correct any of the other pro-abortion problems with the bill.
In a speech at the White House, Obama launched his final push to get the pro-abortion health care bill approved and unveiled more changes for the reconciliation bill to twist arms for votes for the bill.
"This is our proposal. This is where we've ended up. It s an approach that has been debated and changed and I believe improved over the last year," Obama added, despite his own pledge not to have a bill that funds abortions. "This is where we've ended up," he said about the final status of the Senate bill. "I don't know how this plays politically, but I know it's right," he said. And so I ask Congress to finish its work, and I look forward to signing this reform into law.
Before his speech, Sen. Tom Harkin told Politico the Senate is a green light on reconciliation. He spoke after talking with top Senate Democrats including Harry Reid and he said the reconciliation plan has been approved.
And Sen. Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, said the House would move first and attempt to pass the pro-abortion health care bill in the next two weeks. Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats Scrambling for Votes for Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Now that President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress have officially decided to use reconciliation to force the Senate pro-abortion health care bill through the House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi begins the task of finding enough votes for the bill to get it approved on a majority vote.
However, in part because of the massive abortion funding and other pro-abortion problems with the Senate bill, she my not get there.
The House could vote on the bill as early as March 19 and some Democrats who voted for the House version of the bill, which was approved on a very narrow margin, have already said they are either undecided on the bill or may vote no.
Rep. Bart Stupak, the respected pro-life Democrat, confirmed this week he will not vote for the Senate bill and as many as 10-12 pro-life Democrats who voted yes on the House bill may join him.
The House approved its bill 220-215 and the defection of Stupak and those 10-12 Democrats would be enough to defeat the measure. Add pro-life Republican Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana, the only GOP lawmaker to back the House bill, to the mix and Pelosi is even further behind the eight ball.
Obama and top Democrats hope to sweeten the pot with the language in the reconciliation bill but Stupak told the Wall St. Journal that he and other Democrats won't bite.
"We're not going to walk the plank again just to see the Senate shut us down," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pelosi Again Denies Abortion Funding in Health Care Bill: I Talked With the Bishops
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi misled participants last week at the White House health care summit when she said the Senate health care bill doesn't fund abortions. Now, comments from a late Friday press conference are surfacing where Pelosi exploits the Catholic bishops to justify her claim.
As LifeNews.com reported last week, Pelosi covered up the clear abortion funding and other pro-abortion problems found in the Senate legislation.
"The law of the land is there is no public funding of abortion and there is no public funding of abortion in these bills and I don't want our listeners or viewers to get the wrong impression from what you said," Pelosi asserted.
Following up on the health care summit comments, a transcript provided to LifeNews.com by the Family Research Council shows a reporter asked Pelosi on Friday whether she thought pro-life Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak was wrong in his assessment that the Senate bill funds abortions.
That's when Pelosi cited conversations she had with the nation's Catholic bishops, who lobbied her to stop abortion funding in her House version of the bill, as supposed proof the Senate version doesn't fund abortions.
Let me say it this way, there s three, three, I don't want to say principles but three standards that we are using as we go forward and I talked to the Catholic Bishops about this and people on all sides of the choice issue," Pelosi said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Bart Stupak: Sidebar Bill Could Cut Abortion in Health Care, Prospect Unlikely
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Rep. Bart Stupak, the leading pro-life Democrat in the House, said in an interview with MSNBC today that pro-life Democrats are holding fast against the Senate health care bill. He also mentioned the possibility of a sidebar bill that could cut abortion in health care but its prospects seem unlikely at best.
With President Barack Obama and pro-abortion Democrats moving ahead with their reconciliation plan to push the pro-abortion Senate health care bill, all eyes are on pro-life Democrats like Stupak and others.
He confirmed today that there are enough votes from pro-life Democrats to potentially kill the bill -- something everyone in the abortion debate is closely watching.
"It's accurate to say there are at least 12 of us who voted for healthcare that have indicated to the speaker and others that unless you change this language, we will vote against it," Stupak told MSNBC.
With the reconciliation process not able to stop the abortion funding in the Senate health care bill, Stupak said there is only one other idea House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can run with that would salvage the 13-15 votes changing from yes to no because of abortion funding.
He said he's talked with Pelosi about a sidebar bill that the House and Senate would have to approve that would amend the health care law under the bill to make it so the new law doesn't allow abortion funding. Full story at LifeNews.com
Top House Democrat Falsely Claims Senate Health Care Bill Doesn't Fund Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders looking to push the government-run health care bill through reconciliation, and with abortion funding as a major issue causing pro-life Democrats to consider voting against the Senate bill, a top Democrat is peddling the myth that the bill doesn't fund abortions.
Last week, during the White House health care summit, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi misled participants by claiming the Senate measure contains no abortion funding.
This week, her top lieutenant, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, made the same claim in an effort to twist arms to support the bill.
Speaking at a press briefing late Tuesday, Hoyer told reporters that both the House and Senate versions of the health care bill contain prohibitions on abortion funding -- even though only the House version has the Stupak amendment ensuring no federal funds are used to pay for abortions.
The Senate bill and the House bill both included language which would assure that no public funds were spent contrary to the Hyde language -- that is (for) abortion or abortion procedures, Hoyer claimed, according to a CNS News report. The Senate bill provides for that (and) certainly the House bill provided for that, and I think we'll see whether we can work to a solution, a resolution which will affect that end, said Hoyer.
But Michelle Begnoche, press secretary for Rep. Bart Stupak, the leading pro-life Democrat in the House who has a coalition of at least 10-12 Democrats who say they will vote no on the Senate bill because it funds abortions, wasn't buying it.
The congressman does not agree with Mr. Hoyer's statement that the Senate bill language and the House bill language achieve the same end with regard to federal funding of abortion," she told CNS News. On the issue of abortion language, there have been general discussions but no concrete proposals made at this time." Full story at LifeNews.com
Poll Will Show Voters in Pro-Life Democrat Districts Oppose Abortion in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A major pro-life women's group plans to release the results of new polling tomorrow showing that residents of Congressional districts represented by pro-life Democrats don't want abortion funding in health care. The poll is designed to encourage those members of Congress to oppose the Senate bill.
The Susan B. Anthony List poll to be released tomorrow surveyed voters in key districts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana to weigh the importance of abortion funding prohibitions in the final healthcare bill.
The poll surveyed congressional districts represented by pro-life Democrats who voted for the Stupak Amendment, which prohibited abortion funding in the House version of the bill.
The Senate measure, which President Barack Obama and pro-abortion Democrats plan to push through Congress via reconciliation starting in the House, doesn't ban abortion funding.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the national pro-life group, says pro-life Democrats, who face pressure from party leadership to back the pro-abortion Senate bill, will be able to learn how their constituents strongly oppose abortion funding in it. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion, Pro-Life Groups Take Opposite Sides on Senate Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Now that President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress will attempt to railroad the pro-abortion health care bill through Congress, key pro-abortion and pro-life groups are on opposite sides of the debate in terms of whether the House should adopt the Senate bill.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told LifeNews.com the Senate bill clearly warrants opposition from pro-life lawmakers because it funds abortions.
"In Section 1303 it allows tax credit subsidies for plans that include abortion and leaves the abortion surcharge in place," he explained. "It maintains the proposal to create a multi-state plan that includes abortion in Sec. 1334."
"Even worse, it would increase the Senate bill funding from $7 billion to $11 billion for community health centers in Sec. 10503 without any abortion funding restrictions. If this bill becomes law, this Congress will oversee the largest ever expansion of abortion on demand at taxpayer expense," he continued.
"No one who claims to be remotely pro-life can vote for this legislation. This legislation would be the greatest expansion of abortion we have ever seen in this country, all paid for and subsidized by the American taxpayer," Perkins said.
But those are good reasons for NARAL president Nancy Keenan to urge House members to support the bill. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pam Tebow Shares Story of Non-Abortion of Tim Tebow at Pregnancy Center Event
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) -- Pam Tebow, the celebrated mother of college football superstar Tim Tebow, shared the story of her decision against an abortion as the guest speaker at the Sav A Life Ministries annual banquet. Tebow's appearance at the central Georgia event is a prelude to her speaking at two other pro-life events.
Pam Tebow received a warm reception from the crowd, though she warned them the red suit she wore didn't mean she had switched her allegiance from the Florida Gators to the Georgia Bulldog.
Tebow showed the crowed the well-received Super Bowl ads Focus on the Family ran featuring her and her son and introducing their story to more than 106 million viewers.
She recounted how a reporter first broke the story of her decision not to have an abortion during an interview during the 2007 Heisman Trophy ceremony that put her decision in the spotlight.
Tebow said the reporter "chose those few seconds of testimony that said that I did not abort my son, and it aired on the Heisman. And that is a God story, and after that, God began to give us a platform to speak on behalf of life."
God was so gracious, she said. I didn t have to give up my life, and he didn t take the life of my son.
More than 1,000 people showed up for the pregnancy center's event. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Group: Abortionist Can't Do Abortions Elsewhere With Suspended Licenses
Philadelphia, PA (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life group that has monitored a Pennsylvania abortion practitioner who killed at least two women in botched abortions says it is glad two states have suspended Kermit Gosnell's medical license. Operation Rescue tells LifeNews.com Gosnell has no license allowing him to do abortions elsewhere.
As LifeNews.com reported, Gosnell, who runs the Women's Medical Society, lost his Delaware license as officials there responded to him losing it in Pennsylvania.
Both decisions came after authorities were prompted to investigate the 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.
They found dozens of unborn children killed in abortions who were frozen for decades. When an abortion practitioner loses his medical license in one state, he often relocates to another where he has a backup license and opens up an abortion business there.
But Operation Rescue confirmed to LifeNews.com today that Gosnell is not licensed in any other state. Full story at LifeNews.com
Bioethics Expert Suggests Women Reconsider Plan to Donate Eggs to Clinics
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A bioethics expert is suggesting that women rethink possible plans to donate their eggs to fertility clinics for research or use in pregnancy. Jennifer Lahl of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network says egg donation is potentially harmful for women.
Lahl says egg donation is a "risky business" and unlike a high-risk job where employees receive appropriate compensation for the dangers (think skyscraper window washing) the egg donation process is inherently risky, from beginning to end.
Stroke, organ failure, infection, cancer, loss of future fertility, and in rare instances, even death -- those are the risk Lahl says women could incur from participating.
"Sadly, longer-term risks remain a mystery, let alone properly understood, because of the lack of any long-term medical research or follow-ups on egg donors," the bioethics expert says.
While egg donation is sometimes seen as similar to organ donation, Lahl says that's not the case.
"In organ donation, the donor assumes risks to his own health in order to save a patient s life to help a sick or dying person. But the recipient of the egg donor s gametes is not sick or unhealthy not a patient, but a consumer, purchasing her eggs," Lahl said. "The end purpose of the donation is importantly different, and therefore, not analogous to organ donation." Full story at LifeNews.com
Nairobi, Kenya (LifeNews.com) -- The first draft of the newly-proposed Kenya Constitution protected the lives of unborn children from conception. However, changes made to the document have weakened those protections and are drawing opposition from pro-life advocates and Catholic Church leaders.
The Parliamentary Select Committee put together the first draft and it contained no mention of abortion, but the National Council of Churches and Catholic Church noted a phrase saying "everyone has a right to life" but not saying when life begins.
Language was added by the parliamentary committee saying human life begins at conception and it deleted language saying everyone has a right to health care and so-called reproductive services, which frequently is defined as abortion.
The language was enough for pro-life advocates to say they supported the document at the time.
Now, the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues has informed LifeNews.com that the process for constitutional reform in Kenya is nearing final action in the Parliament and is likely to open the floodgates to abortion on demand if not amended. Full story at LifeNews.com
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