LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friay, May 28, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Poll Has Support for Supreme Court Pick Elena Kagan Lower Than Past Nominees
• Obama Nominee to Head Medicare, Medicaid Post Favors British Rationing
•House Republican Leader Boehner to Receive Pro-Life Award at Right to Life Event
• Top Senate Democrat Praises Late-Term Abortion Practitioner George Tiller
• Texas Pro-Life Group Backs Rick Perry, Planned Parenthood Supports Bill White
• Oklahoma Gov Vetoes Bill to Make State Fourth to Stop Abortion in Health Care
• Pro-Life Opposition Growing to Kenya Constitution Allowing Unlimited Abortions
• Academics From U.S., Canada, Other Nations Pressure G8 to Promote Abortion
• Kansas Gov Parkinson Sends Funds From Health Clinics to Planned Parenthood
• Northern Ireland Court Allows Pro-Life Group to Sue Over Abortion Guidelines
• United Nations Shuts Out Pro-Life Groups at Mexican World Conference of Youth
• Ohio Senate Committee Passes Ban on Human-Animal Hybrid Cloning
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Poll Has Support for Supreme Court Pick Elena Kagan Lower Than Past Nominees
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new USA Today poll shows the level of support for the Supreme Court nomination of pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan is lower than the support for any of the five previous Supreme Court nominees to be confirmed. Whether that will translate into fewer votes for her nomination remains to be seen.
The survey, taken Monday and Tuesday, shows 46 percent would "like to see the Senate vote in favor" of Kagan's nomination.
That's lower than the 60 percent who supported Chief Justice John Roberts or the 58 percent Clarence Thomas received in 1991.
Sonia Sotomayor had the support of 55 percent of Americans in the same USA Today poll, Samuel Alito had the support of 54 percent and Ruth Bader Ginsburg was favored by 53% of Americans.
In the new survey, 32% of Americans opposed Kagan's nomination -- which is also a higher level than any of the past confirmed nominees except for Sotomayor, who faced opposition of 36 percent.
The 46-32 percent who favor Kagan's nomination differs from the Rasmussen Reports poll showing 36 percent of voters supporting her nomination and 39 percent opposing confirmation. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama Nominee to Head Medicare, Medicaid Post Favors British Rationing
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama has appointed another nominee for an influential government position who will upset pro-life advocates. But, this time, the nominee poses concerns not on abortion but on end-of-life issues like euthanasia, and rationing of health care.
Obama selected Dr. Donald Berwick to become the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the office that oversees government health care programs.
Berwick is an outspoken admirer of the British National Health Service and its rationing arm, the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE). Other critics have predicted since the earliest days of the Obama administration that NICE-style health care was coming.
That includes Wesley J. Smith, who has frequently condemned the approach.
During a 2008 speech to British physicians, Berwick said I am romantic about the National Health Service. I love it," and calling it generous, hopeful, confident, joyous, and just.
Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, wrote more about the problems with Berwick in an opinion column at the Daily Caller.
Recalling that opponents of the government-run health care bill were blasted for bringing up "death panels," Tanner writes: "But if President Obama wanted to keep a lid on that particular controversy, he just selected about the worst possible nominee." Full story at LifeNews.com
House Republican Leader Boehner to Receive Pro-Life Award at Right to Life Event
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- House Republican leader John Boehner will receive an award from the National Right to Life Committee next month and give a keynote address to the organization's national convention next month in Pittsburgh. This is the second time Boehner will have received a pro-life award.
The award will recognize the role he played in leading the fight against including abortion funding in the national health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law.
Although the Obama health care measure contains massive abortion funding, Boehner is credited with getting every Republican member of the House to vote against it and earning the support of nearly enough pro-life Democrats to stop it.
National Right to Life co-executive director Darla St. Martin told LifeNews.com she is pleased Boehner will address the convention and receive the National Right to Life Legislative Leadership Award.
"Congressman John Boehner has been an outspoken supporter of the most vulnerable members of our society," she said. "Throughout the battle over President Obama's health care bill, Leader Boehner worked tirelessly to defend the rights of unborn children, the elderly, and the medically dependent and disabled." Full story at LifeNews.com
Top Senate Democrat Praises Late-Term Abortion Practitioner George Tiller
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the Senate, praised late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller today -- marking the occasion of his shooting death last year. Reid, who long ago abandoned his claim to be pro-life, hailed one of the few to do abortions so late in pregnancy.
Monday is the one-year anniversary of militia activist Scott Roeder, who has no affiliation with the pro-life movement, shooting Tiller at his church in Wichita, Kansas.
This morning, Reid called Tiller's death a "tragedy" that is "independent of the issue of abortion."
"It s not about the legality of abortion or funding of abortion. These are emotional debates, and ones on which people of good faith can disagree," he said.
"What so shook that Kansas town was rather an act of terrorism. What reverberated out to our borders and coasts from the center of our country was the violation of our founding principle: that we are a nation of laws, not of men," he said.
NARAL president Nancy Keenan immediately thanked Reid for honoring Tiller, who was close to losing his medical license for repeatedly violating Kansas limits on late-term abortions by allegedly lying about the age of the unborn child to be able to qualify the abortion as legal under state law. Full story at LifeNews.com
Texas Pro-Life Group Backs Rick Perry, Planned Parenthood Supports Bill White
Austin, TX (LifeNews.com) -- The gubernatorial campaign in Texas is shaping up to be a fierce battle between pro-life Governor Rick Perry and former Houston mayor Bill White, who is a strong abortion supporter. Perry has secured the support of a statewide pro-life group while the Planned Parenthood abortion business is in White's corner.
Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas endorsed White, saying he "has demonstrated a strong commitment" to abortion.
The organization runs the largest chain of abortion facilities in Texas, including their recently opened 78,000-square-foot, six-story "megafacility" in Houston.
But Governor Perry has been endorsed by the Texas Alliance for Life PAC, which says he "has passionately supported laws protecting unborn babies and their mothers."
Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, told LifeNews.com, "Voters need to know that Bill White would bring Planned Parenthood with him into the Texas Capitol if he were elected governor in November."
"Texas needs a leader who is unrelentingly pro-life," Pojman said. "Unlike his opponent, Governor Perry has never given an inch to the life-threatening precepts of Roe v. Wade, whether verbally or by his actions as an elected official." Full story at LifeNews.com
Oklahoma Gov Vetoes Bill to Make State Fourth to Stop Abortion in Health Care
Oklahoma City, OK (LifeNews.com) -- Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry issued his fourth veto of a pro-life bill in recent weeks -- this time vetoing a measure that would have the state become the fourth to opt out of at least some of the abortion funding under the health care law President Barack Obama signed.
Henry vetoed House Bill 3290 that would ban insurance companies from covering elective abortions.
Henry issued his veto late Wednesday night and said his primary reason for vetoing the measure was because rape and incest victims may not be able to get taxpayer funds to pay for their abortion -- even though the bill has an exemption for rape and incest to conform with federal law.
"By requiring these victims and other women to prospectively purchase separate and special abortion insurance before a pregnancy occurs, House Bill 3290 unfairly and punitively limits the health options of these individuals," Henry said.
The legislature has already voted to override Henry on each of the other pro-life bills he vetoed and pro-life advocates are already asking state lawmakers to do so again.
They have until the end of the day on Friday to override Governor Henry, as that is the deadline for the state legislature to adjourn.
ACTION: Contact members of the Oklahoma legislature at http://www.lsb.state.ok.us and complain to Henry at http://www.gov.ok.gov/index.php
Full story at LifeNews.com
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Pro-Life Opposition Growing to Kenya Constitution Allowing Unlimited Abortions
Nairobi, Kenya (LifeNews.com) -- Christian churches have united in Kenya in opposition to a proposed constitution scheduled for a national referendum on August 4 and have taken a leading role in the No campaign.
The constitution includes a new health exception on abortion which changes current law and will likely open the door to abortion on demand.
That's because the definition of "health" will likely include the broad social and economic factors used by the US Supreme Court in 1973 to authorize unlimited abortions and by the World Health Organization.
The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues has been in contact with pro-life leaders in Kenya and tells LifeNews.com the public education campaign is underway.
PNCI Director Marie Smith, said, The formal government education campaign which leads the Yes side is underway led by the Committee of Experts (CoE) the very body that inserted the pro-abortion language into the proposed constitution. A number of members of this committee are known to support the legalization of abortion.
The committee has been openly hostile to the churches as the churches conduct their own educational campaign encouraging a No vote and it has responded in a strong and heavy handed way, Smith says. Full story at LifeNews.com
Academics From U.S., Canada, Other Nations Pressure G8 to Promote Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The heads of the U.S. National Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada joined their counterparts from Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Russia and Britain to release a statement pressuring the leaders of nations at the G8 summit to promote abortion.
They want the heads of state to include access to "safe" abortion as part of the major funding initiative agenda at the upcoming meeting.
"What is troubling is that these leading scholars equate 'unsafe' to illegal abortion,' says Susan Yoshihara of CFAM.
"Worse, the top academics ignore the latest research available on the subject. They use figures that have always been controversial, unsubstantiated, and unverifiable," she adds. "They were recently shown to be false in a highly acclaimed study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, published by the Lancet in April."
"I am not sure which is worse, the use of these elite and prestigious scientific institutions to promote a highly politicized agenda, or the fact that the agenda and their statement are based, seemingly deliberately, on discredited science," Yoshihara added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Kansas Gov Parkinson Sends Funds From Health Clinics to Planned Parenthood
Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson upset pro-life advocates today with a line-item veto of a state budget provision that would cut taxpayer funding of the Planned Parenthood abortion business. He increased the funding for the abortion business while cutting funds for legitimate health clinics.
Last year, Parkinson outraged pro-lifers when he restored Planned Parenthood funding with about $250,000 in taxpayer funds.
Planned Parenthood is now slated for $375,000, up 37% since 2007, from Title X, the tax-funded, federal family planning program.
Parkinson vetoed the Huelskamp/Kinzer proviso which would direct all Title X money go to comprehensive public clinics and hospitals. Title X federal taxpayer money is funneled through the Kansas health department to various qualified clinics for family planning services which also includes cancer screenings, pregnancy visits and STD testing.
Kansans for Life director Mary Kay Culp told LifeNews.com, "It's a sad day in Kansas when the Governor insures a politically motivated group like Planned Parenthood gets our taxpayer dollars while state health clinics are left wanting."
Gov. Parkinson is out of step with the public, which doesn't want to be linked with this abortion business, but that public showed up at Johnson County offices today, where commissioners acted wisely to unhitch and protect our children-- from Planned Parenthood," she added. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Send your thoughts about the Planned Parenthood funding to Governor Parkinsno at http://governor.ks.gov
Northern Ireland Court Allows Pro-Life Group to Sue Over Abortion Guidelines
Belfast, Northern Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- A Northern Ireland court has granted leave to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) for a full legal challenge of the decision by the NI health department to re-issue controversial guidance on abortion. The court decision came despite the health department's attempt to have the case dismissed.
Although the Northern Ireland health department lost a previous court case after pro-life groups challenged its abortion rules, the department released them again in February.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) chose to re-release the abortion guidelines after the High Court ordered the health department late last year to withdraw them.
In its new case, SPUC argued that the publication of the guidance in its current form was perverse, and contravened that November 30 court order for the document s withdrawal.
Following the success of SPUC s previous judicial review, the department sought permission to withdraw only the sections of the guidance dealing with counseling and the rights of medical staff to non-participation in abortion. Those sections were heavily criticized by Lord Justice Girvan in the November decision. He ruled that the issues in the guidance were inter-related, that the guidance must therefore be withdrawn in its entirety and reconsidered.
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United Nations Shuts Out Pro-Life Groups at Mexican World Conference of Youth
by Samantha Singson
New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- The United Nations (UN) is now preparing to kick off the International Year of Youth. The Government of Mexico will host a world conference on youth in August that will produce a ministerial declaration on youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Conference organizers hope that the document will influence the high-level review on the Millennium Development Goals that takes place in September at the UN General Assembly.
While the Mexican World Conference on Youth (WCY) is not an official UN conference, it is being supported by several UN agencies, including: the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as well as other multilateral organizations.
Sources close to the conference have expressed concern over UNFPA's involvement in the planning process and "support" to the organizing committee after the Mexican government asked the UN for help. UNFPA is said to be paying for the flights of select non-governmental organization (NGO) participants. As part of its "vision for youth," UNFPA has increasingly pushed for young people's access to "sexual and reproductive health information, education, commodities and services." Full story at LifeNews.com
Ohio Senate Committee Passes Ban on Human-Animal Hybrid Cloning
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) -- On Tuesday, the Ohio Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee heard final testimony on SB 243, the ban on human cloning and human-animal hybrids. The legislation is based on similar bans in Louisiana and Arizona and one Oklahoma is considering.
Late Wednesday, State Senator Steve Buehrer introduced a sub-bill of SB 243 which presented a Human-Animal Hybrid Ban as a stand-alone bill. This legislation has bipartisan support, while a ban on human cloning does not.
Ohio pro-life advocates tell LifeNews.com the sub-bill is slated for a vote early next week in the full Senate.
Paula Westwood of Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati and nationally known scientist Dr. David Prentice from the Family Research Council also testified supporting the measure.
Westwood said, "Despite the fact that simply the desire to genetically mix humans with animals is morally abhorrent, and such experimentation kills human life, the only dangerous principle some scientists appear to be operating under is, 'If we can, we will.'" Full story at LifeNews.com
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