LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Saturday, May 8, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Obama May Name Supreme Court Pick Monday, Likely Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan
• Senate Republicans Delay Vote on Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick Goodwin Liu
• Post-Abortion Group Urges Support for Pregnancy Centers on Mother's Day
• Members of Congress Concerned About Military Promoting Morning After Pill
• Vending Machine Abortions: Planned Parenthood Telemed Process Hurts Women
• Rubio Urges Crist to Sign Florida Bill for Ultrasound, Abortion Fund Opt Out
• Why Taxing Abortion Is Bad Policy, Kansas Pro-Life Bill Well-Intended But Wrong
• Death's Progress: Progressive or Liberal, They're United on Promoting Abortion
• Premier of "Blood Money" Movie Exposing Abortion Canceled After Threats
• Rape by Ultrasound? Media Further Pro-Abortion Talking Points on Oklahoma Law
• Pro-Life News: Greece, Population, Houston, Maryland, Abortion, Oklahoma
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Obama May Name Supreme Court Pick Monday, Likely Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The buzz around Washington today is that President Barack Obama will likely announce his Supreme Court nomination on Monday. When he does, several news reports citing White House officials indicate he will select pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan.
If nominated, Kagan, a former Harvard Law dean, would replace retiring pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens.
Kagan is an ardent abortion advocate who, at 50, would leave a pro-abortion legacy for Obama on the Supreme Court for decades to come. She would confirm the suspicion of many political observers that Obama decided to go with a radical left-wing nominee while Democrats control the Senate with a huge advantage that is expected to deteriorate after the November elections.
Senate Republicans have already promised a tough fight against Kagan.
Our nation deserves a Supreme Court nominee who is committed to deciding cases impartially based on the law, not on personal politics, preferences, or what s in the nominee s heart, Sen. John Cornyn, a pro-life Texas Republican who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said last month.
However, the lack of a legal record makes it difficult for Republicans to criticize her on specific cases that constitute the legal records of other potential nominees who have served as lower court judges.
The current high court has a 5-4 split in favor of unlimited abortions via Roe v. Wade and Kagan would be expected to continue that.
Kagan was the dean of Harvard Law school and has spent most of her career in academia and government -- in part as a legal counsel in the administration of pro-abortion President Bill Clinton --and prior to becoming the attorney for the Obama administration before the Supreme Court. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Republicans Delay Vote on Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick Goodwin Liu
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In an apparent attempt to send a message to President Barack Obama that they will not support a radical nominee for Supreme Court, Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed by a week a vote on the nomination of pro-abortion law professor for an appellate court position.
The committee approved four district court nominees yesterday, but Republicans used their rights as the minority to delay a vote on Liu until next week.
As a result, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a pro-abortion Vermont Democrat, scheduled a new vote meeting on Liu for May 13.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a pro-abortion senator from Rhode island attacked the decision by GOP lawmakers in comments to The Hill, saying it was standard operating procedure for Republicans.
He seems to be bright, professorial, talented," he aid of Liu.
Nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Liu is a professor at the liberal University of California, Berkeley.
Republicans have stopped short of threatening a filibuster, but plan to oppose his nomination nonetheless. Full story at LifeNews.com
Post-Abortion Group Urges Support for Pregnancy Centers on Mother's Day
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A post-abortion women's group urges Americans to support pregnancy centers across the country on Mother's Day. Leaders of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, a network of individuals harmed by abortion, says the centers provide real help for women instead of merely abortions.
The encouragement comes at a time when Planned Parenthood sent out a fundraising email asking for donations for more women to get abortions.
"There is no better way to celebrate Mother's Day than to help those who actually stand with mothers in their time of need, our nation's pregnancy resource centers," said Georgette Forney, co-founder of Silent No Moore told LifeNews.com.
She added: "These locally run organizations embody selflessness and sacrifice in helping mothers who weren't planning on being mothers. They need our support now more than ever."
"Motherhood is under attack from Planned Parenthood, a billion dollar business that never stops trying to increase its profits by increasing abortions," added Janet Morana, also a co-founder of the post-abortion group.
"The work of pregnancy resource centers in the face of the culture of death Planned Parenthood promotes is nothing short of heroic. They deserve our support this Mother's Day and every day," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Members of Congress Concerned About Military Promoting Morning After Pill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Members of Congress are concerned about the Defense Department's policy on the stocking and distribution of the morning after pill, also know as Plan B. In February, the Obama administration began requiring all U.S. military health facilities to stock the drug, which can sometimes cause an abortion.
Congressman Jeff Fortenberry and 13 pro-life members of Congress have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates seeking clarification on its policy.
Fortenberry's office provided LifeNews.com a copy of the letter.
It is our understanding that the Department (DoD) announced plans to add the morning after pill to the Basic Core Formulary by recommendation of the DoD Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee and is in the process of implementing a comprehensive policy regarding the mandatory stocking of the morning after pill that would encompass all facilities under the DoD's jurisdiction in the United States and abroad," the letter states.
They noted that the FDA has approved the morning after pill as an over-the-counter drug but still required women under the age of 18 to get a prescription for it.
The pro-life lawmakers warn that the FDA panel that approved the drug warned that it could "have adverse health consequences for women and girls" and that this "concern remains unresolved." Full story at LifeNews.com
Vending Machine Abortions: Planned Parenthood Telemed Process Hurts Women
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With the latest news that Iowa officials are investigating Planned Parenthood's new "telemed" abortion scheme, more pro-life advocates are speaking out on the process they consider dangerous for women.
In the telemed abortion process, abortion practitioners instruct women on using the dangerous abortion drug by video conference instead of assisting them in person.
At least a dozen small Planned Parenthood offices in Iowa are administering the dangerous abortion drug without the mother seeing a doctor in person. Instead, abortion practitioner Susan Haskell briefly addresses abortion patients from a teleconferencing hook up from her office in Des Moines. After explaining the medical abortion process, a button is pushed and an electronic drawer opens that contains the drugs.
Bradley Mattes, the director of the Life Issues Institute, calls the process by another name: vending machine abortions.
"The abortion industry is proving once again they corner the market on indifference. Just when it seems they can't be any more detached from the actual needs of young women, they unveil a new scheme even more callous than the last," he says.
"Women who walk into the facilities expecting to personally meet with a licensed physician are instead seated in front of a computer screen," Mattes told LifeNews.com today in an email. Full story at LifeNews.com
Rubio Urges Crist to Sign Florida Bill for Ultrasound, Abortion Fund Opt Out
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Florida pro-life Senate candidate Marco Rubio has urged his opponent, Governor Charlie Crist, to sign a pro-life bill. The measure would allow women to see an ultrasound of their unborn child before an abortion and opt Florida out of forcing taxpayers to fund abortions under the national health care law.
Crist is embroiled in a contentious Senate battle with Rubio, who enjoys the backing of pro-life groups, which are asking him to sign the bill.
He has initially appeared to oppose the bill, which would make Florida the next state to prohibit federal and state taxpayer funding of abortion in the health care plan Obama signed.
"It is my hope that Governor Crist will come down on the side of life, and sign HB 1143 into law, or at least allow it to become law without his signature," Rubio said in a statement LifeNews.com received. "This commonsense measure is a small but important step toward providing women with vital information during perhaps the most critical healthcare decision they will ever make."
"While it has not received as much attention as the ultrasound provision, this legislation will also allow Florida to opt out of the abortion coverage mandate in the federal healthcare overhaul which was recently passed," Rubio added. "If Governor Crist vetoes this legislation, he will clear the way for taxpayer funding of abortion in Florida, an extreme policy which runs contrary to the mainstream values most Floridians share." Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact Governor Crist at: Phone: (850) 488-7146 or (850)-488-4441, Fax: (850) 487-0801 Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
Why Taxing Abortion Is Bad Policy, Kansas Pro-Life Bill Well-Intended But Wrong
by Tom McClusky
A pro-life Senator in the Kansas state legislature introduced a proposal to impose a sales tax on abortion in an attempt to possibly raise money and hopefully reduce abortions. While I applaud her intentions and share her goal of wanting to get rid of the scourge of abortion, I think taxing it is a pretty horrible idea.
When you tax something, especially targeting something specific, it creates a revenue stream that politicians get addicted to thus making the object of your taxation harder to eliminate.
Taxing something also gives it legitimacy in the eyes of many. Even objects that fall under the so-called category of sin taxes have this legitimacy almost as if being taxed gives you government approval.
Morally it is also troubling. Governments should not be profiting from abortion no matter how profitable. While certainly not the intention of the author, but it would be the result.
The well-meaning Senator who proposed the tax stated that If you want less of something, you tax it. Is that really true? Full story at LifeNews.com
Death's Progress: Progressive or Liberal, They're United on Promoting Abortion
by Dr. Paul Kengor
Progressivism is all-the-rage nowadays, with liberals having jettisoned the liberal label for the less maligned tag of progressive. This is tactical as much as philosophical. It s fascinating that Hillary Clinton, for instance, recently proclaimed herself a progressive. I wrote an entire book on Mrs. Clinton, and never once saw her describe herself as progressive.
In truth, however, progressive is a better name, more accurately describing the movement and its extremely broad, precariously unpredictable direction.
Here s the essence of the problem with contemporary progressives and their movement, which is a gigantic problem for America: One of the only things we really know about progressives, and that they know about themselves and their ideology, is that they favor constant change, reform, an ever-shifting, ongoing evolution, or, yes, progression.
And therein is an inherent, significant difficulty: progressivism offers no clear, definable end. The goal-post is always moving, forever pushed further away. Ends are never ends; they always progress, with culture and society, banking on the ludicrous assumption that the changes are always (or largely) good.
For the rest of us, this ambiguity is troubling bordering on maddening, as we can't, by the very nature of progressivism, get an answer from progressives as to where, exactly, they intend to stop. It is completely unlike conservatism, where the goalpost was erected circa 1776; we conservatives believe the American founders essentially got it right, and that the American project is to make certain that the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are ensured for everyone. Full story at LifeNews.com
Premier of "Blood Money" Movie Exposing Abortion Canceled After Threats
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The premier of the movie "Blood Money," which exposes the abortion industry, has been canceled after the theater was threatened by abortion advocates. Roman Jaquez, an independent film maker and artist produced the documentary -- which contains interviews of whistle-blowing former employees of abortion centers.
They expose the deceitful tactics used by Planned Parenthood to increase its profits without regard to ethical practices.
Sal Munafo and Earl Wallace emailed LifeNews.com with news of the cancellation.
"Despite one of the film's showings already having sold out and steady ticket pre-sales, a representative of the Spectrum Theater in Albany informed Roman this past Friday that, after receiving phone calls from pro-abortion interests who threatened to protest and disrupt the showing of the film, it has decided to cancel the premier," they said.
Keith Pickard, an owner of the Spectrum, talked with the Times Union newspaper about the cancellation.
"It was just a private rental that didn't work out, and it's not for me to make public a private agreement," he said. "It was amicable on both sides." Full story at LifeNews.com
Rape by Ultrasound? Media Further Pro-Abortion Talking Points on Oklahoma Law
by Jill Stanek
On May 3 an Oklahoma judge delayed enactment of a new law mandating that mothers get ultrasounds before abortions for 45 days.
Oklahoma's ultrasound law goes farther than others. According to the Associated Press:
The law requires doctors to use a vaginal probe, which provides a clearer picture of the fetus than a regular ultrasound, and to describe the fetus in detail, including its dimensions, whether arms, legs and internal organs are visible and whether there is cardiac activity.
That is just not true, obviously skewed to bias readers away from supporting the law.
The law actually states that the abortion or technician "us[e] either a vaginal transducer or an abdominal transducer, whichever would display the embryo or fetus more clearly."
That said, this is indeed the first pre-abortion ultrasound legislation to specify the option of using a vaginal transducer. These are different in probe placement than typical abdominal ultrasounds. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life News: Greece, Population, Houston, Maryland, Abortion, Oklahoma
Greek Economic Crisis Is A Demographics Wake-Up Call on Underpopulation
by Clemens Kownatzki
Athens, Greece (LifeNews.com) -- TThe Greek crisis and the populist backlash are a wake-up call, not just for Greece and Europe but also for the US and most other developed nations. In my view, the root of the problem (in addition to the obvious irresponsible spending habits of most government officials) is demographic in nature; the easiest way to hint at the scale of the predicament is to look at projected population charts.
Oklahoma House Votes on Resolution Supporting Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Oklahoma City, OK (LifeNews.com) -- Legislation supporting pregnancy resource centers by commending their work of encouraging women to seek healthy alternatives to abortions passed the House Thursday, thanks to state Rep. Sally Kern.
Maryland Man Convicted, Tried to Kill Pregnant Girlfriend Who Refused Abortion
Waldorf, MD (LifeNews.com) -- A Maryland man has been convicted of trying to kill his pregnant girlfriend in her Crofton home after she refused his pressure to get an abortion. An Anne Arundel County jury convicted Charles Brandon Martin, 32, late Wednesday of attempted first-degree murder of Jodi Torok, 27, one of his three girlfriends, ending a trial that began last week.
Houston Street Named for Planned Parenthood Backer Eleanor Tinsley
Houston, TX (LifeNews.com) -- One of the most beautiful parks in the city is named for her, as is an elementary school. So what would Eleanor Tinsley make of Eleanor Tinsley Way, a shabby, nondescript industrial street in southeast Houston that was unanimously renamed in her honor by City Council on Wednesday?
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