LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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Current Headlines
• FDA Panel Decision to OK New Abortion Drug Ella Panned by Pro-Life Groups
• House Democrats Cancel Vote on Disclose Act Opposed by Pro-Life Groups
• Petition Asks Obama Administration to Not Approve New Abortion Drug Ella
• Mitch Daniels Walks Back Opposition to Pro-Life Policy, Keeps Abortion Truce
• Barack Obama Falls to Another New Low Just Days After Hitting Rock Bottom
• Political Groups Pressure Senate to OK Pro-Rationing Medicare Czar Berwick
• Obama Admin Proposes More Taxpayer-Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research
• If Americans Don't Support Tax-Funded Abortion, Explain This: $1 Billion From Govt
• On Father's Day: Abortion Debate Should Include Forgotten Dads, They Hurt Too
• Pro-Life Issues Could Make My Pennsylvania Blue State Red for Pat Toomey
• Michigan Bill Requires Abortion Centers Show Women Better Ultrasound Images
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FDA Panel Decision to OK New Abortion Drug Ella Panned by Pro-Life Groups
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A unanimous decision Thursday by a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee to recommend for approval a new abortion drug called ella is not setting well with pro-life groups. They are also upset that mainstream media outlets are falsely presenting the drug as an improved morning after pill.
The Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs cast two 11-0 votes saying women could use the drug to prevent pregnancy when taken up to five days after intercourse.
The panel said the "investigational emergency contraceptive pill" known as ulipristal, that would potentially be sold under the name Ella in the United States, is safe and effective at preventing pregnancy.
Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America who testified before the committee yesterday, expanded on her initial comments to LifeNews.com.
She said members of the panel ignored the fact that the dug clearly works as an abortion pill by terminating the life of a newly-conceived human being.
"One committee member pressed in the morning for an answer on what action other than delayed ovulation is happening on the later days. The drug sponsor's answer :delayed ovulation. Clearly what would make the drug more effective on later days than earlier days is that it's causing an abortion," Wright said.
Wright noted that as the female panel member voted for the drug, another committee member noted the high number of miscarriages and said, "You're going to have a problem with those miscarriages."
"Animal studies showed nearly all pregnancies ended in stillbirths," she said.
Wright said the FDA panel wouldn't even go as far as considering publishing a warning label on the drug to inform women about potential problems or its abortifacient properties. Full story at LifeNews.com
House Democrats Cancel Vote on Disclose Act Opposed by Pro-Life Groups
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- House Democratic leaders canceled a planned vote for today on the DISCLOSE Act, campaign finance legislation pro-life groups oppose because it would place stringent new limits on their ability to operate. They say the limits would curtail communications on legislation and politicians' voting records.
Struggling to unite conservative and liberal Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants canceled the vote.
The problems came in response to exceptions top Democrats included in the bill targeted towards removing the objections the NRA had to the legislation.
That caused a backlash from Blue Dog Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, though a vote could come next week if those tensions over the changes are resolved.
Doug Thornell, the spokesman for leading Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, told Roll Call, "While we aren't there yet, we will be soon."
The publication also indicated members of the House worried the Senate would not have enough votes to overcome a potential filibuster against the legislation from Republicans. But even liberal pro-abortion Sen. Dianne Feinstein is upset about the bill because of the NRA exemption.
The bill would place campaign finance and legislative communications restrictions on groups and potentially force them to make donor records public when they discuss something as typical as how members of Congress vote on pro-life issues. Full story at LifeNews.com
Petition Asks Obama Administration to Not Approve New Abortion Drug Ella
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With an FDA committee giving the new abortion drug ella its approval, a pro-life student group is sponsoring a new petition asking the Obama administration to not allow it to be sold. The drug is billed as a more effective morning after pill, but it causes abortions at the earliest stages of human life.
The FDA committee cast two unanimous 11-0 votes to recommend to the Food and Drug Administration that ella be approved for prescription use for women.
In response, Students for Life of America has launched a petition against the FDA decision.
Address to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the petition asks her to "oppose the FDA's final approval for this dangerous drug."
"As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, you have the duty to protect the health of all Americans, even pre-born humans in their earliest stages of development," it says.
The petitions says the Planned Parenthood abortion business has changed the definition of pregnancy to get the drug to this point. By saying pregnancy doesn't begin until implantation -- after conception, the point in which a new human being is conferred -- abortion advocates can call a morning after pill a drug that actually causes a very early abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mitch Daniels Walks Back Opposition to Pro-Life Policy, Keeps Abortion Truce
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- After causing national outrage among pro-life advocates, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is walking back comments he made saying he would not sign the Mexico City Policy. That's the presidential policy Barack Obama overturned that prevents funding groups that perform and promote abortions in other nations.
In an interview with Weekly Standard columnist John McCormack, Daniels said he was unsure if he would overturn Obama's decision to force taxpayers to finance pro-abortion groups.
Daniels replied, "I don't know," when asked if he would issue the executive order every pro-life president has done by instituting the Mexico City Policy.
Now, Daniels tells reporter Michael Gerson he would sign the Mexico City Policy but he is sticking to his controversial comments calling for a "truce" on abortion.
"I would reinstate the Mexico City policy," Daniels said, adding that promoting abortion with money meant for family planning is one of "a thousand things we shouldn't be spending money on."
On the subject of the truce, Daniels appears to believe that national defense is more important than protecting the right to life of unborn children.
"If there were a WMD attack, death would come to straights and gays, pro-life and pro-choice," he told Gerson. "If the country goes broke, it would ruin the American dream for everyone. We are in this together. Whatever our honest disagreements on other questions, might we set them aside long enough to do some very difficult things without which we will be a different, lesser country?" Daniels said.
"No one may take the offer. ... But I'm not prepared to give up on the idea we can address this thing. If we can't -- well, the cynics were right. But somebody has to try," he said of the truce. Full story at LifeNews.com
Barack Obama Falls to Another New Low Just Days After Hitting Rock Bottom
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Just days after hitting rock bottom in his approval ratings, President Barack Obama has hit a new low with American voters. A new Rasmussen Reports poll finds just 41 percent of likely voters now say they are pleased with his job performance, compared with 58 percent who now disapprove.
The new numbers are surprising given that Obama recently addressed the nation to further discuss his response to the oil spill that has caused severe problems in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Obama s numbers have typically bounced following a national television event. Generally, they bounce up a little. Once, following a press conference, they went down. In all cases so far, the bounce has lasted a week or so and then faded," pollster Scott Rasmussen said.
The new daily presidential tracking poll numbers from Rasmussen show just 25 percent of the nation's voters give Obama a strong approval rating while 46 percent strongly disapprove of his performance.
The passion and intensity of the opposition to Obama could very well translate at the polls in November with voters throwing out Obama's pro-abortion allies who control Congress and replacing them with mostly pro-life lawmakers.
Currently, 76 percent of Democrats approve of the president s performance while 85 percent of Republicans disapprove along with 72 percent of independent voters. Full story at LifeNews.com
Political Groups Pressure Senate to OK Pro-Rationing Medicare Czar Berwick
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A collection of 130 political groups have sent letters to members of the Senate urging them to quickly approve President Barack Obama's nominee to become the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That selection, Donald Berwick, has been criticized for his pro-rationing views.
The office oversees government health care programs and Berwick is an outspoken admirer of the British National Health Service and its rationing arm, the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE).
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.
That hasn't stopped organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics from asking the Senate Finance Committee to move on the nomination that has been pending since April.
According to CQ, Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a pro-abortion Montana Democrat, has said he doesn't expect a hearing on Berwick until after the Independence Day recess.
The letter, according to CQ, says, "Berwick s long history as a pediatrician working to advance health care access and coverage for our nation s children including decades of experience in academia, as a research professional, as a clinician, and as a policy adviser make him an ideal candidate to lead CMS."
The American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association also support Berwick, though the AMA in particular has come under fire for becoming increasingly politicized and supportive of abortion -- causing numerous pro-life doctors to let their memberships lapse.
Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, wrote about the problems with Berwick in an opinion column at the Daily Caller in May. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama Admin Proposes More Taxpayer-Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration is again proposing that taxpayers foot the bill for more embryonic stem cell research beyond what President Barack Obama's executive order has already funded. That's despite the fact that scientists are no closer to correcting problems with the cells to actually help patients.
Currently adult stem cell research has helped patients dealing with more than 100 different diseases and conditions.
On the other hand, embryonic stem cells have never been tried in humans because of problems in animal experiments with them causing tumors and the immune system rejecting them after injection for treatment.
Despite that, the NIH Working Group on Embryonic Stem Cells recommended last week that six more human embryonic stem cell lines be approved for federal taxpayer funding, bringing the total number of taxpayer-funded lines to 73.
NIH approved three Harvard lines on June 3, says Family Research Council advisor Dr. David Prentice, formerly an Indiana State University biology professor.
"The six lines recommended for approval are from the University of Connecticut (4 lines), University of New South Wales (1 line) and Advanced Cell Technology (ACT, 1 line)," Prentice explained. "ACT made their usual move of a premature press release, announcing approval."
NIH Director Francis Collins still must make a final decision on the recommendation, but he typically goes along with the recommendations of the working group. Full story at LifeNews.com
If Americans Don't Support Tax-Funded Abortion, Explain This: $1 Billion From Govt
by Penny Nance
The vast majority of Americans don't want their money going to support abortion. Yet, a just-released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that citizens have paid over a billion dollars in federal funds ahem, their tax money to six organizations that promote and even commit abortions.
And that was just between the years 2002 and 2009.
How does this happen? Taxpayers are funding groups like Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the Population Council for family planning services under Title X. Abortion advocates say that tax money is not being used for abortions.
But you and I both know that if you're paying the rent and utility bills for a Planned Parenthood office and providing the funds for pregnancy testing and counseling, you are pretty much subsidizing the other activities in that office.
Even the groups not directly providing abortions, like the Sexuality Information and Education Council for the United States (SIECUS), serve as recruiters, pointing their clients our children directly to the doors of the local abortion clinic. Advocates for Youth, another beneficiary of federal funds, helps minor girls dodge parental notification and consent requirements to avoid the need for a riskier procedure to end the pregnancy and complications from pregnancy.
PPFA s own records show that its affiliates committed 305,000 abortions in 2007 (the last reported year), while they reported a scant 4,912 adoption referrals and 10,914 prenatal clients the same year; family planning indeed! Full story at LifeNews.com
On Father's Day: Abortion Debate Should Include Forgotten Dads, They Hurt Too
by Gary Bauer
Anti-abortion advocates have long contended that abortion produces two victims: the unborn child, and his or her mother, who, a mounting body of research affirms, risks physical and emotional injury.
But there is evidence that abortion often involves a third victim, one who is typically dismissed when he is acknowledged at all: the child s father.
Postabortion syndrome, a variant of post-traumatic stress disorder, is a subject of considerable controversy. Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups maintain that the emotional effects of abortion are largely positive. But it is now beyond dispute that after having an abortion, many women experience negative emotions, running from mild regret to deep depression.
There have been at least a dozen studies in peer-reviewed journals that point to a significant link between abortion and depression. Beyond the data, rising prominence of groups for women who have abortions like Project Rachel and Silent No More punctuate that abortion s emotional impact can be profound and wide reaching.
Recognition of this has made its way to our highest court.
The US Supreme Court cited postabortion pain in its 2007 decision upholding a ban on certain types of late-term abortions. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy stated that it was self-evident and unexceptional to conclude that some women who have abortions suffer regret, severe depression, loss of esteem, and other ills. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Issues Could Make My Pennsylvania Blue State Red for Pat Toomey
by Maria Vitale
When citizen activists from across the country converge on the National Right to Life Convention June 24-26, they'll be coming to a Blue State with a decidedly red streak.
A Blue State is one in which the Democratic Presidential candidate carries the state. Despite the considerable resources Republican John McCain poured into Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth gave its electoral votes to Democrat Barack Obama in 2008.
But this year, pro-abortion Democrats may be seeing red in PA. Former Republican Congressman Pat Toomey, who is pro-life, is waging an impressive campaign against pro-abortion Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak in the race to become Pennsylvania s next U.S. Senator.
According to the National Right to Life website, on key votes, Sestak consistently voted against the pro-life position. He voted for the pro-abortion and pro-rationing Obama health care bill voted against an amendment to stop federal funding of abortion under health care reform and voted against denying funds to Planned Parenthood, the nation s largest abortion operation. Full story at LifeNews.com
Michigan Bill Requires Abortion Centers Show Women Better Ultrasound Images
Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) -- States across the country are pass laws requiring abortion centers to show women an ultrasound of their unborn child prior to doing an abortion. In Michigan, where ultrasound laws are already in place, legislators are looking to strengthen them by ensuring the ultrasound is of the highest quality possible.
The notion is that if women deserve a chance to see their baby before having an abortion, they deserve to see a high-quality image -- not a low-quality one abortion centers might use to discount the ultrasound and persuade women to have an abortion.
Republican Sen. Wayne Kuipers is the sponsor of the bill and he tells the Associated Press he introduce the bill because some abortion centers intentionally use older ultrasound machines designed to producer poorer images.
"The physician or person assisting the physician shall ensure that the most technologically advanced ultrasound equipment available at that location is used for the ultrasound examination, for viewing an active ultrasound image, and for creating the physical picture of the ultrasound image," the legislation reads.
The bill, Senate Bill 1283, received a hearing this week before the Michigan state Senate Judiciary Committee. Full story at LifeNews.com
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