LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan Likely Getting GOP Support
• Abortion Advocates Lobby for Free Birth Control Pills Under Obama Health Care
• Pro-Life Group Tells FDA Not to OK Abrotion Drug EllaOne Over the Counter
• Former Planned Parenthood Dir: Stop New, Risky Telemed Abortion Process
• Report Goes to Catholic Bishops About Pro-Abortion Problems With CCHD
• Saturday National Event Calls Attention to Birth Control Pill's Harmful Problems
• Planned Parenthood Applauds Senate Vote for Abortions at US Military Hospitals
• Arkansas Congressional Candidate Cecile Bledsoe Gets Pro-Life Campaign Help
• Spain's Conservatives File Lawsuit to Stop New Pro-Abortion Law From Starting
• Republicans May Target Pro-Rationing Obama Pick for Medicare, Medicaid Post
• Nevada Right to Life PAC Joins Pro-Life Groups for Senate Candidate Lowden
• Arkansas Congressional Candidate Cecile Bledsoe Gets Pro-Life Campaign Help
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Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan Likely Getting GOP Support
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A handful of Republicans look a s if they may support the nomination of pro-abortion activist Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. One Republican is an abortion advocate but three others are lawmakers who typically vote pro-life and a vote for Kagan would disappoint pro-life organizations.
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Lugar of Indiana have praised Kagan in recent days as has Sen. George LeMieux of Florida.
I generally take the position of feeling that the president, whoever that is at the time, should have the opportunity to make a nomination and to have serious consideration of that nomination, Lugar said.
Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hold confirmation hearings on Kagan starting on June 28.
"I think that argument is not going to go very far," he said of those who argue against Kagan's nomination because of her lack of judicial experience.
LeMieux, who had a lengthy meeting with Kagan last week, agreed.
"I don't find that in any way a prohibition to her service," LeMieux said, according to an AP report.
Graham and LeMieux said they could not yet predict how they will vote on Kagan, who received the support of seven Republicans for her confirmation as Solicitor General. However, GOP lawmakers are expected to scrutinize her harder for the high court position. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Advocates Lobby for Free Birth Control Pills Under Obama Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood has quietly launched a move to exploit the provisions of the pro-abortion health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law. The abortion business has launched a new effort designed to secure free birth control pills for women at taxpayer expense.
An amendment pro-abortion Sen. Barbara Mikulski attached to the health care bill allows "additional preventive care and screenings" for women to be covered by the government-run plan.
Federal officials are now determining what constitutes that additional preventative care and Planned Parenthood is pushing the government to include birth control pills. During the health care debate, pro-life groups worried the abortion business would push for abortions to be labeled preventative care and that could still happen.
Laurie Rubiner, Planned Parenthood s vice president of public policy, talked about the move with Politico today.
We see this as a tremendous opportunity to get no-cost birth control in the bill and ensure that this part of women s health is covered under preventive health, she said.
Planned Parenthood has set up a new web site to collect stories from women about their desire for free birth control and using the drugs and this information will later be used to push the Obama administration to include birth control coverage in the plan. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Group Tells FDA Not to Approve Abrotion Drug EllaOne Over the Counter
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life group today filed testimony with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs, urging the agency not to make the abortion drug ellaOne available over the counter. Abortion backers are misleading wmoen by saying the drug is a morning after pill.
Billed as a more powerful version of the Plan B drug and said to be able to prevent pregnancy days after conception, the drug only works as an abortion agent because conception will have already taken place.
The FDA and abortion proponents are representing Ulipristal as if it were Plan B however, in many respects, it s simply the next generation of RU-486, said Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life.
The American people need to know that Ulipristal works in the same way as RU-486 to kill an embryo before or after implantation. Ulipristal also has potential to be a dangerous drug that will place women s lives in danger,' Yoest added.
AUL told the FDA that the abortion drug RU-486 is the parent compound of Ulipristal and it subjects women to drastic health risks, including risks of bacterial infection and hemorrhage.
To date, at least 13 women have died after using RU-486, and possibly dozens, according to the European maker of the mifepristone abortion drug. In addition, more than 1,100 women have experienced medical problems associated with the abortion drug, according to the FDA's own 2006 figures. Full story at LifeNews.com
Former Planned Parenthood Director: Stop New, Risky Telemed Abortion Process
by Abby Johnson
Abortion is a risky business. It s risky for the unborn child, of course. But there s also risk for the woman who undergoes the procedure, and that fact is often ignored by those who promote and profit from abortion.
Those risks could increase substantially under a new scheme Planned Parenthood has developed for expanding abortion to areas that are not served by its current network of surgical abortion facilities. And Planned Parenthood is certain to downplay these risks because abortion is the organization s biggest moneymaker.
I worked for eight years at Planned Parenthood, and I know that medical abortions abortions done through the abortion pill, RU-486 are far from risk-free. This pill is used through nine weeks of pregnancy to abort a child without surgery.
According to RU-486 s own website, at least six women in the United States have died in the past five years from using the abortion pill. Because the abortion pill can cause severe side effects, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has developed regulations for its use. One of the rules is that the pill can be administered only by a doctor.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartlands (Greater Iowa) dispenses RU-486 to hundreds, if not thousands, of women every year. However, this affiliate has previously been unable to distribute the abortion pill at its rural clinics, some of which are as much as 120 miles from a hospital or emergency care facility, because there is no doctor available. Full story at LifeNews.com
Report Goes to Catholic Bishops About Pro-Abortion Problems With CCHD
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Members of a coalition of pro-life groups that have been monitoring the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and its donations and support for pro-abortion groups have sent a new report to the nation's Catholic bishops and the heads of Catholic diocesan Respect Life offices.
The Reform CCHD Now coalition says the reports document problems that have yet to be addressed by the CCHD, regarding the nature and activities of many CCHD grantees.
Compiled by Michael Hichborn of American Life League and Robert Gasper of Bellarmine Veritas Ministry, the reports show almost 50 grantees still receiving funds from the CCHD remain involved in activities directly opposed to Catholic moral and social teachings.
"We wanted to make sure every bishop can review the facts for himself, because we still hear people saying that all of the problems with the CCHD have been fixed. But we can prove that such claims are not true," said Hichborn.
"We believe that our bishops are doing the best they can with the information they have. We just want to make sure that they have the most up-to-date information as they go into their June meeting," he told LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com
Saturday National Event Calls Attention to Birth Control Pill's Harmful Problems
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A collection of pro-life groups and leaders have banded together to sponsor a national awareness day to bring attention to the harmful problems associated with the birth control pill. The groups say women need to be aware of these concerns before using the drugs.
Headed by American Life League and supported by 24 pro-life organizations, The Pill Kills Day event on June 5 will specifically be focusing on how the birth control pill is damaging the environment.
By shining a light on that concern, the pro-life groups say they will help women understand if it hurts the environment, the pill must cause them problems as well.
"The birth control pill is not only killing preborn children and women, it is killing our environment, said Judie Brown, president of American Life League, How long will we stand by and ignore the fact that hormonal contraception wreaks havoc on our children, women's health and the planet?"
Brown says this year, birth control advocates are celebrating 50 years of legal hormonal contraceptives. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Applauds Senate Vote for Abortions at US Military Hospitals
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion business is applauding the vote last week in a Senate committee to turn U.S. military base hospitals into abortion centers. The amendment, sponsored by pro-abortion Sen. Rolland Burris of Illinois, would have the military break with current longstanding policy.
Planned Parenthood has been working for years to force military bases hospitals to do abortions on female service members.
In the Senate Armed Services Committee, Burris won approval to attach an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to allow abortions on both domestic and overseas military bases.
"Every woman honorably serving our country in the U.S. military and the spouses of military personnel stationed around the world deserve access to the full range of reproductive health care available to women in the United States," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
"The vote repealing this discriminatory and dangerous ban is the first step to ensuring that servicewomen can use their own private money for abortion care when they are serving overseas," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Lifers Want Maryland Practitioner Disciplined, Killed Woman in Botched Abortion
Balitmore, MD (LifeNews.com) -- A coalition of pro-life advocates in Maryland are asking state officials to hold an abortion practitioner accountable for killing a woman in a botched abortion. They held a press conference today asking the Maryland Board of Physicians to take strong action against Romeo Ferrer.
The board will be holding a case resolution conference at their offices tomorrow and the collection of pro-life physicians, attorneys and pregnancy center officials want Ferrer disciplined.
The complaint against Ferrer revolves around a February 2006 abortion he did on a 21-year-old African-American woman at Gynecare Center in Severna Park.
The woman sought a second trimester dilation and evacuation abortion procedure but it eventually claimed her life.
Ferrer is accused of failing to properly administer pain medications, failing to monitor the patient s respiration and ventilation, and failing to employ standard methods of care to necessitate the patient. Full story at LifeNews.com
Spain's Conservatives File Lawsuit to Stop New Pro-Abortion Law From Starting
Madrid, Spain (LifeNews.com) -- An opposition political party has filed a lawsuit to prevent a new pro-abortion law from taking effect later this week. The Spain Parliament this year approved the final version of a new law that expands abortions and provides no parental consent for teenagers wanting abortions.
Under the law, abortions are allowed for any reason to 14 weeks, they are allowed up to 22 weeks if an abortion practitioner certifies a serious threat to the health of the mother, or says the unborn child is disabled.
Beyond 22 weeks, abortions are only allowed in serious cases of fetal disability and in cases where the pregnancy threatens the mother's life.
The center-right Popular Party filed a lawsuit today with the constitutional Court, Spain's highest court, calling the new law unconstitutional. They want the court to issue an injunction preventing the law from taking effect on June 5 as originally planned.
According to a CP report, the party is citing a 1985 ruling from the same court saying the so-called abortion right can't take precedence over the right to life of unborn children, except in certain cases such as rape and incest.
Popular Party lawmaker Sandra Moneo said, CP indicates, that establishing a time period of unlimited abortions "violates the balance between the rights of the mother and the rights of the unborn." Full story at LifeNews.com
Republicans May Target Pro-Rationing Obama Pick for Medicare, Medicaid Post
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Senate Republicans may roll out a campaign against the nomination of a rationing advocate to an influential government position.
They appear poised to strenuously oppose Dr. Donald Berwick in his bid to become the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the office that oversees government health care programs.
LifeNews.com has already outlined the fact that Berwick is an outspoken admirer of the British National Health Service and its rationing arm, the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE).
Berwick has called Britain s National Health Service one of the greatest health care institutions in human history and a global treasure" and said it sets an example for the United States to follow.
That's a recipe for opposition from Republicans, most of whom are pro-life and oppose the kind of rationing in Canada and England that leads to the denial of treatment and waiting lists resulting in the deaths of patients. Full story at LifeNews.com
Nevada Right to Life PAC Joins Pro-Life Groups for Senate Candidate Sue Lowden
Carson City, NV (LifeNews.com) -- Another pro-life group has climbed on board with the other pro-life organizations supporting Sue Lowden, who is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge pro-abortion Senate Leader Harry Reid in Nevada. Lowden faces Sharon Angle, who also has the backing of some pro-life advocates.
And the two face off next Tuesday against Danny Tarkanian in what has been a close election for the GOP nomination to take on Reid.
Today, Jeremy McNeil, director of the Nevada Right to Life PAC, said his group is supporting Lowden.
Nevada Right to Life PAC is pleased that support for unborn life has been a focal point of the Republican Senate primary this year, McNeil said. Given the strong pro-life credentials of the three leading Republican candidates, making a decision who to endorse was difficult.
Replacing pro-abortion Senator Harry Reid with a pro-life senator is imperative, McNeil said.
He added, Harry Reid has consistently advocated a radically pro-abortion agenda. He was instrumental in blocking an amendment to prevent the federal government from subsidizing health plans that cover abortion on demand and voted to remove a previous ban on funding organizations that promote abortion overseas. Full story at LifeNews.com
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Arkansas Congressional Candidate Cecile Bledsoe Gets Pro-Life Campaign Help
Little Rock, AR (LifeNews.com) -- Republican congressional candidate Cecile Bledsoe is receiving support from a national pro-life women's group. The Susan B. Anthony List launched a one- week $20,000 independent expenditure campaign highlighting the strong pro-life leadership record of the third district candidate.
SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser emailed LifeNews.com about the effort.
"Cecile Bledsoe is a dedicated pro-life leader with a history of passionate advocacy for women and unborn children in Arkansas and we know that she will bring that same passion to the House of Representatives," she said.
Susan B. Anthony List members are eager to support dedicated pro-life heroines when they need it most. With just ten pro-life women in the House of Representatives, now more than ever we need Cecile's pro-woman, pro-life leadership in Congress," Dannenfelser added.
The SBA List is running a radio commercial that reads: "Life is precious. And no life is more vulnerable, more innocent, than an unborn child. It's why Cecile Bledsoe has a perfect voting record with Arkansas Right to Life."
The ad continues: "It's why she's been a leader in the Arkansas Senate fighting for unborn children. It's why Bledsoe sponsored legislation that required mothers seeking abortions be told about fetal development, and options for adoption. And it's why Cecile Bledsoe led the fight to outlaw gruesome, partial birth abortions." Full story at LifeNews.com
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