LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, June 24, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Senate Republicans Plan to Attend Hearings on Pro-Abortion Nominee Elena Kagan
• Pro-Life Organization Tells Senators Oppose Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan on Supreme Court
• Former Supreme Court Pick Robert Bork Opposes Pro-Abortion Nominee Elena Kagan
• Plurality of Americans Oppose Nomination of Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan for Supreme Court
• Obama Administration Approves More Embryonic Stem Cells for Taxpayer Funding
• Senate Republicans Will Oppose Pro-Rationing Medicare Nominee Donald Berwick
• Ultrasound Laws Protect Women's Health, Stop Abortions, Provide Window to the Womb
News Briefs:
• Pro-Abortion Former Solicitor General Predicts Supreme Court Will Overturn Roe v. Wade
• South Carolina Pro-Life Candidate Nikki Haley Wins GOP Nod, Pro-Life Group Delighted
• Tennessee Right to Life Issues Pro-Life August 5th Primary Election Endorsements
• Georgia Right to Life PAC Makes Endorsements for July 20th Primary Election Races
• Pro-Life Action League Encourages Opposition to Contraception on Pill Anniversary
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Senate Republicans Plan to Attend Hearings on Pro-Abortion Nominee Elena Kagan
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Republican lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee "fully expect" to be in attendance at the confirmation hearings on pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Sen Jeff Sessions, the pro-life Alabama Republican who is the leading GOP member on the panel, said in an interview Tuesday he expects GOP lawmakers to attend.
The potential for boycotting the hearing came up in response to a lack of documents lawmakers have still not received concerning Kagan's time as a top aide during the Clinton administration.
Some documents that have already been produced reveal Kagan helped provide former President Bill Clinton political cover for vetoing a ban on partial-birth abortions.
Sessions told Politico on Monday that GOP lawmakers on the panel may boycott the hearings if the documents are not provided beforehand. "I don't feel like we're prepared yet," Sessions said. "It's becoming more clear that this is not an easy thing to get ready this quick."
Now, Sessions says a boycott would only happen if "we had a really serious situation" and no documents had been produced on the nominee.with less than a week before the committee holds its hearing.
Asked if the GOP would boycott the hearings, Sessions told Politico: "I hope that nothing like that will will occur. I think if only if we had a really serious situation where, clearly, documents that need to be produced weren't produced, we could have some difficulties as we go forward."
"I think we have a responsibility to make sure the hearings are conducted fairly. And I I remain optimistic that we'll reach an accommodation on these matters," he added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Organization Tells Senators Oppose Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan on Supreme Court
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The National Right to Life Committee sent a letter today to members of the Senate expressing its strong opposition to the nomination of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. NRLC joins other pro-life groups in opposing Kagan and saying writings and documents from her during her time with the Obama and Clinton administrations point to aggressive abortion support and promotion.
After analyzing various memoranda and other material written by Kagan during her tenure on the White House staff of President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s, and her writings as a clerk to late pro-abortion Justice Thurgood Marshall, NRLC says Kagan should not be confirmed.
"Our conclusion is that Elena Kagan is first and foremost a social engineer, animated primarily by a desire to shape public policy on a host of issues," NRLC wrote to senators. "Her legal training and talent is chiefly directed to these ends."
The letter notes Kagan is a judicial activist and points to her 1983 Oxford University thesis in which she said she believes that it "is not necessarily wrong or invalid" for appointed judges "to mold and steer the law in order to promote certain ethical values and achieve certain social ends."
"For one with such a view, a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court is the apex of power a lifetime license to make law and reshape public policy by decree, on a wide range of issues, without any need to achieve the degree of consensus required in legislative bodies or the distracting requirement for periodic accountability to an electorate," the letter continues. "Thus, if she is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, we anticipate that Ms. Kagan often will ttreat the U.S. Constitution not as a body of basic law that truly constrains both legislators and judges, but rather, as a cookbook in which may be found legal recipes that will allow the imposition of the policies that Ms. Kagan deems to be justified or advisable."
On abortion specifically, the National Right to Life letter says the documents reveal Kagan "to have been a key strategist, perhaps the lead strategist" in getting Clinton to veto a ban on partial-birth abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Former Supreme Court Pick Robert Bork Opposes Pro-Abortion Nominee Elena Kagan
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork held a conference call with officials from Americans United for Life on Wednesday to officially announce his opposition to President Barack Obama's nominee Elena Kagan.
Journalists from a vaiety of publications participated in the conference call because of Bork's credentials and his status as a pro-life nominee who was the subject of considerable controversy.
Bill Saunders, the senior Vice President for Legal Affairs for AUL started off by saying there is more of a story to Kagan than what many media outlets seem to relay.
Saunders admitted that Kagan, as never having been a sitting judge, has no extensive legal opinions by which to discern her judicial demeanor and said each of her written pieces seem to indicate a position on issues like abortion that Americans United for Life would oppose.
She has written some law review articles, she has given some speeches, she has done some other things that we think, given that we have dug into this as deeply as we have, we think gives important clues as to the kind of justice she would be," he said.
Saunders said, She opposes the simple choice by Congress to favor childbearing over abortion."
"[She was] very critical of a case called Russ v. Sullivan, in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of Congress to do that. She is also in her documents that have come out of the Clinton White House, it is clear that on partial birth abortion that she was trying to she was advising the President not to agree to anything that wasn t at least paid for by the state," he explained. Full story at LifeNews.com
Plurality of Americans Oppose Nomination of Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan for Supreme Court
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows a plurality of Americans oppose the nomination of pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. That is an increase of nine percent from the week President Obama announced her nomination and the highest level of opposition to date in Rasmussen Reports tracking of the Kagan nomination.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters shows 35 percent think Kagan should be confirmed by the Senate for the Supreme Court while 42 percent oppose her nomination and 23 percent are still undecided.
By comparison, just before Senate hearings began last summer for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, 37% favored her confirmation, and 39% were opposed.
Two weeks ago, 33% thought Kagan should be confirmed, and 41% disagreed. Rasmussen has found support for Kagan s confirmation was highest in mid-May, when 39% felt that way. Still, the same number (39%) did not think she should be a Supreme Court justice.
Polslster Scott Rasmussen commented, "Whether or not voters want to see it happen, a solid majority believe she is likely to be confirmed. Eighty-three percent (83%) say Kagan will be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, including 54% who say it is Very Likely. Only six percent (6%) say it is unlikely she will be confirmed. Voters have been very confident about Kagan s confirmation since her nomination." Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama Administration Approves More Embryonic Stem Cells for Taxpayer Funding
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration is making American taxpayers fund yet another round of embryonic stem cells with taxpayer funds even though they have never helped any human patients because of problems in animal research. On Monday, NIH Director Francis Collins approved eight more embryonic stem cell lines for federal funding -- including the six lines the Stem Cell Working Group signed off on last week. The funding includes two lines from the Whitehead Institute.
Dr. David Prentice, the former Indiana State University biology professor who is now an advisor at the Family Research Council, explains more about the recent funding decision.
"If you re wondering why only six of the eight were in the recommendation from the Working Group, keep in mind that human embryonic stem cell lines can meet funding approval in two ways according to the current NIH Guidelines," he said.
Prentice said lines derived after July 7, 2009 "must meet the prescriptive criteria in the Guidelines for destruction of the embryos, while lines derived before the Guidelines took effect are evaluated by the Working Group to determine if they met the spirit, if not the letter, of the destructive prescription."
With the latest embryonic stem cell research funding, this brings the total number of human embryonic stem cells lines approved for federal taxpayer funding to 75 since President Barack Obama overturned President George W. Bush's executive order prohibiting taxpayer funding of new embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of human life. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Republicans Will Oppose Pro-Rationing Medicare Nominee Donald Berwick
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As they were expected to do, Senate Republicans have said they will oppose the nomination of Donald Berwick, the health care rationing advocate President Barack Obama nominated to become the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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).
A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said Republicans plan to oppose his nomination and he was not one of the dozens of political appointments the Senate agreed to unanimously on Tuesday. He will not get unanimous consent, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, pro-life Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa spoke out in an interview with the New York Times saying Berwick will receive no votes because of his pro-rationing positions.
"It doesn't help him to say good things about the British healthcare system," Grassley told the Times.
McConnell himself has called Berwick an expert on rationing" while pro-life Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas calls him the perfect nominee for a president whose aim has always been to save money by rationing health care. Full story at LifeNews.com
Ultrasound Laws Protect Women's Health, Stop Abortions, Provide Window to the Womb
by Mailee Smith
State ultrasound laws are critical tools in ensuring that women are protected from the harms inherent in abortion. Additionally, research and real-life experience have shown that a woman who undergoes and views an ultrasound before an abortion is less likely to follow through with the abortion.
In recent years, pro-life advocates have enjoyed tremendous success at the state level in facilitating and encouraging the adoption of ultrasound requirements. Nineteen states have already enacted ultrasound requirements, and nearly a dozen states have considered ultrasound-related measures in 2010.
However, as with any important policy initiative, there continues to be debate within the pro-life movement as to the best approach for making ultrasounds available to women before abortion. Importantly, there are more areas of agreement than disagreement.
First and foremost, pro-life advocates agree that ultrasounds perform an important protective function both in terms of women s medical safety and in ensuring that they are fully informed as to the consequences and impact of their abortion decisions.
Notably, over the last several years, a pre-abortion ultrasound has become the undisputed "gold standard" of abortion "care." Many if not most abortionists admit to using ultrasounds prior to abortions (regardless of estimated gestational age). While at one time, an ultrasound was not used regularly in the first trimester when 90 percent of abortions occur more and more abortionists are utilizing the technology to ensure "safe" abortions and avoid potentially devastating complications. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Abortion Former Solicitor General Predicts Supreme Court Will Overturn Roe v. Wade
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- At a forum on Tuesday night, pro-abortion former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger predicted the Supreme Court will eventually overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed 52 million abortions in the United States and has impacted other nations across the world. Dellinger's comments are surprising as most abortion advocates don't readily admit the day may come that the infamous decision will be struck down and states may be able to offer legal protection for women and unborn children.
I absolutely believe it, Dellinger said during the forum cosponsored by the news web site Politico.
Dellinger said he thinks the Supreme Court will overturn Roe once pro-life advocates can find a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy, who sided with the majority of the court in upholding the ban on partial-birth abortions but will not side with the other four conservative jurists on overturning Roe.
He called the decision a "trophy" and said the other justices, Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, would love to be able to go back on the 1973 decision.
For a while I thought that one could simply chip away at a lot more and more regulations that sort of protected access (to abortions) for the most affluent women but really made it impossible for women who were vulnerable to geography, poverty (and) youth, he added. But now I think that, actually, it is such a symbol of a kind of jurisprudence that conservatives have set themselves in opposition to.
Politico interviewed Rachel Brand, the former assistant attorney general under pro-life President George W. Bush, and helped with the confirmation of Justices Roberts and Alito, said the nomination battle over a replacement to Justice Anthony Kennedy will be monstrous.
"I will say that whenever Justice Kennedy retires, if the court looks anything like it does now in terms of makeup, that will be the mother of all confirmation fights. That will be brutal, and I wouldn't t want to be in my old job for that one," he said.
South Carolina Pro-Life Candidate Nikki Haley Wins GOP Nod, Pro-Life Group Delighted
Columbia, SC (LifeNews.com) -- Nikki Haley won the Republican nomination for governor of South Carolina on Tuesday and she coud become the first woman to become the governor of the state. Haley, a first-generation American of Indian descent, would also become the first member of a racial minority to be governor of South Carolina.
But it is her pro-life views that have earned her praise from the likes of Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Nikki Haley s runoff victory is one more example of the electoral power of authentic, pro-life feminism in this election cycle. Public polling consistently shows that the majority of voters, including women, consider themselves to be pro-life. But, because of a void of pro-life women's leadership at all levels of elected office, we re seeing a hunger for authentic, pro-life women candidates in primaries across the country," Dannenfelser told LifeNews.com.
She added, "As a three-term state legislator and successful businesswoman, Nikki Haley is poised to become the first female governor of South Carolina and one of many pro-life women candidates bursting onto the political scene. Her primary win and those of pro-life women candidates like her are building momentum toward victories at the ballot box in November and poised to make 2010 the Year of the Pro-Life Woman.
Tennessee Right to Life Issues Pro-Life August 5th Primary Election Endorsements
Nashville,TN (LifeNews.com) -- Following a legislative session marked by passage of Right to Life priorities including amendment resolution SJR 127, the political action committee of Tennessee Right to Life has announced their endorsements for the upcoming primary elections.
Voters in the Volunteer State head to the polls in primary elections on August 5th.
"Tennesseans have made great progress in electing demonstrated pro-life leaders to the General Assembly," said Brian Harris, president of Tennessee Right to life. "With so much at stake and the fate of unborn children in the balance, we urge every pro-life Tennessean to work and vote for the election of women and men of conscience who understand the value and dignity of every human life."
In addition to first passage of SJR 127, a resolution to put an amendment before state voters in 2014 which would again make the Tennessee Constitution abortion-neutral, pro-life leadership and majorities in both chambers of the Legislature passed pro-life bills.
Those require the posting of non-coercion law in facilities where abortions are performed, ensuring that first priority in distribution of family planning funds be given to local health departments rather than abortion facilities, and establishing that abortion not be a funded benefit in exchanges to be established as part of the federal health care plan.
Abortion has become an increasingly important matter in state races following a landmark ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2000 which found a fundamental right to abortion and struck down popularly supported measures such as informed consent and 2 day waiting periods for women considering abortion and other laws regulating the operation of abortion facilities in Tennessee.
"Tennessee is a strongly pro-life state and it is only appropriate that our public policies reflect the views of that majority," Harris said. "It is a top priority of Tennessee Right to Life to see that the men and women who fill those seats next January are people of principle who will not only vote the right way but who will lead dramatically for the protection of the weak and vulnerable among us."
Visit www.vote4life.org for a list of endorsed pro-life candidates in Tennessee.
Georgia Right to Life PAC Makes Endorsements for July 20th Primary Election Races
Atlanta,GA (LifeNews.com) -- Georgia Right to Life has issued its endorsements for the upcoming July 20th primary election and the group says every voter in the state of Georgia gets the opportunity to make a statement on what matters most to them.
"At Georgia Right to Life, we believe that Life is the most inalienable of all rights, because without life you don t need lower taxes. Without life you don t need higher education standards. Without life all other rights cease to exist," the group told LifeNews.com.
"That is why the Georgia Right to Life Political Action Committee (GRTL PAC) does not take endorsing political candidates lightly. We know that after 37 years of legalized abortion and the 21st century biotech issues on the horizon, we have had enough of people saying they are pro-life during their campaigns and then being completely silent once they are elected," the group added.
"Every candidate who was endorsed by GRTL PAC in the 2010 primary has signed a candidate affirmation statement which says that they agree with our position on the Personhood of all human beings from fertilization to natural death and the attendant need for a Personhood Amendment to our state Constitution," GRTL added.
Georgia voters can find a list of the endorsed candidates at http://www.GRTL.org
Pro-Life Action League Encourages Opposition to Contraception on Pill Anniversary
Chicago (LifeNews.com) -- To mark the day the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved the birth control pill 50 years ago, the Pro-Life Action League is encouraging pro-life activists across the nation to speak out against contraception.
"Contraception has radically altered sexual behavior in our culture and ultimately leads to more abortion, not less," said Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League. "We want to empower pro-life activists to confidently articulate to the case against contraception, especially as we remember the day it was first approved for use in America."
The Pro-Life Action League has assembled some following points to equip pro-life activists with the information they need to speak out against contraception: The mentality of contraception opposes life. The unborn child is not seen as the natural consequence of sex but as a "mistake" to be avoided. When a woman does become pregnant, this mentality predisposes her to abort.
The group adds, "Contraception encourages risky sexual behavior, contributing to the 19 million Americans who become infected with sexually transmitted diseases every year, according to the Center for Disease Control. No form of birth control is 100% fail proof. Consider this -- even when the birth control pill is taken exactly as prescribed, 116,000 women still become pregnant every year. What happens to these 116,000 babies?"
"When the FDA approved the pill for contraceptive use in 1960, a chain of events was set in motion that led straight to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that struck down laws protecting unborn babies in all fifty states. History has proved that -- far from reducing the need for abortion -- contraception only increases abortion," said Scheidler. "We hope to educate more people about birth control and all forms of contraception and help them communicate this opposition more clearly."
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