LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Senate Judiciary Committee OKs Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan for Supreme Court
• Planned Parenthood Staffer Caught on Tape, Misleads Woman on Abortion
• Pro-Life Advocates Mount Last-Ditch Effort to Oppose Kagan for Supreme Court
• Pro-Life Movement Successful in Persuading Future Doctors to Not Do Abortions
• Democrats for Life Attacks Pro-Life Groups on Abortion Funding in Health Care
• Media Matters Presents False Picture of Kagan's Partial-Birth Abortion Promotion
• African Union Summit Leaders Must Know: Abortion Doesn't Help Maternal Mortality
• New York Times Cover Story Fails to Make Abortion Acceptance Mainstream
• Massachusetts Pro-Life Group Endorses Governor Candidate Tim Cahill
• Arkansas Senate Seat Will be Won by Pro-Life Boozman, Polling Data Shows
• Montana Abortion-Personhood Amendment Fails to Qualify for Ballot Again
• Pro-Life News: England, Euthanasia, Ireland, Abortion, West Virginia, Nebraska
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Senate Judiciary Committee OKs Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan for Supreme Court
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In a nearly party-line vote with very little suspense, the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved President Barack Obama's nomination of pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.
Now, Kagan's nomination will head to the Senate floor, where Republicans may mount a filibuster or may back down knowing they don't have the votes to uphold it -- especially with one of their own backing Kagan today.
That the Democrat-dominated panel would approve the former Clinton administration official who was tagged for promoting partial-birth abortions was fully expected.
Predicting the ultimate outcome and underlining the futility of Supreme Court hearings these days, pro-abortion committee chairman Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont said, "'No minds in the committee are going to be changed by anything we say today."
The committee voted 13-6 with all of the pro-abortion Democrats supporting Kagan's confirmation and all Republicans opposing her, except pro-life Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Graham said during comments prior to the vote that the Constitution says "elections have consequences" and that he believes presidents are entitled to have their judicial picks confirmed whether he likes them or not.
But pro-life Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama told his colleagues Kagan answered Judiciary Committee questions "with political spin." ACTION: Contact your senators here and urge a no vote on Kagan's nomination and tell them to filibuster her. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Staffer Caught on Tape, Misleads Woman on Abortion
Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) -- A new undercover video released today from the same activists who have caught Planned Parenthood staffers covering up potential cases of sexual abuse of minors shows an abortion center staffer in Indiana misleading a woman considering an abortion by giving her erroneous information.
The youth-led pro-life group Live Action released the new video it filmed showing an Indianapolis Planned Parenthood facility using manipulative and medically inaccurate counseling to convince a young woman to have an abortion.
This is the third video in Live Action's new series showing Planned Parenthood staff giving women faulty information about the development of their unborn child or the risks associated with an abortion in order to persuade a woman to have one.
In the new video, a volunteer acts as a potential abortion customer purportedly 10-weeks pregnant and she asks the Planned Parenthood counselor, named "Sarah," when her baby's heart begins to beat.
"It's around I think the 8th or the 9th week that you can hear the heartbeat, Sarah replies.
But Live Action president Lila Rose says medical textbooks such as Moore and Persaud's well-known work The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, reveals the heart of an unborn child actually begins beating 3 weeks and 1 day after conception. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Advocates Mount Last-Ditch Effort to Oppose Kagan for Supreme Court
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Before the Senate Judiciary Committee began its session today voting on the nomination of pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, pro-life groups mounted a last-ditch effort to convince members of the panel to vote against her.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, sent a letter to senators this morning urging them, on behalf of 280,000 women who are members of the organization, to vote no.
"We strongly oppose the confirmation of Elena Kagan as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States," she said.
"The recent revelation of her influence in the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologist s (ACOG) statement on the medical necessity for partial birth abortion in 1996, arouses deep concern over her objectivity in weighing factual information concerning abortion," Dannenfelser said.
She is referring to memos Kagan wrote during the Clinton administration in which she successfully lobbied ACOG to change its position on partial-birth abortions -- which wound up keeping them legal for years longer as the Supreme Court cited ACOG's revised opinion as reason to overturn state bans on the abortion procedure.
In her role as associate White House Counsel to President Clinton, Kagan recommended that ACOG add language indicating that partial birth abortion "may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman." Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Movement Successful in Persuading Future Doctors to Not Do Abortions
by Michael New 
The Sunday New York Times Magazine featured an interesting article entitled The New Abortion Providers, which details efforts by supporters of legal abortion to cultivate a new generation of physicians who perform abortions.
Unsurprisingly, the article painted a very sympathetic picture, but it still makes interesting reading for pro-lifers, because it demonstrates that the pro-life movement has been quietly effective in ways that often receive little media attention. It also shows that the effort to encourage young physicians to perform abortions may well achieve little success.
One unheralded success of the pro-life movement is that it has convinced many Americans that abortion is wrong. Now, obviously, not everyone wants to see abortion banned. Some individuals see abortion as a necessary evil; others think that keeping abortion legal reduces the amount of misery and suffering in the country. But the fact that many Americans think abortion is immoral has paid some important dividends.
For instance, as this article nicely demonstrates, ever since Roe v. Wade, abortion has been effectively divorced from mainstream medicine. Many hospitals will not allow abortions to be performed on their premises; a very high percentage of doctors have no interest in performing abortions at all; most abortions are performed in clinics away from doctor s offices and hospitals. This has done some good things for the pro-life movement: It has further stigmatized abortion; it has made it easier for sidewalk counselors to identify and approach abortion-minded women; it has also made abortions more difficult to obtain in many parts of the country. Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats for Life Attacks Pro-Life Groups on Abortion Funding in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Last week, the National Right to Life Committee exposed three different instances in which the Obama administration had approved federal taxpayer financing of abortions in new high risk health insurance pools. But to hear Democrats for Life of America tell the story, NRLC officials lied about the funding.
NRLC pointed to information in press releases and on web sites of state agencies in Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Maryland showing the new high risk programs would not prevent funding of abortions.
The Obama administration was forced to retreat and make a promise that the new programs would not fund abortions, though several pro-life groups and the nation's Catholic bishops agreed with the NRLC analysis and said they would believe the Obama administration's word only when they see it implemented.
In an email to its members that LifeNews.com obtained, Democrats for Life trashed NRLC and other pro-life advocates for exposing the funding and supposedly lying about it.
"The National Right to Life Committee and others accused President Obama of allowing public funds to be used for abortion," DFLA said in a statement, saying NRLC "issued a false press release." Full story at LifeNews.com
Media Matters Presents False Picture of Kagan's Partial-Birth Abortion Promotion
by Americans United for Life 
Media Matters suggests that no discrepancies exist between Elena Kagan s involvement with the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) statement on partial-birth abortion during her time in the Clinton White House and Kagan s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.
The following addresses Media Matters claims and points out Kagan s misrepresentation of her involvement in this debate and the need for further investigation into Kagan s involvement with ACOG and its medical opinion.
1. Media Matters claims: In reality, documents back up Kagan s testimony that ACOG said procedure was sometimes the medically best one
The document which could be argued to support Kagan s testimony is ACOG s final statement, which was released only after Kagan determined ACOG s initial draft to be a disaster, and drafted an amendment to say partial-birth abortion may be the best. Full story at LifeNews.com
African Union Summit Leaders Must Know: Abortion Doesn't Help Maternal Mortality
by Scott Fischbach
As the 15th African Union Summit gets underway in Kampala,Uganda this week, it is critical for leaders to remain focused on the theme of the Summit: Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa. This week's meetings can bear much fruit for the women and children of Africa as long as the proceedings do not get side-tracked into a push for legalized abortion.
Some prior Continental meetings have been hijacked by those who have an agenda to legalize abortion throughout Africa.
These calls for outright legalized abortion, coming via documents like CARMMA or MPOA, ought to be resoundingly rejected by African leaders. References to abortion and reproductive health services, ought to be stripped from all Summit documents, and the focus should remain on the well-being of the women and children in the Union.
Leading experts in the field of maternal mortality are fast coming to the same conclusion: adequate health care, not legalized abortion, will reduce the incidence of maternal mortality.
Globally, countries with some of the lowest maternal death rates also do not have legalized abortion -- countries like Malta, Nicaragua, Poland and Ireland. Interestingly, in New York City, New York , USA, the maternal mortality rates are now increasing, even though abortion has been legal and easily available with more than 120,000 abortions per year there since 1970. Full story at LifeNews.com
New York Times Cover Story Fails to Make Abortion Acceptance Mainstream
by Clay Waters 
Cheerleading for abortion? The massive cover story for Sunday's New York Times Magazine, The New Abortion Providers by Emily Bazelon, looked hard for signs of optimism for the acceptance of abortion in the United States. But her own reporting tended to undermine her relatively rosy assessment.
Bazelon, a senior editor at Slate with extremely pro-choice views ("for some women, abortion brings simply and merely relief," she wrote in July 2009), opened in the most melodramatic fashion imaginable. Full story at LifeNews.com
Massachusetts Pro-Life Group Endorses Governor Candidate Tim Cahill
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- Unable to support either Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick or Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker, the statewide pro-life organization Massachusetts Citizens for Life has endorsed the campaign of independent candidate Tim Cahill, the current State Treasurer.
Madeline McComish, the chair of the MCFL State Political Action Committee, told LifeNews.com that Cahill is fully pro-life, unlike Patrick or Baker.
"Tim Cahill will be an outstanding advocate for the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly. He will bring commonsense solutions to protecting their rights and their lives," she said.
"Cahill holds pro-life positions on all aspects of the issue, from abortion funding to informed consent, to partial birth abortion and parental consent," McComish added.
She also labeled "very important" what she called his "opposition to physician assisted suicide, which is currently being proposed in the state legislature."
The MCFL PAC chair also said the issue of abortion and health care is one that separates Cahill from his opponents. Full story at LifeNews.com
Arkansas Senate Seat Will be Won by Pro-Life Boozman, Polling Data Shows
Little Rock, AR (LifeNews.com) -- If new polling data is any indication, pro-life Congressman John Boozman is just months away from Arkansas voters naming him as their next U.S. senator.Two polls show Boozman with a commanding lead over pro-abortion Senator Blanche Lincoln, his Democratic opponent in November.
Magellan Strategies, a marketing and political research firm conducted a new poll showing 59.9 percent of Arkansans back Boozman while just 29.4 percent support Lincoln.
Boozman's support is broad-based and includes two demographic groups that were key to the Democrat's success in 2008: independents and young voters.
Among independents,Boozman is leading by 45 points (63% Boozman/17% Lincoln) while among young voters (18-44) he leads her by 40 points (64% Boozman/24% Lincoln), the new survey found.
Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by Talk Business shows Boozman with a 25-point lead over Lincoln, 57% to 32%. Full story at LifeNews.com
Montana Abortion-Personhood Amendment Fails to Qualify for Ballot Again
Helena, MT (LifeNews.com) -- The personhood amendment has failed for the second time to qualify for the November ballot, making it so voters in the mountain state will not have a chance to vote on a measure that would define unborn children as people under law and potentially making abortions illegal.
The amendment split the pro-life community in the state with some groups and advocates supporting the signature gathering process.
Other pro-life advocates opposed the amendment on strategic grounds, saying it would only be overturned in court and add to the pro-abortion case law currently upholding Roe v. Wade. They suggest working to reform the courts to overturn Roe and allow states to, once again, prohibit abortions.
Constitutional Initiative 102 would have defined a human "person" under the scientifically accurate notion of the beginning of human life taking place at conception, or fertilization.
The measure, meant for the 2010 elections, is the second effort to get a personhood proposition on the ballot and it required 48,000 signatures from state residents. The first measure, in 2008, failed to get enough to qualify. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life News: England, Euthanasia, Ireland, Abortion, West Virginia, Nebraska
British Pro-Life Group Says Nicklinson Euthanasia Push Undermines Disabled
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A leading anti-euthanasia group has said that a disabled man's push for euthanasia undermines everyone's security.
Ireland Television Magazine Under Fire for Attacking Pro-Life Counseling Centers
Dublin, Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- The Ireland-based pro-life group Precious Life is calling on pro-lifers to contact the Irish television magazine guide RTE Guide , and also the Irish Health Service, to complain about an advertisement attacking pro-life counseling centers.
West Virginia Pro-Life Gov Joe Manchin to Seek Pro-Abortion Sen. Byrd's Seat
Charleston, WV (LifeNews.com) -- West Virginia pro-life Governor Joe Manchin, a Democrat, will seek the Senate seat of the late pro-abortion Sen. Robert Byrd. Manchin will run in a special election this year he announced in a press conference Tuesday morning.
Nebraska Law Removes Obstacles to Lawsuits for Complications of Abortion
Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- A new Nebraska law that is the first to allow women to sue for psychological injuries related to abortion went into effect today, the Stop Forced Abortions Alliance has announced.
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