LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Planned Parenthood Uses Independence Day to Press for Military Abortions
• Voters Favor Repealing Pro-Abortion Health Care Law, Say Repeal Unlikely
• Elena Kagan Downplayed Declaration of Independence, Right to Life in Hearings
• Jimmy Kimmel Won't Hire Light Crew That Burned Pro-Lifer, Won't Apologize
• Court Upholds Guilty Verdict Found When Abortion Practitioner Killed His Wife
• Pro-Life Presbyterians Meet, Speaker Says Help Women Victimized by Abortion
• Pennsylvania Poll Has Pro-Life Candidate Tom Corbett Leading Dan Onorato
• British Royal Society of Medicine Rejects Motion to Support Assisted Suicide
• Adult Stem Cella May Help fight Infection, Canadian Reseearchers Find
• Kenya Catholic Church Not Changing Opposition to Constitution Over Abortion
• Royal College of Obstetrics and Gyn Bashed on Down Syndrome Abortions
• Poland March for Life Attracts 6,000 People, Significant Increase From Last Time
• Mexican Actress Laura Zapata Produces Pro-Life Play to Expose Abortion
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Planned Parenthood Uses Independence Day to Press for Military Base Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood used Independence Day as an occasion to press its agenda for the military: abortions at taxpayer-funded military base hospitals. In an action alert the abortion giant sent its members Planned Parenthood belittled the July 4th traditions to say they're not as important as abortions.
"This 4th of July, among the outdoor cookouts and fireworks displays, countless politicians and members of Congress will give speeches to honor the women and men serving in our nation's military. But speeches are one thing, and action is another," Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards wrote.
Richards complained that, "Right now, women serving abroad in the U.S. military are denied the basic freedom to make their own medical decisions, because abortion is banned at military hospitals and bases."
She said more than 100,000 women who are active service members and spouses and dependents of military personnel and reside on military bases don't have access to abortion -- even though most live near big cities that have abortion centers.
"Even if it threatens her health, a servicewoman who becomes pregnant while serving with our forces overseas is required to venture out to a local medical facility," Richards further claims, ignoring how women in the military and spouses have ready access to medical care and support during pregnancy.
What Richards says women in the military overseas don't have is the ability to obtain an abortion, and she want them to be able to do so.
"This is an outrageous injustice to women who sacrifice so much, and it's time for a change. We're supporting a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow abortions at military hospitals and bases," Richards says, adding "we're sure to face a fight in Congress."
Planned Parenthood can expect a fierce fight from pro-life advocates after Sen. Roland Burris attached an amendment to allow abortions at taxpayer-funded military base hospitals to a bill in the Senate Armed Services Committee that received a 15-12 vote. Full story at LifeNews.com
Voters Favor Repealing Pro-Abortion Health Care Law, Say Repeal Unlikely
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Sixty percent of likely voters say they favor repealing the pro-abortion health care law President Barack Obama signed that contains massive abortion funding, but fewer voters say they see repeal likely. Those are the new results from a Rasmussen Reports survey released today.
The survey found 60 percent of voters favor repeal compared with just 36 percent who want to keep the pro-abortion government-run health care system Democrats in Congress approved.
Some 49 percent of Americans strongly favor repealing the new law while just 24 percent strongly oppose repealing it.
Forty-three percent believe repeal would be good for the nation s economy while 27 percent say it would be bad and another 20 percent say it would have no impact.
Despite the ongoing support for repeal, just 41% believe the law is even somewhat likely to be repealed while another 45 percent say repeal is unlikely.
"Part of the doubt about the likelihood of repeal may come from the fact that Democrats could still control Congress after November," pollster Scott Rasmussen said.
In April, however, 51% considered repeal unlikely, so the prospects of pro-life Republican candidates winning in November and floating a repeal bill apparently seems more likely to American voters.
Showing movement in the repeal direction, Rasmussen Reports indicates the current figures show 13% consider repeal very likely while 10% say it is not at all likely. In April, those figures were 11% and 18% respectively. Full story at LifeNews.com
Elena Kagan Downplayed Declaration of Independence, Right to Life in Hearings
by Matthew Faraci
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan made the extraordinary admission to Sen. Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.) that she doesn't "have a view as to what natural rights are" as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
Her comments came in answering a question from the senator on the right to bear arms. Sen. Coburn asked, ""Do you personally believe there is a fundamental right in this area? Do you agree with Blackstone? He said that [the right to self-defense through gun ownership] was a natural right."
Kagan responded, "To be honest with you, I don't have a view of what are natural rights independent of the Constitution."
"So," Coburn asked, "you wouldn't embrace what the Declaration says, that we have certain God-given rights" and that among these are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?"
Kagan answered, "I believe that the Constitution is an extraordinary document, and I am not saying that I do not believe there are not rights preexisting the Constitution and the laws, but my job as a justice is to enforce the Constitution and the laws."
Coburn continued to press her, and she was insistent: "[Regarding] the question of what I believe as to what people's rights are outside the Constitution and the laws, that [as a judge] you should not want me to act outside the basis" of the Constitution and the laws. I think you should ask me to act on the basis of law, which is the Constitution and the statutes of the United States."
The nominee, who so admires Justice Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked, misses the importance of the Declaration of Independence, which outlines the very rights upon which judges relied to affirm the rights of blacks to personhood and freedom. Full story at LifeNews.com
Jimmy Kimmel Won't Hire Light Crew That Burned Pro-Lifer, Won't Apologize
Hollywood, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The producers of the Jimmy Kimmel television talk show, whose lighting crew burned a pro-life advocate protesting abortion outside his studio, say they will not hire the lighting crew for future work. However, despite protests during his live program, Kimmel refuses to apologize.
As LifeNews.com reported last week, a group of pro-life advocates from the organization Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust protested at Kimmel's studios.
Members of Kimmel's crew reportedly responded by hurling insults and taunts at young people standing on the public sidewalk in Hollywood. When they refused to leave, members of the crew turned powerful spotlights on them.
Ryan Bueler was one of the people holding the signs and he was in an area where a light crew had stationed themselves to spot a stunt scheduled to happen later that afternoon by the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. His skin was burned as he braved the heat of the spotlight placed inches from him.
Members of the pro-life group sent a letter to Jimmy Kimmel requesting a public apology for his lighting crew purposefully burning a teenager. They waited a few days for an apology and then 100 members of the group held two peaceful demonstrations outside of Kimmel's home on Wednesday and Thursday requesting an apology and asking Kimmel to protect the right to free speech.
Afterwards, the Survivors held another peaceful demonstration outside of Jimmy Kimmel Live studios on Thursday.
Four of the pro-life advocates secured free tickets to the live taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live and, during the program, requested an apology from Kimmel. Police eventually escorted them out of the studios. Full story at LifeNews.com
Court Upholds Guilty Verdict Found When Abortion Practitioner Killed His Wife
Laurel, MS (LifeNews.com) -- In a 5-4 vote last Thursday, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the 20-year sentence given to former Mississippi and Alabama abortion practitioner Malachy DeHenre, who was found guilty by a grand jury of killing his wife.
DeHenre, who had lost his medical license in three states over botched abortions, had pleaded not guilty to killing his wife, Dr. Mysha Rose DeHenre, 10 years ago.
In January 2008, a Jones County Circuit Court jury unanimously convicted DeHenre of manslaughter after deliberating for just 45 minutes. Six years prior a jury failed to convict DeHenre after a mistrial but the abortion practitioner was re-indicted on the charges when new evidence came to light.
Jones County Assistant District Attorney J. Ronald Parrish told the laurel Leader Call newspaper last week that he was informed by the state high court that the conviction was upheld.
No case I've handled since I've been here gives me as much gratification as this one," he said. The man is a despicable nasty person."
He not only killed his wife, that s what he was convicted for, but I think people need to know about him. He also killed two other women during botched abortion. One was in Alabama and one in Jackson, Mississippi. And according to him, he performed 30,000 abortions on unborn children," Parrish continued.
DeHenre's New Woman Medical Center abortion facility in Jackson closed in 2005 and he was required, in December 2005, to pay substantial damages to a woman who was injured in a failed abortion in 2003. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Presbyterians Meet, Speaker Says Help Women Victimized by Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In a mainline Protestant denomination that takes a pro-abortion position, pro-life Presbyterians look to each other for support as they try to take the pro-life message to their fellow church members. They received that support at a luncheon in conjunction with the 219th PCUSA General Assembly.
Members of Presbyterians Pro-Life (PPL) started their luncheon with a birthday song for the Rev. Philip Keevil of First Presbyterian Church in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The celebration of life remained the focus throughout the event, which featured the Rev. David Swanson, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Orlando, Florida.
Swanson referenced Jeremiah 1, which says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
The pastor continued with an appeal to the Presbyterian church, saying it "needs to counsel the thousands of young people out there who have had abortions -- not pointing our fingers at them and calling them sinners is not going to bring
them to God."
"Abortion is not the unforgivable sin. As Christians, we need to affirm they are loved. We need to promote life, but also offer a safe place to begin healing," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com
 The Value of Life Project. See a preview of this unique animated video illustrating the miracle of a baby s development and help fund the completion of this unique project. The final DVD will be available for elementary schools. View the trailer at www.lumen.tv and help complete/distribute the DVD. |
Pennsylvania Poll Has Pro-Life Candidate Tom Corbett Leading Dan Onorato
Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll out of the Keystone State finds pro-life Attorney General Tom Corbett holding a 10 percentage point lead in his race for governor against Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato. The new Rasmussen Reports survey has Corbett with the support of 49 percent of Pennsylvania residents.
The poll has Onorato getting 39 percent, his best showing of the year in any Rasmussen poll to this point.
Another 4 percent of Pennsylvania voters prefer another candidate while eight percent say they are still undecided about the race in which the winner will replace term-limited pro-abortion Gov. Ed Rendell.
A month ago, Corbett was ahead 49% to 33% but he has held a steady lead throughout the race thus far. In surveys since February prior to this one, his support has ranged from 45% to 52%, while Onorato's in the same period has fallen in the range of 26% to 36%. Onorato has never posted a lead in the race.
Pollster Scott Rasmussen said, "Corbett leads among both male and female voters in Pennsylvania. Among voters not affiliated with either political party, he holds a double-digit advantage over Onorato."
"Corbett is viewed Very Favorably by 22% of voters and Very Unfavorably by 10%. For Onorato, Very Favorables are 21% and Very Unfavorables 15%," he added. "Figures for both men have changed little since their primary victories in May." Full story at LifeNews.com
British Royal Society of Medicine Rejects Motion to Support Assisted Suicide
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- The British Royal Society of Medicine hosted a day conference and evening debate on the ethics of assisted suicide and concluded the event with an overwhelming vote against a motion to support assisted suicide. The vote doesn't mean physicians at the conference didn't push euthanasia.
Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, was in attendance at the forum and says there were assisted suicide advocates who spoke in favor of the practice.
"Lord MacKay, a former Lord Chancellor, was the day's first main speaker. He spoke about the findings of the 2005 House of Lords select committee on Lord Joffe's assisted suicide bill, which he chaired," Ozimic said.
The committee found that accurate prognosis of terminal illness is virtually impossible at a distance of months, and disease can interfere with a patient's mental competence, Ozimic noted.
Joffe admitted to the committee that the definition of suffering in his bill was a subjective test (i.e. determined by the sufferer) not objective (i.e. determined independently).
Professor David Albert Jones, a bioethicist, argued against assisted suicide.
According to Ozimic, he argued there are two types of slippery slope, one empirical (based on observation of data) and one logical (based on connections between rational arguments) and said acceptance of voluntary euthanasia concedes the idea that suicide or euthanasia is a benefit (i.e. good) for some people, that their lives are not worth living and that they are better off dead. Full story at LifeNews.com
Adult Stem Cella May Help fight Infection, Canadian Reseearchers Find
by David Prentice
Washington, DC -- Canadian researchers have found that mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell found in bone marrow and some other tissues, may help treat septic infection. Mice that had a septic infection were treated with mouse mesenchymal bone marrow adult stem cells; animals also received standard antibiotic treatment.
Mesenchymal stem cells are known to influence the immune system and help repair tissue damage. Five days after treatment, 50 per cent of the animals that received the adult stem cells were alive, compared to just 15 per cent of the control animals that did not receive the cells.
According to Dr. Duncan Stewart, senior author: Our results suggest that mesenchymal stem cells may provide a promising new approach for treating organ damage caused by severe infection and we are looking to test this in patients in the near future.
Sepsis is the second leading cause of mortality in Canadian and U.S. intensive care units, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths each year and more than $16 billion in health care costs.
The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Kenya Catholic Church Not Changing Opposition to Constitution Over Abortion
Nairobi, Kenya (LifeNews.com) -- The Catholic Church in Kenya will not drop its opposition to the draft Constitution because of the provisions contained in it that would allow unlimited abortions. John Cardinal Njue said on Sunday that the abortion clause was the most contentious for the church.
He said article 26 paragraph 4 contravened the church's position that the right to life was paramount. The clause was against natural law, human dignity and Christian teaching, he said during celebrations to mark the 50 years of St Peter's Catholic Church in Narok.
"A law which permits the taking away of life in any circumstance is totally unacceptable," Cardinal Njue said.
The clause prohibits abortion except when in the opinion of a trained medical practitioner the life or health of a mother is in danger. That has allowed unlimited abortions in the United States and medical journals routinely show abortions hurt women's health and life, not help them.
Narok South MP Nkoidila ole Lankas asked the church to soften its stance on the proposed laws, but Catholic officials say they can't compromise on the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.
Royal College of Obstetrics and Gyn Bashed on Down Syndrome Abortions
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Alison Davis, of No Less Human, has sent John Smeaton of the British pro-life group SPUC an unpublished letter she wrote recently to the Daily Telegraph. Alison was commenting on the Telegraph story about a blood test which will allow doctors to check unborn children for Down's syndrome:
The concern pro-life advocates have is it can be used by those who want to kill unborn children in abortions rather than give birth to a child with Down syndrome.
Davis writes: I read with some dismay your story ("Blood test for Down's syndrome" 30 June 2010) which expressed the "hope" that a new non-invasive pre-natal test for Down's syndrome will soon be widely available. This "hope" seems to be based on the fact that the test may reduce the numbers of miscarriages of so-called "healthy" babies who currently die as a result of invasive tests to detect Down's syndrome." In doing so, it perpetuates the common myth that while killing a "healthy" baby is a tragedy, killing a disabled baby is to be lauded. Full story at LifeNews.com
Poland March for Life Attracts 6,000 People, Significant Increase From Last Time
by Patrick Buckley
Warsaw, Poland (LifeNews.com) -- An event that doesn't appear to have received much publicity is the March for Life and Family that took place in Warsaw at the beginning of June, with an attendance of at least 6000 people. The first such March for Life was in 2006 and, since then, the numbers involved have increased by 300 percent.
Tradition, Family, and Property, reporting on the 2010 March, tell us that the crowd consisted mostly of young people and families with children. They represent a new generation of pro-life and pro-family Poles who publicly affirm their Catholic moral values. Also present were several Ministers of Parliament and political candidates."
Signs and posters that were carried during the March read: Every Child has the Right to Birth , Green Light for the Family.
Poland is under great threat at the moment from anti-life and anti-family forces of all sorts those seeking liberalisation of the laws against abortion...
TFP says that the institution of the family in Poland is threatened by the recent introduction of a piece of legislation aimed at reducing domestic violence. It insinuates that the family is a source of violence toward children because children are disciplined by parents. If passed, it will severely restrict a parent s right to bring up their children consistent with Catholic moral values. This will devastate the institution of the family and consequently, society as a whole in Poland.
Mexican Actress Laura Zapata Produces Pro-Life Play to Expose Abortion
Mexico City, Mexico (LifeNews.com) -- Mexican actress Laura Zapata has produced a theatrical work titled, Vida por Amor (Life for Love), in hope of inspiring audiences to become a little more aware of the value of human life at every stage.
The play is based on the life and conversion of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who performed more than 5,000 abortions in the U.S., and oversaw another 75,000.
According to Mexican media, the actress said she was inspired to produce the play because there is nothing better in life than being a mother. Life for Love is something I was thinking about for a long time, and now that it has been so well-received by the public, I am very pleased.
I don t know how to repay the people for their applause; I just hope they become a little bit more aware about this. It is very sad to see women who have abortions without thinking about it, when there are alternatives to ... throwing away a life.
It is always better to give life than to take it, she said. I think it is very important to give people options before making such a hasty decision.
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