LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Obama Recess Appoints Rationing Advocate Donald Berwick to Medicare Post
• Obama Admin Denies It's Supporting Kenya Constitution Legalizing Abortions
• Pro-Life Advocates Call Obama Pick Donald Berwick a One Man Death Panel
• Governor Jindal Makes Louisiana Fourth to Opt Out of Abortion $ in Health Care
• Gallup: Obama Approval Rating Drops to 38 Percent for Independent Voters
• Democrats for Life Defending Lawmakers Who Backed Pro-Abortion Health Care
• Care Net Blasts Pro-Abortion Attempt to Shut Down Crisis Pregnancy Centers
• Pro-Life Leaders, Groups Come Together for Webcast Training Against Abortion
• Louisiana Governor Signs Bill Allowing Women to See Ultrasound Before Abortion
• British Feminist Journalist Says Abortion a "Lesser Evil" Than Misogny
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Obama Recess Appoints Rationing Advocate Donald Berwick to Medicare Post
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama used a recess appointment today to name rationing advocate Donald Berwick to become the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The office oversees government health care programs and that worries pro-life advocates because Berwick has praised British programs that ration care.
The position is important because it will oversee implementation of the massive government-run health care plan that pro-life advocates say will foster rationing and also contains taxpayer funding of abortions.
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.
"It s unfortunate that at a time when our nation is facing enormous challenges, many in Congress have decided to delay critical nominations for political purposes," Obama said in a statement about the appointment.
"With more than 180 nominees still pending before the Senate, it s my hope that my colleagues in Congress will agree to put politics aside and move forward on these vitally important positions," he said.
But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell blasted the recess appointment.
As if shoving a trillion-dollar government takeover of healthcare down the throat of a disapproving American public wasn't enough, apparently the Obama administration intends to arrogantly circumvent the American people yet again by recess-appointing one of the most prominent advocates of rationed healthcare to implement their national plan," McConnell said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama Admin Denies It's Supporting Kenya Constitution Legalizing Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Even though a federal law prohibits the United States from spending taxpayer funds lobbying for abortion abroad, the Obama administration has essentially been supporting a new constitution Kenya residents will vote on next month that includes provisions that would legalize unlimited abortions.
Although the Obama administration has not officially endorsed the constitution, Vice President Joe Biden appeared in Kenya and supported it while taking great pains to not directly say so.
Biden told prominent Kenya government officials that passage will "allow money to flow" to the African nation.
"The United States strongly supports the process of constitutional reform. ... Dare to reach for transformative change, the kind of change that might come around only once in a lifetime," he said. "If you make these changes, I promise you, new foreign private investment will come in like you've never seen."
Now, Fox News is reporting the Obama administration is denying it is officially supporting the pro-abortion Kenya constitution.
After publishing a news story compiling the developments over the last two months that LifeNews.com has chronicled, Fox News received a response from Biden's office.
"Requests for comment sent to the vice president s office were not initially returned, but following the original publication of this story, Biden's press secretary, in an e-mail stressed that while in Kenya the vice president reiterated that it is up the people to decide about their country's constitution," the television news station indicated. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Advocates Call Obama Pick Donald Berwick a One Man Death Panel
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The reaction from pro-life advocates against the recess appointment of rationing advocate Donald Berwick to head up Medicare and Medicaid has been strong. They are very concerned Berwick, named to the post by Obama today after no hearings in the Senate, will promote rationing.
"Donald Berwick is a one-man death panel," said David N. O'Steen, director of National Right to Life.
"While Americans may not remember the agency he heads, he will quickly become known as Obama's rationing czar," he told LifeNews.com
Burke Balch, an attorney who is the director of medical ethics for the National Right to Life Committee, also chimed in on the appointment.
The Obama recess appointment of rationing advocate Donald Berwick to head the key government agency that will apply the new health care law is disastrous news for the vulnerable, especially the elderly and the sickest of American patients, he said.
He said Obama's recess appointment is "an attempt to avoid examination, through the pending confirmation process, of Berwick's well-documented support for rationing health care."
Confirmation of Berwick would have faced strong opposition from pro-life Republican senators appalled by his open advocacy of government-imposed rationing of medical treatment, the organization said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Governor Jindal Makes Louisiana Fourth to Opt Out of Abortion $ in Health Care
Baton Rouge, LA (LifeNews.com) -- Governor Bobby Jindal has made the state of Louisiana the fourth to opt out of some of the abortion funding found in the government-run health care law President Barack Obama signed. The Louisiana Senate passed its opt out bill 28-3 after the House approved it by a wide margin.
HB 1247, authored by Representative Frank Hoffman and carried on the Senate floor by Senator Gerald Long, passed in the Senate, adds Louisiana to the list of states opting out along with Arizona, Tennessee and Mississippi.
The law exempts the state from the abortion mandate in the recently-enacted federal health care reform law.
Denise Burke, an attorney with Americans United for Life, explained what it does.
"Specifically, the new law prohibits health insurers participating in the state-run health insurance exchange (scheduled to go into effect in 2014) from offering plans or policies that cover abortions except in rare cases in which the mother s life is in danger," she said.
Burke applauded the four states that "have acted to protect life and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions a practice opposed by the vast majority of Americans."
"Governor Jindal and our allies in Louisiana are to be congratulated on their bold leadership in support of life. Clearly, Louisiana has earned its top-spot in AUL s annual ranking of the most pro-life states and has again set the standard for other states to follow," she informed LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com
Gallup: Obama Approval Rating Drops to 38 Percent for Independent Voters
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Gallup poll shows just 38 percent of independent voters think pro-abortion President Barack Obama is doing a good job. Those figures don't bode well for Obama and his pro-abortion Democratic allies heading into the 201 election season where pro-life Republicans are poised to pick up seats.
The 38 percent figure is the first time independent approval of Obama has dropped below 40% in a Gallup Daily tracking weekly aggregate.
Meanwhile, Obama maintains the support of 81% of Democrats, and his job approval among Republicans remains low, at 12%.
"Over the past year, Obama has lost support among all party groups, though the decline has been steeper among independents than among Republicans or Democrats. Today's 38% approval rating among independents is 18 percentage points lower than the 56% found July 2009," Gallup noted.
During the same period, his support has fallen nine points among Democrats (from 90% to 81%) and eight points among Republicans (from 20% to 12%).
Overall, 46% of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing as president in the June 28-July 4 aggregate, one point above his lowest weekly average. Obama's average weekly job approval rating has not been above 50% since February. Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats for Life Defending Lawmakers Who Backed Pro-Abortion Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Democrats for Life of America is striking back against the pro-life organizations that are targeting the formerly respected pro-life Democratic members of Congress who supported the national health care bill that contained massive abortion funding and was opposed by every other pro-life group.
After Rep. Bart Stupak and some of his colleagues yielded to President Barack Obama and his pro-abortion allies in Congress, pro-life groups like National Right to Life and the Susan B. Anthony List began targeting them for defeat.
They have already been successful in West Virginia, where Rep. Allan Mollohan, who enjoyed solid relationships with Right to Life officials who told him he could lose his seat if he voted for the pro-abortion health care bill, has been defeated in the Democratic primary by a candidate who made opposition to the bill a centerpiece of his pro-life campaign.
They have also endorsed pro-life candidates to take on lawmakers like Steve Driehaus in Ohio, Kathy Dahlkemper in Pennsylvania and Brad Ellsworth in Indiana.
Now, DFLA is fighting back to support some of the members and has started a political action committee to support 15 Democratic members, including Driehaus.
The Washington Post indicates the new group bears the moniker "Whole-Life Heroes," a reference to the Democrats for Life position that the bill is somehow pro-life because it supposedly will reduce abortions by providing a limited amount of support for pregnant women even though other pro-life groups unanimously say it contains taxpayer funding of abortions.
The Post indicates the DFLA PAC will try to convince voters the executive order Obama signed that supposedly stops the abortion funding -- pro-life groups strenuously disagree -- will actually do that even though the Obama administration shows no signs of implementing it. Full story at LifeNews.com
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Care Net Blasts Pro-Abortion Attempt to Shut Down Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A national association of pregnancy centers says it is not surprised by the relentless efforts of the pro-abortion group NARAL to target their working helping women find abortion alternatives. Care Net says the summer attack by the abortion industry is "just another attempt to shut down the competition."
Reacting to a news report from LifeNews.com, Care Net officials said today that they're disappointed NARAL is urging its members to ask two Internet directories to harm pregnancy centers' ability to advertise their services online.
In addition, abortion backers in Congress, led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Sen. Robert Menendez, have re-introduced a bill that would direct the Federal Trade Commission to set up new rules to regulate pregnancy center advertising.
According to NARAL's claims, pregnancy centers are falsely advertising in online yellow page directories under the headline "abortion services."
The group says it sent 59,000 signatures to YellowPages.com and SuperPages.com asking them to remove misleading CPC ads from their sites.
Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde responded, "Care Net pregnancy centers are consistently and thoroughly trained on proper and effective advertising practices. Deception is simply inconsistent with our Christian principles of honesty and integrity." Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Leaders, Groups Come Together for Webcast Training Against Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- More than 30 pro-life groups and leaders are coming together this weekend for an unprecedented event that will help train and motivate pro-life people to work against abortion. The webcast coming this Saturday will last for ten hours as pro-life advocates cover a variety of topics.
David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life, is coordinating the event and he says it comes from the pro-life activists who participated in the prayerful event who wanted more training and information on what else they could do to stop abortions.
"Over the last two years we've surveyed more than 28,000 people who participated in 40 Days for Life campaigns, asking them how unified pro-life efforts can expand and have even greater impact," he said.
An overwhelming majority of respondents asked for focused training to educate, equip, and empower pro-lifers in their local communities to help bring an end to abortion, Bereit said.
"As a result, we are launching the first step in the Ending Abortion initiative -- a massive, day-long, webcast mega-conference uniting the entire pro-life movement," he said.
The event will break the pro-life message up into ten different hour-long focused topics and includes pro-life notables such as Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America, Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony List, Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life, Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council, Peggy Hartshorn of Heartbeat International and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. Full story at LifeNews.com
Louisiana Governor Signs Bill Allowing Women to See Ultrasound Before Abortion
Baton Rouge, LA (LifeNews.com) -- On Tuesday, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana signed into law two pro-life bills including one that opts the state out of abortion funding under the federal health care law and another that allows women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child before the abortion.
The Ultrasound Before Abortion Act, SB 528, authored by Senator Sharon Weston Broome (D-Baton Rouge), would require ultrasounds to be performed before all abortions in Louisiana.
Women would be given an opportunity to see it or sign a document saying they did not decide to do so. They're normally not given a chance to see ultrasounds of their baby and pro-life advocates hope the ultrasound will persuade some women to choose abortion alternatives.
Louisiana Right to Life Federation brought forward the pro-life bills and helped navigate them through the legislative process.
Benjamin Clapper, executive director of the group, told LifeNews.com today that "Louisiana furthered its exemplary commitment to defending unborn human life by enacting these critical pieces of pro-life legislation."
"We thank Governor Jindal for signing these bills into law and for his administration working with us every step of the way to pass these measures," he added.
We brought these bills forward to the legislature out of the desire to increase the positive effects of ultrasound and to prevent the government funding of abortion. We are confident these new laws will save the lives of unborn children and open the door to life-affirming choices for mothers, Clapper said. Full story at LifeNews.com
British Feminist Journalist Says Abortion a "Lesser Evil" Than Misogny
by Matthew Balan
Antonia Senior of The Times of London revealed her extremist position in favor of abortion in a June 30 column. Senior bluntly admitted that the intentional killing of the unborn was a cause she would be willing to die for, and while acknowledging it was "taking a life," she labeled it was a "lesser evil," for, in her view, "you cannot separate women's rights from their right to fertility control."
The British journalist, is the personal finance editor for The Times, began her column with outlining the extent to which abortion is a core issue for her. Senior noted that in the Tower of London, there's an "interactive display that ask visitors to vote on whether they would die for a cause." After eliminating dolphins and even her own country of England as potential choices, she continued that she "could think of one cause I would stake my life on: a woman's right to be educated, to have a life beyond the home and to be allowed by law and custom to order her own life as she chooses. And that includes complete control over her own fertility." Full story at LifeNews.com
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