LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Pharmacy Group Pans FDA Decision to Approve New Ella Abortion Drug
• Pro-Life Groups Blast Obama Administration Approval of New Abortion Drug Ella
• Americans, Women Say in Poll: Abortion is Morally Wrong, Too Easy to Obtain
• Election 2010: Independent Voters Sour on Obama, Pro-Abortion Democrats
• Trial Begins Next Month for Practitioner Who Killed Woman in Failed Abortion
• Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Found Improperly Billing Medicaid in New Jersey
• Mike Huckabee Leads Republicans in Poll of Iowa Voters for President in 2012
• My Life, My Death, My Choice: Responding to Final Exit Network Billboards
• Life Prizes Will Again Award Pro-Life Heroes Working Against Abortion
• Chicago Drops Charges on Second Person Arrested Under Abortion Bubble Zone
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Pharmacy Group Pans FDA Decision to Approve New Ella Abortion Drug
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A national organization for pro-life pharmacists is panning a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve the new Ella drug that is billed as an improved morning after pill but causes abortions. The drug will be available to women by prescription and it destroys unborn children days after conception.
The drug is called a morning after pill by its maker HRA Pharma, distributor Watson Pharmaceuticals, and the FDA because they have redefined the beginning of human life as implantation instead of conception, or fertilization.
But Pharmacists For Life International, in a statement to LifeNews.com, confirms the abortifacient nature of the Ella drug.
PFLI calls Ella a "chemical cousin analog of mifepristone," the abortion drug more commonly known by its experimental name, RU 486. "Ulipristal acetate, according to its own developers, can kill embryos," it confirms.
The organization said it "vehemently denounces and condemns the FDA for this inappropriate use of its drug regulatory power to destroy life rather than approve and regulate medicines which actually are life-saving and preserve health."
PFLI says it is concerned women will purchase the drug and stockpile it in large doses and sidestep the routine surgical or durg-induced abortion process with dangerous at-home abortions. It also worries the drug will be used by men who want to hide evidence of their crimes of sexual assault. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Groups Blast Obama Administration Approval of New Abortion Drug Ella
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Several pro-life groups have released statements in the wake of the Obama administration approving for prescription sales the abortion drug Ella. The FDA, mainstream media outlets and backers of the drug call it an improved morning after pill, but the pro-life groups say ella clearly causes abortions.
The ella drug, sold as EllaOne currently in Europe, can be used up to five days after sexual intercourse -- but that time period is past the point at which contraception can prevent pregnancy and the creation of a new, unique human being.
That means the drug causes abortions and, as Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest told LifeNews.com, "billing this abortion-causing drug as an 'emergency contraceptive' is misleading to the public."
She said that, like the commonly-known and used RU 486 abortion drug which works about seven weeks into pregnancy, ella is a selective progesterone receptor modulator.
"As a progesterone blocker, an SPRM works to interfere with the developing human embryo, causing it to die by either interfering with the uterine lining and preventing implantation, or by starving an implanted embryo. Women deserve to be fully informed that ella may interfere with and kill a developing embryo and does not only prevent conception," she said.
Yoest also said, "The FDA's irresponsible approval of ella (Ulipristal), without adequate safety studies, places women's health and lives at risk."
She noted how, several members of the FDA advisory panel that reviewed ella s application raised the concern that there was insufficient data to show the effect ella would have on a pregnancy and a developing embryo or fetus.
"The chemical make-up and mechanism of action of ella are very similar to RU-486, which is known to cause serious adverse health risks such as severe bleeding, ruptured tubal pregnancies, serious infections, and even death," Yoest added. "Further study is necessary to ensure ella is safe for women, particularly if it is used off-label." Full story at LifeNews.com
Americans, Women Say in Poll: Abortion is Morally Wrong, Too Easy to Obtain
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new national poll finds Americans and a majority of women, say abortion is both morally wrong and too easy to obtain. The new Rasmussen Reports poll also finds most likely voters say abortion is at least somewhat important when they consider the issues that will guide their vote in November.
The national survey finds nearly half, 48 percent, of Americans continue to believe abortions are too easy to obtain in the United States.
That's higher than the 33 percent who disagree and say they are too hard to get (15 percent) or believe the level of difficulty is just right (23 percent).
Another 14 percent of Americans are unsure -- a high number that appears to indicate how many Americans don't understand the nation's abortion laws, which allow virtually unlimited abortions for any reason throughout pregnancy.
Women (53 percent) feel more strongly than men (42%) that abortions are too easy to get, which belies the notion abortion advocates promote that women support abortion more than men.
Also unchanged from past Rasmussen surveys is the response to the question of whether abortions are seen as morally wrong.
Some 54 percent say abortion is morally wrong most of the time while 32 percent disagree and 14 percent are undecided. Again, women are more pro-life than men as 58% of women believe that abortion is morally wrong in most cases, compared to 49% of men. Full story at LifeNews.com
Election 2010: Independent Voters Sour on Obama, Pro-Abortion Democrats
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A weekend poll shows independent voters are souring on President Barack Obama and his pro-abortion Democratic colleagues who control the House and Senate. A new Associated Press-GfK poll has good news for pro-life advocates hoping to retake Congress or lessen the pro-abortion advantage.
In 2008, 52 percent of independents backed Obama over his presidential rival John McCain, but that has changed now that they have endured two years of his aggressive pro-abortion agenda.
Only 32 percent of those who do not declare themselves either Republicans or Democrats now say they support Obama and want Democrats to keep control of Congress. And 67 percent say they believe the country is headed in the wrong direction -- never a good sign for those in power.
With 40 percent of voters calling themselves independents, that 32 percent figure is especially problematic for Obama and his colleagues. It portends a poor election where pro-life advocates are expected to do well with strong support from a coalition of independents and Republicans.
The Associated Press poll says Obama's standing now, compared with 2008, is weakened with young whites, unmarried women, people who live in the West, people earning under $50,000 a year, college graduates and urban whites -- the very coalition of voters that brought him to power two years ago. Full story at LifeNews.com
Trial Begins Next Month for Practitioner Who Killed Woman in Failed Abortion
Hyannis, MA (LifeNews.com) -- The trial begins next month in the case of abortion practitioner Rapin Osathanondh, who has been charged with manslaughter after killing one of his patients in a botched legal abortion. Osathanondh did the abortion on 22-year-old Laura Smith, who died in September 2007 at his Women's Health Center abortion business.
Now, almost three years to the date after Smith's abortion death, Osathanondh will finally go on trial for manslaughter.
"This is a landmark case in Massachusetts - the first trial of an abortionist in the death of a mother," Anne Fox, the president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, told LifeNews.com today. "People need to know about this."
The trial will start on September 7 with jury selection and it will continue for two to three weeks at the Barnstable County Court House.
"We can expect that the media will downplay this important trial as much as possible," Fox said, urging pro-life advocates to "make very effort to write letters to the editor, call radio shows, and do whatever else you can to generate public awareness."
"Not only is it almost exactly three years since Laura died, but the trial will be going on at the time of the primary elections here in Massachusetts. Let us hope it will remind people of the scourge of abortion when they vote," she added.
Osathanondh was indicted in July 2008 by a grand jury after an investigation by local police, state police and the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Found Improperly Billing Medicaid in New Jersey
Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) -- The U.S. Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services has uncovered a consistent problem with New Jersey-based family planning clinics run by the Planned Parenthood abortion business. They were found to be improperly billing Medicaid for services that did not qualify as family planning.
The new information comes as New Jersey lawmakers have been lobbying Governor Chris Christie to restore $7.5 million in state taxpayer funds to family planning and Planned Parenthood centers.
They want to require state residents to apply for a federal waiver which would reimburse these clinics 90% for every Medicaid service they provide, including family planning services.
Marie Tasy, the director of New Jersey Right to Life, released the new information showing the improper billing problems at Planned Parenthood.
She says state officials were sent letters in July 2007, June 2008 and August 2008 notifying them of the problems and requesting action to correct the errors. The reports found billing errors from February 1, 2001 through January 31, 2005.
An initial audit revealed New Jersey improperly received federal reimbursement at the enhanced 90% rate for 160,955 prescriptions drug claims that were billed as family planning, but did not qualify as family planning services. A letter from the Inspector General to New Jersey officials recommended that New Jersey repay $2,219,746 to the federal government. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mike Huckabee Leads Republicans in Poll of Iowa Voters for President in 2012
Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) -- As the pro-life movement looks to replace pro-abortion President Barack Obama in 2012, they will first need to select a Republican nominee. The 2012 presidential election campaign begins in earnest in Iowa and Republican voters in the Hawkeye State say Mike Huckabee is again their top choice.
Huckabee came from nowhere to win the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and that victory propelled him from back-of-the-pack status to a place in the top three against Mitt Romney and John McCain.
Now, if a new survey conducted for the web site TheIowaRepublican.com is any indication, Huckabee is on track to repeat that victory.
Huckabee, who is pro-life, leads the field with the support of 22 percent of Iowa voters. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who campaigned as a pro-life candidate in 2008, comes in second with 18 percent.
"The poll shows that the 2012 contest is going to begin right where the 2008 Iowa Caucuses left off, with Mike Huckabee leading Mitt Romney," the web site said about its survey.
"Romney has already sent signals that he will likely run again in 2012. His leadership PAC has raised more money than any other potential candidate, and he continues to travel the county. While he is expected to be the frontrunner nationally, Huckabee will be the frontrunner in Iowa if he decides to make another try for the Republican nomination," it added. Full story at LifeNews.com
My Life, My Death, My Choice: Responding to Final Exit Network Billboards
by Wesley J. Smith
The advocacy billboards appeared without warning in San Francisco and New Jersey:: "My Life. My Death. My Choice." Paid for by the Final Exit Network (FEN), the promotional signs received widespread media coverage as a new wrinkle in the ongoing national campaign to legalize assisted suicide.
But there is much more to this story than controversial messaging on billboard. FEN doesn't just advocate assisted suicide: Its "counselors" make deadly house calls. Indeed, FEN members have been indicted in Georgia including Ted Goodwin, its former head and in Arizona for alleged assisted suicide activities. So far, two FEN members have pleaded guilty (in the Arizona case involving the suicide of a mentally ill woman).
FEN-style moral outlawry is nothing new, of course. In the 1990s, Jack Kevorkian plowed this particular field until convicted of second degree murder. (Proving that crime pays: Kevorkian has retired from his deadly avocation and receives $50,000 per speech, as he basks in the warm light of a sympathetic biopic starring Al Pacino.
Kevorkian's Australian counterpart, physician Philip Nitschke, still travels the world teaching people how-to-commit suicide as he attempts to touts a suicide concoction called "the peaceful pill," which he opined in a National Review Online interview, should be made available to anyone who wants to die, including "troubled teens." Full story at LifeNews.com
Life Prizes Will Again Award Pro-Life Heroes Working Against Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With the mainstream media frequently ignoring or twisting the coverage of pro-life advocates and Hollywood awards ceremonies featuring a who's who of pro-abortion celebrities, the Gerard Health Foundation decided to create its own awards ceremony to honor pro-life heroes working against abortion.
Last year, some of the top pro-life activists around the nation were honored for their life-saving principles and practices at an invitation-only ceremony in January.
The inaugural awards and ceremony in 2009 were unprecedented in size and magnificence with more than 1,200 VIPs, students and pro-life activists gathered to honor the winners. Laura Ingraham, a pro-life media luminary joined Christian rock band BarlowGirl to present the awards.
The foundation will bestow those Life Prizes again in Nobel Prize-like fashion to those pro-life groups and individuals who distinguish themselves "based upon their success in saving human lives through efforts including public advocacy, scientific research, outreach programs, public disclosure activities, legal action, and other worthy achievements."
Raymond B. Ruddy, a philanthropist who is the founder of the Gerard Health Foundation, talked more about the rationale behind Life Prizes.
"Our Foundation has a profoundly simple mission: to save lives," he said. Full stories at LifeNews.com
Chicago Drops Charges on Second Person Arrested Under Abortion Bubble Zone
Chicago, IL (LifeNews.com) -- The city of Chicago, Illinois has dropped the charges against the second person arrested under its new bubble zone law that limits the free speech rights of pro-life advocates. The first person arrested under the new ordinance already saw his charges dismissed.
The case of Joe Holland received national press when a Fox News report focused on how he was arrested merely for praying in front of a Chicago-area Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Holland, a Northwestern University graduate student, was praying the rosary on a public sidewalk outside the Planned Parenthood Near North abortion facility on July 3 when staff called the police, claiming that he had violated the new ordinance. He saw his charges dismissed earlier this month.
Late last week, Chicago officials dismissed the city's case against the second arrestee charged with disorderly conduct.
Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, a pro-life legal group, represented David Avignone, an MBA student at Loyola University Chicago, who was arrested on July 8 while standing outside Planned Parenthood s Near North Side clinic.
We are pleased that for the second time, the City of Chicago has dismissed the false charges of disorderly conduct against a man who was properly and legally exercising his First Amendment rights on the public way, said Breen. Full stories at LifeNews.com
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