LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, September 10, 2010
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Current Headlines
• Appeals Court Allows Obama to Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research During Suit
• Planned Parenthood Report Shows Abortions Up 6 Percent, Adoptions Down
• Another State Targets Abortion Practitioner Injuring Patients, Violating Standards
• Hailey Barber Faces Backlash, Said Pro-Lifers Should Scrap Social Issues
• Chinese Activist Against Forced Abortions, Chen Guangcheng, Leaves Prison
• Attorneys for Scientists, Pro-Life Groups Respond to Appeals Court-ESCR Ruling
• Florida Polls Show Pro-Life Marco Rubio Leading Pro-Abortion Crist, Meek
• Director of Pro-Abortion United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Leaves Job
• Pro-Life Group Offers $25,000 For Information Exposing Abortion Practitioners
• West Virginia Senate Race Close, Joe Manchin Leads John Raese by 5 Percent
• Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Carney Subject of Pro-Life Group's Radio Ad
• Youth Launch Pro-Life Message to United Nations Opposing "Reproductive Rights"
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Appeals Court Allows Obama to Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research During Suit
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A federal appeals court overturned the decision of a federal judge to keep an injunction in place disallowing the Obama administration to pay for embryonic stem cell research with taxpayer dollars while a lawsuit against the executive order President Barack Obama issued proceeds.
U.S. district court Judge Royce Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction against the funding.
It came in response to a lawsuit filed by stem cell researchers who said the Obama executive order and subsequent funding from the National Institutes of Health violated the Dickey amendment, the federal law prohibiting funding the destruction of human embryos via research.
Obama officials appealed Judge Lamberth's decision and asked to put the injunction on hold so taxpayer dollars can continue to flow to embryonic stem cell research projects while the lawsuit against the order moves ahead.
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington put on hold that injunction while Judge Lamberth reviews the lawsuit itself.
The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the emergency motion for stay and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion, the appeals court wrote in its decision.
The parties involved in bringing the lawsuit can file a response to the appeals court's decision to lift the injunction by September 14 and then the Obama administration can file its response to the plaintiffs by September 20. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Report Shows Abortions Up 6 Percent, Adoptions Down
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion business has released new annual figures and they continue the trend from previous years -- with abortions increasing and the number of adoption referrals on the decline. The abortion business continues to do more than one-fourth of all abortions in the United States annually.
The new Planned Parenthood figures show it did 324,008 abortions in 2008 -- a 6.1 percent increase over the 305,310 abortions it did in 2007.
The 2007 figure was itself a 5.3 percent increase over the 289,750 abortions Planned Parenthood did in 2006.
With approximately 1.2 million abortions done annually in the United States via surgical abortions or the dangerous RU 486 (mifepristone) abortion drug, Planned Parenthood has moved from doing 25 to 27 percent of all abortions at a time when Alan Guttmacher Institute, it's former research arm, have showed abortions at near-historic lows.
While abortions are on the rise at Planned Parenthood, adoption referrals declined to just 2,405 -- a 51 percent drop since 2007. Planned Parenthood now does 134 abortions for every adoption referral it makes.
The abortion business also helped only 9,433 prenatal clients, down substantially from the 11,000 women it provided prenatal care to in 2007. Full story at LifeNews.com
Another State Targets Abortion Practitioner Injuring Patients, Violating Standards
Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) -- Another state is going after abortion practitioner and abortion business owner Steven Chase Brigham. He operates abortion centers known as American Women's Services in Voorhees, New Jersey as well as facilities in Pennsylvania and Maryland, where he has also been disciplined for numerous problems.
New Jersey authorities yesterday filed the papers required to start the process of potentially suspending Brigham's medical license.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the papers say Brigham "has committed serious violations" of medical practice rules that "would represent a clear and imminent danger to the public health, safety and welfare." Attorney General Paula Dow is now requiring Brigham to provide evidence to counter the charges and show why he does not deserve to have his medical license suspended.
In Pennsylvania, in July, the Pennsylvania Department of Health ordered Brigham to shut down four of his abortion centers for reportedly employing medical staff who were not properly licensed with the state -- and potentially putting women's health at risk.
And Maryland Board of Physicians and Elkton police compiled documents unveiling numerous problems and later conducted a raid of his Maryland abortion facility. Authorities who raided Brigham's abortion center discovered the remains of 35 late-term aborted babies in jars. Full story at LifeNews.com
Hailey Barber Faces Backlash, Said Pro-Lifers Should Scrap Social Issues
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Mississippi Governor Hailey Barber is facing a backlash from pro-life advocates after saying at a breakfast on Wednesday that pro-life advocates should ditch social issues this election cycle in favor of focusing on the economy. That didn't set well with Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council.
Any issue that takes people s eye off of unemployment, job creation, economic growth, taxes, spending, deficits, debts is taking your eye off the ball, Barbour said, according to a Daily Caller report.
But if somebody goes to campaign for governor candidate x, I would hope that somebody would stay focused on the issues that matter to the campaign: jobs, the economy, taxes, spending, debt, deficits, Barbour continued. You run down rabbit trails, you're wasting you're using up valuable resources that could be used to talk to people about what they care about.
Perkins responded saying his experience in the political area is that politicians want to avoid issues with which they are not very comfortable.
"However, just because issues are not important to a candidate does not make them unimportant to voters," he said. "I've repeatedly said that economic issues are currently at the forefront of the minds of most voters, but the electorate, especially social conservatives, have the ability to consider a candidate's view on more than one or two issues." Full story at LifeNews.com
 Medical professionals are on the frontlines of battle in life issues. From abortion to assisted suicide and euthanasia and all issues in between we are challenged in the workplace to defend our beliefs and risk our employment. The National Association of Pro-life Nurses has been here for nurses since the beginning of this battle. Join with us in our efforts to protect those voices. www.nursesforlife.org |
Chinese Activist Against Forced Abortions, Chen Guangcheng, Leaves Prison
Linyi, China (LifeNews.com) -- Chen Guangcheng, the blind attorney who spent more than four years in prison on trumped up charges following his international exposure of a massive campaign of forced abortions and sterilizations that victimized as many as 10,000 people, has finally been released from prison.
Chen spent the last 4 years and three months in the Liyin City in Shangdong Province after he was found guilty of charges of inciting a riot and destroying property at a rally in his support that he didn't attend.
During the two-hour trial, local officials prevented his attorneys from helping him and blocked their access to the venue. A few of his five attorneys were physically assaulted by local authorities while others were detained themselves.
The Washington Post indicated Chen was released back to his home in Dongshigu, near Linyi, and dozens of plainclothes police stood guard at both the entrance to his village and around his house.
Chen's wife, who had talked with AFP on Wednesday about the impending released of her husband, could no longer be found and the Post indicated the family's telephone and cell phone service had been suspended.
"The plainclothes police brought him early this morning at six o'clock. Everyone saw it," said one of Chen's neighbors, who asked the newspaper to keep her name confidential because she feared reprisal. Full story at LifeNews.com
Attorneys for Scientists, Pro-Life Groups Respond to Appeals Court-ESCR Ruling
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life legal organization representing two scientists who took the Obama administration to court over the executive order President Barack Obama issued forcing taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research, are responding to the decision today by an appeals court to reinstate that funding.
The court overturned the injunction of a federal judge who said the funding violated federal law, but did not issue a ruling on the case itself.
The Alliance Defense Fund is co-counsel in a lawsuit against the policy, which the district court halted on August 23.
The American people should not be forced to pay for even one more day of experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate an existing federal law, said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden.
He continued, "The district court s decision simply enforced that law, which prevents Americans from paying another penny for needless research on human embryos made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. In economic times like we are in now, it doesn't make sense for the federal government to use precious taxpayer dollars for this illegal and unethical purpose. Full story at LifeNews.com
Florida Polls Show Pro-Life Marco Rubio Leading Pro-Abortion Crist, Meek
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Two new polls in Florida show pro-life Senate candidate Marco Rubio leading his pro-abortion challengers, Governor Charlie Crist and Rep. Kendrick Meek. One poll gives the former state House Speaker a double digit lead while another has him ahead by two percent.
A new Sunshine State News Poll indicates likely voters back Rubio with 43 percent compared with 29 percent for Crist, Meek with 23 percent and 5 percent undecided.
The Voter Survey Service poll surveyed 1,016 voters the first week of September and it shows Meek has improved his standing and could put Crist at risk of coming in third place.
"Rubio s lead at this stage in the race is due to his fairly broad appeal across the political spectrum, primarily among GOP voters and independents, the latter of which is what s really hurting Crist," said Jim Lee, president of VSS. "Among independents, Rubio even leads Crist narrowly, 38 percent to 36 percent."
Meek gets 16 percent of the independent vote, the poll shows. Rubio captures 70 percent of GOP voters versus just 21 percent for Crist. Meek gets 45 percent of the Democratic vote compared with 35 percent for Crist and Rubio earns the support of 14 percent. Full story at LifeNews.com
Director of Pro-Abortion United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Leaves Job
New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- Last week, Thoraya Obaid delivered her last speech as executive director to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Board of Directors. Ending a ten-year term at the helm of the controversial United Nations (UN) agency, Obaid took the opportunity to highlight some of her greatest achievements, including her relentless promotion of the reproductive rights agenda.
Obaid said she was proud of the progress that we have made to secure a solid policy and legal foundation for sexual and reproductive health. According to Obaid, Today the concept of reproductive health is widely accepted and reflected in international, regional and national policies and plans.
While perhaps not as well known as her predecessor Nafis Sadik, Thoraya Obaid s tenure at UNFPA has arguably made a bigger impact on the UN system, bringing more money and increased global and regional activity. Early in her tenure, Obaid raised eyebrows when she praised China for its remarkable achievements in population control, made possible by the country s one-child policy, although such missteps were rare. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Group Offers $25,000 For Information Exposing Abortion Practitioners
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading pro-life group that monitors the abuses of abortion practitioners who engage in actions like employing unlicensed staff or violating healthy and safety standards, is looking for new information. Because so many abortion centers are closing for failing to meet state laws, Operation Rescue hopes to put more out of business.
Recently, the Louisiana health department closed an abortion facility in Shreveport because it failed to meet state laws and an abortion practitioner who runs abortion businesses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland is finding himself shut down for numerous abuses.
Operation Rescue already announced a $10,000 rewards to current or former abortion clinic staffers who would expose more abuses from their places of employment and now it has raised the bar by upping the reward to $25,000.
Anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of abortion practitioners who are breaking the law will receive the money form the Abortion Whistleblowers. Full story at LifeNews.com
West Virginia Senate Race Close, Joe Manchin Leads John Raese by 5 Percent
Charleston, WV (LifeNews.com) -- The Senate race in West Virginia has turned into a competitive contest according to a new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin and Republican businessman John Raese are now within five percentage points of each other.
The new survey of likely voters in West Virginia shows Manchin with 50% support and Raese with 45%, when leaners are included. Another 2 percent support another candidate and two percent are undecided.
If leaners are not included, Manchin posts a 48% to 44% lead over Raese, with support for Raese moving up form the last survey, which had the race at 48-42 percent for Manchin.
Both candidates are pro-life, but Manchin may find pro-life voters preferring Raese because he supports the pro-abortion health care bill Obama signed into law. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Carney Subject of Pro-Life Group's Radio Ad
Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Carney is the subject of a new campaign launched by Americans United for Life seeking to inform voters about how members of Congress voted on the ObamaCare bill that contains massive taxpayer funding of abortions.
Last week, AUL launched the first round of its Life Counts radio campaign in Pennsylvania s 10th District.
The ad is AUL's effort to hold Carney accountable for his record in support of taxpayer-funded abortion. During the current session of Congress, Carney voted five times to promote or pay for abortions using taxpayer dollars.
In a September 4 story from the Sunbury Daily Item newspaper, the Carney campaign attacked AUL Action, claiming its representation of Carney s record was false.
Yesterday, AUL president Charmaine Yoest responded.
Chris Carney voted for the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion in American history and has a clear 100 percent rating from two leading pro-abortion advocacy groups," she said. "These facts speak for themselves; we are doubling our radio ad buy to ensure that voters in the 10th District have the opportunity to hear the truth. Full story at LifeNews.com
Youth Launch Pro-Life Message to United Nations Opposing "Reproductive Rights"
New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM) -- This week the International Youth Coalition launched its Statement of Youth to the UN and the World, a petition that will be presented to the UN (United Nations) General Assembly this Fall. Consisting of eight fundamental principles, the Statement was drafted by an international team of youth, and was first presented at a press conference at the World Youth Conference in León, Mexico.
The Statement comes as a response to the blueprint for the United Nations International Year of Youth, the World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY). This program, which was adopted back in 1995 by the General Assembly without a debate or vote, contains numerous references to sexual and reproductive health rights and calls for a radical autonomy for youth.
The Statement was also envisioned as an alternative to what many observers feared would be a radical document coming out of the Non-Governmental (NGO) Forum at the World Youth Conference in Mexico. Those fears, based on overwhelming evidence that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had paid for a majority of the youth delegates who voted on the final youth statement, proved to be well founded. Full story at LifeNews.com
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