LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Pro-Life Advocates Capture House of Representatives, Topple Pro-Abortion Pelosi
• New Republican House Leaders Likely Uniformly Pro-Life
• Pro-Life Women Win, 23 Abortion Opponents Win Key Senate, House Races
• Exit Polls: Pro-Abortion Health Care Reason for Big Pro-Life Election Wins
• Abortion Groups NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Emily s List Dejected After Election
More Pro-Life News
• Mike Pence Steps Down From House GOP Leadership
• Pro-Life GOPer Benishek Wins Seat of Health Care-Abortion Traitor Stupak
• Republicans, Pro-Life Candidates Win 20 State Houses; Abortion Implications
• Obama Loses His Pro-Abortion Yes Men in Congress
• Colorado Personhood Amendment on Abortion Loses by Wide Margin Again
• Pro-Life News: Bella, Obama, Patents, Catholic, Canada, Australia
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Pro-Life Advocates Capture House of Representatives, Topple Pro-Abortion Pelosi
Abortion advocates will no longer control the House of Representatives as pro-life candidates won nationwide and Republican gained far more than the 40 seats needed to win.
Republicans won 20 additional races above and beyond the amount needed to become the majority party in the chamber and wrest control from pro-abortion Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
They will take over the House of Representatives in January with their largest majority since the 1940s. When they ran the House from 1995 to 2007, GOP lawmakers never had more than 231 seats and, after Tuesday, they will have at least 240 seats most of them pro-life.
The last time they held as many seats was the 80th Congress of 1947 to 1949, when they controlled 246 seats.
In leadership elections expected down the road, most political observers believe pro-life Republican Leader John Boehner will become the next Speaker of the House and pro-life lawmakers will also likely win other top leadership positions to be able to set the agenda on abortion and bioethics issues.
I ve spent my whole life chasing the American Dream, a joyfully tearful Boehner told supporters Tuesday night. When I saw how out-of-touch Washington had become with the core values of this great nation, I put my name forward and ran for office. Full story at LifeNews.com
New Republican House Leaders Likely Uniformly Pro-Life
In the day after a banner election year for pro-life advocates and the Republican Party, which took over the House from pro-abortion Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her allies, GOP lawmakers appear likely to select pro-life advocates as their leaders.
John Boenher, the Ohio congressman who was the Republican leader during Pelosi s reign and who led the efforts against the pro-abortion ObamaCare bill, will likely become the next Speaker. He has been effusively praised by key pro-life leaders from groups like National Right to Life and Americans United for Life for his heartfelt pro-life views.
Boehner will likely be voted speaker by his party when Congress returns on November 15 and he will quickly use the position as a means of countering the pro-abortion agenda of President Barack Obama.
We hope President Obama will now respect the will of the people, change course, and commit to making the changes they are demanding, Boehner said. To the extent he is willing to do this, we are ready to work with him.
His top lieutenant has been pro-life Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, who also maintains a sterling pro-life voting record, and he will likely move up the ladder to become the House Majority Leader, replacing pro-abortion Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
The first change to top leadership structure wil come in the number three position, currently held by pro-life Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana. Pence announced today he will step down from any party leadership post as local Indianapolis media outlets indicate it appears he will run for governor. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Women Win, 23 Abortion Opponents Win Key Senate, House Races
Proving that women candidates don t have the be abortion supporters to win in states both red or blue, pro-life women won 23 victories in contests for key Senate and House seats and in gubernatorial races.
Kelly Ayotte led the way in New Hampshire and will become the lone pro-life woman in the Senate, taking on pro-abortion stalwarts like Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein of California.
In gubernatorial races across the country, pro-life women have ascended to the leading executive spots of several states and positioned themselves to sign potential legislation to protect women and unborn children.
The percentage of women in the House of Representatives who are pro-life increased by 60 percent while the percentage of women who are pro-abortion decreased by 16 percent.
Jan Brewer won the race for re-election in Arizona while pro-life candidates won first-time races for governor in South Carolina (Nikki Haley), Oklahoma (Mary Falin), and New Mexico (Susana Martinez).
That brings the total number of pro-life women as governor to four from just one before Tuesday s election. Full story at LifeNews.com
Exit Polls: Pro-Abortion Health Care Reason for Big Pro-Life Election Wins
Look no further than the health care reform bill that allows for taxpayer funding of abortions as the reason why so many pro-life candidates won elections to federal and state offices on Tuesday.
National exit polling results of 17,000 voters from some of the more competitive states nationwide showed 48 percent of Americans want the health care law repealed and even those who disagree supported Republican candidates anyway.
Some 86 percent of those who support repeal backed GOP candidates while 30 percent of those who want the law left in place did as well.
The votes left many pro-life Democrats who backed the pro-abortion health care bill on the outside looking in after the votes came to pass.
Pro-life voters across Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania sent their representatives home like Steve Driehaus, Kathy Dalhkemper, Jim Oberstar, and Brad Ellsworth. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Groups NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Emily s List Dejected After Election
Abortion advocacy groups are dejected following the shellacking they faced on Tuesday in the Congressional and state midterm elections.
Yesterday was a difficult day for the pro-abortion movement, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards admitted in the opening of an email to supporters of the abortion business today.
Despite some bright spots in important races and the resounding defeat of an anti-choice ballot initiative in Colorado the House of Representatives is now in the hands of dangerous politicians, she said. There s no getting around it: the results of yesterday s election are truly alarming.
Starting today, we have a tough fight on our hands. The months ahead will not be easy. Anti-choice House leaders like John Boehner will be egged on by Sarah Palin and her followers, she said, calling pro-life advocates extremists who will pursue a dangerous agenda.
The stakes are as high as they ve ever been: their goal is to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, and harm to the health of the woman, she said. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mike Pence Steps Down From House GOP Leadership
Congressman Mike Pence, a respected national pro-life leader, is stepping down from his position as chairman of the House Republican Conference one day after a huge win for pro-life and Republican candidates.
The move doesn t come from any problems associated with the incoming Republican leaders or Pence but is seen as a potential step towards a gubernatorial bid in Indiana or a possible 2012 presidential race.
Pence has already said he doesn t believe it s fair to House Republicans to split his attention between the duties of a leadership post and a potential bid for higher office.
Pence informed fellow House Republicans in a Dear Colleague letter today that he would leave the third-ranking position in the GOP, which could have allowed him to become Majority Whip in the new House.
I am writing to inform you that, after much prayerful consideration, I have decided not to seek reelection as chairman of the House Republican Conference, Pence said, adding he has new opportunities to pursue. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life GOPer Benishek Wins Seat of Health Care-Abortion Traitor Stupak
Republican surgeon Dan Benishek won last night in his bid to replace retiring Congressman Bart Stupak, the Michigan representative whom pro-life groups considered a traitor for selling out his vote on the health care bill.
The legislation contains no language universally stopping taxpayer funding of abortion, but Stupak and a block of pro-life Democrats voted for the measure anyway. He and others voted for the measure based on a promise from pro-abortion President Barack Obama to issue an executive order to stop the funding.
The order did not ban abortion funding either and Stupak received considerable criticism from pro-life groups upset that he and his colleagues betrayed their pro-life views and allowed passage of the legislation.
He eventually decided to retire and Benishek took on Democrat Gary McDowell in the upper-peninsula district where health care reform became a proxy battle between the two. Full story at LifeNews.com
Republicans, Pro-Life Candidates Win 20 State Houses; Abortion Implications
Republicans captured control of 20 state legislative bodies as pro-life candidates won elections in state after state. The results have huge abortion implications and make it so more pro-life laws stopping abortions can be passed.
Crucial to upcoming redistricting efforts that make such a huge difference in control of Congress and state legislatures, GOP candidates won control of six state legislatures.
Republicans took control of both houses in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama, Michigan and Wisconsin paving the way for more pro-life legislation in each of the states.
Legislative bodies won include the Montana House, New Hampshire House, Indiana House, North Carolina House, Colorado House, Maine Senate, and the Iowa House. Full story at LifeNews.com
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Obama Loses His Pro-Abortion Yes Men in Congress
by Bill Saunders
Though the dust is still settling on the last of the election results, the picture is clear. Last night was a huge victory for Life on both the federal and state levels.
Americans United for Life Action was pleased that pro-life candidates won in 11 of the 12 Districts it targeted in its Life Counts campaign. The House of Representatives, like the American public, has a clear pro-life majority.
Under pro-abortion Nancy Pelosi s watch as Speaker, pro-life legislation did not stand a chance in the House. Rather, the abortion industry profited, literally, at the taxpayers expense.
Now, however, the agenda of the House is no longer in the grips of Planned Parenthood. Not only is there a pro-life majority in this chamber of Congress, the new Republican leadership has pledged to Americans that they will work for a comprehensive government ban on taxpayer-funded abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com
Colorado Personhood Amendment on Abortion Loses by Wide Margin Again
In a banner election year for pro-life advocates, sponsors of the Colorado personhood amendment that would prohibit abortions expected the measure would fare better, but that wasn t the case.
With 88 percent of the Colorado precincts reporting voters rejected the personhood amendment again lost by a lopsided margin, 70-30 percent.
Amendment 62 failed to gain a majority in any Colorado county. That included rural parts of the state, some of the largely pro-life Hispanic areas, and El Paso county the conservative home county of Focus on the Family, which endorsed but did not actively campaign for the measure.
Colorado voters defeated Amendment 48 in 2008 by a 73-27 percentage margin with 1,605,978 voters rejecting it compared to 585,561 who were supportive.
This time, the personhood amendment received the support of 473,082 voters more than 100,000 fewer than in 2008. Full story at LifeNews.com
Full story at LifeNews.com
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