LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Planned Parenthood Relying on Obama to Save Taxpayer Funding
• Komen Planned Parenthood Grants Questioned After Mammogram Expose
• Second House Committee OKs Ban on Taxpayer Funded Abortions
• Pence: De-Funding Planned Parenthood Won t Hurt Women s Health
More Pro-Life News
• Pro-Life Advocates Remember Terri Schaivo on Death Anniversary
• Virginia Gov McDonnell Wants Abortion $ Out of Obamacare
• Time to Pray for Courage for Catholic Bishops on Abortion
• Is Washington Planned Parenthood Hiring Unlicensed Nurses?
• Companies Stop Using Abortion Cells to Test Artificial Flavors
• UNFPA Partners with Abortion Advocates in New Report
• Pro-Life Democrat Dahlkemper May Run Again in Pennsylvania
• Abortion Prominent in Agenda for UN Population Commission
• Wisconsin Library Stops Censoring Film After Legal Threat
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Planned Parenthood Relying on Obama to Save Taxpayer Funding
lanned Parenthood is buttering up President Barack Obama, because he has the last word on whether the abortion business will continue to receive tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds via the federal budget. The House approved a long-term bill weeks ago with the Pence Amendment to yank funding for the abortion business, but Senate Democrats rejected it. As negotiations move forward on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for most of the rest of the year, Planned Parenthood officials are concerned the House and Senate will agree to a measure that revokes its funding.
If that happens, Obama could issue a veto that would force lawmakers back to the drawing board with a bill that could restore Planned Parenthood s place at the funding trough.
Obama has already said he would veto the House-approved long-term spending bill because it funds Planned Parenthood, saying House Republicans cuts are unacceptable.
Let s not try to sneak political agendas into a budget debate, Obama said. If Republicans are interested in social issues that they want to promote, they should put a bill on the floor of the House and promote it, have an up-or-down vote, send it over to the Senate. But don t try to use the budget as a way to promote a political or ideological agenda.
Not content to take any risks with its federal funding, Planned Parenthood has cozied up to Obama starting with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards snagging time with First Lady Michelle Obama at an event for women earlier this month.
Today, Politico reports, Members of the Obama administration have also had low-profile meetings with abortion rights advocates. And groups like Planned Parenthood that have been targeted by conservatives largely feel reassured by the positive signals the White House has thus far shown on protecting their funding. Full story at LifeNews.com
Komen Planned Parenthood Grants Questioned After Mammogram Expose
Now that an expose has revealed Planned Parenthood abortion centers do not do mammograms on site but merely refer women to legitimate medical centers that do, a key organization that funds it is facing questions.
After concerns earlier this year that Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards made false claims in defending its taxpayer funding that it provides mammorams for women, the organization Live Action released videotaped footage of calls to 30 Planned Parenthood centers nationwide in 27 different states where abortion facility staff were asked whether or not mammograms could be performed on site. Every one of the Planned Parenthood centers admitted they could not do mammograms. Every Planned Parenthood, without exception, tells the women calling that they will have to go elsewhere for a mammogram, and many clinics admit that no Planned Parenthood clinics provide this breast cancer screening procedure.
We don t provide those services whatsoever, admits a staffer at Planned Parenthood of Arizona while a staffer at Planned Parenthood s Comprehensive Health Center clinic in Overland Park, Kansas tells a caller, We actually don t have a, um, mammogram machine, at our clinics.
That information is now raising questions about the millions of dollars the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has given in grants to the abortion business, which it says is partly for mammograms.
Komen s own figures show 20 of Komen s 122 affiliates have made donations to Planned Parenthood and, last year, those contributions totaled $731,303. Komen spokesman John Hammarley also confirmed Komen affiliates contributed about $3.3 million to the abortion business from 2004-2009.
In a March 2011 statement about Planned Parenthood, Komen claims the grants to the Planned Parenthood abortion business are meant to help women with breast health. Full story at LifeNews.com
Second House Committee OKs Ban on Taxpayer Funded Abortions
A second U.S. House committee has approved legislation to institute a government-wide ban on any direct taxpayer funding of abortions in any federal departments or programs.
The beauty of the bill is that it makes the ban federal law and pro-life lawmakers don t have to find annual battles to renew several pro-life provisions covering various programs where taxpayer funding of abortions could take place.
Today, the House Ways and Means Committee, in a vote of 22 to 14, gave approval today to H.R. 1232, the companion bill to the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. Rep. Dave Camp s bill makes technical changes to the tax provision in H.R. 3, the main bill from Rep. Chris Smith that bans abortion funding.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins responded to the vote and told LifeNews the pro-life organization applauds the committee for moving forward with the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which will restore government neutrality on the question of taxpayer funding for abortion.
Americans should not be forced to pay for abortions, especially at a time when our country is facing an economic meltdown brought on by a failure to stop the out-of-control spending in Washington. Now is the time for Congress to finally restore government neutrality to the question of abortion funding and also applying the long-standing principles of the Hyde Amendment to our tax laws, he said.
Perkins added, This legislation will ensure that not only will abortion funding be removed from Obamacare and the District of Columbia, but that the tax credits under Obamacare and tax incentives in current law will no longer create a government incentive to pay for abortions. Both the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and Rep. Camp s bill will ensure that taxpayers are not spending the estimated $72 billion in the next nine years to pay for the abortion coverage of others. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pence: De-Funding Planned Parenthood Won t Hurt Women s Health
Congressman Mike Pence, who is heading up the effort in the House to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business says nothing in his amendment will hurt efforts to promote women s health.
Pence, in a new opinion column at National Review Online, says the notion that women would be unable to have access to low-cost breast cancer screenings or other medical care and treatment is phony.
Despite efforts to suggest otherwise, the Pence Amendment does not reduce funding for cancer screenings or eliminate one dime of funding for other important health services to women; the money that does not go to Planned Parenthood as a result of the Pence Amendment will go to other organizations that provide these services. If the Pence Amendment becomes law, thousands of women s health centers, clinics, and hospitals will still provide assistance to low-income families and women. The Pence Amendment would simply deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Advocates Remember Terri Schaivo on Death Anniversary
On the anniversary of her 13-day starvation and dehydration death at the hands of her former husband, pro-life advocates are remembering Terri Schiavo and promising to help disabled patients like her.
Kristan Hawkins, the executive director of Students for Life of America, will be speaking today at the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network s symposium at Ave Maria School of Law. She spoke with LifeNews.com before the event, where she will touch on prenatal diagnosis and health care s effects on special needs patients.
We honor Terri Schiavo today, by speaking at the Medical Ethics Symposium at Ave Maria School of Law. Her fight for Life reflects the importance of caring for those with special needs, especially with end of life decisions and prenatal diagnosis, Hawkins said. In both cases, pro-lifers need to stand for the most defenseless among us.
I have seen this with my own eyes when my son Gunner was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). During my second pregnancy with my son Bear, doctors told me that I should find out if he had CF in order to prevent me from having another child that would suffer with this condition, Hawkins added. Full story at LifeNews.com
Virginia Gov McDonnell Wants Abortion $ Out of Obamacare
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell used the power of his office today to add a line to a bill the legislature passed concerning the state health insurance exchanges created under Obamacare to remove abortion funding from it.
When Congress passed and Obama signed the legislation for the federal government program, the bill contained numerous loopholes allowing for taxpayer funding of abortions under the law. However, it did contain a provision allowing states to opt out of using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions in their state exchanges.
McDonnell s is taking advantage of that provision to add language to Delegate Terry Kilgore s HB 2434 directing the Commonwealth to set up health exchanges in accordance with the federal health insurance overhaul that did not contain the abortion funding ban. The legislature defeated a bill to ban the abortion funding under the state exchanges and, next Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, lawmakers will vote on whether to accept the changes McDonnell made.
ACTION: Contact members of the Virginia legislature by going to http://legis.state.va.us/ / Full story at LifeNews.com
Time to Pray for Courage for Catholic Bishops on Abortion
Last week two New York giants died within days of each other; one a pro-abortion political trailblazer who did much to advance abortion, and the other an auxiliary bishop who left behind him a legacy of life-giving love to handicapped children and their families. The politician is Geraldine Ferraro (my commentary on her right to a funeral mass here), and the bishop, none other than Patrick V. Ahern.
Ferraro was the first woman vice-presidential candidate, and rabidly pro-abortion. She hailed from New York City and her nomination electrified the nation. For as earth-shattering as the idea of a woman on the presidential ticket was, the American people weren t buying what she was selling and buried Mondale-Ferraro in the largest electoral landslide in American History. The only state they carried was Mondale s home state. Ferraro couldn t even carry her home state, liberal New York, the first state to legalize abortion on demand fourteen years earlier. It was a bloodbath. Full story at LifeNews.com
Is Washington Planned Parenthood Hiring Unlicensed Nurses?
Just as Congress is trying to end federal funding to Planned Parenthood across the nation comes revelations that the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Central Washington has apparently been hiring unlicensed nurses. This is the same Planned Parenthood which we exposed for having tried to force a teenager into an abortion, and then trying to stop a police officer from rescuing her by citing fictional laws. Full story at LieNews.com
Companies Stop Using Abortion Cells to Test Artificial Flavors
Since a pro-life group announced that a biotech firm, Senomyx, is using aborted fetal cell lines to test their artificial flavor enhancers, two companies have announced they have disaffiliated with the firm.
The group Children of God for Life, earlier this week, called for a public boycott of major food companies partnering with Senomyx. Those companies included food giants PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup, Solae and Nestlé. Within hours of its press statement to LifeNews.com, the pro-life group received notice from Campbell Soup that the company has severed its ties with Senomyx. Juli Mandel Sloves, Senior Manager of Nutrition & Wellness Communications at Campbell Soup Company, told Vinnedge, We are no longer in partnership with Senomyx. This fact was discussed during the Senomyx conference call with its investors earlier this month. Full story at LifeNews.com
UNFPA Partners with Abortion Advocates in New Report
n abortion rights law firm joined with the UN agency overseeing population recently and issued a joint report declaring a human right to healthcare services, including drugs used for medical abortions.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) teamed up with the Center for Reproductive Rights, a prominent pro-abortion organization to publish the joint briefing paper that addresses contraceptive information and services specifically for women and adolescents. The report s footnotes highlight the work of many of the principal abortion rights organizations. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Democrat Dahlkemper May Run Again in Pennsylvania
Former Democratic Representative Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania told the Erie Times-News she is considering a run to reclaim her Congressional seat from pro-life freshman Republican Rep. Mike Kelly. According to Dahlkemper, she has had discussions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee about a potential rematch. With President Obama at the top of the ticket, Dahlkemper hopes the odds will be in her favor. However, pro-life voters will not soon forget Dahlkemper s sell-out on abortion funding in Obamacare. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Prominent in Agenda for UN Population Commission
Abortion, family planning, and sexual education will be vigorously debated in the upcoming UN Commission on Population and Development. The theme of this year s commission is Fertility, Reproductive Health and Development. The initial draft of this year s outcome document was released last week and as expected, the text is rife with references to sexual and reproductive health, family planning and contraceptives. Sadly, despite mounting evidence of the problems of demographic decline, there is only one scant reference to countries experiencing below-replacement fertility. Full story at LifeNews.com
Wisconsin Library Stops Censoring Film After Legal Threat
A public library in Wausau, Wisconsin has backed down from censoring a pro-life group s desire to show the abortion film Blood Money following the threat of a lawsuit from a pro-life legal group. Full story at LifeNews.com
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