LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Obama Easter Breakfast Has Religious Leaders Who Enabled Abortion
• Mike Huckabee Leads New Iowa Poll, Romney if He Doesn t Run
• Donald Trump Falters on Question Over Privacy, Abortion
• New Abby Johnson Television Ad Takes on Planned Parenthood
More Pro-Life News
• Fact Checking Christianity Today on Planned Parenthood s Abortions
• 90% of Down Syndrome Children Aborted, Survivors Bring Joy
• Planned Parenthood Ads Attack Lawmakers Opposing Tax Funding
• Fact: 96% of Pregnant Women at Planned Parenthood Get Abortions
• Tennessee Senate OKs Amendment to Limit Court on Abortion
• Planned Parenthood Will Close Reno, Nevada Clinic in June
• UN Forgets Abortion is Not an International Human Right
• Texas Pro-Life Group Backs Ultrasound Before Abortion Bill
• Canada Supreme Court to Hear Key Euthanasia Case in May
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Obama Easter Breakfast Has Religious Leaders Who Enabled Abortion
President Barack Obama hosted a collection of religious leaders at the White House this morning for an Easter prayer breakfast. The event would have been a respected Christian one had it not been for the abortion enablers in attendance.
Following Obama s five-minute remarks, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the first female bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, delivered the prayer. McKenzie is involved as a member of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships that Obama put together, but she upset pro-life advocate in November 2006 when she signed her name to a letter blasting pro-life advocates for saying then-Sen. Barack Obama should not be welcomed at an AIDS summit hosted by evangelical church pastor Rick Warren because of his pro-abortion views.
For pro-life Catholics, the most troubling guest at today s prayer breakfast was Sister Carol Keehan, the CEO of the Catholic Health Association.
The Catholic Health Association came under fire from pro-life advocates for supporting the legislation and its final position for the bill is credited with providing the political cover former Rep. Bart Stupak and a group of pro-life Democrats needed to vote for the legislation in the face of opposition from every national pro-life organization and the Catholic bishops. Before that, Keehan earned the scorn of pro-life advocates for applauding Obama s selection of pro-abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as his initial choice for secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Later, the Catholic Health Association backed the phony compromise on abortion funding in the Senate health care bill released by Sen. Bob Casey and rejected by pro-life groups.
Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland Church in Florida, also attended today s event and he became one of the leading apologists for Obama during the 2008 presidential election campaign and went as far as accusing pro-life advocates of lying about Obama s pro-abortion record after the election.
Seeking to insulate himself from the ineluctable criticism he knew he would receive from pro-life groups for advocating abortion and embryonic stem cell research, President Obama placed pastor Joel Hunter on his faith team. Then, in March 2009, Hunter blamed the pro-life criticism of Obama s growing pro-abortion record not on Obama s own actions but on pro-life groups not understanding his intentions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Mike Huckabee Leads New Iowa Poll, Romney if He Doesn t Run
If pro-life former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee decides to run again for the Republican nomination to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama, he will again win the Iowa caucus, according to a new poll.
However, if he decides against mounting a second presidential bid, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney would lead the race which is what a new poll from the PPP firm shows that was released this morning.
Huckabee remains the clear GOP frontrunner in Iowa, where 27% of Republicans name Huckabee as their first choice compared to 16% for Romney, 14% for Donald Trump, 9% for Newt Gingrich, 8% for Sarah Palin, 6% for Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, and 5% for Tim Pawlenty.
Huckabee s doing pretty well with every segment of the GOP electorate in the state, the firm s director Tom Jensen noted. He edges out Trump 23-20 with voters describing themselves as Tea Partiers and has a wider 28-19 advantage over Romney with Republicans who don t consider themselves part of that movement. He also does pretty well going across the ideological spectrum- he trails Romney 23-21 with those describing themselves as moderates, but has a 27-17 advantage over Romney with voters describing themselves as somewhat conservative that expands to 29-14 with those labeling themselves as very conservative.
Despite the hoopla over Trump, the iconoclastic businessman who recently indicated he has experienced a conversion on abortion and is now pro-life, the poll finds he doesn t seem to have a lot of appeal to Republicans in the state. He has only a narrowly positive favorability rating with 41% of voters saying they like him to 40% who don t. Full story at LifeNews.com
Donald Trump Falters on Question Over Privacy, Abortion
Businessman Donald Trump faltered when responding to a series of questions on abortion that saw NBC reporter Savannah Guthrie attempt to challenge him on the so-called right to privacy the Supreme Court invented to create a right to abortion.
Is there a right to privacy in the Constitution? Guthrie asked Trump.
I guess there is, I guess there is. And why, just out of curiosity, why do you ask that question? Trump responded, his tone of voice changing to one of skepticism.
Guthrie asked Trump how his newfound pro-life view squares with the so-called privacy right and Trump replied to the question with an answer that made it appear he doesn t understand the legal arguments underpinning the abortion debate.
He said, Well, that s a pretty strange way of getting to pro-life. I mean, it s a very unique way of asking about pro-life. What does that have to do with privacy? How are you equating pro-life with privacy?
NBC s Guthrie then said, well, you know about the Roe v. Wade decision and Trump appeared to finally understand the context of the question. Yes, right sure, he said. Look, I am pro-life. I ve said it. I m very strong there.
Grassroots pro-life voters typically welcome converts to the pro-life cause but, in the political world, view recent converts with skepticism because they appears to have made the conversion solely because they desire pro-life votes in an upcoming election. Trumps response to the question makes it appear he needs to study up on the abortion debate if he wants his pro-life conversion to be taken seriously as the creation of the fictitious right to privacy is the hallmark of the Roe decision and one of the chief objections pro-life advocates have to it. Full story at LifeNews.com
New Abby Johnson Television Ad Takes on Planned Parenthood
Former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director Abby Johnson has released a new ad that takes on the much-disputed 3 percent figure Planned Parenthood uses to minimize the extensive nature of its abortion business.
Johnson is the former director of the abortion facility Planned Parenthood ran in Bryan-College Station, Texas and she has since become pro-life and spoken out about how Planned Parenthood makes about 40 percent of its income off of abortions and pushes centers like the one she ran to sell them to women.
Although Planned Parenthood s own figures reveal more than 95 percent of pregnant women who enter Planned Parenthood centers receive abortions as opposed to prenatal care or adoption referrals, officials with abortion business, during the debate on yanking its federal taxpayer funding, claimed just three percent of all services at Planned Parenthood involve abortion.
Today, the pro-life group Life Always, on whose board Johnson sits, is launching a new national television campaign. The commercial will air on MSNBC and FOX News this week.
Johnson, who was a Planned Parenthood employee of the year, says one of the reasons to launch the commercial was to expose that fact that while Planned Parenthood is quick to claim that only 3% of what they provide are abortion services, that equated to taking the lives of 332,278 unborn children in 2009.
Planned Parenthood reduces the child before birth to an object, a choice , a thing of less-than-human status. Their support of women s rights tramples on the rights of the child, Johnson told LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com
Fact Checking Christianity Today on Planned Parenthood s Abortions
Last week on the day that the House and Senate were set to take a vote on defunding Planned Parenthood, Christianity Today writer Tobin Grant authored a fact checking piece on the debate over tax funding for America s primary abortion provider. The author dedicated much of the article to fact checking one of Family Research Council s pieces about the abortion giant.
Grant quoted a recent alert (the alert was actually from Family Research Council s sister organization FRC Action) that stated Income from abortions constitutes 37 percent of [Planned Parenthood s] total profit Grant wrote that this statement was false.
In this case, the statement should have been more explicit to read: Income from abortions constitutes 37% of Planned Parenthood health clinic revenue. According to Planned Parenthood s latest annual report, health clinic income was $404,900,000. The Planned Parenthood website indicates that abortions cost between $350-950, depending on method and location. If one were to use $450 as a very low estimate for abortion cost, revenue of 332,278 abortions would equal $149,525,100, which would be roughly 37% of the clinic revenue. So, when it comes to revenue from Planned Parenthood clinics, and not including government funding and other sources of donations, a huge percent of its revenue comes from abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com
90% of Down Syndrome Children Aborted, Survivors Bring Joy
There is an ugly statistic made well known by none other than The New York Times from a 2007 article; 90 percent of all pregnancies where the unborn child is given a diagnosis of Down Syndrome end in abortion.
Can you wrap your head around that? 9 in 10; 90 in 100 that is a lot of life snuffed out because of the possibility of one pesky extra chromosome.
Have you ever met a child with Down Syndrome or with other special needs? I have met plenty of them. If fact, one of my own children has special needs. We say she may be delayed at most things, but she s very advanced at loving.
I m not going to paint a rosy picture and say it s all sunshine and smiles being the parent of a child with special needs. There are extra trials and days you wonder if you ll be able to keep your head while you heart feels like it s breaking. My husband and I explain it to our other young children that their sister needs extra help, more help than most kids her age. Sometimes it s not easy being a sibling of a child with special needs. But none of us could ever imagine our life without her, without her smile, her laughter, her hugs and (extra wet) kisses.
That s why that statistic causes me to shudder. How many beautiful children meant for this world have been killed because some test didn t come back perfect? How many smiles and hugs has the world lost because this little life wasn t given the chance to take a breath and change minds, hearts and lives? Here s a newsflash: none of us is perfect; some of us just have more visible crosses than others. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Ads Attack Lawmakers Opposing Tax Funding
Seeking retribution for their votes to deny the abortion business taxpayer funding, the political arm of Planned Parenthood launched radio advertisements today targeting eight members of Congress who voted on the pro-life side.
Although the House voted 240-185 to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funds, the Senate voted 53-47 against the resolution. The vote saw mostly Republicans voting for the de-funding measure while Democrats mostly voted against it.
That s how Planned Parenthood lined up the response ads criticizing seven pro-life Republican lawmakers and one Democrat who voted against funding. Rep. Mark Critz of Pennsylvania is the lone Democrat to be criticized in the new ads and he joins Republican Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick and Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania; Reps. Joe Walsh and Randy Hultgren of Illinois; Rep. Allen West of Florida; Rep. Frank Guinta of New Hampshire; and Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle of New York.
For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood has provided vital basic health care for women and families, the ads say.
A woman shares her story of having endometriosis and claims that, without the abortion business s legitimate medical services she would not have been able to get the medication she needed. Full story at LifeNews.com
Fact: 96% of Pregnant Women at Planned Parenthood Get Abortions
I ve been getting a lot of emails over the last week regarding a Planned Parenthood statistic that Students for Life of America has been using in emails and on our website. So, this morning I m writing about it to address the facts and misinformation about there. This is a Fact: Planned Parenthood is the nation s largest abortion provider and 96% of its services for pregnant women are abortions. For those who may try to rebut this, here is the documentation you need: Looking at a 2010 fact sheet from their own website, Planned Parenthood provided 324, 008 abortion services, 2,405 adoption referrals, and 9,433 prenatal services in 2008. When calculated, abortion services accounted for 96% of the services provided to pregnant women. Full story at LifeNews.com
Tennessee Senate OKs Amendment to Limit Court on Abortion
The Tennessee state Senate has approved again an amendment pro-life groups are fighting for to limit the reach of a pro-abortion state Supreme Court ruling preventing the passage of any legislation limiting abortions. The amendment is necessary because the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled 4-1 in 2000 that the state constitution allows unlimited abortions. It is necessary, pro-life advocates say, to be able to pass laws to limit and reduce abortions. The ruling claimed the Tennessee Constitution contains a fundamental abortion right even broader than Roe v. Wade or the federal constitution and it resulted in the striking down of numerous pro-life Tennessee laws that were helping women and limiting abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com
Planned Parenthood Will Close Reno, Nevada Clinic in June
Due to a lack of patients seeking family planning services from the nation s biggest abortion business, Planned Parenthood officials in Reno, Nevada have decided to close one of the two centers it operates in the state s second biggest city. The announcement about the closing comes on the heels of Las Vegas abortion practitioner Frank Silver facing eviction from one of the two abortion centers in operates in Las Vegas and follows on the heels of closings of other Planned Parenthood centers in other states. Full story at LifeNews.com
UN Forgets Abortion is Not an International Human Right
Earlier this month, the Center for Reproductive Rights issued a release noting that abortion providers have been explicitly included in a select group of heroic individuals who work non-violently to protect and promote human rights by the United Nations. That s right, individuals who profit, literally, from taking life are considered human rights defenders. Full story at LifeNews.com
Texas Pro-Life Group Backs Ultrasound Before Abortion Bill
When members of the Texas Senate vote on a bill that allows women a chance to see an ultrasound before an abortion, they will do so knowing that one of Texas statewide pro-life organizations strongly supports it. Full story at LifeNews.com
Canada Supreme Court to Hear Key Euthanasia Case in May
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has been granted intervener status in the Rasouli case which will be heard before the Superior Court on May 18. The Rasouli case is a precedent-setting case of national importance. that will decide whether doctors must obtain consent before withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment. EPC has retained lawyers Hugh Scher and Mark Handelman to represent us. Full story at LifeNews.com
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