LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, April 25, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Supreme Court Rejects Call to Fast-Track Obamacare Lawsuit
• Haley Barbour Won t Seek Republican Nomination for President
• Trump Opposes Most Abortions, Undecided on Embryonic Research
• Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Faces Investigation
More Pro-Life News
• Obama Faces Hard Times With Catholic Voters Over Abortion
• Daniels Muddled on 2012, Planned Parenthood Funding a Test
• Abortion Practitioner Under Probe Where Aborted Baby Found
• Youngest Surviving Premature Baby in Europe Heads Home
• Attacking Trig and Sarah Palin: Not Very Smart
• When Maria Talks About Abortion, Teens Should Not Listen
• Nebraska Pro-Life Group Seeks Calls for Webcam Abortion Ban
• Rhode Island Should Not Force Taxpayers to Fund Abortions
• Pro-Life News: China, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Abortion
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Supreme Court Rejects Call to Fast-Track Obamacare Lawsuit
The Supreme Court has rejected a request from the state of Virginia, which has filed one of the successful lawsuits that lower courts have agreed should overturn at least part of the abortion-funding health care law.
A Virginia federal judge ruled the individual mandate portion of the Obamacare law invalid in a lawsuit the state filed against the measure and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, in February, asked the Supreme Court to take an expedited review of the case. The Obama administration responded and asked the high court to stay away from the case until after a federal appeals court has a chance to review the federal judge s decision and issue its own opinion on whether the law, which presents abortion funding and rationing concerns for pro-life groups, is unconstitutional.
Today, the Supreme Court justices turned down Virginia s request in a decision that doesn t surprise most legal observers. The nation s leading court only rarely expedites cases, and that usually happens with wartime decisions or a major constitutional or election crisis that must be decided quickly.
With hearings already scheduled for May and June in federal appeals courts for the various cases challenging Obamacare, the Supreme Court is expected to receive the case in time for a decision by early summer of next year in what could be a preview of one of the most contentious issues of the 2012 presidential election.
Although conservatives want her to sit out of the decision on the law because of her involvement in the Obama administration as Obama s solicitor general, pro-abortion Justice Elena Kagan reportedly participated in the Supreme Court s decision against fast-tracking the case. She told members of the Senate during confirmation hearings that she played no role in crafting the legislation or assisting in its passage in Congress, but conservatives have called her to sit out the case anyway. Full story at LifeNews.com
Haley Barbour Won t Seek Republican Nomination for President
In what many political observers see as a stunning surprise, pro-life Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi says he will not seek the Republican nomination or president to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama in 2012.
Barbour was widely expected to run and his vast fundraising and party connections were expected to boost him up from the low poll standing his currently holds to a higher run allowing him to compete with potential candidates like Mitt Romney or potentially Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee should they choose to run.
I will not be a candidate for president next year, Barbour said in a statement today. This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided.
Hundreds of people have encouraged me to run and offered both to give and raise money for a presidential campaign. Many volunteers have organized events in support of my pursuing the race. Some have dedicated virtually full time to setting up preliminary organizations in critical, early states and to helping plan what has been several months of intensive activity, Barbour continued. I greatly appreciate each and every one of them and all their outstanding efforts. If I have disappointed any of them in this decision, I sincerely regret it.
Barbour gave some hint as to the long-term commitment required to run in 2012 and, if winning, to seek re-election for another four years and indicated it was not for him.
A candidate for president today is embracing a ten-year commitment to an all-consuming effort, to the virtual exclusion of all else, he said. His (or her) supporters expect and deserve no less than absolute fire in the belly from their candidate. I cannot offer that with certainty, and total certainty is required. Full story at LifeNews.com
Trump Opposes Most Abortions, Undecided on Embryonic Research
As businessman Donald Trump appears to inch closer to a potential Republican presidential bid, pro-life voters are curious to know more about his views on abortion and other pertinent issues.
Trump has recently said several times over the last few months he is pro-life on abortion and that he changed his views from supporting abortion to pro-life based on his relationships with close personal friends who had children. Their pregnancy experiences, Trump maintains, allowed him to mature on the abortion issue to the point of now opposing abortion.
In a new interview with the Des Moines Register newspaper, Trump expanded on those comments.
If you look at it, I said, It really, really troubles me, and it really, really bothers me, the whole concept of abortion. This was years ago, and even then it really bothered me, but I went on the other side of the line, Trump said. But in thinking about it over the years, I ve had instances, and one instance in particular, a friend had a child who they were going to abort, and now they have it, and the child is incredible. And the man, he changed his views also because of that.
As I ve grown older, as I ve seen things happen in life, I ve changed my views and others have also, he said.
Trump said he believes abortion should only be legal in the very rare cases when a woman is pregnant by rape or incest or when the life of the mother is jeopardized by the pregnancy. Full story at LifeNews.com
Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Faces Investigation
Late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart, who moved from Nebraska to Maryland after a new state law banning abortions after 20 weeks went into effect, now faces an investigation from the state medical board.
Carhart is under investigation by the Board of Physicians of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene based on a complaint filed by a pro-life advocates. Leading pro-life advocates in the greater Washington suburb of Germantown, where Carhart is employed at the Reproductive Health Services abortion business, will be holding a press conference on Tuesday to address the new investigation. The group will also conduct a prayer vigil outside of Carhart s late-term abortion center after the news conference.
According to information provided to LifeNews, a letter sent by the Board of Physicians states a full investigation has resulted from your complaint. Also, sworn testimony has been taken by the Board of Physicians in their investigation of Carhart and his late abortions.
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, the director of the Christian Defense Coalition and one of the organizers of the protests Carhart faced in January, told LifeNews, We are gratified the Board of Physicians of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is taking the complaint against LeRoy Carhart very seriously and has opened a full investigation.
We will continue to use every peaceful and prayerful avenue available to protect human rights in Maryland and see that women are no longer being diminished by LeRoy Carhart, Mahoney said. The faith community will also continue to work and pray to ensure that Maryland does not become the late-term abortion capital of America and that the violence of all abortions will end.
The probe likely revolves around complaints that Carhart possibly misled the Maryland medical board when applying for his license in the state. Full story at LifeNews.com
Obama Faces Hard Times With Catholic Voters Over Abortion
When Barack Obama won 54 percent of the Catholic vote in the 2008 presidential election, commentators barely noticed that John McCain won a majority of the religiously-active Catholic vote (51 percent to 49 percent). This was a small margin, to be sure, but it doesn t bode well for the 2012 presidential race, after all the worst predictions of Obama s support for abortion became reality.
Religiously-active Catholics are those who report attending Mass at least once a week. Weekly attendance at religious services is the accepted definition of a religiously-active voter in any faith tradition. Studies of exit polls going back to the 60s tell the story of how these Catholic voters lost their loyalty to the Democratic Party, becoming either reliable Republicans or swing voters with a preference for socially conservative candidates, e.g. the Reagan Democrats.
The Obama Catholic surrogate machine was in full swing throughout the last campaign and well into his administration. Even when concerns were voiced by Catholics regarding Obama s appearance at Notre Dame, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend came to his defense in the pages of Newsweek before Obama s first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI by writing, Notre Dame awarded the president an honorary degree because it saw the need to highlight the best of Catholic teaching as applied to politics: the ability to open the eyes of those who would prefer to keep them closed, and to open the hearts of those who would prefer not to know the pain that their actions cause. The pope has a lot to learn about Catholic politics in America. Barack Obama can teach him. (Note Ms. Kennedy Townsend did not capitalize Pope .)
Unfortunately, what life-long Catholic Ms. Kennedy Townsend is missing in her lecturing tone to the Holy Father on behalf of President Obama is the reality that Catholics eyes are open on the settled issues of life and marriage. Catholic voters are compassionate and educated with the ability to recognize when empty rhetoric is being used as cover for what does not help anyone, including the poor. President Obama s advancement of the abortion and same-sex marriage agendas are perfect examples. Full story at LifeNews.com
Daniels Muddled on 2012, Planned Parenthood Funding a Test
In a new interview with the Washington Post, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says he is muddled on whether to run for the Republican nomination for president. But, for pro-life advocates, a critical test is coming on Planned Parenthood funding.
Asked where Daniels is currently at vis-a-vis his thinking on a potential GOP presidential bid, the governor told the Post, Oh, muddled.
He responded more seriously a moment later, saying, I don t want to leave a misimpression. If we get in, we will go all out, and we know a little about how to do that. So reluctance or hesitation about running doesn t mean we would be a reluctant candidate if we got there.
Daniels also said family considerations play a big role in determining whether he will join likely candidates like Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Haley Barbor and potential candidates like Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and others.
I don t have much more to say about that, he said. It s just a very important factor.
Daniels has a pro-life record as governor but he has upset pro-life voters repeatedly with his comment supporting a truce on social issues like abortion. As recently as mid-March, Daniels said he remains committed to the social issues truce which advocates putting abortion on the back burner while the next president tackles the challenges of turning around the beleaguered economy. Full story at LifeNews.com
Abortion Practitioner Under Probe Where Aborted Baby Found
Last week, local pro-life advocates discovered the body of an unborn child victimized by an abortion in the parking lot of the Hilltop Family Planning Clinic in El Paso, Texas.
The facility is one of the abortion businesses operated by abortion practitioner Franz Theard, who is currently under investigation by the state medical board for numerous violations after an Operation Rescue investigation employing undercover phone calls showed him willing to violate Texas abortion laws.
The remains of the aborted baby, including discernible arms and hands, feet and legs, were discovered on Friday by the abortion clinic s neighbor after his dog began to root in the trash near the Hilltop abortion center s dumpster. He bagged the remains and later gave them to sidewalk Counselor Gaby Federico, of the pro-life group Live Action.
The police were called and the Medical Examiner arrived. The alley where the remains were discovered was cordoned off with red crime scene tape. Police investigators told reporters that the remains appeared to be that of a 9 to 12 week old unborn child. Since the body parts were from an abortion, the police have refused to investigate further and handed the remains over to the Department of Health for disposal.
This upset pro-life supporters who wanted to give the aborted child a proper burial. Reportedly, the Bishop of El Paso, Armando Ochoa, heard about the incident and went to the scene to offer to provide funeral services for the baby. Full story at LifeNews.com
Youngest Surviving Premature Baby in Europe Heads Home
One of the youngest surviving premature babies in Europe and the world is heading home from the hospital after spending more than four months in an incubator. The child is a reminder that abortion has a link to increase risk of premature birth. Full story at LifeNews.com
Attacking Trig and Sarah Palin: Not Very Smart
The recent attacks on Trig Palin remind me of something my brother frequently says: People who call names aren t very smart. My brother Danny is 50 years old and in many ways is like a child; he is developmentally disabled. He grew up with neighborhood bullies calling him a retard and other such names. When I was a kid, I stood up for my brother against those bullies. Full story at LifeNews.com
When Maria Talks About Abortion, Teens Should Not Listen
How would you feel if you learned that your state government was promoting a medical procedure to your teenage daughter one that carries risks of blood clots, infection, pelvic inflammatory disease, injury to her cervix (including cervical lacerations), injury to her other organs, future miscarriages and complicated pregnancies, infertility, hysterectomy, hemorrhage, depression, anxiety, increased risk of future drug and alcohol abuse, and even death (from the procedure or suicide) and was coaching her on how to avoid informing you or seeking your permissionto obtain it? Full story at LifeNews.com
Nebraska Pro-Life Group Seeks Calls for Webcam Abortion Ban
Nebraska Right to Life is concerned that the Planned Parenthood abortion business will expand its webcam abortion process into Nebraska, potentially putting women s health at greater risk. Full story at LifeNews.com
Rhode Island Should Not Force Taxpayers to Fund Abortions
The Obama health-care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires states to establish a health insurance exchange. Otherwise, the federal government will set one up for them. By default, health-insurance plans offering coverage for elective abortion may participate in a state s exchange and receive government subsidies. Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life News: China, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Abortion
The following are some of the latest pro-life news briefs from across the country and around the world. Full story at LifeNews.com
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