LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
| For pro-life news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. |
Current Headlines
Top Stories
• House Passes Complete Ban on Taxpayer Funding of Abortions
• Senate Bill Introduced to Cut Abortion Funding in Obamacare
• Senate Approves Former Planned Parenthood Director as Judge
• Rocker Steven Tyler of Aerosmith Haunted by Girlfriend s Abortion
More Pro-Life News
• Rick Santorum Creates Exploratory Committee for GOP Campaign
• Poll: Americans Back Conscience Protection Laws on Abortion
• Democrats Harass Black Woman Legislator for Voting Pro-Life
• North Carolina Republicans Budget Stops Tax-Funded Abortions
• Texas House Approves Choose Life License Plate Legislation
• Minnesota Panel OKs Bill to Stop Taxpayer-Funded Abortions
• New Hungary Constitution Protecting Unborn Under Heavy Fire
---> Is your pro-life group or pregnancy center looking for an affordable speaker? Need a speaker for a conference, convention, church presentation or on short notice? Consider LifeNews.com Editor Steven Ertelt. Email us for details.
House Passes Complete Ban on Taxpayer Funding of Abortions
The House of Representatives today approved a complete ban on taxpayer funding of abortions that ensures abortions are not directly funded in any federal governmental program or department.
The legislation combines several policies that must be enacted every year in Congressional battles and puts them into law where they will not be in jeopardy of being overturned every time Congress changes hands from pro-life lawmakers to those who support abortions.
The House passed HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, on a 251-175 vote with Republicans voting 235-0 for the bill and Democrats voting 175-16 against it.
Congressman Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is the lead sponsor of the bill, informed the House that a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the pro-abortion former research apparatus of Planned Parenthood, released a study noting that one-quarter of women who otherwise would have had abortions chose to give birth when taxpayer dollars were not available to pay for abortions of their children.
Smith spoke on the House floor today about what he said was growing public opinion against abortion. He also praised women who regret having terminated their pregnancies and speak out against abortions.
For decades, a patchwork of short-term policies have prevented abortion funding in many programs authorized by Congress, but it is time for a single, government-wide permanent protection against taxpayer funding for elective abortion, Smith said. Abortion is lethal violence against children and exploitation of women. This legislation would establish a comprehensive policy prohibiting public funding for elective abortion in all federal programs. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Bill Introduced to Cut Abortion Funding in Obamacare
On the heels of the House voting for legislation to ban taxpayer funding of abortions, a group of Senate lawmakers introduced a companion bill that would codify longstanding policy preventing taxpayer funding of abortion and apply it to Obamacare.
A group of Republican senators including Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), today introduced the Protect Life Act (S. 877).
A strong majority of the American people do not believe that scarce taxpayer dollars should be used to fund abortions. This common-sense legislation would ensure that doesn t happen with respect to the highly-partisan health law, Hatch said in comments to LifeNews.com.
Coburn added, Forcing Americans to pay for abortion services with their own dollars is a grave abuse of government authority. The administration s track record of ambiguity in this area underscores the need for federal legislation clarifying, once and for all, that public funds will not be used to pay for abortion services under the new health law.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the national health care law President Barack Obama signed, allows taxpayer-funded abortions through insurance policies, the pre-existing condition insurance plans, federally qualified health centers, and health plans administered by the federal government. The legislation s various loopholes and direct appropriation of funds to new mandatory health programs mean that substantial amounts of taxpayer dollars are not subject to the annual pro-life appropriations rider, commonly known as the Hyde Amendment. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate Approves Former Planned Parenthood Director as Judge
The U.S. Senate today overcame a Republican filibuster and approved a former Planned Parenthood abortion business director, John McConnell, as a federal judge in Rhode Island.
Senators voted 63-33 to surpass the 60-vote threshold necessary to stop the filibuster and approve the nomination of McConnell s nomination to the District Court for the District of Rhode Island. his nomination previously cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee recently on a party-line 11-7 vote.
Senate Republicans joining all Democrats to end debate and approve McConnell include Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins of Maine, Lyndsey Graham of South Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Mark Kirk of Illinois, John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and John Thune of South Dakota.
Before the vote, several senators suggested McConnell lied or offered contradictory sworn statements about a lead paint case in which he was involved.
I don t know how I can say it any more gently, said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, during floor debate. The fact is, he lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation process.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is not related to the nominee, also voiced opposition to the Obama pick.
We have been working in good faith with our Democrat colleagues to confirm consensus judicial nominees in general and to fill judicial emergencies in particular, said the Kentucky Republican. So it is disappointing that our Democrat friends have chosen to depart from this bi-partisan practice and to press the McConnell nomination, which would not fill a judicial emergency and is about as far from a consensus nomination as one could imagine. Full story at LifeNews.com
Rocker Steven Tyler of Aerosmith Haunted by Girlfriend s Abortion
Long before he won accolades as an American Idol judge, Steven Tyler was a bona-fide rock star, with all that that implied. In 1975, when he was in his late 20s and the lead singer for the band Aerosmith, Tyler persuaded the parents of his 14-year-old girlfriend, Julia Holcomb, to make him her legal guardian so that they could live together in Boston.
When Miss Holcomb and Tyler conceived a child, his longtime friend Ray Tabano convinced Tyler that abortion was the only solution. In the Aerosmith autobiography, Walk This Way (in which recollections by all the band members, and their friends and lovers, were assembled by the author Stephen Davis), Tabano says: So they had the abortion, and it really messed Steven up because it was a boy. He saw the whole thing and it [messed] him up big time.
Tyler also reflects on his abortion experience in the autobiography. It was a big crisis. It s a major thing when you re growing something with a woman, but they convinced us that it would never work out and would ruin our lives. You go to the doctor and they put the needle in her belly and they squeeze the stuff in and you watch. And it comes out dead. I was pretty devastated. In my mind, I m going, Jesus, what have I done?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines a traumatic event as follows: 1. The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others. 2. The person s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
Those who support abortion rights assure us that post-abortion complications are a myth. But Steven Tyler cuts through this fog of denial and lays it on the line: Jesus, what have I done? Full story at LifeNews.com
Rick Santorum Creates Exploratory Committee for GOP Campaign
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is the latest Republican to create an exploratory committee to gauge an official campaign for the GOP nomination to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama.
Yesterday, in order to be able to participate in Thursday night s Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, Santorum created the committee to move a step closer to officially becoming a presidential candidate. He made the announcement on Sean Hannity s radio show, saying he has filed the appropriate paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish the committee putting him a step past the testing the waters organization he crated in April.
I am pleased that we have taken this important next step in the process to potentially become a candidate for President of the United States, Santorum said in a statement. The debate this Thursday is a unique opportunity to put forth ideas and solutions to bring our economy back on track, and with Osama bin Laden s death, I look forward to also discussing in depth ways to tackle our many national security challenges.
Santorum said the committee makes it so he has met all criteria required to participate in the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party scheduled for this Thursday. In addition to the debate on Thursday night, Senator Santorum will have several open press events while in South Carolina. Full story at LifeNews.com
Poll: Americans Back Conscience Protection Laws on Abortion
As the House of Representatives today debates legislation that would restore some conscience protections for health professionals on abortion, new polling data shows Americans support such laws.
The House is debating the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 3) that bans federal funding for abortions across every governmental department and program. The legislation also protects health care professionals who don t want to be involved in abortions.
According to the National Right to Life Committee: The bill would codify the principles of the Hyde-Weldon Amendment, which has been appended to the original Hyde Amendment on every Health and Human Services appropriations bill since 2004. This provision would solidify important protections for health care providers who do not wish to participate in providing abortions which is especially important in light of the Obama Administration s February 23, 2011 action rescinding the conscience protection regulation issued by the Bush Administration.
The 16,000-member Christian Medical Association released the results of a new poll the Polling Company conducted for it and the Freedom2Care coalition. The results showed a majority of the public support for the conscience protections for healthcare professionals and strong public support across partisan and ideological lines for the conscience protections. Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats Harass Black Woman Legislator for Voting Pro-Life
After debating in favor of a bill that would require ultrasounds before abortions, Democrat leaders openly harassed, threatened and belittled Democratic Rep. Daphnee Campbell.
Freshman State House of Representatives member, Daphne Campbell from Miami was in her first legislative session last week when her own party viciously turned on her after she debated for and voted in favor of the pro-life bill allowing ultrasounds before abortions. Campbell is a wife and mother of five children who works as a nurse. As she rose in passionate support for the pro-life bill, Rep. Scott Randolph a Democrat from Orlando, whose assigned seat is right next to Campbell, started tossing papers on her desk and threw her pen in the trash apparently incensed that a fellow Democrat would support the bill.
Randolph, who has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Equality Florida, told Campbell You are a traitor I swear, you will not be re-elected. I will get an opponent. Campbell s quick retort was You have no right. God put me here.
Rep. Campbell said in an interview with Sunshine State News, I was the victim of an altercation by my fellow state representative, Scott Randolph. Several items were thrown in my face, foul language was used against me, and I was insulted and ridiculed in front of all my colleagues. I was called a traitor and was told that I was going to be kicked out of office next year. Full story at LifeNews.com
North Carolina Republicans Budget Stops Tax-Funded Abortions
The budget state Republican legislators have floated in North Carolina would end the practice of funding abortions in the state with taxpayer dollars to the tune of $50,000 annually. In 1978, former Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt created the State Abortion Fund to pay for abortions with public money up to 20 weeks into pregnancy. In 1995, the state legislature narrowed the parameters of the fund to allow publicly funded abortions only for women below the federal poverty line who aren t eligible for Medicaid and limiting the funding to rare cases when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or the life of the mother is in danger. Full story at LifeNews.com
Texas House Approves Choose Life License Plate Legislation
Under a bill the Texas state House approved yesterday, motorists would be able to purchase Choose Life license plates to express their pro-life views and help support programs helping pregnant women. The House signed off on the Choose Life plate bill, HB 238, on a 94-29 vote. The money generated from the sales of the plates goes to support pregnancy centers that provide women with abortion alternatives and practical pregnancy help and support. Full story at LifeNews.com
Minnesota Panel OKs Bill to Stop Taxpayer-Funded Abortions
A committee in the Minnesota Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prevent taxpayer funds from paying for abortions, as Minnesota has done for decades. The legislation now heads to the full Senate after the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee voted 8-5 on a party-line vote for the bill. Full story at LifeNews.com
New Hungary Constitution Protecting Unborn Under Heavy Fire
The new Hungarian constitution, which protects life from conception, has evoked a maelstrom of protest from the European institutions, not to mention the pro-abortion lobby. It turns out that the commission tasked to review it on behalf of the Council of Europe is the same one that reviewed the infamous draft Kosovo constitution four years ago. Full story at LifeNews.com
Encourage Friends to Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
