LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, June 17, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• 2012 GOP Candidates Sign Pro-Life Pledge; Romney, Cain Decline
• Wisconsin Senate OKs Budget Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding
• Obama Admin Defends Planned Parenthood Funding in Indiana
• Sarah Palin Refutes Story Claiming 2012 Decision Next Week
More Pro-Life News
• Obama Unhappy Kansas Senator Opposing Pro-Abortion Steve Six
• Activists Push Abortion in UN Documents, Train Women to Self-Abort
• Pro-Abortion Hispanic Groups Take Down Pro-Life Latino Billboards
• Wife of China Activist Against Forced Abortions Details Torture
• Patently Offensive: Human Beings Are Not Property
• Illinois Court Delays Parental Notification on Abortion Again
• Orrin Hatch to Face Primary Opposition in 2012 Election
• Mississippi Pro-Life Group Backs Bryant, Dennis Pro-Life Too
• German Court Upholds Ban on Pro-Life Sidewalk Counseling
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2012 GOP Candidates Sign Pro-Life Pledge; Romney, Cain Decline
Five of the Republican presidential candidates seeking the GOP nomination to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama in 2012 have signed onto a pro-life pledge the Susan B. Anthony List has sponsored, but Mitt Romney and Herman Cain have declined.
The Susan B. Anthony List today announced its Pro-Life Leadership Presidential Pledge and said it asked all of the candidates who have officially announced a presidential campaign or exploratory committee to sign the pledge certifying they will not just check off the pro-life box but show true pro-life leadership if elected president.
Signers of the pledge include Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum and the pro-life organization is calling on pro-life activists to put pressure on those candidates who have refused to sign, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and Gary Johnson. Johnson s not signing is no surprise given his pro-abortion views but Romney has been campaigning as a pro-life candidate since converting to the pro-life position before the 2008 presidential election. Cain has said he holds pro-life views and has repeatedly excoriated Planned Parenthood for targeting the black community with its abortion facilities.
The SBA List confirmed to LifeNews that the Romney and Cain campaigns were contacted about the candidates signing the pledge and the two candidates chose not to do so. LifeNews.com contacted both campaigns for explanations about why they did not join the other presidential candidates and the Cain camp has not yet issued a response.
Responding for Romney, spokeswoman Andrea Saul told LifeNews, Governor Romney pledged in the last campaign that he would be a pro-life president and of course he pledges it today.
However, this well intentioned effort has some potentially unforeseen consequences and he does not feel he could in good conscience sign it. Gov. Romney has been a strong supporter of the SBA List in the past and he looks forward to continue working with them to promote a culture of life, she said. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/2012-gop-candidates-sign-pro-life-pledge-romney-cain-refuse/
Wisconsin Senate OKs Budget Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding
On Thursday night, the Wisconsin state Senate put the finishing touches on the state budget and it kept two important pro-life provisions in the legislation that is now headed to pro-life Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.
One of the provisions makes Wisconsin the next state to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business. It directs federal Title V family planning dollars to public health agencies and prohibits them from giving the funds to organizations or its affiliates that provide abortions or abortion referrals.
The legislation redirects $1 million in state and federal family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. In 2010 Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin received more than $18 million in federal and state family planning funds that it claims has reduced abortions. However, the abortion business did 5,439 abortions in 2009, a 56% increase from 2008.
Wisconsin Right to Life deeply appreciates State Senate action last night that reaffirmed earlier Assembly action to prohibit Title V taxpayer dollars from going to organizations that perform abortions, Wisconsin Right to Life president Barb Lyons said. Both of these important budget provisions will protect the lives of babies and will protect Wisconsin taxpayers from having to pay for many abortions in our state.
When the Joint Finance Committee voted to keep state family planning programs funded with state and federal taxpayer dollars from going to any agency that does abortions or makes referrals for them, Sen. Glenn Grothman, another Republican, said taxpayers should not be on the hook for an abortion business: There s a very ugly side to this organization.
The second of the budget provisions prohibits the university of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority Board from paying physicians or surgeons or a hospital, clinic or other medical facility for doing an abortion except as specified in Wisconsin s current abortion-funding law. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/wisconsin-senate-oks-budget-de-funding-planned-parenthood/
Obama Admin Defends Planned Parenthood Funding in Indiana
Late Thursday, the Obama administration filed legal papers supporting the lawsuit brought forward by the Planned Parenthood abortion business seeking to challenge the Indiana law revoking its taxpayer funding.
Governor Mitch Daniels signed the law, which would cut off anywhere from $2 million to $3 million the Planned Parenthood abortion business receives in federal funds via the Indiana government through Medicaid. A federal judge held a hearing earlier this week on the law, (H.B. 1210), which would have the effect of defunding Planned Parenthood and other similar organizations that perform abortions. It states that no state agency may enter into a contract with or make a grant to any entity that performs abortions or maintains or operates a facility where abortions are performed that involves the expenditure of state funds or federal funds administered by the state.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt listened to oral arguments in the first hearing following her decision to deny Planned Parenthood s initial request for an injunction against the law, which also puts several key abortion limits in place. Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher and Ken Falk of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Planned Parenthood of Indiana, appeared before Judge Pratt.
Now, the Associated Press indicates Justice Department officials sided with Planned Parenthood in new papers declaring the law unconstitutional and saying Judge Pratt should grant Planned Parenthood s request for a permanent injunction because the law allegedly prohibits Medicaid recipients from going to the health care provider of their choice.
The public interest strongly supports preserving the freedom of choice that Congress conferred, the brief said. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/obama-administration-defends-planned-parenthood-funding-in-indiana/
Sarah Palin Refutes Story Claiming 2012 Decision Next Week
Former vice-presidential candidate, according to one conservative publication, is expected to make a decision about a presidential campaign next week. Within an hour of the story going up online, Palin refuted it.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is expected within a week to make a decision on whether to enter the 2012 presidential campaign, according to one Republican source, American Spectator reporter Robert McCain said in a story. Vendors of campaign services who hope to work for Team Palin have been told that Palin, the 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate, will decide soon one way or another on mounting a 2012 campaign.
No so fast, according to the former Alaska governor.
Really? Hmm, guess they forgot to inform me what I m expected to do next week, Palin said in a Twitter message about half an hour later.
A recent Wall St. Journal poll has Palin in second place behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with Romney leading with 30 percent of the vote to 14 for Palin, if she decides to run. The WSJ poll also showed that just 45 percent of Republicans are happy with the GOP field compared with 73 percent who said the same thing in 2008, which could give Palin an incentive to run.
Most recently, Palin s emails as governor were made public and they showed her writing a letter from God s perspective about the eventual birth of her son Trig, who has Down syndrome. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/sarah-palin-refutes-story-claming-2012-decision-coming-next-week/
Obama Unhappy Kansas Senator Opposing Pro-Abortion Steve Six
An unhappy White House called Kansas U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran s office Thursday, in response to his public statement opposing confirmation of former Kansas AG Steve Six to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Apparently, the Obama administration wanted Moran to change his mind, but a top staffer said he will not, according to info from the pro-life Kansas Republican Assembly.
High court nominees must get Senate confirmation, following recommendation from the Judiciary committee, which has 10 Democrats-to-8 GOP members. It s bad news when the nominee s home state senators won t support him which explains the sudden one-week delay on the vote for Six. Frequently, opposition from home state lawmakers is enough to sink a nomination and such nominees eventually withdraw, have their nomination pulled by the presidential administration or find themselves the subject of a filibuster.
Both U.S. Senators Moran and Pat Roberts have voiced their opposition and are asking other Senators to join them in denying Six this plum appointment.
I felt it was important for Mr. Six to have a hearing so that he could provide his views and additional information and answer senators questions, an email from Roberts office said. Based on that hearing, a review of the committee record will show several areas where his answers were not forthcoming or where issues of his judgment in handling cases as Attorney General were called into serious question. Based on his own testimony, I could not support his nomination. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/obama-unhappy-kansas-senator-opposing-pro-abortion-steve-six/
Activists Push Abortion in UN Documents, Train Women to Self-Abort
Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America, writes in a new Washington Times opinion column that pro-abortion activists are continuing their efforts to push for abortion in documents ratified and supported by the United Nations.
In addition, one organization, the International Women s Health Coalition, is training women how to do abortions on themselves a dangerous concept that completely undermines the supposed pro-choice argument that abortions need to be legal so women don t engage in self-abortions that place their lives at risk. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/activists-push-abortion-in-un-documents-train-women-to-self-abort/
Pro-Abortion Hispanic Groups Take Down Pro-Life Latino Billboards
Pro-abortion Hispanic groups have been successful in getting billboard companies to take down some of the pro-life billboards a conservative Latino group purchased to appear across Los Angeles, California.
Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, announced the new pro-life billboards recently, saying It s clear that Latinos are being targeted by organizations that promote abortion like Planned Parenthood. Many of their clinics are in Latino neighborhoods and communities.
The new billboards read, in Spanish and English, El lugar mas peligroso para un Latino es el vientre de su madre/The most dangerous place for a Latino is in the womb. The ads were part of a kickoff for a Sunday event called Unidos por la Vida (United for Life) at the LA Sports Arena sponsored by the pro-life group Manto de Guadalupe. The event featured Governor Rick Perry of Texas and pro-life activist Lila Rose of Live Action Films.
However, Aguilar, according to pro-life blogger Jill Stanek, announced on Thursday that the billboards have been taken down.
Pro-abortion pressure groups have forced the removal of pro-life billboards in Los Angeles which for the past week have revealed the truth about abortion in the Latino community, he explained in a press statement. Like a similar ad campaign that ran in New York City, pro-abortion activists are desperately trying to cover up Planned Parenthood s targeting of minorities, and will squelch free speech to do so. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/pro-abortion-hispanic-groups-take-down-pro-life-latino-billboards/
Wife of China Activist Against Forced Abortions Details Torture
The human rights organization ChinaAid has obtained a letter from Yuan Weijing, the wife of blind attorney and forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng on Wednesday that offers details, for the first time, of the torture and beatings both have faced. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/wife-of-china-activist-against-forced-abortions-details-torture/
Patently Offensive: Human Beings Are Not Property
The House of Representatives is currently considering a controversial bill that would significantly change the U.S. patent system. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/patently-offensive-human-beings-are-not-property/
Illinois Court Delays Parental Notification on Abortion Again
An Illinois court has again delayed a parental notification on abortion law that would protect teen girls from abortions by allowing their parents to know when their minor daughters are considering one. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/illinois-court-delays-parental-notification-on-abortion-again/
Orrin Hatch to Face Primary Opposition in 2012 Election
Pro-life Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) fell under fire this week after Tea Party organization FreedomWorks PAC announced he would be a target of their 2012 campaign efforts. Hoping to oust Hatch in the upcoming Republican primary, the organization has doubts over Hatch s conservative credentials. However, on the issue of abortion, Hatch s pro-life record on abortion is indisputable. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/orrin-hatch-to-face-primary-opposition-in-2012-election/
Mississippi Pro-Life Group Backs Bryant, Dennis Pro-Life Too
Yesterday afternoon at the state capital, the political action committee of Mississippi Right to Life issued an endorsement for gubernatorial candidate Phil Bryant, but candidate Dave Dennis says he is also pro-life. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/mississippi-pro-life-group-backs-bryant-dennis-pro-life-too/
German Court Upholds Ban on Pro-Life Sidewalk Counseling
Attempting to offer a pregnant woman information and support to protect the life of her child carries a €250 fine according to a German court. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/06/17/german-court-upholds-ban-on-pro-life-sidewalk-counseling/
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