LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, August 19, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Obama Admin Spent Tax $ Promoting Obamacare in 2010 Elections
• Catholic Bishop: Church Can t Back Komen Because of Abortion
• Obama Admin Forces More Tax Funding of Embryonic Stem Cells
• ACLU Sues for Planned Parenthood Tax Rebates in Arizona
More Pro-Life News
• Pro-Life Rep. Paul Ryan Encouraged to Run for President
• GOP 2012 Pro-Life Consensus Shows Values Voters Impact
• UNFPA Accused of Ignoring Sex-Selection Abortions
• Kansas Refuses to Send Tax Money to Planned Parenthood
• Surrogacy Attorneys Caught Exploiting Women, Selling Babies
• Birth Control, Contraception Don t Stop Abortion, Help Women
• Wisconsin Pro-Abortion Sen. Russ Feingold Won t Run in 2012
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Obama Admin Spent Tax $ Promoting Obamacare in 2010 Elections
New documents obtained by the legal group Judicial Watch via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal the Obama administration spent more than $1 million promoting the Obamacare law that funds abortions and presents rationing concerns before the 2012 elections.
The FOIA documents have HHS officials talking about promoting Obamacare in email conversations with The Ogilvy Group, a public relations firm the Obama administration hired to promote Obamacare in the final days before the mid-term elections that resulted in massive pro-life gains in the House and Senate and Republicans taking over the House from pro-abortion Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As the Washignton Examiner reports today:
On October 25, 2010, HHS New Media Communications Director Julia Eisman sent an email to Ogilvy Senior Vice President Imani Green, reading, Given the high performance, we re wondering if we should we consider reallocating resources from the lesser performing words and put more $$ to Obamacare at least for the next 7 days. Seven days from October 25, 2010, was November 2nd, Election Day.
There is nothing special about November 2nd other than the fact that it was Election Day, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told The Examiner. What possible reason could the Obama HHS have for maximizing their propaganda dollars in the seven days before Election Day other than to elect Democrats? This seems to be a blatant violation of the Hatch Act, among other laws. Congress needs to get on the ball and investigate, he concluded.
The actions are a potential violation of the Hatch Act, which indicates government officials may not use [their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/obama-admin-spent-tax-promoting-obamacare-in-2010-elections/
Catholic Bishop: Church Can t Back Komen Because of Abortion
Bishop Frederick F. Campbell of Columbus, Ohio, is the latest Catholic bishop to instruct churches and hotels that he oversees to not engage in fundraising for the Komen for the Cure organization because of its ties to Planned Parenthood.
In July, Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, the Bishop of Toledo, Ohio, said numerous questions Catholic have raised about Komen prompted him and his fellow Ohio bishops to investigate and his conclusion is that Komen has connections to the Planned Parenthood abortion business and embryonic stem cell research. Bishop Blair said he wanted to direct money in his diocese away from Komen and towards other charities without the same concerns.
The Catholic bishops of Ohio, with the exception of Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon, eventually released a statement that directs Catholic parishes and schools fundraising efforts toward activities and organizations fully consistent with Catholic moral teaching. Their conclusion is that, while they support efforts to arrest breast cancer, they don t believe Komen is the best recipient of funds from Ohio Catholics.
Now, Campbell has moved ahead, according to the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, directing the schools and parishes in the diocese he oversees in central Ohio from helping Komen. Deacon Tom Berg Jr., vice chancellor of the diocese, told the newspaper the statement from the Ohio bishops speaks for Bishop Campbell and that no further statement would be released.
The concern is that there has been documentation that other affiliates (of Komen, in other states) have donated to Planned Parenthood, he said.
Megan Savage, director for community outreach for Komen in Ohio, told the Dispatch she is disappointed and said none of the chapters of Komen in Ohio have funded Planned Parenthood. However, some of the Ohio money raised locally goes to Komen nationally and it maintains a relationship with Planned Parenthood. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/catholic-bishop-church-cant-back-komen-because-of-abortion/
Obama Admin Forces More Tax Funding of Embryonic Stem Cells
For those keeping track, late yesterday NIH Director Francis Collins approved four more human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines for the embryonic stem cell registry.
The four newest approvals are sold by the company BioTime, Inc., which had two other hESC lines approved June 2, 2011. Details of the embryo destruction and hESC derivation (including from siblings) were published by ESI and Sydney IVF workers in 2007, around the time that ESI abandoned its schemes for therapies based on hESC. BioTime subsequenctly acquired ESI in 2010. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/obama-admin-forces-more-tax-funding-of-embryonic-stem-cells/
ACLU Sues for Planned Parenthood Tax Rebates in Arizona
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit for the Planned Parenthood abortion business over a law pro-life Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed in April that would end the use of a state income tax credit for charitable contributions to abortion agency. The legislation also stop taxpayer-funded abortion training at colleges.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence banded together to file the lawsuit claiming the law infringes on First Amendment rights by excluding abortion-performing and abortion referral groups from the tax rebate program. The domestic violence group sues because it refers women who are victims of sexual assault to abortion centers rather than providing them pregnancy support and assistance.
The law was a response to a December 2010 report LifeNews.com issued revealing Planned Parenthood Arizona is promoting tax credits intended for organizations that assist poor state residents for donations that would benefit the abortion business. In a promotional, the southwestern abortion organization issued a fundraising appeal taking advantage of a federal tax rebate.
Your generous donation can be applied to the Arizona Working Poor Tax Credit, it says. What this means to you is that, in addition to a federal tax deduction, if you itemize your deductions and you contribute to Planned Parenthood in Arizona, you may be eligible for a dollar-for dollar state tax credit.
The tax credit, the abortion business says, can return up to $200 for an individual filer and up to $400 for a married couple filing jointly. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/aclu-sues-for-planned-parenthood-tax-rebates-in-arizona/
Pro-Life Rep. Paul Ryan Encouraged to Run for President
Is there room in the Republican field for another candidate to jump into the race? Some political pundits and Republican lawmakers believe there is.
This week, there have been renewed calls for Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who is seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, to throw his hat into the ring. Ryan, who maintains a 100% pro-life rating from the National Right to Life Committee, is garnering the attention of several Republican heavyweights.
Pro-life Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who also once considered entering the 2012 race, has made very public his admiration for Ryan. In a phone interview Wednesday, Daniels said, I don t think it s a secret that he was strongly encouraging me to try. I ve been strongly encouraging him to run as well. He has all the qualities our party needs to be emphasizing in these elections. He can explain and is willing to explain in plain English why today s policies are a disaster for the middle class, and he has the smarts to go toe-to-toe with the people who are saying misleading things about the proposals that he s put out there.
Pro-life former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is also supportive of a Ryan bid saying, Paul Ryan would be a formidable candidate. I admire his substance and energy. Pro-life Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a leading conservative in the House, remarked that Ryan would an asset to the race. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/pro-life-rep-paul-ryan-encouraged-to-run-for-president/
GOP 2012 Pro-Life Consensus Shows Values Voters Impact
In these difficult economic times, both sides of the political aisle are desperate to convince the American people that they are the party with the best plan for pulling America out of recession.
As the GOP field of serious presidential contenders finally begins to clarify, the prevailing assumption is that whoever challenges President Obama for the Presidency must maintain a laser-like focus on fiscal issues and leave social issues on the back burner for another election.
Governor Mitch Daniels was among the first to offer this observation, calling for a truce on social issues heading into 2012. Because the economy has dominated the news for the last four years, it s easy to understand why some might draw this conclusion, but they are wrong.
True, we haven t been hearing much about traditional values voter fodder of late. Tea Party talking points have become de rigueur in many conservative circles, where pocket Constitutions are the hottest accessory and defending the sanctity of the free market has become a 24/7 job. This focus on all things economic, however, should not be interpreted as a lack of concern for the moral health of America. One could make the case, in fact, that our current economic woes stem from the gradual but steady loss of a firm moral compass guiding our decisions, both private and corporate. Without the moderating, civilizing forces of family, church, and community, it is all too easy to give ourselves over to our baser impulses such as greed, corruption, slothfulness, and self indulgence. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/gop-2012-pro-life-consensus-shows-values-voters-impact/
UNFPA Accused of Ignoring Sex-Selection Abortions
A new book has raised hackles among abortion advocates about just how much the UN Population Fund is to blame for more than 160 million missing girls in Asia: aborted in the quest for sons.
Mara Hvistendahl s Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men is one of the most consequential books ever written in the campaign against abortion according to a Wall Street Journal review; the book s scholarly credentials bolstered by a standing-room-only event with demographer Nicholas Eberstadt at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
While conservatives hail the book s breakthrough research, Hvistendahl s fellow progressives haggle over its findings. The liberal Guardian s review elicited a terse letter from UNFPA condemning Hvistendahl s conclusion that UNFPA and feminist organizations have done little to stop the practice. In the letter UNFPA claims credit for persuading the Chinese to outlaw sex selection in 1994.
http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/unfpa-accused-of-ignoring-sex-selection-abortions/
Kansas Refuses to Send Tax Money to Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood abortion business is accusing Kansas of not complying with a judge s order temporarily enjoining a new state provision prioritizing family planning funds to non-abortion agencies. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/planned-parenthood-wants-kansas-to-give-it-taxpayer-funds/
Surrogacy Attorneys Caught Exploiting Women, Selling Babies
Infertility can bring much heartache to couples desperately wanting a baby. Sadly, desperation opens the door for exploitation. Recently, two high-profile surrogacy attorneys, Theresa Erickson and Hilary Neiman, were caught exploiting surrogates, stealing from California taxpayers, and, most horrifically, selling babies. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/surrogacy-attorneys-caught-exploiting-women-selling-babies/
Birth Control, Contraception Don t Stop Abortion, Help Women
I can t count the amount of times I ve been asked what my stance is on contraception. It s not breaking news that many oral contraceptives and some invasive barrier methods (IUD) have been proven to cause abortion, including the highly controversial ella and Plan B drugs, and I stand firmly against the use of anything that destroys a life created at conception. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/birth-control-contraception-dont-stop-abortion-help-women/
Wisconsin Pro-Abortion Sen. Russ Feingold Won t Run in 2012
Russ Feingold, the long-time pro-abortion Wisconsin senator who lost in the 2010 elections to pro-life Sen. Ron Johnson, will not run in 2012. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/08/19/wisconsin-pro-abortion-sen-russ-feingold-wont-run-in-2012/
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