LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
| For pro-life news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. |
Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Planned Parenthood Attacks Congressman Behind Investigation
• Probe May Find More Medicaid Fraud at Planned Parenthood
• Planned Parenthood Hires Lawyer for Congressional Probe
• Baby Joseph Maraachli Passes Away, Parents Fought for Life
More Pro-Life News
• Democratic Party Chair: Planned Parenthood Probe Partisan
• Obama Admin Mandates More Embryonic Stem Cell Research Funding
• Planned Parenthood Clinic in Missouri Stops Doing Abortions
• Mitt Romney Leads Survey of Iowa, Florida Republican Voters
• Liberal Feminism: Defending Planned Parenthood and Abortion
• In Memory of Holly Patterson RU 486 Abortion Drug Victim
• Father Pavone: Baby Joseph Maraachli, A Life Worth Living
• British Abortion Business in South Tyneside, England Closing
• Amanda Marcotte Compares a Baby to Human Waste
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Planned Parenthood Attacks Congressman Behind Investigation
In a new fundraising email in response to his beginning a congressional investigation, the president of the Planned Parenthood abortion business is aggressively attacking the congressman who called for it.
As LifeNews first reported yesterday, Congressman Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, said a committee he chairs will take the first steps in investigating the Planned Parenthood abortion business over abuses ranging from financial disparities to its compliance with federal regulations on taxpayer funding to concerns that it is covering up cases of sex trafficking.
In a September 15 letter LifeNews.com obtained, Stearns, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Investigations, wrote to Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood. The letter asks Richards to comply with current federal regulations and legal obligations by providing Congress with a wide range of documents within two weeks of the date of the letter.
Pursuant to Rules X and XI of the United States House of Representatives, the Committee on Energy and Commerce is examining the institutional practices and policies of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates, and its handing of federal funding, Stearns writes. That Committee has questions about the politics in place and actions undertaken by PPFA and its affiliates relating to its use of federal funding and its compliance with federal restrictions on the funding of abortion.
In a fundraising email Richards sent to the pro-abortion activists who support Planned Parenthood, she aggressively went after Stearns, calling his attempt to hold the abortion business accountable harassment and intimidation. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/planned-parenthood-attacks-congressman-behind-investigation/
Probe May Find More Medicaid Fraud at Planned Parenthood
Now that Congress has announced it will begin an investigation of Planned Parenthood, one question on the minds of watchdogs of the abortion business is whether it will disclose information about its history of Medicaid fraud.
Planned Parenthood has been documented in multiple states to have engaged in Medicaid fraud or overbilling. While information in these cases has already come to light, Congress could find a more significant pattern of financial impropriety from the documents officials are requesting.
In a September 15 letter LifeNews.com obtained, Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican who is the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Investigations, writes to Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood. He requests asks Richards to comply with current federal regulations and legal obligations by providing Congress with a wide range of documents within two weeks of the date of the letter.
That Committee has questions about the politics in place and actions undertaken by PPFA and its affiliates relating to its use of federal funding and its compliance with federal restrictions on the funding of abortion, he writes. Please provide all internal audit reports conducted by PPFA and its affiliates from 1998 to 2010. If not clearly indicated in the audit reports, please detail how much PPFA and each affiliate expended and received in Title XIX Medicaid funding, Title X family planning, and any other federal funding.
The letter requests any information related to improper billing concerning federally-funded programs, proof that federal funds are not being improperly used to pay for abortions by PPFA or its affiliates, audits by state agencies of any Planned Parenthood affiliate, and documentation of how many affiliates currently receive Title X family planning funding.
Planned Parenthood has already been found to have overcharged state and federal governments in five states. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/probe-may-find-more-medicaid-fraud-at-planned-parenthood/
Planned Parenthood Hires Lawyer for Congressional Probe
Planned Parenthood has retained a prominent law firm to respond to the new congressional investigation a House committee has launched into its alleged financial improprieties and potential coverup of potentially criminal actions.
As LifeNews first reported, Congressman Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, said a committee he chairs will take the first steps in investigating the Planned Parenthood abortion business over abuses ranging from financial disparities to its compliance with federal regulations on taxpayer funding to concerns that it is covering up cases of sex trafficking.
In a September 15 letter LifeNews.com obtained, Stearns, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Investigations, wrote to Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood. The letter asks Richards to comply with current federal regulations and legal obligations by providing Congress with a wide range of documents within two weeks of the date of the letter.
The abortion business has retained lawyers from Hogan Lovells and, according to the Legal Times, Hogan Lovells partner E. Desmond Hogan and counsel Reid Stuntz will handle the investigation. Both attorneys have been intimately involved in congressional investigations and Stuntz, according to a profile on the law firm s website, was the chief counsel of Stearns committee when pro-abortion Democrat John Dingell of Michigan was the chairman.
Meanwhile, Roger Evans, the director of public policy litigation for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told the Legal Times in a phone interview that the abortion business will comply with the committee s request for documents. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/planned-parenthood-hires-lawyer-for-congressional-probe/
Baby Joseph Maraachli Passes Away, Parents Fought for Life
Baby Joseph Maraachli, the infant whose parents had to stage an international battle with a Canadian hospital to have a tracheotomy to help him breathe as he suffered from a rare medical condition that would eventually take his life, has died.
Joseph s parents wanted him to have the medical procedure done in the same way their daughter had one before she passed away. Joseph finally got one after Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life intervened and helped arrange the procedure at a Catholic hospital in the United States.
Doctors at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children s Medical Center in St. Louis performed the tracheotomy on March 21 and, in a follow-up statement, deemed the procedure medically appropriate after a thorough examination of the then-15-month-old boy who a Canadian hospital refused to help.
Pavone, whose organization Priests for Life provided the financial and logistical support for bringing Joseph and his family to the United States, informed LifeNews.com Joseph has passed away.
I learned with sadness tonight of the passing of Baby Joseph, and extend my prayers to his family, Pavone said. This young boy and his parents fulfilled a special mission from God. Amidst a Culture of Death where despair leads us to dispose of the vulnerable, they upheld a Culture of Life where hope leads us to welcome and care for the vulnerable.
From my first conversation with Baby Joseph s parents, they expressed to me their trust in God. They had no demands of Him regarding how long their son would live. They just wanted to fulfill their calling to love their child unconditionally and to protect him from those who considered his life worthless, Pavone added. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/baby-joseph-maraachli-passes-away-parents-fought-for-life/
 Announcing: National Association of Pro-life Nurses announces its 2011-2012 scholarship for student nurses. Scholarship application deadline is Feb. 15, 2012. Application can be found online at http://www.nursesforlife.org |
Democratic Party Chair: Planned Parenthood Probe Partisan
The chair of the Democratic National Committee has responded to the news that a House committee will conduct an investigation of the Planned Parenthood abortion business, calling it a partisan attack.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat who President Barack Obama named as the DNC chair to help oversee his re-election campaign, blasted the probe of the abortion giant and its finances and potential coverup of statutory rape and sexual abuse a burdensome and politically motivated, big-government investigation.
I am a strong supporter of congressional oversight, however, the scope and nature of this investigation is unprecedented, invasive, and the big-brother equivalent of a modern day denial-of-service attack, said Wasserman Schultz, according to a Sun-Sentinel report. Republicans, having failed to strip funds for Planned Parenthood s essential health-care services through the legislative process, now appear to want to bury Planned Parenthood under a broad and unwarranted political witch hunt.
The Florida-based newspaper quotes the pro-abortion congresswoman as saying Planned Parenthood is frequently audited by state and federal officials and she claimed the audits provide no reason to investigate Planned Parenthood. That s despite the abortion business having a history of Medicaid fraud. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/democratic-party-chair-planned-parenthood-probe-partisan/
Obama Admin Mandates More Embryonic Stem Cell Research Funding
Yesterday NIH Director Francis Collins approved three more human embryonic stem cell lines for taxpayer funding, bringing the total to 135.
It s been about a month since the last approvals, and just over three months since the rush to approve a large number of lines. Two of the three new lines from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center appear to have chromosomal abnormalities, as well as to be from destruction of full siblings.
The Obama administration last approved more federal funding for embryonic stem cell research on August 19, when Collins approved four more human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines for the embryonic stem cell registry. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/obama-admin-mandates-more-embryonic-stem-cell-research-funding/
Planned Parenthood Clinic in Missouri Stops Doing Abortions
A Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Columbia, Missouri was forced to stop doing abortions yesterday because the abortion practitioner who worked there was called to active military duty.
Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri told media outlets yesterday that abortions were done at the Columbia center until last week and they are normally done there two to three times a month when a traveling abortion practitioner comes to town. Spokeswoman Michelle Trupiano told AP abortions would be suspended in the Missouri city until a replacement can be found.
Trupiano also indicated abortions had to be suspended a couple of times in 2010 when the abortion practitioner was not available to come to Columbia.
Though we regret the unfortunate impact for central Missouri women who want and need abortion care, we re proud of our physician s service to our country, Peter Brownlie, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said in a statement. This is a temporary suspension of abortion services, and we will resume providing those services as soon as possible.
Until a replacement is found, the abortion business will refer women to other abortion facilities in Missouri and Kansas and the Columbia facility, located at 711 N. Providence Road, will continue providing family planning services. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/planned-parenthood-clinic-in-missouri-stops-doing-abortions/
Mitt Romney Leads Survey of Iowa, Florida Republican Voters
Iowa is the first state that will kick off the Republican primary election for president next year and a new survey of voters there shows marked changed compared to August, when Michele Bachmann won the much-ballyhooed straw poll. Romney also leads in a new survey of Florida voters. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/mitt-romney-leads-new-survey-of-iowa-republican-voters/
Liberal Feminism: Defending Planned Parenthood and Abortion
We hear it all the time: You are what you eat. Many of us resent the saying, but it s true. In the case of Planned Parenthood and liberal feminism, you are what you bleat. Decades of bemoaning the suppression of women s equality have distilled the liberal feminist movement into one simple word: death. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/liberal-feminism-defending-planned-parenthood-and-abortion/
In Memory of Holly Patterson RU 486 Abortion Drug Victim
Today marks the 11th year anniversary of the approval of RU-486, the one drug legally approved for abortion in the United States. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/in-memory-of-holly-patterson-ru-486-abortion-drug-victim/
Father Pavone: Baby Joseph Maraachli, A Life Worth Living
I learned with sadness tonight of the passing of Baby Joseph Maraachli, the boy from Canada who, earlier this year, made international headlines as his family fought to give him the basic care he needed in order to breathe. I extend my condolences and prayers to his family. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/father-pavone-baby-joseph-maraachli-a-life-worth-living/
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British Abortion Business in South Tyneside, England Closing
The Termination of Pregnancy abortion business in South Tyneside, located on the coast of northern England, near Newcastle, will be closing soon for unknown reasons. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/british-abortion-business-in-south-tyneside-england-closing/
Amanda Marcotte Compares a Baby to Human Waste
Amanda Marcotte at RH Reality Check wrote that there s really no way for anti-choicers to conduct themselves civilly when promoting their cause. After all, the cause itself is uncivil. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/09/28/amanda-marcotte-compares-a-baby-to-human-waste/
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