LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, November 18, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Obama s Illegal Funding of Abortion Promotion Needs Scrutiny
• Obama Hires Pro-Abortion Activist to Head Women s Outreach
• Scientist: Human Life Begins at Conception, Fertilization
• Lone Abortion Business in Santa Fe, New Mexico Closing Down
More Pro-Life News
• Kermit Gosnell s Wife Considers Plea Deal in Abortion Case
• Abstinence Programs Credited With Reducing Teen Birth Rates
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Wrong on Partisanship, Abortion
• Pro-Lifer Exonerated, Reported Potential Bomb at Planned Parenthood
• Abortion Survivor Melissa Ohden Reflects on Miscarriage, Pt2
• No Justification for Abortion in Catholic Teaching
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Obama s Illegal Funding of Abortion Promotion Needs Scrutiny
A recent investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, revealed that the Obama administration has broken the law. The GAO s report establishes that at least one Obama grantee openly lobbied to expand abortion in Kenya despite the longstanding law, known as the Siljander Amendment, that prohibits U.S. tax dollars from being used to lobby for or against abortion in other countries.
But at least one Obama grantee did just that and more. The report reveals that the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) received $400,000 from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to, according to the grant s stated purpose, contribute to the enactment of a revised constitution of Kenya that resolves the underlying causes of conflict.
Reaching far beyond the scope of its grant agreement, the IDLO instead provided advice on the issues of fetal rights and abortion, though the draft had not mentioned either issue at this point. Specifically, the IDLO report advised that the [Kenyans Committee of Experts (COE), the body primarily responsible for drafting and finalizing the constitution,] might consider adding language to make clear that the fetus lacks constitutional standing, and that the rights of women under these articles therefore take priority. Exposing the IDLO s directed advice, the GAO report states that IDLO advised the COE that in the coming years, the Kenyan Parliament may wish to take such measures. One way to handle this would be to modify [the constitution] to make clear that a person is a human being who has been born. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/obamas-illegal-funding-of-abortion-promotion-needs-scrutiny/
Obama Hires Pro-Abortion Activist to Head Women s Outreach
The re-election campaign of President Barack Obama has hired an activist who formerly worked for one of the top pro-abortion groups to head up a new women s outreach effort for the 2012 presidential election.
Obama s campaign is bringing in Heather Colburn, who worked for both Emily s List as well as the Planned Parenthood abortion business to lead his Women for Obama campaign, a new outreach effort designed to reach women votes.
Women have always been the heart of the Obama organization and they will play a crucial role in ensuring the President has four more years to protect and continue the progress we ve made, Colburn told US News. I m honored to be on board, and look forward to working alongside the thousands of women across the country who are already dedicating themselves and their time to help deliver the women s vote.
President Obama has a longstanding relationship with Emily s List and Planned Parenthood and they held a fundraiser for him this Fall, including First Lady Michelle Obama and, in her first appearance for Obama, pro-abortion activist Gloria Steinem.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the pro-abortion congresswoman Obama recently installed as the chair of the national Democratic Party, was on hand for the event, which the Huntington Post reported would have tickets starting at $500 and going on up to $38,500. Wasserman Schultz and Steinem, along with the Emily s List pro-abortion political action committee, supported Hillary Clinton over Obama during the 2008 Democratic primaries, but all three switched to Obama after Clinton lost to the former Illinois senator. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/obama-hires-pro-abortion-activist-to-head-womens-outreach/
Scientist: Human Life Begins at Conception, Fertilization
When one considers the ethics of manipulation, the question of whether we ought to, or whether we may manipulate an organism or entity depends on the answer to the first and most fundamental question:
What is it?
Ascertaining the identity and status of the object of our intended manipulation is essential.
In the fields of obstetrical medicine and reproductive medicine the ethical debates have raged for four decades. Enlightened discourse between opposing parties must assume good motives by all involved, and then go about asking the essential questions, following where the truth of science and reason lead.
Many claim that life begins at some point distant from fertilization, always beyond the point at which they propose some manipulation (abortion, embryonic stem cell culturing, etc ). There are always a list of biological functions that are given to define when human life begins: Cognitive capacity, etc.
The simple biological truth of the matter is that the Cell Theory states that all cells arise from pre-existing cells. There is no blackout period between sperm and egg uniting, and then the emergence of life at some point distant. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/scientist-human-life-begins-at-conception-fertilization/
Lone Abortion Business in Santa Fe, New Mexico Closing Down
The only abortion business in Santa Fe, the state capital of New Mexico, will be closing down next month, according to a new report today from the pro-life organization Operation Rescue.
OR indicates abortion practitioner Lucia Ceis will retire from doing abortions on December 23, according to an advertisement placed in The New Mexican newspaper telling patients he will no longer be in practice and explaining to them where to obtain their medical records. The last day abortions will be done is December 16, 2011.
Ceis admits to having done thousands of abortions over her 35 years of business, the pro-life group indicates. That closure will leave Santa Fe abortion-free and will reduce the number of abortion clinics in New Mexico to five. Cies abortion business offered abortions to 18 weeks at a cost of $500-$1,200. She also conducted abortions at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe.
Abortion clinics continue to close as Americans become more and more pro-life, said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. The number of surgical abortion clinics has dropped from 2,200 in 1991 to only about 675 today. That is quantifiable evidence that we are winning the hearts and minds of the American people. Abortion is a human rights abuse that will soon be rejected and relegated to the ash heap of history. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/lone-abortion-business-in-santa-fe-new-mexico-closing-down/
Kermit Gosnell s Wife Considers Plea Deal in Abortion Case
Kermit Gosnell s wife is considering a plea deal similar to the one several of Gosnell s former abortion center employees have made where they have pleaded guilty to receive a lesser sentence in exchange for testifying against the embattled abortion practitioner.
Now, attorneys for Pearl Gosnell, who also worked at the abortion center Gosnell ran that had him kill and injure women in failed abortions and kill perhaps hundreds of babies in grisly infanticides by birthing them and snipping their spinal cords, say she may pleaded guilty, too.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, F. Michael Medway, her attorney, told Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner, in consultation with the district attorney s office, about the possible plea. Medway asked for a hearing on December 1, saying he will know by then if Peal will plead guilty. Pearl Gosnell is charged with participating in an illegal late-term abortion, conspiracy, and participating in corruption.
The newspaper says her legal situation is different from those of the other former employees because she is the spouse of the main defendant and, under law, spouses can t be forced to testify against their husband or wife in criminal or civil court proceedings.
Meanwhile, Judge Lerner ruled yesterday that two other former employees, Eileen O Neill and Madeline Joe, are not allowed to have their cases separated from that of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Neither O Neill nor Joe are charged with killing babies in infanticides and, although their attorneys argued the horrifying allegations against Gosnell could unfairly taint their cases, they were not allowed to plea guilty in deals as was the case with six other former employees. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/kermit-gosnells-wife-considers-plea-deal-in-abortion-case/
Abstinence Programs Credited With Reducing Teen Birth Rates
Abstinence education programs are being credited with the good news coming in a new report the CDC issued Thursday from the National Center for Health Statistics showing teen birth rates dropping.
The birth rate for U.S. teens aged 15-19 years hit a record low in 2010, according to the report, Births: Preliminary Data for 2010, from CDC s National Center for Health Statistics. The report is based on an analysis of nearly 100 percent of birth records collected in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
The birth rate for teenagers aged 15-19 has declined for the last three years and 17 out of the past 19 years, falling to 34.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in 2010 a 9 percent decline from 2009 and the lowest rate ever recorded in nearly seven decades of collecting data. Birth rates for younger and older teenagers and for all race/ethnic groups reached historic lows in 2010.
Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association reacted to the report in an email to LifeNews, and the said the good news on teen birth rates is tempered by news on teen rates of sexual diseases. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/abstinence-programs-credited-with-reducing-teen-birth-rates/
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Wrong on Partisanship, Abortion
Former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is coming under fire for making a false claim during a lecture at Catholic University of America. There, she said when a Democrat gets elected, the abortion rates go down.
University of Michigan professor and pro-life statistical analyst Dr. Michael New says Townsend attributes this to their safety-net policies: With higher taxes, there are more opportunities available for the poor, which gives pregnant women with little money hope for a brighter future for their children.
Townsend and other members of the Catholic Left frequently tout the abortion-rate decline that coincided with Bill Clinton s presidency, New says in a column at National Review. Their logic is puzzling. If anything, welfare policy became more conservative during the 1990s. In the early and mid 1990s, many states received waivers from the Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen work requirements for welfare recipients and pursue other reforms. Additionally, with the passage of welfare reform in 1996, states had greater ability to sanction welfare recipients who were not searching for jobs or complying with work-related requirements. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/kathleen-kennedy-townsend-wrong-on-partisanship-abortion/
Pro-Lifer Exonerated, Reported Potential Bomb at Planned Parenthood
A pro-life sidewalk counselor who reported a potential bomb at a Planned Parenthood clinic has been cleared of all charges in connection with trying to stop potential violence at the abortion business. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/pro-lifer-exonerated-reported-potential-bomb-at-planned-parenthood/
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Abortion Survivor Melissa Ohden Reflects on Miscarriage, Pt2
This is a continuation from part one, Abortion Survivor Reflects on the Pain of Her Miscarriage. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/abortion-survivor-melissa-ohden-reflects-on-miscarriage-pt2/
No Justification for Abortion in Catholic Teaching
Dozens of young people in Columbia organized a protest outside of the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota on Saturday in reaction to the anti-life statements of a Catholic priest who teaches at the university. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/18/no-justification-for-abortion-in-catholic-teaching/
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