LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Komen s Karen Handel Resigns After Planned Parenthood Dispute
• Report: Planned Parenthood Groups Engage in Medicaid Fraud
• 154 Members of Congress Object to Pro-Abortion Obama Mandate
• Obama Admin Silenced Catholic Army Chaplain on New Mandate
More Pro-Life News
• Romney: De-Fund Planned Parenthood, Komen Should Cut Funds
• Behind the Scenes of the Komen-Planned Parenthood Battle
• What We Can Learn About Planned Parenthood From Komen
• Abortionists Charged With Murder Think They re Above the Law
• Judge Will Allow Texas Abortion-Ultrasound Law Take Effect
• New Mandate May Drive Obama s Top Catholic Defender Away
• Scientists Manipulating Unborn Babies to Have Three Parents
• Abortion Practitioner Quits Doing Abortions in Alabama
• The Tide is Turning, Pro-Life Movement is Now Winning
• The Cost of Conscience: Obama s Violating Judeo-Christian Ethics
• Pennsylvania Cmte OKs Bill for Ultrasounds Before Abortion
• Georgia Supreme Court Overturns Assisted Suicide Ban
---> Tell Komen: Don't Cave on Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding - Sign the Petition and pass it on!
Komen s Karen Handel Resigns After Planned Parenthood Dispute
Karen Handel, a top Komen official who was said to be instrumental in putting in place the changes in Komen policy that essentially resulted in cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, has resigned her position.
As LifeNews reported last week, Komen initially decided in December to revise its grant-making process to funds grants to agencies that provide direct health services for women which would eliminate Planned Parenthood since it does not do mammograms. After Planned Parenthood, Democratic members of Congress and the media pounced on Komen for its decision, Komen clarified that Planned Parenthood would still be allowed to submit grant requests but they may or may not be funded.
Handel s former spokesman Dan McLagan told media outlets today that she has called an afternoon press conference to announce her decision. According to AP, Handel released a letter (full text below) in advance of the press conference giving more insight into her decision. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/komens-karen-handel-resigns-after-planned-parenthood-dispute/
Report: Planned Parenthood Groups Engage in Medicaid Fraud
A report released today by two leading pro-life organizations alleges more Planned Parenthood affiliates have engaged in fraud than the ones that have already become public knowledge and part of an investigation of the abortion business by Congress.
Today the Alliance Defense Fund and the Susan B. Anthony List released a new report to Congress identifying waste, abuse, and potential fraud by Planned Parenthood. ADF attorneys prepared the report to aid Congress in its investigation of the nation s leading abortion business.
The report alleges that millions of dollars of waste, abuse, and potential fraud have been revealed in state and federal audits across the country. It identifies twelve types of potential fraud being committed by Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide, including fraudulent billing and reimbursement by Title XIX agencies for medications and/or services provided in connection with an abortion, illegal under federal law.
The billing violations include billing in excess of actual acquisition cost or other statutorily approved cost of contraceptives and Plan B products as well as inappropriately billing for services that were not medically necessary, billing for multiple initial prenatal care visits, and incorrectly billing initial, follow-up, and postpartum services. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/report-planned-parenthood-groups-engage-in-medicaid-fraud/
154 Members of Congress Object to Pro-Abortion Obama Mandate
Congressman Steve Scalise today led a bipartisan letter with 154 co-signers calling on the Obama Administration to reverse its unconstitutional mandate forcing religious organizations to include drugs that can cause abortion and birth control in the health care plans of their employees.
This radical mandate by the Obama Administration is an attack on the religious freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the Bill of Rights, Scalise, a pro-life Republican from Louisiana, said. Religious organizations and hard-working taxpayers should not be forced by the federal government to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, or sterilizations in their health care plans.
This is an offensive example of Obamacare s violation of the conscience rights of American employers just so this Administration can force their radical agenda on hard working taxpayers, Scalise continues. We are calling on the Obama Administration to reverse this offensive mandate in order to allow any employer that opposes mandated coverage of abortion-inducing drugs and other contraceptives to seek an exemption out of respect for their religious rights. I m proud to stand with the vast majority of Americans who respect religious freedom in demanding that this mandate be reversed, and I will continue working tirelessly with other Members of Congress to prevent this attack on the Bill of Rights. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/154-members-of-congress-object-to-pro-abortion-obama-mandate/
Obama Admin Silenced Catholic Army Chaplain on New Mandate
The Obama administration is coming under fire for silencing a Catholic Army chaplains from reading a letter that criticized the Obama administration on its new mandate that forces religious employers to pay for coverage for employees that includes birth control and drugs that can cause abortions.
The office of the Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Army prohibited Catholic chaplains from reading a letter during masses this past Sunday authored by Archbishop Timothy Broglio that criticized the mandate and encouraged Catholics in military congregations to disobey it.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio wrote that the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in a way that is denying Catholics our Nation s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty.
And, as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to choose between violating our consciences or dropping health care coverage for our employees (and suffering the penalties for doing so), he wrote. We cannot and will not comply with this unjust law. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/obama-admin-silenced-catholic-army-chaplain-on-new-mandate/
Romney: De-Fund Planned Parenthood, Komen Should Cut Funds
In an interview with a conservative radio talk show, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney weighed in on the feud between Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood and the GOP hopeful said Komen should cut its ties.
As LifeNews reported last week, Komen initially decided in December to revise its grant-making process to funds grants to agencies that provide direct health services for women which would eliminate Planned Parenthood since it does not do mammograms. After Planned Parenthood, Democratic members of Congress and the media pounced on Komen for its decision, Komen clarified that Planned Parenthood would still be allowed to submit grant requests but they may or may not be funded.
When asked by conservative talk radio host Scott Hennen in an interview about whether Komen should fund Planned Parenthood, Romney replied, I don t think so, and then added that the federal government should pull any taxpayer funding from the abortion business.
I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, Romney told Hennen. Look, the idea that we re subsidizing an institution that provides abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood oughta stand on its own feet and should not get government subsidy. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/romney-de-fund-planned-parenthood-komen-should-cut-funds/
Behind the Scenes of the Komen-Planned Parenthood Battle
As the dust settles on the row between Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood, new information is coming to light about the decision-making process that took place when Komen decided in December to change its grant-making standards in a way that would result in cutting Planned Parenthood funding.
Last week, that decision came to light when Planned Parenthood decided to release the news through a friendly Associated Press reporter, who wrote a one-sided story making Planned Parenthood the victim and starting the process by which the abortion business aggressively attacked the breast cancer charity.
As LifeNews reported, the decision came about in part because Komen hired pro-life former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel as its new Vice-President for Policy. While media reports have differed about the level of influence she had on the Komen decision to change its grant policies, the liberal Huffington Post alleges in a weekend story that that was the case. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/behind-the-scenes-of-the-komen-planned-parenthood-battle/
What We Can Learn About Planned Parenthood From Komen
No doubt you ve been watching the unfolding drama of the Susan B. Komen for the Cure foundation s decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood and then its stunning reversal.
What you saw last week was a concerted, intentional effort by an ideological minority the radical pro-abortion forces not just to make their case in public, but to destroy the opposition. Using incendiary language, accusing Komen of endangering the lives of women, they made no pretense to pursue civil discourse.
And it s a tragedy that Komen for the Cure caved. Because all of the rational arguments were on their side. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/what-we-can-learn-about-planned-parenthood-from-komen/
Abortionists Charged With Murder Think They re Above the Law
Motions have been filed by attorneys for Steven Chase Brigham and Nicola I. Riley, who have both been charged with first degree murder for illegal abortions done on viable babies that were started in New Jersey and ended at a secret late-term abortion clinic in Maryland. Copies of the motions dated January 27, 2012, have been obtained by Operation Rescue. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/abortionists-charged-with-murder-think-theyre-above-the-law/
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Judge Will Allow Texas Abortion-Ultrasound Law Take Effect
In another legal victory for pro-life advocates in Texas, a federal judge says he has no choice but to allow a law allowing women to see an ultrasound of their unborn baby before an abortion take effect. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/judge-will-allow-texas-abortion-ultrasound-law-take-effect/
New Mandate May Drive Obama s Top Catholic Defender Awayr
The new Obamacare mandate the pro-abortion president put in place may be driving away his top Catholic supporter, Douglas Kmiec, the former Malta ambassador who upsets pro-life advocates with his support. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/new-mandate-may-drive-obamas-top-catholic-defender-away/
Scientists Manipulating Unborn Babies to Have Three Parents
The 3-genetic parent embryo is back in the news. This time it is Australia that wants to attempt to genetically engineer a human embryo to have 3 genetic parents. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/scientists-manipulating-unborn-babies-to-have-three-parents/
Abortion Practitioner Quits Doing Abortions in Alabama
Just two weeks after two women were injured in botched abortions at the New Woman All Women abortion facility in Birmingham, Alabama, a Georgia abortion practitioner with financial ties to the center quit doing abortions there. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/abortion-practitioner-quits-doing-abortions-in-alabama/
The Tide is Turning, Pro-Life Movement is Now Winning
Every year for the past 38 we have been commemorating the sad day of January 22, 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in the United States. That decision was the culmination of years of lobbying by liberal feminists and pro-choice radicals, and the outcome of secular thinking of the 1960s. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/the-tide-is-turning-pro-life-movement-is-now-winning/
The Cost of Conscience: Obama s Violating Judeo-Christian Ethics
At the end of the liturgical year, the Mass readings tell dramatic stories from the Books of Maccabees of simple folks standing courageously for their faith in the face of torture and death. Their exemplary witness can strengthen us as we defend our conscience rights and religious liberty which are under attack today. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/the-cost-of-conscience-obamas-violating-judeo-christian-ethics/
Pennsylvania Cmte OKs Bill for Ultrasounds Before Abortion
The Pennsylvania House Health Committee voted on Monday to advance the Women s Right to Know Act (House Bill 1077), which would offer a pregnant woman the chance to view an ultrasound image of her unborn child and observe the baby s heartbeat prior to an abortion. The bill passed with support from both Republicans and Democrats on the committee. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/pennsylvania-cmte-oks-bill-for-ultrasounds-before-abortion/
Georgia Supreme Court Overturns Assisted Suicide Ban
In 2010, four members of the assisted suicide advocacy group the Final Exit Network (FEN) were indicted in the state of Georgia for helping 58-year-old John Celmer kill himself two years after he had been diagnosed with cancer, though at the time his cancer was in remission. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/georgia-supreme-court-overturns-assisted-suicide-ban/
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