LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Rick Santorum Captures Big Republican Election Victories
• Catholic Bishops Rep: Obama Mandate Compromise Maybe Worse
• Ex-Komen VP Karen Handel Slams Planned Parenthood, It Fires Back
• Boehner Pledges Congress Will Overturn New Obama Mandate
More Pro-Life News
• Attorney General Coordinates Lawsuit Against Obama Mandate
• Komen: Embryonic Research Not Shown Promise for Breast Cancer
• 40 Days for Life Campaign Taking on 40 Years of Abortion
• Six Things Everyone Should Know About the Obama Mandate
• Nebraska Bill Cutting Planned Parenthood Funds Moves Ahead
• The Unbearable Wrongness of the Supreme Court s Roe v. Wade
• Letter From 12-Week-Old Unborn Baby: Please Don t Abort Me
• Leading Pro-Life Attorney Backs Mitt Romney for President
• Planned Parenthood Used Social Media to Crush Komen
• University Allows Sale of Plan B Drug in Vending Machines
• Ron Paul s Curious Position on Abortion in Cases of Rape
---> Tell Komen: Don't Cave on Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding - Sign the Petition and pass it on!
Rick Santorum Captures Big Republican Election Victories
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum won big victories in Tuesday night in GOP presidential contests in Minnesota and Missouri and leads the race for the victory in Colorado.
Santorum, with 99 percent of precincts reporting in Missouri, captured 55.2 percent of the vote to 25.3 percent for Mitt Romney, 12.2 percent for Ron Paul and 7.3 percent for other candidates presumably Newt Gingrich since he was not on the ballot there. In Minnesota, Santorum won as well with the support of 44.7 percent of Republicans to 27.3 percent for Paul, 17 percent for Romney, and 10.5 percent for Gingrich. The Minnesota tally was the first time Romney has finished in third place in any of the states.
With 98% of Colorado precincts reporting, Santorum won the Rocky Mountain state with the backing of 40 percent of Republicans to 35 percent for Romney. Gingrich and Paul have 13 and 12% respectively.
Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota, Santorum said in his speech as the first of the GOP candidates to talk on television following the votes. The clearly pumped up candidate added about Romney, who was seen as the leading GOP candidate following his victories in Florida and Nevada. We doubled him up here, and in Minnesota. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/rick-santorum-captures-big-republican-election-victories/
Catholic Bishops Rep: Obama Mandate Compromise Maybe Worse
The Obama administration is reportedly considering a compromise on its new mandate that has caused national outrage because it forces religious employers to cover birth control and drugs that may cause abortions. However, the leading pro-life spokesman for the Catholic bishops says the compromise may be worse.
The compromise under consideration by Obama officials reportedly involves applying Hawaii s contraception mandate at the federal level a mandate where employees at religious institutions that do not offer birth control and drugs like Plan B or ella can receive it through side benefits not offered by their employer. Employees pay an additional fee but often end up getting the coverage at no cost.
But Richard Doerflinger tells the Weekly Standard the Hawaii model may be worse because it would still have Catholic and other religious employers sending women for coverage for drugs that violate their moral beliefs. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/catholic-bishops-rep-obama-mandate-compromise-maybe-worse/
Ex-Komen VP Karen Handel Slams Planned Parenthood, It Fires Back
Following her departure from the Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity in the wake of the massive attacks waged on it by Planned Parenthood following news that it would cut its funding, Karen Handel slammed the abortion business.
As LifeNews reported Tuesday, 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, resigned her position.
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.
I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it, Handel said in her letter. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen s future and the women we serve. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/ex-komen-vp-karen-handel-slams-planned-parenthood-it-fires-back/
Boehner Pledges Congress Will Overturn New Obama Mandate
Speaker John Boehner took to the House floor to give a rare speech today pledging that House Republicans will do everything possible to reverse the new mandate the Obama administration put in place forcing coverage of birth control and abortion-causing drugs.
He promised that, if Obama doesn t reverse the new policy, Congress will. He called the rule an attack on religious freedom in the country, saying, the rule cannot stand, and will not stand.
In recent days, Americans of every faith and political persuasion have mobilized in objection to a rule put forward by the Obama Administration that constitutes an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country, Boehner said. This rule would require faith-based employers including Catholic charities, schools, universities, and hospitals to provide services they believe are immoral. Those services include sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and devices, and contraception. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/boehner-pledges-congress-will-overturn-new-obama-mandate/
Attorney General Coordinates Lawsuit Against Obama Mandate
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning is coordinating a legal challenge against the controversial Obama mandate requiring religious employers to cover birth control and drugs that can cause abortions.
Bruning says he is contacting fellow state attorneys general to put together a lawsuit against the Obama administration over the mandate and he sent a letter to his 49 colleagues looking for some of them to sign on to the lawsuit.
This new mandate provides no exemption for religious affiliated hospitals, universities and charitable institutions. This is clearly a violation of the First Amendment, he says in the letter, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/attorney-generals-coordinate-lawsuit-against-obama-mandate/
Komen: Embryonic Research Not Shown Promise for Breast Cancer
Lost in the debate over its funding of the Planned Parenthood abortion business, Komen for the Cure quietly changed its position on funding agencies that are engaged in embryonic stem cell research.
As LifeNews reported, on November 30, 2011, Komen quietly added a new statement to its web site stating that it does not support embryonic stem cell research but supports the kinds that do not involve the destruction of human life.
Komen supports research on the isolation, derivation, production, and testing of stem cells that are capable of producing all or almost all of the cell types of the developing body and may result in improved understanding of or treatments for breast cancer, but are derived without creating a human embryo or destroying a human embryo, Komen says. A priority in our research funding is to quickly find and deliver effective treatments, especially for the most lethal forms of breast cancer, while seeking effective preventive strategies, enhanced screening methodologies, and solutions to disparities in breast cancer outcomes for diverse women. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/komen-embryonic-research-not-shown-promise-for-breast-cancer/
40 Days for Life Campaign Taking on 40 Years of Abortion
The next 40 Days for Life campaign that has resulted in motivating the pro-life movement, closing abortion facilities, and helping abortion workers get out of the industry is gearing up for Spring events.
With the January 22 anniversary of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling, the United States began its 40th year of legal abortion, said Shawn Carney, campaign director of 40 Days for Life. This is a critical year in terms of the sanctity of human life a year in which people from across America and beyond are preparing to take a public stand on behalf of innocent lives at risk.
Carney said that in this 40th year, pro-life advocates in 251 locations reaching from coast to coast in the United States as well as Canada, England, Australia and Spain will be hosting local 40 Days for Life campaigns simultaneously.
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/40-days-for-life-campaign-taking-on-40-years-of-abortion/
Six Things Everyone Should Know About the Obama Mandate
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the following clarifications regarding the Health and Human Services regulations on mandatory coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/six-things-everyone-should-know-about-the-obama-mandate/
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Nebraska Bill Cutting Planned Parenthood Funds Moves Ahead
The Nebraska state legislature on Tuesday that would strike state taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business moved ahead yesterday following a national debate over the Komen breast cancer charity potentially cutting funding. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/nebraska-bill-cutting-planned-parenthood-funds-moves-ahead/
The Unbearable Wrongness of the Supreme Court s Roe v. Wade
39 years ago, the Supreme Court delivered a radical, legally untenable, immoral decision. It has forfeited its entitlement to have its decisions respected, and followed, by the other branches of government, by the states, and by the people. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/06/new-mandate-may-drive-obamas-top-catholic-defender-away/
Letter From 12-Week-Old Unborn Baby: Please Don t Abort Me
In late January, a friend and supporter of HLI America was asked by pro-life leaders in New York State to write a letter that would accompany a replica of a 10-12 week old baby in the womb. With the goal of encouraging state legislators to recognize the humanity of such tiny human beings, this replica and letter was to be sent to all the members of the New York State Assembly and Senate. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/letter-from-12-week-old-unborn-baby-please-dont-abort-me/
Leading Pro-Life Attorney Backs Mitt Romney for President
James Bopp, one of the top pro-life attorneys in the nation who has served as legal counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, Christian Coalition, Citizens United and the Republican Party, has endorsed Mitt Romney. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/leading-pro-life-attorney-backs-mitt-romney-for-president/
Planned Parenthood Used Social Media to Crush Komen
Politico s Keach Hagey has predicted Planned Parenthood s successful ambush of Susan G. Komen for the Cure last week will likely to go down as a textbook case of the political power of social media. . http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/planned-parenthood-used-social-media-to-crush-komen/
University Allows Sale of Plan B Drug in Vending Machines
Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for offering morning after pills in the form of the Plan B drug for sale in vending machines on campus. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/university-allows-sale-of-plan-b-drug-in-vending-machines/
Ron Paul s Curious Position on Abortion in Cases of Rape
Libertarian Republican and presidential contender Ron Paul made headlines recently for an exchange with CNN s Piers Morgan about how to handle rape pregnancies. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/07/ron-pauls-curious-position-on-abortion-in-cases-of-rape/
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