LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, February 9, 2012
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Obama Promotes Controversial Mandate to Democrats, Some Balk
• Pastor Rick Warren: I d Rather Go to Jail Than Obey Mandate
• EWTN, Priests for Life File Suit Against Obama Mandate
• New Head of Biggest Planned Parenthood Says Abortion Sacred
More Pro-Life News
• Attention Obama: We Will Not be Silent on Religious Liberty
• Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose New Obama HHS Mandate
• Boehner Pledges Congress Will Overturn New Obama Mandate
• Stupak: Obamacare Protected Conscience, Except When It Didn t
• Choosing Life and Beating the Odds: Accepting Down Syndrome
• The Unbearable Wrongness of the Supreme Court s Roe v. Wade
• Study: Teen Abortion, Pregnancy Rates Fall to Record Lows
• I Can t Undo My Mistake: A Post-Abortive Woman s Letter
• Study Attempts to Downplay Abortion-Mental Health Risk Link
• Komen Fundraiser: Brinker Should Quit, Corporations Still OK
• Media Ignored Planned Parenthood s Billion Dollars in Komen Debate
---> Tell Komen: Don't Cave on Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding - Sign the Petition and pass it on!
Obama Promotes Controversial Mandate to Democrats, Some Balk
President Barack Obama promoted his controversial mandate requiring religious employers to pay for insurance coverage that includes birth control and drugs that can cause abortions at the Tuesday Senate Democratic retreat.
The Obama Administration issued a statement re-iterating the contraceptive mandate requiring all insurance providers cover the full range of FDA-approved drugs and devices would remain intact. This mandate, issued in August, includes drugs that work after conception to destroy life rather than prevent it. The statement included a postponement of one year for religious groups that do not already carry contraceptives and additionally would not be exempted under last year s narrow definition of religious employer.
The retreat was closed to the media but Democrats at the event at Nationals Park in Washington told the press that he reinforced his support for it. After the retreat, some of the top pro-abortion Democrats held a news conference to support the mandate, saying they will fight strong to keep it in place. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/obama-promotes-controversial-mandate-to-democrats-some-balk/
Pastor Rick Warren: I d Rather Go to Jail Than Obey Mandate
Evangelical pastor Rick Warren sent a message on Twitter today that is resonating with pro-life advocates opposed to the new Obama mandate forcing religious employers to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs.
Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church who delivered the invocation at Barack Obama s inauguration, put his pro-life views against the mandate front and center.
I m not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure, Warren said. I d go to jail rather than cave in to a govement mandate that violates what God commands us to do. Would you? Acts 5:29. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/pastor-rick-warren-id-rather-go-to-jail-than-obey-mandate/
EWTN, Priests for Life File Suit Against Obama Mandate
The largest Catholic pro-life group and Catholic television station have filed suit against the new Obama mandate that forces religious employers like them to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs in employee health insurance.
The EWTN Global Catholic Network filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama against the Department of Health & Human Services, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and other government agencies seeking to stop the imposition of the anti-conscience mandate as well as asking the court for a declaratory judgment that the mandate is unconstitutional.
We had no other option but to take this to the courts, says EWTN President and CEO Michael P. Warsaw. Under the HHS mandate, EWTN is being forced by the government to make a choice: either we provide employees coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and violate our conscience or offer our employees and their families no health insurance coverage at all. Neither of those choices is acceptable. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/ewtn-priests-for-life-file-suit-against-obama-mandate/
New Head of Biggest Planned Parenthood Says Abortion Sacred
A Planned Parenthood affiliate s newest president and CEO said in an official statement that she regards her work for the biggest abortion business in America to be a holy profession.
Melaney Linton, who will now oversee Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, is determined to further the Life-ending work of Planned Parenthood:
I am honored and humbled to be entrusted with such a sacred duty I pledge to do everything in my power to fight back against the ideological attacks on Planned Parenthood and women, so that no teen will ever say she didn t know how she got pregnant, no one will ever be denied basic reproductive health care, and no woman will ever be forced to bear children she cannot adequately support.
Starting March 1st, Linton will manage 13 abortion and abortion-referring centers in Southeast Texas and Louisiana, as well as the largest abortion mill in America, located in Houston, Texas. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/new-head-of-biggest-planned-parenthood-says-abortion-sacred/
Attention Obama: We Will Not be Silent on Religious Liberty
The outcry in response to the Department of Health and Human Services declaration of war against religious civil liberties has been nothing short of enormous. Catholic Bishops in more than 164 locations have publicly denounced the administration s actions.
In a bipartisan letter to Kathleen Sebelius, 154 Members of Congress voiced their strong opposition to the HHS mandate and urged the secretary to reconsider the mandate in light of constitutionally protected conscience rights. Senator Rubio has introduced legislation to protect and preserve the religious civil liberties of those charities that would otherwise have to choose to follow their religious conscience or close their doors.
The groundswell in opposition to HHS actions has been so massive that both David Axelrod, political advisor to the President, and Press Secretary Jay Carney are now making noises that the administration might be willing to compromise. Axelrod said that it was never the intention of the administration to abridge anyone s religious freedom. Carney stated that the administration is willing to work with religious organizations to see if the implementation of the policy can be done in a way that allays some of those concerns. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/attention-obama-we-will-not-be-silent-on-religious-liberty/
Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose New Obama HHS Mandate
New polling data from Rasmussen today shows a majority of Americans oppose the new mandate the Obama administration put into place to force religious employers to pay for insurance coverage that includes birth control and drugs that can cause abortions.
In a national survey of 1,000 likely voters, Rasmussen asked, The requirement to provide contraceptives for women violates deeply held beliefs of some churches and religious organizations. If providing such coverage violates the beliefs of a church or religious organization, should the government still require them to provide coverage for contraceptives?
Some 50 percent of those polled said no while 39 percent of Americans agreed. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/poll-majority-of-americans-oppose-new-obama-hhs-mandate/
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/
Stupak: Obamacare Protected Conscience, Except When It Didn t
In a new interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News, pro-life former Democratic congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan says he is opposed to the controversial new Obama mandate that forces religious employers to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs in employee health insurance plans. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/stupak-obamacare-protected-conscience-except-when-it-didnt/
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Choosing Life and Beating the Odds: Accepting Down Syndrome
When my husband and I found out we were having another baby, it was a surprise. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/choosing-life-and-beating-the-odds-accepting-down-syndrome/
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/
Study: Teen Abortion, Pregnancy Rates Fall to Record Lows
A new study released by a pro-abortion organization that is the former research arm of the Planned Parenthood abortion business says teen abortion and pregnancy rates both fell in 2008 to new record lows. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/study-teen-abortion-pregnancy-rates-fall-to-record-lows/
I Can t Undo My Mistake: A Post-Abortive Woman s Letter
The following unsigned letter was received by a priest friend of mine following a pro-life homily. Her message is a powerful one that deserves to be heard by and shared with all young women and parents in a similar situation. I am happy to share her witness with you. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/09/i-cant-undo-my-mistake-a-post-abortive-womans-letter/
Study Attempts to Downplay Abortion-Mental Health Risk Link
On Monday Danish researchers led by Trine Munk-Olsen published a paper in the Archives of General Psychiatry with several problematic design issues.[1] Focusing exclusively on women with prior hospitalizations for mental disorders, the primary purpose of the study was to evaluate differences in rates of readmission to psychiatric facilities between 9 months before and 12 months after first time, first-term abortions. The authors also compared the patterns of readmission to a psychiatric facility among women having a first time, first trimester abortion with women having a first birth. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/study-attempts-to-downplay-abortion-mental-health-risk-link/
Komen Fundraiser: Brinker Should Quit, Corporations Still OK
A top Komen fundraiser says Nancy Brinker should step down from the breast cancer charity following a week-long battle over whether or not it should be funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/komen-fundraiser-brinker-should-quit-corporations-still-ok/
Media Ignored Planned Parenthood s Billion Dollars in Komen Debate
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/media-ignored-planned-parenthoods-billion-dollars-in-komen-debate/. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/08/media-ignored-planned-parenthoods-billion-dollars-in-komen-debate/
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