Barack Obama Captures Win Over John McCain, Expected to Promote Abortions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Presidential candidate Barack Obama captured a victory on Tuesday night in the presidential elections over John McCain. Under an Obama administration, pro-life advocates are concerned about the promotion of abortion. Under an Obama administration pro-life advocates expect the new president to force taxpayer-funding of abortions, make detrimental Supreme Court appointments and sign a Congressional bill to overturn pro-life laws nationwide. Obama won 338 electoral college votes compared with 156 for McCain by winning in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and Virginia and the western states of Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. McCain was able to win only a handful of the battleground states and failed to capture enough votes to become the next president. With an Obama victory, pro-life advocates will immediately be on the defensive. Obama is expected to make funding abortions one of his first actions as president and he could overturn the Mexico City Policy on his first day in office. That’s the presidential policy that prevents taxpayers from being forced to fund groups that engage in performing or promoting abortions in other nations. Senator Obama could also immediately overturn the policy Preside Bush put in place to prevent taxpayer funding of new embryonic stem cell research. That could happen even though embryonic stem cells have never helped a human patient and have had problems when used in animals. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington Becomes Second State to Legalize Assisted Suicide in Election Vote
Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- The state of Washington has joined Oregon to become the second state in the nation to legalize the grisly practice of assisted suicide. Voters in the northwestern state approved I-1000 despite strong opposition from pro-life groups, doctors organizations, disability rights activists and Catholic voters. With 42 percent of the vote counted in the state, I-1000 carried with the support of 58 percent of voters compared with 42 percent who opposed assisted suicide. Opponents of assisted suicide had a hard time competing with the money thrown at them from the pro-euthanasia groups that outspent them as much as 12-1 thanks to out-of-state money. With the law now in place, attention will turn to the kind of abuses that have been seen in Oregon. “If passed this November, Initiative 1000 will transform the legal landscape of the State of Washington. The change would parallel Oregon's decade-long acceptance of assisted suicide, a practice that has given rise to a myriad of problems,” pro-life attorney Ken Conner wrote before the vote. The Coalition Against Assisted Suicide told LifeNews.com that the prestigious Michigan Law Review compiled an analysis of the ramifications of Oregon's assisted suicide law and the evidence wasn't pretty. Full story at LifeNews.com
Michigan Voters Approve Proposition 2 to Allow Destruction of Human Embryos
Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Michigan residents voted on Tuesday in favor of Proposition 2, a state ballot proposal that would permit the unregulated and unrestricted destruction of human embryos for experimental purposes. Opponents say the measure does nothing to advance ethical and proven research like using adult stem cells. Proposition 2 carried the state by a 52.4-47.6 percentage point margin with 78 percent of the precincts reporting. The vote is interesting because it comes at a time when embryonic stem cell research is less and less in vogue. Scientists have been unable to conquer problems associated with it, ranging from the growth of tumors when the cells are injected in animals to rejection from their immune systems. Instead, scientists have focused on a new kind of cell called iPSCs that are created as a result of a process known as direct reprogramming. The technique has received the support of the pro-life community because it allows scientists to develop embryonic-like stem cells without the destruction of human life that makes embryonic stem cell research unethical and immoral. The group MiCAUSE, a joint effort of Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference, ran a radio ad towards the end of the campaign saying Michigan taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for the research because it is unproven and because the state is facing financial pressure. Full story at LifeNews.com
California Very Narrowly Opposes Third Try for Parental Notification on Abortion
Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The third try wasn't the charm for pro-life advocates who want parents to have a chance to know when their minor daughters are considering an abortion. California voters defeated two previous attempts to install a parental notification measure in the state's constitution and an attempt to expand the language of the proposal to include adult relatives failed to win the day. On election night, Proposition 4 lost by a very small margin with 52 percent of California residents voting against it and 48 percent voting for it. Most of the polls leading up to the vote showed a plurality of voters supporting the parental notification initiative, but a final poll had the measure going down in defeat. In the final survey released by the Field Poll, 37 percent of those opposing the measure said abortion is a woman's right that shouldn't be violated and gave that as their reason for opposing the measure. Another 32 percent were worried about the risk in notifying parents, even though emergency clauses and notification of an adult relative are included. Full story at LifeNews.com
South Dakota Voters Defeat Second Ballot Measure to Ban Most Abortions
Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) -- For a second time, the voters of South Dakota defeated a state ballot measure that would have banned most abortions after defeating a similar measure two years ago. The 2006 ban would have only allowed abortions to save the life of the mother and the 2008 ban added rape and incest exceptions with the hope of persuading more pro-life voters to support it. Instead, South Dakota voters defeated Initiated Measure 11 by a 55-45 percentage point margin. The margin was similar to the vote last time around despite the attempt to appear to the majority of voters who said in 2006 that they would support a ban with the additional exceptions. The defeat of the abortion ban came even though abortion advocates got themselves in trouble by using the name of the state's doctors group in its advertising. Full story at LifeNews.com
Colorado Voters Soundly Defeat Personhood Ballot Measure Affecting Abortion
Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- Colorado voters were decidedly opposed to Amendment 48, a ballot proposal that would have amended the state constitution to define the beginning of human life as occurring at conception. The measure could have affected the status of legal abortions in Colorado and could also have played a role in affecting bioethics laws related to human cloning and stem cell research. In the end, Colorado voters defeated Amendment 48 by a 73.5-26.5 percentage margin with 57 percent of the vote counted. The defeat of Amendment 48 wasn't a surprise given polling data beforehand that showed it trailing badly. A Rocky Mountain News/CBS4 survey released last week found the measure losing 68 to 27 percent. Opponents of the measure indicated they opposed it strongly and supporters of Amendment 48 were split as to whether they strongly supported it or backed it somewhat. Full story at LifeNews.com
