Wednesday, May 13, 2009

FROM LIFENEWS.COM: TODAY'S PRO-LIFE HEADLINES

Top Potential Obama Supreme Court Picks Pro-Abortion, Likely Will Pick Woman
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama is facing more pressure to appoint a pro-abortion woman judge to the Supreme Court to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice David Souter. Six potential picks mentioned today are mostly women and all are abortion advocates. They include pro-abortion Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and pro-abortion Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Obama is facing pressure from the Hispanic community to appoint the Supreme Court's first Latin American judge and pressure from abrotion advocates for a woman. Obama may satisfy both political pressure groups by potentially appointing New York federal appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor. However, Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network tells WorldNetDaily that Sotomayor is an activist judge, who likely agrees with Roe v. Wade and would prefer that the courts make abortion law. Sotomayor remarked in 2005 that the courts are the place "where policy is made." Appellate judge Diane Wood is another possibility. Wood is a member of the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and she has a long history of taking the pro-abortion side when it comes to pro-life issues. Another top woman prospect for Obama is Elena Kagan, whom the Senate recently confirmed to become the Solicitor General, the attorney who represents the government before the Supreme Court. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the pro-life women's group Susan B. Anthony List, told LifeNews.com her organization urged pro-life advocates to ask their members of the Senate to vote no on Kagan, who has a longstanding pro-abortion position. Full story at LifeNews.com
Senate GOP Wants Delay in Supreme Court Hearings, Nominee Expected Soon
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Senate leaders from both political parties met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday about his upcoming Supreme Court selection. The upshot of the meeting is that Senate Republicans want a 60-day delay in hearings and the pro-abortion president is expected to name a nominee shortly. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the pro-abortion Judiciary Committee Chairman, told AP that Obama will name his replacement for pro-abortion Justice David Souter within weeks and perhaps before the end of the month. "I don't envy him the decision, but I think he's going to make it soon," he said. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who is pro-life, said the senators had a discussion with Obama about his comment that he wants a nominee who will show "empathy" in making rulings -- taken by pro-life advocates as indication he wants a judicial activist. "We did have a discussion about the importance of following the law, and not acting like a legislator on the bench," he said. "I didn't recommend anyone, but I do believe that someone who is not a judicial activist would be best for the country. Someone who does take the law as written seriously. Someone who does not confuse the role with that of a legislator, and hopefully the president will name someone along those lines," McConnell said.
Asked if a filibuster may be used on an Obama selection, McConnell said, "We'll take a look at the nominee and respond appropriately."
Full story at LifeNews.com
Democrats for Life of America will hold their annual conference and Hall of Fame dinner on June 17 at the Phoenix Hotel in Washington. Meet pro-life Democrats! See http://www.DemocratsForLife.org for more information on the conference and dinner.

 
Notre Dame Alumni Withhold Nearly $14 Million for Honoring Pro-Abortion Obama
South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Notre Dame alumni who are upset with the university's decision to allow pro-abortion President Barack Obama to give this coming weekend's commencement speech and to give him an honorary degree continue to withhold their donations to the Catholic college. In total, pro-life alumni and donors who feel disenfranchised by Notre Dame's decision have decided to withhold nearly $14 million in gifts they normally would have given. David DiFranco, a Michigan businessman and 1995 Notre Dame graduate, told LifeNews.com on Wednesday that the ReplaceJenkins.com web site for disgruntled alumni has received over 1,400 pledges to withhold donations within a month since its launch. "Most of the donors were at least loosely aware of the University's trend away from its Catholic identity," DiFranco explained. "But the invitation of President Obama to speak and to receive an honorary degree, combined with the weak responses presented by Father Jenkins as a defense to those who have criticized the decision, is what drives most alumni to our site," DiFranco added. Full story at LifeNews.com
 
Parents: Your Teenager May Be Getting Abortion, Sex Ed Info Via Text Message
by Rebecca Hagelin
There's yet another organized effort by sex "experts" to indoctrinate your children into their worldview without your permission or knowledge. Different from "sexting," where pre-teens and teens electronically send and receive semi-nude or nude photos of themselves, "sex texting" is promoted and run by adults. Take the new "Birds and Bees Text Line" in North Carolina. As with similar programs popping up around the nation, it offers "anonymous" sexual advice to teens through the texting feature on their cellular phones. Children can text any sex question and within 24 hours a stranger will send them back an answer. Paid for partly with tax dollars, the owners promise frank and "nonjudgmental" answers - and secrecy from mom and dad. Marketed directly to teens through outlets like MySpace, they seek to teach your children their views about sex and sexuality without your knowledge. Run by the benign-sounding "Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign," it's time to pull back the curtain and see who is behind this latest effort to keep parents out of the conversation with - and encourage promiscuity in - our teens. It took me about five minutes online to discover that some board members of the organization also run Planned Parenthood programs. Of course, Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of teen abortions in the nation. Both groups - Planned Parenthood and the Campaign - proudly advocate graphic, comprehensive sex instruction for children. And they just might be secretly texting with your child right now. Full story at LifeNews.com


Report Shows Births to Unwed Mother Rising, Could be Good News on Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new report shows the number of births to unmarried women in the United States is on the rise. However, the new Centers for Disease Control report could be good news in the abortion battle if it is an indication that unwed moms are deciding more often to keep their baby instead of having an abortion. The CDC report indicates unmarried mothers gave birth to about 40 percent of all babies born in the U.S. in 2007. The figures show that the percentage is on the rise, which puts the U.S. in the same boat as other nations. Decades ago, most unmarried mothers were teenagers but a cultural trend of accepting single moms appears to have given rise to the percentage who are in their 20s or 30s. The report indicates, in 2007, women in their 20s had 60 percent of all babies born out of wedlock, teenagers had 23 percent and women 30 and older had 17 percent. The CDC says non-teen unwed mothers have increased 34 percent since 2002 for women aged 30 to 34. While pro-family groups are concerned about children born to single-parent homes and how that affects their development and risks in later live, the report could be good news on the pro-life front. With more women in their 20s having children, and with the 20-29 age range as having the plurality of abortions, that young women are deciding to keep their baby could mean a lower of the abortion rates.
Full story at LifeNews.com



Democratic Party Activist Unveils New Strategy to Demonize Pro-Life Catholics
by Deal Hudson
Bob Shrum, a well-known Democratic party operative, published a column today unveiling the new Catholic outreach strategy for Catholic outreach. Here's the basic approach: To demonize orthodox Catholics, including priests and bishops, who follow the teaching of the Church on the priority of life issues in politics. Shrum calls them "neo-Catholics" who have practiced "sharia politics."
Shrum, who was a top adviser to both the Gore and Kerry campaigns, shapes his attack in a clever, though sophistical, way. Since Shrum brags about his "16 years of Catholic education, including Georgetown University," I assume he knows what it means to be sophist, that is, one whose purported wisdom is merely nonsense disguised by eloquence. Such an argument is what Shrum puts on the table in response to Catholic efforts to oppose pro-abortion politicians, especially those who are Catholic. Full story at LifeNews.com



Canada Parliament Sees Introduction of Bill Today to Legalize Assisted Suicide
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A member of the Canadian Parliament officially introduced her legislation today that would legalize assisted suicide in Canada. Francine Lalonde, of the Bloc Québécois political party, introduced a private members bill to legalize the practice that is allowed in three states in the U.S. This is Lalonde's third attempt to legalize assisted suicide in Canada. She first introduced Bill C-407 in June 2005 and Bill C-562 in June 2008 and Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeNews.com about the prior battles. "Both bills were not limited to the direct and intentional killing of terminally ill persons, but also people experiencing chronic physical and mental pain," he said. "Her previous bills were falsely sold under the guise of choice and autonomy, but were really about the rules that needed to be followed for one person to intentionally and directly cause the death of another person." Schadenberg said the third time may be a charm for Lalonde because she is number forty-two in the private members bill order of precedence. That means that, unless a national election is called, it is likely that her bill will receive a vote at second reading. Full story at LifeNews.com

UNICEF Promoted Abortion in Dominican Republican, Hides Agenda Afterwards
by The Population Research Institute
United Nations foreign aid groups enjoy what is perhaps some of the most unqualified public support of any organization. But we have found that not only do they promote abortion using tax money, but they even lie about it. We have received a good deal of support since we revealed the intent of the Pan-American Health Organization UNICEF at the Pastoral Social Encounter of Children and Adolescents at Risk. We exposed them and their plans to form a "strategic alliance" with the Catholic Church. We now have additional details to share with you. Does UNICEF support abortion? Consider the case of the Dominican Republic, whose Congress is debating an amendment to the constitution that would protect life from conception to natural death. This change would make abortion illegal. Full story at LifeNews.com


Kansas Supreme Court Holds Hearing in Planned Parenthood Illegal Abortion Case
Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- The Kansas Supreme Court on Wednesday held a hearing in a case involving an Overland Park Planned Parenthood center under investigation for allegedly doing illegal abortions and falsifying medical records. The hearing covered disputed subpoenas filed by former state attorney general Phill Kline. The court will eventually determine whether subpoenas Kline issued for medical records from the Planned Parenthood facility can be enforced. Kline, also the former Johnson County District Attorney, filed 107 charges, including 23 felonies, against the abortion business for allegedly violating state law. Planned Parenthood has been trying to get back copies of the abortion records Kline obtained. During the hearing, Steven Obermeier represented the District Attorney's office and indicated that district court Judge Richard Anderson, who initially allowed Kline to receive the records, is prevented from testifying before the Kansas Supreme Court because of a gag order it issued. Because the gag order relates to a separate case, he asked the high court that Anderson be allowed to testify. Obermeier explained that the District Attorney's office frequently handles confidential documents and that state law calls the abortion records confidential doesn't mean they are beyond a subpoena. He said judges typically never quash subpoenas for documents from the state health department.
Full story at LifeNews.com



Not Notre Dame: Catholic Colleges Applauded for Pro-Life Graduation Speakers
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- While Notre Dame has drawn national attention over its decision to honor pro-abortion President Barack Obama and allow him to give its commencement address, other Catholic colleges and universities are earning praise for their decision to stick with pro-life advocates. The Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic educational watchdog group points out that several Catholic colleges noted for their fidelity to their pro-life Catholic identity are instead choosing to honor individuals dedicated to promoting a culture of life.
"We are blessed in this country by the presence of many honorable leaders who promote the defense of innocent life in the public square," CNS president Patrick Reilly told LifeNews.com. "Notre Dame could learn a valuable lesson from Catholic colleges that place principle before prestige when deciding whom to honor at commencement," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com

New Hampshire Pro-Life Group Worries About Catholic-Dartmouth Hospital Merger
Concord, NH (LifeNews.com) -- A New Hampshire pro-life group is concerned about the impending merger between Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic. New Hampshire Right to Life says the proposed affiliate could compromise the Catholic values of the Medical Center and allow abortions. Barbara Hagan, former president of the Right to Life group, told the New Hampshire Union Leader that a medical facility staffed and run jointly by the two centers could result in abortions and other objectionable practices. "If you're not protecting the moms and the babies, what good is it?" Hagan told the newspaper. Hagan says she worries that Dartmouth-Hitchcock has no plans to curtail its objectionable practices and she wants assurances that the combined clinic will not make abortion referrals. Full story at LifeNews.com
British Govt Paid Thousands to Doctor Who Evaded Late-Term Abortion Law
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A new report indicates the British government, through its national health care system, paid a suspended physician hundreds of thousands of dollars after she evading British law restricting late-term abortions. Saroj Adlakha was accused of arranging the abortion for Shilpa Abrol, who was 31 weeks pregnant at the time. Adlakha was charged in December 2005 of evading British law restricting late-term abortions by sending Abrol, her teenager daughter, to a late-term abortion center in Spain. The physician admitted she coordinated an abortion for Abrol in Barcelona, Spain on the advice of British Pregnancy Advisory Service officials. Yet, she was never convicted because the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges after not being able to prove they were valid. Adlakha, of Shilpa Medical Centre, in Kings Heath, was eventually suspended from the medical register by the General Medical Council and hasn't been allowed to practice medicine for four years. But that didn't stop the NHS, through the South Birmingham Primary Care Trust, from paying her £600,000 while she was suspended. Full story at LifeNews.com