Barack Obama Defends Health Care Bill Against Rationing, Euthanasia Concerns
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In a town hall on Tuesday featuring mostly a sympathetic and friendly crowd, President Barack Obama defended the Congressional health care bills against concerns surrounding rationing and euthanasia. Obama essentially dismissed the concerns and called them scare tactics. At issue is Section 1233 of HR 3200, the government-run health care plan that the House will consider when it returns from its August recess. The measure would pay physicians to give Medicare patients end-of-life counseling every five years or sooner if the patient has a terminal diagnosis. While pro-life advocates say the section opens the door to physicians pushing euthanasia or withdrawal of lifesaving medical treatment, or even basic food and water, backers of the bill call the claims rubbish. Obama dismissed the critics who cite this section and said they were trying to "scare the heck out of folks" with "wild misrepresentations that don't bear any resemblance to anything that's actually being proposed." He said all the section does is authorize Medicare to pay physicians to counsel patients about end-of-life care such as living wills, hospice and other issues and to do son only if the patients request it. It would not "basically pull the plug on grandma because we decided that it's too expensive to let her live anymore," Obama said. He said Congress put the language in the bill and defended their decision saying lawmakers "very sensibly thought this was something that would expand people's options." Full story at LifeNews.comObama Admin Distances Itself From Pelosi "Un-American" Health Care Comments
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration is distancing itself from pro-abortion House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who wrote in a weekend editorial that people who are protesting the pro-abortion health care bills in Congress are "un-American." An Obama spokesman tried to reassure the public of its rights to protest. "I think there's actually a pretty long tradition of people shouting at politicians in America," Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said today. "The President thinks that if people want to come and have a spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it, that's a part of the American tradition and he encourages that," Burton added. "Now, if you just want to come to a town hall so that you can disrupt and so that you can scream over another person, he doesn't think that that's productive. And as a country, we've been able to make progress when people actually talk out what our problems are, not try to shout each other down," Burton added. According to various press accounts of Burton's comments, he did not appear to directly comment on Pelosi's remarks or repudiate them. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration is distancing itself from pro-abortion House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who wrote in a weekend editorial that people who are protesting the pro-abortion health care bills in Congress are "un-American." An Obama spokesman tried to reassure the public of its rights to protest. "I think there's actually a pretty long tradition of people shouting at politicians in America," Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said today. "The President thinks that if people want to come and have a spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it, that's a part of the American tradition and he encourages that," Burton added. "Now, if you just want to come to a town hall so that you can disrupt and so that you can scream over another person, he doesn't think that that's productive. And as a country, we've been able to make progress when people actually talk out what our problems are, not try to shout each other down," Burton added. According to various press accounts of Burton's comments, he did not appear to directly comment on Pelosi's remarks or repudiate them. Full story at LifeNews.com Majority of Americans Now Disapprove of Pro-Abortion President Barack Obama
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New polling data released today confirms a majority of Americans now disapprove of the job pro-abortion President Barack Obama is doing. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll finds 49 percent of voters approve of Obama's performance while 50 percent disapprove. The Rasmussen poll surveys 1,500 likely voters and has a three percent margin of error. However, the trend for the poll clearly shows that, over time, Obama's approval rating has steadily dropped from his high water mark in January to a 50-50 rating over the last couple of weeks. Looking at what Rasmussen calls the Presidential Approval Index, which takes into account the voters with the most intense feelings, 37 percent of Americans strongly oppose Obama's track record while just 30 percent strongly support it. The survey has shown for over a month that the most passionate Americans oppose Obama rather than support him -- a marked contrast from the hoopla that surrounded his presidential election victory. Meanwhile, just 45 percent of Americans give Obama good or excellent marks on leadership, down three points from last month and down 19 points from when he took office in January. Full story at LifeNews.comHarris Poll Shows Strong Shift to Pro-Life Position on Abortion, Roe v. Wade
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new national Harris poll finds a strong shift towards the pro-life position on abortion and reveals the shift is seen among members of both political parties. The poll also finds a majority of African-Americans and Hispanics oppose the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions. Harris' main polling question in the results it released today revolves around the 1973 Supreme Court case that allowed abortions for virtually any reason throughout pregnancy. However, Harris inaccurately describes the case as a "decision on whether a woman should have an abortion up to three months of pregnancy," even though it allowed abortions until birth unless limited in the late term of pregnancy by states. Still, Harris found a small majority of Americans back Roe as it described, on a 50-44 percentage point margin. That 6 percent majority is the third lowest in any Harris poll on abortion and Roe since 1973 and is a 10 percent drop from the 16 percent majority it found in 2007. As Harris noted in its analysis, "support for Roe vs. Wade has declined somewhat since the last time we asked these questions in 2007" and "a modest increase in support for Roe vs. Wade in 2007 has now been reversed." Full story at LifeNews.com Sponsor of "Common Ground" Abortion Bill Bashes Pro-Life Advocates in Fundraiser
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Rosa DeLauro has deceived the media and hopes to deceive pro-life advocates into thinking her Congressional bill is an attempt at "common ground" on abortion. But, the House member from Connecticut exposes her hand in a new fundraising email for Emily's List that bashes pro-life advocates. DeLauro is the co-sponsor of a new bill along with pro-abortion Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio that is billed as a middle ground in the abortion debate. The measure, which provides funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business and would require direct taxpayer-funding of abortions, has been panned by pro-life advocates as disingenuous. Now, DeLauro tips her hand in a Tuesday fundraising pitch for the pro-abortion group Emily's List, and shows how much contempt she has for pro-life advocates. "Disrupting town hall meetings, running radio ads attacking my colleagues, targeting 70 districts in 2010," she complains. "[Pro-life advocates] will do whatever it takes to regain the majority in the House." "It's a chilling thought, given the work we need to do to get our country back on track. But I'm not discouraged; I'm fighting back," DeLauro says. Full story at LifeNews.com
Former Pro-Life Senate Leader Says 2010 Elections May Provide Pro-Life Boost
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A former pro-life leader in the U.S. Senate is countering analysis from a Congressional magazine saying the 2010 election cycle doesn't provide much hope for the pro-life movement. Rick Santorum, who represented Pennsylvania and was the sponsor of the partial-birth abortion ban, says otherwise. As LifeNews.com reported yesterday, the Hotline says 2010 doesn't look good for the pro-life movement if only because pro-life Republican lawmakers face more challenging re-election races than pro-abortion Democrats. Hotline says Republicans have improved their chances in 2010 but "the inescapable math is that Republicans now have six open Senate seats, five of which are likely to be competitive, whereas Democrats have only two, only one of which is certain to be contested." But Santorum, writing in an email to raise money for candidates, believes the outpouring of opposition to pro-abortion President Barack Obama could turn 2010 into a replay of 1994. That's when pro-life advocates gained control of the House and Senate for the first time in decades. "I believe that we are facing a very similar opportunity today," Santorum writes. "Across our nation, voters are waking up to the disastrous consequences of Barack Obama's presidency." Full story at LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Women's Group Mourns Today's Passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Although other members of the Kennedy family abandoned their pro-life beliefs as their political stock rose, Eunice Kennedy Shriver never did. And for that, pro-life advocates are mourning the passing of the woman who founded Special Olympics. Shriver died this morning at the age of 88 surrounded by her family and she is survived by her husband Sargent Shriver, a former Vice Presidential nominee. Together the Shrivers had five children and twenty-one grandchildren. Shriver, a lifelong pro-life Democrat, was the sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Senator Edward Kennedy. But she was honored by Feminists for Life of America in 1998 as a "Remarkable Pro-Life Woman." When she received the award, FFLA president Serrin Foster tells LifeNews.com, "her husband phoned the office and asked us to send over a stack of copies for his family and friends. He was delighted that we recognized her in this meaningful way." "Her legacy will live on in our work and especially in the work of Special Olympics," Foster says. Full story at LifeNews.com
Death Panels Already Exist, Health Care Bill Makes Current Rationing Even Worse
by Phill Kline
Bioethicists, many with newly constructed abbreviations after their name, need to meet my mother. If the cut wasn't gushing like Mount Vesuvius or a bone wasn't visible, the emergency room was out of the question. Nothing like a little peroxide and a band-aid. Health care rationing by a financially struggling single mother of five leads to better results than a government funded panel of bioethicists. And by the way, my mother just recently passed 70 and I want to keep her alive, something ObamaCare places in jeopardy. To understand the current health care debate you must recognize two things: 1) America long ago set the stage for a government takeover of health care; and 2) the left (mainstream media included) begins the discussion without any respect for the concept of liberty. America has removed the patient from health care and replaced him with payment formularies primarily based on government reimbursement rates. Government already comprises 46 cents of the health care dollar through Medicaid and Medicare. (Insurance companies spend 42 cents and individuals spend 12 cents of every dollar). Physicians groups are increasingly tempted to jettison autonomy and free market ideas for higher government reimbursement rates. Full story at LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Rosa DeLauro has deceived the media and hopes to deceive pro-life advocates into thinking her Congressional bill is an attempt at "common ground" on abortion. But, the House member from Connecticut exposes her hand in a new fundraising email for Emily's List that bashes pro-life advocates. DeLauro is the co-sponsor of a new bill along with pro-abortion Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio that is billed as a middle ground in the abortion debate. The measure, which provides funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business and would require direct taxpayer-funding of abortions, has been panned by pro-life advocates as disingenuous. Now, DeLauro tips her hand in a Tuesday fundraising pitch for the pro-abortion group Emily's List, and shows how much contempt she has for pro-life advocates. "Disrupting town hall meetings, running radio ads attacking my colleagues, targeting 70 districts in 2010," she complains. "[Pro-life advocates] will do whatever it takes to regain the majority in the House." "It's a chilling thought, given the work we need to do to get our country back on track. But I'm not discouraged; I'm fighting back," DeLauro says. Full story at LifeNews.comFormer Pro-Life Senate Leader Says 2010 Elections May Provide Pro-Life Boost
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A former pro-life leader in the U.S. Senate is countering analysis from a Congressional magazine saying the 2010 election cycle doesn't provide much hope for the pro-life movement. Rick Santorum, who represented Pennsylvania and was the sponsor of the partial-birth abortion ban, says otherwise. As LifeNews.com reported yesterday, the Hotline says 2010 doesn't look good for the pro-life movement if only because pro-life Republican lawmakers face more challenging re-election races than pro-abortion Democrats. Hotline says Republicans have improved their chances in 2010 but "the inescapable math is that Republicans now have six open Senate seats, five of which are likely to be competitive, whereas Democrats have only two, only one of which is certain to be contested." But Santorum, writing in an email to raise money for candidates, believes the outpouring of opposition to pro-abortion President Barack Obama could turn 2010 into a replay of 1994. That's when pro-life advocates gained control of the House and Senate for the first time in decades. "I believe that we are facing a very similar opportunity today," Santorum writes. "Across our nation, voters are waking up to the disastrous consequences of Barack Obama's presidency." Full story at LifeNews.comPro-Life Women's Group Mourns Today's Passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Although other members of the Kennedy family abandoned their pro-life beliefs as their political stock rose, Eunice Kennedy Shriver never did. And for that, pro-life advocates are mourning the passing of the woman who founded Special Olympics. Shriver died this morning at the age of 88 surrounded by her family and she is survived by her husband Sargent Shriver, a former Vice Presidential nominee. Together the Shrivers had five children and twenty-one grandchildren. Shriver, a lifelong pro-life Democrat, was the sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Senator Edward Kennedy. But she was honored by Feminists for Life of America in 1998 as a "Remarkable Pro-Life Woman." When she received the award, FFLA president Serrin Foster tells LifeNews.com, "her husband phoned the office and asked us to send over a stack of copies for his family and friends. He was delighted that we recognized her in this meaningful way." "Her legacy will live on in our work and especially in the work of Special Olympics," Foster says. Full story at LifeNews.comby Phill Kline
Bioethicists, many with newly constructed abbreviations after their name, need to meet my mother. If the cut wasn't gushing like Mount Vesuvius or a bone wasn't visible, the emergency room was out of the question. Nothing like a little peroxide and a band-aid. Health care rationing by a financially struggling single mother of five leads to better results than a government funded panel of bioethicists. And by the way, my mother just recently passed 70 and I want to keep her alive, something ObamaCare places in jeopardy. To understand the current health care debate you must recognize two things: 1) America long ago set the stage for a government takeover of health care; and 2) the left (mainstream media included) begins the discussion without any respect for the concept of liberty. America has removed the patient from health care and replaced him with payment formularies primarily based on government reimbursement rates. Government already comprises 46 cents of the health care dollar through Medicaid and Medicare. (Insurance companies spend 42 cents and individuals spend 12 cents of every dollar). Physicians groups are increasingly tempted to jettison autonomy and free market ideas for higher government reimbursement rates. Full story at LifeNews.comOklahoma Judge Hears Arguments Against Abortion Law Allowing Ultrasound View
Oklahoma City, OK (LifeNews.com) -- An Oklahoma judge today held a hearing on a state law to allow women a chance to see an ultrasound of their baby before the abortion begins. An abortion business, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, a pro-abortion law firm based in New York, filed suit to prevent women from seeing them. The law also includes protection for the conscience rights of health care professionals to refuse to participate in abortions, puts more limits in place on the dangerous abortion drug RU 486, and makes sure women are not pressured or forced into having an abortion. But the main section of the law is the ultrasound provision to allow women to see pictures of their unborn child and hopefully seek alternatives. The pro-abortion law firm filed the suit on behalf of Nova Health Systems which operates the Reproductive Services abortion business in Tulsa. Today, Judge Vickie Robertson, who temporarily blocked enforcement of the law in October pending the outcome of the case, heard from abortion advocates who claimed letting women get more information is a bad thing. Full story at LifeNews.com Kansas Woman Heads to Court to Assert Free Speech Rights on Abortion
Overland Park, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A Kansas woman is headed to court tomorrow to assert her free speech rights to protest outside the Planned Parenthood abortion business in Overland Park. In March, the Kansas city filed criminal charges against Kansas City Catholic Diocese employee Carrie Kafka. City officials sued her saying she violated a city ordinance by allegedly obstructing traffic entering and leaving the abortion center's parking lot even though video evidence proves she never obstructed traffic. The pro-life legal group Alliance Defense Fund is handling Kafka's case and attorney Daniel Blomberg will be in court tomorrow to defend her. "Pro-life advocates shouldn't be arrested on baseless charges when they are simply exercising their First Amendment rights," Blomberg told LifeNews.com. "After abandoning its groundless arrest for trespassing, the Overland Park Police came up with the unsubstantiated charge of blocking traffic, which prevented Carrie from exercising her free speech rights. We are pleased to be arguing in her defense at trial." Full story at LifeNews.com
Overland Park, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A Kansas woman is headed to court tomorrow to assert her free speech rights to protest outside the Planned Parenthood abortion business in Overland Park. In March, the Kansas city filed criminal charges against Kansas City Catholic Diocese employee Carrie Kafka. City officials sued her saying she violated a city ordinance by allegedly obstructing traffic entering and leaving the abortion center's parking lot even though video evidence proves she never obstructed traffic. The pro-life legal group Alliance Defense Fund is handling Kafka's case and attorney Daniel Blomberg will be in court tomorrow to defend her. "Pro-life advocates shouldn't be arrested on baseless charges when they are simply exercising their First Amendment rights," Blomberg told LifeNews.com. "After abandoning its groundless arrest for trespassing, the Overland Park Police came up with the unsubstantiated charge of blocking traffic, which prevented Carrie from exercising her free speech rights. We are pleased to be arguing in her defense at trial." Full story at LifeNews.com Encourage Friends to Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
