Saturday, February 26, 2011

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report 2/26/11

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, February 25, 2011

For pro-life news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com.

Current Headlines

Top Stories
• Pro-Lifers to Boehner: Fight for Planned Parenthood De-Funding
• Jindal, Santorum Denounce Truce on Abortion, Social Issues
• Pro-Life Priest Offers to Pay for Baby Joseph's Surgery
• Black Pro-Life Advocates Upset Abortion Billboard Axed in NYC

More Pro-Life News
• FBI Arrests Pro-Abortion Activist for Threatening Pro-Lifers
• Family of Terri Schiavo Comes to Defense of Baby Joseph
• Tax-Subsidized Abortions on College Campuses Must be Stopped

• Planned Parenthood's Coverup: Attacking Pro-Life Hero Phill Kline
• Top Activist Admits Pro-Abortion Movement Losing, in Tailspin
• Abortion Practitioner Placed on Probation for Abusing Drugs
• NBC Still Ignores Planned Parenthood Sex Trafficking Videos
• Louisiana Law Shutting Down Abortion Center Upheld in Court
• Virginia Activists Admit: It's Abortion, Not Women's Health

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Pro-Lifers to Boehner: Fight for Planned Parenthood De-Funding
A few dozen leaders of pro-life organizations sent House Speaker John Boehner a letter on Thursday asking him to fight for the Pence Amendment — the legislative language preventing the Planned Parenthood abortion business from receiving any taxpayer funds under the Continuing Resolution.

The groups fear that the Senate version of the bill to bill to temporarily fund the federal government will not contain similar language — making it so a conference committee of House and Senate leaders will have to negotiate a final version.

When those negotiation take place, which will include Boehner or his representatives, the pro-life groups want the Pence Amendment made a high priority.

The letter, which LifeNews.com signed onto, reads as follows: Full story at LifeNews.com

Jindal, Santorum Denounce Truce on Abortion, Social Issues
Without naming names, two top Republicans have joined in on the condemnation of the idea Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels puts forward saying there should be a truce on social issues like abortion so the next president can deal with the economy.

In a new question and answer session with the magazine Christianity Today, pro-life Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took exception to the call for a truce. Jindal's comments are important because he was considered a potential 2012 presidential candidate and is still highly-regarded by most Republicans.

"Indiana governor Mitch Daniels called for a truce on social issues until economic issues are resolved. Is this possible?" the magazine asked him.

"I think that it's absolutely critical to get the economy growing without raising taxes or increasing the deficit," he responded, but he quickly added his support for social issues.

"I'm also proud to belong to a party that stands for the sanctity of human life and traditional marriage. Those values remain important during good and bad economic times," Jindal said. Full story at LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Priest Offers to Pay for Baby Joseph's Surgery
An American Catholic priest who heads a pro-life group has offered to pay for all of the costs associated with getting 13-month-old Joseph Maraachli from Canada to the United States for surgery so he can go home to be with his parents. Baby Jospeh is the subject of controversy    as his parents are fighting a hospital that wants to remove his breathing tube.

Doctors at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, who have been treating the boy for a fatal degenerative disorder, want to remove the breathing tube that is keeping him alive. His parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, are fully aware that their son will not recover, but they want doctors to fit Joseph with a tracheotomy so they can bring him home as they did eight years ago with their baby daughter Zina, who had a similar condition and died six months after they brought her home.

Instead of doing the tracheotomy, the doctors asked Ontario's Consent and Capacity board for permission to remove the breathing tube. A judge last week agreed with the doctors' position.

Father Frank Pavone, who became known as the "Terri Schiavo Priest" for his role in trying to save the life of a Florida woman in 2005, has joined the fight to save Baby Joseph. Terri's    family is already involved. Full story at LifeNews.com

Black Pro-Life Advocates Upset Abortion Billboard Axed in NYC
Leading black pro-life advocates are not happy that Lamar advertising company took down a billboard a pro-life group put up in the SoHo district of New York City raising awareness about the high rates of abortions on black children.

The pro-life group Life Always paid for the billboard, to try to draw attention to the fact that abortions kill 300,000 black unborn children annually. In fact, new data put out by the CDC Thursday indicates black babies are victims of abortions at a much higher rate than their white or Hispanic counterparts. 
Responding to complaints from abortion advocates, the outdoor advertising company that sold the space to the pro-life group for the billboard said on Thursday that it would remove the four-story sign. It also cited alleged complaints from the employees at the Mexican restaurant located on the bottom floor of the several story building bearing the ad that Lamar said were facing harassment but that local media outlets could not verify.

Catherine Davis of the National Black Prolife Coalition told LifeNews.com the incident will be one pro-life black leaders will touch on at a press conference on Monday, and she complained the billboard "was pulled in an attempt to silence that debate" on abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com

FBI Arrests Pro-Abortion Activist for Threatening Pro-Lifers
FBI officials have arrested a pro-abortion activist who reportedly threatened at least two unnamed pro-life advocates and other pro-life stalwarts.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday arrested abortion supporter Theodore Shulman, 49, and charged him with communicating interstate threats against two pro-life advocates. Shulman is currently being held without bond at Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, which is a federal holding facility.

Operation Rescue officials, who have been on the receiving end of Shulman's threats, were informed about the information in the complaint against him before it went under seal. The two people Shulman threatened are simply referred to as Victim 1 and Victim 2 and the pro-life group told LifeNews.com it is withholding the identities in order to protect their safety.

In addition to the two victims listed in the federal complaint against Shulman, Operation Rescue's two full-time staffers Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger as well as pro-life blogger Jill Stanek have been targets of the pro-abortion activist's threats. Bryan Kemper, the founder of Stand true, the pro-life group that sponsors the red tape day for students to stand up in silent solidarity for unborn children at their schools, also received death threats from Shulman. Full story at LifeNews.com

Family of Terri Schiavo Comes to Defense of Baby Joseph
The family of Terri Schiavo knows something about having the power of medical decisions taken away from them — as they confronted the man who decided to take the live of their beloved daughter and sister. Now, they are coming to the aide of the parents of 13-month-old Joseph Maraachli as they are fighting a hospital that wants to remove his breathing tube.

Baby Joseph has been at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, in October with a rare deteriorating condition that is not improving.

The doctors who have cared for him want to remove his breathing tube but Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader took their battle to court to allow the tube to be removed at home, so the boy can die surrounded by his family. A Superior Court judge in London, Ontario, last week, dismissed the request of the Canadian couple to overturn a decision requiring the removal of their baby's breathing tube in a hospital instead of at home.

Baby Joseph's parents want a tracheotomy performed on their son so they can take him off the respirator and bring him home to live his last days surrounded by family. The London hospital has refused to perform the procedure.

Yesterday, Bobby Schindler, Terri's brother, appeared on behalf of Joseph's parents at a press conference as they responded to the latest developments in the case.

"We are fully supporting (the family) in their efforts to bring Baby Joseph home, which is what our family was trying to do with Terry," he said, according to the London Free Press. "Unfortunately we weren't able to do that. My father could never forgive himself for not being able to protect his daughter." Full story at LifeNews.com

Tax-Subsidized Abortions on College Campuses Must be Stopped
The debate over Obamacare last spring raised the issue of abortion coverage in health-insurance plans. This is more prevalent than many people realize. Last spring, reports indicated that anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent of privately held insurance plans cover abortion services. Even worse, a recently released study by Students for Life of America (SFLA) indicates that abortion is covered by many student insurance plans offered by leading colleges and universities.

The SFLA study carefully researched the health-insurance plans offered by the 200 largest colleges in the United States.

The findings were astonishing. Of the 200 schools studied, 86 offered health-insurance plans that cover abortion. Even worse, 38 schools automatically enroll students into a plan which covers abortion. Now, in many cases students can opt out. However, many will not because they are unaware these plans cover abortion or simply because school-sponsored health plans often cost less than commercial plans. This study clearly reveals that many students and taxpayers are unknowingly subsidizing abortion on college campuses across America. Full story at LifeNews.com

Planned Parenthood's Coverup: Attacking Pro-Life Hero Phill Kline
Phill Kline is a pioneer. In 2007, as Kansas Attorney General, he became the first prosecutor to bring criminal charges against Planned Parenthood anywhere in the country. That lawsuit — all 107 counts, including 23 felonies, which detail illegal abortions and forged records — is still pending, delayed by brazenly corrupt judges arm-in-arm with the abortion industry. Full story at LifeNews.com

Top Activist Admits Pro-Abortion Movement Losing, in Tailspin
Frances Kissling, the former president of Catholics for Choice, wrote an opinion piece in Friday's Washington Post titled, "Abortion rights are under attack, and pro-choice advocates are caught in a time warp." Kissling concedes that the pro-abortion movement has steadily lost ground with the American public because they have been unwilling to adapt their arguments to the changes in science and technology which make the unborn child ever more visible. Full story at LifeNews.com

Abortion Practitioner Placed on Probation for Abusing Drugs
The Arizona Medical Board has issued a decision restricting the medical license of abortion practitioner Gabrielle Goodrick for abusing prescription drugs. Goodrick had her license to practice medicine restricted in December 2010 due to abuse of prescription medication. Now, in a new Order for Probation with License Restriction, the Board issued findings of fact and conclusions of law restricting her use of intravenous and prescription medication and putting her on probation for five years. 
Full stor at LifeNews.com

NBC Still Ignores Planned Parenthood Sex Trafficking Videos
You can lead a network to a story, but you can't make it report. Certainly not if the story reveals the disturbing truth about one of liberalism's sacrosanct institutions – the largest abortion-provider in the United States. The broadcast networks' coverage of the scandal and potential defunding of Planned Parenthood by the House of Representatives has been disgraceful. 
Full story at LifeNews.com

Louisiana Law Shutting Down Abortion Center Upheld in Court
A federal court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by abortion advocates against a Louisiana law requiring them to meet certain patient health and safety regulations. Last November, because they were not content to allow a Louisiana law to stand that allows the health department  to hold abortion centers accountable for violating health and safety standards, five abortion centers and an abortion practitioner filed the lawsuit contenting the law allows the health department to suspend or revoke their licenses "based on any violation of any state or federal law or regulation" without warning. 
Full story at LifeNews.com

Virginia Activists Admit: It's Abortion, Not Women's Health
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, under legislation passed yesterday, any physician's office performing five or more first trimester abortions a month will now be classified as a hospital, subject to special regulations established by the state Board of Health within the next 280 days. Upset by the new legislation – which passed by a bipartisan vote – Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said, "You know and I know there isn't but one issue involved here. It's abortion. … It isn't women's health." 
Full story at LifeNews.com

 

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