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Thursday, March 1, 2012
Thursday Mar 1 2012 -LifeSiteNews
LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report 3/1/12
LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, March 1, 2012
| For pro-life news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. |
Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Senate Defeats Blunt Amendment to Stop Obama HHS Mandate
• Thirteen Catholic Senators Vote Against Religious Liberty
• Conservative Media Icon Andrew Breitbart Passes Away
• Virginia Senate Sends Ultrasound Bill to Gov McDonnell
More Pro-Life News
• Planned Parenthood Closes Webcam Abortion Centers in Iowa
• Sebelius: Fewer Babies Born Will Save Health Care Costs
• CNN Covers for Obama on Supporting Infanticide, Censors Info
• Pro-Life, Pro-Abortion Groups Split on Outcome of Blunt Amdt
• Georgia State House Passes Fetal Pain Based Abortion Ban
• After-Birth Abortions and Infanticide, Where Does it End?
• Man Rides Bicycle Every Day 20 Miles to Protest Abortion
• UN Security Guards Confiscate Pro-Life Fliers from Students
• Catholic Church Not Unsympathetic to Infertile Couples
• Alaska: Teen Abortions Down, Usage of RU 486 Drug Increases
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Senate Defeats Blunt Amendment to Stop Obama HHS Mandate
Leading pro-life organizations called on the Senate to vote for the amendment to the mandate the Obama administration issued, but Democrats banded together against Republicans to defeat it on a 51 to 48 margin by adopting a motion to table, or kill, it.
Key pro-abortion senators, including Clare McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana, voted against the amendment which will energize pro-life advocates against their re-election campaigns this November. On the other side, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska were three Democrats who crossed sides and voted with Republicans to support the amendment.
Pro-abortion Republican Olympia Snowe, a Maine senator who recently announced her retirement, was the only GOP lawmaker to oppose the Blunt amendment. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/senate-defeats-blunt-amendment-to-stop-obama-hhs-mandate/
Thirteen Catholic Senators Vote Against Religious Liberty
Although the Catholic Church and leading pro-life Catholic groups strongly supported the amendment and one Cardinal warned how the Obama HHS mandate might have devastating effects for Catholic health care possibly shutting down hospitals Catholic senators didn t appear to get the message. Thirteen of them voted against the amendment.
By consenting to the disastrous HHS mandate, the U.S. Senate has taken the unprecedented step to deny our religious liberties instead of defending the Constitution, said Matt Smith, president of Catholic Advocate. It is disappointing to witness a group of senators misled on this issue at the expense of one of our key founding principles. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/thirteen-catholic-senators-vote-against-religious-liberty/
Conservative Media Icon Andrew Breitbart Passes Away
Breitbart s website bigjournalism.com and his other media entities that he put together after serving as the editor of the Drudge Report have pushed the pro-life cause and helped organizations like Live Action expose and bring attention to abuses at the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Breitbart s website, Big Government, announced the news Thursday morning.
With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart, the report reads. Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles. We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior. Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love. Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/conservative-media-icon-andrew-breitbart-passes-away/
Virginia Senate Sends Ultrasound Bill to Gov McDonnell
After the Senate approved the bill, the House voted 61-35 for final approval of HB 462 and it now moves to McDonnell s desk. Contact the governor here to ask him to sign the bill.
Abortion advocates in Virginia have come under heavy criticism for equating the ultrasound legislation there would allow women to see before an abortion to rape. Yet, while abortion backers say having an ultrasound is like getting raped, a 2003 study shows 99% of Planned Parenthood abortion facilities do them beforehand.
Virginia Society for Human Life is grateful that the majority of the members of both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly have supported the right of women to have access to this critical and relevant medical information about their own bodies and their unborn children before they make the irreversible decision for an abortion, said Olivia Gans, President of VSH. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/virginia-senate-ultrasound-bill-heads-to-gov-mcdonnell/
Planned Parenthood Closes Webcam Abortion Centers in Iowa
40 Days for Life campaign director Shawn Carney announced the closures yesterday and will join local pro-life advocates at those centers in prayer during the national campaign going on now.
On March 1, Planned Parenthood s failed telemed abortion facilities in Storm Lake and Knoxville, Iowa are closing forever, thanks in part to the hard work and prayers of hundreds of faithful Iowa pro-lifers who participated in 40 Days for Life campaigns outside each facility s doors, said David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life.
Bereit, along with Carney, will speak at events celebrating the closure of the Planned Parenthood telemed abortion facilities in Storm Lake and Knoxville today and tomorrow. They will also visit 40 Days for Life campaigns in the Des Moines area. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/planned-parenthood-closes-webcam-abortion-centers-in-iowa/
Sebelius: Fewer Babies Born Will Save Health Care Costs
The same statutory authority of the Administration to mandate contraception could just as easily mandate abortion on demand. The Administration believes in essence that employers are not really paying for contraceptives or abortion since they would be cheaper than providing for prenatal care, childbirth or child care.
In an exchange with pro-life Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA), Sebelius claimed, The reduction in a number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception. To which Murphy responded, So you re saying by not having babies born, we re going to save money on healthcare? The exchange becomes just another example of the Obama Administration s willingness to trample on basic rights of conscience in order to pay for the massive 2010 federal healthcare law and expand abortion. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/sebelius-fewer-babies-born-will-save-health-care-costs/
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CNN Covers for Obama on Supporting Infanticide, Censors Info
Blitzer, attempting to prove that at least CNN had covered the story, played a clip of special contributor David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network interviewing Obama on the topic.
No surprise, the particular clip by which CNN chose to vindicate itself also appears to vindicate Obama, or at the very least question National Right to Life s portrayal of Obama s opposition to BAIPA http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/cnn-covers-for-obama-on-supporting-infanticide-censors-info/
Pro-Life, Pro-Abortion Groups Split on Outcome of Blunt Amdt
Leading pro-abortion and pro-life groups are split as far apart as possible in their reactions to today s vote in the Senate to defeat the Blunt Amendment protecting religious employers that do not want to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions for their employees. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/pro-life-pro-abortion-groups-split-on-outcome-of-blunt-amdt/
Georgia State House Passes Fetal Pain Based Abortion Ban
The Georgia state House has approved a measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the scientific evidence showing unborn children feel pain.
Known as the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, HB 954 would ban abortions in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy and it includes an exception to protect the life of the mother. Similar bills have been approved in six other states. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/georgia-state-house-passes-fetal-pain-based-abortion-ban/
After-Birth Abortions and Infanticide, Where Does it End?
On February 23, two ethicists published an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics arguing for after-birth abortion. In their words, killing a newborn should be permissible in all cases where abortion is [permissible], including cases where the newborn is not disabled. . http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/after-birth-abortions-and-infanticide-where-does-it-end/
Man Rides Bicycle Every Day 20 Miles to Protest Abortion
Today our national director, David Bereit, and I leave home at 4 a.m. to fly to Iowa, where not one but TWO Planned Parenthood sites are CLOSING after one or more 40 Days for Life campaigns. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/man-rides-bicycle-every-day-20-miles-to-protest-abortion/
UN Security Guards Confiscate Pro-Life Fliers from Students
Youth attending a UN conference on women s issues this week say UN security officers confiscated their backpacks after discovering pro-life literature. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/un-security-guards-confiscate-pro-life-fliers-from-students/
Catholic Church Not Unsympathetic to Infertile Couples
The Catholic Church is often portrayed as unsympathetic to infertile couples. Because the Church finds IVF wrong, others mistakenly believe that the Church has no compassion for the pain and heartbreak of infertility. That is simply untrue. In fact, recently the Pope called for more research into the causes of infertility so that life could be created where it is supposed to be created, in a mother s womb and not in a lab. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/catholic-church-not-unsympathetic-to-infertile-couples/
Alaska: Teen Abortions Down, Usage of RU 486 Drug Increases
The number of abortions performed in Alaska, including abortions on teens, dropped in 2011, according to the annual report from the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics. The bureau s figures are based on reports from abortion clinics across the state. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/alaska-teen-abortions-down-usage-of-ru-486-drug-increases/
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Religious Liberty Suffered a Setback Today in the US Senate - when the Blunt Amendment was defeated along party lines.
https://www.stophhs.com/Stop_HHS.png
Religious Liberty Suffered a Setback Today in the US Senate -
when the Blunt Amendment was defeated along party lines.
Friends,
As always, we sincerely thank you for your partnership in this fight for religious liberty. The National Petition to StopHHS remains committed to bringing you the truth about the HHS Mandate controversy even as the mainstream media falls silent.
By a vote of 51-48 today, Senate Democrats killed an amendment that would have allowed employers and insurers to find creative alternatives to purchasing types of insurance that violate their conscience and the teachings of their Church. As it stands the president's health care law has set aside the conscience exemptions that have been in place for a generation.
"WE CANNOT LET THIS ISSUE GO AWAY. If we do, it is only a matter of years before both religion and liberty will be redefined in American law...and not in a way that encourages either religion or liberty." Al Kresta
We must spread the National Petition to StopHHS so Congress knows we will not surrender our Religious Freedom.
The defeat of the Blunt Amendment is sad but not unexpected. Since the president misled the American people on February 10, the press has not done the kind of follow-up investigations we should expect from a free press. The mainstream press has repeatedly adopted the framework of the Obama administration in its reporting.
The press maintains that this is, first of all, a women's health issue.
It has not seriously asked why contraception is a health rather than a lifestyle matter. It has even used statistics that have now been shown to be highly misleading.
It largely ignores the ominous implications for religious liberty and freedom of conscience. Never before has the Federal government forced religious institutions to engage in behavior or to spend its money on policies that are considered "sinful" and scandalous. This coercion of conscience IS the distinct feature of this debate. We've never seen it before.
It gives a disproportionate amount of time to supporters of the President's policies and a mere fraction of that time to the leaders of the Church institutions that are most violated by this law. This is a strange reversal of roles. The press normally likes to idealize itself as a prod for justice and, to that end, highlight the complaints of those who have been victimized by the powerful. In this case, the press has sided with the powerful against those individuals and institutions that are being coerced against their will.
That this vote was almost entirely along partisan lines is symptomatic of what is wrong in our public deliberations. Issues of conscience normally allow men and women to cross the aisle since matters of faith and conscience are thought to transcend political party. Apparently, not this time. Only three Democrats joined the Republicans on this.
You will hear people say that we just don't exempt people from insurance programs for reasons of conscience because to do so would be chaotic. This is false. Right now the Archdiocese of New York is self insured, EWTN is self insured, and scores of other Catholic institutions are self insured to avoid this very problem. The mandate will force them to abandon this creative solution in exchange for a one-size fits all straightjacket approach.
You will hear people say that this is about birth control. Only secondarily. This is about the Federal government forcing religious institutions that are now exempt to make a choice between following the teaching of their Church or obeying the law. This is not a choice anyone needs to make in America.
Our work must continue. Contact your senators and tell them what you think and better yet, what you will do in response to their courage or their capitulation. Three Democrats, Sens. Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) voted with Republicans in favor of the amendment, and only one Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), voted against it. We need to continue to contact our Congressional Reps. In support of the partner legislation in the House - HR1179 sponsored by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.
WE CANNOT LET THIS ISSUE GO AWAY. If we do, it is only a matter of years before both religion and liberty will be redefined in American law...and not in a way that encourages either religion or liberty.
Thanks,
Al
https://www.stophhs.com/?utm_source=Blunt+Amendment+Fails+on+Party+Lines+%252...
HLI Statement: Senate Rejects Life and Liberty in Vote Against Blunt Amendment
FRONT ROYAL, Virginia - Human Life International President Father Shenan J. Boquet released the following statement today in response to the U.S. Senate's rejection of the "Blunt Amendment" proposed by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) to exempt employers with moral objections from the Obama administration's birth control/abortifacient mandate:
"What we saw in the Senate today was a rejection of the First Amendment by 51 politicians who all took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. With their vote today, these 51 Senators sent a message that they reject religious liberty for the American people.
"Just as troubling as affirming a rejection of religious liberty is that these Senators voted for an attack on life. We cannot forget that President Obama's heinous mandate on employers, enacted through Obamacare, will provide 'free' funding of potentially abortion-causing drugs such as the 'emergency contraceptive' Ella.
"We should never be asked, much less forced, to compromise our faith, nor should we be forced to fund the destruction of innocent human life. Human Life International will proudly stand with other organizations and persons of conscience in resisting President Obama's unjust mandate."
The full roll call of the vote, including the 51 Senators who voted against the "Blunt Amendment," can be found on the U.S. Senate website.
About HLI: Human Life International: For the Glory of God and defense of Life, Faith and Family. Founded in 1981, HLI is the world's largest international pro-life and pro-family organization, with affiliates and associates in over 100 countries on six continents. www.hli.org
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Statement available online here: http://bit.ly/xsNwV7
Social and National Security Costs of Gendercide
NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) together with REAL Women of Canada will host a panel presentation titled "Gender Inequality: In Population Control Programs" on Tuesday, March 6 at 2:30 p.m.
Heroic News: “Today the Senate Voted “No” on Choice.” plus 11 more
- Today the Senate Voted “No” on Choice.
- Students turning to prostitution to pay debt
- 3 year old boy calls 911, saves grandma's life
- Breaking: Senate kills Blunt amendment on religious freedom
- Deer rescues woman from attacker
- Wash. Senate nears vote to mandate abortion coverage
- Scottish midwives lose abortion objection case
- Sitting Senator poses with vulgar sign at anti-life rally
- Academics' defense of infanticide supported by pro-choice logic
- ‘Yes, We Are Serious’: Ethicists Defend ‘After-Birth Abortion’
- Dr Death to make house calls
- URGENT ACTION: Contact your Senator before 11 am TODAY to Support the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act!
| Today the Senate Voted “No” on Choice.
Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:37 AM PST The Senate today trampled individual freedom and rights of conscience. It also trivialized women’s health and the opinions of women. Many women, either as individuals or business owners, do not want to subsidize the cost of contraception. |
| Students turning to prostitution to pay debt
Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:27 AM PST Working part-time in the dining hall apparently isn't cutting it these days to help pay the bills. University students in the U.K. who don't want to graduate with thousands of dollars in student loans are taking their financial destinies into their own hands by turning to prostitution, according to a new study. |
| 3 year old boy calls 911, saves grandma's life
Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:22 AM PST A three-year-old boy calls 911 after grandmother suffers a seizure. |
| Breaking: Senate kills Blunt amendment on religious freedom Posted: 01 Mar 2012 10:46 AM PST Democrats managed to wrangle enough votes to table the Blunt amendment that would have amended the HHS mandate to allow employers a religious-conscience exemption from the requirement to supply free contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization to their employees. |
| Deer rescues woman from attacker
Posted: 01 Mar 2012 07:11 AM PST While a man was attacking a woman – choking her with her purse straps and punching her in the forehead – a deer darted in the darkness, startling the attacker and scaring him away, police said Monday. |
| Wash. Senate nears vote to mandate abortion coverage Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:52 AM PST While lawmakers in Washington clash over birth control, lawmakers in Washington state are close to passing a first-of-its-kind law that would require insurers to cover abortion services. |
| Scottish midwives lose abortion objection case
Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:46 AM PST Two Catholic midwives from Scotland have lost their legal battle to avoid taking part in abortion procedures on grounds of “conscientious objection.” |
| Sitting Senator poses with vulgar sign at anti-life rally Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:44 AM PST Tuesday, Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre of Tulsa, disregarding the decorum due to her office, held up a sign at an anti-Personhood Amendment rally that read "If I wanted the government in my womb I'd f--- a senator." The senator posed smiling widely for photographs with the anti-personhood protesters whose sign she had borrowed. |
| Academics' defense of infanticide supported by pro-choice logic Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:42 AM PST Abortion supporters can see their own principles and logic reflected in a new article advocating the killing of newborn children, published by the Journal of Medical Ethics in February 2012. |
| ‘Yes, We Are Serious’: Ethicists Defend ‘After-Birth Abortion’ Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:30 AM PST Two ethicists have made an argument for allowing "after-birth abortions" -- the killing newborns who were not considered people by the authors' definition of personhood -- in a peer-reviewed academic article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics. |
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Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:19 AM PST Six specialised medical teams will criss-cross the Netherlands to carry out euthanasia on patients at home whose own doctors refused to do so. |
| Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:11 AM PST This morning at 11 am Eastern the U.S. Senate will vote on the bill that would fix President Obama’s HHS attack on religious freedom. Your Senators need to hear from you this morning |
