Election pro-life briefs

August 5, 2008

Top NARAL Activist Promises to Keep Democratic Party Platform Pro-Abortion Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Every four years Americans elect a president and both political parties hold conventions to coronate their nominee and build up excitement in advance of the November elections. They also review and approve party platforms and one top pro-abortion is ready to get involved. NARAL president Nancy Keenan informed her supporters on Tuesday that she is headed to Pittsburgh this Thursday to participate in the Democratic Party's platform committee meetings. When she's there, she promises to keep the party's position in support of unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense in place. "On Thursday, I have the privilege of traveling to Pittsburgh to sit on the Democratic Party Platform Committee to discuss, amend, and ratify the party platform," she told NARAL members in an email. She urged the pro-abortion activists to send emails to members of the platform committee to keep the language as pro-abortion as possible. Keenan will likely vote along with other platform committee members on a proposal from pro-life Democrats that some sarcastically consider throwing a bone to the pro-life community to get pro-life voters to back pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama. In an idea that is more symbolism over substance, a leading Democratic Party activist says he wants to add language to the Democratic Party platform calling for the "reduction" of abortions. Yet the proposal wouldn't call for any actual bills or efforts to limit abortions. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Supreme Court, Abortion in the Balance: Obama and McCain Split on Judges
by Dave Andrusko

I hope to convince anyone willing to listen to the facts that Sen. Barack Obama is pro-abortion to the hilt and that Sen. John McCain has never been given proper credit for his 100% voting record on abortion. When pro-lifers think about the importance of presidential elections, near the very top of the list is the kind of Supreme Court nominee the candidate would send to the Senate. (Lower court appointments are also hugely important.) The National Journal's Stuart Taylor provided a comprehensive look at this very question last week. "Among the starkest contrasts between John McCain and Barack Obama is the dramatic difference in their promised approaches to judicial appointments, especially to the closely divided Supreme Court." His analysis is not without flaws. But, while some of the strokes are smudged, Taylor does essentially get the big picture right. The choice could not be clearer. Obama's role model is Earl Warren and results-driven jurisprudence. McCain's nominees would be in the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts, who render their decisions (as McCain said in his Wake Forest University speech) from "the clear meanings of the Constitution, and from the clear limits of judicial power that the Constitution defines." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Abortion Advocates Tell Barack Obama: You Better Pick Hillary Clinton for VP Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- With just weeks to go before the Democratic convention at the end of August, pro-abortion activists have one message for their presidential nominee: you better pick Hillary Clinton as your running mate. Obama's decision could have a significant impact on the November elections. Several abortion advocates said Obama has an obligation to pick the woman who came the closest ever to becoming a major party's nominee for president. Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 pro-abortion vice-presidential nominee, said Obama should be "gracious" enough to offer Clinton the vice-presidency because of her close second place finish. She said Obama can't pick any of the other pro-abortion women political pundits are speculating he might choose. "Those are women who we spent our lifetime helping run for office" and that "a lot of us are not happy with these women for not supporting Hillary because they came to us for help based in large part on their gender," she said. While Ferraro took the high road in the comments, other abortion activists pulled no punches. Clinton supporters "would be outraged to know she was not given that right of first refusal," Marcia Pappas, the head of the New York chapter of NOW, said. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Newspaper Gets It Wrong on How Pro-Life Catholic Voters Should Treat Abortion
by Deal Hudson

There will be much media mischief aimed at Catholic voters between now and November 4. Perhaps the best example thus far appeared in the Trenton Times on July 30. The headline of reporter Jeff Trently's article tells you all you need to know about his intentions: "U.S. Bishops: Vote your conscience, Catholics urged to weigh stands on all issues." But Trently's version of the erroneous conscience-is-king argument is notable for several reasons: First, his bias is more obvious than usual; secondly, he puts the worst possible spin on a controversial line from "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" published by the USCCB. Finally, he misinterprets quotations from Bishop John Smith of Trenton, the bishop's communications director, Ravenne Bennett, and the director of the Office of Social Concerns, Rev. Ronald Cioffi. Trently begins his report with a declaration: "Single-issue voting, like simply choosing the anti-abortion candidate, is out." In other words, the consistent teaching of the Church regarding the non-negotiable life issues is no longer more important than other issues. Did I miss an encyclical or a change in the Catechism of the Catholic Church? According to Trently, all issues now carry equal weight. Catholic voters may weigh "each candidate's view on the entire spectrum of social issues -- including the war in Iraq, health care, housing, the plight of immigrants, as well as abortion." What is Trently's evidence for this momentous change in Church teaching regarding political participation? Full story at LifeNews.com.

National Polls Show Presidential Race Tied Between McCain and Obama
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Two new national polls released on Friday show the presidential race tied between John McCain and Barack Obama. A new Gallup daily tracking poll shows the race tied at 44 percent apiece and a Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows Obama up by just one point -- within the margin of error. The Gallup poll tracks 1,000 random voters every day and it showed Barack Obama getting a temporary surge due to his European trip. However, after he returned home, McCain has come on strong and move from a 48 to 40 percent disadvantage to having the race tied. Obama dropped four percent and McCain made up four percent during that time. A tie is the closest the race has been in July since Obama had a mere 45-44 percentage point lead in the middle of the month before his trip. The Rasmussen poll shows the race at 47-46 percent for Obama when leaners are included. The poll also shows the same trend towards McCain as it had Obama leading as high as 49 to 43 percent at the beginning of the week. Obama has dropped two percent and McCain has gained three since then. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Barack Obama's Wife Michelle to Join Hillary Clinton at Pro-Abortion Dinner
Denver, CO (LifeNews.com)

-- During the Democratic convention in Denver where pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama will be coronated as the party's nominee, a leading pro-abortion group will put on a big shindig. Emily's List will unite failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Obama's wife Michelle. That Barack Obama's wife would attend a gala for a pro-abortion group that supports partial-birth abortions and taxpayer-funded abortions is no surprise. Michelle Obama came under fire in May for a letter she wrote defending partial-birth abortions. The 2004 letter, written to help Obama in his campaign for his U.S. Senate seat, opposes the ban on the abortion procedure. The pairing of Clinton and Obama will be a means of raising funds for the presidential election -- giving the leading pro-abortion group cash to bash John McCain. But the event will have an emotional impact as well, since Emily's List was squarely in Clinton's corner during the primary and fought with the Obama camp before the junior senator clinched the nomination. Full story at LifeNews.com

Whoppi Goldberg Wrongfully Says John McCain Flip-Flopped on Abortion
Hollywood, CA (LifeNews.com)

-- The ladies on The View are back in the limelight again and this time its longtime pro-abortion activist Whoopi Goldberg who makes headlines. The actress and national Planned Parenthood board member is getting heat from a media watchdog who says she wrongly claimed John McCain flip-flopped on abortion. Justin McCarthy writes on the Media Research Center blog Newsbusters that, 'Goldberg claimed McCain flipped on abortion, or as Whoopi calls it, 'a woman’s right to choose.'" Goldberg said, referring to McCain: "He did believe that a woman’s right to choose was on. He did not feel that, that was something that should have gone away. And now he has changed his mind." McCarthy says "Whoopi asserted McCain once supported abortion rights but no longer does not," but she needs to do a little research. "Perhaps Whoopi should check her own facts for, according to one of Whoopi’s favorite organizations, the National Abortion Rights Action League, NARAL, McCain was very hostile to their agenda," he explained. Full story at LifeNews.com.

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August 5, 2008

Chinese Christian Couple Talks About Escaping Potential Forced Abortion
Midland, TX (LifeNews.com)

-- A Chinese couple is happily living in Texas after escaping both religious persecution and a potential forced abortion for breaking China's one-child family planning law. Bob and Heidi Fu are but one example of the human rights problems Chinese people face despite China's holding the Summer Olympics. When Fu and his wife discovered they had become pregnant with their first child -- without getting permission from the government -- they knew they had to leave the country. "My wife was pregnant without the pregnancy permission card. You know in China the one child policy [applies] even for the first child," Bob Fu told NewsWest 9. The Asian nation has strict requirements about couples getting pregnant and forces them to be married and of a certain age at the time of the birth. "She faced danger of forced abortion, and no hospital in Beijing would allow to do a basic physical test," Fu said. The couple made their way to Hong Kong and eventually received religious refugee status with the help of the U.S. government. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Comatose Patient Glad Parents Didn't Listen to Doctors' Euthanasia Suggestion Casper, WY (LifeNews.com)

-- Opponents of assisted suicide have always said that legalizing the grisly practice would lead to euthanasia, where patients would be killed without their request or consent. A Wyoming man who was formally brain dead and comatose is glad that his parents didn't listen to doctors, who suggested taking his life. Kevin Monk suffered both several psychical and brain injuries when he was injured in an automobile accident eight years ago. The 25-year-old went into a coma after the impact of the accident and had no brain function for 18 days afterwards. Monk spent three months in the coma and, during that time, he told the Casper Star-Tribune that his physicians apparently tried to talk his parents into taking his life. "Some of the doctors told Mom and Dad to just pull the plug," Monk said, upset to learn that now that he's recovering from his injuries. "Doctors are there to heal, not to give up." Monk's mom, Janice, also talked with the newspaper about the prompting and the incorrect diagnosis that Monk would never recover and be in a so-called persistent vegetative state. "We heard that for months," she said. "From every place we went, they told us he'd never be anything but a vegetable." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Swiss Group Doing Assisted Suicides Wants to Let Elderly be Killed, Too
Geneva, Switzerland (LifeNews.com)

-- A group in Switzerland that facilities assisted suicides is no longer reserving them for the terminally ill. At the annual conference and general membership meeting of the group Exit International, the organization overwhelmingly adopted a resolution to that effect. The resolution requires the organization at its 2009 meeting to take a vote on whether their statutes shall be amended to add "being tired of old-age" to the current eligibility criteria for killing people via assisted suicide. American bioethicist Wesley J. Smith isn't surprised. "Once one accepts the premise that suicide is an acceptable answer to the problems of human suffering and ennui, there are no boundaries that will hold for long," he said. "This isn't an outrider." Back in 2001, the Dutch Minster of Health suggested that elderly people who are tired of life be given suicide pills--right after her country formally legalized euthanasia. "I am not against it, as long as it can be carefully enough regulated so that it only concerns very old people who have had enough of living," Els Borst told the NRC Handelsblad newspaper on Saturday.

UNFPA's Annual Report Focuses on "Reproductive Health," Meaning Abortion New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM)

-- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently released its annual report for 2007, touting principally the organization’s work in the field of “sexual and reproductive health.” The radical nature of the document is revealed in the number of times certain issues are mentioned. In a 36 page document "reproductive health" or "reproductive rights", which are used as euphemisms for abortion, are mentioned 80 times. Widespread killers like malaria and tuberculosis do not receive any mention at all. Clean water, clearly one of the chief problems of the world's poor, does not receive a mention and safe sanitation, the lack of which is a leading killer in the developing world, received one mention. The annual report reveals that in 2007, over half of UNFPA’s program expenses went to reproductive health programs, at a cost of $146.6 million. Region by region, more funds were spent on reproductive health initiatives than any other program. Though UNFPA refuses to release detailed accounting of its programs and the annual report lacks the detailed financial accounting commonplace in annual corporate filings, it provides anecdotes of agency expenditures. Full story at LifeNews.com

British Teenager Had Four Abortions Before Turning 16 Years-Old, No Regrets London, England (LifeNews.com)

-- A British teenager says she had four abortions by the time she was 16 years-old because she didn't realize she was too immature to have sexual relations and didn't respond to pleas from her mother. The London Daily Mail profiled the teenager this past week: "Lucy Lanelly was just 12 years old when she had her first abortion. She's blanked out most of the memories, but what she does recall are her mother Shelley's tears of shame as they arrived at the private clinic, and the disapproving looks of the medical staff when they discovered Lucy's age. She does not remember feeling frightened at the prospect of the operation, only a strange, emotional numbness and feeling of guilt at having upset her mother. Her chief emotion when she came round from the general anaesthetic was one of relief; that she could forget she'd ever been pregnant and get back to school. 'I didn't understand what was going on,' she says. 'My mum organized the termination and I went along with it, but it was the right thing to do. 'There was no question of keeping the baby. I didn't want it. I was too young to have a baby. It was a mistake.' A traumatic experience for one so young, yet by the time she was 16, Lucy had made three more 'mistakes.' The second termination, aged 13, was again organized by her mother - a mental health nurse - who was this time furious with her wayward daughter for ignoring her lectures, and sat by her side in stony silence at the clinic. When Lucy fell pregnant again, aged 15, she was too frightened to tell her mother, so it was her grandmother who took her to the clinic, unaware of the previous two abortions. Lucy organized her fourth termination, aged 16, without telling anyone. She insists each time it was the right decision and that her four abortions have left no lasting emotional damage."

Is Euthanasia Next After Oregon Promotes Assisted Suicide Over Treatment?
by Cal Thomas

Most inhumanities start small, like the beginning of a tsunami, but then build, as they head toward inevitable and unstoppable destruction. It is difficult to pinpoint the precise beginning of the cultural tsunami that has devalued human life. Did it begin with the subjugation of women? Did it begin with slavery? The Nazis made their contribution with the Holocaust and Josef Mengele’s hideous human experiments. Surely unrestricted abortion added to the growing list of inhumanities. Now we have the next wave. Randy Stroup is a 53-year-old Oregon man who has prostrate cancer, but no insurance to cover his medical treatment. The state pays for treatment in some cases, but it has denied help to Stroup. State officials have determined that chemotherapy would be too expensive and so they have offered him an alternative: death.. Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law allows taxpayers to pay for someone to kill Stroup, because it’s cheaper than trying to heal him. How twisted is this? Full story at LifeNews.com.

California Abortion Advocates Go After Details of Parental Notification Proposal Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com)

-- Abortion advocates in California are going after a state ballot proposition that would allow parental notification on abortions. They are saying the measure's ballot summary should be changed because the teen the law is named after was married at the time of the abortion that killed her. Named for a 15-year-old girl who died just four days after a legal abortion left her with a torn cervix and fatal infection, Sarah's Law, if approved, will protect the health and safety of young girls. The California Secretary of State qualified Sarah's Law for the November ballot after backers submitted enough signatures for it and named it Proposition 4. But California Planned Parenthood advocates have sued state officials saying Sarah was in a common-law marriage with a man from Texas at the time of her death. The abortion business filed the lawsuit Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court asking that Sarah's story be removed from the ballot materials voters will receive saying it is misleading. Full story at LifeNews.com.

United Nations Committee Wants Britain to Legalize Abortion in Northern Ireland London, England (LifeNews.com)

-- In advance of a debate in the British Parliament on whether or not to extend the 1967 legalizing abortion in Britain to Northern Ireland, a UN panel has weighed in. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which has pestered other nations to legalizing abortions, says move ahead. Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland unless the life of the mother is in danger or the continuation of the pregnancy would cause the woman very serious health issues. The CEDAW committee repeated its earlier call for MPs to approve an amendment to the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to force abortion on Northern Ireland. Members of parliament are slated to debate the bill, and an amendment promoting abortion from Labour MP Diane Abbott, sometime this Fall. The panel claimed the lack of legalized abortion in Northern Ireland is hurting women's health, even though abortion has a plethora of problematic medical and mental health consequences. The new report calls the lack of abortion in Northern Ireland a "punitive provision" of the original 1967 abortion law that allowed virtually unlimited abortions in the UK. Full story at LifeNews.com

Rape Victim's Book Recounts Added Horror of Abortion After Sexual Abuse
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A majority of Americans take a pro-life position opposing most or all abortions, but polls show one-third to one-half of pro-life people believe abortion should be okay in cases of rape and incest. A new book from a rape survivor shows the added horror abortion is that only compounds sexual abuse trauma. In a gripping personal account of pain and redemption, author Nicole W. Cooley offers a candid look at her rape as a young military officer by a trusted friend. She relates the devastating emotional consequences of her decision to abort the child conceived during the attack. "I felt that the abortion was like being raped again," says Cooley. "Only this time, it was much worse because I had consented to the assault." Cooley is the author of "Into the Light: Rape, Abortion and the Truth that Set Me Free" (Pleasant Word, 2007), which provides an intimate look at the trauma associated with abortion - even in the case of rape. "At the time of my abortion I believed that I didn't have another choice. It's devastating to believe you have to choose between your life and the life of your child - and then live with the aftermath of that decision," she explains in a statement to LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com

Oregon Tells Patients State Will Pay for Assisted Suicide, Not Health Care
Salem, OR (LifeNews.com)

-- It's happened again -- another Oregon resident has heard form state officials that it will happily pay for an assisted suicide but will not pay for the medical treatment he needs. For the second time in just over the last month, a patient has said the state health insurance plan has promoted death over medical care. Randy Stroup is a 53-year-old Dexter, Oregon resident who faces a troubling bout of prostate cancer. As an uninsured resident with a need for expensive chemotherapy he applied to the Oregon health insurance plan for help. Lane Individual Practice Association administers the Oregon Health Plan in Stroup's county and they responded to his request with a letter saying the state would not cover the treatment but would pay for an assisted suicide. "It dropped my chin to the floor," Stroup told FOX News. "[How could they] not pay for medication that would help my life, and yet offer to pay to end my life?" The letter has been sent to other terminal patients in the state and it follows state legislative guidelines saying the state will not cover life-prolonging treatment unless there is a better than five percent chance the patient will live for five or more years. Full story at LifeNews.com.

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August 12, 2008

McCain, Obama to Attend Forum at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church
by Whitney Farr, CitizenLink staff

‘This is a critical time for our nation, and the American people deserve to hear both candidates speak from the heart.’ Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will make their first joint appearance at a public forum with the Rev. Rick Warren on Aug. 16 at California’s Saddleback Church. “The primaries proved that Americans care deeply about the faith, values, character and leadership convictions of candidates as much as they do about the issues,” Warren said in a news release. “This is a critical time for our nation, and the American people deserve to hear both candidates speak from the heart – without interruption – in a civil and thoughtful format absent the partisan ‘gotcha’ questions that typically produce heat instead of light.”

Republican McCain and Democrat Obama will appear separately to discuss what Warren describes as the “main area of focus” – AIDS, poverty, human rights and environment. Tom Minnery, senior vice president of Focus on the Family Action, said that while those topics are important, he hopes the candidates will also address the issues that are on the minds of the majority of Christians – the sanctity of human life and marriage.

“It will be interesting to see the direction that Rick Warren takes these interviews,” Minnery said. “I am not certain that he will get into deeply religious issues with either of these candidates and that would be disappointing. While the issues of HIV/AIDS and climate are interesting, any secular reporter could ask about those. He ought to ask questions that go deep to the heart of Christianity.” Minnery said it’s not enough for the candidates to address their remarks in Christian rhetoric; they must explain their voting records. “One of (Obama’s) strongest positions was against the right for a child, which has survived an abortion to be guaranteed life,” Minnery said. “And (McCain) does say that he supports God’s institution of marriage, but he will not say anything very strongly about marriage.” Regardless of the forum’s outcome, Minnery is pleased the candidates have chosen to make their first joint appearance in a church. “That says to me they understand how important men and women of faith are to their chances of winning the White House,” he said.

Bush Administration Responds to Pro-Abortion Criticism of Rule Protecting Docs Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- The head of the Health and Human Services deportment is responding to concerns from pro-abortion groups that a proposed rule to protect pro-life doctors would somehow limit contraception and birth control. Secretary Mike Leavitt said that reading of the rule is incorrect. The Bush administration proposal protects pro-life doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who don't want to be involved in abortions by enforcing existing laws. The measure includes a definition of abortion that makes it clear it is a practice that destroys a human life after the point of conception, but abortion advocates claim the definition redefines birth control and will limit it. That's not so, according to a post Leavitt placed on the blog he uses on the department's web site. "An early draft of the regulation found its way into public circulation before it had reached my review," he said. "It contained words that lead some to conclude my intent is to deal with the subject of contraceptives, somehow defining them as abortion. Not true." He said the proposed federal regulations are only a protection for medical professionals who don't want to be forced to do abortions. "The department is still contemplating if it will issue a regulation or not," Leavitt said. "If it does, it will be directly focused on the protection of practitioner conscience." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Pro-Life Advocates Protesting Forced Abortions in China Deported Back to US Beijing, China (LifeNews.com)

-- The three pro-life advocates protesting forced abortions in China at the start of the Summer Olympics have been deported back to the United States. The three were arrested two times and, after the second arrest, Chinese officials took them to the airport and put them on a plane bound for Los Angeles. Pro-life supporters greeted Patrick Mahoney, Brandi Swindell and Mike McMonagle when they arrived safely at LAX airport on an Air China flight. The three were arrested on Thursday morning in Beijing at Tiananmen Square as they attempted to speak to the press about the problem of forced abortions in China resulting from the nation's coercive one-child family planning policy. After the second arrest, Chinese officials disabled their cell phones preventing them from contacting friends and family. Mahoney told AP that Chinese security officials detained them the second time and told them they were not under arrest but couldn't leave the area where they were held for 10 hours. He said the officials revoked their travel visas, demanded they sign some legal papers and pay $2,000 each for a flight home. When they refused to pay, the officials paid for the flights and took them to the airport saying they would face jail time if they tried to remain in the country. "We didn't do anything wrong. We were speaking up for the Chinese people. We refused to pay," Mahoney said. Full story at LifeNews.com.

With Abortion Backing, Is It Fair to Say Barack Obama Supports Infanticide?
by Deal Hudson

Objections continue to be raised to the charge that Senator Barack Obama supports infanticide, most recently in a Huffington Post column by Seth Colter Walls. I have made this claim myself, as have Sen. Rick Santorum, Terry Jeffreys, Jill Stanek, Bill Donohue, Gary Bauer, and Nat Hentoff. It's a dramatic charge, but here are the facts. No one disputes that for three years running, while an Illinois state senator (from 2001 to 2003), Barack Obama was faced with a decision about a bill mandating medical care for children born alive during induced abortions. (The Illinois bill was called the Induced Infant Liability Act.) No one disputes that in 2001 he voted against medical care for these children in committee and voted "present" on the floor; in 2002, against the bill both in committee and on the floor; and in 2003, as chairman of the committee, kept the bill from going to the floor at all. And yet in spite of the facts, Obama's backers continue to insist that he should not be considered a supporter of infanticide. But why shouldn't his opposition to the Illinois bill earn him that label? After all, in opposing the state legislation, Obama signaled his willingness to allow newborns to die without receiving medical attention after surviving a failed abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Democratic Platform for Unlimited Tax-Funded Abortions Won't Make Them Rare Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- The strong opposition to the proposed Democratic Party platform on abortion continues as columnists and pro-life groups chime in. Attorney David Limbaugh has a new nationally syndicated column saying the pro-abortion platform makes hypocritical claims that abortion should be made "rare." As LifeNews.com initially reported last week, the platform backs unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense but also tries to moderate the party's image with support for childbirth and birth control. Given the language in the proposal, which party activists will approve at their convention later this month, Limbaugh wonders: "Isn't it time the party quit this charade that it wants to make abortion 'rare?'" He also blasts the party for removing the conscience clause contained in the 1996 and 2000 platforms that the pro-life group Democrats for Life promoted to call for including pro-life Democrats. The conscience clause "at least paid lip service to tempering the platform's express support of" abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Why I Can't Watch the Olympic Games: Forced Abortions, Abuses in China
by Steve Mosher

--Had the National Population and Family Planning Commission not rescinded its invitation, I would be in China right now as the Olympics opened. But the Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the one-child policy, belatedly realized that I was a well-known critic of that policy--and of that country's human rights record in general-- and barred the door. I confess to not having been overly disappointed by their decision. Despite the fact that I read, write and speak Chinese, it would have been nearly impossible for me to do anything else in Beijing but the one thing that I will not do: attend the Games. For reasons that I will explain below, I have decided to boycott them from start to finish. It is true that I would have welcomed the opportunity to visit my friends in Beijing, but I wouldn't have felt free to do this for fear of getting them in trouble. China's capital, you see, has been turned into an armed camp. Plainclothes policemen are everywhere and, even if I managed to avoid human spies, the more than 30,000 surveillance cameras that have been have been installed throughout the city in recent months would have tracked my movements anyway. For some time now, I haven't even dared to communicate with my friends by e-mail or phone, because I knew that all communications into or out of China are being monitored. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Rescue Me: The Moral and Ethical Problems of Creating Savior Siblings
by Jennifer Lahl

--Another story is in the news again brings us the issue of "savior siblings". Creating a savior sibling raises some serious ethical issues. Consider a situation in which a sick child needs a genetically matched bone marrow (i.e. cord blood stem cell) transplant: is it right to produce embryo siblings, find the genetic match, and implant that embryo into the mother's womb, in order to provide the sick sibling with a donor? Best-selling novels, like Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper, tell of the strain this real-life drama takes on a family. Strain between the mother and father (and the husband and wife) as they struggle daily with the real needs of a chronically-ill child who lives daily in the shadow of death. And then there's the strain that exists between the siblings, as they come to realize their unique and very unusual relationship. One child lives only because another one needed him to be born. The child feels like a means to someone else's end, because they are in fact, a means to an end. Full story at LifeNews.com.

California Hispanic Group Joins Opposition to Legislation Promoting Euthanasia Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com)

-- Pro-life and disability rights groups in California are already getting out calls and emails to lawmakers about a measure that promotes euthanasia. Now one of the leading Hispanic groups in the state, LULAC, is on board and joining the fight against the measure. The groups are opposed to AB 2747, a measure sponsored by the lawmaker who has repeatedly tried to legalize assisted suicide. The bill, as the California Pro-Life Council has said, encourages medically vulnerable individuals to kill themselves through voluntary dehydration. Though lawmakers make some minor changes to the legislation to alleviate the concerns of pro-life groups, neither CPLC nor the National Right to Life Committee have dropped their concerns and opposition. Now, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the state has chimed in as well. The group approved a resolution noting that the bill is sponsored by the pro-assisted suicide organization compassion and Choices. It complains that "AB 2747 places the label of 'terminally ill' on patients that may have many years of life ahead of them." Full story at LifeNews.com.

United Nations AIDS Conference in Mexico City Pushes Abortion, Bashes Abstinence Mexico City, Mexico (LifeNews.com/CFAM)

-- Abortion rights advocates are using the XVII International AIDS Conference taking place this week in Mexico City to advance a pro-abortion agenda and to criticize the Catholic Church for not blessing the distribution of condoms. Known as “AIDS 2008,” the biennial conference is sponsored by the International AIDS Society and bears the supporting imprimatur of the United Nations’ UNAIDS agency and the World Health Organization. The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a public interest law firm that advocates for abortion, is hosting three talks during AIDS 2008 addressing the denial of “medically necessary abortions” to HIV positive women, among other topics. CRR has long boasted that it “pioneered” the use of international litigation in seeking to impose abortion throughout Latin America and elsewhere. The group has been active in Mexico, filing a third-party intervention in a case currently pending before that country’s Supreme Court in support of a liberalized first-trimester abortion law passed by Mexico City’s Legislative Assembly last year. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Poll Shows Evangelical Christians Back McCain, Catholics Mostly Undecided Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A new poll of voters based on their religious views makes it clear the pro-life community has significantly more educational work to do to show voters where the candidates stand on abortion. The poll finds John McCain leading among evangelicals -- but his support dropping -- while Catholics are mostly undecided. The Barna Group polling firm put out the new poll and breaks down the electorate into more segments than most pollsters. The three largest groups of voters include mainline Protestants, Catholics, and evangelicals. McCain holds a huge lead (61%-17%) over Obama among evangelical voters while the two are split with Protestants (Obama ahead 43% to 34%) and Catholics (Obama leading 39% vs. 29%). A large percentage of Catholics are undecided on the presidential election and could wind up serving as a key swing vote determining which candidate occupies the White House for four years. The poll is a good news, bad news scenario for both candidates. While McCain has a large lead among evangelical voters because of his pro-life position on abortion and differences on other issues, he actually lost support from the previous Barna Group poll -- which showed him with the backing of 78 percent. However, the Barna poll also shows the trend seen in other surveys over the last few weeks -- with Obama losing support as more voters are educated on where he stands. Full story at LifeNews.com.

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August 14, 2008

Pro-Life Advocate Calls on Pastor Rick Warren to Address Abortion in Forum Lake Forest, CA (LifeNews.com)

-- A pro-life advocate is calling on Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren to address abortion issues when he interviews John McCain and Barack Obama at a weekend forum. The event is the only occasion where both presidential candidates will appear together before the party conventions. The forum will take place Saturday night and the two-hour event will be held in a non-debate format. Warren will pose the questions instead of a panel or coming from the audience and each candidate will speak with Warren for an hour. He plans to ask the candidates about issues like AIDS, poverty, human rights and the environment, but Hunter Baker of the Red State web site says he's "concerned" Warren won't bring up any abortion-related issues. "In your news release about the candidate forum, you suggest that you will avoid 'gotcha' questions," Baker writes in an open letter to Warren. "There is much to be said for rising above partisan politics." "However, there are certain issues that demand the church's involvement, issues of basic justice, issues of life and death," Baker says. "Perhaps the least ambiguous of those issues is the protection of babies throughout pregnancy and immediately after birth. Full story at LifeNews.com.

New Web Site Helps Pro-Life Investors Avoid Companies That Back Abortions Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A group that monitors companies that invest in abortion and other immoral practices has launched a new web site to help pro-life investors. The MoralMoney.com web site helps the pro-life investor or retiree who wants to make sure their investment portfolio doesn't include pro-abortion corporations. Mark Minnella, the president of the company producing the web site, tells LifeNews.com that Christian and pro-life advocates have become more conscious over the years about where their money goes. Unfortunately, and often unknowingly, they have invested their retirement accounts and other investments in companies that are funding Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups or those that engage in embryonic stem cell research. Minnella says he started the MoralMoney web site to teach investment stewardship to pro-life people who are morally conscious about their money. By purchasing stock in companies and funds that have been screened by MoralMoney.com's free screening software, pro-life advocates can avoid objectionable firms in their portfolio. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Barack Obama's Catholic Problem: His Pro-Abortion Views Turn Off Millions
by Pat Buchanan

In the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama rolled up more than 90 percent of the African-American vote. Among Catholics, he lost by 40 points. The cool liberal Harvard law grad was not a good fit for the socially conservative ethnics of Altoona, Aliquippa and Johnstown. But if Barack had a problem with Catholics, then he has a far higher hurdle to surmount in the fall with those millions of Catholics who still take their faith and moral code seriously. For not only is Barack the most pro-abortion member of the Senate, with his straight A+ report card from the National Abortion Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood, he supports the late-term procedure known as partial-birth abortion, where the baby's skull is stabbed with scissors in the birth canal and the brains are sucked out to end its life swiftly and ease passage of the corpse into the pan. Partial-birth abortion, said the late Sen. Pat Moynihan, "comes as close to infanticide as anything I have seen in our judiciary." Yet, when Congress was voting to ban this terrible form of death for a mature fetus, Michelle Obama was signing fundraising letters pledging that, if elected, Barack would be "tireless" in keeping legal this "legitimate medical procedure." Full story at LifeNews.com.

American Psychological Association Ignores Abortion-Mental Health Problem Link Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A panel of the American Psychological Association released a new report Wednesday that came to the conclusion skeptics predicted. The organization, which supports legalized abortion, claims abortion causes no mental health problems despite recent research proving otherwise. The group's conclusions aren't a surprise given that pro-life advocates and a psychology professor both noted the organization stacked the panel with abortion advocates. The panel's report concluded women who have abortions may experience some grief and a sense of loss, but it claimed there is no evidence showing abortion causes significant mental health issues. Brenda Major, chairwoman of the panel, released the official APA statement. “The best scientific evidence published indicates that among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy, the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective, first-trimester abortion or deliver that pregnancy,” she wrote. The report also claimed that many of the studies concerning abortion and its link to subsequent mental health issues are flawed. However, those studies, including a recent one from researchers in Norway, are published in peer-reviewed medical journals and none of them appeared to receive complaints about their methodology at the time. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Democrat Bob Casey to Speak at Convention Backing Pro-Abortion Obama Denver, CO (LifeNews.com)

-- Senator Bob Casey, a pro-life Democrat, will get a prominent speaking role at the upcoming Democratic convention. Media outlets and supporters of Barack Obama are trying to use the speech as a way to moderate his pro-abortion stance, but Casey's abortion record isn't perfect. Party officials said on Wednesday that Casey will speak in one of the prime time slots on Tuesday night, the same night when Obama's wife Michelle will participate in a pro-abortion fundraiser. Casey released a statement about the speech and did not say what he will address. In the statement, Casey again endorsed Obama but did not talk about either the aggressively pro-abortion stance of the proposed Democratic Party platform nor Obama's stance in favor of unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense. Casey's endorsement of Obama has upset pro-life advocates and damaged his credentials as a pro-life Democrat. His own voting record on abortion tarnished it further. Full story at LifeNews.com

Senator McCain's "Thoroughly Pro-Life Pedigree" -- Part One of Two.

Pro-lifers who haven't followed pro-life Senator John McCain's career very closely got a first-hand look at the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee's position on abortion in a video he sent to NRLC 2008. He was powerful and persuasive. I have attached the full text as Part Two. Better yet you can watch a video montage of Sen. McCain's strongly pro-life statements at www.mccainprolife.org. Personally, among the statements I found most encouraging in the convention video was this:"In November, the American people will choose a new president to lead our country during very challenging times. I will proudly defend my record of protecting human life during key debates on domestic and international policy." His words reminded me of something the legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow once said: "To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Pro-abortionists know McCain, and are firmly convinced of two things. First, he is staunchly pro-life. Second, they believe by "exposing" McCain's deep pro-life roots, it will prove to be a sizable net positive for their candidate: pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama. They have the first one down pat. McCain is pro-life. They have the second entirely backwards. Sen. McCain will come out ahead because he is pro-life and Sen. Obama is pro-abortion. The latest example of "did you know that…" stories was written by Sarah Blustain for the New Republic. The headline is "Life Sentence" with the subhead, "Stop kidding yourself: John McCain is a pro-life zealot." I think we get the picture. There is much in the piece that either does not relate to us or is grossly taken out of context. I'll just offer mention three highlights (lowlights, from Blustain's perspective). Sen. McCain's "Thoroghly Pro-Life Pedigree"

Mainstream Media Mum on Revelation That Barack Obama Misled on Abortion Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- New documents show the excuse Barack Obama gave for opposing a bill that literally stops infanticides was a misrepresentation. But one media observer points out that the mainstream media hasn't touched the new wrinkle in the story about the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. As LifeNews.com reported, documents uncovered by the National Right to Life Committee show Barack Obama apparently misled the public when he said he voted against the anti-infanticide bill because it may have impacted Roe v. Wade. The documents from the Illinois legislature show that he voted for an amendment with the exact same language as a Congressional bill he said he supported that would have mitigated his concerns. Yet, he ultimately voted against the legislation. While pro-life friendly media outlets and blogs across the Internet covered the revelations, columnist and media watchdog Warner Todd Huston writes on the NewsBusters blog that the mainstream media haven't touched on Obama's latest misstep. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Voting for Pro-Abortion Candidates is "Evil," Kansas Catholic Bishops Say Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com)

-- The Catholic bishops in Kansas have released a new voter's guide that makes it clear supporting a candidate who favors legal abortions is "evil." In the joint document, they say Catholic voters would "commit moral evil" by backing candidates who support abortion, euthanasia or embryonic research. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City and Bishops Ronald Gilmore of Dodge City, Paul Coakley of Salina, and Michael Jackels of Wichita joined together to endorse the document. They lay out a very clear argument against abortion and how voting for pro-abortion candidates promotes the violation of Church teaching. Despite the motives voters may have for supporting pro-abortion candidates, acts that "involve doing evil" such as "elective abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, the destruction of embryonic human beings in stem cell research, and human cloning" must be opposed. "Such acts are judged to be intrinsically evil, that is, evil in and of themselves regardless of our motives or the circumstances. They constitute an attack against innocent human life," they say. "In light of the above we would commit moral evil if we were to vote for a candidate who takes a permissive stand on those actions that are intrinsically evil when there is a morally-acceptable alternative." Full story at LifeNews.com

Fool Me Umpteen Times, Blame on Me -- Part One of Two

--Editor's note. Part Two takes a look at the abortion-friendly American Psychological Association which is going to "update" its factsheet on abortion and mental health complications.

--Those who've read TN&V faithfully remember that as far back as the immediate aftermath of pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry's 2004 loss to pro-life President George Bush, Democrats knew they had to recalibrate their rhetorical position on abortion, an issue that had hurt them badly. After a number of dry runs, a two-pronged strategy has emerged. First, they went back to the future. They've attempted to enlarge what it means to be "pro-life." If this sounds familiar, it ought to. For decades pro-abortionists have attempted to subsume/neutralize the abortion issue by making it just one among many issues. This time around they are getting more help than usual from religious "progressives." Second, they insist that even on abortion itself, they are pro-life. The difference is, they say, that they are in favor of what might be called "soft power." That is, more emphasis on persuasion and incentives than on legislation. Some very well-meaning people are entranced. Others, who ought to know better, are intrigued. Still others, knowing this is all speed and no altitude, are exuberant. What say we to this? Let's look at it through the prism of the Democrats new language on abortion, part of the platform that will be adopted at the National Democratic Convention later this month in Denver. We talked about the relevant passages in a preliminary way earlier this week. [http://nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Aug08/nv081108.html]. Complete story: Fool Me Umpteen Times, Blame on Me

"Why I Love the Baby of the Man Who Raped Me"

---When sixteen year-old Elizabeth Cameron found she was pregnant after being brutally gang raped, "practically everyone" in her life said she had every moral and legal right to kill her daughter by abortion. But Elizabeth defied the world's wisdom and says, now that her daughter Phoebe is a toddler, that she could not imagine life without her. "Every time I look at Phoebe, I know I made the right decision. I never wanted to end my baby's life just because of how she came to be," she told the Daily Mail this weekend. In the Mail's extensive human interest piece on Saturday, Cameron, now 19, talks about her hopes to marry and her plans to attend university. So great was the pressure on Elizabeth, a regular churchgoer, to have an abortion, the Mail's Angela Carless wrote, "That Phoebe exists at all almost defies belief." Only Elizabeth's mother, Sarah, suggested the alternative to abortion "Everyone, save for mum, thought I should have an abortion," she said. "My dad even made an appointment at the clinic, and they showed me the little blob on the scan, I presume, to convince me that it was just a mass of cells and the whole thing would be over quickly."Elizabeth confided that none of her friends at school could understand why "anyone my age would want to have a baby rather than an abortion." She said that the few she told of the rape were "even more horrified" that she would refuse an abortion. Complete story: Illinois Federation for Right to Life - "Why I Love the Baby of the Man Who Raped Me"

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August 18, 2008

Abortion Leader Confirms that Democratic Platform is More Pro-Abortion than Ever: Also delighted that document now pushes "comprehensive sex education"
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman NEW YORK, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com)

-- Pro-Abortion leader Francis Kissling has published an article acknowledging that the new Democratic Party platform favors the cause of abortion and sex education, even more so than in previous years. Kissling notes that the new platform "derives its moral authority from 'a woman's right to choose safe and legal abortion'", unlike older ones that spoke merely of "privacy." She is also delighted that the platform makes no mention of making abortion "rare", and for the first time mentions "sex education", which is frequently used to promote contraception, abortion, "alternative sexual lifestyles" and extra-marital sex."A notable omission is the Clintonian phrase 'safe, legal and rare,' replaced by a more honest and modest goal of reducing unintended pregnancy through better health care, family planning and comprehensive sex education. Sex education was not even mentioned in the old Platform," Kissling writes. Kissling dismisses the claim recently made by some Obama supporters that the new platform has pro-life elements: "The progressive pro-life desire to see the Platform commit to reducing abortions was subtly undercut; this year, the Platform merely 'recognizes' that sex ed, family planning and good health care will have the effect of reducing the need for abortion." Complete story: Abortion Leader Confirms that Democratic Platform is More Pro-Abortion than Ever

Barack Obama Says Pro-Life Group Lying About His Pro-Infanticide Votes Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Barack Obama has some harsh words for a leading pro-life group that has exposed his misrepresentations about his votes against two bills that would have stopped infanticides. Obama goes as far as saying the National Right to Life Committee is lying about his record. At issue are votes Obama cast during his tenure in the Illinois legislature. He voted repeatedly against a bill that would have made sure babies who survive botched abortions get adequate medical care. He did so, he maintains, because it contained a provision that could have gone against Roe v. Wade. As NRLC noted from official legislative documents, Obama supported an amendment that would have mitigated his concerns about Roe -- yet he voted against the bill anyway. Obama lashed out against NRLC officials in a weekend interview. "They have not been telling the truth," he said. "And I hate to say that people are lying, but here's a situation where folks are lying. I have said repeatedly that I would have been completely in, fully in support of the federal bill that everybody supported - which was to say --that you should provide assistance to any infant that was born - even if it was as a consequence of an induced abortion. That was not the bill that was presented at the state level. What that bill also was doing was trying to undermine Roe vs. Wade." LifeNews.com talked with National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson about the dustup and he said Obama has been hoping to get away with the deception and is now upset that pro-life advocates are calling him on it when the mainstream media won't. "We now challenge Obama to either declare the two 2003 legislative documents to be forgeries and call for an official investigation, or else apologize for his four years of misrepresentation on the issue of babies who are born alive during abortions -- and for calling us liars." Full story at LifeNews.com.

John McCain, Barack Obama Display Abortion Divide at Evangelical Forum
Lake Forest, CA (LifeNews.com)

-- The wide divide between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama was on display on Saturday night as both participated in a unique forum at Saddleback Church in California. McCain established his pro-life credentials in a clear manner while Obama tried to moderate his strong pro-abortion position.Pastor Rick Warren asked a question phrase in a pro-life manner by querying the candidates about when a “baby gets human rights.” Senator McCain didn’t hesitate on raising the pro-life banner and said, "At the moment of conception” while Obama took the road the Supreme Court did in 1973 saying it couldn’t know when human life begins. "I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade," Obama quipped. McCain sought to assure pro-life voters that he will keep pro-life precepts in mind when he occupies the White House. "I will be a pro-life president and this presidency will have pro-life policies,” he said. “I have a 25-year pro-life record. That’s my commitment to you.” Obama admitted he knew pro-life advocates would find his abortion stance “inadequate” and firmly declared himself as “pro-choice” on abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com.

What about the Choice to Say No?

-- It is a matter of liberal orthodoxy that abortion is all about choice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Liberals support choice when it’s choice they agree with. The second that changes, they call for government mandates. No choice, just following orders. Doctors and nurses have been targeted in this battle for years. Bigcompanies, too. This is standard for the left – attack businesses that dare support traditional values. After Wal-Mart knuckled under to pressure groups and agreed to stock the Plan B emergency contraceptive, Time magazine called them a liberal “ally.”Now pharmacists and drug store owners are in the thick of the fray. The left wants to make them fill birth control prescriptions against their will. Three states – Illinois, California and New Jersey – have already made that the law of the land. Liberals might get more than they bargained for. The federalgovernment has circulated draft rules to protect “medical providers to offer legal abortion and contraception services to women,” according to Reuters. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt’s blog cited Mary Jane Gallagher, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, saying, “it’s really not acceptable to the people I represent that this administration is considering allowing doctors and nurses and pharmacists that have received their education to provide services to now be able to not provide those services if they don’t want to.” Complete story: Illinois Federation for Right to Life - What about the Choice to Say No?

Senator McCain's "Thoroughly Pro-Life Pedigree" -- Part One of Two
Please send your comments to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.

-- Pro-lifers who haven't followed pro-life Senator John McCain's career very closely got a first-hand look at the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee's position on abortion in a video he sent to NRLC 2008. He was powerful and persuasive. I have attached the full text as Part Two. Better yet you can watch a video montage of Sen. McCain's strongly pro-life statements at www.mccainprolife.org. Personally, among the statements I found most encouraging in the convention video was this:"In November, the American people will choose a new president to lead our country during very challenging times. I will proudly defend my record of protecting human life during key debates on domestic and international policy." His words reminded me of something the legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow once said: "To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Pro-abortionists know McCain, and are firmly convinced of two things. First, he is staunchly pro-life. Second, they believe by "exposing" McCain's deep pro-life roots, it will prove to be a sizable net positive for their candidate: pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama. They have the first one down pat. McCain is pro-life. They have the second entirely backwards. Sen. McCain will come out ahead because he is pro-life and Sen. Obama is pro-abortion. The latest example of "did you know that…" stories was written by Sarah Blustain for the New Republic. The headline is "Life Sentence" with the subhead, "Stop kidding yourself: John McCain is a pro-life zealot." I think we get the picture.
Complete story: Sen. McCain's "Thoroghly Pro-Life Pedigree"

United Nations Staff Secretly Meet With Abortion Advocates for Intl Strategy New York, NY (LifeNews.com/CFAM)

-- A group calling itself the "brain trust" met in secret recently to plot how to take advantage of conflict situations to advance the abortion and radical feminist agenda. A new group called the Global Justice Center (GJC) hosted the New York meeting on June 9 of this year. The Friday Fax was given the chance to listen to a recording of the inaugural meeting of the "brain trust” which details the GJC's plan to exploit ceasefire and peace talks to gain leverage in newly-formed governments. The GJC meeting brought together academics, lawyers, practitioners with ties to radical groups as the George Soros’ Open Society Institute, Equality Now, Center for Reproductive Rights, Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and Amnesty International. Jeremy Sarkin, the current UN Special Rapporteur for Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances was also at the meeting. Participants at the meeting lamented the lack of international political will to enforce “gender justice” around the world and agreed that “shock treatment” was needed to change “the entrenched political and cultural norms that perpetuate male-dominated decision-making bodies and constrain women.” Janet Benshoof, former president of the Center for Reproductive Rights and current president and founder of the GJC, asserted that conflict situations could be used as an “access point” to change the culture and the players. Full story at LifeNews.com.

U.S. Foundations Give Millions to Law Firm to Promote Abortions Worldwide Washington, DC (LifeNews.com/CFAM)

-- The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a prominent U.S.-based public interest group litigating and lobbying for pro-abortion policies world-wide, has released its annual report for 2007. The reported CRR budget confirms that large US foundations continue their heavy financial support for radical social policies not only in the US, but all over the world. The report shows that close to fifty percent of CRR’s $14 million budget is financed by more than forty American foundations. The Hewlett and Packard foundations lead the way. Other prominent donors include Ford and MacArthur foundations as well as George Soros’ Open Society Institute. CRR is also supported financially by the UN Population Fund, which claims to take a neutral position on abortion. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Pro-Abortion Republican Group Pressing for Small Changes to Party Platform Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Republicans nationwide are overwhelmingly pro-life, but the head of a pro-abortion Republican group says she's hoping for small, cosmetic changes to the Republican Party platform. Ann Stone, the head of Republicans for Choice, doesn't expect the party to reverse its pro-life position. Yet, as she tells The Hill, she is hopeful some changes will be made to acknowledge the small percentage of Republicans that agree with Barack Obama on keeping abortions legal and unlimited. “If we're successful, there will be language in that plank or elsewhere that McCain wants to take a different track in dealing with abortion,” Stone said. While supporters of President Bush closely managed the crafting of the 2000 and 2004 platform, which take an unequivocal stand against abortion, this year's process is said to have a more open feel to it. That process change goes both ways and makes it easier for people like Stone to insert a nod to abortion advocates. Yet, Phyllis Schlafly, national chairman of Republican National Coalition for Life, will be there along with other pro-life advocates to keep the GOP solidly pro-life. She pointed out to LifeNews.com that, "in a close election, pro-life voters make the difference." "If John McCain is to win in November, he must keep faith with the pro-life and pro-family base of the Party," she says. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Researcher on Abortion-Depression Link Says APA Report Ignores Best Studies Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A New Zealand researcher who is one of the world's leading experts on the kind of mental health problems women face after an abortion says the new report from the American Psychological Association denying any link flies in the face of the best studies. Dr. David Fergusson conducted a seminal study in January 2006 that found women who have abortions are more likely to become severely depressed. The New Zealand study found that having an abortion as a young woman raises the risk of developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Fergusson responded to the new APA report saying the member of the panel that produced it glossed over research like his. "The APA report, in fact, does draw a very strong and dogmatic conclusion that cannot be defended on the basis of evidence since this evidence is lacking by the admission of the report," he says. "What the Committee has, in effect, said is that until there is compelling evidence to the contrary, people should act as though abortion has no harmful effects," he said. "This is not a defensible position in a situation in which there is evidence pointing in the direction of harmful effects." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Backers Worry John McCain Will Change View Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Backers of making taxpayers fund embryonic stem cell research are concerned presidential candidate John McCain would change his position on the issue if he becomes president. That's exactly what pro-life groups hope will happen -- that McCain will see alternatives as so successful funding isn't needed. President Bush repeatedly vetoed legislation to make taxpayer fund the research, which involves the destruction of days-old unborn children. Rep. Mike Castle, a Delaware Republican, is worried McCain would also veto the bill should he become president. “The question becomes: Will the pro-life movement be able to persuade him otherwise between now and the election?” Castle asked. Leading pro-life advocates who have discussed stem cell research with McCain say the presidential candidate, who opposes abortion, is very excited about the advances in ethical alternatives. As the science progresses, David O'Steen, the head of the National Right to Life Committee, hopes McCain will realize taxpayers don't have to fund embryonic stem cell research for patients to get the best scientific research possible. “We’d be hopeful that he’d leave [Bush’s] policy in place,” O’Steen said. Full story at LifeNews.com.

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August 20, 2008

John McCain Gets Earful From Pro-Life Advocate on VP Pick and Abortion Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Presidential candidate John McCain got an earful on why he shouldn't pick a pro-abortion running mate from a pro-life radio talk show host on Wednesday. McCain joined conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham before heading to a town hall event in New Mexico. On the program, Ingraham made the case for millions of pro-life voters who want McCain to opt against picking someone like Senator Lieberman or Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who backs abortion. "How could you consider selecting someone who opposed the federal partial birth abortion ban and was one of the eleven original cosponsors of the radical freedom of choice act as your vice-president?" Ingraham said of Lieberman. "I think I made it very clear Saturday night I have a pro-life record, that I have pro-life policies and my administration will have pro-life policies," McCain said in response. He also warned about trusting mainstream media reports that he plans to pick a certain person, with a certain persuasion on abortion, on a certain day. Later, at the forum, McCain said to loud applause: "I will nominate a person to be vice president, my running mate, who shares my principles, my values and my priorities." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Continuing to Unravel

In almost all presidential campaigns, there comes a point [clear in retrospect] where the dynamics shift. I would argue that in the last week we have reached just such a turning point. The about-face was sparked by two developments. The first, and more well known, was Rick Warren's back-to-back interviews last Saturday with pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama and pro-life Sen. John McCain. Obama's defenders have furiously spun the results, but the truth--obvious to all at the time-- is that their man was clobbered. Not because of the format or the host or the questions, or any of the other excuses rolled out, but because of Obama's responses. He was dreadful, especially on abortion and the composition of the Supreme Court. McCain was clear, concise, and confident. The contrast was stunning. Those who had worried about McCain, for one reason or another, were reassured by what he had to say at Warren's Saddleback Church. Those who were fearful the wheels were beginning to come off the Obama Express panicked. They were reduced to lying about McCain. Unnamed Obama sources told NBC News that McCain broke the rules and had heard Obama's answers. This allowed McCain to tailor his responses, they said. Warren, appearing on several news programs, demonstrated how this could not possibly be true. Historians will look back, I believe, and conclude that equally as important was NRLC's expose of Obama's duplicitous responses to how he voted on Illinois's Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. They will also look in amazement at how Obama responded to having the light shone on his record. The latest developments can be found at www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Aug08/nv081808part3.html.

Let me quote the first two paragraphs: "Senator Barack Obama's four-year effort to cover up his full role in killing legislation to protect born-alive survivors of abortions continues to unravel. "In the most recent developments, Senator Obama himself, in a videorecorded interview Saturday night with David Brody of CBN News (subsequently broadcast on both CBN and CNN), said three times that National Right to Life was "lying" in asserting that he had voted against a state bill virtually identical to the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. He did not directly address newly uncovered documents that had been released by NRLC on August 11 -- documents that proved that he had done exactly that, contradicting four years of the Obama cover story." If you are skeptical of the power of this issue, I would strongly encourage you to click on www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xVYW-_0jVU. There you will see much of a fiery exchange on last night's Hannity & Colmes on this very topic. Complete story: Continuing to Unravel

New National Poll Gives John McCain 5-Point Lead Over Barack Obama Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A new national poll gives presidential candidate John McCain a five percentage point lead over his pro-abortion rival Barack Obama. The new Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday puts the race at 46 percent for McCain and 41 percent for Obama. The survey comes out just days after McCain scored big with his strong pro-life performance at a forum with Obama -- which boosted his standing with pro-life voters. During the event, Obama staked out a clear pro-abortion position and McCain promised he would run a pro-life administration should he be elected. The five percent lead among likely voters reverses the seven percent advantage Obama enjoyed in July and it marks the first occasion on which McCain has held a lead in the monthly poll. Other national polls released on Wednesday also show the numbers moving in McCain's direction. A poll from the Tarrance Group and Lake Research has McCain at 40 percent and Obama at 39 percent with 19 percent undecided. When pressed further to make a choice, the poll found McCain also leading by one percent 47-46 percent -- a departure from its May 2008 poll showing Obama with a 49-47 percent advantage. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Republican Party Convention Speakers Include Numerous Pro-Life Advocates Minneapolis, MN (LifeNews.com)

-- While the roster at the Democratic convention includes a who's who of abortion advocates, the list of Republican Party convention speakers released Wednesday contains a large number of pro-life stalwarts. The stark contrast in the line-up highlights the differences John McCain and Barack Obama have on abortion. Maria Cino, president of the 2008 Republican National Convention announced the speaker's list. She said they "share John McCain’s love of country and commitment to serving a cause greater than one’s own self-interest." President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney will highlight the first day of the convention while a slate of pro-life elected officials will appear on the second. Those will include former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- both considered potential running mates. Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, former presidential candidate Fred Thompson and former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a black pro-life advocate, will also speak on day two. The third day includes more pro-life elected officials such as Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and potential running mate Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Full story at LifeNews.com.

GOP Officials Say John McCain Will Not Pick Pro-Abortion Running Mate Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- John McCain has reoprtedly confirmed he will not be picking a running mate who takes a pro-abortion position and has ruled out former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, whom media outlets promoted as a possibility. McCain aides told Republican Party officials of the decision and they confirmed it to Fox News. The aides and officials indicated that McCain “got the message” from pro-life advocates that picking an abortion advocate like Ridge was non-negotiable and could cost him votes. National Review editor Rich Lowry responded to the news and told Fox News that he saw no benefit for McCain by selecting Ridge as his running mate. “I don’t think he’s going to be a big benefit in Pennsylvania and even if he is, I think the downside is the rest of the country among conservatives are going to be upset about this, just at the moment they're beginning to work up being excited about John McCain." Time magazine also reported on the thread that McCain will shy away from an abortion advocate and that Ridge is out. "A GOP strategist says the former Pennsylvania Governor is no longer being considered as McCain’s veep," the magazine reported Tuesday. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Potential Barack Obama Picks Evan Bayh, Joe Biden Have Pro-Abortion Records Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Barack Obama is slated to announce the selection of his running mate this week and if he picks either of two prominent senators thought to be highest on his list, he will have a vice-presidential candidate who has an even longer record of promoting abortion. LifeNews.com has already profiled Virginia governor Tim Kaine, one of the top three potential running mates, and his pro-abortion position. Senators Evan Bayh and Joe Biden are the other two likely considerations and, though they can't match Obama's track record of opposing a bill to stop infanticides, they each have a litany of pro-abortion votes in Congress. In Joe Biden, Obama would get one of the fiercest abortion proponents in the Senate and someone who has made a reputation of out badgering Supreme Court nominees about abortion during confirmation hearings. In fact, before he dropped out of the Democratic primary race Obama eventually won, Biden confirmed he would have a pro-abortion litmus test for his own possible judicial picks. Should Bayh get the nod, the mainstream media will likely present him as a moderate on abortion and someone the pro-abortion lobby doesn't see eye to eye with on every issue. Though he supported the ban on partial-birth abortions, Bayh is not pro-life and has always taken the position that abortions should be legal and virtually without limits. Bayh is a former Indiana governor who became a thorn in the side of pro-life advocates by repeatedly vetoing legislation that would have limited abortions. When he got to the U.S. Senate, he didn't fare much better. The National Right to Life Committee only gave Bayh a 28 percent pro-life voting record for the most recent session of Congress. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Top Pro-Abortion Activists Slated to Speak at Democratic Convention Next Week Denver, CO (LifeNews.com)

-- When thousands of Democrats from across the country join together in Denver to officially nominate Barack Obama as their presidential candidate, they will hear from a host of lawmakers and elected officials. Joining those politicians will be some of the nation's top pro-abortion activists. The Democratic Party informed LifeNews.com on Tuesday that leaders from prominent abortion advocacy groups will receive official time to speak from the stage at the Pepsi Center. Organizers said Nancy Keenan, the head of NARAL, and one of the pro-abortion activists to endorse Obama prior to Hillary Clinton's departure from the primary race, will be an official speaker on Monday. On Tuesday, the Democratic Party will allow Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, to speak from the stage. While DNC officials have extended invitations to Keenan and Richards, they have interestingly left out Ellen Malcolm, founder of Emily's List and the leading pro-abortion backer of Clinton's campaign. Malcolm has been a notable malcontent following Clinton's exit from the Democratic campaign -- making negative comments about Obama and his ability to attract women voters even after Clinton conceded the race. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Stopping Abortions, Protecting Human Life Not Above a President's Pay Grade by Deal Hudson

It's a truism that anyone running for President shouldn't answer a question by saying "that's above my pay grade." After all, if you want to occupy the White House there is no higher pay grade – you are the boss, and the buck stops with you. But Barack Obama used precisely that expression when asked by Rick Warren when life begins. Obama said, "Whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity . . . is above my pay grade." How can a man who has voted three times on the Born Again Infant Protection Act be unable to answer that question with "specificity." Does he mean that he voted against BAIPA without having an answer to that question? You would think someone casting a vote on BAIPA would know where he stands on when a human life begins. Otherwise, what is he basing his vote upon? What factor is more important? Full story at LifeNews.com

Mom's true-life abortion horror story hits big screen

A movie has just been finished based on the true story reported by WND of a woman trapped in the bathroom of an abortion clinic who watched helplessly as her baby, who was born alive, died. The film, "22weeks," made by a young, Puerto Rican filmmaker, Ángel Manuel Soto Vázquez, will soon be released in private screenings in select cities as it ramps up for hopeful showings at the Toronto and Cannes Film Festivals. The film, with promotional pages on MySpace and Facebook, describes the movie on its homepage as follows:
A young woman is locked in the bathroom of an abortion clinic after her aborted baby was born alive.
A film about decisions, their effects and the echos [sic] they leave behind. Based on the shocking WorldNetDaily article by Ron Strom, on victim's testimonies, and real 911 calls about one of the most controversial subjects of our time, "22weeks" achieves to confront both sides of the spectrum and their perspective to the on going [sic] question: "what would you do?"
The film's MySpace page adds, "This is the shocking true story about the reality behind abortion and the heroic struggle of a mother willing to do anything to save her child."
A trailer for the film can be seen below, but viewers should be aware it contains graphic images and disturbing content:
Complete story: Mom's true-life abortion horror story hits big screen

More U.S. Women are Childless

'So much of our culture has made kids seem like big sacrifices and a big inconvenience.' One in five U.S. women in their early 40s has no children, according to the Census Bureau. That's double the level from 30 years ago and a record high. Women age 40-44 who do have children have fewer than ever —an average of 1.9, according to the report. “A lot of women are not having any children,” Jane Lawler Dye, a Census Bureau researcher who did the report, told The New York Times. “It used to be sort of expected that there was a phase of life where you had children, and a lot of women aren’t doing that now.” Candice Watters, who left her job at Focus on the Family in 2002 for full-time motherhood, said most women want to have children but may be waiting too long. "There is the perception, perpetuated in large part by Hollywood, that you can wait until your late 30s or even your early 40s and have a baby without too much trouble," she said. But "it's really difficult for a woman over 40 to conceive." And the culture isn't helping, Watters said. "Women feel cultural pressure to get all of their schooling done, and much of their career-building done, before they even start to think about marriage," she said. "My advice is to make getting married and having babies at least as much of a priority as your education goals and career goals." Watters addresses those issues in her new book Get Married: What Women Can Do to Help It Happen. Carrie Lukas, vice president for policy and economics at the Independent Women’s Forum, agreed the culture shares responsibility. "So much of our culture has made kids seem like big sacrifices and a big inconvenience," she said. "There is something to being an increasingly secular society and being a little self-absorbed in not thinking about the legacy you want to leave." Source URL: http://www.citizenlink.org

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August 25, 2008

Planned Parenthood promotes casual sex to kids on website

A website sponsored by Planned Parenthood, the biggest player in America's billion dollar abortion industry, is promoting oral sex and casual encounters in the name of encouraging the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, critics say. "This website is engineered to reach the youth of America and undoubtedly will be featured in their health curriculum that is in many of our public school systems," warned Rev. Clenard H. Childress Jr., of the Life Education And Resource Network. The organization specifically cited a video that appears to have a black youth performing oral sex on a white youth, under the supervision of a white guidance counselor. "It is obvious the deliberate depravation and systemic racism of Planned Parenthood continues to reach new levels of disgust," he said.In an e-mail to WND, J. Matt Barber, the director of cultural affairs for Liberty Counsel, called the "public service" vignettes "unbelievably offensive." A review of the promotional videos created by Planned Parenthood show the following scenarios:
Complete story: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId==72966

Japanese create stem cells from wisdom teeth

Japanese scientists said Friday they had derived stem cells from wisdom teeth, opening another way to study deadly diseases without the ethical controversy of using embryos. Researchers at the government-backed National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology said they created stem cells of the type found in human embryos using the removed wisdom teeth of a 10-year-old girl. "This is significant in two ways," team leader Hajime Ogushi told AFP. "One is that we can avoid the ethical issues of stem cells because wisdom teeth are destined to be thrown away anyway. "Also, we used teeth that had been extracted three years ago and had been preserved in a freezer. That means that it's easy for us to stock this source of stem cells." The announcement follows the groundbreaking discovery by US and Japanese scientists last year that they could produce stem cells from skin, a finding that was hailed by the Vatican and US President George W. Bush. Research involving embryonic stem cells -- which can develop into various organs or nerves -- is seen as having the potential to save lives by helping find cures for diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
But studies on embryos are strongly opposed by religious conservatives, who argue that such research destroys human life, albeit at its earliest stage of development. In the new research, cells were extracted from the wisdom teeth and developed for about 35 days.
Complete story: Japanese create stem cells from wisdom teeth

Pro-Life Hero Tasha Danvers-Smith Shuns Abortion, Still Earns Olympic Medal
by Bradley Mattes

There's great news coming out of Beijing! You may be familiar with the story of Tasha Danvers-Smith. This athlete from the United Kingdom was one of Britain's best hopes for gold in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. However, she became unexpectedly pregnant. The father of her baby was her coach-husband. There was enormous pressure from the track and field community to abort her baby. A child, she was told, would destroy her Olympic dreams of gaining a medal. Tasha and her husband, Darrell, chose life for their baby. As a result, Tasha was castigated in the media. We, on the other hand, presented her with our Hero At Heart award, given to those who demonstrate outstanding courage or compassion on behalf of innocent human life. Tasha and I became fast friends ever since. During the first season of our half-hour weekly TV program, Facing Life Head-On, I interviewed Tasha and Darrell regarding these events. Fast forward to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Tasha is once again competing against the best in the world in the 400 meter hurdles event. On August 20, 2008 she ran her personal best to claim the bronze medal. Full story at LifeNews.com

Barack Obama's Sole Article in Harvard Law Review Promotes Abortion Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- How strongly does Barack Obama believe in unlimited abortions? Strongly enough that the only article he wrote for the Harvard Law Review while he was a law school student talked about how fervently he believed in legalized abortion. Obama's name wasn't attached to any other legal scholarship during the time. In an article unearthed by the Politico web site, Obama, as the president of the Harvard Law Review, wrote an unsigned article touting abortion. The web site says the article comes in at six pages and is contained in the third volume of the 1990 Harvard Law Review. In the work, Obama considered a parenthetical abortion issue -- whether unborn children have a legal right to sue their mothers for damage sustained during pregnancy, from such things as alcohol or illegal drugs. Obama says no and writes supportively of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case and another from the Illinois Supreme Court saying no such right exists. According to Politico, Obama wrote: "[T]he case raises the broader policy and constitutional considerations that argue against using civil liability to control the behavior of pregnant women." In a discussion of abortion itself, Obama wrote that government has more important business than "ensuring that any particular fetus is born." He also decried any limits on abortion, saying the government has an interest in "preventing increasing numbers of children from being born in to lives of pain and despair." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Barack Obama Picks Long-Time Abortion Advocate Joe Biden as Running Mate Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Barack Obama, on Saturday, selected one of the Senate's most ardent abortion advocates as his vice-presidential running mate. In Joe Biden, Obama has someone who's abortion views mirror his own -- by supporting unlimited abortions and wanting judges who will keep all abortions legal 35 more years.

Obama has been under fire for weeks for his strongly pro-abortion views -- favoring taxpayer-funded abortions, opposing a partial-birth abortion ban, and opposing a bill in the Illinois legislature that would protect newborns who survive abortions. Choosing Biden as his running mate won't help him moderate those views that are clearly out of step with most Americans. Biden is a fierce abortion proponent and someone who has made a reputation out of badgering Supreme Court nominees about abortion during confirmation hearings. In fact, before he dropped out of the Democratic primary race Obama eventually won, Biden confirmed he would have a pro-abortion litmus test for his own possible judicial picks. "I would not appoint anyone who did not understand that Section 5 of the 14th Amendment and the Liberty Clause of the 14th Amendment provided a right to privacy ... which means they would support Roe v. Wade," he said in a November debate. He received a pro-life voting record of 0 percent from the National Right to Life Committee for 2007-2008. Full story at LifeNews.com

Joe Biden Makes It Easier for Catholics to Oppose Pro-Abortion Barack Obama Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A pro-life Catholic group says it will be easier for Catholic voters to reject Barack Obama as president now that he has strong abortion advocate Joe Biden on board. Although some pundits say Biden is an Irish Catholic who will help Obama in states like Pennsylvania, Brian Burch says he will turn off voters. Burch, the head of the pro-life organization Fidelis, tells LifeNews.com that Biden's pro-abortion views, like Obama's, pose a major challenge for American Catholics. Fidelis warned late last month that a pro-abortion Catholic choice as a vice presidential candidate would offend many Catholics who have struggled with the scandal of prominent pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Senator Biden. “Barack Obama has re-opened a wound among American Catholics by picking a pro-abortion Catholic politician," Burch said. "The American bishops have made clear that Catholic political leaders must defend the dignity of every human person, including the unborn. Sadly, Joe Biden’s tenure in the United States Senate has been marked by steadfast support for legal abortion." Burch pointed to history to support his contention. In 2004, John Kerry’s support for abortion sparked a nationwide controversy over whether Catholics who support legal abortion can receive communion. “Now everywhere Biden campaigns, we'll have this question of whether a pro-abortion Catholic can receive communion," he told LifeNews.com. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Senator Joe Biden: A Look at His Pro-Abortion Voting Record Through the Years Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Though he has sided with pro-life advocates on occasion -- such as supporting a ban on partial-birth abortions -- Biden has compiled one of the strongest pro-abortion records in the Senate. He received a pro-life voting record of 0 percent from the National Right to Life Committee for 2007-2008. He has supported the Hyde amendment to prohibit federal funding of abortions but also supported taxpayer funding of abortions in other instances. In February, Biden voted against an amendment to limit federal funding of abortions in the health care program for Indian Americans. He has also voted to make the U.S. military pay for and perform abortions on women in the armed services. Biden put his pro-abortion views on record by voting for a Senate resolution in March 2003 that said the chamber supports the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed for virtually unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy. Biden also opposed the Child Custody Protection Act, a bill that would uphold the parental notification laws of a teenager's home state and prohibit someone other than her parents from taking her to another state for a secret abortion. Biden was also out of step with the American public in March 2004, when he voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. That was the legislation to protect pregnant women and their unborn children -- like Laci and Conner Peterson --from violence. The bill eventually became federal law and 36 states have similar laws on the books. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Barack Obama's Own Words Contradict Claims on Opposing Anti-Infanticide Bill Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Barack Obama and his campaign have repeated the same excuse as to why he opposed a bill in the Illinois legislature that would have stopped infanticide. Obama is on record opposing a measure to give medical care to prematurely born babies who survive botched abortions. One columnist says Obama's own words during the debate on the bill contradict his current claims that he opposed it because it could have contradicted Roe v. Wade. Obama originally opposed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act in 2001 with concerns that it would impact the Roe decision and Illinois state law concerning when abortions were legal. But, by the time the bill came up for debate again in 2002, those concerns had been rectified yet Obama continued to oppose the common sense bill. "In 2002, Senator Obama was not concerned about Roe v. Wade. He was not concerned with undermining abortion laws in Illinois," writes Red State columnist Erick Erickson. "No, what Senator Obama today claims were his concerns were not his concerns back in 2002." "In 2002, Senator Obama stood on the floor of the Illinois State Senate to oppose the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. By this time, even the abortion rights organizations like Planned Parenthood had dropped their opposition," he explained. "But Obama continued to oppose the law," Erickson writes in a Thursday column. "He was the only person to speak out against the legislation." Full story at LifeNews.com.

Bush Admin Officially Releases Regulations Protecting Doctors on Abortion Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- The Bush administration officially released the new regulations on Thursday protecting pro-life doctors and medical personnel from having to do abortions. They enforce existing law by putting penalties in place for facilities getting federal funds that subject pro-life doctors to discrimination over abortion. The new measure is also meant to protect medical facilities that don't want to have abortions done on the premises. Once in place, pro-life medical staff can't be fired or deliberately not hired for refusing to be involved in abortions, and they can't lose professional certification if they don't do abortions or refer for them. The need for the rule came when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists considered requiring doctors to do abortions or refer women to abortion practitioners. "This is about protecting the right of a physician to practice medicine according to his or her moral compass," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said. "There is nothing in this rule that would in any way change a patient's right to a legal procedure." The second comment concerns the accusations pro-abortion groups made that the proposal would undermine women's access to contraception or birth control -- even though the measure had nothing to do with those drugs. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Poll From Pro-Abortion Group Claims Catholics Flout Church's Pro-Life Views Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A new poll released by a pro-abortion group claiming to be Catholic contends Catholic voters are unconcerned with the pro-life teachings of the Church. The Catholics for Choice survey also claims Catholic voters say the pro-life views of Catholic leaders are unimportant to their voting decisions. The poll says Catholic voters are currently splitting their vote for president between pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama and John McCain, who opposes abortion. That's not surprising, but other findings from the abortion advocacy group's survey are more startling for pro-life leaders. About 70 percent of those polled say that the views of Catholic bishops are unimportant to them in deciding for whom to vote and a similarly large proportion, 73 percent, say they believe Catholic politicians are under no religious obligation to vote on issues the way the bishops recommend. Another 69 percent in the poll say they don't feel obligated to vote against candidates who support abortion. Father Frank Pavone, the director of Priests for Life, talked with LifeNews.com and said the poll doesn't distinguish between practicing Catholics and Catholics in name only. On life and death decisions like abortion, Father Pavone said the Catholic pro-life teachings are absolute. “On matters that violate fundamental human rights (like abortion and terrorism), there can be no wiggle room, whether one is Catholic or not," he explains. Full story at LifeNews.com

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August 27, 2008

Republican Party Platform Proposal Keep Pro-Life Amendment on Abortion Minneapolis, MN (LifeNews.com)

-- The proposed Republican Party platform takes a starkly different approach to the issue of abortion compared with the platform language Democrats approved yesterday. While the Democratic Party promotes abortion without limits, the GOP retains its support for a Constitutional amendment against abortion. The current platform advocates a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that would afford legal protection to unborn children throughout pregnancy. The new platform contains the language of the amendment and comments approving the Supreme Court's decision last year affirming the partial-birth abortion ban as constitutional. The draft also talks about more specific help to pregnant women who are contemplating abortion or are in difficult pregnancy situations. It asserts "a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy." "We salute those who provide them alternatives, including crisis pregnancy centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives," the proposed platform states. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Poll: Majority of Americans Disagree With Barack Obama on When Life Begins Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Barack Obama confessed over a week ago that he wasn't sure when life begins and worried the question may be a little "above my pay grade." However, a majority of Americans know when human life begins and they agree with John McCain, who said the starting point is conception. Zogby International conducted the poll for WorldNetDaily and it questioned 1,099 likely voters from August 22 to 24. The survey found 59 percent believe human life begins at conception, another 16.8 percent say it happens when an unborn child can survive outside her mother's womb with medical assistance, and just 17.2 percent say human life doesn't begin until birth. The Zogby poll asked a follow-up question about whether voters would support or oppose a presidential candidate who doesn't know when human life begins. Voters, by a 55.3-to-27.7 percent margin, said they would oppose such a candidate. During the evangelical forum, Pastor Rick Warren asked a question phrased in a pro-life manner by querying the candidates about when a “baby gets human rights.” Senator McCain didn’t hesitate on raising the pro-life banner and said, "At the moment of conception,” while Obama took the road the Supreme Court did in 1973 saying it couldn’t know when human life begins. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Catholic Leader Blasts Nancy Pelosi for Misrepresenting Church Abortion Position Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is getting criticism from pro-life Catholics for misrepresenting the views of the Catholic Church on abortion. During a recent television interview, Pelosi claimed the Catholic Church only recently came to the conclusion that human life begins at conception. During an interview with Tom Brokaw on the NBC program "Meet the Press," Pelosi admitted she didn't know the answer to the question. She also made some statements about the church that Catholic leaders are taking exception to concerning its position. Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, told LifeNews.com Tuesday that Pelosi "misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion." He pointed to the Catechism of the Catholic Church that teaches, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law." Cardinal Rigali also said the Catholic Church has had a long history of teaching that human life begins at the point of conception. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Planned Parenthood Prez to Democrats: Pro-Abortion Daughter Makes Her Proud Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- You know a political party is obsessed with promoting abortion when it features two pro-abortion convention speakers. You know Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards is obsessed when she says nothing would make her mother prouder of her granddaughter than voting pro-abortion. Richards' Tuesday night speech followed the one Nancy Keenan gave on Monday to Democrats in Denver. Richards told the audience at the Democratic convention in Denver that her mother, the late Texas governor Ann Richards, had addressed the same crowd 20 years prior. During that convention, the former governor introduced her granddaughter Lily. Though her granddaughter eventually learned how to walk, spoke her first words and encountered the challenges and opportunities one's life normally presents, Richards told Democrats that casting her first presidential vote for a pro-abortion candidate would tops all of her mother's memories about Lily. "Lily is here tonight and there is nothing that would make Mom prouder than that this November Lily will cast her first vote for president - for Barack Obama," Richards said. Full story at LifeNews.com

Thousands Protest Abortion at Democratic Convention But Media Ignores Them Denver, CO (LifeNews.com)

-- Thousands of pro-life advocates are lining the streets of Denver protesting abortion at the Democratic convention, but you'd never know it from the national media coverage of the event. On Monday night, led by Alveda King and Archbishop Charles Chaput, they held a prayer vigil at a Planned Parenthood. As many as 2,500 people lined the streets outside a local abortion center and called on Democratic Party leaders, and their pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama, to stop abortions. Some participants carried rosaries or pro-life signs while teenagers scrawled pro-life messages on the sidewalks with chalk -- including those Democratic convention participants would use to head to the Pepsi Center. King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, told the participants that Obama would be a nightmare as president because he supports abortion throughout pregnancy nd without limits. “Senator Obama’s answer to the ills of society [including] continued tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, are diametrically opposed to everything African Americans truly believe and an anathema to the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr," she said. Full story at LifeNews.com.

Pro-Life Advocates Seek Guinness Record for Democratic Convention Abortion Sign Denver, CO (LifeNews.com)

-- Local pro-life advocates in Denver have unfurled what they claim is the largest protest sign ever assembled and they are hoping to obtain a Guinness World Record as a result. The pro-life advocates made an official attempt to enter the record book with the pro-life sign showing the Democratic Party promotes abortion. The pro-life activists spelled out the words "Destroys Unborn Children" in a 530-foot tall and 666-foot wide message using white and yellow bed sheets. They initially spelled out the letters DNC, referring to the Democratic National Committee, in yellow sheet and then used white sheets to complete the three words pointing to its pro-abortion position ratified yesterday in its platform. The sheets were placed on the side of a large hill that is part of the Rock Mountains west of Denver and, because of its massive size, can be seen from almost anywhere in Denver, which is hosing the Democratic convention. Full story at LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Catholic Lawmakers Take Nancy Pelosi to Task on Abortion Comments Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)

-- A group of Republican members of Congress who are Catholics are taking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to task for her recent comments concerning the Catholic Church's abortion position. The lawmakers say Pelosi misrepresented the views of the Church on abortion and its position on the beginning of human life. As LifeNews.com noted, Pelosi admitted in an interview. with "Meet the Press" that she didn't know the answer to the question of when human life begins. Yet, she claimed, "as an ardent, practicing Catholic, [abortion] is an issue that I have studied for a long time.” In a letter to Pelosi given to LifeNews.com, the representatives said, "As fellow Catholics and legislators, we wish you would have made a more honest effort to lay out the authentic position of the Church on this core moral issue before attempting to address it with authority." "Your subsequent remarks mangle Catholic Church doctrine regarding the inherent sanctity and dignity of human life; therefore, we are compelled to refute your error," they added. Full story at LifeNews.com

Speaking of Planned Parenthood

The Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts is handing out interesting souvenirs at the convention: condoms with an anti-McCain message. The condoms come wrapped in bright magenta matchbook covers with 10 slogans, including, "PROTECT YOURSELF FROM JOHN MCCAIN (in this election)."

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August 29, 2008

McCain Selects Strongly Pro-life Governor, Mother of Five Sarah Palin for Running Mate

In an unexpected but welcome development for social conservatives, a top campaign official has confirmed that McCain will shortly announce his choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Governor Palin is well-known to social conservatives for her strong stance on life and family issues. She is a long time member of Feminists for Life and is a strongly pro-life mother of five. Palin recently gave birth to herfifth child, born with Down Syndrome. She said she was advised to abort the child but steadfastly refused. "Trig is beautiful and already adored by us," said Palin about her daughter the day after her birth. "We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed." In November of last year LifeSiteNews reported that Palin had lambasted a decision by the Alaskan Supreme Court that permitted under age girls to obtain abortions without parental consent. Gov. Sarah Palin called the decision “outrageous” and instructed Attorney General Talis Colberg to file a petition for a rehearing. Complete story: Illinois Federation for Right to Life

Palin's Personal Pro-Life Story:

In April of this year, Sarah Palin gave birth to her fifth child, Trig, who was born premature with Down Syndrome. Recent statistics show that in the U.S., approximately 90% of Down Syndrome diagnoses end with the mother choosing abortion. Palin on her family's reaction to the diagnosis, in her own words:

"We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed." (April 18, 2008, Anchorage Daily News) "We've both [Palin and husband Todd] been very vocal about being pro-life. We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential." (May 3, 2008, Associated Press) "I'm looking at him [Trig] right now, and I see perfection. Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?" (May 3, 2008, Associated Press) In 2006, Sarah Palin was endorsed by the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund in her race for Alaska governor. In addition to extensive fundraising for pro-life candidates, the Susan B. Anthony List will implement "When Women Vote, Pro-Life Candidates Win!" -- a sophisticated voter mobilization program that will target over one million pro-life women voters across seven battleground states. The Susan B. Anthony List plans to invest over $6 million in its 2008 election efforts. Complete story: Illinois Federation for Right to Life - Pro-Life Champion Solidifies GOP Ticket

Palin Speaks to Newsmax About McCain, Abortion, Clim