LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report 12/3/09 #4767

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report Thursday, December 3, 2009

For news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com.

Current Headlines

• Obama Administration OKs First Taxpayer-Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research
• Mikulski Amendment Draws More Opposition, Says Abortion is Preventative Care
• Planned Parenthood Opposes Senate Version of Stupak Amendment on Abortion
• Pro-Abortion Stop Stupak Rally Turnout Low, Pro-Life Groups Respond to Event
• Woman Victimized by Forced Abortion Will Seek Criminal Charges Against Hodari
• Mike Huckabee Urges Pro-Life Advocates to be Consistent on Abortion, Euthanasia
• Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Misses Deadline for Kansas Center
• India Woman Dies From Botched Legal Abortion at Hospital, Third Death This Year
• Madison, Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Shares Bldg With Library
• Massachusetts Law Limiting Pro-Life Free Speech Should Go to Supreme Court
• Aquinas College in Michigan Promotes Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Job




Obama Administration OKs First Taxpayer-Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration today authorized the first study using embryonic stem cells paid for at taxpayer expense. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama issued an executive order overturning President Bush's limits preventing taxpayers from being forced to pay for the destruction of human life.


Because embryonic stem cells can only be obtained by destroying human life, Bush put limits in place directing taxpayer dollars to adult stem cell research. That science has already proven to help patients facing more than 100 diseases and adverse medical conditions.


The National Institutes of Health, following Obama's order, approved 13 embryonic stem cell lines for use by researchers conducting studies funded with federal funds.


The lines NIH approved are in use by researchers at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Rockefeller University in New York, according to a Bloomberg News report.


As much as $21 million in taxpayer money could be used by the Obama administration to fund studies using these embryonic stem cell lines.


They were created with private dollars during the Bush administration, showing that Bush's limits did not prevent scientists from moving ahead with their research with private dollars, contrary to the assertions of Obama and other opponents. The lines were created by destroying days-old unborn children -- human embryos who were supposedly "leftover" at fertility clinics. Adoption agencies have emerged that have allowed parents to adopt these human beings and carry them to term in a pregnancy. Full story at LifeNews.com

Mikulski Amendment Draws More Opposition, Says Abortion is Preventative Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As the Senate prepares for a possible vote today on the Mikulski amendment to the Senate version of the government-run health care bill, it is drawing more opposition. Americans United for Life joins the National Right to Life Committee in condemning the amendment for calling abortion preventative health care.

As LifeNews.com reported yesterday, NRLC condemned the Mikulski amendment because it would essentially define abortion as preventative care and could persuade private insurance plans to define abortion as such and provide coverage of it.


AUL staff attorney Mary Harned has released her own analysis of the amendment and concurs with NRLC that it presents problems.


"The Mikulski amendment, in pertinent part, requires group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance to provide coverage for and not impose cost sharing requirements on 'preventative care' for women 'as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),'" she explained.


"While this amendment does not explicitly require abortion coverage, it also fails to explicitly exclude it," Harned warned. "The HRSA could categorize abortion as 'preventative care' and would therefore recommend coverage for abortion by all qualifying private plans," she explained. Full story at LifeNews.com


ACTION: Contact your senators today and urge a No vote on the Mikulski amendment, the vote on which could come as early as Wednesday. Go to http://www.Senate.gov to find contact information.

Planned Parenthood Opposes Senate Version of Stupak Amendment on Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The language of the Senate version of the Stupak amendment to stop abortion funding in health care hasn't been made public yet, but Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards wasted little time in condemning it. Sen. Ben Nelson only revealed yesterday that he is working on the amendment.


Nelson said he would sponsor language that mirrors the Stupak amendment the House added to its version of the government-run health care bill.


The amendment prevents abortion funding through both the public option and the affordability credits found in the bill. Nelson said his version of the amendment would be almost identical, except for variations of wording in the Senate bill.


In Washington for a pro-abortion rally with a turnout that is much lower than expectations, Richards sent out an email today begging for help to oppose Nelson's amendment.


"We must stop them, and we need your help. Please, send a message to your senators right now," she pleaded. Full story at LifeNews.com


Pro-Abortion Stop Stupak Rally Turnout Low, Pro-Life Groups Respond to Event
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates lowered expectations on their pro-abortion Stop Stupak rally today when they predicted they would have only about 500 people show up from across the nation. Judging from their Twitter posts today, it appears the number was even lower.


NARAL could only come up with fa handful of states that were represented by local pro-abortion activists, but that didn't appear to temper their excitement. The number was small enough that the abortion activists could fit into a "room" at the Capitol.


"As the rally gets ready to start, the room is filling up and the signs are out," NARAL wrote on its Twitter page. "Lots of people coming in ... met supporters from New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Maryland."
Earlier, NARAL indicated that "we're up to 56 constituents in Warner's office," nothing that just a few dozen local pro-abortion activists bothered to show up to talk to pro-abortion Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia.


Planned Parenthood also tweeted about the event and said there were "resounding jeers and boos" when the Hyde amendment prohibiting direct funding of abortion was mentioned. But with polls showing two-thirds of the American people don't like taxpayer funded abortions, that could explain the paltry turnout. Full story at LifeNews.com

Woman Victimized by Forced Abortion Will Seek Criminal Charges Against Hodari
Flint, MI (LifeNews.com) -- The Michigan woman victimized last year by a forced abortion at the hands of abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari is now seeking criminal charges. Caitlin Bruce says Hodari and a staffer held her down and completed an abortion on her even though she changed her mind and voiced her objections beforehand.


Tom Pabst, the attorney for the 20-year-old woman, said he will file papers with Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton tomorrow and Bruce hopes he will file criminal charges against Hodari.


Bruce has already filed a civil lawsuit and her request for criminal charges comes days after a national pro-life group said it asked the state attorney general to investigate the matter.


Bruce has said in an interview with a local television station that Hodari's abortion center staff member held her down and covered her mouth as Hodari did the abortion in her in April 2008 at his WomanCare, or Feminine Health Care Clinic, abortion business.


Pabst said Bruce waited to long to file criminal charges because she knew it wouldn't bring her baby back and didn't she anything else could be done to hold Hodari accountable. "She's not a Philadelphia lawyer ... she doesn't know the law," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com


Mike Huckabee Urges Pro-Life Advocates to be Consistent on Abortion, Euthanasia
Lafayette, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee spoke to 700 people at the annual Tippecanoe County Right to Life banquet Tuesday night. He urged the pro-life advocates in attendance to be consistent in advocating the pro-life position.


Huckabee said that, for him, holding a pro-life view means more than opposing abortion -- it extends throughout life to issues such as assisted suicide or euthanasia. Or, as the potential 2012 presidential candidate said, "from the womb to the tomb."


"For me, it's not a political issue, it's a matter of principle," he said. "Some people try to make it an issue of abortion, but it's really about every human life having value, dignity and intrinsic worth."


"People say I'm anti-abortion," Huckabee added, according to the Purdue Exponent. "That does not describe me actively, accurately or efficiently. I'm not anti- anything. I am for treating people as I'd like to be treated." Full story at LifeNews.com

Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Misses Deadline for Kansas Center
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) -- Late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart said in September after the shooting death of colleague George Tiller that he would open a new abortion center within 25 miles of Wichita. Yet, as December has rolled around, pro-life advocates are delighted he has failed to relocate to Tiller's home base.


Carhart originally said he would replace the abortion business Tiller ran that his family shut down in the aftermath of the shooting that claimed his life.


"I feel I'm doing it for him because that's what he would've wanted," Carhart said in late September. "I'm not proud I'm doing abortions, I'm proud that I'm willing to do abortions when women need them done." Carhart said the new abortion center would not be located in Wichita itself but within 25 miles of the large central Kansas city.
Today, Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said his group's campaign to keep Carhart from opening a new abortion center in Kansas has been successful. "We are happy to announce that as of today, there are no late-term abortions being done in the state of Kansas," he said. "We worked diligently to prevent Carhart from returning his late-term abortion operation to Kansas, and so far, our efforts have been successful." Full story at LifeNews.com


India Woman Dies From Botched Legal Abortion at Hospital, Third Death This Year
Rajkot, India (LifeNews.com) -- A young woman in India died from a botched legal abortion recently and she is at least the third woman to have died this year. An unmarried 20-year-old girl died after complications from the failed abortion she had last week, local officials indicated today.
The Press Trust of India indicates Hansa Makwan died at the H J Doshi hospital based in this city in the western part of the nation near the Indian Ocean.


Hansa's father lodged a complaint with local police against her paramour Rajesh Ubharia and doctors of Kashi Hospital in Morbi where the abortion was done.


She was five months pregnant at the time of the abortion and the newspaper indicates she was transferred from Kashi to H J Doshi hospital after she developed complications from the botched abortion. Officials indicate they are attempting to detain Rajesh and the doctors involved for questioning in the case. Full story at LifeNews.com

Madison, Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Shares Bldg With Library
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The new abortion business run by Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin shares space in a building with some interesting neighbors. The Urban League of Greater Madison is housing the new office featuring the combined merger between Madison's downtown and South Side Planned Parenthood centers.


The new office is coming under fire from Jim Sedlak, the head of STOPP International, a watchdog group that monitors the abortion business.


"The space will be leased from the Urban League," he tells LifeNews.com about the new arrangement.


"A Planned Parenthood spokesperson said the new location will increase the organization's visibility," he added. "It will provide ready access to thousands of children who frequent the Madison Public Library Branch, which is also housed in the Urban League building."


In fact, the Street branch of the Madison Public Library is also relocating to the new building, located at 2222 S. Park Street. The new Planned Parenthood office opened yesterday in the Urban League owned building in the revamped Villager mall. The new office is a move from the one at West Mifflin Street. Full story at LifeNews.com.


ACTION; Send your complaints about the lease to the Urban League of Greater Madison at http://www.ulgm.org/Pages/ContactUs.aspx

Massachusetts Law Limiting Pro-Life Free Speech Should Go to Supreme Court
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- A Massachusetts law that limits the free speech rights of pro-life advocates should go to the Supreme Court, a pro-life law firm says. The Life Legal Defense Foundation filed an amicus brief Tuesday urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case of a Massachusetts law severely restricting pro-life speech activity.


In McCullen v. Coakley, the pro-life law firm is challenging the constitutionality of a 2007 law making it a crime to "enter or remain" on public sidewalks within 35 feet of abortion facilities.


The law contains exceptions for abortion center patients , law enforcement, persons passing through the zone, and abortion center employees "acting in the scope of their employment."


Last July, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law is constitutional, and the pro-life plaintiffs filed a petition in the Supreme Court.


LLDF filed the amicus ("friend of the court") brief on behalf of itself and Pastor Walter Hoye, who earlier this year was convicted of violating an Oakland ordinance limiting speech around abortion centers. Full story at LifeNews.com

Aquinas College in Michigan Promotes Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Job
Grand Rapids, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Aquinas College in Michigan is facing accusations from pro-life advocates that it, for at least the second time, is promoting a job at a Planned Parenthood abortion business to its students. One Catholic university watchdog is dismayed by the news.

The career and counseling services office at the Michigan school, not to be confused with Aquinas College in Nashville or Thomas Aquinas College in California, routinely updates a list of off-campus job placement opportunities.

According to an EWTN report, Aquinas College's career services office notified students of a nursing opportunity at Planned Parenthood on November 12. The phone number provided in the job service listing connected to Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan.

College officials have not responded to an emailed request for comment, but Patrick Reilly, of the Cardinal News Society, did. He noted, as LifeNews.com confirmed today in accessing the college's web site, Aquinas College removed the listing from its job opportunities.

"Aquinas College set an important example by removing the job listing, and faithful Catholics can be grateful for that," he said. "Problems like this, often originating at the staff level, point to the great importance of firm policies and careful hiring to uphold the college's pro-life and Catholic identity." Full story at LifeNews.com

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