LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT!!!

LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT!!!

The hearing for the Freedom of Choice Act bill has been scheduled.

Now is the time to educate the members of the Human Services Committee, on the dangers of the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA) and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2354. If Illinois should pass this bill, abortion would be enshrined as a right in Illinois. We would not be able to have any of the following protections:

1. Partial-birth abortion would be legal

2. There would be no conscience clause for health care workers in Illinois.

3. There would be no informed consent/waiting period.

4. There would be no parental involvement.

5. Taxpayers would pay for abortions.

6. Presently Illinois has a physician only for abortion law. That would be nullified, opening the doors for non-physician abortions.

The time to Fight FOCA is now.

The FOCA bill is now in the Human Services Committee scheduled to be heard March 4 at 8:00 am.  Now is the time to contact the members of the Human Services Committee and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2354, the Freedom of Choice Act!

Members of the Human Services Committee are...

Chairperson: Naomi D. Jakobsson (D)
E-mail: naomi@naomijakobsson.com
206 N. Randolph
Suite 120
Champaign, IL  61820
Phone: (217) 373-5000

Vice-Chairperson: Constance A. Howard (D)
E-mail: staterep-constance-a-howard@comcast.net
8729 S. State Street
Chicago, IL  60619
Phone: (773) 783-8800

Republican Spokesperson: Patricia R. Bellock (R)
E-mail: rep@pbellock.com
1 S. Cass Ave.
Westmont Centre, Suite 205
Westmont, IL  60559
Phone: (630) 852-8633

Member: Sandy Cole (R)
E-mail: Click here (Web Form)
137 South Center
Suite 2
Grayslake, IL  60030
Phone: (847) 543-0062

Member: Annazette Collins (D)
E-mail: collinsar@ilga.gov
259 North Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL  60624
Phone: (773) 533-0010

Member: Mary E. Flowers (D)
E-mail: flowersme@ilga.gov
2525 W. 79th Street
Chicago, IL  60652
Phone: (773) 471-5200

Member: Timothy L. Schmitz (R)
E-mail: info@timschmitz.org
127 Hamilton Street
Suite D
Geneva, IL  60134
Phone: (630) 845-9590

Click here for more information.

Students for Life Illinois has started a petition against FOCA in Illinois to be Presented to Legislators on March 4th.

Petition Against FOCA in Illinois

House Bill 2354, also known as the Reproductive Justice and Access Act (RJAA) has been dubbed the Illinois version of FOCA.  The bill is set to be heard on March 4th.  In response, Students for Life of Illinois has initiated a petition to lawmakers in Springfield to show them that Illinois does not support what HB 2354 proposes.  The petition will be presented to legislators in Springfield on March 4th.

"Planned Parenthood is leading a Lobby Day on March 10th in support of HB 2354.  We must have a strong showing both in Springfield and for those who cannot make it to Springfield.  That is why we initiated this petition.  We want every pro-life voice to be heard," said John-Paul Deddens, director of Students for Life of Illinois. "We will get to Springfield first, but it is imperative that we arrive with as much support as possible."

Click here to view and sign the petition. Hard copies can be requested to circulate in your local community this weekend.

Legislative Action Alert - (HB 2354 F.O.C.A. Bill)

lllinois Federation for Right to Life
Legislative Action Alert
Friday, February 27, 2009

The Freedom of Choice Act (HB 2354)

The hearing for the Freedom of Choice Act bill has been scheduled.

Now is the time to educate the members of the Human Services Committee, on the dangers of the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA) and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2354.

If Illinois should pass this bill, abortion would be enshrined as a right in Illinois. We would not be able to have any of the following protections:

1. Partial-birth abortion would be legal

2. There would be no conscience clause for health care workers in Illinois.

3. There would be no informed consent/waiting period.

4. There would be no parental involvement.

5. Taxpayers would pay for abortions.

6. Presently Illinois has a physician only for abortion law. That would be nullified, opening the doors for non-physician abortions.

The time to Fight FOCA is now.

The FOCA bill is now in the Human Services Committee scheduled to be heard March 4 at 8:00 am.  Now is the time to call the members of the Human Services Committee and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2354, the Freedom of Choice Act!

Members of the Human Services Committee are...

Chairperson: Naomi D. Jakobsson (D)
206 N. Randolph
Suite 120
Champaign, IL  61820
Phone: (217) 373-5000

Vice-Chairperson: Constance A. Howard (D)
8729 S. State Street
Chicago, IL  60619
Phone: (773) 783-8800

Republican Spokesperson: Patricia R. Bellock (R)
1 S. Cass Ave.
Westmont Centre, Suite 205
Westmont, IL  60559
Phone: (630) 852-8633

Member: Sandy Cole (R)
137 South Center
Suite 2
Grayslake, IL  60030
Phone: (847) 543-0062

Member: Annazette Collins (D)
259 North Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL  60624
Phone: (773) 533-0010

Member: Mary E. Flowers (D)
2525 W. 79th Street
Chicago, IL  60652
Phone: (773) 471-5200

Member:    Timothy L. Schmitz (R)
127 Hamilton Street
Suite D
Geneva, IL  60134
Phone: (630) 845-9590

Have You Watched The View Today?

While watching the View today, discussion centered around the octo-mom and re-productive technologies leading to an expansion of what the woman's choice now means. The "New Choice" is being suggested to include "selective reduction" of a baby, post ebmbryo implantion. Discussion continued where one participant shared that she is presently the mother of two frozen children, which she called "her boys".  She's keeping her children, frozen embryos in an embryo bank. So, the question is, how do we respond to this "New Choice"?  

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New Bill To Legalize Assisted Suicide

Democratic State Representative, Charles Weed, a New Hampshire lawmaker is proposing a bill that would make New Hampshire the 4th state to allow assisted suicide. The bill would let terminally adults obtain lethal prescriptions from their doctors through an application process. Representative Weed, told the House Judiciary Committee last week, that he hoped he would have the ability to get a lethal drug from his doctor to use to kill himself when he was ready to die. 

This is a fine example of the euthanasia movement's agenda, total autonomy. The right to kill oneself when one wants to. The problem is that Representative Weed is asking the Medical Community to participate by prescription. 

Only Oregon officially allows assisted suicide, but Washington voters approved a ballot measure, which becomes law in March, legalizing assisted suicide. To add to the case, a Montana court has added to the problem by allowing assisted suicide there, overturning a state ban on the practice. The Montana Supreme Court will hear an appeal on the case, shortly. However they're in the 9th Circuit, which has allowed Oregon and Washington to maintain their laws.    

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Fertility Clinics Out of Control

David Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University stated: "In January, a California woman named Nadya Suleman, gave birth to octuplets through in vitro fertilization." These 8 babies joined their  6 other siblings who she had also conceived through the in vitro procedure. This is an extreme example of a growing trend. The reproductive technology industry is booming, with over 130,000 procedures and 50,000 births a year, up from around 65,000 procedures and just below 20,000 births, a little over 10 years ago.

Almost 90 % of in vitro procedures involve transferring more than one embryo. This, in many instances, has given rise to the increase in multiple births. And multiple births have given rise to an increased cost in health care for these babies, and health consequences due to low birth and various disabilities. Many times the embryo is discarded and not implanted in the woman's which results in the death of an unborn baby. Or the multiple embryos, not implanted, are frozen, leaving them prisoners in a frozen concentration camp.  

The reproductive-technology industry is almost entirely un-regulated. Most of the regulations are framed as guidelines, and not enforced by the law. 

This entire industry is responsible for children being viewed as a commodity.  They are mere product choices cereal boxes on a store shelf.  Or, if the embryo is frozen, it becomes a mere product choice of a frozen confection. This reduces humanity to consumerism at it's worst.     

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Legislative Action Alert - FOCA (HB 2354)

Illinois Federation for Right to Life
Legislative Action Alert
Friday, February 20, 2009

ACTION ALERT

STATE FOCA BILL INTRODUCED

 

The Illinois FOCA bill was introduced as HB 2354

Now is the time to educate your representative, on the dangers of the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA) and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2354. If Illinois should pass this bill, abortion would be enshrined as a right in Illinois. We would not be able to have any of the following protections:

1. Partial-birth abortion would be legal
2. There would be no conscience clause for health care workers in Illinois.
3. There would be no informed consent/waiting period.
4. There would be no parental involvement.
5. Taxpayers would pay for abortions.
6. Presently Illinois has a physician only for abortion law. That would be nullified, opening the doors for non-physician abortions.

FOCA states every woman has "a fundamental right" to have an abortion, and no Illinois government may deny or "interfere with" this right. Moreover, no government agency may "discriminate against the exercise of this right when regulating or providing "benefits, facilities, services, or information" to the public. In other words abortion may not be treated differently from live birth -- if a public program supports motherhood it must equally support abortion. FOCA endangers a wide range of laws enacted by the people and their elected Representatives over 35 years.  

The time to Fight FOCA is now.

It is imperative that you contact your House representative and Senator and tell them that you are opposed to this radical bill.

Our representatives are meeting this week in Springfield to develop committees. As you know, every bill introduced needs a sponsor and a bill number. It is then assigned to a particular committee. This committee hears the bill and will vote to either kill the bill in committee, or pass it out of committee, to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote.

Now is the time to educate your senator and representative on FOCA....

Click here to contact your representative

If You're Brain Dead R U Dead or Only Just Dead Enough?

Rome is hosting a conference on "brain death". The conference seeks to clarify the position of the Catholic Church on the removal of vital organs from patients. In Novembers of 2008, the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life caused a volcanic eruption, when it declined to address the ethical problems of "brain death criteria". Letters and emails went unanswered and the conference went ahead, with no mention of the controversy surrounding organ donation. 

Pope Benedict XVI, in his address to the conference warned, organ transplantation can be a source of abuses of human dignity. "The main criteria must be respect for the life of the donor, so that the removal of organs is allowed only in the presence of his actual death." 

As usual, immediately following the publication of the Pope's address, the Vatican responded by posting articles defending the use of "brain death criteria" for organ transplantation. L' Osservatore Romano published an article by Lucetta Scaraffia, a professor of contemporary history at the Rome University La Sapienza, outlining the dangers of "brain death criteria".  

This sets the stage for this week's conference. What do you suspect will happen?

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Do you know what's in the Stimulus bill?

We know what many of our elected representatives do not know, even though they signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, so that you and I can pay it. We know that there are five pages of exceptions to the prohibition on the sale of electronic health records or protected health information. We also know that the Stimulus package allocated $19 billion to establish centrally linked health data infrastructure to contain the health information of each American by 2014. And we know a new office is being set up to coordinate these records, called "National Coordinator for Health Care Information Technology."  
       
 President Barack Obama, when promoting the Stimulus Bill, said: "We'll computerize our health care system, at least, to save billions of dollars and countless lives as we reduce medical error." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, Spending more on health information technology creates jobs, saves money, provides less burocracy and will save cost for small businessmen. Mr Gibbs stated: "If you go to the bank on the way home, and take out your ATM card, and take $25.00 out of your account to use this weekend, the transaction costs the bank, in many cases, half a penny. A medical transaction of your records from your doctor in Bethesda to an emergency room in Washington cost $10.00. The president believes, that by implementing health care technology, we can save billions of dollars in health care costs, we see skyrocketing every year."

Do we smell a rat in this plan? Or perhaps rationing of care? Or perhaps a denial of care? Do we see governmental protocols mandate in hospitals?

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Activists Scuttle Planned Parenthood's "Community Forum"

Fox Valley Activists Scuttle Planned Parenthood's "Community Forum"

Posted by Matt Yonke on Thursday, February 12th, 2009

It was cold, windy and exceptionally dark on Wednesday, February 11, when over 40 pro-lifers from Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood (FVFAPP) protested Planned Parenthood's so-called "Community Forum" on Reproductive Justice at the Eola Community Center in Aurora, IL.

Planned Parenthood has been holding these Forums all over Illinois in support of Illinois House Bill 5615, the Reproductive Justice and Access Act (RJAA).

FOCA for Illinois

The RJAA is essentially the "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA) on the state level. It would remove what few restrictions the state currently has on abortion, end abstinence education in schools and all but eliminate doctors' and pharmacists' rights to refuse abortion or contraception on the basis of conscience.

The RJAA was defeated in the legislature last year after FVFAPP and other Illinois pro-life groups led a massive campaign of calls and letters to Illinois public officials. Now, Planned Parenthood is trying to push the legislature to bring it back.

Planned Parenthood's Strange "Community Forum"

Planned Parenthood doesn't hold community meetings for the purpose of informing the community and fostering dialogue. If they wanted to do that, the meeting would have been open to the public.

Instead, to attend the meeting, they required people to sign up beforehand on their website and bring a photo ID.

Once word got out FVFAPP was planning a protest of the meeting, Planned Parenthood claimed their registration system had had a glitch and everyone would need to re-register. At the same time, they claimed that they were booked to capacity and could accept no new registrations.

Local pro-life student Greg Guest had signed up for the meeting prior to the glitch, brought his photo ID, and was told his name was not on the list and he would not be allowed in.

Witnesses said every person entering the meeting was known by name to the Planned Parenthood representatives guarding the door, and though they claimed to be booked to capacity, fewer than twenty people attended the "Community Forum" and there were many empty seats.

Pro-Lifers Outnumber Planned Parenthood 3 to 1

Outside, over 40 pro-lifers picketed in the spot assigned to them by the Fox Valley Park Distric police department, which was conveniently situated directly outside the room where Planned Parenthood was holding their closed-door meeting. The two parking lot lights adjacent to our spot were conspicuously not lit and the moonless night made for a very dark spot to protest.

Despite the cold and the darkness, the mood was positive as pro-lifers carried signs reading "Planned Parenthood Lies to You", "Stop Abortion Now" and "Planned Parenthood Kills Babies."

As many picketed, others handed out literature about the RJAA, detailing its many pernicious aspects. Almost 300 pieces were handed out to people entering and leaving the community center.

Planned Parenthood hoped their forum would buy them credibility as a positive community organization and would paint a pretty face on their deadly operation. FVFAPP's protest exposed them and their legislation for what it is.

"When we announced this protest, Planned Parenthood abandoned the idea of having a community meeting. They know how committed the pro-lifers of the Fox Valley really are," Eric Scheidler said.

Stalwart activism like this has made it clear to Planned Parenthood, city governments and law enforcement that the League is serious and in it for the long haul in Aurora.

Thanks to all those faithful activists who braved the weather and sacrificed an evening to make this event a success.

Contact: Matt Yonke
Source: Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood
Source URL: http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org
Publish Date: February 12, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090213_1.htm

12-year-old's Profound Speech on Abortion

"Y.O.P.P"—a 12-year-old's Profound Speech on Abortion

"…we can't take someone's rights away to avoid our own choices."

Those familiar with the children's book written by Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who, will remember the one word shouted by the smallest who in Whoville; the word that made all the difference, and broke through to the ears of the unbelievers. That word was "YOPP!"

Bound4Life, the grassroots prayer mobilization movement suggests that "YOPP" stands for "Young Ones Praying and Prophesying." With that in mind, they have posted a video of a "young one" speaking some remarkable words of truth; simple and direct. (Photo: Bound4Life.com)

Lia, a 12-year-old seventh grader recently gave a very profound speech in her school, on the topic of abortion. According to Bound4Life, her teachers "strongly encouraged" her to choose a different subject, but Lia is obviously passionate about life. She courageously stayed with her topic, and her speech is fearless, and informative.

Click here to watch Lia's speech.

Lia's mother wrote in an email about where her daughter's passion originated, and what happened in school after she chose to speak on abortion…

"It was really a family thing. I saw Lou [Engle] speak at a conference several years ago. I came back to my family with the "Life Bands," and we all wore them, made our covenant, and prayed the prayer for abortion to end… We were invited to participate in a "Life Tape Siege." Once my kids heard of this invitation, they all agreed: "We have to do that!" Since then, Lia's passion for seeing abortion end has continued. Being impacted by Lou's words regarding Horton [Hears a Who], she was excited to watch the movie when it was released (and the rest of the family were too!).

"As part of her class requirements, she needed to prepare a speech; however, the classroom presentations were also meant to enable the teacher to select the best speeches to go on to a more serious competition. As I mentioned, several teachers discouraged her from picking the topic of abortion; she was told it was "too big", "too mature" and "too controversial." She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition. Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about."

Contact: Aimee Herd
Source: Bound4life.com
Source URL: http://bound4life.com
Publish Date: February 10, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090213_2.htm

PGD and Designer Babies

PGD and Designer Babies: Same Problem Only Worse

The launching salvo for the case for assisted suicide is always that of people in the most miserable (and fatal) medical conditions, who are fully cognizant of their situation, and who feel no outside pressure to kill themselves. But the inevitable trajectory is to include diseases that are not fatal, people who are unable to evaluate their situation rationally (most often because of depression), and to blow pass the death as a "voluntary" decision by subsuming it into the need to "contain spiraling medical costs."

So it is with "PGD"--pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. The technique, which originated in the 1990s, takes a quick peek in the lab at the human embryo, created by in vitro fertilization to find out if the three-day old, six-celled embryo carries a particular genetic disease.

Those life-threatening illnesses originally included cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and muscular dystrophy. If the embryo "flunked" the test, the embryo would be disposed of. If not, they would be implanted in their mother's womb, according to the Wall Street Journal's Gautam Naik.

Of course it was never that simple. A various number of human embryos would be created. Those that were found to be carrying the disease would be discarded, but not all those who passed the PGD test were necessarily implanted.

But that was then and this is now. Where once the conversation was about preventing such life-threatening illness, it has long since mutated. For one thing it includes such non-fatal conditions as Down syndrome. For another thing technicians are screening for non-medical reasons.

"The science behind [PGD] has quietly progressed to the point that it could potentially be used to create designer babies," writes Naik. "It isn't clear that Fertility Institutes can yet deliver on its claims of trait selection. But the growth of PGD, unfettered by any state or federal regulations in the U.S., has accelerated genetic knowledge swiftly enough that pre-selecting cosmetic traits in a baby is no longer the stuff of science fiction."

Same principle: you create human embryos in the lab, hold them up like diamonds to the light, and if they are "flawed"--don't give you want you want--you toss them out. Only now it could be an issue of "characteristics"–such as the child needing to be the "right" gender.

In that context, Naik reminds us that "While many countries have banned the use of PGD for gender selection, it is permitted in the U.S. In 2006, a survey by the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University found that 42% of 137 PGD clinics offered a gender-selection service."

Next in line? Essentially cosmetic issues, such as securing the right height, eye color, complexion, and hair color.

Some old timers say they are opposed. Mark Hughes, described as the director of a large fertility laboratory in Detroit (and a familiar name in PGD circles), says that while, "It's technically feasible and it can be done," "no legitimate lab would get into it and, if they did, they'd be ostracized."

Not at all says Jeff Steinberg, director of the clinic whose web sites advertises gender and physical trait selection. "This is cosmetic medicine," he tells Naik. "Others are frightened by the criticism but we have no problems with it."

Indeed trait selection in babies "is a service," Dr. Steinberg tells Naik. "We intend to offer it soon."

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Source URL: http://www.nrlc.org
Publish Date: February 12, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090213_5.htm

Arizona Legislators Move to Protect Unborn

Arizona legislators move to protect unborn and civil rights of health care workers

Following Republican Jan Brewer's move from secretary of state to Governor of Arizona, the state's legislature is attempting to pass a combination of abortion-related regulations which were defeated under her predecessor, Gov. Janet Napolitano. One supporter calls the bill the "most significant" legislation ever proposed in the state.

The Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Catholic Conference are two major backers of the bill, which has secured 12 of 30 state senators and 27 of 60 representatives as sponsors.

The bill, HB 2564, would require women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion and would provide "informed consent" requirements, the East Valley Tribune says.

Under the proposed law, a woman considering an abortion must be provided in person the details of the nature of the killing procedure and the risks associated with it. Such women must also be told the probable gestational age of the unborn child, and the child's "probable anatomical and physiological characteristics."

The bill uses the phrase "unborn child" and not "fetus."

Women seeking an abortion must also be told that medical assistance may be available for prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care. The bill requires women be told that public and private agencies and services are available to help a woman if she chooses not to have an abortion, whether she chooses to keep the child or give him or her up for adoption.

Further, women are to be told that the father of the unborn child is required to provide child support even if he offered to pay for the abortion.

The East Valley Tribune reports that Gov. Napolitano had vetoed a less comprehensive informed consent measure in 2004, calling it "undue government intrusion into the relationship between a woman and her doctor, her family, her religious counselor, or whomever else she wishes to consult in making this most difficult of personal and medical decisions."

The then-governor also argued the law already required that doctors obtain informed consent before performing any surgery.

Rep. Nancy Barto, a Republican from Phoenix, told the East Valley Tribune that informed consent "is not happening."

"Women are not being told these things and given complete medical information on these procedures," she said.

Barto said that she would prefer that abortion not be legal but claimed that the measures are not aimed at undermining the legal right to abortion.

"These will not stop one abortion from occurring if a woman wanted to go ahead with it," she said. "These are just common-sense provisions that will protect the rights of women."

HB 2564 also specifies what factors a judge may consider in determining if a minor is mature enough to have an abortion without parental consent.

The bill further provides conscience protections for health professionals, hospitals and pharmacists who refuse to perform or facilitate the procurement of abortions or "morning after pills." Arizona law already protects doctors and hospital staffers from being forced to perform abortions, but the bill is reportedly aimed specifically at "emergency contraception."

Ron Johnson, Executive Director for the Arizona Catholic Conference, told the East Valley Tribune that people who own private businesses should not be forced to do things they find morally objectionable.

"I know a pharmacist in Prescott who owns his own pharmacy," Johnson said, saying he won't carry emergency contraception. "He'll shut down if you force him to carry it and there'll be even less access" to medications.

He argued that those who want such medications probably could order them by phone for overnight delivery or travel further to the next drug store.

A statement from Planned Parenthood Arizona President Bryan Howard argued that the measure "makes health care less accessible and more expensive."

CNA spoke with Ron Johnson of the Arizona Catholic Conference in a Thursday phone call.

Johnson called the bill "the most significant piece of pro-life legislation we've done in Arizona."

"All proposals have gone through in the past years only to have been vetoed by Gov. Napolitano," he explained. "Because of those vetoes, we're bringing them back."

"It's going to protect women by providing them informed consent before they acquire an abortion. It's going to protect parents by requiring parental consent, and it will protect the civil rights of health care workers."

Noting that abortion rights advocates endorse the "right to choose," he told CNA "We think health care workers certainly have the right to choose not to participate in an abortion."

He said the Arizona Catholic Conference knows of a nurse who was "fired, basically removed, because she wouldn't partake of abortion in one hospital."

Medical students also need protection, he said.

"There was a big situation at our county hospital, which was sending residents to train at Planned Parenthood," he remarked, saying that state law generally prohibits taxpayer dollars being used to perform abortions.

Though the hospital was a government- funded facility, the students "were learning how to do abortions at Planned Parenthood. By statute they weren't supposed to be doing that."

"There were some Catholic students who were really imperiled by that action, which forced them to violate their conscience."

Johnson said there was "increasing pressure" not only in Arizona but across the U.S. to "take away rights of conscience and compel Catholic hospitals and others to partake of or refer for these activities."

While Arizona had passed a statute in 1973 saying doctors and nurses may not be forced to perform abortions, Johnson argued that the law hadn't foreseen new developments like chemical abortions and "morning-after" pills.

Defending informed consent and the 24-hour waiting period, Johnson said:

"We want women to be able to get all the information they need to make an intelligent and informed decision.

"We frequently know that there is a lot of coercion involved. It's important for her to understand what options are available.

"A large number of women regret their abortions because they feel they were pressured into it only to find out they live with a lifetime of regret.

"We want to help them, and this law will make that possible," he said.

Johnson noted another provision in the law forbids non-physicians from performing abortions, saying it was necessary because of a case where a nurse was performing surgical abortions at an Arizona Planned Parenthood facility.

He said even those who support abortion "won't support having nurses or non-doctors doing surgery."

"We're hopeful that with the new change of governor we can help get this through the legislature and have these commonsense regulations become law in our state," he told CNA.

Source: Catholic News Agency
Source URL: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com
Publish Date: February 13, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090213_6.htm

IFRL NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.

Obama Not Upfront on Abortion Measure

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on abortion to allow taxpayer funds to go to groups in other countries that perform or promote abortions, late afternoon on Jan. 23. To minimize press coverage, he signed the order in the absence of reporters and photographers. The White House waited until 7 p.m. to issue a press release, in which the president of the United States, (who campaigned on a transparent and a cooperative administration with both parties), stated, "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate," on abortion. Obama was not held hostage to sign the order, unless it was by his own party. After only a few days in office the president has in a single hidden moment trashed American morality, the personal beliefs of the majority and has taken money from the American people to pay for abortions not only in this country but in others as well.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090213/OPINION/902130329/1318/NEWS04


Media Censors Huge Pro-Life Event

Tens of thousands of pro-life supporters marched through San Francisco on January 24 to register their opposition to the continuing abortion holocaust unleashed by the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. However, the event was almost totally blacked out by the so-called "mainstream" media. Except for coverage by pro-life websites and the global Catholic EWTN television network, one wouldn't even know the West Coast Walk for Life had occurred, unless one had been there.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/family/732


Utah House Oks 'Private Fund' to Cover Costs of Abortion Fight in Federal Courts

House members, with only a short debate, approved a bill Thursday that would set up a fund for private contributions aimed at defending any future anti-abortion laws. HB144 passed 47-16, with only Democrats voting against it. Basically, the bill sets up, for a second time, a trust account into which private citizens can donate money. Sponsor Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork, said when the fund reached $1 million or $2 million — whatever amount Attorney General Mark Shurtleff believed was adequate to fight a federal lawsuit all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — "we can then move on a bill" to tighten current abortion law. That way, Sumsion said, it wouldn't cost Utah taxpayers any money to defend a new anti-abortion state law.
http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705284734,00.html


Socialist Health Care that Kills

Now you have stepped over the line you wanna be politicians! This is war now. I already knew this stimulus package had nothing to do with stimulating anything but was rather a bunch of porky pig entitlements and dreamed about programs that the democrats wanted for ages, but now this! The democrats and 3 turn coat republicans decided it was ethical, appropriate and also a national emergency to sneak in a national health care plan that would be run by the Federal Government, just like Europe. Daschle must be drooling from the ecstasy of it all!
http://www.newswithviews.com/Roth/laurie152.htm


Elderly Being Poisoned by Cocktail of Prescription Drugs at Hospitals

The cocktail of medications taken by many older people is contributing to a high number of adverse reactions in hospital, a new study has found. Research into more than 3,000 patients found that one in seven had had a reaction to drugs they received in hospital. Most susceptible were elderly patients, the study found, who were often already taking a handful of different medications. Problems included bleeding, confusion, kidney damage and infection with Clostridium difficle, with some patients suffering more than one side effect.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4580640/Elderly-patients-at-risk-of-adverse-drug-reactions-in-hospital.html


Players of Japanese Computer Game Rape, Force Abortions

Sex assault software formerly sold by Amazon, still listed on eBay

A Japanese computer game where players must rape women and force them to have abortions is for sale on eBay.com and has been available at Amazon.com until today. On the first level of the "rape simulator game," gamers stalk a young mother at a subway station and violently assault her, London's Independent reports. After finishing with the woman, they rape her two virgin daughters. According to descriptions, gamers may invite other male characters to join a gang-rape scenario. Pregnancy and abortion are "key features," and characters are punished if they decide to keep a baby.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88721

Death by Dehydration

Eluana Englara has joined Terri Schaivo, Marsha Gray, Christine Busalacchi, Nancy Ellen Jobes and countless others, some known only to God, as the latest victim of death by dehydration. Eluana from Italy, has been described as the Terri Schaivo of Italy. Her case brought to the forefront the battle for life in Italy. She had been in a persistently vegetative state, following a auto accident at age 21. Her father requested the court to remove her feeding tube and allow her "to die" translate kill her.

The battle regarding nutrition and hydration for non-dying, yet profoundly handicapped humans, has been waged for many years in the court system. Some would say that the removal of food and water is tantamount to the killing of a human. This writer thinks that's correct. No one lives without food and water. Food and water are ordinary necessary and available under all circumstances. The debate has been whether food and water are extra-ordinary, if provided by feeding tube, or even spoon feeding. This on the surface is ridiculous. If such were true, then a baby bottle would be extra-ordinary, and so would a straw to drink your pop. 

The euthanasia movement however marches on. Their primary goal is total autonomy. The question I pose, dear reader, is a moral one. If society condones the removal of food and water, for the express purpose of killing a handicapped, non-dying human, then would it not be more humane to lethally inject them?   

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Glamour Mag Abortion Stories Point to Need for More Recovery Groups

Care Net: Glamour Mag Abortion Stories Point to Need for More Recovery Groups

In its March issue, Glamour magazine explores the real life stories of women who have had an abortion. Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde thanked the magazine for giving voice to women whose abortion was a traumatic experience and has caused them emotional pain. However, she called on Glamour to do more to point their readers to the healing found through a post-abortion recovery group. Sadly, only one of the women featured in the article found such help, and no information was provided for readers about where to find it. That woman, Lisa Gaylord, now leads the recovery group at Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center, a Care Net center in Danbury, Connecticut. Click here to read Lisa's full story.

"All too often, magazines like Glamour will shy away from publishing women's raw abortion stories," Delahoyde said. "By allowing some women to share about the 'emotional hell' they have gone through, this issue treats the abortion experience more honestly. However, it does a poor job of presenting a balanced viewpoint about where to find healing. The only resources Glamour refers readers to are those offered by abortion advocates."

Delahoyde leads a national network of Care Net pregnancy centers - a majority of which offer post-abortion recovery groups. Real healing happens in these groups when individuals are free to acknowledge and grieve the loss of their unborn child and receive the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. In 2007, more than 10,700 women and men participated in post-abortion programs at Care Net's 1,100 affiliated pregnancy centers.

Many of these recovery groups lead participants through a bible study called "Forgiven and Set Free" (link) written by Linda Cochrane, R.N., who is also the executive director of Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center. "For twenty-five years Care Net centers have quietly and compassionately helped tens of thousands of women and men find healing after abortion," said Cochrane. "Hopefully more women and men will search for and find true peace after their abortion experience because of Glamour's acknowledgement of this 'serious health decision.'"

Delahoyde encouraged those who have experienced post-abortion healing through the "Forgiven and Set Free" bible study or another similar program to share their story with others on Glamour's website (link). To find a local recovery group near you or to learn more, call 1-800-395-HELP or visit www.optionline.org and click on "After Abortion".

Contact: Kristin Hansen
Source: Care Net
Source URL: http://www.care-net.org
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090212_2.htm

Live Action Sends Unedited Undercover Footage to State Attorneys

Planned Parenthood of Arizona Unapologetic for Sexual abuse Cover Up, Live Action Sends Unedited Undercover Footage to State Attorneys

The student-led nonprofit, Live Action, has provided the full, unedited footage from a recent investigation of a Tucson Planned Parenthood clinic to the offices of the Arizona Attorney General and the Pima County Attorney. The tapes show Planned Parenthood covering up a reported case of sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl, and were made public last week on the Live Action's website, www.liveaction.org.

In the footage released last week, a Tucson Planned Parenthood counselor tells a Live Action investigator, posing as a pregnant 15-year-old, how to hide her sexual relationship with a 27-year-old man. The counselor, identified in the video as "Araceli," cautions the girl not to bring her reported 27-year-old "boyfriend" to the judicial hearing required to obtain an abortion without the consent of her parents.

Even while promising an "internal review," Planned Parenthood of Arizona has offered no public apology nor acknowledged any wrongdoing.

Past investigations of Planned Parenthood by Live Action have yielded alarming results. Last December, Live Action released similar videos revealing sexual abuse cover-ups at Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana, prompting state officials to initiate investigations into practices at Planned Parenthood of Indiana. Facing a public scandal, Planned Parenthood fired an employee in Bloomington and soon after suspended another in Indianapolis.

Lila Rose, a 20-year-old undergraduate at UCLA and president of Live Action, asks Arizona state authorities to follow the lead of Indiana prosecutors.

Rose states, "Planned Parenthood's repeated claims of 'internal review' are woefully insufficient, especially since this organization has a record of violating state laws that protect young girls. Arizona authorities must thoroughly investigate the illicit behavior at Planned Parenthood clinics." She adds, "We must not forget that young girls are at serious risk. Planned Parenthood's disregard for mandatory reporting laws is prolonging sexual relationships between victimized minors and predatory adult males."

Live Action has also launched an interactive online map that displays recorded cases of violations at Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation. The interactive map can be viewed at liveaction.org/violations.

Contact: Lila Rose
Source: Live Action
Source URL: http://www.liveaction.org
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090212_3.htm

Assisted Suicide -- "Taking Care of Business"

Assisted Suicide -- "Taking Care of Business"

A great lesson for all of us in times like these is to constantly keep alert for signals from the anti-life crowd. We must point our antennae in all directions for the pro-death crowd's aggression will not be limited to abortion. The economic chaos that we are muddling through right now is like a breeding ground for those eager to use the low-level panic that currently exists to go after the medically vulnerable as well.

I thought of that as I read both the latest news from Capitol Hill and the transcript of an online chat held Monday at washingtonpost.com with author John West (link). West has just published a memoir–"The Last Goodnights: Assisting My Parents With Their Suicides"–which is getting the usual uncritical, sympathetic attention such stories habitually receive.

West tells us that he "assisted" first his father then his mother to die in 1999. Of course he frames their conditions in a manner most conducive to assuring that no one actually thinks through what he did.

West tells us that his father ( "a well-known psychiatrist") "was dying of wide-spread cancer" and "had only a few days left." By contrast his mother "was slowly falling prey to Alzheimer's ... but she was a psychologist, and losing her mind was the cruelest form of death imaginable to her. She had no interest in turning into a vegetable, and so she chose to end her life sooner rather than later."

At the end, I've attached links to this discussion and to West's syrupy interview with Diane Sawyer of "Good Morning America (link)." You can decide for yourself if I am being unfair. (I think I'm about to go easy on him, compared to what could be said.) Let me make four points.

First, West clearly has an agenda. As the on-line chat and the interview with Sawyer make obvious, West is not merely justifying his decision to assist his parents' deaths, which was and is clearly illegal in California. He also not only wants laws such as Oregon's assisted-suicide statute replicated everywhere, he is not shy about suggesting that the pesky notion of "terminal illness" is problematic.  "Things like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and M.S. aren't on the list. And maybe they shouldn't be, not yet." (Emphasis mine).

Second, West dances all around the obvious fact (as he paraphrases what his mother's neurologist said) that his mother still "had lot of brain left." "It was, indeed, pretty early on for her to make the decision," West says, "which is why I felt so much conflict myself."

He later elaborates: "She had a lot of 'herself' left, and I selfishly wanted to share it with her and keep connected with that." But, brave soul that he is (West did what he did, according to Sawyer, "with a heavy heart" ), he solders on.

West has to wiggle around the obvious fact that his mother was depressed. (He tells us she was on anti-depressants.) But he turns this to his advantage.  She ought to have been depressed.

"She said something like, 'My husband of 50 years just died, and my brain is turning into cabbage ... of COURSE I'm depressed! I have a RIGHT to be depressed!' That kind of insight goes a long way toward proving seriousness of purpose."

No, it doesn't show either insight or "seriousness of purpose" at all. It shows that she was depressed and needed support from, among other people, her son.

Third, rules are for the other guys and breaking them just shows how foolish they are. Sure, her condition was not that serious in 1999, and sure it was illegal to "assist" in her suicide. "But she also was a psychologist and a professional. And she also was my mother. And I loved her," West says. "And some things are more important than following the rules that are meant for the greater crowd."

Fourth, and finally, West understands and alludes to the economic imperative that is driving the wider discussion. One member of the online chat writes, "I have also heard many times if there was a meter running showing the cost incurred keeping someone alive who is going to die anyway, people would make the decision to suspend medical care much faster. Do you think this is true?"

West responds, "I think it might be true. A 'meter' is an objective way [!] to show people the truth of what's going on. In the absence of some device to remind people of what's outside their heads, people tend to stay in there and wrestle with guilt and other emotions ... which is fine, but it's important for everyone, especially in difficult situations, to wake up, act and think like a grown-up, and consider the bigger picture."

And what is the "grown-up" way to act? As he described his actions to Sawyer, "I slipped into mom's bedroom. And she and I took care of business." If that doesn't send chills up and down your spine, I don't know what would.

In the current environment, I would not be at all surprised if West is called before a congressional committee to explain how "taking care of business" is a wonderfully effective way to deal with the "bigger picture"--"containing" medical costs.

Click here for the Washington post online discussion

Click here for the "Good Morning America" interview with Diane Sawyer

Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Source URL: http://www.nrlc.org
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090212_4.htm

Tell President Obama of Outrage over Abortion Promotion

Red Envelope Project Tells President Obama of Outrage over Abortion Promotion

A grassroots initiative has sprung up which hopes to send a message to US president Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in the country over his administration's promotion of abortion.

The Red Envelope Project has been spreading for some time by e-mail, and now a website has been set up to further promote the project. (http://www.redenvelopeproject.org/)

The email that has been circulating reads in part: "I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man (Obama) and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.

"As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear."

LifeSiteNews.com was informed of the initiative today, which involves sending an empty red envelope to President Obama with the words, "This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception," written on the back.

The envelope should be addressed to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington , D.C. 20500

A website has just been created to provide information on the initiative and has the option of allowing individuals who have sent red envelopes to the president to add the number to a running tally: http://www.redenvelopeproject.org

Contact: Thaddeus M. Baklinski
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Source URL: http://www.redenvelopeproject.org
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090212_5.htm

IFRL NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY

Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.

Conservatives Say Gov't. Health Care Will LIterally Kill You

Once the Obama Administration completes their goal of passing an enormous spending bill with the promise of stimulating the US economy, they will set their sights on passing legislation to control the health care system throughout the nation, according to a conservative congressman who held a press conference for news reporters, Internet journalists and bloggers earlier this month. The Democrats, they said, are seeking to replicate the socialized medicine systems of other industrialized nations such as Britain, Canada and Japan. "The mainstream news media and liberal politicians are always praising the health care systems in other countries, but they never discuss the nightmare stories emanating from these countries' medical professionals," said political strategist Mike Baker.
http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news125.htm


S. Dakota Senate Panel Kills Plan for Pre-Abortion Meeting

A legislative committee is refusing to order doctors who perform abortions in South Dakota to schedule an appointment with patients a day before the procedure. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 4-3 on Wednesday to kill SB92, which would have required a doctor to schedule time with a patient the day before an abortion, whether the patient wanted the appointment or not. On Wednesday, with the committee at full strength, the killing vote passed.
http://www.yankton.net/articles/2009/02/12/news/doc4993b1b2c725a562332662.txt


Abortion Supporters Pelt Pro-Lifers with Stones in France

Pro-life demonstrators outside a hospital in Grenoble France were violently attacked Sunday by abortion supporters.  NOVOpress, a French-language news agency, reports that 70 pro-life picketers outside the 'Couple-Child' Hospital were violently attacked by a pro-abortion mob of some 260 individuals.

A pro-life demonstration was scheduled for the early afternoon, but prior to the arrival of the pro-life demonstrators, a rowdy crowd of abortion supporters took up the designated area.  NOVOpress reports that when the pro-lifers arrived they were verbally and physically accosted.

Police intervened and remained on the scene until the pro-life demonstrators left an hour later.  Two pro-abortion activists were arrested for throwing stones.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021109.html


Argentinean pro-lifers condemn abortion performed in Santiago del Estero

Pro-life groups are condemning the decision to perform an abortion at the Regional Hospital of Santiago del Estero on a mentally handicapped woman who became pregnant through rape.

The prolife group Servimedia of the Fundar movement said, "The crime of rape was followed by a new crime against an unborn person, who is absolutely innocent and defenseless.  The murder of an unborn person has taken place with the consent of the Courts and with State healthcare resources.  In this case, motherhood ceased to be a place of life and became a place of the deliberate and planned death of a baby."
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15066


Ruling Imminent on Tiller Criminal Charges

A judge is expected to decide this week whether to dismiss charges against a Wichita doctor accused of violating Kansas' late-term abortion law. Dr. George Tiller is scheduled to go on trial March 16 on 19 misdemeanor counts of failing to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions from an independent physician. Tiller's lawyers have asked Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens to dismiss the case or suppress part of the evidence. Arguing to preserve the prosecution, the Kansas attorney general's office contends the defense failed to prove that Kline - who became Johnson County district attorney after being ousted as attorney general - did anything illegal in the Tiller investigation.Prosecutors also dismissed as "rank speculation" the claim that Morrison filed the charges against Tiller in hopes of pleasing his mistress, Linda Carter, who worked for both Morrison and Kline in the Johnson County district attorney's office. "The defendants' argument that Phill Kline deliberately incited Linda Carter to goad Paul Morrison into charging the defendant is so speculative as to be entirely without merit," Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney wrote. "Kline and Linda Carter vehemently deny the same. The defendant has absolutely failed to prove this claim."
http://www.kjrh.com/news/state/story/Ruling-imminent-on-Kan-abortion-provider-charges/XRoyxTO2gEu27qpvUJT4sA.cspx?rss=784


FOCA Abortion Policies Take a Back Seat

Lawmakers don't expect to push agenda yet

When Barack Obama was campaigning for president, he promised to enact legislation to prohibit the states from limiting the right to abortion. Now that Obama is in the White House and solid Democratic majorities are ensconced in Congress, opponents of abortion rights have been bracing for that and other major changes to abortion laws. "We deal in reality," said Nancy Keenan, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "You have to be pragmatic, realistic and, in the end, strategic." Keenan said that solid majorities that could ensure passage of ambitious abortion-rights legislation don't exist. "The votes just aren't there," she said.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.abortion08feb08,0,3767889.story

5 Groups Profit from Mexico City Policy Reversal

5 groups profit from Mexico City policy repeal

In 2003, two years after President George Bush reinstated the Mexico City Policy (referred to by abortion proponents as the "global gag rule"), which denies U.S. funds to international groups that commit or promote abortion, the BBC reported the following:

Hundreds of women's health organisations in the poorest nations of the world - places where maternal mortality and infant death are high – faced a tough choice. Either sign the gag rule and be silenced on abortion, or refuse and lose millions of dollars in US aid.
Most refused to sign. As a result, thousands of family planning clinics across the developing world have closed their doors, making access to vital contraceptives hard to come by.

In reality, only five of 457 organizations declined U.S. Agency for International Development family planning assistance in protest over the Mexico City Policy in 2001.

They were: International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes International, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, Family Planning Association of Kenya and Family Planning Association of Nepal.

Notwithstanding the doubtful "thousands" claim, any organization abandoning mothers and children by closing its clinic doors rather than give up abortion showed what, not who, it really cared about.

And for what? What was surprising to me was how little these groups were getting. In 2000, the year before President Bush reinstated the Mexico City Policy (after President Clinton overturned it in 1993), International Planned Parenthood got a paltry $5 million via USAID and the others combined received less than $1 million from a budget of $393.5 million – only 1.5 percent of the total.

Five million dollars is nothing to International Planned Parenthood Federation. Recalling that Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported $1 billion in income in its 2007 annual report, I sought to learn how many billions the international group earns a year.

I got as far as finding IPPF's London corporate headquarters alone made $120.5 million in 2007 and then got bogged down by the fact that three of their six regional offices (by "region" IPPF means entire continents or partial continents) didn't post earnings.

I contacted Jim Sedlak of the American Life League, an expert on Planned Parenthood, and he said it is impossible to figure out IPPF's actual earnings because some IPPFs, such as in China, are owned and funded by governments, and most IPPF affiliates don't go by the name "Planned Parenthood," adding to the confusion.

So the question still remains: How many billions does IPPF earn annually? The Congressional Research Service reported last month that the worldwide cost of "family planning services" was estimated at $17 billion in 2000, the latest figures it had, almost 10 years old. Who knows what the cost of "family planning services" is in 2009. To be sure, IPPF, grabbed a large piece of that bloody pie.

Again, $5 million was nothing to IPPF, nor must the other four have deemed getting U.S. aid worth giving up lucrative abortions.

Take Marie Stopes, another huge international abortion chain with 452 clinics in 38 countries, committing 500,000 abortions worldwide in 2007.

Its corporate office reported earnings of $93 million in 2006, but pinpointing all of its income in various pockets of the world is as difficult as pinpointing IPPF's.

Particularly dastardly, Marie Stopes is involved in coerced abortion and sterilization in China. And it has been pushing medical abortion kits particularly in rural areas "because safe services are beyond [women's] reach.

Of the remaining three, two – Family Planning Association of Kenya (now Family Health Options Kenya) and Family Planning Association of Nepal – are IPPF affiliates.

The last, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, reported earnings of $313 million for 2007.

None of these groups needs American taxpayer money. What they refused was chump change to them anyway.

So why the histrionics whenever a pro-life president reinstates the Mexico City Policy?

Fact is, pro-aborts let nothing get by them with without getting hysterical, which is very unfeminist.

But, as it has worked for women throughout time on a small scale, pro-aborts are making them work on a grand scale. Their overreactionary and relentless hysteria over the slightest encroachment is one reason pro-life politicians go weak at the thought of taking them on, and pro-abort politicians are reminded to fear the devil.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: WorldNetDaily
Source URL: http://www.wnd.com
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090211_1.htm

Forced Abortion, Rape Victim Comes Forward

Forced Abortion, Rape Victim Comes Forward After Abortionist Given Probation

Investigation reveals illegal record dumping was not isolated problem with Hodari clinics. List of injured abortion patients, including four abortion-related deaths, spans decades.

Outraged by what she considers a meaningless sentence and remarks by an attorney, that she says are insulting and untrue, a former patient of Womancare has come forward to tell of her horrific abortion experience with owner, abortionist Alberto Hodari.

Jennifer McCoy's hair-raising account of a forced abortion and the non-reporting of child sexual abuse that allowed her rapist to continue abusing her is part of an investigative report about Hodari's legal problems released today by Operation Rescue.  (Click here to read.)

Womancare, Inc., a Detroit area abortion clinic chain owned by Alberto Hodari, was given six months probation on one count of illegally disposing of abortion records last week.  Eleven other counts have been dismissed.  Womancare was charged after Citizen's for a Pro-Life Society discovered abortion records along with the remains of aborted babies that had been illegally dumped in the clinic's trash. The Health Department chose not to pursue charges for the illegal disposal of human remains.

After the sentencing, Hodari's attorney, Victor Norris, told the press that Hodari had "never had any licensing violations or criminal allegations."

Operation Rescue's report tells a very different story.  It reveals that Hodari has a record of a whopping 49 documented lawsuits, including four abortion-related deaths.

McCoy has told her story hoping that Hodari will be exposed and that his reign of terror over women will come to an end.

"How this man still has a medical license is beyond me. Hodari is a danger to the public and needs to be stopped," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "In six months, Hodari will have to go before the court again for a final disposition of the illegal disposal of abortion records case. If Hodari's attorney told the judge that the clinic has never had any problems, the judge-and the public-needs to hear the truth.

"Thank God for courageous women like Jennifer McCoy who are willing to speak out in spite of their pain about this dreadful injustice," said Newman. "We pray that the truth comes out and that proper justice will be done before Hodari's body count gets any higher."

Click to read Operation Rescue's full report.

Contact: Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger
Source: Operation Rescue
Source URL: http://www.operationrescue.org
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090211_2.htm

Pro-Abort Activists Attack Pregnancy Resource Centers

Pro-Abortion Activists Renew Attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers

Feminists who gathered for a conference last week in Washington, D.C., said President Barack Obama's pro-abortion mandate is likely to unite the pro-life movement like it did during Bill Clinton's two terms as president. Panelists said that meant there is a need to renew efforts to discredit the pro-life movement, including defeating legislation that would support pregnancy resource centers.
 
In reference to that end, Christina Page, author of "How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America," noted the Pregnant Women Support Act, sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) in the 100th Congress and reintroduced in the Senate in January.

The act calls for a range of programs to help women facing unplanned pregnancies who decide to carry their child to term, including counseling, pre-natal and postnatal health care, and the funding of "Life Support Centers to offer comprehensive and supportive services for pregnant women, mothers and children."
 
"This was his attempt to say, 'Hey listen, we can provide support for women who may not ordinarily want to terminate if they had more support,' " Page said. "It's a problematic bill. One of the things it does is (support) crisis pregnancy centers and that's a non-starter."
 
"We're not going to ever step up to the plate and accept that health centers that mislead women should get any federal money," Page said.

Page and other pro-abortion activists and organizations claim that pro-life centers mislead women by giving them inaccurate medical information, including using untrained staff to perform ultrasounds; frightening women by telling them about the harm an abortion can cause and lying about pregnancy test results to trick women into waiting until it is too late to have an abortion.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, a network of Christian pro-life pregnancy resource centers, told CNSNews.com. "Particularly for our medical clinics. The whole goal of the medical clinic is to confirm whether or not you have a viable uterine pregnancy."

Hartshorn said that 50 percent of the 1,800 centers that are affiliated with Heartbeat International are licensed through a physician or by the state where it operates and that medical professionals conduct ultrasounds, if a client signs paperwork to confirm she voluntarily agrees to the procedure.

"We are committed to medical accuracy," Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, also a Christian pro-life organization that supports a network of more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers across the country, told CNSnews.com.

Delahoyde said that Care Net has a national medical director and a medical advisory board made up of obstetricians and other health care professionals.

New Media Strategy

Feminists at the conference, which focused on how they can use the new media to promote their agenda, said that blogs and Web sites should be used to warn women about pregnancy resource centers.
 
 Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Web site warns about a center on its Web site under the "Abortion" section.

"Family planning clinics, like your local Planned Parenthood health center, have specially trained staff who can talk with you about all of your options," the Web site says. "But beware of so-called 'crisis pregnancy centers.' These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion. They often don't give women all their options. They have a history of scaring women into not having abortions. Absolutely no one should pressure you or trick you into making a decision you're not comfortable with."

Another page lists specific warnings, including, "[Crisis Pregnancy Centers] may tell you that you are not pregnant even if you are. This may fool you into continuing your pregnancy without knowing it. If your decision is delayed, it could make abortion more risky. It could also keep you from getting early prenatal care."

The Washington state-based Feminist Women's Health Center Web site puts some of its warning about pregnancy resource centers in bold lettering:

"If you discover you are seeking help from an anti-abortion facility, protect yourself from further harassment. Leave immediately and do not return. When you do locate a professional clinic that offers information about all options, be sure to tell them about your experience at the fake clinic and let them help you sort out the facts from the religious views or outright lies you have been told."

Planned Parenthood refers visitors to its Web site to the National Abortion Federation (NAF), which provides the location of abortion clinics in all 50 states. Under the heading "The impact of Anti-Choice Activities," the Web site says:

"The past few years have revealed a new anti-choice strategy of offering 'counseling' services to women. Rather than exploring the roots of a woman's psychological distress and providing unbiased therapy, anti-choice counselors tend to direct her anger towards the abortion provider by claiming that women are misinformed about the psychological trauma that abortion inflicts. Due to the political bias of these counselors and their misuse of psychological services, women can be left feeling angry and betrayed."

Offering options

Hartshorn said pregnancy resource centers' mission is not to hurt women but to offer them an alternative to abortion, if they are facing an unplanned pregnancy.

"This is the irony," Hartshorn said. "[Abortion providers] claim to be pro-choice. In fact, however, Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics provide no other options besides abortion."
 
"They may inform the person that those are the two other options but they don't provide for those options," Hartshorn said. "Our centers, on the other hand, actually provide help. Concrete help so that people who decide to continue their pregnancies can have the help that they need to do that."

The help at clinics associated with Heartbeat International and Care Net includes referring women to a range of resources, such as pre-natal heath care, social services, adoption, and programs that provide financial support and housing.
 
"The question I'm asking is what's really going on here?" Delahoyde said. "Here you have 30,000 volunteers around the country at the local level. We're saving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and we're working at the most effective level."
 
"We are about serving women in the community and we're all free of charge," Delahoyde said. "We're not charging people anything for this."

Hartshorn said that money rather than compassion for women may be the motivation behind pro-abortion activists' attacks on pregnancy resource centers.

"No woman really wants to have an abortion," Hartshorn said. "If that's true -- and there's a place that will really provide her alternatives in a practical way not to have to have an abortion -- of course she's not going to choose it."
 
"But that means that they're not going to make any money from her choice," Hartshorn said. "They make money if she chooses abortion. We make no money regardless of what she chooses. We have no financial interest in her choice, but they do."

Under the federal Title X Family Planning Program, abortion providers receive taxpayer funds for their family planning services, including Planned Parenthood, which receives $300 million a year of taxpayer money.

Life stories

Delahoyde said that the bottom line, however, isn't about funding but about the lives of women who are facing perhaps the most difficult decision.

"Here's what I'd say to [pro-abortion activists]," Delahoyde said. "Let the women tell their stories."

One of those stories was told last year during testimony in the Maryland State Legislature concerning a bill (HB 1146) urged by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood and sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Roger Manno.

Jennifer June VanSant testified about her experience of having an abortion and finding help through a pregnancy resource center during her second pregnancy.

The bill was defeated.

Her testimony, as excerpted below, reads: "I have come here today to share my story. My hope is that you will find it to be one of hope and that you will be able to recognize the challenges and benefits to my decisions. …

"Several years ago, I was addicted to drugs. I used daily and was not interested in any sort of rehabilitation or treatment. When I found myself pregnant I was upset but I only gave one option any thought. I was not willing to quit using and so I decided very matter of factly to have an abortion. At this point, I did not believe that it was possible to have a viable pregnancy. Using a Baltimore clinic, I scheduled an appointment one day and had the procedure the next. When I arrived I sat in a large waiting room filled with people and we all seemed to be called back rather rapidly. When it was my turn, I was asked a few questions and given Zanax.  The Zanax mixed with the other drugs I already had in my system.  The interaction of these drugs left me physically and emotionally numb.  I returned to the waiting room. 'Scary Movie 2' was being shown on the television in the waiting room.  In retrospect, I find the choice of this movie to be quite ironic. 
 
"The procedure lasted maybe 5 minutes. Looking back that seems like such a short period of time. In only 5 minutes, a person's entire lifetime was erased.  After that I left and it was done. At this point I was not conscious or sober enough to recognize the ramifications of my decision, nor did anyone at this clinic present them to me. In fact most of the people I encountered there seemed sad and unhappy. I really didn't think much about the decision I had made. Three days later I was using even more heavily, spiraled further into the cycle of addiction and chose not to deal with any of the physical and emotional results of my decisions. …

"Two years later I was still using and became pregnant again. This time I was so out of touch with reality that I was in complete denial for the beginning of the pregnancy. In the back of my mind I knew I was pregnant and didn't want to believe it! I thought I might kill myself. I was still heavily under the influence of drugs and addiction. I didn't know what to do. However, even in my compromised state I clearly knew the difference between the abortion and Bowie Crofton. I agreed to go to an appointment my mother arranged for me at a pregnancy clinic in Bowie, Maryland to see if my pregnancy was viable. I remember entering and feeling like everyone was looking at me. Now, I know that to be the paranoia of a severely addicted user. After greeting me, I waited for a few moments before a young lady my age walked me back to a room. It was nicely decorated, like a home. Emily was kind, considerate, and patient. While at this particular time, I was rude, disrespectful, and terrified. 
 
"She began by clearly informing me what would happen during my visit. I would have a pregnancy test, she and I would talk, and then I would be given a sonogram joined by my mother if I so wished. Emily and I talked about my circumstance, my boyfriend (who didn't know I was pregnant), my desire to terminate once again, and what life would look like if I chose to become a parent. I could not even grasp the idea. I recall asking Emily several questions.  The most important one to me was, 'How could she relate at all to my circumstance?'  In a gentle, non-forceful way, she shared with me her story about her adopted brother. I listened and took it all in. We did not talk about God; Emily knew at that point I was not interested in hearing about that. We did talk about abortion since I had already had one. No decisions were made.  Emily just listened. She asked questions that made me think, which made me really not like her because the last thing I wanted to do was really think about this decision."

"Then I met Nancy, the sonogram nurse. I was embarrassed by the size of my belly which proved me to be further along than I had expected! The moment came to view the fetus on the monitor. She asked if I wanted to look. I refused. A few moments later I could not deny the deep loud heartbeat as I turned my face to see. A tear streamed down my cheek. I turned my head, shocked that I could actually see any resemblance to a human being. Nancy spoke briefly to the health of the baby and what would be necessary to provide the optimum health for the child. Nancy told me about State funding because I did not have a job or insurance to pay for medical expenses. She emphasized the need for proper prenatal medical care and prenatal vitamins.
 
"As I got dressed, I cried tears of relief because these people gave me a sense that it was going to be all right. Even though I wasn't completely convinced, no final decisions had been made. The only immediate decision I made was a vow that from the moment I saw him I would stop using drugs while I was pregnant. The next few days were hard as I occasionally glanced at the sonogram photograph and it became real. Also, the sound of the heartbeat in my head echoed over and over again. Finally, after many sleepless nights and a lot of prayer, I decided to have my child. I also decided further along in my pregnancy that I was not ready to be a parent and would make an adoption plan for my son. …

"The next few months were hard, as was the first day and many following days after leaving the hospital. My strength was not my own. Through this experience my faith was renewed. God was faithful and His Love endured. Emily called me several times during my pregnancy and was always encouraging. I also received cards and notes from others at Bowie Crofton simply telling me that they were thinking of me and the baby and hoping we were well. It meant a lot to know that the Bowie Crofton team cared about me even after I had left their facility. …

"It is my pleasure to support the work of Bowie Crofton. All of the people who work there know my son by name and they know our story. I am honored to know this group of people and believe that what they do makes a positive difference in the lives of people facing an unplanned pregnancy. …

"My life today is far more superior than I could have ever imagined, which I believe is a direct result of the positive choice I made. Thanks to the accurate information given to me by the expert, caring staff in the form of my one-on-one pregnancy counseling, pregnancy test, licensed medical sonogram, information about prenatal care, and State funding all given to me free of charge -- my son and I are alive today. I am a living example of the power of what they do. And so is my son."

Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews. om
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090211_3.htm