January 15, 2013
Conference Knocks 'Cuomo's Abortion Expansion Plan'
The New York State Catholic Conference has put out a strongly worded memo of opposition to the Reproductive Health Act that, in case you missed their message, brands it as "Governor Cuomo's Abortion Expansion Plan." Cardinal Timothy Dolan came out against Cuomo's call for the measure — long sought by Democrats in the Legislature — immediately after it provided one of the most enthusiastic responses from the crowd in Wednesday's State of the State address ("It's her body, it's her choice!"). Read more...
April 30, 2012
Minnesota Governor Issues Second Abortion Veto
Gov. Mark Dayton has issued his second veto of an abortion bill in as many weeks. The governor issued an expected veto of a bill that would have required physicians to be physically present every time an abortion pill like RU-486 is prescribed, and again every time such a pill is swallowed. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, pitched it as a measure meant to protect women’s health in the event of side-effects from the pill. Read more...
State Denies License to Reopen Abortion Clinic
Alabama's health department said it had denied a company's application to take over a Birmingham abortion clinic that is now slated for closing over health violations, citing ties between the prospective operator and the current owner. Ochata Management, which sought state approval to run New Woman All Women Health Care, cannot operate the clinic because it is too close to the current operator, said a statement from the Alabama Department of Public Health. Read more...
Sebelius Unaware of Religious Liberty Cases
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provided as much evidence as necessary as to why this administration has some incompetents running the show. While testifying before Congress, Sebelius was asked some direct questions about how she "balanced" concerns for religious liberty with the contraceptive mandate that is part of Obamacare. The result proves that her constitutional knowledge wouldn't fill the head of a pin. Does Sebelius know the three different tests applied to the Constitution to determine whether a piece of legislation balances principles? "I'm not a lawyer and I don't pretend to understand the nuances of the constitutional balancing tests," replied Sebelius. Read more...
March 19, 2012
Rep. Smith Slams Obama Over 'Abortion Surcharge' Rule
A leading pro-life lawmaker slammed the Obama administration this week after it issued regulations that provide for a so-called "abortion surcharge" in health care plans. The final rules, stemming from the health care overhaul, require plans that cover abortion to collect a separate fee of $1 or more directly from customers. The money would go toward abortion coverage. The intent of the rule was to make sure taxpayer subsidies do not finance abortions. Read more...
Birth Control Controversies a Fundraising Boon
The sudden focus on contraception and abortion in the 2012 campaign has meant a surge in fundraising for abortion rights groups that support women as congressional candidates. Emily’s List — whose mission is to elect pro-abortion rights Democratic women — has raised nearly twice as much for candidates at this point in the 2012 cycle as it did during the entire 2010 cycle, according to spokeswoman Jess McIntosh. And that’s with about eight months to go. Read more...
Gov. Corbett on Ultrasounds: 'Close Your Eyes'
At a news conference this week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett was asked about a state bill that would require women seeking abortions to undergo a mandatory fetal ultrasound. The governor said he would support the bill as long as it wasn’t "obtrusive." Then Corbett said that for any woman who might object to the procedure, well, "you just have to close your eyes." Read more...
February 29, 2012
Abortion Finds Way Into MLK License Plate Debate
A bill to allow a special license plate to honor Martin Luther King Jr. to raise money for education and training in human rights may not sound controversial. But it created some, when a few lawmakers worried that it may help promote abortion or other actions they dislike. The House Transportation Committee still approved HB506 by Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, on a 7-3 vote, and sent it to the full House. But not before a few lawmakers questioned if the "rights" it would help promote include abortion or government-funded welfare programs. Read more...
February 21, 2012
Women Protest Pro-Life Bills in Virginia
Hundreds of women locked arms and stood mute outside the Virginia State Capitol to protest a wave of anti-abortion legislation coursing through the General Assembly. Capitol and state police officers, there to ensure order, estimated the crowd to be more than 1,000 people — mostly women. The crowd formed a human cordon through which legislators walked before Monday’s floor sessions of the Republican-controlled legislature. Read more...
February 15, 2012
Pro-Death Group Fights Campaign Finance Limits
An abortion rights group filed a federal lawsuit today seeking to strike down a portion of the state’s campaign finance law that limits how much donors can give to political action committees. Personal PAC argues that the limits are unconstitutional and violate the First Amendment, citing a recentU.S. Supreme Courtcase that found expenditures independent of political candidates can’t be regulated. Read more...
February 11, 2012
Bishops Voice Objections to Birth Control Rule
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced President Barack Obama's compromise over whether to require religiously affiliated institutions to provide contraception to female employees, saying the proposal raises "serious moral concerns," according to a statement posted on its website. "Today's proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deploy held convictions," the statement said. Read more...
Religion and Birth Control: Not Just A GOP Fight
Catholic senators facing voters next fall have been openly critical of the original policy. One of them is Democrat Bob Casey, whose state of Pennsylvania is home to many Catholic voters. "I've said very clearly that I oppose the White House decision," Casey said. Another vulnerable Catholic Senate Democrat up for re-election this year is West Virginia's Joe Manchin. He, too, spoke out against the White House birth control policy hours before it was altered. Read more...
February 09, 2012
Birth Control Debate Flares
Birth control and religious freedom have suddenly become the dominant issue in the presidential race, an explosive issue with possible risks and benefits to both President Barack Obama and his leading challenger, Mitt Romney. The controversy over Obama's health care reform plan, which requires employee insurance policies to cover prescription contraceptives, has switched the focus of the nation's long-simmering dispute over reproductive rights from abortion to birth control. Read more...
February 07, 2012
Religious Liberty Under Obama Attack
Catholic pulpits and pews are increasingly inflamed with talk of a war on religion after the Obama administration's recent decision on employers' birth control coverage. "There can be no doubt that religious liberty in our country is in jeopardy," Monsignor W. Ronald Jameson warned on Saturday from inside Washington's historic Cathedral of St. Matthew. "This is the time to speak up. This is the time for all voices to be heard." Read more...
February 06, 2012
Graphic Anti-Abortion Ad Airs
The campaign of the Batavia man challenging House Speaker John Boehner in the March 6 Republican primary aired a graphic commercial with images of aborted fetuses during Super Bowl pre-game coverage on NBC's Cincinnati affiliate. "I am running against Speaker John Boehner because of his treachery. Mr. Boehner claims to be pro-life," David Lewis said in a statement. "I believed him until he voted to fund Planned Parenthood last year. Voters in the 8th district want an alternative to the establishment and that is what I am." Read more...
February 03, 2012
Obama Team Defends Birth Control Policy
The Obama administration is defending a policy requiring religious-affiliated employers to cover birth control through its insurance policies. "The Obama administration is committed to both respecting religious beliefs and increasing access to important preventive services," says a White House blog post by Cecilia Munoz, director of the House Domestic Policy Council. "And as we move forward, our strong partnerships with religious organizations will continue." Religious and political leaders have criticized the policy, saying it requires Catholic organizations to subsidize birth control despite objections to the practice. Read more...
February 02, 2012
Planned Parenthood Defends Obama
Following a barrage of criticism of the Obama administration from the Catholic Church, Planned Parenthood launched a national TV ad campaign praising newly mandated contraception coverage in health insurance plans, including those offered by religiously affiliated institutions. "President Obama and Secretary Sebelius stood strong to make sure all women — no matter where they work — will have access to birth control without a co-pay, saving them hundreds of dollars," the narrator says in the 30-second spot. Read more...
February 01, 2012
Obama Appoints 'Roe' Architect to Appeals Court
President Barack Obama is adding to his massive pro-abortion record by placing yet another abortion activist on a top federal appeals court — this time a lawyer credited with helping craft the Roe v. Wade decision. Obama has appointed Andrew Hurwitz to the 9th Circuit Court, the most liberal appeals court in the country based in San Francisco and covering laws approved in western states. Yet, according to the Daily Caller, Hurwitz was instrumental to providing some of the legal framework for Roe, which resulted in 54 million abortions. Read more...
January 30, 2012
Pro-Lifers Protest University of Scranton Speaker
Another showdown between a local Catholic institution and the Bishop of Scranton erupted, with conservative Catholic groups entering the debate on the side of Bishop Joseph Bambera. The Cardinal Newman Society, a group that scrutinizes Catholic colleges for adherence to doctrine, and the locally based American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, joined forces to protest former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies at the University of Scranton, an institution sponsored by the Society of Jesus. Read more...
Contraception Rule Draws Fire from Catholics
Catholic-based institutions say they will face tough decisions if they must start covering contraception and other reproductive services in their health care insurance to employees. "N.H. Catholic Charities would be forced to provide coverage for sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and contraception or choose to not provide health care coverage to employees, or tragically stop serving non-Catholics who make up a high percentage of the needy we serve," said Nick Boudreau, spokesman for New Hampshire Catholic Charities. Read more...
Pro-Lifers Gather in Oak Brook to Renew Efforts
More than 400 people who oppose abortions listened to the story of a former Planned Parenthood employee turned anti-abortion activist at the annual Speak Out Illinois conference at an Oak Brook hotel. The event, organized around the theme "Reclaim America for Life," brought together members of more than 35 anti-abortion groups to work toward renewing and continuing efforts to end abortions. Read more...
January 27, 2012
Alveda King: Defund Planned Parenthood
Alveda King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, told The Daily Caller that Planned Parenthood should not receive any taxpayer funds and that her uncle opposed abortion. She encouraged President Barack Obama to watch films like "Blood Money" that show the high levels of genocide caused by abortion. "It's very clear that even if none of the three-plus million that goes to Planned Parenthood from the tax dollars every year [directly funds abortions], it enables them to use other dollars because they're being enabled by that tax grant so I do not believe that Planned Parenthood shouldn't receive any money from the taxpayers of America," she said. Read more...
January 26, 2012
Pro-Lifers March on Roe v Wade Anniversary
Neither cold temperatures nor pouring rain seemed to dampen the spirits of the tens of thousands who gathered for the annual March for Life in Washington. The march serves as an annual pro-life response to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's landmark decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. A number of lawmakers spoke at the rally launching the march, which began on the National Mall and proceeded several blocks to the steps of the Supreme Court. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, vowed to continue standing with pro-life advocates. Read more...
