February 07, 2012
Judge Upholds Texas Sonogram Abortion Law
A federal judge upheld the Texas law requiring women to have a sonogram before having an abortion, saying an appeals court had forced him to declare the law constitutional. District Judge Sam Sparks had previously struck down parts of the law, but his latest ruling said he's bound to follow the direction of the New Orleans-based appeals court. Read more...
ND Law Banning Medication Abortions Challenged
A North Dakota law that prohibits abortion doctors from using a drug that was not designed for abortion procedures is being challenged in court, and has been temporarily blocked by a state judge. The law specifically targets misoprostol, also known as cytotec, a drug which was created to treat gastric ulcers. The drug is useful to abortion doctors because it has the effect of softening the cervix and inducing contractions. Read more...
Abortionist Quits Doing Abortions in Alabama
Just two weeks after two women were injured in botched abortions at the New Woman All Women abortion facility in Birmingham, Alabama, a Georgia abortion practitioner with financial ties to the center quit doing abortions there. Abortion practitioner Ivan Diamond has stopped doing abortions in Birmingham under pressure from pro-life advocates, according to Fr. Terry Gensemer, director of CEC for Life, who met with a representative of Diamond's employer in Atlanta, Georgia. Read more...
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...
Pennsylvania Panel OKs Ultrasound Bill
The Pennsylvania House Health Committee voted on Monday to advance the Women's Right to Know Act (House Bill 1077), which would offer a pregnant woman the chance to view an ultrasound image of her unborn child and observe the baby's heartbeat prior to an abortion. The bill passed with support from both Republicans and Democrats on the committee. "Before a woman makes a decision as grave as abortion, she should have the chance to see what's really going on in her pregnancy," said Maria Vitale Gallagher, legislative director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. Read more...
February 06, 2012
Komen Reverses Stance on Planned Parenthood
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast-cancer advocacy organization, reversed its decision to end $680,000 in funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., and said it is changing its grant criteria as a result of controversy over the original ruling. After Komen's decision to end the grants became public, Planned Parenthood raised about $3 million in pledges from more than 10,000 donors, Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's president, said in a call with reporters. Komen announced its reversal in a statement today with an apology "to the American public" from Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brinker. Read more...
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...
Court Rules Against Marcavage Lawsuit
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that an anti-abortion protester arrested near the Liberty Bell in 2007 can't collect damages from park rangers who detained him. The three-judge panel upheld a lower-court ruling to dismiss 32-year-old Michael Marcavage's lawsuit against two Independence National Historic Park rangers. The suit stemmed from Marcavage's arrest after he refused to move his protest to another area of the park. Read more...
Virginia Lawmakers Pass Abortion, Adoption Bills
Virginia would halt taxpayer-funded abortions for low-income women in cases where the fetus is severely physically deformed or mentally deficient under Republican-backed legislation passed Friday by state lawmakers. The House of Delegates voted 64-35 to strip the Board of Health of its ability to fund abortions for Medicaid recipients when a physician certifies that the fetus would be born with a "gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency." Read more...
Bishop Condemns Birth Control Requirement
The Diocese of Allentown made its stance clear during the weekend in a letter condemning rules that could force religious employers to provide contraception to workers in government-mandated health insurance plans. In the letter, distributed to Catholic church bulletins in all 104 parishes of the diocese, Bishop John O. Barres called the ruling a "heavy blow" to the Catholic population, and to the "millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful." Read more...
February 03, 2012
Planned Parenthood Sues Tennessee Health Dept.
Two Planned Parenthood affiliates are suing Tennessee Health Department Commissioner John Dreyzehner in federal court. The lawsuit came after the health department abruptly canceled two competitively bid contracts with the groups to provide preventative services for HIV and syphilis. Last summer, the Planned Parenthood affiliates lost $1.1 million in family planning funding. Read more...
AMA Claims Ultrasound Law 'Dangerous'
Texas' new abortion sonogram law requires that woman receive a sonogram at least 24 hours before an abortion and that the doctor plays the sound of the baby's heartbeat for the mother and gives her the option to view the ultrasound. Seems easy enough, but abortionists are furious, stating that the law will mean women will have to wait longer for their abortion, schedule two trips to the clinic instead of one, and force clinics to have the high-demand abortionist on hand to do the sonogram. Read more...
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...
Parents Sue After Teen Dies of Gardasil
The parents of a 14-year-old girl who died following Gardasil vaccinations provided by the Quebec government are suing the manufacture of the HPV vaccine, pharmaceutical giant Merck Frosst, as well as three doctors and a clinic, for $197,000. Annabelle Morin died on December 9, 2008 after having received two doses of Gardasil under a program introduced by Quebec in September 2008. Annabelle's mother Linda said her daughter received the first shot at a clinic in October 2008, and that the teenager vomited, became confused and incoherent and was unable to speak or walk. Read more...
Parents End Request for Forced Abortion
The parents of a 32-year-old pregnant woman, known only as Mary Moe, have officially withdrawn their request to subject their daughter to a forced abortion and sterilization. Moe, who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar mood disorder, was being treated in a Massachusetts hospital. When she became pregnant, doctors were purportedly concerned that her medications could harm the unborn child. So they recommended an abortion. However, Moe is a Catholic and she has expressed vocal opposition to abortion. Read more...
February 02, 2012
Virginia Senate Okays Ultrasound Bill
Virginia women seeking an abortion may soon be required to undergo an ultrasound first. The Virginia Senate approved the requirement on a 21-18 vote mainly along party lines. It is the first abortion-related measure to pass the Senate since Republicans took effective control of the chamber following the fall elections; more are pending. The bill from Sen. Jill Vogel would make women seeking abortions get an ultrasound, give them a chance to view the image and require providers to keep a copy of it on file. Read more...
Planned Parenthood Raises a Quick $400K
The Planned Parenthood abortion business claims it has raised $400,000 since Komen for the Cure made its decision to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from the abortion giant due to a change in grant-making policies. The abortion business said that it received more than $400,000 from 6,000 donors in the 24 hours following the news that Komen had made the decision last month to end Planned Parenthood funding. Read more...
Bill Would Repeal Obama Anti-Conscience Mandate
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, has filed legislation in the Senate to repeal a new ObamaCare mandate that violates the religious liberties and conscience rights of faith-based institutions by forcing them to offer employees insurance coverage for contraceptives, birth control or drugs that can cause abortions. The Obama Administration issued a statement re-iterating the "contraceptive mandate" requiring all insurance providers cover the full range of FDA-approved drugs and devices would remain intact. Read more...
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...
Oops! Pfizer's Birth Control Pill Doesn't Work
Pfizer said it was recalling about a million packets of birth control pills in the United States because they may not contain enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy. "As a result of this packaging error, the daily regimen for these oral contraceptives may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception, and at risk for unintended pregnancy," according to a Pfizer statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. Pfizer found that some packets of the drugs had too many active tablets, while others had too few. Read more...
February 01, 2012
Charity Halts Grants to Planned Parenthood
The nation's leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates — creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women. The change will mean a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams. Planned Parenthood says the move results from Komen bowing to pressure from pro-life activists. Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress. Read more...
New Arizona Proposal Would Set Up 'Roe' Challenge
Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, said that Arizona already has fairly substantial laws requiring that women give "informed consent" before terminating a pregnancy. That includes everything from a discussion of the risks and a 24-hour waiting period to offering to let the woman see an ultrasound of the fetus. Smith acknowledged his goal in imposing new requirements is to convince women to decide against an abortion. But the most significant part of SB 1494 is that it would alter Arizona law to define human life as beginning at conception. Read more...
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...
Austin Passes Another Unconstitutional Ordiance
Last week, the city of Austin repealed one speech-chilling ordinance targeting the city's crisis pregnancy centers – and replaced it with another. The new ordinance does not mandate specific wording, but compels crisis pregnancy centers to post signs on their grounds stating whether all their medical services are supervised by a licensed health care provider or practitioner and if it is a medical facility. Read more...
New Planned Parenthood Center Opens
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland's new Lincoln health center has been opened for patients. The 18,000-square-foot health center, which consolidates the two existing health centers, is at 5631 S. 48th St., Suite 100. Catholic seminarians and lay people were out Tuesday protesting abortions performed at the site and keeping a vigil in front of the new location, as they did at the former South Street location. At 1 p.m., about 25 people stood or kneeled a distance away from the front entrance, between the sidewalk and street, reciting the rosary. Read more...
