Tag Archives: Category: Sanctity of Life

Citizen Link: The American Family Association (AFA) in Tupelo says the mandate violates its religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law. AFA faces mounting fines if it chooses not to comply.

Boston Globe: Late last year, the nation’s highest court said it would consider a legal challenge to patents that biotechnology company Myriad Genetics holds on genes linked to risk of breast cancer. Now, Eric Lander—a leader in the human genome project, a scientific adviser to President Obama, and the head of the Broad Institute in Cambridge—has weighed in, filing an amicus brief.

Christian Newswire: HB 481, The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act, is designed to help bring biotechnological companies to Georgia by removing uncertainty for venture capitalists and companies. The measure has five co-sponsors.

NWA Online: Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday vetoed House Bill 1037, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of gestation.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: A letter from Republican lawmakers seeking an accounting for the millions of dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood and its affiliates was sent this week to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

My Fox Austin: Sen. Dan Patrick laid out Senate Bill 97 to the Senate Health and Human Services on Tuesday, the first step to passing the bill into law . . . Patrick’s bill would require doctors to only prescribe the drug known as Ru486 to women in the first seven weeks of her pregnancy and following a physical examination by the doctor. The woman must take the pill in a clinic.

Ken Connor at Christian Post: The message our culture now sends is clear: An unintended pregnancy, particularly for a young person, is a virtual death sentence – at least it was in a pre-Roe America. Thanks to that landmark ruling, however, your youngster’s momentary lapse in judgment need not have life-altering consequences. A quick trip to the friendly neighborhood Planned Parenthood is all that’s needed

Christian Post: A pro-life group has launched a nationwide campaign seeking to revoke the medical license of infamous abortion practitioner Dr. Leroy Carhart in response to the death of a New York kindergarten teacher.

The Morning Call: Women in Pennsylvania who use the health insurance exchange to be established under the federal health care reform law would not have coverage for abortion even if their health was at stake, according to a bill under consideration in Harrisburg.

Washington Times: A group of 72 lawmakers have revived an effort to ask the government’s watchdog agency to scrutinize taxpayer dollars going to Planned Parenthood and five other organizations who provide family-planning services.

LifeSiteNews: A former Ohio congressman has appealed his lawsuit holding the Susan B. Anthony List responsible for “loss of livelihood” when voters defeated him in 2010.

CNSNews: The assertion came in the case of Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius, a challenge to the Obama administration’s regulation requiring health-care plans to cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs . . . “Consistent with the religious beliefs of Tyndale and its owners, Tyndale’s self-insured plan does not and has never covered abortions or abortifacient drugs or devices such as emergency contraception and intrauterine devices,” Tyndale said in its legal complaint, prepared by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Mike Norton appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: New lawsuit: Planned Parenthood forced, botched abortion. | MP3 audio 11:26 mins

Penna Dexter at Baptist Press: This new policy was supposed to be the miracle that relieved concerns of the Catholic church and all the religious groups and Christian-owned companies who object to providing contraception and/or abortion-inducing drugs under their health plans. Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson wrote of it: “Upon reflection, it seems less like the parting of the Red Sea than a parlor trick.” “Accounting gimmick” is what others are calling it.

San Francisco Chronicle: The Indiana Senate has dropped a proposed requirement that doctors must try to perform two ultrasound exams on women who receive drugs to induce abortions.

NPR: Under revised rules of the Affordable Care Act, religious groups can be exempt from paying their employees’ insurance coverage for birth control. Religious exemptions are nearly as old as the nation and have been on the rise in recent decades.

NECN.com: New Hampshire’s House will again be debating whether women should be required to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion.

Anchorage Daily News: The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing Wednesday on a bill that would define “medically necessary” abortions . . . The chairman of the Senate Education Committee is wasting no time in delving into the issue of school vouchers. Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, in an at-times funny, at-times scathing floor speech last week, announced plans for hearings on school vouchers.

The Hill: The current continuing resolution, or CR, expires March 27. On Monday, a coalition of groups that oppose abortion called for a new CR that will allow certain non-religious groups not to cover the “morning after” pill in their health plans.

Daily Tar Heel: As implementation of the Affordable Care Act begins to take shape in North Carolina, the question of whether abortions will be covered in the state’s health care exchange remains unanswered.

Global Dispatch: Earlier this month, Ayanna Byer, through the assistance of the attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom, brought a lawsuit to hold Planned Parenthood liable for the botched abortion that she did not consent to . . . The complaint states . . .

Patheos: Earlier this month, Byer, through the assistance of the attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom, brought a lawsuit to hold Planned Parenthood liable for the botched abortion that she did not consent to.

Jurist: The Kansas Supreme Court [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that a non-biological mother of children conceived using assisted reproductive technologies has parentage rights under Kansas law. Kelly Goudschaal and Marci Frazier were in a committed, long-term, same-sex relationship and had two children via artificial insemination. The couple executed a co-parenting agreement and after they separated, Frazier filed suit to enforce the agreement.

NY Post: What should Albany be devoting its time to these days? Gov. Cuomo seems to think it’s abortion.

Seattle Post Intelligencer: Setting up what promises to be a contentious reckoning in the Washington state Senate, the House on Friday passed a measure requiring that most insurance carriers in the state cover abortions. House Bill 1044 is intended to ensure that insurers continue covering abortions once bureaucratic hurdles for doing so come into effect next year with the enactment of federal health care reforms. Lawmakers in the House passed the measure by a vote of 53-43, with all but two Democratic votes cast in favor and all but one Republican voting against it.

Holland Sentinel: A House panel on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation to overhaul Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, leaving out anti-abortion provisions that torpedoed an earlier effort to change the status of the state’s largest health insurer.

Damon Linker at The Week: Two-thirds of Americans want to uphold Roe v. Wade. But only 13 percent believe abortion is morally acceptable.

CNSNews: At an event to discuss the merits of lifting the ban on women serving in combat units in the U.S. military, a retired Army sergeant said that hygiene issues are not a problem, including menstrual cycles, which she said can be regulated or eliminated by using birth control.

AP: An Illinois woman believed to be the mother of two infants found dead in the trunk of an impounded car admitted Thursday to leaving another baby girl to freeze to death along a rural roadside nearly five years earlier.

Charisma News: “A woman’s life is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Doug Romero of Denver. “What Planned Parenthood did to Ayanna is beyond the pale. They clearly put her through extraordinary cruelty and jeopardized her life. Their actions were intolerable.” . . . “Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado who helped author an Alliance Defending Freedom report to the U.S. House of Representatives on the fraudulent use of public funding by Planned Parenthood affiliates. “American tax dollars should be used responsibly and for the common good. Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest,” Norton added. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.”

Daily Mail: It is not acceptable to refer your patients to the Emergency Department and assume the on-call doctor will take care of any complications and assume all the risk associated with the complications,’ he said in a statement, provided to Alliance Defending Freedom – the non-profit legal advocacy group handling the woman’s case.

Alliance Defending Freedom at LifeSiteNews: “Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado who helped author an Alliance Defending Freedom report to the U.S. House of Representatives on the fraudulent use of public funding by Planned Parenthood affiliates. “American tax dollars should be used responsibly and for the common good. Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.”

LifeNews: “A woman’s life is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Doug Romero of Denver. “What Planned Parenthood did to Ayanna is beyond the pale. They clearly put her through extraordinary cruelty and jeopardized her life. Their actions were intolerable.” . . . “Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado who helped author an Alliance Defending Freedom report to the U.S. House of Representatives on the fraudulent use of public funding by Planned Parenthood affiliates. He told LifeNews, “American tax dollars should be used responsibly and for the common good. Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.”

Todd Starnes at Fox News: “A woman’s life is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” ADF attorney Doug Romero said. “What Planned Parenthood did to Ayanna is beyond the pale. They clearly put her through extraordinary cruelty and jeopardized her life. Their actions were intolerable.” . . . ADF alleges that the abortion doctor began the procedure while Byer was fully awake – without any anesthesia.
The court documents state the doctor turned on the vacuum machines and told Byer it was too late to stop the abortion.
“Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?” said ADF senior counsel Michael Norton. “Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.” [Alert Editor: Doug Romero is an Allied Attorney; Alliance Defending Freedom Logo embedded in this report]

Live Action News (linked on the Drudge Report): Earlier this month, Byer, through the assistance of the attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom, brought a lawsuit to hold Planned Parenthood liable for the botched abortion that she did not consent to . . . Michael Norton, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, believes that taxpayer dollars should not be used to support this type of organization: Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?

National Review: We’re in a serious enough demographic bind that we’re all going to have to work together to figure out a way to make this thing work. The thing is, when your fertility rate is sub-replacement, you enter a zero-sum game where either older folks aren’t going to get the benefits they were promised or young workers are going to face much steeper tax rates. How the politics of this issue resolves over the next 20 years will be one of the most interesting stories around. Will older Americans relinquish some of their claims? Will younger workers volunteer to pay more? Will there be some grand bargain? The truth is, no one knows how it will end. We just know that something has to give.

NPR “All Things Considered” audio here.

Sioux City Journal: Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says it plans to file a state lawsuit over a Wisconsin law that subjects doctors who perform medication-induced abortions to possible criminal charges.

LifeNews: On January 28, in my capacity as social media manager for a coalition of national black pro-life leaders, I set up accounts on Facebook and Twitter to promote our upcoming demonstration in Los Angeles of the NAACP Image Awards on February 1.

Becket Fund at LifeNews: Nine U.S. Senators and two U.S. Representatives, along with the Oklahoma Attorney General and 11 other key groups, filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the Becket Fund’s challenge to the HHS mandate on behalf of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement: Sometimes offending someone is the best way to communicate with them. As I wrote several weeks ago, being “nice” often means not saying what you really mean. And that’s a problem in a country with a government that is of, for, and by the people. How can we govern ourselves if we aren’t free to say what we really think, even when others don’t like it?

WorldNetDaily: “Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado who helped author an Alliance Defending Freedom report to the U.S. House of Representatives on the fraudulent use of public funding by Planned Parenthood affiliates. “American tax dollars should be used responsibly and for the common good. Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.”

USA Today: Women who want a prescription for an abortion-inducing drug would be required to undergo an ultrasound before and after taking the drug if a bill that an Indiana Senate committee approved Wednesday becomes law.

Kansas City Star: A bill forbidding the use of state money, tax credits or tax exemptions for abortion drew heated debate Wednesday in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee. House Bill 2253 also would bar the state from discriminating against any health-care provider that declines involvement in abortion.

CNSNews: Republican members of Congress have weighed in on the legal battle being waged over the Obamacare mandate requiring employers to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to employees.

LifeNews: Researchers at Wayne State University in Michigan are mapping, for the first time ever, fetal brain signals. Science has proven that unborn babies show brainwaves starting at just several weeks into pregnancy and the scientists say the mapping project could lead to methods of helping prevent and treat brain disorders such as autism or dyslexia.

Washington Post: Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court narrowly voted Wednesday to uphold a law banning gay couples from adopting children. The 5-4 vote came . . .

Daniel J. Kevles at the NY Review of Books: Can genes be patented? This spring, the Supreme Court will hear a case that may well decide the question, and the consequences for American biomedicine could be huge.

Information about the Family Research Council webcast and video is here. It runs just over 61 minutes. An extensive description of the event begins: “Religious liberty in America has long been a cherished freedom. In recent decades, reaction to displaying that religion in the public sphere has grown increasingly hostile. What is being done about this slow and methodical attack on the First Freedom? Come hear from those who have battled on the front lines of this issue and have sought to protect the liberty our forefathers handed down. From prayer in schools to speaking against sin in a public place, there are numerous ways that religious liberty has been attacked. It is imperative that we make ourselves aware of the battle fronts and support those who stand as sentinels against encroachment on our first freedom. Join FRC for an informative and important discussion on religious liberty with Kellie Fiedorek, Ken Klukowski, and Adele Keim.”

David Bohon at The New American: ADF Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton, a former U.S. Attorney who helped author an ADF report to the U.S. House of Representatives on alleged Planned Parenthood fraud, noted that the abortion giant receives more than $540 million per year in federal funding. “American tax dollars should be used responsibly and for the common good,” he said. “Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.”

LifeNews: “A woman’s life is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Doug Romero of Denver. “What Planned Parenthood did to Ayanna is beyond the pale. They clearly put her through extraordinary cruelty and jeopardized her life. Their actions were intolerable.”

Christian Post: In addition to Klukowski, the other two guest speakers were Adele Keim, legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Kellie Fiedorek, litigation counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom . . . Fiedorek spoke to those gathered about the various legal suits coming up against Christian businessmen by gay rights groups. These included a photographer sued for refusing to take photos at a gay union ceremony and a baker sued for refusing to provide a cake for a gay union reception.

Douglas Dispatch (Howard Fischer Media): Steven Aden, an attorney with the privately funded Alliance Defending Freedom that is helping the state defend the law, said blocking the law “would frustrate the public’s interest, expressed through its elected representatives, in ensuring that taxpayer dollars do not directly or indirectly support abortions.” Aden also is arguing the state has sovereign rights in determining who can participate in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program. He said it is irrelevant that most of the funds for the program come from the federal government.

The Daily Beast: More and more Americans are childless by choice. But what makes sense for the individual may spell disaster for the country as a whole . . . It’s time for us to consider what an aging, increasingly child-free population, growing more slowly, would mean here. As younger Americans individually eschew families of their own, they are contributing to the ever-growing imbalance between older retirees—basically their parents—and working-age Americans, potentially propelling both into a spiral of soaring entitlement costs and diminished economic vigor and creating a culture marked by hyperindividualism and dependence on the state as the family unit erodes.

TodaysTHV.com: The Arkansas Legislature on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill banning most abortions at 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

Woman says abortionist forced her through abortion without anesthesia,
left part of baby’s body inside her

The Daily Caller: The pro-abortion organization NARAL Pro-Choice America hired a consulting firm linked to President Barack Obama to conduct extensive video interviews with young pro-life activists in their homes more than a year ago, without informing the pro-life activists that the videos were intended for NARAL’s use.

Reuters: The Alabama House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday that would tighten regulations for abortion clinics in a move critics say could force many in the state to close.

Daniel Philpott at Public Discourse: Preserving the freedom to witness to the truths one believes, not merely avoiding cooperation with evil, is what’s primarily at stake in the HHS mandate debate.

WorldNetDaily: Attorney Harold J. Cassidy called the decision of the full 8th Circuit Court of Appeals “a fabulous victory for the women of the state of South Dakota.” . . . Commenting on the decision, Steven H. Aden of the Alliance Defending Freedom said “a woman’s right to make a fully informed choice is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line.” “If Planned Parenthood truly cared about the well-being of women, it would not try to prevent them from being informed of the well-documented risk of suicide that accompanies abortion,” he said. “The 8th Circuit has done the right thing in upholding a reasonable law that protects the well-being of women by making sure that the truth is not hidden from them.” [more]

Matt Bowman Letter to NY Times: A corporation is simply a group of people acting together. The Supreme Court has ruled many times that corporations can exercise religion. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, protects “any” exercise of religion. That protection applies when families earn a living in business.

Washington Times: The Obama administration’s rule must be finalized by Aug. 1. “We haven’t had to file anything new, because nothing has really changed,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing several religious nonprofits and religiously devout corporate owners who have sued over the mandate. He said the lawsuits will continue and likely pick up by August if the exemption is not broadened to cover all religious employers.

One News Now: According to Casey, the teen’s case is not unusual, adding that Texas girls being forced into an abortion can contact the Texas Center for Defense of Life for help. Alliance Defending Freedom makes itself available for such matters across the U.S.

Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review: “Plaintiff Stephen W. Briscoe is a believing and practicing Evangelical Christian,” the brief in the case filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom in federal district court in Colorado explains. Briscoe runs several assisted-living centers and skilled nursing facilities for seniors and “sincerely holds religious beliefs that God mandates respect for the sanctity of each human life and that abortion and abortion-inducing drugs result in the wrongful taking of a human life. Mr. Briscoe seeks to run his businesses in accord with his sincerely held religious beliefs,” the brief reads. Briscoe, who became the first business owner to join over 130 plaintiffs suing over the HHS mandate since the latest insufficient “accommodation” was issued, talked to National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez.

WoodTV.com: A member of the state Senate Health Policy Committee says she will ask for a hearing to investigate why the former chairman of the state Board of Medicine closed out a complaint against a Muskegon abortion doctor despite their past professional relationship.

LifeSiteNews: Despite the Obama administration urging states to run their own markets for those without health insurance to purchase subsidized plans, the majority have opted to leave the job to the federal government. Twenty-six states opted to let the deadline for forming state insurance exchanges pass on Friday, leaving the Obama administration to handle the details – and the costs – itself.

LifeSiteNews: A judge has granted an injunction to the pregnant Houston teenager who sued her parents to stop them from forcing her to have an abortion. Attorneys with the Texas Center for Defense of Life (TCDL), who represented the girl, were granted a long-term injunction by the 308th Family District Court of Harris County, prohibiting the girl’s parents from coercing her to have an abortion for the entire duration of her pregnancy.

LifeSiteNews: Between 120,000 and 200,000 people blanketed the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, today to encourage the island’s lawmakers to defend marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

LifeSiteNews: If the U.S. Catholic bishops cannot rely on the president to protect religious liberty, they will instead lobby Congress. That’s the message of a letter written to Congress by Archbishop William E. Lori lobbying for two legal provisions on behalf of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

LifeNews: The North Dakota state Senate on Monday approved two pro-life bills – including one that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Senators voted 30-17 to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on scientific information showing unborn children feel pain at least at that point in pregnancy.

LifeNews: After the state House voted for the same bill earlier this month, the state Senate voted today to ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the science showing unborn children feel pain at that point.

Matt Bowman appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: Mt. Sinai Ends Forced Abortion-participation Policy. | MP3 audio 11:09 mins

Matt Bowman, Daniel Blomberg on World Radio (2/16)

Albany Watch: He’s not planning to separate the abortion piece in order to allow the Legislature to approve other, non-contentious measures. The so-called “Women’s Equality Act” would include not only a bill to codify federal abortion rights in state law, but also legislation enhancing pay equity, cracking down on sex trafficking and ending pregnancy discrimination.

NY Times: Bucking a trend in which states have been seeking to restrict abortion, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is putting the finishing touches on legislation that would guarantee women in New York the right to late-term abortions when their health is in danger or the fetus is not viable.