Life Advocacy Briefing
June 22, 2009
Sotomayor Info / Ghouls / Buckle your Seatbelts! / Elections Have Consequences
/ 12-Year-Old Stuns Again / Exploiting Women / Eschewing Nazi Medicine /
Strange Bedfellows?
Sotomayor Info
DEVELOPING DISCOVERIES ABOUT THE PRO-ABORTION VIEWS of Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor are available on-going from a new Internet website maintained by Americans United for Life (AUL), pro-bono/pro-life legal and legislative counsel headquartered in Chicago.
AUL terms the new site “a one-stop resource for all the essential information about where Judge Sotomayor stands on the Life issues.” An AUL bulletin issued last week warns, “The White House is attempting to paint Judge Sotomayor as one who would maintain the liberal ‘balance’ on the Supreme Court, but her record of abortion activism shows she is even worse on Life issues than retiring Justice David Souter” – and that’s hard to achieve!
Keep updated on this vital question by frequently checking out www.Sotomayor411.com. AUL’s principal homepage is at www.aul.org.
Ghouls
THE LATE-TERM ABORTIONIST WHO TRIED TO TAKE OVER George Tiller’s business after the notorious Wichita abortionist was killed May 31, LeRoy Carhart of Bellevue, Nebraska, was turned down by Mr. Tiller’s family, which has announced the murdered man’s business will remain shuttered forever.
But that does not appear to be stopping Mr. Carhart’s hunger for Mr. Tiller’s market share of the lucrative late-term baby killing business.
Mr. Carhart announced June 11, reports KETV.com, that “he will begin training his staff to perform late-term abortions,” apparently in Nebraska. Mr. Carhart, incidentally, was the plaintiff in the litigation which sought to invalidate the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban.
Here is the reaction of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, quoted by KETV.com, to the news that Mr. Carhart will be bringing a late-term abortion specialty business to his state: “‘I’m disgusted and I’m saddened, and I hate it that he’s here in Nebraska, and I hate it that he’s in America,’ [Mr.] Bruning said. ‘I mean, this guy is one sick individual.’”
Some other “sick individual[s]”: the pro-abortion activists who are reportedly threatening pro-life leaders with bodily harm. Pro-life blogger and speaker Jill Stanek is under protection from police and federal authorities, according to a blog called PewSitter.com, cited as source by LifeSiteNews.com. Fr. Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, has also received serious threats and is accustomed to accompaniment by “armed escorts” when keeping speaking engagements, LifeSite reports. Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman has also received one or more death threats. All need our prayers.
Buckle your Seatbelts!
THE RELIGION EDITOR OF U.S. NEWS, Dan Gilgoff, reports in his USNews.com blog column “God & Country”: “The White House is moving from listening to policymaking mode on its plan to ‘reduce the need for abortion’ and for a ‘common-ground’ approach around related reproductive issues, like reducing unwanted pregnancy. The Administration,” writes Mr. Gilgoff, “expects to roll the plan out as early as this summer.”
When that happens, pro-life citizens will need to practice discernment, for all signs from this Administration point to smoke, mirrors and sheep’s clothing in any discussion on abortion.
The White House Council on Women & Girls has been meeting with representatives of various groups on “both sides” of the abortion issue – with pro-life invitees well outnumbered by abortion advocates – along with staff from Mr. Obama’s compromised Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships advisory council (FBNPAC).
Here’s a sample of the attitude from which this “common-ground” scheme will spring, quoting from Mr. Gilgoff’s column: “As a member of Pres. Obama’s FBNPAC, Nancy Ratzan clearly believes that faith has a role in government. But that doesn’t mean she’s comfortable with the role the White House’s faith-based office is playing in devising Obama’s policies on abortion and other reproductive issues. ‘I have real concerns about understanding those issues from a faith perspective as opposed to a scientific and individual rights perspective,’ says [Ms.] Ratzan, who is president of the National Council of Jewish Women and a supporter of abortion rights,” quoted by Mr. Gilgoff. “‘You’re creating the possibility that the religious views of some are going to be imposed on others.’”
Well, yes, the secular humanist worldview and situation ethics of such notables as the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun are even today being “imposed” on the law of the United States, as has been the case in this arena for more than 36 years now.
Given that Mr. Obama is canceling abstinence education and boosting “how-to” sex ed in his spending schemes and is already forcing US taxpayers to abet the international abortion cartel and Beijing depopulation fanatics, we fully expect any Obama “common-ground” proposal on abortion and unplanned pregnancy reduction to be window dressing at best.
Elections Have Consequences
PRES. OBAMA HAS INSTALLED ON HIS ADVISORY BOARD on Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships a homosexual activist who, writes Kathleen Gilbert for LifeSiteNews.com, “has stated that one of the main challenges in promoting ‘responsible fatherhood’ in America will be to dismantle a perception that fatherhood is ‘heteronormative’ – i.e., that heterosexuality is the norm.”
In a May 11 Public Broadcasting Service interview, reports Ms. Gilbert, Harry Knox “claimed that 25% of gay male couples [sic] in America ‘are raising children – their own and other people’s. … Challenges will be all of us getting to know what fatherhood means for us and how to talk about it in a way that is as inclusive as possible and as empowering as possible for all fathers,’ he said. [Mr.] Knox mentioned,” writes Ms. Gilbert, “that he has suggested that the advisory council investigate ‘mentoring processes’ that have been developed to help homosexual men raising children.”
In mid-May, reports Ms. Gilbert, “several leading American Catholics, including House Republican Leader John Boehner, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, American Life League’s Judie Brown and members of the Family Research Council issued a letter to [Mr.] Obama urging [Mr.] Knox’s ouster from the advisory group.” Among the Knox actions to which the letter signers object are his “previous comments,” notes LifeSite, “calling Pope Benedict XVI ‘morally reprehensible’ for not supporting the use of condoms” and “label[ing] the Catholic fraternal group The Knights of Columbus ‘foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression’ for supporting Proposition 8, California’s true marriage amendment.”
12-Year-Old Stuns Again
THE 12-YEAR-OLD CANADIAN GIRL whose winning school-contest speech “What If I Told You” attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers at the YouTube.com website, was featured in Canada’s recent March for Life rally in Ottawa, Canada.
Articulate, winsome Canadian Lia Mills delivered her somewhat expanded speech in person to a cheering crowd, which frequently interrupted her with applause. The latest presentation by this outstanding young pro-life speaker – and an encouraging view of the Canadian crowd – can be seen on the Internet at www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvHO2EcDOsE.
Exploiting Women
NEW YORK STATE’s ‘STEM CELL BOARD’ HAS ALLOCATED state tax dollars to entice women to sell their eggs as raw materials for embryo experimentation.
Though medical ethicists frown on such inducements and warn of the risks in undergoing ovarian stimulation for the unnatural harvesting of eggs – besides overarching concerns about the sacrifice of the embryonic humans intended to be produced – the public was not even given an opportunity to comment on the controversial move.
A loud objection arose, however, from Fr. Thomas Berg, executive director of the Westchester Institute and a member of the Stem Cell Board’s “Ethics” committee. In a news release issued the following day, June 13, Fr. Berg declared: “Without any involvement from the public, who might like to know that state cash will be used as an inducement for underprivileged and cash-strapped women to undergo a risky and potentially dangerous procedure, the Board has set in place a plan to allow payments to women who undergo ovarian stimulation.
“With full knowledge that the long-term effects of ovarian stimulation are unknown,” he said, “and data suggesting a link with some forms of cancer, this Board – comprised of unelected appointees – has unconscionably and on behalf of the taxpayers set in place a plan that will put women at risk and lets the state pay them off with lots of money.
“Ovarian stimulation is a dangerous and sometimes fatal procedure,” Fr. Berg warned. “This plan is a gross exploitation of women for speculative research.”
Eschewing Nazi Medicine
AT LEAST ONE PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH FIRM has produced a vaccine against swine flu cultured on cell lines that do not require or involve the abortion of an embryonic or fetal human being, according to Children of God for Life (CGL), the principal pro-life organization which monitors the (usually unethical) development and production of vaccines.
“Concerned families who may not have otherwise used the swine flu vaccine will now have a moral choice,” declared CGL executive director Debi Vinnedge in a news release. “Though other companies, such as Sanofi Pasteur and Medimmune “are using aborted fetal cell line PER C6 as their cell culture,” according to CGL, the Swiss-based Novartis pharmaceutical has developed the new, more ethical product, proving CGL’s point that “there is simply no reason to use aborted fetal cell lines.”
The CGL news release also cited Baxter and Protein Science as “also using moral sources for their cell cultures.”
Citing a Novartis announcement, CGL reported “over 30 countries have requested [the Novartis] vaccine supply [to combat swine flu], including the US Dept. of Health & Human Services, [which] placed a $289-million order with the company last month.”
Strange Bedfellows?
A CATHOLIC ORGANIZATION WHICH FOCUSES ON HIGHER EDUCATION, the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), has identified 10 Catholic colleges and universities which sponsor or promote student internships, reports LifeSiteNews.com, “whose missions or activities are directly opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church, including on fundamental issues such as abortion and marriage.”
Among those cited: Boston College, whose Internet website “recommends ‘Non-Profit Internship Sources’ including two pro-abortion advocacy groups,” reports LifeSite, namely the Feminist Majority Foundation and the NOW (National Organization for [sic] Women). A Boston College Law School website, notes LifeSite, “also recommends to students opportunities for ‘pro-bono’ legal work including the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. … Also listed” on the Law School page, reports LifeSite, are the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).
The Gender & Women’s Studies Program at the College of St. Benedict & St. John’sUniversity, Minnesota, “promotes internship opportunities,” reports LifeSite, “including the pro-abortion Feminist Majority Foundation, with responsibilities including ‘clinic defense;’ … the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus, which supports pro-abortion female political candidates, and Rainbow Families, with responsibilities including developing a ‘resource and referral guide for the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender prospective parents.’”
A similar division of DePaul University, Chicago, “offers credit for internships,” reports LifeSite, “noting that students have interned with abortion provider Planned Parenthood and the Chicago Women’s Health Center, which offers emergency contraceptive services and alternative insemination for ‘lesbians, bisexual and queer couples, single women of any sexual orientation and trans people.’”
Also in Chicago, Loyola University was cited – again via its Women’s Studies & Gender Studies website, which, reports LifeSite, “lists opportunities for internships and volunteer opportunities at the following pro-abortion organizations: Chicago NOW, the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood and the Chicago Abortion Fund.”
Then there’s Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where, reports LifeSite, “a 2007 change in policy by the Georgetown Law School permitted students to receive university funding through the Equal Justice Foundation for interning at abortion advocacy organizations.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Texas has enjoyed student interns from St. Edward’s University in Austin, by which students can fulfill, reports LifeSite, “a ‘Community Service in Women’s Studies’ credit requirement.”
The Women’s & Gender Studies program at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin, “recommends internships at a host of pro-abortion organizations,” reports LifeSite, “including the NOW, Legal Momentum (formerly the NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund), Planned Parenthood, the League of Women Voters, the National Women’s Health Network, the National Women’s Law Center, Our Bodies Ourselves, the Women’s Campaign Fund and the Women’s Information Network. Also recommended,” reports LifeSite, “are the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays), both of which advocate homosexual ‘marriage.’ The Population Institute, which St. Norbert College recommends for internships, is an aggressive lobby for government funding of family planning programs.”
The Media Studies program at the University of San Francisco, reports LifeSite, “promotes internships at Girlfriends Magazine (which requires applicants to be ‘conversant in lesbian culture and politics’) and the California Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League.”
And then there’s the University of Notre Dame, whose Gender Studies program, reports LifeSite, “offers internships for academic credit at ‘approved locations.’” In 2008, the NOW in Washington, DC, received a student intern whose participation was funded by a grant from the program’s Boehnen Fund for Excellence in Gender Studies.
Commented Patrick Reilly, the Cardinal Newman Society’s president, quoted by LifeSite, “‘Th[e] discovery [of these internships] validates the concerns of so many thousands of faithful Catholic parents and students, that public scandals at Catholic colleges are just the tip of the iceberg. Under what definition of “Catholic education” do students receive academic credit,’” he said in the LifeSite story, “‘to work for leading pro-abortion organizations?’’
None of the listed institutions has indicated to the Newman Society, after receiving Newman’s letters of inquiry and protest, reports LifeSite, “that they will take steps to remedy the problems.”
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