Friday, December 23, 2011

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report 12/23/11

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Friday, December 23, 2011

For pro-life news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com.

Current Headlines

Top Stories
• Court: New Jersey Nurses Don t Have to Assist in Abortions

• Obama Admin Sued, Made New Hampshire Fund Planned Parenthood

• Salvation Army USA Upset by Intl Group s Abortion Stance

• A Letter to Abortion Clinic Workers: We Are Praying for You

More Pro-Life News
• Obama s Christmas Present: More Embryonic Stem Cell Funding
• A Merry Pro-Life Christmas: Celebrating a Child s Birth
• Video Uses Fetal Development to Share Christmas Message
• Baby Saved at New Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in St. Paul
• Democrats Want Obama to Fund, Promote Foreign Abortions
• No Place for Pro-Life on Pro-Life Violence as We Fight Abortion
• Sex-Selection Abortion in the U.S.: The Myth of Choice
• Late-Term Abortions Used by Minors, Involve Taxpayer Funds

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Court: New Jersey Nurses Don t Have to Assist in Abortions
A federal court late Thursday gave pro-life advocates a huge victory in the case of 12 nurses being forced to assist with abortions at a New Jersey hospital.

The court held a hearing concerning a motion filed by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys on behalf of the nurses that asks the court to issue a preliminary injunction that would halt any efforts by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to coerce the nurses in violation of federal law while their lawsuit moves forward.

Under an agreement UMDNJ agreed to the nurses can remain in their current positions and not be pressured to assist in any part of an abortion procedure. The nurses are only required to help if a life-threatening emergency materializes with the mother involved in the abortion and no other non-objecting staff are available to assist and only until such a time as other can be called up on to relive them.

Fe Esperanza Racpan Vinoya, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told AP she was delighted by the decision but nurse Racpan Vinoya said she was still concerned the hospital would retaliate against her by transferring her or cutting hours. I m still scared about the part of them having four nurses brought in and we might become the surpluses, Racpan Vinoya said.

Matt Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, said he was pleased with the agreement. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/court-new-jersey-nurses-dont-have-to-assist-in-abortions/

Obama Admin Sued, Made New Hampshire Fund Planned Parenthood
The Obama administration faces a new lawsuit from a pro-life group in New Hampshire on behalf of pro-life residents of the state upset the Obama administration forced it to fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

The New Hampshire Executive Council voted in June to cancel a $1.8 million dollar contract with Planned Parenthood, citing that taxpayers would be subsidizing, at least indirectly, Planned Parenthood s abortion business.

The council has filed a formal protest with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office following the Obama Administration s award of a non-competitive $1 million dollar contract with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in response. The Obama administration s decision bypassed the state s decision to reject taxpayer funding of the abortion giant.

Administration officials did not provide any competitive process for other non-abortion agencies to compete for the $1 million grant and HHS officials indicated that was done because Planned Parenthood was the sole grant recipient previously. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/obama-admin-sued-made-new-hampshire-fund-planned-parenthood/

Salvation Army USA Upset by Intl Group s Abortion Stance
The U.S. branch of the Salvation Army has quickly distanced itself from the Salvation Army International s controversial stance on abortion as reported by WND.

When I read [the international group's position] I was stunned, Major George Hood, chief communications officer for Salvation Army USA, told WND.

The International Social Justice Commission s position statement does not reflect the position we ve taken in the U.S. on abortion.

When I saw the language, there was smoke coming out of both my ears, Hood said.

The Salvation Army International, based in London, approved the position statement in November 2010. It allows abortion in cases of rape, incest, if a baby is diagnosed with a fatal abnormality, or the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/salvation-army-usa-upset-by-intl-groups-abortion-stance/

A Letter to Abortion Clinic Workers: We Are Praying for You
Dear Clinic Worker,

You entered the abortion industry because you wanted to help women. You were told that illegal abortion was dangerous. You didn t want to see that happen to anyone. You came in with the right intentions. Or, maybe you just needed a job. Maybe you really didn t know what Planned Parenthood was all about. Now you know. Now you see what abortion really is and you may feel uncomfortable but how do you leave? You may be a single mom, or maybe you are woman who is supporting her whole family during this terrible economy. Maybe this is the first time you have ever had a job that offered insurance not just for you, but for your children also. How will you support your family? Aren t you doing the right thing anyway? Maybe you aren t sure anymore. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/a-letter-to-abortion-clinic-workers-we-are-praying-for-you/

Obama s Christmas Present: More Embryonic Stem Cell Funding
Just in time for Christmas, NIH Director Francis Collins has approved more human embryonic stem cell lines for taxpayer funding, bringing the total number of hESC lines at the federal trough to 142.

Today s approval is not all that surprising the four new lines, from the University of Queensland, were recommended for approval by the Stem Cell Working Group at the December 9, 2011 meeting of the Director s Advisory Committee. The Stem Cell Working group had also voted not to approve six lines from China. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/obamas-christmas-present-more-embryonic-stem-cell-funding/

A Merry Pro-Life Christmas: Celebrating a Child s Birth
Despite the current war on Christmas, with futile efforts like trying to substitute Happy Holidays for Merry Christmas and the rampant commercialization even in an economic downturn, what it all comes down to is that a baby was born 2,000 years ago, that that baby is mankind s Savior and only hope for happiness. Period.

Some of us recognize with no shade of doubt that this birth in the central event in history that Christmas celebrates the birth of mankind s one and only hope, while for others it is just another day off.

Those who don t know the purpose of this feast will discover it some day, that everyone from Adam on eventually comes to realize that this birthday determines each person s eternity those who celebrate it, those who ignore it, those who hate it, those who mock it everyone will come to know its meaning. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/a-merry-pro-life-christmas-celebrating-a-childs-birth/

Christmas Time is a Celebration of Human Worth and Dignity
Reflections on the miracle of Christmas abound during this final week of preparation for the arrival of the Baby Jesus our King of King and Lord of Lords. But clearly not everyone is sincerely celebrating the miracle of life and the gift of the human being.

We live in a time of heightened threats against those who are unable to defend themselves whether they are the single cell embryonic organism or those older human beings whose very lives depend on others who make life and death decisions about their care. Human beings, at any stage of development, are not just a bunch of cells.

Think, for example, about the human embryonic stem cell clinical trial begun by biopharmaceutical giant Geron and then suddenly ended. Geron researchers were to have had 10 patients involved in the trial, but shortly after the fourth entered the program the company abruptly ended it. And then it injected a fifth patient even though the project had ended. Why? There are no clear answers, only speculation the specter of something gone wrong at the hands of a company that consistently argued that human embryos are not themselves human beings, so therefore killing them is not unethical. But is what the organization did ethical? http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/22/christmas-time-is-a-celebration-of-human-worth-and-dignity/

Video Uses Fetal Development to Share Christmas Messagee
The Ireland-based pro-life group Youth Defence is wishing the Irish people and people of the world a Merry Christmas with a new video that features powerful fetal development images. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/video-uses-fetal-development-to-share-christmas-message/


Baby Saved at New Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in St. Paul
The Planned Parenthood abortion business has started abortions this week at its new facility in St. Paul, Minnesota but local pro-life advocates offering abortion alternatives information outside have already saved one baby. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/baby-saved-at-new-planned-parenthood-abortion-biz-in-st-paul/

Democrats Want Obama to Fund, Promote Foreign Abortions
Democrats in the House have written a new letter to pro-abortion President Barack Obama urging him to do more to spend taxpayer funds on paying for abortions in foreign countries and promoting abortion counseling. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/democrats-want-obama-to-fund-promote-foreign-abortions/

No Place for Pro-Life on Pro-Life Violence as We Fight Abortion
I recently had a conversation with a formerly avid pro-choicer and abortion clinic worker who has since, thankfully, after years of soul-searching and inner turmoil, come over to our side. She told me something I didn t know and which blows my mind a little more every time I think about it. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/no-place-for-pro-life-on-pro-life-violence-as-we-fight-abortion/

Sex-Selection Abortion in the U.S.: The Myth of Choice
A few years ago, Douglas Almond and Lena Edlund of Columbia University were looking at data from the 2000 Census. They noticed that immigrants from China, Korea and India had fewer American-born daughters than you would expect. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/sex-selection-abortion-in-the-u-s-the-myth-of-choice/

Late-Term Abortions Used by Minors, Involve Taxpayer Funds
This week, the Washington Post published a story by Sarah Kliff about a new study that documents the demographics of women who seek late-term abortions. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/23/late-term-abortions-used-by-minors-involve-taxpayer-funds/


 

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