Pro-Life Canadian Student Placed in Isolation for Joining Abortion Awareness Day

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 21, 2009

Petersborough, Canada (LifeNews.com) — The story of a pro-life student in Canada is generating concerns for the pro-life group that sponsored the recent Pro-Life Silent Day of Solidarity. Jennifer Rankin arrived at Peninsula Shores ready to participate in the event but found herself placed in isolation.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates joined the silent day on Tuesday wearing red tape on their mouths or red armbands to protest the millions of abortions that take place in Canada and the United States.

Rankin joined them by wearing red tape and preparing to pass out a flier to anyone who asked her why she would remain silent throughout the school day.

Instead, a school principal alerted police and met Rankin and her mother at the entrance where she told them that the protest is not welcome at the school. Ultimately, school officials allowed Rankin into the building but kept her in isolation away from other students.

“I was taken directly into a small room that was opposite the vice-principal’s office and I was in there all day,” Rankin told the Petersborough Examiner newspaper. “I wasn’t allowed to speak with or see any other students and students were not allowed to come and see me and I was isolated in that room for the entire day.”

She told the paper that she feels she was subject to unfair discrimination because of her pro-life views.

“I felt very discriminated by it. I don’t think it was right at all what happened,” Rankin said.

School principal Pat Cavan told the Examiner that the protest violated school policy.

“School property is not a public place,” Cavan said. “So while absolutely we support the right to free speech in a public space, that’s not school property.”

Cavan said she told Rankin about how she could not participate in the protest days in advance and Rankin was the only student to show interest after school officials stopped her and her friends last year.

Bryan Kemper, the head of Stand True ministries, the national sponsor of the Silent Day campaign, told LifeNews.com he is disappointed by the incident.

“What happened to Jennifer is atrocious and the principal of the school should be charged with child abuse. The punishment he gave Jennifer is that of a criminal charged with a violent crime, not a young girl who was speaking out for life and against violence,” he said.

“I am in shock that the principal would be standing there with police cruisers waiting to arrest a child for voicing an opinio. This honestly sounds like a plot to some futuristic movie, this can’t be the times we live in now can it?” he added.

Kemper called Jennifer a “true hero who should be applauded for her courage and willingness to sacrifice.”

“I would be so proud if my daughters turned out as amazing as Jennifer,” he said

Health Care Debate Continues

By Republican National Coalition for Life

 You may have noticed that John Stossel is no longer at ABC News.  Since leaving his ABC (“20-20”) program, he has signed with FOX News Channel.

 Below is a link to the special John Stossel did on the current health care debate, which was delayed by ABC until after Henry Waxman’s House Committee voted on HR 3200.

 Please watch this video and share it with others.  There is still time for citizens to actively participate in the process and to let their representatives in Congress know that Americans do not want to duplicate failed Canadian or European systems of health care.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9GMKK_fWKg

Pro-Life News: Embryo Adoption, Montana, Planned Parenthood, Abortion, New York, Arizona

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 14, 2009 

Survey Shows Americans Prefer Embryo Adoption to Destroying Them in Research
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – In a recent national public opinion survey, a significantly higher proportion of American adults would choose to place frozen human embryos with infertile couples for the purpose of bearing a child. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that twice as many Americans read or heard about human embryos in connection with stem cell research than in connection with embryo donation or adoption. Conducted in May and June 2009, the survey, “Public Opinion Regarding the Disposition of Frozen Human Embryos,” found that a significantly higher proportion of American adults (68.8 percent) prefer frozen human embryo placement with other families, but less than one out of five (19.5 percent) prefer donation of the embryos for research. Although 88 percent surveyed had heard about human embryos in the past 6 months, less than half (37.1 percent) heard about them in connection with donation or adoption. More than twice as many Americans (82.2 percent) heard about human embryos in connection with stem cell research. Even the sub-group “very liberal” preferred donation to an infertile couple (49.1 percent) over donation for research (43.4 percent) the Nightlight Christian Adoptions survey found. When asked the question, “How do you characterize your personal belief or philosophy regarding the point at which embryos are thought of as human lives,” the largest proportion (42.6 percent) chose conception, followed closely by viability of pregnancy (30.4 percent). Fewer respondents chose the point when an embryo was transferred to the woman’s womb (13.8 percent) and after the birth of the child (13.2 percent).

 

New York Lawsuit Would Stop Paying Women for Donating Eggs for Research
Albany, NY (LifeNews.com) – Feminists Choosing Life of New York (FCLNY) filed suit Friday in New York State Supreme Court in Albany to block the use of taxpayer funds to pay women recruited to “donate” their eggs for embryonic stem cell research. FCLNY director Wendy McVeigh told LifeNews.com Wednesday, “New York State has the responsibility to protect women. Instead, the state is using taxpayers’ dollars to entice young, economically vulnerable women to experiment in this medically risky procedure.” New York State is the first governmental entity anywhere in the U.S. to approve taxpayer money to pay women to undergo an invasive procedure to harvest eggs for embryonic stem cell research. The legal complaint was filed on October 9, 2009 in Feminists Choosing Life of New York v. Empire State Stem Cell Board. In part, the complaint states, “The Payment for Eggs Program provides significant monetary inducements to women to engage in this painful and risky procedure, which in part disproportionately appeals to economically vulnerable women…. (it)… fails to satisfactorily provide for informed consent and other safeguards to ensure adequate disclosure to women of the risks of egg harvesting.” On June 11, 2009, the Empire State Stem Cell Board (ESSCB), which was given the responsibility for administering the funds, passed a resolution authorizing significant taxpayer monies of up to $10,000 per donation to be used to compensate young women who donate their eggs for research. FCLNY also argues that research on adult stem cells, which are plentiful and don’t involve the ethical and medical concerns of embryonic stem cell research, have produced positive results that make the egg donation program funded by taxpayer monies excessive spending.

Photos of Aborted Babies in the New York Times

The New York Times has broken its code of silence.

It was only a matter of time in the media world; and now, the dike will slowly leak, crack, then inevitably crumble. The truth will be shown by one media outlet after another.

I tip my hat to whatever editor(s) had the integrity to send a photographer to take these photos, and then to show these photos on line, and in the paper. (Yes, it is 35 years late, but that is another matter for another day…)

And for those who do not understand the “media hierarchy,” the NY Times is arguably the most powerful newspaper in the world. When they cover a story, it usually results in many stories from other sources following suit. They are the standard bearer.

And now, they have born this standard of photo-journalist integrity. WARNING: The link below has GRAPHIC photos of babies murdered by abortion. I congratulate Monica Miller and Flip Benham for their part in this incredible story.

And by covering Jim Pouillon’s murder, and the upcoming protests at high schools nationwide on November 24, they have gone on the record that “the movement” has a martyr, and that we will not back down from our aggressive display of the truth. 

The Photo Story and Links to Aborted Babies is here:

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/behind-19/

Planned Parenthood Used Underage Girls in Clinical Trials Pushing Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 6, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – A new report from a Planned Parenthood watchdog group finds the abortion business used underage girls in at least 10 clinical trials over the last two decades to push abortion, birth control, and STD testing.

The news comes at a time when Planned Parenthood is facing criticism for videos showing it ignoring potential statutory abuse cases.

Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League and the head of its STOPP Planned Parenthood effort, released the details in a statement to LifeNews.com.

Twenty-eight Planned Parenthood affiliates have been involved in 33 clinical trials, some of which received government funds, and 10 of them involved girls as young as 13 years of age. That number represents one-third of all clinical trials surveyed in the STOPP report.

Two of the 33 trials ended in the 1990s, while the remaining 31 were conducted within the last seven years and some of them are ongoing.

Shocked by the results, Sedlak said, “In most states, minor girls involved in sexual activity is considered sex abuse and is illegal.”

Two of the trials that involved underage girls saw them sign up to receive text messages from Planned Parenthood centers reminding them to take their birth control.

Other Planned Parenthood clinical trials involve African-American girls as young as 13 and trials to increase the use of “emergency contraception” (the morning after pill) among girls as young as 14.

Sedlak said additional Planned Parenthood trials included ones to monitor techniques using the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone, birth control techniques, pain reduction during abortion, sterilization, and IUD insertion, and a trial assessing the safety and efficacy of a new “emergency contraceptive” known as Ella.

The pro-life advocate told LifeNews.com that concerned parents and citizens need to speak up about these trials and protect their children from the abortion business.

“As Planned Parenthood continues to spread its tentacles throughout our country’s health care establishment, it is imperative that it be met with resistance at every turn,” Sedlak said.

“We encourage everyone who lives in the area serviced by the Planned Parenthood affiliates mentioned in this report to launch educational campaigns against this organization,” he added.

The report Sedlak’s group released today showed Planned Parenthood wasn’t alone in targeting young women in the trials.

Businesses and universities such as Columbia University, Emory University, Merck Pharmaceuticals, the National Institutes of Health, the University of California at San Francisco, Bayer, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Virginia Commonwealth University also participated.

Those joining Planned Parenthood in participating in abortion or birth control trials included Gynuity Health Projects, the University of Utah, Pfizer, the University of North Carolina, Oregon Health and Science University, Johns Hopkins, HRA Pharma, and the University of California at San Diego.

The Planned Parenthood affiliates conducting clinical trials on minors include Planned Parenthood of Georgia, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood of Maryland.

Others with trials involving minor girls include Planned Parenthood of Shasta-Diablo, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, Virginia League of Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood of New York City, and Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas.

Georgia Abortion Practitioner Arrested in Road Rage Incident, Punches Woman

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 8, 2009

Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) – A Georgia abortion practitioner displayed his pro-woman credentials Monday afternoon when he was arrested in a road rage incident that saw him punch a woman in the face. Sandy Springs police arrested Marietta-based abortion practitioner Daniel E. McBrayer, 58, after learning he assaulted a woman.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicated police conducted an investigation after a woman reported told police that McBrayer struck her.

After a traffic altercation, McBrayer reportedly left his vehicle and walked up to her car and struck her in the face.

Sandy Springs police Lt. Steve Rose told the newspaper that the woman, whose name was unreleased, was treated at a local hospital before heading home.

Rose indicated the abortion practitioner turned himself into police on Wednesday night and was booked on a simple battery charge at Doraville Jail. He was released after posting a $1,500 bond and awaits a date in court, which has not been set.

This isn’t the first time McBrayer has been in trouble.

The Atlanta newspaper indicated McBrayer was disciplined by the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners in 2001 for doing second-trimester abortions at his office. Georgia law requires that any abortion after the first-trimester be done in a hospital so women who suffer from botched abortions can receive immediate medical care.

McBrayer eventually agreed to a consent order where he also admitted he had not proper filed certificates of abortions as Georgia law requires.

In that incident, he was fined $5,000 and had his medical license placed on probation for two years

South Dakota Voters Could Face Ballot Prop for Embryonic Stem Cell Research

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 28, 2009

Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) – When voters in South Dakota head to the polls next November, they could face a statewide ballot measure that would force taxpayers to pay for embryonic stem cell research. That is the science that has yet to provide any cures for patients and has had problems in animal studies.

Former state Treasurer David Volk of Sioux Falls, who is a cancer survivor, says he doesn’t like the current state restrictions against funding the controversial research.

He says he wants the regulations thrown out so taxpayer dollars can flow to embryonic stem cell research involving cancer, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other diseases — even though the use of adult stem cells is already helping patients now.

Volk has created a new group called South Dakotans for Lifesaving Cures that will file papers with the Secretary of State for the ballot measure. It will need to obtain 6,776 valid signatures by April 6 to get the measure on the November 2010 ballot.

Rep. Roger Hunt of Brandon, who is pro-life, told the Associated Press he expects “considerable opposition” from the majority of South Dakota residents who are pro-life. That is because embryonic stem cells can only be obtained for research by destroying a unique human being days after conception.

While embryonic stem cell research has never helped a single patient, and caused tumors and sparked immune system rejection issues when used in animals, alternatives are faring well.

A new process called direct reprogramming has been able to convert adult stem cells into an embryonic-like state where they are already showing promising results. Those iPS cells, combined with adult stem cells, are the kind of ethical stem cell research pro-life advocates favor and they are showing the best hope for patients.

The ballot measure would again put pro-life issues before voters a third time after pro-life advocates tried twice to get state residents to ban most abortions.

South Dakota voters defeated Initiated Measure 11 by a 55-45 percentage point margin.

The margin was similar to the vote last time around despite the attempt to appear to the majority of voters who said in 2006 that they would support a ban with the additional exceptions.

Yours-Mine-and-Yours

Sean and Carolyn Savage, an Ohio couple, had hoped and struggled for one more child from in vitro fertilization. When the doctor’s call came, however, Sean was in “total shock”–they were told that the fertility clinic had implanted another couple’s embryos into Carolyn’s womb. Carolyn has now become an unintended surrogate. They rejected the thought of aborting the baby, and Carolyn will carry the baby to term and then relinquish him to his genetic parents. As she says, “We knew if our embryo had been thawed and negligently put into another woman, we would expect that the child would be returned to us.” “Negligently“ is the key word here. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) supposedly has “a series of strong protocol recommendations” for clinics, but that’s all they are, recommendations.

Family Research Council’s Dr. David Prentice notes, “This is an entirely unregulated industry, a business. It’s the same manufacturing industry that brought us the ‘Octomom’ and ‘egg brokers,’ treating babies and women’s bodies and eggs as commodities.” Maybe it’s about time we took a harder look at the whole idea of cavalierly creating life in the lab.

Pro-Life Advocate Murdered Outside Michigan School While Protesting Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 11, 2009

Owosso, MI (LifeNews.com) – Local officials and state police are confirming that a pro-life advocate was shot and killed outside a high school in this Michigan town. The person, who is described as well-known but whose identity has not been released, was shot multiple times while protesting abortion outside Owosso High School.

LifeNews.com has learned that the pro-life advocate is James Pouillon and the local Argus Press newspaper in Owosso has confirmed that to be the case. He was reportedly shot multiple times.

In the spot where the Pouillon stood, a portable oxygen tank lay next to a sign with a picture of an unborn child and the word “Life.”

Officials say the shooting occurred at 7:30 a.m. local time and most students were inside the school building at the time of the incident. The shooting did not take place on school property but officials locked down the school and taped off most of the front portions of the school grounds.

State police have confirmed they apprehended a suspect about 8:15 a.m. at the suspect’s home in this small community northeast of Lansing.

Sara Edwards, the chief assistant prosecutor for Shiawassee County, has confirmed that Pouillon’s pro-life stance was the reason he was targeted and said the suspect officials have in custody disapproved of his abortion protests outside the schools.

“There was some displeasure with how open he was,” she said. “He tended to carry big signs with very graphic pictures of fetuses.”

The suspect will likely be charged later today.

Local police say there has been a second, possibly related shooting, in Owosso that they are now investigating.

The suspect in custody may have been involved in the second shooting that took place at a gravel company.

“We have two murders,” Shiawassee County sheriff George Braidwood told the Argus Press. “We believe they are related and we have a suspect in custody.

Owosso Police Chief Michael Compeau said at a news conference that a witness saw the license plate of a vehicle drive by the shooter who killed Pouillon.

“It appears to be some kind of a semi-automatic gun. It was fired from inside the vehicle,” he explained. “We could not tell if it was a long gun or a hand gun because it was fired from inside the vehicle.”

“I would speculate it was an intended,” he added. “He was out protesting right across the street from the high school at 7:20 this morning, and there were multiple people around there and that person was targeted.”

The suepect, a 33-year-old Owosso man, told police he was involved in a second killing and police confirmed they found the body of Mike Fuoss, the owner of Fuoss Gravel Pit, dead after being shot multiple times at close range in his office.

Gary Sheph, a local resident who lives near the high school, told the paper, he was sleeping when he heard “four shots and tires squeeling.”

“I just saw several people that I knew who were medical officials working on (Pouillon) and giving him CPR,” Shepherd said. “It’s a pretty sad day when somebody shoots someone over a political agenda that he had. He was always known as the ‘sign man.’ … This country is based on freedom of speech.”

Father Frank Pavone, the director of Priests for Life, has commented on the shooting in an email to LifeNews.com.

“We do not know the motive yet. But this is a time to console one
another, and to renew our determination to organize peaceful protests,” he said. “It is no time for fear.”

Pavone called on abortion advocates to comdemn the shooting.

“And I am waiting to hear the abortion advocates condemn this killing,” he said.

The shooting follows on the heels of the killing of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller of Kansas, who had been under investigation by the state medical board for allegedly doing illegal abortions.

Abortion advocates came down hard on the pro-life community for allegedly bearing responsibility for the shooting even though it appears the alleged assailant, Scott Roeder, has no official connections with any pro-life groups.

Leading pro-life organizations are expected to condemn today’s shooting and call on pro-abortion groups to do the same.

Source:  LifeNews.com

“Abstinence Only” States More Effective

When it comes to effectively reducing teen abortions, it’s apparent that there are those who “get it”, and those who don’t. In this particular case, it’s easy to let the numbers speak for themselves.

Annual census adjustments were calculated into abortion statistics for each year 2001 – 2005. Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

States rejecting abstinence only funds included: AZ, CA, CO, CT, IA, MA, ME, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OH, RI, VA, WI and WY.

The following states not reporting abortion statistics to the CDC for each year 2001 – 2005 were excluded from the calculation: AK, CA, LA, FL & NH

For teen girls under the age of 15 years old, from 2001 – 2005, there was a 7.5% decrease in abortions among the states which have rejected funding for abstinence only education.

For teen girls under the age of 15 years old, from 2001 – 2005, there was a 23.1% decrease in abortions among the states which have accepted funding for abstinence only education.

The states which have accepted funding for abstinence only education showed a 208% greater reduction in abortions among girls 14 years old and younger, when compared to the states which have rejected funding for abstinence only education.

Overall, the abortion rate among girls younger than 15 years old in states which rejected abstinence only funding was 37.3% higher than in states which accepted funding.

Annual census adjustments were calculated into abortion statistics for each year 2001 – 2005. Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

States rejecting abstinence only funds included: AZ, CA, CO, CT, IA, MA, ME, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OH, RI, VA, WI and WY.

The following states not reporting abortion statistics to the CDC for each year 2001 – 2005 were excluded from the calculation: AK, CA, LA, FL & NH

For teen girls under the age of 20 years old, from 2001 – 2005, there was a 5.2% decrease in abortions among the states which have rejected funding for abstinence only education.

For teen girls under the age of 20 years old, from 2001 – 2005, there was a 20.5% decrease in abortions among the states which have accepted funding for abstinence only education.

The states which have accepted funding for abstinence only education showed a 294.2% greater reduction in abortions among girls 19 years old and younger, when compared to the states which have rejected funding for abstinence only education.

Overall, the teen abortion rate among girls 19 years old and younger for states which rejected abstinence only funding was 48.2% higher than in states which had accepted funding.

The Pontifical Council for the Family provides some guidelines for sex education within the family.

Source: 104 Babcock