Obama, White House Officials Back Away From Public Option in Health Care Plan
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Over the weekend, both pro-abortion President Barack Obama and White House officials backed down from the public option in the health care bills in Congress that could lead to massive expansion of abortion. Obama, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs all retreated from supporting the controversial idea. On Saturday, Obama said that "the public option, whether we have it or don't have it, is not the entirety of healthcare reform." Then, on a Sunday morning talk show, Sebelius said the public option is "not the essential element" of healthcare overhaul. Sorting it out all, Gibbs said "What I am saying is the bottom line for this for the president is, what we have to have is choice and competition in the insurance market." The shift against the controversial plan appears to be in line with the realities of not having enough votes in Congress. North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad, a top lawmaker on health care on the Senate side, said today, "The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option." The shift could lead members of the House and Senate to pursue nonprofit cooperatives, owned by consumers, that would compete with private companies. Insurance exchanges are another option, where a marketplace is created where private insurers would compete for consumers' business. Wither either option, pro-life advocates will demand language asking that abortion funding specifically be excluded.

Pro-Euthanasia Group Was Behind Disputed End-of-Life Section of Health Care Bill
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, relates how a pro-euthanasia group was behind the disputed sections of the House health care bill that could be used to promote assisted suicide and rationing. Perkins explains: "A group called 'Compassion & Choices' has publicly admitted to writing the controversial portions of the legislation that deal with rationing. On the organization's website, a spokesman confirms Compassion's involvement, writing, 'Compassion & Choices has worked tirelessly with supportive members of Congress to include in proposed reform legislation a provision requiring Medicare to cover patient consultation with their doctors about end-of-life choice (section 1233 of House Bill 3200).' For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the group, Compassion & Choices is an offshoot of a 1980s organization called the Hemlock Society, America's leading advocate for assisted suicide." WorldNetDaily has also reported on the revelation. "The authors of the section include an Oregon congressman who has argued for assisted suicide before federal courts," it said, referring to Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat. Blumenauer wrote an amicus brief in support of assisted suicide in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, Gonzalez vs. Oregon. Meanwhile, Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, has had his organization analyze the plan. He confirmed it contains health care rationing and government decisions on what health care benefits are available and mandatory taxpayer support for abortion.

Ohio Law Protecting Women on Dangerous Abortion Drug Can be Enforced Now
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) -- The federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has dissolved an injunction against the enforcement of an Ohio law strictly regulating the provision of the dangerous abortion drug, RU-486. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court released a ruling saying abortion centers in the state could no longer put women's health at risk by not properly using the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug. At issue was a state law making sure abortion businesses follow FDA guidelines when they give out the drug. The law has been embroiled in a legal battle since an abortion business took it to court following its approval by the state legislature in 2004. It tells abortion practitioners not to encourage women to use the abortion drug vaginally, which experts say could be responsible for why the RU 486 abortion drug killed four women in California. It also says the abortion pill can't be used after the seventh week of pregnancy. The abortion drug, also known as mifepristone, has been responsible for the deaths of at least a dozen women worldwide and it has injured more than 1,200 women in the United States according to FDA figures from 2007. Now, the Sixth Circuit vacated the injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the law and remanded the case to the federal district court. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, told LifeNews.com, “This is a victory for women’s health. Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have readily admitted that they administer RU-486 in violation of the FDA-approved protocol for the drug. In response, Ohio rightly sought to protect women from such dangerous practices and the Sixth Circuit has ratified that decision.”

Kansas Pro-Life Group Turns in 9K Petitions to Investigate Abortion Practitioners
Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A Kansas pro-life group last week turned in more than 9,000 signatures from state residents to ask officials to investigate abortion practitioners there. Kansans for Life is reintroducing an official complaint to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts that was originally filed in 2007 concerning the other late-term abortion practitioners at George Tiller's abortion center. Tiller, under oath, said they were using the same abortion practitioner to confirm that the abortions they were doing complied with state law. The law requires an independent doctor to sign off on their medical necessity, and not someone who is affiliated with the abortion practitioner. The abortion practitioner they used, Ann K. Neuhaus, had already been disciplined in prior years, by the Board, who said Neuhaus was, “a danger to the public.” KFL said: "Therefore, none of the late-term abortionists were acting in the best interest of women, nor were they providing an independent physician to review their diagnosis and consult with the patient on the proper treatment of the 'substantial and irreversible injury to a major bodily function.' We are asking the Board to revoke the medical licenses of the doctors who have performed late-term abortions in Kansas, i.e., LeRoy Carhart, Shelly Sella, and Susan Robinson. We are also asking for the revocation of the license of Dr. Neuhaus because of her involvement in circumventing and ignoring the intent of the law. KFL sent 9,133 signatures to the board and another 2,000 will be sent shortly.

World Congress of Families V Focuses on Pro-Life Views of Population Issues
Amsterdam, (LifeNews.com) -- Last week, pro-life advocates from around the world participated in the World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam. Steven W. Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, spoke of a "Gendercide in Asia." According to Mosher, policies that limit the number of children a family may have are a contributing factor to the trend of sex-selective abortions; which Mosher called "a chilling reality in many countries in Asia." Mosher cited an estimate from the British medical journal The Lancet that as many as half a million female unborn children are aborted in India each year because of their gender. Mosher further claimed that "the problem extends beyond India" and is bringing about disastrous consequences. Mosher: "A recent United Nations Population Fund report says at least 60 million girls are 'missing' in Asia because of sex-selective abortion, infanticide and neglect. The most egregious example is China, where a brutally enforced one-child policy has produced a national ratio of 117 boys born for every 100 girls." Don Feder, the Communications Director for World Congress of Families delivered a lecture on the "Philosophical Roots of Demographic Winter." According to Feder: "In the past, people didn't ask why have children any more than they asked why eat or breathe. It was such a natural part of existence that it needed no rationale. ...You had children because, in the act of procreation, humanity finds its future. You had children to share the joy you felt at being alive."

Poll Finds Large Majority of Quebec, Canada Residents Want Assisted Suicide
Montreal, Quebec (LifeNews.com) -- A recent Angus Reid poll in Quebec of 800 adults (August 4, 5) found that 77% of the respondents agree with legalizing assisted suicide, 75% of the respondents supported the Collége des médecins du Québec opening the euthanasia debate with 72% of the respondents believing that Canadians should have the right to refuse medical treatment that could save their lives. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) questions whether the respondents actually knew what euthanasia is. Says Alex Schadenberg of the EPC: "Many Canadians confuse euthanasia with the right to refuse medical treatment. Legalizing euthanasia would give (usually a physician) the right to directly and intentionally cause the death of another person. Assisted suicide means giving (usually a physician) the right to be directly and intentionally involved with causing the death of another person. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are often viewed as issues related to personal autonomy but they in fact represent a loss of autonomy since euthanasia and assisted suicide require another person to be directly and intentionally involved with causing a persons death. It is very concerning that this poll indicated that 58% of the respondents supported euthanasia for people who were not terminally ill but living with an incurable illness. People with disabilities need to be concerned about negative attitudes that exist toward people who live with disabilities and incurable conditions." EPC is currently working to defeat Bill C-384, the private members bill that would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide for Canadians who live with chronic physical or mental pain.

University of Louisville Pro-Life Student Group Wants Rick Pitino Dismissed
Louisville, KY (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life student group at the University of Louisville is asking for the dismissal of head basketball coach Rick Pitino for his alleged payment of an abortion for his mistress. Pitino has been caught up in a controversy surrounding an alleged affair and paying for the woman's abortion after she became pregnant. Cardinals for Life president Lisa Just says the pro-life student group on campus believes Pitino should be let go as a result. Her comments: "When I hear the name Rick Pitino, I think of a celebrity, a hero to kids not only on this campus, but throughout Kentucky and around the country. He let down every student at this university, every Cardinals fan and every college basketball fan. Rick Pitino was willing to take his own child's life in order to cover up a cheap, tawdry affair. A man who values protecting his reputation above the life of his child is not a man the University of Louisville should ask us to emulate. A man who turned his back on his wife, his children, his team and the University of Louisville, and then was willing to pay to have his preborn son or daughter killed in order to hide his offenses should not hold a place of honor on this campus. If the University of Louisville doesn't dismiss Rick Pitino immediately, they are condoning the abortion of his child, as well as his betrayal of his family, his team and the entire campus community."

British Mother of Disabled Newborn Child Tells Moms Don't Have an Abortion
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- The mother of a little girl born with Down’s syndrome says despite her initial heartbreak she opposes screening for the condition because it may encourage abortion. Heidi Crowter was diagnosed with Down’s soon after she was born. Her mother Liz, who already had two healthy sons, says she initially felt “nothing” for her new baby. However, when Heidi became seriously ill at just a few weeks old Liz and her husband Steve found that their feelings changed completely. “Suddenly we wanted Heidi to survive more than anything”, Liz recalls in an interview with the Mirror newspaper. Scientists are currently working on a new blood test for Down’s syndrome that carries a lower risk of causing miscarriage than the one currently available. Liz decided not to have a Down’s syndrome test when she was pregnant with Heidi, and says despite the “trauma” of discovering Heidi’s condition she still opposes testing and believes it can encourage abortion. “We all hope to have a perfect baby, but a life is a life,” Liz says. “Just think, if your child was struck down with meningitis and left disabled or brain damaged you wouldn't end their life – you'd love and care for them."

Umbert the Unborn Child Comic Strip Signs Deal to Sell Merchandise
Naperville, IL (LifeNews.com) -- ChristianShirts.net, a faith-based retailer of pro-family and pro-life apparel and other novelties has signed a licensing agreement with cartoonist Gary Cangemi, creator of Umbert the Unborn, a pro-life comic strip about a child in the womb now in its ninth year of publication. The web site will feature Umbert, along with his most popular pro-life sayings on t-shirts and other apparel for adults and children, as well as bumper stickers, envelope stickers, buttons, coasters, and address labels. Several Umbert designs will be released each week for the next four weeks. Then, new designs will be added throughout the year. ChristianShirts.net is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Jim and Rachelle Crile and is one of the world’s leading sellers of on-line Christian and Pro-Life apparel, featuring state-of-the-art printing and fast order processing. “We are proud to introduce Umbert the Unborn products on ChristianShirts.net.,” stated Rachelle Crile, “Mr. Cangemi’s art is outstanding, and such a move is long overdue.” Gary Cangemi, a professional cartoonist and graphic artist for over thirty years, “conceived” Umbert in 2001, while rummaging through a scrapbook of his political cartoons.

Waco, Texas Abstinence Group Feels Effect of Obama Cutting Abstinence Funds
Waco, TX (LifeNews.com) -- A local abstinence group that in its heyday received $1 million a year from the government has now lost all public funding. The McLennan County Abstinence Project saw its last state grant run out at the end of June, executive director Tracy Cousins said. Its federal funding disappeared two years ago. The group has enough money to operate for about three more months, Cousins said. But he and McCAP’s board are trying to develop a fundraising strategy to keep the organization afloat past that, he said. “There are people out there — schools, parents — who want abstinence education for kids,” Cousins said. “As long as they want it, we’ll try to provide it for them.” McCAP isn’t the only abstinence group to lose government funding. President Barack Obama’s proposed 2010 budget eliminates funding for the two biggest abstinence-only education programs. Some of that money flowed through the states, including the final grant McCAP had. Janell Gilman, president of McCAP’s board, said she is optimistic lawmakers might eventually restore abstinence education funds. But in the meantime, she and other board members are confident they can get enough support from the community to keep McCAP going, she said. The desire for abstinence-only education is strong, Gilman said. McCAP’s task is to do a better job of explaining its mission to churches, businesses and individual donors and then coming up with “bite-size” ways they can help make it a reality, she said.

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