Pro-Life News: Los Angeles Times Criticized, Test Leads to Abortion

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 19, 2006   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life News: Los Angeles Times Criticized, Test Leads to Abortion Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 19, 2006

Los Angeles Times Criticized for Poor Labeling of Presidential Candidates
Los Angeles, CA (LifeNews.com) —
The Los Angeles Times is coming under criticism for poorly labeling candidates from both parties in an article the newspaper wrote on the presidential ambitions of U.S. Senators. In a profile of Sen. Sam Brownback, of Kansas, the newspaper wrote that he is "Very close to religious conservatives, having built his Senate career around issues they care most about, such as opposing abortion and stem-cell research." However, the profile makes it appear Brownback opposes stem cell research in general. Instead, he support adult stem cell research but only opposes embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of human life. In a profile of Sen. Evan Bayh, of Indiana, the newspaper calls him a "moderate" Democrat yet Bayh has a 100 percent rating with NARAL on supporting the pro-abortion group’s positions on issues. Bayh also has only a 17 percent pro-life voting record from the National Right to Life Committee on 12 votes since 2003.

British Experts Make New Embryo Screening Test, Could Lead to Abortions
London, England (LifeNews.com) —
British fertility specialists have developed a new test that provides significantly enhanced screening of unborn children for diseases before birth. The test increases the number of diseases that can be searched for from 200 to 6,000. However, pro-life groups are concerned the tests will lead to more abortions of physically or mentally handicapped babies. The tests can also be used on human embryos created through in-vitro fertilization and would likely lead to the destruction of countless days-old unborn children who have potential problems. "This is a big, big change in what we are going to be able to do. It changes everything," said Professor Peter Braude of King’s College London, who was involved in the research. The work is due to be revealed at the annual meeting in Prague of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

Death Penalty Opponents Borrow Page From Pro-Life Playbook on Abortion
Amherst, MA (LifeNews.com) —
Opponents of the death penalty are borrowing a page form the pro-life movement’s playbook by trying to limit the death penalty in order to slow down the number of prisoners killed by it. They cite the pro-life movement’s legislative battle against abortion as a model for success. Austin Sarat, a political science professor at Amherst College says, "We’re chipping away at the death penalty, limiting the way it’s carried out, or its application to the young or the mentally ill. In the same way anti-abortion forces have accomplished a lot, not by attacking Roe v. Wade head on, but by making it difficult for a woman to get an abortion." Death-penalty opponents too "have learned to take small steps. We’re making it a little more complicated and a little more costly to carry out the death penalty."

Indiana Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Will Share With Adoption Agency
Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) —
In an interesting arrangement that is the exception rather than the rule, an Indiana Planned Parenthood abortion business will share office space with an adoption agency. Planned Parenthood of Indiana closed its 21st street office on Saturday and has moved north to an unoccupied building on 86th street. But, starting in July, a counselor from Independent Adoption Centers will be at the abortion center 2-3 days a week, though during time when abortions are not done. "We’re about supporting whatever choice a woman wants to make, and adoption is one of those choices," Liz Carroll, Planned Parenthood’s vice president for patient services, told the Indianapolis Star newspaper. The arrangement is unusual because Planned Parenthood’s latest nationwide annual report shows it continues to be the largest abortion business in the United States. In 1984, it did about 5.5 percent of all abortions nationwide, but the figure has increased to nearly 20 percent as of 2004. Meanwhile, it set a new low for the number of women it referred for adoption compared to the number of abortions it performed. Planned Parenthood’s annual report shows it did 180 abortions for every one woman it sent to an adoption agency.

California and Wisconsin May Tangle on Use of Embryonic Stem Cells
Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) —
California and Wisconsin may soon tangle on the issue of embryonic stem cell research as the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is concerned the California committee charged with spending billions on the controversial research may violate its patents. WARF director Carl Gulbrandsen says the group is entitled to some of the proceeds from any therapies that result from the use of its cells in research California funds. The University of Wisconsin owns two patents on embryonic cells and UW researcher James Thomson first discovered embryonic stem cells in 1998. CIRM said universities and nonprofit institutions there must give back 25 percent of the profits on any discoveries that make more than $500,000 but WARF says it should get some of that money. WARF is not planning a lawsuit against CIRM but hopes to negotiate an agreement.

Florida Foster Teen Who Had Controversial Abortion Now Pregnant Again
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) —
A Florida foster child who made news in 2005 when state officials tried to stop her from having an abortion is pregnant again. This time, she wants to keep the baby. Her mother says the 15 year-old girl, known as L.G. in court records, will have a baby boy in early November. When she was 13, the girl ran away from a state group home and the Florida Department of Children and Families asked a judge to stop her form having an abortion. DCF cited a state law that says the agency cannot consent to any abortion. The girl has been in foster care since she was nine and was taken from her parents for abuse. The state terminated the mother’s rights but was never able to find her an adoptive home. L.G. ran away from state custody again in September and was gone for eight months, during which time she had sex. Last month, she turned herself in and is now in custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.