Pro-Life News: Post-Abortion Help in Africa, Massachusetts, Tom Coburn

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 5, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life News: Post-Abortion Help in Africa, Massachusetts, Tom Coburn Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 5,
2007

Post-Abortion Women’s Group Takes Healing Message to Ghana, Africa
Tema, Ghana (LifeNews.com) —
A leading post-abortion group brought their message of hope and healing to the women of Ghana, an African nation. Both American and Canadian members of Women for Life International accepted an invitation from the nation’s popular women’s talk show host, Afia Ampene. The team met Ampene and the Ghanaian Minister of Women and Children Affairs, at this year’s United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women conference in New York. The Ghanaian delegate team attended all three WFLI workshops where they learned the truth about the history of and the detrimental effects of legal abortion, the abortion/breast cancer link, and bonding between mother and unborn child. Feeling the pressure by UN NGO’s to legalize abortion in every African country, the Ghanaian representatives wanted WFLI to educate their governmental leaders and citizens on abortion and provide alternatives. WFLI also trained leaders and citizens on how to combat the legalization of abortion, and to promote abstinence and sexual purity among the teens and young adults. The WFLI team also met with the First Lady of Ghana, Theresa Kuffour. The pro-life women showed her digital copies of 2,000 affidavits of American women hurt by legal abortion which were used in the recent effort to overturn the Roe and Doe Supreme Court cases. In Ghana, induced abortion is illegal, except in cases of rape, life of the mother or fetal abnormalities. Even though abortion is illegal, many women are having abortions and are suffering the same effects as women who have legal abortions. The WFLI ministered to many Ghanaian women who are suffering from their abortions. WFLI is planning a follow-up visit in the near future to bring abortion recovery training to Christian women leaders who are interested in reaching out to these women.

Leading Pro-Life Republican Senator Says Federal Spending More Important Than Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) —
A top pro-life senator made waves this past week at a Washington meeting, during which he said federal spending was more important to him than abortion. Sen. Tom Coburn is an Oklahoma Republican and physician known as one of the strongest pro-life lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Coburn has also earned a reputation as an opponent of earmarks and other pork that frequently make their way into federal spending bills. He told reporters at the meeting that concerns about the extravagant spending levels in Washington now eclipse those of unborn children killed by abortion. “Abortion is not the greatest moral issue of our day. Spending is the greatest moral issue.” “You are going to save a child from being aborted so they can be imprisoned in a debtor’s prison?” he asked rhetorically. “This generation says ‘screw the grandchildren. I want it now!’” Despite his comments, Coburn has developed a strong pro-life voting record — with a 100% mark from the National Right to Life Committee — and is one of the ore vocal and active lawmakers against abortion in the Senate. Several pro-life advocates LifeNews.com declined to comment on Coburn’s remarks saying that he has always been reliably pro-life. One unnamed pro-life leader told LifeNews.com, “His worries about Congressional spending may be on the mark, but it’s hard to subject anyone to high levels of debt if they’re already dead from an abortion.”

Massachusetts Governor Continues Push for Embryonic Stem Cell Research Funding
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) —
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick continues to push for more state funding of embryonic stem cell research, a goal that upsets pro-life advocates who don’t want their taxpayer funds used for destroying human life for science. Patrick testified on Tuesday that the state would lose leading scientists to other states if the state legislature fails to pass his 10-year, $1 billion funding bill. He said states such as California and nations like China were looking at Massachusetts’ "unrivaled concentration of biopharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device expertise." "As we gather here today, our competitors are actively luring our state’s best and brightest researchers, doctors and entrepreneurs," Patrick warned. "The threat is real and the stakes are high." The bill includes a $500 million stem cell bank and construction of a new research center to further the work Craig Mello has done at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Another $15 million goes towards grants for companies and researchers. Lawmakers told Patrick that they need more time to study the plan. Some business leaders have joined pro-life advocates in opposing the bill saying that the state shouldn’t be investing so heavily into one area of business while leaving out the others. Eileen McAnneny, with the business advocacy group Associated Industries of Massachusetts, says some of the tax credits in the bill unfairly put the science industry ahead of other markets.