LifeSite Daily News for Monday August 11, 2008

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Obama Cover-up Revealed On Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Bill

Commentary by NRLC

August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New documents just obtained by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) prove that Senator Obama has for the past four years blatantly misrepresented his actions on the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection bill.

Douglas Johnson, NRLC spokesman, explains: “Newly obtained documents prove that in 2003, Barack Obama, as chairman of an Illinois state Senate committee, voted down a bill to protect live-born survivors of abortion – even after the panel had amended the bill to contain verbatim language…explicitly foreclosing any impact on abortion.”

In 2000, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA) was first introduced in Congress. This was a two-paragraph bill intended to clarify that any baby who is entirely expelled from his or her mother, and who shows any signs of life, is to be regarded as a legal “person” for all federal law purposes, whether or not the baby was born during an attempted abortion. (To view the original 2000 BAIPA, https://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/OriginalFederalBAIPA2000HR429…)

In 2002, the bill was enacted, after a “neutrality clause” was added to explicitly state that the bill expressed no judgment, in either direction, about the legal status of a human prior to live birth. The bill passed without a dissenting vote in either house of Congress. (To view the final federal BAIPA as enacted, https://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/BAIPAFederal.pdf)

Meanwhile, Barack Obama, as a member of the Illinois State Senate, actively opposed a state version of the BAIPA during three successive regular legislative sessions. His opposition to the state legislation continued into 2003 – even after NARAL had withdrawn its initial opposition to the federal bill, and after the final federal bill had been enacted in August 2002.

When Obama was running for the U.S. Senate in 2004, his Republican opponent criticized him for supporting “infanticide.” Obama countered this charge by claiming that he had opposed the state BAIPA because it lacked the pre-birth neutrality clause that had been added to the federal bill. As the Chicago Tribune reported on October 4, 2004, “Obama said that had he been in the U.S. Senate two years ago, he would have voted for the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, even though he voted against a state version of the proposal….The difference between the state and federal versions, Obama explained, was that the state measure lacked the federal language clarifying that the act would not be used to undermine Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that legalized abortion.”

During Obama’s 2008 run for President, his campaign and his defenders have asserted repeatedly and forcefully that it is a distortion, or even a smear, to suggest that Obama opposed a state born-alive bill that was the same as the federal bill (See, https://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/ObamaFactcheckOnBornAliveBill…). The Obama “cover story” has often been repeated as fact, or at least without challenge, in major organs of the news media. For instance, CNN reported on June 30, 2008, “Senator Obama says if he had been in the U.S. Senate in 2002, he, too, would have voted in favor of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act because unlike the Illinois bill, it included language protecting Roe v. Wade.” The New York Times reported the same on August 7, 2008.

National Right to Life and other pro-life observers have always regarded Obama’s “defense” as contrived, since the original two-paragraph BAIPA on its face applied only after a live birth; the “neutrality clause” added in 2001 merely made this explicit, and therefore the new clause did not change the substance of the original bill.

Moreover, the overwhelming majority of liberal, pro-abortion members of the U.S. House of Representatives did not embrace the initial NARAL position that the original bill was an attack on Roe v. Wade. The Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee, then as now, were a solidly liberal group, yet only one of them voted against the original BAIPA without the “neutrality clause,” and he cited a different reason.

When the original bill – with no “neutrality clause” – came up on the House floor on September 26, 2000, it passed 380-15.

These facts should give pause to those who have unskeptically accepted Obama’s claim that the Illinois BAIPA bills that he opposed in 2001 and 2002, which were modeled on the original federal BAIPA, were crafted to attack Roe v. Wade.

For the moment we can set that debate aside, however, for this reason: Documents obtained by NRLC now demonstrate conclusively that Obama’s entire defense is based on a brazen factual misrepresentation.

The documents prove that in March 2003, state Senator Obama, then the chairman of the Illinois state Senate Health and Human Services Committee, presided over a committee meeting in which the “neutrality clause” (copied verbatim from the federal bill) was added to the state BAIPA, with Obama voting in support of adding the revision. Yet, immediately afterwards, Obama led the committee Democrats in voting against the amended bill, and it was killed, 6-4.

The bill that Chairman Obama killed, as amended, was virtually identical to the federal law; the only remaining differences were on minor points of bill-drafting style. (To see the language of the two bills side by side, see https://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/2003AmendedILBAIPAandFedBAIPA…).

To see the official “Senate Committee Action Report” on this meeting, see https://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/ObamaKills2003amendedBAIPA.ht…

In this report, the left-hand column shows the roll call vote on adoption of “Senate Amendment No. 1,” which was verbatim the neutrality clause copied from the federal bill. The right hand column shows the roll call by which Obama and his Democratic colleagues then killed the amended bill – the bill that was virtually identical to the federal law that Obama, starting in 2004, claimed he would have supported if he’d had the opportunity.

Less than two years after this meeting, Obama began to publicly claim that he opposed the state BAIPA because it lacked the “neutrality” clause, and that he would have supported the federal version (had he been a member of Congress) because it contained the “neutrality” clause. His claim has been accepted on its face by various media outlets, producing stories that have in turn been quoted by the Obama campaign and Obama defenders in attacking anyone who asserts that Obama opposed born-alive legislation similar to the federal bill. It has also been forcefully repeated by advocacy groups such as NARAL.

It appears that as of August 7, 2008, only one writer – Terence Jeffrey, a contributing editor to HumanEvents.com – had correctly reported the essence of this story, in a column posted on January 16, 2008 (read it here: https://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24481), but his report was ignored by the Obama campaign and overlooked by others at the time.

Now, the uncovering of the Senate Committee Action Report sheds new light on Senator Obama’s four-year effort to cover up his real record of refusing to protect live-born survivors of abortion.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

“Index of Documents Regarding Obama Cover-up on Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Bill”
https://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/index.html

Socialist Forces in Ecuador Desecrate Eucharist in Conflict over new “Abortionist” Constitution

President Rafael Correa regularly quotes the Cuban communist Che Guevara at the end of his speeches

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

GUAYAQUIL, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to criticisms by the nation’s Catholic bishops regarding pro-abortion and anti-family language in Ecuador’s new proposed Constitution, a group of people entered a chapel in Guayaquil, grabbed the Eucharistic host that was exposed for adoration, tore it apart, spat on it, and stepped on it, according to ACI Prensa.

The profanation is reportedly the third that has occurred in recent weeks, as frustrated partisans of the socialist party Alianza PAIS lash out at the Catholic Church for criticizing their newly-proposed constitution.

ACI Prensa reports that similar desecrations have occurred in recent weeks at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nobol, and the Church of the Holy Supper in Guayaquil.

Guayaquil’s Archbishop, who leads the nation’s Episcopal Conference, has also received numerous death threats for his defense of the right to life in recent weeks, as has pro-life leader Amparo Medina, who recently received a dead rat inside of a shoebox with a note attached that read “DEATH TO PRO-LIFERS” (see recent LifeSiteNews coverage at https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080611.html ).

In response to the string of profanations, Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil held a mass yesterday in reparation. The diocese explained that “when a sacrilege is carried out, especially concerning the Eucharistic species, the entire Church is called to pray together to heal the offense committed against the Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive and present in those hosts.”

The diocese also reportedly warned that the events were not “isolated and without importance.”

“In Guayaquil we have returned to flagellating our Lord, who like a silent lamb has received all of these offenses.”

The controversy has arisen from the Episcopal Conference’s warning that the new proposed constitution of Alianza PAIS would open the door to the legalization of abortion and the promotion of homosexuality, rob parents of the educational rights of their children, and create the framework for an excessively powerful government (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080610.html).
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President Rafael Correa, the founder of Alianza PAIS, regularly quotes the Cuban communist Che Guevara at the end of his speeches, and calls Cuba a “democracy.”

Contact Information:

President of Ecuador Rafael Correa (he speaks English): [email protected]

Embassy of Ecuador in Washington
2535 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: (202) 234-7200
Fax: (202) 667-3482
Email: [email protected]

Embassy of Ecuador in Canada
50 O’ Connor Street, Oficina 316
Ottawa K1P 6L2, Ontario, Canada
Tel (613) 563 8206
(613) 563 4286
Fax (613) 235 5776
Email : [email protected]

Embassies of Ecuador in other countries:
https://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Ecuador

To contact Archbishop Yarza:

S.E.R. Mons. Antonio Arregui Yarza
Arzobispo de Guayaquil
Clemente Ballén 501 y Chimborazo
09-01-254 Guayaquil
Prov. del Guayas, Ecuador

Teléfonos: (593 4) 2322-778 | (593 4) 2328-872
Fax: (593 4) 2329-695
Email: [email protected]

Previous LifeSiteNews Coverage:

Death Threats Received by Archbishop and Human Life International Leader in Ecuador for Opposing “Abortionist” Constitution
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080611.html

Ignoring Threats and Intimidation, Catholic Bishops of Ecuador Denounce Pro-Abortion Constitution
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080610.html

New Ecuadorian Constitution Endangered by Pro-Abortion, Anti-Family Language
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071606.html

Ecuador’s Proposed Constitution Would “Establish Penalties” for Groups that “Promote Homophobia”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061903.html

Famous Model and TV Announcer Wins Battle to Protect Life and Family Values in Ecuadoran Constitution
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040110.html

Ecuador’s President and Ruling Party to Seeks to Exclude Mention of God in New Constitution
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08033101.html

Ecuadorans Battle Over Abortion in their New Constitution
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082912.html

New Pamphlet Gives College Women the Truth about “Safe Sex”

By Kathleen Gilbert

August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a culture where cold, hard science is king, one doctor is questioning whether the theory of “safe sex” can measure up.

In her pamphlet “Sense and Sexuality: The College Girl’s Guide to Real Protection in a Hooked-up World,” to be released later this month, Miriam Grossman, M.D., uses her medical training and 10 years’ experience as a staff psychiatrist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to expose the physical and mental dangers of the uninhibited sexual climate that dominates the modern college campus.

In the introduction, Grossman describes the tragic and recurring scene in her campus office: a young woman, broken and in crisis, describes the mistakes that have poisoned her dreams. Dr. Grossman laments: “The worst part? Many times the crisis was 100 percent preventable. If only I’d known… she says, if only someone had told me.”

These are the words, says Dr. Grossman, that young women should never have to say. Hers is not a pamphlet for “safer sex,” but for giving girls the information they need: the “critical health information” that few others will tell them about.

One of the most striking features of this pamphlet is how Dr. Grossman draws her arguments from her authoritative medical perspective. Well-documented studies and statistics stand behind her objections to common misconceptions. As one example, Grossman argues that anal intercourse does not, as is sometimes erroneously believed, protect from STDs: rather, it increases the risk of HIV to 20 times that of vaginal intercourse. She also quotes a study that claims 91% of girls on one campus have feelings of regret after a hook-up – a fact she simply lets stand on its own.

In this pamphlet there are no arguments from moral standards; in fact, there is little argumentation at all, only a wealth of scientific fact that inevitably calls into question the safety of the “hook-up culture” at college campuses.

The pamphlet, stylishly tinted pink and red, appeals directly to college-age women in personal, but hard-line terms. It discusses in familiar words the effects of oxytocin, a hormone released by intimate behavior, on one’s ability to make clear choices and on the long term consequences of the choices one makes: “Because of it [oxytocin], you could develop feelings for a guy whose last intention is to bond with you. You might think of him all day, but he can’t remember your name.”

Ultimately, Dr. Grossman’s theme is crystal clear: be informed. If you do not take the time to ask right questions, you will be vulnerable to the wrong answers. As she writes in her conclusion: “Learn about the distinct sensitivities of being female – go beyond the brief information provided here – and use that knowledge to inform your decisions.”

Dr. Miriam Grossman is a board-certified psychiatrist and the once-anonymous author of Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness Endangers Every Student. She is a Senior Fellow at the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes conservative women in leadership roles.

For a preview of Dr. Grossman’s pamphlet:
https://www.cblpi.org/senseandsexuality/index.cfm

Dr. Grossman’s website:
https://www.miriamgrossmanmd.com

Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s website:
https://www.cblpi.org

For information on Dr. Grossman’s book Unprotected, see the LifeSiteNews.com article:

College Women at Risk for Psychiatric Illness at Politically Correct Campuses
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06121409.html

Homosexual Lord of the Rings Star McKellen Blasts Catholic Bishop for Remarks on “Gay Lobby”

By Hilary White

LONDON, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two prominent British homosexual actors have lashed out at a Catholic bishop for warning Catholic parents against the advance of the homosexualist movement. Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow denounced as “arrogant” and “unchristian” the efforts of Bishop Joseph Devine to warn a group of parents against the secularising aims of the homosexual movement.

McKellan, the actor who has used his fame, derived in part from his role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films, to promote the homosexualist cause, said in a speech at a dinner for Stonewall, “From the pulpit, homophobia is preached by some arrogant religious leaders who think their beliefs are superior to our inborn and, some would say, God-given nature.”

McKellan, a founding member of Stonewall, Britain’s most successful homosexualist lobby group, referred to a lecture by Bishop Devine of the Motherwell diocese who infuriated homosexualist activists last March by openly acknowledging the existence of and danger to the Christian community of the “gay lobby.”

Bishop Devine had particularly criticised the decision to make McKellan a Companion of Honour (CH) specifically for his work in “equality”, promoting the normalisation of homosexuality, as well as for his services to the dramatic arts. McKellan was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1979, and knighted in the 1991 New Year Honours for his outstanding work and contributions to the theatre.

McKellan’s first public effort on behalf of the movement was his lobbying in 1988 against Section 28 of the Local Government Bill, which proposed to prohibit local authorities from “promoting homosexuality” “as a kind of pretended family relationship.” Since then he has campaigned internationally, appearing in South Africa, the US and Singapore.

“The Bishop of Motherwell,” he told listeners at the Stonewall dinner, “addressed his flock and told them how appalled he was that I had received an honour and that 100 years ago I would have been imprisoned like Oscar Wilde. He feels that the Roman Catholic Church is beleaguered in some way.”

Simon Callow is one of the most prominent gay actors in Britain and is listed 28th in the Independent’s 2007 listing of the most influential gay men and women in the UK. He told the Sunday Times, “The bishop is in my view a profoundly ignorant and stupid man in his views. If he finds it offensive that gay people want to celebrate those gay people who died in the Holocaust – which was a large number of people – then he’s also profoundly unchristian.”

Speaking in Glasgow at a lecture titled “Sectarianism and Secularism: Bugbears for the Catholic Church in Scotland”, Bishop Devine had said, “The homosexual lobby has been extremely effective in aligning itself with minority groups. It is ever-present at the service each year for the Holocaust memorial, as if to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution. We neglect the gay movement at our peril.”

Bishop Devine emphasised the danger to the Christian community of failing to recognise the power and organisation of the gay movement. “I take it you’re beginning to see that there is a huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy taking place which the Catholic community completely missed,” he said. “It’s a very small group of people, but very active and organised and extremely indulgent. The opposition know exactly what they’re doing. We don’t.”

Callow continued, “I think they [the Catholic Church] are really shocked at how quickly the world has moved on, especially as it isn’t the world they would like it to be, so they cite biblical incidents as being the word of God.”

Canadian Athlete at China 2008 Olympics Changed Mind About Abortion

By Tim Waggoner

OTTAWA, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While Canadian Olympian weightlifter Marilou Dozois-Prevost has proven her physical strength well enough to see her compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in early 2007 she proved she has another sort of strength when she made the last-minute decision not to abort her unborn child.

In January of 2007, the 22-year-old athlete from Montreal was hit with two equally unexpected and unwelcome announcements – she was told that she had missed the cut for the 2008 summer games and, on an unrelated level, that she was pregnant.

Accepting the former news as unchangeable, Marilou focused instead on her unplanned pregnancy. While her coach and boyfriend, Simon Demers, was opposed to the idea of aborting the child, Marilou was not as certain. She wrestled with the decision for several weeks before she found herself sitting in a hospital waiting room in a hospital gown, being told how an abortion is performed.

Before the abortion could take place, however, Dozois-Prevost ran out of the hospital in tears, apologizing to the doctor for the inconvenience. Marilou had chosen life.

Tragically, the Olympic athlete was notified a few weeks later during a routine ultrasound that her baby had died 8 weeks into the pregnancy.

Incredibly, Marilou is now competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing after an additional spot in her sport was offered to Canada.

Source: cyberpresse.ca

Court Reverses Decision, Admits California Parents Have Right to Homeschool

Court adds that homeschooling is not absolute and can be revoked in cases of suspected parental abuse

By Peter J. Smith

LOS ANGELES, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A California appeals court has made an about face on its previous decision to ban homeschooling, and now says that parents in the state have a legitimate right to educate their own children. However the court insisted that the right to homeschool can be abridged in cases where the courts suspect child abuse.

The California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District ruled Friday that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education,” effectively vacating its February 28 ruling that shocked homeschooling families in that state and across the nation.

The February ruling effectively would have reclassified an estimated 166,000 children as truants. The appellate court had decided California’s compulsory education law required parents without certified teaching credentials to pack their six to eighteen year-old children off to a full-time public or private school or face legal penalties.

After enormous public outcry from homeschool advocacy groups and many others, including Governor Schwarzenegger himself, the Court agreed in March to reconsider the case, and invited interested parties to file amicus briefs in a new hearing.

The same three judge panel has now concluded, “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education” and adds the law does not require homeschooling parents to possess teaching certificates.

The court said that previous case law dating from 1953 that it had relied upon was anachronistic and did not reflect the fact that the Legislature “has acted as though home schooling is, in fact, permitted in California.”

“The most logical interpretation of subsequent legislative enactments and regulatory provisions supports the conclusion that a home school can, in fact, fall within the private school exception to the general compulsory education law,” the court continued.

“We therefore conclude that home schools may constitute private schools.”

However the court said that parents did not have an absolute right to homeschool in instances where the state considered the welfare of a child sufficiently endangered: “The statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent.”

On this basis, the appellate court ordered the family court judge to revisit whether the Long family should be allowed to continue to homeschool their two youngest children, ages seven and nine, so public school teachers could act as reporters of abuse, on account of reports of physical abuse by some of the other children in the family.

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) alleged physical and emotional mistreatment by the father, Phillip Long, of the two eldest daughters. Another daughter, Rachel (born 1991), claimed she was sexually molested by a family acquaintance. However the court failed to describe Long’s alleged physical abuse in the facts summary. Court documents say Rachel, who has since run-away, wanted to go to public school, and DCFS said she was “at risk of serious emotional damage” unless she went to public school.

According to information obtained by World Net Daily, the allegations of physical abuse arose from the parents’ decision to impose corporal punishment through spankings on their children. Phillip Long told WND he and his wife homeschooled their children, because they did not want them exposed to the homosexual propaganda in public schools and Darwinian evolution that contradicted their religious beliefs.

Read the decision:
https://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ca/B192878A.pdf

Amidst US Energy Crisis, Pro-Abort Pelosi Peddles Book Flop at Dominican University

Says she is thankful neither Archbishop Niederauer of San Franscisco nor Archbishop Weurl of Washington, D.C. had threatened to forbid her from receiving communion

By Peter J. Smith

SAN RAFAEL, California, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken a vacation from the US energy crisis to address a real crisis of her own: salvaging the abysmal sales of her flopped book “Know Your Power.” Pelosi, a Catholic who remains publicly antagonistic to her Church on faith and morals, has selected Dominican University of California as a prime spot to tout her opus, which has received as much enthusiasm from the US public as gasoline at four dollars a gallon.

Dominican University, which represents itself as “an independent, international, learner-centered university of Catholic heritage” will host “An Evening with Nancy Pelosi” on August 12 in its Angelico Concert Hall from 7-9 PM as part of its Leadership Lecture Series. Pelosi will speak about her book, which she calls a “message to America’s daughters.”

Pelosi seems to have overestimated her popular appeal as sales of “Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters“, was ranked a dismal 4700th in sales on Amazon.com as of press time. Last week the Drudge Report reported Pelosi’s book sold a dismal 2737 books and ranked #41 on Nielsen Bookscan’s Non-Fiction Chart in its first week, far below the first high profile anti-Obama book, “Obama Nation,” which debuted #1 on both the BOOKSCAN and the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller List.

However as Pelosi sends her message to America’s daughters about knowing their power, her other message to America’s people about the importance of energy relief, she is sending an additional message to America’s Catholic Church about knowing their place.

The Speaker, a proud abortion advocate who continues to be allowed to receive Holy Communion despite a Vatican directive saying Catholic pro-abortion politicians must be denied the Eucharist, recently revealed she will work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that prevents homosexual couples “married” in other states from suing and forcing other states to repudiate their bans on homosexual “marriage.”

Pelosi said in a CSPAN interview that she was thankful neither Archbishop Niederauer of San Franscisco nor Archbishop Weurl of Washington, D.C. had threatened to forbid her from receiving communion over her consistent pro-abortion actions and statements.

Calls and emails made to Dominican about inviting Pelosi despite her abortion stance were not returned by press time.

Speaker Pelosi’s last book stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan was met by three dozen protestors angry over her decision to force the House to take a five week vacation instead of acting to address the energy crisis. A cadre of House Republicans, however, have continued to remain in Washington to protest, apparently bringing in more vacationers to watch their protest in the Congressional chambers than the Speaker can sell books.

So far an anti-war group has planned a protest outside Dominican’s Angelico Hall saying they will protest outside for free instead of paying the $35 fee to see the Speaker and get a “free book.”

To contact officials at Dominican University:

President Joseph Fink
Office of the President
50 Acacia Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901

Telephone: (415) 485-3200
E-mail: [email protected]

To contact the Archbishop of San Francisco:

Most Reverend George Niederauer
1 Peter Yorke Way
San Francisco, CA 94109
Tele: (415) 614-5500
Email: [email protected]

To contact the Archbishop of Washington:

Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl
Archdiocese of Washington
P.O. Box 29260
Washington, DC 20017-0260
Tele: (301) 853-4500

U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds First-Amendment Right to Distribute Religious Materials

Granite City, Ill. ordinance restricting distribution of pro-Life handbills found unconstitutional

CHICAGO, August 11, 2008,(LifeSiteNews.com) – On Thursday, August 7, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago handed down a decision upholding a federal trial court ruling that an ordinance in Granite City, Ill., regulating the manner in which individuals could distribute religious and other types of handbills, was unconstitutional.

By 2-1 vote, the three-judge panel upheld an earlier decision by Federal District Judge Michael Reagan, sitting in East St. Louis. Reagan had ruled that the city violated the First Amendment when it prosecuted Donald Horina, a retired teacher and “born-again” Christian from St. Charles, Mo., for distributing pro-life literature and Gospel tracts near the Hope Clinic for Women, an outpatient surgical treatment center that provides abortions, and in other locations in Granite City.

In July 2003, Horina had placed his literature on windshields of cars parked near Hope Clinic, and was cited for violating the city ordinance prohibiting the “indiscriminate” distribution of “cards, circulars, handbills, samples of merchandise or any advertising matter whatsoever on any public street or sidewalk.”

Jason Craddock, a Sauk Village, Ill. lawyer who has worked on many pro-life cases with Thomas More Society and as an affiliated lawyer with Alliance Defense Fund, filed a civil rights suit in response, and won an injunction against the city. The city then adopted a new ordinance with more specific restrictions, which also was found to be an unreasonable restriction on First-Amendment rights.

The city appealed, and the Thomas More Society, based in Chicago, joined with Alliance Defense Fund to help Craddock defend the appeal.

“This is a great victory for free speech and we are proud to be a part of it,” said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel at Thomas More Society. “We congratulate Jason Craddock on his hard work to protect our fundamental rights.”

Woman Found Guilty of Manslaughter for Killing Husband Suffered From Post-Abortion Syndrome

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

SYNDEY, Australia, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Danielle Stewart, who fatally stabbed her husband Chaim Kimel with an ornamental knife during a heated argument, was today found guilty of manslaughter.

Stewart, who had originally been charged with murder, was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, after the court heard testimony from her psychiatrist, Dr. Rosalind Foy, who said Stewart suffered from “borderline personality disorder”, similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, which has symptoms including violence and self-harm and which left her with a “poor sense of self.” The psychiatrist testified that Stewart had been sexually and physically abused as a child.

While Stewart and Kimel had a lengthy and turbulent history together, Dr. Foy also testified that Stewart had initially sought her help because she was “depressed and suicidal” after aborting a child she had conceived during an affair she’d had while separated from her husband. Her husband had pressured her into having the abortion against her wishes.

“Chaim said: `Have the termination if you want to stay with me`,” Dr. Foy read from her notes during the trial according to LiveNews.

Stewart was “deeply disturbed in an angry fashion” and had a “high level of anxiety”, Dr. Foy told the court.

While it is unclear to what extent Stewart’s abortion exacerbated her already existent mental problems and the already rocky relationship she had with her husband, research conducted by the Elliott Institute has found a significant increase in mental illness, often resulting in violence and self-destructive behaviour, in women with a previous history of abortion.

David C. Reardon, Ph.D, in an article titled Abortion and Domestic Violence published in the Elliott Institute’s Post Abortion Review, explained the important connection between violence in the womb and violence in the home.

“Certainly not every abortion leads to domestic violence, nor is every case of domestic violence rooted in the trauma of a prior abortion. But it is not a coincidence that the rates of abortion and domestic violence have risen together during the last twenty-five years. The evidence supporting a correlation between abortion and violence between women and men, at least for some couples, is so compelling that it is beyond dispute.”

“Perhaps the two key elements related to post-abortion violence are (1) increased levels of irritability, anger, and rage, and (2) increased tendencies toward risk-taking, self-destructive, and suicidal behaviors,” Dr. Reardon wrote.

In an Elliot Institute study of 260 women, 53 percent stated that after their abortion “I started losing my temper more easily,” and 48 percent stated “I became more violent when angered.”

Dr. Reardon said that “self-hatred, hatred of the male, and hatred of men in general, were all significantly correlated to each other,” and that “this constellation of problems, an increased tendency toward violence, emotional detachment, and self-destructive behaviors, would appear to be exasperated by the study group’s dramatically increased rate of drug and alcohol abuse subsequent to abortion.”

In an eerie correlation with Mr. Kimel’s death, the research revealed, “Cycles of violence such as this are common. Studies of domestic abuse have found that women are substantially more likely to initiate violence then men, as confirmed even by the women studied. Because of their greater strength, however, the hitting done by men causes more damage. But researchers have also found that to offset this advantage of strength, women are more likely to resort to the use of household weapons, such as boiling water or knives.”

To read Dr. Reardon’s article please see: https://www.afterabortion.org/PAR/V4/n23/DOM_VIOL.htm

For further information on research into the psychological effects of abortion please read the related LifeSiteNews.com articles:

Study Shows Abortion Takes Toll on Adolescent Mental Health
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081805.html

New Research Supports Abortion-Mental Health Risk Claims
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06010507.html

Abortion Has a Damaging Psychological Effect says Psychiatrist
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/mar/05032905.html

Rape and Incest Victims Don’t Want Abortion, Say It Doesn’t Help Women
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06090702.html

Colorado Activist Connects Abortion, Criminal Behaviour
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/april/990422a.html

Pro-life advocates in Ottawa to launch groundbreaking 40 Days for Life campaign

OTTAWA, ON, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On September 23rd, Ottawa area pro-life advocates will join together with people of faith and conscience from many other communities from coast to coast to kick off the area’s own version of the groundbreaking 40 Days for Life campaign.

40 Days for Life is an intensive pro-life initiative that focuses on 40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil at abortion facilities, and 40 days of grassroots educational outreach. The 40-day time frame is drawn from examples throughout Biblical history where God brought about world-changing transformation in 40-day periods.

“As people here in Ottawa join with others from across the country to pray and fast and take courageous action for 40 days to end the tragic violence of abortion, we look forward to seeing what kind of transformation God will bring about in our city and throughout Canada,” said local 40 Days for Life spokesman Nicole Campbell.

“40 Days for Life has already generated proven lifesaving results in cities across America,” said David Bereit, national campaign director for 40 Days for Life. “During the fall of 2007 and spring of 2008, dozens of communities joined together for nationally coordinated 40 Days for Life campaigns. The efforts of thousands of people of faith helped make a tremendous difference.

“Numerous cities reported a significant drop in abortions. Some abortion facilities either closed altogether or scaled back their operations during the campaign. New volunteers got active in local pro-life efforts. Churches of different denominations worked together to work for an end to abortion in their cities. Many post-abortive women begin programs to heal from the pain caused by previous abortion experiences. With such a strong track record of results, we are excited to see what God has in store for this fall.”

“We are expecting great things for our local 40 Days for Life campaign,” said Campbell. “It is exciting for our city to be a part of something that can have such lifesaving impact, and we can’t wait to begin.”

To learn more about 40 Days for Life campaign, visit: https://www.40daysforlife.com. For information about the Ottawa campaign, visit: www.40daysforlife/ottawa

For assistance or for more information, please contact Nicole Campbell at Campaign Life Coalition at 613-729-0379.

Canada Conservatives Cancel Taxpayer Funding of Program Promoting “Left-wing” Ideals Abroad

By Tim Waggoner

OTTAWA, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The government funded program, PromArt, which granted millions in taxpayers’ dollars to Canadian artists to promote Canadian culture abroad, was cancelled Friday by the federal Conservative government because it was sponsoring “left-wing” and radical ideals .

According to the Toronto Star, Anne Howland, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, addressed the canned program.

“Certainly we felt some of the groups were not necessarily ones we thought Canadians would agree were the best choices to be representing them internationally,” she said.

Howland gave an example of one Toronto based group named Holy F—.

“I don’t even want to say it (their name) on the phone,” she said. “Holy F—, that was one that was flagged.”

In light of a recent move to cut spending, the National Post reported that once senior Tories caught word that taxpayers’ money was supporting “groups that would raise the eyebrows of any typical Canadian,” it was only a matter of time before the program was shut down.

“I think there’s a reasonable expectation by taxpayers that they won’t fund the world travel of wealthy rock stars, ideological activists or fringe and alternative groups,” the anonymous source said.

One such wealthy activist to receive a grant in the past was Gwynne Dyer, who used the money to give talks in Cuba and was described by Conservative talking points as “a left-wing columnist and author who has plenty of money to travel on his own.”

The Conservative memo also mentioned the North South Institute, whose members were given $18,000 to attend a conference in Cuba. The institute was referred to as “a left-wing and anti-globalization think-tank,” and the memo asked, “Why are we paying for these people to attend anti-Western conferences in Cuba?”

Natural Family Planning, Radical Openness to Life Gains Ground in Protestant Circles

By Jenna Murphy

August 11, 2008, (LifeSiteNews.com) – After decades of division over issues surrounding fertility and the moral issues inherent to procreation, many protestants are now turning away from the contraceptive culture and towards Natural Family Planning (NFP), a completely natural method, that allows couples to “space” children without the use of artificial contraceptives. NFP, which is based upon a thorough knowledge of the woman’s fertility cycle, is also said to be equally effective for attaining pregnancy as it is for avoiding it.

In an August 10th article in the Austin Statesmen entitled, “Some Protestants Find Spiritual Appeal in Natural Family Planning: Taking a page from Catholic doctrine, Protestants are avoiding artificial contraception for religious reasons,” several protestant couples are questioned on their choice to wade into what have traditionally been considered Catholic waters.

Katie Fox, 31, says that though her mother specifically left the Church for its failure to condone contraceptives, it is precisely this moral stance that she has come to share with the Catholic faith.

The Taylors, a twenty-something Texonian couple, are one of the several couples at Hope Chapel, their non-denominational church, who are embracing NFP as a moral means of family planning.

After reading a book about how the birth control pill often turns the uterus into a hostile environment for a newly fertilized egg, Phaedra Taylor, who was already opposed to abortion, recognized the pill as being morally wrong.

“I feel like [NFP] really works in harmony with the way that God designed our bodies to work,” she said. “In contrast with the pill, which works by altering and suppressing our natural systems, NFP works by supporting those systems in harmony with their functions. It goes with the flow, so to speak. There is a wisdom and a rightness to that which I really appreciate.”

Protestant academics like Reverend Amy Laura Hall, a Methodist minister and associate professor at Duke Divinity School, are beginning to write on reproductive issues and are finding themselves swamped with questions from earnestly searching fellow Protestants.

The New Statesmen article cites Alexis Dobson an instructor with the Fertility Care Center of Central Texas, who says that there is an increasing trend of Protestants enrolling in the NFP classes taught at the Center.

The Protestant reaction against the modern contraceptive culture, however, is espoused most radically by Quiverfull, a Conservative Protestant initiative which upholds children as the pinnacle gift from God, never to be hindered – not even through Natural Family Planning.

The group takes their name from Psalm 127 of the Bible where children are said to be ‘a heritage from the Lord’ and those who have a “quiver full of them” are to be called “happy.”

In one Quiverfull article entitled “Who is in Control?: Trusting God for His Perfect Plan in Our Lives”, numerous scriptural references are used to confirm the group’s conviction that “the increase of a population is a two-fold blessing.” Not only does a larger population signify God’s favour, but it also allows higher efficiency because of the plethora of gifts and talents found in a larger population.

“There are many verses where God bestows a blessing upon His people by promising them an increase in numbers and fertility and likewise a cursing for disobedience by taking away their fertility,” observes Quiverfull.

Quiverfull’s stance on population growth is particularly apropos at this junction in history, when in many American cities the death rate now often exceeds the birthrate.

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and zealous supporter of the Quiverfull philosophy of radical dependence upon Divine providence in matters of procreation, vigorously opposes the overpopulation myth, saying that “children usually bring greater economic benefits than costs over the long term”.

Mohler sums up the motivation behind the Protestant reaction against the contraceptive culture, both by those who espouse NFP and those who do not, when he observes, “If a couple sees children as an imposition, as something to be vaccinated against, like an illness, that betrays a deeply erroneous understanding of marriage and children.”

Read “Some Protestants find spiritual appeal in natural family planning”
https://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/…

Related LifeSite coverage:

Protestant Group Advocates Leaving Fertility in God’s Hands – No Birth Control Artificial or Natural
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06111605.html

Prominent Baptist Albert Mohler Tackles Anti-human Overpopulation Hysteria
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08042204.html

Deaths Exceed Births in Increasing Number of Major US Cities
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052610.html

LifeSiteNews.com Newsbytes for August 11

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information.

US POLITICS

Bobby Jindal The Anti-Obama
https://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13668

Rebel With a Cause: Bobby Jindal’s Spiritual Journe
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB121694025422282727.html?mod=…

Obama’s Views Not Consistent With Christianity, Conservative Says
https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33…

Pelosi Backs Obama on Repeal of Defense of Marriage Act
https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33…

Catholics Fear Obama Considering Pro-Abortion Catholic Veep
https://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/catholics-fear-obama-c…

Democrats mum on convention plans that may include anti-abortion senator Casey
https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26066727/

A response from Bishop John M. Smith to misleading newspaper article which suggested Catholics may vote for pro-abortion candidates
https://www.dioceseoftrenton.org/diocese/pressreleases_detail…

Evangelicals warn against McCain-Romney ticket
https://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/29/evangelicals-warn-…

McCain Web Ad Is Accused Of Linking Obama to Antichrist
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB121816422728523227.html?mod=…

A Possible Judicial Solution to Re-imposition of the So-called “Fairness Doctrine” By Paul M. Weyrich
With the exception of Fox News Channel the television media is all in the hands of the left. The left also controls nearly all of the print media.
https://www.freecongress.org/commentaries/2008/080730.pdf

Most Congressmen Oppose Fairness Doctrine, Republican Leader Says
https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33…

2-party system: No choice but evil. We live in revolutionary times. The premises of aristocratic despotism are replacing those of democratic liberty By Alan Keyes
https://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=71830

LIFE ISSUES

In most of the United States, 24 abortions are carried out for every 100 live births. In New York, 72 abortions occur for every 100 live births.
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2008…

Millions Who Had Abortions Don’t Know It
https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&s…

Abortion Debate Rages in India After Court Decision
https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33…

Cardinal calls on Peruvian government to resist pressure to approve abortion
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13388

Pregnant women deserve protection for their fetuses – Bill C-484’s supporters have no agenda to recriminalize abortion
https://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.h…

Birth control: The new pollutant by Kathryn Jean Lopez
https://townhall.com/columnists/KathrynJeanLopez/2008/08/01/b…

Girl who defied myths on anencephaly dies in Brazil
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13442

Even “vegetables” are human – When artificial feeding and hydration are “ordinary,” “proportionate,” and “morally obligatory”
https://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=a788323d-e15…

RELIGION

Bush visits Beijing church, urges freedom
https://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13668

New TV: Lesbian, atheist, Muslim attempt Christian life Reality program follows people for 3 weeks of holy reformation
https://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&page…

Court date set for Wis. suit over nativity scene
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-citynativity,0,…

Priest shortage to affect hospital services
https://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1072094.html

The prefect for the Congregation for Bishops marked the 30th anniversary of the passing of Pope Paul VI. Cardinal Re said the document that showed his greatness the most, was Humanae and that the Pope’s decision to issue the encyclical was “difficult and painful. “He knew it would be opposed, but he did not run from his responsibilities.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13462

Boston Cardinal O’Malley reflects, after 5 tumultuous years
https://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/03/omalley…

Churches in Spain experiment with staying open 24/7 – Interestingly Finds Less Crime When Open All Night
https://www.baltcatholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new…

Stifling free speech — globally – A coalition of Islamic states is using the United Nations to enact international ‘anti-defamation’ rules
https://www.macleans.ca/world/global/article.jsp?content=2008…

HOMOSEXUALITY

Massachusetts Governor does fundraiser for radical homosexual, anti-Catholic state rep Carl Sciortino
https://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/08c/sciortino_fundrai…

AIDS is not a romantic disease – Barbara Kay, National Post
https://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=700444

Archbishop of Canterbury’s Correspondence on Homosexuality Reveals Deep Conflict
https://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?…

How the San Diego mayor’s flip flop on same-sex marriage breathed new life into the initiative process to protect traditional marriage
https://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=1d6f2722…

Thomas More Law Center has joined the fight to overturn a Hamtramck, Mich., ordinance that gives “special rights” to homosexuals and transgender individuals and makes it legal for men who identify as women to use women’s bathrooms in any school, business or public facility.
https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33…

CHINA, POPULATION

Beijing is riding the wave of the future, argues internationalist Maurice Strong
https://www.macleans.ca/world/global/article.jsp?content=2008…

Open Letter to Maurice Strong By D.J. McGuire, China e-Lobby
https://china-e-lobby.blogspot.com/2008/08/open-letter-to-mau…

Authorities admit that Brazilian population is getting older at accelerated rate
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13385

Interview with Steven Mosher on The Underpopulation Problem
https://www.ignatius.com/Magazines/CWR/miller_aug-sept08.htm

MISCELLANEOUS

Germany Declares War on Homeschoolers
https://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/425122.aspx

The National Education Association Spells Out Its Policies by Phyllis Schlafly
https://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/07/28/th…

Growing numbers of people are concerned about the impact of working mothers on family life, a survey by Cambridge University suggests
https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7543576.stm

Launched in the weekend papers, full colour ads by “Britain’s brightest energy company,” npower, urges vacationing school children to sign up as “climate cops”. Urges its recruits to spy on families, friends and relatives, inviting each of them to build up a “climate crime case file”
https://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4207

The solution is abstinence – By giving drug addicts a sterile syringe and a warm place to shoot up, are we saving lives or condoning substance abuse? Barbara Kay, Special to the National Post
https://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=684232

Is Georgia in 2008 like Hungary in 1956?
https://michellemalkin.com/2008/08/11/is-georgia-in-2008-like…

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