Just received a welcome press release from the Committee for Justice.

Senate Democrats, led by Judiciary Committee chairman Pat Leahy, pictured left, have hamstrung the nation's federal courts by obstucting the confirmation of Bush nominees. The critical shortage of judges only grows more critical.

Confirmations are headed for a "historic low for a two-term President in modern times," stated GOP Senator Arlen Specter, pictured below right, the ranking Republican on that committee.

Specter has been holding Increasingly frustrated Republicans at bay, trying to appeal to Leahy.

Time is apparently up....

On February 29 Specter, pictured left, wrote Leahy a letter calling for a bipartisan protocol and timetable to confirm judges. Democrats scoffed at President Bush's likewise proposal in 2002.

If this fails, there will be a "showdown," according to the press release.

The last showdown was averted by the Gang of 14, a group of 7 Dems and 7 GOPers who created a bloc to force compromise. John McCain headed the Gang, you'll recall, a point of contention among conservatives ever since, although this did pave the way for Alito and Roberts' confirmations.

The press release speaks of "hardball tactics" and "Specter... ready to lead his colleagues into battle." I called the release writer, Curt Levey, to explain what sort of ruckus the Republicans might make. Curt said:

Republicans can threaten to deny a quorum to Leahy in committee; they can slow things down on the Senate floor; they can block specific pieces of legislation they know Leahy really wants. Anything they do to raise the visibility of the issue is helpful.

This is an issue that cuts the Republican way. The more visibility, the more Democrats want to make it go away. The biggest trouble they can cause is to have a confrontation, get a lot of media publicaity. The last thing in the world [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid or Obama wants is for judges to be a big issue this fall.

Yes, according to the release, one tactic will be to put Obama on the hotseat. The man calling for bipartisanship and an end to acrimony should not oppose bipartisan rules for judicial confirmations, right?

The Swamp added this:

Leahy won't say it, but if he and the Democrats are indeed running a kind of four-corners offense to delay consideration of nominees, it may be in their best interest to do so. If either... Clinton or... Obama is elected president in November, pending judicial nominations will likely lapse or be pulled and replaced by nominees more palatable to Democrats. That was undoubtedly was very much in the mind of Specter and McConnell as they made their remarks Monday.

[Leahy photo courtesy of CBC News; Specter photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated;

I just received an email from a man who recently launched a pro-life ministry with his wife to supply burial caskets for miscarried children. They have lost 3 children to miscarriage, aged 6 to 17 weeks.

He read my post about the France Supreme Court's recent ruling to allow parents the right to name and bury their miscarried baby no matter what gestational age.

Bless his heart, he wondered if I had contact information for the 3 mothers who won that lawsuit so he could provide them free caskets.

I don't have that information, but I sure can spotlight his ministry, called Heaven's Gain. I have posted the address on "web links," right, for your reference.

Here are some of the casket choices, very reasonably priced:

See more on page 2.

People wondered whether Jamie Lynn Spears, pregnant at age 16, would be a bad influence on other teens, glamorizing teen pregnancy and creating copycats.

On February 29, The Insider interviewed 16-year-old and pregnant Katy MacDonald and her baby's 14-year-old father Anthony. See page 2 for video.

Katy said Jamie's announcement "definitely helped me like be more comfortable with my decision."

What does that mean?

Jamie encouraged Katy not to abort by her example....

My thought has been that Jamie and Juno help destigmatize teen pregnancy - not glamorize it, which is great, half the battle.

Next our culture must embrace teaching kids abstinence, the other half.

Clearly teens are not mature enough to handle sex or contraceptives. But Planned Parenthood et al would say they support - actually encourage - sex between a 16- and 14-year-old, just responsibly.

The Insider should have asked whether Katy and Anthony were taught comprehensive sex ed. I bet they were. Anthony's mother was likewise 15 when having her first baby. Where was she?

MSM never asks the right questions. Otherwise myths would be quelled and truths revealed about the cause of teen pregnancy.

Click on the graphic below to The Insider video:

[Spears photo courtesy of TVCrunch]

My former employer, Christ Hospital, called in news crews to showcase its party for babies born on Leap Year, February 29. These are special babies who will only get to celebrate their actual birthday once every 4 years.

Christ Hospital execs say it aborts far fewer than back in the day when I worked there. But its policy still states it will abort for life or health of the mother, fatal fetal anomalies, rape or incest, and "selective reduction" in the case of multiples. So who really knows what is going on there until the hospital changes its policy to abortion for life of the mother only.

Thus, it is entirely possible that while cameras focused on babies born at Christ Hospital on Leap Year, staff were quietly committing Leap Year abortions off-camera nearby.

Click on the image below for link to video:

[HT: proofreader Angela]

Life Advocacy Resource Project's Penny Pullen, a pro-life wordsmith who taught me to say "commit abortion" rather than "perform abortion" and "aborting mother" rather than "aborting woman," is spotlighting an effective political ad in her most recent newsletter.

The ad is by former Louisiana state Rep. Woody Jenkins, now running for Congress. Its theme is, "How can you not be pro-life?" Noteworthy points from the ad, according to Penny:

It's a great example of effective advocacy for Life....

One of the things I like about it is that it embraces the full spectrum of the right to life.... disabled... elderly... newborn... unborn....

Another key point: It assumes that being prolife is the mainstream position. Nothing timid or defensive about this message....

[It] stress[es] that "being pro-life" is the natural normal view to take.

Watch and learn....

Here's a wild story, from the Associated Press, February 28:

A newborn girl fell through the toilet in a moving train and onto the tracks moments after her mother gave birth prematurely, surviving nearly two hours before being found....

The infant's mother, who uses the single name Bhuri, was traveling with relatives... when she went to the bathroom... and unexpectedly gave birth, said Arjun Kumar, her brother-in-law.

"Later, she fell unconscious and the baby fell through the toilet," he said. "Two stations later, we knocked at the door."

Bhuri opened the door, soaked in blood....

"When we asked her about what happened, she said the baby had fallen through onto the tracks," Kumar said.

Toilets on Indian trains usually have holes that open directly onto the tracks....

[R]elatives pulled the train's emergency brake and notified railway officials. A search was quickly organized, and guards at one of the stations the train had passed soon found the baby.

"She was on the rail track for almost 1-1/2 to two hours," said Dr. Gautam Jain, a pediatrician at Rajasthan Hospital... where the baby and mother were taken.

The infant, who has not yet been named, was eight to 10 weeks premature and weighed only about 3# 4oz, Jain said. She had a low heart rate and body temperature.

"We do not expect such children to survive," Jain said, adding that her survival was "God's mercy."

I can't believe the baby lived either. So many reasons she should not have. Yes, God's mercy.

[HT: reader JM; photo of Bhuri and baby courtesy of the AP]