To give us a break from the daily grind...

by JivinJ

If assisted suicide, or even euthanasia, are legally considered forms of "end of life care" in a particular state - as it is now in Oregon, Washington, and Montana - it seems to me that the area's community health insurance option would be required to provide "access" to it under this clause. How else can the provision be read? And because it would have been passed later in time, this clause could be construed to subsume existing federal law that prevents federal funds from being used in assisted suicide.

"We have looked at the language," Nelson told The Hill. "That language is not language that I would prefer."

"I think you need to have it eminently clear that no dollars that are federal tax dollars, directly or indirectly, are used to pay for abortions and it needs to be totally clear. [It's] not clear enough, I don't think," Nelson said.

"I believe that there's plenty area for common ground," Pelosi told NPR's Renee Montagne. "We all agree that there will be no federal funding for abortion."?

When asked whether she had a specific plan to bring moderate Democrats around on the abortion issue, Pelosi said: "Yes ... but if I talk about it on the radio, then I won't be able to make it happen."

Before I get to the story, the healthcare debate has stirred interesting stats re: black women:

Ok, where was I? Oh, yes, a story on pro-abortion Jesse Jackson's meeting Wednesday with the overwhelmingly pro-abortion Congressional Black Caucus to promote pro-abortion socialized healthcare, per The Hill:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) for voting against the Democrats' signature healthcare bill.

"We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill from Alabama," Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. "You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man."

The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation....

"The poorest people need healthcare protection," Jackson said. "They have the highest infant mortality and the lowest life expectancy. They're dying from lack of access."...

If Rev. Jackson is truly interested in mortality rate and life expectancy, he should look at abortion, which not only directly kills members of his community but indirectly kills them by aftershocks.

[Photo of black preemie via BET.com; photo of African American woman via News One for Black America; graphic of African-American abortion rate via Guttmacher; photo of Jackson via CBS News]

Two points to pull from this morning's RedState.com alert:

1) We must call senators today, because we can't tomorrow, a Saturday.

2) The message must be that a vote for cloture, to begin debate, is a vote for the bill. Members must vote "NO" tomorrow.

I'm surprised Roll Call issued this study...

by JivinJ

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night unveiled a health care bill which provides for an unprecedented expansion of federally-funded abortion. The bill includes pro-abortion language and mirrors the false compromise Capps Amendment from the House debate -- it allows the public option to include abortion coverage and provides federal subsidies for private plans which cover abortion....

To give us a break from the daily grind...

On November 16, CNN published a story stating pro-life Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson was backing away from full support of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment in the Senate's socialized healthcare bill.

Subsequently, Democrats for Life president Kristen Day informed me this wasn't true.

Yesterday I requested a statement of clarification from Sen. Nelson and have received the following from his communication's office:

"To earn my support, the final bill must not use taxpayers' dollars to fund abortions. My preference is to see Stupak-like language in the final bill. Having said that, I won't rule out other solutions that could incorporate the principles of Hyde and would ensure no premium subsidies would pay for abortions," said Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Key terminology is "ensure no premium subsidies would pay for abortion," which is a point about which I specifically requested clarification. Sen. Nelson was reiterating his opposition to language permitting private insurance companies to pay for abortions that would receive federal subsidies.

As yet unclear is whether Sen. Nelson will vote against cloture this weekend. I've requested an answer from his office on that.

All you need to know is in the headlines, really...

Read National Right to Life's statement outlining just some of the problems with Reid's bill, unveiled last night.

Then keep making calls, which are having an impact. I tried calling Sen. Ben Nelson's office yesterday and simply couldn't get through to his DC office. I thought the line was out of order. My calls to 3 of his NE offices wouldn't go through either. Finally I reached someone who said they've been slammed with calls re: the healthcare bill. Like I said, keep it up.

These senators are our targets...

It has been 2 days since Newsweek unveiled its obviously sexist cover of Sarah Palin, and, no surprise, liberal feminists remain silent.

While RH Reality Check managed to spot a pro-life website calling Palin "rogue" on the life issue, it missed Newsweek's cover pick of a photo of Palin in running shorts, originally taken for the August 2009 issue of Runner's World magazine.

Incidentally, that photo was featured on RW's back page and was used by Newsweek without permission. (Watch for a lawsuit.) Here's a photo from the same shoot Newsweek passed by. Wonder why...

Despite the topic, this animated satire on last week's Supernews!, a show found on Al Gore's sinking Current TV channel, was pretty funny - particularly Nurse Biden and Dr. "House" Pelosi...

[HT: Troy Newman at Operation Rescue]

by Kelli

Spotlighting important information gleaned from other pro-life blogs...

by JivinJ

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday morning indicates that 61% of the public opposes using public money for abortions for women who can not afford the procedure, with 37% in favor of allowing the use of federal funds.

And by a 51% to 45% margin, those questioned in the survey think that women who get abortions should pay the full costs out of their own pocket, even if they have private health insurance and no federal funds are involved. The 6-point difference is within the poll's sampling error....

To give us a break from the daily grind...

[HT: Commenter Susan Allen]

Contrary to a CNN story yesterday, pro-life Dem. Sen. Ben Nelson's position on the Stupak-Pitts pro-life amendment "has not changed," wrote Democrats for Life president Kristen Day in an email to me this morning.

In fact, "both he and Senator [Bob] Casey are committed to removing abortion funding," added Day.

Subsequent to reading the CNN report that Nelson was back pedaling on his stand to keep public funding for abortion out of any socialized healthcare bill, Day contacted both senators' offices, having personally been in close contact with them for months on this.

Day told me in a follow-up call staff did not know how the rumor got started, whether by malfeasance or sloppy journalism, but it's simply not true.

For 6 weeks, and behind closed doors, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democrats have been crafting their own version of a socialized health-care bill.

With the House's passage of its bill, Reid is ready to pull the trigger, now only awaiting a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office on two new tax increases his side has proposed to help contain their behemoth.

The CBO report could come at any moment, perhaps before this column is published.

After getting the CBO report, Reid will file cloture (i.e., closure on debate) on a motion to proceed on a "shell," or empty health-care bill.

Right. There will still be no language to see. Reid will introduce a shell bill simply to get the parliamentary wheels in motion.

According to Senate rules, the cloture vote Reid wants can come no sooner than 30 hours after he has introduced his shell bill, as early as Friday. Sixty votes will be required.

This is the first and very important choke point to stop the Senate's health-care bill from proceeding....

Continue reading my column today, "Pro-life need-to-knows on health care in Senate," at WorldNetDaily.com.

by Dan Gilgoff at US News & World Report, this article just posted includes a quote from yours truly...

As abortion rights groups slam Democrats for allowing a strict prohibition on federally subsidized abortion coverage in the House healthcare bill, antiabortion groups find themselves in an usual position, given Democratic control in Washington: They're cautiously optimistic about a victory on healthcare.

"The momentum is in the pro-life direction," says Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion group Susan B. Anthony List.

Sizing up chances of the House's antiabortion language surviving in a final version of a healthcare overhaul, she says, "This is now a doable project."...

by JivinJ

Although the bill has stirred passions on both sides of the abortion-rights debate - which are likely to be echoed when the Senate takes up its version - the practical effect of the restrictions will be limited, statistics suggest and some experts in family-planning issues say....

Doug Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee, has just issued this alert:

In an essay posted today on RHrealitycheck.org (a nexus for pro-abortion activist groups), Rachel Laser - a career pro-abortion activist who now works for the influential "messaging" group Third Way - attempts to resurrect the Ellsworth Amendment.

Even though there is hardly paragraph in Laser's piece that does not contain some substantial distortion, Laser's initiative is not to be taken lightly, partly because she and her group have close connections with White House staff....

To give us a break from the daily grind...

[HT: Commenter Mark R.]

I know TMZ was sensationalizing a headline to attract attention to the following story today, but in this case "brutal murder" was an honest portrayal of the crime:

I just reported that pro-life Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson told CNN he was content with a phony compromise amendment in the Senate socialized healthcare bill that would still allow for public funded abortions.

Meanwhile pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak, who led the way last week to the House's passage of the pro-life Stupak/Pitts Amendment to its version of socialized healthcare, was on Fox News this morning.

Stupak basically said that should the healthcare bill come back to the House with the Stupak/Pitts Amendment stripped, it would die:

Stupak... dismissed a claim by White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod that President Obama would intervene to change the language, saying Axelrod is clueless on the issue and that such an intervention would imperil the bill....

Not good, from CNN, November 16:

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-NE, who last week insisted that the Senate health care bill include tight restrictions passed by the House on the use of federal money for abortion coverage, now says he would be satisfied with the less restrictive language approved by the Senate Finance Committee....

Sharon Lerner at Double X wrote:

Abortion, it seems, was lost to political horse-trading. But there are also deeper forces at work....

The best example is birth control, which was also recently thrown under the health-reform train. So far, none of the 3 reform bills has required insurers to cover contraception....

Women's health advocates reported that some Democrats cited a fear of igniting controversy when asked to insert birth control and other preventive services for women into the minimum benefits package. What's the controversy, exactly? It seems birth control has become a suddenly loaded political issue, a toxic sister to abortion, somehow resonant of irresponsible sex and women's bodies....

Didn't pro-aborts spend an inordinate amount of time claiming public funding of abortion wasn't included in any of the healthcare bills before House pro-lifers added an amendment specifying there would be no public funding in its healthcare bill?

Yet the hornet's nest that said abortion wasn't in healthcare has been stirred into a frenzy because abortion has been aborted from healthcare....

UPDATE, 5p: Pro-lifer Lynn has found the Livonia and Southgate abortion mills advertised online. Clicking on their names will take you to the real estate ad with both exterior and interior photos. Most interesting is they try to conceal the fact these are abortion mills. The waiting rooms are so sad, knowing what patients were waiting for.
_______________

It was only August 2007 when MI late-term abortionist Albert Hodari's smiling mug [right] was featured in a Detroit News story as well as a nationwide UPI piece decrying passage of the Partial Birth Abortion Act.

It has been downhill for Hodari ever since.

In November 2007 Hodari was caught on video telling pro-abort students at Wayne State University he had a "license to lie" and that he didn't wash his hands between abortions.

Then in March 2008 Citizens for a Pro-Life Society found 200+ medical records and aborted baby parts in a dumpster at 1 of Hodari's 5 mills, although Hodari was neither fined nor penalized.

Now Hodari seems to have a lot hitting at once. He filed for divorce from wife Nancy last week - on his own, no help from an attorney... for the 2nd time. Click to enlarge...

by JivinJ

To give us a break from the daily grind...

I'm not sure if this is a new feature, but I posted a "Sunday reads" segment yesterday, typically an off-blogging day, because there was just so much news I didn't want missed.

And I'm finding the same thing today. The debate over abortion in healthcare is much of the reason. There has also been an explosion of news dissemination on Twitter. So we'll see.

Anyway, here are news/editorial items pro-lifers should find of interest. I may add to the list throughout the day...

Pro-aborts are planning to send coat hangers to 20 "formerly pro-choice Democrats" (I wish! I hope!) who voted for the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment in the House healthcare bill. Click to enlarge...

Were pro-lifers to attempt the same sort of gimmick we'd have a couple options - photos of hacked mothers being taken by ambulance from front alley abortion mills, or photos of hacked babies after being aborted. Click to enlarge...

UPDATE, 1:15p: "Owens may have to be removed" ~ The Gouverneur Times

[HT: Mary Q.]
_______________

[HT for Fox article: Dougy, Matt Lewis, Greg Mueller; photo via CNN]

Last night Saturday Night Live opened with a parody featuring VP big mouth Joe Biden.

The Huffington Post thought the skit noteworthy because it "comes down on [the] Obama administration for caving on [the] public option."

I think it's noteworthy for not mentioning the clearly biggest problem liberals wanting to pass a socialized healthcare bill have: public funded abortion. That's because abortion isn't funny.

Hardcore pro-aborts like Amanda Marcotte love abortion humor because they think it destigmatizes and normalizes abortion.

Well, pro-aborts like Amanda got no satisfaction from SNL last night. This skit, which has its truly lol moments, would have been drug down by discussion of the A-word, and writers knew it.

FYI, the section on healthcare begins at 2:38...

UPDATE, 11:55a: Here's one more pro-life cartoon. I wasn't sure where the writer was going but checked with a friend at NRLC who explained, "The cartoonist means that Obama thinks we are a bunch of turkeys, and he means to cut our throats." Ah, ok, got it.

by Chuck Asay at Townhall.com...

7:31a: I thought last Sunday we would see a lot of political cartoons springing from passage of the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment to the House healthcare bill. And so it was.

First, the pro-life view...

by Chip Bok at Townhall.com...

UPDATE, 12:05p: FYI, partner Tim and I ("I" used very loosely... :) have just added a new feature, to receive an email alert if someone comments after you on a post. You'll see the check box after the comment box. Right now it's set on automatic. You have to uncheck not to receive the alert. Let me know if you'd prefer it the other way around.
_______________

Given the events that have transpired this past week, what are any and all of your predictions for passage of a socialized healthcare bill?

Will it retain the Stupak/Pitts Amendment? If so, if not, will it pass?

To give us a break from the daily grind...

by JivinJ

My friend Judie Brown of the American Life League has posted a chart listing just a few other problems with the House socialized healthcare bill:

While Judie's premise is one on which we will likely always have to agreed to disagree, that attempting to place stopgaps against the culture of death in one area condones the culture of death in another, she is right: The healthcare bill in its entirety is an abomination against the sanctity of life that we must attempt to stop. I appreciate the research ALL has conducted and the work it is doing to stop the healthcare monstrosity.

Please read my earlier post for more of my thoughts on the Stupak/Pitts Amendment topic.

I am increasingly wondering how Democrats, particularly Nancy Pelosi, are going to get themselves out of this jam.

It is becoming clearer that while Nancy made an agreement with Catholic bishops to take abortion out of the healthcare bill, her liberal friends thought she intended to break that deal later....

UPDATE, 11/14, 7:55a: Thanks to Erick Erickson for magnanimously crossposting this at RedState.com.
_______________

11/13, 5:52a: I've read the complaints by conservatives (and even pro-lifers) following passage of the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment to the House healthcare bill. They say this simply enabled passage of the entire putrid mess.

My friend Erick Erickson at RedState.com wrote:

Stupak will go out....

Let me be clear to the conservative movement and the organizations participating in the health care debate: the fight over health care is about freedom, not your ridiculous little scorecards. [bold emphasis his]...

Here was a verrry interesting Associated Press story yesterday on just how involved the US Conference of Catholic Bishops - God bless 'em - were in getting the Stupak/Pitts Amendment into the healthcare bill. Pretty wild...

The call came in from Rome, just as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants were scrambling to round up scarce votes to pass their sweeping health overhaul.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick [pictured right], the former archbishop of Washington, was on the line for Pelosi, calling to discuss adding strict abortion restrictions to the House bill.

It was just 1 element of an intensive lobbying effort orchestrated by the nation's Catholic bishops, who have emerged as a formidable force in the health care negotiations. They used their clout with millions of Catholics and worked behind the scenes in Congress to make sure the abortion curbs were included in the legislation - and are now pressing to keep them there....

I wrote a couple weeks ago that late-term abortionist Pierre Renelique, whose FL medical license was revoked following his part in the alleged murder of abortion survivor Shaunice Williams, had escaped to practice in NY. NY officials merely put Renelique on a 2-year probation.

Well, someone tipped MyFoxNY.com off on the story, and one of its reporters chased Renelique down yesterday. The following 6:49 exposé goes into great detail on the FL botched abortion, a shockingly thorough and blunt investigative report. Video ends with Renelique becoming so angry he grabs and breaks the reporter's mic...

by JivinJ

To give us a break from the daily grind...

[HT: Commenter Mark R.]

After I wrote my post, "Has 'pro-choice' lost its cool?" I remembered something I read last week I meant to blog on but forgot about after the House Stupak/Pitts vote.

On November 4 Planned Parenthood NYC sponsored a "Voices of Feminism" fundraising event, "featuring 3 of NYC's leading feminist voices, women's rights activists and influential writers as they discuss what feminism means to them" - Gloria Feldt (former Planned Parenthood prez), Lynn Harris (feminist author and comedienne) , and Jessica Valenti (editor of Feministing.com).

In a piece entitled, "Three feminists on dirty words, pop culture, and the language of Choice," the blogger at Jezebel wrote the following day...

I don't know when it happened. Maybe we're in the middle of it. But a couple unrelated observations yesterday made me realize "pro-choice" is losing its coolness in liberaland.

1st was Amie Newman's post on RH Reality Check entitled, "Dear progressive allies in health care reform: Where were you on the Stupak Amendment?" Amie took liberal groups to task for ignoring the abortion issue...

From ABC News this afternoon, refreshing that Tapper used the word "liberal":

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and Domestic Policy Council director Melody Barnes, health care reform czar Nancy-ann DeParle and other WH officials met with a dozen officials from liberal women's and abortion right's groups this afternoon where they had a "frank exchange," in the words of one attendee....

by JivinJ

I spoke last night at the inaugural banquet of the Austin Coalition for Life. (Very impressive start with 350 in attendance!)

I caught up with old friends like Shawn Carney, co-founder of 40 Days for Life, and a hero of mine, Chris Danze, the pro-life contractor who threw a big wrench into Planned Parenthood's building of an Austin, TX, mill in 2003 through construction owner and worker boycotts.

But a real thrill for me was meeting Abby Johnson, an emerging pro-life heroine who quit her job as Bryan, TX, PP director 5 weeks ago.....

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

Great article. Calls Democrats out for "rhetorical sleight of hand" when it comes to abortion. And stepping back, why are the Democrats so cautious about it anyway? I thought abortion was a winning issue for them.

Reported Politico today:

The sudden spasm of intense debate over abortion on Capitol Hill this week threatens not only to stall the passage of health care legislation, but also to shatter the delicate cease-fire that has governed the abortion issue during the Obama era.

After months of dodging high-profile confrontations over abortion, Democrats - including President Barack Obama - find themselves faced with a stark set of alternatives: Support a bill that imposes limits on access to abortion or demand one that might, however indirectly, fund the procedure with taxpayer money....

The Huffington Post reported today:

One of Congress's foremost champions of abortion rights said on Monday that the Senate did not have the votes to add a more restrictive anti-abortion amendment to health care reform legislation.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said that 60 votes would be needed to strip the current health care bill of its abortion-related language and replace it with a version resembling that passed by the House.... And... [she] predicted that pro-choice forces in the Senate would keep that from happening....

But Politico reported November 9...

The numbers don't jibe.

Time magazine reported July 8:

Nearly 90% of insurers cover abortion procedures, according to a 2002 survey by the Guttmacher Institute....

While U.S. News & World Report reported July 23:

[A] Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 46% of insured workers had coverage for abortions.

But Dept. of Health & Human Services secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius testified before the Senate Finance Committee on April 9:

Most private plans do not cover abortion services except in limited instances....

And the New York Times reported Nov. 8:

A 2003 study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute found that 13% of abortions were billed directly to insurance companies.

What gives?

It is important to get to the bottom of those discrepant statistics, because pro-aborts are hinging their opposition to the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment in the House healthcare bill on one of them - which is false....

Continue reading my column today, "What health-care 'status quo' means to pro-aborts," at WorldNetDaily.com.

Patrick Kennedy started all this with a public denunciation almost 3 weeks ago of his church's position opposing socialized healthcare unless it specifically excluded abortion.

Now Kennedy is complaining that his bishop has dared to publicly respond to Kennedy's self-started firestorm. And although Kennedy's statement that he finds Bishop Tobin's public reproaches (here and here) "very disconcerting" may reveal a heart in turmoil, he's not showing it by his actions. Most recently Kennedy voted against the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment to the House healthcare bill....

by Brenda Pollock-Smith, memorializing all 14 lives taken, from age 62 to in the womb. Watch to end...

I'm in Austin, TX, at the moment, preparing to speak at the Austin Coalition for Life banquet in a few. Most exciting is I'm told Abby Johnson is attending the banquet, too, and I'm very much looking forward to meeting her! Coincidentally, there's great news about Abby this afternoon.

According to a 40 Days for Life press statement:

A district court judge denied a request for an injunction against Abby Johnson, who resigned as director of a Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas abortion facility in Bryan/College Station last month. The judge also denied a similar request directed at the Coalition for Life, the local pro-life organization that started the 40 Days for Life campaign in Bryan/College Station 5 years ago.

KBTX.com adds...

by JivinJ

As it is, Democrats now have to make some decisions that may anger their Planned Parenthood wing. The fight itself will be interesting, judging from a claim by Diana DeGette (D-CO) in yesterday's Washington Post that 40 Democrats will vote against a final bill unless the Stupak amendment is stripped out. Of course, if it is stripped out, that will put even more pressure on those 64 Democrats who voted for the amendment....

by intern Heather B.

Spotlighting important information gleaned from other pro-life blogs...

The Diocese of Providence announced this morning that a planned meeting tomorrow between Bishop Tobin and Congressman Patrick Kennedy has been "postponed."

Read background information on the public feud, started by Kennedy, here.

It appears clear it was Kennedy who did the postponing, because Bishop Tobin has released another public letter to Kennedy, to be published in the November 12 edition of the Rhode Island Catholic.

And wow. It is really something, sure to shake not only Patrick but the entire Kennedy family to their core. It's too important to excerpt.

Holy cow, the Bishop even invoked John F. Kennedy's book, Profiles in Courage, in a play on words. Am reposting the letter in its entirety, on page 2...

To give us a break from the daily grind...

[HT: Commenter Mary]

Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews last night, quite confident Nancy Pelosi will fix pro-aborts' problems with healthcare when the bill bounces back from the Senate.

But Bart Stupak isn't going away. From the Wall Street Journal this morning...

This can't wait until Sunday, by Rick McKee at the Augusta Chronicle...

From the Associated Press, November 8, following is the Obama administration's focus following the terrorist attack at Ft. Hood. I'm sure had the shooter been a deranged pro-lifer Napolitano would be working with pro-life groups to protect our community from backlash. I'm sure....

UPDATE 11-10, 9:38a: Randall Terry and Andrew Beacham have posted video of the fizzled NOW rally yesterday. This was the perfect venue for Terry's antics, and I have to say he cracked me up, even while totally destroying my favorite song of all time...

11-09, 5:40p: Twitter works both ways. It gets word out to the right people... and to the wrong people.

Such was the case this morning when I stumbled upon a tweet by National Organization for Women promoting a rally today in downtown DC to protest the House's passage of the Stupak/Pitts Amendment. The plan was to march around the Senate and House office buildings to scare senators. Click to enlarge...

Well, that didn't take long.

It was only yesterday that pro-abort groups like Planned Parenthood and EMILY's List began pushing Barack Obama to dump the Stupak/Pitts Amendment from the socialized healthcare bill.

Tonight during an interview with ABC's Jake Tapper , Obama responded:

President Obama said today that Congress needs to change abortion-related language in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this weekend.

"I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill," Obama said. "And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions."...

According to the Washington Post, November 6...

Pfc. Francheska Velez had survived a tour disarming bombs in in Iraq. After a visit home in August, the 21-year-old Chicago resident learned she was pregnant.

Of course pro-aborts have ample reason to see red following the House's passage of the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment to the socialized healthcare bill. Duck, because they're shooting wildly at each other.

My first indication was this on Twitter...

Then, ooh la la, came this headline in the Huffington Post...

Get out the popcorn...

by JivinJ

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

CBS provided more than fair coverage Sunday of the the House's passage of the Stupak/Pitts Amendment.

Note the solid pro-life talking points...

... and the weak, lame pro-abortion talking points I would not be happy CBS chose to spotlight if I were a pro-abort PR rep...

Recall that at a 2007 Planned Parenthood fundraiser presidential candidate Barack Obama said "reproductive care" (i.e., abortion) was "essential... basic... at the center and at the heart" of his healthcare plan....

Candidate Obama made some promises, and now PP aims to make him keep them. After the House's vote last night to exclude abortion from nationalized healthcare, PP CEO Cecile Richards issued an email alert today calling in some chips....

I'll be interested to see the political cartoons emanating from last night's House passage of a healthcare bill... with a pro-life amendment. But it's too soon for them. As the parental notification issue once again makes the news, this cartoon by Glenn McCoy at Townhall.com is relevant...

Former Bryan, TX, Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson was interviewed on Gov. Mike Huckabee's Fox show last night (replaying tonight), and described the horrific, gut-wrenching experience of watching on ultrasound a baby pull away from an abortionist's probe trying to kill him or her...

No wonder the other side hates ultrasounds, fighting legislation forcing abortionists to offer an abortion-minded mother the opportunity to view her preborn baby. Will the other side now put blinders on workers? That would be interesting.

Read backstory on Johnson here.

Despite Politico's swooning piece calling Nancy Pelosi the "master" of House Democrats by passing nationalized healthcare, and despite the elation...

... and despite the "mixed reaction" described by the pro-abortion blog RH Reality Check, there is trouble in Dodge City.

For starters, Planned Parenthood now opposes the House healthcare bill...

Title of the New York Times piece...

Finally. Finally MSM is acknowledging abortion is a problem for Democrats. Finally MSM is acknowledging the abortion civil war within the Democrat Party. And what a play on words. Abortion "bedeviled" Democrats....

UPDATE, 11:25p: From David Brody at CBNNews.com...

Folks, this is a huge deal.

This war for the pro-life community is not over... but nevertheless what happened on Saturday in the House will go down as a HUGE victory for pro-life Americans....

UPDATE, 11:24a: A National Right to Life email alert reminds us that the House switchboard line may be overloaded, as I just learned.

You can get direct-dial numbers for any House office by typing in your zip code at the NRLC Legislative Action Center here. Also, the NRLC Legislative Action Center has U.S. House fax numbers and district office phone numbers here.

UPDATE, 11a: Had a hard time getting through to tell my rep to vote YES on Stupak/Pitts Amendment (and NO on socialized healthcare!). Lines are jammed. Finally did. Have you made your call TODAY? 202-224-3121.

10:47a: I guess the debate about abortion in healthcare has been wild, according to Michelle Malkin on Twitter, although I missed it til now. Here's a link to watch it yourself...

Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards has just sent the following emergency email.

Of course, pro-lifers should use the number Richards provides to call their rep to tell him/her to vote YES on the Stupak/Pitts pro-life amendment to the nationalized healthcare bill. [JLS note: Do NOT call Cecile's number! Call 202-224-3121 instead. Per reader Vicki: "The phone number in Richards' email leads to a recorded message from her. Then it rings forever and a message comes on that no one answered (DUH!). THEN, I got a text thanking me for speaking out for reproductive health care.]

And of course, Richards is lying. As I explained in my previous post...

UPDATE, 9:45a: They called our bluff. Now what?

Most of us don't want nationalized healthcare at all, even without abortion coverage. Now that Democrat House leaders have caved and are going to allow a vote whether or not to include abortion (which, by the way, confirms the vehemently denied but obvious: abortion was intended to be covered), what if our amendment passes? Will this clear the way for Obamacare?

No. Public funded abortion has always been a cornerstone of socialized healthcare. If it is excluded, the pro-abort constituency evaporates, both internally (congressional members) and externally (abortion lobby). As of now, House pro-aborts are saying they won't vote for a healthcare plan with an abortion exclusion. Per CNN...

Is your congressperson on this list from GOP House Whip Eric Cantor [pictured right]? CALL!

As of today, at least 69 Democrats have expressed opposition to the Speaker's health care bill. As the bill comes to the House floor, how many Democrats will stand up and vote against a health care bill that raises taxes, cuts benefits to seniors, and spends money that families and small businesses across America cannot afford?

Pelosi needs 39 to carry the majority.

Meanwhile USA Today just posted...

The article below indicates Catholic pro-life Democrats are having a problem defying their bishops on the healthcare bill currently as written. They are not falling for the phony pro-life Ellsworth amendment.

It also indicates Catholic pro-life Dem congressman (and co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus) Bart Stupak is holding strong with his assertion he has the votes to stop healthcare on the Life issue. From CNS News, today...

Press release from Congressman Steve King (IA-5)

Congressman Steve King today made the following statement calling on American citizens to come to Washington this weekend to stop a government takeover of health care.

"Nancy Pelosi and Washington liberals cannot ignore what transpired yesterday in Washington. Americans from every state stormed Capitol Hill. They took over the Hill. And they loudly chanted 'Kill this bill!'...

UPDATE, 11/6 3:18p: 40 Days reports the O'Reilly segment with Abby Johnson has been postponed until next Wedneday due to the Ft. Hood tragedy. Meanwhile, Fox has been advertising her appearance on Huckabee tomorrow (which replays Sunday).

[HT: Mary LF]
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11/3, 6:36p:The 40 Days for Life blog is reporting that Abby Johnson, the former director of the Bryan, TX, Planned Parenthood who quit her job earlier this month and is now a pro-life convert, will appear on The O'Reilly Factor Friday night.

Read my previous post giving Johnson's backstory here.

The Associated Press has an update on PP's attempted restraining order against Johnson...

by intern Andy M.

Spotlighting important information gleaned from other pro-life blogs...

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This today, from the AP:

House Democrats acknowledged they don't yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until Sunday or early next week....

The apparent problem: Democrats have yet to resolve intraparty disputes over abortion funding and illegal immigrants' access to health care.

[Rep. Steny] Hoyer (D) sought to pin the blame for any possible slippage on delaying tactics expected from Republicans, who unanimously oppose the health care remake. But he acknowledged that Democrats are still short of the 218 votes they need to pass the bill....

From ABC News, November 5, one more problem for pro-aborts claiming preborns aren't human:

Think newborns just eat, sleep and wail the same way across the world? That's not so, according to a new study which found that babies cry with an accent within the first week of life.

By recording cries of 60 babies born to French or German parents, researchers discovered that babies cry with the same "prosody" or melody used in their native language by the 2nd day of life.

French newborns in the study ended their cries with a lilt at the end typically heard in French.

German babies, however, started their cries intensely and dropped off at the end - much like the emphasis their German parents put in a sentence, according to a study published Thursday in Current Biology.

Experts in child development say the most exciting part of this discovery is not that infants recognize the melody of their language, but that the newborns may have the ability to use what they heard in the womb to then control their cries.

[HT: Nathan WS]

UPDATE, 3:10p: WEARTV.com has news video about the Pensacola mill closing, including interviews with local 40 Days organizers, as well as its history of bombings and shootings.

[HT: Michael B.]
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The FL Agency for Health Care Administration has shut down the Community Healthcare Center in Pensacola, FL, after it couldn't cough up $413k in fines for failing to renew a lab license for 413 days.

The AHCA served ample notice to the 25+ year old abortion mill in January, but when it hadn't settled its bill 10 months after the fact, the clinic "voluntarily" closed its doors October 30, according to AHCA via PNJ.com, after AHCA paid it a shakedown visit on October 20.

Too bad, so sad, PNJ.com also reports:

The closure leaves AMS of Pensacola... as the only abortion clinic in Escambia County.

40 Days for Life was keeping vigil at the mill during that time. What great news to learn on Day 38!

As an aside, this particular mill has a sordid history. It's where Paul Hill in 1995 killed abortionist John Britton and deathscort James Barrett.

[HT: David Bereit of 40 Days]

The above Boston Globe photo is of TX Congressman John Culberson yesterday, tossing Pelosi's 2k page healthcare bill into an opposition crowd. Reports the Globe...

The above is a shot of the wild scene outside Nancy Pelosi's office yesterday afternoon, as described in The Hill last night...

When I read NBC's Law & Order was airing an episode last week "ripped from the headlines" of an abortionist shot in church, i.e., Dr. George Tiller, I, of course, anticipated the plot would not go well for pro-lifers. The most I expected was milliseconds of fairness with pro-abortion clichés ruling the hour.

My, was I surprised. I could have written that script. The episode wasn't even balanced. It was outright pro-life, not that I mind.

If you haven't seen the episode, you should. Sans commercials it is only 42 minutes long....

Pro-abort reaction was swift and harsh. Sarah Seltzer at the Ted-Turner-funded blog RH Reality Check called the episode an "abortion disaster" and "wasteland of TV."

Kate Harding at Salon accused NBC of spreading "anti-choice propaganda" and "smear[ing] the memory of... Dr. Tiller."

Ms. Magazine was "appalled by this second assassination" of Dr. Tiller, calling the show "shocking" and "insensitive."...

Jennifer Boulangerat Women and Hollywood called the show "deeply stigmatizing" and "rife with medical inaccuracies."

On and on.

The question is: How did this story line come to pass?....

Continue reading my column this week, "Is Hollywood tipping pro-life?" at WorldNetDaily.com.

I've been out of pocket at a speaking event (shout out to Choices of the Heart in NJ!). Lots going on. Here are the latest scoops via Twitter from reliable sources Matt Lewis and Greg Mueller (click to enlarge). I'm afraid to hope we're starting to see a meltdown:

Then there was this, posted 6p ET tonight, entitled, "Pelosi breaks pledge to put final health care bill online for 72 hours before vote"...

by JivinJ

"Any House member who votes for the Pelosi rule is voting to establish a federal government insurance plan, the public option, that the bill explicitly authorizes to pay for all elective abortions. When a federal agency pays for abortions, that is federal funding of abortion in reality, whatever contrived labels Speaker Pelosi or her acolytes slap over it....

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I previously reported that Bryan, TX, Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson quit earlier this month after seeing an abortion on ultrasound and being forced to push abortion to increase profits....

Read my previous posts for the backstory here and here.

The other side's resolve for the completely unfettered right to kill babies knows no bounds. From the Chicago Sun-Times, November 4:

It has been 14 years and it will be at least a few more months before IL's long-mothballed parental notification law for teens seeking abortions takes effect....

UPDATE, 11/5, 5a: It occurred to me yesterday that Reid's staffers likely didn't tell the press the topic of Koop's letter. But Koop did, at least in part. Here's the epilogue, from Roll Call:

Reached at his home Wednesday, Koop confirmed that he wrote a few "beautifully typed" pages on his views of the health care legislation. The fact that it caused a Capitol Hill scare is "nonsense," he said.

"I wasn't aware that sending a hand-delivered letter was an offense," he said, later adding: "I did it over a weekend. I don't have a lot of secretarial help and I'm 93."

Koop said the letter asked that health care legislation include a provision to ensure doctors and medical students would not be forced to perform abortions.

He has not heard from Reid's office, he said....

Abby Johnson, the Bryan, TX, Planned Parenthood director who quit a few weeks ago because she saw an abortion on ultrasound and also felt pressured to sell abortions, came up on The View November 2.

Pro-abort co-host Joy Behar had a problem not with abortion but that the abortion industry might profit from it. Hello? I really wonder how these people can be so ignorant. Joy is apparently unaware Planned Parenthood of America has grossed $1 billion 2 years running.

Barbara Walters was careful to defend PP. More ignorance. I grow so tired of it.

There was more to the segment not shown in this clip. Read it at Newsbusters.

[HT: Stephanie R.]

Bottom line: Fox wins, White House loses. From the Huffington Post, this afternoon...

White House senior adviser David Axelrod has given an interview to Fox News' Major Garrett, the latest sign that the administration is ramping down its feud with the cable news outlet.

Clips of Axelrod's interview will air on Fox News throughout the day as well as on Special Report with Bret Baier at 6p and The Fox Report at 7p....

The interview touched on topics including Afghanistan, health care, Iran, yesterday's election and the 1 year anniversary of the President's election to office. No word if the 2 also discussed the White House's feud with Fox....

by JivinJ

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Math Homework 911 Call sound bite  911 Calls sound bites

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UPDATE, 2:30p: Well, it ain't quite over. From the Thomas More Society:

In a surprise move this morning, the doctors of the Medical Board - some saying that they are not "babysitters" for the IL Courts - refused to extend their "grace period" against enforcement of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. Legal Counsel for the Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation had tried to convince the doctors to extend the "grace period" for another 180 days. The doctors unanimously refused that request....

I've read that prison inmates have their own justice system. For instance, child molesters don't fare well behind bars.

Apparently, even criminals consider abortionists scumbags.

British abortionist Edward Erin was found guilty last month of twice attempting to spike his pregnant mistress's drink with an unnamed poison "to induce an abortion."

A November 3 BBC article spends most its time on Erin's pining wife Lorwi, who disbelieves the incidents ever happened and understands her husband has "had [3 known] affairs as a 'distraction' from problems in his personal life, including a number of deaths in his family." And including a number of deaths he has caused.

Lorwi is listed as a "Dr." also. Wonder if she's likewise an abortionist?

Whatever, my eye caught the last lines of the piece:

Dr Erin said her husband was "not being treated well" by other prisoners while in custody.

"He is being called a child murderer," she said. "He is a state of complete distress - I don't know how he is going to get through this to be honest."

Poor thing. The article doesn't say how much time Erin will serve. Not enough.

Meanwhile, there is a happy ending:

Miss Prowse gave birth to a healthy baby in September 2008.

[Photos via the BBC]

I thought this Twitter post last night by Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards was pretty funny...

As American Life League wrote in a press release entitled, "Planned Parenthood fail: Endorsement 'kiss of death' for Deeds, Scozzafava, Corzine":

What do Dede Scozzafava, Creigh Deeds and Gov. Jon Corzine have in common? All were endorsed by abortion mammoth Planned Parenthood. All 3 candidates were virulent supporters of abortion rights and opponents of human personhood....

The humiliating loss by Scozzafava was a particularly hard blow for PP as she was clearly the "poster child" of PP political candidates. The long-time PP supporter, board member, and Sanger Award winner [pictured accepting the award, right] had such a poor showing she was forced to resign from the campaign the week before the election....

But, hey, there's always New York City - with its re-elected pro-abort mayor - where 100,000 abortions are committed annually, or about 10% of all US abortions. I counted at least 30 PPs in the NYC/NJ area....

From the Washington Examiner, today:

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-MI, who has threatened to hold up the House health care bill over language he believes would permit taxpayer dollars to be spent on abortions, may not even vote on the bill if it comes to the floor for consideration this week.

Stupak's mother-in-law, Elaine Olsen, died suddenly on Sunday and he is not expected to be in Washington DC this week....

From 1 jaw-dropping roadblock to the next, IL's parental notification law has been stopped from going into effect for 14 long years, since it passed in 1995.

First, for over a decade, the IL Supreme Court simply refused to establish judicial-bypass rules.

After the Supremes finally wrote rules, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood sued. A federal court ruled against them 4 months ago....

by intern Heather B. and Kelli

Spotlighting important information gleaned from other pro-life blogs...

by JivinJ

No reason was given for staying the charges, but club treasurer Alanna Campbell said the charges -- laid about a year ago -- were ridiculous....

To give us a break from the daily grind...this one is especially for you homeschooling moms out there!

[HT: Angela S.]

Basically pro-aborts overreached. A bubble zone would have been fine. A buffer zone would have been fine. But not a bubble-buffer zone. From the Associated Press, November 2:

In a ruling issued Friday, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals found the 2005 Pittsburgh ordinance unduly restricted protesters from passing out leaflets and participating in other forms of free speech. The Pittsburgh law bans protesters from standing within 15 feet of entrances but also makes them stand 8 feet from clients in a 100-foot buffer around entrances....

A Congress Daily article this morning (subscription only) entitled, "House Dems close to abortion deal," begins:

Democrats are close to finalizing an abortion compromise that would hopefully draw enough moderate anti-abortion Democrats to mitigate a threat from Rep. Bart Stupak, D-MI, to block the bill from coming to the floor....

On October 30 Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards emailed a sigh of relief to followers that "every version of the [healthcare] bills out there... respects choice and expands access." Whew.

Then Cecile found out Catholic bishops had only the day before activated nationwide priests and parishioners to oppose nationalized healthcare unless it excludes public funded abortion, as described by the National Catholic Reporter, November 2...

A November 2 Newsweek article more or less fairly portrays the personhood movement, aside from its title, that is...

... and even the title shows the growing power of our youngest human beings, newly created 2-celled zygotes, certain to send shivers down the pro-abort spine.

Speaking of, no pro-aborts were interviewed for this piece. Interesting....

by JivinJ

In August, the company delayed human clinical trials of the drug candidate because some of the animals treated with the injection developed microscopic spinal cysts. The company has been testing the product on rats and mice.

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UPDATE, 4:30p: Additional information, from a press release:

The [Bryan, TX] Planned Parenthood clinic [where Abby Johnson worked] was the location of the first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign in the fall of 2004, and the prayer and fasting initiative has been held outside the doors of Johnson's former workplace 5 additional times....

PP has gone to court to seek a restraining order against both Johnson and the Coalition for Life, the local group that originated 40 Days for Life and continued regular prayer vigils in front of the clinic for the past 5 years. A court hearing on the order, which addresses disclosure of confidential information, is scheduled in a Texas court on November 10.

Shawn Carney, the director of the Coalition for Life and a 40 Days board member, has been working with Johnson since she left her job last month. The former clinic director has even begun to pray outside the clinic where she formerly worked....

Abortion industry lobbyists and their allies in Congress are about to ram through mandated government funding of abortion in health care reform legislation this week in the House of Representatives.

If this abortion mandate is not stopped, it will result in the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade....

Concerned Women for America has seen into America's future and produced 9 clever automated phone calls we should anticipate if Obama and Congress succeed in railroading nationalized healthcare.

For example, as CWA wrote when introducing the following call, "Under Obamacare, abortion providers like Planned Parenthood could be the official government 'community provider' for clinics at or near schools."...

And here's what to expect of Big Healthcare Brother, since under Obamacare, CWA writes, "you could face substantial fines and even punishment for violating the plan's mandatory insurance requirement."...

MSM had a field day over the weekend with the 4th annual Halloween haunted house presented by The Door Christian Center in Chandler, AZ....

UPDATE, 11/1, 4:55p: Fallen GOP NY-23 candidate Dede Scozzafava endorsed Democrat Bill Owens today. According to The Hill...

This doesn't have anything to do with our topic, but I thought it was the funniest cartoon of the week, by Chip Bok at Townhall.com...

Now, with tvbythenumbers.com reporting, "Fox News' ratings... climbing... and... at or near the levels for October 2008 while both CNN and MSNBC are down 50% plus from their October 2008 levels," come these germane cartoons...