by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

• Wesley J. Smith discusses a man sentenced to life in prison in Tennessee who has asked to be euthanized so he can donate his organs to his parents. Smith points out that while this won’t happen for a variety of reasons yet in the U.S., Belgium is ahead of the game in coupling euthanasia with organ donation and in giving prisoners the option of euthanasia.
• Priests for Life has been granted a temporary stay against the HHS contraceptive mandate:
  

  “Without the stay granted today, we would have been in the position of being fined for failing to comply with the mandate,” Father Pavone said. “But no matter what happens, we will not obey the mandate, nor will we pay fines to the government.”

  The stay will remain in effect while the Supreme Court considers the case.

• Pro-Life in TN says Tennesseans took a well-deserved victory lap on June 10th when Governor Haslam signed three pro-life bills into law, thanks to 15 years of work by grassroots activists. The state constitution was changed (Amendment 1) to correct an egregious decision in 2000 by the TN Supreme Court, which denied the enforcement of any pro-life laws. The three laws address informed consent, waiting periods, and the inspection and licensure of abortion facilities. Tennessee has demonstrated that grassroots activism can win against well-funded pro-abortion groups, despite being outspent 4-1. Continued vigilance is needed as the culture of death is now trying to introduce physician assisted suicide to the state.
• The Pro-Life Action League, along with Citizens for a Pro-life Society and Priests for Life, are promoting the 3rd annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, to be held on September 12:
  

  The Day of Remembrance comprises a series of simultaneous memorial services at more than 40 known gravesites of aborted children throughout the country. If there’s no burial place of unborn babies in your area, you may wish to host a memorial service at another site dedicated to aborted children.

  Find a list of locations here.

• Pro Life NZ posts seven terrible arguments used to justify assisted suicide:
  

  With the same party that had an MP who wanted the government to pay welfare recipients to get sterilised positioning itself as a self-styled assisted-suicide party with plans underway for introducing an ‘assisted dying’ bill, assisted suicide is back in the news again, which will result in an almost daily slew of really bad arguments being invoked by activists who want a law change that will legally allow doctors to terminate the lives of their patients with lethal injections upon request.

• Saynsumthn’s Blog details one woman’s disturbing account of her late-term abortion, subsequent injuries and emotional pain, which led her to consider suicide until she received post-abortion counseling. Although difficult to read, her account reveals the lack of compassion and care she received from her abortionist, who only wanted to discuss price:
  

  He said right then it would be $4000.00 the week before the 27th. And we didn’t have the full amount and he said it goes up – the longer you wait the higher it is.

  He proceeded to encourage her to take out a second mortgage on her house so she could pay to have her child killed.

• Secular Pro-Life expresses support the upcoming Selma Project, a “protest against unlicensed Selma, AL abortionist Samuel Lett” to take place on June 19th and 20th:
  

  Alabama law requires abortion businesses to meet the same regulations as other outpatient surgical facilities. But for unknown reasons, the state health department is not keen to enforce those regulations in Selma. The department is claiming that Lett does not commit enough abortions to qualify for the licensing regulation, but local activists have strong evidence to the contrary. The time has come for protest.

• Pregnancy Help News gives background on the “bully bill” that targets California pro-life pregnancy centers, forcing them to refer clients for abortion. Heartbeat International has uncovered a report that apparently guided those drafting the model legislation (along with assistance from NARAL):
  

  The 37-page report… highlights four main fronts for lawmakers to attack PHCs: Signage, Licensing, Enforcement (of existing laws), and Private Cause of Action (encouraging “injured individuals to sue CPCs…”).

  The report misrepresents the relationship between local organizations and national and international groups including Heartbeat International, Care Net and NIFLA, claiming that local PHCs “generally receiv[e] substantial funding… from at least one large pro-life umbrella organizatio[n]…”

  While advising policy makers to steer clear of making the same mistake of other states such as Washington, Maryland, Texas, and New York by infringing upon the rights of free speech and free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment, the paper also… includes a curious distinction between what it calls “targeted CPCs”:

  Because these centers are often religiously affiliated, any regulation that affects only CPCs will likely be seen as unconstitutionally infringing the speech of a religious organization. We address this issue by regulating all pregnancy resource centers equally. (pg. 13)