Pro-Abortion Republican Fights to Fund Planned Parenthood | LifeNews.com

Pro-Abortion Republican Fights to Fund Planned Parenthood

by Steven Ertelt | LifeNews.com | 3/28/11 10:32 AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is one of just a handful of pro-abortion Republicans in the Senate, but she has become the most outspoken of the group saying she will fight to ensure Planned Parenthood continues getting taxpayer funding.

Murkowski already publicly staked a position favoring continuing taxpayer financing of the nation’s biggest abortion business and she said today the fight is not over.

“I think there are some that feel very strongly and will continue the effort to defund. I think that is a fight that is not yet resolved,” she told the Anchorage Daily News.

“More fundamentally, without the care Planned Parenthood provides — without access to Pap smears, pelvic exams and breast exams — women will die,” she said in a statement with pro-abortion Deocratic Alaska Sen. Mark Begich.

Murkowski and every other Republican senator voted for a House-approved long-term budget bill (the continuing resolution that contained the Pence Amendment de-funding Planned Parenthood), but she told the newspaper the vote on the bill, which the Senate rejected, was merely a test to determine how many lawmakers supported the rest of the bill and did not reflect whether pro-abortion Republicans or some Democrats would support Planned Parenthood de-funding.

Previously, Murkowski talked about legitimate health services Planned Parenthood provides in defending its funding, ignoring its own report showing it now does more than 25 percent of the 1.2 million abortions that are done annually in the United States.

“From 2002-2008, Planned Parenthood received $342 million in federal taxpayer money through Title X funding alone. With these funds, Planned Parenthood has provided women throughout the U.S. with important family planning and contraceptive services as well as screening for breast and cervical cancers for low-income women,” she said earlier this month.

Two other pro-abortion Republicans — Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins — have joined Murkowski in saying they will vote for federal funding for the abortion business. A third, Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, confused groups on both sides of the abortion debate last week with a statement saying he supported funding family planning efforts but not determining where he stands on funding Planned Parenthood itself or other abortion businesses.

A fourth Senate Republican, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, is pro-abortion and has supported Planned Parenthood in the past, and the abortion agency endorsed his 2010 campaign for the Senate.

Meanwhile, a group of Senate Democrats considered the most likely to support de-funding Planned Parenthood have said very little on the subject, according to a report in The Hill, a congressional newspaper.

The three Democrats who call themselves pro-life — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska — have said very little. Manchin declined to comment to The Hill, Nelson’s office would not speculate on whether there would be a vote on de-funding, and Casey has repeatedly voted to support Planned Parenthood funding in the context of funding family planning efforts.

Sens. Jim Webb of Virginia (who is retiring), Jon Tester of Montana (who faces a highly competitive 2012 re-election battle against pro-life Rep. Denny Rehberg), and Kent Conrad of North Dakota all declined to tell The Hill how they would vote.

Recently, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid indicated he would reject any House Republican funding bill that yanks Planned Parenthood funding — saying not only no, but “hell no.” President Barack Obama has also said he opposes de-funding Planned Parenthood in the budget bills.

This week, several leading pro-life organizations are calling on Congress to keep pressing forward with efforts to de-fund the $1 billion-dollar Planned Parenthood abortion business, which receives $363 million from federal, state and local government. With statistics showing Planned Parenthood is the biggest abortion business in the nation and that it provides only abortion to almost every pregnant woman who walks in its door, and with videos showing it looking the other way as helpless sexually-trafficked young girls are subjected to abortions after being victimized, pro-life groups say there is little reason to fund the organization.

The buzz on Capitol Hill is that pro-life lawmakers are growing tired of short-term Continuing Resolution bills and are ready to dig in and fight hard for a long-term Continuing Resolution bill that completely defunds Planned Parenthood – which means the next three weeks could determine the direction the debate goes from here.

Leading pro-life groups have also been buttressed by support from more than two dozen fiscally conservative and libertarian groups that normally don’t weigh in on abortion debates but are urging Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood. They released a letter to members of Congress asking for just that

Fiscal Conservative Groups Seek Planned Parenthood De-Funding | LifeNews.com

Fiscal Conservative Groups Seek Planned Parenthood De-Funding

by Steven Ertelt | LifeNews.com | 3/21/11 6:24 PM

More than two dozen fiscally conservative and libertarian groups are calling for Congress to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

While pro-life groups have led the way with opposition to keeping Planned Parenthood on the government dole, the support of organizations like Young Americans for Freedom, GOProud, Americans for Tax Reform, the Capital Research Center, Citizens Against Government Waste, and other groups that normally just tackle monetary issues could be the support pro-life advocates need to push the campaign further.

“On behalf of the millions of fiscal conservatives and libertarians represented by our organizations we write today to strongly urge Congress to eliminate all funding for Planned Parenthood,” the groups write to members of Congress. “This as a fiscal issue with symbolic resonance; it is illustrative of the broader problem of federal sponsorship of activities that are better undertaken by the private sector, and which interfere unnecessarily in the lives of Americans who have diverse viewpoints. If at least Planned Parenthood funding cannot be cut at a time the United States stands at the brink of insolvency, then there is little hope for fiscal restraint to ever be regained in the federal government.”

The letter and list of signers follows:

Dear Member of Congress,

On behalf of the millions of fiscal conservatives and libertarians represented by our organizations we write today to strongly urge Congress to eliminate all funding for Planned Parenthood. This as a fiscal issue with symbolic resonance; it is illustrative of the broader problem of federal sponsorship of activities that are better undertaken by the private sector, and which interfere unnecessarily in the lives of Americans who have diverse viewpoints. If at least Planned Parenthood funding cannot be cut at a time the United States stands at the brink of insolvency, then there is little hope for fiscal restraint to ever be regained in the federal government.

Over the past two years, domestic discretionary spending has exploded by 84 percent. This increase, due largely to spending under the guise of economic “stimulus,” is only the tip of the iceberg – the President’s latest budget plan calls for spending to average almost 23 percent of GDP, a share of the economy almost three percent higher than the historical average. What’s worse, the President hopes to make this government bloat permanent; Obama has proposed “freezing” discretionary spending at its current levels, a move that would increase spending to over $4 trillion in 2016 and put taxpayers on the hook for almost $9 trillion in new spending over the next decade.

The time to get serious about spending is right now, and every avenue must be immediately attacked in order to curb our destructive spiral of spending. No program or department can be off limits.

On economic merit alone, Planned Parenthood should be near the top of the cut list. To begin with, as Chuck Donovan at the Heritage Foundation has pointed out, Planned Parenthood is awash in net income. From 2002 to 2007, the national organization and its affiliates took in $388 million more than they spent on programs and services. Even in the midst of the recession, the president of the organization still received more than $337,000 in an annual salary and tens of thousands more in benefits and allowances. Planned Parenthood is receiving a rolling, annual bailout-and they don’t even need it.

When the House of Representatives voted two weeks ago to end federal grants and contracts for Planned Parenthood, it did so alongside eliminations for other pet projects, such as military contracts, signaling the sanctimony preserved for institutions revered on both sides of the aisle is coming to a close. It was deciding that American taxpayers should not be on the hook for unnecessary and controversial funding at a time when they simply cannot live with any more spending.

The federal budget is out of control, and if we cannot at least eliminate funding for an enormously wealthy, controversial nonprofit like Planned Parenthood our
movement to significantly cut the federal budget to sustainable levels will be dead in the water.

American taxpayers cannot afford to be the unwitting benefactors of endless bailouts, and the Pence Amendment is not just another social-issue skirmish. It is a
test of economic and budgetary seriousness. Planned Parenthood must be privatized.

Jon Caldera
Independence Institute

Susan Carleson
American Civil Rights Union

Mattie Corrao
Center for Fiscal Accountability

Brandon Dutcher
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Ryan Ellis
American Shareholders Association

William Estrada
Generation Joshua

Bill Felkner
Ocean State Policy Research Institution

Jeff Frazee
Young Americans for Liberty

William Greene, Ph. D.
RightMarch.com

Michael Jones
Young Americans for Freedom

Jimmy LaSalva
GOProud

George Landrith
Frontiers of Freedom

Mario Lopez
Hispanic Leadership Fund

Col. Francis X. De Luca, USMCR (Ret)
Civitas Institute

Lisa Miller
Tea Party Washington, DC

Seton Mobley
Less Government

Chuck Muth
Citizen Outreach

Grover Norquist
Americans for Tax Reform

Tim Phillips
Americans for Prosperity

Amy Ridenour
The National Center for Public Policy Research

Terrance Scanlon
Capital Research Center

William Shaker
American Council for Health Care Reform

Tom Schatz
Citizens Against Government Waste

Steven Stone
RenewAmerica

Dino Teppara
Indian American Conservative Council

Forest Thigpen
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Rick Tyler
ReAL Action

Richard Vigurie
ConservativeHQ.com

Rick Watson
Florida CenterRight Meeting

Irena Sendler - The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving

Irena Sendler
There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ...

She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..)

She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises..

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.

She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the; kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family.

Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Recently, Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected.

However, Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming and Barack Obama won for a speech on peace.

Let us NEVER forget!

63 years later

In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER

Then read the comments at the end.
I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message.

I hope you'll consider doing the same.

In Memoriam

It is now more than 60 years after World War II in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, 6 million Jews and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned and starved with many of the world’s people looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with extremist Muslims claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because Muslim extremists are trying to do it again.

This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!

Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.
Please send this e-mail to people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain.
Please ... don't just delete it.
It will only take you a minute to pass this along.

Thanks

Lautenberg: Pro-Life People "Don't Deserve Freedoms in Constitution" | LifeNews.com

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for comments he made at a recent rally Planned Parenthood staged to save taxpayer funding for its abortion business.

Lautenberg appeared with about 100 supporters who wore pink shirts and stood in front of a pink-colored bus Planned Parenthood has been driving around the country in order to build up support for receiving tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to support what is the biggest abortion business in the country.

“Planned Parenthood is under attack by Tea Party Republicans who have put their extremist ideology above women’s health,” Lautenberg said while pro-life advocates who counterprotested shouted, “Shame on you, Lautenberg.”

The pro-abortion New Jersey senator fired back: “These people (referring to the pro-life advocates) don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution.”

Then, as an afterthought, he said, “but we’ll give it to them anyway.”

The comment is coming under heavy criticism from Marie Tasy, the director of New Jersey Right to Life.

“Lautenberg’s remarks and attitude were extremely inappropriate for a U.S. Senator,” Tasy told LifeNews.com, adding that the comment “bears repeating because it provides evidence of how Planned Parenthood and its supporters actually feel.”

“This statement is shameful coming from a U.S. Senator,” Tasy added. “Lautenberg made these remarks surrounded by Planned Parenthood employees, supporters and state lawmakers who applauded him. These remarks are absolutely shameful and need to be exposed.”

Tasy told LifeNews.com a rally pro-life advocates held was successful despite problems with Planned Parenthood and local officials.

We stood across from Planned Parenthood in Englewood, NJ to say No More Taxpayer Funding of Planned Parenthood! We told lawmakers we will not fund an organization that was caught on tape engaging in criminal activity – aiding and abetting in the sex trafficking of minor girls. Planned Parenthood and their political friends were heavy handed. It was no mistake that one of the organizers and speakers who led the rally was Assemblywoman Valerie Vanieri Huttle. Asw.Vanieri Huttle’s husband is the Mayor of Englewood and the Assemblywoman represents the town of Englewood.

They shut down the street and sectioned off an area for us where we were forced to stand behind yellow tape. Planned Parenthood supporters were allowed the use of the entire street and a sound system. We were told by police that we could not use a sound system because the city of Englewood required a permit. We questioned whether Planned Parenthood obtained a permit. Not surprisingly, the police officer did not know. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I assume so.” Our attorneys have looked into the matter and informed us that this law did not apply to our gathering, which means our free speech rights were violated.

Despite the fact that we had to pay for a sound system we could not use because our free speech rights were violated and Planned Parenthood’s best efforts to chill our message, bully and silence us, they did not succeed.

ACTION: Contact Senator Lautenberg at (202) 224-3224 or http://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/routing.cfm

C A T H O L I C S & none catholics


I thought you would find this information as interesting as I did.

Excerpts of an article written by non-Catholic Sam Miller -- a prominent
Cleveland Jewish businessman:

"Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important
institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic
Church?

Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday
at the cost to that Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the
other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. The graduates go on
to graduate studies at the rate of 92%.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an
enrollment of 700,000 students. The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital
system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of
every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way
the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of
pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery
on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For
example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual
intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual
contact in a study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood
and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given
the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR
the church has been receiving.


The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony
that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the
Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have
probably been totally weeded out by now. Walk with your shoulders high and
you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental
agency in the United States.

Then remember what Jeremiah said: 'Stand by the roads, and look and ask
for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest
for your souls.' Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and
reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Please pass this on to every Catholic on your e-mail list. I found this
very interesting.

Pro-Choice Terrorist

• Written By: Bucks County
• 3-18-2011

Brad Mattes
www.lifeissues.org

I’ll bet you didn’t hear about this in the media.

Theodore Shulman was arrested by federal agents for making death threats against several pro-life leaders. The official charges by the FBI are under seal, but he’s being held without bond in New York City. Theodore is a self-described “pro-choice terrorist” who’s been terrorizing pro-life leaders for some time. His mother is a feminist author and political activist who’s had four abortions—two before Theodore was born and two after. It’s very possible the fact his mother aborted his brothers and sisters impact his mental well-being. But just imagine what the media would have done if this had been a pro-life extremist terrorizing pro-abortion activists. It would have been all over the media and denounced by politicians.

New York mayor signs pregnancy center gag law: pro-life groups to challenge in court

The most dangerous city in America for an unborn American child.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

• 3-17-2011

Kathleen Gilbert
www.lifesitenews.com

The mayor of New York City has signed a controversial gag rule against pro-life pregnancy resource centers that local advocates have vowed to challenge in court.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed Initiative 371-A Wednesday afternoon. “This is a sad day for free speech” said Chris Slattery, founder of Expectant Mother Care and a top New York City pro-life advocate. The law, which had been passed by the city council last month in a 39-9-1 vote gives local authorities “unbridled discretion” against the pregnancy resource centers said Slattery.

The law, similar to one in Maryland recently deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge, forces pro-life pregnancy centers to prominently display whether they perform abortions in both English and Spanish at their entrances, as well as on all promotional material.

Any pregnancy center in violation of the rule would be liable for up to a $1000 fine for a first offense, and up to $2,500 for subsequent offenses, as well as up to six months imprisonment.

Slattery accused the law of what local abortion advocates have praised it for: providing a leg-up to the already booming abortion industry by drawing vulnerable women away from pro-life resources. Recently it was revealed that the abortion rate in the city is 41%, soaring far above the national average.

“Abortion businesses are furious with us, we hurt their business,” Slattery told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN).

There are estimated to be about 45 licensed abortion clinics in the city, versus about 24 pro-life pregnancy resource centers. Slattery operates a pro-life center across the street from the largest Planned Parenthood, in Brooklyn, where it is stationed in the same building as two abortion centers.

Slattery, who plans to challenge the law in court, told LSN that the bill is also problematic because it forbids pregnancy centers from reporting sex abuse without a child’s consent. The only exceptions are in cases of children 12 or younger who are victims of incest.

Slattery said his group has been operating 26 years without one state department of health complaint, has served over 110,000 young girls and women, two thirds of whom were pregnant. Of those abortion minded, he said, 40,000 are believed to have chosen life.

The new law is set to go into effect in 120 days.

Facebook

Facebook

CatholicVote.org

Listening to the militancy and total disregard for the humanity of the unborn child should encourage those who have NEVER prayed at an Abortion Mill to step forward and defend these unborn infants.
The troubling thought is that these same young adults will be voting in the near future that Euthanasia is good for society. They will claim older people are draining our national wealth and using up our precious natural resources of water, food, hospital beds etc. They will suggest it is best for the nation that the elderly should only be allowed to live to a certain age, (say 70 ) regardless of their health. That was they will be able to leave their wealth to their children and grandchildren before it is used up for medical care to pro-long their lives and putting a burden on them.

The above action was actually introduced to the Colorado legislature many years ago. Thankfully it never went anywhere.


CatholicVote.org

Nation & World | Pa. cites abortion clinic violations; doctor quits | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Pa. cites abortion clinic violations; doctor quits | Seattle Times Newspaper

Colombian religions unite to support pro-life constitutional amendment

Colombian religions unite to support pro-life constitutional amendment

Facebook

India Supreme Court saves woman’s life, but rules passive euthanasia legal

Peter Smith

Tue Mar 08 22:08 EST

Euthanasia

NEW DELHI, March 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Supreme Court of India handed a victory to the doctors and nurses of a hospital caring for the life of a woman, denying the petition of a euthanasia-activist to have her killed via lethal injection. However, the ruling did say that “passive euthanasia” was permitted under India law, but through an involved legal procedure.

India’s Supreme Court rejected the petition filed by female journalist Pinki Virani for the active euthanasia or “mercy killing” of Aruna Shanbaug, who has lived in what the court described as a “persistent vegetative state” for 37 years. Aruna had been a nurse at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai in November 1973 when she was brutally strangled and sodomized by one of the hospital’s sweepers. The traumatic ordeal had damaged both her brain stem and cervical cortex, leaving her severely brain-damaged and blind.

Virani had published a work on Shanbaug called “Aruna’s ordeal”. Claiming she was Aruna’s only friend, she petitioned the Supreme Court in 2009 to end Aruna’s suffering through euthanasia.

However, the journalist’s action was fiercely opposed by the KEM medical staff, which testified that they have taken excellent care of Aruna for 37 years, leaving not one bed sore. The dedication of the hospital’s nurses to Aruna is well-documented. During the 1980s, nurses threatened a strike over KEM administrators’ proposal to move Aruna out of the hospital in order to free up one of the beds.

“We are glad that the honourable Supreme Court has respected our job and our duty. We knew that the court would never allow murder,” said Archana Bhushan Jadhav, chief matron of the KEM hospital, according to India Today.

According to Indo-Asian News Service, India’s highest court rejected Virani’s petition, noting that her relationship with Aruna, did not rise to the level of the nurses and doctors who cared and continue to care for the disabled woman.

In fact, the Supreme Court singled out Aruna’s caregivers as examples for the whole of India.

“The whole country must learn the meaning of dedication and sacrifice from the KEM hospital staff. In her 38 years (of comatose existence), Aruna has not developed a single bed sore,” they noted.

The justices dismissed Virani’s plea for active euthanasia as impermissible under India’s constitution, noting the constitutional right-to-life in Article 21 “does not include the right to die.” But they also dismissed her argument as absurd that Aruna was “dead” because she was in a persistent vegetative state (PVS).

Dr Sanjay Narhari Oak, KEM hospital director, explained to the court, “Even when a person (patient) is incapable of any response, but is able to sustain respiration and circulation, he cannot be said to be dead.

The mere mechanical act of breathing, thus, would enable him or her to be ‘alive’,” said the ruling.

Dr Sanjay Narhari Oak, dean of KEM hospital, had testified strongly against euthanasia for Aruna, saying she was much loved by the hospital staff, including the junior nurses, reported the Deccan Times.

“Not once in this long sojourn of 37 years, anybody (at the hospital) has thought of putting an end to her so-called vegetative existence,” he said, adding later “Aruna has probably crossed 60 years of life and would one day meet her natural end.”
However, India’s justices also ruled that “passive euthanasia should be permitted in our country in certain situations,” following a strict court procedure designed to prevent “unscrupulous” individuals from getting rid of wealthy or burdensome family members.

The Supreme Court said that an application for removal of life-support systems had to be filed with the local High Court, which would then make a determination after a court-appointed panel of three doctors finishes its investigative report.

The court, however, said that its ruling would have the effect of law “until parliament makes a law on the subject”.

“Assuming that the KEM hospital staff at some future time changes its mind, in our opinion in such a situation the KEM hospital would have to apply to the Bombay High Court for approval of the decision to withdraw the life support,” the ruling further stated.

Alex Schadenberg, president of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSiteNews that the decision is “mixed”, because the Supreme Court rejected active euthanasia, but opened the door for passive euthanasia, by lumping in the removal of basic food and fluids (through a feeding tube) with the removal of life-support systems.

Former abortionist now head of one of the largest pro-life medical practices in the U.S. | LifeSiteNews.com

Former abortionist now head of one of the largest pro-life medical practices in the U.S. | LifeSiteNews.com

You Don t Have to Do This | Blogs | NCRegister.com

You Don t Have to Do This | Blogs | NCRegister.com

President of Chile stresses importance of the right to life :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

President of Chile stresses importance of the right to life :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Father Frank's Alerts

Father Frank's Alerts

Northwestern University Apologizes for Live Sex Show in Classroom

Northwestern University Apologizes for Live Sex Show in Classroom