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News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
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Will the Commonwealth of Virginia be placing new regulations on abortion? Will these regulations make abortion safer, or just rarer?
President Bill Clinton became known for his mantra, that he wanted abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare.” Many, including the Guttmacher Institute [pdf] picked up on this quote, agreeing that most in the abortion-rights crowd want this—they’re not “pro-abortion” because they want it to be both safe and rare, but always legal.
So I’m perplexed when laws are introduced that would make abortion safer—even if it potentially also makes abortion rarer—(all while keeping it 100% legal) that some groups get so up in arms.
To begin, abortion is not safe. This should make the abortion-rights crowd angry in my mind.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth
Pro-lifers have good reason to be happy about U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth’s decision this week to prevent the Obama administration from expanding embryonic stem cell research.
In his decision, Lamberth determined that an executive order signed by President Obama in March 2009 was at odds with an appropriations bill rider commonly known as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding of research in which human embryos “are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.” [Continue reading ...]
Although the FDA last week approved the drug “ella” (ulipristal acetate) for prescription use, the controversy over how it works — Is it a contraceptive, or an abortifacient, or both? — shows no signs of going away any time soon.
According to the New York Times, the members of the FDA’s advisory committee that voted to approve it were largely indifferent to this question; all they concluded, in their wisdom, is that it’s supposedly “safe and effective”.
Meanwhile, ella’s manufacturers are going to great lengths to claim that it functions only as a contraceptive and not as an abortifacient. Witness David Archer, whom Slate calls an “expert” for ella’s manufacturer, HRA Pharma of Paris: [Continue reading ...]
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin
If you live in Illinois, you’re used to receiving generic form letters from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), which basically read, “Thanks for your opinion. I ‘value’ it, but I’m going to do exactly the opposite thing you requested. Thanks anyway.”
I got another one this week about the Roland Burris (D-IL) amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill which pro-life sources say would force military doctors to perform abortions. Not surprisingly, pro-abortion Durbin wholeheartedly supports the policy (but he does appreciate hearing from me).
The email he sent me, however, had this strange paragraph. See if you can spot the problem: [Continue reading ...]
You may remember yesterday’s post about Joe Scheidler’s trip to Durango, Colorado last week to oppose an abortionist who has privileges at a Catholic hospital.
I’m pleased to be able to share this video of the protest and Joe’s talk there. It’s an inspiring look at a very successful protest. Check it out:
Joe Scheidler speaks at July 29 protest at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, CO [Photo by Dan Anguis]
Durango, Colorado is a quaint, bustling little town set in one of the most breathtakingly beautiful spots in the U.S., totally surrounded by pine-covered mountains. And that’s where I was honored to spend last Thursday and Friday at the invitation of Daniel Anguis, president of LifeGuard, and Keith Mason, a well known pro-life activist from Denver.
They encouraged 100 fearless pro-lifers to join their protest in front of the hospital where notorious abortionist Richard Grossman is on staff. Also on board as speakers were Fr. Joseph Fessio of Ignatius Press and Walter Hoye, who has spent time in jail in California for his pro-life activities.
We were all invited there to encourage the “Catholic” hospital, Mercy Regional, run by the Sisters of Mercy, to drop Grossman from their staff. [Continue reading ...]
Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, Colorado
Ever since abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court in 1973, Catholic hospitals have had to grapple with the problem of having physicians on staff who perform abortions elsewhere.
Legally the administrators of these hospitals can only insist that doctors adhere to the hospital policy prohibiting abortion and other practices contrary to Catholic teaching on hospital property.
But the Catholic hospitals are still faced with the scandal caused by having an abortionist on staff. Catholic health care institutions are directed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to be concerned about the danger of scandal in any association with abortion providers.
How can the hospital be sure that the abortion provider is not referring patients to his other location for abortions, sterilizations or birth control? How can the hospital be sure that the abortionist’s lack of respect for the sanctity of life does not transfer to his treatment of patients in the hospital? [Continue reading ...]
July 28, 1992—The League files a lawsuit against Cook County Hospital, asking for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the decision by Cook County Board President Richard Phelan to resume performing abortions there. The League hosts a press conference at the hospital and League Director Joe Scheidler gives interviews to a dozen media outlets. The TRO is granted the next day by Cook County Judge Lester Foreman.
June 26, 1991—In an article in the Chicago Sun-Times on an American Medical Association meeting taking place in town, League Director Joe Scheidler is quoted admonishing the doctors’ organization for their contradictory positions on abortion and the death penalty: “The AMA have clearly compromised their own position as healers. They won’t take part in capital punishment of a convicted killer, but they will become the executioner of a defenseless, helpless human being.”
Joe Scheidler (center) with AUL’s first executive director, Pat Trueman, and current president, Charmain Yoest
It was a real honor to be invited the Americans United for Life (AUL) Legal Defense Fund’s celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Harris v. McRae and the successful defense of the Hyde Amendment.
The event was held this past Monday, June 22, at the Roof Top Terrace of Metropolitan Square, the building which houses AUL’s impressive offices.
I can’t really figure out why I got a special invitation to this event. Maybe word got out about how I helped AUL hire their first executive director, Pat Trueman, and become a premier pro-life legal organization.