California ProLife

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RESPONDS TO CATHOLIC CHURCH'S ABORTION CONDEMNATION

London, England -- Amnesty International has released a statement responding to the Catholic Church's condemnation of its new position supporting abortion. The human rights group reaffirmed its new pro-abortion position last Friday that will see it promote abortion for victims of sexual abuse and try to topple pro-life laws around the world. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, recently commented on Amnesty's new position, saying the reasons for it are disingenuous. "Certainly one must combat violence against women, the inhuman form of violence which is rape, and struggle together to defend the dignity of women, of any woman," the cardinal said. However, he said, one can never push for the taking of another human life, "even if it is the fruit of violence," he said. “To selectively justify abortion, even in the cases of rape, is to define the innocent child within the womb as an enemy, a ‘thing’ that must be destroyed,” Cardinal Martino said.
Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR'S NIECE REFLECTS ON ABORTION AT BIRMINGHAM EVENT
Birmingham, AL-- Dr. Alveda King, the niece of legendary civil rights advocate Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., participated in the unveiling of historic markers Sunday at the church and parsonage of her late father, the Rev. A. D. Williams King. She said later the event caused her to reflect on King's life and the status of abortion in America. The Birmingham, Alabama, church was an integral part of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, having been the site of several mass meetings. "My father was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ensley from 1961 to 1965, when he and my uncle fought in the struggle to make equality of opportunity real for all Americans," Alveda King said. "Even after my family's home at the parsonage was bombed, Daddy was unswerving in his dedication to God and to the cause of justice," King added. "While the ceremonies Sunday marked a historic period from our past, it reminded me of another kind of struggle for survival African Americans face today. "As King explained, that struggle has to do with abortion and how black Americans are becoming victims of abortion at higher rates than their white counterparts. "In the last forty-plus years, 15 million black people have been denied their most basic civil right, the right to life," King noticed. Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

POLL SHOWS HILLARY CLINTON'S PRO-ABORTION VIEW TURNS OFF WOMEN VOTERS
Washington, DC -- Hillary Clinton is pro-abortion and the only female candidate pursuing a bid for the White House in either party. If abortion advocates are correct, Clinton has the women's vote locked up -- yet a new poll shows that women don't necessarily support her and that her pro-abortion views are a turnoff. The respected Polling Company firm conducted a survey with 600 women voters of both parties from August 15-20. The poll revealed that Hillary’s positions on abortion were at odds with a majority of American women. Some 64 percent of women voters would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who voted against the partial-birth abortion ban -- a measure Clinton voted against on four occasions. Sixty-eight percent of women voters are less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports taxpayer-funded abortion -- something Hillary Clinton adamantly supports. And 73 percent of those polled said they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who voted against a law that would have made it a criminal act for an adult to take a girl younger than 18 years of age across state lines to get an abortion without her parents’ knowledge. Clinton twice voted against a Congressional bill to do just that. Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

MORNING AFTER PILL MAKER PROJECTS RECORD SALES OF PLAN B DRUG IN 2007
Washington, DC -- The maker of the morning after pill is projecting record sales of the drug by the time 2007 is complete. Barr Pharmaceuticals estimates it will likely have sold about $80 million worth of its Plan B drug by the end of the year -- almost double the total of 2006 and eight times as much as its 2004 figures. Sales of the pills, which can cause an abortion in limited circumstances, got a boost last year when the Food and Drug Administration approved it for over the counter sales. Bruce Downey, Barr's chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the company has "experienced strong performance in the U.S. proprietary business from our Plan B(R) emergency contraceptive. The company's proprietary product sales were $102 million for the second quarter of 2007, compared to $97 million in the prior year period. For the second quarter, the $5 million increase in proprietary sales was primarily attributable to higher sales of the morning after pill, it said. Despite the sales, many pro-life groups remain opposed to the drug and the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America are still pursuing a lawsuit against the FDA seeking to reverse the over the counter ruling. Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

MISSOURI PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES LAUNCH NEW INITIATIVE TO BAN HUMAN CLONING
Jefferson City, MO -- A coalition of concerned Missouri citizens, doctors, and academics have launched a new effort to combat the practice of human cloning. They are spearheading a new initiative to stop both reproductive and research-based cloning after state voters narrowly approved an amendment allowing both. Amendment 2, backed by a narrow 50-49 margin, was supposed to prohibit human cloning and allow embryonic stem cell research, but a loophole in the language opened the door for scientists to clone human beings for the sole purpose of killing them. The new "Cures Without Cloning" initiative filed proposed ballot language with the Secretary of State's office this morning. The goal is to get it before voters on the November 2008 ballot. Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

GEORGE TILLER REOPENS ABORTION BUSINESS, BUT FEW COME FOR ABORTIONS
Wichita, KS -- Embattled late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller reopened his central Kansas abortion center on Wednesday. However, early reports indicate few women went there for abortions from the practitioner who could face as much as 19 years in prison on charges he did some late-term abortions illegally. Tiller's abortion business, which attracts women from across the country because it is one of a handful to do abortions so late in pregnancy, had been closed for 38 days. Mary Kay Culp, the director of Kansans for Life, talked with LifeNews.com about the reopening. "My guess is that Tiller's clinic will stick to abortions on babies under 22 weeks gestation while his legal problems tied to the ban on viable baby abortions, and having to find unaffiliated referring doctors, continue," she said.
Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

TERRI SCHIAVO'S DEATH STILL BEING RATIONALOZED AS BRAIN INJURED GET HELP
Bobby Schindler -- Recently, a group of surgeons restored the consciousness of a man who had been in a “minimally conscious state” for six years, unable to feed himself or communicate. The experiment, led by Dr. Ali Rezai, director of the Center for Neurological Restoration at the Cleveland Clinic, involved implanting two electrodes into the brain of a trauma victim. According to an article in the National Catholic Register regarding these findings, Dr. Joseph Giacino, co-leader of the study and associate director of the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, stated that “the breakthrough raises questions about Schiavo,” adding that “his patient’s circumstances were different than Schiavo’s.” In 1991, Terri had a similar procedure where stimulators were implanted in her brain. This has prompted several articles where doctors insisted that Terri’s procedure was a failure compared to Dr. Rezai’s study, implying that Terri’s brutal death was somehow justified. Unfortunately for Terri, her experimental implants were done 16 years ago and therefore did not include the most recent technology available today. In addition, comparing the pictures of her procedure to that of the new study, one can see that the placement of the electrodes on this patient was very different from the area of the brain where the electrodes were placed in Terri’s procedure, not to mention that the device (again by looking at the pictures) used on this patient was very much different than what was used on Terri. Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

MISSOURI GOVERNOR MATT BLUNT WON'T USE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DEFEND ABORTION LAW
Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- The administration of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt won't rely on pro-abortion Attorney General Jay Nixon to defend a law that protects women by requiring abortion facilities to meet basic health and safety requirements. Blunt's health director plans to use private attorneys to help defend the law in court. That's because Director Jane Drummond says she doesn't trust Nixon to adequately defend the law against a vigorous challenge from Planned Parenthood. She told the Associated Press that Nixon is a supporter of "abortion on demand and a political ally of Planned Parenthood.'' "Since my department is the specific target of this litigation, I want to make sure that the regulations that we have interpreted are defended adequately," Drummond explained. "I do know that he has received some campaign contributions, specifically from the attorneys representing Planned Parenthood in this case, as well as from a Planned Parenthood fundraiser," she added. Source: Life News, August 22, 2007

California ProLife Council News