California ProLife Council News 

Pro-Life News Briefs
Week of September 20, 2007

MIKE HUCKABEE WINS VALUES VOTERS STRAW POLL
Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- The First Ever Values Voter Presidential Debate Straw Poll, held last night at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale , Florida , declared Governor Mike Huckabee as the pro-family winner. “While many very good candidates attended the event, Governor Mike Huckabee was the clear winner,” said Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action and member of the Values Voter Debate committee.  Huckabee received nearly five times the votes of the other candidates. “The big losers last night were the no-show candidates Fred Thompson who placed at 4 percent, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain who each received 1 percent and Mitt Romney who was the only candidate to receive zero votes at the end of the night. “How can we expect these no-show candidates to take on Osama Bin Laden and other world leaders when they’re afraid to show up and answer questions from Phyllis Schlafly?” asked Rabbi Aryeh Spero of the Jewish Action Alliance, and Values Voter debate panelist.  Rick Scarborough, President of Vision America , and Values Voter Debate Committee member added, “If you care about our votes, you need to care about our values enough to show up.”  “Unlike other straw polls where candidates have bussed in supporters or paid for their tickets, forty national leaders chose hundreds of delegates who accurately represent America ’s largest voting block,” said Mat Staver, Chairman of Liberty Counsel, and Values Voter Debate committee member.  “This is the most important straw poll yet.” Host Committee members include Phyllis Schlafly, Paul Weyrich, Don Wildmon, Mat Staver, Rick Scarborough, and Janet Folger.Source: ValueVotersDebate.com, September 18, 2007.

STUDY: GENETIC SCREENING PROMPTS ABORTIONS, PROPER COUNSELING CUTS THEM
Washington, DC -- A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that when couples use genetic screening to test for a specific disease, the number of abortions increases. However, when they meet with an expert on the disease and find out it's treatable, abortions are reduced. The study involved a treatable illness found among Ashkenazi Jews in Israel and it questions whether genetic screening has gone too far by wrongly influencing a couple to have an abortion. Over the eight year period of the study, about 25 percent of the unborn children found to have the gene that causes Gaucher disease were victims of abortions. Gaucher Disease is the most common lipid-storage disorder, and is the most common genetic disease affecting Jewish people of Eastern European ancestry. It results from a specific enzyme deficiency in the body, caused by a genetic mutation received from both parents. The disease course is quite variable, ranging from no outward symptoms to severe disability and death. Despite the abortions, half of the unborn children killed will never experience symptoms of the disease and the rest can lead normal lives with proper medical treatment. Source: Life News, September 20, 2007

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA UNDER FIRE FOR PRO-ABORTION JOHN KERRY SPEECH
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Catholic University of America is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for approving a planned speech on campus by pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry. The university says Kerry won't take on the topic of abortion, but pro-life advocates say it violates guidelines set by the nation's Catholic bishops. Catholic University's College Democrats have invited the former presidential candidate to speak at the college, located in Washington. The school has approved the invitation but a date for the speech hasn't been set. Kerry has high ratings from NARAL and Planned Parenthood on abortion issues and only a 17 percent rating during this session of Congress from the National Right to Life Committee. He strongly promoted abortion as the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate -- going so far as to tell a woman during a presidential debate that he would use her tax funds to pay for abortions Source: Life News, September 20, 2007

TERRI SCHIAVO'S EX-HUSBAND CLOSES HIS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
St. Petersburg, FL -- The former husband of Terri Schiavo has decided to close down the political action committee he created to go after pro-life lawmakers who sided with Terri's family in their efforts to save her life. The decision comes after several run-ins with the Federal Election Commission for problematic reports. After ordering her painful two-week-long starvation and dehydration death in March 2005, Michael Schiavo created the PAC to target pro-life lawmakers who tried to stop him from killing her. Schiavo says on the group's web site that the PAC limited his ability to speak out about his viewpoint on Terri's death and that he doesn't like asking for money for the political group to continue. "After nearly three years, it’s clear that I can remain engaged in the political process and social debate and in fact do more – speak out more often and tackle related issues –without the legal constraints of a PAC," he explained. Source: Life News, September 20, 2007

FAMILY OF TERRI SCHIAVO TO RECEIVE PRO-LIFE AWARD FOR HELPING DISABLED
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The family of Terri Schiavo is scheduled to receive a national pro-life award routinely given to luminaries who take the pro-life message to the masses through sports, politics, business or Hollywood. The Schindler family will receive the 14th annual Proudly Pro-Life Award from the National Right to Life Committee. At an October dinner at the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel in Washington, NRLC will present the Schindler family with the award and they will give a keynote address. "The Proudly Pro-Life Award highlights the diversity of pro-life people and honors those with a long-standing commitment to courageously defend innocent human," Derrick Jones, the director of media relations for NRLC, told LifeNews.com about the award. The Schindler family came to national and international prominence in their fight to save their daughter and sister, Terri Schindler Schiavo, from death by starvation and dehydration. Terri died on March 31, 2005, after fourteen days without nutrition and hydration. Source: Life News, September 20, 2007  

PRO-LIFE GROUP RELEASES LIST OF PRO-ABORTION LOCAL BUSINESSES TO BOYCOTT
Washington, DC -- A pro-life group that has successfully led a national boycott of businesses that provide charitable contributions to Planned Parenthood has released a list of local businesses that do the same thing. The boycotts have cost the nation's largest abortion business millions in donations. Life Decisions International on Wednesday told LifeNews.com that the list of local pro-abortion businesses comes at the request of pro-life people who want to have a more local impact. "The local/regional boycott List identifies companies that do business in a limited area," LDI president Douglas Scott said. "We urge pro-life people to take a local approach. These are businesses that may operate in your home town or in your state/province," he explained. "It is important that pro-life people let the owners of these establishments know how disappointed they are by the owners' philanthropic choices."  Source: Life News, September 20, 2007

PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S ABORTION VALUES -- MAKING CHILDREN SEEM UNWANTED
Laura Echevarria -- After I perused the school fundraiser catalogue, the student/seller, one of my daughter’s neighborhood playmates, asked me to explain something Gabrielle had said about her two brothers. The explanation involved Gabrielle’s experiences with both her brothers and their autism. Included in this was a story about my pregnancy with our middle child, Peter. Doctors thought at one point that Peter might have Down syndrome. I told the little girl, whom I will call “Emma,” about Peter and the suspicions that he might have been “very special and different” when he was born. Had Emma's response come from an adult, I probably would have not been surprised. But I was shocked when she said something along the lines of, “But you wouldn’t want a baby like that.” Although stunned, I very calmly replied, “Oh, but I did. Very much so. I loved Peter and nothing was going to change that.” What is there in our culture that is so pervasive that a seven year-old girl could believe that a special needs baby isn’t as wanted as a “normal” baby? I know we live in a culture that increasingly embraces death, but you would think a second-grader would have been spared exposure to the dehumanization of the less-than-perfect. Source: Life News, September 14, 2007  LifeNews.com Note: Laura Echevarria is the former Director of Media Relations and a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee and has been a radio announcer, freelance writer active in local politics. She is a new opinion columnist for LifeNews.com.