California ProLife Council News 

Pro-Life News Briefs
Week of November 1, 2007
 

HOUSE HOLDS HEARING ON BUSH POLICY PREVENTING TAX-FUNDED INTERNATIONAL ABORTIONS
Washington, DC -- The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a full hearing on the Mexico City Policy on Wednesday -- the Bush administration policy that protects taxpayers from supporting groups that perform or promote abortions overseas. Congress has overturned the Bush guidelines and the president will likely veto a federal spending bill as a result. President Reagan first instituted the Mexico City Policy during his administration and it has continued through the administrations of other Republican presidents. President Clinton rescinded the policy during his eight years in office.
The Senate voted in September to overturn Bush's policy and voted 53-41 for an amendment by Senator Barbara Boxer, a pro-abortion California Democrat, that rescinds it. The president has already promised to veto any bill presented to him that includes the amendment. The hearing included both pro-abortion and pro-life speakers and participants tell LifeNews.com that the pro-life side was well represented both on the main panel and in the panel of members of Congress who spoke before the committee. Source: LifeNews, November 1, 2007

BELLA MOVIE PRODUCER SAYS NEGATIVE CRITICS IGNORE BOX OFFICE SUCCESS
Hollywood, CA -- When a movie that promotes morality and decency succeeds at the box office, Hollywood's elite critics squirm in their seats and trash the film with the hope of denying further success. For Sean Wolfington, the producer of Bella, that's what's happening again with a film that has garnered wide acclaim from pro-life advocates.
Bella opened to a limited national release in just 31 cities and 165 theaters with the hope of strong ticket sales and a larger national audience. The movie succeeded beyond the major players expectations -- it had the second-highest per-theater sales last weekend as it took in $1.3 million and about $8,000 per venue. "Bella ranked number two in box office sales, second only to Saw IV, yet some elitist critics are attacking Bella for its positive portrayal of life, family, and friendship -- calling it 'unrealistic and cliche,'" Wolfington told Lifenews.com in an email.
Source: LifeNews, November 1, 2007

VIRGINIA PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN GETS FEDERAL APPEALS COURT HEARING
Richmond, VA -- A Virginia state ban on partial-birth abortions is slated to have a hearing before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today. The hearing is the latest in a years-long legal battle and the outcome of the hearing will likely be affected by the Supreme Court's ruling in April that a national ban is constitutional.
The nation's high court sent the case back to the appeals court shortly after it determined that the federal ban doesn't require a health exception that would render it meaningless. The 4th Circuit had originally declared the partial-birth abortion ban invalid because it failed to include such an exception, even though the three-day-long abortion procedure is never necessary to protect a woman's health.
Source: LifeNews, November 1, 2007

ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH MAY LEAD TO TREATMENTS FOR BRAIN INJURIES, DISEASE
Irvine, CA -- A new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine finds another advance in the use of adult stem cells. In this case, researchers used the stem cells from the brain of a mouse to restore memory following a brain injury.
The team used the neural stem cells to protect existing cells that were still healthy following the injury and to restore neuronal connections that had been damaged. Scientists were able to restore the brain to pre-damaged levels three months following the treatment. Lead researcher Mathew Blurton-Jones, a post-doctorate fellow at the university, told the Washington Post that this discovery could lead to treatment of brain injury, stroke and dementia in people if it can be replicated in humans. "This is one of the first reports that you can take a stem cell transplantation approach and restore memory," he said. Source: LifeNews, November 1, 2007.

NEW STUDY FINDS ABORTION LINKED WITH PRE-TERM BIRTHS, CEREBRAL PALSY
Washington, DC -- A new study published in this month's Journal of Reproductive Medicine finds abortion linked with premature births and cerebral palsy. Physicians in Canada and the U.S. teamed up for the study and examined data from more than four million births. Dr. Byron Calhoun, Professor and Vice Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at West Virginia University, estimates that roughly a third of babies who are considered "very pre-term" result from a woman's decision to have a prior abortion.
Babies who spend less than 32 weeks in the womb almost certainly suffer from very-low-birth-weight, the study found. The researchers estimated that, of the 32 percent of babies who suffer from very-low-birth-weight, eight percent develop cerebral palsy. Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, commented on the results.
"For years, we have warned that abortion harms women, and children, and now researchers are certifying that the victims' future siblings incur a greater risk of lifelong anguish and disease," he told LifeNews.com.  "The time has come for everyone to pause and reconsider the cycle of suffering that society continues to inflict on future generations in the name of 'choice,'" he added. "Women deserve to be informed--not encouraged to conform--on the issue of abortion." Source: LifeNews, November 1, 2007.

BRITISH PRO-LIFE GROUPS HEAP CRITICISM ON COMMITTEE'S NEW ABORTION REPORT
London, England -- Pro-life groups in England have joined two dissenting MPs in condemning the new report issued by the British Parliament's science and technology committee on the issue of abortion. The panel said there should be tightening of the 24-week limit and that only one doctor should sign off on abortions. The panel also said nurses should be allowed to do abortions and that the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug can be used by women at home, despite the need for medical supervision. Anthony Ozimic of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, responded to the report in comments sent to LifeNews.com. "This pro-abortion report and the committee's pro-abortion majority clearly shows that the pro-abortion lobby holds sway in Parliament," he said. Ozimic worries about the kind of pro-abortion amendments that may come up during the debate on a bill later this month. "The possibility of abortion amendments to the government's human tissue and embryos bill poses the greatest danger of making the Abortion Act worse since 1990, when abortion up to birth was allowed and protection for viable unborn children was removed," he added. "Removing restrictions on abortions will lead to more abortion and more abortion-related damage to women," he said. Source: LifeNews, November 1, 2007

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