California ProLife Council News 

Pro-Life News Briefs
Week of December 3, 2007
 

CONGRESSMAN HENRY HYDE LEAVES A LASTING PRO-LIFE LEGACY TO FOLLOW
In 1996, Congressman Henry Hyde stood up before his colleagues to argue in favor of overriding President Bill Clinton’s veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Congressman Hyde’s skill as an orator rivaled the skills of any marksman or swordsman. His words and eloquence were reminiscent of another era of ideals and determination-- his speeches read like those of our founding fathers. They are elegant even when the subject is the heinousness of abortion. His words challenged us and demanded of us no less than our best—our best efforts, our best values, our best sense of duty.
LifeNews.com Note: Laura Echevarria is a LifeNews.com opinion columnist. She 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.

SECOND IOWA POLL SHOWS MIKE HUCKABEE LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES
Des Moines, IA -- A second poll of Republicans in Iowa finds Mike Huckabee in the lead and more evidence that he's overtaken Mitt Romney. However, political observers wonder whether Huckabee can put together the campaign apparatus and fund-raising effort needed to win the GOP nomination, even if the Midwestern state supports him next month.  A Des Moines Register poll shows Huckabee leading among likely Republican caucus-goers with 29 percent and Romney close behind at 24 percent.
Source: LifeNews, December 3, 2007

FRED THOMPSON DEFENDS OVERTURNING ABORTION CASE, CALLS IT PRO-LIFE VICTORY
Washington, DC -- In what has become a weekly ritual, Fred Thompson appeared on a Sunday political talk show and asked again to discuss his position on abortion. Thompson said he takes a pro-life position and favors overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states the opportunity to ban abortions as they did before the 1973 case. The former Tennessee senator appeared on the Fox News Sunday program and Chris Wallace asked him if he believed that "life begins at conception" and that "abortion is the taking of life." Thompson answered yes to both questions. Wallace showed Thompson a video of pro-life Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee criticizing Thompson for supporting the reversal of Roe but not backing a human life amendment. Thompson said Huckabee had the same position until recently and then went on to define his position. "Because of Roe vs. Wade, all states are restricted from passing rules that they otherwise would maybe like to pass with regard to this area. If you abolish Roe vs. Wade, you're going to allow every state to pass reasonable rules that they might see fit to pass," Thompson said. Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007.

MIKE HUCKABEE AND FRED THOMPSON CAMPAIGNS TANGLE OVER ABORTION
Washington, DC -- Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson are both strongly pro-life and have pro-life records during their political tenures. Yet, observers not familiar with their records may think otherwise given the fierce attacks the campaigns have lobbed against on another over abortion. Huckbee and his campaign have been pressing Thompson on the issue of a human life amendment. Thompson opposes such an amendment, saying it's not politically feasible and that he prefers to focus on the more immediate goal of overturning Roe v. Wade. The Thompson campaign sent LifeNews.com a press release Sunday saying that's a position Huckabee has previously expressed. "In February 1995, Huckabee supported revising the GOP abortion plank to let states decide their own abortion laws," the Thompson campaign said. It pointed to a quote the former Arkansas governor gave the Washington Times about shifting the GOP platform from a human life amendment to supporting the reversal of Roe, saying, "'That's exactly what we have looked for, and if it's left up to the states, more of them are going to put some restrictions on abortion." Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007.

MIKE HUCKABEE SAYS HE'S THE STRONGEST REPUBLICAN ON ABORTION ISSUES
Washington, DC -- When it comes to the Republican presidential candidates, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee insists in a new interview that he is the strongest. He says that's because none of the other top-tier GOP hopefuls support a human life amendment to the Constitution as he does. While Rudy Giuliani is clearly pro-abortion, the human life amendment has been a sticky subject among the leading pro-life Republican candidates. Huckabee has sought to use it to separate himself from the pack. He points out that both former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson support overturning Roe v. Wade but don't go along with the Constitutional amendment. Romney has said it is a long-term goal and Thompson has said he opposes an amendment and has overturning Roe as his top pro-life goal. Those positions put Huckabee at the top of the list of pro-life candidates, he told the Washington Examiner in a Friday interview. "If abortion is a political issue, and that's all it is, then fine, have 50 versions," Huckabee said. "But if we have determined, as many of us have, that it's a moral issue, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong." Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007.

ROMNEY, THOMPSON LEAD SOUTH CAROLINA; THOMPSON ALMOST TIES CLINTON
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Fred Thompson's campaign got some good news in the polls this week as a new survey shows him tied with Mitt Romney in the early primary battleground of South Carolina. A new survey released Friday also shows him almost in a tie with pro-abortion New York Sen. Hillary Clinton nationally. The Rasmussen poll, conducted on Tuesday, finds both Thompson and Romney at 21 percent in the southern state among likely primary voters. The bad news for Thompson is the poll shows a decline of four percent and Romney increasing his percentage, but it shows his campaign continuing its strategy of a strong showing in Iowa (where he's tied for third) and a win in South Carolina. Also, 68 percent of Romney’s supporters say they might change their mind before voting. For the other candidates, 47% to 57% of their supporters say the same thing. Meanwhile, Rasmussen released a new poll on Friday showing Thompson just two points down to Hillary Clinton at 46-44 percent with 10 percent undecided. The polling firm found pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani leads Clinton 46-42 with 12 percent undecided. Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007.

PRO-ABORTION GROUP'S EFFORTS FLOP, HILLARY CLINTON DROPS AMONG IOWA WOMEN
Des Moines, IA -- A new poll in Iowa not only shows Hillary Clinton losing support to Barack Oabama but it shows female Democrats prefer the pro-abortion Illinois senator over Clinton. The poll results are surprising given the fact that Emily's List, the wealthiest pro-abortion group in the nation, launched a major election effort on her behalf.
As LifeNews.com twice reported, Emily's List started a campaign last month to rally women voters in Iowa around Clinton. Emily's List unveiled a new web site and promoted it with online via ads on leading search engines and on web sites women view such as those on yoga or health issues. But a new Des Moines Register poll shows the campaign apparently isn't working. Source: LifeNews, December 3, 2007

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS SHE CAN BEAT GOP, NEW POLL SHOWS REPUBLICAN SWEEP
Washington, DC -- Hillary Clinton campaigned in Iowa over the weekend and claimed she was the best of the pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidates to take on a Republican nominee next year. However, a new poll finds Clinton losing nationally to all of the top five Republican presidential hopefuls. "I believe that I have a very good argument that I know more about beating Republicans than anybody else running," Clinton said. "They've been after me for 15 years, and much to their dismay, I'm still standing." Clinton claimed to have the most support around the country, including "more Democratic support from the so-called red states than anybody else running" -- referring to support in states that trend Republican. "I'm leading in all the polls, I'm beating them in state after state after state," she contended. "I think they have looked at the field and figured out who can best beat the Republicans." However, a new survey released Monday by the Zogby polling firm finds Clinton trailing all of the top five Republican candidates, four of whom are campaigning on a pro-life position. The Zogby International poll found former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee doing the best against Clinton. Thompson leads her 44-40 and Huckabee leads 44-39. Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007

MITT ROMNEY ADVISOR SAYS ABORTION POSITION MORE CONSISTENT THAN THOMPSON
Washington, DC -- A leading advisor for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a weekend interview in which he said the former Massachusetts governor's position on abortion is more consistent than fellow GOP contender Fred Thompson's. Jim Bopp, a top pro-life attorney, said Romney backs a human life amendment. Bopp responded to some pro-life advocates who are wondering if Romney is being inconsistent by saying he supports the amendment but also supports overturning Roe. "He wants Roe v. Wade overturned so that states will be able to protect innocent human life and when there is a sufficient consensus for a human life amendment then he wants to see a human life amendment," Bopp told CBN News correspondent David Brody. "What he has said is that it is a two step process. The first step is reversal of Roe v. Wade which will have the effect of returning it to the states. The human life amendment is the aspirational goal and when the consensus arises to accomplish that that would be the final step," Bopp added. Bopp also told CBN news, "Mitt Romney supports a human life amendment when it is possible and what he is saying is that it is not possible right now but what is possible is reversing Roe vs Wade." Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007

MITT ROMNEY OPEN TO PUTTING ABORTION PRACTITIONERS IN PRISON AFTER BAN
Washington, DC -- Someday when Roe v. Wade is reversed and states are again allowed to pass pro-life laws affording legal protection to unborn children, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he would support putting abortion practitioners in prison. His campaign says he sides with the pro-life movement in not punishing women. Romney's position first came to light in a November 19 interview with Human Events. "I don't see putting doctors and women in jail. I don't believe that's ever been part of our history, even when states were able to put in place effective pro-life legislation," he told the conservative newspaper. "I haven't seen provisions of that nature ever being proposed," he added. In the interview he restated his position in favor of overturning Roe. "I do believe that the next step that should be taken is to overturn Roe v. Wade, and to no longer have the Supreme Court impose its one-size-fits-all philosophy on the entire nation," he explained. "There will be steps beyond that, of course, but the next step is to overturn Roe v. Wade." Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007

REPORT: ABORTIONS TARGET BLACKS, REPEAT ABORTIONS HIGH, 10% USE RU 486
Atlanta, GA -- The new report the Centers for Disease Control released this week about annual abortion figures in the United States shows abortions continue to target black women more so than other ethnic groups. The 2004 report also shows about 10 percent of all abortions in the United States are done with the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug. The CDC shows a majority of women who get abortions are white (53 percent) compared with 35 percent done on African-Americans, 8 percent on women of other ethnic backgrounds and the race of the woman was unknown in four percent of the cases. However, the abortion ratio for black women (472 per 1,000 live births) was 2.9 times higher than the ratio for white women (161 per 1,000). Examined another way, nearly half of all pregnancies among black women end in abortion while just 16 percent of pregnancies among white women end in abortion. The abortion rate for black women (28 per 1,000 women) was 2.8 times the rate for white women (10 per 1,000). Those statistics continue to worry pro-life leaders in the African-American community. Source: LifeNews, November 26, 2007

DISABLED TEENAGER CELEBRATES 16th BIRTHDAY AFTER MOM REFUSED ABORTION
Bristol, TN -- Donna Joy Vance celebrated her sixteenth birthday recently but the occasion was "sweet" for a reason that doesn't normally worry most teenagers. When Donna's mother Lori was pregnant with her, Lori's physicians found Donna had a rare disability and advised her to have an abortion. Lori refused. The Vance family shared their story with News Channel 11 and said a fatal disorder that doctors detect before birth may not turn out as bad as they may think. "We're celebrating Donna Joy's 16th birthday,” Lori Vance told the CBS television station. “It's a special day because it's a day the doctors and so-called experts way back when said would never come to be." When Donna was seven months into the pregnancy, doctors told her mother that she had, or HPE. That's a type of cephalic disorder characterized by the failure of the prosencephalon (the forebrain of the embryo) to develop. During normal development the forebrain is formed and the face begins to develop in the fifth and sixth weeks of human pregnancy. Holoprosencephaly is caused by a failure of the unborn baby's forebrain to divide to form bilateral cerebral hemispheres (the left and right halves of the brain), causing defects in the development of the face and in brain structure and function. Doctors told Lori that her daughter would be blind, deaf, no face and no ability to swallow or move her arms and legs. As such, they recommended an abortion. "Basically, everything that makes you a human being was going to be missing," Vance told News Channel 11. "They wanted to terminate the pregnancy because they said she was going to die anyway." But Lori told the television station she was determined to give Donna a chance at life despite what doctors at three hospitals told her. Vance said they would only help her arrange an abortion. "Even if it was only for a few minutes—to give her some dignity, wrap her up in a pretty blanket. Say ‘I love you’ and let her go," Vance said. She said she "was going to accept her any way she was." LifeNews, November 26, 2007

 

 

 

 

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