Free Republic

Analysis of the pending Obama Administration health care bill indicates that most taxpayers will end up paying more, yet get less medical care than they currently do under preexisting plans. This, however, is not a bad thing according to an Obama Administration spokesperson. “An estimated 90% of visits to the doctor are unnecessary,” observed Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. “By eliminating as many of these visits as we can, we will hold down the cost of care. We will also be reducing the frequency with which patients are injured by doctors. Most people aren’t aware that being...

US Bishops: Abortion Isn't Health Care Send Urgent Message to Congress WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Keep abortion funding out of health care reform. That is the key message the U.S. episcopal conference communicated today in an urgent letter sent to the nation's House of Representatives. In the letter, sent as House members debated procedures related to abortion and the health care reform bill, the bishops "strongly urge" the lawmakers to "vote for essential changes and a fair process in the House of Representatives to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the life, dignity, health and...

Home » News » Politics Politics Palin rallies state’s abortion opponents Visit is days before her book is released By Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel Posted: Nov. 6, 2009 West Allis — Less than two weeks before the release of her memoir "Going Rogue," former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was on message during a Friday night speech to anti-abortion activists at State Fair Park. "Let's simplify, we're pro children," Palin told thousands of people who attended a $30-a-ticket fund-raiser for the Wisconsin Right to Life Education Fund. In a personal and passionate speech, Palin lauded the state's anti-abortion movement...

MUCH OF the criticism of the health-care measure before the House of Representatives is overwrought. Another part is simply wrong. Unfortunately, that does not mean that this is a good bill. As we have said, it does not do enough to control costs, and it is not funded in a sustainable way... As an example of the hyperbole, take the ludicrous assertion by Minority Leader John A. Boehner that the Democratic measure "is the greatest threat to freedom that I've seen in the 19 years I've been in Washington." Come on. The proposal has been endorsed by the American Medical...

Even though Stupak says he will lead 40 Democrats to vote against the healthcare bill, he won’t be in DC to strip the provision from the bill, nor will he vote on it. As theblogprof points out, at a recent town hall in Cheboygan Stupak said: If everything I want [is] in the final bill, I like everything in the bill except you have public funding for abortion, and we had a chance to run our amendment and we lost. OK, I voted my conscience, stayed true to my principles, stayed true to the beliefs of this district, could I...

I just returned from Washington, DC. The City is charged with a frenzied war of words and increasing activity, all revolving around the “Health Care Reform” package which Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to get passed quickly. Today, in a rare Saturday session, the “showdown” in the “People’s House” begins. The very term “People’s House” developed in reference to the House of Representatives because it has been perceived as closer to the people then the Senate. The House, until the passage of the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution, was the only legislative branch to be elected. Senators were chosen...

This movement was begun by Personhood USA. Its strategy is to introduce “Personhood” initiatives in every state in the Union. It is currently active in 32 states including my home state of Montana. This movement strikes fear into the hearts of pro-abortionists because they understand, perhaps better than some pro-life groups and individuals who are reticent in their support of it, the ramifications a “Personhood” amendment would have upon the legality of abortion if it became a part of the state’s constitution.

Democratic leaders trying to preserve a high-stakes Saturday vote on a House health reform bill battled a swift current of rank-and-file defections Friday as the White House swung into action to help corral the final votes. But progress was slower than expected – as a bad jobs number Friday with unemployment eclipsing 10 percent, and Tuesday’s election losses making that job harder. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a number of top aides – including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan — called wavering members.Democratic officials said their count of hard...

Abortion is Not Health Care November 6th, 2009 by Joseph Meaney Bumper stickers with the message "Abortion is Not Health Care" have started appearing around the country. They could also say infanticide and euthanasia are not health care.Our first child, Therese Marie, was born on September 29th the Feast of the Archangels. While in the hospital I met the mother of a child born prematurely and who had to be treated in the neo-natal intensive care unit. That baby was fortunate to arrive in the USA and not Great Britain.Sarah Capewell’s boy Jayden came prematurely at 21 weeks and 5...

Abortion opponents won a huge last-minute concession late Friday night after Democratic leaders agreed to grant them a vote on an amendment that would effectively bar insurers that participate in the exchanges from offering coverage for abortions. Members of the Rules Committee were expected to approve a vote on the amendment early Saturday morning after hours of negotiations in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Capitol office. Leaders reluctantly made the decision after working for days to broker a truce that would garner a blessing from the Conference of Catholic Bishops. But the church, according to members and aides, wouldn't accept a compromise...

House Democrats have cleared an impasse over abortion that has been holding up a vote on sweeping health care legislation. A vote is expected on Saturday - after President Barack Obama makes a late morning trip to the Capitol to make one final pitch for the legislation. According to Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, he and other abortion opponents will be given a chance to insert tougher abortion restrictions into the legislation during debate on the House floor. The leadership hopes that no matter how that vote turns out, Democrats will then unite to give the health care bill a...

Democrats have some thinking to do after Tuesday's elections, but Republicans don't have time to think. They're too busy trying to survive the party's internal purge and avoid being shipped off to political Siberia. Will loyal members inform on others for harboring suspiciously moderate views? Will anyone judged guilty have to wear a sign saying "Republican In Name Only" as penance? Will there be re-education camps? Will deviationists face the Enhanced Interrogation Technique of being forced to listen to the wit and wisdom of Glenn Beck, at ear-splitting volume, for days on end? Or worse: When Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going...

PENSACOLA, November 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last Friday, the 38th day of the autumn 40 Days for Life Campaign, the abortion facility at 6700 North 9th Avenue in Pensacola, Florida posted a 'Closed' sign on its door as pro-lifers prayed and kept vigil outside.Ernie Cyr, the Pensacola 40 Days for Life coordinator, said the local 40 Days for Life team didn't even realize at the time what they were witnessing - the permanent closure of an abortion facility that had been in operation for more than 25 years.Cyr explained that law enforcement officers went into the clinic on Friday...

November 5, 2009MEMORANDUMTo: Congressional staff From: Richard Doerflinger Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities U.S. Conference of Catholic BishopsRe: The Ellsworth amendment to H.R. 3962 on abortion: Initial observationsThe House leadership is asking members for reactions to new abortion language proposed by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) for H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. The Ellsworth amendment (henceforth “the amendment”) is said to be a “compromise” addressing pro-life concerns raised against the current bill.  However, on examination it is not a meaningful compromise. It addresses none of the substantial criticisms offered by the Catholic bishops’ conference and other pro-life...

Bumper stickers with the message "Abortion is Not Health Care" have started appearing around the country. They could also say infanticide and euthanasia are not health care. Our first child, Therese Marie, was born on September 29th the Feast of the Archangels. While in the hospital I met the mother of a child born prematurely and who had to be treated in the neo-natal intensive care unit. That baby was fortunate to arrive in the USA and not Great Britain. Sarah Capewell's boy Jayden came prematurely at 21 weeks and 5 days of pregnancy in an English hospital. Had Jayden...

Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput will address parishioners on health care reform — and more specifically abortion — in a letter to be read at Masses this weekend. In his column in the Denver Catholic Register on Wednesday, Chaput said President Barack Obama has failed to keep his promise to not provide public money for abortion in his health care plan. Chaput said he is asking Catholics to demand their senators and representatives change congressional proposals "to respect Catholic and pro-life concerns." As it stands, federal law prohibits using federal funds to pay for abortions, except to save a pregnant...

Abortion Business in Florida Closes After Operating Without License Pensacola, FL (LifeNews.com) -- An abortion business in Pensacola, Florida has closed after state officials determined it had operated for well over a year without a proper medical license. The Community Healthcare Center, one of two area abortion centers, closed its doors on Friday. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4552.html

Concerns over the hot-button issues of abortion and immigration threatened to delay a House vote on health-care reform until early next week, and Democratic leaders were struggling to contain the uprisings within their caucus. Although confident of victory, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders were working to limit defections to the roughly 25 Democrats viewed as "hard no" votes. There will be 258 Democrats in the House by the time the vote takes place, but to secure the 218 votes needed for passage -- and with prospects dim for Republican converts -- Pelosi can afford to lose no...

Practitioner Admits Yes I Am Killing Unborn Children in Abortions Dallas, TX -- The late-term abortion practitioner at the new abortion center in Dallas has admitted in a shocking interview that he kills unborn children during abortions. Curtis Boyd is one of the few abortion practitioners to admit what he is doing, but he has no qualms with his job. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4549.html

  Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner   By James TillmanNovember 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to House Republican Leader John Boehner, the government-run health care bill being considered in Congress would include "a monthly abortion premium ... [to] be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan."On his blog Boehner states that this premium "will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services."He continues: "Section 213 [of the bill] describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess...

CFA Executive Director: "It is past time for Catholic Members of Congress to start voting like their faith matters. There will be political 'hell to pay' in 2010 for those Catholic members who support such a pro-abortion, anti-family bill." Contact: Dr. Kevin Roberts, Catholic Families for America, 512-686-3125, kroberts@catholicfamiliesusa.org WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- With the vote on the House version of the health care reform bill (HR 3962) looming, today Catholic Families for America urged the 137 House members who are Catholic to reject the legislation, given its pro-abortion, anti-family elements. "Those members of the House who are...

Dallas, TX (LifeNews.com) -- The late-term abortion practitioner at the new abortion center in Dallas has admitted in a shocking interview that he kills unborn children during abortions. Curtis Boyd is one of the few abortion practitioners to admit what he is doing, but he has no qualms with his job. Boyd opened the first abortion center in Dallas in 1973 after the Supreme Court handed down the roe v. Wade decision allowing virtually unlimited abortions.In an interview with WFAA yesterday after news surfaced that he re-opened his late-term abortion center, Southwestern Women's Surgery Center, in the huge metro area...

Here is video of Pastor Stephen Broden giving the benediction at the Anti-ObamaCare tea party rally on the Capitol steps. Broden said "we believe abortion is in this health care, and abortion is anti-Christ. (Video)

Democrats haven't decided yet whether to permit an amendment to their health bill on abortion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday. Pelosi said during her weekly press conference that she and other Democratic leaders have not decided whether or not to allow changes submitted by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) to clarify language on federal funding for abortions. "His work has been very important, and we haven't made any decisions about amendment," Pelosi said in her weekly press conference. 40-some pro-life Democrats, led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), have threatened to oppose the bill over concerns about the strength of provisions...

A former director of a Texas Planned Parenthood branch who resigned after she watched an ultrasound-guided abortion told WND the clinic was pushing employees to strive for abortion quotas to boost profits. "There are definitely client goals," former clinic director Abby Johnson said. "We'd have a goal every month for abortion clients and for family planning clients."

Speaker Pelosi’s Government-Run Health Plan Will Require a Monthly Abortion Premium Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life - not end it. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one...

"Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life - not end it. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions."

LifeNews.com Note: Colleen Raezler is a research assistant at the Culture and Media Institute. This article originally appeared in NewsBusters, the blog of the Media Research Center.   Profits, not the killing of unborn children, are the "real immorality" of abortion, according to "View" panelist Joy Behar. Behar expressed her unique view of morality during the Nov. 3 "Hot Topics" discussion about Abby Johnson, a Texas Planned Parenthood director who resigned from her post last month after seeing an abortion on an ultrasound. Johnson explained to the local Texas CBS affiliate that Planned Parenthood had been pressuring her to focus...

Bryan, TX (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood is attempting to silence a former abortion center director who quit working for the abortion business after seeing an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. Officials with the group are pushing a request for a restraining order on Abby Johnson and a pro-life group that helped her conversion.Johnson had been the director of the Planned Parenthood center in this southeast Texas city that is home to Texas A&M University.She turned in her resignation on October 6 after years of a local pro-life group helping her see the problem with abortion. After the ultrasound, she decided...

One of two women accused of scrapping with an anti-abortion protester in front of Flagstaff City Hall has decided to accept six months of unsupervised probation to make the charges go away. Denise Redsteer, 48, accepted a "deferred prosecution" Friday in Flagstaff Municipal Court, said City Prosecutor Lisa Stankovich. Deferred prosecution does not admit guilt, and if Redsteer successfully completes the terms of her probation, the charges against her will be dismissed. Stankovich said that Redsteer has also agreed to pay a $150 prosecution fee and not commit any criminal offenses during the probationary period. Flagstaff attorney, Mik Jordhal, who...

House Will Vote on Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill on Saturday Washington, DC -- The House of Representatives will finally cast its first votes on the pro-abortion health care reform bill this weekend. After a fluid process that saw dates repeatedly pushed back, the first chance pro-life advocates will have to stop the abortion funding bill will come Saturday night. ACTION NEEDED! This is it, the House will finally vote on the pro-abortion health care bill. Please pass this on and then call or email NOW and urge NO votes on the rule and the bill. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5615.html

A pro-life group is criticizing pharmaceutical company Neocutis’ defense of its use of cells harvested from an aborted fetus in the development of burn treatments and anti-aging creams.The company said it believed “extremely limited use” of fetal skin tissue obtained in a respectful manner can lead to “significant medical benefit.”

In a shocking, pre-dawn announcement, President Obama upheld his end of the bargain, and named D. Scozzafava his Special Advisor on Reproductive Rights, thus rewarding the Republican Candidate for his only consolation in the November 3rd Elections, otherwise a PR nightmare for the neophyte Executive. The President’s call to the Scozzafava residence came right after the “Thank You” from Democrat Owens who, as he put it, “Couldn’t have done it without her.” “Ms. Scozzafava’s special recognition by Pro-Abortion organizations and her talent as a politcal hermaphrodite make her a natural here in Washington,” noted the President. “We are thrilled to...

For the past 8 years, Abby Johnson worked hard to promote the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, TX. For the past two years she even led the local Planned Parenthood abortion mill in its drive to snuff out little lives. That all changed recently, as a disillusioned and spiritually "converted" Ms. Johnson quit her job to join the local pro-lifers who prayed with her and for her for much of the p More..ast decade. After seeing an ultrasound of an abortion she says she her conscience left her no choice. This year's 40 Days for Life campaign- a prayerful, community-based...

One of the main reasons Conservatives in New York revolted against the GOP’s choice of D. Scozzafava as their candidate, was because of her position on Abortion. Some Republicans assert that the Hoffman Revolution is about the economy, yet the majority of objections in articles and calls to Talk Radio centered, primarily, on the Republicat’s NARAL rating and her reception of the Margaret Sanger Award, both reflecting her position on Abortion. It is because Sarah Palin is profoundly Pro-Life that she understood the extent of the GOP travesty in asking Conservatives to violate their moral convictions by voting for a...

Divisions in the majority party in the House and Senate could delay legislation into the new year. Abortion funding in particular shows a chasm between party liberals and moderates. Reporting from Washington - House Democratic leaders, while insisting that the finish line is in sight on their overhaul of the nation's healthcare system, have hit a last-minute snag over the abortion issue. Senate Democratic leaders, meanwhile, are continuing to have problems winning over moderates in their own party -- raising the possibility that the climactic votes on healthcare might be pushed into next year. The delays in both houses reflect...

The director of a southeast Texas Planned Parenthood office has resigned after eight years. Abby Johnson had a change of heart after watching an ultrasound of an abortion. She now works for the Coalition for Life, a pro-life group that often prays outside her old Planned Parenthood office. Johnson said her bosses pressured her for months to increase profits by performing more abortions. CBN News spoke with Johnson about what prompted her change of heart. Click play for her comments.

When I read NBC's "Law & Order" was airing an episode last week "ripped from the headlines" of an abortionist shot in church, i.e., Dr. George Tiller, I, of course, anticipated the plot would not go well for pro-lifers. The most I expected was milliseconds of fairness with pro-abortion clichés ruling the hour. My, was I surprised. I could have written that script. The episode wasn't even balanced. It was outright pro-life, not that I mind. If you haven't seen the episode, you should. Sans commercials it is only 42 minutes long. Briefly, the story begins with a pro-life renegade...

HINSDALE, Illinois, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A congregation of US Dominican nuns has publicly apologized for the scandal caused by one of its members acting as a volunteer escort at a Chicago area abortion facility, who now faces severe canonical penalties including excommunication and the possibility of dismissal.    LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) first broke the story about Sr. Donna Quinn, O.P., a Dominican nun who is outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, who had been identified by pro-life witnesses as an escort for the ACU Health Clinic.Sr. Quinn's religious community, the Wisconsin-based Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation, admitted in a press release posted...

Bryan, TX (LifeNews.com) -- News that the director of a local Planned Parenthood abortion business has drawn national interest and encouraged members of the pro-life community. With the "rest of the story," a pro-life leader tells LifeNews.com that the decision to quit Planned Parenthood wasn't a sudden reversal for Abby Johnson.Johnson had been the director of the Planned Parenthood center in the city that is home to Texas A&M University -- until she turned in her resignation on October 6.She says she ultimately had a change of heart after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure and realizing that abortion...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new report from researchers at a university in New Zealand indicates 85 percent of women who had abortions report negative mental health issues as a result. The report is the latest from professor David Fergusson and his team showing abortions cause problems for women.The University of Otago team examined the medical history of over 500 women and concluded having an abortion generally “leads to significant distress in some” women who have them.It noted women reporting adverse reactions to their abortions were up to 80 percent more likely to have mental health problems and risk...

Democratic House leaders have developed a compromise they hope will resolve an intra-caucus dispute about whether the health bill allows tax dollars to subsidize abortions, and they’re surveying abortion-rights opponents in the caucus to gauge support. The language is not yet publicly available, but lawmakers familiar with it say it strengthens an existing provision intended to prevent abortion from getting any federal dollars.

Saving the lives of babies, one person at a time. This is why we need this ultrasound so badly here in Connecticut. Please click here to contribute. Please. Via Gateway. Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson’s life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. “I just thought I can’t do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it,” said Jonhson.

“I just thought I can’t do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it.”

Conservative Republican candidate for Governor of Texas - Debra Medina - writes an op/ed taking Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to task for her longstanding opposition to pro-life issues. Medina says in part, "Conservative and pro-choice rarely fall in the same sentence, unless you’re referring to “conservative” gubernatorial candidate Kay Bailey Hutchison, of course. A long time Washington insider and clear adversary on pro-life issues, Senator Hutchison has had ample opportunity to rally against abortion, and she has failed."

Study: 85 Percent of Women Say Abortions Cause Mental Health Issues London, England -- A new report from researchers at a university in New Zealand indicates 85 percent of women who had abortions report negative mental health issues as a result. The report is the latest from professor David Fergusson and his team showing abortions cause problems for women. http://www.LifeNews.com/int1371.html

House Health Care Bill Would Fund Abortions "For Years to Come" Washington, DC -- The pro-life movement is unified in its opposition to the House health care reform bill Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled last week because of its abortion funding. In a new letter to members of Congress, the National Right to Life more exactly spells out what is at stake in the votes expected later this week. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5606.html

Democrats' Phony Amdt Claims to Remove Abortion From Health Care Washington, DC -- House Democrats are working on yet another phony amendment that they claim will remove government funding of abortions from the health care reform bill. However, it appears the Ellsworth amendment does nothing to remove the massive new abortion-funding program in H.R. 3962. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5607.html

It all comes down “The Rule.” That’s what I learned Tuesday night during the nationwide webcast hosted by Stop the Abortion Mandate.com. The vote expected this week in Congress is historically critical – and it’s not the vote you might think. Let me say this as bluntly as I can: The time is NOW. This very minute! If you have not made calls to your Senators and Representatives, if you have not sent e-mails and faxes, this moment in history is calling out to you for action. Do it now. Nancy Pelosi’s bill, HR 3962, mandates abortion coverage, plain and...

The former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Texas says she had a "change of heart" after watching an abortion last month — and she quit her job and joined a pro-life group in praying outside the facility. Abby Johnson, 29, used to escort women from their cars to the clinic in the eight years she volunteered and worked for Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas. But she says she knew it was time to leave after she watched a fetus "crumple" as it was vacuumed out of a patient's uterus in September. 'When I was working at Planned...