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Illinois Federation For Right to Life Daily Update Thursday, November 20, 2008
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_______________________________________________________ SPECIAL NEWS ALERT
Christine Radogno Elected as Illinois Senate Minority Leader
Last night, the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus formally separated themselves from the pro-life movement in Illinois by electing Christine Radogno, a pro-abortion rights Senator as their leader,
Illinois Senate Republicans have placed themselves under the authority of someone who has been indentured to two of the most radical anti-family groups in Illinois of which one is Personal-Pac, an abortion on demand organization. Radogno has done the political bidding of these anti-life extremists throughout her political career.
_______________________________________________________ DAILY NEWS FOR THURSDAY (see below for full articles)
Obama picks abortion supporter Daschle to head HHS
China relents: Woman will not be forced to have abortion
Tiller's Attorney Loses Control in Court While Irrational Conspiracy Theories Abound
Terri-Schiavo-Like Disabled Woman Allowed to Live after Parents Reconcile
Euthanasia approved in Terri Schiavo-esque case (different story than the one above)
Project Reality closes its doors
_______________________________________________________ NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY (more below)
True Love Waits gets more Africa funding
Child-Rape Coverup at Center of Tiller Hearing
Planned Parenthood Funds Held by City Council
30-Day Age Limit for `Child-Dumping' Law Advances
Court Orders Approval of Ariz. ‘Choose Life’ License Plates
Censorship of Pro-Life Information Begins on Pennsylvania Campus
_______________________________________________________ HELP SUPPORT THE IFRL
As you know, we will be facing Barack Obama as the most pro-abortion President this January! It's very frightening, because he is the most pro-abortion President we have ever seen. In the Senate, he voted against every piece of pro-life legislation and refused to set any limits on abortion. He would force you to pay for abortions with your tax dollars; he fought our ban on partial birth abortion and he even killed a bill in our own Illinois Senate that would have protected babies who survive abortions! Now, he's vowed that as President he would make the Freedom of Choice Act one of his top priorities. This man is a real danger to the millions of babies we need to protect.
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Click or to help support the IFRL.
_______________________________________________________ DAILY NEWS (in full)
Obama picks abortion supporter Daschle to head HHS
Tom Daschle has accepted the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services from president-elect Barack Obama. Daschle's record of supporting anti-life initiatives is extensive enough that his bishop previously asked him to stop calling himself a Catholic.
According to FOX News, “two Democratic sources close to Daschle and with intimate knowledge of the decision” said on Wednesday that the former Senate majority leader has accepted the post.
As the new Health and Human Services chief, Daschle will be responsible for helping implement Obama’s promised government-run health plan.
What is little-known, though, is the fact that Tom Daschle has radically changed his beliefs on life issues since he first ran for office.
Joseph Bottum, a native South Dakotan who writes for The Weekly Standard, relates that Daschle began his political career portraying himself as a staunch defender of life.
“In 1978, Tom Daschle had the nuns who taught him in grade school write a letter to voters in South Dakota swearing he would always fight against abortion.”
But by the time 2002 rolled around, Bottum reports that “he was penning fundraising letters for NARAL and giving fundraising talks for EMILY's List.”
Daschle’s work for pro-abortion groups has led the former bishop of Sioux Falls to speak out against him.
Although Bishop Robert Carlson had been in conversation with Daschle for years about his voting record and beliefs about moral issues, including a public argument over partial-birth abortion in 1997, it wasn’t until April of 2003 that things began to escalate. At that point Bishop Carlson sent a letter to Tom Daschle telling him that he should removed all references to being a member of the Catholic Church from his congressional biography and campaign documents, Bottum reports.
Daschle responded to the letter from the floor of the Senate in Washington by accusing Bishop Carlson of acting in a way "more identified with the radical right than with thoughtful religious leadership."
In an interview with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Bishop Carlson expressed his shock at Daschle’s positions on the life issues. "NARAL claims him as one of their number-one supporters. I don't understand how he can be in touch with South Dakotans as much as he is, and yet consistently have a pro-abortion record."
Before he failed to be re-elected to the Senate in 2004, Tom Daschle had a 50 % NARAL rating. His mixed rating is the result of voting for a ban on partial-birth abortions and a vote for penalties for those who harm fetuses while committing a violent crime. On the other hand, Daschle voted to allow human cloning, expand research on human embryos and against banning privately funded abortions on U.S. military installations.
CNA attempted to reach South Dakota Right to Life for comment on Tom Daschle’s record but did not receive a reply before press time.
Source: Catholic News Agency Source URL: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com Publish Date: November 19, 2008 Link to this article: http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081120_1.htm
China relents: Woman will not be forced to have abortion
A woman who is six months pregnant will not undergo a forced abortion, despite being held for nearly a week in a Chinese hospital under threat of the procedure.
Arzigul Tursun, a mother of two, was released Nov. 18 from a hospital in Xinjiang, the vast northwest region of the world's most populous country, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA). "I am all right and I am at home now," Tursun told RFA shortly after her release.
The head of the local population control committee said Tursun "wasn't in good enough health to have an abortion."
As a Uyghur Muslim, Tursun is permitted to have two children under China's coercive "one-child" program. Government officials, however, had decided to enforce the population-control policy on her third child. She is 26 weeks into her pregnancy.
Tursun's deliverance from a coercive abortion came after two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the American ambassador to Beijing, urged Chinese officials to reverse course.
Republican Reps. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania made appeals on Tursun's behalf, and Smith sent a direct request to Zhou Wenzhong, China's ambassador to the United States. Smith also urged Clark Randt, U.S. ambassador to China, to intervene. Randt talked to a Chinese foreign ministry official, according to Smith's office, RFA reported.
Tursun's release "is great news for both her family and women throughout China," Smith and Pitts said in a joint written statement. "The decision to spare Arzigul and her child from the tragedy of forced abortion is, we hope, a sign that more women in China will be saved from this grave human rights abuse."
Of the local population-control official's comment that Tursun was not well enough for an abortion, Smith and Pitts said, "We know that abortion threatens women's physical and mental health, and we further recognize that abortion always destroys the life of a child. There are always two victims in every abortion, and we are relieved that this abortion did not take place."
China's population-control policy, which has been in place since 1979, has been marked by forced abortions and sterilizations. Infanticide, especially of females, also has been reported. In addition to abortions and sterilizations, penalties for violations of the policy have included fines, arrests and the destruction of homes.
China's policy generally limits couples in urban areas to one child and those in rural areas to two, if the first is a girl. Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, and other minorities living in rural areas are allowed three children, but those from cities are permitted only two, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency, RFA reported. Tursun is from a rural area, but her husband, Nurmemet Tohtasin, is from a city.
After it appeared an abortion would be forced upon her, Tursun left the family's home in the village of Bulaq in Dadamtu township but returned under pressure, according to RFA. She was taken to Yining's Water Gate Hospital Nov. 11 and held there under guard. She escaped Nov. 16, but police recaptured her the next day at a friend's home. She was taken to another hospital, Women and Children's Welfare Hospital in the Ili district.
China's coercive program has helped produce a gender imbalance in the world's most populous country, with many girls being aborted in order to enable a male baby to be born later. China had 120 males born for every 100 females in 2005, according to the U.N. Population Fund, which U.S. researchers report has assisted the government's population-control program.
Contact: Tom Strode Source: Baptist Press Source URL: http://www.bpnews.net Publish Date: November 19, 2008 Link to this article: http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081120_2.htm
Tiller's Attorney Loses Control in Court While Irrational Conspiracy Theories Abound
Witness questioned about contact with Operation Rescue
Three witnesses took the stand on the third day of testimony in a hearing where late-term abortionist George R. Tiller is asking District Court Judge Clark Owens to dismiss 19 criminal charges against him based on "outrageous prosecutorial conduct."
Investigator Tom Williams testified for the third straight day about his involvement in an investigation of Tiller that began under former Attorney General Phill Kline.
Williams was questioned about his interview with Dr. Ronald V. Erkin, a retired psychiatrist who reviewed ten abortion records that had been obtained by Kline through a subpoena with the permission of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Dr. Erkin told Williams that he believed that the diagnoses of mental health conditions used to justify the post-viability abortions were not irreversible conditions as required by law. However, he also told Williams that he believed that the definition of "irreversible" was a matter subject to debate.
In an affidavit supporting 30 criminal charges against Tiller, Williams referred to Dr. Erkin's opinion that Tiller's diagnoses were not substantial and irreversible conditions. Monnat tried to persuade the court that Williams engaged in deception and outrageous conduct when he did not include Erkin's statements about the debate over the definition of "irreversible."
Disney and Monnat sparred throughout the day. At one point, Disney rose to object to a question and Monnat lost control of his emotions and began angrily shouting in a tremendously loud voice over Disney's objections. The outburst shocked courtroom observers.
"Monnat seems to process everything through a faulty filter of paranoia, which leads him to find evil motives behind every action of those who were investigating Tiller," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "His frequent inflammatory questioning was obviously meant to play to the media in the courtroom. Mr. Monnat needs to keep his day job because an Academy Award just is not in his future."
Monnat was also suspicious that Williams may have had contact with "anti-abortionists." He asked Williams if he ever visited the Operation Rescue web site and if he ever interviewed OR representatives Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger or a number of other pro-life persons. Williams could not recall doing so.
Also testifying was Jared Reed, a minor employee under Kline, and Eric Rucker who worked with Kline in both his tenures as Attorney General and Johnson County District Attorney.
Thursday, witnesses could include Steven Maxwell, an attorney who worked for Kline during the Tiller investigation, and disgraced former Attorney General Paul Morrison, who resigned after his adulterous affair and attempts to impede abortion investigations became public.
The hearing is expected to be extended into next week. If Tiller's motion to dismiss is denied, he is scheduled to stand trail on March 16, 2009.
Contact: Troy Newman, Cheryl Sullenger Source: Operation Rescue Source URL: http://www.operationrescue.org Publish Date: November 19, 2008 Link to this article: http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081120_3.htm
Terri-Schiavo-Like Disabled Woman Allowed to Live after Parents Reconcile
A disabled woman's mother has reconciled with her ex-husband after having fought to remove her daughter's feeding tube, and after state legislation rescued the woman from death by dehydration. The woman’s mother now confesses that her daughter should be able to live.
Lauren Richardson suffered severe brain damage following a 2006 heroin overdose. Richardson, who was pregnant at the time, was able to deliver a healthy baby girl in February 2007 while on life support.
Since then, Richardson has continued to require nourishment through a feeding tube. While doctors claim Lauren is in a Permanent Vegetative State (PVS), her father contests that she is responsive to stimuli such as voice and touch, and not terminally ill.
Richardson's mother, Edith Towers, had argued that her daughter would have wanted her feeding tube removed in such a state. In a seeming re-enactment of Terry Schiavo's fate, a court had awarded Towers custody of her daughter, following the advice of doctors who claimed Richardson would not recover.
But Lauren's father, Randy Richardson, appealed the decision, and pursued legal intervention on Lauren's behalf while attracting media attention to her case. In July, he won the battle for Lauren's life when the Delaware House of Representatives passed a resolution making it illegal to remove the feeding tube of a non-terminally ill person such as Richardson.
"It is against the public policy of this State and this State's interest in life, health and safety, for hydration and nutrition that is not harming a patient to be involuntarily removed from a non-terminal, apparently brain-incapacitated patient if doing so will cause the individual's death," said the resolution, which also explicitly named Lauren's case as the impetus for the legislation.
Towers, however, continued to fight for permission to remove the feeding tube until September when, because of religious conviction and heartfelt interaction with her ex-husband’s family, she decided to join cooperatively with Richardson’s father to care for their daughter and to drop the court request.
“Everyone deserves a chance to recover. Life should be protected - not destroyed,” said Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) Legal Counsel Matt Bowman about the case. “This change of heart and settlement has profoundly affected everyone involved. The miracle of life is not something that should be taken lightly.”
Richardson's father teamed up with the ADF in January to convince judges to investigate Richardson's condition, which had been improperly placed in the PVS category - a diagnosis that has become increasingly undermined by the progress of medical science.
Lauren Richardson wept emotionally when her mother informed her of the settlement and the reconciliation of her parents, confirming to the mother that her daughter is indeed aware and responsive. Both parents and their families continue to interact with her daily.
Contact: Kathleen Gilbert Source: LifeSiteNews.com Source URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com Publish Date: November 20, 2008 Link to this article: http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081120_4.htm
Euthanasia approved in Terri Schiavo-esque case
The case of an Italian woman is reminiscent of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman who was starved and dehydrated to death.
LifeNews.com reports Eluana Englaro, now 37 years old, has been in a so-called "vegetative state" for nearly 17 years following a car accident in 1992. Englaro's father went to Italy's top court and recently received permission to remove his daughter's feeding tubes and let her die.
Bobby Schindler of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation tells OneNewsNow that Englaro's plight brings back painful memories of his sister. "This young girl [Englaro] is not dying," he notes. "She has a brain injury that has caused her to be dependent on others for her care, but the only thing she is needing to stay alive is basic care -- food and water -- which was exactly what was needed to keep Terri alive."
In the case in Italy, medical personnel have refused to turn off the equipment and euthanize Englaro. "They have refused to do what they believe is inherently wrong and evil, and I give them credit for standing for what they believe in by refusing to remove food and water from this young girl," Schindler contends.
Society, according to Schindler, needs to respect life from conception to natural death. "I think what is happening here is that we have become so comfortable from so many years of taking human life that we don't even look at things like this as being wrong anymore -- and that's what frightens me," he concludes.
Contact: Charlie Butts Source: OneNewsNow Source URL: http://www.onenewsnow.com Publish Date: November 20, 2008 Link to this article: http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081120_5.htm
Project Reality closes its doors
Parents, time to step up and influence your own kids' attitudes about sex. Chances are they won't be getting that kind of talk at school from now on...
While the Illinois legislature never could garner enough votes to officially stop abstinence education programs and enact Planned Parenthood-backed, explicit sexually-detailed classes for kids from kindergarten and older, the Blagojevich Administration has starved out Glenview-based Project Reality. The group, founded in 1985, at one time received $1.2 million annually in state funds and private donations, announced publicly yesterday it is shutting its doors December 15.
In order to meet the demands of the 120,000 high school students enrolled in their abstinence courses statewide, Project Reality fought, begged and pleaded for state funding. For the past couple of years, the Blagojevich Administration gradually turned off the funding spigot. As the funding dwindled, the group cut staff and then shut its doors. What's left of Project Reality's efforts will merge with Abstinence and Marriage Partnership, Project Reality's founder and long time director Kathleen Sullivan wrote yesterday:
A & M Partnership is hoping and planning to continue publication and promotion of our much sought after Game Plan and Navigator texts which many of you use. The merger will give A & M the ability to offer a broader selection of materials covering several school grades. Project Reality has built a substantial foundation of schools and organizations and was able to serve them through state and federally-funded grants over the years. These grants are no longer available to Project Reality, but we believe this new plan of operation will continue to expand the reach of abstinence education to the youth of our country.
This development is a huge victory for those who benefit from teenagers being sexually active: abortion providers, HPV vaccine and contraceptive method makers. It's a tragedy for parents who want their kids to be taught respect for sex and marriage. It's a loss for those kids who've committed to waiting for marriage to begin sexual activity and need support and encouragement to stay focused on their studies and careers.
Illinois parents need to be aware that fewer and fewer schools will be offering abstinence education, and they, by default, will need to re-establish their parental role in providing direction and interaction to influence their own children's attitudes towards sex. No longer can that topic be left to school teachers and counselors.
Source: Illinois Review Source URL: http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/ Publish Date: November 20, 2008 Link to this article: http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/081120_6.htm
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_______________________________________________________ NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY
Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.
True Love Waits gets more Africa funding
After successfully launching True Love Waits in six African countries a little over a year ago, the ministry has received an additional $350,000 to expand its abstinence-until-marriage message into two more countries. The funding was made available through LifeWay Christian Resources' A Defining Moment major-donor campaign.
An evaluation is underway to determine the two countries best suited for the expansion, said Jimmy Hester, cofounder of True Love Waits. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=29367&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed1119
Child-Rape Coverup at Center of Tiller Hearing
A 10-year-old girl who received an abortion became the center of a Kansas attorney general's argument to obtain patient records from a Wichita clinic. Here was a possible child-rape victim, officers for then-Attorney General Phill Kline told a Topeka judge in 2006 -- and a crime that abortion provider George Tiller didn't report, as required by law. They wanted to find out whether Tiller hadn't reported other crimes, and they needed his records to do that. The hearing is also making public for the first time details of a secret investigation conducted for three years by the state's top prosecutor against Kansas abortion providers. The case of the 10-year-old girl who received a late-term abortion has become the center of Tiller's defense team's argument. Documents produced by lawyer Dan Monnat showed: The girl came with her mother from another state, carrying a letter from their local prosecutor's office. The letter said the girl needed "an immediate medical procedure that (could) only be done" at Tiller's Women's Health Care Services clinic. http://www.kansas.com/news/story/603723.html
Planned Parenthood Funds Held by City Council
Funding for eight youth programs hit a snag Tuesday as the inclusion of a Planned Parenthood-run program drew complaints from those who oppose the group's educational tactics and abortion services. The City Council was reviewing $500,000 for Community Youth Development program providers in the city's 78415 ZIP code. The city simply disburses these federal and state funds in coordination with the state Department of Family and Protective Services. The council was to vote on all of them together. The council members voted to delete the $30,000 for Planned Parenthood and approved the remaining funding for Boys & Girls Club of Corpus Christi, Communities in Schools, YMCA, YWCA, Youth Odyssey, Nueces County Mental Health Mental Retardation and Serco of Texas, a work force development company. http://www.caller.com/news/2008/nov/18/planned-parenthood-funds-held/?partner=yahoo_headlines
30-Day Age Limit for `Child-Dumping' Law Advances
A 30-day age limit in the Nebraska [child-dumping] law appears headed for final approval. The state Legislature voted 41-6 Wednesday to give second-round approval to the limit. A final vote is expected Friday and then the bill will go to Gov. Dave Heineman, who has said he would support a 30-day age limit. If Heineman signs the bill, it would become effective immediately. "The rails are greased and the train's heading down the track," said state Sen. Tom Carlson. Thirteen other states have 30-day age limits. Most of the children dropped off at Nebraska hospitals since the law took effect in July have been preteens or teenagers as old as 17. A 15-year-old girl was left at a hospital by a relative, making her the 35th child abandoned under the law, state officials said Wednesday. The girl, a Nebraska resident, was dropped off Tuesday at a hospital in Grand Island. She was placed in a foster home. Hospital officials have said some of the children cried hysterically for their parents or guardians not to leave. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081119/D94IA2DO0.html
Court Orders Approval of Ariz. ‘Choose Life’ License Plates
Order follows U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of state’s appeal
A federal court on Wednesday ordered the Arizona License Plate Commission to approve a specialty license plate featuring the words "Choose Life."
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Center for Arizona Policy represented the applicants for the plates, the Arizona Life Coalition.
"Pro-life groups shouldn't be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs," said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. "Many other groups have been allowed to participate in the Arizona specialty plate program. The commission had no legitimate reason to selectively exclude this group. We're pleased that the plates will soon be available to the public.” http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08112003.html
Censorship of Pro-Life Information Begins on Pennsylvania Campus
Officials at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania refuse to run an advertising supplement on abortion in the student newspaper, "The Campus."
The 12-page advertising supplement "We Know Better Now," sponsored by Human Life Alliance, provides detailed information on pregnancy and the impact of abortions on student's lives.
"Our goal is to provide information on the humanity of the pre-born child and gruesome realities of abortion," stated Jo Tolck, executive director for Human Life Alliance.
At Allegheny College, officials for "The Campus" had already accepted payment for the November 13 edition when a local supporter noticed it did not appear in the paper. http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/372748740.html
_______________________________________________________ PRO-LIFE EVENTS
What is meant by the term Quality of Life? Speakers from the following Disciplines are scheduled to speak on Theology, Medicine, Sociology, Philosophy, Psychiatry and the Law. The cost is $30.00, which includes breakfast and lunch.
November 21, 2008 The day begins at 8:30AM to 5:00PM. Location: UIC Forum 725 W Roosevelt - Room D Click here to download a flyer for this event.
If you know of, or are part of a pro-life organization having an event or attending an event including county fairs, please let us know about it and we will post in this newsletter and our website reaching over 250,000 people a month. E-mail us at: mail@ifrl.org or postal mail us at IFRL Pro-Life Events, 1104 Milton Road, Alton, IL 62002
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The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection for the disabled and the elderly. Click here to learn more about the IFRL.
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