http://blog.aul.org Changing Law to Protect Human Life, State by State Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:39:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en An editorial in the Washington Post today asserted, "The controversy over abortion funding is similarly phony. Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered. The House bill would leave that restriction in place. ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/fact-check-washington-post-gets-their-facts-wrong-on-abortion-in-health-care/ Americans United for Life's legislative arm Americans United for Life Action endorses a key vote today on the House floor of the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment, an Amendment that blocks any federal money from going to abortion in health care reform Americans United for Life Action’s President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/endorsement-of-pro-life-amendment-vote-and-new-score-letter/ On Tuesday we reported that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) would be considering whether to once again delay implementation of the Illinois parental notification law.  For a short while on Wednesday, pro-lifers felt victorious: rather than further delay enforcement, as we expected, the IDFPR allowed the ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/06/once-again-minors-are-left-unprotected-in-illinois/ On Friday the House Rules Committee is expected to report out a rule governing debate on H.R. 3962, the House health care reform bill.  It is likely that this rule will include language called the “Ellsworth Amendment,” after Congressman Brad Ellsworth of Indiana.  This language is being touted as a ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/05/what%e2%80%99s-wrong-with-the-ellsworth-amendment-%e2%80%93-summary-and-analysis/ Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found a Pittsburg ordinance restricting access to public areas around abortion clinics unconstitutional.  More specifically, the court held the ordinance to be “insufficiently tailored” because it “burdens substantially more speech than necessary” to achieve the City’s stated interest—to prevent ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/05/popping-the-%e2%80%9cbubble-zone%e2%80%9d-jurisprudence-before-it-floats-away/ Yesterday, the House Rules Committee announced that the “rule” for considering the sweeping health care legislation will encompass the language put forward by Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind. that the House leadership is falsely describing as pro-life. By allowing the Ellsworth language, House Democratic leaders hope to address the reluctance of ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/05/rep-ellsworth%e2%80%99s-proposal-does-not-prevent-abortion-funding-in-health-care-reform/ In her blog entry on The Daily Beast, Dana Goldstein records pro-abortion leader Judy Waxman’s incredible statement that the new House health care bill, H.R. 3962, “leans toward the pro-life position.”  To support this conclusion Goldstein’s entry relies on statements from several abortion rights advocates.  However, the current version of ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/04/aul-fact-check-on-%e2%80%9cabortion-under-fire%e2%80%9d-by-dana-goldstein-the-daily-beast-11-1-09/ A woman is far more likely to choose life if she sees an ultrasound of her unborn child, which is why AUL has long promoted laws requiring abortion clinics to give clients the opportunity to view their ultrasound. Now, it appears that an ultrasound can change the heart of an ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/03/local-planned-parenthood-director-quits-after-watching-ultrasound/ The U.S. House health care overhaul bill H.R. 3962 could receive a vote as early as Thursday.  H.R. 3962 would create a new stream of federal funding not covered by the restrictions of the Hyde Amendment prohibiting federal funding of abortion. Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/03/critical-house-vote-current-house-health-care-bill-would-create-the-largest-expansion-of-taxpayer-funded-abortion-in-over-30-years/ Minors in Illinois have been unprotected from the harms of abortion for decades.  The legislature passed a parental notice law in 1995—a law substantially similar to the 36 other state laws requiring either parental notice or consent.  But of course, the ACLU had to step in and challenge the law.  ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/03/illinois-politics-and-the-aclu-a-sneaky-alliance/           The new version of health care reform unveiled by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi fails to exclude abortion funding and coverage – in fact, it explicitly includes it.  Below is AUL’s legal analysis of the abortion provisions in the bill, as well as an analysis of the conscience protection, ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/30/analysis-of-life-provisions-in-h-r-3962/ Statement by Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest: "Just as Americans United for Life had expected, the new House health care bill unveiled this morning includes the Capps Amendment language added during the Energy and Commerce Committee mark-up.  This bill will explicitly allow federal funding of abortion ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/29/aul%e2%80%99s-statement-on-new-house-health-care-bill/ Today, at the same time that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was unveiling the new House health care reform bill, Americans United for Life's legislative arm AUL Action sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives to express our deep concern over the life-related provisions in the bill.  Just as ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/29/aul-action-sends-letter-to-house-re-life-related-provisions/ Today, House Democrats are expected to unveil a health care overhaul bill that will likely include new federal funding for abortions not covered by the Hyde Amendment, a funding restriction on abortion limited to programs funded through the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill. Leading pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/29/house-democrats-expected-to-unveil-pro-abortion-health-care-bill/ In September, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress and said “under our plan no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.” Currently, however, all three health care reform proposals in Congress mandate abortion funding to varying degrees.  Recognizing this, President Obama now seeks to clarify that by ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/28/our-plan%e2%80%9d-or-%e2%80%9cmy-plan%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-federal-dollars-will-be-spent-on-abortion/ In August, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted sex-selection abortions as an abuse against women in India and China saying, “unfortunately with technology, parents are able to use sonograms to determine the sex of a baby, and to abort girl children simply because they’d rather have a boy.” But sex-selection abortions ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/28/center-for-reproductive-rights-against-common-ground/ Senate Majority Leader Reid announced that he will include a “public option” (government-run insurance plan) in the final Senate health care reform bill.  While the language of the final Senate bill, like the final House bill, is not available for public consumption, it is not hard to predict what the ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/28/how-the-public-option-will-allow-abortion-in-health-care/ The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that a Los Angeles man, Joshua Woodward, has been arrested for the intentional homicide of his unborn child. As public comments on the case posted to the online Chronicle story show, this kind of prosecution provokes public confusion. Here are some answers to ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/27/new-murder-case-brings-californias-fetal-homicide-ban-into-public-eye/ Buried in an Associated Press story last week on President Obama's health care reform agenda was a fact that counters misleading statements from the White House: The Hyde Amendment does not protect American taxpayers from funding abortions through ObamaCare. The AP reports: The main point of contention is the proposed new federal ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/25/associated-press-admits-hyde-amendment-wont-prevent-obamacare-from-funding-abortions/ Today, an Associated Press article highlighted the division among Democrats in the House of Representatives over abortion in health care reform.  The article accurately describes several of the reasons why pro-life members of Congress are not satisfied with the “Capps Amendment” (language added to the House bill during the Energy ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/23/congress-divided-over-abortion-in-health-care-blocks-on-procedural-votes-needed/ When President Obama was on the campaign trail, he promised Planned Parenthood that the "first thing" he would do as President would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)--a bill that would strike down all regulations on abortion, denying Americans their rights of conscience, and forcing taxpayers to ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/23/prez-nominates-pro-abort-aclu-lawyer-to-eeoc/ [Printer-friendly PDF] Introduction Soon after taking office, President Obama made it a top priority to reverse a regulation that allows health care providers the right to refuse to perform services to which they object. The regulation, issued by executive order by the Bush Administration and finalized on December 19, 2008,[1] ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/22/conscience-protection-and-the-health-care-reform-bills/ LifeNews reports that the Obama administration's official volunteerism Web site, Serve.gov, encourages visitors to put in hours at Planned Parenthood. Journalist Lisa Staub discovered the government site's promotion of the abortion giant when she typed the keyword "health" and the city "Houston" into its search engine, which is intended to connect ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/21/obama-administration-web-site-seeks-to-recruit-volunteers-for-planned-parenthood/ If Congressional leaders have their way, sweeping health care reform legislation will force American taxpayers to fund abortion-on-demand. A few days ago I had a chance to explain this to the country in an article in The Wall ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/21/help-us-stop-your-tax-dollars-from-going-to-abortion/ HERE are the Facts Media Matters stated:  “In a new anti-choice ad, the conservative Americans United for Life presents several nuggets of misinformation regarding how abortion is being treated in Democratic proposals for health care reform.  Because they lack any factual grounds for their argument, the group resorts to ominous music, ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/19/aulas-response-to-media-matters-faulty-fact-check/ There have been many promises made during the health care debate in Congress, from President Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and many others that no federal funding will go to abortion in health care reform. They claim they are merely maintaining the "status quo." Yesterday, in The Wall ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/16/aul-prez-writes-in-wall-street-journal-tax-dollars-shouldn%e2%80%99t-fund-abortion/ In today's edition of Church Report, AUL Staff Counsel Anna Franzonello responds to a report by the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute that blames certain countries' restrictive abortion laws for a high rate of deaths and complications from clandestine abortion in those countries. The report's conclusions are "ideologically driven by the Guttmacher ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/15/the-guttmacher-institute-vs-the-facts/ Today, Americans United for Life’s legislative action arm, AUL Action is giving America a much-needed reality check with a new online ad that dispels the deceptive rhetoric in Washington and gives clear evidence how taxpayer dollars will go to funding abortions in health care reform. Our new online video ad, “Don’t ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/14/new-online-ad-about-abortion-in-health-care/ My first column for the Knights of Columbus Web site HeadlineBistro.com, published today, tells the story of Ashli Foshee McCall, who emerged from personal tragedy to help others avoid making the mistake she made. In 1996, Ashli Foshee McCall, 25 years old, married and pregnant with her first child, was diagnosed ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/13/regretting-her-abortion-author-helps-ill-pregnant-women-find-hope-and-healing/ Washington D.C. -- Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life, made the following statement Tuesday regarding the Finance Committee vote on health care reform: "The Senate Finance Committee has joined the four other committees with jurisdiction over health care reform in reporting out a bill that does ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/10/13/americans-united-for-lifes-statement-on-finance-committee-vote/