California ProLife Council News 

Pro-Life News Briefs
Week of May 2, 2008
 

BARACK OBAMA DEFENDS OPPOSITION TO PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN IN INTERVIEW
Washington, DC -- In a Sunday interview, pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama defended his opposition to a ban on partial-birth abortions. Though he wasn't in Congress at the time it voted on the ban, he said he would have supported it had it contained a health exception. However, doctors and medical groups readily acknowledge that the three-day-long abortion procedure -- involving the killing of an unborn baby halfway through the birthing process - never helps women medically. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Obama said, "On an issue like partial-birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that." In addition to providing no medical benefit for women, pro-life groups oppose a health exception because they typically allow virtually all abortions to remain legal. In this case, the health exception, which the Supreme Court ruled was not required in the federal partial-birth abortion ban, would have gutted the legislation. Obama also claimed pro-life advocates only brought the partial-birth abortion ban forward to "polarize" the abortion debate. "Now, part of the reason they didn't have [the health exception] was purposeful, because those who are opposed to abortion — and I don't begrudge that at all. They have a moral calling to try to oppose what they think is immoral," he said. "Oftentimes what they were trying to do was to polarize the debate and make it more difficult for people, so that they could try to bring an end to abortions overall," Obama contended.
In a speech before Planned Parenthood in July 2007, Obama decried the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth abortion ban.
Source: LifeNews, April 27, 2008

BLACK PRO-LIFE PASTORS, COLLEGE STUDENTS PROTEST ABORTION RACISM TO CONGRESS
Washington, DC -- Black pro-life pastors and pro-life college students joined together on Thursday for a protest at Congress concerning recent news that Planned Parenthood abortion businesses took donations from obviously racist donors. The fake contributors wanted their money used to abort black babies. The pro-life advocates hoped to further expose the racist tendencies behind Planned Parenthood and to petition both political parties not to accept money from the abortion giant. Members of Students for Life of America joined with the African-American pastors and pro-life Arizona Rep. Trent Franks for the event, which included a vigil outside a local Planned Parenthood. Earlier this year, a student magazine at UCLA conducted two sting operations with callers posing as potential Planned Parenthood donors. Local affiliates of the abortion business in several states willingly took the donations and even appeared to support the racist intent behind them in some instances.
Source: LifeNews, April 25, 2008

PRO-LIFE STATE GROUPS IN CALIFORNIA AND WISCONSIN FIRST TO BACK JOHN McCAIN
Sacramento, CA -- Two state pro-life groups are the first to issue an endorsement for John McCain for president. Their announcements follow one from National Right to Life indicating support for McCain because of the differences on abortion between him Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. The California Pro-Life Council, last week, adopted the same resolution NRLC approved, saying pro-life advocates should support McCain because he is significantly better on abortion than either Democratic candidate. "Both contenders for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, have strong positions and voting records in favor of abortion on demand and strongly support the appointment of only U.S. Supreme Court Justices who favor Roe v. Wade," the California pro-life group said. On the other hand, McCain "has consistently taken a strong pro-life position against abortion, has a strong pro-life voting record against abortion, and opposes Roe v. Wade." Wisconsin Right to Life, in an email to LifeNews.com, went further in its endorsement of McCain. "Senator McCain has a stellar 100% voting record on protecting unborn children from abortion," the group said. "He opposes the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States and he voted to ban the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure," WRTL added. "He opposes taxpayer funding of abortion and supports legislation that would require parental notification prior to a minor's abortion."
Source: LifeNews, April 24, 2008

REPUBLICAN PARTY LEADER: JOHN McCAIN'S CAMPAIGN WILL SEEK PRO-LIFE VOTERS
Washington, DC -- A Republican Party leader says John McCain's presidential campaign will "aggressively" reach out to pro-life voters this year. With a stark contrast between McCain's pro-life views on abortion and the ardently pro-abortion views of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton it could be a key focus this election. Republican National Committee Deputy Chair Frank Donatelli spoke with CBN News about the outreach the McCain campaign plans. “All I can say is that it will be aggressive," he said. “We are going to have a very aggressive program to reach out to religious voters whether they are Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic or whatever." "Senator McCain’s aides at all levels will be talking to pro-family groups. Senator McCain himself will engage with pro-family groups," Donatelli added. The GOP official said the Democratic Party has already talked about reaching out to pro-life voters, especially Catholics, but he said the party will have a hard time attracting pro-life voters because of its staunchly pro-abortion views and those of its eventual nominee. "The problem with the DNC outreach is the party that embraces abortion on demand ... I would think would have a great deal of difficulty reaching pro-family voters," he said. On the other hand, Donatelli told CBN News that McCain's pro-life views on abortion line up with pro-life voters.
Source: LifeNews, April 25, 2008

PRO-LIFE SENATOR RESPONDS TO BARACK OBAMA COMPARING HIM TO TERRORIST
Washington, DC -- A leading pro-life U.S. senator has responded to comments pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made during the most recent presidential debate. Obama compared Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to a terrorist he knows in an attempt to defend his relationship. During last week's presidential debate between Obama and Hillary Clinton, Obama was asked a question about his friendship with William Ayers, a member of a group responsible for bombing government buildings. "He's never apologized for that," moderator George Stephanopolis told Obama. Obama explained that his friendship with Ayers shouldn't be construed as implying he endorsed the terrorist-like tactics Ayers used to drive home his political point. Then, the Illinois senator brought up a pro-life colleague to apparently make the point that he's friends with other people who take "extreme" positions or would use terrorist tactics. "The fact is, is that I'm also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions," Obama said.
Source: LifeNews, April 25, 2008

OBAMA CAMP "FLATTERED" BY HAMAS COMPLIMENT
Terror group compared senator to JFK in its endorsement of him for president
Barack Obama's campaign said yesterday it is "flattered" that Hamas' endorsement of the Illinois senator compared him to John F. Kennedy, though it objects to any diplomatic contact with the terrorist group. "I like John Kennedy too," said chief Obama strategist David Axelrod. "That's about the only thing we have in common with this gentleman from Hamas. We all agree that John Kennedy was a great president, and it's flattering when anybody says that Barack Obama would follow in his footsteps." Axelrod was reacting to comments earlier this week from Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, who said Hamas "hopes" Obama will win the presidential elections and "change" America's foreign policy. "I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse. ... I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principal. And he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with humiliation and arrogance," Yousuf said during an exclusive interview with WND and WABC-New York radio's John Batchelor.
Source: World Net Daily, April 17, 2008

BARACK OBAMA'S PRO-ABORTION BABY IS "PUNISHMENT" COMMENT UPSETS BLACK LEADER
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- An African-American pro-life leader says she's very upset to hear of the recent remarks pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made recently. Obama shocked pro-life advocates when he said he wouldn't want his young daughters "punished" with a baby should they become pregnant as teenagers. "I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby," Obama said. Day Gardner, the president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, told LifeNews.com on Thursday she's blown away by Obama's comment. Gardner worries Americans will be "punished" with a president who won't stand up for the lives of all people, either before or after birth. "I will never call a baby a 'mistake,'" the former Miss America finalist said. We are all put here for a reason. But that aside, aren't we supposed to help our children learn from their 'mistakes?'" she asked. "The consequences or circumstances a young woman may face with an unplanned pregnancy need not include the cruel and vicious killing of her child," Gardner explained
Source: LifeNews, April 10, 2008

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S NIECE SAYS ABORTION IS THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS CAUSE
Memphis, TN (LifeNews.com) -- As Americans honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the fortieth anniversary of his assassination, his niece says abortion has become the civil rights cause of today. Dr. Alveda King, who has suffered from multiple abortions, says the destruction of human life is on par with the lack of civil rights of her uncle's generation. In a speech at a church in downtown Memphis, King noted how her uncle was killed on this day in 1968. But a short five years later the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited abortions in the Roe v. Wade decision -- one that King says has decimated the nation and the black community in particular. "There are people dying in this country, everyday," she said, focusing on a the plight of a different set of powerless people. "They are unborn children."  "The fight against abortion is a new frontier in the civil rights movement," she said, according to an article in the Mississippi Daily Journal.  "My uncle often said that we don't follow through," King added. "He said that we admonish black women not to abort their babies but we don't show them how to care for them, don't give them options for life."
Source: LifeNews, April 10, 2008.

MORE PLANNED PARENTHOOD ABORTION BUSINESSES ACCEPT OVERTLY RACIST DONATIONS
Los Angeles, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A second report from a student-run magazine at UCLA finds more Planned Parenthood abortion businesses accepting overtly racist donations. After the first report showed a Planned Parenthood in Idaho accepting money from someone who wanted to reduce the number of black babies, centers in Oklahoma and New Mexico followed suit. The Advocate magazine told LifeNews.com on Wednesday that it released another video exposing the racist attitudes at the nation's largest abortion business. Posing as a donor, UCLA law student James O’Keefe called facilities in Oklahoma and New Mexico and asked to make a donation specifically to be use to kill African-American unborn children. The abortion center staff are more than happy to accommodate his request, with one Planned Parenthood employee saying, "for whatever reason, we'll accept the money." The magazine told LifeNews.com that Irene Gray of Planned Parenthood in Albuquerque, New Mexico took the call from O’Keefe last summer.
 Gray replied in sympathetic tones, “Yes, yes, it’s a strange time for sure” to the caller’s rant about affirmative action and how he thinks there is a need for fewer black people because they compete with white Americans for admission to schools. When asked if the organization takes donations specifically to abort black babies, another Planned Parenthood staffer from Tulsa, Susan Riggs, answered, “We can definitely designate it for an African-American.”
Source: LifeNews, April 10, 2008.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD REPORT: MORE ABORTIONS, FEWER ADOPTIONS AND PRENATAL CARE
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A further examination of the new annual report Planned Parenthood recently released finds the abortion business is still the largest in the United States. As in previous years, the number of abortions it does has gone up and roughly 25 percent of all abortions in the United States are done at Planned Parenthood centers. The report shows that Planned Parenthood did 289,750 abortions, an increase over the 264,943 abortions it did during the 2005-2006 fiscal year. That's a whopping nine percent increase even though the number of abortions nationally are on the decline. "It claims to be reducing pregnancy; yet one out of every four abortions in the United States is committed at a Planned Parenthood facility," watchdog Jim Sedlak told LifeNews.com. The number of abortions dwarfs the number of clients receiving prenatal care -- which totaled just 11,058 in the new annual report. That number is almost a 20 percent decline from the 2005-2006 total of 13,261. The number of Planned Parenthood adoption referrals is also miniscule and continues to drop. The previous annual report showed a scant 2,413 referrals and the abortion business made three less in the last fiscal year.
Source: LifeNews, April 10, 2008

OBAMA'S ABORTION EXTREMISM
Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr.'s endorsement of Barack Obama last week -- "I believe in this guy like I've never believed in a candidate in my life" -- recalled another dramatic moment in Democratic politics. In  the summer of 1992, as Bill Clinton  http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Bill+Clinton?tid=informline
solidified his control over the Democratic Party http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Democratic+Party?tid=informline, Robert P. Casey Sr., the senator's father, was banned from speaking to the Democratic convention for the heresy of being pro-life. The elder Casey (now deceased) was then the governor of Pennsylvania http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Pennsylvania?tid=informline one of the most prominent elected Democrats in the country. He was an economic progressive in the Roosevelt tradition. But his Irish Catholic conscience led him to oppose abortion. So the Clintons chose to humiliate him. It was a sign and a warning of much mean-spirited pettiness to come. The younger Casey, no doubt, is a sincere fan of Obama http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Barack+Obama?tid=informline. He also must have found it satisfying to help along the cycle of political justice. But by Casey's father's standard of social justice for the unborn, Obama is badly lacking. Obama has not made abortion rights the shouted refrain of his campaign, as other Democrats have done. He seems to realize that pro-choice enthusiasm is inconsistent with a reputation for post-partisanship.

But Obama's record on abortion is extreme. He opposed the ban on partial-birth abortion -- a practice a fellow Democrat, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called "too close to infanticide." Obama strongly criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban. In the Illinois http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Illinois?tid=informline state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of infants mistakenly left  alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly claimed that he would not  want his daughters to be "punished with a baby" because of a crisis pregnancy -- hardly a welcoming attitude toward new life. For decades, most Democrats and many Republicans have hoped the political debate on abortion would simply go away. But it is the issue that does not die. Recent polls have shown that young people are more likely than their elders to support abortion restrictions. Few  Americans oppose abortion under every circumstance, but a majority oppose most of the abortions that actually take place -- generally supporting the procedure only in the case of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother.

Perhaps this is a revolt against a culture of disposability. Perhaps it reflects the continuing revolution of ultrasound technology -- what might be called the "Juno" effect. In the delightful movie by that name, the protagonist, a pregnant teen seeking an abortion, is confronted by a classmate who informs her that the unborn child already has fingernails -- which causes second thoughts. A worthless part of its mother's body -- a clump of protoplasmic rubbish -- doesn't have fingernails.

Abortion is an unavoidable moral issue. It also has broader political  significance. Democrats of a past generation -- the generation of  Hubert Humphrey http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Hubert+Humphrey?tid=informline
and Martin Luther King Jr. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Martin+Luther+King+Jr?tid=informline spoke about building a beloved community that cared especially for the elderly, the weak, the disadvantaged and the young. The advance of pro-choice policies imported a different ideology into the Democratic Party -- the absolute triumph of individualism. The rights and choices of adults have become paramount, even at the expense of other, voiceless members of the community. These trends reached their logical culmination during a congressional  debate on partial-birth abortion in 1999. When Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Barbara+Boxer?tid=informline was pressed to affirm that she opposed the medical killing of children after birth, she refused to commit, saying that children deserve legal protection only "when you bring your baby home." It was unclear whether this included the car trip.

Having endorsed partial-birth abortion, Obama has little room to  maneuver on the broader issue. But he does have some. He could take the wise counsel of evangelical Democrats such as Amy Sullivan and come out strongly for policies that would reduce the number of abortions -- support for pregnant women, abstinence education, the responsible promotion of birth control. An organization called Democrats for Life has proposed the creation of a "95-10 Initiative"  in which states and the federal government would work toward the reduction of abortion rates by 95 percent within 10 years. That would be a unifying national goal. Such efforts will not please many pro-lifers, who are waiting on Obama to support any type of legal protection for the unborn. But a real effort to reduce the number of abortions would indicate that Obama's Democratic Party is moving beyond its humiliation of Gov. Casey. And maybe Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Bob+Casey?tid=informline, with his newfound leverage, could insist upon it.
Source: Michael Gerson, April 2, 2008

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California ProLife Council (CPLC) (www.californiaprolife.org.) is the largest statewide organization in California solely dedicated to pro-life issues. CPLC is a non-sectarian, non-partisan, non-profit grassroots organization of pro-life groups and individuals in California dedicated to protecting and fostering the most basic value of our society- respect for LIFE itself.  We seek to educate our community in regard to abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide, to identify and organize the pro-life population of the state into an effective team, and to restore respect for human life to public policy.  California ProLife Council is the California affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, Inc. (www.nrlc.org)