Congressman Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, held a press conference today with leading pro-life women and black Americans.

Responding to problems he pointed out, Franks has introduced the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, which would prohibit knowingly performing or financing sex-selection or race-based abortions.

Franks says the bill is needed because abortions on black babies are done at much higher rates than abortions on babies of other races.

"It is estimated that as many as 50% of African-American babies conceived in the U.S. each year" become abortion victims, he said.

U.S. Father Hugh W. Cleary, Holy Cross superior general in Rome, said that when Obama receives an honorary degree from the Indiana university and delivers the commencement address in May, he should take to heart the objections of Catholics who have been scandalized by the invitation.

Father Cleary asked the president to use the occasion to "give your conscience a fresh opportunity to be formed anew in a holy awe and reverence before human life in every form at every stage -- from conception to natural death."[..]

The visit should be a "teachable moment" for all involved, Father Cleary said.

He asked the president to take advantage of the occasion to "rethink, through prayerful wrestling with your own conscience, your stated positions on the vital 'life issues' of our day, particularly in regard to abortion, embryonic forms of stem-cell research and your position on the Freedom of Choice Act."

Father Cleary repeatedly quoted Obama's words at the National Prayer Breakfast in February: "There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being." Sadly, the priest said, legalized abortion implies that a person's choice for personal freedom supersedes this obligation to protect and nurture human life.

"An 'unwanted' child comes in many forms: an untimely presence; a disabled or deformed creature; an embryo of the wrong sex; a child conceived out of wedlock; a child conceived through a hideous crime," he said.

Father Cleary said the United States has a history of defining the parameters of human life "when it suits our self-interest."

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday that he has signed legislation that approves a number of specialty license plates, including one that bears the anti-abortion slogan.

"The practice has been for the General Assembly to allow statements of social political positions on these license plates," the governor said.

"The clear trend of [recent court] decisions was if the state allows plates that have messages ... once a state does that, these plates should be allowed."

The Congress of the State of Jalisco has approved a reform of the state constitution so that it protects the right to life of the unborn from the moment of conception.

Representatives of one of the most important state legislatures in Mexico modified article 228 of the state constitution. Javier Guizar Macias of the PRI party said, "Instead of incarcerating someone who undergoes abortion...the reform stipulates giving the person medical care, psychological counseling, so that she can reflect on the issue."

About 800 white crosses were set up as a display on campus Monday, each representing about five babies that would be aborted in the US that day.

UK Students for Life put the crosses for "Cemetery of Innocents" in the area between White Hall Classroom Building and the Ralph G. Anderson Building to give people perspective on the number of abortions that happen, said group member David Burnett. An estimated 4,000 abortions are performed every day in the US, Burnett said, and this intended to be a silent memorial to them.

Greg Adams, the group's vice president of events, said the option of getting a degree and the option of having a baby are often presented as being at odds with each other."We really want to empower women to have their child and get a degree," Adams said.

Speaking at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's national conference in Houston, Clinton said, "A society that denies and demeans women's rights and roles is a society that is more likely to engage in behavior that is negative, anti-democratic, and leads to violence and extremism."

Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University headed up the study with Vincent Rue of the Florida-based Institute for Pregnancy Loss and post-abortion researcher Catherine Coyle.

"For both men and women the experience of an abortion in a previous relationship was related to negative outcomes in the current relationship: perceptions of improved quality of life if this relationship also ended and intimate partner violence," they write.

Published in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed medical journal Public Health, the study finds an abortion within a current relationship causes more arguing when discussing future children -- a respective 116% and a 196% increased risk.

After an abortion, partners are 75% more likely to argue about money than when having the baby, argue about the man's relatives 80% more, and there is a 99% increased risk of arguing about the woman's relatives compared to couples who give birth.

"Men whose current partners had an abortion were more likely to report jealousy (96% greater risk) and conflict about drugs (385% greater risk). These results suggest that abortion may play a vital role in understanding the etiology of some relationship problems," the authors explain.

The study also finds abortion increases women's risk of various forms of sexual dysfunction anywhere from 122% to 182%.

The study also found an increased level of domestic violence following an abortion compared with giving birth.

A six-month pilot programme, which cost $300,000, ends tomorrow but the board said it was too early to say if offering the Levonelle 1 pill free at Auckland city pharmacies had had any effect on teen pregnancies.

The board's planning and funding manager, Wendy Hoskin, indicated in a paper it may have affected the number of terminations performed at the board's Epsom Day Unit, the region's main abortion provider.

She said the number of abortions had dropped by 13 percent from October-December.

She said there could be a variety of reasons but early results showed a positive trend, The New Zealand Herald reported today.

The compromise under discussion would be legislation that requires parental notification but not consent. That means parents would have to be told about their teenager's plan to have an abortion but wouldn't have to give their permission for it to happen.

North Pole Republican Rep. John Coghill, with Palin's backing, is still pushing for the full version generally requiring parental consent before girls under age 17 could get an abortion. But the state Senate blocked a similar bill last year and, without the compromise, it's hard to see how that wouldn't happen again.

Coghill is well aware of that, and opponents of his bill have signaled their openness to the compromise.

"If that's all I can get then it's something I would look favorably at," Coghill said.

Coghill conceded if anything can get passed through the Legislature it's probably going to be the requirement for parental notification and not consent. He thinks he has the votes to get his consent bill passed in the state House but "my hurdle is the Senate," he said.

Parental consent stalled last year in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French. French is the committee chair again and there is no indication that he's changed his mind. French does, however, sound open to the compromise that requires only parental notification.

"I think that's certainly an issue that folks have a lot less concern about," French said. "If there is a compromise possible, it's in that area."

Eagle River Republican Sen. Fred Dyson, the most outspoken abortion opponent in the state Senate, said he could live with it.

"As my wife says about me, it's better than nothing," Dyson said.

Just after a jury in Sedgwick County, Kansas, returned not guilty verdicts in the criminal case against late-term abortionist George Tiller, the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts released to the public a petition it filed in December listing eleven allegations against Tiller’s license.

According to a statement released by the KSBHA, "Violations alleged include performing an abortion on a fetus that was viable without having a documented referral from another physician not legally or financially affiliated with him; unprofessional or dishonorable conduct or professional incompetency; and commitment of acts likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public."

The KSBHA also indicated that the case they have filed against Tiller is independent from the criminal charges and will proceed in its own merits.

Tiller could have his medical license revoked, suspended, or dramatically restricted, depending on the outcome of the Board’s determination.

Jurors have acquitted one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers of violating Kansas law requiring an independent second opinion for the procedure.

Dr. George Tiller was found not guilty Friday of 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. Prosecutors had alleged that a doctor he used for second opinions was essentially an employee of his and not independent as state law requires.

Will Campbell, 15, a student a Stuart Hall High School and parishioner at St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco, said the first incident occurred on Saturday, March 7, about 11:30 a.m.

"At the time, I started playing music from my Ipod on my portable speaker," Will told California Catholic Daily. "The Planned Parenthood escorts immediately started jotting down notes, making phone calls, and moving around anxiously (excited that they finally had something to complain about). When the police arrived they simply asked us if we were playing music to ourselves. We said yes and offered to turn it down repeatedly if we needed to, but the police officers just told us to enjoy ourselves. The two officers thought it was no big deal."

Will said the song he was playing is called "Happy Birthday" by the rap artist Flipsyde.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, released the following statement:

"If Secretary Clinton were fully aware of the eugenicist past of Margaret Sanger, I cannot believe that she would be accepting an award in her name. It is in fact shocking that the award still bear's Sanger's name. Sanger broadly supported the Eugenics movement, advocating for a superior race that was free of poor, immigrant, and minority citizens. She even spoke at a rally of the Klu Klux Klan. Despite this evidence, Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading abortion provider, has done little to distance itself from Sanger's legacy. Last year's controversy involving a Planned Parenthood employee accepting donations earmarked specifically for the abortion of African American children draws attention to an important reality for the nation's largest abortion provider. Planned Parenthood Federation of America needs to be very careful to steer clear of any appearance of adhering to Sanger's pro-eugenics philosophy. And this ought to begin by renaming their highest award."

President Obama on March 17 nominated Judge David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal. He is presently U.S. District Chief Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.

Over his seven years as a district judge, Judge Hamilton ruled against the Indiana informed consent law which required abortionists to inform women about the risks of abortion. The Indiana law was identical to a Pennsylvania statute upheld by the Supreme Court.

Judge Hamilton claimed the law imposed an "undue burden" on a woman's ability to obtain an abortion.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal reversed Judge Hamilton's decision on appeal, and strongly criticized his decision as an "abuse of discretion."

Alesha Thomas was allowed to leave the Marie Stopes International clinic in Leeds in July 2007 without antibiotics.

Five days later the Huddersfield teenager died from a heart attack due to the infection toxic shock syndrome.

Antibiotics would probably have saved her, said coroner Roger Whittaker. He urged the clinic to change its systems.

The inquest in Huddersfield heard how the gynaecologist who performed the abortion issued an electronic prescription for an antibiotic to be given to Alesha.

But she had already left the building and she was never given the prescription.

As Alesha's condition worsened her mother, Rose Bent, called a hotline reporting stomach cramps and bleeding but it appeared her notes were not consulted and nobody noticed the antibiotic had not been prescribed, the inquest was told.

She died on the way to hospital on 11 July.

A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee passed the bill 3-2 on Thursday. The House passed the bill last month.

The bill increases the wait time from one hour to one day.

Supporters say it gives women time to reflect on a decision that can never be undone.

Critics argue that requiring two trips creates a burden, especially for poor, rural women who may have to take two days off work.

The bill heads to the full Medical Affairs Committee, where senators are expected to try to drop the two-trip requirement or allow women to get ultrasounds somewhere other than the abortion clinic.

House Bill 1595 now goes to the Senate floor, where it is expected to pass.

"President Obama claims he wants to find common ground on abortion issues, yet this selection is completely contrary to his words," said Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus. "Deeds matter more than words and on abortion this President seems very comfortable with saying one thing and doing another."

Smith was one of 63 Members who signed a letter to Obama today asking him to withdraw the nomination.

"Ms. Johnsen has demonstrated herself to be an extremist, making absurd comments about pregnant women, motherhood and children," Smith said.

"To say that pro-life policies reduce pregnant women to 'fetal containers' - as Ms. Johnsen has - is an insult to women everywhere. These comments are dehumanizing and give remarkable insight to a prejudice against motherhood, the family and a fundamental respect for all human life."

A new documentary titled "Beyond the Dark Valley" features compelling testimonies of women and men who have been devastated by abortion.

It is produced by Operation Outcry, a project of The Justice Foundation that is dedicated to spreading the truth that abortion hurts women and the message of hope for those hurting from abortion.

"It is our hope that this program will expose the truth about abortion and guide those who are hurting out of the dark valley," according to the Web site. "If you have experienced the pain and devastation of abortion, you are not alone."

Fr. Howard Lincoln, who describes himself as "an extremely pro-life priest," delivered a eulogy as part of a 15-minute "service" he gave at the Ramon Chapel of Forest Lawn Mortuary in Cathedral City for Dr. Joseph Durante, one of the state's most notorious abortionists. Durante died on Friday, March 13, at the age of 80.

Fr. Lincoln told California Catholic Daily that he eulogized Durante as a Catholic doctor who delivered thousands of babies, and said that when he was finished, he called forward Dr. Marion M. Sherman, Durante’s business partner, to give another eulogy.

Fr. Lincoln said he knew nothing about Durante's career as an abortionist at the time he gave his eulogy. However, he said, even had he known about it, he would still have officiated at Durante's funeral because, as a Catholic, Durante was entitled to a "Christian burial."

• Fund thousands of abortions via Medicaid and taxpayer dollars, despite the economic crisis in Illinois
• Force pro-life health care professionals to cooperate in abortion by making abortion referrals
• Mandate "comprehensive" sex-ed programs that encourage promiscuity and undermine the family in all public schools
• Keep abortion entirely legal in Illinois should Roe v. Wade ever be overturned

A University spokesman told OSV that the school has adapted its protocol to comply with the Catholic Church's teaching on life. The school will now send students to First Resort, a crisis pregnancy center; the Gabriel Project, a pregnancy support organization run by the USF's St. Ignatius Parish; and Catholic Charities counseling services.

The new directive for the student clinic at USF's St. Mary's Medical Center states: "In keeping with Catholic tradition and teachings, voluntary termination of pregnancy will not be performed at St. Mary's Hospital and referrals for abortion will not be given to a student by USF Student Health Clinic staff. In addition, contraceptives services, in all forms, will not be provided by the USF Student Health Clinic."

But what the news sources fail to mention is that the Catholic Holy Cross Cemetery owned by Resurrection Cemetery Association in Butte - contains a memorial for local residents to pray the rosary, at the 'Tomb of the Unborn'. This memorial, located a short distance west of the church, was erected as a dedication to all babies who have died because of abortion.

What else is the mainstream news not telling you? The family who died in the crash near the location of the abortion victim's memorial, is the family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp, owner of the largest for-profit abortion chain in the nation.

Family Planning Associates was purchased four years ago by Irving Moore "Bud" Feldkamp III, owner of Allcare and Hospitality Dental Associates and CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino. The 17 California Family Planning clinics perform more abortions in the state than any other abortion provider - Planned Parenthood included - and they perform abortions through the first five months of pregnancy.

Although Feldkamp is not an abortionist, he reaps profits of blood money from the tens of thousands of babies that are killed through abortions performed every year at the clinics he owns. His business in the abortion industry was what enabled him to afford the private plane that was carrying his family to their week-long vacation at The Yellowstone Club, a millionaires-only ski resort.

The plane went down on Sunday, killing two of Feldkamp's daughters, two sons-in-law and five grandchildren along with the pilot and four family friends. The plane, a single-engine turboprop flown by Bud Summerfield of Highland, crashed into the Catholic cemetery and burst into flames, only 500 ft. from its landing destination. All aboard were killed.

The cause of the crash is a mystery. The pilot, who was a former military flier who logged over 2,000 miles, gave no indication to air traffic controllers that the aircraft was experiencing difficulty when he asked to divert to an airport in Butte. Witnesses report that the plane suddenly nosedived toward the ground with no apparent signs of a struggle. There was neither a cockpit voice recorder nor a flight data recorder onboard, and no radar clues into the planes final moments because the Butte airport is not equipped with a radar facility. Some speculate that the crash was due to ice on the wings, but this particular plane model has been tested for icy weather and experts have stated that ice being the cause is unlikely.

In my time working for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, I helped organize and conduct a weekly campaign where youth activists stood outside of Feldkamp's mini-mansion in Redlands holding fetal development signs and raising community awareness regarding Feldkamp's dealings in child murder for profit. Every Thursday afternoon we called upon Bud and his wife Pam to repent, seek God's blessing and separate themselves from the practice of child killing.

We warned him, for his children's sake, to wash his hands of the innocent blood he assisted in spilling because, as Scripture warns, if "you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you". (Ezekiel 35:6)

A news source states that Bud Feldkamp visited the site of the crash with his wife and their two surviving children on Monday. As they stood near the twisted and charred debris talking with investigators, light snow fell on the tarps that covered the remains of their children.

I don't want to turn this tragic event into some creepy spiritual 'I told you so' moment, but I think of the time spent outside of Feldkamp's - Pam Feldkamp laughing at the fetal development signs, Bud Feldkamp trying not to make eye contact as he got into his car with a small child in tow - and I think of the haunting words, 'Think of your children.' I wonder if those words were haunting Feldkamp as well as he stood in the snow among the remains of loved ones, just feet from the 'Tomb of the Unborn'?

New Hampshire lawmakers on Tuesday declined to revive a disputed 2003 law that required abortion providers to notify a parent at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a child.

The 2003 law was on the books for four years but was never enforced because of legal fights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two bills before the House would have reinstituted the two days' notice requirement. Representatives killed one of the bills by a vote of 228-148 and a similar, more heavily debated measure, 216-160.

The resolution sponsored by Rep. Henry Fincher, a Cookeville Democrat, was voted down unanimously Tuesday in the House Public Health and Family Assistance Subcommittee.

The measure is similar to a proposal that passed the Senate on Monday night that seeks to change the state constitution to allow the state to impose greater limits on abortions. Fincher's resolution would have made exceptions for rape, incest and a woman's health.

Dawn Lewis says she was told there was a 99 per cent chance the child would be severely disabled.

Miss Lewis, 26, says she was advised to have a termination when a 12-week scan allegedly showed her child had Edward's Syndrome - a condition that causes serious heart and kidney problems.

Most sufferers do not survive beyond 12 months. But Miss Lewis refused to have an abortion at Rochdale Infirmary, Greater Manchester and asked for a second opinion. Doctors at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester carried out a more sophisticated scan and found no evidence of the disorder. Further tests also confirmed the baby did not have any serious health problems.

After an anxious pregnancy, Miss Lewis, from Greave, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, gave birth to a healthy son, Deacon, in September. She has now made an official complaint to the hospital over the distress caused by the blunder, and an investigation has been launched at Rochdale Infirmary.

Live Action has sent complete footage from all three clinics to County Attorneys in Pima and Maricopa and to the Arizona Attorney General for use in prosecution. In response to receiving footage from the Tucson clinic, the office of the Pima County Attorney stated in a letter to Live Action that "this matter is under review and consideration by the Attorney General."

Huckabee said that when it abolished slavery, the U.S. debated and decided it was immoral for one person to have complete, life-or-death power over another. He said that should not change whether the control involves racial bigotry or a pregnant woman making a decision for her unborn child.

"What are we saying to the generation coming after us when we tell them that it is perfectly OK for one person to own another human being?" Huckabee said. "I thought we dealt with that 150 years ago when the issue of slavery was finally settled in this country, and we decided that it no longer was a political issue, it wasn't an issue of geography, it was an issue of morality. That it was either right or it was immoral that one person could own another human being and have full control even to the point of life and death over that other human being."

He said civilization cannot survive if "one group of people have life and death control over another for no particular reason other than their own conveniences and, in that case, prejudices."

Police are asking for the public's help in finding a mother after two fishermen make a disturbing discovery Sunday -- an infant girl in a trash bag at Lake Artemesia.
"When you see something like that it doesn't go easy on you," says Will Perdue, one of the fishermen who found the child as they fished at the 38-acre lake.

Will Perdue and Joseph Dean didn't know each other before Sunday. Perdue says they were "just trying to clean up trash" when they found the bag around 3 p.m.

"You don't do it that way -- by disposing a trash bag," Dean says. "Hospitals is where you take them."

Addressing Angolan political leaders and an international group of diplomats, Pope Benedict XVI appealed on behalf of African families struggling from the effects of poverty, disease and war.

The pope said women and girls in particular experience "crushing" discrimination and sexual exploitation. At the same time, he criticized agencies that, under the pretext of improving health care, try to promote abortion.

"How bitter the irony of those who promote abortion as a form of 'maternal' health care! How disconcerting the claim that the termination of life is a matter of reproductive health!" he said.

The Department of Health said the guidelines, issued for the first time in Northern Ireland, make no changes to the law in the province, the Irish Independent reported. However, some anti-abortion groups called them a back-door attempt to make abortion more available.

Under the guidelines, abortion is legal only when it is necessary to preserve the life of the woman or there is a risk of real and serious adverse effect on her physical or mental health, which is either long term or permanent. Doctors who perform illegal abortions and other people involved as facilitators face long prison sentences.

The executive director of Care Net Pregnancy Center of Green County in Monroe says she has identified 10 girls who admitted taking prostaglandins, which are drugs given to cows. Anna Anderson says the girls told her the drugs were a cheap way to end their pregnancies without their parents finding out.

But other officials are more skeptical about the reports.

Wisconsin Department of Health Services spokesman Seth Boffeli says the agency has no documented cases of teenage girls taking livestock drugs to end pregnancies.

• Overturning of the Mexico City Policy, which had prohibited U.S. funds from being used to promote or provide abortions overseas
• Working to overturn conscience protections for healthcare workers, forcing them to cooperate in abortion or risk losing their jobs
• Appointing pro-abortion Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who has close ties to late-term abortionist George Tiller, to head the Department of Health and Human Services
• Dedicating federal funds to harvest embryonic stem cells for research at the expense of the most defenseless members of the human family

Tonuya Scheniell Rainey, 38, has been charged with unlawful termination of a pregnancy, practicing healthcare without a license, child abuse and improper disposal of human remains after authorities say she conducted an abortion at her home in the 17000 block of Southwest 31st Court.[..]

Miramar police say that on March 5, Rainey forced her daughter, whom The Miami Herald is not naming, to swallow pills that caused her to give birth to a 24-week-old fetus. Rainey then allegedly gathered the fetus and placenta into a garbage bag and put it out with the rest of the household's waste for curbside pickup.

According to a search warrant and arrest warrant filed in Broward County courts, investigators were led to Rainey's residence after a detective received an anonymous phone call from someone who said, "Doug's mother killed his sister's baby."

The caller said he had been shown pictures taken on a cellphone of the baby, and that he was told the child was "alive and breathing"when the pictures were taken.

The bill, authored by Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, passed the Republican-controlled Senate by a 44-6 vote. The Democrat-led House chose not to take up similar legislation last year, but on Wednesday the House Public Policy Committee heard testimony on the issue.[..]

Patient safety, not abortions, is the intent of the bill, said Rep. Dave Cheatham, D-North Vernon, a sponsor of the House bill. "This addresses what happens after an abortion, not before."

The Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria found Mark Schulberg acted unprofessionally when he terminated the baby at 25 weeks at the request of the father, without permission from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The board yesterday reprimanded Dr Schulberg and ordered that he have counselling and be educated about the Victorian laws governing late-term abortions.

Dr Schulberg is the only doctor in the state who performs late-term abortions for "psychosocial" rather than medical reasons.

But he was found not guilty of two other allegations he faced: certifying that the woman did consent to her abortion when he ought to have known she was mentally incapable of doing so, and failing to inform police about the woman's rape.

Under Victorian law, the guardian of a woman with an intellectual disability cannot give consent for an abortion and needs to seek VCAT approval.

Following more than an hour of debate, the House Health Care Regulation Committee cast a party-line 5-2 in favor of the bill, with supporters saying the ultrasound provision helps women make informed medical decisions and helps doctors prevent complications.

"Let a woman choose, but let her have all the information possible that we have to give to her," said Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Brandon, who is sponsoring the bill with Rep. Anitere Flores, R-Miami.[..]

Under the proposed law, doctors must allow the woman a chance to see the scan, unless she signs a waiver declining that option.

Doctors also would be required to provide information on fetal development.

The bill provides exceptions to the ultrasound requirement for medical emergencies and cases where the woman can provide documentation that she is a victim of rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking.

When interviewed by a prosecutor in the state of Bahia on Monday of this week, the child reportedly stated that she does not wish to have an abortion. The case worker from the local child protective services assigned to the child is also opposed to an abortion, stating that "the greatest right of the child is the right to life."

However, the prosecutor in the case, Bruno Teixeira, has decided to send the girl over a thousand kilometers away to the Institute of Perinatology of Bahia, where she will be examined by staff. He has stated that if they determine that a risk exists to her health, she will be forced to have an abortion.

The House Public Policy Committee heard testimony Wednesday about the bill inspired by the shooting of an Indianapolis bank teller in April 2008. Katherin Shuffield was five months pregnant when she was shot in the abdomen during a robbery. She survived, but the twin girls she and her husband were expecting did not.

Bill sponsor Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, said Indiana's current sentence for the loss of the unborn children is too weak.

"Two twins were, in my opinion, murdered that day," said Merritt, who is a father of twins. "It kind of hit home."

Current Indiana law allows prosecutors to file murder charges in cases where a fetus dies, but only if the mother is at least seven months pregnant. The state's feticide law covers fetuses that are not yet viable outside the womb, but supporters of the proposal say that crime's current sentence of two to eight years is not enough.

The proposal would increase the prison time for feticide to six to 20 years. It would also allow six to 20 years of additional prison time for people convicted of attempted murder, murder or felony murder if they cause the death of a child in utero - a term that covers all stages of pregnancy.

The changes come nearly two years after Planned Parenthood of Western New York was denied a request for a $3,000 United Way grant to help cover costs associated with a merger of Planned Parenthood in Erie and Niagara counties.

The United Way at the time was pushing for more mergers and collaborations among area nonprofit agencies, and staff members with the organization encouraged Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions among its many services, to apply for funds. But the staff members were not aware of a "position statement," used by the organization's board of directors in governance, which says that programs and providers funded by the United Way "are not involved in the delivery of abortion services."

The grant was denied, and supporters of Planned Parenthood cried foul. A handful of major donors withdrew their United Way support over the dust-up. It also led the United Way board to review all its position statements, some of which date from the 1970s, within the context of new statements on the organization’s mission, vision and values.

The board determined that the position statements were no longer necessary.

"We've just grown out of them," said board Chairwoman Trudy Mollenberg.

The recision means Planned Parenthood, which had asked the United Way to better explain its funding policies, will be allowed to apply for future funding of programs and services that fall into one of three areas — income, education or wellness.

Abortion services don't fit into those categories, Mollenberg said.

Lila Rose and Jackie Stollar, both college students posing as 15-year-old girls, entered two Phoenix Planned Parenthood clinics undercover and told employees at one clinic that Stollar needed an abortion because her adult "boyfriend" had impregnated her, giving his age as 27-years-old at the second clinic.

Arizona state law requires law enforcement to be contacted immediately if an adult-child relationship is revealed. Failure to report incidents of sexual abuse are punishable under this law.

After Stollar explains that her boyfriend is "a lot older than me," a staffer at the first clinic states: "we don't ask any questions." At the second clinic, upon hearing that the boyfriend is 27-years-old, the employee reassures the girls that "everything is confidential." She also tells the girls she will not intervene: "I can't say 'Don't' you know or 'I'm gonna go and do this.' I cannot be that way, it's not me."

"We want to speak for those that have no voice as yet," Spanish Bishops Conference spokesman Jose Antonio Martinez Camino told Spanish National Radio on Tuesday, a day after launching the drive.

The campaign features billboards showing a toddler beside an Iberian lynx, one of the most highly protected species in Spain. A slogan says, "What about me? Protect My Life!"

It comes two weeks after the Socialist government revealed plans to reform the 1985 abortion law, including allowing the practice on demand up to 14 weeks.[..]

Coinciding with the church protest, hundreds of scientists and researchers issued a statement Tuesday rejecting the government's plans and supporting for the right to life.

"Abortion, being an attack on life in the first weeks of development, is nobody's right," said Dr. Monica Lopez Barahona, one of the signatories and director of Vidacord, a biomedical company that stores stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

A member of the hospital staff found the baby about 4 a.m. in a wheelchair near the emergency room entrance. Police said the medical staff checked the baby, found her in good health and estimated her to be three hours old.

The baby is in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.

Infants up to 7 days old can be dropped off at hospitals and other safe places under Georgia's safe haven law.

Rachel Crossland, a British housewife and mother of six who had been diagnosed with cancer, refused chemotherapy and radiation treatment when she was informed she was 13 weeks pregnant with twins.

The Daily Mail reports that Mrs. Crossland was about to undergo surgery for a malignant tumour on her bladder when she found out she was pregnant. Mrs. Crossland said that doctors pressured her to have her children killed via abortion, saying, "The doctors told me lots of horror stories of what would happen to the babies if I had the treatment while pregnant and I was mortified."

"By then I was 13 weeks into my pregnancy and there was no way I could deal with getting rid of my babies and having to then fight cancer. That was the turning point and I decided I would take a chance."

The twins, Poppy and Saffron, were delivered at 32 weeks by caesarean section and surgeons surgically removed Mrs. Crossland's tumor with only a local anesthetic. She began chemotherapy after the twins were born and is now recovering at home with her husband, Adam, and her children.

She said, "I'm so glad that we all made it and now all I want is to get on with my life with Adam and be able to look after my children."

Marie-Eve Laurendeau gave birth to Phebe Mantha at LaSalle Hospital in November 2007. After a difficult delivery Phebe was transferred to Montreal Children's Hospital in serious condition and put on life support.

According to the lawsuit Laurendeau and Phebe's father, Stephane Mantha, were told by doctors that their daughter had little chance for survival and advised them to take her off respiratory support and hydration, to which they agreed.

After withdrawing respiratory support, however, it was found that Phebe could breathe on her own, and the hospital's ethics committee reversed the parents' decision to withhold fluids and food from their baby.

"I like a glass of wine every now and then," said LDI Chairman Thomas C. Strobhar. "I am appalled that so many winemakers fund the Culture of Death. I urge my fellow pro-life activists to let winemakers know that they have a 'choice'. They may continue to fund Planned Parenthood and lose a lot of business to competitors or they may stop funding Planned Parenthood and reap the benefits that come from happy consumers."

LeRoy Carhart's run-down abortion mill reopened on Saturday, March 7, 2009, after having been damaged by an accidental fire in January. Pro-lifers on the scene report that appalling conditions remain at the clinic.

Larry Donlan, Director of Rescue the Heartland, described the exterior of the dilapidated building as being surrounded by rusted-out vehicles and other junk, including a generator, which apparently supplied electricity for the day's abortion business.

"Connected to the mill by a long extension cord sat a generator that purred away all morning, making one question if they even had electricity. I've often wondered how anyone could patronize such a junk yard posing as a 'health clinic,'" said Donlan.

The Kansas Senate just voted 32-6 in favor of a bill to require abortion providers to give women seeking abortions a chance to see a fetal sonogram.

The approval sends the legislation, SB 238, to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat who has vetoed similar measures before.

The measure, called the Woman's Right to Know Act, would also require abortion clinics to offer more information -- in pamphlets and videos -- about fetal development. Clinics also would have to post signs noting that coerced abortions are illegal. [..]

Women seeking abortions wouldn’t have to view the sonogram, but clinics using sonograms would have to make the offer.

No word yet from Sebelius on whether she'll veto the bill.

The resolution was to have been an endorsement of H.B. 1, sponsored by state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Cobb County), which has not moved this session. The language would criminalize abortion and is intended to raise a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

A floor vote defeated the resolution by an estimated 60 to 40%.

The videos, part of the ongoing Mona Lisa Project, clearly show Planned Parenthood employees ignoring the sexual abuse of minors, which mandatory reporting laws require clinicians to report.

Mark Bucher, a local resident and board member of the Family Action PAC, saw the videos and decided to find out if Orange County gave taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood. Bucher proceeded to uncover an intricate money trail unknown even to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and found that Planned Parenthood received funds through the Orange County Health Care Agency but was never identified as the recipient.

"The distribution of public funds to Planned Parenthood through the Orange County Health Care Agency appeared to be a deliberate cover-up since it was nearly impossible to detect where the money was going from the County to several different health clinics," said Bucher. "After watching the undercover videos from Live Action, it became clear to me that Planned Parenthood has a lot to hide."

Bucher sent one of the undercover videos to every Orange County Supervisor, and encouraged them to cut Planned Parenthood's Orange County subsidies. This week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to end taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood.

The measure by Reps. Ellen Cohen and Garnet Coleman would remove what they contend is "medically inaccurate" language in a booklet prepared by the Texas Department of State Health Services, which doctors are required to distribute to women considering abortions.

The 23-page booklet, A Woman's Right to Know, stems from a 2003 law designed to discourage abortions. It includes color photos of fetuses and a detailed recitation of potential physical and emotional consequences of the procedure.

Cohen and Coleman are trying to remove part of the language from a section that deals with whether women who have abortions are more likely to develop breast cancer. The pamphlet notes that studies are inconclusive and advises women to seek their doctors' advice, but it also includes these sentences:

"If you have carried a pregnancy to term as a young woman, you may be less likely to get breast cancer in the future. However, you do not get the same protective effect if your pregnancy is ended by an abortion."

Cohen, who developed breast cancer after giving birth to two children and has survived the disease for 39 years, said studies by numerous health-care groups have concluded there is no link between abortion and an increased breast cancer risk.

Despite fierce opposition, political maneuvering, and disruptive protests meant to stop the process, the Congress of the Mexican State of Puebla has approved an amendment protecting the right to life "from the moment of conception to natural death, except in cases foreseen by law."

The amendment, which was passed 29-10 with two abstentions, will prevent abortion from being legalized in Puebla in imitation of the 2007 Mexico City abortion law, which allows abortion on demand throughout the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

However, the amendment will leave exceptions to the criminalization of abortion in the state's criminal code intact. Currently, all Mexican states have laws depenalizing abortion in cases such as rape or fetal deformity.

"I can't be an advocate of what Planned Parenthood is," Supervisor Bill Campbell said. "Most organizations try to explain to the women every option there is available, and there's a nuance to these explanations, and that would be protecting the health of the mother and the child."

To that end, Campbell is looking at Birth Choice Health Clinics as an option. Birth Choice is based in Santa Ana and was founded by Kathleen Eaton, its chief executive, about 26 years ago after she had an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic, she said.

Eaton said she spoke with staffers in Campbell's office Wednesday about possibly taking on the county contract for health education. She said they set up a meeting for April 6 to discuss the issue.

The Kentucky Senate has revived an abortion bill that would require women seeking the procedure to undergo ultrasounds so they could see the images before making a final decision.

The Senate voted 34-1 on Friday to add provisions of the abortion legislation to a House bill that would regulate body piercing.

Democratic state Sen. Kathy Stein of Lexington was the lone dissenter, objecting to putting the abortion language in an altogether unrelated bill.

The Kentucky Senate had overwhelmingly approved the legislation earlier this month. But it failed to pass the House Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday. The move Friday sends the measure to the House floor for a vote.

Pomona College banned two pro-life students from campus last week after they videotaped the question-and-answer session during a Planned Parenthood representative's talk and asked the representative tough questions about recent Planned Parenthood scandals. Pomona rescinded its ban this week after facing strong opposition from students, faculty, and alumni.

The pro-life students, David Daleiden, 20, and Kyle Kinneberg, 21, are members of the youth-led right-to-life advocacy group Live Action.

Daleiden and Kinneberg both attend Claremont McKenna College, part of the Claremont College Consortium together with Pomona and three other undergraduate institutions. A hand-delivered letter from Pomona's Dean of Women Marcelle Holmes notified the students of the ban, claiming their videotaping had been "against college policy."

But Daleiden, president of Live Action's Claremont chapter and director of research for the national organization, said Pomona never produced the specific policy they said his group had violated, and that he and Kinneberg were denied their due process rights under the Claremont Colleges' Policy on Demonstrations.

"When alumni found out about this Orwellian situation, they were outraged," explained Daleiden. "Pomona accused us of conspiring to 'disrupt the proceedings, intimidate participants, and chill the free exchange of ideas,'" Daleiden said. "But nothing could be farther from the truth. We were entirely respectful when we asked our questions -- as our video shows."

• Kill all restrictions on abortion in the state, including parental notification and the partial birth abortion ban.
• Force pro-life health care professionals to cooperate in abortion by making abortion referrals.
• Mandate so-called "comprehensive" sex-ed programs, which promote promiscuity and undermine the family, for all public schools.
• Require taxpayers to fund abortions through Medicaid.
• Keep abortion 100 percent legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned in the Supreme Court.

Sedgwick County ambulance number 23 left Tiller's clinic at approximately 2:15 PM Central Daylight Time and transported a woman to Wesley Medical Center with no lights or sirens running. The patient was rushed into the emergency room with her head covered, leaving witnesses to wonder if she was alive or dead.

Tiller followed the ambulance to Wesley Medical Center and was dropped off by unlicensed "nurse" Cathy Reavis at an entrance on the east side of the building, out of sight from Operation Rescue staffers who were photographing the incident near the Emergency Room entrance.

"I am pro-life, always have been, always will be," he said. "I tried to present why I am pro-life while recognizing that my mother had a 'choice' before deciding to put me up for adoption."

Both in the interview and in his statement, Steele said he believed Roe v. Wade was "wrongly decided." He said the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion should be overturned and the decision left to the states.[..]

Steele said in his statement that he realizes there are some Republicans who disagree with him on abortion. In the interview, he said abortion-rights supporters have a place in the party.

The Republican platform asserts the GOP's opposition to abortion, saying that "the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed."

In his statement, Steele said he supports the platform. "The Republican Party is and will continue to be the party of life," he said.

HB 2564 would require a 24-hour waiting period before a woman could terminate a pregnancy. During that time, the woman would have to be told "the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics'' of the unborn child at that point.

The bill also requires that the woman be told, in person, that:

- The father of the child is liable for support, even if he agreed to pay for the abortion;

- Medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care, childbirth and postnatal care if they decided against an abortion;

- Public and private agencies can assist the woman before and after the birth, whether she chooses to keep the child or put it up for adoption.

The measure now goes to the Senate where 12 of 30 lawmakers there already have signed on as sponsors. And Gov. Jan Brewer already is on record as supporting a waiting period; her predecessor, Janet Napolitano, vetoed a similar measure.

A proposal to change the Tennessee Constitution to allow the state to impose greater limits on abortions is advancing in the Legislature.

The resolution sponsored by Republican Sen. Diane Black of Gallatin passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 6-2 on Wednesday.

The state Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the state constitution offers greater protection for abortion rights than the U.S. Constitution and threw out several restrictions on abortions.

Those who voted against the resolution on Wednesday said the government shouldn't interfere with a woman's decision, especially in cases of rape, incest or threat to a woman's life.

GQ: How much of your pro-life stance, for you, is informed not just by your catholic faith, but by the fact that you were adopted?

Steele: Oh, a lot. Absolutely. I see the power of life in that. I mean, and the power of choice! The thing to keep in mind about it, uh, you know, I think as a country we get off on these misguided conversations that throw around terms that really misrepresent truth.

GQ: Explain that.

S: The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life or you can choose abortion. You know, my mother chose life. So, you know, I think the power of the argument of choice boils down to stating a case for one or the other.

GQ: Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?

S: Yeah. I mean, again, I think that's an individual choice.

GQ: You do?

S: Yeah. Absolutely.

GQ: Are you saying you don't want to overturn Roe v. Wade?

S: I think Roe v. Wade--as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.

GQ: Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?

S: The states should make that choice: that's what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.

The reason that major drug companies such as Merck and Pfizer are not funding ESC research is because they have seen the research and it scared the daylights out of them. They realized that if they injected ESC cells into human beings and like lab animals, they show signs of cancers or lesions or tumors there will be huge class action suits, because they would have ignored all of the available data in research that shows that that's exactly what will happen.

The fact of the matter is embryonic stem cells kill. The research shows conclusively that they help rats and mice die and an Israeli boy grow tumors.

Barack Obama rescinded Bush's executive order banning this dangerous research, which has failed everywhere it has been tried, and then went on to eliminate funding for some of the most promising research on the use of pluripotent adult stem cells.

Unfortunately, those opposed to these actions have made the mistake of concentrating on the pro-life aspects of this controversy, while ignoring the scientific aspects, which prove our case conclusively.

Earlier this year SFCC officials threatened Beth Sheeran and members of a Christian student group with disciplinary measures, including expulsion, if they chose to hold a pro-life event on campus to share information with other students because the message was "discriminatory" and did not include a pro-abortion viewpoint.

SFCC Director of Student Funded Programs Heather McKenzie rejected Sheeran's request to hold a pro-life event on campus on January 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The event involved flier distribution and materials posted in an announcement display case in the student center. McKenzie said college policy prohibits one-sided events and expressive displays on campus and that the pro-life display would not be allowed because it did not include any pro-abortion viewpoints.

As a member of SFCC's "Stop the Hate" committee, McKenzie told Sheeran that her "biased" event fell under the program's jurisdiction because of its "discriminatory" pro-life message and because someone might construe statistics cited in their literature - breaking down abortions by ethnic group - as hate.

SFCC Associate Dean of Student Services and "Stop the Hate" committee chair Gregory Roberts eventually told Sheeran that the group could hold the event if its members voted in favor of it. However, after they did, Roberts, McKenzie, and the group's faculty advisor, Stormy Kurtz, allegedly went to a club meeting and intimidated the students into not holding the event. Kurtz told the students that their flier was "offensive" and that their event violated the district's "Stop the Hate" policy and Washington law, and the students would face expulsion if they "offended" anyone. Out of fear of disciplinary action, Sheeran and the fellowship never held the event.

After receiving a letter from several abortion "rights" organizations, President Obama has created a position to address women's concerns around the globe. On Friday the White House announced that he would nominate Melanne Verveer, an abortion supporter, to fill the new position of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues.

The January 23 letter, signed by the ACLU, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Feminist Majority, the International Planned Parenthood Federation and several others, praised Obama for repealing the Mexico City Policy.

The letter also requested that he work to "ensure that officials from your Administration act as a strong voice for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United Nations and other international arenas and do all in their power to translate international agreements into actions that improve women's lives."

On Friday, a statement from the White House announced the creation of the new position and lauded the President's "unprecedented" decision which reflects the elevated importance of global women's issues to the President and his entire Administration.

The statement also noted that the Ambassador-at-Large for Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer is the co-founder, chair and co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international organization that invests in emerging female leaders. Prior to founding Vital Voices, Verveer served as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady in the Clinton Administration and was chief assistant to then First Lady Hillary Clinton in her international activities.

Senate bill 79 didn't receive enough votes to get to the House floor. The vote was 8-8; a majority is required for approval.

In a meeting of the board of supervisors scheduled to begin today at 9:30 a.m., Supervisor John Moorlach will ask the board to end two county contracts with Planned Parenthood approved last year that total $341,788.

"We have a problem with financing Planned Parenthood, period," Mario Mainero, Moorlach's chief of staff, told the Orange County Register. "We just don't think government money should be used to talk to teens and preteens about birth control and abortion."

A lone sidewalk counselor at a Cherry Hill abortion center is suffering from horrifying injuries after a young man driving his pregnant wife to the abortuary reportedly struck the elderly counselor and ran him over. But the victim's wife says that the event probably saved a life, as she believes she was able to persuade the man afterwards not to abort his child.

The incident took place Saturday morning at the South Jersey Women's Center on Haddonfield Road. George Krail was reportedly walking toward the clinic driveway to offer literature as the car approached, when the driver apparently deliberately ran into and over Krail, crushing and twisting his leg. The initial collision was so severe it is said to have broken several of Krail's ribs.

Krail was taken to Cooper Hospital in Camden, where he is stable but continues to await surgery as of Saturday evening.

When asked George's condition, his wife Tina told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that "George is fine spiritually, his leg's really messed up ... his leg is pointing backwards."

Mrs. Krail, who is a veteran pro-life protester along with her husband, went on to say that the bizarre event "was orchestrated by the Lord."

Krail says her husband was suddenly prompted to witness at the local abortion mill this morning after she showed him the testimony of an abortion survivor she found on a pro-life blog.

Some time after George left, Mrs. Krail received a call from him asking for help. "Tina, I'm hurt - someone ran me over. My leg's turned around Tina, come right away," George reportedly told his wife. According to George's testimony, the man had evidently made no attempt to brake.

Police arrived following George's 911 call and were able to question the driver. No one witnessed the incident except for the abortion mill's surveillance camera, which is now in police custody. The driver is not currently held by police.

Tina, who was badly shaken, said she then had a chance to confront the man along with his pregnant wife.

"I thought, 'What would Jesus do?" She told LSN. "So I walked over and I said, "Hon, I'd like to talk to you. I forgive you for hitting my husband.' And he said, 'Oh, I'm so sorry,' and his whole face just changed.

"Then I said: 'I want you to look at me in the eyes. I've been where you're at, and I can tell you my husband also forgives you, and he probably wants me to tell you that if one broken leg would save your child, he would do it over again.

"You should know that God has something in store mighty for you, and you should take this as a sign from God.' And he said, 'I know, I know. And they never went in [the abortion mill]."

She recalled that she embraced both and exhorted them to "think about this child now."

"This is how important this child is,'" she said.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Morgan Christen, 47, will be the second woman to serve on the state's high court. Former Gov. Tony Knowles appointed current Chief Justice Dana Fabe in 1996.

Christen was one of two judges recommended for the post by the Alaska Judicial Council, an independent citizen's commission that evaluates judicial appointments for the governor.

Palin said she had "every confidence that Judge Christen has the experience, intellect, wisdom and character to be an outstanding Supreme Court justice."

But the Alaska Family Council, a conservative Christian group that advocates against gay marriage and abortion rights, had said Christen was the more liberal of the two choices. Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith was the other applicant.

The group said Smith would be more inclined "to turn back the tide of activism" while Christen would side with other justices against laws like the one struck down in 2006 requiring girls 16 and younger to obtain parental consent to receive an abortion.

The bill says, anyone who coerces an abortion is guilty of a misdemeanor and any doctor who knowingly performs a coerced abortion can be charged with a felony.[..]

Under the legislation, employers who threaten to fire a woman or those who threaten to take away college scholarships if she does not have an abortion could be charged with a misdemeanor.

Anyone who coerces an abortion through a separate crime, such as stalking or domestic assault, would have their prison sentences bumped up.

The bill was approved by a vote of 115-41 and needs another vote to move to the Senate.