in this issue:
hot button issues: MONTHLY CALL FOR LIFE
activism: PRO-LIFER INJURED
ballot initiatives: MISSOURI / MONTANA
legislation: NEBRASKA
planned parenthood: KANSAS / VIRGINIA
ru-486: VAMOOSE
reminders: SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS / ULTRASOUND
reflection for prayer: 1 JOHN 3:7-8
hot button issues
MONTHLY CALL FOR LIFE: This month’s calls for life are set for today, January 4. Want to know what this is all about? Visit Monthly Call for Life, an American Life League associate group, online at http://www.monthlycallforlife.com/.
activism
PRO-LIFER INJURED: Ed Snell, a 69-year-old volunteer, was reportedly attacked while trying to counsel women outside a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania abortion facility. Snell was standing on a platform atop his car at the time and was knocked to the ground. He required hospital treatment for broken bones and various other injuries. Witnesses say police allowed the attacker to go free, then threatened to arrest the witnesses.
Link: “Man, 69, gets bones broken counseling against abortion,” World Net Daily, 1/1/08, http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59461
ballot initiatives
MISSOURI: Planned Parenthood wants the state to toss out an initiative that it said could make almost all abortions illegal. According to the Associated Press, “A proposal targeted for the November 2008 ballot would make it an act of ‘medical negligence’ to perform or refer someone for an abortion without first determining it is warranted to prevent death, serious injury or other health risks from the pregnancy.”
Link: “Planned Parenthood challenges abortion ballot proposal,” Associated Press, 12/24/07, http://www.dailyjournalonline.com/articles/2007/12/25/news/doc476fdd00a0064585509072.txt
MONTANA: Backers have until June 20 to collect signatures for a constitutional amendment proposal that would define a person as “a human being at all stages of human development or life, including the state of fertilization.” NARAL and the ACLU said the proposal would put the right to privacy in peril.
Link: “Initiative’s supporters authorized to gather signatures,” Associated Press, 1/1/08, http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=7564721&nav=menu227_7
legislation
NEBRASKA: An Associated Press poll finds that Nebraska legislators would be willing to pass a law that would ban abortion in the state in the event that the Supreme Court overturns its Roe v. Wade ruling. However, one lawmaker said he would not back such a bill unless it had exceptions for rape, incest, and protection of the mother’s health. Another said passing such a law now would have unintended consequences.
Link: “Most Nebraska lawmakers in poll favor ‘trigger law’ banning abortion,” Associated Press, 12/31/07, http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/12/31/news/regional/58374d7806281296872573c10026883a.txt
planned parenthood
KANSAS: A Jefferson County judge has appointed two lawyers to assist the grand jury investigating complaints against a Planned Parenthood location in Overland Park. The facility already faces 107 criminal charges related to its operations.
Link: “Two attorneys will assist Planned Parenthood grand jury,” Associated Press, 12/22/07, http://www.cjonline.com/stories/122207/kan_228178710.shtml
VIRGINIA: State senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) said he will propose an end to state funding of the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood. Obenshain said that would be a proper response to Gov. Tim Kaine, who cut state funding for abstinence-based sex education programs in public schools.
Link: “Lawmakers tout ‘family’ proposals,” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, 12/8/07, http://www.dnronline.com/news_details.php?CHID=2&AID=13783
ru-486
VAMOOSE: A man accused of trying to spike his pregnant girlfriend’s drink with the RU-486 abortion pill has apparently jumped bail. A warrant has been issued for Manesh Patel’s arrest. This time, the warrant carries a $1 million bond. Patel had previously been charged with attempted homicide.
Link: “Man charged in abortion pill case missing,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 12/28/07, http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/APC0101/71228107
reminders
SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS: Judie Brown offers a brief video synopsis of her latest book in a new posting on YouTube. Of her work, one reader writes, “The book mentions many things that bother me about the polarizing of the bishops over abortion and other life issues and their silence on these issues. Glad to know I’m not imagining it. Thank you for talking about it and exposing it!”
Video: “Saving Those Damned Catholics,” American Life League, 12/07, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pGnOBPHb8I
TO ORDER: “Saving Those Damned Catholics” is available from ALL in hardcover or paperback. Call 866-LET-LIVE or purchase online at http://www.all.org/savingthosedamnedcatholics/
ULTRASOUND VIDEO: “Baby Steps: Live from the womb, 16 stages of pre-birth development,” is an amazing new video from American Life League that many in the pregnancy center movement say is certain to save lives. The video features dramatic 4-D ultrasound images of preborn babies from 8 to 34 weeks development.
TO ORDER: The “Baby Steps” DVD is available from ALL for $9.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 866-LET-LIVE toll-free, or purchase online at http://www.ProLifeGear.com
reflection for prayer
1 JOHN 3:7-8: Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.