“There’s a fire burning in this nation”

“There’s a fire burning in this nation”

Lila Rose, Live Action’s president, gave a powerful speech at the Values Voters Summit this past Saturday! “There’s a fire burning in this nation,” she said, and the applause in the room made it clear that she’s speaking the truth. That’s always been one of the great things about the pro-life movement: “We have the truth on our side,” as Lila put it, “and we have God on our side.”

“As all these things loom in this darkness,” Lila said, “how much more does even one light shine? And that’s our message: our light is going to shine even more in this dark time, and we will not be silenced.” Amen!

To watch Lila’s speech, click the image above.

 

Another Abortion Clinic Closed in Ohio

Another Abortion Clinic Closed in Ohio

Ohio Right to Life Late-Term Ban Cited as Reason for Closure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   CONTACT: Laura Beth Kirsop

DATE: Monday, October 14, 2013                                            PHONE: (614) 547-0099 ext. 309

COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, Ohio Right to Life confirmed that the Cleveland Center for Women’s Health, owned by late-term abortionist Martin Ruddock, has officially closed.

This is the third abortion clinic in Ohio to close its doors in the past 6 months. Sources cite Ohio Right to Life’s late-term abortion ban law as the main reason for the clinic’s closure and for Ruddock leaving Ohio.
“The fact that this late-term abortionist closed down and moved out of this state demonstrates that common sense pro-life legislation saves lives,” said Mike Gonidakis, President of Ohio Right to Life. “Ohioans overwhelming oppose late-term abortions and reject these despicable practices by so-called doctors like Martin Ruddock and the abortion industry.”

Abortionist Martin Ruddock in an undated picture

Abortionist Martin Ruddock has a history of running afoul of state health regulations. Upon inspection in 2006, Ruddock’s clinic was cited by the Ohio Department of Health for failing to meet basic health standards, such as checking a patient’s vitals before performing a late-term abortion.

 

“It appears that Martin Ruddock had a consistent track record for disregarding health standards and putting women’s lives in danger,” says Gonidakis. “Women are safer today in Cuyahoga County, because this abortion clinic is closed. We hope that more abortion clinics will close, innocent lives will be saved, and that the abortion industry will continue to be exposed for what it truly is,” says Gonidakis.

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Ohio Right to Life Logo

The mission of Ohio Right to Life is to promote and defend the right to life of all innocent human beings, from the time of fertilization until natural death.

To learn more about Ohio Right to Life please visit our website at www.ohiolife.org.

Statewide Newspaper Editorial Debate Abortion Rules on Merits

Statewide Newspaper Editorial

Debate Abortion Rules on Merits

To Interested Parties:

 

Ogden Newspapers, which publishes numerous newspapers across Ohio (from Lorain, to Warren, to Marietta), wrote the following editorial regarding the recent ACLU lawsuit against our new pro-life laws.  The Editorial states that the ACLU lawsuit is “ridiculous”. 

http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/590986/Debate-Abortion-Rules-on-Merits.html?nav=511

 

Debate Abortion Rules on Merits

October 13, 2013

The Intelligencer

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Pro-abortion forces in Ohio went ballistic over the General Assembly’s enactment of three new rules affecting the practice. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is weighing in with a lawsuit attempting to have the rules rescinded.

Are ACLU lawyers pointing out some basic injustice in the rules? No. Have they even found an obscure infringement upon civil liberties? No.

Instead, the ACLU is basing its objection on a bureaucratic technicality.

When lawmakers approved a new state budget earlier this year, they included many amendments on a wide range of matters. Among them were three sections involving abortions.

One merely requires abortion clinics to provide patients with basic information – including whether the fetus has a heartbeat. Another amendment prohibits public hospitals from having transfer agreements with abortion clinics. The third restricts state funding for organizations that promote abortions.

Ohio’s constitution requires legislation be limited to a “single subject,” and that rule was broken by including abortion provisions in the budget bill, ACLU attorneys argue. That is the civil liberties group’s sole grounds for objecting to the rules.

We, too, have objected to state and federal legislators slipping unrelated items into bills. But it has become common practice. And budget bills, by definition, affect every aspect of government.

If the ACLU wants to debate the rules on their merits, fine. But the lawsuit is ridiculous in the context of modern government. It should be dismissed.

___________________________________________

 

Michael Gonidakis

President

Ohio Right to Life

88 East Broad Street, Suite 620

Columbus, Ohio 43215

614/547-0099 ext. 301

http://www.ohiolife.org

Telling Secrets on Abortion Coverage

Family Research Council

Tony Perkins’ Washington Update

October 09, 2013 – Wednesday

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Telling Secrets on Abortion Coverage

As Congress debates ObamaCare, one issue that almost stopped the law in 2009 — yet still receives scant media coverage — is the law’s subsidies for abortion coverage. ObamaCare is funded through mandatory spending so as to avoid the Hyde Amendment, the provision which stops appropriated funds for the Department of Health and Human Services from paying for abortion or even subsidizing plans with abortion coverage. The President promised when the health care bill passed that it would not cover abortion, but like FRC warned during the debate over ObamaCare, buried deep within the 2,700 pages is language Nancy Pelosi was hoping Americans would never read, the abortion surcharge scheme. That’s right! If an insurer decides to cover abortion in its plan, and the government subsidizes people’s premiums in that plan, every single person is required to pay an extra abortion surcharge!

Adding insult to injury, the same section also requires that all information about the abortion coverage and surcharge only be given at the time enrollees receive their overall benefits package. The law states: “coverage of the services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i) [elective abortion] shall provide a notice to enrollees, only as part of the summary of benefits and coverage explanation, at the time of enrollment, of such coverage.” And the same secrecy clause applies to the abortion surcharge. If a person wonders why they are paying for their premiums as well as a separate small fee, the insurer may only provide information about the entire cost of the plan — not how much they are paying for abortion. To put a spotlight on this abortion secrecy clause, Members held a bipartisan press conference today announcing new legislation titled the “Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2013.” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.) and pro-life Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) introduced this bill to ensure transparency. The Smith/Pitts/Lipinski bill at least will let Americans know whether they are paying for elective abortion or not under ObamaCare.

More: http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/telling-secrets-on-abortion-coverage

Obamacare Exchanges Hide Info on Abortion Coverage, Mandatory Abortion Surcharge

Obamacare Exchanges Hide Info on Abortion Coverage, Mandatory Abortion Surcharge

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 10/12/13 3:16 AM

With the exchanges of Obamacare activated this month, it has become evident that it is nearly impossible for individuals to try to determine which exchange plans on their state exchange, if any, exclude abortion, said a group of lawmakers at a bipartisan press conference Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) unveiled his legislation, H.R. 3279, the “Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act” —cosponsored by 70 other Members of the House—to ensure full disclosure of abortion coverage, requiring prominent and transparent disclosure of abortion coverage for each plan offered on an exchange. This is crucial information for millions of Americans since the many plans that include elective abortion are required by law to impose a monthly mandatory abortion surcharge. Many Americans object to paying a surcharge into a fund to be used solely for the purpose of aborting unborn babies.

Smith said the inauguration of the Obamacare exchanges reveals that many health insurance plans throughout the nation will include abortion on demand—even late term abortions. Smith recalled that in October 2009, President Obama said in a speech to a joint session of Congress that, “under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion… .” A week after the Obamacare rollout, many are now discovering that—contrary to solemn promises made by the President himself—Obamacare violates the Hyde Amendment by funding plans that include abortion.

More:  http://www.lifenews.com/2013/10/12/obamacare-exchanges-hide-info-on-abortion-coverage-mandatory-abortion-surcharge/

Life at Risk: Effective ObamaCare Rationing Video

October 11, 2013   ObamaCare

Life at Risk: Effective ObamaCare Rationing Video

The Center for Medical Ethics at the Louisiana Right to Life Federation has produced a 60-second video entitled “Life at Risk” that very effectively highlights the denial of medical treatment authorized by Obamacare. Talking in their kitchen, the members of an extended family express concern about being denied medical treatment, describing the rationing under “President Obama’s health care law” in easy-to-understand terms.

More and PLEASE WATCH the video here: http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2013/10/life-at-risk-effective-obamacare-rationing-video

THEN please promote the video by sharing:

We urgently need to make the general public aware of the rationing in the Obama Health Care Law – please help spread the word about this video!

Carol Tobias
National Right to Life President

 

New Research shows unborn child can anticipate own movements in the womb

October 9, 2013   Fetal Development

New Research shows unborn child can anticipate own movements in the womb

By Dave Andrusko

Using remarkable technology to eavesdrop on the unborn child, it seems as if every day in every way we find that he or she is a remarkable human being. One study builds on another on another, and so forth, showing ever-greater complexity.

Using 4-dimensional ultrasound, a few months ago researchers from Durham and Lancaster Universities published a study of 15 healthy unborn babies that showed how the child’s facial expressions develop and become more complex as the baby grows. On the scans you can see recognizable facial expressions including what can only be described as a smile, followed by even more complex multi-dimensional expressions.

babymovement

Researchers interpreted the behavior as babies “practicing” facial expressions. The article was published in the academic journal, PLOS ONE.

Just this past week, publishing in the journal “Developmental Psychobiology,” researchers found that that babies get better at anticipating their own movements as they enter the later stages of gestation. Put another way, “For the first time, psychologists discovered that foetuses were able to predict, rather than react to, their own hand movements towards their mouths as they entered the later stages of gestation compared to earlier in a pregnancy,” according to Carolyn Buchanan.

Here’s how Buchanan summarized the way the way “psychologists at Durham and Lancaster Universities tracked movements in a total of 60 scans of 15 healthy fetuses (8 girls and 7 boys) at monthly intervals between 24 weeks and 36 weeks gestation.”

“In the early stages of gestation, fetuses were more likely to touch the upper part and sides of their heads. But as the fetuses matured, they began to increasingly touch the lower, more sensitive, part of their faces including their mouths.

“And by 36 weeks a significantly higher proportion of fetuses were seen opening their mouths before touching them. Researchers say this suggests that in later stages of pregnancy, the babies were able to anticipate that their hands were about to touch their mouths, rather than just reacting to the touch.”

Please join those who are following me on Twitter at twitter.com/daveha. Send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

“The Miraculous Journey”: 14 tons of beauty

“The Miraculous Journey”: 14 tons of beauty

By Dave Andrusko

image courtesy / © penny yi wang

image courtesy / © penny yi wang

Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a link to a set of photos on the New York Times webpage. The first of 7 photos showed a set of giant white balloons.

To be honest, I was busy, wasn’t immediately interested, and didn’t bother to investigate the remainder of the photos until today. Lo and behold, when I did, here’s what I found.

The explanation (quoting from the story by Carol Vogel) was “For weeks, 14 giant balloons had been mysteriously parked in front of the Sidra Medical and Research Center, a hulking steel, glass and white ceramic building devoted to women’s and children’s health that is open on the outskirts of this city early next year.” (The city is Doha, Qatar.)

As is suggested by the accompanying photo (© penny yi wan) what those balloons concealed for weeks was “The Miraculous Journey,” 14 HUGE bronze sculptures that depict the unborn child’s journey from conception to birth. The author is a very famous–and even more controversial artist–Damien Hirst.

And what a spectacular opening on Monday evening! To the “amplified sound of a beating heart, members of Qatar’s royal family, government officials and local artists watched as each balloon, bathed in purple light, opened like a giant flower to reveal an unusually provocative public artwork,” Vogel wrote.

Three years in the making, the sculptures conclude with a 46-foot-tall baby boy! Collectively they weigh 216 tons and costs $20 million.

Most of the work, “fraught with secrecy,” was carried out in Hirst’s studio in England. “The first meeting I had with the architects, I was not allowed to tell them what the sculptures were because they wanted it to be a surprise,” Hirst told Vogel.

Vogel added drily, “There is nothing secret about them now: he positioned the sculptures so they can be seen both from the motorway and the desert.”

Hirst traced his fascination with childbirth to having children of his own. “Everyone talks about our life’s journey, but we have a whole journey before you’re born,” he explained.

Without getting into specifics, there was little or nothing in Hirst’s previous work that was remotely life-affirming. That changed as of Monday.

But the life-affirming exhibit marks a change in course for Hirst, whose previous works have included a diamond-studded human skull, and a variety of animals, some dissected, preserved in formaldehyde.

“Ultimately, the journey a baby goes through before birth is bigger than anything it will experience in its human life,” Hirst said. “I hope the sculpture will instill in the viewer a sense of awe and wonder at this extraordinary human process, which will soon be occurring in the Sidra Medical Center, as well as every second all across the globe.”

Please join those who are following me on Twitter at twitter.com/daveha. Send your comments todaveandrusko@gmail.com.

VIDEO: Abortionist Sidesteps Ohio Law to Have Late-Term Baby Aborted

Dear Pro-Lifers,

This morning, Ohio Right to Life launched an outrageous video which reveals a Cleveland abortionist admitting to sidestepping Ohio law to have a late-term baby aborted. Disturbingly, the abortionist clutches her newborn son to her chest throughout her speech.

This video is an absolute must-see for all pro-life circles. Ohio Right to Life asks that chapter leaders help make this video go viral by sending it out to your email lists. We want to both inform Ohioans about the heinous practices of the abortion industry and hold the industry accountable. This video is a fantastic way of doing both.

You can share this link to the video with your email lists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn1jFK9vf2k

Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with sharing the video.

For Life,

Katie McCann

Public Relations Manager

Ohio Right to Life

88 East Broad Street, Suite 620

Columbus, Ohio 43215

614/547-0099

http://www.ohiolife.org/

 

 

 

Study shows dramatic drop in teen pregnancy rate as Planned Parenthood leaves communities

Study shows dramatic drop in teen pregnancy rate as Planned Parenthood leaves communities

BY RITA DILLER

Advertisements for Planned Parenthood’s adolescent-oriented sex education website.

Oct. 4, 2013 (STOPP) – As a part of American Life League’s just-released meta-study of Planned Parenthood, Stop Planned Parenthood (STOPP) researchers analyzed the teen pregnancy rate in 16 counties of the Texas Panhandle. In those counties, over an 11-year period, closures of Planned Parenthood facilities were ongoing in the face of strong community opposition to the abortion giant’s presence.

Its school programs target children as young as kindergarten age and place a special emphasis on students in middle school—as young as 11 years old—imposing explicit sexual information on them during a period in their lives when it can do great psychological and physical harm. These programs—if they touch on abstinence at all—define abstinence as abstaining from sexual activity that can cause pregnancy, and give the green light to “protected” sex.

The children get the message loud and clear that sex outside of marriage is good, necessary, and expected, but that resultant pregnancies are to be avoided or eliminated at all cost. This lays the groundwork for young women and men who default to abortion when a pregnancy occurs. That results in yet another huge revenue source for Planned Parenthood. In fact, in 2011, it is estimated that abortion accounted for 57 percent of Planned Parenthood’s clinic income.

Planned Parenthood is frequently invited into publicly funded schools and, according to its annual report, spent at least $41.5 million on indoctrinating children with its “comprehensive sex education” programs in 2012. Our study makes it clear that, based on empirical data, Planned Parenthood comprehensive sexuality education programs are not an essential element in reducing teen pregnancy. Since the programs can harm the children they are inflicted upon, they should be removed from all communities.

Read More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/study-shows-dramatic-drop-in-teen-pregnancy-rate-as-planned-parenthood-leav