Some thoughts in anticipation of next week’s Senate action on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

By Dave Andrusko
National Right to Life

It was the last NRL News Today post for Wednesday and went out late. But the announcement by pro-life Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the Senate will bring up the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act next week was news too important to hold until this morning.

“Now Congress has an opportunity to take a step forward. …I’m pleased to have filed cloture on this bill to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain. …And I look forward to voting for it early next week,” McConnell said, according to The Hill’s Jordain Carney.

You’ll recall that the House passed a similar bill last October by a vote of 237-189. The bill extends federal protections to unborn children who have reached 20 weeks fetal age, a juncture by which medical science has demonstrated they can experience pain.

However if 45 years post-Roe teaches us anything, it is that pro-abortionists in the Senate will admit none of this, especially the foundational truth: an unborn baby at this stage of development will experience horrific pain as she is aborted.

Thus they will slide around, skip over, and do everything they can to evade what NRLC President Carol Tobias said at a press conference in October when the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act was formally introduced.

It is common to read in articles about this legislation that unborn children do not have the capacity to experience pain at 20 weeks fetal age. Those kinds of claims ignore the facts.

There is a large body of evidence that includes testimony from such experts on fetal pain as Professors Kanwaljeet “Sunny” Anand and Colleen Malloy.

In a 10-page report submitted to a federal court and accepted as expert testimony, Prof. Anand wrote, 

“It is my opinion that the human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation, if not earlier, and the pain perceived by a fetus is possibly more intense than that perceived by term newborns or older children.”

Dr. Anand does not wish to be drawn into the abortion debate but his testimony stands. Dr. Malloy, of Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, has testified before committees in both the House and Senate. 

She stated, “There is ample biologic, physiologic, hormonal, and behavioral evidence for fetal and neonatal pain. … Many authors have substantiated that pain receptors are present and linked by no later than 20 weeks post fertilization.”

The bill has widespread public support and is already the law in sixteen states. This is important for a number of reasons.

National Right to Life article continues here

Joy Villa Turns Heads With Pro-Life Gown at Grammys

"I'm glad that conservative values are back at the forefront as a pro-life woman."

At the Grammys, singer Joy Villa wore a dress hand-painted with the image of a fetus surrounded by a rainbow, paired with a purse that read "choose life." (Fox News

By Leora Arnowitz, Morgan M. Evans
Fox News

Joy Villa turned up at the 60th Grammy Awards in a dress meant to make a statement. The singer wore a white wedding dress that she hand-painted with the image of a fetus surrounded by a rainbow paired with a purse that read "choose life."

"I'm a pro-life woman. This year I chose to make a statement on the red carpet like I always do," she told Fox News. "I'm all about life."

Villa, who made a name for herself at last year's Grammys with a "Make America Great Again" dress, paired her Pronovias dress with a tiara and sparkling jewelry. She said she was inspired to paint this year's dress because she gave a baby up for adoption when she was 21, and she said she supports adoption over abortion.

The 26-year-old said she is thrilled with President Trump so far.

"I love what he is doing; unemployment is down," she said. "I am totally for President Trump, and it's only been one year. I can't wait for the next seven years!"

She said she spoke to the president's daughter Ivanka Trump over the holidays.

"I'm very close with his daughter Ivanka. She is a phenomenal woman. She wants to empower women."

Villa said there are very few conservative celebs, but that doesn't deter her from sharing her point of view.

"There is a lot of hypocrisy we see from celebrities," she insisted.

Fox News article continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Over 80 Religious Groups Urge Trudeau to Reverse Pro-Abortion, Pro-LGBT Summer Jobs Grants Rules

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post

A diverse coalition of over 80 religious groups have released an official statement addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to reverse a government policy restricting summer jobs grants to businesses that are pro-choice and pro-LGBT.

The Interfaith Statement, which was released Thursday, called for the government to amend the Canada Summer Jobs guidelines so that faith-based organizations that hold moral objections to abortion and homosexuality are allowed to participate.

"The promise of a free and democratic society is that there be no religious or ideological tests or conditions to receiving government benefits or protection," reads the statement.

"The changes to the Canada Summer Jobs guidelines and application not only violate the fundamental freedoms of faith-based organizations, they also significantly impact the broader communities served by their programs, often the most vulnerable in Canadian society."

The statement went on to cite Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms in justifying the removal of the new Summer Jobs provisions.

"In managing its programs, the government should respect and accommodate the diversity of values and beliefs within Canadian society and must itself abide by the Charter in its treatment of individuals and groups," noted the statement.

 "The fundamental freedoms of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression, as guaranteed in the Charter, must be respected and affirmed in legislation, regulations and policy."

Signers of the statement include Adriana Bara, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism; Mouhammad Iqbal Nadvi, chair of the Canadian Council of Imams; Cliff Fletcher, bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada; Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, executive member of the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus; Archbishop Shane B. Janzen of The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada; and Evangelical Fellowship of Canada President Bruce Clemenger.

In a press conference unveiling the statement on Thursday, Clemenger said the interfaith coalition wanted "to ensure that Canadians continue to benefit from the collaboration between government and faith-based organizations, working together for the common good of our country.

Christian Post article continues here

University of Vermont Medical Center to Start Killing Babies in Abortions

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

The University of Vermont Medical Center recently changed its policy to allow elective abortions at its facilities.

Until last fall, the state medical group only allowed unborn babies to be aborted in cases of “medical necessity” at its facilities, the Burlington Free Press reports. That amounted to between 20 and 30 abortions per year, according to the report.

In September, however, the board of trustees unanimously approved a new policy to allow elective abortions of unborn babies, according to the AP. The medical group did not publicize the new policy, a recommendation of its medical staff.

The change especially is notable as abortion rates drop to historic lows across the United States and abortion facilities close due to a lack of business.

Dr. Ira Bernstein, medical director of the maternal fetal medicine fellowship training program at UVM, advocated for the pro-abortion policy. He said the medical group likely will do more abortions now that the policy has changed, but he would not speculate about a number.

Here’s more from the local news:

UVM Medical Center Board Chairwoman Allie Stickney said in a recent interview that the recommendation to change the hospital’s policy regarding abortions came from the medical staff.

The board decision to lift the prohibition on elective abortions was unanimous, according to Stickney.

“This whole process reflects how the board functions,” Stickney said. “The importance of this decision is to make us consistent in that the board of trustees does not approve which medical procedures are done or not done. In this case, abortion was an outlier.”

Stickney confirmed the policy of restricting abortions was established in 1972, prior to the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 1973, in Roe v. Wade that a woman has a right to an abortion. She said that policy was reaffirmed by the board in 1984.

Many states are seeing abortion facilities close their doors as abortion rates drop and more women choose life for their unborn babies. Planned Parenthood, which does about one third of all abortions in the United States, closed 32 facilities in 2017 and opened only five. According to Operation Rescue, 49 abortion clinics closed last year while 19 opened.

Several admitted that their main reason for closing was because they were not making enough money aborting unborn babies anymore. Others were forced to close because of numerous health and safety violations.

Life News article continues here

Actor Kevin Sorbo: Abortion is the ‘Definition of Evil’

“This is the new civil rights cause for our country”

Cassy Fiano
National Right to Life

Hollywood is mostly an industry that favors abortion. Celebrities flock to fundraisers for abortion corporations like Planned Parenthood and NARAL; writers, actors, and producers are increasingly trying to shoehorn abortion into the mainstream culture.

But while they may not always be as vocal, there are pro-life celebrities out there. And one of them, actor Kevin Sorbo, just wrote an op-ed in defense of life — and he didn’t mince his words.

Sorbo, who is best known for playing the title role in the TV fantasy-adventure series “Hercules,” wrote about the experience a friend had when his ex-girlfriend realized she was unexpectedly pregnant. His friend, whom he called Mike, received a call from the ex-girlfriend, whom Sorbo called Kate. Kate wanted Mike to come with her to an abortion facility. After her birth control had failed, she thought abortion was her only choice.

“[S]he did the only logical, sensible thing that our culture forces down our throats – she scheduled an abortion,” Sorbo wrote. “But as the day approached, she was filled with trepidation. Contrary to common knowledge, abortions are surgery, and deadly serious. Kate knew enough to be daunted by the prospect, so she reached out to a friend she trusted not to ‘judge’ her harshly.”

So Kate asked Mike to come with her and hold her hand. But Mike instead asked if they could talk about her decision.

“Mike continued, quietly and with conviction, ‘This child inside your womb is the greatest love story of your life, Kate. Killing it will not solve your problem; it will create an even bigger one’,” Sorbo recounted.

 “‘I understand you feel a great burden. Bringing a life into the world can be just that, but in removing that life from your body, you will be destroying an opportunity to know love like you have never imagined. So, I beg you not to do this thing. Change your point of view, instead, and see this as the greatest of love stories, one that will be yours for the rest of your life.’”

Kate cried and told him she would think about it; ultimately, she chose life for her baby, who is now an adult, married and with children of his own. The problem, Sorbo argued, is that we have all been sold a lie.

“Secular humanists have made the word abortion sound like a woman’s right, synonymous with health care, female empowerment, standing for women’s issues, a choice, a solution; anything but the truth,” he said. “The truth is, however, abortion is the termination of life. It is just a euphemism for murder because the only reason to get an abortion is to avoid the potential of birth – a human birth.”

Sorbo pointed out that disturbing a sea turtle’s nest or stealing its eggs is a crime that can land someone in prison for years. But abortion is not only legal, it’s been turned into a profitable industry.

  

“This is the new civil rights cause for our country,” he wrote. “Barely a century after our grave and costly war against slavery, against depriving some human beings of their dignity and based solely on their skin color, we codified into law the right of the citizen to kill her progeny, based solely on its size and location, while unwittingly depriving herself of love that is pure and enduring.”

“This is the definition of evil, pure and simple,” he concluded.

National Right to Life article continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

For Moms Who Don't Want an Abortion, This New Push Is Transforming Pro-Life Health Care

Health care professionals speak on the launch of the
Pro-Women's Healthcare Center Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2018

By Brandon Showalter

Christian Post News

When some consider the pro-life movement they think about political efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade. But a consortium of women's health care providers is reframing the picture, placing high standards of medical care front and center.

Several health care professionals who are presently operating pro-life medical offices from several states gathered before approximately 100 people at Busboys and Poets coffee shop in Brookland near The Catholic University of America last week just prior to the March for Life to launch the Pro Women's Healthcare Centers.

"PWHC is transforming the cultural landscape for women's health care in an era where women are looking for more choices," said Chaney Mullins, operations manager for PWHC, in an interview with The Christian Post.

The mission of PWHC is to partner with women in providing high-quality medical services and access to social services that empower them to care for their health, a panel of five pro-life medical caregivers from Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona, and Virginia, explained. Crisis pregnancy centers around country can become certified members of this consortium once they expand to meet PWHC medical service requirements and implement the high standards for life-affirming care outlined in the official guidelines.

The gathering, which was sponsored by the Fairfax, Virginia-based Divine Mercy Care, took place to unify medical workers and supporters of the pro-life movement around the shared goals on the clinical side of saving unborn children. 

Attendees were given a four-page booklet outlining precisely what is required and what is encouraged in order to qualify to receive PWHC certification. PHWC certified affiliates must provide medical services that are comprehensive, convenient, compassionate, and high-quality. The over-arching goal is to provide women who do not want an abortion with excellent health care beyond prayers, sonograms, and material assistance.

Dr. John T. Bruchalski, who founded Divine Mercy Care and runs the Tepeyac OBGYN in Fairfax, Virginia, stressed in a panel discussion that it is about time that Christians and like-minded pro-lifers started doing health care in a new way, and frame the conversation about medical services in a more holistic manner, particularly since the health care system in the United States is in dire need of solutions.

"Abortion is considered good medicine today. The health care system has adopted abortion as a good item," Bruchalski told CP in an interview.

And while there are patients and medical providers that absolutely disagree with that, "the missing piece has been doctors standing up and saying 'We want to help women with real comprehensive and building of health care."

The consortium aims to revolutionize the way people both think about and access medical services by providing a more personalized, organic, life-affirming, and distinctly relational approach to health care and reproductive needs.

The requirements to be PWHC-certified that fall under the medical services category include offering basic preventative health services, having STD testing and cervical cancer screenings on site, offering clinical breast exams, conducting mammograms or being able to provide a nearby direct referral, and doing post-partum depression screenings, among other things.

Many existing organizations and crisis pregnancy centers nationwide want to "medicalize," Mullins explained, and the standards set forth in their documents now provide language for what that means and shows examples of centers that have already done it.

"It is truly the medicine in the [pro-life] movement," she said, adding that each PHWC certified center "brings women prenatal care, childbirth, and post-partum health care, meeting the immediate needs after a woman makes the choice to have her baby."

Christian Post article continues here 

Elderly Woman Resists Being Euthanized When She Sees the Needle, So Her Family Held Her Down

By Alex Schadenberg
Life News

The Washington Post published an excellent article on January 24, 2018 by Charles Lane. Lane, a respected editorial columnist who asks: How many botched cases would it take to end euthanasia for the mentally ill and cognitively impaired?

In his article, Lane examines several documented cases of euthanasia of incompetent or mentally ill people. The first case Lane refers to is the shocking story of a woman with dementia in the Netherlands who resisted dying by euthanasia:

The patient, referred to in official documents only as “2016-85,” had made an advance directive requesting euthanasia in case of dementia. But the directive was ambiguously worded, and she was no longer able to clarify her wishes by the time she was placed in a nursing home — though her husband did request euthanasia for her.

Despite the lack of a clear expression from the patient, a physician concluded her suffering was unbearable and incurable — though there was no terminal physical illness — and prepared a lethal injection.

To ensure the patient’s compliance, the doctor gave her coffee spiked with a sedative, and, when the woman still recoiled from the needle, asked family members to hold her down. After 15 minutes were spent by the doctor trying to find a vein, the lethal infusion flowed.

Neither voluntary, painless nor dignified, this physician-assisted death was referred to prosecutors by the Dutch regulatory commission — with, so far, unknown consequences.

Lane then focuses on the case of Sarah (Aurelia) a physically healthy 29-year-old woman who is scheduled to die by assisted death for on January 26 in the Netherlands. Lane writes:

Nevertheless, a 29-year-old woman, “Sarah,” whose sole medical complaint is serious, nearly lifelong depression and self-harming behavior, has received permission for euthanasia, to take place Friday, according to the RTL Nieuws, a Dutch media outlet.

29 year old Dutch woman approved for euthanasia for psychiatric reasons.

She was released from prison in December 2016 after serving 2½ years for arson. She received no therapy while incarcerated and, 12 months later, she persuaded doctors her psychological suffering was unbearable and untreatable.

“It was a long and difficult road before she finally got permission,” RTL Nieuws observed. “And that is why Sarah wants attention for her story. Not for herself, but for others who also find life psychologically too heavy, have no chance of healing and want to die in a dignified way.”

Lane then focuses on the psychiatric euthanasia deaths in Belgium:

Joris Vandenberghe, a psychiatrist at the University of Leuven, is calling for stricter controls. He complained last year that psychiatric patients have died at the hands of doctors who failed to meet criteria set forth in Belgian law.

 “I’m convinced that in Belgium, people have died where there were still treatment options and where there was still a chance for years and even decades of life.

Life News report continues here

He Did Abortions Until He Had Three Powerful Encounters With the Holy Spirit

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

When Dr. John T. Bruchalski began performing abortions as part of his OB-GYN training, he felt troubled.

The Virginia doctor thought he was helping women, but he slowly began to realize that he was doing the exact opposite.

After three powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit, Bruchalski said he stopped aborting unborn babies and returned to the Catholic faith of his childhood, according to The Christian Post.

Now, he runs the Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax, Virginia, one of the only all pro-life OB/GYN health care practices in the nation.

Bruchalski recently shared his conversion experience as part of an effort to expand pro-life medical practices. He encouraged pro-life advocates to begin providing more holistic health care to pregnant and parenting mothers.

“Abortion is considered good medicine today. The health care system has adopted abortion as a good item,” Bruchalski told the news outlet. “… the missing piece has been doctors standing up and saying ‘We want to help women with real comprehensive and building of health care.’”

Here’s more from the report:

Bruchalski used to perform abortion procedures before having three powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit and stopped doing them. He also ceased prescribing contraceptives and told his hospital colleagues he would not do artificial reproduction. By the end of his residency, “many of his fellow residents had followed his lead and ceased performing abortions,” his website testimonial notes.

“If you can show women that they can get through the difficult time, whether she’s with insurance or without insurance and then that doctor’s practice or that health care facility practitioner then they partner with all these incredibly wonderful pregnancy centers and social services and even those on the other side [of the abortion debate], we will show you how to do a perinatal hospice so they don’t have to end the life of a child,” Bruchalski said.

“We can actually make children welcomed, women healthier, families stronger by just providing excellent health care.”

Last week, Bruchalski joined a group of health care professionals in Washington, D.C. to launch the Pro-Women’s Healthcare Centers initiative.

It encourages pregnancy resource centers to become certified to offer high-quality medical services and help accessing government assistance. The group envisions pregnancy centers offering basic preventative health services, STD testing, cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, mammograms or mammogram referrals, prenatal care, childbirth assistance and post-partum care. Centers that meet the consortium’s official guidelines will be certified under the program.

“If we can use charity, competence, and excellence with standards, then the 50 to 80 percent of women who intrinsically do not want abortion on demand, they can trust these people across the country rather than ending up in a tight spot or a difficult medical situation and then not knowing what your doctor would do,” Bruchalski said.

Life News continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Harry Blackmun’s Daughter Speaks About Her Father’s Roe v. Wade Decision

By Sarah Terzo
National Right to Life

(The following is taken from Anne Hendershott’s, The Politics of Abortion, where Hendershott analyzes what Justice Blackmun’s daughter, Sally Blackmun, wrote in her introduction to Gloria Feldt’s book, The War on Choice.)

Sally Blackmun, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun’s daughter, talks about why he found in favor of Roe v. Wade:

“Sally Blackmun, an abortion-rights activist and daughter of Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored the Roe v. Wade opinion, recounts how personal considerations entered into her father’s thinking on the matter. She recalls that he often discussed the broad issues involved in his cases with his family “around the dinner table,” and says that “he really struggled with Roe V Wade.”

At one point, when the family was in the middle of a meal together, justice Blackmun asked Sally and her two sisters how they thought the case should be decided. They said that they favored the plaintiff.

Appearing to take partial credit for the historic Supreme Court decision, Sally suggests that her father was certainly influenced by “his 3 daughters and an outspoken, independent wife.” And although Justice Blackmun’s written decision cites a right of privacy that he found in the 14th amendment to the Constitution, his daughter maintains that he also viewed Roe as “an opportunity to give women rights that will emancipate them.”

Noting that her father had spent 9 years working as a general counsel for the Mayo Clinic, Sally Blackmun concludes that this period of his life “gave him the opportunity to see firsthand the aftereffects of botched illegal abortions.”

What would’ve happened if one of his daughters or his wife had been pro-life?

Editor’s note. Sarah Terzo is a pro-life author and creator of the Clinic Quotes website where this appeared.

Website: National Right to Life

Shocking Poll Shows Majority of Episcopalians, Methodists and Presbyterians Support Abortion

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

A new poll by the Pew Research Center indicates a strong divide among Christian denominations on the issue of abortion.

Traditionally, Christians teach that every human life is sacred and valuable from the moment of conception to natural death. Yet, it appears that some denominations, especially mainline Protestant denominations, may not be teaching this.

According to Breitbart, a strong majority of Episcopalians, United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church U.S.A. adherents said abortions should be legal in all or most cases. The poll found that 58 percent of United Methodists and 56 percent of Anglicans also support legalized abortion in all or most cases.

In contrast, Catholic, American Baptist and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod believers narrowly said abortions should be illegal in all or most cases. The Christians who most strongly opposed the legalized killing of unborn babies identified as Jehovah’s Witness, Church of God, Assemblies of God, Mormon and Southern Baptist, according to the poll.

Examining other religions as well, the poll found that 55 percent of Muslims support legalized abortion in all or most cases, 68 percent of Hindus, 82 percent of Buddhists and 83 percent of Jewish adherents. At the top of the list in support of legalized abortion on demand were agnostics and atheists (both at 87 percent) and Unitarian Universalists at 90 percent.

The poll also included a “nothing in particular” category for people who do not identify with a particular religion. In that category, 67 percent of people said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Overall, the poll found that 57 percent of Americans support legal abortion in all or most cases.

However, other polls have found different results. A Marist poll in January found that 76 percent of Americans want significant restrictions on abortion, with a strong majority supporting a ban on abortions after 20 weeks when unborn babies are capable of feeling pain.

Life News continues here