Planned Parenthood Refuses to Say How Much It Made From Selling Body Parts of Aborted Babies

By Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life News

Life Legal has backed Planned Parenthood into a corner over its illegal trafficking in baby parts. In ten days, Planned Parenthood will have to explain to Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu of California’s Northern District why it has refused to respond to interrogatories from Life Legal on behalf of the Center for Medical Progress.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and several Planned Parenthood affiliates sued CMP and its founder, David Daleiden, two and a half years ago in federal district court, asserting fifteen claims ranging from racketeering to invasion of privacy. 

Their lawsuit alleges that the videos showing Planned Parenthood doctors callously discussing the price of baby parts were “misleadingly edited” to make it appear that Planned Parenthood clinics were violating federal and state laws against profiting from the sale of fetal parts. 

Planned Parenthood claims it brought the lawsuit to “further expose the falsity” of the videos and recover millions of dollars in damages for the alleged harm the videos caused to Planned Parenthood by CMP’s allegations of criminal activity.

Now, however, Planned Parenthood is singing a different tune. Pressed by Life Legal attorneys to provide documents and explanations as to how much their actual revenues and expenses for fetal tissue procurement were, Planned Parenthood argues that “whether any of the four relevant affiliates complied with a technical law about permissible reimbursement” is not relevant to the lawsuit at all. They claim that questions about invoices showing that Planned Parenthood affiliates did in fact profit from the sale of fetal body parts have “zero bearing” on the issues in the case.

In short, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates sued alleging the videos falsely claimed they broke the law. Now that they are required to provide proof that the videos are “misleading,” they are claiming that whether or not they illegally profited from the sale of baby body parts is irrelevant. 

According to Planned Parenthood, all that’s needed to prove their case is their own statement that they did not make much money relative to the size of their organization.

“Planned Parenthood is mounting the ‘millionaire shoplifter’ defense,” said Life Legal Executive Director Alex Snyder. 

“They claim that their affiliates are so rich, they could not possibly have a profit motive for violating federal law, and therefore the CMP videos must be false. The court should see through this specious reasoning and order Planned Parenthood to provide documentation of its baby body parts revenue and expenses.”

The matter will be heard on July 19 at the Federal Courthouse in Oakland, California.

Website: Life News

His Name Would Have Been Jude

By Dave Andrusko
National Right to Life

Judging by the headlines to others posts found at the site “Your Tango,” Jamie Berube’s post, “Why I Regret My Abortion” was in a distinct minority. The others ran the gamut from foul-mouthed to cavalier to just dumb. Berube’s very painful post was altogether different.

I suspect she understands that she isn’t supposed to regret her abortion. But the loss of the child–whom she would have named “Penelope Wren (Penny, for short),” if it was a girl “and Amory Jude if he were a boy”– was too intense to keep the truth buried in a cavalier dismissal.

The narrative runs from when Berube first learns she is pregnant through the moment she is pondering the second set of pills (a prostaglandin) that make up a chemical (RU-486) abortion which she will take within a day or two. The baby is likely already dead and the prostaglandin will induce contractions and expel the baby’s corpse.

I suspect from her narrative that she knew long before her boyfriend dropped her off at Berube’s best friend’s house that their relationship would be as dead as her baby would soon be. Even before he says he has to leave (he says he has to work the next morning)–rather than stay with her until her friend Sarah comes home–Berube writes, “I knew what his answer would be before he opened his mouth.”

She anticipates that the man who had impregnated her would be with another woman that very night.

Berube tells us early in her essay that:

I’ve done a lot of “bad” things in my life. I’ve made choices that will forever haunt me no matter how much money I shell out for a shrink. But the choice that I made on that day, the choice to sign my name on a piece of paper that would give my consent to terminating a pregnancy is chief among the ones I regret most.

Why? Why does she write, “Yes, I regret my abortion”? Berube first says, “I regret not thinking through it more carefully.” Like so many women, she “knew” from the beginning she “couldn’t keep” her baby. Not a lot of pondering about the magnitude of the decision she made so quickly.

“I regret not considering that I might have been a really great mom.” As the essay concludes, a tear is falling down her cheek. She tells Sarah, protectively, “Because if I kept him, I’d never let anyone pick on him…ever,”

This as much as anything tells us Berube had violated her own code of ethics. If only she had looked for another way….if only she had thought about another way…maybe Penny or Jude would be alive.

Then there is her comment made just prior to going to the abortion clinic when she and the boyfriend stopped for a meal: Berube tells us she was “doing my best to relax and not feel like an irredeemable screw-up with a scarlet ‘A’ branded on my forehead — ‘A’ for ‘baby-aborter,’ in my case.”

If you have a few minutes, please read “Why I Regret My Abortion.” The conclusion is heart-breaking:

I took the first pill to begin the process — a process I had no clue I’d grow to deeply regret. Because I regret my abortion. And because if I hadn’t, his name would have been Jude.

Website: National Right to Life

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.  

Add Your Name to the Humanae Vitae at 50 Declaration

We, the undersigned, honor the 50th anniversary of the prophetic Humanae Vitae encyclical by Blessed Paul VI by affirming its teachings and committing ourselves to the fullness of its truth and natural beauty. Humanae Vitae noted the moral and cultural perils of contraception, and their contradiction of God's will for each husband and wife to perfect one another and cooperate in the generation and rearing of new life. In the fifty years since the promulgation of Humanae Vitae, the Church's teaching has been challenged, rejected, and even ridiculed by the secular culture. But, as Archbishop Charles Chaput recently noted, "Humanae Vitae remains a powerful counter-witness to the widespread sexual dysfunction of our age as other Christian communities, and even many Catholics, have collapsed in their defense of sexual integrity. Humanae Vitae has remained a testimony to the truth." By contradicting God's plan that links conjugal love to procreation, contraception has become the root of the Culture of Death. It has resulted in increased infidelity, the general lowering of morality and a growing disrespect for women. Pope Paul VI foresaw these consequences and warned against them in Humanae Vitae. Our society suffers from its failure to heed this prophetic warning. Today, more than four out of every ten American children are born out-of-wedlock. Divorce is rampant. Violent crimes against women have vastly increased. And pornography degrades both men and women. But the most tragic consequence has been that the medical profession has normalized the use of contraception as a medical necessity, ignoring its abortifacient capabilities and detrimental effects on women's health. This use has led to millions of unborn children being killed by abortion as the "back-up" when contraception fails. Humanae Vitae warned that governments would take coercive measures to impose contraception on their citizens. Certainly, tyrannical governments have done so, and some Western nations impose these measures upon Third World nations as a requirement for foreign aid. Our own nation recently witnessed the Affordable Care Act Mandate coercing the Little Sisters of the Poor, and other Christian educational and service agencies, to fund contraceptive and abortifacient drugs. Contraception distorts the great gift of our sexuality and leads us to objectify those we claim to love. The contraceptive mentality is inherently flawed because it convinces us that we, not God, are the authors of human life. We become self-absorbed by pursuing our desires instead of God's will for our lives. By changing the nature of the conjugal act, contraception strips the marital act of its beautiful procreative purpose, and therefore deeply offends God. Until 1930, all Christian denominations rejected contraception and Protestant leaders, such as Luther, Wesley and Calvin, all spoke out against the immorality of contraception. We join in praising Humanae Vitae "to celebrate the Catholic proclamation that truth, goodness and beauty go together." We call for Humanae Vitae's full understanding and pray for its acceptance in every heart. To sign this declaration online, click here Please consider the following actions: Sign the declaration online by using the link above Communicate this initiative to all of your friends and family Bring your friends and family to the Malvern Retreat House, Upper McShain Building, located at 315 S. Warren Ave, Malvern, PA 19355 to view the movie Sexual Revolution on the evening for July 25th at 7PM. Admission is free. To view the trailer, click here.

Fort Wayne Planned Parenthood Closes, Cites Intimidation by Right to Life

By: Chris Darby
Wayne.com
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne's Planned Parenthood location is closing, NewsChannel 15 learned Monday.


 A sign on the door of the health center on West Jefferson Boulevard says reads, "This health center is permanently closed." It directed patients to the Planned Parenthood locations in Elkhart and Mishawaka.

 

According to leaders from Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, the closing of the clinic is due directly to intimidation and harassment of patients, providers, and supporters of PPINK led by Allen County Right to Life (ACRL) and others in the Fort Wayne community."

Protesters gathered often at the intersection of Illinois Road and West Jefferson Boulevard to protest abortion practices, despite the clinic not providing abortion services.

The executive director of Allen County Right to Life responded to the news of the closing by releasing a statement to NewsChannel 15.

Continue reading here 

Meet Kayla McKeon, the First Lobbyist With Down Syndrome

She’s paving the way for future generations — even those yet to be born... 

By Kelli
Live Action News

Kayla McKeon has such confidence that when she meets someone, she always leaves quite an impression. Her mother, Patti, recently told the Washington Post, “She’s never nervous. When she gives a speech to a big crowd, I’m a wreck, and she’s calm as can be. She doesn’t care who she is speaking to, it’s like she’s talking to her best friend. That’s a real strength when you’re talking to members of Congress.”

Kayla, age 30, is the first registered lobbyist with Down syndrome, and she’s been lobbying Congress part-time for the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) since October 2017. According to the Washington Post, Kayla “is also taking classes toward her associate degree at Onondaga Community College in central New York.” She was recruited for her job as a lobbyist by Sara Hart Weir, the president and chief executive of NDSS, who knew when she met Kayla that she was something really special.

READ: Love children with Down syndrome ‘for who they are,’ says woman with condition

Weir told the Post, 

“I wanted to put somebody on staff like Kayla who would influence members of Congress. Kayla is one of the most impressive young, vibrant individuals with Down syndrome I have ever met. She’s spunky, she doesn’t take no for an answer, and she’s quite charming. She has all the characteristics of an exceptional lobbyist.”

Kayla’s job is to advocate for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace. And obviously, she is a shining example of the fact that those with disabilities can excel at whatever they put their minds to, even in high pressure workplaces like Capitol Hill. The BBC video above notes that Kayla’s work “helped pass the Able to Work Act,” which allowed people with disabilities to keep both their savings and their free healthcare.

According to the Post:

McKeon’s mother said she thinks her daughter operates fluidly in the workplace in part because she always was in mainstream schools as a child. She had an aide with her to help her through the school day, but she insisted on being with non-disabled kids rather than in a different school.

“She’s always been a hard worker and also very stubborn, and I think that’s what’s gotten her to where she is today,” Patti McKeon said.

Kayla travels independently from Syracuse, New York, to Washington, D.C., for her job.

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She recently got her driver’s license, and she has competed in the World Games and Special Olympics, even giving speeches for the latter. On her blog, Kayla wrote earlier this year, 

“We can do whatever we set our minds to, we can drive a car, go to college and pursue meaningful careers. We are more alike than different, so lets go and show our awareness of Down Syndrome and celebrate our abilities not our disabilities.” Kayla told the Washington Post that she believes she’s “making a huge difference” for people with disabilities, and “making history.”

And, indeed, she is. But perhaps more importantly than making history, she’s paving the way for future generations — even those yet to be born — so long as they are allowed to be born in a world that has grown increasingly hostile to persons with disabilities.

Live Action News story 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.  

Abortion Advocates Think Amy Barrett is a Member of a “Cult” Because She’s Catholic

"For most Senate Democrats presiding over judicial confirmations, the only good Catholic is a bad one." 

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

The mudslinging against Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a possible nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, continued this week with abortion activists claiming she is a member of a “cult.”

She is believed to be one of four candidates that President Donald Trump is considering to fill retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat.

Particularly abhorrent to abortion activists, Barrett is a devout Catholic, a conservative and a woman.

Abortion supporters have honed in on Barrett’s affiliation with People of Praise, an ecumenical Christian group that focuses on prayer, counseling, marriage guidance and acts of service for families in need. Labeling the group a “cult,” abortion activists claim Barrett is a “dangerous religious extremist” because of her affiliation with the group.

According to Townhall, these attacks are just nonsense:

Her former colleagues on the Notre Dame law school faculty, many of whom have disagreements with Barrett, unanimously endorsed her nomination to the Circuit Court, describing her as “brilliant” and also “generous” and “warm.” …

If Barrett is a glazed-eyed cultist, she’s done an incredible job of hiding it. She fooled her fellow clerks on the Supreme Court when she worked for Justice Antonin Scalia. Dozens of clerks, including some who worked for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, endorsed her previous nomination, calling her a “woman of remarkable intellect and character.” 

She fooled her students, hundreds of whom signed an endorsement reading, in part, “Our religious, cultural, and political views span a wide spectrum. Despite the many and genuine differences among us, we are united in our conviction that Professor Barrett would make an exceptional federal judge.” And she fooled all of the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee along with three Democrats, who voted to approve her nomination [to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit].

Pro-abortion politicians have attacked her faith repeatedly, beginning when President Donald Trump nominated her to the Seventh Circuit.

“For most Senate Democrats presiding over judicial confirmations, the only good Catholic is a bad one,” George Neumayr wrote at the American Spectator. “They will only confirm Catholic nominees who reject authoritative Church teaching in favor of liberalism.”

In September, pro-abortion Democrats barraged Barrett with hostile questions about her faith during the Senate confirmation hearing.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s comment “the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern” later was called out as “bigoted.”

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin also interrogated Barrett about her use of the term “orthodox Catholics” in an article that she wrote.

“Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” Durbin asked.

“If you’re asking whether I take my faith seriously and I’m a faithful Catholic, I am,” she replied. “Although I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear on the discharge of my duties as a judge.”

At another point, Barrett added: “Were I confirmed as a judge, I would decide cases according to the rule of law beginning to end. In the rare circumstance that might ever arise, I can’t imagine one sitting here now, where I felt some contentious objection to the law, I would recuse. I would never impose my own personal convictions upon the law.”

Legal scholars on the political left and right both have blasted the criticisms as unfounded and unjust. Planned Parenthood’s lobbying against Barrett’s 2017 nomination was so deceptive that several liberal law professors urged the abortion group to retract its false statements against her.

Website: Life News

Abortionists Deny Mothers Ultrasounds

from Martin Fox, President
National Pro-Life Alliance

The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, has the gall to claim that they stand for, “Care, no matter what,” despite the 324,000 abortions they perform every year...

...and despite the countless women who have called Planned Parenthood expecting prenatal care and asking for an ultrasound, with the same result:

No ultrasounds -- UNLESS it’s for an abortion.

A recent investigation reveals that Planned Parenthood’s so-called “healthcare” doesn’t include ultrasounds for pregnant women -- even though nearly all of their mills have ultrasound equipment on hand to aid in abortions.

In one case, a pregnant woman called a Planned Parenthood in Farmington, New Mexico asking for an ultrasound.

“Oh, we won’t be able to tell you if it’s healthy...” the abortionist answered, “we specialize in abortions. You know, that’s what our ultrasounds are for.”

Of the sixty-eight Planned Parenthoods the woman called, sixty-five answered in kind. Clearly, Planned Parenthood can’t stand to let a woman see a picture of her baby.

Even when abortionists perform an ultrasound during an abortion, they turn the screen away to hide the baby’s picture from the mother. Because abortionists know that women who view ultrasounds are vastly more likely to choose life for their unborn children.

One former Planned Parenthood manager has pointed out, “If Planned Parenthood is really about choice, they would show women the ultrasound. And they don’t.”

This ex-manager is just reaffirming what pro-lifers have long known -- that Planned Parenthood isn’t “really about” choice or even healthcare.

 

The National Pro-Life Alliance occupies a unique and important role in the pro-life movement. The focus of many other pro-life organizations is research, publications or counseling. These are all important and worthy activities, but the National Pro-Life Alliance is singular in its focus on passing pro-life legislation that will protect the unborn from the moment of conception onward. For more information on the National Pro-Life Alliance or to make a donation, please use this link.

New Technology Emphasizes The Humanity Of The Preborn

Petra Wallenmeyer
Human Defense Initiative


Research has already shown us preborn humans can recognize facial structures, learn language, react to music, and recognize their mother's voice. Now, new technologies are showcasing the humanity of the preborn in a manner accessible to the general public, promoting the bond between the mother and child, and empowering women to find support and healthcare for themselves and their children before and after birth.

One new technologically-savvy product in the works is Womba, the brainchild of a mom with a music technology PhD, Aura Pon. Pon and her co-inventor, Johnty Wang, have produced a prenatal musical instrument. Their wearable creation lights up to indicate where and how hard the child is kicking, and emits a sound from the built-in speakers correlated to the child’s movements.

The speakers allow both the mother and preborn child to hear the music being produced. Moms can even choose different types of sounds. Pon and Wang were inspired to make the hobby a serious project to take advantage of the benefits of playing music for preborn babies. Pon added, “It’s also about bonding. Those that can't feel the kicks all the time, you know, they can now see it and hear it and start to be like, 'That's a person in there.'” Pon and Wang have already applied for a U.S. patent and have an investor interested in helping them develop the product.


Article continues here

   

The Human Defense Initiative's mission is to offer an engaging platform that empowers individuals to be a voice for life to those without one.

Use this link to read the history of this organization and meet their staff.  

 

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.  

Diamond & Silk Slam Democrats: They Fight for Immigrant Children But Not Preborn Babies

By Calvin Freiburger
Live Action News

The conservative video blogging duo Diamond and Silk took aim at the double standard of the Democrat Party’s pro-abortion stance Friday in their latest fiery video commentary.

The main topic of the video was not abortion but illegal immigration, specifically the growing calls from several Democrats, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand and socialist congressional nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The calls are the latest development in the controversy over the federal government temporarily separatingparents and children who illegally crossed the southern border for the duration of criminal proceedings.

Early on in the video, Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway blasted the “Dummy-crats” for “fighting in the streets hard to abolish ICE, but they did not fight to end slavery, to abolish slavery.” Shortly afterward, Rochelle “Silk” Richardson followed up by declaring that "Democrats fight for separation of babies from their mothers’ breasts, but refuse to fight for the innocent children being separated from their mothers’ womb.”

The bloggers’ observation follows several prominent pro-abortion Democrats, and even the nation’s leading pro-abortion lobbying groups, denouncing the Trump administration over the scandal using language strikingly similar to what pro-lifers say about abortion.

Jesus Christ “did not say ‘let the children suffer,’” failed presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said of “this cruelty.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi decried the “barbaric and unacceptable policy of ripping children from the arms of their parents at the border.” Rep. Maxine Waters invoked the Bible to declare she was “on the side of understanding that if we can’t protect the children, we can’t protect anybody.”

Planned Parenthood Federation of America tweeted that “all of the fathers and parents who have been separated from their children at borders” were in “our hearts and minds” for Father’s Day. NARAL President Ilyse Hogue decried the “inhumane” and “evil” “torture” of “these children.

Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and various Democrats and pro-abortion pundits similarly attacked President Donald Trump in May for impugning the humanity of the violent gang MS-13 by calling them “animals.”

Life Site News article continues here

South Carolina Gov. McMaster Cuts $16 Million From Planned Parenthood

By Becky Yeh
Live Action News

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster took a stand against abortion Friday by eliminating $16 million from the state budget that he says funds Planned Parenthood. McMaster, who is running for re-election, has vowed on the campaign trail to secure the Republican nomination that he would ensure that no taxpayer dollars go to abortion facilities.

“Taxpayer dollars must not directly or indirectly subsidize abortion providers like Planned Parenthood,” McMaster told the press on Friday.

 “There are a variety of agencies, clinics and medical entities in South Carolina that receive taxpayer funding (that) offer important women’s health and family-planning services without performing abortions.”

Other Republicans reportedly urged McMaster to veto $34 million from the $8 billion budget, but the governor said eliminating the entire amount would prevent 700,000 women and children from getting prescriptions through Medicaid.

Planned Parenthood is America’s largest abortion chain, committing over 320,000 abortions every year. Planned Parenthood receives over $500 million in taxpayer funding annually, and many states, like South Carolina, are taking strong steps to eliminate the abortion giant’s taxpayer subsidies.

Lawmakers may override the vetoes later with a two-thirds vote.

Website: Live Action News