Tag: abortion

Joe Biden Will Spend $88 Million This Year Funding Research With Aborted Baby Parts

Micaiah Bilger – March 3, 2022

Under the Biden administration, American taxpayers once again are being forced to fund scientific experiments using aborted baby body parts.

It is a major shift from the Trump administration, which cut off funding after undercover videos caught Planned Parenthood allegedly selling aborted baby body parts and conservative news outlets uncovered a study in which scientists implanted scalps from second-trimester aborted babies onto rodents.

The National Catholic Register reports the Biden administration allocated $88 million for human fetal tissue research in 2022 through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Biden also disbanded an ethical review board to review funding requests, so now there is little oversight to ensure Americans’ tax dollars are being used ethically.

Father Tad Pacholczyk, the director of education and staff ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told the Register that Biden quickly reversed course on fetal tissue research, and now is “returning us to the prior situation where fetal tissue research faced very few practical barriers or limitations.”

One particularly disturbing experiment that taxpayers funded through the University of Pittsburgh involved scalping second-trimester aborted babies and implanting their scalps onto rodents to study the human immune system. The information came from a study published in 2020 in the journal “Scientific Reports,” which included photos showing small tufts of baby hair growing on the rodents.

Last year, Judicial Watch and David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, which exposed Planned Parenthood’s involvement in aborted baby body parts harvesting, also uncovered evidence suggesting that some babies may be being born alive in abortions before their organs are harvested for scientific research at the University of Pittsburgh.

Speaking with the Register, Daleiden said American leaders need to be “loud and bold about these topics and keep talking about them and demanding answers from the government, Planned Parenthood and institutions like Pitt.”

https://www.lifenews.com

Vermont Wants to Amend Constitution to Guarantee Abortion

Peter Malbin -February 8, 2022

Vermont may become the first state to pass a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion and contraception.

If it’s passed, the proposed amendment, Proposition 5, will go to Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who is required to give public notice of the measure before it appears on the ballot in November, The Washington Post reported.

The proposal comes in anticipation of a key Supreme Court ruling on abortion expected this summer that may overturn or significantly weaken Roe v. Wade.

Fifteen states have passed laws preserving the right to abortion, including, most recently, New Jersey, but no other state has enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution, The Washington Post noted.

“We are hoping to be a model for other states to follow,” said Lucy Leriche, vice president of Vermont Public Policy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. “In states all over the country, politicians are moving to take away reproductive rights, specifically abortion rights, and we could be an example of another way.”

Republican lawmakers and lobbyists in Vermont say the amendment is “extreme.”

Proposition 5 guarantees the right to “reproductive autonomy,” a term Republican State Representative Anne Donahue said is too vague, allowing future courts to interpret the amendment more broadly than legislators intended.

The amendment passed both the House and Senate in 2019 and was approved again in the Senate in 2021. Proposition 5 gained more momentum when the Supreme Court indicated its willingness to reconsider Roe v. Wade in oral arguments in December.

https://www.newsmax.com

Texas Heartbeat Law Has Saved Over 11,000 Babies From Abortion

Michael New Ph.D. – February 3, 2022

This week, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission released abortion data for September 2021, the first full month in which the Texas Heartbeat Act was in effect. The data illustrate that the new law, which protects preborn children after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, has significantly reduced the incidence of abortion in the Lone Star State.

The statistics show that 2,197 abortions were performed in Texas in September 2021,  a 51 percent reduction from September 2020. The Heartbeat Act, in other words, is preventing approximately 75 abortions from taking place in Texas every day.

Some Texas women, to be sure, are circumventing the Heartbeat Act by obtaining abortions in other states. But a survey taken by Heartbeat International in September 2021 indicates that 41 percent of pregnancy centers in Texas and surrounding states have seen an increase in clients, so clearly more Texas women are seeking assistance in carrying pregnancies to term.  Data on births by Texas women from this spring and summer will provide even clearer data on the effect of the Heartbeat Act.

Overall, these new data adds to a significant body of research showing that pro-life laws and policies protect unborn children and save lives. Research shows, for instance, that Texas governor Greg Abbott’s March 2020 executive order postponing elective surgeries reduced the number of abortions in Texas that spring. Numerous studies show that a range of incremental pro-life laws in the United States lower abortion rates. Overseas, there is evidence that pro-life laws in Poland and Ireland reduced the incidence of abortion in those countries.

The enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act came at a very good time. After years of decline, abortion rates in Texas, like many other states, had slowly begun to increase. In the first eight months of 2021, there were over 39,000 abortions performed in the Lone Star State, an increase of more than 11 percent from the first eight months of 2017.  While the Heartbeat Act will continue to face legal challenges, the new statistics are encouraging, because the law has undoubtedly succeeded in protecting preborn children. Other conservative states seeking to protect preborn children would do well to follow Texas’s lead.

https://www.lifenews.com

Florida House Committee Passes Pro-Life Bill to Save Babies From Abortion

Micaiah Bilger – Jan 28, 2022

Despite abortion activists’ continuous disruptions, a Florida House committee advanced legislation Thursday to protect unborn babies by banning abortions after 15 weeks.

Florida Politics reports pro-abortion protesters repeatedly interrupted the meeting with shouts and chants before the state House Healthcare Appropriations Subcommittee voted 10-5 to move forward with the bill.

The Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act (House Bill 5) would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions would be allowed if the mother’s life is at risk or the unborn baby has a fatal disorder. It also includes measures to reduce infant mortality and a requirement that abortion facilities report suspected human trafficking cases to the state.

The legislation has a good chance of passing the Republican-controlled state legislature, and Gov. Ron DeSantis recently “welcomed” pro-life legislation. Polls consistently show strong public support for banning abortion after the first trimester as well.

On Thursday, committee members listened to more than an hour of public comment before ending public discussion to allow lawmakers time to debate before they voted, according to the report.

However, a female abortion activist interrupted their discussion, and security guards escorted her out of the room. As they did, other abortion activists began chanting “Let her speak!”, eventually prompting lawmakers to stop the meeting and clear the room, WTSP 10 Tampa Bay reports. Later, they allowed people back inside and reconvened the meeting.

Abortion activists accused lawmakers of not allowing them to speak, but Andy Shirvell, executive director for Florida Voice for the Unborn, who attended the meeting, said the abortion activists monopolized the public comment period.

“One pro-abortion activist after another testified, with only one pro-life advocate able to speak,” Shirvell said. “Many pro-lifers, including myself, were there to testify but we never got the chance.”

He speculated that the committee chair may have given more time to abortion activists in an attempt to mollify them, but the opposite occurred.

“As grateful as Florida Voice for the Unborn is for today’s victory, nonetheless what took place at the subcommittee hearing was completely unacceptable,” Shirvell said.

https://www.lifenews.com

France’s Macron Calls For Abortion To Be Added To EU’s Fundamental Rights Charter

Cathy Burke – January 19, 2021

French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for abortion to be added to the European Union’s charter of fundamental rights.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in eastern France on Wednesday, Macron said the rights charter needed to be revised, the National Catholic Register (NCR) reported.

“We must update this charter to be more explicit on the recognition of the right to abortion or on the protection of the environment,” he said, according to NCR.

“Let us open up this debate freely with our fellow citizens … to breathe new life into the pillar of law that forges this Europe of strong values,” he said.

The European Union charter recognizes the right to life but does not mention abortion.

Macron made the appeal the day after the European Union’s law-making body elected the pro-life politician Roberta Metsola from Malta as its new president, the news outlet noted.

Metsola, at 43 the youngest-ever president of the European Parliament — told Euronews after her election that she would respect the assembly’s majority view in favor of abortion during her renewable term of 2 1/2 years.

“The position of the parliament is unambiguous and unequivocal, and that is also my position,” she said Tuesday, Catholic News Agency reported. “That is exactly what I will do throughout my mandate as president on this issue.”

According to NCR, the European Parliament voted last June in favor of a report describing abortion as “essential healthcare” and seeking to redefine conscientious objection as a “denial of medical care.”

The report also declared violations of “sexual and reproductive health and rights” are “a form of violence against women and girls.”

Most of the EU’s 27 member states permit abortion on demand or broad social grounds, except Malta and Poland, which have strong pro-life laws, NCR reported.

https://www.newsmax.com

Abortion Was the Leading Cause of Death Worldwide in 2021, Killing 42.6 Million People

Steven Ertelt – January 3, 2022

More human beings died in abortions than any other cause of death in 2021.

A heartbreaking reminder about the prevalence of abortion, statistics compiled by Worldometers indicate that there were over 42.6 million abortions world-wide in 2021. The independent site collects data from governments and other reputable organizations and then reports the data, along with estimates and projections, based on those numbers. It reveals 42,640,209 people died from abortions in 2021.

When contrasting the abortion numbers to other causes of death, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, traffic accidents and suicide, abortions far outnumbered every other cause. By contrast, 8.7 million people died from cancer in 2021, 5 million from smoking, 13 million from disease, and 1.7 million died of HIV/AIDS. Deaths by malaria and alcohol are also recorded.

With 58.7 million people dying last year from a cause other than abortion, that means abortions accounted for 42% of every death around the world last year.

And when compared to COVID, the number of people dying from abortions dwarfs the number of COVID deaths. Worldomters indicates that approximately 3.5 million people died from COVID worldwide in 2021. There is considerable question as to whether those figures are accurate, as the CDC and state figures in the United States indicate a sizable percentage of deaths from COVID aren’t actually directly resulted from the virus itself, but are of people who had the virus at the time they died from some other cause.

But assuming the figures are accurate, and not adjusting for overcounting, abortion is 12.17 times more deadly than COVID.

https://www.lifenews.com

Republican-Led States Restrict Telehealth Abortion Pill Distribution

Charlie McCarthy -December 23, 2021

Most red states will limit access to abortion pills despite federal regulators’ move to lift restrictions permanently on prescribing the drugs, the Washington Examiner reported.

The Biden administration, saying it wanted to reduce risks of exposure to COVID-19, temporarily suspended the in-person dispensing requirement for the two-pill medication regimen earlier this year. The agency later said it will permanently drop the rule.

Several Republican-led states have laws to limit access to the drug and supersede the updated Food and Drug Administration guidance, the Examiner reported Thursday.

Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, and West Virginia, as well as Democrat-led Louisiana, are states that have explicitly banned telehealth visits to prescribe abortion medication. There also are other restrictions, such as waiting periods or not by mail, on dispensing the drug.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La., approved a mandate last summer that had abortion providers advise patients of a possible abortion reversal “if after taking the first pill you regret your decision,” the Examiner reported.

Fifteen other states have mandated that a physician be present when the patient obtains the medication and during the procedure, effectively banning the use of telemedicine to prescribe and dispense the drug, the Examiner said.

Those states include Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.

https://www.newsmax.com

FDA Will No Longer Require In-Person Doctor Visits for Abortion Pill

– December 16, 2021

The FDA announced Thursday it will no longer require in-person doctor visits for women who want the chemical abortion pill, a move some physicians say will endanger women across the country.

The agency temporarily lifted the requirement in April so doctors could prescribe the pill after a virtual visit. Unlike morning-after pills, which are available over the counter and aim to block fertilization, chemical abortion pills terminate a developing fetus in the uterus. Chemical abortion pills have four times the complication rate as surgical abortions and are more likely to send women to the emergency room. Physicians recommend in-person exams prior to prescribing abortion pills because ultrasounds can help minimize harm to the mother.

“If you can’t tell a woman how far along she is you also can’t tell her what her risks are,” Dr. Donna Harrison, the chief executive officer of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told the Washington Free Beacon. Women often misdate their pregnancies and taking the abortion pill too late could prove deadly. Harrison also noted that virtual visits would make it easier for men to force women to take the abortion pill.

“There is no way to know what abusers, what pimps, what disgruntled boyfriends will do with this drug,” Harrison told the Free Beacon. “It’s bad for women.”

Pro-choice activists are pushing to expand access to chemical abortions as states pass laws restricting surgical abortions. Plan C, a website that details how to illegally purchase chemical abortion pills online, said it has seen a significant increase in web traffic, especially in Texas, which enacted a six-week abortion ban in September. States have placed restrictions on chemical abortion pills such as requiring they be purchased in-person and through a provider, but pills not approved by the FDA have continued to sell online with ease. The FDA sent a cease and desist letter in 2019 to the top illegal supplier in the country, Aid Access, but no action has been taken to stop its sales.

The FDA announced in April 2021 that doctors could prescribe chemical abortion pills with virtual visits for the duration of the pandemic, but did not specify when that rule would lapse.

https://freebeacon.com

Human Rights Commissioner Says Killing Babies in Abortions is a “Human Right”

Micaiah Bilger – November 10, 2021

A European human rights commissioner demanded Wednesday that Poland legalize the killing of unborn babies in abortions, claiming this destruction of innocent human beings is a “human right” and abortion bans amount to “torture.”

Politico reports Dunja Mijatović, the commissioner for human rights for the Council of Europe, criticized Poland’s protections for unborn babies in a report to the European Court of Human Rights.

Her report came out ahead of an expected vote Thursday in European Parliament on a resolution to condemn Poland for its pro-life laws, according to the report.

Poland is one of the few countries in Europe that protects unborn babies from abortions. In 2020, its high court struck down an exception allowing abortions on unborn babies with disabilities. The country now allows abortions only in cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s life.

In her report this week, Mijatović argued that the 2020 ruling had a “harmful impact on women’s human rights” in Poland, and countries have a “human rights” obligation to legalize abortion on demand.

She insisted that Poland urgently overturn its pro-life laws and make abortion legal and easily accessible.

Abortions destroy the most basic human right of all, the right to life for babies in the womb. Yet, international leaders and abortion activists are trying to spin the issue by claiming the killing of unborn babies is a human right and laws that protect them are “cruel” and “torture.”

Mijatović did this in her report, quoting the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which claims that “criminalization of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and/or post-abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy … are forms of gender-based violence that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

However, these international human rights leaders completely ignore the inhumane cruelty and torture that unborn babies suffer when they are killed in abortions. Some unborn babies are dismembered alive while their hearts are still beating, others are stabbed in the heart with poison.

https://www.lifenews.com

Texas Sees Massive Drop in Abortions as New Stats Show Abortion Ban Saving Thousands of Babies

Micaiah Bilger – October 29, 2021

Texas abortion facilities reported a huge drop in abortion numbers during the first 30 days when the state heartbeat law was in effect, according to new research from the University of Texas at Austin.

Though some women are getting abortions earlier and others are traveling out of state, researchers acknowledged that the law is preventing abortions. And that means babies’ lives are being saved.

The New York Times reports the University of Texas at Austin researchers found a 50-percent drop in abortions in September, compared to the same month in 2020.

Abortion facilities reported 2,164 abortions in September 2021, down from 4,313 in September 2020, according to the new research. That equates to 2,149 babies’ lives

“The last two months have been a phenomenal success for the pro-life movement,” John Seago, legislative director of Texas Right to Life, told the Times in reaction to the research. “We are the first state to be able to enforce a heartbeat bill, and lives are being saved every day because of this work.”

The heartbeat law went into effect Sept. 1, prohibiting abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable. Unique from other state pro-life laws, the Texas law allows private citizens to enforce the abortion ban by suing abortionists who violate it.

Thus far, the courts have allowed Texas to enforce the law. Twice, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to temporarily block it; however, the justices are scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Biden administration’s challenge on Monday.

https://www.lifenews.com