Bills to prevent coercive abortion pass Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee

On September 29, in 5-3 votes, H.B. 4787 and H.B. 4830 passed the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee and will be reportedly favorably to the House floor. 

Before the vote, Right to Life of Michigan legislative director Ed Rivet spoke about his experiences of being contacted by girls and women who are being coerced into abortion by boyfriends and family members. 

The three Democratic state representatives (Rep. Stephanie Chang, Rep. Vanessa Guerra and Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright) on the committee voted against these bills despite calling themselves “pro-choice.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS LEGISLATION

White House issues veto threat against protecting children who survive abortion

Last week, the White House has released an official veto threat against H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, and H.R. 3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.  In the statement, the White House says it “strongly opposes” both bills and the bills would limit “women’s health care choices.”

It’s no surprise that President Barack Obama is a fan of Planned Parenthood but how can the White House claim that protecting children who survive abortion would limit women’s health care choices?   

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is a short legislation which merely requires that any health care practitioner (which would include abortionists and nurses) who are present when a child who is born alive after an abortion shall:

“(A) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age; and

“(B) following the exercise of skill, care, and diligence required under subparagraph (A), ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.

Abortion clinic staff who see abortionists or nurses not comply with this law are required to report them to law enforcement and women whose children are born alive and not cared for can sue the abortionist.

How this would “limit women’s health care choices” or “have a chilling effect, reducing access to care” is never explained in the veto threat.  The only reasonable explanation is a creepy one. It seems President Obama thinks some abortionists who don’t try to help children who survive abortions would stop doing late-term abortions. That he cares more about late-term abortionists being able to abandon children who survive abortions than the children themselves should give everyone pause. 

Bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks filibustered in U.S. Senate

A bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks because unborn children may be able to feel pain is being filibustered by 42 pro-abortion U.S. senators including Senator Gary Peters and Senator Debbie Stabenow. A majority of Americans and U.S. senators oppose late-term abortions.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a Republican bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The measure failed to advance in a 54-42 vote, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed.

Democratic Sens. Robert Casey, Jr. (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.), who all oppose abortion rights, joined Republicans in voting to advance the bill. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Mark Kirk (Ill.), who support abortion rights, voted against it.

FULL STORY

Congressman Moolenaar and Walberg speak up for life during Congressional debate

During the debate over defunding Planned Parenthood, Michigan Congressmen John Moolenaar and Tim Walberg both spoke up in defense of unborn human beings and against Planned Parenthood.  Watch their speeches below. 

Moolenaar


Walberg

Laura Berman and the Detroit News owe Carly Fiorina an apology and retraction

In a recent column for the Detroit News, columnist Laura Berman claims presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was being untruthful during the most recent presidential debate in describing a scene from one of the videos released by the Center for Medical Progress. 

In the debate, Fiorina challenged President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to watch the videos and described a scene from one of them (specifically the 7th video at approximately the 6th minute mark) by saying, “Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain."

So how does Berman know what Fiorina said was untruthful?  Did she watch the videos herself?  No.  She believes a pro-abortion writer named Sarah Kliff who claims to have watched all the videos.  Sarah Kliff gained notoriety in the prolife community when as a writer for the Washington Post she didn’t cover the trial of abortionist and serial killer Kermit Gosnell because she believed it was a “local crime” story.   

Berman writes,

Planned Parenthood has denounced it as blatantly false, while Vox.com’s Sara (sic) Kliff called it “pure fiction,” after watching all 12 hours of the Center for Medical Progress’ videos targeting Planned Parenthood. “But the things Fiorina describes — the legs kicking, the intact ‘fully formed fetus,’ the heart beating, the remarks about having to ‘harvest its brain’ — are pure fiction,” she wrote, posting all 12 hours on the website.

Although several GOP candidates expressed outrage at abortion and Planned Parenthood’s involvement in it, Carpentier said Fiorina is being singled out because she’s “attesting to things that are blatantly untrue.” Fiorina has yet to retract any of her statements, instead saying people can “rest assured” her description is accurate.                   

Instead of retracting her statements or telling people to "rest assured," a super PAC supporting Fiorina has created the below 1-minute ad which includes her statement from the debate and the video footage she references.  



So who are you going to believe?  A pro-abortion writer or your own eyes?

The Detroit News should immediately update Berman's column online to include the footage or at bare minimum a link to the footage which Fiorina references and let their readers decide for themselves who is spouting "pure fiction."

U.S. House votes to defund Planned Parenthood, protect children who survive abortions

On September 18, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for two prolife bills.  One piece of legislation entitled the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 would defund Planned Parenthood for a year.  Planned Parenthood is America’s leading abortion provider and is being investigated by Congress for their role in the practice of trafficking in the body parts of aborted children. 

The Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 passed by a vote of 241-187 with 239 Republicans and two Democrats supporting the measure.            
                              
The House also voted 248-177 in favor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.  This bill would “require any health care practitioner who is present when a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion to: (1) exercise the same degree of care as reasonably provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure that such child is immediately admitted to a hospital.”

This bill passed with the support of 243 Republicans and 5 Democrats. 

Media baselessly attacks Carly Fiorina after she mentions Planned Parenthood's fetal harvesting

At National Review, Ian Tuttle has an article describing how quickly members of the media (which generally has avoided writing stories on the series of videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s practice of fetal body parts trafficking) jumped to Planned Parenthood’s defense.

During last night’s presidential debate, presidential candidate Carly Fiorina challenged President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to watch the videos and then described a scene from one of the videos by saying: 

I dare Hillary Clinton [and] Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully-formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says, ‘We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.’ This is about the character of our nation.

This line received huge applause from the audience. Tuttle describes how Planned Parenthood-friendly media members quickly went after Fiorina and her comment, apparently without ever actually watching the videos. 

By 10:15 p.m., Fusion’s Casey Tolan had labeled Fiorina’s answer “the scariest moment of the GOP Debate so far,” then penned a paragraph of almost-verbatim Planned Parenthood talking points.....

Reporter Rachana Pradhan “fact-checked” Fiorina’s claim for Politico: “That video relies solely on the interview and does not include footage to support her claims.”

And Slate’s Amanda Marcotte rushed to contend that Fiorina’s “grisly abortion rant” was untruths through and through: “There is nothing in the videos made by CMP, either in the edited or full-length versions, that has anything approaching images of legs kicking or hearts beating.”

Perhaps Marcotte & Co. should actually watch the Planned Parenthood videos. In the seventh video (there are ten available now, by the way, with more to come), at the 5:57 mark, is a baby, post-abortion, lying in a dish — its leg kicking. They will also hear Holly O’Donnell, an ex-StemExpress procurement technician who worked at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s Alameda Clinic in San Jose, Calif., describing how she was directed to “cut down the middle of the face” of a baby with a still-beating heart “to get the brain.”

FULL STORY

10th Planned Parenthood video released, features top Planned Parenthood exec talking about how selling fetal body parts can “generate a fair amount of income” for clinics

The Center for Medical Progress has released the 10th video in their series of videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s and abortion industry’s practice of selling the body parts of aborted children.  The undercover video features clips at what appears to be a conference of abortion providers including talks with Deb VanDerhei, the National Director of the Consortium of Abortion Providers, an organization within Planned Parenthood which attempts to expand the number of their affiliates doing abortions. 

A discussion with longtime abortionist Carolyn Westhoff is also shown.  Westhoff, who is a Senior Medical Advisor for Planned Parenthood, discusses how fetal body parts buyers want different types of fetal body parts and tissues from her abortion clinic including cardiac, eyes, neural, spinal cords, and gonads. 
   
Vanessa Russo, the Compliance Program Administrator for Planned Parenthood Keystone says, “A company like this that wants to give our organization money for the tissue, I think that’s a valid exchange.  And that’s okay”

The video also features a number of Planned Parenthood executives discussing how bad it would be for public relations if the public knew about how Planned Parenthood is willing to sell the body parts and organs of aborted children.

Watch the video below. 

Teleseminar Update on Planned Parenthood and Conference

Mark your calendar to join Right to Life of Michigan for a Teleseminar update on the Planned Parenthood videos and our annual Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 11:30 a.m.

 We will hear from Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing and Legislative Director Ed Rivet. The ongoing Planned Parenthood undercover videos have led to a lot of activity, both inside and outside the Michigan Capitol. Several important pieces of legislation are currently in the works. The 42nd Annual Right to Life of Michigan Conference on September 24 in Lansing will be an opportunity for prolife people around the state to come together and be inspired for activities in the wake of these important current events.

The teleseminar will last about 30 minutes. It’s open to all prolife people, feel free to share this information with your Michigan friends and family members.

There are two ways for you to listen in:
Use your phone and call (425) 440-5100; PIN Code: 662744#
Or, listen via the Internet: http://iTeleseminar.com/74456517

We are looking forward to connecting with you on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 11:30 a.m!

NPR runs puff piece on re-opened Ohio abortion clinic, never mentions health violations which closed it

National Public Radio’s All Things Considered ran a story about an abortion clinic in Ohio where the abortionist is providing both surgical and chemical abortions.  Entitled, “Bucking Trend, Ohio Doctor Opens Clinic That Provides Abortion Services,” the article by Sarah Jane Tribble tells us that abortionist David Burkons “liked delivering babies. But he is also committed to serving all his patients, including those who choose abortions.”
   
The reader learns that Burkons has finally been able to do surgical abortions at this location.

Initially in his new clinic, he could only administer the pills that induce medical abortion. But this summer, after 18 months of state inspections, rejections and — finally — acceptance, he began performing surgical abortions as well.

What the article doesn’t tell us is that this isn’t a “new clinic.”  In fact, this "new" clinic is at the exact same location as an abortion clinic which the state of Ohio shut down because of numerous deficiencies in 2013.  Those deficiencies included having unqualified employees routinely distributing controlled substances to patients, lack of infection control training, lack of evidence of informed consent, no registered nurse assigned to surgery, etc. 

Burkons worked at the "old" Capital Care Network clinic before it was closed and he re-opened the clinic under the new name of "Northeast Ohio Women's Clinic" mere months after it closed. These important details are curiously missing from the story. 

The NPR piece while focusing on Burkons use of chemical abortions, also fails to mention that Burkons is responsible for a large number of complications using the RU-486 chemical abortion method. 

When it was pointed out to reporter Sarah Jane Tribble that the clinic was not “new” but had been closed by the state in 2013, she responded by saying, “Thank you for reading. That was a different clinic.”

When it was further pointed out that the clinic is located in the same building at the same address and Burkons performed abortions there prior to it closing in 2013, Tribble responded by saying, “Different ownership.”

Does that sound like a journalist? Or does that sound like a public relations hack defending her employer? 

Imagine a restaurant is shut down by the state for numerous health violations.  A few months later the restaurant re-opens at the same location with a new name under "new management" but the chef is the same.  Wouldn't any reporter with journalistic integrity mention how the "old" restaurant was shut down by the state in an article discussing the re-opening?  Shouldn't the public be informed about the restaurant's and the chef's previous problems?

9th Planned Parenthood video released, baby body parts buyer admits sometimes babies “just fell out”

The Center for Medical Progress has released the ninth in its undercover series of videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s practice of selling body parts of aborted children.  This video focuses on Advanced BioScience Resources, an organization which buys body parts from Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics and then sells them to researchers. 

In the video, Perrin Larton, an employee of Advanced BioScience Resources, discusses how in some instances intact children “just fell out” of their mothers after the women had been dilated with laminaria. 
       
“Yeah, they put lams (laminaria) in and she comes in the next morning, and I literally have had women come in and they’ll go in the OR (operating room), and they’re back out in 3 minutes, and I’m going, ‘What’s going on?’

‘Oh yeah, the fetus was already in the vaginal canal whenever we put her in the stirrups, it just fell out.’” 

View the video below. 


Update: The full footage of the undercover meeting with Perrin Larton is below.