March for Life founder Nellie Gray passes away

According to a press release from National Right to Life Committee, Nellie Gray, the founder of the March for Life, has died.

Today, National Right to Life joins with prolife activists across the county in mourning the loss of Nellie Gray. She was a tireless advocate for the unborn, best known for founding and maintaining the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. Every year the March brings tens of thousands of prolife advocates together from across the nation on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

“Nellie Gray was a prolife pioneer who will be dearly missed,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The indelible mark she has left in this world can be seen in the generations of lives saved as a result of her dedicated work on behalf of the unborn. As we approach the tragic 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are confident her legacy of prolife activism will continue to inspire and affect change.”

Abortion ‘choice’ at Planned Parenthood resulted in woman’s death

On July 20th, a 24-year-old woman named Tonya Reaves was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, leaving behind a fiancée and a one-year-old son. About twelve hours earlier she received a dilation and evacuation abortion at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Chicago.

According to Planned Parenthood’s web site, dilation and evacuation abortions typically take between 10-20 minutes and then women recover for about an hour. In Reaves’ case there were bleeding complications and she was kept at Planned Parenthood for more than 5 hours before she was taken to the hospital. While the coroner has yet to release Reaves’ official autopsy, statements suggest the abortionist at Planned Parenthood botched her abortion, leaving pieces of her unborn child inside her womb, and perforated her uterus, which eventually led to bleeding which was called “uncontrollable” an hour before her death.

Why did it take 5 hours for an ambulance to arrive when this procedure and its recovery typically take an hour and a half? If Planned Parenthood had called for an ambulance sooner, would Reaves still be alive?

These are questions Reaves’ family asked after they lost their loved one. In response, Planned Parenthood issued a statement which admits no responsibility and lauds the supposedly “high safety record” of abortion.

Tonya’s death is a tragedy which touched the lives of many. Every successful abortion ends the life of a baby preparing to be born and with every abortion there are risks. Potential complications for abortion include, but are not limited to, bleeding, hemorrhage, infection, uterine perforation, blood clots, cervical tears, incomplete abortion, and cardiac arrest.

Help is available for mothers and families facing an untimely pregnancy. Pregnancy help organizations and people around the state are ready and willing to provide assistance. Pregnant women in Michigan are never alone. 1-800-57WOMAN is a toll-free hotline which women can call anytime day or night to be connected to a caring, confidential help agency. Right to Life of Michigan also provides a complete listing of pregnancy and adoption services at www.rtl.org.

Mitt Romney selects prolife Congressman Paul Ryan as running mate

On August 11, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney selected Congressman Paul Ryan to be his vice-presidential running mate. Congressman Ryan has served in Congress since 1999 and has a 100% prolife voting record.

National Right to Life Committee praised Romney's pick of Ryan to be his running mate.

“We are thrilled that Paul Ryan has been selected to run with Governor Romney. Congressman Ryan has a deep, abiding respect for all human life, including unborn children and their mothers, the disabled, and the elderly,” said National Right to Life President Carol Tobias. “Together, they form a solid pro-life ticket that truly represents the pro-life majority in the United States.”

NRLC also links to an editorial which Paul Ryan wrote in 2009 sharing his prolife beliefs.

In July of 2012, Paul Ryan told the Weekly Standard that he would always vote prolife.

"I’m as pro-life as a person gets," Ryan continued. "You’re not going to have a truce. Judges are going to come up. Issues come up, they’re unavoidable, and I’m never going to not vote pro-life."

Prolife Pete Hoekstra to challenge Stabenow in general election

On November 6, Michigan voters will have a chance to replace U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, who does not represent Michigan's prolife values, with a prolife U.S. Senator who does. Sadly, during the past 10 years in the U.S. Senate, Debbie Stabenow has a 0% prolife voting record from the National Right to Life Committee.

Pete Hoekstra respects the dignity of human life and will proudly represent Michigan and defend human life in the U.S. Senate.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SENATOR STABENOW'S RECORD ON ABORTION

Life After 40: Week 17

In the seventeenth week of pregnancy, fat begins to form to keep the baby warm and cozy after birth.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

Don't forget to vote today

23%. That's the percentage of Michigan voters who actually voted in the 2010 primary election. Take this opportunity to make your voice count in today's primary!

CREATE A PERSONALIZED PROLIFE BALLOT

LIST OF ENDORSED PROLIFE CANDIDATES

How does abortion effect the economy?

To answer that question, we've produced a new fact sheet entitled, "Destroying Our Future: Abortion's cost to our economy."

This fact describes how abortion contributes to the unsustainability of entitlements, increases health care costs, reduces the number of children in schools and destroys innovation.

LEARN MORE

23 Percent

Are you surprised to know that only 23 percent of registered voters in Michigan chose to participate in the 2010 primary election? In comparison, 19.8 percent of registered voters participated in the 2008 primary.

We all know that elections have consequences. The men and women who represent us at the local, state and federal levels of government make decisions which impact our lives. Some of these decisions also impact whether or not a baby preparing to be born sees the light of day.

If you are registered to vote, make plans now to participate in the process. It is undeniable that every life has meaning and so does every vote. Make your vote count!

The Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee endorsed prolife candidates are committed to making a prolife difference. All RLM-PAC endorsed candidates have been carefully screened, interviewed and have signed a written questionnaire stating their support for prolife legislation. These women and men of conscience understand the value and dignity of every human life and deserve our support and vote.

Be part of the percentage of people who are making a difference. Vote for prolife candidates on August 7.

Special Reminder: For the August 7 primary election, you must vote in either the Democratic primary or the Republican primary.

BALLOT GENERATOR

LIST OF RLM-PAC ENDORSED CANDIDATES

Life After 40: Week 16

During the sixteenth week of pregnancy, an ultrasound at this point would reveal the baby moving her legs and arms and maybe even sucking her thumb. It might also be able to determine her gender.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

House vote on D.C. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

The U.S. House voted 220-154 in favor of the D.C. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act last night. The bill failed to pass because a two-thirds vote was needed under "suspension of the rules." The two-thirds vote would have been necessary to overturn President Obama's likely veto of the bill, which would ban abortions past 20 weeks in our nation's capital.

Some representatives were unable to vote because their planes were delayed as they tried to fly into Washington, D.C.

VOTE RESULTS

Prolifers win first round in challenge to Arizona law which bans late-term abortions (UPDATED)

In a decision which has pro-abortion groups reeling, U.S. District Judge James Teilborg ruled that an Arizona law which prohibits abortions after 20 weeks is constitutional. The law is set to take effect on Thursday and pro-abortion groups plan on filing an emergency appeal. Teilborg also noted Arizona had provided "substantial and well-documented" evidence that an unborn child could feel pain by at least 20 weeks.

The ruling marked a stinging legal defeat for abortion-rights advocates who cited the Arizona law as the most extreme example of late-term abortion prohibitions enacted in more than half a dozen states, and they vowed to immediately appeal the decision.

U.S. District Judge James Teilborg ruled that the measure, passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed into law in April by Republican Governor Jan Brewer, was consistent with the standards that federal courts have set on limits to late-term abortions.....

Teilborg said Arizona's law "does not impose a substantial obstacle" to abortions generally and that Arizona had the right to enact such a measure.

FULL STORY

UPDATE: On August 1, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction which delays the law from going into effect until after the case is argued.

Under the two-page order issued by the appeals court, attorneys have until mid-October to present their briefs, and then the case will be placed on the first available argument calendar for a hearing.

FULL STORY

Prolife congressman diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Representative Dave Camp, who represents Michigan's 4th Congressional District, recently announced he has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Thankfully, the disease was caught early and Representative Camp and his doctors are very optimistic about his treatment and recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with Representative Camp and his family.

FULL STORY

U.S. House to vote on legislation to limit abortion in Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, July 31, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 3803). In the bill, Congress adopts findings that by 20 weeks after fertilization (if not earlier), the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain. The bill prohibits abortion in Washington, D.C. after that point except when the mother's life is in danger. Pieces of legislation which are very similar have been passed in seven states and no court orders have blocked enforcement of any of those laws.

Currently, abortion is legal in Washington, D.C. through all nine months of pregnancy.

MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS

'Prolife Bus' rolls on

Today, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-1 to move H.B. 5711 (also known as the Prolife Bus) to the full Michigan Senate.

The measure would add regulatory and insurance requirements for some facilities that perform abortions. It also would enact screening requirements aimed at making sure women aren’t forced into having abortions, among other provisions.

The full Senate is not scheduled to return to Lansing until Aug. 15, so it does not appear a vote of the full chamber would be held until then at the earliest. There are issues of wording and definition that lawmakers say would need to be addressed before a Senate vote.....

Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge and chairman of the committee, defended the measure and said it's just “common sense” that abortion providers follow regulatory and inspection rules that other facilities follow.

FULL STORY

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS LEGISLATION

Curbing late-term abortions in the nation's capital

The Weekly Standard blog covered prolife efforts to pass the D.C. Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The Act would ban abortions past 20 weeks based on evidence that unborn children can feel pain at that point, and what could be more painful than an abortion?

The Washington Surgi-Clinic, located just five blocks west of the White House, advertises on its website that it performs abortions 26 weeks (6 months) into pregnancy. The website of another clinic advertises second- and third-trimester abortions involving the “intercardiac injection of medication into the fetal heart” at a “private facility in the Washington, D.C. area.” All of this is perfectly legal.

FULL STORY

"Stunning recovery" for boy who received a trachea implant created from his own stem cells

A Good Morning America/Yahoo! News web page is sharing the success of a British boy whose life was saved by the creation of a trachea from his own stem cells.

Ciaran Finn-Lynch, the now 13-year-old boy from the UK who the world's first child to receive the stem cell trachea transplant, is breathing normally and no longer needs anti-rejection medication, researchers reported in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Lancet.

The organ itself is strong, has not shown signs of rejection, and has even grown 11 centimeters since it had been transplanted, according to the researchers.

Ciaran was born with a rare condition known as Long Segment Tracheal Stenosis, marked by a small windpipe that does not grow and can restrict breathing. He underwent the stem cell transplant in March 2010 after a standard trachea transplant did not work.

FULL STORY

LEARN MORE ABOUT STEM CELL RESEARCH

Another horrific tale of forced abortion in China

The Detroit Free Press is carrying a story from USA Today which describes the brutal tactics used by family planning officials in China to kill the unborn children of women who violate the country's draconian one-child policy.

As supervisor of family planning enforcement in Fujian province's Daji township, Wang Jinding says he knows the best way to kill the unborn babies of parents who want to keep them.

"The key point is to separate the pregnant woman from her family members," he said in an interview with USA TODAY.

That is exactly what Wang did in a case in April, enforcing the Communist Party's rules on family size. He had eight government workers kidnap a pregnant Pan Chunyan, 31, from her grocery store in Fujian city on the southern coast.

Her husband, Wu Liangjie, was frantically raising the $8,640 fee required for a third child. Wu and a dozen relatives fought to try to see Pan at the government building where she was held.

Rather than granting the family more time, Wang organized a police-led convoy of seven vehicles to take Pan to a hospital. There, Pan — who was eight months pregnant — was injected with chemicals to kill the child. She delivered a fully formed, but dead, son.

FULL STORY

Life After 40: Week 15

During the fifteenth week of pregnancy, the baby’s hair pattern on her head is forming. Researchers argue whether her widow’s peak is the result of her genetic code or her own self-directed growth in the womb.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

Woman dies after abortion at Planned Parenthood in Chicago

A 24-year-old woman named Tonya Reaves is dead after having a dilation and evacuation abortion at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Chicago. She had the abortion at 11 a.m. and was declared at 11:20 p.m. after being taken to a hospital.

At 10:12 p.m., Reaves was taken back to surgery – and “an uncontrollable bleed was discovered,” documents say.

Reaves was pronounced dead just in the operating room just over an hour later, at 11:20 p.m.

Reaves’ twin sister, Toni Reaves, said this past weekend that Tonya was engaged to be married and had one son – Alvin – who just had his first birthday.

“It happened so fast. She was just fine one day and then the next day she was gone. We’re just trying to figure out what happened… what happened,” Toni Reaves said.

FULL STORY

Prolife radio ads air on WJR

Prolife educational ads are airing on Detroit's WJR News Talk radio, 760 AM, from July 23 - August 6. You can hear the Right to Life of Michigan ads during morning and afternoon drive times, midday and on the weekends.

We are excited to have prolife ads airing in Michigan to both educate and inspire people to learn more about the life-saving work of Right to Life of Michigan.

If you would like to hear the ads and are not able to tune into WJR, visit our Life After 40 web page.

California institute designed to funnel money to embryonic stem cell research now providing more grants for non-embryonic stem cell work

In November of 2004, voters in California approved the creation of CIRM (the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine) to provide $3 billion in funding for stem cell research. CIRM was sold to the voters of California by promising miraculous cures using embryonic stem cells. Proponents of CIRM believed the almost unheard of funding levels would help California scientists cure disease after disease with embryonic stem cells.

Fast forward 8 years and a review of CIRM's recent grants show that CIRM is slowly abandoning human embryonic stem cell research as it hopes to move research into clinical trials and have something to show for the billions given it.

The California Stem Cell Report notes that in a recent round of grants worth $113 million, only one of the six grants involved embryonic stem cells and the one grant winner using embryonic stem cells was given the lowest scientific score of all the winning grants.

Only one of the grants approved by reviewers involves research with human embryonic stem cells, which was the critical key to creation of the California stem cell agency. California voters established the agency in 2004 on the basis that it was needed because the Bush Administration had restricted federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.

FULL STORY

LEARN MORE ABOUT STEM CELL RESEARCH

U.S. House Committee votes to ban post-20 week abortions in D.C.

Yesterday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted 18-14 in favor of the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill would ban abortions past 20 weeks in our nation's capital because evidence indicates an unborn child may be able to feel pain.

FULL STORY

Michigan's Abortion Industry is Unchecked, Out of Control

Below is a new downloadable fact sheet which explains H.B. 5711. House Bill 5711 is an omnibus bill, also known as the Prolife Bus. The purpose of the Prolife Bus is to hold the abortion industry to the same health and safety standards as other medical providers. Patients' safety must be put ahead of abortion profits.

Please feel free to distribute this fact sheet as you wish.

FACT SHEET ON H.B. 5711 (THE PROLIFE BUS)

Prolife congressional candidate Bob Costello silenced at Grosse Pointe Democratic Club event

On July 16, Right to Life of Michigan PAC endorsed candidate Bob Costello was prevented from speaking at a forum for congressional candidates in the 14th Congressional District and was forced to leave the forum after attempting to speak. The forum was supposed to be an open forum for the Democratic congressional candidates of the 14th District but Costello (who is one of the five Democratic candidates on the ballot) wasn't invited.

Costello, a prolife Democrat, was one of four congressional candidates who attended the event even though he was threatened with arrest if he attempted to speak at this event by the president of the Grosse Pointe Democratic Club. Costello believes his prolife beliefs were the reason he wasn't invited to the event and was prevented from speaking.

The main focus of Costello's campaign is the protection of religious freedom which Obamacare's HHS mandate violates by forcing religious institutions which operate schools and hospitals to violate their beliefs by providing coverage for services they object to.

The other candidates who attended the forum (Gary Peters, Mary Waters and Brenda Lawrence) remained shamelessly silent as their co-candidate was prevented from speaking.

For more information about Bob Costello's candidacy visit www.bobcostelloforcongress.com

Get your personalized prolife ballot of RLM-PAC endorsed candidates here.

Life After 40: Week 14

During the fourteenth week of pregnancy, the baby is 3 ½ inches long and if we had a window to the womb we could tell if she was a girl or if he was a boy.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40