The following are brief update son pro-life items of interest:
Rick Santorum Will Deliver Speech at South Carolina Pro-Life Event
Washington, DC — Rick Santorum will make his eighth trip to South Carolina on Saturday as the Pennsylvania Republican continues his courtship of conservatives while exploring a potential presidential bid. Santorum will address a pro-life rally in Columbia on Saturday sponsored by South Carolina Citizens for Life before traveling to Aiken to speak at a county GOP lunch on Monday. Ahead of his trip to South Carolina, Santorum was in New Hampshire, where on Tuesday he launched a series of house parties hosted by former Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne’s Granite Oath PAC. (The Hill)
Brownback Wants to Limit Abortions, Activists Upset
Topeka, KS — Abortion rights advocates Wednesday criticized Gov. Sam Brownback for calling for further restrictions on abortions. “It’s disappointing and hypocritical at best,” said Julie Burkhart, founder and director of Trust Women. In his first State of the State address, Brownback, a Republican, said he wanted the Legislature to approve legislation “that protects the unborn, establishing a culture of life in Kansas. “We must support the dignity of every human being whether that person is unemployed, undereducated or unborn,” he said. Republicans in the Legislature gave Brownback a standing ovation. (DeSoto Explorer)
International Planned Parenthood Promotes Manual Vacuum Aspiration
New York, NY — The International Planned Parenthood federation recently highlighted a study conducted by a group of American and African doctors that assessed the most cost-effective abortion procedures. The authors found that Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) was the safest and most cost-effective abortion procedure for Nigeria, while the chemical abortifacient Misoprostol was the most efficient method for clinics in Ghana. Both findings were based on abortions completed within the first trimester of pregnancy. (CFAM)
South Carolina Lawmakers to Tackle Abortion
Columbia, SC — The 2011 legislative agenda for the Republican majority in South Carolina’s House of Representatives will include many bills the chamber has dealt with before, including abortion, but it will have a higher place. “This is the first time ever that the House Republican agenda has included pro-life legislation,” says Rep. Greg Delleney, a Chester Republican.
“The issues that we have before us today are issues that we believe are those that are important to the voters of South Carolina,” said House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham of Lexington. “Some of these items include essential government reforms such as on-the-record voting and agency restructuring. We’ve also included three pieces of important pro-life legislation as part of our agenda.”
The include a “Born Alive” legislation that says babies born alive after an abortion procedure must be saved; a “Freedom of Conscience Act” requiring health care providers to not be held liable if they do not provide a service that is against their conscience; and “Obamacare Abortion Opt-Out” that ensures South Carolina doctors will not be required to perform abortions “if required to by Obamacare.”
Idaho Planned Parenthood Files Complaint Against Pro-Life Pharmacist
Boise, ID — Planned Parenthood has filed a letter of complaint with the Idaho Board of Pharmacy after a Nampa pharmacist refused to fill a prescription for a drug because the medication is involved in abortions. Idaho Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Mark Johnston confirmed that the board received the complaint alleging that on November 6, a Walgreens pharmacist refused to fill a prescription ordered by one of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest’s Boise-based nurse practitioners.
The prescription was for a Planned Parenthood patient for Methergine, a medicine used to prevent or control bleeding of the uterus following childbirth or an abortion. The Idaho Legislature passed a law last year that gives pharmacists and other health care providers the right to refuse to provide any health care service or dispense any drugs that violate their conscience. Lawmakers could readdress the issue this session. (Idaho Press)
Pro-Life League of Nevada Announces Award Winners
Carson City, NV — Pro-Life League of Nevada will honor three outstanding pro-life Nevadans on Friday, January 14, 2011, during the fifth annual Friends for Life Dinner and Auction at the Silver Legacy Resort in Reno. Nevada. Kathleen Miller of Las Vegas and Steve and Sue Wren of Reno are the 2011 recipients of the “Defenders of Life Award.”
According to Pro-Life League of Nevada President, Melissa Clement, “the critical work of Kathleen Miller and Steve and Sue Wren applies the full circle of love and concern indicative of the pro-life movement, proving once again we are pro-woman, pro-child, pro-life.” Keynote speaker, Karen Cross, will share her personal story of triumph over tragedy and the effects of abortion on the entire family.
