Obama Approval Rating Continues to Drop in New Rasmussen Poll to Historic Lows
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Just when it appears pro-abortion President Barack Obama has finally reached rock bottom in his approval ratings decent, he falls even lower. With the Obama administration not only pushing a pro-abortion health care bill but accusing pro-life groups of lying to the American people about it, Obama loses more and more support. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll for Sunday shows just 27% of the nation's voters strongly approve of the job Obama is doing as president. That contrasts with the 41 percent who strongly disapprove. Rasmussen tracks the views of voters who have the strongest feelings one way or another, calling it the Presidential Approval Index, and this rating of -14 is the lowest Obama has seen since he took over the White House in January. Some of the decline has come from within Obama's own party as only 49% of Democrats offer such a positive assessment of the president at this time. At the other end of the spectrum, today’s total for the Strongly Disapprove answer matches the highest level yet recorded. The 41% mark was reached just once before and that came one week ago today. Seventy percent of Republicans now Strongly Disapprove along with 49% of those not affiliated with either major party. Overall, using a more conventional analysis, only 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance while 51% now disapprove.

Obama Administration Tells Veterans Asks Veterans to Consider Euthanasia
by Jim Towey in the Wall St. Journal
Washington, DC -- If President Obama wants to better understand why America's discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He will quickly discover how government bureaucrats are greasing the slippery slope that can start with cost containment but quickly become a systematic denial of care. Last year, bureaucrats at the VA's National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, "Your Life, Your Choices." It was first published in 1997 and later promoted as the VA's preferred living will throughout its vast network of hospitals and nursing homes. After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated "Your Life, Your Choices." Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing. "Your Life, Your Choices" presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions, much like a political "push poll." For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be "not worth living." Full article here.

Group's Health Care Town Hall Reaches 160,000 Pro-Life People on Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Last week, the Susan B. Anthony List engaged over 160,000 pro-life Americans in a national teleconference called “Keeping the Faith with the Unborn.” The call educated listeners and encouraged citizens to take action by calling and sending letters to Congress to make their voice heard in the debate over health care reform. Special guests on the call included Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO). “We are thrilled to have been able to reach so many pro-life Americans to challenge misinformation and get to the heart of the implications for human life in President Obama’s health care reform proposal,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the group. "President Obama recently argued that our concerns about abortion coverage are a fabrication, but we respectfully disagree. Without language to exclude abortion coverage, the current legislation will allow abortion coverage in health plans backed by the United States Government.” “Keeping Faith with the Unborn” contacted over 300,000 identified pro-life households in fourteen key states across America, including Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada.

Terri Schiavo Family Again Raises Concerns About Health Care Legislation
St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The family of Terri Schiavo, the woman whose former husband subjected her to a painful 13-day starvation and dehydration euthanasia death, is again speaking up against the health care legislation in Congress. The Schindler family is concerned that the government will be making decisions about people's heath care that could lead to rationing or, even worse, euthanasia. Recently, during a nationally televised event at the White House, President Obama said that families need better information so they don't unthinkingly approve, “additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care.” He added: “Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller.” The Schindler family responded: "Do we need any more evidence how this President and his administration feel about the equality and dignity of human life? It seems to be becoming more and more clear that if the quality of your life has reached the point where – by the judgment of a government official – your condition will no longer improve, the Obama health care plan will no longer allow any means of help. However, even more alarming is the real possibility of an Obama health care system that would seemingly put into practice an aggressive agenda to either hasten death or, worse yet, impose death on our cognitively disabled, chronically sick and frail. Who is going to decide whether or not 'you're better off' with or without the surgery? What about 'additional tests' or 'extra care”? Will it be your physician or will it be President Obama?"

Pro-Life Leader Euteneuer Blasts Planned Parenthood for Attacking Catholic Bishops
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, last week blasted Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, for her scathing and error-filled attack on the nation's Catholic bishops. They have called for abortion to be excluded from all proposed national health care legislation. "Richards has done a favor to all pro-lifers and people of good faith in her hate-filled rant against the shepherds of our beloved Church," he told LifeNews.com. "First, she has reminded everyone that, despite President Obama's recent statements to the contrary, abortion is absolutely going to be covered in any health care reform legislation that crosses his desk. He and his cronies in Congress are much too beholden to the abortion lobby for any different outcome." Secondly, "she again highlights the extreme position of the organization she leads, and their hostility to the Catholic Church. No Catholic organization should be comfortable finding themselves on the same side of the table as this hateful anti-woman outfit." Father Euteneuer added: "Richards claims that, despite the findings of virtually every study on the subject, expanded access to contraception will somehow reduce the number of abortions. How much more access can be granted to this ... chemical that, as the Catholic Church predicted, has resulted in more, not less, abortions?"

Sarasota, Florida Abortion Facility Closes, Had Done Second-Trimester Abortions
Sarasota, FL (LifeNews.com) -- One of the three abortion facilities in Sarasota, Florida has closed and it was the only one where 2nd-trimester abortions were done. Local pro-life advocate Jim Styer informed LifeNews.com of the news. "Up to 450 2nd-trimester abortions a year were done in the county, according to recent years' figures from the state. Last year, it was down to 129," he explained. Potential clients might go elsewhere, but the nearest second-trimester abortion center is at least an hour's drive from Sarasota, with Sarasota Memorial Hospital reporting it does second trimester abortions for "medical" reasons. The closed facility is Premier Institute for Women's Health, in the Gulf Gate Medical Center on South Tamiami Trail, north of Stickney Point Road. Styer says the abortion practitioner there, Matthew Kachinas, said in July that he is "on assignment" in various locations around the state for up to three weeks at a time. "This is the second time a Sarasota facility where Kachinas worked has closed and he reportedly had left or been dismissed from three other abortion facilities in Florida," Styer said. "Premiere has been closed for at least a few months. But it couldn't be determined for several weeks whether the closure might be temporary. An answering service continued to forward messages. Eventually, the web site was taken down, the phone number ceased service, the property was listed for sale or lease, and web searches didn't find any current information on the business or any references to Kachinas doing abortions elsewhere in the area."

Naples, Florida Planned Parenthood to Start Doing Abortions Next Month
Naples, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The Planned Parenthood center in Naples, Florida will begin doing abortions next month. Planned Parenthood of Collier County says it will start doing them on September 14 after laying the groundwork for the past year. The group will send letters on Monday to 350 local obstetricians/gynecologists, internists, and family practitioners letting them know about the abortions. Char Wendel, president and chief executive officer of the abortion business told the Naples News, “The letters are only going to Collier doctors. However, we will serve women from other communities." Wendel met with officials from the NCH Healthcare System this past week to let them know and to arrange for NCH hospitals to accept patients when abortions are botched. The last time abortions were done in the area was when Wallace McLean stopped doing abortions in 1996. Since then, women have had to travel to Miami or Fort Myers for an abortion. Planned Parenthood has hired Philip Waterman of Cape Coral, who does abortions in other states, to do them in Collier. The cost for an abortion will be $475 and insurance will be accepted. A sliding scale fee will be available to uninsured women based on income. Starting in October, the Planned Parenthood will give women the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone that has killed at least 13 worldwide and injured another 1,500 or more in the United States.

British Pro-Life Group SPUC Launches New Petition, Amnesty for Babies
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- The British pro-life group SPCU has launched a new petition called Amnesty for Babies designed to target the misuse of international law to promote abortions across the world. "Considering the growing menace of abortion worldwide, it is time for a new response which aims to ensure that international law is applied correctly in protecting the unborn," the roup told LifeNews.com last week. "International law in fact upholds the equal right to life of all unborn children. Amnesty for Babies is a pro-life initiative to petition to the international community to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child before as well as after birth and adopt all measures necessary to protect adequately human life and dignity in the application of life sciences. Pro-life advocates anywhere in the world can go to www.amnestyforbabies.com to download the petition and start gathering signatures. National and regional organizations around the world are invited to become co-sponsors of the petition.

YouTube Removes Video Showing Abortion Center Staffer Harassing Pro-Lifer
Omaha, NE (LifeNews.com) -- YouTube.com has removed a video that showed a handyman hired by late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart verbally abusing a pro-lifer and a clinic worker that he identified as his wife. The video also showed workers preparing Carhart's dilapidated Bellevue, Nebraska abortion center for a new paint job after pro-life advocates complained about its condition. At one point in the video, the handyman said to Larry Donlan of Rescue the Heartland, "Where do you [expletive deleted] live so I can go to your house?" The handyman's wife was recognized to be Lindsey Alejandro, a former employee of George Tiller's now closed late-term abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas. Alejandro is known as the abortion worker who falsified the fetal age of a woman's pregnancy in order to avoid having to comply with Kansas laws. Cheryl Sullenger, who posted the video for Operation Rescue, received a notice saying the web site is not a forum for personal attacks and that her account could be suspended. However, the video is not an attack from her on anyone else. "I completely resent the outrageous and false notion that the video was in any way abusive on our part," said Sullenger. "The threats and intimidation shown in this video were made by the Carhart employee against the pro-life photographer, Larry Donlan. I posted the video with his permission so that the world could see the truth about the abuse and threats that pro-lifers are forced to endure. I have asked YouTube to immediately restore the video and remove the flag from my account."

Judge Dismisses Requiring Pro-Life Advocate to Pay Abortion Center's Legal Bills
Fort Wayne, IN -- District Judge William Lee signed an order that dismissed a long-standing judgment against two Indiana pro-life advocates bringing about the sudden end to a contentious case nearly 20 years old. Lee’s order dismisses the case of the Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization abortion center vs. Wendell Brane, Bryan J. Brown, Ellen Brown and Northeast Indiana Rescue. The lawsuit stemmed from the battles between the pro-life advocates and the center. In 1989, three protests at the clinic resulted in 400 arrests after more than 100 people tried to block the building’s doorways. Citing criminal statutes designed to break up organized crime rings, the Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization, unnamed female plaintiffs and Dr. Ulrich G. Klopfer sued to prevent another protest. In 1990, Lee issued an injunction prohibiting the defendants from obstructing entrance into the Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization. But at the same time, he also prohibited clinic officials from interfering with the protesters’ lawful activities off clinic property, according to court documents. While the arrangement was agreed upon by both sides, Brane and Bryan Brown ended up with an order forcing them to pay for the attorneys’ fees for the abortion clinic, something they have refused to do for nearly 20 years. What started out as just more than $61,000 nearly two decades ago has ballooned to about $350,000, according to court documents. They won't have to pay those fees now.

Vermont Pro-Life Group to Challenge Limiting Campaign Finance Reform Law
Montpelier, VT (LifeNews.com) -- Vermont Right to Life has filed suit to strike down three Vermont campaign finance laws which violate the First Amendment by regulating VRLC as a political committee, requiring identification on electioneering communications, and requiring reporting of mass-media activities. The pro-life group wants to distribute its newsletter, distribute pamphlets and a petition, run radio ads, and do mass e-mail and a mass mailing opposing physician-assisted suicide.
Yet VRLC fears these communications will bring serious consequences under Vermont law. First, VRLC fears that doing any of its planned communications would convert it into a political committee under Vermont law and subject it to burdensome reporting requirements. VRLC asks that the court hold that these burdens are unconstitutional. The reason is that the major purpose of VRLC is not nominating or electing, candidates for state or local office in Vermont. Third, some of VRLC's speech is a "mass-media activity" under Vermont law, so VRLC would have to report the speech as a political committee would even though it is educational is nature.

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