Daily Pro-life Media Report
NEWS SUMMARY
January 4, 2016
1) Fr. Frank is mentioned in a Daily Star (LA) article as the forthcoming speaker at a Restoration House Pregnancy Resource Center fundraiser in Ponchatula, Louisiana. The event will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church on February 26.
Link: http://www.hammondstar.com/news/local/years-in-the-community-restoration-house-looks-ahead-to/article_466bdf56-b012-11e5-8cc3-1feeb96591f9.html
2) The Catholic News Service article on the March for Life that quotes Fr. Frank [See 12-31-15 News Summary, items 1 and 2], has been published by the Catholic Transcript Online, a publication of the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Catholic Sun, the publication of the Diocese of Phoenix. The article also mentions that Fr. Frank will lead the prayer rally in front of Planned Parenthood’s Washington, DC, office on January 21.
Links: http://www.catholictranscript.org/news/news/international-news/4307-march-for-life-changes-venues-but-strengthens-its-message-of-ending-abortion.html
http://www.catholicsun.org/2016/01/02/march-for-life-changes-venues-but-strengthens-its-message-of-ending-abortion/
3) The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal on Thursday refused to overturn a federal judge’s decision that held California pregnancy resource centers must comply with a new state law requiring them to inform women that they may be eligible for low-cost or free abortions. Francis Manion of the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the PRCs suing the state, said that his clients will continue to appeal the ruling. The law took effect last Friday.
Link: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/law-698173-clinics-services.html
4) Federal Judge Kristine Baker, an Obama appointee, issued a two-week restraining order last Thursday preventing Arkansas from enforcing its law requiring RU-486 to be administered according to FDA guidelines and an abortionist handing out the drug to have an agreement with a doctor with hospital admitting privileges to treat patients with complications. The judge said she would hear more arguments in the case, but that Planned Parenthood was likely to succeed in having the law declared unconstitutional.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/12/31/us/31reuters-usa-abortion-arkansas.html?_r=0
Story attached in separate file.
5) The Washington Post reports that the next Supreme Court vacancy could remain unfilled, possibly for years, if one party controls the presidency and another the Senate in 2017. Linda Hirschman notes that even if a party loses the presidency and has only a Senate minority, it could still filibuster the other party’s court nominees. She quotes legal scholars who say that “because the partisan divide is so deep, it may be impossible to get Supreme Court nominees confirmed.” She adds that 4-4 tie votes on the Supreme Court, in the past, have resulted in the decisions of the appeals courts being automatically upheld. This would favor liberals because appeals courts now have so many Obama appointees.
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-next-supreme-court-vacancy-will-favor-liberals-no-matter-who-retires/2015/12/31/12828dce-978b-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb_story.html
Story attached in separate file.
6) In anticipation of President Obama’s veto of the reconciliation bill to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal major portions of Obamacare, the House has scheduled a veto override vote for January 22. The House reconvenes this week; the Senate next Monday.
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/vote-to-repeal-obamas-health-law-marks-testy-start-to-2016/2016/01/04/de4f7b9c-b2c0-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html
Story attached in separate file.
7) Both sides in Whole Women’s Health v. Cole, the Texas abortion case now before the Supreme Court, say they will file amicus briefs that feature the stories of women who have had abortions in Texas. In the court’s 2007 partial-birth abortion decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy cited an amicus brief filed on behalf of women who regretted their abortions. The abortion clinics must file their amicus briefs by today; Texas must file amicus briefs by February 3.
Link: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/us-supreme-court-prepares-hear-first-abortion-case-decade
8) China’s “two-child” policy began last Friday, but Reggie Littlejohn of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers points out that the policy will not end forced abortions. She states, “A two-child policy will not end any of the human rights abuses caused by the one child policy, including forced abortion, involuntary sterilization or the sex-selective abortion of baby girls. Nor will it ‘dismantle’ the extensive infrastructure of coercion necessary to implement population control in China.”
Link: http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/media-hiding-horror-of-continued-forced-abortion/
