Saturday, September 29, 2007


A GLORIOUS DAY FOR A PLANNED PARENTHOOD PROTEST!




Ten Denver pro-life opponents of the proposed Planned Parenthood
clinic, planned for a predominantly minority neighborhood
in North Denver, paid a visit to Gary Meggison's home
in Lakewood, Colorado this glorious autumn day.

One protester's 2 year old daughter strolled her dolly up and
down the sidewalks as the adults held 3 x 5 foot posters
of aborted babies. Planned Parenthood's 20th and Vine
security guard, Danny Cram, filmed the protest and was apparently
hired to protect the Weitz Construction Senior V.P.'s residence.

After a neighbor woman copied all the license numbers of
the opponents, 3 Lakewood police cars sped through the neighborhood
to respond to her complaint and give a stern warning to the protesters about their
limits.

Mrs. Meggison and her teenage daughter returned home to
see the signs and hear the pleas of pro-lifers to
have Gary abandon his plans to build the biggest
abortuary in the nation. Concerned citizens can contact the Senior V.P
of Weitz Construction at Phone: (303) 860-6600

Friday, September 28, 2007

BUT NOT FOR THE PRE-BORN

Activists Want Chimp Declared a 'Person'

May 4 12:24 PM US/Eastern
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - In some ways, Hiasl is like any other Viennese: He indulges a weakness for pastry, likes to paint and enjoys chilling out watching TV.
But he doesn't care for coffee, and he isn't actually a person—at least not yet.

In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26- year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a "person."

Hiasl's supporters argue he needs that status to become a legal entity that can receive donations and get a guardian to look out for his interests.

"Our main argument is that Hiasl is a person and has basic legal rights," said Eberhart Theuer, a lawyer leading the challenge on behalf of the Association Against Animal Factories, a Vienna animal rights group.

"We mean the right to life, the right to not be tortured, the right to freedom under certain conditions," Theuer said.

"We're not talking about the right to vote here."

The campaign began after the animal sanctuary where Hiasl (pronounced HEE-zul) and another chimp, Rosi, have lived for 25 years went bankrupt.

Activists want to ensure the apes don't wind up homeless if the shelter closes. Both have already suffered: They were captured as babies in Sierra Leone in 1982 and smuggled in a crate to Austria for use in pharmaceutical experiments. Customs officers intercepted the shipment and turned the chimps over to the shelter.

Their food and veterinary bills run about $6,800 a month. Donors have offered to help, but there's a catch: Under Austrian law, only a person can receive personal donations.

Organizers could set up a foundation to collect cash for Hiasl, whose life expectancy in captivity is about 60 years. But without basic rights, they contend, he could be sold to someone outside Austria, where the chimp is protected by strict animal cruelty laws.

"If we can get Hiasl declared a person, he would have the right to own property. Then, if people wanted to donate something to him, he'd have the right to receive it," said Theuer, who has vowed to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

Austria isn't the only country where primate rights are being debated. Spain's parliament is considering a bill that would endorse the Great Ape Project, a Seattle-based international initiative to extend "fundamental moral and legal protections" to apes.

If Hiasl gets a guardian, "it will be the first time the species barrier will have been crossed for legal 'personhood,'" said Jan Creamer, chief executive of Animal Defenders International, which is working to end the use of primates in research.

Paula Stibbe, a Briton who teaches English in Vienna, petitioned a district court to be Hiasl's legal trustee. On April 24, Judge Barbara Bart rejected her request, ruling Hiasl didn't meet two key tests: He is neither mentally impaired nor in an emergency.

Although Bart expressed concern that awarding Hiasl a guardian could create the impression that animals enjoy the same legal status as humans, she didn't rule that he could never be considered a person.

Martin Balluch, who heads the Association Against Animal Factories, has asked a federal court for a ruling on the guardianship issue.

"Chimps share 99.4 percent of their DNA with humans," he said. "OK, they're not homo sapiens. But they're obviously also not things—the only other option the law provides."

Not all Austrian animal rights activists back the legal challenge. Michael Antolini, president of the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said he thinks it's absurd.

"I'm not about to make myself look like a fool" by getting involved, said Antolini, who worries that chimpanzees could gain broader rights, such as copyright protections on their photographs.

But Stibbe, who brings Hiasl sweets and yogurt and watches him draw and clown around by dressing up in knee-high rubber boots, insists he deserves more legal rights "than bricks or apples or potatoes."

"He can be very playful but also thoughtful," she said. "Being with him is like playing with someone who can't talk."

A date for the appeal hasn't been set, but Hiasl's legal team has lined up expert witnesses, including Jane Goodall, the world's foremost observer of chimpanzee behavior.

"When you see Hiasl, he really comes across as a person," Theuer said.

"He has a real personality. It strikes you immediately: This is an individual. You just have to look him in the eye to see that."

___

Great Ape Project, http://www.greatapeproject.org

Animal Defenders International, http://www.ad-international.org



Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Thursday, September 27, 2007






WEITZ CONSTRUCTION Target of Pro-life Protestors

25 opponents of the Planned Parenthood mega killing center, scheduled to break ground
in North Denver this fall, brought 3 x 5 foot signs of aborted babies and a truth truck yesterday
to the headquarters of the contractor who plans to build the biggest abortuary in America.

The protesters included many young mothers and their toddlers as well as expectant
and nursing mothers.

In addition to the horrific photos of babies destroyed by abortion providers, one individual
carried a sign comparing victims of the holocaust with victims of the abortionist's knives.



Opponents of the proposed killing clinic vow to never curtail their efforts until
The Weitz Company declines to build a facility with the purpose of taking innocent lives.

The truth truck used in yesterday's protest was missing one of the banners
describing PP's founder, Margaret Sanger's racist roots. The banner
stating, "We don't want the word out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,"
was stolen by an individual at the Colorado Right to Life banquet September, 22, 2007.

The new location chosen by Planned Parenthood in north denver, is a predominantly
minority neighborhood which is typical of killing clinics in the U.S. 1,452 black babies
are killed in America daily at the hands of an abortionist. www.blackgenocide.org

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

CAN'T AFFORD TO LET THE TRUTH OUT!
Iowa School Cancels Pro-Life Talk With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Niece

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 25, 2007

Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) -- A public high school in Iowa is drawing criticism from the pro-life community after it canceled a scheduled talk with pro-life advocate Alveda King. The former Georgia legislator and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been invited by officials at Roosevelt High School to speak.
The former principal invited Dr. King to address students there but the new principal, Kathie Danielson, canceled the event.

LifeNews.com called the school and left a message as well as an email for Danielson but they were not returned by press time.

Kim Lehman, the director of Iowa Right to Life, called the cancellation a "civil rights shockwave" in comments she sent to LifeNews.com.

"Dr. King is an exceptional speaker with outstanding credentials, and yet they are not enough," Lehman said.

"Dr. King's speech is being censored and the students at Roosevelt High will not hear her speak on civil rights, abstinence and abortion because the new principal says that a few parents complained," Lehman added.

Lehman told LifeNews.com King is also scheduled to speak on Wednesday at Iowa State University and on Thursday at Drake University.

King has explained that the new civil rights struggle has to do with abortion and how black Americans are becoming victims of abortion at higher rates than their white counterparts.


"In the last forty-plus years, 15 million black people have been denied their most basic civil right, the right to life," King noticed.

"Roughly one quarter of the black population is now missing," she reflected. "This hasn't happened because of lynch mobs, but because of abortionists who plant their killing centers in minority neighborhoods and prey upon women who think they have no hope."

King said abortion is a "great irony" because it has decimated the African-American population in ways the Klu Klux Klan never could.

"It's time that we remember the sacrifices of men like my father and my uncle who worked and died so that our children could live," King concluded. "It's time to stop killing the future and keep their dream alive."

ACTION: Contact Roosevelt High School and Principal Kathie Danielson with your thoughts. Call 515.242.7272 or email Mrs. Danielson at kathie.danielson@dmps.k12.ia.us.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

COLORADO RIGHT TO LIFE'S 9/22/07 BANQUET:
PHILL KLINE - HIS ROLE IN TILLER'S WITHERING
LATE TERM ABORTION RACKET AND CONFRONTING
THE GOLIATH - PLANNED PARENTHOOD!


Tiller abortion racket withers in the light
Posted: September 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Jack Cashill
© 2007

After 22 year-old Michelle Armesto finished testifying last Friday, Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller had to wonder how much more money he would have to pump into Kansas politics to keep his late-term empire afloat.

Armesto testified on the third and last day of special legislative hearings in Topeka on the enforcement of Kansas late-term abortion laws.

With the help of the many politicians he has backed – including Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius – Tiller has turned this reddest of red states into the world's bloodiest. His clinic performed 380 late-term abortions last year alone.

That same year, 2006, Tiller money was instrumental in the undoing of then Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. Tiller pumped hundreds of thousands into the campaign against Kline to derail his dogged investigation of Tiller's clinic.

For all that, Tiller would not have prevailed without the full-throated support of the local media. In fact, for its repeated slander of the "anti-choice extremist" Kline, the Star won Planned Parenthood's top media honor last year, the "Maggie Award," named for its eugenicist founder, Margaret Sanger.

(Column continues below)


Despite Kline's defeat, some of the more stalwart Kansas legislators have refused to back down. They organized the hearings in question when the man who beat Kline, pro-choice Republican turned Democrat Paul Morrison, appeared to be dragging his feet on the investigation Kline had forced open.

Curiously, the Armesto file was not among those Kline had subpoenaed. Kline had been investigating only those abortions performed on healthy, viable babies. Unbeknown to Armesto, Tiller had recorded her unborn child as being non-viable.

This fact Armesto learned only after she had volunteered to testify. She fully believes her unborn baby to have been healthy at the time of the abortion.

Otherwise, the Armesto story is as heartbreaking as it is typical in this unholy industry. As she testified, her parents pressured her to abort what would have been her first child.

Armesto was 18 at the time and in the 24th week of her pregnancy. She told her mother, "It's murder and I will not do it."

Armesto's fiancé and his parents desperately wanted the baby as well. He was making decent money, and the parents offered a basement apartment and child care while she attended school.

Their support only aggravated Armesto's parents. "I was told that I would be kicked out of my family and to not come back," she told the legislators.

Tiller's clinic eased Armesto's conscience by citing a Catholic group that "believed in abortion" and promised baptism for the aborted baby. In reality, the Catholic Church considers abortion "murder" and "always morally evil."

Ordinary Kansans are no friends of abortion, either. Under Kansas law, a late-term abortion can be performed on a viable baby only if the woman would otherwise die or suffer "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."

As Armesto would soon learn, Tiller honored Kansas law about as faithfully as he did Catholic doctrine. Not one woman in her group of five, herself included, risked physical or mental health impairment of any sort.

The women talked among themselves during their stay in Wichita. "All were there," Armesto testified, "because they thought [late-term abortion] would solve their problems." These problems ranged from unreliable boyfriends to socially ambitious parents.

After the group watched a video on "Dr. Tiller's legacy," a nurse took Armesto to a private room and prepared her for an ultrasound. When Armesto tried to look at the screen, the nurse abruptly moved the screen away.

Armesto was then taken to another room. There a female doctor inserted a large needle twice to make sure she injected the unborn child, "and that," said Armesto, "is when the baby was killed."

Only after this procedure did Armesto fill out the paperwork and meet with a counselor. She also met with a self-identified Unitarian minister who consoled her, "You have to take care of the ones who are here, not the ones who aren't born."

After the initial injections, Armesto underwent a variety of preparations to ease the delivery of the dead baby. A late-term abortion of this kind is a three-day ordeal with nights spent at a local hotel.

On her second day, Armesto met casually with Tiller for the first time but only for a few minutes. He talked to her about his own teenage children and how presumably, "if in the same situation, would do the same thing."

That evening, Armesto's fiancé got word of what was happening and finessed his way past her mother and into the hotel room where she was staying.

"He begged me not to go through with the abortion," Armesto lamented, "and I told him it was too late." The fiancé was sincere in his affection. Despite the abortion, he later married Armesto, and today the couple has two children.

By the third day, Armesto's labor had proceeded to the point where she was ready to deliver. What follows is not for the faint of heart.

"I remember yelling at the nurse and calling her names and telling her I did not want to be on the toilet," Armesto recounted. "I finally birthed the baby, and I distinctly remember seeing the baby on the floor to the left of the toilet."

Said Armesto, "That image haunts me daily." There was no follow-up care of any kind for Armesto. Nor did Tiller's clinic call to see that there was.

This would not surprise Dr. Paul McHugh. Before leaving office, Kline had contracted with the impeccably credentialed Johns Hopkins psychiatrist to review the subpoenaed Tiller files, all of which cited mental health exemptions.

After new AG Morrison ignored McHugh for six months, pro-life forces brought McHugh to Kansas City to share his findings.

When asked whether he had seen any one file that justified a late-term abortion under Kansas law, McHugh unequivocally responded, "I saw no file that justified abortion on that basis."

Nor did McHugh see any sign of medical follow-up with these women who had allegedly just been rescued from irreversible psychiatric damage.

The Armesto testimony adds heart and soul to McHugh's findings. From existing evidence, it seems likely that nearly all of Tiller's late-term abortions have been performed as a matter of coercion or convenience in full indifference to Kansas law.

Although the Kansas City Star is beginning to distance itself from the heretofore white-hatted Tiller, it still reserves words like "grisly" and "horrific" for editorials on Michael Vick.

For a Maggie winner, alas, this is not likely to change.

Related special offers:

"ENDING ABORTION: How the pro-life side will win the war"

"Lime 5: Exploited by Choice"

"On Message: The Pro-Life Handbook"

Jack Cashill is an Emmy-award winning independent writer and producer with a Ph.D. in American Studies from Purdue.

Friday, September 07, 2007

PRE EMTIVE STRIKES COLORADO

In March, the Colorado Right to Life Board delivered 600 petitions, signed by concerned constituents, to Governor Bill Ritter, asking him not to go ahead with his promise of state funding for Planned Parenthood. Such funding, as noted on the petitions, would be illegal under an amendment to the state Constitution (approved by voters not once, but twice!) which prohibits state funds being “directly or indirectly” provided to support abortions. Because Planned Parenthood clinics in Colorado share overhead with Planned Parenthood abortuaries, that constitutes a clear “indirect” prohbition, no matter how the Governor tries to play it. Board members spoke to the press, and board member Tim Leonard gave a televised press conference on the issue. CRTL will deliver more petitions as they come in. The form can be found at www.coloradorighttolife.org .

Colorado Right To Life Vice President Leslie Hanks carries petitions into Gov. Ritter's office in March 2007, urging that he not permit state funds to subsidize abortions. Ritter has said he would allow Planned Parenthood to receive state funding for family planning services other than abortion. (Denver Post Photo by Karl Gehring) www.politicswest.com/henneberger
RACIST ORG COLORADO'S NEMESIS

Friday, September 7, 2007

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Gov wants Planned Parenthood in state budget
But Christian alliance says constitution forbids it
Posted: September 7, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com



Gov. Bill Ritter

A Christian organization in Colorado is launching a campaign to "rally the troops" because Gov. Bill Ritter repeatedly has promised to restore state funding to Planned Parenthood, a move that could violate the state constitution's ban on "direct" or "indirect" taxpayer funding for abortions.

Ritter made the promise on his 2006 campaign website, and in various speeches since, to have Colorado taxpayers pay for expenses for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, despite two votes by the people in 1984 and 1988 banning that support.

"We will restore the Planned Parenthood money that Gov. [Bill] Owens cut. Every woman in Colorado will have access to emergency contraception. And we will not turn women or their doctors into criminals," he said.

Owens, a Republican, had eliminated funding for Planned Parenthood from the state budget because of the constitutional provision that bans taxpayer funding in Colorado for abortions, either through a "direct" route, or an "indirect" route, and a legal opinion that not even dividing Planned Parenthood into two separate corporations, one to provide abortions and another to pay other expenses, would satisfy the constitution's requirements.

(Story continues below)

"The reality is that Bill Ritter has never backed down from his promise to put money into Planned Parenthood," Mark Hotaling, the director of the Christian Family Alliance, told WND.

He explained that the budget the state currently is operating on was established mostly by the former governor before he left office. Especially, he noted the state's "family planning" money was committed to other organizations that are operating under contracts already in existence.

Ritter, when he made the statements about having taxpayers support Planned Parenthood's operations financially, meant it, and he still means it, Hotaling said.

"The governor had to appease the radical left of his party, and made certain promises. One of them he made repeatedly was to restore money to Planned Parenthood," Hotaling said.

"The reason he couldn't to do last legislative session was the timing of grants and the lack of funds in the state family planning fund," he said. "But there's nothing to prohibit him from doing it in the next session, when more money can be put into the fund."

He said the public needs to rise up and let the governor know of its opposition to taxpayer funding for the abortion industry.

A spokesman for Ritter's office told WND that it's a "misnomer" to call it funding for Planned Parenthood, because the state money actually would go to "family planning."

There are a variety of organizations, from non-profits to county health clinics, that provide "family planning" information and are recipients of the state funding, he said.

The spokesman acknowledged that the previous governor essentially "disqualified" Planned Parenthood from getting state funding. "We are trying to ascertain exactly what policies were instituted under the former administration and what would be necessary to address those the way the governor has expressed a desire to do that."

Hotaling said that's enough.

"It we don't have the pressure on now, we'll be trying to get that money back later," he said. The chances for that to happen, he told WND, are "along the lines of snowballs in Hades."

"The way government happens, as soon as they dole the money out it's not coming back," he said. "We need to nip this thing in the bud right now. Our membership is relying on us to do the right thing and not wait around for the money to be doled out. If it gets paid out, it will be against the law, and it's going to cost us twice as much to try and stop then."

Joining in the Colorado Family Alliance campaign is state Sen. Scott Renfroe, who told WND that he's "gravely concerned" about Ritter's announced plans.

He said he's asked the governor, "How are you going to do this, and uphold the constitution and the will of the people?"

"I guess time will tell if he does do something," he said. Renfroe told WND that a campaign letter has been sent to constituents seeking support.

"I am saddened and appalled that Gov. Ritter assumes that part of our tax money already belongs to Colorado's largest abortionist," he wrote. "And with pro-abortion liberals in control of the State Legislature, our only hope is to turn to the good sense and actions of citizens … to help stop this injustice."

When Ritter made his promises, Kate Horle, of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said she was "thrilled."

"Gov. Ritter really recognizes that the best way to reduce abortion is by reducing the unintended pregnancy rate," she said.

But national Christian ministries, such as the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, were worried.

"The voters of Colorado voted that no public funding would go to abortion," said Carrie Gorden Earll, an analyst with the ministry. Funding Planned Parenthood would raise concerns. "We're not sure if you can adequately separate their abortion business from their family planning business."

An editorial in the Fort Collins Coloradoan noted the issue. Under the headline "Ritter trying to 'sneak in' abortion view," editorial writer Erik Rush concluded that more and more Americans are recognizing that abortion "is about the lucrative industry of killing babies in nauseatingly brutal and inhuman fashion…"

"Colorado Constitution Article 5, Section 50, was passed via ballot measure by the people of the State of Colorado to ensure that our tax dollars would never be used for the 'direct or indirect' support of abortion mills," he wrote. "It recently came to my attention (and to that of Colorado pro-life organizations) that Gov. Bill Ritter, in an effort to pay back some of the far-left supporters who helped get him elected, intends to circumvent this law and 'indirectly' funnel Colorado taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

"It should be no surprise: 'I will restore the funding to Planned Parenthood and other agencies,' Ritter stated on his campaign website. How, one wonders — without doing it illegally? Depending on how familiar one is with the machinations of politics, this process can be likened to the laundering of money by organized crime. When dollars change hands enough times and no one is paying attention to the paper trail, when the government cuts a check, all looks to be above board," Rush wrote.

One writer, "wiseone," on a forum following Rush's column was brutal in his assessment of the situation.

"Its (sic) good to increase funding for PP. Abortions are usually done simply for convenience, (remember the abortionists told everyone it was to help those who were raped, incest, etc...actually only about 2% are for that reason) and the vast majority are no doubt Democrats, since this was their agenda. The net result is their killing a vast number of future Democrats. I think this is a good thing for conservatives."

But a "progressive" Media Matters organization immediately jumped to the defense of Ritter and Planned Parenthood.

"Ritter in his January 11 State of the State address announced his intention to fulfill a campaign promise to restore state funding for 'pregnancy prevention and family planning programs.' Consistent with the Colorado Constitution, Ritter has stated his plan would not fund abortions, as Colorado Media Matters has noted," the critique said.

The criticism supported the argument that providing funding to Planned Parenthood for "family planning" does not, in fact, support Planned Parenthood's abortion business.

www.abortionracism.com
www.blackgenocide.org
www.cocolife.org


Are you a representative of the media who would like to interview the author of this story? Let us know.

Related offers:

"Struggling for Life: How our Tax Dollars and Twisted Science Target the Unborn"

"Silent No More" – help preserve freedom while there's still time

Previous stories:

Campaign will flood abortion with prayer

Planned Parenthood rape stats questioned

Court allows display of 'bloody' aborted babies

Abortion clinic director arrested

Christian ministry buys former abortion clinic

Botched procedure shuts down abortion business

StandUpGirls: 'You're not alone'

Dad returns baby's body to abortion clinic

Abortionist arrested in Florida investigation

'Child-rape cases being ignored'

IMs reaching women vulnerable to abortion

Mom, meet your (unborn) child!

Planned Parenthood access to public purse in jeopardy

Abortion business closes because clients 'too poor'

'Nurse' accused of handing out fatal abortion drug

Operation Rescue seeks abortion business closure.

Clinic shuts down after abortionist disappears

Pro-life group gets abortionist's license revoked

Rules convince another abortionist to quit

Yet another abortionist can't stand heat, quits

Half-dozen abortion clinics shut down

'Aborted' baby born alive, authorities say

Abortionists investigated for possible baby murder

10 million females illegally aborted in India

Operation Rescue buys abortion clinic

Indian tribe challenges abortion law with clinic

Related commentary:

Striking back at Planned Parenthood

Bob Unruh is a news editor for WorldNetDaily.com.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

JC WATTS ON MICHAEL VICK


Please share this with friends and colleagues. Thank you, J.C.


Aug. 12, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

J.C. WATTS: Dogfighting barbaric? So is abortion
Sen. Robert Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat, referred to this act as "barbaric." In case you missed it the first time, he repeated it. Again. And again. And yet again.

Byrd acknowledged that he's witnessed one execution in his life, but wouldn't mind seeing another "if it involves this cruel, sadistic, cannibalistic business."

The gentleman from West Virginia got pretty worked up over the whole thing. "How inhuman! How dastardly!" bellowed the senator.

But wait. There's more! "Barbaric!" he yelled. "Let that word resound from hill to hill, and from mountain to mountain, and valley to valley across the broad land. Barbaric! Barbaric! May God help those poor souls who'd be so cruel. Barbaric! Hear me! Barbaric!"

But the 89-year old dean of the Senate wasn't done. He graciously offered that he would not prejudge a man's guilt or innocence on the barbaric actions which instigated his ire, but he left no doubts about his sentiments.

"I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt," he said.

In his never-ending quest not to be outdone by a demagogic colleague, would-be President John Kerry wrote a letter describing this as "one of society's most barbaric and inhumane activities."

CNN host Nancy Grace called it "murder" and compared the perpetrator to O.J. Simpson.

What heinous act has these -- and millions of other compassionate lovers and defenders of life -- so outraged? Could they possibly be expressing their condemnation to those physicians who swore an oath to honor and protect life, yet abort millions of viable young lives in utero every year? Could these esteemed leaders be acknowledging that the brutal procedure known as partial-birth abortion is indeed a sadistic and barbaric mistreatment of God's greatest gift -- human life?

Sadly, no. These men and women, and millions others like them, get more worked up over the admittedly brutal and inhumane treatment of soulless dogs, as evidenced by their public proclamations in the Michael Vick case.

Nancy Grace pointed out on her program, over video of two dogs annihilating each other, that the dogs "can't defend themselves." I'm confident Ms. Grace has never shown video of a partial-birth abortion procedure, and I'm relatively confident she has somehow failed to acknowledge that the unborn children are even more defenseless, but she's outraged over this nevertheless. If only they and their animal-rights allies would acknowledge the more precious worth of human life.

(I must note that Sen. Byrd has voted for a ban on partial-birth abortions, but I wonder if he debated in favor of human life with the passion he showed for Vick's canines.)

Please don't misunderstand me. I love dogs. There is no doubt the crime for which Michael Vick has been charged is brutal and inhumane, to say the least. But I fear our culture has degenerated to a level where our priorities are so out of whack, that we decry "from mountain to mountain and valley to valley" the mistreatment of innocent animals, while we turn a collective and legislative blind eye to the premature and yes, barbaric killing of human life in the name of "choice."

What's wrong with this picture?

I am in no way defending Vick, an NFL quarterback, for his off-field enterprises. If the allegations are true, and this happened on his property under his watch, the man clearly should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Vick has had several run-ins with authorities and fans over the past several years. At one point, you heard him say he's just "one of the boys." It's time for him to rise above the level of a boy, and raise the standard of maturity and responsibility for his "boys" to live up to.

Like it or not, being a high school, college and NFL superstar making millions of dollars a year brings with it some responsibility. And as any leader knows, the burden of leadership can sometimes be heavy. Unfortunately, Vick has fumbled the ball.

I've been a dog owner, and I must say I got attached to my critter. I'm not amused by or defensive of the accusations against Vick and his "boys."

But once -- just once -- I'd like to hear the John Kerrys, Nancy Graces and PETA supporters of the world weep over the brutal and barbaric taking of human life that they call "choice."

Absent that, I weep for them and for our culture.

J.C. Watts (JCWatts01@jcwatts.com), chairman of J.C. Watts Companies, a business consulting group, is former chairman of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House, where he served as an Oklahoma representative from 1995 to 2002. He writes twice monthly for the Review-Journal.







Find this article at:
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/9112656.html

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007



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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Planned Parenthood Secretly Buys Land for New Offices
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
August 24, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - The nation's biggest abortion provider is seeking to avoid opposition when buying property or building new facilities through secrecy, or what one pro-life leader called "a series of cover-ups" in such places as Denver, Colo., Portland, Ore., and Aurora, Ill.

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM) - a division of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America - announced this week it will break ground in November on a $4.2 million headquarters and clinic on northwest Denver property it bought secretly last year.

Planned Parenthood, which receives $305.3 million in tax dollars a year, is the largest abortion chain in the United States and has killed more than 3 million children by abortion, according to the American Life League.

PPRM Senior Vice President Leslie Durgin told the Denver Post that the organization initially intended to complete the entire project in secrecy to avoid the kind of protests and delays Planned Parenthood building projects have encountered elsewhere.

But when a reporter discovered that the group had bought an entire city block under a different name, the organization acknowledged that ground would be broken for its new 50,000-square-foot, three-story center in November and that the facility was slated to begin operation in August 2008.

PPRM moved to its current Denver location, a former bank, in 1973, Durgin said. Twenty-three years later, it added a second location for administrative offices.

"We really wanted to build a state-of-the-art health-care facility and to consolidate our programs and services. To do that in the current facilities was not realistic," she said, adding that the new structure would be the first new clinic the 90-year-old organization has built in the Denver area.

Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life, told Cybercast News Service on Thursday that her organization has begun making plans to launch protests and initiate boycotts when construction on the new structure begins.

"We have a strong presence at their current 'death camp,' where we save about 100 babies a year," she said. "Every day they kill, protesters are there, and we don't intend to go away anytime soon."

Hanks said she suspected PPRM might be looking to move to another location since "they've really let that facility go down the tubes. It's all sprayed with graffiti, and they haven't tried to clean it up or anything."

Over the next few months, pro-life forces "intend to try to get more 'troops' and step up our pressure and efforts to expose the lies Planned Parenthood tells," Hanks added, "such as denying that they target minorities."

"Every day in this country, 1,600 black babies die at the hands of abortionists, and they tend to put their centers right in the heart of minority neighborhoods," Hanks said. "And this new facility is no exception," because it's to be built in an area with more minority residents than the current structures.

"Let's face it," she added, Planned Parenthood is "in the business to kill babies for profit."

However, Durgin responded that African-American women received only 7 percent of the abortions it provided in 2006, compared with 55.5 percent for white women, and PPRM served 125,000 people in five states last year. Of those, 8,800 African-American women received abortions.

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America last year experienced a drop in donations and the first fall in income from clinics in its history.

Jim Sedlak, executive director of Stop Planned Parenthood (STOPP) International, said he believes those factors have led the PPFA and its affiliates to engage in what he called "a series of cover-ups" across the country.

"This is now the third major facility that they've tried to build secretly," Sedlak told Cybercast News Service on Thursday. Besides Denver, "one was in Portland, Ore., where they tried to go through a front organization to buy the land from the city and build" until the ruse was discovered.

And in Aurora, Ill., a 22,000-square-foot structure was built under a fake name, he said.

"The sign out front said 'Gemini Health Systems,'" Sedlak said. "It was only about a month ago that one of the workers got suspicious when he saw they were installing bullet-proof glass. He started raising questions, which got to local reporters, and the reporters found out that it's a Planned Parenthood facility" set to open Sept. 18.

"Planned Parenthood has such a bad name that they can't even tell people when they're planning to build a building," he said. "They have to sneak into a community."

As a result, STOPP is warning people across the nation that "if you have a major new health facility in your area at all, suspect it may be Planned Parenthood and go find out about it," said Sedlak.

Back in Denver, the PPRM work site will be fenced, and protesters will not be allowed inside the boundaries of private property, Durgin said. "We don't expect to have a police presence on a daily basis unless we need it," she said, "in which case we'll call for it, and I have been assured we will get it."

Sedlak responded that the police in Denver have been occupied, though not quite in the way Durgin thought they would be.

"There have been two arrests out there, but they were local people who were harassing the protestors," he said.



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Copyright 1998-2006 Cybercast News Service
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FORTHRIGHT or EXPOSED?

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Planned Parent Decides To "Be Forth Right"

That's right. Planned Parenthood has, according to the newspaper, "decided the best way to handle that was to be forth right about it's plans."

The interesting part is what "that" was.

"That" was their intention to complete a new $4.2 million headquarters and clinic in Denver. In secrecy. At least that's what they told the Denver Post. (Read story).

Leslie Durgin, a Planned Parenthood senior vice president said, "We changed that several months ago. We decided that wasn't right for us."

The reason Planned Parenthood changed their mind had more to do with being exposed than with a desire to be "forth right." At least, in my opinion.

Pro-life people in the Denver area became aware of their plans and called them on it, thus leading to their decision to come clean.

I guess it's understandable that Planned Parenthood can believe they can cover up some of their illegal activities regarding abortions to minors without proper consent and the like. Although, they have been caught in several such situations recently, only they would know how much they have actually gotten away with.

But did they really think they could build a $4.2 million, 50,000 square foot building in secret?

And even more important, what would lead them to come to that conclusion? That's a big building.

Perhaps they have become so emboldened by recent victories that they believe they are invincible--also a thought not lost to the gay rights activists.

Thank God for those who are willing to stand up for the sanctity of life and do so publicly.

Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life, said,"Let's face it,they're in the business to kill babies for profit. First and foremost, they get young girls hooked on their birth control pills, which don't work." She also said of the contractors who have been working on the "secret" project,"Companies in the business of trying to build a death camp need to be exposed."

Lolita Hanks (no relation to Leslie) and a member of Colorado Right To Life said, "As an African-American woman, I find it disturbing that their clinics that do abortions tend to be in African-American neighborhoods."

And that, of course, is exactly where this new clinic is being built.

Many across the nation read the blogs and comments on this website. If you live or have family in the Denver area, please join the pro-life people as they advocate for life. If you do not live in the area, please remember them in prayer as they stand for life.

Life is a gift and it is worth fighting for.

______________
Gary Randall
President
Faith & Freedom

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Michael Vick Should Have Invested His Money into Killing Babies Instead of Dog Fighting

Stand True asks PETA to cry out for the protection of babies as well as dogs
OPINION, Aug. 22 /Christian Newswire/ -- Stand True Ministries President, Bryan Kemper, released the following commentary about the hypocrisy of PETA, The Federal Government and the NFL regarding the Michael Vick Scandal. "I am disgusted that we as a nation are so outraged over dog fighting while thousands of babies are being mutilated daily" said Kemper.

While the title of this commentary is meant to be sarcastic, it is sadly true. Michael could have invested his money into an abortion clinic and he would not be in trouble, in fact he would be protected. It may be against federal law to inflict cruelty on animals but it is perfectly fine according to the law to dismember little baby boys and girls any time in the first nine months of their lives.

I am horrified by dog fighting just like most people; I think it is a barbaric practice and should be illegal. I am not however, okay with the fact that our federal government allows more protection to a dog than a human person. It is absolutely asinine that we as a society can get in an uproar about dog fighting and still allow the destruction of almost 4,000 precious children each day.

Organizations like PETA are in their own words, "bellowing for strong action on behalf of dogs". They want the NFL to make rules about its players and their involvement in dog fighting and animal cruelty. I wonder if PETA would support the NFL if they made rules against its players being involved in paying so called "doctors" to kill their own children.

John Rolfe, a writer for Sports Illustrated wrote, "Only a drooling, spiral-eyed sadist would insist that drowning, hanging or electrocuting innocent dogs should be an un-punishable offense, let alone allowing them to rip each other to shreds for fun and profit". I wonder if he would include injecting saline into a baby while still in the womb, or suctioning their body parts off with a hose into that category.

Where are we heading as a nation if we cannot protect the most innocent and vulnerable citizens, the pre- born children, yet we can offer such protection to dogs? Since when are dogs more human than babies? God have mercy on our nation, we are so blind.

PETA is asking the public to help demand that the NFL add cruelty to animals to its personal conduct rules. I want to ask the public to ask PETA to demand the same protection for babies in the womb. I challenge PETA to show some consistency in their crusade against cruelty and work for the same protection for humans as it does for animals.

Call PETA at 757-622-PETA (7382) and ask them why they won't stand up for the babies with the same passion they stand up for the dogs.

Editors: Bryan Kemper is available for comment at 54

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

COLORADO RIGHT TO LIFE'S
2007 - "LIGHT ON LIFE BANQUET"
September 22, 2007
6:00 P.M.
For tickets and more info 303-753-9394

AN EVENING WITH PHILL KLINE:

tiller-1.jpg


THE MAN WHO PUT HIS LIFE AND CAREER
ON THE LINE TO SEE THIS DREAM BECOME
REALITY!!!


Visualize abortionists behind bars. . .

Wichita, KS - August 3, 2007 - Operation Rescue has obtained the mug shot of George R. Tiller who was arraigned today in Sedgwick County Court on 19 criminal counts of illegal late-term abortions. (Read story) The photo is courtesy of the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department.

tiller%20in%20jail.jpg

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

TO LEARN ABOUT MARGARET SANGER'S LEGACY:

www.abortionracism.com

Thursday, July 26, 2007

THANK YOU ALVEDA KING!!!


Thursday, July 26, 2007

Byrd dogged

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56850

By Gary DeMar
© 2007

Poor Michael Vick. The multi-talented quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons picked the wrong side business. Football doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy his interests. Vick and his associates got involved in the dog fighting business. His story has made front-page news across the country. USA Today carried an editorial that read, "Window on a cruel world." The editorial reports, "Vick and two associates allegedly 'executed approximately eight dogs ... by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground.'" The editorial continues: "The animals' crime? They performed badly in 'testing' sessions to see how viciously they world fight."

If Vick had picked the abortion business, no one would have batted an eye. It would have been considered a shrewd business venture. In fact, he would be praised as a champion of women's rights. And if he had set up a "clinic" in a black neighborhood, he would have been called a "champion of the poor."

Every abortion is an execution. No, that's not right. An execution assumes a capital offense. Preborn babies are innocent victims. I heard CNN talker Nancy Grace describe the dog killings as murder and say Vick will probably get off like O.J. Simpson did because he's a celebrity athlete. How incredibly stupid!

(Column continues below)


A preborn baby's head can be crushed in the partial-birth abortion procedure, and it's touted as a fundamental right. But don't slam a dog to the ground. That would be cruel. Am I missing something?

West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, who voted no on making harming or killing a preborn baby in the commission of a crime a criminal offense, indirectly called for Vick's execution. Byrd said he's witnessed one execution but wouldn't mind seeing another "if it involves this cruel, sadistic, cannibalistic business of training innocent, vulnerable creatures to kill." Now if we can only get him to stand up for the unborn like he stands up for dogs.

Alveda King, pastoral associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said that the allegations of animal cruelty announced in the case against Michael Vick demonstrate the disparity in the way the media have more regard for animals than they do for the unborn: "The appalling cruelty to dogs described in the complaint against Michael Vick immediately reminds me of another kind of cruelty that is not only not punished, but is protected by our authorities," said Dr. King. "I'm talking about the incredible cruelty suffered by babies who are stabbed, have limb torn from limb, or have their skulls crushed in the womb by abortionists. The pain these children endure is undoubtedly excruciating, yet we close our eyes and look the other way in the name of 'choice.'"

Our society is sick. How is it possible to rationalize the killing of preborn babies and then protest mightily against animal cruelty?

Related special offers:

"ENDING ABORTION: How the pro-life side will win the war"

"On Message: The Pro-Life Handbook"

"Lime 5: Exploited by Choice"

Gary DeMar is president of American Vision, author of 23 books, including "Last Days Madness" and "Is Jesus Coming Soon?" and editor of The Biblical Worldview.
Planned Parenthood rape stats questioned
Activists say dozens of 'cases' missing

July 26, 2007

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56860

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A pro-life organization in Waco, Texas, is calling for an explanation of a huge discrepancy between statistics regarding statutory rape cases Planned Parenthood says it has reported, and the number of those cases documented by law enforcement or other authorities.

Officials with Prolife Waco say from all official sources, they were able to collect fewer than 10 reports of suspected statutory rape each year. The actual average compiled was 7.3 reports annually. Planned Parenthood, however, has made public statements that it is reporting such cases at the rate of 98 per year.

"Pro-Life Waco finds reports to the Waco [police department] and the [Texas Department of Family and Protective Services] of just 7.3 per year using very generous assumptions. WHERE ARE THE OTHER 91 REPORTS PER YEAR?" the organization asked.

(Story continues below)

Multiple messages requesting an explanation left by WND at Waco's Planned Parenthood office with answering services for the group's director, assistant, and education leader were not returned.

John Pisciotta, the co-director for Pro-Life Waco, said, "The differential is huge and the legal issue is even bigger. This is not just about make-believe conversations with Planned Parenthood counselors revealing an obvious intent to avoid the law for mandatory reporting of statutory rape."

The issue being raised in Waco has been addressed in other pro-life campaigns, as well as prosecutors. In Kansas, former Attorney General Phill Kline questioned how dozens of underage girls could be provided abortions in that state within a year, without a single case of statutory rape.

Pro-Life Waco, whose website quotes Mother Teresa's statement from 1997: "If we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?" said the missing cases are "where the bodies and souls of real children have been wounded by Planned Parenthood failure to report statutory rape of its child-clients."

Pro-life activists noted in Ohio in 2005, a lawsuit against a Planned Parenthood there alleged a 14-year-old was impregnated by her soccer coach who took her in for an abortion. But they said a required report to law enforcement never was filed.

A second Ohio case, Waco activists said, involved a young girl raped over a period of five years starting at age 13 by her father. She also was given an abortion and told a Planned Parenthood worker she had been raped by her father, but no law enforcement agency was told.

Pro-Life Waco said it obtained Planned Parenthood Waco's record of statutory rape reporting through an investigator who used Texas' open records law.

"For Planned Parenthood, the mandatory reporting of statutory rape would of course come into play when girls 16 and under seek abortions," Pro-Life Waco said. "But, this is by no means just an issue relating to abortion. Any indication of statutory rape as defined in Texas law would trigger a mandatory report to law enforcement. This would include an underage girl coming to Planned Parenthood for contraception or an underage girl coming into Planned Parenthood for a sexually transmitted disease."

Officials said they first sought the records from the Waco Police Department, and found only 20 reports had been made for the multiple-year period. And information from the state agency resulted in the addition of only about four reports per year, resulting in the average of 7.3.

However, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Waco was asked about the numbers for a story in the Waco Tribune Herald, and said there had been 147 reports in about 18 months.

Pisciotta noted the Texas law requires "a report to law enforcement when a health care facility encounters a sexually active female child 13 or younger. For girls 14,15, or 16, a report is mandated if the child's sex partner is three or more years older than the victim."

Pisciotta also noted in May UCLA sophomore Lila Rose visited two Los Angeles Planned Parenthood clinics and spun a story about being 15 and pregnant by her 23-year-old boyfriend.

"Both clinics encouraged her to lie about her age to circumvent a required statutory rape report under California law and to protect her boyfriend," he said.

And in 2002, Life Dynamics of Denton, Texas, did a nationwide investigation, making undercover calls to clinics presenting a similar scenario. In that assessment, 91 percent of the clinics contacted urged the girl to conceal or lie about her age.

The results of that study are at a Child Predators website.




Previous stories:

Court allows display of 'bloody' aborted babies

Abortion clinic director arrested

Christian ministry buys former abortion clinic

Botched procedure shuts down abortion business

StandUpGirls: 'You're not alone'

Dad returns baby's body to abortion clinic

Abortionist arrested in Florida investigation

'Child-rape cases being ignored'

IMs reaching women vulnerable to abortion

Mom, meet your (unborn) child!

Planned Parenthood access to public purse in jeopardy

Abortion business closes because clients 'too poor'

'Nurse' accused of handing out fatal abortion drug

Operation Rescue seeks abortion business closure.

Clinic shuts down after abortionist disappears

Pro-life group gets abortionist's license revoked

Rules convince another abortionist to quit

Yet another abortionist can't stand heat, quits

Half-dozen abortion clinics shut down

'Aborted' baby born alive, authorities say

Abortionists investigated for possible baby murder

10 million females illegally aborted in India

Operation Rescue buys abortion clinic

Indian tribe challenges abortion law with clinic

Related commentary:

Striking back at Planned Parenthood

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Suspect in child rape found dead


Tuesday, July 24, 2007


Charges filed when protesters' photos prove trip to abortionist
Posted: July 24, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A sexual assault suspect arrested after pro-life protesters gave police a photograph showing his vehicle at an abortion clinic where his victim reported getting an abortion has been found dead.

Authorities in Bryant, Ark., have confirmed to WND that Jeffrey Dean Cheshier, 41, was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound by deputies in Garland County who responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in a private driveway.



Cheshier had been arrested after Angela Michael, who runs Small Victories with her husband and children, was able to document for police the fact that Cheshier's vehicle was at an abortion clinic in Granite City, Ill., at the time the victim reportedly claimed to have been taken there for an abortion.

Bryant, Ark., Det. Jimmy Long confirmed it was the photograph from Small Victories that helped secure a case against Cheshier.

(Story continues below)

An underage girl had accused him of rape, but she also reported he forced her to go to the "Hope" Clinic for Women abortion business in Granite City for an abortion, so there was no evidence.

The protesters' photograph provided an identifiable license plate number on the suspect's car at the abortion clinic when the victim claimed to have been there, police said.

The executive director of the abortion clinic, Sally Burgess, told KSDK television she knew nothing about this particular case but the business has safeguards in place to protect juveniles.

Authorities said Cheshier had been free on bond pending trial on the various charges against him.

According to reports, a witness heard a "pop like a bottle rocket" and a deputy found the body a short time later. Court officials confirmed Cheshier had been scheduled for trial starting the first week in September, and that the case had not yet been dismissed.

"This unfortunate crime of child rape is played out every day," Angela Michaels said in a prepared statement. "This one just got caught. Unfortunately, it ended tragically. One can only imagine the pain and guilt Cheshier felt after stealing this young girl's innocence that would force a man in the prime of his life to take the coward's way out of his problems."

She told WND the case was a tragedy for all involved.

"We knew this man had to face judgment, to go before a jury and a judge," she said. "We really had been hoping to reach this man, to save this man, to have this man repent of his crime."

The young girl, 13 when the assaults apparently started and now 15, now will have to deal with the trauma of being attacked without an assailant to confront, she said.

And she said equally important are the other victims.

"I think the world needs to take note of this. How many more victims are out there?" she asked. "And why is the abortion industry allowed to cover up these attacks."

The Michaels, for their Christian ministry, have spent more than 14 years outside the Granite City abortion business protesting and taking photographs of abortionists, clinic employees and customers.

The victim had reported to police that Cheshier had been assaulting her over a period of time when officers arrived at the home for a call regarding a domestic disturbance.

Angela Michael said the Granite City clinic is known nationwide because of the circumstances. Its abortionists do late-term abortions and the state of Illinois has no parental notification law.

The ministry parks its ultrasound van on the public street in front of the abortion business and encourages girls to miss their abortion appointments. Angela Michael said she's seen "an abundance" of cases where an older man obviously is forcing an underage girl into the clinic.

Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline also unsuccessfully battled for charges to be developed in many cases apparently involving underage victims.

Kline had cited the 2003 Kansas state statistic that there were 78 abortions on girls under the age of 15. In a state where the legal age of consent is 16, how could 78 girls become pregnant and obtain abortions without a single report of sexual assault, or rape, on a child, he wondered.

He later lost his bid for re-election to an opponent who has expressed support for the abortion industry.




SUPREME FRAUD: Unmasking Roe v. Wade, America's most outrageous judicial decision

Previous stories:

Court gives 'Small Victories' right to posters

Ministry's photograph gives evidence of forced abortion

Thursday, July 19, 2007

AMERICA'S BLAND INDIFFERENCE TO CARNAGE


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56736


Thursday, July 19, 2007

LAW OF THE LAND
Court allows display of 'bloody' aborted babies
Case addresses 'America's bland indifference to this carnage'
Posted: July 19, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Some signs used by pro-life protesters to spur a public reaction against abortion may be graphic, but that doesn't mean they're illegal and can be confiscated, according to a new ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The decision reversed the criminal convictions of pro-life protesters Ron Rudnick and Luke Otterstad, who displayed the signs on an overpass in the Twin Cities suburb of Anoka during the run-up to the 2004 national elections.

One sign displayed a large color photograph of an aborted infant; the other branded a local congressional candidate as "pro-abortion." The two were jailed by police, their signs were taken away, and they were convicted of causing a "criminal nuisance."

But the state's highest court unanimously reversed the convictions, determining that prosecutors simply failed to prove their case: that the signs created any danger to the public.

(Story continues below)

"Our decision does not foreclose the possibility that some sign might distract motorists in such a way as to endanger the public and constitute a public nuisance. Nor does our decision require a police officer on the scene to wait until an accident occurs or is threatened before intervening. An officer can and should use his or her experience and expertise to determine whether a sign constitutes a danger to a considerable number of members of the public before that danger manifests itself in injuries," the court opinion said.

"But to maintain a conviction … for endangering the safety of the public, the state must prove through testimony and evidence that the public was in fact endangered. Here, the state has not done so," the opinion said.

"Graphic photos are controversial even among pro-lifers," said Tom Brejcha, chief counsel of Thomas More Society, which argued the case. "We urge that they be used prudently and sparingly – with warning signs wherever possible.

"But our society has to confront the brutal, bloody realities of this murderous atrocity, as mere abstract rhetoric too often fails to trigger the deep, visceral reaction needed to overcome contemporary America's bland indifference to this carnage," he said.

The protesters were arrested and jailed twice for holding the signs in view of traffic in Anoka. Fines and prison sentences were imposed, although they were suspended pending the appeals.

But the court's conclusion in the case said the prosecution hadn't proven the signs were a criminal "nuisance" or that the city's sign ordinance even applied. Two other justices agreed with former NFL star-turned-judge Alan Page that the defendants' First Amendment rights were violated because the prosecution was "content-based," or targeting the pro-life message.

"It is impossible to convey certain messages, including the message that pro-lifers Rudnick and Otterstad sought to convey – with all its emotional content – without the use of graphic anti-abortion images," Brejcha said. "The First Amendment protects political speech that is annoying and even offensive, including speech that stirs people to anger or produces deeply unsettling effects. Those who disagree with a speaker's message must not suppress or criminalize it, but answer it with more speech."

Justice G. Barry Anderson, who wrote the main opinion for the court, said the two men described their actions as "a protest against abortion and Patty Wetterling's candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives."

But, "as evidence of a danger to the public, the state presented: the fact that an anonymous phone call was made about the signs; the fact that an accident occurred … and that a second accident occurred earlier; the fact that a driver … yelled at appellants that they had created a traffic hazard, and the nature of appellants' display," Anderson wrote.

"None of those pieces of evidence, alone or in the aggregate, establishes that appellants' signs endangered a considerable number of members of the public," he wrote. "In short, nothing in the record connects the accidents with the display."

In Page's concurring opinion, he noted that "it is clear on this record that the state's prosecution of appellants under that statute was content-based and therefore barred by the First Amendment."

"[A]bove all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content," the concurrence said.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Conservatives, Beware of Fred Thompson
ConservativeHQ ^ | 7-2007 | Richard A. Viguerie



He disappointed conservatives during his eight years in the Senate. Is there any reason to think this Washington insider and veteran trial lawyer would be any better as President?

The frustration of conservatives is understandable. Faced with the prospects of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, or Mitt Romney as the next Republican presidential candidate, many are pinning their hopes on former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee. Could this actor-politician be the new Ronald Reagan?

Mainstream media types assure us that he is. His record suggests otherwise.

This is the second time conservatives have pinned their hopes on Thompson. When he was first elected in the Republican sweep of 1994, he was seen then as the “new Reagan”—a charismatic movie star turned politician. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole quickly picked Thompson to give the five-minute GOP rebuttal to President Clinton’s economic address, and no less than The New York Times swooned with its headline the next morning, “A Star Is Born.”

He turned out to be a shooting star—a dazzling flash in the sky, soon gone, not there dependably, night after night, like the Big Dipper. Or, as The Tennessean later put it, “A year ago [Thompson] looked like a rising star. Today he looks more like a fading comet.”

Especially to conservatives who have taken the time to examine his record.

Rumors circulated that Thompson was lazy, uninterested in the daily grind that comes with being a Senator—and one can understand that Capitol Hill is a lot more tedious and less glamorous than a Hollywood movie lot. More important were Thompson’s failures of will and his lack of leadership on any legislation that would promote the conservative cause. Instead what little leadership we got from Thompson advanced the liberal Establishment agenda.

Failure of will: Charged with investigating the Clinton White House’s Asia fundraising scandal (“Asiagate”), Thompson managed to draw a tiny blood sample from Bill Clinton but little more. If he’s that ineffectual against an easy target like Bill Clinton at the height of his parade of scandals, why should we expect Thompson to be any more effective against, say, the other partner in the Clintons’ 20-year plan to rule the nation?

On the wrong side of the fence: The McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, championed by Fred Thompson, is the only important piece of legislation where he played a major role. And that is not an accomplishment to be proud of as a conservative. In fact, now that he’s running for President, Thompson is trying to flip-flop on this issue. Well, he can run, but he can’t hide from his record.

Why McCain-Feingold is so important—and so bad

Never mind that it was patently unconstitutional, as the courts are starting to declare. McCain-Feingold was also, from the beginning, a sham and a lie.

Its stated purpose—its claim to being a “reform”—was that it would take big money out of politics. Well, you can see how successful it’s been! The big corporate and union lobbies are more powerful than ever, and bored billionaires with nothing else to do are eyeing the Senate and the White House as the next trophies on their mantelpieces.

No, the real purpose of “reform” legislation like McCain-Feingold is to serve as incumbent-protection laws. Establishment politicians aren’t threatened by the K Street lobbyists: they feed off them. They are threatened by grassroots organizations that keep an eye on how they vote and pass that information on to their members.

From the National Rifle Association to the Sierra Club, from Right to Left, these groups call incumbents on the carpet. So the incumbents pass laws to restrict the activities of these groups.

McCain-Feingold, the most prominent recent addition to campaign regulations, does this by prohibiting these groups from broadcasting any issue ads that refer to specific candidates for federal office in the 30 days before a primary, or 60 days before a general election.

Why were those dates chosen? Because “that’s when people are most interested in the elections,” according to Congressman Martin Meehan (D-MA), one of the law’s most ardent supporters. In other words, McCain-Feingold and similar laws are intended to silence the voices of ordinary citizens who contribute to these organizations. And they are designed to do so at exactly the times when grassroots citizens can have the greatest impact.

The real purpose of McCain-Feingold-type laws is to silence your voice in the campaign process, by placing a gag on the organizations that represent you and your views. Such measures are the gravest threat to your free speech that exist today.

And who was the only other Republican Senator to join John McCain in pushing hard for this assault on your First Amendment free speech rights? Fred Thompson. Indeed, campaign finance “reform” was the only issue on which he seemed to show any passion.

Thompson was deeply involved in writing the law, lobbied for it among his fellow Republicans, and was even inclined to call it “McCain-Feingold-Thompson.” He and McCain were able to convince only five of their fellow Republicans in the Senate—but added to the Democrats, that was enough. “You were essential to our success,” Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) told Thompson in a gushing thank-you note after passage of McCain-Feingold.


http://www.conservativesbetrayed.com/gw3/articles-latestnews/articles.php?CMSArticleID=1827&CMSCategoryID=19

Sunday, July 08, 2007


Friday, July 6, 2007
MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Coloradans aim to exploit hole in 'Roe'
Plan would declare personhood for unborn
Posted: July 6, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A team of Coloradans wants to exploit a loophole in the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws banning abortion – by simply stating that an unborn child, from the moment of fertilization, is a person.

In a comprehensive plan that would ban all abortions, the Colorado Equal Rights organization is trying something that hasn't been accomplished – yet – in the battle against abortion.

"It is the only way we're going to bring before the Supreme Court the issue of personhood. It's a subject they have dodged for the last 30-plus years. It's an issue that needs to be addressed," spokesman Mark Meuser told WND.

The "hole" in Roe v. Wade is the little-publicized comment from Justice Harry Blackmun, author of the 1973 opinion, in which he noted, "[If the] suggestion of personhood [for the unborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."

The same approach, Meuser said, was attempted in Michigan, where not enough signatures were verified, and is in process in Mississippi. In Georgia, as WND has reported, lawmakers are reaching for the same goal through a legislative process.

(Story continues below)

Noting Colorado was the first state to legalize abortion, due to the work of ex-Gov. Dick Lamm, then a state lawmaker, Meuser told WND, "We should be the first state to turn around and acknowledge our mistake and grant personhood to the unborn."

The state's Legislative Council already has approved the wording of the proposal, which would read:

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read: Section 31. Person defined. AS USED IN SECTIONS 3, 6, AND 25 OF ARTICLE II OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION, THE TERMS "PERSON" OR "PERSONS" SHALL INCLUDE ANY HUMAN BEING FROM THE MOMENT OF FERTILIZATION.

Meuser said the council asked a series of questions about the proposal and its expected impact.

"Our purpose is to protect all life and, thus, we want to start at the moment life actually begins," he told the group.

"The Legislative Council also asked what the effect of the amendment would be on the 'undue burden' test as established in Roe v. Wade," he reported.

He explained that the court created that test "because they could not find that 'person' was defined for state or national constitutional purposes."

"Because our amendment defines life as beginning at fertilization, it makes the 'undue burden' test a moot issue," he said.

Aiming for the 2008 ballot, he said he wants to work with a coalition of groups to collect the 76,000-plus signatures needed to put it on the ballot.

"We're in the process of talking with all the groups, letting them know what the vision is and how we plan to go about it," he said.

He said a team of abortion promoters also listened to his presentation to the state board, but the avenue he's using will leave little recourse if successful.

"I've read that decision multiple times. I've listened to the actual oral arguments. I'm very familiar with the loophole that was created in Roe v. Wade. We're attacking it. Why have we waited 30 years to attack the weakness the enemy showed us?" he said.

The new definition of person specifically would be applied to sections 3, 6, and 25 of Article II of the state constitution.

Those sections confirm that all "persons" have certain natural, essential and inalienable rights, including "the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties," that courts of justice shall be open to every "person," and no "person" shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

In Georgia, state Right to Life spokesman Dan Becker said the goal of that legislative plan is the same: no abortions, no exceptions. Not even rape and incest.

The precedent-setting plan already is on track to be presented to voters as a constitutional amendment as early as next year.

"The whole sanctity of life cause is based on Genesis 1:26-28, where it talks about man is created in the image of God and has worth at all levels," Becker said. "Hence, we are working at a state level for a paramount human life amendment to our constitution."

The Georgia plan was written by the Thomas More Law Center, which advocates for pro-life causes:

"The rights of every person shall be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life. The right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person. With respect to the fundamental and inalienable rights of all persons guaranteed in this Constitution, the word 'person' applies to all human beings, irrespective of age, race, sex, health, function, or condition of dependency, including unborn children at every state of their biological development, including fertilization."

"If we're consistent with God's position in his Word, we expect him to fight our battles for us," Becker said. "We've seen success after success, and we can't claim that's due to outstanding organization or increased funding, even though all of that's true.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Columbine Memorial-Pro Life Connection Missed?
by: Sandra Fish - Colorado Confidential
Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 07:12:40 AM MDT

Much is being made in Denver media about the dispute between Brian Rohrbough and the Columbine Memorial Committee over his message for the tile memorializing his son.
Rohrbough apparently won his battle this week after threatening to sue.

But a review of reporting about the dispute over Rohrbough's message indicates the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post, the Associated Press and local television stations have failed to mention Rohrbough's role as president of Colorado Right to Life. It's a role that gives a hint to what the father's message might be, based on his previous statements.

The disagreement centers on tiles commemorating each of the Columbine victims. Danny Rohrbough, 15, was among the dozen students and a teacher killed by two fellow students on April 20, 1999, in what was then the worst school shooting in United States history.
In reporting on the dispute on June 7, the Rocky Mountain News only notes that Rohrbough's message includes a Bible verse, which wasn't considered objectionable by the committee:


Rohrbough would not disclose the contents of his writing. He, like all of the families, agreed that the inscriptions will remain confidential until the memorial is dedicated.
Later in the article: "Some people will hate it and think it's inappropriate," Rohrbough said, "and many more will look at it and like it, and even more will look at it and consider what it has to say - and 50 years down the road what it has to say will be more valuable."

Although no one's talking about it (or reporting about it), it seems possible that the quote includes a reference linking abortion to the Columbine shootings. Rohrbough made that assertion publicly in 2006, first in a radio commercial and an interview on a local radio talk show.

He reiterated the connection in a "freeSpeech" segment on the CBS Evening News last October after the Amish school shooting in Pennsylvania:


This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.
We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.

Rohrbough was elected president of Colorado Right to Life last fall and enacted a no-compromise stance that led to his criticism of Focus on the Family leader James Dobson. National Right to Life subsequently severed ties with the Colorado chapter.

While the local media included Rohrbough's Columbine connection in reporting that dustup, Rohrbough's role in Colorado Right to Life goes unmentioned in the stories about the Columbine memorial. It's possible that connection will have to be made when the memorial is dedicated this fall.