file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News: PLN-0408.TXT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 4, No. 8 June, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This newsletter is intended to provide articles and news information to those interested in Pro-Life issues. All submissions should be sent to the editor, Steve or the assistant editor Sean ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Across the Pond - Australia ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REASONS FOR ABORTION STRUCK DOWN On April 17, New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Peter Newman ruled against a woman seeking compensation because doctors failed to diagnose her pregnancy in time for her to have an abortion. In his judgment Newman said abortion in New South Wales was illegal unless a woman's physical or mental health was at risk and there was no such evidence in this case. "I am of the view that the common law does not categorize the loss of an opportunity to perform an illegal act as a matter for which damages may be recovered,'' Newman said. According to Reuters, the decision threatens to close the legal loopholes that allow some 80,000 women to annually circumvent Australia's anti-abortion laws. These loopholes were established in 1960s and 1970s common law rulings which permit abortion on social and economic grounds. Pro-abortionists have rallied against the ruling. Margaret Kirkby from the Abortion Rights Network of Australia responded to the decision saying, "There is a lot of outrage among people. We will be reigniting our campaign for the repeal of abortion laws...They [the abortion laws] are stupidly worded and we will be emphasizing that and the fact that the only way to clarify the situation is to repeal them." Australian Pro-Lifers have welcomed the ruling. Kath Harrigan, a spokeswoman for the New South Wales Right to Life Association says, "Abortion clinics should start worrying about being charged over illegal abortions." Harrigan commented that the recent anti-abortion ruling has rejuvenated the country's Right-to-Life movement, as it strongly supports their 20-year argument that Australian laws, some dating back to 1900, outlaw social and economic abortion. NSW Attorney-General John Hannaford commented that the recent court ruling clarified the state's abortion law and warns that abortionists could be prosecuted if they abortion a child on social or economic grounds. "If the doctor is prepared to go out on a limb...then he takes the risk that he is breaking the law and so is the patient," Hannaford said. The case involved a 31-year-old woman bringing suit against a Sydney medical center and three doctors for anguish over the pregnancy, labor pains, post-natal pain and depression, inability to work, disruption to her social life and child-raising costs caused by the pregnancy and child-rearing of her daughter, now aged six. The daughter's opinion of her mother's suit was not reported. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) On the National Front *Houston, Texas* A jury awarded Planned Parenthood of Southeast Texas and nine other Houston abortion clinics a total of $204,585 in damages in their lawsuit against Operation Rescue, Rescue America, Dallas Rescue, The Lambs of Christ and several abortion group leaders. These groupswere found guilty of having illegally conspired to try to put 10 women's clinics out of business when they protested outside them during the 1992 Republican National Convention. The jury refused the protestors claim that they were exercising constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech. Rescue America national director Don Treshman said the verdict was "not a valid court order," and that Planned Parenthood would receive "not a cent." After deliberating about nine hours, the clinic named in the suit was awarded $1.01 million in punitive damages. Levied against Operation Rescue: $350,000 and Rescue America: $355,000, and against leaders Don Treshman: $155,000 and the Rev. Keith Tucci: $150,000. *Washington, DC* President Bill Clinton signed into law the FACE bill, which makes it a federal crime to block entrances to, or otherwise threaten or harass persons in and about abortion clinics. This same protection is also extended to places of worship.After much negotiation and a reduction in the penalties imposed, the bill passed the House in by a 241-174 margin. Violent offenders would face up to $100,000 in fines and a year in prison for a first conviction, and up to $250,000 in fines and three years in prison for subsequent offenses. Non-violent offenders could receive up to six months in prison and a $10,000 fine for a first conviction, and 18 months and $25,000 in fines for additional offenses. *New York, New York* The New York Court of Appeals ruled that New York's Prenatal Care Assistance Program (PCAP) that aids low income pregnant women does not have to fund medically necessary abortions. In a surprise ruling that overturned lower court decisions, the decision said that the program does not infringe on a woman's right to choose an abortion. "That the Legislature in these circumstances elects to subsidize certain prenatal services cannot, in and of itself, be deemed coercive, and no showing has been made that such a woman would be influenced by PCAP to carry a child to term." PCAP is a joint federal-state program, and does not provide funding for an abortion. The claimants, backed by pro-abortion groups, unsuccessfully argued that by passing the statute, New York legislature violated an obligation under the due process clause not to influence the exercise of a fundamental right. *York, Pennsylvania* After ten years of operations, and approximately 1,000 abortions a year, Hillcrest Women's Medical Center of York PA permanently shut its doors. Sponsors, supported by the newspapers tried to blame the loss on the enforcement of the PA Abortion Control Act, made famous in the _Casey vs. Planned Parenthood_ Supreme court decision. A more likely reason for the closing is the December 1993 opening of The York Planned Parenthood clinic. Since December, the York PP clinic has performed 130 abortions and its director predicts that with the closing of the rival Hillcrest clinic, will perform up to 500 abortions a year. *Denver, Colorado* U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham permanently blocked enforcement of a 1984 state amendment barring the use of federal Medicaid funds for abortion except when the woman's life is in danger. The ruling quoted the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says federal laws are binding even if they conflict with state laws. This ruling is the first in a number of lawsuits against states with laws that conflict with the federal Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment, which took effect Oct. 1, 1993, provides Medicaid funds for abortions in cases of rape and incest, as well as cases where the mother's life is endangered. In December, the Clinton administration ordered states to begin paying for these Medicaid abortions. Colorado, as well as nine other states -- Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Montana and Utah -- have refused to comply with the federal order. The Center for Reproductive Law & Policy (which represented the plaintiffs in this case) and Planned Parenthood have filed challenges in several states. It seems that the federal courts have begun to enforce Bill Clinton's executive orders the same way that they enforce US Laws passed by Congress: The Hyde Ammendment says that the money is available for women who abort their children for reasons of rape, incest, or because the pregnancy endangers their lives; The Clinton Administration says that all states must (despite their laws and constitutional amendments to the contrary) see that their programs pay for these Medicaid abortions. The courts, as U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham's decision indicates, are now saying that a federal order supercedes state constitutions and laws. One wonders if Congress realizes that the balance of powers has swung decidedly in the direction of the executive branch. So much for the balance of powers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Pro Life Songs and Lyrics Since I wasn't receiving the newsletter 2 years ago I wasn't able to pass on a list I have of pro-life songs that were not included when that was a topic of discussion. If you think that people may still be interested you can pass these on. > "Baby Doe" by Steve Taylor (deals with the Baby Doe infanticide > case from a few years back) > "Whatever Happened to Sin" and "Bad Rap" by Steve Taylor (both > deal with abortion and other issues) > "Little Ones" by Phil Keaggy > "Unborn Child" by Function > "I am Human" by Andy McCarroll and Moral Support > "Killing Thousands" by Annie Herring > "America Again" by Carmen (deals with other issues too) > "Fight the Fight" by many artists including solos by Sandi Patti, > Steve Taylor, Debby Boone, Dallas Holm, Sheila > Walsh, Greg X. Volz, Larnelle Harris, Second > Chapter of Acts, Phil Keaggy, Andrae Crouch and > others. > "Children can live without it" by DC Talk. If anyone is interested in names of the albums the songs were on they can contact me at . - Fred Worth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) What Works - Bring in Good Speakers I'd like to tell you that in March at Mary Washington College we had Sanctity of Human Life Week. We had two speakers on March 15th under the heading of _Dare to Listen_. Jean Pryor of Feminists for Life spoke on the original feminists being prolife and how she and other must be so. Olivia Gans spoke about her abortion and "womens lives and abortion lies." She was extremely moving. Her speech was excellent and drove home the fact that abortion hurts women. From her talk, I know of at least one person who no longer considers herself `prochoice.' We also had local service organizations such as Birthright and Catholic Charities there with information to distribute. Oh - We had at least 35% of our literature torn down or damaged. Jean Pryor spoke about Feminists from the old times and their pro-life views. She spoke of being pro-choice and being unmarried and pregnant. She spoke of how women should be able to do everything with a child and not have to compromise themselves to fit in a man's world. It was a great perspective on the situation from the woman's point of view. These speakers were introduces by a member of the pro-life alliance of gays and lesbians. We showcased a wide spectrum of diversity in the pro-life movement. Olivia spoke on "Womens Lives and Abortion Lies". She spoke of her own abortion, and how her boyfriend pressured her into it. She never told her parents. She spoke of how filthy the clinics were and how the doctors were nasty. She became depressed afterwards and didn't want to leave the house. When she finally told her parents her mom and her cried for three hours. Olivia explained how her mom felt she was a bad mother, in that Olivia felt that she could not have gone to her with her pregnancy. The speech was extremely moving as she spoke of other women, and how no reports on future health problems has been studied. Her final plea was a call to action against the clinton health plan and its rationing. This was an excellent speech. I have to tell you the months of planning really paid off. This was a great way to end my senior year. Life the only choice. Mary Trocchia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) New On-Line Resources "Bethany Christian Services" An introduction and overview of the different pregnancy related services that are available from Bethany Christian, America's largest adoption agency. [Ask for "BethanyChristian"] "Bethany Christian's 24-Hour toll-free Crisis Pregnancy Hotline" An introduction to the Bethany Lifeline (1-800-BETHANY) sponsored by Bethany Christian. This nationwide service connects women with trained counselors who can listen and aid women with crisis pregnancies, and direct them to help in their area. [Ask for "BethanyHotline"] "Book Reviews: _A Social History of Abortion_" An excellent review and feminist response to the book _A Social History of Abortion_ by pro-life writer Marvin Olasky. [Ask for "AbortionRitesReviews"] "The Supreme Court on Abortion: A Survey" A great legal summary that explains how the 1973 Abortion cases (_Roe vs. Wade_ and _Doe vs. Bolton_) legalized abortion on demand for the full nine months of pregnancy in the United States. This file aslo documents some of how the national media has correctly and incorrectly reported this fact. [Ask for "AbortionOnDemand"] To request any of the above items, please send a list of items by title to the editor , eg.: "Please send v4n1, BethanyHotline, AbortionOnDemand" To request a copy of the list of available resources, please ask for "v4Topics". These and other on-Line resources are also available via the World Wide Web at URL "http://www.pitt.edu/~stfst/pln/AboutPLN.html, or via anonymous from or in the directory "/afs/pitt.edu/public/users/s/t/stfst/pln". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) On the Other Side: NOW Campaign to Discredit Pregnancy Centers ['Sorry - this is from January - i recently dug it out of the backlog. Ed.] I plucked this off of the PC mailing list. People in Arkansas should be aware that NOW is [was] planning to try to discredit pregnancy assistance centers again. Personally, I would suggest a pre-emptive course of action, and if anyone is interested and would like to get hold of me, I have some ideas which might help. > We in Arkansas are thinking about embarking on an investigation and campaign > against the fake abortion clinics. Rumor has always claimed that the clinics > "sell" white caucasian babies upwards of $25,000 apiece. Rumor has also > claimed that the selling of these babies is one of the big fundraisers of > Operation Rescue. Anything - ANYTHING on the subject of Fake Abortion > Clinics (the one who advertise with the rose, not the feminist orchid or > iris). Please contact me direct. - president > Arkansas NOW Regards, Jen Roth [So far, not much has came of this. Ed.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) Reader Responses Posting to talk.abortion without a news server [v4n4] If things still work as they used to, there's a general mail->news gateway in Texas, so mail sent to talk-abortion@cs.utexas.edu will get posted to the newsgroup. Of course, that won't help you *read* the group, but there are ways to handle that too, using Gopher, or via some kind person forwarding articles by mail. - John Ockerbloom -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- On "Our Own Roger Taney is Retiring" [v4n6] Personally, I don't think Chief Justice Taney was as evil and as guilty of legislating from the bench as Justice Blackmun was, because the Constitution explicitly declared slaves to be non-persons and to count only as 3/5 a person for representation purposes. (That is to say, the initial Constitution was wrong rather than decisions depending on it. However, Taney may have been wrong, too.) Blackmun and six others had no such help from the Constitution when denying unborn life due protection. - Ken Fitzgerald ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "You would not do that to environmentalists, you would not do that to peace demonstrators, you would not do that to labor disputes, you only do that for anti-abortion." "[This bill] is designed not to prevent violence, but to discourage pro-life protests." "There is no fair play here. This is not American" "What this bill does is aim the full force of the federal criminal system against a class of Americans who feel passionately about one of the key moral questions of our time." - Said by Representatives Henry Hyde, R-Ill, Jim Bunning, R-Ky., Porter Goss, R-Fla. and Senator Don Nickles, R-Okla. respectively when commenting on the passage of the FACE Bill. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | |QOM- Many thanks to Eric Ewanco | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.