file: /pub/resources/text/ProLifeNews/1994: pln0409.txt ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 4, No. 9 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) Clinton's America: No Help Here Early Admission To Avoid Forced Abortion Rejected Jihong Liu, a citizen of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and wife of a permanent resident of the United States has already been approved for an American visa, but sought early entry to the United States: Why? to avoid the forced abortion of her unborn child. Over 50 members of Congress wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of State Warren Christopher asking them to expedite her request: to speed up the admission of a pregnant Chinese woman to the United States and avoid exposing her child to the systematic destruction endemic of the PRC one-child policy. After a long delay, the Clinton Administration denied the request, forcing Jihong to come out of hiding and surrender to Chinese authorities. The abortion was carried out on April 29th, 1994. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Chinese Deportation To Proceed On June 6, 1993 the cargo ship Golden Venture ran aground off the shore of New York City. About 300 Chinese people who had been stuffed into the filthy ship for four months jumped overboard as their last step to freedom. Ten men died after leaving the ship; an unknown number may have escaped. The leap left most of them languishing in prisons. Many of the Chinese had sought political asylum based on the PRC's one-child-per-couple and forced abortion "population-control" policy. On January 5, U.S. District Judge Sylvia Rambo in Harrisburg who dismissed a class-action lawsuit claiming that Chinese aliens opposed to China's limit of one child per couple should be granted asylum. On May 5, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal. Because the it is applied nationwide, the U.S. Justice Department maintains the population control does not amount to personal persecution. Combined with the failure of the class action suit and this stance, most face deportation, some immediate. Of the surviving passengers of the Golden Venture, only 28 have been granted asylum, three of whom are still being detained while the government appeals. Ten others were released on bail. The rest were sent to prisons in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, New York, and Washington, D.C. Wang Li Bin is one of the few granted assylum; his lawyer tracked down two American scholars on China who gave affidavits saying Wang could face persecution for being a pro-democracy activist and member of a Christian church. Wang lives with his lawyer's family less than a mile from the York County Prison where 145 of the Chinese are being held for the federal government. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) On the National Front *Washington DC* Clinton Care moves from Committee into full Senate On June 7th, The Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, chaired by Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy, voted 11 to 6 to defeat an amendment by republican Dan Coats that would have taken abortion out of the basic insurance package. Two days later, the Clinton Health Care Abortion Bill moved from Committee into the full Senate. A provision of this bill requires all employers to pay for health care for all employees, and requires that health care to include coverage for elective abortions. If passed, this means that churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, will have to pay for abortions for their employees, and help to pay for abortions for everyone in society. Some American Catholic bishops have already spoken out on this point, saying that they will be forced by conscience to disobey this if it becomes national law. Also, the new _Catechism of the Catholic Church_, due out June 22 in English, is very clear that laws which deny fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, should be disobeyed. *Milwaukee, Wisconsin* First FACE Offenders Charged in Milwaukee On June 4th, five anti-abortion protesters used handcuffs and chains to link themselves to two autos and a 55-gallon steel drum outside the Affiliated Medical Services [read abortion] clinic in Milwaukee. The clinic was closed for 90 minutes while police and firefighters cut them loose. The charges filed two days later were the first under the FACE law signed May 26 by President Clinton. FACE prohibits protesters from blocking access to abortion clinics or intimidating patients and employees. A first offense carries up to six months in prison and a $10,000 fine. *Alexandria, Virginia* Concerned Women presents legal challenge to FACE The Concerned Women for America filed a lawsuit challenging the new FACE law, saying it's too vague. "Anyone could be sued for simply speaking out for the pro-life position," said Beverly LaHaye, the group's president. "We are filing this suit in an effort to ensure the long-held right to peaceful protest, free speech and freedom of religious expression." The suit was filed on behalf of Joyce Woodall, 66, of Jamestown, Calif., who was arrested under FACE for refusing police orders that she stop praying on the steps of a Falls Church, Va., clinic. The suit names the Federal Government and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno as defendants, asks the court to invalidate the law, award unspecified damages and award attorneys' fees and litigation costs. While Pro-Abortion groups lauded President Clinton on May 26th for signing the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union which hailed the legislation as "a milestone in congressional protection for reproductive freedom." LaHaye commented that "It is clearly an effort to stop the right to free speech and the right to religious expression," and "The current administration, as well as some members of Congress, have tried every way they know to silence our ideological positions on important issues like the rights of unborn children.'' *San Francisco, California* Unborn children can be aborted but not murdered On 23 May, the California State Supreme Court ruled that it is a crime to murder a fetus, applying a 1970 law to the killing of any fetus above 7 or 8 weeks old. The case involved Robert Davis, who shot and wounded a 24 week-pregnant woman during an 1991 robbery attempt. Her child was stillborn the next day. Davis was convicted of murder of a fetus, assault with a gun and robbery and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. The state court took the time to note that California law specifically exempts abortion from the fetal murder law. In addition, the majority decision defended this distinction between fetal homicide and abortion because a woman's right to abort is protected by a woman's constitutional right to privacy as established in the _Roe v. Wade_ U.S. Supreme Court decision. *Washington, DC* The ironies of peaceful civil disobedience and FACE On May 5, 1994 four Congressmen were arrested for civil disobedience in front of the White House. Once released from jail, they marched to the House of Representatives and voted *for* FACE. The congressmen were protesting the Clinton administration's policy on forcibly returning refugees to Haiti. That same day they voted to make it a federal crime for anyone to try to prevent unborn children from being carried to abortionists to be put to death. [ An ironic tidbit from "Operation Rescue National" May newsletter about the recent FACE decision. Caroline Brannigan ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Announcement: Life Pregnancy Care Service Opens Shop *Life Pregnancy Care Service*, 29/30 Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, Phone: Ireland 01 679 8989. We are modelled on _Life_ in UK. We have two functions: direct support and education. For direct support, we offer a caring and counseling service, pregnancy testing (free of course). We also run a house for mothers and babies and also for girls in the later stages of pregnancy. The other side of our work is education with talks given to schools, clubs etc.. We are rather short of people but are going to run a major membership drive shortly. It is the caring side that really gives us credibility, not necessarily support but at least respect. We also have a FAX + 01 679 0694 (As with the support line, from outside the country you will not need the first 0, just the country code). If you are in any way able to render assistance with our work, or can encourage others to do so, it would be very much appreciated. - Many thanks, Patrick Davey -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- *NRLC Convention* Houston Texas - June 30 - July 2nd, 1994 Registration for college students is $15 and the banquet on Saturday night is $35. People need to send in their money ASAP because their first deadline is already passed. As far as the Collegiate luncheon goes, Angeline (President of American Collegians for Life) said that it's supposed to be about leadership and sharing ideas with each other. For more information, please contact Steve Ertelt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) New On-Line Resources: *The Right Side of the Web* [] is home to the page for *The D.C. Metro Prolife News/Events Line* [], a recorded message newsline for the D.C. area with local and national prolife news and events. A continuously growing list of pointers to other prolife resources on the Web is featured. And in our archives: "The Pill and the IUD: Some facts for an informed choice" An informative and well-documented pamphlet that describes the abortifacient actions and some of the health risks involved with the use of the Pill and IUD. [ Ask for "Pill+IUD" ] "It's Just Too Late: Third-trimester Abortions Are an Outrage and an Insult to the Human Race" Nat Hentoff writes concerning the "new" D&X procedure of late term abortion and the effect FOCA and the moving definition of "viability" may have on late (third) term abortions. [ Ask for "ItsTooLate" ] "Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994" The final FACE Bill, signed into law by President Clinton. This law makes it a federal crime to block access to any place that provides 'reproductive health services', or places of worship. [ Ask for "FACE" ] Book Review: "How the right to privacy was invented" An insightful review of the book _The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade_ by New Republic writer Jeffrey Rosen. Discusses the history and making of the _Roe v. Wade_ Supreme Court decision that made abortion on demand legal throughout the United States. [ Ask for "PrivacyandRoe" ] "What Are We Doing to the Young?" A short explanation of why the Catholic Church, and other Christian Churches and faiths oppose Condoms as a legitimate response to the moral crisis in American schools. [ Ask for "CardOConnor1" ] "Hoechst AG and the Abortion Pill RU-486" an interesting report in both german and english on some of the difficulties that Hoechst AG has faced due to their daughter firm's development: RU-486. [ Ask for "HoechstAG" ] To request any of the above items, please send a list of items by title to the editor, eg.: "Please send v4n7, BethanyHotline, ItsTooLate" 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". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Reader Questions: Pro-Life Prayer Chain? Does anyone know of a prolife prayer chain by e-mail? - Thanks, Linda Nathan [A good suggestion, if no one knows of one already - Ed.] -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- RU-486 Approval? I heard recently from someone that on the news they said that the U.S. government had approved RU-486 for sale here in the US and that it should be available by 1996. Is this true? Is there anything we can do to continue fighting it or is this one a lost battle? - Tonya Eza [From what i have read, the US has recently approved its manufacture and testing here in the US, and that the Clinton Administration twisted Roussel- Uclaf's arm to see that some US firm got a license to produce it. I am open to correction, though. Ed.] -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Pro-Choice Harassment? Can someone supply a reasonably well-documented case where a pro-lifer was harassed by pro-choicers? - Ed Gehringer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Reader Responses: v4n7 Condom Effectiveness: Fr>om _Contraceptive Technology_, 15th revised edition, 1990-92. The percentages listed indicate the percentage of women that will become pregnant during the first 6 months of practicing the given method. > Method lowest expected% typical% > ------------------------------------------------- > Chance (No Method) 85 85 > Spermicides 3 21 > Period abstinence: > calendar 9 20 > ovulation 3 20 > symptothermal 2 20 > post-ovulation 1 20 > Withdrawal 4 18 > Cervical Cap 6 18 > Sponge: > parous 9 28 > nulliparous 6 18 > Diaphragm 6 18 > Condom 2 12 > IUD: > Progestasert 2 3 > Copper T 0.8 3 > Birth control pills: > Combined 0.1 3 > Progestogen 0.5 3 > Norplant 0.04 0.04 > Female sterilization 0.2 0.4 > Male sterilization 0.1 0.15 Human error accounts for most of the difference between the theoretical (lowest expected%) and actual (typical%) effectiveness, but I believe things such as defective condoms, defective birth control pills, etc. are also calculated in. - Regards, James Crawford [ Note that IUDs and Birth control pills/Norplant are all either abortifacient or have abortifacient modes. Ed.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) Reader Comments: The Clinton Health Care Abortion Bill While investigating the Clinton Health Care Abortion Bill, I discovered that if you work for almost any major company in the United States and obtain medical insurance or belong to an HMO through a program provided by your employer, you are already paying for the cost of abortions for your fellow employees. [ In Fact, pro-abortion democrat Barbara Mikulski used this as her main argument for defeating the Coats amendment while the bill was in committee.Ed] In this light, we are all responsible for this horrible holocaust because we have acquiesced to this half-billion dollar industry and let it take the money to finance itself from our own hands. I don't know what to do about this, but I am very, very upset to know that my hands have been bloodied by abortion. - John Covert ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable... "Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder... "Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and Holy God... "Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community." - From the _Catechism of the Catholic Church_, english edition. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 1 - From the May 27 edition of _Washington Watch_ (v5 n7) published by the | | Family Research Council, 700 13th St., NW, Suite 500, Washington DC, | | 20005. Phone (202) 393-2100, FAX (202) 393-2134, and other news reports.| | 2 - Many thanks to readers Caroline Brannigan, Eric Ewanco, Fred Worth and | | others who provided much of the source material for these notes. | |QOM - Many thanks to reader Lou Nunez. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.