Rochester Area Right To Life
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Rochester Area Right To Life |
The newsletter of the Rochester Area Right to Life
1998 July/August Articles
US House of Representatives Approves Ban on Interstate Transportation of Minors for Abortions
By 276-150, the House approved the Child Custody Protection Act (HR 3682). This bill makes it a federal crime to transport a minor across a state line to circumvent a state law requiring parental or judicial involvement in the minor's abortion decision.
Passage of this bill reflects strong public support for the concept of the bill. A Baselice & Associates poll, conducted June 6 - 8, 1998, asked:
| "Should a person be able to take a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge?" |
78% strongly disagreed and another 7% somewhat disagreed. For a total of 85%, while 3% somewhat agreed and 6% strongly agreed.
We are pleased to report that both Congressmen John LaFalce and William Paxon voted for the ban.
Countless numbers of pregnant minors are brought to NY for abortions. New York has no law requiring parental consent for abortion.
We are aghast that Congresswoman Slaughter and Congressman Houghton, by their votes, support transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion. Their votes support practices harmful to pregnant, minor girls and their families. Perhaps they are aligned with President Clinton. He, in a June 17th letter, demanded the bill be amended to give "close family members," such as "grandmothers, aunts, and ... siblings," the same rights as parents. His requested changes were not made…
On 7/16 the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill; it will be put before the Senate in August. If passed by the Senate the President has already promised a veto. If done, this will be a new height of presidential arrogance.
The law has broad public support. More than 20 states have laws requiring parental consent/notification when a minor daughter seeks an abortion. To veto HR 3682 would be presidential undercutting of states which have passed laws requiring parental involvement . Given this president's pro-abortion history, signing this bill would be a historical "first" for him.
The US Supreme Court, with no comment, let a South Carolina high court ruling stand and thus favored a pro-life position. The South Carolina law, which the Supreme Court declined to hear, permits prosecution of pregnant drug users for endangering the welfare of their unborn children.
The court did not address the case's underlying issue - whether the unborn child has constitutional rights as a "person". On one hand the state can prevent a mother from taking drugs that will harm her unborn child. On the other hand she has the legally protected right to kill that same child by abortion because of the US Supreme Court's Roe vs Wade decision. Nevertheless, this decision about the South Carolina law is expected to encourage other states to pass similar bills.
South Carolina is the only state that has upheld convictions of pregnant women found guilty of using illegal drugs. South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon has prosecuted pregnant drug users as he considers an unborn child a "fellow South Carolinian" who should be protected. A plan stressing treatment before prosecution has been developed and successfully used in the state.
Condon told a Charleston S.C. newspaper, The State (5-31), that he has received calls from members of Congress and federal officials. They have especially asked for information about treatment and prosecution patterns.
To Condon the legal activity is protecting the child before the umbilical cord is cut. (Our Sunday Visitor. 6/14/98)
In 1997, Oregon voters, for a second time, passed a law allowing a patient diagnosed by 2 physicians as having fewer than six months to live, to seek a doctor's prescription for a lethal dose of barbiturates. The law also requires that doctors:
*Determine that the patient is not suffering from depression or other mental illness and
*Impose a 15-day waiting period before completing the prescription.
After the Assisted Suicide Law was passed in Oregon, federal drug agents blocked physician's access to drugs for killing. They used the federal Controlled Substances Act against Oregon MDs who prescribed medications to help patients kill themselves.
In October, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a case brought by the law's opponents. Thus the law was allowed to go into effect. Since November 1997, three Oregonians killed themselves with lethal prescriptions.
On June 5 Attorney General Reno ruled that the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (FDEA) has no authority to arrest/revoke drug licenses of doctors who provide lethal doses of medicine under the Oregon law.
Hours after the Reno ruling was announced a bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress to counter the Reno opinion: Cosponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., and Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., the measure would explicitly ban the use of drugs for assisted suicides.
Results of tests of "safety of RU-486 for women appeared in the 4/30/97 New England Journal of Medicine. The authors, Population Council employees, wrote positively. They deemed the two-drug abortion technique "safe for women seeking medical abortions of 49 days duration or less." "Study results" are discussed in the NRL News (5/98), e.g.:
WOMEN EXCLUDED FROM THE RU-486 STUDY - any woman with any of the following conditions:
The Population Council’s reported ‘successful, safe" results are disingenuous. The Council excluded women with common conditions but claimed the study showed RU-486 to be "safe for women."
They carefully chose test doctors and facilities, extensively trained and set strict procedures. They carefully screened subjects, got extensive medical histories and rejected those with behaviors, e.g. smoking, or conditions, e.g. high blood pressure, that jeopardize the woman’s life or health. Despite precautions, many women had severe bleeding. There were "lost patients", women needing hospitalization, many RU-486 contra-indications and numerous additional complications.
RU-486 continued testing being challenged
A ban on RU-486 testing funding was approved by the House on 6/24/98. The amendment to the agriculture appropriations bill, offered by Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla), passed 223-202
It prevents the FDA from continuing RU486 testing. The amendment stipulates no federal money would go to the FDA "for testing, development or approval (including approval of production, manufacturing or distribution) of any drug for the chemical inducement of abortion." This amendment will not be offered in the Senate; House and Senate appropriations bills will be in conflict.
Hopefully the House-Senate conference committee, charged with working out bill differences, would develop a bill with the Coburn language. If the conference report is then passed by both houses, one bill would then go to President Clinton probably in September. If he vetoes the bill it would be just before congressional elections. For now, we have something rare: an unexpected victory!
Anti-euthanasia laws found effective
Countering euthanasia proponents’ claims, a survey of physicians shows laws against assisting suicide deter many physicians who would otherwise participate in euthanasia. New England Journal of Medicine (4-23-98) showed:
Among those who have written lethal prescriptions or given lethal injections, the practice is infrequent. The highest number of euthanasia cases in which any single doctor reported participating were 25 lethal prescriptions and 125 lethal injections.
Burke Balch, Director of NRLC’s Department of Medical Ethics, told NRL News (5/7/98)
"Every violent death is a tragedy.. we must do all we can to reduce the numbers of illegal euthanasia deaths. Nevertheless, just as there will always be some illegal rapes, robberies and other crimes, we know there will always be some suicides even when they are illegal."
Balch added that the survey results "show that, at a minimum, laws protecting against euthanasia prevent over two thirds of these doctors willing to kill their patients from doing so, and almost certainly keep down the number of killings done even by doctors willing to act in spite of the law."
The study, done in 1996 by 6 experts from both sides of the euthanasia debate, surveyed over 1,900 physicians nationally in the specialties most likely to receive requests for assistance in euthanasia.
Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PP) admitted
"that the physician providing an abortion, by definition, sets out with the purpose of performing a procure that he knows will kill the fetus, and that does kill the fetus."
This and frank admissions about the brutality of partial birth abortions and maternal health risks came from ACLU and PP attorneys on behalf of the plaintiffs in Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey V Verniero.
They presented papers with many undisputed abortion facts and included detailed information about
The Wanderer, 5/28/98, contains a descriptive listing of the procedures.
The ACLU and PP usually ignore or deny the truth about abortion being done to kill. Their new admission that abortion kills the child may be a strategy change. The Wanderer article suggests the new candor about abortion may be an attempt to invite people to become the mob and join in "reveling in innocent blood." The article cited an observation from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man:
"Vice is a monster of so frightful
mien |
Thousands of forced abortions and sterilizations are part of China's population control program Gao Xiao Duan, former head of a Chinese family-planning office, told a House Committee on international operations/human rights about her 14 year career. She said, "I saw how the aborted child's lips were sucking, how its limbs were stretching. A physician injected poison into its skull and the child died and was thrown in a trash can." On Nighttime Gao Xiao Duan showed pictures of women tied to tables for involuntary late term abortions. US tax dollars continue to fund these activities through the UN Population Fund
President Clinton returned from visiting China on July 4. He's being praised here for being forceful to the Chinese about human rights. There's no evidence that he once mentioned the rights of pregnant women or unborn children.
Amy Welborn took the prolife position at a university debate. Her opponent was a "Yappie", a Young American Abortion Professional. Welborn wrote that Yappies resemble the now nearly extinct Yuppies who focused on business, law or high finance. But the Yappie's world is, of course, only abortion.
The Yappie Welborn debated wasn't belligerent; she was "downright perky." When she said her facility did abortions up to 24 weeks, Welborn asked the Yappie to describe the abortion "Sure.. The cervix is slowly dilated and when it's ready, the fetus is removed," she paused and added, "in pieces."
A young man murmured "Chop, chop." She turned to him and said "Yeah," sighing as if to say: "That's just the way it goes, ain't it"
(Our Sunday Visitor 6/21/98)
The June 3, 1998 Annual Meeting was a success. "Thumbs up" was the evaluation of Celebrating Life, a video previewed that night.. When available, it will be purchased. Members unanimously passed a proposed Resolution:
Be it resolved that Rochester Area Right To Life Committee, Inc., in fiscal year, July 1, 1998, to June 30, 1999, in its advertising and outreach activities, focus on the joy and positive aspects of pregnancy and motherhood
RARTL Advisory Board Members Alan Purcell and Edward Franus were elected to hold voting positions on the RARTL Board
Finally, the RARTL Board unanimously elected Robert Burke II a member of the RARTL Board. Bob is welcomed for his long-standing pro-life commitment. He has recently returned to Rochester from California where he participated in numerous pro-life activities. He has already shared excellent, new ideas. Bob's father, Robert Burke, Esq. was Chairman of the RARTL Board in the early 1970s.
Later news: The RARTL Board of Directors, with regret, accepted the resignation of Advisory Board Member James Maloney. Mr. Maloney has graciously agreed to be available for counsel and help on short-term activities in the future.
Scholarship won by local student
Congratulations Theresa Fredericks! On 6/10/98, she was announced winner of the Patrick Burke Memorial Scholarship Award. The award is given annually to a pro-life high school/home school graduate enrolled in a college program. The award was established by Rita Burke after the death of her teen son Patrick. Theresa competed for the award against students from across NY state.
Congratulations, Theresa, for all you have done and all you will do!
|
Thomas Olcott Burke |
Tuesday: 9 AM -7 PM
Wednesday & Thursday: 9 AM -5 PM or by appointment
Pamphlets - Bumper Stickers -Books
Periodicals Videos - Tapes and Internet access
New videos now available include:
Partial-Birth Abortion: Riveting Eve-Witness Testimony by Brenda
Pratt Shafer, RN
Euthanasia False Light by Joseph Campanella
Ending the Journey: Euthanasia Debate - A look at the
euthanasia issue in Canada
E-mail about time-sensitive topics and events, with emphasis on both state and federal legislation is available. To receive the Life-Mail, send your name, address and telephone number and e-mail address to us at
Roch_rtl@juno.com
RARTL Board elects officers for 98-99
On July 2, 1998, RARTL Board met and elected officers for the Fiscal Year, 1998 – 1999. Officers are:
Other Board Members also agreed to accept specific responsibilities, i.e. Wilda Liana - bookkeeping; Bob Burke -fund raising and church outreach; Martha Colburn - church outreach and legal and legislative guidance; Carol Leary -youth outreach.
All RARTL Board and Advisory Board Members are volunteers. We are most appreciative of the volunteer efforts of the Board Members, Advisory Board and numerous individuals who volunteer in the office or in the community. Volunteers have been the core of RARTL for 30 years.
Advisory about "American Right to Life"
We have received inquiries about "American Right to Life" from area pro-life people. They had been contacted by phone and asked to make donations to the group.
From National Right to Life we have learned that this group has been telemarketing pro-lifers focusing their pitch on raising money to fight partial-birth abortions. NRLC research netted the following:
· American Right to Life has a toll-free number that is answered by a voice mail system; messages left have received no responses
· The messages claims group is a "federal political action committee." As of 6/8/98, The Public Records Office of the Federal Election Commission has no record of a PAC under that name
· As of 6/8/98, "American Right to Life" is not registered as a lobbying organization in either house of Congress. The Senate Office of Public Records and the office of the clerk in the House of Representatives found National Right to Life Committee as the only registered group in either house with "right to life" in its name
· When one person who was called obtained an address for the group, it was located in Washington, D.C. The two people who went to visit found the address to be a box number at a Mail Boxes, Etc. location.
In light of the above, National Right to Life urges members to use extreme caution if a call or letter is received from this group or any other group which is unfamiliar to you. National Right to Life has worked with many organizations in Washington, D.C concerned about partial-birth abortion. American Right to Life has never been one of them.
Euthanasia taking more lives in Netherlands
Killing handicapped newborns, and not necessarily with parents' consent, is permitted in the Netherlands. This comes from the now three year old law permitting euthanasia in the Netherlands.
One study, published in Pediatrics (March, 1998), reassured readers of safeguards to prevent abuse of the euthanasia law. Euthanasia decisions, the paper said were usually made after discussion with the parents and did not occur while parents were known to disagree (emphasis added).
Another study, cited in Issues in Law & Medicine (Spring, 1998) reported Dutch courts have found doctors blameless in such cases because they have a "conflict of duties". The so-called conflict puts them, they feel, in the position of either supporting life or ending suffering
Of course, no one seems troubled by the absence of anything resembling "consent" from the newborn. Who can be comfortable these days in the US with euthanasia's toe-hold in Oregon where physician-assisted suicide is now legal.
Events and Offers
You are cordially invited to join the
Leo Holmsten Human Life Award Committee
of Rochester Area Right to Life Committee, Inc. Education Fund
with
BIRTHRIGHT OF ROCHESTER |
PRO-LIFE PLANNING COMMITTEE |
| at a dinner and presentation of the Leo Holmsten Human Life Award David C. Hoselton Pro-life advocate and founder of |
Tuesday, September 15, 1998 Reception at 5:45 PM, dinner at 6:30 PM. Entrees are Grilled Chicken Papaya or Penne' Pasta. adults only please |
Reservation Information
Name ______________________ Entree: Grilled Chicken or Penne' Pasta
(as to appear on name tag)
Address_______________________________ Telephone _______________
Name ______________________ Entree: Grilled Chicken or Penne' Pasta
(as to appear on name tag)
Address_______________________________ Telephone _______________
$22 per person. To reserve seating as a group (up to 10 per table), attach a separate sheet listing name(s) and entree selection(s). Please enclose a check for the total number of guests.
Enclosed is my check payable to LHHLA Committee in the amount of $ ___________ for ______ reservations:
LHHLA Committee
P.O. Box 16147
Rochester, NY 1416-6147
For additional information, please call Tom at (716) 621-6966
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