Planned Parenthood Withdraws Suit Against Operation Rescue

Christian Newswire -- Planned Parenthood has filed a motion to dismiss in a law suit against Operation Rescue's Cheryl Sullenger that was an attempt to block the Iowa Board of Medicine from releasing public information about four of their employees.

The documents, comprised of medical license applications that are a matter of public record in all states, were released by the Iowa Board of Medicine to Sullenger last week, three months after her initial request. At least two of tC

he "doctors" are involved in Planned Parenthood's webcam abortion pill distribution scheme, known as telemed abortions.

"While all the documents were heavily redacted - more so than we usually see with these kinds of records - we are grateful to our legal team, including Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society and Iowa attorney Mike Holzworth for working so hard to ensure that Planned Parenthood did not wrongfully conceal information that the public has a right to know. This is a victory for everyone because it helps keep the government accountable to the people."

In addition, Iowa attorney Patrick Smith represented the Citizen's Information Center and another requester, both from Massachusetts, which had made similar, independent requests. Both of those suits have been dismissed as well.

"Based on conversations with Kent Nebel of the Iowa Board of Medicine, I believe that he improperly tipped off Planned Parenthood to the requests in order to allow Planned Parenthood time to file the suits," said Sullenger. "Mr. Nebel told me personally that he was instructed by the Attorney General's office to inform Planned Parenthood of the public records requests. There is nothing we can see in Iowa law that would mandate such notification."

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is currently under an ethics investigation for his part in blocking independent investigations into alleged criminal abortions conducted by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland through their webcam abortion scheme.

"It looks to us like Planned Parenthood still has a lot to hide. They were so afraid of the discovery phase in the law suits that they apparently decided it was better to allow the Iowa Board of Medicine to release the public information rather than allow us to ask them questions they did not want to answer," said Sullenger. "We are still very concerned about the cozy relationships that exist between the Iowa Attorney General's office, the Iowa Board of Medicine, and Planned Parenthood."

Attorneys for Operation Rescue are considering further legal action to ensure that politics are not being placed above the public welfare in Iowa.

How To Save A Life

Why is ending abortion such an important issue and cause? Because the course of humanity and how we view the future of our nation and upcoming generations depends on it. Abortion is evil. It is the murder of an innocent life. It is violent. There are two things that die as a result of abortion: an innocent baby and the conscience of the perpetrator. It breeds violence, immorality, and apathy. If we can put a price on an innocent baby, what can we expect in society and the very way that we look at the humanity of a person?

Small Victories Ministries shows the humanity of unborn children to mothers and fathers contemplating abortion through our Window to the Womb Ultrasound Van embedded outside the Hope abortion Clinic in Granite City, Illinois. We are a frontlines pro-life ministry that has pioneered the ultrasound movement outside abortion mills in our nation.

For 18 ½ years Small Victories Ministry has been offering pregnant abortion-minded mothers options other than abortion, giving women a real choice, trying to save their precious babies, and lifting up the name of Jesus. Since January 2000, over 3800 babies have been saved from this abortion mill, and from these mothers 39 babies have been adopted by Christian couples. We help over 800 girls a year and see approx 20-30 abortion clients a day, currently four days a week.

The Hope abortion Clinic is the largest abortion mill in the Midwest. They used to perform between 10,000 and 13,000 abortions a year. Currently, the average number of abortions performed has dropped to approximately 4,000. Over 30 employees have been fired or retired. Lawsuits have caused this abortion mill to bleed. We have rejoiced with several employee conversions.

We are literally the last line of defense for these little unborn babies and their mothers. As our brother's keeper, we must go to where babies are dying. Our peaceful presence outside abortion mills "pricks a mother's conscience." Many of our saves have confirmed that "the presence of loving people" changed their mind; not angry screaming, but compassion and love has turned the hearts of mothers to their babies.

View the fruits of our labors at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGwItuNhrI



For more information go to www.smallvictoriesusa.com.

Marriage

Both the Church calendar and the liturgy in these days remind us constantly of marriage, in particular through the feast of the Holy Family that shows how the Lord was received and grew in a family as part of his human nature. We also see in the Epiphany of the Lord the bringing together of three great events that manifest the presence of the Lord: the adoration of the Wise Kings, the Baptism of the Lord and the transformation of water into wine at the wedding of Cana.

After life itself, the greatest natural gift of the Lord to mankind is marriage, which is the permanent and faithful union of a man and woman. Marriage has two purposes: generating and educating the children that they might receive from the Lord, and the mutual loving support of the spouses. As such, marriage is the natural basis of the family, and is fundamental to the well-being of all of society, not just those who are religious. It is for this reason that the preservation of the unique meaning of marriage is not a special or limited interest, but serves the good of all members of society.

Marriage was established by the Lord after the creation of the first woman, but before the Fall. When the Lord presented Eve to Adam, he accepted her, stating: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:23). Interestingly enough the book of Genesis presents immediately afterwards the text that is the biblical ground for the indissolubility of marriage:"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Jesus Christ quoted this text to demonstrate that marriage can not be dissolved (Mt. 19: 4-6), explaining that the Jewish understanding of marriage that permitted divorce was against the original intent of the Creator (Mk. 10: 2-9).

God has willed to give the union of man and woman a special participation in his work of creation. Indeed, he blessed the man and the woman with the words "Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28). Therefore, in the Creator's plan, sexual complementarity and fruitfulness belong to the very nature of marriage. As the liturgy of the Church states in the Nuptial Blessing, marriage is a "blessing which alone was not taken away in the punishment for original sin or in the doom of the Flood."

In the wedding at Cana, where Christ manifested his powers for the first time, marriage was elevated to the dignity of a sacrament. But here also we have the biblical grounds of the doctrine of the intercessory powers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because Christ anticipated the time of His public manifestation due to her petition, transforming water in wine. Through the presence of Christ in this wedding, a natural gift was transformed into a sacrament, an efficacious sign of grace.

Marriage has been under attack at least since the introduction of civil divorce. Society in an arbitrary way has tried to nullify the gift of marriage trying to destroy its permanent character, which is an essential aspect of the nature of marriage. It is part of the nature of things that a man and a woman should wish to enter into a permanent union, but society erodes this natural good desire, inscribing in its laws that really marriage is not permanent. If it can be dissolved by different causes or worse just by the manifestation of the will of either spouse, how can we call it permanent? With this devaluing of marriage, our "civilized societies" are returning to the barbaric institution of repudiation. We have to remember that this view of marriage, with easy divorce, is not substantially different from mere cohabitation, which can be dissolved by any of the members whenever they wish.

On the slippery slope that leads to an anti-natural society, divorce was the first social sin against life and family, because any attack against the family, which is the natural cradle of life, is also an attack against life. Legal divorce brings about a mindset in many couples that their "marriage" will be maintained until it is comfortable for them, so as a consequence of this grave error they are not ready to make the necessary efforts to solve the difficulties of understanding and communication that marriage life might cause. Instead of trying to solve their difficulties they walk away, legally breaking their marriage. This is like solving the problems caused by a deadly disease through euthanasia.

There is ample evidence of the spiritual and social damage that divorce causes to men and women, and even worse, to children. The children of divorced parents grow without the support of a normally structured family; a family that not only nurtures them, but provides the example of the family that they will create when it is their turn. Through all of this we see clearly that the Church should intensify her efforts to carefully form the couples before they enter into marriage.

In our days, different societies have been legalizing the "marriage" between persons of the same sex, which is clearly against the will of God and the form of natural marriage, which I discussed in my Spirit & Life of October 22^nd. Once the permanence of marriage is removed in law, the question of who (or what or how many) one can marry is up for grabs. If the meaning of marriage really is arbitrary, what boundaries at all can one place on it? How does one define it? Should we be surprised that the promotion of divorce on demand has led to the abomination of homosexual unions?

These old and new attacks against marriage should strengthen our determination to defend marriage as one of the most basic gifts that the Lord has given us. The fact that divorce has been a part of American society for many years should not lessen our commitment to abolish it because it is against the will of God and against the good of society. We have to insist that we cannot have a healthy society with divorce. In the same way we have to resist the new attack against marriage which is the legalization of the union of two persons of the same sex. There is no doubt that the Lord will come to our assistance in the integral defense of marriage.

Human Life International

Reckless Reporting In Arizona Shooting

In the wake of the Arizona assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, which also left several others dead, some journalists are attempting to place blame for the shooting spree on conservatives like Sarah Palin and on conservative talk radio.

Jared Loughner appeared in court on Monday to face charges that he tried to assassinate the U.S. congresswoman and that he killed six others. It was the nation's first look at the 22-year-old loner who on Saturday was wrestled to the ground by several bystanders after the initial volley of gunfire.

Many in the mainstream media have been quick to equate Loughner's motives to "conservative rhetoric" -- and more specifically, to tea party favorite Sarah Palin and a "cross hairs" graphic created by the former Alaska governor's political action committee in 2010, which targeted Democrats for political defeat.

Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center (MRC), says any attempt to connect the shooting to Palin, to the tea party movement, or to conservatives in general is shameful.

"This has been a very bad first 48 hours of coverage. Very reckless, very evidence-challenged," he shares. "And there should really be a full round of media apologies to go along with the newscasts right now."

After the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009, President Barack Obama was quick to caution those who would associate the shooter, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, with Islam. But Graham says there seems to be a double standard in regards to applying the same restraint with the Arizona shooting.

"And now, within minutes [of the story breaking] CNN put on some cartoonist to say that this shooting was inevitable because of 'conservative rage,'" offers Graham. "There is far too much recklessness in our so-called news media that doesn't wait for evidence."

ABC's Jake Tapper was one of the lone mainstream journalists who reported of Jared Loughner: "The shooter's motives remain unclear. One acquaintance from 2007 described him as liberal."

Bishop Olmsted Addresses AZ Legislature Opening Session

In light of the tragic shootings this weekend, Arizona’s 50th Legislative Session convened this afternoon in a subdued and somber fashion. Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix gave the opening prayer at the Legislature today and prayed that such senseless violence never occurs again in Arizona. He also specifically prayed for Judge John Roll and all who died in this attack as well as for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and all who were wounded, as well as all their loved ones and all who care for them. Additionally, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Diocese of Tucson is returning today from Jerusalem to comfort the people in his diocese and offer his prayers. The prayers from Bishop Kicanas and Bishop Olmsted can both be found online atwww.azcatholicconference.org.

Judge Refuses to Block New AZ Abortion Restrictions

From Arizona Right to Life

10/28/10 E-lert

Late Wednesday a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of allowing abortion restrictions to take effect Nov. 1st.

Donald Daughton, the Maricopa County judge, ruled that Planned Parenthood waited too long to seek an injunction from a new law that will prohibit anyone other than a doctor from performing various medical procedures before and after an abortion.

The state approved these new rules in April, but Planned Parenthood did not seek the injunction until October 14th, only a few weeks before the November 1st enactment date.

This current legal battle is an extension of another court ruling given last year where Daughton ruled in favor of halting a law requiring that only a doctor could perform an abortion. Daughton found in that case that there were sufficient legal questions to warrant a trial and put a hold on enacting the legislation until a judge could issue a decision on its legality. That case is still pending.

Assistant Attorney General Carrie Brennan, defending the State of Arizona in this case, chose not to challenge the merits of the claim, but simply stated that Planned Parenthood waited too long to seek the injunction.

Several important changes will go into effect as a result of this ruling they include:

1. A doctor must estimate the gestational age of the pre-born baby

2. A doctor must perform a physical examination on the woman to determine if she is fit enough for surgery

3. A doctor is the only one who can perform the surgery

4. A doctor with admitting privileges at an accredited hospital must be present at the hospital in case of emergency.

5. A doctor must remain on the premises until all patients are stable and ready to be discharged.

To read the full statute that will go into effect November 1st Click Here

To read Judge Daughton's statement denying Planned Parenthood's motion to halt these common sense practices Click Here.

"Experience is a hard teacher...

...She gives the test first, and the lessons afterwards".

Whoever coined this profound statement must have been sitting in on Saturday's Legislative Session on the Manhattan Declaration here in Phoenix. From the Mass to the final words spoken prophetically by Princeton Professor Robert George one could feel the gravity of every anti-life/anti marriage initiative that has taken place since President Barack Obama took the oath of office. Our culture faces a momentous challenge and just like Abraham Lincoln stated in his famous Gettysburg Address, we too, "are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war." This war, seems to be over the very institutions that this great country was founded".

All politics is local.
Arriving on the campus of the Phoenix Diocese, attendees on their way to the 8am Mass at St. Mary's Basilica were confronted by 100 or so protestors representing No Longer Silent, a group of christian clerics who are at odds with the Church's teaching on homosexuality and marriage. They claim that "Conservative political and Christian rhetoric condemning homosexuals has monopolized public perception of the stance of religious persons on this issue and further state that the Manhattan Declaration declares war on LGBT and women's rights.”


Circus Maximus
To emphasize their position of tolerance, they shouted at attendees to "not believe the lies in the Manhattan Declaration" and carried signs that purported the church's intolerance and exclusion of LGBT people. They trespassed onto the diocesan property and impeded the attendees while cabling the gates of the diocese and locking arms to prevent entrance to the building courtyard. Thankfully, the local police were able to peacefully lead the protestors away from the venue and remove the cable to allow the morning to continue.


And continue it did.
How does one effectively synthesize the words of Bishop Olmsted, Ron Johnson, Mike Phelan, Alan Sears, Marjorie Dannensfelder and Robert George? I don't know, but I'm going to try...


Our Bishop expanded on the Gospel passage about "not worrying about how or what our defense might be" but relying upon the Holy Spirit who will teach us what we need to do and say; to have faith and not be afraid. He reminded us that Jesus did not reprimand His followers with admonitions of "Oh, ye of little love or Oh, ye of little hope". Rather, he admonished them for their lack of faith. In our age, we, too, are challenged by the words of our Lord to have faith. Without faith, we can have neither love nor hope. However from the foundational virtue of faith, both hope and love flow. The faith of our founders was tested and purified. It brought forth the great fruit of a free nation united in faith in God and embracing institutions which would solidify it for future generations: marriage and family. It is now our turn to to be tested and strengthened as gold in a furnace. We are not to be afraid; rather, we are to be people of strong faith to carry out the work that others began.


Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, said the goal of the seminar was “to encourage people of faith to be well versed about our core values and to emphasize collaboration with other Christians, especially in the public square.” He reminded us of the sad reality that 45% of Catholics do not believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist - an astonishing statistic indeed. He elaborated on the Pope's remarks that an alarming number of the faithful are becoming increasingly marginalized in society. Ron exhorted all Christians to embrace, learn and live their faith as this is an inherent act of protecting our religious freedoms that are under deliberate and vicious attack.


Mike Phelan, Phoenix Diocesan Director of Marriage and Respect Life, elaborated on the efforts of the Covenant of Love Project and the freshly revised policies governing marriage preparation. The enhanced policy emphasizes that couples must receive “personal preparation for marriage, which disposes the spouses to the holiness and duties of their new state.” the new diocesan policy, instituted on January 1 of this year highlighted the teachings of John Paul IIs Theology of the Body, Natural Family planning and an expanded 9 month curriculum for engaged couples. Impressive early statistics affirm the NFP method as an effective way for Catholics to plan the size and spacing of their families. In striking contrast to the 50% divorce rate in the general culture, the divorce rate of couples practicing NFP is at 4%. It seems clear that these couples are experiencing a paradigm shift; they are learning to trust their spouse, their design and their Designer.


Alan Sears, President of Alliance Defense Fund, reminded us that the definition of marriage between one man and one woman is non-negotiable. Marriage either means this or it means nothing at all. Alan and his team of top attorneys are on the front lines every day facing challenge after challenge to those who would sooner redefine marriage into nonexistence. I was surprised to learn that in the average state, roughly 1,100 laws are directly impacted by our current definition of marriage; this is not to mention our country's influence on other nations. One can but imagine the legal, moral, social and psychological pandora's box this will open if we consider the end game of marriage for any and all. Polygamy and polyamory are just the beginnings. Commenting on Vermont's Civil Union law, Alan compared this to feeding a hungry tiger for breakfast and negotiating with him about whether or not he'll eat you for dinner. We simply must not be naive enough to believe that this is just about wanting gay marriage. Those who wish to redefine marriage desire that marriage should not exist. For this, we are all called to stand and act.


Marjorie Dannesfelder, President of the Susan B. Anthony List: "There is a dearth of special needs children in our society". I have never heard this statement before and it deserves our attention. What we don't have a shortage of are an increasing number of triple and quadruple baby strollers in town. Have you noticed this? Multiple births are on the uptick but down's babies are scarce. This is a bad sign. From the right to life comes every and all other rights. What kind of society have we become when it becomes okay to destroy the most vulnerable among us? Marjorie reminded us of the words of the late anti-Nazi activist Deitrich Bonhoeffer, "Silence in the face of evil is evil itself". She challenged us to be modern day Bonhoeffers and stand up to evil in our midst. She also reminded us that on November 2 we shall not forget those who sold out to evil and acted in poor conscience against those who trusted them (see Stupak is as Stupak does).


Have you ever researched the ethics codes that govern the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists? Robbie George has. And just like me, he can't get over the reference of the word "healthcare" as it relates to abortion. Robert George, Princeton Professor, philosopher and co-author/signer of Manhattan Declaration was on hand to discuss a recent ethics refutation that he debated with ACOG on limitations that they wanted to place on doctor's rights to conscientiously refuse to perform abortions. Yes, that's right, they said "limitations". The ethics doctors wish to stifle the consciences of pro-life doctors who, in their estimation would be complicit in committing grievous sin by destroying the life of another human being. The ethics docs want this right limited. Actually, they want the pro-life docs to go away, plain and simple. (Sort of how Obamacare was voted into office by executive order rather than by legitimate political process). Dr. George emphasized the point that doctors are to be about the business of science, not about the business of moral philosophy. How in the world have we arrived at the notion that pregnancy is somehow a state of disease? Dis-ease, yes, for some, but disease?? George advanced the notion that a sort of "professional cleansing" not unlike ethnic cleansing may be the next chapter in the Obamacare lexicon if we close our eyes to the opinions and matters of these ethics boards. For it is not a matter of if a morality will be advanced into our legal and ethical codes - clearly morality has already been inserted there. Rather, it will be a matter over whose morality will be advanced.


As he neared his conclusion, George reemphasized the license with with this current president has acted in the realm of so-called reproductive freedoms...remember the first things that the president did after he took office? He abrogated the conscience protections that George W. Bush had so strenuously fought for. This current president has NEVER supported any restrictions on abortion and he has referred to the bearing of children in one famous lecture as a punishment.


Human life is sacred. It is best protected by God who gave that privilege to men and women under the bonds of holy matrimony. Want to fight poverty? Build healthy marriages. Want to build a culture of life? Stop killing the preborn. Want to make a difference? Go read the Manhattan Declaration and sign it. Want your voice to be heard? Vote on Nov 2.



It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. (Gettysburg Address)

Karen Williams

Catholic Edition Contributor