Summer Of Mercy Closes Carhart's Abortion Mill For One Week

Operation Rescue and the rest of the leadership team for the Summer of Mercy 2.0 has confirmed that Germantown Reproductive Health Services, where Carhart is employed, will be closed for the week.

"This is a huge victory," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "While this event is in progress no babies will die in Germantown. That is an answer to our prayers."

The Summer of Mercy 2.0 nine-day pro-life event kicked off over the weekend with two well-attended rallies and prayer vigils featuring powerful national speakers, a live-ultrasound of a pre-born baby, and testimony from a woman who was scheduled for a late-term abortion at Carhart's but instead gave birth to a healthy daughter.

With the clinic closed, Summer of Mercy 2.0 participants are drawing attention to Carhart's true track record including:

· A criminal investigation in his home state of Nebraska based on affidavits from his former employees who allege Carhart engaged in criminal conduct.

· A medical board investigation in Maryland for allegations he misled authorities to gain licensure in that state. Carhart claimed to be a university professor, but was stripped of any formal duties by the University of Nebraska in the 1990s. He claimed to be an emergency room physician even though he has had no relationship with any hospital since 1987. Never once did he mention his long work history at abortion clinics around the country or his defense of partial-birth abortion in two cases that were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

· A non-disciplinary agreement made with Nebraska authorities where Carhart agreed to stop falsifying medical records, falling asleep during abortions, and interrupting abortions to take personal phone calls.

· Shoddy abortion practices resulting in numerous emergency hospitalizations.

· At least one patient death from a botched third-trimester abortion.

· Evidence that Carhart and his nurse falsified ultrasounds to avoid complying with late-term abortion restrictions.

· Carhart committed late-term abortions illegally referred by Ann Kristin Neuhaus, who faces possible license revocation in Kansas for failing to provide proper patient evaluations and making unfounded psychiatric diagnoses for late-term abortion patients so they could "qualify" for abortions under a mental health exception.

· Other devious practices that are meant to deceive patients, authorities, and the public. Most recently, Carhart told the Washington Post that he only did late-term abortions in Germantown for fetal anomalies. However, personal testimony from Dr. Grace Morrison and a former Carhart patient named Keisha, who recently gave birth to a healthy daughter, prove that many of Carhart's late-term abortions are for no medical reason whatsoever.

"After years of investigation, we can confidently say that Carhart is a dishonest man who is a danger to the public that belongs behind bars. We can document everything we say about him. He cannot do the same," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

"Twenty years ago during the original Summer of Mercy, Operation Rescue led protests in Wichita, Kansas, that resulted in over 2,500 arrests for peaceful civil disobedience. Today, our tactics have changed and now we are using every legal tool available to expose abortion abuses and see to it that abortionists like Carhart are arrested and jailed and their clinics closed. One of the goals of the Summer of Mercy 2.0 is to encourage authorities to act now to bring Carhart to justice and shutter his shady late-term abortion business for good."

Visit SummerofMercy.com

Ex-Boyfriend's Abortion Billboard Ignites Free Speech Debate

ALAMOGORDO, N.M.-- A New Mexico man's decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.

The sign on Alamogordo's main thoroughfare shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz holding the outline of an infant. The text reads, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!"

Fultz's ex-girlfriend has taken him to court for harassment and violation of privacy. A domestic court official has recommended the billboard be removed.

But Fultz's attorney argues the order violates his client's free speech rights.

"As distasteful and offensive as the sign may be to some, for over 200 years in this country the First Amendment protects distasteful and offensive speech," Todd Holmes said.

The woman's friends say she had a miscarriage, not an abortion, according to a report in the Albuquerque Journal.

Holmes disputes that, saying his case is based on the accuracy of his client's statement.

"My argument is: What Fultz said is the truth," Holmes said.

The woman's lawyer said she had not discussed the pregnancy with her client. But for Ellen Jessen, whether her client had a miscarriage or an abortion is not the point. The central issue is her client's privacy and the fact that the billboard has caused severe emotional distress, Jessen said.

"Her private life is not a matter of public interest," she told the Alamogordo Daily News.

Jessen says her client's ex-boyfriend has crossed the line.

"Nobody is stopping him from talking about father's rights. ... but a person can't invade someone's private life."

For his part, Holmes said that during a domestic court hearing last week he pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year concerning the Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for demonstration signs and slogans that include anti-gay slurs.

"Very unpopular offensive speech," he told the Alamogordo Daily News. "The Supreme Court, in an 8 to 1 decision, said that is protected speech."

Holmes says he is going to fight the order to remove the billboard through a District Court appeal.

Catholic Education Based On Liberalism Of NCEA

Today a leading Catholic educator expressed exasperation with the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) for its willingness to feature high-profile, left-wing speakers at its national convention. On the heels of last year's keynote speaker, pro-abortion media icon Garrison Keillor, the NCEA has invited controversial Sr. Helen Prejean to serve in the same capacity this year. "This overt lurching to the extreme left-wing of American politics by the NCEA means the organization no longer represents all Catholic schools," said Dr. Kevin Roberts, who is leading an effort to start an alternative organization to the NCEA. "In fact, considering Helen Prejean's participation in the Democratic Convention in 2008, it politicizes an event that has no business being politicized." Roberts expounded on that point, saying that lay Catholics who might be described as politically conservative are constantly reminded by bishops not to be "political" or "partisan." He says, "this double standard, for many of us, is very frustrating. I don't know why the Church's sacrosanct non-profit status is not threatened by Prejean, whose public involvement has been so partisan." "The NCEA's decision to invite Keillor and Prejean is reflective of an organization that has become irrelevant--if not harmful--to the promotion of authentic Catholicism in Catholic schools," Roberts concluded. "The organization sees 'social justice' as the full extent of Church teaching, when, in fact, it is but one component. Of course, the liberals in the Church ignore that fact." "Unfortunately, the NCEA has taken the wrong side of this debate. Our authentically Catholic schools need an appropriate networking, accreditation, and professional development organization, so there will be many of us working tirelessly to build that group." Roberts pointed to the success of the Cardinal Newman Society, which has highlighted the Catholic identity problems of many Catholic universities nationwide. "The Cardinal Newman Society has changed the conversation about Catholic higher education," Roberts said. "We aim to do the same with Catholic secondary education." An extended analysis of the problem, and more information on the effort to start a new Catholic schools organization, can be found at the website of Roberts' regular internet radio show,Capitol Hill Catholic. Roberts has founded and heads a Roman Catholic school, and is considered a leading voice nationally among Roman Catholics who are concerned about the leftist lurch of some major voices in the Church. His regular internet radio show, Capitol Hill Catholic, has thousands of followers nationwide, and he is regularly invited to speak on topics of Catholic education, John Paul II's New Evangelization, and the principle of subsidiarity in the ever-growing welfare state.

Arizona Governor Brewer Acts On Pro-Life And School Choice Bills

Governor Brewer took action on three important bills yesterday. The good news is that she signed legislation (HB 2384) to prohibit tax credits for donations to organizations that provide or refer for abortions.

Additionally, Governor Brewer signed into law an innovative measure (SB 1553) that will create state funded education savings accounts for disabled students to use for a variety of purposes, including tuition at private schools.

Unfortunately, however, Governor Brewer expressed concerns about, and vetoed, a wide ranging bill (HB 2581) that would have, among other things, increased the tuition tax credit limits for married couples and individuals by fifty percent.

The Arizona Catholic Conference (ACC) is extremely grateful to the nearly 1,000 people who e-mailed Governor Brewer in support of HB 2581.

While (ACC) cannot help but be disappointed with the veto of HB 2581, they are encouraged by Governor Brewer’s history of supporting these measures as well as yesterdays statement that she will still work to find ways to expand school choice.

Moral Relativism Challenged By Acclaimed Natural Law Scholar

In a new and revised edition of his groundbreaking work, "What We Can't Not Know", Professor J. Budziszewski challenges the modern assumption that moral truth is obscure or even unattainable. With clear, logical arguments he rehabilitates the natural law tradition, restoring confidence in a moral code based upon human nature.

"What We Can't Not Know" explains the rational foundation of precepts that are not only right for all, but at some level known to all. Budziszewski shows how that foundation has been kicked out from under Western society, so that we deceive ourselves about what we actually know. Having passed through atheism and nihilism in his own search for truth, Budziszewski understands the philosophical and personal roots of moral relativism. With wisdom born of both experience and rigorous intellectual inquiry, he offers a firm foothold to those who are attempting either to understand or to defend the reasonableness of traditional morality.

Budziszewski explains, "St. Paul said the most basic principles of right and wrong are 'written on the heart.' One might think that because they are written on the heart, we can never be confused about them. Or one might think that because we can be confused about them, they aren't really written on the heart. One of my reasons for writing this book was to explain how they really are written on the heart -- and we really can be confused."

Budziszewski believes that natural law theory has entered a new phase, in which theology will again have pride of place. Many thinkers have held that religious conviction hampers the search for common ground. Budziszewski demonstrates that on the contrary, faith can be a pathway to apprehending universal norms of behavior.

Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries, says, "'What We Can't Not Know' is a must-read for those concerned about the state of American culture."

Robert P. George, Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, says, "In 'What We Can't Not Know', J. Budziszewski shows that even the most sophisticated skeptics unwittingly reveal their moral knowledge in attempts to justify killing, lying, stealing, committing adultery, and other sins. In the very process of attacking Judaeo-Christian moral principles, they confirm them."

CNW

HLI Interim President Blasts Political Attacks On Pro-Lifers In Kansas And New York City

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, interim president of Human Life International (HLI) today responded to recent reports of fellow pro-lifers suffering attacks from governmental agencies.

"It is a grave injustice that defenders of the dignity of human life increasingly find themselves under attack from those who wield the power of the state," said Monsignor Barreiro. "Whether these attacks are directed at a person or at organizations, the aim is clear: to stop any speech or activity which in any way challenges the anti-life orthodoxy that has infected our governing institutions."

Referring to an ethics trial against former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline, the first part of which concluded yesterday, Monsignor Barreiro said: "Mr. Kline had less than one day to defend himself after enduring over seven days of testimony against him. No one can call this a just trial, it is rather an offense to justice, clearly perpetrated by those in power who want to see Mr. Kline punished for having the integrity to do his job and try to protect the women and children of Kansas."

Referring to a recent decision by the New York City Council to restrict the language available to anti-abortion pregnancy centers within the city, Monsignor Barreiro said: "Can you imagine any other service being told by its opponents what language they are allowed to use to promote themselves? And yet Planned Parenthood is still allowed to call itself a 'women's healthcare provider' while they destroy unborn human life through abortions and prescribe carcinogenic medication to unsuspecting women."

"America is running out of time to stand up against what Blessed Pope John Paul II called the 'thinly disguised totalitarianism' of a state that has given up on true human values. May Our Lord have mercy on us and deliver us from such assaults, so that we can serve and defend His weakest ones during this time when true freedoms are being eroded, and false freedoms exalted."

About HLI: Human Life International: Pro-Life Missionaries to the World. Founded in 1981, HLI is the world's largest international pro-life organization and has affiliates and associates in over 100 countries on six continents. www.hli.org

More Abortion Mills Close In San Francisco Area

Life Legal Defense Foundation joins San Francisco Bay Area pro-lifers in celebrating the closure of Golden Gate Community Health (GGCH). GGCH was the successor corporation to Planned Parenthood Golden Gate (PPGG), the organization that last summer was stripped of its affiliate status by Planned Parenthood Federation of America amidst allegations of financial and administrative mismanagement.

Before its closure, GGHC operated five abortion clinics in four Bay Area counties, already a considerable decline from its heyday in the '90's, when it operated four abortion clinics in San Mateo County alone. Its website boasted that, as PPGG, it had been in continuous operation for over 90 years.

PPGG was not only one of the oldest Planned Parenthood affiliates; it was also one of the most litigious. PPGG instigated frequent litigation against pro-life activists from the '80's to as recently as a year ago. The affiliate was a party in at least six lawsuits against pro-life activists, as well as the impetus for a seventh suit in federal court. In each case, LLDF represented the pro-life activists whose free speech rights were threatened, including (but not limited to) Ross Foti, Lowell King, Fr. Edward Cleary, Robert Cochran, and Jeannette and Louis Garibaldi. This litigation resulted in five published court opinions.

PPGG was also one of the plaintiffs in challenging the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.

PPGG lost $2.8 million during the tax year 2008-2009 and had not broken even since 2006. GGHC was reported to have run up a shortfall totaling $536,000 in 2010 and had attempted, apparently unsuccessfully, to raise $1.5 million in order to keep its clinics open.

At the same time it was struggling to survive financially, PPGG contributed over $750,000 to defeat three California ballot initiatives, in 2005, 2006, and 2008, that would have required parental notification before a minor could have an abortion.

"As Congress debates continued funding of Planned Parenthood, it should take note of the organization's spending priorities," said LLDF President Dana Cody. "Furthering Planned Parenthood's political agenda apparently was more important than providing all those 'critical health services' that we keep hearing about."

CNW