Harming pre-born child criminalized
‘Forbes strengthens pro-life stance
Partial-birth abortion bans celebrated
Planned Parenthood could make big bucks off baby parts
Harming preborn child criminalized
The legislative director of National Right to Life characterized as “helpful” the House of Representatives recent decision to make it a crime to harm a preborn child during the commission of a violent act against a pregnant woman. “Anything that makes people think about the unborn child as an unborn child is helpful,” said Douglas Johnson. Backers of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act said the law is needed to punish criminals who intentionally attack a pregnant woman. Similar laws have been passed by 24 states and used in prosecutions.
A catalyst for passage of the bill was the case of an Arkansas man who hired three men to attack his pregnant girlfriend because he did not want her to have the child. The mother survived, but the nine-month-old preborn baby died. Three men who were charged with capital murder would have been charged only with assault under the previous law.
Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who sponsored the bill, said: “Without this law, the three people who beat her would never have been prosecuted for doing what they did – killing the baby.” Pro-abortion groups predictably assailed passage of the bill, claiming that “the fetus” is being granted legal rights and that the measure is part of a wider effort to overturn the controversial Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
Forbes strengthens pro-life stance
Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes is reported to have further strengthened his pro-life stance on abortion. During an appearance at the 28th annual Eagle Forum Leadership Conference Sept. 24-26, Forbes said legislation prohibiting abortions does not require exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Republican National Coalition for Life director Colleen Parro had asked Forbes to clarify a seemingly contradictory stance in which he held that the fundamental right to life of the preborn child cannot be infringed, while at the same time exceptions are made for rape and incest.
Forbes said he will support a human life amendment to the Constitution without exceptions “if we could get one,” and sign legislation to that effect. He promised to choose a vice-presidential candidate who shares his views on abortion and, as president, to appoint judges and Supreme Court justices with those positions as well. Forbes’s website asserted that, “Steve believes that eventually the Paramount Human Life Amendment will pass … (and) prior to the amendment, Steve will do everything in his power to protect the unborn.”
Partial-birth abortion bans celebrated
The Family Research Council has observed that “a groundswell of opposition to partial-birth abortion is sweeping the country” after victories for the cause in Missouri and Virginia. The victories “build terrific momentum for grassroots efforts to pass a federal ban on this horrific late-term abortion procedure, which is performed thousands of times each year,” said FRC chief spokesperson Janet Parshall.
Missouri’s Democratic House and Senate overrode the governor’s veto of the partial-birth abortion ban and in Virginia, a court of appeal ruled that the state may enforce its ban pending an appeal of a lower court ruling that declared the ban unconstitutional. “In 29 states, the American people have indicated their strong opposition to partial-birth abortion by passing laws to ban the procedure,” said Parshall. “It demonstrates the broad bi-partisan support that exists for banning this barbaric procedure.”
PP could make big bucks off baby parts
Birth control and abortion powerhouse Planned Parenthood has come under attack from Life Dynamics of Denton, Tx. for distributing the remains of children aborted at its “clinics” to pharmaceutical companies and research institutes through third-party companies that are responsible for the dissection and shipment of bodies. Life Dynamics says PP is charging “site fees” as part of “services rendered” to the third-party companies, because the outright sale of fetal parts is not allowed by law. Invoices have been obtained that show orders for whole cadavers of preborn babies, as well as parts.
Invoice demands require bodies and parts to be packed in ice for ten minutes of an abortion and sent overnight via shipping companies. Abortionists have been reported to have drowned, beat or suffocated infants who survived partial-birth abortions, in order to use their body parts.