Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation Backs Down to Planned Parenthood Bullying

WASHINGTON,DC (Catholic Online) - In a one sentence tweet the Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation revealed another dimension of the growing epidemic of bullying in the United States, bullying by Planned Parenthood. The tweet simply said, "We want to apologize for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives."

Like millions of other Pro-Life people, I received the news that Planned Parenthood had prevailed in this entire struggle with deep disappointment. I admired the courage originally displayed by this Foundation. It does such important work.

I also knew that any financial loss they might have incurred from Planned Parenthood bullying would have been far exceeded by contributions from the Defenders of the Right to Life who admired their proper decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

Komen had given over half a million dollars to Planned Parenthood this year alone. The money was supposed to be used for the noble purpose of breast cancer screening and breast health services. When they announced they would no longer grant Planned Parenthood any funds because they were under investigation, Planned Parenthood cried foul.

Planned Parenthood is the subject of a Congressional investigation for using tax payer funds for abortion services. In fact, there is a cloud over much of their operation for good reason.

The head of Planned Parenthood's digital bullying effort told the New York Times, "I think this was a tipping point for us. I think something has happened, where people are upset that two great organizations that have this shared mission were now in this difficult position. And so, we have been seeing that response through our supporters, some of whom were not our supporters before Tuesday afternoon."

Sadly, the epidemic of bullying seems to continue, unabated. Now, the largest abortion provider in the United States has displayed a digital form of bullying which should cause grave concern to all people of good will. Under its unrelenting media pressure, the Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation has backed down.

Planned Parenthood blamed the decision by the Susan G Komen Foundation to cease giving it grants on "anti-abortion activists". That means people who insist that the child in the womb is our neighbor. People who reject the profane idea that killing our first neighbors can ever be a "right" since it is always wrong to take innocent human life. People who defend the fundamental Human Right to Life of every person, no matter how small.

When an organization like Planned Parenthood receives a grant - or a subsidy - it may argue that it uses that particular money for a purpose other than the taking of innocent life through abortion, but the argument is a ruse. It is a deadly shell game. Money is fungible, or interchangeable. The very fact that the money came in allows other funds to be used for providing abortions.

Planned Parenthood is built on a lie. They dress themselves up as a "Health Care Provider" and include the taking of the lives of innocent children in the womb as a "service" under their offering of "reproductive services".

They have insinuated themselves into the global delivery of "medical services" and receive massive government funding. Included in these purported "medical services" is the killing of children in the womb through intentional abortion. It is the worst kind of child abuse. Abortion is lethal form of bullying.

No matter where you look these days there is a news report, commentary, study or conference on the growing National epidemic of bullying. One television network recently aired a multi-platform series on bullying. The National Education Association released statistics in 2010 indicating that every day 160,000 children miss school out of fear of some form of bullying, verbal, physical or cyber-bullying.

Bullying is a problem, but it is not a new phenomenon. It does appear to be on the increase and concern over bullying is legitimate. I have raised five children and now have six grandchildren. I have had to deal with the horrible effects of bullying in my effort to be a good father and grandfather.

Bullies are bred. Bullying is a symptom and not a disease. I have long contended there is a connection between abortion on demand and the increase of bullying.

We have lost the sense of the dignity of every human person as an unrepeatable gift from God. People are now objects of use, property not persons. This is a root of bullying and contributes to the growth of this behavior.

Now, Planned Parenthood has proven this point. Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation has backed down in the face of Planned Parenthood bullying.

Bullying begins in the womb. There, in the first home of the human race children are brutally bullied to death. They cannot be heard in their resistance. An entire class of persons relegated to the status of personal property can be disposed of for any reason by those more powerful.

These children are our first neighbors in the first home of the whole human race. They are killed by chemicals and surgical strikes and evicted from their first homes. That evil behavior is protected by the positive law and enforced by the police power of a State which has lost its soul.

In the words of now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, "Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. ...I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child." It is time to get to the root of bullying. It begins in the womb and manifests itself in a culture of death and use.

I encourage our readers to pray for the leadership of Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation. I was taught as a child to never back down from a bully because it will only make matters worse. I still believe it.

Victory! Komen Foundation ends partnershi​p with Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, a leading charity for breast cancer, announced Tuesday that it is ceasing its partnership with Planned Parenthood in prevention screenings and education at the health centers across the nation.

Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun told The Associated Press that the cutoff results from the charity's newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Aun said this applies to Planned Parenthood because it's the focus of an inquiry launched by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., seeking to determine whether public money was improperly spent on abortions.

According to a statement from Planned Parenthood, the Komen Foundation began informing local Planned Parenthoods in the past few weeks that their breast cancer initiatives would no longer be eligible for new grants beyond existing agreements.

Planned Parenthood said it had set up a Breast Health Emergency Fund to offset the support that 19 of its local programs are expected to lose from the Komen Foundation. But the organization on Tuesday did not disguise its disdain for anti-abortion groups that they blame for threatening the foundation for its partnership.

"We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure. Our greatest desire is for Komen to reconsider this policy and recommit to the partnership on which so many women count," Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement released by the federation.

Planned Parenthood has been a continuous target of protests, boycotts and funding cutoffs because it is the largest provider of abortions in the nation. With almost 800 health centers in the U.S., the federation provides other services such as birth control, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and cancer screening.

Pro-life groups praised the action.

"As a breast cancer survivor, I applaud the decision made by the Komen Foundation to discontinue their partnership with the billion-dollar, abortion mega-provider, Planned Parenthood," Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest said. "The work of the Komen Foundation has life-saving potential and should not be intertwined with an industry dealing in death."

According to Planned Parenthood, its centers performed over 4 million breast exams in the past five years, almost 170,000 of them paid for by Komen Foundation grants.

"We're kind of reeling," said Patrick Hurd, who is CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia -- recipient of a 2010 grant from Komen. Hurd's wife, Betsi, is currently battling breast cancer.

"It sounds almost trite, going through this with Betsi, but cancer doesn't care if you're pro-choice, anti-choice, progressive, conservative," Hurd said. "Victims of cancer could care less about people's politics."

A statement issued by the Komen Foundation cited criteria for new grant-making and ensured there would be no gaps in its assistance.

"While it is regrettable when changes in priorities and policies affect any of our grantees, such as a long-standing partner like Planned Parenthood, we must continue to evolve to best meet the needs of the women we serve and most fully advance our mission," the statement said.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/31/komen-foundation-ends-partnership-with-planned-parenthood/?test=latestnews#ixzz1lAcEByIf

Expecting

After months of trying, my wonderful husband and I are expecting our first child. Our Gift From God is due to arrive in July. It is funny, though, with this week being the 37th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, how differently I am affected by the thought of abortion. I feel like my first and only obligation is to keep my baby safe. Hubby and I tried for many months to achieve this pregnancy. It is truly by God's grace that we were able to conceive and that baby and I are both healthy so far. I hope women everywhere can understand what a gift, joy, and responsibility it is to become pregnant... and I pray every day that mothers can see their child as a gift instead of an inconvenience. Praise God for this beautiful gift.

Help Stop "Abortion Care"

The fight to remove the abortion mandate from the health care bill is becoming more intense by the hour. Pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) is making headlines with his announcement that 40 Democrats are prepared to block health care reform legislation from coming to the House Floor unless its abortion mandate is removed.

AUL Action is working against time to support the efforts of Stupak and other pro-lifers on the Hill, meeting with Congressmen to ensure they know what’s at stake if the health care reform bill is not amended to protect life.

Even as House members express determination to remove abortion from the House bill, in meetings AUL has learned that Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership are working hard to convince pro-life members of Congress that the Capps Amendment “compromise” prevents abortion funding and coverage.

Please, call your Congressman and tell him/her that the Capps Amendment is not a compromise. The Stupak/Pitts language must be included in the House bill.

The word must get out: health care reform is simply unacceptable unless the final bill contains an explicit provision barring abortion funding and coverage.

Please visit the Team Life Action Center to find out how you can make a difference in your community! When you sign up to join Team Life, AUL will work with you, providing resources to help you educate your friends and family about how to stop your tax dollars from paying for abortion in health care reform.

The online ad "Don't Be Fooled: Abortion is in Health Care Reform” shows how abortion advocates are trying to use health care reform as a means of forcing Americans to pay for the destruction of unborn life. Please watch it on RealHealthCareRespectsLife.com and send it to your friends, your family—everyone you know who doesn’t want to see their tax dollars fund abortion-on-demand.

This health care reform debate is a critical time in the history of the pro-life movement, as the fates of millions of unborn lives hang in the balance.

Thank you for your support as we work together to protect and defend life!

Los Angeles Man Arrested in Death of His Unborn Child

The law never ceases to amaze me.

LOS ANGELES — Authorities say a 37-year-old Los Angeles man has been arrested on suspicion of murder for the death of an unborn child believed to be his.

Police said in a press release that Joshua Woodward was arrested Sunday in Los Angeles and is being held on $2 million bail in a county jail.

Police say the arrest came after an investigation on Monday revealed "suspicious circumstances of a miscarriage." Investigators estimate the fetus was in its 13th week.

Police released no information on the mother or the circumstances of the child's death.

The release says Woodward is believed to have ties to Miami and Chicago and detectives are also seeking information in those cities.

Investigators are set to present the case to prosecutors on Tuesday.

A deputy at the jail had no information on an attorney for Woodward.

International Call for the Rights and Dignity of the Human Person and the Family

Sign Petition HERE

We, the citizens of UN member states, in this year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948,

Recalling that:

The Universal Declaration is a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all Nations,

Bearing in mind that:

Human rights, dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity and justice constitute the spiritual and moral patrimony on which the union of Nations is based,

Stress that:

Proper consideration must be given to

1. The right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death, each child having the right to be conceived, born and educated within the family, based on marriage between a woman and a man, the family being the natural and fundamental group unit of society,

2. The right of every child to be educated by his or her parents, who have a prior and fundamental right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Therefore, we call upon:

All governments to interpret the Universal Declaration of Human Rights properly such that:

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person (Article 3)

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family (Article 16).

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State (Article 16).

Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance (Article 25).

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children (Article 26).

I Am 71 Percent Project

What is I Am 71 Percent?

President Barack Obama has been quoted as saying that abortion funding is central to his health care reform agenda. But not so fast, Mr. President!

A recent Zogby poll has shown that 71% of Americans oppose taxpayer funded abortions.

Are you one of those Americans? If so, then join the virtual protest!

We plan make sure that President Obama and every member of Congress is sent a link to these photos so they can put faces on the 71% figure that represents the percentage of Americans opposed to tax-funding of abortion in health care legislation currently under consideration. We want them to look us in the eye and consider who they represent before they finalize plans to oppose our will on this critical moral issue.

Take a picture of yourself with the number 71 then click here (http://www.prolifeunity.com/index.php/iam71percent/comment/upload) to upload your photo and we will add you to the I Am 71 Gallery!

But this protest doesn't’t stop there. Click the “Do More” tab to make your voice heard so that not one dime will go to fund the killing of innocent children through abortion!

DID YOU KNOW?

Whenever public funds are used to pay for abortions, the abortion rate rises. That makes the issue of public abortion funding a critical life-and-death moral issue of great importance to the American people.

Pro Life Activist Gunned Down Outside Michigan High School

A well-known anti-abortion activist was shot multiple times and killed Friday morning in front of a Michigan high school, and another man was shot and killed just miles away in what police are investigating as related incidents.

Owosso police chief Michael Compeau said Jim Pouillon, 63, was outside the school Friday morning with a sign when a man drove by and shot him. No one else was injured.

Michigan State Police have taken a suspect into custody, the Flint Journal reported.

The school was placed on immediate lockdown, though no students were hurt or involved in the shooting, Ossowo Hish School officials told the paper.

When authorities were responding to the first shooting, officials received a report that another man had been shot and killed at a gravel pit business in Owosso. Shiawassee County Sheriff George Braidwood said Mike Fuoss was found dead in his office.

A 33-year-old Owosso man was later arrested in connection with the school shooting at about 8:15 a.m. at his home, according to Compeau. The chief said he then told police he was involved in the gravel-pit shooting.

School officials say the first shooting took place outside of school grounds around 7:30 a.m., when most students were already inside the building for classes. The school, located 20 miles west of Flint, was allowing students to leave with a parental escort, WLNS News reported.

Police barricaded a section of street in front of the high school, where a large sign bearing the image of a baby and the word "Life" was visible, according to the Flint Journal.

If You Are Planned Parenthood, Crime Does Pay

Planned Parenthood (PP) released its annual report this week. It would appear that for Planned Parenthood, crime does pay -- as long as it is crime against humanity. Last year, while the rest of the nation was seeing a downward trend in relation to abortions, Planned Parenthood was perpetrating over 15,000 more abortions than the year before, for a grand total of 305,310 (while apparently offering no post-abortion counseling to the women who enter into PP's "clinics.") Added to this mayhem, Planned Parenthood distributed over 1.4 million "emergency contraceptive kits" containing the abortifacient called the "morning after pill." During this time the organization only did 4,912 adoption referrals. All this proved very profitable to Planned Parenthood as they posted a net profit of $1.014 BILLION. A clear 34 percent of that figure came from you - the U.S. taxpayer. Government grants to Planned Parenthood allowed the abortion industry to spend on a variety of things including contributing $10 million to elect President Obama and spending close to $1 million to lobby Congress for even more cash, claiming poverty in this time of economic crisis! This investment by Planned Parenthood has paid handsomely as increases in government funding have led to an increase in the number of abortions the group performs. Only when the abortion industry is completely separated from the government funding spigot will President Obama have any credibility when he says he wants to "reduce the number of abortions." Local governments like Orange County, California and Corpus Christi, Texas have realized this and defunded their local PP's - when will Congress?

Additional Resources
For more number crunching go to The Cloakroom

Planned Parenthood and STDs: It’s latest attempt to push its own name

All of us who have been fighting Planned Parenthood for quite some time have seen all sorts of different tactics that PP uses to bring in customers. It’s National Condom Day or “Proper Attire” condoms are just some examples. In PP’s eyes, why not take advantage of the STD crisis in our country, with every one in four teenage girl having an STD, and make up some phrase to get customers into its clinics – looking as if it really does care.

MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation joined in on PP’s latest marketing push called “Get Yourself Tested” or GYT for short. Even calling it GYT is an attempt to be more teen savvy since many of our youth are on the internet instant messaging, and texting on their cell phones. Using acronyms is a form of communication that today’s youth are using. For example, “Talk to you later” is TTYL.

This latest scheme, Get Yourself Tested, is something PP hopes will encourage young people to talk about getting tested for STDs so frequently that it would be like getting an oil change for your car. Everyone needs to get it done, so when are you going in? Yet, we know this is another stunt to push its promiscuous propaganda, but do our teens realize what PP is doing to them? Brainwashing them to come into their clinics – supposedly to be tested for an STD, and at the same time give you condoms and sell you birth control; thus making more business and help spread STDs and thus creating more business.

Several reports have been seen across the country of different PP affiliates and clinics advertising this new marketing ploy. I must share the article with you from the Michigan Messenger that described this new initiative and yet came out and said that while PP clinics charge for STD testing, most Michigan Health Departments offer the testing free. Hmm. Interesting. Even some of the secular media sees PP’s ploy for bringing in the money.

I sympathize with the people in Africa who are suffering with AIDS, some think that condoms are the solution. However, last month Pope Benedict came out with a statement saying that distributing condoms only makes the problem worse. Edward C. Green, Harvard University's director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project stated that the pope is correct. Shocker.

The problem is that teens and young adults are using condoms and birth control thinking that these types of things actually can protect them from getting an STD! PP is teaching them that relying on contraception and abortion is safe. Unfortunately this is very scary when every one in four abortions occurs at PP facilities, and according to the Center of Disease Control, the cases of syphilis in the U.S. from 2001 to 2007 continue to increase.

We need to be educating our young people on chastity. We need to show them that PP’s tactics are NOT helping them. We need parents talking about it, grandparents talking about it. The youth of our country and world today face many pressures and PP is behind a lot of that. We must get this organization out of our schools and out of our kids’ lives! Take a stand and educate your community on the evils of PP.

White House confirms it got 2 million red envelopes

The White House mail office has confirmed it received a "deluge" of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion in a massive campaign that was larger than most White House mailing movements in the last 35 years.

White House mail worker "Steve" has handled letters for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for more than three decades. Every single package and letter destined for the White House goes through his office.

Asked if he has seen a flood of red envelopes bound for the White House, Steve chuckled.

"Uh, yes," he said emphatically. "Believe me, they made it here."

Steve said while Obama has been occupied in Europe, his administration has noticed millions of red envelopes on behalf of aborted children.

"Quite frankly, there was definitely a deluge of mail coming through," he laughed. "I had to handle them all."

"I've been here 35 years, so I've seen presidents come and go," Steve told WND. "This campaign ranks up there with the big ones."

The Red Envelope Project is an idea sparked in the mind and prayers of a Massachusetts man, Christ Otto, who envisioned in January thousands of red envelopes sent to the White House, a visual expression of moral outrage over the president's position on abortion.

On the backs of the envelopes, senders wrote a message Otto composed: "This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception."

The original project began small, but when Otto sent out an email to friends asking them to join him in the envelope effort, the symbolic gesture spread through the Internet like wildfire – eventually resulting in delivery of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes.

"Last Tuesday 2.25 million were sent all together," Otto told WND. "There were 1 million sent before that date. I keep getting e-mails, and I know that people are still sending them. This past weekend, there were at least 10,000 more sent just from churches announcing it on Sunday."

The Catholic News Agency reports that a consortium of 11 different student groups at the University of Notre Dame, in protest of the university's invitation of Barack Obama to speak at graduation, plan to hand deliver a surge of the red envelopes to the pro-abortion president when he arrives to give the commencement address in May.

Otto said he expected no response from the White House.

"On Thursday their goal is to remove the conscience clause on physicians," he said. "So, they don't want any press."

However, WND was successful in confirming that the red envelopes did arrive.

Asked if he hopes President Obama will be influenced by the campaign Otto said, "I really hope that he is seeing them. I know that somebody in Washington is seeing them, for whatever that's worth. I do hope that it changes the president's heart."

He continued, "I also know that there are many people in our government – in both political parties – who believe that life and freedom are controlled by the state. They want to control who lives and who dies. So, it's not just the president, but there are lots of people in Washington who need to know that this was an important thing and that they are out of step with the people."

The Red Envelope Project has been provided with letters to cease and desist because it allegedly infringes upon trademark and copyright of another organization, but Otto said the campaign will comply with copyright issues and continue its work once the legal matters have been resolved. Details of the new campaign have not been released.

Nonetheless, Otto said the Red Envelope campaign was a resounding success.

"It has made a difference, regardless of what happened in Washington," he said. "Just the numbers of children that have been involved are huge. It's gotten a lot of people talking about the value of life. To me, that's priceless."

Hundreds of babies saved from abortion in recent pro-life campaign

Washington D.C., Apr 7, 2009 / 05:16 am (CNA).- As the 40 Days for Life Campaign nears the completion of its spring session, its leaders claim to have helped saved nearly four hundred babies from abortion. Organizers are now judging the campaign’s effects and considering how to extend its success. The campaign encourages actions like 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, vigils outside abortion clinics and extensive community outreach.

“It was an amazing 40 days," said spring campaign director Shawn Carney. "Courageous people stood and prayed in rain, cold weather and snowstorms. Abortion workers tried to smear this effort with accusations that 40 Days for Life volunteers' prayers 'intimidated' their clients. But none of this could dissuade peaceful, determined people who know their efforts touch hearts and impact communities."

According to the campaign, participants’ efforts helped save 389 babies from abortion. Activities reportedly were held in 135 cities in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland.

“There are undoubtedly others that we don't know about," said Carney. "We're aware that many appointments were canceled when several clinics closed unexpectedly on days when abortions are normally scheduled.”

The campaign joined forces with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, in which men and women with abortion experiences came forward to pray at abortion clinics and to warn women about the physical, emotional and spiritual damage they risk by undergoing an abortion.

40 Days for Life reports that over its four campaigns 466 local efforts have taken place in 240 separate cities in all 50 states and seven other countries. The organization says that more than 200,000 individuals and more than 4,000 churches have participated. Additionally, at least 17 abortion clinic employees have quit their jobs.

Its next campaign is scheduled for the fall from September 23 to November 1. Its website is at www.40DaysForLife.com.

NY City Council ok's bill to arrest any protesters at abortion clinics

Council Moves to Protect Access to Clinics

In an attempt to clear a path for patients at reproductive clinics, the City Council approved legislation strengthening the city's clinic access law, allowing police to arrest protesters who harass people seeking medical care.

The bill will ensure patients are not threatened, followed or harassed when attempting to enter a clinic, supporters said. On the other hand, critics argue by supposedly strengthening access to clinics, the legislation cripples protesters' First Amendment rights.

In addition to the clinic access bill, the council approved its operating budget for fiscal year 2010, which starts in July, and passed several resolutions urging the state to act on rent regulation.

Accessing Health Care
For patients looking for care at Dr. Emily's Women Health Center in the Bronx, the problems start when they get off the subway, say women's rights advocates. Patients are followed and greeted by supposedly inappropriate catcalls in an attempt to dissuade them from having an abortion. Sometimes, advocates said, protesters block the building's entrance so women looking to terminate their pregnancies don't have any other option but to turn around.

Just because there is a choice in New York City, doesn't mean that there is access, said city officials.

To provide that access, City Council approved legislation that would remove the need for intent to make an arrest, meaning a police officer could arrest protesters who they see harassing patients. Currently, said city officials, women seeking health care have to come forward for an arrest to be made. Many times, said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, women are too intimidated to come forward and identify harassers.

The legislation also would enable clinic workers to call and complain, which could lead to the arrest of protesters who block the clinic entrances or interfere with their operation.

The council voted to approve the bill (Intro 826-A) by a vote of 39 to 8. The mayor plans to sign the legislation, a spokesman said.

Any violation of the legislation would be a misdemeanor.

"The city's women throughout the five boroughs are vulnerable to harassment, intimidation and coercion when they try to access legal reproductive health care," said Quinn. "Harassment and intimidating women as they enter and exit a reproductive health clinic is a clear violation of both a woman's right to access care and a clinic's legal right to provide services."

Many council members equated the legislation to a practical defense of Roe vs. Wade -- or a women's right to choose. Supporters said if protestors are peaceful, then no violation would occur.

Those who voted against the bill said it would erode free speech and create more ambiguity in the law.

"I do not want to protect or enable people who break the law and harass women seeking services," said Councilmember James Oddo, a Republican from Staten Island. "But I also do not want to pass a bill that might have the unintended consequences of having a chilling effect on other constitutionally protected speech."

A Slimmer Budget
The City Council also unanimously approved a $50.5 million operating budget for fiscal year 2010, a reduction of $1.7 million from the previous year or about 3.3 percent.

The reduction will not lead to any layoffs and is on par with the reduction for the mayor's office. Quinn said the council would cut down on events and printing and reduce staff size through attrition.

The council cut its central staff budget. Individual members' budgets will not be affected.

Rent Control Resolutions
The council approved two resolutions urging the state legislature to repeal the state's Urstadt law (SLR 1) and to revise vacancy decontrol (SLR 2).

By repealing Urstadt, the city would have control over housing and rent policies, which it lost in the 1970s.

The council approved the Urstadt resolution by a vote of 43 to 4 and the vacancy decontrol resolution by a vote of 37 to 5 with 5 abstentions.

The council wants the state to repeal parts of vacancy decontrol to force thousands of formally regulated apartments back on the rent regulated rolls. Currently, any rent-regulated apartment is deregulated if its rent exceeds $2,000. Legislation in the state legislature would keep apartments under regulation until they reach a monthly rent of $5,000.

Don't Forget!

Today is Red Envelope Day!

PLANNED PARENTHOOD HONORS SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR HER COMMITMENT TO WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE

Actor America Ferrera Co-Hosts Celebration

HOUSTON, TX — On March 27, 2009, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) proudly honored reproductive health and rights advocates who have made significant contributions to the advancement of women’s health care through their work promoting prevention and family planning, and presented its highest honor, the PPFA Margaret Sanger Award, to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Secretary Clinton received this award for her unwavering support of women’s health and rights throughout her public service career. Actor America Ferrera co-hosted the event with PPFA President Cecile Richards.
“It was a great privilege when I was told that I would receive this award,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in accepting the award. “It’s part of a movement which is about economic and political progress for all women and girls. It’s about making sure that every woman and girl everywhere has the opportunity she deserves to fulfill her potential, the potential as a mother, worker and human being. The overarching mission of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the cause of reproductive freedom that you continue to advance today is as relevant in our world now as it was 100 years ago. So, I thank you.”
“Throughout her public service career, as first lady of the United States, as a U.S. senator, and now as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has blazed a path to make health care affordable and available to all Americans,” said Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards. “We are honored to work alongside such a champion of health care reform to meet the needs of women, men, and families across the country.”

The PPFA Maggie Award for Television was awarded to The CW program Privileged for the episode, “All About the Power Position,” which entertained and educated the public about safer sex and the HPV vaccine. Writer and producer Rina Mimoun and Privileged actor JoAnna Garcia accepted the award. The Maggie Award for Television recognizes exceptional contributions by the entertainment industry that enhance the public's understanding of reproductive rights and health care issues.

“The creators of Privileged seized an opportunity to educate young viewers about the emotional responsibilities that come with sexual relationships,” said Richards. “Planned Parenthood applauds Privileged for its socially responsible message.”

PPFA’s “Walk the Talk” Award recognized Audre and Bernard Rapoport of Waco, TX, for their tremendous generosity and decades-long commitment to supporting Planned Parenthood in Texas. A Corporate Leadership Award was presented to Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP, for contributing invaluable legal advice that led to significant changes in the PPFA bylaws and governance structure — and for providing critical and ongoing legal support to the PPFA PROPER ATTIRE® condom program. Lillian Tamayo, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast was honored with the Ruth Green Award, which is presented to a Planned Parenthood affiliate chief executive chosen by her or his peers for outstanding leadership with board volunteers in planning, public affairs, and fundraising.

The awards gala was the highlight of the 2009 Planned Parenthood National Conference.

Culture of Death Accomplishments

From attacking conscience protections, to funding abortion and unrestricted human embryo research, the President takes aim at pro-life protections.

After only 2 months in office, President Barack Obama is clearly the most pro-culture of death President in history. Here's why:

1. President Obama reversed the Mexico City Policy four days after taking office. Instead of restricting foreign aid to organizations who directly support abortion, American taxpayers will be funding abortions overseas, all while trying to make ends meet in the midst of a recession.

2. The new omnibus budget increases money spent on the abortion industry, including an increase of $7.5 million to $307.5 million for Title X Domestic Family Planning and a 19% increase of $88 million to $545 million for International Family Planning.

3. President Obama signed an executive order forcing American taxpayers to fund unrestricted embryonic stem cell research. As pointed in a column by Charles Krauthammer, President Obama “pointedly left open the creation of cloned -- and noncloned sperm-and-egg-derived -- human embryos solely for the purpose of dismemberment and use for parts.”

4. President Obama has started the proceedings to rescind the “conscience clause” regulations put in place by President Bush, which protects healthcare professionals and medical students who refuse to perform abortions for moral reasons. (To speak out, go to www.Freedom2Care.com)

5. President Obama nominated one of the most pro-abortion governors in the country, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, to be Secretary of HHS, which oversees millions spent on the abortion industry. Sebelius hosted infamous late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller and his staff at the governor's mansion.

6. On March 17, 2009, for the first time in eight years, the Obama State Department released $50 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization linked to China's one-child policy and coerced abortions. Unsatisfied by the $50 million mark, House members, led by pro-abortion Rep. Louise Slaughter, are asking for even more money in the next budget Congress will consider.

7. Under Obama’s proposed healthcare plan, the same advocates that are pushing for taxpayer-funded abortions and wiping out parental consent laws, were front and center at the Healthcare Summit in Washington, DC to present their solutions.

Can Planned Parenthood get any more stupid?

Seriously folks, when fighting Planned Parenthood you will run into some things that really have you wondering, how stupid can PP get? With a desperate cry to get more people into its clinics, PP of South Texas is sponsoring a competition of who can make the most creative outfit…out of condoms. Can you say stupid? I’m sure plenty of other things come to mind, but with $336.7 million of your tax dollars, this ridiculous business must be shut down.

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, PP is trying to make condoms into some kind of fashion. With its most recent attempts of selling “Proper Attire” condoms with a new “collection” of condoms, PP is once again trying to desensitize the young people of our generation and lure them into its clinics.

The event in South Texas is titled Project Slicker 2009 and the condoms to create these costumes “will be provided free of charge to registered artists.”

This condom on the brain, baby-killing organization must be defeated. With all of its nonsense and medically inaccurate information, PP still claims to know it all. PP supposedly has “leaders” that offer a “robust vision and commonsense solutions designed to protect women’s health and safety and the basic human rights of us all.”

Give me a break.

Sign the petition to stop PP agenda: http://www.stopp.org/agenda/

African American Pastor Sent to Jail for Offering Abortion Alternatives on Public Sidewalk

OAKLAND, CA, March 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Friday the Rev. Walter Hoye of Berkeley, California, was ordered to serve 30 days in county jail by Judge Stuart Hing of the Alameda Superior Court. Rev. Hoye had been found guilty on January 15, 2009, of unlawfully approaching two persons entering an abortion facility in Oakland. Judge Hing had also ordered him to stay one hundred yards away from the abortion facility for three years. However, Rev. Hoye refused this term of probation and would not agree to a stay-away order. Therefore, the judge denied the defense motion to stay the sentence pending appeal. Mr Hoye was taken into custody from the courtroom.

At a hearing on February 19, Judge Hing stated that he had not intended to impose any fine or jail time on Rev. Hoye if he would agree to stay away from the abortion facility. After Rev. Hoye refused to agree not to offer alternatives to abortion-minded women, Judge Hing imposed a 30-day sentence and $1130 fine.

Dozens in the African-American and pro-life communities from around the nation who came out in support of Rev. Hoye were outraged by the sentence.

"It is absolutely incredible that in America an individual can be sentenced to jail for engaging in peaceful free speech activity on a public sidewalk," remarked Allison Aranda, Staff Counsel for Life Legal Defense Foundation. "Rev. Hoye is being singled out for particularly harsh punishment because he refused to agree not to offer help to women considering abortion. Where is the justice in that?"

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, today denounced the sentence leveled against the pastor.

Rev. Hoye, said Pavone, "has just begun serving a sentence which is blatantly unjust. Rev. Hoye did no violence, but rather attempted to stop violence by his prayerful presence at an abortion mill in Oakland.

"He was right to refuse to promise not to approach the abortion facility. By intervening for these children, he simply seeks to fulfill the command, 'Do to others what you would have them do to you.' No government can put a cap on peaceful efforts to save children from violence."

Rev. Hoye is an African-American pastor who says he feels a special calling to work for the end of what he calls the genocide by abortion taking place in the African-American community. As part of his efforts, he stands in front of an abortion facility in Oakland with leaflets offering abortion alternatives and a sign reading, "Jesus loves you and your baby. Let us help."

In response to Rev Hoye's efforts, the Oakland City Council passed an ordinance making it a crime to approach persons entering abortion centers to offer alternatives to abortion. Approaching women to encourage them to enter the clinic is permitted, according to City policy.

According to 2004 statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics, about 37 percent of pregnancies of black women end in abortion, compared with 12 percent for non-Hispanic white women and 19 percent for Hispanic women.

LLDF Legal Director Catherine Short and attorney Mike Millen, who also represented Rev. Hoye at trial, are currently challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance on Rev. Hoye's behalf in federal court. They say they are hopeful the ordinance will be struck down and Rev. Hoye vindicated.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Pro-Life Pastor Faces 2 Years Jail and Fine for Peaceful Sidewalk Counseling

African American Pastor Sentenced to Jail for Counselling Women on Public Sidewalk

Dr. George Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor counts of violating the Kansas law governing late-term procedures.

Opening arguments got underway Monday in the criminal case against Dr. George Tiller, one of the only physicians in the country who provides late-term abortions. And by day's end, it was clear that the case could hinge on such nonmedical issues as who paid for copy paper and toner, the meaning of a hug and whether selling a beat-up sedan to a colleague can constitute proof of guilt.

Tiller, 67, faces 19 misdemeanor counts of breaking the Kansas law that governs how late-term abortions should be handled.

In cases where the fetus is deemed viable -- or able to survive outside the womb, around six months' gestation -- the state requires the approval of a second doctor who is not affiliated legally or financially with the first doctor before an abortion can be performed. The doctor must certify that the mother will suffer permanent and irreversible harm, which can include psychological harm, if she carries the baby to term. The state also requires that the second doctor be from Kansas, which considerably narrows the field since few doctors in the state perform abortions.

Prosecutors contend that Tiller's relationship with Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus of Lawrence, Kan. -- who signed off on 19 of his cases in 2003 -- violated the state's independent physician requirement. Neuhaus, who did not have her own clinic at the time and whose only source of income was Tiller, used his office but denied using his staff.

The defense has countered that Neuhaus saw patients at Tiller's office for security reasons -- protesters regularly harassed patients outside the clinic -- and because it was convenient for patients, many of whom were emotionally fragile teenagers.

One of the 19 patients in question was 10 years old. Many of Tiller's patients are women who discover late in their pregnancies that they are carrying severely impaired fetuses.

On Monday, antiabortion activists lined up before the courtroom opened in hopes of getting seats inside.

About 25 did, including Troy Newman of Operation Rescue and a handful of young adults he described as "survivors of the abortion holocaust" because they were born after 1973, the year the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Two people in apparel with antiabortion slogans were asked by sheriff's deputies in the courtroom to turn their sweat shirts inside out or cover up.

In his opening statement, Kansas Assistant Atty. Gen. Barry Disney told the jury that Tiller had recruited Neuhaus, hired his attorney to train her about legal requirements and scheduled his patients for her to see at his office. "They were so entwined that she, in essence, was an employee," Disney said. He implied that one way to tell their relationship crossed the line was the hug she gave Tiller when she saw him at the courthouse Monday.

Neuhaus -- who testified under a grant of immunity -- said she saw five or six of Tiller's patients a week, earning about $300 for each consultation.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Dan Monnat asked Neuhaus: "When you saw [Tiller] this morning and gave him a hug, did you mean to convey that you were legally or financially affiliated with him?"

"No," she replied.

Disney also implied that Tiller had given Neuhaus a special deal when he sold her a 1994 Toyota Camry in 2006 for $300. But Monnat produced an appraisal from a local dealership setting the value of the car at $300 and showed the jury a photo of what he mockingly called "this sleek car" -- which Neuhaus testified needed $3,000 worth of body work.

Neuhaus, the day's only witness, seemed at times flustered.

On some points, such as whether she had received legal advice from Tiller's lawyers, Neuhaus on Monday contradicted her earlier deposition. Tiller's attorneys had sent her a packet of information about the Kansas abortion law, she said Monday, but she did not recall meeting with them. In her deposition, she had said that she received the packet "after consulting with his attorneys."

Her deposition, she testified, may have been flawed because "it was a pretty hostile engagement." She later added, "I was being interrogated for four hours and was a little distraught."

Still, she testified, she maintained her independence from Tiller, going so far as to pay for the copy paper and toner that she used while seeing patients at his Wichita clinic, Women's Health Care Services.

When the prosecutor pressed her about whether she had paid rent to Tiller or paid for any of his staff, she said she had not, adding: "I didn't pay for the toilet paper or coffee" either.

Outside the Sedgwick County courthouse, a couple dozen antiabortion activists prayed. A truck with large panels showing aborted fetuses and slogans such as "Tiller the Killer" drove slowly around the block to mark the first time that Tiller, who has practiced in Kansas for more than three decades, has been charged with a crime.

If convicted, Tiller would face one year in prison and a fine of $2,500 for each count. The trial is expected to last at least through the week.

Vatican Slams Choice of Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 13, 2009 - The head of the Roman Catholic Church's highest office overseeing Church law has slammed the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), calling the nomination "the source of greatest embarrassment" to the Catholic Church.

In an interview with Thomas J. McKenna, president of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, strongly supported the means by which the Governor has been disciplined by her bishop because of her public support for abortion. Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann has been strongly critical of Sebelius in the past, publicly admonishing her not to receive Communion, and has called Obama's nomination of the governor "offensive."

"Archbishop Naumann acted with exemplary pastoral charity in the matter, protecting the Body and Blood of Christ from unworthy reception, preventing the Governor from the commission of the most serious sin of sacrilege, and ending the great scandal caused by the Governor's unworthy reception of the Body and Blood of Christ" said Archbishop Burke in the interview.

When asked for his opinion on the nomination of Governor Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services he said, "As a Roman Catholic, her appointment is the source of the greatest embarrassment because she has publicly and repeatedly betrayed her Catholic faith."

"What is more, she has obstinately remained in her moral error after being admonished by, at least, three of her Bishops … Her position on the question of procured abortion is the source of the greatest scandal to Catholics and to all who uphold the natural moral law."

"No matter how good Governor Sebelius' record regarding other human life concerns may be, if she is not committed to the safeguarding of human life from its very inception, she should not be entrusted with the questions of health and human services for our nation" he continued.

The Archbishop concluded his remarks by saying that "every bishop" is held to the "universal Church discipline" found in Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law, which state that, "Those [...] who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion."

"Whether Governor Sebelius is in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, or in any other diocese, she should not present herself for Holy Communion because, after pastoral admonition, she obstinately persists in serious sin."

In a separate interview with Archbishop Naumann, McKenna asked why the bishop publicly asked Governor Sebelius not to present herself for Holy Communion. "My motivation was primarily to protect the Church and her teaching, as well as to protect our people from being misled" he explained.

When asked about the sin of scandal he explained, "I am very concerned about the governor and others like her leading individuals to think that it is not really so bad if you support abortion. What I think is even more deadly, especially for our young people, is for them to think that if the law permits abortion it must not be all that bad for me to procure an abortion either."

Both interviews can be read in their entirety on Catholic Action for Faith and Family's web site, http://www.CatholicAction.org