LESSONS FROM CALIFORNIA ON TAXPAYER FUNDING
OF HUMAN EMBRYO RESEARCHNAPA, Calif.: Life Legal Defense Foundation, who in 2005 initiated the lawsuit People’s Advocate v. ICOC, challenging the constitutionality of the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to fund human embryonic stem cell research (HESCR), today warned not to fall for the same rhetoric being heard from the proponents of federal funding for embryo-destructive research. LLDF makes this warning after yesterday’s request by the Obama administration before the judge---who halted the illegal funding---to allow this funding to continue while the decision is appealed. [more]APPELLATE COURT OVERTURNS ELDER WALTER HOYE’S CONVICTIONOAKLAND, Calif.: An appellate court overturned Elder Walter Hoye’s criminal conviction for violating Oakland’s “Mother May I” law restricting sidewalk counseling. In a jury trial in 2009, Hoye was found guilty of two counts of unlawfully approaching women seeking abortions at an Oakland abortion clinic; the court sentenced him to 30 days in jail and an $1100 fine.
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/ Read the Court Decision]LIFE LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION GETS LOITERING CHARGES AGAINST SIDEWALK COUNSELOR DISMISSEDThe San Marcos City Attorney’s office confirmed yesterday that it has dismissed all criminal charges against Elena Di Ventra that arose out of a loitering citation she received in May 2010. The sidewalk counselor was represented by Life Legal Defense Foundation staff attorney Allison K. Aranda.
[more]Information About and Links for Sherley v. SebeliusOn August 23, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction in the case Sherley v. Sebelius, ruling that there is sufficient evidence to warrant halting funding for embryo-destructive research while the case is under consideration. Specifically, the court found that the plaintiffs presented a strong case that NIH Guidelines for Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) violate the Dickey-Wicker Amendment—language attached to the annual LHHS appropriations bills since 1996, which prohibits federal funding for “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death. . .”
[more]Update on Walter Hoye (Oakland, Calif.) Aug 18, 2010A decision from the state court of appeal regarding Rev. Hoye’s criminal appeal is due by September 23, 2010.
Oral argument in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal in the federal action has been set for October 8, 2010.
[more]ella Abortion Drug Approved as Emergency ContraceptionToday, August 13, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration approved the application for a new abortion drug, ulipristal acetate, under the label “ella.”
[more]SENATE CONFIRMS KAGANAlthough age must have been a factor in Justice Stevens stepping down from the United States Supreme Court, no doubt his leaving was timed to allow his replacement to be chosen by a president of a similar ideological bent. While Stevens could have rolled the actuarial dice for another year or two of Obama’s term, the prospect of electoral disaster for Democrats in the Senate this November, leading to an uphill confirmation battle for future Obama nominees, could very well have hastened his departure.
[more]H.R. 5939 (July 29, 2010):
No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (Smith and Lipinski)On July 29, 2010, Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), officially filed the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (the Act). A joint press statement, along with text of the Act, H.R. 5939, may be found here.
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New! Life Legal has partnered with RealEstateForLife, a network of prolife Real Estate professionals who donate a portion of their commission directly to Life Legal if you list with them. If you or someone you know is looking to sell or purchase a home, please consider contacting one of them to work for you. More information is available at http://www.realestateforlife.org/lifelegal
JULY 27, 2010: UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM OFFICIALS ARREST DEMONSTRATORS
FOR HOLDING PRO-LIFE SIGNS ON THE PUBLIC CAMPUSBIRMINGHAM, Ala.:
The Survivors (http://survivors.la) returned to the streets of Birmingham last Thursday to participate in a series of pro-life events over the past few days. A consent agreement reached between the City and the group ensured that Birmingham city police would not interfere with the expressive activities of the pro-life youth group. The City abided by its agreement, and the Survivors were able to educate the public and show the truth about abortion.
[more]CHARGES DISMISSED FOR PRO-LIFE DEMONSTRATORSBIRMINGHAM, Ala.:
July 23 — The Legal Department of the City of Birmingham dismissed all criminal charges against nine members of the Survivors who were arrested and jailed overnight in February 2009 for displaying pro-life signs and handing out literature on a public sidewalk outside a high school in Birmingham. The pro-life youth activists were represented by Life Legal Defense Foundation staff attorney Allison Aranda in concert with local attorney Nicholas Beckham.
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A federal district court in Alabama approved a consent order in June ensuring that police in Birmingham, Alabama, will not interfere with the expressive activities of the pro-life youth group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. The city agreed to the order after the Survivors, represented by the Life Legal Defense Foundation, sued [June, 2010] for injunctive relief and damages.
The suit, filed in early June, arose from an incident in February 2009, when nine members of the Survivors, based in Riverside, California, were arrested and jailed overnight for displaying pro-life signs and handing out literature on a public sidewalk outside a high school in Birmingham. Rather than investigating the incident and admitting that the police had violated the Survivors’ rights, the city later filed misdemeanor trespass charges against them. These criminal charges are still pending.
[more]Federal Funds Available to Planned Parenthood and Other Pro-abortion Organizations (2002-2009)On June 16, 2010, Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex.) announced a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report detailing federal funding levels for pro-abortion organizations, including Planned Parenthood. The report reveals that over the reporting period contained in the report the selected organizations spent roughly a billion dollars in federal taxpayer funds, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America received over half of that billion dollars. Specifically Planned Parenthood Federation of America received $657.1 million dollars over seven years, which averages just under $100 million federal taxpayer dollars each year—and that does not include state and local taxpayer funding. Notably, these funds underwrite abortion promoting organizations, but do not directly pay for abortion due to the Hyde and Helms amendments. However, by providing cash to groups like Planned Parenthood, the federal government offsets the abortion funding of these groups and enables all of their activities.
[more]LLDF FILES CIVIL RIGHTS ACTION AGAINST CITY OF BIRMINGHAMBIRMINGHAM, Ala.: The Life Legal Defense Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the City of Birmingham and several Birmingham police officers for the outrageous civil rights violations perpetrated against nine young people who were unlawfully arrested in February last year. The team of pro-life activists spent more than 14 hours in jail for simply holding signs and handing out literature on a public sidewalk in front of a local high school.
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See also Birmingham News (6/15/2010): Anti-abortion group files lawsuit against Birmingham police over arrests at Parker High SchoolMilitary Families Deserve Better than AbortionLast week in closed committee Senator Roland Burris (D-Ill.) offered an amendment to strike Section 1093(b)1 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which passed by a vote of 15-12. The amendment breaks with current longstanding policy and would permit the performance of abortions in both domestic and overseas military facilities. Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) was the only Democrat to vote against the amendment. List of the full committee members.
UPDATE: the story running 7/2/2010 on Military.com: http://www.military.com/news/article/bill-would-ok-abortion-at-military-hospitals.html?ESRC=eb.nl
[more]hESC Research Center to Open at U.C. IrvineDid you know that a brand new CIRM-funded research facility has opened up on the campus of the University of California at Irvine (UCI)? This facility was recently at the intersection of two aspects of LLDF work: opposition to human embryonic stem cell research and defending the legal rights of those who speak out against such atrocities.
[more]QUESTIONS SURROUND SUPREME COURT PICK ELENA KAGANGiven President Obama’s forthright commitment to nominate justices who support legal abortion [link], pro-lifers can hardly to expect to find that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan [link], if confirmed, would vote to uphold any significant restrictions on abortion, much less to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, uncertainty remains as to how far she would let her views on a “woman’s right to choose” shape her thinking on many of the abortion-related issues that have come and will again come before the Court. [more]LLDF Will Never Forget Terri SchiavoIt seems impossible that five years have passed since the tragic and untimely death of Terri Schindler Schiavo by dehydration and starvation at the hands of her husband. Life Legal Defense Foundation’s Board of Directors and staff want to honor Terri’s memory by remembering her on the fifth anniversary of her death. We will never forget Terri, nor will we forget her famiy’s valiant effort to save her life. Even after five years, LLDF is still honored and humbled at having had the privilege of assisting with the litigation pursued by Terri’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schindler, as they attempted to rescue their daughter from a forced death.
One of the lessons we learned from Terri’s death is that should you become incapacitated by illness or disability, the person who is your decision-maker could mean the difference between life and death. We encourage you to honor Terri’s memory by protecting yourself with a protective medical decision document. Please visit our website and review the pro-life Advance Medical Directive we have made available for your protection.
Visit the official Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation web site.
Supreme Court Leaves Standing Massachusetts Law Restricting Pro-Life SpeechOn Monday, the Supreme Court turned away an appeal from sidewalk counselors in Massachusetts challenging a law that prevents them from offering assistance to abortion-bound women.
The case, McCullen v. Coakley, No. 09-592, began in 2007, when Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting “entering or remaining” within 35 feet of abortion clinic entrances. The law contains exceptions for patients, clinic employees, and persons merely passing through the zone to get to another destination. The undisputed target of the bill was pro-life sidewalk counselors who attempt to bring their life-affirming message directly to women seeking abortions.
The law was challenged in federal court, but both the District Court and the First Circuit ruled the law constitutional. By Monday’s order, the Supreme Court leaves the First Circuit’s ruling in place.
LLDF filed an amicus brief urging the Court to take the case. LLDF’s brief, filed on behalf of itself and Pastor Walter Hoye, takes issue with speech restrictions targeted at locales associated with particular issues, such as abortion. These restrictions, the brief says, are de facto content and viewpoint based laws and thus inconsistent with the First Amendment.
LLDF Legal Director Katie Short expressed disappointment that the Court will not take up the case. “It’s been ten years since the Court’s disastrous 6-3 decision in Hill v. Colorado, giving the green light to laws restricting speech outside clinics,” Short said. “Since then, three of the justices in the majority have been replaced. The Court should have taken this case to begin the process of restoring the free speech rights of pro-life advocates to make their case at Ground Zero in the abortion debate: the clinics themselves.”
Undercover Tape at Wisc. PP Shows Tenth Case Child Sex Abuse Coverup
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. [February 23, 2010]—New undercover footage shows staff at a Milwaukee Planned Parenthood abortion clinic counseling a purportedly 14-year-old statutory rape victim not to tell anyone about her 31-year-old boyfriend and coaching her on how to obtain an abortion without her parents’ consent. The new video, ninth in a series from Live Action documenting similar behavior in 5 other states, comes amid recent controversy about Planned Parenthood’s compliance with state laws regarding minors and abortion.
[read article]
The Great Prayer ProjectOne year of continuous prayer, offered by a multitude in 20-minute time slots. (Starts 3/25/2010). “Then He told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” (Luke 18:1)
[Sign up!]LLDF Twentieth Anniversary2009 marks twenty years of service for the unborn. Join LLDF as they celebrate the sanctity of human life. You can see Life Legal’s 20 year journey by watching this video:
The mission of Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) is to give innocent and helpless human beings of any age, particularly unborn children, a trained and committed defense against the threat of death, and to support their advocates in the nation’s courtrooms. LLDF will accomplish its mission and purpose through the law and education.
If you would like to be more involved in LLDF’s activities, or if you would like to be added to our mailing list, please
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