Tag: abortion

Jason Reynolds Commentary: U2 Turns Nashville Concert Into Political Rally

Jason M. Reynolds
U2 Twitter

There is no question U2 is one of the most talented bands in our time. They also have done some great work in terms of social justice. Their work has included relief efforts for HIV-positive people in Africa. (RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to fight to end AIDS in Africa. U2 is currently campaigning for global women’s rights such as an estimated 130 million girls who are not getting to attend school. I applaud them for that work. Then there is the right to life — but U2 is not campaigning for people’s rights to live, but rather, for women to have the right to murder their babies. https://twitter.com/ClosertoOne/status/1000558943100284928 On Friday, the people of Ireland voted to legalize abortion. The nation’s Eighth Amendment had protected preborn babies since 1983. Five previous votes on the repeal had failed. Earlier in May, U2 stepped into the debate by tweeting their support of ending the protection of preborn babies. Breitbart reports, “After U2 tweeted a photo endorsing the ‘Repeal the 8th; campaign… fans erupted with a barrage of more than 800 overwhelmingly negative replies, with many voicing their decision to stop supporting the band or attending its concerts.”…

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FACT CHECK: Does Planned Parenthood Get Over $500 Million A Year In Government Funding?

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Planned Parenthood

by Emily Larsen   Many people on Twitter said that Planned Parenthood receives $500 million in government money every year. Planned Parenthood performs 160 abortions for every adoption referral Zero mammograms Spends millions to elect radical Democrats Performs 324,000 abortions a year If they truly did such important work, make them go find the $500 million without taxpayer support or subsidy — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 18, 2018 “If they truly did such important work, make them go find the $500 million without taxpayer support or subsidy,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, tweeted. Yes, Trump is cutting Planned Parenthood funding, and should be praised for doing so. However, it's only about a tenth of the $500 million in funding he just gave them in the omnibus last month. It's a positive step, yes, but this is not keeping a promise. This is a first step. — Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) May 18, 2018 “Yes, Trump is cutting Planned Parenthood funding, and should be praised for doing so. However, it’s only about a tenth of the $500 million in funding he just gave them in the omnibus last month,” CRTV host Steve Deace said in another tweet. Cutting $55 million…

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How Liberal Activists Are Shutting Down Choice for Birth Moms

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by Kelsey Harkness   For birth moms who want to place their children with married moms and dads, that option is now at risk. Across the country, liberal activists are accusing faith-based adoption and foster care agencies of discrimination because they prefer placing children with married moms and dads. The situation has left faith-based agencies with a difficult choice: violate their religious beliefs about sexuality and marriage, or shut down. “I would never tell a gay couple, ‘Oh, because you two are in love with each other and you’re not a heterosexual couple, don’t even think about adopting a child.’ That’s not what I’m saying,” Kelly Clemente, a birth mother who placed her son for adoption, told The Daily Signal. “What I’m saying is that birth mothers have the right to choose.” In at least four states, birth mothers don’t have the right to choose because faith-based agencies were pressured to close. In Illinois, after serving the community for more than 50 years, Catholic Charities was forced to stop their adoption and foster care services. At least 2,000 children were disrupted, and thousands more foster parents were lost as a result. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against…

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Pro-Life Group Endorses Diane Black For Governor

Jason M. Reynolds
Diane Black

National pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List announced its endorsement of Diane Black for governor of Tennessee. “We are thrilled to endorse a dear friend of SBA List, pro-life champion Diane Black for governor of Tennessee,” said former U.S. Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, SBA List’s vice president of government affairs. “Her heroic leadership in Congress has been a driving force for pro-life progress. From investigating America’s largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, for its role in trafficking baby body parts, to stopping taxpayer funding of the abortion industry, to speaking out against late-term abortion, she is a tireless defender of unborn children and their mothers. Diane will make an outstanding governor. We urge all pro-life Tennesseans to support her.” The announcement made headlines on at least one pro-life website, LifeNews.com. Black accepted the endorsement, saying: “I’m honored to have the endorsement of Susan B. Anthony List. As a nurse, fighting for the unborn has always been an issue that is near and dear to my heart. In the state legislature, I sponsored SJR 127, which became Amendment 1 – the most important pro-life measure in the history of our state. And in Congress, I sponsored the bill to defund Planned Parenthood and…

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Kansas Wants The Supreme Court To Kick Planned Parenthood Out Of Medicaid

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Planned Parenthood

Kansas wants the Supreme Court to take Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid coverage. The state filed a Thursday petition asking the court to do so. Kansas issued a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an earlier decision positing Medicaid patients have the right to decide who their Medicaid provider will be, despite any state attempt to determine a certain provider.

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House Republicans Call For Tennessee Monument to The Unborn For The Victims of Abortion

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Fifteen House Republicans joined State Representative Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville) as he announced a bill calling for a monument to the unborn for the victims of abortion. The bill sponsor, Representative Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station), requested co-sponsor Bill Dunn, who is one of 22 co-sponsors, to fill in for him as he deals with a family medical emergency, which Dunn said is “truly a life or death situation.” Rep. Dunn related Rep. Sexton’s situation to the topic at hand, saying “What he’s going through right now reminds us how important life is, and how fragile it is, and how devastating it is when a life is lost.” House Bill 2381, said Dunn, will have an amendment “that will call for establishing a memorial at the Capitol for the victims of abortion.” Dunn, pointing out two monuments currently on either side of the Capitol grounds, one to the victims of slavery and the other to the victims of the holocaust, reflected “Both of these monuments that are already here recognize that atrocities occurred because human beings were treated as less than human. In both cases, the vulnerable and defenseless were subjected to the will of the powerful.” The two…

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State Rep. Jimmy Matlock Files Bill To End Taxpayer Assistance of Abortion Clinics

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE – In a press conference held the same day he filed a bill to put an end to Tennessee taxpayer dollars funding abortion clinics, State Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City) appeared with Senate sponsor Mike Bell (R-Riceville), and debunked the narrative that Tennessee abortion providers are fully defunded. “The fact is,” Matlock said, accompanied by 20 legislators explained to members of the news media, “through the form of TennCare reimbursements, abortion providers still receive some state taxpayer money.” Through the required 90-10 federal-state match, over $1 million has been paid to these facilities over the past six years, according to Matlock. It’s “our money, [so] we should have a say where it goes,” he said. House Bill 2251 instructs the Commissioner of Finance & Administration “to seek a Medicaid waiver under the current TennCare II waiver to be able to exclude providers who perform elective abortions from receiving taxpayer dollars.” “We argue that these dollars do, in fact, support abortion clinics and, therefore, abortion.” As such, Matlock vowed, “We will see this bill through, and end taxpayer support of abortion facilities.” The House bill has 22 co-sponsors, including Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) who spoke of her long-standing pro-life position and support…

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Letter to the Editor: The ‘Heartbeat Bill’ Should Wait

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Fetus on Health

Dear Tennessee Star, After reading the article in the TN Star regarding HB 108, the “Heartbeat Bill,” I want to emphasize the significance of the position taken by TN Right to Life. To the dismay of pro-life supporters across the state, including myself, we cannot allow this legislation to pass. Let me explain. Anyone who pays attention to the long game of politics knows that, when a controversial bill on any issue is passed, it only takes moments for the opposition to file a lawsuit. Just as in 2014 when pro-life Amendment 1 was passed, Planned Parenthood had filed a lawsuit in federal court within days. What many don’t realize is the cost of fighting against one of these lawsuits is far more than dollars. While the majority of people in America may very well be pro-life, the pro-abortion lobby is powerful and well-funded. And we know what is at stake if we lose in the courts. It’s not just a loss, it’s a setback – of several steps. When the Roe vs. Wade decision was handed down in 1973, states across the nation began establishing laws to regulate the abortion industry. Under a Democratic ruled General Assembly, Tennessee was…

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Despite Strong National Pro-Life Sentiment, Heartbeat Bill May Be Killed in Tennessee General Assembly Committees

Laura Baigert
Fetus on Health

A recent poll reveals that the majority of Americans consider abortion to be morally wrong and even those who identify as pro-choice want stricter limits on abortion. However, the Heartbeat Bill under consideration in the current session of the Tennessee General Assembly may never make it to the floor for a full vote if it is killed in the committee process. The same bill never made it out of the House Health Subcommittee in 2017, and was rolled to the 2018 calendar. As The Tennessee Star reported, Marist Poll findings released prior to the world’s largest annual pro-life event, March for Life 2018, revealed that 76 percent of Americans, and even 60 percent of those who identify as pro-choice, would “limit abortion to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy.” Tennessee’s most recent pro-life legislation, which passed in 2017 was the “Tennessee Infants Protection Act,” (HB1189 / SB 1180) sponsored by State Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) and Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald), had 35 House co-sponsors. The bill, signed by the Governor on May 11, 2017, “prohibits abortion of a viable fetus except in a medical emergency and requires testing to determine viability if a woman is at…

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Mae Beavers and Diane Black Praise 6th Circuit Court Decision Upholding Right to Life ‘Amendment One’: Abortion is Not a ‘Right’ in Tennessee

Jason M. Reynolds

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Tuesday upholding the choice of Tennessee voters on Amendment 1 in 2014.  Amendment 1, which was placed on the statewide ballot that year by the Tennessee General Assembly as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, passed with 53 percent of the vote, and amended the Tennessee Constitution to read, in part: Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion. “The Tennessee Legislative Powers Regarding Abortion, Amendment 1 was on the November 4, 2014 ballot in the state of Tennessee as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved,” Ballotpedia reported: The measure added language to the Tennessee Constitution empowering the legislature to enact, amend or repeal state statutes regarding abortion, including for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to protect the mother’s life. Amendment 1 was placed on the ballot by the Tennessee General Assembly in two separate votes. It was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-6), who was a state senator at the time of introduction, and State Sen. Mae Beavers (R-17) as Senate Joint Resolution 127. . . The Tennessee General Assembly was required to approve the amendment in two successive sessions. In the first…

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Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen Accuses Conservative Pro-Life Black Woman of ‘Ignorance’ in Abortion Debate Over Heartbeat Bill

Wendy Wilson
Steve Cohen

  U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) on Wednesday accused an African-American conservative activist who testified about abortion’s harmful effects on the black community of “ignorance” with respect to the sincerity of his positions on social problems and an “inability” to appropriately address Congress. The tense exchange came during a hearing in Washington, D.C., before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice on the “Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017,” which would ban abortions of babies with detectable heartbeats. Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) and a longtime conservative columnist and speaker, said it was “disingenuous” of Cohen to distract from the abortion issue by bringing Medicaid into the debate, reports LifeSiteNews. Cohen, whose district covers most of Memphis, is against the heartbeat bill, arguing that it violates Roe v. Wade. “The culture of death is taking 23 million people’s health care aware from them,” Cohen had said, according to a video of the hearing posted by The Daily Caller. “That seems to be the main focus of this Congress. It’s also taking a billion dollars from Medicaid, which is the main focus of the budget.” Cohen said that “if you believe…

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‘Abortion is Normal’ Event to Be Held at University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Wendy Wilson

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville will hold a pro-abortion event Monday called “Abortion is Normal.” The event was organized by the Women’s Coordinating Council, a feminist student organization, and is supported by the Department of Sociology and the Women, Gender and Sexuality Program. Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee is promoting the event. Amelia Bonow, a founder of the #ShoutYourAbortion movement, and Poppy Liu, who documented her abortion story in a short film, are the guest speakers. At Middle Tennessee State University on Thursday, the Planned Parenthood-affiliated student group Generation Action hosted a screening of Liu’s film and a discussion with the filmmaker. Bonow’s movement was launched two years ago in response to efforts to defund Planned Parenthood after news broke of a baby body part trafficking scandal. Bonow wrote a column for Salon.com in which she spoke of her own abortion experience. “My abortion made me happy,” she wrote. “It’s perfectly reasonable to feel happy that you were not forced to become a mother. Your life belongs to nobody but you; don’t ever let someone make you feel any other way.” Pro-lifers responded with messages with a  #ShoutYourAdoption hashtag and calls to Shout Your Baby. At Monday’s event, Liu, whose film is called…

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Carolina Abortion Fund Says Killing Unborn Babies Is ‘A Social Good’

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The Carolina Abortion Fund (CAF) said in a tweet Wednesday that killing unborn babies helps society. “Abortion is a social good,” reads the tweet, with the hashtag “BeBoldEndHyde.” https://twitter.com/NCAbortionFund/status/907950191789133824 The Hyde Amendment “prohibits the expenditure for any abortion of funds authorized or appropriated by federal law or funds in any trust fund to which funds are…

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Abortion Is Weapon to Keep Blacks Under Control Says Commentator Kevin Jackson

Jason M. Reynolds

The battle over access to abortions is a battle of life and death. One black conservative activist also says it’s a battle against racism. Black Lives Matter, an activist group founded in 2012 and which says it protects black lives, lists a number of causes it stands for, from globalism to transgender affirming to black feminism. The website’s category for family advocacy lists “dismantling the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work ‘double shifts’ that require them to mother in private even as they participate in justice work.” Nowhere does the lists of causes mention preventing the abortion of black babies. Political commentator Kevin Jackson, who is black, said he does not consider Black Lives Matter to be an actual group. Instead, it pretends at humanitarian efforts, said Jackson, who publishes TheBlackSphere.net blog. His site says he wants to “set the record straight on the destruction of the black community at the hand of the Democratic Party.” Jackson is a talk radio host on Salem Communications, author of such books as “Race Pimping: The Multi-Trillion Dollar Business of Liberalism” and a regular Fox News political commentator. The eugenics movement has always sought to “keep the population of blacks at what they call…

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Federal Judge Blocks Pro-Life Laws In Arkansas

Wendy Wilson
Fetus on Health

A federal judge last week blocked four new pro-life laws from taking effect in Arkansas. U.S. District Court Judge Kristine Baker of the Eastern District of Arkansas is considered an activist judge by the group National Right to Life. Leslie Rutledge, the state’s attorney general, has said she plans to appeal Baker’s ruling, reports the Associated Press. Three of the new restrictions were set to go into effect Tuesday before being blocked late Friday night by Baker’s preliminary injunction. The laws were challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of a Little Rock abortion provider. Among the new laws is the state’s Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. Seven states– Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas–currently forbid dismemberment abortion. The procedure involves using “sharp metal clamps and scissors to crush, tear and pulverize living unborn human beings, to rip heads and legs off of tiny torsos until the defenseless child bleeds to death,” according to news editor Dave Andrusko of National Right to Life in a report for National Right to Life News Today. Another law imposes new restrictions on the disposal of the remains of aborted babies, and another…

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Pro-Abortion Group Files Lawsuit Challenging Louisiana Law

Wendy Wilson
FETUS ON Health

A pro-abortion group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana laws that require abortion centers to obtain a state license and meet health and safety regulations, reports WORLD magazine. The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit June 27 in federal court in Baton Rouge on behalf of Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport and three anonymous abortionists who say the Louisiana laws violate last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. The ruling determined that an undue burden on abortion access was created by a Texas law that required abortion centers to meet ambulatory surgical center standards and mandated that abortionists have hospital admitting privileges The state suspended Hope Medical Group’s license for numerous health and safety violations in 2010. Benjamin Clapper, executive director of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation, told WORLD the Louisiana law is “common sense” and that if the lawsuit is successful, it would create an “abortion-on-demand policy in our pro-life state.” “If the abortion facility succeeds in this suit, the consequences would be disastrous,” Clapper said. “Abortion facilities would have no guidelines in Louisiana, giving them license to maximize both their profit margin and do whatever necessary to increase the number of abortions they…

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Delaware Governor John Carney Signs Pro-Abortion Legislation

Wendy Wilson
Fetus on Health

Delaware has passed a bill to guarantee abortion rights in the state should Roe v. Wade be overturned, a move that removed restrictions in current law. Pro-life advocates strongly opposed the legislation, signed last week by Gov. John Carney, a Democrat. “With a pro-life President in the White House and already one pro-life Justice nominated and confirmed, abortion advocates are running scared,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, in a June 6 news release written to rally support for defeating the bill. “Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are using Delaware as a testing ground for their extreme legislation to ensure abortionists can carry out abortions without limit – even on healthy children hours from birth.” Before the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, laws about abortion were left entirely to the states. The court in Roe v. Wade ruled 7-2 that banning abortions denied women a right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment. The decision gave women total autonomy over pregnancy during the first trimester but allowed states some say over the second and third trimesters. The new law in Delaware removes existing restrictions on abortion, including a parental consent law for minors and a 24-hour waiting period, until viability,…

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Montreat College Defends Asking Faculty To Commit To Being Pro-Life And Pro-Traditional Marriage

Wendy Wilson

A small Christian college in North Carolina long supported by the family of evangelist Billy Graham is defending a new requirement that faculty and staff sign a pledge saying they are pro-life and for traditional marriage. The Montreat College statement says that faculty and staff will “uphold the God-given worth of every human being, from conception to death, as unique image-bearers of God” and “affirm chastity among the unmarried and the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.” The statement also addresses aspects of personal character, such as being a person of integrity and avoiding immodesty, and expects signers to regard the Bible as “the infallible Word of God, completely inspired and authoritative, and is to govern Christians in every aspect of life and conduct.” Located in the town of Montreat near Asheville, the college has only 876 students. It was run for many years by an association affiliated with the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) but became nondenominational more than a decade ago. The school is a member of the conservative Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Billy Graham and his late wife Ruth were married in the college’s chapel, which now bears their name, according to the Charlotte Observer.…

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Tennessee Legislature Passes Ban On Abortions After 20 Weeks

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday banning abortions after 20 weeks if a doctor says the fetus is viable. The House voted 69-18 in favor of the legislation, which passed the Senate 27-3 on Monday. It now goes to Gov. Haslam. The legislation includes felony penalties for doctors but doesn’t apply if the mother could die or suffer serious damage to major bodily functions. The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) and in the Senate by Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald). Haslam said he would talk to Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery before making his decision, according to the Associated Press. Slatery has said his office would defend the measure if it were to become law. However, he previously called it “constitutionally suspect.” The House Republican majority voted against including exceptions for rape and incest that Democrats wanted in the legislation.

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