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Obama & Abortion - Page 4

Obama Admin Removes Death Panels After Pro-Life Backlash

After massive pro-life backlash following the publication of new rules instituting "death panels," the Obama administration has agreed to remove them from ObamaCare.

The "death panels" caused considerable concern for pro-life groups, which believe they would have given financial incentives to doctors to hold end-of-life discussions with patients that will lead to the rationing of their medical care.

Under the regulations the Obama administration put in place in December, which LifeNews.com was the first to cover, doctors would instruct patients in the annual "voluntary" exams to write "advance directives listing the kind of treatment they wish to receive or not receive if they are unable to make their own medical decisions.

Although the advanced directives apparently can't be used to facilitate an assisted suicide, there was concern physicians will pressure or persuade patients to make decisions that would ration care or withdraw lifesaving medical treatment.

Democrats dropped the idea during consideration of the health care law in Congress after significant public pressure and now the Obama administration has followed suit - just days after the new rules went into effect on January 1. Though Obama administration officials cited procedural reasons for the decision, the New York Times indicates political considerations - the enormous outpouring of opposition - played a role.

An administration official authorized by the Obama administration to speak with the press, told the Times today: "We realize that this should have been included in the proposed rule, so more people could have commented on it specifically." "We will amend the regulation to take out voluntary advance care planning," the official said. Ref. Source 1

Abortion and Obama

House Takes First Step in Repealing Abortion-Funding ObamaCare

The House of Representatives took its first step today in repealing the abortion-funding ObamaCare bill that pro-life groups strongly oppose.
On a 236-181 vote, Republicans approved the rules for debate for the legislation they will vote on next week to repeal the government takeover of health care.

Four Democrats (Reps. Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell of North Carolina and Mike Ross of Arkansas) joined Republicans in supporting the rule while two Republicans voted present and 15 lawmakers of both parties did not vote.

The vote also paves the way for axing the abortion funding from ObamaCare.

The rule also provides for consideration of H. Res. 9, which instructs relevant House Committees to replace Obamacare with legislation that achieves certain goals including to "prohibit taxpayer funding for abortions and provide conscience protections for health care providers." Ref. Source 6

Obama & Abortion Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

Aborting the Future: Obama Ignores Pro-Life Issues in SOTU

President Barack Obama delivered a State of the Union speech last night that was long on political rhetoric on other political topics but essentially ignored pro-life issues at a time when they are prominent on the minds of Americans. Just one day after hundreds of thousands of people participated in the March for Life in the nation's capital and on the heels of the national controversy surrounding the arrest of grisly abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell and his staffers - who killed and injured women in abortions and killed babies via infanticide shortly after their purposeful premature birth - Obama mentioned nothing about abortion.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, a pro-life advocate, delivered the Republican response and he mentioned that protecting human life is part of the proper role of the federal government.

"We believe government's role is both vital and limited - to defend the nation from attack and provide for the common defense "¦ to secure our borders "¦ to protect innocent life," he said.

But, although she was the keynote speaker at the Rose Dinner following the March for Life and has a consistently pro-life position on abortion, Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota did not mention pro-life issues either in her Tea Party response to the Obama speech. Ref. Source 3

Page 4 Abortion and Obama

Judge Declares Pro-Abortion ObamaCare Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Florida has issued a new ruling in what is the largest lawsuit filed against the Obamacare health care law. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson says the individual mandate is unconstitutional and, therefore, the entire law is as well. Leading pro-life groups have opposed the Obamacare law because it allows massive abortion funding and prompts concerns about rationing of health care.

The individual mandate is a portion of the law independent and conservative voters most strongly oppose because it requires Americans to purchase health insurance, that could fund abortions with taxpayer funds or premiums, whether they want to or not. The case the state of Florida and more than two dozen others made to Judge Vinson is that the individual mandate is unconstitutional and the Constitution does not allow Congress to regular financial inactivity.

"Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void," the judge wrote. "This has been a difficult decision to reach, and I am aware that it will have indeterminable implications. At a time when there is virtually unanimous agreement that health care reform is needed in this country, it is hard to invalidate and strike down a statute titled "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.""

"Regardless of how laudable its attempts may have been to accomplish these goals in passing the act, Congress must operate within the bounds established by the Constitution," the judge wrote. "This case is not about whether the Act is wise or unwise legislation. It is about the Constitutional role of the federal government." Ref. Source 9

Abortion and Obama

House Asks Sebelius if Obama Admin Ditching Conscience Clause

The Obama administration has vacillated since early 2009 on whether it would overturn the conscience protections the Bush administration put in place to protect pro-life medical workers.

Because of that, 46 members of the House of Representatives have signed a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius asking her to explain why her department is seeking to repeal conscience protections for health care workers in light of known attacks on such workers.

The last information the Obama administration made public on the likely attempt to overturn the conscience rules came in December, when Obama attorneys indicated the Obama administration is still working to overturn conscience rights for medical professionals on abortion put on the books by the Bush administration. The information came to light from legal papers the administration filed in a case the state of Connecticut launched against the conscience protections.

In a document filed in federal court in November, Obama administration attorneys admitted that the administration wants to finalize a rescission of the conscience rules but has been delayed because of other business - likely due to the HHS working on implementing the provisions of the ObamaCare law.

HHS "hope[d] to have an internal draft final rule prepared in the near future, but that the schedule is necessarily tentative given the possibility of unforeseen delays and the need to devote time and resources to other agency priorities," the November legal paper said.

The Obama administration filed another legal paper December 1 stating "HHS still cannot be certain of a date for completing the rulemaking" but added "HHS expects to have a final rule published in the Federal Register within sixty to ninety days - I.e., as early as January 31, 2011, and no later than March 1, 2011."

With the March 1 timeline approaching, the members of Congress want Sebelius to know that any final decision to rescind the conscience protections has their opposition. The letter asks Sebelius to explain why her department is considering repealing the conscience protections in light of known attacks on such workers - and they cited two situations warranting a reconsideration of any rescission decision. Ref. Source 9

Obama & Abortion

Obama Nominates Abortion Advocate for Federal Appeals Court

President Barack Obama has nominated a pro-abortion former Kansas state attorney general to serve on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up another battle over abortion and a top judicial pick. Obama selected former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six on Wednesday saying, "Steve Six has distinguished himself as a first-rate jurist with unflagging integrity and evenhandedness."

"I"m grateful for his service to the state of Kansas and look forward to adding his considerable wisdom and experience to the Tenth Circuit Court," the pro-abortion president added.

But pro-life advocates are not happy with the service Six rendered.

In October, 2007, District Attorney Phill Kline filed 107 charges including 23 felonies, against the planned Parenthood abortion business for allegedly violating state law. Kline alleged the abortion business potentially engaged in illegal abortions and violated state record-keeping laws by changing abortion data in an attempt to cover up late abortions done outside Kansas law.

After Kline filed the charges, Six, who was appointed by pro-abortion ex-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (now the Obama Secretary for Health and Human Services), placed a gag order on a state judge who allowed Kline access to Planned Parenthood abortion files needed to prove his case. Anderson was told not to comply with the District Attorney's subpoenas by Six's office even though two judges determined that the files show "probable cause" that the abortion business violated state abortion laws and falsified medical records. Ref. Source 3

Obama & Abortion - Page 4

Stacked Appeals Court Panel Hearing Obamacare Legal Challenge

A majority of Americans may strongly oppose the Obamacare law that allows abortion funding and presents rationing concerns, but the computers at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit apparently love the law.

That's because the computer system that randomly selects the panel of three judges from the appeals court to conduct oral hearings on the legal debate surrounding the law picked three judges from a evenly-divided court who are all Democrats. All three judges listening to two legal challenges today were appointed by Democrats - Judge Diana Motz, the senior member of the panel, is a Clinton appointee while Judges Andre Davis and James Wynn were appointed by Obama.

That makes it so the first appeals court hearing on Obamacare (more will come - such as the hearing in the main lawsuit filed by Florida and dozens of other states, where a federal judge sided against Obamacare) will come before a panel likely to agree with the Obama administration that the law is constitutional.

Today's hearing, as LifeNews.com reported yesterday, involves two legal cases. The first, filed by Liberty University, and the second, an appeal by the Obama administration of a federal judge's decision against Obamacare in the case filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinell.

The three judges were randomly selected by the computer months ago and have likely been reading the numerous legal briefs offered by both sides and their supporters to prepare for today's hearing. With the partisan nature of the appointments in various cases determining how judges have ruled thus far, the expectation is the panel will vote unanimously, or at least in a 2-1 vote, to overturn the lower court's decision. That would set up either a request for the full appeals court to rule or an appeal to the Supreme Court - where everyone on both sides of the Obamacare debate expects the final resolution the law to come. Ref. Source 3

Obama & Abortion Culture Family Travel & Consumer Reviews - Page 4

Petition Campaign Asks Obama to Protect Pro-Life Doctors

The Christian Medical Association today sent pro-abortion President Barack Obama a letter on behalf of 61,154 individuals who signed a petition urging him to uphold and enforce conscience rights in health care.

The issue is especially important for faith-based physicians who say they will leave medicine if forced to compromise their life-affirming ethical convictions by having to participate in or refer for abortions. They also want to be protected from having to give women drugs that might cause an abortion.

"I write to urge your support of conscience-protecting measures in law and in regulation-to help put a stop to discrimination against life-affirming healthcare professionals, and to protect healthcare access for the millions of patients who depend upon their often charitable services," Dr. David Stevens, the head of the Christian medical group, wrote in a letter accompanying the petitions.

The petition signatures came through the CMA-managed Freedom2Care coalition and they urge Obama to preserve the only federal regulation protecting conscience rights in health care.

"Unfortunately, your administration recently gutted that regulation," Stevens noted. "That decision leaves many healthcare professionals wide open to discrimination-you can read their personal stories. The gutting of the regulation also threatens the healthcare access of the many life-affirming patients who value the freedom to choose professionals who share their moral values." Ref. Source 9