Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius faced the hot seat this week in two different Congressional hearings about the future of American health care and rationing under Obamacare.
Rep. Paul Ryan, a pro-life Wisconsin Republican, used the occasion to question the abortion advocate about one of the most lethal aspects of the President’s plan: Medicare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB. Ryan chipped away at the claim that IPAB would “protect Medicare” and he said there is a better way to solve Medicare’s financial crisis without rationing care. Two pro-life advocates — Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Burke Balch of National Right to Life — both agree. Perkins said the IPAB “could lead–not only to the death of patients, but also to the death of innovation.” “This Board, made up of 15 unelected members of the President’s choosing, will be the sole authority over what kind of care–if any–we receive,” he explained. “Starting in 2015, IPAB will be tasked with bringing down medical costs–and unless Congress can find a super-majority to oppose them, IPAB’s recommendations will carry the force of law.” “The Board could deny payment for certain care or medications, change the service options doctors have, and drive expensive, life-saving treatments out. Instead of discussing the options with your doctor, IPAB will be sitting at the controls in Washington making health decisions for you,” Perkins explained. (read more) The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said today it has achieved a major First Amendment victory for pro-life advocates after it convinced a federal district court to block enforcement of New York City's recently adopted ordinance targeting crisis pregnancy centers. A federal judge today blocked enactment of the measure, scheduled to take effect tomorrow, by issuing a preliminary injunction which the ACLJ requested last month after it filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new ordinance.
"This is a resounding victory underscoring what we have argued all along - this law which forces crisis pregnancy centers to adopt and express views about abortion and contraception that they strongly disagree with is constitutionally flawed," said CeCe Heil, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ. "The court clearly understood that this law punishes pro-life advocates. We're confident that this law will never see the light of day and that the constitutional protections afforded to crisis pregnancy centers will be protected." (read full article) Even from her vantage point as a veteran of the abortion wars, local Planned Parenthood chief executive Paula Gianino says she is stunned by the latest turn of events.
"The climate is not like what we've ever seen, ever before,'' said Gianino, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. "For the last six months, we've really seen an unprecedented attack on women's health and contraceptive services." Pam Fichter, president of Missouri Right to Life -- the state's largest anti-abortion group -- contends that what's really happening is the public's "direct response to the anti-life policies" of President Barack Obama, who she contends has "energized the pro-life voters." (read full article) A summary of adverse event reports (AERS) recently released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reveal that in the span of almost eleven years since the approval of the abortion drug, popularly known as RU-486, in the United States, at least 11 women have died as a result of complications related to taking the drug.[1] Internationally, the number of women who have died as a result of RU-486 is at least 17.[2]
That’s not all. The dangerous complications associated with this drug continue include hemorrhaging and infection. In the U.S., at least 612 women have been hospitalized after taking RU-486; and at least 339 women required blood transfusions as a result of serious blood loss after taking the abortion drug. (read more) Doctors at Northwestern University have shown that adult stem cells can relieve angina pain in heart patients. About 850,000 U.S. heart patients have angina–chest pain caused by blocked coronary arteries–that persists despite available treatments. The study examined 167 patients with refractory angina; patients received either a low or high dose of their own adult stem cells injected into their damaged heart muscle, or a placebo injection. The results, published in the journal Circulation Research, showed that patients who received their adult stem cells experienced significant improvements in angina frequency and exercise tolerance. Dr. Douglas Losordo, lead author on the study, says the improvements in the patients treated with adult stem cells were life altering for many patients.
(read more) The day after a national pro-life organization released a new comprehensive report showing the numerous abuses at Planned Parenthood abortion centers as reasons for a Congressional investigation, one top Republican says that’s possible.
Yesterday, Americans United for Life issued a new report featuring a groundbreaking analysis of the nation’s largest abortion business and saying it has uncovered evidence of systemic financial irregularities within the abortion giant, which receives more than $363 million in federal and state taxpayer funding, and that Congress should investigate. ACTION ALERT] After AUL released their report on the case for investigating Planned Parenthood last week, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee says that hearings on the abortion business's practices are possible. Please call Rep. Cliff Stearns at (202) 225-2927. Urge him to pursue a full investigation into Planned Parenthood. (read more) The entire time Casey Anthony was on trial, the voices in the media pontificating about justice for the victim didn't seem to notice the hypocrisy of a group that gives its approbation for the slaughter of thousands every day demanding justice for the wrong suffered by two-year-old Caylee Anthony.
Even still, few would argue that the senseless death of a helpless tot isn't heartrending. However, the larger heartbreak is that in a nation that has faithfully sown the culture of death; the idea of a mother wanting to be free from responsibility by taking the life of her offspring is not all that far-fetched. (read more) |
Contact your elected officials Senator Josh Hawley 212 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 202-224-6154 www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley Senator Eric Schmitt 260 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5721 www.schmitt.senate.gov/contact/ Representative Ann Wagner 2350 Rayburn Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 225-1621 wagner.house.gov/contact Washington Missouri Office 516 Jefferson Street Washington, MO 63090 (636) 231-1001 Click here to find your House Representative
April 2024
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