The Texas Attorney General’s office announced Wednesday that the nation’s largest abortion seller must pay $1.4 million for overbilling the state’s Medicaid program.
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast submitted “repeated false, fraudulent, and ineligible claims for Medicaid reimbursements” through the Texas Women’s Health Program, according to a federal lawsuit made public last week.
“No matter where a person stands on abortion, everyone should agree that Planned Parenthood has to play by the same rules as everyone else,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton. “It certainly isn’t entitled to a penny of public funds, especially if it is committing Medicaid fraud.”

ADF filed the complaint in 2010 on behalf of former Planned Parenthood facility director Abby Johnson. A federal law allows “whistleblowers” with inside information to expose illegal activity by government contractors. Such cases must be initially filed under seal, and are not made public while federal and state governments decide whether to join the case.
The suit alleges that Planned Parenthood knowingly filed at least 87,075 false claims from 2007 to 2009. As a result, the abortion provider wrongfully obtained more than $5.7 million in reimbursements.
“These programs are designed to help the poor, but Planned Parenthood instead uses taxpayer dollars to pad its bottom line with little regard for the health of women,” Norton explained.
(read more)

Doctors told Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, a pro-life Republican from Washington state, that her baby had a potentially fatal diagnosis that would claim her life shortly after birth.
In a post on Facebook today, Beutler announced the birth of her daughter and said little Abigail Rose Beutler is doing well — two weeks later.
"With great joy, gratitude and hope, we are pleased to share with you the news of the birth of our daughter, Abigail Rose Beutler, on Monday, July 15 at 3:13 AM at Emanuel Legacy hospital in Portland. She weighed two pounds, twelve ounces and was only 28 weeks along.  She is every bit a miracle.
A few weeks ago, we shared the news of her diagnosis of Potter’s Sequence.  In Abigail’s case, Potter’s was caused by bilateral renal agenesis.  The condition caused a complete absence of amniotic fluid, critical for lung development in the womb.   Multiple doctors explained that based on medical evidence her condition was incompatible with life and that, if she survived to term, she would be unable to breathe and live only moments after birth.  We were also told that dialysis or transplant were not possible.  The options we were offered were termination or “expectant management,” that is, waiting for her to die. Instead, we chose to pray earnestly for a miracle.  Many of you joined us.
Through the outreach of a parent who had faced a similar situation, we found a group of courageous and hopeful doctors at Johns Hopkins who were willing to try a simple, but unproven treatment by amnioinfusion. Every week for five weeks, doctors injected saline into the womb to give Abigail’s lungs a chance to develop. With each infusion we watched via ultrasound as Abigail responded to the fluid by moving, swallowing and “practice breathing.” The initial lack of fluid in the womb caused pressure on her head and chest, but over the course of the treatment we were able to watch them reform to their proper size and shape. Her feet, which were clubbed in early ultrasounds, straightened. There was no way to know if this treatment would be effective or to track lung development, but with hearts full of hope, we put our trust in the Lord and continued to pray for a miracle..."
(continue reading full article)

The following statement can be attributed to Pam Fichter, President of Missouri Right to Life.

Missouri Right to Life applauds Governor Jay Nixon for not vetoing HB 400!
During the 2013 Legislative Session, the Missouri Senate and House took up and passed a ban on web-cam abortions.
As he did on the 2010 & 2011 pro-life legislation, the Governor has allowed this important legislation to become law.  Per the Missouri Constitution, Governor Nixon’s decision to neither veto nor sign HB 400 is a decision to allow this bill to go into effect on August 28, 2013. 

Because of Governor Nixon’s decision, Missouri law now prevents an abortionist from giving the initial dose of any abortion-causing drug during an internet conference call and requires his physical presence in the same room with the woman who begins the abortion regimen to kill her unborn child.  This legislation ensures that the abortion industry, which is seeking to profit from killing unborn children by providing sub-standard care to women, will not be doing web-cam abortions in Missouri.  This legislation will protect women and save the lives of unborn children.

We also thank the House and Senate sponsors of this legislation, Representative Jeanie Riddle and Senator Wayne Wallingford and all the members from both parties who supported HB 400 with a veto-proof majority of 115 to 39 in the House and 23 to 7 in the Senate. 
While we are pleased to see the steps taken in HB 400, we still have much to do to restore the inalienable right to life recognized by our founders.   Missouri Right to Life will continue our work to find ways to protect innocent human lives and women in crisis pregnancies. 
(link to MRL press release)

The Texas House on Tuesday evening passed the much-talked-about fetal pain bill, banning abortions after 20 weeks — when preborn babies begin to feel pain. The legislation will need Senate approval before being sent to the governor.
“Americans in Texas and across the country are overwhelmingly opposed to the brutal, late-term abortions that end the lives of between 15,000 and 18,000 children feeling pain each year,” said Marilyn Musgrave, vice president for government affairs at Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List.
The bills — HB 2 and SB1— would require abortionists to have admitting privileges in hospitals no farther than 30 miles away. Abortionists would also have to be qualified to treat life-threatening complications.
(read more)

The Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity has a new president and CEO, following the backlash it has faced after initially stopping funding to the Planned Parenthood abortion business and then reinstating funding days later.

However, it’s new president may cause more controversy for Komen, which is facing financial problems and cancelling events in the wake of the Planned Parenthood funding scandal.
The breast cancer charity named Judith A. Salerno to replace founder Nancy Brinker.  Brinker, 67, announced in August that she would move from the CEO role, which she’d held since 2009, into a new one focused on fundraising and strategic planning.In late 2011, the Dallas-based charity decided to halt grants to Planned Parenthood, which received about $680,000 that year. News of the move caused a torrent of questions about the decision and calls for its reversal, angering Komen supporters on both sides of the abortion debate.

Three days after the initial disclosure, Komen reversed its course, which led to more harsh criticism, this time from abortion opponents accusing the charity of caving to public pressure.
Karen Handel, the group’s vice president and a conservative, resigned the following week and later wrote a blistering account of the episode entitled “Planned Bullyhood.”
As if the Planned Parenthood funding controversy wasn’t bad enough, Salerno headed the Institute of Medicine, which approved the Obama HHS mandate that forces religious groups to fund birth control and drugs that may cause abortions.
(read full article)

Texas legislators today filed a new bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks and hold abortion facilities accountable for breaking health and safety laws after a pro-abortion mob derailed the previous bill.
The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks and hold abortion clinics accountable by making them meet basic health and safety standards that have closed facilities in other states that are unable to comply. The bill also requires all abortion clinics to meet the same health and safety regulations as an ambulatory surgical center, requires a doctor providing abortions to secure admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and lastly, requires a doctor to personally administer the abortion-inducing drugs to the patient.
Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a call for a special session of the Texas legislature to pass the bill that a pro-abortion mob prevented the legislature from passing last week.
(read more)