Election polls show 13 percent pro-life advantage
Abortion played a pivotal role in the November election, with the pro-life side showing a measurable advantage. A national poll of voters taken on Election Day found that nearly half (49 percent) of voters said abortion affected their vote. Of those, 31 percent said they voted for candidates that opposed abortion, while only 18 percent said they voted for candidates who support abortion. This amounts to a 13 percent advantage for the pro-life side.
The 2016 election was clearly a referendum on abortion, with parties and their candidates staking out opposite positions. In past campaigns, candidates tried to minimize positions on controversial issues like abortion.
Hillary Clinton made abortion-on-demand a cornerstone of her campaign. She frequently campaigned with Planned Parenthood and wanted to expand taxpayer funding for America’s largest abortion business despite the fact the organization was exposed trafficking in baby body parts. Clinton also aimed to eliminate the Hyde Amendment which bans federal funds from paying for abortion.
Donald Trump gave 100 percent pro-life answers to National Right to Life’s questions, met with NRL leaders and made Kellyanne Conway, a strong pro-life advocate, a public face of his campaign. In their third debate, Trump called out Clinton for her past Senate vote in favor of the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure.
[www.lifenews.com/2016/12/20/49-of-americans-said-abortion-affected-their-vote-for-president-guess-who-they-supported]
Planned Parenthood reeling after election
Prior to November’s election, Dierdre Schifeling, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, stressed the abortion organization’s all-out effort in November’s election by warning, “Access to safe and legal abortion and access to reproductive health care is on the ballot this year like never before.” Planned Parenthood’s campaign was massive. The organization spent $30 million to defeat Donald Trump, with nearly 1,000 paid staff and 3,500 volunteers.
The nation’s abortion giant targeted six states: Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Trump won the presidency with a 306 to 232 victory in the Electoral College. In those six targeted states, Trump won the votes of the 63 electors in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, while Clinton won the 10 votes of Nevada and New Hampshire electors.
Following Hillary Clinton’s election defeat, Planned Parenthood immediately began urgent appeals for money and then appealed to its friends in the media to get the word out that the $1 billion-plus organization may be forced to rely “only” on its corporate support, wealthy private donors, and income from its whopping 323,999 abortions per year (which net from $500 to $2,000 per procedure).
[Family Research Council Washington Update 12/13/16]
227 abortion clinics cited for health violations
Americans United for Life (AUL) released a report in December documenting horrific abortion facility conditions between 2008 and 2016, listing 227 abortion providers in 32 states that were cited for more than 1,400 health and safety deficiencies. The organization released the report prior to the 2017 state legislative sessions to give lawmakers an important tool to explain the need for safety standards and to call for further investigation.
The report showed that, “Among the most common violations found in America’s abortion clinics are failing to ensure a safe and sanitary environment, failing to document and protect patient records, failing to properly train staff, allowing unqualified staff to provide care to patients, utilizing expired medications and medical supplies, failing to purchase and maintain required equipment, failing to adopt and follow health and safety protocols, failing to properly handle medications, failing to comply with physical plant standards, and failing to monitor patient vital signs.”
Planned Parenthood facilities are featured prominently in the report, with 39 facilities in 15 states cited in the report. Its St. Louis, Missouri facility, which many consider to be the most dangerous in the nation, has 62 documented medical emergencies in less than seven years. Officials in that city and in Boston have announced that they plan to introduce measures making these cities a “sanctuary” for abortions.
The report’s author, Denise Burke, warns, “AUL is calling on state attorneys general and governors to order inspections of abortion clinics and on state legislators to enact enhanced protections for women and their unborn children. Women’s health and safety must not be held hostage by an abortion industry willing to put profit over people.”
[www.lifenews.com/2016/12/13/shock-report-finds-227-abortion-clinics-were-cited-for-over-1400-health-violations; www.lifenews.com/2016/12/28/st-louis-officials-want-it-to-be-a-sanctuary-city-where-women-can-easily-get-abortions]
60,000 treated yearly with adult stem cells
Adult stem cells are the gold standard among stem cells when it comes to success treating patients. To date, despite the efforts of those trumpeting the use of embryonic stem cells (which have been obtained by destroying a human embryo, and often many embryos), there has been no proven success with human embryonic stem cells. The trend away from embryonic stem cells is encouraging, both for ethical reasons and the practical needs of patients.
Embryonic stem cells are, by nature, the least likely type of cell to help patients because of their tendency of incessant growth. They are more likely to form a tumor than healthy tissue, risking the health and lives of those who receive them.
Over 60,000 people are treated yearly around the world with adult stem cells (which can be obtained without destroying a human being). Hundreds of published, peer-reviewed scientific articles have documented that adult stem cell transplants remain the only successful use of stem cells. Adult stem cells can be isolated from many different tissues, including bone marrow, blood, muscle, fat, and umbilical cord blood.
The past year has seen measurable advances in using adult stem cells in treating damaged hearts from patients with chronic heart disease and those who have had recent heart attacks. Yale scientists used a young girl’s own bone marrow adult stem cells to grow heart tissue and blood vessels to repair her congenital heart problem. Adult stem cells are being used to repair muscle and to grow new windpipes. Italian physician Dr. Macchiarini has grown new tracheas for at least eight patients. French scientists have used adult stem cells to grow red blood cells in the lab for transfusions. Doctors in Baltimore, Maryland are using donated stem cells to treat months-old babies with serious and previously fatal heart defects.
[www.lifenews.com/2016/12/09/over-60000-people-every-year-get-adult-stem-cell-treatments-embryonic-cells-help-no-one; www.stemcellresearchfacts.org; www.lozierinstitute.org]
Macy’s ends Planned Parenthood funding
In early December, Macy’s announced an end to their financial support of Planned Parenthood. This announcement followed investigative reports that proved Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts for profit. The abortion business is facing both federal and state investigations and the possibility of losing taxpayer funding for that trafficking.
Planned Parenthood receives $1.3 billion in yearly revenue and “over 25 percent comes from private donations, including corporate contributions.” Representatives of a pro-life group that tracks corporate donations, 2nd Vote, celebrated Macy’s decision. The group’s research last year exposed 41 companies with direct financial ties to the abortion giant. Afterward, companies including AT&T, Coca-Cola, Ford, and Xerox publicly distanced themselves from Planned Parenthood. Group spokesman Lance Wray gave credit to those who have engaged Macy’s and other companies for their position on the life issue.
For more information on corporate contributors to Planned Parenthood, visit www.2ndvote.com.
[www.livenews.com/2016/12/07/macys-we-no-longer-donate-to-planned-parenthood-abortion-business]
19 states pass 60 pro-life laws in 2016
More than 60 state laws were passed in 2016 to help protect unborn babies from abortion, says a new report by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion advocacy group that tracks this type of legislation. State legislatures considered more than 100 bills that were directly related to undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in baby body parts. Some of those bills were blocked by abortion supporters.
Eight states passed laws defunding Planned Parenthood, eight passed laws prohibiting the sale or donation of aborted babies’ body parts, and four passed laws banning the gruesome dismemberment (D&E) abortion procedure. Other states passed laws prohibiting abortions on unborn babies after 20 weeks. Fourteen of these laws are currently in effect, saving hundreds of late-term unborn babies’ lives from abortion.
States that enacted protective legislation include Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
[www.lifenews.com/2016/12/27/19-states-pass-60-laws-in-2016-to-save-babies-from-abortion]
