Planned Parenthood Federal Funds Challenged by Surreptitious Videos
Videos discussing use of fetal tissue in research stir antiabortion activists' hopes of ban on federal funding for organization
Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2015
"Videos of Planned Parenthood staffers discussing how they gather fetal tissue during abortions for use in medical research are stirring antiabortion activists' hopes of converting the controversy into a ban on federal funding for the organization. Cutting off federal funds for Planned Parenthood has emerged as one of the short-term moves that activists believe is most achievable in the wake of the release of two videos in the past two weeks.
Some lawmakers preparing to debate appropriations bills cite the videos as a reason to cut off the approximately $500 million a year in federal funds Planned Parenthood gets for providing care to Medicaid beneficiaries, contraception through family planning programs and for helping people sign up for insurance under the 2010 federal health law. Long-standing restrictions bar the federal government from paying for abortions in most cases.
A new surreptitiously recorded video released by activists this week shows a Planned Parenthood official bluntly describing abortion procedures, and whether they could be adapted to preserve tissue that could be provided to researchers...
Kristan Hawkins, president of the Students for Life of America antiabortion group, said younger activists began In Planned Parenthood's most recent annual report covering the 12 months through June 30, 2014, federal and state grants and reimbursements of around $528.4 million were the organization's single largest source of income, totaling 41% of its revenue.The majority of its funds came from a combination of other payments for services, along with private contributions and bequests.
Ten states have barred state funding of Planned Parenthood clinics for family planning services, including Texas while GOP presidential contender Rick Perry was governor and Wisconsin under rival GOP contender and current Gov. Scott Walker.
In its annual report, Planned Parenthood said its affiliates performed 327,653 abortions. In recent years, about one million abortions have been carried out annually in the U.S.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton defended Planned Parenthood on Thursday, saying that the organization had apologized for one employee's "insensitivity," and that its work is important...
"Listen, I've seen these two videos. They're gruesome and I think they're awful," Mr. Boehner told reporters. "That's why the Energy and Commerce Committee and Judiciary Committee are doing an investigation. I expect that we will have hearings, and the more we learn, the more it will educate our decisions in the future."
Planned Parenthood also reported providing 4,470,597 tests for sexually transmitted diseases, 3,577,348 appointments to provide contraception, including emergency contraception, and 935,573 appointments for cancer screening including pap tests, HPV vaccinations and breast exams.
Bans on taxpayer funding for abortion enjoy widespread support from voters, even among some of those who believe abortion should be legal in at least some circumstances. But lawmakers have had limited success in previous efforts to curb funds to Planned Parenthood for other services.
In 2011, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives wanted to disqualify Planned Parenthood affiliates from receiving any federal funds for family planning or as Medicaid reimbursements. A face-off with the then-Democratic-controlled Senate and White House nearly shut down the government, but ended with the House trimming funds for family planning and allowing Planned Parenthood to remain a participant in Medicaid.
Pray for a cut-off of government funding for Planned Parenthood which exists mainly to abort children and seeks to profit from selling their body parts. This is Nazi-like behavior that is being sanitized with the rationale that it is "for the benefit of medical science". May this cause a great outrage across the USA. Please pray also for the shutting down of this corrupt and deceitful organization that trafficks in the death of precious human beings God has knit together in their mother's womb.
The African Union Takes on Al Shabaab
The African Union Mission in Somalia, better known as AMISOM, has launched a renewed offensive against al Shabaab. Despite achieving major successes with the liberation of Mogadishu in August 2011 and Kismayo in September 2012, the
Somali military and AMISOM failed to eradicate the jihadist militant organization. Sustained ground operations and the targeted killings of its leaders by U.S. airstrikes damaged the group, but al Shabaab is still dangerous. As well as conducting direct attacks, the group routinely interdicts the movement and supply lines of African Union forces with guerrilla-style operations. The African Union is drawing on new resources and capabilities in an attempt to defeat al Shabaab, or at least render the organization ineffective.
The fight will not be easy, however. AMISOM forces have suffered setbacks in the past, being forced to conduct tactical withdrawals from untenable positions in the face of al Shabaab attempts to dislodge them. A June 26 attack on an African Union base in the village of Lego inflicted a notable defeat on AMISOM forces, highlighting a major problem facing African Union forces as they expand their area of operations. While typically able to defeat al Shabaab in conventional head-on battles, AMISOM forces become overstretched as they project into the expansive reaches of southern Somalia. They lack the necessary resources to secure lines of communication over land and, as a result, frequently have to withdraw from newly liberated areas to protect their own personnel.
The nature of AMISOM's limitations is not lost on military commanders. In an attempt to prevent further embarrassments, major efforts to stabilize the situation are underway. The most immediate is the launch of a major offensive against known al Shabaab strongholds. Known as "Operation Jubba Corridor," separate maneuver elements converged on the city of Baardheere on July 22, successfully routing its militant defenders. Baardheere had been under al Shabaab control for six years and has served as a refuge in the fertile valley region.
Even though the Baardheere offensive was successful, it will not necessarily prevent continued al Shabaab operations. The militant group has already been forced to stop depending on territorial control; its guerrilla and terrorist attacks have become its most potent tool against African Union forces. Denying al Shabaab refuge in the Juba valley will contribute to the gradual decline of the militants' capabilities. The more territory AMISOM forces liberate, however, the more resources they will require to patrol and secure those areas. That said a weakened al Shabaab poses less of a threat to extended positions than before.
Please pray for the African Union forces to prevail over the Islamic terrorist al Shabaab group that has caused so much destruction and death in East Africa. Pray for wise strategy, determination and the resources the AU needs to finish this campaign and clear the region of this scourge.
Iran Nuclear Deal
From Fait Non-Accompli AUG 3, 2015, VOL. 20, NO. 44 * BY William Kristol
"The Iran deal turns out to be so no good, so very bad, so awfully ugly, that there is a chance-an outside chance-that a congressional process accepted by the [U.S.] administration because it seemed to virtually guarantee the deal's survival might actually kill it instead.
The administration is pulling out all the stops. The left is mobilizing. Pressure is being applied. But what's striking is how many congressional Democrats are balking. Serious Democrats look at the deal-at its failure to stop Iran's nuclear program, at the weak verification provisions, at the precipitous and massive sanctions relief-and can't quite believe the horror the administration is asking them to approve.
The public can't quite believe it either. The Pew poll this week had those Americans who knew something about the deal-a strikingly high 79 percent of the public-disapproving 48 to 38 percent. When has this happened before? A president signs a deal that purports to limit arms and reduce the risks of war, he makes his case to the American people against scattered voices of criticism and dissent-and he doesn't even start out ahead. A Washington Post poll that framed the deal in a way more favorable to the administration had only 56 percent approval. Most analysts experienced in these kinds of fights expected the deal to start out way ahead in public opinion, and then perhaps face some erosion as the debate proceeded. Instead, opponents are at least even at the start. And, by the way, the critics are so far handily winning the debate on the merits.
Still, is it really possible that over a dozen Senate Democrats and almost 50 House Democrats will defect from the president and vote both to disapprove and then to override his veto? Yes. It's possible, if not yet likely. And the possibility will grow if opponents energetically press their case. They will need to explain, among other things, that the sanctions regime isn't doomed if the deal is defeated. It is true that some damage will have been done by the United Nations action. But a Congress that insists on retaining U.S. sanctions will leave the next president-whether a Democrat or a Republican-with a chance to marshal the international community to continue the pressure on Iran and perhaps to negotiate a better deal.
Meanwhile, what about that U.N. vote? Congress owes it to the American people to disapprove the deal because it is bad and dangerous, but also precisely to establish the principle that the American people are the masters of American foreign policy, not the United Nations."
Please pray that the U.S. Congress will be able to overturn the recent nuclear deal if it will endanger the Middle East nations along with other countries by giving Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, over 100 billion in sanctions relief as well as a path to the development and deployment of nuclear weapons. This is a crucial matter of international security.
‘Untouchable’ Christians told ‘convert or be denied benefits’
Hindu nationalists have converted 39 people from Dalit Christian families to Hinduism in a controversial ceremony aimed at making them eligible for a government benefits programme. ‘We are moving ahead with our initiative and more families from other religions will be reconverted to Hinduism soon. Many people want to come back to their original faith,’ said the District Chief. The Dalits, known as the ‘untouchables,’ make up India's lowest caste and are eligible for certain government benefits if they identify as Hindus. International Christian Concern (ICC) noted that Christians from low-caste backgrounds are soft targets for Hindu nationalists seeking to take advantage of the government benefits programme and lure people of other faiths into Hinduism. ICC said as many as 25 million poverty-stricken Dalits who have converted to Christianity are being forced to choose between their Christian faith and eligibility for benefits.
