Illinois Right to Life Committee
DECEMBER 2006
December, 2006 Pro-Life News (see articles below): 12/29/06 Judge ignores Kansas law to dismiss charges against abortionist Tiller 12/22/06 Correcting Criticisms of Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act 12/15/06 Encourage action on parental notification in Illinois 12/12/06 Abuses of science and medicine seen as a threat to world peace 12/05/06 Summary of IRLC review of the HPV
vaccine called Gardasil
Illinois Right to Life News for Friday, December 29, 2006 Happy New Year from Illinois
Right to Life Committee. Even though we
expect serious challenges with the new political landscape, we remain optimistic that the
truth about human life will prevail against the darkness of Planned Parenthood and other
purveyors of the culture of death. Judge ignores Kansas law to dismiss charges against abortionist Tiller A perfect example of the
challenges we face has just occurred in Kansas. Outgoing
Attorney General Phil Kline, who has been relentless in trying to bring abortion providers
to justice, brought criminal charges against notorious late-term abortionist George
Tiller. Almost immediately, a judge dismissed
the charges without even considering them, based on a request from the local District
Attorney, Nola Foulston. Klein’s appeal
of Judge Paul Clark’s decision was also rejected even though Kline presented
definitive evidence that Kansas law allowed him to file the criminal charges without the
consent of the local District Attorney. At the crux of the issue is
Judge Paul Clark’s total disregard for the statutes of the State of Kansas and
District Attorney Nola Foulston’s obvious misrepresentations of Kansas law. Attorney General Kline expressed frustration that
the Kansas media did not report on the fact that Clark ignored Kansas statutes that
clearly give him authority to file criminal cases without the consent of the District
Attorney. “Investigations in Kansas often times are
conducted by ‘inquisition,’" Kline wrote in an e-mail communication with
supporters on December 28th. “The process is similar to a federal
‘grand jury’ except a jury is not called and the investigation is overseen by a
judge. An inquisition was opened in this case
and thousands of pages of documents, expert witnesses, witness testimony and affidavits
have been obtained. The charges filed were
supported by the evidence obtained in the inquisition.
This evidence prompted Sedgwick County District Court Judge Eric Yost to
find probable cause to believe that Mr. Tiller committed the crimes alleged. Of course, Tiller is presumed innocent by law of
any charges unless convicted in court.” Operation Rescue President Troy Newman, who was present during the hearing on December 27th made the following observations: “It was obvious to me that Judge Clark just wanted this case out of his courtroom with as little backlash as possible. For him to rule as he did accomplished two things for him. It kept him from having to admit he ruled improperly by dismissing Tiller’s charges just before Christmas, and it kept him from having to deal with Foulston’s temper tantrums,” Newman said in reference to an incident during the proceeding where Foulston raised her voice in a tirade against Kline. “His ruling was more of an act of self-preservation than justice. The public should be howling about this!” Newman continued, “Now is the time to
express our outrage at this shocking injustice. We
know that Tiller is being charged with illegally killing viable late-term babies who
should have had the protection of law. We
know that the doctor who came to his abortion clinic and signed off on those abortions,
Kristin Neuhaus, has turned state’s evidence and is now willing to testify against
Tiller. These are serious charges – an
astounding 30 of them – charges that need to be heard in a court of law. If we cannot speak up over this, then we should be
ashamed. We cannot let this matter be
thwarted and forgotten.” Pray that the people of Kansas will rise up against this travesty of justice. Tiller’s reign of outrageous abortions, producing many injured and dead mothers, must be brought to an end.
Illinois Right to Life News for Friday, December 22, 2006 Merry Christmas from Illinois
Right to Life Committee. The birth of Jesus
and the circumstances surrounding His birth establish the value of each human life. The true message of Christmas is desperately
needed in our world that is being overwhelmed by the culture of death. Correcting Criticisms of Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act LifeNews.com has a 12/20/06 article entitled Illinois Battle to Revive Parental Notification Abortion Law Continues. This article covers the status of efforts to put this 1995 law into effect. Near the end of the article is criticism of the law, including a quote from National Right to Life Committee state legislative director Mary Spaulding Balch stating: "It allows an abortionist to tell the 18 year-old brother or sister that their 13 year-old baby sister is pregnant," she explained. "It would also allow notification to be given to a step-parent, or a grandparent." Balch's statement about the Illinois law is not accurate. I have reviewed the relevant provisions from the law itself (see below). Based on the definition of "adult family member" the law would NOT allow notification of an "18 year-old brother or sister that their 13 year-old baby sister is pregnant." In fact, notifying a brother or sister of any age would not satisfy the notification requirement unless that person was the legal guardian of the minor girl. Additionally, a step-parent or grandparent could only satisfy the notification requirement if they were actually living in the household with the minor girl. Therefore, this Illinois law
should not be berated as ineffective. Mary Spaulding Balch has done a disservice to
the people in Illinois working to put this law into effect.
IRLC commends everyone who has worked to get this law activated in Illinois. Until that day, Illinois remains the place for
sexual predators to bring girls for abortions while avoiding the parental notification
laws that are in effect in all surrounding states. FAMILIES
Illinois Right to Life News for Friday, December 15, 2006 Encourage action on parental notification in Illinois Thanks to Larry Theriault of the Knights of Columbus for acting on a great idea for moving the cause of life forward in Illinois. He has taken action to encourage citizens to communicate with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and/or States Attorneys such as Joseph Birkett to encourage them to request the Federal Court to remove the injunction that prevents enforcement of Illinois’ Parental Notification Law. Larry’s message reads: By now everyone should know that the Illinois Supreme Court
has finally issued the rule necessary to implement the Illinois parental notice law. What most people don’t know is that the
Illinois Legislature passed this law all the way back in 1995! At that time, abortionists persuaded the federal
district court in Chicago to enjoin the law until such time as the Illinois Supreme Court
issued the rule governing appeals from denials of judicial bypass hearings under the 1995
act. It was not until two months ago that the Illinois Supreme Court finally issued
the judicial bypass appeal rule. The law,
however, will remain enjoined and unenforceable until an appropriate party asks the
federal district court to lift its injunction. That
request may (and should) be made by the Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, or any of
the State's Attorneys in Illinois (each Illinois county has its own State's Attorney). We encourage you to contact either Attorney
General Madigan or your local State's Attorney (Richard Devine in Cook County, Joseph
Birkett in DuPage County or the State's Attorney in another county in which you reside)
asking her (or him) to go into federal court to have the 1995 injunction lifted so that
the law may go into effect. Please call or write the
offices of Attorney General Lisa Madigan and States Attorney Joseph Birkett. Politely ask them to take action to request that
the injunction of the Illinois Parental Notification Law be lifted. Madigan’s office can be reached by calling
312-814-3000, or by writing to: Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Chicago Main Office, 100 West Randolph Street,
Chicago, IL 60601. Birkett’s office can
be reached by calling 630-407-8000, or by writing to: Joseph Birkett, DuPage
County States Attorney, Judicial Office Facility, 503 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL
60187.
Illinois Right to Life News for Tuesday, December 12, 2006 Abuses of science and medicine seen as a threat to world peace How’s the contrast? Let’s consider statements from Pope Benedict XVI about what violates world peace, compared to news from England and Ukraine proposing and already performing atrocities against human life in the name of science. Pope Benedict placed abortion, euthanasia and bioethics issues like human cloning and
embryonic stem cell research in the same list as other violations of world peace such as
war, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. Vatican officials have released the text of a speech
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to give for World Day of Peace 2007 on January 1st. "Alongside the victims of armed conflicts,
terrorism, and various forms of violence, there are those silent deaths provoked by
hunger, abortion, experiments on embryos and euthanasia," he noted. "How could
all this be seen as anything other than an attack on peace?" "Abortion and embryonic experimentation
constitute a direct denial of that attitude of acceptance of others which is indispensable
for establishing lasting relationships of peace," the Pope concluded. What might Pope Benedict XVI be concerned about? British researchers, under sweeping new proposals
to be introduced by government health officials this week, want to create human/animal
embryo hybrids using test tube technology. Known
as "chimeras", the embryos would be produced by combining human and animal
genetic material. The North East England Stem
Cell Institute wants to create an embryo that is part human and part cow. In the Ukraine this brave new world is already leading to real atrocities with real victims. Ukraine has long heralded itself as a leader in the quest for embryonic stem cells. BBC News reports that video footage they obtained suggests that the Ukraine is no longer meeting this scientific demand with just embryonic stem cells, but is now also killing newborn babies to harvest cells from their more developed bodies. The BBC report tells of dismembered bodies and mature newborn bodies stripped of organs. Upon seeing the videos of the autopsies on the dead babies, a British forensic pathologist expressed concern that the tiny bodies had been dismembered. Other reports have revealed that Ukranian women have been paid for having abortions to provide sources for harvesting stem cells to be used for, among other things, beauty treatments in Russia. Pope Benedict XVI is highlighting an immediate threat to peace. How can there be world peace when human life is shown such disrespect?
Illinois Right to Life News for Tuesday, December 5, 2006 Summary of IRLC review of the
HPV vaccine called Gardasil What are the limits of protection provided by Gardasil? Gardasil prevents HPV strains known to cause 70% of cervical cancer
and 90% of genital warts so risk remains. The
vaccine has no effect on the two viral strains known to account for the other 30 percent
of cervical cancer attributed to HPV. Both the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Merck (producer of Gardasil) state it will be important for women to continue getting screened for cervical cancer (regular Pap tests). The marketing over-hype for Gardasil is compounded by calling it a
vaccine against cervical cancer. Gardasil is
a vaccine against 4 out of 30 strains of HPV. Did
you know that scientific studies have established a 40% increased risk of cervical cancer
from using oral contraceptives? Gardasil will
not reduce that risk factor. Additionally,
Gardasil does nothing to protect against 40-50 other known sexually transmitted diseases. How long does this vaccine protection last? The number of years Gardasil will maintain its effectiveness level is
still unknown. So far, no more than five
years can be confirmed. Even those results
may suggest possible reduced effectiveness that could lead to the need for booster shots. If 11-12 year old girls are vaccinated, they could
be reaching the period of greatest potential risk just about the time the vaccine is
losing its effectiveness. Should the vaccine be mandated? Given the questions about effectiveness based on the number of HPV strains not covered, uncertainty on when a booster might be needed, and alternate means to eliminate the risk entirely through behavior choices, parents should not be mandated by law to get their 11-12 year old daughters vaccinated with Gardasil. Parents should have the right to evaluate the facts and make a judgment about use of this vaccine for their children.
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