Colorado Certifies Signatures to Allow 'Personhood' Ballot Initiative in November

On Thursday, Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman certified that a proposal to define an embryo as a person and extend to it rights and protections under the Colorado Constitution had enough valid signatures to be placed on the November ballot, the AP/Google.com reports. Supporters of the initiative, including the group Colorado for Equal Rights, submitted 130,000 signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, well in excess of the 76,000 required under the law, Coffman said. Coffman's office examined a random sample of 6,500 signatures, or 5%, and determined that 103,000 signatures were valid. According to Coffman's spokesperson Rich Coolidge, the sampling method to determine whether signatures are valid was established by a state law (Elliott, AP/Google.com, 5/29).

The initiative is seeking to amend the state constitution to define "any human being from the moment of fertilization" as a "person" for purposes of the state's constitutional provisions "relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice and due process of law" (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/15). Opponents of the initiative – including the coalition Protect Families, Protect Choices – have said the proposal is "vague and deceptive" and could lead to restrictions on abortion, hormonal contraception and in vitro fertilization. The measure will appear as Amendment 48 on Colorado's general election ballot.

Unborn personhood on Colorado ballot

"For the first time in forty years of 'legalized' child killing, pro-lifers have moved an entire state to consider the God-given right to life of the unborn," said Brian Rohrbough, president of American RTL. "We thank sponsor Kristi Burton of Colorado for Equal Rights, the 500 participating churches and Colorado RTL for getting personhood on the November ballot." The Colorado Secretary of State's office validated 103,000 signatures on human life petitions, 27,000 more than required to force a statewide vote. If passed, the Colorado constitution would define 'person' as "any human being from the moment of fertilization."

See also:  http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65633

Evidence suggests Planned Parenthood felonies

Newly revealed documents in the long-running battle over evidence in a criminal case filed against a Kansas Planned Parenthood operation shows that felonies may have been committed in order to avoid misdemeanor paperwork-related charges.

The case was developed by Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline while he served as the state's attorney general. He transferred the evidence to himself when he left the state office and took over in Johnson County, where Planned Parenthood is located.

In a court document made public yesterday, a potential witness in the criminal case against Planned Parenthood indicated Planned Parenthood, instead of admitting to misdemeanor failure to keep required paperwork regarding abortions, may have fabricated the documents instead to respond to a subpoena for the papers.

Catholic Hospital’s Nurses Vote against Joining Pro-abortion Union

FRESNO, May 29, 2008 (CNA) - Nurses at a Catholic hospital in Fresno have voted against joining a pro-abortion nurses’ union by a vote of 452 to 327.

The California Catholic Daily reports that nurses at St. Agnes Medical Center had debated whether to choose the California Nurses Association to represent them in labor negotiations.

Association president Deborah Burger personally observed the voting and the nurses’ association leaders had even brought a cake to celebrate the victory they expected. The California Nurses Association had a large staff of paid, professional organizers working to win the vote. The association represents more than 60,000 nurses and has annual revenues of $60 million. The association could have collected nearly $1 million in annual dues had St. Agnes nurses voted to join.

Last year a group of St. Agnes nurses began a self-funded effort to oppose association organizers, citing the organization’s pro-abortion agenda. On May 15 nurses rallied against joining the association, saying the organization’s values conflicted with those of a Catholic hospital. They cited the association’s support even for partial-birth abortion.

St. Agnes Hospital chaplain Father Henry Williams also spoke out against abortion and urged nurses to consider the organization’s abortion position in deciding their vote.

Arch-Abortionist Morgentaler Granted Highest Humanitarian Service Award

OTTAWA, May 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Labour Congress granted its highest honour, the Award for Outstanding Service to Humanity, to Dr. Henry Morgentaler, the father of Canada’s abortion movement.

The CLC granted the award to Dr. Morgentaler at the CLC's 25th Constitutional Convention in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon. Delegates applauded loudly, with many moved to tears. Dr. Morgentaler thanked the CLC for standing with him "through his many years of struggle."

United Nations Population Fund Population Awards Honor Abortion Advocates

NEW YORK, May 29, 2008 (C-FAM.org) - Last week the UN Population Fund hosted its annual population award ceremony at the United Nations to honor an individual and an organization for "outstanding" work in the population field, including family planning. This year’s honorees were abortion advocates Dame Billie Miller in the individual category and New York-based Family Care International in the institutional.
 
In an elaborate ceremony at UN headquarters, guests were greeted with performances by the New York Symphonic Orchestra and the UN staff choir. Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyotaka Akasaka presented the awards on behalf of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Reading Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, Akasaka lauded both Billie Miller and FCI for their "significant contributions" which, he asserted, had allowed countless people "to plan pregnancies, avoid recourse to unsafe abortion, practice responsible sexual behavior, and prevent the spread of HIV."

Belgian Legislators Seek to Legalize Euthanasia for the Unconscious and Children

BRUSSELS, May 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A group of legislators in Belgium is seeking to expand the practice of euthanasia  to include those who are unconscious, as well as minors, according to a recent article in the Spanish newspaper Hoy.

The initiative, spearheaded by former Senator Jean-Jacques de Gucht, was originally launched in 2004 and failed, the article states. The new proposed legislation will allow people to create a type of "living will" that will allow doctors to euthanize them if they are unconscious and unable to give consent. 

While euthanasia has been legal in Belgium 2002, the existing law has prohibited the practice under the above-mentioned circumstances. Doctors who refuse to kill their patients under the law will be required to refer them to a doctor who is willing to do it, reports Hoy.

ALL in the news:

Kill the pill
Reno News & Review - Reno,NV,USA

The American Life League is calling for activists to "gather outside any facility that distributes the birth control pill." ALL provides "THE PILL ...

Parent sues school over anti-abortion t-shirts

"The Supreme Court has said students don't check their free-speech rights at the schoolhouse door," Taylor said. "The fact is, they were punishing the message."

That message was written on three T-shirts Ibbitson's son – identified in the lawsuit as "K.B." – wore to Hutchinson Middle School during April. One T-shirt had the words, "Abortion – Growing, Growing, Gone," another had "What part of abortion don't you understand?" and the third had "Never Known, Not Forgotten" on the front, with the inscription "47,000,000 babies aborted 1973-2008" on the back.

Each T-shirt had photos of preborn fetuses. Each was ordered from the web site of a pro-life group, American Life League.