American Life League Associates Newsletter
June 18, 2007
Vol. 4, No. 25

From Associates

• New Hampshire Right to Life

  On June 6, forty-one middle school students from Manchester Junior High School were taken to the local Planned Parenthood clinic as part of a field trip sponsored in collaboration with the Greater Manchester YMCA. Members of NHRTL happened to be outside the clinic participating in a prayer vigil when the students arrived. Despite the fact that the field trip was designed to inform children about various social agencies in the area, the services provided by each agency and how to contact the agency if needed, NHRTL President Darlene Pawlik said the children were not allowed to speak with the pro-lifers or receive any of the pro-life literature.

  “Are you happy with the Manchester School District cooperating with the usurpation of parental rights by delivering Manchester’s children into the hands of Planned Parenthood, the promiscuity promoters?” asked Darlene in a press release. “If not, let them know. Call the school board, the superintendent and the principals of South Side and Park Side Schools. Call your representatives and senators too and ask, ‘Why are our tax dollars being used to take our children to Planned Parenthood, the promiscuity promoters?’”

  See NHRTL’s web site for press release and action items.

• Pharmacists for Life International

  Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life International, is calling a recently introduced Congressional bill "a shame" and warned that pharmacists would leave the business if Congress legislated their professional behavior.

  The Access to Birth Control Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Carolyn Maloney and in the Senate by Sen. Frank Lautenberg on June 6, would require pharmacies that carry contraceptives to offer Plan B and would require pharmacies to offer the pills even if the pharmacists objected on moral grounds.

  The proposal would require pharmacies to "ensure that the contraceptive is provided to the customer without delay." If the pills are out of stock, pharmacies would be required to order them for the customer, or refer them to another pharmacy that stocks Plan B.

  The bill requires that pharmacy employees not "intimidate, threaten, or harass customers in the delivery of services relating to a request for contraception" or "interfere with or obstruct the delivery of services relating to a request for contraception." Penalties would include a $5,000 fine per day of violation. The legislation would also allow women denied Plan B to sue pharmacies for damages in civil court.

  "There will be no more pharmacists. We are smart and we can get other jobs. The biggest victims are the patients who will be losing pharmacy services," said Karen Brauer. "This is a person who doesn't know anything about the practice of pharmacy," Brauer said of the bill's author. "It is a shame to have politicians regulating people with a complete lack of understanding."

  Brauer said physicians who refuse to carry or provide contraception are doing so out of concern for the health of female patients. "There are countless deaths of women from the birth control pill because it causes blood clots," she said. Pharmacists also have a right to act on behalf of their customers' health, Brauer said, and opposition to products like emergency contraception stems from professional and moral concerns.

• Pro-Life Wisconsin

  Six PLW county affiliates held prayer vigils and other public witness events on June 7 to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court decision. Several of these events occurred outside local Planned Parenthood clinics and “family planning health centers.” These events helped bring much-needed public attention to how birth control and the idea of “unwanted children” leads directly to abortion.

  This is the fourth year that Pro-Life Wisconsin has marked Griswold v. Connecticut with prayer vigils, public witness and celebrations of the family. As the number of affiliates holding events and the number of participants continue to grow, the general public is slowly learning about the connection between the Griswold decision and Roe v. Wade.

From ALL Headquarters

• STOPP

  Planned Parenthood Federation of America has released its 2005–2006 annual report (which can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/annual-report.htm).

  This report presents the “service data” (abortions, birth control sales, etc.) for the calendar year 2005 and the “financial data” for the fiscal year July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. Planned Parenthood had released the service data a few weeks ago and STOPP reported on it in the May 2 issue of the Wednesday STOPP Report.

  Last week’s Wednesday STOPP Report contained a full analysis of the financial data and summarized the service data.

  A few highlights:

  Total income: $902.8 million
  Total expenses: $847.0 million
  Total profit: $55.8 million

  Clearly it was a good overall year for Planned Parenthood. Total income went up 2.4 percent, passing $900 million for the first time. The organization continued to make a hefty profit of $55 million, bringing its total profits since 1987 to $656.8 million.

  This year, however, clinic income actually went down from last year – by $1.7 million. Although this is not a very large decline, it is the first year-to-year decline for Planned Parenthood in over 50 years.

  The numbers in this year’s annual report also show that the donations to Planned Parenthood were down over the year. It would seem that more people are getting the message: stay away from Planned Parenthood.

  More people, that is, except our elected officials. Planned Parenthood’s annual report shows a staggering $34.6 million increase in taxpayer money going to the organization. Government officials have now given over $3.5 billion of our money to Planned Parenthood since 1987.

  We all have been working hard over the last few years to cut off the flow of taxpayer money. What this report shows is that we must push even harder. Planned Parenthood is working throughout the country to increase its taxpayer funds at every level. It feels it is entitled to our tax money. This latest annual report shows you why. Without the increase in taxpayer funds, Planned Parenthood would have had an overall decline in income this year.

  If you haven’t already done so, please sign the petition to Stop Planned Parenthood Tax Funding and pass this information on to others.

  Reminder: American Life League is in the process of compiling a list of groups that meet to protest Planned Parenthood on a regular basis. By providing this list of local protests across the country we hope to increase interest in both members of the media and individuals in your community who would like to become active in the fight. We ask that you please help us to make this list as complete as possible.

  If your community holds a regular protest against Planned Parenthood please send us an e-mail and provide the name of your organization, the location of the Planned Parenthood clinic, what days and times your protests are scheduled and any contact information for your group.

• Rock for Life

  RFL Director Erik Whittington has been in contact with Eric Genius, an established and remarkably gifted composer, virtuoso pianist and captivating performer. Mr. Genius would like to assist pro-life groups in their fund-raising campaigns with his performances. For more information and a sample of his music, contact Leslie Tignor.

News

• No freedom of conscience for pharmacists says bill passed by New Jersey legislature

  A bill passed on June 11 by the New Jersey legislature requires pharmacists to fill all prescriptions, even if doing so violates the religious or personal beliefs of the pharmacist. The bill passed with a vote of 56-18. Currently it only awaits the signature of Gov. Jon Corzine in order to become law, as it was already passed by the Senate last June.

  The official text of the bill reads: “A pharmacy practice site has a duty to properly fill lawful prescriptions for prescription drugs or devices that it carries for customers, without undue delay, despite any conflicts of employees to filling a prescription and dispensing a particular prescription drug or device due to sincerely held moral, philosophical or religious beliefs.”

  The legislation also ensures that pharmacists are unable to escape the issue by not stocking controversial drugs—as some pharmacists have done in other states—by specifying that if a pharmacy does not have the prescribed drug or device in stock, then the pharmacy must either order the drug or device for the patient, or refer the patient to another pharmacy that is able to fill the prescription.

  The legislation does not make it clear what the penalty will be for pharmacists who choose to follow their consciences in refusing to dispense certain drugs or devices. In other states pharmacists who have violated similar legislation have lost their jobs and/or faced stiff fines.

• Cells made to mimic embryonic stem cells

  In a big step toward a long-sought goal, three teams of scientists say they've produced the equivalent of embryonic stem cells, at least in mice, without taking the controversial step of destroying embryos.

  Their procedure makes ordinary skin cells behave like stem cells. If the same can be done with human cells – a big if – the procedure could lead to breakthrough medical treatments without the contentious ethical and political debates surrounding the use of embryos. Scientists have long hoped to find a way to reprogram ordinary body cells to act like stem cells, avoiding the use of embryos altogether. The new mouse studies seem to have accomplished that.

  "I think it's one of the most exciting things that has come out about embryonic stem cells, period," said stem cell researcher Dr. Asa Abeliovich of Columbia University in New York, who didn't participate in the work. "It's very convincing that it's real."

• Successful adult cell trials for blindness lead to possibly dangerous embryo stem cell experiments

  A team of researchers at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology plans to begin trials with embryonic stem cells to develop a routine surgical treatment for a disease of the eye that has previously yielded to adult stem cell treatment.

  Dr. Lyndon Da Cruz, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields eye hospital in London, pioneered the successful technique to treat Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) using differentiated cells taken from the patients’ own eyes and transplanting them into the damaged areas of the retina.

  Although Da Cruz’s technique was successful in trials, the number of cells it is possible to harvest from the patient’s eye is limited and the procedure takes two hours to complete. The switch to embryonic stem cells, the researchers assert, will “simplify” the procedure and make it possible to develop a routine clinical application that takes 45 minutes.

Closing thought

Be patient, then, my brothers, until the Lord comes. See how patient a farmer is as he waits for his land to produce precious crops. He waits patiently for the autumn and spring rains. You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord’s coming is near.

—James 5:7-8