Grassfire Pro-Life Report
Friday, October 26, 2007

Skip-Links for This Issue:

#1-- Abortion Doctor Faces Grand Jury Investigation
#2-- Fox News Airs Abortion Documentary
#3-- Officials Force Students from Silently Protesting Abortion
#4-- Groups Say: No Tax Dollars for Planned Parenthood!
#5-- Dr. Dobson Opposed to Pro-Abortion Presidential Candidate
#6-- Lawsuit challenges $450 million Stem-Cell Research Program

#1- Abortion Doctor Faces Grand Jury Investigation
Pro-life groups are taking intense action against a Kansas abortionist, collecting three times the number of signatures required to petition a grand jury investigation of Dr. George Tiller. Such a phenomenon is currently happening to evaluate whether or not
Dr. George Tiller violated a late-term abortion state law in 1998. Attorney General Paul Morrison, a pro-choice Democrat, filed 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller.

Tiller's attorney asserts the proceedings were brought for harassment and in bad faith. However, this grand jury investigation is highly significant, as Kansas historically refrains from convening grand juries. Last year, Tiller was also investigated by a grand jury in regards to the death of a woman who had an abortion at his clinic. [Read the whole story]

#2- Fox News Airs Abortion Documentary
Fox News took a leap of faith and aired a documentary focusing on the choice of abortion. The lives of three different women showed their struggle of deciding whether to keep their babies or terminate their pregnancies. The expectant mothers included a young college coed, a couple who is struggling to have children, and a mother of six who cannot identify the father of her current baby. The documentary
kept an unbiased perspective by choosing not to focus on controversial procedures or political bias, but rather focused
on each woman's decision making process and the emotional journey they face. [Watch video clips]

#3- Officials Force Students from Silently Protesting Abortion
This past Tuesday, junior high students were forced to remove duct tape from their mouths by school officials. Students were protesting on behalf
of National Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity, the duct tape symbolizing the millions of babies' voices silenced by abortion. School officials forbid students from wearing the tape, even on their t-shirts. "The demonstration could have caused a disruption among other students who disagree with that viewpoint" said a school official. However, this may constitute as a violation of First Amendment Rights. School officials cannot simply censor students because the topics are controversial. Eighth-grader MaKayala Priest says "We have our rights, and they should not be taken away from us." [Read more interviews]

#4- Groups Say: No Tax Dollars for Planned Parenthood!
Operation Rescue and other pro-life groups have joined together to call for the suspension of $300 million in tax dollars currently earmarked for Planned Parenthood. [Sign the Grassfire.org petition] This high-profile action is in response to the 107 criminal charges that were filed by Phil Kline against a Kansas abortion clinic. The charges covered felonies and misdemeanors such as submitting false information, committing illegal and late-term abortions, and failure to determine whether or not late-term abortions should be performed. Subsequently, a petition for a grand jury investigation has been filed, and the court will soon rule whether or not the investigation can proceed. "Tax payers should not be forced to fund an organization that is operating outside the law," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. [Read more]

#5- Dr. James Dobson Opposed to Pro-Abortion Presidential Candidate
Recently, conservative leaders came together to vote on whether supporting a third-party candidate would be preferable to endorsing a pro-choice Republican contender. Fifty of those leaders strongly stated they would indeed support a third-party in lieu of candidates such as flip-flopper Mitt Romney and pro-abortion Rudy Giuliani.
Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson broke away from the pack of presidential hopefuls at the Values Voter Summit and aligned themselves with a strict social conservative agenda. Huckabee declared, "Some things are not negotiable, the sanctity of life, the definition of marriage...Let us never sacrifice our principles for anybody's politics." [Source]

#6- Lawsuit Challenges $450 Million Stem-Cell Research Program
Recently, a New Jersey research project with a budget of $450 million has been challenged in the state court. The research project would involve borrowing tax-payer money to pay for grants to universities, non-profit and for-profit organizations in the spirit of conducting stem-cell research. The stem-cell research would use
pluri-potent stem cells which are taken from embryos. Proponents of the lawsuit contest that the wording is misleading on the ballot referendum for the "Stem Cell Research Bond Issue". Initially state Superior Court Judge Neil Shuster denied the claims in the lawsuit but yesterday the appeals court decided to take the case. The referendum is dangerous to the pro-life movement as it deceives voters, forcing them to fund controversial stem-cell research that most private organizations and drug companies refuse to support. [Expanded article]

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