Reports of Pressure On Sen. Nelson

Senator Bill Nelson (D, Nebraska) has been a stalwart opponent of abortion funding in any health care reform bill from the senate. Earlier this month an amendment put forward by him and Senator Hatch of Utah was voted down that would have prevented federal funding of abortion in the bill. Although he has refused to vote for any bill that does not have similar protection against federal funding like that of the House's Stupak Amendment, there are reports that he is being pressured by the president with a closing of Offut Air Force Base if he does not comply. Closing of this base would result in a substantial financial blow to Nebraska.

More at The Catholic Key Blog

Embryonic Stem Cell Researchers May Attempt Human Trial

American Researchers have applied for a license to attempt a trial on human patients with macular degeneration (a cause of vision loss). They hope to begin transplanting "spare" embryonic stem cells, that have been developed to replace tissue in the eye, into their test patients early next year.

Source Article from The Independent

New Book Proposes Changes to United Nations

"At a United Nations (UN) press conference Wednesday a group of conservative policy experts put forth an agenda for UN reform including alternatives to major UN programs on social issues and methods for making the UN more accountable to member states. The event featured authors of the new book ConUNdrum: The Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives, published by the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation." - C-FAM News

More at C-FAM

Pakistani Catholics Pray for Conversion of Terrorists

Some 1,000,000 Pakistani Catholics, part of a community that has been targeted by anti-Christian attacks, gathered at a Marian shrine over the weekend to pray for their persecutors.

Article from Catholic Culture News

President May Get Special Controls Over Internet in Emergencies

In the case of an emergency involving an "immediate threat to strategic national interests", a new bill being composed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller may give the president "in coordination with relevant industry sectors" the authority to take temporary control over various private networks. There is also mention of periodic mapping of private networks deemed of high-level importance. Critics say the current draft (S.773) of this bill is too vague and does not have any clear limitations or boundaries for the state controls.


Excerpt of Bill S.773
Article at CNET

Bill in progress - may be updated from "Excerpt" Link

Some in UN Want To Teach 5 Yr Olds About Masturbation

link to article at Foxnews

UN Meeting on Health Leaves Out the Abortion Language

During a UN Meeting on health in Geneva, delegations from the United States, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Estonia attempted to insert recognition for "reproductive health 'rights', 'sexual and reproductive health services' and 'universal access to family planning'." However, Ireland, Poland, and Malta led a dialogue against these terms intended to promote and protect abortion as a reproductive right.

The ambassador from Malta issued a statement that is mentioned in the C-Fam article below in which he defends the right of unborn children to live from conception, and that life is denied in the practice of abortion.


UN Document

C-Fam article

US Delegation to UN Pushes for Universal Access to Abortion

Obama's UN team is calling for abortion access under the terms, "sexual and reproductive health services".

Get the rest of the story at Catholic Culture News

Obama Makes June "LGBT Pride Month"

President Obama has declared that June is now the national month for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender pride.

Story at Catholic News Agency

East Timor Hounded by UN Group to Legalize Abortion

A UN group connected with CEDAW (Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) is pressuring the small Asian country of East Timor to legalize abortion under the pretext of gender equality.

Story at C-Fam
http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1172/pub_detail.asp

Doctor Publishes Paper On World Health Org's Faulty Maternal Mortality Numbers

Donna Harrison, M.D. published a paper on the World Health Organization altering its data on maternal mortality rates and the United Nations using this data to push wider access to abortions in many countries.

Story from C-Fam

Sweden Okays Abortion Based on Gender of Child

It is legal in Sweden today to have an abortion for the reason that the sex of the child is not what is desired.
Story

Guest on Oprah's Show Proclaims that Parkinson's Cure is Near

Dr. Oz, a scientist advocating the use of adult stem cells in the cure of Parkinson's Disease, tells Michael J. Fox that the adult stem cell techniques developed in the last year may help yield a cure in the next few years.

Link to "DailyMotion" video

FDA Says Yes To Morning After Pill for 17 year-olds

"Heeding a March 23 federal court order, the US Food and Drug Administration has permitted the manufacturer of the Plan B ‘morning-after’ pill to make the abortifacient and contraceptive available to 17-year-olds without a prescription."

Story from Catholic Culture News

This action will make it difficult in many cases to catch sex offenders and/or cover up statutory rape.

UN Committee Continues to Push Countries with Restrictive Abortion Policies

The UN group that oversees the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Descrimation Against Women (CEDAW) continues to pressure countries with significant legal restrictions on abortion. In recent meetings, the group recently probed represantives from Dominica, Armenia, Haiti, Cameroon, Libya, Rwanda, Germany, and Guatemala. The CEDAW document does not list restrictive abortion laws as a form of discrimination against women.

The United States has not formally ratified CEDAW. There is pressure to do so.

CEDAW Document

Story from Catholic Culture News

C-Fam Petitions UN to Recognize Rights of Unborn

C-Fam is racing to gather 1,000,000 signatures to present the UN with support for the inclusion of the unborn in their historic "Univeral Declaration of Human Rights" - now 60 years old.
The stark absence of the consideration of unborn human life, has encouraged abortion groups such as Mary Stopes Interational to push their own petitions calling for “Global Safe Abortion” and the recognition of a right to an abortion as a universal human right.

C-Fam currently has 400,000 signatures.

They want a million by the end of August 2009.

C-Fam petition

Article on C-Fam petition

Planned Parenthood Downsizing

Apparently, the economic situation has Planned Parenthood cutting staff by 20%. More in this short article - Crain's New York Business .