Pro-Life Update

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, March 14, 2005

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Today's Headlines

• Terri Schiavo's Parents Discuss Rejection of Million Dollar Offer
• Vatican Steps Up Condemnation of Starving Terri Schiavo to Death
• Mel Gibson Weighs in on Terri Schiavo Debate, Supports Parents
• Abortion Practitioner Charged With Sexual Abuse Skips Court Hearing
• Michigan Couple Rejects Abortion to Have Sextuplets, Feels Blessed
• Missouri Bill Regulating Abortion Businesses Gets State House Okay
• Nebraska Bills on Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning, Have Terse Hearing

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Terri Schiavo's Parents Discuss Rejection of Million Dollar Offer
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Terri Schiavo's estranged husband has rejected a California businessman's offer of $1 million dollars if he will turn over guardianship of Terri to her parents. Bob and Mary Schindler said the rejection shows Michael is not concerned about Terri's best interests. "After he has denied Terri therapy for so many years and denied our family any opportunity to help her, we can only come to the conclusion that he is not comfortable with the prospects of her regaining her abilities to speak and communicate to us the reasons for her condition," the Schindlers said. The Schindlers said "it seems clear" that Michael "has neither the inclination to discuss the matter with our family – as we have proposed previously." The Schindlers also said the rejection bears on the desire of George Felos, the euthanasia advocate who is Michael's lead attorney, to have his name associated with a case gaining international attention. "We are not at all surprised that Mr. Schiavo's lawyer, George Felos, will not allow him to entertain such an offer," the Schindlers said in a statement. "It seems to us that the case law has become far more important to Mr. Felos than making any attempt to mediate the matter outside of the courts." The Schindlers were heartened by the proposal made by Robert Herring, a wealthy electronics executive. Herring said his offer still stood until Monday in case Michael changes his mind over the weekend. Read the complete story .

Vatican Steps Up Condemnation of Starving Terri Schiavo to Death
The Vatican (LifeNews.com) -- With Terri Schiavo's painful starvation death scheduled in one week, leading Catholic officials are stepping up their efforts to speak out. Moving from speaking in general against euthanasia, they are now making a rare pitch on behalf of one person -- a disabled woman whose life hangs in the balance. Removing Terri's feeding tube and causing the 7 to 10 day long starvation process would be a "pitiless way to kill" someone Monsignor Elio Sgreccia said on Vatican radio Friday. Sgreccia, the leading spokesman for the Vatican on bioethics issues, said the level of internation al importance of the debate about Terri led the Vatican to step away from its normal practice of speaking about issues in general. "Still, the case of Mrs. Terri Schiavo goes beyond the individual situation because of its exemplary character and of the importance that the media have rightly given it," Sgreccia said. "Silence in this case would be able to be interpreted as approval, with consequences that would go widely beyond the given case," Sgrecca added. "By any decent count, Mrs. Terri Schiavo can be considered a living human being, deprived of full conscience, whose legal rights must be recognized, respected and defended," the Vatican official added. "The removal of the feeding tube from this person, in these conditions, can be considered direct euthanasia." Read the complete story .

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Mel Gibson Weighs in on Terri Schiavo Debate, Supports Parents
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Hollywood icon Mel Gibson is weighing in on the national debate over Terri Schiavo and phoned her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, on Friday to tell them that he supports their efforts to save her life. Gibson, an actor and movie director, encouraged the Schindler family to "never give up and continue to pray." Shortly after the phone conversation, the "Passion" director sent a fax with comments to be read at a Saturday afternoon rally supporting Terri. "I fully support the efforts of Mr. & Mrs. Schindler to save their daughter, Terri Schiavo, from a cruel starvation," Gibson said. "Terri's husband should sign the care of his wife over to her parents so she can be properly cared for." The Schindlers on Saturday said they were "very grateful" for Gibson's moral support and "encouraging statement" backing Terri. "He was extremely supportive in our telephone conversation," Terri's father Bob Schindler said. "Mr. Gibson told me he believes there is hope for Terri and that he knows of people in similar circumstances that have improved." Read the complete story .

Abortion Practitioner Charged With Sexual Abuse Skips Court Hearing
Bloomfield Township, MI (LifeNews.com) -- A Michigan abortion practitioner charged with sexually abusing patients failed to show for a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Rodolfo Finkelstein, a 55 year-old from Bloomfield Township, performs abortions in two locations. He faces two counts of first degree criminal sexual assault which could earn him a life term in prison. Finkelstein has also been charged by local authorities with five other charges of criminal sexual conduct. District Judge Kimberly Small increased Finkelstein's bond and granted a request from Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Barbara Morriso n to issue a warrant for his arrest. "Right now, he's a fugitive," Morrison told the Oakland Press newspaper. Finkelstein's lawyers gave no reason for the abortion practitioner's absence. Two women on whom Finkelstein had performed abortions appeared in the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Township late last month in a preliminary hearing on the charges. They were joined by a doctor and nurse. Much of the testimony of the women was graphic and a 21 year-old who had Finkelstein perform a second trimester abortion on her described his inappropriate advances and sexual acts. Read the complete story .

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Michigan Couple Rejects Abortion to Have Sextuplets, Feels Blessed
Detroit, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Amy and Ben Van Houten are counting their blessings--all six of them. More than a year ago, Amy gave birth to sextuplets, the only set of sextuplets in Michigan and one of a dozen around the nation. The couple rejected “fetal reduction,” a process in which one or more unborn babies is aborted, ostensibly to increase the chances of survival for the remaining babies. "The Lord wanted us to take them," Amy told the Detroit News. "He didn't create life for us to destroy it." Raising sextuplets has not been with out its challenges. The couple has little in the way of privacy, money, or free time, and two of the babies have major medical problems. One has undergone four surgeries on his eyes, another is fed through a feeding tube. Still, Amy, 27, considers the babies her little brood of miracles. “I just feel like I've been blessed from the beginning," Amy told the Detroit News. Her husband is equally optimistic. "They all beat the odds. They've blown through everything," Ben added. Read the complete story .

Missouri Bill Regulating Abortion Businesses Gets State House Okay
Jefferson CIty, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Legislation that would place additional safety regulations on abortion facilities cleared the Missouri state House on a 121-31 vote on Thursday. The bill also allow parents to file a civil lawsuit against anyone who takes a teenager girl to another state to have a secret abortion that is done without her parents' knowledge. The measure would require abortion practitioners to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles from where they perform abortions. Lawmakers say that will ensure women can receive quick medical care following a botched abortion. The bill, HB100, also calls for any facility that performs abortions to be classified as an "ambulatory surgical center," which would allow the Department of Health and Senior Services to inspect abortion businesses annually. Rep. Jane Cunningham, the lead sponsor of the measure, says it is intended to cut down on the number of Missouri teens who are taken to Illinois for abortions. That state does not require parents to be told beforehand. "When a minor child has to face this kind of decision, the person they need most is the person who cares most about their welfare, and that's their parents," Cunningham said. The measure is expected to be supported when it head to the state Senate and Governor Matt Blunt is expected to sign it into law. Read the complete story .

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Nebraska Bills on Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning, Have Terse Hearing
Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Legislation that would address human cloning and stem cell research received a contentious hearing on Thursday in the unicameral legislature's judiciary committee. A bill sponsored by Sen. Adrian Smith (LB437) would ban all forms of human cloning -- including the kind that would create human embryos only for their destruction. "Human embryos are new human life," Smith said, according to an AP report. "To call cloned embryos something other than an embryo is not accurate or scientific." Pro-life groups coalesced around that bill and opposed legislation put forward by Sen. Joel Johnson that would ban reproductive human cloning but allow it for research. A third bill to be brought up du ring the hearing, proposed by Sen. Mike Foley of Lincoln, prohibits state money from being used to fund the destruction of human embryos and disallows state-funded facilities, like the University of Nebraska Medical Center, from being involved. Read the complete story .