by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 1/1/14 11:29 AM

In a huge 11th-hour victory for pro-life advocates, the Supreme Court issued an order late Tuesday night stopping the Obama administration from forcing a group of Catholic nuns to obey the HHS mandate that compels them to pay for abortion-causing drugs and birth control.

The group Little Sisters of the Poor received a temporary injunction from the Supreme Court protecting them from the controversial HHS contraceptive mandate.  The injunction means that the Little Sisters will not be forced to sign and deliver forms tonight authorizing and directing others to provide contraceptives, sterilizations and drugs and devices that cause abortions.

“We are delighted that the Supreme Court has issued this order protecting the Little Sisters,” said Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund, a pro-life legal group that represented the organization.  “The government has lots of ways to deliver contraceptives to people–it doesn’t need to force nuns to participate.”

The order was issued by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is the Justice assigned for emergency applications from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Justice Sotomayor also ordered the federal government to file a brief in response to the Little Sisters’ application.

She gave government officials until 10 a.m. EST Friday to respond to her order.

Prior to the order, preliminary injunctions had been awarded in 18 of the 20 similar cases in which relief had been requested.

“Virtually every other party who asked for protection from the mandate has been given it,” said Rienzi.  “It makes no sense for the Little Sisters to be singled out for fines and punishment before they can even finish their suit.”

The Little Sisters are joined in the lawsuit by religious health benefit providers, Christian Brothers Services, Christian Brothers Employee Benefits Trust.  The Plaintiffs are also represented by Locke Lord, a national law firm, and by Kevin Walsh, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

Also yesterday, in a huge victory for Priests for Life, a pro-life organization, a federal appeals court issued a ruling saying it doesn’t have to pay massive fines to the federal government for not obeying the HHS mandate, which forces religious groups and companies to pay for birth control or abortion-causing drugs for their employees.

To date, there are currently 91 lawsuits challenging the unconstitutional HHS mandate.

by Steven Ertelt | Richmond, VA | LifeNews.com | 12/30/13 12:13 PM

When it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, pro-life people have stepped up in the state of Virginia, where pro-life license plates outsell pro-abortion plates by more than a 3-1 margin.

According to a local newspaper report:

The abortion-rights “Trust Women/Respect Choice” plate, for instance, is on about 1,600 vehicles. And roughly 5,400 cars display the anti-abortion counterpart message, “Choose Life.”

“My theory on this is, people want to feel like they’re doing something, that they’re not happy with the status quo,” said David Donis of Norfolk, a past Hampton Roads tea party chairman.

Choosing a symbolic license plate, he said, “is an easy way for them to express their sentiments.”

Overall, as LifeNews has reported, Choose Life license plates on the roads in a couple dozen stateshave raised $19 million for adoption efforts and pregnancy centers that give women abortion alternatives.

Although pro-choice organizations have fought to keep them off the road, as of now 29 states give drivers the option to ‘Choose Life’ on their license plates.

Russell Amerling, the National Publicity Coordinator for Choose Life America, realizes the vast potential of having pro-life license plates on our nation’s highways as an inexpensive way to promote a culture of life. He once spoke with a billboard salesman about the significance of miniature advertisements on the road, especially considering the costly expense of renting billboard space. Amerling shared some of their conversation with Townhall:

“An advertising executive told us once that the advertising value of having thousands of citizens driving around with that little 6” by 12” pro-life license plate on the back of their cars would be tremendous.”

And tremendous it has been. Drivers have ordered the pro-life specialty plates in droves, ordering nearly 900,000 and raising $19,101,157 nationwide since their inception in 2000, according to figures Amerling provided. Some of the proceeds, Amerling explains, have been distributed to pro-life organizations and crisis pregnancy centers.

A pro-life group is planning a special holiday protest against abortion in Chicago by visiting different abortion clinics throughout the city to sing Christmas carols. The purpose of the protest is to remind women seeking abortions of the story of Mary and Jesus and to ask the question: "Would Planned Parenthood have aborted Jesus?"

Pro-Life Action League sent out an announcement, about its plans for the 11th annual "Empty Manger Christmas Caroling Day," during which members of the pro-life group will visit five abortion facilities in Chicago and another four in Du Page County on Dec. 21. The protesters will reportedly gather in front of each abortion clinic and surround an empty manger while singing their carols.

The group's executive director, Eric Scheidler, said in a statement that the carolers' singing has served to change women's minds on abortion in the past, as it reminds them of the baby Jesus. The carolers will sing such Christmas classics as "What Child is This?" and "Away in the Manger."

"It has happened before," Scheidler recalled. "We were singing 'Silent Night' outside of a Chicago abortion clinic when a young woman came out, approached one of our carolers, and said that our singing made her think about Mary and baby Jesus and she just couldn't go through with her abortion."

The executive director went on to say that the symbolism behind the empty manger prop is two-fold. It reminds abortion-seeking women of the baby Jesus, but it is also a reference to the emptiness women can experience after intentionally terminating their child. "The empty manger has been a symbol of hope through the centuries, placed in the Christmas crèche in anticipation of the birth of the Christ child celebrated at Christmas."

"But the empty manger also represents the emptiness left behind by abortion – the emotional and spiritual vacuum where a baby once was. We don't want any woman to experience that, and that's why we'll be there to offer our message of hope."

The caroling protest has gained widespread popularity in cities besides Chicago throughout the years, and similar protests have previously been held in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Texas.

Pro-Life Action League outlines why it believes sidewalk protesting is important on its website. "Through prayer vigils outside abortion facilities and sidewalk counseling, we reach out to abortion-bound women and couples with abortion alternatives, confidential counseling, access to pregnancy resources and other help, and witness to the value of the lives being destroyed inside.

"We believe sidewalk counseling is the most important pro-life work God has given us to do. Praying outside abortion clinics is the first step in becoming directly involved fighting abortion."

by Steven Ertelt | Portland, OR | LifeNews.com | 12/17/13 

Planned Parenthood is after the career and livelihood of a distinguished, highly-qualified, good high school teacher, Bill Diss, who had the audacity to tell Planned Parenthood that they were not allowed in his classroom.After a second hearing last night, that pro-life teacher, Bill Diss, has been fired.

The school board for the Portland Public School District voted to terminate Diss’ contract after Planned Parenthood’s lobbying effort.

Diss experienced censure in his teaching career beginning in 2007 when he publicly opposed the building of a new Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in downtown Portland. The current action follows Mr. Diss’ opposition to being forced to facilitate presenters from the Teen Outreach Program (TOP), a program administered by Planned Parenthood, coming into his tutorial session to recruit students.

Diss’ legal representatives complained about the action in an email to LifeNews.

“Bill Diss is a well-qualified teacher with a track record of success,” states Dana Cody, President and Executive Director of Life Legal Defense Foundation. “As the circumstances surrounding this termination demonstrate, Mr. Diss has done nothing that would merit being fired from his job. LLDF will pursue every possible avenue in defending Mr. Diss’ rights in this matter, and hopes to see his rights ultimately protected despite PPS’ actions.”

Students for Life of America, which has been closely monitoring the case and had a representative attending the meeting, informed LifeNews of the results.
“Last night, in a vote of 6 to 1, the Portland Public School Board voted to terminate Math and Computer Science teacher Bill Diss. After a protracted battle with the school district, Diss and concerned community members had gathered once again to attend the Portland Public School Board meeting to express their concerns over the treatment of Bill Diss,” SFLA said.

SFLA’s report to LifeNews continued:

Among those who testified on behalf of Bill were his fellow math teacher, Dave Demaris, who testified to Diss’s abilities as a teacher and contributor to the school. Parents of students that Bill had taught over the years spoke of his care and concerns for his students. One Latino mother testified that Bill was the only teacher who ever came to their community events or tried to great her in Spanish. She said “He has helped us. We want him to teach our children and our children’s children.” She also mentioned that Diss had helped her nephew when he found out his girlfriend was pregnant and that the couple had chosen life as a result.

Diss also spoke in defense of himself and asked the school board to consider the ways in which he was targeted by Planned Parenthood. He reminded them that his teacher reviews had been exemplary until he took a stand against Planned Parenthood. He also mentioned the hundreds of thousands of dollars he brought in grants to the school. After listening to the public comments, the school board recessed for private consultation.

Upon reconvening, the school board chose to lump the vote on Bill Diss along with the other item in the business agenda, a vote on solar panels. The move was so unexpected that one school board member, Steve Buel, realized only after the vote that they had lumped the two decisions together and requested to change his vote to a no. All the rest of the board members: Carole Smith, Ruth Adkins, Pam Knowles, Greg Belisle, Tom Koehler and Matt Morton retained their yes votes.

During the recess, Bill and his lawyer declined to comment on what Diss’s course of action would be if the school terminated his contract.

Secular Pro-Life, another group that has been following Diss’ plight, also commented on the firing.

“Mr. Diss warned his students not to trust Planned Parenthood, which was on the campus for a sex education program. Planned Parenthood has, among other things, been caught providing false information about prenatal development in order to make abortion appear more acceptable,” it said. “Mr. Diss may have taught his students a more valuable lesson through this ordeal than he has in any classroom. His resolute commitment to doing the right thing, in the face of oppression and ridicule, is very admirable. The students of Portland, Oregon deserve to keep a teacher of such conscience and courage.”

“Sadly, they have lost their teacher. Worse, the young people of Portland now know the consequences of crossing the powers that be. They know that by speaking up for what is right, they risk put their jobs on the line. They know that the safe course of action is to keep their mouths shut,” the group added. “What a horrible lesson for them to have to learn.”

Diss has a history with Planned Parenthood dating to 2007 when he led community opposition to a new Planned Parenthood abortion facility being built in a minority neighborhood in Portland. He raised Planned Parenthood’s ire again when a “health education team” came into his computer science classroom uninvited and attempted to enroll his students in the Health and Human Services’ Teen Outreach Program (TOP).

One of TOP’s goals is to prevent teen pregnancy, and the team who came to enroll Diss’ students (using monetary incentives) was hired by—you guessed it—Planned Parenthood. When Diss – unaware of whether the ‘team’ had been background-checked or had received sex/child abuse certifications – asked Planned Parenthood to leave his classroom.

When his principal arrived at the scene, she told the Planned Parenthood workers to ignore Diss’ request to leave. Diss then asked his principal if he could be excused from the room while Planned Parenthood was there, and she told him his moral beliefs weren’t enough grounds for him to be excused.

Diss has taught Technology, Math, Computers and Electronics at Benson High School since 2002. He has also taught several classes at the community college level. He is highly regarded in his abilities and his success both by students themselves, by their parents, and fellow teachers.

Diss is the only teacher in the state of Oregon who has been certified as qualified to teach college level computer science to high school students for dual credit. His initiative and hard work have attracted outside grants to Benson opening up even greater opportunities for Benson students. For the first five years at Benson High, Diss was rated as proficient or better, with numerous positive compliments in his reviews. Diss’ methodology and teaching style has remained substantially the same in all his years of teaching.

The positive reviews took a dramatic change for the worse, however, when Diss began to speak out in opposition to the building of a new Planned Parenthood facility in downtown Portland. Diss was involved in opposition activities on his own time, and did not bring his political or religious convictions into his instruction in the classroom. Nonetheless, he began to experience complaints about his political activities from school administrators, and his teaching came under sudden, rigorous scrutiny. Complaints, negative evaluations, letters of reprimand and formal meetings became a regular part of Mr. Diss’ life at school for as long as he engaged in outspoken, public opposition to Planned Parenthood.

by Steven Ertelt | San Jose, CA | LifeNews.com | 12/13/13 

For some women, the regret of having an abortion may comes months or even years after the fact. But for a young mother named Emily, the regret was instantaneous. Immediately after she took the first part of the RU 486 abortion drug, she regretted her decision.

Fortunately, as the California Catholic newspaper reports, a pro-life physician was able to reverse the abortion drug and save her baby’s life.

The day before Thanksgiving Day, we received much anticipated news that our young mother, Emily, met her baby for the first time in an ultrasound. She measured at six  weeks and the mother was ecstatic to hear her baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Almost two weeks ago, she was at PP at the Alameda for her abortion pill and regretted it almost immediately. The “nurse” told her it was too late, but undaunted, Emily and her sister googled the RU486 reversal and called the hotline; the hotline called Juan Diego.

We had just gotten a supply of progesterone for such an emergency just days before.

Emily remembers seeing “protesters” outside the mill when she went in to PP to make her appointment. They were the 40 Days for Life people faithfully praying for the women. I told her she could have approached any of those wonderful people that were there to help mothers like her. A doctor and two nurses stepped forward to start the protocol before she was able to start her prenatal care. God is so good.

There is a large loving family waiting to meet the baby. Her mother and father were very supportive and were just as anxious as Emily to find out if the baby would survive. They were thrilled with the news.

Emily also discovered a large, loving family in the pro-life movement and has volunteered to talk to any mother that may not have the courage to choose life.

It’s not commonly known that the RU 486 abortion drug process can be reversed if a mother changes her mind about the abortion in time.

However, a protocol has already been developed for helping women who changed their minds about going through with a multi-day second-trimester abortion after it’s been started. The process, which involves reversing a second trimester abortions by removing the laminaria, can be used as long as the abortion practitioner has not yet done the lethal injection that destroys the life of the unborn baby.

The protocol for these sorts of abortion drug reversals was created back in 2007. Click here for a story about the creator of the process and how he helped a young woman named Ashley give birth after she changed her mind about abortion.

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 12/11/13 1:03 PM

Planned Parenthood annual report has been released and the staggering numbers continue to show Planned Parenthood is merely an abortion business.

The report indicates a high percentage of pregnant women are going to Planned Parenthood get abortions while a handful get prenatal support or adoption referrals. The report shows 149 abortions for every adoption referral Planned Parenthood makes.

Responding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s release of its facility and service numbers for 2012, Rita Diller, national director of American Life League’s STOPP International project, said that the new numbers “once again show a business in decline.” The numbers reflect “patient care provided by Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers from 10/01/11 – 9/20/12.”

These are the figures she provided LifeNews:

PPFA reported a substantial drop in its clinic numbers between December 2012 and December 2013. At the end of 2012, it had 750 centers, while it reports “more than 700″ at the end of 2013. Its affiliate numbers are down as well, dropping from 73 to 69 over the last year. Affiliates are entities that operate Planned Parenthood centers within a set geographical area.

Planned Parenthood reported a 6.7 percent decrease worldwide in customers for its “sexual and reproductive healthcare and education.” In the U.S., it reported seeing 10,000 fewer unduplicated customers than in 2011.

One of the most glaring numbers was the steep decline in prenatal services-a 31.97 percent decline from the prior year.

In addition, Planned Parenthood’s highly touted cancer screening services dropped 14.22 percent from the 2011 numbers.

Even its abortion business showed a slight decline, reaching the lowest level in four years. PPFA reports that it committed 327,166 abortions for 2012-a 2.0 percent decrease from the year before.

Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League and founder of STOPP International, said, “The one notable rise was in its contraception business, where it reports 3.7 million services as opposed to 3.4 million in 2011-an increase of 8.7 percent.”

“However, our meta-analysis on Planned Parenthood released in 2013 indicated that Planned Parenthood may be inflating its numbers in contraceptive clients served,” added Sedlak. “In addition, this service number includes an increase in sales of so-called Emergency Contraceptive kits whose effectiveness has come into question in the last few weeks.”

Sedlak concluded: “Planned Parenthood continues to demonstrate by its numbers that it is being rejected by the American public and becoming ever more dependent upon tax-dollar subsidies. It is truly time for all taxpayer funding to be removed from Planned Parenthood.”

December 5, 2013 (LiveActionNews) - While many are curled up inside, hiding from today’s freezing temperatures in many parts of the nation, the senior class of St. John’s Catholic High Schoolin Beloit, KS, and many others nationwide, will be outside standing for the unborn, in a peaceful protest of abortion.

The class from St. John’s, who we first told you about in October, will be at the South Wind Women’s Center in Wichita, KS today. Katie Greenwood, who is the student leader of this effort, working with her religion teacher, Andrew Niewald, reports that since the original story on their labor of love, the response from the public has been overwhelming.

Schools across the nation have pledged their support and will join them in their own regions. Katie knows of schools in Colorado, Nebraska S. Carolina, and Rhode Island, among others. Locally, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Salina, KS and Kapaun High School in Wichita will join St. John’s today. The high in Wichita is forecast to be about 26, but there no plans to back away from their almost-three hour drive to stand outdoors and stand for the unborn who never see the light of day.

And the students will have another pro-life champion with them at the Friday protest and rally. Congressman Tim Huelskamp, who represents the district in which St. John’s is located, contacted Katie soon after the story first appeared and pledged his support–and his appearance at the rally. Huelskamp will speak to the youth in attendance. Katie will also address the crowd. Operation Rescue has also said it will send representatives to join the Friday protest and youth rally.

Predictably, the publicity has brought varied responses, some negative, but much positive. At the core, the issue of the value of life is at the forefront. Across the nation, stories have been published about this small high school (40 total, 10 seniors), and on Tuesday, St. John’s seniors were interviewed on a Catholic radio show in Hays, KS.

Katie’s heart beats for the beating hearts of the unborn, whose lives are stolen.

My class knows the horrors of abortion, and we want other people to join in our fight. How can our country ignore the plight of the unborn if the next generation is screaming for the public to recognize this ongoing genocide? Honestly, how can you ignore thousands of teenagers, begging for the life of the innocent to be spared.

It’s because of the shared passion for the unborn that Katie has no doubt this work will continue, even though she and the senior class will leave the school next year.

I know a couple of students in the grade below me would be readily willing to take on this endeavor, and then they know students below them. The teachers at St. John’s, especially Andrew Niewald, will definitely keep promoting this venture.

To find out more about Catholic School Life Rally 2013, you may like their Facebook page, linkedhere. We will  have a follow up for you with a report on what will be the first event for St. John’s Catholic High School in small Beloit, Kansas.

The school is asking that those who participate take pictures and send them tochoolliferally@aol.com.

Susan was born in Bethlehem to an unwed mother and rescued by Catholic nuns who took her to an orphanage in Bethlehem, which still helps single moms and rescues babies. Today she's an outspoken advocate for LIFE and speaks and writes about pro-life issues nationwide.