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	<title>Catholic Exchange &#187; Peter J. Smith</title>
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		<title>Nevada: GOP’s Pro-Life Angle Builds Lead; Reid Crumbles in Polls</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/nevada-gop%e2%80%99s-pro-life-angle-builds-lead-reid-crumbles-in-polls/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Oct 2010 05:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=135087</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Despite a month of enduring relentless attack ads, pro-life GOP candidate  Sharron Angle now leads in several polls over Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, the  leader of the U.S. Senate, in what may be the nation’s most hotly contested  Senate race.&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/nevada-gop%e2%80%99s-pro-life-angle-builds-lead-reid-crumbles-in-polls/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Despite a month of enduring relentless attack ads, pro-life GOP candidate  Sharron Angle now leads in several polls over Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, the  leader of the U.S. Senate, in what may be the nation’s most hotly contested  Senate race.</p>
<p>Rasmussen reports Thursday that Angle has now broken the 50 percent threshold  of likely voters, and enjoys a four point lead over Reid (46 percent).</p>
<p>Just two percent of voters would prefer another candidate, and two percent  say they are undecided. In Nevada, voters have the option to vote “none of the  above,” which conservative activists fear may work to Reid’s advantage rather  than Angle’s.</p>
<p>The U.S. Senate Majority Leader, once considered pro-life, was the  legislative godfather of the unpopular “Affordable Care Act,” which pro-life  advocates roundly attacked for having back-door abortion funding provisions. If  Angle takes down Reid on November 2, it would be a major blow to Senate  Democrats, who would likely nominate pro-abortion U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer  (D-N.Y.) as their next caucus leader.</p>
<p>Reid has waged a fiercely negative ad campaign, intended to make his pro-life  and Tea Party-endorsed opponent look kooky and out-of-touch with Nevada  voters.</p>
<p>But the tide seems now to be turning in Angle’s favor, as voter  dissatisfaction with Reid scores higher than voter problems with Angle.</p>
<p>According to a Fox News/Pulse Opinion Research-Rasmussen <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/NV_Topline.pdf">poll </a>of 1000  likely voters, 56 percent said the Senate Majority Leader had “been in office  too long,” while 53 percent said Angle’s views were &#8220;too extreme.&#8221; Reid also had  higher unfavorable ratings (55 percent) than Angle (53 percent).</p>
<p>According to that poll, Angle is ahead of Reid by three points, 49 percent to  46 percent, and leads in several key voting demographics: women, independents,  and voters over 40.</p>
<p>The GOP state senator has consolidated 85 percent of her GOP base, and has  the support of a majority of women and independents (both 51 percent).</p>
<p>Reid has the support of his Democrat base (87 percent) and leads Angle among  younger voters aged 18-39. But he only slightly beats Angle among men, 49  percent to 48 percent, and trails when it comes to getting the support of women  voters (43 percent) and independents (42 percent).</p>
<p>Angle also leads Reid by three points among older voters ages 40-64 (49  percent), and is ahead 10 points among voters ages 65 and up (52 percent.)</p>
<p>The poll results fall within the three-point margin of error.</p>
<p>A CNN/Time poll also has Angle leading Reid, but just by two points (42  percent to 40 percent.)</p>
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		<title>Rick Scott Seizes Lead over Pro-Abort Emily’s List Challenger in Florida Governor’s Race</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/rick-scott-seizes-lead-over-pro-abort-emily%e2%80%99s-list-challenger-in-florida-governor%e2%80%99s-race/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=135018</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pro-life and Tea Party-backed candidate Rick Scott has now pulled ahead of his  pro-abortion challenger Alex Sink in the Sunshine State’s gubernatorial  contest.
A new Sunshine State News Poll now has Scott, a Republican, as “favored to  win” on November’s&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/rick-scott-seizes-lead-over-pro-abort-emily%e2%80%99s-list-challenger-in-florida-governor%e2%80%99s-race/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Pro-life and Tea Party-backed candidate Rick Scott has now pulled ahead of his  pro-abortion challenger Alex Sink in the Sunshine State’s gubernatorial  contest.</p>
<p>A new Sunshine State News Poll now has Scott, a Republican, as “favored to  win” on November’s election day against Sink, the Democrat nominee. While that  poll shows Scott leading with 44 percent of the vote to Sink’s 42 percent, and  14 percent undecided, which is all within the poll’s 3 percent margin of error,  Sunshine State News reports the pro-life GOPer has solidified a lead in key  voting groups.</p>
<p>Jim Lee, president of Voter Survey Service, which conducted the poll, told  the Sunshine State News that Scott possesses a decisive edge over Sink, with a  three-point advantage among those most likely to vote, and a four point  advantage among those who voted in the ‘08 and ‘06 general elections.</p>
<p>However Lee said Sink would take the lead if she can capture all those  one-time voters that turned out for President Obama in 2008.</p>
<p>&#8220;These (presidential-cycle voters) are the key to Sink if she can gin up  turnout. No small task,” Lee told the news agency.</p>
<p>However the prevailing political winds in Florida are not favorable to  President Obama, as 56 percent of Floridians disapprove of his job performance,  according to a Quinnipiac poll released Friday. Independents in the state have  run away from Obama, and more independents (46 percent) have lined up in support  Scott over Sink (40 percent). That Quinnipiac poll, conducted September 23-28,  shows Scott leading Sink 49 to 43 percent.</p>
<p>A Rasmussen Reports poll of 750 likely voters, conducted on September 30,  adds to the evidence of the election trending toward the pro-life Scott. In that  poll, Scott wins 46 percent of likely voters, with Sink winning only 41 percent.</p>
<p>Sink’s campaign is supported by the pro-abortion Emily’s List, a  political action committee (PAC) dedicated to putting pro-abortion women into  public office.</p>
<p>Emily’s List has denounced Scott as “extremely anti-choice,” citing his  opposition to Roe v. Wade, and his support for a bill vetoed in June by Gov.  Charlie Crist that would have required an ultrasound to be performed on  abortion-bound women.</p>
<p>The ultrasound bill was seen as a key step forward for the pro-life movement  in Florida. Had it become law, abortionists would have been obligated to perform  an ultrasound to show women the child they sought to abort, and describe to them  the parts of the baby as revealed on the ultrasound image.</p>
<p>Scott also opposes embryonic stem-cell research.</p>
<p>Florida Right to Life (FRTL) PAC has also endorsed Scott in the governor’s  race, and he is the nominee of Florida’s Tea Party, which has an official ballot  line in the state.</p>
<p>Matt Ozolnieks, chairman of FRTL PAC, told LifeSiteNews.com in a telephone  interview that he was “not surprised” that polling trends show Scott leading the  race.</p>
<p>“There is a wave of pro-life enthusiasm in the state of Florida this cycle,  as we’ve never seen before,” Ozolnieks explained. “I’ll put our candidates  against Planned Parenthood’s any day of the week.”</p>
<p>Ozolnieks also praised Scott’s selection of pro-life state Rep. Jennifer  Carroll (R-Fleming Island) to run as his lieutenant governor as “an amazing  choice.”</p>
<p>“She’s a solid pro-life woman that leads a really good example for our young  folks out there that are looking at public service, and perhaps say ‘do I need  to be quiet on this issue.’ No, you don’t. Here is an accomplished woman that  will be our next lieutenant governor,” continued Ozolnieks. He added that if  Scott wins, Carroll would be in a good position to run later for Senate or  governor, ensuring more strong pro-life leadership for Florida.</p>
<p>A former chairman of Solantic and leader of Conservatives for Patients  Rights, Scott was one of the individuals honored as &#8220;Business Person of the  Year&#8221; at the 2009 Paul Weyrich Awards dinner in Georgetown&#8217;s Four Seasons Hotel,  Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>LSN had a chance to interview Scott at that event, where he emphasized that  social and economic conservatives do have a commonality of interests; he said  that the fight over health-care reform and its specter of health-care rationing  was an instance of the two viewpoints aligning in a common fight.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a conservative, and every conservative I know cares about people,&#8221; said  Scott. &#8220;So they know that doing the right thing on health-care is going to be  better for you as an individual, your family, and your kids&#8221; (see <a href="http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09120413.html">story</a>).</p>
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		<title>D.C. Court Allows Embryonic Stem Cell Research to Continue During Appeals Process</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/d-c-court-allows-embryonic-stem-cell-research-to-continue-during-appeals-process/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Sep 2010 05:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134784</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia has ordered that a  district judge’s order blocking the National Institute of Health’s (NIH)  embryo-destroying stem-cell research will be suspended while the appeals process  works itself out.
The order from&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/d-c-court-allows-embryonic-stem-cell-research-to-continue-during-appeals-process/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia has ordered that a  district judge’s order blocking the National Institute of Health’s (NIH)  embryo-destroying stem-cell research will be suspended while the appeals process  works itself out.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/38360014/Sherley-v-Sebelius-stay-9-10">order </a>from Appeals Court judges Judith Rogers, Thomas Griffith, and Brett  Kavanaugh, followed two days after oral arguments for and against U.S. District  Chief Judge Royce Lamberth’s August 23 injunction that banned the NIH from  funding further embryo-destroying research under the 1996 Dickey-Wicker  amendment.</p>
<p>Lamberth previously denied the U.S. Justice Department’s request to stay his  order, saying that Dickey-Wicker was &#8220;unambiguous&#8221; in its intent, and therefore  prohibits federal dollars from going to research that destroys human embryos.  Lamberth’s order nullified President Barack Obama’s executive order allowing the  NIH to fund up to 75 new lines of stem cells derived from human embryos, which  are killed as soon as researchers harvest their stem cells.</p>
<p>The D.C. Court of Appeals had granted the U.S. Justice Department’s motion  for an emergency stay on Lamberth’s order on September 9, temporarily lifting  Lamberth’s injunction while they reviewed the merits of the government’s  argument that the banned scientific research would cause “irreparable harm.”</p>
<p>Dr. Francis Collins stated in written testimony that $546 million dollars had  been invested by the NIH in hESC research since 2002, and that $54 million to 24  research projects would be prevented by Lamberth’s order.</p>
<p>The three-judge appeals panel has now dissolved that emergency stay and made  their stay of Lamberth’s order permanent for the rest of the appeals  process.</p>
<p>The lawsuit against the NIH funding of embryonic stem cell research was filed  by two scientists involved in adult stem cell research, Drs. James Sherley of  Boston and Theresa Deisher of Seattle, and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which  helps couples adopt human embryos stored in fertility clinics. Sherly and  Deisher both sued claiming that President Barack Obama’s order meant the NIH was  favoring hESC researchers, starving researchers involved in ethical adult stem  cell research for grants.</p>
<p>The case is Sherley v. Sebelius, 10-5287, U.S. Court of Appeals for the  District of Columbia.</p>
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		<title>DISCLOSE Act Fails: Pro-Life Campaign Groups ‘Dodge A Cannonball by a Whisker’</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/disclose-act-fails-pro-life-campaign-groups-%e2%80%98dodge-a-cannonball-by-a-whisker%e2%80%99/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Sep 2010 05:00:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134747</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Republicans managed to beat off a cloture vote in the U.S. Senate on a campaign  disclosure bill that pro-life groups said would have effectively muzzled their  ability to communicate with voters in the upcoming 2010 midterm elections.
“We dodged a&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/disclose-act-fails-pro-life-campaign-groups-%e2%80%98dodge-a-cannonball-by-a-whisker%e2%80%99/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Republicans managed to beat off a cloture vote in the U.S. Senate on a campaign  disclosure bill that pro-life groups said would have effectively muzzled their  ability to communicate with voters in the upcoming 2010 midterm elections.</p>
<p>“We dodged a cannonball by a whisker,” Douglas Johnson, National Right to  Life Committee’s Legislative Director told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN).</p>
<p>The Senate voted Thursday to invoke cloture and proceed to debate the   “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE)  Act” (S.3628). However, they did not succeed in getting 60 votes to overcome a  GOP-filibuster.</p>
<p>The motion failed 59 – 39. Every single Democrat, including Sen. Majority  Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), voted for the bill, but not a single Republican  crossed the aisle. GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Lisa Murkowski of  Alaska did not vote.</p>
<p>“I’m not ready to declare it dead yet, but the chances of it being enacted in  this congress have fallen substantially,” said Johnson.</p>
<p>“They threw everything they had at it and they still weren’t able to punch it  through the Senate.”</p>
<p>President Obama made a big push for the bill, urging Congress to pass the  DISCLOSE Act, alleging that “shadow groups” were trying to influence the midterm  elections. He said that the bill is “about how much influence special interests  should have over our democracy.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a rare moment of agreement with conservative and pro-life groups, the  American Civil Liberties Union has denounced the bill as a threat to free speech  and crippling to free participation in the political process.</p>
<p>The ALF-CIO, the largest federation of trade unions in the U.S., also said  they “reluctantly” were opposing the bill, saying that the “new, costly, and  impractical record-keeping and reporting obligations” did not have any “  corresponding public benefit.”</p>
<p>Johnson said that it was likely opponents of the bill could keep it “bottled  up for the rest of the session” and that is unlikely, now that every Senator has  voted twice on the matter, that their positions would change. Still, he added,  anything could happen in December’s lame-duck session, so pro-life groups should  remain vigilant.</p>
<p>NRLC sent a detailed letter to the Senate in July warning that a vote for  cloture would count against individual senators on NRLC’s legislative  scorecard.</p>
<p>The bill has been condemned by the pro-life organization as &#8220;a blatant  political attack on the First Amendment rights of NRLC, our state affiliates,  and our members and donors.&#8221;</p>
<p>The DISCLOSE Act would force grassroots organizations &#8211; including most  501(c)4, 501(c)5, 501(c)6, and 527 groups – to list all donors of $600 or more  with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Groups must also post a hyperlink on  their website to the FEC, where a list of the names of their donors can be  accessed. Critics of the bill say this could possibly expose donors to political  retaliation by motivated groups or individuals.</p>
<p>In addition, the bill requires that every time an organization runs a  campaign ad, its CEO must appear in the ad and twice state his name and the  organization’s name. The top five funders of the organization behind the ad –  even if they had nothing to do with the ad’s funding – must also have their  names listed in the ad.  In addition, the most “significant” donor to the  organization must list his name, rank, and organization three times in the  ad.</p>
<p>Opponents of the bill say it would frustrate the ability of grassroots  entities to communicate effectively with the public about public policy, and  level criticism against incumbents. The disclaimer rule has been singled out for  criticism by those who say the requirement would devour valuable airtime that  would otherwise be used to inform voters about a candidate’s record.</p>
<p>The DISCLOSE Act exempts large 501(c)4 groups – like the 4 million strong NRA  and 750,000 member Sierra Club – from having to report their donors if they have  at least 500,000 members, over 10 years of existence, chapters in all 50 states,  and if they receive no more than 15% of total contributions from  corporations.</p>
<p>Other affected entities under the bill will likely include vocal liberal and  conservative groups that communicate through the Internet. While traditional  media organizations like newspapers and television stations are exempt from the  bill, bloggers, the vanguard of the “new media,” are not.</p>
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		<title>Poll: 77 Percent of Evangelicals Believe Abortion is Morally Wrong</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/poll-77-percent-of-evangelicals-believe-abortion-is-morally-wrong/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Sep 2010 05:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134650</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The National Association of Evangelicals has released a new poll showcasing  Evangelicals’ overall commitment to traditional Christian morality and  opposition to abortion.
The Gallup poll, commissioned by the NAE, found that 76 percent of  Evangelicals believe sex between an unmarried&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/poll-77-percent-of-evangelicals-believe-abortion-is-morally-wrong/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The National Association of Evangelicals has released a new poll showcasing  Evangelicals’ overall commitment to traditional Christian morality and  opposition to abortion.</p>
<p>The Gallup poll, commissioned by the NAE, found that 76 percent of  Evangelicals believe sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally wrong, 77  percent believe abortion is morally wrong, and 79 percent say that having a baby  outside of wedlock is also morally wrong. A high 87 percent of Evangelicals also  said that teen pregnancy is morally wrong.</p>
<p>But the NAE also noted that pastors may have a challenge on their hands when  it comes to the pastoral care of unmarried women who become pregnant and then  fear that having the baby will lead to rejection from the church community.</p>
<p>“We need to encourage couples to courageously and responsibly honor the gifts  of sex and life,” said Aaron Mercer, NAE Generation Forum Project Director. “The  Bible’s standard for sex is very clear: abstinence outside of marriage and  fidelity within it.”</p>
<p>“But when unmarried individuals do have sex and end up conceiving, might they  fear rejection from their church family whether or not they carry the baby to  term? Whether or not this fear is warranted, we need to consider its possible  consequences,” continued Mercer.</p>
<p>The NAE poll also indicated that church communities have confidence in their  pastors, and look up to them to engage the challenges of unmarried and teen  pregnancy and abortion within their communities.</p>
<p>Approximately 89 percent said they would go to their pastors or other leaders  in their church for advice or counseling if they were having problems in a  relationship or marriage.</p>
<p>But at the same time respondents said that national leaders were not doing  nearly as good a job at addressing the issues of abortion and unplanned  pregnancy as local pastors.</p>
<p>On the issue of unplanned pregnancies, only eight percent said national  leaders were doing a “very good job” and 18 percent said they were doing a “good  job.” National leaders fared little better when it came to abortion: just nine  percent said they did a “very good job” addressing the topic, while 21 percent  said they did a “good job.”</p>
<p>Local pastors got higher marks: 38 percent said their local pastors were  doing a “very good job” talking about abortion, while 29 percent said they were  doing a “good job.”</p>
<p>“This data should be a call to action for national religious leaders to more  productively engage on this country’s terrible abortion problem,” observed  Mercer. “It is also a reminder to local pastors that they are on the front  lines. They have the confidence of their congregations and the relationships  with their neighbors needed for real success in lowering the abortion rate in  their local communities.”</p>
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		<title>Republicans Block Repeal of Military Gay, Abortion Bans</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/republicans-block-repeal-of-military-gay-abortion-bans/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134591</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Republicans were successful in their efforts Tuesday to block debate on a  defense authorization bill that would have repealed both the law prohibiting  homosexuals from serving openly in the military and the law banning abortion on  military bases.
Democrats failed&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/republicans-block-repeal-of-military-gay-abortion-bans/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Republicans were successful in their efforts Tuesday to block debate on a  defense authorization bill that would have repealed both the law prohibiting  homosexuals from serving openly in the military and the law banning abortion on  military bases.</p>
<p>Democrats failed to muster the 60 votes needed for cloture as all members of  the GOP caucus held together, and two Arkansas Democrats, Sens. Blanche Lincoln  and Mark Pryor, also crossed party lines to join the Republican-led  filibuster.</p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also voted against the bill, but  only as a procedural tactic. Under the Senate rules, this gives him the  opportunity to bring up the matter at a later time. It is anticipated that Reid  will reintroduce the measure sometime during the Congressional lame-duck session  in December.</p>
<p>The $726 billion Defense Authorization Bill has one amendment, originally  sponsored by Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), that strikes a section of the U.S.  Code, which has prohibited Department of Defense facilities from being used to  perform abortions except in cases of rape, incest, and risk to the life of the  mother.</p>
<p>Top conservative groups including the Family Research Council (FRC), the  Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List, and the American Family Association are warning  that the FY2011 Defense Authorization bill, if passed, would &#8220;turn every U.S.  military hospital in the world into an abortion clinic.&#8221;</p>
<p>FRC president Tony Perkins noted that, because it is not an appropriations  bill, the controversial authorization measure is &#8220;not necessary to fund our  military.”</p>
<p>Also at stake was the 1993 law banning homosexuals from military service, a  law that is commonly, but erroneously identified as the Pentagon policy known as  “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).</p>
<p>Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) led the charge to block the repeal of the 1993 law  and DADT.</p>
<p>Heavy pressure was put on Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to buck  the GOP filibuster and vote for cloture. However Collins, who supports a repeal  of the 1993 law, and voted for it in committee, said she would not help advance  the bill unless Reid would allow the GOP to submit their own amendments, adding  they “deserve to have a civil, fair and open debate.”</p>
<p>“I will defend the right of my colleagues to offer amendments on this issue,  and other issues that are being brought up in connection with the defense  authorization bill,” Collins said on the Senate floor.</p>
<p>Snowe expressed similar reservations, but added that since DADT had been in  place for 17 years, Congress deserved a chance to review the Defense  Department’s upcoming December report on the issue first.</p>
<p>Earlier today, Marine Gen. James Amos, President Obama’s nominee to replace  Gen. James Conway as Marine Corps Commandant, testified before the Senate that  most Marines oppose repeal of DADT.</p>
<p>“I&#8217;ve heard at the Marine bases and the Marine input for the online survey  has been predominantly negative,” Amos told the Senate Armed Services Committee.</p>
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		<title>Newspaper Livid over Losing CCHD Funding – for Referring Planned Parenthood</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/newspaper-livid-over-losing-cchd-funding-%e2%80%93-for-referring-planned-parenthood/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Sep 2010 05:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Street Roots, a Portland-based non-profit newspaper dedicated to serving the  homeless and the poor, has expressed outrage that it is losing the support of  the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), because it referred people  to Planned Parenthood in the&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/newspaper-livid-over-losing-cchd-funding-%e2%80%93-for-referring-planned-parenthood/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Street Roots, a Portland-based non-profit newspaper dedicated to serving the  homeless and the poor, has expressed outrage that it is losing the support of  the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), because it referred people  to Planned Parenthood in the health care section of its “Street Root’ Rose City  Resource” <a href="http://www.rosecityresource.org/">booklet</a>.</p>
<p>“The message from CCHD managers at the Portland Archdiocese, although  supportive of the booklet’s overall mission, was made clear in terms of funding:  If Planned Parenthood remained in the booklet, CCHD, in keeping with Catholic  teaching, could no longer fund Street Roots, the publisher of the Rose City  Resource guide,” wrote Street Roots Managing Editor editor Joanne Zuhl in a  5,000 word report on the situation.</p>
<p>Apparently, the archdiocese had contacted Street Roots back in the spring  over a page 25 listing for Planned Parenthood on the resource guide, which  described some of the basic contraceptive services the abortion giant seeks to  offer to those in poverty seeking health care.</p>
<p>After discussions, Street Roots decided to opt to keep the listing and reject  CCHD’s grants.</p>
<p>However, in an editorial posted on Street Roots’ blog, they decried the move,  saying that “being defunded ($5-10k annually) by the Catholic Campaign for Human  Development (CCHD) … is a shot to the heart.” They then accused the CCHD of  harming “our entire community that is working to end homelessness.”</p>
<p>“Knowing the paramount importance of health care for people in poverty,  particularly for young women, we have an obligation to note the tremendous  resources of Planned Parenthood, and a host of other health organizations,  working with people on our streets. And we’re proud to do so,” the editorial  continued.</p>
<p>Zuhl wrote that the reason Street Roots and other anti-poverty organizations  have lost funding due to being at odds with Catholic teaching was due to a  coalition of “Catholic conservative groups that via the prolific capacity of the  internet” have called for the defunding of such organizations and even the  “radical overhaul” or “disbandment” of CCHD.</p>
<p>Street Roots Executive Director Israel Bayer called the Catholic reform  movement a “witch hunt born out of fear and intolerance.”</p>
<p>CCHD has been embroiled in controversy over its funding practices since  September, when the Texas-based Bellarmine Veritas Ministries (BVM) began  releasing reports with evidence that numerous CCHD grantees are involved in  promoting abortion, same-sex “marriage” and contraception, among other things.  The movement to reform CCHD by Catholic groups gathered momentum, with other  groups, such as Human Life International, and American Life League, joining in  the fight. At least 10 bishops have suspended November collections for CCHD  until the national organization undergoes real meaningful reform.</p>
<p>However, a number of diocesan CCHD branches, like the Portland Archdiocese,  are taking reform to heart and keeping on eye on what causes the money of  faithful Catholics is going to support.</p>
<p>In Chicago, reform of the CCHD office there has led the organization to focus  on aiding mothers in crisis pregnancies and the centers that serve their needs.  Through the efforts of Chicago CCHD director Rey Flores, one crisis pregnancy  center will soon upgrade to a 4-D ultrasound machine, allowing mothers to see a  highly detailed, live-action, three dimensional images of their living unborn  children.</p>
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		<title>Louisiana Abortion Clinic Shut Down for Ignoring “Most Basic” Medical Practices</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/louisiana-abortion-clinic-shut-down-for-ignoring-%e2%80%9cmost-basic%e2%80%9d-medical-practices/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134166</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has invoked its authority under  a new law to suspend the operations of an abortion facility after an  investigation showed that it was endangering women’s lives by giving them  substandard care.
According to&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/louisiana-abortion-clinic-shut-down-for-ignoring-%e2%80%9cmost-basic%e2%80%9d-medical-practices/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has invoked its authority under  a new law to suspend the operations of an abortion facility after an  investigation showed that it was endangering women’s lives by giving them  substandard care.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100904/NEWS01/9040333/Clinic-s-abortion-license-revoked">Shreveport  Times</a>, the DHH revoked the operating license of Hope Medical Group for Women  in Shreveport, after agents found the abortion facility’s staff failed to  provide women a physical examination prior to abortions, or follow necessary  protocols for the administration of anesthesia and monitoring their clients’  vital signs.</p>
<p>&#8220;These are some of the most basic medical practices they were excluding,&#8221;  said Anthony Keck interim secretary for the Louisiana DHH, according to the  Times.</p>
<p>The Times reports that the abortion facility is the first that has been shut  down under a new Louisiana state law that empowers the Department of Health and  Hospitals to shut down the operation of an abortion facility if a DHH  investigation rules that the facility is violating the law and poses “an  immediate threat to the health and safety of a patient or client.”</p>
<p>Under the law, if the licensed owner of the facility in violation loses his  operating license, then all abortion facilities licensed under that owner would  also have to cease their operations.</p>
<p>The law brought outpatient abortion clinics into compliance with Louisiana’s  regulations that already apply to hospitals.</p>
<p>According to the Times, DHH investigators performed an unannounced annual  survey Aug. 11-13 from the DHH’s Health Standards division, reviewing the  procedures of 14 abortions. Keck told the Times that the Hope Medical Group’s  violations “were so egregious and so consistent that we felt it was necessary to  order them to cease and desist immediately.”</p>
<p>In the cases reviewed, no physicals were given before anesthetizing patients,  which is necessary to prevent devastating health reactions to anesthesia, and  the abortion centre failed to have a trained professional monitor their clients  respiratory, cardiovascular, and consciousness levels after the administration  of intravenous and gaseous anesthesia.</p>
<p>The abortion clinic has thirty days to file an appeal of the DHH’s decision.  Before the law was enacted, abortion facilities could still carry on operations  while the appeals process was fought out.</p>
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		<title>Texas Court Upholds Ban on Gay ‘Marriage’</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/texas-court-upholds-ban-on-gay-%e2%80%98marriage%e2%80%99/</link>
		<comments>http://catholicexchange.com/texas-court-upholds-ban-on-gay-%e2%80%98marriage%e2%80%99/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 04 Sep 2010 05:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=134061</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A Texas appeals court has struck down a trial court’s ruling Tuesday that the  state’s ban on same-sex “marriage” violated the rights of a homosexual couple  seeking a divorce. The court declared that “the natural ability to procreate”  constituted the&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/texas-court-upholds-ban-on-gay-%e2%80%98marriage%e2%80%99/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A Texas appeals court has struck down a trial court’s ruling Tuesday that the  state’s ban on same-sex “marriage” violated the rights of a homosexual couple  seeking a divorce. The court declared that “the natural ability to procreate”  constituted the rational basis to restrict marriage to a man and a woman.</p>
<p>The Court of Appeals for the 5th District of Texas <a href="http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Gay.Divorce.pdf">struck  down </a>the previous ruling that said that two homosexual plaintiffs  married  in Massachusetts, identified as J.B. and H.B., had a right to a same-sex  “divorce” in Texas based on the “full faith and credit clause” of the U.S.  Constitution. The plaintiffs obtained a marriage license from Massachusetts in  September 2006, moved to Texas in 2008, and later that year J.B. demanded a  no-fault divorce.</p>
<p>Although the plaintiffs said they were not looking to challenge the state ban  on same-sex “marriage,” the trial court judge said the state’s ban on same-sex  “marriage” and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) also violated the  equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>However, the Texas appeals court rejected those arguments, and ordered the  trial court to reverse its decision, saying the standard of constitutional  review for marriage was the “rational basis” test, not equal protection.</p>
<p>The Texas state court ruling strikes at the heart of U.S. District Judge  Vaughn Walker’s ruling on Proposition 8. Walker ruled that Prop. 8 had no  “rational basis” for excluding homosexuals from marriage, and was built on &#8220;a  private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex  couples.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Texas court enumerated many reasons for the state having such a rational  basis for restricting marriage to a man and a woman, which not only excludes  same sex unions, but also polygamous ones.</p>
<p>“The persons singled out and favored by Texas&#8217;s marriage laws, namely  opposite-sex couples, have such a distinguishing and relevant characteristic:  the natural ability to procreate,” the court said.</p>
<p>“Thus, although a person&#8217;s sexual orientation does not affect his or her  ability to contribute to society in general,” stated the decision, “it does bear  on whether he or she will enter a relationship that is naturally open to  procreation and thus trigger the state&#8217;s legitimate interest in  child-rearing.”</p>
<p>The court also added that this rational basis for limiting marriage to  heterosexual unions in no way concludes that homosexuals are “a suspect class.”</p>
<p>“Disparate treatment of different but similarly situated groups does not  automatically violate equal protection.”</p>
<p>Furthermore, it concluded that Texas’s constitutional amendment on marriage  does not “violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, a  provision never before construed as a charter for restructuring the traditional  institution of marriage by judicial legislation.”</p>
<p>The Texas state court affirmed that it was “reasonable for the state to  conclude that the optimal familial setting for the raising of children is the  household headed by an opposite-sex couple.”</p>
<p>It continued, “The state also could have rationally concluded that children  are benefited by being exposed to and influenced by the beneficial and  distinguishing attributes a man and a woman individually and collectively  contribute to the relationship.”</p>
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		<title>Virginia AG: State Can Force Abortion Clinics to Follow Same Standards as Hospitals</title>
		<link>http://catholicexchange.com/virginia-ag-state-can-force-abortion-clinics-to-follow-same-standards-as-hospitals/</link>
		<comments>http://catholicexchange.com/virginia-ag-state-can-force-abortion-clinics-to-follow-same-standards-as-hospitals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter J. Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catholicexchange.com/?p=133664</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli may be about to make abortion “safe,  legal, and rare” &#8211; simply by making abortion clinics offer women the same  standard of care required by other outpatient surgical facilities.
Statistically speaking abortion is the number&#8230; <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/virginia-ag-state-can-force-abortion-clinics-to-follow-same-standards-as-hospitals/" class="read_more">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli may be about to make abortion “safe,  legal, and rare” &#8211; simply by making abortion clinics offer women the same  standard of care required by other outpatient surgical facilities.</p>
<p>Statistically speaking abortion is the number one surgical procedure that  women undergo in the United States, and most abortions are performed in the  first trimester.</p>
<p>However in Virginia, as in many other places around the country, abortion  facilities have often escaped the health and safety standards that are mandated  for other medical facilities, such as hospitals, that engage in out-patient  surgery.</p>
<p>Just recently, Louisiana <a href="http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10070709.html">corrected</a> that  problem by giving its Health Department the regulatory authority to shut down  facilities that failed to live up to hospital health and safety standards.</p>
<p>But many abortion clinics in Virginia have operated under the law as  “physician’s offices” rather than medical facilities. If the state follows  Cuccinelli’s legal advice, that could soon change.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is my opinion that the Commonwealth has the authority to promulgate  regulations for facilities in which first trimester abortions are performed as  well as providers of first trimester abortions, so long as the regulations  adhere to constitutional limitations,&#8221; Cuccinelli wrote in <a href="http://www.oag.state.va.us/OPINIONS/2010opns/10-012%20%28Smith%29%20-%20Marshall%20version.pdf">a  legal opinion </a>released Friday.</p>
<p>The opinion was written in response to an inquiry from Delegate Bob Marshall  (R-Prince William) and Senator Ralph K. Smith (R-Roanoke), who asked whether the  state had the authority to regulate facilities that perform 1st trimester  abortions.</p>
<p>Cuccinelli pointed out that under Virginia statute, the definition of  “hospital” can include abortion facilities because they fall within the Code’s  broad definition of a “hospital.” In Virginia, a hospital is “any facility … in  which the primary function is the provision of diagnosis, treatment, and of  medical and nursing services, surgical or non-surgical, for two or more  nonrelated individuals including … outpatient surgical [hospitals].”</p>
<p>He also pointed out that the Board of Health has already classified “abortion  outpatient clinics” as outpatient hospitals, under its authority to classify  hospitals.</p>
<p>“The attorney general’s comments on this issue points out to a real problem  involving abortion practice in the United States, and that simply is that  abortion across the United States is the single most commonly performed  procedure on American women. And yet it does remain the most unregulated,  underreported, and under-investigated of any form of medical care provided to  American women,” Olivia Gans, President of the Virginia Society for Human Life,  told LifeSiteNews.com. “So it is quite scandalous that women’s lives are  literally hanging in the balance along with their children at these abortion  provider’s hands.”</p>
<p>Cuccinelli also pointed out that abortion clinics may not be able to hide  from the Board of Health’s regulations as “physicians’ offices,” since the Board  has the authority to investigate that claim. He said that the Board of Medicine  has broad authority to regulate all health practitioners in the state, and can  therefore regulate standards of care in first trimester abortion facilities.</p>
<p>Cuccinelli also said that these positions had been upheld previously in  federal court.</p>
<p>However, abortion advocates are protesting the attorney general’s opinion,  arguing that if most abortion clinics carried out the same standards of care for  women that are mandated at hospitals they soon would be out of business.</p>
<p>According to the Washington Post, abortion advocates predict that only four  out of 21 abortion clinics would be able to fulfill that standard of care if  mandated by the state Board of Health. The rest would be shut down.</p>
<p>Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, cast  Cuccinelli’s opinion as “his first pitch&#8221; to make abortion inaccessible.</p>
<p>&#8220;These so-called regulations are only an attempt to shut down abortion  clinics in the Commonwealth of Virginia,&#8221; Keene told the Post.</p>
<p>Gans told LSN that while NARAL was often prone to “hyperbole,” “it is at time  to time the case that serious and quite startling infractions of what would be  normal medical practice and care are seriously violated in the practice of  abortion.”</p>
<p>Gans added that the biggest reason that abortion facilities operate with “a  cloak of invincibility” under the law is due to the confusion surrounding what  states can and cannot do under current interpretations of Roe v. Wade and Doe v.  Bolton.</p>
<p>“It does strike one as astonishing that NARAL would reject every effort to  protect the lives and well-being of the women who are actually seeking  abortions, as often as they reject any measure that would ultimately also  protect the unborn child,” said Gans. “One has to ask who is NARAL or NOW or  Planned Parenthood or any of these pro-abortion groups supportive of? And it  appears too often that they are protecting the interests of the abortionists and  not the children and their mothers.”</p>
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