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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Prayer Campaign Underway at Boise Planned Parenthood

A prayer campaign is going on at Planned Parenthood abortuaries across the nation. The local effort is being headed up by Randy Jackson, an ICL Board Member. He’s organized a working coalition of groups to conduct a daily prayer meeting at Planned Parenthood’s Boise office.
For 40 days, folks will gather in front of the State Street abortion clinic from 7-8 pm. All pro-Lifers are welcome. The prayer vigils began this last Wednesday and will continue each night through Sunday, November 4th.

In addition to Youth for Revolution and ICL, the local prayer campaign is being supported by the Idaho Values Alliance and Generation Life.

“The concept is very simple,” said Jackson. “Christians gathering for one hour every night for 40 days to pray for the repentance and salvation of local abortion doctors and staff, to pray for healing and repentance of the men and women who have been through abortion, and to pray for lawmakers at all levels to pass bills to guarantee the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans, born and unborn.”

ICL will lead the prayer vigils each Tuesday evening.

Boise’s prayer effort is one of 40 prayer vigils going on around the country – in cities like Sacramento, Chicago, Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Dallas and Seattle.

Please join us.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Sali Right to Oppose CHIP Bill



Idaho’s congressmen split their votes yesterday on reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Congressman Simpson voted to support the Democrats in their attempt to expand the program.

Congressman Sali opposed the bill.

We believe Sali was correct. Some in and out of Congress oppose the bill because they see it as a major expansion of the government’s interference in health care. Budget busting may be a valid criticism, but that is not our problem with the legislation.

We have repeatedly expressed our support for President Bush’s inclusion of preborn children in the CHIP program. It may be his single-strongest accomplishment as president. But the Abortion Industry vehemently opposes even the hint of providing benefits to preborn children. For one thing – it may actually help women choose life for their children when relieved of some of the financial burdens of pregnancy. For another – Bush’s CHIP plan clearly suggests that there is actually a human being floating around inside that womb.

Those were the battle lines when we waged a massive effort to secure benefits for Idaho’s preborn children in the 2003 session. Rep. Bill Sali led those efforts when he was in the Legislature and well appreciates the practical and long-term benefits associated with giving benefits to babies in the womb.

However, he has watched the national Democrats gut that portion of the CHIP program. As now drafted by the Abortion Lobby, CHIP benefits could actually be used in many states to pay for the aborting of babies.

No doubt Sali’s Democrat opponent – whether Larry Grant or some one else – hopes to score points next year by depicting Sali as some kind of cold, uncaring conservative.

But we believe that when people fully grasp what the Abortion Lobby has done to this fundamentally worthy program – they will appreciate Bill Sali’s leadership.


Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Bishop Driscoll Must Intervene to Protect the Faith



We issue a public call for Idaho’s Catholic Bishop, Mike Driscoll, to intervene quickly and forcefully in the brewing scandal involving Sister Helen Prejean. As we reported earlier, she is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at an event to raise money for the Idaho ACLU. (You can see the disappointing details for yourself: http://www.acluidaho.org ).

This nefarious organization has played a pivotal role in undermining Christian morality and the sanctity of both family and human life.

They proudly proclaim their tenacious opposition to laws like Parental Consent, which has caused untold damage to girls and families – which is to say nothing about the preborn children snuffed out by their accomplices at Planned Parenthood. They have opposed every bill in the Legislature designed to protect preborn children.

But a quick view of their website demonstrates beyond debate that they are also involved in a deeper and more pernicious campaign to undermine morality – particularly targeting vulnerable teenagers and preteens. (Please see http://aclu.org/standup/comics/abstinence.html )

And there is probably no other organization in America with an agenda more hostile to basic Christian tenets than the American Civil Liberties Union.

Sister Helen Prejean, made a celebrity by her work to end the death penalty, is not just helping the ACLU build its war chest – she is also a keynote speaker at the upcoming Fall Conference, designed to educate and build the faith of rank-and-file Catholics across the state. It is obvious that she cannot fulfill both obligations without causing scandal and demoralizing countless Christians across Idaho.

We ask Bishop Driscoll to intervene. We respectfully urge him to ask Sister Helen to withdraw from Friday night’s fundraising gig. If she is unwilling to do so – then we believe it appropriate for Bishop Driscoll to remove her from the Fall Conference. How can she credibly articulate authentic Christian principles at the Fall Conference after materially aiding an organization dedicating to effacing any element of our Christian heritage from the public record?

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Update on Planned Parenthood's Super Mill

After getting caught at trying to slide one by local officials in Aurora, Illinois, Planned Parenthood took to federal court last week, demanding that a judge order the city to let it open its $7.5 million “super mill”. We predicted they would likely find sympathy from an institution which gave birth to the modern abortion industry. We were wrong.

At least for now.

A federal judge refused to intervene. But the folks at Planned Parenthood vowed yesterday to return to court.

Meanwhile, the city of Aurora continues its investigation into Planned Parenthood’s deceptive campaign to gain permits from the city to operate a huge abortion mill in this Chicago suburb. Until those issues are resolved, the city has suspended Planned Parenthood’s occupancy.

In a related issue, Planned Parenthood of Illinois is about to get slapped with a $7.5 million libel suit. Attorney Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society has announced that he will file suit today on behalf of several pro-Life citizens who have been waging a prayer effort against the Planned Parenthood facility. Planned Parenthood has repeatedly and publicly accused the protesters gathered in Aurora of being “advocates of violence”, and even having a history of “criminal activity”.

We keep watch over these important developments.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Catholic Nun to Raise Money for Idaho ACLU


The Idaho ACLU has announced that Sister Helen Prejean, made a celebrity by her book and movie on the death penalty (“Dead Man Walking”), will be its featured speaker at a fundraiser later this week. The ACLU will charge $50 per person on Friday, September 28th so local supporters can meet Sister Helen and fill their war chest.

Sister Helen is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph and native to Louisiana.

She is coming to Boise to speak at the Catholic Diocese’s Fall Conference, and apparently added the ACLU fundraising gig to her itinerary.

Perhaps Sister Helen is unaware of the pivotal role the Idaho ACLU plays in promoting abortion. They have sued the State of Idaho half-a-dozen times on various abortion laws – including a decade-long battle to establish a “right” to tax-funding of abortions. They essentially operate as the legal arm of Idaho Planned Parenthood, and have opposed every pro-Life bill presented in the Idaho Legislature over many years. (The last was our Parental Consent legislation). The blood from thousands of sacrificed Idaho children drip from the hands of her radical beneficiaries.

We pray Sister Helen immediately ends her scandalous support of this notoriously anti-Christian group.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Battle Lines Drawn Over CHIP



The Congressional Quarterly ran a story on the Children’s Health Insurance Program battle a couple days ago, indicating that House Democrats will likely support a scaled-back version of the bill they passed. While they are reportedly “grumbling” about the changes required by the Senate – they seem likely to go along.


Ways Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) is quoted as saying, “I’m very unhappy. It’s not even a compromise. It’s their way or the highway,” referring to the Senate.

Leading liberals are unhappy – despite the fact that the program they will soon pass brings a $35 billion expansion of the program; new income guidelines will allow children in families with incomes as high as $80,000 to get benefits. And the new appropriation bill still includes language which will prohibit benefits going to preborn children – and opening the way for CHIP monies to be used to pay for abortions in some 17 states with state-funded abortion programs.

President Bush told the nation at his news conference yesterday that he will veto the bill.

He called the expansion unacceptable, and a major step toward socialized medicine.

The President did not reference the abortion issue as part of his rationale. And that’s too bad – because America needs to better understand what the Democrats in Congress are up to. Still, we can be certain that part of the President’s veto commitment involves the issue of preborn children. After all, his innovative leadership first created the option of providing benefits to preborn children through Executive Order – and the language of this Democrat bill is obviously meant to be a rebuke to the President’s pro-Life policies.

It is difficult to see how preborn coverage will survive the Democrat’s attack – but we need to be in prayer. This benefit is one of the most important strategies available to saving preborn children while we suffer under the Roe regime.






Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Presidential Candidates Continue to Disappoint

All of the so-called “front runners” missed the opportunity to address the GOP base on core cultural issues. A presidential forum called “Values Voter Debate” was held this week in Florida. It was moderated by WorldNetDaily’s Joseph Farah.

Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson all decided to skip the opportunity to talk about the most important issues facing America. No doubt their handlers determined that wading into tough issues like abortion, gay rights, embryonic stem cell research, parental authority in public schools, the threat posed by Planned Parenthood to our children’s welfare – these and many others were simply too hot to handle.

The absence of these “leaders” seems to only confirm what many of us have feared: These men are simply not prepared to lead America.

Joseph Farah wrote that the most disappointing truant was Fred Thompson. That seems right. There is the obvious fact that Thompson has skipped out on any forum in which he might be challenged by serious opponents. But the disappointment is deeper: For months there has been a lingering hope that Thompson might be the one to put it altogether – message, conviction, money and organization. His consistent timidity raises large doubts about his ability not just to campaign – but to govern.

That pessimistic view is only confirmed by statements Thompson made last week regarding the Terri Schiavo case. When asked if he thought the President and Congress were right to intervene on her behalf – Thompson said he needed more time to study the issue. He went on to suggest that it is generally a bad idea for the federal government to intervene in local matters.
His answers seem to betray a man who just doesn’t much care about the serious threats to humanity posed by the legal sanction of killing the most vulnerable among us.

It may well be time for the conservative movement to coalesce around a Duncan Hunter or Mike Huckabee – and do the hard work of making one of them a front-tier candidate.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Planned Parenthood Chutzpa


You must acknowledge that Planned Parenthood is just about without peer when it comes to sheer ‘chutzpa’ – defined by Encarta as “impudent rudeness or lack of respect”.

After being nailed by local officials in the town of Aurora, Illinois for deception, Planned Parenthood filed suit in federal court last week. They are demanding that a federal judge order the city to let them open their huge abortion mill on their schedule.

The huge battle in Aurora comes after Planned Parenthood was caught attempting to gain permits to operate a huge abortion mill without ever informing local officials of its involvement or the exact nature of the “medical facility”. The entire permit process was presented to the city under the name, “Gemini Office Development”. At no point did these folks disclose that “Gemini” is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Planned Parenthood.

Once the deception was uncovered, city officials began an investigation of the process with an eye toward determining if Planned Parenthood’s deception rose to the level of criminal behavior – and whether there are grounds for the Aurora City Council to revoke the temporary occupancy permit. Afraid of the growing public outcry, Planned Parenthood sought their usual refuge in the federal courts – the true progenitor of this dangerous and wicked organization.

Here’s how Planned Parenthood explained their deceit to the judge:

“Aurora’s revocation of a temporary operating permit is motivated solely by political opposition to the constitutionally-protected right to abortion services. Aurora’s only objection is that it was not given the opportunity to discriminate based on the fact that Planned Parenthood provides abortion services.”

Besides that – Planned Parenthood calls their deception “irrelevant”. Or, in other words, none of the City Council’s business.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Democrats Wage War on Women and Preborn Children

In one of the more tragic developments under the new Democrat regime in Congress, pro-abort legislators are working to make sure that the national Children’s Health Insurance Program no longer covers preborn children. The House has already voted to specifically deny benefits, and yesterday, the Senate defeated a motion by Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado to reassert coverage.

This program has been one of the more vital initiatives by President Bush to restore respect and protection for preborn children. In 2002, the President used his executive authority to allow states providing health insurance for low income children to include those in the womb.

In the 2003 session of the Idaho Legislature, Idaho Chooses Life waged a ferocious battle to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to help women and babies with medical costs. We saw it as a very real way to offer help to women dealing with crisis pregnancies. The Abortion Lobby in Idaho, which sadly includes a substantial number of the medical community, recognized both the practical and legal implications of extending coverage to preborn children.

Unfortunately, we lost the fight on the House floor by a couple of votes.

The Allard amendment failed 49-50. We presume that Sen. Craig was absent for the vote – which prevented the amendment from narrow passage (with Vice President Cheney casting the deciding vote).

LifeNews.com reports that President Bush is likely to veto the Democrat legislation, in part because their new rules for the Children’s Health Insurance Program will allow for federal tax funding of abortions in states (17) where pregnant women are eligible for elective abortions. We pray so. It is more than ironic that a program designed to provide health care for children would be used instead to kill them.

It is just plain evil.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

A Tale of Two Polls

CBS News – that bulwark of the Left – has issued a poll showing Rudy Giuliani retains a lead among GOP voters despite the entry of Fred Thompson. They claim he is backed by 27% of Republican Primary voters. They put Thompson at 22%.

Behind Thompson is John McCain at 18% and Mitt Romney fairly stagnant at 14%.

This is in contrast to another poll, done almost simultaneously, by Rasmussen. He shows Thompson leading the race at 26%, with Giuliani trailing at 22%. Romney’s support parallels the CBS numbers.

What is interesting about these contrasting numbers is the suspicion that CBS is actually trying to prop-up the pro-abort Giuliani. In a detailed memo put on their website yesterday, CBS explores the apparent softening of Giuliani’s support among Republican primary voters. The outlet suggests that Rudy might face growing problems because of his limited government experience.

CBS then goes on to argue that, while the poll found almost half of Giuliani supporters believed he was “pro-Life”, his pro-choice politics may prove to be his “secret weapon” before the smoke clears:

“However, even if more Republicans become aware of his position on abortion,
Giuliani may still win the nomination. By a 2-to-1 margin, Republican
primary voters said they could vote for a less conservative candidate if they
believed that candidate would win in a general election, where Giuliani’s
moderate views on social issues could allow him to win support from independent
voters.”

This little paragraph of “analysis” is loaded with sleight-of-hand.

First of all, the poll tested the question of “conservative” as opposed to specifying a pro-choice candidate. Thus they deceived not just people answering the questions – but are trying to use this “poll” to create public opinion. That can be seen most clearly in their closing assumption that independent voters are “socially liberally”.

Returns from the last two presidential elections, as well as more honest polling data, demonstrate that “Independent” voters are fairly conservative in their social values – especially on the question of abortion.

Wish as they might, manipulate as they will – CBS is very unlikely to succeed in its campaign to transform the Republican Party into a liberal bastion on the issues that matter most.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

ICL Honors Those in Uniform

On this day of remembrance, we would like to thank those proud men and women in service to America who have faithfully and successfully defended us in the years since the horrific attack on America. Through the sacrifice of the military and law enforcement, this nation has been spared from another attack.

We pray for the families of those who mourn today for loved ones lost.

And we pray for the Lord’s wisdom to descend upon the nation’s policy makers as they shape – or undermine – America’s future security. May
they be guided to look to Him with all humility.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Planned Parenthood Faces Spate of Legal Troubles

In the past several weeks, legal troubles have mounted for Planned Parenthood:

• Illinois Planned Parenthood has been scheming for over a year to build a new “super mill” in a suburb of Chicago. Permitting was moving forward as Planned Parenthood hid its involvement and the intentions from city officials. Now the City of Aurora has hired a new investigator to review the entire process and determine whether Planned Parenthood engaged in illegal acts to obtain city permits.

• Planned Parenthood of Nebraska has been sued for medical malpractice by a 40 year old woman who underwent an abortion at their facility in Lincoln. The woman lost 80 percent of her blood volume and needed an emergency hysterectomy to save her life.

• Planned Parenthood of San Diego now faces two lawsuits. One is filed alleging wrongful death in the case of a 21 year old attorney who died following an abortion at the facility. A month later, another woman filed suit because Planned Parenthood failed to tell her she had cervical cancer – despite having obtained a Pap smear at their offices. The woman didn’t find out about her cancer for over a year, by which time it had progressed to stage 3. To make matters worse, Planned Parenthood officials in San Diego refused to provide the woman with copies of her own medical files.

• Police in Hartford, Connecticut have confirmed that the Planned Parenthood affiliate there performed an abortion on a 15 year old girl who was the victim of kidnapping and sexual abuse. The girl apparently ran away from home to live with a 41 year old predator. After getting her pregnant, the man took her to Planned Parenthood. Despite a state law requiring Planned Parenthood to report the abortion as a case of possible abuse – no evidence exists that they ever did.

The man in question is being prosecuted. But it is unclear whether any action will be taken against Planned Parenthood.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Abortion and Presidential Politics

We recently reviewed polling data produced by the Elliot Institute which found that abortion-on-demand was a relatively unimportant matter for the vast majority of American women. Their priorities were domestic violence, more time with their families and improved educational opportunities.

A national poll conducted by The Polling Company last month found similar attitudes. Of even more immediate interest – this survey documents a substantial difference of opinion and values between the Democrat heir, Hillary Clinton, and a majority of women voters in the country.

For example, 64% of women voters interviewed said they were “less likely” to vote for a candidate who opposed the national ban on Partial Birth Abortions. Sen. Clinton has voted against this measure on four separate occasions. An even higher percentage (68%) of women said they were less likely to support a presidential candidate who supports tax-funding of abortions. This, too, is an area where Clinton is considerably more radicalized than the women she seeks to speak for in national affairs.

Sen. Clinton has twice opposed legislation to make it a crime to take a teenage girl across state lines in order to avoid parental consent laws. A whopping 73% of women interviewed said they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who would undermine parental authority in this way.

This data strongly suggests that a majority of women voters are up for grabs in the coming presidential election. It reminds us of the fact that President Bush won two narrow national elections largely on the basis of his strong appeal to pro-Life voters. Which brings us to the key question of the day: Why is the pro-abort Rudy Giuliani leading in most national polls?

Obviously one key factor is early name recognition, as well as a friendly national media which has spent some three decades trying to undermine the Republican Party’s commitment to pro-Life values. We are constantly told that conservative values are held by only the “fringe”. Yet another poll contradicts this propaganda:

FRC reports that Fabrizio McLaughlin Associates has just completed a study of likely Republican voters. They found that 51% of Republican voters hold very strong moral values – which will likely determine voting behavior as the presidential race matures. In fact, social conservatives are the single largest constituency of the Republican Party. This strongly suggests that Rudy Giuliani will not maintain his present lead, and that increases the odds that Republicans just might defeat Hillary Clinton next year.

Friday, September 07, 2007

UK Govt Approves Creating Human-Animal Hybrids

We ran a story a week ago about lobbying efforts in England to obtain government sanction for a “research” effort using animal-human hybrids. Specifically, medical researchers wanted permission to cross humans with cows. The resulting life forms, claimed the researchers, would be perfect for various experiments on disease treatments.

Unbelievably, the government there has approved the project, after nearly a year of lobbying by the scientific community and their benefactors in the pharmaceutical industry.

The leading advocate is Professor Ian Wilmut, who headed the team which cloned Dolly the sheep.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

More on Planned Parenthood's Creepy "Candy" Campaign




We searched the web looking for more information about this effort to seduce Idaho’s youth with “lollipop-condoms”. Apparently this sort of creepy tactic has been by Planned Parenthood before.


The American Life League’s Ed Szymkowiak wrote this a couple years ago about an incident in Rochester, NY:


“Planned Parenthood is distributing colored condoms packaged as lollipops to children. Even young children are sure to be attracted to this deplorably deceptive ‘lollipop’. This would set the stage for a Planned Parenthood ‘teaching moment’.”

Indeed, we found a website for one of the companies manufacturing these things. Here’s their promotional description:

“Designed to look like a candy lollipop, the Condom Lollipop is guaranteed to produce smiles all around. Available in a single color or a mix of different condom colors. Clear custom designs are applied to the condom wrapper. The Condom Lollipop is probably our most popular promotional item. We have seen otherwise mature and responsible adults behaving very badly to get their hands on them. Use them at an exhibition and traffic to your stand will turn your neighbors green with envy.”

Yes, how cute and amusing. Especially when one realizes that the condoms distributed by Idaho Planned Parenthood had their pornographic “TEENWIRE” website on the back side – so children would know how to find answers to such questions as homosexual urges, oral sex techniques and how to get Planned Parenthood’s help in pursuing an active sex life without parental knowledge or interference.

How can the Fair Board endorse such an outrageous assault on our children’s innocence?

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Planned Parenthood Goes to the Fair

A board member of this organization showed us a condom-dressed-up-as-a-lollipop, complete with a nice little bow. She obtained it at the Idaho Planned Parenthood booth during the latest run of the Idaho Western Fair.

The group was distributing them to kids cruising their site.

Our friend complained to the folks running the Fair, explaining that the lollipop-condoms were both suggestive and inappropriate for children. The response? A dead-pan imitation of a Planned Parenthood spokesman: “But that is their target audience”.

No moral dilemmas here, just blind support for the radical agenda of Planned Parenthood. Now we have local government officials providing a venue so Idaho’s largest abortion mill can more easily corrupt Treasure Valley teens and pre-teens with their “easy sex” message.

Had the matter been pressed further, there’s little doubt that Fair officials would have cited Planned Parenthood’s right to “free speech”. Funny how that works, though. What would these foolish people say if we were to distribute pictures of those babies who paid the ultimate price for the easy sex culture created by Planned Parenthood? Screams of protest, no doubt.

So the Idaho Western Fair, one of the last places where families and kids should be able to enjoy wholesome fun, is now a hunting ground for the folks at Planned Parenthood. Their distribution of lollipop-condoms both trivializes sex and blesses promiscuity as a “natural” part of the childhood experience. Such corruption of children was once considered a serious criminal enterprise; now it has the protection of the local Fair Board.

To add insult to the insanity of the Fair Board – it is probable that Congress provided the money to manufacture the illicit trinkets in the first place.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Thoughts on Sen. Craig's Resignation

Sen. Larry Craig announced over the weekend that he intends to leave the Senate at the end of this month.

Certainly there are those who rejoice at the news. Others think that he has done “the right thing” – and that some sort of justice has been done. And then there are those who may well be reflecting, with more than a sense of heaviness, on their own roles in pushing Sen. Craig unceremoniously out the door.

Perhaps the staff over at the Statesman are among those. The publication has suddenly turned soft on Sen. Craig in an attempt to wash its hands of the drying mud it slung throughout the last week. Editors have begun to spin their PR effort, hoping to persuade Idahoans that it behaved with scruple and utmost regard for the truth. That will be a very hard sell.

Craig’s resignation is something of a tsunami wave in Idaho’s political world, and it will take years before the full consequences are appreciated.

For the time being, let us offer our public thanks and appreciation to Senator Craig for his pro-Life commitment and a record of supporting every congressional measure before him which could advance protections for America’s preborn citizens. That is quite a long list.

We pray for Sen. Craig and his family: that they might receive the Lord’s strength and healing. And we pray for Governor Otter as he considers his duty to name a worthy successor to this crucial leadership post.

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