Planned Parenthood Under Investigation for Fraud

US Government Cuts Off Supplies to Marie Stopes International

40 Days for Life Leader: Pro-Lifers Must Look Beyond Elections and Focus on Making a Local Impact

Comatose Chinese Woman Gives Birth to Healthy Baby Boy

Bill to Help Women with Babies with Genetic Defects Passed

QuickStats: Death Rate* Among Teens Aged 15--19 Years, by Sex --- National Vital Statistics System, United States, 1985—2005

Single-Sex Classes Improving Test Scores in Newark NJ

New Injection May Cut Down Syndrome Symptoms in Womb, Reduce Abortions...

Planned Parenthood Under Investigation for Fraud

More than 50 members of Congress have asked the Health and Human Services Secretary to conduct an audit of Planned Parenthood over allegations that the abortion provider has overbilled the federal government.

The request for the audit was initially made by a coalition of faith-based groups, including the American Family Association. Planned Parenthood receives federal funding through the Title X Family Planning Program, a 90-percent Medicaid match for family planning, and a federal program to purchase drugs from manufacturers at a reduced price.

Four years ago, state auditors in California began reviewing Planned Parenthood affiliates, but the audit was stopped after only one review was completed. That review found that Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside counties overbilled the government more than $5.2 million.
 
Ray Ruddy, president of Gerard Health Foundation, is leading the call for a federal investigation. He says, unlike other federal contractors, Planned Parenthood does not have to bill the government at cost, but is able to bill at what they call "normal and customary rates."
 
"Let's say, right now, everybody bills the federal government at their cost, plus eight percent. Most vendors, ...whether they're wholesalers or retailers, actually bill out and mark up their stuff anywhere between 50 and 100 percent," Ruddy explains.

"If you take everybody who's billing the federal government and they start to mark up their stuff, their materials they provide, by 50-to-100 percent -- I have not even begun to make a calculation of that, but I bet that would be in the billions of dollars."
 
Ruddy also alleges that officials in California redefined the term "at cost" to validate what he says are fraudulent billing practices of Planned Parenthood.

He believes Planned Parenthood could have fraudulently billed the federal government in excess of $180 million.
[http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=269420; Allie Martin - OneNewsNow EXCLUSIVE - 9/30/2008]




US Government Cuts Off Supplies to Marie Stopes International
According to news reports, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has issued a new directive requiring several African countries to stop providing United States-funded contraceptives to Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world's leading abortion providers.

USAID decided to take action and pull support for MSI in Africa because of the organization's collaboration with China's draconian population program.

Under US law, any organization that "supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization" is prohibited from receiving American foreign aid.  This law, also known as the Kemp-Kasten amendment, has been used since 2002 to deny funding to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The possibility that other complicit groups would also be affected was hinted at by the US State Department a few weeks ago when it once more withheld funds from UNFPA.

The US government informed Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe that it did not want any USAID-funded contraceptives to be provided to Marie Stopes International.

The AP reports that the US does not give any direct assistance to MSI, but that the organization is a leading family planning health provider in Africa and one of several distributors of US-donated contraceptive commodities, like condoms and intrauterine devices.

MSI chief executive Dana Hovig denied the allegations of cooperating with forced abortions in China, stating, "To the contrary, MSI is one of the few organizations that has worked over the past decade to increase the availability of voluntary, client-centered family planning services in China." He blasted the USAID decision as "purely political and dangerous to the lives of women."

The US State Department and USAID have said that the directive only affects MSI and that the same amount of US-donated contraceptives would be distributed in the African nations by other groups.

Marie Stopes has been a long-time advocate for abortion rights worldwide. For the past year, MSI has been collecting signatures for their "Global Safe Abortion" campaign which demands "for women's access to legal, safe abortion to be recognized as a fundamental human right." Pro-life initiatives to counter MSI's campaign have also been launched.

This article is reprinted with permission from: http://www.c-fam.org
Samantha Singson NEW YORK, NY, October 6, 2008 (C-FAM) 

40 DAYS FOR LIFE LEADER: PRO-LIFERS MUST LOOK BEYOND ELECTIONS AND FOCUS ON MAKING A LOCAL IMPACT
"With the defeat of pro- life ballot initiatives in Colorado and South Dakota, the election of an ardent abortion advocate for president, and an increase in the number of abortion proponents in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, some pro-lifers may feel a sense of despair today," David Bereit, national campaign director of 40 Days for Life, said yesterday. "However,” he continued, “we have every reason to be optimistic about the profound pro-life shift that is beginning to take place below the radar."

From September 24 through November 2, intensive 40 Days for Life campaigns were conducted in more than 175 communities in 47 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa and two Canadian provinces. For 40 days, people of faith and conscience prayed, fasted, held peaceful vigils outside abortion facilities, and conducted grassroots pro-life outreach. Tens of thousands of people participated in this history-making initiative.

"The facts speak for themselves," said Bereit. "More than 540 times during this fall's campaign, women who were arriving for abortions changed their minds and decided to keep their babies as a direct result of the 40 Days for Life volunteers praying outside the abortion center. We are also aware of a number of clinic employees who experienced a change of heart and quit the abortion business due to this effective pro-life outreach, and many abortion centers cut back hours or closed for entire days during 40 Days for Life."

Bereit said the life-saving impact of this effort cannot be attributed to any elected leader or law. "It was the result of people putting their faith into action right where they live," he said. "We have now heard from people all across North America that the conclusion of 40 Days for Life was not an end, but merely a new beginning for ongoing local pro-life efforts that will continue to save lives regardless of who holds elective office. We look forward with great anticipation to the next national 40 Days for Life campaign." That campaign is scheduled to begin February 25.

“This fall, a political battle was lost," concluded Bereit, "but hundreds of lives were won. I am convinced that those victories will have far greater impact."
[6Nov08, www.LifeSiteNews.com,WASHINGTON]

COMATOSE CHINESE WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO HEALTHY BABY BOY DESPITE CONDITION. A comatose woman in China has give birth to a healthy baby boy earlier this week. Tang Yulu, 29, of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region gave birth via C-section to her son who, although underweight, is healthy according to the Modern Life Daily. Tang has been hospitalized since April when she went to the hospital after feeling dizzy and vomiting. She was sent to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage and soon entered a coma.

Tang's family wanted to have an abortion performed, but realized the idea upset Tang. "She started crying in bed when we discussed the abortion in the ward," said her mother Xiong Shaolian. "We know she wanted to have the baby so we opted against the abortion." Tang's husband, Lu Bin, has cared for her daily, feeding her, washing her face, and brushing her teeth. His constant care has been attributed to the baby's good health by the attending doctors. [10November08, LifeNews.com; Beijing, China www.LifeNews.com]

BILL TO HELP WOMEN WITH BABIES WITH GENETIC DEFECTS PASSED. The Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act (PPDCAA), which proposes to offer information and services for expectant and young mothers of handicapped children, was signed into US federal law in October.

The law is an attempt to address the dramatic plunge in births of children with genetic defects, since widespread access to pre-birth genetic screening has encouraged abortions of babies with Down syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, and other conditions. Amongst Down syndrome babies the abortion rate is estimated to be as high as 90 percent.

The law requires that expectant mothers be provided with adequate prognoses of their babies’ life expectancies, possible medical conditions resulting from their primary condition, and adoption options. Follow up care is also required, following the births of babies with genetic abnormalities.  The bill was sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback and Ted Kennedy, a most unlikely coalition. Brownback is known for his strong pro-life stance, while Kennedy has long been a leading advocate of abortion rights. However, the two ideological opponents united to pass the law, says prominent bioethicist Wesley Smith, “to prevent parents from being subtly or expressly pushed in making decisions about their genetically disabled child.”

Some pro-abortion activists, however, are skeptical about the benefits of the law. Diana Gray, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University Medical School, told STLtoday.com that providing un-requested information about adoption to pregnant women might make the doctor appear “biased” and “judgmental.” Gray also suggests that there are not many families who would want to adopt children with genetic conditions.

However, the evidence suggests otherwise. As STLtoday reports, there are currently more families trying to adopt children with Down syndrome than there are babies with the condition to be adopted.  [Jonquil Frankham, 11Nov08 www.LifeSiteNews.com, http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07072410.html]

QUICKSTATS: DEATH RATE* AMONG TEENS AGED 15--19 YEARS, BY SEX --- NATIONAL VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM, UNITED STATES, 1985—2005. During 1985--2005, death rates among all teens aged 15--19 years declined substantially, from a high of 88.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 1991 to 65.0 in 2005. This decline resulted primarily from a 28% decrease in the death rate for males aged 15--19 years during that period. In 2005, a total of 13,703 deaths occurred among all teens aged 15--19 years.
NOTE: According to this chart, the death rates noticeably began to drop about 1994, as Abstinence Education programs began to reach substantial numbers of teenagers around the nation.
SOURCE: National Vital Statistics System data, available at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mortsql.html and http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5744a5.htm?s_cid=mm5744a5_e

SINGLE-SEX CLASSES IMPROVING TEST SCORES IN NEWARK, NJ. Despite State and Federal laws that make it difficult for schools to support all girl or boy classes, some schools in New Jersey are hoping that single-sex classes will help their students' academic performance. "Now it's real easy to concentrate without all the boys," said a 12-year-old girl in the pilot program. Teachers are reporting higher test scores, calmer classes, and more "healthy" academic competition. The Federal No Child Left Behind laws contains an exemption to state and federal sex discrimination laws, with parental consent, for schools to group students by gender for classes if the purpose is to improve academic performance. NJ.com, 11-3-08.  

New Injection May Cut DOWN SYNDROME Symptoms in Womb, Reduce Abortions
Government researchers say they have developed a new injection that could curb the effects of Down Syndrome. Dr. Catherine Spong headed the National Institutes of Health research team that conducted the tests and published their results in the latest issue of New Scientist.

According to their report, the researchers developed an injection based on two proteins that they have found can help brains grow normally. People afflicted with Down Syndrome make fewer of the proteins. They tested the idea on mice and say they injected the proteins into an unborn mouse to reduce the effects of Down Syndrome during pregnancy and had success.

If the results can be replicated in humans, the new shot could help reduce the abortion rates of babies with the condition – abortion of Down babies runs as high as 90%.

The scientists genetically engineered the mice to have pups who had Down's and gave them the shot midway through the pregnancy. They found the mice given the shots reached the same developmental milestones as mice born without the condition.

Spong said a "significant amount" of the developmental delay had been prevented due to the shots and that they had normal levels of the ADNP protein that Down causes to be underdeveloped. They are now watching the mice to see if they reach the same levels of development in their later years.

Tests on humans are still years away but observers say they could result in a reduced number of abortions. Still Carol Boys, chief executive of the Down's Syndrome Association in England, told the London Daily Mail that people should be cautious about calling the shots a cure for Down Syndrome.

And Josephine Quintavalle, of the pro-life group Comment On Reproductive Ethics, told the newspaper that she's concerned about the eugenics component of the shots and how it may lead society to view the disabled negatively. "If it is life saving, it is one thing. But if your intervention is just to ensure that somebody conforms to our idea of an ideal standard, there are an awful lot of issues to be weighed," she told the newspaper.
[25Nov08, Ertelt, LifeNews.com Washington, DC]