Covenant News Wire Service

Appeals court supports state abortion notification laws

Court Supports Abortion Notification Laws

DENVER -- Two separate rulings of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday went against a Tulsa abortion provider challenging two Oklahoma laws dealing with parental notification before a minor can undergo an abortion.

A two-judge panel denied Nova Health Systems' request to bar the Oklahoma attorney general and the Tulsa County district attorney from enforcing a law signed May 20 by Gov. Brad Henry requiring parental notification at least 48 hours before a minor receives an abortion.

In the other decision, another 10th Circuit panel once again set aside a lower court's decision that had struck down a 2001 Oklahoma abortion law that makes abortion providers liable for medical costs resulting from abortions performed on minors without parental knowledge or consent.

Bebe Anderson, a lawyer for Nova, which operates under the name Reproductive Services, said the clinic will consider whether to try again to overturn the liability law.

In the case of the new 48-hour notification law, Nova wanted the 10th Circuit to delay implementation of the law pending the outcome of an appeal.

U.S. Senior District Judge H. Dale Cook in Tulsa had upheld the law May 27 in a lawsuit Nova filed minutes after Henry signed the legislation into law. Cook ruled the law complies with requirements specified by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nova appealed that ruling and asked that the law not be enforced until its appeal was settled. Cook refused June 10 to grant the injunction, and Nova appealed that issue to the 10th Circuit.

The two appellate judges Wednesday, in denying Nova's request for an injunction, said they reached that decision "in light of our determination that the provision is likely to withstand constitutional scrutiny."

In the case of the 2001 abortion liability law, the 10th Circuit ruled 2-1 that a 2002 decision by U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan in Tulsa striking down the law cannot stand.

The appellate judges said Nova did not have the legal right to sue the defendants it chose to challenge the law.

Anderson said Nova might select a different defendant, such as the state of Oklahoma, if the clinic decides to sue again.


http://www.newsok.com/pr
int.php?article=1558237

After Abortionist Flees the Country Clinic Owners Arrested

Abortion Clinic Owners Arrested

A Miami clinic lost its license and its owners were arrested in the second case involving the same unlicensed doctor allegedly performing abortions.

TALLAHASSEE -- Police have arrested the owners of a Miami abortion clinic on charges of allowing an unlicensed doctor and unlicensed nurse to perform abortions.

Jose Rodriguez, 52, and Magaly Gil, 56, both of Miami, were arrested and released on $5,000 bond after detectives concluded that they knew Kieron Nisbet was not licensed to practice medicine in Florida. Nisbet is alleged to have performed abortions in November at their clinic, Best Care Women's Center, 8380 SW Eighth St.

Police said they believe Nisbet also illegally performed abortions at a Hialeah clinic, A Women's Care II, during the same time and has fled to Trinidad to escape an arrest warrant they obtained for him in April.

State officials are trying to revoke the license of A Women's Care II, but the clinic is fighting the charges before an administrative judge.

Rodriguez and Gil voluntarily relinquished the abortion clinic license on Monday, state officials said, after the joint investigation between the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Florida Department of Health.

A former employee of Best Care Women's Center told police in a sworn statement that Rodriguez and Gil ordered her to deny Nisbet's involvement in the clinic if questioned by police, the police report said.

The pair went so far as to bring the employee to a Hialeah clinic ''for the purpose of showing her a licensed doctor by the name of David Brown,'' and she was instructed to say Brown performed the abortions at their clinic, police said.

In March, a Best Care employee was arrested and charged with allowing the unlicensed practice of nursing, after investigators identified two patients who were administered sonograms, received medicine and were sedated by Nisbet and an unlicensed nurse.

The Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates abortion clinics, also lists Gil as the administrator for another clinic, the Millennium Women Center in Miami.

Reached at the Millennium clinic, Gil would not confirm the arrest but she said that the Best Care clinic closed two months ago.

Gil also said that she no longer has a business relationship with Rodriguez.


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamih
erald/living/health/12165203.htm

John G. Roberts

Profile: John G. Roberts

John G. Roberts, 50, sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He was nominated in 2003 by President George W. Bush. He was also nominated by the first President Bush, but he never received a Senate vote.

He has been a prominent GOP attorney in private practice in Washington and between 1989 and 1993 he was the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the first Bush administration. Roberts attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, clerked for Justice William H. Rehnquist on the Supreme Court and has argued frequently before the court.

Roberts' nomination to the appellate bench attracted support from both ends of the ideological spectrum.

Some 146 members of the D.C. Bar signed a letter urging his confirmation, including officials from the Clinton administration. The letter stated: "He is one of the very best and most highly respected appellate lawyers in the nation, with a deserved reputation as a brilliant writer and oral advocate. He is also a wonderful professional colleague both because of his enormous skills and because of his unquestioned integrity and fair-mindedness."

Walter E. Dellinger III, who served as solicitor general under former President Bill Clinton, told the Judiciary Committee that, “In my view . . . there is no better appellate advocate than John Roberts.”

Key Decisions and Writings:

Roberts is seen as a GOP heavyweight, but he's not seen as a "movement conservative" so some right-wing Republicans are skeptical of Roberts.

Roberts has a thin paper record, with few decisions on controversial issues that excite interest groups on the right and the left. He hasn't been on the Appeals Court very long, so there are very few decisions that shed light on his judicial philosophy. Jonathan Turley has called him the leading "blank slate candidate."

Abortion - Roberts has generally avoided weighing in on disputed social issues. Abortion rights groups, however, have pointed out that Roberts tried during his days as a lawyer in the first Bush administration to overturn Roe v. Wade. Roberts did help write a brief that stated "we continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled." Yet when pressed during his 2003 confirmation hearing for his own views on the matter, Roberts said: "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent." Liberals will argue that he now can vote to overturn that decision if confirmed.

States Rights - As a judge on the D.C. Circuit, Roberts wrote a dissenting opinion that suggested Congress might lack the power under the Constitution's Commerce Clause to regulate the treatment of a certain species of wildlife.

Basically, Roberts sides with many conservatives in ruling that the Commerce Clause does not give Congress free reign to regulate everything, regardless of how tenuous its connection to interstate commerce. This and similar decisions from the Rehnquist court have alarmed liberals, but the Commerce Clause has been stretched so far by the Supreme Court that it's hard to get too excited about some reasonable limitations placed on this power. Frankly, the recent medical marijuana decision by the Supreme Court demonstrates how far the Court will go sometimes to uphold Federal power, even in a case where individuals grow their own supply for medicinal purposes. Here, Roberts' approach seems more practical and consistent with the Constitution.

Profiles:

Washington Post profile

Slate profile

Harvard Crimson profile


http://www.orlandoreport.com/pr
ofiles/Supreme_Court/roberts.htm

Danco Laboratories announces 460,000 U.S. babies killed with RU-486

460,000 U.S. babies murdered with RU-486

Five mothers died in the process of killing their children

For Immediate Release: July 18, 2005 Contact: Chrissy Faessen (202) 220-3763

New York, NY -- Danco Laboratories announced today that it is modifying the labeling for Mifeprex® to include updated safety information.

Mifeprex® has been available in the U.S. for almost 5 years, and more than 460,000 women in this country have chosen it for early abortion since FDA approval in September 2000. During that time period, Danco has received reports of five deaths from serious bacterial infection and sepsis following treatment with Mifeprex. and misoprostol.

“All of these cases had atypical presentations of infection, and in the first three cases, the bacteria were identified as a very rare anaerobic, gram-positive, spore forming species known as Clostridium sordellii,” said Richard Hausknecht, M.D., Medical Director, Danco Labs. One of these cases occurred during a clinical trial in Canada in 2001. The other four cases were reported from California – two in late 2003, one in early 2004, and a recent one in mid 2005. No causal relationship between these events and the use of Mifeprex. and misoprostol has been established.

Childbirth, menstruation and abortion, whether spontaneous, surgical or medical, all create conditions that can result in serious and sometimes fatal infection, and there is no evidence that Mifeprex. and misoprostol present a special risk of infection1. Clostridium sordellii is a common soil and enteric bacterium that has presented in a very small number of obstetric and gynecologic cases, including following childbirth (vaginal delivery and caesarian section), medical abortion, and in other gynecologic and non-gynecologic conditions.2

Women who are undergoing a medical abortion with the Mifeprex® and misoprostol regimen should contact their provider or an emergency room right away if they experience abdominal pain or discomfort or general malaise (including weakness, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea), with or without fever, more than 24 hours after taking misoprostol.

“Danco is committed to providing updated safety information about this early option for women. We will be sending a Dear Doctor Letter soon to all providers of Mifeprex®, as well as to all emergency room directors, to ensure that they are aware of this new information,” said Cynthia Summers, Dr.P.H., Director of Marketing and Public Affairs, Danco Labs. “Danco is working with the FDA to update the Mifeprex® labeling, Medication Guide and Patient Agreement with this information.”

Danco Laboratories, LLC exclusively markets Mifeprex® (mifepristone) in the United States.

1Grimes, D. Risks of mifepristone abortion in context. Contraception, 2005; 71: 161.
2e.g. Bitti, A. et al. A fatal postpartum Clostridium sordellii associated toxic shock syndrome. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 1997; 50:259-260. McGregor, J.A. et al., Maternal deaths associated with Clostridium sordellii infection. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1989; 161(4): 987-995. Rorbye, C. et al. Postpartum Clostridium sordellii infection associated with fatal toxic shock syndrome. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand, 2000; 79(12): 1134-1135.

Eric Rudolph sentenced to life

Eric Rudolph Sentenced to Life

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Eric Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison Monday for his role in a deadly women's clinic bombing after he angrily denounced abortion and one of his victims called him a "monster."

His diatribe -- and the emotional statements of his victims -- came as he was sentenced under the plea deal that spared his life. He received two life terms without parole for the 1998 bombing that killed off-duty officer. Next month, he is to receive two more life terms for the 1996 Olympic bombing and other attacks in Atlanta.

"The full responsibility for this would have been the death sentence," Emily Lyons, the nurse maimed by his bomb, said Monday in court.

And Felicia Sanderson, whose husband died in the explosion, said, "I want to tell you there is no punishment in my opinion great enough for Eric Rudolph. When Eric Rudolph leaves this earth and has to face final judgment, I'm going to leave the final judgment in God's hand."

Then Rudolph, who was allowed to speak, lashed out at abortion and the women's clinic that performs them.

"What they did was participate in the murder of 50 children a week," he said. "Abortion is murder, and because it is murder I believe deadly force is needed to stop it."

"Children are disposed of at will," he said in a long speech against abortion. "The state is no longer the protector of the innocence."

But Lyons, when she spoke earlier, said Rudolph was nothing but a coward.

"When it was your turn to face death you weren't so brave again," Lyons told the federal courtroom.

"You want to see a monster, all you have to do is look in the mirror," she said.

She read her statement in a strong voice and occasionally looked across the aisle at Rudolph.

"It really doesn't matter what you say because I will go back to my home and you will go back to jail. The clinics in town will still be open, and abortion will still be legal," Lyons said.

Rudolph, 38, pleaded guilty in April to setting off a remote-controlled bomb that maimed Lyons and killed police officer Robert "Sande" Sanderson outside the New Woman All Women clinic on the morning of January 29, 1998.

He also faces sentencing August 22 in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics bombing that killed one woman and injured more than 100, as well as 1997 bombings at an abortion clinic and gay bar in Atlanta.

Felicia Sanderson, speaking with Rudolph to her back, told the court of the devastation he caused to her family.

"My son Nick lost the only father that he ever knew. I never forget the look on my son's face when I told him Sande was gone," she said.

She said Rudolph took away a man who "touched many, many lives. ... He was always willing to help anyone out."

The clinic's director, Diane Derzis, told Rudolph, "It gives me great delight to know you are going to spend the rest of your life sitting in an 8-by-12 box."

As the hearing began, U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith ruled that any proceeds Rudolph might receive from books or other projects must go to pay restitution to his victims.

In a statement distributed after his guilty pleas, Rudolph portrayed himself as a devout Christian and said the bombings were motivated by his hatred of abortion and a federal government that lets it continue. He called the plea bargain "purely a tactical choice on my part."

Under the plea agreement, Rudolph also disclosed hidden explosives in the mountains of western North Carolina, where he was captured in May 2003 after more than five years as a fugitive.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/18
/rudolph.sentencing.ap/index.html

Conservative Caucus Petition Drive Urging President Bush To Nominate Roy Moore For The U.S. Supreme Court

Support for Justice Roy Moore to be named to the Supreme Court of the United States is growing daily.

Here follows the text of a Petition which has been widely distributed by The Conservative Caucus:

ROY MOORE FOR SUPREME COURT
Petition to George W. Bush
President of the United States of America

Whereas, some Supreme Court Justices are consistently unfaithful to the plain text of the U.S. Constitution, and
Whereas, the Supreme Court needs more Justices with the perspective of Anontin Scalia and Clarence Thomas and fewer pro-abortion, pro-homosexual Justices such as David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
THEREFORE, I hereby petition President Bush to nominate to the Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore, who has already demonstrated his understanding of and fidelity to the U.S. Constitution.
RESPECTFULLY SIGNED:_________________________

If you agree with TCC’s campaign urging President Bush to nominate Roy Moore, please read the Petition and e-mail your signature of support to Art Harman, our Webmaster.

The Da Vinci Code and the Death of Paul McCartney

The Da Vinci Code

By Gary DeMar / American Vision

On our way to see War of the Worlds last week, my wife and I noticed an advertisement poster for the 2006 release of The Da Vinci Code. It’s sure to be a blockbuster with Ron Howard directing and Tom Hanks starring in the lead role. The Da Vinci Code has sold nearly 10 million copies, and it’s still in hardback! Books about the book have been published as well as books against the book’s quirky theological and historical perspectives. Those ignorant of the Bible and history may be influenced by the supposed factual nature of the storyline. We shouldn’t be surprised at this since Christians believe the eschatology outlined in Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin’s mega-Left-Behind series is actually taught in the Bible.


American Vision