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Maryland Right to Life, Inc. 420 Chinquapin Round Rd. Suite 2-I Annapolis, MD 21401 Phones: (410) 269-6397
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MDRTL Media Archives
Violence Against Pregnant Women Continues With Lack of Legislative Action
Annapolis (June 29, 2011)-- According to the Baltimore Sun, in an article published on June 29, 2011 (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-parkville-deaths-20110629,0,4240138.story), a tragic murder in Parkville has proved to be yet another case of violence against pregnant women.
Brian Lamont Eggleston, Jr. has been charged with first degree muder for the deaths of Alicia Avery, his girlfriend, and her four-year-old daughter Darry'el. Unfortunately, despite Avery being three months pregnant with twins, Maryland law prohibits law enforcement from prosecuting Eggleston for each of their deaths.
Homicide is the leading cause of pregnancy associated death for women in Maryland. A recent study published in 2010 showed about 86% of murders of pregnant women in Maryland occur before the Chief Medical Examiner deems the beginning of viability. Yet, in spite of a plethora of tragic stories, a bill (House Bill 1024 (http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/billfile/hb1024.htm)) to allow for prosecution of violent criminals who target pregnant women for the death of unborn children before seven months gestation was not allowed a vote in the House Judiciary Committee.
“Sadly, once again we see a tragic example of violence in Maryland. The suspect has been charged with the deaths of two of his victims. Unfortunately, his other two victims (the unborn twins) are blatantly ignored in Maryland's criminal justice system," remarked Jeffrey Meister, Director of Administration and Legislation for Maryland Right to Life.
“The Maryland legislature needs to amend current criminal law to ensure that no violent criminal, no matter who he targets, can escape prosecution based on the age of his victims. With North Carolina taking action recently, twenty-six states now fully protect pregnant women regardless of how long they've been pregnant. Maryland needs to be number twenty-seven," continued Meister.
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Maryland Right to Life Mourns the Death of Dr. Bernard Nathanson
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Right to Life joins the National Right to Life Committee and other state affiliates across America in mourning the loss today of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the former abortionist who became a pro-life champion in the late 1970s after ultrasound technology convinced him of the humanity of the unborn.
Dr. Nathanson died this morning at the age of 84 after a long battle with cancer.
One of the original founders of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), now known as Naral Pro-Choice America, Dr. Nathanson was at one time the director of the largest abortion facility in the world, New York City's Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health. He wrote that he was “personally responsible” for 75,000 abortions, and had himself performed about 5,000 abortions.
After converting to the pro-life cause in the late 1970s, Dr. Nathanson wrote Aborting America, which exposed how he and other NARAL founders deliberately fabricated statistics about abortion, exaggerated the number deaths from illegal abortions, and adopted a strategy of systematically vilifying the Catholic Church hierarchy.
The rest of his life was devoted to working to undo the damage he had caused as a proponent of legalized abortion. In 1984, he unveiled “The Silent Scream,” a powerful video showing sonogram images of an unborn child frantically trying to avoid the abortionist’s instruments. Three years later, he released “Eclipse of Reason,” which showed the horrifying death of a living unborn child through endoscopic photography.
A self-professed Jewish atheist for many years, Dr. Nathanson was received into the Catholic Church in 1996. He tells the story of his conversion in his autobiography, titled The Hand of God.
“Dr. Nathanson had the courage to recognize his error and accept responsibility for the harm he had done,” said Angela Martin, executive director of Maryland Right to Life. “His efforts to demonstrate the humanity of the unborn child changed countless hearts and saved untold lives.”
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U.S. House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON (February 18, 2011) -- The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nationwide federation of state right-to-life organizations, expressed strong approval that the U.S. House of Representatives today adopted, 240-185, an amendment offered by Congressman Mike Pence (R-In.) to cut off federal funds to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and 102 named PPFA affiliates.
“This landmark vote demonstrates that most House members now recognize Planned Parenthood is a hyper-political, under-regulated, out-of-control mega-marketer of abortion as a method of birth control,” said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson.
In a letter to House members, NRLC said, “PPFA is the nation’s largest abortion provider, reporting 324,008 abortions in 2008. … According to press reports, PPFA has recently mandated that all of its regional affiliates must provide abortions by the end of 2013. Recent media reports regarding abuses associated with PPFA-affiliated clinics in multiple states provide additional justifications for the amendment.”
The allegations regarding abuses, uncovered by independent journalists posing as sex traffickers, have received substantial coverage in mainstream news media in recent weeks, including this story in the New York Times.
The Pence Amendment does not affect the funding level for any federal program. Instead, it disqualifies PPFA and its named affiliates from receiving any type of federal funds. (In a 2010 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a claim that a similar law, cutting off federal funds for the organization ACORN and its affiliates, violated the Constitution's Bill of Attainder Clause.) PPFA affiliates receive about one-third of their aggregate clinic-level income from selling abortions. PPFA has a total annual budget of about $1.1 billion, of which about one-third comes from various levels of government, including at least $88.7 million in a year (2008) from the federal government.
The Pence Amendment was added to H.R. 1, a measure to fund all federal agencies through September 30, 2011. The bill contains a number of other pro-life provisions supported by NRLC, including a provision to restore a policy (overturned by President Obama) denying U.S. foreign aid funds to certain organizations that promote abortion as a method of birth control, and a provision restoring a previous ban on the use of congressionally appropriated funds for abortion on demand in the Federal district (Washington, D.C.), where abortion is currently allowed without any limitation.
The abortion-related provisions will next be considered in the U.S. Senate -- where 33 seats, 23 of them currently held by Democrats or independents who caucus with the Democrats, will be on next year's general election ballot.
"Now senators, too, will go on record on whether to push the snout of this bloated abortion mega-marketer, Planned Parenthood, out of the U.S. Treasury feeding trough," said NRLC's Johnson.
Any differences that emerge between the House and Senate versions of the funding bill will become subjects for negotiations between the two houses, and with the White House.
Recommended further reading regarding PPFA's accelerating efforts to increase its abortion "market share": “Planned Parenthood: Building an Abortion Empire,” by Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D.; and “Planned Parenthood's Unseemly Empire: The Billion-Dollar ‘Nonprofit,’” by Charlotte Allen.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life organizations and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide, is the nation's largest pro-life group. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect those threatened by abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and assisted suicide.
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Anti-Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Law in Baltimore Found Unconstitutional
The city ordinance enacted by the Baltimore City Council in 2009 that required pro-life pregnancy centers to post signs declaring that they do not provide abortions has been overturned by a federal court judge.
December 2009 marked the first time that any government body had passed an ordinance intended specfically to harass pro-life pregnancy centers. The legislation, which was introduced at the behest of the pro-abortion lobby, exempted abortion facilities and pro-abortion counseling centers from any similar regulation.
The ordinance was signed into law despite a vigorious lobbying effort by Maryland Right to Life to stop the measure. The law was immediately challenged in court by the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, which supports the city’s pregnancy centers affected by the regulation. On Jan. 28, a federal judge declared the ordinance unconstitutional and unenforceable.
Judge Marvin J. Garbis wrote, “As discussed herein, the Court holds that the Ordinance violates the Freedom of Speech Clause of Article I of the Consitution of the United States and is unenforceable. Whether a provider of pregnancy-related services is ‘pro-life’ or ‘pro-choice,’ it is for the provider – not the Government – to decide when and how to discuss abortion and birth-control methods. The Government cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, require a ‘pro-life’ pregnancy-related service center to post a sign as would be required by the Ordinance.”
Judge Garbis ruled that the Baltimore City law interferred with the constitutional protection to free speech. “...requiring the placement of a ‘disclaimer’ sign in the center's waiting room is, on its face, a form of compelled speech. Moreover, the Ordinance regulates the center’s speech by mandating the timing and content of the introduction of the subjects of abortion and birth-control.”
Additionally, Judge Garbis tackled the issue of viewpoint neutrality – that is, a governmental body cannot target one particular viewpoint on an issue while leaving others unaffected by the regulation. He wrote, “It is revealing that Defendants (the City of Baltimore) refer to the Ordinance as a means of mitigating the ‘harm’ caused by Plaintiffs’ underlying ‘propaganda’ speech relating to abortion and contraception …. Such descriptions can only support the conclusion that Defendants enacted the Ordinance out of disagreement with Plaintiffs’ viewpoints on abortion and birth-control.”
Click here to download the complete judicial decision.
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Maryland Poised to Become Abortion Capital of U.S.;
Notorious Late Abortion Specialist to Practice in Germantown
LeRoy Carhart, the notorious late-term abortionist whose name is on the Supreme Court case that upheld a federal ban on partial-birth abortions, is expected to begin performing abortions at a Germantown facility on Monday, Dec. 6.
Banished from Nebraska after the state adopted a ban on abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation, Carhart has set his sights on Maryland, where permissive abortion laws and a lack of regulation make the state a welcoming environment for purveyors of the grisly practice of aborting viable unborn babies.
Carhart will be filling a void left by Steven Brigham, a New Jersey abortionist who recently was found to be performing abortions in Maryland without a medical license. The Maryland Board of Physicians ordered Brigham to cease and desist after learning that he was initiating abortions in New Jersey and then requiring the medicated and partially dilated women to travel in their own vehicles to a facility in Maryland where the procedure was completed.
Brigham, who owns several abortion facilities in Maryland, was licensed to practice medicine in New Jersey, but his abortion facility there did not meet state standards for late-term abortions. The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners recently suspended his medical license, calling him “a clear and imminent danger to public health and safety.”
Two other out-of-state abortionists who were working with Brigham were suspended at the same time for gross violations of medical standards. One of them, 88-year old George Shepard, Jr., of Lewes, Del., has had his license permanently revoked. Carhart, who is coming from Nebraska to perform abortions at Germantown Reproductive Health Services, has a license to practice medicine in Maryland but does not have hospital privileges.
Under Maryland law, abortion facilities are not bound by state regulations governing all other medical facilities where ambulatory surgery is performed. Any doctor with a valid medical license — regardless of medical specialty — is allowed to perform abortions, and abortions may be performed at any time during pregnancy.
“Maryland’s permissive abortion law is making our state a haven for abortionists who are not welcome elsewhere,” said Angela Martin, executive director of Maryland Right to Life. “Abortionists like Carhart and Brigham are a threat to women’s lives. They prey on the fears of vulnerable women and specialize in dismembering unborn babies who feel pain and who might be capable of surviving if given proper care.”
“The Maryland legislature should take action protect women from out-of-state abortion providers who come to Maryland to take advantage of our permissive abortion laws.” Martin continued. “If we fail to do so, our state is likely to become the abortion capital of the nation.”
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Lack of Regulation Makes Maryland a Haven for Abortions Late in Pregnancy
Notorious late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart, banished from Nebraska when the state adopted a landmark ban on abortion after 20 weeks becaue of the extreme pain experienced by unborn babies, now seeks to open an abortion facility in Maryland.
Nebraska passed the law in response to the overwhelming number of studies confirming that unborn children as young as 20 weeks can feel pain. The science has expanded dramatically over the last two decades, and now shows that unborn children are likely to feel even more intense pain than do their newborn counterparts. The Nebraska bill took effect on October 15, 2010.
Maryland has one of the most permissive abortion laws in the nation. It has never banned partial-birth abortion and is one of just 16 states to have no meaningful parental involvement statute for minors seeking abortions. Maryland is one of only five states that voluntarily pays for elective abortions with state Medicaid funds, one of just four states that does not collect any data on abortions, and the only state in the country to give civil immunity to abortionists who fail to obtain proper informed consent.
Maryland’s lack of protective regulations concerning abortion was highlighted recently when several examples of substandard medical practices came to light.
A Severna Park abortionist, Romeo Ferrer, lost his medical license in September after it was determined that he negligently failed to monitor a patient who died during an abortion in 2006 after Ferrer administered an overdose of a narcotic drug. Ferrer may also face criminal charges in connection with the death.
The Maryland Board of Physicians also censured three abortionists for transporting patients across state lines to Elkton, Md., in order to skirt New Jersey’s protective medical regulations on abortions performed after 14 weeks. Abortionist Stephen Brigham was found to be performing abortions without a medical license and two other abortion providers had their licenses suspended for numerous ethics violations, which included transporting a critically injured woman to a local hospital in a private vehicle rather than calling an ambulance. The woman was flown to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she required emergency surgery to save her life.
Law enforcement officials investigating the Elkton facility found a freezer containing the bodies of 35 victims of late-term abortion, some as old as 36 weeks gestation.
“We commend Nebraska for taking a stand against late-term abortion, which endangers women’s health and causes unborn babies unimaginable pain,” said Angela Martin, executive director of Maryland Right to Life. “By failing to hold abortion facilities and providers to even minimum standards of medical care, Maryland has become a haven for purveyors of this grisly and inhuman procedure.”
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Maryland Right to Life Announces 2010 Essay Contest Winners
ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Right to Life Foundation (MRLF) proudly announces the winners of the 2010 Pro-life Essay Contest.
First place at the senior level has been awarded to Marykate O’Donoghue, 16, of Frederick, a junior at St. John’s Catholic Prep. At the junior level, first place honors went to Skyler Wisomierski, 13, of Ferndale, an 8th grade student at St. Philip Neri School in Linthicum Heights.
The Maryland Right to Life Essay Contest is held annually to encourage young pro-lifers to articulate and defend their beliefs. The theme of the 2010 contest, “When They Say … You Say …” challenged participants to formulate responses to pro-abortion arguments.
Entries are accepted from students in grades 7 through 12, and are judged in one of two categories: junior (7th–9th grade) and senior (10th–12th grade). First place winners in each category receive a prize of $100.
“It’s gratifying to see the intensity of pro-life belief expressed by the participants,” said Cookie Harris, MDRTL contest coordinator. “Maryland Right to Life extends its congratulations to each of the participants.”
The first place essays have been submitted to the National Pro-life Essay Contest sponsored by the National Right to Life Educational Trust, for consideration in the national competition. Winners in the national competition will be announced in June.
Click here to view the winning essays. Information on the 2011 MRLF Essay Contest will be posted in the fall.
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Statement from the National Right to Life Committee on
Abortion “Deal” in Health Care Legislation
WASHINGTON -- (Sunday, March 21, 2010, 6 PM EDT) -- In response to Sunday‘s announcement regarding an agreement between Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and President Obama on the pending health care bill (H.R. 3590), the following statement was issued by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in the 50 states:
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) remains strongly opposed to the Senate-passed health bill (H.R. 3590). A lawmaker who votes for this bill is voting to require federal agencies to subsidize and administer health plans that will pay for elective abortion, and voting to undermine longstanding pro-life policies in other ways as well. Pro-life citizens nationwide know that this is a pro-abortion bill. Pro-life citizens know, and they will be reminded again and again, which lawmakers deserve their gratitude for voting against this pro-abortion legislation.
The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce what the law says.
To elaborate: The order does not truly correct any of the seven objectionable pro-abortion provisions described in NRLC's March 19 letter to the House of Representatives.
Regarding Community Health Centers (CHCs), NRLC has documented the problem created by H.R. 3590 here: www.nrlc.org/AHC/NRLCMemoCommHealth.html.
Prof. Robert Destro, a professor of law and former dean of the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, and an expert on abortion-related litigation, has sent lawmakers a letter explaining why the bill opens the door to direct federal funding of abortion in Community Health Centers. Prof. Destro clearly explains why it is the statutory language that will govern.
Regarding the new program to provide tax credits to purchase private insurance, the executive order merely tinkers with the formalities of a bookkeeping scheme under which federal subsidies will pay for plans that cover elective abortion -- a break from the longstanding principles of the Hyde Amendment.
The order does nothing at all to mitigate the other abortion-related problems described in the NRLC letter, dealing with bill provisions that create dangerous regulatory mandate authorities, revise Indian health programs, and create pools of directly appropriated funds that are not covered by existing restrictions on funding of abortion. Nor can the order correct the omission from the pending legislation of the necessary conscience-protection language that had been included in House-passed health care legislation last November (the "Weldon language").
For additional information regarding the abortion-related components of the legislation, and NRLC's assessment of the gravity of these issues, please see the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org/AHC/Index.html.
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NRLC LAUNCHES NATIONAL GRASSROOTS LOBBYING CAMPAIGN: eLobby for Life Week calls for 250,000 emails
WASHINGTON – As the nation commemorates the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life groups and more than 3,000 local chapters, launched eLobby for Life Week, a nationwide grassroots lobbying campaign to voice opposition to expanding federal funding of abortion in any health care legislation that comes before Congress. The campaign begins today and runs through Friday, January 29.
“As pro-abortion Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate again work behind closed doors to hammer out a health care reform bill, now is the time for the large majority of Americans who oppose federal abortion funding and federal abortion mandates to make their voices heard,” said NRLC Executive Director David N. O’Steen, Ph.D. “All members of Congress need to hear the message: using federal subsidies to pay for abortion coverage through health care ‘reform’ is completely unacceptable.”
NRLC is encouraging pro-life Americans to contact their member of Congress through the National Right to Life Legislative Action Center and reach out to pro-life friends, family, neighbors and churches through personal contact, email, blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, urging them to do the same.
“Never have the voices of pro-life Americans been more important than they are at this moment in our nation’s history,” O’Steen added.
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National Right to Life Identifies Six Major Abortion Problems in Senate Health Bill
WASHINGTON -- The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in all 50 states, has sent new letters to many members of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging them to oppose any final health care bill that fails to correct six major abortion-related problems found in the Senate-passed health care bill.
The letter concludes: “NRLC believes that enactment of the abortion-related provisions of the Senate-passed health care bill would ultimately result in substantial expansions of abortion, driven by federal administrative decrees and federal subsidies, and a vote to advance such legislation would be described in those terms in the NRLC congressional scorecard for the 111th Congress. In contrast, inclusion of the substance of the House-passed abortion language, on the six points cited above, would preserve long-established federal policies on abortion, and would fully address our concerns regarding the abortion policy issues.”
Click here to view a typical sample of the NRLC letter; click here to download the sample letter in PDF format.
In addition, on January 11, NRLC released a memorandum explaining how a new provision buried in the "manager's amendment" added to the Senate bill shortly before passage, opens the door to direct federal funding of elective abortion at Community Health Centers, using money from a pool of $7 billion appropriated directly in the Senate-passed bill without any restrictions whatever on the use of the money for abortion. The memorandum can be downloaded by clicking here.
The memorandum concludes: “The sudden appearance in the Senate health care bill of $7 billion in direct appropriations for CHCs, unconstrained by the Hyde Amendment or any other impediment to the use of the funds for direct federal funding of elective abortion, provides one more illustration of why it is critical that the final health care reform bill include the Stupak-Pitts language, which prevents any component of the House-passed health care bill (H.R. 3962) from being expended for elective abortions . . .”
Click here to view a factsheet distilling the results of seven recent public opinion polls regarding abortion and “health care reform.”
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National Right to Life Urges Defeat of Health Care Bill
After Senate Votes to Keep Abortion in Federal Programs
WASHINGTON (December 8, 2009) -- By a vote of 54 to 45, the U.S. Senate today tabled (killed) an amendment to remove elective abortion from the new federal programs that would be created by pending health care legislation.
The following statement was issued by Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in all 50 states.
“A majority of senators today voted to keep abortion covered in the proposed federal government insurance program, and to subsidize private insurance plans that cover abortion on demand. Now, the vote on cloture on the bill itself will become the key vote on whether to put the federal government into the abortion business. We will oppose cloture on the bill, which would require 60 affirmative votes. In addition, a number of pro-life Democrats in the House, who supported passage of health care legislation on November 7, will not vote for the Senate bill in its current form. So, this is a long way from over.”
The amendment rejected today, supported by NRLC and MDRTL, was sponsored by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). It contained the same substance as the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which was adopted by the House of Representatives on November 7, by a vote of 240-194. Both amendments would prevent the federal government insurance program (the “public option”) from paying for abortion (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest). In addition, both amendments would prevent federal subsidies from being used to purchase private health plans that cover elective abortion, but would not restrict the sale or purchase of such policies with private funds.
As NRLC has previously noted, the health care bill pending in the Senate, proposed by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and backed by President Obama, would authorize the federal government to pay for any and all abortions through a huge new federal health insurance program, the “public option,” and would also subsidize purchase of private plans that cover abortion on demand. President Obama and Reid know that the substance of these abortion-promoting policies is deeply unpopular, so they seek to conceal the reality with layers of contorted definitions and money-laundering schemes.
For extensive further documentation on aspects of the health care legislation relating to abortion, visit the NRLC website.
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National Right to Life Rejects Reid Abortion Funding Language as “Completely Unacceptable,” Calls for Enactment of Stupak-Pitts Amendment
WASHINGTON (November 18, 2009) — The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in all 50 states, issued the following statement regarding the Senate version of the health care reform bill:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has rejected the bipartisan Stupak-Pitts Amendment and has substituted completely unacceptable language that would result in coverage of abortion on demand in two big new federal government programs.
Reid seeks to cover elective abortions in two big new federal health programs, but tries to conceal that unpopular reality with layers of contrived definitions and hollow bookkeeping requirements.
Rep. Lois Capps (D-Ca.), who has a 100 percent pro-abortion voting record, said in a press release following release of the Reid language: “It appears that their approach closely mirrors my language which was originally included in the House bill.” The Capps language referred to was opposed by NRLC and other pro-life organizations and was deleted by the House by a vote of 240-194 on November 7, as 64 Democrats (one fourth of all House Democrats), along with 176 Republicans, voted to replace it with the Stupak-Pitts Amendment.
The Stupak-Pitts Amendment would prevent federal subsidies for abortion by applying the principles of longstanding federal laws such as the Hyde Amendment to the new programs created by the health care legislation. Those principles prohibit both direct funding of abortion procedures, and subsidies for plans that cover elective abortions, in existing federal programs such as Medicaid, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and the military. Regrettably but predictably, Reid rejected the bipartisan Stupak-Pitts language. Instead, Reid has sought to please the militant minority that demands funding of abortion through federal programs, even though substantial majorities of Americans believe that abortion should be excluded from government-funded and government-sponsored health programs.
The Reid bill establishes a big new federal health insurance program, the public option (although now referred to in Reid's bill as the “community health insurance option”). The bill authorizes (on page 118) the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services to require coverage of any and all abortions throughout the public option program. This would be federal government funding of abortion, no matter how hard they try to disguise it.
In addition, the bill creates new tax-supported subsidies to purchase private health plans that will cover abortion on demand.
National Right to Life and its state affiliates will continue to fight for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, and to oppose the stubborn attempts of congressional Democratic leaders to establish new federal government programs that will fund coverage of elective abortions.
Extensive further documentation on the Stupak-Pitts Amendment and other aspects of the issue is available on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org/ahc
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Maryland Right to Life Criticizes Montgomery County Bill Aimed at Pregnancy Resource Centers
ROCKVILLE (November 10, 2009) — For the second time this month, a local legislative body has taken aim at pregnancy resource centers that provide emotional and material support to pregnant women in need.
A resolution introduced today in the Montgomery County Council would require pregnancy resource centers to provide clients with a disclaimer that the information they provide “is not intended to be medical advice or to establish a doctor-patient relationship” and that the client “should consult with a health care provider” before deciding whether to keep the baby.
A similar bill is currently under consideration by the Baltimore City Council.
Both proposals were brought forward under lobbying pressure from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-choice Maryland—which have a vested interest in promoting abortion—and are based on a NARAL claim that pregnancy resource centers provide misleading information to women. However, at the hearing before the Baltimore Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee on November 2, not a single woman came forward to testify that pregnancy resource centers were not honest or straightforward.
A pregnancy center disclaimer bill was introduced in the 2008 Maryland General Assembly, but failed in committee after extensive testimony that failed to produce any evidence that pregnancy centers harmed women.
Pregnancy resource centers provide women with childbirth and parenting classes, diapers and formula, clothing, furniture, adoption assistance, housing, and referrals for social service programs. Their mission is to provide practical assistance to pregnant women who want to carry their children to term by helping to remove the obstacles to childbirth. Four pregnancy resource centers operate in Montgomery County; one of them is a licensed medical clinic.
Disclaimer requirements that apply only to pro-life pregnancy centers are discriminatory and constitute an unwarranted attack on charitable organizations that exist only to help women, said Angela Martin, Executive Director of Maryland Right to Life. “Maryland's counties should not impose unnecessary regulations and potential penalties on charitable organizations that provide women with genuine alternatives to abortion. By doing so, they send a message that abortion is the preferred pregnancy outcome for women in need.”
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Maryland Right to Life Applauds House Vote;
Urges Continued Vigilance
ANNAPOLIS (November 8, 2009) — Maryland Right to Life (MDRTL), the state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), issued the following statement regarding yesterday’s House of Representatives vote on H.R. 3962, the health care restructuring bill.
MDRTL applauds Saturday’s vote in the House of Representatives to adopt the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which removes two major pro-abortion components from H.R. 3962.
This amendment would permanently prohibit the new federal government insurance program, the “public option,” from paying for abortion, except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. It also would permanently prohibit the use of the new federal premium subsidies (“affordability credits”) to purchase private insurance plans that cover abortion (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest).
The amendment, which was sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), passed on a vote of 240–194. It was supported by 176 Republicans and 64 Democrats, and was opposed by 194 Democrats. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R–6) was the only Maryland representative voting in favor of the amendment.
MDRTL Executive Director Angela Martin said: “The White House and congressional Democratic leaders have misrepresented provisions that would directly fund abortions through a government plan and subsidize premiums for private abortion plans. We applaud the House members who saw through the deception and voted to keep abortion out of health care, but we will remain vigilant, knowing that pro-abortion congressional leaders will continue stealth efforts enact government funding of abortion.”
Abortion subsidies are only one objectionable component of the bill, Martin added. The public should also be concerned components of H.R. 3962 that could result in rationing or discriminatory denial of lifesaving medical care. NRLC sent a letter to House members summarizing objectionable elements and urging their correction.
“We call on all pro-life Marylanders to let their federal legislators know how they feel about abortion funding and health care rationing in federal health care reform,” Martin concluded.
Up-to-date information about health care rationing and abortion in the health care restructuring is posted on the NRLC web site.
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MDRTL Conference 2009 Offers Encouraging Messages
JESSUP (November 7, 2009) — The pro-life side is winning the abortion battle, slowly and steadily, reported Dr. David O’Steen in the final keynote address at the MDRTL conference held on Nov. 7.
A former mathematics professor and currently the executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, Dr. O’Steen demonstrated how public opinion polls are showing the steady advance of pro-life sentiment in America. Most Americans oppose most abortions, according to objective poll data collected by numerous pollsters. Furthermore, although the economy overshadowed the abortion issue in the 2008 elections, voters who vote for only for pro-life candidates consistently outnumber those who favor pro-abortion candidates.
America does not need the kind of health care reform currently touted by the Obama Administration, according to Burke Balch, J.D., director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics, who gave the morning keynote address. Using a variety of pie charts, Dr. Balch demonstrated that although health care costs are rising faster than other costs, the cost of the three essentials — food, clothing, and shelter — are decreasing in proportion to the average family budget, thanks to increased productivity in agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation.
The proposed health care reform bill currently being considered in Congress would ultimately destroy what is arguably the best health care system in the world, Dr. Balch noted, and would result not only in massive government spending for abortion but also would inevitably lead to rationing of health care for those who need it the most. The current plan contains a provision Dr. Balch described as a “death spiral,” in which the government would penalize — through fines — those doctors who have the highest reimbursements every year. Doctors would thus have an incentive to avoid ordering expensive tests, especially for patients who are elderly or who are not seen as having an adequate “quality of life,” in order to try to avoid the fine — but no matter how doctors cut costs, someone will always fall in the top bracket and pay the fine. The losers will be patients, who may find the quality of their health care deteriorating as doctors compete to have the lowest costs.
The conference also included workshops on community organizing, Maryland’s abortion law, a plan to enact ultrasound legislation in Maryland, and how to answer pro-choice arguments. All of the talks are available on CD. The cost is $5 per CD or $20 for the set, plus shipping. To order, call the Maryland Right to Life office at
(410) 269-6397 or (301) 858-8304.
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Maryland Right to Life Urges Opposition to Anti-Charity Bill in Baltimore
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Right to Life (MDRTL), the Maryland affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, has urged the Baltimore City Council to reject Bill 09-0406, which targets only pro-life charities for regulation and excessive fines.
Baltimore has four pregnancy resource centers that operate within city limits. The centers offer free resources for women facing unplanned pregnancies and women facing the challenge of raising young children amidst poverty. The centers offer a variety of services, including parenting classes, sonograms, baby bottles, formula, pre-natal care, diapers and more — without cost to any client.
Under pressure from NARAL and Planned Parenthood lobbyists, Bill 09-0406 was introduced to target these pregnancy resource centers solely because they do not refer or provide abortions or contraception. A similar bill (SB 690/HB 1146) was introduced in the General Assembly in 2008 and would have required that pro-life pregnancy centers say to their clients, “The information provided by the center is not intended to be medical advice or to establish a doctor-patient relationship…. The client or potential client should consult with a health care provider prior to proceeding on any course of action regarding the pregnancy of the client or potential client…. The center is not required to provide factually accurate information to clients.”
At the hearing held on October 27, no one could testify to any disinformation or deception from any Baltimore City pregnancy center regarding the services they provide. Bill 09-0406 is simply a child of the 2008 statewide bills attempting to destroy pregnancy centers on the sole reason that they do not share the pro-abortion lobby’s position on abortion and birth control.
Instead of partnering with valuable non-profits serving women in need in Baltimore City, pro-abortion lobbyists are targeting those charities who do not share their ideological outlook. Maryland Right to Life and its supporters in Baltimore City and across the State of Maryland urge the Baltimore City Council to stop harassing charitable organizations providing valuable services and to reject Bill 09-0406.
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Third Murder of Pregnant Woman Shows Urgent Need for Stronger Unborn Victims Law
Another Maryland family is grieving the loss of two of its members through a tragic murder, but the Maryland law will only allow them to seek justice for one victim.
Jennifer Thompson, a 26-year old pregnant woman living in Elkton, was murdered when she was stabbed in the neck. Robert Mitchell Ervin has confessed to raping, assaulting, and murdering Ms. Thompson. At this point, it is unclear if Ervin was the father of the unborn child.
Neighbors of Ms. Thompson noted her joy in carrying her first child. Neighbor Alyssa Stanley said, “She was really excited. She found out it was a girl, and she was really happy.”
Sadly, a loophole in Maryland law prevents prosecutors from charging Mr. Ervin with the death of the child even if the pregnancy was the motivation in the murder. In Maryland, an unborn child must be considered “viable” in order to allow a murderer to be charged with his or her death.
Under Maryland law, “viable” means “that stage when, in the best medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular facts of the case before the physician, there is a reasonable likelihood of the fetus's sustained survival outside the womb.”
Ms. Thompson is the third pregnant woman murdered in Maryland this year. In January, Eunice Baah was shot in the head. She was three months pregnant. In May, the boyfriend of Valicia Demery ran her over with a vehicle, killing her and her four-month-old unborn child. In each case, no charges were filed for the death of the second victim, because the unborn child was not considered viable.
Maryland Right to Life supported a bill in 2005 that would have made laws relating to murder or manslaughter apply to a fetus regardless of age. The bill died in committee and the viable fetus bill was passed instead.
According to a 2008 Maternal Morality Report from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, as many as one-fourth of all pregnancy-associated deaths may be the result of homicide. A “pregnancy-associated death” is defined as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year or 365 days of pregnancy conclusion, regardless of the cause of death.” The 2008 report reported that there were 33 pregnancy-associated deaths in 2006, eight of which were homicides. Three of these homicides occurred during pregnancy and five during the post-partum period.
“Since 2005, Maryland has recognized that unborn children may be murder victims, but only after viability,” said Angela Martin, Executive Director of Maryland Right to Life. “Clearly, a stronger unborn victims’ rights bill is needed. Maryland must recognize that murder is murder regardless of the age of the victim.”
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Maryland Right to Life Urges Reconsideration of $25,000 Grant to Life Technologies, Inc.
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Right to Life (MDRTL), the Maryland affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, has urged the Frederick County Commissioners to reconsider their vote to award a grant to Life Technologies, Inc. since the company’s history of embryonic experimentation has come to light.
Noting the debate over the grant and the proper role of Frederick County Government in that process, MDRTL acknowledged that Life Technologies, Inc. is a reputable biotech in Frederick County and that the money given to them by Frederick County and the State of Maryland could be an incentive to hire members of the Frederick community.
However, MDRTL is concerned about Life Technologies’ investment in controversial experiments that involve the destruction of human embryos. In an opinion piece published in the July 12 issue of the Frederick News-Post, MDRTL Executive Director Angela Martin wrote, “The term embryonic stem cell research has been greatly politicized, but it involves this process: the creation of a human embryo—often by cloning—followed by the destruction of that embryo to obtain stem cells, which are then reproduced to create a stem cell line. Few politicians are willing to admit the reality of this process.”
In a letter mailed to the five Frederick County Commissioners on June 15, Martin stated, “We at Maryland Right to Life and our members and supporters in Frederick County and throughout Maryland abhor the degradation and destruction of innocent human life inherent in embryonic stem cell research. Although the $25,000 grant to Life Technologies, Inc. is designated toward building expansion, it also serves as an endorsement of embryonic destructive experimentation performed within its walls.”
The letter also noted that embryonic stem cell research has yielded no cures or treatments, despite years of such research being performed. On the other hand, adult stem cell research, which does not harm or destroy any human life, has resulted in successful cures and clinical treatments for at least 73 disease or conditions.
Maryland Right to Life calls on the Frederick County Commissioners to reconsider the $25,000 grant to Life Technologies, Inc. and to reverse their decision to endorse life-destructive research.
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Maryland Right to Life Condemns the Killing of Abortion Provider George Tiller
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Right to Life (MDRTL), the Maryland affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, condemned the murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot and killed as he attended a church service Sunday morning.
Commenting on the murder, MDRTL Executive Director Angela Martin said, “Murder is never justifiable for any reason. Maryland Right to Life recognizes that the right to life extends to every human being, regardless of age, race, creed, views, or actions. Violent action against those with whom we disagree is in direct opposition to the philosophy of the right to life movement. We strongly deplore the use of violence to fight the violence of abortion.”
MDRTL has a written policy forbidding its staff, directors, officers, and chapter leaders from participating in any violent or illegal activity. The mission of MDRTL is to build respect for all human life through education and legislative action. MDRTL promotes only peaceful, legal activities intended to protect human lives threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia.
MDRTL continues working to develop compassionate, loving solutions to help pregnant women and their unborn children and to protect the fundamental right to life of all individuals.
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Tragic Murder Shows Need for Stronger Unborn Victims Law
A Maryland family is grieving the loss of two of its members through a tragic murder, but it remains to be seen whether the law will recognize both murder victims.
Valicia Andrea Demery, 19, of District Heights, and her four-month old unborn child were killed last weekend, her body left on the track surrounding the football field at Forestville Military Academy. Demery had graduated from the school in 2008.
The following morning, police arrested Bernard Bellamy, Demery's boyfriend and the suspected father of the unborn child. Bellamy reportedly was upset about the pregnancy, which may have provided a motive for the crime.
Security cameras at the school helped police link Bellamy's car to the crime scene. He was arrested at West Virginia State University and is being extradited to Prince George's County for to face a first-degree murder charge.
It is still unclear whether Bellamy will be prosecuted for one murder or two. Maryland passed a fetal homicide law in 2005 that recognizes unborn victims of violence after viability. The law further specifies that the person prosecuted for the murder or manslaughter of a viable fetus must have "intended to cause the death of, or serious physical injury to, the viable fetus."
Under Maryland law, “viable” means “that stage when, in the best medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular facts of the case before the physician, there is a reasonable likelihood of the fetus's sustained survival outside the womb.”
Given those definitions, it seems doubtful that Bellamy will be charged for the murder of his unborn child.
Maryland Right to Life supported a bill in 2005 that would have made laws relating to murder or manslaughter apply to a fetus regardless of age. The bill died in committee and the viable fetus bill was passed instead.
According to a 2008 Maternal Morality Report from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, as many as one-fourth of all pregnancy-associated deaths may be the result of homicide. A "pregnancy-associated death" is defined as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year or 365 days of pregnancy conclusion, regardless of the cause of death." The 2008 report reported that there were 33 pregnancy-associated deaths in 2006, eight of which were homicides.
“This tragic case points out the need for stronger legislation in Maryland to recognize unborn victims of violence,” said Angela Martin, Executive Director of Maryland Right to Life. “A family is grieving the loss of two of its members, and the state should recognize, in cases like these, that two human lives have been lost.”
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Most Americans Favor Conscience Rights, Poll Shows
A majority of Americans believe that conscience protection for health care providers is an essential right, according recent nationwide survey conducted by The Polling Company. Fully 87 percent of those surveyed believed it important that “healthcare professionals in American are not forced to participate in procedures and practices to which they have moral objections.”
The survey, commissioned by the Christian Medical Association, queried 800 adults representing a proportional sample of the American population in terms of age, race, ethnicity, and geographic region. The survey showed strong support for conscience protection, even among respondents who identified themselves as “pro-choice.”
“Americans have always valued freedom of conscience,” said Angela Martin, executive director of Maryland Right to Life, “and this survey only underscores what we already know — that no one should ever be forced to act contrary to his or her personal moral code.”
When respondents were given a description of the ‘conscience protection’ regulations that went into effect last January, 63 percent indicated support for the regulation, while 28 percent were opposed. Next, respondents were asked to respond to the proposed reversal of the provision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 62 percent opposed the revocation.
Interestingly, 60 percent of those who considered themselves “pro-choice” and 56 percent of those who said they voted for President Obama expressed support for the conscience regulations, and 53 percent of those who identified themselves as “pro-choice” opposed the revocation of the regulations.
The results also showed that 88 percent of American adults surveyed consider it important that they share similar moral values with their health care providers, with 63 percent saying this is “very” important to them and only 6 percent saying it is “not at all important.”
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DHHS Conscience Regulation May Be Reversed
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Right to Life is disappointed, but not surprised, by the Obama administration’s move to rescind a 2008 federal regulation implementing longstanding federal statutes protecting conscience rights of employees in health care professions.
“America was founded on the principles of religious liberty and freedom of conscience,” said Angela Martin, executive director of Maryland Right to Life. “The move to rescind the regulation threatens the right of health care workers not to be coerced into performing abortions and other actions that violate their religious beliefs or moral standards.”
Federal statutes specifically protecting health care providers have existed for decades and have been upheld by the courts. However, implementation has not always been consistent, and some professional organizations have established standards defining the exercise of conscience to be unprofessional.
In December 2008, the Bush administration proposed federal regulations clarifying and strengthening enforcement of the existing statutes. The Obama administration is now moving to rescind those regulations.
The Department of Health and Human Services has opened a 30-day comment period, ending on April 9, to allow citizens to voice their concerns about the proposed rescission. Comments may be sent to proposedrescission@hhs.gov or made online at www.Regulations.gov (click on ‘‘Comment or Submission’’ and enter the words ‘‘Rescission Proposal.)
“We encourage citizens, particularly medical professionals, to voice their concerns about freedom of conscience and ethical integrity in the healing professions and provide specific insights regarding the need for these regulations,” Martin added.
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Ultrasound Options Bill Killed in Committee
Abortion-Minded Women to be Kept in the Dark in Maryland
ANNAPOLIS — A bill protecting the right of women to give informed consent before an abortion procedure was struck down by the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 20, 2009, by a vote of 9 to 2.
The bill, Ultrasound Options, sponsored by Sen. Bryan Simonaire (R-31), would have required abortion practitioners in Maryland-when an ultrasound examination is conducted prior to an abortion-to provide the woman with the opportunity to view the active ultrasound image and to receive a physical copy of the ultrasound picture.
Contrary to some reports, the Ultrasound Options bill did not mandate that a sonogram be performed before all abortions, nor did it obligate the woman to view the sonogram. It simply would have made the sonogram image available to women who would choose to view it.
“This action by the Senate Finance Committee sends a clear message that Maryland stands squarely with the abortion lobby,” said Angela Martin, executive director of Maryland Right to Life. “Rather than ensuring that women have the opportunity to consider all the relevant information before an abortion, the committee voted to keep women in the dark.”
According to the National Abortion Federation’s 2008 Clinical Policy Guidelines, abortion practitioners must obtain informed consent and assess that the decision to have an abortion is made freely by the patient.” However, representatives of NARAL Pro-choice Maryland, Planned Parenthood, and several abortion facilities opposed the bill.
Martin’s testimony pointed out that the bill is needed to ensure that women are not choosing without sufficient reflection. “Many post-abortive women report feeling rushed or pressured into choosing abortion,” she maintained. “This bill would have provided woman with an opportunity to understand what they were undertaking.”
Introducing the bill, Sen. Simonaire made it clear that no woman would be forced to view a sonogram against her will. Pointing out that some women come to feel profound regret after an abortion, he maintained that the state needs to ensure that all women have the opportunity to be fully informed about their decision.
“Some post-abortive women later see a sonogram and are devastated by their decision. Some might have chosen differently if they had been given the chance to view the sonogram. This bill provides them with that option,” he explained.
Sixteen states have enacted sonogram laws that enhance the opportunity for women seeking an abortion to see an ultrasound image of the embryo or fetus they are carrying. The Maryland bill was modeled after a bill that passed in Ohio last year and was signed into law by a pro-abortion governor.
“Abortion is irreversible,” Martin concluded. “Women have a right to know what they are choosing. By killing this bill in committee, the senators have denied Maryland women the right to be fully informed.
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Obama Order Opens Door to Widespread Killing of
Embryonic Humans in Government-Funded Research
WASHINGTON – In a White House ceremony on March 9, 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to allow federal funding of research that will requirethe killing of human embryos.
This order reverses a policy instituted by former President George W. Bush in August 2001, which funded research on already-existing stem cell lines without encouraging any further destruction of human life.
“It is a sad day when the federal government will fund research that exploits living members of the human species as raw material for research,” said Douglas Johnson, a spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee. "Obama's order also places our society on a very steep, very slippery slope. Many researchers will not be satisfied to use only so-called surplus embryos. Many researchers are already demanding federal support for research in which human embryos would be created for the specific purpose of research, through human cloning and other methods, and there was nothing in the President's remarks today to limit NIH to the use of so-called surplus embryos created in IVF clinics.
This sets the stage for an attack on the Dickey-Wicker law, which since 1995 has been a provision of the annual appropriations bills for federal health programs. This law prohibits federal funding of ‘the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death …’ Any member of Congress who votes for legislation to repeal this law is voting to allow federal funding of human embryo farms, created through the use of human cloning.”
Much of the press coverage anticipating Obama's order continued to ignore or downplay the striking advances made in recent years in research using stem cells from non-embryonic sources, including adult stem cells and reprogrammed adult body cells (iPSCs). Do No Harm, a coalition of scientists and researchers opposed to embryo-killing stem cell research, has posted a list of over 70 different disorders for which there have been one or more peer-reviewed scientific studies showing a measure of positive benefits in human patients.
In contrast, embryonic stem cells have yet to benefit a single human patient, and have proven most adept at generating tumors.
Regarding Obama's instructions to NIH to develop “strict guidelines” to govern embryonic stem cell research, Johnson commented, “These so-called ethical safeguards are really merely procedural requirements, an attempt to cloak the fundamentally unethical act of sacrificing living members of our species, homo sapiens, in order to provide raw material for research.”
Obama also issued a second directive purporting to free federally sponsored scientific research from the influence of “ideology.” Johnson commented, “Giving an absolutely free hand to elite groups of specialists can result in the ideology of the specialists being imposed on society as a whole. Scientific endeavors that utilize human subjects or otherwise pose dangers to innocent human life mustalways be subject to oversight by society as a whole, through regular democratic processes.”
National Right to Life spokespersons are available for comment on these subjects. To arrange an interview, please contact the NRLC Communications Department at (202) 626-8825 or mediarelations@nrlc.org.
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OBAMA LAUNCHES ABORTION AGENDA WITH ORDER PROMOTING ABORTION IN U.S. POPULATION-CONTROL PROGRAM
WASHINGTON – President Obama signed an order on Friday, January 23, that puts hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into the hands of organizations that aggressively promote abortion as a population-control tool in the developing world. Obama's order overturns the “Mexico City Policy,” under which funds in the U.S. “population assistance” program go only to overseas organizations that pledge not to “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.”
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), commented, “This is the first in an anticipated series of attacks on longstanding pro-life policies, as the new administration pushes Obama's sweeping abortion agenda. That agenda includes repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which would result in tax-funded abortion as a birth control method in the U.S., and imposition of sweeping pro-abortion mandates on private employers through health-care reform legislation.”
According to Johnson, Obama's order will put millions of dollars into the hands of organizations that aggressively promote abortion in developing countries. “President Obama has told the American people that he would support policies to reduce abortions,” Johnson noted, “but this action guarantees many more abortions by funding groups that promote abortion as a method of population control.”
Contrary to some misunderstandings, enforcement of the Mexico City Policy did not reduce the amount of money spent on the program, nor will Obama's order increase the amount (which is $461 million in the current fiscal year). Rather, the policy affects what type of groups qualify for grants under the program.
“Obama's order will redirect funds to groups such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which are ideologically committed to the doctrine that abortion on demand must be universally available as a birth control method,” Johnson said.
Although Obama's order will result in major subsidies for organizations that promote abortion overseas, the direct use of the U.S. funds to perform abortion procedures will remain unlawful under the Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act. “The Helms Amendment can be changed only by an act of Congress, but because the Obama Administration is joined at the hip with the abortion lobby, we will be watching carefully for any evidence that the Administration is failing to enforce the Helms Amendment,” Johnson said.
The Mexico City Policy required grantees to refrain from performing abortions (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest), or lobbying to legalize abortion, or otherwise promoting abortion as a family-planning method. The policy explicitly allowed responding to questions about where abortions may be obtained, in countries in which abortions are legal.
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Go back to Current Media Releases
MDRTL Mourns the Death of Dr. Bernard Nathanson
U.S. House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood
Anti-Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Law in Baltimore Found Unconstitutional
Maryland Poised to Become Abortion Capital of U.S.; Carhart Comes to State
Lack of Regulation Makes Maryland Haven for Late-term Abortionists
MDRTL Announces 2010 Essay Contest Winners
NRLC Statement: Abortion “Deal” in Health Care Legislation
NRLC Launches National Grassroots Lobbying Campaign
National Right to Life Identifies Six Major Abortion Problems in Senate Health Bill
National Right to Life Rejects Reid Abortion Funding Language
MDRTL Criticizes Montgomery County Bill Aimed at Pregnancy Centers
MDRTL Applauds House Vote on Stupak Bill; Urges Continued Vigilance
MDRTL Conference 2009 Offers Encouraging Messages
MDRTL Urges Opposition to Baltimore City Council Attacking Pregnancy Centers
Third Pregnant Woman Murdered; Stronger Unborn Victims Law Needed
MDRTL Urges Reconsideration of $25,000 Grant to Company Engaged in Embryonic Stem Cell Research
MDRTL Strongly Denounces Murder of Late-term Abortion Provider
Tragic Murder Shows Need for Stronger Unborn Victims Law
Most American Support Conscience Rights
DHHS Considering Proposal to Rescind 2008 Health Care Provider Conscience Regulations
Maryland Ultrasound Bill Killed in Committee
Obama Opens Door to Widespread Killing of Human Embryos for Research
Obama Launches Abortion Agenda with Order Promoting Abortion in Population Control Program
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