LifeVoice - March / April 2009

FOCA Watch: Hyde Amendment Threatened

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) has not yet been introduced in the current congressional legislative session which began in January. However, it appears that Congress will begin to enact provisions of FOCA piece by piece, with the first “slice” being the repeal of the Hyde Amendment.

For over thirty years, your federal tax dollars have not been used to pay for abortions for indigent women except in very limited circumstances. Every year, as part of the appropriations process, the Hyde Amendment (named after the late right-to-life champion, Congressman Henry Hyde) is added to the HHS Appropriations bill. Through this process, your federal tax dollars are prohibited from being used for abortions.

Enter Obama and the new Congress who appear ready to do away with the Hyde Amendment. The appropriations process begins in March when the Hyde Amendment will be considered and either approved or repealed. Planned Parenthood states that the Hyde Amendment is responsible for an 18-38% reduction in abortions. National Right to Life estimates that at least one million unborn babies have been saved by the Hyde Amendment. More than the Hyde Amendment is at stake as there are over a dozen right-to-life policies folded into appropriations bills.

What will Wisconsin Congressman David Obey, chair of the Appropriations Committee, do? Will Obama interject his opinion that it’s time for the Hyde Amendment to go? Is turning back the clock the “change” the American public really wants?

Please contact your congressman immediately to urge that the Hyde Amendment be approved.

Pro-Abortion Forces on a Mission to Repeal Wisconsin’s Historic Abortion Ban

Pro-abortion Assembly Representative Terese Berceau (D-Madison) plans to once again introduce legislation that would repeal s. 940.04 of the Wisconsin statutes. Berceau will be aided in this effort by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and a number of pro-abortion legislators.

S. 940.04 prohibits abortions in Wisconsin except when the mother’s life is in danger. When Roe v. Wade is overturned, this protective law will once again go into effect and all Wisconsin abortion clinics will finally be closed! But this will happen only if s. 940.04 stays on the lawbooks. Pro-abortion forces have attempted to repeal s. 940.04 several times in the past. The most recent attempt occurred last year. Wisconsin Right to Life has been successful in defeating those efforts with the help of right-to-life supporters throughout the state. We must not let pro-abortion forces repeal our abortion ban! Wisconsin Right to Life is spearheading a comprehensive plan to save s. 940.04. With the outcome of the elections, saving our abortion ban will be more difficult than ever. But, with your help, we will be successful. It is vital that you contact both your State Senator and your Assembly Representative and urge them to KEEP Wisconsin’s abortion ban on our lawbooks. We’ve made it easy for you to contact them.

By joining E-Voice, you will receive important alerts on this and other vital legislative matters. When you receive an E-Voice alert, it will include a link that will take you directly to the e-mail boxes of your own legislators. So, even if you are not sure who your legislators are or how to contact them, we’ll take care of that for you. To sign up for E-Voice go to www.wrtl.org/e-voice online.

Thousands of Petitions Delivered to Meriter Hospital Board Protesting UW Plan to Perform Late-Term Abortions at the Madison Surgery Center

At a January 27 news conference in the Capitol rotunda, Wisconsin Right to Life delivered more than 9,000 petitions in opposition to a UW Hospital and Clinics proposal to perform late-term abortions at the Madison Surgery Center. Thanks to dedicated right-to-life people throughout our state, and a coalition of organizations, the message that late-term abortions are unacceptable came through loud and clear.

Among those speaking at the Capitol was Dr. Bill Evans, a Meriter Hospital physician representing a dozen of his colleagues who object to the institutionalized killing of the unborn. Our protests were heard, but ignored. On February 4, by a vote of 11 to 3, the Authority Board of UW Hospital and Clinics approved the late-term abortion plan. Since this unfortunate turn of events, some believe this cause is lost but nothing could be further from the truth!

Below is a list of things that can be done to help stop this tragedy.

1. If you are a graduate of any of the UW campuses, contact
Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, who voted in favor of the plan.
Messages can be e-mailed to her at chancellor@news.wisc.edu
- or you can leave a phone message for Chancellor Martin at
608-262-9946. Her mailing address is 161 Bascom Hall,
500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706.

2. If you are a patient who uses the UW Hospital or Clinic, Meriter
Hospital or Madison Surgery Center, a letter has been drafted that
you can send to officials of all of those organizations. Visit
www.wrtl.org/madison to download a copy of the letter.

3. Call the Madison Surgery Center at 608-287-2200 where the
late-term abortions will be performed. Be polite when you speak
with the receptionist who may refer you to another number to
leave your message.

4. If you are a physician, please consider doing what some
physicians have done - inform UW Hospital and Clinics, Meriter
Hospital and Madison Surgery Center that you will no longer refer
patients to those entities.

Here is contact information for those entities.

Jeffrey Grossman, MD
UW Medical Foundation
7974 UW Health Court
Middleton, WI 53562
jeffrey.grossmanmd@uwmf.wisc.edu

James L. Woodward
Meriter Hospital
202 S. Park Street
Madison, WI 53715
mknowles@meriter.com

Madison Surgery Center
1 S Park Street, 3rd Floor
Madison, WI 53715
dianne.byerly@uwmf.wisc.edu

Donna Katen-Bahensky
UW Hospital and Clinics
600 Highland Ave.
Madison, WI 53792
dkaten-bahensky@uwhealth.org

5. Sign the petition in opposition to the late-term abortion plan. If you have
not already done so, you can access the petition at http://wrtl.org/petition2 -
Wisconsin Right to Life has already delivered more than 9,000 petitions and will
continue to present these petitions to UW officials.

6. Pray that minds and hearts will be reached! Yes, public pressure is essential
but prayer is also essential for those who have approved the plan and those
who will be participating in the direct destruction of human life. Please pray
that their minds and hearts will be changed!

Read the latest on this topic here: http://www.wrtl.org/madison

Just how well has Barack Obama been keeping his promises to pro-abortion and pro-embryonic stem cell research organizations?

• Just two days after taking office, Obama reversed the Mexico City Policy. That crucial right-to-life policy had protected YOUR federal tax dollars from flowing to organizations that provide and promote abortion overseas. Thanks to Mr. Obama, your federal tax dollars are now subsidizing international pro-abortion organizations!
  
  
• As of this writing, the Obama Administration is sending signals that our new president will soon be overturning President George W. Bush’s policy that prohibited the use of federal tax dollars to destroy human embryos for use in medical experiments. It is possible that by the time you read this, Obama will have completed his second dastardly anti-life act. And in only a matter of weeks since becoming president!

Obama’s anti-life constituency must be very proud of their new president.

Obama Watch will be a regular feature of Life Voice.

Assisted Suicide: Doctors Assisting Patients to Die

Update from the states...

What happens when you legalize assisted suicide? Ask the people of Oregon where assisted suicide is legal. They will tell you, once it is legalized it becomes impossible to contain and impossible to protect those who are vulnerable or who have mental illness.*

On Feb 19, the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee heard a bill which would overturn that state’s law prohibiting doctors from assisting suicides. Bills to legalize assisted suicide have been introduced in New Mexico, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

* From: Oregon’s Assisted Suicide Law - Safeguards Don’t Work published by Oregon Right to Life and available in bulk quantities from Wisconsin Right to Life by calling toll free 877 855-5007.

BACK TO SQUARE ONE - What is Assisted Suicide?

Physician-assisted suicide involves a physician prescribing lethal drugs for a patient and instructing the patient on how to use them to commit suicide. Refusing a ventilator, or some other life-sustaining machine or treatment is not assisted suicide. The intent of refusing medical treatment is not to end life, but to allow nature to take its course. With physician- assisted suicide, the intent is for the patient to die from a foreign substance.

Learn more at the Current News page of the NightingaleAlliance.org website.

The 2009 Wisconsin Right to Life Legislative Conference held in Madison on Feb. 19 had 300 in attendance, 175 of whom were students. In addition to teen-focused, life-issues sessions, the students attended the luncheon at which Bella film producer Jason Jones spoke. The day was a complete success capped off when hundreds brought the right-to-life message to their legislators at the state Capitol.

Memorials and Honorariums:
Honor a loved one’s anniversary or special occasion with an Honorarium gift, or celebrate the life of a loved one with a Memorial gift. Special cards in honor of your gift are sent to your loved one’s family and their names will be published at our website: www.WisconsinRightToLife.org/memorials.htm

Don’t miss the Annual Wisconsin Right to Life Education Fund Dinner & Auction
Thursday, April 2, 2009 Special Guest Speaker: Bobby Schindler Jr.
Midwest Airlines Center, downtown Milwaukee

Dinner reservations are $65 per person; tables of ten are $600. Black tie optional. Join us for an evening of good food, fun, friends and fellowship. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and hors d’oeuvres served. Silent Auction from 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. Be a table captain! Anyone who organizes or purchases a table of 10 will have their picture taken with Bobby Schindler Jr. To make reservations for this event, call our Events Coordinator, Janna, at 414 778-5780 locally, or toll-free 877 855-5007 or write JVanswol@wrtl.org to send Janna an email.

2009 State Convention - Sat. April 18, 2009 - Blue Harbor Resort - Sheboygan, WI

The resort includes a 54,000 square foot entertainment area and water park, beautiful family-sized suites and breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. To register, download, print and mail the registration form found at www.WisconsinRightToLife.org/events