Oklahoma

Oklahoma GOPer Proposes Bill To Outlaw 'Aborted Human Fetuses' In Food

Jillian Rayfield | January 25, 2012, 5:18PM

An Oklahoma Republican is pushing a bill to outlaw the use of human fetuses in food, because, as he says, "there is a potential that there are companies that are using aborted human babies in their research and development of basically enhancing flavor for artificial flavors."

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Personhood

Nevada Judge Rejects Personhood Petition For Being Too Vague

Jillian Rayfield | December 22, 2011, 1:16PM

Anti-abortion demonstrators in Washington, DC.

A judge in Nevada is smacking down "personhood" advocates left and right.

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Personhood

'Personhood' Movement May Be Coming To A State Near You

Jillian Rayfield | December 7, 2011, 4:36AM

Anti-abortion demonstrators in Washington, DC.

Members of the "personhood" movement may have failed to pass a ballot measure in Mississippi, but they're not giving up -- and are redoubling their efforts in a number of states across the country.

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Abortion

Mississippi Votes Down Amendment To Define Personhood At Fertilization

Eric Kleefeld | November 8, 2011, 10:57PM

The state of Mississippi has now provided the answer to an interesting political test: How severe must a proposed piece of pro-life legislation be, for it to fail in the Deep South?

Voters on Tuesday rejected ballot Initiative 26, which would have defined personhood as beginning at fertilization. With 63% of the vote reporting, the 'No' position is leading by a margin of 57%-43%, and has been projected as the winner by the Associated Press.

The proposal, initiated through petitions by pro-life activists, would have outlawed not only abortion but many forms of birth control that can prevent the uterine implantation of a fertilized egg.

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Mississippi

Mississippi To Vote On 'Personhood' Initiative That Could Also Ban Birth Control

Jillian Rayfield | November 8, 2011, 6:00AM

Mississippians will vote on a "personhood" ballot amendment Tuesday that would define life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, which would ban abortions as well as some types of birth control.

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Gay Rights

Anti-Gay 'Pastor': Gay Activists Behind My Six Fraud Charges

Jillian Rayfield | October 3, 2011, 5:55AM

An anti-gay activist in Montana who describes himself as a pastor says that the six theft, fraud and conspiracy charges he was slapped with may have been the work of gay activists.

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Planned Parenthood

Another Day, Another Battle In The GOP's War On Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | September 29, 2011, 5:00AM

Planned Parenthood Supporter

House Republicans have announced an investigation into Planned Parenthood's funding, in the latest move in the seemingly endless effort to cripple the women's health service provider.

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Abortion

Low-Budget Anti-Abortion Doc Bloodmoney Explores Conspiracy To Get Girls Pregnant

Jillian Rayfield | August 18, 2011, 6:00AM

An anti-abortion documentary called Bloodmoney looks to expose "the multi-billion dollar industry that literally thrives on the destruction of unborn babies and the traumatizing of young pregnant women" -- and how that industry conspires to use sex-ed to get young women to have abortions.

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Abortion

Judge Rules Against Anti-Abortion Group's Claim That Health Care Reform Law Funds Abortion

Jillian Rayfield | August 3, 2011, 4:36PM

Former Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH)

A federal judge has allowed a defamation lawsuit by former Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) to move forward, on the grounds that an anti-abortion group's ad campaign erroneously attacked him for supporting taxpayer-funded abortion with his vote for health care reform.

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Kansas

Federal Judge Blocks Kansas Law To Defund Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | August 1, 2011, 1:51PM

A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against a Kansas law that would strip all federal funding from Planned Parenthood.

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Kansas

Court Blocks Kansas Abortion Rules -- But State Planning New Set

Jillian Rayfield | July 5, 2011, 12:35PM

A federal court blocked the state of Kansas from enacting new temporary regulations for abortion clinics that could have shut down two of the three clinics in the state -- but state officials say they are devising an identical set of permanent regulations.

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Kansas

Kansas Planned Parenthood Gets Licensed Under State's New Abortion Regulations

Jillian Rayfield | June 30, 2011, 6:32PM

A Planned Parenthood branch in Kansas said Thursday that has been licensed under the state's new law regarding abortion clinics, meaning it will be the only abortion clinic that will remain open Friday once the new law takes effect.

The license came through after Planned Parenthood announced a lawsuit against the law on Thursday. "We have been targeted in this bill and Kansas women are the ones who will suffer if their health care is taken away," Peter Brownlie, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said in a statement. "This is radical, extreme government intrusion into private health care."

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Kansas

Kansas Abortion Docs Say New Law Is A 'Sham' That Is 'Stacked Against' Them

Jillian Rayfield | June 30, 2011, 5:45AM

Two Kansas doctors who perform abortions have asked the courts to block a set of new licensing restrictions that go into effect Friday, because they argue the regulations are a "sham" and have "made it impossible for existing medical practices to obtain a license by the effective date."

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Indiana

Federal Judge Rules Indiana Can't Block Planned Parenthood Funding

Jillian Rayfield | June 27, 2011, 10:47AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

A federal judge has granted Planned Parenthood a temporary injunction against an Indiana law that stripped it of all federal funding in the state.

"If dogma trumps pragmatism and neither side budges, Indiana's most vulnerable citizens could end up paying the price as the collateral damage of a partisan battle," U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt wrote in her decision.

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Abortion

Anti-Abortion Film Envisions World Where Black Terrorists Murder Abortion Doctors

Jillian Rayfield | June 24, 2011, 7:00AM

A new anti-abortion movie called "Gates Of Hell" envisions a world where the government outlaws abortion because a group of black terrorists begins murdering abortion doctors.

Molotov Mitchell, a contributor for World Net Daily who produced the film, said in a promotion that "this film could do more damage to the abortion industry than anything we've seen. 'Gates of Hell' raises questions about Planned Parenthood's racist history in a way that's never been done before."

"But best of all, it casts a vision of what a post-abortion America could look like," he said.

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Indiana

Indiana And Planned Parenthood Take Defunding Battle To Federal Court

Jillian Rayfield | June 6, 2011, 12:24PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

A District Court judge in Indiana is now considering whether to grant a preliminary injunction against a new law that strips Indiana Planned Parenthood of all of its federal funding.

Planned Parenthood has requested a preliminary injunction against the law, arguing that without it the state will stop receiving about $1.4 million in Medicaid funding on June 20, and would cut health care services for more than 9,000 people.

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Kenneth Del Vecchio

NJ GOPer Premieres Anti-Abortion Suspense Flick This Weekend

Jillian Rayfield | June 3, 2011, 6:29PM

Kenneth Del Vecchio, a Republican candidate for New Jersey state Senate and a producer of conservative-themed films, is premiering a psychological thriller this weekend with a pro-life twist: Three pregnant women, who intend to have abortions, are kidnapped and forced to carry their pregnancies to term.

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Planned Parenthood

Indiana Moving Ahead With Planned Parenthood Defund Despite Order From Feds

Jillian Rayfield | June 2, 2011, 4:02PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Officials in Indiana say they will continue to implement a law that cuts all federal funding for Planned Parenthood in the state, despite a warning from the Department of Health and Human Services that the law violates the rules of Medicaid.

Marcus J. Barlow, spokesman for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said they are consulting with the state Attorney General on how to proceed. "The way the law was written, it went into effect the moment the governor signed it," Barlow told the National Journal. "We were just advised by our lawyers that we should continue to enforce Indiana law."

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Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Sues South Dakota Over Restrictive Abortion Law

Jon Terbush | May 31, 2011, 10:46AM

Planned Parenthood sued the state of South Dakota last Friday over a new law that requires women to receive counseling at a "pregnancy help center" before they can have an abortion, and imposes a 72-hour waiting period between that counseling and when a doctor can perform the procedure.

In a press release, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota said that the new law toughens what were already the most stringent abortion laws in the nation and infringes on both patients' and doctors' First Amendment rights against "compelled speech."

"This law goes farther than any other in the country in intruding on the doctor-patient relationship, and putting women and families at risk," Sarah Stoesz, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota was quoted as saying in the press release.

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Abortion

Texas Legislature Passes Bill Mandating Pre-Abortion Sonograms

Jon Terbush | May 6, 2011, 3:47PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

The Texas legislature passed a bill on Thursday requiring doctors to conduct a sonogram before performing an abortion, and to describe to the woman seeking an abortion what the sonogram shows before moving ahead with the procedure.

The bill, which passed the Texas House on Thursday by a 94-41 vote, forces doctors to perform a sonogram at least 24 hours before performing an abortion, and to show the resulting images to a woman if she requests to view them. And even if the woman declines to view the sonogram, the bill mandates that she must still listen to the doctor describe the images before going ahead with the abortion.

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Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels' Social 'Truce' Faces Test Over Planned Parenthood Vote

Melissa Jeltsen | April 28, 2011, 10:21AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' (R) "truce" on social issues is now facing its first real test.

Indiana is set to become the first state to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, unless Daniels vetoes the bill sent to him Thursday by the Indiana State Legislature.

The bill would bar the state from entering a contract with any entity that performs abortions (excluding hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers). Planned Parenthood, which operates 28 centers in the state, would lose all public dollars.

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Abortion

Arizona Approves Nation's First Ban On Gender, Race Based Abortions

Jon Terbush | March 30, 2011, 8:37AM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ)

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signed on Tuesday a bill to criminalize abortions based on the race or sex of a fetus, making the state the first in the nation to do so.

The bill, H.B. 2443, makes it a felony for a doctor to perform such abortions, and a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison.

AZCentral reports:

The law allows the father of an aborted fetus - or, if the mother is a minor, the mother's parents - to take legal action against the doctor or other health-care provider who performed the abortion.

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Abortion

Pro-Lifer Wants Hawaii To Reconsider Aborting "Choose Life" Plates

Melissa Jeltsen | February 14, 2011, 10:59AM

Hawaii may soon become the first state to cancel its "Choose Life" license plate because of insufficient sales---but it won't be for lack of trying. Steve Holck, the founder of Aloha Pregnancy Care & Counseling Centers and sponsor of the specialty plate has offered to personally pay for the 50 plates needed to avoid cancellation---that is, if he can find anyone who wants one.

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Abortion

LiveAction Releases Third Video Targeting Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | February 8, 2011, 5:32PM

Lila Rose, president of LiveAction.

The anti-abortion group LiveAction released a third undercover video today targeting Planned Parenthood in a James O'Keefe-style sting, which LiveAction says shows an employee in a clinic in the Bronx describing to a pimp and prostitute how to get taxpayer funded insurance for underage sex workers.

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Abortion

LiveAction Releases Second Planned Parenthood Vid

Rachel Slajda | February 4, 2011, 8:44AM

LiveAction's Lila Rose

LiveAction, the anti-abortion group that targets Planned Parenthood with undercover videos, released a second video Thursday of what it says is a Planned Parenthood employee aiding in child sex trafficking.

In the video, a man -- identified by LiveAction as an actor -- tells a Planned Parenthood employee in Virginia that he is in "sex work" and "manages girls" as young as 14 and 15. He asks questions about disease testing and abortions for girls under 18, and the employee provides answers.

This, LiveAction says, proves that Planned Parenthood aids federal criminals and fails to report crimes such as the ones the actor was pretending to have committed.

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Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood: FBI Investigation Underway Over Potential Sex Ring Hoax

Rachel Slajda | January 27, 2011, 10:13AM

James O'Keefe and Lila Rose

The FBI has begun investigating a series of incidents in which a man told Planned Parenthood clinics around the country that he was running an underage sex trafficking ring, according to a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.

The FBI has been interviewing people at the clinics -- a total of eight spread out over five states and D.C. -- over the past two days, the spokeswoman tells TPM. She said Planned Parenthood has been giving law enforcement all the information they have.

The FBI did not return a request for comment.

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Planned Parenthood

Is It An Underage Sex Slave Ring, Or A Hoax? Either Way, Planned Parenthood Calls The FBI

Rachel Slajda | January 25, 2011, 2:19PM

James O'Keefe and Lila Rose

In the course of five days this month, eight Planned Parenthood clinics in five states and D.C. reported getting the same visit: A man said he needed treatment for a sexually transmitted disease and then, once alone with a staff member, implied that he ran an interstate sex trafficking ring that involves minors and illegal immigrants.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America thinks that the visits, which happened between Jan. 11 and 15, are part of a James O'Keefe-style "sting." But the group called in the FBI anyway.

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Republicans

House GOP Crushes Bill That Would Protect Against Child Marriage

Rachel Slajda | December 20, 2010, 8:55AM

Eric Cantor (R-VA) and John Boehner (R-OH)

On Thursday night, hours before passing the tax cut compromise, House Republicans thwarted a bill that aimed to protect girls around the world from being coerced into child marriage. They opposed it because, they claimed, it might fund abortions.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), was blindsided. After the Child Marriage Protection Act passed the Senate with zero objection on Dec. 1 -- a rare feat these days -- it didn't seem like there was much to worry about.

But just before the vote began, Republican leadership blasted out a "whip alert" to GOP staffers with a message: Vote no. The alert claimed the bill cost too much and that a competing bill, introduced just the day before, would be better.

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Minnesota

Minn. Pol With Gun Outside Abortion Clinic Says He Was Just In Area 'Checking On' His Girlfriend

Rachel Slajda | November 24, 2010, 12:10PM

Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R-MN)

A security guard at a St. Paul Planned Parenthood clinic called the cops last week after he spotted a Republican state lawmaker with a loaded gun in the parking lot. But the pol says he was only "checking on" his online girlfriend, who he thought may be on a date with another man -- a claim police have not been able to corroborate because the man did not have a phone number or address for the woman.

According to the police report, a security guard reported the man, Rep. Tom Hackbarth, after he saw him get out of a pickup truck in the parking lot with a loaded gun in a hip holster. The guard saw him walk into an alley near the clinic.

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Flip Benham

Pastor Found Guilty Of Stalking North Carolina Abortion Doctors

Eric Lach | November 9, 2010, 10:19AM

Rev. Philip L. "Flip" Benham

An anti-abortion pastor was found guilty and sentenced to two years probation yesterday for stalking North Carolina doctors who perform abortions, The Charlotte Observer reports.

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Scott Roeder

BREAKING: Roeder Found Guilty Of Murdering Dr. George Tiller

Justin Elliott | January 29, 2010, 12:06PM

Scott Roeder in court , January 29, 2010

A Kansas jury just found Scott Roeder guilty of first degree murder in the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller at his church last May.

The jury reportedly deliberated for less than hour. Roeder, an extremist anti-abortion activist, admitted on the stand that he killed Tiller.

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Tiller Trial

Will Admitted Killer Of Abortion Doc Be Allowed To Put Abortion On Trial?

Justin Elliott | January 26, 2010, 11:30AM

Dr. George Tiller and Scott Roeder

Pro-choice groups fear a decision by the judge in the murder trial of abortion doctor George Tiller will essentially give defendant Scott Roeder a high-profile platform to argue that he was justified in killing Tiller last May.

In what one legal expert calls an "unprecedented" decision, Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert two weeks ago declined to bar Roeder's lawyers from pursuing a defense based on "voluntary manslaughter" -- a lesser charge than first-degree murder that carries a sentence of roughly five years. Roeder faces a life sentence if convicted of murder.

But attorneys for pro-choice groups tell TPMmuckraker the real fear is not that Roeder will be convicted of the lesser crime, but that the judge's move sets a bad precedent, and could in essence put the issue of abortion and Tiller's practice on trial.

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Phill Kline

Tiller Stalker: Ex-AG's Crusade Against Kansas Abortion Doctor Revealed In New Complaint

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 4:41PM

Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline

In a new ethics complaint that alleges large-scale abuse of office, the former attorney general of Kansas is accused of dispatching staff to record license plates of women entering George Tiller's abortion clinic, getting records from a motel where patients stayed, and obtaining state medical files under false pretenses, then retaining them after his term as AG was over and repeatedly lying about it in court.

All of this occurred during Attorney General Phill Kline's unsuccessful pursuit of Tiller, the doctor who ran Women's Health Care Services of Wichita and was shot to death, allegedly by an anti-abortion extremist, in 2009.

Kline is also accused of violating professional standards by appearing on the O'Reilly Factor five days before the 2006 election to talk about his pursuit of Tiller, flouting a warning from the state Supreme Court not to publicize legal positions. He was up for reelection as AG at the time.

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Republicans For Choice

Report: Pro-Choice GOP PAC Spends Little To Elect Pro-Choice GOPers

Zachary Roth | January 7, 2010, 11:11AM

Ann Stone of Republicans for Choice

The number of pro-choice Republicans in Congress today is tiny and getting tinier.

There are a few reasons for that, but here's one you likely weren't aware of: According to a detailed new investigative report, the best-known organization working to get pro-choice GOPers elected to Congress actually spends very little of its budget doing so.

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Scott Roeder

Anti-Abortion Activist Behind Auction For Roeder: For-Sale Items Do Not Glorify Violence

Justin Elliott | November 2, 2009, 1:46PM

Anti-abortion activist Regina Dinwiddie

Regina Dinwiddie, the Kansas anti-abortion activist who set up an eBay auction to benefit the suspect in the George Tiller murder, tells TPMmuckraker in a phone interview that she's angry that eBay pulled her items -- and that she believes they did not glorify violence, but rather "glorify the end of a very violent man."

"Actually I thought [eBay] was the last bastion of free enterprise in America, where normal people could put things up for sale," Dinwiddie told us. "I see they do have a political agenda."

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Scott Roeder

Anti-Abortion Extremists Auction Lurid Prison Art On eBay To Raise Money For Tiller Murder Suspect

Justin Elliott | November 2, 2009, 9:51AM

Art for sale on eBay for Scott Roeder's legal defense.

Supporters of the man charged with the May killing of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller are raising money for his legal defense through an eBay auction on items including prison art glorifying the murder and a commissary cookbook by the woman who is serving time for shooting Tiller in both arms in the early 1990s.

Allies of Scott Roeder want to hire a private lawyer who will use a so-called "necessity defense," arguing that the killing was justified.

(See a slideshow of the now-scrubbed items here.)

Auction organizer Dave Leach told the Kansas City Star, which first reported the auction, "I really am hopeful that eBay can see that once this is up, that it is not a glorification of violence."

But the items, like illustrations produced by a fellow inmate and signed by Roeder, do just that. One David-and-Goliath drawing shows a figure with a sling holding up a severed head labeled "Tiller" standing over a bloodied body labeled "Child Murdering Industry."

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