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ember/December 2014
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A publication of Kalamazoo Right to Life
Mid-Term Election: November 4, 2014
Pro-Life Endorsements
On November 4 Americans will vote in the all-important mid-term election.
In the races for U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, the endorsed candidates are
Terri Lynn Land (R) for the Senate and incumbent Representative Fred Upton (R) for the 6th
Congressional District.
In the state-wide races, the following are the Right to Life of Michigan PAC endorsements: For
Michigan Secretary of State the endorsed candidate is incumbent Ruth Johnson (R). For the
office of Attorney General, the endorsed candidate is incumbent Bill Schuette (R). For the State
Board of Education the endorsed candidates are Maria Carl (R) and Jonathan Williams. For the
University of Michigan Board of Regents, the RLM-PAC endorsed candidate is Rob Steele (R).
The endorsed candidates for the Michigan State University Board of Regents are Melanie Foster
(R) and Jeff Sakwa (R).
In the more local state races, the following are the endorsed pro-life candidates: Margaret
O’Brien is the endorsed candidate for the 20th State Senate seat. Incumbent Tonya
Schuitmaker is the endorsed candidate for the 26th State Senate seat. In the 61st State House
race, Brandt Iden (R) is the endorsed candidate. In the 66th State House race, incumbent Aric
Nesbitt (R) is the endorsed candidate.
For the judicial endorsements, Brian Zahra is the incumbent pro-life judge running for another 8
year term on the State Supreme Court. James Robert Redford is also endorsed for an 8 year
term. In that race David Viviano is the endorsed pro-life candidate.
In local Kalamazoo County judge races the following are the endorsed candidates. For the 8th
District Court the pro-life candidate is incumbent Julie Phillips. For the partial term (ending in
2017) in the Kalamazoo County Probate Court, the candidate is incumbent Scott Pierangeli.
Also, for Judge in the Probate Court the endorsed candidate is Tiffany Ankley.
Welcome
For Kalamazoo County Commission
the following candidates are endorsed. In District 6
the pro-life candidate is incumbent
Jeff Heppler (R). In District 7 the endorsed candidate is
Theresa!
incumbent Roger Tuinier (R). In District 9 the endorsed candidate is Dale Shugars (R). In
District 10 the pro-life candidate is Stan Runyon. In District 11 the endorsed candidate is Scott
McGraw.
Please support these fine candidates with your VOTE.
KRTL Lifeline
Page 2
Missouri Lawmakers Override Veto
The Missouri legislature passed three pro-life bills this summer, all of which were vetoed by Governor
Jay Nixon. The first bill increased a waiting period for women seeking abortions from 24 hours to 72
hours. This more stringent law matched a similar law enacted in South Dakota. The two laws do not
grant exemptions in cases of rape or incest. Utah has a 72 hour waiting period as well but allows
exemptions for rape or incest. The second Missouri law expanded tax credits that donors can claim
when giving to a pregnancy care center or maternity homes. The last was a line-item in the state
budget to restore $500,000 in the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program. In his veto Governor Nixon
(D) denounced the 72-hour waiting period as being extreme and disrespectful toward women. On
September 10 the State House voted 117 to 44 to override the veto. Very early the following morning
(after an all night debate and Democratic filibuster) the State Senate voted 23 to 7 to override the veto.
The law will take effect 30 days after the override vote. The lawmakers then overrode the other two
pro-life bills. The state’s only abortion clinic (located in St. Louis) has not decided whether to contest
the bill in the courts.
Abortion-Breast Cancer (ABC) Link Confirmed in Twelve Medical Studies
The possible link between women having an abortion or multiple abortions and the risks of getting
breast cancer has been an on-going debate for the last twenty years. In 1996 Dr. Joel Brind was the
first to note a connection with abortion and breast cancer. The medical community have rejected
Brind’s theory. Now, a September 22 news story from lifenews.com shows that Brind may have been
correct all along. Twelve medical studies conducted in India between 2008 and 2014 seem to indicate
an increase in the risk of getting breast cancer after having aborted.
I quote from the article’s conclusion: “The abortion movement...continues to try and discredit the
mounting evidence of an ABC link by claiming, ‘Weak associations can turn up by chance and are
therefore random and meaningless.’ Well, the associations revealed in the Indian and Chinese studies
were not weak at all, but statistically very robust. Women deserve to know that they are at significantly
greater risk of developing breast cancer if they undergo an induced abortion. Why doesn’t the abortion
movement--which claims to have the interests of women at heart--warn them about this risk?
Why do they continue to concoct flawed arguments, and publish flawed studies, in an attempt to
discredit an ABC link that has now been clearly proven? It’s fairly obvious to me that the deniers are
more concerned about promoting their own dogmatic beliefs than they are about saving women’s lives.
The radical feminists believe that women need to be liberated from childbearing. The radical abortion
movement believes that Planned Parenthood needs to make more money. And the radical
environmentalists believe the planet needs to be relieved of its burden of humanity. They are
irresponsibly advancing their own deadly agendas at the expense of science and women’s lives.
What’s scientific and liberating about that?”
KRTL Lifeline
Page 3
Abortion Funding in ObamaCare
Pro-Life Texas Law Temporary Blocked
On September 16 the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) reported that, contrary to promises by
President Obama that taxpayer dollars would not be
used to fund abortion coverage under the Affordable
Care Act (i.e.ObamaCare), in fact, abortions are
being paid for out of federally-subsidized premiums.
Originally, separate payments are required for
abortion funding. The GAO states that the insurance
issuers are not collecting separate checks. The
Obama administration is telling issuers that they do
not need to collect two checks. You may recall that
back in 2009 the Affordable Care Act was heading
for defeat because 16 pro-life Democrats were
unwilling to sign on unless abortion coverage was
excluded from ObamaCare. Only after Obama
agreed to an executive order banning money to
cover abortion did the pro-life Democrats come
around to support the final bill. This news comes as
no real surprise. The Obama administration is
ideologically committed to abortion and will do
anything (including lying) to get what it wants. We
will see if there is some backlash to this situation.
Perhaps there will be some accommodation.
Texas pro-lifers lost a temporary legal fight
concerning the state’s controversial 2013 law. The
statute required that abortion clinics meet hospitallevel operating standards and that physicians obtain
hospital admitting privileges. The new law would
have forced 10 clinics to close because they were
unable to meet the new guidelines. On August 29,
U.S District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that both
provisions were unconstitutional. “The overall
effect...is to create an impermissible obstacle” for
women seeking abortion. An abortion clinic provider
added that the law imposes “an undue burden for
women in Texas,” a reference to the new judicial
policy concerning abortion-related cases: the undue
burden rule. If any pro-life bill imposes an “undue
burden” on a woman’s ability to procure an abortion
the courts will declare such a law unconstitutional.
However, Yeakel’s ruling is not the last word. Earlier
in the year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
that if most clinics closed across the state and
women would be forced to travel up to 150 miles for
an abortion that in itself did not impose an undue
burden on Texas women. The state’s attorney
general said that he would appeal to the Fifth Circuit.
It is very probable that these types of laws will wind
up at the Supreme Court. A similar law enacted in
Louisiana was struck down by a three-judge panel of
the Fifth Circuit so a final ruling from the highest
court is expected.
Your New Kalamazoo Right to Life Officers
for 2014-2015
Check out the YouTube video
Stand With Life, Right To Life of
Michigan put out for the November
elections!
Rob Karrer: President
Sue Baldwin: Vice President
Stan Carra: Treasurer
Ann Brissette: Secretary
KRTL Lifeline
Page 4
By Rob Karrer
Mid-term elections are too often overlooked or neglected. While 55 percent to 60 percent of
eligible voters participate during presidential election cycles, voting drops off precipitously during
the off-year mid-terms. Typically about 25 to 30 percent of voters actually go to the polls and pick
their candidates of choice. It is this historically low voter turnout and its significance that is the
subject of my column. If only 25 percent of people vote, that vote holds greater weight than if 60
percent voted. Thus, the outcome of close races can be determined by a handful of votes. If
special interest groups (LIKE US IN THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT) turnout in great numbers, their
endorsed candidates have a greater chance of victory. Mid-term election results can have historic
ramifications. Republicans held the US Senate from 1981 to 1986. They lost the Senate in the
mid-term election of 1986. Pro-life Robert Bork was rejected the following year in his bid for a seat
on the Supreme Court. In 1994 Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives and
Republicans forced President Clinton to compromise of key issues like welfare reform and deficit
spending. In 2006 Republicans lost control of the Senate setting up Obama’s ability to get the
Affordable Care Act passed three years later, as well as appointments of Justices Sonia
Sotomayor Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Elections have consequences. So do your duty
and vote. The lives of unborn babies may hang in the balance.
Kalamazoo Right to Life
4200 W. Michigan Ave, Suite 203
Kalamazoo, MI 49006-5840
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