Life Links 3/30/10

According to the New York Daily News, a man became enraged when his wife refused to have an abortion. He apparently attempted to kill both his wife and her sister in front of a room full of children.


In Louisville, a high school custodian found an early term fetus in a feminine receptacle. The coroner believes the child was miscarried.


Judge Daniel Riley has thrown out the ACLU's lawsuit against Illinois' long-unenforced parental notification law but he also didn't allow the law to take effect. The ACLU of Illinois describes the ruling here.

The judge went on to conclude that under Illinois decisional law, plaintiffs mounting a pre-enforcement facial challenge to a state law must show that the law would be unconstitutional in every application. Given the fact that some teens would not be harmed by the Parental Notice law, plaintiffs' facial challenge could not go forward and he would grant defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings.

In the wake of today's ruling, we are reviewing our legal options, including an appeal of the Judge's decision. We note that the Judge was careful and blunt in describing the Illinois law as "unfortunate," and in noting that enforcement of the Act will result in horrible outcomes for some young women, including "physical and emotional abuse." However, the Judge ruled in favor of the State because he did not believe that the law would be harmful in every incident where a pregnant minor was compelled to notify a parent of her decision to terminate a pregnancy.

At least twenty-one dead children (apparently born and unborn) were found in a river in China. The bodies came from the hospital of Jining Medical University.

A local health official said an investigation had been launched.

"The hospital medical staff involved have been suspended from their work during the investigation," Zhong Haitao, a spokesman at the Jining Health Bureau, told Xinhua.

The report did not specify how many staff members had been suspended.

One of the bodies had been bundled into a plastic bag marked "hospital waste”, the Beijing News said.

Duke University's Women Center has canceled an event about the being a mother while also being a Duke student simply because the sponsor of the event was Duke's student prolife group. Mike Adams has more details.

Given all of these beliefs, it would seem that a discussion on motherhood would be acceptable at the Duke Women's Center. But it isn’t. A discussion of motherhood is too traumatic for campus feminists. Who says women are emotionally incapable of rational debate? Feminists at Duke seem to think so.

Kevin Staley-Joyce on Planned Parenthood's shout-out to the nuns who supported Obamacare.

It may well be the case that some of the religious sisters involved in the letter’s synthesis really do believe the bill is “life-affirming.” Assuming they do not identify with Cecile Richards and her organization, called “Murder, Inc.” by some, one can only hope they now see that the wrong side is celebrating. And if they find themselves on the celebrating side, it is easier to see why Richards suggests we listen to them—not because of their gender, religious affiliation, or perspective—but because they’re pro-abortion choice.