Life Links 5/18/11

Angel Dillard has filed a counterclaim against the Justice Department, claiming their lawsuit against effected her free speech and religious rights.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued Dillard under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The government's lawsuit seeks a court order permanently prohibiting Dillard from contacting Means or coming within 250 feet of the doctor, her home, car or business. It also seeks damages of $5,000 for the doctor and a penalty of $15,000.

In her counterclaim, Dillard claims the government's conduct has intimidated and interfered with her First Amendment right to worship where she chooses because her church is located less than 250 feet from Means' office.

Dillard is seeking attorney fees, court costs, statutory damages of $5,000 per violation, as well as punitive damages to deter the government and its agents from further alleged violations of constitutional rights.

New Mexico Right to Life wants its name removed from a billboard posted by a man upset that his former girlfriend possibly had an abortion without telling him. In the billboard he uses the name of his former girlfriend as the name of his unofficial organization.

The billboard depicts an Alamogordo businessman, GEFNET owner Greg A. Fultz, holding what appears to be an outlined baby in his arms as he is looking down at it. Next to the picture, in large print, is the statement, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child! [sic]."

A woman in California is under arrest after trying to kill her 6-week-old daughter. The article reveals that she previously killed an unborn child by using meth.

According to authorities, this isn't the first time Mailloux has harmed one of her children. In 2009, the death of her 39-week-old, 7 pound fetus was ruled a homicide by the Coroner's office.

"Homicide to us simply means that someone else caused the child's death," said Commander Dennis Smithson, Kern County Coroner's Office. "It wasn't natural cause, it wasn't an accident, someone did something to the child that caused the death."

Smithson says that "someone" was Mailloux and that "something" was drug use. "A toxicology report was done and the baby came back positive for a high level of methamphetamine."

But, under California law authorities cannot criminally prosecute the mother for this type of death.