Daleiden Wins Legal Victory in University of Washington Fetal Tissue Investigation

Seattle, WA - August 16, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- On August 14, 2017, in Seattle, WA, Thomas More Society attorneys have won an appeal on behalf of undercover journalist David Daleiden, against a group of University of Washington research lab employees and abortion facility personnel. The government employees and the abortion personnel are seeking to force heavy redactions in public documents about their work procuring, processing, and transferring the organs and tissue of aborted human fetuses, in connection with the school’s taxpayer-funded Birth Defects Research Laboratory.

The Washington state Public Records Act requires full disclosure, but a lower court ordered the redactions, holding that the First Amendment required them. However, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has now reversed that decision, unanimously holding that the District Court had not provided the facts and law sufficient to make a “clear showing” that the U.S. Constitution requires the heavy censoring of these public records. Thomas More Society Special Counsel Peter Breen, who argued the appeal, explained that the order, delivered August 14, 2017, sends the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, in Seattle, which must now specify and justify its decision.

“This case began when our client requested public records from the University of Washington about its publicly funded research lab,” stated Breen. “Mr. Daleiden’s broad-ranging investigation into the trafficking of aborted fetal remains led him to look into the University of Washington’s fetal tissue research and acquisition practices. He asked that names and personal contact info be redacted from the records, but the abortion advocates and government employees pressed for full censorship, even of entity names, job titles, and departments within the university. Such heavy redactions render these public documents useless for investigative purposes.”

The employees, identifying themselves legally as Jane Does and John Does, sued in August 2016, claiming they “would likely face threats, harassment, and violence” if the records were disclosed, even with names and personal contact info redacted. The District Court entered its preliminary injunction requiring heavy redactions on November 15, 2016, and the case has been stayed since then, pending the result of Daleiden’s appeal.

Senior Circuit Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima, and Circuit Judges Jacqueline H. Nguyen and M. Margaret McKeown, heard the arguments and issued the unanimous order reversing the decision by the District Court. In particular, the appellate judges criticized the lower court for misapplying case law in granting a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.

“The Court of Appeals, by reversing this decision and remanding this case back to District Court, has prevented a serious threat to the public’s right to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” added Breen.

Court halts Illinois mandate to promote abortion

Rockford, IL - July 20, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- A federal court issued an injunction Wednesday that halts enforcement of an Illinois law which forces pregnancy care centers and doctors to promote abortion regardless of their ethical or moral views. Alliance Defending Freedom and allied attorneys represent multiple pregnancy care centers, a pregnancy care center network, and a doctor and her medical practice in a lawsuit challenging the law.

ADF attorneys argue that the new law, which is actually an amendment to the existing Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act, violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution. In Wednesday’s order in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Rauner, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois agreed, writing, “It is clear that the amended act targets the free speech rights of people who have a specific viewpoint.”

“The government is out of line when it attempts to force Americans to communicate a message that is contrary to their most deeply held beliefs,” said ADF Legal Counsel Elissa Graves. “In addition, the state shouldn’t be robbing women of the freedom to choose a pro-life doctor by mandating that pro-life physicians and entities make or arrange abortion referrals. The court was right to halt enforcement of this law while our lawsuit proceeds.”

SB 1564 forces pregnancy care centers, medical facilities, and physicians who conscientiously object to involvement in abortions to adopt policies that provide women who ask for abortions with a list of providers “they reasonably believe may offer” them. Federal law prohibits the government from placing burdens on religious conscience without a compelling interest for doing so.

As the court’s order explains, “plaintiffs have demonstrated a better than negligible chance of succeeding in showing that the amended act discriminates based on their viewpoint by compelling them to tell their patients that abortion is a legal treatment option, which has benefits, and, at a minimum and upon request, to give their patients the identifying information of providers who will perform an abortion.”

“The government has no business forcing pro-life doctors and pregnancy care centers in Illinois to operate as referral agents for the abortion industry,” said ADF-allied attorney and co-counsel Noel Sterett with Mauck & Baker LLC. “A law that targets medical professionals because of their pro-life views and right of conscience is unconstitutional and unethical.”

“This decision correctly interprets the Constitution to prohibit compelled speech mandating faith-based ministries to speak a message with which they are fundamentally opposed,” added National Institute of Family and Life Advocates President Thomas A. Glessner. “We applaud this ruling that stops the state of Illinois from forcing pro-life pregnancy medical clinics to become abortion referral agencies.”

Mauck & Baker attorney Whitman Briskey is also co-counsel in the case on behalf of the plaintiffs.

ADF attorneys also represent NIFLA in a similar case out of California, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

Abortion, Trumpcare, Voters, Terrorist, Suicidal Teens

In Arkansas, rape survivors will be forced to notify their attacker if they get an abortion
The Daily Dot
July 10, 2017
Arkansas women may soon be forced to notify their sexual partner or family members if they want to have an abortion, thanks to a provision passed in the state’s 2017 legislative session. H.B. 1566, the Tissue Disposal Mandate, would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion without communicating with the man who impregnated her — whether that be her husband, boyfriend, a casual hook-up, or a perpetrator of sexual assault.
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Here is an idea: outlaw abortion and we won't have that problem. If the mother is forced to confront her accuser, it should be in a court of law where he is being prosecuted for his crime, and the child should get the opportunity to survive by monetary support from the rapist for the rest of his life. It's not the child's fault he or she exists. Why punish the child by executing it?

Sen. Rand Paul: Senate GOP Decides to Keep Obamacare
Breitbart
July 12, 2017
The Senate Obamacare bill does not repeal Obamacare. I want to repeat that so everyone realizes why I’ll vote “no” as it stands now:
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Sigh....Get RID of Obamacare and legislate the insurance companies instead of replacing it with "Trumpcare". Is it that hard to understand? Why do people feel the need to fix something by making it more complicated?

Hundreds of Colorado Voters Withdraw Registrations in Wake of Trump-ordered Probe of Fraudulent Voting!
Breitbart
July 12, 2017
Colorado is one state that has agreed to comply with the voter fraud commission that President Donald Trump put in place with an executive order in May. And now county clerks in that state are reporting that they’ve seen hundreds of people withdraw their voter registrations. A spokesperson for the Denver Elections Division told a Denver media outlet that 180 people have withdrawn their registrations in the county since Monday of this week.
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That could be a good thing if all of the voters are dead Democrats. If they have nothing to hide, why would they withdraw? Apparently something illegal is going on or it wouldn't be happening. After all, if they refuse to vote out of protest, they are just hurting themselves.

ISIS finally confirms the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
MFS--The Other News
July 11, 2017
According to a statement by the Russian defense ministry carried in reports by the local media outlets, Al-Baghdadi was targeted along with at least 300 other insurgents and 30 top leaders of the terror group.
Read more...

The enemy of our enemy...

"Blue Whale Challenge" urges young people to end their lives
CBS News
July 12, 2017
The family of a Texas teen who hanged himself says their son was involved in a ghoulish online game that calls on participants to complete a series of tasks before taking their own lives, and some schools are warning parents about the so-called Blue Whale Challenge.
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How tragic...do parents not teach their children the difference between fantasy and reality now days?

Abortion

Shaheen, Blumenthal Lead Call for UN Ambassador Haley to Reverse Course, Reaffirm U.S. Commitment to Global Reproductive Rights
Senator Jeanne Shaheen - (D - NH)
APRIL 20, 2017
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today led a letter calling on United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley to reverse course and reaffirm the United States’ commitment to global reproductive rights. The U.S. has long supported sexual and reproductive rights abroad through foreign aid and development programs, but the Trump Administration has taken actions recently threatening these rights. In their letter, the Senators said that recent actions, such as stating at the Commission on the Status of Women that the U.S. does not recognize an international right to abortion, demonstrate a blatant disregard for the integral role that sexual and reproductive health play in women's lives and hinder the U.S.’s ability to achieve its foreign policy and development goals.
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From the Senate: Substance Abuse, Wilbur Ross, Rick Perry, Abortion, Anti-semitism, Timber, Colonoscopies, Rosie the Riveter Day

U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren, (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) re-introduced the Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment Act (LifeBOAT Act), which would establish a permanent funding stream to provide and expand access to substance abuse treatment.

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Wilbur Ross was confirmed as Commerce Secretary.

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Rick Perry was confirmed as Energy Secretary.

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U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) was joined by U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA-27), Marcia Fudge (D-OH-11), and Lois Frankel (D-FL-22) introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act. The Women’s Health Protection Act would protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion by stopping restrictive regulations and laws – such as those in place in states including Texas and Wisconsin – intended to curtail reproductive health services for women.

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A St. Louis man, Juan Thompson, who is accused of making bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers and other facilities across the country was arrested.

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John Boozman (R-AR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced legislation to ensure that timber companies are treated more fairly under the tax code. The senators re-introduced the Timber Revitalization and Economic Enhancement (TREE) Act, which amends the IRS Code to restore parity and facilitate competitiveness for timber companies organized as C corporations. These businesses have faced a different tax rate than alternatively structured companies with timber holdings.

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U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced legislation to protect seniors from out-of-pocket costs for preventive colonoscopies.

Currently, Medicare charges seniors for colonoscopies when a polyp is removed during the procedure even though colorectal cancer screenings are promoted as a free service under Medicare. The Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act would make a long-overdue fix to Medicare to ensure seniors aren’t charged for a colonoscopy – regardless of whether or not a polyp or tissue is removed. Removing harmful tissue during these procedures is key to preventing cancer, yet the fear of having to pay unexpectedly could prevent Medicare recipients from getting these important screenings.

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To kick off Women’s History Month, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), along with Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.), introduced a Congressional resolution to designate March 21, 2017, as National Rosie the Riveter Day, a national day of recognition for the millions of women who supported the war effort on the home front during World War II.

News Links from the House of Representatives, brought to you by The Ponder News:

ENGEL STATEMENT ON U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS

Eshoo Calls on Federal Agencies to Provide Relief After Storms Damage Northern California Counties

Esty Denounces President Trump’s Attack on Law-Abiding Immigrant Families

CONGRESSMAN ADRIANO ESPAILLAT STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON IMMIGRATION


A Response to President Trump’s Inaugural Address & New Deal for African-Americans

FHWA Attempts to Skirt Law, Force TxDOT to Pay Housing Benefits to Illegal Aliens

STATEMENT: Fleischmann on Inauguration

Flores Statement on President Trump’s Executive Action on Border Security

Foster Condemns Trump Administration’s Attacks on Science

Foxx Praises Passage of Legislation to Permanently Ban Federal Funding of Abortion

FRANKEL SLAMS HOUSE PASSAGE OF ANTI-ABORTION LEGISLATION

Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge Statement on President Trump's Call for a Voter Fraud Investigation

FERGUSON: HEALTH CARE SOLUTIONS SHOULD FOCUS ON PATIENTS

Fitzpatrick Resolution Removes ‘Members Only’ Signs from U.S. House of Representatives, Forces Lawmakers to Interact with Constituents