WASHINGTON — Democratic members of Congress who support the health-care bill moving toward a final vote as soon as March 21 said abortion-funding restrictions would add to the bill’s costs because more children would be born, according to the leading pro-life Democrat in Congress.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., told the Register days before the final vote was expected that several fellow Democratic members of Congress have approached him to criticize an amendment he has advocated, which would bar federal taxpayer funding of elective abortions on the grounds that it would increase the overall... READ MORE

• Abortion foes plan 'no' vote on health overhaul Washington Post
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WASHINGTON — Leading Catholic and pro-life organizations are challenging the accuracy of several other Catholic groups that endorsed a sweeping health care overhaul legislation and maintained it will not fund elective abortions.

Pro-life leaders are certain that the federal legislation — which could face a final vote as soon as Sunday — will fund the largest expansion of abortion in decades.

Leading up to what is expected to be a final vote on the health-care bill in the House of Representatives, several Catholic groups this week announced support for the measure and largely dismissed... READ MORE

• 'Condition Red' National Right to Life Committee
• Tug of War: 'Do not be Fooled' by Catholic Groups' Health Bill Support, Say Bishops LifeSiteNews
• Top Blue Dog: Slaughter solution is 'poison' The Hill
• Bishops Offer Health-Care Debate Resources United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

New York — “Just because we can agree on a goal, doesn’t mean we’ll agree on how to get there.” Such was the experience of the women who made up the living mosaic of languages and nationalities congregating at the United Nations last week.

The United Nations’ 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women hosted the “Beijing+15 Conference” from March 1-12 in New York. It gathered women from every region of the world — diplomats, representatives of non-government organizations (NGOs) and concerned citizens.

Beijing+15 was a follow-up to the 1995 UN International Conference on Women, held in the Chinese capital. The 1995 conference’s conclusive document, the...READ MORE

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, an umbrella advocacy group of women’s religious orders, will be speaking during a conference call with journalists today at 2:30. She will be joined by Morna Murray, president of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and Francis X. Doyle, former associate general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and others. They will argue that the Senate health-care bill, which the House of Representatives is set to vote on this weekend, “does not provide federal funding for abortion.”