Colo. Won't Fund Family Planning Clinics

DENVER POST, Aug. 11—Gov. Bill Owens has created a new statewide policy which doesn't allow state funding for family planning, reported the Denver Post.

“Owens' top health official, Jane Norton, announced [Aug. 10] that giving abortion providers money violates a 1984 voter-passed constitutional amendment that banned any state money from going directly or indirectly to pay for abortions,” reported the paper.

The paper quoted a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman saying “This is about appeasing the Christian Coalition, which extracted a pledge during the campaign last fall to de-fund Planned Parenthood.”

“That is absolutely not the case,” Norton retorted. “The governor did not ask me to do this.” Owens, a Catholic, opposes abortion. Norton said he supported the decision.

“For about 20 years, Planned Parenthood has gotten money under a contract with the state to provide health services such as cancer screenings and birth control,” said the report. This year, Planned Parenthood expected $319,000 in state dollars. The organization provides abortions at different facilities in Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango and Fort Collins, it said.

Life Institute Offers Resource Web Site

ZENIT, Aug. 10—The Life Research and Communications Institute has launched a web site to serve as a resource on life issues, bioethics and the dignity of the person. The site's address is http://www.culture-of-life.org.

“Our hope is that anyone defending the dignity of life will be able to find the writings and research useful in furthering their cause,” said Robert Best, President of the Institute. “Authentic science will always support the dignity of human life and the value of strong families.”

The Institute was founded in 1997 to collect and communicate scientific and factual information in order to promote the culture of life. “With facts from credentialed research, we hope to better engage mainstream culture with the message of life,” said Best. “Facts like the scientifically confirmed link between abortion and breast cancer are things that we have to get out to the public no matter how intense the media bias is.”

The Institute's web site includes articles on breast cancer and abortion by endocrinologist Dr. Joel Brind. “Dr. Brind's published research, his testimony in Congress and his continued tenacity in exposing these facts have been a great contribution to the pro-life movement,” said Best.

“Many people are also completely unaware of the dangers of the so-called ‘pill’,” said Best. “These drugs work against the body's natural processes and they contain carcinogenic elements in order to accomplish their goal.” This information is documented in an article entitled “Abortion and the Pill” by Dr. Chris Kahlenborn, which is also featured on the Institute's site.

Other authors on the web site include: Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, Director of Comprehensive Counseling Services in Philadelphia; Patrick Fagan, the Fitzgerald Fellow for Family and Culture studies at the Heritage Foundation; and Dr. William May, the McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

Bradley Says Gore is Soft on Abortion

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 11—Democratic Presidential candidate and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley told supporters on Aug. 11 that, unlike Vice President Al Gore, he “respect[s] a woman's right to choose, and that includes women who are poor,” the Associated Press reported.

Bradley was responding to a Des Moines Register article in which Gore Spokesman Roger Salazar was quoted as saying that Gore opposes federal funding of abortion, except to save the life of the mother.

Salazar later recanted the statement, saying that Gore does in fact support unrestricted federal funding of abortion.

Gore's position has changed dramatically since he was a member of Congress. As a U.S. senator in 1987, Gore wrote, “During my 11 years in Congress, I have consistently opposed federal funding of abortions. In my opinion, it is wrong to spend federal funds for what is arguably the taking of a human life.”