Planned Parenthood seeking $36 million from financially strapped California

The California state budget is estimated to have a $24 billion deficit. This is resulting in teacher layoffs, library closures and reductions in prescription drug coverage for senior citizens — but Planned Parenthood is calling on California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to restore $36 million in proposed cuts to family planning funds.

While most companies struggle to survive in the current economy, recent annual reports show that business has never been better for Planned Parenthood and profits have never been so high.

Planned Parenthood claims that no taxpayer funds actually pay for abortions. Pro-life advocates dispute that claim saying that government grants for family planning free up other funds for Planned Parenthood to use for abortion services.

It is obvious that Planned Parenthood, which netted more than one billion dollars in profits last year and which is now having a 21 percent jump in the number of women they perform abortions on in a weekly basis, does not need any help from taxpayers.

More than $349 million of Planned Parenthood’s revenues came in government grants and contracts.

Defunding Planned Parenthood not only helps with the budget deficit, but can also allow more state money for education, Alzheimer’s patients, state parks and economic support for families hit hard by the economy.

Lawyers challenge Prop. 8 in federal court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two-high profile attorneys who represented George W. Bush and Al Gore during the contested 2000 election have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 8, California’s constitutional protection of traditional marriage.

The suit was filed May 22, several days before the California’s State Supreme Court, upheld the amendment by affirming its constitutionality. The case, filed by former Bush Solicitor General Ted Olson and David Boies, a former lawyer for Gore, alleges the state constitution’s ban of same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.

Andy Pugno, general counsel for the Protect Marriage coalition that supported Proposition 8, said the new federal suit is based on “highly questionable grounds” since there is no federal right to same-sex marriage under the U.S. Constitution.

“We are treating this case seriously,” Pugno said, adding that he is filing a motion to intervene in the case, a similar step he took with the California high court.

“Without our intervention, the entire legal defense of Prop. 8 in the federal court will fall upon the California Attorney General, a troubling prospect since he has stated firmly that he believes that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional and should be invalidated,” Pugno said. “We are optimistic that the federal court will allow us to intervene and provide a legal defense for Prop 8.”

Ironically, numerous gay rights groups are unhappy with the Olson-Boies suit, saying it could jeopardize a long-held plan to win same-sex marriage rights state by state.

“We have only one shot at the U.S. Supreme Court, and any attorneys bringing a case that will affect the freedom and legal status of an entire community bear a very heavy responsibility to be certain they have fully considered the consequences,” Shannon Minter, of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and who served as lead counsel for the Prop. 8 challenge, said in an e-mail statement.

An initial hearing in the case is expected in July.

Proposition 8 is upheld

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In a victory for California voters, the California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8, approved by ballot in November. The May 26 court ruling, posted just minutes ago, means that the state constitution legally restricts marriage as between only one man and one woman.

At the same time, however, the court also upheld the same-sex marriages conducted during a brief legal window from last June to Election Day. That window was opened last spring when the same court ruled that Proposition 22—a 2000 voter-approved initiative that changed state law to protect traditional marriage—was unconstitutional.

Three separate challenges to the amendment were heard during a March hearing in San Francisco. Even before the high court ruling, however, gay rights leaders said that if their legal challenge was thwarted by the justices, they would try to override the constitutional amendment at the ballot box as early as 2010.

Monitor our Web site for ongoing coverage of this story.

Searching for ways to cut the deficit? Defund Planned Parenthood

Kansas State Senator Tim Huelskamp has found a way to save money in this tenuous financial climate — defund Planned Parenthood. He stated “This year Kansas taxpayers paid out nearly $300,000 to subsidize this entity.”

The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, recently released their annual report, this one covering the fiscal year 2007-2008.

The report reveals that taxpayer funding has increased from about $337 million to just under $350 million.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released the May 2009 budget review estimating that the federal government incurred a deficit of close to $800 billion for the first seven months of fiscal year 2009 more than four times the year-to-date gap of $153.5 billion in April 2008.

The U.S. deficit projections, which are up $89 billion from the White House's original estimates, will force the government to borrow almost half — 46 cents of every dollar it spends this year.

Among the items in the report: the number of annual abortions performed by Planned Parenthood is up over 5% to 305,310.

While Planned Parenthood’s report shows that adoption referrals are up from the previous report, they report only 4,912 referrals. In comparison to the 305,310 abortions report, that is more than 62 abortions for every one adoption referral.

Huleskamp’s amendment has passed through the Kansas House. If Governor Mark Parkinson signs the bill, Kansas will join six other states in the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Not only does defunding Planned Parenthood help deflect budget deficits, but perhaps that money could be used for educating children or feeding families that are unemployed.

Controversy surrounds Miss USA first-runner up’s response to same-sex marriage question

La Jolla resident Carrie Prejean, a junior at San Diego Christian College in El Cajon, was voted first-runner up in the annual Miss USA pageant, held April 19 in Las Vegas.

Prejean, the reigning Miss California and former Miss Greater San Diego, is taking heat for giving an honest answer when openly gay judge Perez Hilton asked the Christian contestant if she believed other states should follow Vermont’s lead in legalizing same-sex marriage.

What was it he wanted? A plug on national television to uphold gay marriage?

Prejean did not criticize homosexuality. She merely said she was brought up to believe that marriage is between and man and a woman, and that is what she believed. She only stated a personal opinion about her beliefs without judging anyone else’s. Many feel the honest statement cost her the crown.

The disparaging swipes that Hilton and the media are taking at Prejean are despicable.

Hilton, a professional blogger, called her a b---- on his web site. And he was one of the judges.

An article on NBCSan Diego.com was titled, “Miss Cali: Pretty Until She Opens Her Mouth.” The writer Laura Baron said that Carrie Prejean probably shouldn’t have been allowed to compete, much less win. Baron then states there is nothing beautiful about intolerance.

Perhaps the lesson learned is that one can only express their beliefs and opinions if it is popular. Wait… didn’t California vote in favor of marriage being defined as between a man and a woman — doesn’t that make it the popular opinion?

Check out the video of the controversial question and the Christian Examiner's story.

Easter — Resurrection Morning

They took Him a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, and crucified Him.

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, who was one of Jesus' followers, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance as he left. Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting nearby watching.

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now go quickly and tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember, I have told you."

The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to find the disciples to give them the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them. "Greetings!" he said. And they ran to him, held his feet, and worshiped him. The Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there." — from Matthew 27:32-44 (NLT)

On Easter morning, believers do not mourn a martyr, but celebrate a risen Savior. Christ’s victory over death gives us the promise of eternity in Heaven. When the trials and tribulations around us seem insurmountable, we need to remember that the ultimate battle is over; Christ said on the cross, “It is finished.” And someday every knee will bow and every tongue confess that, He is Lord.

Have a blessed resurrection morning.

Christian student booted for not embracing homosexuality

DETROIT, Mich. — A graduate counseling student at Eastern Michigan University, who was expelled from the program for not affirming homosexual behavior as acceptable, has filed a federal lawsuit.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom said the school dismissed Julea Ward from the program because she would not agree prior to a counseling session to affirm a client’s homosexual behavior and would not retract her stance in subsequent disciplinary proceedings.

“Christian students shouldn’t be penalized for holding to their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel David French. “When a public university has a prerequisite of affirming homosexual behavior as morally good in order to obtain a degree, the school is stepping over the legal line. Julea did the responsible thing and followed her supervising professor’s advice to have the client referred to a counselor who did not have a conscience issue with the very matter to be discussed in counseling.”

The university requires students in its program to affirm or validate homosexual behavior within the context of a counseling relationship and prohibits students from advising clients that they can change their homosexual behavior.

EMU, the attorneys said, threatened Ward with expulsion if she did not agreed to undergo a “remediation” so she could “see the error of her ways” and change her “belief system. When Ward did not agree with the conditions, she was given the options of either voluntarily leaving the program or asking for a formal faculty review hearing, at which she was denigrated for her Christian views. The committee dismissed her from the counseling program on March 12 and her appeal to the dean was denied.

“(Julea) acted as a professional counselor should—with great concern both for her beliefs and the client,” ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said. “The two are not incompatible, but EMU’s policies are incompatible with the Constitution.”

Following the footsteps of Jesus — Israel Day 5 and 6

We began to explore Jerusalem with a drive around the Old City walls, viewing the gates.

There are eight gates into the Old City — seven are open and one is closed. This is the Zion Gate, which was probably built around the time of the Crusaders. You can see pockmarks in the walls from gun fighting between the Israelis and the Jordanians during the 1967 Six Day War. This was the gate through which the triumphant Jews entered the Old City and rushed toward the Western Wall.

We visited Mount Zion where some say is the Tomb of David and the Upper Room. We explored the Southern Wall of the Temple with its more recent excavations. Here we were able to walk on the very street and steps that Jesus and His Disciples would likely have walked on to enter the Temple.

After observing the Orthodox Jews praying at the Western “Wailing” Wall, we toured the underground tunnels along the Western Wall. It was here we had close-up views of the gigantic stone blocks used by Herod’s slaves to rebuild the wall. The largest stone weighed more than 600 tons. It was 45 feet long, 14 feet wide and 10 feet high.

We ended our tour at the new excavations believed to be the palace of King David in the City of David. Here we walked deep underground through “Warren’s Shaft,” the very tunnel used to enter the city of the Jebusites and conquer Jerusalem for the Israelites 3,000 years ago.

Our last four hours were supposed to be for resting before our return flight to the states, but we took full advantage of the opportunity for adventuring into the Jewish quarter of the Old City. We are looking for gifts for the grandchildren. Here we found a quaint restaurant for tasting the cultural cuisine with the shop next door offering Israeli wine tasting. A group of us enjoyed some discussions with the shop owner as we reflected on the privilege of being able to walk where Jesus walked.

A horrific tragedy upon the Jewish people

There’s not much to say when you walk out of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. Mostly, we are silent, speechless. Words cannot express the emotion of witnessing the horrific tragedy brought on God’s Chosen People by Hitler’s murderous Nazi army. Situated on Jerusalem’s Mount of Remembrance, Yad Vashem’s 45-acre campus comprises indoor museums and outdoor monuments, memorials, gardens, sculptures and education centers. This world-class complex has all the necessary components for a meaningful and dynamic commemoration of the Holocaust and its six million victims. The largest of its kind in the world, the museum depicts the story of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective, with individual stories highlighted in the unfolding narrative that includes 100 screens, authentic artifacts including photos, film clips, and works of art and music. While this is not a part of the traditional Holy Land experience of visiting ancient sites of 2,000 and 3,000 years ago, it is something that no one should miss. How is it humanly possible that anyone, much less an army, wreak such evil on any human being! The cattle cars. The ghettos. The humiliation. The death camps. The gas chambers. It was real. It happened. It is perhaps the darkest era in the history of mankind.

The photo is a memorial to the individuals that have been identified. The photo only shows a part of this huge memorial.

Israel's unexpected treat... the cuisine

So everyone wants to go to Israel to see the historical sites from the days of the Bible. But one of the unexpected treats is the cuisine.

From St. Peter’s Fish (complete with the head staring at you) served at a Galilean kibbutz to Faloffals and Schwarmas from sidewalk vendors in the bustling Jerusalem markets, food options are many and delightful.

But it was our unique two-hour dinner at HaChatzer (the garden courtyard) that really got our attention.

Our table was filled with mezzo platters when we arrived, four sets of eleven small dishes with such spreads as cucumbers, humus, beets, olives, tuna, and tomato salsa all of which could be used with the fabulous baked bread while we waited for the appetizers.

Then came four appetizer options: “baladi” eggplant with tehina and tomato, chicken liver paté with fig jam, carpaccio of salmon, and fish balls in spicy tomato sauce. And this is just the beginning . . .

Finally the main course. No, not one, but three. Spring chicken with marinade, grilled lamb kabob and entrecote steak filet. Add to that some side dishes with tossed salad, rice and mashed potatoes.

Are we done yet? Of course not. How about some non-dairy ice cream for dessert. Yes, this is a kosher meal, so dairy products are a no-no since we had meat earlier. But one would never know. The delicious ice cream was covered in grape honey, tehina paste with halvah and pistachios. Oh, yes, there were two more dessert options — chocolate fudge with halva mousse and chocolate tart with chestnuts and scotch.

In all, 25 different items touched our palettes – one delightful dinner experience.