Minnesota Independent

Vaccine researcher brings anti-abortion advocacy to House hearing

By Andy Birkey | 04.27.11 | 1:12 pm

On Thursday, the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee will hear a presentation on vaccine safety by a researcher who asserts that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine may not be safe for children — and part of the basis for the concern appears to stem from her religious opposition to the use of human cells in the vaccine. The testimony of Dr. Theresa Deisher is part of an official informational hearing, but Deisher’s assertions regarding autism and vaccines have been debunked by many researchers. Deisher — who is the hearing’s only testifier — has earned praise for her work from both the anti-vaccine and anti–abortion rights movements.

During abortion hearing, Cornish calls pastor, ACLU ‘disgusting’

By Andy Birkey | 04.22.11 | 2:43 pm

Last week’s House Judiciary Policy and Finance hearing on a bill that would ban taxpayer funding for abortion erupted into anger when Republican Rep. Tony Cornish of Good Thunder called a poem read by a United Church of Christ pastor “disgusting,” a term he also used for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Peterson joins Bachmann, Kline in asking D.C. to stop abortion funding

By Andy Birkey | 04.21.11 | 2:05 pm

DFL Rep. Collin Peterson is joining with Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline in strongly urging the District of Columbia to act quickly in implementing a ban on publicly subsidized abortions in the city. As part of the continuing resolution passed last week, Washington, D.C. has to halt paying for abortions under its programs for low-income women. Peterson, Bachmann and Kline were among several dozen Congress members who issued a letter on Tuesday that also asks D.C. for detailed reports about the new ban.

Researchers challenge MCCL’s claims about fetal pain ‘consensus’

By Andy Birkey | 04.19.11 | 2:38 pm

Republican lawmakers and anti–abortion rights group Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life are pushing a ban on abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and after conception, citing a medical and scientific “consensus” that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks. But according to statements and research from leaders in the medical and scientific communities, no such consensus exists. In fact, researchers continue to debate whether fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks or at much later stages.

Minnesota GOP moves to ban funding for Planned Parenthood

By Andy Birkey | 04.18.11 | 3:42 pm

Minnesota legislators introduced a bill on Monday that would ban state family planning money from going to any organization that offers abortion services, advocates for the right to choose an abortion, counsels pregnant women that abortion is an option or is affiliated with any organization that engages in those activities. In fact, under the bill, family planning dollars cannot be used to refer women to abortion services even if they are explicitly seeking those services. The bill introduced on Monday is the twelfth anti-abortion rights bill introduced so far this session.

St. Michael-Albertville High School. Photo: STMA Schools

School district: Alliance Defense Fund confused about anti-abortion student group

By Andy Birkey | 04.14.11 | 11:23 am

The superintendent of a central Minnesota school district says a lawsuit against it by an anti-abortion legal group is a misunderstanding and that the litigation came out of the blue last Thursday. A representative of the Alliance Defense Fund, a national group that has sued numerous school districts, says the school should not be surprised by the lawsuit and claims it continues to violate students’ rights by not listing the All Life Is Valuable Club as “curricular.”

Abortion bills pass committee, could trigger Supreme Court challenge

By Andy Birkey | 04.13.11 | 1:29 pm

A pair of anti-abortion rights bill are moving through the Minnesota House and Senate this week. On Tuesday, a Senate committee passed a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks gestation. And in the House and Senate a bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortion was passed out of committee. It was clear from testimony on both sides of the debate that Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life and Republican lawmakers are seeking a high-profile lawsuit on the issue of abortion, and the bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortion is structured so that a challenge would go directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Lawsuit filed against district that denied anti-abortion rights student group

By Andy Birkey | 04.08.11 | 1:42 pm

The national religious right legal group Alliance Defense Fund filed suit in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota last week on behalf of a student who is trying to form an anti-abortion rights group at the St. Michael-Albertville High School. The All Life Is Valuable (ALIV) Club was denied permission to become an “officially recognized club” because school administrators said it didn’t “support the student body as a whole.”

Bachmann admits defunding ‘Obamacare’ won’t happen this year

By Andy Birkey | 04.06.11 | 1:24 pm

In an interview with the Family Research Council on Tuesday evening, Rep. Michele Bachmann admitted that the new health care law won’t be defunded in 2011. The FRC hosted a webcast called “Time to Act: How big government is fiscally and morally bankrupting America,” during which Bachmann also said she wants FRC’s membership to pray for her and other Republicans to have “supernatural abilities.”

Minnesota GOP seeks to defund family planning programs

By Andy Birkey | 03.29.11 | 8:45 am

Senate Republicans are working to defund family planning programs in Minnesota and prevent the state from accepting federal family planning dollars. The health and human services budget bill slashes money for programs that provide services to families either seeking to become pregnant or to prevent becoming pregnant. Those funds cannot be used to perform abortions or provide referrals to abortion services. The move mirrors a push by Republicans at the federal level to defund Planned Parenthood. Along with county public health departments, Planned Parenthood clinics in Minnesota are a major beneficiary of family planning funds.