The Great Prayer ProjectOne year of continuous prayer, offered by a multitude in 20-minute time slots. (Starts 3/25/2010). “Then He told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” (Luke 18:1)
[Sign up!]The People v. Hoye, Alameda County Superior Court, Criminal Division
Appeal Filed for Walter HoyeLast week [12/3/09] in the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of Alameda County, attorneys Mike Millen, Allison Aranda, and Katie Short, Legal Director for the Life Legal Defense Foundation, filed their opening brief in an appeal in the case of People v. Hoye. The appeal seeks a new trial for Rev. Hoye based the numerous errors made by Judge Hing during the criminal trial where Hoye was found guilty of violating the City of Oakland’s “Mother May I” ordinance. Most notably, Judge Hing failed to properly instruct the jury on the law related to the city ordinance. Additionally, the appeal seeks the reversal of the probation order that requires Rev. Hoye to stay 100 yards away from Family Planning Specialists located at 200 Webster Street in Oakland. Even the prosecution agrees the order is illegal and unenforceable.
[read article]BREAKING NEWS (Dec. 2, 2009)The Unfortunate Legacy of Hill v. ColoradoOn December 1, LLDF filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case of a Massachusetts law severely restricting pro-life speech activity.
McCullen v. Coakley, No. 09-592, challenges the constitutionality of a 2007 law making it a crime to “enter or remain” on public sidewalks within 35 feet of abortion clinics. The law contains exceptions for clinic patients, law enforcement, persons passing through the zone, and clinic employees “acting in the scope of their employment.” Last July, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law is constitutional, and the pro-life plaintiffs filed a petition in the Supreme Court.
[read LLDF Press Release]LLDF Intervenes to Protect Women and Their Children in ArizonaLast week a federal court ruled that two pro-life organizations could intervene in a lawsuit to defend pro-life legislation passed this year by Arizona’s legislature. The Crisis Pregnancy Centers of Greater Phoenix and the Arizona Catholic Conference are defending new pro-life laws that protect women considering abortion and medical providers who do not wish to participate in or refer for abortions. A lawsuit challenging these protective measures has been filed in federal court by Tucson Women’s Center, an abortion provider based in Arizona.
The protective measures being challenged include the requirement that abortion practitioners must provide a woman considering abortion specific information about her pregnancy in an in-person consultation at least 24 hours before performing the abortion.
Life Legal Defense Foundation’s Legal Director, Katie Short, and LLDF board member, Nikolas Nikas of Bioethics Defense Fund, joined with Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund and the Center for Arizona Policy in the motion to intervene.
A parallel state court action has been brought by Planned Parenthood Arizona seeking to permanently enjoin enforcement of the new pro-life laws. The state court allowed a friend of the court brief to be filed by LLDF attorneys and others. The Court also accepted the declarations of medical experts attesting that the challenged provisions embody sound medical practice.
UPDATED PMDDIf you have not yet made your Advance Medical Directive, Life Legal Defense
Foundation has one suitable for California (revised Dec. 2009) linked for free download in word-processable formats.
[read article]
Appeal Filed for Walter Hoye (11/17/2009)This week in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, attorneys Mike Millen and Katie Short, Legal Director for the Life Legal Defense Foundation, filed their opening brief in an appeal in the case of Walter B. Hoye v. City of Oakland. The appeal seeks to reverse the August 4, 2009 decision of federal district judge Charles Breyer denying Rev. Hoye’s Motion for Summary Judgment and granting Oakland’s Cross-Motion.
[read article]LLDF Twentieth Anniversary2009 marks twenty years of service for the unborn. Join LLDF as they celebrate the sanctity of human life. You can see Life Legal’s 20 year journey by watching this video:
GOOD NEWSAbby Johnson, director for two years of Planned Parenthood (Bryan, Texas) has resigned from PP and
joined Brazos Valley Coalition for Life to oppose her former employer. PP has filed for a temporary restraining order ostensibly to prevent her releasing clinic records (which she says she never planned to release). Please see Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure (video, Breitbart TV) and see Hearing set in Planned Parenthood director case (Fort Worth Star Telegram, Nov. 3, 2009).
Abby Johnson, Former Planned Parenthood Director, Turns Pro-Life (Zimbio 11/2/09)
Planned Parenthood Director Quits Abortion Business, Experiences Conversion at Starting Place of 40 Days for Life (Reuters 11/2/09)
And the Nov. 2, 2009 Letter from David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for LifeLLDF EMAIL UPDATE SERIES ON CIRMIn 2004 proponents of Proposition 71, the “California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative,” promised that taxpayer money — \$3 billion dollars’ worth — would be spent to conduct research and to construct research facilities that would produce cures. As predicted by Life Legal, there have been no cures. In fact, with all that is developing with alternatives to embryonic stem cell research, California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) appears to be getting a little desperate. Slowly sinking into irrelevance, CIRM has launched what appears to be a massive public relations and education campaign to create what they identify as a “stem cell science culture.” This is precisely what was predicted by the taxpayer advocacy groups Life Legal represented in litigation challenging the initial authority to fund CIRM.
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COURT DENIES DA’S MOTION FOR LIFETIME BAN ON WALTER HOYEOn August 24, Judge Stuart Hing denied the Alameda County District Attorney's motion for an injunction against Rev. Walter Hoye. The injunction sought by the District Attorney would have forever banned Rev. Hoye from exercising free speech rights within 100 yards of the Family Planning Specialists abortion clinic in Oakland.
[read article]Court Turns Down Pastor Hoye’s Challenge to “Mother May I” Ordinance On August 4, federal district court judge Charles Breyer ruled Oakland’s “Mother May I” ordinance constitutional, setting the stage for a showdown in the 9th Circuit. In a 25-page memorandum opinion, Breyer held that the ordinance, which applies only outside abortion facilities, was not content- or viewpoint-based on its face. The court also ruled that the ordinance was narrowly tailored, even though it prohibits merely extending one’s hand with a leaflet to a woman seeking to enter an abortion clinic.
[read article]D.A. SEEKS LIFETIME BAN FOR WALTER HOYE At a hearing Monday [7/27/09] before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stuart Hing, deputy district attorney Masanao Morimoto revealed that the District Attorney is seeking to ban Walter Hoye from ever returning to the Family Planning Specialists clinic in Oakland California.
[read article]
See the latest
coverage of Pastor Walter Hoye’s case in the Los Angeles Times, which includes
video of the incident at issue in his case.New LLDF Document on Conscientious Objection and Healthcare Rebekah Millard, research attorney for LLDF, has prepared an article and state-by-state overview entitled Where Conflicting
Consciences
Collide:
An Overview of Laws Defending the Rights of
Healthcare Providers and the Rights of Patients
[See article in PDF and appendices (.doc and .xls formats)]
Press Release (July 2, 2009)OHIO HIGH COURT ENDANGERS MINORS IN THE NAME OF PRIVACY
COLUMBUS, OHIO: Yesterday the Ohio Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision that allows Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio (PP) to keep secret their reports documenting whether or not PP is notifying authorities of instances of statutory rape of pregnant minors seeking abortion services at the Cincinnati clinic.
The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments last October on this issue after granting a Motion for Rehearing which was brought by attorneys for Jane Roe. [read article]
SHOOTING DEATH OF ABORTIONIST GEORGE TILLER
Life Legal Defense Foundation is shocked and saddened by the shooting death of late-term abortionist George Tiller. We denounce and condemn the act of violence that ended George Tiller’s life.
Please join us in our prayers for the Tiller family.
For the full story go to LifeNews.com.Press Release (May 11, 2009)JURY DECLARES SURVIVORS’ INNOCENT—
VIDEO REVEALS POLICE BRUTALITY AND COVER UP
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA: The Life Legal Defense Foundation is pleased to announce that justice prevailed late Friday afternoon, May 8th, with a NOT GUILTY verdict in the case of PEOPLE v. CONRAD AND CONRAD (MWV707249). Survivors’ Campus Life Tour team members, Jason and James Conrad, were being tried as a result of arrests that took place during a CLT outreach at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga [read article]POLLS CONFIRM MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE PRO-LIFE
PRINCETON, N.J.—A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7–10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995. [read article]“UPDATE (April 22, 2009)—Good news for medical professionals who have conscientious objections to participating in abortion. AB 67 is now a bill dealing with election issues—campaign advertisements and communications. Thanks to Assemblyman Nava for gutting and redrafting the bill.”
Read LLDF’s letter to Assemblyman Pedro Nava, who has introduced Assembly Bill 67 to the California Legislature. If enacted, AB 67 will allow the state to revoke the license of any pharmacist who refuses to dispense abortifacients, “irrespective of the pharmacist’s ethical, moral or religious objections.”
THE LATEST NEWS ON WALTER HOYE’S CASE
This week, LLDF Legal Director Catherine Short and LLDF affiliate attorney Michael Millen, will file a motion for summary judgment in the federal case challenging Oakland’s “Mother May I” ordinance. LLDF is representing Rev. Walter Hoye, who last month was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a fine of $1130 for violating the ordinance.
The motion is based in part on evidence of discriminatory enforcement of the ordinance. Oakland allows pro-abortion clinic escorts to approach women and speak to them without limitation, while prohibiting pro-lifers from doing the same.
The hearing on the motion is scheduled for June 5. LLDF is asking the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and enjoin its enforcement.
Lynn Vincent of World Magazine has chronicled Rev. Hoye’s unjust incarceration in her online blog. Please visit World’s website to read the outstanding results of Rev. Hoye’s time in jail.
The mission of Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) is to give innocent and helpless human beings of any age, particularly unborn children, a trained and committed defense against the threat of death, and to support their advocates in the nation’s courtrooms. LLDF will accomplish its mission and purpose through the law and education.
If you would like to be more involved in LLDF’s activities, or if you would like to be added to our mailing list, please
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