Saturday, February 1, 2020

TikTok Un-Bans Pro-Life Group’s Account Hours After Pro-Lifers Flood it With Criticism

 NATIONAL   STEVEN ERTELT   JAN 31, 2020   |   4:15PM    WASHINGTON, DC
The power of social media was on display Friday as video sharing platform TikTok was deluged with criticism from pro-life people worldwide and ultimately changed its decision to ban the pro-life group LiveAction from using its platform.
As LifeNews reported earlier Friday, TikTok, the wildly popular video sharing platform, had banned a pro-life organization after it shared a video featuring babies’ faces. LiveAction, which enjoys a tremendous following on the China-based social media platform of over 800 million users, has been banned without any reason given.
Live Action joined the platform last summer and quickly amassed tens of thousands of followers. The 15-second Live Action video TikTok deemed as violating community guidelines featured baby faces, nothing graphic. The pro-life organization wondered if China’s history of population control and forced abortions has anything to do with the decision.
Live Action sent a letter to TikTok asking for an explanation and for their account to be restored. TikTok did not respond to Live Action’s request.
But hours after the news broke, LiveAction tweeted that TikTok had restored its account, saying:
“TikTok must improve its training and oversight to ensure “human errors” like this aren’t made in the future. We contacted them yesterday asking for an answer and resolution and only after we escalated the problem, did they finally reinstate the account,” it added.
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Here’s the video in question:
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Before the decision to unban, Live Action Director of External Affairs Alison Howard Centofante told LifeNews.com she was very disappointed.
“Live Action joined TikTok in 2019 as part of our ongoing efforts to reach Gen Z and Millennials with the truth about abortion,” she explained. “TikTok has a larger active user base than Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, and Snapchat. Its user base is nearly as big as Instagram. Our innovative, educational videos were hugely popular and grew our following to over 21k followers.”
She complained that, while her group has been banned, pro-abortion videos are allowed to be posted.
“Live Action’s videos shared baby photos and videos and highlighted the illogic of the pro-abortion movement. At the same time, TikTok allows pro-abortion accounts and videos to remain on the platform, videos like this that simulate brutal harm to preborn or born infants,” Centofante said.
Here’s the video that got LiveAction’s account banned:
TikTok has over 800 million active users and states that their mission is ‘to capture and present the world’s creativity, knowledge, and precious life moments, directly from the mobile phone.’ Live Action reached out to TikTok for clarity on why the account was removed and what community guidelines it violated and has not received a response.


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President Trump Fights for Unborn Children and Pro-Life Americans

 NATIONAL   CAROL TOBIAS   JAN 31, 2020   |   7:23PM    WASHINGTON, DC
One week ago today, I had the honor of standing on stage at the 47th annual March for Life as President Donald J. Trump addressed the massive crowd.  His attendance at the rally sent cheers of joy and excitement throughout the pro-life movement.
The crowd was large enough that not everyone could see him, even from the big jumbotrons.  Some towards the back of the crowd had a difficult time hearing him as even the loudspeakers couldn’t reach the entire area filled in by attendees.  A friend said her group was back by the Washington Monument, almost a quarter mile from the stage, because they couldn’t get closer.
To those standing on the grounds that day, even if you didn’t see or hear everything, be assured—the president saw and heard you.
The president summarized well our belief in the value of each child, saying, “When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation.   When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family.  When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul.  One life changes the world.”
I spoke with a friend who volunteers at a rural pregnancy resource center. She loved the president’s speech and said, almost in wonderment, “He thanked me.”  She was referring to his praise of pro-lifers, saying, “You stand for life each and every day.  You provide housing, education, jobs, and medical care to the women that you serve.  You find loving families for children in need of a forever home.  You host baby showers for expecting moms.  You make –- you just make it your life’s mission to help spread God’s grace.”
President Trump was recognizing the breadth and depth of the pro-life movement; the many facets of the talented people who are fighting for the voiceless.
What struck me most from the speech was his comment, “They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice.”
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After he finished speaking, President Trump walked back and forth across the stage. There was no smugness on his face as the crowd roared approval.  He was looking at the people standing before him.  If I were a mind-reader, I would say he was saying to himself, “These are my people. This is why I fight.”
Pro-lifers and those who support this president are accused of idolizing, even deifying, the man.  We do not.  But we do recognize and appreciate that this president is working with us to protect the most innocent, vulnerable persons in the world.  Showing our gratitude and appreciation for all he has done is natural, and the right thing to do.
LifeNews Note: Carol Tobias is the president of the National Right to Life Committee.

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Kansas Governor: Women Would be in the “Dark Ages” if They Couldn’t Kill Their Babies in Abortions

 STATE   MICAIAH BILGER   JAN 31, 2020   |   10:38AM    TOPEKA, KS
Pro-abortion Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly slammed a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday that would make it clear that there is no right to abortion in Kansas.
Kelly, a Democrat elected in 2018, claimed the Value Them Both amendment would return their state “to the Dark Ages” and hurt the economy, the AP reports.
The amendment passed the state Senate on Wednesday. The House now is considering it. To be added to the Kansas Constitution, the amendment must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both state houses and then by Kansas voters. Kelly’s approval is not necessary.
The measure is especially critical after the Kansas Supreme Court found a so-called “right to abortion” in their state constitution in 2019. That ruling jeopardizes Kansas abortion regulations that protect women and babies; a constitutional amendment would help ensure they remain in place.
During a press conference Thursday, Kelly argued that the amendment would hurt women and businesses.
“They are foundational to who we are as a state and as a nation,” the governor said. “I fear for a future in which the Legislature chooses to stand between a woman and her doctor. This would throw the state back into the Dark Ages.”
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Though she did not explain why, she also claimed the amendment could “make companies think twice about coming” to Kansas, according to the report.
“This only creates another hurdle for businesses interested in recruiting talented young people to our state,” she said.
Pro-life advocates, however, said the amendment would protect women and unborn babies by keeping abortion clinic regulations, parental consent for minors and other common-sense laws in place.
Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, is a leading advocate for the amendment.
“As elected leaders in Kansas, we value both mothers and the unborn,” Wagle said in a statement online Wednesday. “Today, I will work hard to ensure women receive regulated, quality health care during both an expected and an unexpected pregnancy – just like they do in every other health care industry.”
According to the Kiowa County Signal, she defended state laws that require parental consent for underage girls seeking abortions and laws that ensure abortion providers meet basic health and safety standards. She said these life-saving laws are now in jeopardy because of the Kansas Supreme Court ruling.
State Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita, said the amendment would not ban abortions, but it would help protect Kansas women and children from “unregulated abortion,” the report states.
Pro-life lawmakers hope the amendment will be on the August ballot for voters’ approval.
The Value Them Both amendment would add language to the Kansas Constitution stating that there is no right to abortion or taxpayer-funded abortions.
In 2018, West Virginia voters passed a similar state constitutional amendment after decades of being forced by a court ruling to fund elective abortions with taxpayer dollars. The amendment will make it easier for state lawmakers to pass pro-life laws in the future.
Iowa and Kentucky also are considering pro-life amendments to their state constitutions this year. Louisiana voters will have a similar opportunity to add a pro-life amendment to their constitution in November.
These amendments are important because the abortion industry often turns to the courts to overturn pro-life laws. Some state courts have found a so-called “right to abortion” in their state constitutions, and these decisions have been used to force taxpayers to fund abortions and restrict the state legislature from passing even minor, common sense abortion restrictions.

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Belgium Clears Doctors Who Euthanized Woman Just Because She Was Depressed

Belgium Clears Doctors Who Euthanized Woman Just Because She Was Depressed

 INTERNATIONAL   ALEX SCHADENBERG   JAN 31, 2020   |   2:40PM    BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
A jury in Belgium have cleared the cleared all three doctors in the euthanasia death of Tine Nys (38, pictured in middle) who was diagnosed as autistic to qualify for euthanasia. Sadly, this is not surprising.
Three Belgian doctors accused of murder for wrongly helping a woman end her life have been cleared by a court in a landmark case concerning euthanasia.
Relatives of Tine Nys, 38, who was given a lethal injection in April 2010, argued her death was unlawful as she wanted to die due to a failed relationship rather than an “incurable disorder” as required by Belgian law.
BBC News reported that one of the physicians was acquitted because the jury had “reasonable doubt”:
The court ruled that in the case of Joris Van Hove, “there was reasonable doubt… and if there is reasonable doubt it is to the benefit of the accused”
A International Business Times article in November 2018, reported that the family believed that Tine was falsely diagnosed as Autistic so that she would qualify for euthanasia and that the law was broken because Tine never received treatment. The IBTimes reported:
Her sisters, however, told investigators that her suffering was caused by a broken heart after a failed relationship and not by autism. They also accused the doctors of making a rushed decision. They said the law was broken because Nys was never treated for autism and hence it had not been proven that she was suffering “unbearably and incurably.”
This was the first attempted prosecution for a Belgian euthanasia death. The attempted prosecution likely resulted in a slowed growth in Belgian euthanasia deaths. In January 2019, Europe’s top human rights court agreed to hear the case of a depressed Belgian woman who died by euthanasia and in November 2018 three Belgian doctors were charged in the euthanasia death for psychiatric reasons. of Tine Nys.
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In 2018 there were 57 (2.4%) of the euthanasia deaths were for mental or behavioral conditions, 83 (3.5%) for psychiatric reasons alone and 1% of the reported euthanasia deaths were incompetent people who had made a previous request. No children were reported to die by euthanasia in 2018.
LifeNews.com Note: Alex Schadenberg is the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and you can read his blog here.

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