Doctor Nicola Riley of Utah – Legal Defense Fund

Doctor Nicola Riley of Utah has set up a website seeking support and donations for her defense and expert witness expenses.

As you may well know, Dr. Riley has been indicted for Murder in Maryland as a licensed doctor and in the performance of the female medical procedure of abortion.

Riley Defense Fund

What is this case about? 

In August of 2010, Dr. Riley provided a lawful and consensual second trimester pregnancy termination in a county in Maryland. She is now the subject of a prosecution for an alleged fetal homicide that the authorities claim was viable at 20 weeks. 

On December 28, 2011, eighteen police officers and federal marshals, came to Dr. Riley’s home (her family and minors present), with guns drawn and arrested her for murder. She was held without bail for twenty three days. The Maryland State’s Attorney used a 2005 fetal homicide law which had previously been used to prosecute defendants who attacked pregnant women and caused the demise of their fetuses for murder. Prior to Dr. Riley’s indictment, no doctor had ever been charged with murder for performing an abortion. In fact Maryland law provides doctors and patients with immunity for performing/consenting to this lawful medical procedure. 

If this case is successful, although the law guarantees a women’s right to a safe legal abortion, there will be no doctors to perform them. What doctor would risk being prosecuted for murder to perform a legal abortion? 

Dr. Riley has denied any criminal liability and through counsel is contesting the overreaching of both the Maryland statute and the prosecution that threatens Dr. Riley, as well as the many women who seek lawful, competent advice and services. To do so may require the assistance of experts to assist Dr. Riley and her defense counsel.

 Trial date set for doctor

ELKTON, MD. — A judge has set a trial date of June 27 for a Utah abortion doctor charged with murder for the death of a fetus during a 2010 procedure in Maryland. 

Dr. Nicola Riley is charged under a Maryland law that allows prosecutors to pursue murder charges in the death of a viable fetus. Her former colleague, Dr. Steven Brigham of Voorhees, has been charged in the deaths of five fetuses. 

The law had not previously been used against abortion doctors, and attorneys for both doctors have argued that they are immune from prosecution. But Cecil County prosecutors have indicated they believe any killing of a viable fetus is homicide. 

Riley’s trial is scheduled to last through mid-July. Brigham is scheduled for trial starting on June 6.

Other Ways to Help

Please contact your local branch of the following organizations and ask them to support the defense of Dr. Riley.


Planned Parenthood 


NARAL


NOW


The National Abortion Federation  

Thank you.

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Catholic Sharia War On Women Continues

Congressman Patrick Kennedy is now being asked to screw the 36% of Rhode Islanders that he represents, who are not Catholic, over Catholic Sharia Law about Abortion.

The War on Women and their vaginas continues with this latest assault from Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island who is drooling to get his red hat over this public fight in the middle of the Health Care Reform debate.

Tobin is refusing Holy Communion to Kennedy in his bailiwick over his beliefs that women should choose their own destiny over their own body.

Congressman Kennedy picked the wrong Bishop to mess with

“Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so."

(comment) Next step: official censure or excommunication. Rep. Kennedy has now been publicly rebuked and invited to convert and offer repentance.

Saint Thomas More, ex-Lord Chancellor of England, could not in conscience, follow the reckless path of the glutton Monarch Henry VIII.

Refusing to sign an oath that would have gone against his conscience, he lost his head on the chopping block.

The main foundation of this nation, the United States, of people once persecuted in England and Europe over religious scruples, is not to have to bow down and abide with the unreasonable demands of petty tyrants over matters of conscience. That was what the Protestant Reformation was about – and also the escape to freedom in America - over matters of Conscience.

Today is the tyranny of Bishop Tobin demanding that the continuing RC War On Women (WOW) be carried out blindly by U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.

If Kennedy follows the religious bigotry of Bishop Tobin and complies with Catholic Sharia Law, Kennedy and all good Catholic Politicians must resign.

No man can serve two masters. No man can half represent, serve all the people, in his district in matters of public policy over the priority of mere private religious beliefs.

Secular Sense vs. Hate

The same way that a majority of American Catholics believe in pro-choice in terms of birth control, I believe that a near majority of Americans, at least in bigger cities, have come to tolerate the LGBT population of our country. Having Secular Sense is the common sense of decent people.

I would believe that the tediousness of this round after round and wave after wave of hate financed in part by the vast far right conspiracy in this country is running out of steam. Running out of steam but apparently not out of money.

With the steam going out of Gay Hate for the moment – no imminent Gay Bashing Propositions on any local ballots within sight, some groups are falling back on centuries old anti-Semitic Jew-Hating.

One group in particular has refocused its hate programs away from Gays and onto Jews because ”… Jews have been carrying the water for the homosexual agenda."

I dislike naming this group that pours 300 % of its energy into hate at this one particular Clubhouse (not a church) in Topeka KS. This is the group that “protests” outside the gates of cemeteries of slain U.S. Military Personnel - service men and women. They say they are glad that these fallen heroes are dead and they hate war and they hate soldiers and after twenty years of gay hate, when nobody will pay attention to them anymore, they fill the gaps in their time and very expensive traveling schedule to hate Jews here and there.

Even if they are using the church bus, they must need an awful lot of cash for gasoline and service station cokes. It is always a question in mind of who finances these lunatics?

They of course have a first amendment right to “assemble” and “protest”.

Anti-gay church sets its sights on Jews

“This is more about generating ink and outrage than it is about attacking Jews per say," said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. "But their language is absolutely Hitler-esque. They talk of filthy Jews and Jews murdering Christ."

Since April, … members have protested more than 200 Jewish institutions and sent thousands of anti-Semitic faxes to American Jewish officials. "I guess they felt it was a successful tactic," said Deborah Lauter, the national civil rights director for the Anti-Defamation League.

Hate is hate and with nationally financed Hate Agendas to cause distractions as ”Bread and Circus” - it keeps the greedy in power for a while longer until the house of cards falls in the end.

One day the hate is anti-female with the abortion issue. Next day the hate is against the Gays with same sex marriage. Today it seems to be the Jews and hate against them - to get the media, MSM, to produce a news story to air or print and ignore the real problems in this country left unfinished on the nation’s table.

One thing more about Secular Sense as I mentioned above. Before, I was only for civil unions but seeing how orchestrated and well financed far right hate has become – it is Gay Marriage – all or nothing - that I will tolerate with my Secular Sense to offset all this negative energy and bad karma from the far right haters in this fair and tolerant land.

Shalom!

Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Pro-Future

Just as a minor commencement fuss at Notre Dame was about to take place, a new poll was coming out stating that the majority 51% of Americans now considered themselves “pro-life”.

51% identify as 'pro-life' in U.S.

For the first time since it began asking the question in 1995, Gallup reported Friday, a majority of adults questioned for its annual survey on values and beliefs -- 51% -- said that when it comes to abortion, they consider themselves "pro-life"; 42% consider themselves "pro-choice." (The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.)

This represents a significant shift, Gallup noted. As recently as last year, 50% of respondents called themselves "pro-choice" and 44% identified themselves as "pro-life."

Why such a shift by as much as eight percentage points in such a short period of time? Does the terminology still mean what it used to?

Did the chorus of “me too” bishops protest against Obama at Notre Dame take hold?

Is it the wording of the question in the poll that effects the answer?

What is happening out there in America for such a sudden and large shift of opinion?

There are a couple things working here in terms of what might be happening. Abortion is the extreme end of birth control. Technology, chemistry and pharmaceuticals have taken great leaps while the cultural wars festered. When I read Plan B, an OTC next day birth control pill had just been put in the hands of children (?) - seventeen year olds – so many things have changed while labels of pro-life or pro-choice have stagnated in the language and mindset of the 1970s.

The world moves on.

As I mentioned in a previous article about how gay marriage was sweeping New England, something in terms of tastes, beliefs and demographics was happening outside my door in the New America and I was not aware of anything until it popped up on headlines.

So too, this change in people’s attitudes towards pro-life might be a change in age, tastes, beliefs, marketing analysis. Perhaps after eight years of people being afraid to possibly express themselves, they now feel freer to express themselves in terms of personal beliefs and feelings.

I look at the recent Newsweek Article – The End of Christian America - whereby Christian Identity has slipped ten percent in twenty years from 86 to 76 percent. The other significant tag on that study was the Unaffiliated label growing from 8 to 15 percent.

If people are not afraid to shed old labels and are willing to shoulder other labels, then things are indeed changing in America and probably faster than anybody notices or realizes the new dimensions in our society.

Please remember that the old nineteenth century moat around America world vision that the neo-cons wanted to and did impose for eight years has evaporated away. The global mindset is here and everywhere elsewhere on this planet.

I am not afraid of the pro-life label so long as pro-choice still exists or be a legal option. Who in any real sense can be against life?

The world moves on. Little wonder the President can be welcomed in a tolerant setting at Notre Dame and spoke so eloquently not in archaic semantics but in terms of the future …

…Your generation must decide how to save God's creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it. Your generation must seek peace at a time when there are those who will stop at nothing to do us harm, and when weapons in the hands of a few can destroy the many. And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity _ diversity of thought, diversity of culture, and diversity of belief.

In short, we must find a way to live together as one human family…

South Bend Bishop insults American President

I saw this storm brewing on the horizon. Notre Dame University invited the President of the United States to make a commencement address on May 17.

Like a cancer that spreads, the Catholic Bloggers are all spewing their dislike of the President exercising his conscience, recently won power, and not blindly following the anti-birth control, anti-choice religious/political propaganda agenda of Rome and the far right.

The culture war is alive and well in Indiana, a recent blue state.

Bishop to skip Notre Dame Graduation

-- The Catholic bishop (John D'Arcy) of South Bend, Indiana, will not attend graduation ceremonies at the University of Notre Dame because he disagrees with the stem-cell research and abortion views of the commencement speaker -- President Obama...

The conservative Cardinal Newman Society has launched a Web site -- notredamescandal.com -- that, according to the site, has drawn 50,000 signatures to a petition opposing Obama's appearance at the May 17 ceremony, at which Obama also is to receive an honorary degree.

If you invite the President and you don't want to show any respect, it is good for a typical RC bureaucrat like Bishop D'Arcy not to show up - probably would not understand the speech anyway. Too good to share the stage with the likes of his kind? Believes in freedom of choice and not having the pope in your bedroom? Disgraceful.

An insult to an invited guest, a VIP coming into your ballywick, is an insult whether the insult comes in person or for the sake of making space in the blogosphere.

It will be interesting to see how this bit of faschist party GOP and God fearing Catholic ignorance try to shove its anti-birth control agenda further down the throats of a growing non-believing American public by making a typical nuisance of itself at Notre Dame.

Do they teach tolerance at Notre Dame these days or will Obama have to cancel in the face of blatant rudeness to an invited guest and perhaps veiled coded racism?

Did lack of civilitiy in America begin with the Republicans or the RCs and their retreat not only from interfaith dialogue but from face to face dialogue?

Vatican Official Slams American Governor

Former American Inquisitor and now Vatican Head of the Supreme court Archbishop Raymond Burke has done his best with a written condemnation of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius, a Catholic.

Governor Sebelius’ Pro-Choice political view is unacceptable to the Roman Catholic Church. She is the current nominee for the Obama Cabinet appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Governor Sibelius has been told she should not receive communion for her incorrect moral views by the Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City.

Sebelius nomination ‘source of greatest embarrassment,’ Archbishop Burke says

"Her position on the question of procured abortion is the source of the greatest scandal to Catholics and to all who uphold the natural moral law," he continued.

Additionally, Archbishop Burke said, the governor "obstinately remained in her moral error" despite being admonished by at least three of her bishops, including Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph Naumann.

He added that Archbishop Naumann had proceeded "in perfect accord" with canon law by trying to help Gov. Sebelius recognize and correct her "grave error."

"When she refused to do so, he had no choice but to remind her that the Church’s discipline requires that persons who publicly and obstinately remain in serious sin must be denied Holy Communion," he added.

Though Burke and Naumann are alumnus of the St Louis Archdiocese Bishop’s Club, they did not serve during each other’s watch in that city. It makes you think or wonder what sort of heavy metals might be in the drinking water there.

Burke is an official of a foreign government, the Vatican. If some politburo member of the China or Prime Minister of Russia were criticizing our elected officials, the press and the GOP would be screaming up the yazoo about this.

Foreign governments and International Corporations get a free pass in this country’s press.

This Cultural Christian sees this one as typical sexist discrimination of the RC church with the bully boys ganging up on the girl in the school play ground so to speak. Brave boys!