The Florida House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill, 71-44, that would make it a crime for abortion providers to knowingly provide an abortion to a customer seeking to abort their fetus because of his or her race or gender. Some Democratic lawmakers walked out of the House chambers in protest as the bill was debated.

The bill, H.B. 845, would require abortion providers to sign an affidavit for each customer confirming that she is not seeking an abortion because of the race or gender of her fetus. Anyone who knowingly performs or "actively participates" in a race or gender-selective abortion could be charged with a third-degree felony, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Fines could also be imposed for not reporting incidents of race or gender-selective abortions.

"This wickedness of destroying human babies because they are not the chosen sex or chosen race must be brought to an end in our state," said Rep. Charles Van Zant, the bill's lead sponsor, according to Bruce Schreiner of The Associated Press. more >>

Kirsten Powers may have performed a national service - by virtue of her now famous USA Today column - of getting the news of the trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell on the national radar screen.

This, of course, is the horror story of a cesspool in Philadelphia posturing as an abortion clinic, operating without inspection for 17 years. Gosnell, the doctor who ran the place, is formally charged of murder of one woman and seven infants.

However, the grand jury report and testimony of family and staff at the trial indicate that if there were records in this dump, where life and death were meted out daily, Gosnell would be indicted for hundreds of murders of live children. more >>

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has signed into law a pro-life piece of legislation considered by many to be sweeping in its restriction of abortion.

Brownback signed the bill Friday, which among other things, blocks tax breaks for abortion providers and stops them from being involved in public school sex education classes.

The bill, known as House Bill 2253, includes language that defines life as beginning at fertilization and was passed overwhelmingly by Kansas' Republican-controlled House and Senate. more >>

A jury in Western Ireland ruled Friday that Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old Indian woman who gained international headlines in October after she was refused an abortion, died due to "medical misadventure" at University Hospital Galway.

The six-man, five-woman jury voted unanimously and endorsed all nine recommendations of coroner Dr. Ciaran MacLoughlin, which included the Irish Medical Council providing a clear definition of when, legally, doctors may perform abortions to save a mother's life in the country.

Other recommendations of the verdict, which were decided after a two week coroner's inquest, included taking mandatory blood samples from the mother to ensure her safety and educating hospital personnel on sepsis management, according to BBC News. more >>

On Friday, the Virginia Board of Health gave final passage to a bill requiring all 20 state abortion clinics to uphold the same surgical standards that hospitals provide patients. The Virginia board heard testimony from over 30 individuals from both sides of the discussion. Pro-lifers reminded the board what abortion truly looks like, while abortion advocates complained about the burdensome cost of renovations.

But one message was clearly heard by the board members: "We need to be assured that a Kermit Gosnell-type practitioner is not operating in Virginia." These are the words of Janet Robey, State Director of Concerned Women for America of Virginia.

Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell is undergoing a capital murder trial for the gruesome slaughter of at least seven newborn babies and the death of one woman. In what can only be called an abortion "House of Horrors," Gosnell allegedly forced vulnerable women to give birth to viable babies and then murdered the newborns by "snipping" their spinal cords. It is understandable why Virginias have gone the extra mile to ensure new measures will protect the health and safety of its female citizens. more >>

An adjunct media studies professor from the University at Buffalo, N.Y., was arrested earlier this week after she went on a profanity-ridden rant against a pro-life display set up by a student group on campus.

The teacher, Laura Curry, protested against the graphic pro-life poster that Students for Life put up, but was confronted by police officers when she got too loud, Mediaite revealed. She continued arguing with the officers and insisted that the profanity she was using was just as offensive as the aborted baby Students for Life were displaying, and that her outburst was protected under the First Amendment Rights.

"Where does it say I can't use the (f-word) in public," Curry told the police officers, after which she was arrested. "I can swear because that's part of my vocabulary. That's part of my First Amendment rights." A video of the confrontation is available on Mediaite. more >>