Friday, April 17, 2009

Obama Official: Report Should Not Have Linked Pro-Life Advocates to Terrorists, Lawsuit Filed

Note by Me: I don't agree with Thomas More.

By Timothy


From http://lifenews.com/nat4990.html

Obama Official: Report Should Not Have Linked Pro-Life Advocates to Terrorists, Lawsuit Filed


by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 17, 2009

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has backed down from the security document her department issued for the Obama administration linking pro-life advocates to terrorists. The document has caused a national outcry for saying those who oppose abortion are likely to be part of a group of people who engage in "rightwing extremism."

Napolitano defended the report Thursday, but said that a section claiming hate-motivated groups and movements " may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion" should not have been included.

"If there's one part of that report I would rewrite, in the word-smithing, Washington-ese that goes on after the fact, it would be that footnote," Napolitano said Thursday on Fox News.

The report was distributed to police and sheriff's offices nationwide and it has sparked strong opposition from pro-life advocates to take exception to the Obama administration labeling them terrorists.

Meanwhile, the Thomas More Law center, a pro-life legal group, informed LifeNews.com on Thursday that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Napolitano. The lawsuit says the Obama administration's document "violates the civil liberties of combat veterans as well as American citizens by targeting them for disfavored treatment on account of the political beliefs."

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of pro-life nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage, pro-life advocate Gregg Cunningham and others.

The Law Center claims that Napolitano’s Department (DHS) has violated the First and Fifth Amendment Constitutional rights of these three plaintiffs by attempting to chill their free speech, expressive association, and equal protection rights.

The lawsuit further claims that the Department of Homeland Security encourages law enforcement officers throughout the nation to target and report citizens to federal officials as suspicious rightwing extremists and potential terrorists because of their political beliefs.

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Center, told LifeNews.com, “The Obama Administration has declared war on American patriots and our Constitution. The Report even admits that the Department has no specific information on any plans of violence by so-called ‘rightwing extremists.’"

"Rather, what they do have is the expression of political opinions by certain individuals and organizations that oppose the Obama administration’s policies, and this expression is protected speech under the First Amendment," he continued.

“Janet Napolitano is lying to the American people when she says the Report is not based on ideology or political beliefs. In fact, her report would have the admiration of any current or past dictator in the way it targets political opponents," Thompson added.

The Law Center is asking the court to permanently enjoin the Obama administration's policy and its application to the plaintiffs’ speech and other activities, and to award the plaintiffs their reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for having to bring the lawsuit.

Deal Hudson, a Catholic writer expressing the views of many pro-life advocates upset by the document, called it the Obama administrations "crackdown on Evangelicals and Catholics who care enough about the protection of human life, as guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence, to organize, educate, protest, and vote on the basis of the moral principle upon which all other moral principles are based."

He wondered whether the pictures of prominent pro-life activists like Father Frank Pavone, Congressman Chris Smith or others would be "hanging on the Post Office wall" along with other criminals and the FBI's most wanted list.

Related web sites:
Thomas More Law Center - http://www.thomasmore.org

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