July 2005 Archives

The Morning Call reported in early July the story of 14 year-old Renzo Viscardi who in 1998 fell into a coma after his heart stopped from an undiagnosed heart ailment. His parents were told his case was "hopeless".

Doctors told Renzo’s parents that he had no brain activity, was in a "persistent vegetative state" and they should just accept "reality".

The doctors were wrong. Seven years later, Renzo, plays his guitar, is attending classes at Northampton Community College, works part time and is dreaming of his ultimate goal — to live in his own home independent of his parents.

The article staes that independence is one of Renzo's top goals. "I want to be free," said Renzo, who remains disabled and speaks slowly and with effort.

Renzo’s recovery benefited from the persistent efforts by his parents to seek treatment. They played music to stimulate their son’s brain and sought alternative treatments,

HT: LifeIssues.net

Pro-Life Democrats think they’re making inroads in getting their party’s Chairman, Howard Dean, to establish an official relationship with Democrats for Life. Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) met with Dean and other Democrats about the recognition and said Dean is "is fully on board." more from Focus on the Family

Update: LifeNews reports, "The lawmakers say the Democratic Party is being viewed by voters as out of touch with American values because of its overwhelming pro-abortion position."

The Christian Post has more.

Senator Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, has come out in favor of H.R. 810, a bill which would expand the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research even though President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation. The decision has led to an outcry by numerous pro-life individuals, organizations and politicians.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., openly criticized Frist on Sunday for dropping his opposition to increased federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

"I disagree with Senator Frist," NewsMax reports Santorum told ABC's "This Week." "I think that you cannot take a utilitarian approach to human life - and this is an innocent human life. You're destroying this human life for the purpose of research that has questionable value."

Judie Brown, president of American Life League issued one of the most direct statements regarding the news that Senator Bill Frist now endorses the expansion of human embryonic stem cell research:

"Sen. Bill Frist's announcement that he has reversed his opinion on the expansion of human embryonic stem cell research is beyond repugnant to many in the pro-life community. What has happened to this man, who once showed promise of becoming a strong pro-life voice for the American people?

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President of Human Life International, in a statement today suggested that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's announced support of embryonic stem cell research contradicts his claimed "pro-life" stand:

A medical doctor should know better than to say irresponsible things like he believes that embryos are "nascent human life" but that it is also okay to kill those little human beings. This is the insanity that we have to face with so-called "pro-life" politicians such as Senate Majority leader Bill Frist who just announced that he is in favor of killing embryos for science—but as long as we do it in a pro-life way of course.

Despite being an ardent supporter of abortion and voting against a ban on partial-birth abortion, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) claimed to be pro-life during his 2004 presidential bid. On January 25, 2004 he told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, "I'm against partial-birth abortion, as are many people." And, Kerry told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald in July, 2004, "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception." [more]

Kerry attempted to reconcile his seemingly contradictory positions by explaining that he believes personhood occurs at some later (mystical) point during pregnancy.

Majority Leader William Frist (R-Tennessee) has followed Kerry’s dialectical pattern by supporting embryonic stem cell research and yet claiming to be pro-life.

Majority Leader William Frist's (R-Tennessee) today went public with his support of embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR). His public statement included a reaffirmation of his "pro-life" stance.

"I believe human life begins at conception... the human embryo has moral significance and moral worth. It deserves to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect," Frist stated.

The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity today responded to Frist beginning with a statement by John Kilner, the organization's president,

"Senator Frist soundly affirms that embryos are human life warranting the 'utmost dignity and respect.' But then he maintains that it is okay to kill them if other people can benefit. The implication is that human beings can be killed if others can benefit. The danger here is glaring!"

Concerned Women for America (CWA) expressed disappointment in Majority Leader William Frist's (R-Tennessee) recent decision to go public with his support of embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR). While he had previously claimed to support the President's policy, today Sen. Frist flip-flopped on federal funding of ESCR. He spoke at length on the Senate floor this morning about his concerns with the current policy that restricts the federal funding of ESCR, a failed science that is structured around the destruction of human life.

"It is mystery to us how the senator could claim that he believes life begins at conception and then immediately contradict that statement by adding, 'I also believe embryonic stem-cell research should be encouraged and supported.' It certainly gives one pause in trusting his commitment to the sanctity of life," said Lanier Swann, CWA's director of government relations.

The 17,000 member Christian Medical Association, headquartered in Tennessee, today lamented Sen. Bill Frist's (R-Tenn.) decision to pursue legislation and policies that would allow further destruction of human embryos in research to extract their stem cells.

JivinJ points out that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is scheduled to announce his backing of a embryonic stem cell bill that would increase federal funding for ESC research.

Interestingly, Frist states, "I am pro-life... I believe human life begins at conception." Yet, he backs research that involves that destruction of the very lives he claims are valuable on the basis of unproven "cures" for chronic illnesses.

Senator Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, has come out in favor of H.R. 810, a bill which would expand the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research even though President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation.

Numerous prolife bloggers are discussing Frist's position including:

Freedom Of....

Pro-Ecclesia

Scrappleface

Kathryn Jean Lopez is all over Frist's Senate speech at the Corner including the favorable responses from numerous pro-choice senators.

Crossposted at JivinJehoshaphat

The Christian Defense Coalition states, Senator Frist should not expect support and endorsement from the pro-life community if he votes for embryonic research funding.

Jill Stanek's latest column WND.com, "The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's death oath," draws attention to the JDRF's radical support of embryonic stem cell research and the use of children with diabetes to motivate their agenda.

Every tax dollar that irresponsible or ignorant organizations, legislators and parents funnel into the embryonic stem-cell and human-cloning black hole is a dollar that could lead to an actual cure for diabetes, not "hope" of a cure. Adult and umbilical-cord stem-cell research is even now providing clues and treatments for an array of maladies. Embryonic stem cells have not so much as helped a mouse.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) called "insufficient" the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) recent decision to strengthen the language on RU-486's warning label after reports that two more women have died after taking the abortion pill. Five women in the United States and Canada have died from septic shock after taking RU-486, or mifepristone.

PROVIDENCE, July 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Even while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating deaths related to it, the manufacturers of the drug Mifepristone continue to deny that their drug was the cause of the bacterial infection that has killed five women.

LONDON, July 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A UK appeals court has sanctioned the wishes of a doctor’s group, allowing doctors the right to decide when to remove food and water from patients, unless the patient has expressed a desire not to be starved or dehydrated to death.

Apologia Christi has started a series entitled "Answering Pro-Abortion Arguments."

Pro-choice writer William Saletan discusses how the 14-day rule for experimenting on human embryos is wholly arbitrary in the third of his series on embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.

In the fourth entry of his series he then precedes to use new wholly arbitrary criteria to reason that it is ethical to experiment on/remove tissue from human embryos through 7 weeks.

Tony Blakley has an interesting piece which discusses artificial wombs.

Richard at Hyscience posts a stunning example of where the slippery slope of considering hydration and nutrition as medical treatments can lead. Leslie Burke, who has a degenerative brain condition, fears food and drink could be stopped against his wishes when he can no longer speak. He has cerebellar ataxia - an umbrella term for nervous system disorders that cause a lack of co-ordination, but do not affect mental faculties.

Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic works with an international network to make umbilical cord stem cells available to patients with acute leukemia, thalassemia, lymphomas and congenital immune-deficiencies. The clinic runs a bank for umbilical cords, and any patient, from anywhere in the world, who is genetically compatible with one of the units of blood of the umbilical cords stored, can receive a unit of blood from the umbilical cord for transplant purposes.

An international network to identify donors has been operative since 1995, thanks to a computer file which has data on marrow and placenta blood donors worldwide. The bank's activities are coordinated by professor Giuseppe Leone, director of the Institute of Hematology of the Catholic University of Rome, and professor Salvatore Mancuso, director of the Department for the Protection of Woman and Nascent Life.

In this interview with ZENIT, Leone and Mancuso discuss the present state of stem cell research.

Source: Hyscience

The world watched as Terri Schindler-Schiavo entered eternity on March 31, 2005, after a decade long court battle to save her life. Terri's life had a profound impact on people around the world and permanently influenced the culture of life.

Arizona Right to Life invites you to join them for "Lessons from my Sister," an evening with Bobby Schindler, Terri's brother. This unique evening will take place Thursday, August 4th, at 6:30 PM. Bobby will share about his sister and then conclude with a brief question and answer session.

This exclusive speaking engagement will be held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, located at 2312 East Campbell Avenue in Phoenix (click here for directions). AZRTL also welcome Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life who will provide a brief introduction.

Arizona bloggers, email me if you plan to attend.

A Brown University researcher says the abortion drug RU 486 causes rare bacterial infections in women that are not usually seen anywhere else. An article scheduled to appear in the September issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy confirms the drug is responsible for the women's deaths. - more from LifeNews

VATICAN CITY, July 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Heath Care, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, said this week, in relation to the death by dehydration of Terri Schiavo, that food and water are never considered medicine. “Let’s stop with the euphemisms-they killed her,” he emphasized, according to a Catholic News Agency report.

Professor Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the first cloned sheep to survive to adulthood, wants to create cloned humans for use as research subjects. - LifeSiteNews.com

Mrs Korp, 50, has been in a permanent vegetative state in Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital since she was found unconscious and locked in the trunk of her car in February.

Her husband has been charged with conspiracy to murder and intentionally causing serious injury to his wife.

The "Public Advocate" in her part of Australia has decided that she is to die of dehydration. Her feeding tube is to be removed.

BlogsforTerri has the story (be sure to read the comments).

Final results of a study conducted at Johns Hopkins University show stem cell therapy can be used effectively to treat heart attacks in pigs.

Researchers said in just two months, stem cells harvested from another pig's bone marrow and injected into the animal's damaged heart restored heart function and repaired damaged heart muscle by 50 percent to 75 percent.

Hyscience notes:

The stem cells used in this study were not embryonic stem cells, they were mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow. Because they remain in an early stage of development, mesenchymal stem cells do not trigger an immune response, unlike what would happen if more developed stem cells were used.

George Washington University law professor Jonathon Turley in an LATimes Editorial (HT: Open Book) criticized Supreme Court nominee Judge John G Roberts, Jr. for telling Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) he would recuse himself if the law required a ruling that his church considers immoral. Turley referred specifically to abortion related cases as potential problems for Roberts and wrote that this was the "first unscripted answer in the most carefully scripted nomination in history. It was also the wrong answer."

Unfortunately for Turley the account he published is now being contradicted by one of his primary witnesses.

"Jonathan Turley's column is not accurate," Durbin press secretary Joe Shoemaker said to the Washington Times, adding that his boss never asked that question and Judge Roberts never said he would recuse himself in such a case.

"Judge Roberts said repeatedly that he would follow the rule of law," Mr. Shoemaker said.

Turley is reportedly sticking to his story.

A new study by British researchers finds that almost half of the babies who are born at 23 weeks into the pregnancy survive the premature birth. The results may prompt British lawmakers to move back limits on late-term abortions and could be used to strengthen laws in other countries. - LifeNews has the story.

A related article reveals that in England more than 1,200 babies are aborted each year between 22 and 24 weeks of development. Although abortion is legal through-out all nine months of pregnancy if the baby is disabled or if the life of the mother is in danger, killing the unborn for “social reasons” is limited to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The same story quotes the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) as asserting the viability of the unborn child doesn't "reduce the number of women in need of late abortions" for social reasons. A spokeswoman stated, "At the end of the day, you still need a service…. For instance, we hear about women who have had a planned pregnancy and then something goes wrong in their relationship and they can't cope on their own."

The American Life League on July 26 is beginning a series of events to call for "justice in the Supreme Court confirmation process". An ALL press release states:

We challenge the pro-abortion fanatics on the Judiciary Committee to put the right question to Judge Roberts: "Will you apply a strict interpretation of the Constitution, which does not grant anyone a "right" to kill an innocent human person – by abortion or any other means?"

"This is a defining moment for America," said American Life League president Judie Brown. "Young people of faith and conscience are taking a stand to send a clear message to decision makers: Ensure justice for ALL — born and preborn.

"The choice of this particular air date is an affront to people with disabilities in this country," says Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group based in Forest Park, IL. "It's the 15th anniversary of the signing of the ADA, a law that is, for people with disabilities, the nation's largest minority, what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is for people of color. Not only is this being ignored by PBS, but the network is featuring and promoting a program about a person so terrified of aging and disability that he commits suicide. In terms of sensitivity to diversity issues, this puts PBS in the same league as the Fox News Channel. And, no, that is not a compliment."

From the Christian Post:

Last Wednesday, two challenges to Oklahoma’s abortion parental notification laws were struck down by the appellate court.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against two cases filed by Nova Health Systems, an abortion provider based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

AfterAbortion's Annie Banno posts the results of the 2000 China Abortion/Breast Cancer Study that the National Cancer Institute Funded but apparently doesn't want anyone to know about:

...because it means that as many as 4,262,500 U.S. women (who had 3 or more abortions between 1983 and 2002) likely have increased our risk of postmenopausal breast cancer by about 60 to 70%

The unethical destruction of human lives is the principle argument for rejecting the use of taxpayer's money to fund embryonic stem cell research. Steven Milloy, in his column Stem Cell Smoke and Mirrors, gives another:

The reason that embryonic stem cell researchers are agitating for taxpayer money is that their private funding has dried up. Private investors and venture capitalists are not investing in embryonic stem cell research because they perceive it to be a pipe dream unlikely to produce any progress and, hence, investment returns, in any reasonable time frame.

Researchers aspiring to be on the dole and investors whose money is mired in floundering stem cell research firms are looking to federal funds for relief. Such groups already hoodwinked California voters for $3 billion last year with Proposition 71 — a sum that pales in comparison with what Congress could slop in their troughs.

The bottom line is that if embryonic stem cell research had real promise, private investment would be overflowing into biotech companies. But it's not.

The Houston Chronicle reports the story of scientists who are using a patient’s own stem cells to treat congestive heart failure. According to the article, researchers found that stem cells injected directly into the heart not only improved blood flow and blood-vessel formation but even grew new tissue.

"This is the first time we've achieved clear documentation of these effects in a human heart," Dr. James Willerson, medical director of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, told the Chronicle. "We're trying to stay cautious, but this is very exciting."

On this day in 1974, twenty-two-year-old Carol Wingo died of a Demerol overdose during an abortion at Mercy General Hospital in Detroit. That same year the CDC recorded 26 deaths due to legal abortion.

RealChoice has the details.

An analysis of the most recent abortion data shows that the number of U.S. women having an abortion is continuing its decade-long drop and stands at its lowest level since 1976. Yet, the number is staggering. In the year 2002, about 1.29 million women in the U.S. had abortions accounting for 20.5% of all pregnancies. This is down from 23.6% of pregnanices (1.61 million) in 1990 and close to 27% in 1981.

By Judie Brown July 22, 2005

All too often lately, reading the news gives me the chills.

We live in a world that is upside down, yet far too few people seem to care. And that troubles me. We go along, doing what we do, never stopping to question the media reports that suggest this topsy-turvy reality is the proper direction for culture, our nation and our very lives.

Here's what I mean. Did you know that there are great apes and chimpanzees that will shortly be walking around with human brain cells in their little craniums? There was a time when ethical research scientists told the public that such a vision of "Planet of the Apes" would never happen. Not so, says a group of academics assembled by Johns Hopkins University.

It's an even bigger blowout now. 65 to 0.

According to Do No Harm, adult stem cells have now benefitted human beings with 65 different diseases while embryonic stem cells have yet to treat a single human being.

HT: Secondhand Smoke

Baby Torres, whose mom, Susan, suffered a stroke at 17 weeks pregnant and remains in a coma, has reached a milestone: her unborn child recently passed the 24th week of development - the earliest point at which doctors felt the baby would have a reasonable chance to survive. [Source: Michelle Malkin via TheNarrow]

More:

AP Article

No News is Good News - Truth and Action

Susan M. Torres Fund

Responding to yet another woman's reported death and a new FDA warning about the abortion drug Mifeprex, or RU-486, a 17,000-member medical association today again called for the FDA to pull the drug for a safety review.

David Stevens, M.D., Executive Director of the Christian Medical Association, noted, "With every death of another woman due to RU-486, the FDA's mandate grows clearer--to pull this drug for an objective safety review. This drug was initially approved in 2000 through a scientifically deficient and politically corrupted process. We documented that corrupt and deficient process in a 90-page brief submitted three years ago, calling on the FDA to pull the drug for review. The FDA has all the information it needs to get this dangerous drug off the shelves to protect the lives and health of American women.

The Washinton Times reports:

Judge Roberts' wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, also is an attorney. From 1995 to 1999, she was an executive vice president for Feminists for Life, a 33-year-old pro-life group based in the District. She still serves as legal counsel for the FFL board.

"She's a brilliant attorney and we're very proud of her service to Feminists for Life," FFL President Serrin Foster said. "She's smart. There's a very Kennedyesque feeling when you look at them and their kids."

JewelsJungle has more.

Despite the accolades of pro-life organizations and the opposition by abortion rights extremists, the position of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts on abortion and the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is unknown. In fact, his record related to abortion is sparse at best.

LifeNews reports that Pro-life groups are strongly supporting the nomination of Roberts while CNS News documents the opposition of abortion rights organizations. Yet, Roberts has never ruled on abortion nor has his opinion regarding the sanctity of human life been reported.

Dawn Eden is highlighting the post of a blogger and probable medical student who recently performed at least 5 abortions at Planned Parenthood before examining her beliefs on abortion.

This AP article mentions After Abortion and ProlifeBlogs regarding Senator Barbara Boxer's defense of the "5,000 deaths a year from illegal abortion" myth. HT: Real Choice

The FDA issued a public health advisory for Mifepristone (trade name Mifeprex, also known as RU-486) following four deaths associated with the use of the drug.

Jill Stanek explains that that problem is related to the drug Cytotec, which is necessarily taken in combination with RU-486 despite known health risks. In fact, Stanek reveals that Searle, the manufacturer of Cytotec, issued a letter warning against off-label use in August 2000 (which the FDA posted on its site) two months before the FDA approved RU-486.

Washington, DC—Judie Brown, president of American Life League, the nation's largest grassroots pro-life educational organization, issued the following statement in response to President Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts for the United States Supreme Court:

"President Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court has garnered intense reaction from both the pro-abortion and pro-life voices in our country. There is no doubt that whomever the Senate confirms as an associate justice will have profound impact on the current laws, most importantly, the flawed rulings that have made it acceptable to kill preborn children in the womb.

President Bush has selected the Honorable John Roberts of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, to take the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court vacated by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"Everything we know about Judge Roberts tells us that he fulfills the President's promise to nominate a judge who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not legislate from the bench," said Jan LaRue, CWA's chief counsel. "That's why the President nominated him to the D.C. Circuit. He clerked for Rehnquist, which says a lot."

Roberta Combs, President of the Christian Coalition of America said, "We are believing that President Bush kept his campaign promise today when he nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court. We are trusting that Judge Roberts is in the mold of Supreme Court justices who President Bush promised to appoint to the Supreme Court: such as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman said that John G. Roberts was "in the ballpark" amongst a list of 3 names of nominees who would avoid a filibuster. Hopefully, this is a sign that there will be bipartisan support for Judge Roberts."

Following today's announcement regarding the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to serve as associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, the following statement was issued by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, D.C.

"Liberal pressure groups will insist that Senate Democrats filibuster against Judge Roberts, unless he pledges in advance to vote against allowing elected legislators to place meaningful limits on abortion," said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "Millions of Americans will be watching to see if the Democratic senators bow to these demands."

See the Prolife Blogs Supreme Court Aggregator for all recent reports from our members.

Jill Stanek has the talking points coming out of Washington. In a later post she writes, "Good sign: NARAL hates Roberts". Jill is on a roll: A "catastrophe" to PFAW is a blessing for America.

Common Wealth Conservative - "Seems like a good selection, though I must admit that I’m a bit surprised."

Daisy Cutter - Judge John Roberts is a fabulous choice. He was just confirmed two years ago to the D.C. Circuit ... and easily.

AfterAbortion - This is what will raise the hackles of all pro-abortion Democratic Senators:

"[w]e continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled… The Court’s conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion… finds no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution.” ~ Brief for the Respondent at 13, Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991) (Nos. 89-1391, 1392).

Update: See the Supreme Court Aggregator for all recent reports from our members.

Judge Roberts is Exceptionally Well Qualified.

Judge John Roberts has the keen intellect, impartiality and temperament, sound legal judgment and highest integrity necessary in a Supreme Court justice.

He rules based on the application of existing laws and specific facts of the cases before him, rather than making new laws or creating new policies based on personal opinion.

It’s not surprising that Stuart Taylor, in a column for The National Journal, said that “John Roberts seems a good bet to be the kind of judge we should all want to have — all of us, that is, who are looking less for congenial ideologues than for professionals committed to the impartial application of the law.”

WASHINGTON - President Bush chose federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts Jr. on Tuesday as his first nominee for the Supreme Court, selecting a rock solid conservative whose nomination could trigger a tumultuous battle over the direction of the nation's highest court, senior administration officials said.

[snip]

Abortion rights groups allege that Roberts is hostile to women's reproductive freedom and cite a brief he co-wrote in 1990 that suggested the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 high court decision that legalized abortion.

"The court's conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion ... finds no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution," the brief said.

Nevertheless, pro-life groups should be encouraged by the statement quoted above in the AP article.

The recent buzz regarding Bush's upcoming nomination to the Supreme Court tonight is it will be Edith Brown Clement. As Tim has already mentioned, her record with regards to abortion is sparse.

However, one ruling that should be noted is Planned Parenthood v. Sanchez, which was decided in March of 2005. In this case, the state of Texas passed a law to prevent federal family planning funds from being used to help finance abortion and entities that perform abortion. Basically, the state of Texas didn't want federal family planning dollars being used to pay for the upkeep (utilities, rent, phone bills, etc.) of entities that provide both abortion and family planning.

Women of Operation Outcry call on President Bush and the Senate to select a justice who is willing to look at facts and evidence unavailable in 1973 and to examine the evidence on how abortion affects women and families.

"There is not one aspect of my life that has not been affected by my abortion" said Dianne Donaudy, Georgia State Leader for Operation Outcry. "We must have a nominee who believes in the ' Rule of Law,'" she said.

President George Bush is apparently close to making his first nomination to the Supreme Court, and speculation is centered on Judge Edith Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

President Bush said today he is reviewing potential candidates for the Supreme Court vacancy with the goal of ensuring a replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor by the new court session in October. "My desire is to get this process moving so that someone will be confirmed — whoever he or she is — will be confirmed by October,'' Bush said at a joint news conference with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

President Bush Nearly Ready for Supreme Court Pick, Holds Interviews - President Bush said Monday that he's closer to announcing the name of a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court to replace outgoing pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Bush indicated he will be holding interviews soon and the announcement could come later this week.

PRESIDENT BUSH TALKS MORE ABOUT FUTURE SUPREME COURT NOMINEE - President Bush talked over the weekend about the kind of person he will appoint to replace outgoing pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. During his weekly radio address, the president indicated he would look for a "fair-minded individual who represents the mainstream of American law and American

Can You Imagine Life without Roe? With a Supreme Court vacancy, anti-abortion advocates in the White House & Congress, and pro-abortion advocates turning up the heat ... it's time to take a look in the memory banks to see what life was like before Roe and Doe created the right to kill one's child.

Which other nominations to the Supreme Court by Republicans have been attacked? - While pro-choice organizations like NARAL and Planned Parenthood are gearing up for a stream of attacks on whoever President Bush nominates to the Supreme Court, it's interesting to know which other nominees liberal groups and Senators have attacked.

See the Prolife Blogs Supreme Court Aggregator for all recent reports from our members.

Actor Michael J. Fox is pushing Congress hard to lift President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. "Embryonic stem cell research holds enormous promise," said Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, in remarks prepared for a Capitol Hill news conference on Wednesday. "More federal funding and more lines are needed or progress will stall."

Associated Press via WorldMagBlog

First, it is well know that there are no restrictions on embryonic stem cell research (although there should be). Instead, federal funding is restricted – that’s all. Yet the article lead credits Fox for asserting that congress lift "Bush's restrictions" on ESC research.

Second, the article, using Fox as a spokesperson, suggests that ESC research has the "most promise" for treating several diseases, including Alzheimer's. However, stem cell researchers appear to disagree with the potential for ESC treatments that celebrities promote and actors sensationalize.

"I think the chance of doing repairs to Alzheimer's brains by putting in stem cells is small," the Washinton Post attributed to stem cell researcher Michael Shelanski, co-director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

"Many of the technologies we hyped to the general public haven't worked yet," Celgene Corp. president Alan Lewis said at a recent biotechnology trade show in Philadelphia.

James Thomson, the Wisconsin biologist who was the first to isolate embryonic stem cells also admits ESC research has been oversold.

Well if you are, you should know that the writers of the American Journal of Bioethics Blog equate your views with those of individuals who think the world is flat and are "book burning fruitcakes." The blog entry also misleadingly calls embryos creating thru cloning - "SCNT-derived embryo-like things."

... to Marlowe's Shade. I can't help seeing parallels to the slippery slope of the right-to-die movement. And in any debate involving the sanctity of life, one small compromise is a the proverbial camel's nose under the tent.

Update: Hyscience has posted more.

The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, Blogsforterri, and TerrisFight.org have been busy preparing for the next phase in the fight to increase awareness about the intrinsic value of human life. The 'quality of life' has nothing to do with the 'value of life,' and loving care, nutrition, and hydration are the most basic of human needs that must be provided for all of us until the very moment of our natural death.

more here

Silent Witness : The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo's Death by Mark Fuhrman hit the New York Times Top 10 List. Fuhrman is a retired LAPD detective and author of various "New York Times" best sellers, including "Murder in Brentwood," a look into the O.J. Simpson case.

In "Silent Witness," Fuhrman examines the events leading up to Terri Schiavo's initial collapse, and eventual death. However, the book was written prior to the autopsy report and contains conjecture regarding what the medical examiner would find.

MSNBC has an excerpt and the book can be ordered here.

Joe Carter at the Evangelical Outposts provides an excellent post on the presuppositions behind the most prevelant views of human dignity:

Abortion. Euthanasia. Embryonic stem cell research. Some of the most contentious and disputed issues of our day are matters of bioethics. The lines are sharply drawn and each side presents their arguments. Much heat is produced by the debates but very little light is shed to help us illuminate our path.

Most of us recognize – and reject – the opposition’s view because it is based on a "religious" or "secular" worldview. But while we acknowledge this fact, we rarely dig beneath the surface to see if our differences aren’t rooted in a more foundational presupposition.

After all, some religious people support abortion while some secularist want to ban ESC research. The easy labels don't always apply, which is why I believe that once we look deeper we find that our fundamental disagreements on bioethical issues are due to our profoundly different views on the nature of human dignity.

Dignity is defined as the quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect. This definition is significant because it highlights the key differences between the two most dominant worldviews in our culture – a functionally atheistic materialism and the Judeo-Christian form of theism.

... after two decades of research, embryonic stem cells have not helped a single human being. And they come with a hefty price tag: they are only obtained by destroying a living human embryo. An embryo who is just 270 days away from being someone's bouncing baby girl or boy. -- Mary Matthews

There has been a large amount of news coverage regarding two American sisters, Kathleen and Emily Benton, from Tennessee who were injured in during the terrorist attacks in London and are currently at Duke Medical Center receiving treatment. I just recently discovered that these two young ladies are actively involved in a college prolife group, University of Tennessee Pro-Life Collegians. Kathleen (Katie), is president of the group.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist denied rumors about his retirement and said today that he is going to stay:

"I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," said Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer. "I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits."

The number of abortions in Minnesota dropped to a 30-year low in the first full year after the state passed a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions. The number of abortions in 2004 dipped to 13,788, the lowest level since 1975, the first year the state Health Department started tallying the numbers.

The Health department estimated that 2,000 of the 15,859 women who contacted their doctors and got the required information about abortion changed their minds.

more [HT Extreme Truths]

Danny Carlton comments, "Let's put that into perspective — the lowest number of babies murdered in 30 years is still over four times the number of people killed in the 9/11 attacks."

Update: Captain Ed comments,

"Either way, the data shows that more than 2,000 babies made it into the world that, had the waiting period not existed, would have never been born at all. Even those who argue for abortion rights under the "safe but rare" slogan should cheer that result."

A new study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology has found that women with a history of induced abortion are three times more likely to use illegal drugs during a subsequent pregnancy. The study supports a growing body of evidence which suggests that later pregnancies may arouse unresolved grief over prior abortions which women may seek to suppress by increased reliance on drugs and alcohol.

JivinJehshaphat considers the debate.

HONG KONG, July 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Hong Kong woman, visiting her family in June on China’s mainland accompanied by her two children, was surrounded by eight "family-planning" officers and threatened with a forced abortion for violating China’s one-child policy.

MADISON, Wis.-The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled today in favor of attorneys allied with the Alliance Defense Fund in a case against a hospital that refused treatment of a baby born prematurely in their facility.

George Neumayr, executive editor of The American Spectator, reports the rise of a new eugenetic agenda aimed at eliminating the disabled through abortion.

Doctors and their patients use prenatal technology to screen unborn children for disabilities, then they use that information to abort a high percentage of them. Without much scrutiny or debate, a eugenics designed to weed out the disabled has become commonplace.

Chicago, Illinois - July 13, 2005 - The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) strongly denounces Gov. Blagojevich’s executive order to fund embryonic stem cell research through the creation of the Illinois Regenerative Institute for Stem Cell Research with 10 million Illinois taxpayer dollars.

Arizona Right to Life Director Shane Wikfors is confident that President Bush will pick a Supreme Court nominee who will support overturning that legal abomination called Roe v. Wade. He writes:

Over the next three years, I am confident that President Bush will appoint two and as many as four new justices who will be strict Consitutional constructionists. These men and women will return the High Court to sanity in recognizing the importance of upholding the three fundamental rights ordained by our Creator: Life, Liberty & Property.

In 30-40 years, I expect to look back and proclaim that one of President Bush's greatest legacies is that he stopped raw judical activism by placing pro-life justices on the court. Like the horrible abomination of slavery, abortion will someday be outlawed. Every precious innocent life will be valued in culture and law.

more

"The struggle over the Supreme Court is not just about law, it is about the future of our culture."

Illinois Family Institute (IFI) today condemned Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to issue an Executive Order to fund immoral embryonic stem cell research with $10 million in Illinois taxpayer dollars.

By Executive Order, Governor Blagojevich today directed the Illinois Department of Public Health to create a program that will award $10 million in grants to medical research facilities for the development of treatments and cures. The Governor estimated that the program, to be named the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute (IRMI), will be up and running by the end of the year.

"The governor has done an end-run around the legislative process to fund research that advances a utilitarian agenda in which the end justifies the means," said IFI Executive Director Peter LaBarbera. "As Yale-educated neuroscience researcher Dr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk states, while most types of stem cell research (e.g., adult and umbilical cord stem cell research) are 'morally acceptable and laudable,' embryonic stem cell research is 'always morally objectionable, because the human embryo must be destroyed in order to harvest its stem cells.'"

Gov. Jeb Bush wrote a letter to the editor which appeared in the St. Petersburg Times today. He begins,

On Thursday, I closed the state inquiry into the Terri Schiavo case.

This puts to rest a sad chapter in Florida state history. To me, this was not an issue about politics, but about life. Terri's case is one I was involved with for years - long before it became a media interest - and I was determined to see it through to completion. Although I am saddened Terri had years cut from her life, and I do not agree with all the courts' decisions, I respect those decisions.

Unfortunately, the governor does not affirm the sanctity of human life in his statement, suggests that the fundamental lesson to be learned from Terri's life and death is to to sign a living will and implies that there is an ethical justification for the purposeful starvation/dehydration of the incapacitated.

What are your thoughts?

Actually, Wesley Smith reports the bill was "euthanized":

The attempt to legalize assisted suicide in California is dead for this year. After much hype and media attention, proselytizing visits from the nation's most visible leaders in the pro euthanasia movement, the bill went nowhere. For this year, it is dead. Next year is an election year and these bills are never pushed seriously in election years. So, for now, the "all clear" signal can be sent. But only for now. Preventing the legalization of assisted suicide requires constant vigilance.

Jeannine Lewis received stem cell treatment to combat end-stage heart disease. The therapy, like all successful stem cell based treatments, did not use embryonic stem cells which require the destruction of a human life. Instead, Lewis underwent a leading edge procedure in which her own stem cells were injected into her body to produce healing in her heart.

Lewis’ blood was drawn and then flown to Israel, where stem cells were extracted. The stems cells were shipped to Thailand, where they were injected into her heart by Dr. Amit Patel of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

While Patel says it’s too early to measure success, Lewis said she feels her heart is getting healthier and she wants to spread the word about what she has learned. She explained, "I haven’t had any tests yet, so I don’t have any measurements to say I am that much better. But I’m noticing several of the heart failure symptoms I had before are starting to lessen or go away completely."

"I used to wake frequently during the night. I had to go to the bathroom two or three times because of the fluid that was building up. I sleep through the night now. Now I’m getting up and I may go all day without a nap. I’m not sleeping my day away."

Read the rest here. HT: VesCell, the blog of the company who treated Jeannie.

Bill would end the president's ban.

Federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research is scheduled for a Senate vote sometime this week. The legislation, which has already passed the House, would reverse the Bush administration policy.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., would like to make sure taxpayers are not forced to support the destruction of human life.

LONDON, July 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) The British Medical Journal reported Saturday that the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the RU-486 chemical abortifacient as an "essential" medicine for inclusion in a list of medicines required to be available to physicians working in developing countries.

Spain plans to introduce legislation allowing therapeutic cloning for stem cell harvesting, a decision that puts the governing Socialists at odds with the pro-life position on sanctity of human life. [more]

Will he protect preborn children by selecting a solid, pro-life
nominee?

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, the nation's largest grassroots pro-life educational organization, issued the following statement regarding the upcoming appointment of a new Supreme Court justice:

Stones Cry Out gives the following update on the Supreme Court Nomination issue:

The religious right will allow President Bush to make his choice for a nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court without any further threats or bashing of Alberto Gonzales, we learned late last week.

... The opposition to the nomination of Alberto Gonzales is nearly unanimous among these leaders, and although they’ve agreed to hold fire, their greatest fear is that with a second opening on the court, which is likely with Rehnquist’s apparently imminent departure, they will get their original intent strict constructionist conservative on the one hand, and Gonzales on the other.

LifeNews reports that a federal appeals court has ruled that the national ban on partial-birth abortions is unconstitutional. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban does not pass constitutional muster because it does not contain an exception for the health of the mother, even though doctors say its unnecessary.

JivinJehoshaphat has an overview.

JackLewis, A Face Made for Radio, and Extreme Truths have more commentary.

Dan Lacey's Faithmouse, "the most loved and hated cartoon on the internet", is now a regular feature on Alan Keyes' Renew America according to a recent press release.

In addition to RenewAmerica, Faithmouse is seen and or/linked on over 500 web sites including many secular sites such as Newsmax and Men's News Daily, which is a breakthrough for an unabashedly Christian cartoon. Faithmouse cartoons have been hailed and criticized on sites as diverse Polipundit and DailyKOS, and are posted daily in a variety of forums, some of which are devoted entirely to the cartoon (the 'Faithmouse' forum at Portal of Evil has close to 700 comments).

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is the largest and most well known advocacy group for retirement-aged persons. It's political and economic clout is enormous. They are also full partners in the right-to-die movement along with the usual suspects (George Soros, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,the Hastings Center, Choice in Dying, etc.), even publishing articles in support of assisted suicide.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

Pat Hentoff writes in today's Washington Times:

While editorials across the nation agreed in chorus that at last, Terri Schiavo will rest in peace, the autopsy report declined such certainty:"It is the policy of this office that no case is ever closed and that all determinations are to be reconsidered upon receipt of credible, new information." Even if no new information surfaces, how Terri Schiavo was put to death is causing many Americans to confront their own death.

Pat Anderson, for a long time the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents, said the day Terri died of dehydration as ordered by the courts and her husband: "Euthanasia in America now has a name and a face." Dr. Jon Thogmartin's autopsy report made clear that Terri Schiavo was not dying, let alone terminal. As Dr. Carl D'Angio wrote in a June 21 letter in the New York Times: "Her family loved what was left of her and asked only to be permitted to care for her at their own expense. My question is, who or what was better served by her passive execution by water deprivation than by the first alternative?"

read the rest

The clear facts of the case show there was something else at work here. And it is an issue that Bill O'Reilly on the FOX News Channel sometimes raised. As O'Reilly put it, "The medical evidence is just too overwhelming to justify keeping her on life support at taxpayer expense." - Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy in Media

According to the LTI Blog the fundamental dispute over embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) is a worldview issue:

One group thinks human beings have value simply because they are human while the other group thinks humans have value only because of some acquired (and accidental) property like self-awarness or sentience.

... So, which worldview better explains human dignity? Is it the one that grounds human equality in our common human nature or the one that grounds our value in accidental traits that may come and go within the course of one’s lifespan?

Jean Swenson, a quadriplegic from a 1980 spinal cord injury, has been following and supporting spinal cord injury research for over 20 years. In a recent TownHall column she wrote that the public report on embryonic stem cell research is distorted and based upon fairy tales:

As a quadriplegic who could possibly benefit from stem cell research, I fear many of us are being sold an imaginary garment of hope—a fictitious belief that embryonic stem cells will cure us.
In reality, no such cures exist now or in the near future. Like the truthful child we must cry out, "But there is nothing here at all!"

• No such cures based upon embryonic stem (ES) cells exist now or in the near future


• For over twenty years scientists, using animal ES cells, have failed to solve the same roadblocks faced by researchers working on human ES cells.


• The Lancet, a British medical journal that favors ES cell research, calls cure headlines “sensationalist” and “hype.”


• People who want government to fund ES cell research are expecting taxpayers to pay for science projects that knowledgeable investors will not.


• Those serious about clinical trials and treatments—not just basic research—are using adult stem cells or cord blood.

"To start with, people need a fairy tale," the Post quoted Ronald D.G. McKay, a stem cell researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "Maybe that's unfair, but they need a story line that's relatively simple to understand."

One of the fairy tales is the suggestion that Alzheimer’s can be cured by ES cells. "I think the chance of doing repairs to Alzheimer's brains by putting in stem cells is small," the Post attributed to stem cell researcher Michael Shelanski, co-director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

ES cell research is not working. However, the fatal flaw of current ESC research is that scientists must "destroy" (a synonym for "kill") a human being to extract the stem cells they need. Related: Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Unethical and Not Working

HT: Vital Signs Blog

Cliff Kincaid, editor of the of the AIM Report writes about he "clumsy effort" of the media to convince the public based upon the autopsy that Terri Schiavo wasn't really a human being when she died on March 31. This enabled euthanasia supporters to impugn the Schindler family for wanting to care for Terri because "her life was not worth living."

Julian Tepper, host of the Julian Tepper show on WTNT-AM in Washington, D.C., was quoted as stating, "I think it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the public regarded Terri Schiavi as being something les than a valid human being and the public was aided in that view by the way things were portrayed on television and in the newspapers".

Kincaid replied,

I agree. As I told Julian Tepper on his show, "the essential issue was her individual right to life…The coverage suggested, after the autopsy, that she really wasn't one of us. She was different. She didn't have the same intellect as we do. Only half a brain. And couldn't even feed herself. So it's all right to kill her."

The unborn, human embryos, and disabled people like Terri Schiavo. These are the expendable ones, according to the prevailing media view. I always thought that liberals were supposed to be compassionate. The liberal media are strangely cold and calculating on the matter of who lives and dies. If you don't meet their test of humanity, you're dead. It's frightening. Who's next on the list?

Will the battle for the Supreme Court intensify?

Media on standby after growing reports Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist is handing in his resignation ... developing on the Drudge Report.

Conservative Eyes and PowerBlog have more.

The Washington Post states, "A week after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement, the White House and its allies are preparing for the possibility that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist might soon follow suit, opening up a second vacancy to fill and scrambling the politics of this summer's brewing nomination battle."

Conservative pundit Robert Novak states in his Chicago Sun-times column today, "Adding to the tension is word from court sources that ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist also will announce his retirement before the week is over. "

A Townhall article declares, Rehnquist Is Retiring, Legal Expert Insists

President Bush is delaying his selection of a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor because he is waiting for the other shoe to drop -- the resignation of Chief Justice William Rehnquist -- according to a top legal expert and former U.S. Justice Department official.

Walter E. Dellinger III, former acting solicitor general of the United States, told a Heritage Foundation audience Thursday that Rehnquist's retirement is a certainty.

Much of Washington is buzzing with reports the retirements will not just stop with Sandra Day O'Connor and Rehnquist, but a possible 3rd vacancy might be fast approaching. Sources indicate ailing Justice John Paul Stevens might announce his retirement after replacements are named for O'Connor and Rehnquist.

more

Supreme Court Blog Aggregator: click here

The NY Times reports that state attorney Bernie McCabe of Pinellas and Pasco Counties has chosen to close Florida's investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 1990 collapse of Terri Schiavo.

In the new report, Mr. McCabe said that to open a full homicide investigation, there must be some fact or evidence indicating that a criminal act caused the death. He said his review had found none.

David Gibbs, a lawyer for Ms. Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, said the report appeared rushed. Mr. Gibbs noted that the Schindlers had not been interviewed by the state attorney's office. "We had thought they would meet with the family," he said.

"This consistency, coupled with the varying recollections of the precise time offered by other interested parties, lead me to the conclusion that such discrepancies are not indicative of criminal activity and thus not material to any potential investigation," Mr. McCabe wrote [Gov. Jeb] Bush in a letter accompanying the report.

Alberto Gonzales says he's not a candidate for the high court. - LifeNews

Meanwhile, Anti-Life Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid Pushes Gonzales For Supreme Court.

By Judie Brown

In case you missed it, many alleged conservative groups are moaning about the possibility that President Bush might nominate attorney general Alberto Gonzales to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement. That doesn’t really surprise me. Gonzales’ record on abortion, for instance, is most suspect indeed. What did surprise me, however, was the president’s suggestion that special interest groups needed to “tone down their rhetoric,” and in particular the rhetoric concerning his good friend Alberto.

One could interpret that as a polite request to bug off.

Well, all things being equal, I object. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with the Bush/Gonzales friendship. But it seems too me that already this discussion of possible nominees to the Supreme Court has gotten way out of hand. There’s far too much rhetoric and not much real reflection on what, if any, impact a new justice could have on the lives of innocent human beings who inhabit Petri dishes, storage units or wombs.

Prosthesis has an interesting post in which he applies science based on movement to the pro-life understanding of what it means to be human. He concludes:

That is the crux of the pro-life position - this unity of movement and development in a human being. An embryo is not a different thing than an infant or a toddler or an adult. The pro-life position says that a human being has moral worth based on what he or she is and not on any characteristics that appear or disappear during his or her life. The latter is the very definition of discrimination - the unfair treatment of humans based on characteristics we have. We've slowly come to realize that discrimination based on gender, skin color, age and physical/mental handicap are wrong. The pro-life position is that discrimination based on size, degree of dependency on others, cognitive development, and other similar things are just as wrong.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) says Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) is misleading Americans and deceiving the President when Schumer says he wants to work with President Bush to choose "a consensus nominee" for the Supreme Court.

According to the Drudge Report July 6,

"Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Schumer got busy plotting away on a cell phone aboard a Washington, D.C.-New York Amtrak--plotting Democrat strategy for the upcoming Supreme Court battle. Schumer promised a fight over whoever the President's nominee was: 'It's not about an individual judge. … It's about how it affects the overall makeup of the court.' Schumer proudly declared: 'We are contemplating how we are going to go to war over this.'"

A series of coordinated bomb blasts have hit central London today, at the height of the morning rush hour. Reports suggest at least 41 people have been killed, and there may be more than 1,000 injured. [Guardian Blog].

Many of our pro-life bloggers are responding:

Today's horrific events in London deserve our mourning for the loss of human life because of an ideology that undermines human value and respect. Our prayers go out to those suffering. - Apologia Christi

Our prayers and thoughts are with those in London right now. I pray that there are no further attacks and that the human loss can be minimized. Stones Cry Out

I want to extend to you my condolences for the senseless and barbaric attacks on your country today. My prayers, and the prayers of millions of Americans are with you today and will be with you in the coming days as you recover from this. Wittenberg Gate

My heart goes out to the people of London - The Narrow

I will be praying for the victims and their families, for the rescue workers, and (equally fervently) for the souls of those who were so monstrous as to commit this crime. Please join me. - Happy Catholic

Evil Strikes London - Pray for peace; it is the very least we can do today. - Doxology

I know how the Brits must feel right now. They've stood with us in the fight against terrorists; we stand with them today. I'm praying for them. - Daily Inklings

Today We are All Londoners - Neophyte Pundit

Our prayers are with Londoners this morning. - Notes in the key of life

Terror in London - La Shawn Barber

And let us pray, if this is terrorism, that the British respond in a way different from the Spanish. - Mod-Blog

We have loved ones across the pond (my sister in law is a Yorkie), and I hope all in our sphere of influence are safe and sound. - Red Guy in a Blue State

On this dark day, we stand with our friends in Britain, praying and supporting. - blogicus

Stiff upper lip and a firm resolve — the Brits have done it before, and now they’ll need to do it again — survive bombs going off in the great city of London. - Okie on the LAM

London Terror Attack Round-Up - JivinJehoshaphat

more here

This leading edge Christian church is leading the assault on Christian principles for family values. Their 30 second pro-homosexual advertisement was so outrageous even CBS and NBC would not air it. LifeSiteNews.com has the story:

ATLANTA, July 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 1.3-million member US United Church of Christ (UCC), at its General Synod Monday, passed a resolution endorsing "marriage" for same-sex couples. UCC President Reverend John H. Thomas recommended the measure, claiming that Synod members "acted courageously to declare freedom."

The resolution, passed by 80 percent of the 884 members of the Synod, states, "The Twenty-fifth General Synod of the United Church of Christ affirms equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender and declares that the State should not interfere with couples regardless of gender who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of legally recognized marriage." The resolution adds that individual churches should consider adding "wedding" services for same-sex couples.

CHICAGO, July 5 -- The Pro-Life Action League and volunteers from the Chicago area will hold huge, graphic photographs of aborted babies along the streets and overpasses and at train stations in Chicago and the suburbs starting Wednesday, July 6th, 2005.

The sixth annual "Face the Truth Tour" runs from July 6th through the 16th and will focus the first week in downtown Chicago.

The use of in vitro fertilization has produced more than 400,000 human embryos at fertility clinics around the United States. About 88 percent are being held for potential use by the families who created them. But that leaves thousands who are not wanted by their families, and an intense debate is occurring about what to do with them. Some would like to see these human embryos harvested and killed for the purpose of stem cell research. But President Bush recognizes that each human embryo is a unique person created in the image of God, and possibly available for implantation in 6 to 7 million infertile couples in America. Recently he highlighted the humanity of these embryos by hosting at the White House 21 live children who were adopted as human embryos, including a child from an Arizona family. Putting a human face on these former embryos is an important step toward increasing understanding that their lives have value, and should not be discarded. - Len Munsil, Center for Arizona Policy

Abortion rights extremists continue to propagate myths about the potential impact of a conservative replacement for Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Although five of the current justices support the core finding of Roe, abortion rights activists suggest a Bush appointee will overturn abortion and cause thousands of women to die each year.

Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal is the latest liberal to spread the myth that Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement will overturn Roe v. Wade. "Abortion rights, access to birth control and women's rights are on the line," she wrote. [more from Michelle Malkin]

Drudge is reporting that Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Schumer is promising a war over whoever the President’s nominee was: "It's not about an individual judge… It's about how it affects the overall makeup of the court."

If the report is true, Schumer's strategy is clearly to strong-arm President Bush into compromising his nomination by destroying the nomination and review process in an effort to consummate the politicization of the Supreme Court.

Click here to sign a petition calling for the President to honor his campaign pledge and nominate a justice who will honor the Constitution!

More articles on the Supreme Court by various pro-life bloggers can be found here.

By Michael John Phillips, MD, Vice-President of Pro-Life Wisconsin

Pro-abortion family planning providers in Wisconsin are regrettably in the midst of a campaign touting the supposed benefits of the morning-after pill, misleading the public by falsely contending that this drug will prevent tens of thousands of abortions by preventing pregnancy. The medical fact is that so-called "emergency contraception" will often act to cause an early chemical abortion.

The following is an interview excerpted from Human Events Online:

Q: Judge Gonzales, we're hearing conflicting reports about your position on abortion. Can you tell us where you stand?

A: As a judge, I have to make judgments in conformity with the laws of our nation.

Jill Stanek writes

At 4a EST this morning in Denmark, President Bush took questions on his criteria for picking a Supreme Court replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor.

"I'll pick people who one, can do the job; people who are honest, people who are bright; and people who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not use the bench to legislate from. That's what I campaigned on, and that's what I'm going to do."

Reassuring words

LTI Blogs gives and overview of John Noonan’s book, A Private Choice: Abortion in America in the Seventies.

Traditional American jurisprudence, grounded in the Declaration of Independence, held that government was not an absolute sovereign whose fiat creates rights. Rather, human beings exist prior to the state and have certain rights simply because they are human.

[snip]

Next came Roe v. Wade, where Justice Blackmun ignored biological evidence for unborn and simply declared that unborn were not persons in the whole sense (i.e., they were merely potential life). Membership in the human community was not a question of fact, but fiat, and only the Court’s counted.

Noonan sums up the danger this way: Your rights flow from your human nature. Yet not one of those rights is secure if power rests with nine men and women to simply define you out of existence.

Read the rest.

Click here to sign a petition calling for the President to honor his campaign pledge and nominate a justice who will honor the Constitution!

Democrats are prepared to filibuster to block any anti-abortion nominee proposed to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Tuesday. [more] Boxer called a threat to legalized abortion an "extraordinary circumstance."

"It means a minimum of 5,000 women a year will die. So all options are on the table," she said.

Pro-life Wisconsin is alarmed by the recent shift in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines regarding teen pregnancy.

And they should be.

The Academy in its most recent report on teen pregnancy urges pediatricians to counsel all teens about contraceptives – whether they are sexually active or not. In addition, it encourages pediatricians to make the abortificient 'morning-after pill' readily available to all teenage girls.

With the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor there is great hope that President Bush will nominate a new justice who will respect the sanctity of human life and the liberty of the individual.

Justice O’Connor was the deciding vote to uphold Roe v. Wade in 1992. She was also the swing vote to curtail the free speech rights of pro-lifers to lobby on behalf of unborn children in the McCain-Feingold campaign reform case.

Disappointing news is reported after the British Medical Association voted down a proposal that would restrict abortion earlier in pregnancy:

Proposals to amend the abortion law to stop women having late terminations were overwhelmingly rejected yesterday by doctors.

After a passionate debate, the British Medical Association voted by three to one to maintain the present limits, restricting abortions to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy except in extreme circumstances.

Advances in medical technology have made it possible for some babies to survive when born at 22 or 23 weeks, prompting the discussion at the BMA's annual conference.

more

more

UNITED NATIONS, July 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In one of its most thinly veiled references to overt population control ever, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has come out advocating abortion as a means for curbing child poverty, improving child education, and improving the sustainability of the environment.

At the UN’s annual Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting running throughout July the UNFPA has been circulating a report, Reducing Poverty and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Arguments for Investing in Reproductive Health & Rights. The report argues that “sexual and reproductive health services” – a UN euphemism for abortion, contraception and sterilization – are necessary to eradicate child poverty, AIDS, and even to ensure ecological sustainability by calming population growth.

WASHINGTON -- On the occasion of Justice O'Connor's retirement announcement today, the following statement was issued by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).

"Millions of Americans will be watching to see whether the Senate Democratic leadership bows to the demands of certain pressure groups that a nominee must pledge to rule for the pro-abortion side in future cases," stated NRLC political director Carol Tobias. "Already, some Democratic senators, such as Ted Kennedy, are clearly demanding a litmus test."

Shane Wikfors, Executive Director of Arizona Right to Life, sends the following action alert:

It's official. The U.S. Supreme Court has a vacancy. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, President Reagan's judicial mistake, has announced her resignation leaving a huge battle on the near horizon over who will sit on the high court.

Last November, we re-elected President Bush with one ever-so-important underlying issue in mind: whoever wins the Presidency will get to nominate the next two to three Supreme Court Justices. Both sides of the culture war put all their weight into the election knowing this important battle would take place.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired from the High Court today after 24 years of service. Her resignation brings about the first Supreme Court vacancy in eleven years and gives President George W. Bush the opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court Justice that will uphold the sanctity of human life and the liberty of the individual.

However, this won’t be easy. O'Connor’s retirement will generate "all out war" in the Senate as pro-abortion enthusiasts consider that a Supreme Court ally could be replaced by a conservative and influence the Court’s decisions for decades. Bush is already urging restraint. "The nation... deserves a dignified process of confirmation in the United States Senate, characterized by fair treatment, a fair hearing and a fair vote," he said.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired from the high court today after 24 years of service. Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears noted that O’Connor’s retirement presents a unique opportunity for President Bush in selecting the justice’s replacement.

"Justice O’Connor’s retirement comes at a very critical time in our nation’s history," said Sears. "Our hope for the new justice is that he or she will interpret the Constitution as it was written and intended by the founders of our nation. The appointment of a Supreme Court justice is often the most lasting legacy of a President, since all appointments are for life or until voluntary retirement."