December 2005 Archives

As our nation mourns the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, one pro-life organization, Focus on the Family, is challenging all churches during the month of January to address the issue of abortion and how it is affecting Christians.

According to a survey conducted by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a Planned Parenthood research arm, 20% of women who have abortions say they are evangelical Christians. AGI also reports 33% of women who have abortions and disclose their religious affiliation describe themselves as Catholic.

Continue reading Abortion in the Church: WWJD? at Choose Life.

This is your weekly Right to Life Bill reminder.

Click here to read about House Bill HR 552, which was introduced in February by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif).

Charmaine Yoest was honored today by being selected as one of the 12 "Evangelical Women of the Year 2005" by the Concerned Women of America.

CWFA Article

What does the mainstream media believe represents great virtues in a woman?

"Jane highlights a 29-year-old-woman who makes her own clothes so that she doesn't patronize sweatshops and a 28-year-old who cooks without supporting industrial hog farms. Another "extraordinary" woman doesn't date anyone who shops at WalMart. A 23-year-old won't kiss a guy who eats meat or smokes."

...we make it illegal.

This is a point that often comes up and one that I have written about a few times.

It is long past time for abortionists to be targeted by the trial attorneys. After all, the cost of malpractice insurance has driven many legitimate doctors from the field, doctors whose records are far, far better than the horrific rates of death and damage done by abortion practitioners. So, let this news story from the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger stimulate our New Year's prayers for many more of these suits to be filed, won and highly publicized.

A panel of South Korean scientists have concluded that Hwang Woo-Suk has provided no data to prove that he produced patient specific cloned embryonic stem cells.

Hmmm.... Where was this panel when Hwang submitted his paper to Science?

Please feel free to post this image to your own blog to help promote the first annual Blogs4Life Conference, sponsored and hosted by The Family Research Council and organized by Tim at Pro-Life Blogs, Charmaine Yoest at Reasoned Audacity, and Pete at March Together.

Additional Neverborn cartoons can be found at faithmouse.

A pro-choice blogger named Media Girl recently commented on this article in the Washington Post on abortion in South Dakota. South Dakota's task force on abortion released a report that states that science defines life as beginning at conception.

In her post Media Girl asks,

Here they go with the "science is what I say it is" approach. Does life really begin at conception? Where is this scientific evidence? Does implantation have nothing to do with it? What about gestation?

Read the rest at JivinJehoshaphat

The celebration of Christmas is a special time to reflect about the incredible gift that was given just over 2000 years ago by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. His birth changed history and is God’s grace made evident and obvious: people matter; life is sacred; men, women, and children are worth the greatest sacrifice, the supreme effort, the ultimate gift. Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king, peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.

Merry Christmas!

A quick reminder of the Monthly Call for Life at MarchTogether.com. Tell everyone you know to email, call and/or march on January the 6th to let your representatives know it is time for abortion to end!

Participate in this Call for Life every month on the first Friday.

MarchTogether.com

United we stand - Divided they die - Pass it on

South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk resigned from his position as a university professor on Friday after his school said he had damaged the scientific community by fabricating the results of at least nine of 11 stem-cell lines he claimed to have created. Yes, now we know that in addition to being unethical, Hwang's work is fraudulent.

"I sincerely apologize to the people for creating a shock and disappointment," Hwang told reporters as he was leaving his office at the university. "With an apologetic heart ... I step down as professor of Seoul National University."

Wesley Smith continues to chronicle the aftershocks of The Great Korean Stem Cell Meltdown at Secondhand Smoke.

Suspicions of Hwang's earlier research will inevitably shake researchers' faith in the prospect of clone based therapies themselves:

"We're back to knowing that animal cloning is possible but wondering whether it is possible in humans," adds Kevin Eggan of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "This is an enormous setback.

Continued at Marlowe's Shade

By Amber Dolle

Behind every good man is a good woman. How many times have we heard that age-old saying? Sure, some women who still believe that our gender is being suppressed by men might hear that quip and immediately think: discrimination. I, however – as a woman – do not take offense in the least. I hear that quote and immediately think that when it comes to their husbands, women have quite a bit of power to influence a man’s decisions. That being said, I wonder just how much influence Melinda Gates, wife of the world’s richest man, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, wields when it comes to allocating the millions of dollars she and her husband give to “charity” every year. I question this because Bill and Melinda’s foundation has given millions to some of the most anti-woman, anti-child, anti-family organizations in existence.

Pamela F. Hennessy

In recent days, major press and media outlets have produced and published their considerations for the top news stories of 2005. According to the Associated Press, a survey of the country’s editors and news directors overwhelmingly tapped the story of Hurricane Katrina as the most significant and the most exhaustively reported.

Like most Americans, I watched in profound horror as Katrina annihilated populated areas, brought about the deaths of more than 1,300 innocent people and set into play a domino effect that would leave portions of the south devastated for months—if not years—to come.

I will not soon forget the almost relentless media coverage of the human tragedy, the faces of terrified people and their wailing children, the images of widespread destruction throughout several states or the surreal portrait of the Superdome, packed from floor to ceiling with desperation, sorrow and too few bottles of fresh water.

Though the coverage—at times—seemed incessant, the press and the media actually did a very good thing with their treatment of Hurricane Katrina. For, when it was revealed that local, state and federal agencies may have failed in their initial responses to the disaster, all eyes watching were opened wide to serious problems that plague our emergency response systems. Reporters, editors and columnists alike gave no quarter to those agencies and reported, with gusto, about their lack of aptitude.

Thank God for the sidewalk counselors who faithfully and sacrificially work to snatch unborn children from the brink of death. Earlier today one of my posts received a beautiful comment about a woman who decided not to abort her unborn twins as the result of a pamphlet she received while walking into an abortion clinic. Please read it here.

This reminded me of the excellent work reported by a view from the sidewalks:

On December 3rd at the abortion clinic in Greenville, SC one woman decided to leave the abortuary and not abort her baby. She stopped and told us as she was driving away in her car.

We showered her with love and shared her joy of knowing she was doing the right thing.

The prayers of God's people are making a difference!

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

TORONTO, December 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fatima, a relatively new immigrant to Canada found herself pregnant with twins at a time when she already had three children and her husband was without a job. She was therefore in quite a dilemma and turned to others for help, but the "help" offered was not what she expected, wanted or needed.

Her personal story, with a happy ending, relates what many distressed pregnant women encounter from individuals or agencies who offer what they believe is a quick fix solution to a their serious needs at a time of personal crisis. Fatima, who wrote an an article about her experience for the for the September 2005 Interim newspaper, resisted the offered questionable solution and was instead helped by individuals who respected her womanhood and the lives of her unborn twin children.

This is your weekly Right to Life Bill reminder.

Click here to read about House Bill HR 552, which was introduced in February by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif).

LifeNews reports that Dr. Joel Brind, Professor of Biology at Baruch College, reviewed 10 research reports and found they were using seriously flawed data to determine whether the link between abortion and breast cancer exists. This is certainly not surprising.

Note that later in the article Brind is quoted as reasserting the conclusion of his 1996 "meta-analysis" of the abortion-breast cancer link. The research correlation holds and "induced abortion is indeed a risk factor for breast cancer, despite the strong and pervasive bias in recent literature," asserting the safety of abortion.

That's the position of Paula Gott, an ordained minister (it appears she makes a living by writing), whose incoherent opinion piece on how God would view stem cell research and cloning is here.

Those opposed to stem cell research have accepted as fact that life begins at the moment of conception, although there is nothing in the Bible that supports this belief. Only "church tradition" provides a specific moment at which life begins.

They've accepted that fact because they have a basic knowledge of embryology. Besides church tradition, embryology textbooks also provide a specific moment for when the life of a human being begins. Gott seems to prefer to ignore evidence from science and put the question of life's beginning into a solely theological realm. Does Gott believe that since the Bible doesn't say that "life begins at conception" that it isn't true?

This stood out in the recent LifeSiteNews article on Michael Schiavo's ridiculous PAC:

"In the elderly, dementia is more common than the vegetative state. What are we going to do with humane care for the elderly? One-third to one-half people over the age of 80 will have some form of dementia."

-- neurologist Ronald Cranford, key witness in favor of starving/dehydrating Terri Schiavo to death, quoted by LifeSiteNews

More at BlogsforTerri

This is an action alert adapted from a Michigan Right to Life email.

With the confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito, who was nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, scheduled to begin January 9, the National Abortion Rights Action League issued a panicked analysis, Liberty at Risk: The Vulnerability of Reproductive Rights Under Alito.

Several stories of interest in my inbox this morning. The latest news on many of the usual suspects we've been following at Marlowe's Shade

I phrased it that way on purpose to show how things can be worded differently to give a story a different feeling and meaning. How about:

"More U.S. women having unwanted babies"

Kathryn Jean Lopen and JivinJehoshaphat picked up on the AP's blatantly pro-abortion assertion that "unwanted babies are on the rise."

Democrats For Life of America (DFLA) applauded the US House of Representatives today for the passage of HR 2520, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act, in a lopsided 413-0 legislative victory. This vote comes after the Senate passed the same bill on Friday. The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature.

Even though it’s more than a month away, it’s not too early to start thinking about making plans to attend the 33rd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Monday, Jan. 23.

The march and rally, which mark the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision to legalize abortion, drew about 100,000 people from all over the nation last year.

And while you're there, plan on attending Blogs4Life, the conference for pro-life bloggers featuring the National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez.

The progressive Europeans are at it again:

A Swiss hospital has agreed to let an assisted-suicide organization help terminally ill patients take their own lives on its premises. A spokesman for the Vaud University Hospital Center confirmed reports in Swiss newspapers Saturday that, starting in January, it would let the Exit society assist in the suicide of people already admitted to the hospital who can no longer go home.

Check out our new website: Blogs4Life.com. And when you visit, please consider attending the Blogs4Life conference to be held on January 23rd, 2006, the morning preceding the annual March for Life. It will be a great opportunity to meet face to face with other pro-life bloggers and hear NRO Blogger Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) will attend a bill signing ceremony at the White House today as President Bush signs Smith's Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (HR 2520) into law. The non-controversial legislation passed the House of Representatives on Saturday by a vote of 413-0 after being stalled in the Senate by a politically motivated maneuver to force action on more controversial stem cell bills. Smith first started developing the bill in 2001 and had been urging its passage since.

I was flipping through channels this weekend and came across a neurologist named Sam Harris on C-SPAN. He was speaking at the NY Society for Ethical Culture on his new book The End of Faith.

In a few sentences he managed to cause an epiphany of how far radical secularism has advanced and how very close this movement is to effecting an eradication of any belief in the supernatural.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

I held back the person's name and email address, whom I will refer to as Ray from here on, from the previous article because I didn't want him/her to find out what it's like to constantly get letters from people like him/her. Yes, there are extreme people on both sides of the aisle.

Ray responded to my post with this:

Yesterday I received this email?

The culture of death is you. You have no regard for the lives of living, suffering people. A cell is not a person, but I and millions of others are and our blood is on your hands.

You are cruel, callous, and very evil. Your God will not judge you kindly.

Ovarian cancer survivor, Parkinson's Disease prisoner for 10 years

I'm pleased to let you now that Spotlight on Darfur 3: Christmas Edition is now online. There are articles and posts by a group of 11 diverse writers who have come together to do something special for Darfur at this time of the year. They do not represent any one organization or group but share in wanting to give something to the people of Darfur at this time, and hope for peace in that troubled and conflicted area. Topics covered include politics and the international community, justice and ethics, Christmas, and ways to help the refugees of the Darfur genocide crisis. Genocide is a pro-life issue, and Spotlight on Darfur 3: Christmas Edition captures both the need to speak up for life and the spirit of Christmas.

If you haven't read it already check it out here.

Word of mouth and blog entries are the best way to spread the news to your pro-life friends that the first conference of pro-life bloggers is set for Jan. 23rd in Washington DC, just before the Annual March for Life (click here for more information). Please consider linking to the conference website and adding one of the following graphics below to your weblog with a link to blogs4life.com.

You can host the image yourself or simply insert any of the following codes into your website's template.

90-Pixel Image
<a href="http://www.blogs4life.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.prolifeblogs.com/images/Blogs_Life-Logo_90.jpg" border="0"></a>

150-Pixel Image
<a href="http://www.blogs4life.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.prolifeblogs.com/images/Blogs_Life-Logo_150.jpg" border="0"></a>

LifeNews - Admissions from one of the top embryonic stem cell research teams in the world that they falsified their research has the world scientific community worried that it has tainted the already controversial field of embryonic stem cell research. Pro-life groups say the scandal proves what they've said all along that the focus should be placed on adult stem cells.

I appreciate the ongoing reports from LifeNews related to the South Korean embryonic stem cell scandal and am pleased that the far reaching and exploitive claims of some ESC research proponents are being unmasked.

Another co-author of the now discredited study in Science, Roh Sung-il and the Seoul National University have proclaimed that Dr Hwang's study was faked. It now appears that the pictures of the stem cells and the DNA fingerprints that the entire paper was based on were completely fabricated.

This calls for an overhaul of the entire peer review system. But as many commenters have pointed out, that also has to include strict enforceable ethical guidelines that respect human life. Any attempt at "bio-ethics", without acknowledging the fundamental biological truth of "person-hood" of human life from it's inception renders all other ethical considerations meaningless.

More at Marlowe's Shade

Blogs4Life is coming on January 23rd, in the morning just before the March for Life in Washington, D.C.!

Yes, this is the first annual conference of pro-life bloggers and will feature none other than noted syndicated columnist and NRO Blogger Kathryn Jean Lopez. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals and organizations to network with pro-life bloggers and develop an understanding about how weblog technology can be strategically used to promote life and turn ideas into action.

Peter (March Together for Life), Charmaine Yoest (Reasoned Audacity) and I have been formulating the conference for several months. Recently, the idea gained momentum when the Family Research Council volunteered to host the event.

The conference website, Blogs4Life, is under construction although Peter is working hard on it (thanks!). However, there is a registration form – fill it out today. Please, spead the word and check back regularly for updates.

Commenter Mike at Dawn Eden's post about Planned Parenthood boasting about hiding a rape of an 11-year old girl ... provides links to and partial transcripts of audiofiles of the phone calls made to 73 Planned Parenthoods--including that nefarious Golden Gate PP--and 20 other abortion clinics in California alone.

Oh, and they've removed that boast from their website, as predicted.

Oh, and Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon has a similar boast:

Washington, D.C. - US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist today called for the passage of the bi-partisan life-saving cord blood stem cell bill, (HR 2520) sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith. The House bill, Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, already passed in May by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 431-1. Incredibly, Senate Democrats objected to passing this it.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, responded quickly to the news. "By objecting to passage of the cord blood bill, Democrats are holding the bill as political hostage in order to get a vote on the bill to fund unsuccessful and ethically challenged embryonic stem cell research, which has not treated a single person," he said.

By Judie Brown

It is frequently said that truth is stranger than fiction. In the case of Michael Schiavo, husband of the now deceased Terri Schiavo, this is precisely correct.

You may recall that during the years that Terri Schiavo suffered from a debilitating condition, Michael worked very hard to acquire legal permission to kill his wife by denying her the basic human right of receiving food and water. He argued that she would not want to be fed through a tube. His view was that she actually died 12 years earlier, and that the person in the hospital bed was not truly alive. Once he succeeded in achieving his goal, and his wife died, it became clear that Schiavo had designs on attaining as much public support and sympathy as possible. In fact, one might say that in the wake of Terri's death, Michael Schiavo was starving — for attention.

A leading member of South Korean human cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk's research team says the embryonic stem cell research paper his team submitted to the journal Science was fabricated. The paper highlighted Hwang's team's claim that they had successfully cloned patient-specific embryonic stem cells that would avoid a key problem associated with them -- that they will be rejected by patient's immune systems. - read the rest at LifeNews.

The news will no doubt set back human cloning in Korea and is a major embarrassment to both Hwang supporters and the academic community at large. However, the fundamental problem with the type of research Hwang conducts is that it involves the destruction of human lives. Although the news of Hwang's deception will cast a shadow on the cloning industry, it does not address the unethical nature of the research in general.

More information from STOPP International including an action item below:

Washington, D.C. — "Shortly after STOPP and other pro-life sources focused attention on a letter on the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate web site, purportedly a note from a 17-year-old girl thanking Planned Parenthood for helping conceal from her parents a rape that occurred when she was 11, the organization hastily removed the letter from its web site," said Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International. "Is Planned Parenthood Golden Gate trying to hide evidence of a crime? STOPP calls on California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate this matter immediately and hold Planned Parenthood accountable for its role in this situation."

Once or twice a month, I get to meet with some of my favorite people: the priests and pastoral associates of Priests for Life. These folks provide me with encouragement, wisdom and a plethora of ideas for spreading the pro-life message, particularly with regards to contraception. You, my dear reader, will notice that I am going to focus more and more on this subject from now on in my blog, The Revolution.

I am firmly convinced that reliance on contraceptive devices has erased all sense of rationality and stability in marital relationships. This chaos has spilled over into society, because when there is not peace and justice in the bedroom, how can there be peace and justice in other aspects of private and public life? There can't be.

Continue reading at The Revolution

Our friend and fellow pro-life blogger Naaman is leaving the Blogosphere. We've appreciated his insightful contributions here at ProLifeBlogs and will dearly miss his site, Naaman the Ex-Leper. Thanks Naaman and God Bless!

Special thanks to Gudrun Schultz of LifeSiteNews for this heart wrenching story of a mother's courage and ultimate sacrifice for her child.

CLEVELAND, Ohio, December 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A mother who developed cancer while pregnant with her fourth child has died after refusing treatment that would have harmed the baby.

In a sacrifice reminiscent of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who died of cancer in 1962 after deciding to protect the life of her unborn baby, Bernadette Mimura chose to save her child’s life at the cost of her own. She delivered a healthy son, Nathan, two months premature, and lived long enough to witness his baptism.

A pro-life Christmas Card that can be sent via the internet? Right to Life of Michigan is on it. The organization has developed a Christmas e-card which "shares the hope of the season and promotes the preciousness of life."

Click here to send your personalized Christmas e-card to friends and family.

"American Girl is trying to restore its wholesome image with pro-life families," said Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. "Their efforts at damage control show how effective our protest and boycott have been."

"In contrast to American Girl's affiliation with pro-abortion Girls Inc, they have just launched a major ad campaign, designed to protect girls from growing up too fast," said Scheidler. "The sudden about-face is clearly a response to our boycott of American Girl during the Christmas shopping season."

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate has already removed the link to the "It Keeps Us Safe" story that revealed the organization may have concealed the rape of an 11-year-old. Dawn Eden, who broke the story, provides a link to the Wayback Machine for those who want to see the website before it was altered.

The original child testimonial read:

It Keeps Us Safe

I was raped at 11, by my 17 year old boyfriend. I chose not to tell my parents because I didn't think their involvement would help, that was the right choice for me. Planned Parethood helped me deal with the aftermath of the rape allowing me to deal and cope as best as I could in my own way. I was 14 when I decided to start having sex, the day I made that choice I made an appointment to get birth control pills. I'm 17 now, I've been with my current boyfriend for about two years. During that time i've been HIV and STD tested four times. Right now I'm sitting in the waiting room while my boyfriend gets the results for his HIV test. We love each other so we're responsible and Planned Parenthood helps us to do that.

- name withheld -

The following was written by Arizona Right to Life President (and prolifeblogs member) John J. Jakubczyk.

The media focus on the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams represents the latest in the selective application of morality and the efforts by those in the media to spin reality in order to manipulate the masses. First of all, this article is not to comment on the moral efficacy of capital punishment or its proper place in society.

Yesterday Dawn Eden broke the news that a child's testimony, published by Planned Parenthood, revealed that the organization may have concealed the rape of a minor (more here). American Life League has now picked up the story in the following press release:

Washington, D.C. — "People may be skeptical when pro-life groups accuse Planned Parenthood of violating the law and protecting rapists," said Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International. "However, when Planned Parenthood itself seems to brag, on one of its official web sites, about doing just that, it is time law enforcement agencies in every state address the situation."

If you are a Pro-Life entity or individual and have not entered your site/organization into the Annual Report of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, you are missing out. This book is 160+ pages of information on everything from pictures from previous marches, statistics, exhibitors at the convention, maps, legislative history, Student Contest essays, poems, Life Principles and more!

I strongly urge you to advertise in the Annual Report. The deadline is tomorrow, December the 15th. If you need more information call The March For Life Fund at 202 543 3377 or send an email to info@marchforlife.org.

Click here for the front page of the application.

Click here for the back page of the application.

Do whatever it takes to get your information listed before the deadline.

Dr Hwang's house of cards continues to collapse around him:

Some of stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk's high-profile human cloning work announced earlier this year may have been "fabricated," a former top collaborator charged as he attempted to distance himself from the groundbreaking research. University of Pittsburgh researcher Gerald Schatten has demanded that the journal Science remove him as the senior author of a report it published in June to international acclaim that detailed how individual stem cell colonies were created for 11 patients through cloning.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

In 2003 the Pro-Life Action League conceived the idea of the "Empty Manger" Christmas Caroling Day. On a Saturday morning in December, we visited four abortion facilities in the Chicago area singing carols [PDF] around an empty manger. The empty manger was a symbol both of the hope that a little baby can bring and of the empty space that is left when a little unborn baby is killed by abortion.

The "Empty Manger" concept was so effective that it has become an annual event. In 2004 our caroling saved a baby from abortion. We will carol again this coming Saturday, December 17 with our carefully selected carols [PDF].

The idea has caught on around the country, with groups in Mississippi, Florida, Maryland, New York, Kansas, Texas and California visiting abortion facilities to sing carols, many gathering around an empty manger as we do. Some visit only one or two abortion centers; others like us travel to several.

I invite all pro-lifers to participate in this powerful activity, so worthwhile that we have included it in the revised edition of CLOSED: The Pro-Life Activists Manual by Joe Scheidler. Download the sheet of carols [PDF] (designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a four-page booklet) and visit a local abortion facility with a friend or a larger group (we do not advise visiting an abortion facility alone).

Help bring Christmas hope to these places of utter despair.

Some how I managed to go almost a whole week without quoting a post by Wesley Smith, so let me rectify that...

He posted this commentary by Nigel Cameron and Tina Stevens on how the scandal in South Korea highlights the way in which ignoring ethical concerns and the law of unintended consequences can quickly turn what should be principled scientific inquiry into the circus that Dr Hwang's career has become.

More at Marlowe's Shade

This is crazy.

Shayna Richardson was making her first solo skydiving jump when she had trouble with her parachutes and, while falling at about 50 mph, hit face first in a parking lot. Although badly hurt, she survived _ and doctors treating her injuries discovered she was pregnant. Four surgeries and two months later, Richardson said she and the fetus are doing fine.

"Just this last week we went and saw the doctor and we've got arms, we've got legs. We've got a full face. The baby is moving around just fine. The heart rate looks good. So not only did God save me but he spared this baby," she said.

HT: The Corner

Dawn Eden, who is back on patrol, thinks so. Based upon a child testimonial appearing on PP’s website she writes,

"An 11-year-old girl walked into Planned Parenthood, saying she had been raped. Not just statutory rape, either; forcible rape.

Planned Parenthood assured the girl that it would not contact her parents, and it was true to its word. Likewise, it must not have contacted the authorities either, otherwise the parents would certainly have been notified.)"

Lifenews.com wrote an article how Californians are creating a "Human-Mouse" hybrid using embryonic stem cells.

Picture - Lifenews.com

Finally a breakthrough that could sink the Embryonic (human) Stem Cell Research for good.

At the University of Illinois, researches have managed to get stem cells from adult mice to change into brain, nerve, heart muscle and pancreatic cells.

As more and more studies are done on the physical, mental, and emotional effects of abortion on women, we are starting to get a not-so-pretty picture of the consequences of what may have started out as a “quick fix.”

From LifeNews:

Another study has confirmed the fact that women who have abortions suffer from mental anxiety, guilt, shame, and distress years later. Those negative emotional feelings can last as long as five years after the abortion or even longer, the Norwegian study found.

Continue reading about the results of this and other studies at Choose Life.

From the American Life League:

Barely Time Left for Cord Blood Vote in 2005

WITH THE SENATE SCHEDULED TO MEET THIS WEEK, phone calls to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are needed to urge him to allow a vote on S-1317, the Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy Act, in order to send the life-saving measure to the President for approval before the end of 2005.

Call your representatives and let them know you support HR 552, the Right to Life bill submitted by Rep Duncan Hunter.

Friday was a snow day [working but no time to post] and my inbox was full of all kinds of euthanasia-related stories this morning.

Continued at Marlowe's Shade

Which would cause greater anxiety, an abortion or a miscarriage?

Isn't this supposed to be one of those no-brainer questions? What's funny to me is that people actually pay to do studies on these kinds of questions.

Everyone on this planet knows that abortion is the intentional killing of an unborn human being. A miscarriage is uncontrollable.

Click cartoons to view larger versions. Both images are from the faithmouse web site.

In responding to "Roe v. Wade Overturned!" a reader commented that abortions are fewer in countries where they are legal.

Governor Jim Doyle approved litigation which will allow the state to sue the FDA to allow over the counter sales of the morning after pill.

The state of Wisconsin will sue the Food and Drug Administration, claiming it is putting women's health at risk because it has delayed allowing sales of the morning after pill over the counter.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney apparently believes that it is okay to force Catholics and other Christians to dispense abortion pills.

Washington, D.C. — American Life League, the nation's largest pro-life educational organization, played a key role in a recent ruling thatwill protect the lives of countless preborn children in Colombia. "It is fair to say that ALL and other international pro-life organizations successfully prevented the 'Roe v. Wade' of Colombia from taking effect," said Gualberto Garcia-Jones, director of legislative affairs for American Life League. "Despite the best efforts of numerous American pro-abortion groups, the killing of children through abortion is illegal in Colombia."

Exploiting his time in the spotlight, Michael Schiavo has formed a political action committee to oppose candidates who supported his wife’s right to life. Hypocritically, the organization calls itself “terripac”, after the women Schiavo successfully euthanized following a 15-year battle with her parents. The group’s pro-death platform is likely to be the kiss of death for candidates unfortunate enough to win its endorsement.

See WriteWingNut's prior article and LifeNews for the facts.

From The Telegraph. Hat tip: Marine Momma

Machines will perform euthanasia on terminally ill patients in Israel under legislation devised not to offend Jewish law, which forbids people taking human life.

A special timer will be fitted to a patient's respirator which will sound an alarm 12 hours before turning it off.

Normally, carers would override the alarm and keep the respirator turned on but, if various stringent conditions are met, including the giving of consent by the patient or legal guardian, the alarm would not be overridden.

More at Marlowe's Shade

By Jim Sedlak, American Life League

It's the Christmas season, and those who would corrupt the Christian message are in high gear. At the same time, though, Christians are being more vigilant this year than ever about defending their rights to publicly celebrate Christ's birth. Daily, it seems, we receive word that one store or another has banned its employees from wishing customers a Merry Christmas – opting instead for the politically correct Happy Holidays. Some of the stores, however, are sensitive to the outrage of their Christian customers and have changed their policies after protests erupted.

As a viewer of NBC's Tonight Show, it has been of particular delight to watch host Jay Leno defy all this anti-Christian activity and insist on referring to the Christmas Season. I wish that all entertainers and organizations would remember to keep Christ in this joyous season.

As gratifying as Mr. Leno's stand has been, we have been saddened by the recent pronouncements of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Over the last few weeks, Planned Parenthood has posted two items on its web site that are a direct affront to every Christian in this nation.

Nope, not yet, but it will be.

Why the cheap trick to get you to check this article? Because that is the headline I am looking forward to seeing in the near future, and through our efforts it will happen.

Washington, D.C. — As the nation prepares for the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, American Life League is launching an official web site encouraging citizens to sign a petition urging senators to approve his appointment. "Judge Alito's confirmation to the nation's highest court is of vital interest to those who are aware that the United States Constitution has never contained a so-called right to abortion," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "Judge Alito's record suggests that he will interpret the Constitution as it was written. Given the opportunity to serve on the Supreme Court, Judge Alito would be well positioned to help save the lives of countless preborn children."

The official site, www.ApproveAlito.com, features a petition urging the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to act promptly and respectfully in Judge Alito's confirmation process. The site also provides background information about Judge Alito, information about the Supreme Court nomination process and the importance of the current vacancy, and additional resources for activists.

CNSNews.com Correspondent Dawn Rizzoni has the story:

One of the nation's most famous abortionists has been cleared of wrongdoing in the death of a 19-year-old woman who underwent an abortion at his clinic. But the nine-month investigation by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which determined that abortionist George Tiller was not responsible for Christin Gilbert's death, contradicted the results of Gilbert's autopsy.

The autopsy attributed Gilbert's death to sepsis and "complications from a therapeutic abortion."

Gilbert, then 19, underwent a third-trimester abortion at Tiller's clinic on Jan. 13, 2005, and later died from complications.

Too many stories and not enough time to give each the post it deserves.

There's an new case in Massachusetts in which the State wants to take an 11 year old girl who was put into a coma by abusive an abusive couple that adopted her off of her ventilator and feeding tube. A very sad and complicated case.

I was aware of high rates of gender selection abortion and female infanticide in China, but India has a similar problem. Combined with China, this will have devastating social effects in Asia in coming generations as described here.

LifeSite has a great quote in a profile of an UN opponent of the successful abstinence program in Uganda. A Ugandan official pleads with Kofi Annan to remove Stephen Lewis, Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and Canadian condom-monger:

Continued at Marlowe's Shade

I don't know how Terri's family stands it. If I, someone totally unrelated to Terri, can get this angry every time Michael pulls something like this, I can't imagine what it must do to her family. Hasn't he done enough to hurt them? He won. He murdered his wife. But that wasn't enough. Nothing is ever enough for this evil man.

Now comes this news from CNSNews.com:

Salon.com reports that Michael Schiavo plans to launch a new political action committee, called Terri PAC, with the intent of defeating the (conservative Republican) politicians who tried to intervene in the life-or-death legal battle over his severely brain-damaged wife. Terri Schiavo died of court-ordered dehydration at Michael's request last March 31. "For 15 years, I have been watching the politicians working their ways into my case. I felt I needed to do something when this was all said and done," Schiavo told Salon on Tuesday.

Can you imagine being abused by your husband so badly that you end up with severe brain damage? Then, said husband wins all political battles to ensure your silence by ending your life. Then, he goes and starts a political action committee IN YOUR NAME to get the people out of office who tried to save your life.

May God bless Terri's family with the peace, strength, and grace they need to deal with yet another attack from Michael.

From http://www.coolstamps.com

We often compare the 9/11 attacks to Pearl Harbor. Let's not forget what we are comparing them to.

> They were both sneak attacks on the United States killing thousands.
> They were both wake-up calls to the violent aggression which exists in the world.

Here's some history about that date "a date which will live in infamy":

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm

That's Right, the ACLU has selected Judge George Greer to receive the Gardner W. Beckett Jr. Civil Liberties Award. Civil liberties alright, what ever happened the inalienable right to Life? George Greer upon the insistence of political crony George Felos conspired to murder Teri Schiavo last spring.

World Net Daily reported on Professor Joel Brind’s latest paper in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons in an article by Ron Strom posted December 1, 2005. Brind, as you may recall, is president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute and a professor at Baruch College of the City University of New York.

Ten studies touted by those who claim there is no link between abortion and breast cancer have been debunked in a new analysis being released today.

Brind’s paper is an update of a similar analysis he completed in 1996.

In his essay, Brind addresses 10 separate studies conducted between 1996 and 2005 – studies used by those who deny a link between induced abortion and cancer – pointing out problems with the each study’s methodology. He asserts those problems skew the results toward the denial of a causal connection between abortion and breast cancer, also known as the ABC link, making them thoroughly unreliable.

Continue reading at Choose Life.

"You Don't Know Jack" is the tentative name of an upcoming movie that will feature the life story of Jack "Dr. Death" Kevorkian based on an unpublished book written by Kevorkian's friends. Jack Kevorkian is a convicted murderer who assisted in the suicides of more than 100 people , many of whom were not terminally ill.

In a press release, the upcoming movie's producer, Steve Jones says, "Dr Kevorkian is a man who walks in the footsteps of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and we're going to tell his story, his struggle, and let the audience decide how they feel about any of the issues that he has taken on." Hand me a barf bag.

I'm guessing Steve Jones knows less about Dr. Death than the International Task Force on Euthanasia.

During our Monthly Calls for life while participating in the (MarchTogether.com) project we run into different Pro-Life people with different visions. On the 2nd we had the opportunity to speak with a couple of representatives from the Justice House of Prayer.

For those of you who have already had abortions or are thinking of having one, and for you men out there who have or are pushing your women into having one, I am not the one condemning you. I'm not the one judging you.

As Christmas approaches I am very mindful of the ongoing situation in Darfur. One of the ways we can assist is to use some of our online time to once again put the Spotlight on Darfur. I am inviting posts for Spotlight on Darfur 3: Christmas Edition. Any posts you have on Darfur that were posted since the last Spotlight (October 17) can be sent in. Posts don't have to be long. You may want to post on what is happening and/or include info on a suitable aid agency for donations. This will be one way of giving something for Christmas to the refugees of the Darfur genocide crisis. Here are the details:

Spotlight on Darfur 3: Christmas Edition will be hosted on 16 December. Please send the following info for your post by midnight 15 December:
1. The name of your blog
2. The URL of your blog
3. The title of your post
4. The URL of your post
5. A description of your post

Send your post details to:
catez2003 ATT yahoo DOTT com

I'd appreciate if you'd follow those guidelines. It makes it easier for me to have all that in your email. The Christmas Edition will be hosted at Allthings 2all.

Our last two Spotlights on Darfur went really well and it was a privilege to be part of them. If you didn't see them, or if you are wondering what the Spotlights are like here they are:
Spotlight on Darfur 2
Spotlight on Darfur 1

Because I've seen so many surveys skewed by subliminally suggestive phrasing, I tend to be dismissive, particularly when I don't like the results. This is certainly the case with many of the recent surveys on euthanasia, and there is of course the possibility that sour grapes could be causing me to ignore a growing acceptance of euthanasia rather than confronting it. However Wesley J Smith for one has shown how more factually and objectively worded polls can tell a different story.

The mainstream media also tends to ignore polls that show euthanasia as being less popular than supposed, while shouting those that support that view from the rooftops. This latest poll from The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center seems to fall into the latter category. That isn't a slam on the hospital, it seems to have a stellar reputation and what I could see of it's bio-ethical orientation seems to lean toward pro-life. But it immediately spread like a brush fire throughout the MSM.

There is little evidence to support the argument that legalizing physician-assisted death would reduce patients' trust in their doctors, according to a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.

More at Marlowe's Shade

From The Times via Wesley J Smith

China broke its silence yesterday to admit for the first time that the organs of executed prisoners were sold to foreigners for transplant.

For many years it has denied that such a trade existed. But Huang Jiefu, the Deputy Health Minister, acknowledged that the practice is widespread and promised to tighten the rules.

Gregg from Pundit Review sent me this link to the site of Life Decisions International. The organization has this laudable mission:

LDI's chief purpose is public education on the agenda of Planned Parenthood. This is done with the prayer that God will touch the hearts of those who learn the facts in such a way that they are motivated to help lead the world to positive social change, including a respect for all human life.

LDI conveniently lists the swarms of actors, musicians and corporations that support Planned Parenthood. The lists of entertainers had few surprises, but I was shocked at a partial list of companies that get my hard-earned money, who then in turn support Planned Parenthood.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

How would you like to have been one of the Nazi guards forced to kill Jews, gypsies, blacks and other undesirables of the time by herding them into gas chambers? You probably would have said no if you had a choice, but as we know, people couldn't make humanitarian choices back then without being killed, tortured or imprisoned.

That was then, this is now. Undesirable people today are led to their slaughter inside the wombs of women who are taught that abortion is nothing more than getting rid of undesirable tissue and cells, and many people sit back and watch it happen WITHOUT the threat of being killed, tortured or imprisoned.

Thanks to all of you who helped with the Monthly Call for Life at MarchTogether.com on Friday, December 2nd.  So many of you help in different ways to help the unborn, not just through the MarchTogether.com project, but also in your own ways.

Murder is his life's work:

A leading euthanasia advocate plans to move operations from his native Australia within weeks to dodge new laws that will criminalize giving advice on suicide by telephone, fax or online.

But Dr. Philip Nitschke, arguably the world's most controversial promoter of the "right" to commit suicide and ways to do so, may face hurdles in his bid to carry out his activities from New Zealand.

more from CNS News

For those of you participating in the Monthly Call for Life at MarchTogether.com, here is some how-to information:

Tell everyone you know that today is the day of the Monthly Call for Life. Please help the unborn by calling and/or emailing your representatives. We will also be at the Supreme Court in Washington DC from noon till 2:00. We will have signs or you can bring your own.

Go to MarchTogether.com for everything you need in order to Call for Life. We help you with phone numbers, email addresses and even what you might want to say. If you want to print out your own signs or Life Cards they are there for you to download for free.

The media in that country has treated Dr. Woo-Suk Hwang like a rock star, but in addition to earlier reports of ethical violations, a South Korean TV station has hinted that his research itself may be tainted.

Researchers with South Korea's cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk rejected reports suggesting that some of his landmark research may have been faked. A South Korean TV station confirmed it was working on a report that would challenge whether Hwang's work was genuine.

Tell everyone you know that today is the day of the Monthly Call for Life. Please help the unborn by calling and/or emailing your representatives. We will also be at the Supreme Court in Washington DC from noon till 2:00. We will have signs or you can bring your own.

Go to MarchTogether.com for everything you need in order to Call for Life. We help you with phone numbers, email addresses and even what you might want to say. If you want to print out your own signs or Life Cards they are there for you to download for free.

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU

WND

The Supreme Court of Hawaii has ruled that unborn children are not "human beings," and therefore women cannot be prosecuted for causing the death of babies by harmful behavior during their pregancies.

The unanimous decision overturns the manslaughter conviction of 32-year-old Tayshea Aiwohi, who was found guilty in connection with the death of her newborn son by smoking crystal methamphetamine shortly before his birth.

"I'm extremely happy and grateful," said Aiwohi. "I believe [the case] changed me into a better person and I just hope to share that with others."

So, responsibility goes out the window on this one. This irresponsible mindset is much too far reaching in today's American society. Taking responsibility for one's concious actions is fading fast. People need to realize that along with rights, comes responsibility, and with that responsibility our very rights and liberties hinge. Who takes responsibility for the death of this child? According to this court, no one.

Tayshea gave birth to her son, Treyson, July 15, 2001, but the boy perished within two days with high levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system, according to the local coroner.

The woman allegedly admitted to using the drugs for three days before the birth and took a "hit" on the morning her son was delivered.

In their ruling, the justices cited statutes noting a crime needed to be committed against "a human being." They declared since Treyson was not a "person" when Tayshea was smoking the drugs, she could not be prosecuted for harming the infant in her womb.

"The proscribed conduct must have been committed at a time when Treyson 'qualified' as a 'person,' defined by the Hawaii Penal Code as 'a human being who has been born and is alive,'" they wrote.

"It is so insane," Nancy Heisser of Grants Pass, Ore., told WorldNetDaily. "A little baby died, and the mother walks away scot-free. This is a travesty against this little one."

What kind of future impact will a ruling like this have? Under the new, federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, people other than the mother who cause the death of an unborn child can face prosecution. If this had been a boyfriend who had kicked the woman in the stomach, or pressured the drugs on her, there might have been a conviction. But according to this court, we are not even talking about a human being, so what does it matter. This is one horrible decision after another. From the decision to drugs while pregnant, to the decision of the Court to hold no one responsible for this irresponsible death. I wonder if after the case was over, this woman went out for another hit.

From the Capitol Resource Institute, Capitol Update, December 1, 2005:

At the end of this year’s special election, the final tally of the votes revealed that Prop 73 [Parental Notification Initiative] was defeated by a very slim margin. While those of us who worked hard for “Yes on Prop 73” were saddened at its defeat, we were also determined to keep up the good fight and not give up.

To this end, we are encouraged and excited to announce that Prop 73 has been resurrected! New language, similar to Prop 73, was submitted yesterday to the Attorney General to appear on the November 7 ballot next year.

Continue reading about the new Prop 73 at Choose Life.

From The Uk's Times Online comes this disturbing article:

A GOVERNMENT agency is launching an inquiry into doctors' reports that up to 50 babies a year are born alive after botched National Health Service abortions.

The investigation, by the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH), comes amid growing unease among clinicians over a legal ambiguity that could see them being charged with infanticide.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which regulates methods of abortion, has also mounted its own investigation.

Its guidelines say that babies aborted after more than 21 weeks and six days of gestation should have their hearts stopped by an injection of potassium chloride before being delivered. In practice, few doctors are willing or able to perform the delicate procedure.

For the abortion of younger foetuses, labour is induced by drugs in the expectation that the infant will not survive the birth process. Guidelines say that doctors should ensure that the drugs they use prevent such babies being alive at birth.

In practice, according to Stuart Campbell, former professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at St George's hospital, London, a number do survive.

"They can be born breathing and crying at 19 weeks' gestation," he said. "I am not anti-abortion, but as far as I am concerned this is sub-standard medicine."

Read the full article here.

How can anyone argue that this is not human life. That it's just a worthless blob of tissue. For Pete's sake, they have to make sure they give enough freakin medicine to kill the child or else they come out ALIVE. Living. As in breathing with a heartbeat.

I believe there will come a day when we look back on this issue with the disgust that it deserves. When abortion will be but an awful memory that we shake our heads at, much like the Holocaust and slavery. This will be an ugly mark on our nation's history when we finally wake up and realize the savagery of it and finally stand up and protect life.

Here's the memo from Samuel Alito to the Solicitor General that will have Kim Gandy, Karen Pearl and Nancy Keenan howling for the rest of the week.

NARAL's Keenan had this to say: "Samuel Alito's writings reflect a visceral opposition to Roe v. Wade. It is clear that his legal philosophy calls for a calculated strategy to dismantle fundamental constitutional protections for women, including the health exception issue that the Supreme Court is considering right now." Keenan also states that, "Alito's memo is a litany of legal strategies designed to undermine women's reproductive health. He even confuses birth control with abortion and advocates additional restrictions on women's access to contraception."

This is cross-posted from Adam's Blog. I thought it had great passion.

The LA Times has an article that makes my blood boil. It's about an abortionist, William F. Harrison (the man is not worthy to be called a doctor) who has done more 20,000 abortions and had 6,000 live births. He stopped doing obstetrics in 1991; apparently parents preferred having doctors whose hands weren't covered in blood delivering their children. That's quite common. Abortionists often find themselves limited to abortion.

Anyway, lets get into the meat of the article:

He calls himself an "abortionist" and says, "I am destroying life." But he also feels he's giving life: He calls his patients "born again."

"When you end what the woman considers a disastrous pregnancy, she has literally been given her life back," he says.

Reader Katrina sent me a link to this story over the Thanksgiving weekend....

New York Daily News | Pregnant - and fired!:

An unmarried rookie teacher at a Queens parochial school confessed to her principal she was pregnant - and was promptly fired for violating "Catholic morality."

Now 26-year-old Michelle McCusker is suing, saying she was unfairly bounced just a month into her first full-time job as a pre-K teacher at St. Rose of Lima.

"I don't understand how a religion that prides itself on forgiving and on valuing life could terminate me because I'm pregnant and choosing to have this baby," said McCusker in between sobs with her parents by her side.

However...

Let's face reality for a moment. McCusker could have sneaked off to the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic, had a clandestine abortion, and she'd still have a job right now. Furthermore, by firing her, the Church is (unintentionally) sending a clear signal that covert child-killing is preferable to humble honesty. Your Humble Blogger suspects that other teachers in McCusker's place will take this "lesson" to heart.

Perhaps Planned Parenthood will start to offer a special discount for teachers at Catholic schools? Sorry, that was over the top....