December 2006 Archives

A child, about to be ripped from his mothers womb was spared a horrible death!

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

D. James Kennedy, author, theologian, broadcaster, biblical scholar, pastor of the 10,000-member "Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church" in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and founder of the highly influential Coral Ridge Ministries, suffered a major heart attack last night and is in grave condition, ministry officials tell WorldNetDaily.

Since 1973, Dr. Kennedy has been a leading pro-life voice, speaking out on behalf of the unborn and in opposition to the atrocity of abortion. The theology that led him to develop Evangelism Explosion (can you answer these questions?) also enabled Kennedy to speak confidently about the intrinsic value of each human being. Recently he wrote,

Christ honored women and did more to exalt women than anyone in history. We must also seek to protect them from sexual exploitation, including abortion. Christ valued children and tenderly blessed them. We, too, must love them into the world, because all life is created in the image of God.

I want to thank everyone who is praying for Dr. D. James Kennedy. His condition is improved, though very serious. I spent a good deal of time with him today, praying and reading Scripture. He recognized me and was clearly responsive, although his condition remains very serious. Please pray for continued improvement and a full restoration to health. I was able to assure him of the prayers of many Christians and he was able smile in response.

Serge over at the Life Training Institute points out that another study shows that emergency contraception (EC) has not decreased pregnancy rates.

Pro-abortion advocates claimed that EC would prevent abortions, but it hasn't. They campaigned for EC on the basis of a false dilemma - that it was either emergency contraception or abortion. They accused the pro-life movement as contributing to abortions by opposing EC.

Obviously if EC hasn't reduced pregnancy rates, it hasn't reduced the abortion rates either.
The wishful thinking on the part of the EC advocates hasn't translated into results.

The report concludes that "This intensive strategy to enhance access to emergency contraceptive pills substantially increased use of the method and had no adverse impact on risk of sexually transmitted infections. However, it did not show benefit in decreasing pregnancy rates."

Intensive strategies, such as The The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) "ask me" campaign, have been a total flop. And these are the experts who the public is supposed to trust on these issues?

It's not too surprising though, since science takes a back seat when it comes to contraception and abortion for organizations like the ACOG. After all, they led the effort to redefine conception and pregnancy for nothing other than social reasons.

(On that note, here is a brochure from The No Room for Contraception Campaign: Pregnancy, Contraception, and Abortion: Frequently Asked Questions - Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view...)

In the debate over Plan B, the media bought into the arguments of the EC advocates without question. Maybe now they will start to question the credibilty of these "experts"???

Wesley Smith brings us the news:

Bobby Schindler reports some good news about his father: Bob has fully stabilized and he is being transferred today from the hospital to a rehabilitation center. Bob experienced no cognitive deficiencies from his strokes, but does need to work on regaining full physicality. The doctors are optimistic that he will do well.

Bobby wants everyone to know how much it has meant that so many people have sent cards and e-mails wishing Bob the best. They have made a real difference and lifted Bob's spirits tremendously. "Our family really appreciates the support and prayers we have received," Bobby told me. "It has all been very touching."

Bob still has a tough row to hoe, so keep those cards and letters coming. You can write a note of support to:

Robert Schindler, c/o
The Terri Schiavo Foundation
5562 Central Ave. # 2
St. Petersburg. FL
33707

Another study indicates that greater access to emergency contraception (Plan B) does not lead to a decrease in pregnancy rates.

CONCLUSION: This intensive strategy to enhance access to emergency contraceptive pills substantially increased use of the method and had no adverse impact on risk of sexually transmitted infections. However, it did not show benefit in decreasing pregnancy rates.

Phillip Ellis Jackson, writing for the Intellectual Conservative, sends a link to his lengthy controversial article on moral relativism. Here's an excerpt:

The moral relativism of the Left can take us to some pretty strange places where Right and Wrong lose all meaning. Except, that is, when it comes to condemning George W. Bush and other Evil Republicans while giving a pass to terrorism and abortion.

3.7 From slavery to abortion and terrorism

Both terrorism and elective abortion rationalize their behavior in much the same way that southern plantation owners did during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

They exist by denying basic human rights, but take this denial to the next level. The logic of terrorism and abortion requires that the perpetrator completely deny the humanity of the thing being killed. In neither case is a human life being taken, because in both cases terrorists and abortionists have rationalized away its human qualities, and therefore its basic rights. This is why Islamo-fascists teach that Jews are no better than animals, and believe that Infidels are not “innocent” human beings. And it explains why a woman aborting her child must look at her baby as an “undifferentiated tissue mass” or a “Right to Choose,” instead of as a developing human being. In both cases arbitrary criteria is used to deny a person’s humanity, and because of this the seeds of their own destruction have been sewn as well. Terrorism cannot survive without fear; and eventually fear is conquered. Abortion cannot survive without ignorance; and eventually ignorance is replaced with knowledge.

What allows both terrorism and abortion to exist today is a deliberate effort to ignore, pervert, or rationalize-away our common moral code in the name of expediency and self-interest. We look at world consensus to justify our actions, ignoring the fact this consensus is made up of personal self-interests and is not based on a common moral value. We seek a legal justification for action or inaction through the United Nations, without first asking whether a core moral issue is at stake. There is nothing inherently wrong with either consensus or global cooperation. But unlike our system of laws and government – which was built on the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence — world opinion and world government has no such similar base.

There is one thing I find interesting at Pro-Life events, almost every single time, during or after an event, pro-abortion people come up to me and tell me that I am not allowed to show video or pictures of them without their permission. (Photo - students who didn't want to be shown at the University of Chicago talk by Joe & Ann Scheidler) They often cite legal documents to help them escape the camera, or the documents don't exist or don't apply. Why do they do that? Why aren't these people proud of their position?

Continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

Judge Paul W. Clark will hear a motion at 2 PM tomorrow where Attorney General Phill Kline will ask for 30 criminal charges to be reinstated against late-term abortionist George R. Tiller.

Judge Clark, who is currently assigned to hear traffic cases, had dismissed the charges Friday afternoon after pro-abortion Democratic District Attorney Nola Foulston successfully persuaded Clark, also a Democrat, that Kline had violated filing procedures.

What should we expect from Congress in 2007?

1. Calls for decreasing or eliminating funding for abstinence only programs, despite the fact they have reduced teenage pregnancy (especially among 15-17 year olds).

2. Intentional misinformation about the role of contraception in reducing abortion. (The Guttmacher institute couldn't wait until 2007 to do this - they have already published two political commentaries studies which critique abstinence only programs and calls for increased contraception funding instead.)

3. Intentional misrepresentation of pregnancy resource centers in hearings and on the floor of the House and Senate. Unfortunately, members of Congress are immune to libel and slander lawsuits stemming from their comments on the floor.

Click to continue reading...

THE HILLCREST REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY Dec. 9, and Dec. 4, 2006 (please note special abortion related story at end of report)

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

Hat tip - Gail & Kansans for Life

In the following, please find a statement issued by my office this afternoon regarding the case filed against Dr. Tiller. Following the statement is a summary of the Kansas late-term abortion law and a summary of the Complaint filed.

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

As fast as they were reported the charges against late-term abortionist George Tiller have been dropped:

Kansas' attorney general, a vocal abortion opponent, charged a well-known abortion provider with illegally performing late-term abortions, but a Sedgwick County judge on Friday threw out the charges after less than a day.

Judge Paul W. Clark dismissed the charges against Tiller at the request of Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, who said her office had not been consulted by Kline.

[snip]

Tiller and Planned Parenthood have repeatedly said they've committed no wrongdoing and that the patient records Kline obtained contained no evidence of crimes by either the clinics or their doctors.

District Attorney Nola Foulston has successfully moved to drop the 30 charges against late-term abortionist George R. Tiller filed yesterday in Sedgwick County District Court by Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. The motion was made because, under Kansas Law, charges can only be filed by an Attorney General at the invitation of the District Attorney or request of the governor or legislature. All charges have been dropped.

Foulston has come under criticism by pro-life supporters for refusing to prosecute accusations against Tiller because of her personal friendship with him. It is alleged that she adopted her only son through Tiller, who has stated publicly that he has arranged adoptions in return for political favors.

“This is a classic example of why justice cannot be done in this state because so many officials have ties to George Tiller,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “Money buys a lot of favors here. This miscarriage of justice must not be allowed to stand. ”

Kansans for Life today responded to the news that criminal charges were filed against Wichita late-term abortionist George Tiller:

It is no surprise to those of us in the pro-life movement that criminal charges were filed against George Tiller. In fact, we think it is 35 years overdue. More unborn children have died at George Tiller's abortion clinic in Wichita, than all of the Americans who were killed in the Vietnam War and the Iraqi War combined.(1)

George Tiller has aborted babies that could live outside the womb for decades. He continued to do so even after the Kansas law changed in 1998, making it illegal to perform a late-term abortion unless it would prevent "permanent and irreversible injury to a major bodily function" --an extremely rare circumstance. If we are to believe the state statistics, however, such situations occurred 414 times in 2005. (2)

Many women are injured by abortion and there is at least one abortion death in 2005. Christin Gilbert died after a late-term abortion at George Tiller's clinic. (3) Hundreds of other women are suffering from their abortion experience. (4)

Operation Rescue was present when charges were announced against late-term abortionist George Tiller:

Attorneys for late-term abortionist George R. Tiller announced at a press conference today that charges have been filed by Attorney General Phill Kline against their client for illegal late-term abortions and what they described as a “technical” violation of Kansas reporting laws.

Tiller is scheduled to appear in Sedgwick County District Court on Wednesday, December 27 to answer multiple misdemeanor counts filed against him in a contentious case where Tiller unsuccessfully fought to prevent law enforcement from gaining access to medical records that likely contained incriminating evidence against him.
When asked by an Operation Rescue reporter who was present at the news conference how many charges were in the complaint, Tiller attorney Lee Thompson seemed very uncomfortable and would only say that it was a "number of misdemeanors involving a number of patients." Sources have told Operation Rescue that it could be as many as thirty counts. Thompson said that Tiller has not yet been booked.

Notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller has been charged:

Kansas' attorney general, a vocal abortion opponent, has filed criminal charges against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, the doctor's attorney said Friday.

Attorney Dan Monnat did not identify the charges, and officials in Attorney General Phill Kline's office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Update: Tiller's said the charges involved the mental health exception provided in Kansas law for late-term abortions. I don't if it is directly related, but it was Bill O’Reilly who publicized Tiller's use of depression as an excuse to perform late term abortion under the state’s mental health exception. [Kansas City Star]

Last week, The O'Reilly Factor" aired a sobering if not heart wrenching segment concerning that late term abortion given to a juvenile by Tiller. Identified only as "Kelly", the woman related how, at age 14, she was taken by her parents from Maryland to Kansas and given an abortion in the 20th week of pregnancy. The trip was necessary because the abortion was illegal in her home state.

Related: Operation Rescue is calling pro-life supporters from around the nation to converge on Wichita, KS, the Abortion Capital of the World, for a four-day event on January 19-22, 2007, focusing on late-term abortionist George R. Tiller during the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion in America. - click here for more information.

Yesterday we posted information about the Tangled Web, a massive collection of articles relating to the legal, judicial, moral and ethical issues of the Terri Schindler Schiavo case. Did I mention it is available immediately as an ebook? Click here to download your copy.

Advances in adult and cord stem cell based therapy continue to make the news:

Johns Hopkins scientists have successfully grown large numbers of stem cells taken from adult pigs' healthy heart tissue and used the cells to repair some of the tissue damage done to those organs by lab-induced heart attacks. Pigs' hearts closely resemble those of humans, making them a useful model in such research

New nerve cells generated in the brain of adult rats that had suffered an epileptic seizure show a reduced excitability. The discovery could help to alleviate the disorder, according to new research from a team at Lund University in Sweden.

Nerve cells generated from stem cells in an adult diseased and damaged brain function as normal nerve cells. The new cells also seem to counteract the effects of the disease. These findings, by EuroStemCell researchers at Lund University in Sweden, are published in the journal Neuron this week.

A team from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has applied for a patent on their work to isolate, grow and identify a new and readily-available type of adult stem cell that is found in the bulge of hair follicles, and appears to have a potential for diversification similar to that of embryonic stem cells.

This story about a Mumbai toddler treated by stem cell therapy provides some good news about a baby girl treated for a heart condition with her father's blood stem cells.

British scientists have grown the world's first artificial liver from stem cells in a breakthrough that will one day provide entire organs for transplant. …. the tissue was created from blood taken from babies' umbilical cords just a few minutes after birth.

UCSF scientists have determined that adult stem cells in a specific region of the mouse brain have a built-in mechanism that allows the cells to participate in the repair and remodeling of damaged tissue in the region.

As the cells are also present in the human brain, the same capacity or potential may exist in humans, the researchers say. If they do, it is possible that the cells’ behavior could be enhanced to treat tissues damaged throughout the brain by disorders such as stroke and traumatic injury.

There is great hope that a robust regenerative medicine sector can be developed for the alleviation of human suffering without having to resort to unethical means such as human cloning.

But even if embryonic stem cells did provide a cure for my diabetes, the price of an innocent life is too much for me to pay.

By Dave Andrusko

Some stories you read online are essentially written in snippets. Since thoughts are not developed and/or are compacted, when it comes to our issue, the story comes across as both very helpful and very unhelpful.

Timesonline.com offered such an intriguing piece on Monday.

Certainly, we like the headline: "Cloning benefits oversold, says stem-cell scientist." We like it even more since the scientist mentioned is none other than one of the leading lights in the field of stem cell research, Professor Austin Smith.

Just this week Smith became director of the just- opened Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research in Cambridge. It's very helpful that Professor Smith not only highlights that "Cloning research 'clearly upsets the general public,''" but also that "it has limited potential for treating disease and adds little to scientific understanding of human biology."

Wesely Smith writes:

Robert Schindler, Terri Schiavo's father, has had a stroke and is in a hospital intensive care unit. He is conscious. At present, the doctors are trying to stabilize his condition. Once that is done, he will be transferred to a rehabilitation center. His family, always a class act, is at his side and are hopeful for Bob's full recovery.

It's been a very tough couple of years for the Schindler family. Regardless of where one stands on the Terri Schiavo case, the Schindlers--Bob, Mary, Bobby, and Suzanne Vitadamo--deserve our best wishes and, for those of a mind, prayers, toward Bob's complete recovery and the family's well being in this difficult time.

Cards can be sent to:

Robert Schindler, c/o
The Terri Schiavo Foundation
5562 Central Ave. # 2
St. Petersburg. FL
33707

Posted by Genevieve Parker on ContraceptionBlog.com

In light of all the flack associated with Bush's apointment of Dr. Eric Keroack as director of the HHS's Family Planning arm, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse writes on what she refers to as "A Rubber Ideology" of condomism. Basically, she ties the utter disdain of contraceptive advocates for abstinence education to an underlying sexual ideology based on 4 tenets:

1. Every person capable of giving meaningful consent is entitled to unlimited sexual activity.
2. All negative consequences of sexual activity can be controlled through the use of contraception. Sexual Transmitted Diseases can be controlled through the use of condoms. The probability of pregnancy can be eliminated through contraception, properly used.
3. No one is required to give birth to a baby, in the event of pregnancy. Abortion, for any reason or no reason, at any time during pregnancy, is an absolute entitlement.
4. Any negative consequences of sexual activity that can not be handled by contraception or abortion are not worth talking about.

Click to continue reading...

Genevieve has been posting up a storm over at the No Room for Contraception blog, so much I can't keep up. So I've decided to list some links and excerpts...

No menstruating - period! I'm a little late on this one (weird pun, considering the subject matter..) but I thought I'd take note of a form of contraception that's promising to nearly eliminate the monthly menstrual period for women.... (Click the article title to continue reading)

Newly Released ~ The Thrill of the Chaste Dawn Eden, an NYC blogger and an editor for New York Daily News, has published a book whose title is rather intriguing - haven't read it yet, though. She's a recent convert to chaste living...(Click the article title to continue reading)

Birth control & text messaging Another tidbit from the contraception-=-reducing-teen-pregnancy front: "A text messaging service has been launched to remind young women to take their daily contraceptive pill....One in five young women forgets to take her contraceptive pill at least twice a month and Luton Teenage Pregnancy Strategy has launched the text messaging service to remind them.... The new initiative is aimed at teenagers aged between 14 and 19 and it is hoped it will reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies." (Click the article title to continue reading)

By Judie Brown

The incipient speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is showing what I consider extreme arrogance, even for a pro-abortion figure in public life who claims to be a faithful Catholic. Her handlers are making it abundantly clear that anything goes in their effort to showcase Pelosi and her life story, including the use of a Catholic Mass to cement her public image as a Catholic mother and grandmother.

That, my friend, is a disgrace that I cannot ignore.

From Yahoo

An Italian doctor said on Thursday he had switched off the life support system of a terminally ill man who died after losing a legal battle to have his respirator disconnected, but the doctor denied it was illegal euthanasia. Piergiorgio Welby, who would have turned 61 next week, had advanced muscular dystrophy, leaving him bedridden but lucid. His pleas to be allowed to die sparked an impassioned debate over the right to die which split predominantly Catholic Italy.

"Welby's case is not one of euthanasia. It is about refusing treatment," anesthetist Mario Riccio told a news conference.

Riccio said he gave Welby an intravenous cocktail of sedatives, then removed his respirator. The 47-year-old doctor said he believed he had not broken the law but that he was willing to answer magistrate's questions about Welby's death.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

What a tangled web they weave when first they practice to deceive.

It’s a case built on lies and self-serving hearsay.

It’s a case built on egregious violations of law and our Constitution.

It’s a case overflowing with criminal wrongdoing.

It’s a case built by the perpetuation of one wrong legal decision based on inadmissible evidence.

It’s a case of raping the public trust.

It’s judicial tyranny at its worst.

That is the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case.

Supported by euthanasia advocates, Michael Schiavo, the conflicted husband in name only, said the handicapped woman wouldn’t want to live by a feeding tube although there was no credible evidence of that. Her parents disagreed and desperately struggled to save her life, to obtain new testing for her, to obtain therapy which her husband had denied, to take her home and care for her.

Attention pro-lifers: There is now a live, three-hour, daily, national radio talk show that discusses the pro-life issue along with other topics of importance to us.

The show is Across the Nation with Bob Dunning. Bob had me on last week to discuss embryonic stem cell experimentation. Bob has had me on his show, The Bishops Hour, several times through the years.

Bob's new show is on Sirius Channel 159, 1-4 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. Tune in - and spread the word!

If you don't know, January is the biggest month for Pro-Life efforts. Why? Because of the Roe vs Wade decision which decriminalized, abortion, which is the intentional killing of children in the womb. There are many events around the country sponsored by many Pro-Life organizations. We will help direct you to those events as time goes on.

Click here for some of the highlights at ProLifeNews.tv:

Over at Life Training International, Scott and Serge are commenting about Rev. Rick Warren's endorsement of Democrat Senator Barack Obama. Warren, as an evangelical pastor and writer, is known for his highly successful book The Purpose Driven Life. More recently, he hosted an AIDS conference, inviting Obama and several other noted speakers. Here's Warren's statements about Obama from an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer:

BLITZER: What did you think of Barack Obama?

WARREN: He’s an amazing man. I think…

BLITZER: Do you think he’s got it? In other words, he’s got that potential like so many other presidential prospects, to be the president of the United States?

WARREN: I think he does.

BLITZER: Because?

WARREN: I think he has good character. I think both Sam Brownback and Barack Obama — the reason I invited them both, first, they’ll tell you the truth. They’re not just going to beat around the bush. They’ll tell you what they believe. And I appreciate that.

Second, they’re men of civility. And I’m so tired of the rudeness we’ve got in our society where people are just mean to each other. We need to return to civility, which says, I treat you with respect even if I violently disagree with you. That we’ve lost the “civil” in civilization.

And though I consider Senator Obama a friend and value our relationship, he's yet to recognize that all human beings have a right to life. That's why, I believe, he's mistakenly voted to allow partial-birth abortion and destructive embryo research. That's regrettable, because in the past we used to discriminate on the basis of skin color and gender, as Senator Obama knows firsthand. Now, however, with elective abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, we discriminate on the basis of size, level of development, location, and dependency. We've simply swapped one form of discrimination for another. I'm hopeful Senator Obama will come to see that.

More commentary: HotAir

After spending the first three years of her life in a hospital, Charlotte Wyatt is to be discharged into foster care. It is a bitter sweet day for her parents, Darren and Debbie, who fought the courts and the hospital for their daughter's life and now are told to say good-bye:

Tomorrow Charlotte is leaving the hospital that has been her home for the past three years and going into foster-care. Leaving the hospital is a milestone we have waited long and prayed earnestly for her to reach, but while we rejoice with her we feel at the same time as if our hearts were torn out as we’re told to say goodbye. We will continue fighting for her, and hope and pray she will soon be truly at home, among people who know and love her.

Darren was at the hospital this morning for an emotional goodbye. I wish I could post the pictures taken then, but the regulations are still in force and I don’t want to make new trouble, so I will do my best with description.

Our little girl is quite well after the last illness, and her face is bright and alert. Only the oxygen tubing for her nasal cannula mark her as an oxygen dependent baby as she sits on Darren’s lap in the hospital room, by the little cot she had so long slept in. She is peaceful but alert, moving her chubby arms about. Close by is a colored crate with her toys, and on the other side, the small bed… a simple metal frame such as is common in hospitals, but decorated and framed with many little mementos of love for the little one who was here so long, fighting so hard.

A volunteer driving me from the airport to a pregnancy resource center speaking engagement described a heart-wrenching incident.

She said during a recent luncheon with three friends, all four admitted to having abortions. One had never told anyone before that day....

I am increasingly aware of the eternal lives God is saving through abortion. I don't understand. Can it be that God is allowing the catastrophe of abortion to save the eternal lives of the parents who kill their babies?....

But there are many who do not accept God's forgiveness....

Frankly, those who lament that their sin of abortion is unforgivable need to get over themselves. In actuality, they have a pride issue. They think their sin is more special than anyone else's who has ever lived.

What's worse, people who don't seek and accept God's forgiveness about their abortions make matters worse. They don't get in the game because they feel like hypocrites....

Continue reading my column today, "Is God allowing abortion to save eternal lives?," on WND.com.

Jesse D. Cayton Jr discovered that "mercy killing" is still killing and there is no such thing as a well intentioned murder:

A jury took less than an hour Thursday in convicting a West Augusta man of premeditated first-degree murder for killing his wife of 29 years, rejecting his claims that it was a mercy killing.

As of January 1st, Congress is under new management and we can expect efforts to undermine pro-life provisions found in several spending bills as well as the introduction of new measures to promote and fund abortion. Unfortunately, it is likely that the legislative majority will also attempt to end abstinence-until-marriage programs and transfer funding to value-free sex-ed programs and the "morning-after" pill.

President George Bush’s leadership in defense of the unborn is desperately needed. Taxpayers should not be forced to fund the killing of human life and the destruction of the family.

This past summer President Bush courageously vetoed the embryonic stem cell research bill that would have forced U.S. taxpayers to fund research that requires the killing of human embryos. President Bush's action was consistent with current policies that prevent tax dollars from funding abortion. The President has also signed pro-life bills like the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. Moreover, President Bush supports abstinence-until-marriage programs, which are important in preventing teen pregnancy and the transmission of STDs.

I hope you will join me in signing the Family Research Council’s online petition to ask the President to veto any legislation that would undermine pro-life policies and encourage him that he's not alone - that pro-life Americans are behind him in the days ahead.

Click here – it will only take a few seconds.

Also, would you consider promoting the petition on your website or blog? This is a simple positive step we can take together indense of life.

In the quest to remove any and all obstacles and delays in the race for a woman (or girl) to get an abortion, people starting become aware that abusive men were coercing women against their will to get them. By bringing down the full force of constitutional law to make it not only constitutional to kill one's unborn child, but to be able to do so as fast as possible, it made it possible for women to be abused in the process.

The UK's Daily Mail has a follow-up report on the BBC story about the harvesting of stem cells from children in the Ukraine.

Officially, the cells are taken from aborted foetuses with the mothers' consent, but according to Tatyana, there could also be hundreds of babies stolen to order, to feed demand for stem cells from around the world.

Can she be right? Alarmed by her claims, I decided to launch my own investigations for a special BBC report, to be broadcast tomorrow.

My inquiries took me around the world, from a private clinic in the Caribbean to the desolate back streets of the Ukraine. What I uncovered is a disturbing tale involving claims of murder, conspiracy . . . and a sickening new beauty treatment.

From Daily Telegraph

AN Italian court has overnight rejected a request by a paralysed, terminally ill man who wants doctors to take him off life support in a case that has split the predominantly Catholic country, where euthanasia is illegal.Italian court rejects euthanasia appeal The pale, listless face of Piergiorgio Welby, 60, who suffers from advanced muscular dystrophy and is confined to bed but is lucid, has become one of the most recognised in Italy. Speaking via a computer that interprets his eye movements, Mr Welby has appeared on news programmes and written to Italy's president asking to be taken off the respirator that keeps him alive so he can "find peace for my tortured and shattered body". But in a 15-page verdict underscoring the legal complexity of the case, a Rome judge said that while Mr Welby had a right to have the respirator removed, that right was not "concretely safeguarded" by Italian law.

More at Marlowe's Shade

• Bush’s veto banned stem cell research in the United States.
• Embryonic stem cell research is banned in the United States.
• Human embryonic stem cell research is limited to approved lines.
• Stem cells only come from human embryos.

Word of mouth and blog entries are the best way to spread the news to your pro-life friends that the second annual conference of pro-life bloggers is set for Jan. 22nd in Washington D.C., just before the annual March for Life. 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>

The BBC is reporting that healthy new-born babie appear to have been killed in order to harvest stem cells for the flourish stem cell trade that has begun in the country. Dr. Hwang Woo-Sook was found last year to have fabricated his scientific claims on stem cell research. A scandal which in no small part involved his subordinates donating their ova or paying women for their ova.

Despite the fact that the science is clear that embryo-destroying stem cell research will require either massive efforts to get women (usually poor ones) to donate their ova or other behaviors that amount to human harvesting, stem cell supporters either ignore the problem or ridicule the claim. Today they can no longer do that.

Ukraine, it appears, killed healthy babies in the name of getting the "biological materials" they need to continue their work on stem cells. The pathological scientific obsession with embryos for this research is disquieting. Adult stem cells are treating people today and have none of the ethical problems that embryo-destroying stem cell research has. Yet they press on.

Far from an anomaly, Ukraine is the future of embryo-destroying stem cell research. There exists no way to even produce enough stems cells for research, much less medical treatment, without getting massive donations of ova or killing babies in the womb. Or for that matter, killing babies already born. Imagine abortion providers, who already have a problem covering up for child rapists, starting up a trade of stem cells from aborted fetuses.

I have every confidence that the scientific community can eventually figure out how to make cures with embryo-destroying stem cell research. However, that was never really what was the concern. I could stop drunk driving by cutting off the tongues of those who commit the crime, yet that would hardly be just. Embryo-destroying stem cell research, and the treatment that it might eventually produce, will require a massive pool of ova (from poor women of course), human harvesting, or both. We have seen the future in Ukraine, the question is, will we still embrace it?

Outside of the line "I'll never tell a woman what to do with her body", this song by Flypside has a strong message.

Nick Cannon came out with a similar video not long ago called Can I Live.

Click here to read more at NationalProLifeRadio.net

Posted by Ruben on ContraceptionBlog.com

It's no secret that men have been strong advocates of the contraceptive mentality, which holds that sex is for pleasure and not procreation. It's also no secret that when contraception fails, men pressure women to abort.

While abortion may "solve" the problem pregnancy in the short term, it doesn't resolve the problem of lost fatherhood in the long term. Regret and sorrow linger on for years and decades after a father's child is aborted.

"Happy Birthday", a rap song performed by Flipsyde, tells a tale of a father's regret about his aborted child. What's notable about this song is the following verse:

"if she don't love children then we can't party"

While Flipsyde misses the point that pre-marital sex is unhealthy, he is on to something here: Pregnancy is a very real possibility, and if a woman would abort an unexpected child, he wouldn't get sexually involved with her.

Flipsyde's recognition of the possibility of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, and abortion resulted in a mental and behavioral change on his part. This appears to be a weakening of the contraceptive mentality that has had a grip on our society for over four decades.

I wonder if Flipsyde is alone here, or is this a growing trend among men?

"Happy Birthday" can be viewed on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5A5sh8IMeQ

Friday, December 15, 2006

A growing split in the pro-life community
Posted: December 15, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Ed Hanks
© 2006

In the wake of last week's U.S. House vote on the Fetal Pain bill, several magazines, blogs and pro-life websites have begun to discuss a growing split in the pro-life community over bills like this that attempt to slow or regulate abortions, but not stop them.

Some such divisions can be detrimental to a cause. Others can finally crystallize the issue and energize the movement.

The debate over incremental anti-abortion laws, versus working toward the goal of stopping abortion altogether, is a necessary crisis of conscience for pro-lifers. Its resolution will determine the future of abortion in America.

(Column continues below)

Posted by Ruben at ContraceptionBlog.com

Today’s Wall Street Opinion Journal discusses the book “Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student “

In today's opinion piece, Danielle Crittenden describes how 'Unprotected' details the negative effects of the sexual choices made by young women, and how professionals are unwilling to acknowledge them.

“Unfortunately, the young women described in ‘Unprotected’ have fallen victim to one of the few personal troubles that our caring professions refuse to treat or even acknowledge: They have been made miserable by their ‘sexual choices.’ And on that subject, few modern doctors dare express a word of judgment”

This is so true – I wonder how many doctors ask their young patients if they should be having sex in the first place? How many women feel guilty and experience depression as a result of their ‘sexual choices’?

Crittenden concludes the article by pointing out the author chose to remain anonymous, for obvious reasons.

“The author of this vivid and urgent book has published it anonymously precisely because she fears that if her employers and colleagues heard her unwelcome views, they would judge her negatively--and punish her, personally and professionally. The anonymity, however understandable, is a shame: Her cause could use a visible and vocal crusader.”

Click to continue reading this article...

I found this piece in Forbes that touts contraception as the driving force behind the decline in teen pregnancies over the last decade or so. To be fair, the article mentions that delayed sexual activity and contraceptive use are both responsible for lowering teen pregnancy. According to a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute & Columbia University,

86 percent of the decline in pregnancy was associated with increased use of contraception. There was increasing use of both birth control pills and condoms, or the use of dual methods such as the pill and a condom combined.

Only 14 percent of the decline in pregnancy was attributed to reductions in teens' sexual activity, the researchers noted.

The research found that when sex was delayed, the individual was more likely to use contraception effectively once sexual activity is initiated.

In the midst of the teen pregancy-contraception debate I find that what is often lacking is a sense of personalism. Science has afforded our modern age many "effective" means of controlling our environment ~ many times to man's benefit. Yet, I wonder how often the person is actually lost amidst the study. The real question to be asked is why are teens engaging in sex? Are they seeking acceptance? Self-validation? Love? Is contraception answering these questions or is it enabling a behavioral pattern that - over time - lead to dysfunctional and unfulfilling patterns of promiscuity? As long as we speak of teen pregnancy and sexual activity merely in terms of percentages we are missing the boat.

This, of course, says nothing of the fact that we're already conveying the contraceptive idea of sex as an activity that requires protecting yourself (with birth control pills, condoms, etc.) from the other person, thus denigrating the meaningful intimacy of sex.

Posted by Genevieve on 12/2/2006 at ContraceptionBlog.com

Dawn Eden quite literally bares her soul in The Thrill of the Chaste to show by personal experience that "Sex and the City" feminism doesn't work nor does it produce happiness. What makes her "everyone's second favorite scary conservative Catholic" (according to Gawker.com) is that her book is the heat-seeking missile of reality smashing full-speed into the delusion of casual sex as fulfillment.

Last night I watched part of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor", it was a sobering if not heart wrenching segment concerning that late term abortion given to a juvenile by Wichita’s notorious abortionist, George Tiller. Identified only as "Kelly", the woman related how, at age 14, she was taken by her parents from Maryland to Kansas and given an abortion in the 20th week of pregnancy. The trip was necessary because the abortion was illegal in her home state.

According to Kelly, the process took five days.

“About the third or fourth day Dr. Tiller came in and injected into the embryonic sack saline solution which suffocated and burned my baby to death,” she explained. Later, she was forced to deliver her dead child into a toilet, an event that traumatized her and led to self-destructive behavior over the next ten years. “I left my baby dead in a toilet,” she recounted.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Denver, Colorado December 13, 2006

Law Professor and Pro-life Leader Differ on Life After Roe
Dead Fetal Pain Act Causing Pain in Movement

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, will the hundreds of abortion regulations on the books have the unintended effect of keeping abortion legal?

Judy Shiminsky died yesterday, December 12th at 12:02 pm. I would like to thank everyone who responded to the call for action. I was told we did help and we did make a difference, not only through our actions, but through our prayers.

Judy will be missed by many. Over the years Chalet Magnificat served hundreds of women in need.

Judy was the Owner and founder of Chalet Magnificat. She was also a Family Nurse Practitioner. The Chalet was established in 1998 in Front Royal, Virginia. It serves women over 18 who are in need of “transitional safe sanctuary for homeless pregnant mothers, families and refugees. It serves pregnant women over 18 with or without children under five. In 7 years, the Chalet provided broad assistance to over 777 individuals, including 3 adoptions.”

Continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

The second annual Blogs4Life Conference will be held in Washington DC the morning of January 22rd, shortly before the 34th Annual March for Life.

Last year we were delighted by the number of bloggers and organizations from around the world who participated in Blogs4Life. This year, the conference is growing and will be even more beneficial to individuals and organizations who want to advance their online activities and strategically use weblog technology to promote life and turn ideas into action.

The Family Research Council is hosting the event at their exceptional Washington DC accommodations, just a few blocks from the March for Life. Joe Carter, the FRC’s Director of Web Communications and Evangelical Outpost publisher, is coordinating speakers and activities.

The conference will feature a keynote address by Ramesh Ponnuru, noted author of The Party of Death and senior editor at National Review. Ponnuru writes with amazing clarity about abortion-on-demand, euthanasia, embryo destruction, stem cell research, infanticide and the deadly fascination some have with "the quality of life" of people with disabilities. With a depth of historical knowledge, rational arguments and practical insight, Ponnuru is an influential figure, leading the way to a post-Roe future.

The conference and subsequent march are an exciting opportunity and one that will benefit your pro-life activities, provide encouragement and hope and enable you to meet, face-to-face, with other bloggers from around the world.

Please visit the Blogs4Life website for more information. Click here to register.

Blogs4Life Summary

Who: Pro-life bloggers

What: The second annual conference dedicated to advancing the pro-life message via weblog technology.

When: Monday, January 22, 2007, at 9:00 am

Where: Family Research Council, 801 G. Street, NW * Washington, DC 20001

RSVP: online at www.blogs4life.com (click on Register)

For more information about this year's conference see: Facts, Directions and Schedule.

Politics have come into the situation. We have made a difference, but now we have to wait until the right decisions are made. If they are not, then perhaps we will have to open up the floodgates of support for Judy, but for now, please pray for her.

Of course you can call 540-636-0300 and kindly let the hospital know that you would like them to help Judy, not hasten her death. Be nice. Ask them to do everything they can. Also ask them to please encourage the primary power of attorney to allow Noble Morton visitation rights again. After all, he is Judy's long-time friend, was the first POA and more.

Thank you for your prayers and support. The Pro-Life community is a blessing. The saying "what comes around, goes around" takes on new meaning when it comes to issues like these.

They removed the resperator from Judy & she is now breathing on her own! Though she cannot speak, she has communicated with a Priest and her sister.

Pray for her and keep calling the number. Obviously they won't let you talk to her, but call anyway & be nice. Let them know that you are a friend of hers & that you just want to make sure she is doing okay. If you are Pro-Life, you are a friend right?

Ph: 540-636-0300