January 2007 Archives

It appears pro-aborts infiltrated FRC's Blogs4Life conference, not that I minded. "Amused" and "intrigued" would be better descriptors. The hope is always that exposure to unfiltered pro-life truths will make a positive impact.

Not so this time. Ann, the blogger at feministing.com, was not a spy who loved us. She said this, among other things, which strikes me as one of the all-time classicly ironic, appallingly blind statements I've ever read:

See, if you ask Sam Brownback, one of the problems with America is that we treat fetuses as second-class citizens, much like African-Americans were treated in the pre-civil rights era. Does this seem more than a little insulting to anyone else? Saying that black people and fetuses (and really, embryos) should be considered "equally human"? Wow.

While maintaining it's ridiculous to compare our country's previous legal position that blacks weren't "equally human" with our country's current legal position that preborns aren't "equally human," Ann scoffs that preborns aren't equally human? Incredible.

I'm blogging additional responses to Ann and her readers on her blog, if you'd care to join the m�l�e.

Another pro-abort blogger at CampusProgess.org entitled her description of the event, "Anti-choicers get a life," to which there are good responses.

News organizations infozine.com and spokesmanreview.com both covered the conference well, with the latter also blogging on it.

This past Monday at the blogs for life conference, I had an opportunity to speak with both Senator Sam Brownback and Representative Duncan Hunter about the harms of contraception. Now before you pro-contraception bloggers get happy and start ranting on how these candidates are going to take away your condoms, the focus was not on banning contraception. And yes, I'm going to try and speak with Democratic and independent candidates on this issue as well.

As a former radical leftist, I attended many demonstrations in Washington, DC.

Now having attended the March for Life two years in a row, I'm amazed at how under-reported this event is - and all too aware of how that under-reporting contributes to the rampant stereotyping of pro-lifers as middle-aged white males.

I actually saw very few of those today!

What I saw were hundreds of thousands of people willing to brave the cold (DC had its first snow of the winter the night before) to affirm that a baby in the womb is not property to be destroyed, but a person that those committed to human rights must defend.

It's a child, not a choice!

I took 207 pictures today, and though I've had time to edit, my comments will have to wait 'til tomorrow. In the meantime, you can see a slideshow by clicking on the album below:

March for Life 2007

Enjoy!
Barbara Curtis
MommyLife

The March for Life was simply massive, bigger than last year. It is hard to estimate the number of participants because it was impossible to see more than about one quarter of the crowd as any one time. We'll publish more information and photos later and link to friends who are covering the March. In the meantime, here are a few images of the 2007 March for Life:

The Marchers:

The Podium:

Click here for the live broadcast

Blogs4Life has begun and is being shown live over the internet at the Family Research Council's Website. Click here.

I've had a late start live blogging and will try to fill in details as the conference progresses.

9:00 am - We had a great introduction by Charmaine Yoest, one of the conference founders and Vice President of Communications of the FRC. [note - thanks Charmaine and the FRC for hosting Blogs4Life!]

9:05 am - Tony Perkins, President of the FRC, commemorates the 34th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade and provides encouraging signs for the future.

9:15 am - Bobby Schindler revealed the untold story about how he and a blogger from Florida began publicizing his sister's fate. He makes a good point that the media has now re-written his sister's story, erroneously referring her to as "brain dead". Bobby calls bloggers to publish the facts of his sister's case.

9:35 am - Thanks for Rep. Duncan Hunter from California for stopping by and committing to take a stand for life.

9:45 am - Jill Stanek is giving a live demonstration involving the use of this blog to communicate over the internet. Click here for her presentation. Check out her blog entry referred to in her presentation - infanticide soften by referring to a born baby as a "fetus".

We ran into a small glitch with Jill's video, which is actually available online (click here).

Jill has given a great case for why Blogs are becoming a key element of the new media. She suggests that individual bloggers pick up a specific life issue and become a topic expert.

Comments provide a means to interact with others and answer questions, especially by those who support abortion.

10:10 am - Peter Samuelson from Americans United for Life is giving a great speech on how bloggers can make a difference in the political process. Every year 1,000 pro-life bills are considered by the states and individual bloggers can make a difference by choosing a niche. "State Laws Save Lives."

I appreciate his point on human dignity. When it is no longer considered intrinsic our society begins down the path of organ harvesting from those lacking "adequate" cognitive abilities.

Peter referenced an excellent resource for pro-life bloggers called "Defending Life" - if you blog you can get it free - I'll post the details after the break .

Back from the break....

10:55 am - Sen. Sam Brownback (who is now a presidential candidate) gave a powerful speech, centered on life issues. Among the many points he revealed 80% of unborn children with Down Syndrome are aborted � a staggering figure that ought to be unacceptable in any society. Sen. Brownback passionately addressed those with an unborn Down Syndrome, pleading with them to use adoption rather than abortion. Today, he and 25 colleagues are filing the fetal pain awareness act - unborn children are given anesthesia - informing woman considering abortion makes sense.

The Senator ended his speech thanking bloggers for making a difference.

11:15 am - I was hoping we'd get to hear from Jonathan and Debrorah Flora, creators of a Distant Thunder. They are on the podium now speaking about the grassroots efforts by the bloggers that have helped the movie penetrate the significant barriers put up by the mainstream media.

Here is a picture of the Flora's with Jill Stanek

11:30 am - we're off to the March for Life!!!!

2:30 pm - Back from the March: The March for Life was massive, bigger than last year.

Ramesh Ponnuru's talk was fantastic - I'll link to the video when it's available. One, of many items, I appreciated was his evaluation of pro-life bloggers. We're not doing a very good job responding to the mistakes of the mainstream media on abortion, stem cell research and euthanasia. He suggests we network, divide the field of life issues and major media sources, and begin to respond appropriately to inaccurate reporting.

Panel Discussion - great job by Charmaine asking the right questions to provoke discussion - check out KatieFavazza's summary.

4:20 - Blogs4Life is presently in its final session with Dr. David Prentice teaching Stem Cells 101. He's actually bringing the topic down to the level his audience can appreciate.

We often hear embryonic stem cells have properties (flexibility), not available in adult stem cells. This, is simply not the case. The same characteristics are present in stem cells taken from the placenta and amniotic fluid, but without the negative propensity for tumor formation.

Right now, there are 72 successful therapeutic applications for adult stem cells with many more waiting in the wings. One individual shown by Dr. Prentice had a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed. Adult stem cells gave her the ability to walk. And there are many, many more examples (where is the MSM!).

There are no successful applications involving embryonic stem cell research.

5:00 pm - The conference is drawing to a close. Peter Shinn (prolifenews.tv) gave some final thoughts about pro-life activism and Joe Carter concluded the conference.

I want to thank the Family Research Council for their support, which made this conference a reality.

The second annual Blogs4life Conference, hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington, D. C., and scheduled before and after the 34th Annual March for Life, will be shown live this morning beginning 9:00 a.m. EST over the Internet. Go here to see the scheduled line-up of speakers and instructions to view the conference.

Demonstrating one benefit of blogs, Jill Stanek will simultaneously show powerpoint slides live and here and on JillStanek.com during her speech, which will begin around 9:30 a.m. Web viewers may want to set up a split screen.

Jill will announce when she advances to the next slide. Click on the slide to see enlarged view.

Pro-life groups from all over the country are converging on Washington D.C. in anticipation of the March for Life, a massive demonstration aimed at memorializing the Supreme Court's infamous abortion decision and petitioning the Congress for change. The event event kicks off at 12:00 pm EST with a rally overlooking the United States Capitol and culminates in the March along Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court. As shown in the photo above, the stage was set-up on Saturday and the setting is truly remarkable.

Hundreds held signs and prayed Saturday in front of a downtown Planned Parenthood while "clinic escorts" waited eagerly for a customer to usher into the building. Participants included individuals from American Life League, Rock for Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin.

Sadly, as I watched, a group of "escorts" surrounded a young woman and guided her past the praying Christians and into the abortion mill. "It will be ok," she was told. "You'll be in the building soon." At the March for Life tomorrow, there will be hundreds present who testify to the contrary, having made a "decision" that became a source of hurt and pain. (Note: many have found healing - click here)

We don't know how many more woman approached the clinic but turned back after the pro-life witness made the dark reality of abortion evident. Photos of the event can be found below and at ProLifeNews.tv.

My friend Robin, who still lives in Marin County and heads the Pregnancy Resource Center in the midst of a culture where parents buy kids BMWs and campaign against dress codes and abstinence education sent me a link this morning to one of the most twisted pieces of liberal logic I've ever read:

On the Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade
Creating a true 'culture of life'
- Lynn M. Paltrow

For the past 10 years, the term "culture of life" has been little more than window dressing for the hundreds of laws that limit access to abortion -- or advance the interests of fetuses, as if they existed separately from the pregnant women who carry them. The time has come to have a real conversation about what our country could be doing to support maternal, fetal and familial health, and to value motherhood and child rearing. . .

Our lawmakers pump an incredible amount of funding into pregnancy "crisis centers" whose primary purpose is to deter women from having abortions -- despite the fact that staff have been documented providing false and misleading information. [speaking of documentation, Ms. Paltrow, how about this documentation of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics aiding and abetting statutory rape?] At the same time, drug treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women in many parts of the United States lack the funding they need to stay open or to meet the pressing demands for their services. . .

What if our lawmakers swapped their priorities? What if they de-funded pregnancy crisis centers, whose only real purpose is to advance an ideological agenda, and acted to make drug treatment as readily available an option? If we come together, as a large, vocal and united constituency, we can advocate for policies that genuinely support maternal health and well being and create a true culture of life -- one that values the women who give that life.

Interested in the entire article? Read it here.

I had to laugh at the line describing pregnancy resource centers thus: "whose only real purpose is to advance an ideological agenda."

When you have the audacity to claim you are creating a culture of life by defending the deaths of a million and a half babies per year, you must be driven by something way beyond an ideological agenda.

Abortion advocates are truly religious fanatics protecting their sacred rite (abortion), their sacred priests (abortionists) and their sacred grounds (abortion clinics) with logic-defying religious jargon and rhetoric.

I know. I was there as a founding mother of the Second Wave of Feminism, who fought for abortion rights and participated in the sacred rite of passage - my own abortion in 1977. Thank God I eventually found my way out of this cult-like mentality and began thinking like an authentic human being who once was a "fetus" herself.

I continue to wonder how if liberals are so protective of "the little guy" they are so hardhearted when it comes to those most vulnerable and in need of our protection?

You can read more of my Pro-Life writing here. And look for pictures from the Blogs For Life and March for Life Monday night! See the ones I took last year here.

Barbara Curtis
MommyLife

The Family Research Council is a good example of an organization the has harnessed the capabilities of blogging to increase the effectiveness of their efforts:

As the pro-life message continues to advance, so too does the technology that carries the message. For the past year, FRC has been on the cutting-edge of the blogging movement, extending its influence on life and family issues to the online mainstream. On Monday, January 22, FRC is hosting its second Blogs for Life conference, featuring a star-studded line-up of congressional, media, and Internet leaders.

The event is free and highlights speakers such as: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS); Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA); David Prentice, Senior Fellow, FRC; Ramesh Ponnuru, Senior Editor, National Review; Peter Samuelson, President, Americans United for Life; Joe Scheidler, Founder, Pro-Life Action League; Jill Stanek, columnist, WorldNetDaily; Rob Bluey of The Heritage Foundation; and many more. For those of you who can't make it to Washington but want to develop a better understanding of how technology can be used to promote life, log on to our website for special live coverage of the event. Visit www.blogs4life.com for details.

Operation Rescue�s A cry for justice kicked off this afternoon with a press conference and outreach at George Tiller�s Wichita abortion clinic, Women�s Health Care Services. Check out the report from their first day (click here).

A message from the No Room for Contraception Campaign

As the 34th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade approaches, the No Room for Contraception campaign reminds pro-life advocates that contraception fuels the demand for abortion. This fact is detailed in the article The role of contraception in increasing abortion . (Though this article covers the 1960s through the 1970s, we are working on an article which covers the period from 1980 - 2003)

Though abortion advocates claim that contraception is responsible for the declining abortion and pregnancy rates, several studies show that abstinence is the primary reason. Even so, I suspect these studies are incomplete - there has been a slight cultural shift on abortion, something the studies do not seriously take into consideration.

It is my belief that the primary reason for the abortion decline is not due to "improved" contraception but instead due to increased abstinence and the hard work of the pro-life movement. The nation's hearts and minds have been [slowly] changing, and as a result abortion has become less and less of an option for those involved in an unexpected pregnancy.

Despite the reductions, abortion still remains a backup for failed contraception. Abortion is far from being rare and contraception still drives the demand for it. In fact, I should say that the contraceptive mentality, and not just contraception, drives the demand since many people don't even bother to use any contraception at all. When these same people are faced with an unexpected pregnancy, they often fall back on abortion as a way of controlling birth.

The answer to unexpected pregnancy and abortion is not more contraception, "comprehensive" sexuality education, or easier access. That formula has failed for decades, and has resulted in driving up pregnancy and abortion rates.

Silence or timidity on contraception is not the answer either. In an effort to appeal to the broadest range of people (and donors), some organizations refuse to address contraception. In the long run this only serves to preserve the culture of death by providing a supply of unborn children whose very creation stems from the contraceptive mentality and/or contraceptive failure. (Though there have been some lone voices in the desert, the movement as a whole has not addressed the issue.)

Part of the failure to address contraception stems from the �put out the fire� mentality � unborn children scheduled to die today won�t benefit from anything else but direct intervention. There is a point to this mentality � firefighters don�t sit around talking about how to prevent fires while watching a house burn, instead they put out the fire. But where this mentality falls short is that firefighters do give fire prevention classes when they aren�t fighting fires. The movement can do both, albeit with greater emphasis on the more urgent problem of abortion.

If the pro-life movement doesn't want to keep fighting the abortion battle in the trenches, and losing countless lives despite their best efforts, then it has to address the contraceptive mentality that has captured the hearts and minds of our nation. Until it does, the movement will always be fighting fires while never addressing the reason why these fires started in the first place.

If I still haven't made a convincing argument that contraception needs to be addressed by the pro-life movement, consider the defeat of several pro-life state initiatives in 2006. Opposition to these initiatives was headed by groups that receive Title X federal contraception funding, such as Planned Parenthood. While this funding may not have been used directly in their efforts to defeat these initiatives, it nevertheless freed up these organization's resources to do so.

As long as the pro-life movement fails to confront the issue of contraception, it will ensure a steady supply of federal funding to the very groups that work to defeat its legislative efforts.

It's time for a shift in strategy, and it's time to address the harms of contraception. Will this be addressed this upcoming weekend at the many conferences taking place prior to the March for Life? Sadly, the answer appears to be �no��

In closing, abortion isn't the only harm posed by contraception, and we will continue to address these dangers throughout 2007.

Dear Pro-Life Friends,

It's time to make final plans for Blogs4life, the second annual conference of pro-life bloggers. The event is hosted by the Family Research Council on Monday, Jan. 22, prior to and after the March for Life in Washington DC and will be show live, over the internet.

The conference program has expanded and is filled with noted pro-life leaders including:

• Tony Perkins (President, Family Research Council)
• Ramesh Ponnuru (National Review Online Senior Editor)
• David Prentice (Senior Fellow, Family Research Council)
• Peter Samuelson (President, Americans United for Life)
• Joe Scheidler (Founder, Pro-Life Action League) � tentative
• Paul Schenk (National Pro-Life Action Center)
• Bobby Schindler (Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation)
• Jill Stanek (WorldNetDaily Columnist, Pro-life Speaker)

The morning session will feature Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA)!

The afternoon session includes a panel discussion, moderated by the FRC's Charmaine Yoest, on the New Media. During this time you can expect to interact with a lively group of pro-life bloggers, videocast experts, media consultants and movie makers. Click here for the complete schedule.

Blogs4Life is an excellent opportunity for individuals and organizations to network with pro-life bloggers and develop an understanding of how weblog technology can be used to strategically promote life and transform ideas into action as we move toward a post-Roe America.

You can show up at the door for all or part of the conference but we would be most grateful if you register before the event so that the FRC can make adequate accommodations for food and beverages.

For more information see: Facts , Details , Directions and Schedule .

Finally, please consider promoting the conference over the weekend by forwarding this email to your pro-life friends.

God bless you and give you peace!

Like many of you I'm heading for the March for Life later today. See you there!

Posted by Genevieve Parker at ContraceptionBlog.com

I found this article in The Sydney Morning Herald rather telling on many levels. First off, the author notes the following:

Have you ever wondered how young women still manage to fall pregnant accidentally when they have ready access to contraception and sex education? Have you ever concluded that it must be only the sloppy or irresponsible who face the horror of seeing two purple lines emerge from the plastic window of a home pregnancy test? I have cobbled together some statistics to show why this is not so, why young couples who take all the care in the world can still end up with a surprise pregnancy.

As one reads on, one comes to see that the author is making a point about contraception necessitating abortion, which she favors. I have to say that I find it refreshing that she at least admits some consistency in her argument; i.e. contraception and abortion are part of the same issue & cannot be separated from each other; and that, ultimately (over time), one leads to the other. In other words, contraception, at best pospones abortion but does not prevent abortion.

Last year you fought for the life of Andrea Clark, the woman whose life the Texas Health Care system decided was not worth living (more here and here). Now her family is fighting to get a law passed that will protect others:

Hi, My name is Lanore Dixon. I'm the sister of Andrea Clark, the patient at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston Tx who had to fight for her life against the hospital ethics committee death sentence.

I believe your readers were very helpful in allowing Andrea to continue life support until she died in her own time. Now my family and I are committed to changing the Texas law that allowed St. Luke's to play God with our sister's life. We've since learned of many other cases where hospitals played God. We want to change this law. The legislature is now in session and we need as many people as possible to take action in this effort.

If you could make mention of this in your blog and give us a link (www.texaspatientrights.org), it would go a long way to getting this law changed.

As always, thank you for your help.

Lanore Dixon

Our friends at Arizona Right to Life and Life Educational Corporation invite you to join thousands of others for a two-hour festival of life: "Mission Possible: Agents of Change." This joyful event will include energizing music, vendors, dynamic speakers, personal stories and an opportunity to be part of the growing effort to support women & their children.

Here are the details:

Each year, thousands of Americans across the country gather to honor the victims of the tragic January 22, 1973 Supreme Court Roe v Wade decision. "Mission Possible: Agents of Change" is designed to educate, motivate and mobilize Arizonans around the battle for life. The event will be held This Sunday, January 21, 2007 at Steele Indian School Park, beginning at 1:25pm.

Because this event is both a ceremony commemorating the lives lost and affected by abortion and a time to show our support for the sanctity of life, we approach the occasion with sadness, compassion, commitment and resolve to make a difference to change our culture and laws to respect life.

Mission Objective: March

We will march from the Xavier College Prep School parking lot (7th Street & Highland) to Steele Indian School Park. The Life March will follow the route of South on 7th Street and into the East entrance of the park. During the march, we will carry signs and banners that share the message of stopping abortion and choosing life. We also encourage churches to carry their banners while singing and praying along the route. The March begins at 1:30pm. If you are unable to join us for the March, please feel free to meet us at the park at 2:00pm.

Mission Objective: Rally

We encourage you to bring your family, your friends and your church to the rally. You are welcome to bring food and drinks and enjoy the fellowship of family and friends in the park. We also encourage you to bring your children but ask that you watch them around the pond. A playground and restrooms are available throughout the park. You may also want to bring plenty of sunscreen. Finally, we ask that you help us keep the park clean. The Rally begins at 2:00pm and will continue until approximately 3:30pm.

Are you coming to the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. on January 22nd? If so, then join us at the 2nd Annual Blogs4Life conference at the Family Research Council. We will start the day with a continental breakfast and a meet & greet at 8:30 am. This will be followed by an opening by Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council & then by Tony Perkins, President of the FRC.

Then we will continue the day with talks by other leaders such as Bobby Schindler, Jill Stanek and Jonathan and Deborah Flora (Distant Thunder).

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

You would have a difficult time figuring out Barack Obama supports infanticide by the Associated Press story yesterday entitled, "Obama Record May Be Gold Mine For Critics."

Each of five times the AP referred to Obama's votes as state Senator to allow infanticide to continue in Illinois, it softened the blow to make it unintelligible to the fetus on the street. Yes, the AP's use of "fetus" in its story was as incorrect and ridiculous as that.

Any dictionary defines "fetus" as "an unborn or unhatched vertebrate... a developing human from usually three months after conception to birth."

And it's not as if the English language isn't rich with terminology to properly describe the human after birth - neonate, newborn, baby, infant, or child, to name five.

But the AP couldn't admit abortion has extended to killing born children in the U.S.:

[Obama] voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive....

One vote that especially riled abortion opponents involved restrictions on a type of abortion where the fetus sometimes survives, occasionally for hours. The restrictions, which never became law, included requiring the presence of a second doctor to care for the fetus....

Abortion opponents see Obama's vote on medical care for aborted fetuses as a refusal to protect the helpless. Some have even accused him of supporting infanticide....

Obama � who joined several other Democrats in voting "present" in 2001 and "no" the next year � argued the legislation was worded in a way that unconstitutionally threatened a woman's right to abortion by defining the fetus as a child.

Such a ridiculous claim, one that the World Health Organization in 1950, the United Nations in 1955, and the U.S. Congress and president in 2002 all fell for when adapting identical language to define nonfetushood.

But not Obama or the AP, both smarter than the rest of the world, modernday Renaissance fetuses.

[Photo credit: AP]

This letter passed on by one of our friends from Texas:

Dear Friend,

As we reflect this month on 34 years of abortion under Roe, our friends at Hope for Orphans remind us that behind every abortion is a very real struggle between life and death. They have again asked for our help in finding a forever home for a baby in need.

A crisis pregnancy center in Toronto has been assisting a mom who is expecting twins next month. Recently she found out, that one of the babies (a boy) has Spina Bifida. This is a birth defect in which the spinal cord has not developed properly. According to the doctors this little unborn child's condition is severe. He is probably paralyzed from the waist down and will need a shunt because of hydrocephali (water on the brain).

The Mother cannot face this challenge and is booked to have a selective abortion of the spina bifida child in a few weeks.

The pregnancy center feels that if they can offer this mom a promise that a family will adopt the handicapped child she will carry him to term.

If you or someone you know would be willing and able to provide a home to this baby in need, please reply ASAP for more information.

Thank you and God bless you,
Kyleen Wright, president
Texans for Life Coalition
www.texlife.org

P.S. Don't forget to be a witness for life in Dallas this Saturday, January 20th. Come pray and march for life in the city where Roe v. Wade was originally filed. http://www.texlife.org/docs/marchforlife2007.html

PRO-LIFE PLEDGE AT COLORADO RIGHT TO LIFE'S
MARCH FOR LIFE January 20, 2007 West steps State Capitol

40 Years, 50 Million Dead
One Commitment

On the Rule of Law regarding the intentional killing of innocent people,
including by abortion, suicide, and euthanasia,
I commit myself to upholding without exception God�s enduring command, �Thou Shall Not Murder.�

My commitment to God�s prohibition of murder means that:

* I will never approve of any judicial ruling which in any way violates Do Not Murder.
* I will withhold backing from any judge who issues or defends rulings that violate Do Not Murder.
* I will oppose any law which violates Do Not Murder by allowing the intentional killing of any innocent.
* I will never support any law that regulates the killing of the innocent.
* I will never support any law that effectively ends, �and then you can kill the innocent.�
* I will agree that, �Do not kill the innocent� (Exodus 23:7) applies even to the baby fathered by a criminal.
* I will recognize that it is morally acceptable to let an irreversibly dying person die.
* I will teach others that it is wrong to starve people to death, including the elderly, infirm, disabled, and infants.
* I will never support any attempt to �do evil that good may come of it� (Romans 3:8).
* I will oppose any man-made process where it requires compromise on �You shall not murder� (Rom. 13:9).
* I will oppose any philosophy that elevates man�s law above God�s enduring command, �Thou Shall Not Murder.�
* I will never allow political goals to move me to compromise on Do Not Murder.
* I will never in any way legitimize the intentional killing of innocent people, from fertilization to natural death.
* I will recognize that any pro-life effort that compromises on Do Not Murder is a false hope.
* I will teach others that whenever these two authorities conflict, �we must obey God rather than men� (Acts 5:29).

Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____________ Print Name ______________________

City: _________________________________State: _______________Phone:_______________________

The fix may have been in on Barack Obama's opposition as state senator to Illinois' Born Alive Infant Protection Act, aka support of infanticide.

I've always wondered what compelled Obama not to just vote against Born Alive but attempt single-handedly to thwart its passage, not once, not twice, but three times....

So with the new information out about Obama these days, I re-examined the evidence and found some
interesting facts....

Obama is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ. Its parent denomination, the UCC, controls half of Advocate Health Care, which owns Christ Hospital, where I discovered in 1999 babies were being aborted alive.

Obama's pastor was a member of the pre-Advocate board from 1986-89. One current prominent Advocate board member is a pastor who previously served at TUCC. Another board member is a former executive minister of TUCC....

Continue reading my column today, "When Obama chose his church over his state," on WND.com.

Washington, D.C. - Monday, January 22nd at 9:00 am, Family Research Council, located at 801 G Street, NW, will host Blogs4Life, the second annual conference of pro-life bloggers.

Blogs4Life is scheduled to take place the day of the 34th annual March for Life, during which thousands of pro-life advocates gather in the Nation's capitol to celebrate life and demand the reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

The conference will feature Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA). Other featured speakers include Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schindler Schiavo and Ramesh Ponnuru, noted author of The Party of Death and senior editor at National Review.

Blogs4Life is an excellent opportunity for individuals and organizations to network with pro-life bloggers and develop an understanding of how weblog technology can be used to strategically promote life and transform ideas into action as we move toward a post-Roe America.

Who: Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Bobby Schindler
Ramesh Ponnuru

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

When: Monday, January 22, 2007
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

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

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

In loving memory of their sister, and in support of the medically vulnerable patients, the siblings of Terri Schindler Schiavo will attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22, 2007 and spend the weekend prior to the March speaking out in defense of life at various events.

�It�s not just about abortion, anymore,� says Terri�s brother, Bobby Schindler, �the culture of death in our nation is threatening the lives of people like my sister through euthanasia. It is happening quietly every day in nursing homes, hospitals and hospices around our nation. People need to be aware that this could touch a member of their family at any time.�

Just read this disturbing commentary in Human Events, published January 8. Its thesis is this:

A significant factor in this election will be the left�s effort to finally achieve a goal it has pursued for decades: convincing a majority of Americans that liberal �social justice� and traditional Christianity are one and the same.

Liberals have garnered success with some Christians by diverting their eyes from abortion/homosexuality to "social justice." This is a relief to Christians who don't like feeling conflicted about abortion. They can appease their consciences and put abortion on the back burner by becoming righteously indignant about other causes in Jesus' name. Some of these causes are even valid. Satan is expert at blending truth with lies.

From The Guardian

Catholics fearing an increasing acceptance of euthanasia in Britain are carrying religious 'ID cards' telling doctors not to withhold liquid from the patient.

Tens of thousands have been sold on the website of the Association of Catholic Women. It reads: 'In case of my admission to hospital, please contact a Roman Catholic priest. I would like my nursing care to include fluids - however administered.'

A General Medical Council spokesman said it was unaware of the card, but insisted that staff and members would be referred to the GMC's religious and ethical guidelines in ensuring respect for patients' religious beliefs

More at Marlowe's Shade

Two of many good points Sarah Flashing, at the blog Flashpoint, made in her critique of a C-Span-covered interview of Gail Pressburg, co-author of The Promise & Politics of Stem Cell Research, were these:

"Five-day old cells." Gail, are you afraid to use the word embryo? After all, the name of the research establishes that it is embryos from which the stem cells are being harvested. Let's not be coy.

As well, since when do we allow an age category to be applied to what are just clumps of cells?

This effort to disguise the personhood of the embryo by referring to it as just cells is disingenuous.

And combining this cellular way of talking about the embryo and the fact of age with the admission "well they'll just be thrown away anyway" is nothing less than conceding to the fact that these are human beings at the beginning stages of life.

Click here to view the information at ProLifeNews.tv

North Country Gazette covers the Blogs4Life Conference. (Be sure to sign-up for the event here).

John and the Generations for Life crew are passing out practical �Marching Orders� to our fellow pro-lifers at the March for Life. More on Marching at VitalSigns

Wesley Smith at SecondHand Smoke explains Zombie Cloned Animals

ProLifeNews describes scenes from in front of an abortion mill [link]

See Jill Stank for an update on abortion and eternal lives.

Operation Rescue: Paul Morrison has been in the attorney general's office for a week and still there is no word on whether or not he will pursue the 30 criminal charges against Late-term abortionist George R. Tiller.

Aborted Babies used to Make Vaccines? The Deputy Minister of Health in Alberta has admitted that the both federal and provincial public health agencies are aware that some vaccines in use in Canada were produced with the use of cell-lines from aborted babies. Furthermore, the Alberta government is set to provide alternative vaccines that are not tainted by abortion. - LifeSiteNews

Mary Meets Dolly (and a number of others) link to an opinion piece by Charles Krauthammer in which he, as a pro-abortion conservative, derides the House�s recent vote to fund embryonic stem cell research. Charles uses the slippery slope argument,

You don't need religion to tremble at the thought of unrestricted embryo research. You simply have to have a healthy respect for the human capacity for doing evil in pursuit of the good.

What if Bush had allowed unrestricted federal funding for embryonic stem cells? Would the potentially superior amniotic stem cells ever be found or thoroughly researched as an alternative? Sometimes when a door closes, a window open

RealChoice publishes the sad story of Christin Gilbert who wasn't given a choice.

Potential Presidential Candidates on abortion : Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stand on abortion (LifeNews) and Gov. Mitt Romney.

Click here to view the live broadcast now - from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm - Jan. 12th

Mary Healy will be speaking tonight, January 12th, at Annunciation Church in Washington D.C. from 8 - 9pm. If you can come, please do so. Otherwise stay tuned for the video and audio from this event. We were going to broadcast live but there were too many problems. So we will either be showing it by delay or it will be posted by Monday.

Stay tuned for more!

Y108 radio station, which reaches millions of listeners in the Golden Horseshoe area, has finally decided to allow the airing of pro-life ads paid for by the Niagara Region Right to Life group. The move comes only days after listeners and pro-life groups complained vigorously to the station for censoring the ads - The Bold Truth

Note: don't forget to get your Blogs4Life cartoon, customized for your blog, here. Also, you may want to register for Blogs4Life before it gets to close to the Jan. 22nd date.

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback commented on yesterday's House vote to force taxpayers to fund research that destroys human embryos.

"The House of Representatives fell well short of the votes they would need to override a presidential veto of legislation to increase taxpayer funded research that destroys human life," Brownback said.

The House voted 253-174, well short of the total required to overturn a presidential veto. President Bush vetoed identical legislation last year and the White House has announced he will do so again. The veto was the first of his presidency. The legislation would expand taxpayer funds being spent on deriving new stem cells by destroying human embryos.

Brownback continued, "We all want to find cures and treatments for the many diseases and maladies that affect millions of Americans, but there are better options than research that kills nascent human lives. Private and federal dollars have funded embryonic research for over two decades, and yet embryonic stem cells have yet to treat one human patient. Conversely, completely ethical and non-controversial adult and other non-embryonic stem cells have already been shown to have clinical applications for over 70 different types of diseases. Taxpayers should not be left to foot the bill of human embryonic stem cell research, which has proven to be highly inefficient as well as unethical. I look forward to a vigorous bioethics debate in the Senate."

Prior to the final vote on this legislation yesterday, the House voted against a provision that would prevent taxpayer-funded human cloning. Brownback concluded, "I'm disappointed that a majority of House members would not back up in writing what they so often claim in speech about their opposition to human cloning."

Website:: Sen. Sam Brownback

Related: Sen. Brownback to speak at Blogs4Life Jan. 22 in Washington DC

Please consider posting the section below on your web site. The March for Life sponsors the larges Pro-Life event in the world and needs our help.

Thank You

----------

The March for Life in Washington D.C., put on by the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, is the largest annual Pro-Life event that challenges abortion in the world. If you haven't been there yet, well, you are really missing out! The event is always held around the anniversary of the Roe vs Wade decision of 1973. This decision, along with Doe vs Bolton, decrimalized killing human beings in the womb, all the way up to the day of delivery.

Join the March for Life in Washington D.C. if you can. If you are coming, or are not able to, please consider donating to their important effort. They spend a lot of money & time on this important event, all year, every year, so that we can unite and speak out as one against the horror of abortion.

Click here to go to the March for Life donation page, and please, give generously.

If Congress approves a measure that would force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research, President Bush has promised he will issue a second veto of the legislation. Last year Congress passed the bill and failed to come up with enough votes to override the veto. - LifeNews

Note: you can read the President's policy statement regarding H.R. 3 here:

One of my contributions to the March for Life Education and Defense Fund is building the map of the rally and the March route in Washington D.C. Click here to go to the March for Life web site and check out where we will be this year, and be sure to take a moment to donate a few dollars to this important, annual event. They spend a lot of money and time putting it all together, so help out and make sure they have all they need.

Blogs4Life is just around the corner and things are happening fast. In the few days we will be publishing additional information about our schedule - we have more to add - speakers, workshops, etc.

However, before the conference begins here are four great ways to get involved (even if you are unable to attend in person).

1. Online Symposium � leading up to a capstone session at the conference, the FRC's Joe Carter has organized an online symposium and is soliciting entries. Your post on any of three topics will be promoted and enable you to interact constructively with other bloggers and a wide audience.

   Click Here



2. Live Blogging (even from home): a wireless internet connection will be available for those who want to blog the conference as it happen. However, the conference will also be broadcast live by the FRC over the internet , enabling those who do not attend to view it, submit questions and live blog.

   We hope that you will seriously consider participating in this manner � it is an excellent way to demonstrate the benefit of blogging as a rapid communication medium. Sign-up here: http://www.blogs4life.com/liveblog.php



3. Faithmouse Cartoon � Dan Lacey is at it again, this year offering a free customized cartoon for those who want to promote the BlogsforLife conference.

   Check FaithMouse for more information.



4. Have you noticed the Blogs4Life right column? We greatly appreciate the publicity and are aggregating posts from blogs that write about Blogs4Life. Thanks!

Chicago, Illinois - January 11, 2007 In response to passage of H.R 3, The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, Director of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (CBHD) C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D., states �Partisan politics has trumped ethical science. Not only is it unethical to kill embryos for their stem cells, it is unnecessary and undesirable.�

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which is virtually identical to a bill vetoed by President Bush last year, allows the use of Federal taxpayer dollars to support and thereby encourage the destruction of nascent human life for highly speculative research purpose

In contrast, non-embryonic stem cells are being used to treat six-dozen diseases and conditions in human patients. Just this week the world received news that cells from amniotic fluid possess all of the desirable traits of embryonic stem cells but not the undesirable traits such as the proclivity for tumor formation that embryonic stem cells exhibit.

Washington, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved federal funding for research that requires the destruction of human life.

Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, issued the following statement:

"Rather than defend human dignity, the Democrat led House of Representatives approved legislation to compel U.S. taxpayers to fund research that requires the destruction of human embryos. The President is absolutely right to veto this legislation.

"This bill is a bait and switch. It would not just fund so-called "leftover" embryos, it will create a market for creating and cloning more human embryos for the express purpose of killing them.

"The bill also diverts crucial funding away from uncontroversial adult stem cell research and other cutting-edge research which is producing real treatments for real people.

"I applaud those who voted against this bill and the President for his promise to veto it once again. We should stop playing politics with stem cell research and pursue real treatments while maintaining our ethical boundaries."

Bill Starr is back in the news with this latest stunt in his crusade to kill his wife:

Maureen Starr (63) has Alzheimer's Disease and can no longer recognise her husband, Bill. As exclusively revealed in last week's Dispatch, Bill (76) wants to end Maureen's life and is campaigning for a change in the law to allow voluntary euthanasia. He said this week: "I want the Queen to see how a failure by her government to act has left my girl having to live on in a truly pitiful condition. "This photo expresses my feelings more than I could in a thousand words. It is the face of suffering."

More at Marlowe's Shade

Check out their latest article on 4-D ultrasound videos:

This morning Meredith Vieira interviewed Dr. Thomas Pinckert on NBC's Today Show to promote an upcoming National Geographic special on multiple siblings in the womb. Watch the incredible 4-D ultrasound video and cgi to show twins and triplets before birth. The mother of triplets shown in the ultrasound is also interviewed, and Vieira seems to be delighted by the fact that that the mother can recognize her children in the womb by both their personalities and faces. Of course, only pesons can have personalities!

Wesley Smith communicates good news about Robert Schindler, Terri Schiavo's father. His condition is improving. - more here.

Erik Whittington is the director of Rock for Life, a branch of American Life League, and encourages the youth of America to defend life. ProLifeNews.tv spoke with Erik at St. Peter's Church where Nancy Pelosi was attending a service on the day that she took over the position of House Speaker.

From RockForLife.org:

Rock for Life is committed to offering the truth about abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia to America's youth through music and ministry.

Rock for Life exists to offer you a voice, encouraging you to stand up among your peers and fight against the destruction of your generation.

Click here to continue reading and to view the video at ProLifeNews.tv

Get your customized Blogs4Life promo logo from FaithMouse. (thanks Dan!)

By Judie Brown

Very early in my life I learned a valuable lesson: when you manipulate the truth, you not only distort the subject you are discussing but you bring shame upon yourself as well.

As I have read the various news reports dealing with the Pelosi push for limitless funding of human embryonic stem cell research, I have been reminded of that lesson more times than I care to tabulate. And it consistently amazes me that those who lead the cheer for human embryonic stem cell research appear oblivious to the source of real progress and downright comatose about the abysmal results of the very research they favor.

But perhaps the fundamental problem is far more serious. You see not once in all the discussion over the congressional bill, H.R. 3, "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007," have we experienced an actual biology lesson on the identity of the human embryo. We have been told that these embryos are "leftovers" and that they are going to be "discarded anyway."

For example, we have heard Congressman Michael Castle (R-DE) say that the race to cure "tens of millions of patients suffering worldwide from diseases such as Juvenile Diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer and AIDS" makes increased funding for human embryonic stem cell research a must! His January 9 statement went on to justify the killing of human embryos by telling the public that "the decision to discard the embryo which will be used for the research will already have been made and only then can the couple donate an embryo for research."

Let's state that in a different way so that we get the full meaning of this deceptively phrased statement. What if Castle had said "The decision to throw away the one-year-old baby which will be used for the research will already have been made and only then can the parents donate their child's body for research?"

Think about it. Would the public sit still for that kind of research? Of course not. But what is the actual difference between a one-year-old child and an embryonic child? Size and age. That is the only difference. The human being who is described as an embryo is no different than the human being who is described as a one year old child. As MIT stem cell scientist Dr. James Sherley said, "Whether or not the embryo has yet developed spinal nerves or self-awareness is an irrelevant point made to distract and confuse. I challenge the promoters of human embryonic stem cell research to justify why another human embryonic life is less worthy than their own was." The language of the human embryonic stem cell research crowd has been specifically designed to deny the truth, to dismiss the human embryo as nothing more than a clump of cells and to make those of us who favor protecting such individuals from death and destruction appear to be unfeeling, heartless simpletons who do not care about curing diseases or relieving suffering people of their pain and agony.

But these same individuals will not take a moment out to study the facts about stem cell research, the advances that have been made using adult stem cells, cord blood stem cells or, most recently, stem cells taken from amniotic fluid. In fact, the rush to deny such successes is so transparent; even the lead scientist for the amniotic fluid stem cell breakthrough took time out of his busy schedule to let the world know that he wants Congress to fund embryonic stem cell research and that the legislation in question needs to pass! Why? Because, in my humble view, he has joined the ranks of those who believe that it is all about the money � the more dollars the better, regardless of whether the particular research being funded is actually producing promised results.

One commentator even correctly suggested that scientific claims are inflated specifically to garner more and more money.

Yet anyone who would take the time to review the record would immediately notice that the best and most promising research being done today uses either the patient's own stem cells, cord blood stem cells or no stem cells of any kind. There is nothing to indicate that human embryonic stem cell research is effectively producing any promising results.

State after state is authorizing huge expenditures of taxpayer dollars so that they can remain in the race. Huge biotech companies are investing millions in the research, and now Congress wants to expand that funding base to include millions of federal tax dollars as well. For what? I ask you.

In Toronto Canada researchers have discovered a cure for diabetes in mice. Not a single stem cell of any kind was used in the initial research, yet few have heard about the work of Fr. Hans Michael Dosch and Dr. Michael Dalter whose injection of the active ingredient in hot chili peppers into the pancreatic sensory nerves of mice produced the amazing discovery. Yet not a single human embryo was killed.

In Illinois a three-year-old child suffering from leukemia was given a lifesaving infusion of her own cord blood which saved her life and now at age six she is thriving. Not a single human embryo was killed.

In Great Britain researchers have discovered that mesenchymal stem cells from adult bone marrow can effectively regenerate spinal discs. Not a single human embryo was killed.

That's the name of a new report out from the President's Domestic Policy Council.

The report is 67 pages (the majority of which is an appendix which contains the abstracts of various studies) and discusses breakthroughs in adult stem cell research, research to obtain pluripotent cells from sources other than living human embryos and touches on human cloning for research.

This brief Associated Press story reveals yet another example of the left's new tactic in dealing with "values voters"; namely, the distortion of biblical theology (while using religious symbol, rhetoric and association) to tempt Christians into aligning with the Democrat Party.

In this same approach recently, we've witnessed the surge in the MSM's coverage of "progressive evangelicalism," the cave-in of several Protestant leaders to the unscientific ballyhoo of global warming, and the sidling up of ardent abortion promoters like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to preachers like Bill Hybels and Rick Warren.

And now...this:

From The Times

HT: Wesley Smith

An elderly stroke victim begged for a beetroot sandwich and macaroni cheese in hospital but no attempt was made to feed her, an inquest was told yesterday.

Olive Nockels, 91, a former school matron, died after surviving for nearly a month on a subcutaneous drip that delivered only a quarter of the calorie intake specified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a short-term starvation diet.

Continued at Marlowe's Shade

Dan at faithmouse.com is creating free, personalized cartoons for the entire Pro-Life blogroll to promote the 2nd Annual Blogs4Life conference. You can check on the progress of your cartoon, suitable for both posting and printing, at the faithmouse site, faithmouse.com.

Barack Obama considers himself a constitutional expert. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for 10 years. Both are listed in the top 10 law schools in the country.

But don't be fooled. Obama is constitutionally challenged in at least one key area.

Example one comes from Obama's book, "Audacity of Hope" (page 53), where he quoted then misinterpreted the Declaration of Independence....

Worse, here is what Obama said when arguing against Illinois' Born Alive Infants Protection Act, legislation to guard against infanticide, during Senate floor debate:

I just want to suggest... that this is probably not going to survive constitutional scrutiny.

Number one, whenever we define a pre-viable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we're really saying is, in fact, that they are persons....

Incredible stuff. Not only did Obama make no sense, he showed just how far he would go to safeguard abortion.

First, Obama contended age is a determining factor whether constitutional rights apply....

Continue reading my column today, "Barack Obama's constitutional crisis," on WND.com.

As the embryonic stem cell debate over HR3 wages, political spin has approached absurd levels. Kathryn Jean Lopez via LTI Blog notes,

Rep. Diane DeGette (D., Colorado) said that her federal-funding-for-embryonic-stem-cell-research bill has the support of many of the freshman "self-described pro-life Democrats." She added, when pressed for names: "some have said they will vote for us and some have said they are thinking really hard about it."

In his column about Sen. Robert Casey, Mr. Novak automatically assumes that just because a member of Congress is pro-life, he automatically must be opposed to embryonic stem cell research.

Most of America knows this assumption is a bad one to make and, fortunately, senators such as Orrin Hatch and Gordon Smith, as well as Reps. Joe Barton and Jo Ann Emerson, understand that the two are completely separate issues. They support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and can vote accordingly for what is right for America.

In fact, we believe that in the case of embryonic stem cell research, being pro-life means that one supports the quest for better treatments and cures for the 100 million Americans who suffer from cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries and other debilitating diseases and disorders for which stem cell research provides great hope

How is destroying human life pro-life? �Well, you see, it has the absolute guaranteed certain possibility of curing diseases that afflict millions,� the argument goes. �And, curing disease and helping the suffering is pro-life. Therefore, ESR is actually a pro-life activity and those who stand in the way of this technological possibility are hypocrites � they argue that the dignity of human life demands the protection of humans at every level of development yet are unconcerned about the truly needy.�

The argument is bankrupt, full of fallacies.

Almost five years ago, Nigel M. de S. Cameron wrote an insightful and prophetic article connecting the practice of abortion to what is now a bioethics revolution against the dignity of human life:

As we approach the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a new and ever more complex threat to the dignity of humankind lies on the horizon. The struggle for the dignity of the unborn is unrelenting. More slowly than many predicted, the challenge of euthanasia continues to gain ground. Yet side by side with them both comes the revolution in biotechnology. Heralded by cloning, the first great battle in this war on human nature, the broader biotech agenda has hardly begun to catch our attention. Yet it threatens to overshadow every other issue in the fight for the sanctity and dignity of life.

The Family Research Council's Washington Briefing draws attention to the rising practice and acceptance of eugenics as reflect in a recentABC News article:

Imagine a baby that was made-to-order, with eye color, hair color and other characteristics predetermined.

Thanks to a controversial new embryo bank, these "designer babies," as critics describe them, are no longer science fiction. They're reality, and they're fueling a heated debate.

The Abraham Center of Life in San Antonio lets parents choose the physical traits and even personality of the donors. Would-be parents unable to have children naturally say the bank is a dream come true.

"People want babies. We can make them babies. What's the big deal?" said Jennalee Ryan, who runs the center.

As the first "commercial dealer" of embryos, the Abraham Center is a prime example of the growing acceptance of eugenics as a reproductive right rather than what it really is--an ethical landmine. America was a "house divided against itself" on the matter of slavery. Fighting a brutal civil war over the question of whether one human being was fit to own another, buying and selling slaves like cattle on the auction block. Now there are some who think that the buying and selling of human life is justified if the auction block is a tank of liquid nitrogen and the bill of sale is a posting on the Internet. On this our nation risks another deep division that cannot stand.

The new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, traveled extensively last week, celebrating her new position. ProLifeNews.tv caught up with her at St. Peter's Church and we interviewed Rob Schenck from Faith & Action and Erik Whittington from Rock for Life, a branch of American Life League.

The first interview we will post is with Rob Schenck. When asked if was any discussion about pro-Life issues, Rev. Schenck replied "Absolutely zero mentioned, except ...there were words spoken during the service about the value of every person, so there was at least a hint. ...and we know of course where the Catholic Church stands on this. No one in that room was ignorant of where the Catholic Church stands on the dignity and the value of every human life, born and unborn. There was no question about who authored the words that were spoken.

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

Just days before the House of Representatives considers mandating federal funding of stem cell research that destroys human embryos, researchers at Wake Forest University announced the discovery of stem cells in amniotic fluid. According to researchers, these stem cells share important traits similar to stem cells obtained from human embryos.

As was reported in today's Washington Post:

"They grow fast, as fast as embryonic stem cells, and they show great pluripotentiality," meaning they can become many kinds of tissues, said study leader Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. "But they remain stable for years without forming tumors," he added, something that embryonic cells are not very good at.

Blogs4Life has proposed a virtual symposium that will generate significant interest, and perhaps a few (constructive) sparks, within the pro-life blogging community. This is your chance to promote your ideas, be read by thousands (one can hope) and network with other online writers.

For the next few weeks we'll be hosting an online symposium to explore these issues. The online symposium will culminate in a capstone seminar at the upcoming Blogs for Life Conference. The three symposium topics are:

Defining our Movement: Redefining �Pro-Life� for the 21st Century

Over the past thirty years the term �pro-life� has often been almost completely associated with the issue of abortion. How can we use weblog technology to argue for a more robust definition that includes opposition in such areas as euthanasia, assisted suicide, and embryo destructive research? Also, where do we draw the between essential, nonnegotiable elements (e.g., opposition to abortion) and matters on which disagreements and differences of opinion should be respected allowed (for example, IVF or capital punishment)?

Defining our Approach: Choosing between Absolutism and Incrementalism

Should we approach pro-life issues on an incremental basis, gradually achieving our goals by compromise and exceptions? Or, should we settle for nothing less than full legal recognition of the sanctity for life? What are the merits for these positions? What are the drawbacks?

Are you coming to the March for Life in Washington D.C. on January 22nd? If so, consider going to the 2nd annual Blogs4Life.com Conference at the Family Research Council, located just a few blocks away from where the March will begin.

This year's event will feature Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Tony Perkins, Ramesh Ponnuru, Joe Scheidler, Bobby Schindler and Jill Stanek (left-right top-bottom).

Click here to register today for the Blogs4Life conference

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

From the FRC:

On January 11, the House will consider a bill to fund research that requires the killing of human embryos. Sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), H.R. 3 will federally fund research on human embryos that supposedly are "leftover" from in vitro fertilization. Instead of promoting the adoption of these human embryos, this bill would require their death.

President Bush is the first president to federally fund human embryonic stem cell research. He decided that such research could be funded so long as the cells had been obtained from embryos on or prior to August 9, 2001. Since then, the government has funded research on over 22 stem cell lines. However, the President's policy does not encourage the further killing of human embryos.

Just as abortion is currently legal, killing human embryos is completely legal. The debate is about federal funding. We don't federally fund abortion even though it is legal. Likewise, we should not force U.S. taxpayers to fund research that requires the destruction of embryos. Last July, President Bush vetoed the same bill and the House upheld the veto. However, H.R. 3 would overturn the Bush policy and create a direct incentive to create and kill human embryos for research with your taxes! Please contact your Representative and let him or her know that you strongly oppose H.R. 3.

Vote NO on H.R. 3.

In last week's NRO Robert P George eulogizes Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. If as was the case with me, this farewell is also an introduction, then it will be an inspiring and poignant one.

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese was a scholar as notable for her bravery as for her brilliance. After what she described as her �long apprenticeship� in the world of secular liberal intellectuals, it was careful reflection on the central moral questions of our time that led her first to doubt and then to abandon both liberalism and secularism. Needless to say, this did not endear her to her former allies.

More at Marlowe's Shade

Following an expose' by LifeSiteNews, the New York Times has issued a correction for an error it made in a report about the effects of laws that make all abortions illegal in El Salvador:

An article in The Times Magazine on April 9 reported on the effects of laws that make all abortions illegal in El Salvador. One case the article described was that of Carmen Climaco, who is serving a 30-year prison sentence in El Salvador.

[snip]

A second medical report, based on an examination of the body that was found under Ms. Climaco�s bed, concluded that her child was carried to term, was born alive and died in its first minutes of life.

Five weeks after they were notified by a LifeSiteNews.com article that they had made a grave error in reporting on abortion in El Salvador, and one week after the paper's ombudsman published his corroboration of the LifeSiteNews.com evidence, the New York Times has issued a correction. On Sunday, the New York Times magazine issued an editor's note admitting at least one of the errors in an April 9 story.

With information from contacts in El Salvador, LifeSiteNews.com pointed out in late November that the cover article in the NYT magazine of April 9 claimed falsely that some women in El Salvador were imprisoned for thirty years for illegal abortions. LifeSiteNews published the full court ruling in the case which showed that rather than being jailed for a clandestine abortion - as the Times magazine asserted - the case study cited actually concerned infanticide of a full-term baby. (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07010404.html )

The emotionally laden piece published by the magazine carried a photo of a young woman in prison by the name of Carmen Climaco. The caption stated she "was given 30 years for an abortion that was ruled a homicide." Moreover, the article concluded, "She'd had a clandestine abortion at 18 weeks, not all that different from D.C.'s, something defined as absolutely legal in the United States. It's just that she'd had an abortion in El Salvador."

Timesonline.co.uk reports that American scientists have been experimenting with amniotic fluid as a possible replacement for embryonic stem cells.

Article

They have called them amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells and said that they represented an �intermediate stage� between embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The cells have the same potential as embryonic stem cells and their ready availability makes them vital to research, the scientists said.

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

At least 63 area Boys and Girls Murdered! (Details follow)

Click here to read the rest of the story at ProLifeNews.tv

Dear pro-life friend:

Happy New Year from the Blogs4Life team!

There is exciting news about Blogs4Life (www.blogs4life.com), the Second Annual Conference of Pro-Life Bloggers, put together by ProLifeBlogs.com, the Family Research Council and ProLifeUnity.com. (Jan. 22, 2007).

We are privileged to announce that the following group of influential and noted pro-life leaders plans to speak at this year�s event:

• Bobby Schindler (Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation)
• Jill Stanek (noted pro-life leader/blogger and WorldNetDaily Columnist)
• Joe Scheidler (Founder, Pro-Life Action League)
• Ramesh Ponnuru (author of the Party of Death, National Review Online Editor)

In addition, we�ve just received word that Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) will address the conference in person.

The one-day event will take place on January 22nd, 2007 (in 17 days!) prior to and after the annual March for Life in Washington DC. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Family Research Council, the conference is located just a few blocks from the March at the FRC�s headquarters.

Joe Carter, the FRC�s Director of Web Communications, is organizing a virtual symposium leading up to the conference on various life issues. Visit Blogs4Life.com early next week for more information about how you can participate.

Blogs4Life will include a capstone session for the symposium and various workshops ranging from online activism to stem cell research.

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. It is also a unique occasion for bloggers to meet face to face and brainstorm about how to work together more effectively.

Please check out the conference website: http://www.blogs4life.com and register if you are able to attend . Even if you are unable to attend, we would appreciate your help in promoting the event via a post or a link (please help).

We hope to see at the conference!

It's the first Friday of the month & it's time to Call for Life!

Every month on the first Friday we call and/or email our representatives to let them know that they need to defend life. What do I say & who do I call? Go to MonthlyCallForLife.com for everything you need to know and do.

The unborn only have us. If we don't call for them, who will?

MonthlyCallForLife.com

United we stand - Divided they die - Pass it on

2006 and preborn children

By Judie Brown

December 29, 2006

As the year comes to a close, dozens of commentaries will be written with the goal of encapsulating the entire year into a few thousand words. As I firmly believe that only a fool would attempt to condense 365 days of activity into a few paragraphs, I won't even try.

My approach is to whet your appetite so that you will learn more about a particular event this past year, and in the process become committed to living out a pro-life commitment in word and deed.

Over the last twelve months two of the most articulate defenders of life, and most ardent opponents of Planned Parenthood, covered the nation talking and teaching average Americans about the threat that Planned Parenthood poses to their children and grandchildren. In the process, David Bereit, American Life League's executive director, and Jim Sedlak, ALL's vice president, motivated thousands of Americans. During this time, Planned Parenthood closed 13 clinics and currently operates its lowest number of facilities since 1987. That is very good news for expectant mothers, preborn children and youngsters.

Though this does mean that there are 817 of these operations still in place, there is every reason to believe that Planned Parenthood is shrinking and will continue to do so.

It is also clear that Planned Parenthood's multi-million dollar taxpayer subsidized package, arriving in its bank accounts annually, is at risk. Thousands of Americans signed on to our Stop Planned Parenthood Tax Funding petitions in 2006. The reality that we Americans are supporting Planned Parenthood with our tax dollars attained a level of discussion that nobody could have expected when 2006 began.

By Jim Sedlak
January 5, 2007

It is a very simple concept. It is logical. With everything we now know, given the advances in technology, it is the only position that makes sense:

The terms `human person' and `human being' include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including, but not limited to, the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.

In today's world of 3-D ultrasound and operations in utero, it is clear to even the most casual observer that a human person exists from his or her point of creation. Parents today happily display pictures of their children from the early months of pregnancy and everyone can see their beautiful faces and other features.

Yet there are those who still insist that it is okay to kill these innocent children just because somebody doesn't want them. It is a horrible fact that the youngest of our children are not protected by law.

In the last congress, 100 members of the House of Representatives supported a bill that simply said:

The Congress hereby declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being.

Sound reasonable?

Of course.

If doctors are half as cavalier about euthanasia as journalists, this piece about a would-be elderly angel of death is a good example of why "guidelines" in euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are worse than useless.

AN ANGUISHED ex-Hucknall man has pleaded with a nursing home to allow him to bring the life of his ill wife to an end.

Bill Starr (76) claims he has been told that his wife, Maureen, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is now dying.
Hucknall-born Maureen (63) has been a resident of the Lowmoor Home at Kirkby-in-Ashfield for 18 months.
But she no longer recognises her husband and Bill told the Dispatch that he called at the home last week "with the sole intention of releasing my wife's spirit".
He even took a change of clothes because he was prepared for police to arrive and arrest him.
He declined to say how he planned to carry out the mercy killing, which would have been illegal.
Because staff became aware of what Bill proposed to do, he has now been told he can no longer visit Maureen without supervision.
A campaigner for voluntary euthanasia, Bill says he will not be going to see Maureen any more in any case because he cannot bear to watch her condition deteriorate.

Read the rest at Marlowe's Shade

WASHINGTON (January 4, 2007) -- The leaders of the new Democratic majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have announced that one of their first priorities will be passage of legislation to mandate federal funding of the type of stem cell research that requires the killing of human embryos.

The House of Representatives is currently expected to take up such legislation (H.R. 3) on Thursday, January 11.

Democratic leaders in the Senate have indicated that they also regard passage of this legislation as a priority.

The text of H.R. 3 is not yet available, but it will be similar or identical to 2006 bill H.R. 810, which President Bush vetoed last July. The previous, Republican-controlled House sustained President Bush's veto. (To view the July 19, 2006, House roll call on sustaining the veto, click here.) The new 110th Congress, which is being sworn in today (January 4), will include more than 60 new lawmakers who were not members when the issue came up last year.

Your help is needed! Please IMMEDIATELY call your representative in the U.S. House, and your two U.S. senators, urging them to oppose federal funding of research that requires the killing of human embryos. Urge other pro-life citizens to do the same.

It is especially important to call lawmakers who were recently elected to Congress for the first time, and who therefore will be voting on this legislation for the first time. But do not take your returning representatives' votes for granted -- they need to hear from you, too, since the biotech industry and other powerful lobbies are working hard to change votes.

Click here for the live broacast

Steve Ertelt's LifeNews featured the report of obstetricians pushing for more Down's Syndrome testing that I posted about yesterday. There was some fascinating analysis including this view from the UK:

Most British doctors who are treating pregnant women with unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome are telling their patients to have abortions. Official figures show as many as 94 percent of women with babies with Down syndrome are having abortions.

Continued at Marlowe's Shade

Michelle Malkin draws attention to an editorial by Byron Calame,

[a] stunning Sunday column calling the Times to task for its false, sloppy, and unrepentant pro-abortion propganda packaged as a New York Times Magazine cover story on abortion in El Salvador by freelance writer Jack Hitt.

At it turns out, Climaco was convicted of strangling her newborn baby, a fact uncovered by LifeSiteNews last November.

Calame writes

Authorities found the dead baby hidden in a box wrapped in bags under the bed of Mrs. Climaco. Moreover, Lifesite reported, forensic examination showed that it was a full term normal delivery. The child was breathing at the time of birth. The official cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation.

Mr. Hitt never checked the 7,600-word ruling in the Climaco case while preparing his story. And Mr. Hitt told me that no editor or fact checker ever asked him if he had checked the court document containing the panel�s decision.

Turns out Hitt's main sources of info came from a pro-abortion group called IPAS. The group would profit from legalized abortion in El Salvador since it sells abortion vacuum aspirators.

Hitt's translator consulted for IPAS, which ran a fund-raising campaign to free Carmen Climaco and bring her to the United States. They've yanked it from the site, but here's a cached version touting the NYTimes piece.

You may have read Carmen�s story in �Pro-Life Nation,� the April 9 New York Times Magazine article by reporter Jack Hitt. Carmen, a mother of three, says she had a miscarriage. But medical and legal authorities say that she aborted the fetus and, by the harsh standards of Salvadoran law, committed �aggravated homicide.� Carmen got a 30-year sentence in a women�s jail.

You can help Carmen and women like her. With your donation �

The Times' pro-abortion poster child is a woman convicted of infanticide. But the Times, questioned by its own public editor, refuses to acknowledge Jack Hitt's false reporting.

E-mail the New York Times - letters@nytimes.com

E-mail Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Chairman & Publisher - publisher@nytimes.com

Related: HotAir's Vent

On Jan. 10, 2005, newly elected U. S. Sen. Barack Obama sauntered a victory lap inside the Illinois state Capitol, where he had just tenured seven years as state senator.

A journalist recently wrote that journalists can't seem to write about Obama these days without using the term "rock star." At that time, Obama was famous for the speech he gave five months prior at the Democratic National Convention but not yet the celebrity he is today, like the 1962 Beatles in Hamburg, to correlate.

So as Obama bid farewell to former colleagues and staffers, he attracted small crowds but was still approachable.

We happened to be at the Capitol that day, too, lobbying for the fifth year in a row for passage of Illinois' Born Alive Infant Protection Act.

Oh, the irony. Obama had been the sole senator speaking against Born Alive on the Senate floor in 2001 and 2002 and had single-handedly killed it in a committee he chaired in 2003.

My friend Fran did not want to let this caustic golden opportunity pass. So she pushed me forward as Obama ambled by....

Continue reading my column today, "Born Alive Veterans for Truth," on WND.com.

Wisconsin Right to Life, along with several other plaintiffs, filed suit on Friday seeking to enjoin Wisconsin's judicial canons that forbid state court judicial candidates from responding to candidate questionnaires asking their views on legal issues.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison. The case was brought against members of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Director of Wisconsin's Office of Lawyer Regulation, the entities charged with disciplining judges and lawyers who violate the judicial canons of Wisconsin and the state's Rules of Professional Conduct.

From The Examiner

From The Examiner

There's a big change coming for pregnant women: Down syndrome testing no longer hinges on whether they're older or younger than 35. This week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists begins recommending that every pregnant woman, regardless of age, be offered a choice of tests for this common birth defect.
The main reason: Tests far less invasive than the long-used amniocentesis are now widely available, some that can tell in the first trimester the risk of a fetus having Down syndrome or other chromosomal defects.
It's a change that promises to decrease unnecessary amnios - giving mothers-to-be peace of mind without the ordeal - while also detecting Down syndrome in moms who otherwise would have gone unchecked.
The new guideline is published in the January issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

More at Marlowe's Shade

I spoke with Joe Scheidler in November at one of the abortion mills in Chicago, Illinois. Two other people were there to help explain why we go to these places.

Click here to continue reading at ProLifeNews.tv

Remember that long New York Times Magazine story by Jack Hitt about El Salvador's abortion law and how a woman named Carmen Climaco was sentenced to 30 years for supposedly having an illegal abortion at 18 weeks?

Remember how LifeSite News published a story showing how the woman was actually imprisoned for strangling her newborn?

Byron Calame, the NY Times' Public Editor, now has an article exposing the laziness and/or bias of writer Jack Hitt and some of editors of the NYT.

One thing is clear to me, at this point, about the key example of Carmen Climaco. Accuracy and fairness were not pursued with the vigor Times readers have a right to expect.

AIDS is a growing epidemic in the world. There was a time when it was considered a "gay-only disease" but those days are gone. International agencies and world governments are working to solve this problem before a demographic nightmare takes place. However, the ACLU is on the case to push their usual agenda.

The ACLU is arguing before a federal appeals court that the United States is funding AIDS prevention unconstitutionally. Specifically, they argue that having a ban on funds to organizations that promote commercial sex work inhibits free speech. It should be no surprise that the ACLU is in bed with those who want to legalize prostitution.