1/20/2010 8:14:00 AM By Richard M Hartian
-Hartian.com
Want to know how to vote in the coming elections? If you are like most people these days, knowing how to vote is a challenge...deep down you want men and women of integrity to hold our elected offices; the problem is, with so many issues and creative ways politicians define their positions, it's easy to get lost as to which way to vote. The issue of abortion, as odd as it sounds, can make voting quite clear and can provide you with insights on how to vote...let me explain.
Wrapped in a person's view of abortion is not only how they will vote on the sanctity of life, but also how they will represent their constituents (that is, how they will represent you and I) in government, how they conduct themselves in private, whether they act in our interest or their own, how they will vote on financial concerns, such as taxes and spending, how they will vote concerning the agendas of special interest groups, and so on...lets look at this a bit more deeply...
A leading Christian physician has announced his resignation from the American Medical Association (AMA) because of the organization's support of abortion coverage in federal health care legislation.
Dr. David Stevens, the chief executive officer of the national Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA), says he can no longer in good conscience remain a member of the AMA. He is challenging other Christian physicians to also evaluate their affiliation with the organization.
"I can no longer associate with an organization that is unscientific, unprofessional, and controlled by special interests," Stevens said in a letter to the organization's leadership. "I no longer see any hope of changing your radical positions by working from the inside."
National Cancer Institute Researcher Reverses Position, Admits Abortion Raises Breast Cancer Risk in Study that Fingers Oral Contraceptives as a Probable Cause of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Less than two months since the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force issued new guidelines recommending against routine mammograms for women in their forties, a second breast cancer scandal involving a U.S. government panel of experts has come to light which has implications for healthcare reform.
An April 2009 study by Jessica Dolle et al. of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center examining the relationship between oral contraceptives (OCs) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in women under age 45 contained an admission from U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) researcher Louise Brinton and her colleagues (including Janet Daling) that abortion raises breast cancer risk by 40%. [1]
Additionally, Dolle's team showed that women who start OCs before age 18 multiply their risk of TNBC by 3.7 times and recent users of OCs within the last one to five years multiply their risk by 4.2 times. TNBC is an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with high mortality.
Abortions in Illinois increased over 5 percent in 2008, according to a Chicago Sun-Times article by Dave McKinney on Sunday, January 3, 2010. McKinney sites the economic slump and access to the Aurora mega abortion mill as reasons for this increase.
In the article, Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, states that he attributes the increase in part to the opening of Planned Parenthood's Aurora clinic in November 2007. Gilligan is quoted as saying "I think that has something to do with it."
McKinney then says "abortion statistics in three of the four counties straddling Aurora saw the number of women seeking the procedure jump dramatically in 2008." McKinney also quotes Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Council's Chicago area chapter as saying "When couples are facing an unintended pregnancy and have to make a decision whether they want to carry pregnancy to term and have another child, they'll factor economic circumstance into the decision."
According to a Harvard Business School case study, despite profits of $85 million in 2008, Planned Parenthood is facing serious financial difficulties. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is structured as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with multiple affiliates, each of which is also a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The national entity lobbies on national policy, sets affiliation standards, and leases its "Planned Parenthood" brand to affiliates.
The difficulties stem from the uneven strength of its affiliates. According to the Harvard case, PP's president Cecile Richards says her organization faces "tough economic times, a hostile political climate, and limited ability to raise philanthropic dollars in a resources constrained area of the country."
Is the fact that fertility is falling around the world good news? You would certainly think so if you agree with the analysis cheerily offered by The Economist. That very respected journal of economic analysis recently offered a cover story that celebrated falling human fertility as "changing the world for the better."
"Sometime in the next few years (if it hasn't happened already) the world will reach a milestone," the magazine predicts, adding that "half of humanity will be having only enough children to replace itself." In other words, for half of the world the fertility rate will have dropped to 2.1, considered the replacement rate for couples. This milestone, the magazine declares, "is one of the most dramatic social changes in history."
Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) wants the accused Fort Hood shooter, Major Nadil Malik Hasan, charged with an additional murder.
Army Major Hassan currently faces 13 counts of murder in the massacre, but one of the victims was pregnant. The baby died in the shooting. ADF attorney Steven Aden suggests Hassan should be charged in the death of the unborn child.
"The Uniform Code of Military Justice reflects the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which was passed in 2005 to protect unborn children," the attorney explains. "The law says that it is murder to cause the death of a child in utero at the time of the murder, regardless of whether the killer intended to kill the child."
Last week the Aurora City council agreed to a long-awaited settlement between the city and the Pro-Life Action League that lays out provisions protecting the rights of pro-life protesters at the Planned Parenthood facility in the city. A win for pro- lifers, the agreement recognizes the rights of protesters and secures comprehensive protection for citizens who wish to speak out in front of one of the nation's largest abortion facilities.
"With this new agreement in place, the pro-life community's peaceful outreach to abortion-bound mothers can proceed without hindrance, and the uncertainty and confusion that has characterized the police response to pro-life protests at Planned Parenthood should finally end," said Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League.
The settlement ends a dispute between the pro-life protestors and the City of Aurora that has gone on for more than two years, and exemplifies the kind of cooperation between municipalities and peaceful pro- life activists that is needed across the country.
There is a remarkable story from Texas this week about a Planned Parenthood clinic director who has left the nation's largest abortion provider after a dramatic change of heart. For eight years Abby Johnson had been a part of Planned Parenthood. Yet, after seeing an ultrasound of an abortion procedure she walked out of her clinic and quit. She is now supporting a local pro-life group with a crisis pregnancy center down the street from her old clinic.
"I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Johnson. She handed in her resignation October 6 after working as the Bryan, TX Planned Parenthood Director for two years.
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Allison Cowett and Hope Clinic for Women Ltd. to stop Illinois' parental notification law from taking effect on Nov. 3, 2009. This law requires that minor girls under the age of 18 notify their parents prior to an abortion and wait 48 hours. Note that this is merely a parental notification law-- not a parental consent law. In addition, Illinois, like all 34 other states that have parental notification laws, has a judicial bypass option available to girls. In addition, girls can bypass parental notification in an emergency situation or if they are willing to declare in writing that they were raped.
According to a Chicago Tribunearticle, Dr. Allison Cowett and the Hope Clinic claim that "the notification law would harm minors by preventing them from obtaining safe abortions or force them to carry their pregnancies to term." This is an ironic claim coming from a clinic that is being sued for a botched abortion that left a now 20-year-old woman sterile. According to LifeNews.com, "Antoinette Blanton, who is 20, filed a $50,000 against the abortion center saying the failed March 2006 abortion caused her to be sterile. According to the lawsuit, abortion practitioner Allen S. Palmer, of Bridgeton, failed to remove the entire unborn child during the abortion procedure."
In a development that reopens the whole controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood's deceptive arrival in Aurora in 2007, it has recently been disclosed that Planned Parenthood is planning an expansion in that city. They are seeking approval from the City of Aurora to boost their parking by 27 spaces, an increase of nearly 40 percent.
On October 15, the Planning and Development Committee will vote on Planned Parenthood's request for additional parking. Pro-life advocates plan to attend the meeting and urge the committee to deny Planned Parenthood's request.
Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League asked, "Why would Planned Parenthood need additional parking? We've got people out there all the time, so we know they haven't been overflowing their existing parking lot."
According to documents obtained by Scheidler through Freedom of Information Act requests, Planned Parenthood cites "security" as the reason for seeking more parking spaces.
A new national survey, by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, finds that a dwindling number of Americans express support for abortion. In Pew Research Center polls in 2007 and 2008, supporters of legal abortion clearly outnumbered opponents. Now, Americans are evenly split on the question, and there have been modest increases in the numbers who favor reducing abortions or making them more difficult to obtain.
The new poll, conducted from Aug. 11-27, reveals less support for abortion among most demographic and political groups. The survey also finds that the abortion debate has decreased in importance, especially among liberals. At the same time, opposition to abortion has grown more solid among conservatives. The timing of this shift in attitudes on abortion suggests it could be connected to President Barack Obama's election.
10/7/2009 3:55:00 PM By Steven Ertelt
-LifeNews.com
The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved a bubble zone law that makes it harder for pro-life advocates to offer women alternatives outside an abortion center. The law is so onerous that the pro-abortion ACLU joined pro-life advocates in condemning it.
Despite strong objection, members of the council voted 27-11 for the ordinance.
Alderman Vi Daley of the 43rd district sponsored the measure that he said would bring the city in line with many other cities and states across the nation. The law would establish a 50-foot buffer outside the entrances of abortion centers and, within that zone, no one can come within an 8-foot zone to distribute literature, counsel or display a sign.
"Women seeking any kind of medical service are routinely harassed," Daley claimed. "They are photographed, and they are followed."
The law would subject pro-life advocates to a $500 fine for merely talking to women considering abortion outside an abortion facility.
Members of the Pro-Life Action League and attorneys from the Thomas More Society attended the Human Relations Committee meeting of the Chicago City Council yesterday at 9:00 AM (Central) Wednesday, Sept. 30. The Committee is considering an amendment to the Municipal Code to prohibit picketing within 50 feet of any medical clinic.
These organizations strongly suspect this amendment is aimed at preventing pro-life people from praying and reaching out to clients of abortion facilities with information on alternatives to abortion.
Pro-life activists routinely stand on the public sidewalk at the entrances to abortion clinics in Chicago to offer information to anyone seeking services at the abortion clinics. The groups know of no incidents of intimidation, harassment or threats as referred to in the amendment introduced on Sept. 9 by Alderman Vi Daley (43rd Ward).
A copy of the proposed amendment to the Chicago Municipal Code is available upon request. Please call or email Tom Ciesielka at 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net.
A petition drive has been launched to convince Notre Dame's president to drop charges against pro-life demonstrators.
The demonstrations took place in May, leading up to a graduation speech by President Obama, who has been described by some as the most pro-abortion president in American history. Eighty-eight pro-life protesters were jailed, including Alan Keyes, Norma McCorvey -- who was the Roe in Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion -- and an elderly priest. John Ritchie of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property Student Action notes that the arrests seem unfair.
A short time ago, I wrote about the absence of righteous anger in the church about the use of public money to affirm homosexual behavior in our public schools. Tragically, that's not the only cultural issue about which there is a paucity of righteous anger. Abortion, the barbaric practice of killing the unborn in a selfish, unholy quest to fulfill the "needs" of another, remains the other issue on which the church fails to demonstrate an appropriate degree of anger. If the church did demonstrate an appropriate degree of righteous wrath, this murderous practice would have long ago been banned.
But here we are thirty-six years and a staggering 50,000,000 aborted babies later still witnessing this daily assault on life and decency.
There a noble, courageous, and tireless few who picket abortion abattoirs and serve on social concerns committees at church; there's a handful of people of faith who volunteer at crisis pregnancy centers; there are more who will who donate money to pro-life organizations; there are some who will actually talk to a friend or neighbor about this gruesome, unnatural, and indefensible practice; and some of us occasionally assuage our consciences by watching a pro-life video and shedding at tear which we view as a sign that we really care.
Murder of Michigan Pro-Life Advocate Sends Message: Not Safe to Tell the Truth in America
"We are shocked to learn of the killing of pro-life activist Jim Pouillon, a man who day after day stood as a witness to the violence of abortion. Now he himself is a victim of violence," said Joseph M. Scheidler, national director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, "Just last month at a clinic on the north side of Chicago a man shouted to one of our counselors, 'I'll get my gun and shoot you through the head.' On a number of occasions, our 'Face the Truth Tour' was threatened with deadly weapons."
"When the late term abortionist, Dr. George Tiller, was murdered, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office launched a federal investigation into federal crimes in connection with the murder, and the Civil Rights Division convened a meeting of the National Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers," commented Scheidler. "Now the Pro-Life Action League is calling on those government agencies to investigate this murder and established a task force to protect pro-life advocates." Read more...
Pro-lifers surrounded an Oak Lawn, IL hospital with prayer & peaceful protest.
Pro-life citizens across America will line local sidewalks to seek God's forgiveness and intervention, while holding signs that read Abortion Kills Children; Adoption: The Loving Option; Abortion Hurts Women; and Jesus Forgives and Heals.
Life Chain is a peaceful witness against a violent public enemy that has killed millions of preborn Americans at surgical abortion clinics and through abortifacient birth controls.
LIFE CHAIN invites churches in each city and town across North America to stand on a designated local sidewalk and pray for one hour, while holding pro-life signs. Click HERE for locations in Illinois.
Pro-life advocates in Aurora, Illinois are planning to open a women's center in a strip mall a block away from a Planned Parenthood clinic to counsel women who have had abortions and to help pregnant women continue their pregnancies and raise their children.
The Waterleaf Women's Center was dedicated on Sunday afternoon by Catholic clergy and about 75 supporters. It plans to open for business in several weeks, the Naperville Sun says.
Three local women began searching for office space and raising funds for the project in January.
Waterleaf board president Kelly Gorsky told the Naperville Sun that the center's core mission is to urge pregnant women not to have abortions. It has set a goal of preventing one abortion per week.
A federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the National Institute of Health (NIH) guidelines for public funding of human embryonic stem cell research was filed last week, reports the Catholic News Agency. Dr. James Sherley, a senior scientist at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute, is a party to the suit, along with the Christian Medical Association and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, an embryo adoption agency.
Thomas G. Hungar, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the language of the statute is clear. "It bans public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos," he explains. "NIH's attempt to avoid Congress' command by funding everything but the act of 'harvesting' is pure sophistry. The guidelines will result in the destruction of human embryos and are unlawful, unethical and unnecessary."
In a Thursday surprise, an amendment to strip hundreds of millions of dollars from the nation's largest abortion business is set for a Friday vote on the House floor.
The Pence Amendment to de-fund Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion chain, of Title X funding in the Labor/Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill passed successfully through the House Rules Committee late Thursday.
"In a time of economic crisis, it makes no sense for the federal government to spend millions of dollars killing millions of future taxpayers," said Shaun Kenney, executive director of American Life League. "Why are the American people forced to fund this vile organization? It's time our legislators represent the will of the people against Planned Parenthood's powerful Washington lobby."
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) introduced the Amendment Tuesday which states:
"None of the funds made available under this Act shall be available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under Title X of the Public Health Services Act."
Today, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was put on notice that the Thomas More Society in Chicago stands ready to defend the Coalition for Life of Iowa against the prejudicial questioning by the IRS, which has delayed granting tax exemption to the non-profit religious organization. After questioning the "educational" nature of the Coalition's materials, prayer meetings, talks and other Pro-Life activities, the IRS stated that it would not grant tax exemption until the Coalition swore to limit its "picketing" and "protesting" of Planned Parenthood.
In their response, attorneys of the Thomas More Society defending the Coalition, argued that the IRS is in danger of violating the First Amendment and that the request for tax exemption should be promptly granted. The repeated questioning of the Coalition suggests that the IRS may be denying or delaying tax-exempt status to an eligible organization based solely upon its religious affiliation and speech. Many other organizations regularly advocate on both sides of these issues, and they have not been hindered in obtaining or maintaining tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3).
6/29/2009 5:25:00 PM By Steven Ertelt, Editor
-LifeNews.com
In an interview with Jon Stewart of the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central last week, former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee blasted the false notion that common ground exists in the abortion debate.
The notion that there is common ground on killing children and hurting women has been repeatedly taken to task by pro-life advocates.
Huckabee said that abortion advocates don't want to give an inch in the abortion debate by accepting even modest limits on abortion such as parental notification, which would allow parents to know when their daughters are considering the life-altering decision.
Stewart talked about how abortion advocates may have the best interests of women in mind, but Huckabee countered that pro-life advocates care for both mother and child.
What does "working together" on abortion look like to Clarence Page and Barack Obama? It means that they get to retain legalized abortion and in exchange, they will refrain from calling pro-lifers "yahoos" and "right -wing ideologues." Sounds fair to me.
If you listen carefully to the preternaturally detached President Obama, you will hear the perplexing echo of Professor Irwin Corey. While Obama's rhetoric has all the necessary parts of speech-nouns, verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, etc.--when you parse it carefully, you discover no sense. Or nonsense.
Take his speech at Notre Dame. While acknowledging that "at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable," he nonsensically argues for "common ground," urging Americans "to work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions."
Listen to this short, powerful message from John Piper whose words may help restore to a desensitized society a proper sense of grief and outrage about the horrific practice of abortion:
Today in a House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on foreign policy priorities in the Obama Administration, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) asked Secretary Clinton if the Obama Administration is working to overturn other countries' pro-life laws and if the administration sees "reproductive rights" and "reproductive health" as including abortion.
Secretary Clinton's answered the latter question by stating, "We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health and reproductive health includes access to abortion. . . . We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to reproductive health care."
The controversy surrounding President Barack Obama's visit to Notre Dame is growing day by day. The President is scheduled to deliver the commencement speech to the University's 2009 graduating class on May 17th. This has led to considerable criticism from Catholic clergy and the general public. However, the fact the President will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree has added outrage from Notre Dame alumni and some members of the current student body.
Most encouraging is the fact the Notre Dame story -- related to Obama's appearance -- has garnered significant coverage from the dominant media. On April 7th, the Illinois Family Institute helped coordinate media coverage of a protest led by Randall Terry, the Founder of Operation Rescue. One of Terry's demonstrations scheduled for the day took place in front of the Chicago office of Richard C. Notebaert, Chairman, Notre Dame Board of Trustees. In contrast to other pro-life events, this protest was reported on by five Chicago television outlets, including members of the print media.
An Illinois Judge ruled last week that the State cannot force two pharmacists with religious objections to abortion to dispense Plan B also known as the "morning after pill".
Circuit court Judge John Belz in Springfield issued a temporary restraining order to remain in effect until he can hear arguments regarding the legality of the state's administrative rule that requires pharmacies to dispense all "lawful prescription[s] for a contraceptive... without delay" against the owners/pharmacists religious beliefs and consciences. Pharmacy owners Luke VanderBleek and Glenn Kosirog, who have several northern Illinois pharmacies, have been fighting for their rights on this issue since 2005.
At heart of the legal battle is the question of whether the Emergency Contraceptives Rule, which took effect on August 25, 2005 under the executive order of then-Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, violates the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Right of Conscience Act.
The "Reproductive Health and Access Act," HB 2354, often referred to as the "Freedom of Choice Act," or FOCA, declares that "every individual posses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to reproductive decisions"( Section 5). In support of this, the bill mandates that "All Illinois public schools shall offer medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sexual health education" (Section 30).
But will this sex ed have to be "anthropologically accurate," that is, will it approach sexuality in a manner similar to how human societies throughout history have approached sexuality, as a physical/emotional attraction between males and females that is the basis of marriage and the natural family? Or will the various approved curricula be "politically correct," and view sexuality in the manner of the psych/educrat establishment, as sensation to be gratified in any way the individual desires provided everyone involved gives their consent, and no one approach is to be "privileged" over any other? Will casual sexual contacts among multiple individuals be depicted as "just as good" as traditional marriage?
President Barack Obama needs to know that not everyone supports the goals of Planned Parenthood. As pro-life citizens, we need to let the President know that we oppose abortion. This is a simple yet powerful way to send this message.
Buy a red envelope. Address it to:
President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, D.C. 20500
On the back of the sealed envelope, write the following:
This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of the world.
Mail the envelope on Tuesday, March 31st.
Please tell your pro-life friends and neighbors about the Red Envelope Campaign. Ask your pastor if your church would like to participate. President Obama is pushing forward with a radical pro-abortion agenda, and he needs to realize that America does not support him.
Anticipating an executive order from President Barack Obama to expand Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, claims that science will now be encouraged rather than inhibited by "ideology" are being heard from supporters of this action.
Will such funding really help advance science? Bernadine Healy, former head of the National institutes of Health notes that several recent scientific breakthroughs "reinforced the notion that embryonic stem cells, once thought to hold the cure for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes, are obsolete."
At least five years ago, Planned Parenthood Chicago Area (PPCA) organized a press conference with their contingent of pro-abortion ministers. These ministers accused the Archdiocese of Chicago with "harassment" of PPCA's customers by holding a prayer vigil with hundreds of people in front of PPCA's abortion clinic at 1200 N. LaSalle in Chicago.
At the same time a bill was being considered in Springfield (called the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act) to outlaw "harassment" of women entering abortion clinics. The bill did not define harassment, but that press conference made it clear what they intended. The bill did not pass and has not been re-introduced so far. Maybe the extra insight provided at the press conference helped stop this bad bill.
Lia is a preteen from Canada who decided to speak out against abortion in her school's speech contest, despite teachers and school officials who encouraged her to pick a different topic.
The parents must be proud to be raising a young woman who is willing to boldly speak the truth despite the negative consequences she may face from her peers and teachers.
I wish there were more people with this kind of courage!!
Has this risk been overblown? Is there really no risk at all? It seems "abortion rights" proponents are trying to challenge the credibility of their opposition by claiming they were never serious about FOCA in the first place. They might have a bridge to sell you too; in Brooklyn perhaps?
Midwest's largest late-term abortion mill, where parental consent is not necessary, maimed yet another pregnant mother and murdered her six month old baby.
"The doctors were getting lazy when I was there. They are inducing a lot more women to speed up the process. I've seen some stuff and frankly am tired of the clinic... I hate all the bad things they are doing, putting lives in danger!" ~ former Hope Clinic employee
On Friday we found out that Jahila, from Arkansas, was 24 weeks pregnant. She already had another baby back home and didn't think she could handle another one. She went inside. At 10:30 a.m. some clients began leaving the abortion mill with their brown bags. Sometime after we left around 11:30 the young mother from Arkansas was rushed across the street.
1/28/2009 10:57:00 AM By Charlie Butts
-OneNewsNow
Pro-life groups are gearing up to combat the Freedom of Choice Act.
Brad Mattes, executive director of Life Issues Institute, says the Freedom of Choice Act, or FOCA, is a dangerous bill that President Barack Obama has promised to sign. "FOCA, the Freedom of Choice Act, would kick to the curb every protective law that has been passed by Congress, state legislatures, or local communities," he explains.
FOCA would promote partial-birth abortion and ban parental-notification laws, according to Mattes. However, he has not lost hope. "If FOCA is brought through committee and to the floor of the House and the Senate as an entire bill, I think our chances are better at stopping it," he notes.
1/28/2009 10:51:00 AM By Charlie Butts
-OneNewsNow
Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks out about reversal of the "Mexico City policy," which occurred just days after Barack Obama became America's 44th president.
The Mexico City policy, first enacted via executive order by then President Ronald Reagan, prohibited use of U.S. tax dollars to fund or promote abortions in foreign countries. Dr. King, a well-known pro-life activist and speaker, notes that President Obama reversed that policy last week, pouring several hundred-million dollars into foreign abortion programs.
According to King, that policy reversal takes taxpayer dollars "that could be used for feeding our families, educating our children, and giving our citizens of this wonderful country somewhere to live."
Today we observe the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in which our Supreme Court declared a new so-called "right" (even though it is not in our U.S. Constitution) -- the "right" to kill our children. Sad.
For those of you who think that Pres. Barack Obama may be good for America, I ask you to please think about the fact that Obama's pro-abortion agenda will make the destruction of human life easier and more prevalent. What is good about that? What could compensate for such evil?
Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) spoke yesterday about the affect of abortion on women and the Positive Alternatives Act:
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) spoke yesterday on the abortion agenda in the new administration:
How does America feel about abortion? Apparently our laws don't reflect our values. A December 2008 Harris poll found that support for legal abortion continues to decline steadily. Here are some of the results:
95 percent favor laws ensuring that only licensed physicians are allowed to perform abortions
88 percent favor informed consent laws (that require abortion providers to inform women of potential risks to their physical and psychological health and about alternatives to abortion)
76 percent favor laws that protect doctors and nurses from being forced to perform or refer for abortions against their will
73 percent favor laws that require giving parents the chance to be involved in their minor daughter's abortion decision
Unfortunately, our state laws lack provisions solving these problems. It's way past time for Illinois law to reflect majority views on reasonable abortion restrictions that protect women's health and the lives of preborn children.
A Chicago Tribunearticle of January 11, reports that Geron Corp, a biopharmaceutical development corporation, hopes to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) for the first human clinical trials in the United States using embryonic stem cells. The embryonic stem cells would be used on patients with spinal cord injuries. If approved, the trials could likely take from five to ten years before the FDA would approve the treatment for general use, and that, according to the article, is looking at the task in a simple way. The FDA can require longer times and more studies before finally approving any treatment that shows benefits and with "low" risks.
The article states that Geron will use stem cells obtained by killing live human embryos harvested from in-vitro fertilization. It was noted that there have been hurdles for Geron "including how the company would conduct its trials and the ethical questions and religious opposition to using human embryos."
A grand jury will investigate whether an undercover video shot at an Indianapolis Planned Parenthood clinic shows criminal activity, The Associated Press reported.
The video shows a woman posing as a 13-year-old girl who says the man who impregnated her is 31. "I don't care how old he is," said the counselor, who has been suspended.
Indiana law requires anyone learning of sexual acts between an adult and a child younger than 14 to report them.
LifeNews.com is sounding the alarm about the possibility of the Hyde Amendment not being renewed by a pro-abortion Congress and president. The Hyde Amendment, named in honor of Illinois pro-life and pro-family statesman Henry Hyde, is an abortion limitation amendment in the annual appropriations bill that restricts the direct federal funding of abortion through Medicaid.
Without the Hyde Amendment, women eligible for Medicaid would have their abortions paid for by our tax dollars. "If abortions are free to the individual, you can bet on abortion rates increasing," writes Lifesitenews.com coulmnist Benjamin Clapper. With the Hyde Amendment being part of the appropriations bill, it must be passed every year. While the extremely dangerous Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) may not come up this year, the Hyde Amendment must come up, "making it a serious and pertinent threat to unborn human life."
In a column published in the January 4-17 edition of the Catholic New World, Father Michael Boland, Administrator and President of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, gave an annual report on the outstanding outreach of this 91 year old organization.
1,016,565 persons in its 159 programs at 156 locations were served with competence and compassion. 178,000 infants and children were nurtured in body, mind and spirit through its child-and-family-centered programs. Adoption and Maternity services assisted 375 maternity clients and staffed a 24-hour hotline. Day care and after-school experiences benefited 1,800 infants through school age children. 500,000 meals were provided at its nine child-development centers. 18 Women, Infants and Children Food and Nutrition Centers throughout the city served healthy nourishment to 126, 125 children, nursing mothers and their infants.
12/16/2008 1:10:00 PM By Steven Ertelt, Editor
-LifeNews.com
Pope Benedict XVI released his annual peace message on Thursday that touched on a number of political subjects but also went after population control campaigns. He criticized efforts that rely on abortion or try to use reducing the birth rate as a method of economic development.
The Catholic leader's words come at a time when pro-life advocates are worried that incoming president Barack Obama will restore funding to the UNFPA and groups that promote and perform abortions in other countries.
In his 17-page message "Fighting Poverty to Build Peace," the pope attacked the population control campaigns that wrongly believe a higher population hurts the global economy -- even as some nations are facing economic troubles because of severe underpopulation.
Late last Wednesday, Judge Judith Brawka of Kane County Circuit Court upheld two counts of slander and libel, alleged by Eric Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action League, in a lawsuit filed in 2007, holding that those counts should not be dismissed as a matter of law.
The court's decision overruled an objection by defendants, Planned Parenthood of Illinois and its Chief Executive Officer Stephen Trombley, that the alleged defamatory, libelous and slanderous statements were immune from suit under Illinois' newly enacted Citizen Participation Act.
A new article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons says African American women are being disproportionately exposed to an unsafe surgical procedure that is a "probable cause" of the high preterm birth rate among blacks. [1]
The authors, Brent Rooney and his colleagues, cited numerous studies, the Institute of Medicine, and other authorities acknowledging the abortion-preterm birth (APB) link.
Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life released the following statement in response to news that leaders in Congress plan to make funding embryo destructive stem cell research a priority.
"Given the current state of the economy, to squander taxpayer resources on research that destroys human embryos, that shows no actual therapeutic results, and that in fact runs counter to the latest stem cell discoveries (induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs) is nothing more than ideologically-driven government at its very worst.
Scientists have achieved, according to ScienceLine.org, the tricky task of transforming skin cells from Lou Gehrig's disease patients into stem cells. This breakthrough may speed the search for a cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), as the disease is also known as, which slowly and inexorably destroys nerve cells. Using the stem cells, researchers can observe the progression of the disease replayed in a Petri dish and test a battery of experimental drugs aimed at halting nerve cell death. The disease afflicts about 5,000 new people every year in the United States and kills 90 percent of them within five years of diagnosis.
Until now, the only windows into the role genetics plays in the disease's progression was a breed of lab mouse that develops ALS. In the mouse model of ALS, a single gene is responsible for the disease. In humans, a similar gene is thought to be responsible for only about one percent of ALS cases.
To create a better model for understanding ALS, researchers at Harvard and Columbia Universities took cells from the skin of about 20 ALS patients and reprogrammed them into stem cells. Like embryonic stem cells, reprogrammed stem cells have the ability to become any cell in the human body. However, it is done using adult cells instead of through the destruction of human embryos, which is required for Embryonic Stem Cell Research.
Jonathan Moreno of the University of Pennsylvania is heading up President-elect Obama's bioethics campaign and pro-lifers are calling that a negative for the movement.
Embryonic research involves the destruction of tiny human beings and is vigorously supported by Obama. Dr. David Prentice knows about Moreno's position on the subject and says that Moreno was on the National Academy of Sciences panel - a panel that approved guidelines for destroying embryos that were used for research and human cloning.
The first major effort to promote awareness of the need for adoptive families for children in the foster care system occurred in Massachusetts. In 1976, then-Governor Mike Dukakis proclaimed "Adoption Week" and the idea grew in popularity and spread throughout the nation. In that same year, President Gerald Ford made the first National Adoption Week proclamation, and in 1990, the week was expanded to a month due to the number of states participating and the number of awareness events held.
During the month, states, communities, public and private organizations, businesses, families, and individuals celebrate adoption as a positive way to build families. Across the nation, activities and observances such as recognition dinners, public awareness and recruitment campaigns, and special events spotlight the needs of children who desire permanent families. It also includes "National Adoption Day," traditionally a Saturday, which is observed in courthouses across the nation as thousands of adoptions are finalized simultaneously.
10/29/2008 3:37:00 PM By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
-LifeSiteNews.com
With only days remaining before the November 4 U.S. election, a tally has shown that over a quarter of America's bishops have published articles, issued statements or given interviews where they have declared that the most important issue for voters in their choice of a new president is the candidate's stance on abortion.
The tally was put together by well-known Catholic journalist and blogger Rocco Palmo, and published in The Tablet, a Catholic periodical (See Rocco's article here: http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/12189).
Catholics across the nation have taken the message pro-life to heart, as their pastors have repeatedly called on them to make the right to life the defining issue and to vote accordingly.
A new poll released by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion finds a large majority of Americans take one of three pro-life positions opposing all or most abortions.
Some 60 percent of Americans say abortions should never be allowed or only in the rarest of circumstances, such as rape and incest, that constitute less than two percent of all abortions nationwide.
The survey showed 13 percent say abortion should never be permitted, another 15 percent say abortions should only be allowed to save the life of the mother, and 32 percent say abortions should be allowed that rare case and when the mother is the victim of rape or incest.
Eighty-three U.S. Congressmen, including Illinois Congressmen John Shimkus (R-19) and Jerry Costello (D-12) sent a letter dated September 26, 2008, to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt asking for information about the dramatic and sudden increase in Medicare and Medicaid-funded abortions due to rape in Illinois.
According to a document by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, the spike, entirely due to increased numbers in Illinois alone, rose from 20 in FY2005 to 84 in FY2006 and 363 in FY2007. Other states show no comparable increases.
Psalms 10:17 "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."
We were recently put in touch with yet another heartbroken mother who was devastated after learning her grandchild was killed and her rights to her minor daughter were ripped from her arms, without her knowledge. Here in Illinois, the abortion industry feels they make better parents to your children than custodial parents who are footing their children's bills and raising them. Our ministry has unfortunately made national news with this ongoing problem concerning parental rights and underage abortion.
APA Report Disregards Large Body of Evidence Linking Abortion and Decreased Mental Health, Care Net Says
Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde responded Wednesday to a draft report released by the American Psychological Association that claims there is no risk of mental health problems after one abortion. Delahoyde said the report will have "devastating consequences on women if health professionals follow the APA and withhold potentially lifesaving information about the risks of abortion."
Researchers at Harvard University successfully transformed one type of adult stem cell into another type -- inside living mice. The article announces, "The feat, published online today by the journal Nature, raises the tantalizing prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies."
The American Psychological Association (APA) has published a report this week declaring that "there is no meaningful connection between abortion and subsequent psychological disturbances in women." However, the APA report does concede that a woman can have negative psychological consequences, but only in cases where a "wanted" child was aborted for eugenic reasons.
David Reardon of the Elliot Institute has done numerous studies producing data showing the impact of abortion on women. Reardon's research of post-abortion women showed that over 60 percent of them felt "forced" into unwanted abortions by people or circumstances. Other studies show that 90 percent of abortions are done to please someone other than the woman.
Pro-abortion advocates have argued for some time that life-destroying embryonic stem cell research, which requires cloning and killing human embryos, is the only way to cure diseases such as ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. However, President George W. Bush has continuously stood firm against the use of embryonic stem cells, causing scientists to search for other ways to cure such ailments.
With a recent medical breakthrough, President Bush and pro-lifers have a victory. Researchers at Harvard and Columbia published a study explaining how they used adult skin cells to mimic stem cells in order to treat ALS. He was able to "reprogram" the skin cells in a way that made them appear like embryonic stem cells, which will prove to be a great advance in the fight against ALS and other such diseases.
The fact that this work has been done is a victory for pro-life advocates because the work can help to restore human life without harvesting embryos and destroying life. CLICK HERE to read the study.
A federal agency is referring poor women to Planned Parenthood.
Women, Infants, and Children, often referred to as WIC, is a federally funded poverty program. On its website is a link to Planned Parenthood, which commits a fourth of this nation's abortions. Jim Sedlak is with American Life League (ALL).
"It's time for all government agencies to stop sending people to Planned Parenthood and recommending Planned Parenthood," Sedlak urges. "It is time that the American taxpayer spoke up and told their members of Congress that Planned Parenthood does not deserve to be recognized by the government or anybody else."
The maxim says "If we ignore history, we are bound to repeat it." Some recent headlines suggest we can look at some recent history with the opportunity to avoid repeating it, but only if we rise up against the advocates of "comprehensive sex education" and condoms as the most reliable means to fight AIDS.
The July 16th LifeSiteNews headline reads, "Britain's 'Culture of Promiscuity' sees nearly 400,000 new STD Cases." The British Health Protection Agency (HPA) recently reported 397,990 new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in Britain, the highest number since record-keeping began thirty years ago. In their report released July 2, the HPA found that half the cases of infection could be found in the 16 to 24 year age group, even though this group made up only 12 percent of the population.
Attempts have been made to legalize assisted suicide in California, but so far they have failed, leaving Oregon as the only state to enter that brave new world. The latest news from California mentioned a bill promoting euthanasia. What is that about?
In fact, the bill in question seeks to require medical providers to provide information and referrals to hospice whenever a terminal diagnosis is made. From the introductory text of California bill AB 2747, it states:
7/16/2008 11:32:00 AM By Charlie Butts
-OneNewsNow
Although it was set up to provide reproductive healthcare to the poor, Planned Parenthood is building large and small facilities in suburban areas where money is more available.
Planned Parenthood is funded in part by federal tax dollars for the purpose of providing reproductive health services, including abortion, to those who cannot afford it. Marie Hahnenberg of American Life League (ALL) has observed the agency's trend moving to suburbia where money flows more freely.
Abortion kills 1,452 black infants every day in this country. Sadly, the black community and its leaders are largely ignoring the slaughter. On July 14, 2008, LEARN (BlackGenocide.org) with assistance from CBR Midwest will confront the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at its annual national convention in Cincinnati, OH, about its unwillingness to substantively address abortion.
Historically, the NAACP has failed to address the concerns of many of its delegates about abortion. In 2004, the NAACP issued a resolution voicing support for "equal access to abortion" and urged its members to participate in a pro-abortion rally in Washington, DC. Read more...
When I was an engineer, my company actively supported the efforts of our local United Way. All employees, especially members of management, were strongly encouraged to participate in the program by designating a certain amount each month to go to efforts of the United Way. At the time, I was a bit peeved by the tactics.
As a Christian, I felt the obligation to bring my tithes and offerings into the storehouse of the Church. But, as management, I felt the need to participate. After evaluating the charities supported by the United Way in my area at the time, I was encouraged to see that no monies were going to causes that caused me significant consternation.
However, that is not the case with our local United Way here in Peoria. While United Way helps many needed charities, our local chapter also gives to Planned Parenthood.
The June 19, 2008 headline reads "US doctors kill skin cancer with cloned T-cells." Does this suggest that human cloning of embryonic stem cells has been successful in treating skin cancer? Absolutely not!
The details of the New England Journal of Medicine report that generated this news coverage reveal that adult stem cells obtained from the patient were used. As reported inScienceDaily, researchers "removed CD4+ T cells, a type of white blood cell, from a 52-year-old man whose Stage 4 melanoma had spread to a groin lymph node and to a lung. T cells specific to targeting the melanoma were then expanded vastly in the laboratory using modifications to existing methods."
A conservative congressman is blasting Democrats for attempting to use the emergency war-funding bill to line the pockets of the country's largest abortion provider.
Senate Democrats have attached a provision to the Iraq supplemental bill that would allow university healthcare centers and some Planned Parenthood facilities to receive a discount on abortion drugs such as RU-486. Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) introduced a similar stand-alone bill (S. 2347) in November "to restore and protect access to discount drug prices for university-based and safety-net clinics."
Congressman Trent Franks (R-Arizona) says it is "astonishing" that Congress would give $300 million a year to Planned Parenthood.
An amazing new billboard project with the heading "Faithful Condom User" sponsored by Human Life International in Tanzania (East Africa) has sparked the international condom lobby to go utterly ballistic.
The full size billboard features a picture of a skeleton to indicate the pandemic deaths caused by HIV/AIDS and the lies propagated by "high profile" anti-life organizations like the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, Family Health International, Population Services International and others. Read more...
In a day when the drumbeat calling for transparency in state budgets and government records is growing, it seems counter to current trends for pro-family, pro-life groups to protect the privacy of adoptive parents.
Illinois now has a volunteer system of adoption record disclosure, whereby parents or children willing to have private information revealed are able to sign up with the state's adoption registry.
That option of choice is not satisfactory to State Representative Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) who has introduced HB 4623 that would force all adoption records to be open, even those that were archived under the tightest confidentiality decades ago. Rep. Feigenholtz, an adoptee herself, wants Illinois to join the ranks of eight other states whose adoption laws are open.
This Saturday, April 26th, between 9 A.M. and 11 A.M., be a voice for unborn children, a witness for the value of human life, and a help to mothers facing untimely pregnancy at Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood's Spring 2008 Special Event.
The Rally will include an ongoing prayer walk, a "baby shower" to collect items for mothers in need, pro-life displays on the beauty of life and the injustice of abortion, and more.
The rally will take place at New York Street and Oakhurst Drive, Aurora (Map).
Parking and a free shuttle to the rally site are available at Our Lady of Mercy Church, 801 S. Eola Road (Map).
A research team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology was able to reprogram certain mature cells back to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state without using an egg, according to findings published in the April 18 issue of Cell. In previous research, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been created from fibroblasts, a specific type of skin cells that may differentiate into other types of skin cells.
According to Science Daily, this study used B cells, immune cells that can bind to specific antigens, such as protections from bacteria, viruses or microorganisms. Unlike fibroblasts, mature B cells have a specific part of their DNA cut out as a final maturation step.
Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today said that racism and abortion are linked.
"Abortion and racism are both symptoms of a fundamental human error," stated Dr. King. "The error is thinking that when someone stands in the way of our wants, we can justify getting that person out of our lives. Abortion and racism stem from the same poisonous root, selfishness."
April has been declared Child Abuse Prevention Month. Given that Pro-Life organizations are committed to defend the right to life of each human person from conception to natural death, it naturally follows that preventing child abuse is consistent with Pro-Life principles and goals.
Abortion proponents claim that abortion prevents child abuse. They like the phrase "every child a wanted child" to imply that abortion can be justified for unwanted children and that wanted children will not be abused. Does reality support such a claim?
According to the Boston Globe, this development "illustrat[es] the vast medical potential of this new type of stem cell." The study used rats whose midbrains were damaged in a way to closely mimic Parkinson's that received transplants of healthy neurons cultivated from reprogrammed stem cells. It is widely believed that these cells are "blank slates" that have the capacity to be turned into nerves, organs, blood, bone or any other cell type, just like embryonic stem cells.
4/4/2008 5:00:00 PM By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer
-CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Planned Parenthood Federation of America made unprecedented revenues and increased the number of abortions over a one-year period by the largest percentage since 1996, according to its just-released annual report.
For the fiscal year July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007, the organization earned revenues of more than $1 billion and recorded 289,750 abortions - 24,807 more than the previous year.
Black History Month is a time when African Americans especially -- remember the trials and struggles of being born black in this country. We as a people endured much in our journey for equality. A journey which began many years ago on slave ships -- through Jim Crowe years, through times of lynching and marches.
Throughout this month we also celebrate the many accomplishments and triumphs that we have achieved. We have come a long way. And along the way we became brilliant black investors, inventors, scientists, doctors and educators..., musicians, sportsmen and powerful speakers. We have risen up from slavery to a point where we can hope and dream about holding the highest office in this land! Against all odds, some may say we have arrived!
But have we...really? Or are we closing our eyes to the fact that more than 15 million black children have been slaughtered since 1973?
Planned Parenthood constantly markets the message that their efforts to create easier access to birth control and to teach "comprehensive" sex education will reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions. Apparently, at least in part through their propaganda efforts, the governors of 15 states have refused Federal funds for abstinence education in favor of "comprehensive" sex education.
At the same time, Planned Parenthood is working relentlessly to open mega abortion centers. Aurora, IL was the first one to open, but it will seem puny in size compared to the abortion complexes planned for Denver, Houston, and Worcester, MA. How many more do they have in the works?
It is interesting that there is so much noise about Charles Barkley's remarks about abortion and Barack Obama. Barkley made the comments last Friday in an interview with CNN's The Situation Room news show and also referred to pro-life advocates as "hypocritical."
He also stated that the word "conservative" makes him sick to his stomach. Really, Mr. Barkley? Conservative, conservative, conservative! (Just kidding). Read more...
This is a 3-D image of an approximately 25+ week baby.
The world's foremost authority on the subject of fetal pain, Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, now says he is convinced that unborn children have the capacity to feel pain as early as 20 weeks into the pregnancy.
Abortions at this stage are legal in the United States and many other nations. In essence, this means that we are not only killing these babies, we are torturing them before we do it. Read more...
We can now add researchers at UCLA to the growing list of scientists who have confirmed that human skin cells can be converted to stem cells which are virtually identical to embryonic stem cells -- further evidence that life-destroying embryonic stem cell research, which too many lawmakers support, should quickly be abandoned in favor of ethically benign alternatives.
This means that adult stem cells can be conditioned to become virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells, making further embryonic stem cell research unnecessary. Read more...
It was 1974 when a young woman stepped into our "Developing Child" classroom. She stood at the head of the class chewing and popping her gum like Laverne and Shirley. In her hand was a rubber uterus, which she tossed, squeezed, and fidgeted with as if it were a therapy ball. She was from Planned Parenthood.
After an abbreviated anatomy lesson with the rubber organ, she told us that she (and her employer, Planned Parenthood) was there to help us (and our parents didn't need to know). If we needed birth control, we could have it. If we needed an abortion, we could have that too. We were taken aback and slightly appalled. Sensing our discomfort, the nice lady assured us young girls that it was really no big deal at all. She said it (abortion) was like "picking a flower." Read more...
Now that we've sung our Auld Lang Syne, and the blush of the new year has faded a bit, I will ask Janus, that pagan god, to look backward, backward to the times gone by. Take me past the deaths of the 50 million babies who have been killed since Roe v. Wade-- back to a time where babies -- dead babies -- are remembered with respect.
A few years ago I decided to do some ancestry-searching. I went to the LDS' Family History Center in Wilmette and ordered the birth, marriage, and death records of my parents' village from 1800 through 1899. It was an easy endeavor, since my family came to the US in the 1930's and both of my parents come from the same village, Bitritto, a few kilometers outside the capital of Puglia, Bari. As I searched the records, the surnames were all too familiar, but what grabbed my attention were the deaths of the little ones. The death certificates of the stillborns read "bambino Scalera", "bambina LoConte", and "bambino Sparacimino." Read more...
The so-called "Hope" Abortion Clinic in Granite City, Illinois.
Nearly 1.4 million abortions have been performed every year since the United States Supreme Court made abortion legal 35 years ago. Today, there are five clinics in Illinois providing abortions, ending the lives of 46,467 infants in 2006 alone. At least 87 pregnancy care centers are located around the state with the mission of showing women abortion is not the answer.
Granite City, Ill. is home to one of the abortion providers - Hope Clinic, the only clinic in a ten state radius where women can have an abortion up to their 24th week of pregnancy. Its website boasts of performing 6,000 abortions a year. Featured prominently on the website is the clinic's slogan, "Where there is choice, there is Hope." Read more...
IL. Congressman Danny Davis (D-7th District) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
President Bush in 2003 signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. This procedure is defined as an abortion in which the person performing it vaginally delivers a living fetus until the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus.
This "overt act" typically consists of puncturing the skull in order to induce death. Only four out of the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted in 2003 to support this ban. And while this procedure is not the most common abortion performed, this vote speaks to a greater dilemma. While many African Americans are morally opposed to abortion, our leadership practices the kind of blind ideological conformity that allows the protection of unborn life to remain strictly a white suburban cause. Yet this issue like many other social issues disproportionately affects this community and deserves additional examination and debate. Read more...
While abortion has been legal in the United States for 35 years and remains legal and available throughout pregnancy for any reason, public recognition of the negative impact of abortion on women is increasing and more pro-life laws are in effect than ever before.
"Abortion-on-demand has been imposed on our nation because the courts and others have accepted -- and even advanced -- at least two pervasive myths: that abortion is 'good' for women and that the interests of women and their unborn children are necessarily in opposition," says Americans United for Life (AUL) Vice President & Legal Director Denise Burke. "To restore a culture that respects and values human life, we first have to counter these myths with facts." Read more...
Over the past 18 years of my life, I have worked to save the unborn by appealing to the churches. I have believed the notion that it takes time to win churches and pastors to our pro life stance. You know ...over time we'll convince the Christians to not kill their own children. But the lives of so many children have been lost in that noble effort and you might ask why? Even though there are some churches that have been actively pro life, that has not been the norm; it has been the exception. So we should rightly weep over the thousands of unborn children who are killed each day in America; either surgically or by abortifacient drugs, such as the 'Pill' and RU486. The killing of unborn children has continued in the churches and our communities, in the name of weak Biblical teaching, moral cowardice; even upholding the apostate teaching of "reproductive choice." Read more...
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, when the U.S. Supreme Court decriminalized abortion on January 22, 1973.
"The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women." (Pres. George W. Bush, Jan. 22, 2007) Made in the image of our Creator, humans innately recognize the value of life; God created mankind and reveals to us evidence that affirms our value as human beings.
Every January since 1973, pro-life citizens set aside time to mourn, reflect and pray about the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision (January 22, 1973), which -- with its companion case, Doe v. Bolton -- imposed abortion-on-demand on every state in the nation. Sanctity of Human Life Week will be observed this year January 20-26, as we remember the 45 to 50 million voices who are missing.
Americans United for Life (AUL) has released their fifth annual ranking of the most and least Pro-Life states. AUL works with state legislators across the nation to pass effective Pro-Life laws. This new national ranking of states shows Michigan in the lead, followed by Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Kansas.
AUL's criteria covers each state's treatment of all Pro-Life issues and the final ranking depends largely on each state's enactment of prudent and well-supported laws limiting abortions as much as the Supreme Court has allowed. Among the laws that AUL looks for are informed consent, parental involvement for minors, abortion facility regulations, and abortion funding limits.
Mouse cells reprogrammed to treat sickle-cell anemia.
Scientists have found yet another alternative to destroying human embryos for research.
At the University of Alabama-Birmingham, scientists have reprogrammed mouse skin cells to mimic embryonic stem cells, injecting them into mice stricken with sickle-cell anemia. The new cells began producing healthy blood cells, and the disease symptoms disappeared. Read more...
Two letters published this month in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons show how the exceptionally high rates of breast cancer and premature birth can be reduced in the U.S. [1,2]
The first letter by Brent Rooney and William Johnston reports that Poland dramatically reduced its rates of premature birth, maternal mortality and infant mortality within a few years after its abortion rate declined by 98 percent between 1989 and 1993 (as a result of the passage of restrictive abortion laws). The authors predict that U.S. rates of premature birth and breast cancer will decline if a similar decline in the abortion rate takes place. Read more...
National Review recently ran a story about what appears to be Planned Parenthood's intentional distribution of false information while protecting rapists and child predators. According to the story's author, Jennifer Giroux:
"the spotlight is finally beings shed on this organization, which has failed to report the pregnancies of a 16-year-old who was raped by her father, of an 11-year-old girl who was impregnated by her stepfather, and of a 15-year-old who was sexually assaulted and impregnated by her stepfather's friend."
Seventeen states use public money to kill preborn babies.
For the second year in a row, Illinois taxpayers are set to fund a record number of abortions at county health facilities. One hospital reports a 78 percent increase over four years.
Stroger Hospital in Cook County, Ill., one of the largest urban health care providers in Chicago, performs about 4,000 abortions a year - and bills taxpayers more than $1 million a year for those abortions. Read more...
In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka (above) and his science team showed it should be possible to turn skin cells into 'embryonic' stem cells -- now it's been done for real.
Stem cells can now be acquired without destroying human life. Will this new method end the debate on human embryos?
In a truly amazing breakthrough, two teams of scientists have turned human skin cells into stem cells with the characteristics of embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy an embryo.
Illinois Family Institute has long opposed the research on and the cloning of human embryos for the purposes of research since a life is destroyed in the process. In addition, IFI has trumpeted the many advances made through adult stem cell research and called on researchers and scientists to continue their work in finding an alternative to using human embryos. This fascinating news clearly demonstrates that an alternative is available. Read more...
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer detection, prevention, research and treatment are of the utmost importance due to the devastating impact that this disease has on women and their families.
Pro-life citizens who are interested in fighting this deadly disease should be aware that one breast cancer organization, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, has a policy of offering financial support to abortion providing facilities.
Here are the Komen-Planned Parenthood facts (followed by a list of alternative organizations): Read more...
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) is calling on Democratic leaders in Congress to withhold taxpayer funding from groups that perform abortions.
Brownback and Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) have sent a letter to Congressman David Obey (D-Wisconsin) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chair House and Senate appropriations committees, asking them to "suspend funding in all future Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bills for organizations that promote abortion." Read more...
The Actuary, a professional magazine for actuaries in the U.K., published the article, "The Breast Cancer Epidemic," [1] discussing the impact of the epidemic in England and Wales for the life and health insurance and health care industries through 2029.
The article was based on forecasts of breast cancer rates originally published last month in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. [2,3] The forecasts can be used to plan treatment facilities and calculate insurance premiums and reserves, as more insurance claims and litigation are expected. Read more...
11/6/2007 1:53:00 PM By Steven Ertelt
-LifeNews.com
The Vatican (LifeNews.com) -- Pope Benedict XVI had a clear message for Catholic pharmacists on Monday saying they should avoid any involvement in abortion or euthanasia. His words provide support for pro-life groups trying to protect the conscious rights of pharmacists with laws to allow them to opt out of dispensing drugs in such cases.
The leader of the Catholic Church spoke to participants at the 25th International Congress of Catholic Pharmacists.
He said that their respect for the dignity of human life should compel Catholic pharmacists to avoid practices that destroy human life. Read more...
When statistics claim that 4000 innocent babies are murdered each day in abortuaries like the Aurora Planned Parenthood clinic, people don't get it. Two devoted people from Kankakee, Illinois, are making those tragic numbers more stunningly graphic by creating the LITTLE SOLES display, which has been presented in schools, churches, and events throughout Illinois.
The inspiration for the "Little Soles" Display project came after viewing a similar display seen at a retreat in Vandalia, Illinois, in March 2001. The display was a collection of 4,000 baby shoes in huge piles and was brought to Vandalia by pro-life supporters from Boone County, Iowa. To see that many baby shoes in a pile and to realize that each shoe represents an abortion that takes place in the United States each day is overwhelming! Read more...
Planned Parenthood claims that prayer vigils have no impact on their business. They will even go so far as to claim that prayer vigils are good for business because they get people to "pledge a protester" for added income.
So why is Planned Parenthood spending money to plant a solid line of pine trees along the sidewalk in Aurora? They already have their building facing the other way. The pine trees will even prevent anyone from seeing the prayer vigils if they look out a back window, assuming they can even reach that high to look through the bulletproof glass.
Why is Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, calling 40 Days for Life a "crisis"? Read more...
This past Saturday (October 27th) I joined more than 700 pro-life citizens who came out to the new Planned Parenthood abortion mill in Aurora to rally for life. The event was organized by Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood in conjunction with the Pro-Life Action League.
Here are some of the pictures I took that morning: Read more...
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." ~ Thomas Jefferson
A short time ago, I wrote about 
Two letters published this month in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons show how the exceptionally high rates of breast cancer and premature birth can be reduced in the U.S. [1,2]
