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1. A Federal Budget That Benefits Canadian Families - March
20, 2007
(Ottawa) The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada is pleased to
see some tax advantages for Canadian families introduced in the federal budget.
"This budget has a number of family friendly components that have been
needed for some time," said Dave Quist, executive director.
The Finance Minister has listened to many of the needs of families. Together
these policies will benefit families. Of note is the $2000 child tax credit;
the end of the marriage penalty through the increase in the spousal support
amount; the new Registered Disability Savings Plan to allow families with disabled
children to better save for their future and the Working Income Tax Benefit
of up to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for families. "These are significant
steps forward in support of Canadian families," stated Quist.
"While these are positive steps forward, there are still additional social
policy and family tax changes that need to be addressed." Broad based income
tax relief for families could be achieved through family income splitting and
funding for childcare would be best left in the hands of parents rather than
giving money to the provinces for one form of institutional, centre-based daycare.
"Canadian families will benefit by the family friendly tax proposals in
this budget. It is apparent that the Finance Minister understands the importance
of a strong family in Canadian society. I would urge this government to continue
to bring forward family friendly policy that will benefit society," closed
Quist.
- 30 -
For additional information or comment, please contact: Dave Quist,
Executive Director at 613-565-3832.
2001-130 rue Albert Street Ottawa Ontario Canada K1P 5G4
T 613.565.3832 F/T 613.565.3803 1.866.373.4632
2. A Note on the Future - Deliberately Disabling Children - March 30, 2007
Dear Colleague:
When we think of designer children, we think of an effort to breed supermen. But there is a new and even more disturbing trend: Designer children designed to be disabled.
Steven W. Mosher, President
PRI Weekly Briefing
30 March 2007
Vol. 9, No. 12
A Note on the Future: Deliberately Disabling Children - By Joseph A. D'Agostino
For a number of years now, a great deal of discussion has taken place among scientists and in the popular media about the genetic engineering of children. Will it soon be possible, for prices widely affordable at least to the upper-middle class, to guarantee that children have a high IQ, or excellent athletic ability, or be over 6 feet tall, or have blond hair and blue eyes? Is it right to commodify children in this way, and have parents choosing options as they do with cars? And wouldn't it be boring to live in a world someday where almost everyone is extremely intelligent and beautiful? Variety, or even the politically correct term "diversity," is the spice of life.
But not everyone wants what seemed to be the three genetic engineering options: refrain and let nature take her course, attempt to repair genetic diseases but otherwise let well enough alone, or select positive qualities in children. There are parents who are deliberately ensuring that their children are born with disabilities, from deafness to dwarfism. A fourth option-inflicting permanent disabling conditions on children-is now being used.
For some years now, some deaf parents have refused to allow their deaf children to receive cochlear implants that would enable them to hear. The devices must often be implanted when children are very young in order to work, so such parents condemn their children to a lifetime of deafness when they could have been able to hear.
Some dwarf couples are even using in-vitro fertilization to create embryos in the lab, then killing the normal ones and implanting the ones with the dwarfness gene to ensure having a dwarf child.
The standard Marxist-Frankfurt School arguments are used to justify such acts by Deaf Life magazine and other radical organizations representing some disabled people. They argue that deaf folks, dwarfs, and others aren't disabled at all, just different. Deaf Life types complain of an "oralist" culture that discriminates against deaf people who use sign language. "Oralism" oppresses the deaf, you see, just as racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other isms ad nauseam oppress others.
In a Jan. 21, 2007 story, the Associated Press reported that, of American clinics it surveyed that perform embryo screening, 3% admit to screening in favor of disabilities. This story contains perhaps the most revealing statement on the question. It was uttered by a dwarf woman angered that anyone would dare suggest that deliberating inflicting permanent suffering on children is bad.
"Cara Reynolds of Collingswood, N.J., who considered embryo screening but now plans to adopt a dwarf baby, is outraged by the criticism. 'You cannot tell me that I cannot have a child who's going to look like me,' Reynolds said. 'It's just unbelievably presumptuous and they're playing God.'"
Funny to think that it's playing God to say it's wrong to use high-tech techniques to choose certain qualities in children rather than letting nature take her course. Isn't intervening to choose a major genetic quality in your child much more like playing God?
First abortion, then fetal and embryonic tissue experimentation, and on the anti-child bandwagon goes. Some kill children because they have disabilities; others choose to inflict suffering that only God could possibly have a right to allow. What hate there is in the world.
I will let others comment upon the dark spiritual impulses that must be behind a parent's decision to do such a thing. But I will ask this: How relativistic can a society become and still be worthy of preserving?
Things must change soon. With such degeneration, and such low birthrates in this anti-child age, things must change or we shall perish. I am banking on the former.
Joseph A. D'Agostino is the outgoing Vice President for Communications at PRI.
PRI
P.O. Box 1559
Front Royal, Va. 22630
USA
Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
E-Mail: colin@pop.org
Media Contact: Colin Mason
(540) 622-5240, ext. 209
Website: www.pop.org
(c) 2007 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to http://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated. To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, go to: http://www.pop.org/subscribe-weekly.cfm or E-Mail us at pri@pop.org and say "Add me to your Weekly Briefing." The pro-life Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation."
3. Abortion And The Politics
Of Ultrasound - March 26, 2007
Centers report that anywhere
from 62 percent up to 95 percent of women who had intended to abort changed
their minds after seeing ultrasound images.
Monday, March 26, 2007 - By Star Parker
South Carolina appears close to becoming the first state in the country to require that women considering an abortion view an ultrasound image of their fetus before deciding to undergo the procedure.
The state House has passed the legislation 91-23, prospects that the Senate will pass it look good and Gov. Mark Sanford has stated his support for the initiative.
Opponents call it "intimidation" and "emotional blackmail" of women seeking to abort.
According to NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan, "The women of South Carolina are fully capable of asking their doctor for information they need to make private, personal medical decisions. Politicians don't belong in the examining room."
Seventeen states already have or are considering legislation that would ensure that ultrasound viewing is available to women considering abortion. But South Carolina would be the first to make the viewing mandatory.
Those advancing the legislation feel that the state must guarantee that women considering abortion have all available relevant information before making this life-changing decision. The powerful images that ultrasound makes possible are surely relevant. I support this view and support the legislation.
Anyone who follows me and my work knows that I am staunchly "pro-life." I aggressively support and work with the nationwide crisis-pregnancy-center movement that counsels women considering abortion, encourages them to have their children and helps them with their lives after they give birth.
From the vantage point of we who deeply care about the abortion debate, there isn't much in the way of shades of gray. It's black and white -- a clashing of fundamentally different worldviews. Which is why the emotions run so deep.
An increasing number of crisis-pregnancy centers now have ultrasound equipment that allows clients to see the child developing within them. Their experience shows that there is little question that this materially impacts the decision that women make. Centers report that anywhere from 62 percent up to 95 percent of women who had intended to abort changed their minds after seeing the images.
Assuming that these statistics are accurate, the question remains whether these young women changed their minds because their perceptions of the reality with which they were dealing changed, or because they were intimidated or emotionally blackmailed.
Intimidation or blackmail implies some kind of threat. What exactly might that threat be?
You might say that a young woman with a pregnancy she did not intend is emotionally vulnerable. I would agree with that.
It's exactly why statements from the NARAL universe that portray these young women ("fully capable of asking their doctor for information they need") as cool, sober and rational, calculating the equivalent of whether or not to have a wart removed, or to get a Botox injection, are so ludicrous.
As any woman can tell you, instincts and intuition are powerful. These women are stressed because they know that suddenly the decision they have to make is not casual. That it is deeply meaningful and gravely important. Chances are, if they had the tools at their disposal to make a proper decision, they would not be in the situation they are in to begin with.
In South Carolina, as in the nation as a whole, about half the abortions that are performed are on women under 24. Around 17 percent are on women under age 19.
What kind of sense can it possibly make to suggest that a young woman, who we don't think is old enough to vote or go into a liquor store and buy beer, has the resources on her own to understand the implications of aborting a child? Is there some absence of proportion here?
A woman in her 40s may not remember who taught her math in high school, but
she'll never forget the abortion she had. Why?
Knowledge comes to us through different paths. We hear and read words. But visual
images are something else. Why, when we realize something we had been indifferent
to or unaware of, do we say our "eyes were opened"?
More eyes are opening in our country today and realizing that freedom is not tantamount to meaninglessness.
When these young women see fingers, toes and a beating heart, they understand the emerging life within them. This is a profound moment of personal growth. It's what causes their change and opens the door to their own rebirth and a life with new possibilities.
As in the words of the great hymn, "Amazing Grace": "Was blind, but now I see."
Sanford and the South Carolina legislature provide a model of leadership and human responsibility toward which the rest of the nation should take a long, careful and hard look.
Star Parker is founder and president of Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education
4. Be Open To Life - March 18, 2007
http://humanlifematters.blogspot.com/2007/03/be-open-to-life.html
Be open to life - By Mark Pickup (Mark Pickup)
Sitting closer to the end of my life than its beginning, I find myself
wishing I'd had more children. Deep into the sorrow and pain of
progressive multiple sclerosis, it is only Christ and my family that
give me any joy and consolation:
HumanLifeMatters - HLM
http://humanlifematters.blogspot.com/index.html
http://humanlifematters.blogspot.com/index.html%20
5. Bill C-22, Age of Sexual Consent - March 29, 2007
Dear Friends and Supporters of the IMFC;
The House of Commons Justice Committee is currently hearing witnesses and debating Bill C-22, an Act to amend the Criminal Code Age of Sexual Consent. Today, March 29 was their last day to hear witnesses and I was fortunate to be able to represent the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada and all of our supporters.
The Bill seeks to change the age of sexual consent from 14 years of age to 16, with a five-year exemption. In other words, a 15 year old could have sexual relations with a person as old as 20. The real intent and purpose of the Bill is to provide protection and strengthen the law against adult sexual predators of our children and youth.
A PDF version of my presentation and the link to the IMFC website are attached for your reading. When the full transcript of today's Committee Hearings are available, we will post the link on the IMFC website. I would appreciate your feedback on this important issue.
Yours truly,
Dave Quist, Executive Director
Bill C-22: Age of Sexual Consent
Institute of Marriage and Family Canada Website
http://www.imfcanada.org/Default.aspx?go=article&aid=91&tid=8
6. Bishops Issue Correction Of A Catholic University - March 26, 2007
US bishops offer 'public correction' of Marquette University professor of
theology regarding pamphlets distributed concerning contraception, abortion,
and same-sex marriage.
Monday, March 26, 2007 - By CNA
The Committee on Doctrine of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared
that pamphlets published by Professor Daniel Maguire of theology at Marquette
University on contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage, "do not present
authentic Catholic teaching."
"The views about contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage, as well as the very nature of Church teaching and its authoritative character, cross the legitimate lines of theological reflection and simply enter into the area of false teaching," the doctrine committee said.
"Such mistaken views should not be confused with the moral teaching of
the Catholic Church."
Maguire sent two pamphlets to all Catholic U.S. bishops on June 19. One is entitled
"The Moderate Roman Catholic Position on Contraception and Abortion."
The other is "A Catholic Defense of Same-Sex Marriage."
In a statement issued by the committee last week, the bishops said it was important to "offer a public correction of the erroneous views" in the pamphlets since it is apparent Maguire went to considerable efforts to give his views wide distribution.
The committee refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to demonstrate
"the mistaken character" of Maguire's positions.
In his pamphlets, Maguire argues that "there is no one position" on
contraception, abortion, homosexual acts and same-sex marriage that can be called
"Catholic." He pursues his argument, stating that "there is no
authentic Church teaching [on these issues] that is binding on all members of
the Catholic Church."
Regarding same-sex marriage, Maguire asserts that "Catholic teaching is in transition … and Catholics are free to let their consciences decide either for or against same sex marriages. Both views - for or against homosexual marriage - are at home in the Catholic world and neither one of them can be called more orthodox or more official or more Catholic than the other."
"While there may be individuals who disagree with the teaching of the Church, such divergent views cannot be considered authentic Catholic teaching or the basis for reliable guidance regarding faithful Catholic moral life," the committee stated.
"The views of Professor Maguire on contraception, abortion, and same-sex 'marriage' are not those of the Catholic Church and indeed are contrary to the Church's faith," the committee concluded.
"We deplore as irresponsible his public advocacy of his views as authentic Catholic teaching. Lastly, we trust that this statement will clarify the Church's teaching for all of the Catholic faithful throughout the United States."
The members of the doctrine committee include: Bishops William Lori, Leonard Blair, Edward Clark, Robert McManus, Arthur Serratelli, and Allen Vigneron, as well as Archbishops Jose Gomez and Donald Wuerl.
ACI Prensa is the largest provider of Catholic news in Spanish and Portuguese. Catholic News Agency (CNA), aimed at serving the English-speaking Catholic audience, is ACI Prensa's latest venture.
7. Canada's Conservative Government Distributes $300 Million For HPV - March 21, 2007
Concerns that provinces could follow example of some US states and mandate vaccine for young girls - By Meg Jalsevac
OTTAWA, March 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canada's federal government 2007-2008 budget, announced yesterday by the Harper Conservatives, includes $300 million to be distributed to the individual provinces to fund the new HPV vaccination - a vaccination aimed at preventing the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer in women.
The HPV vaccination, known as Gardasil, has been produced by the drug conglomerate Merck. Merck has recommended the vaccine for all females between the ages of 9 and 26 and initially launched the product with a major lobbying effort to have it legally mandated for all girls attending 6th grade. Despite media efforts to portray the vaccination as 100% backed by the entire medical community, Merck has since had to cease its massive lobbying campaign. There has substantial resistance from many different parties including concerned parents and prominent figures and groups in the medical community.
Virginia and Texas are the first two US states to have implemented the mandatory vaccination for young girls while several other states are considering similar legislation. Proposals in some states such as Maryland, Michigan and Mississippi have been voted down or abandoned due to lack of support.
While the Canadian government has not stipulated that the money be used to fund a nation-wide mandatory vaccination, some critics are leery that the Canadian provinces may follow the action of those US states that have implemented the Merck program.
Concern seems especially appropriate given the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization in the Canadian Communicable Disease Report. The report says, "GardasilTM is recommended for females between 9 and 13 years of age, as this is before the onset of sexual intercourse for most females in Canada, and the efficacy would be greatest. While efficacy of the vaccine in this age group has not been demonstrated, the immunogenicity bridging data implies that efficacy would be high."
As stated in the recommendation, the effectiveness of the vaccine in the target age group of young girls has not been scientifically established. Medical personnel have merely used results in adult test scenarios to predict positive results in a younger demographic.
While supporting the effort to combat cancer, critics of Garbasil have a laundry list of concerns about the vaccine and the effort to have it required for 6th grade attendance - not the least of which is that Garbasil is a vaccination for a sexually transmitted disease associated with promiscuity and the intended age group for the mandatory vaccination is pre-teen girls.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) has voiced many of its concerns regarding the vaccination and the push to have it mandated for school age girls. Among other issues, they argue mandating such a vaccine for young girls is the state usurping the rights of parents to make such decisions for their children.
CWA also states such a vaccination could give a false sense of security to girls in making responsible and moral decisions regarding their sexual integrity and personal health. "There is concern that a vaccine involving STDs may give those receiving the immunization a false sense of protection against such diseases, particularly if they are not adequately informed about the vaccine's limitations. It is important, but unfortunately not required, that recipients receive a strong abstinence message so that they understand that the only real protection from the broad range of STDs comes from refraining from sexual activity prior to marriage."
It has also been argued that mandating the HPV vaccination could discourage women from receiving regular PAP tests which, unlike the vaccination which only protects against 4 types of the human papilloma virus, test for a much broader range of problematic cervical conditions. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, since the introduction of the PAP tests approximately 50 years ago, cervical cancer death rates have plummeted by 50 percent - to as few as 390 deaths nationally per year. Even with the introduction of the vaccination, regular PAP testing would still be necessary.
Critics of Merck, including the National Vaccination Information Center, have accused the giant drug and the FDA of "fast-tracking" the vaccination without being totally upfront about its possible side effects, especially in young girls. NVIC president, Barbara Loe Fisher said, "Nobody at Merck, the CDC or FDA know if the injection of Gardasil into all pre-teen girls - especially simultaneously with hepatitis B vaccine - will make some of them more likely to develop arthritis or other inflammatory autoimmune and brain disorders as teenagers and adults."
Although the American College of Pediatricians has approved the vaccine it has also expressed concern about the effort to make it mandatory.
A January 22, 2007 ACP statement said: "The American College of Pediatricians
is opposed to any legislation which would require HPV vaccination for school
attendance. Excluding children from school for refusal to be vaccinated for
a disease spread only by penetrating vaginal intercourse is a serious, precedent-setting
action that trespasses on the right of parents to make medical decisions for
their children as well as on the rights of the children to attend school. In
addition, this vaccine prevents a disease, which is exclusively sexually transmitted;
mandating it as early as 9 years of age places the medical provider in an ethical
dilemma. First, the administration of the vaccine requires explanation to both
the parent and the child. Parents may have chosen not to introduce the subject
of sexual activity to their nine year olds due to their physical and emotional
immaturity. Also, most 9-12 year old children are not sexually active; many
have not entered puberty. Forcing a parent to forsake his/her better judgment
and discuss
this information with the child would be inappropriate and unnecessarily intrusive."
See the Feb. 2007 Canadian Communicable Disease Report: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/07vol33/acs-02/index_e.html
Read Previous LifeSiteNews.com Coverage:
New Mexico Close to Mandating HPV Vaccine for 6th Grade Girls Despite Lingering Questions about Safety: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07031408.html
Drug Conglomerate funds campaign to impose Mandatory HPV Vaccine on Young Girls: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07020204.html
Merck Drug Company Drops Campaign for Mandatory HPV Vaccine: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07022109.html
8. China, India And Canada Kill UN Resolution Against Sex Selected Abortions - March 18, 2007
March 8, 2007 - Volume 10, Number 12
Dear Colleague,
This is truly shocking. Various countries moved this week to block a UN resolution condemning the barbaric practice of sex selected abortions. Shame on China, India, Canada, the EU, and sadly Costa Rica.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely, Austin Ruse, President
China, India and Canada Kill UN Resolution Against Sex Selected Abortions - By Samantha Singson
(NEW YORK - C-FAM) Despite a groundswell of support from the NGO community and many country delegations at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) this week, the US-sponsored resolution calling on states to eliminate prenatal sex selection and female infanticide has been withdrawn due to pressure from China, India, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and others.
China lobbied against the resolution at the highest levels of UN delegations. The Indian delegation likewise lobbied forcefully against it. It is likely that India and China objected because, even though the resolution focused on the global nature of the problem, they believed it would draw attention to the fact that theirs are the worst cases of female infanticide and sex-selected abortion. Demographers estimate that about 100 million girls are already "missing".
Other delegations also worked to derail the resolution by maneuver, thus avoiding discussion about the rising trend of killing baby girls and the substance of the resolution. Canada worked against the resolution by loading up the draft document with language that the US could not support. Costa Rica did the same, although it is unclear why the pro-life country worked so hard to oppose the initiative, or why Mexico chose to oppose it.
The EU announced on Monday that it had reached a collective European decision to oppose the resolution. They argued that in order to streamline the CSW process, it would be better to simply add the language to the final outcome document. A European NGO told the Friday Fax that in their meetings with EU officials they were briefed that some European states objected to the sex selection resolution because they opposed condemning any abortions. But the EU said it would support the US language in the outcome document. Pro-life groups following the negotiations late into the night on Wednesday say that the EU has so far made good on its promise.
South Korea, one of the countries that has experienced alarming demographic imbalance, has been the only country to successfully reverse the trend after launching "Love Your Daughter" awareness campaigns. Of all the countries in which "son preference" is high, South Korea was the only country that stepped up to co-sponsor the resolution.
In sharp contrast to the official delegations, NGOs from across the political spectrum discussed the problem at length during the two-week meeting, universally condemning it. Several scholars and practitioners showed evidence that sex selection is increasingly linked to organized crime, rape, kidnapping, and trafficking of women and girls. The Holy See circulated a non-paper noting that, "Despite its importance, the Commission on the Status of Women has remained silent on prenatal sex selection, infanticide and son preference. The time has come for the Commission on the Status of Women to break the silence on these important issues."
The CSW chairman announced last night that negotiations may go round the clock tonight. The meeting is scheduled to conclude on Friday evening.
Copyright 2007 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
9. Comments On Miss Jamaica World 2006 Relinquishing Her Crown Due To Pregnancy - March 18, 2007
Former Miss Delaware, Now President of the National Black Pro-Life Union Comments on Miss Jamaica World 2006 Relinquishing Her Crown Due to Pregnancy
WASHINGTON, Mar. 16 /Christian Newswire/ - Twenty-two-year old Sara Lawrence, Miss Jamaica World 2006 resigned her title because she discovered that she was pregnant. I can only imagine the pressure she must have experienced. We are living in an age where we are taught to look for a quick fix no matter what the consequences and unfortunately, one such "quick fix" has resulted in the torturous killing of millions and millions of children by abortion since the passing of Roe vs. Wade in 1973.
In an official statement reported by The Gleaner, Ms. Lawrence said, "I relinquish my position as Miss Jamaica World 2006, having taken a deeply personal decision to face up to my responsibilities as one who expects to become a mother later this year. I believe that it is my moral obligation to do what I believe to be ethically correct and will follow what I believe to be right."
Ms. Lawrence who is 12 weeks pregnant, went on to say for ethical reasons, having an abortion was not an option, and her boyfriend fully supports her decision. "I will continue pursuing a career in medicine after the birth of my baby," she said.
It's difficult to explain what it means for a young woman to win a pageant crown. I guess the best thing to compare it to would be like being part of a football team that makes it to the Super Bowl, or a farm team baseball player that finally makes it to "the big dance."
I remember how it felt to compete and to be selected above so many equally
beautiful and talented girls. I remember how it felt to win. Though there are
those who would have a woman in Sara's predicament believe differently, life
is NOT over because of an
unplanned or unexpected pregnancy. Sara Lawrence is still young and still beautiful
and she still has a wonderful, exciting and successful career ahead of her.
Life goes on--it does not end because you become a mother, but rather your life is much more enriched.
Day Gardner was the first black Miss Delaware and the first black woman to be named a semi-finalist in the Miss America Pageant. She can be reached at 202-834-0844
Christian Newswire http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=domzv6bab.0.del6yxbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0233&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.com
10. Constitutional 'Right' To Abortion In Canada A "Big Lie" -
March 26, 2007
By Hilary White
OTTAWA, March 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A panel of legal experts and MP's told an audience at Carleton University that Canada does not now and never has recognized a constitutional right to abortion. The panel was hosted by the recently formally established campus pro-life students' group, Carleton Lifeline.
Canadian Catholic News reports that the March 21 event was attended by Liberal MP Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest, Ont.); Janet Epp Buckingham Laurentian Leadership Centre director; Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, Sask.), co-chair of Parliament's pro-life caucus.
Liberal MP Tom Wappel described the so-called "constitutional right to abortion" as a misstatement of the law and an example of a "big lie" being told so often it has come to be broadly believed.
Wappel was not hopeful about an immediate change in the law. He told participants that the hope of introducing a private members' bill to introduce restrictions on abortion is slim. Since 1990, when the Mulroney government's Bill C-43 was defeated, "no government has tried to touch it," Wappel said.
In comments today to LifeSiteNews.com, Wappel said although "One can never tell for the future," the current Conservative government under Stephen Harper has made it clear that he will not touch the issue and the same can be said of the other leading Canadian political parties, including Wappel's own Liberals.
"The only way would be to bring forward a private members' bill and that is very difficult, particularly on a subject as controversial as abortion."
An indirect approach may be effective, he said, and cited issues such as informed consent, the right of health care workers to opt out. But the main goal is electing members both provincially and federally who are pro-life.
"Canadians convinced of the humanity of the unborn," he said, "need to get involved in politics. They should concentrate on making sure the MPs and MPPs are pro-life. They need to attend the party meetings, learn to ask the questions and bring the issue to light."
"If a legislature is not prepared to believe in the humanity of the unborn child, you won't see pro-life legislation pass through it. You have to have a majority of Members who believe in the humanity of the unborn child."
Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham said at the Carleton panel that the Supreme Court decision that struck down the previous law recognized "a legitimate government interest in protecting the unborn." Since then, however, no pro-life legislation has been put forward by any government and private members' bills have failed.
Wappel told LifeSiteNews.com though polls consistently show that the Canadian public wants at least some restrictions on abortion, that news has not been "drilled into the heads" of the politicians as much as the "pro-choice" abortion rhetoric. "It's going to take twenty years, or more," he said.
Wappel added that the work of creating a societal shift is enormous, but that
there is no other way. "[Slave trade abolitionist William] Wilberforce
spent the better part of his life working on the slave issue. It wasn't easy
but he did it."
11. England's Draconian New Equality Act Discrimination Against Catholics
- March 18, 2007
The Interim - March 2007 - By Rory
Leishman
Thanks to a draconian new Equality Act, which comes into effect in England,
Wales and Scotland in April, faithful British Christians are about to undergo
much the same persecution as their Canadian counterparts.
The British Act includes a sweeping ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. In a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of
his cabinet on January 22, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the leader of Catholics
in England and Wales, urged the government to exempt Catholic adoption agencies
from the new regulation.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor underlined that the Catholic Church "utterly
condemns all forms of unjust discrimination, violence, harassment or abuse directed
against people who are homosexual, and teaches that they must be accepted with
respect, compassion and sensitivity."
Given that the Catholic Church also upholds marriage and the natural family
as best for children, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor insisted: "We believe it
would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics"
to force employees of Catholic adoption agencies to provide adoption services
to same-sex couples in violation of "the teaching of the Church and their
own consciences."
On this point, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor got solid backing from the two most
senior clerics in the Church of England - the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams and the Archbishop of York John Sentamu. In a joint letter to Blair
on January 23, Williams and Sentamu emphasized: "The rights of conscience
cannot be made subject to legislation, however well meaning." And they
pointedly added: "It is vitally important that the interests of vulnerable
children are not relegated to suit any political interest."
Quite so. It's regrettable that Williams and Sentamu stopped just short of
joining Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor in affirming what the Church has traditionally
taught and a wealth of social-science data has confirmed: That children thrive
best under the care and guidance of a mother and father who are joined in the
bond of marriage.
Initially, Blair seemed sympathetic to the pleas of England's most prominent
clerics to respect the rights of conscience. The same cannot be said for the
Opposition Leader David Cameron and most members of Blair's cabinet, including
its leading Catholic member, Home Secretary John Reid. In a recent speech, Reid
argued that no faith-based groups should be exempt from the newly proclaimed
equality rights for homosexuals. By analogy, he said: "If somebody says
to me: 'I'm sorry, I'm not going to treat women as equal because my religion
does not allow it," I say: 'Tough, you're in Britain and that's a fundamental
value in Britain and everyone has to accept it.'"
Under pressure from Reid, Cameron and others, Blair caved in. On January 30,
he announced that after a transition period, Catholic adoption agencies will
be required by law to treat same-sex couples the same as a husband and wife.
In response, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor has threatened to shut down Catholic
adoption agencies in England and Wales. Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Glasgow,
Mario Conti, has vowed that Scottish adoption agencies will defy the new regulation
on the ground that it violates the rights of Catholics to freedom of conscience
in the Equality Act.
It will be interesting to see how British courts deal with Conti's argument.
In Canada, the courts have consistently held that equality rights for homosexuals
trump the religious rights of Christians that are supposedly guaranteed in the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The row over adoption agencies signals just the beginning of a campaign against
religious freedom in Britain. A spokesman for the Scottish Catholic bishops
has pointed out that the Equality Act "will impact on anyone who provides
goods and services, from the priest who refuses to hire the parish hall to a
same-sex couple, to the editor of a Catholic newspaper who refuses to carry
a Gay Pride advert, or a printer who refuses to print those adverts - they will
all be criminalised by this Draconian measure. This is as close as you can get
to a thought crime."
It's scandalous that politicians like Reid are leading this attack on their fellow Christians. It's high time that church leaders in Britain and Canada took tougher action to defend the faithful, by telling these rogue Christian politicians that they are no longer welcome at communion.
12. Federal Chairman Has Gloomy Outlook - April 1, 2007
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=34&idarticle=7544
Ben Bernanke warns Senate committee that baby boomers' retirement plans will place huge burden on the economy and the next generation: demography is destiny.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - Martin Barillas http://www.speroforum.com/site/author.asp?AUTH_ID=39
Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said today on Capitol Hill that lawmakers have waited too long to take into consideration the fact that baby-boomers will begin to reach retirement age in 2008. "If early and meaningful action is not taken, the US economy could be seriously weakened" said Bernanke at his inaugural appearance before the Senate Budget Committee, "The longer we wait, the more severe, the more draconian, the more difficult, the objectives are going to be. I think the right time to start was about 10 years ago."
Sounding like a warning cry, Bernanke proclaimed, "We are experiencing what seems likely to be the calm before the storm" and "Unfortunately, economic growth alone is unlikely to solve the impending fiscal problems." Retiring Americans over the next few years will mean massive costs in welfare and social security retirement benefits. Bernanke also said that US retirement entitlements would climb from about 8.5 percent of the US gross domestic product (GDP) to 15 percent by 2030.
Ranging in to field of soothsaying, Bernanke said "Dealing with the resulting fiscal strains will pose difficult choices for Congress, the Administration and the American people" and that future generations would bear the cost of social security schemes in a bleak economic environment. Bernanke said that this budgetary "crisis" threatens US living standards should Congress fail to act on funding shortfalls for Social Security and Medicare.
Bernanke refused to "support of defend or oppose" specific spending or tax plans, saying "tax cuts don't pay for themselves" and their impact depends on their nature.
However without changes, Bernanke said, the United States will run large annual deficits and ever increasing debt to support programs such as Medicare. The current national debt could climb to levels not seen since the Second World War. "A vicious cycle may develop in which large deficits lead to rapid growth in debt and interest payments" and lead to a "fiscal crisis."
With 78 million baby boomers about to retire, a flat fertility rate, and upward life expectancy, not even a doubling of the current immigration rate can solve the looming crisis, he predicted. Bernanke did suggest that Congress should look to simplifying the current Federal tax code and adjusting the nation's health care plans.
Copyright © 2007 Spero
13. Good News For Supporters Of Life, Faith, Family & Freedom - March 18, 2007
Dear LifeSiteNews Readers,
Today there is a lot of GOOD NEWS about people courageously fighting back against the enemies of life, family, faith and freedom.
The strong public warning by the Czech president about the real agenda of the hysteria being generated by 'global warming' enthusiasts is especially noteworthy.
More and more it is coming out into the open now that population control and a totalitarian "New World Order" of political control over the nations and peoples of the world is what is especially driving the incredible demands of the climate Change/global warming leadership.
With our years of experience on international issues we sensed this a long time ago because of the history of so many of the global warming spokesmen.
Every story today is an example of leaders finally taking strong actions and speaking the blunt truth about the current evils and taking action. Hopefully many more will join them soon as developments are accelerating at a fast pace.
LifeSiteNews.com - Monday March 12, 2007
1. Czech President: "Religion" of Environmentalism
a way of "masterminding human society from above"
2. Protection of Religious Freedom Undertaken by U.S. Attorney General Initiative
3. Vatican Prelate: Catholics will "do everything possible" to prevent
Homosexual Civil Unions
4. Polish People Support Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment
5. New Toronto Archbishop Speaks to Life And Family Issues
6. Scottish Bishop: Labour Party's Anti-Family Policies have Lost Catholic Support
7. Wyoming Priest Denies Communion to Lesbian Activist Couple "Married"
in Canada
8. Controversial Former US Senator Names Abortion as Culprit in US Population
Shortages
Czech President: "Religion" of Environmentalism
a way of "masterminding human society from above"
A "New World Order" With Warming "Deniers" Threatened
- By John-Henry Westen
LONDON, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The general appreciation for taking care of the earth's resources, of being stewards of creation is being exploited to drive a political and even mythological system of environmentalism. The President of the Czech Republic spoke at the Cato Institute Friday calling "environmentalism" a "religion", and warning against the hysteria being generated by 'global warming' enthusiasts.
"All of us are very much in favour of maximum environmental protection and protection of nature," said President Vaclav Klaus during a follow-up interview for a Cato podcast. "But it has nothing in common with environmentalism, which is ideological and practically attacking our freedom."
Environmentalism is, he said "a way of introducing new forms of statism, new forms of masterminding human society from above." The Czech President noted that the citizens of his nation experienced communism first hand giving them awareness of agendas of domination. It is, he said, "something we feel very strongly about because our experience with communism gives us very special sensitivity in this respect."
Almost as if on queue, Gordon Brown, likely to replace Tony Blair as the next British prime minister, delivered a speech today calling for a "new world order" to combat global warming. He called on the United Nations to make the fight against global warming a core "pillar" of its international mission.
The warnings of President Klaus come as no surprise to the pro-life movement which has warned for years that Kyoto and similar proposals to counter global warming have at their core a population control agenda.
According to scientists who contest the science behind global warming, the faithful followers of the environmentalist religion do not sanction dissent. Timothy Ball, a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, told the Sunday Telegraph that he has received five deaths threats by email since raising concerns about the degree to which man was affecting climate change.
"I can tolerate being called a skeptic because all scientists should be skeptics, but then they started calling us deniers, with all the connotations of the Holocaust," said Ball. "That is an obscenity. It has got really nasty and personal."
The Telegraph also reports that Richard Lindzen, the professor of Atmospheric Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently stated that: "Scientists who dissent from the alarmism have seen their funds disappear, their work derided, and themselves labelled as industry stooges." Dr Myles Allen, from Oxford University, concurred: "The Green movement has hijacked the issue of climate change. It is ludicrous to suggest the only way to deal with the problem is to start micro managing everyone, which is what environmentalists seem to want to do."
To hear the podcast interview with President Klaus:
http://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/presidentvaclavklaus_environmentalismasreligion_20070312.mp3
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Protection of Religious Freedom Undertaken by U.S.
Attorney General Initiative
Government will create Justice Department Task Force on Religious Liberty
- By Gudrun Schultz
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales launched a new initiative Feb. 20 to better protect freedom of religion in the country, in a project known as The First Freedom Project - religious freedom is listed first in the Bill of Rights and is a "fundamental freedom on which so many of our other freedoms rest," said a statement released by the Department of Justice.
"Preserving religious liberty requires an ongoing commitment to protecting this most basic freedom for people of all faiths," Gonzales said. He announced the project in a speech to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention last month.
"One of our most cherished freedoms, one we've sacrificed greatly to defend, is our religious liberty," the attorney general said at the SBC Building in Nashville, Tenn. "Nothing defines us more as a nation and differentiates us more from the extremists who are our enemies than our respect for religious freedom. Our great country was founded on these principles, and many of us today believe it continues to thrive because of, not despite, them."
The Freedom First Project is based on a foundational commitment to "continued expansion of enforcement of civil rights statutes protecting religious liberty," the DOJ statement said.
Among the commitments set out by the Project is the creation of a Justice Department Task Force on Religious Liberty, set up to review current department polices on religious liberty, to oversee religious liberty cases and to work on improving communication with concerned communities.
As well, the Justice Department wants to hold a series of seminars throughout the country to better educate the public about the laws that ensure religious freedom is protected, and to offer instruction on how to file complaints.
"The attorney general's desire to address a major meeting of SBC leaders to announce this initiative shows both the importance of the issue and the commitment of the justice department at the highest levels to defend every individual American's religious freedom rights, particularly their free exercise rights, which are too often infringed," Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told the Baptist Press.
"This initiative is needed and should make a real difference. When individuals find themselves in a confrontation concerning their free exercise rights, it helps to have the attorney general and the Department of Justice on your side."
The announcement of the initiative was accompanied by the release of a report documenting efforts taken by the DOJ to enforce religious liberty laws over the past five years. Entitled Report on Enforcement of Laws Protecting Religious Freedom: Fiscal Years 2001-2006, the document shows an increased emphasis on enforcing religious liberty legislation, including laws banning religious discrimination in employment and public education, and laws preventing zoning authorities from discriminating against houses of worship and religious schools.
"I am here to ask the Southern Baptist Convention, and all of you in this room, for your help," the attorney general said. "The Department of Justice has many tools to protect religious freedoms in this country, and we are using them. But even with all of our passion and our dedication to this cause, we cannot do it alone.... I am so very glad to be here among men and women who understand and share our commitment."
To read a transcript of Attorney General Gonzales' comments:
http://www.usdoj.gov./
To access First Freedom Project webpage:
http://www.firstfreedom.gov/
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Vatican Prelate: Catholics will "do everything
possible" to prevent Homosexual Civil Unions
Bishop Sgreccia, says, "Everything based on untruths is destined to damage
someone, if not many people." - By Gudrun Schultz
VATICAN CITY, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Legislation permitting de facto and same-sex unions would be so damaging to family life and society that Catholics will do "everything possible" to ensure the laws do not pass, the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life said last week.
"Catholics will do everything to shed light on the debate, and will do everything possible so that these proposals will not pass," said Bishop Elio Sgreccia, during a press conference at Vatican Radio. "Everything based on untruths is destined to damage someone, if not many people."
Zenit News Agency reported March 7 on Bishop Sgreccia comments at the Rome launch of a book on the issue by Carlo Casini, a European Parliamentary member representing Italy. Casini's book was titled "Unioni di fatto, matrimonio, figli: tra ideologia e realtà" (De Facto Unions, Marriage, Children: Between Ideology and Facts), published in Italian by Società Editrice Fiorentina.
Bishop Sgreccia said the Church's objections to de facto unions simply upheld laws established by international and national legislation, recognizing the family as the foundation of human society. The bishop referred to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where it states that "the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state."
"If family stability is weakened, the fundamental group unit of society is also weakened," Bishop Sgreccia said.
Homosexual unions would go "against a law of nature," he said, since "in the corporality of man and woman there is written natural and structural complementarity pertaining to emotional life, sexual life and the procreation of children."
"Natural law expresses the good sense" of that union between a man and a woman, Bishop Sgreccia said.
Further, the family is essential for economic health and social progress.
"If we wish to see an economy that has as its main unit family health, then we must take into account that the de facto families, constitutionally precarious, are the source, as well as divorce and separations, of social and economic instability."
Far from encouraging the establishment of de facto unions, "the state would do well in helping youth by teaching them the formation of a true family, with a civic or religious marriage, but stable, and with an eased access to house and work."
"This is where the money should be spent," said the bishop, "and not creating marital precariousness."
Permitting legal unions apart from marriage injures young people by "placing them in a situation that does not give security, that does not give stability or serenity."
At the same time, legalizing homosexual unions does not address the real needs of people dealing with same-sex attraction, the bishop said.
"[G]ay pride certainly does not help them in overcoming their suffering, which instead must be faced with human understanding, with medical and psychological sciences, and with promotional attitudes of all the good qualities that exist in these persons."
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Vatican Bishop: Humanity Heading for "Self-Genocide"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07012607.html
Bishop Sgreccia Named President of Pontifical Academy For Life
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05010308.html
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Polish People Support Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment - By Hilary White
WARSAW, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The people of Poland are remaining firm as the country struggles to remain steadfastly opposed to expansion of abortion. A poll by Polska Grupa Badawcza has found that a majority of Poles support strengthening the law protecting human life from conception to natural death.
52.4% of Poles would support a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and euthanasia in all cases. Currently abortion is legal in cases where the pregnancy is due to rape or incest or there are foetal abnormalities. Only 15% were definitely against an amendment.
Currently, while the rate of abortions in Poland is relatively low because of legal restrictions, the numbers are rising and international groups are agitating, as in most countries with strong protections for the unborn, for wider permissions.
In response to the pressure from international abortion-activists, one party has begun a movement to have the right to life enshrined in the Polish constitution. The League of Polish Families (LPR) is seeking a constitutional amendment that would guarantee "the legal right to life from the moment of conception."
In 2003, the UK's Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), warned that a move was afoot in the EU to have the right to abortion installed in the European Constitution. In countries such as Ireland and Argentina, where the right to life is a constitutional matter, abortion pushers have had a more difficult time overturning the law.
Media and European abortion supporters have reacted as expected and are receiving some support within Poland's political culture as well. Poland's First Lady, Maria Kaczynska, responding to the debate, said that Poland's protections of the unborn and vulnerable patients and elderly are sufficient.
The First Lady's objection to the pro-life proposal came at a meeting held on International Women's Day, an observance established by the United Nations to help promote the feminist movement's international agenda. Polish Radio reports that the meeting was held at the presidential palace and was attended by "well-known leftist feminists."
Krzysztof Bosak of the League of Polish Families told Polish Radio, "We introduced this proposition because we want Poland to be a truly democratic country where fundamental human rights are respected. The abortion law that we have now is eugenic. It divides people into those who deserve to be born and those who don't. We cannot accept that in the 21st century. We believe that all people deserve human rights - also those who are disabled."
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Poland may End Rape/Incest Abortion Exception
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06102505.html
UK Pro-Life Group Warns EU Constitution May Establish Continental 'Right' to
Abortion on Demand
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/nov/03111101.html
Malta Pro-Life Urges Constitutional Protection for Unborn
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06110702.html
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New Toronto Archbishop Speaks to Life And Family Issues
Would like to see the church take a more prominent role in secular media - by
Tony Gosgnach, Assistant Editor, The Interim
TORONTO, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - He is taking over the leadership of Canada's largest English-speaking Catholic diocese - with some 1.7 million adherents, 225 parishes and four missions - at a pivotal time in this country's history, when abortions now number over 100,000 yearly in Canada, same-sex "marriage" has been legalized, the traditional family is otherwise under assault by widespread divorce and co-habitation and pornography outsells Hollywood movies, among other serious social problems.
Archbishop Thomas Collins has some ideas on how the situation can be addressed. The former archbishop of Edmonton says he plans to give voice to Catholic values in the public sphere as his new ministry takes shape.
"We are a very important community within the greater community of society," he said. "We are important numerically, we are significant historically … and we are important in terms of the contribution we make to the common good of all society … I think, to put it mildly, we have earned a place at the table."
Collins was installed as the 10th archbishop of Toronto at St. Michael's Cathedral on Jan. 30. He was born in 1947 and ordained to the priesthood in 1973. He served as bishop of St. Paul, Alta. from 1997-1999 and as archbishop of Edmonton from 1999 until his appointment to Toronto. He sat down with The Interim in his office the day after his installation to talk about his plans for life and the family in his diocese in the coming years.
Collins said with respect to the traditional family, the church has to remain focused on the central reality that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, faithful in love and open to the gift of life. "It becomes, therefore, very important to appreciate how that great reality can be strengthened. I would say one very, very great way of doing that would be for people to study the teachings of Pope John Paul II in the Theology of the Body (an integrated vision of the human person - body, soul, and spirit)… I think it's very important to popularize that, where the intense writings of the Holy Father are made more accessible to everybody."
On human life, Collins reiterated the Catholic church's teaching that life is sacred from the first moment of conception to natural death. In promoting that ethic, he would like to see the church first emphasize providing positive alternatives to those contemplating abortion or other life-ending actions such as assisted suicide or euthanasia. "I think we are mistaken if we start with the negative response. We should start with the positive."
Second, Collins would like to promulgate to others not directly faced with a life-and-death situation the sacredness-of-life ethic. "Our advertising, our advocacy, our public emphasis, should be totally or almost totally in that dimension … If people only realized the precious gift of human life, a person made in the image and likeness of God, no matter how vulnerable, no matter how small, no matter how old and how frail … that is the greatest barrier to the terrible realities we're aware of in terms of abortion, euthanasia and other things."
Collins added it is the reduction of other human beings to the status of objects that leads to the death-dealing manifestations modern civilization is seeing today. "When they do that, then anything goes. I think that has happened, so people don't see a problem … Our second phase or dimension of what we should emphasize is to provide a radiant, clear vision of the dignity of the human person throughout the whole continuum of life."
Third, Collins said the church needs to deal with "elements within our social reality" that are against this ethic and are moving in the direction of the "culture of death."
"But I think you first put the emphasis on practical assistance … We need to be involved in providing positive, practical alternatives and second, providing a vision of the culture of life … We stress the virtue and leave no room for the vice. If we simply stress the vice, we'll spend all our time on that and that's ultimately not the most fruitful way of approaching things."
In conclusion, Collins indicated he would like to see the church take a more
prominent role in the secular media, as did other great Catholics of the past
such as Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and G.K. Chesterton. "This is where we should
be … We need to reach outwards in a respectful, creative and energetic way to
be present … We can't be complaining about the popular culture not being in
tune with the culture of life and say, 'Oh, isn't that too bad?' Very well -
what are we doing about it?"
This article was originally published in the March 2007 Interim newspaper
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Scottish Bishop: Labour Party's Anti-Family Policies
have Lost Catholic Support
Charges party creating "new kind of morality devoid of any Christian principle
or background" - By Gudrun Schultz
SCOTLAND, United Kingdom, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Scotland's Labour Party will feel the increasing distress of the country's Catholics over liberal moral policies in the coming May election, warned a senior Scottish bishop Sunday, the Scotsman reported earlier today.
"For generations, including myself, Catholics in their droves tended to vote consistently for the Labour Party," said Bishop Joseph Devine in an interview with Radio 4's Sunday program. "But over the past few months it has been very noticeable, in conversations I've had with all manner of people, that that allegiance has been severely tested to the point, I think, of being broken."
The bishop charged the Labour Party's leadership with creating "a new kind of morality devoid of any Christian principle or background," and said it would be "ill-founded" of the party to assume that traditional support for the party would continue among Scotland's working class.
While Bishop Devine said it was up to the individual Catholic to "exercise their votes responsibly, according to their conscience," he said he would let people know what party he was going to vote for, saying, "I have never done that before."
"I'll not ask people to follow me but if they want to take that lead that's fine enough."
Parliament's decision last year, led by a Labour majority, to permit the adoption of children by same-sex couples was a key factor in losing the party Catholic support, Bishop Devine said. In February 2006 the bishop sent a letter to First Minister Jack McConnell condemning the proposal as "yet another violation of family life."
Saying he was "not prepared to stand by and watch the destruction of Christian values and truth," Bishop Devine said political correctness was hijacking family values.
"What started as a tolerance and compassion for gays has developed into the suppression of the majority heterosexual lifestyle," the bishop stated. "Traditional family values are in the dock and the judge and jury are composed of politically correct extremists."
Bishop Devine said he anticipated voting for the Christian People's Alliance, formed in Scotland in 2001, but would wait until he had heard the policies of all parties before making a final decision.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Scotland Bishop Blasts Parliament Decision to Allow Gay Adoption
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022703.html
Scotland Bishop Says Homosexual Adoption Being Pushed by "Politically
Correct Zealots"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06040607.html
Scottish Government Says Churches Can Exclude Homosexuals From Adoption
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061307.html
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Wyoming Priest Denies Communion to Lesbian Activist Couple "Married" in Canada - By Peter J. Smith
GILLETTE, Wyoming, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An activist lesbian couple "married" in Canada may no longer receive Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, after having been told by their pastor that their homosexual behavior and advocacy of same-sex unions prevent them from being Catholics in good standing.
The News-Record, a Gillette newspaper, reports that Rev. Cliff Jacobson, pastor of St. Mathew's Catholic Church, informed Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson by letter that "because of your union and your public advocacy of same-sex unions, that you are unable to receive communion."
Rev. Jacobson told the News-Record that Vader and Huskinson's public advocacy of same-sex "marriage" created a public scandal mandating the church to take action with support from the Cheyenne Diocese. Vader and Huskinson, who attended St. Matthew's since 1998 and later were "married" in Canada, wrote a number of newspaper articles advocating same-sex "marriage" and vociferously opposed a marriage bill that would prevent Wyoming from recognizing same-sex "marriages" from other states, such as their own.
"We're not the bedroom police," said Rev. Jacobson. "That ultimately comes between the person and God, but it puts it in a much different light with a public nature."
"It's the idea of scandal, we profess our faith and belief as Catholics on one level, and practice something else at a public level."
The letter shocked Vader, who described herself as having "grown up" in the Catholic Church, attended Catholic school, and received Holy Communion every week until forbidden by Rev. Jacobson's March 1 letter.
"This is the one food we all need," Vader told the News-Record. "Of all the sacraments, it's the one that should be taken frequently."
"It's surprising that it's so specific and personal and being done through this letter," Vader remarked, adding that the Church's action "sends a big fat message to gay people."
However, reception of Holy Communion is not a right in the Church, and the confusion created by the lesbian couple's self-proclaimed behavior required Rev. Jacobson to enforce canon law 915: "Those [...] who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion."
According to the Catholic Church, same-sex "marriage" is impossible,
because Divine law decrees marriage to be a permanent exclusive union of a man
and a woman for their mutual assistance and the procreation of children. The
Church also teaches homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and contravene
God's plan for human sexuality in marriage.
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Controversial Former US Senator Names Abortion as
Culprit in US Population Shortages
"How could this great land of plenty produce too few people in the last
30 years?" Miller asks - By Peter J. Smith
MACON, Georgia, March 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former US Senator Zell Miller blamed abortion as the reason why the United States faces shortages of military manpower, the impending collapse of its social security system, and depends on illegal immigration.
The pro-life former Democrat appeared as the featured speaker for a fundraising banquet last Tuesday for the Sav-A-Life Care Center, which counsels women contemplating abortion. The Center was raising money to buy ultrasound equipment in order to become a health clinic.
"How could this great land of plenty produce too few people in the last 30 years?" Miller asked his audience. "Here is the brutal truth that no one dares to mention: We're too few because too many of our babies have been killed. Over 45 million since Roe v. Wade in 1973."
"If those 45 million children had lived, today they would be defending our country, they would be filling our jobs, they would be paying into Social Security," the former Georgia governor said. "Still, we watch as 3,700 babies are killed every single day in America. It is unbelievable that a nation under God would allow this."
Miller praised the number of cures developed through adult stem-cell therapies, and condemned embryonic stem research as abortion on a smaller scale.
"It is not a proper fate for a human being made in God's image...killing is wrong when it is called abortion and it is just as wrong when it is called research."
Miller became a pro-life champion in the US Senate after a conversion that began in the 1990s, and has generated controversy by criticizing his party's absolute dependence on ultraliberal activists and the abortion lobby, esp. in his 2003 book A National Party No More: the Conscience of a Conservative Democrat. The former senator even went so far as to break ranks with his party to endorse George Bush's re-election in 2004 and give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention.
Linking abortion to the population shortage faced in the United States, however, has been politically dangerous and unpopular. Republican state Sen. Nancy Schaefer made a similar statement nearly a year ago only to retract her statements after an unfavorable reception in the mainstream media.
However, Miller made it clear he will not back down from his statements, and urged other Americans to take a courageous stand against abortion.
"And sometimes in the life of a nation, a time comes when men and women of conscience and courage have to stand up and be counted and say, 'Enough! No more, this cannot continue.'"
Video: Zell Miller addresses Sav-A-Life banquet in Macon, Georgia
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/multimedia/16853061.htm
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14. Is The Resurrection Of Christ Real? - March 21, 2007
Is the Resurrection of Christ Real? Scientists, Archeologists Now Have New Proof Positive Evidence
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 21 /Christian Newswire/ - With documentaries implying
that the bones of Jesus have been found and atheists claiming that Jesus Christ
was just a man like anyone else, there are so many stories about the death and
resurrection of Christ that it is difficult to know what to believe. But there
are a group of scientists, physicists and archeologists who claim to have new
scientific evidence that is proof positive that the resurrection of Jesus Christ
is real and they are available to present their findings.
The evidence combines the latest technology with archeological discoveries regarding the mysterious Shroud of Turin and how scientists have discovered a tremendously powerful force left a lasting, 2,000 year old three-dimensional impression in the cloth in which many believe Christ was buried. David W. Balsiger, Senior Producer at Grizzly Adams Productions, who has produced two documentaries on this subject (The Fabric of Time: Secrets of the Universe, and The Case for Christ's Resurrection) is available to reveal the powerful secrets behind the following controversial questions:
· What new scientific evidence proves the resurrection of Christ?
· How does a scientific three-dimensional image on the Shroud of Turin
prove anything about the death and resurrection of Christ?
· What new findings does the Shroud of Turin bring to collaborate the
crucifixion account of Christ's death?
· What are the quantum physics theories about how the image of the Shroud
of Turin was created?
· What proof is there that Jesus Christ actually lived after his death
from crucifixion?
Credentials: David W. Balsiger is a television producer-director and the author of 139 major literary works including 23 nonfiction books. He is the head of the broadcast and licensing division of Grizzly Adams® Productions, Inc., the producers of family- friendly TV specials, series and videos. David's books, and video-TV projects have won more than 112 national awards for journalistic, literary, or production excellence.
Availability: nationwide via telephone; to major U.S. cities with appropriate lead-time for television and radio.
15. Isn't Moral Clarity Wonderful? - March 25, 2007
By Brian Rushfeldt
Hi Robert,
I am reminded in the argument about General Pace of our own Dr. Grant Hill an MP, who in Parliament presented facts. Medical facts about the act of sodomy. He was attacked, threatened by activists, threatened by the Medical Association - why? For doing what a medical doctor takes an oath to do - present factual medical information. And yet it seems almost ALL parliamentarians did not want to hear. Do they have no concern for people? Do they devalue humans that much in our parliament? It seems that many of them do based upon how they treat critical issues of society by their votes on those matters.
The crux of the matter - sodomy. If the politicians and church leaders and people had not been so gutless ten years ago and onward and talked about sodomy - instead of the nice and political correct "sexual orientation" term we would not have had many of the issues we have today.
Does any reasonable person thinks sodomy is an act of sex - it is an act of selfish pleasure, somewhat of sexual nature for one person not for the other. Not one reasonable and thoughtful person can deny that sodomy - whether done in a heterosexual or homosexual situation - is unclean, unhealthy and unnatural. Svend Robinson pushed the term " anal sex" into legislation - why - because it is a less honest term than sodomy. But we still do have laws that have the term sodomy.
I thought that only in Canada our "nice" character prevented us from calling truth truth. But it seems in the US that occurred also. The issue of sodomy is not just a moral, nor a religious issue - it is an issue of health: physically, and psychologically. The body is harmed when unnatural things are done to it. So why is it that we want to promote something that harms human beings. As a counselor I had men express their disgust and their shame at what was done to them in such acts. It affected them mentally and emotionally very deeply.
Is our collective value of human beings so low that we cannot any longer care nor love them enough to say, don't harm one another. Be it adultery, rape, violence or other harmful behavior.
I look at the devalued value we place on children today - we abort them - we abuse them - we turn them into sex assault victims - we trade them - we post child rape on the internet - we murder them - and we exploit them. There are even some MP and activists who don't want children protected by the raising of the age of protection for sex (Bill C-22 now before parliamentary committee). How sad and confused.
The way we mistreat children is a sign of an unhealthy culture and maybe this is just an extension of the devalued position we place on all human beings.
Blessings,
Brian Rushfeldt
16. Japan Promoting Adoption Over Abortion - April 1, 2007
Spero News
Japan promoting adoption over abortion
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idarticle=8120
Japan is emulating India in launching "public cradles against abortion": a hospital in Kumamoto has a "baby box" for mothers to leave their unwanted babies.
Asia News - Saturday, February 24, 2007
http://www.speroforum.com/site/author.asp?AUTH_ID=147
Japan has also set up "public cradles against abortion". Following India, which last week launched a "cradles scheme" against abortions and foeticide of girls, the Japanese Health Minister approved a decision taken by a hospital in Kumamoto to have a "baby box" for the public.
Hospital officials said the box was intended to ensure absolute privacy for those parents who wanted to abandon their newly born babies. The "box" is an incubator, which is always working and monitored by a nurse of the hospital. Babies can be put there through an opening in the hospital wall.
According to officials of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the proposal "does not violate any law but should be supported because it protects the safety of unwanted babies."
Clearly, they added, from a legal point of view, the hospital would have to
answer for the safety of the children. All the same, "the government will
do everything possible to help through adoption and tax reduction campaigns".
17. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #314 - March 11, 2007
Dear Friends for Life,
We are told that the current warming of our climate will bring major hardships and economic dislocations - untold human suffering, especially for our children and grandchildren. The views of scientists on greenhouse gases, climate change, and the likely impacts are even more lopsided when they blame overpopulation for this. The overwhelming consensus opinion is: 1) the earth is warming; 2) human activities are responsible; 3) left unchecked, the impact will be large, potentially catastrophic.
In his weekly Sunday Telegraph column, Cardinal George Pell - archbishop of
Sydney said people have been "subjected to a lot of nonsense about climate
disasters as some zealots have been painting extreme scenarios to frighten us."
"What we were seeing from the doomsdayers was an induced dose of mild hysteria,
semi-religious if you like, but dangerously close to superstition," he
said. "I would be surprised if industrial pollution, and carbon emissions,
had no ill effect at all. But enough is enough."
He cited some scientific evidence to try to make sense of it and noted that
the evidence on warming is, in fact, mixed. He noted that:
o Global warming has been increasing constantly since 1975 at the rate of less than one-fifth of a degree centigrade per decade.
o The concentration of carbon dioxide increased surface temperatures more in winter than in summer and especially in mid and high latitudes over land, while there was a global cooling of the stratosphere.
o The East Anglia University climate research unit found that global temperatures did not increase between 1998 and 2005.
o A recent NASA satellite found that the Southern Hemisphere has not warmed in the past 25 years. (Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8678)
These are indeed cool facts for hot controversies on global warming.
God Bless, Marlon Castillo Ramirez, Assistant Editor
(A Thought:) On a 1990 Barbara Walters TV special, Gibson stated his opposition to birth control, infidelity and abortion. He said, "God is the only one who knows how many children we should have, and we should be ready to accept them. One can't decide for oneself who comes into this world and who doesn't. That decision doesn't belong to us." - Mel Gibson, Hollywood actor and director.
Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #314 - March 11, 2007
Table Of Contents:
1. Boston Woman Sues Planned Parenthood After Failed Abortion Of Twins
2. Top India State Court Rules Unborn Child Is "Living Person"
3. Polish Government Would Hike Support For Large Families
4. Family Policy Group Confirms Spain As Country
With Least Assistance For Families
5. Council Of Andalusia Authorizes Euthanasia For Handicapped Spanish Woman
6. 100 Million Women Missing Due To Selective Abortion, Women's Groups Tell
United Nations
7. Mother Given Chance For More Children
8. End-Of-Life Teaching More Than 'Dilemmas, Controversies,' Priest Says
9. Swedes Forewarn Of "Abortion Paradise"
10. Poll: Support For Abortion Dropping, More Americans Want It Illegal
11. When Killing Yourself Isn't Suicide
12. Women Speak Out About Abortion Pain At UN-NY
Focus On Asia: South Korea Researchers Seek New Ways to Get Embryonic Stem Cells
In the wake of an international scandal that saw one of the world's top embryonic stem cell researchers come under fire for completely faking his studies, scientists in South Korea are now looking at alternative ways of collecting embryonic stem cells that don't involve the destruction of human life. Prof. Han Yong-mahn of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is heading up several government-funded projects to find new methods. To weed out ethical debate, we started last November, with financial support from the government, to delve into new technologies for creating human stem cells without using embryos, Han told the Korea Times. http://www.lifenews.com/bio2017.html
Item #1. Boston Woman Sues Planned Parenthood After
Failed Abortion Of Twins
A Massachusetts woman who went to Planned Parenthood hoping for a successful abortion of her twin babies has filed a lawsuit against the abortion business for botching the procedure. Jennifer Raper, who is 45, wants it to pay for the cost of raising her two children.
In the three-page lawsuit, Raper says she learned she was pregnant in March
2004 and decided to have an abortion because she couldn't afford to have children.
According to a Boston Globe report, Allison Bryant did the abortion on Raper
at a Planned Parenthood facility but the complaint said it "was not done
properly, causing the plaintiff to remain pregnant."
View full file at Life News: http://www.lifenews.com/state2143.html
Item #2. Top India State Court Rules Unborn Child
Is "Living Person"
An Indian state consumer court has delivered an unprecedented ruling in favour
of a woman seeking an insurance claim on the death of an unborn child--the court
determined that the unborn baby was a living human being entitled to personhood
and required the insurance company to pay the claim.
Kanta Kotecha filed the claim on the deaths of her husband, her son and daughter-in-law, and her unborn grandchild of seven months gestation, who were all killed in a tragic automobile accident, The Times of India reported March 6.
View full text at Life Site News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07030702.html
Item #3. Polish Government Would Hike Support For
Large Families
Poland's finance minister, Zyta Gilowska, has announced plans to give 17.5 billion
zloty (nearly $6 billion) in government aid to families by 2014. The government
program envisions a major increase in government support for families, which
is currently set at 120 zloty ($40) per year annually, and a 2-week extension
for government-mandated maternity leaves, which currently are fixed at 18 weeks.
The program is a response to complaints from the League of Polish Families,
a party that has joined the center-right governing coalition, that the current
tax system discriminates against large families. The party has argued that support
for larger families is necessary to reverse the country's demographic decline.
View full text at Catholic World News: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49709
Item #4. Family Policy Group Confirms Spain As
Country With Least Assistance For Families
The Institute for Family Policy in Spain unveiled a report today entitled "Assistance
for Children in Spain," which indicates a lack of interest in supporting
families on the part of the government of President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
The report also confirms that of the 25 countries that make up the European
Union, Spain provides the least amount of assistance to the family.
"Today out of the 25 EU [countries], Spain is the one that provides the
least assistance to families, allotting only 0.5% of its GDP. Moreover, it's
the only European country that does not allot at least 1% of its GDP,"
the report explains.
View full text at CNA: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8807
Item #5. Council Of Andalusia Authorizes Euthanasia
For Handicapped Spanish Woman
In a controversial case in which the distinction between euthanasia and the
discontinuation of extraordinary medical treatment has been blurred, the government
of the Spanish region of Andalusia has authorized a woman suffering from muscular
dystrophy to disconnect the respirator that is keeping her alive.
The Committee on Ethics of the Council of Andalusia announced its support for the request by Inmaculada Echevarria, who argued that hers was not a case of active euthanasia, but a rejection of further treatment.
Yet, despite her claim, Echevarria is not terminally ill and the artificial
respirator she uses is not prolonging her life but rather supporting her so
she does not die of asphyxiation. The decision by the Council will shield the
doctors who disconnect the respirator from legal liability.
View full text at Catholic News Agency: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8798
Item #6. 100 Million Women Missing Due To Selective
Abortion, Women's Groups Tell United Nations
The IPF (Institute for Family Policy) and 18 other organizations from around
the world - all with UN consultative status presented a report last week at
the 51st session of the Committee on the Situation of Women, which is taking
place in the United Nations Head Quarters in New York from 26 February to 10
March.
The report addresses the situation of female children in various countries, and focuses particularly on the discrimination against them practiced in many countries, including denial of the basic right to be born.
The report reveals that 100 million women are missing from today's world as a result of selective abortion and female infanticide. 80 million of the missing women are due to selective abortions in India and China. And in other Asiatic countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia) female infanticide is giving way to selective abortion.
See the full article at Lifesite News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07030608.html
Item #7. Mother Given Chance For More Children
Sarah Ruddell-Briaris asked to be sterilized after her son Conor died of a degenerative
disorder as she could not bear the thought of losing another child. But the
35-year-old from Cheshunt, Herts, was persuaded to think again by her doctor.
Now, eight years later, she has gone on to have two daughters after being reassured
by the new blood test.
Her first son, Kane, was born in July 1990 and is now a healthy 16-year-old.
But his brother Conor, born three years later, had adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).
The disease attacks myelin, the insulation around the nerves, leading to increasing
disability.
Source: Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/05/nblood105.xml
Item #8. End-Of-Life Teaching More Than 'Dilemmas,
Controversies,' Priest Says
Church teaching on end-of-life issues is much more than "dilemmas and controversies,"
a priest-physician told a gathering of Catholic health care ethicists in Chicago
March 1.
"Don't let people hijack our church anymore," said Jesuit Father Myles N. Sheehan, a geriatric oncologist who is senior associate dean for educational programs at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago.
"Let's pay attention to church teaching and not to what someone reads in this liberal magazine or that conservative magazine," he added, noting that the 46-page "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services" is "a three-line document to the rest of the world."
View entire text at Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0701215.htm
Item #10. Poll: Support For Abortion Dropping,
More Americans Want It Illegal
A new national poll conducted last month by ABC News and the Washington Post
finds that the level of support for legalized abortion is on the decline. Meanwhile,
the number of people who say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases
in on the rise.
The media outlets conducted the poll from February 22-25 with telephone interviews with 1,082 American adults and it has a three percent margin of error.
The poll asked respondents: "Do you think abortion should be legal in
all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases or illegal in all cases?"
View full text at Lifesite News: http://www.lifenews.com/nat2961.html
Item #11. When Killing Yourself Isn't Suicide
The deconstruction of language, with disregard for facts and accurate definitions,
is infecting medical and health-care ethics and policies. Case in point: In
order to further the legitimization of assisted suicide, the American Public
Health Association (APHA) embraced the political advocacy of assisted-suicide
supporters in November when it decided that "physician-assisted suicide"-an
accurate and descriptive term-should be replaced with the euphemistic advocacy-phrase
"aid in dying." At its annual meeting, the organization approved an
interim policy:
Urges health educators, policy-makers, journalists and health care providers
to recognize that the choice of a mentally competent, terminally ill person
to choose to self-administer medications to bring about a peaceful death is
not "suicide," nor is the prescribing of such medication by a physician
"assisted suicide." Urges terms such as "aid-in-dying" or
"patient-directed dying" be used to describe such a choice.
This policy will become permanent if confirmed by the APHA's governing council
in 2007.
Read full article at National Review: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGYwNWM4Y2EwODRjOTViZjI4ZTJjZTQ0M2Q4NWRhZjI=
Item #12. Women Speak Out About Abortion Pain At
UN-NY
A group of women from across Canada who know the pain and experience of abortion
first hand, are speaking out at the UN this week. Melony, Lorraine, Evelyn,
Maria and Denise, each with their own devastating story and negative impact
abortion has had on their lives and bodies. They are participating in a workshop
at the United Nations' 51st Conference on the Status of Women (CSW) in NY, on
March 6th, 2007. This workshop entitled, "Breast Cancer & Reproductive
HEALTH" is featuring Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a Breast Cancer Surgeon and
Joel Brind, PhD, co-founders of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. The
priority theme for the 2007 CSW is The Elimination of all forms of discrimination
and violence against women.
This team of women from Canada Silent No More an outreach to post abortive women across Canada believe that, "Induced abortion is the greatest crime against women and children in this generation", states Denise Mountenay Founder and President heading up the workshop. "Our mission is to expose the lies and rhetoric of the abortion advocates and providers and help, educate and empower women on the benefits of motherhood."
See the full article at Christian Newswire: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/767252387.html
Get Involved:
1. Pray Daily that we all may have the courage
to be God's presence in society and strongly support those who have been deemed
"unworthy of life".
2. Be Informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Become A Missionary For Human Life: "Journey
for Life into the Heart of Asia" is a project which appeals for donations
to help finance travel expenses for talks to undeveloped countries in Asia.
Fr. Jerry's lectures this year will emphasis "The Asian Family at Crossroads:
Life Issues, Trends and Challenges". For Lectures in Asia: contact Fr.
Jerry. To become a supportive Missionary for Human Life in Asia, kindly send
your donations directly to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net,
Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation
directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch,
No. 102-1-0080824)
4. Prior issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available
online. http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Contact Assistant Editor: Mr. Marlon Castillo Ramirez; Author of Book: "The Sights and Soul of Life"; E-Mail: mcr4lifeissues@gmail.com
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
18. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #315 - March 18, 2007
Dear Friends for Life,
The battle over same sex marriage simply can't keep quiet. It's a thorny issue in the United States. This is hardly surprising, considering that it had stirred much debate in other Western countries prior to gaining acceptance in Scandinavia and Canada. But the battle over same-sex marriage is shaping into something more than deep societal tradition vs. civil rights. It is becoming a conflict of equality vs. religious liberty.
Government's interest in marriage has been based primarily on its interest in the welfare of the next generation. Among the many types of social relationships, marriage has always had a special place in all legal traditions, because it is the essential foundation of the intact family, and no other family form has been able to provide a commensurate level of social security.
When marriage is redefined so as to make other relationships equivalent to it, the institution of marriage is devalued and further weakened. Marriage is a gift to be cherished and protected.
God Bless, Marlon Castillo Ramirez, Assistant Editor
(A Thought:) "The honest man must be a perpetual renegade, the life of an honest man a perpetual infidelity. For the man who wishes to remain faithful must make himself perpetually unfaithful to all the continual, successive, indefatigable, renascent errors." - Charles Péguy
Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #315 - March 18, 2007
Table Of Contents:
1. Study: Women Having Abortions More Likely To Engage In Child Abuse
2. Many Alzheimer's Caregivers Seek Help In God
3. Canadian National Paper Editorial Warns Of "Full-Blown Fertility Crisis"
4. Restrict Late-Term Abortions, Former Health Minister Urges
5. French Euthanasia Trial Begins As Practice Spreads Across Europe
6. Top General Calls Homosexuality Immoral
7. Minister Protests Same-Sex Union Ban With A Halt To All Weddings
8. French High Court Affirms Lower Courts' Rejection Of Gay 'Marriage'
9. Scrap State Support For Cloning, Archbishop Argues
10. Pro-Life Chileans Seek Legal Protection For The Unborn
11. Sterilized Roma Accuse Czechs
12. Italy Baby Boy Dies When Doctors Do Erroneous Abortion After Bad Test
Focus On Asia: Human Rights Group Honors China Forced Abortion Activist Chen Guangcheng.
An international human rights group that recognizes those who have made contributions to society by speaking out against injustice has given an award to Chen Guangcheng. Chen is the Chinese activist who was jailed on bogus charges after exposing a brutal family planning campaign there. China's family planning policy, which allows families in most places there to have just one child, frequently results in violence and intimidation against women and their loved ones.
(Source: http://www.lifenews.com/int216.html)
Item #1. Study: Women Having Abortions More Likely
To Engage In Child Abuse
A new study finds that women who have a history of abortion are more likely
to abuse children born from subsequent pregnancies. The study, published in
the Internet Journal of Pediatrics and Neonatology, confirms previous research,
which suggests that there is a link between abortion and child abuse.
The study is based on an analysis of data on 237 low-income women in Baltimore who had physically mistreated or neglected at least one of their children or allowed someone else to do so.
While all the women in the study had some connection with child maltreatment or neglect, the authors found that those who reported a history of abortion reported significantly more frequent acts of physical violence, such as slapping, hitting or beating, directed at their children.
View full file at Life News: http://www.lifenews.com/nat2984.html
Item #2. Many Alzheimer's Caregivers Seek Help
In God
The study found that about one-third of people caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's
disease felt "more religious" because of the experience. The study,
which surveyed 650 adults nationwide, was conducted by Harris Interactive on
behalf of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
The survey found that 36% of respondents, who identified themselves as religious or nonreligious, said they felt "more religious." This feeling was more pronounced among African American respondents, with 48% saying that's how they felt.
View full text at L.A. Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-alzheimer14mar14,0,5706486,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Item #3. Canadian National Paper Editorial Warns
Of "Full-Blown Fertility Crisis"
Canadians are more materialistic, career-oriented and irreligious than Americans,
which is why women have no more than one or two children; an article by the
Canadian Press explains the reasons for the low Canadian birth rate.
The 2006 census data were released Tuesday by Statistics Canada showing the Canadian birth rate at 1.5 children per woman. 2.1 is necessary to maintain a stable population with no growth.
An editorial in today's National Post proposes a solution that is getting little mention in the mainstream press: "start making babies." The Post points to the example of France with its generous tax subsidies for couples with children that have "spurred a mini-renaissance in the country's birth rate."
View full text at Life Site News:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07031404.html
Item #4. Restrict Late-Term Abortions, Former Health
Minister Urges
Dr. Umberto Veronesi, an Italian oncologist and former health minister, has
proposed a revision in the country's law on abortion, barring the practice after
the 22nd week of pregnancy.
Italian law currently allows abortion through the 24th week of pregnancy. But Veronesi pointed to the recent furor created by the birth of a baby in Florence who had briefly survived a late-term abortion. Although he made it clear that he favors legal abortion-- and criticized Italian laws against in vitro fertilization-- the former health minister told an audience in Milan that limits were required by medical standards.
View full text at CWNews:
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49861
Item #5. French Euthanasia Trial Begins As Practice
Spreads Across Europe
Advocates of assisted suicide always claimed that legalizing the practice in
nations like the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium would never open the door
for euthanasia. But a French doctor and nurse are the latest on trial for killing
a patient without his consent in what is becoming an epidemic across the continent.
Laurence Tramois, a doctor, and Chantal Chanel, a nurse, both were the subjects of a trial that begin on Monday morning concerning the death of a 65-year-old patient.
View full text at Life News:
http://www.lifenews.com/bio2022.html
Item #6. Top General Calls Homosexuality Immoral
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he considers homosexuality
to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel
to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, the newspaper reported on its Web site. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview.
See the full article at Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201420.html
Item #7. Minister Protests Same-Sex Union Ban With
A Halt To All Weddings
An Episcopal minister will stop performing all wedding ceremonies to protest
the denomination's prohibition of same-sex unions.
"We are called to join the fast that our homosexual brothers and sisters in Christ have had to observe all their lives," said the Rev. Robert Hirschfeld, rector of Grace Episcopal Church.
Several members of the congregation say they support Hirschfeld's move, which he announced in his Sunday sermon. Others said they were concerned that that the move might add to the polarization of an issue that has already divided Episcopals.
View full text at Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/12/minister_protests_same_sex_union_ban_with_a_halt_to_all_weddings/
Item #8. French High Court Affirms Lower Courts'
Rejection Of Gay 'Marriage'
Yesterday, France's highest court upheld the decision of a lower court and rejected
the 2004 'marriage' of two homosexual men. The court declared the marriage annulled
declaring that "under French law, marriage is a union between a man and
a woman."
In 2004, Noel Mamére, Mayor of the Bordeaux suburb of Begles, illegally 'married' the two men despite a prior warning from then President Jean-Pierre Raffarin that "any elected official who does not respect the law in this matter will be exposed to the sanctions provided for by the law." Mamére ignored both the law and the warning and carried out the ceremony. The state prosecutor immediately initiated annulment proceedings for the 'marriage' and Mamére was publicly criticized by several political figures and received a month long suspension of his mayoral duties as punishment.
View entire text at LifeSiteNews:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07031401.html
Item #9. Scrap State Support For Cloning, Archbishop
Argues
Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia, has denounced a proposal to enact
a new law in the state of Victoria allowing "therapeutic cloning."
The archbishop was responding to an announcement by Victoria's prime minister, Steve Bracks, that he would back new state legislation allowing the cloning of human embryos for the purpose of obtaining stem cells. Archbishop Hart said that cloning of humans is "always unethical," and cannot be justified by medical research.
View entire text at CWNews:
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49859
Item #10. Pro-Life Chileans Seek Legal Protection
For The Unborn
Pro-life groups in Chile are pushing for legislation to give legal status to
human embryos and to the unborn at any stage of development and to assure their
proper burial in case they are aborted.
Veronica Santa Maria of the Network For Life and the Family said her organization, together with other pro-lifers and with Congressman Francisco Chahuan, are working on the details of the legislative proposals.
The initiative began after a number of aborted babies were found in the city of Valparaiso and were given Christian burial. Pro-lifers pointed to the incident as evidence that no legal norm exists allowing for possession of the fetus after an abortion in order to give it proper burial. "This is because in Chile there is no juridical statute that regulates the rights of the embryo," Chahuan said.
View full text at CNA:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8829
Item #11. Sterilized Roma Accuse Czechs
For years these women stayed silent, and some were even ashamed to tell their
own husbands. Only a few years ago did the shocking details start to emerge.
There are allegations that coercive sterilization was used to curb the traditionally high fertility rate among the Roma. Many were offered money, though that was not official policy. Similar cases have been reported in neighboring Slovakia.
The practice officially ended in 1990 after the collapse of communist Czechoslovakia, but a number of doctors are said to have continued the operations on their own initiative.
Read full article at BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6409699.stm
Item #12. Italy Baby Boy Dies When Doctors Do Erroneous
Abortion After Bad Test
The baby boy who became the victim of an abortion after doctors failed a disability
test on him died over the weekend. Physicians advised his mother to have an
abortion after they had misdiagnosed a physical deformity but the boy survived
the procedure. Doctors at the teaching hospital Careggi performed two ultrasounds
on the boy and his mother and they said he had a defective esophagus.
That's a disorder that surgery could have corrected after birth in some cases. However, when they went to abort the baby boy, they discovered he was healthy and desperately tried to resuscitate him.
The boy was born healthy and lived for six days following the failed abortion, which was done at 22 weeks into the pregnancy. Italy's abortion law allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in certain cases but it also requires doctors to do all they can to save the life of a baby who survives a botched abortion attempt. Italy's Health Minister, Livia Tureo, defend the law in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper and said that people who put the abortion law in place 29 years ago could not have predicted that medical technologies would be able to save children born alive at such an early age.
See the full article at Life News:
http://www.lifenews.com/int210.html
Get Involved:
1. Pray Daily that we all may have the courage to be God's presence in society
and strongly support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Be Informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Become A Missionary For Human Life: "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia" is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance travel expenses for talks to undeveloped countries in Asia.
Fr. Jerry's lectures this year will emphasis "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues, Trends and Challenges". For Lectures in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry. To become a supportive Missionary for Human Life in Asia, kindly send your donations directly to:
Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072. Or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824.
Contact EDITOR:
Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax:
088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Contact ASSISTANT EDITOR:
Mr. Marlon Castillo Ramirez; Author of Book: "The Sights and Soul of Life";
E-Mail: mcr4lifeissues@gmail.com
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
19. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #316 March 23, 2007
Dear Friends for Life,
The world is turning out to be a cold and lonely place. It sounds pessimistic, but it's not a nebulous, highly conceptual, or even metaphorical proposition, but rather a plain fact, so obvious as to be close to axiomatic. Why so? Because governments across the globe have failed to protect the ultimate source of happiness - the human family. The most tragic dislocation of the twentieth century may turn out to be the breakdown of morality and the disintegration of the family. The steady decline in fertility rate due to birth control, the number of marriage breakups and the diminished importance of marriage and childbearing, are significant factors in the shifting of values and family breakdown.
The single fastest-growing demographic groups across the industrial nations are people living alone - men and women, young and old. Young people who lived alone are now growing old. Who will take care of them? There are more children now who are growing up in single-parent homes. How will they learn traditional family values? How can young people find themselves again when they put their trust in virtual realities rather than in loving family relationships?
Lost in the rubble of materialist dream where only money and beauty matter, many young people care only about what other people think of them, while trying to be what they think other people want them to be. Without the guidance of any believable moral authority, they look to movie stars, music idols, and sporting heroes as their role models. They take their values from fashionable pop culture trends, and they live their lives learning mostly from their mistakes. When the world fails to provide them with anything worth believing in, they often become cynical, suspicious of authority, rebellious, angry at life, and sometimes even self-destructive. What a lonely world indeed. But it's still a wonderful world - where God, in His infinite wisdom renews all things.
God Bless, Marlon Castillo Ramirez, Assistant Editor
(A Thought:) "But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint." - Edmund Burke in Reflections on the Revolution in France
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #316 - March 25, 2007
Table Of Contents:
1. EU To Force Poland, Malta, Italy To Recognize Gay "Marriages"
2. Mexico Lawmakers File Bill To Make Abortion Legal Nationwide
3. Mother Given 10 Days To Find New Hospital For Sick Child Or Hospital Will
Remove Respirator
4. The Achilles' Heel Of Condoms
5. Why High Pensions Mean Low Birth Rates
6. Court Fines Poland Over Abortion Case
7. Scientists Discover Molecule That Might Help Embryonic Stem Cells Grow
8. Population 'Is Growing And Aging'
9. Stem Cell Hope For Eye Patients
10. Germany's Top News Anchorwoman Leads "Anti-Feminist" Revolution
11. "Homosexuality Is Not Hardwired," Concludes Dr. Francis S. Collins,
Head Of The Human Genome Project
12. Girls' Fertility Chartbook Stirs Debate
Focus On Asia: Disabled Chinese woman pleads for euthanasia
A severely disabled Chinese girl has appealed to delegates at the current annual
session of parliament to legalize euthanasia, Chinese media reported. Li Yan,
28, who suffers from motor neuron disease and can only move her head and some
fingers, had prepared a proposal for the National People's Congress, which winds
up its two-week session on Friday, China National Radio said on its Web site
(www.cnr.cn). "I must die before
my parents, otherwise I will die even more miserably," it quoted Li, from
northwestern China's Ningxia autonomous region, as saying.
(Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK69307.htm)
Item #1. EU To Force Poland, Malta, Italy To Recognize
Gay "Marriages"
The European Union continues to favor the homosexual movement's program at the
expense of national sovereignty and religious rights. A new law coming into
effect today effectively orders the countries of the Union to "facilitate"
homosexual partners who have "married" in their home countries and
want to live or travel in countries where their unions are not legally recognized.
The law is intended to allow EU citizens to move around the Union as freely as they do within their own countries. The directive means that citizens within the EU will no longer be obliged to obtain a residence permit when moving to another member state. When registering in their new country, homosexual couples may use the European Courts to force sovereign countries to recognize their unions.
View full file at Life Site News:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06050204.html
Item #2. Mexico Lawmakers File Bill To Make Abortion
Legal Nationwide
Abortion advocates in Mexico have been working on legislation in the Mexico
City legislature to make abortion legal in the nations' capital. Now they have
filed a measure in the federal Congress as well to try to legalize abortions
throughout the county within the first three months of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, Mexico President Felipe Calderon has said he opposes the abortion bill and would veto it if it came to his desk. Members of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, filed the bill on Tuesday in the Mexico Congress that would make abortion legal within the first three months of pregnancy. The bill also would mandate that government-financed health clinics do abortions if low-income women ask for them.
View full text at Life News: http://www.lifenews.com/int226.html
Item #3. Mother Given 10 Days To Find New Hospital
For Sick Child Or Hospital Will Remove Respirator
A hospital ethics committee at Brackenridge Children's Hospital of Austin, TX,
a Catholic run hospital in the Seton Healthcare System, yesterday notified Catarina
Gonzales, a young mother of a very sick child that, unless she can arrange to
have her child transferred to another medical facility within 10 days, they
will remove the respirator that the child relies on to breath.
Emilio Gonzales was born 16 months ago blind and deaf. Though very difficult to definitively diagnose, doctors have said that Emilio also suffers from Leigh's Disease, an incurable neuro-metabolic disorder that affects the central nervous system leading to loss of motor control and frequently to eventual respiratory, kidney and heart failure. Victims of the disease in its severest form usually have a life expectancy of a few years although some individuals have lived to early teens.
View full text at Life Site News:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032102.html
Item #4. The Achilles' Heel Of Condoms
Once more the Catholic Church is under fire for its opposition to condoms. Brazil's
president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, recently accused the Church of
hypocrisy on the issue of condoms at an event organized by the country's health
ministry, Reuters reported March 12.
The agency also reported the response of Cardinal Eugênio de Araújo Sales, retired archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, in which he criticized the government's condom program in a newspaper article. The policy of mass condom distribution, he wrote, promotes a culture of sexual promiscuity.
A statement issued by Brazil's Episcopal commission on family and life also rejected Silva's accusation. The commission insisted on the need to educate adolescents in good moral principles.
View full text at Zenit:
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=104734
Item #5. Why High Pensions Mean Low Birth Rates
There's a simple reason for plummeting fertility rates in the West: pension
systems have replaced traditional families and penalized couples with kids.
As everyone knows, fertility rates have been declining rapidly since early in
the 20th century. In many countries, total fertility rates are far below replacement
rates. At current speed, the once-great nations of Germany and Italy will be
reduced to half in just about 50 years.
There are various explanations of what is behind such a rapid change. According to recent research in economics, the most important reason is surprising yet mundane: fertility decline is the result of misguided pension policies. Public pay-as-you-go pension systems have discouraged fertility by replacing the traditional family system and penalizing those who raise more children.
View full text at Mercatornet:
http://www.mercatornet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=501
Item #6. Court Fines Poland Over Abortion Case
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday awarded a 36-year-old Polish woman
25,000 euros, about $33,000, in damages after doctors refused to grant her permission
to terminate her pregnancy despite serious risk to her eyesight.
After her delivery, her eyesight deteriorated considerably, and she has been declared significantly disabled. The court ruled that Poland had no effective legal framework for pregnant women to assert their right to abortion on medical grounds.
The ruling means that Poland will have to introduce clearer guidelines on abortion on medical grounds. As a member of the Council of Europe, Poland is obliged to abide by the court's judgments. The Polish government has three months to appeal the verdict.
See the full article at New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/world/europe/21poland.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Item #7. Scientists Discover Molecule That Might
Help Embryonic Stem Cells Grow
Scientists may have discovered a molecule that might help the growth of embryonic
stem cells without using mouse feeder cells that contaminate them. The feeder
cells prevent embryonic stem cells from ever being used in medical transplants.
Researchers at the University of Southern California say the newly discovered small molecule IQ-1 can prevent embryonic stem cells from differentiating into various types of cells. If they don't sort themselves into a single cell type, the embryonic stem cells and continue to grow and divide indefinitely.
Embryonic stem cells are normally maintained on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEFs) feeder layers. If the discovered molecule works as promised, scientists will no longer be required to use the mouse feeder cells to maintaining the "pluripotency" of embryonic stem cells.
View full text at Life News: http://www.lifenews.com/bio2036.html
Item #8. Population 'Is Growing And Aging'
The world's population is set to exceed nine billion people by 2050 but almost
a quarter of them will be over 60, a United Nations report has revealed. The
growth will come mainly in the developing world, with India set to pass China
as the most populous nation. But the population in rich nations is expected
to stay broadly the same, with increased migration compensating for falling
birth rates. And the number of elderly people is expected to almost treble by
2050.
View entire text at BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/6455493.stm
Item #9. Stem Cell Hope For Eye Patients
Stem cell therapy is being used on people who suffer from a rare genetic eye
disorder, it was announced today. Those suffering from aniridia are born without
an iris and usually go on to lose most of their vision. Doctors at Queen Victoria
Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, are transplanting stem cells from dead
donors, living relatives or the patients themselves onto the cornea.
They say that four people so far have reported improved comfort and vision in one eye after successful treatment. Hospital eye specialist Sheraz Daya said the stem cell transplant activated new limbal stem cell production.
View entire text at NetDoctor:
http://news.netdoctor.co.uk/news_detail.php?id=18091092
Item #10. Germany's Top News Anchorwoman Leads
"Anti-Feminist" Revolution
A leading German TV-moderator and anchorwoman of the country's top newscast
caused an uproar last year when she admitted to regretting her three divorces,
and condemned abortion, Die-Tagespost reported.
Eva Herman published her account of the fatal flaws in a career-oriented lifestyle in a bestselling book entitled "The Eva-Principle: Towards a New Femininity", released last year. Now she's published a second book, this one containing letters from women supporting her rejection of feminist self-fulfillment propaganda, reported The Spiegal news magazine.
View full text at Life Site News:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032009.html
Item #11. "Homosexuality Is Not Hardwired,"
Concludes Dr. Francis S. Collins, Head Of The Human Genome Project
Francis S. Collins, one of the world's leading scientists who works at the cutting
edge of DNA research, concluded that "there is an inescapable component
of heritability to many human behavioral traits." However, he adds, "for
virtually none of them, is heredity ever close to predictive."
In reviewing the heritability (i.e., influence of genetic factors) on personality traits, Dr. Collins referenced the research of Bochard and McGue for the estimated percentage of these traits that can be ascribed to heredity. The heritability estimates for personality traits were varied: General Cognitive Ability (50%), Extroversion (54%), Agreeableness (42%), Conscientiousness (49%), Neuroticism (48%), Openness (57%), Aggression (38%) and Traditionalism (54%).
Such estimates of heritability are based upon unbiased, careful analyses of studies conducted with identical twins. The studies lead to the conclusion that heredity is important in many of these personality traits. It is important however, to note that even in such studies with identical twins, that heritability is not to be confused as inevitability.
Read full article at NARTH:
http://www.narth.com/docs/nothardwired.html
Item #12. Girls' Fertility Chartbook Stirs Debate
Should teenage girls be taught to recognize the physical signs that indicate
when they are most likely to become pregnant? Health educator Toni Weschler
- author of the 1995 bestseller "Taking Charge of Your Fertility"
- thinks so, rallied by hundreds of letters from women who read her book later
in life and wished they had had such information earlier.
Consequently, Weschler has published a version for teens. Titled "Cycle Savvy: The Smart Teen's Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body" (HarperCollins), the more recent work has sparked controversy -- and not just among supporters of abstinence-only education. Some comprehensive sex education advocates are asking: Is this too much information, too soon?
See the full article at Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031602043_pf.html
Get Involved:
1. Pray Daily that we all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and strongly support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Be Informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Become A Missionary For Human Life: "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia" is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance travel expenses for talks to undeveloped countries in Asia. Fr. Jerry's lectures this year will emphasis "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues, Trends and Challenges". For Lectures in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry. To become a supportive Missionary for Human Life in Asia, kindly send your donations directly to:
Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824)
Contact EDITOR: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Contact Assistant Editor: Mr. Marlon Castillo Ramirez; Author of Book: "The Sights and Soul of Life"; E-Mail: mcr4lifeissues@gmail.com
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
20. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #317 - April 01, 2007
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
An essential argument for those wanting over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to teens is that it will reduce pregnancies and abortions. Here is what happened in Britain. We note that the morning-after pill has been available in England over-the-counter to young teenage girls for the last five years. During this time abortion rates have risen in the fifteen to forty-four age groups from 11 per 1,000 women in 1994 to 18 per 1,000 in 2004. Abortions have risen from 186,300 in 2001 to 194,400 in 2005.
In spite of this fact, a high court in Chile has approved the right of the government to distribute the morning-after pill to minor teenagers without the parent's knowledge or consent.
In addition, a meta-analysis of 23 published reports conducted in ten countries has been reported in the prestigious journal, Obstetrics and Gynecology. It demonstrates that the morning after pill does not reduce pregnancy rates or abortions. It concluded, "Increased access to emergency contraception pills does enhance its use, but has not been shown to reduce unintended pregnancy rates." The authors noted, "No study has shown that increased access to this method reduces unintended pregnancy or abortion rates on a population level." They concluded that the use of this bill "Is unlikely to produce a major reduction in unintended pregnancy rates no matter how often women use it."
Kindly share this knowledge with your friends and students.
God Bless, Fr. Jerry, omi
(A Thought:) Who is abortion good for? Women who abort are three times more likely to report symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder compared to women with unintended pregnancies who deliver (Journal of Anxiety Disorders). Women with a history of induced abortion are three times more likely to use illegal drugs during a subsequent pregnancy (British Journal of Health Psychology).
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #317 - April 01, 2007
Table Of Contents:
1. Reproductive Rights: Embracing The Lie
2. The Dark Side Of Population Control
3. India: Two Steps Forward, One Backward
4. HIV Infections On The Rise In Asia
5. Breastfeeding Alone Cuts HIV Risk
6. UN Officials Draft Document Re-Interpreting 29 International Law Rights To
All Include Homosexual Rights
7. Abortion And Embryo Manipulation Tools Of Economic Progress Causing Society's
Death
8. Thinking Outside The Egg, Scientists Propose Interspecies Cloning
9. Prenatal Screenings: Parents Of Children With Down Syndrome Speak Of Joys,
Sorrows
10. Cloning Doubletalk
11. Pope: "Demographic Profile" Shows Europe Soon To "Take Its
Leave From History"
12. Kansas Bishops Launch Education Campaign On Immorality Of Embryonic Stem
Cell Research
Focus On Asia: 132 million in Asia 'face starvation'. Warming may cut harvests by 30% in 2050s. Grain harvests in the Asian region will drop by as much as 30 percent, leading to skyrocketing food prices and the starvation of 132 million people in Asia in the 2050s, if fossil fuels continue to be consumed at the current rate, according to a report of the Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
http://www.worldpress.org/link.cfm?http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/20070329TDY01001.htm
Item #1. Reproductive Rights: Embracing The Lie
Recently, I read a press release on Reproductive Rights and African-American
Women by abortion advocate Ipas. We all too often hear of women's organizations
talk about women's rights and reproductive freedom. I found it interesting because
while Ipas was ranting about the reproductive choices of black women being almost
non existent...I found myself thinking about the facts regarding African Americans
and abortion.
Fact: Since 1973, MORE THAN 44 million unborn children have been legally killed in this country - of those killed almost 15 million of them where black.
View full file at Christian Newswire:
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/456442374.html
Item #2. The Dark Side Of Population Control
According to China's State Population and Family Planning Commission, "by
2020 some 30 million Chinese men will not be able to find wives." If these
thirty million men were a country, they would be one of the forty most-populous
countries in the world. This inability to find wives, in the commission's words,
"may lead to social instability."
View full text at BreakPoint:
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=6239&zbrandid=420&zidType=CH&zid=1279886&zsubscriberId=136625765
Item #3. India: Two Steps Forward, One Backward
A government report released as part of an extensive national family health
survey has come as a rude shock for a state long regarded as progressive. It
placed Tamil Nadu high on a list of states where wife beating is common.
View full text at IPS News:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36843
Item #4. HIV Infections On The Rise In Asia
The number of people in Asia infected with the AIDS virus threatens to double
over the next five years unless governments do more to stop the spread of HIV,
officials said Friday.
About 8.6 million people are infected in Asia with HIV.
At the current level of inadequate response, it is expected this number will rise to about 20 million in the next five years," the independent Commission on Aids in Asia said.
View full text at The Conservative Voice:
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ap/article.html?mi=D8O6FU780&apc=9020
Item #5. Breastfeeding Alone Cuts HIV Risk
Exclusively breastfeeding until a baby is six-months old can significantly reduce
the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission, an African study says.
View full text at BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6507309.stm
Item #6. UN Officials Draft Document Re-Interpreting
29 International Law Rights To All Include Homosexual Rights
At the Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, a radical homosexual umbrella
group released a homosexual rights document authored by several UN human rights
officials that claims even the youngest children are capable of discerning their
sexual identity. It adds they should be given governmentally protected free
reign to express that identity.
See the full article at LifeSite:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032906.html
Item #7. Abortion And Embryo Manipulation Tools
Of Economic Progress Causing Society's Death
Abortion and embryo manipulation in the name of science are tools used in the
relentless search of economic progress, but far from making society go forward,
they destroy its values. These accusations are made in a statement released
by the Bishops' Conference of Korea, which calls on the government to give priority
to fundamental values and the protection of human dignity, neglected in their
view in the name of economic development. One of the consequences of this situation
has been the lowest birth rate in the world, and especially the destruction
of human values, which have been replaced by a culture of death.
Full Article at AsiaNews.it
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=8861&size=A
Item #8. Thinking Outside The Egg, Scientists Propose
Interspecies Cloning
Currently, the few scientists actively pursuing human cloning are hobbled by
a nearly non-existent human egg supply. And each researcher will need thousands
of them.
"Getting eggs from women is the bottleneck to cloning," Cibelli said. "An alternative would be welcomed."
All three U.K. teams aim to get around that bottleneck by taking DNA from patients sick with a disease like Alzheimer's and fuse it with cow eggs that have had all their genetic material removed. The hope is that the human DNA will trick the eggs into thinking they're pregnant, beginning development.
After about five days of growth, the cloned embryos would be destroyed and the stem cells extracted. The stem cells would be grown in their labs and the researchers could look for the onset of diseases, study their development and test experimental drugs on the cells.
Comment: Of course, we embryonic stem cell research opponents are just a bunch of alarmists! --Nancy Valko, RN
View full article at USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/genetics/2007-03-22-animal-cloning_N.htm
Item #9. Prenatal Screenings: Parents Of Children
With Down Syndrome Speak Of Joys, Sorrows
Like other 14-year-olds, Grace Mehan enjoys playing sports, hanging out with
her friends, going horseback riding and acting.
She also has Down syndrome.
Her father Tom Mehan, of Mary Queen of Peace Parish in Webster Groves, said the blessings the family has received since her birth have been abundant. He said his daughter's life is filled with value - a life that others should value as well.
View entire text at ReviewOnline:
http://www.stlreview.com/article.php?id=12598
Item #10. Cloning Doubletalk
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch have just introduced Senate Bill 812,
which explicitly legalizes human cloning and - since a shortage of human eggs
is currently impeding human cloning research (one egg is needed for each attempt
at cloning) - the bill also authorizes researchers to pay women to undergo egg
procurement.
And if the purpose of the legislation wasn't bad enough, there's its name: Feinstein and Hatch mendaciously named S. 812 the "Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Protection Act of 2007."
How can a bill to legalize human cloning be instead called a ban? Through the time-tested method of disingenuous legislating - the bogus definition. Here's a rarely discussed truth: Key words and terms in legislation mean only what a bill's authors say they mean, rather than their actual definitions. If a dung beetle was defined in legislation as a butterfly, for the purposes of that bill, the dung beetle would be a butterfly. Which is essentially what S. 812 does. It defines the term "human cloning" inaccurately and unscientifically so that Feinstein and Hatch can pretend their bill will outlaw human cloning.
View full text at Weekly Standard:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/441vfewj.asp
Item #11. Pope: "Demographic Profile"
Shows Europe Soon To "Take Its Leave From History"
Europe's rejection of its traditional Christian identity is leading to its imminent
disappearance from the world stage, Pope Benedict XVI said in an address to
a congress of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community
(COMECE) on March 24.
"[I]n demographic terms, it must unfortunately be noted that Europe seems set on a path that could lead to its exit from history," Pope Benedict XVI stated at the event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, which formed the foundations of today's European Union.
Read full article at LifeSite:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032606.html
Item #12. Kansas Bishops Launch Education Campaign
On Immorality Of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
The Catholic bishops of Kansas have launched a campaign to help the public understand
the moral and ethical problems associated with embryonic stem cell research.
The initiative was taken in response to increasing pressure for state laws approving
research into human cloning and embryonic stem cell techniques.
The bishops commissioned a stem cell education video, available at http://saintmaxworldwide.org/ that offers a "clear and concise guide" to the debate over research using human embryos. Entitled "The Science of Stem Cells: Finding Cures and Protecting Lives," the 12-minute video explains underlying facts in the stem cell debate largely missing from media coverage, including the failure of embryonic research to produce any cures from disease, the facts of human cloning, and the success rate of ethically-acceptable adult stem cell research.
See the full article at LifeSite:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032002.html
Get Involved:
1. Pray Daily that we all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and strongly support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Be Informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Become A Missionary For Human Life: "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia" is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance travel expenses for talks to undeveloped countries in Asia. Fr. Jerry's lectures this year will emphasis "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues, Trends and Challenges". For Lectures in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry. To become a supportive Missionary for Human Life in Asia, kindly send your donations directly to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072 (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824)
Contact Editor:
Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax:
088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Contact Assistant Editor: Mr. Marlon Castillo Ramirez; Author of Book: "The Sights and Soul of Life"; E-Mail: mcr4lifeissues@gmail.com
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html.
21. LifeSiteNews.com - Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Vatican to UN: "First Right of Children is that of Being Born"
Quebec Shifts Away from Statist Left and Gay Politics in Monday Election
Canadian Research Suggests only 1.4% of Adults Homosexual
Pope Warns: "Hell . . . Exists and is Eternal"
UK Demonstration Against Sexual Orientation Legislation, and an Angry Response from an MP's Office
Pro-Life Students' Free Speech Rights Protected by Court Injunction
Resolution Demanding Charges Against Late-Term Abortionist Tiller Passes Kansas House Committee
Long-Time Pro Life Canadian MP Tom Wappel Announces Retirement
Constitutional 'Right' to Abortion in Canada a "Big Lie"
Tom Wappel - A Parliamentarian Who Will be Greatly Missed
Looney England: New Interpretation of UK Law Could Permit Nurses to Perform Surgical Abortions
US Supreme Court to Review Child Porn Law
Faithful Catholic Groups Call on Marquette for Maquire Dismissal
April CLC National News Now on Line
22. Light The Darkness Ministries: Tale Of Two Movies - March 19, 2007
Dear Friends,
I would like to tell a tale of two movies.
Ever since I was a little boy of ten or eleven years old I've been
fascinated with the story of the 300 Spartans who fought against
impossible odds and died as heroes for the glory of their nation.
Imagine then, my delight to hear about the movie 300, which is based on retelling this ancient story. The tickets were practically bought, I was more than pumped to seize the day and enjoy a great movie.
Now I knew it wasn't going to be a chick flick, and that there would be some violence. After all it's the pictorial display of a great battle. But, I've seen Braveheart, Troy, and Gladiator, and they didn't go overboard on blood and gore. Imagine then my surprise and dismay to read in the early reports for 300 that it was filled with geysers of blood, a plethora of slow motion decapitation, and so many limbs lopped off that an occasional movie goer like me would be forced by conviction and conscience to shout, "Cut!" and run from the theatre.
Then just days ago I read that the movie has at least two explicit sex scenes, one of them a sex orgy with overt lesbian overtones, and the other well I'm not sure it's worthwhile to document. Suffice it to say that if my mother were to find me there I would be ashamed. More to the point, if my Lord found me there I would be even more ashamed.
You've guessed it; I'm going to pass on this movie. As much as I need to be up on what's happening in culture, some things are just not worth the potential corrupting influence. In the early Roman church it was considered sinful for Christians to watch the gladiatorial combat in the coliseum. Augustine writes movingly of a young Christian who was persuaded against his better judgment to go there with friends. At first he kept his eyes tightly shut. But, when the crowd erupted in a mighty roar his curiosity got the better of him. From then on he was a lost man, indulging himself with cheers and delight in the display of the very real blood lust playing out before him.
Are modern day people in danger of corruption by virtue of the movies they watch? Don't we as pastors have a responsibility to those who sit before us, to warn them for the good of their souls? To ask this question is also to answer it.
To be sure in our age of movie violence and sexual libertinism 300 is but one bloodletting among many to which we should say, " no." But, perhaps it's a good place to start.
There's another movie grabbing my attention these days that tells the tale of another one of my heroes. Amazing Grace portrays the epic story of the decades long struggle of William Wilburforce who brought the slave trade to an end in the British Empire. The movie opens in Canadian theatres on March 23, 2007. I plan to be there.
Warmly and Sincerely,
Royal Hamel, Executive Director,
Light The Darkness Ministries
"Those who put others on the right path to life will glow like
stars forever." Daniel 12:3, (The Message)
Calling the Church to Fulfill her Calling?
17A-218 Silvercreek Pkwy, N.; Suite 319; Guelph ON; N1H 8E8; Phone/Fax: 519-836-3093;
E-Mail: watchman2003@sympatico.ca
23. Make Plastics Found In Recalled Pet Food Linked To Deaths - March 30, 2007
WASHINGTON - Recalled pet foods contained a chemical used to make plastics, but government tests failed to confirm the presence of rat poison, federal officials said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient. Cornell University scientists also have found the chemical, sometimes used as a fertilizer, in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating the company's wet food.
Click Here For a List of Pet Food Brand Names Subject to Recall.
Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this
month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the Canadian company's
products. It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently
contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands
have died. The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints.
24. Mandated HPV Vaccinations Pose Challenge To Parental Rights - March
27, 2007
Dear Friend of the Family,
Despite the eradication of many diseases, the 21st century is a difficult time for parents, grandparents and others entrusted with the care and guardianship of children. We must be constantly vigilant as national and international trends challenge our rights to oversee the nurturing and care of our children.
Front and center today is the attempt by state governments in the United States to mandate Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations for young girls, directly challenging parental rights. On Tuesday, the Conservative Government of Canada included in its budget proposal $300 million for these vaccinations. The proposal calls for each province or territory to determine whether or not vaccinations would be mandatory or voluntary.
Let's set the stage for this controversy. In June 2006, the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended HPV vaccinations for girls ages 11 and 12. Last month, Texas Governor Rick Perry set off a firestorm of controversy when he issued an executive order mandating that all females entering the sixth grade receive the vaccine, with some exceptions, for the prevention of HPV. Many parents were furious, and Texas House Bill 1098 was introduced in an attempt to overturn the executive order.
More than half of U.S. states are now attempting to mandate or legislate vaccination requirements for girls as young as 11.
HPV can only be contracted through sexual activity and is America's most common sexually transmitted infection. The virus is most frequent among U.S. women in their early 20s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease causes genital warts, cervical dysplasia and occasionally cervical cancer. The infection typically disappears within two years, and most infected people don't even realize they have the virus. This vaccination addresses just four of the more than 100 types of HPV.
There was a time when vaccinations served the public interest in an attempt to prevent polio and other diseases contracted through no fault of their own. Now we see governments attempting to force vaccinations upon people for behavior, which can be prevented. The HPV vaccine does not prevent all forms of cervical cancer, but it may give a false sense of security while encouraging risky behavior.
Mandating vaccinations for this disease is a very troubling attack on parental rights. It clearly undermines parents' authority to determine their children's health care and it inhibits their ability to encourage positive child behavior. Many parents fear that requiring the vaccination, like compulsory "safe-sex" education, sends the wrong message to students.
Vaccinations may give a false sense of safety leading to higher sexual activity, risking disease and pregnancy. Furthermore, vaccinations are not necessary for every girl, many of whom abstain sexually until marriage and will not be subject to the risk of STDs. Certainly, when government requires a vaccination to prevent a disease that can be completely avoided by abstinence it undercuts the importance of abstinence programs that are also government funded.
The vaccinations are costly, approaching $1,000 in some regions. Of valid concern to parents is the fact that the only vaccine currently approved, marketed by Merck under the name Gardasil, has not been tested for pre-teens. The attempt to fast-track this drug for marketing raises significant ethical questions. Taxpayer-supported public schools could punish students for non-compliance and incur resulting legal actions. Mandatory vaccines would result in windfall profits for Merck.
Two prominent organizations are calling for restraint on mandatory vaccinations:
· The American College of Pediatricians is opposed to "any legislation, which would require HPV vaccination for school attendance. This would amount to a precedent-setting action that trespasses on the right of parents to make medical decisions for their children as well as on the rights of the children to attend school. Most 9-12 year old children are not sexually active; many have not entered puberty. Forcing a parent to forsake his/her better judgment and discuss this information with the child would be inappropriate and unnecessarily intrusive."
· The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a leading vaccine safety and informed consent advocacy organization, is urging state legislatures to investigate the safety and cost of mandating Merck's HPV vaccine for all pre-adolescent girls before introducing legislation amending state vaccine laws. NVIC reports that testing of the drug resulted in numerous health problems, including loss of consciousness, seizures, arthritis joint pain and Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
The National Conference of State Legislatures carries a complete list of legislative action on HPV vaccines. Check your state and contact your lawmakers to voice your concerns about the problems with forced vaccinations.
Additionally, parents may want to consider discussing human sexuality with their children in a way that is consistent with their family's values at a time they deem appropriate. Parental involvement is highly important in an era when schools often portray human sexuality to children in ways that families find inappropriate.
Sincerely,
Carol Soelberg, President
United Families International - www.UnitedFamilies.org
In NS it was announced last week in the Halifax Herald that the Government
of NS is considering a vaccine program using Gardasil in our schools. The article
even suggested 5 year olds. This has to be a major concern for all of us. It
seems to have the overtones of a Planned Parenthood philosophy. The more they
try to fix the problem the worse it seems to get.
25. Miss Jamaica World Gives Up Crown For Her Unborn Child - March 18, 2007
By Hilary White
KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Miss Jamaica
World 2006 has announced that she will relinquish her beauty pageant crown after
becoming pregnant rather than have an abortion.
Sara Lawrence wrote in a statement, "Having taken a deeply personal decision to face up to my responsibilities as one who expects to become a mother later this year."
The 21 year-old Lawrence is an alumna of Immaculate Conception High School, and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology with an emphasis on Pre-Medicine from Randolph-Macon College, Virginia.
She wrote, "I believe with all that is within me that it is my moral
obligation to do what I believe to be ethically correct and follow what I believe
in my heart to be right."
The Jamaica Observer reports that Lawrence's decision has sparked a debate over abortion in Jamaica. Jamaica Bureau of Women's Affairs, Faith Webster, told the paper that the decision is a reflection of the success of the "choice" campaign for abortion in that country.
"She had a choice and she made that choice. We just have to give people their choice, which is what it's all about, the woman's choice."
Calling her pregnancy the result of "an error of judgment," the Miss Jamaica World pageant authorities said, "There was another way out of the predicament that Sara found herself to be in and many, perhaps most, young women would have chosen that path."
Mickey Haughton-James, the pageant promoter said, "As is typical of her she is doing so in a forthright manner, with class and in keeping with her moral dictates."
(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com is a production of Interim Publishing. Permission to republish is granted (with limitation*) but acknowledgement of source is REQUIRED (use LifeSiteNews.com).
26. National Priests Leader Urges S. CA State House To Adopt Abortion Ultrasound Legislation - March 21, 2007
National Priests Leader Urges South Carolina State House to Adopt Abortion
Ultrasound Legislation
MEDIA ADVISORY, Mar. 21 /Christian Newswire/ - Fr. Frank Pavone, National
Director of Priests for Life and Chairman of the world's largest ministry of
healing after abortion (Rachel's Vineyard), today commented on H 3355, the measure
that the South Carolina state House will consider this week to require that
a mother view an ultrasound image of her unborn child prior to an abortion.
"Every day, we minister to women who first saw how well developed their
unborn child was only after that child was killed. They spend the rest of their
lives in deep regret over that uninformed choice," Fr. Pavone stated. "This
legislation will spare many women that kind of suffering, not to mention that
it will save many lives."
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization
dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.
27. Now Scientists Create A Sheep That's 15% Human - March 24, 2007
These kinds of developments are so annoying because they lead to so many moral dilemmas - such as, What's more human, a Secular Humanist or one of these sheep?
Daily Mail - March 24, 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=444436&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=&ct=5
Now scientists create a sheep that's 15% human - By Claudia Joseph
Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.
The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.
Professor Esmail Zanjani, of the University of Nevada, has spent seven years and £5million perfecting the technique, which involves injecting adult human cells into a sheep's foetus.
He has already created a sheep liver, which has a large proportion of human cells and eventually hopes to precisely match a sheep to a transplant patient, using their own stem cells to create their own flock of sheep.
The process would involve extracting stem cells from the donor's bone marrow and injecting them into the peritoneum of a sheep's foetus. When the lamb is born, two months later, it would have a liver, heart, lungs and brain that are partly human and available for transplant.
"We would take a couple of ounces of bone marrow cells from the patient,' said Prof Zanjani, whose work is highlighted in a Channel 4 program tomorrow.
"We would isolate the stem cells from them, inject them into the peritoneum of these animals and then these cells would get distributed throughout the metabolic system into the circulatory system of all the organs in the body.
The two ounces of stem cell or bone marrow cell we get would provide enough stem cells to do about ten foetuses. So you don't just have one organ for transplant purposes, you have many available in case the first one fails."
At present 7,168 patients are waiting for an organ transplant in Britain alone, and two thirds of them are expected to die before an organ becomes available.
Scientists at King's College, London, and the North East Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle have now applied to the HFEA, the Government's fertility watchdog, for permission to start work on the chimeras.
But the development is likely to revive criticisms about scientists playing God, with the possibility of silent viruses, which are harmless in animals, being introduced into the human race.
Dr Patrick Dixon, an international lecturer on biological trends, warned: "Many silent viruses could create a biological nightmare in humans. Mutant animal viruses are a real threat, as we have seen with HIV."
Animal rights activists fear that if the cells get mixed together, they
could end up with cellular fusion, creating a hybrid which would have the features
and characteristics of both man and sheep. But Prof Zanjani said: "Transplanting
the cells into foetal sheep at this early stage does not result in fusion at
all."
©2007 Associated Newspapers Ltd
28. Organ Harvesting Before "Brain-Death" Increasingly Common,
Concerned Doctors Warn - March 21, 2007
Warning that changing definition of death will eventually lead to organ harvesting from disabled - By Gudrun Schultz
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Organ harvesting from patients before brain-death has been declared is a rapidly increasing trend in U. S. hospitals, the Washington Post reported March 18, alarming doctors and ethicists about the dubious ethics behind the practice.
Instead of waiting until brain function ceases and the patient is declared "brain-dead" by medical officials (itself a questionable practice since there is no universally-accepted definition of brain-death) surgeons have begun following an approach known as "donation after cardiac death." Organs are harvested once the heart has stopped beating and several minutes have passed without the heart spontaneously re-starting.
"The person is not dead yet," said Jerry A. Menikoff, an associate professor of law, ethics and medicine at the University of Kansas. "They are going to be dead, but we should be honest and say that we're starting to remove the organs a few minutes before they meet the legal definition of death."
"Non-beating heart" organ donations have more than doubled since 2003, from 268 to more than 605 in 2006, and the numbers are continuing to rise. The United Network for Organ Sharing and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations now require all hospitals to evaluate the practice and decide whether or not to adopt it.
The Alliance for Human Research Protection issued an alert Sunday warning that the policy is under consideration by hospitals without allowing for public input.
"The race to catch-up to China's policy of live vivisection organ removal from prisoners is underway right here in the US where, the Post reports, the trend is expected to accelerate this year," the AHRP stated.
"So far as we know, our right to informed consent - which means the right to say, NO - has been abrogated without so much as a public hearing!"
While doctors normally wait five minutes after the heart has stopped before pronouncing death, more and more doctors are shortening the wait period to maximize the quality of the organs. Surgeons at the Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado wait only 75 seconds after infants' hearts stop beating before removing the heart for transplant, according to the Post. The demand for usable organs is a powerful incentive to push back the ethical boundaries of harvesting policies, say alarmed physicians.
"A lot of us are not particularly happy about cutting that line particularly close," said Gail A. Van Norman, an anesthesiologist and bioethicist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
"It's worrisome when you stop thinking of the person who is dying as a patient but rather as a set of organs, and start thinking more about what's best for the patient in the next room waiting for the organs."
While the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine approved the practice as ethical so long as strict guidelines are followed, opponents say it is difficult to ensure patients are not being killed by over-eager harvesting, particularly in pediatric situations. Van Norman and others said the practice could put pressure on families to stop care prematurely, especially when doctors and nurses are caring for both the potential donor and potential recipient.
David Crippen, a University of Pittsburgh critical-care specialist, told the Post he is concerned the changing definition of death will eventually lead to organ harvesting from the disabled.
"Now that we've established that we're going to take organs from patients who have a prognosis of death but who do not meet the strict definition of death, might we become more interested in taking organs from patients who are not dead at all but who are incapacitated or disabled?"
See coverage from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031700
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Organ "Harvesting" Policy in Canada to Allow Terminal Patients to
be Killed for Parts?
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/sep/05091604.html
Organ Harvesting from Chinese Prisoners Confirmed
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06042805.html
Russian Surgeons Removing Organs Saying Patients Almost Dead Anyways: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/sep/03090906.html
29. Phony Illinois Parental Notice Bill Puts Teens' Health at Risk - March 12, 2007
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Mar. 7 /Christian Newswire/ - The 'Adolescent Health Care Safety Act,' HB 317, (sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey) is a misnamed bill that puts teenagers' health at risk. It enables teenagers to have abortions behind their parents' backs. Instead of notifying their parents, teens can notify a sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, clergyman, social worker, doctor, counselor, etc.
Because of the immaturity of the adolescent anatomy, teenagers who have abortions fall into a high-risk group for breast cancer and subsequent premature births. [3,4,5,6,7,8]
Last year, the Institute of Medicine included "prior first trimester abortion" as a risk factor for premature birth. [1] Premature birth is associated with cerebral palsy for children and breast cancer for mothers.
On its website, Planned Parenthood of Australia lists some health risks of abortion, including accepted risk factors for premature birth (infection and cervical and uterine anomaly), suicide, Asherman's syndrome, impaired fertility (a risk factor for breast cancer), etc. [2]
Cancer groups admit that an early first full term pregnancy reduces risk considerably. Consequently, even Dr. Lynn Rosenberg of Boston Medical School, an expert witness for the Center for Reproductive Rights agreed during testimony in 1999 that the young woman who has an abortion has a higher risk than the one who has a baby. [9]
"Parents are the best health care decision-makers for their children," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. "They alone have a comprehensive knowledge of the family's health history."
The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.
References can be viewed online at:
http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/press_releases/070307/index.htm
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=gbjkl6bab.0.47bkl6bab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0233&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abortionbreastcancer.com%2Fpress_releases%2F070307%2Findex.htm
Christian Newswire
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=gbjkl6bab.0.del6yxbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0233&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.com
To: National & State Desks
Contact: Karen Malec, Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, 847-421-4000
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=gbjkl6bab.0.ffhe8sbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0233&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abortionbreastcancer.com%2F
Forward this press release to another reporter or news producer:
http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1100869681811&ea=clcns%40clcns.com&a=1101570319398
30. Pro-Family Win Against Mandatory Sex Disease Shot For Girls - March 18, 2007
Pro-Family Advocates Win Skirmish for Parents' Rights on Mandatory Sex Disease
Shot for Girls as Young as Nine
SACRAMENTO, Mar. 14 /Christian Newswire/ - Pro-family advocacy groups
won a battle in a heated skirmish over whether parents ought to have a say-so
about a mandatory vaccination for HPV (human papilloma virus) proposed by California
Assembly Member Ed Hernandez (D) through Assembly Bill 16.
After a flurry of testimony and written analyses by the groups, the bill was
voluntarily tabled by Dr. Hernandez after approval and motion by the Chairman
of the Assembly Health Committee during yesterday's hearing. A vote on AB16,
following anticipated amendments consistent with the concerns of parents- rights
advocates, will take place in April of this year. The Assembly Health Committee
consists of 15 members, most of whom are Democrats.
Representatives of Traditional Values Coalition, Campaign for Children and
Families, Pro-Family Law Center, California Family Council, Capitol Resource
Institute, and Dr. Angela Griffiths all testified in opposition to the bill
which would have mandated vaccination for HPV, a sexually transmitted disease,
before a girl could move on to the seventh grade. The California Catholic Conference
and others also weighed in on the issue through written opposition. The unprecedented
mandate was proposed to be applicable to all private and public schools and
Merck Pharmaceuticals was and is pushing the use of the vaccine for girls as
young as nine. Merck would have likely made billions had the vaccine been forced
onto California families by legislative mandate.
Among other things pointed out by the groups, the Pro- Family Law Center stated
in its written legislative
analysis that, "According to information published by the CDC and
Merck Pharmaceuticals, it appears that Gardisil was only tested worldwide on
approximately 25,000 people between the ages of 9 and 26. According to the American
College of Pediatricians, the vaccine was tested on only 1121 girls between
the ages of 9 and 15. Furthermore, testing on males has not yet been completed.
As such, it is very likely that the HPV strain- specific vaccine has not been
tested on a study group that could render fully accurate predictions about the
effect of the HPV vaccine on pre-pubescent American children or on girls who
have not otherwise fully matured. As such, it seems rather obvious that you
should not be using children as 'guinea pigs' with respect to their reproductive
health. If you must use this mass experiment with Gardisil as a way of dealing
with HPV, our stated concerns about the scope of information provided to parents
are all the more obvious."
PFLC president, Rich Ackerman testified to the Committee that, "I will
not allow my daughter to be a guinea pig for the state. As a parent, I am entitled
to full disclosure as to the risks presented by this vaccine that has only been
out on the market for a year."
Ackerman further states, "I am so incredibly happy that California's pro-family organizations were able to come together as a cohesive unit and find a way to reach both sides of the political aisle on parents' rights, informed consent rights, and patient/child safety issues. We still have a voice in government and it was heard in unison today." PFLC's analyses can be found at www.profamilylawcenter.com.
31. SkyAngel - Christian And Family TV & Radio Channels - February 15, 2007
I hope everyone recalls an email sent re: SkyAngel in Canada, well here is a sample of what they are doing in relation to the Super Bowl. - Herm
Athletes in Action Super Bowl Breakfast Outreach to Air Super Bowl Sunday in U.S. and Canada on Sky Angel TV Service's Special Events Network, Angel Two Sky Angel to broadcast other AIA sports outreach events in the coming days, weeks and months, including Legends of the Hardwood, NBA All-Star Breakfast, Night of Champions and Legends of the Rodeo
NAPLES, Fla., Feb. 1 /Christian Newswire/ - Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy and Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr will take center stage at the 2007 Super Bowl Breakfast telecast airing multiple times throughout the day this Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, on Sky Angel's Angel Two network.
Angel Two is among the 30-plus Christian and family TV and radio channels carried on the Sky Angel direct-to-home satellite service http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ho7og7bab.0.bth8asbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0229&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skyangel.com%2F serving the continental U.S. Angel Two is also carried on Sky Angel's new Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ho7og7bab.0.nfto78bab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0229&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skyangel-iptv.com%2F recently launched in Canada. Owned and operated by Sky Angel, Angel Two was created to host special faith-based events, including conferences, documentaries and debates.
The NFL(TM)-sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ho7og7bab.0.hfyqg7bab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0229&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.superbowlbreakfast.com%2F
is sponsored by Athletes in Action
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ho7og7bab.0.ifyqg7bab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0229&p=http%3A%2F%2Faia.com%2F
(AIA), the sports outreach ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Now in its
20th year, the event is held in the Super Bowl host city during Super Bowl week
and showcases life stories and personal faith testimonies of Dungy, Starr, and
football stars from both Super Bowl teams. A highlight of the breakfast is the
presentation of the Bart Starr Award to a current NFL player who exemplifies
outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community.
Sky Angel will air the 2007 Super Bowl Breakfast this Sunday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT with encore broadcasts before and after the Super Bowl game at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT and 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The event will re-air Sunday, February 18, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.
Sky Angel will also be broadcasting other Athletes in Action sports outreach events in the coming weeks and months on its Angel Two network, including NBA(TM) All-Star Breakfast on February 25; Legends of the Hardwood on April 1; and Night of Champions on May 18, 19 and 20. In addition, an encore presentation of last December's 2006 Pro-Rodeo Breakfast, a.k.a. Legends of the Rodeo, will be airing this Sunday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, on Angel Two.
Christian Newswire
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ho7og7bab.0.del6yxbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0229&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.com
32. Survivors Of The Abortion Holocaust To Hold 10th Annual Pro-Life
Boot Camp - March 20, 2007
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 20 /Christian Newswire/ - Survivors of the Abortion
Holocaust, a pro-life youth organization, will hold the 10th annual Pro Life
Training Camp in Los Angeles, California from June 27 to July 8.
Over 50 young people, ages 14 and up, from across the nation will travel to
Southern California to participate in what many have dubbed "pro-life boot
camp."
Featured in the Los Angeles Times, Jane and Teen People, the high energy 12-day
camp offers an opportunity for high school and college-age youth who want to
be trained in effective pro-life activism.
"I have always felt that abortion is wrong," says Angelique Guarneri,
age 15, who will be attending the camp again this year. "But until I went
to camp last year, I didn't feel like I could articulate why."
She continues, "Survivors has helped me to see that my age is not an obstacle
to my voice being heard on critical issues such as abortion. Instead, I feel
that my age is an asset. Who better to speak about abortion than someone who
had a 1 in 3 chance of being a victim themselves?"
The first few days of camp equip Survivors with the foundational tools they
will need for effective activism. Students complete basic and advanced training
from nationally recognized pro-life advocates through seminars and skill-building
exercises.
The topics covered include: the basic science of when life begins, pro-life
apologetics, how to counsel women in unplanned pregnancies, using the media
to get out the pro-life message, planning and executing a successful event,
and knowing the legal rights in the public square.
21-year-old Kenny Reed from Wichita, Kansas, credits the Pro Life Training
Camp with giving him confidence in discussions about abortion. "Because
of my experience at Survivors Camp, I now feel that I can speak to anyone. So
many people are afraid to take a stand on abortion, but I am willing to take
a stand because I know how to talk to people about the issue. Whether it's to
a college professor or to my peer, the truth about abortion remains the same
and I am ready to share it with them."
The second part of the camp challenges the youth to put the training they receive
into action. With the encouragement of experienced advisors, the Survivors are
given opportunities to practice their skills at events, whether as event leader
or media spokesperson. The goal is to prepare them to coordinate their own events
and activities when they return home.
"The future of the pro-life movement lies in our youth. We are dedicated
to equipping and activating young people who have a heart for the pre-born and
are willing to be used by God to defend those unjustly sentenced to death,"
says Cheryl Conrad, Executive Director of Survivors. "The next generation
of pro-life leaders can be found at the Survivors Pro Life Training Camp!"
33. Thank You Catholics By Sylvia Alloway - March 23, 2007
Dear…
I was pleased to read the articles in "LifeSite News" about Catholics who are holding the line against same-sex marriage, abortion and other political travesties that seek to destroy all traces of the Judeo-Christian ethic in North America, the EU and elsewhere.
I am not a Catholic. I can't be because I hold that pastors may be married, that there are only two sacraments and other Protestant beliefs. But, far from hoping that the Catholic Church changes its practices, I hope and pray that they remain anchored in their traditions and do NOT change. People who want to alter the Church to suit their ideas seem to forget one thing: If the Catholic Church gives in to these demands, it won't be Catholic any more.
Many Protestants stand with the Catholics in our mutual efforts to honor our Lord Jesus Christ. But unfortunately, if a Protestant decides he wants to "marry" someone of his own sex, all he has to do is change denominations. There are more and more churches that claim to be Protestant "Christian," that are in fact pagan and worse.
Not so with the Catholics. The words of the Pope and other authorities within the church let the world know what Catholic standards are. There can be no "fudging," no claim to misunderstanding. I admire the courage of Catholics who refuse to compromise their faith. The world needs you as a tent needs a center pole.
Sincerely, Sylvia Alloway, California
34. Top Ten Objections To Sex Selection - March 18, 2007
Top Ten Objections to Sex Selection, by Jennifer Lahl.
Recently Dr. Edgar Dahl, spokesman for the German Society for Reproductive Medicine wrote about the 10 most common objections to sex selection and why he feels they are far from conclusive. His article, published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Vol. 14, Suppl. 1 2007 is in response to the recommendation that the British Parliament ought to outlaw sex selection except for the most serious medical reasons. The UK Department of Health concluded that social sex selection should be outlawed while sex selection for serious genetically sex linked diseases should be permitted.
Dahl lists these 10 reasons against sex selection which he refutes along the
way:
I found many faults with Dahl's perspective on sex selection. Besides the fact that his arguments distinctly ignore the welfare of the child, I was amazed in his confidence in our ability to control and legislate the desires of parents to keep selecting more and different traits in our children. The fact that he suggests we could draw legal lines here but not on social sex selection is rather naïve! May I suggest one reason against sex selection. It is an affront to the dignity of the child, to be viewed as something which is made, manufactured or willed by others. A child created in the image of the parents shows that we have lost our understanding that we are begotten and not made.
35. Trend Toward Smaller Families Continues - March 21, 2007
The initial findings of Statistics Canada's 2006 Census released last week show that for the most part the size of the Canadian family continues to shrink.
Canada's national birthrate, according to the federal agency, remained where it has been for the last ten years at 1.5 children per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1 - the level needed simply to maintain existing population numbers.
At the same time, Canada saw its enumerated population grow to 31.6 million, or 5.4 per cent more people compared with the last census in 2001. But as Canadian Press noted, two-thirds of that growth was fuelled by immigration.
Seen another way, while 240,000 people immigrated to Canada per year between 2001 and 2006, only about 400,000 babies were born to Canadian parents during that entire five-year period.
If this trend continues, Statistics Canada projects that as the population ages, "net immigration may become the only source of population growth by about 2030."
"You're going to see an increase in the number of deaths in Canada and
the number of deaths will exceed the number of births, so natural increase will
become negative," Statistics Canada analyst Laurent Martel told CP.
Alberta was the only province whose "natural increase" - where births outnumbered deaths - did not decline between 2001 and 2006.
"So why are so many Canadians shunning parenthood?"
Vancouver
Province columnist Lydia Lovric asked.
"For many, it boils down to materialism and selfishness. Today's twenty and thirty-somethings seem to think that travelling the world, driving fancy cars and living in luxury condos will give them more joy in life than raising children," she wrote.
"While changing flights may seem more appealing than changing diapers, one wonders whether these carefree jet-setters will one day regret not having kids."
But while immigration accounted for most of Quebec's 4.3 per cent population growth between 2001 and 2006, what the census does not reflect is that its birthrate in 2006 alone rose by eight per cent - the highest in nearly a century and the fourth consecutive year of growth.
Quebec Family Minister Carole Theberge cautions against reading too much into these numbers. "Before talking about a baby boom, we have to be sure the birthrate remains high over several years," he told CP. "At this point there's been an increase in births."
36. UK MPs Vote To Keep Parents In The Dark - March 21, 2007
British MPs have decided doctors should not have to tell parents that they have offered their underaged daughters advice on abortion or contraception, BBC News reported.
By a vote of 159-87, MPs defeated a bill by Conservative MP Angela Watkinson that challenged the current policy guaranteeing the confidentiality of the medical advice given to children under 16.
37. Vatican To UN - "First Right Of Children Is That Of Being Born" - March 27, 2007 - NOT WEB
By John-Henry Westen
GENEVA, March 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "The first right of children is that of being born and educated in a welcoming and secure family environment where their physical, psychological and spiritual growth is guaranteed, their potential is developed and where the awareness of personal dignity becomes the base for relating to others and for confronting the future." The statement was made during a March 23 address by Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi C.S., Holy See (Vatican) permanent observer to the United Nations at Geneva, who spoke during the 4th session of the Human Rights Council.
Archbishop Tomasi recalled that "the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child attributes to the child the fundamental rights of a person; it recognizes the child to have the same equality and dignity as any adult person."
"In many cases," he went on, "due to lack of will and of resources, good legal provisions and public policies are not implemented, with grave consequences for children. They often become the first victims of famines and wars."
"To many children the right to life is denied; prenatal selection
eliminates both babies suspected of having disabilities and female
children simply because of their sex, and thus denies the equal and intrinsic
value of disabled persons and of girls for their families and for society."
State and society, said the permanent observer, must "concretely support and enable the family to carry out its task. ... The Catholic Church's over 300,000 social, caring and educational institutions work daily to ensure both a peace-oriented and creative education for children, and the development of their talents, and to provide the reintegration of abused and neglected children into their families, if possible, and into society."
"Children are both weakness and hope. To pursue the defence of their rights and the elimination of all forms of violence against them remains an institutional challenge for the international community. Success will be reached if priority is given to the natural role of the family and to the public culture that recognizes that children too are full human persons."
(With files from Vatican Information Service.)
38. Wappel Will Not Seek Re-Election - March 23, 2007
Scarborough: Last night Tom Wappel told the Officers and Directors of the Scarborough Southwest Federal Liberal Association that he will not seek re-election.
"I have been honoured and privileged to represent you in this riding for almost two decades. I have always given 110 percent, and with your tremendous help and encouragement, we have been rewarded with many electoral records and strong majorities." Wappel told the directors.
"I sincerely thank my constituents for electing me six consecutive
times, in a Riding where even two consecutive victories had never before happened.'
continued Wappel.
Mr. Wappel thanked his loyal supporters, his Ottawa and constituency staff, past and present, and all those who have voted for him through six election victories.
"I do not know what the future holds, but after the next election occurs I do intend to pursue some of my other interests, including the law, teaching and consulting. I look forward to spending more time with my family and friends." concluded Wappel.
-30-
(For more information, contact Tom Wappel, M.P. at (613) 995-0284 or Wappel.T@parl.gc.ca
39. Winnipeg Wants More Police In Schools - March 21, 2007
Winnipeg's city government wants to double the number of police officers on duty in high schools, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.
The proposed expansion of the school resource officer program still needs the approval of the Winnipeg School Division and the provincial government.
Currently in three schools, the hope is to assign officers to two more schools, with a sixth officer covering four other schools by September.
The officers work directly with schools in a crime prevention and
educational capacity. The program has been credited with keeping students from
gang activity and in providing police with valuable intelligence on local criminal
activity.
A coalition of parents' groups and school officials had been lobbying city hall to expand the program.
Adding three more officers would cost $258,000 per year. But as Richard Page with the inner city Spence Neighbourhood Association told the Winnipeg Sun, "Please, let's not talk about cost. We'll see reduced gang activity and criminalization down the road. Let's stop looking at it as a cost, but as an investment."
To Sun columnist John Gleeson, the need for such a program is a 'no-brainer.'
"School resource officers," he wrote, "are not 'school security,' as some critics argue ... the job combines counselling, teaching and community outreach with more traditional law enforcement work."
Yet even if six officers are eventually assigned to Winnipeg schools, that would still be far fewer than other western Canadian cities, according to Gleeson. Calgary, for example, has 16 school resource officers working in 26 high schools, Edmonton has 21 officers and Regina has 10.
But Free Press columnist Lindor Reynolds doubts that the program will make much difference as long as "There is nothing in our Criminal Code or Youth Criminal Justice Act to convince would-be [criminals] that there are consequences to their behaviour."
"Put police officers in the schools if you must. In the best possible world, some trust-building will take place. Just don't expect youth crime to drop," she stated.
©2007 Focus on the Family (Canada) Association.
40. Women Happier In Traditional Marriage Arrangements - March 20, 2007
World Congress of Families: Family Update, Online! - Volume 08 Issue 12
Family Research Abstract of the Week: Feminist Dogma Debunked
For years elite opinion has maintained that women are happier in marriages that represent a union of equals and where spouses share identical responsibilities in the workplace and at home. Even as very few couples actually live this way, a study by two noted University of Virginia sociologists debunks the feminist spin, finding that women - even those who espouse egalitarian ideals - are far happier in marriages that have a traditional division of labor.
Looking at a sub-sample of 5,000 couples drawn from the second wave (1992-94) of the National Survey of Families and Households, Bradford Wilcox and Steven Nock measured women's marital happiness, women's satisfaction with the emotional attention they receive from their husbands, and the time husbands spend with their wives against a number of independent variables associated with various theories of marriage.
Their findings reveal that the more traditional the woman and the more traditional the marriage, the happier the woman. Women are happiest when they tend to hearth and home and their husbands bring home the bacon (earning at least 68% of family income). This did not surprise the researchers because they also found that men who were married to homemakers are more likely to spend "quality time" with their wives. These traditional wives also expressed greater satisfaction with their husbands' emotional interaction with them. In contrast, women who aspire to having "companionate" marriages, thinking "equality" will deliver what they really desire - the emotional engagement of their husbands - actually end up spending less time with husbands than their traditional peers. And these wives are less satisfied with the understanding they receive from their husbands.
Also contributing to women's marital happiness is a dynamic generally missing from egalitarian marriages: a shared commitment to marriage as a social and normative institution, where each spouse views matrimony as a binding commitment that "should never be ended except under extreme circumstances." Wives also reported higher satisfaction with their husbands' affection and understanding when couples share high levels of church attendance.
The consistency of these findings across their statistical models led the researchers to suggest that cultural shifts in the last generation, from declines in church attendance to acceptance of divorce and premarital sex, have taken a toll on women's happiness. Yet they point to rising expectations of women for marital equality as especially problematic: "Our findings suggest that increased departures from a male-bread winning/female-homemaking model may also account for declines in marital quality, insofar as men and women continue to tacitly value gendered patterns of behavior in marriage."
(Source: W. Bradford Wilcox and Steven L. Nock, "What's Love Got to Do With It? Equality, Equity, Commitment, and Women's Marital Equality," Social Forces 84 [March 2006]: pages forthcoming.)
Copyright (c) 1997-2006 The Howard Center
41. World Premiere Of 'The Case For Christ's Resurrection' Airs April 4th
On TBN - March 28, 2007
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 28 /Christian Newswire/ - Officials for Trinity Broadcasting
Network (TBN), the world's largest religious broadcaster and America's most-watched
faith channel, announced that the network will air the world premiere of the
inspirational and challenging documentary The Case for Christ's Resurrection
April 4th at 5:30 p.m. (PST).
Produced by Grizzly Adams Productions with a team of veteran scientific researchers,
historians, forensic scientists, botanists, theologians, and biblical archaeologists,
the feature-length program analyzes historic records, an ancient burial shroud,
current medical knowledge, and scripture to build a compelling case for the
death and miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ.
David Balsiger, vice president of Grizzly Adams Productions and senior producer
of The Case for Christ's Resurrection, noted that throughout history thinking
men and women have wrestled with the question: Does indisputable evidence exist
to prove the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? "The answer is a resounding
'Yes!'" said Balsiger. "We've researched all the relevant elements
to which thoughtful people appeal when addressing this timeless theme. We feel
strongly that The Case for Christ's Resurrection will convince the most skeptical
about the historical legitimacy of Jesus Christ, and will confirm and strengthen
the faith of those who already believe this timeless and eternal account found
in Scripture."
Dr. Gary Habermas, a research professor and chair of the department of theology
at Liberty University, noted there is growing proof that the events depicted
in the Gospel accounts in Scripture will stand up to rigorous scrutiny. "Science,
combined with written descriptions by non-Christians of the events of Jesus'
life and death, make it clear that Christian beliefs are grounded in fact,"
said Habermas.
The film demonstrates that following his death; Jesus was seen by numerous
people, both believers and non-believers. "There were at least 500 eyewitnesses
in and around Jerusalem who actually saw or talked with Jesus after his resurrection,"
explained Balsiger. "Beyond the Bible, there are more than 20 non-Christian
sources written between 30 and 130 A.D. that refer to Jesus of Nazareth as a
historical figure. Twelve mention his death and provide details on how he died.
Ten of these refer to his resurrection."
The documentary also examines the controversial Shroud of Turin, that many
scientists and scholars now believe is the actual burial cloth of Christ. One
of the most fascinating parts of the program shows how holographic scientists
in Holland created a three- dimensional holographic image of the face and body
of Jesus Christ. "Nearly 50 scientific discoveries on the Shroud tie this
burial cloth to the biblical account of the crucifixion and resurrection of
Christ," said Balsiger.
"The Case for Christ's Resurrection is a program worth seeing over and
over again because it provides new scientific evidence of Christ's resurrection,"
said Paul Crouch Jr., TBN's Vice President of Administration. "We're thrilled
to offer it during the Easter season to our viewers. We believe it will inspire
and challenge all who watch."
The Case for Christ's Resurrection will air on TBN on April 4th at 5:30
p.m. (PST). The show is in part based on a book of the same title authored by
Balsiger and co-author Charles E. Sellier.
TBN is the world's largest religious network and America's most watched
faith channel. Each day TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational
programming that appeals to people in a wide variety of denominations. TBN now
reaches every major continent via 54 satellites and more than 12,000 television
and cable affiliates worldwide. In the United States, TBN is available to 92
percent of the total households. Its website receives more than 27 million visitors
monthly. In addition to TBN, the network owns and operates seven networks, including:
The Church Channel, JCTV youth network, TBN Enlace USA Spanish network, and
Smile of a Child TV children's network. For more information on TBN, visit www.tbn.org.
42. Zell Miller On Abortion, Over 45 Million Killed - March 18, 2007
In Canada the rate is 410 per day or 105,000 a year. In NS, with its small population, there have been 33,519 abortions since 1989 up until 2003 and 2,692,327 from 1970 until 2003 in Canada, which is more than the total population of Atlantic Canada. Comments: Good report!
Zell
Miller: Abortion Killed Over 45 Million
Former Sen. Zell Miller says abortion has claimed the lives of more than 45
million Americans since 1973, and is to blame for manpower shortages in the
U.S. military and the looming Social Security crisis.
"How could this great land of plenty produce too few people in the last 30 years?" Miller asked during a recent fund-raiser in Macon, Ga. "Here is the brutal truth that no one dares to mention: We're too few because too many of our babies have been killed. Over 45 million since Roe v. Wade in 1973."
"If those 45 million children had lived, today they would be defending
our country, they would be filling our jobs, they would be paying into Social
Security," Miller said, according to LifeSiteNews.com. "Still, we
watch as 3,700 babies are killed every single day in America. It is unbelievable
that a nation under God would allow this."
To read the rest of this article Click
Here.
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