CLC Nova Scotia Newsletter
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National Newsletter


Welcome to Campaign Life Coalition Nova Scotia (CLCNS) web page. We are the provincial chapter of CLC Canada, which is the national pro-life organization working at all levels of government to secure full legal protection for all human beings, from conception (fertilization) to natural death. We defend the sanctity of human life against threats posed by abortion, euthanasia, doctor assisted suicide, reproductive and genetics technologies, cloning, infanticide, eugenics and threats to the family. Campaign Life Coalition will not compromise on basic principles, and encourages incremental policies that would increase respect and protection for human life.

Families Really do Matter for Canada - As the family goes, so too goes the nation!

See Below
Weekly News
Feb 13/09
Life Chain Photos 2008
MP Voting Records for NS

News Ticker provided by LifeSiteNews.Com


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Items

  1. Angry Abortion Supporters Shut Down Debate, University Gives In To Mob Rule – February 9, 2009
  2. GAP Leader Responds To Post's Barbara Kay's Condemnation Of Abortion Photos Strategy – February 9, 2009
  3. Italy's PM Seeks Law To Keep Comatose Woman Alive – February 8, 2009
  4. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #407 – February 1, 2009
  5. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #409 – February 8, 2009
  6. Media Malpractice At The March For Life – February 9, 2009
  7. Obama 'Guarantees' Stem Cell Work – February 6, 2009
  8. Priestly Father Speaks About The Day And Its Problems From The Past – February 9, 2009
  9. Pro-Life Speaker Ousted At St. Mary's University Due To Hecklers – February 10, 2009
  10. Reader Thanks LifeSiteNews For Convincing Her To Not Abort Her Fourth Child – February 9, 2009
  11. There Are Not Enough Children - Are They A Blessing Or Not – February 12, 2009
  12. University Accused Of Denying Rights – February 9, 2009

Newsletter Archive

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1. Angry Abortion Supporters Shut Down Debate, University Gives In To Mob Rule – February 9, 2009

For Immediate Release: Angry abortion supporters shut down debate, university gives in to mob rule.

HALIFAX, NS, February 7, 2008-A recently posted Youtube video shows a mob of abortion advocates shouting down a pro-life speaker at Saint Mary's University the evening of February 5. The protestors disrupted a lecture given by Jojo Ruba, co-founder of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR). While chanting and shouting over Ruba and covering his projector, police arrived on scene and threatened the angry mob with arrest if they did not permit the scheduled presentation, hosted by St. Mary's pro-life students, to continue.

The protestors quieted down when the police came, but quickly raised their voices again, especially when Ruba began showing photos of past genocides like the Holocaust, and when he showed a video of abortion.

The presentation was eventually shut down, and it was reported that a university representative did so when she heard the protestors were going to be arrested.

"What looks worse, shutting down a university-approved presentation or arresting people who are unlawfully disrupting that presentation?" asked Ruba, who said he was appalled the university gave in to mob rule. "St. Mary's should be ashamed of itself for showing students they need only scream when they don't like something, rather than dialogue respectfully."

Ruba's presentation, titled "Echoes of the Holocaust," caused a stir even before it began. Protesters were outraged over is comparing abortion to the Holocaust, a theme frequently espoused by his organization, CCBR.

CCBR's executive director, Stephanie Gray, explained their philosophy: "If the unborn aren't human, our comparison is wrong. But if the unborn /are / human, then our comparison is frighteningly accurate. We're not saying the Holocaust and abortion are identical but we are saying they are comparable: innocent human beings denied their personhood status, used for experimentation, treated as objects, legally killed in centres designed to terminate their lives, and disposed of like waste."

Ruba didn't get to properly make his case for this comparison, however, in the face of the mob. He said, "These so-called pro-'choice' people don't believe in choice at all. Along with denying the unborn their choice to live, they suppressed the audience's choice to hear my presentation. They have shown themselves to be intolerant and hateful."

About 60 people came to hear the talk, including many pro-choice students. The Youtube video shows Ruba beginning his talk by thanking everyone for coming. He then encouraged those who agreed or disagreed to ask questions at the end. "I just asked them to raise their hands first," said Ruba.

Ruba is currently on a speaking tour at university campuses and said that in his eight years of speaking he has never been met with such hostility. He has several more presentations scheduled in the Maritimes for next week.

For further information – Primary contact: Jojo Ruba, 1-403-689-5890 (cell), or jruba@unmaskingchoice.ca
Secondary contact: Stephanie Gray, 1-403-200-0777 (cell)

-30-

Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR)
Box 123
5-8720 Macleod Trail SE
Calgary, AB, T2H 0M4
1-403-668-0485 (office) 1- 403-539-2227 (fax)
See it. Believe it. Change it. http://www.unmaskingchoice.ca

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2. GAP Leader Responds To Post's Barbara Kay's Condemnation Of Abortion Photos Strategy – February 9, 2009

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020508.html
GAP Leader Responds to Post's Barbara Kay's Condemnation of Abortion Photos Strategy – By Steve Jalsevac

Stephanie Gray – CALGARY, Alberta, February 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The February 4 National Post published the lengthy text of a December speech given by National Post columnist Barbara Kay to the "Live for Life" club at King's College, University of Western Ontario. The speech text, titled, "Women deserve better than abortion", has generated controversy for its condemnation of the showing of photos of aborted babies and the Genocide Awareness Project's comparison of abortion to the slavery and Jewish Holocaust catastrophes. Stephanie Gray, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, sent LifeSiteNews her detailed refutation of points made by Kay, who began her talk to the pro-life group admitting, "I am not opposed in principle to legal abortion."

The thrust of Gray's response, titled, "A Warning to Pro-Lifers", is that following uninformed, and thereby flawed reasoning of the type given by Kay, is certain to harm the cause of ending the grave injustice of abortion.

Gray refers to history and notes that "Resisting activities which ruffle feathers and rock boats is reminiscent of the Alabama clergyman who, in 1963, wrote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., criticizing his peaceful but controversial efforts at social reform, claiming they were not only "unwise and untimely" but "extreme."  History has shown who was right."

Dr. King's response to such clergy men is quoted by Gray: "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice."

Gray, whose fulltime mission is to develop well reasoned, factual arguments on abortion questions, adds, "Indeed, what is worse: those who cover up abortion while agreeing with abortion, or those who cover up abortion while opposing abortion?"

In her speech Kay accused GAP of exploiting emotions with its strategy and ignoring how this harms the public perception of the pro-life movement: "You must consider whether the emotional impact of your message is so important to you that it is worth burning the narrow but sturdy bridge you could be using to reach people like me."

Gray responds, "The idea that the pro-life movement needs to change its image by eliminating graphic pictures is rooted in the perspective that in order to achieve social change, we need to first be focussed on how we come across or are perceived by society." But that route is flawed according to Gray who claims that historically; successful social reformers did not transform their cultures that way.  They "did not work to change how people perceived them.  They worked to change how people perceived the injustices at hand."

As for Kay's argument that the overwhelming focus of pro-life efforts should be on "the rights of women," Gray responds, "If pro-lifers allow ourselves to be distracted by arguments focussing primarily on why abortion is not in a woman's self-interest, then we are implicitly reinforcing the pro-abortion position and not our own: we are legitimizing the pro-abortion principle that the woman's interests take precedence over the child's life."

She explains, "Abortion is not wrong because it hurts women.  Abortion is wrong because it intentionally kills an innocent human being.  That is why it hurts women both psychologically and physically."

Gray ends by encouraging those who reveal the harsh truths of abortion to "stay the course" and endure "short-term persecution in order to achieve long-term cultural transformation." In other words, serious cultural changes regarding such matters have usually only come about only when some have been willing to endure substantial personal suffering for the greater good.

Gray ends her rebuttal quoting Gandhi, "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."

Stephanie Gray is co-founder and executive director of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform

See Stephanie Gray's complete article: A Warning to Pro-Lifers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/090205a.html

See the full text of Barbara Kay's speech: Women deserve better than abortion
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive...
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/02/04/barbara-kay-women

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3. Italy's PM Seeks Law To Keep Comatose Woman Alive – February 8, 2009

Reuters
Published: February 8, 2009

By Silvia Aloisi

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is pushing a law through parliament to force doctors to resume feeding a comatose woman in a right-to-die case that has plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.

Berlusconi says he is in a race against time to save Eluana Englaro, who has been in a coma for 17 years and has not been fed since Friday in line with a high court ruling that she should be allowed to die.

Parliament – where Berlusconi has a large majority – could pass the law this week, reversing the court ruling and circumventing the head of state, who blocked Berlusconi's previous attempt to order the resumption of feeding by decree.

"I still believe that saving Eluana is possible," Maurizio Sacconi, Berlusconi's health minister, told Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday.

...Con’t http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/02/08/europe/OUKWD-UK-ITALY-EUTHANASIA.php

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4. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #407 – February 1, 2009

Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)

Dear Friends for Life,

Human Life Alliance is challenging us to strive for a better future.

Did you know... Choosing abstinence until marriage allows you to choose a better future. One that isn't filled with sexually transmitted diseases, broken hearts, and unplanned pregnancies. Another benefit is that your present time won't be filled with worry about any of these problems. Studies show that individuals who delay sexual activity until they are married have greater self-esteem, enjoy a higher standard of living, and are more likely to experience a happy marriage. In a world riddled with divorce, who wouldn't want to have a better chance at a successful, loving marriage that lasts for a lifetime?

Make a decision to choose a life of purity. Don't give up, give out, or lower your standards for anybody. It's not worth it. There is no such thing as "safe sex." Abstinence until marriage is the only 100% way to guarantee that you won't have to deal with an unplanned pregnancy or STD.

If you have already lost your virginity, you can still choose second virginity! Just make up your mind that from this moment on you will remain pure sexually (mentally, emotionally, and physically) until marriage. You can do it! You're worth it.

God Bless; Jerry Novotny, OMI

Encouraging Words: If you remain indifferent in time of adversity, your strength will depart from you. Rescue those who are being dragged to death, and from those tottering to execution withdraw not. If you say, "I know not this man!" does not he who tests hearts perceive it? He who guards your life knows it, and he will repay each one according to his deeds. Proverbs 24:10-12

Lifeissues.net Newsletter #407 – February 1, 2009

Table Of Contents:
1. Funding Restored To Groups That Perform Abortions, Other Care
2. New Study: Top Reason For Women's Abortions Is No Supportive Partner, Father
3. Repeat Abortions Among Teenage Girls Have Risen By 70%
4. Church Critical Of 'Aborted Baby' Stem Cell Research
5. Adult Stem Cells Already Help Spinal Cord Patients, FDA Embryonic Trials Not Needed
6. The Epidemic Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
7. Americans Should Be Outraged By Abortions
8. The Popularity Of Teen Pregnancy
9. Baby Boy For Sale: Bizarre Crime Shows India's Deep-Seated Gender Bias
10. Former Swiss Suicide Clinic Worker: Dignitas Is Profit-Seeking Killing Machine
11. Italian Court Rules Lombardy Regional Government Must Kill Eluana Englaro
12. UNICEF Report Ignores Child Survival, Blasts Dangers Of Childbearing To Women

Focus On Asia: "Indonesian caregivers start work at nursing homes" – The first batch of Indonesian caregivers started working Thursday at Japanese nursing facilities. The nursing care industry, chronically understaffed due to low wages and long hours, welcomes the infusion of new blood. Critics, however, are concerned the foreigners will be paid less and allow the industry to keep wages of Japanese caregivers low.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20090130a2.html

Item #1. Funding Restored to Groups That Perform Abortions, Other Care
President Obama yesterday lifted a ban on U.S. funding for international health groups that perform abortions, promote legalizing the procedure or provide counselling about terminating pregnancies. Obama issued a memorandum rescinding the Mexico City Policy, also known as the "global gag rule," which President Ronald Reagan originally instituted in 1984, President Bill Clinton reversed in 1993 and President George W. Bush revived in 2001.

View full article at Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302814_pf.html

Item #2. New Study: Top Reason For Women's Abortions Is No Supportive Partner, Father
The results of the study indicated that the most important factors in determining the women's choice to abort a second pregnancy were those associated with the father's inability or unwillingness to provide assistance in rearing the first child. Women were significantly more likely to abort if they reported that the father of the child cannot be trusted to "watch the child for a week," "take good care of the child," "watch the child when the mothers needs to do things," "does not support the mother's way of raising the child," "does not respect the schedule and rules" for the child, etc.

View full article at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4749.html

Item #3. Repeat Abortions Among Teenage Girls Have Risen By 70%
The number of abortions performed on teenage girls who have had at least one before has risen by almost 70 per cent since 1991, fuelling fears that terminations are being carried out for lifestyle reasons. Experts yesterday warned that binge drinking among teenagers had also contributed to the increase.

In 2007, 5,897 girls under 20 had their second, third or even fourth termination. Sixteen years earlier, in 1991, the figure stood at just 2,934, the journal Contraception reported.

View full article at Mail Online:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1127083/Repeat-abortions-teenage-girls-risen-70.html

Item #4. Church Critical Of 'Aborted Baby' Stem Cell Research
The Catholic church in Scotland has criticized the imminent production of therapies for stroke using tissue from an aborted child. The church supports the use of adult stem cells but calls ReNeuron's proposed work immoral and unethical.

View full article at Total Catholic:
http://www.totalcatholic.com/tc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=534:church-critical-of-aborted-baby-stem-cell-research&catid=14:uk-and-ireland&Itemid=34

Item #5. Adult Stem Cells Already Help Spinal Cord Patients, FDA Embryonic Trials Not Needed
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of embryonic stem cells in human trials for the first time. While the trials involve controversial embryonic cells that have problems with tumours and immune system rejection, the use of adult stem cells has already proven safe for spinal cord patients.

View full article at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio2711.html

Item #6. The Epidemic Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (or STDs) are at unprecedented and epidemic proportions. Thirty years of the sexual revolution is paying an ugly dividend. While a few STDs can be transmitted apart from sex acts, all are transmissible by the exchange of bodily fluids during intimate sexual contact. I want to discuss the severity of the problem as well as what must be done if we are to save a majority of the next generation from the shame, infertility, and sometimes death, that may result from STDs.

See the full article at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/boh/boh_01stdepidemic.html

Item #7. Americans Should Be Outraged By Abortions
What has happened to America? Where's the outrage over injustice to the innocent at the very thought of an elected abortion? Over 35 years after Roe vs. Wade, do Americans still not get it: there's human life inside the womb! All the genes and chromosomes are present at the moment of conception. All that is necessary to sustain that life is the good care of a woman whose body provides nourishment and incubation for approximately 40 weeks. There's been an explosion in medical science to substantiate this.

Full article at thenorthwestern.com: http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090127/OSH06/901270341

Item #8. The Popularity Of Teen Pregnancy
Is the rising popularity of teen pregnancy any wonder? The media is trumpeting the notion that out-of-wedlock births are all the rage these days. The stories and images targeted to impressionable teens that are being broadcast through various mass media are shaped in ways that glorify the idea and simplify the issues surrounding the pregnancy of a young teenaged girl.

Full Article at CWA: http://www.cwfa.org/articles/16221/BLI/commentary/index.ht

Item #9. Baby Boy For Sale: Bizarre Crime Shows India's Deep-Seated Gender Bias
In yet another shocking incident that illustrates the deep-rooted prejudice against female children in India's society, police have arrested four people in connection with the attempted sale of a newborn baby bay in the northern Punjab state.

View entire text at CWNews.com: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=60281

Item #10. Former Swiss Suicide Clinic Worker: Dignitas Is Profit-Seeking Killing Machine
A former worker for a Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland is speaking out and was so horrified by what she saw that she is now sharing her story with European media. Soraya Wernli was a "companion" worker, someone holding the hand of patients who would take their lives at the Swiss clinic.

View entire text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio2714.html

Item #11. Italian Court Rules Lombardy Regional Government Must Kill Eluana Englaro
A regional court has issued a new ruling in the ongoing saga over the life and death of Eluana Englaro. The Lombardy court ruling that the government of the region must provide a clinic that will remove Eluana Englaro's feeding tube resulting in a drawn-out painful starvation and dehydration death.

View entire text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio2715.html

Item #12. UNICEF Report Ignores Child Survival, Blasts Dangers Of Childbearing To Women
The UN children's agency, UNICEF, launched its annual report this week claiming that, "Having a child remains one of the biggest health risks for women worldwide," and dedicated the 168-page flagship publication to the issue of maternal mortality, virtually ignoring the agency's mandate of child survival.

The report recommends increased global financing of UN initiatives aimed at "family planning" and "reproductive health services" as the primary way to reduce maternal deaths, but also provides extensive evidence that there is no reliable data to substantiate its claims.

View entire text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/int1068.html

You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues www.lifeissues.net. All prior email Newsletters Archives are located online at http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

3. Become Involved: Several years ago I created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges". For inquires about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp . To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations 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: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net.

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.

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5. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #409 – February 8, 2009

Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)

Dear Friends for Life,

Colleen Parro asks whether the churches in the USA will speak or be silent. Parents who generate children through in vitro fertilization and decide to allow their "leftover" babies, who are currently frozen in liquid nitrogen tanks, to be killed through the process of extracting their stem cells, may do so at will, if Obama removes the Bush restrictions.

The American taxpayer's role in expanding anti-life public policies grows more each day under the Obama administration.
 
Will we see the churches rise up against this? You may want to view what is already happening behind the scenes in the following article http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6241780.html.

God Bless; Jerry Novotny, OMI

Encouraging Words: "Every baby born is God's way of saying the world should go on." – Thornton Wilder

Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #409 – February 8, 2009

Table Of Contents:
1. The Epidemic Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
2. 'One-Child' Expert Urges Investigation Before UNFPA Funding Resumes
3. President Barack Obama Forces Taxpayers To Fund, Promote Worldwide Abortions
4. FDA Approves Embryonic Stem Cell Research Trials On Humans Despite Concerns
5. Stem Cells To Be Produced From Adult Cells In Australia
6. 'Tell Youngsters About Values, Not Condoms'
7. Witnessing To Children Affected By HIV/AIDS
8. Japan Hopes To Increase 'Abysmal' Birth Rate
9. New Adult Stem Cell Treatment "Turns The Tide" On MS Symptoms
10. Indonesian Divorce Rate Surges
11. 'Baby Boomers' Hit By Sex Cancers
12. Nancy Pelosi, Population Controller
13. United Nations Population Fund Leader Says Family Breakdown Is A Triumph For Human Rights

Focus On Asia: "80 percent pub-goers in Delhi underage: Survey" – A survey says nearly 80 percent of those visiting pubs and bars in the Indian capital are below the legal age of 25 years. The findings come close on the heels of a shocking attack on young women at a pub in another city. Of the underage population at the city's pubs, 67 percent are below 21 years of age. Delhi's Excise Law bans the sale of liquor to or by anyone below 25 years. However, the study finds the laws rather ineffective, as nearly 33.9 percent of those below 16 years of age easily procure alcohol from government authorized liquor shops, bars and pubs. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/80_pub-goers_in_Delhi_underage/rssarticleshow/4059996.cms

Item #1. The Epidemic Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (or STDs) are at unprecedented and epidemic proportions. Thirty years of the sexual revolution is paying an ugly dividend. While a few STDs can be transmitted apart from sex acts, all are transmissible by the exchange of bodily fluids during intimate sexual contact. I want to discuss the severity of the problem as well as what must be done if we are to save a majority of the next generation from the shame, infertility, and sometimes death, that may result from STDs.

View full article at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/boh/boh_01stdepidemic.html

Item #2. 'One-Child' Expert Urges Investigation Before UNFPA Funding Resumes
An American expert on China's "one-child" population control policy is urging President Obama to delay restoring funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) pending an independent investigation into whether U.S. taxpayers' money will support coerced abortions in China.

View full article at CNSNews.com: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=42775

Item #3. President Barack Obama Forces Taxpayers To Fund, Promote Worldwide Abortions
Barack Obama promised during the presidential campaign that he wanted to reduce abortions and said as much in a statement yesterday in association with the anniversary of Roe. Today, however, he betrayed that promise by forcing taxpayers to fund groups promoting and performing abortions overseas.

In an executive order, the president officially scrapped the Mexico City Policy that protected taxpayers from involvement in overseas abortions for eight years. Now, Obama will send hundreds of millions of dollars to groups that aggressively promote abortions on a worldwide scale.

View full article at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4781.html

Item #4. FDA Approves Embryonic Stem Cell Research Trials On Humans Despite Concerns
Despite grave concerns that problems such as the causing of tumours and immune system rejection issues haven't been solved, the FDA has approved the use of embryonic stem cells for human trial. Embryonic stem cell research has never cured or helped any patients to this point.

Only the use of adult stem cells and treatments derived from them have cured or reduced the effects of any diseases or conditions afflicting patients.

That efficacy reason, combined with the fact that embryonic stem cells can only be obtained by destroying early human life, has prompted the pro-life movement to oppose their use.

View full article at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio2710.html

Item #5. Stem Cells To Be Produced From Adult Cells In Australia
AUSTRALIAN scientists have made a stem cell breakthrough that promises to uncap research efforts while skirting around the contentious issue of needing human embryos. A joint Victorian and NSW team has produced the nation's first human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell line – basically a cell that acts like an embryonic stem cell but instead was made from an adult skin cell.

View full article at The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24997558-12377,00.html

Item #6. 'Tell Youngsters About Values, Not Condoms'
While the World Health Organisation propagates the use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS, "we are educating the students about the dangers of this disease and telling them that the best way of preventing it is to go back to our Indian culture and tradition of abstinence rather than indulgence", said Dr Subramanian.

See the full article at The Times of India:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Tell_youngsters_about_values_not_condoms/articleshow/4060840.cms

Item #7. Witnessing To Children Affected By HIV/AIDS
Witnessing to Christ among orphan children of Cambodia, whose parents died from AIDS. This is the mission of a Filipino Catholic lay woman, who has been working in Khmer territory since 2003 to bring "hope" back to abandoned children, and guarantee them a basic education.

Full article at Spero News:
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=17974&t=Witnessing+to+children+affected+by+HIV%2FAIDS

Item #8. Japan Hopes To Increase 'Abysmal' Birth Rate
When Margaret Sanger launched a clinic in 1916 that later became Planned Parenthood, Japan was the first nation to jump on the bandwagon as the biggest financial supporter. Jim Sedlak of American Life League's Stop Planned Parenthood, or STOPP International, reports the Asian nation promoted family planning and abortion. "And now Japan is beginning to see the effects of this," he contends. "Japan's birth rate is abysmal. It's down [to] about 1.3 children per family, which is well below the replacement level of 2.2."

Full Article at OneNewsNow: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=404788

Item #9. New Adult Stem Cell Treatment "Turns The Tide" On MS Symptoms
A team of researchers at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago have developed a treatment for multiple sclerosis using stem cells taken from the patient's own bone marrow. None of the 21 adults who participated in the trials have relapsed in the three years since starting the experiment. "All therapies to date ... have focused on slowing the progression of disease," Dr. Richard Burt said. But with the new treatment, he said, "This is the first time we have turned the tide on this disease."

View entire text at LifeSiteNews.com: http://lifeissues.net/control_panel/news_info.php

Item #10. Indonesian Divorce Rate Surges
The divorce rate in Indonesia has risen dramatically over the past decade, according to official figures. Women have a greater awareness of their rights and are bringing more cases to court. The number citing polygamy as grounds for divorce is also rising.

View entire text at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7869813.stm

Item #11. 'Baby Boomers' Hit By Sex Cancers
Rates of anal, vulval and vaginal cancers rose for "baby boomers" born in the decades after the Second World War. The culprit is the human papillomavirus (HPV), acquired during sex, said the King's College London study. Up to three out of four people will be infected, it estimates. The British Journal of Cancer report says changes in sexual habits may be the cause.

View entire text at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7868979.stm

Item #12. Nancy Pelosi, Population Controller
Most of us understand that children are the only future a nation has. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, apparently does not.... In the name of fiscal austerity, she wants us to embark upon a population control program here at home to drive down the birth rate. How else can one understand her desire to add hundreds of millions of dollars of "family planning" spending to the stimulus package under discussion in the Congress?

View entire text at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/mos/mos_139populationcontrol.html

Item #13. United Nations Population Fund Leader Says Family Breakdown Is A Triumph For Human Rights
A leader in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has declared that the breakdown of traditional families, far from being a "crisis," is actually a triumph for human rights. Speaking at a colloquium held last month at Colegio Mexico in Mexico City, UNFPA representative Arie Hoekman denounced the idea that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births represent a social crisis, claiming that they represent instead the triumph of "human rights" against "patriarchy."

"In the eyes of conservative forces, these changes mean that the family is in crisis," he said. "In crisis?  More than a crisis, we are in the presence of a weakening of the patriarchal structure, as a result of the disappearance of the economic base that sustains it and because of the rise of new values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights."

View entire text at LifeSiteNews.com: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020312.html

You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues www.lifeissues.net. All prior email Newsletters Archives are located online at http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.
3. Become Involved: Several years ago I created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges". For inquires about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp . To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations 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.

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.

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6. Media Malpractice At The March For Life – February 9, 2009

JACK CASHILL  
Media malpractice at the March for Life
Exclusive: Jack Cashill searches in vain for pro-abort protesters covered in papers – WND

Media malpractice at the March for Life
Posted: January 29, 2009 | 1:00 am Eastern | © 2009 

On Thursday morning, Jan. 22, I met with our six-camera crew at the Hyatt Hotel in Washington and went over the day's objectives.

We had come to town to shoot a documentary called "Thine Eyes" (See ThineEyes.org), the first-ever high-end production centering on the annual March For Life.

We were commissioned to create this video to set the media record straight. Although I had not attended the March before, I knew enough about the way the media worked to suspect that a little straightening was in order.

The media did not disappoint. Their coverage confirmed my most paranoid suspicions and shocked even the apolitical among our crew.

Energized by Obama's promise to expand the abortion franchise, pro-life activists flooded into D.C. from all over Canada and America. To capture some sliver of this movement, we had put camera crews on busses out of Kansas, Missouri and Alabama.

By noon of the 22nd the marchers had gathered on the Mall, as impressively colourful, diverse and good-spirited a gathering as I have ever seen, perhaps three-quarters of them under 25.

Continued... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=87411

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7. Obama 'Guarantees' Stem Cell Work – February 6, 2009

Stephen Dinan
http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/stephen-dinan/contact
Friday, February 6, 2009

President Barack Obama speaks to the House Democratic Issues Conference on Thursday in Williamsburg. Associated Press

Exclusive: Williamsburg | President Obamaon Thursday gave lawmakers his "guarantee" he will sign an executive order overturning President Bush’sembryonic stem cell research policy.

Meeting with House Democrats holding a retreat here, Mr. Obama answered a question from Rep. James R. Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat who is a paraplegic, by saying he will sign the order, according to three sources who were in the closed-door part of the meeting.

"I guarantee you that we will sign an executive order for stem cells," Mr. Obama said, according to the sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the closed-door portion of the meeting.

Con’t... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/06/obama-guarantees-aiding-stem-cell/.

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8. Priestly Father Speaks About The Day And Its Problems From The Past – February 9, 2009

By Father Joseph Shea

(Father Shea is the pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Parish, Simi Valley, in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles)

A couple of weeks ago, two of my priest friends and I went to see the new movie, Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. The movie presents the true-life story about a large-scale conspiracy within the German army to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The heroic German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg led the coup. The assassination attempt on July 20, 1944, failed because the detonated bomb only injured Adolf Hitler. Colonel von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators were arrested and executed for treason. Now, of course, they are honoured as heroes who tried to stop the madness of Hitler.

Unbeknownst to most people is that there was another hero living at that very same time who courageously opposed Hitler and his plans. His name was Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich from 1917 to his death in 1952. An interesting side note is: the last man that Cardinal von Faulhaber ordained to the priesthood was one Joseph Ratzinger, our present Holy Father.

As you might imagine, the years between 1933 and 1945, when Hitler was in power, were especially difficult for Cardinal von Faulhaber because he courageously chose to speak out against the Nazi regime and its policies, rather than remain quiet out of fear of the Nazis. At every opportunity, he condemned the crimes of the Nazis, risking his life every time he did so.

His Advent sermons of 1933, delivered in the glorious Cathedral of Munich, drew thousands of Munich citizens — standing room only.

They came to listen to the Cardinal fearlessly challenge National Socialism, to assert the rights and freedoms of the Catholic Church and to call for the protection of the Jewish people.

By the 1940’s, when Hitler’s final solution became clear to all, in response to the atrocities that the Nazis were doing to the Jews, Cardinal von Faulhaber ordered yellow armbands with the Star of David to be placed on all the statues of Christ and Mary throughout his Archdiocese.

Cardinal von Faulhaber’s courageous actions infuriated Hitler and the Nazi leaders, but the Gestapo didn’t dare remove the yellow armbands for fear of a Catholic uprising.

So Munich, the birthplace of the Nazi movement, became the center of Nazi resistance. And although Dachau was located only 10 miles outside Munich’s city limits, within Munich, Hitler and his policies were weakened severely by the courage of one man who chose to speak out and to act courageously rather than to remain silent.

What made Cardinal Faulhaber so courageous?

Why would he risk his life for people he did not know, for people who were not considered “worthy of life” because they were Jewish or because they were physically or mentally impaired, or too old and using up too much of the society’s resources, or because they were homosexual, or because they protested too much against Nazism and its evil policies, such as many Catholic priests and Christian ministers did?

Why?

Because Cardinal Faulhaber had met the Savoir Jesus Christ, just as John and Andrew did in today’s Gospel. Cardinal Faulhaber had heard Jesus’ invitation to “come and see” who Jesus was, and that encounter changed his life forever. From that moment, Cardinal Faulhaber followed Jesus faithfully, never wavering in his dedication to Christ, despite incredible hardship.

That raises the fundamental question that each one of us needs to answer on this Sunday — dedicated as Pro-Life Sunday because this coming Thursday, January 22nd, marks the 36^th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade.

Like Andrew and John and Cardinal Faulhaber, will we respond to Jesus’ invitation to be His disciples, to “come and see” who Jesus is, and faithfully follow Jesus in a way that neither our lives will nor our moral positions will ever be the same again?

That’s the fundamental and challenging question set before us today.

I ask this question because we find ourselves in an eerily similar situation as the German people nearly 70 years ago.

One of the most troubling questions facing the German people after World War II was: how was it possible that a Holocaust of so many innocent people went on without a huge protest.

How was it possible that a great people, such as the Germans, could have been fooled by an evil leader with such a diabolical political agenda?

Wasn’t Germany the country that produced Frederick the Great, the philosopher-king?

Wasn’t Germany, in the late 1800’s, arguably the most enlightened and free nation in Europe?

What happened that caused the majority of people to get confused, deceived or intimidated?

Let me explain.

If you remember, Germany was on the losing side of World War I and the German people had to pay very costly war reparations. The conditions of the Treaty of Versailles bankrupted Germany, and Germany ’s economy went into a freefall. The German currency of the time, the Reichsmark, was worth less than the paper it was printed on. Hyperinflation was so great that it was cheaper to burn money than firewood.

Hitler came to power in the midst of this incredibly difficult time.

He promised the German people that he would revive the German economy, that he would re-establish order to a society falling in disarray, that he would give the German people a renewed sense of pride, and that he would save Germany.

It sounded great to a nation that had been beaten down.

The problem was how Hitler planned to “save” Germany.

His plan was based on very evil principles: the killing of the innocent; the genocide of neighbouring people and the plundering of nearby nations; a systematic eugenic movement to eliminate the Jews, the handicapped, the infirmed, the aged, homosexuals, and any dissenting voice — all in the name of progress — all in the name of creating a “master race” — a utopian society that would last, not for 1000 years, but for 10,000 years.

How could so many Germans, especially German Christians, have supported Hitler?

Because some of them viewed their economic prosperity, their comfort, the strengthening of their public institutions and army, and the pride of a restored nation as more important than certain groups of people.

And others because they became part of the conspiracy of silence.

They were confused, deceived or intimidated.

And the terrible Holocaust happened — over 10 million people were executed.

Today, we find ourselves facing a similar, but even more horrible Holocaust of innocent people. I say more horrible because over 36 million innocent people — the most innocent and defenceless of all — babies — have been aborted since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

But the horror of the Holocaust doesn’t stop there.

This Holocaust also includes the manipulation of stem cells harvested through abortions and the termination of life of our elderly through euthanasia solely for the purpose of a national agenda of convenience, economic prosperity and creating another “master race” of people who will never get sick, who will be as beautiful as the models and movie stars we see on TV, in the movies or the Internet, or who will be the brightest and most talented in the world — another Albert Einstein or another Michael Jordan — a super race.

And why is this happening?

Because some people in this nation really do believe that the end justifies the means.

They believe that the evil means of abortion, euthanasia and some genetic engineering justify the good end of a better nation and society, better health and a more convenient life.

But also this present day Holocaust is happening because the majority of people have become part of a conspiracy of silence.

They have been confused, deceived or intimidated.

Hitler tried to intimidate Cardinal Faulhaber and many others into silence during the first Holocaust. The secular world tries to do the same today with this Holocaust.

Edmund Burke expressed it best in a quote from his essay “Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents”:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

That’s why we must answer the question that the Gospel reading lays before us today: Will we be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ?

You see, brothers and sisters, Jesus is very clear about what His followers should do in the face of the evil of this modern day Holocaust of abortion and euthanasia.

I was listening to a CD of a retreat that Father Benedict Groeschel recently gave to priests. Father Groeschel told a story about a prominent New York celebrity who approached Mother Teresa and asked her, “Mother Teresa, what is your view about abortion?”

Mother Teresa stared at him, like Daniel Boone drawing a bead on a poor raccoon in a tree, and replied, “What do you think Jesus thinks about abortion?”

Utter silence.

Jesus is very clear about abortion and euthanasia.

There is no confusion and no ambiguity.

Abortion and euthanasia are murder.

The only ones who are confused, ambiguous, and deceived are unbelievers and fair weather Catholics.

Fair-weather Catholics are gung-ho followers of Jesus when it comes to the light, easy, cheerful teachings of the Gospel.

But when it involves the challenging, moral dictates that Jesus teaches, they stumble over their euphemisms, excuses, their doublespeak, and their rationalizations.

You’ve heard them: “I am personally opposed to abortion, but I believe that a woman has the right to choose.”

I wonder: would those same people say, “I’m personally against stealing, but I believe that a person has the right to steal my car?”

No way!

Isn’t amazing how people wouldn’t accept that rationalization with any other Commandment.

It’s just with the 5th commandment and the issue of abortion and euthanasia.

Jesus is very clear about His teaching on abortion and euthanasia. There is no confusion, no ambiguity. It is only unbelievers and fair weather Catholics.

But there is still the majority of Catholics out there who are good and trying to be faithful, but, who have been intimidated or confused into silence.

I urge you not to be afraid. We Catholics make up ¼ of the population of America.

If we stood together as dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ and Catholics faithful to Christ’s teachings, we would change the entire moral fabric, fiber and direction of our country.

And we need to stand up.

We need to speak out for all those unborn or elderly citizens who have lost their voice in our sleek, chic, sophisticated world.

I will tell you why.

President-elect Barack Obama has stated publicly that the one of the first things he will do when he gets into office is to the sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).

For those who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act currently before the Congress, which Barack Obama sponsored as a Senator, will roll back all the restriction on abortion that the majority of Americans want and have voted in during the past 36 years. FOCA will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion including parental notifications, waiting periods, and partial birth abortions, yes — the brutal killing of 9-month old foetuses while they are in the birth canal, ready to be born.

FOCA also will attempt to force Catholic hospitals to adopt these evil measures.

Thank God, Cardinal George of Chicago, the president of the National Council of Bishops, has told President-elect Obama and his team that, if FOCA is signed into law, the Catholic Church will close their Catholic hospitals rather than participate in evil.

By the way, Catholic hospitals make up one third of all hospitals in the nation.

Do you know what President–elect Obama’s team said to Cardinal George?

“That’s OK! We’ll just buy your hospitals.”

To which Cardinal George replied, “You didn’t hear me! I said that we will close our hospitals.

You will have to build your own!”

Good for him and all the Cardinals and Bishops standing with him!

They are the new Cardinal Faulhabers, standing up against evil!

Brothers and sisters, our Cardinal Roger Mahony has urged all of us in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to get involved with a postcard campaign to turn back this terrible legislative act.

As your pastor, I also strongly urge you to stand up and speak out.

After communion, the ushers will pass out postcards, already addressed to our Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and to our Congressman Elton Gallegly.

I would ask you to take the time to sign them and then to drop them into the baskets at each Church door.

I will put the postage on them and mail them for you.

Hitler wanted the Church to remain silent in the face of all the atrocities of the first Holocaust, all in the name of progress and pride of a nation. Fortunately, a small group of great Christians, such as Cardinal Faulhaber, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and others stood up and shouted in defiance. Ultimately, their voices were heard, but not before 10 million innocent people lost their lives in the Holocaust.

Many in our government, in our nation, and sadly, even some in our Church today, want the Church to be silent about this new Holocaust. Many want the Church to not get involved in politics — all in the name of economic prosperity, comfort, convenience, progress and pride of our nation.

Many say that the Church shouldn’t say anything because there is a separation of Church and State.

I’ll tell you what:

The Church and I won’t speak to or about politics if the government will stay out of our beloved Church and the Gospel.

Once the government comes across that boundary, we will speak, and speak loudly.

Brothers and sisters, don’t be intimidated, confused or deceived.

Jesus is very clear what He wants us his faithful disciples to do.

Let’s act with courage and faith.

If we don’t, we will rue the day, as the German_ people still do now about the first Holocaust.

If we don’t stand up and speak out, then we will stand condemned by future generations, and maybe even before God, because we failed to heed Edmond Burke’s admonition:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do and say nothing.”

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9. Pro-Life Speaker Ousted At St. Mary's University Due To Hecklers – February 10, 2009

Pro-Life Speaker Ousted At St. Mary's University Due To Hecklers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eulKIaVM9DE&fe

They just can't tolerate the truth.

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10. Reader Thanks LifeSiteNews For Convincing Her To Not Abort Her Fourth Child – February 9, 2009

Because of LifeSiteNews she says, "I have changed my view to pro-life, not pro-choice"

Below is the text of an email received by LifeSiteNews today, February 5, 2009:

I wanted to thank you for your site because it was truly a wake up call. When I was younger, I had my fair share of abortions reasoning from being too immature to fear of motherhood. My family is pro-life and having my share of these (abortions) was a hard knot to swallow and I never told any of them how many I really had.

I never knew the risks, although many doctors had told me that I wouldn't have any children because of my termination history. I have been married for 6 years now, out of the immature stage, out of the fear stage, we have three beautiful children.

I never considered another abortion after I met my husband until a few days ago when I found out that we were having our fourth child. I finally convinced my husband that I was going to get an abortion, looked at your site, and completely changed my mind.

When my husband walked through the door, I cried on his shoulder. After so many times of having the procedure done, I never knew what really was happening and I never tried to find out. So I just want you to know that your site has been my blessing.

My husband and I may not be ready for our fourth but we will do our best to be just as good parents to this little one as we have been to our existing three. Thank you so much for making this site and having this site out there so that other unaware, unconcerned, unhopeful women and men can actually see what is really happening, and maybe just maybe, a mind like mine will change.

Your site has given me a new mindset and a new chance. I have changed my view to pro-life, not pro-choice. God bless you all. – Name withheld by LifeSiteNews.net

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11. There Are Not Enough Children - Are They A Blessing Or Not – February 12, 2009

Summary: As the world faces a potential demographic winter of under-population, political leaders move to clamp down on babies, and liberal social commentators use the language of hatred and fear-mongering to further anti-family campaigns aimed at proponents of fruitful families, many Christians remain undecided as to whether or not babies are a blessing or burden in troubled times. This e-mail explains the controversy. It also points you to resources that will help you to better communicate to neighbours, relatives, and friends the practicality and blessing of children in tough economic times.

After more than fifteen hundred years , Japanese culture is on the verge of extinction. There are not enough children. And similar fates may be in store for France, Italy, and elsewhere. These nations and others are on the brink of a demographic implosion with far-reaching economic implications — and they know it! There are simply not enough babies being born to maintain their economies.

But they are not alone. In the United States, the birthrate has been experiencing a dramatic and steady twelve-year decline. Despite this fact, last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi defended her proposal that an important ingredient of the nation’s $825 billion “economic stimulus package” would include a taxpayer-subsidized effort to prevent the birth of more children. Why? She argues that children are bad for the economy. [For a more in-depth look at this international crisis, click here]

Three Key Issues Addressed

Are babies a blessing or a burden? This is a simple question, but one fraught with tremendous controversy and significant implications for nations and families.

There are really three issues on the table: First, the demographic implications of having babies; second, the practical issues concerning babies and the family during a recessionary economy (or at any time); and third — and most importantly — the scriptural foundations for a Christian worldview of the womb.

What May Happen to America and Other Nations Because of the Dramatic Decrease in Childbirth?

This first issue goes right to the heart of the present culture war: Will we be a self-indulgent nation with little regard for the sanctity of life, or will we recognize the God-ordained blessing of the biblical institution of the family with its emphasis on fruitfulness and the blessing of children?

As a nation, we have chosen the former. Now the question is this: What are the practical implications of our selfishness and disobedience? What happens to a country when the Malthusian dream is realized, and women have fewer and fewer babies?

The ultimate result is a culture-eradicating phenomenon and economic catastrophe called “Demographic Winter” — where the selfishness of a generation of families who refused God’s gift of children leads to a national birthrate that is insufficient to replace its aging population. Don Feder put it this way:

Demographic Winter is the terminal stage in the suicide of the West — the culmination of a century of evil ideas and poisonous policies.

Here is how one demographer described the imminent catastrophe that will result from declining birthrates:

The ongoing global decline in human birthrates is the single most powerful force affecting the fate of nations and the future of society in the twenty-first century. —Phillip Longman, The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity.

This perspective may be a shocker for those raised during the libertine ‘60s and ‘70s with the message of the Pill and population control, or for those spoon-fed on a diet of Green theology in the ‘90s. It is not comfortable to radical feminists who have made the “right” of a mother to destroy her own child the highest virtue a society can embrace.

But the facts are inescapable.

And this is the subject of the documentary, Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family, one of the most important and groundbreaking films of the last year, maybe of the last decade. This is the first significant film to explore the most overlooked crisis of our generation: the rapid worldwide decline in birthrates.

The data presented is chilling. Columnist Don Feder summarizes the important issues raised by the film (i.e., how “demographic winter” will impact many areas of our lives):

This film does not pretend to be a Christian film with a biblical analysis, but it is so full of carefully researched data that is indispensable to this critical culture battle that Christian parents around the nation need to own it, and watch it, and then watch it again.

What Does Managing a Large Household Look Like in the Real World? Can I Really Afford Children?

The second major issue pertains to practicality: Assuming that children really are a blessing and the fruitful womb “is His reward” (Psalm 127:3), how does that concept work in the real world where economic resources are scarce and time is at a premium?

Sometimes people pose the question this way: “I can barely manage and afford a family with one child. How could I possibly handle three or four, let alone (gasp!) seven?”

But there is another question that needs to be asked: Are there practical, economic, and spiritual blessings for the family that flow from an economy of scale?

I believe there are. And these are precisely the types of blessings and benefits that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have modeled for all of us in their beautiful new book, The Duggars: 20 and Counting: Raising One of America’s Largest Families — How they do it.

From a practical perspective, this book offers definitive answers. And it is absolutely delightful, transparent, hands on, and full of humour. After reading it, you will walk away loving your own family more and will gain great ideas for household management. My wife gobbled it up:

This is a totally delightful book, easy to follow, and full of personal stories about their life as well as practical, tangible information about THEIR family which can be easily adapted into MY family, or anyone else’s. It is honest, humorous, humble, and completely in earnest... You will read about their life story, from Michelle and Jim Bob's childhood up to right now, their many businesses, their solution to laundry, education, music, and even food preparation. (Read more of Beall’s review here.)

There is a reason why this family has captured the imagination of America through their top-ranked television show, 17 Kids and Counting. They are communicating a Christ-exalting vision of home. And they are the real deal! A family that loves their children — all eighteen of them. There is so much negativism in the world, but the Duggars are using their life as a large family to show the beauty and practicality of the Christian household to a generation where many children never even experience the blessing of sitting down with their whole family for dinner.

What Does the Bible Say about the Blessing of Fruitfulness? Does this Apply Today?

The final issue is the most important one: What does the Bible say about having babies?

For Christians, the Bible is our standard for faith and practice. Everything necessary on the subject of having babies is found in God’s Holy Word. It is both the starting place and the “final court of appeal” for prayerful Christians who desire to make wise decisions regarding the womb.

Related issues include: Why are children a blessing? What does it mean to be fruitful? How does the Bible specifically link low birthrates to national judgment? Does the Bible promote, condone, or encourage baby banning? Is it a good idea to have babies in times of economic hardship?

These questions and others are answered in our CD, Children and the Dominion Mandate, and the book Be Fruitful and Multiply, both of which are included in this week’s special offer. If you have ever found yourself wondering how to respond to such questions, or if you have friends or relatives that disapprove of the number of children in your family, these indispensable tools will help you to use Scripture to reason through the many complex issues which are on the table.

Save 30% on Our New Collection: The Blessing of Children

The Blessings of Children Collection is available now through February 10, at the special price of $42.70 — a 30% discount. The set includes The Duggars: 20 and Counting, Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family (DVD), Be Fruitful and Multiply, and Children and the Dominion Mandate (CD).

This special offer expires February 10, 2009 at Midnight (CST). Order online at www.visionforum.com, or call us toll-free at 1-800-440-0022.

View The Blessing of Children Collection.

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12. University Accused Of Denying Rights – February 9, 2009

Subject: University accused of denying rights..."Using the trespass legislation to suppress one viewpoint is a gross misuse of what that legislation is all about," said John Carpay, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1247227

University accused of denying rights
'Blatant Attack'; Abortion issue raises free speech question
Kevin Libin, National Post  Published: Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Dean Bicknell/Canwest News Service

Over the past few weeks, Calgary police have been turning up at the homes of anti-abortion university students, charging them with trespassing on the very campus where they are enrolled in classes. Yesterday, members of Campus Pro-Life visited the University of Calgary once more, to announce that the charges would not stop them from continuing their abortion awareness campaign.

Calling the charges a "blatant attack on free speech," Campus Pro-Life president Leah Hallman stood in front of the school's MacKimmie Library to deliver a speech that would cast her organization's dispute with the school's governors as an historic battle for Canadian liberties: "The road to the liberty we enjoy in Canada was long and fraught with deadly peril. Many brave men and woman took it upon themselves to bear upward the sacred torch of freedom to greater heights," she proclaimed.

"Once more, Canada faces a challenge to test her commitment to the ideals upon which she was founded, and upon which her society now stands."

The charges – offering a maximum penalty of a $2,000 fine – make good on a threat made by administrators in November. At the time, the school had ordered Campus Pro-Life to censor a display set up along a heavily trafficked campus route.

Entitled the Genocide Awareness Project, it featured graphic images of aborted foetuses juxtaposed with photos of murdered victims of the Holocaust and Rwandan genocide.

Though the exhibit had been installed several times in previous years, administrators last fall ordered the images turned away from public view.

When organizers refused, the school threatened expulsion and criminal charges.

Last month, after Campus Pro-Life notified the university that it would put up the Genocide Awareness Project again in the spring, police began charging members over the November display. So far, three students have been ordered to appear in court on Feb. 27.

The group expects at least three more, who worked the exhibit, to be charged.

Ms. Hallman argues that the university endorses a prejudice against anti-abortion groups by regularly permitting graphic images to be displayed for some causes – in November, another, nearby exhibit displayed upsetting photographs of Falun Gong members allegedly tortured by Chinese authorities – while prohibiting images of abortion.

The university has refused interviews since declaring this a "legal matter" last year. It issued a news release yesterday saying that it "has attempted for several years to find a reasonable compromise with Campus Pro-Life that would give members of the University community the choice to view or not view the Genocide Awareness Project display." It is now "working to have this issue resolved in the appropriate manner."

But the head of a legal defence group backing Campus Pro-Life's speech rights said that, because the university receives public funding specifically to promote intellectual inquiry, it cannot use trespass laws to pick and choose, which messages students discuss.

"Using the trespass legislation to suppress one viewpoint is a gross misuse of what that legislation is all about," said John Carpay, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

Several professors have also criticized the administration's approach.

"This shows that senior administration has really lost touch with the purpose of a university, which is precisely to discuss questions that members of the public find difficult to consider," said University of Calgary political scientist Barry Cooper. (emphasis added)

Last week, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association sent a letter advising the Canadian Federation of Students that it risked infringing on speech freedoms by supporting students unions that deny funding to groups opposed to abortion.

In recent years, student councils at York University, University of Guelph, Lakehead University, Carleton University and Memorial University have attempted to place limits on or cut funding to anti-abortion groups.

klibin@nationalpost.com

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